Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-19
Speech of Charles Francis Adams.

Mr.. Adams said in part:
Having occasion once to refer in discus
sion to certain Of the founders Of our Massa-
chusetts commonwealth, l made the asser-
ton that their force LAY in character and
1 added that in saying this l paid and
meant to pay, the highest tribute which, in
my judgment, could be paid to a commu-
nifty or to its typical men. Quite a number
Of years have passed since l so expressed
myself, and in those years l have grown
SYSTEMATICALLY older; but I now repeat
even more confidently than l then uttered
them those other WordS-''the older l have
grown and the more l have studied and
seen, the greater in my esteem, as an ele-
ment of strength in a people. has character
become, and the less in the conduct of
human affairs have 1 thought of mere ca
pacity genius With character a
race will become great, even though as
stupid and unassmilating as the Romans;
without character, any race will in the long
run prove failure, though it may number
in it individuals having all the brilliancy
of the Jews, crowned with the genius Of
Napoleon" We are here today to COM
memorate the birth of Robert Edward Lee
essentially man of character.
Lee Not Traitor.
One of community which then looked
upon Lee as a renegade from the flag he
had sworn to serve, and a traitor to the
nation which had nurtured him, in my
subordinate place directly confronted Lee
throughout the larger portion Of the war
of secession. During all those years there
was not day in which my heart would
not have been gladdened had l heard that
his also had been the fate which at Cham
cellorsville befell his great lieutenant; and
yet more glad had it been the fortune of
the command in which served to visit that
fate upon him. Forty more years have
since gone. Their close finds me here to-
day-certanly a much oder, and, in my
own belief at least, a wiser man.
The charge still most commonly made
against Lee in that section of the country
to which / belong and with which l SYM
pathiZe is that, in plain language, he was
false to his fag-educated at the national
academy, an officer of the United States
arms against the government he had sworn
to uphold In other words he was mill
tary traitor. I state the charge in the
tersest language possible. Having done SO,
and admitting the facts as technically true,
l add as the result of much patient study
and most mature reflection that under SINH
lar conditions l would myself have done
exactly what Lee did.
Question Of Sovereignty.
Coming directly to the point, 1 maintain
that every man in the eleven states seced-
ing from the Union had, in 1861, whether
he would or no, to decide for himself
whether to adhere to his state or to the
natlOn, ana / uually assert tNdI, whenever
way he decided, If only he decided hon
estly, putting self-interest behind him, he
decided right
Paradoxical as it sounds contend, more
over, that this was indisputably so. It was
a question of sovereignty-state or ma
tional; and from decision Of that question
there was in a seeded state, escape for no
man. Yet when the national Constitution
was framed and adopted that question was
confessedly left undecided: and intention
ally SO left. More than this, even. the fed
eral Constitution was theoretically and
AyowedIY based on the Idea Of q divided