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Volume XYII-Ne. 16
LANCASTER, PA., SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER, 18, 1880
Price Twe Cents.
- f
h
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17
J
CLeraixa.
H. GERHART,
TAILOR,
Has J list opened a
CHOICE STOCK
or riNi:
WOOLENS
FORTIUS
FALL TRADE.
SELECT STYLKS and none but the best et
ENGLISH, FRENCH
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AND
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. SYItUP.
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SATURDAY EVENINO, SEPT. 18, 1880.
ANTIETAM.
RESULTS AND LESSONS OF THE WAR.
Oration Delivered by Marriett Bresliu, esq.,
at the Unveiling of the Soldiers'
Monument In Antletam Ceme
tery. September 17, 1880.
This countless assemblage of tbe chil
dren of men declares the profound interest
and cemmaning importance of the occa
sion that has called them together. Any
extraordinary human exertion engages the
respectful attention of mankind. A great
work of art invokes our admiration. A
stupendous effort of intellect commands
our reverence. Unexampled feats of dar
ing nnd prowess affect us with, wonder.
Exhibitions el dauntless courage wrest
from us spontaneous applause. But it is
the contiinplatien of a combination of all
the elevated powers of man in a state of
intense and sublime action extraordinary
physical power and endurance, matchless
courage, deathless valor, sublime heroism
and noble self-sacrifice, all inspired by a
lefty patriotism and a supreme devotion
te principles separately connected with the
maintenance of just government and the
liberties of mankind that is best fitted
te engage all the faculties of the mind all
the emotions of the heart, elevating the
whole being te a height from which the
sweep of the soul's vision comprehends all
that is great in action, admirable in pur
pose, lelty in sentiment, gounke in
achievement. Frem such a combination
of human endeavors the ground whereon
wc stand derives its importance in the his
tory of the republic.
Te-day, eighteen years after its baptism
of bleed, the name of Antictam is a spear
of .tielus which smiting the portals of
memory, forth rushes a Heed of hallowed
recollections, en whose uplifting besom wc
arc borne te a height from which we can
survey, with clear and dispassionate vision
the character of that day's supreme test of
the metal of Amcricau soldiers, the mar
velous results and the sacrifices here piled
upon our country's altar, with their great
less-ens for all coming time.
Solemnity et the Occasion.
Hew grand the theme! Hew mighty
and far-reaching the questions its contem
plation suggests. Yet hew little adapted
te the elevated and imposing task of their
consideration arc the feeble powers of him
whom the partiality of the trustees of this
beautiful "Place of Sepulchres" has
chosen for its execution. In the presence
of four thousand of our martyred dead the
tongue falters, the heart mulHes its beats,
and a sense of overwhelming awe teaches
us that silence rather thau speech would
most accord with the solemnity of the oc
casion. Whatever we may say of the
heroes whose sacred dust reposes beneath
these mounds, guarded for all time by a
nation's imperishable gratitude, symboliz
ed in the sculptured sentinel that stands
above them all our speech will be out
weighed by their speechlessness. They are
their eiyn best orators te-day, for, " being
dead they yet speak."
Necessity of the War fur the fTnlen.
Dcferc alluding te the great event whose
commemoration has brought us hither,
the solemn inquiry which already subsists
in your minds thrusts itself upon us, de
manding utterance, Should battles be com
memorated in a Christian laud ? We voice
the sentiment of Christendom when we ask,
De net all deprecate war ? And from this
vast multitude, bathed m the memory of
its inhumanity, its ''splendid murder," its
ghastly horrors, its terrible compensations,
comes back the answer, All I Yet te the
eense of mankind there is in that answer
a lcscrvcd exception. Between the phil
osophy of Hebbcs, who held that the nat
ural stale of mankind was war, and that
supcr-rcfincd sentiment, that there can be
no war that is net dishonorable, there is a
middle ground whereon the Christian pa
triot can stand with assurance of the favor
of his country and his Ged. When the ob
jects of the contest arc such as te engage
the highest attributes el Heaven, antl se
cure alliance between mortal and immortal
powers ; when necessary te crush bad
principles, dcstiey tyrants and rescue so
ciety from evils incomparably greater than
itself, war becomes a high, neble and re
sponsible duty. " When offered by the
hand of necessity, net otherwise," said Sir
Philip Sidney, " it must be accepted."
