A great man fallen : a sermon preached in the Methodist church, Baton Rouge, La., April 23, 1865, on the death of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States

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A GREAT MAN FALLEN.

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PREACHED IN' THE

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APRIL 23, 1865,

ON THE DEATH OF

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN, *

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

BY

REV. N. L. BRAKEMAN, POST CHAPLAIN.

PREACHED AND PUBLISHED BY REQUEST.

PRINTED AT THE NEW ORLEANS TIMES BOOK AND JOB OFFICE

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1865.

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A GREAT MA^T FALLEN.

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APRIIj -ill 1865

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ON THE DKATEE OF

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATP^.S.

BY

REV. N. L. BRAKEMAN, POST CHAPLAIN.

PREACHED AND PrBLTSHED BY REQUEST.

PRINTED AT THE NEW ORLEANS TIMES HOOK AND JOB OFFICE.

1865.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

State of Indiana through the Indiana State Library

http://www.archive.org/details/greatmanfalle3400brak

NOTE TO THE READER

The following discourse was prepared and preached without tlie
remotest idea of its publication. Immediately upon its deliver}',
however, a number of friends, through Lieutenant Colonel Roy, (1st
Indiana Heavy Artillery,) commanding FoVt Williams, made verbal
application for a manuscript copy, with a view to printing it Subse-
quently, a formal application was made in writing, renewing the
request. And to these earnest solicitations of influential friends,
whose judgment and wishes could not be disregarded, and not to the
vanity or presumption of its author, it owes its introduction to the
public.

Had the discourse been originally composed with a view to
publication, its arrangement and style would have been materially
different ; but botli must now remain, the same in type as in extem-
poraneous address.

It was preached from copious " notes," not read from full manu-
script, and, as nearly as may be, is here reproduced. Such resources
of fact and illustration as were at hand (and they were meagre)
were laid under tribute. Some citations of the President's own
words were from memory, and there may be verbal inaccuracy, but
the sentiment is correct. I have quoted them at considerable length,
for they are doubly dear to us now that he is no more.

Praying that God may sanctify the great affliction to the nation's

good, and make the sermon a blessing' to those who heard and all

who may read it, it is reluctantly submitted to the press.

N. L, B.
Baton Rouge, La., May, 1865,

SERMOoST

Know ye not, tiial tliere is a prince and a great man fallen tliis day in Israel? 2 Samuel iii, 8S.

Tliis is the language oi" David to his servants and people, as he
momned with them for the son of Ner, who, like the man our nation^ ^

nunirns, had fallen by the hands of an assassin. In tliat mstauce,/ Z:^ .^^i^

however, the murderer and his victim were^equals in position and —

character. Abner was near kinsman to Saul, and Chief Captain of
his hosts. Joab was Chief Commander of David's forces. These
military chieftains, at the head of contending armies, had met " in
the wilderness of Gibeon," and "there was a very sore battle that
day," and Abner and Israel were beaten before the arms of David and
fled. Joab pursued them, and, as Abner was sore pressed, he turned
and slew with his own hands, Asahel, the brother of Joab^-^^^^ ^-^S S'-P^ U '

Subsequently, Abner had a quarrel with one of Saul's sons, and
deserting that king', fled to David, treated with him and became his
ally, and, departing in peace, immediately set about persuading all
Israel to follow his example. This had transpired while Joab was
gone on an expedition against the Edomites and other enemies.
When Joab returned, and learned of Abuer's visit to David and league
with him, and of liis departure again, he professed to belicA^e Abner
a spy, and sent messengers for him, and taking him aside as if for
private friendly counsel, assassinated him. We stop not to ask for
Joab's motive in this deed ; whether it was revenge for his brother's
death, sincere belief in Abncr's treachery, or jealousy and envy of a
powerful rival.

Abner was murdered and David mourned : dwelling, doubtless,
upon his noble lineage, his high official position, his power and influ-
ence in the State, his valor and ability as a chieftain, and all his
excellent qualities, he said to the people : " Know j'^e not, that there is
a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel ?" ''^

A prince and a great man has fallen in our American Israel. I
shall not venture, on this occasion, any attempt at formal or popular
encomium upon the late President. That task is left to orators and

* This inti eduction, for want of time, was omitted entire when the sermon was preached.

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statesmen. He needs, however, the eulogy of none. His private
viifciies and public life are above all praise. His selection ])y the
American people for the first office in their gift, at a time the most
trying and inauspicious the country ever saw ; his election, once and
again, to that highest trust ; his diligent, patriotic and arduous
labors therein ; tlie great success that crowned his eAbrts, as also,
the deep, sincere, universal and inexpressible grief felt and mani-
fested at his untimely and tragical death, tell most eloquently, and
beyond the power of man, to add or detract what he was, what he
did, what the debt of gratitude the nation owes him, what its confi-
dence in and affection for him, and what his name and memory must
be in all time to come.

In what follows your attention will be called to some illustrations
of greatness in the character of him we mourn ; and, in conclusion,
to a few practical remarks befitting, we hope, the theme and the
occasion,

I. His first claim to greatness is this : He belonged to a great
country ; was a citizen of our royal republic, where all are princes,
or at least, lords of the land, to the manor born. — A country' great
in its extent and resources, its progress and power, its men and its
means, its army and navy, its ideas and institutions, its language,
laws and government. He was, emphatically, " one of the people.''
The son of a poor farmer, brought up in a log cabin, he lived for a
quarter of a century by the labor of his hands. He never enjoyed
but one year's advantage even of the backwoods' schools of his day,
and never attended any other. He eagerly sought knowledge, how-
ever, borrowed the books he was too poor to buy, and made one of
them (Ramsay's Life of Washington) his own, we are told, by three
days' hard work in the corn field. Habitually diligent, he passed
through a variety of avocations — farmer, Mississippi boatman, civil
engineer, clerk, merchant, postmaster, captain in the army, lawyer,
legislator, representative in Congress — faithful in all, This was no
indication of instability, but each calling was a landmark, so to
speak, in the road of progress towards the highest position and
honor a nation could bestow. From 1858 his life is known to the
world.

With less of learning, reputation, wealth and emolument than
any other chief magistrate of the nation, he has been more truly a
representative of the people than any of the fifteen who have pre'
ceded him. A great trial was at hand. The " irrepressible conflict''

of ideas, waged for half a century, had culminated, and Avas about
breaking' forth in civil war. The case of tlic Privileged Class vs. the
People had been reached at last, and was to be tried in open court
before the civilized world. How appropriate that the case should be
put upon its true merits, and a man of the people appear for the
people, with the understanding that all concerned should abide the
results. There was not only poetic propriety in this, but, in the
adaptation of means to the end, a higher purpose was served. Mr.
Lincoln coming- from the people knew the people — in liis own person
he had experienced their privations and wants, their joys and sorrows,
hopes and fears, aspirations and disappointments — and they knew
him, and wisely chose him their champion. Thus, knowing each
other, as parties who had had a connnon origin, life, education und
experience, and having a common destiny at stake, they trusted each
other and the result is before the world ! During the four years,
and more, consumed in reaching a decision of the case, never did he
misunderstand or mislead the people, never did they distrust or fail
him. And in this union and harmony between the People and their
Advocate, is found the secret of their success — the source of that
strength whereby and beneath which they have humbled in the dust the
most gigantic power that ever arose to oppress the poor, and vindi-
cated their right to and ability for " government of the people, /or the
people, by the people."

