IGNS.

It is known that General Scott used every argument to persuade Lee not
to resign. To retain him in the service, he had been appointed, on his
arrival at Washington, a full colonel, and in 1860 his name had been
sent in, with others, by Scott, as a proper person to fill the vacancy
caused by the death of Brigadier-General Jessup. To these tempting
intimations that rapid promotion would attend his adherence to the
United States flag, Scott added personal appeals, which, coming from
him, must have been almost irresistible.

"For God's sake, don't resign, Lee!" the lieutenant-general is said
to have exclaimed. And, in the protracted interviews which took place
between the two officers, every possible argument was urged by the
elder to decide Lee to remain firm.

The attempt was in vain. Lee's attachment to the flag he had so long
fought under, and his personal affection for General Scott, were
great, but his attachment to his native State was still more powerful.
By birth a Virginian, he declared that he owed his first duty to her
and his own people. If she summoned him, he must obey the summons. As
long as she remained in the Union he might remain in the United States
Army. When she seceded from the Union, and took part with the Gulf
States, he must follow her fortunes, and do his part in defending her.
The struggle had been bitter, but brief. "My husband has wept tears of
blood," Mrs. Lee wrote to a friend, "over this terrible war; but he
must, as a man and a Virginian, share the destiny of his State, which
has solemnly pronounced for independence."

The secession of Virginia, by a vote of the convention assembled
at Richmond, decided Lee in his course. He no longer hesitated. To
General Scott's urgent appeals not to send in his resignation, he
replied: "I am compelled to. I cannot consult my own feelings in this
matter." He accordingly wrote to General Scott from Arlington, on
the 20th of April, enclosing his resignation. The letter was in the
following words:

GENERAL: Since my interview with you, on the 18th instant, I have
felt that I ought not longer to retain my commission in the army.
I therefore tender my resignation, which I request you will
recommend for acceptance. It would have been presented at once but
for the struggle it has cost me to separate myself from a service
to which I have devoted all the best years of my life, and all the
ability I possessed.

Durin