Lee's bitter

of Lincoln.

demned the act. He knew what it meant for the South: the removal of that great, kindly, merciful regret over the figure, whose chief aim, during the last two years of assassination the war, had been to forestall the hate of little men and the revenge he knew they would seek upon the South, once the Union had achieved victory.

Grant's just

the application

Lee went to Richmond, where he was greeted as a conquering hero, as indeed he was. Then, if you The indictment please, a couple of months later, a grand jury at at Norfolk and Norfolk, Virginia, composed of negroes and white conduct. trash, indicted Lee for treason! When Grant heard the news, he was indignant. He said it was directly against the terms of surrender he had given Lee; and through Grant's influence, the indictment was Lee's attitude in quashed. To the astonishment of many in the South, for pardon. in June, Lee applied for pardon, under the Amnesty proclamation. His Southern friends could not understand that; but Lee's attitude was: if I surrender, I surrender completely; if we are going into the Union, we will go whole heartedly, and seek to heal the scars and close the wounds. So he applied for pardon, sending his application papers through Grant. Grant laid them before our government; and no notice was taken of them; and, to the shame of the North, be it said, Lee died five years later, a prisoner on parole!

employment.

Numerous offers of employment were made to him. One corporation is said to have offered him a large Offers of sum per year, just for the use of his name. Lee's response is said to have been: "Well, if my name is so valuable, I would better be careful how it is used";

Lee's purpose in
accepting the
Presidency of
Washington
College.

Lee's magnani

and he refused. Would there were more like him in the land! He declined the Rectorship of the University of Virginia; he declined the Presidency of the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessee; he refused to stand for the Governorship of Virginia: he would have been elected unanimously. Finally, the trustees of little Washington College, at Lexington, Virginia, now appropriately, Washington and Lee University, asked him if he would not please be their President.

It was a small, struggling college, paying its President perhaps fifteen hundred dollars a year. It looked humble enough even for Lee's beautiful modesty; but Lee was not sure. In his letter to the trustees, he said:

"I think it is the duty of every citizen in the present condition of the country, to do all in his power to aid in the restoration of peace and harmony, and in no way to oppose the policy of the State or General Governments, directed to that object."*

If he could further that aim, he would serve; so Lee accepted, and spent the last five years of his life educating citizens for our America. His whole consecrated effort was to overcome the hate and bitterness, cultivate harmony. the war had left, and cultivate union and harmony. His generous attitude is well expressed in a letter, written in August, 1865:

mous efforts to

*

Lee, letter to the Trustees of Washington College, when offered the Presidency: Jones, Life and Letters of Lee, pp. 408, 409.

"The questions which for years were in dispute between the State and General Government, and which unhappily were not decided by the dictates of reason, but referred to the decision of war, having been decided against us, it is the part of wisdom to acquiesce in the result, and of candor to recognize the fact.

"The interests of the State are therefore the same as those of the United States. Its prosperity will rise or fall with the welfare of the country. The duty of its citizens, then, appears to me too plain to admit of doubt. All should unite in honest efforts to obliterate the effects of war, and to restore the blessings of peace. They should remain, if possible, in the country; promote harmony and good feeling; qualify themselves to vote; and elect to the State and general Legislatures wise and patriotic men, who will devote their abilities to the interests of the country, and the healing of all dissensions. I have invariably recommended this course since the cessation of hostilities, and have endeavored to practise it myself."*

In 1866, to a Union officer, living in Lincoln's state, who had been a friend in earlier years, Lee wrote:

"I must give you my special thanks for doing me the justice to believe that my conduct during the last five eventful years has been governed by my sense of duty. I had no other guide, nor had I any other object than the defense of those principles of American liberty upon which the constitutions of the several States were originally founded; and, unless they are strictly observed, I fear there will be an end to Republican government in this country. I have endeavored to pursue this

*Lee, in letter to Hon. John Letcher, Near Cartersville, Va., August 28th, 1865; Jones, Personal Reminiscences, p. 203.

Statement of
Lee's view of
reconstruction in
the letter to John
Letcher.

The letter to
Captain May, of
Illinois, giving
Lee's fundamental
conviction.

The last chapter.

in character

and conduct.

course myself since the cessation of hostilities, and have recommended it to others."*

In the Spring of 1870, Lee was ill and broken. He went away, on vacation, in search of health. He went to visit the grave of his daughter, who had died during the war, while her father was at the front. He stopped at Virginia Hot Springs; did not get better; came home, and grew rapidly worse. During the last hours, his mind wandered, evidently going over his old battles; for almost his last words were, "Tell Hill he must come up!" So October 12th, 1870, Lee died, sixtythree years old.

Nature's nobleman, he was, of high and spotless personal life; with absolute integrity of character, unSummary of Lee varying in obedience to duty as the guiding principle of life; the greatest military genius the Anglo-Saxon race has produced, not excepting George Washington and the Duke of Wellington; so fine and lofty in character and conduct, as to furnish an example for imitation by the youth of America, North, South, East and West; loved by his own people with an enthusiastic devotion given to no other American, not excepting Washington; incarnating all that is noblest and best in that beautiful, passionate and loyal Southland, which is today so precious a part in our united America.

*Lee, in letter to Captain James May, of Rock Island, Ills., Lexington, Va., July 9th, 1866: Jones, Personal Reminiscences, p. 218.

VI

LINCOLN: THE PROPHETIC AMERICAN

F

OR our closing study, we come to that great man,

to whom the nation turned in its hour of sorest

trial, on whom it laid its heaviest burden, through whom the Union was reborn and present day America made possible, and who, in character and leadership, represents all that we hope democracy will some day be.

There could scarcely be a greater contrast, in background and early experience of life, than between Lee and Lincoln: The one, a fine flower of that beautiful Southern aristocracy, with a rich cultural environment, and excellent preparation for the business of life; the other, of the poorest of poor wandering nomads, at the very bottom of the pioneer ladder, with no material equipment for life at all: the one, incarnating all that was best and most beautiful in the past; the other, prophetic, of the future that is to be.

Lincoln was born at Hodgenville, Kentucky, February 12th, 1809. He was thus two years younger than Lee. Lincoln, throughout his life, regarded his family as of common stock on both sides. The admirers among his biographers have done their best to rehabilitate his family tree; and they have discovered,

287

Contrast in family background and

early environment

of Lee and

Lincoln.