Upon my weary heart was showered smiles, plaudits and flowers, but beyond them I saw troubles and thorns innumerable.

A restitution of the Union has been rendered forever impossible.

We protest solemnly in the face of mankind, that we desire peace at any sacrifice, save that of honor.

Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South’s two halves together.

Obstacles may retard, but they cannot long prevent the progress of a movement sanctified by its justice, and sustained by a virtuous people .

Let men not ask what the law requires, but give whatever freedom demands.

Without doing injustice to the living, it may safely be asserted that our loss is irreparable; and that among the shining hosts of the great and good who now cluster around the banner of the country, there exists no purer spirit, no more heroic soul, than that of the illustrious man whose death I join you in lamenting.