Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 17.djvu/381

 Robert E. Lee. 373

ROBERT E. LEE.

THE ESTIMATE OF THE SOUTHERN LEADER BY A CANADIAN.

The Week, of Canada, contains the following interesting article by T. E. Moberly on Robert E. Lee, suggested by the unveiling of his statue at Richmond :

On the 29th of May, at Richmond, Virginia, the French sculptor Mercie's equestrian statue of the immortal Lee was unveiled. The world needs no monument to perpetuate the unfading memory of this gentle, noble, gifted man. So long as this Northern continent endures, the name, the genius, and the character of Lee shall wield their potent sway upon the mind of man, and long after his puny detractors have crumbled into the dust, and avenging time has blot- ted out their names and memories from the records of the past — in each succeeding age the human heart will on such occasions respond to the sentiment of the poet :

The dead, but sceptered, sovereigns who still rule our spirits from their urns,"
 * ' The heart ran o'er with silent worship of the great of old!

and pay its meed of homage to Robert E. Lee.

The motive which led Lee to share the fortunes of his mother State, Virginia, in the tremendous struggle between North and South was the great principle of State as opposed to Federal sovereignty — a principle which had been rocked in the cradle of the Republic and espoused by some of her greatest statesmen, such as Madison and Jefferson. The legal conflicts between Ontario and Canada are more than an object lesson to Canadians, to prove that the seeds of this apple of discord are being already rooted in our land. There is no need of dwelling on the varied fortunes of the great war which, a quarter of a century ago, convulsed the contending States. Suffice it to say, that the brilliant genius of the great Captain of the South, backed by the indomitable bravery and tried efficiency of his armies, put a tremendous strain upon the vast resources in men and money of the North. And it was only when the absolute want of food, clothing, and other munitions of war made it imperative, that Lee issued the historic order to his army :

'• Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia,

"'Appomattox Courthouse, April 10^ i86j.

C* General Orders No. 9.)

' * After four years' arduous service, marked by unsurpassed