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LINCOLN AND LEE 
 
 PATRIOTIC STORY 
 
 S3) SMITH D. FRY 
 
 ALL ABOUT 
 
 MOUNT VERNON AND 
 ARLINGTON CEMETERY 
 
LINCOLN AND LEE 
 
 PATRIOTIC STORY 
 
 SMITH D. FRY' 
 
 Historian of the Capitol 
 
 All of Fry's Patriotic Stories ]&iss^eminate 
 the American's Creed 
 
 By HON. WM. TYLER PAGE 
 (official) 
 
 I BELIEVE in the United States of America as a government of the 
 people, by the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived 
 from the consent of the governed ; a democracy in a republic ; a sover- 
 eign Nation of many sovereign States ; a perfect Union, one and inseparable, 
 established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity 
 for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. 
 
 I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support 
 its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag; and to defend it 
 against all enemies. 
 
 t- ^"XNV^cV -^^^Xy^^X^^^ado -v, 
 
 CUr' 
 
 Vx-b 
 
l-l!':nOL-v!a.,., 
 
 COPYRIGHTED IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS BY SMITH D. FRY, 
 1922 ; COPYRIGHTED FOR PUBLICATION IN BOOK FORM ; COPYRIGHTED 
 FOR PRODUCTION AND DISSEMINATION ON THE SPEAKING STAGE; 
 COPYRIGHTED FOR REPRODUCTION AND DISSEMINATION ON THE 
 SCREEN -STAGE FOR MOTION PICTURES ; COPYRIGHTED COMPLETELY 
 IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED 
 STATES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 
 
 PRICE, $1.00 
 
 Address all comnmnicaiidiis to 
 
 SMITH D. FRY. 
 
 P. O. Lock Box No. 1714, 
 
 IVasliiiir/tnu. D. C. 
 
 <\< 
 
 
 C^CLU, 
 
LINCOLN AND LEE 
 
 American History Story of Drama, Romance, and Tragedy 
 in Real Life, Told at Last, in Full 
 
 Listen ! Hearken and Heed the wonderful words which were 
 given to the world hy Jesus, the Babe of Bethlehem; by Jesus, 
 the un-heeded Carpenter of Nazareth ; Jesus, the Marvelous and 
 Popular Philosopher of Galilee ; Jesus, the Betrayed Man of 
 Sorrows in Gethsemane ; Jesus, the Christ of Calvary; Jesus, who 
 sat within the boat, on the crystal waves afloat while he taught 
 the listening people on the land ; the Master who said : 
 
 "Greater love hafli no iiiaii than tliis, that he zvill lay doivn his 
 life for another." 
 
 in 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 TO my wife, Mary Randolph, daughter of Lieutenant Com- 
 mander John B. Randolph, U. S. Navy, this last literary 
 effort of a long life of endeavor, is heartily and fervently 
 dedicated, with the hope that better than marble, bronze, brass or 
 granite this work of historic value will prove to be a monument 
 worthy of the subject; a woman that was a model for woman- 
 hood, a wife of incomparable fidelity, a mother of angelic affec- 
 tion and a friend of legions who benefited by her friendship ; 
 a monument chiseled with the heart and hands of love, by 
 
 The Author. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 FROM the dawn of the day when the curtain was raised on 
 the stage of the tirst theatre in this country, each, every and 
 all playwrights and play-writers have sought and striven in 
 vain for the theme, the suggestion or the story from which might 
 be developed and produced the outstanding and the everlasting 
 Great American Play. 
 
 George Washington Custis Lee and William Henry Fitzhugh 
 Lee, first and second-born sons of Robert E. Lee, were present, 
 and in their youthful ways participated in the great reception at 
 Arlington Mansion; a reception concerning which there has been 
 nothing recorded heretofore ; a reception which surely deserves 
 a paragraph or a page in the history of our country. 
 
 From the lips of those participants in the reception the nar- 
 rator obtained vivid informative descriptions of the event. The 
 second son, known at home as "Rooney," remembered a great 
 deal, in fact nearly all of the utterances of his grand-father, 
 whom he loved and almost idolized. While "Rooney" was a 
 Member of the House of Representatives in Washington he was 
 frequently a dinner guest or an evening caller at the home of 
 the writer. He spoke unreservedly and with wonderful loving 
 appreciation of the heroism of his elder brother during the tragedy 
 of the Civil War. 
 
 But, concerning the silent sulfering of Charlotte Wickham, his 
 beloved wife, "Rooney" was surely ignorant entirely. 
 
 General Custis Lee absolutely commanded every member of the 
 family to be silent concerning his own unexampled self-sacri- 
 fices. The only thing that he would say to the folks at home, or to 
 trusted friends, was that "General Ould had charge of the ex- 
 change of prisoners, and I did have some conversation with him 
 about that matter." 
 
 General Custis Lee never spoke of Charlotte, nor allowed any 
 conversation concerning that almost unknown heroine, except on 
 one exceptional occasion when he described to the writer the 
 scene of his visit to inform Charlotte that he was going to visit 
 "Rooney" in prison ; and even then the marvelous man was un- 
 emotional, apparently, as he quietly said : "That was the last 
 time that I saw Charlotte. I did not realize then that she was 
 really dying, even as she gave me a farewell smile and waved 
 her hand so cheerfully. I understood her tears, but I did not 
 understand her physical condition." 
 
 vii 
 
Not until General Custis Lee was in the sere and yellow leaf 
 of life when he knew and fearlessly faced the fact that he should 
 soon stand before ''the pearly gates of the New Jerusalem" did 
 that masterful and mandatory man modify his command of 
 silence concerning his unparalleled deeds. 
 
 On the occasion of his last visit to Washington City, not many 
 months before he reclined upon the bed of illness which held 
 him for more than a year, General Custis Lee met with the nar- 
 rator by appointment at the Ebbitt House; and there, after a 
 brief conversation concerning family affairs and the final success 
 which he had achieved in obtaining recompense from the federal 
 .government for the Arlington Estate, he listened patiently to 
 the hundredth-time request for permission to write his story 
 because it seemed to the writer to belong to American history. 
 Laying one slight and slender hand upon the shoulder of the 
 smaller man, and holding before his eyes the other up-lifted hand 
 as though giving an oath to a witness, General Custis Lee said : 
 
 "After I am gone you may write, but with the absolute under- 
 standing that nothing that I have done shall be blazoned forth so 
 as to share nor to shade the glory and fame of my father whose 
 memory I worship. The people of the South must know no other 
 hero than General Robert E. Lee." 
 
 That impressive inhibition, which could not be forgotten nor 
 evaded, may give to history an innate idea of the magnificent 
 grandeur of the character of General George Washington Cus- 
 tis Lee. 
 
 Inasmuch as the great peasant prince, Abraham Lincoln, was 
 called upon by the conditions into which the life of Custis Lee 
 ran, to stand forth as a commanding figure in the story, mention 
 must be made of him in this prefatory statement. Not many 
 years previous to the production of this work, the narrator gave 
 newspaper publication to the most marvelous description of 
 Abraliam Lincoln that ever had been uttered, and it is here re- 
 produced : 
 
 "No sculptor has I old the story and no artist has recorded the 
 (Irama-comedy-tragedy revealed in the features of that meteor of 
 humanity and spirituality which flashed its brightest iridescence 
 on the field of Gettysburg." said Colonel Richard J. Bright, long 
 time eminent in Washington as the matchless executive official 
 of the LTnited States Senate, the good man who was closing the 
 eighty-fifth year of his sojourn on this j^lanet as these lines were 
 written. 
 
 "I saw Abraham Lincoln when 1 believed him to be the home- 
 liest creature in human form ever permitted to cumber this earth. 
 by walking and talking with the statesmen of our republic." said 
 the venerable sase. 
 
 vni 
 
"I saw Abraham Lincoln on the platform engaged in earnest 
 discussion of then current topics and I believed him to be the 
 most forceful character ever known in the political arena. 
 
 "I saw Abraham Lincoln keyed up to righteous wrath on the 
 subject of human slavery and I regarded him as a singularly 
 lofty demon of immense proportions, stirring strife between the 
 sections of our sacred union of confederated States. 
 
 "I saw Abraham Lincoln administering' justice in military and 
 naval affairs, when he seemed to be a composite incarnation of 
 Julius Caesar and the hero of Trafalgar. 
 
 "I saw Abraham Lincoln in the White House tenderly offering 
 to a mother mercy for her condemned son, sentenced to death by 
 court martial ; saw him revoking the doctrine of 'an eye for an 
 eye and a tooth for a tooth,' substituting for it the new com- 
 mandment 'that ye love one another,' and I believed his face to 
 be the most awe-inspiringly beautiful cameo ever cut by Almighty 
 God to demonstrate that Omnipotence had 'created man in His 
 own image,' and then sent His Son to say concerning mortal man : 
 — 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they dx).' 
 
 "Future generations cannot see Abraham Lincoln in marble, in 
 bronze, nor on canvas, for no human being can portray him with 
 chisel nor with brush. Almost do I offer up a prayer for in- 
 spiration when I strive in words to picture that wonderful man, 
 of whom it may be said with becoming reverence that he was 
 indeed also 'a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.' " 
 
 AND FURTHERMORE 
 
 when mournful and sorrowing millions were bowing their heads 
 in poignant grief, while the mortal remains of Abraham Lincoln, 
 the great Disciple of the Golden Rule, were being laid away in 
 their windowless palace of Rest, at Springfield, Illinois, who 
 would have supposed that the Boys in Blue and the Boys in Gray 
 would ever again become reconciled ; would ever fervently re- 
 peat the vow of the lamented Lincoln, "with malice towards 
 none and with charity for all?" At that time, such a re-union 
 would have been deemed utterly impossible. 
 
 And yet, in less than a quarter of a century, the sons of the 
 valiant American soldiers who had followed Grant and Lee, w^ere 
 enthusiastically marching together, shoulder to shoulder, in Cuba 
 and in Porto Rico, under one flag, with the greatest American 
 soldier then living. Major General Nelson A. Miles, and the 
 greatest living American cavalry leader, Major General Joseph 
 Wheeler. 
 
 And furthermore, who then would have supposed that any one 
 of those Boys in Blue would ever be pleading for an enlargement 
 
of the reputation in history of an officer of the Boys in Gray? 
 
 And yet, during the summer and autumn months of the year 
 1922, Ira M. Bond, one of the soldiers in Blue. 18G1 to 1865. 
 h.aving heard a casual and superficial narration of the Golden Rule 
 life of General Custis Lee, insisted and persisted in his insistence, 
 until the veteran and retired journalist was practically compelled 
 by that Yankee demand for historic justice, to tell to mankind 
 the wonderful life of the Confederate General, George \\'ash- 
 ington Custis Lee. 
 
 Without this statement of fact, giving honor to whom honor 
 is due, this prefatory statement would not be complete. It has 
 been owing to the persistent insistence of Ira M. Bond, himself 
 a veteran journalist, that American history, American literature, 
 and American valor are given this story of Lincoln and Lee ; 
 by one in the sere and yellow leaf of life ; but the only writer 
 who could produce these informative and valuable facts con- 
 cerning a departed friend. 
 
 Miss Letitia C. Tyler, daughter of President John Tyler, gave 
 to the narrator, verbally, her own version of the flag raising. The 
 story was* written and submitted to Miss Tyler for her approval, 
 or for correction. 
 
 On Monday, August 17, 1908, on letter paper bearing the 
 family crest and motto, "Spes et Fortitudo," Miss Tyler wrote 
 to the narrator an autographic communication which now lies 
 before the writer, in which letter Miss Tyler wrote : 
 
 *T am afraid I shall have to ask you to call and see me about 
 the article you have sent to me. I cannot go into the question 
 on paper. If there is nothing to prevent, suppose you pzW on 
 Tuesday night. Yours truly, Letitia C. Tyler." 
 
 Miss Tyler also gave to the narrator her view of the heroism 
 and self-sacrifice of General Custis Lee, after the battle of Brandy 
 Station. 
 
 Seeking diligently to cover all possible points in the story, the 
 narrator wrote to Col. R. E. Lee concerning the nickname of 
 "Rooney," and received the following letter: 
 'T'iavensworth, Burke, Fairfax Co., Virginia, March 12, 1918. 
 
 "As to how Gen. W. H. F. Lee got the nickname of 'Rooney' 
 presents another difficulty. There is nothing harder to get than 
 the truth. I can't recall my father ever telling me how he came 
 by the name, but it is a tradition of my childhood from my 
 earliest recollection, that there was an Irish servant employed by 
 Gen. R. E. Lee, possibly as a groom or in some other capacity, 
 by the name of Patrick Rooney, who, as a small boy, Gen. W. H. 
 \\ Lcc resembled ; and, as Gen. R. E. Lee was very fond of 
 nicknames, having one for every child, and to distinguish W. H. 
 i^'ilzhugh Lcc from his cousin. iMtzhugh Lee, who was a few 
 
years his senior, the former was called 'Rooney,' which name 
 stuck to him to the day he died. 
 
 "I related practically the above in the sick room of Gen. G. W. 
 C. Lee, where he was flat on his back for fourteen months, and 
 he said with a good deal of impatience that that was not true, 
 that the name was gotten from the hero of some book popular at 
 that time. He named the character of the book, a novel I think, 
 but unfortunately 1 have forgotten both. This much is to be 
 said, Gen. G. W. C. Lee never took any stock in accepted legends 
 of history. He generally had a contrary version ; so, realizing 
 that fact, I am very much at sea in this matter. Either deriva- 
 tion is possible. 
 
 "Hoping that you will advise me if I can be of further service 
 in this matter, Yours very sincerely, R. E. Lee." 
 
 This much of private correspondence is given in order that 
 the American people may know that, with the instinct, training 
 and half century of experience in newspaper work, nothing was 
 left undone by the narrator to obtain accurate historic statements ; 
 so that there can be no doubt in the future of the evidentiary 
 facts herein given to the history of our country. 
 
 That truth is stranger than fiction is a fact thus demonstrated. 
 Future readers and writers will place the more value upon and 
 manifest the greater interest because it is miraculously true that 
 these mortals did live and dwell in our own country, and that 
 truth is told on every page of this final production of the long- 
 sought genuine Great American Story. S. D. F. 
 
 XI 
 
STORY OF THE FRIENDSHIP 
 
 OF 
 
 PRESIDENT ZACHARY TAYLOR 
 
 AND 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE CUSTIS 
 
 AND THE 
 
 RECEPTION AT ARLINGTON 
 
The Prologue 
 
 WITHOUT careful and comprehensive reading of Euro- 
 pean history you cannot comprehend American history. 
 Without acquiring detailed knowledge of the history of 
 Great Britain, particularly of England, you cannot intelligently 
 read the history of the United States. English history is a pro- 
 logue to our own history. 
 
 They cannot vote intelligently in the next national elections 
 who do not know the history of their own country ; and they 
 cannot understand conditions existing in this twentieth century, 
 without having a clear and clearly understood knowledge of the 
 history of our country in the three centuries preceding this cen- 
 tury in which we live. 
 
 This great American story is told for the general welfare, and 
 in order that the narrative may be clearly understood this pro- 
 logue is a literary and educational necessity. You must at least 
 know the name and the character of one ancestor, born two 
 hundred years ago, in order that you may the better comprehend 
 the marvelous character of that one of his descendants, the great, 
 great grand-son who walked with men and talked with men and 
 lived, "in this world and yet not of this world,'' because he was 
 intellectually and spiritually far above it, in an atmosphere of 
 purity which was then and is now almost beyond human com- 
 prehension. 
 
 For the warp, woof and worth of this hero 
 Read names carved on his family tree ; 
 
 Custis, Calvert. Lord Baltimore. Randolph, 
 "Light Horse Harry," and Robert E. Lee. 
 
 Daniel Parke Custis, first great merchant prince of Virginia, 
 was the founder of a family that was well nigh a dynasty. Being 
 neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, Daniel Parke Custis 
 had neither knowledge nor image of the fact that Mother Nature 
 had planted within his loins and nourished with his blood the 
 germs of America's most chivalric courage, unparalleled romance, 
 and Galilean self-sacrifice. 
 
 John Parke Custis, only son of the merchant prince and of 
 his wife who had been Margaret Dandridge, and who subsequently 
 became Martha Washington, was the title holder of the famous 
 and extensive Arlington estate ; and his son George Washington 
 Parke Custis, adopted son of George Washington, built the 
 famous Arlington Mansion as a home for his bride. In that 
 mansion was born his only daughter, Mary Ann Randolph Custis, 
 
and she, as the wife of Robert E. Lee, became the mother of 
 the typical American hero concerning whose remarkable life these 
 lines are written, George Washington Custis Lee. 
 
 During his entire life of half a century in Arlington Mansion 
 George Washington Parke Custis was one of the most dis- 
 tinguished and at the same time one of the best beloved citizens 
 of this republic. As an entertainer he had no equal during that 
 half century and since that time his superior has not appeared. 
 
 Such were the conditions when George Washington Parke 
 Custis announced to the society of Washington City, his inten- 
 tion to give a public reception at Arlington Mansion in honor of 
 his son-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee, who had re- 
 turned a wounded veteran of distinction and military renown 
 from the war with Mexico ; and so great was the desire of all of 
 the leading citizens, their wives, and developing children to at- 
 tend that reception in honor of Colonel Robert E. Lee, at the 
 magnificent Colonial home of his distinguished father-in-law, that 
 it became necessary to limit the attendance by special cards of 
 invitation. 
 
 "OLD ZACK" WAS APPRECIATIVE 
 
 But for George Washington Parke Custis the people might have 
 given to "Old Zack" a terrible troimcing. 
 
 Although he was an outstanding figure as a great hero of the 
 Mexican War, there were others ; and his election to the presi- 
 dency in 1848 might not have been accomplished, and Zachary 
 Taylor knew it, if the grand-son of Martha Washington had op- 
 posed him. 
 
 But, that magnificent old gentleman, then in his sixty-seventh 
 year, prayed for guidance by the spirit of Washington, his father 
 by adoption whom he had almost worshipped, and then George 
 Washington Parke Custis announced that he would support 
 Zachary Taylor, and vote for him cheerfuly. He did more, for 
 the old Virginian, the only man living who had personally and 
 most intimately known George Washington, went out and made 
 several speeches for Taylor ; and the political managers of that 
 day knew how to disseminate those speeches throughout the 
 length and breadth of the land. 
 
 in tlie city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November ISth. 
 in the year 1818, The Niles' National Register published the fol- 
 lowing news item: 
 
 "The venerable George Wa.shington Parke Custis gave his 
 maiden vote for the presidency to General Taylor on the 7th 
 instant. This circumstance is handsomely alluded to in the fol- 
 lowing e!(X|uent extract of a speech delixeriMJ 1)\- him al ri bar- 
 becue held recently at Bladensburg: 
 
" 'Strange as it may seem to you, my fellow countrymen, you 
 see before you an old man with whitened locks and a bald head, 
 in fact, a grandfather, who has never yet voted in his life. Living, 
 as I aways have, within the limits of the District of Columbia, 
 no vote was vouchsafed to me until the recent act of retrocession 
 set that part of the District where my residence is back to the 
 State of Virginia. And now I am about to give my maiden vote ! 
 In doing it, I shall exercise a privilege enjoyed by no other voter 
 in the nation — the privilege of casting the only vote that can be 
 cast hailing from the sacred shades of Mount Vernon, and repre- 
 senting the family of the greatest and best of departed men, the 
 father of his country, and, oh, when I appeal to his great spirit 
 in heaven to guide me, how I shall give my vote in this interesting 
 and important election, methinks I hear him say, 'bestow your 
 suffrage upon the most worthy.' " 
 
 Thus you will see and comprehend that it was quite natural, 
 and to be expected, that when George Washington Parke Custis 
 invited President Zachary Taylor to a grand reception at the 
 Arlington Mansion, the President of the United States would be 
 very prompt to respond, and to be glad of the opportunity to thus 
 show his appreciation of the support of the most distinguished 
 private citizen of our Republic. 
 
 Never before and never afterwards was there such a picture 
 of pride and power and pomp in this country; and no such 
 picture can ever again be presented. Over the some-time famous 
 old Long Bridge, there was a procession of gentlemen on horse 
 back, ladies in carriages, individual parties of ladies and gen- 
 tlemen riding high-stepping thoroughbreds ; and all of those 
 ladies and gentlemen were individuals of the upper tendom of 
 exclusive society. They represented the incipient nobility of this 
 republic. Wealth flashed its jewels and expensive apparels, but 
 the nobility of intelligence also was there, and compelled implicit 
 obedience to the declaration that "all men are created equal." 
 
 Only in memory of the aged and ageing, and only upon the 
 pages of history can the Long Bridge live. Such styles of raiment 
 for men as well as for women cannot now be reproduced, nor 
 ever will be ; and never upon any stage can be depicted the scene 
 of that procession of the elect across that highway to the Arling- 
 ton estate, though the embowered roadways ascending Arlington 
 Heights, and into the great enclosure of landscape surrounding 
 the mansion. 
 
 Gayety prevailed, happiness was the dominating spirit of the 
 occasion. Although ambition may have shrouded the hearts of 
 some of the guests there, as everywhere, even the faces of those 
 were masked with smiles as seemingly real as the indescribable 
 smiles of innocence upon the beautiful faces of babes in arms of 
 mothers. 
 
 5 
 
And so, at the appointed time on the afternoon of March 8, 
 1849, a wonderfully beautiful spring-time day, joy was uncon- 
 fined ; and as the guests began to arrive a line was formed along 
 the graveled pathway south of the mansion ; lively chattering and 
 gossiping echoing in the trees not unlike the musical discussions 
 of the myriads of birds. 
 
 Although the sun was shining, there was an invigorating breeze 
 sweeping over the heights. Prudent observers realized that out 
 of the great northwest clouds were coming and that cumuli were 
 forming in the warm glow of the declining sun. Wise men and 
 women of mature years realized that although the customary 
 blizzardy storm of inauguration day had not appeared, the season 
 was ripe for atmospheric gymnastics. 
 
 And, while the reception was at the pinnacle of perfection and 
 ""soft eyes looked love to eyes that spake again, and all went 
 merry as a marriage bell," the weather was developing mischief. 
 ""The snow, the beautiful snow," was mantling the land, and, 
 ■while the sun was placing its good-night kiss upon the Federal 
 City, and was touching with gold the tall tree tops while it 
 purpled the distant hills, the winds began to whistle wierd 
 warnings. 
 
 Consequently there was another moving picture on the Long 
 Bridge ; a picture of unrestrained gayety and undiminished hap- 
 piness, as the returning procession proceeded upon, over and 
 through the white roadway. Bright eyes were brighter and 
 roseate cheeks in perfect health became ruddy and glowing as 
 the rich and the great, in the pomp and the pride of their 
 Avorldly estate, rode, marched and ambled homeward. That night 
 many a gallant knight and many a lady fair retired to a com- 
 fortable bed to "listen to the patter of the soft rain overhead." 
 
 You should have been told before that, although useful and 
 absolutely necessary to contiguous mankind, the Long Bridge 
 was not ornamental, and there were no solemn obsequies when 
 it was destroyed to make room for the modern highway bridge, 
 an architectural achievement which is as beautiful as it is useful. 
 But. between the two pictures of the bridge which many hated 
 because of the thousands of young Yankees which marched across 
 it, and. after this interlude of history, we must return and par- 
 ticipate in 
 
 THE GREAT RECEPTION AT ARLINGTON 
 
 On the lower stc]') of the great Greek Portico of the Arlington 
 Mansion stood the receiving line, George Washington Parke 
 Custis, then G5 years of age. dressed in the garments of Colonial 
 days, and next to him his wife; next to her the son-in-law of 
 whom they both were very proud, Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. 
 
Lee, and next to him the wife who loved him with an almost 
 idolatrous affection. 
 
 In the right of this word picture there must be shown the 
 tables, prepared with lavish care and with lavish expenditures, 
 attended by the slave servants who were well trained and well 
 versed in their duties, each and everyone of them. 
 
 The Marine Band was then an infant musical organization 
 under the direction of Professor Scala, and the members of that 
 band were properly located on the portico. 
 
 At the head of the receiving line of that greatest home recep- 
 tion ever held in this republic came Zachary Taylor, President of 
 the United States, next to him Millard Fillmore, Vice President 
 of the United States ; Howell Cobb of Georgia, Speaker of ihe 
 House of Representatives, and following them the Members of 
 the United States Senate and of the House of Representatives, 
 and next to them the Members of the Cabinet of the new 
 Administration. 
 
 President Zachary Taylor, Vice President Fillmore, and Speaker 
 Howell Cobb took their places along side the receiving line while 
 the others attending the reception proceeded on to the tables 
 where they were met by the trained servants with mint juleps 
 and other delicacies which were part of the necessities of all 
 receptions in those days. 
 
 After the gentlemen had passed the reviewing line the ladies 
 of their families came, each one with modest well-bred pride 
 taking her proper place in the line in accordance with the rank 
 of her husband ; and after the ladies had passed the reviewing 
 line they ascended the steps of the portico, entered the great 
 reception room and the other rooms prepared for the reception 
 of such a gathering of the nobility of the republic. Mrs. Custis 
 and her daughter, Mrs. Lee, entered the ISIansion to entertain 
 the ladies who were also served with refreshments by the trained 
 negro house servants of the estate, while upon the portico quite 
 naturally were grouped the heroes of the war with Mexico. 
 President Zachary Taylor, General Winfield Scott. Colonel 
 Robert E. Lee, and other Army officials in accordance with their 
 ranks. Senator Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, also one of the 
 distinguished veterans of that war, and a West Point graduate 
 of extraordinary merit, eagerly joined the coterie. Having been 
 Secretary of War, and usually in touch with military affairs, 
 Jeff'erson Davis was always welcome in military circles. While 
 occupying the position of Secretary of War it was he who had 
 designated Robert E. Lee to be Superintendent of the Military 
 Academy at West Point. In common with all military men of 
 that period Jefferson Davis cherished with esteem and antici- 
 pation of greatness, the chief guest of that great reception, 
 Colonel Robert E. Lee, the almost defied son-in-law of the host 
 of the occasion, George Washington Parke Custis. 
 
But, before giving details of the sayings and domgs on that 
 great occasion; before telHng of the discussions which followed 
 the juleps and other refreshments, let us look over the line of 
 the visitors who came to receive the hospitality of the host and 
 to honor the chief guest of the occasion, the military hero con- 
 cerning whom the whole world was to hear, and whose deeds 
 were to fill the pages of American history for all time. The guests 
 were distinguished and numerous, as you will observe by scan- 
 ning the list of those who came to 
 
 THE GREAT RECEPTION 
 
 President Zachary Taylor of Louisiana, 
 
 Vice President Millard Fillmore, 
 
 Secretary of State James Buchanan. 
 
 Secretary of War Wm. L. Marcy, 
 
 Major General Winfield Scott, 
 
 Senator John C. Calhoun, 
 
 Speaker Howell Cobb, . . 
 
 Senators Mason and Hunter of Virginia, 
 
 Senators Dickinson and Seward of New York, 
 
 Senators Downs and Soule of Louisiana, 
 
 Senators Gwin and Fremont of California, 
 
 Senators Houston and Rusk of Texas, 
 
 Senators Douglas and Shields of Illinois, 
 
 Senators Clay and Underwood of Kentucky (L'nderwood was 
 grandfather of Oscar U.), 
 
 Senators Webster and Davis of Massachusetts, 
 
 Senators Jefferson Davis and Henry Foote of Mississippi. 
 
 Senator Cass of Michigan, 
 
 Senator Benton of Missouri. 
 
 Senators Tom Corwin and Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, 
 
 Wives, daughters and ladies of families of Senators and 
 Representatives. 
 
 Senator Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, who was to become \'ice 
 President by the election of the national ticket of a new political 
 party only twelve years in the future ; Hannibal Hamlin attended 
 the great reception, although he came some time after the formal 
 greetings of the reception line. 
 
 You will observe that there was no North and no South in 
 those days, although the slavery question was forging to the front. 
 
 In the large carriage with Senator Hannibal Hamlin there 
 came an active and alert little man ; one whose eyes and face 
 radiated intelligence ; a man so slender as to excite wonder at 
 his pali:)a])le fires of inexhaustible energy. The small man was a 
 Representative from Georgia, named Alexander Hamilton Ste- 
 phens. It was written in the book of fate that he should become 
 Vice President of a newly organized government, twelve vears 
 
later, and at the same time that Hannibal HamUn was to become 
 Vice President of the United States. 
 
 The new government was to be known, while it lasted, as the 
 Confederate States of America. 
 
 Now, where did that name come from? Who originated it? 
 If you will read the brief inaugural address of President John 
 Tyler, you will observe that he therein spoke, officially, of "this 
 CONFEDERACY"; and President Tyler thus gave the first 
 and only official interpretation of the Constitution of the United 
 States, holding that instrument to be indeed "a. rope of sand" ; 
 as British diplomatic officials always had declared it to be. 
 
 John Tyler was the first eminent official in this country to thus 
 proclaim the right of secession of a sovereign state. That state- 
 ment in the inaugural address of President John Tyler gave the 
 name to the Confederate States of America. 
 
 Incidentally it must be noticed that the leading men of the 
 North and of the South knew each other well. Those in civil 
 life and those in military life were well acquainted; and, when 
 the disunion came so speedily after that great reception at Arling- 
 ton, the leading antagonists knew and could respect the merits 
 and mental calibers of each other. But. at that time, on that 
 particular date 
 
 THERE WAS ONE 
 
 Member of the House of Representatives who was not very 
 well known. He was not included in the list of guests invited 
 to the great reception. That he failed to receive an invitation 
 was not because of his obscurity only. His name was well known. 
 His one term of two years was concluded, and he was preparing 
 to return to his distant home, after calling and paying his respects 
 to the recently inaugurated President. Zachary Taylor. 
 
 But, even if he had remained in Washington City, the obscure 
 Member would not have received an invitation to the reception. 
 It was utterly impossible that he could even expect an invitation, 
 for he belonged and he knew that he belonged to that class of 
 citizens known as "poor white trash." He was known to be a 
 working man. It was known that he had always been kept hard 
 at work for his bread and butter. Men of the working classes 
 were not expected to invade the classes of the prosperous ; and 
 they did not expect to receive invitations. This neglected Mem- 
 ber of Congress had been working on farms of the western 
 frontier of American civilization. Quite a large part of his life- 
 time had been spent in felling trees, cutting them into logs, for 
 home building. Thousands of those felled trees, after having 
 been cut into logs, this Member of Congress had split into rails 
 for the building of fences. He was known, and contemptuously 
 known, as "a rail splitter." His home was in Illinois, and his 
 
name was Abraham Lincoln; and, as he sat alone in his room 
 at Gadsby's Hotel on the night after inauguration there came 
 to him visions of his prairie home and the frontier friends with 
 whom he was popular ; and the coming gorgeous reception received 
 not even a passing thought ; certainly not a wish nor a regret in 
 the simple and honest heart of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 On the contrary, the new Congressman was solemnly reflective, 
 saying to himself : 
 
 "Our Father in Heaven has been very good to me. He has 
 led me out of the wilderness of poverty and anxiety into the 
 Promised Land of peace and plentv. He leadeth me by still 
 waters. He restoreth my soul. My ways now are ways of 
 pleasantness and all of my paths are paths of contentment. And, 
 Mother has plenty, too. Praise the Lord !" 
 
 As he prepared for "tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy 
 sleep,"' he glanced at the big old-fashioned bedstead, and smiled. 
 It reminded him of the big bed in the rooming house of old 
 Mrs. Bedloe. in Springfield, where, only a few years before, he 
 had experienced difficulty in earning the money with which to 
 pay a modest monthly rental. 
 
 Vivid memory brought before him a moving picture of old 
 Father Speed, the gentleman from Kentucky who kept the gen- 
 eral store at Springfield; the kind of a store that lives only in 
 history; or, in the memories of those now old and gray or bald, 
 or both. In those days the "frontier general store" carried a 
 stock of everything, from pins and needles to bufifalo robes and 
 bullet molds ; also molds for making tallow candles. 
 
 This merchant (Speed) had a young man from Louisville as 
 his principal clerk ; although he employed others as they were 
 needed by the day or week. One damp, chilly, windy day of 
 November the young lawyer (Lincoln) came into the big cara- 
 vansary of merchandise, which covered almost half an acre of 
 ground, sat silently beside one of the big cannon stoves which 
 heated the place, until he caught Speed at leisure for a minute, 
 and Lincoln said : 
 
 "Speed, I want to know what it will cost for a single bed- 
 stead, mattress and a pillow. I've got a big bufifalo robe, which 
 I use in the cutter when I am obliged to travel ; and that robe 
 will do for a covering at nights on my bed. I have two rooms 
 at my shack. The front room is all the law office I need, and I 
 can make a bedroom of the back room and thus save rent. Times 
 are awful hard and if I can buy a little bed and outfit, with 
 time to pay for it, I can save quite a bit of money in rent in the 
 course of the year." 
 
 That little statement told of poverty and of a struggle for 
 existence without thinking of comfort, much less of luxury. 
 Abraham Lincoln was poor; yes, pitifully poor. 
 
 10 
 
WHEN LINCOLN MOVED 
 
 After some conversation on the subject Speed told the young 
 lawyer, whom he liked very much and for whom he had a special 
 regard, because of his having been born in Kentucky ; for Ken- 
 tuckians are clannish, always have been, and may they always 
 continue to be, neighborly clannish ; so Speed liked Lincoln and 
 told him that his clerk, the young man from Louisville, was 
 going back home on the following day, which was Saturday ; that 
 he was to be married and remain in Kentucky. Speed then 
 asked the poor young lawyer to go upstairs with him, and Lin- 
 coln accompanied him. 
 
 The second story (and it was the top story, too) contained 
 hundreds of barrels and boxes of merchandise of all sorts. 
 Threads were strung all around the walls and ceilings, and they 
 carried dried apples and dried peaches for sale and use during 
 the winter. In the center, near the sheetiron "drum" which sur- 
 rounded the stovepipe and radiated heat for that upper floor, 
 there was a big bedstead, with feather bed and feather pillows, 
 and also plenty of bedding. Speed said: 
 
 "If you can get along here, Abe. you can have this place, rent 
 free, until you get better fixed. Take the place, save rent, keep 
 warm, be comfortable, and take what you want to eat out of the 
 store ; and pay me. boy, when you get good and ready." 
 
 Gravely and sincerely Lincoln thanked Speed for the offer, 
 knelt down beside the bed for a couple of minutes and went 
 downstairs. There was no telephone to use in those days. There 
 was no transfer company. Drays were few and far between on 
 that day when Lincoln wanted to move his household goods. 
 But he managed to pack up all his belongings that afternoon and 
 move. Inside of half an hour after leaving the store Abraham 
 Lincoln came back, carrying across his shoulders an old-fashioned 
 pair of saddle bags, such as were carried on horses' backs back 
 of the saddle. Lincoln passed through the store, went upstairs, 
 walked to the bed and was heard to drop the saddle bags. Then 
 he ran lightly downstairs, went to the big cannon stove, sat down 
 in an old, well-whittled chair, poked his big feet up against the 
 railing around the stove, looked at the proprietor and said : 
 
 "Well, Speed, I've moved !" 
 
 EXTRAVAGANCE OF HENRY CLAY 
 
 In the early morning of the day of the Great Reception at 
 Arlington the obscure Congressman was downstairs, and at the 
 newsstand of the hotel he had paid five big round copper pennies 
 for the Weekly Patriot, published by Major Beverly Tucker, an 
 eminent Virginian. By his side there came an elderly gentleman, 
 as tall as himself, and as homely, too; but of a different type. 
 
 11 
 
The young man immediately recognized, and modestly introduced 
 himself to the most popular man in the United States; a man 
 whose personal popularity was never equaled in political affairs 
 until fifty years had elapsed, and Theodore Roosevelt stood In the 
 spot-light. The young man said : 
 
 "Please pardon me. Sir, but I know you by sight ; and am one 
 of your countless thousands of admirers. Having been born in 
 old Kentucky you will pardon me, I am sure, for introducing 
 myself to Senator Henry Clay. My name is Lincoln. I was 
 born in Hardin County." 
 
 Like all men truly great the distinguished statesman from 
 Kentucky was approachable. With kindly geniality he greeted 
 Mr. Lincoln, and at once launched into the narration of one of 
 the numberless stories for the telling of which he was justly 
 noted. Clasping the ample wage-earning hand of the man from 
 Illinois, Senator Clay said : 
 
 "Your name reminds me of my enthusiastic friend Bill Linkins 
 of Breathitt County, who has told to hundreds of people about 
 his meeting with me on an Ohio river steamboat. He tells all of 
 them that I am a good fellow, but that I am frightfully extrava- 
 gant. He proves his story by showing to everybody the silver- 
 handled tooth brush that I gave him as a present ; and I must 
 admit that it was an expensive present. 
 
 "The big mountaineer came into the wash room of the Ohio 
 river steamboat one morning and noisily washed his be-whiskered 
 face, sputtering profusely as he held double handsfull of water 
 before his mouth and nostrils. He noticed me combing my head, 
 and borrowed my white bone hair comb. I gave him the comb 
 to remember me by; and had barely done so when he asked me 
 to loan him my tooth brush also. I cheerfully complied, and, 
 when he handed it back to me I made him a present of it, telling 
 him to show it to his friends as a memento of Henry Clay. He 
 does so, and grows eloquent over my generosity, liberality, and 
 extravagance." 
 
 Not only Senator Hannil)al Hamlin and his friend Representa- 
 tive Stephens were late comers: for, as is customary even until 
 this day, there are men and women whose heart-beats are so slow 
 and so irregular that they cannot learn the value of time. More- 
 over, those unfortunates quite naturally hate the men and women 
 who are favored by nature with perfect physiques and perfect 
 mental machinery ; who are also blessed with educational training 
 which impels promptness and reliability. 
 
 Until this day we have millions of pretentious men and women 
 who falsely proclaim themselves to be ladirs and gentlemen, who 
 are neither, for ihcy deliberately lie and lie and lie. Their 
 
 1•^ 
 
promises are worded "I'll try" to be there, or "Til try'' to do 
 .as you wish, when they do not intend to try, and they do not try. 
 They are habitual liars, and double dealers in falsehood. 
 
 For, when chided for their falsehoods, they always answer with 
 another lie, saying: "I was too busy;" when they had not been 
 busy at all. Graduates of the schools of U. S. Grant, of Robert 
 E. Lee, of Nelson A. Miles and of John J. Pershing, are always 
 on time, and always keep their engagements. 
 
 On the occasion of the great reception at Arlington there were 
 no graduates of those military schools ; and so, there were many 
 late arrivals. But, dilatoriness was customary, and nobody cared 
 or even noticed the absentees, until they arrived with excuses. 
 Some of those excuses were based on good foundations. 
 
 Within an hour after the beginning and ending of the formal 
 reception a most distinguished gathering thronged the great and 
 grand Portico, each gentleman having his own pipe and canvas 
 bag of tobacco; or, having Pennsylvania stogie cigars or the 
 more pretentious makes then coming into the markets. More- 
 over, each gentleman had his mint julep, excepting Mr. Custis 
 and a very few others who preferred small glasses of wine. It 
 was in view of this assemblage of great men who were then 
 makers of great events, that a belated big carryall arrived bringing 
 Judge and Mrs. Wickham from their estate west of Mount Ver- 
 non; and as the country roadways in the spring time are always 
 rough and frequently impassable, it was wonderful that they had 
 been able to come at all, despite the fact that they were among, 
 the nearest and dearest of neighbors in those days when the in- 
 dividuals of neighborhoods were dwelling apart many miles. 
 Guests who had not known the Wickhams were greatly surprised 
 to note in the seat between Judge and Mother Wickham 
 
 A GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL DOLL. 
 
 and it was so well dressed, so carefully tailored, with such wonder- 
 fully long golden curls, the people were astounded ; and the more 
 so, when, as soon as Judge and Mother Wickham had alighted, 
 the big beautiful doll baby came to life and moved. Yes, it more 
 than moved, for it sprang out onto the Portico steps and fairly 
 flew over to Grand-pa Custis and almost over-turned that gracious 
 and incomparable host. Grand-pa Custis took up the little licauty 
 and held her in his arms until Senator Mason of Virginia took 
 her, and then loaned her to President Taylor, who said that she 
 seemed a little angel that had come down with the falling stars 
 of the previous night. She knew the great big Christian Goliath, 
 reached out her arms to hirp. and General Scott lifted her up and 
 seated her u])on one of his broad shoulders, and then everybody 
 •could see lovely little Charlotte Wickham. the 12-year-old wonder 
 
 13 
 
girl of eastern Virginia; and they saw the deep yellow golden 
 curls that were hanging and glistening away below her waist ; 
 such curls as can only be seen, usually, in the Scandinavian coun- 
 tries where the girls grow vip on the hill sides with the sheep 
 flocks ; and they saw such ruddy red cheeks as are only worn by 
 peaches in full bloom ; and Charlotte smiled at everybody and 
 showed to all of them such tremendously large and well propor- 
 tioned intelligent blue eyes as one expects to see only in old Ire- 
 land "where the river Shannon flows." And little Charlotte gave 
 to all of them such an honestly innocent, interested and interest- 
 ing baby stare, that immediately, everybody loved Charlotte 
 Wickham. 
 
 As she sat there perched upon the shoulder of the greatest 
 soldier of our country, with a little arm around his head and neck, 
 as she beat a tattoo on his broad breast with her white slippered 
 feet, the little assemblage noted the pretty white silk pantalettes 
 with ankle flounces, the graceful movements of the energetic 
 little marvel, and they saw Charlotte Wickham just as she ap- 
 peared a few weeks later, saying to Mother Wickham 
 
 "I'm to be Queen of the May, Mother; 
 I'm to be Queen of the May." 
 
 And, peeking through the stone balustrades of the Portico, 
 observers could see the admiring, worshipful eyes of the big boy, 
 the second son of Robert E. and Mary Ann Lee ; eyes that looked 
 in wonder and amazement as one might view in some tabernacle, 
 the Holy of Holies; and thus, during all his tesselated after life. 
 William Henry Fitzhugh Lee looked upon Charlotte Wickham. 
 The first of the happiest moments in his recollection was the day 
 when little Charlotte called him by the nickname of his home, 
 the name by which his father called him; and after that day he 
 was always "Rooney Lee" in the vocabulary of little Charlotte 
 Wickham. 
 
 And, just think of the pernicious, misleading hands of fate that 
 feed us with hope and give to all of us the poison drink of dis- 
 appointment. It was only in the natural routine of destiny and 
 fate that Charlotte should admire her playmate, trust him. rely 
 on him for defense if needed, believe in his integrity and almost 
 love him in full partnership with his admiration of her; but. 
 Charlotte knew that, somehow, it was not Rooney, but another 
 whose coming made her heart go pit-a-pat and made her breasts 
 defy her control as they heaved faster, breaths that were close 
 imitations of sighs; and. her heart did not go pit-a-pat nor her 
 breast heave the faster nor her breath fade into gasps, when 
 Rooney came. And yet. she did love Rooney; just, honor bright.. 
 
 14 
 
a little bit; but to Rooney, Charlotte was not a thing of his life a 
 part ; she was his whole existence. 
 
 Rooney Lee did not have the vocabulary to express his wor- 
 shipful admiration; nor did he have the courage to even attempt 
 an expression of adoration, for it requires assurance as well as 
 courage to go to a sacred shrine and ask for selfish possession. 
 And so, Rooney "stood outside the door" of her heart and did not 
 dare to say a word; and yet his heart throbbed with hope for 
 the future; the future which is so distant from boyhood's vision. 
 Rooney only knew 
 
 "The smiles and tears of boyhood years 
 The thoughts of love, imspoken." 
 The hopes and fears of manhood years 
 Ambition's temples broken. 
 
 To Rooney, Charlotte was incarnate perfection. To Charlotte, 
 Rooney was a worthy descendant of Martha Washington, a credi- 
 table son of Colonel Robert E. Lee, a very obedient swain and 
 social subject that she could command, and trust; and she liked 
 him better than she liked the other boys that she knew. But, 
 before we analyse these children, let us take up the next page of 
 our history which is replete with interesting moving pictures. 
 One of the best of those scenes is that of the 
 
 INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT ZACHARY TAYLOR 
 
 which occurred on March 5, 1849. It must be remembered that 
 there were not more than twenty thousand inhabitants of Wash- 
 ington City at that time ; but more than five thousand prosperous 
 people who could afford to travel came from all parts of the 
 country to witness the induction into ol^ce of a new president ; 
 and one so wonderfully popular. In the throng that came from 
 the western and southern frontiers there appeared the Texas man 
 who desired to be the "Minister to Dahomey." 
 
 Great crowds, intense enthusiasm, noisy demonstrations, all in 
 beautiful weather, characterized the day of the inauguration of 
 the Mexican war hero on that first Monday in March, 1849. The 
 ceremonies had been deferred one day, because the fourth day 
 of March came on Sunday and President Polk remained in the 
 White House until the evening of that day. 
 
 Excepting only the wonderful executive mansion, there were 
 only two public buildings completed in Washington City at that 
 time. The Patent Office covered an entire block of ground be- 
 tween F and G Streets on the south and north sides of the build- 
 ing; Seventh and Ninth Streets being the boundary lines east 
 and west. On the south side of F Street, extending to E Street 
 
 15 
 
was another building worth while. It was only half as large 
 as the Patent Oflice building, and extended from Seventh to 
 Eighth Streets, as it does until this day. It occupied the site 
 of Blodgett's Hotel, a large brick structure which had been used 
 by the Congress after the British vandalism of 1814. The new 
 marble building was occupied by the Postoffice Department. 
 
 On Capitol Hill there were two buildings, one hundred feet 
 apart, and connected by a covered wooden bridge. Those two 
 buildings formed the nucleus of the magnificent Capitol of sub- 
 sequent years ; a building which is today, thanks to Architect 
 Elliott Woods, the most beautiful and imposing Capitol in the 
 world. 
 
 On Seventeenth Street, one block west of the White House and 
 south of Pennsylvania Avenue, there were two large brick build- 
 ings, each sixty by one hundred feet in dimensions, and three 
 stories high. The one facing Pennsylvania Avenue was occu- 
 pied by the War Department; the other one by the Navy Depart- 
 ment ; and, on that site today stands the immense marble struc- 
 ture which is known as the State War and Navy Department 
 building. 
 
 On the corner of Fourteenth and S Streets, there is a large 
 brick building which has been used for many years as an orphan 
 asylum. It was occupied by the Department of State previous 
 to 1877, and was "away out in the country." 
 
 That three-story brick building is an enlargement, twice the 
 size of the Slate Department building of 1849; and it was located 
 on the ground now covered by the north wing of the modern 
 Treasury Department. Public buildings in Washington were few 
 and far between when General Taylor was inaugurated. More- 
 over, the inaugural procession marched on dirt roads, for there 
 was not one paved nor improved roadway in the city ; improved 
 by other than grading and leveling processes. 
 
