Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 20.djvu/379

 Unveiling of Statue of General A. P. Hill 373

Vanquished, yet victorious ; Overcome, but not humiliated ; Defeated, but not dismayed.

Was there no heroism in all this ? Heroes are not made to order. Deeds make heroes imperishable deeds, born of virtue, courage, and patriotism. Genius may make men great ; power and place may make men famous, but the crown which decks the brow of the true hero is more than genius can give or power and place can bestow.

If Robert E. Lee is not a hero in the highest and best sense of the word, can you point to a name on the pages of history more deserving the title ? For four years he successfully led the armies of the Confederacy, proudly, grand, supremely great ! In the sublime language of the gifted Senator Hill, of Georgia, " He possessed every virtue of all the other great commanders without their vices."

" He was a foe without hate, . A friend without treachery,

A soldier without cruelty,

And a victim without murmuring."

" He was a public officer without vices, a private citizen without wrong, a neighbor without reproach, a Christian without hypocrisy, and a man without guilt. He was a Caesar without his ambition, Fred- erick without his tyranny, Napoleon without his selfishness, and Washington without his reward. He was as obedient to authority as a true king. He was as gentle as a woman in life, pure and modest as a virgin in thought, watchful as a Roman vestal in duty, submis- sive to law as Socrates, and as grand in battle as Achilles."

And Stonewall Jackson ! is he not a hero every inch from spur to plume ? His fame is as bright as sun at the noon-day ; as fixed and imperishable as the everlasting mountain peaks of his native State. When his spirit passed over the river and rested under the shade of the trees, the unspotted soul of a Christian hero went to its reward. Who denies that he was a military genius ? Who says he was not an unselfish patriot ? Who does not admit that he was as pure, as simple, and as free from guile as a little child ? Amid the lurid lightnings, fierce passions, and dead thunders of the greatest civil war of modern times, when men's minds were full of evil machina- tions, and their hearts filled with hatred, malice, and all uncharitable- ness, he laid down his life; and yet, strange to tell, not one word of unkindness or reproach assailed his memory. The most implacable