ine, he
turned it over to the hospitals in Richmond, saying the wounded
and sick needed it more than he. He was extremely simple and
unostentatious in his habits, and shared with his soldiers their
privations as well as their dangers. Toward the close of the war, meat
was very scarce within the Confederate lines in the neighborhood of
the contending armies. An aide of the President, having occasion to
visit General Lee en official business in the field, was invited to
dinner. The meal spread on the table consisted of corn-bread and a
small piece of bacon buried in a large dish of greens. The quick-eyed
aide discovered that none of the company, which was composed of the
general's personal staff, partook of the meat, though requested to
do so in the most urbane manner by the general, who presided; he,
therefore, also declined, and noticed that the meat was carried off
untouched. After the meal was over, he inquired of one of the officers
present what was the reason for this extraordinary conduct. His reply
was, 'We had borrowed the meat for the occasion, and promised to
return it.'

"Duty alone induced this great soldier to submit to such privation,
for the slightest intimation given to friends in Richmond would have
filled his tent with all the luxuries that blockade-runners and
speculators had introduced for the favored few able to purchase.

"This performance of duty was accompanied by no harsh manner or
cynical expressions; for the man whose soul is ennobled by true
heroism, possesses a heart as tender as it is firm. His calmness under
the most trying circumstances, and his uniform sweetness of manner,
were almost poetical. They manifested 'the most sustained tenderness
of soul that ever caressed the chords of a lyre.' In council he
was temperate and patient, and his words fell softly and evenly as
snow-flakes, like the sentences that fell from the lips of Ulysses.

"On the termination of the war, his conduct until his death has
challenged the admiration of friends and foes; he honestly acquiesced
in the inevitable result of the struggle; no discontent, sourness, or
complaint, has marred his tranquil life at Washington College, where
death found him at his post of duty, engaged in fitting the young
men of his country, by proper discipline and education, for the
performance of the varied duties of life. It is somewhat singular
that both Lee and his great lieutenant, Jackson, should in their last
moments have referr