her swelling plumage, collects her scattered elements of strength, and awakens her dormant thunders." 1

The government has waited until its best friends almost suspected its courage and its integrity; but the cannon shot against Fort Sumter has opened the only door out of this hour. There were but two. One was compromise; the other was battle. The integrity of the North closed the first; the generous forbearance of nineteen States closed the other. The South opened this with cannon shot, and Lincoln shows himself at the door.

2

The war, then, is not aggressive, but in self-defense, and Washington has become the Thermopyla 2 of Liberty and Justice. Rather than surrender that capital, cover every square foot of it with living bodies; crowd it with a million men, and empty every bank vault in the North to pay the cost. Teach the world once for all, that North America belongs to the Stars and Stripes, and under them no man shall wear a chain. In the whole of this conflict I have looked only at liberty only at the slave. Perry entered the battle of the lakes with "Don't give up the ship!" floating from the masthead of the Lawrence. When with his fighting flag he left her crippled, heading north, and, mounting the deck of the Niagara, turned her bows due west, he did all for one and the same purpose to rake the

3

1 From Milton's "Areopagitica."

2 Where the Greeks under Leonidas offered the first resistance on Greek soil to the host of Xerxes, during the second Persian invasion (480 B.C.).

3 Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British on Lake Erie in 1813. His flagship, the Lawrence, was disabled in the early part of the fight. He transferred his flag to the Niagara.

decks of the foe. Steer north or west, acknowledge secession or cannonade it. I care not which; but "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." 1

The result is as sure as the throne of God. I believe in the possibility of justice, in the certainty of union. Years hence, when the smoke of this conflict clears away, the world will see under our banner all tongues, all creeds, all races, one brotherhood; and on the banks of the Potomac, the Genius of Liberty, robed in light, four and thirty stars for her diadem; broken chains under her feet, and an olive branch in her right hand.

1 This is the inscription upon the rim of the bell in the old State House at Philadelphia — the bell which was rung to announce the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE 1

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

(1863)

FOURSCORE and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to an unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us; that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve

1 Spoken at the dedication of the national cemetery on the field of Gettysburg, November, 1863.

that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

GRANT'S FAREWELL1

ULYSSES S. GRANT

(1865)

ULYSSES S. GRANT (1822-1885), soldier and statesman, was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio. He was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, and after graduating from that institution, served with distinction in the Mexican War. Not find

ing army life congenial, he resigned his commission, and returned to St. Louis, settling on a farm. He was not successful as a farmer, and soon removed to Galena, Illinois, where he served as a clerk in his father's store. At the outbreak of the Civil War he entered the volunteer service as colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry. He steadily rose in rank, being made in turn brigadier general of volunteers, major general of volunteers, major general in the regular army, and lieutenant general (the rank having been revived by Congress).

Finally he was appointed general of the army, a grade created by act of Congress in recognition of his services in the Civil War. He was twice elected president of the United States. At the close of his second term he made a memorable tour of the world.

Soldiers of the armies of the United States: By your patriotic devotion to your country in the hour of danger

1 Grant bade farewell to all the armies of the republic in Washington, June 2, 1865.

and alarm, your magnificent fighting, bravery, and endurance, you have maintained the supremacy of the Union and the Constitution, overthrown all armed opposition to the enforcement of the laws and of the proclamations forever abolishing slavery, the cause and pretext for the rebellion, and opened the way to the rightful authorities to restore order and inaugurate peace on a permanent and enduring basis on every foot of American soil. Your marches, sieges, and battles, in distance, duration, resolution, and brilliancy of results, dim the luster of the world's past military achievements, and will be the patriot's precedent in defense of liberty and right in all time to come.

In obedience to your country's call you left your homes and families and volunteered in its defense. Victory has crowned your valor, and secured the purpose of your patriotic hearts; and with the gratitude of your countrymen and the highest honors a great and free nation can accord, you will soon be permitted to return to your homes and families, conscious of having discharged the highest duty of American citizens. To achieve these glorious triumphs and secure to yourselves, your fellow countrymen, and posterity the blessing of free institutions, ten thousands of your gallant comrades have fallen, and sealed the priceless legacy with their lives. The graves of these a grateful nation bedews with tears, honors their memories, and will ever cherish and support their stricken families.