nounced a forgery. This repudiation was, no doubt, either authorized, or acquiesced in, by General Lee. And this repudiation was not merely of the first two sentences; it was a repudiation of the whole letter. The writer of the Repudiation Letter—the "source entitled to know"—declares: "There is nothing in it that can be recognized as genuine by any one familiar with his (General Lee's) style." He also speaks of "the mendacity of our enemies, and how they publish things that are utterly false." Plainly this is a repudiation of the whole letter, and not of the first two sentences only. And General Lee suffered it to pass without contradiction!
(d.) The style of the disputed letter differs from that of General Lee. This is asserted, unequivocally, by the "source entitled to know," as stated above. How near this "source" must have been to General Lee is manifest when we reflect that in 1864 none of General Lee's private letters had been published; and within the Confederate lines there was no free access to General Lee's private correspondence—such as was permitted at Arlington.
But opinions may differ as to a writer's style, even among those familiar with it. Many of General Lee's private letters social and domestic, have now been published, and have been studied critically by students of the Lee literature. As to his style, then, and its resemblance to that of The Duty Letter, let us call experts of the highest authority. And for once the experts do not differ in opinion.
Captain W. Gordon McCabe, who is recognized authority on all matters pertaining to General Lee, says:[1] "The moment I read the Lee letter, years ago, I knew it was spurious, quite apart from the first sentence (first two sentences). I am very familiar with Lee's letters (published and unpublished), and the whole style of this letter is foreign to him. Lee no more wrote that letter (whether we consider it from an objective or subjective point of view) than did the Apostle Paul."
Professor Edward S. Joynes, a member of General Lee's faculty at Washington College (now Washington and Lee Uni-
- ↑ Letter to the writer, dated June 1, 1913.
