the last eight
thousand of his valiant army, the remnants which battle, sickness, and
famine had left him, he delivered up his sword to General Grant at
Appomattox Court-House, his public career ended; he passed away from
men's thoughts; and few in Europe cared to inquire the fate of
the general whose exploits had aroused the wonder of neutrals and
belligerents, and whose noble character had excited the admiration of
even the most bitter of his political enemies. If, however, success is
not always to be accounted as the sole foundation of renown, General
Lee's life and career deserve to be held in reverence by all who
admire the talents of a general and the noblest qualities of a
soldier. His family were well known in Virginia. Descended from the
Cavaliers who first colonized that State, they had produced more than
one man who fought with distinction for their country. They were
allied by marriage to Washington, and, previous to the recent war,
were possessed of much wealth; General (then Colonel) Robert Lee
residing, when not employed with his regiment, at Arlington Heights,
one of the most beautiful places in the neighborhood of Washington.
When the civil war first broke out, he was a colonel in the United
States Army, who had served with distinction in Mexico, and was
accounted among the best of the American officers. To him, as to
others, the difficult choice presented itself, whether to take the
side of his State, which had joined in the secession of the South, or
to support the central Government. It is said that Lee debated the
matter with General Scott, then Commander-in-chief, that both agreed
that their first duty lay with their State, but that the former only
put the theory into practice.

"It was not until the second year of the war that Lee came prominently
forward, when, at the indecisive battle of Fair Oaks, in front of
Richmond, General Johnston having been wounded, he took command of the
army; and subsequently drove McClellan, with great loss, to the banks
of the James River. From that time he became the recognized leader
of the Confederate army of Virginia. He repulsed wave after wave of
invasion, army after army being hurled against him only to be thrown
back, beaten and in disorder. The Government at Washington were kept
in constant alarm by the near vicinity of his troops, and witnessed
more than once the entry into their intrenchments of a defeated
and disorganized rabble, which a few days previo