―377―

anecdote of general lee.

General Lee was remarkably
slovenly in his dress and manners;
and has often by the meanness of his
appearance, been subject to ridicule
and insult. He was once attending
general Washington to a place dis-
tant from the camp….Riding on, he
arrived at the house where they
were to dine, sometime before the
rest of the company. He went di-
rectly to the kitchen demanding
something to eat; when the cook,
taking him for a servant, told him
she would give him some victuals in
a moment….but he must help her off
with the pot. This he complied with
and sat down to some cold meat
which she placed before him on the
dresser. The girl was remarkably
inquisitive about the guests who were
coming, particularly of Lee, who
she said she heard was one of the
oddest and ugliest men in the world.
In a few moments she desired the
general again to assist her in plac-
ing on the pot, and scarcely had he
finished, when she requested him to
* This city is in long. W. from Phi-
ladelphia 29° N. lat. 36° and stands on
a river which runs into the gulf of
Mexico.

―378―

take the bucket and go to the well.
Lee made no objections, and began
drawing the water. In the mean-
time general Washington arrived,
and an aid-de-camp was dispatched
in search of Lee; whom to his sur-
prise he found engaged as above….
But what was the confusion of the
poor girl on hearing the aid-de-camp
address the man with whom she had
been so familiar, with the title of
Excellency!

The mug fell from her hands, and
dropping on her knees, she began
crying for pardon; when Lee, who
was ever ready to see the impropri-
ety of his own conduct, but never
willing to change it, gave her a
crown, and turning to the aid-de-
camp, observed….“you see, young
man, the advantage of a fine coat….
the man of consequence is indebted
to it for respect; neither virtue nor
abilities, without it, will make him
look like a gentleman.”