His successor in the chair of State, learned the alphabet after he
was ten years of age, and never attended school a day in his life.
Surely that is a great country that takes beneath its ample protec-
tion the humblest, unlettered child in the laud, instils into its mind
the love of wisdom, virtue, truth, liberty ; makes it a blessing to man-
kind, and leads it up to honor and fame, such as compel^ the homage
and admiration of the world. And they are great men who rise from
obscurity to such a position. Lincoln was, in many respects, the
model American — a great man of a great country.

IL He was a great man because he was a good man. The good
are always great. " He that is slow to anger is better than the
mighty ; and he that ruleth his own spirit is greater than he that
taketh a city." And what man, private or public, ever mani-
fested more complete mastery over himself that did Abraham Lin-
coln ?

Chieftain of the people during four of the most exciting-, and
eventful years of this or any nation — years of revolution, years of wild

8

passion, mad ambition, and angry debate ; when the fires of party
strife were raging with incandescent glow ; years of rebellion and
blood — who remembers an angry word from his tongue, or an acrimo-
nious sentence from his pen ? " If any man oiFend not in word, the same
is a perfect man," says inspiration. Was not he perfect then ? Of no
other man could we more safely say : He never spoke a word wc
would have him recall, or wrote a line which, dying, he would Avish
to blot.

■ A man now prominent before the country, and who knew him
from boyhood, in a speech in Cincinnati, on the very day of his assas-
sination, said of him : " I knew him at home, and elsewhere when
he was a citizen, have known others who kncAv him well before and after
he was President, but neither they nor I ever saw him angry, or
heard him use a vulgar word, or do anything that would have been
offensive to the most fastidious." He brought not to the White
House the culture of the college, or the fastidiousness of the court,
but the homely virtues of a plain, honest man of the people — perfect
simplicity of character, integrity of purpose and unaftected digni-
ty. He brought to the discharge of his duties an incomparable tem-
per ; never elated by success, never depressed by disaster, some-
times, perhaps, drawn aside from the path of stern duty by the
teuderness of his nature, but never driven to undue severity by
the lashes of acrimonious epithet, or the keener thrusts of sarcasm
and ridicule ; though none suiFered more in these respects than he.
" How much we owe, as a nation, to this equable, and kindly tem-
perament we shall never know."

He was eminently unselfish. His answer to those who came to
congratulate him on his re-election was thoroughly generous, chival-
rous and patriotic. He gloried in patriotism not in party ; he did
not so much rejoice in the support of his constituents as in their
allegiance to the constitution and the countr3^ "I do not'' said he,
" wish to triumph over any man." " I have never willfully planted
a thorn in any man's bosom." In the hour of defeat he said : " I am
responsible" — and in the hour of triumph : "The glory is not mine."
He closed his second inaugural " with malice towards none, with
charity for all.'' No bribe could swerve, no sophistry deceive or
adulation blind, no threat intimidate, no danger delay him, no power
precipitate him, no enemy surprise him. He was calm in the wildest
storm, cheerful in calamity, firm where others faltered, hopeful when
others despaired, wise in counsel, mature in judgment, deliberate in

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action, steadfast and unyielding in his convictions of right, patient
under the severest provocations, merciful to his foes, and greatest of
all, pure amid the corriiptions of our Capital.

Conservative with his constituents, conciliatory towards his op-
ponents, he gave to both an example in his devotion to the Union, in
the toleration and liberality of his principles, and the pureness and
integrity of his motives and actions.

" The foundation upon which his character was built was his
moral sense, coming out in absolute truthfulness. This gave hira
marvelous moral uprightness, kept him unseduced by the temptations
of his profession, untainted by the corruptions of politics, and un-
blamable in public administrations. Every element of his being, even
his passion and compassion, and every act of his life, was in most
rigid submission to his moral sense and reason. The ruling, all-
controlling characteristic of his mind was his accurate, massive, iron-
armed reason. His mind acted with the precision of logic His
ideas came out naturally in syllogisms. His whole character was
rounded out into remarkable practical common sense. Thus his moral
sense, his reason, and his common sense were the three fixed points
through which the perfect circle of his character was drawn, the
sacred trinity of his great manhood." *

But he was more than moral and virtuous — he was a Christian.
Member of no denomination, he was a representative of American
Christianity as of American democracy. Deeply religious sentiments
abound in almost all his public speeches and documents. In his
farewell speech at Springfield, when, as President elect, he was
starting on his way to Washington, he said : " To-day I leave you.
I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved upon
General Washington. Unless the great God who assisted him shall be
with me and aid me, I must fail. But if the same Omniscient mind and
the same Almighty arm that directed and protected him, shall guide
and support me, I shall not fail ; I shall succeed. Let us all pray that
the God of our fathers may not forsake us now. To him I commend
you all — permit me to ask that, with equal sincerity and faith, you all
will invoke His wisdom and guidance for me."

Two days afterwards, I heard him in the Capitol of Indiana, at
the close of a brief speech, repeat, in tremulous tones, the same request,
and never was I more deeply impressed with a man's earnestness and

* Rev. C. H. Fowler— This quotation I3 added to the Sermon as preached.
2

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sincerity. He alwa^'s referred to his escape from intended assas-
sination in Baltimore with devout thankfulness to God. Arrived at
Washington he entered upon his duties in the same felt and acknowl-
edged dependence upon the " Omniscient mind and Almighty arm."
In his celebrated " Sabbath Order," he enjoined " the orderly observ-
ance of the Sabbath" upon both " the ofl&cers and men in the military
and naval services." He said : " The importance to man and beast of
the prescribed weekly rest ; the sacred rights of Christian soldiers
and sailors ; a becoming deference to the best sentiments of a Christian
people, and a due regard for the Divine will, all demand that Sunday
labor in the ixrmj and navy be reduced to tlie measure of strict
necessity. The discipline and character of the national forces should
not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled I'y the profanation
of the day and the toame of the Most High." Adopting the words of
Washington, in 1716, he said : " At this time of public distress, men
may find enough to do in the service of God and their country, with-
out abandoning themselves to vice and immorality. The President
hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and
act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest and most
sacred rights and privileges of his country."

To one who said to him, in the beginning of the war, " I hope, Mr.
Lincoln, the Lord will be on our side in this great contest," the
President replied : " I am not concerned w4iether the Lord is on
our side or not ; for I know he is always on the right side. But
God is my witness, that it has been my constant anxiety and prayer
that myself and this people should be on the Lord's side."

In his thanksgiving proclamation for 1863, he said, referring to
victories in the field and blessings at home and abroad : " No human
council hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these
great things for us ; they are the gifts of the Most High God, who
while dealing with us in judgment for our sins hath remembered
mercy. And it has seemed to me fitting and proper that they should
be solemnlj'-, reverently, and gratefully acknowdedged by the whole
American people."

