Mr. PRESIDENT: The late Gen. WILLIAM H.F. LEE was conspicuously
connected with the public affairs of his State for more than thirty
years. He was deservedly honored, loved, and trusted by the people. For
two terms he represented the Eighth district of Virginia in Congress and
he was elected for a third term, but when Congress met in December last
his chair was vacant. Surrounded by his beloved family and bemoaned by
all who knew him he peacefully breathed his last at Ravensworth, his
home, in Fairfax County, on the 15th day of October, 1891.
Thus, Mr. President, disappears one singularly endowed with the
qualities that win the confidence and affections of mankind. His noble,
honest face, beaming with intelligence and benevolence, was a true index
to his nature. Strength of character and sweetness of disposition made
him a man of mark and influence in all the relations of society. His
life was full of noble uses. Respect for the rights and tenderness for
the feelings of others stamped his conduct on every occasion. He
fulfilled Sidney's definition of a gentleman, "high thoughts seated in a
heart of courtesy," and I know of no better legacy that a father could
leave his household or a patriot leave his country than such a record as
he has left to attest his virtues.
I will not penetrate the sanctity of the home bereaved by his death. The
fond and noble wife and the sons who miss the husband and father, who
was representative to them of life's dearest boons, have in his memory
whatever earth can give them of consolation, and they learned from none
more than from him to look above in sorrow and affliction.
As a Representative in Congress Gen. LEE was diligent in the service of
his constituents and in behalf of policies which commended themselves to
his favor. He seldom spoke, but it was not because he could not speak
well and forcibly. He was not noted as the peculiar champion of any of
the great measures before Congress, but it was not because he did not
comprehend them nor take great interest in them, and I doubt if there be
many Representatives who have had a more wholesome or further-reaching
influence.
His fine character and engaging manner made friends for him and for his
people. His excellent judgment had great weight in council, his
political ideas were eminently liberal, and his tact and attention
reached results where perhaps more aggressive qualities would have been
ineffectual. On one occasion that I recall he was urging the passage of
the bill to pay for use and occupation of the Theological Seminary near
Alexandria during the war. He became the mark, in doing so, of inquiry
and badinage, and some one, meaning to disparage the claim by
intimation that the clerical professors of the institution had been
enemies of the Government, called out to him, "How did they pray?" He
answered instantly, "For all sinners." His ready pleasantry put
everybody in good humor and the bill was passed.
Gen. LEE was a representative man in a larger sense than that of
official designation. He was a representative country gentleman, and the
flavor of his native soil was in his character. He was born in the
country, at beautiful Arlington, with the woods and fields and streams
and mountain vistas around him. He lived in the country all his life,
and died in the country, at his home in Fairfax County, an owner of
land, loving the land; his home, a fine old country seat of colonial
pattern, the scene of domestic peace and love and hospitality; his
voice, that of the good people of his vicinage; his life, daily tasks,
intermingled with daily studies and contemplation; his aims, those of
the patriot and Christian, his country, God, and truth.
Gen. LEE was a representative American of broad gauge and vision. Many
of us--and I have felt myself amongst them--are quite provincial. We
know our own neighborhoods and their people, and we grow slowly into
knowledge of other sections and their people. Local caste, prejudice,
interest, and bias warp us and minify our usefulness. Gen. LEE was not
of this kind. There was no sectionalism in his caste, no bigotry in his
creeds. His strong local attachments, natural to a true nature, neither
dwarfed his opinions, soured his reflections, nor darkened his vision.
His was a ripe mind and his a generous nature. He understood men,
because he understood mankind. He had respect for all men, because he
respected manhood. He dealt considerately and justly with all men of all
races, creeds, opinions, and aspirations, because he respected men and
because he had a good man's sympathy, with the hopes of his race, his
country, and humanity.
I would not speak of him as a brilliant man. He was more. He was a wise
and good and true man. Gen. LEE was a representative of our racial
history. The story of his family began when his remote ancestor rode
with the Norman knights at Hastings. Another led a company of English
volunteers with Coeur de Lion on the third crusade to the Holy Land,
and was made the Earl of Litchfield. Still another was that Richard Lee
who, intense loyalist as he was, became a commissioner from Virginia and
urged Charles II to fly for refuge to the Old Dominion when his throne
was trembling under him. Quarrel and fight as we may and as our fathers
did before us, the continuity of race achievement is unbroken.
