A discourse, commemorative of the life and character of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, delivered April 23, 1865

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Clanim et Yenerahile Nomen."

A^ DISCOURSE,

COMMEMORATIVE OP THE

LIFE AND CHARACTER

JLB'S.J^JSi.&.l^ LIITOOrjlT,

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

DELIVERED APRIL 23, leSS

BY REV. T. E. BLISS, PASTOR OF THE UNION CHURCH OF MEMPHIS.

W. A. WHITMORK, STEAM BO, K AND JOB PRINTER, 13 MADISON STREET.
1865

" CInnnn ef Vemrahile Nomen."

J^ DISCOURSE,

COMMEMORATIVE OF THE

LIFE AND CHARACTER

^BK.^i3:.A.ayE LiircoLisr,

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

DELIVERED APRIL 23, ISeS,

BY REV. T. E. BLISS, PASTOR OF THE UNION CHURCH OF MEMPHIS,

W. A. WHITMORE, STEAM BOOK AND JOB PRINT 13 MADISOX STREET.

1865.

Memphis, Tenn., May 1, 1865
Rev. T. E. Bliss,

Dear, Sir : —
The undersigned Committee, appointed bj' your congregation
to solicit for publication the sermon delivered b}^ j^ou, on the 22d
ult., on the Life and Character of the late President of the United
States, have the honor to request of you the manuscript of that
discourse and your leave to publish the same.

Respectfully, Your Obedient Servants,

E. A. WHIPPLE,
P. E. BLAND,
JOS. TAGG.

Messrs. Whipple, Bland and Tagg,

Dear Sirs : —
Your kind note of the 1st inst., has been received. The
discourse referred to was prepared without an}^ special reference
to its publication; but the wishes of my people, at once, so
reasonable and complimentary, I do not feel at liberty to disregard.
I therefore accede to the request and place the manuscript at
your disposal, with the sincere hope that much good to the cause
of loyalty and truth ma,y be the result.

Very trulj^ yours,

T. E. BLISS.
Memphis, Tenx., May 2, 1865.

DISCOURSE.

Zech 12; 12 — '-And the land shall mourn — every family apart."

This laDguage of the ancient prophet of God finds to-day a
striking and impressive fulfillment. On ever}'- hand the emblems
of mourning are seen, and the great heart of the nation seems to
beat heavily as if burdened with its mighty sorrow. Our public
thoroughfai'es and edifices are shrouded in gloom. The busy
marts of trade are stilled with the silence of death, and all things
betoken a nation's profoundest grief. Our flag — the loved sj-mbol
of our nationalit}^ — dearer far than ever before, because of the
sacred affections of the thousands of faithful hearts that are en-
twined around it, and have bled and died to shield it from stain
or dishonor — this too is draped in the habiliments of mourning,
and is lowered to but half its wonted height in token of our
universal woe. The booming cannon — the tolling bells — the
funeral dirges — the slowly moving processions, with reversed
arms and mufiled drums — the sad and downcast expression, the
tearful eye, as friend meets friend — all indicate that this is no
empty pageant, but that patriot hearts are bowed down with a
sense of some great public calamity.

But why is this, when so recently these hearts were bounding
with joy and gladness in view of the many a-nd splendid victories
achieved, and the bright prospects of returning peace ? Why
this sudden change from the sunshine of meridian day to the

[4]

