The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1908-01-30

DuN why oliOUiu L iAIultiply iLIiOSlilS
when speaking to veterans who know
from their own experience how dear
/ ly the soldiers of General Lee loved
him? Many of you have doubtless
often followed him to battle and at
his bidding have imperiled your
lives for him and for your country.
You, too, have felt that same love
for him, and your soiicitude for his
welfare, | am confident to say, was
not surpassed by that OF Texans, or
Georgians, or Virginians, or Of SOL
diers from any section. And yet,
how could any man love his country
and not love General Lee? For Vir-
ginia, especially, and for the whole
South. the soul of Lee was filed with
the loftiest patriotism. Though op-
posed to secession, when President
Lincoln rendered him the command
in-chief Of the active army of the
United States, he refused it, and re-
signed his commission in the United
States army, saying that he could
not take part in an invasion of the
southern states. This was before
Virginia had seeded, and at
time when he had no idea he would
be called upon to draw his sword
upon the side of the Confederacv.
In a letter to his brother, Sydney
Smith Lee, he writes, Il am now
private citizen and have no other
ambition than to remain at home.
Save in the defense Of my native
state, ] have no desire ever again to
draw my sword" Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friends. "
When his native state called him,
Lee at once responded and before
the altar of her liberty rendered his
life to her service. He was never
called upon to die upon the battle
field in her defense. Yet how glad
ly he would have done so if such a
sacrifice could have brought victory
and peace to his people. For such a
purpose no sacrifice, however great,
could have been too much. Where
duty and love joined, each seeking
the same end. the heart Of Lee had
no power to refuse.
But 10 character can be called
truly great which has not been tried
by temptation and tested by responsi-
bility. A beautiful lily may be rails
ed in a hot house but the moment it
is exposed to the cold air it begins
to droop and wither, while the ten
der shoot from an acorn, after being
tried by the ice and snow of winter
and the terrible hurricanes of sum-
mer becomes the giant of the forest,
and proud in its might bids defiance
to the Weather King. Let US be
thankful that in General Lee we
had a leader too strong to be led a.
side from the path of duty by the
allurements of wealth or ambition.
A simple nod Of his head, at the
commencement Of the war, and he
might have been all that Grant af-
terward was and more But to such
a man as he only one path was open,
and that was the path of duty and
love. He could not do otherwise
than follow it. 1t is said that after
the war he was offered a salary Of
$4,000 for the use Of his name as
president of an insurance company
but he refused it, because he WAS
unwilling to lend his name to an en-
terprise all of whose workings ne
could not oversee. tie might have
been Governor Of Virginia but lie
refused that also. He did not think
he was the right man for the place.
For nearly three years the burden
Of the whole Confederacy rested on
his shoulders. He made a glorious
fight for her til all the world won
dered; and when, finally, he had to
surrender because his men were
starving and his country without re-
sources, the Confederacy fell with
him.
Magnificent endowments Of char
acter united to a military genius,
second to none that history records,
made Lee the ideal man to lead the
forces of the South. 1t took both g
man Of stainless character and a re-
markable genius. Either without
the other would have made him less
suited for the position. That he
was the man for the place, and filed
it as no other could have done, let
the verdict Of the ages speak. As
the days pass by and the unhappy
prejudices, engendered by sectional
discord, are buried, the greatness of
Lee becomes recognized more and
more by the people with whom he
once stood face to face upon the
bloody fields of Virginia. The rest