Qass. Book. .a? 5 ,. ■ '-i' i '' ',"' 1 ABRAif AB-i UNCOLN PRESIDENT or THE UNITED STATES cTVIARCH 4t.h. Ibbl—APB.IL 15th,- 1865 " Tl>e kindly-eirnestj brave, fC'reseeing man, Sagacious, patient, dr'eading^prdfce, not blame, New birth of jbur new soil, tie first American." -Lowell •1 / Cmtmarp of abmljam Itncoln c 9ifarat)am iLincoln HIS man whose homely face you look upon, Was one of Nature's masterful, great men ; Born with strong arms, that unfought battles won. Direct of speech and cunning with the pen. Chosen for large designs, he had the art Of winning with his humor, and he went Straight to his mark, which was the human heart ; Wise, too, for what he could not break he bent. Upon his back a more than Atlas -load. The burden of the commonwealth, was laid ; He stooped, and rose up to it, though the road Shot suddenly downwards, not a whit dismayed. Hold, warriors, councillors, kings ! All now give place To this dead benefactor of the race ! From "Poems by Richard Henry Stoddard' %^t l^rpubUc c HOU, too, sail on, O Ship of State ! Sail on, O Union, strong and great ! Humanity with all its fears. With all the hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate ! We know what Master laid thy keel, W^hat W^orkmen wrought thy ribs of steel, W^ho made each mast, and sail, and rope, W^hat anvils rang, what hammers beat, In what a forge and what a heat W^ere shaped the anchors of thy hope ! Fear not each sudden sound and shock, 'Tis of the wave and not the rock ; 'Tis but the flapping of the sail, And not a rent made by the gale ! In spite of rock and tempest's roar. In spite of false lights on the shore, Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea ! Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee, are all with thee ! From "The Building of the Ship" ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1860 From an ambroiype owned by Major William H. Lambert, Philadelphia <§tit l^txnhtthtii Annibrrsary of tl)p ?BtrtI| of Abratjam ICinroln uitbrr ll|p auaptrpB of tt|? CSranb Armg Assnnattnn 0f jpifilab^lpljta nnh Utrimlg JFrttay, Jfbntarg 12tl|, 1003 dirtier of Cferctses CHAIRMAN, GENERAL LOUIS WAGNERj Past Commander-in-Chief, Grand Army of the Republic ORGAN — "Andante in A" Henry Smart Mr. G. LeRoy Lindsay, Assistant Organic, Baptist Temple PRAYER — Rev. Harry M. Cook, Associate Pastor, Baptist Temple AMERICAN HYMN («) M. Keller Pupils John MofFet Public School Comrade David R. Baer, Supervising Principal Pianist, Florence K. Wolf (6) "Mount Vernon Bells" Stephen Foster ADDRESS BY THE CHAIRMAN General Louis Wagner MUSIC Pupils John MofFet Public School (fl) "Novv^ the Roll of the Lively Drum" (6) "Hats oflP when the Flag goes by" Chas. E. Baer "ABRAHAM LINCOLN" Hon. Hampton L. Carson, LL. D. Former Attorney General of Pennsylvania MUSIC • Pupils John Moifet Public School (a) "Banner of Beauty" Fihnore (b) "The Star Spangled Banner" Francis Scott Key ADDRESS Hon. John E. Reyburn, Mayor, City of Philadelphia MUSIC Pupils John MofFet* Pubhc School (a) "Soldier's Farewell" J. Kunkel (b) "MofFet School" Arranged by D. R. Baer (c) "My Country, 'tis of thee" Rev. S. F. Smith ORGAN — "Marche Triomphale" Joseph Callaerts Mr. G. LeRoy Lindsay, Assistant Organic BENEDICTION Rev. Harry M. Cook ^ Gift Centenary of Lincoln's Birth The centenary of the birth of the martyr President and emancipator, Abraham Lincoln, was commemorated by the Grand Army Association of Philadelphia and vicinity, repre- senting fifty-one Posts of the Grand Army of the Republic, in the Baptist Temple, Philadelphia, on February 12, 1909. The celebration, one of the most notable and impressive of the day, was attended by veterans of the Civil War, their families and the general public. General Louis Wagner, Past Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, presided ; and addresses were delivered by Hon. Hampton L. Carson, former Attorney General of Pennsylvania, and Hon. John E. Reyburn, Mayor of Philadelphia. The exercises were interspersed with music, vocal and in- Musical strumental, a feature of which was the singing of patriotic zeroises selections by two hundred and fifty pupils of the John Moffet public school, under the direction of the supervising principal, Comrade David R. Baer. At two o'clock p. m. an introductory on the organ was ren- dered by Mr. G. LeRoy Lindsay, Assistant Organist of the Temple. Rev. Harry M. Cook, Assistant Pastor of the Temple (in the absence of the Pastor, Rev. Russell H. Conwell, D. D.), opened the meeting with prayer. The children then sang "The American Hymn," by M. Keller, and Stephen Foster's "Mount Vernon Bells," with piano accompaniment by Miss Florence K. Wolf. Address by the Chairman, General Loxiis Wagner General Wagner prefaced his introduction of the orator of the day as follows: It is to me a satisfaction that, as Chairman of this meeting, I am not expected to trespass upon your time and upon the time of the speakers who are to follow, however much dis- posed to do so, by an address relating definitely and in detail to Abraham Lincoln. Others will do that and do it more effectively and satisfactorily than I could possibly do it; but as the representative of the Grand Army of the Republic, un- der whose direction this commemorative service is held, let me say that it is to us a source of intense gratification to have been permitted by Providence to participate in the great work in which Abraham Lincoln was called to lead. As the Presi- dent of the United States and, as such, Commander-in-chief of the armies and navies of the United States, he was our Commander; whenever he said, "Come," we came; and through the blessing of God victory was achieved, the Rebel- lion was suppressed, a united nation became possible, and . is now thoroughly and permanently established. We, soldiers Grand 3.nd sailors of the Union, were then separated and scattered Army all over this continent; but we felt that there was a tie bind- Republlc ^^S us, one to the other, which it would not be proper nor pleasant to sever, and hence the Grand Army of the Republic. All over our country, all over the world where American citizens are found, the centennial anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln is being observed to-day, but by no body of men or women more earnestly and reverently than by the members of the Grand Army of the Republic and their fami- lies. It is not necessary for me other than by the merest ref- Hc^ cs€^ X-^^ From an original negative made in 1864, at the time President Lincoln commissioned Ulysses S. Grant Lieutenant-General and Com- mander of All the Armies of the Union. It is stated that this negative was made to commemorate that event erence to our organization to tell you what the Grand Army of the Republic is. It is based upon membership of the armies Membership and navies of the United States during the years 1861 to 1865 ; and we are proud to say that no man can purchase admission to the organization. It is beyond the reach of any and