It is stated that, on the day of the reception at Washington
of Lee's capitulation, the Cabinet meeting was held an hour earlier
than usual. Neither the President nor any member was able, for the
time, to give utterance to his feeliogs. At the suggestion of Mr.
Lincoln, all dropped on their knees, and offered, in silence and in tears,

their liuinblc unJ heartfelt acknowlodgineiits to the Almighty for
the triumph He had granted to the National cause.

And on tlie evening of April 12th, in the last public speeeli he
ever made, while he would not attempt to restrain the abounding joy
of the people, and whicli overflowed his own heart, for the capture of
Richmond and Lee's army, yet, like a kind father, he gently directed
the minds of the happy multitude up to the glorious Giver of "ever}'
good and perfect gift." "Yet, in the midst of it all," said he, "He
from whom all blessings flow must not be forgotten."

But happily we are not left to inference upon a matter of so much
interest and importance. He made a solemn and earnest dedication of
himself to God, and has told us when and where. Conversing in
the White House with a minister upon the subject of his own re-
ligious experience, the President said : " When I left my home in
Hlinois to take this chair of State, I requested my countrymen to
pray for me ; but I was not then a Christian. When I liad formally
entered upon my duties as President, and found the country really in
danger, and myself sustaining a burden that none before me had
borne, I felt more than ever the need of wisdom and strength from
God ; but I was not then a Christian. Here I lost my son — the
severest trial of my life — I received it as a chastening from God's
hand, but still did not devote myself wholly to Him. But when
I went to Gettysburg, and looked upon the graves of our dead heroes,
who had fallen in defence of their country, I then and there con-
secrated myself to Christ ; and now / do love Him "

With this incident before us, how significent is the language of
his brief speech at Gettysburg ! " We are met upon a great battle-
field of this war. We have come to dedicate a portion of this held
as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that the
Nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should
do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot con-
secrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and
dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far beyond our power
to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember
what we say here ; but it can never forget what they did here. It
is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished
work, which they who fought here have, thus far, so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining
before us ; that from these honored dead we take increased devotion
to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion ;

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that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in
vain ; that this nation, unler God, shall have a new birth of freedom ;
and that government of the people, by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the earth."

How significant, we repeat, in the light of his related Christian
experience recorded above, is much of this language. The terms
" dedicate," " consecrate," " hallow," " high resolve," " devote," " in-
creased devotion," " last full measure of devotion," " new birth," are
all to the Christian burdened with a meaning more than earth can give.
How deeply his soul felt, and how clearly his mind saw the eternal
fitness of those highest relations, and that most sacred of all conse-
crations; with what chastened joy and tender confidence he gave its
" last, full measure ;" with what new and hallowed emotions he mused,
as he turned homeward, upon that " new birth of freedom" to his soul,
that brought him into the liberty of God's dear children, we shall
never know, but some can imagine.

We have seen his Christian experience; we give an incident of his
Christian'Zi/g. Some months after his visit to Gettysburg, Dr. Adams,
of Philadelphia, " having an appointment to meet the President at an
early hour, went fifteen or twenty minutes before the time. While
waiting for the hour, he heard a voice in the next room, as if in grave
conversation, and asked the servant : " Who is talking in the next
room ?" " It is the President, sir." " Is anybody with him ? " " No,
sir ; he is reading the Bible." " Is that his habit so early in the
morning?" "Yes, sir ; every morning he spends the first hour after
rising in reading the Scriptures and praying."' Here was evidence
of true Christian life ; daily communion with God, and study of his
Holy Word."

One other illustration, looking more to his habitual state of mind
than to his conversion or private Christian life. In his second in-
augural, he says : " The Almighty has His own purposes. ' Wo un-
to the world because of offences ! For it must needs be that
offences come ; but wo to that man by whom the oifence cometh ! "
If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of the offences
which in the providence of God must needs come ; but which, having
continued through His appointed time. He now wills to remove, and
that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the wo
due to those by whom the offence come ; we discern therein no de-
parture from those divine attributes which the believers in a living
God alwaj's ascribe to Him. Fondly do we hope, fervently do we

13

pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet
if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-
man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk ;
and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by
another drawn with the sword — as was said three thousand years
ago — still it must be said : 'The judgments of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.' "

These words and sentiments fall gratefully upon the ear and
heart of every true patriot and Christian, and therein the nation
seems to be listening again to the devout, solemn, paternal admoni-
tions of the " Father of his Country"

Such are some of the evidences that our lamented Chief Magistrate
was, in the highest sense, a good man. And this chapter in the his-
tory of his greatness, will gather interest with passing time, and be
studied with increasing profit and delight from generation to gene-
ration. And when in after years, our own and the nations of the
earth have learned properly to appreciate him, (for now they do not,
they cannot, ) then, and for all time, shall this attribute of his charac- / '
ter appear in its true light — the brightest gem in the crown of glory,' ^ J
as it shall be the fullest measure of his reward in eternity.

III. A man of the people, an honest politician, a Christian patriot
and statesman, see the work he wrought. We have said the time was
inauspicious in which he came to the chair of state. It was a time
when, to use his own language, "all thoughts were anxiously directed
to an impending civil war. All dreaded, all sought to avert it.
While the inaugural address was being delivered, devoted altogether
to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city
seeking to destroy it without v/ar — seeking to dissolve the Union and
divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war ; but
one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive ; and
the other would accept war rather than let the nation perish. And
the war came."

And the first great question meeting President and people was :
Shall we attempt to maintain the Union by forcel It was decided in
the aflSrmative. Wisely did our leader determine, that the Republic
founded by war should not be abandoned without an effort to defend
and save it by war. And here we pause a moment to scan, so far
as we may, principles and motives.

The President in his first inaugural used these words : " In your
hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the

14

momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you.
You can have no conflict without bein^- yourselves the ag'gressors.
You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government ;
while I have the most solemn one to ' preserve, protect, and defend it.' "

And with what tender affection, what beauty and sublimity did he
close that address : " I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but
friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have
strained, it must not break our bonds of affection The mystic
cords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave
to every living heart and hearth-stone all over this broad land, will
yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they
will be, by the better angels of our nature."

But against this warning and tender appeal ; against interest,
reason and religion, the terrible issue was taken.

And we liesitate not to say that, upon the part of the insurgents —
we mean the few, the leaders, who must forever bear the responsi-
bility of the unequaled crime — the war was founded in falsehood,
arrogance, aggression and tyranny ; it was assumed without cause,
without law or authority, but against these ; has been carried on
without principle, and attended by consequences the most appalling.
It was no more nor less than a high-handed attempt upon the integ-
vhy and life of a nation for the gratification and advantage of a few.
We have no heaj-t to dwell upon the ruin their madness has wrought.

The acceptance of war by President and people was purely an
act of self-defence — involving life, to be sure, and to a fearful ex-
tent, but for the preservation of principles for which life had been
gladly given in every land where Freedom had sought rest for her
weary feet ; the same principles for which Brutus perished in Rome,
Tell in Switzerland, Bruce in Scotland, Sydney in England, Emmett in
Ireland, and for which Washington and the heroes of the Revolu-
tion fought. Not for empire, or conquest, or subjugation ; not for
wealth, or power, or pride ; not to slake animosities and wreak un-
holy revenge ; not to crush man and despoil him of his rights ; not
to take away from the common people a share in their own govern-
ment ; not to bind heavy burdens upon the backs of the poor for the
advantage of tlie rich ; not to seal up the fountains of education,
and pervert the promises and prophecies of God's Holy Word ; not
to break down the safeguards of ^society and destroy the supremacy
of law — for none of these was accepted by our fallen Chieftain.