Ours was no ' rash, fruitless war forwau ferwau forwau
ten srlerv watretl." nor for " added power
and gain, sordid and despicable." It was
the spontaneous uprising ei pairieusiu ie
rescue Union and Liberty. It was precip
itated bv no ephemeral cause, but was m
defense of ideas which will wander through
eternity principles inextinguishable as
the stars, and a civilization wiucu will en
dure te the " last vestige of recorded
time." It was justified by an overruling
necessity in the providence of Ged in work
ing out the nation's destiny. It was the
shadow by which the sun of American
civilization marked its advance- en the
dial plate of history. It seems te be the
lessen ei the ages that every new mrtn et
freedom must have its dark night of trav
ail and pain.
The Seeds et the Conflict.
Liberty and slavery irreconcilable in
their natures crossed the ocean the same
year. The Mayllewcr and the Dutch slave
ship ploughed the sea at the same time.
Beth sought the shores of the New World,
and both planted their seeds te grew side
by side until the principles of the " survi
val of the fittest " should exterminate the
one and nationalize the ether. Formid
able events in the history of their conflict
put the nation te a fermidable alternative,
" the horrors of miasma or the fury of the
blast." Said Victer Huge, " Fer every
oak struck with lightning hew many forests
rendered wholesome." The storm came.
Behind the visible work was the invisible
the former barbarieus the latter sub
lime. Under a scaffolding of war was te
be 10-trcd a majestic temple of human free
dom. Never before was war se highly justi
fied, for never before had it wrought such l
. I . .. i "i mi
achievements ier numaun-y. aiiciu were
fields en which Spartan valor saved Greek
intellect and art from the Persian fields
en which Reman law and polity were saved
(rem the Carthaginian and the Gaul
fields eh which Charles Martel hurled
back the Saracen hosts from the heatt of
Christendom of Marsten Meer and
Nascby, where at the hands of Fairfax and
Cromwell the Cavaliers met their deem
of Lcipsic, the battle of nations, that de
livered Europe from French domination
of Waterloo, that saw the overthrew of
the first Napeleon, and of Sedan, that
witnessed the downfall of the second em
pire ; but none of these will be se conse
crated by after ages as the fields of the
American Revolution which laid the corner
stone, and of the war for the Union which
fixed firm and stable forever the foun
dations of freedom's empire in the new
world.
The Battle.
It is no part of the duty which our pre
sent task imposes te vex your ears and
weary your patience with a detailed ac
count of the battle fought upon this ground
nor could we adequately, if we would, for
we have net in our touch that "chaos"
which the Frenchman found necessary te
paint a battle. But a glimpse of the great
action which kindled the fires of death
from the Antietam te the Potomac may
help te lift us up te the level of the extra
ordinary occasion. Ge with me then, my
countryman, across the years, te the day
whose anniversary we humbly celebrate.
The sun is net yet risen. The silvery vest
ments of a gray dawn hang upon the lulls
and drape the weeds along which a despcr
perate and determined fee have formed
six miles of double batt'e lines. In their
rear is the winding Potomac in their
front the deep Antietam and McClclIan's
eager lines. The Federal army reaches
four miles along the creek the left en the
east, the right en the west bank. These
hostile armies, which last night lay down
te rest within musket shot of each ether,
are already harnessing their engines of
death. Grim and frowning batteries cover
each hill crest, trained upon every stretch
of "round ever which the soldiers
of the Union must pass te scale the
steeps occupied by the enemy. The hur
ricane of battle has net yet swept the
fierce flame of fi.-c ever the corn fields and
down the hill sides. The deep-mouthed
cannon have net yet shaken the earth with
their reverberant rear. Death is waiting
upon me light el day. It lias come.
