“set an example of submission to authority”
From The New-York Times September 7, 1865:
Gen. Lee Accepts the Presidency of Washington College.
From the Lexington Gazette Extra.
The gratifying duty of announcing to the country the acceptance by Gen. ROBERT E. LEE of the Presidency of Washington College has been devolved upon the undersigned by the Board of Trustees of that institution. The accession of this distinguished gentleman to the faculty of this venerable college, and as its honored chief, is destined, we trust, to mark the commencement of a new era in its history, and most cordially do we congratulate its numerous friends on this most auspicious event. The high, noble and patriotic motives which impelled our beloved chief, in accepting the honorable, but comparatively humble, position tendered to him by the authorities of the college, must win for him a new title to the admiration and love of his countrymen. The college, under the administration and supervision of Gen. LEE, will resume its exercises on the 14th inst.
At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the college, convened at Lexington, on Thursday, the 31st ult., the following resolution was unanimously passed, the publication of which is demanded as an act of justice alike to Gen. LEE and themselves:
Resolved, That the board heartily concurs in, and fully indorses, the sentiments so well expressed by Gen. LEE in his letter of acceptance of the Presidency of Washington College, that “it is the duty of every citizen, in the present condition of the country, to do all in his power to aid in the restoration of peace and harmony, and in no way to oppose the policy of the State or General Government directed to that object;” and that “it is particularly incumbent on those charged with the instruction of the young to set an example of submission to authority;” sentiments that cannot fail to commend themselves to the approval of the President of the United States, and to the unqualified assent of all sensible and virtuous citizens.
In dedicating his future life to the holy work of educating the youth of his country, Gen. LEE presents a new and interesting phase of his grand and heroic character — a character than which no more perfect model exists among living men. “‘Tis a solid fabric, and will well support the laurels that adorn it.” Let the young men of the country, North as well as South, be wise, and profit not less by his precepts than by his great example.
JOHN W. BROCKENBROUGH,
Rector of Washington College.
LEXINGTON, Va., Sept. 1, 1865.
According to Gene Smith[1]:
At first glance the job seemed ridiculous. If Lee wanted to assume the tasks of an educator, his friends and family said, he could certainly find himself a post with some great university. But little Washington College in Lexington, forty students? Lee did not see it that way. The work lent its own dignity, he said. If the college wanted him, he would go. This was the job that Providence had made available to him. On September 18, a lone horseman four days on the road in an old Confederate uniform with buttons and insignia removed, rode into the main street of the mountain town and dismounted in front of the Central Hotel.
The Wikipedia link above outlines Robert E. Lee’s achievements at the college.
“grand and heroic character”
You could say that General Lee always set an example of submission to authority; Virginia’s authority could no longer be paramount.
The Library of Congress provides the formal portrait and the tobacco package label
- [1]Smith, Eugene O. Lee and Grant, A Dual Biography. New York: Promontory Press, 1984. Print. page 298.↩
