Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of William H. F. Lee (A Representative from Virginia) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 113 pages of information about Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of William H. F. Lee (A Representative from Virginia).

Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of William H. F. Lee (A Representative from Virginia) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 113 pages of information about Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of William H. F. Lee (A Representative from Virginia).

ADDRESS OF MR. HERMANN, OF OREGON.

Mr. SPEAKER:  Of all picturesque spots on the face of the earth there is perhaps none that can rival in scenic beauty Mount Arlington, in the State of Virginia.  Shaded by the primeval forest to the rear, and in front beautified by the gently sloping lawn, decorated by variegated flowers and artistically trimmed shrubbery, with the dark-green waters of the Potomac ebbing and flowing not far away and in full view the mighty nation’s splendid capital city, stands the stately old mansion, with its classic columns, where nearly fifty-five years ago was born our departed friend and colleague, and one of the beloved Representatives of the people of Virginia—­Gen. WILLIAM H.F.  LEE.  Born in Virginia, he remained a Virginian continuously to the hour of his death.

Inheriting the martial genius of his eminent ancestry, he early aspired to a career in the military service of his country, and at the comparatively early age of twenty we find him bidding adieu to his college studies at Harvard and uniting with the Army in its expedition to Utah in 1858, where he first experienced the fatigues and hardships incident to the life of the soldier in the long march over the arid plains and through the mountain canyons into the Mormon territory.  The prospect of inaction, with a long period in garrison, proved a disappointment to so ambitious a spirit, and he resigned his commission and returned to the domestic welcome of his Virginia farm.

Soon, however, the indication of a long peace proved delusive, and the scene shifted.  This time it was decreed that he should behold the terrible conflict in which one portion of his unhappy country was to engage in deadly array with another portion.  Obeying what he conceived to be the mandate of his State, he followed the impulse of his feelings and the example of his kindred and his friends, and periled all in that belief.  He participated at once, and most actively, in some of the most sanguinary engagements of the civil war.  Wounded at one place, taken prisoner at another, then exchanged, and again in the van of battle, we find him following the forlorn hope until the close of the struggle at Appomattox, when he again returned to the old farm.

He possessed the undivided confidence of his constituents.  He was regarded by them, as he was so long observed by us in our intimate associations with him in this Hall, and especially in the committee rooms, as an intelligent and conscientious legislator, a laborious servant of the people, a courtly gentleman, a generous and devoted companion.  Loyal as he was to his political convictions, he was yet the most considerate and the most conservative in his relations with those who radically differed with him.  He admired frankness; he despised duplicity.  While he was obedient to the reasonable edicts of caucus and party organization, we recall occasions when he was prompt to rise above the partisan.  He was as broad-gauge and comprehensive in the study and performance of his duty toward all parts and all interests of his reunited country as he was anxious for the obliteration of sectional animosity and sincere and generous of heart in his social obligations to all of his fellow-men.

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Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of William H. F. Lee (A Representative from Virginia) from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.