Barton County democrat., 1904-06-03
THE PRESIDENTS SPEECH
. At GETTYSBURG TODAY.
Complete Address of the Nations
Highest Official. Delivered on
The Famous Battle Ground.

Inc Famous Battle Gr0u1d.
Gettysburg, Pa, May 30.-Presi-
dent Roosevelt and party arrived here
this morning, after a leisurely trip
from Washington. The night was
spent at Penn Mari. The President
drove over the battlefield this morn
ing, then lunched at the Eagle hotel.
He addressed great crowd this af-
ternoon. Following is his address in
FULL
THE PRESIDENTS ADDRESS.
The place where we now are. has
won double distinction. Here was
fought oneof the greatest battles of all
time, and here was spoken one of the
few speeches which shall last through
the ages. AS long as the Republic
endures or its history is known, so
long shall the memory of the Battle OF
Gettysburg likewise endure and be
known; and as long as the English
tongue is understood, So long shall
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg speech
thrlllathe hearts of mankind.
The. civil war was a great war for
righteousness; a war waged for the
noolest ideals. 1t was one of the few
wars which mean, in their successful
outcome, lift toward better things
Tor the nations of mankind. Some
wars have meant the triumph of or
der of anarchy and licentiousness
masquerading as liberty; some wars
have meant the triumph of liberty
over tyrany masquerading as order;
but this victorious war of ours meant
the triumph of both liberty and order,
the triumph of orderly liberty. the be-
stowal OF civil rights upon the freed
slaves, and at the same time the stern
, lnsistence of the supremacy of the
national law throughout the length
and breadth of the land. Moreover,
this was one of those rare con-
tests in which it was to be inmeasur-
= able interest of the vanqpished that
they should lose, while at the same
time the victors acquired the prec-
lous privilege of transmitting to those
who came after them, as a heritage of
honor, forever, not only the memory
OF their own valiant deeds, but the
memory of the deeds of those who,
no less valiantly and with equal sin
cerity of purpose. fought against the
stars IN their courses. The war left
to us all, as fellow-countrymen, as
brothers, the right to rejoice that the
Union has been restored in indestruc-
tlble shape in country where slavery
noslonger moCks the boast of free
dom, and also the right to rejoice with
exultant pride in the courage, the
self sacrifice, and the devotion, alike
, of the men who wore the blue and
the gray.
He is but a poor American who,
looking at this field, does. not feel
within himself a deeper reverence for
thesnation's past and a higher pur-
pose to make the nations future rise
level to her past Here fought the
chosen sons of the North and the
South, and the East and the West.
The armies which on this field con-
tended for the mastery were veteran
armies, hardened by lorg campaign
ing@and desperate fighting into such
instruments of war as no other nation
then possessed. The severity of the
fighting is attested by the proportion
ate loss-a loss unrivaled iu any bat
tie of similar size since the close of
the Napoleonic-struggles; loss which
In oer:ain regiments was from three
sfourths TO four-hfths of the men en-
gagged. Every spot on the field has
its own associations of soldierly duty
nobly done, of supreme self-sacrifice
freely rendered. The names of the
chiefs who served in the two armies
formsa long honor roll; and the enlist
ed mem were worthy, and even more
than worthy: of those who led them.
Every acre of this ground has its own
associations. We see where the fight
thundered through and around the
village of Gettysburg; where the artil-
lery formed on the ridges; where the
cavalry fought; where the hills we're
attacked and defended; and where
finally. the great charge surged sp
the slope only to break on'the suHanaii
in the bloody spray Of gallant failure.
But the soldiers who won at G4
,tysburg, the soldiers who fought 10 :
finish the civil var and thereby made
their conntEynes forever their dsbs.
ors, have LETT - fas nore e~en thaz