of all who did not serve with us shoulder to shoulder. We are established upon the great principles of Fraternity, Principles Charity and Loyalty — fraternity to our comrades in arms, now our comrades in peace; charity to those who need assist- ance and help; and loyalty to our country. After all, the latter is the noblest of the three. It was loyalty to country that brought us into the service when men were needed for the defence of the flag; it is loyalty to country that is inculcated in our Posts and impressed upon the minds of those who are mustered into our ranks. And it will continue so long as we live, so long as the last man remains alive who offered his life for the country and was saved, through the providence of God, to return home. And so we meet to-day to thank God that a man like Abra- ham Lincoln was born. And this is the inspiration that comes Inspiration to me just at this moment; isn't it always so — when there is an emergency, does not God raise up some man to fill that emergency and stand between the peril of a nation and its destruction? We thank God that Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest men that ever lived, not merely in our land, but throughout the world, did live to accomplish the great results we have beheld ; and we meet to-day to celebrate the centen- nial of his birth. I bid you all welcome to this gathering. I know you will Welcome be edified by and interested in what the speakers of the after- noon will say to you. And when we separate let us go hence 5 to our homes determined that in loyalty to flag, to country and to each other, whether as members of the Grand Army of the Republic or as citizens merely, whether as men or as women, we shall ever be true to the obligations we have assumed as citizens of these great United States. Music (In the interval, at this point, patriotic selections were sung by the Moffet school children, viz : "Now the roll of the lively drum" and "Hats off when the flag goes by.") "ABRAHAM LINCOLN" Address by Hon. Hampton L. Carson Chairman Wagner announced the subject of the Oration, "Abraham Lincoln," and said : The orator of the day is one of Philadelphia's most promi- nent citizens, a lawyer in the front rank of his profession, Principal of the law school of the University of Pennsyl- vania and, for a term, Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, our own beloved State. It is my great pleasure to present to you the speaker of the afternoon, Hon. Hampton L. Carson. Mr. Carson was cordially greeted and, throughout his ad- dress, applauded. He spoke as follows : Mr. Chairman, members of the Grand Army Association, ladies and gentlemen : It is an unusual privilege, and one which I rate at the highest possible value, to address, on the one omage ]^|jj^(jj-g(]th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the Union survivors of those soldiers who fought under him in the armies Veterans Qf ^j^g United States. I cannot face you without emotion when I realize all that you have seen, all that you have heard, 6 all that you have dared, all that you have suffered, all that you have achieved under his leadership. Your honorahle scars and your gray hairs demand the gratitude and the homage of this generation as with tottering footsteps you approach that dead line that marks the entrance to immortality. Emerson has said that it is natural to believe in a great Emerson's man ; and, by way of definition, he says that he is truly great ^^*'"'*'o" who is what he is from nature and who reminds us of no Great Man other man. In those few words we have suggested the quali- ties of simplicity, of strength and of originality not in an abnormal or extreme degree, but in a degree which, while perfectly natural, is so far unusual as to be beyond the reach of the average mortal ; and therefore our admiration is coupled with reverence and our homage is mingled with awe. We have met to commemorate the memory of a great man ; one who reminds us of no one else and of whom no one else reminds us; a man great in his simplicity, in his strength, in his originality, in his power; a man who was born one hun- dred years ago and who was buried while men were still alive, who had fought on the deck of Old Ironsides in her battles with the Guerriere and the Java. For some years past, twenty or more, I have been a diligent Diligent collector of the engraved portraits of the great men who have ° ®*^ ^'^ taken part in the making and development of America from Portraits the time of Columbus to the present; pictures of statesmen, *** . Great Men philosophers, bankers, lawyers, merchants, manufacturers, of those who assisted in building up the buttresses of our insti- tutions and who led in every needed reform or in the exploi- tation of every useful movement. Of Mr. Lincoln I have at least one hundred different pictures ; and it is not too much to say that the most dignified, the most thoughtful, and the most rugged, as well as the saddest face in that vast array of leaders is his. A tall, gaunt form and firm set head, with beetling brows and eyes from which the soul of an immortal Spirit sorrow looks; a spirit baptised in that rain of blood which °^ drenched the soil and the forests of the Southern States until Lincoln . . . i i- j i his heart grew sick with grief — a spirit which embodied the woe of Lear and the tragedy of Hamlet, and which would have broken beneath the weight if it had not been enlivened by enjoyment of the humor of The Merry Wives of Windsor and the Midsummer Night's Dream. ' I never look at those pictures without recalling two scenes of April, 1865. I was a boy of thirteen, but if I live to be ninety and nine, unless my faculties decay, I will never lose Remi- the memory of them. The old city of Philadelphia, by night, niscences ^^g j^deed dark and dreary. Here and there was a flickering of old ^ . Philadelphia g^s lamp; everywhere badly paved streets, made more gloomy by rows of tightly closed shutters from which not a single hospitable gleam shone out upon the sidewalk. A more dreary or depressing scene I cannot recall. Yet one night, I remem- ber, when every house from the Schuylkill to the Delaware and from League Island to Germantown was ablaze with light; flags floated upon the joyous breeze; the ground re- sounded beneath the tread of multitudes who shouted in tri- umph ; troops of happy boys, of whom I was one, ran up and down the streets singing "Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys," and "Marching through Georgia," or "We'll hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple tree" ; the solid earth quivered with a joyous palpitation as from a subterranean murmur, indicating that the feelings of the nation, so long pent up, had found a vent in exultation over the surrender of Lee and the conviction at last that there was full assurance that this Union was, and 8 HON. HAMPTON L. CARSON, LL.D. Attorney General of Pennsylvania, 1903-1906 should remain for all time, "an