Men there doubtless have been among us, who were moved by

15

wrong motives and for base purposes ; but whatever unholy passions
may have burned in the bosom of others, they found no place in that
generous heart, now stilled forever. And here I will digress to say,
that to all of us, even those whose hearts an^ homes arc darkest and
most desolate, it is a consolation to reflect, in oiu* loneliness and grief,
that we have not left our homes, nor offered ourselves or our kindred,
nor given our means, nor inflicted the evils of war upon others for
the sake of hurting any human being, or demolishing one single
right, personal, political, social, civil or religious, that justly belongs
to any one. Our hearts have bled, and if, in return, we have made
others bleed, it was only the doom they madly challenged.

Shall the man who sets upon you, intent upon your life, marvel or
complain if you deal him a blow that carries witli it wounds or
even death ?

The first decision of the President saved the nation's life. A good
beginning, surely.

The second great act we shall notice was like unto the first — it
secured future health to the life be had saved. Suppression of the slave
trade in this country, and the abolishing of slavery from the District
of Columbia, were " signs of the times," foreshadowing that great
coming event — the edict of Freedom. How to eradicate slavery
from our government had been a problem of gravest import at every
period of our history ; it had employed the best wisdom and ability
of the nation. The immortal Clay said concerning it : " If I could
be instrumental in eradicating this deepest stain from the character
of our country, I would not exchange the proud satisfaction for the
honor of all the triumphs ever decreed to the most successful con-
queror ! " But what Clay in vain aspired to do ; that which bafiled
the wisdom and skill of a Washington and a Webster ; that which the
combined skill of all the statesmen the country ever produced could
not do, Abraham Lincoln has done ! A race is free and a na-
tion at last " redeemed, regenerated and disenthralled." And so of
other and the rest of his public acts, had we time to dwell upon them ;
but we must pass.

And yet we are told he was not a statesman. Tried by a formal,
exacting, diplomatic standard, perhaps he was not. But within the
constitution, laws and political circumstances of the nation, he was a
statesman. He distinctly apprehended the fundamental principles of
the government at the head of which he was placed, and enunciated
them, when occasion required, with a breadth and clearness which

16

gave them fresh validity. He kept his main object — the preserva-
tion of the Union and the Constitution — distinctly in view, and
steadily directed all his efforts to it. If he suffered himself to be
guided by events, it was not because he lost sight of principles,
much less because he was drifting, aimless ; but because he deliber-
ately recognized in events the manifestation of moral forces which he
was bound to consider, and the behests of Providence which he was
bound to obej'', He neither floated at random between the different
sections of his party, nor did he abandon himself to the impulse of
any one of them, (whether it were that of the extreme Abolitionists
or that of the mere politician,) but he treated them all as elements of
the Union party, which it was his task to hold together and conduct,
as a combined army, to victory.

It is almost an insult to his memory to stop and answer the charge
of tyranny against the late President. It was eminently fitting that
a vile assassin, brandishing his bloody knife, should repeat the motto
of Virginia (just free from a tyrant's grasp) and apply it to his mur-
dered victim. The man who could commit so foul a crime could pre-
fer so false a charge 1 He was the very man to do it. But no one who
knew the President, or could appreciate his position, or the times and
circumstances in which he moved, or had any regard for honesty and
truth, would or could entertain such a charge for a moment. Never
was a man more deeply imbued with reverence for liberty and law, or
more sincerely desirous of identifying his name with the preservation
of our free institutions, than was Abraham Lincoln. He sanctioned,
though he did not originate, the military arrests ; but he did so knowing
that the power to do it was given him by the constitution, and that
the circumstances had arisen in which it was necessary to exercise it
for the salvation of the State. His justification of these acts is
scrupulously and anxiously constitutional. To the remonstrants who
told him that the safeguards of habeas corpus and trial by jury, " were
secured substantially to the English people after years of protracted
civil war, and were adopted into our constitution at the close of the
Revolution ;" he replied : "Would not the demonstration be better
if it could have been truly said, that these safeguards had been
adopted and applied during the civil wars, and during the Revolu-
tion, instead of after the one and at the dose of the other ? I, too,
am devotedly for them, after civil war, and before civil war, and at
all times, ' except when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public
safety may require their suspension.'" This last sentence is quoted

17

from the Constitution, and makes provision for all the President did
by martial law.

kSo much for the false accusation of " llagrant and inexcusable
usurpation." Charged with invading the rights of the people, no man .
was ever more jealous for them, more zealously defended, or more
successfully, or in so high a degree developed and secured them.
Charged with tyranny and disregard of the Constitution, no man has
so broken the chains of oppression, the arms of treason, or so inspired
and strengthened the hopes and confidence of the Republic. And
henceforth the name of Abraham Lincoln, like the flag beneath which
he fell, and whose sacred folds enshrouded him in death, shall be a
terror to all tyrants, while ocean rolls or there glitters a star in the
heavens above !

TV. Another indication of his greatness is seen in his remarhahk
poicer over the people, and his use of that power for the people.

Man's power and glory, originallyf^iir seen in that he was made
head over all beneath the sun. There remains but one higher mani- ^

festation of^LU4^b_y dignity and honor for him, and that is, power o\evjL^*^''A^y
his kind. This is the climax of human greatness. It is given to but
few men to enjoy. It was given to Alexander and Bonaparte, to
Wellington and Washington. Kings and military chieftrJns may in-
herit greatness, or seize it by fraud and violence. It is a very dif-
ferent thing to gain it in a republic, and by the will of the people.
Even there intrigue, policy and bribery may outstrip merit in the
race. But to gain such distinction honorably, meritoriously, and to
rise thus from the most common obscurity, this indeed, and at once,
bespeaks man's power, and constitutes his highest earthly glory and
destiny.

