QassiAlZ Book. fn /^^^l>€ji^//Lc-^ii^ A IJlscolLiSK *!« u. ON rilK DKA'IMI OK PRE SI DENT LINCOLN. J^> .\ A DISCOURSE PREACHED BY REV. A. B. DASCOMB, TO HIS PEOPLE AT WAITSFIELD, YT., IN HONOR OF OUR LATE CHIEF MAOISTEATE, ON SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 1! PTIBLISHKD BY REQUEST. MONTPELIER: WALTON'S STEAM PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT. 1865. Hz 398 C'y. -ti^' "vl> OF wAsm^^^^v-^ DISCOUESE "The beauty of Iskael is slaen* upon thy HIGH places: how are the mighty fallexI tell IT not in- GaTH, publish it not IX THE STEEETS OF Askelon; lest the daughters of THE Philis- tines REJOICE, LEST THE DAUGHTERS OF THE UXCIK- CUMCISED TRIUMPH." — //. Samuel, 1: 19, 20. King Saul had reigned over Israel for the space of forty years wlien he went out to fight once more against the PhiHstines. The army of Israel was de- feated, Saul's sons were slain and he himself was wounded and in despair fell upon his own sword and ended his life. The intelligence soon reached David that Saul and Jonathan were dead. It made David sad in heart. He gives expression to his sorrow in the language which I read a few moments ago in your hearing, a part of which I have just repeated. It is tender, beautiful, patriotic. '' The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fal- len!'' Gath and Askelon were cities of their constant and ever active enemies, the Philistines. He adds. Tell not the news in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon, lest their inhabitants rejoice. Me kne\\ they would exult over that which pained him and liis countrymen. David loved his country and respected its uler, regarding him as God's anointed, and hi- sen, itive heart could not bear to have anv exult o\er 4: Discourse on the the defeat of his coimtiymen or the death of one or more of their chief men. Withont dwelKng longer upon the occasion that prompted the words I have quoted from David when he learned of the death of his sovereign, I hasten to say that the language of this lamentation is expressive of the emotions of our hearts at this time. We feel like saying, " The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places : how are the mighty fallen ! tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph." Our noble, beloved and honored President has fallen. He, whose life was most esteemed and beautiful in the extreme, has been slain by the hand of the assassin. The Man of Might, at Avhose call two million of liberty-loving, hei'oic, patriotic men have rushed to arms against the rebel- lious enemies of their government, and under whose wise counsels and prudent management the nation has gone triumphantly through a civil war of unexampled magnitude, is now dead. How is the mighty faren? Tell it not to our enemies. If there be still a Gath or an Askelon in the territory of rebellion, let not their inhabitants know of this calamity which has befallen us. Let not the enemies of the Republic have one moment of triumph, even in their feelings. Let them not know what tJiey liave done; for I doubt not the arch traitor and official head of the rebel government has shared with the murderer of our President and his accomplices in a tragedy intended to be more extended and fatal, the last coin stolen from their sinking and now sunken Death of President Lincoln. 5 confederate treasury — shared it with them that they might perpetrate this awful crime. Our land mourns ; a nation is plunged in tears, l^ever has our country been plunged so deeply and suddenly into sadness as recently when the message went SAviftly over the electric wires and from tongue to tongue — "President Lincoln is shot — dead!" It was a sad time when — as you who are old remem- ber and have told us — sixty-five years ago the slow moving mail spread the news of the death of Washing- ton. But Washington's official life was closed and it was the remembrance of what he had done rather than what he was doing or might do for his country that filled the hearts of his countrymen with grief. There was sorrov/ in the land when, just twenty-four years ago this month, it was announced that the hero of Tippecanoe and the Thames, who one month before had been elevated from an honorable and iniblemished private life to the Presidential office, had breathed his last. It was, however, a party that took his death deeply to heart. The issues at stake were important, not vital. Again, fifteen years since, when we had hardly ceased to celebrate the birth-day of the nation, we were shocked to hear without previous warning that another President held strongly in the hearts of the people had ceased to live. It W' as during Taylor's administration that threats of disunion and civil war began to grow loiul and frequent. He was a southern man by birth and education and a promment slave- owner, yet when turbulent members of Congress visit- ed him with threats of civil war upon their lips, he as- 6 Discourse on the sured them that if the standard of revolt was raised he himself would take the field to suppress it. Hence he died to the regret of every lover