sombre gloom of darkest night ? Have grave disasters attended
our arms? Have whisperings of heart-sickening defeat and base
dishoner been noised abroad ? Have the fondly cherished hopes
that war's dark cloud would soon pass away been blasted, and
the dawning light of returning peace gone down in utter despair?
Is it for this that the nation afflicts itself to-day, and mourneth as
one mourneth for her first born? Do patriots despair of the Ee-
public, and philanthropists surrender all hopes of the freedom
und amelioration of the condition of man? No! it is not for
these things that wo now weep and mourn. It is not for these
things that the nation to-day is bowed so low in the bitterness of
its grief But it is because our good and beloved chieftain has
fallen — Abraham Lincoln is dead. The hand of an assassin
has wrought the infamous deed, and it is for this that our heads
are bowed in deepest sorrow. This strange and appalling crime
— a crime unknown to us before in our national history — may
well humble our hearts alike in shame and tears. In shame — be-
cause we must now confess before the nations that in this
boasted land of freedom and brave men, there are wretches, na-
tive-born, base enough to perpetrate an act so fiendish and
atrocious that its parallel can scarcely be found in modern times.
In sorrow and tears, because a great and good man has fallen,
upon whose counsels we have leaned, and by whose guidance we
have been safely lead, thus far, through the long, dark night of
this gigantic and wicked rebellion. In the midst of his days and
his usefulness; at the zenith of his fame and glory; while the
cares and burdens of the nation are resting upon him in their
full weight, he is suddenly stricken down in death, to the amaze-
ment of all, and to the untold grief of every man or woman who
is fit evermore to be a citizen of this great and free Ecpublic.
Well may the land mourn to-day, for its noblest one lies cold
and straightened for the grave. Well may we as a people put
on sackcloth and mourn in the bitterness of our grief, for the
stronf rod on which we leaned in these stormy and troublous
times is taken away. Well may a nation's tears flow when its
second great and good Washington is no more. And to-day, in
spirit, we will follow that procession as they slowly bear the
mortal remains of Abraham Lincoln from capitol to capitol
throuo-h millions of heart-stricken mourners to its final place
of rest.

But who is this of whom wo thus sjieak, and where was the

[5]

home of bis childhood y Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin
County, Kentucky, February 12, 1809. His father was- a native
of Virginia, to which State his ancestors migrated from Pennsyl-
vania. In 1816 the father of our lamented President removed
with his family to Spencer County, Indiana. In doing this he
was prompted by his strong aversion to the system of Slavery,
and his desire to be rid forever of its manifold and pernicious in-
fluences. He early imbibed the sentiments of all the great
fathers of this Kepublic on this subject, which were so freely
promulgated at that day; and his own observation abundantly
convinced him of the immense evils — social, moral, political and
otherwise — of that fell and accursed institution. An institution,
be it ever remembered, which, directly or indirectly, like man's
first disobedience, has brought all this woe upon our nation.

In 1830 the family moved to Decatur, Illinois, and there laid
the foundation for a permanent home. Having seen the family
comfortably settled, the son, then 21 years of age, left the home
circle, where he was ever dearly loved, and entered upon the
career of life for himself. Up to this time, his biographers all
agree, that he had been a faithful and obedient son, a kind and
considerate brother, and an earnest and laborious young man.
From his boyhood he had been noted for his truthfulness, his
geniality, and his strict integrity. During this time his facilities
for education had been very meagre, but he had made the most
of them. He had mastered the rudiments of learning, and now,
in the intervals of labor, was storing his mind, as best he could,
with useful knowledge. His moral and religious instruction had
not been neglected. His parents were plain and unpretending
Christian people, and in their humble way deeply instilled the
lessons of divine wisdom into the minds of their children. As has
been so often confessed in other instances, so was it in this. Abraham
Lincoln owed most, in all these things, to his mothers : — first to his
own, and afterward his step-mother, who seems to have been a
most exemplary woman, and between whom and this son there
ever existed the most filial and happy relations. After leaving
home he engaged in farm labor, then was a miller, a salesman, a
boatman, in turn, but in every instance seems to have won the
entire confidence of his employers, and thus early acquired the
appellation which he has since carried through life, that of a
strictly honest man. Socially, and in his business dealings, he
was much beloved by young and old. " He was affable and gen-

[6]

erous, ever ready to assist the needy, or to sympathise with the
distressed, and never was known to be guilty of a dishonorable
act."

In the Black Hawk war, so called, he was the lirst to enlist, in
the community where he resided, and was unanimously chosen
captain of the company. At the expiration of their term of ser-
vice, he again enlisted as a private, and continued with his regi-
ment to the end of the war, thus showing that it was not for
mere military honors that he entered the service ol his country,
and setting thei-eby a good example to the hundreds of thousands
of brave men who have of late served under him.

From the commencement he seems to have been a special
favorite, and one whom the people, who have known him best,
have ever delighted to honor. He was early sent to the Legis-
lature of his adopted State, and served with ability his constitu-
ents. His sympathies were always to be found on the side of
riffht. He abhorred a base and corrupt thing, and never could
be drawn into the meshes of any unscrupulous clique. In the
practice of laAV he would not attempt a case which he knew to be
morally wrong. Often he would urge a settlement when he was
well aware that his own interests were averse to it. A disposition
so naturally kind and benevolent had no sympathy with the dark
plots of bad men, and he turned away from them with higher and
nobler aspirations.

