Qass. 
 Book. 
 
 A 
 
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 THE MARTYR PRESIDENT. 
 
 A SERMON U <* u 
 
 DEhlVEJiUli /JV Till; COURT HOI SIC I\ II II.I.l.JMSPOUT. 
 
 ON SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 1865. 
 
 Bulletin" Print. Third street . 
 
THE MARTYR PRESIDENT. 
 
 J± SERMOIST 
 
 DELIVERED IX THE COURT HOUSE IX WDLLIAM8PORT, 
 
 BY REV. WILLIAM STERLING, 
 ON SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 1865. 
 
 Know ye not ih.it there is a prince and a great man (alien this day in Israel?— 2d Samuel— 3d: 3S. 
 
 Tins is the lamentation of David over the 
 murdered A.bner, who fell by the treacher- 
 ous hand of Joub. It was a bloody assas- 
 sination of a "prince and a preat man;" 
 and just at a moment, too, when he was ex- 
 erting all ln's influence to restore peace to 
 the kingdom, and to bring to an cud a 
 rebellion which had lasted for eighl years. 
 The pious King was horror-stricken by the 
 fearful tragedy, and the monarch and all the 
 people wept as they followed the slaughtered 
 chieftain to the urave. 
 
 There are some events, which break upon 
 upon us, like a cl-ap of thunder in a clear 
 sky. They stun us. The shock is so sudden 
 — so unexpected, that our faculties are par- 
 alyzed. We are bewildered. Our mouths 
 are shut. The power of thought and feel- 
 ing is almost suspended. We want time 
 for reflection, for tears, for prayer, for our 
 shattered powers to recover from the dread- 
 ful blow, before we aTe capable of fully 
 comprehending them in their causes and 
 their consequences. Such an event is that 
 awful tragedy, which has occurred at our 
 Nation's Capitol — the murder of our belov- 
 ed President, as well as the attempt to 
 assassinate the Secretary of State and those 
 by whom he was surrounded on his bed of 
 sickness. 
 
 The Nation was, at the moment, dreading 
 no evil. On the contrary, every loyal heart 
 was bounding with unutterable joy. Lee and 
 his army were capturnd, and the Capitol of 
 the Confederacy was in our hands. Victory 
 was crowning our arms in every quarter — 
 the rebellion was melting away. After 
 four long years of war, and blood, and tears, 
 and woe, the dove of peaee seemed ready to 
 descend upon us. The whole land was jubi- 
 lant The national emblems everywhere 
 floated proudly and gaily in the breeze, and 
 everywhere were heard the sounds of glad- 
 ness and of thanksgiving to God. And 
 peculiarly was that fourteenth day of the 
 month a proud and happy day; for that day 
 the Flag again floated over Sumpter, eleva- 
 ted with appropriate honors; and the boom- 
 ing cannon, from all our national ships, and 
 forts, and camps, proclaimed the exultant, 
 joyous feelings that bounded through the 
 Nation's heart. 
 
 It was at such a time, and under such cir- 
 cumstances, that the murderer sought his 
 victim. In a moment the hellish deed was 
 done. Abraham Lincoln lies weltering ia 
 his blood. "A prince and a great man has 
 fallen ;" one on whom the affections and the 
 hopes of a great people were centered, lies 
 speechless and insensible. Those wires, 
 

 which for months had been the bearers of 
 nought but glad tidings, suddenly change 
 to awful tones. A Nation's ear is palsied, 
 and its blood stands still, and its pulse 
 ceases to beat, as the fearful news flashes 
 from city to city, and from State to State — 
 President, Lincoln is Murdered. lie is 
 shot through the head. The ball has en- 
 tered his bruin. He lies speechless and 
 insensible. He is dying. He is dead. 
 
 I. Let me speak of the greatness of this 
 national affliction. "A pr.nse and a great 
 man has fallen ;" one whose pure morality 
 and tried integrity, whose private virtues 
 and public usefulness entitled him to the 
 respect and confidence of the Nation over 
 which he had been called a second time to 
 preside. 
 
 President Lincoln' was an honest man. — 
 His integrity was above suspicion. Never 
 was there, since the days of Washington, a 
 public man more wholly free from all guile 
 and trickery and double-dealing. He had 
 no low, selfish ends to answer. He was a 
 man of truth, and of the utmost transpa- 
 rency of character. With him there was 
 no concealment of his real opinions and 
 ends. He left no doubt in any mind as to 
 where he stood, and what his course would 
 be, on any of the momentous questions with 
 which he had to deal. 
 
