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ROBERT E LEE 
 
 A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT OFFERED BY THE CITIZENS 
 OF LOUISVILLE. 
 
 1 With honor lay him in his grave, 
 
 And thereby shall increase of honor come 
 Unto their arms who vanquished one so wise, 
 So valiant, so renowned." 
 
 HENRY TAYLOR. 
 
 LOUISVILLE: 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN P.MORTON AND COMPANY. 
 1870. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THIS publication is made in accordance with the wishes of 
 Confederate soldiers residing in this city, as expressed in the 
 subjoined resolution, unanimously adopted at a meeting held 
 October 17, 1870: 
 
 Resolved, that a committee of seven ex-Confederate soldiers be appointed to 
 collect and publish in appropriate form the various tributes of respect offered to 
 the memory of General ROBERT E. LEE, deceased, by the citizens of Louisville. 
 
 The following-named gentlemen were appointed to carry 
 into effect the objects of the meeting, viz. : Messrs. D. W. 
 YANDELL, W. L. CLARKE, W. H. THOMAS, J. B. PIRTLE, 
 PRICE C. NEWMAN, R. W. WOOLLEY, and WM. J. DAVIS. 
 
 For the handsome wood-cut of General LEE S birth-place 
 the Committee is indebted to the University Publishing Com 
 pany, New York, who generously tendered the use of the 
 plate without charge. 
 
 218843 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 THE CITIZENS. 
 
 On the morning of the I3th of October, 1870, the death of General 
 LEE having been announced by telegraph, a large concourse of citizens, 
 irrespective of party, wishing to give utterance to the sorrow filling 
 their hearts, united in the following 
 
 CALL. 
 
 The citizens, friends, and admirers of the lamented General ROBERT E. LEE are requested 
 to meet at the court-house at half past seven o clock this evening, to take action in regard 
 to his death. General John C. Breckinridge has been notified by telegraph of this call, 
 and will probably be present. Other speakers have been invited. All who desire to testify 
 their respect and veneration for the memory of this great and good man are invited. 
 
 JOHN G. BAXTER, 
 J. M. KELLER, 
 WARREN MITCHELL, 
 D. B. HARRIS, 
 J. C. BRECKINRIDGE, 
 JOHN B. PIRTLE, 
 CLINTON MCCLARTY, 
 JAMES BRIDGEFORD, 
 JOHN BARBEE, 
 
 S. B. BUCKNER, 
 JOHN B. SMITH, 
 V. P. ARMSTRONG, 
 ROBERT W. WOOLLEY 
 W. V. MATTHEWS, 
 H. W. BRUCE, 
 J. P. JOHNSON, 
 CHARLES SEMPLE, 
 JOSEPH BENEDICT, 
 
 R. C. WlNTERSMITH, J. B. GOODLOE, 
 
 B. W. DUKE, 
 E. W. KENNEDY, 
 
 J. H. LlNDENBERGER, 
 
 JOE D. ALLEN, 
 J. E. SUTCLIFFE, 
 PHIL. LEE, 
 
 GEORGE W. C HILTON, 
 JOHN F. YOUNG, 
 J. H. WELLER, 
 J. H. LEATHERS, 
 And many others. 
 
 At early twilight the circuit court-room was crowded. The meeting 
 was organized by the election of Colonel W. F. Beasley as temporary 
 chairman, and Major Clinton McClarty as secretary. 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 A motion being made that the chair appoint a committee on per 
 manent organization, General I. M. St. John offered the following 
 resolution as a substitute, which was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, that his Honor, J. G. BAXTER, the Mayor of Louisville, be selected as perma 
 nent chairman of this meeting. 
 
 Resolved, that the permanent chairman be requested to appoint a committee of not less 
 than five members to draft suitable resolutions expressive of the sentiments of the citizens 
 of Louisville in reference to the death of General ROBERT E. LEE. 
 
 Resolved, that this meeting now adjourn to meet again at Weisiger Hall at half past 
 seven o clock, the I5th instant, to receive and act upon the report of the committee on 
 resolutions. 
 
 Mayor Baxter, being duly installed as chairman, appointed the 
 following committee on resolutions, who were instructed to meet at 
 the office of Isaac Caldwell, Esq., and perfect arrangements to carry 
 out the programme agreed upon : 
 
 ISAAC CALDWELL, I. M. ST. JOHN, E. W. KENNEDY, 
 
 JAMES BRIDGEFORD, T. B. COCHRAN, R. M. KELLY, 
 
 S. B. BUCKNER, E. D. STANDIFORD, JOHN BARBEE, 
 
 CHARLES SEMPLE, JULIUS DORN, N. BLOOM, 
 
 WARREN MITCHELL, GEORGE P. DOERN, \V. F. BEASLEY, 
 
 R. A. ROBINSON, T. E. BRAMLETTE, C. HENRY FINK, 
 
 J. F. BULLITT, B. W. DUKE, H. L. COOK, 
 
 CHARLES R. LONG, HENRY WATTERSON, J. W. BARR, 
 
 J. P. JOHNSON, JAMES TRABUE, A. O. BRANNIN, 
 
 W. B. HAMILTON, H. C. CARUTH, PAT. BANNON. 
 
 At the time appointed a dense throng of men, women, and children, 
 representing every shade of political opinion and all conditions of 
 society, gathered at Weisiger Hall. After sweet and solemn music 
 from a choir who had volunteered for the occasion, Mayor Baxter, as 
 chairman of the meeting, said : 
 
 "We have met to mingle our sorrow for the loss we have sustained 
 in the death of General LEE, and to testify our respect for his memory. 
 I greatly regret that our place of meeting is not large enough to accom 
 modate all who have come this evening for this purpose. It is perhaps 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 unnecessary, but I would suggest, because of the vast number of people 
 now assembled here, that the strictest order be observed, that all may 
 hear and each take his part in the proceedings. I now introduce to 
 you Rev. Mr. Perkins, who will lead us in prayer." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty and everlasting God, the only potentate, king of kings 
 and lord of lords, the maker of all things, the judge of all men, ordering 
 all things by the council of thine own will, we have assembled here 
 
 together, in the order of thy providence, to do homage to the memory 
 
 . ,. 
 
 of one thou didst give us whom we all loved, and whose memory we all 
 
 ^ 
 
 cherish. We come to bow ourselves in meekness and submission to 
 thy will, for thou didst give and thou hast taken away. We thank thee 
 for the gift of all his excellences of character and all his exalted worth. 
 Thou didst give him to us, and to thee belongeth all praise. We 
 earnestly beseech thee, most gracious God, that thou wilt bless us^ that 
 we may learn from his exalted character and Christian deportment to 
 put our trust in thee, and to submit ourselves entirely to thy ordering; 
 for, peerless among his fellows, he humbly bowed before thee as his God. 
 Possessed of exalted worth and excellence of character, he came as a 
 sinner, trusting for salvation through the redemption maheil out for 
 him and us by thine own precious Son. We pray thee, gracious God, 
 that this lesson may be impressed upon the heart of each and every one 
 of us who have so esteemed him, and who now do homage to his 
 memory ; and, while we thus thank thee, we would pray also that thou 
 wouldst give unto us a spirit of resignation, that we may say, " The Lord 
 giveth and the Lord taketh away: blessed be the name of the Lord." 
 We thank thee, heavenly Father, that we can praise and glorify thy 
 precious name that thou didst redeem him with the Savior s precious 
 blood, renewed by thy blessed spirit. We thank thee that thou didst 
 draw him into the way of life and salvation. We pray thee that we 
 may be brought to that salvation which thou hast wrought out for 
 him. We beseech thee to impress upon our hearts the excellence of 
 
 7 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 that religion which he received upon earth, and the fruition of which he 
 is now enjoying in thy presence. Solemnize this meeting, and impress 
 upon our hearts the importance of the truths which it teaches us. 
 Grant that we may feel that we have been blessed in this coming 
 together; that we have been brought nearer to thee, the Lord our 
 God. All of which we humbly ask for the sake of thy dear Son, our 
 blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Caldwell, chairman of the committee on resolutions, 
 came forward and reported a preamble and resolutions, which were 
 adopted. 
 
 REMARKS OF ISAAC CALDWELL. 
 
 MR. CHAIRMAN: The esteem in which General ROBERT E. LEE was 
 held in Kentucky was not only great, but I believe universal. During 
 those years in which the larger portion of his fame was achieved, and 
 since, I have mingled constantly with all classes and all shades of opinion 
 in business or social relations in relations the freedom of which was 
 never restrained by any party bitterness on my part and it affords me 
 peculiar pleasure on this solemn occasion to bear witness that I have 
 never heard a Kentuckian express an unkind opinion or an unkind wish 
 concerning him. He was our countryman; we were proud of his genius. 
 He was a Virginian; we had a property in his fame. He was generous 
 and gentle and good; our love of his virtues was superior to all other 
 emotions concerning him. Able in command, magnanimous in victory, 
 his biographer may maintain that it was in defeat that he rose to a 
 sublime greatness which formed the grand climax to his brilliant career 
 and fixed his rank as the first military man of his day. We can do 
 nothing here to add to his renown. He built for himself an enduring 
 monument. History will inscribe upon its tablet "immortal." We can 
 only mingle our tears with the thousands of his admiring countrymen 
 
 who mourn his death. 
 
 8 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I am instructed by the committee representing the 
 citizens of Louisville to offer these resolutions: 
 
 In the interest of republican government, which, to be genuine, must spring from the 
 whole people; in the interest of an all-embracing American sentiment which can not 
 safely ignore the claims of any American citizen on account of acts and opinions not in 
 themselves unworthy ; and in the interest of that national unity and peace which, if lasting 
 and beneficent, must be constructed on the most liberal and universal principles of modern 
 civilization; the city of Louisville has assembled, in its character of free community, to 
 express in a formal manner a sorrow that is not only public, the result of a public loss, 
 but also individual, the result of a prevailing sense of a personal bereavement. It is our 
 opinion that popular culture, the basis of popular virtue and social order and sound gov 
 ernment, is best encouraged and diffused by the prompt and cordial recognition of eminent 
 virtues in eminent men; and that this rule, which is deep-set in a wise public policy, 
 becomes a duty when, from any circumstance, the claims of a great citizen are likely to 
 be obscured or divided in public esteem. The Union which survives the vicissitudes that 
 belong to human nature is still, we think, a common Union, transmitted to us by our fathers, 
 and so long as it is a free and peaceful Union its honors are the property of all the people; 
 and it is impolitic, as well as unjust, to make invidious discriminations, based upon current 
 prejudices which are unlikely to endure. The interests of American liberty require that we 
 should establish a standard of national adjustment in harmony with the system of govern 
 ment under which we live, and the instincts of American manhood command us to make 
 no distinction in valuing those qualities which adorn the American character. 
 
