orld? Whether they did or
not, this world was a reality, and dear to them.

I looked into one of the trenches in which workmen were laying
foundations for the headstones, and saw the ends of the coffins
protruding. It was silent and dark down there. Side by side the soldiers
slept, as side by side they fought. I chose out one coffin from among
the rest, and thought of him whose dust it contained,--your brother and
mine, although we never knew him. I thought of him as a child, tenderly
reared--for this. I thought of his home, his heart-life:--

"Had he a father?
Had he a mother?
Had he a sister?
Had he a brother?
Or was there a nearer one
Still, and a dearer one
Yet, than all other?"

I could not know: in this world, none will ever know. He sleeps with the
undistinguishable multitude, and his headstone is lettered, "Unknown."

Eighteen loyal States are represented by the tenants of these graves.
New York has the greatest number,--upwards of eight hundred;
Pennsylvania comes next in order, having upwards of five hundred. Tall
men from Maine, young braves from Wisconsin, heroes from every state
between, met here to defend their country and their homes. Sons of
Massachusetts fought for Massachusetts on Pennsylvania soil. If they had
not fought, or if our armies had been annihilated there, the whole North
would have been at the mercy of Lee's victorious legions. As Cemetery
Hill was the pivot on which turned the fortunes of the battle, so
Gettysburg itself was the pivot on which turned the destiny of the
nation. Here the power of aggressive treason culminated; and from that
memorable Fourth of July when the Rebel invaders, beaten in the three
days' previous fight, stole away down the valleys and behind the
mountains on their ignominious retreat,--from that day, signalized also
by the fall of Vicksburg in the West, it waned and waned, until it was
swept from the earth.

Cemetery Hill should be the first visited by the tourist of the
battle-ground. Here a view of the entire field, and a clear
understanding of the military operations of the three days, are best
obtained. Looking north, away on your left lies Seminary Ridge, the
scene of the first day's fight, in which the gallant Reynolds fell, and
from which our troops were driven back in confusion through the town by
overwhelming numbers, in the afternoon. Farther south spread the
beautiful woods and vales that swarmed with Rebels on