indivisible Union of inde- structible States." In a few days the scene changed. I recollect that Inde- Scene pendence Hall was clothed in black; every block of buildings ^"K^s was draped in sable; every house stood with shutters bowed; men with pallid faces whispered to their neighbors; women spoke in convulsive sobs; children ceased their play, hushed, awe-stricken; every officer on the streets had crepe upon his arm or wore the rosette of mourning; our daily newspapers were bordered with broad black bands ; everywhere a suffocat- ing grief filled the air, which as a child I felt but could not ex- plain. Was it because the President of the United States was dead? Was it because our victory had been shorn of its fruits by the loss of our leader? Not this alone. It was be- cause the greatest soul of the nineteenth century had passed from earth to immortality. What was the secret of this man's greatness? Ah, what is Secret of the secret of the strength of iron, of the tenacity of steel, of the fiber of the oak? You must answer that it is a secret of the eternal hills, a riddle of the elements, a mystery con- nected with those dim, far-distant times when the raw mate- rial was shaped in the womb of the mountain. The secret of Abraham Lincoln's greatness must be sought for in the evo- lution of family isolation, in the struggle with primeval forces, in a life set in the loneliness of untrodden forests, in a state of society when men had no strong government at their back to sustain them in their rights and when they had to hew out for themselves a solution of every problem in their grapple with a harsh condition of life and in their struggle with a savage foe which still hung upon the borders of the wilderness. Lincoln traced his forefathers back for six centuries of re- Ancestry spectable ancestiy. Charles Lincoln, I think it was, came to Massachusetts; his descendants coming into Berks County, Pennsylvania, and removing into Virginia. Then the grand- father, who was a co-pioneer with old Daniel Boone, moved out into old Kentucky. The sad fact must be told : the father was a rover, a miserable squatter, moving about from State to State in an unavailing search for the acquisition of prop- erty. He went from Kentucky to Lidiana and from Indiana to Illinois. The mother, what matters it that she knew not whence she came? Is it not a sufficient crown for her woman- hood to have been the mother of Abraham Lincoln? A boyhood spent amid squalid, poverty stricken surround- Boyhood ings ; in coarse, low ignorance ; housed in a cabin scarcely better than the winter cabin of a bear. And yet the seed of that immortal spirit, planted in such a soil, nurtured by such surroundings, was developed by adversity into a noble growth. No other President of the United States ever sprang from so lowly an origin — nay, from such a depth. It is a familiar story in America of men rising from poverty to affluence; it is a familiar story to trace the bare-footed boy from the beginning, to clerk, storekeeper, member of the Legislature, member of Congress, to high position in the Cabinet or even to the White House; but the fact that Lincoln became President is not the crowning feature of his career. It is true he had but one year's schooling in all his life; it is true that as a Early backwoodsman he split rails for Nancy Miller at the rate of ^^® four hundred for every yard of iean cloth, for a suit of clothes Struggles .... and a pair of trousers, as his price ; it is true that, as a flat- boatman he had floated down the broad waters of the Illinois to the Ohio and from the Ohio to the Mississippi and that, on lO some Southern wharf, he beheld a scene of the slave market, which first drove the iron into his soul. He recorded no vow Threat like that of Hannibal at the altar, but between his teeth he ^^ainst Slavery muttered "If it ever comes in my way to hit that thing I will hit it hard." A Surveyor ; a Postmaster, with his office in his hat ; a mem- ber of the Legislature without distinction except to have aided in securing the removal of the capitol from Vandalia to Springfield; a member of Congress without attracting par- Early ticular attention; finally working out for himself the prob- Honors lems that revolved before his mind ; thinking — as the man who knew him best has said, thinking more than any other man in America ever thought, because books were so few and oppor- tunities for thinking were so many — thinking as he rode across the broad prairies, where the quail whistled to its mate and the red deer sprang from the ripened grass beside his path — thinking of those serious problems as to the meaning of this Government, as to its power and as to whether slavery could be constitutionally excluded from the territories, he finally worked out the answer and, in the discussions which led to the settlement of the question, achieved distinction by dint of his own inherent force of character, his conscientiousness, his courage, his intelligence and his commanding position on the hustings. He rose so steadily, so loftily, that eventually, when the debate with Douglas furnished him with the oppor- Debate tunity, he entered upon a death grapple with the liateful wrong j)q„„|^3 in an argument which attracted attention in all parts of the country and drew the eyes of men to the Illinois campaign for Senator, in which he routed the Little Giant and, as a Rupert of debate, became renowned. II Now, had his career stopped there we would all say, "There is nothing very extraordinary about this, many another man has done it before and many a man has done it since." But he had not yet reached the full measure of his stature. In the great conflict that followed he appeared at the Cooper Institute in New York and there delivered a speech which Achieved made his reputation national ; and then for the first time there First fl^s]-,g(;} through the great loyal struggling millions of the Reputation North a conviction that the bold declaration which had caused his defeat as a Senator of the United States had made him a possible candidate for the Presidency. "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I do not expect to see this country remain half slave and half free; I do not expect to see the Union dissolved, but I do expect that it will become wholly one or the other." Time proved that he was right. Many of the men now before me remember perfectly well (I have often heard it commented upon as I grew older) what the feeling was when it was announced that Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, and not William H. Seward, of New Chicago York, had been nominated by the Chicago convention for the Presidency of the United States. Did then any student of our history, familiar with the names and deeds of our former statesmen, make mention of Lincoln as a probable great leader? Was there any prophet among the statesmen of his Jay who foresaw either what he might accomplish or what he might be called upon to accomplish? "This