The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-05-26

" ~ ~. $500. S u
a. iost tsst srs ersaxsr fis1n ~ II
de- won. There II = &eAth ut y ~
gateway OF more abundant III. 49,
sometimes hear the C0u10derAcy
spoken OF A. The Lost Gauss" II
Ii q huge mistake. 1t Wa not, Il -
not Z lost cause. II there was any
right II i. 4 there was any i e g =
there was anything in It that rose
above the wild death element of
time"-that truth, that Justice, that
timeless thing f. never lost. The
world Is richer today for its Lees.
Its Jacksons, its Beauregards: for
r. ss bur its chicsam n It's
Chancellorsville. The Oonstitution OF
the United States Is a better under
stood. a more human document today
because men, nifty years ago, fought
and died on both sides for what they
believed rightly or wrongly. to be its
proper Interpretation. For freedom
II always more sacred thing when
II has been baptized In the blood of
freemen.
So, my friends1-and I am saying
this chiefly to the younger genera
ton let I. pe with us Let us not
make the stupid. yet far too common
mistake or measuring the worth of
man or a cause solely by his or its
success" so-caI1ed. The successful
man from the point Of view OF the
things visible Is often the most un-
successful from the point Of view OF
the things invisible. The real failure
is not the man who dies poor or un-
known, but he who. however rich and
successful goes through life without
ever having touched hands with God
or helped forward the Kingdom of
-, 49, -. IL
the inner standard that counts--not
what have done, but what am:
not what victories I have won. but
whether went down fighting for the
right; not whether men count mo
successful but whether God counts
me failure; not whether I surrender
my sword at the Appomatoxes OF life.
but whether I do so with a clean con-
science. as a gentleman, a man of
honor and a Christian. For '1t is not
death that matters but the fear of
death IT is not killing and dying that
degrades US. but base living and ac-
cepting the wages and profits OF de-
graduation"
OF such was the man who more
than any other gathered up unto him
self the strength and virtue Of the
f. Lee. Let others speak Of his great
ness as statesman and soldier.
would speak only of his goodness
which after AL In only greatness as
God sees 1t. ! am Scotchman and
am therefore speaking without pre-
JUDGE when I say that I know OF no
life that appeals to me as lived 90
consistently on the higher plane
without cant. without ostentation,
without any conscious effort after
goodness. as that at this Virginia
soldier and gentleman. think
know a man when I see one: and
when I see this man with all his
military genius huYnhlx accepting ono
of the least conspicuous places in the
service in the earlier months OF the
war: when I see him just as humh1y
serving his country as commander-fo-
chief of all its forces when he Was
called to that high dignity: when
hear him say after Characteristic
1T was Jackson who did It." when l
see him peutioning for the restoration
OF civil rights under the Amnesty Proc
lamation, not for hrs own, but for his
brethren's sake; when + see him re-
fusing the governorship of Virginia
lest his prominence should call down
upon his state the animoSity Of Cse
North: when I watch him through
the closing years ut Lexington giving
Of the splendid fruitage OF his life to
the training and inspiration Of thN
exact in the performance OF this more
obs. re service as in the larger and
more conspicuous services Of the wa1
then I seem TO understand that per-
haps God permitted the terrible war
to be in order that IT. might Eive 20
the world a Robert Il. Lea
still may he lead YOU on to victory.
men of America in the battfeneids
OF the spirit where evil is entrenched
and Gods hugles blow for the attack.
Still may the rebel yell' be heard as
you charge once more. not against
flesh and blood hut against principals
ties. against spiritual wfckedness In
high places
This low man sees a. little thing 10
do,
Sees 1t and does It.;
That high man with a great thing TO
pursue,
Dies e'er he knows It.
This low man keeps on adding one to
His hundreds soon hit,
That high man. aiming at n million,
Misses an unit
This has the world here-if he want
the next
Let the world mind him:
That throws himself on God, and.
unperplexed.
Seeking, shall find him.
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