Hoeker flings down the gage of battle,and
advancing beyond the weeds in hi front
te the edge of the corn field, throws his
corps like a thunderbolt against the iron
front of Jacksen's lines, which, reeling un
der the blew, fall staggering te the weeds
beyond. Recovering from the shock and
reinforced by Heed's fresh corps they
roll back the blooded-crested billow, sweep
ing from the field every living thing,
and reoccupying the ground which is
destined this day te he ploughed with
shot planted with the dead and
watered with bleed. Bending before
this dreadful storm, the lines el" Hoeker
retire, reorganize and close up the
awful gaps made by Confederate shot
and shell. Weakened by his losses, he
speeds a messenger te Deublcday with the
command, "Give me your best brigade in
stantly." And instantly it comes down
the hillside en the right like an avalanche,
led by brave Hartsufl. new iute the corn
field new steadily up the slopes beyond
they climb against a hurricane of fire be
fore which none but lines of adamant could
stand. " O ye mortal powers, what cour
age ! Hew like gods they move ! Yet sec !
hew like men they fall these raw recruits
these citizen soldiers thousands of
whom but yesterday left their kisses en
the lips of mothers, wives and sisters in
exchange for their benedictions, as they
rushed te their baptism of lire. They came
te triumph or die ! Sec they still breast that
flood of lire ; new it begins te break ; new
thank Ged, it is dashed te pieces as a
wave upon a lock and ebbs with bloody
spray and foam te the sheltered grounds
beyond. The corn field is again wen ; but
the ground is ridged with the dead, the air
is pierced with the groans el the dying,
and the sun is lurid with the smoke
of the sacrifice. The gallant Hoeker
who, until new, rode up and down
like a charmed spirit en the waves of that
crimson sea, cheering his men and leading
them te victory, is borne wounded from
the field. But en this day there is no gap
made in field or stall', or line, or file, that
is net instantly filled. Sumner is at baud.
Brave as bravery itself, he rides iute Hook Hoek
er's place, with his white hair streaming
in the air, contrasting with the fiery flash
of his eye, as he hurries te the thickest of
the fight. But the broken columns of the
enemy have again rallied and, strength
ened by McLaws' and Walker's divisions,
they advance with desperate energy, bear
ing down upon our right, with lines of
gleaming bayonets, and terrible volleys
which smite, bend and break our eager
front, hurling it back hall the distance it
had wen. But the wave only recedes te
advance again, for new Franklin's fresh
corps is pressing en, his soldiers cheering
as they run. They sweep the corn field
again, with a tempest of fire, which nj
human power can withstand, and en te
the weeds beyond, from which the shat
tered lines of the enemy retire, leaving the
field, which was four limes lest and wen,
in the occupation of the Union army.
It is one o'clock. The left of the Federal
line is in motion. Burnside wrests the
lower bridge from the grasp of the enemy,
who retreat te the heights. It is three
o'clock. Bumsidc is charging up the rug
ged steeps, his brave men marching into
the mouths of cannon double shetted with
death. The heights arc carried the Con
federate right reeling from the shock falls
backward almost te the outskirts of
Sharpsburg. Glorious triumph ! But eh,
hew short-lived. Anether battle line ap
pears. Hill's division is en the field ; an
other hurricane of fire leaps from their
cannon's mouths, while lines of infantry
pour pitiless storms of leaden hail upon the
thinning ranks of our left until, dashed
and shattered, they are horn back toward
the bridge. Sorely pressed, Bumsidc
sends for troops and guns McClcllan
leeks at the western sky, and sends back
the inspiring message, "Tell Gen. Burn
side this is the battle of the war." Mean
while, Franklin's batteries en the right
arc blazing like the fires of Etna. The
artillery in the centre is in vigorous action.
The battle revives in all directions. Every
hill top, ridge and weeds along the whole
line is crested with white clouds of smoke.
Upen four miles of battle shines that
splendid September sun, as it sinks red
dening in the west. The night ap
proaches, bringing its truce te the dcadful
fray. Darkness silences the last gun, and
the dews of heaven fall upon a crimsoned
earth, for
" With copious slaughter all the Held was red.
And heaped with growing mountain of the
dead."
After the Battle.