back-woods illiter- ate," as he was called, "this Illinois ape," "this half horse, half alligator," "this man reared on the muck of the prairie," "this man who jokes when other men are grave," "this man who has had no experience in the affairs of life," "this man utterly destitute of knowledge of foreign diplomacy," "this 12 man who for a little time was elevated into temporary con- spicuousness by his debate with Senator Douglas" — was this the man to be entrusted, in a crisis, with the Presidency of the United States? Do we of to-day doubt Abraham Lin- coln's ability, question his sagacity, or deny his mastery? Why, not one month had passed after he had been President before his Cabinet knew that he was their master. His Sec- Lincoln retary of State, William H. Seward, the foremost statesman **)* Master of his day and Lincoln's most conspicuous rival, the man whose of Men eloquence had charmed the Senate, whose knowledge of our foreign relations was world-wide and whose fame was alike universal ; Salmon P. Chase, his Secretary of the Treasury, the most conspicuous of the Western anti-slavery men; his Secretary of War, the most powerful man in Pennsylvania; Mr. Blair, his Postmaster General, the leader in the border States; his Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, of New England, commanding the support of that part of the country — these men, coming together, assured themselves that if this raw, untrained giant of the West did not know how to run the Government they would do it for him and keep his head and his feet in line. Within a month Mr. Seward informed Secretary the President that the Government had no policy, either Reward s ^ ^ Plan foreign or domestic, and that he had taken the liberty to map out a plan which he would submit for the President's con- sideration and for the execution of which he himself would stand pledged. It proposed to drop out of sight entirely the slavery issue; it proposed to call France, England and Spain to a strict account and, if they gave no satisfactory explana- tion of their actions, to wage a foreign war in the hope of re- uniting the dissevered sections of the country in resolute re- sistance to foreign aggression. Mr. Lincoln had no knowl- 13 bilities Assumed edge by experience of foreign policy, but he quietly pocketed Responsi- that paper and, in terms polite but firm, informed Mr. Seward that the President of the United States, who had sworn to up- hold the Constitution and mantain the laws and whose oath to do it had been taken on the east front of the Capitol, would take the responsibilities of his position upon himself. He was the intellectual master of a Cabinet of giants. Read the tributes of the men who did not like him ; read the unwilling admissions wrung from the lips of those who did not at first even respect him; read the tributes from the reluctant pens Reluctant of critics who subsequently confessed themselves as mere f c "t* pigmies in his presence. No doubt can there be as to whose was the ruling mind or whose the master spirit through all those long dark and dreary years. His intellectual power, it seems to me, was the first and most conspicuous feature of his greatness. It was a power such as that exercised by John Marshall in jurisprudence or by Sir Isaac Newton in philoso- phy — a power so great that, in stating a case and presenting a proposition, the statement in itself was not only a vindication of the position assumed, but a logical demonstration of its truth; unalterable, impregnable, and needing no argument in its support. "If this thing is not wrong there can be nothing which is wrong. If slavery is right then nothing is right." Look at that proposition. In those few words he gave a terse, simple, clear, direct view of the absolute immorality of slavery. He had also an analytical power in which no man was his equal, combined with a calmness and a courage which were divine. His firmness, his tenacity of purpose, the manner in which after having formulated a proposition in his mind he would cling to it constitute the grandest elements of strength 14 in that totality of strange, mysterious and incongruous quali- ties which made up his sublime character. He combined mod- esty with determination. "I am the humblest man," he said, '^**® "ever called upon to fill this office, yet I have a duty to per- ^^^ form greater than that of any other man, not excepting even George Washington." Behold his endurance. We have seen the captain on the Endurance bridge of some great ocean liner calmly issuing his orders amid the bowlings of the storm; we have extolled the pres- ence of mind of the General who in the tempest of battle coolly surveyed the field, marshalled his troops and threw his squad- rons on the hill tops or in the valleys to break a weak line of the enemy ; we have admired the heroism of the engineer who, firing his locomotive, rushed through blazing forests for a distance of miles to save the lives of his passengers; we have applauded the skill and celerity of that great commander who traversed fourteen thousand miles of tropic seas and brought his vessel around the Horn in time to share in a critical engagement ; but never was there such agony of endurance or such self-possession imposed upon any man in high position as that which was required of the President of the United States in 1861 to 1865. A storm, however violent, in a few hours is over; a battle, however prolonged, in a few days is lost or won ; a run of a few miles takes the engineer beyond the burn- ing forest ; a sea voyage of ten thousand miles is ended in two months; but here was a man who, day by day and week by week and month by month and year by year, bore with her- culean fortitude the whole weight of dreadful responsibility and faced the momentous issues of fate — a man with a divided Struggling party at his back; with Ben Wade, Thaddeus Stevens and 3!^!*. *. ... Divided Henry Winter Davis issuing their flaming proclamations Party 15 against him, in denunciation, because he was not cruel enough, nor aggressive enough, nor bitter enough, nor destructive enough. It seemed as if he stood on the very edge of a flaming pit, but his head never reeled nor did his heart quail. The sulphurous fumes of that devil's cauldron rose in the air, enveloping this republic in a conflagration that, thank God, it vi^ill never see again; but far above the vapors of hell the people saw, growing grander and grander and more ma- jestic as it loomed and rose higher and higher still, a calm and mild but firm and sublime self-regnant soul that lived for them as for the black bondsmen of the South, that lived but for the emancipation of a race and for the salvation of the Union. Beneath pressure from Congress, with radical editors like Horace Greeley and Henry Ward Beecher writing bitter edi- Bitter torials which cut like mowing machines at every revolution ; Denunciation ^jj-j-j ^-j^g clamor from officeholders and shrieks of rage from disappointed