Franklin Repository

Civilized nations have ever deemed it befitting to honor the heroic dead. In marble, granite and bronze, the genius of the artist has been employed to convey to posterity a just appreciation of bravery, valor and heroism. In our own country, and in our own time, there are no evidences of respect too solemn, no pageantry too grand that a gratified people can render to the memory of the martyrs who have given their lives that their country might live. The stupendous and momentous struggle through which our country is now passing has furnished examples of the highest heroic type. The pages of neither ancient nor modern history present such glorious examples of self sacrifice, bravery, devotion, patriotism, as has been developed in the course of this war. There is no eulogy too eloquent, no granite too enduring to extol and perpetuate their virtues. The initial act of homage and reverence of the nation has been rendered. The ceremonies of the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg to-day, and the presence of thousands from every part of the loyal Union, testified the devotion of the people to Liberty, their firm purpose to maintain it, and their profound reverence for those who have already given their lives in its defence.

The country has been for some time familiar with the fact, that the establishment of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg for the interrment [sic] of the remains of those who fought and died in the memorable struggle of July, originated with Gov. Curing. It was a noble idea, prompted by the highest patriotism and holiest affection for the memory of brave and gallant men. In carrying out this grand purpose, the Governor has been greatly aided by David Wills, Esq., of Gettysburg, a gentleman to whom was assigned the chief management of the purchase of the ground, the proper arrangement of it, the exhuming and re-interment of the dead, and the dedicatory exercises. Mr. Wills has discharged his duties in a manner entitling him to the highest praise.

The new Cemetery contains about ten acres of ground and is located less than half a mile south-west of the town. Thus far, it contains only a portion of our dead, the work of re-interment not being yet completed. The receptacles are ditches, mostly from twenty to one hundred feet long, with proper width, and walled with stone. In every instance where the dead are known, headboards are placed properly inscribed. The long rows which met our eye gave ample proof of the heroism and bravery which filled the hearts of the glorious men who not only repelled the rebel hordes from our soil, but did so much toward consummating the great work of re-establishment of the nation's honor and renown.

What has been styled the old Cemetery presents rough evidences of the conflict. Broken tomb-stones, mutilated monuments, delapidated [sic] iron closures and defaced inscriptions tell how fearful was the strife. No grave was too sacred then; no token of affection too cherished to be spared by the red hand of war. This ground was perhaps as hotly contested as any portion of the field. The earth works of our batteries still remain, and on this hill they were in direction to engage Ewell's Corps as he advanced over the road from Carlisle. The line of battle was comparatively short, hardly seven miles. [At Fredericksburg it was about twelve and at Chancellorsville sixteen.]

It is not our purpose to describe the fierce conflict. Our people have been made familiar with every detail in print, and many of them indeed from observation. Gens. Meade's and Lee's reports have been recently published, and these, with the graphic accounts of intelligent reporters, is sufficient material for to make up the permanent history of the Battle of Gettysburg, and give it a renown hardly less than that which attaches to Waterloo. It is contemplated to erect a monument to the memory of our fallen heroes and in its preparation the genius of our best artists should be engaged.

We will now describe the Dedicatory Exercises, intended as the last solemn tribute to the heroic dead. The programme was, we believe, arranged by Mr. Wills. Invitations were sent to the President and Vice President of the United States, and the members of the Cabinet; to Lieut. Gen. Scott and Rear Admiral Stewart, the two veteran and most distinguished representatives of the army and navy; to Maj. Gen. Meade; to the various lodges of Free Masons and Odd Fellows throughout the loyal States. The Governors of the loyal States were invited to be present either in person or by deputy. A general invitation was also given to citizens from every part of the Union.

The President left Washington in a special train Wednesday noon. He was accompanied by Messrs. Seward, Blair and usher of his Cabinet and a large number of other distinguished officials connected with the army, navy and civil service. The President's escort was from the 1st Regiment of the Invalid Corps. The celebrated Marine Band of Washington was also on the train. The party arrived at Gettysburg about 6 P.M. The President was the guest of Mr. Wils, and Secretary Seward that of Robert G. Harper, Esq. The residences of these gentlemen were adorned with flags, wreaths and evergreens in honor of the occasion, and as a mark of respect for the illustrious visitor.

