Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1880-08-11

brightest pages OF American ms
tory, but whose glory as warrior
is eclipsed by the grandeur OF the
ciyilian-who was no less hero
beneath the olive branch of peace,
than when leading the charge under
the red banner of war-who never
feared to draw his sword At the
call of his country, or to lay 1t,
sheathed, upon the shrine of con-
stitutional government, when the
dust of conflict had drifted away
who crystalized his views and
moulded measures with that royal
compassion, which yielded to a
| conquered and impoverished foe
the inviolable inheritance of civic
liberty-who is one of the grand
est men in the land, recognized by
the brilliancy of his individual lus-
tire and not rejecting the borrow
ed rays of other luminaries-to
that defender of the Union, that
champion of the Constitution, that
sovereign of soldiers, that pioneer
of peace, that prince of patriots,
General Winfield Scott Hancock,
the exponent of great virtue, OF
tried courage, of lofty wisdom, OF
broad intelligence, of earnest pa
triotism, of noble aspiration and Of
true manhood.
He is q soldier, not alone Of man
ner or rank, but of merit and mind
HE is soldier, who distinguish
ed himself in the defense of libcr-
ty, and the vauishment of deSpot-
lism-he is a soldier, who lifted
himself above the ignorance and
prejudice Of the day, and planted
the royal banner of pardon and
love upon the battlements of sec
tionalism and strife--he is a sol
der not by the power of fear, but
by the force Of splendid superior
ity; he is q soldier upon whose
bosom radiates the star Of honor,
and to whose memory will be is
sued the highest patent of nobility.
| When, at the foot of Bunker
| Hill, III the shadow of that royal
shaft. which stands a monumental
emblem of heroic valor, whose re-
lmembrance is consecrated IN the
hearts of fifty millions of patriots,
beneath the rays of the stars and
the light of centuries, the goddess
OF historic unity and liberty, the
guardian Of our national faith shall
call the roll of the grand army Of
heroes, there will be no more gal
lant-no more glorious response,
than that which swells from the
heart and the record of Winfield ).
Hancock. He believed that when
the southern chieftain surrendered
his sword to the northern conquer
or beneath the historic tree at APP
pomattoX, the southern sun went
down, and with its setting were
buried the passion and pain of war
that the blue and the gray should
clasp hands forever, and the north
ern sigh meet the southern sorrow
above the same graves, garlanded
with same flowers, gathered by the
same hands, consecrated by the
same regrets and believed by the
same tears.
| He has recently been nominated
by a great political body for the
highest office in the gift of the
American people, and though l
come tonight as the advocate Of
no faction-the champion of no
party, as a lover of my country, |
must say that if the star which
now rises above General Hancock's
| destiny, casts its meridian beams
upon him i'll the White House,
they will fall upon an executive,
from whose hand the sceptre of
Justice will not drop in helpless i'm
potence, but one who will continue
to battle for union and liberty,
while truth, courage and fidelity to
principle shall find home in the
hearts Of men. He will not be a
politician for the sake of party, as
: he has not been a soldier for the
sake of glory, but he will be man
for the sake of his country. lie
is man, the cornerstone of whose
character is integrity. He is q
man whose virtues are not mega
tive or obstructive but positive and
aggressive. He is a man with q
strong mind, a pure heart and
| ready hand. He is man who will
. set his face against any system OF
u political looseness, and link honor
> and valor to a sympathy with the
: people. He is a man whose favor
S no spoils of Office can buy, whose
voice no knocking tlattery can 81.
lence-he is a man upon whose
IS escutcheon rests no stain OF sem
& blance of dishonor-he is "A mar
n who will bind together the frag
J. ments of our dismembcred Union
$ he is a man who will heal tht
J. wounds of sectional hate, and kin
+ die the warmth of fraternal aiTec
a tion-he is man who will ris
is above the reach Of personal venal
h ity, above the influence Of suspi
D. cion Of corruption, above the scoop
is OF moral cowardice-a man VIII