The growth of race ascendency and the expanse of race domination are
unceasing. The picture is unique and the nation one, however the theater
enlarges, however the scenes shift, however the actors differ in the
drama. Gen. LEE was a representative democrat or republican, for I use
the words in their generic sense. His grandfather was that young
American Capt. Henry Lee, the ardent youth of nineteen, who at the head
of his company of Virginia horse reported to Washington for duty when
the first army of Continentals were ranging themselves upon the plains
of Boston. He was the first to break the record of his line for loyalty
to the Crown of England in espousing the cause of American independence,
the first to draw his sword for the new king proclaimed at
Philadelphia--the sovereign people.
As "Light-Horse Harry" Lee he goes down to history and renown;
distinguished in general orders of the army and in promotion from
Congress for one exploit, and for another with the thanks of Congress
and a gold medal. In statesmanship as in soldiership, he was the friend
and follower of Washington. In the Virginia legislature, when the
resolutions of 1798 were debated, he took sides against them, and in his
speech you may find nearly all the arguments which are used in favor of
the Federal construction of the Constitution. When Washington died he
was a member of Congress, and pronounced upon him the memorable words,
"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his
fellow-citizens." He was one of those virile men who could write, speak,
and fight.
When Gen. Winfield Scott led the American Army to Mexico there rode by
his side Capt. Robert E. Lee, the son of Henry Lee, an officer of
engineers upon his staff. He was four times brevetted for gallant
conduct and came back famous. When Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston led the
Utah expedition in 1858 there marched on foot in his columns Lieut.
WILLIAM HENRY FITZHUGH LEE, the son of Robert E. Lee. He was not a
soldier by education, but by instinct. A graduate of Harvard College and
the stroke oar of his class, he was well prepared for military life, and
the third of his line to bear arms for the United States. But no war
ensued; the canker of a long peace was settling on military aspirations.
Lieut. LEE resigned, married, and settled on his farm, the White House,
on the Pamunkey. With the prattle of little children around his knees
and pastoral scenes before him, his prospects were those of domestic
tranquillity and joy.
What a rush was there to the standards when war broke out in 1861!
Americans acted like Americans. They divided in conviction. They did not
differ as to the method of dealing with conviction. To divide was the
propulsion of conditions, to fight the law of blood. Not one of the Lees
had provoked war, but not one stood back. The whole family of Lees
became representative soldiers of their people; Gen. Robert E. Lee
commanded the greatest of the Southern armies and his brother became an
admiral of the Southern navy. His sons and nephews were soldiers and
sailors.
The nephew of Northern identity kept place with the North. The more
numerous class of Southern identity kept place with the South; the boy,
a private in the ranks or cadet on shipboard, the young men leading
companies and regiments and winning brigades and divisions, the sire and
chief commanding all. Their names are interwoven with war's dread story
and splendid deed. Not one had any reproach; not one struck a blow below
the belt. The woman, the child, the captive found a fortress in the hand
of Lee, the foeman met his peer. The history of two continents and many
centuries was written over again on fields of blood.
WILLIAM H.F. LEE raised a company of cavalry at the beginning of the war
and surrendered as a major-general of cavalry at Appomattox. He fought
his way to his rank and suffered all of war's vicissitudes save death.
His men believed in him and followed him. He was wounded; he was twice a
prisoner; he was held as a hostage in solitary confinement with death
impending. His wife and his children died while he lay wounded and in
prison. Whatever man may suffer he suffered to the uttermost. Amongst
his first acts when he emerged from prison was to visit, shake hands
with and congratulate the Federal officer for whom he had been held as
hostage. He was a representative Christian, void of vindictiveness and
uncomplaining; he made no outcry of pain; he sealed his lips to
reproach.
