The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-01-19
ROBERT EDWARD LIE

TAe seESyat4t2g sE4GG@ oE kood man
nse re&eaes 4ovn tAro@SA aSe&"
AEG iAas y Is sA&g - lac eAs hundred and
fezrsA anniversary - Las AlTtA 81 Robert I'd.
Sas1 Lss tie ro4%2aeS Il A5s a4stve Stale comes
asTsA sroa iAe a2&EkessA&e~ As~ the foreuI, the
aAggsz.lS and ts1@ea2x IS @Aasc4 for space.
sAe yo@as isy &s.@e esas <za r@.s. and the ma
xa-sns-y 9. state SIC e.ty government IS stiied,
~AAss the memory e Sre2t and good Ia
HEv2EAt a1rssA 10 the mlEGs Of Virgsnians.
Render unto Caesar these things which are
Caesars
But hat halts and binders the men, women
motest corners OF this vast Commonw ealth. in
doing homage to thei rown and only Lee. is the
proud and sublime contemplation of the mans
peerless nobility Of character combined with the
matchless achievements OF his military genius.
What heart and brain vert ever paired
wha, mind alike conceived and dared?'
To the student OF Lee. of his life. his works,
his ideals and his character there remains
shadow of doubt as to the applicability and fit,
ness of these lines
He loved his state He loved his South with
fine frenzy of zeal and of service which took
him. fully equipped with the warriors and the
scholars attributes. and laid him low at her
threshold on the dawninx of a new day.
The State of virginia arose like a strong man
and shook herself free from the devastation of
carnage and famine unto new day. The South
heard in pain and bore forth strong and
fruitful spirit OF progress, but the figure of her
Lee was laid low. stripped of place, power and
sustenance his beautiful Arlington. whose miles
OF wooded slopes fringing the Potomac. and
whose marble-porticoed mansion CLEANED daz.
zlingly on the heights above the nations CAPT
tal--ali. all snatched from him by the cruel ven
geance of victory In arms. Yet he bore all this
as naught compared TO the desolating grief in
his heart that he must needs have put reason
to the front, and obeying the call of a military
knowledge never exceeded in the worlds his
tory, surrender the Army OF Northern Virginia
and declare the war closed
II were easy TO have brazened the situation
out. To have deluded starved and shrunken
ranks into a fictitious and ParadsicaI hope In a
possible victory their enemy, but Lees
soul and mind went too well paired for that.
Ambition naught to him before the die
tates Of his inner voice-the infinite. Godgven
faculty OF sympathy. ms ght. understanding and
love for his fellow.man all welded into one.
This was no Napoleon seeking 10 FURNISH a
tablet OF fame for himself to immortalize his
name and genius Lees military genius was
equally as great as the dauntless Corsican's
but the love In his heart for humanity was
greater. He surrendered to save lives-the
lives OF others. Something in him must have
died In that act The spirit must have bowed
low to the earths bosom. for life held little for
Robert Il. Lee from that day.
Mercifully, his tenement of clay did not i'm
prison but for few short years The some
thing deathless, thrilingly uplifting and emo.
bling In his life and deed is as alive to-day, how
ever, as In the days OF ct and r65
ssgs Is wslaand FITTING THAT pause ON the an.
adversary Of his natal day 10 pay tribute to his
memory. whose luster grows the more luminous
ms time wears on and keener insight into his
lofty-motived life is given admirer and critic
The South, the nation, has had but one Lee, and
II Is mete and proper that at this time we boom
a thunderous salute to his military accomplish.
ments and in song and verse immortalize his
purity OF character and thought, his boundless
sympathy and his matchless patriotism
ELY's EPOCH MAKING FLIGHT