ympathy, with the hopes of his race, his
country, and humanity.

I would not speak of him as a brilliant man. He was more. He was a wise
and good and true man. Gen. LEE was a representative of our racial
history. The story of his family began when his remote ancestor rode
with the Norman knights at Hastings. Another led a company of English
volunteers with Coeur de Lion on the third crusade to the Holy Land,
and was made the Earl of Litchfield. Still another was that Richard Lee
who, intense loyalist as he was, became a commissioner from Virginia and
urged Charles II to fly for refuge to the Old Dominion when his throne
was trembling under him. Quarrel and fight as we may and as our fathers
did before us, the continuity of race achievement is unbroken.

The growth of race ascendency and the expanse of race domination are
unceasing. The picture is unique and the nation one, however the theater
enlarges, however the scenes shift, however the actors differ in the
drama. Gen. LEE was a representative democrat or republican, for I use
the words in their generic sense. His grandfather was that young
American Capt. Henry Lee, the ardent youth of nineteen, who at the head
of his company of Virginia horse reported to Washington for duty when
the first army of Continentals were ranging themselves upon the plains
of Boston. He was the first to break the record of his line for loyalty
to the Crown of England in espousing the cause of American independence,
the first to draw his sword for the new king proclaimed at
Philadelphia--the sovereign people.

As "Light-Horse Harry" Lee he goes down to history and renown;
distinguished in general orders of the army and in promotion from
Congress for one exploit, and for another with the thanks of Congress
and a gold medal. In statesmanship as in soldiership, he was the friend
and follower of Washington. In the Virginia legislature, when the
resolutions of 1798 were debated, he took sides against them, and in his
speech you may find nearly all the arguments which are used in favor of
the Federal construction of the Constitution. When Washington died he
was a member of Congress, and pronounced upon him the memorable words,
"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his
fellow-citizens." He was one of those virile men who could write, speak,
and fight.

When Gen. Winfield Scott led the American Army to Mexico there rode by
his side Capt. Robert E. Lee, the son of Henry Lee, a