The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-11-17

$500 -"
! ancestral faiths, proiutlcc~ and purposes
he should read what j. SAID from week 70
week in Northern periodicals nj neN-na
pers and BY speakers. I ave been IN
tcrc~tcd IN some ignorance and di~lngCn-
uou~Eess in the interior. an Influential
Northern Presbyterian paper. The realy
10 the opinion or the Interior 81 Rev
Dr.. McKelway. editor 81 Tie Charlotte
Presbyterian standard. i fun. fair and
crushing. l viii give enough II the con
est 10 show its import.
Gen. Robert r. Lee i regarded by
Northern preachers Of the Bishop Philips
Brooks type as 4 Traitor. Tins. toe, IN
the face Of indisputable facts and evil
dcnceS. ! recently said III one 81 ny ar
ticles that Or. BledSoe's little book had
never been answered. and would never he
answered. Not a Northern writer has been
j fool hardy enough to attempt TO answer
il. The proof IS overwhelming that there
could not be possibly any traitoriSm ii
tie action of any Southern man in IT.
tempting to reaceably withdraw from the
Union that has been 80 abused, and When
attacked by the North. backed by Europe
as . great recruiting ground, n defending
his home and meeting the invaders. !
man is simply ignorant. poorly read, or q
dullard. if he has investigated. who would
charge Geeral Lee with doing wrong when
he refused the leadership rendered HIM IN
tie aggressive. overwhelming North. and
cast his tate and sword with his native
State and the South. has own people.
General Lee wrote IN January, 1851, IS
follows:
Il can anticipate no greater calamity
for the country than a dissolution Of the
Union. 1t would be an accumulation Of
all the evils We complain OF, and | am
willing to sacrifice everything but honor
for its preservation
The fools and enemies find in this a
concession that tustifeS them with accus-
lug the noble Southron with an act Or
traitorism. Hear this bold, blatant In
terror" thus commenting
That Is, General Lee knew secession to
be wrong. Yet he fought four years to
uphold that wrong thing. No heaplns
together of reasons that Influenced him
in his course can cover up the obhqu1ty
o. his deliberate transgres-Ion of con
science and Judgment
That means a great deal. II seeks to
put a smirch, a stigma. q brand upon the
noblest OF men, the highest expression in
our land of lofty principle and a s~potlcsS
soul. General Lee is charged with a plain.
positive violation Of his conscience, and
that charge IS a bare-faced lie in fact and
in essence.
I have had occasion il wellnigh forty
years discussion of the war. 10 meet this
cruel. dastardly accusation. Let us sec
What the able. LOGGED editor Of another
Presbyterian papel-southern-the Char,
lotte stndard, DR.. McKelway, writes IN
reply:
Ne that this stickler for rigid stand
ards Of righteousness Witncut s.lE ng OF
twisting. proceeds 70 warp and twist Cen
eral Lees language into 2 confession that
secession was wrong. He SAID that it
would be ] calamity. than which he could
conceive Of none greater. and IL was
willing 10 sacrifice everything but honor
for tile preservation Of the Union. But a
calamity cannot sometimes he prevented.
If there had been a mOdicum OF General
Lees sense OF honor in the mind Of this
scribbler. there would never have been
the attempt to confuse the prediction OF q
calamity with a confession of wrong, for
having pursued a certain course Of action
after the calamity had come"
Il the reader wishes to pursue the de
fence OF Leo, Davis and the other patriots
OF the South tell him to read Bledsoe,
book on Is JEFF Davis II Traitor" Dr..
CurIya recent admirable, clear
History Of the Confederate
states, Dr.. Dabney', work published not
long after the war. CT DO not recall the
~ - - +
and is causes. Nlce-PreoIdc1t Stephens
work and Others that might be given. +
= WITH the very worst possible IacaHncss
and morals as well a. regard Tor consist
ency, justice ana truth: for z New Eng
land writer to assault the South or Gen
cral Lee, or President DAVIS, because OF
secession, IN vieW 81 We'll known facts
patent and open to all. If the siandcrer
q the "Intcrior' Viii get q Massachusetts
work published about 1871 OF > entitled
"Suilivan,s Men OF the Revolution he
VIII. brazen-faced as he j., he ashamed to
e1pectoratc venom q any Southern hero.
Between 800 and 1870, New England was
literally lot for Secession sullivan
gives correspondence f~ayoTing this by men
OF New England not long after the Gov
ernment was set UP. DR.. McKelway tells
his Yankee brother and ignoramus this:
Ever one ought IL know by this time
tndt the right 10 scccde was loft an open
I question Il. 4l.~C 1,l.-. - so,. No. 41.o.