applicants; not knowing where he would find absolute support, whether from the radical or the conservative wing of his party, Mr. Lincoln clearly perceived, as no other man of the times did perceive, that if he but waited, waited, the plain people, of whom he was the best and most expressive type, would some day come to his support. He knew that the war was not to be fought out by noisy debaters in Congress nor by sons of a few rich men. He knew that victory must Victory depend upon the voluntary services of the boys who were Upon dedicating themselves to the salvation of the Union, but who Volunteers had not yet learned to associate emancipation with constitu- tional preservation. He knew that he must sublimely wait. He waited, and the time came. The second call for armies Second Call was made when the people were ready to receive it. And then not from the slums of cities, not from the refuse of social i6 swamps, not from the ranks of the dissolute or the idle, not from hirelings bought by bounty, not from hordes of ad- venturers, but from mill and factory, from farm and hamlet, from church and schoolhouse, from cross-roads and villages, from drawing-room and workshop, from mountain-tops and valleys, from lumber districts and iron mines, from granite quarry and marl pit there poured ten thousand confluent streams of gallant Boys-in-Blue, their souls uplifted by devo- Gallant tion to the Union, their eyes agleam with heroic resolution, Boys-ln-Blu< their hearts beating quickly to the music of the charge ; while the winds, heavily laden with the tears of mothers, the sighs of sisters, the sobs of wives and the blessings of fathers, bore down to the listening ears of that great, silent, suffering soul in the White House the thunder of their battle shout, "We are coming. Father Abraham, three hundred thousand Response more." Ah, he was the Father of his people. In this there is no cant. He was the same man whose sympathetic heart could The not bear the burden of the death sentence of a court martial ; ^^ j^j^ the man who revised and modified the action taken under the People rules of war by military bodies against deserters or against boys sleeping on their posts or lads delayed on furlough ; the man to whom the loss of a human life was as a personal loss ; the man who often set aside judgments of death and did it oftener than any other human being who ever held a similar position or who was entrusted with similar power. How many hearts of wives, mothers, sisters and daughters were gladdened by his merciful interposition. The officers of the army did not like it. They sent him telegram after telegram, saying, "Don't interfere with our finding, you are destroying the discipline of the army" ; and his response was, "This is 17 an army of volunteers for the salvation of the Union, and I cannot apply to them the rules of the regular service, where there are extenuating circumstances." And so gradually a realization of the greatness, the good- ness, the mercy of the man extended all over the country. It was from no spirit of superstition, but simply from a childlike recognition of the truth that the colored preacher exclaimed Massa "IvJassa Lincoln, he know eberything, he eberywhere, he walk de earf like de Lord." That which many might regard as a mere childish expression of a benighted mind was the revela- tion of a universal sentiment. Some saw in Lincoln simply an idle story teller, because when other men were grave he sought to be jocose. I have read many of his alleged stories, and I know that an excellent reason for his habit was given by men who knew him well. Reason The deep-seated melancholy in his eyes indicated that the „ heavily burdened spirit would have broken if it had not had some relief. When I said, in opening, that his spirit embodied the woe of Lear and the tragedy of Hamlet and would have broken if it had not been enlivened by enjoyment of the humor of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "The Mid- summer Night's Dream" I simply stated a truth known to those who knew him best. His humor preserved the integrity, the sanity of his mind. As a chronicler of his early life ex- pressed it, "He was always hewing the chips at the butt end of the log or else sitting on the end whittling for rest and recreation." He was like Talleyrand in that so many stories are credited to him that had he spent the entire length of his Presidential term and double that length of time in telling stories, the period would not have sufficed for one-half of them. But he made a blunt statement of a case with a story i8 and thus evaded responsibility at a time when responsibility ought not to be assumed. When a visitor asked for informa- tion which he had no right to expect would be given, instead of having his feelings hurt by an abrupt reply he would be told a story. When the merchants of New York, alarmed by Alarm of the exploits of the Merrimac, sent their delegation to Wash- >/^^ *"^ ^ ° Merchants ington their spokesman said to the President, "We represent one hundred millions of our own money, we are loyal citizens, we have paid our taxes ; and we want you, Mr. President, to send a gunboat into the harbor of New York in order to pro- tect us from the Merrimac." Mr. Lincoln replied, "Gentle- The men, I am the President of the United States ; I am the Com- p^ j mander-in-chief of the army and navy; I can send ships in any direction that I please, but at the present time every ship I have is engaged in some useful service ; I don't even know where they actually are; but if I had only one-half your money and was only half as much "skeered" as you appear to be I would buy or build a gunboat for myself and give it to the Government." When that little, gentle Quaker lady who had A Quaker received a revelation from on High that the President should * ^ ® . ° Revelation immediately emancipate the slaves, went to the White House and told her story, and told how Deborah had interfered in the matter of Samson, Mr. Lincoln said, "Do you believe that I have been chosen by the Lord to carry on this Government?" "Yes, Mr. President." "Well, if you believe that, why shouldn't the Lord have revealed my duty to me instead of to thee?" When the clergymen of Chicago, drawing themselves The up en masse, insisted that he should, in reply to a revelation «cago from heaven, of which they were the God-sent messengers, men's immediately emancipate the slaves, the President said, "Gen- Revelation tlemen, I recognize your mission and your high calling, and 19 believing that I myself am a servant of the Lord, I am at a loss to understand why He should have chosen such a round- about route as the wicked city of Chicago in order to com- municate with me." When a sudden raid was made and a Brigadier brig'adier-general and two hundred mules were captured by versus ^j^^ rebels Mr. Lincoln said, "Well, about the brigadier, I Mules ° probably can supply his place in five minutes, but as to those mules, they cost us