The battle is ever. The field of Antietam
has become " the valley of the shadow of
death." Man is ephemeral, but the
heavens arc eternal. The stais that looked
down that night upon a field of bleed were
the same that lit up the ghastly plains of
Trey, " rough with the dead bodies of an
cient heroes." The moon whose silvery
radiance fell upon the upturned faces of
our dead, was the same that steed still m
the valley of Ajalon. The marvelous can
opy of blue and geld that bent tenderly
ever that carnival of death was the same
that vaulted above the earth at the com
mand of Ged, " Let there be a firmament
in the midst of the waters."
The night is past, for time waits net en
the dying. The first beams of the sun
that ushers in the morn of the 18th kisses
the faces of twenty thousand American
soldiers victors and vanquished, prone
upon the field. .Oh, Ged ! what a harvest
did the reaper gather that day.
"Se fought each host with thirst of glory
tired.
And crowds en crowds triumphantly expired."
The Fallen.
Of these who went down te death in that
dreadful holocaust, what can we say?
Vain are the eulogies of the Jiving upon
the brave men whom the tide of battle
swept te the skies from this historic field.
They were soldiers in the most exalted
sense. Their helmets were of faith, their
breastplates were of courage, their swords
were of justice. They entered the war in
something of the spirit of Gtistavus Of
Sweden at Lntzen, when, spurning his
corselets, he exclaimed, " Ged is my bar
ness." They died the noblest place for
man te die "at the pest of duty"-r-"net
for themselves, but for their country."
Near the beginning of the century a great
battle was fought en the plains of the
Danube, resulting in a victory for France.
"The courage of a private soldier con
tributed te the triumph, and ever after, at
the parade of the battalion, the name of
Lateur D'Vergnc was first called, when the
eldest sergeant stepped te the front and
answered, 'Died en the field of honor.' "
Se in Walhalla the paradise of battle
scarred warriors when en the roll of
heroes the names of Antictam's martyred
braves are called, a chorus of dauntless
spirits will reverberate along the celestial
corridors, as the highest eulogy is pro
nounced, " Died en the field of duty."
Te their character our praise can add
nothing. Net te their valor, for it is im
mortal ; net te their patriotism, for it is
in the Recording Angel's book ; net te
their sublime endurace, for it is embalmed
in History s page.
Helpless te add a single flower te the
immortal wreaths that must forever crown
their immortal deeds, we resign them te
their rest with the prayer of Pennsylva
nia's sweet poet en the field of Gettys
burg :
' Take them, O Fatherland !
Who dying conquered in Tliv name :
Take tliem. O Ued ! our brave.
The glad fulfillment of Tby dread decree.
Who grasped the sword for peace anil smote
te save.
And dying here for freedom, died for Thee."
Tlie Results or the Battle.
The results of the battle were momen
tous in the extreme. On it was staked en
one side the invasion of Maryland and the
safety of Washington ; en the ether the
deliverance of Maryland and an open
highway for Lee'f army te Pennsylvania.
Had net the rocks of Union and Liberty
at Antietam hurled back tbe waves of re
bellion that surged against them, the bat
tle of Gettysburg might have been fought
in 18G3. Had net the depression that hung
like a pall ever the Nertb, and weighed
down the heart of our great president,
been lifted by the success of this battle,
hew the complexion and duration of the
war might have been affected we are net
endowed with foreknowledge te tell. But
tiie sun that lit up a field without a fee en
the morning of the 18th of September sent
its beams of light and joy into millions of
loyal hearts, dispelling doubts, allaying
fears, inspiring hope and stiffening the
sinews of courage. Fer months a great
question had agitated the mind of the
president. His prescient intellect had
caught the reflection from the orb of truth
long before it reached the multitude, and
he becaine fully possessed by the convic
tion in which the public gradually acqui
esced, that the rebellion was most vulner
able through slavery, and that in the end
the reconstructed republic must be ded
icated te freedom, or a larger part of the
American continent be surrendered te an
institution of barbarism under the protec
tion of the Cen federates States of America.
