THE DAILY EVENING TKLEGUAH1 PHILADELPHIA, "WILMS: DAT, Sl(lrJEA!l5ER 18, 1807.
ANTIETA M.
CEDICATIOH CF THE NATIONAL CEMETERY.
FULL KEl'OKT OF PROCEEDINGS.
ORATION OF HON. A. W. BRADFORD
TDK DEDICATOR! 0DK3 AND HIMXS.
SPEECHES OF GOVERNORS GEARY AND FENTON
KtCt Ktc, Kte.t Etc.) Kto.
Tlie Puillentlori.
A stand capable of accommodating eight hundred
rcrsous was erected near the sito 01 the monument,
it was draped with American flags, and hung with
wreaths ol laurel. Around was gathered nt an early
hour an immense concourse of people from all piirtg of
the Union. Their patienre was tried Sorely, for it was
one o'clock before tlie Presidential cortege arrived
from the railroad termiuus, at Keedysville.threc miles
from the field, when amid tumultuous cheering, the
crush oi brass bauds, and a present arms from tho
Pennsylvania troops, the distuiguiebed guests ascend
ed the stand.
first came the President, supported by Secretaries
Seward and Randall, followed by Secretaries McCul
lorh and Welles.
Then came the members of tho diplomatic corps, and
then tlie representatives of the various State. "Penn
sylvania was represented by Governor Geary and
Staff; Is'ew York by Governor Kenton, Generals Shaler,
Palmer, Olcott, Y'oung and McMahon; Mew Jersey
by Governor M. L. ard, General A. T. A. Torbert,
JSurgeon-Gcucral Oakley, Horace f. Cougar, Secre
tary of State, Hon. William L. Dayton, Jr., the Gover
nor's Secretary ; George A. Halsey. member of Con
gress. Maryland by the Orator or the day, ex-Gover-nor
Bradford, Governor Swann, Major-General John
8. Berry, Hon. J. H. B. Latrobe and Brigadier-Gcner-ral
Meileon. Connecticut was represented by Gover
nor FnglifcO, General Lugersoll and Colonel W. S.
' Charnly.
The following named representatives of foreign
Countries were present:
Great Britain Francis Clare Ford, Esq., Secretary
Cf Legation.
France M. J. Bcrthcmy, Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary, and the Viscount de St.
Fcrrior, Secretary of location.
Russia Mr. Edward ue Stoeckel, Envoy Extraordi
nary and Minister Plenipotentiary, and Mr. Waldemar
lie Bodisco, Secretary or Legation.
Spain Senor Hon Fecundo Goui, Envoy Extraordi
nary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Italy The Chevalier Cerruti, Envoy tExtraordinnry
and Minister Plenipotentiary, and M. Komeo Cantau
galll, Secretary of Legation.
Austria Baron Frankenstein, Charge d'Affuire?.
Nicaragua and Honduras Senor Don Luis Maliui ,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Mexico Senor Don M. Komero, Envoy Extraordi
nary aid Minister Plenipotentiary ; Senor Don Igmicio
llariscal, Secretary of Legation, and Senor Don Caye
tnno Romero, Second Secretary.
Turkey M. Blacque, Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary ; M. lialtze, Secretary of Le
gation. Governor Bullock, of Massachusetts, being unable
to attend, that State was represented by tho following
named gentlemen: General Commanding, Adjutaut
tieneral Cunningham; General William R. Lee, Brigadier-General
Palfrey and Brigadier-General William
S. King, all of whom were in the battle of Antietem.
The ceremonies were commenced by Governor
Swann, who delivered a brief speech, as follows:
Introductory Remarks of Governor Swann, of
Maryland, President of the lav.
Fellow Countrymen : Before proceeding with the
programme, which tins been banded to me by the
Committee of Arrangements, it seems appropriate
that as the official organ of the Slate of Maryland,
npon whose soil and with whose hearty co-operation
thiB cemetery has been founded, I should extend a
cordial welcome to His Excellency, the Prnaidnnt of
the United States, and his Cabinet, the Governors of
our sister otaics, ana tue distinguished guests who
have come to participate in tlie ceremonies of this
most interesting occasion.
During tho administration of my immediate prede
cessor, the first appropriation was made by the State
of Maryland towards establishing a burial piace for
the dead who fell upon, the battle-field of Antietaui.
At a subsequent period the appropriation thus made
haviDg been found inadequate, upon the application
of the commissioners charged with this rust a further
cum was added, in response to a communication made
by me to tho Legislature in this behalf. Maryland
having thus done her share in providing a burial
place for these brave and patriotic men, the co-operation
of our sister States was invoked to lend their aid
in throwing around it a national interest, and the
most liberal contributions have been accordingly made
by nearly all the States, in the removal of their dead,
the erection of monuments, and iu adding to the at
tractiveness of this beautiful spot. The work, so far
as it has progressed, is now before you.
The Hug w hich floats over us to-day is the flag of our
Union. The sword of battle has been sheathed. Tho
tramp of contending armies, tho embittered strife of
father against son and brother against brother, no
longer resounds within our borders. The star of this
great Republic is again iu the ascendant. Iu the calm
sunshine of poace we are here to mingle our tears
with the survivors of the illustrious dead, who have
sacrificed their lives for their country, and are sleep
ing upon this field.
May I not, in this solemu hour, invoke the interpo
sition of Almighty God for a speedy restoration of
harmony and brotherly love throughout this broad
land; and that North, South, East uud West, laving
aside the animosities of the past, we may stand to
gether herealter, and in all future time, as one people,
having a common origin, and bound together by a
common destiny. May this Union be perpetual.
Be was greatly cheered at the conclusion, of the
above address.
Next followed prayer, by Kev. Hiram. Mattison,
V. D., of New Jersey.
Then the following hymn, composed by Rev. Ed
ward Meyer, was sung by the assemblage :
Dedicatory llvmn.
"Written by the Kev. Edward Meyer, of Pennsylva
nia, late Chuplain in the army, and sung at the dedi
cation of the Ant ietatn Natiomtl Cemetery, Septem-
Old Uumlml
i.
"Aceldama!" O Lord, oar God,
W bo evermore dost Israel keep,
V atered iu tears, baptized in blood,
Ihou givest our beloved sleep,
it.
They came at freedom's trumpet call,
rroro hall and cottage, fane and dome,
Venturing limb, and life, and all
tor truth and right, for hearth and home!
in.
Thousands of heroes bit the dust,
Antietam, on thy crimson field!
Thrice armed were they, with quarrel lust.
The Lord their banner, sun and shield.
IV.
HrViW ,V,e ,ernite shaft for all
Tiii. o U.where Ulllv summoned them
. Their country's Blftr-Kumm-d aa "
A nation wuil their requcim l 1 '
v.
O Lord, and shall they live ar ain
These l...nes. the seed of crimen ... if
Thy Spirit breathes upon thew thS,' tnfcT
Xnd they shall thrifl with eudless iitc !
