Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of William H. F. Lee Part 2

All that lives must die, Pa.s.sing through nature to eternity.

Most naturally am I more than usually touched and pained by the death of him which now hangs its somber drapery around the walls of our hearts and casts its pall over this Chamber. It is a death within the representative circle of which I am a member. It is the death of a colleague, a friend, whose presence in that circle always brought sunshine and never shadow.

Tributes to his memory, clothed in language of beauty and breathing with love and burning with pathos, have already been paid, and others will follow; and now, while I can not hope to charm with the tongue of eloquence or touch the soul with the figures of rhetoric, I come with my tribute.

It will be plain and unadorned, but it will at least have the merit of sincerity, and, like the widow's mite, be all that I can give.

WILLIAM HENRY FITZHUGH LEE, of Virginia, is no more.

How the name of Lee, whenever uttered, wherever chivalry has erected her altar, sends a thrill like an electric current through every fiber of the manly man.

How the name of Virginia has been upon every tongue since Queen Elizabeth, nearly three centuries ago, gave that name to that section around which to-day historic memories linger and traditions and glories cl.u.s.ter as thick "as the stars in the crown of night," the section where Christopher Newport and his devoted followers "builded an altar unto the Lord and in the savage wilderness" deposited the germ of this mighty nation, "and where G.o.d blessed them as He blessed Noah and his sons, saying unto them, 'The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.'"

Virginia! The land of legends and lays--the land where the cradle of republican liberty was rocked, and where, in 1765, the first denial was heard of the right of the British Parliament to levy taxes upon the Colonies which kindled the fire of patriotic fervor and led to the ever-living, soul-inspiring words of her Henry and the raising up of her Jefferson to heights of imperishable fame and her Washington to the pinnacle of everlasting renown.

Virginia! The land of battlefields and battle gore, colonial relics and Revolutionary monuments, spotless fame and unsullied honor; the land of patriot soldiers and heroes, and of a Yorktown, where the tyrant's head was bruised and the glorious strife ended which struck from our fathers the fetters and gave to them and their posterity a country gleaming in the golden sunlight of republican liberty, and throwing wide open her gates to the oppressed of every clime.

Virginia! The land of mountains, upon whose summits and in whose gorges the spirit of freedom roams unfettered and unconquerable; the land of valleys, which are hung like alcoved aisles with scenes of heroism and pictures of daring, self-sacrifice, and devotion to principle; the land of rivers and rivulets, which reflect like mirrors the fields upon which her blood has been poured out like water upon the ground; the land of zephyrs and breezes, and where the storm king sometimes dwells, gently murmuring or in thunder tones proclaiming her glories and her fame; the land of blue beautiful skies, radiant with the virtues of her daughters and bespangled with the deeds of her sons; the land of memorials of the past, that inspire the Virginia youth, whether born in poverty or in riches, reared in the cottage humble or in the mansion stately, with a patriotism that knows not section and yet a State love that knows not bounds.

It was in this land that Richard Henry Lee, the fire and splendor of whose eloquence burned like a hot iron into the soul of tyranny, and Francis Lightfoot Lee, both of them signers of the Declaration of Independence, were born; it was in this land that Arthur Lee, through whose instrumentality the Colonies secured the friendship and support of France, and "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, whose legion following his plume, struck the enemy in the bivouac, on the march, in the lurid glare of battle, on the flank, and in the front like a thunderbolt from the skies, were born. It was in this land that Robert Edward Lee, whose services on the fields of Mexico decked his brow with the warrior's laurel, and whose leadership of the Confederate armies in the unfortunate strife between the States made his name immortal, and whose virtues shine with the brilliancy of a polished diamond, wreath his character in moral grandeur, and draw paeans and praises from friend and foe and from every clime where exalted manhood and a spotless life find devotees, was born; and it was in this land that WILLIAM HENRY FITZHUGH LEE, whose memory we are here to perpetuate, was born--all, all of the same lineage and blood.