Such was the path and goal of Lincoln's career. His popularity
with the people during the first presidential campaign was unbounded;
his re-election almost unanimous, the ti»«^ Chief Magistrate of the nation i,? c^/^ .
who ever received that honor. He held discordant parties in his power,
and by the magic of his influence moulded them into one. His war and
emancipation policies (and especially the latterj at first found many
opponents among his best friends. I remember an oflScer of influ-
ence, who, when asked to subscribe resolutions sustaining the Presi-
dent's policy, tore them into pieces in a rage, and bitterly denounced
him instead. But he afterwards repented, in sackcloth and ashes,
became his admirer, voted for his re-election, and is to-day one of his
sincerest mourners. And thus was it with multiplied thousands

18

everywhere. This g-reut uuiii, as by a charm, " turned the hearts of
the people as the rivers of water are turned." His name, breathed in
universal prayer, became the watchword of the nation, the battle-cry
of its army and navy ; his likeness, a cherished household treasure
in the homes of the million, and his policy the talisman of the Re-
public. The eyes of the world were upon him, and the nations gazed
in astonishment at his career and his train !
/yV,^^^_^ \ And yet this man, the foremost of the age, who had the hearts of

y , ." :> r/^ A-*^ f \the people, and wielded this mighty influence over them, used it all
_._— -^ to help the people help themselvesT^ " Of the people, when they rise
in mass in behalf of the Union and the liberties of their country, truly
may it be said, ' The gates of hell cannot prevail against them.' In
all trying positions in which I shall be placed, and, doubtless, I shall
be placed in many such, my reliance will be placed upon you and
the people of the United States ; and I wish you to remember, now
and for ever, that it is your business and not mine ; that if the union
of these States and the liberties of this people shall be lost, it is but
little to any one man of tifty-two years of age, but a great deal to
the thirty millions of people who inhabit these United States, and to
their posterity in all coming time. It is your business to rise up and
preserve the Union and liberty for yourselves, and not for me. I
desire they should be constitutionally performed. I, as already
intimated, am but an accidental instrument, temporary, and to serve
but for a limited time, and I appeal to you again to constantly bear
in mind that with you, and not with politicians, not with Presidents,
not with office-seekers, but wnth you, is the question, shall the Union
and shall the liberties of this country be preserved to the latest
generations ? " — Lincoln's speech at Indianapolis, February, 1861,

If not a providential design, it was certainly a practical result of
his administration, to more fully demonstrate the principle of self-
government. It was, emf)hatically, the administration of the people,
by the people. The people, as never before, have governed them-
selves— they have spoken and it has been done, they have com-
manded and it has stood fast. When the President seemed hesita-
ting-, undecided, he was only awaiting the will of the people. No
other chief magistrate ever so threw the people upon their own judg-
ment and resources. And when he did so, and the people, in the
midst of rebellion, were left to themselves, our enemies (monarchy
in the Old World and aristocracy in the New) shouted for joy, and
said : " The bubble is broken ; goreriimevt by mechanics and laborers is

10

at an end ; the days of tlic gnxiut Anieiican Republic are miinbcred,
its g'lory departed, and their vaunted Temple of Lil)erty, that stood
in the calm, will be blown to ruins in the storm, burying beneath its
rubbish all who cling to its fortunes." But how have the people —
the Republic — belied their prophecies and their hopes. The rnan
who, through four terrible years, had led the people, was, when
the storm was loudest, calmly, triumphantly returned to his important
position for another term, and the people, looking to their leader but
trusting in God, moved on, confident of success, exclaiming:

" O, country I marvel of the earth !

O, realm, to sudden greatness grown I
The age that gloried in thy birth —

Shall it behold thee overthrown V
Shall traitors lay thy greatness low ?
No ; land of hope and blessing, No I ! "

" But the people are strong in the might of this one man ; let
their chieftain fall, let their Moses be taken from them, and ruin, in-
evitable, speedy, fearful, will follow, and they will die in the wilder-
ness of war." Well, we shall see.

The awful trial came. Their chieftain fell. Not in battle, not by
accident, not by disease, but hy the hand of an asmsshi he is brutally
murdered ! But when the enemy expected confusion, anarchy and
every evil work, lo ! the people are calm and self-possessed, united
and strong', and another of their number, a mechanic, too, one who
never attended any school tor a single day, immediately steps for-
ward at their bidding, takes the reins of government from the hand
relaxed in death, and all moves on steadily, harmoniously and suc-
cessfully as before — our securities are firm, our armies victorious,
and our laws, institutions and government stand like mountains
which cannot be moved ! Labor, as never before, is dignified and
made honorable. Lincoln the farmer, and Johnson the mechanic, have
forever redeemed and glorified the common people, and government

by laborers and artizans is fully and triumphantly vindicated before /i

the nations of the earth. Aud our Johiiaeft, we believe, shall lead usc^^Ji/^^^^^

triumphantly to the Promised Land of Peace! But to return. And

now that this man of power has been taken from the people ; now

that we have passed every fiery test ; now that the enem}^ has done

his worst ; now that the storm has spent its rage, that morning

breaks, and light appears, how, let me ask, stands our Liberty's

•i'rand fane ? Firm and unshaken :

20

" Like some tall cliff that rears its awful form.
Spreads from the vale aiul midway leaves tlie storm ;
Though alonj,' its breast tlie rolliug clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head."

Glorious temple ! founded in wisdom, defended hy valor, conse-
crated by years, cemented by the purest and best of patriot blood ;
renowned, sublime, luilluwed ; a blessing and forever blest ; inay it
stand, aye, it shall stand, with the fame of our martyred President,
immortal and unimpaired, when the last traitor and tyrant shall have
perished before the march of Freedom —

'• Like a worm upon destructiou's path ! "

V. But we check these thoughts and ask : Is it so ? Is the Presi-
dent dead ? Has this prince and great man in our Israel fallen ?
Is this great leader of the people no more ? We can only say alas !
alas ! ! The nation is bereaved and the people mourn. We labor in
vain to fully realize the mournful fact, or comprehend the magnitude
of our loss. And yet, we realize enough, feel enough to bewilder
the mind and render words a mockery. No tongue or pen will ever
give, to foreign nations or posterity, a faithful portrait of the
national emotion. Men wander purposeless, or sit dumb with

£' /). ' amazement and grief. "The costliest blood is shed; the clearest

O^JfiLx. eye is dimmed; the strongest arm is nerveless; the Chief Magistrate
- jr^<^^^ ^« ^o more !/j'' The mighty man cries bitterly ; the day is a day of
/ ^ wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and deso-

lation, a day of darkness and gloominess and a day of clouds and
thick darkness." All classes are clothed in sackcloth. The exile
from tyranny and oppression in distant lands ; the homeless wander-
ers of the South seeking refuge from conscription, cruelty and want;
the poor among us, who, left without employment or bread, are fed
by his bounty ; the freedmen who heard the words of the Emanci-
pator and awoke to a new life ; the toiling millions, by field and
flood, who loved him as a brother ; the soldier and marine, tlie sailor
and civilian, the mechanic, the merchant and the lawyer ; all true
friends of America and of liberty every where ; all are alllicted and
mourn — deeply, sincerely mourn.

We have had other griefs ; our loved ones have died or fallen in
battle, and we have felt their loss. Our comrades in arms and our
commanders in the field, whom we loved and obeyed, we have seen
cut down at a stroke, and with sad hearts we laid them coffinless to

21

their last rest. But our -^rcat captain survived, and while we heard
his manly voice amid and above the war of elements, and knew that
his strong- and practiced hand was on the helm, piloting r.s through
storm and night to a port of" peace, we toiled and sufVered on, and
said all was well.