 He was a man of great kindness of heart. 
 He was not only genial and conciliatory 
 among his friends, but he cherished no en- 
 mity toward his foes. lie sympathized 
 deeply with the sick and wounded soldiers, 
 visiting them in the hospitals, and saying a 
 kind word to cheer and comfort them under 
 their sufferings. And he even endeavored 
 to win back the bitterest enemies of the 
 Government to their allegiance by gentle- 
 ness and forgiveness. 
 
 He was a man of strong native intellect, 
 )\'.> scholarship was not profound and com- 
 prehensive, like that of John Quincy Adams, 
 nor was he much conversant witli cleg! nt 
 literature. His early opportunies for mental 
 improvement were limited. But he was a 
 
 man of excellent sense and judgment. Nor 
 was he deficient in any of those branches of 
 knowledge essential to the proper discharge 
 of his duties. He was an able President. 
 He was sometimes slow in coming to a decis- 
 ion ; but when his mind was made up, he 
 was firm as a rock ; and his reasons were so 
 clear, and cogent, and convincing, that he 
 usually produced the conviction in the mind 
 of the people that he was right in his posi- 
 tion. 
 
 His manners were plain and simple, his 
 disposition frank and cheerful, and his life a 
 pattern of moral virtue. But, beyond all 
 this, I think the evidence strong that/ie was 
 a pious man. And here I must in candor 
 say, that there are two things greatly to be 
 regreted in regard to him. One is, his occa- 
 sional visit to the theatre. And yet I sup- 
 pose it is difficult for us to understand the 
 influences by which be was surrounded, and 
 by which he was drawn into such a place- 
 Probably the leading motive may have been 
 a desire to please his friends and to gratify 
 that class of the public who attend such 
 amusements, by an occa^-ioual appearance in 
 their midst. 
 
 The other is, that he did not make a pub- 
 lic profession of religion. This is an obli- 
 gation binding upon all, the high and the 
 low, the rich and the poor, the President 
 and the citizen alike. It is a duty which 
 he owed to his God and Savior, the neg.ect 
 of which cannot be justified. That he did 
 not discharge it is to be lamented, because 
 he would, as an open, active and consistent 
 member of the church of Christ, have hon- 
 ored his profession ; and his usefulness to 
 the cauj-e of God on earth would have been 
 more extensive and benign. 
 
 But whatever «ere the reasons which 
 withheld him from making a public profes- 
 sion of religion, it. is obvious that he was 
 not inattentive to the duties of personal 
 piety. In his Inaugural Addresses and .Mes- 
 sages, he distinctly ami reverently acknowl- 
 edged his dependence on God; and in his 
 frequent calls upon the Nation to seek the 
 
3 
 
 IV vine favor by humiliation and prayer, and 
 te thank and praise God for victory, lie 
 shower bis anxiety that the entire people 
 shoul 1 1 e penetrated with a sense of our 
 National dependence and obligations. There j 
 are two facts, however, which, although I | 
 have referred to them before under other 
 circumstances. I must be permitted to refer 
 to now as evidences of his piety. The one 
 is a declaration from his own lips, and is 
 distinct and unequivocal in its utterance. I 
 will give it to you as it has been published : 
 
 '• A gentleman having recently visited 
 Washington on business with the President, 
 was, on leaving home, requested by a friend 
 t<> ask Mr. Lincoln whether he loved Jesus. 
 The business being completed, the quest ion 
 was kindly asked. The President buried 
 his face in a handkerchief, turned away and 
 wept. He then turned and said: — 'When I 
 left my home to take this chair of State, 1 
 requested my countrymen to pray for me : 1 
 was not then a christian. When my boh 
 died — the severest trial of my life— I was 
 not a christian. Hut when 1 went to Get- 
 tysburg and looked upon the graves of our 
 dead herops who had fallen in defense of 
 their country, I then and there consecrated 
 myself to Christ. / do love Jesus.' " 
 
 Th i other fact is the testimony of a gen- 
 tleman, which 1 will give you in his own 
 words: 
 