 Therefore the people of Louisville, occupying a middle place in the geography of the 
 country, and holding this middle ground between opposing extremes, have come together at 
 the bidding of a spontaneous patriotic impulse to declare : 
 
 First, that we recognize in the character of ROBERT E. LEE qualities of head and heart 
 which should make all men proud to have been his fellow-countrymen: probity, chastity, 
 godliness; a soul sincere and faithful; a mind upright and elevated; a disposition earnest and 
 tranquil; a bearing through which the grace of a god-like spirit shone; realizing in all his 
 walks and ways of life the character sketched by Paul "blameless, vigilant, sober, of good 
 behavior, apt to teach, not given to filthy lucre." 
 
 And second, that in the career of General LEE we behold the illustration of these great 
 private virtues in situations always responsible and often trying and calamitous: skill and 
 temperance and courage in the field ; discretion, patience, and courtesy in the council ; 
 fortitude and dignity in defeat; a citizen without ambition; a man without reproach; a 
 soldier who commended himself to the respect of his adversaries and to the admiration of 
 the world, lacking nothing which could add to his fame except good fortune. Therefore 
 l)e it 
 
 Resolved, that in the death of ROBERT E. LEE the American people, without regard to 
 states or sections or antecedents or opinions, lose a great and good man, a distinguished 
 and useful citizen, renowned not less in arms than in the arts of peace ; and that the cause 
 of public instruction and popular culture is deprived of a representative whose influence 
 and example will be felt by the youth of our country for long ages after the passions in 
 
 9 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 the midst of which he was engaged, but which he did not share, have passed into history, 
 and the peace and fraternity of the American Republic are cemented and restored by the 
 broadest and purest American sentiment. 
 
 Resolved, that a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the family of General LEE, 
 to the Trustees of Washington College, and to the Governor and General Assembly of the 
 State of Virginia. 
 
 GENERAL BRECKINRIDGE S REMARKS. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : If from any cause it has 
 been supposed that I am to deliver a set address to-night, I can only say 
 that I am not responsible for the origin of the supposition. I am here 
 simply to mingle my grief with yours at the loss of an illustrious 
 citizen. Indeed I am more inclined to silence than to speech ; for my 
 mind is preoccupied by busy memories which call up in review the 
 frequent and immense vicissitudes which have marked the last ten years. 
 I find myself in the presence of a vast assemblage of the people of this 
 great and beautiful city, who meet together without distinction of party 
 to express their respect for the memory of the man who was the leader 
 of the Confederate armies in the late war between the states. This is in 
 itself the omen of real reunion. I am not surprised at such a spectacle 
 presented here ; for although at the close of the war it seemed to me 
 from my distant stand-point that every element of anarchy was assembled 
 within the bosom of the commonwealth, yet happily, so great were the 
 prudence, moderation, and magnanimity of the people, the political 
 and social relations in Kentucky will compare favorably with those of 
 other states. 
 
 Not in Kentucky alone, but throughout the whole South, a universal 
 and spontaneous cry of grief has broken forth at the death of General 
 LEE; and, to the honor of human justice and charity, in nearly every 
 part of the North manly and noble tributes have been paid to his 
 memory. Let us try to learn a lesson from these events. 
 
 My words shall be brief but plain. Why is it that at the South we 
 see these universal spontaneous demonstrations? First, because most 
 of the people mourn the loss of an honored leader and a friend; but 
 
 10 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 beyond that, as it seems to me, they embody a perhaps unconscious 
 protest against the ascription either to him or to them of treason or 
 personal dishonor; a protest against the employment by a portion of 
 the public press of epithets which have ceased to be used in private 
 intercourse. These demonstrations involve no vain and useless repin- 
 ings at the result of the great struggle, but are the symbols of a noble 
 grief, which is an honor to any people, and when properly interpreted 
 they are an invitation to reunion and harmony upon the only principle 
 on which we can be a free confederacy a recognition of the feelings, 
 the equality, and the rights of all. They are an invitation to the whole 
 people, if there be any remaining rancor in their bosoms, to bury it 
 forever in the grave of LEE. 
 
 I will not discuss or recall the past. It is for the pen of the impar 
 tial historian to delineate the causes, progress, and consequences of the 
 amazing contest. In regard to those who followed General LEE, sharing 
 alike his glories and misfortunes, I have only this to say: in obedience 
 to their firm convictions and traditional teachings they waged a war 
 which the world saw and yet testifies of; being overcome, they accepted 
 the results of their defeat and yielded a calm yet proud submission ; as 
 to the rest, the conquerors themselves, for their own glory, must confess 
 that they were brave. 
 
 Neither am I here to speak of the military career of General LEE. 
 His feats of arms, in connection with those of his great adversaries, not 
 only fill this hemisphere, but in the Old World are known from the 
 Arctic Circle to the Cape, and from the Pillars of Hercules to the Indian 
 Ocean. His surviving comrades need not vaunt the achievements of 
 one whose renown as a soldier has made the circuit of the earth. It is 
 of him as a man and a citizen that I desire to utter a few earnest words, 
 which are the less necessary after the thrilling and affectionate delinea 
 tions to which most of you listened this morning. All men know that 
 he was great, noble, and self-poised, but by many he is supposed to have 
 been, though just, yet apathetic and cold; yet I do not hesitate to declare 
 that the warmth of his heart and the depth of his affections were, to 
 those who knew him well, among the most striking of his characteristics. 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 For the last year of the war it was my fortune to be thrown much with 
 him, and during the two months immediately preceding the fall of 
 Richmond our respective duties made our intercourse close and con 
 stant. It was under these trying circumstances that I came fully to 
 know and appreciate his heart and character. In those long and painful 
 interviews he -stood revealed to me a considerate, kind, gentle, firm, 
 Christian gentleman. I can not adequately express to you the vast 
 emotion that dwelt beneath his calm exterior. I can convey no better 
 idea of the impression he made upon me than to say that he inspired 
 me with an ardent love for his person and a profound veneration for his 
 character. O, my friends, it was so massive, noble, and grand in its 
 proportions that the most heroic might be proud to bear it; yet so gentle 
 and tender that woman might claim and adopt it for her own. If the 
 spirit which animates the assembly before me to-night shall become 
 general and extend over the whole country, then indeed may we say 
 that the wounds of the late war are truly healed. We ask only for him 
 what we concede to the manly qualities of others. Among the more 
 eminent of the Federal generals who fell during the war or have since 
 died may be mentioned Thomas and McPherson. What Confederate 
 would refuse to raise his cap as their funeral-trains passed by, or grudge 
 to drop a flower upon their soldier-graves? And why? Because they 
 were men of courage and honor, true to their convictions of right, and 
 soldiers whose hands were unstained by cruelty or pillage. 
 
 Let us understand and truly interpret the causes of the extraordinary 
 honors offered by all ranks of society and all shades of opinion to the 
 memory of General LEE. Why this vast and mixed audience assembled 
 to deplore his loss? Why do you preside, sir, who neither shared all 
 his convictions nor approved the methods by which he sought to main 
 tain them ? I venture to answer that it is because his intellect was large 
 and sound; because his heart was great and good; because his piety was 
 humble and sincere; because he ever exhibited fortitude in adversity 
 and clemency in victory; because he was a stainless gentleman; because, 
 after the last supreme effort was finished, with incomparable dignity and 
 patience he taught his prostrate comrades how to suffer and be strong; 
 
 12 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 and finally, because by the assemblage in himself of valor, moderation, 
 wisdom, truth, self-control, and all their associate virtues, he was an 
 -honor to the age in which he lived, and presented a fit model for the 
 imitation of his own and all succeeding times. 
 
 His future place in history is not doubtful. For a time there will 
 be those here and there who, enraged at beholding the calm and steady 
 luster of his character, will assail it with malignant fury; yet history 
 will declare that the remains which repose to-night in the vault beneath 
 the little chapel in that lovely Virginia valley are not merely those of a 
 matchless soldier, but also of a great and good American. 
 
 REMARKS OF GENERAL JOHN W. FINNELL. 
 
 MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: It is written in the hearts 
 of the brave and generous in every land that in the august presence of 
 death the rivalries and animosities that are begotten in the arena of busy 
 life are remembered no longer. This vast multitude, representing all 
 classes and conditions in society, has assembled to-night to give ex 
 pression to a just homage to the character of an illustrious citizen. 
 No divergence in opinion or in action between him and a large number 
 of those now here has operated to keep them away. 
 
 As the leader of the armies of the South in the late fearful civil 
 war General ROBERT E. LEE became the idol of the people whose cause 
 he espoused. Everywhere in all- that land, in the hour of defeat as in 
 the hour of victory, the name of General LEE was a tower of strength. 
 No disaster dimmed the luster of his name, nor did defeat shake the 
 confidence of his followers. There was a prestige in his presence rarely 
 equaled, never excelled, by that of any military leader of modern times. 
 Indeed it may be said of him, 
 
 " He nothing lacked in soldiership 
 Except good fortune." 
 
 But it is not of his military career I would speak. That is too 
 recent and too familiar to be dwelt upon. Wrong as I then and now 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 believe his course was, no one doubts, I imagine, that he acted from a 
 clear conviction of duty; and though his military career ended in 
 disaster it did not end in dishonor. It is, however, of ROBERT E. LEE 
 shorn of power, stripped of the trappings of war, away from the roar 
 and carnage of battle, standing out against the horizon as a man, a 
 Christian gentleman, it is that view of him to which we may point our 
 children ; it is that view which challenges the admiration of the civilized 
 world. Great as he confessedly was in war, how infinitely greater was 
 he in peace ! The luster of his military achievements grow dim before 
 the halo that surrounds his life as a private citizen. Conscious himself, 
 as any one could be, of his great services to the people whose battles 
 he had fought, he persistently, yet with modesty and becoming dignity, 
 put away from himself all proffered public honors and displays. Turn 
 ing away from the field where defeat had buried the cause for which he 
 fought, he earnestly but quietly devoted himself to the building up of a 
 great institution of learning in his native state, and to that work bent 
 all his energies. His efforts were crowned with almost unexampled 
 success. Hundreds of the youth of the land flocked to his school. 
 New life seemed to be given to the soldier-teacher, and the future was 
 full of promise to him and his associates. Putting the past far behind 
 him, he embarked in this enterprise with the ardor of youth. It was 
 there he fell; on the threshold of this new and most honorable and 
 useful career he was stricken down; and it was there in this new 
 career that the excellences of his character shone out in such winning 
 colors. He is dead ! The people mourn : some of them as for an idolized 
 and favorite leader ; others for a cherished but erring son, yet one whose 
 moderation and dignity, whose manly bearing and Christian forbearance, 
 have won an oblivion of the past, and all unite in a sorrow deep, sincere, 
 heartfelt. General LEE S name and fame as a man and a Christian is the 
 rightful inheritance of men everywhere who love honor, cherish truth, 
 and venerate true manhood; it belongs to no party, to no section; it 
 is the common property of us all. 
 