His record as a member of Congress is fair and honorable.
True to the parental instructions of his childhood and youth, his
sympathies, his voice and his vote were always on the side of
freedom and a large and generous nationality.

AYhilo canvassing the State of Illinois for the U. S. Senate, his
debates with Judge Douglas were of the most eloquent and mas-
terly character. There has probably never been in the annals of
political life a contest so ably and so kindly conducted, and no
one, it may be added, more thoroughly respected the abilit}^ and
candor of his rival than did the late Senator Douglas himself. It
was during this canvass that Mr. Lincoln, on one occasion, paid
that noble tribute to the Declaration of Independence — an apj)eal
which ought to live in immortul beauty in the history of his coun-
try— " These communities (the thirteen colonies)," said he, "by
their representatives in Old Independence Hall, said to the world
of men — ' We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are born equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with

[7]

inalienable rio-hts; that amono- these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. This," he continued, " was their majestic
interpretation of the economy of the universe. This was their
lofty, wise and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator
to his creatures. Yes, gentlemen, to all his creatures, to the
whole great family of man. In their enlightened belief, nothing
stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the
world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its
fellows. They gTasped not only the race of men then living, but
they reached forward and seized upon the ftirthest posterity.
They created a beacon to guide their children and their children's
children, and the countless myriads wdio should inhabit the earth
in other ages. Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the
tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established
these self-evident truths, that wdien, in the distant future, some
man, some faction, some interest should set up the doctrine that
none but rich men, or none but white men, or none but Anglo-
Saxon men were entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap])i-
ness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of
Independence, and take courage to renew the battle which their
fathers began, so that truth, and justice, and mercj', and all the
humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from
the land, so that no man woiild hereafter dare to limit or circum-
scribe the great principles on which the temple of liberty was
being built. Now, m}" countrymen, if you have been taught doc-
trines conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of
Independence ; if you have listened to suggestions which would
take from its grandeur, "and mutilate the fair sj^mmetry of its
proportions; if j'ou have been inclined to believe that all men are
not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by our
chart of liberty, let me entreat jow to come back, return to the
fountain whose waters spring close by the blood of the Revolu-
tion. Think nothing of me," he continues, " take no thought for
the political fate of any man whomsoever, but come back to the
truths that are in the Declaration of Independence. You may do
anything with me you choose, if you wnll but heed these sacred
principles. You may not ox\\j defeat me for the Senate, but you may
take me and put me to death I I charge j^ou to drop eveiy paltry and
insignificant thought for any man's success. It is nothing — I am
nothing — Judge Douglas is nothing. But do not destroy that im-
mortal emblem of humanity — The Declaration of Independence.'^

[8]

Oh ! noble and god-like words — fit to bo enshrined in the
memory of every son and daughter of this free Eepublic! — and
well worthy to be engraven upon the lintels and arches of our
great temple of American Liberty. This is the language of a
patriot statesman indeed — a large-hearted philanthropist — the
friend and well wisher of the whole family of man, irrespective
of condition, color or nationality. It is for such an one that Ave
weep to-day, and for wliom the whole land mourneth. For the
fall of stich an one, whose whole life and public deeds have been
a veritable confirmation of these noble sentiments, we do well
to bow ourselves in deep humiliation and sorrow.

On the occasion of his first elevation to the Presidency of the
United States, he here his honors with becoming gravity. The
vanity of little minds in no wise was apparent. He was the same
quiet, unpretending citizen still. Though a malignant hatred,
which had its origin in treason and rebellion, from the first
followed him from the quiet of his home at Springfield, Illinois,
to the Capitol of the Nation, and sought in various ways to
compass his assassination, and though various plots have been
discovered, and attempts upon his life made since, yet strange to
say, his spirit never appears to have been emJfittered in the least
ao-ainst his enemies. In all his speeches and proclamations, the
records of his public orders, and the reports of his private conver-
sations and correspondence, not the least shade of vindictiveness
is discernable. Malice seems to have had no place in his nature.
"While the now fugitive head of the rebellion was known to be
conspiring with assassins, and countenancing the most shocking-
cruelty to Federal prisoners, so that thousands and tens of thou-
sands of our brothers and fathers died at their hands, while lie
offered, too, large rewards for the heads of some of our Federal
officers, thus prompting to assassination, and resolutions were
deliberately introduced into the rebel Congress offering bribes for
the murder of Union men, whether soldiers or citizens j — while
our Northern cities were filled with incendiaries, and the most
shocking cruelties were being perpetrated in the name of treason,
yet no ])rovocation was sufficient to arouse the spirit of revenge
in our great and good President. Of all men we have ever had in
any prominent position in the country, he was the most free from
every thing of this character. Indeed, his unwillingness to see
the penalties of law enforced, and his readiness to pardon the
most implacable criminals, have been regarded by many of his

