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 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 MEMORIAL 
 
 the class of 1901 
 
 founded by 
 • HARLAN HOYT HORNER 
 
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 AT THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
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 22ID X).A.-Y- o:f :F:BBI^XJ^I^Y, 1842. 
 
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 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Esq., 
 
 I •.n,\ I ,.■ . 1....I i.v ti . Direc'tiiiii nf ilic SiKicii 
 
 Si'RtNf:nrm\ Ti.mnoih; 
 Re-PrintPd for. and I'lihliHhpd by, the Spi inudrld K^foi in Clnh.
 
 Anniversary of the Springfield Washingtonian 
 
 Temperance Society. 
 
 Sangamo Journal, Feb. 25, 1842.— lEditoiiai.) 
 
 This anniversary, the first of the kind celebrated in this county, 
 passed off well. A procession was formed at 11 o'clock, at the 
 Methodist Church, under direction of Col. B. S. Clement as Chief 
 Marshal, and, escorted by the beautiful company of Sangamo 
 Guards, under command of Capt. E. D. Baker, marched through 
 some of the principal streets of the city, and reached the Second 
 Presbyterian Church at 12 o'clock. The address, delivered by Mr. 
 Lincoln, in our opinion, was excellent. The Society directed it to 
 be printed. The singing delighted the immense crowd. Several 
 pieces were a second time called for and repeated. Indeed, the 
 whole was a most happy affair. The weather was delightful.
 
 
 ADDRESS, 
 
 Although the Temperance Cause has been in progress for near t\Yenty 
 years, it is apparent to all, that it is just now being crowned with a degree 
 of success, hitherto unparalleled. 
 
 The list of its friends is daily swelled by the additions of fifties, of hun- 
 dreds, and of thousands. The cause itself seems suddenly transformed 
 from a cold abstract theory, to a living, breathing, active and powerful 
 chieftain, going forth "conquering and to conquer." The citadels of his 
 great adversary are daily being stormed and dismantled; his temples and his 
 altars, where the rites of his idolatrous worship have long been performed, 
 and where human sacrifices have long been wont to be made, are daily dese- 
 crated and deserted. The trump of the conquerer's fame is sounding from 
 hiirto hill, from sea to sea, and from land to land, and calling millions to 
 his standard at a blast. 
 
 For this new and splendid success, we heartily rejoice. That, that success 
 is so much greater now, than heretofore, is doubtless owing to rational 
 causes; and if we would have it continue, we shall do well to inquire what 
 those causes are. 
 
 The warfare heretofore waged against the demon intemperance, has, 
 somehow or other, been erroneous. Either the champions engaged, or the 
 tactics they adopted, have not been the most proper. These champions for 
 the most part, have been preachers, lawyers and hired agents, between these 
 and the mass of mankind, there is a want of approacTiaMUty , if the term be 
 admissable, partially at least, fatal to their success. They are supposed to 
 have no sympathy of feeling or interest, with those very persons whom it is 
 their object to convince and persuade. 
 
 And again, it is so easy and so common to ascribe motives to men of these 
 classes, other than those they profess to act upon. The preacher it is said, 
 advocates temperance because he is a fanatic, and desires a union of the 
 church and State; the 1-awyer from his pride, and vanity of hearing himself 
 speak; and the hired agent for his salary. 
 
 But when one, who has long been known as a victim of intemperance, 
 bursts the fetters that have bound him, and appears before his neighbors 
 "clothed and in his right mind," a redeemed specimen of long lost human- 
 ity, and stands up with tears of joy trembling in eyes, to tell of the miseries 
 once endured, now to be endured no more forever; of his once naked and 
 starving children, now clad and fed comfortably; of a wife, long weighed
 
 down with woe, weeping and a broken heart, now restored to health, happi- 
 ness and a renewed atlection; and how easily it is all done, once it is re- 
 solved to be done; how sinii)k' his language, there is a logic and an eloquence 
 in it, that few, with human feelings can resist. They cannot say that he de- 
 sires a union of church and State, for he is not a church member; they con- 
 not say he is vain of hearing himself sjieak, for his whole demeanor shows 
 he would glad!}' avoid speaking at all; they cannot say he speaks for pay for 
 he receives none, aud asks for none. Nor can his sincerity in any way be 
 doubted; or his sympathy for thost he would i)ersuade to imitate his exam- 
 ple, be denied. 
 