of his whole coun- try. But there was no crisis and no one would claim that his abilities were transcendant. Within the last four years many a grievous blow has fallen upon the country. When Sumpter's flag was lowered we should have wept had we not been wisely mad. When our troops hastened in defeat from off the field of Bull Kun once and again ; when Fredericksburgh and Char- lottesville were the bloody scenes of repulse to our ar- mies; and at other times our hearts have well nigh sunk within us: yet, conscious of rectitude, self reli- ant, trusting in the God of Bight, excited, determined, the edge of grief was dulled. I repeat, never was the nation so suddenly and deeply plunged in grief as when a few days since we learned of the atrocious murder of our beloved Chief Magistrate. Standing calmly at the helm, the tempest raging with the utmost fury, the ship of state almost broken in twain, he had guided her with magic hand through the height of the storm; he had won our confidence and affection; and now as the winds began to lull and the mad waves to be quiet, the ship, the while approaching the shallow sea near the shore and haven where skill and wisdom were still needed, while our eager eye was looking with interest and yet with quiet confidence to the trust- ed helmsman, we see him fall — his strong arm, his steady eye, his calm and active brain paralyzed by death. We are stunned, grieved, well nigh dismayed. Our country has met an irreparable loss in the death Death of President Lincoln. 7 of the plain appearing, pure hearted and wise acting statesman and public servant, Abraham Lincoln, the late re-elected and re-inaugurated President of the United States. A great and good man is dead. There are many good men in the nation. There are many distinguished men ; there are a few wise and great men ; of very few can it be said they are great and good. He was one of the most illustrious examples of virtue that the high- est circles of the nation have ever exhibited. This is not the language of fulsome adulation — -of exaggerated praise. I believe it to be the deliberately formed con- viction of the American people ; hence it is well that we mourn: it is no wonder that we feel staggered by the sudden blow fallen at such a time. When fifty years since the Princess Charlotte, a lady of distinguished virtue, heiress to the throne of England and highly endeared to the English people, was suddenly stricken doA^oi, Pev. Robert Hall in a sermon occasioned by her untimely death used the fol- lowing language, which is strikingly appropriate to this hour. " In the private departments of life the dis- tressing incidents which occur are confined to a narrow circle. The hope of an individual is crushed, the hap- piness of a family is destroyed ; but the social system is unimpaired and its movements experience no imped- iment and sustain no sensible injury. The arrow pass- es through the air which closes upon it and all is tran- quil. But when the great lights and ornaments of the world are extinguished, such an event resembles the apocalyptic vial poured into that element which 8 Discourse on the changes its whole atmosphere, and is the jorestige of fearfnl commotions, of thunders, lightnings and tem- pests." What the result to our nation shall be from this fearful tragedy no mortal can tell. We fear; yet hope, ever ready to shine into the sorrowing heart, even now with feeble ray beams upon us, and the prayer is ours that good, not evil, shall accrue to the land under the overruling of a merciful Clod, who is able to bring- good out of evil. The excellencies of Abraham Lincoln in mind and heart were many and great. Occupying the exalted position he did in the eye of the nation and the world, they shine with unusual brightness. We have looked upon him for the past four years as we* look upon the highest mountain peak in sight, towering above all others in solemn grandeur, first in the morning and last in the evening to receive the illuminating rays of the rising and setting sun : he has been the most ex- alted and, at the same time, the most virtuous of the distinguished men in the executive arm of the nation. There are some men who have been for a much longer time before the eyes of the people than has our mar- tyred President whose virtues you would find it hard to name, even though you could not name their vices, or though they have none. N^ot so with him. His virtues were prominent ; the salient points of his character are evident to us all, though he was by no means an angu- lar, eccentric man. As a whole his character is round- ed, symmetrical and beautiful to behold, like the full orbed resplendent moon, its edges not ragged but Death of President Lincoln. smooth. His greatness consisted not in the extraor- dinary developement of any one faculty or attribute to the neglect of others, but in a foir and healthy growl li of all the elements that make a man in the highest sense of the term. He was not like Everett, tlie most finished ol' scholai-s; not like Choate, tlie shrewdest ol' laAvyers ; not like Webster, the