Order of services at Indiana-Place chapel, on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1865 : being the Sunday after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln

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INDIANA-PLACE CHAPEL,

^n Caste gttitbag, g^gril 16, 1865

BEING THE SUNDAY AETEK THE ASSASSINATION

ABKAHAM LINCOLN.

BOSTON:

WALKER, FULLER, AND COMPANY,

245, Washington Street

1865.

Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive

in 2010 witii funding from

State of Indiana through the Indiana State Library

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

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INDIANA-PLACE CHAPEL,

©rt €ast£r ^uiibag, gipiil 16, 1865

BEING THE SUNDAY AFTEE THE ASSASSINATION

ABEAHAM LINCOLN.

BOSTON:

WALKER, FULLER, AND COMPANY,

245, Washington Street.

1865.

BOSTON:

printed by john wilson and son,

15, Water Street.

rte 0f Strbias.

I. INTRODUCTORY SENTENCES.

MY son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord,
nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For
whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth. — Hebrews, xii. 5, 6.

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all genera-
tions. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever
thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from
everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. — Psalm xc.
1,2.

Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full
of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut
down : he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. —
Job, xiv. 1, 2.

For what is your life ? It is even a vapor, which ap-
peareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away, —
James, iv. 14.

Fret not thyself because of evil-doers ; neither be thou
envious against the workers of iniquity.

For they shall be cut down like the grass, and wither
as the green herb.

For evil-doers shall be cut off: yet a little while, and
the wicked shall not be.

The wicked plotteth agaiust the just, and gnasheth on
him with his teeth. He has drawn out his sword, and
bent his bow, to slay such, as be of an upright conversa-
tion.

His sword shall enter his own heart, and the arms of
the wicked shall be broken.

The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay
him ; but the Lord will not leave him in his hand.

Mark the perfect man, and consider the upright : for
the end of that man is peace. — Psalm xxxvii. 1, 2, &c.

Help, Lord ; for the godly man ceaseth ; for the faith-
ful fail from among the children of men. — Psalm xii. 1.

The wicked in his pride boasteth of his heart's desire.
His mouth is full of cursing. He hath despised the
poor.

He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages : in the
secret places doth he murder the innocent. He lieth in
wait, as a lion in his den. — Psalm x. 1, 7, 8, &c.

Deliver us from our enemies, 0 Lord ; from the workers
of iniquity, and the bloody men.

Break their teeth, O Lord, in their mouth : let them
melt away like the waters.

They shoot in secret at the righteous : suddenly do
they shoot at him, and fear not. — Psalms Iviii., lix.,
Ixiv.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble.

Therefore will not Ave fear, though the earth be re-
moved, though the mountains be carried into the midst
of the sea.

The Lord of hosts is Avith us ; the God of Jacob is our
refuge. — Psalm xlvi. 1, 2, 7.

I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall
he live ; and whoso liveth and believeth in me shall never
die. — John, xi. 25, 26.

I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write,
from henceforth, blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.
Even so, saith the Spirit; for they rest from their labors,
and their works do follow them. — Revelation, xiv. 13.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality. So when this corrupti-
ble shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall
have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory,
through our Lord Jesus Christ. — 1 Corinthians, xv.
53, 54, 57.

IL HYMN.

In the sun and moon and stars
Signs and wonders there shall be ;

Earth shall quake with inAvard wars.
Nations with perplexity.

Soon shall ocean's hoary deep.

Tossed with stronger tempests, rise ;

Darker storms the mountain sweep.
Redder lightning rend the skies.

Evil thoughts shall shake the proud.
Racking doubt and restless fear ;

And amid the thunder-cloud

Shall the Judge of men appear.

6

But though from that awful face

Heaven shall fade and earth shall tly,

Fear not ye, his chosen race :
Your redemption draweth nigh.

HI. READING THE SCRIPTURES.

Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that
begat us.

The Lord hath wrought great glory by them, through
his great power from the beginning.

Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms, men renowned
for their power, giving counsel by their understanding,
and declaring prophecies ;

Leaders of the people by their counsels, and by their
knowledge of learning meet for the people, wise and elo-
quent in their instructions, —

All these were honoi'ed in their generations, and were
the glory of their times.