 In my judgment, it is to the battles of this new class of champions that 
 our late success is greatly, perhaps chiefly, owing. But, had the old-school 
 champions tkemselves, been of the most wise selecting, "was their system of 
 tactics the most judicious? It seems to me it was not. Too much denun- 
 ciation against dram-sellers and dram-drinkers was indulged in. This I think 
 was both impolitic and unjust. It was impolitic, because it is not much in 
 the nature of man to be driven to anything; still less to be driven about 
 that, which is exclusively his own business; and least of all, where such 
 driving is to be submitted to, at the expense of pecuniary interest, or burn- 
 ing appetite. When the dram-seller and drinker, vvere incessantly told, not 
 in the accents of entreaty and persuasion, diflidently addressed by erring 
 man to an erring brother; but in the thundering tones of anathema and de- 
 nunciation, with which the lordly judge often groups together all the crimes 
 of the felon's life, and thrusts tbem in his face just e're he passes sentence of 
 death upon him, that they were the authors of all the vice and misery and 
 crime in the land; that they were the manufacturers and material of all the 
 thieves and robbers and murderers that infest the earth; that their houses 
 were the workships of the devil; and that their persons should be shunned 
 by all the good and vittuous, as moral pestilences. I say, when they were 
 told all this, and in this way, it is not wonderful that they were slow, very 
 slow, to acknowledge the truth of such denunciations, and to join the ranks 
 of their denouncers, in a hue and cry against themselves. 
 
 To have expected them to do otherwise than ihey did — to have expected 
 them not to meet denunciation with denunciation, crimination with crimina- 
 tion, and anathema with anathema — was to expect a reversal of human na- 
 ture, which is God's decree and can never be reversed. 
 
 When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind 
 unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and a true 
 maxim, "that a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall." So 
 with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you 
 are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, 
 which, say what he will, is the great high road to his reason, and which, when 
 once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing his judgment of the 
 justice of your cause, if indeed that cause really be a just one. On the con- 
 trary, assume to dictate to his judgment, or to command his action, or to 
 maik him as one to be shunned and despised, and he will retreat witnin him- 
 self, close all the avenues to his head and his heart; and though your cause 
 be naked truth itself, ^j-ausformed to the heaviest lance, harder than steel, 
 aud sharper than steel can be made, aud though you throw it with more than
 
 3 
 
 herculean force and precision, you shull be no more able to pierce him, than 
 to penetrate the hard shell of a tortoise with a rye-straw. Such is man, and 
 so must he be understood by those who would lead him, even to his own best 
 interests. 
 
 On this point, the ^V'^ashiniI;tonians greatly ext;el the temperance advocates 
 of former times. Those whom they desire to convince and persuade are 
 their old friends and companions. They know they are not demons, nor 
 even the worst of men; they know that generally they are kind, generous 
 and charitable, even beyond the example of their more staid and sober 
 neighbors. They are practical i)hilanthropists; and they glow with a gener- 
 ous and brotherly zeal, that mere theorizers are incai)ableof feeling. Benev- 
 olence and charity possess their hearts entirely; and out of the abundance 
 of their hearts, their tongues give utterance, "Love through all their actions 
 run, and all their words are mild;" in this spirit they speak and act, and in 
 the sama, they are heard and regarded. And when such is thetemper of the 
 advocate, and such of the audience, no good cause can be unsuccessful. But 
 I have said that denunciations against dram-sellers and dram-drinkers, are 
 unjust, as well as impolitic. Let us see. 
 