prince oCoratois ; nol like Jefferson, the most adroit of politicians; nor liki- Hamilton, most brilliant and accom])nshe(l of statesmen : he was rather hke Washington, an eminently clear headed, true hearted, sensible and piaetleal man, ivho did every thing welt. Edward Everett, in his famons oration upon Wash- ington, names these foiu' qualities as belonging to him, viz.: prudence, modesty, justice and common sense. Without doubt three of these characterized Mr. Lin- coln. Perhaps the other also,— justice ; we fear not, however. It was easier for him to be gentle, patient, forgiving, than just toward his enemies and the enemies of the government— those upon whom he should visit the severest penalties of the law. But I am out of my province here. Let others better acquainted with the work he did and more capable of judging portray his mental and practical abilities. I purpose to call atten- tion to a few traits of his moral and religious character. It is my privilege in this sacred place and upon this holy day to direct attention to whatever may be highly commended and wisely imitated by those who would daily strive to make mankind better and happier, while they live in view of a blessed immortality. The first trait that I name may perhaps be said to lie outside the lO JJisroffrsf on fht- re;! I] I) ! \\\\\v mdieatcd and not strictly to l)clong to his nio.i-a! ()]■ I'c'Hgions nature. If this 1)e true, which 1 (lou])t, it lies so near the borders that I cannot pass it hv. I I'cfer to his simpUcity. This manifestly distin- giiislied his language and manner and habits of life. ^Fhere was nothing pretentions about him. Bad men, shallow men, vain men, are obliged to counterfeit themsehes. They put on airs ; they gild themselves. I'he great and good may be open, unaifected, luia- dorned. Our Saviour, the greatest and best of men, w as the j)!aiuest and simplest in his manner of speech and life. Promotion inflates many men. It had no such etfect ui)on our late revered President. He was as easy, natural and approachable when the official head of a vast and powerful nation as when in 1831 he was assisting in conducting a flat boat down the Mis- sissippi to Xew Orleans. It will not be long before the artists will have one scene in his remarkable life on canvas. It is one of the siiblimest ever witnessed. Had a king or emperoi' nl'tlie old world occasion to enter the capital of a re- captured or conquered provuice or nation, as President Lincoln had occasion to enter Kichmond, it would havc> Ikhmi V ith all the pomp and magnticence that abundant {rea.>t!i-cs and an inventive brain could provide — in gi'and, jnartial and ti'iumphal jJi'Ocession. IIow did he enter it ? Leading his pet boy by the hand, in com|)a- ii\ with an ofhcer or two of the army and navy, a half do/ei! maiines on either side, he '?(?r^?y(',sMnto the proud vWy that has 1)een (he strong defence and. citadel of re- bellion, the seat of official traitors, for four long and Death of President Lincoln. 11 bloody years. It is li-uc that many of the ]iuni1)le(l yet haughty aristoerats oi" the eity look with undisguisi-d (•()iiteiii])t upon the seeiie; hut they ai'e uot ail. Sec the dusky crovvd throng tlie way ; see theii- cagef eountenances as they behokl their I'l 'i end ; sic tlieir tears of joy ; hear tiieir sini])le hmgiiage oi' pi-jiisc and rejoieing. It seems as if angels, il* they ever weep, must have Avept at that seene. J verily hciicve that no grander sight of like kind was ever witnessed shnc when our glorious Redeemer eighteen hundred yrar-- ago entered the eapital of Judea over streets >ti(«\\ ii with garments and 1)ranehes of palm trees hy ;; ci-owd which, as he passed along, shouted in vvild delight, "Blessed is he that eometh in the name of the I^oi-d ; Hosanna in the highest/' The great and good can atford to be unostentatious. Again, it indicates strength of mind and heart and large self-control wdien a person in the highest oiHcial and fashionable circles preserves the more simple hab- its of humble and rural life. In our country, espt'c-ially in its capita], the temptations to a luxurious, ini[)ur(' and intemperate life are such that few of our j)ron!ineul men have been able to resist them. liis distinguished rival for political honors in Illinois once taunted him for having in early life sold him li<[Uor. " 'rrue," re- plied Mr. Lincoln, ''l^ut I have reformed since and yoi; haven't." .1 reform in this habit in view of or dui'ing political life is a rarity. N^o stain, however, rests upon his character. He was a strictly tem])erate man in this respect. His brain was never i'xcited, confused oi' stinmlated by the ])oisoning winc-cu]). The c-orrupi 12 t)iscourse on the society of Washington never contaminated him in the least. He Avas equally plain and temperate in all he did and said. In the highest place in the land he set an example that all in exalted or private life may well follow. ''"With the lowly is wisdom." Abraham Lincoln w^as a man of strict and uniform integrity. It was said of him before he was raised to the highest office