467 L4 D2 -"vi COLD FACTS The Pen of Col. Lee Writes the Indictment Against the S^^ord of General Lee "The Pen Mightier than the S\^ord' ADDRESS Delivered by Jasper T. Darling At Freeport, Illinois. May 30, 1910 First Edition, Fifty Thousand Copies b^ I^L^ L^33^ Copyrighted BY Jasper T. Darling 1910 ©CIA2G7018 Jasper T. Darling, Late Private Co. G. 61st Mass. Vol. Infantry. Past Commander Columbia Post No. 706, Dept. of Illinois, Grand Army of the Republic OFFICIAL PROGRAM At G. a. R. Encampment, hei.d at Frkeport, Ii.l., May 23, 24, 25, 1910 FIRST DAY— MONDAY, MAY Z", Band Concert Court House Square 2:30"to 4 P. M. CAMP FIRES 8 P. M. at Grand Opera House, First Presbyterian Church and First M. E. Church OPERA HOUSE Music Henney B n 1 Address of Welcome— Mayor W. T. Rawleigh. Response by Dept. Commander Gen. Phillip C. Hayes, Music Temple Quartette, High School Glee Club Ex-Gov. Samuel R. Van Sant Commander-in-Chief Joseph Rosenbaum, Past Dept. Commander Jasper T. Darling, Past Commander Columbia Post Charles A. Partridge, Ass't. Adj. General Mrs. Lula Carlin, Dept. Pres. Daugthers of Veterans SPEAKERS Mrs. Harriet Hudson, Dept. Pres. Ladies G. A. R. Mrs. Ida E. Palmer, Dept. Pres. W. R. C. Hon. Geo. W. Pollitt, Commander-in-Chief, S. V. Mrs. Jessie M. Hale, Div. Pres. S. V. Aux. To My Sister Department Presidents and To All Members of Our Order. • GREETING : Realizing with grave apprehension, that the spirit of exaggerated Commercialism is slowly and surely smothering, and putting to sleep, the "spirit of true Patriotism in our National life, and that, while Patriotism so slumbers, grave dangers are arising to assail the very foundation rock upon which our government was builded, and now stands. Therefore we believe that renewed efforts should be made in teaching true and exalted Patriotism throughout the Nation, and that a calm and unimpassioned study of the great historic truths should be reinaugurated — such as may aid in a better understanding of the past and thereby the better safeguarding the future of this benign Republic. With these convictons beeore us, the Woman's Relief Corps OF THE Department of Illinois, acting through its President, NOW ENTERS THIS FIELD OF MUCH NEEDED ACTIVITY, with the hope that other Departments will engage in and pursue a like Patriotic work. Inspired by these sentiments, it is our pleasure to present for liberal distribution, this booklet, containing the address of Jasper T. Darling, (Patriotic Instructor of Columbia Post, Grand Army of the Republic) to each Department President, remembering that we are organized "To MAINTAIN TRUE ALLEGIANCE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; TO INCULCATE LESSONS OF PATRIOTISM AND LOVE OF COUNTRY AMONG OUR CHILDREN AND IN THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH WE LIVE.' Sincerely yours in F. C. and L., Anna Patterson, Department President of Illinois. Mattoon, III., June 10, 1910. d Commander-in-Chief, Department Commander, Comrades OF Illinois, Ladies of the Orders, and Friends : "With firmness for the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in." These words of Abraham I^incoln, whose brain was the Tem- ple, and whose heart was the home of human liberty, inspire my soul as I speak to you tonight. Within these precincts, where now stands this beautiful city, more than half a century ago Abraham Lincoln spoke. He was in the midst of a pilgrimage journeying from city to city throughout this great commonwealth, uttering words that touched and thrilled the anxious hearts of his countrymen. He looked toward the clouds ; he knew the fury of the gath- ering storm. Fate had decreed that this man of humble birth was to become the monarch of the forum, that the wisdom of his brain was to mould the way to a higher civilization, and that the genius of his soul was to radiate a new and brighter light for the uplifting of mankind. He was called to lead the Nation. The clouds grew dark, the storms broke, and the compact of armies shook the earth. Rebellion said, this Republic must die. But, above the roar of conflict, above the crash of contending arms, louder and yet louder, from the hilltops, the valleys, the mountains and the plains, there rolled and poured that mighty anthem, still heard by some of us away in the distance, as mem- ory wafts the sound : — " We are coming, we are coming, our Union to restore ; We are coming. Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more." The Nation lived, but not until convictions had been sealed, and courage consecrated, in poured-out blood. The Temple of Liberty was saved, but it must be remembered that it will stand only as long as the pillars, supporting it, stand. Its pillars are Patriotism. When Patriotism crumbles the Temple will perish and fade away from the eyes of man. There is a persistent effort in some portions of this Republic to assail the central pillar, even though the Temple, itself, must go down. The flag, which was furled at Appomattox, is floating again. The sword, which was sheathed on that historic da}^ has been drawn from its scabbard and, with the uniform which bore it, now becomes a spectral figure in the Capitol of our Nation. And so the Vanquished of Appomattox are cartooned in vic- tory, while Patriotism stands by with scorn. This determination to vindicate the sword of Treason has be- come the all-absorbing ambition of the South. The most magnanimous L,eader that ever dictated terms to a conquered foe, said to General Lee : "Your officers will retain their side arms, and your men will keep their horses, for they will need them in their Spring plowing." The parole, which L,ee and his officers signed, said that their swords should remain only as a memorial of a cause which then went down in everlasting defeat. But now, after the lapse of almost half a century, Virginia has drawn it from its scabbard, placed it in the hand of L,ee, and proclaimed him ' ' The Iron Duke ' ' under the dome of the Cap- itol itself. Is that picture overdrawn ? Is that statement not true ? Allow me to quote a few words from two letters which I have received from gentlemen who claim to be cultured Virginians — letters which happen to be addressed to myself. The first one, written in Zimpan, Hidalgo, Mexico, reads as follows : — ' ' Dear Sir : The attached statement, made by you, and published in this city, is before me. " The immortal General Lee needs no defense. " However, for your information, I assert, in all that makes the true man, he towers above any thing [mind you, he says ' any thing '] born north of Mason and Dixon's line, past or present, as Mount Washington towers above a mole hill." From another letter, written at Lynchburg, Virginia, I quote : ' ' Dear Sir : I have read your protest against the acceptance of the Lee statue in the Hall of Fame. "I. too, am opposed to this distinguished Virginian being placed there, but my reasons are different from yours. " With the exception of a few others, and those mostly from Southern States, the company there is hardly suited to the class represented by Robert E. Lee ; in other words, your collection of rather mediocre Northerners is distinctly outclassed." And these are the sentiments generally accepted, and boldly proclaimed, by the great masses of the South today. Now, my friends and comrades, if you desire to learn how such opinions can be honestly entertained, as these opinions doubtless are, do as I have done; secure and read Southern text books. Southern histories — books and histories that cultivate young minds to hate the very name of Abraham Lincoln, to loathe everything that contributed to slavery's overthrow and Southern defeat. The authors of those books are enemies to all mankind, and more especially are they enemies to the Southern conscience and the Southern mind. Read those books, if you will, and you will inquire, even as I have inquired, what evil genius is this that would thus poison child-hearts and cultivate sectional contempt, which can end only in discord, if not the fomenter of war itself. What accursed pen would invoke another issue? For more than forty years the soldiers of the sixties have reached out their hands to their former foe; they have hailed them as brothers; they have respected them as citizens in every section of the land. Gen. John B. Gordon, upon the occasion of his last visit to Chicago a short time previous to his lamented death, so attested in strong and eloquent terms. Northern valor has ever extended the olive branch. And what does the South now give in return? The military figure of him who scourged this land beneath the withering breath of relentless war — him who would have left this Republic — the land of his father — a shapeless mass of wreck and rubbish. The wounds were almost healed, but now behold the change! The dove of peace, so long reposing on a reunited Nation's brow, has taken flight, and the raven perches in her stead. They invoke the words of Grant — " lyET us have Peace " — while they persist in doing that which engenders discord and destroys peace. In placing the statue of L,ee upon that pedestal Virginia has violated the faith. She has intensified that violation by placing the sword of Treason in his hand. She has insulted the civilizations of the twentieth century by