 And, my fellow-citizens, what fitter occasion than the present here, 
 we may say, in the presence of the dead, the leader of the armies of the 
 
 14 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 South what fitter occasion, I say, than this to offer, here and now, 
 upon the altar our hearts here build to the memory of this good man 
 and Christian, as an acceptable sacrifice, all the animosities, all the 
 bitterness and the heart-burnings of the past, and dedicate, with one 
 accord, our offerings to a renewed "harmony and concord," to " peace 
 and her victories." And will not the incense of such an offering reach 
 the throne of Him who proclaimed "peace on earth and good-will to 
 men?" Nay, will it not bring joy to the hearts of our LEE, our Thomas, 
 our Jackson, and our McPherson, once comrades, then estranged; but, 
 may we not hope, reunited in that brighter, that better and more 
 beautiful land which lies beyond the grave. 
 
 SPEECH OF GENERAL PRESTON. 
 
 MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I feel that it would be 
 very difficult for me to add any eulogy to that which is contained in the 
 resolutions of the committee, or a more merited tribute of praise than 
 that which has already fallen from the lips of the gentlemen who have 
 preceded me. Yet on an occasion like this I am willing to come for 
 ward and add a word to testify my appreciation of the great virtues and 
 admirable character of one who commands not only our admiration, but 
 that of the entire country. Not alone of the entire country, but his 
 character has excited more admiration in Europe than among ourselves. 
 In coming ages his name will be illustrious, and one of the richest 
 treasures of the future. I speak of one just gone down to death; ripe 
 in all the attributes of manhood, and illustrious by deeds the most 
 remarkable that have occurred in the history of America since its 
 discovery. It is now some two and twenty years since I first made the 
 acquaintance of General LEE. He was in the prime of manhood in 
 Mexico, and I first saw him as the chief engineer of General Scott in the 
 valley of Mexico. I see around me two old comrades who then knew 
 General LEE. He was a man of remarkable personal beauty and great 
 grace of body. He had a finished form, delicate hands, and graceful 
 
 15 
 
IN-MEMORIAM. 
 
 person, while here and there a gray hair streaked with its silver lining 
 the dark locks with which nature had clothed his noble brow. There 
 were discerning minds then that appreciated his genius and saw in him 
 the coming captain of America. His commander and his comrades 
 appreciated his ability. To a club which was then organized he 
 belonged, together with General McClellan, General Beauregard, and a 
 host of others. They recognized in LEE a master-spirit. 
 
 He was never violent; never wrangled; was averse to quarreling, 
 and not a single difficulty marked his career; but all acknowledged his 
 justness, his fortitude, and wonderful evenness of mind. Rare intelli 
 gence combined with these qualities served to make him a fit repre 
 sentative of his great prototype, General Washington. He was a 
 graduate of West Point, and had been accomplished by every finish 
 that a thorough military education could bestow. 
 
 I remember when General LEE was appointed lieutenant-colonel, 
 at the same time that Albert Sydney Johnston was appointed colonel, 
 and General Scott thought that LEE should have been colonel. I 
 talked with General Scott on the subject long before the late struggle 
 between the North and South took place, and he then said that LEE was 
 the greatest living soldier in America. He did not object to the other 
 commissions, saying he thought them the best soldiers of the army, but 
 he thought LEE should be first promoted. Finally, he said to me with 
 emphasis: "I tell you that if I were on my death-bed to-morrow, 
 and the President of the United States should tell me that a great battle 
 was to be fought for the liberty or slavery of the country and asked my 
 judgment as to the ability of a commander, I would say with my dying 
 breath let it be ROBERT E. LEE." Ah! great soldier that he was; 
 princely general that he was, he has fulfilled his mission and borne it so 
 that no invidious tongue can level the shafts of calumny at the great 
 character which he has left behind him. 
 
 But, ladies and gentlemen, it was not in this only that the matchless 
 attributes of his character were found. You have assembled here not 
 so much to do honor to General LEE as to testify your appreciation 
 
 of the worth of his principles; and if the minds of this assemblage 
 
 16 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 were explored you would find there was a gentleness and grace in his 
 character which had won your love and brought forth testimonials 
 of universal admiration. Take but a single instance. At the battle 
 of Gettysburg, after the attack on the cemetery, when his troops 
 were repulsed and beaten, the men threw up their muskets and said: 
 "General, we have failed, and it is our fault." " No, my men," said he; 
 "you have done well. It is my fault; I am to blame, and no one but 
 me." What man is there that would not have gone to renewed death 
 for such a leader? So, when we examine his whole character, it is 
 in his private life that we find his true greatness : the Christian sim 
 plicity of his character in his great veneration for truth ; and in a serene 
 nobility the grand elements of his greatness. What man could have 
 laid down his sword at the feet of a victorious general with greater 
 dignity than did he at Appomattox Court-house? He even in calamity 
 secured for his soldiers the best terms that fortune would permit. In 
 that he displayed marked greatness seldom shown by great captains. 
 After the battle of Sedan the wild cries of the citizens of Paris went 
 out for the blood of the Emperor; but at Appomattox veneration and 
 love Only shone from the eyes of the troops who looked upon their 
 Commander. 
 
 I will not trespass upon your time much further. When I last saw 
 him the raven hair had turned white. In a small village church his 
 reverent head was bowed in prayer. The humblest step was that of 
 ROBERT E. LEE as he entered the portals of the temple erected to God. 
 In broken responses he answered to the services of the church. Noble, 
 sincere, and humble in his religion, he showed forth his true character 
 near the close of his life in laying aside his sword to educate the youth 
 of his country. Never did he appear more noble than at that time. He 
 is now gone and rests in peace. He has crossed that mysterious stream 
 that Stonewall Jackson saw with inspired eyes when he asked that he 
 might be permitted to take his troops across the river and forever rest 
 beneath the shadows of the trees. 
 
 17 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 THE BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 The Board of Trade held a meeting on the afternoon of the I4th. 
 President J. J. Porter called the meeting to order and stated that the 
 object of the meeting was to take appropriate action in regard to the 
 melancholy intelligence of the death of General ROBERT E. LEE. 
 
 Mr. V. P. Armstrong moved that a committee of three be appointed 
 to draft resolutions expressing the sense of the Board of Trade in 
 regard to the death of General ROBERT E. LEE. The motion was 
 carried, and President Porter appointed Messrs. Vene P. Armstrong, 
 Andrew Graham, and E. W. Kennedy as the committee, who pre 
 sented the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously 
 adopted : 
 
 Whereas, feeling in common with our fellow- citizens throughout the land the great loss 
 we have sustained in the death of General ROBERT E. LEE, we, as the Board of Trade of 
 this city, should unite in the universal testimonial of sorrow and grief at the death of this 
 great and good man; it is therefore 
 
 Resolved, that our usual business be suspended, and that the members of this Board be 
 requested to assemble at the Board of Trade rooms in time to attend in a body upon the 
 funeral services, to be held at such time and place as shall be designated. 
 
 Resolved, that this Board adjourn until Monday next, at half past twelve o clock, P. M., 
 in consideration of this national calamity. 
 
 18 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 THE PRESS. 
 
 HENRY WATTERSON S leader in the " Courier- Journal " of October 13, 1870. 
 THE DEAD CHIEFTAIN. 
 
 The announcement of the death of ROBERT E. LEE this morning will 
 startle newspaper readers everywhere. Although the event was fore 
 shadowed by the tidings which came to us from Lexington a few days 
 ago, the public mind had taken pause upon it, and hope at least deferred 
 its realization. The telegram which this issue of the Courier-Journal 
 conveys to the country ends the anxiety occasioned by the first news of 
 his illness, and closes the career of a man who will be recognized as the 
 most eminent of the contemporary soldiers of America. 
 
 We are quite sure that we do not overestimate the character of 
 General LEE or the place he will occupy in the annals of his time. We 
 are writing late at night, and in answer to a most unlooked-for and dis 
 turbing telegram; but we are conscious of no sectional or partisan 
 inspiration. As a soldier in the old army, as the chief of the soldiers of 
 the Confederate army, this man commended himself first to the respect 
 of his comrades and then to the admiration of his kind. It is possible 
 that General LEE was not so great an organizer as General Johnston ; 
 that he was not so great a strategist as General Jackson ; that he lacked 
 the distinguishing characteristics of Charles of Sweden and of Napoleon 
 Bonaparte. He was certainly not a Caesar or a Charlemagne. He lived 
 in different times; his lot was cast in the midst of a different people. 
 But when the mind runs back in a historic spirit over the achievements 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 that signalized the genius and prowess of ancient and modern warfare ; 
 over the noble victories of Alexander and Wellington ; over the splendid 
 adversities of Philip, Hannibal, and Maurice de Saxe; over the civic 
 triumphs of Cromwell and Washington, of Old Hickory and of Grant; 
 it will confess that ROBERT E. LEE carved out of fortune for himself a 
 place imposing and exceptional. He was in every way a picked man. 
 In personal appearance, in personal endowments, in peculiar qualities of 
 head and heart, he shone conspicuous. He was a more lovable and a 
 more brilliant man than Washington, at the same time that he com 
 bined the moderation, self-sacrificing spirit, and directness of purpose 
 which dignified and adorned the character of the Father of his Country. 
 General LEE was a most genuine and undoubting Southerner. He cared 
 nothing about the politics of the Confederacy. He accepted the battle 
 when the battle began without asking who began it or what was its 
 source or object. He believed it to be a fight for the defense of his 
 native land and people, and he fought it to the end with a courage, with 
 a skill, with a patience, with a humanity which have been rarely dis 
 played by the commander of great armies. 
 
 Down to the surrender of the Confederate forces the career of General 
 LEE was that of an eminent officer and a thoroughly good man. What 
 shall be said of his conduct since the surrender? We put it to all men, 
 but we put it more particularly to the impartial intelligence of the 
 northern people and we put it as at once an emblem and a hostage ot 
 southern genius and valor to say whether the history of the world 
 presents another spectacle so rotund and beautiful. It is impossible 
 to do justice to the character and conduct of this man in adversity; 
 his modest bearing and unobtrusive spirit; his patient zeal and sunny 
 earnestness in marking out a pathway for energies that could not be 
 quenched by sorrow and defeat; his thorough abstinence from all vain 
 glorious, entangling public appearances; his manly self-denial and 
 graceful recognition of actual facts. But one other name in our history 
 bears a near relationship with his, and that the name of his kinsman, 
 George Washington. It is an honor to America, and it ought to be a 
 pride with every American, to feel that two such names belong to his 
 
 20 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 country and to him, and are a part of the national heritage. There is 
 not a radical in the land ; there is not a partisan from Cape Cod to the 
 Pacific seas, who has not an interest in the fame of this great Virginian ; 
 and if the secret heart of every American citizen could be probed to-day 
 it would be found that there is not a man on the continent who will not 
 read the tidings of his death with a feeling that the Republic has lost a 
 citizen, not that the South has lost a partisan. 
 
