The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1902-02-06
BILL ARP'S LETTER
In Impressive Vein Barlow Man
Lauds General Lee.
IMPRESSED WITH HERO'S GRANDEUR
He Met the General on TWO Occasions.
Calls Attention to Noble Work
of the Daughters of tho
Confederacy.

language" That is what General Lee
wrote to his son soon after General
Scott offered him the supreme Gem
mand of the northern army. Virginia
had just seeded and Lee saw on one
side that there were no honors to
which he might not aspire. On the
other side, If he cast his destiny with
that of his state, he saw, or he
thought he saw, that miseries and
trials awaited him without number.
But to seek his duty and, having
found it, it was ever the principle Of
his actions These strong and beauti-
full words about duty were not origi-
nal with General Lee, and in his let
ter he has them in quotation marks.
The expression came from Rev. John
Davenport, a famous Puritan preach
er of New England-the man who gave
shelter to the three regicides who
condemned Charles the First to death
and after the restoration fled for their
lives to New England and were hid
den by John Davenport in his barn.
When this act of treason became
known among his people he neither
quailed nor relented, but preached a
sermon the next Sabbath from that
passage in Isaiah which says: Hide
the outcasts. Betray not him that
VANDERBILT. Let my outcasts dwell
with thee and be thou covert about
them from the spoiler." 1t was in that
sermon that he made use of this no
table expression: ut is my duty to
shield them, and duty is the sublimest
word In our language"
During the war it was my privilege
to see General Lee quite often, but
never did 1 meet him face to face and
have brief 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 a stranger to the Army
Of Northern Virginia. He had been
In command but a week or two when
General Black, of Rome, came to sea
his boys Of the Eighth Georgia and
asked me to ride with him to General
Lees headquarters and introduce him,
for he was DESTROYS >of meeting him
before he returned tor Georgia. OF
course, complied, for General Black
was a man Of no small consequence
at home. He was old and gray and of
commanding presence and military
bearing. Introducing myself first, l
presented General Black, and af-
ter we were seated, l said
nothing, but paid modest and respect
full attention. l was soon impressed
with the grandeur of the man before
me, and, Of course, as he expanded,
l very naturally shrank up a little to
keep the equilibrium. Not long after
this the Seven Days battles began and
ended in McClellan's defeat and our
army began to realize how great a
man Lee was. 1t was on the sixth
day that l was sent to his headquar-
tiers near Meadow Ridge to receive or
ders, and there I 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"
l said that the army did not know
at first how great a man Lee was.
for he was one of the few great char
acters that develops and grows bright
er and grander as the years roll on
For some years after the war he re-
ceived but little praise at the north
and a great national cyclopedia gave
more space and praise to Old John
Brown than to General Lee, who ar
rested and executed him. But now,
In the International, of fifteen volumes
"a standard work. edited and COM
piled by 200 of the most distinguished
scholars and professors of the north
ern colleges-the sketches of General
Lee and Stonewall Jackson are all
that we could ask for.
That of Lee closes with this para
graph; "In person he was one of the
noblest types of manly beauty. Tall,
road-shouldered, erect, with a digni-
ty as impressive as that of Washing
ton, yet not so cold. OF habits as
pure as Washington, but more warm
ly religious and always maintaining
a calm, confident and kindly manner
that no disaster could disturb or
change" The world knows him now
and venerates his memory and the
people he fought against have given
him a place in their hall of fame.
Verify, old Father Time Is a good
doctor and Ammo Domini the softening
solvent Of all malignant passions. But
this is enough from me concerning the
great commander. 1t was the sublime
Christian faith of Lee and Jackson