While his own great mind was fully illu
minated by this truth, he knew the popu
lar perception of the situation had net
risen te its level ; he knew that in the
Union army were fifty thousand bayonets
from the border slave states, and though
upon him Ged had bestowed marvelous
gifts, he was net endowed with prophetic
vision te foresee the effect of emancipation
in the existing state of discouragement
and gloom. With this question he wres
tled in a spirit of supreme consecration
te his duty, te his country, and rising te
the height of his great manhood, lilting
up his faith te a sublime, trustful repose
iu the providence of the Ruler of nations,
he declared, " Whatever shall appear te
be Ged's will I will de."
Thus, te the noble pilot at the helm of
the ship entrusted te his care, the victory
of Antictam was a break in the storm a
gleam of sunlight through a rift in the
clouds. He had patiently watched the
compass of the popular mind had kept
the ship's bow te the storm, ready at any
moment te change its course when the
tempest lulled and the sun appeared. Twe
days after the battle the North, which had
becu swinging between hope and despair,
recovered its courage, renewed its faith,
and en the wings of praise and thanksgiv
ing the millions of hearts went up te Ged,
te thank Him for the renewal of His mer
cies and the assurance of His favor. The
hour has come. The nation has been lift
ed nearer the source of truth by its great
sacrament of thanksgiving, and can new
sec eye te eye with him.
" Who in the tear of Ged did'at bear
The sword of power a nation's trust."
and who, with prayer upon his lips for
Divine guidance, resolves with supreme
courage te confront the responsibility of
the act, makes his great decision and gives
te the world his answer te the invasion of
the loyal states by the armies of rebellion.
Upen that proclamation, 'Hime's noblest
act," he invoked and received the consid
erate judgment of mankind and the gra
cious favor of Almight Ged. It made its
author illustrious, inaugurated a new
epoch, and the war for the first time as
sumed its real character. At tbe close of
the battle of Valmy, Gothe said te the
Prussian soldiers, "Frem this time and
from this day forth commences a new era
in the world's history, and you can all say
you were present at its birth."
Frem this place and from the day whose
anniversary we commemorate, commenced
a new era in" American history and one
hundred and fifty thousand American sol
diers might have said, " Wc were present
at its birth." " The wise and their works
are in the hands of Ged," saith the scrip
tures. And when the struggle for the
Union was thus lifted up and enlarged by
wisdom until its scope comprehended the
liberation of the oppressed and the eleva
tion of a race ; when the nation saw with
a clear vision that the hopes of humanity
hung breathless en the battle's chance, it
seemed that the heavenly powers became
propitious ; and henceforward the light of
faith, hope- and courage burned en un
ceasingly, until joyful peace extinguished
the camp-fires en the List battle-field of
the Union. Under the new inspiration the
republic marched en with stately tread
ever the elevated plain which had become
the theatre of the grandest drama in hu
man history, whose first act ledby inevita
ble logic te the succeeding ones which ac
tualized iu the nation's life the mandate of
our fathers, borrowed from the commands
of Ged en Sinai's burning mount three
thousand years before, and cast in bold
relief en the lips of freedom's bell, which
told it for eighty years in the ears of an
unwilling people, "Proclaim liberty
throughout all the land, unto all the in
habitants thereof." Sublime consumma
tion 1 The whele earth round felt the in
stantaneeus thrill as the sun of freedom
burst in full orbed splendor upon the new
world, sending its beams parallel with the
eternal law into the remotest refuge of op
pression. "Fer mankind arc one In spirit, and an in
sunci Dears aieng
Hound the earth's electric circle the swift Hash
of right or wrong-,
Whether conscious or unconscious, 'yet hu
manity's vast frau c,
Through its eccan-aundcred fibres lecia the
gush of joy or shame.
In the gain or less of one race all the rest have
equal claim."
Crowned thus with the artist's last band,
the column of American liberty stands,
surmounted with the presiding genius of
the work, with outstretched hauds invok
ing and receiving Ged's endless benedic
tion upon her completed task.
Thus is exhibited the relation of the
battle of Antietam te the great achieve
ments which constitute the truest grand
eur of the republic a rich heritage of
glory, whose life is perennial as the stars.
The Veil Lifted.