What a line of ill.u.s.trious and distinguished men of one name for one State to produce. What a line of ill.u.s.trious men to spring from the old cavalier family that under the reign of Charles I settled in the county of Northumberland, between the waters of the Rappahannock and Potomac, since glorified by the pen of the historian and the lyre of the poet.

WILLIAM HENRY FITZHUGH LEE! How sweet does that name sound to me. What recollections does it awaken. How quickly do I find my heart throbbing; how rapidly my blood rushes through its channels.

Less than a twelvemonth ago he sat in yon seat or moved hither and thither about this Hall and along these pa.s.sageways, pausing here and there to speak a pleasant word or exchange a friendly greeting. His tall and commanding person, his open, frank, and benevolent face and courtly bearing marked him among the membership of this House, and would have marked him in any a.s.semblage, whether in the glittering splendor of royalty or in the plain dignity of our republican inst.i.tutions. To see him once was to remember him forever. His image is as distinct before me this moment as if he stood in the flesh with his eye beaming forth the goodness of his nature and his hand outstretched, as was his wont, to receive mine.

Mr. Speaker, his ill.u.s.trious father, when the shadows of Appomattox closed round him, when the darkness of defeat enveloped him, when his soul was rent and torn and his mind was filled with anguish and his ragged and tired and worn veterans, reduced to a mere thin skirmish line, the remnant of an army that had shed unfading l.u.s.ter upon the American arms and the American soldier, gathered with tear-moistened cheeks about him to bid him farewell and receive his blessing, gave utterance to a sentiment just quoted by my colleague [Mr. TUCKER], a sentiment as grand and n.o.ble as was ever written upon any Roman tablet or carved upon any column of enduring marble that was ever reared in the flood light of glory:

Duty is the sublimest word in our language.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, thus spoke Robert Edward Lee, the soldier, hero, Christian, and philanthropist: and when we come to study the life and character of WILLIAM HENRY FITZHUGH LEE we are impressed with the fact that he took duty as his talismanic word, that it was the star that guided him, and that he followed it as faithfully as the "wise men"

followed the Star from "the East" to Jerusalem and thence to Bethlehem.

We believe that in his youth, on the heights of Arlington, where his eyes first opened upon the light, he learned at his father's knee and by his father's daily walk and conversation the great lesson of duty which steered his course and pointed out his pathway in life.

He was born, as has been said, on the 31st day of May, 1837. In 1857 he was appointed a second lieutenant in the Sixth Regiment of United States Infantry, and served in 1858 in the then far West under Albert Sidney Johnston, whose fame Shiloh echoes and reechoes along the banks of the Tennessee. In 1859 he resigned his commission in the Army and returned to Virginia and located on his estate in the county of New Kent. In 1861, when the Southern tocsin sounded and Virginia's voice was heard calling for troops, he raised a cavalry company and joined the Army of Northern Virginia. He rose gradually from captain to major-general of cavalry; was wounded in the terrific engagement between the Confederate and Federal cavalry at Brandy Station on the 9th day of June, 1863; was captured at Hanover Court-House, and was confined at Fort Monroe and Fort Lafayette until March, 1864, when he was exchanged, and repaired to his command, and served until the flag which he loved was furled forever at Appomattox.

From that time forward he cultivated his large estate with much care, serving one term in the senate of his State, declining a renomination.

In 1886 he was elected to the Fiftieth Congress from the Eighth Congressional district of Virginia, and again in 1888 to the Fifty-first Congress, and still again in 1890 to the present Congress.

It was my privilege and pleasure to form his acquaintance in the army and to watch his flashing blade amid the carnage of battle, observe his cool courage and intrepid bearing and the love and confidence of his men upon more than one sanguinary field. He was as calm when the leaden hail was rattling and as cool when the sh.e.l.ls were shrieking and bursting as he was upon this floor. He was a leader, not a follower of his men; if they went into the jaws of death, he was at their head. He fared as his men fared; if their haversacks were empty, his was empty; if they laid down in the mud, he laid there too; if they sweltered in the summer heat or shivered in the winter blast, he sweltered or shivered too; and thus it was he kindled in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of his men intense love for himself and secured their implicit confidence in his leadership.

