The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-07-02


the patriotic and gallant men who fell
upon this field, and to testify our love
for the great cause in which they per-
ished Their achievnlen will be re-
corded upon the pages of history,
much more enduring than stone, but
we desire to present this visible evil
dence of our remembrance and grati-
tude. We are surrounded to day by
many of the surviving heroes of the
battle; by many of the relatives and
friends of these beloved dead, and by
many thousands of our people
who rejoice in the preservation,
peace and prosperity of our country.
That we have united country
that we have national govern
ment, that we have peace In all our
borders, that there is liberty and pro-
lection for all, that we have bright
and glorious prospects OF individual
hapI mess, and national growth and
power, we owe to the brave men who
fell upon this and other fields. The
glorious circumstance and bright aus
pieces over and around US to-day, were
purchased by their blood. We are IN
the full enjoyment of the price for
which it was shed. Let US increase
the gratitude of our hearts by cOnsld-
ering, for a moment, what would be
our condition, if the rebellion had trl-
umphed. We would have no solemn
but sweet occasion like this. We
would have no common country, no.
common name, no national flag, no
glorious prospects for the future
Had the bond of union been broken,
the various. parts would have crum-
bled to pieces. We should have a
slave holding confederacy In the
| South, Republic on the Pacific, an-
other In the Northwest, and another
In the East. With the example of
one successful secession, dismemb er-
ment of the balance would have
speedily followed, and our country,
once the hope of the world, the pride
Of our hearts, broken into hostile
fragments, would have been blotted
/ from the map, and become a byword
among the nations. Let us thank
/ Almighty God day that we have
! escaped this horrible fate. We feel
| as one who awakes from terrible
1 dream, and rejolces that he is alive.
We feel as did the Children of Israel
when, standing upon the shores of the
| Red Sea, they looked back upon the
/ destruction from which they had been
delivered.
Mr.. Lincoln, standing in this place
a few months after the battle, and
while yet the conflict was raging, ded-
| icated himself to his country, and to
the cause of liberty and union. The
demon of rebellion afterwards eXacted
his life, but the inspiration of the
words he spoke s resting upon US to-
i day. The great prophecy he uttered
when he said 1.-THE nation shall, I'M
| der God, have a new birth of free
DOM" aud that the Government of
the people, by the people, ard for the
! people, shall not perish from the
earth, is being fulfilled. He
sealed his devotion with his
blood, and sacred be his memory.
She eloquent Everett. who spoke
| here on the same occasion, and who
has since passed from earth, said I:
3" God bless the Union; it is dearer
to US from the blood of brave men
which has been shed in its defence"
As | stood by them and listened to
their inspired words, nay faith was
renewed In the triumph of liberty
but imagipatior failed to stretch for
ward to this auspicious day. The
march of events has been faster than
our thoughts, and the fruits of the
victory have already exceeded our
most sanguine expectations.
While we pay this tribute of love
and gratitude to the dead, let US not
| forget the surviving heroes of the
battle. They, too, offered their lives,
but the sacrifice was not required.
! The admiration, love and gratitude of
the nation will attend them, as they
pass down the declivity of time to
honored graves. In the evening Of
their lives they will tell the story of
! Gettysburg to, wondering youth, who
| will listen as did we, when our
| grandfathers told of Bunker Hill,
Saratoga and Yorktown. Many of
them are here to day to review the
scene of their struggle and triumph.
How powerful the contrast between
now and then. The dark cloud which
overspread the horizon of the Nation
is gone, and all is brightness. The
sulphurous cloud of battle, too, Is
't9one, and there is nothing to obscure
| our vision of the field. The dead
have returned to dust The fields
once numbered with bodies and slip
perry with blood are clothed with YER
dure and harvest, and to-day all is
peace, beauty, and rep0se.
We seek not to commemorate tri-
umph over our misguided country
men. Lit is the cause we celebrate.
Our triumph Is theirs, and their
children's children, unto the latest
generation. The great disturbing
element has been removed. Vicious
political heresies have been extir-
pated. The trial by wager of battle
has been decided in favor of liberty
and union, and all will submit. The
people of the North and South have
met each other face to face on many
a field, have tried each others cour
age, have found that they are mucL
alike In most things, have increased
their mutual respect, and are
now preparing to live together
more fTaternally than before.
The Southern States are rapidly re-
covering from the pTostration of the
war, and with their deliverence from
the incumbus of slavery, with free
labor, with free schools, with emf
grafton from the North and from
Europe, will soon attain a prosperity
and power, of which they scarcely
dreamed in former days. Their ad-
vancing prosperity is solid, just and
enduring. We rejoice in it, and shall
participate in it. fhe bonds of
Union are made indissoluble by the
community Of political principles, by
the complete identity of domestic and
commercial Interests, aud by uniform
systems of labor, of education, and of
habits, of thought and action.
HENCEFORTH DISUNION is
IMPOSSIBLE.