You did not all depart from the great lessons taught when you united with the comrades from all the other States to hold up the banner of the Union and to maintain peace and to perpetuate it at all times. You went out to maintain peace, and you have established in the affections of all of us the flag of our faith, and the question of submission to the Constitution and the law in all States has been settled to the contentment of all.
I appreciate most highly this welcome, and I take part in these exercises with a sense of their fitness and a sense of the greatness of the event which they commemorate.
I have never been able to think that this day is one for mourning, but think that instead of the flag being at half mast it should be at the peak. I feel that the comrades whose graves we honor to-day would rejoice if they could see where their valor has placed us. I feel that the glory of their dying and the glory of their achievement covers all grief and has put them on an imperishable roll of honor.
At General Meade's Grave.
At the conclusion of the public reception at Independence Hall the President and his party were escorted to Laurel Hill Cemetery, where they took part in the ceremonies over the grave of Gen. George G. Meade, the hero of Gettysburg.
Along the entire line of march to the stand were immense crowds, who greeted the President with silent demonstrations of respect.
The usual Memorial Day exercises were held, and at their conclusion Commander Langer said: "I wish to introduce to you the honored guest of the day, Comrade Harrison, the Chief Magistrate of the Nation."
As the President stepped forward he was heartily cheered. He said:
Commander, Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, and Fellow-citizens—I have neither the strength nor the voice adequate to any extended speech to-day. I come to you as a comrade to take part in the interesting exercises of this Memorial Day. It gives me special pleasure to combine with that tribute which I have usually been able to pay since this day was instituted to the dead of all our armies a special mark of respect to that great soldier who won Gettysburg. It is impossible to separate some impressions of sorrow from these exercises, for they bring to memory comrades who have gone from us. How vividly there comes to my memory many battle scenes; not the impetuous rush of conflict, but the hour of sadness that followed victory. Then it was our sad duty to gather from the field the bodies of those who had given the last pledge of loyalty.