VI.
In living hope, then, we commit
Tliis precious dust, for Freedom eiv'n
To Thee, till angels gather it, n'
Transfigured in the urn of Heaven!
Unring the Intervals there was music by the baiot
The corner-stone of the monumeut was laid acr,i
Intr to Masonic rites. wra-
ration :
Addre.it of Ex-Jovernor Ilradforcl.
We have met here to-riay, my countrymen, on one
Of the most memorable of the battle-fields of our civil
war, and we stand upon a site selected from the
midst of it as au appropriate resting-place for those
who here laid down their lives as a sacrifice to the
cause of free government and a national Union. We
have come at the instance of the trustees, to whom
the subject baa been more especially committed, to
dedicate, by some public and official pioceodiug, ou
this the anniversary of the battle, the spot so selected,
hallowed as it is already, with every bill around it, in
the heart of the nation.
To unite iu this ceremony, the President of the
rnitcd states, several members of his Cabinet, the
Chief Justice of tho United States, members of tho
National legislature, Governors, or other distin
guished representatives of most of the Slates, whoso
tituens formed the army the Union, have honored us
wiUt their presence, meaning, I ui sure, for them
selves and those they represent, to express by th it
presence their enduring pratilmlc to the soldiers, living
or (lend, who so nobly stood by them In their duiKc.1
h,VUthf snc'ti ft company around n, ami this i vast
throng In front, I feci, as you may well imagine, to
he fullest extent, the WspousibllUy of fth , , lu.v will
which I have been honored, an honor for which I am
.V.......1...,. ..i,i.,n i.wi,m...l to the accidental circum
stance that 1 was to some extent officially connected
with the Initiation of tho Cemetery, so far at leitst as
the election of its site was concerned. When, di
rectly after the battle of Antietam, an order was Is
sued by the Kxccutiveof Maryland, returning thanks
to the officers and men of the Union army, who had
so successfully cxpclicd the invader from our Slate,
the Commanding General of that army, to whom it
was transmitted, responded to It in terms that chal
lenged our attention.
KinressinK, on behalf of tho Army of the Potomac.
their thanks for our appreciation of their achieve
ments, and their hopes that no Kehel army would
ntrain pollute our State, he concluded by committing
to us the remains of their gallant comrades who now
rested beneath its soil. A commission so tow-hiiii'lv
confided to the people of tho State, to say nothing of
the duty otiierwiso tncumoeni on tnem, could never
become with them a subject of Indifference or neglect;
and at the first meeting, therefore, of their Repre
sentatives, In the General Assembly of January, lsrtt,
an act was passed authorizing the pnrchaso of a Dart
of the bat tle-field for the reception of Its dead, and an
appropriation or five thousand dollars placed at tho
command of the Governor for that purpose. Directly
thcrealter he visited the ground, examined It, and
after consultation with prominent citizens selected
this spot, embracing In Its view the most interesting
poiute of the field of battle, as the proper site for tho
f roposed cemetery. Subsequent legislation increased
he State's appropriation to fifteen thousand dollars;
trustees were appointed to superintend the work;
other States came generously forward to participate
in the undertaking, and by their united efforts it is
hoped that the cemetery will become, in time, a place
worthy the noble purpose to which we to-day devote
it, anil of the nation to whom the charge of it should
properly belong.
Iu recurring to the events which, in connection with
this day's proceedings, sccin to require a brief notice
at our hands, it is a subject of congratulation that we
can survey them at present from a standpoint which
ought to secure for them a calm and dispassionate con
sideration. Those influences of passion or policy which
to some extent arc almost inseparable from all accounts
of military operations, prepared whilst the war itself
is raging, are happily, it is to be hoped, at an end ; or
if any still linger, they should find no place on such
nn ocension as this. Yet, iu reviewing the details of
the sanguinary conflict to which we are about to refer,
wc find some difficulty, with all the assistance that
established peace and the lapse of time have fur
nished, to fix with proper historical accuracy some of
the facts immediately conuected with it, more espe
cially the precise force of the Confeaerate army in that
action. The number of the Union army engaged
therein, computed as it has been not only from official
records, but these records made up after ample time
had elapsed for the correction of errors, may bo consi
dered us authentically established. It comprised
67,164 men of all arms.
In regard to the Confederate force, the accounts are
more conflicting. The Union commander, iu estimat
ing it at upwards of 97,000 men, basing his estimates
ou all the information received from prisoners, de
serters and refugees, has probably overstated the
number; whilst on the other hand, our knowledge of
the size of that army shortly before it crossed into
Maryland, would warrant ns in saying that the strag
gling, to which its commanders chiefly ascribe its
subsequent reduction, must have exceeded all strag
gling ever known iu the history of armies, if, when it
reached Antietam, it nnmbered only 40,000.
General Lee, I believe, in a report prepared by him
a few days after the action, does say that he went into
it with only that number; but in that reckoning he
must undoubtedly have excluded the three divisions
which, under A. P. Hill, McLaws and Walker, he had
several days before detached to different points to aid
In the investment of Harper's Ferry, that had not re
turned at the commencement of the action on the
morning of the lflth, but came in most opportunely to
bis support before its conclusion on the following day.
This inference is rendered certain by other Southern
accounts of the number engaged. Confederate his
torians and newspapers in those days, however, under
certain circumstances might at times have attempted
to deceive us by au inflated account of their military
power, but were by no means given to such an exag
geration when the battle was over, and they were
summing up Its incidents,
Y et a leading newspaper at Richmond, professing
to give, four days afterwards, authentic particulars ot
the buttle, declared that It was opened on the evening
of thn loth of September, with all their available force,
"Co, (mil strong." A later, aud looking to the meaus of
information enjoyed, probably a still more reliable au
thority, a Confederate historian, who has published
"A Southern History of the War," in describing tho
battle of Antietam, states that for half the day it was
fought on the Confederate side with "a force of 45,
ooo," and for tho remaining half "with no more than
nn agerente of 70,000 men." 1 think, thoroforo. Unit
the discrepancies in tho Confederate accounts of their
force have been the result of the different periods of
the action to which they have severally referred, some
having record to the time that preceded the arrival of
their divisions from the neighborhood of the Ferry,
nnd others including those divisions in their state
ments. All things, therefore, considered, and allow
ing for that portion of our force that could not take
part in the action, there could not have been much dif
ference in the effective strength of the two armies; but
if such a difference did exist, and In favor of the Union
army, it wos more than compensated to the Confede
rates not only by their choice of positions, but by other
influences which jubtice to ull concerned requires us
now to consider.