 1 have not enquired at what period of time, the use of intoxicating liquors 
 commenced; nor is it important to know. It is sufficient that to all ol us 
 who now inhabit the world, the practice of drinking them, is just as old as 
 the world itself — that is, we have seen the one, just as long as we have seen 
 the other. Wheaall such of us at have now reached the years of maturity, 
 first opened our eyes upon the stage of existence, we found intoxicating 
 liquor; recognized by everybody, used by everybody, repudiated by nobody. 
 It commonly entered into the first draught of the infant, and the last draught 
 of the dying man. From the sideboard of the parson, down to the ragged 
 pocket of the houseless loafer, it was constantly found. Physicians pre- 
 scribed it, in this, that and the other disease; Government i)rovided it for 
 soldioi-s and sailors; and to have a rolling or raising, a husking or "hoc- 
 down" anywhere about, without it, was positidely wis uffer able. 80 too, it was 
 everywhere a respectable article of manufacture and of merchandise. The 
 making of it was regarded as an honorable livelihood, and he could make 
 most, was the most enterprising and respectable. Large and small miinufac- 
 tories of it were everywhere erected, in which all the earthly goods of their 
 owners were invested. Wagons drew it from town to [town; boats bore it 
 from clime to clime, and the winds wafted it from nation to nation; and 
 merchants bought and sold it, by wholesale and retail, with precisely the 
 same feelings on the part of the seller, buyer and by-stander, as are felt at 
 the selling and buying of plows, beef, bacon, or any other of the real neces- 
 saries of life. Universal public opinion not only tolerated, but recognized 
 and adopted its use. 
 
 It is true, that even then, it wus known and ncknowledged, that many 
 were greatly injured by it; but none seemed to think the injury arose from 
 the use of a bad thing, but from the abuse of a very good thing. The vic- 
 tims of it were to be i^itied, and compassionated, just as are the heirs of con- 
 sumption, and other liereditary diseases. Their failing was treated as a mis- 
 fortune, and not as a crime, or rvcn as a disgrace.
 
 If then, what I have been saying is true, is it wonderful, that some should 
 think and act now, as all thought and acted twenty years ago, and is it just 
 to assail, condemn, or despise 1 hem for doing so? The universal sense of 
 mankind, on any subject, is an argument, or at least an influence not easily 
 overcome. The success of the argument in favor of the existence of an 
 over-ruling Providence, aiainly depends upon that sense; and men ought 
 not, in justice, to be denounced for yielding to it in any case, or giving it 
 up slowly, especially when they are backed by interest, fixed habits, oV burn- 
 ing appetites. 
 
 Another error, as it seems to me, into which the old reformers fell, was 
 the position that all habitual drunkards were utterly incorrigible, and there- 
 fore, must be turned adrift, and damned without remedy, in order that the 
 grace of temperance might abound, to the temperate then, and to all man- 
 kind some hundreds ef years thereafter. There is in this, something so re- 
 pugnant to humanity, so uncharitable, so cold blooded and feelingless, that 
 it never did, nor never can enlist the enthusiasm of a popular cause. We 
 could not love the man who taught it — we could not hear him with patience. 
 The heart could not throw open its portals to it, the generous man could not 
 adopt it, it could not mix with his blood. It looked so fiendishly selfish, so 
 like tlirowing fathers and brothers overboard, to lighten the boat for our se 
 curity — that the noble-minded shrank from the manifest meanness of the 
 thing. And besides this, the benefits of a reformation to be eflected by such 
 a system, were too remote in point of time, to warmly engage many in its 
 behalf. Few can be induced to labor exclusively for posterity; and none 
 will do it enthusiastically. Posterity has done nothing for us; and theorize 
 on it as we may, practically we shall do very little for it, ^unless we are made 
 to think, we are, at the same time, doing something for ourselves. 
 
