Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-12

Union. But that Is not probable. for the
resources OF the northern states were far
from ext austed.
If it failed, as it did, the cause of the
confederacy would be ruined. 1t may be
that Gen. Lee felt that defeat. and, as
Longstreet intime ties, ordered the final
charge at Gettysburg from feelings Of
sheer desperation.
To be great Is to be equal to the require
ments Of great occasions, and 1t Is to the
skill, the courage and the resolate GOODNESS
Of Hancock that Gettysburg was selected
battlefield, and 1t Is to the officers of
all ranks end grades, and to the hardy.
resolute courage of the private soldiers of
many states, that the country owes the
crushing rerulse Of the confederate forces.
His Greatness.
Mr.. President: I will not intrude myself
into the invidious office of lnquring wheth-
er Gen. Hancock possessed all the qualities
which are by universal consent conceded
to other great commanders.
1t is enough to say for him that he was
great, according to that best definition of
greatness, he comprehended and siezed
great opportunities"
Mr.. President. 1t is a source of satisfac-
ton to every patriotic mind that the fame
of General Hancock is cherished in all por-
tons and sections Of this now perfectly
United States.
No confederate soldier envies the honors
paid his memory today. They may com
pare him with Jackson, whose greatness as
corps commander is recognizes, and of
whose fame every American who has the
instincts OF a soldier is proud. They may
find in the long lists Of famous confederate
officers and soldiers, some of their great
names, who in their estimation is the equal
Of Hancock, but they respected him while
he lived, ard honor his memory now that
he is dead.
Mr.. President. our civil war had its origin
in opposing opinions entertained in the diff
ferent states Of the relative powers of The
federal he a
There were also irreconcilable social and
industrial conditions, and there was also
the challenge of the two great sections Of
the Union, addressed to the manhood OF
each other.
The suppression of the doctrine of the
right Of any of the states to secede from
the Union at pleasure and the abolition Of
slavery in the states where 1T existed, fully
compensated the American people for the
enormous sacrifices of blooI and of treas
ure, made to secure those ends. I;ut the
war had another beneficant consequence,
without: which the suppression Of the the
DRY of the constitutional right OF the states
to secede from the Union, AMI the aooli-
ton of slavery. woulG have 5een )rrpara-
lively ValuelesS. The war settled not only
the quality, but the equality % American
manhood.
l cannot say with absolute confidence
that it was .he southern misconception OF
the martial qualities of the people of the
northern states which caused them to ac-
cept, IL not to invite, war, Cor the adjust
Ment o. the pending national controversies.
w hateVer influence an impression un-
favorable to northern valor may nave had
upon the people OF the south, their orators
and writers often expressed their belief
that northern men We're destitute Of cour-
age ana would not fight We in the ives.
always intended, in the language of the
times, to cut our way to the gulf and
that the Mississippi river should flow
unfette,ed TO the sea" But how about
the men of the east, the Yankees" would
they fight for the defense of the Union?
Later, after The name was baptized in
the blood of the New England regiments
On oT every held where they fought. and was
cepted it and wore 1t with pride.
The Proof of VnIor.
After Donelson, Shiloh, Murfreesboro' and
Chickamauga in the west and the numer-
Gus battles in the east including Gettys-
burg-the browning struggle of the war
there remained no doubt but that Ameri-
cans of all sections, north and south, east
and west, were equally hardy, equally
brave, and equally ready to offer their lives
in defense of their convictions of right.
Now that we have ceased to struggle
against each other We know with absolute
confidence that the men of every section
and OF all parts Of the great republic are
equally patriotic and alike willing and
ready to defend the integrity of the Union
and every foe. Americans of all sections
and of all parts of one common country
now know. respect and confide in each
other, and we will transmit that sentiment
of respect and confidence to our children,
which will afford a sure guaranty for in
ternal peace and the defense of national
honor.
But at the beginning of the strife between
the sections the officers of the army were
embarrassed by difficulties of an altogether
dlfferent character For the most part
they mad been educated together in the Ma
tonal Military School: they knew each
oth"r well and none of them doubted the
courage or the resolution of the Others
Ihey were citizens of different states and
some OF them were overcome by the delu-
sion that their paramount allegiance was
Cue to the state of their birth or of their
domicile.
When characterize the theory of primal
allegiance to the states as a deIusion |
confess that the emharrassments of the
army officers born in the seeding states
were crLel.
The war very soon assumed the apparent
aspect of a struggle between rival gov
ernments supported by substantially the
whole population of the opposing sections
of the Union.
If some of the officers of the army erred
even to a criminal extent. it must not be
forgotten that their homes were threaten
ed with invasion, and they only shared the
fortunes of those they loved.
Mr.. President, We stand in the presence
OF this appropriate monument of a hero