 In the South there will be sadness indeed; and as the demonstrations 
 of sorrow which will proceed out of every hamlet and home and be 
 manifested in every public place contain a meaning distinct and unequiv 
 ocal, it is proper that this should be in advance made plain. The country 
 must not be deceived into misconception by unworthy explanations or 
 by cunning interpretations, done by partisans for a partisan interest 
 and in a partisan spirit. The people of the South have a sentiment at 
 heart higher even than their political well-being; a sentiment that has 
 hardened to a conviction ; a sentiment that has formed itself down in 
 the depths of every one of us, ascending thence like a monument on 
 which the images of the past, images of sorrow and of glory, images 
 of heroes and of hopes, images of loves and griefs and triumphs and 
 disappointments, dear and blessed images, are carved in lines which 
 can never be and ought never to be erased. The death of the best- 
 loved Confederate soldier brings us, as it were, face to face with this 
 beautiful and sacred but broken shaft which misfortune has set up 
 within us ; and as the funeral ceremonies, like torches about an ancient 
 grave, lighten the gloom and disclose the figures and inscriptions, we 
 shall not be misjudged if we undertake a not unreasoning reassertion 
 of our own record, which is, in a certain sense, epitomized in the record 
 of ROBERT E. LEE. 
 
 There can never be genuine peace in this country, and the freemen 
 of the North can rest assured that there will never be any genuine 
 republicanism, as long as the South is required, either by the national 
 spirit or by political interest, to go back upon physical antecedents 
 which embrace nothing that does not glorify the character of American 
 manhood. To those partisans, or rather to those mercenaries, who 
 
IN MEMO R I AM. 
 
 would use the death of LEE as an occasion for needless assaults upon 
 the cause which he maintained with so much integrity and courage we 
 have merely to say : 
 
 Wolf of the weald and yellow-footed kite, 
 Enough is spread for you of meaner prey." 
 
 We feel sure, however, that of this sort there will be few examples; 
 and, as we have faith in the culture and the rectitude of the head 
 and the heart of the South, we trust largely in the liberality, the good- 
 fellowship, and the just principles of the great body of northern people, 
 who, like ourselves, are American citizens, and ought to join with 
 us and share with us in whatever graces our country. The old 
 feudal notions of treason do not belong to our generation or to our 
 institutions, and their influence on our mode of thinking and writing 
 and talking about public affairs is not essential to the preservation of 
 our unity or our freedom or our peace. If we wish to secure our 
 future we must regard the war between the sections as a war of mistakes, 
 but not of disgraces ; as a war over an open question which we could not 
 settle by debate, not a war in which all the right was arrayed on one side 
 and all the wrong on the other; a war brought about by misconceptions 
 and perversities the most miserable but the most honest, not a war of dis 
 loyalty here and of conquest there ; a war in which each party was terribly 
 sincere; a war, in short, which we may deplore, but of which we have no 
 reason to be ashamed. We freely concede the generosity of the victo 
 rious North. The world has never witnessed terms so liberal extended 
 to soldiers beaten in civil broil; and while we take into the account the 
 manifest interest which prompted the North to be generous, to say 
 nothing about the obligations she owed her record and the civilization 
 of our epoch, we grudge her none of our gratitude and respect. If the 
 most successful of her soldiers should die to-morrow, as Farragut died 
 but yesterday although Grant is involved in current and violent partisan 
 entanglements, and it is our daily business and duty to show how he 
 made a better general than he makes a president we should forget the 
 wrangles of the hour, and should only remember that when he won the 
 
IN MEMOR1AM. 
 
 sword of LEE he bore himself like a gentleman and a man of honor, as 
 we would have every American bear himself. And, standing here by 
 the grave of this brave Virginian, we say and we speak for Davis and 
 Breckinridge and Buckner and Duke and Brown of Tennessee and 
 Forrest and Preston and a hundred more that there is nothing we ask 
 for our hero that we are unwilling or unready to give to yours. Let 
 that be the guarantee of our fidelity to our engagements and our absti 
 nence from all warlike revenges when we add that we regret nothing 
 but our failure, and that we shall not regret that when the peace and 
 liberty of the Union, purified and modernized and restored, are assured 
 to every American citizen. 
 
 With this feeling we gather about the dead body of ROBERT E. 
 LEE. He was the idol of the South. The southern people believed 
 him to be the greatest and the best of men; they followed him un- 
 doubting to the end; and these ceremonies belong to their affections. 
 Out from the brown woods, down from the dapple skies, troops of 
 fancies come and go ; fancies that are all tinted by sorrow as the leaves 
 are tinted by the season ; melancholy but noble fancies, whose form and 
 body went out long ago in the smoke of disastrous battles. The North 
 must deal gently by these sensibilities, for outside of our country civil 
 ized nations recognize their justice and their truth. One touch of 
 sorrow makes the whole world kin. But this is a touch of sorrow 
 which is intertwisted with other sorrows; with sorrows unknown and 
 unseen; the sorrow which private griefs join to public calamities and 
 national distress. The tenderness and dignity of this man; his beautiful 
 spirit in the field and by the fireside; his benign yet stately presence ; his 
 moderation; his loyalty; his simplicity ; the fortunes and the misfortunes 
 through which he passed; all bring up before us dear ones of whom the 
 world knows nothing, but who fought and fell with him. This sentiment 
 is the more acute because of misfortune, and because also of a certain 
 restraint which a mistaken public policy has put upon the discretion of 
 the people. There was an outcropping of this false spirit in a Cincinnati 
 journal when General LEE S illness was first announced, and we dare 
 say it will show itself elsewhere, for good feeling is not universal. 
 
 23 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 The representative journals of the North should put it down. It is not 
 worthy the people who are most truly represented when represented by 
 the magnanimity of Horace Greeley and the gentle charity of John 
 Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
 Readers of Philip Van Artevelde will remember that after the great 
 Ghentish leader was slain the Duke of Bourbon wished the body to 
 be nailed to a tree that all might see it. There are those who would 
 thus hang up the effigy of the great Virginian. But the rebuke of the 
 Duke of Burgundy to the Duke of Bourbon is the reply of the genuine 
 soldier as we believe it to be the sense of the great body of the northern 
 people : 
 
 " No, brother, no; 
 
 It were not for our honor, nor the King s, 
 To use it so. Dire rebel though he was, 
 Yet with a noble nature and great gifts 
 Was he endowed courage, discretion, zeal, 
 An equal temper and an ample soul, 
 Rock-bound and fortified against assaults 
 Of transitory passion ; but below, 
 Built on a surging, subterraneous fire, 
 That stirred and lifted him to high attempts. 
 So prompt and capable and yet so calm, 
 He nothing lack d in soldiership 
 Except good fortune. 
 
 Wherefore with honor lay him in his grave, 
 And thereby shall increase of honor come 
 Unto their arms who vanquished one so wise, 
 So valiant, so renowned." 
 
 This, it seems to us, is the spirit for the North, and we believe it 
 to be the spirit of the North. Upon our faith in it we ground not only 
 the liberalism with which we are credited, but our confidence in the 
 future of our country; and as we look forward to nothing but the 
 national life and the national union, made free to all men, we claim the 
 right to look back with pride upon the war record of the South and 
 to honor its warriors. There must be no proscription in this land of 
 ours. We are too young a people to allow Old-world feudalism to 
 creep into our dialect, much less into our system; and as we pretend 
 
 24 
 
IN MEMOKIAM. 
 
 to be free ourselves, we can not afford to allow the enslavement or the 
 degradation of any class. The North must not seek to subdue the 
 spirit of the South, and the South must seek to elevate the spirit of 
 that element which it is the bounden duty of us all to protect unto 
 the end that a new compact may form itself out of our reason and our 
 better nature, and not out of the avarice of political interest and the 
 ignorance of popular passion. 
 
 Thus shall our trials be merely the tests of our virtue; thus shall 
 our losses turn to glorious uses ; thus shall we make the present 
 tolerable by tolerance, and so 
 
 "Enrich the time to come with smooth-faced peace, 
 With smiling plenty, and fair, prosperous days." 
 
 From the "Louisville Commercial," October 15, 1870. 
 HONORS TO GENERAL LEE. 
 
 The funeral of General LEE will take place to-day, and all through 
 the South evidences of respect for his memory and of the affection in 
 which he was held by the southern people will be exhibited by a 
 general suspension of business and special commemorative services. 
 This was to be expected. That the people of the South should revere 
 the great soldier who stood their main bulwark for so many years of war 
 is no more than natural ; anything less from them would savor some 
 what of ingratitude. The regret to which such general expression will 
 be given to-day is beyond doubt deep and sincere. The same qualities 
 that made his soldiers love and revere him won for General LEE the 
 warm and affectionate regard of the people of his section. He was 
 eminently a man to attract them. Of an old and distinguished family, 
 of high social position, of magnificent physique, of the purest private 
 character, thoroughly accomplished both as a soldier and a gentleman, 
 brilliant as a man, and their most conspicuous general in a struggle in 
 
 25 
 
IN MEMO RI AM. 
 
 which all their sympathies were aroused, it is no wonder that they 
 mourn his death. 
 
 The demonstration in Louisville will be as marked as elsewhere. 
 It is creditable to the mayor and to the gentlemen who have taken a 
 leading part in inaugurating the proceedings to be had here that they 
 have studiously endeavored to divest them, as far as possible, of all 
 sectional and political bias. It would be well for the country if the 
 heart-burnings and dissensions to which the war gave rise could be 
 buried out of sight in the graves of the great leaders who are passing 
 one by one from among us, and the disposition shown here by those 
 most anxious to do General LEE honor will, we believe, tend to that 
 result. It is no fault of theirs that it is impossible to go as far in that 
 direction as they show a desire to go. General LEE is too essentially 
 a representative man for that. His private character has always com 
 manded the respect of the nation, and that feeling has been heightened 
 by the eminent propriety of his conduct since the close of the war. 
 Therefore those who condemned his course most bitterly can on this 
 day, when dust returns to dust again, pay to his memory the tribute of 
 silence about his great fault. In the midst of ceremonies in his honor 
 by those who love him for his deeds as well as for himself, more should 
 not be asked of those who disapprove much that he did all the more 
 
 because it was he who did it. 
 
 26 
 
7A r MEMORIAM. 
 
 EX-CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS. 
 
 As soon as advised of General LEE S death a number of Confederate 
 soldiers residing in the city held a meeting at the Louisville Hotel, to 
 take appropriate action in relation thereto. Committees were appointed 
 to wait upon the General Council and request the cooperation of the 
 city in making arrangements for the proper observance of the funeral ; 
 to request the citizens to close their houses of business; to request the 
 ministers of all the churches in the city to have their church-bells tolled, 
 and order other ceremonies appropriate and proper; and to suggest to 
 the Chief of the Fire Department that the fire-bells be tolled during the 
 funeral services. 
 
 A special meeting was called for the evening of October I3th, at 
 the court-house, and a committee instructed to duly extend notices of 
 the fact. 
 
 At the night meeting the attendance was large. The meeting was 
 called to order by Major Clinton McClarty, who announced that it was 
 a meeting adjourned from the morning, and that arrangements would be 
 perfected to testify the soldiers regard for their late Commander. 
 
 On motion, Rev. W. H. Platt was requested to deliver a funeral 
 oration at eleven o clock on the morrow at St. Paul s Church. 
 
 A committee appointed to notify Mr. Platt of the appointment soon 
 reported his acceptance. It was decided to attend the funeral services 
 as a body in procession. 
 
