Glass. 
 Book. 
 
 .L-ai 
 
SERMON 
 
 ON THE DEATH 05'" 
 
 resihiit ITiitrffln 
 
 PREACHED m THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 
 OF ROOTSTOWN, . . 
 
 By Rev. E.E.LAMB, 
 
 Sahhath Jllomzizg, ■fip-nlS3, 1&6&. 
 
 [published by request.] 
 
 TEXT — iBt Samuel, 1st Chapter, 25th Verse.— "How are the mighty fallen in the midst of 
 trftttle 1 O Jonathan thou wast slain in thy high places." 
 
 There is mourning in the nation's capital. There is sorrow 
 in the nation's heart. A mighty grief rests upon us. The 
 crown has fallen from our heads. The true, the noble, and 
 the great has gone. But yesterday the nation's heart was full 
 of joy — to-day our speechless souls refuse their wonted conso- 
 lation. But yesterday hope plumed her wings on all our 
 mountains — to-day the murmur of sorrow wails through all 
 our valleys. But yesterday peace with her attendant angels 
 appeared in mid-heaven — but to-day clouds are wrapped 
 around her feet. But yesterday men were divided in their 
 opinipn — to-day the iron of anguish has fused all hearts. 
 But yesterday the nation's heart was magnanimous — to-day 
 vengeance has come down from the Lord of hosts, and where 
 .men walked a few days ago with buoyant steps and hearts of 
 mercy, now strong men walk with clenched fists and hearts of 
 steel. One short whisper has revolutionized this whole land. 
 God spoke, and we stood still. And why this change? Abra- 
 

 jam Lincoln is dead ! The chosen of God M'as slain in his 
 high places. Onr Moses who has led us through these four 
 wilderness years, has been summoned of God, and now the 
 whole nation stands in tearful agouy around the mount whith- 
 er his feet have goiie up. Our joy and our sorrow stand side 
 by side in the great book of God. The cloud of incense all 
 radiant with light, had a fringe of sackcloth. It was a dark 
 morning that saw our President die. The heavens were weep- 
 ing. The sun bid himself in shadows, and the angel who 
 bore his great spirit aloft was nmffled in clouds. Fit emblem 
 of those mightier shadows which rested upon our hearts. 
 Strong type of those holier tears which Avereshed by a loving 
 and noble people. 
 
 The people's President and friend is dead, and it is proper 
 In the calm light of tliis holy Sabbath that' we call to mind 
 the lessons of his life and death. Mr. Lincoln was most hear- 
 tily a man of the people. Educated not in lordly halls, sur- 
 rounded not with wealth and refinement Taken from the 
 cii'cle of no hereditary greatness, he was cradled in the bosom 
 of poverty. He was ti-ained in the rough school of adversity. 
 His hands were made to Avork — his mind was made to think. 
 He had just that elementary training necessary to fit him to 
 be a guide in our night of danger. In those master struggles 
 with poverty, his mind was prepared to lead the destinies of 
 a struggling nation. Adversity is the school of greatness. 
 Great minds are rocked in tbe hammock of the storms. The 
 leaders of grand developments need this strong prej^aration. 
 It is the school of God. Contending in youth with obstacles, 
 ribs the heart with oak. All successful leaders of revolutions 
 have been thus educated. Moses, God's chosen, must go into 
 the wilderness for many years, to get the necessary discipline 
 to withstand the trials before him. Christ was born in the 
 manger — he Avandered on the mountains, that he might go in 
 joy to his triumphant death. God prepares His own leaders. 
 He commissions His own Captains. Angels of God stand 
 around the cradle of those men whose feet are to bring good 
 tidings. 
 
3 
 
 Mr. Lincoln, whether splitting rails, or rowing a boat against 
 tlie tide, or poring over some old grammar by the fireside, 
 was preparing himself unconsciously for his great commission. 
 His liands, hardened by toil, were being fitted to hold a world. 
 The crown of God vx-^as shining from afar above his head. 
 Was he splitting rails? — it was that his riglit arm might split 
 in pieces the gigantic power of slavery. Was he rowing a 
 fiat-boat against the turgid waters of the Mississippi? — itw^as 
 that he might row us succcf-sfully against the billows of this 
 seething rebellion. His early toils were an earnest of his fu- 
 ture greatness. Mr. Lincoln, coming from tlie people, had the 
 instincts of tlie people. lie knew us in c\ery part. He was 
 (puck to understand the heart of the nation. And when our 
 hearts beat, his beat with them. So quick were liis seiisibili- 
 ties, that he seemed almost to hear our secret prayers for him. 
 'No sooner had our laintest Avish become an earnest hope, be- 
 fore he seized upon it as a guiding principle. Hence he was 
 a safe man. For the instincts of a Christian people are al- 
 most always right. God's providences bring an inspiration. 
 And who shall catch that inspiration but Christian hearts ? Li 
 times of great calamity the breathings of this inspiration in 
 Christian souls are the voice of God. He that folloAvs them, 
 cannot go far astray. Mr. LincrJn followed them. He threw 
 himself upon the Christian sentiment. '' Pray for me," was 
 his first i^roclamation to the American people. It was the 
 key-note of his reign. He could not be otherwise than a safe 
 man. For a man walks wdth firm step wliose pathway is car- 
 peted with prayer. Mr. Lincoln knew this. He knew that 
 ;;he twin angels of Faith and Hope staid up his hands. His 
 great soul was exalted amid crushing responsibilities, for amid 
 the darkest hours he slept on pilloM^s of praj^er. Such was his 
 faith in the people, that he went no farther than tlieir dictation. 
 Hence he was a slow man. He believed in Democracy. He 
 trusted in the heart of the Eepublic. He believed that there 
 were righteous men enough to save us. He felt that God was 
 greater than he— and that the spirit of freedom, born of our 
 mountains, and nursed by our water-com-ses, was miconquera- 
 
ble. Standing in such reverence of the ix-.jple, and with head 
 uncovered before God, his career has seemed slow. We were- 
 impatient at his delaj. But ah, his slowness was our salva- 
 tion. God was gathering up His truth^ and pourhig it into 
 his soul. God was a long time in whetting His sword of jus- 
 tice, before He put it in Abraham Lincoln's hand, but when 
 He had put it there, it was keen as burnished lightning. Be- 
 fore the car of our salvation moved, the track was sreased 
 with tears. But when it did move, the track was torn up be- 
 hind it. Standing on the mount of regeneration to-day — • 
 bathed in heaven's own light— we can now judge of events. 
 God's arm is now uncovered, and we can see it holding the 
 President back. He was slow to move, but when he did 
 move, heaven with hallelujahs rang. When he did move, he 
 took the ages with him. When he did move, it was done. 
 He took no steps backwards, for there was no need ot" it. 
 Great issues went forth from his month. But he Mould not 
 retract. The millstone of war could not grind out a confes- 
 sion. Planted on the faith of the people, aiKl the truth of 
 God, he was immovable as the solid hills. Whatever may be 
 said of Mr. Lincoln's abilities, he will be classed with the 
 great statesmen of the world. ISTot because of his eloquence. 
 Not because he has convulsed Senates by his magic powers. 
 But because of his pure spiritual insight. He grasped with a 
 firm conviction the issues of this war. He saw with a clear 
 vision the tiiith involved. Not that he comprehended the 
 greatness of the war at the beginning. What mortal man 
 did ? Foiu- years ago, as the heavens nmttered thunder, and 
 the earth reeled with uncertain force — as this gigantic rebel- 
 lion stood before us armed with terror — ^^who measured its 
 power? Wlio counted the tears that should fall to (piench its 
 thirst? Who numbered the heroes that should fall before it? 
 Blame not Mr. Lincoln for not forecasting the magnitude of 
 the war. God had it in His fists. None but a prophetic 
 tongue of flame could have foretold it. The whole nation 
 stood before the appalling reality speechless. The terrors of 
 
