The Portland daily press., 1866-10-20

From a somewhat large experience with sol
diers l have found that good character and good
conduct go together. 1t was thesdisclpnne Oh
these schoOl-houses and these churches-Lne
diffusion of intelligence the precepts ana ppao1
tees of virtue-which constitutes .o 70
power of our army and MADE y ixVha,,
disaster and superior to taiul aa and d;d and
| how thew bore themselves in all tneir varied
| eart,,nes I marvel with wonder wmch Ii al
m;ration. With fortitude ana hdehty almost
beyond example, nnwe ena;gps rotisrt a1;sa
| unJar their own misfOrtunes and the mistakes
of superiors, tried and not found wanting!
| And in the darkest hour OF our cause, when
| the stoutest hearts at home sunk in doubt and
dsmay and words of cheer were hushed, then
the men on whom the fiery edge of battle fell
did not despair, did not hesitate, did not blench
No! the army in that midnight hour rose from
its bivouac on the field of death, closed in its
shattered ranks wiped the blood stains from
its brow, and at the word advanced to the des-
perate essay. Cheerfully, calmly with sublime
| obedience, God grant that to us that lesson Of
devotion and loyalty be not lost, God grant that
the victory so dearly bought may not be in vain.
And in triumph, too, obedient still-which is
more difficult. Masters of their enemies, mas
tiers of themselves-which is more noble. New
err in History was such meekness seen before
They usurped no civil authority-invaded no
rights OF the people-nay, when the crimes and
cOrruptions which lurked in the capital to COM
that the victorious army should assume the
direction of affairs, not an act, not a word, not
thought nor dream, from the great chief to
the drummer boy, of laying an unhallowed
hand on the ark of the covenant! And when
its task was done it gathered on the banks of
the Potomac not as victorious Caesar paused
on the brink of the Rubicon to brace his reso-
luton to seize the liberties Of his country, but
to lay down their arms at the feet of constitu-
tional authority with as much respect as much
humility, as much sincerity as they had seen in
the hostile hosts laying down their arms at the
feet of these same conquerors. say to you that
History has not seen sight like this
These are the men you may count on for 10y
alty-the men who have learned their lessons
at the cannon's lips, and to whom abstract
truths have been illustrated and brought home
by the concrete shock of the charge!
And it is men like these we come to honor,
to worth like this we consecrate this mOnu-
ment, that these great examples of what men
will dare and do for right may not fade-that
they who sleep on the field of honor may never
} die. But is it only to keep them in remem-
brance? Is it not rather that they may keep
| as in rembrance-that we may never lose sight
of the holy cause which they have indicated
} and never forget how dear is honor, how sa-
cred is country, how noble is man!
We have come here friends not for things that
die, but for things that cannot die. Not to a
burial but to an ascension The grave speaks
not of death only, but of new and better life
| 1t was just and good cause for which these
prtClOuS HveS nave Deeu lalu uOWn, anu Wildt-
ever were the issue, no shame could follow the
dead or the living who have served in it. But
} say to you also, that this is triunlphanl
cause. The time is coming when it will have
been glory to have borne a part in it. Not
merely that we conquered in arms-which is
sometimes the issue Of chance or the decree Of
force-but that we are right Better to die fol
right than to live for wrong But dead in q
| just cause, is not this to be triumphant over
, death and after death? And say in presence
} of this assembly-before these opened graves
and amidst the great cloud of unseen witnesses
{ that compass us about that the cause for which
| these lives were offered was a righteous cause
and therefore a triumphant cause.
} For human history is not Dead Sea; it is
| flowing river. There is a course and process o.
affairs: A development of society, rationa
and spiritual moral and material. A slow bu1
| sure unfolding of the latent genius of the race
, | A destiny of man. A God of history. Ani
, what is whispered by the past, and what il
} Numbered by the present, what see in tn,
countenances of to-day, what read on these
sealed lips, proclaim to the expectant future
Truth shall triumph.
Stand then, Monument resist the toucl
of time, eloquent with these deathless names
! And We, Q Martyrs, tell to after ages what viz
tue was in this-tell to a delivered country
3 how precious are her foundations-tell to en-
| franchised humanity, Liberty cannot die!