 The sidewalks between Capitol Plill and the White House 
 were improved by the sprinkling and spreading of ashes and 
 oyster shells ; the leveling processes having been accomplished 
 by the leather soles of the pegged shoes, which were the only 
 foot-wear of the people of that day and generation. So, Zachary 
 Taylor was inducted into a great office, as executive head of a 
 great people, but the Capitol city that was seen and known by 
 Grover Cleveland, William McKinley and their successors was 
 not known to Zachary Taylor. Indeed, an imagination of such 
 a Capitol city would have been to him like "dreaming of castles 
 in Spain." 
 
 At 11 n'clock on inauguraiiiui day General Taylor entered an 
 open carriage at Willard's Hall, on F Street. That was a very 
 large brick structure with marble pillared front. It was con- 
 
 Ifi 
 
uected by a secret passage with the old Willard Hotel, where 
 General Taylor was a guest. At the head of 
 
 A LARGE PROCESSION, 
 
 for those days. General Taylor proceeded to Fifteenth Street and 
 then down Pennsylvania Avenue to Twelfth Street, the location 
 of Irving's Hotel ; on the corner afterwards occupied by the Kirk- 
 wood House, where Vice President Andrew Johnson resided and 
 where he took the oath of office as President in 1865 ; and there 
 President Polk came forth, entered the carriage, and rode to the 
 Capitol with his successor. There the oath of office was ad- 
 ministered by Chief Justice Taney. The newly inaugurated 
 President read a carefully prepared address. Accompanied by 
 ex-President Polk, who entered the carriage with him. President 
 Taylor again headed the procession, which proceeded to the 
 White House, where ex-President Polk remained for dinner. 
 There were three inaugural balls that night, each one of them 
 being visited by President Taylor and Vice President Fillmore. 
 For the first time in our history 
 
 THE WEST POINT CADETS 
 
 appeared in an inaugural procession, and many hundreds of the 
 visitors to Washington came particularly to see those young 
 gentlemen in their matchless manoeuvres. With official permis- 
 sion those young gentlemen attended the inaugural balls in the 
 evening. On the following day the corps of cadets returned to 
 West Point, although a few, with homes in the vicinity, were 
 given brief leaves of absence. Thus it happened that one of those 
 cadets, the tall, broad-shouldered, athletic, handsome, popular 
 preparatory Cadet, George Washington Custis Lee, on leave of 
 absence for three days, was at his home in Arlington Mansion 
 during the great reception given in honor of his father. Colonel 
 Robert E. Lee ; and thus it happened that he came upon the Por- 
 tico as the distinguished gentlemen guests gathered around their 
 host, his grand-father, George Washington Parke Custis ; and 
 the wonderful little one, Charlotte Wickham, who was to be 
 Queen of the May, rushed pell mell into his arms. She accom- 
 panied him into the Mansion to join the ladies there. Then the 
 handsome and agreeable host of the occasion told 
 
 THE STORY OF ARLINGTON 
 
 when President Taylor requested him to do so, asking : "Will you 
 kindly tell us something of the history of your estate, how and 
 when you built the mansion? Who was the architect, and who 
 drew the plans?" 
 
 17 
 
"This entire magnificent little kingdom of 6000 acres," said 
 Mr. Custis, "was presented to Robert Howsen by Governor Wil- 
 liam Berkeley of Virginia, without money and without price. In 
 that great land grant the modern city of Alexandria and the 
 splendid Mount Vernon Estate were included. The Governor 
 of the original Colony was supreme, and the acreage of the 
 Colony was limitless, as you know, because out of that Colony 
 the sovereign people have since carved several great common- 
 wealths of the republic." 
 
 "Did you or your father buy it from Howsen?" inquired the 
 President. 
 
 "No, ^Ir. President, Howsen sold it to John Alexander for 
 six hogsheads of tobacco." 
 
 "Do you know the date of the original grant?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, the Howsen grant was dated October 21, 
 in the year 1669. Howsen sold it for the tobacco to Alexander, 
 and it remained in the Alexander family, by entailment, until 
 Christmas Day, 1778, when my father, John Parke Custis, bought 
 eleven hundred acres from Gerald Alexander, and paid him 
 eleven thousand pounds in cash. That would be fifty-five thou- 
 sand of our American dollars." 
 
 "Your father invested a large amount of money in a wilder- 
 ness." 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, it was a wilderness then ; but it is de- 
 veloping into the most valuable property in our country." 
 
 "Were there any residents on the property?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, on Four Mile Run my father and mother 
 had a spacious mansion ; but, my father died in 1781. j\Iy mother 
 went to her original home at Mount Airy, Maryland, and I went 
 to live with my grand-mother, Martha Washington ; for I became 
 the adopted son of General Washington ; a good father whose 
 memory I reverence with love that is almost idolatrous." 
 
 "Where did you get the name of Arlington?" 
 
 "That, Mr. President, was the name given to the estate in honor 
 of the memory of Henry, the^Earl of Arlington, to whom, with 
 Lord Culpepcr, the grant of all of Old Mrginia was given by 
 King Charles, the Second. This great estate was named after 
 that Earl of Arlington." 
 
 "P>ut. Mr. Custis, please tell us now about the Mansion." 
 
 "Very well. Mr. President, it is not a pleasant memorv. but 
 when my grand-mother. Martha Washington, was called higher, 
 there was no home for me at Mount Vernon. 1 went to Four 
 Mile Run, and from there T wandered afoot and horseback all 
 over the estate until I had finally chosen this site for my home." 
 
 "All this is very interesting, and ought to be given to American 
 history. Now, if you please, tell us about the architect?" 
 
 IS 
 
"Mr. President, at the age of twenty-two years, 1 really be- 
 lieved that I was myself the architect. In later years I have 
 learned that I was only an assistant to the real architect." 
 
 "That seems rather strange and a bit mysterious." 
 
 "Well, Mr. President, after selecting this site I went on horse- 
 back to Charlottesville, Virginia, and was there welcomed by 
 <i true friend of General Washington. I remained there several 
 days with the genius of democracy, Thomas Jefferson; and he 
 was the real architect of this wonderful mansion." 
 
 "Day after day ex-President Jefferson entertained me in his 
 library, that great collection which was incomparable on this 
 continent ; the library which afterwards formed the nucleus and 
 basis of the Congressional Library. He showed me all of his 
 wisely selected volumes, paintings, engravings, and pencilings. 
 One afternoon Mr. Jefferson said to me: 
 
 " 'Please look at this Temple of Theseus, at Athens. All day 
 that has been prominent in my mind. I have been wondering if 
 that would not just about suit your ideas of an outline for the 
 mansion we have been trying to design.' 
 
 "It was a mingling of friendship for Washington and for his 
 adopted son that led Mr. Jefferson to choose that design, and to 
 make me accept it as my own by his skillful diplomacy and won- 
 derful tact. Then he asked me to let him help me with my draw- 
 ings of the inside of that great temple. When I came away Mr. 
 Jefferson came out with me and, after I was mounted, he said : 
 
 " 'It was very kind of you, my young friend, to come all the 
 way over here to see me, and it was a great compliment that 
 you have paid me in permitting me to see the wonderful mansion 
 as you developed it all in my home. I am sure that the bride 
 will love you all the more when she sees what an architectural 
 treasure you have designed for her.' 
 
 "And, boy like, Mr. President, I really believed that I had done 
 it all, myself." 
 
 "Well, you did the designing yourself, didn't you?" 
 
 "No, Mr. President, I did not." Fully a score of years went 
 by before I became fully aware of the fact that Thomas Jefferson 
 was the architect, and that I was only a very crude assistant." 
 
 "Do you have many visitors on this side of the river?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, everybody of eminence that visits Wash- 
 ington City, visits me. All of the friends of Washington know 
 that this mansion was built, largely, to take the place, of Mount 
 Vernon where public receptions were almost continuous." 
 
 "Have you entertained any President heretofore?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, excepting President Washington who had 
 passed away, and President Adams, who never came here after 
 
 19 
 
the close of his term, I have entertained every President since 
 the beginning of the Federal Government." 
 
 Here Colonel Lee turned towards the big front door of the 
 mansion where his wife appeared, calling "Robert, Robert, dear," 
 and signaling with her finger tips for him to come within and 
 meet with the ladies, and Colonel Lee, bowing and saluting the 
 President and General Scott, responded to the summons and en- 
 tered the mansion, where he was greeted by all of the ladies, as 
 a war hero should be greeted ; but the others remained on the 
 portico, as Mr. Custis continued his story. 
 
 "What tent is that old-fashioned one over there? Is that a 
 play house for vour grand-sons?" 
 
 "No, Mr. President, that tent is never pitched on the lawn 
 except on such rare occasions as the present one. That is the 
 original 
 
 'TENT OF WASHINGTON,' 
 
 and I took it from Mount Vernon surreptitiously. That is my 
 most valued possession. 
 
 "In the year 1824 I pitched on the lawn the 'tent of Wash- 
 ington,' because President James Monroe visited me, and brought 
 with him the Alarquis de Lafayette. That venerable friend of 
 General Washington was my guest for a number of days. As 
 soon as he and President Monroe alighted from their horses and 
 stood on the portico, Lafayette smiled with considerable interest 
 as he exclaimed : 
 
 " T stood beside General Washington inside of the entrance of 
 that tent, when Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown.' " 
 
 "Had Lafayette known you before?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, he knew me, although I did not remem- 
 ber having met with him. After telling President Monroe that he 
 had seen the tent before and recognized it, he turned to me and 
 said : 
 
 " 'Mr. Custis I have a very pleasant memory of you when 
 you were a very small gentleman, with a cockade and a big 
 feather, as you stood on the veranda at Mount Vernon, holding 
 with one hand the fingers of your grand-mother, the beautiful and 
 peerless Martha Washington, while with the other little hand you 
 clung to one of the fingers of the great and good and gentle but 
 powerful General Washington.' " 
 
 Senator Seward of New York came forward at this moment, 
 bringing a large and well-cushioned rocking chair which he placed 
 so that the venerable host could be seated easily, and he said : 
 
 "I beg your pardon, Mr. Custis, but I went after this favorite 
 chair of yours without asking your permission, for a double pur- 
 
 20 
 
pose. I would not interrupt and ask for a servant to bring it to 
 you; and I wanted to have the personal pleasure of rendering a 
 little service to one whom all Americans appreciate, respect and 
 admire. Please be seated, sir." 
 
 "Thank you, Senator Seward," replied Mr. Custis, and then lie 
 signaled his body servant, saying: "Moses, as a precaution I 
 ought to have my Paisley shawl while seated in this afternoon 
 air. By the way, Mr. President, I feel snow in my rheumatic 
 ankle, and that is a matchless forecaster of the weather of the 
 morrow." 
 
 To the congenial gathering on the portico President Taylor 
 then said: "Now that Mr. Custis is made comfortable, thanks to 
 Senator Seward, I am going to ask our wonderful host to tell 
 us some more things that we ought to know, and that history 
 ought to record." 
 
 Turning to the seated host, and courteously bowing to him. 
 President Taylor said : 
 
 "Undoubtedly, Mr. Custis, you are the only person living that 
 really knew George Washington." 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, only one ever knew him better." 
 
 "And who was that?" 
 
 "My sainted grandmother, Martha Washington." 
 
 "Out of your memories of home life can you tell us who was 
 the Boss at Mount Vernon?" 
 
 "No, Mr. President, I cannot, for there was no Boss there." 
 
 "But, the General was Master there, wasn't he?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, Master of the slaves and of the estate. 
 But, you must comprehend that nobody ever was Boss to George 
 Washington, and he was never a Boss to anyone." 
 
 "You remember him well, don't you?" 
 
 "That can only be answered in Yankee fashion, Mr. President." 
 
 "How is that?" 
 
 "By asking another question, Mr. President. Do you remember 
 your first love?" 
 
 From the portico there pealed forth lively laughter which 
 echoed in the trees ; and the President joining in the hearty 
 applause of the sally of the aged gentleman, said: 
 
 "Please tell us about the great man, as you knew him." 
 
 "Well, sir, speaking of a boss or a master, you must know 
 that George Washington received and obeyed the commands of 
 but one American officer. After that, he always commanded." 
 
 "Who was his American commander?" 
 
 "It was Colonel Joshua Fry, founder of the chair of Mathe- 
 matics at William and Mary College. When the First Virginia 
 Regiment marched to the relief of Fort DuQuesne, it was under 
 the command of Colonel loshua Fry; and his lieutenant-colonel 
 was a Virginia gentleman named George Washington." 
 
 21 
 
"Did Colonel Fry leave a military name for history?" 
 "Yes, Mr. President, Colonel Fry died at Fort Cumberland, 
 on the march to Pittsburgh. The command then devolved upon 
 Colonel Washington, and he carved upon a great oak tree this 
 tribute : 
 
 " 'Beneath this tree lie the remains of the pure, the great, 
 the good, the noble Col. Joshua Fry.' 
 
 "That tribute was overgrown by the bark, and the tree was lost 
 in what was then a wilderness. But, General Washington often 
 spoke of his only commander, and always with great kindness 
 and respectful admiration. It is too bad that the tree could not 
 have been preserved." 
 
 Readers will remember the great truth set forth by one of the 
 great. dramatists, in the words: 
 
 "The pen is mightier than the sword," 
 
 and it must be said here, parentically, but with some degree of 
 pride that, although the tree has disappeared and with it the 
 inscription carved by the sword of Washington, that tribute is 
 now inscribed upon the permanent page by an unpretentious and 
 obscure descendant, so that history will restore to mankind the 
 tribute of Washington : 
 
 "Beneath this tree lie the remains of the pure, the great, 
 the good, the noble Col. Joshua Fry." 
 
 Inasmuch as the genial host was in willing mood, and the other 
 guests were intensely interested. President Taylor continued, 
 saying : 
 
 "As there was neither Boss nor Master at Mount Vernon, you 
 have memories of a happy home, haven't you?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, Mount Vernon was a home where Joy 
 was duty and Love was law. My venerated grandmother, Martha 
 Washington, worshiped God; but her husband was her shrine." 
 
 "There was one, however, not an American officer, who com- 
 manded George Washington, and whom he obeyed cheerfully and 
 loyally. 
 
 "Tell us about that masterful man. for we have never heard 
 of him." 
 
 "No, Mr. President, his domination has not been recorded by 
 any writer. Indeed, you are really the first to know of him. 
 When he was only two years of age I have heard him calling: 
 'Father,' and have seen, as I now see in vivid memory, the 
 greatest man in the whole wide world obediently answer the call. 
 He never failed to answer the command : 'I want you, D'addy. 
 He always came, and took the little boy in his arms. Many an 
 hour he walked about the vast lawn and on the spacious veranda, 
 
 22 
 
carrying that little fellow in his arms, caressing him and answer- 
 ing questions that taxed even his boundless stores of knowledge. 
 
 "He would answer the call of the voice of a child, whether 
 it cried: 'I want my Father/ or if it shrilly cried, from the corner 
 of the Mansion : 'Papa can't find me.' 
 
 "Not infrequently, I may say all too frequently, the command 
 rang out impatiently: 'Pop, why don't you come to me?' 
 
 "Concerning no one else could the Scripture have been ever 
 so practically applied, for indeed, concerning the greatest living 
 leader of men it was true that 'A little child shall lead him.' " 
 
 "Were you old enough to know his politics, before he passed 
 away?" 
 
 "I was 18 years old, and had been with him daily and hourly; 
 and so, I knew his politics, national and international." 
 
 "To what party would he belong today, do you suppose?" 
 
 "To neither party, for they would all belong to him. So long 
 as he dwelt on earth, his fellow citizens were followers of his 
 politics, and of his policies. May God have mercy and may God 
 have pity on our beloved country, if the people ever depart from 
 his patriotic instructions, and his divinely wise leadership ; par- 
 ticularly his divinely inspired and God-sent warning to beware of 
 foreign entanglements." 
 
 At this moment there occurred an incident which excited no 
 comment whatever, because similar incidents were constantly 
 occurring everywhere and on all sorts of occasions. 
 
 One of the ablest, most worthy, most capable of the statesmen 
 on the portico fell forward upon the shoulder of another; and 
 it happened to be one of his most virulent political antagonists. 
 But, the sober statesman put his arm around his weakening 
 fellow-statesman, and with the aid of other gentlemen of national 
 renown helped the half-drunken man to a chair, and left him 
 there with a negro slave to look after him. It was no disgrace, 
 only a weakness, to succumb to the influence of alcohol a bit 
 of time sooner than others of like habits would fall. But, the 
 large majority of gentlemen were always sober in those days. 
 President Taylor then asked : 
 
 "Mr. Custis, I presume that there were superior wine cellars 
 at Mount Vernon, were there not?" 
 
 "Undoubtedly, Mr. President, and the stock on hand was of 
 the largest and best in the land. General Washington, however, 
 looked upwards rather than downwards, and the wine cellars were 
 opened only when guests were there who expected and really 
 required some sort of liquor ; for General Washington obeyed 
 the Golden Rule, and his guests could always have the kind to 
 which they were accustomed. The General did not force his 
 views of living upon others." 
 
 2li 
 
"Did not General Washington indulge in stimulants of any 
 kind?" 
 
 "He certainly did, and, as the years kept rolling on he needed 
 stimulants, as all aged persons need them. He used Madeira and 
 sometimes a Cuban wine which was very sweet. In winter time 
 the General found both food and stimulant in our home-made 
 hard cider." 
 
 "You had beds of mint, too?" 
 
 "The best in Virginia, and I believe the largest. You must 
 understand, Mr. President, that General Washington was the 
 greatest and the most liberal entertainer in our country.'" 
 
 "Then he enjoyed mint juleps as all other gentlemen do?" 
 
 "Quite the contrary, Mr. President, General Washington hated 
 every form of distilled liquor. I remember that one Friday Mr. 
 5 Jefferson came to Mount Vernon, and on Saturday morning Mr. 
 Hamilton came. It was not a political meeting, I am sure, for 
 Mr. Hamilton was surprised when he found Mr. Jefferson there. 
 But both of the gentlemen were induced to remain over Sunday ; 
 and so, on Sunday morning they went with the General to the 
 old Pohick church. In the afternoon, while on the veranda, 
 General Washington spoke very emphatically, and I can remember 
 his language as well as his emphatic and angry manner, as he 
 walked along the veranda, for he said : 
 
 "Gentlemen, there is an evil spirit over-shadowing our country. 
 Several gentlemen brought bottles in their carriages, as though 
 they could not even worship God without their spirits in bottles. 
 That habit is growing in the upper classes. It will sink down to 
 the lower classes. I can foresee riots and ruin in every bottle of 
 distilled liquor." 
 
 "Mr. Hamilton, the only man I ever knew who was emphatic 
 with the General in his expressions of contrary opinions, pro- 
 tested against the extreme violence of the outburst of W^ashington, 
 and, after listening to Hamilton, as he always did with great 
 respect, General Washington said : 
 
 "No wise man will ignore the wisdom of Holy Writ. It is 
 there recorded that they who draw the sword shall perish by 
 the sword. Remember, gentlemen, that the original inhabitants 
 owned this land on which wc stand. White men drove them out. 
 robl)ed them, and will exterminate them. But, white men have 
 accomplished their ])uri)Oses not with bullet and sword alone. They 
 have done it with 'Fire-Water.' The Indians properly named 
 the poison which they like so well, and it has led them to ruin. 
 This government of the people will be everlasting under proper 
 conditions. If this government ever shall fade from the earth, 
 it will be because of internal dissensions and disagreements, all 
 of them caused by 'Fire-Water.' " 
 
 24 
 
BABBLE, BABBLE, BABBLE 
 
 with jabber, jabber, jabber, came the interrupting voices of chil- 
 dren, and piercing through the din came the laughing but shriek- 
 ing cry of "I don't believe it," and • little Charlotte Wickham 
 came racing across the portico, followed by Archie Ashby, the 
 sturdy red-headed boy from the Mountains, with cheeks redder 
 than the hair on his head. Pushing aside those most potent, 
 grave and reverend seigniors of American statesmanship Char- 
 lotte raced to the host and climbed upon his knees as she asked the 
 question : 
 
 "Grand-pa Custis, did you ever see a Yankee?" 
 
 Her big blue eyes were fairly glimmering with curiosity and 
 intense earnestness, as she impatiently awaited the answer, which 
 was : 
 
 '"Why. of course, Charlotte, I have seen a Yankee. Why do 
 you ask such a question?" 
 
 "But, Grand-pa Custis, I mean, did you ever see a real Yankee 
 alive and on its feet ?" 
 
 "Now, Charlotte, you little terror, what is your joke about? 
 What interests you on that subject?" 
 
 "But, Grand-pa Custis, did you ever see a real Yankee really 
 and truly alive and without any hat, all bare-'headed ? Now, 
 honor bright, Grand-pa Custis, did you?" 
 
 "Yes, child, I have seen quite a number of Yankees, all of 
 them very much alive, walking around, and many of them I 
 have seen bareheaded, too. Now, what is it all about?" 
 
 All of the statesmen there gathered around the little inquisitor 
 and the venerable sage, listening. Charlotte said : 
 
 "Why, Grand-pa Custis, Archie Ashby says that Yankees are 
 all alike. They have long-spiked tails and have horns on their 
 heads, just like Apollyon, in the Pilgrim's Progress. Is that so?" 
 
 "No, little one, that is not so. It is an awful lie. Somebody 
 has been lying to Archie, and he has been misleading vou. 
 Archie, boy, remember, always, that Grand-pa Custis told you 
 that you must never tell that story again. Some bad man started 
 that story. I suppose that it was some man drinking 'Fire- 
 water' that started that story. You must tell all of your boy and 
 girl friends that it is an awfully wicked lie, and an unpatriotic 
 lie, too." 
 
 Then, turning his attention to Charlotte, while the sturdy boy 
 stood there astonished but unafraid, Mr. Custis said : 
 
 "Now, my dear Charlotte, I am glad that you came to me with 
 the story. Going out from here, you and Archie can do a great 
 deal of good for our glorious country, by denying that story. 
 And now, Charlotte, how would you like to see a real live 
 Yankee?" 
 
 "Oh, Grand-pa Custis, .can I ever see a live Yankee? Can I 
 go where they live?" 
 
 25 
 
"Yes, you innocent little dear, there is a live Yankee right 
 near to us. You know Senator Seward, and you like him, too. 
 Well, Senator Seward is a really, truly, sure enough live Yankee, 
 and he represents a million Yankees that resemble him, without 
 spiked tail and without horns." 
 
 "Oh, Senator Seward, please take me up again and hold me, 
 so that I can tell everybody that I love a real Yankee. Will you ?" 
 
 Laughing immoderately for one of such studied dignity, the 
 Senator from New York took Charlotte into his arms, and then 
 he said: 
 
 "Look right over my shoulder, Charlotte, and there is the 
 greatest orator in the world. Senator Daniel Webster, and he is a 
 Yankee, too ; and he represents about a million other Yankees." 
 
 Her friend whom she dearly loved. General Scott, then took 
 the little one in his arms, and said : 
 
 "Remember, my little sweetheart, that General Scott told you 
 that thousands of Yankees went with him to Mexico, and they 
 were brave American soldiers. General Jackson had some Yan- 
 kees with him at New Orleans, and General Washington was 
 surrounded by Yankee soldiers when he raised the first-made 
 Stars and Stripes over his headquarters at Cambridge on Janu- 
 ary 2, 1776." 
 
 "I'm mad at Archie," said Charlotte as she gracefully glided 
 down to the floor. "I like Yankees, so I do. I wish I could 
 marry a Yankee right now. I'd do it, just to spite Archie. So 
 there!" 
 
 Quite a bit of excitement was caused in the group of states- 
 men by that thrilling little incident. When quiet reigned again 
 for a moment. President Taylor spoke to Mr. Custis, saying: 
 
 "That shows how strife is impending, and how it is being cul- 
 tivated secretly by some unpatriotic politicians. What do you 
 suppose General Washington would do, Mr. Custis, under such 
 circumstances? What would he do if the North and the South 
 would separate?" 
 
 "There can be only one answer to that question, Mr. Presi- 
 dent." said Mr. Custis. "Two Presidents have spoken for Wash- 
 ington ; and another will arise, in God's own good time to speak 
 for Washington. The North and the South can never separate." 
 
 "But, Mr. Custis, many men of superior capability believe 
 that separation is inevitable. What two Presidents have spoken 
 particularly for General Washington?" 
 
 "Well, Mr. President, it has been very clear to me that Presi- 
 dent Monroe was acting somewhat, and I believe a great deal, 
 under the influence of the spirit of Washington, when he made 
 it impossible for 'foreign entanglements' to come to our shores. 
 President Monroe warned all Kuropc to keep away. He would 
 not, and he could not, invite foreign governments to come into 
 our midst." 
 
 2G 
 
"Then, President Andrew Jackson spoke for Washington, 
 when he declared with such emphasis : 'The Union must and 
 shall be preserved' !" 
 
 "But, Mr. Custis," continued President Taylor, "do you sup- 
 pose that General Washington could control such conditions as 
 are now so prevalent?'' 
 
 "Could he?" exclaimed Mr. Custis, rising from his chair. 
 "Washington could do everything, and do it well. If the General 
 were living, he would make it clear to the North and to the 
 South that separation would mean complete destruction. General 
 Washington would make them understand that in the event of 
 separation the South would not, and the North could not, enforce 
 the Monroe doctrine. Washington would make it clear to both 
 sections that separation would be only the beginning of British 
 domination. That would follow as night follows day." 
 
 "While I admire with you the Father of our country," said 
 President Taylor, "I do not believe that anyone could so control 
 affairs in our country, under existing and growing conditions." 
 
 "Then, Mr. President, you have read history in vain. Remem- 
 ber that Washington held with one hand the incomparable Thomas 
 Jefferson, and with the other hand, at the same time, he held 
 the indomitable Alexander Hamilton. Thus, today, he would 
 hold the revolutionary statesmen from South Carolina, and also 
 the masterful centralizing statesman from Massachusetts. Gen- 
 eral George Washington would and could hold together this 
 great and growing country, so that all of the people would avow 
 the doctrine set forth by Senator Webster in his reply to Senator 
 Hayne, that ours is and shall be 'a government of all of the 
 people, by all of the people, for all of the people.' 
 
 "And furthermore, Mr. President, let me assure you that I 
 have a religious faith and belief that the spirit of Washington 
 will always be with us; so that, if this sentiment of separation 
 shall continue, and an effort be made to that end, this country 
 will have a President who will have the influence of the spirit of 
 Washington with him always, so that he will proclaim as his 
 own doctrine that he will preserve for all time the 'Union, now 
 and forever, one and inseparable.' " 
 
 That the venerable host was somewhat weary was becoming 
 apparent. Having arisen, he remained standing by his chair. He 
 drew around him the heavy Paisley shawl, and said : 
 
 "Gentlemen, those March winds are shrieking and beginning 
 to moan angrily, and you will pardon me for covering my head 
 with this light cockade, for a sudden chill might prove to be 
 serious with me." 
 
 President Taylor, who had been giving very close attention to 
 every word, said, apologetically : 
 
 "Please pardon me, Mr. Custis, I am sure that I speak for 
 all present when I say that you have given to us a wonderful 
 
 27 
 
entertainment ; but 1 should like to have you enlighten me, and of 
 course enlighten all of us, concerning General Washington's 
 refusal to accept another term in the Presidency. Do you know 
 the real, inside purpose and reasoning for that decision?'' 
 
 "Yes, ^Ir. President, and I believe that every citizen of our 
 country should know, for everyone will spontaneously approve 
 the reasoning and the high purpose of the first President of our 
 republic. 
 
 "The subject was prominent in conversations at home on a 
 number of occasions. When my grand-mother was asked for 
 her opinion, she replied, as she did to his inquiry on every 
 national topic, in these words : 'Whither thou goest, I will go.' 
 
 "Before making public his decision concerning a third term, 
 the General stated his conclusion and his reasoning, in substan- 
 tially these words, which were spoken to grand-ma : 
 
 " 'You know, as well as I do, my dear Martha, and maybe you 
 know better than I do, that my days are gliding swiftly by, and 
 it is probable that I should not live through another term of 
 office. The task is constantly growing in magnitude and in 
 responsibilities. It is necessary for me to look into the future, 
 for the welfare of the country. 
 
 " 'If I should accept a third term in the presidency, and live 
 through that term, and then decline to serve for a fourth term, 
 that would make a precedent which might limit the aspirations 
 of ambitious men in after years to three terms in an office which 
 is constantly increasing in power. 
 
 " 'But, suppose that mv term of life should cease during my 
 third term of service. There would then be no precedent what- 
 ever to curtail the ambitions of someone with King George's 
 love of power. Some man with superior talents for leadership 
 might serve two terms, and make use of the power of the office 
 to secure a third term. Having accomplished that object, there 
 would be no precedent to prevent such a man from seeking and 
 compelling a fourth term. 
 
 " 'I have thought of the coming of some young man into the 
 office, a man of forty years, one who could conmiand popular 
 ap])lause by territorial aggressions with Patrick Henry's ora- 
 torical talents; or. one with a natural love of power imbued 
 with the spirit of I lenry the Eighth ; and such a man might 
 l)ersist in a fourth or even a fifth term. Then, a dynasty could 
 be formed, and this republic fade from the earth as all other 
 republics have faded, except the Helvetian republic, and that 
 one so small and reclusive as to be really no forceful precedent. 
 
 " 'And so, my dear Martha,' said General Washington, 'I am 
 sure that the last service that I can render the country will be 
 the best service, in thus leaving a precedent which will be likely 
 to jirevent the lapse and destruction of the republic; a precedent 
 which patriotic men will always be able to use to thwart selfish 
 
 28 
 
-ambitions. I will make it clear that a third term is unwise and 
 unpatriotic. I will decline it.' 
 
 "Mr. President, the General died in what would have been the 
 middle of a third term if he had accepted it. His declination 
 was wise, patriotic, far-seeing, and that declination was the 
 greatest of all of the great deeds of General Washington for his 
 country." 
 
 Then, turning towards the massive door of the Mansion, Mr. 
 Custis said : 
 
 "Mr. President, that little elderly lady coming out of the Man- 
 sion with her son-in-law, Colonel Robert E. Lee, attended the 
 first reception ever held at Arlington Mansion. At the beginning 
 of the year 1804, the year when the Mansion was completed, she 
 was Miss Mary Lee Fitzhugh, scarcely 16 years of age. But, 
 in that year the negroes of the estate held the first reception 
 here. They came from the slave quarters and gathered on one 
 side of the lawn, when Miss Alary Lee Fitzhugh arrived here, a 
 16-year-old bride, accompanied by her happy husband, and she 
 became the mistress of the grandest colonial mansion ever built in 
 America. She has been a wonderful wife and mother. 
 
 "See how proud she is of her handsome and distinguished 
 hero son-in-law." 
 
 "She has ample reason to be proud," said General Winfield 
 Scott, "for Colonel Robert E. Lee is a marvelous man, and a 
 magnificent soldier. My successes in Mexico were largely due 
 to the skill, valor, and undaunted courage of Robert E. Lee. He 
 is the greatest military genius in America today." 
 
 [end of prologue.] 
 
 2d 
 
The Story 
 
 MANY years ago an unpretentious, modest, retiring and 
 reclusive assistant pastor of a church in Washington City 
 deHvered an elaborately scholarly lecture entitled "The 
 Light of the Dark Ages"; and every hearer was undoubtedly as 
 deeply impressed and as largely enlightened as this narrator. 
 The lecturer subsequently became Archbishop of Dubuque, and 
 still dw^ells in Dubuque, as these lines are written. 
 
 Attention was directed by the lecturer to the conditions in the 
 world before and after the Dark Ages ; he pictured vividly the 
 awful and frightful conditions of the centuries when the spirits 
 of evil predominated and seemed to dominate. And then the 
 beloved Father Keane directed his hearers to "the little gleam 
 of light, so small and so obscure that only the keenest eyes of 
 educated intelligence can discern a single ray. But, the light was 
 there and it shone through all of the Dark Ages ; and without 
 that light the world would have continued in darkness. But, we 
 have knowledge today, history, science, religion, and social devel- 
 opment, all because of the Light of the Diark Ages ; that little bit 
 of a slender light that shone unfalteringly through the blackness 
 of the fog of brutality and crime. 
 
 "The Light of the Dark Ages," said Father Keane, "came from 
 the tallow dip of the cloistered monk, for it was he who secretly 
 and religiously preserved for you and for me and for all future 
 generations, the gems and precious metals of history that would 
 have been forever lost but for that light of the Dark Ages." 
 
 Thus it was that mankind was given the works of the historians 
 from Herodotus to Bancroft, the science and logical philosophy 
 of Aristotle, the literature of Homer and of Virgil ; and, how 
 much we owe to the historians of other days has not been nor 
 ever can be calculated. 
 
 Plutarch gave us the lives of the great men of Rome, and, 
 without Plutarch's Lives, Shakespeare could not have given to 
 literature the characters of Caesar, Brutus, Cassius. Antony and 
 Augustus ; nor, could Longfellow have had the inspiration to tell 
 to youth the fact that 
 
 "Lives of great man all remind us 
 We can make our lives sublime, 
 And, departing, leave behind us 
 Foot-prints in the sands of time. 
 
 Without that light of the Dark Ages there could have been no 
 Luther to enlighten the sagging church that now begins to realize 
 
 31 
 
its indebtedness to that masterful man. There could have been 
 no Melancthan, no Calvin, no Cranmer, no Knox, no Wesley, 
 no Adoniram Judson ; not even a hare-ibrained but prosperous 
 evangelist out of the sporting arena of our country. 
 
 And so, the writer of history today deserves recognition and 
 appreciation because, even in a most humble sphere, he is fol- 
 lowing the commendable example of the cloistered monk whose 
 tallow dip gave to mankind the faithful but faint ray of the 
 Light of the Dark Ages. 
 
 Long before he fell from grace and lapsed into the inconse- 
 quentiality of a lordship, while he was himself alone crowned by 
 the literary jewels of his brain, Alfred Tennyson enriched the 
 world with ideals divine. Two facts of inspiration are set forth 
 by Tennyson in the three lines, telling 
 
 "Howe'er it be, it seems to me, 
 'Tis only noble to be good. 
 Kind hearts are more than coronets." 
 
 Those facts were as seed sown and cultivated in the brain 
 and heart of George Washington Custis Lee when he was barely 
 out of swaddling clothes. His tutors were magnificent and 
 incomparable. Those salient facts of life were taught to Custis 
 Lee by his grand-father, George Washington Parke Custis ; by 
 his grand-mother, Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis ; by his mother, 
 Mary Ann Randolph Custis Lee; and by his father. General 
 Robert Edward Lee. Those tutors taught him according to the 
 Bible plan, "precept upon precept, here a little and there a 
 little," so that he was nurtured and developed day after day, 
 as the Man of Galilee, whose life he was to live over again, 
 would have had him developed. 
 
 In prattling babyhood, in boyhood, at school, at church, in the 
 Military Academy he carried into his daily life the Golden Rule 
 which all mankind should bear and wear ; and in the last days of 
 his mortal existence he was doing good to others. 
 
 For his unexampled deeds of greatness and nobility, in peace 
 and in war. General George Washington Custis Lee abjured 
 kindred and friends to be silent. As Jesus abjured his disciples 
 to "tell no man," but let his deeds speak for themselves, so 
 Custis Lee loved others, and he shrunk into voluntarv retirement 
 from public acclaim. His noble heart of incomparable worth 
 was gentle, kind, and over-shadowed with devotion to love and 
 duty. 
 
 It was because of that Christ-like spirit of self-abnegation that 
 even this narrator was awed into silence concerning the life and 
 deeds that all mankind should know ; but, at last, mankind shall 
 know concerning Custis Lee that his life, his love, his courage 
 
all shone forth before all who knew and loved him, as brilliantly 
 as the lights of the stars of the morning that "sang together for 
 joy. 
 
 During the first hundred years of the existence of the American 
 republic the rising and succeeding generations were sanely demo- 
 cratic because they sincerely believed that "all are created equal.'" 
 Because of that condition of affairs Custis Lee was democratic 
 in all of his associations, although he was a scion of nobility, 
 with environments which made it utterly impossible for him to 
 forget that he was and must live as a thoroughbred. Even the 
 illiterate slaves always looked up to him as to a saint amongst 
 men. 
 
 You must understand and comprehend that it is a task as well 
 as a duty to become, even superficially, the historian of a super- 
 man, and yet, it is a labor ipse voluptas. When it fell to the 
 lot of Virgil to write concerning a man of similar mould, he said 
 
 ARMA VIRUMQUE CANO 
 
 and, as Virgil thus began the Aeneid, the identical words should 
 be used in this story of virtue and valor, for it is true that "I 
 sing of arms, and a hero." 
 
 The epic of Virgil narrated misfortunes on foreign soil. This 
 greatest American story ever told begins with "colonial days," 
 and narrates blue blood heritage even unto the fifth antecedent 
 generation. First of all to come upon the stage is the incom- 
 farable merchant prince of the new world. Although not armed 
 cap-a-pie as knights-errant for conquest of dominions including 
 lady fair, the makers of America were worthy followers of the 
 best of the Crusaders; and, in a better, nobler sense it may be 
 said of them : 
 
 "In days of old, when knights w'ere bold. 
 And barons held their sway," 
 
 they faced foes invisible and conquered them. He who con- 
 quested the wealth of the new world, who became the most alert, 
 far-seeing and most venturesome in mercantile affairs, shall hold 
 the stage for time sufficient to let you know the firm foundation 
 of physical and mental power which our hero manifested on 
 every epochal occasion in his wonderful career. That knight 
 of old was the first merchant prince of the Colony of Virginia. 
 
 The maternal ancestry of our hero also must shine forth in 
 the story, because his great-great-grand-mother was a wonderful 
 woman whose childhood, girlhood, maidenhood and wifehood all 
 combine into a laminated illumination of the pages of the early 
 history of our nation. Wise as she was winsome, she chose a 
 man among men who had achieved leadership ; such a man as 
 could transmit to his progeny forcefulness and strength. 
 
 33 
 
Martha Dandridge was the most beautiful and the most brilliant 
 of the belles of Williamsburg when Williamsburg was the Capital 
 City of the British Colony of Virginia; and that incipient 
 metropolis was the recognized colonial capital because Governor 
 William Gooch made the village his abiding place. 
 
 Admitted by all as being the most regal in appearance, the 
 most royal of manner and the most democratic in social inter- 
 course with conceded equals in the colonial court, Martha Dand- 
 ridge was sought by many admirers, and with reverential courtesy. 
 But the queenly Martha was icily adamantine in her ideals. 
 Ignoring all courtly courtings, her heart gave no warning throbs, 
 until at last came one who was as threateningly dangerous as 
 
 ANOTHER YOUNG LOCHINVAR 
 
 and Martha Dandridge knew it immediately. When an immov- 
 able body is athwart the pathway of an irresistible body there 
 can be but one result ; an inevitable smash-up. That's what 
 occurred at Williamsburg almost two hundred years ago when 
 Daniel Parke Custis came upon the scene, a sane Petruchio ; a 
 roystering, boisterous, aggressive, irresistible, but always courte- 
 ously gentle knight, a determined master of affairs ; and he 
 snatched the spotlight, pervaded the play, and allowed no other 
 hero in the act. Well-born, well-bred, of powerful physique and 
 tireless brain, he followed with business acumen the riot of 
 society which Sir Walter Raleigh had started by carrying tobacco 
 to Europe; an un-heard-of vegetable, a novelty, a habit-producer 
 for which the wealthy classes were ready to pay in cash, even 
 fabulous prices. The father of 
 
 DANIEL PARKE CUSTIS 
 
 catered to that expensive folly of the old world nobility. Rapidly 
 he grew into affluence and distinction. The worthy and self- 
 assertive son of such a man could not be denied, for he would 
 not be denied. He was a handsome fellow, too, and so Martha 
 Dandridge capitulated, because lier heart was carried by storm. 
 In June, 1749, Daniel Parke Custis brought his bride to the best 
 colonial mansion in America ; brought her to "The White House," 
 still famous on the vast Custis estate on the Pamunkey river. 
 It was built upon an estate which was a wedding present from 
 his father. There they dwelt in harmonious happiness until 1757, 
 when the master merchant went the way of all flesh, leaving 
 "The Widow Custis" in possession of an estate worth more than 
 One Hundred Thousand Dollars; an immense fortune for those 
 days, and she became known as "the wealthy widow." Of course 
 there were suitors, too many of them. 
 
 34 
 
ANOTHER CAPITULATION 
 
 Wise and prudent in her virgin beauty, Martha Dandridge had 
 been unapproachable by flatterers or adventurers. And now the 
 beautiful Widow Custis rejected attentions and resented assertive 
 courtings. No selfish fortune-hunting Lothario could tell to her 
 any tale of adulation that could equal the story told to her by the 
 mirror in her own palace. She was living only for the little 
 ones that had been sent to her from the other side of the veil 
 ■of eternal life. 
 
 And thus two years floated away into the dismal darkness of 
 f orgetfulness ; two happy years, for she devoted her time and all 
 of her educated talents to John Parke Custis and to his little 
 sister, Martha Parke Custis, teaching them the rudiments of the 
 Ivnowledge of their environments ; also opening visions of future 
 distinction and responsibility. Suitors continued to come and to 
 go, and their presence might be recorded as interesting as enter- 
 tainments during dull moments. But at last came the handsome 
 soldier, the tall, athletic masterful man who gave to an attendant 
 slave the care of his horse and accoutrements, and entered the 
 door as a welcome guest ; welcome, because Martha Custis was 
 impressed by complete recognition of the greatest and grandest 
 man she had ever known ; and thus it happened that the most 
 beautiful woman in Virginia soliloquized : "How beautiful men 
 .are!" 
 
 That handsome young officer was personally attractive ; one 
 of that rare class of men who are not made more attractive by 
 the uniform, nor more adorable by an amorous dance. He was 
 a real man, a manly man, and Martha Custis fully realized his 
 worth. The young officer had won honor by unexampled courage 
 and bravery, and by having demonstrated superior military ability. 
 Moreover, he had won fame as a surveyor of vast forests in 
 virgin mountains, and in vales beyond the mountains. He was a 
 liunter, too ; and had acted as a guide for a large army, far 
 away along the Potomac to Fort Cumberland ; so that his spot- 
 less military career had resulted in the popular approval of the 
 people, who called him 
 
 THE HERO OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD 
 
 and so, with fame, distinction, manly pulchritude, wealth, ambi- 
 tion, and genuine affection for the children as well as for the 
 widow. Colonel George Washington led his bride away from the 
 "White House Farm" in March, 1759, to his own home at 
 Mount Vernon, on the Potomac ; the home that was to become 
 distinguished and famous as the home of the first super-man on 
 this continent; the home also of Martha, the worthy wife of the 
 Tnan who was "First in War, First in Peace, and First in the 
 Hearts of his Countrymen." 
 
 35 
 
Never has there been a wedding during the present era in. 
 which events have demonstrated greater manifestation of the 
 truth of the sacrament. "What God hath joined together." George 
 Washington was as near an ideal of perfection at home and in 
 peace, as on the tented field. The little ones had a kindly, 
 helpful instructor, a happy home, and love divine in that home. 
 When the family moved to Mount Vernon the little boy was. 
 G years, and the baby girl was 3 years old; and both of them 
 were beloved companions of George Washington as well as of 
 their marvelous mother. 
 
 Happiness they enjoyed, happiness seemingly eternal in their 
 fairy-like environments, without a cloud of any kind for twelve 
 years; and then, the baby, Martha, when only 16 years of age, 
 was called from the narrow vale of life between the peaks of 
 two eternities ; and thereafter she was seen only with the aid, 
 of the lenses of Faith and Hope; and to the boy. 19 years old. 
 the master mind of that age gave all of his attention. That boy 
 was to become sole owner and possessor of the 
 
 TITLE TO ARLINGTON 
 
 and concerning that estate we will now invite your attention, 
 briefly. It must be remembered that those magnificent forest- 
 crowned hills bordering on the Potomac were the beautiful em- 
 bowered homes of birds and animals whose presence made musical 
 and fairy-like the vast expanse of wonderland, the happy hunting 
 grounds of the Powtowmack tribes of the South and the Susque- 
 hanna confederacy of the North; and those people held title 
 in fee-simple to all of those lands ; and, for those lands, in 
 priority, the original tribes waged many wars in long past 
 centuries. Early settlers on "Observatory Hill," in Washington, 
 disinterred countless skeletons of Indians of both of those tribes, 
 numberless weapons of warfare alongside of them; mute but 
 unquestionable evidence that aborigines were enacting tragedies 
 and fatal follies ages before their successors manifested equally 
 insane notions of human aggrandizement at Gettysburg. When 
 the marauding white men came, they ignored God-given titles, 
 and made records of their own declarations of metes and bounds. 
 Never earth's philosopher traced with the golden pen, on the 
 deathless j)age, truths half so sage as the poet wrote for men, 
 declaring that 
 
 "MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN 
 
 makes countless thousands mourn." One of the first known 
 records in well-preserved archives sets forth that the British 
 Governor, William Berkeley, of the Colony of Virginia, gave to 
 r)ne Robert Ilowsen an estate of six thousand acres (6,000) of 
 the cdlonial (linnaiii as a ])riceless present. October 21, 'iC^^V^, is. 
 
the recorded date of that first colossal outrage against the copper- 
 colored proprietors of that land. It was located "along the 
 Potomack River, south of the lower rapids, and westward as 
 may be surveyed." 
 
 Robert Howsen sold that magnificent acreage to John Alex- 
 ander "for six hogsheads of tobacco." Then, after retaining the 
 vast estate in the family by entailment, more than one hundred 
 years, it was divided on Christmas Day, 1778, after a ver^ 
 hilarious celebration of Christmas ; for, on that date, Gerald 
 Alexander conveyed eleven hundred acres (1,100) of the estate 
 to John Parke Custis, prodigal son and heir of the opulent 
 merchant prince and land operator, for the sum of eleven thou- 
 sand pounds in the currency of the Colony of Virginia ; an 
 amount equal to so many pounds sterling. 
 
 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 
 
 was the first free-booter that came from Great Britain with the 
 King's warrant proclaiming for him the ownership of all of 
 Virginia ; and that included the boundless domain from which 
 other sovereign States of this republic were subsequently carved. 
 Assuming proprietorship "by right of discovery," King Charles 
 the Second issued that grant which made Henry, then the Earl 
 of Arlington, the owner and ruler of a domain more vast than 
 all of the other British possessions of the world. The great- 
 grand-father of John Parke Custis named his small estate in 
 Northampton County after that first Earl ; and this young was- 
 sailing son of Daniel Parke and Martha Custis named his estate 
 of 1,100 acres along the Potomac, after that smaller estate of 
 his ancestor. The first owner of that particular acreage, John 
 Parke Custis, was 
 
 SUCH A BAD BOY 
 
 that he was not a dutiful son to his marvelous mother. When 
 he was 18 years of age he was sent to King's College, in New 
 York ; but he remained there only a few months. He was 
 not a student, and would not be. He was an heir, and a sole 
 heir after the death of his sister during her minority. Women 
 could not own land. When his mother ceased to be his guardian, 
 the estate of Daniel Parke Custis came to the young spend- 
 thrifty wassailer. He was disobedient to his mother and insolent 
 to his masterful guardian. He could and did indulge his fondness 
 for fine raiment, the best horses and dogs and all sports, par- 
 ticularly hunting. 
 
