1863. J 2g3 [Coppee. 



flowing his own person, swept out among the soldiers, and put the 

 whole mass in motion. His great personal bravery was a constant 

 example and incentive to every man under his command. Wher- 

 ever he appeared, there was work to do, — expeditions, rapid move- 

 ments, concerted combinations, forced marches. Without making 

 too sweeping a remark, we may consider General Mitchel as among 

 the very best of our commanders ; and had he lived, he would have 

 risen to a position in public esteem and confidence second to none in 

 the land. 



As a devout Christian, — not presented now to the world in the 

 mere statement of a charitable opinion, which gives '' a good con- 

 science " to every public man who dies, — but as a consistent, con- 

 scientious, devout Christian man. General Mitchel is best known to 

 his home and his intimate friends. Admiring, as they do, his bril- 

 liant qualities, his learning, his genius, his military fame, they recur 

 with far more comfort to the fact of his holy and fervent life, 

 his daily communion with his God, his practical piety, his certain 

 and holy hope of eternal life through the blood of Christ. 



No king stood by his dying bed beseeching him, 



"If thou think'st on Heaven's bliss, 

 Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope." 



Prompted by the unutterable thoughts which crowded upon him, 

 he gave unbidden such a happy signal, literally holding up his hand, 

 and pointing to that world beyond the skies, which was then lifting 

 " its everlasting portals high " to greet him with an immortal radi- 

 ance, such as even his enthusiastic astronomy had never conceived. 

 His last words, brokenly uttered, were taken down by his aide-de-camp, 

 and add another to the ever-increasing and enduring testimonies, 

 that when the good man dies, God alone is great, and Heaven alone 

 is real existence. 



General Mitchel had filled many offices and posts, and was, as 

 might be expected, the recipient of many honors due to his own 

 merits. A graduate of West Point, he was a lieutenant of artillery, 

 a lawyer, a railway engineer, an astronomer, the founder of one ob- 

 servatory, the director of two; a Doctor of Laws from more than one 

 institution ; a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and of 

 several other foreign societies; a Major-General of Volunteers. 



In 1841, he was appointed by the President a member of the 

 Board of Visitors to the Military Academy. In 18-17 and 1848, he 



