I have not come here to-day with a prepared address. The committee in
charge of the exercises of the day have graciously excused me on the
grounds of public obligations from preparing such an address, but I will
not deny myself the privilege of joining with you in an expression of
gratitude and admiration for the men who perished for the sake of the
Union. They do not need our praise. They do not need that our admiration
should sustain them. There is no immortality that is safer than theirs.
We come not for their sakes but for our own, in order that we may drink
at the same springs of inspiration from which they themselves selves
drank.
A peculiar privilege came to the men who fought for the Union. There is
no other civil war in history, ladies and gentlemen, the stings of which
were removed before the men who did the fighting passed from the stage
of life. So that we owe these men something more than a legal
reestablishment of the Union. We owe them the spiritual reestablishment
of the Union as well; for they not only reunited States, they reunited
the spirits of men. That is their unique achievement, unexampled
anywhere else in the annals of mankind, that the very men whom they
overcame in battle join in praise and gratitude that the Union was
saved. There is something peculiarly beautiful and peculiarly touching
about that. Whenever a man who is still trying to devote himself to the
service of the Nation comes into a presence like this, or into a place
like this, his spirit must be peculiarly moved. A mandate is laid upon
him which seems to speak from the very graves themselves. Those who
serve this Nation, whether in peace or in war, should serve it without
thought of themselves. I can never speak in praise of war, ladies and
gentlemen; you would not desire me to do so. But there is this peculiar
distinction belonging to the soldier, that he goes into an enterprise
out of which he himself cannot get anything at all. He is giving
everything that he hath, even his life, in order that others may live,
not in order that he himself may obtain gain and prosperity. And just so
soon as the tasks of peace are performed in the same spirit of
self-sacrifice and devotion, peace societies will not be necessary. The
very organization and spirit of society will be a guaranty of peace.
Therefore this peculiar thing comes about, that we can stand here and
praise the memory of these soldiers in the interest of peace. They set
us the example of self-sacrifice, which if followed in peace will make
it unnecessary that men should follow war any more.
We are reputed to be somewhat careless in our discrimination between
words in the use of the English language, and yet it is interesting to
note that there are some words about which we are very careful. We
bestow the adjective "great" somewhat indiscriminately. A man who has
made conquest of his fellow-men for his own gain may display such genius
in war, such uncommon qualities of organization and leadership that we
may call him "great," but there is a word which we reserve for men of
another kind and about which we are very careful; that is the word
"noble." We never call a man "noble" who serves only himself; and if you
will look about through all the nations of the world upon the statues
that men have erected--upon the inscribed tablets where they have
wished to keep alive the memory of the citizens whom they desire most to
honor--you will find that almost without exception they have erected the
statue to those who had a splendid surplus of energy and devotion to
spend upon their fellow-men. Nobility exists in America without patent.
We have no House of Lords, but we have a house of fame to which we
elevate those who are the noble men of our race, who, forgetful of
themselves, study and serve the public interest, who have the courage to
face any number and any kind of adversary, to speak what in their hearts
they believe to be the truth.
We admire physical courage, but we admire above all things else moral
courage. I believe that soldiers will bear me out in saying that both
come in time of battle. I take it that the moral courage comes in going
into the battle, and the physical courage in staying in. There are
battles which are just as hard to go into and just as hard to stay in as
the battles of arms, and if the man will but stay and think never of
himself there will come a time of grateful recollection when men will
speak of him not only with admiration but with that which goes deeper,
with affection and with reverence.
So that this flag calls upon us daily for service, and the more quiet
and self-denying the service the greater the glory of the flag. We are
dedicated to freedom, and that freedom means the freedom of the human
spirit. All free spirits ought to congregate on an occasion like this to
do homage to the greatness of America as illustrated by the greatness of
her sons.
It has been a privilege, ladies and gentlemen, to come and say these
simple words, which I am sure are merely putting your thought into
language. I thank you for the opportunity to lay this little wreath of
mine upon these consecrated graves.