[Speech of General Fitzhugh Lee at a dinner given by the Friendly Sons
of St. Patrick and the Hibernian Society of Philadelphia, at the city
of Philadelphia, September 17, 1887. The occasion of the dinner was
the one hundredth anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of
the United States. General Lee, then Governor of Virginia, was the
guest of Governor Beaver at the dinner. The Chairman, Hon. Andrew G.
Curtin [Pennsylvania's war governor], in introducing General Lee said:
"We have here to-day a gentleman whom I am glad to call my friend,
though during the war he was in dangerous and unpleasant proximity to
me. He once threatened the Capitol of this great State. I did not wish
him to come in, and was very glad when he went away. He was then my
enemy and I was his. But, thank God, that is past; and in the
enjoyment of the rights and interests common to all as American
citizens, I am his friend and he is my friend. I introduce to you,
Governor Fitzhugh Lee."]
MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE HIBERNIAN SOCIETY:--I am very
glad, indeed, to have the honor of being present in this Society once
more; as it was my good fortune to enjoy a most pleasant visit here and
an acquaintance with the members of your Society last year. My
engagements were such to-day that I could not get here earlier; and just
as I was coming in Governor Beaver was making his excuses because, as he
said, he had to go to pick up a visitor whom he was to escort to the
entertainment to be given this evening at the Academy of Music. I am the
visitor whom Governor Beaver is looking for. He could not capture me
during the war, but he has captured me now. I am a Virginian and used to
ride a pretty fast horse, and he could not get close enough to me.
[Laughter.]
By the way, you have all heard of "George Washington and his little
hatchet." The other day I heard a story that was a little variation
upon the original, and I am going to take up your time for a minute by
repeating it to you. It was to this effect: Old Mr. Washington and Mrs.
Washington, the parents of George, found on one occasion that their
supply of soap for the use of the family at Westmoreland had been
exhausted, and so they decided to make some family soap. They made the
necessary arrangements and gave the requisite instructions to the family
servant. After an hour or so the servant returned and reported to them
that he could not make that soap. "Why not," he was asked, "haven't you
all the materials?" "Yes," he replied, "but there is something wrong."
The old folks proceeded to investigate, and they found they had actually
got the ashes of the little cherry tree that George had cut down with
his hatchet, and there was no lye in it. [Laughter.]
Now, I assure you, there is no "lie" in what I say to you this
afternoon, and that is, that I thank God for the sun of the Union which,
once obscured, is now again in the full stage of its glory; and that its
light is shining over Virginia as well as over the rest of this country.
We have had our differences. I do not see, upon reading history, how
they could well have been avoided, because they resulted from different
constructions of the Constitution, which was the helm of the ship of the
Republic. Virginia construed it one way. Pennsylvania construed it in
another, and they could not settle their differences; so they went to
war, and Pennsylvania, I think, probably got a little the best of it.
[General laughter.]
The sword, at any rate, settled the controversy. But that is behind us.
We have now a great and glorious future in front of us, and it is
Virginia's duty to do all that she can to promote the honor and glory of
this country. We fought to the best of our ability for four years; and
it would be a great mistake to assume that you could bring men from
their cabins, from their ploughs, from their houses and from their
families to make them fight as they fought in that contest unless they
were fighting for a belief. Those men believed that they had the right
construction of the Constitution, and that a State that voluntarily
entered the Union could voluntarily withdraw from it. They did not fight
for Confederate money. It was not worth ten cents a yard. They did not
fight for Confederate rations--you would have had to curtail the demands
of your appetite to make it correspond with the size and quality of
those rations. They fought for what they thought was a proper
construction of the Constitution. They were defeated. They acknowledged
their defeat. They came back to their father's house, and there they are
going to stay. But if we are to continue prosperous, if this country,
stretching from the Gulf to the lakes and from ocean to ocean, is to be
mindful of its own best interests, in the future, we will have to make
concessions and compliances, we will have to bear with each other and to
respect each other's opinions. Then we will find that that harmony will
be secured which is as necessary for the welfare of States, as it is for
the welfare of individuals. [Applause.]
I have become acquainted with Governor Beaver--I met him in Richmond.
You could not make me fight him now. If I had known him before the war,
perhaps we would not have got at it. If all the Governors had known each
other, and if all the people of different sections had been known to
each other, or had been thrown together in business or social
communication, the fact would have been recognized at the outset, as it
is to-day, that there are just as good men in Maine as there are in
Texas, and just as good men in Texas as there are in Maine. Human nature
is everywhere the same; and when intestine strifes occur, we will
doubtless always be able by a conservative, pacific course to pass
smoothly over the rugged, rocky edges, and the old Ship of State will be
brought into a safe, commodious, Constitutional harbor with the flag of
the Union flying over her, and there it will remain. [Applause.]