We admire physical courage, but we admire above all things else moral
courage. I believe that soldiers will bear me out in saying that both
come in time of battle. I take it that the moral courage comes in going
into the battle, and the physical courage in staying in. There are
battles which are just as hard to go into and just as hard to stay in as
the battles of arms, and if the man will but stay and think never of
himself there will come a time of grateful recollection when men will
speak of him not only with admiration but with that which goes deeper,
with affection and with reverence.

So that this flag calls upon us daily for service, and the more quiet
and self-denying the service the greater the glory of the flag. We are
dedicated to freedom, and that freedom means the freedom of the human
spirit. All free spirits ought to congregate on an occasion like this to
do homage to the greatness of America as illustrated by the greatness of
her sons.

It has been a privilege, ladies and gentlemen, to come and say these
simple words, which I am sure are merely putting your thought into
language. I thank you for the opportunity to lay this little wreath of
mine upon these consecrated graves.




CLOSING A CHAPTER

[Address in which President Wilson accepted the Monument in Memory of
the Confederate Dead, at Arlington National Cemetery, June 4, 1914.].