Siuui were about ns, and God came down clotlied in darkness. 
 At that hour wlieii men st(jod trembling, and reason was dumb 
 before the surging passions of the nation, our President saw 
 Avith an angel's eye the truth. Although he measured not the 
 greatness, yet he did comprehend the cm/se of the war. — 
 Through n\\ his acts he held fast to the righteousness of the 
 struggle. He saw God, in the fight. So deep was the spirit- 
 uality of his acts, that he secured the highest sympathy of 
 good men. Ills voice was the voice of Jacob. His language 
 was the language of Canaan. Hence he was the church's 
 President. The church of every name gathered about him, 
 as about the chosen of God. Good men loved him. Kext to 
 the name of the dear boy in the army, his name would be 
 whispered in the silent closet. Heaven is full of prayer for 
 him. If God had annointed him King in the presence of the 
 universe, we could not have loved him more. On this account 
 he was hated of bad men. All of the malignity 23recipitated 
 by this M^ar rose uj3 against him. The filth and scum of our 
 cities were ready to mob him. Assassins stood ready to miu*- 
 der him. He was the best loved and best hated man in the 
 world. Mr. Lincoln did nothing to arouse such a storm of 
 hate, only because he did right. So manly and true was he, 
 that sin flamed before him. It was an honor for any man to 
 be hated by such men. Let it be written on his tomb, " Here 
 lies a man whom the devil hated." He needs no mightier eu- 
 logy. He needs no better immortality. Such was Mr. Lin- 
 coln's spiritual sagacity, that he was almost always right. In 
 a period of most dire confusion, when there were no precedents 
 to go by — when there M^as no certainty for the future — when 
 the nation was groaning in death — when mighty armies were 
 contending in the grip of death — when mighty and untried 
 principles were to be established — at such an hour, when the 
 heads of old statesmen were giddy with confusion, then it was 
 that our simple minded President led forth like a stalwart 
 warrior. He struck out into new and untried paths. He 
 made bold strokes. He set forth new, yet majestic principles. 
 He difiered with his Cabinet. He differed with Congress;' 
 
lie differed witli the wisest men of tlie nation, and yet Al^ra 
 liani Lincoln was most always riglit. The sec^nel is, he was ai 
 honest man. He cared not for self. Tie followed one singh 
 honest purpose. The coin'ictions of his heart were his revel 
 ations from God. His convictions of right were his star o 
 Ilethleliem that guided him ^vhere the Son of God lay. His 
 eye was single, and his ^vhole body was full of light. Hence 
 Mr. Lincoln was a gr(twing man. He was always open to 
 conviction. He treasured up the lessons of the war. He be- 
 lieved that God had something to say in this contest, and he 
 waited reverently to hear. And he did hear. 'No man in the 
 nation grew faster than he. His first message Avas an appeal 
 to the nation, his last was an appeal to God. No such words 
 had ever been uttered by a President before, as the last mes- 
 sage of Mr. Lincoln. They were ])enned beneath the throne 
 of God. In the eyes of ^vorklly wisdom liis course may seem 
 childish. It is considere<l folly for a great mind to change. 
 But fools are unchangeable. Wisdom plumes her wings for a 
 new flight every morning. It is the healthy tree that gets a 
 fresh start every time that God's Spring passes over it. It is 
 the dead tree that stands the same from year to year, and puts 
 forth no leaves to catch sunbeams. It is true nobility to open 
 the heart towards God. Mr. Lincoln opened his soul toward 
 God. He was <piiclv as a child to repent when wrong, but he 
 was innnutable, when right. He was ready to act upon new 
 convictions. He had a heart that was profoundly impressed 
 by the lessons of the Avar. Hence he was a type of oiu" higher 
 manhood — of a new order of men. This war has elevated the 
 whole nation. And the President was a fit representative of 
 our exaltation. Mr. Lincoln was l)y nature opposed to slavery. 
 He had felt its debasing power. He had seen its withering 
 blight. He had breathed tlie unchained air of our broad 
 prairies. By his own right arm he had Avrought out his own 
 manhood. B3' the strength of a stalwart purpose he had writ- 
 ten liigh his name, where God says, " This is a man." He 
 rejoiced in his own liberty. He knew Avhat there was in man. 
 With such a trahung, and with such instincts, he was just the 
 
nitiu to understand the contest with slavery. Had he beer 
 raised in affluence, liberty would have been to him only a the 
 ory. He would not have felt its glory. Eut nowlih.eriy was 
 welded into his heart. It ran in his veins. Its nmsic thrilled 
 his soul. He was prepared to fight oppression. And well did 
 he do it. He scented it in the smoke of battle. He hunted 
 it, as if thirsting for its blood. To successfully combat error, 
 some of its iron nuist have entered our souls. We must have 
 known it. Men don't fight well for a bare theory. But O ! 
 the reality makes them terrible. The Lord of glory "was not 
 exempt from this great princi]3le. That He might subdue all 
 things unto Himself, He took hold of sin. He passed for a 
 little time under its dominion, as the sun hides in clouds, only 
 to come out radiant with victory. Christ tasted of death, that 
 he might disenthrall man from its dominion. It took a Luther 
 who had felt all tlie folly and blas])hemy of Popery, to strike 
 it to the heart. ISTo other man conld have thundered so loudly 
 in the gates of hell. ISTo other man could have sent it (juiver- 
 ing to its death. It takes a Napoleon to govern France. He 
 is called the man of destiny. Aristocrrt Kings could not hold 
 the reins of power. But ^Napoleon can. He was educated in 
 prison. He li\ed with the common people. He knows what 
 France needs; he has got hold of her heart. Hence he knows 
 how to make destiny. It takes a Gc)Ugh tc) lay open the horrors 
 of intemperance. He has the key to the drunkard's dungeon. 
 It was made out of his own blood. The darkness and the 
 terror, the tremors and the demons are all known to him; 
 hence his tongue flashes the reality. He dips his pen in his 
 own soul. It takes a Browidow to deal with slavery. He 
 knows it. Its mold and its curee rest upon him. Its eternal 
 blight broods throuiiii all his \)em<y. Let him curse it, let 
 him slay it; he is only bringing forth fruits meet for repent- 
 ance. Those are the most terrible avengers which a wicked 
 canse itself produces. But it took Abraham Lincoln to sub- 
 due slavery. Springing from the noble yeomanry of our land, 
 liearing the birds singing their sweet songs of liberty, he was 
 God's chosen avenger. His free and noble spirit was not the 
 
