Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-01

but in JOY. The field Of enmity has be-
come the field of amity. You have trod-
den under your feet the bitter weeds of
hate and anger, and In their places have
sprung up the pure flowers of friendship
and love.
gettysburg seems destined to be the
stage upon which shall be unfolded the
scenes of a great historic drama. With
in the short span of fifty years its gentle
slopes and placid plains have witnessed
three scenes of great historic import,
running the whole gamut of mans three
fold nature. Each scene has been unique
and typical of its kind. First the battle.
with it's almost unexampled display or
the physical powers of man; then the
great heart and mind Of Abraham Lin
coin. bodied in his wonderful address de-
livered here. and last this assemblage,
the deep spiritual significance of which
can scarcely be exaggerated. So we have
body, mind and spirit, each displaying
its distinctive characteristics to their
fullest extent upon this small stage of
the worlds great theater.
Remains Ever Memorable.
Fifty years ago today there began
here one of those conflicts between man
and man, marked by such exhibitions Of
-alor, courage and almost superhuman
endurance as to engrave itself upon the
tablet of history, there to remain ever
memorable. Equal met equal; and in the
domain Of physical prowess all were
worthy of medals of honor. The su-
periority was that of resources, not of in
dividual strength or courage. So long as
men love valor and worship heroes the
name of Gettysburg and of those who
fought there will be ever on their lips
Four months afterwar0 the field OF Get
tysburg inspired in the great mind and
heart Of Abraham Lincoln the most Won
written
music literally rang round the world and
sang in the hearts of men, and will con-
tinue to sing In the blood of the sons OF
men until time itself shall be no more.
And last, but by no means least, this
gathering here upon the field of Gettys-
burg today. Thousands and tens of thou
sands of former foes are here gathered
together in brotherly union. You who
first met upon this field to vie with each
other in doing hurt the one to the other
now meet here to Outyie each other In
deeds of kindness and friendship and
love History holds no parallel. This
meeting is the final demonstration that
the last embers Of the former time have
been stamped out: and the great con-
fagration, which 1t was feared would
consume our country. merely served to
gether and into such perfect whole that
no power can ever break 1t. The civil
war was battle for ideals, and II our
beloved country could withstand a war
waged for ideals. one waged for any low
er, baser purpose can never overthrow It.
Time has enabled us to attain truer
perspective than was possible while near
ness to the conflict obscured the fact.
Looking back with an unbiased eye we
can see the truth. We can see that in
the very nature of things some such con-
fiict was necessary to settle great Ques-
tiOns for which there was no peaceful
tribunal; we can see that the war of 81
was fought by men upon each side for
the right as each saw It: we can acclaim.
without abandoning any view which We
may hold, that the men on each side
were actuated by high. pure purposes.
and were compelled by their conscience
to do what they did. Before the war we
munities; we emerged from it q firmly
welded together nation.
Came From Every Cline.
I'VE must recall that the settlers Of
our country came from all parts Of the
world. actuated by no common impulse
and associated for no common purpose;
that the Constitution was without a
model. and at the inception it loosely
bound together thirteen commonwealth
that had little in common excepting the
necessity Of combinations against an out
err enemy. Each state of community al
most of necessity became self-centered
and communication and commerce in
those days were so slight that there was
little intercommunion of any sort between
the people of the different sections Of
the land.
AT the time Of the civil war this great,
wonderful experiment in self-government
was only seventy-two years old, and up
to that time each community had busted
itself with great energy to develop its
own resources and increase its own
strength and means. So busy was each
community in those pioneering days that,
whatever the inclination might have
been, there was little time or opportunity
for mutual consultation and effort.
And then the time for the inevitable
arrived. Those who honestly believed that
the United States was a voluntary asoo-
x@e.a.-