esignation, and I saw what
pain the fact caused him. While he regretted the step his most
valuable officer had taken, he never failed to say emphatically,
and over and over again, that he believed he had taken it from _an
imperative sense of duty_. He was also consoled by the belief that if
he was placed at the head of the armies of the then Confederation, he
would have in him a foeman in every way worthy of him, and one who
would conduct the war upon the highest principles of civilized
warfare, and that he would not suffer encroachments to be made upon
the rights of private property and the rights of unoffending citizens.

"Some may be surprised that I am here to eulogize Robert E. Lee. It is
well known that I did not agree with him in his political views. At
the beginning of the late war, and for many years preceding it, even
from the foundation of this Government, two great questions agitated
the greatest minds of this country. Many believed that the allegiance
of the citizen was due first to his State, and many were of the
opinion that, according to the true reading of the Constitution, a
State had no right to leave the Union and claim sovereign rights and
the perpetual allegiance of her citizens. I did not agree in the
first-named opinion, but I knew it was honestly entertained. I knew
men of the purest character, of the highest ability, and of the most
liberal and patriotic feelings, who conscientiously believed it. Now
the war is over, thank God! and to that thank I am sure this meeting
will respond, it is the duty of every citizen of this land to seek
to heal the wounds of the war, to forget past differences, and to
forgive, as far as possible, the faults to which the war gave rise. In
no other way can the Union be truly and permanently restored. We are
now together as a band of brothers. The soldiers of the Confederacy,
headed by the great chief we now mourn, have expressed their
willingness to abide by the issue of the contest. What a spectacle to
the world! After years of military devastation, with tens of thousands
dead on her battle-fields, with the flower of her children slain, with
her wealth destroyed, her commerce swept away, her agricultural and
mechanical pursuits almost ruined, the South yielded. The North,
victorious and strong, could not forget what she owed to liberty
and human rights. We may well swear now that as long as liberty is
virtuous we will be brothers.

"Robert E. Lee is worthy of all