ventful course of human affairs, have
great nations, with their rich and populous cities, been placed in the
attitude of danger and of solemn suspense in which the American people
find themselves at this momentous crisis. Even while we write this
sentence, a great battle is raging in one of the fairest valleys of
Pennsylvania, and although the actual struggle is destined to be
decisive in its bearing, there is no possibility of knowing how the
strife goes from hour to hour. Issues of immense and incalculable
importance are involved in the immediate result: the cities of
Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, to say nothing of the existence
of the nation itself, so gravely imperilled, on the one hand; and
Richmond, with all the desperate hopes and daring purposes of the
rebellion, on the other, are the mighty stakes played for in the bloody
game now going on upon the chessboard in the vicinity of Gettysburg.

With the overthrow of Lee's army, and its effectual cut off from escape,
not only will come the speedy fall of Richmond, but the rebellion itself
will be virtually at an end; for it will never be able to recover from
the blow. On the other hand, with the complete discomfiture of our own
army, we should be temporarily at the mercy of the enemy, as we do not
seem to have contemplated the contingency of defeat, and have made
little preparation for it. The victorious Lee would drive our shattered
forces into Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, and would follow
close upon their heels with his irresistible columns. Dark would be the
day for our country and for human liberty, and terrible would be the
struggle made necessary afterward to enable us to recover from so great
a disaster. Assuredly we would be able to recover; and in this fact lies
our great superiority over the adversary, who stakes his all upon the
issue of this desperate and reckless invasion into the heart of the
loyal States. But, with all our confidence in the justice and ultimate
triumph of our cause, how great is the patriotic anxiety with which our
hearts are burdened, and how intensely earnest are the prayers we offer
to the Most High for the success of our noble army in the pending
battle! In our excited imaginations, we see only the impenetrable cloud
of smoke which envelops the bloody field; we hear the loud thunders of
the murderous artillery, the rattle of musketry, the groans of the
wounded and dying, and the shouts of infuriated columns a