 Wandering from one worry today to another for the morrow, 
 is usually the fate of every mother of a wild and selfish child. 
 And so, while the bereaved mother at Mount Vernon was 
 weeping for the loss of her little girl she was constantly antici- 
 
 37 
 
pating other sorrow, probably greater grief, on account of the 
 reckless and indolent son. Like a meteor out of a clear sky 
 came to her a letter which opened up a new and vast vista of 
 amazement. He informed his mother that he had taken the 
 vows of matrimony on February 4, 1774, having been married 
 on that date to Eleanor Calvert of Mount Airy, Maryland; a 
 child of only 16 years concerning whom his mother knew sub- 
 stantially nothing. However, she was a descendant of Lord 
 Baltimore, and her ancestry was replete with the names of men 
 of achievements. Time amply attested, and his mother soon 
 learned, and gladly, that her son had made no mistake in his 
 choice of a wife, for "Nellie Custis," as she became known, was 
 popular in the higher circles, and particularly popular in the 
 heart of the wonderful childless mother at Mount Vernon; for, 
 after the death of her daughter and the departure of her son, 
 and the public demands which were made upon her husband, 
 Martha Washington had been wandering about her empty home 
 with empty arms and empty heart. Her bright daughter-in-law 
 was, to Martha Washington, a continuous ray of sunshine, and a 
 star of hope in the reclamation of her son. It was Nellie Custis 
 who induced her husband to build their home at 
 
 FOUR MILE RUN 
 
 on the Arlington estate, only eight miles north of Mount Vernon. 
 There three children were born and bred. They also brought 
 light, love and happiness to their grand-mother. The two fami- 
 lies were near neighbors and the children were accustomed to 
 having two homes in which they reigned as the queens of both 
 hearthstones. Thus, ''after many days," John Parke Custis 
 became a faithful husband and a good father in a home where 
 Joy was duty, and Love was law. That home was the first 
 and then the only home on the now famous Arlington estate. 
 There the three little girls were born. But when the time ap- 
 proached for the coming of a fourth child the young mother 
 responded to the calls from her home at Mount Airy, Maryland ; 
 and there she went without opposition, but greatly to the regret 
 of Martha Washington. And so it happened that Nellie Custis 
 was in the home of her childhood, maidenhood and young wife- 
 hood when the fourth child came ; a little boy who was christened 
 with the name of his (to be) guardian angel. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE CUSTIS 
 
 and it should be engraved upon fadeless and lasting bronze that 
 the lad so named became indeed one of Nature's noblemen, and 
 he always bore and wore that matchless name with unblemished 
 honor ; maintained it untarnished. 
 
 38 
 
Moreover, it should be said in letters both bold and bright 
 that when the little boy was only G months old his father died ; was 
 called hence, prematurely, because of exposure and hardships 
 which he endured as a soldier in the last campaign of the great 
 struggle for Liberty and Independence. He died for his coimtry. 
 Before entering the army John*Parke Custis had become a most 
 worthy citizen. 
 
 George Washington legally adopted the fatherless boy. That 
 great and good man was the only father the little fellow ever 
 knew. From Washington he learned how to live ; and he lived 
 always in accord with the lessons learned from the life and from 
 the lips of the matchless man whom he loved and revered. 
 
 Muscles, bone, and sinew are powerful. Knowledge is power. 
 George Washington Parke Custis obtained knowledge and wis- 
 dom from the greatest source in this country. From his paternal 
 companion and guardian he learned all about the history of his 
 country ; all about the War of the Revolution, its causes, military 
 annals and its triumphant achievements. From Washington he 
 learned all about the Constitutional Convention, and about the 
 Constitution which that Convention developed ; a Constitution 
 which could not or would not have been accepted and adopted 
 but for the influence of Washington himself. Providentially, 
 and for the ultimate development of our modern super-man. 
 Washington was transmitting greater and more lasting influence 
 than might have been handed down to posterity by a descendant 
 of his own. His adopted son learned by observation during the 
 two presidential terms of Washington ; learned diplomacy, state- 
 craft, and the glamors of official hypocrisy that parades as 
 "Society" in circles more envied than enviable. 
 
 BLAZING LOG FIRES 
 
 in the immense fire-places at Mount Vernon not only warmed 
 the great mansion during frigid wintry nights and stormy after- 
 noon, but they lighted the rooms and illumined the features of 
 the great instructor of the adopted son. When there were favor- 
 able weather conditions the great man and the apt pupil were 
 along the river banks, under the trees, hunting, rowing and 
 philosophizing. And because the youth loved his benefactor 
 with an almost idolatrous afifection. he avoided all of the roads 
 that lead to fame. He wanted distinction to belong to his mentor ; 
 the undivided admiration of all mankind. Thus, it will be 
 observed that the man who was to become the 
 
 TEACHER OF THIS HERO 
 
 thus practiced the self abnegation and self-efl^acement which 
 stand forth in another generation. When the summons came 
 which called his grandmother to another sphere and left him 
 
 39 
 
homeless as well as fatherless and motherless, George Wash- 
 ington Parke Custis went forth quietly from the home at Mount 
 Vernon, retaining only the vivid memories of babyhood, child- 
 hood and youth with the foremost man and woman in the new 
 world. From the smaller home at Four Mile Run he went abroad 
 every day, viewing and surveying the great estate of which he 
 was the sole heir. From every point of view he studied the 
 topography. He also peered into the future far enough to 
 anticipate the growth of the great capital city, and then he 
 selected the forest-clad heights to be the site of the new home 
 which he had been forming architecturally in his own mind with 
 the aid of the library and personal views of Thomas Jefiferson. 
 Then he superintended the digging for the foundations into 
 which should be laid the massive blocks of stone ; he selected the 
 flagging stones for the magnificent portico ; personally he directed 
 the roofing and the decorations ; with plummet in hand he 
 watched the placing of the portico pillars. Every brick used 
 in the work was moulded and burned on the estate. Giving to 
 everything his personal attention, he did what he knew George 
 Washington would have done ; and so, he produced 
 
 ARLINGTON MANSION 
 
 and finished it for occupation in the year 1804. It was builded 
 to last for all time. No longer could he entertain the national 
 and international friends of Washington, as he had been doing 
 at Mount Vernon. But he could and would entertain them in 
 his own home. For well-nigh half a century he did lavishly 
 entertain those friends, as Washington would have had him 
 entertain them. When he was 23 years of age he was married 
 to Mary Lee Fitzhugh ; an admirable Virginian virgin of ancient 
 lineage. The first mistress of the grandest colonial mansion 
 known then, or ever, in this world, was only 16 years old. It 
 was a wonderful home for a child mistress, but the little princess 
 reigned with queenly grace in the mansion which is now "on 
 Fame's eternal camping ground ; where Glory guards, with solemn 
 round, the bivouac of the dead." 
 
 Arlington Mansion has a frontage of 140 feet ; including the 
 main building and the wings of either side. From numberless 
 samples in the Jefferson collection the young master selected the 
 Temple of Theseus, at Athens, as the style for the great portico ; 
 and it is a faithful reproduction. 
 
 That portico is sixty feet wide. With proper proportion it 
 is twenty-five feet deep. 
 
 The gracefully beautiful entablature is uplifted by eight im- 
 pressively massive Doric columns. 
 
 Tlic site is wonderful beyond powers of description. It is 
 incomparable. From the portico there is an unobstructed view 
 
 40 
 
of the Potomac river. That view is glorified by the hills of 
 Maryland which green-wall the National Capital City with waving 
 forest leaves ; green walls which seem like frames formed by 
 Nature for the picture that no camera can reproduce and no 
 artist can paint. 
 
 Anticipating unworthy conditions at the old home, the affec- 
 tionate grand-son of Martha Washington managed to carry to 
 his new home numerous mementoes, unknown to others, and 
 that which he valued most highly and guarded most carefully 
 was the 
 
 TENT OF WASHINGTON 
 
 and when he desired to do special honor to any one of the best 
 friends of Washington, the famous old war-worn and weather- 
 beaten Tent was pitched on the lawn before the Mansion. When 
 General Lafayette was entertained in Washington City by the 
 Federal Government, on October 12, 1824, the noble Custis loaned 
 that Tent to the Reception Committee, and it was pitched in the 
 rotunda of the Capitol building. Then, during the month of 
 January, 1825, Lafayette spent almost a week in the Arlington 
 Mansion, and there, upon the lawn, the "Tent of Washington" 
 was pitched, and there it remained during that entire visit. One 
 afternoon while standing beneath the covering of that tent, where 
 he had stood with the great master of men in "the days that 
 tried men's souls," Lafayette was so agitated with memories of 
 the great general and the great events of the war that the wither- 
 ing cheeks of the venerable soldier of Liberty were moistened 
 with tears which shone like jewels reflecting his recollections of 
 the campaigns, marches, thrilling charges, victories and glories 
 of those days. To the noble Custis, whose honored guest he 
 was, Lafayette said : 
 
 "I first saw you at Mount Vernon, in 1784, when you were a 
 very little gentleman, with a feather in his hat, holding fast to 
 one finger of the strong hand of the good General George 
 Washington." 
 
 HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION 
 
 Character is no stronger than its foundations. Very few of 
 our people know the true breadth and strength of the marvelous 
 character of George Washington; and, that being the case, our 
 people have not comprehended the character of his adopted son, 
 his beloved pupil, George Washington Parke Custis, to whom 
 Washington imparted a daily motion-picture review of all that 
 was good and great in the character of the Father of his Country ; 
 and thus was reproduced the fundamental principles of that great 
 character. 
 
 41 
 
These facts are stated, and emphatically, in order that you may 
 comprehend how it happened that the greatness of the character 
 of George Washington was imparted to the hero of this story. 
 
 Sir George Otto Trevelyan, describing the encampment at 
 Valley Forge as the most celebrated encampment in the history 
 of the world, says : 
 
 "Depressed and anxious, Washington was not perturbed out 
 of measure, inasmuch as he believed himself to be in direct rela- 
 tions with an Authority which was superior to Congress. The 
 old iron master at Valley Forge, with whom Washington lodged, 
 related that one day, while along the creek, he found the General's 
 horse fastened to a sapling. Looking around he saw Washington 
 in a thicket by the roadside on his knees in prayer. The honest 
 man, who was a Quaker preacher, said : T felt that I was on 
 holy ground, and withdrew, unobserved.' On returning to his 
 home he told his wife that the Nation would surely survive its 
 troubles, because, if there was anyone on earth to whom the 
 Lord would listen, that one was General Washington." 
 
 That firm foundation of character was transmitted to his 
 beloved youthful companion and pupil. To his daughter George 
 Washington Parke Custis transmitted that firm foundation. 
 Then she and her father taught to the hero of this story, in his 
 youth and young manhood, how to found, build and develop the 
 character which made him the American hero of whom but few 
 have heard, but concerning whom all mankind shall know and 
 to whom deferential appreciation shall be given. 
 
 AMERICA'S GREATEST ENTERTAINER. 
 
 While living in, for, and with mankind, George Washington did 
 not wear the sacred emotions of his nature on his sleeve, nor 
 did his pupil nor did the hero of this story. Washington mingled 
 with men with democratic demeanor, assuming no superiority, 
 and yet receiving the voluntary obeisance of his fellow men. 
 When he laid aside his public duties on March 4, 1797. and 
 returned to his Virginia home, all men of distinction followed 
 him to that home, so that Mount Vernon became the Mecca of 
 America. The distinguished master there was the greatest enter- 
 tainer then or ever since on the American continent. That fact 
 was observed and comprehended by the young master of the 
 Arlington Estate who was rapidlv approaching manhood ; and 
 thus it naturally followed that when he could not continue at 
 Mount Vernon to receive those friends of Washington, he planned 
 to make and he did make Arlington Mansion tlie greatest and 
 most generous place of entertainment in the United States; a 
 Mansion most richly furnished, with china, silver, gold, silk and 
 mahogany: and no historian ever has liberally and gracefully 
 described tiie magnificent manner in which his child-wife cor- 
 
dially co-operated with him. During the hfe-tinies of the friends 
 of Washington they were welcomed with ah of the well-bred 
 dignity and cordial courtesy that was habitual to Washington 
 himself on all occasions. 
 
 "Welcome" was signaled by the beds of flowers, over the various 
 gates and on the genial faces of the gentleman and the gentle 
 woman who cheerily greeted all visitors ; and they were num- 
 berless. The growth of Alexandria, which was a commercial 
 port, and of W^ashington, the National Capital City, the increas- 
 ing population in the farm lands of near-by Virginia and Mary- 
 land, supplemented the generous hospitality, so that the children 
 of the churches, Sundays schools, and the mature folks of lodges 
 and civil societies wended their ways towards the "Arlington 
 Springs," and the Arlington Estate became the favorite picnicing 
 grounds of the surrounding country ; and those parties continued 
 to grow in numbers until the political disturbances of 1860 and 
 1861. when clouds of national insanity obscured the sunlight of 
 fraternal love. During the year 1856 upwards of 20,000 people 
 enjoyed outings there, and 
 
 HUNDREDS OF LITTLE CHILDREN 
 
 were entertained by an elderly gentleman, dressed as in colonial 
 days, distinguished in appearance but wearing welcoming smiles. 
 He came to their gatherings, clasped their little hands, talked 
 with them, and entertained them with popular tunes on a violin ; 
 and that elderly gentleman was a master musician, too. 
 
 That was George Washington Parke Custis, the beloved grand- 
 son of Martha (Custis) Washington, the adopted son and wor- 
 shiping companion of George Washington ; the wonderful man, 
 heretofore so little known, the only man ever tutored by George 
 Washington. 
 
 Mark ye ! What Washington did for that man in his youth, 
 George Washington Parke Custis did for his own grand-son, 
 George Washington Custis Lee, the eldest son of Robert E. Lee. 
 
 Thus, you see, the tutoring of the Father of his Country was 
 transmitted, first hand, to a worthy and capable pupil. This, 
 as well as his heritage of superior intelligence, must in some 
 measure account for the magnificent manhood of George Wash- 
 ington Custis Lee. 
 
 Unless conversant with provincialisms and pronunciations, you 
 could not know that the word P-i-e-r-c-e is pronounced Purse, 
 nor that in New England the word Q-u-i-n-c-y is pronounced 
 Quinzy. 
 
 On July 1, 1854, General Franklin Pierce, a distinguished 
 veteran soldier of the War with Mexico, was President of the 
 United States and concededly the most strikingly handsome man 
 that had ever held that high office after Thomas JefTerson, 
 
 43 
 
Officially present at West Point on that date, President Pierce 
 reviewed the corps of cadets and participated in their commence- 
 ment exercises. 
 
 The first honor man of the graduating class was George 
 Washington Custis Lee of Virginia. The young cadet was per- 
 sonally congratulated and complimented by President Pierce ; 
 and mirabile dictu, he was handed his first commission by the 
 Secretary of War, who was also a soldier and hero of the War 
 with Mexico, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. 
 
 Constantly conscious of the fact that he was the grand-son 
 of "Light Horse Harry Lee," of revolutionary fame, the young 
 first honor man was also intensely impressed with consciousness 
 of the fact that he was the son of the Superintendent of the 
 Military Academy at West Point ; and his father, Colonel Robert 
 E. Lee, was also a hero of the War with Mexico. Christened 
 with the name of the Father of his Country, and with an enviable 
 ancestry, it was natural only that the young cadet should strive 
 to be worthy of his antecedents and environments. 
 
 During his long life of four score years Custis Lee never 
 forgot those salient facts ; nor ever once did he fail to act well 
 his part in the drama, romance, tragedy and glory of the epochal 
 3'ears of his immediate future. 
 
 Seven years after that commencement day at West Point the 
 Superintendent and his son, the first honor man, had occasion 
 to delve in vivid memories of the day ; for, that same Jefferson 
 Davis was President of a vaster, more populous, more prosperous, 
 and more promising republic than Washington had ever dreamed 
 of ; and, that same Jefferson D'avis was beckoning to both of them 
 to come to his side. They did not stain the escutcheon of the 
 Lees with ingratitude. 
 
 On the morning following the commencement exercises at 
 West Point, President Pierce was accompanied by Secretary 
 Jefferson Davis, General Winfield Scott, Colonel Robert E. Lee, 
 and other officers on the trip to New York City, and thence to 
 their various destinations ; so that in the evening of July 3, 
 Colonel Lee arrived at Arlington Mansion for a brief vacation. 
 
 Quite naturally the young lieutenant spent some time in the 
 big city, not in recreation, but in shopping. He desired to carry 
 home some presents, and he also selected some little mementoes of 
 the metropolis for neighbors near and a neighbor dear to him. 
 In the early morning of July 5 the negro house servants who 
 were on the lookout for him hastened to notify his mother and 
 she was soon clasped in the arms of her first-born son, a stalwart, 
 hanrlsomc young athlete, straight as an arrow and carrying him- 
 self with princely pride. 
 
 Together they ascended the stone steps of the great portico, 
 when, at the door, appi'ari'd Colonel KobiTt E. Lee. lu- 
 ll 
 
stantly the young lieutenant withdrew his arm from his mother s 
 ^vaist came to "attention" and sahited his superior officer who 
 returned the salute^ and then the father came and clasped the 
 hand of the son of whom he was so proud. After entenncr the 
 great reception room, the mother said: 
 
 "My boy, my first-born son, I am so proud of you. Your father 
 tells me you are the first cadet that ever went through West 
 Point without a single demerit, and also came forth at the head 
 of his class. It's wonderful to me. I'm so happy." 
 
 "Mother mine," said Custis, "we are in perfect harmony as 
 usual, for I am as happy and as proud as you are ; happy that 
 I have made my mother happy, and proud because my mother is 
 
 proud of me." 
 
 William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, the younger brother, came run- 
 ning across the lawn, having just been informed of the arrival 
 of Custis He was almost 16 years old, stout, much heavier 
 than Custis, but very active. Quickly after the greetmgs the 
 younger brother, whom they always called by his nickname 
 "Rooney," said to Custis : , j -r^ j ^ 
 
 "I want to go into the army, too, like Grand-pa and Dad, ana 
 like you. I don't want to go to Harvard. I want to go to West 
 Point, too." , ... ,-r, ^ , 
 
 Colonel Lee said : "I'm glad you have that ambition, Rooney. 
 and maybe I can find the political influence to put you there 
 when you are a few years older. Just now, I have no influence 
 worth while ; but I will keep in mind your proper ambition. 
 
 Custis Lee, the elder, although weighing twenty pounds less, 
 always spoke of his younger brother as "my little brother. 
 He said: 
 
 "Some day when I can win my way to an assignment in the 
 War Department, I will direct my energies to finding that 
 influence for my little brother. He ought to go to West Point 
 if we can put him there." 
 
 BEING IN LOVE WITH A GIRL 
 
 very early in the morning July ^, 1854, at Arlington. Brevet 
 Lieutenant Lee departed, on horseback, his proud mother saying: 
 
 "Charlotte is a prize, my son ; but no girl is going to win my 
 boy away from me. Maybe, after I am gone, you may think 
 seriously of Charlotte ; but not now. Give to her and to her 
 mother and father our hearty regards and neighborly aftection. 
 
 Also very early morning, Julv 7. 1854, at the home of Judge 
 Wickham. a spacious frame Virginia Mansion, on the portico 
 was Charlotte Wickham (a little blonde, like Delia Fox) with 
 her mother. Charlotte, being in love with a young man. was 
 restless, remained standing there, went down the path to the 
 
 45 
 
gate and back again several times, and Mrs. Wickham, kindly 
 reproving her daughter, said : 
 
 "Charlotte, my child, Custis will remain with his mother and 
 the family for some days before coming here. Remember, dear 
 child, his mother has not seen him since he closed his vacation 
 last October; and his mother of course wants to have her boy 
 with her for a while." 
 
 Charlotte replied : "Well, when Custis is my boy his mother 
 will have to come here to see him. I'll never let him leave me; 
 never." 
 
 "But, Charlotte, you simple little, impatient not-to-say selfish 
 angel ; I am afraid that Custis is not half as crazy about you as 
 you'd want him to be. Yes, don't frown at me, because I meant 
 to add, as I'd like him to be. But, he hasn't proposed yet. He 
 can't be here today. So, quit promenading to the gate. Be 
 patient a few days." 
 
 With full skirt extending only a few inches below the knees,. 
 and with ankle flounces around the bottom of her pantalettes, 
 Charlotte was a picturesque as well as graceful little human 
 gazelle as she ran to her mother smiling, but almost petulantly 
 saying : 
 
 "Mother, I'm sure you never were in love." 
 
 Well, there was prophecy or some other kind of inspiration 
 in Charlotte's hopeful and loving heart ; for she was right in' 
 confidently anticipating the coming of Custis. Maybe it was- 
 telepathic communication. At any rate, Charlotte continued 
 her out-looking excursions to the big gate, gazing down the long 
 road again and again and slowly returning to the veranda or up< 
 stairs to the mother who continued to reprove her. 
 
 However, in the early evening when Charlotte walked down 
 the stairs to gaze into the gloaming, the Judge and Mrs. Wickham 
 tauntingly accompanied her. But, no sooner were they near the 
 gate where they could see the roadway for a mile or more, than 
 sure enough there they saw the voung lieutenant in uniform,, 
 accompanied by his negro valet.' slowly approaching; slowly 
 because the horses had been urged onto a forced march bv th'e- 
 young lieutenant who was as anxious to see Charlotte as" that 
 little one was anxious to see him. 
 
 Instantly Charlotte unclasped the gate-lock and tried to open 
 the gate so that she could run down the road to meet Custis. 
 But. Judge and Mother Wickham restrained her. Decorum and" 
 dignity required that Charlotte return to the house and she was 
 required to accompany Mother Wickham to her room, and' 
 Mother Wickham said: 
 
 "Nice-looking eyes you now have. Sit here and keep cool, 
 as a well-bred \'irginia gentlewoman should be. Remain here 
 with your mother until the coming of the guest is announced tO' 
 
 Ui 
 
your father. He will cordially welcome the visitor. Then he 
 will send Aunt Lize to announce him. We will take our time 
 getting ready to meet with him." 
 
 Charlotte, stamping her foot and shaking her head saucily, said : 
 
 "I'm not a gentlewoman. Mother; not yet. I'm just 16, and 
 I love Custis. We're ready now, both of us. There needn't 
 be any getting ready at all. I'm going downstairs right now. 
 Ain't he handsome?" 
 
 "No, dear, we're not ready. His coming is a surprise to us. 
 Shame on you that your mother must stand against the door 
 this way to protect you from your own folly. Custis must not 
 know that we are ready, nor that you are anxious to throw 
 yourself at him. Remember, you are a Virginia gentlewoman 
 now ; and you must always act well your part. Your father 
 must not be ashamed of your appearance nor of your manners 
 and style." 
 
 "Dad don't like Custis, and I know it," said Charlotte. 
 
 "On the contrary," said Mother Wickham, "your father sa3-s 
 that Custis is the brightest and best young man that he knows 
 of ; and that Custis always has been a model boy, worthy of his 
 ancestry and his heritage." 
 
 "Can't you see that both of us would like to have Colonel 
 Lee and Mrs. Lee look upon our daughter in like manner ; as 
 a model of the highest type of Virginia gentlewomen?" 
 
 "Pardon me, dear old Mom. I'll be good. 'Deed I will. But, 
 Mother, I know you never were in love." 
 
 And it was high time for Charlotte to be drying her eyes and 
 powdering her nose. Her cheeks were ripe cherry red always, 
 but they colored a peach-bloom deep pink as she glanced otit of 
 the window and saw her Custis dismounting by the big iron 
 gates and handing the reins to his butler, who led the horses 
 away while Custis stepped upon the graveled path with sprightly 
 tread and approached the veranda upon which Judge Wickham 
 was standing. The Judge was wearing his smoking jacket and 
 burning Virginia tobacco in the meerschaum pipe which he had 
 been diligently coloring for more years than Custis had lived. 
 
 Walking towards the top step of the veranda with slow and 
 stately dignity, Judge Wickham received Custis with a hearty 
 hand-clasp and words of sincere and cheerful greeting. After 
 crossing the broad portico and entering the spacious reception 
 room, Custis inquired with manifest interest if the ladies were 
 well, and if they were at home. 
 
 Judge Wickham jingled a tiny silver bell which always was 
 available on the center table. Immediately black Liza, slender. 
 clean, graceful, intelligent, a model house servant, appeared, 
 received the inquiry, and retired to announce the guest to the 
 ladies. 
 
 47 
 
Slaves of the best and most aristocratic families were illiterate, 
 but cunningly cute as they grew to maturity in the house and 
 home. And so, as Liza ascended the stairway she looked back, 
 smiled and went on up to the chamber of Mother Wickham. 
 As Liza entered the room she began saying : 
 
 "Missus, Mr. Custis Lee " 
 
 Charlotte ran impulsively towards the door, but her mother 
 intercepted her and replied to the message by saying to Liza : 
 
 "Go and tell your master that my daughter and I will both of 
 us be very glad to meet and welco'me the gentleman as soon as 
 we can prepare ourselves." 
 
 Mrs. Wickham restrained Charlotte, closed the door, and when 
 Liza returned directed her to stand with her back against the 
 door; for the prudent and controlling mother knew that her 
 daughter was straining at the mandatory leash of maternal dis- 
 ciplme; and, although well bred and biddable, the time had 
 arrived when independent womanhood was beginning to assert 
 itsejf and Charlotte might become uncontrollable. Liza took her 
 position, her black countenance beaming with emotions of admira- 
 tion and hope for her young mistress, and Liza said : 
 
 "Miss Charlotte, yo' shore is han'sum t'day. Hoccome ?" 
 
 Judge Wickham was wisely entertaining the welcome visitor 
 by directing his conversation to the subject with which he was 
 most familiar, and Custis was answering questions galore con- 
 cerning West Point and the daily life of routine there. Upstairs, 
 when the grand-father's clock had marked the passage of fifteen 
 minutes. Mother Wickham said: 
 
 . "Liza, go and tell your master that we will be downstairs in 
 just another minute." 
 
 But Mother Wickham restrained Charlotte for another five 
 minutes, and then preceded Charlotte in descending the stairs. 
 Mother Wickham greeted Custis with a kiss, just as she had 
 been greeting him from the days of his babyhood. How Charlotte 
 did envy her mother when she kissed her Custis and while she 
 was saying: 
 
 "This is a great honor, Custis. and a great surprise. Of 
 course you have been home, haven't you; and arc all well there?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, Mrs. Wickham. all are well, and I bring messages of 
 neighborly regard and affection from both father and mother." 
 
 Charlotte's greeting was as efifusive as might be expected of 
 one so young, and so emphatically in love ; and vet, she was coyly 
 dignified until her mother had first greeted the' guest. Charlotte 
 said : 
 
 "T told Mother yesterday and t()da\- that vou were coming, and 
 1 am doliglitcd to sec vou." 
 
 '■'riiank you, and many thanks to all of vou. for your friendship 
 and kindness. I am on to Richmond. I .shall visit our White 
 
House Farm estate on the Pamunkey, the L-idal home of Grand- 
 ma Martha Custis, and then I go on to Richmond to be made a 
 Mason in the lodge of which my noble father is Past-master." 
 
 Mrs. Wickham took her place beside her husband. Charlotte 
 conducted Custis to a large old-fashioned hair-cloth sofa. All 
 were seated, when Mrs. Wickham rang a livde silver bell. When 
 Liza appeared, Mrs. Wickham said: 
 
 "Prepare tea at once, and send Jim here.' 
 
 When Jim, the black butler, arrived, Judge Wickham gave him 
 orders, and he soon reappeared with the Virginia nectar, in two 
 big goblets, with mint stems extruding profusely over the tops. 
 As host and guest sipped their juleps, the conversation proceeded. 
 Judge Wickham told his wife and Charlotte that 
 
 "Custis came out at the head of his class, the first honor man.'' 
 
 "Just as might have been expected of the sqn of Colonel Robert 
 E. Lee," said Mrs. Wickham. 
 
 "Just as I KNEW it would be," said Charlotte. 
 
 "But, my friends, I am more proud of my record of four years 
 at West Point without a demerit, nor a reproof." 
 
 "How like the great-grand-son of Martha Washington," said 
 Mrs. Wickham. "Surely all of your great ancestors are hap- 
 pier, even in heaven, to see you growing into perfect manhood." 
 
 "But, I am not growing into perfect manhood," said Custis. 
 
 "Mother, dear, remember that flattery is not good for young 
 men," said Judge Wickham. 
 
 "Flattery can never hurt me," said Custis. "I am absolutely 
 proof against it." 
 
 "Why, Custis," said Mrs. Wickham, "it is impossible for any 
 human being to be unmoved by flattery." 
 
 "But my armor is of divine origin," replied the young man very 
 earnestly. 
 
 "Now, Custis, isn't that sacrilege?" asked Mother Wickham. 
 
 "No, indeed, it is not. That is religious reverence. I can never 
 be flattered into self-conceit, because I know my Qwn inferiority 
 to the only perfect man living." 
 
 "Why, Custis, you are talking like a preacher, and I don't un- 
 derstand," said Mrs. Wickham. 
 
 "Well, I can explain," said Custis. "I have before me, always, 
 the man whom I can never equal, the hero of America, the great- 
 est soldier, and the typical southern gentleman, too. I shall follow 
 his example, but there can be and there will be no other idol of 
 American hearts." 
 
 "And, who is this perfect man, this great soldier, this typical 
 southern gentleman? Tell us, Custis." 
 
 "General Scott has described him, spoken of him as the master 
 militarv mind of this age. His wife, his children, and all who 
 know him pronounce him typical in all manly virtues and powers." 
 
 49 
 
"But, Custis, is there such a man?" 
 
 "Yes, there is such a man. It is my noble father. Colonel 
 Ro'bert Edward Lee." 
 
 DIPLOMACY AT HOME 
 
 While Cadet-Lieutenant George Washington Custis Lee was 
 starting for the Wickham home, in July, 1854, his father, Colonel 
 Robert E. Lee was playing the part qf a W^est Point cadet by 
 ''walking his beat," as his frequently facetious wife termed it. 
 The Colonel was walking from the big front steps of the big front 
 3-ard, all around the big mansion to the big back yard. Colonel 
 Lee was also indulging his well-known habit of "letting down and 
 hauling up" with the pulley rope of the splendid and still inex- 
 haustible well. Where water was a-plenty Colonel Lee was always 
 a heavy drinker. So, as he walked and walked, he frequently 
 stopped and drank from "the old oaken bucket that hung in the 
 well." 
 
 Disappearing afar ofif on the road amidst the trees, he could see 
 Custis. graceful always on horseback, accompanied by his wor- 
 shipful valet, a negro only a few years older than Custis, who had 
 been serving "the young master" from the days of short pants and 
 close- fitting round-a-bouts. On each trip, as he turned the corner 
 of the ^lansion, the Colonel halted, looked after his son, and 
 walked on tq the well, "with the dairy-house nigh it;" and then 
 back again. At last, as he was "getting on her nerves," he was 
 hailed by the mistress of the manse, with the ancient taunt : "a 
 penny for your thoughts." 
 
 "I'm thinking of that foolish boy. I'm wondering how to 
 circumvent or surround him, and capture him. He's running right 
 into an ambush, and I know that he won't heed a warning. I 
 must capture him before he is captured. You know what ails the 
 foolish boy, don't you?" 
 
 "No. Robert, I don't know it. Custis is not a foolish boy, but a 
 very sane young gentleman, and very safe, too." 
 
 "But, Mary Ann, don't you see that he has courtship, love, 
 marriage and all of the sequences, right before him? We will 
 lose him, and he will throw away his great career. He is shadow- 
 ing the rainbow of hope, and the rainbow of promise, with clouds." 
 
 "Xow. Robert, you may apprehend that Custis will not obey the 
 orders of his father much longer; but I can assure vou that he 
 will not and don't intend to get away from his mother's apron 
 strings. Moreover, Robert, I can assure you that he can't get 
 away from his mother's apron strings. I've been weaving them 
 carefully for years, and they are strong enough for anv emer- 
 gency." 
 
 .■■)0 
 
"\\^hat does he care for a mother's apron strings? Why, Mary 
 Ann, a woman's apron strings are imaginary, anyway." 
 
 "Well, Robert, maybe they are, ordinarily ; but my apron strings 
 are ca'bles. You've never tried them yourself, Robert." 
 
 "Well, of all the mysteries on earth," exclaimed Colonel Lee, 
 ■'I've never been able to, fathom the wild, baseless logic of the 
 ladies. You beg the question, always, by jumping to another sub- 
 ject. I'm not worrying about your apron strings. I'm worrying 
 about Custis. He's in love, and that's no condition for a soldier 
 with his spurs and eagles yet to v/in." 
 
 "Well, Robert, Custis is now a lawful citizen, full grown, and 
 capable o,f doing his own thinking and fully capable of reaching 
 his own conclusions. Why worry?" 
 
 "Can't you see, Mary Ann, his stimulated eyes, his blushing 
 cheeks. That snip of a girl is not sixteen. Now, Mary Ann, you 
 know that she won't do." 
 
 "Won't she, Robert dear? Don't be so sure of that. My 
 grand-father married Eleanor Calvert when she was only sixteen ; 
 and surely Nellie Custis was a success, a wonderful success." 
 
 "Yes, Mary Ann, your grand-mother was a marvelous woman; 
 but she was an exception." 
 
 "Oh, well, Robert, there are other exceptions. My own mother 
 was only sixteen when she came to this mansion as a bride. She 
 lias been a success in every way. 
 
 "But Charlotte Wickham is a mere child. She can't make a 
 man of Custis." 
 
 "Now, take a little time for reflection, Robert. Charlotte has 
 good material to work on. Custis is not common clay. He is as 
 good as the material that I have been moi^lding for a quarter of a 
 century. 
 
 "Of course. Many Ann, I know that as well as you do. But he 
 will need a good moulder, not a blonde baby in pantalettes." 
 
 "That is mean, Robert, positively mean. Charlotte will have 
 intuition and common sense to play her part, just as a young lady 
 did right here on this portico in 1830 when a foolish boy came 
 from West Point, proud of his new uniform, and made love to 
 the girl who could see and foresee that she could make a real 
 worth-while man of him." 
 
 Then Mary Ann Lee turned and called to Bow-legs, the ready 
 and always smiling valet, saying: "Bowly, bring your master's 
 pipe." 
 
 Then she smiled at her beloved husband and said : "Robert, 
 it is time for you to go and consult your oracle. Bowly, bring the 
 oracle !" 
 
 As he received the long-stemmed pipe Colonel Lee stepped back- 
 ward toward his big chair under the tree and said : "The enemy 
 
 51 
 
is appearing in great force on the horizon, and I will now retire 
 while I can retire in gOQcl order.'" 
 
 And that was all there was of that. 
 
 Then "Rooney" came to his mother. Almost as tall as his 
 father, growing stout, too, this second son of Robert and Mary 
 Ann Lee was sixteen years of age, and his mother had always 
 "baby-ed" him. He 'brought an Indian-made buck-skin hassock 
 and sat upon it, beside his mother, and, looking up at her, began 
 very earnestly to tell his troubles, saying : 
 
 "Some day, Mother, and soon, I want you to do something for 
 me, and you will, won't you?" 
 
 "Why, I'll do what you want right now. 'Rooney,' if you'll tell 
 me all about it. What is it ?" 
 
 "Nothing for Pop to hear," the big boy replied in a whisper^ 
 with a cautious raising of his hands. "Pop wouldn't understand. 
 You know Pop is too military and too soldier-like. But you'll 
 understand." 
 
 "Come along with me," exclaimed his mother. "Ccyiie on,. 
 'Rooney,' and walk your father's beat with me for a while. 
 We won't let the grass grow up on it." 
 
 After they had turned the corner, his mother took his arm, and 
 he told his secret to her, saying : 
 
 "I wanted to ask Custis, but I was ashamed to ask him. So,. 
 now I want you to tell Charlotte Wickham for me, that I love 
 her, and I don't want her to go off and get married. I want her 
 to wait for me." 
 
 Now, while she was thinking of Custis and of Charlotte, her 
 husband had just been telling to her his troubles, and here came 
 'Rooney' with another problem for diplomacy. She stopped, 
 kissed the anxious lad, who was sufifering with his first attack, 
 and then she frankly threw forth the facts, saying: 
 
 "Why, my baby boy 'Rooney,' you are only one year older than 
 Charlotte ; yes, less than a year. It will 'be five or six years be- 
 fore you can really think of marriage. Lots of things will hap- 
 pen in five or six years. Charlotte is not likely to wait that long 
 for any one. Every one that sees her falls in love with her. 
 women as well as men. Inside of five or six years, Charlotte will 
 have to accept some man, or else she will have to refuse a hun- 
 dred, or more." 
 
 "But, mother, can't she be told, and asked to wait?" 
 
 "Why, my boy, I'm so glad you came to your mother about it, 
 for your mother knows and understands. Charlotte is a grown 
 woman now, and old enough to be married. My own mother 
 was only sixteen when she was married to your dear grand-father. 
 If any boy of sixteen or seventeen should come to her with a love 
 story — I mean any boy except one she likes as well as she likes- 
 
 52 
 
you — if any other boy should go to her with a love story, she 
 would just laugh, and laugh and laugh. I'm afraid, my boy, 
 that she would even laugh at you, too. No, no, no, you'd better 
 wake up and get up ; or else turn over on your side, for you've 
 been dreaming, and it's likely to become a nightmare, if you don't 
 wake up." 
 
 "Rooney" leaned his face over on the shoulders of the dear 
 mother that he loved so well, and wept like a child ; like the big 
 child that he was. While he was still sobbing out his first great 
 grief, the voice of his father was heard, saying: 
 
 "Come off of my beat. You two are up to mischief of some 
 kind. Come off of my beat." 
 
 "Run along, dear 'Rooney' and cry it out under the trees," said 
 his very affectionate mother, as she gently and lovingly pushed 
 him away towards the big spring, and the home diplomat re- 
 turned to engage in a cheerful chat with the Colonel. 
 
 CUSTIS WAS A HUMORIST 
 
 We must now return to the Wickham home, and see the young 
 soldier in happy mood, the welcome guest of a superior family ; 
 a family in which Charlotte was not alone in her anticipation 
 that, some day, Custis would be one of the family. Judge Wick- 
 ham, reverting to the encomium that Custis had utered concern- 
 ing his father, said : 
 
 "Custis, that is a noble sentiment that you have uttered con- 
 cerning your father; the soldier of whom all Virginians are 
 proud." 
 
 "It is only what is due to my father," said Custis. 
 
 "Very true," said Judge Wickham, "but few sons appreciate 
 their fathers. I wish that I had a son like you." 
 
 "So do I, Papa," said Charlotte. 
 
 Mrs. Wickham said: "Custis, with such an ideal before you. 
 we may expect you to be another Washington, the typical Ameri- 
 can who never told a lie ; whose name you wear so well." 
 
 Custis smiled, and said : "But may be his biographer did some 
 lying." 
 
 "But, Custis, don't you believe that story about Washington 
 never telling a lie?" inquired Charlotte. 
 
 "I can't say that I doubt it, exactly," said Custis. "Washing- 
 ton may have Hved without having told a lie. He had one great 
 advantage over modern soldiers." 
 
 "What was his advantage, that would have kept him from ever 
 telling a lie?" asked Judge Wickham. 
 
 "Well, Sir, he never was a West Point Cadet." 
 
 Charlotte asked "Why, Custis, do you mean to say 
 
"Joe," the Custis butler, exclaimed : "Massa Custis, Massa 
 Custas, Sah, " 
 
 Custis turned and said: "What is the matter, Joe?" 
 
 "Nawthin, Sah, Massa Custis, Sah, Nawthin, Sah." 
 
 "What is it Joe, what's on your mind?" 
 
 "Nawthin, Sah, Massa Custis, Ah was jess thinkin', Sah. dat 
 you all nevah tole no lie, nevah Sah, Massa Custis, cause I always 
 backs yo up, Massa Custis, Sah, don't I ?" 
 
 Custis smiled and said : "Now Joe, you can back up into the 
 kitchen." 
 
 THE COLONEL SURRENDERS 
 
 Colonel Lee was trying to solve a problem and he never went 
 to bed with a real problem unsolved, if it was solvable. Concern- 
 ing Custis, and his intentions for the immediate future, Colonel 
 Lee was intensely interested. He could not throw off from his 
 mind and take up any other subject until that problem was 
 solved. Before going to bed, before sundown, if possible, he was 
 determined to reach a conclusion and write upon the last page of 
 his problem, after the solution, quod demonstrandum erat. And 
 so, after evoking several additional crisp statements in defense of 
 Custis and Charlotte, he said : 
 
 "Well, as you seem to favor this match, and seem to believe that 
 Charlotte is the proper life companion for Custis, I can count 
 on no assistance from you in checkmating or capturing Custis. 
 But I am confident that I must break off this affair, before it 
 goes any farther." 
 
 "Why Robert, dear, you may as well try to dam up the Potomac 
 river with a horse-fly net. Mortal man cannot accomplish the 
 impossible. If ever we agree to break off this association, it 
 will be I and not you that can accomplish the result." 
 
 "On the contrary," said Colonel Lee, "I believe that I can 
 call off Custis, althougii it may be a little hard on him." 
 
 "Yes, Robert dear, and heart-l)reaking on me, too. When vou 
 set your mind on a matter, you must succeed if you have to blow 
 up all of the world. You are a soldier, a tactician, a campaigner, 
 but I can see clear through your plan in this campaign. It will 
 only end in failure and in probable disaster." 
 
 "If you can read my thoughts so well, tell me what my cam- 
 paign is to be, and I'll surrender to you," said Colonel Lee. with 
 the faint trace of a smile of aflfection lightening his determined 
 face. 
 
 "Why, Robert, that's easy. You intend to go to General Scott 
 and have Custis ordered away out in the west, where you used to 
 be. ^'ou plan that it will take him away from Charlotte, will do 
 
 51 
 
Custis no harm, give him a vakiable experience which he don't 
 need, and that Charlotte will then marry another ; but she won't." 
 
 Colonel Lee arose, kissed his wonderful wife, and said : 
 
 "Mary Ann, my sweetheart, I surrender. That's easy though, 
 for I'm getting used to it around home." 
 
 "Why Robert," said Mrs. Lee, "that course would weld them 
 together so fast that nothing but death would part them. Char- 
 lotte would live on and live on with no God before her daily life 
 but Custis Lee. She would be as loyal to him as the sacrament 
 of marriage could make her. She would be utterly dead to the 
 world of society. She would go nowhere, see no one, and spurn 
 any attentions from other men." 
 
 "Now it seems to me that you are drawing heavily on your 
 imagination," said the Colonel. 
 
 CONFESSING HER FIRST LOVE 
 
 "On the contrary, Robert, I know all about it. I had just such 
 an experience myself, with the first man that I loved, and nothing 
 on earth could have driven me away from him. 
 
 "Well, well, well," said Colonel Lee. "Now that you have 
 mentioned it yourself, please tell me more about the first man 
 that you loved so well ; that you had to fight for. I'm not jealous, 
 but curious." 
 
 "Well, I don't mind telling you Robert; but men are always 
 jealous, and sometimes mighty mean about it, too." 
 
 "I'm too old to be jealous. But, my dear Mary Ann, I'm wild 
 with curiosity. Did your parents object to him?" 
 
 "No, only my prudent father. My mother did not object. She 
 would listen to me. But father objected, and it was hard for me 
 to keep my hero from knowing it." 
 
 "What became of him, though, if you couldn't give him up? 
 How did you break ofif with him?" 
 
 "I didn't break off with him. My mother had some influence 
 with my father, as a good and true wife always ought to have. 
 My mother brought my father to his senses, and so I married 
 the young man. That's the best way to settle real, genuine love 
 affairs." 
 
 CUSTIS AND CHARLOTTE 
 
 remained on the veranda for a little while and then in the Wick- 
 ham carry-all went a-visitin' the Fitzhughs, near neighbors : and, 
 returning in the moonlight, Charlotte began her investigation of 
 the heart of Custis, asking: 
 
 55 
 
"Custis, now that you never will go to school any more, of 
 course you will soon be married; won't you?" 
 
 "No, Charlotte, not for a very long while." 
 
 "I'm glad of that Custis," said Charlotte. 
 
 "Why, tell me why you're glad of it?" 
 
 Charlotte answered, laughingly : "P'or two reasons. First, no 
 ordinary girl is good enough for you; and, second, because I'd 
 want to name the girl, when the time comes. Now, Custis, what 
 are your reasons ?" 
 
 "I have many reasons. First, a Second Lieutenant in the army 
 is a dressed up Nobody. Second, a First Lieutenant, is a respec- 
 table Nobody, and is spoken to and of by his rank, but usually 
 as 'Loot.' Next, only when a man has a double bar on his shoul- 
 der, and is known as Captain, is he a Sombody in the army. It 
 takes years to get double bars and be called Captain, and be a 
 Somebody in the army; and the girl I love shall not marry a 
 Nobody. It may take years, but when the girl I love is married 
 she will marry a Somebody ; a Captain." 
 
 Dismounting, they entered the mansion, and, very soon. Mother 
 Wickham escorted Charlotte to her room. Judge Wickham and 
 Custis were seated, and the Judge rang for "Jim" who answered, 
 and the Judge said : 
 
 "Custis, will you join me in a night-cap before retiring?" 
 
 Custis bowed, but remained and continued talking about West 
 Point and other matters for another hour, until Judge Wickham 
 said, somewhat suggestively, 
 
 "I beg your pardon. Custis, but that night-cap was not a real 
 night-cap, after all. We usually go to bed after taking a night- 
 cap." 
 
 Custis said : "No, General Wickham, not yet. The Virginia 
 night-caps always have two strings, don't they?" 
 
 The Judge called : "Jim, bring those other juleps." 
 
 ROMANCE IN THE AIR 
 
 On a morning in May, 1857. At the Wickham home. Judge 
 Wickham, on the broad veranda, was walking back and forth. 
 After a while he went to the door and called to the ladies, 
 U])stairs, for "Jim" v^as outside the gate, with the horses and 
 the handsome coach ready for driving. 
 
 Ustairs. Mrs. Wickham was saying: "Wc should do our shop- 
 ping in I^allimore; and not in Washington. You will not see 
 Custis, for he is in charge of engineering at Fort Washington.'' 
 