two hundred dollars apiece." When trou- ble was made over the retirement of one of the members of the Cabinet and much difficulty ensued and finally pressure was exerted to secure the removal of all the members of the Cabinet, to make a clean sweep, Mr. Lincoln said, "Gentle- Story to men, your request reminds me of that man out there in Sanga- Overthrow ^^^ County, Illinois, who was much troubled with skunks, Unreason- 3jjlg and he went out with a gun and killed one of them at the Request woodpile. When he came back his wife accosted him thus : 'James, why I thought you were going to shoot a whole lot of skunks' ; and he replied, 'Well, yes, Jane, I saw five of them, I killed one, and the one I killed made such an infernal smell that I thought I would let the others alone.' " When much pressed by an office seeker who insisted on having recognition and who, on being refused, began to abuse the President. Mr. Lincoln with true dignity said, "Sir, I can Resenting submit to censure, but I will not tolerate insult" ; and then, put- ** * ting out his strong arm, he ejected the man from the room. Now, those incidents give you but one phase of the charac- ter of the man. By some they are regarded as characteristic. Place beside them his utterances in State papers. You will search the literature of Presidential proclamations in vain for anything finer in the English tongue, nay, in human speech, than the language of the First Inaugural or the Gettysburg 20 Address or the Second Inaugural. Indeed they read like in- spired passages from Isaiah or Job. What an exquisite ap- peal, what a pathetic argument was that which was addressed to our erring Southern brethren: "We are not enemies, we must be friends. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of afifection. The mystic chords of mem- ory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone 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." "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray that this cruel Inspiring scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled up by the bondsman'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 for by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' " Believing then that the people would sanction his action, convinced at last that the integrity of the Union was only to be saved by the gift of freedom to the slave, he made a solemn vow that if the arms of McClellan were crowned with victor}' on the field of Antietam he would bless the achievement by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. Then in the rapture Emancipation of that joyous hour, dipping his pen in God's sunlight, he wrote his name to that immortal document which enrolled him among the benefactors of mankind. It was a great, a cour- ageous act and one which will stand for all time, like the Con- stitution of the United States, without a prototype. Take the address at the dedication of the National Ceme- tery at Gettysburg, on the 19th of November, 1863. 21 "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth Gettysburg on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. "But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor 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 devo- tion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under 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." No comment can be made on words like these. They have sunk into the hearts of the people and form a part of those inspired utterances which, like Sacred Writ, elevate and enno- ble our humanity. Charadter The character of Lincoln. Ah, if that can be analyzed. It was his warm-heartedness, his kindliness, his human sym- 22 Analyzed pathy which endeared him to the multitude. It was his re- lentless logical power, his clear perception, his grasp of de- tails, his tenacity of purpose, his sense of justice, his loftiness of view and his moral courage — that magnificent equipose of conscience, of heart and of brain — which lifted him up far above the heads of all other men and which enabled him to place his country upon a plane so high and safe that the tyrants of despotism no longer dare to challenge the might, the sub- limity and the power of civil and religious freedom. No voice save that of the Archangel can now reach his ear, but his fame and his memory will increase from day to day. The When unseen fingers strike back the bolts which lock out his J^^J]^eur ° of his futurity, when this country shall have grown to two hun- Fame dred millions of people, when one-third of the population of the globe shall speak the English tongue, when the dusky millions of far distant islands shall learn to lisp the golden words of law and liberty, when free institutions are scattering their blessings in every land, then will the name of Abraham Lincoln, as Liberator, be on every lip, and nothing but the spaciousness of centuries can fitly frame the grandeur of his fame. Remarks by the Chairman Chairman Wagner briefly supplemented Mr. Carson's ad- dress as follows : For the past month or so it has been the custom, and a most admirable one it is, for the newspapers to print extracts from the sayings of Abraham Lincoln. My friend. Col. William Potter, former Minister of this country to the King- dom of Italy, has printed one brief saying of Lincoln's and circulated it among his friends. I am sure that the orator 23 of the day will pardon me if I add this as an addendum to Chairman's jijs magnificent eloquent eulogy of Abraham Lincoln. "Abra- J.Q ham Lincoln said, 'I am not bound to win, but I am bound Eloquent to be true; I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to " °^^ live up to the lights I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right and stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.' Music Singing by the children with organ accompaniment here followed; the selections being "Banner of Beauty" and "The Star Spangled Banner." Chairman Wagner, in presenting the Mayor of the City, said: Young in years, but full of patriotism and love of country, as all young men were forty odd years ago, the next speaker, then a resident of Kansas, enlisted in the war for the sup- pression of the rebellion, in one of the Kansas regiments. He Ought is not yet — he ought to be — a comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic ; and I commend him as a fitting subject for a recruit, to some of you connected with Posts in the City of Philadelphia. I have the great pleasure to present to you the Mayor of the City, the gentleman to whom I refer in these introductory remarks. Address by Mayor Reybum of Philadelphia Hon. John E. Reyburn. Mayor of the City of Philadel- phia, who was enthusiastically greeted, responded : As General Wagner has intimated, I did see a little service in the War for the Union ; I was sworn in as a volunteer 24 to be a Comrade HON. JOHN E. REYBURN Mayor of Philadelphia during a crisis ; but having seen no actual service I have never claimed, and do