Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of William H. F. Lee (A Representative from Virginia): Delivered in the House of Representatives and in the Senate,; Fifty-Second Congress, First SessionVarious
History
Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of William H. F. Lee (A Representative from Virginia): Delivered in the House of Representatives and in the Senate,; Fifty-Second Congress, First Session
Various
Lee, William Henry Fitzhugh, 1837-1891
Why should death be regarded as a calamity? It is the inevitable fate of
all the living. May it not be a part of life? The hope of immortality is
the greatest boon conferred upon the living. On an occasion like this
words will not soothe the grief of those who are near and dear to the
deceased. Their consolation must be in the hope of reunion beyond the
grave.
ADDRESS OF MR. COLQUITT, OF GEORGIA.
Mr. PRESIDENT: It is a difficult and delicate task to draw with justice
and propriety the character of a public man. Fulsome panegyrics have
often been pronounced upon the character of the dead either out of
flattery to the deceased or to gratify the ambitious desires of the
living.
In paying a tribute to WILLIAM H.F. LEE I am not influenced by any such
questionable views. To do honor to his memory I need only say what
justice and truth dictate. There is little danger, in speaking of him,
of committing the offense of exaggerated eulogy. There is more danger of
doing the injustice of understatement in commemorating a character so
rounded and symmetrical.
As a son, Gen. LEE's filial piety was so marked as to make him an
example worthy of all imitation by the youth of his country. In every
post of honor or trust to which he was called--and they were many and
exalted ones--he met his engagements with such fidelity and courage as
never to incur censure and seldom provoke criticism.
His bearing as a private citizen was of such dignity and benevolence as
to secure the love, while it evoked the admiration, of all who knew him.
His character was made up of blended chivalry and courtesy and adorned
with the mild luster of a religious faith.
He was frank and open, plain and sincere, speaking only what he thought
without reserve, and promising only what he designed to perform.
As he was plain and sincere, so he was firm and steady in his purposes;
courteous and affable, he was not influenced by servile compliance to
his company, approving or condemning as might be most agreeable to them.
He was a man of courage and constancy, qualities which, after all, are
the ornaments and defense of a man.
He had in the highest degree the air, manners, and address of a man of
quality; politeness with ease, dignity without pride, and firmness
without the least alloy of roughness. He loved refined society, but he
had great respect and sympathy for those who had been reared in simple
habits and the toils of life.
He possessed an even and equal temper of mind. Those who best knew him
can testify of him what has often been asserted of his great father,
that they never heard an acrimonious speech fall from his lips; that his
whole temper was so controlled by justice and generosity that he was
never known to disparage with an envious breath the fame of another or
to withhold due praise of another's worth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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