clothing that statue in a uniform which means nothing in that assemblage except a challenge against the teachings of true Patriotism in this Republic, and in every other land where law is respected and obeyed. What part did Virginia take in the dedication of that Hall to the purposes of Fame? Neither did she, nor did any other com- monwealth, then in Rebellion against Government, take part. It was dedicated by an act of Congress when the guns of Rebel- lion were roaring their defiance against the foundation rock of human liberty. What would have been incorporated into that law had there been the remotest thought or suspicion that Lee's statue would ever find an entrance there? Every intelligent American knows that a provision would have been made whereby the statue of a traitor could never corrupt the sacredness of that sanctuary. So long as Treason is considered a crime against constitutional latv, the statue of Robert E. Lee can have no abiding place in that Pantheon dedicated to the heroes of the Revolution and to those whose achievements have contributed to the upbuilding of this Republic; and the man of reason, zvho ivould approve it, is, uncon- sciously perhaps, bict surely, condoning the spirit of secession, a7id coqueting with Treason itself. Mr. lyincoln said: ''''All we ask of the South is that they come home and behave themselves .^ ' As the last echoes of battle were dying away amid the Virginia hills that good man fell— the last and saddest offering at the open grave where on bended knees a million mothers had wept and prayed — where sorrow had cried aloud even as did Rachel of old, " Hozcj long, O Lord, hoiv longf^ But out of the storm there came the calm of returning peace; and then the heart of conciliation said, come thou, O South ! and share these glories with us. By what manner of reasoning can it be claimed that Treason's image was then in contemplation? I repeat: Virginia has violated the faith; and not only that, but she has violated the spirit and the intent of the law itself. We are commanded to heed these words: ''''The letter of the law killeth, but the spirit viaketh alive.''' How long would Congress tolerate a statue of Arnold in that Hall? Not a single day; and yet far better Benedict Arnold than Robert E. Lee. What reason, or apology, does Virginia offer for this deed? I will tell you: She says (and the whole South applauds) that L,ee was sincere, that his conscience was pure, when he turned away from the Stars and Stripes. Now let us see. Let us consult the record. It is an old record, buried deep among old archives, and held / from the eyes of the world for six and thirty years, but finally ^.^ublished by Henry Alexander White— a Southern historian. It is a letter from Col. Lee, who was then stationed at San Antonio, Texas, addressed to his son, Custis Lee, at Arlington, Virginia, and dated Jan. 23, 1861. So far as I am aware it has never been referred to by Northern speakers or writers ; while only such brief portions of it have been quoted, and, in some instances distorted, by Southern speakers, as best serve to explain away the acts of the author, when he repudiated his allegiance to his country and her flag. 6 It is now my privilege to present the following, more complete and comprehensive quotation from the letter as published : " I liave just conchided the reading of Everett's Life of Washington —enjoyed it very much. And then, as if awakening from a trouhled dream, he exclaimed: ' How his spirit would be grieved could he see the wreck of his mighty labors.' I will not, however, permit myself to believe, until all the ground for hope is gone, that the fruit of his noble deeds will be destroyed, and that his precious and virtuous example will so soon be forgotten by his countrymen. As far as I can judge from the papers we are between a state of an- arcliy and civil war May God avert both these evils from us! The franu rs of our constitution never would have exhausted so much labor, wisdom and forbearance in its formation, and surrounded it with so many guards and securities, if it was intended to be broken by any member of the Confederacy at will. It is intended for a perpetual Union, so expressed in the preamble, and for the e>tablishment of a (TJovernmeut, not a compact, which can be dissolved only by revolution, or the consent of all the people in con- vention assembled. It is idle to talk of secession ; anarchy would otherwise have been established, and not a government by Washington, Hamilton, Jeiferson, and all the other patriots of the Revolution." These words and others of lesser import were written and signed by Robert