It maybe confidently affirmed that at no time during
the progress of the Rebellion did the loyal heart of tho
country doubt its ultimate result; yet it is equally cer
tain that there were seasons when it quivered with
emotion as it contemplated the results of particul ir
campaigns, or desponded for a moment at tho partial
failure of long cherished expeditions. At no period of
the war were such feelings more rifo than during
the summer of In the early spring of that year
the Peninsula expedition had set lortu, and the people
of the loyal States looked with anxious solicitude to
its results, and with earnest hopes that it would re
trieve the disasters of the preceding year aud place
the Rebel capital at our command. In every move
ment of the army in that direction, in all its marches,
all its toils, its victories and reverses, from Y'orktowu
to Williaimbur?, on the Chickahominy, at Fair Ouks,
Gaines' Mil), Malvern, aud on the James, ituevertook
a step to front or rear that it did not carry with it by
an inseparable sympathy the throbbing heart of the
people. So high wrought had become the popular
reeling In that connection, that the slightest indica
tion of success or defeat in the movemeuts of that army
exerted, for a time at least, an influence ou the public
mind entirely disproportioued to any intrinsic import
ance attached to It.
It whs just when this excitement of the public pulse
was at its hight, after witnessing the heroic struggles
of that army for so many successive weeks, with hopes
and fears alternately predominating, that we wero
suddenly stsrtled by the information that transports
were conveying it hack to the neighborhood of Wash
ington. The people did not pause to consider whether
or now far ulterior objects justified that movement.
They saw only in it the confession that for the pre
sent Richmond was beyond our reach. Incidents con
nected with it revealed to them, also, the fact sur
mises in regard to which had already disturbed them
that there was an unfortunate difl'ereuco of opinion
between the commanding General of that army and
the powers that controlled his movements. Tho
reluctance with which he yielded to the peremptory
orders for the change of his base of operations soon
became known, and excited criticisms unavoidably
injurious in their tendency. Our friends did not care
to inquire and certainly 1 shall not enter into no such
inquiry to-day who was right or who was wrong, it
was enough, and bad enough, to know that the har
mony which had once marked our military conncils
had given place to ill-concealed murmuriugs and mis
givings. In this moody condition of the public mind
the Army of the Potomac, necessarily to some extent
influenced by the sumo circumstances, its ranks
thinned by the casualties of a series of hard-fought
battles, and enervated by the climatic Influences of
the Peninsula, reached Aquia Creek and Alexandria
in the last week of August.
The occurrences wliich then awaited it were
scan cly of a character to make amends for recent dis
appointments, or to restore that well poised public
confidence which was becoming dangerously dis
turbed. About two mouths before this period, the
authorities at Washington, gathering up the national
forces which had been operating under several com
manders in the Valley aud other parts of Northern
irginia, had massed and reorganized them under the
name of the Army of Virginia, and placed them under
ttll lll,ninn...l r Tlt i 1 I I , 1
called from a Western department for the purpose.
Assuming that command, Le commenced active mili
aT0l crations about the middle of July. His procla-
than TS u """ranee of a more vigorous policy
system or . .','e I'rcv"d. aud as foreshadowing a
Kuhinon,! lUc,8, wuicli' evu" we failed before
where. ' vould wiupeusute us with success else-
alMMe'Vi1 4liBPloiDtment awaited ns
llrst reverse occur id !.X!'eC.U! 'i.111 thl18 "e- "r
August, when the cor.nedar tlie 9th of
arrayed! miwpport (ie'")r' nk
Rebel arniv un.W .?..!".. "I.1 ".' divisions of the
ari'e Doriiou OI In. r,,iii...i ;
JaUtcu, wliQ was now in front $ iuuWri ot
. com
'"w u nun occasion rang out so cheerily auu con
riMuiii y,in tone 'ht the public pricked up lis ear, aud
, '..?.r"rb,;l4''1"K any criticism of style, accepted the
IJICU CUU1U UL'&illMt '"'""'"B '
forced back with severe loss n )'iiVV,;r;"f.' otld8' ' WM
tateously with this action 'of ii,- ll'drawa1' B,mul"
mac from the James river, en"biertTy . lhe 1'0t0"
pelled th lnttrr to rointnrnee a retrograde movement,
which continued from point to point unlil he reached
the liistrlct lino.
Dining all the Inst week of Angust, Tope's army
wax kept In almost continual action, having little or
no time for refreshment or rest. Engaged thus every
day, although now supported to some extent by n
pnrl of the army now arriviiiK from the Peninsula
displaying conspicuous gallantry and evincing tho
most heroic powers of endurance, they were neverthe
less gradually forced back by Lee s army, the greater
part of which had now arrived from Richmond, until
after n last Ineffectual effort on the old baltle-flold of
Bull Kun, In which fell that beau-Ideal of a soldier,
the gallant Kearney laint and footsore, on tho 2d of
September, they fell back within the fortifications of
Washington.
Yon will not, T am sure, so far misunderstand me as
to su pose that In referring thus briefly to the cam
paign of General Pone, I have any design to criticise
it. I disclaim as well anv such power as such a pur
pose. Whether It failed through his fault or that of
others, or without latilt anywhere, are questions re
quiring fur more skill in military mauieuvres, as well
as a more accurate knowledge of fncts than I pretend
to possess. Nor is tho cause of the failure at all ma
turiol as regards Us In lliiejicc. I adTcrt to it iu this
connection simply as one of those unfortunate antece
dents immediately preceding the march of Lee into
Maryland which was calculated to exert a depressing
influence as well upon the public mind as on the spi
rits of tho army, on which alone wc now depended to
oppose his passage.
That army was to bo eomposed of what remained
of these two once formidable organizations, the Army
of the Potomac and the Army of Virginia, constituted
each of them of material better than which the world
never saw, but returning simultaneously from the
fields ot their recent operations with such heavy
losses, so jaded and war-worn, so keeuly sensitive, as.
we may well suppose, to the disappointments the
country might feel In the hopes formed of their achieve
ments, that in the new and aud formidable Invasion
they were so suddenly called ou to repel, nothing but
the sternest sense of patriotic duty, and the most de
termined devotion to the great cause for which they
had already sacrificed so much, could have possibly
sustained them.
In that trying hour the provision to be made was
for the reorganization of these shattered armies, and
the selection of a commander who could accomplish it
and then lead the united host. Whatever doubt the
government authorities, or any of them, or the people
of the country, or any part of them, might then or
since have entertained of the military abilities of
General McClellan, there were few then, and pro
bably still fewer to-day, who, In the exigency then ex
existing, would question tho wisdom of the order that
committed him to this command. His services in a
like capacity, and under circumstances so strikingly
similar, that the coincidence is worty of note, must
have been fresh in the recollection of both government
and peoplo.
At the time of our earliest creat disaster, the first
battle of Bull Run, he was conducting active opera
tions in West Virginia, and the very day after that
nufortuuate affair, a telegram from the President,
directing him to turn over his command to another,
summoned him to Washington. Placed thereby the
President's order, in chief command, he was, In less
than a week after that reverse, bringing order out of
the confusion which for a while prevailed. Now other
disasters culminating on the same unfortunate field,
demanded again the service of a soldier who, possess
ing the skill to reorganize our broken columns, could
so command their confidence as to inspire them with
tlie enthusiasm necessary to forget disaster. That the
Administration, without any disparagement to other
distinguished leaders, chose the right man for such an
emergency, few, 1 repeat, will at this day venture to
deny.
