Bryan morning eagle and pilot. (Bryan, Tex.) 1909-1909, 1909-01-24

parailelism and divergence. Lee
was a soldier and a teacher. Jackson
a teacher and a soldier. Lee was Q
soldier by heredity and choice; Jack
son was soldier by the inspiration
l of genius and by the logic Of circum-
stances. The preparations for Lees
education at West Point began with
his birth; Jacksons entry into that in
stitution was the result OF an intense
desire for an education and the oppor-
tunity offered him to take advantage
of an unexpected vacancy. Learning
the art of war in the same technical
institution and under the tuition of the
same teachers. when their respective
collegiate courses were finished Lee
chose the army and did not become
an educator till he had accomplished
all that II was possible for him to ac-
chieve In the profession of arms:
Jackson entered with enthusiasm
into the work of an educator and
when the tocsin of war was sounded
reluctantly gave up the career In
which he was fast rising to eminence.
II is another remarkable fact that
when Lee. like Othello. found his oc-
cupation as soldier gone, he took up
the educational work Of Jackson
where the latter had left it of when
he entered upon his brief but brilliant
career in arms.
Another striking resemblance is
found in the fact mat in the capao-
ity of private citizens Lee and Jack
son were both opposed to the perpetu.
alton of the institution of slavery and
also. while admitting that the right
to withdraw from the Union with or
without cause was among the reser-
we'd rights of the states under the
federal constitution, both were oppo-
sed to secession as a matter of policy.
Neither regarded slavery as a moral
sin but both believed il to be an
economic evil that should be gradu-
ally and peacefully eliminated from
our political system Both were firm
and strong in the conviction that SOW
reignty was inherent in the state gov
ernments and that the federal govern
ment possessed no rightful authority
except such as was expressly delega-
ted TO it in he constitution strictly
construed. When the long delayed
but inevitable conflict between the CEN
tralized Imperialism and the sovereign
ty OF the states, each rendered
his services to Old Virginia, to
which his primary allegiance was due.
and when the Old Dominion made
common cause with her sister states
% the South this act carried with 1t
their fealty for the Confederate States.
From the beginning of the war till
Jackson's death there was perfect col
laboration between these two great
commanders, each relying on the
other with implicit confidence You
are familiar with the story of their
exploits and achievments-''the
world knows it by heart"-for it en-
bellishes the brightest pages of the
story of the greatest tragedy in
human affairs. Both were wise in
council, swift in execution and brave
in battle. AS a planner Lee had no
peer; as an executor Jackson still
stands without a rival. When Lee
heard that from the fatal field OF
| Charlottesville Jackson had passed
over the river TO rest under the shade
of the trees" on the other shore, his
anguished heart uttered a cry of de
spair; 1T cannot be true, Jackson
cannot be spared He is the Confed
crates right ARM"
Jackson was fortunate in the time
of his death. The Confederacy wa.
doomed and the unequal struggle wa.
drawing to a close. If we who wer,
scarcely more than boys felt the fall o
our government and the ruin of our PEG
pies institutions like the tearing as
sunder of our heartstrings, wha
would have been the agony of Jack
son-he lin whose infinite spirit was
room for the pulse of an infinite pain.
Let us thank God that he was spared
participation in the humiliation of the
most high spirited. most chivalric
people the world ever saw.