s pulse had remained calm; he had written
of those successes with the air of one who sees no especial merit in
any thing which he has performed; and, so marked was this tone of
moderation and dignity, that, in reading his official reports to-day,
it seems wellnigh impossible that they could have been written in the
hot atmosphere of a war which aroused the bitterest passions of the
human soul.

Upon this point of Lee's personal and official dignity it is
unnecessary to dwell further, as the quality has long since been
conceded by every one acquainted with the character of the individual,
in the Old World and the New. It is the trait, perhaps, the most
prominent to the observer, looking back now upon the individual; and
it was, doubtless, this august moderation, dignity, and apparent
exemption from natural infirmity, which produced the impression upon
many persons that Lee was cold and unimpressible. We shall speak, in
future, at greater length of his real character than is necessary in
this place; but it may here be said, that the fancy that he was cold
and unimpressible was a very great error. No man had stronger or
warmer feelings, or regarded the invasion of the South with greater
indignation, than himself. The sole difference was, that he had
his feelings under greater control, and permitted no temptation to
overcome his sense of that august dignity and composure becoming
in the chief leader of a great people struggling for independent
government.

The sentiment of the Southern people toward Lee may be summed up in
the statement that they regarded him, in his personal and private
character, with an admiration which was becoming unbounded, and
reposed in him, as commander of the army, the most implicit
confidence.

These expressions are strong, but they do not convey more than the
truth. And this confidence was never withdrawn from him. It remained
as strong in his hours of disaster as in his noontide of success.
A few soured or desponding people might lose heart, indulge in
"croaking," and denounce, under their breath, the commander of
the army as responsible for failure when it occurred; but these
fainthearted people were in a small minority, and had little
encouragement in their muttered criticisms. The Southern people, from
Virginia to the utmost limits of the Gulf States, resolutely persisted
in regarding Lee as one of the greatest soldiers of history, and
retained their confidence in him unimpaired to the