Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1875-07-03
THE FRATERNAL ERA. tLI
Gen. Fitz-IIugh Lees Speech at Boston

At the close of the Mayors speech
introducing the noted Confederate,
Gen. Lee stepped to the front of the
platform, and was received with the
widest enthusiasm, a perfect babel of
applause arising from the vast audience;
the men threw their hats into the air
and yelled themselves hoarse, while
the ladies in the galleries waved their
handkerchiefs and clapped their hands.
When quiet was at last restored, Gen.
Lee said; MIR. Mayor and Ladies and
Gentlemen :al thank you for the most
cordial welcome you have extended to
my comrades and myself. l came here
with the Norfolk light artillery Blues,
Confederate organization, whose guns
have roared upon many hard-fought
field. As we arrived before your city,
this afternoon, and were steaming up
your beautiful harbor, the first notes
that reached me from u band of music
sent to meet me were of that good old
tune called Aud Lang Syne." and |
felt was not going to Boston, but that
[ was returning again to common
duu Il mp
plause. should have wished that
my poor presence would have passed
unnoticed, or that 1 might have been
permitted to have remained silent
visitor in Boston. When l ponder
that this is the first time | haveseyer
stepped on the soil Of Massachusetts, /
necessarily feel some embarrassment
at addressing such splendid audience
as is before me, but when lrefect that
| am an American citizen, that L, too.
am descendent of those men who
fought on Bunker Hill, / feel, that /
too, have right to be here, to cele-
brate their splendid deeds. [Great ap-
plause. We come here, feilow-eiti-
zens, to show that we appreciate these
achievements of these patriotic fore
fathers Of ours--these men who planted
the seeds from which our nation has
sprung. We are here to show by our
actual presence that we are fully in
sympathy with the sentiment which
found expression upon che recent Dec
Grafton days, when loving hands en-
tw:ned beautiful flowers abou. the
graves of the soldiers of both armies
without distinction. Great applause,
recall that, right here in Boston, 100
years ago, particular divine spoke in
substance as follows: We pray the
| Lord, if our enemies are DESTROYS to
fight US, to give them fight enough,
and if there are more on their way
across the sea, We pray thee, q Lord,
to sink them 10 the bottom of ii.
Laughter and applause. Now, when
| see this magnificent demonstration,
when my eyes look on yours beaming
with kindness ana heartfelt goodwill
toward me aud nine, [ feel that here
after, if foreign or domestic foes threat
en- our conhnon country, Massachu-
sets and Virginia. California and
Florida would shout with ONO voice,
If they desire to fight let them have
enough. Great applause. | may be
pardoned if recall to your minds that,
in those days of darkness, when the
clouds of war enveloped your common
wealth, my State of Virginia, sent right
here into your midst him, who in the
language of my grandfather, was First
in war, first in peace, and first in the
hearts of his cOuntrymen, whose
character, in the language Of Andrew
jackson, cannot be too profoundly
studied and his example too closely
followed. Washington appeared here
in your, midst. brought order out of
confusion, and saved our country. /
thank You, ladies ami gentlemen, most
cordially, for the manner in which you
have received me-" [Applause.]