But little time remained for preparation. Leo and
his army, exhilarated at the thought that their long
beleaguered Capital was at length relieved, encou
raged by their recent successes hear Manassas, and
stimulated by the prospect of the rich supplies which
here and along the fertile Cumberland Valley awaited
their approach, had, by rapid marching, within four
days after Pope's array retired within the Washington
intrenchmcnts, crossed the Potomac aud encamped
around Frederick city.
McClellan, reorganizing as he marched, set forth to
intercept him, embarrassed all the time by the doubts
which enveloped Lee's designs, fully alive to the va
rious vital interests involved in them: compelled for
the time to turn his back npon Washington, and yet
well aware aud frequently reminded that, after all,
that might he Lee's objective point, and his move
ments in other directions meant only as a feiut; with
the Capital of Pennsylvania and the emporium of
Maryland both menaced bythe enemy, and the citizens
of each watching with anxious concern McClellan's
movements, with the mutual apprehension that the
course of his march might so fur uncover their several
cities as to open the way for Lee's approach.
We may imagine to-day, though even now can
scarcely appreciate tho responsibilities of tho Union
commander, and understand some of tho reasons for
what, in the nervous anxiety of that moment, might
have been considered by some as too tardy a pursuit.
He was, however, on tho ripht track. The vau of his
Army renchad Kreclariclc on th l'ith of Sftptemhor.
Lee, with the greater part of his command, having left
it two days before.
Here, befoie fol.owlng the subsequent movements of
these armies, allow me to revert briefly to tlie recep
tion that awaited them, respectively, on this new
theatre of the war, on the north of the Potomac.
Sub.'eqnently, iu the course of its progress, Rebel raids
and Invasions were matters of frequent occurrence,
aud came to be regarded by us as a thing of course,
whenever our usual summer drought reduced the river
to a fordable condition. This, however, was our first
hostile invasion, and on that and other account, was
regarded by the people of the country, and especially
of this State, with absorbing interest aud anxiety.
The loyal citizens of the North had been taught to
believe that the loyalty of Maryland had at best but
au npochryphal existence; that as a patriotic and
spontaneous impulse it was limited to a few, whilst as
regarded the groat body of our peoplo. It was but a
pretended and superficial display, induced chielly by
the presence of the national forces. So confident in
the early stages of the Rebellion had been tlie appeals
of our Secessionists, so exorbitant their claims to au
assumed social and commercial importance, and so
clamorous their denunciations of what they denomi
nated an odious Federal ban, forcing the action of the
people into a channel contrary to us natural Inclina
tion, that there seemed for a time some excuse for
such an opinion ; and a few even of our own cil'zens
who had not watched that strong patriotic undercur
rent on which, as on a full mountain stream, the
masses of our people were from the first borne on
ward, came sometimes themselves to the reluctant
conclusion that the outside estimate of our loyalty
might possibly he true.
General Lee. doubtless confiding in the game repre
sentations, only more highly exaggerated, chanced to
select as favorable a moment for himself as possible,
for putting these theories to tho test. To say nothing
of the despondency already noticed, resulting from
recent disapiointments, a process had Just commenced
better calculated than anything that hud yet occurred
to awaken tho people or the country to a practical
sense of the grim realities of war. The President, on
the 1st of July, having issued a call for three hundred
thousand volunteers, followed it on the 4th of August
with an order for the draft of a like number of militia.
The preliminary details for that druft had beeu just
completed, and the enrolling officers sent forth on
their mission, as Lee made his appearance north of
the Potomac. The order for a drali had something
(startlitig in the Ideas it suggested ; no one who wua
subject to the process had ever witnessed its applica
tion ; the country had only a kind of traditional know
ledge of the character of the proceeding, all the more
exciting for its very vagueness.
It was in this condition of things that Lee camped
bis army about Frederick, and none knew better than
himself how to take advantage of it. Appointing as
Provost Marshal of that city a former resident, who
having once been a person of some political influence,
had in the early days of the Rebellion attached him
self to its fortunes, and observing the most scrupu
lous forbearance towards the citizens, he next issued
to them a proclamation, every sentence of which was
studiously adapted to their supposed tastes and politi
cal sympathies, aud which, if the facts had corres
ponded with the suggestions of Southern sympathizers
and Northern skeptics, would have brought them in
crowds to the Confederate standard.
It expressed the deepest sympathy for the "wrongs
aud outrages-' they had suffered; it reminded them of
the obligations that bound them to the South, by "the
strongest social, politicul aud commercial ties; It de
picted the profound indignation of their sister States at
the spectacle they presented of "a conquered pro
vince ;" It appealed to their Staie pride, alluded to the
military usurpations of armed strangers," the arrest
and Imprisonment of their citizens, and "the .faitntul
and manly protest" made against such outrages by a
venerable' aud illustrious jurist, who being a former
citizen of this town, was know n to be held by its in
habitants In high respect aud esteem. Then remlna,
lug them that the people of Maryland possessed a
spirit too lofty to submit to such a government, gave
them to understand, that the Confederate army uaa
come among them to aid them in "throwing on iuw
foreign yoke," and all that was necessary was their
co-operation. Was there ever so fair an opportmiiiv
for a semi-loyal, secession loving people, tnretiLJuetx
with a Federal draft and awaiting only the opport ml y
to escape aud throw themselves Into Uio arms oi ineu
Southern fricudsr , , . .i(, on(i
How did they respond to this oppor tnnlty and
these eloquent appeals? A Confederate o leer who
seems to have accompanied the ,fi;fd',t1"uJ "lnd.
since written an account of It, te the at ry Iu , a few
word. ConfessiiiB to the disappointment that, awaited
tTosewho"
i, ti.Rt. u the contrary, "they rushed Into
the ? nouses d ll.."""" "" "T",e
say. he, "were regarded not as friends, but enemies ;
the Inhabitants wre Union; and the general sen i
meut was "Wait wearers of the gray, the patriot. Iu
blue are coming.' " When they did come, who that
saw can ever forgot? What heart that eveu now does
uol Uuob thl quicker as H remembers the ehanne
from the dogged, moody, scowling and stilled condi
tion In which tho piesenre of tlie Confederates had
for lour days kept that people tortured, to the out
burst of loyotm, onthUNlimtic, exuberant nnd Irre
pressible loyalty tht mug out from cellar to house
top as the hoys in blue passed on upon their rear.