 " Having business which led me to Wash- 
 ington and demand an interview with the 
 President, I called at his mansion to ascer- 
 tain at what lime he could give me a hear- 
 ing. His reply was that he would meet me 
 the next morning at an hour as early as I 
 pleased. W ishing him to designate the 
 hour, he did so, naming five o'clock. It 
 seemed a little strange to me that he would 
 be able to see me so early; but 1 was satis- 
 fied, and returned to my lodgings ; but the 
 anxiety lest 1 should not awake in time pre- 
 vented sleep. Morning at length came, and 
 I hastened my toilet, and found myself at a 
 quarter to five in the waiting room of the 
 President. 1 asked the usher if [ could see 
 Mr. Lincoln. He said I could not. But I 
 have an engagement to meet him this morn- 
 ing. At what hour? At five o'clock. "Well, 
 sir, you will see him at five. I then walked 
 to and fro a few minutes, and hearing a 
 voice as if in grave conversation, I asked 
 the servant : Who is talking in the next 
 
 room ? It is ihe President, sir. Is anybody 
 with him ? No, sir: he is reading the Bible. 
 Is that his habit so early in the morning? 
 Yes. sir : he spends every morning from four 
 to five o'clock in reading the Scriptures and 
 prayer. " 
 
 Blessed be God for these gleams of heav- 
 enly light, revealing to us the habits and 
 feelings of our lamented President. He 
 loved Jesus, the Divine and only Savior. 
 He daily and devoutly sought comfort and 
 support and guidance from God, in the 
 study of his holy word and in secret prayer. 
 He rose at the early hour of four o'clock, 
 that he might devout the calm hour of the 
 morning to communion with his Maker, and 
 thus prepare his mind for the duties of the 
 day. This was the secret of the clearness 
 of his mind, the cheerfulness and hopeful- 
 ness of his spirit, the calmness of his confi- 
 dence in the darkest hours, and the strength 
 of his position in the hearts of the people. 
 Who is not reminded of that pious King 
 who said : "My voice shalt thou hear in the 
 morning, 0, Lord ; in the morning will I 
 direct my prayers unto thee and will look 
 up. Mine eyes prevented the night watches, 
 that I might meditate in thy word." 
 
 And this is the man that has (alien from 
 his high place by a murderer's hand ! A 
 praying President — a President who daily 
 held intercourse with heaven — a President 
 who sought guidance and grace for himself 
 and blessings on the land at the foot of the 
 throne ; — a President who loved Jesus, who 
 was kind and considerate to the poorest and 
 lowest that came into his presence, or sought 
 his aid ; — a President who was so full of 
 mercy and forgiveness towards his enemies, 
 so pure a patriot, so worthy of the place to 
 which God in his providence had elevated 
 him ; — this is the man that the bullet of the 
 assassin has reached, and over whose un- 
 timely and violent end the Nation mourns 
 to-day! He died in the midst of life and 
 health— seated by the side of his wife — at a 
 time of the most enraptured joy — a joy 
 which he himself doubtless shared to the 
 full ; and at a time, too, when the affections 
 
and hopes of llie Nation were centered 
 more fully than ever upon him. lie had 
 conducted the Nation through four years of 
 peril and conspiracy and rebellion, and 
 when the wilderness of suffering seemed 
 almost passed, and the promised land of 
 rest and peace already greeted his anxious, 
 longing eyes, in that moment, in the myste- 
 rious providence of God, the murdercns 
 deed AVas done. He lies to-day in death, 
 with millions for his mourners, — the martyr- 
 ed President. 
 
 II. The crime which has been committed 
 in the murder of such a man, occupying 
 such a position, is one of unparalleled atro- 
 city. I know nothing that surpasses it, save 
 only the murder of the Son of God. It is 
 to stand out before the universe while time 
 shall last, as the blackest deed which man 
 ever committed against his fellow-man. It 
 was not a mere act of revenge against 
 Abraham Lincoln as an individual; but 
 it was an attempt to murder a Nation in its 
 head. The crime was against the Govern- 
 ment which he administered ; against the 
 principles which he represented ; against 
 the law and order which he endeavored to 
 maintain ; against the rights, the liberties, 
 the hopes, the happiness, the prosperity of 
 the whole people, of which Ahraiiam Lin- 
 coln was the constitutional guardian. 
 
