The Opelousas courier., 1870-12-10
@oe Lee Memorial Meeting at
Richmond, Va.
ADDRESS OF HON. JEFF. DAVIS,

FROM the report Of the monster Lee
nieihoi4ai met tag, Projected C> Confel-
craze >oidicis and SAILORS, aEu held in
Elrhu.Dnd OF the 81 ult., p,ttl;>h> Il ia
tue D}>i;alth, Of thr 4}n, Ac copy the
1oi""E: =, nu.sls Of tie Address utllv-
eIeo upou The OCCASION by Hon. JtItulso son
! Davis:
AS Mr. Davis arose. to walk to the
stabu every l,c1s~n III the house lose to
His ieet, and tilclc followed sucu u siu,ln
Ct Applause as seemed to shake the vcry
1uuu,4L'i"hs Of the huIl,:i.Iu. v H..:ir Ii. ,,r
up"n cheer was echoed ilOln t!.c tlro.4ts
o1 'ttviALs. salutlug one whom tll,y de
! Ne;:tvu W nuuvr.
LII. laws spoke at length, and with
ms accustomed thrilling. moving elo-
4uc!l.e. We shall hot .lltclnpt, ut tue
ia'e near at which We wllte, to s I've ia
tuli report of his alulc>s
~ lie acGlesseu his il,ul,rs as .SoltHers
ana sailors OF the C>iItvLv:.try, culli ..ut
ana 1ilthts :'-A>s, l.:t.ei on tns sad
occasion, with hearts opprcs:,ed with tnt-
lei ti.At 1olirMs the loss of HIM WHO
was uUI reader Oh nsAuy b.JUHT u.ttli;-
t'.d, Il pleasing though mvl;.Hc!.,!y -!n.r-
tst.r'ls presented. Hitherto, ak. in al
t!:,!rs, mtn have been huho:cd vh; Il sue
cesStul, but I.Hre Is the Case Of one who.
amid ulsAst2r, Went down to lis grave,
AKA those who Welr llls companions ia
; misfortune have .tssclh o.<d to honor his
nltMury. Ii is as luch al honor to you
who give As 20 him VINO receives; fur
auuvc tie VII gar lest ot merit, you show
yourselves coMpctent to discriminate
between Lin VINO enjoys AID lie who
deserves 6ucccss.
kobeit L. Lee was my associate and
fTieLu Ia the nli!!:a. J a"auelny. and We
were friends u:.;l. t..c hcur rt his dra;h
We wric associates and llienLs Wien Ge
WAS d Soldier ana | Il O:s tooulan; and
Associates and friends wneu he led t!,v
ai mics Vi the tuI:icd.iacl aid presided
in its Cu';net. We pass. d tlrou! IA nI;.,.y
cad sccnes toG> tier, tut Cannot rt:utn-
brr that thc.c VAS ever ;.us'lt bat pritCct
harmony t,t",en us. II ever there Was
GiAsi cree OF opinion, it Was dissipated
by iScussirn, and harmony WAS tn" X
suit. | repeat, ace neuer disagreed AID,
may add. | ncvc. i'll my !.ic SAW III lllm
the slightest tendency to sell king.
1t was Eut lis to aiskr Il reculd. it Was
not lis 10 shift blame to other shoulders:
but it Was his, with an eye fixed upon
the wcittle of his country, Hever ttiteE-
ing, to follow the llHt OF duty to tne end.
His was the Ltalt that brlved evtly dit
tculiy; lis vas the mind that wrought
vlctuli ont oi defeat.
lie has been charged with ''want ct
dash" / wish to say that never hnc"
Lee to tA!tcr to attempt anything even
man could dare. AN attempt hAs also
been n...le to throw a cloud upon his
Character, because he left the army of
the United States to join in the struggle
tur the liberty uf his State. Without
tvenrlIiug at all upon politics, ! deem 1t
ny duty 10 Sly one word i'll reference to
this charge. Virgin born, descended
finln u family ii?ustr.ouS Ill NiSN!ia
annals, given l'y iIo:i.l.. To tie s:-rvice
Of Che United States, lie rel'T"-rnt, hcI
in the M:ilttly Academy 1t West Point
L,H was nu. educated by the trdt!at
Government, but Is Virginia; fox she
paid i.cI Illi share fox lh> >tplult "l that
IL. ::tUt:un, and was entitled tn deErATa
in return tat selvices vi her sun>. Eli
teii:.g Tie army If the Unltrd States, he
represented Vii gilia there Also. as.,f no.
bly,. On many hard tonight tieih' Lee
was conspicuous, batting for his native
State as much IA fer the Union. He came
i.om Mexico crowned with honors, COW
cred by breveta, and recognized, young
as. Le was, as one of the ahlest of his
coEDtry's soldiers. And to prove that
he Was estimated then as such, let me
tell Won that when Lee was a captain Of
engineers, stationed in Baltimore, the
Cuban Junta in New York selected lini
to lie their leader in the struggle for the
independence Of their native country.
They we're anxious to secure his services,
and offered him every temptation that
ambition could desire. He thought the
matter over, and, remember, came to
Washington to consnlt Ine as to what he
should do; aud when began to discuss
the complications which might arise from
his acceptance Of the trust, he gently re-
buked me, saying that this was not the
line upon which he wished my advice !;
, the sim pie question was, "Whether it
was right or unt !'' He had been edu-
Gated by the United States. and felt it
wrong to accept place in the army Of a
foreign power. Such was his extreme
delicacy, such was the nice sense of
honor Of the gallant gentleman whose
death we deplore. But when Virginia
withdrew-the State to whom he owed
his first and last allegiance-the same
, nice sense Of honor led him to draw bis
sword and throw it in the scaleso good
, 'or for evil. Pardon me for this briet
defence Of my illnstrious friend.
When Virginia Joined the Confedoracy
Robert E. Lee, the highest officer in the
little army Of Virginia, came to Rich
> mond, and not pausiDg to inquire what
, would be his rank in the service of the
, Confederacy, went to Western Virginia
} urder the belief that he was still an ofii-
, Ger of the State. He came back, carry
, ing the heavy weight Of defeat and I'M
, appreciated by the people whom he
served for they could not know, as |
, know, that if bis plans and orders had
been carried ont, the result would have
been victory rather than retreat. You
, did not know, for I wonld not have
, known 1t had he not breathed 1t in my
nd ha r.