He was induced by his generous
nature to attribute good rather than unworthy motives to those with whom
he differed. He was honest, true, and unsuspicious. On all occasions he
expressed attachment to the Union of the States, and manifested a
patriotic devotion to the Constitution as the charter of our liberties.
He was a brave soldier, and fought on the losing side in a war that
convulsed the continent and astonished the civilized world; and as a
brave soldier he accepted without reservation the verdict of the war. It
is to be regretted that his heroic services were not on the side of the
Union, but the conditions which placed him in hostility to the flag of
the United States are forever removed. Every cause which produced that
terrible conflict was eradicated and obliterated in carnage and blood.
The horrors of that fratricidal war are now history. The glorious
results achieved are being realized in the abolition of slavery; in the
Union of the States restored, strengthened, and cemented; in the
respect, confidence, and just estimation of the people of all the
sections for each other, and in the establishment beyond question of the
capacity of the citizens of the Republic to dare and to do in great
emergencies what to all the world seemed impossible.
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