“On the whole, I can not doubt that the most fitting parallel to General Thomas is found in our greatest American, the man who was ‘first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.’ The personal resemblance of General Thomas to Washington was often the subject of remark. Even at West Point, Rosecrans was accustomed to call him General Washington. He resembled Washington in the gravity and dignity of his character; in the solidity of his judgment; in the careful accuracy of all his transactions; in his incorruptible integrity, and in his extreme, but unaffected, modesty....
“But his career is ended. Struck dead at his post of duty, a bereaved nation bore his honored dust across the continent and laid it to rest on the banks of the Hudson, amidst the tears and grief of millions. The nation stood at his grave as a mourner. No one knew until he was dead how strong was his hold on the hearts of the American people. Every citizen felt that a pillar of state had fallen; that a great and true and pure man had passed from earth.
“There are no fitting words in which I may speak of the loss which every member of this society has sustained in his death.
“The general of the army has beautifully said, in his order announcing the death of Thomas:
“‘Though he leaves no child to bear his name, the Old Army of the Cumberland, numbered by tens of thousands, called him father, and will weep for him in tears of manly grief.’
“To us, his comrades, he has left the rich legacy of his friendship. To his country and to mankind, he has left his character and his fame as a priceless and everlasting possession.
“‘O iron nerve to true occasion true!
O fallen at length that tower of strength
Which stood four-square to all the winds that blew!’
... ‘His work is done;