The promotions he received, rising from a captain to a major-general, speak in terms stronger than any words of mine of his courage and valor and his qualities as a soldier and military chieftain.

As a civilian, pursuing the quiet walks of rural life and devoting himself to agriculture, the n.o.blest of all arts, he was honored by all the people and drew to him his neighbors, binding them with the steely bands of constant friendship. His word was as good as his bond, and the dusky son of toil as well as the intelligent tenant on his wide possessions relied upon it with absolute faith; and the most beautiful tribute that could be paid to his memory was the deep sorrow which manifested itself in a meeting after his death of those whose brawny muscle had held the plow-handles and whose toil had made the corn and the wheat grow on his rich and fertile fields.

In politics he was a Democrat, and he was as pure in the political arena as in private life. He scorned the ways of the demagogue and the timeserver, and believed that "men should be what they seem." In the councils of his State and in the councils of the nation he was found at all times in full accord with the principles and policy of his party.

As a Representative he was as true to his const.i.tuents as any subject to his sovereign, laboring in season and out of season to serve them, and even when his strong frame began to weaken and the germs of disease had been planted in his system he disregarded the warning calls for rest and continued to bend all his energies in the discharge of his trust, and I but speak the truth when I say that he fell a martyr to duty.

But, Mr. Speaker, while he was grand as a soldier, pure as a man, exalted as a citizen, and faithful as a Representative, it was in the home circle, as husband and father, and not on the battlefield, in civil life, or in the halls of legislation, that the beauty and loveliness of his character drew a halo around him.

He loved home, and it had a charm for him which neither pleasures, honors, nor fame could pluck from his bosom. Blessed by the companionship of one worthy of all adoration, and who presided like a queen over his household, entering into all his joys, sharing all his sorrows, and encouraging all his aspirations, he loved the breezes that kissed her cheeks, the birds that made sweet music to her ear, the rivulets that gently murmured her name, the flowers that shed their fragrance in her bowers, and the stately oaks under which the children of their union had prattled and the pebbled walks upon which they had played and gamboled.

Yes, he loved home, and in its sacred circle his presence was like a sunbeam, brightening every face and warming every heart. He was all patience, gentleness, kindness, and love, and if there ever was a home which was a fit emblem of heaven it was Ravensworth, the home of this distinguished man.

Mr. Speaker, he is gone. He lives now only in memory. In October last, when the frosts were blighting and the leaves were falling and the autumnal winds were sighing, after patient waiting for the fatal hour it came, and G.o.d's finger touched him, and the brave soldier, honored citizen, faithful Representative, devoted husband, and affectionate father was dead.

He pa.s.sed away quietly, strong in Christian faith and in the hope of a blissful eternity.

WILLIAM HENRY FITZHUGH LEE! His State mourns his death. Within the bosom of her soil he rests--peacefully rests. In his ancestral land near by Arlington, historic, revered Arlington, the scene of his childhood and early manhood, he sleeps--sleeps the sleep that knows no waking.

Earth, that all too soon hath bound him, Gently wrap his clay!

Linger lovingly around him, Light of dying day!

And Virginia--

Bending lowly, Still a ceaseless vigil holy Keep above his dust.

ADDRESS OF MR. WISE, OF VIRGINIA.

Mr. SPEAKER: In accordance with a beautiful and impressive custom we put aside for to-day our legislative duties to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of Hon. WILLIAM H.F. LEE, of Virginia. In November, 1890, he was elected to serve as a member of this Congress from the Eighth district of that State, receiving in that action of his devoted const.i.tuents a merited indors.e.m.e.nt of his conduct and services as their Representative for the two preceding terms. But when the day of our a.s.sembling arrived my colleague was not present to answer to the call of his name. He had pa.s.sed over the river and was resting under the shade of the trees on the other side. He was beloved and honored by all the people of Virginia, and the announcement of his death, which occurred on the 15th day of October, 1891, was received everywhere within her borders with expressions of the deepest sorrow. He was born at Arlington, on the Virginia heights, opposite this beautiful city, on the 31st day of May, 1837, and at the time of his death was in the fifty-fifth year of his age.