best friends as serious defects. But his large, genial, and loving
heart was ever ready to forget and overlook. All through the
cruel and bloody drama of the rebellion, he was ever cautious and
slow to commit the question of life and death to the hands of his
chiefest subordinates and commanders. Ho knew the strength
of passion, and how easy it is for a vindictive spirit to usur^i the
place and name of Justice.

Early in his administration, immediately following the repeated
attempts upon his life on the way to the Capitol of the Nation, and
on the occasion of his inauguration, his proclamations breath onty
the spirit of entreaty and peace. While frankly avowing his duty
and determination to maintain the Government and the Union in
their full integrity, he yet disclaimed any Avish to resort to blood-
shed, and declared that the Grevernment would not do so, unless
compelled, in self-defence. After the attempt upon his own life in
Baltimore, and the bloody and unprovoked assault upon the
Massachusetts Sixth in that city on the ever-memorable 19th of
April, he was yet anxious to avoid a rupture, and ordered the
troops by another route to Washington, with this in view%
saying, at the same time, in a communication to the Mayor of that
city, " I shall do all in my power for peace, consistently with the
maintenance of the Goveimment." But time would fail me were
T to dwell upon the many exhibitions of his forbearance and
desire for peace. As we now reflect upon them, we wonder and
are the more deeply and profoundly grieved that such a man
could ever have had such cruel and implacable enemies, and that
he should have fallen by the hands of those whom he was ever so
ready to forgive. The absence of any such disposition on the part
of him whom Ave mourn to-day, renders the crime of his assassina-
tion all the more atrocious and appalling in its guilt; and in view
of its repeated attempts, is enough to consign to eternal infamy,
and execration the tx-aitorous cause in whose name, and for Avhose
benefit the foul deed Avas perpetrated.

From the commencement to the close of his administration
his great object, to Avhich he bent all his energies, was to maintain
the Constitution and the Union in their full integrity and honor.
For this he Avas ready, from the outset, to lay by every local con-
sideration, to bury old party animosities, and to unite in good
faith with every loyal heart to uphold the noble fabric of our Ee-
public, whose foundations, as he well knew, had been laid and
sealed in the patriot blood of the Revolution. Whenever good

[10]

and true men were found in the ranks of his political opponents,
he cheerfully" gave them the highest honors. The first prominent
commissions issued were given to those who had long been ar-
rayed against him. He would not allow any former differences
to interfere with the interests of the Government. His views of the
crisis were too clear, and his heart too noble and magnanimous to
stoop to any petty personalities, or to suffer anything to come in be-
tween him and the great longing of his heart — the maintenance
and perpetuation of our free institutions for millions yet unborn.
He adopted, with his whole soul, the motto — hacked by traitor
hands on that monument in yonder beautiful Square — " The
Federal Union; it must be preserved." * To this end,
when inaugurated, he had taken his solemn oath before the nation,
and nothing should hinder him from its strict fulfillment. No ties
of kindred or of blood, of party or of interest. No threats or in-
timidations, no casuistries or catchwords, no treacheries or dis-
asters, no counsels of the timid or portrayals of the immensity
of the task, could baffle him or turn him aside from the steady,
onward pursuit of the great, grand object before him — the main-
tenance of the Union. To this everything else must bend, and
for this, everything else must give place.