not to-day claim, the honor of being classed The Mayor among the veterans of that war. I have felt that the men volunteer of the Grand Army of the Republic, the men who went to the front, who had endured years of sacrifice, of danger and of hardship, were deserving of my admiration ; and my own brief experience caused me to appreciate more highly their privations and the value of their services. They are entitled to our reverence for what they did in the preservation of the Reverence Union; and it is now and always has been my belief that the jyjg^ ^f ^^e nation should take care of them when they need its care. Grand What little I saw of the rigors of war impressed me with the ^^ fact that a man who entered the army and went through even a Republic single campaign was not thereafter physically the same man and was to a certain extent less able to earn a livelihood for himself and provide for his family than he would have been if lie had not undergone that service. Therefore, I repeat, they are entitled to our reverence, to our help and support when they need it; and as the years go by they do need assistance and it should be given to them cheerfully to the fullest extent. Abraham Lincoln, whom we commemorate to-day, honored the men who helped him to preserve this Union for us. I Knowledge saw and knew enougfh of him to know that if he stood in my ^ . ° "^ Lincoln place to-day he would express the same sentiments I have uttered. Lincoln was our foremost American. By reason of his training and education he was made conservative ; by the The very life he led he was taught prudence and wisdom and knew grlcan just what was to be done and the way to do it. Therefore he always waited patiently and acted with deliberation. He watched the development of public sentiment, accepted it. digested it and then led it. His great success was due largely 25 to this trait of his character as well as to his patriotism and intense love of country. Never from the beginning of his career to the night of his assassination did he once falter in Unfaltering devotion to the best interests of our country and the preserva- tion of its institutions. Therein he found his ideal, and he placed that first and above all personal ambition. One of the grandest features of his character was his obliteration of his own personality in his achievements for the nation's welfare. It was his simplicity in every-day life and his confidence in the integrity of our Government that endeared him to the peo- ple; and for this his name will be revered in history for all time. In this respect he differed from other great men. Na- poleon stood for France, but he stood for Napoleon, too; Abraham Lincoln stood for his country only. It is time that we awakened and gave vent to our patriotism Awakening in a little shouting. It is right that the young, like the chil- dren who sit behind me, the aged, like the veterans who are before me, and the people of America should reflect, as will the people of all ages, upon the noble attributes of this man's character; we to-day should be proud of them and should not neglect, upon every proper occasion, to emphasize them and thus make it impossible for any man or any set of men to deprive us or those who come after us of the rights and privileges which we so dearly cherish; and particularly you men in front of me who display these Grand Army of the Republic badges should continue to guard with jealous care the glorious institutions to preserve which you fought for and suffered. A true appreciation of Abraham Lincoln can best be reached True by those familiar with environments similar to those from pp e la ion ^j^j^]-, y^^ sprung. I was perhaps fortunate in being born in 26 the West, as it was then called, in a community in which like conditions prevailed, where the blessings of civilization had not reached, where the people were mutually helpful to each other and made generous provision for their poorer and more dependant neighbors. The sick and needy were cared for, not in almshouses, but in homes. I can well understand how un- der such conditions Lincoln's nature was moulded in sympathy for the unfortunate by the ministrations of charity and benevo- lence. I remember that in the community in which I lived the The way neighbors would get together and build a home for some ^ * ^^ poor woman and her children who had been left helpless and destitute. In this day it is only those who were reared in such communities who know of the trials and hardships of the early settlers of this country. Lincoln was always considerate of others and was slow to anger. Of powerful physique and able to cope with any man physically, he was as gentle as a child. He knew his strength, but refrained from using it unnecessarily, always preferring to conciliate and compromise rather than to strike a blow. Take him all in all Lincoln was the greatest man of our age, both in his personal qualities and in his public achieve- ments ; and I believe that, as history is written, his greatness, T**® his patriotism and his love of country will stand out and j^^^ shine as brightly as does the setting sun in yonder window. The world to-day is thinking of what he said, especially of his declaration that ours is a Government of the people, by the people and for the people. We may not be able to picture the progress and the greatness of this land of ours in the years to come, but we know that, among the statesmen of America, Lincoln will ever stand as the greatest and the noblest. (Applause.) 27 Finis Chairman Wagner : The Grand Army Association of Phila- delphia and vicinity desires me to express its thanks (and I am sure that all here to-day who are not members of the Grand Army of the Republic join in these thanks) to the gentlemen who have honored us with their presence and their eloquence on this occasion ; also to the directors of the musical exercises and to these boys and girls of the Moffet School who have added interest to our meeting this afternoon by their singing so beautifully. (Applause.) 28 Abraham Lincoln raising the first flag containing thirty-four stars over Independence Hall, early morning of February 22d, 1861 ABRAHAM LINCOLN President -Elect at Philadelphia in 1861 Mr. Lincoln arrived in the afternoon, about four o'clock, Lincoln s at the Kensington depot, February 21st, and was there met Arrival at by a great civic and military demonstration, of which Col. Philadelphia P. C. Ellmaker was Chief Marshal, and escorted over the fol- lowiner route : Frankford Road to Girard Avenue, to Sixth, ^ _ . , Route of to Arch, to Sixteenth, to Walnut, to Nmth, to the Contmental March Hotel and was then received by the Hon. Alexander Henry, Mayor, in the presence of a great assemblage of enthusiastic and patriotic people. On the morning of February 22d, at seven o'clock, Mr. Lincoln was escorted by the Scott Legion to Independence Escort Hall. Standing for the first time in his life within the sacred walls of that grand old historic edifice, Abraham Lincoln, with the knowledge that the political and social conditions in the Southern States were daily becoming more serious, more dan- gerous to the perpetuity of the Union, and keeping in memory the warning of the night before of the existence of a plot to assassinate him on his journey through Baltimore, and which came to him from three different sources — Ex-Governor Wm. H. Seward, from Gen. Winfield Scott, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and from the detectives employed by the Phila- delphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad — Mr. Lincoln gave utterance an unconscious prophesy in his address. *'I am filled with deep emotion in finding myself standing in this place, where were collected together the wisdom, the .