Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1910-02-11
1p1orIc FRoTHING.

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A friend from Buckhannon, w. Va,
has sent us copy of the Upshur Re
publican of January p last, in which
certain MIG. R. Latham discusses
at some length and with deep malig-
nifty toward Gen. Lee, reasons why the
GAL should have charge of Statuary
Hall and dictate what statues should
be placed therein, and of course it
would bar that of Gen. r. Z. Lee.
We do not know Mr.. Latham. This,
however, is no source of regret. We
take it he was never in the Union
army, or if soldier, a very Indifferent
one. He seems full Of malice and bit
terness, and gives one feeling some
thing akin to that which one expert
ences when touching toad, lizard OF
snake. He is very bold forty years al
ter the war. How bold was he when
it was in progress? How much did he
fght-how many did he kill? Does
he draw a pension, and if so is he not
ashamed that he is getting SO much
money for SO little meritorius services?
All these thoughts seem to hang about
his unsavory utterances, and they
make the average man sick, no matter
on which side his sympathies may
have been. His panagyric on the G..
A. R. is gratifying even to US, but the
G. A. r. has never been the trustee of
Virginia any more than any other
State as to its accredited inches in the
Hall nor who shall occupy them. One
thing is certain if Gen. Lees statue
does not occupy one of them, no other
statue will. Latham or no Latham,
G. A. R. or no G. A. R., that much no
earthly power can alter. Mr.. Latham
says in part
"Now, the only title to fame ever
won by Gen. r. E. Lee was by his
efforts to break up and ruin the coun-
try and its institutions, which those
just above mentioned labored SO faith
fully and strenuously to establish.
Benedict Arnold is more entitled to
honor by the United States that Robt.
E. Lee; because, beside other gallant
services rendered the country, he, more
than any other one man, is entitIed to
the honor of the victory at Saratoga
and the capture of Burgoyne (Oct. II,
IT'D, which is, by Sir Edward s.
Cressy, an Englishman, recognized as
one of the fifteen decisive battle of the
world, from Marathon to Waterloo.
After his treason he did his country
much less harm than Gen. Lee, and
before his death repented sincerely for
his great crime, which Gen. Lee $50
far as we know never did.
On reading this we can say with La
mar, "When Prometheus was chained
to the rock it was not the eagle, but
the vulture which fed upon his vitals. )"
1t is upon the dead the vulture or the
hyena would prey. We can further
say with pleasure that Gen. Lee never
repented or apologized for anything he
did during the civil war. Nobody has
had the hardship to apologize for him
since and none need ever attempt it.
His position as commander-in-chief of
the Confederate armies was to him sa-
cred. No man ever came into the pres
ence-of Gen. Lee who did not feel the
impress of his personality; no man can
go where his body lies without feeling
the solemnity which pervades the
place, nor look upon his recumbent
statue without feeling of awe and
reverence, for one whose nobility of
character has found greater admiration
than any man who has ever been born
on the American continent, unless that
man be coarse of fiber and british of
thought.
1t is easy for any person of low de-
gree to blaspheme, it is easy and ma
tural for person fond of vituperation
and SANDER, to say things which not
only he himself but all who hear them
know to be untrue; it is regretable that
blatherskites occasionally undertake to
malign great men like Gen. Lee. But
we find as one passes through life that
great names and untouched reputation
suffer nothing from snch sources. II
they have just fame they continue to
hold their place in public esteem pre-
cisely as if these purveyors of slime
had never lived. Gen. Lees name will
be honored when Mr.. Latham and
most of his ilk, have rotted and been
forgotten, have died unwept, unhonor-
ed and unsing. The G.. A. R. has about
as much to do with debating who or
what shall occupy Statuary Hall as it
has to do with the Panama Canal, and
the more respectable members of it..
know this and act accordingly.