Early in the contest he saw, as many others did, that one great
source of corruption and Avickedness was, in various forms and
ways, the fruitful cause of all our troubles — that except for its
benefit, its spread and jierpetuity, tliero could never have been
any sufficient motive for treason and rebellion. Thirty years
previous, under another name, it had been tried, and failed utterly.
But now, so distinctly had the issue been made up in the contests
over Texas and California, and more recently in Kansas, fhat to
deny that slavery Avas the real cause of this rebellion, would be
puerile aud ridiculous in the extreme. It was this institution
which had been the chief cause of all the estrangement be-
tween the North and the South from the beginning. It was this
which had caused heated discussions, wrangles, broils, duels,
mobs and murders without end. It was this which made so much

* On the monument to General Jackson, in Court Square, in this city, are sculptured
these memorable words:— "The Federal Union— it must be preserved." During the days
of rebel rule, certain traitors, to whom this sentiment was a constant rebuke, sought to
have it erased. The work of destruction was commenced, but not completed. The scar.'!
thus left, will long continue a fitting memorial of those times, and of the vain and wicked
folly of attempting to destroy the work of our patriot Fathers, which God has so long
honored, and which, of late, has been sealed anew by so mnch of the best patriot blood of
the land.

[11]

trouble in the formation of our Constitution in 1798. It was this
• which led to the prediction of disunion by Calhoun iu 1812, and
which was openly and boldly threatened in 1819 and 1820 on the
Missouri question. It was this which was the real cause of the
outbreak of Nullification in South Carolina in 1830, and which
Gen. Jackson then predicted would ao-ain, sooner or later, appear.
It was this which caused renewed threats of disunion unless
Texas was admitted, and again wJien California was admitted
with a free Constitution. It was this which threatened disunion
again in 1850, unless that bill of abominations, so called, the
Fugitive Slave Law, was passed. It was this, as everybody
knows, which caiised all the troubles in Kansas, where, in fact,
the first blood of this wicked war was shed. It was this — Slavery
— which inspired the counsels and combinations of treason, which
was the catchword of the leaders to rouse the passions of the
masses of the Southern people. It was this which has been the
bond to bind the South together in Congress from the beginning,
on any question affecting its interest. It was this which
awakened such implacable hatred toward Northern people who
would not adopt Soutiiern princij)les, which inspired such fiendish
cruelties toward Northern prisoners as Abolitionists, and towards
colored troops aud tlieir officers. It was this whiclt was seen to
be the animating spirit of this unholy rebellion, in a thousand
different ways and forms. So distinctly and clearly marked had
all this been, that the eyes of thoughtful men were turned toward
it, early in the war. They argued that to remove the cause of the
the disease was the most effectual way of saving the patient.
Take away the motive to rebellion, and the bond which bound it
together, and sooner or later it would become disintegrated and
fall to the ground. Mad passions and desperate means might sus-
tain it for a time, but with the first great inspiring motion gone,
the bloody arm of treason would be paralyzed. Acting on this
principle, with the great desire to preserve the Union, and at the
same time give freedom and the rights of manhood to millions of
his fellow creatures, in accordance with his long-cherished con-
victions, President Lincoln penned and sent forth to the world
on the Istoi' January, 186;>, that immortal document, the "Pro-
clamation of Emanci])ation." Never before in the history of our
Government had such a step been practicable or constitutional.
But now the contingency, long before intimated by that sagacious
statesman, John Quincy Adams, had arrived. It is a first principle

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of constitutional law, that, to save the life of the nation^ every-
thing which is adverse to it, or conspires against it, must fall.
True, "Peace hath its victories, no less renowned than war;" but
this splendid victory for humanity, all right-minded people admit,
could never have been achieved in time of peace under our Con-
stitution. Nothing siiort of such a crisis admitted of such a course.
Nothing but treason could ever have given tlie arm of our general
Government the power to tear up, root and branch, this deadly
''upas," which has been poisoning the blood of the nation from
generation to generation. This, our good President well under-
stood, and ho only" waited until the people should see its necessity
and utility with a sufficient clearness and force of conviction, that
would sustain him in taking the important step. Then, with a
blest comrainging of motives, of patriot duty, and of philanthropic
joy, the clarion of freedom was sounded — the proclamation was
given, and millions of the human family were lifted up from the
depti»s of chains and slavery to become a free people on God's
free earth.