E. Lee. Webster's reply to Hayne has ever been regarded as the tri- umphant voice of the constitution. lyce's letter endorsed its every word, and he sealed his endorse- ment with his conscience and his name. His analysis of the constitution was an unqualified rebuke against the gospel of nullification as preached by John C. Calhoun. Remember these — the words of Col. Lee — ''perpetual Union,''^ a Government, not a compact^' — idle to talk of secession^ ^ — ''anarchy would otherwise have been established ^ The words of that message and his subsequent acts cannot be reconciled. If his conscience dictated that letter, then what accursed influ- ence caused him to embrace anarchy just ninety days later? — anarchy as he himself had pictured it. Let us now inquire: Would a father mislead his son ? Would he deceive his own flesh and blood ? He told his son that he prayed to God to avert the evil of an- archy and civil war. 7 Then why did he repudiate his prayer to God and lead the hosts of anarchy into civil war ? Why did he resolve that the sword, and not the convention, was the best instrument with which to dissolve the Union ? Why did he decide to lead his native State into rebellion and then struggle to wreck the labors of Washington, instead of fol- lowing '' his preciotis and virhioits examplef That message told the truth, as his conscience knew the truth. // zvas the pen of Col. Lee writing the indictment against the sword of Gen. Lee—'' Thk pen mightier than the sword." It is nine and forty years since Lee unfolded the convictions of his heart to his son. Has the South ever attempted to repudiate that letter ? No! but they have confirmed it by quoting all ex- cept its vital parts — its fatal admissions. It now behooves the South to acknowledge the cold, unyield- ing truth that Col. Lee' s conscience was not clear — that his motives zvere not pure — that his deeds were not exalted w\\e.n. he denied his prayer to God and then tore asunder the Stars and Stripes. That message will endure as long as the memory of of I^ee en- dures as proof of his subsequent perfidy. It was the voice of his conscience calling upon God to spare the Crucifixion, and then, drawing his sword, he became the leader of the Crucifixion in all the horrors of civil war. In Gen. Gordon's book he expresses regret that Gen. L,ee failed to write his own story of the struggle. Just as they were approaching the McLean house at Appomat- tox Lee exclaimed to Gordon, '' I wish I had fallen in battle be- fore this day.'^ Is it a wonder that Lee failed to write a history of the war ? No. He could not write. He could look only downward into the maelstrom where he had led his people. He could see only into the vortex of reeking Hell, where the best blood of the South had been swallowed up — where men had been swept down, like drift-wood, into the depths of the abyss below. Had he spoken, it would have been the wail of a crushed con- science, the moan of a broken heart. Just three months after writing that letter Colonel Lee stood in the presence of Scott in Washington. The aged General had summoned him. History records this interview : Gen. Scott said : Col. Lee, do yo7i propose to resign, or remain in the Union f The Colonel failed to reply. The hero of Chapultepec then came directly to the point and and said : ' ' I szippose yon will go with the rest. If you propose 8 to resign it is proper that yon should do so at once. Yonr present attitude is an equivocal o)ie.'' Col. Lee then answered in these words : "The property belonging to my children — all Ihey possess— lies in Vir- ginia. They will be ruined if they do not go with their State. I cannot raise my hands against my children." And so property loomed above Patriotism in the eyes of Lee on that day. And the South flies into a rage because we have likened him unto Benedict Arnold. Before considering these strange acts of this strange man, let us follow him for a few moments. From the presence of Gen. Scott he passed into the olhce of Gen. Shiras, where Adjt. Gen. Lorenzo Thomas was sitting. Addressing the latter, Lee said : I am told that you said I zvas a Traitor.''' Whereupon, Gen. Thomas arose, looked Lee squarely in the eyes and replied: ' I have said so, do you wish to know on what authority. ' ' Well, on the authority of Ge?i. Scott.'" Col. Lee then said, '' there must be some mistake,''' turned on his heel and left for Arlington. And there was a mistake — a mistake irreparable— a mistake that cost a million graves, and crucified a nation in the anguish of indescribable woe. Both Lincoln and Scott had urged upon Col. Lee the com- mission of Commander-in-Chief