In 1857, when he was pursuing his studies in the University of Harvard, in preparation for the active and serious duties of life, he received from the then President of the United States the appointment of brevet second lieutenant in the Sixth Infantry. At that time the spirit of resistance to the authority of the National Government was being exhibited to such an extent in Utah as to call for measures of repression. a.s.sa.s.sinations and outrages of all kinds were common, and the officers of the United States were powerless either to prevent or punish their commission.

When Mr. Buchanan became President the resolution was formed that the insubordination and conflict of authority existing in that Territory should cease, and the necessary executive and judicial officers having been appointed for the enforcement of the laws of the United States and the preservation of the public peace, it was determined to send a detachment of the Army to protect them against violence and to a.s.sist them as a posse comitatus, when necessary, in the performance of their duties. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston became the commander of this military force, and Lieut. LEE had his first experience of the service in this expedition. As the occasion does not call for a recital of the events of that period, I will content myself with the remark that he was then, as on every occasion in after years, faithful to the obligations of duty. His term of service in the Army was of short duration, and from that fact we may infer that he was not enamored with the life of a soldier in time of peace.

In 1859 he resigned his commission, and soon thereafter was married to Miss Wickham, the daughter of a family distinguished in the annals of Virginia. They went to reside at the White House, on the Pamunkey River, in the county of New Kent. It was at this old historic country home that the marriage of George Washington with the Widow Custis was celebrated.

It descended to Gen. LEE from his mother, who was the great-granddaughter of Washington's wife.

Here he devoted himself to the tillage of the soil and became engrossed with the pursuits of a plain and unostentatious farmer. His condition and surroundings at this time were such as to invite contentment and encourage the cultivation of those pure and lofty sentiments for which he was ever distinguished.

Being in the flower and strength of his young manhood and blessed with affluence and the love of an accomplished wife, there seemed wanting nothing to make his home an earthly paradise.

But the course of this peaceful and happy life was not to run thus smoothly to the end. Dark and threatening clouds of war soon lowered upon our land, and the political conflicts and antagonisms, which had grown in intensity and bitterness with the flight of years, ripened into civil war in 1861. The crisis then arrived when the appeal to arms was inevitable, and with it the necessity that all men should decide whether allegiance was first due to the State or General Government. There were honest differences of opinion on this question, which had existed from the very foundation of the Republic.

He was connected by blood with a long line of ill.u.s.trious men, who had borne a conspicuous part in the events which led to the declaration of American independence and the establishment of this const.i.tutional Government. It was Richard Henry Lee who offered in the Continental Congress, in June, 1776, that stirring resolution which proclaimed to the world "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

It was his own grandfather, known in history as "Light-Horse Harry Lee,"

who, in the long struggle which followed this bold declaration, struck such st.u.r.dy blows for the liberties and rights of his countrymen as caused him to receive the special commendation of George Washington, of whom in turn he uttered those memorable words: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Bearing a name thus a.s.sociated with all the glorious achievements of the past, it was but natural that he should have felt an ardent attachment to the Union. But he was a son of Virginia, "where American liberty raised its first voice and where its youth was nurtured and sustained."

There the doctrine of the sovereignty of the State was accepted as the true interpretation of the Const.i.tution almost without division of sentiment. Her people held that allegiance was first due to their State, and while all deplored the necessity for, few, if any, doubted as to the right of separation. When in April, 1861, a convention representing her people pa.s.sed the ordinance of secession, he felt no hesitation in adopting his course. He resolved at once to consecrate himself and his sword to the sacred duty of defending her homes and firesides.