Then spake the priest: “My comrades, friends,
Ere long the battle fierce will surge,
Ere long the curse of war descends—
At such a moment God commends
You from the soul all sin to purge.
“Kneel, soldiers; lift your hearts to God,
In sweet contrition crush the pride
Of human minds; kneel on the sod
That soon will welter in your blood—
Look up to Christ, who for you died.”
And every man, whate’er his creed,
Kneels down, and whispers pass along
The ranks, and murmuring voices plead
To be from sin’s contagion freed
And turned from path of mortal wrong.
Across the vale the gray lines view
The priest and those who, kneeling now,
For absolution humbly sue,
And joining hearts, the gray and blue,
Together make the holy vow.
* * * * *
The smoke of battle lifts apace,
And o’er the field lie forms of men,
With glazen eyes and pallid face—
Dead—yet alive, for God’s sweet grace
Has saved them from the death of sin.
SMITH JOHNSON.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯●⎯○⎯●⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
XVIII.
LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG.
It has been aptly said that the battlefield of Gettysburg has become the “Mecca of American Reconciliation.” By act of Congress a National Park has been established there, observatories erected and everything possible done to make the battlefield convenient and attractive to tourists.
The National Cemetery at Gettysburg was dedicated November 19, 1863. The oration was by Edward Everett. On this occasion President Lincoln made the famous address that will never die. It was as follows: