Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1865-07-15
GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.
Fourth Of July at Gettysburg-"The
American SOLDER


AsI stand here to-day before a peace=|
full audience. composed as u is Of yeau-]
tifuI ladies. ioso1s childrens and lsp9y
citizens. and think of nv last visit ito
this place two years ago, and of the ter
rible scenes to which il was my lot to
bear part, I cannot help exclaiming,
g How changed how chaDgedP' Ttis
the same rich landscape, broad and beau
tiful, covered with every variety of nat
ural objects to please the eye. The
same wooded ridges and cultivated
fields the same neat little town cling
ing to the hillside the same broad av-
enues of approach; the same ravlnes
and creeksZb ut, thank God, the awful
magnifcence of hosts arrayed against
each other in deadly strife, is wanting.
Yonder heights are no longer crowned
with hostile cannon the valleys do not
groves and the houses douot give back
the indescribable peal of the musketry
fire. And oh how like dream to-day
seems that sad spectacle of broken
tonlbstenes. PROSTATE fences, ana the
ground strewn with our own wounded
and dead companions Then follows,
after battle, the 1minefing of friends and
enemies, with suffering depicted. IN all
possible modes of portraitTire- The
surgeons, with resolute hearts and
bloody hands; the pale faces oftrela-
tives searching for dear ones, the busy
Sanitary and Christian workers all pass
before my mind in group after group.
My friends my companions, my
countrymen, suffer me to congratulate
ydu anew to-day, this 4th day of July,
1866. that this sad work is completely
done, and that sweet peace has really
dawnedsupon u.s. On the 18th day of
November, 1864, this National Cemete-
nv, a pious tribute to manlness and
virtue. was consecrated. The Hon. Ed
ward Everett delivered an address in his
own rich, clear. elegant style, which,
having been published, has long ago
become historical and affords US COM
plete and graphic account of the cam
paign and battle of Gettysburg. i am
deeply grateful to this noble patriot for
his indefatigable industry in securing
facts, and for the clear narrative he has
left us of this battle, in which every
living loyal soldier who fought here Is
now proud to have borne q part. He,
are honored by his eloduence, has gone
to his reward and let his memory ever
be mingled withthose here. upon whose
graves he SO earnestly inyoked your ben
ediction. Mr.. Everett was followed by
the few remarkable words of President
Lincoln. evrN
While Mr.. Lincoln's name is SO neal
and. dear tosus, and the memory of his
work and sacrifices so fresh, i deem il
not inappropriate TO repeat his own
words: s.Fourscore and seven years age
our fathers brought forward upon this
continent a new nation, conceived In
liberty, and dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal. Now we
are engaged in a great civil war, testing
whether that nation, or any nation sc
conceived and so dedicated, can long
endure We are met on a great battle
field of that war. We are met to dedi
cate portion of it as the final resting
place of those who here gave their lives
that that nation might live. 1t Is alto
gether fitting and proper that we should
do this. But in a larger sense we can
not dedicate, we can not consecrate, We
can not hallow this ground. The brave
men, living and dead. who struggled
here, have consecrated it far above oul
power to add or detract. The world
will little note, nor long remember what
we say here, but it can never forget
what they did here. 1t is for us, the
the unfinished work they have thus fal
so nobly carried on. 1T Is rather for Us
to be here dedicated to the great fash
Il -
honored dead we take increased devotion
to the cause for which they gave the las
full measure of devotion, that we here
highly resolve that the dead shall mo-
have died In vain, that the nation shall
under God, have a new birth of free
dom, and that the government of the
people, by the people, and for the PEG
pie, shall not perish from the earth. .
The civil war is ended; the test wa:
complete. He, Abraham Lincoln, nevel
forgot his own dedication till the worl
was finished. He did display even In
creased devotion il 1t. were possible
The dead did not die In vain, and the ma
ton has experienced already the new
birth of freedom of which he spoke
OH that In the last throes of darkness
and crime God had seen it good to hav,
spared MS that great heart out of which
proceeded such welcome words of trutl
and encouragement, How very mucl
of grateful recollection clusters. around
the name of Abraham Lincoln as W,
pronounce il here among the dead WHIT
have died that our nation might mo-
perish from the earth These grounds
havealready been consecrated, and sr,
doubly sacred from the memory of ou
brethren who lie here, and from th,
association with those remarkable men
Mr.. Everett and Mr.. Lincoln, who CAV,
tone to the exercises of consecratioI
two years ago, whose bodies are nov
resting beneath the sod, but whose spiri
is still living, and Enthusiastically animal
ing every true American heart this day
We have now been called to lay th,
cornerstone of a monument. Thi
monument is not mere family record
the simple memorial of indicidzat fame
nor the silent tribute to genius 1t il
raised to the soldier. It embraces :
patriotic brotherhood of heroes in it.
Inscriptions, and is an unceasing herald
of labor, suffering, union,. liberty and
sacrifice. -.
Let us then, as Is proper on such al
OCCASION as this. give few thoughts e
the American soldier We have nov
embraced under this generic name ot
soldier the dutiful officer, the volunteer
soldier. the'regular,7 the eolored, and
tho aoneorirt INIT IN NV rox,,o~1~.. 4