 A meeting was appointed for Monday night at Masonic Temple, 
 and the following-named gentlemen instructed to report appropriate 
 resolutions: Messrs. P. B. Scott, S. B. Buckner, W. L. Jackson, 
 B. W. Duke, and Wm. J. Davis. 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 On the night of October i/th the following resolutions were reported 
 by the committee and adopted : 
 
 Whereas, it has pleased God to call from the field of his usefulness the patriot-soldier, 
 the accomplished gentleman, and the exemplary Christian, General ROBERT E. LEE : 
 
 Resolved, that we, formerly soldiers in the armies of the Confederate States, while bowing 
 in humility to the dispensations of an all-wise Providence, can not restrain the utterances of 
 our sorrow at the affliction which has thus suddenly befallen us in the death of our late beloved 
 Commander. 
 
 Resolved, that in the character of General ROBERT E. LEE, whether he be viewed as a 
 soldier battling for the right, as a citizen unobtrusively pursuing the useful paths of civil life, 
 or as a Christian gentleman, furnishing in his acts an example for our imitation, we recognize 
 that type of true greatness, so complete in itself that the highest station could not add to its 
 luster, and so exalted that it claims the admiration of mankind and commands the love and 
 reverence of all who have followed him in his illustrious career. 
 
 Resolved, that, while giving imperfect expression to our sorrow, we extend to the afflicted 
 family of our deceased Commander our heartfelt sympathies in their bereavement; for, while 
 the world has lost an ornament of which civilization should be proud, they have been suddenly 
 bereft of one whose daily life was an exemplification of the imperishable virtues which dignify 
 human nature and beautify and make sacred the influences of home. 
 
 Resolved, that, as a testimonial of respect to the memory of one we loved so well while 
 living, we wear the customary badge of mourning during thirty days. 
 
 Resolved, that the chairman of this meeting transmit a copy of these resolutions to the 
 family of our late beloved General. 
 
 Resolved, that in the transmission of these resolutions the chairman of this meeting be 
 requested to accompany the same with a letter to Mrs. Lee expressive of the sense of peculiar 
 personal sorrow felt by his soldiers in view of the death of General LEE. 
 
 LETTER ACCOMPANYING THE RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 LOUISVILLE, OCTOBER, 1870. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: At a meeting of officers and soldiers of the late 
 Confederate army, now residing in this city, over which I was recently 
 called to preside, upon the occasion of the death of your father, General 
 ROBERT E. LEE, certain resolutions were adopted which I was directed 
 in their behalf to transmit to his family. A copy of these resolutions 
 you will find inclosed. 
 
 In discharging this sad duty I trust you will permit me to say that, 
 
 amidst the universal evidences of admiration and respect shown by the 
 
 28 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 whole country for the character of General LEE, we, once his soldiers 
 and officers, heard the intelligence with profound sorrow. Around the 
 great and good soldier whose death we deplore the strongest convic 
 tions of patriotic duty and the noblest hopes of freemen once clustered. 
 Animated by his genius, we bore every privation with fortitude; with 
 him memories of great victories and glorious deeds in arms are insep 
 arably associated; and the dignity of his life, undejected by calamity, 
 yet inspires in our hearts that constant love which adversity never 
 diminished and death now consecrates. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with the deepest sympathy and respect, 
 
 your obedient servant. 
 
 W. PRESTON. 
 
 General CUSTIS LEE, Lexington, Virginia. 
 
 A committee was appointed to collect and publish in appropriate 
 form the various tributes of respect offered to the memory of General 
 ROBERT E. LEE by the citizens of Louisville. 
 
 SPEECH OF GENERAL PRESTON. 
 
 FRIENDS AND COMRADES: The honor is deeply appreciated by me of 
 being called upon to preside over you this evening for the solemn pur 
 pose of declaring our sorrow at the death of General LEE. Amidst the 
 general regret of the people, I trust it may not be inappropriate to 
 observe that the sentiment created among us, who were once his soldiers 
 and officers, must be naturally deeper than the general admiration and 
 respect of men not so intimately associated with him during his life. 
 It is true that we unite with all who admire heroic deeds and gentle 
 virtues in testifying our reverence and love for ROBERT LEE; but his 
 loss must come more poignantly to us who erewhile followed his 
 standard, but now lament his death. It is therefore right that we should 
 in this separate meeting testify our love and respect for the dead. In 
 
 another aspect it is proper. The military career of General LEE was 
 
 29 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 illustrious by his deeds, but his life closed in adversity. Its shadows 
 have not obscured his fame; and we, in offering the heartfelt homage of 
 our love and veneration, are not only consoled but encouraged by his 
 course to imitate his great and good example. 
 
 ROBERT LEE was fitted both by birth and education for a renowned 
 career. His family was distinguished by its intelligence, courage, and 
 patriotism, and rendered eminent service in the Revolution which 
 separated the colonies from England. He inherited not only these 
 ancestral virtues, but nature endowed him with a form of great sym 
 metry and beauty and a mind of rare excellence. The benevolence of 
 his disposition gave to his manners a polished and courtly grace which 
 harmonized wonderfully with his serene and elevated character. He was 
 closely connected with the family of Washington, and was the nearest 
 representative of the illustrious Father of his Country. LEE inherited 
 the moral virtues and lofty principles of the great Virginian, and his 
 natural abilities were strengthened by a thorough military education at 
 West Point, where he excelled his associates and stood first among his 
 classmates. He was from early youth distinguished by unblemished 
 morals, and a sincere and unaffected piety gave a matchless grace and 
 dignity to the man. 
 
 Such was LEE in Mexico, when he first became widely known as the 
 chief engineer upon the staff of General Scott. His talents, his pro 
 fessional attainments, and his sincere character gave him great influence 
 among his brother officers, so that, without seeming to desire to sway 
 any opinions, no mind in the army exerted greater influence over the 
 soldiery. The General confided in him absolutely, and that confidence 
 was justified by the brilliant services he rendered. It may indeed be said 
 that his aid was essential to General Scott; that in a great measure the 
 triumphs of our arms in the valley of Mexico may be attributed to his 
 skill ; and that our acquisition of the golden coast of the Pacific is the 
 offspring of his genius. 
 
 It is well known among his comrades and friends that General LEE 
 at the commencement of the war between the states was reluctant to 
 take up arms; he hoped to avoid the fearful alternative of civil war; 
 
 30 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 but when his native state, Virginia, finding her territory was to be 
 invaded, declared her separation from the Federal Union, true to his 
 convictions of honor, patriotism, and duty, he drew his sword for her 
 defense. At that time the talents and attainments of LEE were so 
 highly appreciated that it may be said it was within his choice to com 
 mand either the Federal or Confederate army. I have heard it related, 
 and believe it true, that about that time General Scott used all his 
 influence to induce General LEE to remain in the Federal service. An 
 old friendship and strong affection existed between them, cemented 
 by their former intimacy in Mexico. At that period General Scott 
 possessed great power and control in the government. He had devoted 
 himself ardently to the cause of the Union ; and his counsels in the first 
 moments of irresolution had given purpose, plan, and nerve to the 
 alarmed administration. He urged General LEE by every induce 
 ment that could fire the ambition of a soldier and by every persuasion 
 friendship could suggest to remain in the Federal army, assuring him 
 that it would be placed under his supreme command; but all was in 
 vain. LEE with gentle dignity arose and said, "Ah! General, would 
 you, my friend, who know me so well, think to tempt me?" and left 
 him forever. 
 
 It is not my purpose, upon an occasion like the present, to examine 
 or eulogize the military genius displayed by General LEE in the cam 
 paigns in Virginia. The historian may hereafter record and the student 
 read the annals of the war, in which the small and badly equipped 
 armies of the Confederacy defeated and humiliated for four years the 
 multitudinous hosts of their enemies. The motives, the sacrifices, the 
 sufferings, and the splendid victories of a brave people will yet be 
 commemorated by learning and genius; but the events are too recent 
 and the animosities too great to permit the facts to be considered in our 
 time with impartiality or profit. An occasion like this should therefore 
 teach us to give repose to such recollections, for the life of our great 
 leader gives us an instructive example for our imitation. But while 
 we feel the force of such reasons, on the other hand we must not by an 
 over-haste to propitiate favor or avert oppression do aught that may be 
 
 31 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 in violation of our own self-respect. Governed, in my belief, by as pure 
 and noble motives as ever warmed the souls of freemen, we engaged in 
 a dreadful and unequal war. In the mighty struggle we lost our worldly 
 wealth, but not our honor. No enemy, however malevolent, can truth 
 fully say that we tamely relinquished our rights, or ever retreated before 
 an equal force, or stained our victories by cruelty. When our General 
 at Appomattox capitulated to five-fold his force the soldiers, without 
 fear, flight, or disorder, and without murmur or reproach, grounded 
 forever their arms at the order of their beloved Commander. Since that 
 momentous day let the world attest the patience, the honor, and the 
 fidelity with which all have observed the terms of surrender. The men, 
 though abandoning forever many cherished hopes, consecrated by the 
 lives of friends, kindred, and countrymen upon the battle-field, and by 
 their own blood, so often and freely shed, laid down their arms and 
 passed into the quiet pursuits of civil life. The General devoted at once 
 his whole time to the education of the youth of the country. Both he 
 and they by their industry and resignation and fortitude have given an 
 example of a brave and dreaded army passing from war to peace without 
 tumult, robbery, pillage, or the disorders following a long and bloody 
 war, such as have been usual in disbanding great bodies of armed men. 
 Their conduct has no parallel in history. The troops were animated by 
 the truthful soul of their General ; and he was strengthened and sup 
 ported by the noble spirit of his soldiers. Throughout the country the 
 same feeling governed our people. I see around me now, I behold 
 every day in the streets, men in the apparel of mechanics, or engaged 
 in humble avocations, who were once wealthy, and in the war often led 
 serried battalions to victory. Their lands have been confiscated, their 
 homes burned, their kindred slain; but no craven murmur is uttered, no 
 unmanly repining, no vindictive threat spoken ; but we see them assem 
 bled here, and throughout the suffering South, with no language but 
 that of love and veneration for our lamented chief. O, great General, 
 but still greater soldiers, it is not your chiefs who have given valor, 
 fortitude, and renown to you, but you who have supported, sustained, 
 and consoled your leaders. Our great chief, alas ! is no more, and we 
 
 32 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 lament him as soldiers should mourn for such a general; but even in his 
 death he has given us a priceless consolation, for no Promethean moan 
 escaped the lips of LEE while living, but he sunk to death shrouded in 
 silence, mutely witnessing the unappealing sufferings of his people. 
 Let us then, dear friends and comrades, profit by the impressive lesson 
 of his brave and pure life, and let our people thoughtfully remember his 
 eloquent silence and sublime fortitude under mighty trials. 
 
