The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-02-02
Bill Ar]p's Letter.

fercd him the supreme command of the
Northern army. Virginia had just Sc
coded and Lee saw on one side that there
were no honors to which he might not
aspire, On the other side, if lie cast his
destiny with that of his State, he saw, oil
he thought he saw, that miserics AMI
trials awaited him without number. But
to seek his duty and having found it, do
was ever the principle of his actions.
These strong and beautiful words about
3Gty were not original with General Lee,
and in his letter he has them in quota
ton marks. The expression came from
Rev. John Davenport, famous Puritan
preacher of New England-the man who
gave shelter to the three rescides who
condemned Charles the First to death and
after, the restoration fed for their lives
tc New England and were hidden by
John Davenport in his barn. When this
act of treason became known among the
people he neither quailed nor relented,
but preached a sermon the next Sabbath
from that passage in Isiah which says:
Hide the outcasts. Betray not him that
VANDERBILT. Let my outcasts dwell with
thee and be thou covert unto them
from the spoiler.' 1t was in that sermon
that he made use of this notable express
sion: 1T is my duty to shield them, ahG
duty is the sublimest word in our lam
seagc."
During the war it was my privilege to
see General Lee quite often, but never
old meet him face to face and have a
Eref conversation with him but twice
Even then we did not know how great a
man he was. General Johnston had been
wounded at Seven Pines and General Lee
came from West Virginia to take his
place. He was almost stranger to the
Army OF Northern Virginia. He had been
in command but a week or two when
General Black, of Rome, came to see his
boys of the Eighth Georgia and asked
me to ride with him to General Lees
bea lquarters and introduce him, for he
was very desirous of meeting him before
le returned to Georgia. OF course l COM
piled, for General Black was a man of
no small consequence at home. He was
old and gray and of commanding pres
once and military bearing. Introducing
myself first, l presented General Black,
and after we were seated | said nothing,
but paid modest and respectful attention.
l was soon impressed with the grandeur
he expanded, | very naturally shranll up
little to keep the equilibrium. Not long
after this the Seven Days battles began
and ended in McClellans defeat and our
Amy began to realize how great man
Lee was. 1t was on the sixth day that
l was sent to his headquarters near
Meadow Bridge to receive orders. and
there | met him again. He was standing
uncovered and unarmed in front of his
tent. and "Stonewall' Jackson was asleep
inside upon the straw and the servant
had set the dinner tables over him SO as
not to disturb his rest. for. as General
Lee said He needs it. and nothing but
artillery will awake him now
/ said that the army did not know at
first how great man Lee was. Neither
did they know fully at the last for he
was one of the few great characters
that develops and grows brighter and
grander as the years roll on. For some
years after the war he received but lit
tie praise at the North and a great ma
tional eyclopedia gave more space and
praise to Old John Brown than to Gen
eral Lee, who arrested and executed him.
But now, in the International of fifteen
volumeS---a standard work edited and
compiled by 200 of the most distinguish
ed scholars and professors of the North
ern coleges-the sketches of General Lee
and Stonewall Jackson are all that we
could ask for.
That of Lee closes with this paragraph:
in person he was one of the noblest
types OF manly beauty. Tall. broad
shouldered, erect, with dignity as i'm
lressive as that of Washington. yet not
so cold. OF habits as pure as Washing
ton, but more warmly religious and al
ways maintaining a calm, confident and
kindly manner that no disaster could
disturb CT change" The world knows him
now and venerates his memory and the
people he fought against have given him
q place in their hall of fame.
Verify, old Father Time is good doc
ter and Ammo Domini the softening sol
vent of all malignant passions. But this
is enough from me concerning the great
commander. 1t was the sublime Christian
faith OF Lee and Jackson that made
their characters complete and added lus-
ter to their military fame They were
men of prayer
For a little while would ask yourakind
attention to those whom since 1892 have
called themselves the daughters OF the
Confederacy.> Their mission has been and
still is and we trust long will be as
declared in article of their constitution:
Educational, memorial, social and be-
revolcnt--to collect and preserve the ma
terial for a truthful history of the War
Between the States-to honor the memory
OF those who served and those who fell
H. our service and to record the part
taken by Southern women during the war
and it's aftermath, their patient endurance
of hardship, their patriotic devotion dur
ing the struggle and to fulfill the duties
OF sacred charity to the survivors. All
OF these are noble objects but the great
est Of all is the establishing of the truth
ard preserving it. The poet saith that
Truth crushed to earth will rise again.
and il has risen and will continue TO
rise. Even that popular magazine, Frank
Munseys Monthly. in its last number.
has forever plotted out the malignant and
fanatical story of Barbara Freitchie, and
only the last week the ladies OF Lex
ington. Ky. put under the ban the drama
of Uncle Toms Cabin 1t was the
Daughters of the Confederacy who did
if and to their widespread and influential
organization the South must look for the
maintenance of the truth. Just think
of it. Within the past nine years TWEEN
ty-two States have been chartered as