As the veil that was lifted bv the victerv
en this field revealed te the eye of Amcri
crn statesmanship the exalted mission and
splendid destiny of the republic, se the
veil, this day lifted, reveals te the eye of
tne pat net, by a Dcautilul symbol of sculp
tured granite, the great thought that by
cternal vigilance alone can wc preserve
the results of the war. As this silent sen
tinel shall held his sleepless watch above
these honored dead, se shall the citizens of
the republic stand guard forcvermerc
around their priceless legacies te their
surviving countrymen. As we te-day ded
icate this colossal statute of matchless
beauty te its high office of pcrpctnatimr in
the remembrance of mankind the sacrifices
that gave te history the name of Antietam,
and te the republic its richest crown of
glory, is it hrevgrcnt te believe that the
dead who from these plains and hill sides
went up te Ged under the shadow of our
flag, and who still love their country? are
reaching down their spirit hands te clasp
ours of flesh, and with celestial voices are
dedicating the living here assembled te the
holy ministry of preserving for all coining
time what they died te save ?
Oh, my countrymen ! de we realize the
responsibility of the task imposed ? Are
we equal te the great demand ? Are we
fit for the exalted service? This is the
great question which the field of Antictam
propounds te the nation te-day. If the
patriotism of the land, North, Seuth,
East and West, putting under its feet sec
tional animosity, pride, hate and all nn
charitablcncss, shall bear back te us en
unflagging wing the answer. Yea; then
the American republic shall itself stand a
monument te the memory of its patriot
dead, when the Pyramids arc net, and
Karuak is forgotten.
Our Country.
What is our'ceuntry that we should be
thus mindful of it and vex ourselves with
the thoughts of its future?
The thirteen feeble colonies that struck
their roots in the barren edge of a new
world have grown te thirty :ght vigorous
commonwealths, whose outstretched arms
clasp a continent. The three millions into
whose breasts Otis flung the electric spavk
of his eloquence, kindling the fires of revo
lution, have multiplied te fifty millions of
freemen, obeying one constitution, devout
ly reverencing one country and moving en
te one destiny. Earth's boundless wealth
of mineral, which slept beneath a surface
trodden by a race te whom the use of
metals was unknown, new answering the
"open sesame" of civilization, flings wide
its doers, yielding its stores te the need of
every industry and enriching the products
of every art. Our commerce, whitening
every sea, rivals that of the eldest nations.
Our railroads span the continent, climb
the mountains, stretcheut into the valleys.
Our telegraphs, making every community a
centre of the world's daily chronicles, and
a free press reaching every hamlet in the
land, have realized " the lever's prayer te
the gods " by obliterating time and space,
have brought the Orient and the Occident
face te face and made the dwellers en the
golden slopes and the tillers of the hills of
New England fellow citizens and neigh
bors. Our science and invention augment
the power of man ever matter, lightening
the burdens of teii. Our system of educa
tion gives te every peer man's child a scat
at the royal feast of knowledge. Our art
embellishes the homes and our literature
elevates the taste and enriches the libra
ries of the world. In all the diversified
industries of civilization our progress has
been a marvel compared with which the
thousand and ene marvels cf the Arabian
Nights pale iu commonplace. At the re
cent international exhibition, where all
the achievements of our multiplied indus
tries were placed in competition with the
corresponding exhibits of our sister na
tions, we steed peerless. All civilizations,
from that of the home of the Pyramids,
and the Empires of the Celestials, down te
and including the period of modern his
tory, brought the products of their best
art, their latest science, their newest inven
tion and their highest skill. The cluster
ed trophies of the world's conquests in
science and education, manufactures and
agriculture, aesthetic and mechanic arts,
were side by side in friendly rivalship en
our own soil, and amidst them all the
young republic of America rese in queenly
majesty and steed proudly eminent.
Its Meral Greatness.
But our country presents still grander
themes than these for our contemplation,
and mere stupendous achievements for our
admiration and wonder. It is net in the
marvelous development of her material re
sources, nor the extent of her territory,
nor the vastness of her population, nor the
accumulation of her wealth, that her high
est character is evinced ; but rather in the
moral elevation of her citizens sustained,
enlightened and decorated by cultivated
intellect. The great achievements which
have made her history luminous with
deeds of justice, charity and benevolence
had their rise in and ewe their consumma
tion te the growth of the moral element in
our civilization. Te invite you te the con
sideration of these nobler attributes of our
national character is te introduce you te
a revelation of beauty and excellence,
without a parallel in the history of man.
