Mr. SPEAKER: I shall leave to others the task of portraying the life of
Gen. LEE in its diversified pursuits, and shall content myself with the
effort of giving to the House my conception of some of the
characteristics of our deceased friend which made him throughout his
life, wherever placed, a conspicuous actor in private and public
affairs.
In the early period of Virginia's history lived William Randolph, of
Turkey Island (a plantation some 15 or 20 miles from the city of
Richmond, near the scene of the terrific battle of Malvern Hill). He was
the ancestor of all of that name in Virginia, and from him was descended
in direct line Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and Robert E. Lee; the
last-named the father of our departed friend. How could _he_ have
manifested in his life less patriotism, justice, and courage with such
exemplars of these virtues ever before him?
His mother, as is well known, was a descendant from the wife of Gen.
Washington by her prior marriage with John Parke Custis. Sprung from
such a lineage; trained in a school where the amenities of life as well
as "the humanities" were taught in their highest excellence, he
practiced from his earliest childhood a scrupulous regard for the rights
and feelings of others, and an indulgence to all faults except his own.
With a self-control and equipoise which were never disturbed under the
most trying circumstances, and a graciousness of manner which broke
down all barriers, giving to the humblest as well as to the highest the
assurance of his friendly consideration, and a mind well disciplined by
education in the highest schools, it was impossible that he could have
been other than a man of mark and influence in his State.
It is not claiming too much to say that Gen. LEE was the natural product
of the civilization existing in Virginia during his boyhood and early
manhood, which, alas, except here and there in certain localities, is
fast passing away. The home, not the club, was its center; the family,
not each "new-hatched, unfledged comrade," its unit. The father was the
_head_ of the family, not the joint tenant with the wife of a house nor
the tenant at will of his wife. The wife and the mother was the queen of
the household, not merely a housekeeper for a husband and the family.
Obedience to those in authority was the first lesson exacted of the boy.
Inculcated with tenderness, it was enforced with severity, if need be,
until the word of the father or the expressed wish of the mother carried
with it the force of law as completely as the decree of a court or the
mandate of a king.
Reverence for superiors in age and deference to all, rather than
arrogant self-assertion, was magnified as a cardinal virtue, not as
teaching humility and enforcing a lack of proper self-respect, but
rather to exalt high ideals and stimulate an admiration for "the true,
the beautiful, and the good."
Fidelity to truth, the maintenance of personal honor, deference for the
opinions and feelings of others, without abating one's own or
aggressively thrusting them on others; a kindliness of manner to
dependents, a knightly courtesy to all, but with special and tender
regard in thought, word, and action toward woman, were in turn patiently
taught in all the lessons of the fireside and at the family altar, and
earnestly insisted upon in the formation of the character of a true
gentleman. "Any man will be polite to a beautiful young woman, but it
takes a gentleman to show the same respect to a homely old woman" was
the stinging rebuke of a father to his son who failed to remove his hat
in passing a forlorn old woman on the public highway.
The old-field school, the private tutor, the high school, whose
excellence in Virginia I can not praise too much, the college, the
university, led the young mind by easy stages to its full intellectual
maturity.
Nowhere was the principle "_Sana mens in sano corpore_" more
scrupulously taught than in Virginia. The rod and stream, the gun, the
"hounds and horns," the chase, with the music of the pack, the bounding
steed, all lent their ready aid in developing the physical manhood of
the boy. In the pure atmosphere of his country home, amid its broad
fields and virgin forests, contracted houses in narrow streets had no
charms for him. To join the chase was the first promotion to which the
boy looked as evidencing his permanent release from the nursery. The gun
and dog became his constant companions, while "Old Betsey," his father's
trusted double-barreled gun of many years' usage, standing in the
sitting-room corner or hanging on stag-horns or dog-wood forks on the
side of the wall, was the eloquent subject of nightly rehearsals of her
prowess and power in the annual deer hunt "over the mountains." Skill in
horsemanship was essential, and breaking colts was naturally followed by
broken limbs; but manhood found a race of trained horsemen, both
graceful and skillful in the saddle, unexcelled, I dare venture to
assert, by any civilized people. A child of nature, the Virginia boy
communed with her as his mother, and from her purest depths drew the
richest inspirations. To him no mountains were so blue as hers, no
streams so clear, no forests so enchanting, no homes so sweet.