But suddentrly, violently, 0, how shamefully he has been stricken
down, and we feel that never before have we known bereavement
or sorrow. The voice of lamentation and wo, and bitter weeping as ^,
never before, is heard everywhere throughout the land. Millions of n^.
hearts are sincerely exclaiming: "Would God Iltaddiedforthcc!'^ -'
It added greatly to the pain of David's grief for Abner to remember -\
how he died : " Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put in j "v ^
litters " — thou was not overcome by one stronger than thou — thou «- A
didst not fall in erpuil con^bat or by thine equal—" as a man fallethp^ ^
before wicked men, so fullest thou.'V^n the hour of danger, or just ^ ^
as the ship of State was past the peril, " one of its passengers stole ^«^
to the pilot's back, (to whom the nation oAved its life) and murdered
him in cold blood'/ Family, city, army, navy, nation, all smitten by
one terrible blow. God of heaven ! what a calamity, what a crime !

The man who, to escape assassination four years ago, was obliged
to enter Washington disguised, now leaves the city in his cofiin, a
victim, at last, to the fell conspiracy !

How deep, dark, painful the dispensation ! And yet we must
believe it was needed, and submit witiiout question or complaint.
Perhaps, too much, we were glorj'ing in our guide — putting in mortal
man the confidence belonging alone to God. He may have been thus
taken that the lessons of his life and God's word might be more
deeply impressed upon the nation's heart We may have needed the
revelation it has given of the true character <aud- that diabolicaj
spirit that sought the nation's life. Perhaps he would have been too
lenient with that spirit, and was removed that justice might be dealt
with a sterner hand. We may have needed tliis unprecedented
trial to teach us, as a nation, and others also, how much we could
bear and yet survive. We had felt one common thrill when first the
tocsin of war was sounded ; we had felt bound by a common sympathy
in the hour of despondency and gloom ; we had witnessed the tri.
umph of patriotism over party at his re-election, and felt that we
were strong : a mighty triumph, twice told, had just awakened and
united the nation in a common joy ; did we need another tie to bind
us in yet closer union ? We find it in this great overwhelming

y

22

national grief — never have we known a sympathy so unanimous, so
powerful. Perhaps we were not sufficiently chastened and humbled
as a people, and our sins required yet this rod of correction. But wc
will not question. " He doeth all things well." Wc yield submission
and only look up to God through our tears, and say : " Thy will be
done I "

•• And if in our unworthiiiegs.
Thy sacrificial wine we press ;
If from Thy ordeal's heated bars
Out feet are seared with crimson scars ;
Thy will be done.

" If, for the age to come, this hour
or trial hath vicarious power ;
And, blest by Thee, our present pain
Be Liberty's eternal gain ;
Thy will be done."

And while we thus submit, there is much to relieve the poignancy
of our pain. Let us not, in our grief, forget to be grateful that God
f^-ave us such a man, and that he has spared him to us so long ;
spared him till the fierce storm had spent its fury, and his own eyes
saw the bow of promise span the sky, a pledge that storm should
cease ; till the long dark night of war had worn away to the dawn
of the day of peace ; spared him till he saw the proud Palmetto
State, the first to cast off her allegiance to the government, humbled
beneath the power she had madly spurned, and the citadel of seces-
sion in desolation and ruins ; till his own feet stood triumphantly in
the last stronghold of the enemy, and pressed the soil of the Old
Dominion finally and forever free ; till he saw the insurgent chieftain
and his great army captives, «nd the arch-traitor himself a fugitive
from justice ; spared him to behold the day that saw the identical
flag, which was the first to be humbled at the behests of treason,
floating in triumph again over Sumter's shattered walls ; till the old
fiag waved victorious over some part of every revolted State ;
spared him till his heart, weary with long toiling and waiting, might
inly have said with one of old : " Now, Lord, let test Thou thy ser-
vant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation ! "

I do not say it is so ; but, if his death be the last cowardly eftbrt
of rebellion, let traitors know that his fall has given their hopes a
more fatal blow than they could have in any other nauner received.
And this may be God's severe judgment upon them. Falling as he

<r)0
A')

has, in his g-rave lie will lead more men to victory — certain, speedy,
decisive victory — than ever he could have done while living, or than
can any chieftain we have left. He dies Samson-like, crushing his
enemies in his fall ! Nor will his death be lost upon us.

The oak that breaks beneath the blast,

Or falls before the woodman's strokes ;
Spreads, by its fall, the ripened mast

That holds in germ a thousand oaks.

" And in his fall, his death hath strown
More than his fallen life survives ;
For o'er the Nation it has sown
•ff Zr Seeds for a thousand noble lives."

From the death of Pompey we date the extinction of the Roman
Republic ; from that time the Senate lost its power, the common-
wealth its liberty, and the people were never without a master. But
the death of Lincoln marks a new, a more glorious era in the
stability, power, purity and promise of American liberty.

Thus does Divinity shape our ends ; thus make the wrath of man
to praise Him ; thus smile from behind " a frowning providence ;
thus from the bitter bud brings forth the fragrant flower ; from mys-
tery, deep and dark, bring to light His wise designs and make all
things se|ve the good.

And thus, again, it is true that —

•' They never fall who die in a good cause.

The block may soak their gore — their heads
May sodden in the sun — their limbs
Be strung on castle walls and city gates ;

" And though, in after years

Others may share as dark a doom ;
They but serve to augment the deep

And swelling thoughts that overpower
All others, and lead the world at last to
Freedom."

Our departed President justly deserves every tribute we or pos-
terity can pay him. The most popular Chief Magistrate of the
Nation, he gloried iu being an American citizen, and now America
glories in claiming such a man. Possessed of high moral courage,
he was generous, benevolent, humane. Highest in position, he never
forgot the rock whence he was hewn, and the humblest had audience

24

with him. Alike at home iu tlie log hut or the White House, the
Sabbath School or the Cabinet, in polite affectionate attentions to a
poor child, or well-merited official hauteur to foreign nations. His
private and public life were consistent. Such were his virtues as a
citizen and his ability as a magistrate, that it is difficult to say,
whether as a man or a President, he is most lamented.

We hesitate not to place him beside the Father of his Country,
and claim for him equal dignity, honor and glory. Like him he was
returned to the Chair of State for a second term. Washington was
the founder of a republic, Lincoln the emancipator of a race. Wash-
ington who redeemed us from tyrants abroad, Lincoln who delivered
us from traitors at home. Washington who gave us civil liberty,
Lincoln who preserved the Union. Washington the Father of his
Country, Lincoln the Savior of the Nation. Washington liberated us,
Jackson defended us, but Lincoln died for us. And we hail in him,
at once, the hero, the patriot, and the martyr. With such a record,
the future historian will dwell with delight upon his administration
and his memory, finding little to censure and much to commend.
The future will do him justice — we cannot. But in making a present
estimate of thf, man we should consider well the times in which he
lived — " times of portent and prodigy, enough to perplex the good,
confound the wise, and daunt the brave " — times " when experience
was an infant and calculation a contingency." And yet he was equal
to the emergency — was eminently the man for the times. Many
before him have done excellently, but he has excelled them all. If
the departed know what transpires on earth, how must the heroes of
the past, " spirits of the mighty dead," have rejoiced in the labor of
his hands. And with what reverence and glad acclaim did they
receive to their shades, where no jealousy or envy reigns, the spirit of
one who iu honor and labor Avas more abundant than they all.

