Fac-simile of Letter from Archbishop John Ireland
St. Paul, Jan. 8, 1903
My Dear Mrs. Longstreet
Permit me to offer you the tribute of my deep and sincere sympathy in the great sorrow which has come to you in the death of your beloved husband, Gen. Longstreet.
To none is the sad occurrence the bearer of so pain & grief, as it is to you.
I pray God to console you, & to lead you more & more to see in the departure of your husband from earth the will of Heaven, & the passage of a christian Soul from the land of trials to the final home of rest and peace.
Truly a great man has passed away. The whole country mourns. He was a noble American. In war he obeyed what he believed to be his duty, in peace he followed loyally and courageously what he again thought his duty dictated. The South found in him a defender on the field of battle, & its truest friend & counsellor when the field of battle had spoken its verdict. The North, forced at one time to admire his skill and bravery, willingly at later date, admired his magnanimity & his high minded patriotism.
It has been a great privilege of mine to have met Gen. Longstreet, & to have been able to know more intimately than otherwise would have been possible to me.
Since then he was a proud Servant of the Lord—always ready to hearken to the voice of Conscience, always prompt to obey it.
I am, my dear Mrs. Longstreet with sentiments of highest esteem,