8 
 
 spirit ot our cities. Cities are most always oppressive. The 
 air of ignorance and corruption mingle in the atmosphere of 
 cities. Mr. Lincoln had no foreign element in his heart. He 
 caught his inspiration from our institutions. His spirit was 
 the spirit of om- mountains, the spirit of our prairies, the spirit 
 of om- lakes and rivers, the spirit of our storms ! Free, grand- 
 ly free and glorious. He was a genuine American. The same 
 spirit of freedom is born of the plow and the hammer. The 
 ^nvil, the hammer, and the axe ring the death knell of tyr- 
 anny. Nothing a tyrant so iimch fears as tlie calloused hand 
 •of a freeman. It was not then so much the President that 
 signed the death-warrant of slavery as the spirit of freemen 
 acting through him-. He blew the trumpet with the nation's 
 breath. The very air we breathed demanded its destruction, 
 and God said " amen." Mr. Lincoln was one of the people. 
 His great, good heart the people felt. Mutual sympathy made 
 us mutual friends. In the darkest hour the people turned to 
 him with the firmest confidence. They looked to " Father 
 Abraham " with implicit trust. His name like a skillful hand 
 evoked harmony from all the nobler chords of our being. He 
 had called tor great sacrifices from us. He had demanded 
 •our heart's treasures. By his order the jewel has been pluck- 
 ed from many households. But he only took our jewels that 
 he might perfect the diadem of the nation. He picked our 
 roses that he might present to God our country's glorious 
 wreath of immortelles. Those who sacrificed the most, loved 
 him the most. The brave old soldier shouted above his camp 
 fire, " God bless Abraham Lincoln." The wounded hero, 
 writhing in his pains, prayed, " God bless Abraham Lincoln," 
 and the lone widow, checking her tears, took up the same 
 prayer. His homely name became a magic word. It called 
 forth clieers wherever spoken. It became an emblem of our 
 nation's glory. He had carried away the largest half of the 
 nation's heart. Such affection does sorrow forge. We cannot 
 forget those who walk with us in the vale of shadows. An- 
 gels bind om- hearts with gold when we suffer together. In 
 tin's long night of our woe he went with us. In this furnace 
 
..LINCOLN.. 
 
 f^ 1^ M*' i4^ ^ti' ^ti^ ^4i^ 
 ^ ^*^ ^*^ j^lJflKN| ^IS- its- ;iM 
 
 t!i|> ^ili- ^4> ^^5^^ ^tJ- «> it^ 
 ;4i' ;i>*5' ;4> ;4> ;i>13' :!4J' :ilJ' 
 
eOM PI LED BY 
 
 EDWARD S. JOHNSON 
 
 eosTODinN 
 
 ..1903.. 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 -- AND HIS -i ^^ 
 
 LAST RESTING PLACE. 
 
 A LEAFLET PUBLISHED FOR DISTRIBUTION 
 
 ...AT THE... 
 
 NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS. 
 

 The Life of Abraham Lincoln has been written by many men 
 in many tongues. 
 
 The resources of rhetoric and eloquence have been exhausted in 
 their portrayal of this character that however viewed holds a lesson 
 for all mankind. 
 
 In this brief space and for the purpose which this leaflet is designed 
 to serve, the simple homely details of the martyred President's early 
 Hfe could not be better told than in his own words. No polished recital 
 could be so prized by the great multitude who hold his memory dear 
 as this transcript of a letter written in 1859 to his friend the Hon. 
 Jesse W. Fell of Bloomington, Illinois : 
 
 • Gift 
 
 '07 
 
5 
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Abraham Lincoln little thought as he penned the words, "What I 
 have done since then is pretty well known," that a world would one 
 day listen enthralled to the tale of what he had done and should do in 
 the decade from 1855 ^o 1865. 
 
 In 1854 the repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 opened a 
 new political era, and an agitation of the slavery question was begim 
 which was destined to grow until the shackles were struck forever from 
 the hands of the slave. 
 
 By this repeal slavery claimed protection everywhere; it sought to 
 nationalize itself. At this time the question of "popular sovereignty" 
 arose, the right of the people of a territory to choose their own institu- 
 tions, and upon this question Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas fought the 
 "battle of the giants," and Mr. Lincoln's signal abiHty as an orator 
 was forever established. He became at once the leader of his party in 
 the West and the foremost champion of the liberties of the oppressed. 
 
 In a private letter, written at this time, Mr. Lincoln defines his 
 position on the great question of the day as follows: 
 
 "I acknowledge your rights and my obligations under the consti- 
 tution in regard to your slaves. I confess I hate to see the poor crea- 
 tures hunted down and caught and carried back to their stripes and 
 unrequited toil, but I keep quiet. You ought to appreciate how much 
 the great body of the people of the North crucify their feelings in order 
 to maintain their loyalty to the Constitution and the Union. I do 
 oppose the extension of slavery because my judgment and feelings so 
 prompt me, and I am under no obligations to the contrary. As a na- 
 tion we; began by declaring 'all men are created equal.' We now prac- 
 tically read it, 'all men are created equal except negroes.' When it 
 comes to making wholesale exceptions I should prefer emigrating to 
 -some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty, where 
 despotism can be taken pure without the base alloy of hypocrisy. 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 A. Lincoln." 
 
 May 29, 1856, the Republican party of Illinois was organized, and 
 he was now the leader of a party whose avowed purpose it was to re- 
 sist the extension of slavery. At the national convention his name 
 was presented as a candidate for vice-president. He did not receive 
 the required number of votes, but the action was complimentary and 
 served as Mr. Lincoln's formal introduction to the nation. 
 
 The senatorial campaign of 1858 in Illinois was memorable for the 
 questions involved and for the debates between Douglas and Lincoln 
 upon the great issues that were even then distracting the nation. 
 When these two met in intellectual combat the nation paused to listen. 
 "The eyes of all the eastern states were turned to the west where young 
 republicanism and old democracy were establishing the dividing lines 
 and preparing for the great struggle soon to begin. 
 
 To say that Mr. Lincoln was the victor in the contest morally and 
 intellectually is simply to record the judgment of the world. 
 
1901 BY GUV R MATHIS 
 
PQ 
 
 o 
 
 Eh 
 
 o 
 
His speeches were clear, logical, powerful and exhaustive. On 
 these his reputation as an orator and debator rest. Thej' defined the 
 difference between the power of slavery and the policy of freedom 
 which ended, after expenditures of uncounted treasure and unmeasured 
 blood, in the final overthrow of the institution of slavery. 
 
 Mr. Ivincoln was defeated in this campaign and Mr. Douglas was 
 returned to the Senate, but Mr. Lincoln was now thoroughly committed 
 to politics. In 1859 and i860 he journeyed in the Eastern states, 
 making speeches that thrilled and electrified the audiences which he 
 had expected to find cold and critical. 
 
 The mutterings of secession already filled the land. The spirit of 
 unrest and rebellion was gaining ground, but wherevei the voice of 
 Lincoln was heard it was pleading for union, for peace, for the Consti- 
 tution, deprecating the evils of slavery as it existed and protesting 
 against its extension into free states and territories. 
 
