hat seductive weed which has
been called "the soldier's comfort"--and seemed, indeed, superior
to all those small vices which assail men of his profession. Grave,
silent, with a military composure of bearing which amounted at times,
as we have said, to stiffness, he resembled a machine in the shape of
a man. At least this was the impression which he produced upon those
who saw him in public at this time.

The writer's design, here, is to indicate the personal appearance and
bearing of General Lee on the threshold of the war. It may be said, by
way of summing up all, that he was a full-blooded "West-Pointer" in
appearance; the _militaire_ as distinguished from the civilian; and
no doubt impressed those who held official interviews with him as a
personage of marked reserve. The truth and frankness of the man under
all circumstances, and his great, warm heart, full of honesty and
unassuming simplicity, became known only in the progress of the war.
How simple and true and honest he was, will appear from a letter to
his son, G.W. Custis Lee, written some time before:

"You must study," he wrote, "to be frank with the world; frankness
is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do on
every occasion, and take it for granted you mean to do right. If a
friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not,
tell him plainly why you cannot: you will wrong him and wrong yourself
by equivocation of any kind. Never do a wrong thing to make a friend
or keep one; the man who requires you to do so, is dearly purchased at
a sacrifice. Deal kindly, but firmly, with all your classmates; you
will find it the policy which wears best. Above all, do not appear to
others what you are not. If you have any fault to find with any one,
tell him, not others, of what you complain; there is no more dangerous
experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's
face and another behind his back. We should live, act, and say,
nothing to the injury of any one. It is not only best as a matter of
principle, but it is the path to peace and honor.

"In regard to duty, let me, in conclusion of this hasty letter, inform
you that, nearly a hundred years ago, there was a day of remarkable
gloom and darkness--still known as 'the dark day'--a day when the
light of the sun was slowly extinguished, as if by an eclipse. The
Legislature of Connecticut was in session, and, as its members saw the
unexpected and unaccoun