His labor done, he sleeps " by all his country's wishes blest."
And while patriotism shall boast its Patrick Henry, and science and
philosophy shall revere the memory of Franklin ; while " glory shall
rekindle at the urn of Washington," and valor cherish the name of
Jackson, and while statesmanship shall learn lessons at the tombs of
Clay and (jf Webster, the xVmerican mind Avill instinctively, and with
pride and satisfaction, turn to Abrahaji Lincoln as the true genius
of her government and free institutions. "He incarnated the ideal
Republic, and was the living personification of the divine idea of
free government.'

25

With sympathy iiiul cundulencc for hia stnckeii family, with
prayer ami hope for our bereaved and sorrowing country ; with con-
fidence in and a hearty support of his successor in ofiice ; and with
liis own words sounding* in our ears, let us arise and gird us for the
remainder of our task. Hear, then, and let the nation hear, ccwiiing
up from the place of his silent rest — for I am sure if he could speak
from the grave he would repeat — these words :

" With malice towards none, with charity for ail, with lirmiicss in
the right, as God shall give us to see the right, let us strive to finish
the work we are in ; to bind up the nation's wounds ; to care ibr him
Avho shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and orphan ; to
do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace
among ourselves and with all nations."

I close this part of the discourse with the following epitaph, fur-
nished me by another :

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

god's XOBLKST work — AX IIONKST MAX I
TUK BRAVE, THE WISE, THE GOOD.

Ambitious without vanity.

Discreet without fear,

Conficleut without rashness.

In disaster calm, in success moderate, in all things upright and true.

The Hero ! the Patriot ! the Statesman !

The guiding star of the people ! The friend of the oppressed I

The deliverer of the bondsmen.

A victim to slavery.

A martyr in the cause of Human Liberty

He died that his country might be tree.

A grateful nation will honor his name, perpetuate his principles, and

Remember bis virtues.

What are the lessons of this great calamity ?

The first is one of warning and instruction to young men. Upon
the young men of to-day will depend the success or failure of all the
great social, civil and moral interests of the next generation. This
vast responsibility is theirs by a solemn destiny as inevitable as
fate. Heirs apparent, they succeed to the thrones and estates of the
future. Governed and learning now, they must teach and govern the
race then. The press, the bar, and the pulpit ; science, commerce, art,
literature and religion will all be in their possession. They are to
wield the mighty power, and fill the high places of honor and trust,
and meet all the exigencies of the coming age. And among them,

26

too, (alas ! that we must say it,) are the predestined successors of
all who now wield an mrnoral iniluence, and fill positions of dis-
honor, shame and infamy. I repeat, if the perjured villains, the
nameless assassins and murderers, the base and brutal leaders of
their kind, and all the guilty horde of loathesome, terrible, demented
and demonized humanity of to-day are to have successors, the j'ouug
men of to-day must fill their places ! Solemn thought ! And yet the
awful idea that should appal every heart falls powerless and ineffi-
cient because of its hackneyed truism. We cannot stop here to
enforce it. Time flies, and rapid years make haste to bear you on,
and unseen hands busily prepare for your coronation in virtue or vice,
in honor or infamy Your destiny depends mainly upon your own
decision. Man is the maker of immortal fate, and do you hesitate
in your choice of crowns ?

These words will be soon forgotten. But never can you forget
the names and characters representing these two classes and desti-
nies ; the murderer and his victim — the eternally infamous actor,
the. honored and immortal President. An impassable gulf divides
them. Characters cannot stand in greater contrast. You know
their early history, associations, principles, habits, character, life
— aU /Am^^U' and end — v^hich will vou follow '{

-h^u^uxc-tci - ^ 2. It seems to me eminently proper on this occasion to press the
' claims of Christianiwupon those occupying high positions in social,
civil and military life. I have given at considerable length the pious
sentiments of the late President. I will add a few words from Wash-
ington : " Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political
prosperity, religion and moralit}' are indispensable supports. In vain
would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to
subvert these great pillars of human happiness — these firmest props
of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with
the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could
not trace all their connection with private and public felicity. Let
it be simply asked, where is the security for property, for reputation,
for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are
instruments of investigation in our courts of justice ? And let us,
with caution, indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained
without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of
refined education upon minds of peculiar structure, reason and expe-
rience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in
exclusion of religious principles."

27

Thus we have the testimony of the two greatest men that ever
lived — made so by their principles — to the influence and importance
of religion. They tell us that the best citizen, the best soldier, the
best man, and the best magistrate, is the true Christian. That though
there are great and good men in all these relations who are not Chris-
tians, true religion would make them greater and better ; that vice
and immorality endanger the safety of the nation ; that morality and
religion are its firmest pillars, its indispensable supports ; that he is
the highest patriot who most heartily labors to infuse moral health
into society and state ; while he who should labor to subvert religion
would thereby sacrifice all claim to patriotism. And He whose
throne is established in the heavens, and whose kingdom rulcth over
all — who ordained civil government and threw around it the safe-
guards of the Decalogue and the New Testament — has said that
" righteousness exalteth a nation ; " that " sin is i\ reproach to any
people ; " that " Godliness is profitable unto all things; " that " the
nation that doeth wickedly," He Avill " utterly destroy,"

Who, then, can look indifferently upon the remarkable prevalence
of Sabbath desecration, profanity, intemperance, licentiousness, fraud,
violence and official corruption ? " For these things cometh the
wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." For these things
empires decay and nations die. Let us be careful, then, how by word
or act wo encourage or countenance them. Vice is a monster
wherever found. Personally it ruins health, wastes fortune, blasts
reputation, poisons domestic bliss, sacrifices life, and destroys the
soul forever. From the individual, its deadly infection spreads
through family, society, state, army and nation, ripening all for the
retribution of offended heaven !

In all these relations religion is first pure — giving life, health and
vigor— then peaceable and full of good fruits. Always and every-
where it enjoins upon each and all whatsoever things are true,
honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous or praiseworthy.
It secures to each personal interests high as heaven, vast as the uni-
verse, and lasting as eternity. It is good for the individual, it ex-
alts the nation. It has the promise of the life that now is, and of that
which is to come. Well may we say, " a volume could not trace all
its connection with private and public felicity." And from beneath
the shadow of this great grief, where all hearts feel the overpowering
impress of solemnity and tenderness, I make my most earnest and
urgent appeal to heads of families, to teachers and guardians of

28

American youth, to leaders in society, to commanders in the army
and navy, to the judges and rulers of our land — in behalf of religion !
Hear and heed its claims. They are transcendently, infinitely im-
portant. " The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought
to respect and cherish them." You love your country and Govern-
ment, love God who gave them. You love and cherish thoughts of
happiness and heaven, lead, then, the life which secures them to you
for ever. You mourn and love him who has died for the republic,
will you not love Him who has died for the world ? You have re-
sponded to the call of patriotism, will you not yield to the claims of
heaven ? It was when, on a great battle-field of the war, Mr. Lincoln
saw how others had given themselves to Libert}", that he consecrated
himself to Religion. You would gladly die for your country, will
you not live for God ?

