scerning minds that
appreciated his genius, and saw in him the coming Captain of America.
His commander and his comrades appreciated his ability. To a club
which was then organized he belonged, together with General McClellan,
General Albert Sydney Johnston, General Beauregard, and a host of
others. They recognized in Lee a master-spirit..

"He was never violent; he never wrangled. He was averse to
quarrelling, and not a single difficulty marked his career; but
all acknowledged his justness and wonderful evenness of mind. Rare
intelligence, combined with these qualities, served to make him a fit
representative of his great prototype, General Washington. He had been
accomplished by every finish that a military education could bestow.

"I remember when General Lee was appointed lieutenant-colonel, at the
same time that Sydney Johnston was appointed colonel, and General
Scott thought that Lee should have been colonel. I was talking with
General Scott on the subject long before the late struggle between the
North and South took place, and he then said that Lee was the greatest
living soldier in America. He did not object to the other commission,
but he thought Lee should have been first promoted. Finally, he said
to me with emphasis, which you will pardon me for relating, 'I tell
you that, if I were on my death-bed to-morrow, and the President of
the United States should tell me that a great battle was to be fought
for the liberty or slavery of the country, and asked my judgment as to
the ability of a commander, I would say with my dying breath, let it
be Robert E. Lee.' Ah! great soldier that he was, princely general
that he was, he has fulfilled his mission, and borne it so that
no invidious tongue can level the shafts of calumny at the great
character which he has left behind him.

"But, ladies and gentlemen, it was not in this that the matchless
attributes of his character were found. You have assembled here, not
so much to do honor to General Lee, but to testify your appreciation
of the worth of the principles governing his character; and if the
minds of this assemblage were explored, you would find there was a
gentleness and a grace in his character which had won your love and
brought forth testimonials of universal admiration. Take but a single
instance. At the battle of Gettysburg, after the attack on the
cemetery, when his troops were repulsed and beaten, the men threw
up their muskets and said, 'General, we hav