 "But, Mother," replied Charlotte, using an old-fashioned and 
 sizeable handkerchief over her tear-dimmed eyes; "but, Mother, 
 yon know tlial Custis goes to Washington and reports to the 
 
 5(1 
 
War Department. We can do our little shopping in Washington 
 just as well." 
 
 They went downstairs, and coming out on the veranda, Mrs. 
 Wickham said : "We have concluded to do our shopping in 
 Washington, although we may not do so well as in Baltimore, 
 but, we must not neglect our lonely old friend at Arlington, and 
 we can call there, thus making a double journey in one." Then 
 they departed, on a beautifully embowered road. 
 
 Earlier, the same morning Lieutenant Custis Lee, at Fort 
 Washington, on the Potomac river, started on horseback for 
 Washington City. 
 
 At Arlington Mansion, William Henry Fitzhugh ("Rooney") 
 Lee and his grand-father were together on the portico, when 
 the Wickhams arrived there, on their way to Washington. 
 
 "Rooney" asked Charlotte to drive to town with him in his 
 new buggy; a present from Grand-pa. And, the old gentleman 
 took Charlotte's place for a ride to the city, for recreation. 
 
 On the way, "Rooney" pleaded with Charlotte to "see Custis 
 for me and have me appointed to the army from civil life." 
 
 Charlotte refused. Rooney begged her to do so, saying: 
 "Custis will do anything you ask him. He can't refuse YOU." 
 
 Charlotte interestedly inquired: "Are you SURE of that?" 
 
 Rooney replied : "I KNOW it." 
 
 Misunderstanding, and believing that Rooney knew that Custis 
 loved her, Charlotte beamed with happiness and agreed to plead 
 the case for Rooney. 
 
 As the two vehicles arrived at the old War Department build- 
 ing on Pennsylvania Avenue, near 17th Street, the occupants 
 saw. coming along the dust-road on Pennsylvania Avenue, Lieu- 
 tenant George Washington Custis Lee, mounted and in uniform; 
 the uniform dusty with the long ride. 
 
 Charlotte went inside the building with Custis, took him by 
 the arm, and in the corridor insisted that Custis make some effort 
 at once to get Rooney into the army as a second lieutenant. 
 Custis hesitated, but finally said: 
 
 "I will ask General Scott about it." 
 
 Charlotte clasped the hand of Custis in both of her own, and 
 standing on her tip-toes, kissed him. She said : 
 
 "It makes me very happy to have Rooney cared for, and pro- 
 vided for." 
 
 It never occured to Custis that she wanted Rooney disposed 
 of, so that there could be no one between Ctistis and herself in 
 their new. home; the home which her imagination had been pictur- 
 ing daily, for several years. 
 
 As they came out of the War Department, Custis said : 
 
 "Charlotte, I will have double bars on my shoulders in a few 
 weeks, or maybe in a few days." 
 
"Oh Custis!" That is all she said, but she meant so much. 
 
 The next morning Lieutenant Custis Lee called on Lieutenant 
 General Scott, was admitted, saluted and invited to be seated. 
 He stated his case very earnestly, and the calm, kindly-disposed 
 physical giant listened with manifest interest to the story. 
 Finally, General Scott said : 
 
 "I will recommend the appointment in writing. I will see the 
 Secretary of War. 1 will see President Buchanan, too." 
 
 General Scott called on the Secretary of War, presented a let- 
 ter and said : 
 
 "Mr. Secretary here is a matter very near to my heart. I am 
 recommending and requesting an appointment in the army from 
 civil life for the younger son of Colonel Robert E. Lee. You 
 know my high appreciation of Colonel Lee, and you know what 
 a magnificent soldier his son Custis has already become. I want 
 to obtain your approval of this recommendation, and would like 
 to have your permission to go to the President with it, in person, 
 to make this request." 
 
 The Secretary of War then read the following letter : 
 
 HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY 
 
 8th of May, 1857. 
 
 Hon. J. B. Floyd, Secretary of War, Sir: I beg to ask that 
 one of the vacant lieutenantcies be given to W. H. F. Lee, son 
 of Brevet Colonel R. E. Lee, at present on duty against the Co- 
 manche Indians. 1 make this application for the extraordinary 
 merits of his father, the VERY BEST SOLDIER THAT I 
 HAVE EVER SEEN IN THE FIELD. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 WINFIELD SCOTT, 
 Lieutenant General, U. S. Army. 
 
 General Floyd gave his endorsement. General Scott went to 
 the White House. (There were no wings to the White House 
 then.) 
 
 President Buchanan listened to the sincere appeal, and ordered 
 the commission to be issued. 
 
 General Scott then sent an orderly to inform Rooney at Ar- 
 lington. 
 
 TRIBUTE OF GENERAL SCOTT 
 
 The very next morning an orderly came to Custis witli a written 
 order directing him to report to General Scott. 
 
 After the customary delay at the door, admission and salute, 
 Custis was directed to be seated, while General Scott signed 
 
 58 
 
papers before him. Then he ordered Cusis to come to him, and 
 handed to him his commission as Captain in the regular army, 
 and, as he laid his hand on the shoulder of the young man. Gen- 
 eral Scott said : 
 
 "Captain Lee, this commission carries with it increased official 
 responsibilities. I know that you are prepared for them, and 
 capable of meeting every emergency as well as any man could 
 meet such responsibilities. 
 
 "But please remember that General Scott told you that your 
 responsibilities are greater and more grave than are likely to ever 
 fall upon any other captain in our army. You have before you 
 the opportunity to render services of increased value to your 
 country, and you have before you also, the titanic task of living 
 up to the record of your father, a matchless soldier, and an abso- 
 lutely honest man. I know Colonel Robert E. Lee, and I tell 
 you now, as I have told the Secretary of War, as I have told 
 President Buchanan, your father is the greatest soldier now living 
 in our country. He is one of the greatest men in this world. It 
 behooves a son of Colonel Robert E. Lee to have before him 
 always the record of his father, as an inspiration, a bright ori- 
 flamme brighter than 'the helmet of Navarre.' " 
 
 "The bravest are the tenderest, 
 The loving are the daring," 
 
 and so it was that General Scott saw in the eyes of Captain Lee 
 large tears of pride, and then upon his cheeks the glow of de- 
 termination, as Custis Lee said : 
 
 "My father is now and always has been my talisman. General 
 Scott. Wherever my father goes I will follow ; and no other 
 general could lead me more valiantly and courageously. But, 
 General Scott, my sword will be brighter, and my courage greater 
 by reason of the inspiration that you have given to me ; and I 
 will always remember, word for word, what General Scott said 
 to me about my father. I thank you." 
 
 TRAGEDY THROTTLES ROMANCE 
 
 No sooner had Custis reached his room than he wrote a brief 
 letter to Charlotte, because to see her big blue eyes gazing ad- 
 miringly on the double bars of his rank would be to him as 
 glorious as was the Star of Bethlehem to the Magi of the East. 
 But the letter was not sent. 
 
 "Of all sad words, of tongue or pen, 
 
 The saddest are these : 
 Tt might have been.' " 
 
 59 
 
In after years General George Washington Custis Lee was 
 destined to go into battle frequently; to face death in all of its 
 hideous battle-field forms. But nev^er before in all of his life 
 was the man so suddenly surprised, so tried even to the searing 
 of his soul as was the young newly-made Captain Custis Lee 
 on that day. 
 
 His "Little Brother," the newly appointed Second Lieutenant 
 W. H. F. Lee, came to town, went to the War Department, called 
 on Custis and immediately on entering the room exclaimed : 
 
 "Custis I've gotten the commission and have been ordered to the 
 First Regiment, to go at once to Utah under command of Col. 
 Albert Sidney Johnston." 
 
 He did not know and did not congratulate Custis ; and Custis 
 ■did not mention his own promotion. He sincerely and enthusi- 
 actically congratulated the brother for whom he had obtained 
 the appointment, with the aid of the wonderful record of Robert 
 E. Lee. "Rooney" hastened to say : 
 
 "While I'm gone, Custis, I want you to look after Charlotte 
 Wickham for me. Don't let any fellow beat me there." 
 
 Stricken as with a thunderbolt, Custis remained calm, as he 
 asked : 
 
 "Why, Rooney, are you engaged to Charlotte ; engaged to be 
 married ?" 
 
 "No, not yet, Custis," was the reply. "But Charlotte knows 
 of my admiration, and I'm going to ask her to wait for me. I 
 know she will. It was on my account that she came after you 
 to get my appointment ; and you know how much in earnest she 
 was. I'll tell her that you will look after her for me ; for you 
 will, won't you ?" 
 
 Wonderful, miraculous, self-sacrificing Custis Lee! For his 
 "Little Brother" then and there, instantly, quietly, calmly Custis 
 gave up his love, his first love, his only love, the one sincere love 
 of his life time. Calmly, quietly, he made that sacrifice for 
 "Rooney." and promised to aid him, as requested. No hero of 
 flood or field ever did so much, so grandly, so gracefully. No 
 other man on this earth ever made such a heart-breaking and 
 complete self-sacrifice, save One ; and Custis Lee entered the Gar- 
 den of Gethscmane alone, (|uietly, gently, strengthened by silent 
 prayer. The clasp of his hand in the hand of his happy "Little 
 Brother" was the assurance of the sincerity of a demi-God. 
 '[ he fraternal smile that "Rooney" saw was sweet, because it was 
 saintly ; the saintly spirit of his great-great-grandmother, Martha 
 ^Vashing(()n. who worshipped God. and whose husband was her 
 shrine. 
 
 (iO 
 
DAMON AND PYTHIAS WERE OUTCLASSED 
 
 Ijy the eldest son of Robert E. Lee, for the younger son of that 
 well-nigh matchless American soldier. 
 
 "LOVE took up the harp of life 
 
 Struck on all the chords with might ; 
 Struck the chord of SELF, that, trembling, 
 Passed, in music, out of sight. 
 
 After the departure of "Rooney" Custis gave way to his grief, 
 hy walking about the room, sitting down, writing a note and 
 tearing it up, sitting with head in his hands, looking upwards to 
 heaven, and saying : 
 
 "God bless my dear little brother !" 
 
 Rooney, in uniform, then hastened to the Wickham's home. 
 With no evil intent, without any idea of unfairness, certainly 
 with no idea of double-dealing, Rooney proceeded to misrepresent 
 Custis, mislead Charlotte, and ruin two lives ; for Custis and 
 Charlotte were indeed 
 
 "Two souls with but a single thought ; 
 Two hearts that beat as one." 
 
 THUS HEARTS ARE BROKEN 
 
 "Charlotte, tell me something," said the big-man-size boy, 
 ^'Rooney;" and he continued, "If .a girl loves a man will she 
 wait for him when he is compelled to be absent?" 
 
 "How long must she wait?" asked Charlotte. 
 
 "Well, if a soldier is ordered away, and hasn't the courage to 
 tell of his love, and the girl knows he loves her, will she wait?" 
 
 To Charlotte, that meant Custis, talking through his brother 
 as a messenger ; and she replied : 
 
 "For a soldier who loved her, but who did not speak his love the 
 girl who really loved him would wait for him no matter how 
 long, provided he let her know of his love somehow." 
 
 "Then, Charlotte, you'll wait, will you?" 
 
 "My soldier, my hero-lover, may be assured that I will wait." 
 
 That was meant for Custis, and the message never reached 
 him, because "Rooney" understood it to be for himself. 
 
 When they parted, after Rooney had told that he was going 
 to far-off Utah, away across "the Great American Desert," the 
 happy big boy said : 
 
 "You'll want your soldier to be assured of your love by giving 
 a good bye kiss to me, won't you Charlotte ?" 
 
 Charlotte gave to Rooney the kiss that she believed she was 
 
 61 
 
sending to Custis, whom she had loved so long, and who would 
 not marry "until the Captain's double bars are received." 
 
 Charlotte did not know that Custis was then wearing the bars 
 that he wanted to show to her, but did not, on account of hi& 
 great-hearted unselfishness. He was living the Golden Rule, 
 as uttered by the Man of Galilee. 
 
 George Washington Custis Lee, the man she loved and the 
 only man that Charlotte Wickham ever loved whole-heartedly, 
 was at that very time riding along the Potomac river, on the 
 Maryland side of that historic stream, on his way to Fort Wash- 
 ington, then an earthwork but of late years an impregnable forti- 
 fication and a matchless offensive as well as a defensive of the 
 national capital city. 
 
 On another road leading to the Wickham home was "Joe" the 
 black-skinned slave valet of Captain Custis Lee. He was the 
 bearer of a written message of heart-wringing importance to Cap- 
 tain Lee, and of heart-breaking importance to beautiful, innocent, 
 trusting, hopeful, loving Charlotte ; who, by some outrageous 
 fate of ill-fortune was to lose all hope and happiness in this world 
 and without cause. Why such things happen, in numerous lives, 
 mortal mind cannot fathom. But we hope that 
 
 "In the hereafter angels ma}'. 
 
 Roll the stone from the grave away." 
 
 At the Wickham home, while Captain Custis Lee was on the 
 road to Fort Washington, and while his valet was carrying to the 
 Wickham home that taste of vinegar, gall and wormwood in a 
 written message, the innocent, cheerful, hopeful and girlishly 
 happy Charlotte, believing herself to be the prospective bride of 
 her own, and the only. Prince Charming, anxiously awaiting — 
 yes, impatiently awaiting his coming— went to the window again 
 and again, going up stairs at last to obtain a farther view of the 
 highway. Back and forth she ran to her mother with chatter and 
 queries, finally using the words of the ages of womankind: 
 
 "He Cometh not, she said." 
 
 But there is an end to all disappointment, disaster, suft'ering in 
 every life. And there is also an end of happiness at some point 
 in every human heart. And so the end of all earthly hope was 
 coming to Charlotte, for "Joe" appeared, respectfully came to the 
 back door of the mansion, delivered his message to Liza, and she 
 carried it to the dainty little mistress. 
 
 Smilingly, hastily, hopefully Charlotte opened the wax-sealed 
 envelope 'bearing the Lee coat-of-arms. read the brief farewell, 
 and fell down upon the floor in a dead faint. Mother Wickham 
 was summoned and came swiftly to the side of her fallen idol, 
 and almost fainted herself, for Charlotte never could have ap- 
 
 62 
 
peared more pale and death-like than she seemed to the anxious 
 eyes of Mother Wickham, as she laid prone upoin the tioor, holding 
 in seemingly lifeless fingers the perfumed paper deathhlow to all 
 of the hopes that had been developing and blossoming in her heart 
 since with Custis Lee she had roamed the meadows and climbed 
 the heights to pluck the first ripe flowers and bear them home in 
 childish triumph. These were the brief and emphatic words of a 
 soldier's farewell : 
 
 "Dear Charlotte: The conditiojU of the work at Fort Washing- 
 ton requires my immediate and personal attention. The Depart- 
 ment will expect me to remain there on duty until I finish the 
 work, and make that defense of the Capital City absolutely im- 
 pregnable. Awfully sorry that I can't be with you all today, to 
 show you my double-bars. Custis." 
 
 When Charlotte had been restored to consciousness, her 
 eyes were turbulent with the opening floodgates of grief. Then 
 very gently and sympathetically Mother Wickham said : "As 
 tears only can drown a woman's sorrow, I am glad that relief is 
 so spontaneous. Cry it all out now, Charlotte; and then you'll 
 cry no more." 
 
 "But, Mother, why didn't he come himself, instead of sending 
 his message by Rooney?"' 
 
 "Because he has Government orders, and, as a good soldier, 
 he proceeds to obey orders." 
 
 "But, Mother, I don't want any Government to come between 
 me and Custis. You don't have any one else but your own self 
 to give orders to Papa, and no'body else dares to order him." 
 
 "You know, child, I never order your Papa under any circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Then, as innocently and unthinkingly as though it were a 
 comedy and not a tragedy. Judge Wickham came, saying: "I 
 came, Julia dear, to inquire " 
 
 "Never mind about inquiring. Sir; please go back to yqur pipe 
 in the library. Charlotte and I are discussing grave problems."' 
 Judge Wickham retired, and Mother Wickham continued her 
 counsels, saying: 
 
 "You should be proud of such distinction and honor as the 
 Government confers on Custis." 
 
 "I am proud. Mother dear, but I am so disappointed that he 
 did not come to show us his shoulder straps." 
 
 "Just think of it, Charlotte. The Government has sent Custis 
 to Fort Washington on the Potomac, giving him charge of the 
 defenses of the national capital city. Custis will make that fort as 
 strong as Gibraltar." 
 
 (Note, that three years later the same Custis Lee planned and 
 
 63 
 
prepared the defenses of Richmond, and the Yankees never did 
 IJreak through those defenses because they were impregnable.) 
 
 While Mother and Charlotte Wickham were discussing their 
 grave problems, Custis was examining the hills and the surround- 
 ing country; then back to his desk planning the improvements of 
 defenses ; also worrying about Charlotte and Rooney. Frequently, 
 on the hillside, beneath the trees, Custis fell upqn his knees and 
 prayed : "Let this cup pass from me :" and no wonder, because 
 we know that 
 
 "The groves were God's first temples 
 
 E'er man had learned to hew the shaft 
 Or lay the architrave." 
 
 WASHINGTON, LINCOLN AND LEE 
 
 While the "ragged regimentals in their worn continentals'' were 
 hungering, shivering, freezing, dying at V alley Forge, which was 
 the greatest because the most renowned military encampment in 
 history, their commander went away often, all alone, into the 
 wooded by-ways. It is recorded that an old blacksmith noticed 
 the general's horse standing not far from his shop, and he went 
 to look for General Washington, followed his footprints in the 
 snow, hurried home and reported to his wife that "Washington 
 cannot be defeated. He has put on the armcjr, the breast-plate, 
 the sword and buckler of the Lord God Almighty, and he has 
 with him the Lord God of Hosts." 
 
 Senator Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois, whose young manhood 
 was enlightened and elevated by the friendship of Abraham Lin- 
 coln, and was in his later years an enlightening and elevating 
 influence upon the yqung manhood of the writer, narrated an 
 experience which has never been in print. It seems to have been 
 lost in the mass and maze of stories concerning that wonderful 
 nobleman who lived and died among mortal men in our own land, 
 "with malice toward none and with charity for all." 
 
 "Senator Trumbull accompanied me to the White House one 
 afternopn," said .Senator C"ullom. 
 
 "Dark clouds were hovering over the horizon Disasters and 
 defeats developed discouragements day after day. Over the minds 
 of statesmen at the Capitql apprehension brooded from the rising 
 of the sun to the going down of the same. 
 
 "With the purpose of encouraging the serious-minded, care- 
 worn President who received us, Senatt)r Trumbull cheerfully 
 greeted T^rcsidcnt Lincoln, saying : 
 
 " 'Mr. President. I hope that you are looking on the bright side 
 of affairs. On Capitol Hill we all wqnder that you can do so 
 
 64 
 
well in these trying times, especially as you have no precedent to 
 guide you in anything, judicial, civil or military.' 
 
 "Heartily grasping the hand of Senator Trumbull, and also 
 clasping mine, Abraham Lincoln looked straight into the eyes of 
 the Senator and squarely turned toward me, and I saw upon the 
 face of that grand man a smile of contentment, peace and hoipe, 
 such as few men ever saw ; and Lincoln thrilled me with his man- 
 ner and his words. Even now the memory of his wonderful smile, 
 his confident manner thrill me. He very earnestly said : 
 
 " 'Thank you. Senator Trumbull for every word of encourage- 
 ment. But, please tell the hoys on Capitol Hill that I have prece- 
 dents for everything. Tell them all tliat I shall commit no dan- 
 gerous error ; that I shall not blunder, because I have precedents, 
 and I carefully follow them. I get my precedents, Trumbull, by 
 my bedside at night. I get them while I am on my knees. I seek 
 my precedents then and there ; and they come to me from the 
 source of all wisdom.' 
 
 "As we were going away Senator Trumbull turned around, 
 went back and grasped the hand of the President, saying: 
 
 " 'Abe Lincoln, you are simply a wonder !' 
 
 "Then the great big man seemed to^grow even larger as he said : 
 
 " T'm glad that you think so, Lyman. In fact, I wish that all 
 of our people, every man and woman and child in our beloved 
 country, would trust me and look on me in some sense as a won- 
 der. I do so want their trusting confidence for the welfare of all 
 of us, and not for myself. For, Trumbull, 'why should the spirit 
 of mortal be proud?'" 
 
 "I have always felt and believed that I saw and heard Abraham 
 Lincoln in one of his greatest moments, when his spirit was in 
 touch with the Great Spirit that sent him to us." 
 
 And Custis Lee, like George Washington and all other men 
 truly great, sought wisdom at the Source of Wisdom, and found 
 it : for it is written, "Knock and it shall be Qpened unto you." 
 
 BOUQUETS AND JEWELS OF MEMORY 
 
 Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, whether that desire shall be 
 uttered or unexpressed. Prayers are petitions, usually vain 
 vagaries of solicitation for self-interest, for self -advancements. 
 The man or the woman who has not bowed in fervent prayer has 
 not begun to develop educated intelligence. Custis Lee did not 
 seek the Throne of Grace for himself. As Washington went to 
 his knees in the snow, and as Lincoln went to his knees on the 
 treeless prairies, beside his cot in a log cabin, and in the White 
 House, each one of them petitioning divine help for his soldiers, 
 for his country, for civilization, so Custis Lee prayed that strength 
 and beauty, happiness and home might be given to Charlotte. 
 
 65 
 
But for himself he was as resigned and humble as was the One 
 whose most earnest petition was : "Father, forgive them. They 
 know not what they do." 
 
 "The night has a thousand eyes. 
 The day, but one ; 
 The light of the whole life dies 
 When love is done." 
 
 Thus it was with Custis Lee. Charlotte Wickham had been 
 the light of his life, his day-star of hope. She had been his pillar 
 of fire by night, and his pillar of cloud by day. But the heroic 
 soul was living during all of the following days and years in 
 prayer and hope only for her happiness, and not for his own. 
 Work, work and more work claimed and commanded his atten- 
 tion. But in the silent midnight watches Charlotte came to his 
 memories and in the unconscious cerebrations of his dreams. 
 Always and evermore she was appearing sweetly to him and lov- 
 ingly in memory. Dearer and dearer she grew. In the minds of 
 other men bereaved, the bouquets of memory are shorn of their 
 beauty and of their fragrance by envy, jealousy or revenge. The 
 jewels of memory are dimmed into base and 'beclouded glass, by 
 resentments and wrath. But in the mind of Custis Lee there 
 came brightness, fragrance, sweetness, adoration and obeisance, 
 in everv memorv vision of the loved and lost. 
 
 HUMAN HEARTS AND CUPID'S DARTS 
 
 "In the spring a livelier iris 
 
 Shines upon the burnished dove; 
 In the spring a young man's fancy 
 Lightlv turns to thoughts of loye." 
 
 It was in the wonderful springtime of the year 1850 that the 
 ambitious youth, Custis Lee. noted that Charlotte Wickham was 
 taking more than a second glance at him, that she was seeking his 
 side from time to time and leaving "Rooney" and the games that 
 they had been playing together for so long a time. It was the 
 springtime of Saint Patrick and of She-ila ; the springtime of the 
 Potomac and Shenandoah valleys, the season that seems an exact 
 duplicate to that springtime of beautiful Ireland, the springtime 
 that travel and experience only can comprehend. It was the 
 springtime when some parts of the country are yet purely clad 
 in the white velvet raiment of winter : that season when the trail- 
 ing arbutus with its lovely blush of jiink reflected the peach bloom 
 of nature on the cheek of little Charlotte: and young Custis knew, 
 as well as Charlotte knew, that each one of them was gazing into 
 
the eyes of a soulmate and a helpmate ; that Mother Nature had 
 already proclaimed that "'they twain shall be one flesh." 
 
 In that wonderful springtime, the most wonderful of all the 
 seasons in the memories of Custis and Charlotte, they went to- 
 gether one bright and crisp morning to brush aside the soggy 
 leaves, peer beneath the spots of snow and crush away the lin- 
 gering gritty snow-ice so that they could find those modest little 
 -arbutus faces 'blushing and smiling, while they at the same time 
 breathed forth that indescribable perfume of spicy fragrance 
 from the roots in the soil ; blushing trailing arbutus imitating the 
 cheeks of human softness that Charlotte wore and that Custis 
 caressed and kissed ; wonderfully beautiful cheeks they were, 
 blushing and laughing, and they gathered the rich vegetation that 
 was clinging to the craggy crevices ; and as they wandered home- 
 ward Charlotte was the human trailing arbutus, clinging and real- 
 izing, mere child that she was, that she had learned of love ; and 
 she knew that Custis would always be her own Custis, for she 
 knew, as all women know, that 
 
 "Men are only boys, grown tall. 
 And hearts don't change much, after all." 
 
 And so it happened that in the springtime of nine years after- 
 wards, the memory of Custis was bright as a spotlight; and in the 
 light of that memory he knew that during all of the days of this 
 earth life and during all of the coming eternity his thoughts would 
 turn to Charlo.tte evermore. Realizing that it "is better to have 
 loved and lost than never to have loved at all," Captain George 
 AVashington Custis Lee did not deceive himself. On the contrary, 
 as he gave up the love of his youth, the only love of his life, for 
 his brother, the most knightly and noble man of that age suffered 
 as only could suffer a "man of sorrows and acquainted with 
 grief." Others could not see the crown of thorns that he had 
 placed upon his own brow, nor could his fellow men know that he 
 had crucified himself because he so loved his brother that he gave 
 up his life's love for him that Rooney might be contented and 
 happy. 
 
 GREATER LOVE THAN THIS HATH NO MAN 
 
 and yet, Custis Lee had other crosses to bear as he went forward 
 -on the pathway toward Gethsemane and into the garden alone, 
 that he might leave to American history such a life of grandeur 
 and self-abnegation as to obscure with its Spirit of Calvary all 
 of the deeds of all other American knights of old. in the days of 
 all days when the most marvelous, brave, bold, and heroic knight- 
 hood of America was most gloriously in flower. 
 
 67 
 
Thus it was, with full realization of his own everlasting loneli- 
 ness, that Captain Custis Lee entrained for the Far West of the 
 Pacific coast, facing a future that beckoned him only toward more 
 perilous heights and more Balaklava heroisms from day to day ; 
 for already the war clouds were gathering and darkening the 
 horizons of all who were capable of prophetic reflections. Truly 
 great men, North and South, could 
 
 "Hear the loud alarum bells, 
 
 Brazen 'bells ! 
 What a tale of terror now their turbulency tells. 
 
 In the startled air of night 
 
 How they scream out their affright, 
 Too much horrified to speak — 
 They can only shriek, shriek, and shriek. 
 
 Out of tune." 
 
 CAPTURING COMANCHE INDIANS 
 
 Light-hearted Lieutenant "Roonev," proudly wearing his new 
 uniform, with barless shoulder straps, mounted his thoroughbred 
 after bidding goodbye to his proud mother on the unbounded 
 sward of the Arlington Mansion, and down the old military "road 
 he went trotting, on his first march to the front. It was in the 
 year of the comet, 1857. 
 
 Over the old national turnpike from Baltimore to Wheeling 
 all of the soldiers bound to the battle fronts in the War with 
 Mexico had traveled ; and over that turnpike went Rooney. At 
 Wheeling he went aboard the famous old racing stern-wheel 
 steamboat, "The Tom Swan," there meeting with his superior 
 officer. Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston, who was afterwards to 
 win fame in the field as a general and find death in battle, under 
 another flag. 
 
 Together they traveled to Cairo, on the Ohio River, and there- 
 they entered the Mississippi River, on which stream they pro- 
 ceeded to Saint Louis. On that broad stretch of water the Queen 
 of the Ohio River ran an exciting race with the old-line Missis- 
 sippi racer, "The Sucker State," the singular name being the 
 nick-name of the State of Illinois ; and the race was won by 
 the Ohio River speeder. From the steamer's decks they could 
 see the comet in the sky. 
 
 Then on a slow meander they ascended the Missouri River, 
 and traveled from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Riley — a trip which 
 was really exciting to young Rooney. who had never before seen 
 the boundless and trackless prairies of the "Great American 
 Desert," as that region, then unexplored, was generally known. 
 Nor liad Rooney ever seen cavalry troops equipped for campaign- 
 
 68 
 
ing and accompanied 'by tremendous supply trains; for, in those 
 days of the western frontier, it was necessary for the troops to 
 carry with them food for themselves and their horses. Those 
 prairies were indeed as f oodless as Sahara itself , worse, indeed, 
 for there were no such houses of refuge, no oases at all. It was 
 a wonderful experience for the young lieutenant, in the year of 
 the comet of '57. 
 
 Colonel Johnston led his regiment across the plains to Salt Lake 
 City, and there the men saw the original Mormon Temple, which 
 was an enlarged duplication of their great Temple at Nauvoo, 
 Illinois, in the earlier years of their newly-established religion. 
 
 On their way tremendous herds or hordes of buffaloes were 
 seen and many of them were killed for food. There were two 
 encounters with Indians, both of them at night, when the savages 
 attempted to stampede the horses and cattle, and to rob the supply 
 train. Those were exciting occasions for the young lieutenant, 
 who had known nothing but ease and comfort, nothing but the 
 gentilities and luxuries of civilization in its sweetest cradle, the 
 gentility of Old Virginia. 
 
 Not many miles, away, but beyond vision, far out of touch or 
 communication, was Colonel Robert E. Lee, leading his little army 
 in an eventful campaign against the Comanche Indians, a fierce, 
 fearless and energetic tribe. There were no trains, no telegraphs, 
 no telephones, no wired nor wireless stations ; nor any such mira- 
 cle as a man flying in the air. So, without seeing or communicat- 
 ing with his son, who was only a few miles away. Colonel Robert 
 E. Lee conducted his campaign, won his' victories, subdued the 
 savages, captured the head chief and sub-chiefs, made a treaty 
 that lasted ; and then, he was summoned to army headquarters at 
 Washington — summoned by letter that came by pony express. 
 
 Colonel Lee was greeted again as a military hero, congratulated 
 by the Secretary of War, by his ardent admiring military friend. 
 Lieutenant-general Winfield Scott, the greatest living American 
 soldier ; and, a'bove all, by President James Buchanan, who pub- 
 licly commended him. 
 
 Then, out of the West came "Old Ossawatamie Brown," the 
 unfortunate and insane philanthropist who wanted to give to the 
 negro slaves a freedom which they did not seek, and did not want, 
 for the word "liberty" was unknown to them. As the greatest 
 of all freedmen, Frederick Douglas, said, twenty-five years later, 
 "The natives of Africa never accomplished anything, nor are they 
 likely to accomplish anything, without the aid, encouragement and 
 co-operation of the white men." 
 
 Captain J. E. B. Stuart, who had been on duty in Kansas for 
 many years, accompanied Colonel Lee to Harper's Ferry, where 
 old John Brown and his followers were assembled in the ware- 
 
 ()9 
 
house afterwards known as John Brown's Fort. They were 
 captured, of course, and "Old Ossawatamie" was identified by 
 Captain Stuart, who knew him well. 
 
 ROONEY'S RESIGNATION 
 
 Two years of army life; two years of absence from Charlotte 
 W'ickham, the girl who loved his elder brother, but whom Rooney 
 loved so that she filled his waking thoughts and crowded from his 
 dreams all other pictures ; two years of planning for wife, home, 
 children, and with Charlotte in every picture, and Rooney resigned 
 from the army. 
 
 Letters from Charlotte, in reply to his love letters, were not 
 such warm responses as he desired. Rooney dreamed of rivals 
 that never lived, save in his imagination. 
 
 Dear old Mother Wickham, wise, gentle, prophetic, inspired 
 as she must have been, sent Charlotte visiting the Fitzhughs in 
 Warwick County, not far from Old Point Comfort ; but Mother 
 Wickham took the Judge with her to visit the lovely, wifeless old 
 gentleman, George Washington Parke Custis, and his charming 
 daughter, Mary Ann Randolph, the wife of Colonel Robert E. Lee. 
 
 Only because it was necessary to go first to Baltimore, and 
 next to Washington, did Rooney go to Arlington at the close of 
 his trip eastward ; and there, fortunately for him he met Mother 
 Wickham ; and, it was exceedingly fortunate for Charlotte, that 
 she had such a wonderful mother, then and there. Mother Wick- 
 ham took Rooney to the portico, to the gardens, the walks in 
 the woods, where he wanted to be with Charlotte, but Mother 
 Wickham entertained him. Gradually she explained to him that 
 Charlotte did not love him ; that he must go and win her, but 
 not take his conquest for granted. She never told of Custis; 
 and Charlotte never told of Custis. 
 
 MOTHERLY MANAGEMENT 
 
 Mother Wickham never gave orders to her gentle husband, 
 as we have seen ; and, of course, she would not presume to give 
 orders to a son-in-law ; no indeed. Kindly and very gently she 
 explained to Rooney that it would be wise for him to remain at 
 Arlington for a week or two and give Mother Wickham time 
 to go to Charlotte and intercede in behalf of Rooney. Her efforts 
 were disregarded ; of course, in a very refined and gentlemanly 
 manner. But, Rooney wanted no mediator. He was young. He 
 was self-confident. Like every other boy of 22 or 3, he was a 
 self -conceited, self-important, aggressive entity; and he pro- 
 claimed his intention of leaving immediately for Fortress Monroe, 
 letting it be known at Arlington that he was going to see and 
 win Charlotte, and that he would brook no delay. 
 
 70 
 
If Rooney could only have known what a strong character 
 dwelt behind those great grey eyes ; he would have heeded Mother 
 Wickham. He did not know that on the following Sunday 
 morning Charlotte Wickham was to sing in old Saint John's 
 church, at Hampton, Virginia ; nor that she would be spending 
 Saturday night at the famous old Hygeia Hotel at Old Point, as 
 the guest of the Misses Ashby. 
 
 While Rooney was wending his way to Richmond by rail, 
 intending to travel by steamboat on the James River and through 
 Hampton Roads to Old Point, the determined and wise Mother 
 Wickham was piloting the Judge to the little telegraph office in 
 the ancient hotel on the corner of Sixth Street and Pennsylvania 
 Avenue, in Washington City. 
 
 Telegraphing was something new, something expensive ; but 
 Mother Wickham telegraphed to Charlotte, at Old Point, as 
 follows : 
 
 "Prepare to leave church; go to Norfolk, take first river 
 steamer for home. Calamity coming must be avoided." 
 
 Charlotte was astounded. She only realized that something 
 terrible had happened or would happen. She knew W. H. F. Lee 
 by his nickname of Rooney ; but she never dreamed of having 
 Calamity used as a cipher code for his name. 
 
 In those days neighbors were neighbors, and the aristocracy of 
 Virginia was one family. The Ashbys were fretted and worried ; 
 but they helped prepare Charlotte to leave for home as soon as 
 the church services were concluded. 
 
 It is a tradition of the family that Charlotte sang on that 
 Sunday morning as no other soprano had ever sang in old Saint 
 John's ; but that the excitement of that telegram, followed by 
 the apprehensions and the anxiety, marked the beginning of a 
 nervous breakdown which followed many days and weeks and 
 months afterwards. 
 
 Judge Wickham, with Jim attending him, went to Washington 
 to meet with Charlotte ; and the Judge found it exceedingly diffi- 
 cult to explain the calamity impending, because Mother 
 Wickham knew the man habit of conversation, with juleps. She 
 had kept her own counsel. 
 
 Whofi they reached home Charlotte was gratified to see her 
 mother, for, among other vain imaginings had been the belief 
 that her mother was dangerously ill. She wanted full explana- 
 tions immediately, but did not get them until long after tea time. 
 Then Mother Wickham explained to Charlotte that waiting for 
 Custis was, had been and would be useless. That was all that 
 Charlotte could endure for one night ; and that was all that 
 IMother Wickham told her. 
 
 "Mother, oh. Mother, if I could only have remained at Fortress 
 Monroe, the companionships and the entertainments would have 
 helped me weather this storm." 
 
"Maybe, Charlotte," was the reply; "but there is^ a pending 
 trial that must be met with right here ; and here only." 
 
 "No, no, no, child ; not now. First, let all of those tears have 
 vent until they are gone. You must realize, first of all, that 
 Charlotte Wickham, the little sweetheart that loved Custis Lee, 
 is dead and buried. Another spirit has taken her place in your 
 body and brain. I can only talk further to you when you realize 
 that you are now a woman of the world; that you must think 
 and act accordingly. Go and finish the necessary weeping for 
 the lost Custis ; for, he's lost." 
 
 MOTHER WICKHAM'S WISDOM 
 
 "We may roam throughout life and dear friends may abound, 
 We may share of their love as they circle us round. 
 But nowhere on earth can affection be found 
 
 Like the love in the heart of a mother." 
 
 Charlotte Wickham was very fortunate in having a wonderful 
 mother particularly at that crucial period. While she was con- 
 tiuing from day to day to expres's her regret that she could not 
 have remained at Fortress Monroe, her mother was emphasizing 
 to her the fact that Custis Lee was lost to her forever. 
 
 It would be impossible for anyone to describe the heart throbs 
 and brainstorms of Charlotte Wickham, because Custis Lee was 
 her Napoleon of military affairs, her Lord Chesterfield of society, 
 her Prince Charming in every respect ; a character as near per- 
 fection as the worshipful admiration of a sincere and brilliant girl 
 in love could create it. Mother Wickham knew and did not 
 undertake to deny that Custis Lee was all that Charlotte had 
 imagined him to be, and that he was worthy of the affection she 
 had given him from her childhood ; but she knew that Custis 
 would not stand in the way of his little brother, when the entire 
 impulses of Rooney were centered upon having Charlotte Wick- 
 ham for his wife. 
 
 It was not generally known at that time, nor is it now nationally 
 comprehended, that the aristocracy of Virginia was the nucleus 
 of a palpably developing nobility in this land which was founded 
 upon a legal fiction which still endures, that "all men arefcreated 
 equal." 
 
 As the men and women of nobility of the monarchial countries 
 marry only within their classes, so did the nobility of Virginia, 
 and practically all of the States south of Mason and Dixon's 
 line, marry within the limits of their own classes ; and Mother 
 Wickham vividly described what actually occurred at Fortress 
 Monroe when Rooney Lee arrived there. Of course she knew 
 nothing of telepathy, and yet she must have had telepathic com- 
 munications when she explained to Charlotte in substantially 
 these words : 
 
 72 
 
"Not only is Custis, whom you love so devotedly, but also is 
 Rooney, the grand-son of Light Horse Harry Lee, the son of 
 Colonel Robert E. Lee, the grand-son of George Washington 
 Parke Custis and Mary Lee Fitzhugh ; but both of the boys are 
 great-great-grand-sons of Martha Washington. With such a 
 lineage, Charlotte, you must understand that when Rooney Lee 
 arrives at Old Point Comfort all of the girls of the best families 
 of Virginia will be seeking recognition from him. It ill becomes 
 my daughter, as it would ill become the daughter of any other 
 first family of Virginia, to turn her back upon Rooney Lee, espe- 
 cially when our society world would know that there could be 
 no other reason for such an action except a hopeless love for 
 his brother, Custis, whom I am sure will not marry you nor 
 anyone else, because he has determined to remain a bachelor." 
 
 As a matter of fact as soon as Rooney Lee arrived at the old 
 Hygeia Hotel there was a buzz of excitement extending to 
 Fortress Monroe and all over the settlements of Old Point 
 Comfort. But Rooney Lee was not there for social honor nor 
 distinction. He was still wearing the uniform of a second lieu- 
 tenant in the army because he had not yet received the acceptance 
 of his resignation ; and brass buttons were as bright and attrac- 
 tive in 1859 as they are until this day. Having known that 
 Charlotte had been a guest of the Ashby girls, Rooney sought 
 them and them alone. When he ascertained from Mamie and 
 Minnie Ashby that Charlotte had returned to her home, the 
 young man retired to his room in the hotel and declined to take 
 any part in social activities. He remained alone until the 
 morning when he could obtain passage on a boat returning up the 
 James River to Richmond and from there to Washington by the 
 first train. 
 
 FLANK MOVEMENT OF CUSTIS LEE 
 
 Of course the young military genius, whose engineering skill 
 had already attracted the attention of President Buchanan, the 
 Secretary of War, and Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott, was 
 well informed concerning the movements of Charlotte Wickham 
 to whom his heart was given eternally, and because of whom he 
 had determined to remain a bachelor, as he did during his long 
 life. Custis Lee personally went to General Winfield Scott and 
 asked that he be ordered to San Francisco, and General Scott 
 cheerfully gave the order, saying: 
 
 "The defenses of San Francisco need the most careful atten- 
 tion of a skillful military engineer and I am very sure, Custis, 
 that you are the ablest military engineer in our army today 
 excepting only your matchless father, Colonel Robert E. Lee, 
 to whom I owed everything in achieving the successes that came 
 to my army during the war with Mexico." 
 
 73 
 
And thus while Rooney Lee was attempting to win the girl 
 who loved his brother, and whom his brother loved with such 
 indescribable intensity ; and while Mother Wickham was wisely 
 reasoning with Charlotte, the young lady received a brief note 
 from Custis Lee announcing that because of an immediate order 
 from the lieutenant-general of the army, it was necessary for 
 him to leave for San Francisco without delay, and that therefore, 
 to his deep regret, it would be impossible for him to call and 
 say "good-bye" to her and to the father and mother whom he 
 held in such high esteem. 
 
 MIRACULOUSLY MASTER OF HIS SOUL 
 
 You have heard minstrels singing "The days of old when 
 Knights were bold and barons held their sway," but those days 
 of old are imaginary and the Knights so bold are mythical. The 
 barons who held their sway in the gradual development of civiliza- 
 tion were robber barons and prodigious criminals unworthy of 
 respect much less of praise. Our own American knight errant 
 was clean and pure; the master of his own soul. 
 
 Ever since Captain John Smith, Newport and the other ven- 
 turesome spirits sailed through Hampton Roads to Jamestown 
 Island, Knighthood has been in flower in the United vStates; and 
 on every occasion when heroism has been required our knights 
 were bold, as the vanquished foeman of other nations must 
 testify in their histories. 
 
 Knighthood, always in flower in America, was particularly bold 
 and brilliant, magnificent and chivalric in the days of Abraham 
 Lincoln and JefTerson Davis, in the days of U. S. Grant and Rob- 
 ert E. Lee ; and thus it is, particularly of the period when our 
 knighthood was especially in flower, that we now sing of arms 
 and a hero. 
 
 CHARLOTTE'S MAD VENTURE 
 
 On the morning after Mother Wickham had finally convinced 
 Charlotte that she must not reject but welcome the attentions of 
 the younger son of Colonel Robert E. Lee, Charlotte called for 
 a carriage and horses in order to drive across the country to 
 Ravensworth for a brief visit to Margaret Dickins. You must 
 know that Asbury Dickins was Secretary of the United States 
 Senate for well night half a century. His eldest son, Frank, 
 married IMargaret Randol[)h. whose mother had been an Ashby. 
 and so Charlotte was going to visit one of the bluebloods of old 
 \'irginia when she went calling upon Margaret Dickins. 
 
 Old jim, the family butler, was surprised but reticent when 
 the visit at Ravensworth was concluded inside of five minutes 
 
and he was told to drive to Arlington. The order of course was 
 obeyed and early in the afternoon Charlotte Wickham arrived 
 at Arlington Mansion to find there only the wife of Colonel Rob- 
 ert E. Lee to receive her. Custis was preparing to leave Wash- 
 ington for San Francisco and Rooney was on his way to the 
 home of Judge Wickham. Of course Charlotte remained over 
 night at Arlington Mansion and on the following morning was 
 accompanied to Washington by the mother of Custis Lee whom 
 she had determined to see before he should leave for the Pacific 
 Coast. 
 
 To the surprise of Custis Lee when he came to his office before 
 noon after having said "good-bye" to the Secretary of War and 
 General Scott, his mother greeted him on the threshold and in- 
 side the office door he found Charlotte Wickham. His mother 
 walked away, leaving the two young people together while she 
 visited Miss Harriet Lane at the White House. 
 
 INCOMPARABLE LOVE AND SELF-SACRIFICE 
 
 Without delay and without the prevailing mockery of maidenly 
 modesty which prevails and causes misunderstanding and separa- 
 tion among worthy and loyal hearts in all countries, in every 
 nation and in every clime, Charlotte went to Custis, stood beside 
 him as he arose from his desk, put her hands on his shoulders, 
 looked into his eyes with her piercingly penetrating big eyes of 
 baby blue, kissed him, and he clasped her in his arms. She laid 
 her head triumphant on his shoulder and asked, smilingly and 
 roguishly : 
 
 "Did you think that you could crucify me for nothing Custis; 
 and why have you tried it?" 
 
 Wise, wonderful, inspired Custis Lee ! Ordinarily no mortal 
 man could have maintained his determination and divine purpose. 
 But, Custis Lee always had reserve strength from some invisible 
 source. His life is proof of the words of inspiration, attributed 
 to Shakespeare : "There's a divinity that doth shape our ends." 
 
 Without wholly releasing his clasp of the willowy wonder 
 woman, Custis smiled at her as affectionately as she might have 
 wished or fore-ordained, but he did not return her kiss. Still 
 holding her as she desired, Custis replied : 
 
 "My dear friend and chum of childhood, no mortal man would 
 intentionally cause you pain ; much less crucify you. Of all men 
 I would certainly be the last to try to hurt you. And, of all men 
 in the world 1 am the one who would be the first to defend and 
 help you ; even to give his life for you. So you have been mis- 
 judging me." 
 
 "Then tell me why you intended to go away without seeing 
 me ; why you really did go away so cruelly, because that was your 
 
course when I came here, in so unmaidenly a manner, and inter- 
 rupted your purpose. What is the cause, if there is a cause, of 
 your utterly causeless rudeness to me ?" 
 
 "Be seated Charlotte," said Custis drawing a large office chair 
 towards him. As he was gently lowering her to the chair, she 
 arose, leaned her head again on his shoulder, and said : 
 
 "I prefer standing, Custis, just as I am." 
 
 But as Custis put forth some force, she yielded, sat down and 
 was almost lost in the big leather-covered office chair, which 
 was really big enough for General Scott. Then Custis said : 
 
 "Charlotte, you are selfish, extremely selfish. That is not a 
 complaint, nor is it fault-finding. It is merely an expressive 
 way of compelling you to understand that you are a woman, and, 
 like all other women, you want your ow^n way. If you can't 
 reach the particular apple in the particular tree that you want, you 
 select the Adam that will suit you, and make him reach the apple 
 or climb the tree. That apple you must have and have it imme- 
 diately in preference to your soul's salvation. You have elected 
 me for your Adam, and would lead me into the Garden of Eden, 
 so that I shall get the apple that you want and place it in your 
 liands, even if I only get the core or the peelings. 
 
 "But Charlotte, I am also a bit selfish. In fact I am almost 
 meanly selfish. I have reasoned out the problem of life logically, 
 and am wedded to my military career. I am so wedded to that 
 idea, and so determined to be successful in my career, that I 
 am going to San Francisco tonight even if I never see my mother, 
 father, or other relatives again in this world." 
 
