With a self-control and equipoise which were never disturbed under the
most trying circumstances, and a graciousness of manner which broke
down all barriers, giving to the humblest as well as to the highest the
assurance of his friendly consideration, and a mind well disciplined by
education in the highest schools, it was impossible that he could have
been other than a man of mark and influence in his State.
It is not claiming too much to say that Gen. LEE was the natural product
of the civilization existing in Virginia during his boyhood and early
manhood, which, alas, except here and there in certain localities, is
fast passing away. The home, not the club, was its center; the family,
not each "new-hatched, unfledged comrade," its unit. The father was the
_head_ of the family, not the joint tenant with the wife of a house nor
the tenant at will of his wife. The wife and the mother was the queen of
the household, not merely a housekeeper for a husband and the family.
Obedience to those in authority was the first lesson exacted of the boy.
Inculcated with tenderness, it was enforced with severity, if need be,
until the word of the father or the expressed wish of the mother carried
with it the force of law as completely as the decree of a court or the
mandate of a king.
Pages:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29