of General Lee.  I need not speak of it this evening.  I believe that this is universally recognized, not only in the United States, but in Europe; it has made the circuit of the world.  I come but to utter my tribute to him as a man and as a citizen.  As a man he will be remembered in history as a man of the epoch.  How little need I to speak of his character after listening to the thrilling delineation of it which we had this morning!  We all know that he was great, noble, and self-poised.  He was just and moderate, but was, perhaps, misunderstood by those who were not personally acquainted with him.  He was supposed to be just, but cold.  Far from it.  He had a warm, affectionate heart.  During the last year of that unfortunate struggle it was my good fortune to spend a great deal of time with him.  I was almost constantly by his side, and it was during the two months immediately preceding the fall of Richmond that I came to know and fully understand the true nobility of his character.  In all those long vigils he was considerate and kind, gentle, firm, and self-poised.  I can give no better idea of the impression it made upon me than to say it inspired me with an ardent love of the man and a profound veneration of his character.  It was so massive and noble, so grand in its proportions, that all men must admire its heroism and gallantry, yet so gentle and tender that a woman might adopt and claim it as her own.  If the spirit which animates the assembly before me to-night shall become general and permeate the whole country, then may we say the wounds of the late war are truly healed.  We ask for him only what we give to others.  Among the more eminent of the departed Federal generals who were distinguished for their gallantry, their nobility of character, and their patriotism, may be mentioned Thomas and McPherson.  What Confederate is there who would refuse to raise his cap as their funeral-train went by or hesitate to drop a flower upon their graves?  Why?  Because they were men of courage, honor, and nobility; because they were true to their convictions of right, and soldiers whose hands were unstained by cruelty or pillage.

“Those of us who were so fortunate as to know him, and who have appeared before this assemblage, composed of all shades of opinion, claim for him your veneration, because he was pure and noble, and it is because of this that we see the cities and towns of the South in mourning.  This has been the expression throughout the whole South, without distinction of party, and also of a large portion of the North.  Is not this why these tributes have been paid to his memory?  Is it not because his piety was humble and sincere?  Because he accorded in victory; because he filled his position with admirable dignity; because he taught his prostrate comrades how to suffer and be strong?  In a word, because he was one of the noblest products of this hemisphere, a fit object to sit in the niche which he created in the Temple of Fame.