The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-02-17

"
any Southern man was by the bold
est technicality Of definition a traitor
His state. wisely or unwisely, had q
historic right to retire from the I'm
ION, and he retired with it, and being
a citizen of it, must defend it, but all
that Is beside the point and did not
touch my duty as Judge Of these
papers.
Miss Boysen's use of the phrases
wrong side" at the end Of the first
paragraph quoted, and the Civil War
has since taught what right in this re-
gard. in the same paragraph, were in
felictious and jarring, but I came to
the conclusion that the context show
ed that she meant unsuccessful in
the one case and in the other forever
settled
"And so ! might go on quoting a
hundred detached sentences Of noble
praise OF Lee and the South, with
here and there a detached sentence Of
criticism, not SO much Of General Lee
for find no essential criticism Of
him. but rather Of conditions under
which he worked. For instance: His
skill as a strategist and tactician, to-
gether with all his splendid audacity.
Is unsurpassed in all history The
outcome Of the war cannot detract
from the glory of his army or of him
self His real worth lies in the spir-
1t Of the man himself, the Ioftiness
and dignity OF his character, the rich
ness and fulness of his SOUL But To-
cal prejudice and sectional hatred
have long blinded the North to the
real beauty Of Lees character 1T
has been for the children of a later
Cay to come to an understanding and
appreciation of the feelings Of the
South. We see in him something
vastly more significant for our time
splendid public spirit He accept
ed none Of the gifts. none of the Of
fers of home which friends both In
England and the South poured in up
on him. He stands as the champion
of reason rather than passion, of
fairness rather than prejudice, Of pro-
gress rather than reaction, of con-
secutive work rather than futile OBJ
struction.' This we Of the North have
come, to believe. and in such a recog-
milton of human greatness the land
is moved forward into the light of a
happier day. Men who, like Charles
Sumner. place Lee In the catalogue
OF those whose cause hears the "pri-
NAL eldest curse. a brothers murder"
and handed him over to the "aveng-
ing pen Of history" have been sue
ceeded by men In his own State (Mas-
sachusettes) who have voted a mOnu-
ment to his memory.
Everywhere over the North the
literature Of the Civil War is filed with
a different spirit from that of 40 years
ago. Everywhere Lee is fast coming
to take his place as hero for all
time side by side with Lincoln ITO
the system he there Cat Washington
and Lee) inaugurated educators still
go for inspiration and guidance He
believed that education was the
greatest need of the South, and i'm
this later events have proved him
something of a seer 1T "a monu-
ment in Washington will stand as
the testimony of.a great and free peo-
pie to one Of the supreme leaders
among men. 1t will rise grandly elo-
quent of spirit not intoxicated by
glory, not crushed by defeat unspoil-
ed by praise and success-the spirit
of Robert e. Lee
Some Of the critical opinions were
inexact and irritating, but never, to
my thinking, abusive or malicious.
For instance, the assertion that most
OF the people of the South were
densely ignorant was foolish echo
OF an erroneous view current at one
time in her section and in many
Northern minds, based upon unan-
alyzed statistics of illiteracy, and the
added statement that the South was
intellectually dead, derived from the
same misunderstanding, was as Of
fensivs to me as to my critics. But
l did not think such misstatements
disqualified the paper. This young
Minnesota woman began her study
no doubt, with many misconceptions
She ended it by beholding the essen
tial justice of the cause for which
our fathers fought by declaring that
We were just as loyal to right as her
fathers, and by pleading for q monu-