The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-06-23

ment services, Lexington, Va, June
17th.)
We are all Observation-Disclosures we
should be-and / give you the ex-
ample OF the perfect product of what
worship OF the nobleSt hero can pro-
duce in urging you to moose Lee as
your exemplar as Lee chose Wash
ington. / cannot tell you the alchemy
or the tranSmigration by which one
who worships a great man cores to
partake of the qualities Of the object
of the worship. For proof that such
alteration by the youthful worship
per transfuses him and shapes his
being into a character like his hero
] need only point to Lee and his like
ness to Washington or to recall to you
the classic of how the Sc~ulptor's love
of the beautiful woman his art had
created enabled him to speak the
God-like word that allowed her to
break the letters of marble and re-
ward his life-Siving devotion. My
earnest message today then to the
students OF Washington and Lee is:
Get you a hero-one of whom YOU
a truly say that he is
"-Sun-crowned who lives above the fog
in public duty and in private think
ing"
The day has passed when any man
may hope to add a tribute to the
name and fame of Lee. The last word
may not have been said of the South's
great captain, but if not. none but a
prophet or a genius may hope To crys-
tallize the story of his life and make
it the noblest southern epic. Some
days ago i addressed a note to "a few
of the many who sat at his feet here,
seeking to bring you no tribute Of my
own. but to repeat the private eStl-
mates of students who are EVER better
judges Of the men O them than
any mans Your
time will not permit me to read these
matured school boys replies, but I
will tell you that they gave me a bet
ter insight into Lee us a teacher and
as ii comrade than all the histories
and biographies. 1t may not be that
boys are keener in their perception
and juster in their estimates, but
those old boys who wrote me saw a
Lee that not even his soldiers saw,
and he gave the men who wore the
gray a side to his character that won
their lasting love and inspired them
to readiness to die for the cause. In
Lees case it was not so much that the
boys he taught were more gifted IN
apprehension, but it was he
showed to them his real self. ~eveale
to them, so to speak, his soul. more
than to his associates. This is r OF
every modest man. There is a re-
serve when with men OF ones OWL
age. No man can fully rid himself OF
it. If he has a majestic or diSnlheC
bearing like Washington or Lee. thai
dignity is not infreQuentiy taken fol
alOOfness or GOODNESS. But the letter:
from Lees old boys show that h
came into such intimacieS with then
as furnish a key to his youthful spiri
and comradeship with them which
won 9th the love and the confidence
Of his pupils.
Lees Sympathetic Nature.
The biggest thing about going t
college is not what ~you get out o
textbooks or from lectures. They ar
necessary. of course, but is it not tru
with too many professors In our col
leges today that they think their dut
to the student is when he ha
concluded the instruction in the class
room? l am not making any charg
against the devoted teachers in on
colleges, underpaid and often not al
preciated. who are leading the yout
into the ~largeneSs and beauty of learn
ing. am, however. bound to believ
that in our big colleges the St<'ent.
while trained in the colleges and sAien
ces, are not receiving the inSpirln
cOmradeship and leadership Of tha
class of teachers who give myre {
themselves to their classes than the
give Of the books. 1t used to be sal
of a noted teacher in North CarOlin
that he made every boy who came t
Trinity believe that he was the bis
eest man in the world and the pal
ticuiar student to whom he was tall
ing was the next biggest. Lee
"sympathetiC nature and evinced IL
tereSt in each one personality IS TT
ideal for those who aspire to teaC
youths. The best college in TT
world" said Garfield. lis Mark Hel
kins on one end of a log and an an
bilious student on the other END.
envy the men who had the privllei
when boys of sitting at the feet
Lee.
The second message | BRING To yt
this morning is taken from an INC
dent in this college which gives n
my subject: The Success Of Failure
1t is related that upon one OccaSlt
during his presidency of the colies
General Lee summoned a young ST
dent to his office and remonstrat
with him for his failure in his st
dies. The youngster. whose pertne
is uncomfortable. sought to excuse hir
self for his lack OF application III
mastery of his books by saying: Il
General. you failed" Think OF I
~profanation of that thOughtleSS DO
If t,onn Of old RebplS have hea