All along their way, whenever they appeared in tho
towns or among the log cabins of the mountains, tip
went the national banner hid away, some of them,
unlil this day ; many, doubtless, Improvised for tho
ocension, ami exacting tribute, I dare say, of many a
discarded ribbon and threadbare wrapper. Some
times faded and soiled It may have been, and utterly
regardless of the proportions 'required by army regu
lations, but every stripe and every star were there;
nnd, better still, every heart that beat beneath It was
ovei powerlngly full of the same cause of which It was
the symbol.
Yet to this day, with that nnd every other ordeal
and that was neither the first nor hist by which
Maryland loyalty was tested, there are those who still
make it the subject of an ungenerous sneer. I am
happy, however, to believe that It never comes from
that gallant host that accompanied her sons to the
field, but usnally from those whose well-calculated
distance from the scene of conflict placed them as far
out of the reach of Information as of danger.
When Lee evacuated Frederick, on tho 10th of
September, directing his course toward this county, he
doubtless supposed that the reticent policy and
strategic manceuvres ho had thus far so successfully
pursued would still have Its lullneuce on McClellan's
movements, leaving him In doubt as to where tho
threatened blow would ult'inately full ; but, by one of
those rare occurrences which some may call accident,
and others a special Providence, there fell Into Mc
Clellan's hands, ou the day of his arrival at Frederick,
a copy of Lee's order of march, dated the day before
he left that city, and negligently lctt there by one of
his officers. This told the whole story of his contem
plated movements, and possessed of that information,
a new vigor was infused into the Union host.
Directing the corps of General Mansllcld towards
Pleasant Vnllev, that it might, if possible, reach and
relieve Harper's Ferry before it should be captured by
the force Lee had detached for the purpose, McClcIlau
with the main body of the Union army, moved for
ward towards the South Mountain, on the track Leo
hud himself taken. The latter having already passed
onward toward Boonsboro' and Hagerstown, hearing,
on the evening of the 13th, that McClellan was push
ing on by the way of Turner's Gap, and surprised, no
doubt, at tlie unwonted vigor and rapidity of his pre
sent movements feeling, too, that uuless his progress
could be arrested his own well concerted plans might
be frustrated, sent back Hill and Longstrcet, with the
greater portion of their commands, to check him at
that mountain pass. Reaching Its crest in advance of
the Union army, it Is easy to perceive how even a
smaller force than these two leaders then commanded
could, with the advantago which their position se
cured, hold iu check for a time our advancing column,
struggling np its eastern slope; but our men, though
sure to encounter a murderous lire from the ridges
around them, were not to be long arrested in their
progress.
Puehing np the craggy steep, they forced back step
by step tlie Confederate rillcmeu, who were assailing
them from behind trees aud stone fences, and as the
last rays of the settiug sun fell upon the Union ban
ner, it was floating triumphant on the summit of the
ridge. It cost us, however, fifteen hundred of the
flower of our army, including the skilful and valiaut
General Reno, who, with the advance throughout tlie
day, was killed just before its close, whilst recounoi'
tcring in front.
The morning of the 15th dawned npon the Union
army the sole occupants of the mountain, the Confede
rates having retired during the night, and McClellan,
resuming his march halted that afternoon on the east
bank of the Autietam. The evening was passed iu
assigning positions to his several corps, posting his
batteries and making preparations for crossing next
morning. Lee, having previously reached and crossed
the stiesm, had secured the choice of positions, an ad
vantage which he did not fail to Improve. A telogram
from President Lincoln, dated at Washington about
the hour that McClellan reached the Antietam, con
veyed to him the President's last command in Mr.
Lincoln's own earnest and sententious style. It merely
said: "God bless yon, and all with you. Destroy tho
Rebel army if possible." With this parting benedic
tion they bivouacked that night ou the eastern bank
of the stream.
On the morning of the ICth, the Rebel batteries, oc
cupying commanding positions ou these various
bights upon this side of the creek, opened lire upon
our ranks, but with how little effect may be inferred
from the account of General Hill, who, in a subsequent
report of the action, descrioee it as the "most melan
choly farce of the war," they being unable, be says, to
cope with the "Yankee guns."
After some little delay, required to make an altera
tion of the position of some of the troops, General
Hooker, who had been Intrusted with the duty of
turning the enemy's left flank, crossed his command
by au upper ford, aud not loug afterwards encoun
tered the troops of General Hood, who, iu anticipa
tion of our movement, had been trausferretl from the
enemy's right wing to his left, to strengthen that part
of lile line. It was nearly dark before tho troops of
Hooker and Hood mot, and after a brief but spirited
contest, in which the rennsjivnuin nro,
General Meade, opened tho action, the Confederate
advance was forced back, when night intervening, tho
combatants rested ou their arms so near together that
it Is said some of the pickets of the two lines uucog
scionsly intermingled.
The battle of the 17th opened at the dawn of day,
on the spot where the skirmish of the previous eveu
ing had closed. Each side seems ta have looked to
this point as the one to be particularly strengthened,
aud as though anticipating the tremendous struggle
of which it was to be the centre. General Mansfield's
Corps, composed of tho two divisions of Gens. Green
and Williams had crossed over in the night, and taken
post a mile to the rear of General Hooker, whilst on
the Confederate side Geueral Jackson had brought
one of his divisions to the front, and substituting two
of his brigades lor those of Hoods, that had suffered
from the engagement of the previous evening, placed
the other the old Stonewall Division iu reserve iu
the woods ou the west of the Hagerstown road.
In the whole history of the battle-fields of the Re
bellion, it would be, perhaps, difficult to find a spot
which, for au entire day, was assailed aud defended
with such persevering, obstinate, aud concentrated
valor, as the one to which I now refer, embracing tho
ground ou both sides ,of the roadj just mentioned,
aud iu close proximity to yonder little church, that
nestles now so quietly in the margin of the woods.
From early dawn till dark the conflict surged and
swelled across it iu one coutinual tide, advanciug aud
receding as reinforcements from the one side or the
other came to the support of their comrades. It was
opened on our side with the three divisions of Generals
Meade, Doubleday and Ricketts, forming Geueral
Hooker's Corps, who, after an hour of fearful carnage,
succeeded In driving back Jackson's advanced line.
Before, however, their exulting cheers had fuirly
ceased, they were themselves compelled to retire be
fore his veteran reserves, that now came to his relief,
supported by Hill's Division aud Hood's refreshed
brigades. The corps of Geueral Mansfield coming
next to our support, reinforced the shattered command
of Hooker, and, recovering the ground that had beeu
lost, swept onwards again to tue road aud seized a
comer of the woods beyond.
Again, however, our tenure-was but temporary;
both our Corps Commanders had fallen, the veteran
Mansfield and the intrepid Hooker the one mortally,
the other very painfully wounded and their com
mands, fearfully thinned, were again forced to fall
back, when Just as they were retiring, two divisions of
General Sumner's Corps, coming fresh upon the Held,
hurled back once more the Rebel line, aud held for a
time definitive possession of the woods about the lit
tle church. The divisions of General Richardson aud
French fulling about this time to the support of Sum
ner, pushed valiautly to the front, and the tide of bat
tle w as once more flooding in our favor, when just as
victory seemed within our graep, two fresh Confede
rate divisions, under McLaws and Walker, the one
just arrived from Harper's Ferry and the other de
tached from their right wing, turned again ror a
time the fortunes of the day, aud once more drove
back our totteriug line over that hard-fought field.
