. The great American book of biography . han their best when feeling that General Lees eye was uponthem. He was ac-customed to remindthem on enterincr thecollege of the lovingsolicitude with whichtheir course wouldbe watched by theirmothers; and thisappeal to their high-est feelings seldomfailed to have ereateffect upon their con-duct and character. One conse-quence of the filialfeeling which thepeople of the Southentertained for Gen-eral Lee was that hewas flooded with let-ters upon every con-ceivable subject, fromall parts of the coun-try. At a time whenhe had in charge fivehundred young men
. The great American book of biography . han their best when feeling that General Lees eye was uponthem. He was ac-customed to remindthem on enterincr thecollege of the lovingsolicitude with whichtheir course wouldbe watched by theirmothers; and thisappeal to their high-est feelings seldomfailed to have ereateffect upon their con-duct and character. One conse-quence of the filialfeeling which thepeople of the Southentertained for Gen-eral Lee was that hewas flooded with let-ters upon every con-ceivable subject, fromall parts of the coun-try. At a time whenhe had in charge fivehundred young men,with a corps oftwenty five instruct-ors under him, hewas receiving dailyalmost innumerableletters from old sol-diers, their widowsor children, and fromthose who had not even this claim upon him ; many asking for money, andnearly all appealing for advice or assistance in some form. A friend once saidto him, You surely do not feel obliged to answer all of these letters?Indeed I do, he replied. Think of the trouble that many of these poor. LEE AND THE FERRYMAN. 3^4 ROBERT E. LEE. people have taken to write me. Why should I not be willing to take thetrouble to reply? That is all I can give, and that I give ungrudgingly. In 1867, in company with his daughter Mildred, he rode on horseback to the Peaks of Otter,fifty miles from Lexington. At a ferryon the route theboatman chanced tobe an old the usualc h a r o- e was ten-dered, the roughmountaineers eyesfilled with tears, andhe shook his head,saying, I could nottake pay from you,Master Robert: 1have followed youin many a battle. Bitterness or re-sentment seemed tohave no place inGeneral Lees na-ture. When the fateof war went againsthim, he accepted its result in good faith,and thenceforwarddid his best to re-store good feelingbetween the Northand the South. Eventoward men who the most in-tense bitternessagainst him heseemed to have no other feeling than kindness and good-will. This wasthe case even with those
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