 "You are selfish, Custis, selfish as a fiend of Hell," said Char- 
 lotte angrily, and she added : "You have deceived me and all of 
 your friends for you have always seemed to be truly human. To- 
 day you manifest an inhuman character that you have never 
 revealed to any one else. It is mysterious, maddening, angering, 
 and brutal." 
 
 "My other side," said Custis, smilingly, "is a side of my char- 
 acter that I have flattered you in revealing. Only to one whom 
 I respect, esteem, admire and love would I so reveal my sel- 
 fishness." 
 
 MOTHER I<EE LEARNED SOMETHING 
 
 Knocking at the door, Mother Lee entered. When Charlotte 
 arose, without saying good-bye to Custis, her moistened eyes 
 were blazing with angry disappointment, and she said to Mother 
 l/ce : 
 
 "I will wait while you say 'good-bye' to Custis." 
 
 70 
 
On the way back across the long bridge, Mother Lee ventured 
 to ask Charlotte if she had quarreled with Custis and her reply 
 was : 
 
 "No, we have had no quarrel but a disagreement ; we do not 
 understand each other ; I do not understand Custis and he does 
 not understand me. The misunderstanding is so great that it is 
 not likely that we ever again shall meet." 
 
 How true it is that "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.'' 
 
 Mother Lee was diplomatically wise, prudent, and knew when 
 she should be reticent ; and so she asked no further questions. 
 But she was a mother, and she noted that Charlotte had left her 
 glorious son Custis with abruptness, not to say rudeness. 
 Quietly, Mother Lee resented that well-nigh unpardonable sin. 
 But she was a hostess, and Charlotte was her guest. Mother Lee 
 was a woman of the world also, and it was clear to her that there 
 had been a lover's quarrel. Of course, it could not be the fault 
 of her son; and, if Charlotte started anything unpleasant in 
 conversation, Mrs. Lee was ready with her polite and well-bred 
 defense of her own, her first born, Custis. 
 
 Before they had reached the Long Bridge Mother Lee had 
 noted the frequent sighs, the deep sighs, and the dew drops on 
 the peach-blown cheeks of Charlotte, and they had dampened the 
 fire of her motherly resentment. As they came to the bridge one 
 of the sighs of Charlotte burst forth into an uncontrollable and 
 almost heart-breaking sob. 
 
 Clatter, clatter, clatter sounded the heavy hoof-beats of a pur- 
 suing horseman, and they were overtaken by an orderly with a 
 note to Mother Lee from Custis. As there was to be no answer, 
 the orderly saluted and rode away, as Mother Lee was opening 
 the note. These were the words : 
 
 "Mother, dear; be kind and gentle with Charlotte now and 
 always. She is pure gold. Always be kind to her, and love her 
 for my sake always. Hastily, Custis." 
 
 Without hesitation, knowing her son so well, and knowing well 
 also his long-cherished love for Charlotte, Mother Lee smothered 
 her resentment, took Charlotte into her arms and "Mothered her" 
 all the way home to Arlington. On the following day ]\Iother 
 Lee accompanied Charlotte to her own home; and there was 
 considerable excitement in that home when the run-away child 
 returned with a high fever, so that she was obliged to go to her 
 bed at once. The old family physician was sent for; and he 
 could do no harm. But he could do no good, for 
 
 "Who can minister to a mind diseased?" 
 
 The two mothers exchanged confidences. Then they both un- 
 derstood. They always understood ; and they wisely co-operated 
 ^ever afterwards. 
 
 77 
 
THAT WONDERFUL WIFE AND MOTHER 
 
 "You have been absent without leave," was the greeting with 
 which Mary Ann Randolph Lee was met when she returned tO' 
 Arlington ; and on the portico she saw the Colonel, who had 
 been at Fortress Monroe when she went away with Charlotte 
 Wickham. Saluting her formally, the Colonel said : "Has it been 
 desertion, or French leave? State your case." 
 
 His military salute was utterly ruined and his dignity sent to 
 the scrap heap, by a slap on one cheek, a kiss on the other, and 
 then another kiss and love-tap, back and forth. The answer 
 was this : 
 
 "Robert, dear, 3^ou can't imagine how glad I am to see you 
 home again, and just at this time. I have been carrying out your 
 most peremptory orders, and have accomplished the purpose of 
 your plans. 1 have been to the Wickham's and have come to 
 report that Custis will not marry Charlotte. She has given him 
 up; and he has declared that he will always remain a bachelor." 
 
 Then the Colonel scrapped some bit of dignity himself, kissed 
 his wife, picked her up bodily, carried her up the big stone steps, 
 and sat in Grand-pa Custis's big rocking chair, holding on his 
 knees the girl with gray curls that he loved so well, with her arm 
 around his neck. And he with hair and beard grown gray, too. 
 They don't give us such pictures in the "movies." 
 
 "But, Robert dearest," she continued, "we are to have Char- 
 lotte in the family any way. That can't be helped. She is going 
 to marry 'Rooney.' What do you think of that?" 
 
 "Glory be," exclaimed the Colonel. " 'Glory be,' as my old 
 Irish house man, 'Rooney Flaherty' used to shout ; only 'Rooney' 
 always needed un-corked stimulant to make him appear at his 
 best, or his loudest. 'Glory be,' for I really love Charlotte, oh, so 
 much. I feel that Custis has before him a military career of 
 renown. But our 'Rooney' is a home boy, and he will make such 
 a perfect husband as the perfect little angel deserves to have. 
 Again I say, 'Glory be' and another kiss for you, Mary Ann. You 
 are an adjutant wortli while." 
 
 MOTHER WICKHAM ON GENEALOGY 
 
 Wisely and ])atiently Mother Wickham waited until her recal- 
 citrant daughter could reason with her own self concerning her 
 insanely selfish escapade, and its frightful failure. Mother 
 Wickham knew that each youthful brain will always insist that 
 its reasoning is superior to that of all others ; will resort to every 
 conceivable logical fallacy to prove that wrong is right. But, 
 Mother Wickham also knew that after the rebellious renegade 
 reasoning of youth has exhausted itself against the impenetrable 
 
 :8 
 
walls of eternal truth, that exhausted youthful brain will seek 
 sympathy ; and that's the time for a Mother to step in and fill the 
 logical gap with genuine sympathy and words of comfort. And 
 so, when Charlotte began to call for 
 
 MOTHER, MOTHER, MOTHER 
 
 her wails were answered promptly by Mother Wickham who took 
 to her arms the weeping grown-up baby girl who wanted to weep 
 her last burning tears while those comforting arms were around 
 her. Charlotte had at last surrendered. The bright little girl was, 
 as Mother Wickham had told her, a thing of the past ; and Char- 
 lotte had become a woman of the world. Every woman knows 
 what a hard lesson that is to learn; for every woman knows that 
 such a lesson need never be learned but for the fact that this is 
 indeed a wicked world. And so, Mother Wickham began to teach 
 the lessons of family pride. She said : 
 
 "Of all the families in the Old Dominion that trace their 
 ancestry back to the earliest possible beginnings in the old world, 
 the oldest family tree is that of the Lees; for, Charlotte, you must 
 realize what an ancient family it is when you know that the Lees 
 trace their ancestry back to Lionel Lee, who distinguished himself 
 in the Siege of Acre, and who received numerous recognitions by 
 his sovereign. There is no family in this country that can point 
 with pride to such lineage. Remember also that both Custis and 
 Rooney Lee are related to the Custises, the Dandridges, the Fitz- 
 hughs, the Calverts, to Lord Baltimore, and to the Randolphs. 
 
 "You cannot realize how proud I have been nor how proud 
 your father has been while we were anticipating the marriage of 
 our daughter to the eldest son of Colonel Robert E. Lee ; in fact, 
 we are dreadfully disappointed with the change which has come 
 over Custis. But, Charlotte, we are just as proud of a marital 
 alliance with the younger son of Colonel Robert E. Lee; for we 
 know that there are many young ladies of the nobility of Great 
 Britain who would be glad to make and would be proud of such 
 an alliance, for there is no older nor nobler family in all of Europe. 
 So, you must turn to Rooney, welcome him, and be proud of his 
 attentions, for his attentions are distinguishing to vou and to 
 all of us." 
 
 "How'er it be, it seems to me 
 'Tis only noble to be good ; 
 Kind hearts are more than coronets. 
 And simple faith, than Norman blood. 
 
 "Trust me, Clara Vere de Vere, 
 
 From yon blue heavens above us bent. 
 The Gardener, Adam, and his wife 
 Smile at the claims of long descent." 
 
 79 
 
Mother Wickham had never heard of that philosophy of Tenny- 
 son, and Tennyson had never knovi^n of the Lees and other aris- 
 tocracies that were developing in our republic; and, of course, 
 Charlotte knew no other philosophy than the aspirations of the 
 home. Argal, Charlotte Wickham became a gentle- woman of the 
 world as it had been written in the Book of Fate that she should 
 be, and she prepared to welcome and accept the younger son of 
 Colonel Robert E. Lee. Indeed she was but telling the truth when 
 she reached the stage of reasoning and realization and could 
 smilingly say to her mother: 
 
 "I have always liked Rooney, and. maybe I really liked him 
 better than I did Custis, at first. Rooney and I could always play 
 together and we did play together until after I was 13 years old ; 
 and then I began dreaming of Custis as my ideal. Before that, I 
 remember that Custis seemed so dignified and so much older than 
 I was ; and so, maybe after all, I will be happier with Rooney than 
 I should have been with the thoughtful and dignified Custis ; for, 
 you know Mother, Custis hates dances and public functions." 
 
 WHEN ROONEY CAME HOME 
 
 On the way back to Washington, passing through Alexandria, 
 Mother Lee called for a brief visit at the home of the other son 
 of "Light Horse Harry" Lee*; the home that had been the home 
 of the fatherless little Robert E. Lee. There "Rooney" had left 
 bis horse and his valet on his flight to Richmond, after Charlotte, 
 and Mother Mary Ann Lee gave orders to that valet to tell his 
 young master that he must come home at top speed, because his 
 mother requested it. She also said : 
 
 "Be sure and tell your young master that unless he hastens to 
 his mother, something terrible will happen." 
 
 There was only one train a day, north and south, between 
 Alexandria and Richmond ; and no train to cross the Potomac ; 
 so it was necessary for "Rooney" to stop in Alexandria. From 
 there he could go to Arlington or proceed to Wickham's on horse- 
 back. But, his mother was keeping her motherly eyes on her 
 £rown-up baby boy ; and her motherly eyes were in close har- 
 mony with her motherly heart ; and, she must see her boy before 
 lie went blundering into the Wickham's, without first having a 
 full dress rehearsal for his part in that moving picture. 
 
 And so, as "Rooney" was hastening pell mell homewards, he 
 saw his father in the family carriage going towards the Long 
 Bridge, on his way to Washington to report at army headquarters, 
 as he had been ordered to report, by General Scott. The Colonel 
 was on the l)ridge when he heard the clatter of the hoofs of the 
 jairsuing "Rooney." and heard this shouting: 
 
"Pop, Pop, stop Pop," and the second son of his happy mar- 
 riage overtook the Colonel. 
 
 "What has happened to Alother?" exclaimed "Rooney" with 
 great earnestness. "What has happened?" 
 
 "Nothing serious enough for worry, my son," replied Colonel 
 Lee. "But, something's going to happen to you. But, be a man, 
 and don't break down and weep. If you shed a single tear, I'll 
 disown you. Now go to your mother, take your medicine, and 
 be a man." 
 
 Shocked, frightened, "Rooney" saluted the Colonel, turned his 
 horse and hastened on to Arlington. 
 
 Colonel Lee had in mind the picture of Cardinal Richelieu when 
 be was sending De Mauprat to meet his sweetheart, Julie de 
 Mortimer, and told him: "Go to your punishment. To the tapes- 
 try chamber, go ;" and as Colonel Lee thus sent ''Rooney" to his 
 fate, he smiled and smiled, as he went driving over the Long 
 Bridge. 
 
 TO THE TAPESTRY CHAMBER 
 
 It was a bright, balmy afternoon, and Mother Lee was resting 
 upon an army cot, on the portico, when "Rooney" came galloping 
 home. When he saw his mother so reclining, his heart leapecl 
 and, but for his father's command tears would have filled his eyes. 
 Hastening to her side, he fell upon his knees, caressed her brow 
 gently and lovingly, and asked : 
 
 "Has there been an accident, Mother; have you been hurt; or 
 are you ill?" 
 
 "Never mind, my baby boy; never mind, now. I am not se- 
 riously hurt, and I am not ill. But, I am very tired. There is 
 something on my mind, something of greatest importance. I can- 
 not tell you about it now. You must learn self-control. It was 
 loss of self-control that sent you on a fool's errand to Old Point 
 Comfort, after Mother Wickham had given you wise advice. You 
 cannot have things in this world all your own way. It is said in 
 Holy Writ: 'No man liveth unto himself.' You must learn to 
 be unselfish, to surrender your own will, to what is right. Char- 
 lotte Wickham ran away from you when a telegram told her of 
 your coming. You cannot go and steal from any mother such a 
 priceless prize, and her only greatest treasure. Charlotte Wick- 
 ham might be won by some superior man ; but she cannot be stolen. 
 
 "I'll drive over there immediately, and apologize," said the 
 gentlemanly, well-bred scion of southern nobility. 
 
 "No, no, no," exclaimed Mother Lee. "Charlotte is in bed with 
 a fever. You cannot see her now: and I am very sure that 
 neither her mother nor the Judge would want to see you now. 
 As the Bible says again : 'Repent ye, repent ye.' " 
 
 81 
 
Gently and kindly Al other Lee sent her boy away, out under 
 the trees to commune with Nature and with Nature's God. In 
 the evening, after tea, "Roo,ney" said : 
 
 "Mother dear, I've been 'a truant boy, that thought his home a 
 cage.' It is time for me to begin to be a man. I could not be a 
 good husband to any good girl, until I am more of a man than I 
 have been. I've been doing a lot of thinking, and some praying, 
 too. My mind has been full of comparisons between Custis and 
 myself. Custis is always doing or trying to do something for you, 
 for Dad, for me, and for the servants ; in fact, for everybody. 
 I've been baby'ed, Mother, until I've become merely an over- 
 grown, selfish, big boy. Mother dear, I'm going to be a man, and 
 a man worthy of my mother and father, and I'm beginning — -yes, 
 I've begun — right now. Help me, Mother, help me!" 
 
 And "Rooney" kept his word, from that moment to the day of 
 his recall to the courts above. 
 
 His mother, wisely, diplomatically, and f ar-seeingly, then said : 
 
 "Rooney, my man, some day you will have to give up your 
 mother ; and some day you will have to give up your father. Cus- 
 tis is always giving up his desires for others. Some day you will 
 have to give up all for others. If you have to give up Charlotte, 
 on whom your selfish boy heart has long been centered, then give 
 ber up like a man. She is ill. The best you can do for now is to 
 pray for her, and often. I am so glad and happy that my baby 
 'boy is now a manly man. You must learn to know, as Custis 
 knows, the Man of Galilee. Good night." 
 
 LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON 
 
 What Mother Wickham knew, of course. Mother Lee must 
 know ; and what Mother Lee knew, of course, Mother Wickham 
 must know. Thus they cordially and wisely co-operated for their 
 children. You must try to comprehend that, no matter how big 
 and how heavy they may become, nor how old they may be, the 
 scvis and daughters of normal and sane women are always thought 
 of, and usually spoken of, as "children." 
 
 Mother Lee fully comprehended that Custis was the object of 
 the natural afifections of Charlotte Wickham, and fully realized 
 that Charlotte would not, because she could not, transfer those 
 natural affections to any other man. But Mother Lee also knew 
 that Charlotte could be and would be a loyal wife, a credit to her 
 own family and a credit to the Lees ; and "Rooney" would never 
 know that Charlotte's heart had belonged, almost from her baby- 
 hood, to another. Consequently, Charlotte would be a good wife 
 and a creditable wife to her son. 
 
 Mother Wickham fully comprehended that a scar across the 
 face, or over the hand, or anywhere visible, will last forever, or 
 
 82 
 
<is long as life shall last. Any scar is a disfigurement. A broad 
 and deep wound may heal, but the scar always remains. 
 
 Mother Wickham knew that the heart of her bright, brainy and 
 'beautiful daughter had been wounded; that the wound was broad 
 and deep, so that it was almost incurable. But "Rooney" could 
 never see the scar, nor ever know that a cicatrix existed. Mother 
 Wickham knew that Charlotte must begin to play a part, and a 
 difficult part, in life; that she must seem and always seem to her 
 husband to look upon him as her first and only love, while always 
 and ever always her natural love would forever be her first love, 
 her love for Custis. But 
 
 "'AH the world's a stage. 
 And all the men and women merely players, 
 
 and so Mother Wickham carefully and prudently encouraged 
 Charlotte to believe what she was truly trying tq believe, that she 
 really had loved "Rooney" first, from childhood, and that he 
 would always be more companionable with her than the more dig- 
 nified and philosophical Custis ; and what she knew she told to 
 Mother Lee; and what Mother Lee knew she told to Mother 
 Wickman; and those sincere ladies were playing a double game 
 of hearts. Moreover, every play that was made was for the wel- 
 fare of their children. 
 
 WINNING THE WOMAN 
 
 Thus it happened that when Mother Lee called to "Rooney" on 
 the morning after his return, and asked him if he would like to 
 accompany her to the Wickham's, "Rooney" raced away after old 
 "Uncle Tom," and actually helped him harness the team of big 
 bays. He was dressed, walking the broad portico for half an hour 
 before his mother was ready ; and away they went on their mis- 
 sion of love, and of adventure. Mother Lee said: 
 
 "Now that we are near the close of our little picnic trip, I must 
 remind you of what I told you yesterday. Charlotte may be won, 
 but she cannot be stolen nor abducted. You must ask for her, 'beg 
 for her, and try to win her mother to your cause. You must 
 apologize to Mother Wickham for disregarding her advice, and 
 for rushing ofif to Old Point to try to win her daughter, without 
 her consent, and against the advice of a wise as well as an affec- 
 tionate mother. You've been in the wrong. Like a gentleman, 
 you must try to get in the right. You must act the part of a gen- 
 tleman by admitting an error. Remember that 
 
 'Honor and fame from no conditions rise ; 
 Act well your part. There all the honor lies.' " 
 
 83 
 
And so JMother Lee had trained her son for his part in the next 
 scene of the drama of real hfe, and trained him well. After she 
 was sure of his readiness to follow her directions, Mother Lee 
 gave him a little stimulant that set his heart into a flutter and 
 tremble, when she said : 
 
 "I have talked with Charlotte, just as I promised you five 
 years ago that I would do when it might do some good. I have 
 observed her well, and I am quite sure that I am doing the right 
 thing or I would not be making this excursion into, the field of 
 match-making — not for the world. But, my son, I am quite sure 
 ^that Charlotte has always held you in high esteem. During the 
 past four years she has had many opportunities to marry, and 
 she has rejected the proposals of some of the best young men 
 in Virginia. 
 
 "Evidently, Charlotte has been waiting for some one. Now, 
 if you do not take it for granted, and try to snatch her away from 
 her home ; if you will approach her as I have advised, I am quite 
 sure that she will soon show her affections in such a manner that 
 proposal will be natural to you and easy; or, it might be that 
 Charlotte would make up her mind to do the proposing herself. 
 Yes, that's how sure I am that Charlotte is ready and willing. 
 Surely she has been waiting for some one all of these four years." 
 
 "Glory be," he exclaimed. "Glory be, mother. Glory be." 
 
 Of course she had been waiting for some one. She'd been 
 waiting for Custis, and Mother Lee knew it well. Even of the 
 best of them it must be said as it is of the worst of them : 
 
 "Oh, the light that lies in woman's eyes. 
 That lies there, lies and lies." 
 
 As they were coming up the long side road that led from the 
 main highway to the Wickham mansion. Mother Lee and "Roo- 
 ney" saw the Judge driving from his front gate a tall, slender, 
 sleek-looking man. The Judge was shaking his heavy gold- 
 headed cane, and they heard him say: 
 
 "If you show up here again, sir, you will not see a cane, nor 
 feel it. You will have to contend with a shotgun : you damnable 
 inter-meddling Yankee peddler." 
 
 "I beg your pardon, Mrs. Lee," said the Judge as he turned and 
 observed his visitors for the first time. That he was very much 
 in earnest, you will understand, for the Judge did not hear the 
 hoof-beats of that big team, nor the rattling of the 'big iron-tired 
 wheels, for all wheels in those days were held together by iron 
 tires. 
 
 "That "S'ankee has been here before," exclaimed Judge Wick- 
 ham, in an explanatory manner, as he was helping Mrs. Lee to 
 alight, and as "Rooney" was alighting on the other side. The 
 Judge continued: 
 
 84 
 
"He has been here for the last time, I am sure. He is only 
 one of a thousand or more that ought to be shot down for tres- 
 passing, whenever they step foot onto the estate of a southern 
 gentleman. There is an organization of intruding Yankees, and 
 they are going about -as this fellow has been doing, reading that 
 book about 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' and trying to excite the darkies 
 to discontent. It is an outrageous invasion of our peace. It is 
 criminal trespass. I'll surely shoot if that fellow comes again." 
 
 Before they realized it. Mother Wickham was with them. She 
 took Mother Lee with her, leaving "Rooney" with the Judge who 
 was further explaining his unusual manifestation of anger. As he 
 mentioned the name of the book, the old slave of the Lees, "Uncle 
 Tom," who was standing at the heads of the horses, ready to take 
 them to the big stone barn, exclaimed : 
 
 "Massa Judge, 'scuse me, Sah, but Ah 'bullieves dat's de same 
 one what was to Ahlingtqn las' week. He was reading ''bout MY 
 CABIN, an' de othah niggahs tole him to git out; an' when Ah 
 heard some things he say-ed 'bout My Cabin, Ah jess hollahed 
 dat Ah was goin' to th' Mansion an' get Massa Lee's shotgun. 
 How come strange white man to write a book 'bout Uncle Tom's 
 Cabin when Ah hain't seen him an' he hain't seen me, an' he 
 hain't nevah been in Mah Cabin. Ef Ah was white, Massa Jedge, 
 Ah'd kill dat book man mahself." 
 
 As "Rooney" was accompanying the Judge to the Mansion, he 
 noted that Charlotte was away off by herself at the south end of 
 the veranda. She looked pale, and no wonder, after her recent 
 experiences ; and the breaking of her heart of hearts, the loss of 
 her all ; for 
 
 "The night has a thousand eyes. 
 The day but one ; 
 And the light of the whole life dies 
 When love is done." 
 
 "I've been thinking of you all morning, 'Rooney' " said Charlotte 
 when the handsome big young man came to her, and she added, 
 "I was wondering if you ever think of me. You have been home 
 more than a week, without calling to see me. That's not neigh- 
 borly, my playmate, 'Rooney,' and I've been wondering all 
 morning, if you were never coming again." 
 
 Poor "Rooney," was amazed, and happy. Then, of course, 
 Charlotte did not know how he had disregarded her mother, and 
 had gone to Old Point after her. Should he tell her. or not ; that 
 was the question. He concluded to be frank ; and so he told her 
 that he had been trying to come to her ever since he had returned 
 to his home. "Rooney" was acting well his part, and doing just 
 as Charlotte wanted him to do, and just as the two mothers 
 
 85 
 
wanted him to do. And, when he had finished the story of his 
 vain chase after her, Charlotte said : 
 
 "And here 1 have been wondering if you ever would come to 
 me; and have been looking for you every' day, only to be disap- 
 pointed, and you have really and honestly been doing your best to 
 come to me. And, 'Rooney' what in the world did you want to 
 see me about, any way?" 
 
 "Rooney" was backed up against the wall of diplomacy. Even 
 if he wanted to retreat, he couldn't. But he had no idea of 
 retreat. He stood his ground, and replied: 
 
 "Why Charlotte, I've been living in a dream for many years ; 
 ever since I was a little fellow, barely able to talk and think, and 
 know the differences between right and wrong, the commonplace 
 and the beautiful. I've been in love for years and years. I've 
 been dreaming and dreaming that the most beautiful woman in all 
 the world, the best girl ever created, with eyes so 'blue and heart 
 to true that she could be as great a queen of my heart as I knew 
 her to be the greatest Queen of the May; I've been dreaming and 
 hoping and believing that she might some day look around her 
 and see me, and notice me, and, maybe, care for me a little bit. 
 Why have you been looking for me, Charlotte?" 
 
 "Oh, my dear 'Rooney' you've told my story so well, that it 
 will be useless for me to try to tell it. I've been dreaming, too. 
 I've had my mind and my heart on the best young man ever 
 created, a handsome man, too; the son of a great soldier, the 
 descendant of the greatest of American women; and I've been 
 loving him, and loving him, and loving him, until my heart has 
 so hungered for him. that I've been in bed with a fever, all for 
 love; all for love, 'Rooney.' all for love." 
 
 "Oh Charlotte, my dream girl, have I been so blind? Do you 
 mean me, that you love me so well. Is my dream coming true?" 
 
 "No. silly, " said Charlotte, "it will never come true. It is past 
 now. It is a reality. See?" 
 
 Yes, he did see; and what he saw was, the 'beautiful cherry red 
 lips that were close to his own, and coming closer. And. well, 
 why try to describe the closing scene? You can only understand 
 some things by experience. 
 
 Charlotte had been describing her love for Custis. and des- 
 cribing it truthfully; and "Rooney" imagined, as she intended 
 him to imagine, that she had been describing him, but "Rooney" 
 did not know of 
 
 "The light that lies in woman's eyes. 
 That lies there, lies and lies." 
 
 and so he was happy. And just as might have been expected, the 
 two mothers came around the corner of the veranda, as "Rooney" 
 
 86 
 
was lifting the fairy out of her chair, and liolcling her in his 
 arms and Mother Wickhani cried, anxiously, 
 
 " 'Rooney' be careful,, don't you drop my baby." 
 
 And then "Rooney," the full grown man at last, proudly 
 answered that Charlotte was no longer anybody's baby, but his 
 own ; and that was the first announcement of the engagement. 
 
 And, on another morning soon, in San Francisco, Captain 
 G. W. C. Lee, registered at the Palace hotel, and read in the 
 newspaper dispatches of the engagement which attracted nation- 
 wide interest. 
 
 RINGING OF THE BELLS 
 
 "Hear the mellow wedding 'bells, golden bells. 
 What a world of merriment their melody foretells 
 Through the balmy air of night 
 How they ring out their delight. 
 Through the molten golden notes, all in tune 
 What a liquid ditty floats 
 
 To the turtle dove that listens, while he gloats, 
 On the moon ; 
 
 How it dwells on the future, 
 How it tells of the rapture that impels 
 To the ringing and the swinging of the bells. 
 To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells." 
 
 Before God and the Church and under the laws of mankind, 
 Charlotte Wickham became the pure, loyal, perfect wife of one of 
 nature's noblemen ; and, in her heart she was the queen of a 
 royal prince in our republic. That she was a living miracle is 
 true, for she was perfect in each one of two characters of 
 earth life, in that she was loyal always to the love of the happy 
 days of her virgin girlhood, and absolutely as well as unswervingly 
 loyal to the husband to whom she had been given, by the magnifi- 
 cent and masterful man who loved her with divine affection, and 
 whom she loved with idolatrous adulation. 
 
 Married in 1859 to one of the best young men in America, but 
 without natural affection for the young man, the life of Charlotte 
 Wickham was so sad, such a tragedy of romance that it might 
 better be told within a few words or a few lines. Married in 
 1859, Charlotte Wickham passed away from earth four years 
 later during the Civil War in 1863, while her husband "Rooney" 
 Lee, seriously wounded in battle, was confined to a prison in 
 Fortress Monroe and unable to come to her in her illness; and 
 to complete the tragedy of the early life of "Rooney" Lee, it must 
 be added that both of their little girls passed away before he was 
 returned to his magnificent estate by the conclusion of the hostili- 
 
 87 
 
ties of the country. He came to an empty home, with empty 
 arms, and an empty heart. Such a man, with such a life of 
 tragedy, might have been the 
 
 LORD OF BURLEIGH 
 
 When Alfred Tennyson was in the height of his fame he gave 
 to the world the beautiful poem of the "Lord of Burleigh" and 
 in two of those verses he practically described "Rooney" Lee and 
 his bride. "Rooney" Lee, as a descendant of Daniel Parke Custis, 
 had inherited the White House farm on the Pamunkey River ; 
 and it was to that magnificent mansion which had been built 
 originally by American's first merchant prince for Martha Dan- 
 dridge who became afterwards Martha Washington, "Rooney" Lee 
 brought his bride. It was a magnificent estate and here the story 
 may be told in brief in the words of Alfred Tennyson : 
 
 "Here he lived in state and bounty, 
 
 Lord of Burleigh fair and free ; 
 Not a lord in all the county 
 
 Was so great a lord as he; 
 There she drooped and drooped before him, 
 
 Fading slowly from his side ; 
 Two fair children first she 'bore him. 
 
 Then before her time she died." 
 
 Majestic sweetness sits enthroned upon the brow of the hero of 
 this story; this o'er true tale of American knighthood; of one 
 whose self-sacrificing purposes and deeds manifest in every in- 
 stance and in every detail the invisible but palpable inspiration 
 of the spirit of Calvary, making of it a history of incomparable, 
 matchless, marvelous, miraculous character, which approximates 
 well-nigh unattainable perfection ; "a light that shines upon the 
 road" that leads unto the mansions 0;f light, where many mansions 
 are, as declared by One who said: "If it were not so. would I 
 have told you that I go to prepare a place for you ?" 
 
 The heroine also is haloed with the angelic beauty, purity and 
 devotion that bespeak the reverence and homage which belong 
 only to the sainted in heaven who are named by the church. 
 
 Every reader will naturally and voluntarily join with the great, 
 the good, the only Custis Lee. in breathing the prayer: 
 
 "God bless angelic little Charlotte." 
 
 88 
 
PART TWO 
 
 ZENITH OF AMERICAN VALOR 
 
 IT WAS the year of 1857 that Colonel Robert E. Lee was 
 subduing the Comanche Indians, and it was in that year that 
 his second son, "Rooney," was marching across the uninhabited 
 plains of this country where countless millions now live and thrive. 
 During the days of the following generation that year was always 
 referred to in casual conversations as 
 
 THE YEAR OF THE COMET 
 
 You never heard of the wrath of Abraham Lincoln, did you? 
 Well, General Tom Ewing of Indiana told the old-timers on ancient 
 Newspaper Row, in Washington city, an incident which he termed 
 "a narrow escape from the just wrath of President Lincoln." 
 
 To understand it thoroughly the average reader must ask old 
 grand-pa or grand-ma to describe the immense comet which over- 
 cast the sky, really overspreading it, for many moons in the year 
 of 1857. 
 
 Excepting the few scientists who comprehended the history of 
 the comet, all of the people of the world were frightened ; and the 
 plain people of this country were praying and following a sect 
 called "Millerites," who had been predicting the end of the world 
 at that time. It was during the height of the excitement, appre- 
 hension and alarm caused by the comet that General Ewing was 
 in Vincennes, Ind., ready to take a coach for transportation to 
 Indianapolis. He said : 
 
 "In front of the hotel there was a four-horse old-fashioned coach 
 with a very venerable driver. On the rear seat I found a rustic 
 farmer, or farmer's son, making himself comfortable. Now. I 
 did not want to ride backward, so I approached him and said : 
 
 " 'My dear fellow, Governor Willard of Indiana is coming out 
 in a minute and I know that it makes the Governor seasick to ride 
 backward. So, if you don't mind, it would be a nice thing if you 
 would take the front seat and leave the rear seat for the Governor.' 
 
 "The farmer picked up his straw hat, put it on his bushy mat 
 of black hair and through his back whiskers came the words, very 
 cheerfully spoken : 
 
 " 'All right, let the Governor have the back seat. T guess I 
 won't get seasick, as I have never been to sea.' 
 
 "Gathering his cheap linen duster around his skeleton and pick- 
 
 89 
 
ing up his big carpetbag, the lanky fellow sidled across, took the 
 front seat and left the best seat, the back one, for Governor Wil- 
 lard of Indiana, and also for his diplomatic friend, General Tom 
 Ewing. 
 
 THE TALE OF A COMET 
 
 "It was a rainy day and we traveled over an awfully muddy 
 road, through a sea of mud. Governor Willard and I talked about 
 the comet, what the newspapers were saying and what the maga- 
 zines were guessing about it. The lanky one asked several ques- 
 tions, showing some knowledge of current rumor, and we put him 
 off with brief, pert answers. Finally he addressed me by name, 
 although I had not given him my name, and asked: 
 
 " 'General Ewing, if you know what effect this comet will have 
 en the earth I will be obliged for the information.' 
 
 "Afterward I remembered his decent and respectful manner, 
 but at the time I was annoyed, and shut him up for good by saying : 
 
 " 'I have no doubt that the denied thing will grip up this earth 
 and rvm away to hell with it.' 
 
 "That finished him for the day. He asked no more, but respect- 
 fully listened, as we expected him to do. When we got to Indian- 
 apolis in the evening the gawky fellow rubbed resentment and re- 
 proach into my soul by jumping out into the mud, picking up a 
 plank, placing it where Governor Willard and I could walk to the 
 board sidewalk dry-shod, and he disappeared into the hotel before 
 either one of us could utter an expression of appreciation. Gov- 
 ernor Willard said that Sir Walter Raleigh couldn't have done 
 the act any better. 
 
 "Half an hour later Governor Willard and I were at one of the 
 big tables in the dining room, which was crowded, when the 
 farmer came in, looked around for a seat and moved toward our 
 table. I asked Governor Willard if I should invite the fellow, 
 and was advised to do so, for there was a vacant seat next to 
 Governor Willard, and I motioned for the tall country fellow to 
 come, and he came. 
 
 "He looked a great deal better. He had combed his shock of 
 black hair and had somehow smoothed his whiskers. He wore a 
 black Prince Albert coat, which was some worn, but looked 
 genteel. As he came alongside of us he thanked Governor Wil- 
 lard, and also thanked me, for the honor of a seat at our talilc. 
 
 "Apjiarently he was a very light eater, although he was a tall 
 follow and big enough to swing a heavy scythe or rake in a harvest 
 field. He finished while the Governor and I were taking dessert, 
 and as he arose he thanked us again for the honor, and asked 
 Govern* ir ^^'illard if hv nii^ht tell folks out West that he had sat 
 
 00 
 
at the same table at supper with Governor Willard of Indiana, 
 and the Governor graciously gave him that permission. 
 
 "The Governor, having dressed in my room for the evening, 
 descended the stairs with me, as he was intending soon to go to 
 the executive mansion. We heard gay laughter and rounds of 
 applause in the parlor, and I asked one of the old hotel employes 
 who the tall man was that stood in the parlor, and whom the peo- 
 ple were so lustily cheering, and his reply was : 
 
 " 'That is a lawyer from out West somewhere, Illinois I believe. 
 He comes here two or three times a year. His name is Lincoln, 
 Abraham Lincoln, and he is a fine story teller.' 
 
 "The ride, the story of the comet, the supper and all were for- 
 gotten soon, but in the spring of 1861, less than four years later, 
 I went to Washington city to ask that same gawky fellow to 
 appoint me to the important and desirable office of minister to 
 Mexico. Although I had the hearty indorsement of the leading 
 Republicans of Indiana, I realized that I was facing the pent-up 
 wrath of the man whom I had directly and keenly insulted on that 
 occasion, and needlessly, too, for he had been gentlemanly and 
 courteous, while I had been boorish. 
 
 "I told my friends about it, and they were prepared with 
 bushels of excuses for me. But, fortunately, the big man in the 
 White House looked me over very keenly, did not recognize me, 
 grasped my hand very cordially and said : 
 
 " 'General Ewing, the country needs men of experience ; men 
 who are indorsed as you are by big men. Unfortunately for you 
 individually, however, I have promised that place to Tom Corwin 
 of Ohio. ^ I have chosen him for the position of minister to 
 Mexico.' 
 
 "I believed, and my friends believed, that he was merely throw- 
 ing the harpoon of vengeance into me, but he was not. He really 
 did not remember me. and he said: 'Now I hope that you will look 
 over the list of possiljilities. select something substantially as good 
 and come back to me. The country needs veteran soldiers and 
 men of experience who have proved their love of country. Come 
 and see me again, and we will get together somehow.' 
 
 "W^ithin a week I called again, properly accompanied, and asked 
 to be made minister to Brazil, and President Lincoln gave me a 
 note to the Secretary of State, ordering that appointment. It was 
 made and promptly confirmed by the Senate. 
 
 "Just about one month I spent at the Department of State re- 
 ceiving instructions concerning the duties of the position. Then 
 v/hen I was readv to go to Brazil I was accompanied to the White 
 House by the Secretarv of State, William H. Seward, to receive 
 my final instructions from the President and to say good-by to him. 
 
 "President Lincoln gave me greater, better, more comprehensive 
 
 91 
 
instructions than I had received at the Department of State. He 
 v/as very earnest, very grave and thoroughly impressed me with 
 the trust which was reposed in me by my country. He made me 
 understand that the diplomatic representatives of some countries 
 cf South America, and of all except Russia in the countries of 
 Europe, would be likely to mislead me into quarrels or contro- 
 versies. My duty was to keep sober and calm under all circum- 
 stances. Nothing unexpected should be allowed to unbalance my 
 mental equilibrium. One careless deed or word of mine might 
 prove to be of grave danger, possibly fatal to our country. 
 
 "Secretary Seward listened carefully, as I did. At the con- 
 clusion of the audience President Lincoln bade me good-by and 
 godspeed, went to the door with the Secretary and me and there 
 he took my hand and heartily squeezed it in his powerful grip 
 5nd said: 
 
 " 'Now you do your duty ; I will do my duty, and between us,' 
 here he threw his long left arm around my shoulders and added, 
 ^we ought to be able, Tom, to keep that derned old comet from 
 tunning to hell with this old earth. Good-by.' " 
 
 LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE 
 
 DURING the year following "the comet year," and every day 
 for more than half of that year, 1858, Stephen A. Douglas, 
 the generally accepted oratorical leader of the democratic 
 party of the country, was traversing the fenceless and almost 
 boundless prairies of the State of Illinois, on the defensive, for 
 the first time in his public career. 
 
 There had been born at the Twin Oaks of Jackson, Michigan, 
 a new political party ; and it was a party with a principle which 
 was fast becoming exceedingly popular, at least in the free States 
 oi" the country. It was known as the republican party. In the 
 army of the country there was an intrepid engineer officer. General 
 John C. Fremont, who had won for himself the distinction of 
 having been the first leader of men to blaze the way across the 
 "Great American i^cscrt," for he had led the way across the vast 
 continent which was, previous to the year 1850, practically, an 
 unknown because unexplored empire. General Fremont was 
 jiopularly known as "The Pathfinder ;" and the new political party 
 liad wisely chosen that good man to be the leader of their aggrega- 
 tions of unorganized masses. General Fremont was defeated by 
 the democratic candidate, James Buchanan, in the year 1856; but 
 lie had blazed the way, politically, and the new party was pre- 
 senting an organized front two years later, so that in the year 
 LS58, under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, that new party 
 was making its first great struggle for a standing in the United 
 States Senate. 
 
 92 
 
Abraham Lincoln, born and bred in poverty, self-educated, self- 
 confident, aggressive, fired with ardent and crusading belief in 
 the principles of the new political party, w^as making a wonder- 
 fully successful campaign for the seat in the Senate then held by 
 Douglas, whose term was to expire on March 4, 1859. With 
 presidential ambitions and with superior prospects because of the 
 excellent organization of the democratic party, Senator Douglas 
 was a candidate for re-election ; and the new man who had fought 
 his way out of utter obscurity, was a candidate for the senatorial 
 position in which Douglas had become famous. 
 
 Douglas, as an oratorical leader, was sui generis, and able to 
 compel applause, on all occasions. But, like all other public 
 speakers seeking political distinction, he was successful in securing 
 hearings by countless assemblies of men, but without producing 
 the necessary votes on election days, in the national arena. In his 
 own State of Illinois, however, Douglas had been matchless, until 
 Lincoln appeared and forced the fighting all of that year. Al- 
 though the contest was in doubt for many weeks, and the forensic 
 campaign was continuous, exciting, frequently bitter, Douglas was 
 re-elected. Lincoln, however, had accomplished the chief purpose 
 of his entire campaign. He had made himself the national leader 
 of the new political party. Although defeated for that senator- 
 ship, as he had really expected to be defeated, he had successfully 
 used his opportunities in public discussion to compel national at- 
 tention, win unexampled popularity and almost unchallenged lead- 
 ership. His presidential nomination, in 1860, was the achievement 
 for which he had made the campaign in Illinois, in 1858. The 
 debate had compelled nation-wide attention and interest. 
 
 Very few individuals now living heard that debate, without 
 mention of which American history would be inexplicable to all 
 generations of after years. This writer heard Lincoln and Douglas 
 in joint debate at Quincy, Illinois, on the same platform, in a 
 public park. 
 
 While Thomas R. Marshall was Vice President of the United 
 States and therefore the presiding officer of the Senate, it was 
 his custom, when the Senate was in session, to traverse the dis- 
 tance from his office in the great marble office building of the 
 Senate, in the diminutive monorail car in the subway. One morn- 
 ing just as the Vice President was giving to the motorman the 
 cheery morning greeting to which he was accustomed, the Vice 
 President was addressed by an elderly newspaper man, who en- 
 tered the car from the opposite side, his words being : 
 
 "Mr. Vice President, maybe you are the very man that I am 
 
 looking for this morning " 
 
 "Don't let it occur again," interrupted the genial gentleman from 
 Indiana, as he extended his hand, and added: "If you imagme 
 
 93 
 
that I am a repository of any news, you are making a bad begin- 
 ning for the day, for I don't know anything at all, except that I 
 am able to remember the place where I work and earn my bread 
 and butter, and I am just going there to be on the job on time." 
 
 Thus did the genial, popular, worthy, and lovable gentleman 
 attempt to avoid an interview ; for he was one of the very few 
 men in public office who really did avoid and endeavor always to 
 escape interviews and all other attempts to keep him in the lime- 
 light. But on that occasion he was actually cornered in the little 
 subway car, and the insistent newspaper man, almost as well 
 along in years as himself, persisted with his inquiries and obtained 
 a bit of American history well worth the recording. 
 
 "I am trying to prepare an unusual article concerning Abraham 
 Lincoln, for publication this February anniversary of the birth of 
 that historic character," said the news writer. "I am trying to 
 find some person or persons of consequence yet living who heard 
 the great debate between Lincoln and Douglas in 1858." 
 
 "If you will leave out the words 'of consequence,' " said the \'ice 
 President, "maybe I can help you out, for I know a man who 
 heard a part of that debate, when he was only a little boy, 4 years 
 old. He remembers his impressions very vividly, and I have heard 
 him tell the story several times. 
 
 "The little fellow was 4 and almost 5 years old when his demo- 
 cratic daddy took him to Freeport, 111., and he heard both of those 
 great men in their appeals to the people for election to the Senate ; 
 and, by the way, you should tell your audience that the famous 
 debate of that year was a sort of John-Baptist forerunner of our 
 present primary system. I can repeat the story substantially as I 
 have heard the little boy tell it ; of course, since he has grown up 
 and mingled with men and affairs. He said : 
 
 " 'I have no recollection of the points made in the debate, but I 
 remember both of the men and how each one of them appeared 
 before the immense audience. I remember particularly how they 
 appeared to me. The short, stout man, Douglas, had the better of 
 the argument with the people, for the applause was frequent, 
 natural, bursting out into prolonged roars. He moved up and 
 down the ])latform, talking from each end and from the middle, 
 and also talking as he was walking from end to end. Douglas 
 undoubtedly had the encouragement of applause and popular 
 approval. 
 
 " 'I was on the platform. My daddy was a democrat, and he 
 must have had some influence to get up there on the occasion of 
 such a great assemblage. The tall man, Lincoln, did not walk 
 about very much. He stood almost in the center of the platform. 
 He talked to everybody, though, for he continually turned his 
 face and his whole body from side to side, addressing all of the 
 
 04 
 
people. It was my impression that the people liked him better 
 than they did the shorter man. They did not give him so much 
 applause, but as he told stories to them, maybe to illustrate his 
 points, the people burst out into laughter, and they did so very 
 often. Two or three times they cheered him so long that it made 
 me tired. 
 
 " 'While Mr. Lincoln was talking I sat on the knees of Senator 
 Douglas, and he never said one word to me; just held me. When 
 it came his turn to talk I was handed to the tall man, and I sat 
 on the knees of Abraham Lincoln while Douglas was speaking. 
 Now, I would like to make you understand what a difference there 
 was between the two men, from a boy's standpoint. Mr. Lincoln 
 asked my name, my age, where I lived, whether I knew my A, B, 
 C's, whether I had a puppy dog or not, and all sorts of questions 
 cf a kind to interest a little boy. I surprised and heckled my old 
 democratic daddy by telling him that when I grew up I intended 
 to vote for Mr. Lincoln. He could have had my vote that year, 
 sure, if I could have voted.' " 
 
 "That is an unusually interesting story, Mr. Vice President," 
 said the newspaper man, "and I am sure that you will complete it 
 by telling me where I can find the man who told it to you." 
 
 "Well, earlier in the day," was the reply, "you can generally 
 find him in the office rooms of the Vice President. 1 heard him 
 tell the story when he was Governor of Indiana and before. His 
 name is Tom Marshall." 
 
 Having added to his reputation as a newspaper man, the dis- 
 tinction of being a reliable writer of history, the narrator then 
 sought the distinguished "Uncle Joe" Cannon, famous as having 
 been the masterful and militant Speaker of the National House 
 of Representatives during one of the most stormy and epoch- 
 making periods of that legislative body; a body in which only the 
 stormy petrels can survive. Dear old "Uncle Joe" was then grace- 
 fully and gently approaching his 83d birthday ; and he greeted the 
 iviterviewing visitor with youthful cordiality. Although they were 
 personal friends of more than ordinary intimacy, the narrator is 
 almost twenty years the junior of the statesman, and so you will 
 observe the ever-bubbling spirit of humor in the famous legislator 
 by the fact that he greeted the writer thus: 
 
 "I am sorry for you, every time I see you. I have known >'ou 
 now for more than forty years. You do not seem to realize, as 
 your friends do, that you are getting to be an old man." 
 
 And the venerable statesman was swinging along rapidly toward 
 his office room, when his old friend put an arm over his shoulder 
 and said : 
 
 "Now, just for that, you must give up ten or fifteen minutes 
 cf your time and tell me what you know about the Lincoln-Douglas 
 debate of 1858." 
 
 95 
 
"Well, shorthand, then," said the most lovable of public men. 
 "I happen to remember that you can write chicken tracks with a 
 pen, so take this down. The most exciting debate of all of their 
 meetings was at Charleston, 111., about the middle of September, 
 1858, and I was there. 
 