Two other of our division commanders had beeu
now lost to us, the lamented Richardson and the ueroio
General Sedgwick, the former falling mortally
wounded, amf the latter, though wounded several
time, still struggling to keep the field, lo and fro thov
contest had now swayed for seven hours ; It was alter
noon, and the combatants stood, as it were, at buy,
each apparently confident of their power to defend,
but doubtful of their ability to assail.
Now, most opportunely, appeared another aux -liary
ou the scene, aud we may imagine the tumul
tuous joy that reanimated our exh.ustod troops as.
turning their eyee toward yonder creek, they belie d
two divisions of Geueral Franklin's Corps freshly
arrived from Plea.'ant Valley, and hasteuiug forward
to their support. Under their gallant leaders, Slocuui
and Smith, they swept onwardiu a resistless charge
running aud cheering as they ran. Ihey dashed
across that down-trodden corn field, cloared the woods
of their Confederate occupants, and at last held
final possession of the ground so often lost and wou.
Until .
"Night her course begun, and over Heaven.
ImWiiiK darkness, grateful truce imposed,
Aud silence, uu the otliuus dlu of war."
On the extreme left ot our line the Ninth Army
t'oi lis, under General Burnslde, occupied, during the
forenoon, -the loit bunk of the Antietam, near the
lower bridge, waiting a favorable opportunity for
forcing a passage. The precipitous character of the
banks ol the creek at that point, aud the advantageous
Eosiliou secured by the euemy'B batteries along these
Ights to the west of it, postponed, it would seem,
that opportunity until about one o'clock; but at that
hour a gallant cbaige of the Fifty-first New York and
Flfiy-first Pennsylvania Regiments carried the bridge,
and. crossing by that aud a neighboring ford, the
whole corp. crossed over.
Afterward, assailing yonder bights, from which a
Rebel battery bad beeu pouring npon them a constant
aud destructive fire, they succeeded In dislodging the
euviuy ; and it Is said that souie of their uaillng
forc nearly rei cbeit the v !1 tpe. ti it here, aa on our
ntht, victory seemed to vil raie.
A. P, Hill, Willi his division, by a rapid ui'ireh fioin
Doner's Fei I y, w lib h he let! Unit morning, re iched
the ground In the Blieinoon, and joining hi command
totl.e Rebel right wing, their muted elloits drove
buck our troops Irom their advanced position, but
rnlljiug with spiilt, mid supported by our Imtieiios on
tl-n eastern bunk of the creek, they, alter desperate
fighting, in w hich General Kodimiu, one of Iheir divi
sion commanders. Tell mortally wounded, were enabled
still to maintain their stand upon its wesiem shore,
whilst the Rebels full back to the hi-hls as darkness
cIom d the day.
The brk'pe" has been known In the neighborhood
ever since the battle as the limnsido Bridge, 'which
ni.n e, for Its pastoral as well as patriotic significance,
it will probably retain forever.
Thus ended, only for want of light to pursue it
farther, a battle that had raged for nearlv fourteen
hours, and w hich, beyond doubt, was the fiercest and
bloodiest or the war. Twelve thousand of our dead
nnd wounded warriors and at least as many nioro of
the enemy lay stretched npon the field.
I have, of course, not ventured to attempt more
than the merest outline of some of the most, prominent
points of the action. To note the movemeuts of the
various divisions, brigades and regiments, their
inarches, maincnvres and combinations, and the
names of the officers who led them, even if I possessed
the information necessary for the purpose, and that
would Insure me against doing injustice to anv, would
far exceed the limits permitted to such an address.
I should rejoice to lie able to refer bv name to every
man who that day did his duty, from the General-in-chief
to the humblest subordinate In the ranks, but I
have the satisfaction or knowing that they arc all rc
gisteied elsewhere, and that neither their names nor
deeds aie dependent On this ephemeral record.
Viewing these hills and valleys as wo do to-dav, In
the full luxtiriniico of their autumnal beauty, restored
by the Indomitable energy ol their thrifty population,
to the condition they presented before hostile armies
selected them as the theatre of their contest, and then
calling up to memory or Imagination the spectacle
they exhibited when that contest closed, and tho har
vest of death lay heaped In horrid swaths all over
their undulating surface and how impressive, almost
appnling, is the sense of the destruction which a few
brief hours hnd accomplished.
The day before the battle this region one of the
most beautiful and productive of the State, in Its or
chards and meadows, corn fields and pasture, wood
land and water courses presented
"A happy rural scat of various view,"
thai filled the eye of the visitor with delight, Inferior
only to that of the happy husbandmen, Its owners.
They, thus far knowing little of war save bv its dis
tant echoes, awoke on tho morning of the 17th (31 Sep
tember, 18C2, to all its dread realities.
"Hark to that roar, whose swift and deafening peals
In countless echoes through the mountains riug;
Now swells the Intermingling din; the jar,
Frequent and frightful, of tlie bursting nonih;
The lulling tree, tlie shrii k. the grouu, the shout.
The ceaseless clangor, and the rush of men
Inebriate vt ith rage! Loud and more loud
The discord grows, till pale Death shuts (he scene,
And o'er the rnmpieror slid the conquered draws
His cold and bloody shroud!"
But let ns pass from this melancholy retrospect to
the more agreeable contemplation of the tribute due
to the valiaut dead that lie here now at rest around
us. The posthumous honors rendered to departed
patriots are commended to us by the example of the
noblest nations of antiquity, and are prompted by
those impulses of the human heart which, iu all ages,
seek to perpetuate some record or reminiscence of the
good and the brave. In the best days of the republics
of old these mortuary observances were far more fre
quent and impressive than iu modern times ; they not
only embalmed the bodies of their warriors and states
men, but their funeral ceremouies, the eulogies pro
nounced over them, and the monuments erected to
their memory, were recognized as of national obliga
tion. Their exploits were chronicled and elaborated
by the poets and orators of their nation, and have
been handed down to the preseut day as a classic
theme, on which the youthful mind still delights to
dwell.
It was a custom with the Athenians to ap)oint every
year a time for the observance of solemn funeral rites
over the remains of their heroes who had fallen during
the year; their bones were collected together; their
friends were invited to be present ; their remains were
decorated as the fancy or affection of those friends
might suggest, and after three days thus employed
these remnants of mortality were carried in solemn
funeral pomp to a public temple prepared for their re
ception. Nor were they forgotten whose moldering
furms it had been impossible to recover; for them, or
in memory of them, an empty bier, the most gorgeous
iu the procession, was especially dedicated, aud a
sepulchre, situated In the costliest suburb of the (city,
received the sumptuous coffins, the empty and the
full.