O holy and sublime transaction ! Happy, thrice happy, he
who lived, with all his sorrows, to see this hallowed deed per-
tormed, which proved the turning point of the nation's redemp-
tion. From that hour, it seems as though the frown of the
Almighty in a great measure passed away". The mighty God of
battles now went forth with our hosts to victory. The tide of
treason was rolled back. The onward march of our armies ground
treason, chains and slavery in the dust beneath their feet, and the glad
shouts of victory on victory pealed and echoed iind re-echoed all
over the land ! Of this great and good deed, so fruitful of blessings
to the nation and to humanity, historj^ will make a shining record.
In all the eventful career of Abraham Lincoln, no one thing
which he accomplished can compare in greatness and true glory
with this. In atter years it will live in story and in song. Orators
will plume the wing of fancy as they dwell upon this sublime
transaction. Poets will sing their sweetest lays, inspired by this
immortal theme, and millions yet unborn, of every nation, color
and clime shall rise up to call him blessed.

Step by step, our lamented chieftain was peri^iitted to see the
progress made towards the ovei'throw of the rebellion, and the
linal restoration of the Union. This consummation, which he
so devoutly wished, and for which he so long had labored, was
apparently about to be realized, when death overtook him at the

[13]

hands of an assassin. Manfully and nobly had he struggled on
through sunshine and storm for more than four years.' His giant
frame was becoming bowed under the weight of the immense
burdens resting upon him. His locks were being whitened by
the cares and responsibilities which he bore about with him.
lAke another, " he was weary in the good work, but not of the
work." Kaised up of God to lead this nation through a terrible
crisis, like the great Law-giver of Israel, he was not permitted to
enter the promised land of peace. From the pisgah heights of
the nation's Capitol he beheld the Star Spangled Banner floating
in triumph from the battlements of Kichmond and saw the con-
quered hosts of treason file, unai'med, before our war-Avorn heroes,
in token of submission. He heard the booming cannon as they
thundei'ed around our Southern cities, and caught the mai">tial
strains of the armies of freedom and the Union as they went
marching on, from Capitol to Capitol and from Victory to Victory.
He heard, too, the shouts of the millions whom he had declared free,
as they were borne to his ear on the balmy southern breezes and
he saw that the land was well- watered and fair to look upon, and
he longed to enter in and be at rest. Bi»t God, we believe, had
prepared another and a better Rest for him. His work was done,
and Avell done ! And noAV, for Avise and holy purposes which we
know not 3'et, but which we shall know hereafter, the hand of an
assassin is permitted to complete the long catalogue of the crimes
of treason. Well has it been said, that "Rebellion against a just ,
government comprehends and includes all crimes." We cannot
forget the cruelties and enormities which have marked the course
of treason from the beginning. We were horrified at the bar-
barities practiced upon the Federal dead at the first battle of
Bull Run. Fort Pillow is still fresh in memory. The needless
and deliberate starvations at Richmond and Andersonville ; the
recent atrocities of guerilla warfare taken in connection Avith the
previous and repeated attempts upon the life of our President,
all show that this last great crime, this final climax of wickedness
is as natural a fruit of this Rebellion as any that have preceded
it. Crimes, like men, are knOAvn b}'- the company they keep.
They all spracg from the same source ; they Avere nourished by
the same influences ; they Avere prompted by the same motives, and
Avere actuated by the same spirit. To ask us to shut our eyes to
these things ; to apologize for these enormities, and to treat with
distinguished consideration those who for years have helped on this

[14]

rebellion, and are thus participators in^tliese crimes, is to add in_
suit to injury, to mock at a nation's agony, and to trifle with the
best and profoundest emotions of patriot hearts. There are no
principles of government, human or divine^ which countenances
any such course. Justice and truth, and all the blood of our
martyred hosts, from Ellsworth onward, cry aloud against it.
Its whole effect would be to turn dear-bought victory into dis-
astrous defeat, to make rebels feel that loyal men had been guilty
of a crime in conquering treason, and to foster in them the desire
to make them suffer accordingly. It would be putting the
rod of domination and authority again into the hands of those
who have been the chief authors and abettors of all this appalling
wickedness. It would be, in fine, to overthrow the very founda-
tions of government, to confound all distinctions between
right and wrong, vice and virtue, loyalty and treason. But this
will not be done unless God has given us over to an astonishing-
blindness and infatuation which will prove our utter ruin. Thanks
be to his name, we have a man, from this Commomvealth, at the
head of the government, who will prove himself equal to the oc-
casion. It is with no spirit of vindictiveness, but with a sense of
safety and relief, we read such recent utterances of his as the
following : — " The American people must be taught, if they do not
already feel, that treason is crime, and must be punished." His
doctrine is — and it is sound and right — a considerate clemency for
the masses, but the penalties of the law for the leaders. And
here, with the blessing of God, is our safet}^ and our hope. A
people cannot disregard these principles Mnthout destroying them-
selves. No government can stand when its very foundations are
upheaved, or are suffered to crumble awaj^ Actuated by these
sound and true principles and spirit, and hy none others, Ave be-
speak for the present Executive head of the Nation, by praj'^er
and corresponding eftbrt, the cordial support of all loyal and true
men. We trust that the fair fabric of this Republic shall stand
throuo-h many coming generations. We feel that God has a great
work for this nation yet to do. While we deeply mourn to-day,
it is not as those without hope. A nation with such a father as
Washington and such a preserver as Lincoln, cannot yet have
fulfilled its destiny; a mighty future is before it, far more grand
and glorious than the past.

