to respond to the toast of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a sister state of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a gentleman for whom, before I pronounce his name, I want you all to rise and give three cheers - General Fitzhugh Lee.

[The whole Company rose in an instant and gave three tremendous cheers for General Lee.]

GENERAL FITZHUGH LEE.

Captain Usher, Mr. Toastmaster, Members of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and all other citizens of an ancient or a younger or middle-aged degree,-When I heard your acclamations it reminded me of what sometimes occurred in the South when Stonewall Jackson rode by. A great shout was heard and every soldier said, "That is either Stonewall Jackson or a rabbit." [Great laughter.] Speaking of rabbits, I remember an old story that was told on Col. Vance of the North Carolina Regiment. He used to call his men a regiment of tar heels because, he said, he thought they would stick. He was charging up the heights of Malvern Hills in front of Richmond, Va., and as the shot and shell were pouring on him like torrents down the mountain cloud, Col. Vance, riding up towards the parapet of fire and seeing a rabbit running rapidly back to the rear, shouted, "Go it, old Molly cotton-tail, if I did not have a reputation to sustain, I would be with you." [Laughter.] I feel very much, in front of this magnificent audience, like that rabbit. I would like to run down the hill, but I have promised that I would stand here tonight and face the music. A little time before the last cannon thundered, the last rifle flashed, and the last sabres were drawn, a small army took up its long, weary march, and like a great wounded lion was trying to find a place to lie down and die. I happened to be there at that time, the commander of the cavalry of that army, and had to fight every day. We marched and fought after all the infantry and artillery of that army, and had nothing to eat. I put ears of corn in my haversack, bit off the grains, chewed them into meal and swallowed it, on the march from Richmond to Appomattox Court House. My men had nothing to feed themselves or their horses with either, so they robbed the corn house of a farmer of corn and brought it away in their haversacks. When we got to Appomattox, where the sun went down behind the clouds, and the clouds behind the hills, I got my parole and was returning to Richmond. We had to pass by this same farmer's farm, and he asked us what the news was from Appomattox. We answered, that from our standpoint the news was very bad, "General Lee has surrendered." it can't be so," said he. "Yes, it is." we said, "because we have just left there," and then as the farmer started his plow to go to the other end of the row, he said, "Oh, I know how that is. That's

"Oh, no, no,

that damned fellow Fitz Lee. The old General never surrenders." [Laughter.]

At Appomattox Court House, the Commanding General of the U. S. Army was dressed in a blue blouse, loose and open, showing vest beneath, pants stuck in his boots, hair and beard nut brown, no insignia of rank, except on his shoulder straps, and without spurs or sword; a man five feet eight inches tall and forty-three years of age. That was U. S. Grant. [Loud applause.] There, too, sitting opposite to him at the McLean house, was the man who had commanded the army of the South,- the track of whose heroic slain lay from the mountains of Pennsylvania to the plains of Appomattox, a man six feet tall, in gray uniform, three stars on his collar, who was transacting a business which must have been very disagreeable to him, but with the perfect courtesy of a gentleman at all times. That was Robert E. Lee. [Tremendous applause.] I want to say right here that one of the first events that happened after that surrender at Appomattox that told me that we were back into a common country was the behavior of Grant at that time. [Applause.] He did not appear before us, but got on his horse and rode back in the direction of Richmond, almost unattended. When some wanted to fire salutes for that victory, when some wished to turn out with hurrahs, the shouts of victory were muffled, the notes of exultation were hushed by General Grant's order, and then after making the capitulation, we were not required to march out and stack our arms as Cornwallis had done by Washington's order at Yorktown. When Grant was told that the cavalry of our army owned their own horses, he said: "Let the Southern troops have their horses. They will need them in the cultivation of their farms." [Loud applause.] It is such behavior as that, it is such behavior as we have seen here today, when the Massachusetts Artillery from Boston comes down, makes the acquaintance of our people, goes to the Confederate monument which stands in lasting attestation to the heroism of the Southern soldiers, and places a wreath upon it as a memento of their respect, I say it is such behavior that wins our hearts forever. [Prolonged applause.]

The swords of Grant and Lee have been sheathed; the sabres of Sheridan and Stuart have returned to their scabbards. Joseph E. Johnson and Sherman have pitched their tents upon the eternal camping ground. We are now back in one country, the black clouds of war have disappeared, and the great orb of a glorious future is shining in all the splendor of unclouded majesty. We recognize, sir, as you well said and others have said here tonight, that there is a great bond of union between Massachusetts and Virginia. In the earlier days of the formation of this republic they were the two principal colonies that built the columns that support the temple of American liberty. We do not forget, sir, your Sam Adams, Prescott, Warren, your Paul Revere and other great men of that great

day. We do not forget that march through Lexington to Concord when the British tried to destroy those stores, and we remember that the guns shot by the rustic riflemen in Massachusetts at the British troops when they left Concord to pass through Lexington back to Boston were heard here in old Virginia. [Applause.] The men who at that time had the greatest to do with the independence of these colonies were Samuel Adams of Massachusetts and Patrick Henry of Virginia. [Applause.] Those two were the earliest men at that time who stood straight and strong before British aggression. We do not forget, either, that James Otis said that he would resist with his life all attempts to enforce the Stamp Act or put a tax on tea, sugar and molasses and other articles sent by Great Britain. [Applause.] You know when Washington was the first President of this country, John Adams of Massachusetts was the Vice-President, and when John Adams of Massachusetts was President of this great country, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was the Vice-President; and if your great statesman, John Adams, had never done anything else in his great past career, he is entitled to a monument to stand in lasting and lofty attestation of the fact that he first named George Washington as the Commander-in-Chief of the American armies, and when he was President of the United States appointed John Marshall to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. [Applause.] Between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson a great friendship existed. We can almost imagine we see them stretched upon their death beds, one in Massachusetts, the other in Virginia. Both died on the 4th of July, 1826. What were the last words of John Adams? He looked around at those surrounding his bedside and said, "Thomas Jefferson of Virginia still lives." [Applause.] Adams and Jefferson were separated in their later days. They were together at the early formation of the republic and later separated, but after they returned to private life they became devoted friends. Now go with me to that mansion on top of the little mountain which rears its proud head above the beautiful plains of Albemarle County, Virginia. On that same day, the 4th of July, 1826, you will see there stretched on a death bed the great statesman of Virginia. The hand that wrote the Declaration of Independence is stiff and cold. Thomas Jefferson lies dead at Monticello. great statesmen, one of whom wrote the Declaration of Independence, and the other, John Adams, who sat next to Jefferson in that Committee on the Declaration of Independence, and suggested many points that were put in it, died as I say, on the 4th of July, 1826, within a few hours of each other.

These

We are invited here, upon this occasion, to meet the members of the Massachusetts Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. I met them before. I have met the Massachusetts troops before. [Laughter.] I am very glad to meet them here at this splendid banquet.

have