and her sister States of the South
passed their ordinances of secession and sent delegates to Montgomery to
unite in the attempt to form a Southern Confederacy. LEE never doubted
that allegiance was due first to his State, and when war followed he
drew his sword in defense of Virginia.

As long as the strife continued he avoided no danger, he shunned no
peril, he feared no adversary.

Now with a company, now a squadron, now a regiment, now a brigade, now a
division of cavalry behind him, he went upon the march, formed the line
of battle, or rode into the enemy's lines. Whatever duty was assigned to
him, he entered upon its discharge with energy and vigor. In the varying
fortunes of war he was wounded, captured, held as a hostage; but the day
of recovery and exchange came, and he once more headed the brave
followers who loved and honored and trusted him, and during the last
year of the struggle he again shared their hardships and privations and
dangers. But the end came at last, the issue was settled, the
arbitrament of war was decided adversely, and he sheathed his sword and
returned to the place where his home had been.

The year 1865 marked a low ebb in the fortunes of the Southern people,
and perhaps it may not be unprofitable to dwell briefly upon their
conduct when under the shadow of defeat and disaster. The distinguished
father of him to whose memory we are this day paying tribute went from
the head of a great army to train the new generation of young men of the
South in the halls of a university to usefulness in the various walks of
citizenship. The students who enjoyed the privilege of sitting at the
feet of this grand college president there learned lessons of
patriotism. They were advised to build up the places left waste and
desolate, and to look hopefully forward to a reunited country and a more
prosperous future.

Whatever public disappointment or private grief or loss he suffered was
buried in his own breast. He advised his countrymen that the great
questions which had long divided the country, and upon which opinions
had been so diverse that legislative debate and administrative action
had failed in finding a solution, had been finally settled by the sword,
and that henceforth their duty was to the Union restored and
indissoluble.

With so illustrious an example the immediate restoration of peace and
good order all over the South is not to be wondered at. The annals of
all nations may be searched i