praise. As a man, he was peerless; as
a soldier, he had no equal and no superior; as a humane and Christian
soldier, he towers high in the political horizon. You cannot imagine
with what delight, when I had the honor to represent this country
at the court of Great Britain, I heard the praises of his fame and
character which came from soldiers and statesmen. I need not speak
of the comparative merits of General Lee and the Union generals who
opposed him; this is not the place or time for a discussion of their
respective successes and defeats; but I may say that, as far as I was
able to judge of the sentiments of the military men of Great Britain,
they thought none of the Union officers superior to General Robert E.
Lee. Their admiration for him was not only on account of his skill on
the battle-field, and the skilful manner with which he planned and
executed his campaigns, but the humane manner in which he performed
his sad duty. They alluded specially to his conduct when invading the
territory of his enemy--his restraint upon his men, telling them that
the honor of the army depended upon the manner of conducting the war
in the enemy's country--and his refusal to resort to retaliatory
measures. I know that great influences were brought to bear upon him,
when he invaded Pennsylvania, to induce him to consent to extreme
measures. His answer, however, was, 'No; if I suffer my army to pursue
the course recommended, I cannot invoke the blessing of God upon my
arms.' He would not allow his troops to destroy private property or to
violate the rights of the citizens. When the necessities of his army
compelled the taking of commissary stores, by his orders his officers
paid for them in Confederate money at its then valuation. No burning
homesteads illumined his march, no shivering and helpless children
were turned out of their homes to witness their destruction by the
torch. With him all the rules of civilized war, having the higher
sanction of God, were strictly observed. The manly fortitude with
which he yielded at Appomattox to three times his numbers showed that
he was worthy of the honors and the fame the South had given him.
This is not the first time since the termination of the war I have
expressed admiration and friendship for Robert E. Lee. When I heard
that he was about to be prosecuted in a Virginia court for the alleged
crime of treason, I wrote to him at once, and with all my heart, that
if he believed I could be of