 His was the voice of one crying in the wil4erness, warning the 
 men of the North and the South that a house divided against itself 
 cannot stand. On the i6th of June, i860, Mr. Lincoln received the 
 nomination of the republican convention held at Chicago for President 
 of the United States. How this plain, comparatively unknown Illinois 
 lawyer was chosen in this critical hour before a man like Seward, with 
 his wide experience and acquaintance, his large influence and surpass- 
 ing ability, his name and fame of thirty years standing, must be re- 
 garded as the guiding of that Providence that had brooded over the 
 life of the republic since it declared itself to be the home of the free, 
 the refuge of the oppressed. On the 6th of November Mr. Lincoln 
 was elected, by a handsome plurality. President of the United States. 
 
 At eight o'clock Monday morning, February 11, 1861, Mr. Lin- 
 coln left Springfield for the National Capital to enter upon his duties 
 as President. With these simple words he took leave of his friends 
 and neighbors: 
 
 "My friends: No one not in my position can appreciate the sad- 
 ness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here 
 I have lived more than a quarter of a century; here m}- children were 
 born, and here one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall 
 see you again. A dut}^ devolves upon me which is perhaps greater 
 than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days of 
 Washington. He never would have succeeded except by the aid of 
 Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I 
 cannot succeed without the same Divine aid which sustained him, and 
 on the same Almighty Being I place mj^ reliance for support, and I 
 hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that Divine as- 
 sistance without which I cannot succeed but with which success is 
 certain. Again I bid you an affectionate farewell." 
 
 These proved to be his last words to Springfield auditors. 
 
 ■ The result of this election pleased and united the North while it 
 angered the South. To the more thoughtful men of both parties a crisis 
 seemed imminent. The southern states immediately seceded; the 
 Southern Confederacy was formed with Jefferson Davis as President; 
 
lO 
 
 forts and arsenals were seized and the war of the rebelHon fairly in- 
 augurated. It was this disrupted Union, this all but shattered govern- 
 ment, which waited for the man who upon the 4th day of March, i86i, 
 took the oath of office and became the President of the United States. 
 
 The closing words of his memorable inaugural address must have 
 convinced his listeners of the wisdom, the strength, the gentleness of 
 this new incumbent of the chair of State: 
 
 "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in 
 mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not 
 assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the 
 aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the 
 government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, pro- 
 tect and defend it. I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but 
 friends. The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battle- 
 field and patriot grave to everj^ living heart and hearthstone all over 
 this broad land will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again 
 touched, as they surely will be, by the better angels of our nature." 
 
 With infinite patience and unequaled forbearance and sagacity, 
 Mr. Lincoln strove to avert war, but when, on April 12, 1861, the rebel 
 batteries were opened upon Fort Sumpter, forbearance was no longer 
 possible, and, on the 15th day of April, the pen that had only been 
 used to counsel moderation, to urge loyalty, penned a proclamation 
 calling for seventy-five thousand men and the Civil War was begun. 
 The popular government had been called an experiment. Two points 
 of the experiment had already been settled: The government had been 
 established and it had been administered. One point remained to be 
 established: Its successful maintenance against a formidable internal 
 attempt to overthrow it. Congress ably supported Mr. Lincoln. It 
 placed at his disposal iKe million dollars and gave him liberty to call 
 out half a million men. During all the years of that long, sad war 
 there were loyal hearts among his admirers that held up the hands of 
 their President, but the crowning personality, the strong, pervading, 
 directing, controlling spirit was that of Abraham Lincoln, whether 
 watching the progress of events from his almost beleagured capital or 
 while visiting and mingling with his army at the front. 
 
 Never for a moment did he lay aside his personal responsibility. 
 Never did he swerve from his resolve, expressed in the words of his 
 memorable speech at the dedication of the soldiers' graves at Gettys- 
 burg: 
 
 ' ' We have come to dedicate a portion of this field as a final resting 
 place for those who here gave their lives that the nation might live. 
 But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we 
 cannot hallow this ground. The brave men living and dead who 
 struggled here have consecrated it far beyond our power to add or de- 
 tract. 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 so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here 
 dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these hon- 
 ored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave 
 the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these 
 
O 
 
 
 
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O 
 
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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 and for the people shall not perish from the earth." 
 
 The story of the war and the life of Lincoln are inseparable. The 
 recital of all those years of marching, camping, fighting, of wounds, 
 privations, victory, defeat and death cannot be made without the story 
 of lyincoln interwoven into its warp and woof. The days fraught with 
 the grave issues of the war went by, victory alternating with defeat 
 until, in the judgment of the commander-in-chief, the time had come 
 to emancipate the colored race, ^j,^ 
 
 Early in August of 1 86^ President Lincoln called a meeting of 
 his Cabinet and submitted for their consideration the original draft of J^ 
 his Emancipation Proclamation. On the ist day of January, i864rf1v[r. "^ 
 Lincoln issued the final Proclamation of Emancipation, bringing free- ^S, 
 dom to four million of slaves and removing forever from the land he 
 loved the blot of slavery. 
 
 It seemed fitting that to this man who had blazed the way through 
 the wilderness for this cause, who had brooded and smarted under the 
 sense of the sin of slavery from his early untaught youth, who in 
 clarion tones had declared, at the outset of his career, that he "would 
 speak for freedom against slavery until everywhere in all this broad 
 land the sun shall shine, the rain shall fall and the wind shall blow 
 upon no man who goes forth to unrequited toil." It was meet that 
 from his lips should fall the words that made four million men free, 
 and it is in consonance with the character of the great Emancipator 
 that in this supreme moment of his life he reverently invoked upon 
 that act "the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor 
 of Almighty God." 
 
 The latter part of the year 1863 was marked by the success of 
 Union armies. The Republican National Convention assembled in 
 Baltimore, June 8, 1864, unanimously nominated Mr. Lincoln as their 
 candidate for President. His words accepting this nomination were 
 characteristic: 
 
 "Having served four years in the depths of a great and yet un- 
 ended national peril, I can view this call to a second term in no wise 
 more flattering to myself than as an expression of the public judgment 
 that I may better finish a difficult work than could any one less severely 
 schooled to the task. In this view, and with assured reliance on that 
 Almighty Ruler who has so graciously sustained us thus far, and with 
 increased gratitude to the generous people for their continued con- 
 fidence, I accept the renewed trust with its yet onerous and perplexing 
 duties and responsibilities." 
 
 During the height of the canvass President Lincoln issued a call 
 for five hundred thousand men, also making provisions for a draft if 
 necessary. His friends feared that this measure might cost him his 
 election, but he waived that aside as he always did personal considera- 
 tion that might conflict with duty. 
 
 November came, and with it Mr. Lincoln's re-election. His sec- 
 ond election proved the death blow to the rebellion. From that time 
 the Southern armies never gained a substantial victory. When the 
 
12 
 
 Thirty-Kighth Congress assembled December 6, 1864, President lyin- 
 coin recommended an amendment to the Constitution making human 
 slavery forever impossible in the United States. 
 