in the executive that he was an hon- est man. He has lived for more than four years in the eye of millions of liis fellow men—his countrymen and those of foreign lands— and now without hesitation or reservation all exclaim, " an honest man has died ;" one, as the poet Pope has it, of the " noblest woi'ks of God." We have never known or even suspected, so transparent has been his life, that he ever gave or re- ceived a bribe ; that to accomplish any purpose he ev- er used the least deceit to friend or foe. Though he was shrewd, he Avas prudent and wise, and never en- tered the boundaries of hm'tful deceit and dishonest}- . It was his custom to keep his own counsels till ready to act. We have sometimes waited in anxious sus- pense to know^ how he would act in a given emergency. We have Avatched his words and acts. We have sometimes thought we have ])een deceived and that he had no idea of doing Avhat it pi-oved he had already determined to do. You remember that when he was waited ii])on in the sunnner of 1862 by a dejnitation of western clergymen, who urged him to issue a procla- mation ol' emancipation, he proposed arguments seem- ingly against it for them to answer. They went away somewhat disappointed. Many others were made de- Dtatli of President Lincoln. 13 spondent thereby. It soon after came to light that he ah-eady had the proclamatioil prepared, and was only waiting an appropriate opportunity I'or its promulga- tion. His course was prompted by no desire or in- tent to deceive, but by prudence and wisdom. He wished to receive the utmost light before entering upon a most momentous work. He was a man of the purest rectitude ; a man of trath, uprightness and hon- esty. " The just man Avalketh in his integrity ; his children are blessed after him." Another bright star in his crown of virtue was his humanity. He was a humane man. The w^ord hu- mane comes from a word meaning man, but it reall}' means a divine quality. The tendency of men when left to themselves is the direction opposite to tender- ness and benevolence. Man degenerates from the Di- vine Being in the garden of Eden to the ci'uel, selfish, brutal savage: a type of humanity illustrated in the black-hearted assassin who murdered Abraham Lin- coln, and in the red savage who murdered iiis gr;ind- father in the forests of Jventucky in 1784. Strange it is that we lind the highest tyjie of humanity in no man that ever lived but in the Divine Son of God and Juan —Jesus, our Saviour. His life on eartli was a perfect illustration of gentleness, kindness, tenderness, in short, of humanity. Humane means not what man is, but what he onght to l)e. It is a (luarily conspicuous in the character of oiu- late lamented President. It is, in one phase of it, touchingly evinced in the pleasure he took in the company of his young son, whom he loved to lead witli him in his walks, and to have in his 14 Disco^irse on the presence even when holding interviews with distin- gnished men and prominent home and foreign offi- cials, thns showing the kind, thoiightfnl father, right under the pressing " cares of eni|)ires/' He Avas dis- posed to treat all men as children or brethren, accord- ing to their relation to him. In the remarks he made in response to the speech of welcome from the mayor of Washington, just before entering upon the duties of the |)residential ofhce, — and when he said it, he meant the whole South, — '' I have never had any other than as kindly feelings tov/ards you as the people of my own section. I have no disposition to treat you in any other respect than as my neighbors." It was not like him to inflict pain upon a single mortal if i)ossi- ble, though he found it necessary to put his foot, and to '' ])ut it down firmly," upon the necks of traitors. It was well that he was of this superior make for sev- eral reasons. It was necessary that one shoidd occupy the highest otHce, in such a crisis in our history, that should, in the highest degree, win the affections of the whole people. It took away the last pretext for secession ; it prevented division at the ]S"orth, and gave no occa- sion for exasperation in any direction by reason of se- verity or cruelty. When he did a severe thing, all saw that it was a last resort, and could not complain. It was well that he was a humane man who held the power of the nation in his hands through such a time of suffering and distress. He gave the largest possi- ble opi^ortunity to every lienevolent enterprise that looked to the r(.'lief of the Avants and the alle\'iation of Death of President Lincoln. i.T the sufferings of the soldiers. lie hade the Christian and Sanitary Commissions God speed as they went to the camps, iiospitals and l)attlefiekls, to minister to the tempted, the sick, the wounded and the dying' soldiers. He forgot not the afflicted and bereaved at home. You remember that short letter that he found time to write to a mother who had lost several sons in the army, as he had learned. How it touched the heart of the nation, and wound hun into the hearts of the afflicted and distressed people! For still another reason was it well that Abraham Lincoln was humane. Four millions of Afric's sons and daughters were held in Southern bondage. It was largely on account of these that men became trai- tors and rebels. '■ Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed; without slavery it could not con- tinue.