In o-athering up the prominent features in the character of our
lamented President, we find many in common with those of the

[15]

great and good Washington. In their yonth, when the founda-
tions of character for all after life are usually laid, they were
alike noted for their truthfulness, fidelity and filial piety. In early
manhood, they wore alike industrious and untiring, according to
their opportunities, in the pursuit of knowledge. They were de-
voted in common to the great principles of freedom and free
government. They were early promoted to positions of trust
and confidence by their friends and constituents, and proved
themselves in after years to be sagacious statesmen, wise in coun-
cil, deliberate in action, steady and sure in the accomplishment of
great and desired results. They were alike tall and masculine in
body, broad and comprehensive in understanding, calm and pene-
trating in intellect, sound and reliable in judgment, upright and
conscientious in all their transactions, thoughtful students of the
bible, devout worshipers of Almighty God, lovers of good men
and all good measures. In purity of character, in a patriotism
which was incorruptible, in lofty and noble purposes, and in the
grand results of life, they stand side by side, and their names
shall be handed down to posterity, the one as the Father, and the
other the Savior of his country. In such goodly company they
shall live on in history, so long as this Eepublic shall be known
among the nations, or gratitude shall be enkindled in the bosoms
of statesmen and philanthropists. Their examples shall be
handed down for the imitation of those who shall come after them,
and coming generations shall revere their memory, shall ponder
their principles, and shall rise up with united voices to call them
blessed.

Eut poor indeed is the Avreath of fame and afiection with which
to-day we may adorn our fallen leader's brow. In that better
land, where there are no wars nor fighting, no sorrow, no tears,
Avc trust that he has ah-eady received a far brighter crown, all
radiant with eternal light and glory. He who but a few mouths
ago told the story of his love for Jesus, in tears, and with all the
simplicity of a child; whose custom it has been to devote the first
hour of the day in seeking Divine wisdom and guidance in the
study of the Scriptures and in prayer; whose heart was
ever open to the cry of the poor and the oppressed ; who, under
God, hath wrought such great deliverance for his people, and
who, in all his character and conduct, was so pure and stain-
less; an exchange of worlds to such an one, though to our great
loss, yet to him, we feel it must be great gain.

[16]

" Life's labor done, as Sinks the clay.

Light from its load the spirit flies.
While heaven and earth combine to say.

How hiest the righteous when he dies !"

Abraham Lincoln was a good man. Ho has filled the measure
of his fame and usefulness, and Providence permitted to be
added to the spotless character of the patriot, the crowning glory
of the martyr. In the midst of our sorrows most profoundly
grateful should we be that God gave us suo'^ -i ^r^s'de'^t. In
coming years the descendants of the patriot hosts who have sus-
tained him in all this gigantic conflict with treason, shall lovingly
lay their votive offerings upon his tomb, and a long line of Afric's
sable sons, with tearful eyes and grateful hearts, shall teU the story
of their chains, wrenched and snapped asunder by his strong
right hand. The children of those whose arms have been raised
against the Government in this unholy conflict, will be bowed in
deep contrition and sorrow, and all shall unite in paying to the
memory of him whom the whole land mourns to-day, in the pro-
foundest reverence and afFecftion of their hearts, the tribute that
Abraham Lincoln was a pure-minded statesman, an ardent
lover of liderty, and a thoroughly honest and good man.