of the Union armies; they had relied upon his honor; but his honor went into bankruptcy on that day. History says, " Col. Lee, unth a respectful bozv, zvithdrew from Gen. Scott." From that moment he became the Benedict Arnold of HIS DAY and generation, AND NO TONGUE, OR PEN, HOWEVER VEHEMENT, CAN TRUTHFULLY DENY. Arnold attempted to sell West Point for British gold. West Point became the Alma Mater of Lee. He laid the foundation of all his military power within those classic walls. The government paid the cost. Graduating, he held up his hand and took upon himself this obligation: "I hereby solemnly swear that I will draw my sword only to main- tain the integrity of this Republic, and that, so far as lays within my power, I will preserve, protect and defend the (government and the constitution of tlie United States against all enemies and oppressors, whatsoever, domestic as well as foreig-n.'' And he had studied the constitution. He understood article three, section three— its definition of what constitutes "Treason." Five times he had been promoted. Five times he had held up his hand and repeated that oath. That obligation should have held him by bonds so heroic, by ties so patriotic, by principles so lofty and sublime, that no tempter, for a moment, could have stood before him. The greatest teacher that the world has ever know was taken up unto a high mountain, where, hearing the words of the tempter, he exclaimed: '' Get thee behind me, Satan." - Lee had reached the mountain top, and, from that command- ing height, he deliberately adjusted to his bow the Parthian arrow and hurled it with a Traitor's hand toward the heart of the Nation , and then he hurried away to complete the wreck of this Republic which the wisdom of Washington and the Patriots of the Revolution had so faithfully designed. But let us inquire: Was there not an ulterior influence which caused this contradictory man to become a Traitor on that day? Perfidious England had whispered through the lips of Jeffer- son Davis into the ears of Col. Lee. This great and growing power of the Western World must be crushed and cut in twain. Lee's sword was selected to strike the blow. British gold had bought Arnold. British gold was waiting, and eager, to finance a slave Con- federacy. Bunker Hill and Yorktown must be avenged. To be sure battle-smoke would shut out Fame's sunlight from Mount Vernon; but what cared Davis for the sepulchre of Washington if he could but rule over a Slave-Empire. Would he not then be even greater than ' ' The Father of His Country'' ' ? Sordid ambition listening to English perfidy ! Judas Iscariot covenanting his Nation awaj- ? In the midst of his joy Davis boasted. He then led Lee up unto the Mountain top ; he whispered England's message in his ears. His victim wavered ; he lacked the necessary moral courage to say-, No! '''' Get the behind me, Satan' \' If Robert E. Lee did not become a traitor on that day, then the West Point oath is a travesty, and article three, section three, of the Constitution, is a lie. Arnold went over to the enemy. Lee became the enemy. Which was the guiltier of the two ? The legac}^ of Arlington to his children was greater before his eyes on that day than all the legacies which would have been his to bequeath had he remained faithful to the Government he was sworn to defend. 10 Arnold was promised one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in British gold. By the rules of war Lee's estate was confiscated. I,ater on a magnanimous Government re-imbursed the heirs of Mrs. Lee by paying the Arnold price. And did that price, exorbitant as it was, carry with it the bonus of a pedestal ? And why so remarkable a value upon that estate ? Simply because it had become the burial place of thousands whom Lee's sword had cut down. The soil of Arlington had drawn into its hospitable embrace generous libations of human blood. Arlington, our Nation' s Gethseniane/ And it'hy Lee's statiief Why his uniform ? - Why /lis sword ? Why the Capitol of the Nation, and not the Capitol of the Commonwealth in whose defense, only, did he say he would draw his sword ? The reason is very plain : when accepted by Congress, the distinguishing line between Patriotism and Treason will have been struck down : Patriotism will then have received its dead- liest blow. Beware of the voice insisting ! it is the note of the siren, and not a lullaby of Southern love. Picket is charging again at Gettysburg ! The battlements of Patriotism must be protected or Treason " will mount the parapets and sweep the field ! Shall that accursed day ever come ? . The statue of Lee is the entering wedge.