n and crowded convention he formally accepted this
position, saying, with all that dignity and grace of manner which
distinguished him, that he did so "trusting in Almighty God, an
approving conscience, and the aid of my fellow-citizens." The scene
was most impressive. There were present all the leading men of
Virginia, and representatives of all the first families in a State
where great store was attached to gentle birth, and where society was
very exclusive. General Lee's presence commanded respect, even from
strangers, by a calm, self-possessed dignity the like of which I have
never seen in other men. Naturally of strong passions, he kept them
under perfect control by that iron and determined will, of which his
expression and his face gave evidence. As this tall, handsome soldier
stood before his countrymen, he was the picture of the ideal patriot,
unconscious and self-possessed in his strength; he indulged in no
theatrical display of feeling; there was in his face and about him
that placid resolve which bespoke great confidence in self, and which
in his case--one knows not how--quickly communicated its magnetic
influence to others. He was then just fifty-four years old, the age of
Marlborough when he destroyed the French army at Blenheim. In many
ways and on many points these two great men much resembled each other.
Both were of a dignified and commanding exterior; eminently handsome,
with a figure tall, graceful, and erect, while a muscular,
square-built frame bespoke great activity of body. The charm of manner
which I have mentioned as very winning in Lee, was possessed in the
highest degree by Marlborough. Both, at the outset of their great
career of victory, were regarded as essentially national commanders.
Both had married young, and were faithful husbands and devoted
fathers. Both had in all their campaigns the same belief in an
ever-watchful Providence, in whose help they trusted implicitly, and
for whose interposition they prayed at all times. They were gifted
with the same military instinct, the same genius for war. The power of
fascinating those with whom they were associated, the spell which they
cast over their soldiers, who believed almost superstitiously in their
certainty of victory, their contempt of danger, their daring courage,
constitute a parallel that is difficult to equal between any other two
great men of modern times.

From the first Lee anticipated a long and bloody struggle, although
from