 The joint resolutions for the extinction of slavery passed Congress 
 and received the signature of the President January 31, 1865. The 
 legislature of Illinois, being then in session, took up the question at 
 once and in less than twentj'-four hours after its passage by Congress 
 Mr. lyincoln had the satisfaction of receiving a telegram from his old home 
 announcing the fact that the constitutional amendment had been rati- 
 fied by both houses of the legislature of his own state February i , 1865. 
 The action of the legislatures of other states soon followed, and thus 
 was completed and confirmed the work of the proclamation of emanci- 
 pation. 
 
 Upon the 4th of March, 1865, Mr. Lincoln was for the second 
 time inaugurated, President of the United States. His inaugural ad- 
 dress upon that occasion has become a classic'. Its closing words have 
 been quoted wherever the foot of an American has strayed beneath the 
 sun. "Fondly do we hope, reverently do we pray that this mighty 
 scourge of war may speedily pass away, yet, if God wills that it con- 
 tinue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and 
 fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of 
 blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by another drawn by the sword, 
 as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, the judg- 
 ments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. With malice 
 toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God 
 gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to 
 bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the 
 battle, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace 
 among ourselves and with all nations." 
 
 The closing scenes of the war were being enacted in quick succes- 
 sion. Richmond had fallen, and on the 4th day of April, just one 
 month after his second inauguration. President Lincoln, leading his 
 little son by the hand, entered the vanquished city on foot. Never 
 has the world ssen a more modest conqueror, a more characteristic 
 triumphal procession. No army with banners and drums, only a few 
 of those who had been slaves escorting the victorious chief with bene- 
 dictions and tears into the capital of the fallen foe. 
 
 A few more days brought the surrender of Lee's army and peace 
 was assured. Everywhere festive guns were booming, bells pealing, 
 churches ringing with thanksgivings. 
 
 The 14th of April was the anniversary of the fall of Sumpter. 
 President Lincoln had ordered that day to be signalized by restoring 
 the old flag to its place on the shattered ramparts of Fort Sumpter. 
 He ordered the same faithful hands that pulled it down to raise it — 
 every battery that fired upon it should salute it. Said the Rev. Henry 
 Ward Beecher upon that occasion: "From this pulpit of broken stone 
 we send to the President of the United States our solemn congratula- 
 tions that God has sustained his life and health under the unparalleled 
 hardships and suffering of four bloody years and permitted him to be- 
 hold this auspicious consummation of that national unity for which he 
 has labored with such disinterested wisdom." 
 
'^'WHWh^*' 
 
13 
 
 But, before the kindly words had flashed over the telegraph wires 
 to the ears of the patient man in whose honor they were spoken, the 
 bullet of the assassin had done its work. The sad words, "I feel a 
 presentiment that I shall not outlast the rebellion; when it is over my 
 work will be done," were verified, and all civilized mankind stood 
 mourning around the bier of the dead President. Then began that 
 unparalleled funeral procession, a mournful pageant, passing country 
 and village and city, winding along the territories of vast states along 
 a track of fifteen hundred miles, carrying the revered dead back to his 
 own people, to the scenes of his early life, back to the prairies of Illi- 
 nois. Said Beecher in his eloquent and touching funeral oration: 
 
 "Four years ago, oh, Illinois, we took from your midst an untried 
 man from among the people. Behold! we return to you a mighty con- 
 queror, not ours any more, but the nation's. Not ours but the world's. 
 Give him place, oh ye prairies. In the midst of this great continent 
 his dust shall rest, a sacred treasure to the myriads who shall come 
 as pilgrims to that shrine to kindle anew their zeal and patriotism. 
 Humble child of the backwoods, boatman, hired laborer, clerk, sur- 
 veyor, captain, legislator, lawyer, debator, politician, orator, states- 
 man, president, saviour of the republic, true Christian, true man. We 
 receive thy life and its immeasurably great results as the choicest gifts 
 that have ever been bestowed upon us; grateful to thee for thy truth 
 to thyself, to us and to God; and grateful to that ministry of Provi- 
 dence which endowed thee so richly and bestowed thee upon the nation 
 and mankind." 
 
 THE MONUMENT. 
 
 The body of Abraham Lincoln was deposited in the receiving 
 vault at Oak Ridge cemetery May 4, 1865. 
 
 Upon the nth of May, 1865, the National Lincoln Monument 
 Association was formed, its object being to construct a monument tO' 
 the memory of Abraham Lincoln in the city of Springfield, 111. 
 
 The names of the gentlemen comprising the Lincoln Monument 
 Association in 1865 were as follows: 
 
 Gov. Richard Oglesby, Sharon Tyndai^e, 
 
 Origin H. Miner, Thomas J. Dennis, 
 
 John T. Stuart, Newton Bateman, 
 
 Jesse K. Dubois, S. H. Treat, 
 
 James C. Conkeing, O. M. Hatch, 
 
 John Williams, S. H. Meevin, 
 
 Jacob Bunn, James H. Beveridge, 
 David L. Phillips. 
 
 The temporary vault was built and the body of President Lincoln 
 removed from the receiving vault of the cemetery on December 2 1 , 
 1865. The body was placed in the crypt of the monument September 
 19, 1 87 1, and was placed in the sarcophagus in the center of the cata- 
 comb October 9, 1874. 
 
 Owing to the instability of the earth under its foundations and its 
 unequal settling the structure had begun to .show signs of disintegra- 
 tion, neccessitating taking it down and rebuilding it from the founda- 
 tion. The work was begun by Col. J. S. Culver in Nov., 1899, and 
 finished June i, 1901. A cemented vault was made beneath the floor 
 
14 
 
 of the catacomb directl)^ underneath the sarcophagus and in this vault 
 the body of President Lincoln was placed Sept. 26, 1901, where it will 
 probably remain undisturbed forever. 
 
 The monument is built of brick and Quincy granite, the latter 
 material only appearing in view. It consists of a square base 72 J^ feet 
 on each side and 15 feet, 10 inches high. At the north side of the 
 base is a semi-circular projection, the interior of which has a radius of 
 12 feet. It is the vestibule of the catacomb, and gives access to view 
 the crypts in which are placed the bodies of Mr. Lincoln's wife and 
 sons and his grandson, Abraham Lincoln, son of Hon. Robert T. Lin- 
 coln, On the south side of the base is another semi-circular projection 
 of the same size, but this is continued .into the base so as to produce a 
 room of elliptical shape, which is called Memorial Hall. Thus the 
 base measures, including these two projections, 119^^ feet from north 
 to south and 72^ feet from east to west. In the angles formed by the 
 addition of these two projections are handsome flights of stone steps, 
 two on each end. These steps are protected by granite balustrades, 
 which extend completely around the top of the base, which forms a 
 terrace. From the plane of this terrace rises the obelisk, or die, which 
 is 28 feet, 4 inches high from the ground, and tapered to 1 1 feet square 
 ■at the top. At the angles of this die are four pedestals of 1 1 feet di- 
 ameter, rising 12^ feet above the plane of the terrace. This obelisk, 
 including the area occupied by the pedestals, is 41 feet square, while 
 from the obelisk rises the shaft, tapering to 8 feet square at the sum- 
 mit. Upon the four pedestals stand the four bronze groups, represent- 
 ing the four arms of the service — infantry, cavalry, artillery and navy. 
 Passing around the whole obelisk and pedestal is a band or chain of 
 shields, each representing a state, the name of which is carved upon it. 
 At the south side of the obelisk is a square pedestal, 7 feet high, sup- 
 porting the statue of Lincoln, the pedestal being ornamented with the 
 •coat of arms of the United States. This coat of arms, in the position 
 it occupies on the monument, is intended to typify the constitution of 
 the United States. Mr. Lincoln's statue on the pedestal above it marks 
 the whole an illustration of his position at the outbreak of the rebellion. 
 He took his stand on the constitution as his authority for using the 
 four arms of the war power of the government, the infantry, cavalry, 
 artillery and navy, to hold together the states which are represented 
 still lower on the monument b}' a cordon of tablets linking them to- 
 gether in a perpetual bond of union. 
 
