The age-herald., 1902-05-18

From the New Orleans Picayune'
 Most sacred of all to the children or Robert p. Lee are the personal letters that he wrote to them or to their motner' They all breathe of the tenderest ioVe' the deepest solicitude, the parental oe- sire to see his children live up to his own grand ideals of Christian manhood and womanhood. They also bespeak his simplicity of heart, his great respect TOT religion and abiding faith in God IL was to a simple country home on the James River that General Lee led his tainiiy .after the close of the great struggle. AS ,.;, spow. he did not long remain in thls retired spot. Some time pelore' hiS .ho,,obts had been carried back to ms
 ,., birthnlace. Stratford, the ancient ,nanor house of the Lee family ln Nr- ginia. where he first saw the hsh'' anu
 vhere he grew up This mother pos' cher little man." taking his tatner piaoe in the home when q, pliVed or Una. quide and helper at the carry age oi il and showing even then the splehuiu o,,a,ities that were to develop with such ,.an,arxahle force in later years ano ,,,alxe~him the idol of the South ana the adr,ira+ion of great men in all cllmes rrbe family retain the beautiful tradi- +tans -of the rfllial devotion he bore ms invalid mother, the duties anu respon
 eihilitIes that he assumed as the neau of +ba house.'' for one of his brothers was a student at Harvard ana tue other was in the navy. One or ms SIS .ars was in such delicate health that she a long time, and the other was too young 10 De ol anx use in the direction of the house. hoid so Robert who was always rood "- as his father once wrote, ana 9who will be confirmed in his happy +urn of mind by his ever Watchtul anu affectionate mother" attended to the housekeeping duties, did the marKeung' and managed all of the outdoor anairs 2 ysitf,-a discretion far beyond his age ana @ara in any hoy. It Is said that 1t was his deep love for his mother that maoe Aim take LID with such alacrity and de- yotion duties that are generally distaste- fui5 to boys. It was common recognition n'those days that Robert Lee was the heat housekeeper around Alexandria, and worthy of his Virginia lineage.
 ' His mother was at this time in Alex andria for the education of her children, his father being in the West Indies Tor tle Denent or ms last laliiAAS iiN"iNH' OA snurse his mother directed the house. keeping, for she was one of the most ,nethodical and beautiful of managers, hut Robert was her housekeeper, her nurse. her companion. He went to school in Alexandria and every day at noon he would come home to see how his mother was getting along He mixed ev- cry dose of medicine that she took, he looked after her horses himself, and went out riding daily with her in the car risge. and when she grew very III he uursed her night and day. If he left the room a moment she kept her eyes upon the dovr till he returned. During those last ,dsys he never left her side. It was theaconstant association with this noble, loving mother that so influenced and formed his character. Her memory re- rnained with him to the end pure, beaiitiful, uplifting force.
 His mother died and was buried al Ravenswerth.. Robert. who had just re- turned from West Point, was with her. Though he nursed her to the last, he could not nerve himself to attend her funeral He said: "I can never see the grave close. over my mother" The fun erais took place in the beautiful old gar den of Ravensworth. where she still lies
 And so 1t was to Stratford, hallowed by so many memories, that his mind tnrned when he received the news that Arlington had fallen into the hands of Due enemy, and the beautiful white