“It does not become one of my profession to take any partisan view of the life of such a man, although it was my fortune to follow the same flag which he carried to victory upon so many fields.  When it was furled, it was done with such calm magnificence as to win the admiration of his enemies and of the world.  Yet I do not stand here to make any reference to that cause which has passed from the theatre of earth’s activity, and taken its place only in history.  But I do claim the right, from the stand-point which I occupy, of pointing to a man worthy of the emulation of all who love the true nobility of humanity; a man who was magnanimous to his enemies; who would weep at the calamities of his foes; who, throughout the sanguinary struggle, could preserve in himself the fullest share of human sympathy.  History will challenge the world to produce a single instance in which this great man ever wantonly inflicted a blow, or ever wilfully imposed punishment upon any of his captives, or ever pushed his victory upon an enemy to gain unnecessary results—­a man who, in all his campaigns, showed the same bright example to all the battalions that followed the lead of his sword.  And now, since that flag which he carried has been furled, what a magnificent example has been presented to the world!  It was said of Washington that he was first in war and first in peace, but, in the latter regard, Robert E. Lee showed more greatness than even the Father of his Country.  He was struck down; the sun that had brightened up the horizon of hopes sank in dark eclipse to set in the shadow of disappointment.  Calm and magnificent in the repose of conscious strength, he felt that he had lived and struggled for a principle that was dear to him.  Though dead, it only remained for him to be our example to the stricken and suffering people for whom he labored, and to show how magnanimously a brave and true Christian could act even when all he held sacred and dear was shattered by the hand of calamity.  And, at the close of his career, he devoted his splendid capacity to the culture of the minds of his country’s youth.  He came down from the summit on which he had won the world’s admiration, to the steady, regular duties of the school-room, to take his place in the vestry of a Christian church, and to administer the affairs of a country parish in the interest of Christianity.  A man who, by his dignity and simplicity, preserved the constant admiration of his enemies, without even giving offence to his friends, such a man should receive a niche in the Pantheon of Fame.

“He stood in that great struggle of which as a star he was the leader, of unclouded brightness, drawing over its mournful history a splendor which is reflected from every sentence of its chronicle.  He was an example of a man, who, though branded because of defeat, still, by his exalted character, gave a dignity and nobility to a cause which, doubtless, is forever dead, yet still is rendered immortal by the achievements of Robert E. Lee’s sword and character.”