 The intention to commit the crime has 
 long existed in the same quarter. Four 
 years ago, the abettors of treason in Balti- 
 more plotted the murder of the President. 
 And so well was it understood by the lead- 
 ers, that it was confidently predicted by 
 them that he would never reach Washington 
 alive. And it was only through the timely 
 discovery of the plot by his friends, that the 
 infernal attempt failed at that time. 
 
 Before the battle of Bull Run, a sec- 
 ond conspiracy was formed to murder him 
 and General Scott. And Beauregard, who 
 was them commanding the Rebel army, was 
 privy to the scheme. A letter of his, writ- 
 ten at the time, not only alludes to this plot, 
 but urges that it be promptly carried out. — 
 
 But although! the daik and bloody plot fai/- 
 ed twice, it has at length been successful. 
 The Nation feels the blow, and every true 
 heart bleeds, and feels that "a prince and a 
 great man has fallen." 
 
 Nor can we suppose, for a moment, that 
 the monster who murdered the President, 
 and the other assissin who attempted the 
 life of the secretary of State, and their im- 
 mediate accomplices in Washington, were 
 the only persons concerned in the horrid 
 scheme. Every circumstance indicates a 
 wide-laid plot, in the interests of the great 
 rebellion. We were told in the winter, by 
 prisoners nnd refugees from Richmond, that 
 something was about to be done that would 
 astonish the world; and rebel correspond- 
 ents in the London papers intimated that 
 something tremendous and unlooked for 
 would ere long happen, — that if they were 
 beaten in the field, there were other mean? 
 which would be resorted to, and which they 
 hoped would accomplish their ends. Now 
 it is true that these utterances are somewhat 
 vague and oracular; but they are not, there- 
 fore, without meaning. And does not their 
 meaning begin to flash upon us in the light 
 of the tragedies enaeted and attempted at 
 Washington ? The "something that was to 
 astonish the world" has, at least in part, 
 been carried out according to the pro' 
 gramme. 
 
 I would not be understood as asserting it 
 as a fact, and yet I cannot avoid the convic- 
 tion, that th s diabolical scheme of murder 
 was known to the rebel leaders, or at least 
 to some of them. It is the crowning act of 
 a long series of crimes tl*e most desperate 
 and villainous that ever blackeued the an- 
 nals of time. The actors were but the 
 agents and representatives of the savage 
 spirit of Slavery driven to the last pitch of 
 rage and fury by overwhelming defeat in 
 every quarter. 
 
 It is a deep disgrace that such a deed 
 could be perpetrated in our land. France 
 has had her Infernal Machine, and her fre- 
 quent attempts on the lives of her sovereigns. 
 
and her Reign of Terror; anil we have felt 
 that these deed were to be accounted for by 
 the infidelity that prevails. But in this 
 land of the pi<»us Pilgrims, the land of 
 Washington;— in this land of Bibles and of 
 the Sabbath and the Sanctuary,— this land 
 of Christian civilization, it was thought that 
 such an event could not take place. That 
 such a murder should blacken the annals of 
 our country fills us with shame, as well as 
 with grief and horror. But this infamy be- 
 longs not to our whole country, but to the 
 Rebellion and its animating soul, Slavery: 
 of whose cruel and barbarous spirit this act 
 of murder is one of the natural (ruits. It 
 Is the same inhuman wickedness, only lev- 
 eled at a higher and more shining mark. 
 which wrought into ornaments the bones of 
 our soldiers who fell at Bull Ban : which 
 organized a scheme to burn our northern 
 cities, and to fire hotels, in which hundreds 
 of persons were Bleeping; which slaughtered 
 our soldiers after they had surrendered, at 
 Fort Pillow ; which tortured and butchered 
 and starved our noblemen in Libby Prison, 
 and Belle Isle, and Castle Thunder, and 
 Andersonville and Salisbury. That this 
 dreadful deed is the ripened fruit of rebel 
 hatred and revenge cannot be doubted. It 
 is what the leaders desired, and multitudes of 
 others wished for; and with a knowledge of 
 the future, apparently ;>s infallible as that 
 of the ancient seers, they confidently and 
 unblushiugly predicted it. 
 