We have ns yet established no such national anni
versaries, nor provided any such gorgeous pageautry.
No storied urn or cypress colllu may contain the re
mains of our soldier dead ; muny of them, doubtless,
have never yet been gathered within auy recognized
cemetery, and flttll occupy tu shallow Brave ou tuo
ntftrgln of th tfctl-flolcl, or near aoma IkiMliitul SltO,
tlveir last resting place probably altogether uumarked,
or If marked at all, only by a rough stake, and occasion
ally a few rude letters; but whatever be its condition, or
w herever it may be ou the banks of the Mississippi,
or among the mountains of Pennsylvania, in the mo
rasses of the Chickahominy, or in this quiet aud well
orilercd cemetery Greece nor Rome, In their palmiest
days, never offered up costlier sacrifices iu the cause
of human fredom than "tho heurts once pregnant
with celestial lire" which those rude sepulchres eu
tomb. Iu ancient times It was undoubtedly tmo, especially
as regarded the honors to living meu und probably
no age may be altogether exempt from the imputa
tion that in the costly statues erected to, and the
munificent ovations showered upon the successful
soldier or accomplished, statesman, there lurked not
nnfrequeutly some pcrsoual consideration mingling
with tlie motives that suggested them. Sometimes it
wus fear that prompted the timid thus to propitiate
the wrath of tho powerful. Sometimes it was a ser
vile adulation that, iu the time-serving, sought by
such means to secure a recompense in the shape of
other honors or emoluments to ue reciprocated.
It was doubtless the knowledge of such corruption,
and an appreciation of the motives that should con
trol such memorials, that prompted Cato, when onco
Bf ked by a friend why no statues hud been erected to
him, while Rome was crowded with so many others,
to reply as he did, that be had much rather his coun
trymen should inquire why he bad no statues than
wiiy ne nau anp; mil tue cuaracier ana circumstances
of the honors we are here to render to oar patriot
dead, not only vindicate their motive, but in the mo
tive itself is found the very germ of the honor wo
would confer. Let statues or monuments to the living
or the dead tower ever so high, the true honor, after
all, is uot in the polished tablet or towering column,
but in that pure, spontaneous and unaffected grati-
titude and devotion of the people, that eushriues the
memory of the honored one iu the heart, and trans
mits it irom age to age, long alter sucu costly simo
lures have disanneured.
The only honor accorded to Militiades, the great de
liverer of Athens, was to be represented In a picture,
painted by order of Its citizens, at the head of the
other nine commanders or tne Heroic ten thousand,
animating his followers to the attack of the ho.tllo
force, which outnumbered them ten to one. And yet
that simple painting, preserved iu the affections o-
siicceeilnig generations, exisieu ior centuries lucre;
after, while the three hundred statues which in a later
and corrupter age, were erecieu oy ine same people in
honor or jJemeuius were au uemousneu, eveu iu tils
lifetime. . , ...
'I'hus in our hearts would we enshrine the memory
of the Union soldier. Generations yet uuborn shall
recount to their oflsprlng tne uistory oi tncir valor,
and long after brass uud marble have crumbled Into
dust, shall their uumes be preserved, as the men who
perished to perpetuate what their father, had so
struggled to establish, this Ueaveu-appoiulod govern
ment of popular freedom.
A sepulchre, as I have stud, was formerly prepared
for the heroes of ancient Greece In the most cou
splcuous suburb of their cities. This custom, how
ever, had one memorable exception, and for which
this day's solemnities ou the field of Autietam furnish
au appropriate parallel.
Such w us the extraordinary valor displayed by those
who fell fighting against the Persian host ou thn me
morable batilc-iield of Marathon, that the Athenians
determined that their sepulchre should be separated
and distinguished from those of their other lieroes.
The most honorable distinction they could suggest
was to bury them on the Held where they had fallen;
and thus this little marshy plaiu, immoatalized by this
buttle of more thuu two thousand years ago, was
pointed out to succeeding ages by the lofty mound
around which many a tourist has since lingered, and
which to this duy marks the spot where the Atheuian
heroes fell.
May not imagination, as it seeks to portray the
future of this great American Republic, without any
overstraining of it. powers, see the coming time
distant it possibly may be, but none the less desirable
or certain wheu her sons from every State shall seek
this little hamlet for Its hallowed memories of tlm
past, and coming from the South aa well as the North,
reuuueu in tact, us wen as incory, in auectlon as well
as formality, shall stand here together as pilgrims at
a common shrine, and forgetting the feuds of tho past,
save only the mighty powers which their results de
veloped, mutually admit, as they appeal to the records
of this field, thut they have sprung from the same
Stock, are united in the same destiny, entitled to the
same respect, and auiuiated by the same heroic aud
patriotic, impulses.
This duv, my countrymen, the 17!h or September,
happens to be the anniversary of another event In our
political history, not less memorable than the one
which to-duy more particuUrly engages our attention.
Iu some respect It is so intimately .conuected with
the associations which the occasiou suggests, that It
is scarcely proper that it should pass without notice.
it wus upou ibis uy, eiguiy years ago, thai tie re-
presenuiiyes ,f m,r ancestor", with Washington at
neir licad, after lour months' deliberation, adopted
the rtilc.iul Comuitmion, an Instrument as reinaik-
i. kiv I'm i tie cire.ti
The political condition of tl
Its nd othm (,, . ' "" ot
the present.' We had Ins ,?. , i '" J1"1. ""k
isvucof which depended the existence of the nation
'lhat war, combined with other circumstance, has led
to the formation of parties so widely differing iu
some of their t henries of government, that there
seemed but lilt o hope of constructing lt npon "
plan on w h eh the two extremes would ever unite
I poll one side political lender were strlvln.r to establ
hsh a strong and consolidated government, Iguorinir
almost the governments of the States, whilst on tlie
other were those w ho were for Investing tho lntter
with ill substantial authority, and making the general
government little more than their general a"ent.
These leaders honest, doubtless, all o? them In
their opinions had, by their continual discussion aud
tho widely different views they promulgated, brought
the country to a critical condition, and tilled the minds
of its most reflecting people with serious fears that the
great results of the war would be swept away by these
jarring elements.
In consequence alone of these discussions, and tli
mutual jealousies and snpiclous they engendered
four years elapsed lifter the close of the war before
auy consent could ho procmed, either from Congress
or the States, for the assembling of a Constitutional
Convention, and with the acknow ledged Imperfections
of the existing articles of confederation, and amidst
the most disheartening embarrassments, the result
chiefly of theso imperfections, the country staggered
along as best it could without either au executivo or
Judicial department.
