Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1923-01-26
FRIDAY. JANUARY Is. 1928
Lessons from the Life Of Lee

AS lOOh OoSh S'S
stormy years following the war
between the states, and see the
majesty of his example, the
serenity of his lofty spirit. the|
beuefcence of his leadership III
allaying the passions of war and
his own freedom from bitterness|
and hatred-when ! see him adj
yising all to submit to the laws
of the land. however, oppressive.
and himself renewing his alleg
lance and loyalty to the govern
ment which refused to grant him
those common rights of citizen
ship given every illiterate negro
in his community, say with all
my heart Would God such a
spirit and such leadership were
guiding our storm-tossed world
today
Surely never were We IN
greater need of the sense OF
human brotherhood, of the spirit
of obedience to law, of subordi'
nation of personal and national
ap,bitionS to the welfare of dis.
tressed and despairing humanity,
and of the serene and unwayer.
ing faith and trust which upheld
and steadied our fathers in those
DAYS of disaster and defeat.
And let US of the New South,
intoxicated with recent victories
and material prosperity, in this
momentous era of change and
reconstruction. learn once for all
not from General Lees example
alone, but from our own fathers
and mothers of 1865. the suprem-
acy of the things of the spirit.
Let me as their unworthy
spokesman reaffirm what Lee
believed with all his heart
aud what the shades of our
mighty dead still teach from
stored urn and monumental
granite, that all true greatness.
whether of an individual or of a
nation, is always and forever
moral, never merely or chiefly
material. Our visible possessions.
our houses and lands, our rail-
ways and factories. our cannon
and battleships-these are not
the essentials of civilization, but
only its tools and trapplngs, al
ready on their way to the scrap
heap. Among them national
character rises like a marble
shaft amid piles of decaying
rubbish.
National wealth may come and
it may 60. National power may
wax and it may wane. The
passing centuries are forever
changing national customs of
dress, architecture, government,
and finance. But the great moral
judgments of the world, moral
standards, moral laws, moral
ideals,-these stand unchanged
from age to age. No transient
spleudor of accumulated wealth
can ever make this land of ours
truly great or even truly rich.
Our invisible assets must be es-
timated at their full value. Civil
honor and purity, height of ma
tional ideals, capacity for hero
ism aud self-sacrifice, commercial
honesty and domestic virtue, love
of justice and sense of human
brotherhood, these Cannot be
measured by long list of indus
trial enterprises, by millions or
billions of accumulated capital or
even by per centage ratio of
iiteracy and illiteracv.
And as We plunge once more
into the busy whirl of our amaz.
ing material development, let
us carry deeply craven on our
hearts this solemn and awaken
ing truth; that the most momen-
tous question which confronts
the New South today IL not one
of manufactures or commerce, not
what we buy or make or sell, not
what We have nor what we will
get, but what we are and what |
our children shall become.-Win-
chester Star.
Above is 4 part of an excellent
address. on General Lee, which
was delivered by DR.. Henry Louis
Smith. President of Washing ton
md Lee University in Winches-
.er on the nineteenth day of
January. We regret that space
will not permit the publishing OF
he entire address.