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wise men at Bethlehem, in Judea, may this be the guiding point to gather together the wise men of this land, should danger ever threaten the existence of our beloved and cherished Union!
I feel, my fellow-citizens, while standing here on this consecrated spot, set apart, as it has been, by the Congress of the United States for a sacred purpose, as if I were almost inspired by the spirit of prophecy when I say, that this Union shall be perpetual; for here, in this vast crowd, among all these banners that are floating and waving about me, nothing is seen but the emblems of union. The glittering arms, that flash back the sunlight, are for protection and defence. Men of all parties, and all Christian creeds, here stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder, a single brotherhood, ready to defend this Union in one united mass, should ever that defence be necessary. Who, then, can doubt its perpetual integrity? Who shall dare to predict that our constitution, fraught with so many blessings to mankind, will ever be broken in fragments, and scattered abroad? If there be a single speck upon our political horizon—if the faintest shadow of portending danger is to be seen, there are in the North, in the South, in the East, and in the West, patriots, statesmen, great, and gifted, and good men, the descendants of the fathers of this Republic, who will stand by, and defend, and preserve, this citadel of liberty whole, entire, perfect, as it now is, to be the glory of after ages, as it is of this.
First, in the name of the Most High, and next, in that great human name, to manifest respect to which we have met here to-day—in the name of George Washington—let us, all here assembled, as the voice of one man, pledge ourselves anew to maintain the constitution, which Washington so powerfully aided in establishing; and let us also implore upon our common country, perpetuity, happiness, and peace.
It is very common, upon the erection of monuments to the dead, to say that they are erected to commemorate the persons whose name they bear; and, in most instances, this is said with truth. But the erection of a marble monument, for no other purpose than to perpetuate the memory of Washington, would be a vain and useless task. He has a monument that can never die, where his name shall never be forgotten; it was indelibly engraved upon the hearts of five millions of people; now it is upon the hearts of twenty millions; hereafter it shall be upon the hearts of hundreds of millions,
We shall all be gathered to our fathers, as the generations which have preceded us have been gathered to theirs. They taught us to pronounce, and venerate the name of the Father of his Country. It was a holy lesson—and I say it with the utmost reverence, and with