There be of them that have left a name behind them,
that their praises might be reported.

But these were merciful men, whose righteousness hath
not been forgotten.

Their bodies are buried in peace ; but their name liveth
for evermore.

The people will tell of their wisdom, and the congrega-
tion will show forth their praise.

Enoch pleased the Loi'd, and was translated, being an
example of repentance to all generations.

Abraham was a great father of many people : in glory
was there none like unto him ;

Who kept the law of the Most High, and was in cove-
nant with him : he established the covenant in his flesh ;
and, when he was proved, he was found faithful. — Ec-
CLESiASTicus, xHv. 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20.

And he brought out of him a merciful man, which
found favor in the sight of all flesh, even Moses, beloved
of God and men whose memorial is blessed.

He made him like to the glorious saints, and magnified
him, so that his enemies stood in fear of him.

Bj his words he caused the wonders to cease, and he
made him glorious in the sight of kings, and gave him a
commandment for his people, and shoAved him part of his
glory.

He sanctified him in his faithfulness and meekness, and
chose him out of all men. — Ecclesiasticus, xlv. 1, 2,
3,4.

IV. PRAYER.

V. HYMN.

Go to the grave in all thy glorious prime,
In full activity of zeal and power :

A Christian cannot die before his time ;

The Lord's appointment is the servant's hour.

Go to the grave ; at noon from labor cease ;

Rest on thy sheaves, thy harvest-task is done ;
Come from the heat of battle, and in peace.

Soldier, go home : with thee the fight is won.

8

Go to the grave ; for there thy Saviour lay
In death's embraces, ere he rose on high ;

And all the ransomed by that narrow way
Pass to eternal life beyond the sky.

Go to the grave : — no, take thy seat above ;

Be thy pure spirit present with the Lord,
Where thou for faith and hope hast perfect love,

And open vision for the written word.

VI. SERMON.

VII. SILENT PRAYER.

VIIL LORD'S PRAYER.

IX. BENEDICTION.

May the Lord God of our Fathers, and our God, the
God of Freedom, Justice, and Himianity ; the Ruler of
Nations, and Perfect Pi'ovidence ; bless, presei've, and
keep us, our rulers, our people, our armies, our homes,
our institutions ; and, in his own time, give us peace
based on justice, never more to be removed. Amen.

2 TIM. J: 10.

Who hath abolished Death.

[Indiana- Place Chapel was decorated on Easter with appro-
priate and symbolic ornaments. The entire chancel was covered
with a rich purple fabric looped to the wall at different points with
wreaths of white flowers. Over the chancel, fixed to the wall,
was a large cross surmounted by a crown, and at the side
appeared the words " He is Risen," each worked in foliage and
flowers. There were also numerous bouquets and single speci-
mens of choice flowers and plants placed at different points in the
chapel, which, with the national colors draped in mourning
drooping from the gallery, heightened the general effect.]

When Jesus died, it seemed as if the last hope of the
world had perished. It seemed as if God had left the
earth alone, — it seemed as if there was no Providence
left. It was the blackest hour in the history of the
human race. The power of darkness was at its height.
Satan had conquered God. One man had at last
appeared capable of redeeming mankind ; he had given
himself to that work, — one man teaching and believing
a religion sphitual, humane, free ; above ceremony,
above d )gmas, above all fanaticism, enthusiasm, formality.

10

He was here ; the one being who knew God wholly and
human nature exactly ; who could say, " I and my
Father are one," " I and my brother are one." No sin
terrified him, for he was able to cure the foulest diseases
of the human heart and soul. From him flowed a life,
a vital power, which strangely overcame diseases of the
body and the so\il. He was young : he had just begun
his work. A world dying of weariness, an exhausted
civilization, a worn-out faith, longed to be regenerated.
The great auroral light of Greek intelligence had died
away. The stern virtue of Rome had ended in effemi-
nacy and slavery. The world, prematurely old, asked
to be made young again ; and here was the being who
coidd do it. And then men took him and murdered him.
They assassinated their best friend. Black treason, in
the form of Judas ; cowakdly desektion, in his disci-
ples ; SHAMEEtri, DENIAI, and faxsehood, in the person
of Peter ; time-serving selfishness, in Pilate ; cruel
POLICY, in the priests ; blind kage, in the people ;
COLD-BLOODED BAEBARISM, in the Roman soldiers, —
all these united in one black, concentrated storm of evil,
to destroy the being so true, so tender, so gentle, so
brave, so firm, so generous, so loving. It was the blackest
day in the history of man.

And yet we do not call it Black Friday or Bad Fri-
day ; we call it Good Fkidat. We call it so, because
the death of Christ has abolished death ; because evil
that day destroyed itself; sin, seeming to conquer, was
conquered. And so we see, in the death and resurrection
of Jesus, the great law revealed, that we pass through
death to life, through sorrow to joy, through sin to holi-

11

ness, through evil and pain to ultimate and perfect
good.

We dress our church in flowers to-day in token of this
triumph. Nature, every spring, renews her miracle of
life coming out of death. The little, tender buds push
out through the hard bark. The delicate stalks break
their way up through the tough ground. The limbs of
the trees, which yesterday clattered in the wind, mere
skeletons, are now covered with a soft veil of foliage.
Earth clothes itself with verdure, and these spring flow-
ers come, the most tender of the year. They come, like
spirits, out of their graves, to say that Nature is not dead
but risen. Look at these flowers, — living preachers!
" each cup a pulpit and each bell a book," and hear
from every one of them the word of comfort : " Be not
anxious, be not fearful, be not cast down ; for if God so
clothe us, and so brings our life out of decay, will He
not care for you and yours evermore ? "

On this day of the resurrection we commemorate the
subjugation of the last enemy, — Death. " He has abol-
ished death," says our text. Abolished it ; or, as the
same word is elsewhere translated, " made it void" ; that
is, emptied it of reality and substance ; left it only a
form ; " made it of no effect ; destroyed it ; hr ought it to
nothing ; caused it to vanish away." Death to the Chris-
tian ought not to be anything. If we are living in ter-
ror of death, if we are afraid to die, if we sorrow for our
friends who die as those who have no hope, then we are
not looking at it as Christians ought. We ought to be,
and we can be, in that state of mind in which death is
nothing to us.

12

For what makes death terrible? First, it is terrible
because it ends this life, and all the enjoyment and inter-
est of this life. We are made with a love of life, and
God means Ave should love it.

We are made to be happy in the sight of nature ; in this
great panorama of sky and land, hill and plain, sea and
shore, forest, mountain, rivers, clouds, day and night,
moon and stars, work and play, study and recreation,
labor and sleep. We are made to enjoy the society of
friends, the love of the near and dear, the quiet of home,
the march of events, the changes of the seasons, the
vicissiludes of human and national life. Death seems to
be the end of all this ; and so we shrink from death. But
that is because we do not see that all these things are
the COMING OF God to us ; that these are God's words
and God's actions ; that when surrounded by nature we
are in the arms of God, and that all these thinj^s are
from him, and through him, and to him. And as when
we die we do not go away from God, so we shall not go
away from all this beautiful variety and harmony, this
majestic order and transcendent beauty of creation. We
shall doubtless have more of it, know it better, enjoy it
more entirely. And so, since Christ makes us realize
the presence of God in nature, history, life, he abolishes
thereby that death which seems to come to take us from
them.

Another thing which makes death a terror is our own
consciousness of sin. The sting of death is sin. But
Christ removes this sense of sin, by bringing to us the
pardon of sin. The conditions are simple and practi-
cable : repentance and faith. If we turn from our sin

13

and renounce it, and tLen trust in the pardoning grace
of God, we are forgiven our sin. Then not only the
mercy, but the truth and justice of God are pledged to
forgive us. '■ If we confess our sin, God is faithful and
just to forgive us our sin." No one need to remain
with a sense of unforgiven sin in his heart. In his
dying hour, as in his life, Jesus sought to lead mankind
out of the feeling of sin into that of reconciliation.
When he said to the sinful woman, " Go, and sin no
more ; neither do I condemn thee " ; when he said of the
other sinful woman, " Her sins, which are many, are for-
given ; for she loved much " ; when he told the story of
the prodigal son, to show how God sees us when a great
way off, and receives us back at once into the fulness oi
his love ; when, at his death, he said, " This is my
blood, which is shed for you, and for many, for the
forgiveness of sin," he sent into the soul of men the
conviction that they could be at one with God notwith-
standing their evil.

