g the
lives of the men who took part in the great conflict which
preceded and followed the Civil War and the greater conflict
of the war itself, the old bitterness and estrangements are
all gone. Throughout the whole land the word 'countryman'
has at last become a title of endearment. The memory of the
leaders of that great conflict is preserved as tenderly by
the men who fought with them as by the men who followed them.
Massachusetts joins with Tennessee in laying a wreath on the
tomb of her great soldier, her great Governor, her great Senator.
He was faithful to truth as he saw it; to duty as he understood
it; to Constitutional Liberty as he conceived it.
"If, as some of us think, he erred, his error was that of a
brave man ready to give life and health and hope to the unequal
struggle.
To his loved cause he offered, free from stain,
Courage and faith; vain faith and courage vain.
"And, Mr. President, when he returned to his allegiance,
he offered to the service of his reunited country the same
zeal and devotion he had given to the Confederacy. There
was no reserved or half-hearted loyalty. We could have counted
on his care for the honor and glory of his country, on his
wise and brave counsel, in this hour of anxiety, with an unquestioning
confidence. So Massachusetts to-day presses the hand of Tennessee
and mourns with her for her great citizen who has departed."
James B. Eustis of Louisiana was of old Massachusetts stock.
His father was graduated at Harvard, and went to New Orleans,
where he acquired great distinction at the bar, and as Chief
Justice of that State. Senator Eustis's great-uncle was General
Eustis, an eminent solider of the Revolutionary War, and afterward
Governor of Massachusetts.
Senator Eustis seemed somewhat indolent, and to take very
little interest indeed in what was going on, except on some
few occasions when he bore himself in debate with remarkable
ability. I think his grave, scholarly style, and his powerful
reasoning, the propriety, dignity and moderation with which
he dealt with important subjects, made him nearly the finest
example of Senatorial behavior I have ever known. He once
made a speech in Executive session, on a topic which was suggested
suddenly and he could not have anticipated, on the character
and history of French diplomacy, which was marvellous alike
for his profound and accurate knowledge of the subject and
the beauty and grace of his discourse.
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