 What an ignorance of human nature does it exhibit, to ask or expect a 
 whole community to rise up and labor for the temporal happiness of others, 
 after themselves shall be consigned to the dust, a majority of which com- 
 munity take no pains whatever to secure their own eternal welfare at no 
 greater distant dayV Great distance in either lime of space has wonderful 
 power to lull and render quiescent the human mind. Pleasures to be enjoy- 
 ed, or pains to be endured, after we shall be dead and gone, are but little 
 regarded, even in our own cases, and much less in the cases of others. 
 
 IStill in addition to this, there is something so ludicrous, in promises of 
 good, or threats of evil, a great way off, as to render the whole subject with 
 which they are connected, easily turned into ridicule. "Better lay down 
 that spade you're stealing, Paddy — if you don't, you'll pay for it at the daj^ 
 of judgment." "Be the powers, if ye'll credit me so long I'll take another 
 jist." 
 
 By the Washingtonians this system of consigning the habitual drunkard 
 to hopeless ruin, is repudiated. They adopt a more enlarged philanthropy, 
 they go for present as well as future good. They labor for all now living, 
 as well as hereafter to live. They teach hope to all — despair to none. As 
 applying to their cause, they deny the doctrine of unpardonable sin, as in 
 Christianity it is taught, so in this they teach— 
 
 "While the lamp holds out to burn, 
 The vilest sinner may return." 
 
 And, what is a matter of the most profound congratulation, they, by exper- 
 iment upon experiment, and example upon example, prove the maxim to be 
 no less true in the one ca^e than in the other. On every hand we behold 
 those, who but yesterday, were the chief of sinners, now the chief apostles 
 of the cause. Drunken devils are cast out by ones, by sevens, by legions; 
 and their unfortunate victims, like the poor possessed, who was redeemed 
 from his long and lonely wanderings in the tombs, are publishing to the ends 
 of the earth how great things have been done for them. 
 
 To these new champions, and this new system of tactics, our late success 
 is mainly owing; and to them we must mainly look for the final consumma- 
 tion. The ball is now rolling gloriously on, and none are so able as they 
 to increase its speed, and its bulk — to add to its momentum, and its magni- 
 tude — even though unlearned in letters, for this task none are so well educa- 
 tod. To fit them for this work they have been taught in the true school. 
 They have been in that gulf, from which they would teach others the means 
 of escapes. They have passed that prison wall, which others have long de- 
 clared impassable; and who that has not, shall dare to weigh opinions with 
 them as to the mode of passing?
 
 But if it be true, as 1 have insisted, tiiat those who hiive sulVered bj- intoni- 
 perance personally, and have reformed, are the most powerful and elllcieut 
 insliuments to push the reformation to ultimate suecess, it does not follow, 
 that those who have not sullered, hfive no part left them to perform, ^^'h^tlu'r 
 or not the world would be vustly benefitted by a total and final banishment 
 from it, of all intoxicating drinks, seems to me not now an open question. 
 Three-fourths of mankind confess the attirmative with their tongues, and, I 
 believe, all the rest acknowledge it in their hearts. 
 
 Ought any, then, to refuse their aid in doing what good the good of the 
 whole demands? Shall he, who cannot do much, be, for that reason excused 
 if he do nothing? "But," says one, "what good can 1 do by signing the 
 pledge? I never drink, even without signing." This ([ucstion has already 
 Oeen asked and answered more than a million of times. Let it be answered 
 once more. For the man to suildenly, or in any other way, to lircak ofT from 
 the use of drams, who has indulged in them for a long course of years, and 
 until his appetiie for them has grown ten t)r a hundred fold stronger, and 
 more craving, than any natural appetite can be, requires a most i)owerful 
 moral eilort. In such an umiertaking lie needs every moral support ami in- 
 liuence, that can possil)ly be brought to his aid, and thrown around him 
 And not only so, but every moral juop should be taken from whatever ar- 
 gument might rise in his mind to lure him to his backsliding. When he casts 
 hi.- ej-es around him, he should be able to see, all that he respects, all tliat 
 he admires, all that he loves, kindly and anxiously pointing him onward, 
 and none beckoning him back, to his former miserable "wallowing in the 
 
 mire." 
 