-' The cries of these oppressed ones had long and loud been heard in the land. Many were severely tried that thc}^ could not be made free, yet saw not I lie patli to liberty. Suddenly God himself opened tlie door through the madness of the leading men in the South. Kebelling against the govei-ninent, defy- ing all its powers, they and all who obeyed them for- feited all right to ]jrotection. The President was quick to see the opening gate of liberty to the enchained millions of Africans. His humane heart long moved, as his congressional history twenty years ago abun- dantly testifies, coukl now effectually act. As soon as he could do it with safety, when the mind of the people was sufficiently ripened to prevent a dangerous reaction, the blow is given. He speaks the word: the 16 Discourse on tlie fetters of millions are l^roken, and they begin to walk the path of freedom. For this act of hnmanity as well as justice, philanthropists thank him. For this the disenthralled African race thank him, and rejoice with joy they cannot tell. The fatal ball, that pierced his brain, ])ierced their hearts more deej^ly, if 2:)0ssible, than ours. They mourn with unhushed and uncon- trolled lamentations. The freedmen will remember him to the last; their children and children's children will hear the story of their deliverance; the whole sa- ble race will regard him with the w^armest admiration; they will pay his memory such honors as tutelary divinities of old were wont to receive, and, in heaven, next to their Saviour from sin, the}^ will wish to see Abraham Lincoln, their deliverer from chains. The whole world will honor him as among the highest Ijeii- efactors of mankind. " He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker ; but he that honoreth Him hath mercy on the poor." Finally, I name as brightest in the diadem of virtues that crown his character, his fear of God. This, says the wise man, ""Is the beginning of wisdom." We have seen that he loved man ; he also feared and loved God. In the speech he made, as he left his home in Springfield for Washington, four years since, he said, " Pray for me that I ma}^ receive that Divine assist- ance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain." His language since has been equall}^ devout. What a deeply religious sentiment pei'vaded that brief and I'emarkable inaugural, whose sublime words have hardly yet died in our ears! How Death, of President Lincoln. 17 ready he was in national adversity to Ijid us g(j down on our knees l3eforc the righteous God, to su})pUcate his iavor! How ready in success to ask us to give thanks to Ahnighty God for his tokens of favor to the peopk\ Surely he " acknoAvledged God in all his ways," and, as a fruit of it, God directed his patli. He not only asked us to worship the Lord, he him- self was a man of prayer. Let me repeat an incident or two that many of you have read. A gentlemnn had occasion to call upon him at the early hour of five in the morning. He heard a Ioav voice as of one con- versing in an adjoining room. On enquiry of a ser- valit, he learned that the President was in the exercise of devotion; and furthermore, that this was his cus- tom daily at that hour. A praying President ! Thank God that some good men stand in the high places of tlie land. -'Kot many great: not many mighty are called." Kot long since an Illinois clergyman, ^vhile aliout to visit the President, was directed by a Sabbatli School to ask him if he loved Jesus. The business conclud- ed, the question was faithfully presented. The reply ran something like this: -'When I left Springfield, 1 asked the people to pray for me. i was not a Chris- tian. When T buried my son, tlie severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Get- tysburg, and saw the graves of thousands of our sol- diers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ . Yes, I do love Jesus." And the flowing tears told that he was a tender, loving disciple of Christ. Pleas- ing foretaste this of the time when kings shall be I.'o time before could we have spared hiui as well as \u)\\. It is well with hini in time, and, we belie\-e, in eternity. A life so })ure as his, so devoted to noble work, so Inuuble, so trustful iu God and liis Sou 'Jesus Christ, will receive its re>vard of rest luid |)eace ami joy; Avhile on earth his is "'One of the few, the inunortal ujuues " That were not boru to die." As long as the genius, that inspired our Falhei-s lo write the Declaration of Indej)endence, and to main- tain it through the privations, toils and bloody saei-i- fices of a seven years' war, shall continue to nerve the 20 Discourse on the American people to action, so long will his name be cherished and honored; so long as we love simplic- ity, truth, honesty, purity, as long will the