 The money used in the original construction of this handsome 
 monument came from the people by voluntary contributions. The first 
 ■entry made by the treasurer of the association was May 8, 1865, and 
 was from Isaac Reed, of New York, $100. Then came contributions 
 from Sunday schools, lodges, army associations, individuals and states. 
 The Seventy-Third Regiment, United States colored troops, at New 
 Orleans, contributed $1,437, a greater amount than was given by any 
 other individual or organization except the State of Illinois. Many 
 pages of the record are filled with the contributions from the Sunday 
 schools of the land, and of the 5,145 entries, 1,697 ^^^ from Sunday 
 schools. The largest part of the money was contributed in 1865, but 
 it continued to come to the treasurer from all parts of the country until 
 
15 
 1871. About $8, ooo was contributed by the colored soldiers of the 
 United States army. Only three states made appropriations for this 
 fund — Illinois, $50,000; Missouri, $1,000 and Nevada $500. 
 
 The monument was dedicated October 15, 1874, the occasion be- 
 ing signalized by a tremendous outpouring of the people, the oration 
 commemorative of the life and public services of the great emancipator 
 being delivered by Governor Richard J. Oglesby. President Grant 
 also spoke briefly on that occasion, and a poem was read by James 
 Judson Lord. 
 
 The monument was built after the accepted designs of Larkin G. 
 Mead, of Florence, Italy, and stands upon an eminence in Oak Ridge 
 cemetery, occupying about nine acres of ground. Ground was broken 
 on the site September 10, 1869, in the presence of 3,000 persons. The 
 capstone was placed in position on May 22, 1871. 
 
 In July, 1 87 1, citizens of Chicago, through Hon. J. Young Scam- 
 mon, contributed $13,700 to pay for the Infantry group of statuary. 
 In the city of New York, under the leadership of Gov. E. D. Morgan, 
 137 gentlemen subscribed and paid $100 each, amounting to $13,700, 
 for the Naval group. 
 
 Of the four groups of statuary, the Naval Group was the first 
 completed. This group represents a scene on the deck of a gunboat. 
 The mortar is poised ready for action; the gunner has rolled up a shell 
 ready for firing; the boy, or powder monkey, climbs to the highest 
 point and is peering into the distance; the officer in command is about 
 to examine the situation through his telescope. 
 
 The Infantry group was the next to reach Springfield. Both these 
 groups were placed in position on the monument in September, 1877. 
 The Infantry group represents an officer, a private soldier and a drum- 
 mer, with arms and accoutrements, marching in expectation of battle. 
 The officer in command raises the flag with one hand and, pointing to 
 the enemy with the other, orders a charge. The private with the 
 musket, as the representative of the whole line, is in the act of execut- 
 ing the charge. The drummer boy has become excited, lost his cap, 
 thrown away his haversack and drawn a revolver to take part in the 
 conflict . 
 
 The Artillery group represents a piece of artillery in battle. The 
 enemy has succeeded in directing a shot so w^ell as to dismount the gun. 
 The officer in command mounts his disabled piece and with drawn 
 saber fronts the enemy. The youthful soldier, with uplifted hands, 
 is horrified at the havoc around him. The wounded and prostrate 
 soldier wears a look of intense agony. 
 
 The Cavalry group, consisting of two human figures and a horse, 
 represents a battle scene. The horse, from whose back the rider has 
 just been thrown, is frantically rearing. The wounded and dying 
 trumpeter, supported by a comrade, is bravely facing death. Each of 
 these groups cost $13,700. 
 
 The statue of Mr. Eincoln stands on a pedestal projecting from 
 the south side of the obelisk. This is the central figure in the group, 
 or series of groups. As we gaze upon this heroic figure the mute lips 
 
i6 
 
 seem again to speak in the memorable words that are now immortal. 
 We hear again the ringing sentences spoken in 1859 of the slave power: 
 
 "Broken by it, I too, may be; bow to it, I never will. * * 
 
 If ever I feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those dimen- 
 sions not wholly unworthy of its almighty architect, it is when I con- 
 template the cause of my country deserted by all the world beside, and 
 I, standing up boldly and alone, hurling defiance at her victorious 
 oppressors. Here, without contemplating consequences, before high 
 Heaven and in the face of the world, I swear eternal fidelity to the 
 just cause, as I deem it, of the land of my life, my liberty and my 
 love." 
 
 From the day of its dedication, October 15, 1874, until July 9, 
 1895, the lyincoln Monument remained in the control of the National 
 Monument Association. 
 
 In 1874, after its dedication, John Carroll Power was made custo- 
 dian, and continued in that position until his death in January, 1894. 
 A sketch of the Lincoln Monument could not, in fairness, be written 
 without paying a tribute to his faithfulness, zeal and love. He revered 
 the nation's hero and gave to his last resting place the tenderest and 
 most assiduous care. Much that is of interest in the history of this 
 first decade of the existence of the monument has been written by his 
 untiring pen that would otherwise have been lost. 
 
 After the attempt was made to steal the body of President Lincoln, 
 Mr. Power summoned to his aid, in 1880, eight gentlemen, residents of 
 Springfield, who organized as the "Lincoln Guard of Honor." They 
 were J. Carroll Power, deceased; Jasper N. Reece, deceased; Gustavus 
 S. Dana; James F. McNeill; Joseph P. Lindley; Edward S. Johnson; 
 Horace Chapin; Noble B. Wiggins, deceased, and Clinton L. Conkling. 
 Their object was to guard the precious dust of Abraham Lincoln from 
 vandal hands and to conduct, upon the anniversaries of his birth and 
 death, suitable memorial exercises. 
 
 During these years an admittance fee of twenty- five cents was re- 
 quired of all visitors to the monument, and this small fee constituted a 
 fund by which the custodian was paid and the necessary expenses of 
 the care of the grounds defrayed. 
 
 In the winter of 1894, in response to a demand voiced almost uni- 
 versally by the press and the people of Illinois, the general assembly 
 made provision for the transfer of the National Lincoln Monument 
 and grounds to the permanent care and custody of the state. The new 
 law puts the monument into the charge of a board of control, consist- 
 ing of the Governor of the State, the State Superintendent of Public In- 
 struction and the State Treasurer. 
 