 "Senator Douglas made the grave mistake of accusing Lincoln 
 of disloyalty. He referred to a story current almost ten years 
 earlier and thoroughly disproved, charging Lincoln with having 
 voted against appropriations for the soldiers during the war with 
 Mexico, withholding appropriations, to let our soldiers starve or 
 ^o without ammunition in their campaigns. You know, Abraham 
 Lincoln was a member of Congress when President James K. 
 Polk sent soldiers across the line without Congressional authority, 
 and in so doing he violated the constitution by assuming to declare 
 war. That is a right lielonging only to the Congress. 
 
 "Abraham Lincoln voted for the Ashmun resolution declaring 
 that the war had been unconstitutionally declared. So did Allen G. 
 Thurman and many other men who became eminent. 
 
 "But when war was declared Lincoln and all of the others loyally 
 voted to sustain the army. Senator Douglas must have known the 
 facts and yet he threw out that accusation, and it aroused the 
 wrath, not to say intense anger, of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 "Sitting on the platform as chairman of the Douglas committee 
 was Colonel Orlando B. Ficklin. He had been a member of Con- 
 gress at the same time as Abraham Lincoln. As soon as it came 
 his turn to speak Mr. Lincoln went to Colonel Ficklin, grabbed 
 him by the shoulders and dragged him to the front of the plat- 
 form, and he shouted to the audience : 
 
 " 'I am not going to hurt Ficklin, but I am going to make him 
 tell the truth to this audience about that ten-year-old lie which 
 Judge Douglas has brought up again. Ficklin was a member of 
 Congress, he knows the truth, and must tell it.' 
 
 "Colonel Ficklin then stated that he was not merely a supporter 
 of Senator Douglas, but a long time personal friend of Mr. Lin- 
 coln. He stated that although Mr. Lincoln had voted for the 
 Ashmun resolution he had consistently voted for all army appro- 
 priations and that his loyalty was absolutely beyond question. 
 
 "That dramatic performance finally ended that lie against Lin- 
 coln, and it increased Lincoln's popularity, too. But there were 
 many other lies and many other liars in those days and some of 
 them kept up their vilification of the great man, even until after 
 his body had been laid away forever. The great philosopher who 
 called attention to the fact that 'the poor ye have with you always' 
 might have included the political liars in the same category." 
 
 An interesting item concerning that epoch is ofifered by another 
 little boy, a couple of years older than Vice President Marshall — a 
 
 96 
 
little boy of about 8 years who resided in Keokuk, Iowa, where the 
 big dam now masters the mighty Mississippi River. In after 
 years he grew into notice as a newspaper man at Washington, 
 but when he was a play-about-town boy his father took him down 
 the river on the some time famous side-wheel steamboat Sucker 
 State to the ambitious little city of Ouincy, 111., and this is the way 
 he now tells the story : 
 
 "Dad was some stumper himself, as I knew, for I had heard 
 him. He took me on to the platform, which was either out in 
 the woods or in a great park. Dad knew the short, stout man, but 
 he was introduced to the tall man. I have always remembered 
 both of them very distinctly, for Dad told me that they were the 
 two greatest men in this country, if not in the world. 
 
 "I could not understand what they were talking about, but when 
 the short man finished his speech I got scared. Since I have grown 
 up I have tried to find a record of what happened, but it is not 
 in any printed record. I thought that the tall man was going to 
 kill the other man, for he threatened him. The tall man had been 
 sitting in a corner. He was all humped up, as if he was cold, or 
 as if he was scared. When it came his turn he got up, threw a 
 long linen duster to another man, and shouted out loud: 
 
 " 'Hold my coat now while I stone Stephen !' 
 
 "I looked all round me, but did not see any stones. The tall 
 man did not seem to try to find any stones, and the crowd just 
 roared out laughing. Afterward my daddy made me tell the story 
 as my childish eyes had seen and my little ears had heard, and 
 Dad's friends just laughed, and Dad said : 
 
 " 'Old Abe surely did stone Stephen, and threw big darnicks 
 at him, too.' 
 
 "And that grieved me, too, for I thought that my dear old 
 daddy was lying about it, for Old Abe didn't throw any rocks at 
 all, and I know that I had watched his every movement. 
 
 "I remember well how the shorter and stouter man walked up 
 and down the platform and how the people cheered almost every 
 sentence that he uttered. I remember also that the tall man stood 
 almost still in one position, near the center of the platform. But 
 he waved his long arms a great deal, like big flails. Very often he 
 leaned away over the front of the platform, toward the people, 
 as if he wanted to get nearer to the people. I remember also that 
 after the talking on the platform was over the tall man did a 
 lot of handshaking, but the shorter man soon went away in a 
 big stage, drawn by four horses, as though he was in a hurry 
 to either get to some other place or to get away from that par- 
 ticular place, and it seemed to me that he was awfully anxious 
 to simply get away from there. Some folks on the platform talked 
 
 97 
 
about 'the Judge,' as they called him, going away so fast, and 
 one of the men there said to my father : 
 
 " 'Abe's in no hurry. Abe don't drink.' 
 
 "In later years, I have often wondered if that was harmless 
 sarcasm or whether it was a political lie. Mingling with modern 
 politicians for many years, I have become accustomed to hearing 
 \ots of political lies, and maybe that was one concerning Stephen 
 A. Douglas, although in those days there was no ban on the 
 drinking habit — not for many years afterward." 
 
 Congressman Benjamin F. Marsh, of Warsaw, 111., was the 
 son of one of the most ardent, earnest and tireless of the sup- 
 porters of Abraham Lincoln and, concerning that topic, he once 
 said to the narrator : 
 
 "My father told me that Mr. Lincoln liked the poison, liked it 
 so well that he often thanked God that it was so scarce out on the 
 Western prairies. He said that Mr. Lincoln never used it, but 
 admitted that he had indulged in it occasionally, and liked it, but 
 was man enough to reject it entirely. There were no saloons on 
 the prairies and no saloons in the small prairie towns. The few 
 farmers who went to the larger cities carried home with them very 
 little, because it was not any more popular with the women in 
 those days than it is now." 
 
 Having become interested in this subject in later years, the 
 narrator once asked Congressman William M. Springer, of Spring- 
 field, 111., concerning his recollections of Mr. Lincoln, and his 
 reply was, quoting from memory : 
 
 "There never lived a better temperance orator than Abraham 
 Lincoln, and he antedated all of them, although he did not make 
 a specialty of speaking publicly upon that topic. Although he 
 never was in the habit of liquor drinking he was heard to say 
 quite often that he liked the poison so well that he hated the sight 
 of a bottle." 
 
 Today there is a magnificent, beautiful, incomparable marble 
 memorial to Abraham Lincoln, in the District of Columbia, which 
 IS the seat of government for our republic. With unlimited 
 wealth the national congress made financial provision for that 
 matchless memorial ; and it ought to be known of all men that 
 Senator Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois originated, managed and 
 secured the legislation which made provision for that memorial 
 to Lincoln. It was the crowning efifort of a long life in the 
 public service. To Senator Cullom the writer also went for a 
 reminiscence of the historic debate. The Senator was growing 
 old, and he was feeble. Probably upon no other topic could he 
 have been persuaded to speak, as he did for this narrator. 
 
 "After listening to the great debate," said Senator Cullom, "I 
 was on the way home with my father when he summed up the 
 
 OS 
 
discussion in these words: 'You have heard the greatest of all 
 defendants of a national wrong, and you have listened also to the 
 wisest man since Solomon.' 
 
 "As a very young man I did not understand, but now I compre- 
 hend. Abraham Lincoln was wiser than all the political leaders 
 of that day. All of them told him that he would be defeated in 
 his contest for the Senatorship unless he gave up his purpose to 
 keep to the front the slavery question. In the company of my 
 father one evening at Springfield I heard Mr. Lincoln say: 'If I 
 lose, nobody else will have lost anything; I am the chief loser if 
 Douglas defeats me. It is my fight and I'll fight it out in my 
 own way.' 
 
 "I can now see that the Senatorship was not the goal of the 
 great Lincoln during that debate in the year 1858. It is clear to 
 my mind now that Lincoln's purpose was to make all of the people 
 of the United States hear him and believe with him that 'this 
 country cannot endure half slave and half free.' 
 
 "If he might be elected to the Senate, well and good ; he would 
 have spread broadcast that slogan. If he should be defeated, well 
 and good, he would have spread broadcast that slogan. He did 
 not care a rap for a seat in the Senate, except as a means to the 
 higher end. 
 
 "During that summer and fall of the year 1858, in season and 
 out of season, on every occasion and with every opportunity, 
 Abraham Lincoln repeated his phrase: 'This country cannot con- 
 tinue to exist half slave and half free.' 
 
 "No wonder that my father regarded him as the wisest man 
 since Solomon. Douglas did not comprehend and nobody else 
 comprehended that masterful man. In their presence and per- 
 sistently in their hearing he was writing the platform of his party 
 for the Presidential year of 1860. At the same time he was 
 making himself the logical bearer of the party standard on that 
 platform. 
 
 "Moreover, that great political prophet was even then engaged 
 in preparing the people for the Emancipation Proclamation which 
 it was manifestly ordained that he should write and fling forth to 
 the world. Abraham Lincoln knew what he was doing, and he 
 was the only man in Illinois, the only man in the country who 
 knew that he was writing the platform for the Republican National 
 Convention of 1860; was gaining the votes which would give him 
 the Presidental nomination; was sowing the seeds which would 
 develop into the votes which would elect him ; was aiming even 
 then at the goal of human freedom, knowing himself to be the 
 chosen leader of the people, and realizing that it was to be his 
 mission to demonstrate that 'this nation could not exist half slave 
 and half free.' In that debate, at all times and under all circum- 
 
 99 
 
stances he was singing the anthem of oratory which should compel 
 all of our people to join in the chorus, making this indeed 'the 
 land of the free.' 
 
 "I often have thought that my father's words should be a part 
 of the history of that man, who was 'the wisest of men since 
 Solomon.' " 
 
 Thus it would seem that Colonel Bright wonderfully condensed 
 the story of the life and character of Abraham Lincoln in the 
 simple statement that "no sculptor has told the story and no artist 
 has portrayed the mobile features of Abraham Lincoln." 
 
 It might also be said that no writer has ever described that 
 human being with character almost divine ; a character too great 
 to be comprehended by the average man, and, therefore, too 
 broad to be mortised into the life theories of the average man, 
 however well he may wield "the pen of a ready writer," for it is a 
 character which inspires a race, abides in the hearts of tens of 
 millions of people and influences a titanic nation, leading that 
 nation always toward the liberty of mankind. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln's incisive phrase, used so often in 1858, he 
 would today write in these words : 
 
 "The nations of the world cannot longer exist part of them 
 happy in the liberty of republics and part of them unhappy in 
 the slavery and under the lash of 'the divine right of kings.' " 
 
 WHEN LINCOLN AND LEE CAME TOGETHER 
 
 From a political viewpoint, indeed from every angle, the cam- 
 paign year of 1860 was so eventful as to require separate con- 
 sideration by every student of the history of our country. Each 
 and every political meeting, during the four or five months pre- 
 ceding election day, was a training camp for soldiers. The demo- 
 crats, followers of course of Andrew Jackson, familiarly known 
 as "Old Hickory," had well-organized and well-drilled marching 
 clubs, and they were called "Hickory Clubs." The republicans 
 also had well-organized and well-drilled marching clubs, and they 
 were called "Wide-awakes." 
 
 Political meetings were attended by interested crowds, and 
 usually they were excited crowds too. The marching clubs car- 
 ried long poles, and on the top of each pole there was a blazing 
 torch — a tin can containing coal oil. Nowadays that earth product 
 is not known as coal oil. It is refined and known to the present 
 generation as kerosene. 
 
 Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, popular and capable, conducted 
 his well-uniformed and well-drilled company of "Fire Zouaves" 
 all over the country, giving exhibition drills. They incited com- 
 pany formations of school boys. The democratic and the repub- 
 lican marching clubs emulated the example set ])y the "Fire 
 
 100 
 
Zouaves," and they drilled for the purpose of making, each, a 
 better marching appearance than their political rivals. 
 
 Thus it happened that in the beginning of the year of 1801. 
 when a free republic of well nigh forty million people became 
 itisane and proceeded to civil war, armies were formed and drilled 
 in quick time, for the political campaign had actually been a pre- 
 paratory school for soldiers. That Abraham Lincoln was elected 
 and that his journey to Washington was hazardous, is well known. 
 7'hus the orbits of the lives of Lincoln and Lee began to approach 
 each other. 
 
 LIEUTENANT GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT 
 
 was one of the greatest, most loyal and praiseworthy of the galaxy 
 of heroic soldiers who have commanded our army, from the 
 beginning. 
 
 Realizing the palpable fact that President-elect Lincoln's life 
 was constantly in danger, comprehending his own grave responsi- 
 bilities, and burdened with the fact that his advancing years had 
 caused physical limitations. General Scott ordered the most 
 strusted and capable of his aides to Washington for the inaugura- 
 tion day. It was in obedience to the order of General Scott that 
 the ablest Colonel of the Army, Colonel Robert E. Lee, left his 
 regiment at Fort Mason, Texas, and arrived at Arlington, March 
 ] , and reported to General Scott at army headquarters on the 
 morning of March 2, 1861. To Colonel Robert E. Lee was 
 committed the responsibilities and the military authority to safe- 
 guard Abraham Lincoln, on his first inauguration day. History 
 has not heretofore given ample credit and the well-deserved ftill 
 rneed of 
 
 PRAISE TO COLONEL R. E. LEE 
 
 to which he is entitled, for his magnificent management of affairs 
 on that historic occasion. It is time for the American people to 
 know and to give credit where credit belongs and honor to whom 
 honor is due. The preservation of his life from all enemies, 
 public, private and secret, was understood by Abraham Lincoln, 
 because General Scott personally told to President Lincoln that 
 Colonel Robert E. Lee had been summoned to Washington spe- 
 cifically for that military duty; and that he had performed that 
 duty of protecting Abraham Lincoln on inauguration day, as he 
 had always performed every duty committed to him, during his 
 quarter of a century of honorable, brave, loyal and superior 
 patriotic services. No crime was committed, for no crime was 
 possible, on account of the absolutely perfect preliminary and pre- 
 cautionarv arrangements which had been made under the direc- 
 tions of Colonel Robert E. Lee, for 
 
 101 
 
THE INAUGURATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 on the 4th day of March, 1861. It is recorded that the weather 
 in Washington on that date, March 4, 1861, was beautiful and 
 invigorating, although the political skies were overcast with gloom, 
 and with many serious premonitions and signs of the great 
 national tragedy which was about to be enacted. 
 
 Although he was officially engaged at the Capitol, President 
 Buchanan hastened to the side of the President-elect, although it 
 is known that some false friends of Mr. Buchanan insistently 
 advised him to "Let Lincoln ride alone." But, fearless concerning 
 his own safety. President Buchanan was too wise, too patriotic, 
 loo prudent and too noble a man to heed such counsels. He knew 
 that his presence would compel respect and enhance the safety 
 of the endangered Lincoln. 
 
 At the customary hour of 11 o'clock in the morning President 
 Buchanan and Mr. Lincoln came out of the old Willard Hotel, 
 arm in arm, passed between files of regular army soldiers, and 
 entered an open carriage. Double files of infantry and cavalry 
 immediately formed on each side of them. They were preceded 
 by a company of regular infantry, and were closely followed by 
 numerous military and civic organizations. Most noteworthy was 
 a large car symbolizing the Union, each one of the thirty-five 
 States being represented by a little girl dressed in white. 
 
 Colonel Lee had been careful to have skillful riflemen stationed 
 upon the roofs of all of the houses in both sides of Pennsylvania 
 Avenue with orders to fire upon any one who might appear at 
 any of the windows on the opposite sides, threatening the life of 
 the President-elect. All of them were picked men, veteran Indian 
 fighters, on whom Colonel Lee could confidently rely. Thus, the 
 last great service of Colonel Robert E. Lee, to his country, pro- 
 tecting the life and guarding the safety of Abraham Lincoln, on 
 inauguration day, was one of his greatest services ; but his biog- 
 raphers and panegyrists have not heretofore given him the credit 
 for that splendid seryjce. 
 
 For the last time in his life Chief Justice Taney stood upon 
 the inaugural platform and administered the oath of office. For 
 the Dred Scott decision, the lawyer and republican politician, 
 Abraham Lincoln had vigorously, not to say viciously, denounced 
 the venerable Chief Justice. But such differences of opinion never 
 interfere with the public functions and duties of our jiublic 
 officials. 
 
 Immediately following the administering of the oath of office 
 to the new President an exceedingly dramatic incident occurred. 
 When Abraham Lincoln came to the front of the platform to 
 begin the delivery of his inaugural address, Senator Stephen A. 
 
 10-? 
 
Douglas of Illinois, for many years a person friend of Abraham 
 Lincoln and his chief competitor in the presidential campaign of 
 the preceding year, arose from his seat amongst the Senators, 
 stepped to the front and took his stand close beside Lincoln, 
 ostensibly for the purpose of holding his hat. But, as a matter of 
 fact, Douglas took his stand alondside the great man from his 
 home State of Illinois as an emphatic although unspoken warning 
 to all present that any shot fired at Lincoln would certainly 
 endanger the life of Douglas. 
 
 During the delivery of the entire address Senator Douglas stood 
 there. It was a quiet, brave, noble, and magnificent deed. All 
 persons present fully comprehended the patriotic purpose of 
 "The Little Giant," as he thus patriotically offered his own life, 
 if need be, to protect the life of the President of the United 
 States. 
 
 At the conclusion of his address President Lincoln stooped 
 down, lifted up and kissed each one of the little girls dressed in 
 white who represented the thirty-five sovereign. States of the 
 Union. 
 
 Then, escorted as before. President Lincoln and ex-President 
 Buchanan entered the open carriage and participated in the parade 
 to the White House. 
 
 In the evening there was an Inaugural Ball in a temporary 
 structure located in Judiciary Square, where the Pension Office is 
 now ; but for precautionary reasons President Lincoln did not 
 attend. 
 
 PROBABLY— POSSIBLY— MAYBE— PERHAPS 
 
 Nothing produced by mankind is more flat, stale and unprofitable 
 than the conjectural post mortems of history. Pamphlets, lectures, 
 orations, and some pages of alleged history have set forth all 
 phases of the guess-work possibilities or probabilities of what 
 turn might have been taken by diurnal events, if Colonel Robert 
 E. Lee had been ofTered or had accepted the command of the 
 army of the United States. Even this early after the epochal 
 chapter of our history many men have questioned whether or not 
 the chief command ever was offered to that masterful soldier. 
 
 Senator John Warwick Daniel of Virginia gave to this narrator 
 the most sane suggestion that has been offered by any commentator 
 concerning the springtime of 1861. You must rememlier that the 
 incoming President was surrounded by political enemies, with 
 friends as scarce as four-leaf clovers in Labrador. Under the 
 direction of the Secretary of War of the preceding administration 
 the armv had been so disposed as to be useful only to the South. 
 in the event of a revolution. All of the regimental commanders 
 
 103 
 
were in sympathy with the pending" revolution ; and President 
 Ivincohi had only one adviser in military affairs whom he could 
 rrust, and he did not follow the advice of General Scott. Senator 
 Daniel said to the writer: 
 
 "Now that it is all over, and almost forgotten, speculation is, 
 as you say, valuable to no one, but always interesting. In my 
 judgment President Lincoln made only one fatal mistake and, 
 maybe, I am wrong about that. But it has always been my belief, 
 and it was the belief of General Jubal Early, General Joseph E. 
 Johnston, General James Longstreet and others with whom I 
 served and with whom I have conversed, that there would have 
 been no revolution if President Lincoln had acted upon the advice 
 of General Scott immediately after his inauguration. General 
 Scott could see that the revolution was inevitable unless the State 
 of Virginia should refuse to join with the Confederacy which was 
 then forming. Virginia was reluctant to leave the Union, and 
 General Scott proposed the master stroke which would have kept 
 Virginia away "from the Confederacy, and unalterably with the 
 Federal Government. 
 
 That statement had been made by others, but never with such 
 positive utterance; and Senator Daniel was asked for his source 
 of information upon that subject. He replied: 
 
 "General Lee himself told me at Lexington. General Scott 
 recommended to President Lincoln and urged upon him the desig- 
 nation of Colonel Robert E. Lee to the chief command of the 
 army. General Scott wanted to retire because of his advanced 
 age. General Scott knew that Colonel Lee was the ablest and l^est 
 officer to succeed him. Personally General Scott went to the 
 White House and urged President Lincoln to issue the order. 
 But as Colonel Lee was Southern born and bred, and as his 
 sympathies were known to be Southern, and as he had been taught 
 State Sovereignty at West Point, and thoroughly believed in that 
 doctrine and unhesitatingly said so, President Lincoln was appre- 
 hensive concerning his fidelity and loyalty, and he would not make 
 the needful movement. 
 
 "General Scott privately told Colonel Lee what he was doing, 
 and what he was trying to induce President Lincoln to do. 
 Colonel Lee assured his friend, General Scott, that he would 
 nccept the command if then tendered, and that it would be safe 
 in his hands. General Scott had no doubt of the man and soldier 
 whom he knew so well and so highly esteemed. President Lincoln 
 did not know Colonel Lee and was not familiar with his mag- 
 nificent soldierly record, and he did not follow the advice of 
 ('.encral Scott, who was undoubtedly his safest counsellor." 
 
 Senator Daniel, in rcnlv to numerous inquiries, proceeded to 
 enlighten his listening friend, saying: 
 
 101 
 
"Virginia would not have joined the Confederac}- if Colonel 
 Lee had heen placed in chief command of the army. Colonel Lee 
 was a force and a power in Virginia, and he was as utterly op- 
 posed to secession as was Alexander Stephens and many other 
 eminent gentlemen. With the army under the command of 
 Colonel Lee all Virginians would have known, and without even 
 a shadow of doubt, that there would he no invasion of Virginia ; 
 that no invasion would even be contemplated, and the leading 
 secessionists would have been deprived of their strongest argu- 
 ments. It is my opinion and it has been the opinion of others 
 who were well informed that Virginia would not have joined the 
 Confederacy if Colonel Lee had been given chief command of 
 the army." 
 
 Senator Daniel was then asked : "Did you ever ask General Lee 
 >\-hat he would have done if in supreme command?" 
 
 "No, sir," said Senator Daniel, with some manifestation of 
 displeasure. "No, sir, I did not ask General Lee if, under any 
 circumstances, he would have been or could have been other than 
 a soldier of spotless honor. To know him, as General Scott knew 
 him, was sufficient. Whether General Lee ever said so or not, I 
 do not know, but I am inclined to believe that he must have so 
 expressed himself in the family circle, for his son 'Rooney' once 
 said to me: 'If my father had been placed in chief command 
 immediately after the inauguration of Lincoln, I am quite sure 
 that he would have gone to Richmond wearing his uniform and 
 epaulettes as commander of the Army of the United States, and his 
 presence, bearing, and suggestions would have prevented the se- 
 cession of Virginia.' " 
 
 And so. ladies and gentlemen of the United States, you will 
 comphehend. at last, that Robert E. Lee was more sinned against 
 than sinning. 
 
 The State of Virginia adopted the ordinance of secession on 
 April 17, 1861. Then, and not until then, on April 18, the very 
 (lav following the secession of his native State, the supreme com- 
 mand was ofifered to Colonel Lee. It was taken under advisement 
 for two days and then it was declined. It was too late. 
 
 General Scott had been anxious to have that tender of the com- 
 mand made in time. Colonel Lee never sought that command, but 
 he >vould have accented it. Fortunatelv for reliable history. Gen- 
 eral Lee has given the inside storv of the final tender, although he 
 aas given it very 'brieflv. Some violent partisan utterances in the 
 Senate, in Februarv. 1868. evoked from the retired hero of the 
 southland a letter, of which the following is a copy : 
 
 105 
 
"Lexington, Va., February 25, 1868. 
 "Hon. Reverdy Johnson, United States Senate. 
 
 "My Dear Sir: I never intimated to any one that I desired to 
 command the United States Army ; nor did I ever have any con- 
 versation, except with one gentleman, Mr. Francis Preston Blair, 
 on the subject, which was at his invitation, and, as I understood, 
 at the instance of President Lincoln. 
 
 "After listening to his remarks, I declined the offer he made 
 me, to take command of the army that was in the field ; stating, 
 as kindly and as courteously as I could that, though opposed to 
 secession and deprecating zvar, I could take no part in an invasion 
 of the Southern States. 
 
 "I went directly from the interview with Mr. Blair to the offices 
 of General Scott, told him the proposition that had been made 
 to me, and my decision. After reflection, on the second morning 
 after that I forwarded my resignation to General Scott." 
 
 Inside of the family circle it was known that General Scott 
 very earnestly urged Colonel Lee to accept the command. Gen- 
 eral Scott believed that, even then, Virginia would retrace her 
 steps politically, and remain in the Union, under such circum- 
 stances. But Colonel Lee, after seriously reflecting upon the 
 great problem, concluded that the tender had come to him too late. 
 Consequently, he wrote his resignation and enclosed it in a letter 
 to General Scott, a letter which we can read today only with tears, 
 as we now comprehend how moistened likewise must have been 
 the eyes and the cheeks of that great and good man whose sense 
 of duty impelled him to break the associations of a lifetime, and 
 to do so with a breaking heart. Read carefully, and, if you know 
 how, read these letters prayerfully: 
 
 "Arlington, Washington City P. O., April 20. 1861. 
 "Honorable Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 
 
 "Sir: I have the honor to tender my resignation of my com- 
 mand as Colonel of the First Regiment of Cavalry. 
 "Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "R. E. Lee, 
 "Colonel, First Cavalry.'" 
 
 That letter was mailed at the post-office of the city oi Washing- 
 ton on the afternoon of the date of the letter, April 20, 1861. ■ 
 
 At the same time the following personal letter was mailed to 
 Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, Commanding the .Vrmy of 
 the United States. Both letters were autographic, and written 
 with a quill pen : 
 
 106 
 
"Arlington, Virginia, April 20, 1861. 
 
 "General : Since my interview with you on the 18th inst., 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 which it has cost me to separate my- 
 self from a service to which I have devoted the best years c,f my 
 life, and all of the ability that I possessed. 
 
 "During the whole of that time — more than a quarter of a cen- 
 tury — I have experienced nothing but kindness from my superiors 
 and a most cordial fellowship from my comrades. 
 
 "To no one, General, have I 'been as much indebted as td your- 
 self for uniform kindness and consideration, and it has always 
 been my ardent desire to meet your approbation. I shall carry 
 to the grave the most grateful recollections of your kind consid- 
 eration, and your name and fame will always be dear to me. 
 
 "Save in the defense of my native State, I never desire again 
 to draw my sword. 
 
 "Be pleased to accept my most earnest wishes for the continu- 
 ance of your happiness and prosperity. Believe me, most truly 
 yours, 
 
 "R. E. Lee.'' 
 
 On the same date, April 20, 1861, Colonel Lee wrote to his 
 brother, S. S. Lee, as follows: 
 
 "My Dear Brother Smith : War seems to have commenced, 
 and I am liable at any time to be ordered on duty which I could 
 not conscientiously perform. To save me from such a position, 
 and to prevent the necessity of resigning under orders, I have 
 had to go at once, and I am now a private citizen and have no 
 other ambition than to remain at home." 
 
 107 
 
ECCE HOMO 
 
 WHEN the Christ was briefly outlining the grandeur of the 
 glory of the Almighty in all things, and using the marvels 
 of vegetation for illustration. He said : "Consider the lilies 
 of the field. Not Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one 
 of these." And you must comprehend that Solomon has never 
 been excelled nor exceeded for power, glory and grandeur by any 
 other ruler. 
 
 Whoever would properly describe President Abraham Lincoln 
 must find some such expressively powerful illustration, because 
 not Solomon, Socrates, nor any other individual of intellectual 
 achievement was ever blessed with such boundless intellectual 
 capabilities ; and yet. the men and women of his day and gener- 
 ation knew as little of his unpretentious superiority over them, as 
 your neighbor and your friend know of the marvelous beauties of 
 the lilies of the field, as they are revealed today by the microscope. 
 
 President Abraham Lincoln undoubtedly absorbed the words 
 and the wisdom of the Man of Gallilee so completely that his daily 
 life reflected that philosophy. Not only did he read, but he be- 
 lieved that "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." More- 
 over. President Lincoln understood, comprehended and lived in 
 obedience to the command : "Take ye therefore no thought for 
 the morrow." 
 
 In those two expressions Mr. Linco,hi undou'btedlv found con- 
 densed the knowledge, wisdom and influence of the philosophies of 
 all the aires ; for the meaning, as yet unknown to the millions who 
 have their names enrolled as Christians : the lesson of those two 
 expressions is embraced in two words: "Don't worry!" 
 
 It was the divinelv given revelation to the mind of President 
 Lincoln that enabled him to meet with cheery expressions the 
 heralds bringing news of disasters and distresses, because he often 
 repeated the inspired words: "Sufficient unto the day is the evil 
 thereof." 
 
 And so. witli the light of a God-given superiority. President 
 Lincoln illumined the doings of everv day with wise philosophies 
 which were quaint to those around him who "with eyes to see, 
 see not." .'\nd for these reasons it is deemed fitting to invite at- 
 tention to a few illustrations of his philosophy with some 
 
 lOR 
 
RARE STORIES OF LINCOLN 
 
 Secretary Stanton came to the White House one afternoon to 
 protest against a pardon which President Lincohi had issued for 
 a soldier sentenced to be shot for desertion. Stanton said : 
 
 "That mother-in-law who came to you this morning was only 
 sheddmg crocodile tears. She doesn't care for that son-in-law. 
 I'm told that she merely came as a matter of duty, because she 
 had opposed the marriage of her daughter to that man, and to 
 refuse to plead for his life would have been almost unpardonable. 
 But she didn't care for the pardon and didn't expect it." 
 
 "All of that was very clear to me, Stanton," was the reply of 
 the wonderful Lincoln. 
 
 "I only looked at her once, and then patiently listened to her. 
 I had made up my mind to issue the pardon before that mother- 
 in-law began to talk and weep. I did not look at her a second 
 time, nor pay any heed to what she was saying. The pardon was 
 issued, in my mind, as soon as I looked at that poor, frail, tear- 
 less Madonna, the girl who would soon be a widow but for me. I 
 led the poor girl to a seat, then wrote and placed the pardon in 
 her hands. I bade her good-bye, but the tears that fell onto my 
 hand were from the eyes of the child-wife, whose grief had 'been 
 so deep that she had been tearless until she held that pardon." 
 
 SENATOR JAMES HARLAN'S NARRATIONS 
 
 Senator James Harlan of Iowa, valued and helpful friend of 
 my parentless childhood, walking about Mount Pleasant. Iowa, 
 one evening while the writer was there at the university, narrated 
 several impressive incidents concerning Lincoln, in whose Cabinet 
 he had served as Secretary of the Interior, and all of those stories 
 have lingered vividly in memory. 
 
 It was after a defeat of the Federal army in 1863, when all 
 loyal men were agonized and apprehensive, that Senator Harlan 
 voiced his fears, when Abraham Lincoln said: 
 
 "Men do not realize the value of the teachings of the Man of 
 Nazareth. Few men know how to say their prayers, and fewer 
 still know how to pray at all. I believe in God, and when I pray 
 I want to have 'my windows opened toward Jerusalem.' '' 
 
 Senator Harlan then said: "My young friend, you should read 
 and become familiar with your Bible. In that one sentence 
 President Lincoln showed his familiarity with the story of Daniel 
 when in captivity: for when all prayer (except to the king) had 
 ])een forbidden. Daniel continued to pray, and the conspirators 
 saw that he fearlesslv 'kept his windows opened toward Jerusa- 
 lem.' " 
 
 Senator Harlan happened to be at the White House one morn- 
 
 109 
 
ing when President Lincoln stated his solution of the Mormon 
 question by narrating one of his piercing parables. One of the 
 callers that day was Governor Cuming of Utah Territory, who 
 had been recalled from that position. President Lincoln listened 
 to the verbal report of Cuming, which concluded with the state- 
 ment that "no Governor of Utah can be successful, nor even par- 
 tially successful, unless he becomes a Mormon and a polygamist." 
 
 "I know all about the situation there, Cuming," replied the 
 President, as he cordially greeted the removed official and raised 
 his voice so that newspaper men and others could hear him as he 
 said: 
 
 "Your administration at Salt Lake City has 'been satisfactory, 
 and I am making a change wholly on account of that Mormon 
 question. To emphasize my confidence in you, I have made out 
 your appointment for another position. This Mormon question 
 reminds me of a farmer friend of mine who was bothered for 
 J ears by a big black -gum log which encumbered one of his best 
 fields, and it was one of the most fertile fields in Illinois, too. 
 
 "You see, Cuming, that log was too big to be moved, and it 
 occupied a splendid plot for corn or wheat. It was toq wet ta 
 burn. It was too coarse and obstinate of texture to be chopped 
 or split. That big log bothered my farmer friend every day in 
 all of the years in planting and in growing. During harvesting 
 time it even kept him from sleeping. 
 
 PLOWING AROUND 
 
 "Sometimes, during the many years, his good wife would hear 
 the deacon uttering words which were unbecoming for a deacon ;^ 
 but she did not reprove him. As a matter of fact, that big black- 
 gum log bothered the good wife, too, for it diminished her proper 
 number of sunbonnets, gingham aprons and parlof furniture. In 
 their old age she was made very happy one morning in spring- 
 time when Josiah went out to harness the horses for the plowing, 
 as he stood in the door, hat in hand, and said : 
 
 " 'Mother, I've got that big black-gum log question ofif of my 
 mind at last. It's all settled. It won't worry us any more.' 
 
 " 'Lan's sakes, Josiah,' exclaimed the old deaconess, 'how on 
 airth have you got it done for?' 
 
 " ' 'Tain't done for, Cynthy,' he replied. 'It's jest settled, once 
 and f er all. We must do jest what we been a'do^n' all the time ; 
 and that's the only thing to do. We've jest got to plow around 
 the derned old thing." 
 
 And now, after all of these years, the long-time troublesome 
 Mormon question has been settled, because the coimtry finally 
 gave up the subject and 'just plowed around it.' until it settled 
 itself. 
 
 110 
 
SLANDER MERELY AMUSED LINCOLN 
 
 A mischief-maker told President Lincoln that his Secretary cf 
 War, Stanton, had spoken of him as a baboon. The President 
 made the mischief-maker happy by seriously asking if he could 
 prove that Stanton had said such a thing. The reply was : 
 
 "Stanton said it recently to Judge Holt, and there comes Judge 
 Holt now. You can ask him." 
 
 Still looking very grave, seemingly offended and angry. Presi- 
 dent Lincoln beckoned to Tudge Holt, who, of course, responded 
 immediately. Then, in the presence of the happy mischief-maker, 
 Mr. Lincoln asked if Stanton had made such a remark. Judge 
 Holt tried to evade the question, but to the intense gratification 
 of the mischief-maker, who hated Stanton, the President in- 
 sisted upon an answer, and finally Judge Holt said : 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, the Secretary of War did speak of you 
 as a big baboon, but it was one of Stanton's cursory remarks. I 
 would not pay any attention to it if I were you." 
 
 "But I must," said President Lincoln. "If you had said such 
 a thing, or if our friend here had called me a baboon. I might not 
 pay any attention to it. But if Stanton said it, the matter is a 
 very serious one ; because, as you know, gentlemen, Stanton is 
 generally right." 
 
 TRIBUTE OF SENATOR FESS. 
 
 Addressing the House of Representatives of the American Con- 
 gress on a special occasion. Representative Fess said: 
 
 "Who is this man, that he could thus speak and write? Born 
 in a hut in Kentucky ; at the age of 7 he accompanied his parents 
 and sister into Indiana, where they lived one winter in an open 
 camp with but three sides to it ; and yet, without having gone to 
 school more than six months all told, according to his own state- 
 ment, here is a man, thus starting with no conveniences, who 
 reached a plane, an ability to speak and write the English lan- 
 guage not reached by any of the scholars of his day. 
 
 "Where is the secret? I think that it might be found in the 
 sort of books he read. 
 
 "The one book with which he was quite familiar was King 
 James' version of the Bible. I once heard Parks Cadman, pastor 
 of the greatest Congregational Church in the world, say that 
 Abraham Lincoln's verbal knowledge of the Bible was not equaled 
 by any of the theologians. I would not say that upon my own 
 authority, 'but cite it upon his authority. 
 
 "Lincoln knew Shakespeare, and in the darkest hours of the 
 life of the nation, in the midst of great depression, often when 
 the Cabinet was in session, Mr. Lincoln would quote page after 
 
 111 
 
page of Shakespeare, until the scholarly Seward would turn to 
 him and say : 
 
 ■' 'Mr. President, our understanding has been that you have 
 never gone to school, and yet you quote Shakespeare as I do no,t, 
 and I am regarded somewhat as a Shakespearian scholar.' 
 
 " 'Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress' was another book that he read. 
 Feed a growing mind upon the English of these texts and you 
 will have a choice of English." 
 
 The scholarly Congressman also said : "I think that the high- 
 water mark of Lincoln's mastery of expression was reached when, 
 looking back over four years of awful war, he said: 
 
 "Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each 
 invokes His aid against the other. The prayers of both could 
 not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The 
 Almighty has His own purposes." 
 
 GETTYSBURG SPEECH 
 
 Go to the British Museum, where can be found books enough, 
 if put on a single shelf, to reach forty miles. Ask there for the 
 finest short speech in the English language and you will be handed 
 at once the splendid piece of rhetoric, high mark of literary ap- 
 preciation and statesmanlike delivery, uttered by Abraham Lin- 
 coln at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863, beginning: 
 
 "Fourscore and seven years agcv our fathers brought forth on 
 this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to 
 the proposition that all men are created equal." 
 
 "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty 
 scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that 
 it continue until all the wealth piled up by the bondman's two 
 hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and 
 until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by an- 
 other drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand 3'ears ago, 
 so still it must be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and 
 righteous altogether.' " 
 
 From the cradle to the grave Abraham Lincoln was blessed with 
 adversity and misfortune sufficient to constantly compel his best 
 efforts at all times. 
 
 LINCOLN Ln<ED JOHN MORGAN 
 
 Congressman Samuel S. Cox, long time famous in the halls of 
 Congress, told the narrator of a visit which he hurriedly paid at 
 the White House one morning when the Confederate raider, John 
 Morgan, was careering over Ohio, doing great damage and seem- 
 ingly incapable of defeat or capture. Congressman Cox went tQ 
 the White House for information, saying substantially: 
 
 112 
 
"Mr. President, I have 'been to the War Department, but can 
 get no information concerning John 3ilorgan. Can you tell me 
 anything about him? Where is he? Will he capture' Columbus? 
 Will he—" 
 
 "He has not told me yet," replied Mr. Lincoln, "but I wc.ild 
 l^e willing to make a bet that he will capture Columbus if he can, 
 and carry oil your live stock and fancy chickens, ]Mr. Cox, if he 
 can get them. No, we don't know this morning just where he is, 
 Init you may be pretty sure that our boys will catch him soon. 
 \Vhen they do get iiim, I want to see him." 
 
 ONE OF AI ORGAN'S TRICKS 
 
 "I like that rascal, Mr. Cox, like him very much," continued Mr. 
 Lincoln. "John has a sense of humor which thoroughly human- 
 izes him. He captures mail trains, examines all of the letter mail, 
 lets ordinary correspondence go right along, but the big envelopes 
 with the War Department imprint he takes possession of, exam- 
 ines, and uses for his own military purposes. Only this morning 
 I heard of one of his tricks, and what do you suppose it was? 
 
 "In one of the big envelopes there was a commission promoting 
 a second lieutenant to be major of his regiment; the promotion 
 was made for merit and courage. Down in one corner of the 
 commission John read the words, 'Approved, A. Lincoln.' 
 
 " 'Approved by me, also, John Morgan,' the raiding rebel wrote, 
 and he forwarded that commission to the worthy officer. I tell 
 you. friend Cox, I like John and hope to see him one of these days, 
 and very soon." 
 
 AMERICA'S GREATEST DIPLO^IAT 
 
 Even so strong and patriotic a man as Horace Greeley pub- 
 lished an open letter to Lincoln, in 1863, calling the President an 
 opportunist and denouncing his policies. In his reply Mr. Lincoln 
 plainly stated that he did not zvant to be knozvn in history as "The 
 Emancipator," 'but that his chief purpose was to "save the Union." 
 Here are his words : 
 
 "My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to 
 save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without free- 
 ing any slave, I would do it. If I could save it by freeing all of the 
 slaves, I would do it. 
 
 "I am ready to accept any new views as soon as they are proved 
 to be true views." 
 
 Well, bv the course which he pursued the Union was saved, 
 and today it is the Gibraltar of the democracy of the world. Great 
 as was the cause of emancipation for the enslaved people, greater 
 
 113' 
 
was the cause of saving this Union and making it the great nation 
 th'at it is today, "one and inseparable." 
 
 Judah P. Benjamin, subsequently one of the greatest lawyers 
 known in Great Britain, formerly Senator from Louisiana, in 
 1863, was one of the greatest constitutional and international law- 
 yers in America. He was Secretary of State of the Confederacy 
 and one of the greatest diplomats in the world. Under his direc- 
 tion, consular agents had secured from Great Britain and France 
 assurances of the recognition of the Confederacy, while they had 
 also secured encouragement from Italy and Germany. Senator 
 James Harlan of Iowa, intimate friend of President Lincoln, 
 and of his son, Robert Todd Lincoln, who married Mary Harlan, 
 daughter of Senator Harlan, had his home in Mount Pleasant, 
 Iowa, and the very learned Senator became interested in a hard- 
 working, bread-winning student of a college located there and 
 helped him in many ways. On one occasion Senator Harlan gave 
 the young man this item of wonderful interest which seems not 
 to have been known to history heretofore. Senator Harlan said: 
 
 "President Lincoln did not tell his Secretary of State nor any- 
 one else his purpose when he issued the proclamation of Septem- 
 ber ; and it was not a Proclamation of Emancipation. It was a 
 proclamation of warning, and threatening emancipation unless the 
 Government at Richmond should cease its revolution. 
 
 "President Lincoln hoped and very earnestly hoped that Secre- 
 tary Benjamin or some other astute Confederate would under- 
 stand the situation and act accordingly. But nobody seemed to 
 comprehend President Lincoln, the war continued, and on the 
 first of the following January, President Lincoln was obliged to 
 issue the Emancipation Proclamation, as a fulfillment of the 
 threatening warning which he had issued three months before 
 that New Year day. 
 
 "That Emancipation Proclamation was a stroke of diplomacy 
 rather than an a'bolition movement. That proclamation demon- 
 strated Abraham Lincoln to be a greater diplomat than Judah P. 
 Benjamin ; indeed, one of the greatest diplomats in the whole 
 world. 
 
 "That Proclamation of Emancipation put the people and the 
 Government of the Southern Confederacy in the attitude of fight- 
 ing, primarily and almost exclusively, for human slavery. Thus 
 Lincoln, the great diplomat, made it impossible for any of the 
 courts of the crowned heads of Europe to give recognition to the 
 Southern Confederacy." 
 
 With this information from such an authoritative source, the 
 writer has stated and repeats with emphasis that Abraham Lin- 
 coln was not primarily an emancipator, but the greatest diplomat 
 in the world when he issued that proclamation. 
 
 114 
 
LINCOLN APPEARS LIKE THE MAN OF GALILEE 
 
 After the second battle of Bull Run, sick and wounded soldier 
 boys from Confederate as well as Federal lines were conveyed to 
 Washington and placed in the general hospitals there. On the 
 last Saturday in September of that year, President Lincoln started 
 out from the White House in the morning with the determination 
 that he would visit, if possible, all of the hospitals ; and the entire 
 day was spent inspecting conditions and encouraging the unfor- 
 tunates with the kind words of the famous President of the 
 United States. In the evening, near sundown, after leaving the 
 Navy Yard Hospital, the tired and weary President was about 
 entering the carriage to return to the White House, after an un- 
 usually strenuous day, when a nurse came running after him and 
 asking if he would return and see again a Confederate soldier 
 boy, less than sixteen years of age, who was dying. The tired 
 President promptly responded to the call, re-entered the hospital, 
 went to the bedside of the badly-wounded boy, gently caressed 
 him and asked : 
 
 "What can I do for you, my boy? Anything?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President," replied the boy in feeble tones, "I hope 
 that you can tell me what my mother would want me to do or to 
 say before I pass away." 
 
 "I am glad you sent for me, my boy," said President Lincoln 
 as he knelt beside the cot, took the boy's head and shoulders in his 
 arms and said : "I am very sure your mother would want you to 
 repeat these w^ords after me," and the boy did repeat the prayer 
 of his childhood as Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
 States, knelt there holding the boy in his arms and saying: 
 
 " 'Now I lay me down to sleep, 
 I pray the Lord my soul to keep. 
 If I should. die before I wake, 
 I pray the Lord my soul to take.' " 
 
 That is the greatest picture ever painted of Abraham Lincoln, 
 for it shows him in the character of the Man of Galilee. The 
 dying Confederate soldier boy lived long enough to repeat the last 
 line, and, leaving his body in the arms of the President of the 
 United States, his spirit "ran up with joy the shining way to see 
 and praise the Lord." 
 
 RESTRAINING RESTLESS, RECKLESS "ROONIE" 
 
 On the 17th of April, 1861. the ordinance of secession was 
 passed by the Legislature of Virginia. On the following day, the 
 18th of April, the command of the United States Army was 
 offered to Colonel Robert E. Lee, and the proposition was laid 
 before General Winfield Scott, the veteran military hero, who was 
 
 llo 
 
Colonel Lee's best friend, and the great soldier urgently advised 
 Colonel Lee to accept the otter. 
 
 While Colonel Lee was trying to induce himself to view this 
 otter tavorabiy, the Sixth Massachusetts infantry came to Balti- 
 more on April 19, and was o'bliged to %ht its way through mobs 
 in order to continue its journey to the defense of the A'ational 
 Capital. On the morning of the '^Oth o.f April Colonel Lee, in 
 his home at Arlington mansion, read an account of the battle in 
 Baltimore, turned to his faithful wile and said: 
 
 "Mary Ann, the war is on. Nothing can now prevent the in- 
 vasion of \'irginia. I must write and send in my resignation at 
 once." 
 
 As explained in preceding pages, the resignation was forwarded 
 to General Scott and on the 33nd c\f April Colonel Lee, accom- 
 panied by his family, turned their backs upon the great estate 
 and with their faces towards Richmond, the Capital of the newly 
 created Confederacy, they left their home forever. 
 
 Two large wagons were tilled with household goods and me- 
 mentoes, all of the Lares and Penates and heirlooms of the Lees 
 were lc\aded on those wagons, and yet many tliousand dollars 
 worth of silverware and gold were left in the colonial mansion 
 in care of the slaves who were never again to see their masters 
 nor their mistress. 
 