 And may it not be s:iid, that many at the 
 North have, by their words at least, lent 
 encouragement to the treason and rebellion 
 that have thus culminated? They did not 
 plan the deed, they were not coguizant to 
 the infernal plot, but they showed in many 
 ways that their sympathies were with the 
 traitors, in whatever they did, or might 
 attempt: they palliated their crimes against 
 the Government; their whole course helped 
 to nerve the arm that drew the fatal trigger. 
 "What can we say of that grand conspiracy 
 of the Knights of the Golden Circle, but 
 that they are desperate men, aiding and 
 
 abetting the rebellion with all its horrors, 
 and ready for any deed of blood, by which 
 the Government may be overthrown ; — 
 pledged, according to the testimony of some 
 of their officers, to murder the officers of 
 the Government and of the Army, as well as 
 all soldiers and citizens who stand in their 
 way? And has not language been used in 
 almost every community, — even in our own, 
 — not only by men. but by women, which 
 embodied a wish for the very event which 
 has occurred. Has not a portion of the 
 northern press counselled to violent deeds ? 
 
 There are those at the North, then, that 
 have a weighty responsibility to bear in this 
 great crimes. In the sight of Heaven, they 
 are sharers in the awful guilt of this murder. 
 
 III. My hearers, there is a Providence 
 that rules in the affairs of men. In permit- 
 ting the murder of our beloved President, 
 God must have some wise designs to accom- 
 plish. What these designs may be, it is 
 not for us at present fully to know. Our 
 duty is to be still and know that he is God ; 
 to bow submissively under his mighty hand ; 
 to rest assured that not a sparrow falls, nor 
 a hair from any head, without his knowl- 
 edge ; that he is able to make the wrath of 
 man to praise him, and to restrain the 
 remainder. May not one of the reasons be 
 this : 
 
 1st. To deepen our abhorrence of the rebel- 
 lion. Just at this point, may it not have be- 
 come necessary, in the judgment of God, to 
 open our eyes more widely to the character 
 of the men with whom we have to deal, and 
 to the spirit by which they are actuated? 
 May not God have allowed this illustration 
 of the spirit and character of this foul con- 
 spiracy against liberty and good government 
 to take place, iu order that the whole world 
 may see its desperate wickedness, and stamp 
 it with everlasting infamy? that the last 
 feeling of sympathy with it, both at home 
 and abroad, may be utterly and forever de- 
 stroyed ? Who can ever again have the face 
 to speak one word in favor of a rebellion, 
 that resorts to such means to reach its ends? 
 
6 
 
 Even among the most devoted friends of 
 the Government, I think there was danger 
 that the crimes of Treason, Rebellion, and 
 Murder would be treated too leniently; and 
 that their enormity would be overlooked to 
 a great extent, as soon as the war power of 
 the rebels was broken. There is a leaning 
 ing in the human mind to palliate crime, 
 and to set aside the claims of justice; and 
 some falsely suppose that this is a dictate of 
 piety. But treason, rebellion, and murder 
 are crimes of crimson dye, — the greatest 
 crimes that men can commit against the 
 rights and interests of seciety ; and God, in 
 his wise and holy sovereignty, is engraving 
 this lesson on the heart and conscience of 
 this Nation now. 
 
 Our Government is the wisest, the mildest, 
 the best which has ever existed on earth. — 
 Its privileges and blessings have been pur- 
 chased by the best blood that ever flowed in 
 human veins. Under it we were prosperous 
 and happy beyond a parallel, and taking a 
 high place among the Nations of the earth. 
 Now look at the end proposed by this Re- 
 bellion. It is nothing less than the destruc- 
 tion of American liberty, and of free gov- 
 ernment on this vast continent. If any of 
 you doubt this, listen to a few of the utter- 
 ance of southern Statesmen. Said a Geor- 
 gia Senator on the floor of Congress: 
 
 " Drive the Black Republicans from the 
 Temple i.f Liberty, or pull down its pillars, 
 and involve him in a common ruin." 
 
 Here we have the design of the rebellion 
 clearly and frankly stated. 
 
 Said a South Carolina Representative : — 
 
 ''We have the issue now upon us, and 
 how are we to meet it? Just to tear the 
 Constitution of the United Slates, trample 
 it under foot, and form a Southern Confed- 
 eracy, every State of which shall be a slave- 
 holding State." 
 