memory of onr martyred President be held in the minds and hearts of his fellow-men. He will be remembered to the last as one of the jmrest of Patriots, the most honored of Rulei's, the wisest of Statesmen, and the noblest of Philanthropists. In onr national constellation he will shine as a star of the first magnitude, whose light shall never grow dim — a star rather whose age shall add to its own beauty, lustre and glory. Bear with me a moment more while T refer with great Iji'evity to the impressive lessons taught us by the life and death of our lamented President. Man's weakness and mortality in his best estate. We are often reminded of this in respect to men in or- dinary life. To-day we feel that men — that all men — are weak and mortal. President Lincoln rose from the humblest to the highest position in the nation, perhaps world. Till the age of eighteen, living in the forests of Kentucky and Indiana; when old enough, working upon his father's land; at nineteen, a hired hand upon a Mississippi flat-boat ; at twenty-one, help- ing his father to a log cabin in Illinois; at twenty -two, assisting in building a boat and floating it down to New Orleans; at twenty-three, clerk in a store and mill, and a volunteer in a company to flght in the Black Hawk war, of which he was chosen captain ; at twenty-three and twenty-four, a country store-keeper, postmaster, civil engineer, student-at-law, and defeat- ed candidate for the legislature ; at twenty-five, a mem- Death of President Lincoln. 21 ber of the legislature, and thus remaining for six years ; at twenty-eight, a pi-acticing lawyer; thereafter rising rapidly to distinction in his profession, and to promi- nence in office, he became at fifty-two the first man in the Kepublic, wielding a power such as in all desira- ble respects no monarch ever wielded. This man, so honored, so exalted, at last is laid low in death, as you or 1 might be in a moment's time,— broken like the bubble that is the sport of the child. " Verily, every man at his best estate is altogether vanity." We do well to remember this, and so live that Avhether hum- ble or exalted, when the bubble l3iu-sts, when the vapor of life is blown away, we shall h'nd in the spirit-land and in the garner-house of our Saviour, a golden har- vest gathered from seed sown on earth — the seed of truth, faith, love. Let us remember that God only is great, and fear, love and serve Him. We are reminded of the short-lived nature of our earthly joys. We have never seen four years like the [)ast four. Our hearts have been heavy Avith sorrow. We have been anxious, careworn and distressed by reason of the threatening condition of our national af- fairs, the sacrifices and dangers of our friends if not ourselves. Our President shared in these, feeling- doubtless more keenly than we did. Finally the glim- mering twilight beghis to ajjpear, after the long dark night of carnage, death and impending ruin. The light increases; there is no longer doubt; the capital of the " Confederacy" is ours ; soon its strong defend- ers are ours also. The President rejoices; the coun- try is happy. The booming cannon, the ringing bells. 22 Discourse on the the rolling drain make every hill-toj) and valley re- echo the gladness of the people. IS'ever did oiu' peo- ple riot in such demonstrations of joy as they did for two weeks, not forgetting to thank God. How sud- denly was his joy ended, and ours turned into sorro\v. In one day the nation was l30wed in tears. We have no heart to think of the occasions for rejoicing. In the height of his happiness our leader was stricken with death; our joy was dashed as suddenly, though our life yet remains. " If a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall l^e many." If Ave havi3 no joys but those that earth aftbrds, our hearts are empt}^ and })itiable indeed. Tlien let there ever be an luider-cur- rent of joy springing from God's throne, from the con- scious i)rescnce of Jesus Christ in our hearts. Then, too, let earthly sorrow s temper onr earthly joys. In noAV closing, I urge you again to remember the value of religion. This lesson was taught by the life of our Chief Magistrate. He was guided and sustain- ed because he believed and trusted in God. He drcAv in his wisdom and strength by daily communion with the All-wise and Almighty. Keligion rounded and pei'fected his character; it secured him the confidence, charity and love of the people. Let such men l3e hon- ored and exalted, and our government will have fewer reproaches, and God w^ill smile upon us. Let his ex- ample l)e followed by all the people, and God will dwell with us. Peace shall be within our walls, and ])ros])erity within our palaces. Oh! that the yoimg men of the nation would emulate his course. In the DeatJi of President Lincoln. 2S death of this wise and good man, let us be deeply and everlastingly impressed with the sentiment long ago expressed l)y a wise man, ■' The feaii of Goi> is the begin:nik(I of a\ isdom ;" and "'^Che path of the JUST IS AS A SIIINIXG LIGHT THAT SHTXETH MORE AXD MORE LTs^TO THE PEKFE(!T DAY."