While you cherish the names and memories of Washington and
Lincoln, remember their example and heed their solemn admonitions
and instructions. Their words are but the combined utterances of
philosophy and experience, of reason and revelation. Time has
proved them true, and they gather importance and emphasis with
growing years. I have thought, if our lamented President could
have been conscious in his final hour, and permitted a last message
to the nation he had loved and served so well, and was leaving in
such deep grief and forever, in the language of God's prophet of old
(and to whom he has been aptly compared,) he would have said :
" Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the
Lord my God commanded me ; keep, therefore, and do them, for this
is your wisdom, your understanding and your life in the sight of
the nations which shall hear all these statutes and say : Surely this
great nation is a wise and understanding people. Only take heed
that thou forget not these things ; but teach them to thy sons and
to thy sons' sons, that it may be well with thee and thy children
after thee in the land w^hicli the Lord thy God hath given thee
forever."

And if Washington and Lincoln could be heard again ; if their
voices, which once had audience from the civilized world, but are hushed
in death, could now break the silence of the tomb and speak to our
nation in its tears, what could they more than repeat their solemn
admonitions and say : " Only take heed lest thou forget these things,
but teach them to thy children and thy children's cliildrcn, that it
may be well with thee and with them forever ! " God help us all to

29

remember our personal responsibility ! That each one, however
humble, is a part of tlie great nation, a part of the government ;
that as are the parts, so will be the whole. As is the character of
the masses — their intelligence, patriotism and morality — so will be
the character of the nation ; that as is the " sense of religious obli-
gation," so will be the "security" for property, for reputation for
life ; that as is the morality of the nation, so will be its perpetuity,
power and glory ; and that " reason and experience both forbid us
to expect that national morality can be maintained in exclusion of
religious principles."

3. But, finally — for I have already detained you too long — we
learn again, and how impressively, the uncertainty of human life
and the instability of all earthly good. All know these things, but
are prone to forget and need to be reminded of them. And what a
remembrance is this ! In the strength of his manhood, when success
and honor most gloriously crowned him, when his life was most a
blessing and most blest, in the hour of relaxation and pleasure, sur-
rounded by friends, the mightiest man is smitten down without a
moment's warning. With what solemn force does it bring home to
our hearts the sacred admonitions : " Prepare to meet thy God I ''
" Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die and not live ! " " In such
an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man shall come, therefore be ye
also ready ! " " This night thy soul shall be required of thee ! "
" All fiCvSh is as grass, and the glory thereof as the flower of the field ! "
"We all do fade as a leaf!" "Life, as a vapor, appeareth for a
little time, and then vanisheth away."

By what a feeble tenure we hold this feverish and troubled exist-
ence I And while it continues, how uncertain is all we proudly call
our own ! Youth, beauty, health, riches, power, friends we love,
happiness, hope, and life itself, all may vanish in a moment, and
leave but darkness, despair and death. How has this been verified
to the nation in the last four years, and specially in this last and
greatest affliction. How have time, and bereavement, and misfortune,
with silent footsteps, been treading the wasting hearts of mourning
millions. Let us not misinterpret these chastenings of our Father's
hand, or fail to learn the lessons of the hour. Do you ask again, why
is it thus ? A voice in sovereign majesty replies : " Be still and
know that I am God." " When my judgments are abroad in the land,
the people will learn righteousness." It is in love, then, and for
our good. "He afflicts not willingly," and in mercy.

30 -

" Each pain, each ill of mortal birth,
Is sent in pitying love ;
To turn our thoughta away from earth,
And speed their flight above.

'• And every pang that wrings the breast,
And every joy that dies.
Tells us to seek a purer rest
And trust to holier ties."

Let us, in our grief, betake us to the mercy seat — "here briug our
wounded hearts, here tell our anguish — and learn that earth has
no sorrow heaven cannot heal," A prominent man who was once
present when Mr. Lincoln received the news of a great military
disaster, says of him : " It was after our Eastern armies had met
with repeated disaster and the nation was dejected. When the Pre-
sident had read the dispatch, his face was white as snow ; it looked
like a dead face. Every drop of blood in his body seemed gathering
to his heart, and that heart, for once, seemed ready to sink, and he
went away by himself. Afterwards, in speaking to me about it,
when he was in a confidential mood, he said : ' If I could not then
have knelt down in secret and cast my troubles upon God, they would
J. , have killed we." He added : " I have seen more than one such occasion

Since I became President. " 0, the|e aren^easons which make sup-
pliants of us all ; when the crushed and anguished heart instinctively
turns to heaven and sincerely cries out : " God pity us I God help
us 1 " Such prayer is always heard and brings relief ; then come
sweet assurances to the burdened soul of a better world, where sin
and death can never enter, where pain, and night, and anguish are
unknown, where tears are wiped from all faces —

" And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul."

There, we believe, rests the spirit of our martyred President, and
there may all meet him at last who mourn his loss.

VL^-t /i-^^'

31

A.PF*ENI3IX.

We have referred (on page 24) to Mr. Lincoln in Sabbath School.
We give the following incident from the Western Christian Advocate :

In 18G0 he visited New York City, and made a speech before the
Young Men's Republican Club at Cooper Institute, and during his
stay in the city he visited the Five Points House of Industry. A
teacher in the school thus narrates the' event :

" One Sunday morning I saw a tall, remarkable-looking man enter
the room and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed attention
to our exercises, and his countenance expressed such genuine inte-
rest that I approached him and suggested that he might be willing
to say something to the children. He accepted the invitation with
evident pleasure ; and coming forward, began a simple address,
which at once fascinated every little hearer and hushed the room
into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful, and his tones
musical with intensest feeling. The little faces around him would
droop into sad conviction as he uttered sentences of warning, and
would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words of promise.
Once or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the imperative
shout of ' Go on ! 0, do go on ! ' would compel him to resume. As
I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger, and
marked his powerful head and determined features, now touched
into softness by the impressions of the moment, I felt an irrepressible
curiosity to learn something more about him, and while he was
quietly leaving the room I begged to know his name. He courteously
replied, ' It is Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois.' "

From the same source we give the following illustration of his
attention to children :

" Mr. Lincoln had the faculty of making everybody feel at home
in his presence. He was always on the best of terms with children,
as the little folks of Springfield, Illinois, where he lived so long, will
testify. He loved them, and they loved him, and this is the true
solution of his magnetic influence in social life. In the summer of
1864, three little girls, the daughters of a Washington mechanic,
neatly but poorly clad, passed into the Presidential mansion with the
crowd on reception day. Their curiosity was on tip-toe, and their

32

sparkling eyes were glancing from (object to object, not designing to
offer their little hands to the President, as their seniors did. Doubt-
less they thought that the Chief Magistrate of the nation would not
like to have little girls intruding themselves upon his presence on
such an occasion ; but the President's sharp eye beheld tbein as they
passed by him, and he called out :

" ' Little girls, arc you going to pass me without shaking hands ?'
"Then he bent forward and warmly shook the hand of each child,
ail of whom seemed delighted with the interview, though not more
so than everybody in the apartment ; for every beholder stood spell-
bound by the touching scene, -in which the beautiful simplicity and
sincerity of Mr. Lincoln's character appeared."

All remember his reference to foreign affairs in a sitigk line, in
his last message to Congress, and which was pronounced " decidedly
cool."

-? i.Q^oo^. o%4. o3>4oo