While others hailed in distant skies the glories of the Union
He only saw the mountain bird stoop o'er his Old Dominion.
How vividly the picture comes to me now (never to be effaced) of a
learned professor in one of Virginia's highest schools, himself
three-score years and ten, a soldier of two wars, as he led the way
through a quiet Virginia town on horseback, followed by two sons,
distinguished ministers of the gospel, and they in turn by a younger son
and the grandson of the leader, with a goodly train of friends, amid the
blasts of horns and baying of hounds, who followed, eager for the chase
among the beautiful hills which surrounded the town of Lexington, even
as the mountains stand "round about Jerusalem."
Religion--the duty of man to his Creator, not sectarianism--was
scrupulously taught, and Sunday morning found the family alive in
preparations for attending religious service at Zion or Trinity, as it
might happen to be the first or the fourth Sunday of the month. From
this duty none were exempt from the least to the greatest. The pastor
was the friend on whom all troubles both temporal and spiritual were
cast, and his visits were long remembered and talked of in the life of
each family. Deference to his wishes and reverence for his character
were well-nigh universal.
A man he was to all the country dear,
And passing rich with forty pounds a year;
Remote from towns he ran his godly race,
Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change his place.
Unskillful he to fawn, or seek for power,
By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour;
Far other aims his heart had learned to prize,
More bent to raise the wretched than to rise.
Such was the atmosphere in which our deceased friend was reared. He was
a trustee in the venerable institution of Washington and Lee University
at Lexington, Va., founded by Gen. Washington, and presided over by Gen.
Robert E. Lee during the last years of his life; he was faithful to the
trust, and ever watchful of the best interests of the school. The loss
sustained by this institution in his death has been most fittingly
expressed in the appended minute of the faculty of the university,
adopted on the 19th of October, 1891:
At a meeting of the faculty of Washington and Lee University, held
October 19, 1891, the following minute was adopted:
Upon the announcement of the death of Gen. W.H.F. LEE the faculty
of Washington and Lee University unite in sorrowful sympathy with
his family, bereaved of husband, father, and brother; with the
Commonwealth in the loss of a patriotic citizen; and with the board
of trustees of this university, of which he was an esteemed member.
He was graduated at Harvard for the life of a civilian, but took a
commission in the United States Army as lieutenant, and served with
fidelity to duty under Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston in the Utah
expedition of 1858.
At its close he resigned and returned to his country home, where he
continued to live until 1861, when he entered the Confederate army,
and, rising by rapid promotion to the rank of major-general of
cavalry, closed his efficient and faithful military career in 1865,
when he again returned to country life, and died at the seat of his
ancestors, at Ravensworth, in Fairfax County.
In the mean time his private life was interrupted by the voice of
his people, which called him to their service in the senate of
Virginia and for three terms as their Representative in Congress,
two of which he completed, and left the vacancy in the third by his
untimely death.
Truth, honor, and courage to do good and to resist evil, sincerity
in all relations and fidelity to all duty, were heirlooms of his
race and lineage, which he kept and left untarnished to his
posterity.
With a mind strong and vigorous, a judgment sound and well-poised,
a calm and self-contained temper, which impelled him to the right
and restrained him from the wrong, and a moral sense which guided
and controlled his purposes and his actions along the path of
absolute rectitude, he lived a life adorned by noble virtues and
filled with noble deeds. Gentle but firm, decided, and fixed in his
convictions, but respectful and deferential to those of others, he
was a model of all the splendid qualities which make up the
character of a courteous and Christian gentleman.
In addition to all these natural gifts his convictions led him to
the profession and practice of a simple and genuine faith in the
religion of Christ.
After an honorable military and civil career, in the peace of God
and in charity with his fellow-men, this worthy son of an
illustrious family died the death of the righteous and in the hope
of immortality through Him in whom he believed and trusted.