 July 9, 1895, Hon. Richard J. Oglesby, the President, the onl)^ sur- 
 viving member of the original Lincoln Monument Association, turned 
 over to the state, as represented by its chief executive. Governor Alt- 
 geld, the deeds and papers relating to the monument and grounds. 
 The governor received the trust on behalf of the state, pledging its 
 faithfulness to the duty of guarding and caring for the last resting 
 place of the illustrious dead. The commission appointed as custodian 
 Edward S. Johnson, major of the veteran 7th Illinois Infantry and a 
 member of the Lincoln Guard of Honor. The admittance fee is a 
 
17 
 
 thing of the past and "To this Mecca of the people let all the people 
 •come, bringing garlands of flowers, carrying away lessons of life. 
 There is no shrine more worthy of a devotee, no academy of the porch 
 or grove where is taught so simply and so grandly the principles of 
 greatness. Strew flowers, but bear away the imprint of his life, the 
 flower of manliness and the wreath of honor, "f 
 
 In the two score years since the death of Abraham Lincoln the 
 scars of war have healed, the peace and unity for which he prayed 
 have been realized, and it seems fitting to bring this brief recital of his 
 life and the story of the strife from which it is inseparable up to date 
 with this glance at the present: 
 
 "I have seen the new South! But I saw it not by the Potomac, 
 nor by the Cumberland. I saw it by the shores of that peaceful lake 
 whose waters are broad enough to carry the fleets of the world and 
 deep enough to bury in its bosom all the hatred and all the sorrows of 
 the past. I saw the new South, with her helmet on, bowing to the 
 august Present. 
 
 "She had not forgotten the Past, but was bravely giving herself 
 to a welcoming Future. There is a great city in the North, known 
 all over as the type of restless, eager, business activity. Behold, on 
 one day every shop and store and factory was closed! The hum of 
 trade was hushed! The pulse of traffic had ceased to beat! And all 
 this was because Chicago, gathering her own dead to her heart, found 
 room for the brothers who wore the gray. Longstreet and Lee and 
 Hampton sat at her hearths while the bugle and the drum proclaimed 
 the everlasting peace. 
 
 ' 'When the monument which marks the tomb of the Confederate 
 dead at Oakwoods was dedicated, North and South marched together 
 in streets thronged not with enemies but friends. 
 
 "Remembering their own heroic dead, the North reverently un- 
 covered while the South gave tears and flowers to her's. 
 
 "The new South stood in line with the new North, and above 
 them both towered a form brave, puissant, serene and free. It was 
 THE New Nation."* 
 
 *From George R. Peck's oration before the University of Virginia, June, 1895. 
 
 tRev. Roswell O. Post's oration at the tomb of Lincoln, April, 1883. 
 
 The compiler wishes to acknowledge indebtedness to J. G. Holland's Life of Lincoln. 
 
blast of God Lis form was seen. No other name will tlirill 
 us like his. It is locked up with our tears in God. And time 
 cannot rust these tilings which God takes. The day is break- 
 ing. The herald comes with his beautiful feet iipon the moun- 
 tains, declaring that the night is past. Abraham Lincoln's 
 fame is secure. It is carved deep in the corner-stone of a re- 
 generated country. These thoughts explain the greatness of 
 our sorrow. The whole nation stood still when the President 
 died. Love smote us speechless. We were all mourners. 
 Words, we had none. We could only look up into the dark- 
 ened skies in astonishment. Our hearts refused to be com- 
 forted. This war has sent countless shafts of anguish through 
 the land, but none like this. A dark shadow flitted over our 
 households. A nameless agony sat down on our hearthstones. 
 All business was suspended. Little children ran crying in the 
 streets. Strong men bowed in uncontrollable grief. Columbia 
 was in tears. There was wailing in all the borders thereof. 
 The bells of God's temples sent up their clanging wail, and 
 the priests of the Most High stood in tears by the altar. 
 Sublimer than a nation in arms, was a nation in tears. What 
 grander chariot could carry a hero to heaven than the mighty 
 wings of a iiation's anguish. He bore the weight of oiu- sor- 
 rows when living; he has borne up to God the weight of our 
 love. And what can be the sorrows of the freed slaves? 
 What bitter tears will they shed upon the tontb of the great 
 Emancipator, IIow green will they keep the grass over his 
 head. In their rude calendar the name of Abraham Lincoln 
 stands next to that of God. God sent the war, and Lincoln 
 broke the chains. No sorrow is like their sorrow. His prai- 
 rie grave will be the Mecca of their hopes, whither millions of 
 dusky freemen will go to catch fresh inspiration. In their 
 hearts his name will bloom in immortal vigor. Everv dust 
 over his head will be precious as pure gold. Oh ! what a glo- 
 rious immortality ! In thinking of his life, we can truly say 
 that he was a great man. Not great in learning and ability. 
 But great in moral sentiment. Great in heart. Great in Ids 
 unconsciousness. Even his familiar jokes were pointed with 
 
10 
 
 ditiiaoiids. In all his public duties and tremendous responsi- 
 bilities, he never got above the common people. W^'^^h vice 
 all about him, he never lost his great manly heart. And his 
 eve never beamed with a su1)linier goodness, and his heart 
 never heaved M'ith a nr»l)ler impulse, than on the very day he 
 was murdered. Tluit day his joyful eye looked over tlie South, 
 and he longed to take them to the iiation's bosom. And when 
 he was murdered tliey took the angel of mercy from between 
 the cherubims. And what of his death? He died not for 
 himself. He was the embodiment ot our new-born freedom. 
 A new idea was born of this w^ar. An idea of freedom and 
 glory. Mr. Lincoln was its head and exponent. It w^as not 
 his life that was struck at. ISTo one could have had vengeance 
 against him. They struck at the idea through him. They 
 wanted to strangle the life of new^-born America. It was ha- 
 tred against the child Jesus. It was the singing of the angels 
 and the promise of the dawn that created a thirst for blood. 
 Tluit pistol ball that smote the President was a shot at truth. 
 That gleaming dagger w^as nieant for every man, woman and 
 child in the land that loves the right. Poor fools, to think 
 that they could stop the rush of giant forces. That they could 
 l>luck up the seeds which God has x^lanted. That they could 
 blunt the sword of justice when God had polished it with 
 blorxl. That they could obstruct the way of the nation, as she 
 marched with a proud heart and firm step after the martial 
 drum beat of her destiny. ! what despicable folly ! The 
 President dies, but the Kepuhlic lives. They might have de- 
 strf>yed an empire, where one man is the nation. But a na- 
 tion where every num is President, cannot be destroyed. The 
 crowns that God gives, no man can take away. God has 
 crowned this nation with a new life — with a new glory. The 
 heart of truth does not depend on llesh and blood. It is im- 
 mortal as Jeho^^ah. It this war could not kill us, the gates of 
 hell cannot prevail against us. Supposing that they could 
 nnn-der every freeman in tlie land. Our American idea would 
 not die. Supposing they should pick the bones of every hero 
 
