“Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen:  In the humble part which it falls to me to take in these interesting ceremonies, if for any cause it has been supposed that I am to deliver a lengthy address, I am not responsible for the origination of that supposition.  I came here to-night simply to mingle my grief with yours at the loss of one of our most distinguished citizens, and, indeed, I feel more like silence than like words.  I am awe-stricken in the presence of this vast assemblage, and my mind goes back to the past.  It is preoccupied by memories coming in prominent review of the frequent and ever-varying vicissitudes which have characterized the last ten years.  I find myself in the presence of a vast assemblage of the people of this great and growing city, who meet together, without distinction of party, and presided over by your chief officer, for the purpose of expressing respect to the memory of the man who was the leader of the Confederate armies in the late war between the States.  It is in itself the omen of reunion.  I am not surprised at the spectacle presented here.  Throughout the entire South one universal cry of grief has broken forth at the death of General Lee, and in a very large portion of the North manly and noble tributes have been paid to his memory.

“My words shall be brief but plain.  Why is it that at the South we see this universal, spontaneous demonstration?  First, because most of the people mourn the loss of a leader and a friend, but beyond that I must say they seem to enter an unconscious protest against the ascription either to him or them of treason or personal dishonor.  It may be an unconscious protest against the employment by a portion of the public press of those epithets which have ceased to be used in social intercourse.  It is an invitation on their part to the people of the North and South, East and West, if there be any remaining rancor in their bosoms, to bury it in the grave forever.  I will not recall the past.  I will not enter upon any considerations of the cause of that great struggle.  This demonstration we see around us gives the plainest evidence that there is no disposition to indulge in useless repinings at the results of that great struggle.  It is for the pen of the historian to declare the cause, progress, and probable consequences of it.  In regard to those who followed General Lee, who gloried in his successes and shared his misfortunes, I have but this to say:  the world watched the contest in which they were engaged, and yet gives testimony to their gallantry,

“The magnanimity with which they accepted the results of their defeat, the obedience they have yielded to the laws of the Federal Government, give an exhibition so rare that they are ennobled by their calm yet noble submission.  For the rest their escutcheon is unstained.  The conquerors themselves, for their own glory, must confess that they were brave.  Neither, my friends, do I come here to-night to speak of the military career