36 ORATION. “ ’Tis the day, when the men of the slumbering North Again for the land of our pride shall come forth, And speaking stout words, which stout hearts shall maintain. Proclaim our fair country a Nation again — The men of the North. For the tides of the sea are unruffled and slow, And as calmly and coldly their pulses may flow, But. as soon shall you roll back that fathomless tide As turn from their slow-chosen purpose aside The men of the North.” I cannot believe that the glories of onr fathers’ days and of their fathers’, the grand voices that sound from two centuries of civilized life in America, are but a prelude to the dirge which humanity would chant over the grave of a ruined nation and a lost hope. I rather count the sad tidings which too often grieve our ears, as the mournful notes which will lend grandeur to that full anthem of praise which shall burst from the heart of a redeemed nation as they shout with one accord: “ Sing unto the. Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.” O, that the grand old man, who has just gone home from Earth, could have lived to see that day. You know how true and brave, how loyal and hopeful he was to the last moment of his life. Our children’s children will be glad to hear from us, that we knew a man who had seen Washington, and: who was worthy
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