 And what said Mr. Stephens, as to the 
 object of the rebellion, at a time when he 
 was opposing it? The object is, h 3 says : — 
 
 " The overthrow of the American Gov- 
 ernment, established by our common ances- 
 try, cemented and built by their sweat and 
 blood, and founded on the broad principles 
 
 of right, justice and humanity. And as 
 such, I must declare here, as I have often 
 done before, and which has been repeated 
 by the greatest and wisest of Statesmen and 
 patriots in this and other lands, that it is the 
 best and the freest government, — the most 
 equal in its rights, the most just in its deeis- 
 sions, the mast lenient in its measures, and 
 the most inspiring in its principles to ele- 
 vate the race of man, that the sun of heaven 
 ever shone upon." 
 
 And now, my hearers, how are we to look 
 upon the leaders in such a work as this ? 
 Are we to regard with indulgent lenity the 
 men who, through four years of bloody 
 war. have striven to rend in pieces the bond 
 of our Union, pull down the Temple of Lib- 
 erty, and convulse the country in ruin ? — 
 No, no, xo ! Their crime is like that 
 which cast the angels out of heaven. No 
 words of man can express its enormity. No 
 punishment which man can inflict is com- 
 mensurate with the crime. 
 
 And superadded to this, look at the per- 
 jury of men in office at the beginning of 
 the war, holding places of honor, and trust, 
 and emolument under the Government : 
 look at the robbery, the treason they have 
 
 ! committed, the blood they have shed on the 
 battle-field, and the sufferings of our pris- 
 oners who fell iuto their hands. Can you 
 
 ! read the testimony of these prisoners ; can 
 you look upon these shattered wrecks 
 of men with their sunken eyes, and hard 
 and shriveled and ashy skins, and wasted 
 forms ; can you behold these starved and 
 fleshless, yet living skeletons; can you hear 
 them tell the pitiful story of their fearful 
 wrongs and suflering, and not feel your 
 blood grow hot like tire in your veins? Can 
 yon read or hear their tale of woe, and not 
 feel every nerve in your body quiver with 
 agony and indignation ? If you can, your 
 temperament is cooler than mine. And 
 shall the authors of these miseries go un- 
 punished? Forbid it justice! Forbid it, 
 every right, and true, and patriotic, and 
 christian principle ! 
 
 The whole world ought to understand the 
 diabolical spirit of this rebellion, and of the 
 
men who led it. Our rulers ought to under- 
 stand it. They should have deeply wrought 
 into their souls a sense of the duty laid 
 upon them, as ministers of justice and of 
 God, bearing not the sword in vain, to 
 crush such iniquities and to make the pun- 
 ishment as broad, as signal, and as conspic- 
 uous as the crime. 
 
 It is a sin against God and humanity, to 
 be in the slightest degree indifferent to such 
 crimes or lukewarm as to their punishment. 
 The deepest peril, present and future, must 
 environ a people, who can calmly form their 
 policy to conciliate the authors of such ' 
 enormities. The very foundations of mor- 
 rality and justice must be undermined when i 
 this can occur. God, in his awful Provi- 
 dence, is speaking loudly to us in this mat- I 
 ter now. This last deed of the rebellion 
 speaks to us in trumpet tones ; it assures us 
 that this demon spirit cannot be cast out by 
 mildness and clemency, nor subdued by for- 
 giveness. It needs sterner treatment. 
 
 2d. May not God, by permitting this 
 murder of our good and kind President, 
 intend to lead us all to a juster view of the 
 system of slavery? It was the malignant 
 spirit of the slave system that struck down 
 the President of the United States. It is 
 this that has brought upon us all the hor- 
 rors of this long and fearful war. The pur- ' 
 pose and chief end of the rebellion was to 
 establish a government that should extend 
 and perpetuate human slavery. They put 
 everything they possessed in the straggle to 
 support and strengthen that system, which 
 they intended should be their foundation of 
 greatness. But they miscalculated the 
 providence of God. Instead of strengthen- 
 ing and perpetuating, they have destroyed 
 it forever. 
 
