ts commencement to the
surrender at Appomattox.]

On the 28th of September, 1870, after laborious attention to his
duties during the early part of the day, General Lee attended, in the
afternoon, a meeting of the Vestry of Grace Church, of which he was a
member. Over this meeting he presided, and it was afterward remembered
that his last public act was to contribute the sum of fifty-five
dollars to some good object, the requisite amount to effect which was
thus made up. After the meeting, General Lee returned to his home,
and, when tea was served, took his place at the table to say grace,
as was his habit, as it had been in camp throughout the war. His lips
opened, but no sound issued from them, and he sank back in his chair,
from which he was carried to bed.

The painful intelligence immediately became known throughout
Lexington, and the utmost grief and consternation were visible upon
every face. It was hoped, at first, that the attack would not prove
serious, and that General Lee would soon be able to resume his duties.
But this hope was soon dissipated. The skilful physicians who hastened
to his bedside pronounced his malady congestion of the brain, and,
from the appearance of the patient, who lay in a species of coma,
the attack was evidently of the most alarming character. The most
discouraging phase of the case was, that, physically, General Lee
was--if we may so say--in perfect health. His superb physique,
although not perhaps as vigorous and robust as during the war,
exhibited no indication whatever of disease. His health appeared
perfect, and twenty years more of life might have been predicted for
him from simple reference to his appearance.

The malady was more deeply seated, however, than any bodily disease;
the cerebral congestion was but a symptom of the mental malady which
was killing its victim. From the testimony of the able physicians who
watched the great soldier, day and night, throughout his illness, and
are thus best competent to speak upon the subject, there seems no
doubt that General Lee's condition was the result of mental depression
produced by the sufferings of the Southern people. Every mail, it is
said, had brought him the most piteous appeals for assistance, from
old soldiers whose families were in want of bread; and the woes of
these poor people had a prostrating effect upon him. A year or two
before, his health had been seriously impaired by this brooding
depression, and he had visit