The monuments of Reman greatness her
marble aqueducts her sculptured arches,
and triumphal pillars piercing the sky arc
crumbling te dust, and before long will be
buried in oblivion's flood. But the memory
of Columbia's charity, philanthropy and
magnanimity, like the branch tin legend
buried en the breast of St. Hubert, will
prcserve its perennial green as long as
time endures. The philanthropic agencies
and vast systems of benevolence te miti
gate the horrors and assuage the distresses
of war as the Christian and sauitary
commissions and bureaus of frecdmen and
refugees in the time of our country's su
preme peril leaped from the national heart
like Minerva from the brain of Jupiter, full
armed for their ministry of relief. Ne ex
hibition of the higher life of the republic
will shine down the cycles of time with a
mere supernatural splendor than the scene
presented, when Columbia, iu the agoniz
ing threes of that supreme labor which
gave te freedom a new birth, steed majes
tic, with one hand, Jove-like, guiding tac
thunderbolts of Ged's justice, aud with
the ether, Christ-like, dispensing the beau
tiful charities fresh plucked from the ser
mon en the mount. There is something in
the human breast that war cannot kill.and
the saddest memeries of the past arc light
ed up as by a sunset glow with the recel
lectien that during the darkest years of
the war, wherever loyalty survived when
helpless suffering appealed te humanity
hew instantly sprang te its relief the angel
in the human heart. These deeds of kind
ness, helpfulness and leve, performed with
equal tenderness and promptitude, wheth
er te relieve the wracking pain of a muti
lated soldier in blue or te cool the fevered
brew of one clad in gray, were pinions en
which many loyal souls, North and Seuth,
rose as en bright wings towards heaven.
Thus was attested humanity in the midst
of the fiery passions-of war, showing that
abeve the Union, above the rebellion,
above all questions of time and sense, was
the " boundless compassion of the human
soul illuminating with the light of Divine
actions the dark precipice of civil strife."
Its Magnanimity.
In peace the current of the nation's char
ity, benevolence and magnanimity saw no
abatement. When the greatest living sol
dier laid his cenquering sword en the Cap
ital of the Confederacy, received Lee's sur
render at Appomattox, and the curtain fell
before the tragedy of the rebellion, voicing
the sentiment of the republic whose swenl
no bore, lie said te the vanquished armies,
"Lay down your arms and go te your homes
en your parole of honor." And the nation,
scaling the act of its servant with an all
comprehending mercy, said, "Ge and siti
no mere." Had ever before the vanquish
ed been thus treated by the victors? There
was no touch of vengeance here. At the
fall of Teulon, where a number et Freuch
rebels had taken refuge, Feuche wrote te
the director : " We have euly one way of
celebrating victory ; this evening we sheet
two hundred and thirteen rebels." Hew
resplendent by the contrast appears our
magnanimity ! Csesar, after vanquishing
his enemy, wrote te a friend iu Reme,
"That the chief enjoyment he had of his
victory was in saving every day one or
ether of his fellow-citizens who had borne
arms against him." Wc vanquished our
iciiew-citizcus who oere arms against us,
but we saved them all, and regarding them
as still our countrymen of the same Iin
cige, language and history the nation
pursued her healing aud restoring work,
" with malice toward none and with char
ity for all."
Time will net permit us longer te pursue
the pleasing task of passiug in review be
fore our admiring vision the transcendent
glories of our country. I have detained
you thus long, that, before alluding te the
lessens with which the occasion is se preg
nant, our minds might be freshly touched
with a sense of the infinite value aud sur
passing greatness of the institutions te
whose guardianship we are this day dedi
cated. The Lessens of tlie Heur.
New, my countrymen, what arc the
commanding duties which this occasion
points out and patriotism enjoins? If
there be one message borne up te us front
these hallowed graves ; if from the granite
lips of this silent watcher of the dead
there leaps te our cars one command ; if
from the spirit suppliants abeve us there
comes down ene prayer that message,
that command, that prayer is that we
strive for a standard of mera! independ
ence, political integrity, obedience and
loyalty, which will guarantee a citizenship
at once independent, incorruptible, obe
dient te law and loyal te the public weal.