 As the evening sun was silvering the tree tops and tinting with 
 gold the eastern horizon, Mary Ann Randolph Lee walked towards 
 the graves of her father and mother, one hundred yards south of 
 the mansion, and knelt between those graves in silent prayer. 
 While kneeling there she was joined quietly by her husliand and 
 her sons Custis, "Rooney" and Robert. 
 
 Upon their return to the mansion, the young gentlemen mounted 
 horses while Colonel Lee entered the large carriage, but his wife 
 turned away and went to the front of -the mansion where she dis- 
 covered "Rooney" Lee upon the po^rtico which he had climbed, 
 hauling down the Stars and Stripes. 
 
 "Stop. Rooney, stop where you are." exclaimed his mother, 
 "but leave the flag where it is at half mast. That properly ex- 
 presses the funereal feeling of my heart." 
 
 So it happened that "Rooney" was restrained from his rebel- 
 lious purpose and when the Lee family left Arlington mansion 
 the Stars and Stripes, although at half mast, were still afloat. 
 
 SAD LAST SCENE AT ARLINGTON 
 
 Before entering the carriage with her husband the unhappy 
 great grand-daugliter of Martha Washington turned towards the 
 mansion and exclaimed : 
 
 "\^ireinia. oh, \''irginia. my native State, for thee all that I 
 have T now resign. Good-bye. playground of my childhood, good- 
 
 11 <; 
 
bye play-ground of my children, good-bye home of my father and 
 mother, good-bye home of my husband. All this and all that I 
 have and all that I ever have had, I resign for my native State, 
 Virginia. Good-bye, Arlington. God save Virginia !" 
 
 DAUGHTER OF PRESIDENT JOHN TYLER 
 
 When Letitia C. Tyler, daughter of former President John 
 Tyler, was in the sixtieth year of her age, in the year 1908, she 
 said to the writer of this histofic story: 
 
 "I was visiting a school chum in Alabama and thus happened 
 to be in Montgomery on March 4, 1861, when the Government 
 of the Confederacy was inaugurated. I was only fourteen years 
 old and only looked upon it as an unusual lark when the honor 
 was given to me tO) haul aloft the first flag of the Confederacy. I 
 stood alongside of the cupola of the State House in Montgomery, 
 pulled the rope and hauled up the flag; but my hands were too 
 small, and my muscles too weak ; so a well-clad and well-bred 
 Irish gentleman laid down on the roof alongside cf me and hauled 
 the flag in place, so that nobody in making a report of the afi^air 
 knew anything of the presence of my assistant. His name was 
 not known to me and it never will be known in history, although 
 it should be. I, alone, have been honored with the place in history 
 as having been the one who hauled up to the breezes the first flag 
 of the Confederacy." 
 
 ORIGIN OF "THE SOUTHERN CROSS" 
 
 One of the greatest battle flags ever known, one under which 
 • tens of thousands of brave American soldiers fought for the Con- 
 federacy, and under which many thousands of them were killed 
 and wounded, was generally known as "The Southern Cross." 
 That wonderful flag was originated in the brain of Hamilton 
 Dudley Coleman, a 16-year-old boy who admired, followed, and 
 afterwards became a member of the Washington Artillery of 
 New Orleans. La. In that organization he served as a private 
 soldier after the year 1863. 
 
 During the first great battle of the war, o^n July 21, 1861. it 
 was discovered that the likeness of the Stars and Bars to the 
 Stars and Stripes rendered it unfit for use in battle. Just at that 
 time the Washington Arlillery arrived and floated "The Southern 
 Cross" over the tent of their commanding officer. General Joseph 
 E. Johnston immediately recognized its value as a battle flag, 
 adopted it, raised it over his own headr|uarters. and that was the 
 beginning of the famous "Southern Cross" of the Confederacy. 
 The original design was made by young .Coleman. 
 
 In the Library of Congress there is a history of the Washington 
 
 117 
 
Artillery, and ont; of the illustrations shows "The Southern Cross" 
 floating over the headquarters of the battery at New Orleans, 
 fcefore the organization went to, the battle fronts. 
 
 BATTLE OF BRANDY STATION 
 
 Unconsciously to themselves, Lincoln and Lee came together 
 in a dramatic and tragic manner as the result of a battle on June 
 10, 1863; a contesi:, which, in those days of great struggles, was 
 practically inconsequential. It is known as the Battle of Brandy 
 Station. During the battle, which was an onslought by the Con- 
 federate cavalry, Brigadier General W. H. F. Lee was wounded 
 in the groin; an injury similar to that which had caused the death 
 of the great Confederate tactician and brave leader, General Al- 
 bert Sidney Johnston at the preceding great battle of Pittsburgh 
 f.anding, a battle in which the sun of fame and fortune would 
 "have set forever on General Ulysses S. Grant, but for the death of 
 the Confederate (General Johnston. 
 
 When "Rooney ' was wounded in that battle and was falling 
 from his horse, another Lee, with military intuition and courage 
 marching in the direction of a sound of conflict, came galloping 
 upon the field, and that other Lee was the great Confederate Com- 
 mander, General Robert E. Lee, who saw his beloved son as he 
 was lifted from the charger and laid upon a stretcher. Under 
 direction of the father, the wounded son was taken to the home 
 of General Wickham, uncle of his wife, and cared for there while 
 General Robert K. Lee returned to the battle field. 
 
 Within a very few hours, the wife of "Rooney" was 'by his 
 bedside and he was receiving every attention that was required 
 and that could he given. But a troop of Federal cavalry . 
 surrounded the residence of General Wickham., captured the 
 wounded General. t*)()k him away from hi--^ weeping wife and 
 .screaming children, and conveyed him to Fortress Monroe, where 
 he was placed on a oot in the Federal Hospital. 
 
 "GOD BE WITH YOU TILL WE MEET AGAIN" 
 
 Couriers and messengers conveyed the sad news to the mother 
 of "Rooney" and also to his marvelous and. miraculously incom- 
 parable brother, General George Washington Custis Lee, who 
 was on the staff of the President of the Confederate States at 
 his hcadcjuarters in Richmond. Without delay. Custis Lee ob- 
 tained j^ermission from President Davis and immediately hastened 
 to the side of the wife of his younger brother. 
 
 Charlotte ran to Custis, embraced him, remained in his arms 
 with her head upon his shoulder, as she had stood beside him 
 several years previously in the War Department at Washington. 
 On the former occasion, her beautiful face was wreathed in be- 
 ll 8 
 
witching smiles; but on this occasion the Confederate uniform 
 of General Custis Lee was dampened with a torrent of tears. 
 Custis Lee, without reserve, held the wife of his brother in his 
 arms and stroked her golden curly locks with sympathetic and 
 parental affection. When the sobs ceased to pervade the room, 
 Custis said : 
 
 "Charlotte, you must go to the mountains and care for your 
 health and the health of the little girls. I am going under a flag 
 of truce to see your wounded husband and tell him that, so long 
 as I live, my younger brother shall receive my affection and pro- 
 tection." 
 
 "I am glad you are going, Custis,"' said Charlotte, "'because I 
 knC/W your great heart so well that I would not be surprised if 
 you would give up your life for your brother or even for me." 
 
 Charlotte did not know, and she never did know, that the life 
 of her husband was in grave danger at that time. Custis, how- 
 ever, did know that the Federal Secretary of War, Stanton, in 
 Washington, had issued an order that "Rooney" should be held 
 as a hostage for P'ederal officers in Richmond, who were threat- 
 ened with hanging, and a further order that "Rooney" Lee shoiuld 
 be hanged, if those Federal officers should be required to suffer 
 that fate. 
 
 "If it were necessary to save the life of 'Rooney,' " said Custis, 
 "I would gladly offer my life in place of his. And I want to 
 assure you, Charlotte, that if we never meet again, and the neces- 
 sity should arise, I will oft'er my life for my brother on his own 
 account, but even more, my dear Charlotte, because of his wife, 
 the girl whom I have loved from her babyhood, the girl whom I 
 gave up and for whom I have remained a bachelor because my 
 brother loved her so much." 
 
 Charlotte glided from his arms and fell on the floor in a faint. 
 Her -mother in the next room hastened to her side. When Char- 
 lotte recovered and seated, with heart-breaking sobs which words 
 cannot describe, she said : 
 
 "Mother, at last I have learned the truth. It is as I told you. 
 My life-long love for Custis has been fulfilled by the life-long 
 love of Custis for me. He is going nqw to the side of his wounded 
 brother, not only for 'Rooney's' sake, but for my sake." 
 
 Charlotte went again to Custis and said: 
 
 "You do not realize, Custis. how near the end of life I am. 
 I have been an honest and faithful wife to 'Roonev.' but all of the 
 love of my heart has been yours, and if I should live, which I 
 do not believe is possible, we must not meet again in this life. 
 And so, Custis. we must part and I must say gocd-bye : but my 
 heart is happier for this meeting. So good-bye. Custis. Go to 
 my husband, care for your brother, and 'God be with you 'till 
 we meet again.' " 
 
 119 
 
CUSTIS UNDER FLAG OF TRUCE 
 
 After leaving Charlotte with her wonderful good-bye words 
 ringing in his ears and stamped forever on his brain, Custis Lee 
 went to the headquarters of the Army of Northern Virginia and 
 obtained from his father a pass through the lines with a flag 
 of truce, and under that flag of truce he proceeded to Fortress 
 Monroe. Upon his arrival there, he said to the Commander of 
 that fort: 
 
 "I have come, sir, to see my wounded brother. General W. H. F. 
 Lee, and to offer myself as a hostage in his place. Let there 'be 
 an order issued to retain me and send my brother back to his wife 
 and children. If you want to break the heart of General Robert 
 E. Lee, you can accomplish that purpose by hanging his oldest son 
 instead of the younger son. I am a bachelor. You need not 
 crush and mangle an innocent woman and children even in time 
 of war. Take your vengeance out on me." 
 
 Startled, astounded and unable to comprehend this marvelous 
 development of the doctrine of Jesus of Nazareth, the Federal 
 commander quoted the words : 
 
 "Greater love hath no man than this, that he will lay down his 
 life for another." 
 
 Inasmuch as it was far beyond his authority to accomplish 
 such a purpose, the Federal Commander telegraphed the Secretary 
 of War at Washington fof permission to accept the oft"er of Cien- 
 eral Custis Lee to become an hostage for his brother, and to die 
 for his brother. The implacable Secretary of Wrv. Stanton, at 
 Washington, replied : 
 
 "Hold both of the sons of Robert E. Lee until further orders." 
 
 The excuse fcr that order was that two Federal Captains were 
 under sentence in Richmond. They were to be hanged in reprisal 
 for the hanging of two Confederate spies in Tennessee, by order 
 of the Federal General Burnside, some weeks previously. Secre- 
 tary Stanton was relentless and implacable against the Confed- 
 eracy and against every individual participant in the Confederate 
 cause. 
 
 LEE AND JEFFERSON DAVIS 
 
 Information concerning this horrible and frightful war condi- 
 tion was conveyed toi Robert E. Lee and he hastened to Richmond 
 for the aid of President Jeft'erson Davis. After the case had 
 been stated to him, President Davis said : 
 
 "You needn't worry, General Lee. because A. Lincoln will not 
 permit such an outrage." 
 
 "Lincoln will not know anything about this condition," replied 
 General Lee. Stanton will carry out this diabolical purpose and 
 
Lincoln will know nothing of it until it has been accomplished 
 and both of my sons are dead." 
 
 President Jefiferson Davis then pulled the big bell rope to sum- 
 mon his military aide. He then took a pen and wrote a telegram 
 to President Lincoln requesting his interference to save the lives 
 of the sons of General Lee, and when the aide arrived, President 
 Davis read the telegram to General Lee. then handed it to the aide 
 and said : 
 
 "Send that through the military lines. Request the Federal 
 Commander to see that that goes directly to Abraham Lincoln in 
 the White House." 
 
 General Lee grasped the hand of his Qiieftain and the gray- 
 haired soldier, with his beard _grown gray in the service of the 
 L'nited States Army, grasped the hand of the President and .said: 
 
 ■"That will cause delay. Mr. President, undoubtedly, and at least 
 one of my sons can be saved and I cannot express my gratitude 
 and thanks in words." 
 
 "It will not only cause delay," replied President Davis, "but it 
 will save the lives of both of your sons ; for, you must know. 
 General Lee, that I have great admiration for that rail-splitter 
 President in Washington. Abe Lincoln is neither a Goth nor a 
 Vandal. When Lincoln knows this case, he will save your splen- 
 did 1)Ovs. I 'believe that he will give Stanton a tanning, too." 
 
 LINCOLN AND STANTON 
 
 It was nearing midnight when the Secretary of War entered 
 the White House in response to an unusually mandatory message 
 from President Lincoln and when he stood before that marvelous 
 man. President Lincoln handed him the telegram and said : 
 
 "What does this mean? Tell me the entire story and omit 
 nothing." 
 
 Secretary Stanton stated the case with his habitual earnestness 
 and mandatory manner. He wound up his statement by saying : 
 
 "Air. President, the lives of those two Federal Captains are as 
 precious to their families as are the lives of those Lee boys to 
 their family. If our men are hanged in Richmond, both of the 
 sons of Roijert E. Lee should be hanged." 
 
 President Lincoln walked about the room stroking his fofehead 
 with his left hand, as was his custom upon occasions requiring 
 all of his judicial and executive a])ility, and finally he said: 
 
 "Stanton, the doctrine of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a 
 tooth' was superseded long ago by a sacrifice upon the Cross at 
 Mount Calvary. The One that was hanged upon that Cross had 
 said : 'A new commandment I give unto you. that you love one 
 another.' Stanton, if a crime is committed in Richmond. I cannot 
 prevent it. Rut a crime like that committed under my jurisdiction 
 
 121 
 
would stamp upon my heart by command of my conscience the 
 word 'murderer.' Stanton, it can't be done. It shan't be done!" 
 
 Stanton undertook to argue the case further, but President Lin- 
 coln interrupted him by saying: 
 
 "Stanton, we are not savages. Let us see what the book says.'' 
 
 President Lincoln opened wide a large edition of the Bible, 
 which was always upon his desk. Turning to the New Testament, 
 he laid aside leaf after leaf until finally he came to the page which 
 he knew so well and said : 
 
 "Stanton, here is a command from Almighty God in His book. 
 Read these words yourself : 'Vengeance is Mine ; I will repay, 
 sayeth the Lord.' " ' 
 
 Turning his back upon Secretary Stanton, President Lincoln 
 walked to the desk of an ever-present telegraph operator, wrote 
 a couple of lines with a lead pencil, and directed the sending of 
 the telegram to the officer in command at Fortress Monroe, order- 
 ing: 
 
 "Immediately release both of the sons of Robert E. Lee and 
 send them back to their father. A. Lincoln." 
 
 122 
 
EVIDENTIARY FACTS 
 
 SEQUEL FOR THE PERMANENT HISTORY 
 
 of 
 AMERICAN KNIGHTHOOD 
 
 OFFICIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 STORY OF THE TRAGEDY-DRAMA 'J\JLD IN THE 
 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD 
 
 HERETOFORE it has not been known that the spirit of that 
 boundless Love which is "wider, deeper than the sea;" that 
 the world-wide, humanity-absorbing spirit ol the Man of 
 Galilee had come into the campaigns and pervaded "a hundred 
 circling camps," by night and by day, when "the morning light is 
 breaking," as well as "in the evening dews and damps." 
 
 That spirit came, mellowed the hearts of men in the midst of 
 civil war; came when Hatred and Slaughter inflamed the minds 
 of men, when Rapine and Murder stalked our prairies and trav- 
 ersed our mountains, and crimsoned our streams ; came when this 
 wonderful country where all "are created equal," was devastated 
 by Thor, the God of Battles and of Plunder. 
 
 It is wonderful, startling because miraculous, that the spirit of 
 divine unselfishness should have come to leaven the lives of men 
 •n the land which was seething with civil strife. Because of facts 
 stranger than fiction and grander than even the imagination of 
 I'.'Iilton or Goethe could depict, we do not need to dofY our caps 
 to propaganda-ed gallantry nor to heralded chivalry; for we do 
 rot need to retrace our steps to the "days of old when knights 
 were bold, and barons held their sway." 
 
 Our American heroes do not clank about in weighty armor, 
 bearing silvered nor golden shields. The chivalric natures of the 
 Round Table whose knightly deeds have haloed and aureoled 
 story and romance could not compare with the almost indescribable 
 knight errantry, the heart-to-heart majesty of our American 
 Damon and Pythias. 
 
 123 
 
The soldier boys of America, tens of thousands of them clad in 
 garments of butternut or gray, and hundreds of thousands of them 
 clad in uniforms of blue, followed Grant and Lee almost two 
 generations ago. It was during that frightful nightmare of 
 American history that the spirit of the Nazarene appeared. 
 
 For the glory of American manhood and for the honor of the 
 womanhood of our country, this story should be known in every 
 liome. 
 
 When Pythias returned in time to save the life of his faithful, 
 trusting, self-sacrificing friend, the Tyrant of Syracuse was 
 startled with the manifestation of friendship; the story before his 
 eyes of unselfish devotion. 
 
 That Tyrant knew as all men know the fact of today, yesterday 
 and all of the ages, that man builds his world on self alone, from 
 turrent to foundation stone. Unselfishness, genuine brotherly love, 
 might be cultivated in flights of imagination, by poets and ro- 
 mancers, but real unselfishness, involving life or death, startled 
 the Tyrant, so that he desired a partnership in that little cosmos 
 of unselfishness. 
 
 Likewise was the world startled, when there came One out of 
 Nazareth, from the Manger of Bethlehem, teaching that larger 
 lesson of self-sacrifice: "All that a man hath will he give for 
 his life," and the corollary : "Greater love than this, hath no man ;" 
 the Son of Man, who 
 
 "Took the Harp of Life, and struck on all the chords with might. 
 Struck the Chord of SELF, that, trembling, passed in music 
 out of sight." 
 
 That the spirit of Damon and Pythias, that the wider, deeper, 
 v.-orld-wide, humanity-absorbing spirit of the Nazarene had mel- 
 lowed the hearts of Americans, has not been known heretofore. 
 The fact is the more wonderful, yes seemingly miraculous, because 
 this Republic in which *'all men are created equal" was seething 
 v/ith internecine strife and almost destroyed by a war, when this 
 history was made. 
 
 Modesty, in the form of a sui)lime manifestation of ianiily 
 pride, impelled the brother and induced the immediate descendants 
 to reticence. Thus it occurred that this history, so long sub- 
 merged, might have been lost to the world, but for an unexpected 
 circumstance. The divine facts were modestly mingling with 
 the Lares and Penates of the family. Known they were, it is true, 
 to a small circle of friends and worshipful neighbors. 
 
 Thrilling as the story is. it is soul-inspiring because it is true. 
 It is ennobling for mankind. Disposed as we are to dofi" our caps 
 to gallantry and to chivalry, we do not need to go back to "the 
 days of ol(i when knights were bold, and barons held their sway." 
 
 1-21 
 
The knight errantry of our own time and of our own people 
 challenges admiration and devoted recognition. 
 
 In days long past that now seem almost as a dream, while 
 reading the dry but valuable pages of the so-called Rebellion 
 Record, an investigating individual in the Library of Congress at 
 Washington was surprised to find therein the words "held as a 
 liostage;'' and to observe those words to have been used con- 
 cerning one of the soldiers prominent in that vast conflict. 
 
 Subsequently, the tendency to inc[uiry by the investigator led 
 him to the individuals chiefly concerned in the incident, and from 
 them information of incalculable historic value was obtained. 
 But in order that the startling facts belonging to history might 
 l:.e given their proper places, it became necessary to dig out from 
 their submerged places the evidentiary facts. The ultimate result 
 has been the historically valuable incidents which compel recogni- 
 tion as the long sought, everlasting Great American Story. 
 
 Those words "held as a hostage" aroused lawyer-like interest, 
 a desire to know for whom and for what any soldier had been 
 thus held in this country of ours. Diligent search next disclosed 
 the following statement made by Congressman Elisha E. Mere- 
 dith of Virginia, who said : 
 
 "In the terrible fight at Brandy Station. June 10, 1863, Rooney 
 Lee was most severely wounded, and was taken to the residence 
 of General W. C. Wickham, a relative of his wife, where he was 
 made prisoner by a raiding party (sent for the purpose) and car- 
 ried off, at great suffering, to Fortress Monroe. From the latter 
 place he was conveyed to Fort Lafayette, where he was treated 
 with great severity, being held, with Captain R. H. Tavlor, 
 UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH, as hostages for two Fed- 
 eral officers who were prisoners in Richmond, whom it was thought 
 v/ould be executed for some retaliatory measure. Yet, almost 
 his first act, on reaching Richmond, was to go to Libby Prison 
 and visit the two Federal officers for whom he had been held as 
 hostage." 
 
 Nothing in the history of warfare amongst men of modern 
 times could have been more l)rutal. General Burnside (as exten- 
 sive reading reveals) had executed two alleged Confederate spies 
 in East Tennessee. In retaliation the authorities at Richmond had 
 selected, by lot, two Federal officers for similar execution. Then 
 the authorities at Washington had selected General W. H. F. Lee 
 ("Rooney") and a Confederate Captain Taylor for hanging, in 
 further retaliation. 
 
 Nothing could have been more heart-breaking to General Robert 
 E. Lee than to have had death impending thus over his second son, 
 and at a time when the young man was desperately wounded and 
 suiTering from that wound. Moreover, those tragedies of the 
 
 125 
 
war were being enacted in the mind and heart of General Robert 
 E. Lee while he was planning and directing the Gettysburg cam- 
 paign. Surely no persons then living could have had a better com- 
 prehension and appreciation of General Sherman's definition of 
 war than the father of the wounded man, General Robert E. Lee ; 
 than the brother, George W. Custis Lee, the Damon of the tragedy, 
 who offered his life for the life of his wounded brother; nor than 
 the suffering prisoner, "Rooney" Lee, wounded and under sen- 
 tence of death while his loved ones were ill, nigh unto death, 
 and dying. 
 
 That this submerged history might be authentically written, 
 and made a matter of accessible record now and for all time, the 
 official Record was searched carefully. It was there found that 
 the long-time famous orator and statesman. Senator John War- 
 wick Daniel of Virginia, himself crippled for life in battle for 
 the Confederacy, had said, on the floor of the United States 
 Senate : 
 
 "W. H. F. Lee raised a company of cavalry at the beginning 
 of the war, and he surrendered as a Major General at Appomatox. 
 He fought his way to that rank. He suffered all of war's vicissi- 
 tudes save death. He was wounded. He was twice a prisoner. 
 He zvas held as a hostage, in solitary confinement^ with death 
 impending. Amongst his first acts, when he emerged from prison, 
 was to visit and shake hands with and congratulate the Federal 
 officers for whom he had been held as a hostage." 
 
 But how did he escape death? Why was he not executed? 
 These pertinent and all-important questions naturally arose, de- 
 manded and required an answer, explanatory and complete. 
 
 In a ])ublic address delivered by Congressman Joseph E. Wash- 
 ington of Tennessee we see the first glimmer of light. Mr. Wash- 
 ington said : 
 
 "The saddest chapter in his life was when — a prisoner of war 
 at Fort Monroe, lying dangerously wounded, and zvith a retaliatory 
 death sentence suspended over his head, and in the hourly expecta- 
 tion of execution — he heard of the fatal illness of his wife and 
 tvv^o children, but a few miles away. Earnestly his friends begged 
 that he might be allowed to go and say a last farewell to them. 
 
 "A devoted brother came, like Damon of old, and OFFERED 
 HIMSELF, TO DIE IN ROONEY'S PLACE." 
 
 "War, ine.xorable war, always stern and cruel, could not accept 
 the substituted sacrifice ; and, while the sick and wounded soldier. 
 under sentence of death, and himself almost dying, lay in the 
 dungeon of the fort, his wife and children passed over 'to rest 
 under the trees,' and wait for his coming." 
 
 Physical torture and mental torment, weeks of apprehension 
 and months of anguish, left their scars on heart and brain. They 
 
 i-?n 
 
wore away the strength and virility of the giant stature. Those 
 indescribable horrors of war ultimately caused the premature 
 death of the well loved and greatly esteemed "Rooney" Lee. 
 
 His son, answering an inquiry, has written to the historian of 
 that epoch, saying : 
 
 "As to how General W. H. F. Lee got the nickname of 'Rooney' 
 presents another difficulty. There is nothing harder to get than 
 the truth. I can't recall my father ever telling me how he came 
 by the name. But, it is a tradition of my childhood, from my 
 earliest recollection, that there was an Irish servant employed by 
 (jeneral R. E. Lee — possibly as a groom or in some other capacity 
 — by the name of Patrick O'Rooney, whom, as a small 'boy, Gen- 
 eral W. H, F. Lee resembled. And, as General R. E. Lee was 
 very fond of nicknames, having one for every child, and to dis- 
 tinguish W. H. Fitzhugh, from his cousin, Fitzhugh Lee, who was 
 a few years his senior, my grand-father called him 'Rooney,' 
 which name stuck to him to the day he died. 
 
 "I related practically the above to my uncle, General G. W. C. 
 Lee, in the sick room where he was flat on his back for fourteen 
 months. He was then quite nervous from his long illness, from 
 which he never recovered. He said, with a good deal of impa- 
 tience, that that was not true ; that the name was gotten from the 
 hero of some book, popular at the time. He named the character 
 and the book, a novel, I think, but unfortunately I have forgotten 
 both. This much is to be said : General G. W. C. Lee never took 
 any stack in accepted legends of history. He generally had a con- 
 trary version. So, realizing that fact, I am very much at sea in 
 the matter. Either derivation is possible. Yours very sincerelv. 
 
 "R. E. Lee."' 
 
 Diligently and carefully seeking further information concerning 
 this remarkable family history — submerged history of a family 
 whose individuals belong to America and to Americans — discovery 
 was made of an address delivered in the House of Representatives 
 at Washington, under the dome of the Capitol, by the some time 
 famous Congressman George D. Wise of Virginia, who said : 
 
 "In this engagement the brave Georgian, General Pierce M. B. 
 Young, formerly a Member of this House, by a splendid charge 
 with sa'bers, without pistol or carbine, repulsed a dangerous and 
 gallant assault on the rear, while General W. H. F. Lee. with equal 
 courage and dash, protected the left of the Confederate position. 
 
 "In this encounter General Lee received a severe wound which 
 necessitated his retirement from the field. He was carried to 
 Hickory Hill, in Hanover County, to the home of General Wick- 
 ham, a near relative of his wife, and here he was captured and 
 placed in solitary confinement at Fortress Monroe, as a hostage 
 for certain officers of the United States, being held under sentence 
 
 127 
 
of death in Libby Prison, in retaliation for the execution of cer- 
 tain Confederate ofificers in the West. 
 
 "General Custis Lee, being then a young, unmarried man, and 
 ■on the staff of the Conferedate President, met, under a special 
 f^ag of truce, representatives of the Government at Washington, 
 and begged to be permitted to take the place of General W. H. F. 
 Lee, giving as his reason for the proposed exchange his desire to 
 save from punishment the innocent wife and children of his 
 wounded brother. The offer was declined, and he was told that 
 the burdens of war must fall where chance or fortune placed them. 
 
 "In this incident zve have a beautiful and touching illustration 
 of the strength and ivarmth of brotherly lore, and of the knightly 
 bearing of the Lees of \^irginia. 
 
 "While thus detained as a prisoner of war, racked with physi- 
 cal sufferings, and those mental tortures which a sensitive man 
 must feel, under such circumstances, there came tidings of the 
 death of his loved wife, and two children." 
 
 They were dying of grief and apprehension. They were vic- 
 tims of the merciless madness of war. It was to save the life of 
 his brother, and also to prolong the lives of his loved one, that 
 George Washington Custis Lee, as Congressman Washington 
 stated the case, "a devoted brother, came like Damon of old, and 
 OFFERED HIMSELF TO DIE IN ROONEY'S PLACE." 
 
 Interested — yes, thrilled with admiration, and with racial pride 
 in such American valor and soldierly glory — the historian sought 
 further evidence. That other Americans might know this won- 
 derful story of the greater than Damon and Pythias in America, 
 the investigator sought and examined all means of information 
 available in the limitless Library of Congress ; reading and copving 
 letters written at the time, and orders officially issued concerning 
 the case. This has been deemed of imusual importance, so that 
 there may be no dou'bt in the future concerning this tragedy of 
 civil war, this true story of human interest: this evidentiary fact 
 of the truth that "Greater love hath no man, than this !" 
 
 The battle of Prandy Station was fought on June 10, 18G3. On 
 tbe following day, under date of June 11, 1803. General Robert 
 E. Lee, in his tent at Confederate headquarters, wrote to his wife 
 as follows : 
 
 "When I last wrote I did not suppose that Fitzhugh would so 
 soon 1)e sent to the rear, disal)led. Yel, 1 hope that it will lie Itnt 
 for a short time. I saw him on the night after the battle. Indeed, 
 / met him on the field as they were bringing him from the front. 
 lie is young and healthy, and I trust will soon be up again. He 
 seemed to be more concerned about his brave men and officers 
 who had fallen in the battle than about himself." 
 
Under the same date, in his tent, Cieneral Robert E. Lee wrote 
 to the wife of his wounded son, saying: "1 am so grieved, my 
 dear daughter, at sending Fitzhugh to you, wounded. But I am 
 so grateful that his wound is of a character to give us full hope 
 of his recovery. With his youth and strength to aid him, and 
 your tender care to nurse him, I trust that he will soon be well 
 again. I shall look to you to cure him very soon and send him 
 back to me." 
 
 Under date of June 13, 18G3, General J. E. B. Stuart, Com- 
 mander of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Northern \'irginia, 
 officially reported: "Brigadier General W. H. F. Lee's brigade 
 was handled in a handsome and satisfactory manner by that gal- 
 lant officer, who received a severe wound through the leg in one 
 of the last brilliant charges of his command, on the heights." 
 
 Major H. B. McClellan. Chief of Staff to General Stuari, un- 
 der the same date, reports: "When the Ninth Virginia first 
 charged up the hill, General W. H. F. Lee was on its left Hank, 
 encouraging the men of his old regiment. Just before he reached 
 the crest of the hill he was severelv wounded and carried from 
 the field." 
 
 Colonel John R. Chambless reported to General Stuart : "About 
 4:30 p. m., General W. H. F. Lee was wounded, and I assumed 
 co,mmand." 
 
 "Headquarters, 7th Army Corps, White House, 
 
 June 28, 18G3. 
 
 "General Halleck, Washington: General W. H. F. Lee was 
 found at his house, not recovered from his wound, but he was 
 placed in an easy carriage and brought in. I had him examined 
 by my Medical Director, and on his report have directed him 
 to be sent to Chesapeake Hospital. Colonel Spear (11th Penn- 
 sylvania Cavalry) was satisfied that he could be brought in with- 
 out danger or inconvenience to him, and my Medical Director 
 thinks that he will not be injured by the movement. He had a 
 flesh tvound in the thigh, the ball having gone entirely through it. 
 
 "John A. Dix." 
 
 Under date of Fortress Monroe, July 1, 1863, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Wm. H. Ludlow reported: "Brigadier General W. H. F. 
 Lee is wounded and in hospital here, on the certificate of the medi- 
 cal director that he required hospital treatment. General Lee 
 has given his parole to confine himself to the hospital and to make 
 no attempt to escape. As soon as he can be moved, he will be sent 
 to Fort Delaware, as we have no place of confinement here. His 
 retention settles the question of hanging our officers." 
 
 120 
 
Writing from "Headquarters, Department of Virginia, July 12, 
 1863," Lieutenant-Colonel Ludlow addressed Colonel J. C. Kel- 
 ton, A. A. G., as follows: "I am informed that Captain H. W. 
 Sawyer, First New Jersey Cavalry, and Captain John M. Flinn, 
 Fifty-first Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, have been selected by 
 lot for execution, in retaliation for the execution of Captains Cor- 
 bin and McGraw, as spies, by order of General Burnside. / re- 
 spectfully and earnestly recommend that two Confederate officers, 
 now in our hands, be immediately selected for execution, in re- 
 taliation for ihe threatened execution of Sawyer and Flynn." 
 
 The reply to the above recommendation was a telegram, follow- 
 ing: 
 
 "Washington, July 15, 1863. 
 
 "Col. Ludlow: The President directs that you IMMEDI- 
 ATELY PLACE GENERAL W. H. F. LEE, and anc^ther officer 
 selected by you, not under the rank of Captain, prisoners of war, 
 IN CLOSE CONFINEMENT, and that you notify the Confed- 
 erate agent for exchange of prisoners of war that if Captain H. 
 W. Sawyer, First New Jersey Cavalry, and Captain John M. 
 Flinn, Fifty-first Indiana Volunteers, or any other officers or men 
 in the service of the United States, nC|t guilty of any crime pun- 
 ishable with death by the laws of war, shall be executed by the 
 enemv, the afore-mentioned prisoners SHALL BE IMMEDI- 
 ATELY HUNG, in retaliation. 
 
 "It is also directed that immediately upon receiving official or 
 other authentic information of the execution of Captain Sawyer 
 and Captain Flinn, YOU WILL PROCEED TO HANG GEN- 
 ERAL LEE, and the other rebel officer designated. 
 
 "H. W. Halleck, Chief of Staff." 
 
 Under date o,f December 15, 1863, Major General John A. Dix 
 reported to General Halleck, at Washington : "General Fitz- 
 hugh Lee (W. H. F.), son of the rebel general-in-chief, is now 
 in confinement, at Fort Lafayette, as hostage. 
 
 After the conclusion of the Gettysburg campaign, when he knew 
 that the life of his son was in constant danger, General Roliert E. 
 Lee wrote a kindly and encouraging letter to the wife of his son. 
 under date of July 26, 1863, thus : 
 
 "I am glad, my darling daughter, that you accompanied your 
 mother. I hope that the water and the mountain air will invig- 
 orate you, and make you well. You must not be sick while Fitz- 
 hugh is away, or he will be the more restless in his separation. 
 Get stron? and healthy by his return, that he may the more rejoice 
 at sight of vou. I can appreciate your distress at Fitzhugh's situ- 
 ation. I deeply sympathize with it. In the lone hours of the 
 night I GROAN IN SORROW at his captivity and separation 
 
 130 
 
from you. His wound, I understand, has not been injured by 
 his removal, but is doing well. Nothing could do him more harm 
 than to, learn that you are sick and sad." 
 
 Thus, the endangered captive was kept in ignorance of the fail- 
 ing health of his wife, and the invalid wife was taken to the moun- 
 tains of Virginia, not alone for the benefit of her health, but that 
 she might be far removed from all sources of news or informa- 
 tion concerning the war ; for the death o^f her husband, by hang- 
 ing, was almost a certainty to be. 
 
 Nevertheless, the news of his transfer to the New York Nar- 
 rows, and solitary confinement at Fort Lafayette, ciid reach her. 
 and it hastened her death. The failure of her vitality, and the 
 loss of her maternal care resulted also in the death of her two 
 little ones. In the following March of 1864, when "Rooney" was 
 finally exchanged and able to return to his home in Virginia, that 
 home was empty, desolate, the historic residence destroyed, his 
 acres devasted, his wife and children gone, forever. 
 
 To the returned soldier son, hopeless and in dire distress. Gen- 
 eral Robert E. Lee, sitting on a camp stool in his tent at night, 
 wrote: "Camp. Orange County. April 24, 1864. I received last 
 night, my dear son, your letter of the 22nd. God knows how T 
 loved your dear, dear wife, how sweet her memory is to me, and 
 how I mourn her loss. My grief could not be greater if you had 
 been taken from me. You were both equally dear to me. May 
 God. in His mercy, enable us to join her in eternal praise of our 
 Lord and Saviour. My whole trust is in God ; and T am ready for 
 whatever He may ordain." 
 
 In letters written at the time, and lost in the final upheaval, the 
 Confederate military chieftain often expressed his thanks to God 
 for having spared the life of his son ; so that his grief over the 
 loss of his dearly beloved daughter-in-law and the grand-children 
 was partlv assuaged by his gratitude to Heaven, that, in the midst 
 of war, and out of the jaws of death, his son "Roqney" had been 
 spared to him. 
 
 George Washington Custis Lee. even in childhood, was im- 
 bued with an afl'ectionate. careful, self-con'^tituted guardianship 
 for his "little brother." That sense of afifectionate supervision 
 developed with the passing of the days and the years. Thus, when 
 the life of "Rooney" was in danger, and at a time when their 
 venerated father was overshadowed with years and grave re- 
 sponsibilities, the elder brother did not hesitate, but went forward 
 courageously in the performance of that which seemed to him to 
 be his plain duty: to ofifer his life that his brother might live. 
 
 Nowhere has there ever been demonstrated better evidence of 
 the truth of the saying that "the bravest are the tenderest : the 
 loving are the daring." 
 
 131 
 
Son of a soldier, scion of soldiers and statesmen, the boyhood 
 of Custis Lee was shaded, if not shadowed, by the premature 
 manhood which dawned upon his mind as soon as he was suf- 
 ficiently mature to realize that he, bore the name of a family of 
 distinction ; that southern chivalry confidently expected him to 
 liear well and with honor the name of Lee ; and to that responsi- 
 bility had been added, at his christening, the duty and distinctic^i 
 of bearing in purity the name of that great American whom an- 
 other Lee had declared to 'be "first in war, first in peace, and first 
 in the hearts of his countrymen." 
 
 This man of mighty will and courtly courage quite naturally 
 sought the life of "the tented field.'' He became a student of 
 military aft'airs. Born at the military post of Fortress Monroe, 
 September IG, 1832, he lived in the army until he was 18 years 
 of age, and then entered the Academy. When he was graduated 
 in 1854, he was at the head of his class, and was nearing his 
 twenty-secoiud birthday. 
 
 The young lieutenant was immediately given charge of the most 
 important engineering work of the War Department — first in 
 Florida, and then in California. Because of his superior abilities 
 and acquirements he was ordered to duty in Washington, and he 
 was well on the way to the position of Chief of Engineers, when 
 the long lowering clouds burst and broke over this Republic, in 
 that whirlwind, hurricane-storm pf civil war. 
 
 The doctrine of "State sovereignty" (too commonly and care- 
 lessly spoken of as "States rights") was taught at West Point. 
 There, as a Cadet, Robert E. Lee learned the doctrine of the 
 superior individual sovereignty of each State in the Confederacy 
 known as the United States. And there the hero son, Custis Lee, 
 also learned and believed in that doctrine. Quite naturally, fol- 
 lowing the line of those imdisputed instructions, and also follow- 
 ing the example of his soldier-father, for whom he entertained an 
 almost idolatrous afl:'ection, George Washington Custis Lee ful- 
 filled his plain duty by following the sovereign State of Virginia 
 into that confederacy of sovereignties, which was established in 
 the year 18GL 
 
 His younger brother had always aspired to enter upon a career 
 as a soldier. But the necessary political influence to secure his 
 designation to West Point was not within the reach of his father; 
 and so the younger son, "Rooney," was sent to Harvard College 
 in 1854; the year of the graduation of Custis from West Point. 
 
 His standing there was creditable, and he took front rank in 
 his classes. His name and lineage carried him into the best of 
 Bostonian society. Physically favored by nature, he was soon 
 one of the leaders in collegiate athletic affairs. But. with all of 
 the allurements and environments which should produce content- 
 
 13? 
 
nient and happiness, the military bias of his mind predominated. 
 He longed for life in the army, in the field where his father had 
 achieved distinction and where his brother was forging to the 
 front of leadership. And Custis secured a commission for him. 
 
 But in one particular matter Custis so loved his brother that 
 "Rooney" never knew, nor even suspected that the very heart of 
 Custis was made to bleed for his happiness. 
 
 "Greater love than this hath no man," that he will alter the 
 whole course of his life for another ; and Custis did that for his 
 so well-beloved younger brother. Therein, indeed, lies concealed 
 a part of his devotion in the war-time episode. 
 
 Custis Lee, the true hero born and bred, the Damon of this nar- 
 ration of real life, this epitome of facts of human interest, re- 
 mained a bachelor during the remainder of his long life of more 
 than eighty years. Finally, George Washington Custis Lee, over- 
 powered by the weight of years, laid down to rest at Ravensworth, 
 Virginia, and for more than a year and a half was a helpless in- 
 valid, tenderly cared for by the children of his beloved little 
 brother, "Rooney," for whom "like Damon of old, HE OF- 
 FERED HIMSELF, TO DIE IN ROONEY'S PLACE." 
 
 And there, full of years and of honor, comprehended, appre- 
 ciated and venerated by all of the people of the great State which 
 he had so well served ; and almost worshipped by the children 
 of the deceased brother, "Rooney," he was gathered unto his 
 fathers on February 18, 1913; and his monument has not been 
 erected. It should not be, until all of the people of this great 
 nation shall have learned the story of his Christ-like life. 
 
 When Custis Lee resigned from the old army, he proceeded to 
 Richmond and there tendered his services to the President of the 
 Confederacy. And he, Jefferson Davis, being a West Point man, 
 L veteran of the W^ar with Mexico, and well acquainted with mili- 
 tary men and military affairs, immediately designated Custis Lee 
 for the supervision of the most important work then in hand; 
 the defense of Richmond. 
 
 It was he who located, designed, and superintended the con- 
 struction of the fortifications of all of the approaches to Rich- 
 mond. So well was that work done that those defenses were ab- 
 solutely impregnable. 
 
 President Davis required Custis Lee to remain in Richmond 
 as Aide-de-camp to the President, and in that capacity he was 
 the principal military adviser of the President, notably of daily 
 service invaluable at the time. So highly was he esteemed that, 
 during the year 1864, when the Confederacy was gradually 
 crumbling, it was suggested that the loss of the services of Gen- 
 eral Robert E. Lee. by wounding, disease, or death might complete 
 
 133 
 
the accumulating disasters, and President Davis replied in sub- 
 stantially these words : 
 
 "Great as would be our loss, it would not be wholly irreparable, 
 for I should immediately designate Custis Lee for the chief com- 
 mand. He is thoroughly competent." 
 
 When the curtain of time had fallen upon the last scene of the 
 last act of the tremendous tragedy of Civil War in this country, 
 Custis Lee became Professor of Civil and Military Engineering 
 at the Virginia Military Institute ; and he made of it what it is 
 today, a Military Academy, in discipline and curriculum, the 
 equal of the Academy at West Point. 
 
 In the year 1871 he succeeded his famous father, then recently 
 deceased, as President of Washington and Lee University; and 
 he was President Emeritus of that educational institution when 
 he reached the end of the journey of life and passed through the 
 pearly gates of that beautiful city of many mansions, concerning 
 which "the half has never been told." 
 
 Concerning the public utterances of statesmen which have 
 been quoted, it must be comprehended that Custis Lee was living 
 at the time. He uttered no word of protest when the story was 
 told that "a devoted brother came, like Damon of old, voluntarily 
 to offer his life for his brother." 
 
 He was then actively performing the duties of President of 
 Washington and l^ee University; and was one of the foremost 
 men of Virginia. But while he could deprecate the narration of 
 the story, he could not forbid it. No eulogy could ever be pro- 
 nounced over his l)ier. without the telling of the story of the 
 sentence, of death, that in a certain contingencv "YOU SHALL 
 IMMEDIATELY HANG GENERAL LEE." 
 
 It is known to the writer, that his long time personal friend 
 Senator Daniel of Virginia, his hearty friend Congressman Jo- 
 seph E. Washington of Tennessee, and his acquaintance Con- 
 gressman George D. Wise of Virginia, the gentlemen who nar- 
 rated the story of these events in the Senate and in the House 
 of Representatives of the American Congress, were valued friends 
 of and welcome visitors to George Washington Custis Lee, at his 
 home. 
 
 In narrating his deed of matchless human devotion to his be- 
 loved brother, those eminent gentlemen knew whereof they spoke. 
 Not one of them would have told the story without the consent of 
 Custis Lee, however reluctantly it might have been given. 
 
 That the story should not have newspaper exploitation was 
 another matter. It has been held as a sacred part of the history 
 of a family of southern gentlemen and southern gentle women. 
 Custis Lee, the born soldier, reticent and dignified, forbade pub- 
 licity. Consequently, so long as he lived and continued to forbid, 
 
 134 
 
it was impossible to tell to our people the true story of his in- 
 comparable career. 
 
 His life was spared full fifty years after that wonderful event ; 
 and during all of those years Custis Lee dwelt in comparative 
 obscurity, deprecating every allusion to his deed of marvelous 
 >elf-sacrifice. It was in deference to his wishes, most emphati- 
 cally expressed, that the sons of his brother, and all other near 
 relatives, refrained from seeking or aiding publicity of his won- 
 derfully affectionate deed of nature's noblest nobility. There- 
 fore, now, for the first time, without ofl"ense to any one and with- 
 out repression from any direction, it is possible to publish this 
 story of a life of marvelous merit, matchless self-eft'acement, 
 dignified heroism, and brotherly devotion, unexampled. 
 
 George \\'ashington Custis Lee. in the fulness of time, sleeps 
 A\c dreamless sleep of divine rest, in the windowless Palace of 
 Peace : for "God giveth his beloved sleep." 
 
 George Washington Custis Lee has joined with "Rooney'' and 
 all of that "cloud of witnesses" of human affairs ; has entered 
 upon that condition which levels all distinctions, and lays the 
 shepherd's crook beside the sceptre. And thus, "after many 
 davs." we may all know the inspirational story of this matchless 
 fiower of Kniehtliood in America. 
 
 135 
 
ALL ABOuT ARLINGTON 
 AND THE LEES 
 
 On Fame's Eternal Camping Ground 
 Their silent tents are spread, 
 
 And Glory guards, with solemn round 
 The bivouac of the dead. 
 
 ARLINGTON'S STORY, DRAMA, TRAGEDY, AND 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 Well nigh a quarter of a million Americans of all ages, from 
 infants in arms to the trembling and dying veterans of the Civil 
 War, visit the national cemetery at Arlington every year on 
 Memorial Day ; that one day of every year when throughout this 
 entire republic the thoughts of the people are directed to the 
 sacrifices which have been made by the youth of the land in order 
 that "this government of the people, by the people and for the 
 people shall not fade from the earth." 
 
 One of the grandest and most glorious truths set forth in the 
 Book of Books, and one of the many which are not known to every 
 one as well as thev should be known, is in these words : "It is bet- 
 ter to go into the house of mourning than into the house of mirth, 
 for the heart is made better thereby." And so, on every Memo- 
 rial Day the hearts of all of our people are made better by this 
 national association in paying universal tribute to the loved and 
 the lost. 
 
