The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-12-17
The Vlcarious Element
i'm the Character of Lee
Phi Bets Kappa Address the College Mary
s. by S. c. MITCHELL President Of the University

w
time. II is not confined to the South.
An eminent publisher told me recently
that the best seller" would DO a Life
of Leo as an American" strange
fascination unqacstiorahly draws morS
and more strongly the attention IF
mankind TO Robert Z. Lee. He has be-
como i problem cha racter in history
somewhat as Hamlet Is a problem
character in literature. Intellectual
curiosity as to Ice concerns itself not
about his campaigns, for the main
facts rs TO them are no longer in dis
putc, not about any particular piece
Of strlteGy. such as tho flank move
ment at Charlottesville, which was
executed hy jackson. and not about his
cardinal views as TO government. So
clety. or religion, for these were set
forth with tbs simplicity and straight
forwardness characteristic OF the mans
dealings as Il whole DIR. j. William
Jones told me once that when lie un-
dcrtook to write tho biography of Lee
Mrs Lee handed over to him . trunk
or two of familiar letters. with the
remark that as IL was impossible for
her TO so through this mass OF ma
tcrials, she must trust IL the Judgment
Of Or. Jones to select only those nor-
lions Of the generals correspondence
which it was proper 20 publish DIR.
Lees letters he did not find a single
sentence that could not with prHprlety
he printed II, a book. SO far as the
rcctitudo of Lees conduct was con-
cerned.
A ProhIcn,- Character.
If then i, is not his genius as a
general nor the principles of his
strategy. nor the facts as to his cam
psisns that provoke renewed study.
what is 1t in Lee that centres moro
and more the inquistive mind of
America upon him? How shall we ac-
count for the continual delving into
this mans career? Grant was mag
unanimous In victory, and has our ad-
nirauon, but he does not excite the
studious curiosity which the pcrsonali-
~ OF Lee provrkeS. Washington was
adanantine in character and achieve
,nent, and all of us wish to know the
facts in regard to him. But the per-
Iisal of his life docs not leave us in a
state OF mental uncertainty, with pro-
hlcms unsclved-w!th nuts uncracked.
Not so with Lee. After you have
narrated the events in his career, and
recountcd his campaigns, and rehears-
cd his story as soldier and citizen,
there is still an imrcnetra6le core In
his character which rivorts tho interest
OF truthseekors, as bosicEinE army
with miners and sappcrs, convcrgcs
its forces upon the central citadel.
The intcrcs, in Lee is not military,
nor political, but intensely personal
and human Ii touches not his CAM
paign, but his character. Lee has Civ
en- history another problem in person
ality.
1 should like for us this evening
to seek To analyze the character of
Ice, with j Wow to discovering the
principle OF his personality that. like
n puzzle, engages mankind.
The influence Of Environment.
No man can escape tho influence of
environment, As leaf is NINA
turc representative of the whole tree.
50 each man incarnatcs the spirit of
his place and time. This applies TO
Lee.
Virgin!a's function in American his
tory has been mediatorial IL was the
mother colony. placed midway on the
Atlantic bcard. Her chief office has
hcen To mediate the interests of the
colonies 10 the North and the colonies
10 the South. This fact appears in
her sympathy for Massa chusotts at the
outbreak of the Revolution. Virginia
had few grievances peculiar to her
self. She was the potted child of roy
ally. Yet, through hcr sympathy for
Massachusetts. and through her dis.
ccrnmcnt that the basal issue in that
struggle was political AMI not ccono.
mic, she ioincd heart and hand in the
contest for American indcpe ndcncc
The srring of her action was sym.
pathy, and il was out of this impulse
that was born tine creative leadership
which Virginia displayed i'll the per.
sons OF Washington. Henry, Jefferson
and Marshall.
The same attitude of Virginia ap.
pears IN the War Between tho See.
lions. SEe-was. not q cotton State. ant
her interest lid not centre In Tho
sroup OF cotton states. Yet, through
sympathy, Virginia cast In ncr 10,
with the Southern Confcdcracy; ant
this Same divine impulse of sympath,
was the secret Of the astounding par
she played III this family tragedy Il
ts, therefore. not an accident that Eir.
:infa has upon her fair bosom tho
sears OF both NoriStow:l and Appoma,
toX, She was pierced with sorrows IL
the performance OF her mcdiatoria
task.
Lee InterprctHtivc.
Lee Interpreted rne spirit Of Virgil
MIA in his own career He was Dor,
and bred on the border. From hi.
nome on the heights of Arlington. h,
looked down upon Tho Potomac, that di
videA the sections. And he embrace,
in the same view tho proud capital o
he whole country. The man il
Charleston OR Nicksburg waa too re
mote 10 be responsive 10 the attrac
tive power OF tho national capital. No
50 with Lee. HIS home faced Wash
5nston.
Robert Toombs did rot have present
Cd 10 him in 1861 two alternatives
iic went with tho avalanche. Lee. OIL
the other hand, was forced 10 the forl
of the road. like Hercules, IA the fabl
OF Prooicous. He had TO choose. Iii
VIII must act. and act consciously
His choice was the crisis Of his ca
reer-not Gettysburg, not Appomatto>
HIS family was strongly for III
Union, inheriting tho federalist IN
stincts Of Washington. After readin
in January, 1861 Life of Washing
ton Lee wrote: 'Hnw his spirit woul
have Grieved, 10 see tho wreck Of hi