In his life Sherman had left with his friends full instructions concerning his funeral, his grave and his monument. He directed that the only inscription above his dust should be his name, his rank, the date of his birth, the date of his death, and the simple words, "True and Honest." A fitting epitaph for one who was truly, as was written of another great soldier, "In his simplicity sublime." CHAPTER XXX. TRIBUTES. A NATIONAL OUTBURST OF GRIEF--THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE TO CONGRESS--THE SENATE'S MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS--SENATOR HAWLEY'S EULOGY--A TOUCHING TRIBUTE FROM A SOUTHERN SENATOR--SPEECHES BY SENATORS WHO WERE ALSO SOLDIERS--ELOQUENT WORDS FROM LAWRENCE BARRETT--JUDGE GRESHAM RECALLS SHERMAN'S PROPHETIC WORDS--A COMPARISON BETWEEN SHERMAN AND LEE--GENERAL SLOCUM'S REMINISCENCES--CHAUNCEY DEPEW ON SHERMAN IN SOCIAL LIFE. During General Sherman's last illness the entire nation listened with anxious suspense to every word of news that came from his home, and millions of hearts hourly offered fervent prayers for his recovery. The announcement of his death was not unexpected, for it had been known for several days that recovery was impossible; but it was none the less a shock to the public. Everywhere expressions of grief were heard and emblems of mourning were seen. Flags were placed at half-mast and buildings draped in black; bells were tolled and memorial meetings held. Messages of sympathy and condolence came to his family by mail and telegraph from every part of the world. Only a few irreconcilable spirits here and there in the South spoke against him, and made his death an occasion for venting their spleen against the patriot who had subdued the rebellion. When the news of Sherman's death reached Washington, the President, who had himself been an officer in Sherman's army in Georgia, sent a message announcing the fact to Congress, in which he said: "The death of William Tecumseh Sherman is an event that will bring sorrow to the heart of every patriotic citizen. No living American was so loved and venerated as he. To look upon his face, to hear his name, was to have one's love of country intensified. He served his country, not for fame, not out of a sense of professional duty, but for love of the flag and of the beneficent civil institutions of which it was the emblem. He was an ideal soldier, and shared to the fullest the _esprit de corps_ of the army; but he cherished the civil institutions organized under the Constitution, and was a soldier only that these might be perpetuated in undiminished usefulness and honor. He was in nothing an imitator.