character was eminently American. In Europe they
have their ideas, their standards of merit, their rewards for great
exploits. They cover one with decorations; they give him a great place
in the government; they make him a marshal. Wellington began his
career with humble rank. He was young Wellesley; he rose to be the
Duke of Wellington. In our country we have no such rewards for great
deeds. One must enjoy the patronage of the Government, or he must take
the fortunes of private life.

"General Lee was educated at the great Military Academy, West Point.
He entered the army; was promoted from time to time for brilliant
services; in Mexico fought gallantly under the flag of the United
States; and was still advancing in his military career in 1861, when
Virginia became involved in the great contest that then grew up
between the States. Virginia was his mother; she called him to her
side to defend her, and, resigning his commission in the Army of the
United States, not for a moment looking for advancement there, not
counting the cost, not offering his sword to the service of power, nor
yet laying it down at the feet of the Government--he unsheathed it and
took his stand in defence of the great principles asserted by Virginia
in the Revolution, when she contended with Great Britain the right of
every people to choose their own form of government. Lost or won, to
him the cause was always the same--it was the cause of constitutional
liberty. He stood by it to the last. What must have been the
convictions of a man like General Lee, when, mounted on the same horse
that had borne him in battle, upon which he was seated when the lines
of battle formed by his own heroic men wavered, and he seized the
standard to lead the charge; but his soldiers rushed to him, and
laying their hands on his bridle, said, 'General, we cannot fire a
gun unless you retire?' What must have been his emotions as he rode,
through his own lines at Appomattox, to the commander of the opposing
army, and tendered his sword? Search the annals of history, ancient
and modern; consult the lives of heroes; study the examples of
greatness recorded in Greece leading the way on the triumphs of
popular liberty, or in Rome in the best days of her imperial rule;
take statesmen, generals, or men of patient thought who outwatched the
stars in exploring knowledge, and I declare to you that I do not find
anywhere a sublimer sentiment than General Lee uttered when he said,
'