I knew him well, respected him profoundly, and loved him dearly. I have
often heard him speak at gatherings of old soldiers and on a variety of
occasions; sometimes those of turbulence. I have marveled at his
self-poise and reserved power. Never once did I hear him say ill of any
man, nor allude to his own sufferings or deeds, nor utter words of
bitterness. He took his lot as it came to him, as a man who does the
best he can and leaves the rest to the Disposer of events. His
conscience and his human sympathy, like his soldiership, were instincts,
and his Christian creed was the sum of his intuitions. Gen. LEE was a
representative of the times in which he lived, eccentric in no opinion,
even-tempered, wise, cautious, prudent, steadfast, and gentle; he sought
to be useful rather than to shine. He took deep and active interest in
all that concerned his State.
As a State senator he could be relied upon to support liberal and
progressive measures; as president of the State Agricultural Society he
did much to excite interest and develop improvements; as a trustee or
visitor to educational institutions he rendered valuable practical
service to the cause of popular enlightenment. In political life he had
sharp contests; friend was surprised and opponent discouraged when
emergency brought forth the reserve forces of his character and ability.
If modesty cloaked his powers in retirement, opposition elicited them;
and the fluency, tact, and ability with which he discussed issues and
met exigencies were remarkable in one whose experiences of early life
had separated him from civil pursuits and training.
If I have spoken of Gen. LEE's ancestral distinctions, it was not
because either he or his people have ever presumed upon them. On the
contrary, no people whom I have ever known have rested less of claim
upon their antecedents or less sought to substitute reminiscences for
achievements. The independent, honest, and simple Republicans and
Democrats of our country justly despise a pretender who boasts the
shadow of a name; but that of which the individual may not boast becomes
his country's pride; and I count it great glory to our country that its
institutions have nourished and the highest characteristic of our race
that it has produced successive generations of men who preserve the
continuity of sterling virtues. I count also as the star of hope for
this grand Republic that a distinguished soldier of a lost cause becomes
the beloved statesman of the cause that won, and finds around him the
old-time comrades and old-time foes, all his friends and each other's
friends united in the service of our common country.
No nobler words have been spoken of the late Gen. LEE than by soldiers
who fought against him, and I respond to them with honor and praise. The
production of men who may maintain the rights their fathers won, and
ever grow in liberal thought, noble character, and worthy achievement is
the highest mission of republican institutions. From Hastings, A.D.
1066, to Boston in 1776, the name of Lee was blended with the glories of
our fatherland. But from Boston to Appomattox it grew the more
illustrious with grander opportunities. Victorious through a track of
eight hundred years to the 9th of April, 1865, it has been still more
victorious since--rising to the height of harder trials and sterner
tasks and grander duties than those of leading embattled lines. The
glorious nation of which he was a type and the glorious band of which he
was the son come forth from ruin and desolation on one side, moved by
gracious institutions and magnanimous sentiments upon the other, taking
their place in the reunited columns of parted friendship, cementing anew
by adaptive virtues the broken ties, marching again with the mutual
magnanimities of companionship at the head of column.
If a race that has won liberty and made it a birthright lets it slip
away through hands of weakness or deeds of folly, and if the self-made
man of to-day loses the vantage ground of his life work with his
fleeting breath, the careers of nations would be brief, the story of
liberty would be a nurse's tale, and the careers of individuals would be
vanity of vanities. The prepotent blood that made an empire of an
insignificant island and stamped its language and its laws upon it made
also here the most splendid Republic of the earth out of a savage
wilderness and assimilated to itself all tributaries. That Republic
delegates its unfinished tasks to a posterity that will lift higher the
monuments of its greatness and strengthen the foundations of its
endurance; and in the lives of Gen. LEE and those of his worthy
compatriots of all sections who unite as friends the moment conditions
cease that made them foes, I see exemplified the noblest qualities of
our kind and read the auguries of prolonged peace, progress, happiness,
and stability.
The VICE-PRESIDENT. The question is on agreeing to the resolutions
submitted by the Senator from Virginia.
The resolutions were agreed to unanimously, and under the last
resolution the Senate (at 4 o'clock and 20 minutes p.m.) adjourned until
Monday, March 7, 1892, at 12 o'clock m.