After supper the President was serenaded by the splendid band of the New York Fifth Artillery. They played most exquisitely. Repeated calls were made for the President, when with some reluctance he presented himself and spoke as follows:

I appear before you fellow-citizens, merely to thank you for this compliment. the inference is a very fair one that you would hear me for a little while at least were I to commence to make a speech. I do not appear before you for the purpose of doing so, and for several substantial reasons. The most substantial of these is that I have no speech to make. [Laughter.] Believing that is my present condition this evening, I must beg of you to excuse me from addressing you further.

The President retired amidst loud cheers. The band then proceeded to where Mr. Seward was staying, and paid him the compliment of a serenade, to which he responded in a brief speech. Col. Forney, of the Philadelphia Press was also honored with a serenade and responded in a speech highly eulogistic of the departed Douglas, and denunciatory of slavery as the chief cause of the war.

The trains conveying the Governors came here at midnight having been delayed by a slight accident. At an early hour this morning the streets became crowded and from every direction people were flocking to witness the ceremonies of the day. The Baltimore City Council were present in a body wearing the insignia of a metallic monument fixed upon a neat rosette. A number of the Baltimore Police force were visible among the crowd.

The weather was in every way propitious. The sun rose clearly, but when the hour approached for the commencement of the exercises the atmosphere became damp and for a short time the dark clouds portended rain. When, however, the procession moved off, the sky again became clear and the remainder of the day was pleasant and agreeable.

At 10 o'clock Marshal Lamon who had charge of the civic portion of the procession read the order of exercises. It was as follows:

Military, under command of Major General Couch. Offices of the Navy and Marine Corps of the United States Aids. Chief Marshal, President of the United States, Members of the Cabinet. Assistant Secretaries of the several Executive Departments. Judges of the United States Supreme Court. Hon. Edward Everett, orator of the day, and the Chaplain. governors of the States and their Staffs. Commissioners of the States on the Inauguration of the Cemetery. Bearers with the flags of the States. Members of the two Houses of Congress. Officers of the two Houses of Congress. Mayors of Cities. Gettysburg Committee of Arrangements. Officers and Members of the United States Sanitary Commission. Committees of Different Religious Bodies. United States Military Telegraphic Corps. Officers and Representatives of Adams' Express Company. Officers of Different Telegraph Companies. Hospital Corps of the Army. Soldiers' Relief Associations. Knights Templar. Masonic Fraternity. Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Other Benevolent Associations. Literary, Scientific and Industrial Associations. The Press. Officers and Members of Loyal Leagues. Fire Companies. Citizens of the State of Pennsylvania. Citizens of other States. Citizens of the District of Columbia. Citizens of the several Territories.

The various Assistant Marshals, were two gentlemen from each of the respective loyal States. Ex-Governors Johnson and Pollock were the Marshals from Pennsylvania.

The President took his position in the procession mounted on a splendid black horse. On his appearance he was greeted with enthusiastic and long continued cheers. In the few moments before the procession started many persons gathered around the President, shaking him by the hand. He received every one in the most gracious manner. One of our own well known witty and jovial citizens accosted him with "How are you Father Abraham?" following it quickly with the remark, "I am most happy to meet you, Mr. President!" The President received the salutation becomingly and gave his special interrogator one of his best bows.

The head of the column moved at precisely ten o'clock. The route was up Baltimore street to the Emmettsburg Road, thence to the junction of the Taneytown road, thence by the latter road to the cemetery, where the military formed in line, according to the order of the General in command, for the purpose of saluting the president of the United States. The military then closed up and occupied the space on the left of the stand. The civic procession advanced and occupied the area in front of the stand, the military leaving sufficient space between them and the line of graves for the civic procession to pass. The ladies occupied the right of the stand.

During the morning Battery E, 5th U.S. Artillery, under direction of Lieuts. Simons and Piper, fired Union and Presidential salutes. Signals and salutes were also fired when the procession reached the Cemetery.

The platform for the accommodation of the distinguished visitors was hardly adequate to the large number present. We noticed upon it, in addition to the Presidential party, Gov. Curtin, of Penna.; Gov. Seymour; of N.Y.; Gov. Tod and Mr. Brough (Gov. elect) of Ohio; Gov. Coburn, of Me.; Gov. Morton and Ex-Gov. Wright, of Ind.; Gov. Bradford, of Md.; Ex-Gov. Pierpont, of West Va.; Mrs. Commander Henry A. Wise, daughter of the Hon. Edward Everett; Gen. A. L. Russell, Adjutant General of Penna.; Hon. J.W. Forney; Gov. Parker, of N.J.; Ex-Gov. Dennison, of Ohio; Hon. S. Cameron; Major Gens. Schenck, Stahl, Doubleday, Stoneman, Couch; Brig. Gen. Gibbon and Provost Marshal General Fry. A number of flags and banners adorned the stand.