11 
 
 I'roiii our soil, juid cast them into tlie sea. Tnitli would live. 
 Could tliey scrape up every particle of our laud, and strain 
 every drop of patriot 1)lood out of it, and throNV it to the ^vinds, 
 Liherty still lives I The very air has carried the inspiration 
 of this war around the globe. The souls of martyrs have 
 borne it up to God. You must dethrone Jehovah, l^efore you 
 can behead lil)erty. What abject nonsense to strike at a gi- 
 gantic idea with a pistol ball. TIow many think that the truth 
 will suffer by the death of Mr. Lincoln ? It may suffer, but it 
 cannot be laid in the tomb with him. While we had confi- 
 dence in his ability, and should have rejoiced to have had him 
 lived till the grand consunmiation, yet his life was not essen- 
 tial to the truth. Any cause is superlati\'el_y weak that de- 
 pends upon the life of one man. It was the time and manner 
 of his death that so mightily depressed tlie mition. We had 
 just shouted "hosannah." Victory was won. We heard the 
 angels singing peace. But before the magic strains of our 
 joy had reached heaven, a minor was heard. The chieftain 
 fell, where the drums were Ideating. Three days before Jesus 
 was slain, he rode into Jerusalem amid shouting hosannas. 
 and palm 1) ranches throwii in the way. But O ! wliat a sliock 
 to Ms disciples was his tragical death, following so soon ! All 
 their hopes were carried to tlie graA^e with. him. But truth 
 never was so strong as when Jesus was sleeping in the tomb. 
 It was a giant at sleep. America was never so mighty as 
 when Abraham Lincoln breathed his last. As he slowly 
 breathed out his last, God breathed o'er all our mountains. 
 As his life's blood flowed down, an invisible power flowed into 
 our hearts. It was a power born of calamity. It was the 
 consecration of sacrifice. Fear not, then, O Patriot ! Old 
 battle clouded Columbia is safe. God, whom the winds obey, 
 holds us in his palms. The new soul Mdiich our father-land 
 has, shall persevere. Our struggling faith shall triumph 
 Poor, impotent, revengeful savages may starve our heroes, anc 
 assassinate our chieftains, but the car of our hopes is headec^ 
 forward, and onward is the watchword of heaven. The wratl 
 t)f men shall become only praise. 
 
12 
 
 Mr. Lincoln fell a victim to slavery. His death was the 
 last stroke of the expiring rebellion, as wlien a storm having 
 spent its power, sends hack a fitful stream of lightning into 
 the clear sky. It was the fearful throe of d^dng desperation. 
 Hell was mad because the feet of heroes was heard on South- 
 ern soil. Because the shouts of freemen mingled with the 
 roar of Southern forests. Because the old flag was borne tri- 
 umphantly aloft, without a star dropped out of its glorious 
 constellation. Because the great abolitionist walked the streets 
 of the tyrant. These signs of victory, and of a nation's dis- 
 enthrallment, were more than the spirits of darkness could 
 stand. Gathering up all their spite and hellish fury, they 
 poured it out on the nation's head. No matter who nnirdered 
 Mr. Lincoln^t will ever stand charged to slavery. Because 
 it was the spirit born of slavery. It was no more than it has 
 done. A system that will brutalize men and women, is ripe 
 for any crime. Slavery is tlie hot-bed of every damnable 
 thing. It breeds unheaixi of things in the calendar of crime. 
 And now it stands before us in all its appalling horrors. God 
 has painted the tyrant on the heavens. Any man now that 
 justifies slavery is guilty of the blood of Mr. Lincoln. Be- 
 cause it is plainly manifest who did it. The cement of fugi- 
 tive slave bills will no more hold. The blood of patriot's has 
 dissolved the glue. The great soul of this nation now de- 
 mands that slavery shall forever die. But O ! what a crisis 
 have we passed ! ^ow absolutely necessary was this war. It 
 came not a moment too soon. For in a few years more of 
 prosperity, slavery would have placed its foot upon every 
 threshold in the land, and set its cursed heel on every inch of 
 our public domain. It is the very nature of crime to spread 
 or die. Z^ell must have new victims, or consume with its own 
 fires. O ! think where we should have been if slavery had 
 triumphed ! We shudder even at the contemplation ! Such 
 barbarity, such crimes does it bring. We stand in view of 
 the facts in breathless astonishment. What dangers have we 
 escaped ! In comparison, has the blood of our boys been 
 j^Tiy thing — have our paltry sacrifices been anything? Better, 
 
13 
 
 far better, that a wliole generation sliould have perished, and 
 our hills should have be^n washed down with patriot blood» 
 than that this curse should have been allowed to conquer '. 
 Behold the goodness of God in this war ! "We never knew 
 what slavery was until God smote its carcass with his sword, 
 and revealed to us its corruption. All dionor to those men 
 who first opposed slavery. Who stood as a wall of adamant 
 against it. Who created public sentiment. In the years to 
 come, the grandest honor a child can have will be that its 
 father or grand-father was an abolitionist. Tlie names of 
 Love joy, Torrey, and Lincoln will shine tlie brightest stars in 
 our national firmament. Hence it was not set of men that 
 made this war. 
 
 There were moral forces driving on the embattled hosts. 
 Men were mere puppets in the hands of great forces for good, 
 or evil. It is the battle of liberty where God himself led the 
 hosts of truth. Mr. Lincoln is dead. He bears the responsi- 
 bilities of a nation's cares no more. He carries no more the 
 load of the nation's sorrows. He lived long enough to see the 
 rock of our hope strong amid the swaying billows. God took 
 him up into the mount and showed him the future blessedness 
 of the country. He looked over the sunny South, and saw 
 the fruits of liberty hanging on every bough. He heard the 
 songs of freemen, as they went forth to their peaceful toil. 
 He saw tlie tribes of every tongue gathered under the fair folds 
 of our flag of beauty. And over all, he saw the city of the 
 great King rising in the midst of the scene. When' he had 
 caugjit a glimpse of this prophetic future, God took him to 
 himself On the very day he died, our flag was raised over 
 the spot where the war began, without the loss of a star. 
 Grand unity of our country's destiny. Our words are una- 
 vailing — but the future will do Abraham Lincoln justice. En- 
 joy thy repose, illustrious President. We will catch up thy 
 niantle, and declare by Him that sitteth on the throne that 
 we will protect freedom in this land, and never desert that 
 cause which you cemented with your blood. Over thy hal- 
 lowed grave freemen shall gather and shake hands in ever- 
 
14 
 
 lasting friendship. Strangers shall flock to thy resting place, 
 and drink in the inspiration of thy heroic deeds. And chil- 
 dren's children shall visit thy, tomb, and there consecrate them- 
 selves to liberty and to God. Heroes and patriots of all lands 
 shall stand over thy repose, and unite their tears, and unite 
 their praises. Let us all be faithful to the mighty trusts that 
 rest upon ns. We have a God, vehom no danger can reach, 
 and cherubic legions guard oilr beloved land. As the flag of 
 our nation was raised over Fort Sumter on that sad Friday, 
 so let us raise tlie banner of the Lord God of hosts. Let us 
 all bend our energies to the mighty work. Let us consecrate 
 all our ]>owers to the salvation of our country, till this blood- 
 bought land shall be clothed, and in her right mind, sitting at 
 the feet of Jesus.