The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-07-06

Il IL.
phans and all whom this bitter warfar'
has afflicted May the nation's sgratitnd'
not evaporate in words but be substan
italy manifested towards them aud al
E who have returned from the held.-
Grant that we may be made partners o
Thy Divine compassion towards those
who have ignorantly sought To do Us
harm, and do Thou SO enaOw them Will
Thy spirit that We and they ma .eac
quiet and peaceable lives To Thy gloty.-
o, Lord, grant that even those Who are
most guilty may be led TO repentance, ac
acknowledgement ami pardon for their helm
GUS crimes, and may this whole land
come up ont Of the furnace purged from
sin, and better than ever prepared to
lead the nations to that high civilization
and glorious destiny for which man was,
by Thee, created. To this end keep us
humble, and mindful of our dependence
upon, and indebtedness and accountabil-
ity to Thee May we ever remember that
it * righteousness alone which eNalts u
nation. and that sin is a reproach and
will be the rnin of any people; anh thus
may we and those who come after us
transmit unimpaired to the latest gener-
alton the rich inheritance derived from
our fathers.
We would not forget to pray fol the
colored men and the Indians of our coun-
try o Lord, speed the day when the
down-trodden and oppressed shall every
where be free, and prepared II honor
freedoms cause, when all men shall love
Thee, the Lord, with supreme and pure
affection, and their fellow beings as
themselves.
Heavenly Father, accept these our
PRAYERS for the sake If our Mediator and
| Redeemer, and to Thee, the only true
God, Father. Son, and Holy Ghost he all
honor, praise and glory, forever and ever.
4men.
Music by MannerchOr
GRAFTON BY REV MIR. MOFFAT
Mr.. Barnitz then introduced the orator
| of the day, Rev. John Moffat, Pastor OF
the Second Presbyterian Church. who
spoke as follows.
FELLOW CITIZENS This is the eighty
ninth anniversary of American lndcpen
dence. This is the most glorious
Fourth of July" that any ofus have ever
been permitted to celebrate. When the
Fourth of July, in past years, rolled
round, it has always been a searon OF
thrilling interest TO every American
heart, and in climbing up the mountain
Of Our national greatness, We have pads
ed and looked back, from time Ia time,
at all those great, wonderful things
which God has done for us as nation
We have gone back to the time when
this now great and glorious country was
one mbroken forest, and we have ad-
mired the wonderful perseverance and
the progress which we have made i'll
nation, such as we now have-in coun
try covered with magnificent cities and
villages and schools. aud seminaries, and
colleges We have wondered at the
great Internal improvements which we
have made, sucn as telegraphs and rail
roads. which form a network all over
this great and prosperous land. We
have admired our common school system
of education, that is giving instruction
10 the rising generation, and preparing
them to be citizens of these United
States. We have thought gratefully of
the kingdom of Our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ in our midst; of our whole.
some laws, and our excellent govern
ment But to-day, my fellow citizens,
we have reached the summit of the
mountain To-day we stand on the lofty
summit OF Lookout Mountain, made sa-
cred now i'm the memory of the American
people because of that noble battle
which was fought on its SUBMITS And
as it was painting struggle for those
soldiers to stand upon the summit ofthat
mountain, so it has been a hard struggle
for us as nation to reach the lofty sum-
nit of this Lookout Mountain which we
stand upon this day Aud as these sol
diers saw the reDels flying in every direc-
ton from them upon the summit of that
mounts lin, we to-day can look to our
Northern lakes; we can look to the Gulf
of Mexico; We can look TO the great At
la TIC, and We can look to the vast Pa.
c. lie, aud there is not an armed rebel in
all the land The Star Spaugled Banner,
now more than ever the glory of the
American people, waves everywhere over
the length and breadth of The land. Ap-
plause. The Lord has do Ic great
things for MS; wherefore weare glad"
When Fort Sumter was fired upoa,
more than four years ago, dark and
dreary indeed were our prospects. Dark
clouds hing around the mountain which
seemed almost impenetrable. When we
looked at the gigantic dimensions of the
rebellion and thought we had nothing
but the skeleton of an army under the
coutrol of our Governmental raw mill
tia; yet, under the calls of Abraham Lin
coin, one of the most honest and best of
men that has ever been in any nation
when under these repeated calls for sol
diers they came by hundreds, they came
by thousands, from the mountains and
from the valleys, and from the mansions
and from the cabins. aud from the cities
and from the villages soon We had such
an army as no nation has ever yet been
able to boast of Marvellous, too to
think in what short time we had a
most wonderful and powerful navy upon
the sea Yes, mothers gave their SOUS,
wives gave their husbands, sisters gave
their brothers, and with fearful eyes AMI
prayerful hearts saw them put on the
uniform, take the martial step, and
march away to fight the BATTLES oi their
country And By their achievements,
under the guidance ofthose noble GeBer-
ais, Grant, and Sherman, and Sheridan,
and Thomas, and Farragut and others.
the rebellion was put down, and four
millions of the human race bad the
shacklcs of slavery stricken off, and are
this day breathing the atmosphere of
freedom Hearty applause ] They'ca
this day sing the song of liberty, awaken
ing the echoes Of the bills and valleys Of