Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1863-12-02
A VOICE FROM THE DEAD.

! We have read the little speeches of Presi-
dent Lincoln, as reported Tor and publish
ed IN his party press, and ge have read
the remarks or the Hon. Secretary Of
State, VIM. ii. Seward, all delivered on
the occasion Of dedicating tho National
Cemetery, a plot of ground set apart for
the burial of the dead who FELL at Gettys-
burg, in the memorable s,rife which oc
cured there between tho gorees Of the
Federal Government and ths tvoops of
the Coniederacy of the Seeded ST ates,
| To say OF Mr.. Evereirs oratiou that il
rose TO the height to which the occasion
, demarded, or 10 say of the Presidents
remarks that they fell below our expects
tions would be alike false. Neither the
orator nor the jester surprised or deceived
u3. Whatever may be Mr.. Everetfs fail
lngs he does not lack sense-whateve
may be the Presidents virtues, he does
not possess sense. Mr.. Everett failed as
an orator, because the occasion WAS q
mockery, and he knew it, and the Presi-
dent succeeded, because he acted natu-
rally, without sense and without con-
stralnt, in panorama which was gotten
up more for his benefit and the benefit Of
his party than for the glory of the nation
and the honor Of the dead.
We can re Ldily corrective that the thou.
sands who went there went as mourners,
to view the burial place Of their dead, to
consecra,e, so far as human agency could,
the ground IN which the slain heroes of
the nation, standing in the relationship.
TO them OF fathers, husbands, brothers, or
connected by even remoter ties of mar
rlage or consangunity, were 10 be inferred.
To them the occasion vas solemn with
them the motive was honest, earnest and
honorable. But how was il with the chief
actors in the pageant, who had no dead
buried, or TO be buried there: from none
OF whose ioins hal sprung a solitary hero,
living or dead, Of this war which was be-
gotten Of their fanaticism and has been
ruled by their whims?
They stood there, upon that bloody
ground, not with hearts stricken with
grief or elated by ideas of true glory, but
coldly calculating the political advantages
which might be derived from the solemn
! ceremonies of the dedication. .... .r
We will not include ia this category OF
| healtleSs men the orator of the day: but
evidently he was paralyzed by the Gnow-
edge that he was surrounded by unfeel-
| ing, mercenary meE, ready to sacrifice
their countrymen for the base purpose OF
retaining power and accumulating wealth
His Grafton was therefore cold, insipid
unworthy the occasion and the man.
We pass over the silly remarks of the
President. For the credit of the nation
we are willing that the veil of oblivion
shall be dropped over them, and that
they shall be no more repeated or thought
of.
But the Secretary of State rs n man of
note. He it was who first Illuminated the
doctrine of the irrepfessiLle conflict :"
and on the battlefield and burial ground
Of Gettysburg he did not hesitate to re-
open the bleeding WOUND, and proclaim
anew the fearful doctrine that we are
fighting all these bloody battles, which
have drenched our land N gore, to upset
the Constitution, emanCiPate the negro
and bind the white man in the chains Of
despotism.
On that ground which should have been
sacred from the pollution Of politics, even
the highest magnate in the land, next to
the President himself, did not hesitate TO
proclaim the political policy and fixed
purpose of the Administration o policy
which if adhered to will require moro
ground than Gettysburg to hold our dead,
and which must end in the ruin of tho
nation. The dead of Gettysburg will
speak from their tombs they will raise
their voices against this great wickedness
and iDlplore our rulers to discard from
their councils the folly which is destroying
us, and return to the wise doctrines OF.
the Fathers, the pleadngs of Christianity,
to the compromises OF the Constitutions
which can alone saveu Let our, rulers
hearkcn TO the dead, if they will not to.
the living for from every tomb which
covers a dead soldier, if they listen atten-
lively they will hear q solemn sound inyo-
king them to renounce partizanship for
and to save the country from
the misery aad desolaton which, under
their present policy, is inevitable.