 I have said that ROBERT E. LEE has passed the great ordeal of life 
 with steadfast courage to the grave; but it may be further said that 
 neither he nor the people of the South could have borne themselves so 
 greatly under their misfortunes by virtue and courage alone. The 
 Christian faith lent to our General its mighty aid. The dying Bayard 
 in his last hour gazed upon the cross upon his sword hilt to strengthen 
 his knightly soul before he passed the mysterious portals of death ; but 
 our LEE followed the Cross in early youth, in mature manhood, and in 
 old age, in victory or defeat, in war and peace, with humble and rever 
 ential tread, and bore it to the grave. The glories of his victories pale 
 before the luster of his faith, and the splendors of his genius before the 
 light of his virtues. Hereafter posterity will erect a monument of 
 bronze or marble to commemorate the deeds and victories of the great 
 Captain of America, and upon it, not inappropriately, might be inscribed 
 some simple and half-forgotten lines, chiseled upon the grave-stone of 
 an old soldier, which linger in my memory: 
 
 "When I was young I shed my youthful blood 
 On foughten fields for my dear country s good ; 
 When I was old I only sought to be 
 Soldier for Him who shed His blood for me." 
 33 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 OBSEQUIES. 
 
 In the morning papers of the I5th instant appeared the subjoined 
 notices : 
 
 MAYOR S OFFICE, LOUISVILLE, KY., October 15, 1870. 
 70 the Citizens of Louisville : 
 
 I would recommend that our citizens unite in paying a just and suitable tribute of 
 respect to the memory of the late General ROHERT E. LEE by closing their places of 
 business to-day during the time devoted to his funeral obsequies, between the hours of 
 eleven A. M. and two P. M. It is requested that the church-bells be tolled during those 
 hours, as will be the case with the bells of the engine-houses. I think that such an 
 expression of respect may very properly be manifested by our whole community without 
 doing violence to any political or party feeling. We should simply view the deceased as 
 an upright American citizen, against whose private character there was no reproach, and 
 whose many Christian virtues and eminent qualities of mind distinguished him as one of 
 
 the great men of the nation. 
 
 JOHN G. BAXTER, Mayor. 
 
 The committee of arrangements appointed at the Confederate meet 
 ing issued this notice: 
 
 The telegraph having conveyed the intelligence that the funeral of the late General 
 R. E. LEE will take place to-day at Lexington, Va., all business men of the city are requested, 
 in accordance with previous arrangements, to close their respective places of business at ten 
 o clock A. M. for the day, through respect for the illustrious dead. The bells of the city 
 
 will be tolled from six A. M. to six P. M. 
 
 \V. F. BEASLEY, 
 
 J. M. KENNARD, 
 CHARLES SEMPLE. 
 
 The special committee of ex-Confederate soldiers issued the follow 
 ing order for the procession to St. Paul s Church. 
 
 In accordance with a resolution passed at the meeting of ex-Confederate soldiers on the 
 evening of the I3th October to take action in reference to the death of General R. E. LEE, 
 
 34 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 all ex-Confederate soldiers are hereby requested to meet at eleven o clock this morning in 
 front of the court-house. They will there form in procession and proceed to St. Paul s 
 Church, where a funeral oration will be pronounced by Rev. W. H. Platt, at half past 
 eleven o clock A. M., which corresponds with the hour of the services in Lexington. It is 
 particularly requested that each ex-Confederate soldier will provide himself with crape for 
 the left arm, as a badge of mourning for our deceased leader. The public generally are 
 invited to the services. 
 
 The following named gentlemen are charged with the proper formation of the procession 
 and its order of march: B. W. Duke, chief marshal; James M. Kennard, W. F. Beasley, 
 J. L. House, H. G. Evans, John B. Castleman, and C. F. Billingsley, assistant marshals. 
 
 S. B. BUCKNER, 
 
 J. P. JOHNSON, 
 CHARLES SEMPLE. 
 
 The flags on all the city buildings, steamboats, newspaper offices, 
 etc., were placed at half-mast; business was generally suspended; the 
 courts adjourned; the three medical schools, the law schools, and other 
 public institutions took a recess ; there was every external token of a 
 general sorrow, of a universal appreciation of the great Virginian, and 
 of the loss which the world sustained in his death. 
 
 By eleven o clock the roar of business had subsided to a sabbath- 
 day stillness, broken only by the solemn tolling of the bells. The eye 
 caught on every side long vistas of streets festooned with funeral 
 drapery; pictures of the dead hero, decked with flowers and symbols 
 of mourning, could be seen at every turn, surrounded by groups of 
 citizens speaking in subdued tones and bearing on their faces the impress 
 of a sorrowful veneration, such perhaps as the faces of our fathers wore 
 when Washington died. From the portals of LEE S tomb, where good 
 men of all shades of opinion bowed their heads in sincere reverence, 
 the spirit of party shrunk abashed. The honors paid to his memory 
 in this city were confined to no party men of all shades of opinion 
 united in a spontaneous tribute to the goodness of a great man. 
 
 St. Paul s Episcopal Church was filled to its utmost capacity. The 
 ex-Confederate soldiers, about one thousand in number, with the badge 
 of mourning on their left arm, filed into the church with heads and 
 hearts bowed down with sorrow for the fallen Chieftain whom they 
 had all loved so well, and took position in front of the altar and in 
 
 35 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 the aisles. The church was heavily draped in black. Every one of 
 the vast assemblage seemed imbued with the solemnity of the occa 
 sion. The sound of the tolling bells, muffled by the massive walls of 
 the church, fell upon the ears of the vast crowd with a mournful 
 cadence. When the minister entered the pulpit to begin the sad rites 
 the congregation was hushed as with the stillness of death. The 
 services were the regular burial services of the Episcopal Church, 
 and were precisely the same as those performed over the remains of 
 the illustrious dead at Lexington, Virginia. 
 
 Never before was the solemn grandeur of the burial service so 
 deeply impressed upon the minds and hearts of the hearers. The 
 great grief of the people gave every sentence a painful interest. 
 
 The services opened with the funeral anthem, taken from the thirty- 
 ninth and nintieth Psalms. 
 
 At the conclusion of the anthem Rev. Mr. Perkins, Rector of St. 
 Paul s Church, read, in an impressive manner, the usual lesson from 
 I Cor. xv. The choir then sang this 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 As o er the past my memory strays, 
 
 Why heaves the secret sigh? 
 T is that I mourn departed days, 
 
 Still unprepared to die. 
 
 The world and worldly things beloved, 
 
 My anxious thoughts employed; 
 And time, unhallowed, unimproved, 
 
 Presents a fearful void. 
 
 Yet, Holy Father, wild despair 
 
 Chase from my laboring breast; 
 Thy grace it is which prompts the prayer, 
 
 That grace can do the rest. 
 
 My life s brief remnant shall be Thine, 
 
 And when Thy sure decree 
 Bids me this fleeting breath resign, 
 
 O speed my soul to Thee. 
 36 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 DISCOURSE OF REV. W. H. PLATT. 
 
 "Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in 
 Israel?" (2 Samuel iii, 38.) 
 
 The intelligence of the death of ROBERT E. LEE has flashed over 
 the world and millions of hearts are in mourning. Around the bier 
 of this great man how many august memories start and linger! The 
 curtain of a deepening oblivion is drawn aside, and the panorama of the 
 solemn past moves mournfully before the saddened vision of the soul. 
 The scroll of the illustrious dead is again unrolled to our remembrance 
 and the pantheon of our memory is again crowded with the martial 
 forms of fame s immortal heroes. The southern people love their living 
 and honor the memory of their dead defenders. Submissive though 
 they are to the award of war s awful arbitrament, yet mothers, like 
 Niobe, still weep for their sons that are not, and upon the streets are 
 silent mourners with the tonnage upon their hearts of sorrow that will 
 not away. But, however universal in every household is this affliction 
 at deaths in the past, to-day we bury one whose departure, by special 
 preeminence, leaves a sublime vacancy in the brotherhood of men. 
 He was a representative character on the best and grandest side of 
 humanity. Leadership in momentous issues is a high responsibility; 
 but to lead magnanimously, with a firm will and a humane policy, when 
 terrific passions swept a divided people with their consuming fires, and 
 never to forget the lofty duties inspired by an advanced civilization, 
 demanded those exceptional virtues which are seen only in the hero 
 of the age. As I write my eye falls upon an editorial in a northern 
 paper, which, as a summary of campaigns, and for a frank, honest, just 
 concession to historic truth, and a freedom from partisan spleen, does 
 high credit to the head and the heart of the writer. He says : 
 
 "The death of General LEE will bring everywhere tributes to his military genius. There 
 are few events in all history more striking than his defense of Richmond from 1861 to 1865. 
 With an army which was not one third, and during most of the time one quarter, as large as 
 D 37 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 the forces of his enemy, and ill supplied with munitions of war, he covered the Confederate 
 capital successfully and bade defiance to all assailants. Army after army, abundantly supplied 
 and splendidly equipped, were hurled against him, only to be badly defeated and thrown back 
 on their resources. He destroyed McClellan on the Peninsula in July, 1862. He beat Pope 
 in August at Bull Run. In December, 1862, he routed Burnside at Fredericksburg. In 1863 
 he overwhelmed Hooker at Chancellorsville and gained a most unparalleled victory. From 
 May to November, 1864, his army killed and wounded more of Grant s troops than he had 
 men, and the former could never have entered the metropolis of Virginia had it not been 
 for the successes of Sherman on another line of operations. Although Richmond is but one 
 hundred and twenty miles from Washington not further than Columbus is from Cincinnati 
 although it is near Philadelphia and New York, and to the great centers of northern population, 
 yet for forty-eight months with from 50,000 to 70,000 men he bade all the efforts of 250,000 
 soldiers defiance. This shows he had military skill of the highest order. He was the Ajax 
 of the South. For years his army, and his army alone, stood between them and destruction. 
 When he surrendered, and not until then, was the contest lost. His genius was not perhaps 
 so well adapted to offensive warfare, but in the defensive he was equal, if not superior, to 
 Fabius or Washington. With his small resources no one could have done better. The un 
 fortunate invasions of Maryland and Pennsylvania in 1862 and 1863, which ended in Antietam 
 and Gettysburg, were made against his advice and protestation. If France had had such 
 a man to maintain the integrity of her territory, the Prussians would not have been to-day 
 anywhere near Paris, and most likely would have been expelled from French soil. The odds 
 which he contended against were greater than hers. He was a great captain in the science 
 <rf military tactics, and even before the rebellion, in 1 86 1, he had obtained the reputation 
 m the old Federal army as being the ablest tactician in the service, which his after-career 
 fully justified." 
 
 When the intolerant passions of the hour shall have softened to 
 the patient temper of calm discussion and of fair and impartial judgment, 
 I doubt not that military criticism will concede to the great Confederate 
 genius of the highest order for both aggressive as well as defensive 
 warfare. Time and the publication of his military journal will supply 
 to history great explanations, and secure to General LEE the glories 
 of great achievements where now seems only the cloud of misfortune 
 and defeat. 
 
