I recall the story of what happened at St. Paul's Church in Richmond
after the war. It was "the " church for the city leaders and the
Confederate cabinet, right across the street from Capitol Square; it
was where Jeff Davis was attending service that April morning when
Lee sent word that Petersburg had fallen. So after the war, the
congregation is in attendance, including an elderly black man who,
not too long before, had been a slave. At one point in the service,
when people were to come down and kneel in front [I am not familiar
with the services], he did so, to the stunned silence of the crowd.
He knelt at the altar, alone, and no one followed. The church was
hushed. Till Lee stood up, walked down, and knelt bedside the old
man. If we want to look into the nature of someone's character, this
is it; it would have been so easy for Lee to stay seated, as everyone
else did.
As I said elsewhere about heroes, they are people who rise above a
challenge, who exhibit courage and character in particular
circumstances, they are not cartoon Hollywood "white hats", cradle to
grave. They are human beings who at times rise above their human
weaknesses and in doing so inspire the rest of us to rise above our
own. What Lee did in that church was courageous, and might have
inspired a few of the angry hearts in the congregation to move on,
too. That old black man was a human being, just like them. Like it
or not, times had changed.
Nancy
-------
I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
--Daniel Boone
On Mar 4, 2007, at 11:12 AM, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Lee owned no slaves, didn't believe in the institution, regretted its
> existence.
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