The crowd surrounding the stand was immense, and were gathered so compactly that it was almost impossible to breath. A number of persons fainted and it was with the greatest difficulty that they were extricated from their position. The value of hoops, bonnets and other articles of ladies wear destroyed in the jam would amount to no ordinary sum.

The exercises commenced with music by Birgfield's Band from Philadelphia. It was a composition of exquisite pathos and executed in a superb manner. The Rev. Dr. Stockton, Chaplain of the United States Senate, then delivered a fervent and patriotic prayer. The Rev. gentlemen, venerable in appearance and most impressive in his utterance, was heard with due solemnity, the vast multitude standing with perfect quietness and uncovered heads.

America's greatest living orator, the Hon. Edward Everett, then arose and for two hours held the crowd in one of the most splendid intellectual efforts of his life. It was a superb tribute to bravery and heroism; a glorious record of deeds of patriotism; a grateful remembrance of generous action; a history of glorious events for perpetual admiration and appreciation. [We shall publish Mr. Everett's Address complete in our next week's paper.--Ed.]

At the close of Mr. Everett's oration, the Baltimore Glee Club sung the following Ode, written for the occasion by B.B. French, Esq., of Washington:

'Tis holy ground--
This spot, where, in their graves,
We place our Country's braves,
Who fell in Freedom's holy cause,
Fighting for Liberties and Laws--
Let tears abound.
Here let them rest--
And Summer's heat and Winter's cold.
Shall glow and freeze above this mold--
A thousand years shall pass away--
A Nation still shall mourn this clay,
Which now is blest.
Here, where they fell,
Oft shall the widow's tear be shed,
Oft shall fond parents mourn their dead,
The orphan here shall kneel and weep,
And maidens, where their lovers sleep,
Their woes shall tell.
Great God in Heaven!
Shall all this sacred blood be shed--
Shall we thus mourn our glorious dead,
Oh, shall the end be wrath and woe,
The knell of Freedom's overthrow--
A Country riven?
It will not be!
We trust, Oh God! Thy gracious Power
To aid us in our darkest hour.
This be our prayer. "Oh Father! save
A people's Freedom from its grave--
All praise to Thee."

The dedicatory remarks were then delivered by the President, as follows:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new Nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. [Applause.] 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 are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of 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 power to add or detract. [Applause.] It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. [Applause.] 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 here gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain [applause]; that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom; and that governments of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth. [Long continued applause.]

The exercises were closed by a hymn from the choir present. The procession then returned to the town.

In the afternoon, President Lincoln attended the Presbyterian Church, where Mr. Anderson, the Lieutenant-Governor elect of Ohio, eloquently addressed the Ohio and other delegations. The President walked to the Church arm and arm with John Burns, the heroic Gettysburger, who fought voluntarily in the ranks of the army during the great battles of the 1st, 2d, and 3d of July, and the only man from the place who took part in three days' fight. The President was escorted by Marshal Lamon, and about 100 of his special aids, together with the Commissioners representing the several States.

The Presidential train started for Washington at 7 o'clock, and at this hour the largest portion of the immense multitude had vacated the town. The high and sincere exhibitions of respect paid the President must have been greatly appreciated by him, and we are quite sure the people themselves felt honored by the presence of their Chief Magistrate among them. Various computations of the number of people present have been made. Twenty thousand comprises a crowd of considerable magnitude, and we give this as in our judgment the approximate number.

Inseparably with this event, which has become history--must be recorded this fact, that the proceedings of the day were conducted with profound solemnity, and that in no instance was the bounds of decency and propriety disregarded. No accident of any character occurred, and the demeanor of all, without scarcely a single exception, was in conformity with the rules of law, respect and good order.

Major Gen. Couch, to whom was assigned the command of the military, gave his personal attention to every movement. The members of his Staff present were prompt in carrying out his orders; and in this connection we must especially mention Capt. Shipley, whose respectful requests were invariably regarded by the crowd, and presented a striking contrast with the conduct of certain other parties clothed with a little authority. We heard Capt. Shipley's name mentioned to-day frequently in high praise. A gentleman, he must be a correct and good soldier.