 His mind, like his person, was modeled upon exactest harmonies, 
 with but few parallels and no superiors. God develops great characters 
 only in great trials. Pattern virtues in pattern men are the gift and care 
 f the Deity, and can not be lost to fame. A true hero is the solitary 
 gift of an era of centuries. The mass of men must follow and revere. 
 It was exalting to the feelings of the world who looked upon the con 
 flict, and it should be the pride of this continent, that ROBERT E. LEE 
 was of this land and age; that armies have been led by one whom 
 
 38 
 
 ( > 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 Christian philosophy had molded into the divinest type possible to 
 mortal nature. Whatever others may say of his course, he was con 
 fessedly grand in it, right or wrong. He made high demonstrations 
 of moral possibilities, and furnished to history the most crowded chapter 
 of its annals. Was ever a cause, right or wrong, so glorified? Did 
 ever great virtues more magnify themselves ? However impoverished 
 materially may be the South, she is rich in the deathless fame of ROBERT 
 E. LEE, that is unsullied and radiant in all its sublime proportions. 
 Success would not have enhanced it, while failure only ennobled and 
 consecrated it. For four years the invincible LEE had hurled back 
 from the Confederate capital army after army, though led successively 
 by their ablest generals ; he had enlisted his last man ; he had consumed 
 his last ration; surrounded by a devastated and mourning land, ex 
 hausted by his very victories, confronted by a still fresh and larger 
 army, he surrendered with an assured fame his worn, wasted, but 
 glorious veterans. To General Grant, above all presidential honors, 
 this surrender is his vast renown, and left him nothing grander to 
 design or accomplish. 
 
 As a citizen, his example was no less conspicuous. Like the bright 
 ness of the bow upon the frown of the storm, so were his hopefulness 
 and serene grandeur amidst the perplexing and distressing chaos of 
 defeat and disappointment. In a letter before me, dated May 12, 1865, 
 after an allusion to the past, he says : " It is, however, useless to look 
 back. Now that the South is willing to have peace, I hope it may 
 be accorded upon a permanent basis; that the affections and interests 
 of the country may be united, and not a forced and hollow truce 
 formed, to be broken on the first opportunity. To this end all good 
 men should labor." 
 
 As it was primarily for Virginia he drew his sword, so to her interest 
 he devoted his days of peace. Virginia was his inspiration; her sons 
 and daughters were his pride; her soil his home; her history his 
 heritage; her prosperity his joy; and her sufferings his woe. When he 
 could no longer serve her in the field, he called her youth to his side 
 to teach them, in peace and good-will, the lessons of patient submission 
 
 39 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 and of hopeful effort. His submission was sincere and unreserved. 
 He bore with intelligent calmness his own and with the deepest sym 
 pathy the accumulated misfortunes of his people, exhibiting to the 
 world the rare example of failure without dishonor, submission without 
 abjectness, and dignity without ostentation. Only a great man can 
 fail grandly. As his splendid presence was the glory of the army, so 
 the august simplicity of his life in peace was the remolding influence 
 and impression of a people overwhelmed, revolutionized, and wasted. 
 The eyes of the thoughtful looked to him for the line of action and 
 the spirit of the hour. His mere word was still supremely potential. 
 Millions learned from his example the dignity possible to misfortune, 
 the self-respect and hopefulness of dutiful efforts, and realized the truth 
 of God s word to man, "He that is slow to anger is better than the 
 mighty, and he that ruleth his own spirit than he that taketh a city." 
 
 His Christian principles and character were his crowning adorn 
 ment, and above all else have passed within the vail. Not his sagacious 
 strategy, not his remarkable campaigns, not his victorious battles, nor 
 his ereat sacrifices now concern him. His love of the Savior and 
 
 o 
 
 faith in the sufficiency of his atonement completed the beautiful sym 
 metry of his character, and have now crowned him with everlasting 
 life. I wish I could adequately describe the scene by the side of the 
 death-bed of dear old Bishop Meade when the famous General knelt 
 to receive his parting benediction. 
 
 For nine months during the siege of Petersburg I saw no little of 
 his spiritual life. I shall never forget the scene when I read prayers 
 and preached at his headquarters, unable from the shelling of the city 
 to reach my church or open it for service. The place was one of 
 peculiar and picturesque beauty. In the distance to the east were the 
 lines of the Federal intrenchments, from which came frequent shot and 
 shell upon the city and its approaches; opposite was the city with 
 its tangled streets and rising spires ; below and along the base of the 
 bluff on which was his tent rolled with a sluggish tide the quiet 
 Appomattox. From the cabins, barns, tents, and arbors of the vicinity 
 
 around had gathered the refugees from the city, who had sought shelter 
 
 40 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 from the shells that swept over and through it by night and by day. 
 Under a large and spreading live-oak were placed the table and prayer- 
 book of the officiating minister, and around it gathered these houseless 
 people and the great General of their armies. To the right and a 
 little behind him sat General Beauregard and his staff, and still further 
 to the right and rear were General A. P. Hill and his staff, with other 
 generals and staffs, forming a congregation of several hundred, and 
 comprising many of the most conspicuous men of the South. His 
 manner at service was devout, attentive, and unaffected. At first many 
 during prayer remained seated on their rude benches, but he was too 
 great not to kneel to his God, and the example was contagious. His 
 worship was a reality. He enjoyed and was strengthened by it. He 
 had no speculative doubts of Christian truth, no reserve of faith, no 
 questioning of God s providence. His faith was a clear, satisfactory, 
 child-like trust. He loved God and little children. For the months 
 of the siege of Petersburg, when the shelling abated or was only 
 occasional, and many people returned to their homes, he was regularly 
 at church, and sat in the minister s pew and with the minister s family; 
 and when the congregation was dismissed it was no uncommon thing 
 to see him leaving the church with a bevy of children clinging to his 
 hands and coat, while his countenance beamed with benignity and 
 peace. His fondness for children was undisguised and deep. It is 
 said that one day in Richmond a number of little girls was rolling 
 hoops on the sidewalk when word was passed from one to another 
 that General LEE was riding toward them. They all gathered into 
 a still group to gaze upon one of whom they heard so much, when, 
 to their surprise, he threw his rein to his attending courier, dis 
 mounted, and kissed every one of them, and then remounting rode 
 away with the sunny smile of childhood in his heart and plans of great 
 battles in his mind. Once in Petersburg he called to see a child in 
 whom he felt a special interest, and finding her sick begged to be shown 
 to her room. When the mother, who was at a neighbor s for a moment, 
 came home to receive him she found him by the bedside of her sick 
 
 child, ministering to her comfort and cheering her with his words. 
 
 E 41 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 Who would not and does not love such a man? He who loves God 
 and little children can feel no conciousness of guilt or of ill-will to 
 his fellow-men. He loved his fellow-men. He was tender of life and 
 suffering. The record of God accuses him of no wanton aggravation 
 to the stern and bitter necessities of war. He made no war upon 
 helpless women and children, the poor and the destitute. If he struck, 
 it was at men threatening his home and the homes of the people \vho 
 called him to defend them. There was no resentment in his warfare 
 no blows with passion. He ever seemed to live as one who must give 
 an account to God. But there was in his religion faith without fanati 
 cism, prayer without pretension, and an earnestness, gentleness, and 
 simplicity that kept him tranquil in disaster and grand in the final 
 catastrophies of fortune. Modest and humble, he blamed himself for 
 his failures and glorified God for his success. 
 
 From these inner principles came an outer life and manner as 
 graceful as they were serene and majestic. Nothing unworthy could 
 abide his presence; yet all felt exalted by having seen and heard him. 
 With him the weak felt strong and the good secure. Amidst a thou 
 sand a child would have selected him as its friend, and the pure 
 and good of all ages and conditions ever felt him to be their pattern 
 and champion. 
 
 In his person he was a paragon of manliness tall, commanding, 
 and courtly. He sat his horse with a matchless grace, and ravished 
 all eyes and hearts with the peerless splendor of his personal and 
 martial bearing. Many of you may have seen the hushed reverence 
 with which his troops hailed his approach. When the resistless Jackson 
 swept down the line a shout followed his form, but when the majestic 
 LEE came, as the morning sun over a storm-ridden sea, all hearts 
 bowed in unutterable devotion. He seemed to the southern troops and 
 people more than mortal. Where he led all squadrons followed with 
 unquestioning confidence. No one ever debated the wisdom of an 
 order or suggested to him the possibility of an error. His decisions 
 were accepted as the conclusions of the highest intelligence. What 
 
 he did or advised was felt to be for the best, and what he failed to 
 
 42 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 accomplish no human power need attempt. The southern people feel 
 that their generals were unequaled in the great art of war, and that 
 their great Captain whom they mourn to-day takes his niche in the 
 gallery of the greatest warriors of the world. As they can not and 
 do not say that they failed because they were not sufficiently and 
 gloriously led, the result therefore is less galling and reproachful. 
 When LEE and the great captains who sustained him failed, and their 
 flag went down forever, they knew that the best had been done that 
 man could do. There was no effort to retrieve fortunes lost through 
 incompetent leaders no lingering, desultory, guerrilla strife in the 
 wilderness and mountains. When the great LEE surrendered none 
 doubted its necessity. No man ever so possessed the boundless confi 
 dence of a people, or was ever so beloved, even in his failures that 
 developed the completed ruin of their homes and fortunes. To-day 
 their hearts are in his coffin, and they mourn in a big and voiceless 
 woe, not because he constructed for them a new government, not be 
 cause he saved their homes from devastation, not because he brought 
 their sons back to them bloodless and scarless, not because he wove 
 and unfurled forever a new flag on sea and shore, not because he suc 
 ceeded, but they love him because he left them inscribed in the calendar 
 of time the hallowed glory of his sacred name and character. They 
 say to the world, Look at him and where is his equal? He did not 
 succeed as you wished success ; but what, O Southrons, would you take 
 for his fame ? Henceforth, whatever material progress other sections 
 may boast, the people of the South may point to the more than imperial 
 renown of their Washington and their LEE, and say these are ours, 
 of our own race and of our own blood and of our own color. No 
 remapping of states, no spirit of government, no inevitable change 
 of institutions can rob us of these glories forever and forever they 
 are ours and the world s. If this is all that is left us it is enough. 
 We gave to history the proudest and purest name of all; 
 
 " For its fame on brightest pages, 
 Penned by poets and by sages, 
 Shall go sounding down the ages; " 
 43 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 and manhood is nobler that he lived as he did live, and died as 
 he died. 
 
 And now, young men of the South, leaving to some future orator 
 the more elaborate and formal eulogium upon the life, deeds, relations, 
 and renown of the majestic dead, before the solemn words of dust to 
 dust, earth to earth, ashes to ashes announce that all his mortality has 
 forever passed away, let me before his open grave urge upon you his 
 lessons of wisdom, and like him to wrest from misfortune its divine 
 compensations in the future. You have submitted nobly and truly. 
 The future belongs to the God of Hope. In cheerful patience, in efforts 
 however humble, in virtue however tried, in discouragement however 
 dark and protracted, observe the dignity and self-poising of your great 
 leader as displayed in the fires of his adversity. Like some mountain 
 pine, still erect. and aloft in its towering solitude, though scarred by 
 the lightnings of heaven, he remained in his repose, immovable in his 
 moral sufficiency, equal to all vicissitudes, the conqueror of himself, and 
 the pride of mankind. 
 
