The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-01-27
ADDRESS
ON ROBERT E. LEE,

tunate heir Of all that heredity could
contribute to nobility of character.
The love Of all things high came easy |
to him.. He was never boastful Of
his ancestry or puffed up by it-only
little souls are-but he was proud Of
his family and it's honorable record
only little souls are not. There is a
true pride Of ancestry and there is
a false pride of ancestry. In the one
is to be found the strongest fncen- |
tive to high living and noble action |
to prove worthy OF the name and
memory Of noble sires, in the other
is often to be~found the strongest in
centive to low living and ignoble in
action under the false assumption
that men may shine in the reflected
glory Of their dead ancestors and
have their faults ana vvices condoned
a of the virtues Of these. Lee
possessed in it's best form this old
Southern pride Of family. Properly
exercised, it is a high virtue and in
the olden times nerved many an arm
to noble deeds and many a soul to
high ~endeavOr. In these ultra demo-
cratic days this true and honest
pride Of family a been too often
scOffed at and mistaken for the false,
and is, 1 fear, in danger of becoming
a lost virtue in the South. l know
ut is noble to be good,
Kind hearts are more than coronets
| And simple faith than MOI mar blood"
but Norman blood may be accom-
panied by the other virtues, too. In
fact, is it not Oftener than otherwise
accompanied by them; and nay not
the consciousness of such an inherit
ance become one Of the keenest goads
to their cultivation?
In Lees character by heredity, en-
virOnment and training, came to finest
hi 0A fhA %~o 49,
ariStocracy of the Old South.
Dignity of bearing, ease and grace of
manner, social charm, high sense Of
honor, chivalric courage, lordly
courtesy, knightly Difference to wo-
manhood. "Faith in womankind beat
with his blood" How lovely this last
trait in him, typical Of the Southern
every generations; not so common,
fear, as it used to be and as it should
be in this generation. Let Southern
women forever be content to be their
own sweet selves, that love and Chi
valric Difference for womankind may
as Of yOre, forever beat with the
blood of Southern men.
Considerable Of Women.
All his life Lee loved and sought
the society of noble To hi.
wife and daughters he was tender
loving, deferential. There is nothing
more beautiful in his beautiful lif1
thar his tender devotion in boyhoot
to his invali mother to whom, as Sh'
once said, he was both son an<
daughter, and in later life to his in
valid wife, to whom, through the Ion!
!. years Of her suffering, he was eve
the devoted, attentive lover. To al
whom, high and humble. he Shove,
a knightly Difference and cOnsiderat
thoughtfulness. You remember hov
II day when several aides entere'
a railroad car that was crowded witt
; his soldiers Lee, their commander
was the first to rise and offer then
: his seat. It is related Of him tina
\ on another occasion, during the las
! days in camp at AppomattoX, he too
his own cup of coffee each mornin
> to the only lady in camp h wife Q
: h staff surgeon, and would not pre-
. Gee with his own meagre breakfas
until she had first been served.
With these cavalier virtues and tn
best inheritance of ariStocracy WeT
= blended also in his character the sim
. pie, strong virtues Of democracy, Low
Of the common man, and recognize
: Of his worth, modesty and simplicit.
- economy and thrift and industry. tn
humblest and the highest were tn
- same in his sight and received fro1
him the am consideration. In thi
y too, this fine blending Of the best
true aristocracy and the best in trl
democracy, Lee was typical Of tt
~ best product of the civilization Of tt
81 Old South? Let us seek to preser'
= both in the civilization Of the me
South"
"a COnsecrated to Duty and God.
The chief attributes hat formed IL
y deep, immova BILE foundation Of h
no character were conservation to du
and reliance on God. Duty" wro
IA he once to his son, SIS the sublime
"a word in our language" In his ov
~ life and character is to be found Il
- finest fulfllment of the truth Of /
,it words.
The Struggle of Decision.
,e, In all the annals Of histOry-sacr
or Secular-there is no Sublimer Spe
of tacle, save nat in the Garden
Gethsemane of a heroic struggle WI
Vi all the bowers. of earth and nature.
ed ood fo11nW dntV thar that OF /.