The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1864-06-25

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Mcclellan and Pericies.
Mcclellan has achieved victory over his OPP
ponents which few Of them can with honor
disavow. If he has not entirely vanquished-
them, they have shown that he has disarmed
them, in an important degree. by their absence
Of abuse In relation to his late great achieve
ment in the Geld of oratory. Prone - bis ad-
versaries have been to assail him with viru.
lence and ill-disguised hate, torturing every
act of bis public life into some hideous purpose
of selfaggrandizement II not actual treason
against the republic, the most malignant of bis
accusers are dumb in their criticisms Of if they
do not applaud, his late truly eloquent ora
ton at West Point on the occasion OF selecting
monumental site for our warriors slain In the
rebellion. They have found that his principles,
as there enunciated, are such a. cannot be as
sailed without q gross violation Of every ele-
ment Of truth and honesty, and that, based
upon the merits of this great discourse alone,
il not upon many other noble acts, the
fame Of Mcclellan, both as soldier and an ora
tor, has become imperishable
While reading this Grafton one is naturally
and irresistibly led back to the classical times
Of antiquity. 1t is like sailing upon pleasant
and easy flowing river dOwnwards to those
ages when orators were demigods and at the
same time realizing that these are scenes Of our
own day the young orator is describing. The
language the solemn occasion, remind us of
the period when one Of the nobest ora
tors and statesmen OF ancient Greece
delivered Q similar discourse in su-
burb Of the then proud city Of Athens,
"the schoolmistress Of Greece" 1t recalls
to mind, as a parallel, the renowned funeral
Grafton uttered by Percles at the pub
lie interment Of Athenian warriors who had
fallen during one of the Peloponnensian cam
pagus. As that grafton has been described by
historians as one Of the most memorable relics
Of antiquity, so will this Grafton by Mcclellan
be recognized by the present day and in future
times rs one of the most eloquent and touching
discourses that the awful civil war in which we
are plunged has evoked. A portion of it, as
has been said Of the Grafton of Pericles, must
be commonplace characteristic Of all
speeches composed for similar occasion. Yet
in his details and narrative, in his illusions to
the loss of so many Of his beloved and heroic
companions in arms. Mcclellan clothes his ideas
with richness Of drapery and simplicity Of
language that enchant the reader. Again will
u parallel with the discourse Of Pericles be ap-
propriate. AS the Athenian's discourse has
been pronounced comprehensive, rational and
full not less of sense and substance than Of
earnest patriotism" so will the Grafton of
Mcclellan command the admiration of the
patriot and scholar for the high and statesman
like views it expresses, whether referring to the
causes that produced the war. the necessity OF
maintaining the Union, the progress of the
nation under its bencfcent constitution, to
those "series Of politioIl leaders who to the
highest abilities united the same spirit Of con
ciation which animated the founders Of the
republic;" or whether the orator pronounces
wholesome and digniied sentiment which will
become maxim worthy the greatest of Roman
or Grecian orators, like the following
bellion against government like ours, which
contains the means OF selEadjustment and
pacific remedy for evils should never be con-
founded with a revolution against a dcspotc
Power which refuses redress Of wrongs" Or
when, in his beautiful tribute to General Scott,
he refers to him as "a living column OF granite
against which have beaten in vain alike the
Establishments and storms of treason;'' or when
he mentions the name of the same great old
hero as one which "will ever be one Of our
proudest boasts and most moving Inspirations.
In long distant ages" he continued, "when this
incipient monument has become venerable,
moss-clad and perhaps ruinous when the names
inscribed upon it shall seem to those who
pause to read them indistinct mementoes Of an
almost mythical past3Dthe name of Winfield
Scott will still be clearly cut upon the memory
of all, like the still fresh carving upon the
monuments Of the Pharaohs." Or, near his
concluding words where he unites sublimity of
language with the purest and most exalted of
sentiments:-"At such time as this, and in
such a struggle, political partisans should
be merged in true and brave patriotism which
thinks only Of the good of the whole country.
II was in this cause and with these motives
that so many Of our comrades have given their
lives, and to this we are oil personally pledged
In all honor and fidelity. Shall such devo.
ten az that Of our dead comrades be Of no
avail! Shall it be said in after ages that we
lacked the vigor to complete the work thus
beguni That after oil these noble lives freely
given We hesitated and failed to keep straight
on until our land was savedi Forbid 1t,
Heaven, and give. US armer, truer hearts than
that. Oh, spirits of the valiant Dead souls Of
our slain heroes, lend us your own indomitabls
will, and il it be permitted you to commune
with those still chained by the tsammels Of
mortality, hover around u In the midst Of
danger and tribulation; cheer the nrm,
strengthen the weak, that none may doubt the
salvation Of the republic and the triumph of