They have been related because they constitute an important
part of the story of the life of him whom we mourn.
On both sides were displayed the highest qualities of the military
leader, and illustrated as never before the pluck, endurance, and dash
of the American soldier. They were Americans all, and, without
distinction of sections, we can claim part of the honor of their
achievements and partake in the pride of their great names. We have
furnished to the world the indubitable proof that these States united
are invincible. When, at Appomattox, our arms were stacked and banners
furled we returned to our homes with no divided allegiance.
We believe that in the safety of the Union is the safety of the States.
And we rejoice that "the gorgeous ensign of the Republic is still full
high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original luster,
not a stripe polluted or erased, not a single star obscured, bearing for
its motto no such miserable interrogatory as 'What is all this worth?'
Nor those other words of delusion and folly, 'Liberty first and Union
afterwards,' but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living
light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and
over the land and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other
sentiment, dear to every true American heart, 'Liberty and Union, now
and forever, one and inseparable.
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