The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1908-01-24

all littleness. stainless honor that
marked him as man apart from all
mankind II i not extravagant TO
say that in all the tide Of time it is
doubtful If there ever lived his eauaf
among uninspired men.
DIR. Wharton then said:
General Lee never uttered word
OF complaint. He never laid the bur
den OF failure upon another mans
shoulders. After the battle OF Gettys-
burg was over and the South had
lost. Lee knew where the trouble was;
he knew the one thing and the one
thing only that had held back the
victory-a victory that must have end
ed the war and gained Southern IN
dependence; for as we now know, the
pen of England's great premier. VIII
liam Gladstone, was suspended, walt
ing upon the issue of that battle to
sign Great Britain's recognition Of the
Southern ConfeGeracy-he knew
Hhere the failure lay, his great heart
was broken. but he only said, com
rades it is my fault" and his lips
were sealed till death.
And after the war there were no
querelous memoirs, no apology to the
world, no reply to any critic and no
effort to self vindication. The silence
of Lee a silence almost devine, was
in keeping with the dignity and per
lection of his whole life.
Lee cherished no bitterness for his
foe. The story was told Of the sharp
rebuke administered to the rector
who, in his sermon, had spoken rather
savagely of the North. Sir, the day
never dawns that do not pray for
our Northern friends
1T was to Lee we owe it that no
robber or ruf1an stain rests upon the
Southern arms. When he invaded the
enemy's country there was no retalia7
ton for the ten thousand burning
homes of our people. No blackened
lane of ruin. desolation, death and
shame was left in the wake of his
army. He made no war upon women
and children. No woman with her
helpless children was driven out into
Z the night and the storm by the light
of flames from her burning home, and
the shameful story turned into an
admiring nations favorite song Gen
eral Sherman has told us that war is
hell, and privately / shall always be-
lieve it does mean hell for General
Sherman"
| A sharp contrast was then
drawn between the conduct of the
contending armies. The speaker
pointed out certain deeds and orders
of the chiefs on the Union side, which
will cover their names with infamy
as long as history thinks it worth
while to speak their pames. But no
ungentlemanly act, no vandal deed
VIII ever US AdAA at bAlC OOCi Va N--'
soldier who followed Lee
HE has created new standard for
the ethics of war and for the whole
world. | call upon you to witness
that no war has since been waged in
any part of the globe that has not felt
his uplifting influence. The Russo
Japanese war was cited.
The speaker next spoke OF Lees
moral supremacy. The character OF
great and good man is always sim
pie. There is nothing complex The
first great factor was instant obedi-
ence to duty, always and everywhere,
at any cost 1t was his life rule. He
said duty is the greatest word in the
English language, and he proved it.
He is the demonstration. He has
built UP before the world the lordliesr
manhood in English history.
DR.. Wharton further on, said:
1T was his lifelong obedience to
duty even in trihes-this man who
never received single demerit while
at school-that enabled him to stand
the severest test that ever fell to
the lot of an American citizen. When
the states had finally seeded and the
armies of invasion were ready TO
march, Lee came to the parting OF
The ways. Lincoln took him up into
a great and exceedingly high noun
tain. All the splendors of this vast
( continent were spread before his
eyes. "All this will give thee"
/ Lee was offered the supreme COM
mand Of the Union armies; and Lee
was not blind. His was not the vision
of the mere politician and mouth art
/ list; his was the vision of Wellington,
of Charles the XII Of Sweden He