And the resurrection of Christ has abolished death,
because it shows us that death, instead of being a step
down, is a step up. It shows us Christ passing on and
up, through death, to a larger life. It shows that when
he died he did not close his work for man, but began to
do it more efficiently. The resurrection of Jesus was
the resurrection of Christianity; the rising up of human
faith and hope. Jesus rose into a higher life, and his
disciples then rose into a higher faith. They became
strong, brave, generous, true. Their weaknesses and
follies fell away from them. Christianity broke the
narrow bands of Jewish ceremony, and became the reli-

14

gion of humanity and of all time. The world seemed to
have lost everything when Christ died ; but it really gained
everything. His followers, "risen with him," " sitting
in heavenly places " with him, sought and found deeper,
higher, larger views of Christianity. And so his word
was fulfilled : " I, if I be raised up, shall draw all men
unto me."

When the awful news came yesterday morning of the
assassination of our President and of Mr. Seward, and
the other murders which accompanied those acts, it
seemed impossible to dress this church with flowers,
impossible to keep Easter Sunday with joy to-day. As
on Thursday we changed a Fast into a Thanksgiving, so
it seemed to be necessary to-day to change this feast of
joy into a day of fasting and sorrow. Yet, after all, the
feelings and convictions appropriate to Easter are what
we need to-day. When we say " Christ is arisen,"
we are lifted into that higher faith which is our only
support and comfort in calamities like these.

Perhaps the crime committed last Friday night, in
Washington, is the worst ever committed on any Good
Friday since the crucifixion of Christ. It was not only
assassination, — for despots and tyrants have been
assassinated, — but it was parricide ; for Abraham
Lincoln was as a father to the whole nation. The
nation felt orphaned yesterday morning, when the black
tidings came ; for during these four years we had come
to depend on the cautious wisdom, the faithful con-
science, the shrewdness, the firmness, the patriotism of
our good President. We have all quarrelled with him
at times ; we wished he would go faster ; we wished

15

he had more imagination, more enthusiasm : but we
forget all our complaints to-day, in the sense of a great
and irreparable calamity. Had he been a tyrant and
despot, there would have been the excuse for the act
which we make for Brutus and Cassius ; but the chief
fault of Abraham Lincoln was that he was too forgiving
to his enemies, too much disposed to yield to those from
whom he differed, and to follow public opinion instead
of controlling it. He could not bear to punish those
who deserved it ; and the man who will suffer the most
from his death is his murderer, for had Lincoln lived,
he would have forgiven him. Simple in his manners,
unostentatious, and without pretence ; saying his plain
word in the most direct way, and then leaving off ; he
yet commanded respect by the omnipresence of an honest
purpose, and the evident absence of all personal vanity
and all private ends. Since Henry IV. fell by the dagger
of Ravaillac, no' such woe has been wrought on a nation
by the hand of an assassin. Good Friday was well
chosen as the day, — a day dedicated to the murder of
benefactors and Saviours. We shall miss him often in
the years to come, for when shall we find among poli-
ticians one so guileless ; among strong men one with so
little wilfulness ; among wise men one with so much
heart ; among conservative men one so progressive ;
among reformers one so prudent ? Hated by the South
from that instinct which makes bad men hate the good-
ness which stands between them and their purpose, he
never hated back ; reviled by the most shameless abuse,
he never reviled again. Constant amid defeat and
disaster, he was without exultation in success. After
9

16

the surrender of Lee, he caused to be written on the
Capitol the words, " Thanks he to God, who giveth us
the victory."

And so we find him mourned equally by the con-
servative and the progi-essive wing of the loyal people,
because he was in reality a thoroughly conservative and
a thoroughly progressive man. Both could depend on
him as truly their own leader. For his moderation was
not the negative moderation of a compromise which
balances between two extremes, but the positive modera-
tion of the large sincerity which accepts the truth on
both sides. The Conservatives knew that he was
sincerely cautious, and were sure he would never act
rashly. The Progressives knew that he was sincerely
ready to reform evils ; and though he might move slowly,
certain to move forward.

