The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-11-05
A N~ORTHERNER'S
STUDY OF r. E. LEE
Sir. Bradford Aims al the PORTRAYAL
OF h Great Chieftain's Soul
Title Happily Chosen.
(ChicagO Evening Post.)

enSnrlned IN the hearts Of the South
ana VINO Is becoming a national hero.
IS the most successful attempt. vet
made to write the life Of the Con-
federate chieftain. 1t is unusual to
1ind so finished q literary style and
such scholarly and sympathetic treat
ment combined in a biography. The
reader finds placed before him in at
tractiye form just estimates Of Cen
cral Lees military abilities-modesty.
unfailinS courtesy, unselfshness.
charity toward all men, generosity.
sense Of justice and the many other
qualities that made him loved and
trusted by his army from the lowest
private to the highest officer. Was
ever q man more nearly perfect? Has
4 man eve lived who better deserved
the tonnage that has been laid at the
Ieet of this man.?
The other W. characters treated
IN the book in some detail and their
relations with Lee stand out clear and
distinct. A sentence eloquently sums
up these relations. What q splen-
cid mastery it must have been that
kept, on the one hand, the perfect
friendship and confidence Of the
high-strung, sensitive and jealous
Davis, and. on the other, the unques-
tioning loyalty, affection and adj
miratiOn of a SOU so swift and
NNA10 icbSAt oS lllhL " DaNh-
SON. The imagined picture of Jack
son Selling the offer Of the dictator
ship, overcoming all obstacles and
becoming a Cromwell to the Confed-
eTacy. seems very natural and real.
There would have been little selfish
ness in this. little personal ambition.
because it would have been to Stone
wall Jackson just doing the will Of
God.
The authors love for his subject
and his object in making the study
are we'll set forth in the following
sentences: 1T is an advantage to
have a subject like Lee that one
cannot help loving. l say cannot
help. The language Of some of his
adorcrs tends at first to breed q feel
Ing contrary to love. Persist and
make your way through this and you
Will find Il human being aS lOVable
as any that ever lived. At least l
have. ] have loved him, and l may
say that his influence upon my life,
though I came to him late, has been
as deep and as inspiring as any l
have ever knOwn. If l convey but a
little of thai influence to others who
will feel it as | nave | shall be more
than satisfied" Though he has so
well indicated in his appendix the
dangers and limitations Of such work,
perhaps Mr.. Bradford a made the
mistakes of emphasis and of shading
that he points out in HendersOn's
Jackson. BY some subtle, .inexplica-
bic alchemy everything is turned to
Lees credit and his few possible
faults are SO described as to make
him more heroic and lovable. Few
writer's, however, will escape these
mistakes in writing OF such a sub
lect.
NJ x43 49, - L~~. " ~
happy, for General Lee was essen
TALLY an American and not a Sec
tional character. Though descended
from one of the proudest and great
est families Of the Old Dominion, he
was as much a New Englander in
spirit as he was a ~Southerner and q
Nirginian. Perhaps it would be
truer to say hat he combined in
himself the good qualities of both
civilizations. He had the puritan
standards and ideals tempered by a
sunny and kind disposition and orna-
mented by much of the cOurtly grace
and charm of the best Southern lie.
His self-cOntainedneSS and deep re-
serve mad him always, in spite OF
all the warmth Of a loving nature,
- lonely soul. He appeals to the
American national consciousness be-
cause he is a national spirit, and the
prejudice against him OF account OF
his connection with the ~COnfederacy
survives today only In small minds.
The chapter headings indicate very
well the scope of the essay and the
distribution Of emphasis. The topic
Lee Before the War is covered IN
one chapter of twenty-five pages.
The scarcity Of material and the au-
thor's preference are perhaps cqual
~ responsible for this brevity. The
second chapter brings out very wei
the idea that General Lee cast in his
lot with the Confederacy because Nlr-
ginia had become a part Of it. \1r-
ginia was his country. But he was
not a state rights man o was he a
secessionist; indeed. he chung to the
Union and opposed secession up &c
the very hour of Virginia's decision
In January, 1861, he wrote: Il can
antioinnto no oroater calamity fol