^ patriotism, the devotion to principle, from which sprung the independence institutions under which we live. 29 "You have kindly suggested to me that in my hands is the task of restoring peace to our distracted country. I can say in return, sir, that all the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which originated in, and were given to the world from this hall. I have never had a feeling political that ^'* did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declara- tion of Independence. I have often pondered over the dan- gers which were incurred by the men who assembled here and framed and adopted that Declaration. I have pondered over the toils that were endured by the officers and soldiers of the army that achieved that independence. I have often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this confederation so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the Colonies from the mother land, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty not only to the people of this country, but, as they hoped, to all the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men and that all should have an equal chance ; this is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends, can this country be saved on that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it can- not be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful ; but if this country cannot be saved without giving violence to that principle, I was about to say, I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. Now, in my view of the pres- ent aspect of affairs, there is no need of bloodshed, no need of war; there is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such a course, and I may say in advance that there will be no 30 bloodshed unless it is forced upon the Government. The Government Government will not use force, unless force is used ag^ainst c- ° use Force it. My friends, this is wholly an unprepared speech. I did not expect to be called on to say a word when I came here. I supposed I was simply to do something towards raising- a flag. I may, therefore, have said something indiscreetly, but I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, if it be the pleasure of Almighty God, to die by." Mr. Lincoln was then conducted to a stand erected in front of Independence Hall, and but a few feet from its entrance, and said : Fellow Citizens : I am invited and called before you to par- ticipate in raising above Independence Hall the flag of our country, with an additional star upon it.* I propose now, in advance of performing this very pleasant and complimentary duty, to say a few words. I propose to say that when the flag was originally raised here, it had but thirteen stars. I wish to call your attention to the fact that, under the blessing of God, each additional star added to that flag has given addi- tional prosperity and happiness to this country, until it has advanced to its present condition; and its welfare in the future, as well as in the past, is in your hands. Cultivating the spirit that animated our fathers, who gave renown and celebrity to this hall, cherishing that fraternal feeling which has so long characterized us as a nation, excluding passion, ill temper, and *That additional star, the thirty-fourth, representing Kansas, which was admitted to the Union January 39, 1861, and it was the general desire that Mr. Lincoln, the President-elect, should raise the first flag bearing thirty-four stars to float over Inde- pendence Hall that led to this ceremony. 31 precipitate action on all occasions, I think we may promise ourselves that not only the new star placed upon that flag shall be permitted to remain there to our permanent prosperity for years to come, but additional ones shall from time to time be placed there until we shall number, as it was anticipated by the great historian, five hundred millions of happy and prosperous people. With these few remarks I proceed to the very agree- able duty assigned me. 32 COMMITTEE ON CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN Organized July 26, 1895 Relief Fund Established December 5, 1896 O^ranb Army AfiHonattnn nf pt^ilabflpifia anti Utrimtg Joseph R. Cbaiq, President George J. Schwartz, Vice-President Henry I. Yohn, Secretary C. F. Gramlich, Treasurer iS^ltpf OInmmtttPP St. Clair A. Mulholland, Chairman John N. Reber, Secretary and Treasurer Robert B. Beath, Trustee Relief Fund Richard J. Baxter Joseph R. Craio William C. Besselievre George J. Schwartz Hekry I. YOHN (HomtnxtUs on (Urittrnmal Annin^rBary 0f tl|f Sirtii nf Abraliam Sjinrnln Louis Wagner, Chairman Henry I. Yohn, Secretary Ebenezer Adams William Emsley Charles J. Bigley C. F. Grajvilich Robert B. Beath Charles Reese Joseph R. Craig William H. Thomas ifflpmbpral)ip Representing Posts 1, 2, 5, 6, T, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, 31, 35, 46, 51, 55, 56, 63, 71, 77, 79, 80, 94, 101, 103, 114, 115, 132, 160, 191, 228, 275, 290, 306, 312, 334, 363, 366, 400, 427, 591 and 639, Dep't of Pennsylvania, and Posts 5, 37 and 102, Dep't of New Jersey. This tablet of bronze, 33 x 36 inches, is of peculiar construction ; the letters of the inscription being cast with their base upon a solid bronze plate, having the appearance of being independent of each other. The space between the letters is filled with concrete, reported to be as lasting as the hardest steel. It marks the spot upon the pavement in front of Independence Hall, over which Mr. Lincoln stood at the time of raising the first flag of thirty-four stars, February 22, 1861. The tablet was dedicated by Post 2, Philadelphia, Satur- day, February 21, 1903, in the presence of a large number of other comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic and citizens. The Tablet as it appeared on February 12th, 1909, showing floral decoration in honor of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Birthday of Abraham Lincoln "With malice toward none ; with charity for all ; with firm- ness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in ; to bind up the nation's wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." — Second Inaugural Address, March 4^ 186^. f^O)f 29 im} ;;.LtL: ii