his words fell softly and evenly as snowflakes on the turbulent
House, which finally by an almost unanimous vote passed his bill.

He shrank from publicity; therefore he never spoke on this floor unless
it was necessary to push a measure intrusted to his charge; then he
always acquitted himself with credit. In the committee and among his
colleagues his influence was irresistible, because his judgment and
integrity were above dispute.

With him a public office was a public trust, which he accepted and
administered for his State and his constituents without regard to race,
color, or party affiliation. Many times have I seen him, when coming in
from his country home in the morning, met at the depot by a dozen or
more of his constituents, claiming his attention to their private
matters with the Departments of the Government.

The patience and tender care with which he heard and looked after each
were paternal and pathetic. His love for little children was intense and
beautiful. Nothing made him happier than to fill some little fellow's
hands and pockets with candies and fruits, claiming only in return a shy
caress. In his home is where his perfectly balanced Christian character
shone in its brightest light. As father and husband he was indeed a
model man.

I shall attempt no extended biographical sketch; that has already been
well done by others. Yet I can not refrain from saying that in every
stage of his career Gen. LEE did his whole duty, actuated entirely and
solely by the loftiest motives.

A graduate of Harvard at twenty, he was appointed a second lieutenant in
the regular Army. Often I have heard him tell of the wearisome march
across the plains to California with his regiment, long in advance of
civilization and railroads, when most of that journey through the desert
was made perilous by roving bands of hostile Indians. Retiring from the
Army, he married and settled at the historic White House, in lower
Virginia. There he was the typical Southern country gentleman of
refinement and culture, taking an active interest in agriculture and the
public affairs of his community. When the war between the States
summoned Virginia's sons to her defense he again became a soldier.

Throughout the struggle he discharged every duty and was equal to every
responsibility placed upon him. His soldiers loved and trusted him as a
father, for they knew he would sacrifice no life for empty glory. The
saddest chapter in all his life