Then atlasttheie assembled that illustrious body
of statesmen that framed thn Coustitntion undor
wliich we live. They represented, undoubtedly, con
stituents maintaining each of the governments to
which I have adverted; but, mindful of -the condition
of the country, resolved, if possible, to rescue it, and
with this noble purpose, resisting the impatient be
hests or party, they renounced the ttltraism which
distinguished both tlie consolidation and State rights
schools, and provided a government which so judi
ciously combined the two principles, and so distinctly
assigned to each Its proper sphere, that themoderato
and reflecting of all parties united lu Its support, and
the Constitution received tho unauimous ratification
of the State.
After the lapso of three-quarters of a centnrv, and
after lt bad elevated us to a point of national impor
tance and reuown which Its most ardent advocates
could never have predicted, It was destined to en
counter Its first great trial.
I am not about to recur to the history of the Rebel,
lion to the passions that prompted its leaders, or the
metaphysical plausibilities by which they seduced
their followers but it was only after the theories to
which they hnd been long attached had been allied
with more substantial nnd powerful interests, that
they ventured to lay violent bauds on that work of
our fathers to wliich they and all oi us had so often
sworn allegiance.
How it resulted it Is scarcely necessary to remind
you. The people, though occasionally differing ou
questions or construction of doubtful clauses or the)
Constitution, bad yet been trained in such habits of
reverence for all its undisputed provisions, that no
section and no party that ever ventured to express
contrary sentiments could, unless blinded by insane
passion, have foreseen aught but ultimate ruin and
annihilation; and although the lute Rebellion, by a
combination of various interests, Influences aud issues,
sustained itself for four years with wonderful energy,
aud though at times, and to a limited extent, there)
were subordinate Issues invoked also against it, yet
the great, original, abidiug and conclusive force that
filled our armies aud fought our battles was the reso
lute purpose to stand by the Coustitation of our fathers
and the Union it hud established. Upon this line we
commenced the war, and on this line, thanks to our
noble army aud their distinguished commander, wo
fought it out to signal and complete triumph.
But now, when we had safely passed what for the
last thirty years had been gcuerally reckoned the
greatest danger to the Constitution, and that and
other results of the conflict had filled us with the
highest hopes of the future, aud given us, as we sup
posed, the assurance of complete tranquility for the
present, suddenly, evil Influences are found still at
work sometimes in the shape of fears, honest or
simulated, of danger iu the future; sometimes
firompte d by vindictive recollections of supposed In
uries iu tho past; more frequently than either, per
iaps, instigated by old party leaders, who play upon
these fears aud memories with no other object to re
cover some old office or power they have loBt, or to
retaiu othors they have more lately won until our
exultatiou at the results we have achieved is arrested
by our apprehension of evil yet to come.
Think not for a moment, my friends, that I am
about to desecrate the solemnities of such au occasion
by any discussion of the partisan topics of the day,
God forbid that the time should ever come, or party
lines be ever so drawn, tuat a plea for the Constitu
tion shall be reckoued as a badge of party fealty. The)
only party in whose behalf I would this day raise a
voice is the party of moderation aud conciliation ; tha
only party agaiust wliich I would this day warn you,
is made up of those ultras of all sides whose agitations
have contributed so largely to the disasters of the past,
and which, if not-arrested, may he the forerunnor of
others equally deplorable iu the future. Against such,
agitations would I therefore invoke, and take this as
an appropriate occasiou of doing so the moderate,
disinterested, reflectiug and patriotic people of the
country. It was by this class, as I have already said.
that the Constitution was created, aud it will bo b j
this class that it must be saved.
If it still contain defects, if It is growing absolute)
or keeps not up with the progressive ideas of the age,
amend it by the means which its own provisions pre
scribe. But whilst It is still acknowledged as our or
ganic lnw, and we daily swear to Its' allegiance, let it
be iu all our political controversies the umpire whoso
decree shall be final.
Come the peril to lt whence it may, from State rights
or consolidation, let me on this, the anniversary "of Its
adoption, in the name of the meu who made it, by the
memory of the meu who have died for it, upou this
spot, w here blood has been so profusely shed in Its be
half, appeal to you to preserve, protect and defend it.
Hymn.
cojirosEn uy Tur bev. edwabd jilvlt., of Pennsyl
vania. Air "America."
i.
Hallowed be all around!
This place is holy ground
Henceforth, for aye;
Here mountain shadows wave
O'er many a cherished grave,
Where sleep the young aud brave,
Home from the frayi
ii.
riere, where the flash and roar
Battle and carnage bore
Over the main,
Soft on your lowly bed.
Rest your fame-laurel'd head,
Our noble patriot dead,
By treason slain.
in.
Grief-etrlcken hearts have throbbed
Sable-clad home have sobbed
Vr from your rest ;
Listened for steps In vain
That never should come again,
To swell the victor's train,
From East to West 1
IV.
Antletam's liqnld gem ,
Murmurs your requiem
In mournful strain I
Angels un.eeu staud near, v
Bright guard of honor here,
Till Christ, our Lord, appear,
Mighty to reign 1
v.
Silence and sadness round
No bugle's martiul sound
Your sleep breaks now.
Columbia, saved, now sheathes
Her conquering sword ; Fame wreathes
Where'er true manhood breathes
Your pale, cold brow I - 1
VI. '
"Glory to God on high,"
Pea! through earth, sea aud sky.
"Good will to men I" .
Blending aud rising higher,
Like Pentecostal tire.
Let Freedom's strains Inspire
All hearts 1 Amen!
Many of the passngss of the oration were annlande,?
nd, as the orator took hi. seat, t her" were Ph, n) l ri
ft-reneated cries Tor ff,ivrn;riV.. Ie 1
calls for President Johnson. WW
1 he loud shriek of a funeral dirge and the calls for
ioveruor Geary were reuuuted, wi.jT, cs, 18 ror
eaid:-"Geutlemen, I have the programme which has
been handed to me by your committed Arrange
ments, which hey desire to be carried out. After li
bus been completed you will have an opportmlt, to
hear some oi your distinguished guests, iuih. odor
or exercises, a poem will now be read." viwi
The cheering for Gov. Gearv wm i.ro ,.o, v-
multitude seeming determined to have n speech froui
UJJIJ
At last Governor Geary approached thn f .v.
stand aud was greelod with long coutlnued applause.
iceiiiaifc oi t.ovrrnor Ueary.
Friends aud fellow citizens: Will you do me one
or. (Voice, certainly.) pieas. fi..J."?
be completed, Slid thru I will be glad to auuear In
rront vt the stand and say a rew words to yif I
thank you for your kuidues, and hope you will pre-
niwtniteeH tlot ifavm t,ipti, ti it r,w
the wonderful nioo.ritv u-nii, . ..'..
the .reve..ncew-i,hwhlc, from VnerniU to genVr
i...u .,. urn uceu niin.icd down tons, that there has
probably been no record of n like duirac m ' which
exerted so important un Influence on tho hismrof
government, or the rise sml or,,,-.. . t . "'"!nT 01