Many of us doubtless can recall the evident pride of the little fellow
who occasionally placed upon our desks the roses which his kindly patron
brought by the basketful in the spring mornings from his Virginia home
to brighten the sittings of the House. And this gentleness and modesty
were the more attractive because they were the adornment of a sincere
and manly character. How much came to him as the rich legacy of
ancestral blood and how much was wrought into his nature by the training
of his youth it is idle to speculate. In both respects he was lifted far
above the common lot of men. Of his mother it is said by those who knew
her well that she was one of the most accomplished and at the same time
most domestic, sensible, and practical of women. Of his father's
influence and teaching, to say nothing of his lofty example, we have the
striking proofs, if any were needed, in letters that have been
published. Let me cull but an occasional expression from these
unaffected outpourings of the heart of Robert E. Lee toward the son he
loved so well. "My precious Roon," as he was wont to call him.

When the boy was not yet ten years of age he closes a playful letter,
adapted to such tender years, with these earnest words:

Be true, kind, and generous, and pray earnestly to God to enable
you to keep His commandments and to walk in the same all the days
of your life.

A year later, writing from the ship _Massachusetts_, off Lobos, to his
two sons, a letter full of interest to boys, he urges them to diligence
in study:

I shall not feel my long separation from you if I find that my
absence has been of no injury to you, and that you have both grown