 But it is said by some that men will think and act for themselves; that 
 none will disuse spirits or anything else because his neighbors do; and 
 that mural inlluence is not that powerful engine contended for. Let us ex- 
 amine this. Let me ask the man who could maintain this position most 
 stiffly, what compensation he will accept to go to church some Sunday and 
 sit during the sermon with his wife's bonnet upon his head? Not a trifle, 
 I'll venture. And why not? There would be nothing irreligiou.'- in it; 
 noticing immoral, nothing uncomfortable — then why not? Is it not because 
 there would be something egregiously unfashionable in it ? Then it is the 
 intluence of fashion; and what is the inlluence of fashion, but the intiueuce 
 that other jieople's actions have on our own actions — the strong inclination 
 each of us feels to do as we see all our neighbors do? Nor is the intluence 
 of fashion continedto any particular thing or class of things. It is just as 
 strong on one subject as another. I^et us make it as unfashionable to with- 
 hold our names from the temperance pledge, as for husbands to A\ear their 
 wives' bonnets to church, and instances will be just as rare in the one case 
 as the other. 
 
 "But" say some "we are no drunkards and we sliall not acknowledge our- 
 selves such, by joining a reformed drunkard's society, whatever our 
 influence might be." Surely no christian will adhere to this objection. 
 
 if they believe as they profess, that Omnii)otence condescended to take 
 on himself the form of sinful man, and, as such, to die an ignominious 
 death for their sakes ; surely they will not refuse submission to the inlin- 
 itely lesser condescension, for the temporal, and jjcrhaps eternal salvation, 
 of a large, erring, and unfortunate class of their fellow creatures. Nor is 
 the condescension veiy great. In my judgment such of us as have never 
 fallen victims, have been spared more from the absence of appetite, than 
 from any mental or moral superiority over those wlio have. Indeed, I be- 
 lieve, if we take habitual drunkards as a class, their heads and their hearts 
 will bear an a(,lvantageous comjiarison with those of any other class. ' There 
 seems ever to have been a pronenoss in the brilliant, and warm-blooded, to 
 fall into this vice — the demon of intemjjerance ever seems to have delighted 
 in sucking the blood of genius and of genero>'ity. What one of us but can call 
 to mind some relative, more promising in youth than all his fellows, who 
 has fallen a sacrifice to his rai)acil yV He ever st^ems to have gone fortli like 
 the Egyptian angel of death, commissioned to slay, if not the first, the 
 fairest born of every family. Shall he now be arrested in his desolating 
 career? In that arrest, all can give aid that will ; and who sliall be excused 
 that can, and will not? Far around as human brealli has ever blown, he 
 keeps our fathers, our brothers, our sons, and our fiiends prostrate in the 
 cliains of moral death. To all the living everywhere, we cry, "Come sound 
 the moral trump, that these may rise and stand up an exceeding great 
 army." — "Come from the four winds, O breath ! and breathe upon these slain
 
 that Ihfy may live." If the relative gruDdeur of revolutions shall be 
 estimated by the great amount of human misery they alleviate, and the 
 small amount they inflict, then, indeed, will this be the grandest the world 
 shall ever have seen. 
 
 Of our political revolution of 76 we are all justly proud. It has given us 
 a degree of political freedom fur exc< ediiig that of any other nations of the 
 earth. In it the world has found a solution of the long mooted problem, as 
 to the capability of man to govern himself. In it was the germ which has 
 vegitated, and still is to grow and exjiand into the universal liberty of 
 mankind. 
 