And now we must close this communication. The "wee sma' hours" are upon us and we must return to our home. It is hallowed ground we depart from, ground consecrated forever as the last resting place of martyrs who surrendered life in the noblest of causes. To this sacred spot will be ever applicable the lines of the poet:

How sleep the brave who sink to rest
By all their country's wishes blest?
When spring with dewy fingers cold,
Return to deck their hallowed mould,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than fancy's feet have ever trod.
By fairy hands their knell is rung,
By forms unseen their dirge is sung;
There honor comes, a pilgrim gray,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay,
And freedom shall awhile repair,
To dwell a weeping hermit there.

Hon. Joseph Holt on Employing Slaves as Soldiers.

The following is the chief part of a letter addressed to Secretary Stanton by Mr. Holt:

The right of the Government to employ for the suppression of the rebellion persons of African descent held to service or labor under the local laws, rest firmly on two distinct grounds: First, as Property. Both our organic law, and the usages of our institutions under it, recognize fully the authority of the Government to seize and apply to public use private property, on making compensation therefor. What the use may be to which it is to be applied does not enter into the question of the right to make the seizure, which is untrammeled in its exercise save by the single condition mentioned.

Secondly, as persons: While those of African descent held to service or labor in several of the States, occupy under the laws of such States the status of property, they occupy also under the Federal Government the status of "persons." They are referred to conomine in the Constitution of the Untied States, and it is not as property but as "persons" that they are represented on the floor of Congress, and thus form a prominent constituent element alike in the organization and in the practical administration of the Government.

The obligation of all persons--irrespective of creed or color--to bear arms, if physically capable of doing so, in defense of the government under which they live, and by which they are protected, is one that is universally acknowledged and enforced. Corresponding to this obligation is the duty resting on those charged with the administration of the Government, to employ such persons in the military service whenever the public safety may demand it. Congress recognized both this obligation on the one hand, and this duty on the other, when, by the 12th section of the act of 17th of July, 1862, it was enacted that the President be and he is hereby authorized to receive in the service of the United States, for the purpose of constructing intrenchments, or performing camp service or any other labor, or any military or naval service, for which they may be found competent, persons of African descent, and such persons shall be enrolled and organized under such regulations, not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws, as the President may prescribe.

The terms of this act are without restrictions, and no distinction is made, or was intended to be made, between persons of African descent held to service or labor, and those not so held.

The President is empowered to receive them all into the military service, and to assign them such duty as they may be found competent to perform. The tenacious and brilliant valor displayed by troops of this race at Port Hudson, Milliken's Bend and Fort Wagner, has sufficiently demonstrated to the President and the country the character of service of which they are capable. In the interpretation given to the enrollment act, free persons of African descent are treated as "citizens of the United States," in the sense of the law, and are everywhere being drafted into the military service.

In reference to the other class of persons of this race, those held to service or labor, the twelfth section of the act of July is still in full force, and the President may, in his discretion, receive them into the army and assign them such field duty as he may deem them prepared to occupy. In view of the loyalty of this race, and of the obstinate courage which they have shown themselves to possess, they certainly constitute, at this crises in our history, a most powerful and reliable arm of the public defence. Whether this arm shall now be exerted is not a question of power or right, but purely of policy, to be determined by the estimate which may be entertained of the conflict in which we are engaged, and of the necessity that presses to bring this waste of blood and treasure to a close.

A man precipitated into a struggle for life, on land or sea, instinctively and almost necessarily puts forth every energy with which he is endowed, and eagerly seizes upon every source of strength within his grasp; and a nation battling for existence, that does not do the same, may well be regarded as neither wise or obedient to that great law of self preservation from which is derived our most urgent and solemn duties. That there exists a prejudice against the employment of soldiers of African descent, is undeniable; it is, however, rapidly giving way, and never had any foundation in reason or loyalty. It originated with and has been diligently nurtured by those in sympathy with the rebellion, and its utterance at this moment is necessarily in the interests of treason.

Should the President feel that the public interests require he shall exert the power with which he is clothed by the twelfth section of the act of the 17th July, his action should be in subordination to the constitution principle which exacts that compensation shall be made for private property devoted to the public uses. A just compensation to loyal claimants to the service or labor of persons of African descent enlisted in our army, would accord with the uniform practice of the Government and with the genius of our institutions.

Soldiers of this class, after having perilled [sic] their lives in defence of the Republic, could not be re-enslaved without a national dishonor revolting and unendurable for all who are themselves worthy to be free. The compensation made therefor[e] should be such as entirely to exhaust the interest of claimants; so that when soldiers of this class lay down their arms at the close of the war they may at once enter the enjoyment of that freedom symbolized by the flag which they have followed and defended.