Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-01-22
Robert e. Lee,

y
Robert e. Lee was great American
and no citizen Of any section begrudges
his memory the tributes of love and
honor which the South Is paying it on
the occasion of the centennial OF his
birth. He was more than the great
leader of the armies of the Confeder-
acy whose skill in defensive warfare
baffled for long and bloody years the
hosts of the North until Grant with
| great army which was machine of
| tempered steel. crushed the worn and
| wasted remnant Of those who wore the
gray. He was of the best blood of
Southern chivalry, scholar of broad
culture and a Christian who knelt in
| prayer every day of his life. He had
no part in the politics which brought
| on the war. He deprecated the strug-
gle from the first and realized that In
the end the South must fail. Yet he
so loved Virginia, his native state and
that Of his ancestors, that when peace
was no longer possible he could not
bear to see it swept and devastated
by invaders and he threw his fortunes
with the South. Had he seen his duty
differently and remained with the flag
under which he had served as brave
officer for rs years he would have been
made the commander-in-chief of the
Union armies and his statue would to-
day be looking down upon the public
squares and parks of all the great
cities of the North.
The bitter passions of the war had no
place in the heart of Robert E. Lee.
From the day Of Appomattox the
Union had no more loyal friend than
he was. In the five years of life that
remained to him his example Of COM
plete submission of fortitude and of
hope was worth more to the peace of
the land than all the army garrisons
IN the South. Friends could not tempt
nor foes taunt him into a word of re-
elimination. To those who hesitated
to take the oath of allegiance which
the national government denied him,
he said: "Take it and thank God for
the privilege" To the many who
urged him to join them in the South
ern emigration to Mexico he said, as
he said to an English nobleman who
offered him an estate in England 81
cannot desert my native state in the
hour Of her adversely. I must abide
her fortunes and share her fate"
To alluring offers of gain for the
use of his name in business, he re-
piled as to Gen. Gordon, who wished
him to connect himself with an in
surance company in New York, 81
have a self-imposed task which Il
must accomplish. I have led the
young men of the South in battle; L
have seen many Of them die on the
field; / shall devote my remaining
energies to training young men to do
their duty in life"
The closing years of his life were
spent at the head Of Washington and
Lee University and he was great in
peace as he had been in war; His body
lies in the college chapel of that in
Stitution. 1t has been said that with
few more Lees in the South the war
would have resulted far differently.
1t is nearer the truth to say that if
there had been a few more Lees in the
South there would have been 10 war.
Before the war began, when he had re-
signed his colonelcy in the United
States army, "Save in the defence of
my native state, with the sincere hope
that my poor services may never be
on to draw my sword" To a friend he
said: "If owned the 1000. 900 slaves in
the South 1 would sacrifice them all to
save the Union" By vote OF the
American people. regardless of section,
the name Of Lee has been placed with
that Of Grant in the Hall OF Fame. 1t
belongs there, but long after that
marble structure beside the Hudson
shall have crumbled in the dust that
name will live on in the hearts of a re-
united and loyal people.