 As a system passing away, I need not 
 dwell upon its unrighteousness, upon the 
 wrongs and oppressions of its innocent vic- 
 tims. 1 wish simply to draw your attention 
 to its demonizing effect upon the masters. 
 It is this that has steeled their hearts to the 
 claims of humanity and justice, and made 
 
 them what they are. The atrocities comit- 
 ted through long years upon the black 
 race prepared them to act the part they 
 have acted during the war. It was the 
 hardening process through which the south- 
 ern heart had gone, that made them insensi- 
 ble to the sufferings of our prisoners in 
 their hands ; that led them to starve and 
 murder them, to taunt and abuse them, to 
 rob them of their clothing and leave them 
 to suffer from cold and nakedness and dis- 
 ease, to shoot them as wild beasts when 
 the came to the window-bars of their pris- 
 ons to breathe the air of heaven, and to 
 bury them with the burial of dogs. It was 
 this that led them to commit such awful 
 cruelties upon their own neighbors, and 
 fellow-citizens, whose only offense was that 
 they refused to join with them in the de- 
 struction of the Government and the over- 
 throw of Liberty. These barbarities few 
 have regarded in their just light. But this 
 last terrible act in the appalling drama, 
 shows us what the true spirit of Slavery is ; 
 that we are fighting with demons, made so 
 by the crimes and cruelties they have so 
 long practiced upon the defenceless beingB 
 who were under their power. Slavery has 
 destroyed their moral sentiments: made 
 them haughty and self-willed, unfeeling 
 and revengeful ; taught them to undervalue 
 the lives and happiness of their fellow-men; 
 familiarized them to blood, and cruelty, and 
 wrong; seared their consciences, and mad- 
 dened them to strike down every institu- 
 tion, and every man, be his situation what 
 it might, that stood in the way of the ex- 
 tension and perpetuity of their horrible sys- 
 tem. Who will not say to-day, that it is 
 time that the system which breeds such 
 monsters were swept from our country and 
 from the civilized world ? 
 
 3d. May not another reason why God 
 permitted the event we so deeply mourn, 
 be to draw our affections still more to our 
 country ? It was purchased by us by the 
 toils, and sacrifices, and blood of the heroes 
 of the Revolution. It has just been bap- 
 
tized afresh by the blood of its noblest pat- 
 riots : and everywhere its soil has become 
 sacred with their honored graves. And as 
 though all this were not enough to endear 
 our country to us forever, its soil has now 
 been wet with the blood of its martyred 
 President. Surely this is enough. Shall 
 not these sacrifices stir up every heart to 
 loyalty and patriotism? Shall not every 
 one feel that the Union, which has cost so 
 dearly, "must and shall be preserved f" 
 
 We trust the day of peace is dawning, 
 and that a bright future awaits us ; and 
 that our children, to the latest generation, 
 will bless our memory for the inheritance of 
 freedom which, by God's great goodness, we 
 shall be permitted to leave them ; and that 
 they will faithfully guard the sacred legacy. 
 
 4th. Another thought and I shall close: 
 God in this great calamity, is teaching us 
 the vanity of earthly greatness. It would 
 be difficult to conceive of any combination 
 of circumstances better adapted to impress 
 a people with the vanity of all things earth- 
 ly, than those in which death has now i 
 achieved his conquest. He who has fallen 
 occupied the very pinacle of society — the 
 highest place on earth. He had attained ! 
 the utmost that a lawful ambition could de- 
 sire. But while his glories were yet fresh ! 
 upon him, the destroyer came. Scarcely ! 
 had the intelligence of his second inaugu- 
 ration spread through the land, ere his 
 
 earthly career was finished, and his soul 
 was summoned to the bar of God. We look 
 back but a few weeks, and read the record 
 of that day, and survey the scene of splen- 
 dor and of joy, and hear the shouts of the 
 assembled multitudes ; and while we look 
 and listen, already the vision has faded 
 away like a dream. President Lincoln is 
 no more ! And now, instead of acclama- 
 tions of joy, we hear the dirge of woe ; 
 instead of the triumphal procession, we see 
 the funeral train ! What sad countenances 
 we behold ! What melancholy greetings, 
 what tolling bells, what badges and voices 
 of mourning throughout the land ! One 
 great funeral pall has been let down, as if it 
 were, by the four corners from heaven ; and 
 it rests upon the whole nation. 
 
 Who can reflect upon the change of these 
 few weeks, without feeling how vain, and 
 empty, and evanescent are the highest honors 
 that the world can give? God is speaking 
 to us to-day in solemn tones. He is remind- 
 ing us that " all flesh is grass, and all the 
 glory of man as the flower of the grass.'' 
 We know not where, or when, or how death 
 may meet us. It may be in the bosom of 
 our family, or it may be abroad among 
 strangers : it may be by lingering sickness, 
 or the lightning's flash, or the assassin's 
 hand. Let us so live, that come he as he 
 may, we shall be prepared for the momen- 
 tous change.