If it is meet, then, that the tongues of the
living bear the messages of the dead, we
summon the manhood, upon which tiic
country leans te-day, te lift itself up te
the true stature of American citizenship.
Without a vigorous, noble and true man
hood, though our empire reach from sea te
sea, wc arc a rope of sand.
" 111 fares the land, te hastening ills a prey.
Where wealth accumulates and men decay."
Fidelity te conviction, devotion te duty,
leyality te conscience and contempt for
servility are the qualities which meulded
the men who honored Amcricau citizen
ship and adorned her public service in the
past, and it is a hope, te aid whose realiza
tion all the battle fields of the Union im
plore the living, that the influence of
American civilization and the inspiration
of American progress may produce for
Columbia's future citizens a race of men
who, " being admirable in form, noble iu
reason, infinite in faculty," will add there
to integrity of soul, a mighty priesthood
of truth, who will take net their souls te
the public mart, or the election polls, but
will stand evermore as manhood incar
nate. Abscuce of Political Integrity.
The common infirmities of forms of gov
ernment iu which sovereignty speaks
through popular elections are the absence
of political integrity and the presence of a
blind and heedless party idolatry. These
arc the twin vices of republics. Wc have
nothing new te fear from the hostility of
open enemies foreign or domestic. But
there is an enemy, subtle, insidious, treach
erous, venomous, secret ; an adder in the
besom of the republic. Te the safety of
our institutions a stuffed ballet box is
mere dangerous than an army of foreign
invaders. Te the honor of the American
name a corrupt ballet is fraught with
greater peril than the stcct point of a trai
tor's bayonet. Te the perpetuity of our
liberties, the hand tainted with a bribe is
mere fatal than than the one that grasps a
traitor's swenl. These arc our imminent
dangers; aud if they be but "air drawn
daggers"' te-day, they may become " real
peiuards" in the heart of the nation, un
less our national standard of political
ethics is elevated until the fraudulent
count, the shot-gun policy, the tissue bal bal
eot and the cipher despatch, become te
American politics what the rack and
thumb-screw are te the judicial system'? or
modern times.
Faction.
Ner can wc tee seen comprehend the
truth se vital te our institutions, that the
seeds of degeneracy and decay lurk in that
condition of political morals which renders
possible a degree of party idolatry in which
no amount of probity and honor will com
mand the esteem of the opposite party,
and no depth of political and moral profli
gacy forfeit the respect of our own ; that
loyalty te party, when it ceases te be loyal
te the public geed, is the highest disloyalty
te the gvernment ; that lawless faction is
treason, while observance of order and
obedience te the authorities arc the begin
ning of liberty ; that where intrigue aud
fraud begin patriotism ends, while honor
ia politics is the essential mark of fitness
for self-government. The people are the
source of authority, the fountain of power,
the keepers of the republic's jewels ; what
ever measure of virtue shall exalt, then iu
that same measure will it feel the up-lifting
touch. If they employ themselves in
partisan strife where the trtumph
of faction rather than the prevalence
of right is the object of contest, it be
comes as certain as the fiat of omnipotence
that the country will express and obey the
baser will, and the government gradually
degenerate into a political despotism. Te
avert se calamitous a dispensation may we
net say as a fit utterance for this memorial
occasion, when ourceuntryand her defend
ers are our theme, aud when the thought
is born of what all have observed, the occa
sional menace of turbulent faction in our
politics, that whatever we may surrender,
as we love our country and her institu
tions, let us held fast te honor, virtue and
loyalty, te law and order the foundations
whereon wc have buildcd, and en which
we must stand, or perish from the earth.
Thus may the republic once saved byfire and
sword be saved again for evermore by the
example or our fidelity te the principles and
institutions of our government. And then
will.CeIumbia be spared the mortification
of looking upon the realization of an un
friendly prophecy concerning our country,
that the time was net ' ' distant when a few
lean and half-naked fishermen would di
vide with owls and foxes the ruins of our
( Continued en fourth juige.)