Fortunate man ! who thus exhausted the experience of
life, beginning as a splitter of rails and ending in a chair
higher than a monarch's throne ; studying his grammar
by the fire-light of a log-cabin M'hen a boy ; when a
man, addressing the senate and people from the capitol
of a great nation ; tried by hardship, hardened by labor,
toughened by poverty, developed by opportunity, trained
by well-fulfilled duties, chosen by God to be the emanci-
pator of a race, and the saviour of a nation's life ; and
then, having finished his work and seen the end near,
crowned with the martyr's halo, to be made immortal
through all history and all time as the chief actor in the
greatest drama of modern days. Happy in life ; happy
also in the opportunity of death, for when could death
cjme more welcome than on that dt,y, when, having

17

emancipated the slave, having conquered the rebellion,
having walked into Richmond and written a letter at
Mr. Jefferson Davis' desk, and having directed the flag
to be restored on Fort Sumter, he commanded recruiting
to cease throughout the land, and declared to Europe
that the blockade -wbs at an end, and the war over as far
as foreign nations were concerned ? Macaulay says of
Hampden : " Others could conquer, he alone could
reconcile. It was when, to the sullen tyranny of Laud
and Charles had succeeded the fierce conflicts of sects
and factions, ambitious of ascendency, and burning for
revenge ; it was when the vices and ignorance which the
old tyranny had generated endangered the new freedom,
that England missed that sobriet}', that self-command,
that perfect soundness of judgment, that perfect rf;cti-
tude of intention, to which the history of revolutions
furnishes no parallel, — or furnishes a parallel in
Washington alone."

" The history of revolutions has furnished another par-
allel in Abraham Lincoln." So says a late London jour-
nal ; for even London journals have learned to look
through the rough shell to the rich kernel. Abraham
Lincoln is essentially of the same tj'pe as Washington.
Washington was born and bred a patrician, — the lord of
slaves and of broad acres. Lincoln was born and bred
a plebeian, — a man of the people. But subtract these
surface-diSerences and they were radically the same ;
each built up of conscience and of common sense.
Neither of them had imagination ; but that was a bless-
ing : it saved their lives. For if, in addition to the
, heavy weight of real responsibilities, there had been

18

added the sleepless anxiety of a mind which constantly
pictures to itself all possible contingencies, they would
both have died, worn out by exhaustion. In the gallery
of the world's great men our good Abraham Lincoln will
stand hereafter by the great shape of Washington, hav-
ing as great a work to do as he, and having done it as
well.

But what shall loe do without him ? What shall be-
come of us, in this doubtful Present around us, this dark
Future approaching us ? We thought our tria's over ;
they seem about to begin anew. But w^e have learned
in these years to see the hand of God in all things, and
how He makes the wrath of the wicked to praise Him.
Still let us believe that He knows what we need, and
that this black event will also turn to good. Let the
day on which he fell teach us a lesson — saddest day in
the history of men. The death of Jesus, at the begin-
ning of his work, seemed the direst calamity that could
befall mankind. It was the loss of the one being whom
the world could not afford to lose, — the one perfect soul
the race had produced ; cut off, with his word appa-
rently half uttered, his work seemingly half done, his
life half lived, leaving only a few half taught disciples
behind him.

But as out of that evil came so much good, so out of
this God will educe the blessings and discipline we want.
We thought our trials over ; but perhaps we need more.
The people of the North, always hopeful and good-
natured, needed perhaps another example of the spirit of
barbarism which has grown iip in slavery, in order not
to trust again with power any of this existing race of
robols. Always audacious, they were just about to

19

come toj^etlier to tell us how the Union was to be recon-
structed. Having been beaten in the field, they M^ere
quietly stepping forward to claim the results of victory.
But this murder has probably defeated their expectations.
As Abraham Lincoln saved us, while living, from the
open hostility and deadly blows of the slaveholders and
secessionists, so, in dying, he may have saved us from
their audacious craft, and their poisonous policy. We
are reminded again what sort of people they are.

