Edward Everett's Speech (Well a Little Part of It)

This is the start of Edward Everett's speech he gave before Abraham Lincoln gave what is now known as the Gettysburg Address that November19, 1863.

Of course, he spoke for over two hours.  I will not type the whole speech.  But, you can tell just from what little I wrote, the man was quite eloquent.

"Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these broad fields now reposing from the labors of the waning year, the almighty Alleghenies towering before us, the graves of our brethren beneath our feet, it is with hesitation that I raise my poor voice to break the eloquent silence of God and Nature.  But the duty to which you call me must be performed; --grant me, I pray you,  your indulgence and your sympathy."

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Then he went into a comparison of ancient Greece and the events of July 1863.  Then:

"We have assembled, friends, fellow-citizens, at the invitation of the Executive of the great central state of Pennsylvania, seconded by the Governors of seventeen other loyal States of the Union, to pay last tribute of respect to the brave men who, in the hard-fought battles of the first, second and third days of July last, laid down their lives for the country on these hillsides and the plains before us, and whose remains have been gathered   into the cemetery we consecrate today."

I don't know, but this kind of sounds a bit like Lincoln's speech.

Eloquent, Eloquent.  --Old Secesh