Goldsboro weekly argus., 1909-01-28
In Memory of R. {. Lee
Continued frcm First Page.

ton; and back or these We see now
already coming into view the cirelessgf
the whole civilized world. 20 the
honor of the Southern people best
said, they stood the test; the army
and the whole people of the South re-
sponded as the needle to the magnet.
They had a supremely- great and good
man among them, peerless, I think IN
the whole history >of the American
people and I say this with a fuitI
appreciation of Washington and LIN.
coln-and they knewathe good man
when they saw him. The best proof
was the unparalleled confidence and
devotion of the whole Southern army
the trust and homage Of hisSzWhole
people. This confidence and trust,
born of an unprecedented series of
victories in 1862, grew into devotion
and loyalty such as, it SENS to ME, no
man, even military hero, has ever
before aroused and so completely re-
tained, an allegiance as unWavering
and unquestioned in defeat as in vic
tory. Gettysburg was crucial test;
Appomattox was the supreme proof.
The army, the people, accepted the
final result without criticism or blame
of their great leader. They felt, they
knew, that ''Marse Robert" had done
all that human agency could accom-
plish, that defeat was unavoidable
because he could not forfend it. Be
cause they were able to recognize the
worth Of such man and submit un-
questioningly to his guidance, they
were able as a people to endure the
terrible strain of reconstruction days
with a heroisn equal to that of war
times. When whole people looks
up with pride and complete devotion
to a supremely great and good man,
the whole mass is uplifted and puri-
fed. I do not see how the people
that produced and appreciated Gener-
al Lee can ever become degenerate
while the memory of him endures.
t'And what is the lesson for US, as a
people, to learn from our hero? 1t
seems to me to be this: AS l read the
daily papers I cannot help feeling
that grave dangers are ahead of our
democracy. Can We stand our pros
perity? Will not the worship of the
almighty dollar carry us as a people
to perdition? l am afraid that what
the Europeans say Of us as a nation
is true. AS a people we love the dol
lar better than anything else in the
universe. If that be true, with the
old checks of religion SO largely gone
and ethical standards so changed,
what will save us? The men who
have sold their souls for wealth are
beyond redemption; we must appeal
10 nd hot 10 1U
to be potent with them as the proof
that their ideal hero was above mon
ey and beyond price, his whole life
an unconscious protest against the
worship of wealth? Here is the proof.
He was our finest gentleman, sprung
from a line of noble ancestors reach
ing back through Robert Bruce of
Scotland to the Norman Conquest, the
son of Lighthouse Harry Lee and
husband Of the great-grandaughter Of
Martha Washington, owner of the
baronial manor of Arlington and pos
SCISSOR of a princely fortune. He had
lost all in the cataclySm of civil war,
and when he was thus impoverished,
this is what happened: In the au-
tumn of 1863, the city council of
family, but he declined it, suggesting
that whatever means the city council
may have to spare for this purpose
may be devoted to the relief of the
families of our soldiers In the field"
After the war an English nobleman
offered him a country estate with an
annuity of 5000 e, but he declined,
saying, st must abide the fortunes and
share the fate of my people," In 1865,
he accepted the presidency Of Wash
ington College at salary of 81, 500 a
year; but when General Ewen in
1868 gave $500 to the college on con-
dition that it be added to General
Lees salary, the latter declined it,
writing General Ewell: '1 already re-
ceive from the college a larger
amount than my poor services are
worth" He was invited to become
the head Of a firm in New York to
represent Southern commerce, with a
salary of $4,000; but this, too, he de
clined, saying: sI am grateful, but
/ have a self-imposed task which
must accomplish; I have led the
young men of the South in battle, I
have seen many Of them die on the
field; I shall devote my remaining
energies to training young men to do
their duty in Life" The presidency Of
the Southern Insurance Company, in
which ampton, Gordon, D. H. Hill,
and other distinguished ex-Confeder-
ates were directors, was offered him
at a salary Of $4,000; but this also
he declined, saying: 81 feel that I
ought not to abandon the position
hold at Washington College at this
time, or as long as can be Of service
to it." The distinguished ex-Confed-
crate officer who was sent to make
him the offer said eve do not wish