It is idle to say that it was the work only of one or
two. When the whole South applauded Brooks in his
attempt to assassinate Charles Sumner ; when, dm'ing
these four years, they have been constantly offering
rewards for the heads of Lincoln and of Butler ; and
when no eminent Southern man has ever protested
against these barbarisms, they made themselves accesso-
ries before the fact to this assassination. Throughout
the South, to-day, there is, probably, very general exul-
tation. Fools and Blind ! Thi-oughout the North,
this murder will arouse a stern purpose, not of revenge,
we trust, or only such a revenge as will consist with the
memory of Lincoln. The revenge we shall take for the
murder of Lincoln will be, to raise the loyal black popu-
lation of the South not only to the position of freemen,
but of voters ; to shut out from power forever the leaders,
of the rebellion ; to re-admit no Southern State into the
Union until it has adopted a free-state constitution, and
passed that anti-slavery amendment so dear to Abraham
Lincoln's heart.* We might not have insisted on these

* See, at the end of this discourse, an extract from the sermon
preached by the writer on Fast Day, the day before this assassi-
r.ati m, in regard to these points.
9'^

20

conditions, — perhaps it was necessary for Lincoln to
die, to bring the nation to the point of demanding them.

I suppose that since the beginning of the world, there
never was an hour in which a whole nation experienced
at the same moment such a pang as was felt from Maine
to San Francisco yesterday morning. The telegraphic
wires sent a thrill of horror into every city and every
large town on the Atlantic and Pacific, on the Kennebec
and the Missouri, at the same time. It was like the
blow of a hammer descending on the heart of the nation.
But such a hammer and fire welds together the soul of a
people into a strong, righteous purpose. As the attempt
of Guy Fawkes to destroy the British Parliament united
all England for two centuries against the Papacy ; as the
attempt of Brooks to murder Sumner united the free
States against slavery, so this crime will unite the Avhole
North to make thorough work with the rebellion, and
put it down where it can never stir itself again.

The word " assassin," it is said, was introduced into
Europe by the crusaders, and took its name from that
mountain chief whose followers devoted themselves to
murder any of his foes. He was named Ha-shish-in:
so named from hashish, the intoxicating herb, which
they took to give themselves the energy of madness.
Assassins are always madmen, — they destroy the cause
they mean to help.

To-day, then, amid our grief and tears, let us not lose
that trust in Providence which the past four years have
been teaching to this nation, — and which every Good
Friday and Easter Sunday, during eighteen centuries,
have been leaching to mankind.

21

" Bear him, brothers, to his grave ;
Over one more true and brave

Ne'er shall prairie grasses weep
In the ages yet to come,
"When the millions in our room,

"What we sow in tears, shall reap.

«' One more look of that dead face,
Of his murder's ghastly trace !

One more kiss, O widowed one !
Lay your left hands on his brow.
Lift your right hands up, and vow

That his work shall yet be done.

" Patience, friends ! The eye of God
Every path by murder trod

Watches, lidless, day and night ;
And the dead man in his shroud.
And his children weeping loud,
And our hearts, are in his sight.

" We, in suffering, — they, in crime,
Wait the just award of time.

Wait the vengeance that is due ;
Not in vain a heart shall break,
Not a tear for Freedom's sake

Fall unheeded : God is true.

•* Lay the earth upon his breast.
Lay our slain one down to rest.

Lay him down in hope and faith.
And above the broken sod,
Once again to Freedom's God

Pledge ourselves for life or death.'*

22

NOTE.

The following extract from a sermon preached by the writer,
two days before, gives a further explanation of the points touched
on our page : —

No doubt much remains to be done. The gravest questions
rise before us. There loom up now the questions, " what shall
be done with the rebels ? Shall the leaders of the rebellion be
punished, and how ? What shall be done with the conquered
States ? How shall they be governed ; by military or civil power ?

In answering these questions it is evident, that, first of all, we
need guarantees that the substantial results of the war shall not
be lost — that the cure of the South shall be radical — that there
shall be no more treasons, no more rebellions. Any leniency
that overlooks this necessity is not moderation, is not generosity
— it is folly, cruelty, and crime. We may forgive ; but we
have no right so to forgive as to leave the old conspirators with
power to conspire again.

