Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-01-22

outset Of the war, l would nave acted
as he did" and writes in unmeasured
praise of him for not prolonging the
conflict by a guerilla warfare.
Lord Wolseley, one Of Englands
greatest generals, and who was at
tached TO Lees staff during the war,
says Of him: He was the greatest
man Of the war;" and in writing his
autobiography forty years later, says,
| further: Forty years have come and
gone since our meeting, yet the ma
jesty Of his manly bearing, the genial,
winning grace, the sweetness OF his
smile, and the impressive dignity Of
his old fashioned style Of dress, come
back to me as the most cherished Of
! my possessions"
Then why this praise? Was it due
alone to Lees prowess as military
chieftain? We think not, although ad-
mitting his prowess, for the history
Of Lee that we love most and revere
most, to paraphrase Thackeray. Is not:
THE story of four years
Writ on the parchment Of drum"
But it is Lee, the man, Lee the Chris
tian, the Lee that said Duty Is the
sublimest word in the English Ian
guage," that Is the Lee we love and
whose memory We so fondly cherish.
That duty which he regarded as so
sublime, Is what made him the ideal
military leader in the four years Of
war, and the idoliZed citizen In the
years of civil life following. From the
high position Of commander in chief
of the most heroic army ever organ
ized to the quiet life of college pres
ident, must have been a contrast that
made his proud heart suffer, but, He
Is the honest and virtuous man which
regarded not what he suffers, but how
well he doth suffer"
Today, after time has dulled the
edge Of our passions, we Of the south
can view the life Of Lincoln with de-
gree Of fairness that would have been
impossible at the close of the war, and
realize that in his assassination, the
south suffered blow that It took years
to cure Students of history, and in
Inmates Of Lincoln, familiar with his
policies. say that there would have
| never been the reconstruction horror
in the south had Lincoln lived This,
however. Is a matter Of conjecture. /,
for one, believe that Lincoln would
have done better toward the south,
than did his successors, and l say this,
| because he was not Of the fanatic
north but from the middle west, where
he was thrown with cosmopolitan
people and thus brOadened In his
views.
/ say, that the pendulum swings
back from bitterness to a degree OF
| fairness. Let US hope that some day
1t will stop on the plumb Of exact JUS
tice to all, and that an all wise Prov
idence will permit US to see the right,
and seeing It, acknowledge 1t even
though We have to confess the faults
of our leaders while extolling their vir-
tues. We find in some Of the old text
| books, records of serious debate, as
to which was the greater general,
Washington or Napoleon. Today the
man that ascribed to Washington the
brilliant military genius Of Napoleon,
would be laughed at. Yet, equally a5
much would the man be hooted VINO
advanced the opinion that Napoleon,
Washington. We call Washington
great, because Of his character, not his
military genius. We call Napoleon
great, Caesar great and Alexander
great, for no other reason than their
| ingenuity in killing men-winning bat
| ties.
But to Lee we ascribe a double
glory. His military genius which was
Of the first order, and to his character
as a man and citizen, which was sub
| lime, do we bow with almost rever-
erence.
Giving up high position in the
United States army, with the promise
" being still further promoted, he,
against the supplications Of General
Scott, gave his services to the south:
but only then after his Virginia had
been threatened with invasion, If not
actually invaded. Loving his army
| comrades, and loving the nation, but
| loving still more his mother state. He
had been taught the doctrine Of states
| rights in his text books at West Point;
| he knew that the Union Of the states
was a mere Confederacy for mutual
protection from England, and other
enemies, and that any state might
withdraw from the Union when 1t
saw fit; he knew, too, that the consti-
tuition could not have been adopted
except with this understanding, and
| thus he reasoned and believed that his
| first duty was to his state.
To us, who are accustomed to the
| Union, it Is hard to realize fully just
| the extent to which state love was
paramount to the love for the nation
mans first duty was to his state,
then to the nation. In those days OF
the fifties, and prior thereto, the ques-
ton of states rights was discussed and
believed in, just as lin much milder
manner) we of the south discuss and
condemn the iniquities Of the tariff and
trusts today, and believing in states
rights (the right to withdraw from the
| Union,) with a belief that was almost
holy and which came next only to their
religion, the people Of the south were
ready and willing to die for this be-
| lief
"A passion of cOnfict-country or
state.
Allegiance or loyalty, which clearer
the call?
Man Of the nation, name blaZoned
high
On escutcheons Of glory
Should he part with the past
In which they-his people
Had writ deep and fast,
Lee.
Harsh, bitter and cruel the struggle,
Then-white and undimmed
The altar Of duty shone out of the
dusk;
And love burned away all dreamings
Of dross,
But he knew not, when yielding one
sword for another,
He had carved on the heart
Of his country forever
Lee!
Thus it was at the beginning Of the
war. the north giving its allegiance to
the Union: the south believing In and
making the state supreme, for the
state existed before the Union, and Lee
came to his Virginia.
What shall we say of Lee-the
man, without being deemed guilty of
extravaganza in eulogy for
His life was gentle. and the elements
SO mixed in him that nature might
|. stand up
And say to all the world: This was a
man."
Lee was an athlete, possessed Of a
magnificent figure, broad shoulders
and excellent carriage, his manner
was kindly and winning; open and
frank and free from all ostentationI
and pomp. AS Sydney Smith said of
Francis Horner, "the ten command
ments were stamped upon his counte-
hnl he n