We notice a last result of the child's residence now, or visits
afterward to the country, and the sports in which he indulged--the
superb physical health and strength which remained unshaken afterward
by all the hardships of war. Lee, to the last, was a marvel of sound
physical development; his frame was as solid as oak, and stood the
strain of exhausting marches, loss of sleep, hunger, thirst, heat, and
cold, without failing him.

When he died, it was care which crushed his heart; his health was
perfect.




V.

LEE'S EARLY MANHOOD AND CAREER IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY.


Of Lee's childhood we have no memorials, except the words of his
father, long afterward.

"_Robert was always good_," wrote General Henry Lee.[1]

[Footnote 1: To C.C. Lee, February 9, 1817.]

That is all; but the words indicate much--that the good man was
"always good." It will be seen that, when he went to West Point, he
never received a demerit. The good boy was the good young officer, and