 Let disappointment disenchant your hearts 
 And lift them up to God; redeem the past 
 With self-suppressions, prayer, and high resolves 
 Live humbly, trusting God for future good ; 
 Live for eternity, not time; see far 
 Beyond these eddies of events, these hours 
 Of joy and years of pain, the guerdon bright : 
 Immortal youth, and changeless love, and peace, 
 And ever-growing thought, and deep ning fields 
 Of grandeur angels, seraphs, jeweled hosts, 
 And uncreated light, O youth ! O man ! 
 O quenchless soul ! O child of God ! these, these 
 Survive the passions, wars, and names and deeds, 
 And proud report of man ; survive the globe, 
 Survive the lofty stars and moon and sun ; 
 Survive the years, survive the grave, survive 
 In God the trophies of redeeming love. 
 44 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The following-named business-houses were closed in honor of the 
 memory of General LEE during his obsequies: 
 
 Pitman, Berry A Co. 
 
 Gardner A Co. 
 
 C. E. Radden & Co. 
 
 Chamberlin A Ingalls. 
 Vacaro A Bro. 
 
 Wm. Bennett. 
 Spelger Bros. 
 
 Jones, Tapp A Co. 
 Prather, Smith A Co. 
 
 Edelen, HuffakerA Shy. 
 
 Geo. W. Wicks A Co. 
 
 Trabue, Davis A Co. 
 
 Moore, Bremaker A Co. 
 
 C. H. Hewitt A Co. 
 
 Waide, Gaines A Co. 
 
 Munger A Co. 
 
 J. S. Lithgow A Co. 
 
 Smith, Amis & Co. 
 
 Kentucky Rolling Mill Co. 
 Page A Co. 
 
 Geo. C. Hunter A Co. 
 Pitkin, Wiard A Co. 
 
 Porter, Akin A Co. 
 Ronald, Bro. A Co. 
 
 T. Guinan. 
 
 J. G. Mathers. 
 
 E. Bohrer. 
 
 C. R. Green. 
 
 Janney A Perry. 
 
 Frank Dirksen. 
 
 J. F. Lang. 
 B. Steinberg. 
 
 Louis Tripp. 
 Kitts A Werne. 
 
 A. Nichol. 
 Mrs. B. F. Whiting. 
 
 Mrs. H. Frankle. 
 
 E. Sincere. 
 
 S. Aron. 
 
 George Button. 
 
 Walton Bros. 
 
 Samuel P. Leedly. 
 
 A. Rosenbaum. 
 
 Hegan Bros. 
 
 Mrs. J. Rosenfield. 
 
 German Bank and Ins. Co. 
 
 D. O Hare. 
 
 Carter, Fisher A Co. 
 
 Harris, Nahm A Co. 
 
 Jos. Griffith A Sons. 
 
 Low A Whitney. 
 
 Tapp, Walsh A Co. 
 
 Wm. Rosenberg A Co. 
 
 Kahn A Wolf. 
 
 Peter, Power A Cooper. 
 Tohn G. Baxter. 
 
 Hastings A Courtney. 
 H. A S. Hodkinson. 
 
 Johnston, Newman & Co. 
 Walton.A Co. 
 
 Netherland A Hart. 
 
 John A. Dickinson. 
 
 Crawford A Sale. 
 
 John Watson. 
 
 Davidson, Bros. A Co. 
 
 A. B. Burnham A Co. 
 
 Sherrill, Pratt A Co. 
 
 J. H. Schroeder A Son. 
 
 Clarke A Allen. 
 
 Read A Truman. 
 
 Archibald A Davis. 
 
 Beattv A Shalles. 
 
 Callaghan A Trigg. 
 
 Newcomb, Buchanan A Co. 
 
 Gad. Davis. 
 
 J. T. S. Brown A Co. 
 
 R. H. Robinson. 
 
 Mrs. Lincoln. 
 
 J. M. Robinson A Co. 
 
 A. Templeton. 
 
 L. L. Warren A Co. 
 
 Warren, Reach A Co. 
 
 Merriman A Co. 
 
 Edward Wilder A Co. 
 
 N. Gwvnn A Co. 
 
 W. Kendrick. 
 
 Snoddy A Parrish. 
 
 J. W. Morrill A Co. 
 
 James Todd A Co. 
 
 Truman Bros. A Swann. 
 
 S. G. Henry A Co. 
 
 G. W. McCready. 
 
 Terry, Wheat & Chesney. 
 
 Bavless, McCarthy A Co. 
 
 Ouerbacker, Benham A Co. 
 
 Harvey & Keith. 
 
 N. "Miller. 
 
 Ropke A Haxthausen. 
 
 Haynes, Neel Co. 
 
 A. H. Gardner. 
 
 John Duffy A Co. 
 
 Quast Schulten. 
 
 Griffith A Van Pelt. 
 
 Gould, Field A Co. 
 
 Al. Bourlier & Bro. 
 
 Sherman A Co. 
 
 Torbitt A Castleman. 
 
 Phil. Lotich. 
 
 T. A R. Slevin A Cain. 
 
 Dodge, Rhorer A Co. 
 
 John Flexner. 
 
 John H. Thomas A Co. 
 
 Geary, Driesbach A Co. 
 
 Jackson, Loving & Co. 
 
 Harbison A Gathright. 
 
 Cornwall A Brother. 
 
 John Kohlhepp. 
 
 C. P. Barnes A Bro. 
 
 Moore A Co. 
 
 R. E. Sewell. 
 
 Stump A Walts. 
 
 W. H. Walker A Co. 
 
 Geo. F. Wood Bro. 
 
 White A Cochrane. 
 
 Hughes, Goslee A Co. 
 
 Neale & Co. 
 
 Otter A Co. 
 
 Hall A Long. 
 
 Baird Bros. 
 
 Grove, Roach A Co. 
 Isaac Slaughter. 
 
 Owsley A Co. 
 Fears, Bartley A Co. 
 
 Joseph T. Tompkins & Co. 
 Thomas Hackett. 
 
 Jacob Thorne, jr. 
 
 A. Schoeffel A Co. 
 
 C. Euler. 
 
 R. A. Robinson A Co. 
 
 O. W. Thomas A Co. 
 
 H. Wedekind & Co. 
 
 Piatt A Allen. 
 
 Hamilton A Bros. 
 
 Hirsch & Flexner. 
 
 L. A G. Bronner A Co. 
 
 W. H. Slaughter A Co. 
 
 W. T. Weller & Son. 
 
 M. Leopold A Co. 
 
 Phillips A Scally. 
 
 Lewis, Gage & Co. 
 
 Gheens A Co. 
 
 Chambers A Kean. 
 
 H. C. Murrell. 
 
 Jacob F. Weller. 
 
 McNeil, Wright A Sanders. 
 
 J. B. Wilder & Co. 
 
 Sutc .iffe A Owen. 
 
 Chambers Bros. A Co. 
 
 Porch. Cooke & Bryant. 
 
 Bamberger, Bloom A Co. 
 Hays, Cross A Co. 
 
 J. M. Reamer. 
 J. T. McRea. 
 
 Car.non & Bvers. 
 W. T. Tapp. 
 
 T. Anderson A Co. 
 
 J. W. Wheeler. 
 
 S. Ullinan A, Co. 
 
 Moss A Semple. 
 
 John Murt. 
 
 W. H. Welman. 
 
 T. Brid^eford A Co. 
 
 A. A. Wheeler. 
 
 R. Brown & Co. 
 
 Wm. F. Beasley A Co. 
 
 Thos. J. Martin A Son. 
 
 Moore, Underwood Co. 
 
 Harvey A Girdar. 
 
 Overall, Morlan A Co. 
 
 C. R. Woodruff. 
 
 Sabel, Lazarus A Co. 
 
 Lemont A McCormick. 
 
 Wolf & Durringer. 
 
 Ripev, Burrell A Co. 
 
 A. H. Patterson. 
 
 McCready Martin. 
 
 Merrill A Hart. 
 
 Mills A Duckwall. . 
 
 E. Stokes. 
 
 Barbee A Castleman. 
 
 F. S. Van Alstine. 
 
 C. G. Tachau & Co. 
 
 W. H. Stokes A Co. 
 
 Hunter A Co. 
 
 John B. Pirtle. 
 
 To. C. Pell. 
 
 John B. Mcllvaine A Son. 
 
 A. Levi & Co. 
 
 W. A. Owen. 
 
 Dorn, Barkhouse A Co. 
 
 H. S. Buckner & Co. 
 
 John P. Morton A Co. 
 
 S. T. Suit A Cc. 
 
 J. C. Webb & Co. 
 
 45 
 
 Bennett Bros. F. M. Co. 
 Small. Levy & Co. 
 S. Diabelle. 
 Alrich Schwenck. 
 
 C. W. Stevenson. 
 Andrew Graham. 
 Maxwell & Co. 
 Stratton, Snodgrass & Co. 
 Hall s Safe and Lock Co. 
 Joplin & Reynolds. 
 Stuckey & Barret. 
 
 John Castleman. 
 Henry W. Barret. 
 N. D. Hunter & Co. 
 Mooney, Mantle & Cowan. 
 Hackett, Anderson Fore 
 man. 
 
 Gerding & Hanna. 
 E. G. Wigginton & Co. 
 J. D. Bondurant. 
 Peaslee, Gaulbert & Co. 
 
 A. L Harding. 
 H. N. Gage. 
 O. Rawson. 
 German & Bro. 
 M on teal m & Co. 
 
 B. C. Levi. 
 Heath, Smith & Co. 
 Smith, Sturgeon & Co. 
 Montgomery & Co. 
 
 J. L. Botsford & Co. 
 Krack, Reed Co. 
 E. Boyd & Co. 
 
 D. S. Benedict & Sons 
 
 A. T. Smith. 
 
 D. Marshall. 
 
 B. W. Wood. 
 Edw. Fulton. 
 
 H. Verhoeff, jr., & Co. 
 Shirley & Woolfolk. 
 O Bannon & Bashaw. 
 McFerran, Armstrong & Co. 
 John M. Stokes & Son. 
 
 C. Ketchum. 
 
 D. P. Faulds. 
 
 J. V. Escott & Son. 
 Bennett & Bourne. 
 Henry Wehmhoff. 
 John L. Anderson. 
 Ladd & Sullivan. 
 R. E. Miles. 
 Davis & Hudson. 
 Duncan, Floyd & Co. 
 Warren Mitchell & Co. 
 W. T. Hammond & Co. 
 J. V. Cowling, jr. 
 A. A. Richardson & Son. 
 Whitney, Brown & Co. 
 J. C. Buckles. 
 J. Peter &. Co. 
 T. L. Jefferson & Bro. 
 John White & Co. 
 R. R. Thatcher. 
 Guthrie & Co. 
 Duckwall, Troxell & Co. 
 
 E. W. & L. P. Kennedy. 
 
 E. Bustard. 
 
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