What guarantees, then, do we need ? Plainly, the first is the
utter abolition and destruction of slavery in the South. We
must not have it in any form or shape. We must not allow it
to remain as apprenticeship, or as serfdom, or as pupilage. But
can this be done if we give back the power over the Southern
States into the hands of the old disloyal leaders, now made ten
times as bitter as before their defeat ? I see by the prints that
distinguished citizens of Virginia are on their way to Washing-
ton to arrange terms for the reconstruction and re-admission of
Virginia into the Union. What do we want of distinguished
citizens of Virginia ? We want them all to keep out of the
way. We are to deal now with the real people of the
South, colored and white, not with the old slaveholding aristo-
cracy. We do not want any Hon. Mr. Hunters or Breckinridges ;
no Governor Wise, no Governor Foote, to arrange terms with.

It seems to me that the question of punishment may be en-
tirely set aside. We do not wish to punish any one. " Ven-
geance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." They will be

23

punished enough, no doubt of that. If defeat, disgrace, and
utter ruin are punishments, if contempt at home and neglect
abroad are punishments, if to have shown a Avant of statesman-
ship and ignorance of history, to have destroyed the peace and
prosperity of these States is punishment, they have it. We
have, no doubt, a right to punish them to any extent. The
crimes of rebellion, treason, and waging civil war without a
cause, are the blackest which can be committed by man. To
lose life, property, and all, is not too severe a punishment. But
what we wish is not to punish them, but to protect ourselves.
And the most moderate punishment which is adequate is the
best, because it is the most certain to be inflicted. And there-
fore I say, that, in my opinion, what we want is to keep all the
old rebel leaders, and old slaveholding aristocracy out of the
way, until the States of the South can be re-organized on the
basis of freedom. ^Ve want to keep them from ha\ing anything
to do with the government i^r control of the South until every
Southern State is as loyal as Massachusetts. Now, every emi-
nent Southern man is liable to be tried, convicted, and put to
death for treason under the law of 1790. It is true that he
can only be tried within the State where the act of treason
■was committed. But when Lee invaded Pennsylvania, he com-
mitted treason there, and so did the whole rebel government, for
in treason all are principals — and the purpose of overthrowing
the government of the United States by arms is a treasonable
purpose — and every one who deliberately aids in any way that
purpose, even by furnishing supplies, is held by the Courts to
be a principal.

The punishment of death for treason is therefore hanging to-
day over the head of every man concerned in the rebellion.
They may be very grateful if allowed to escape by exile, confis-
cation, and disqualification. But looking, not at vengeance or
punishment, but simply at self protection, it is my opinion that
we might agree to waive the trial for treason, and substitute for
it these penalties : 1st. In the case of Jefferson Davis, and his
government, and all the chief conspirators, we might substitute

24

for death, exile for a term of j'ears, — say ten years. This would
be so moderate a punishment that it would pretty certainly be
carried out. 2d. Then for those who have left the service of
the United States to fight against it, and for the civil officers of
the rebel States let the punishment be disqualification for any
office, and inability to vote during ten years. So fast do things
move in this country, that in ten years, when the exiles return,
they will find no opening left for them, all their influence gone,
others in their places, the whole machinery of state re-organized,
and they all sent into obscurity and oblivion. 3d. Let all those
who have committed specific crimes, such as murdering citizens,
starving to death our prisoners, and killing colored persons in
cold blood, be tried and punished for those crimes under the
laws. 4th. Let all the common people who have been forced
and cheated into rebellion be pardoned on taking the oath of
allegiance and Iceeping it. 5th. Let no rebel State be re-admit-
ted into the Union till its Legislature has passed the Constitu-
tional amendment abolishing slavery in the United States.

This is my plan for reconstruction. Let the military govern-
ment of the U. S. be continued over the States, and let garrisons
of colored troops be kept in all the large towns. Let no State
be re-admitted till a convention of the people has met, revising
its Constitution and abolishing slavery, and till its Legislature
has passed the Constitutional amendment. Let the Federal
Courts for the District of Pennsylvania find indictments for
treason against every member of the rebel government, rebel
Congress, and every head officer in the rebel army. Let the
Federal Courts in Ohio, Maryland, and Missouri, do the same.
Then let Congress be called together, and modify the law, substi-
tuting exile for a term of years, and disqualification for office,
under certain conditions. So that by accepting and submitting
to the lesser punishment, they may escape the greater.

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