 Every newspaper in the land publishes an account of the pro- 
 ceedings at Arlington; and the larger papers print the addresse-^ 
 of the President, and of the others who speak on that occasion 
 in the amphitheatre on the spot which was historic long before 
 the fatal misunderstandings which separated our people into war- 
 ring factions for a time ; the famous home of the grand-son of 
 Martha Washington, the wonderful man who was worthy of his 
 grand-mother, and also worthy of the guardian who adopted him. 
 who loved him and directed his life into lines of patriotic en- 
 deavor always. To 
 
 137 
 
BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING 
 
 we must know that these magnificent hills bordering the Potomac 
 river and overlooking the national capital city, were originally the 
 most valued and favorite hunting grounds of the Powtowmack 
 tribes of the South, and also of the vSusquehannas of the North. 
 Upon old Observatory Hill in Washington where the Naval Ob- 
 servatory was located for well nigh a century, early settlers dug 
 out of the ground the bones of the Indians of those tribes, their 
 weapons of war alongside of them ; mute but unquestionable 
 evidences of a tremendous battle between the North and the 
 South in the remote past. And so, when Arlington was selected 
 as the site of the National Cemetery the white men were making 
 their "bivouac of the dead" on w'hat had been to the Indians 
 "fame's eternal camping ground." 
 
 Hitherto nobody seems to have taken the time, and the time- 
 consuming trouble, to give to our people the history of this long- 
 time famous locality, and so we may as well begin with the 
 
 TITLE OF ARLINGTON 
 
 including the realty title and the titular name which is nationally 
 associated with the place. The deep laid plans and ultimate pur- 
 poses of the white men were not revealed for well nigh three 
 hundred years after John Smith and the other adventurers and 
 free hooters established their settlements on Jamestown Island 
 and along the eastern coasts of the new world. Not only in 
 Mexico but at every point the surprised and startled natives 
 looked upon every white man as "a fair god," worthy of respect- 
 ful kindness and even of worship. That the original inhabitants 
 were to be deprived of their lands, driven towards the setting sun, 
 and practically annihilated could not have been foretold nor even 
 imagined by the most intelligent of those copper colored people. 
 It was not until the Jamestown Exposition, in 1907, that the open 
 and plain declaration was made by the distinguished and able 
 Senator John Tyler Morgan of Alabama : "This is the white 
 man's continent, and our government is a white man's govern- 
 ment." 
 
 In the books of Eternal Justice the realty title to Arlington 
 Heights, as well as to every acre, every foot, every inch and every 
 blade of grass, all and in all belonged and belongs to the original 
 inhabitants, their heirs and assigns, absolutely in fee simple. Their 
 titles to their homes were given to them lavishly and lovingly by 
 the same Manitou that gave to them their copper color and. 
 although they did not have castles, nor palaces, nor fences, nor 
 surveyors to mark their metes and bounds, like the first followers 
 of the Man of Galilee, "thcv had all things in common." 
 
 1 ;5S 
 
In that sense they were the children and the disciples of the 
 Nazarene, and the white-skinned marauders and murderers were 
 heathen; more benighted than the so-called heathen by "India's 
 coral strand." 
 
 Avariciously grasping the proprietorship the white-skinned 
 savages from some unknown lands came and took possession of 
 every parcel of land which they desired and parceled it out among 
 themselves, without even saying inquiringly or courteously "by 
 your leave." 
 
 Thus it was that Governor William Berkeley of Virginia gave 
 an estate of six thousand acres (6,000) to Robert Howsen on 
 October 21. IGGO ; this splendid domain being thus presented as 
 a reward for some public service, the nature of which is not a 
 matter of permanent record. According to the archives of that 
 date the gift estate was located "along the Potomack River, south 
 of the lower rapids, and westward, as may be surveyed." 
 
 And so by the ipse dixit and the autocratic wave of the white 
 man's hand Robert Howsen. according to the white man's laws, 
 l«ecame the proprietor of all that is nov/ Arlington National Ceme- 
 terv, the City of Alexandria, and the Mount Vernon sacred shrine 
 where lie the bodies of George Washington and Martha, his wife, 
 near the mansion which was their home ; for they were lovely and 
 pleasant in their lives, and "in their deaths they were not divided." 
 Robert Howsen regarded that regal estate as of little immediate 
 \alue, as you must realize when we find the record showing that 
 the entire estate was sold to John Alexander for six hogsheads of 
 tobacco. Maybe that was a good price too, because in those days 
 The people of Europe were learning to smoke tobacco. The craze 
 for the enjoyable weed of the New World continued to spread, 
 and the demand for tobacco soon made that product the equal to 
 and the equivalent of legal tender coin in all business transactions 
 throughout the colonies and all of the Western Hemis])here. 
 
 On Christmas Day. 1678, at the conclusion of a holiday cele- 
 bration, which had been a long-continued session of feasting and 
 drinking. Gerald Alexander conveyed eleven hundred (1,100) 
 acres of that original Howsen estate to John Parke Custis. the 
 most opulent merchant prince in America, a man whose cheque 
 for eleven hundred pounds of the currency of Virginia was worth 
 its face value, and eleven hundred fl.IOO) pounds of the colonial 
 currency was fully equal to eleven hundred pounds sterling. 
 
 Only a man of great wealth could do business on so large a 
 scale in those days. And, you will note how the value of the 
 propertv had increased in a very few years. It was on a Christ- 
 mas Dav that the title of one white man was transferred to 
 another white man, and made a matter of record, so that John 
 Parke Custis l^ccame the owner of the tract since known as 
 
 139 
 
Arlington, and it was continued in the property wealth of the 
 Custis family for another hundred years, the last male heir having 
 been George Washington Parke Custis, the grand-son that George 
 Washington loved and tutored ; and to his daughter, Mary Ann 
 Randolph Custis the great and grand estate was bequeathed. She 
 was the last Custis to own the estate ; and when it was recorded in 
 her name she was the wife of Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee, 
 of the United States Army, an officer destined to achieve distinc- 
 tion in the tented field. 
 
 EARL OF ARLINGTON 
 
 An ancestor, four times removed, John Custis, possessed an 
 estate in Northampton County, Virginia, which he named "Arling- 
 ton," in honor of Henry, then Earl of Arlington, to whom, with 
 Lord Culpeper, King Charles II made a grant of all of old Vir- 
 ginia. Over the grave of John Custis there is a large marble 
 sarcophagus on which is inscribed this statement: "He kept a 
 bachelor's home at Arlington, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia." 
 
 That sarcophagus would convey the impression that John Custis 
 had always been a bachelor ; but he had not. The truth was that 
 he had kept "a widower's home," instead of a bachelor's home, 
 because he had separated from his wife. Details of their marital 
 joys and sorrows are unavailing. John Custis was an exceedingly 
 wealthy tobacco merchant in that day and generation, and also an 
 extensive dealer in real estate; and his descendant, Daniel Parke 
 Custis was wealthy and prosperous largely because of the wealth 
 which he inherited. But he was a good business man also, care- 
 fully multiplying all of the wealth that had been his father's, and 
 that he was keen enough to peer far into the decades is mani- 
 fested by his acquisition of that Howsen estate for cash. 
 
 Williamsburg was the capital city of the Colony of Virginia, 
 because Governor William Gooch made that little village his 
 dwelling place and home, and there, from time to time, were 
 assembled all of the wealth and beauty of that part of the New 
 World, particularly in the winter times when the snow and ice 
 halted agriculture and all of the business that depended upon the 
 tilling of the soil. 
 
 Martha Dandridge was the belle of belles, practically Queen of 
 the ATay all the year 'round ; and of lovers there were manv who 
 sought her heart and hand. P)Ut. woman-like, she loolced with 
 favor on the handsome and care-free young roysterer ; and so, 
 in lime, 1749, Martha Dandridge became the wife of Daniel 
 Parke Custis. 
 
 Weddin^T presents were ninncrous and from every point of the 
 compass, but the most notable wedding present was the since 
 
 140 
 
famous "White House Farm,"" on the Paniunkey River, given to 
 young Custis by his rich and proud father. And there they dwelt 
 in prosperity and happiness for a few years only, for in 1757 
 Daniel Parke Custis died, leaving to his v^^idow an estate exceeding 
 in value one hundred thousand dollars ; and after only eight years 
 of married life Martha Dandridge had become a wealthy widow, 
 a very wealthy widow, for that was an immense fortune in those 
 days. 
 
 Martha Dandridge had been a popular belle in Williamsburg, 
 but Martha Custis, with an abundance of lucre, was the most 
 popular belle in America, and lovers came a-courting almost in 
 phalanxes. But the Widow Custis was wise and prudent, and 
 patient, awaiting the Prince Charming, because she could be the 
 arbiter of her own fate now, the captain of her soul. She had 
 two children, and wisely she considered the future of those little 
 -ones as wxll as her own future. And within two years her Prince 
 Charming came, a young soldier, caparisoned and mounted for 
 conquests ; and he conquested the heart of Martha Dandridge com- 
 pletely. They were married on January 6, 1759, and ]\Iartha 
 Dandridge Custis was proud of her handsome husband, for he 
 was brilliant, capable and popular as well as handsome, and he had 
 acquired fame too, for they called him "the hero of Braddock's 
 field." He is better known today by his baptismal name of 
 George Washington. 
 
 No mistake had been made by the mother of little John Parke 
 ^'^ustis and tiny Martha Parke Custis, for their step-father made 
 the 6-year-old boy his companion and he tenderly cared for the 
 little girl baby of only <". years ; so that it was a very happy family 
 that went to live at Mount Vernon, the home on the Potomac 
 River, where until this day lie the bodies of Washington and his 
 wife. But the first sorrow of the life of Martha Washington 
 came in 1773, when her daughter, -Martha Parke Custis, was taken 
 to another world, when she was 16 years of age, her mother's 
 companion and confidante, a beautiful and glorious creature; and 
 \'\yashington mourned with the mother when the summons came. 
 
 When John Parke Custis had passed his twelfth year he became 
 unmanageable. He was neither a loving son nor a dutiful son to 
 the mother who had been bereaved : a wild, careless boy who 
 slipped away from the care of his guardian. He was, in truth, 
 a bad boy. 
 
 When 18 years of age he was sent to Columbia College, in New 
 York, an institution then known as King's College. Unwisely 
 supplied with ample means the young fellow devoted his time and 
 Ir's talents to society, fine raiment, dogs, steeds, sports, and paid 
 little attention to books or to college rules. 
 
 141 
 
Only three months of college life was enough for John Parke 
 Lustis, and his collegiate education was finished. He wrote to his 
 mother that on February 4, irii, he had been married to Eleanor 
 Calvert, aged IG years, at Mount Airy, .A'larvland. The voung 
 lady was a descendant of Lord Baltimore. 
 
 Establishing a home at Four-AIile-Run the bridal couple became 
 the hrst resident occupants of the estate which had been acquired 
 bv John Parke Custis (the lad's father) ; and that site is now 
 just halfway between Washington City and Alexandria, Virginia 
 and only eight miles from Mount Vernon; so Martha Washington 
 had opportunity often to see her wayward son and the child wife 
 who dwelt ni loyalty and unhappiness with that unworthy youne 
 man. -^ ^ 
 
 OCCUPIED AND NAMED, 1776 
 
 When the mansion was completed, and three children were born 
 there, the place was named and became known as "Arlington " 
 lor John Parke Custis knew of the estate on the eastern shore 
 which John Custis had named for the Earl of Arlington. 
 
 But when the time came for the birth of a fourth child Eleanor 
 Custis visited the home of her birth and childhood, at Alount \irv 
 Maryland, and there was born the boy, George Washington Parke 
 Custis ; the boy George Washington loved and nurtured, and pre- 
 pared for honorable manhood. And be it said in letters both 
 bold and bright so that thev maA- sink into the memories of 
 mankind, the paternal work of George Washington was wonder- 
 ful and has not been comprehended nor appreciated heretofore 
 bor George Washington Parke Custis carried with him until the 
 end of his long and noble life the lessons that he had learned from 
 Washington. There has been no more clean, honorable, and noble 
 citizen of this republic than the man whose bovhood was eniif.l)]ed 
 by the directing hand and mind of George Washington. 
 
 The father of George Washington Parke Custis "redeemed his 
 reckless life of earlier years. He developed into manhood in time 
 to participate in the Revolution and died a hero's death as the 
 result of exposure in the last campaign of the struggle for Inde- 
 pendence and Liberty. It would ])e an incomplete and an unfair 
 history that failed to give credit and a meed of praise to John 
 I arke Custic, the soldier who gave hi§ life for his country" 
 
 Immediately after the death of John Parke Custis. his baby 
 boy was ado]^ted ])y the grand and masterful man whom we know 
 as 'The Father of His Countrv ;" just as he had adopted the 
 wayward boy who had finally given his life for Lil)erty and Inde- 
 pendence. Beyond criticism of mature minds, concerning his 
 public works, that same man was above criticism as a guardian 
 
 1-12 
 
and educator of the children of his wonderful wife; and thl^ 
 grand-son of Martha \\a.>hington became so attached to "grand- 
 pa" that Martha Washington almost worshiped her marvelous 
 husband. 
 
 What marvelous memories of masterful manhood must have 
 been the delight of George Washington Parke Custis in his later 
 years ; for during the formative years of character, until he was 
 IS years of age, the youth, the young man was the constant com- 
 panion and helpful aide to the famous soldier-statesman, the fore- 
 most man of all the world; memories that exerted an unconscious 
 influence on all of the after years of his noble life. He gave filial 
 fidelity, and his mental promise lightened, livened and increased the 
 contentment and home happiness of Washington ; and the little 
 fellow was the idol of his grand-mother until the close of her life 
 in this sphere of intelligence. 
 
 When his grand-mother died George Washington Parke Custis 
 mournfully turned away from the home of his babyhood, child- 
 hood, youth and young manhood, and carefully traversed the 
 Arlington estate, which was his unincumbered inheritance, and of 
 which he was the sole heir. From every viewpoint the young man 
 examined his estate; not only from the topographical conditions 
 and architectural considerations, but always as the only living 
 representative of George Washington and as the only human 
 being bearing that 'honored name. 
 
 Intending to erect for his home a mansion near the national 
 capital city, a residence to which Americans and visitors from 
 abroad might come (as they did), he chose the crest of the forest- 
 clad "Arlington Heights," and there he made a clearing so that 
 from the portico of the Mansion there should be a complete view 
 of the city which would be built on the Maryland side of the 
 I'otomac, and a site on which the Mansion would always l^e easily 
 observed by residents of and visitors to the Federal City. 
 
 Personally he selected the site, personally he supervised the 
 clearing away of the enshrouding trees, and personally he made 
 the choice of architecture. Then he personally superintended the 
 v.-ork of building, from the breaking of the ground and digging 
 the foundations, and laying the foundation stones, to the roofing 
 and decorations ; even to the selection and laying of the flagging 
 stones of the magnificent portico. Every l)rick in the Arlington 
 ]\[ansion was moulded and burned on the estate. 
 
 This famous old Mansion has a frontage of 140 feet, including 
 the main building and the lower wing on either side. The great 
 Greek portico was modeled after the style of the Temple of 
 Theseus at Athens. 
 
 The portico is 60 feet wide and 25 feet deep. 
 
 143 
 
The graceful entablature is uplifted by eight massively im- 
 pressive Doric columns. 
 
 The view of the Potomac River for many miles is glorified by 
 the hills of Maryland w^hich green-wall the entire District of 
 Columbia; hills which seem to be the frames formed and placed 
 h\ Nature for a picture no artist can paint. 
 
 Then, when he was 23 years of age, a wonderfully mature and 
 dignified man for his years, George Washington Parke Custis was 
 married to Mary Lee Fitzhugh, aged 16 years; and she became 
 the first mistress of the grandest colonial mansion in this new 
 world. 
 
 From the portico of the Arlington Mansion, George Washington 
 Parke Custis and his wife witnessed the growth of the Federal 
 City, as it was then known. In that mansion they lived and loved 
 until the year 1853, when the gentle spirit of the wife was called 
 hence, leaving to the bereaved husband an only child, a daughter, 
 Mary Ann Randolph Lee. the wife of Colonel Robert E. Lee, 
 U. S. A. And so, George Washington Parke Custis was the last 
 male owner of the Arlington estate ; the last to have and to hold 
 possession of that magnificent property. Very soon after the 
 departure of the builder of the mansion the tocsins of war sounded 
 over Arlington, and the valley resounded with the echoes of the 
 trumpets which called to arms from that broad portico on the 
 Virginia eminence. 
 
 Today and for all time from that portico can be witnessed the 
 development of the v.-onderful Capital City of the Republic; the 
 city now rapidly assuming proportions and lines of beauty which 
 are making it the Capital of Peace, a Capital city leading the 
 world of intelligence and the divine uplifting of humanity "for 
 the healing of the nations." 
 
 Anticipating the hands of avarice which have made of Mount 
 Vernon a show-place with a price of admission, cash in hand, the 
 affectionate grand-son of Martha Washington managed secretly 
 to carry away from the home of his happy boyhood many memen- 
 toes of the life of his highly esteemed, deeply loved and famous 
 guardian. 
 
 TENT OF WASHINGTON 
 
 Particularly i)roud he was of one relic, and he valued it most 
 highly, and that was the old, weather-beaten and war-worn "Tent 
 of Washington;" the tent \vhich had been used constantly and 
 continually by General George Washington from July, 1775, 
 when it was first pitched at Cambridge, until many weeks after 
 the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. That canvas 
 "Tent of Washington" had been the silent witness of all of the 
 greatest events of the War of the Revolution. 
 
 Ill 
 
And so, at the Arlington Mansion, whenever George Washing- 
 ton Parke Custis desired to manifest particular regard or to espe- 
 cially honor any guests the famous old "Tent of Washington" 
 was pitched out upon the lawn for their reception. 
 
 VISIT OF LA FAYETTE 
 
 On October 13, 1824, when General Lafayette was entertained 
 by the Federal Government in Washington City, and ceremonies 
 in his honor were splendored in the Capitol Building, George 
 Washington Parke Custis was there and the "Tent of Wash- 
 ington" was pitched where now the Rotunda is located under 
 the Dome and its Brumidi canopy. And there in that tent Gen- 
 eral Lafayette said to Mr. Custis : "I first saw you at Mount 
 Vernon in 1784, thirty years ago, and you were a very little 
 gentleman with a feather in his hat, holding fast to one finger 
 of the masterful hand of the good George Washington." 
 
 During the last two years of the life of George Washington, 
 while the young gentleman was coming into manhood, the home 
 at Mount Vernon was the Mecca of America to which all men 
 of distinction came, as Lafayette had come in the manner de- 
 scribed by him. The greatest entertainer on this continent was 
 the distinguished master of Mount Vernon; and it was this fact, 
 comprehended by George Washington Parke Custis that largely 
 influenced the young man in the location, the preparation and the 
 building of the Arlington Mansion, because he knew that the 
 direct heirs of his great guardian could not and therefore would 
 not entertain becomingly. Therefore Arlington Mansion became 
 the Mecca for those who remembered and revered CTCorge Wash- 
 ington ; and so he kept open house as long as he lived. 
 
 During his life time, which was the first half of the nineteenth 
 century, the favorite picnicing grounds for Alexandria, Union- 
 town, Washington, Rockville, and all of the surrounding country, 
 were around the famous "Arlington Springs." There the chil- 
 dren of the churches, schools, Sunday Schools, and the grown 
 folks of the various lodges and civil societies wended their ways. 
 
 "Welcome" was signaled by the beds of flowers, over the 
 various gates, and on the genial kindly faces of the gentle man and 
 the gentle woman who cheerily greeted all visitors ; and every- 
 body knew that the welcome was hearty, heart-felt, and sincere. 
 
 Although the population of the city and of the country was 
 very small as compared with modern conditions, yet upwards 
 of 20,000 people visited Arlington during the season of 185(5 ; 
 and the picnicing parties continued to increase in numbers an- 
 nually until 1861, when the clouds of civil strife began to ob- 
 scure and efface all pleasures, and the funeral processions began 
 
 145 
 
to take the places of the parades, picnics and fraternal celebra- 
 tions of the prosperous people. 
 
 Previous to the year 1857 thousands of little children were en- 
 tertained by a distinguished-looking elderly gentleman who came 
 down the pathway from the mansion, dressed as in colonial days, 
 and carried with him a violin on which he played the popular 
 tunes for the little ones ; and that cheerful entertainer was the 
 adopted son of George Washington the master of Arlington; 
 and he manifestly enjoyed extending even to the children the 
 .same spirit of Virginia hospitality which had been displayed so 
 freely, in his way, by the great man Washington, whose name 
 was so worthily borne by that gentle Virginia gentleman of the 
 olden style ; and at a time when Virginia hospitality was prover- 
 bial almost all around the world. 
 
 Fortunately for that noble man, George Washington Parke 
 Custis, he did not live to see the division of his country; did not 
 live to see his daughter fleeing from her home ; did not live to 
 see his estate confiscated by the Federal Government ; did not 
 live to see Arlington Heights gleaming under the sun, nor by the 
 moonlight, nor by torchlights, nor by the camp fires "of the 
 b.undred circling camps" of the vast armies of soldier boys who 
 assembled there to march and counter march over the soil of old 
 Virginia, to drench its hills and valleys with fratracidal blood. 
 His coming to earth was a blessing to his mother and to his 
 grand-mother ; and his life was a spring of happiness to Wash- 
 ington also. But in the year 1857, at Arlington, there were 
 
 ANGELS HOVERING AROUND, 
 
 to carry home the gentle spirit of the noble man whose life had 
 been without reproach, whose character had been clean, whose 
 name was honored during the days of his life, and whose name 
 should always be honored by all who revere the memory of 
 George Washington, in the shadow of whose life and character 
 George Washington Parke Custis lived, served and died. No- 
 body but himself knew the intensity of his bereavement when 
 his good wife passed away. His daughter was with him, it is 
 true, but her attentions were absorbed and her affections were 
 diluted because of the presence of her husband and the two boys : 
 Custis and "Rooney" Lee. And the master of the place was 
 lonely ; but not desolate nor repining. 
 
 On the morning of October G, 1857, the venerable gentleman 
 reluctantly admitted that the severe cold had become an illness, 
 and late that Sunday afternoon he retired to his room and to 
 l)ed, saying that a long night's rest would be sufficient to restore 
 him to his normal condition of health. But on Monday he re- 
 
 146 
 
niaiued in his room, although not remaining in hed. On Tuesday 
 morning he sent for a physician because his symptoms indicated 
 that pneumonia was the aihnent, and the physician informed him 
 that the case was serious. On Wednesday evening he sent for 
 his pastor, who arrived on the morning of Thursday; and the 
 mind of the gentleman, the noble man, was so clear, that when 
 his pastor entered the room, George Washington Parke Custis 
 asked him to offer prayer for the dying. 
 
 With the deeply mourning family and the sobbing servants 
 gathered around him, while the prayer was being offered, the 
 spirit of the magnificent specimen of American manhood left the 
 time-worn body and "ran up, with joy, the shining way," leaving 
 upon the face of the earthly tenement a smile of contentment and 
 jfcrfect peace. Thus, with the close of the day of Thursday, 
 October 10, 185 1, was closed the life of the boy and man whom 
 George Washington loved, the owner and the builder of Arling- 
 ton Mansion, George W"ashington Parke Custis. 
 
 From Washington City and from all of the surrounding com- 
 munities and country homes sincere mourners came to attend the 
 funeral services ; hundreds of elderly ladies and gentlemen being 
 conspicuous as sincere mourners because of their tears and sobs. 
 From Washington City to Arlington Mansion and then to the 
 grave, the President's Mounted Troop marched, becoming a 
 guard of honor ; and there came also the Mount Vernon Guards, 
 of Alexandria, Virginia, the Associated Survivors of the War 
 of 1812, the Washington Light Infantry, and the very many civil 
 organizations. Members of the Cabinet of President Buchanan 
 and many other high officials were there to pay their respects to 
 tlie memory of the gentleman whom all had esteemed and re- 
 spected, and whom George Washington had loved as his own. 
 
 About three hundred feet south of the main driveway through 
 the Cemetery Grounds there are two graves ; the last resting places 
 of the owner and builder of the Arlington Mansion and his wife, 
 the first mistress of the manse, who came to it as a bride when 
 only sixteen years of age. It is as true of them as though the 
 words of Holy Writ had been intended solely for them, that "they 
 were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their deaths they 
 were not divided." 
 
 Between these graves and the Mansion are rows of the graves 
 of the soldiers of the Republic. The soldier's grave nearest to 
 them bears this inscription : "John Kattnor, N. Y., 52T4." 
 
 Very brief and plain and clear was the will of George Wash- 
 ington Parke Custis, in which he gave "to my dearly beloved and 
 onlv child, Mary Ann Randolph Lee, my Arlington Estate in the 
 County of Alexandria, containing 1,100 acres, during the term 
 of her natural life." 
 
 147 
 
On June 30, 1831, in the drawing room of the Arlington Man- 
 sion that dearly beloved and only child, Mary Ann Randolph 
 Ciistis, in the presence of her parents and with their approval, 
 was married to Colonel Robert E. Lee, by the Reverend William 
 Meade, who afterwards became a Bishop in the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church. 
 
 In his will, the late George Washington Parke Custis also made 
 the following provision : 
 
 "On the death of my daughter, Mary Ann Randolph Lee, all 
 of the property left to her during the term of her natural life, 
 I give and bequeath to my eldest grand-son George Washington 
 Custis Lee, to him and to his heirs forever, he, my eldest grand- 
 son, taking my name and arms." 
 
 On August 5, 1861, a new revenue law became operative, a war 
 measure to provide funds for the Federal Government which 
 was then engaged in raising and equiping armies for the na- 
 tional defense ; and by that Act of Congress, with its amendments, 
 a Federal tax of $93.07 was imposed upon the Arlington estate. 
 
 Moreover, under the provisions of that law% nobody could pay 
 taxes upon property assessed, except the person against whom and 
 in whose name the taxes were entered and charged. 
 
 And furthermore, the taxes were assessed against the sole 
 owner of the property, Mary Ann Randolph Lee ; a lady who 
 then resided in Richmond, Virginia, and whose husband was a 
 major general commanding Virginia soldiers then marshaled 
 under another flag than the flag of the United States. Under 
 such circumstances the sole owner, Mary Ann Randolph Lee, could 
 not, and of course did not, appear in person to pav the tax of 
 $93.07. 
 
 Consequently, on January 11, 1864:, the owner having disre- 
 garded the tax during a period of more than two years, the en- 
 tire estate was sold at a public auction, after extensive advertis- 
 ing. It was struck off to the United States Government for the 
 meagre sum of $36,800, and military as well as civil possession 
 immediately followed. 
 
 Eleven hundred acres of land, worth today not less than two 
 thousand dollars per acre (more than $3,000,000) thus passed 
 into the possession of the Government for the paltry sum of $2G,- 
 800 ; and there has been no change in the title from that date to 
 this, a period of fifty-eight years. 
 
 WHITHER THOU GOEST 
 
 Imagine, if you can, the tragedy of the Civil War, as to it>> 
 bearing upon only one individual ; although we know that it 
 struck deep into ali of the homes of this country, north and south 
 as well. Imagine if you can the hcart-throlxs and the brain storm 
 
 148 
 
of Mary Ann Randolph Custis Lee, when the time came for her 
 to decide whether she should remain with the estate of her noble 
 father, or turn back upon that grand and magnificent heritage and 
 cast her lot with her husband ; and, remember, against the flag 
 of Washington, the flag of her father. To go with her husband 
 meant the abandonment of the Arlington ^Mansion, her birthplace, 
 her childhod home, the home of her mother, and of her father. 
 
 Today, we may realize that her abandonment of the property 
 was unwise; but our viewpoint is vastly different. She was the- 
 wife of Robert E. Lee ; and, to the marriage vows which she 
 decided to keep, she added the other wonder words of Scripture : 
 "Whither thou goest, 1 will go. Thy people shall be my people, 
 and thy God, my God." And so she went with Robert E. Lee, 
 and dwelt with his people. We know, but she did not know, 
 that if she had remained there in possession of her own indi- 
 vidual estate, no matter what course her husband might have 
 pursued, the property would not and could not have been taken 
 from her. 
 
 Does the extreme critic say that she should have remained and 
 held the property for her son? The answer is this: the eldest 
 son, the heir to follow her, George Washington Custis Lee, was 
 with her, and he gave up his title voluntarily, when his mother 
 gave up her title. He went with his father, as she went with her 
 husband. 
 
 At the Military Academy of the United States, at West Point, 
 the Constitution of the United States was taught; and in the 
 teaching the doctrine of "State sovereignty" was emphatically in- 
 culcated. 
 
 While a student there Robert E. Lee was taught that doctrine, 
 and he believed it thoroughly. Moreover, the son, George Wash- 
 ington Custis Lee, was taught the same doctrine at West Point; 
 and Custis Lee, the heir presumptive, believed in that interpreta- 
 tion of the Constitution as it was officially taught at West Point ; 
 and thus both father and son, graduates of West Point Military 
 Academy, were merely doing as they had been officially taught to 
 do, when they followed the fortunes of the sovereign State of 
 Virginia and entered the army of the Confederate States of 
 America, when Virginia entered that confederacy. 
 
 After the four years of civil war the State of Virginia was not 
 represented in the Congress of the United States until January. 
 1870; and then. Senator John W. Johnston of Virginia intro- 
 duced in the Senate at Washington on January 22. 18T0. a peti- 
 tion of one of the citizens of Virginia, Mary Ann Randoli)h Lee. 
 stating that "it cannot be doubted that a serious cloud rests upon 
 the title of the Government to the Arlington Estate," and adding : 
 
 "To remove that cloud and quiet the title, the petitioner and 
 
 U9 
 
her son, G. W. C. Lee (he owner of the revision) will execute 
 and deliver such necessary releases and conveyances as may be 
 adjudged sufficient to sanction and quiet any claim which the Gov- 
 ernment may now have, by making legal and valid title to the 
 property, for three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000.00)." 
 
 No action was taken by the Congress concerning that petition, 
 and it was not allowed to go onto the calendar for consideration. 
 
 Mary Ann Randolph Lee died in November, 1873, and the 
 claim to the Arlington Estate at once vested in her eldest son, 
 George Washington Custis Lee, by revision of the will. 
 
 On April 6, 1874, Senator Johnston presented to the Senate a 
 memorial from the claimant, G. W. C. Lee, offering to convey to 
 the Government his fee simple title "upon the payment of a just 
 compensation." 
 
 That proposal also was ignored, and nothing was done to clarify 
 the title to the estate imtil March 31, 1883, when the Congress 
 appropriated the sum of $150,000 "for the purchase of the Ar- 
 lington Estate." 
 
 Thereupon George Washington Custis Lee executed a deed 
 covering title to all of his rights to the property, thereby remov- 
 ing the last cloud to the title of the Government to that magnifi- 
 cent estate ; an estate which was worth, at that time, not less than 
 half a million dollars. 
 
 On April 23, 1861, Col. Robert E. Lee and all of the members 
 of his family, departed from Arlington ; and, until May 24 of 
 that year, nobody dwelt at Arlington but a few of the faithful 
 slaves. 
 
 On May 3, 1861, Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, com- 
 manding the armies of the United States, ordered General J. K. 
 F. Mansfield to "Seize and fortify Arlington Heights, for the 
 defenses of Washington City." 
 
 At two o'clock on the morning of May 34, 1861, troops be- 
 gan the invasion of Virginia, crossing the Long Bridge and the 
 Aqueduct Bridge, and those troops occupied the Arlington Estate, 
 pitching their tents on those heights all the way from Four- 
 Mile-run to and including the grounds surrounding the Ar- 
 lington Mansion, and overlooking the Capital City opposite 
 Georgetown College. 
 
 ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY 
 
 Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs, one of the great 
 men of the United States Army who rendered distinguished serv- 
 ice during a long and honorable life, without seeking and of course 
 without acquiring fame, was the first official who "dipt into the 
 fulurc. far as human eye could see," and realized the value of 
 llic Arlington ICstatc to the Xation as the location for a National 
 
 1 50 
 
cemetery. It was he who presented the idea to Secretary Stan- 
 ton, and it was because of his tireless insistence that the auction 
 sale was ordered, at which sale the Government acquired a tax- 
 sale title to the estate on January 11, 1864. 
 
 Four months thereafter, on May 13, 186-1, Quartermaster Gen- 
 eral jNIeigs ordered the burial at Arlington of about a score of 
 Federal soldiers who had died of wounds received in the battles 
 of the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania Court House, Virginia. 
 They were buried in the terrace which then bordered the garden, 
 in the rear of the mansion; and that zvas the beginning of Ar- 
 lington National Cemetery. 
 
 On June 15, 1864, Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, issued 
 an order setting apart two hundred acres of the estate, including 
 the mansion, "for a Military Cemetery, to be laid out and en- 
 closed for the burial of soldiers dying in the hospitals, in and 
 about Washington City." 
 
 FIRST DECORATION DAY 
 
 May 30. 1808, General John A. Logan, the first Commander-in- 
 Chief of the newly organized Grand Army of the Republic, pro- 
 mulgated an order setting apart that day as Memorial Day 
 throughout the entire country, and exhorting the veterans and 
 all of the bereaved ones of the land to "decorate the graves of 
 the fallen citizen soldiery." And so, May 30 was named both 
 Memorial Day and Decoration Day ; the official name of Memo- 
 rial Day having been given at a later date, when that day was 
 made a national holiday. 
 
 ]\Iajor General James A. Garfield, of Ohio, then a Member of 
 the House of Representatives, delivered the first Memorial Day 
 address at Arlington on May 30, 1868, from a platform, with an 
 awning, which was erected on the lawn in front of the Arlington 
 Mansion on the very spot where George Washington Parke Cus- 
 tis had often pitched the "Tent of Washington," to honor his 
 guests. And there, every year afterwards, the exercises of 
 Memorial Day were held, until the year 1897, when the Sylvan 
 Temple was prepared, and from the forum there President Mc- 
 Kinley addressed a large concourse. 
 
 To describe and make mention of all of the monuments and 
 improvements since that day would require a volume; a treatise 
 more elaborate than this condensation of history. 
 
 More than 40,000 soldiers of the Civil War are buried on the 
 Arlington Estate; and, until this day, every aged veteran of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic who dies in Washington City, is 
 there interred with military honors, although the few surviving 
 veterans go to the Cemetery now in automobiles ; whereas, until 
 
 151 
 
ten years ago they were accustomed to march the entire distance 
 from almost any poiiit in Washington City. 
 
 Twenty years ago, when it was proposed to have buried in Ar- 
 Hngton National Cemetery a veteran of the War with Spain, 
 the old soldiers protested vigorously, because that place had been 
 set apart exclusively for them. But the old boys were finally 
 convinced that there is room enough for all ; and so it is customary 
 now for the bodies of the Spanish War veterans to be carried 
 there also for the last sounding of "taps." 
 
 And today, as the years have gone rolling by, there has been 
 buried there with national honors the body of "The Unknown 
 Soldier" who died in France and was found on the battlefield ; 
 and there are so many others of the American Legion buried 
 there, that it is not prophecy to state that the many other unused 
 acres will be occupied in the same way, as the corroding canker 
 and the gnawing tooth of time increases the number of those 
 soldiers who will be obliged to join "the bivouac of the dead." 
 
 Half a century elapsed before the Nation practically and of- 
 ficially followed the sage and far-seeing counsel of General Grant, 
 who said at the conclusion of the war of 1861-1865, "Let us have 
 Peace." Half a century of time had mellowed the hearts and 
 obliterated the hatreds in the memories of the soldiers of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, and a place was set apart for the 
 brave American soldier boys who followed Robert E. Lee be- 
 neath the famous battle flag known as "The Southern Cross." 
 
 When there was erected, unveiled and dedicated there a monu- 
 ment for those soldier boys of "Dixie" this writer was there and 
 saw the fulfilment not only of the counsel of General Grant but 
 of another brave Union soldier, Major William IMcKinley, who 
 had said while in Georgia, that "it is time that we honor the 
 memory of the dead soldiers of the South." 
 
 Inasmuch as this country has captured the body, the army, the 
 name and the fame of Robert E. Lee; concerning whom Lieu- 
 tenant-General Winfield Scott wrote "he is the very best soldier 
 I have ever seen in the field ;" and inasmuch as this country has 
 honored that hero of the War with Mexico with a statute in the 
 Capitol ; and inasmuch as his fame as a soldier is a part of the 
 history of the Nation; the reader will not object to the predic- 
 tion of a Virginian by birth, that some day the National Ceme- 
 tery at Arlington will be made the more completely "National," 
 by the interment there of the bodies of Robert Edward Lee ; 
 his wife, the sole inheritance owner of the estate when she died; 
 and the last Custis-owner, George Washington Custis Lee ; whose 
 deed of conveyance gave to the Government a clear title to the 
 property. 
 
 152 
 
Upon the Lee Monument it should be inscribed that George 
 VVashington Custis Lee, a born soldier, was a first honor man 
 all of the time when he was a cadet at West Point; that he re- 
 ceived not one demerit mark ; that he was graduated at the head 
 of his class : and that, in 18C4, when General Robert E. Lee was 
 seriously ill, President Jefferson Davis, himself a trained soldier 
 oi West Point and of the Mexican War, said : "In the event of 
 the death of General Robert E. Lee, 1 shall at once appoint his 
 equal as a soldier, his son, George Washington Custis Lee, as 
 the commander of all of the armies of the Confederacy now in 
 the. field." 
 
 Then, "after these many days" will be completely fulfiled the 
 /lope of the heart of General Grant who said so fervently : 
 
 "Let us have Peace !" 
 
 153 
 
OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM 
 
 "An Ode to Anacreon," is of European origin. The words 
 and the air were devoted to jolHfications and orgies. The "Ode 
 to Anacreon" is a drinking song, for drunkards ; human beings of 
 a past age. 
 
 Unfortunately, Francis Scott Key wrote his poetic words to 
 suit that tune. Hence, the Star Spangled Banner cannot be the 
 national anthem of a sane and sober people. 
 
 "Dixie" is the most inspiringly popular air known to our 
 people. 
 
 "Dixie" was written in America. 
 
 "Dixie" was produced by the brain of an American citizen; 
 and a native-born citizen, too. 
 
 "Dixie" was written in the State of Ohio. 
 
 "Dixie" was first produced in public in the city of Cincinnati. 
 
 "Dixie," although sent forth on the northern side of the of- 
 ficially known border line, "Mason and Dixon's Line" (the line 
 between the long-time unfriendly sections) ; was captured by 
 the Confederates, adopted and held by them. 
 
 "Dixie" has become sacred to the South-land, although it 
 belongs to all of our now, forever, UNITED States. 
 
 When my esteemed friend General Fitzhugh Lee returned from 
 the position of Consul-General to Cuba in 1898, he said to me: 
 "After the battleship IMaine had been destroyed, every day 
 from that date until my departure from Havana, I was pointed 
 out as 'The Yankee Consul General.' Just think of that! And 
 you know that I was an active Confederate anti-Yankee soldier 
 for four years. But we are known now as 'Yankees' all over 
 the world, and this is now 'Yankee Land.' " 
 
 That's how the writer came to entitle his poetic story of our 
 patriotic history, "Yankee Land." 
 
 Whistle it ! Sing it ! It's YOUR tune. It's OUR "Dixie." 
 
 155 
 
YANKEE LAND 
 
 OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM 
 By Smith D. Fry 
 
 AIR— DIXIE 
 
 Our Anthem tells of Lexington, 
 The Revolutionary War brave Yankees won. 
 'Twas a thrill from Bunker Hill 
 
 Till the foemen hence were hurled. 
 George Washington, in fearless manner. 
 On Cambridge raised the Star Spangled banner. 
 Now it gleams o'er the streams 
 
 And the ramparts of the world. 
 
 Chorus 
 
 Our battle flags are flying, hooray ! hooray ! 
 O'er ocean wave, Freedom to save, 
 While Tyranny is dying. 
 
 Hooray, hooray, the Stars and Stripes forever! 
 
 Hooray, hooray, our Yankee Land forever ! 
 
 Revere, Ward, Greene, Gates, Patrick Henry, 
 
 John Hancock, Jefi^erson, our heroes were many; 
 Soldiers brave, statesmen grave, 
 
 Risked their lives for Yankee Land. 
 Our bold Continentals, in their ragged regimentals. 
 
 Left their wives, homes, sweethearts and dearest senti- 
 mentals 
 Gallant band, heart in hand 
 
 To create this Yankee Land. 
 
 Chorus : Our battle flags, etc. 
 
 At Valley Forge in hunger and in cold, 
 
 They did shiver. 
 Then followed noble George across Delaware River ; 
 
 And they smote the Red Coat, 
 I'o preserve this Yankee Land. 
 
 First in war, first in peace, earth's greatest of men. 
 Was first in the hearts of his countrymen 
 
 A leader brave, God gave, 
 To cnfrancliisc Yankee Land. 
 
 Chorus: Our battle flags, etc. 
 
 1 5(5 
 
From Tennessee mountains and deep foggy bottoms, 
 
 With Jackson, they fought behind bales of cotton. 
 Kvery shot hit the spot, 
 
 And they saved their Yankee Land. 
 Davy Crockett died in glory at the white Alamo, 
 
 To avenge him, Yankees then conquered Mexico 
 Fighting hot, they followed Scott, 
 
 And expanded Yankee Land. 
 Chorus : Our battle flags, etc. 
 
 Our Yankee boys' daddies followed Grant and Lee, 
 While Sherman raised "war" on his march to the sea. 
 Strife raged, battles waged 
 In divided Yankee Land. 
 Then "Let us have peace," said Grant to Lee. 
 •'United we are, and ever shall be. 
 
 Keep your sword." Praise the Lord 
 For united Yankee Land. 
 
 Chorus : Our battle flags, etc. 
 
 Spanish ships were shattered with each .cannon's throb. 
 "After breakfast," said Dewey, "we'll finish this job." 
 And he did — Dewey did, 
 
 With his fleet from Yankee Land. 
 At Santiago, "sailor boys behind the great guns ;" 
 In Porto Rico soldier boys victories won. 
 Sailor boys, soldier boys. 
 
 Conquered peace for Yankee Land. 
 
 Chorus : Our battle flags, etc. 
 
 Then Congress declared to the land of the brave 
 "No nation on earth shall the Kaiser enslave ; 
 Make them free, free as we. 
 
 All are free ni Yankee Land." 
 
 Then victory came both on land and sea 
 To the boys vx'hose daddies followed Grant and Lee. 
 Soldier boys, sailor boys, 
 
 Over there for Yankee Land. 
 
 Chorus : Our battle flags, etc. 
 
 (Copyright, ipiy, by Smith D. Fry.) 
 
 157 
 
Every American Citizen, particularly every boy and every girl 
 in this land should read 
 
 FRY'S PATRIOTIC STORY OF THE CAPITOL 
 This work disseminates 
 
 THE AMERICAN'S CREED 
 
 By HON. WM. TYLER PAGE 
 
 (Official) 
 
 I BELIEVE in the United States of America as a government of 
 the people, by the people, for the people, whose just powers 
 are derived from the consent of the governed ; a democracy 
 in a republic ; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States ; a 
 perfect Union, one and inseparable, established upon those prin- 
 ciples of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which 
 American parriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. 
 
 I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it ; to 
 support its Constitution ; to obey its laws ; to respect its flag ; and 
 to defend it against all enemies. 
 
 158 
 
THIS LITTLE BOOK IS REALLY 
 THE ONLY WORTH WHILE CAPITOL SOUVENIR 
 
 In addition to the wonderful complete Story, this condensed 
 marvel of literary power contains fine copper-plate engravings 
 showing everything of importance. They are : 
 
 1. The Capitol Dome. 
 
 2. East Front of the Capitol. 
 
 3. Library of Congress. 
 
 4. Famous Bronze Doors, costing $28,500. 
 
 5. Capitol Rotunda. 
 
 G. The Four Priceless Trumbull Paintings; Declaration of In- 
 dependence ; Victory at Saratoga ; Victory at Y''orktown : 
 Washington Resigning His Commission at Close of the 
 War. 
 10. Four History Paintings, by different artists. 
 
 14. Brumidi's Romanesque Canopy. 
 
 15. Brumidi's World-Famous Fresco, Around the Rotunda. 
 
 16. The West Front. 
 
 17. The Supreme Court Room. 
 
 18. The President's Room. 
 
 19. The Marble Room. 
 
 20. Senate Reception Room. 
 
 21. The Senate Chamber. 
 
 22. The Battle of Lake Erie. 
 
 23. The Flag of Washington. 
 
 24. Statuary Hall. 
 
 25. The Original Hall of the House. 
 
 26. The Hall of the House of Representatives. 
 
 27. The Willard Statue. 
 
 28. The Speaker's Lobby. 
 
 29. The Gold Room. 
 
 30. The Proclamation of Emancipation; showing Lincoln and 
 
 His Cabinet when Proclamation was issued. Painted in 
 the White House. 
 
 31. Westward Ho; the Incomparable Mural Painting of the 
 
 March of Civilization. 
 
 32. Face of the Goddess of Freedom, Photographed Specially. 
 
 on the very Tiptop of the Capitol. 
 
 These expensive engravings are worth many times the small 
 price of the story; and they go, without extra charge, with the 
 condensed and incomparable Patriotic Story, by a distinguished 
 American Journalist. 
 
 Price Twenty-five Cents By Mail Thirty Cents 
 
 159 
 
FRY'S PATRIOTIC SCHOOL HISTORY 
 OF THE CAPITOL 
 
 Every educator, in every school, academy, college or university 
 should have "Fry's Complete School History of the Capitol." 
 
 In an interesting and entertaining manner, the author uses 
 his story of the Capitol as a vehicle for teaching the Constitution 
 of the United States ; a Book on Civics, of great value. 
 
 CONSTITUTION IN A NUTSHELL 
 
 "Smith D. Fry, veteran newspaper writer, has written a bro- 
 chure on Constitutional law, and it is a remarkable condensation 
 of the supreme law of the land, and will be of the greatest value 
 to boys and girls, who Smith says should have indelibly impressed 
 on their minds the legend — 'all men and women are created equal.' 
 
 "Never exploiting himself in the slightest degree, but allowing 
 his work to speak for itself, Mr. Fry has never heretofore spoken 
 of the fact nor intimated that he was a student of law ; and yet, 
 he was graduated by the National University Law School of this 
 city forty years ago, in the class of 1879. 
 
 "That he has been a profound student of constitutional law 
 ever since that time, in some degree accounts for the fact that he 
 has enjoyed the confidence and intimate friendship of such 
 scholars in public life as Senator Hill of New York. Senator 
 Hoar of Massachusetts. Senator Davis of Minnesota. Senator 
 Quay of Pennsylvania, vSenator Spooner of Wisconsin, Speaker 
 Reed of Maine, Speaker Cannon. Speaker Clark and all others 
 in that intellectual class." — from The IVashiufiton Herald. 
 
 Price Fifty Cents By Mail, Sixty Cents 
 
 SMITH D. FRY. Author P. O. Box ITU, Washington, D. C. 
 
 1(50 
 
H104 75 
 
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