The Daily Bulletin

Gen. Lee's reputation now overshadows all others. His fame has been nobly won. How long he will be permitted to occupy the public eye is uncertain.

It cannot be forgotten that before and after Manassas '61, Beauregard was a great name. So was Johnston. The two shining lights were brought together-was it with the design that each might be eclipsed? Such, to a certain extent, was the effect. But Beauregard's star was still in the ascendant. Beauregard went to the West and made a name still greater. History will tell by what means and upon what flimsy pretext he was forcibly relieved from duty and driven into obscurity for five months. There are jealousies that are ridiculous, and malignities so mean that they become impotent and farcical.

The system of making our great military chiefs eclipse each other by juxtaposition is very cunning, but it has failed, as all low cunning, in the long run, is sure to do. In the blaze of Lee's deserved glory, Stonewall Jackson has not been forgotten. That go-ahead, really great fighter--the pride and joy of the people--still stands in clear relief before the public gaze. Can any man tell what Lee would have done on the Chickahominy but for the unparalleled Napoleonic campaign in the Valley? Shall we ever forget the work of Jackson in the battles before Richmond, or the fresh laurels that crowned his well-wreathed brow at Cedar Run? Do we not remember that Lee magnanimous Lee, incapable of the littleness of jealousy, selected Jackson to turn Pope's flank, and that Jackson was the first to press the sod of Maryland? Lee "put his best foot foremost" in Jackson. We honor Lee, we gladly accord him the right to be our Commanding General but never shall we forget or ignore the services rendered his country by that true patriot, pure Christian, invincible soldier, Thomas J. Jackson.

The advocates of West Point direct attention to Lee, Beauregard, Johnston Jackson, Bragg, Longstreet, and many others, as illustrating the value of a military education. To deny the value of education of any sort is simply foolish. Even the handicrafts require training. But, if we would do justice to both sides of the question, we must remember the opportunities which the graduates of West Point have enjoyed It is to be expected that a man will achieve a military reputation without a command? Who has done better than Floyd with his opportunities? What Pointer has achieved as much as Price with his limited means? Not one. Schools have their uses, in the main indispensable; but the best tuition can not impart talent, much less genius. Practice at the bedside is worth all the medical books and lecturers; the best school of the soldier is in the field. The test of genius is the overriding of formulas and the application of original ideas. Give the schools their due--give also natural gifts their due--undervalue neither.--Southern L. Messenger