The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1901-05-09

every jot and title. The best way to re-
peal a bad law is to enforce it. There is
one thing infinitely worse than bad
law, and that is lawlessnesS. AS Judge
Brawley, of Charleston. said in charge
to jury not many months ago, THE
very essential foundation of civilization
is respect for the law, and when the peo-
pie lose that they are on the downward
grade" If the Teacher in Gray is to in
Struct US, we have surely got to learn from
him the first principle of soldiers life
implicit obedience to law. There is no
such thing as lawlcss manhood. Lib
erty is not license; it is noble self
restraint in obedience to the dictates of
law, so that the whole being results in a
beautiful, harmonious completion, which
we call manhood.
Now the first place to teach law is in
the home. Our children require more
discipline than they get If they are to
reverence the law of the State, they must
first reverence the law of the family; for
here as elsewhere the family is the unit
of the nation. They must be made to
obey, unless you want to breed race of
anarchists. And then our own attitude
towards the State laws must be what we
demand Of them towards ourselves, so
that example will join hands with pre-
ccpt, while both the home is guarded and
the State is honored in a righteous COM
bination of loyal patriotism. In word,
fellow citizens, if we are to heed the les
sons of the Teachers in Gray, we must
first learn to be men, for that is what they
were--men, with every iota of the splen-
did significance that attaches to that su-
preme word The South today needs
Men, whom the lust of office cannot kill
Men, whom the spoils of office cannot
buy;
Men, who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor-will not lie;
Men who can stand before demagogue
And scorn his treacherOus batteries
without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above
the fog
In public duty and in private thinking
Such an one was the superb leader OF
the Boys in Gray, the peerless chieftain
of the Confederacy, the first American
Robert +. Lee. Ii the war between the
States had accomplished nothing else, it
were worth all the fire and blood and
tears of those terrible four years that the
children of the South might have set high
before them on the everlasting pedestal
of fame, where he may be seen and studied
Of all, that sole and splendid Teacher in
Gray, our sublime monitor in every high
and holy lesson for all the eyes that are
yet to be. He taught the two great les
sons of patriotism and manhood by every
action of his stainless life. Patriotism
Yes He loved his home Therefore
when in April, 1861, Francis Preston
Blair, the authorized agent of President
Lincoln, offered him the command of the
Union forces with the words, 81 come to
you on the part of President Lincoln to
ask whether any inducements that he can
offer will prevail on you to take command
Of the Union army" Lee answered: "Ii
/ owned the four million slaves, would
checrfully sacrifice them to the preser-
vation of the Union, but to lift my hand
against my own State and people is i'm.
possible" lie yielded his glorious ser.
vices freely to his State and to his people
for the defence of their homes, although
he afterwards wrote to confidential
friend that "he never believed we could
against the gigantic combination for auI
suhjugati0n, make good our indepen
dence, unless foreign powers, directly OF
indirectly, assisted us:". When his belief
had at last been verified, he said, "If all
were to be done over again, | should aci
precisely in the same manner. l could
have taken no other course without dis.
homer" There is the very acme and per.
fectiOn OF patriotism.
The war ended, what did he do? He
accepted the result like the glorious, gal
liant gentleman that he was. As an in.
innate friend bears witness, Every word
and act of his eXerted an influence tend
ing to heal up sectional animosities, tc
force compliance with the governmental
policy, and to inculcate all the indispen.
sable qualities of good citizenship.
Writing to friend in New Orleans, Lee
says: The interests of our State are
the same as those of the United States
Its prosperity will rise or fall with the
welfare of the country. The duty of its
citizens, then, appears to me too plain tC
admit of doubt
Declining offers of an annual salary Of
$4,000, he took the presidency of Wash.
ington College at a salary Of less than
one-third of that sum, that he might in
deed become ateacher, and lead the youn
men of the South even as he had led theil
fathers in war. 20 recognize apd obey
the beauty and the dignity Of law, Tc
this principle he was ever as true as the
needle to its star. Splendid patriot
MatchleSs embodiment Of manhood Su.
preme teacher of the South thro' all the
shining years! "Fanquished, he was yet
a victor. To honor virtue is to honor
him. To reverence wisdom is TO do hin,
reverence. In lite be MAS n.ndel 10 all
who live. In death, he left a heritage to
all. One such example is worth more to
earth than the stained triumphs Of ten
thousand Caesars"
Forth from its scabbard! ! all In vain!
Forth flashed the sword of Lee!
'Tis shrouded now in its sheath again;
1t sleeps the sleep of our noble slain,
Defeated, yet without stain,
Proudly and peacefully"