The National tribune., 1905-11-16

IN our 1ofef0tnorS pIedGe0 our lives,
our fortunes and our sacred honor to
ed free and equal. It had its baptism
at Valley Forge, at Monmouth and
Yorktown, and its final conservation in
the blood OF the 100000 boys in blue
who. from April. 1861, to May. 1866,
fought and died to make the Declare
ton q fact and not a by-word among
the nations of the earth. These $4,000
martyrs were supported by 100000
more Of boys in blue Who survived the
great conflict and nearly million OF
whom still survive.
Our leaders were Lincoln. "the gen.
tlest memory Of the world" Grant, the
dauntless and unconditional patriot;
Sherman, the incarnation OF military
genius; Sheridan. the fiery. unconquer-
able and blazing star Of actual combat;
Thomas. the steady and undaunted.
whose standard knew no defeat; and
Logan. the true type and idol OF the
intrepid American volunteer, whose
motto is. Conquer we must; for our
cause 1t is just" These and myriads Of
others were our leaders, and under them
we conquered. We conquered treason
in its most hideous form and led by
traitors who had been educated at the
National Military Academy. at the pub
lie expense. and had been supported.
not by their native States; for Robert
E. Lee never held as much as the posi-
ton Of Constable in the State Of Vir-
ginia, and all his distinction before the
war came from the General Govern
ment. and his only fame to-day rests In
his able efforts to overthrow that Gov
eminent that educated and honored
him.
1 can see no difference between such
conduct and the act Of the viper which
"stings the hand that has warmed it."
Lee has been accredited with sincerity
NJ NJ
1861, we find him inditing letter to
his son wherein he denounced secession
as anarchy. In the case Of Col. Robt.
E. Lee. Of the United States Army, I
submit the question: Did the State Of
Virginia Government at Richmond,
for military education or preferment
upon him? And II not. whence but
from the General Government at Wash
ington did he secure appointment to
West Point; to the position OF Chief of
Staff to the Commander-in-Chtef In the
war with Mexico: head Of the Board OF
Military Instruction at West Point, and
finally Of Colonel Of the crack regiment
of the Army, the 1st u. 8. Dragons?
Let his partisans answer this, and then
offer good reason for his adopting a
course which he had declared was an
archy.
Jenerson Davis.
I say this, not in bitterness toward
Gen. Lee, for / think infinitely better
of him than of Jefferson Davis, the arch
traitor. who from his seat in the Senate
formulated discord and disunion, and
then as head of the secession heresy
tolerated. probably instigated knowing
ly, the horribly inhuman atrocities that
were perpetrated upon the hapless and
defenseless Union prisoners who
starved, and moaned, and rotted and
n.
He it was who had the unhumanly bad
taste to live, and drivel, and whine. and
refuse to recognize the forbearance Of
q country that tolerated his presence
i'm the land whose thousands Of homes
he was largely the instrument in desc
lating.
His was the cause OF desolation, Of
disunion, of dishonor and destruction
Of homes through attempted perpetual
ton of human slavery with all that Is
implied In divided families, in the bes-
tial slave trader. with his bloodhounds.
his lash, his auction-block, his defiance
Of the right to preserve virtue.
Listen to this appeal made by him
to the Mississippi Legislature on Dec
%, 1862. the very day upon which my
first capture occurred. He said:
You in Mississippi know but little
of the savage manner in which war is
waged by your barbarous enemies. Our
eHeHleS are a IrdultlOnIeSS ana nome
less race. From the time Of Cromwell
to the present moment they have been
disturbers Of the peace Of the world.
Gathered together by Cromwell from
the bogs and fens Of Ireland and Eng
land, they began by disturbing the peace
Of their own country; they disturbed
Holland, to which they fed. and they
disturbed England on their return. They
prosecuted Catholics in England and
they hung Quakers and witches in
America. I had intended to fight our
battles on the fields Of this enemy in
stead of suffering him to fight them on
ours. Failure to do this was not my
will, but the power of the enemy, who
had at their command all the accumu-
lated wealth and military stores that
had been laid up during 70 years. They
had grown rich from the taxes wrung
from YOU"
John III. Winder.