Mr. SPEAKER: It is not my purpose to attempt any extended remarks upon
the life and character of Gen. WILLIAM H.F. LEE, late a Representative
from the Eighth Congressional district of Virginia, yet I can not permit
this occasion to pass and my hand and heart to fail to pay my humble
tribute to his memory. Gen. LEE's life had been spent after manhood in
arms or as a tiller of the soil. In early life he saw military service
as lieutenant in the Sixth Regiment, United States Infantry, and was
with Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston in the expedition in 1858 against the
Mormons.
Resigning from the Army, he returned to his native State of Virginia and
engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. Early in the late civil struggle
he raised a cavalry company, and rose from the position of company
commander to that of major-general, and followed the cause in which he
had enlisted until the end at Appomattox. There two great military
chieftains met, and one, his illustrious father, gave up to the other
his sword and the mutilated remnant of an army which had fought with the
utmost bravery and fortitude under a leader of unsurpassed skill and
fidelity.
Gen. LEE, after the struggle had ended, resuming his citizenship in
peace, returned to his farm and occupation of agriculture.
He was elected by his people from his senatorial district to the
legislature. He served one term in the senate of Virginia and declined a
renomination. He was afterwards elected from the Eighth Congressional
district of his State to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses and
again returned by his constituency to the present Congress; but the hand
of death interposed, and he did not live to again take his seat in this
legislative hall.
The name of Lee, Mr. Speaker, has been an illustrious one in Virginia.
No one can with safety challenge the assertion that that old
Commonwealth has furnished, from the time of the Revolution, as many
great men, in peace and in war, as any of the States of our Union. When
the foundations of this great Republic were laid and constitutional
principles evolved, whether the sword of the warrior or the mind and
philosophy of the statesman were needed, you will find the marks and
handiwork of some son of that State.
Among those great men the ancestry of Gen. LEE were conspicuous. He
inherited from his great father a disposition that was frank, manly, and
chivalrous. Although with these distinguished surroundings, Gen. LEE had
no undue pride, reserve, or self-assertion. His nature, on the contrary,
was eminently amiable, generous, and sympathetic, and at the same time
he was dignified, manly, brave, and ever courteous.
Identified with the agricultural interests of his State, at one time
president of the State society, and himself a practical and successful
farmer and proud of his occupation, he mingled freely and congenially
with that great class of our citizens upon whose shoulders repose in
great measure the preservation and safety of the institutions of our
common country. While he was especially devoted to the interests of the
farmer, he was essentially a patriot, and loved his State and all its
diverse interests with an enthusiastic devotion and yearned for her
prosperity.
He was a faithful, able, and vigilant Representative, and had in the
greatest degree the confidence of his constituents and the people of his
entire State. No one who ever knew him could fail to implicitly trust
him. His State has lost a pure and noble son; the country a wise,
conservative, and faithful Representative. We who knew him here can
recall his manly robust form, his genial kindly face, his frank
accessible address, his unfailing gentleness of manner, his cheerful
friendly voice, as he walked along the aisles of this Hall.
A man of his character and bearing could but wield an influence for good
wherever his presence was.
In a republic, where the people are the state, the advice, the
suggestions, and the example of a citizen so high-minded and
incorruptible are of great value not only in the councils of the nation,
but in the everyday walks and details of life, in his beautiful rural
home, surrounded by and mingling with his country people; and it was
ever the pleasure and practice of Gen. LEE to associate freely and
unrestrainedly with the great body of the people. His generous and noble
heart had a sympathetic touch with them and their struggles, their
callings, their work.
But he has passed from us under the decree of the great Master to the
great hereafter, leaving the record of a life of singular purity,
directness of purpose, and freedom from guile; the record of a character
unblurred, untarnished, unshadowed by the least stain; the record of a
man high, noble, honorable, faithful to all the duties and relations of
life.
Mr. Speaker, Virginia, one of the oldest of the Commonwealths, within
whose borders lie the remains of many great names, and the energies and
reserved forces of whose people in times gone by have risen to great
heights, receives to her bosom her dead son and bows with sincere grief
over his grave; for to her, whether her hand wore the mailed gauntlet
or followed the gentler pursuits of peace, he had ever been faithful,
loyal, and true.