Year: 1870

axes, cannon and rife balls, are the advO
Gates that plead in this court, and tears and
blood, and fire and famine, are the costs
of the sword have not always commanded
that universal respect which might have
been expected, coming from a court of such
enlarged jurisdiction.


The block from which the heads of Hamp,
den and Sydney dropped, ana the cord thai
strangled Emmett, could not consign their
names to infamy. History had enrolled
them among the patriots and martyrs who
have died in defense Of the sacred cause OF
right. War may be, for aught know, one
OF the necessities OF our being. Nature
itself is averse to repOse. The air that we
breathe flashes itself into fury, and the tor
nadO sweeps over land and sea- leaving desc
lation in its pathway. The sierra blast Of
the desert buries camel and rider in its
course. The lightning leaps from the clouds,
and swift destruction follows in its fiery
track


The ground upon which we stand may be
an upheaval of the lofty mountain, with its
rocks and shells; may have risen from the
bosom Of the fathOmless ocean. If the ele-
ments are thus liable to commOtion and con-
vulsion, ia it wonderful that man, the
creature OF passion and prejudice, Of ambi-
ton, revenge and avarice, should sOme-
times find himself in open hostility with his
brother! The right of secession and the
power OF coercion are matters that do not
propose to discuss here or any where else.
1 shall say nothing about the causes of the
war. 1t is frequently the most difficult
thing in the world to assign the true
cause of war. The first great war
Of which we have any knowledge was
fought about young lady who had
married against the wishes Of her parents,
and as there were many nations engaged
and q great city destroyed in the struggle
we may fairly conclude that she was piO-
neer in that line Of disobedience. Since
that time men have become more practical
and wars are waged as great thing for
land or ready money, bonds or other Sc
curities, as the exigency of the case may
require. Tamerlane and Bajazet seem to
have fought to see who could whip, and curl
Osity on the same point may have con-
tributed largely to bring about the conflict
between France and Prussia. /


The civil strife in this country probably
had as much cause, and there may have
other wars. Whether the useless crimina-
ton and recrimination which preceded it
were the causes or only the premOnitOry
symptoms, is more than l can pretend to
determine. 1t came and around it's banners
gathered as brave men as ever followed the
Roman Eagle.


You Joined hands with those among whom
you we're born, and General Lee did the
same thing.


brilliant as had been the career of Cen
eral Lee, the closing scene Of his life added
situated in a valley Of SURPRISING loveliness,
the mountains rising on either side like
huge walls inclOsing Il beautiful garden !;
here stood an institution Of learning which
bore an illustriOus name, endeared to him
by ancestral association as we'll as by the
ties of family connection, but what was a
college without a student, in country
where the ravages Of war had left only
scanty means Of subsistence. .


The trustees most wisely rendered the
position of president to General Lee, and
he accepted it. The transition from the
camp to the schOol-rOOm had been Of rare
occurrence, but General Lee was equally
eminent in either situation. 1t was his am
bitiOn to elevate the standard of scholar
ship; to make Washington College the seat
Of science and art, as well as of literature.
He was not dismayed by the difficulties0nd
embarrassments that surrounded him. His
administrative ability, his zeal and his
energy surmOunted them all, and the crea-
ton Of his genius rose majestic in its super
structure; and firm and solid inf its founda-
tiOns, there it stands the pride OF Virginia.
The son Of Light Horse Harry" penniless
as a beggar, had completed monument to
Washington. 1t is not shaft or an Obelisk,
whose cold exterior fOrbids the touch and
repels the glance of the beholder. But it il
a monument replete with life, and light, and
the arts and the sciences, OF music and OF
poetry, with chapel and an altar dedicated
to religion and to God.


General Lee was taken suddenly and VIC
lently ill. The parOxysm, however, abated
in measure, and a gleam Of hope relieved
the apprehensions, of his family and friends
But the disease, instead Of being subdued
was only gathering strength fol-
final blow. 1t soon became apparent tC
all that his hour was come. He alone was
unmoved by the information. He was in
different to the issue Of life or death. He
had no expectations and no desires upon
the subject. Here was perfect resignation
He had been faithful soldier of the cross
and if the order had issued from head
quarters. he was ready to march over the
border. The lamp Of life burned low and
dim; the scenes of earth were closing around
him. Unconscious Of the present, the
shadowy past rose before his vision, and
his very latest utterance expressed wish
to see a friend. Lee whispered, 'Send for
A. P. HILL" Under the same circumstances
jackson had said, Send A. p. Hill to the
'front.'" Armies occupied the last thoughts
Of Napoleon, and SO it may have been with
Lee and jackson.


General Lee has gone to the grave. He
was buried by his own direction, without
display. If there are those among us who
derive comfort from castiug aspersiOns upon
his character, they will do SO, but the South
and the North, and the East and the West
will remember Lee. The widowed partner
Of his bosom still lives, and in her behalf
implore your justice. do not ask for any
thing else. She belongs to race fond Of
bestowing charity; but poverty can not
force them to accept it. She owns but does
not occupy the home of her fathers. Will
YOU, Senators, remove the bar which ex-
cludes her from Arlington!


The following were the responses made to
Mr.. McCreery in the Senate:


Mr.. Edmunds said that instead of being
welded to the institutions of Virginia, Cen
eral Lee was ward of the nation; that the
nation had fed, clothed and educated him;
that he had lived at the capital, but when
the capital had called upon him to defend
the flag under which he had been born, pro-
tected and honored, he deliberately turned
his back upon it, and planted his cannon in
sight OF the capital he bad sworn to protect
and defenda but he (Edmunds) would not
dignity such a proposition by discussing it.
General Lee was now dead. The only re-
gret, he thought, that any rightminded man
who believed in the war would have, was
that General Lee had not died either in his
youth, or in his patriotic manhood, or even
that he had not died earlier than he did by
the hand of the law, which would have
atOned, i'll some measure, for his crime.


Mr.. Trumbull, while disclaiming any
sympathy with the apparent object of the
resolution, which was to surrender and mu-
tilate the last resting place of thousands OF
Union dead, held that it would be if not un-
precedented, at least supplementary, to
deny to member a simple request for leave