 But, with all these glorious results, past, present, and to come, it had its 
 evils too. It breathed forth famine, swam in blood, and rode in fire ; 
 and long, long Mfler, the orphans' cry :ind tbe widows' wail, continued to 
 break the sad silence that ensued. These Mere the price, the inevitable 
 price, paid for the blessings it bought. 
 
 Turn now, to the temperance revolution. In it we shall find a stronger 
 bondage broken, a viler slavery manumitted, a greater tyrant deposed — n 
 it, more of want supplied, ntore diseas*' healed, more sorrow assuaged. By 
 it, no orphans starving, no widows weeping. By it, none wounded in feel- 
 ing, none injured in interest ; even the dram-maker and dram-seller will 
 have glided into other occupations so g-adually, as never to have felt the 
 change, and will stand ready to join all others in the universal song of 
 gladne«=s. And what a noble ally this, to the cause of political freedom, 
 with such an aid, its march cannot fail to be on and ( n, till every son of 
 earth shall drink in rich fruition the sorrow-quenching draughts of perfect 
 liberty. Happy day, when all appetites controlled, all poisons subdued, all 
 matter subjected; mind all conquering mind shall live and move, the mon- 
 arch of the world. Glorious consunnmit ion ! Hail fall of fury! Reign 
 .reason, all hail ! 
 
 And when! the victory shall be complete — when there shall be neither a 
 slave nor a drunkard on the earth — how proud the title of that Land, which 
 may trulv claim to be the birthplace and the cradle of noth those revolu- 
 tions, that shall h:;ve ended in that victory. How nob!}' distinguished that 
 people, who shall have planted, and nurtured to maturity, both the political 
 and moral freedom of their species. 
 
 This is the one hundred and tenth anniversary of the birthday of Wash- 
 ington — we are met to celebrate this day. Washington is the mightiest 
 name of earth — long since miuhtiest in tlip cause of civil liberty, still 
 mightiest in moral reformation. On that name a eulogy is expected. It 
 cannot be. To add brightness to the sun, or glory to the name of Wash- 
 ington is alike impossible. Let none at;empt it. In solemn awe pronounce 
 the name, and in its naked deathless splendor leave it shining on. 
 
 J 
 
 This address was first printed by order of the Wash- 
 ingtonian Society, m the " Saiigamo Journal," March 
 26, 1842, and is re-printed through the kindness of the 
 Springfield Journal Company, for the benefit of the 
 Springfield Keform Club, and is on sale by tliem at 10c. 
 a copy, $1.00 per dozen, or $5.(X) per hundred, prepaid, 
 by mail or express, in quantities to suit. Address 
 
 ^HN F ~ UNN ^^^^ ^' ^^'^^' Sec'y.
 
 5 
 OBSEQUIES 
 
 OF 
 
 ABEAHAM LINCOLN, 
 
 IN 
 
 Newark, N. J., April 19, 1865. 
 
 ORATION 
 
 BY 
 
 FREDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN, ESQ. 
 
 NEWARK, N. J.: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE DAILY ADVERTISER OFFICE. 
 
 18C5.
 
 6 
 
 Newakk, N. J,, April 22d, 1865. 
 IIoN. F. T. Fkelinguuysen— 
 
 Deau Sir : 
 
 In pursuance of a resolution adopted by the 
 
 citizens of Newark, assembled on the 19th instant to commemorate the obsequies of the 
 late President of the United States, we respectfully ask that you will furnish for publica- 
 tion a copy of the eloquent and appropriate address delivered by you on that occasion. 
 We trust that you will kindly comply with this request, in order that the procccdiDgs of 
 an occasion so marked and solemn may be put in form for preservation. 
 In behalf of th« Committee of Arrangements, wc arc 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 MARCUS L. WARD, Chairman. 
 A. Q. KEASBEY, Secretanj. 
 
 Newark, April 24th, 1S65. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 In compliance with the request of our fellow-citizens, so kindly commuui- 
 cated by yon, I transmit for publication my hastily prepared address on the occasion of the 
 funeral obsequies Of our lamented President. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 FRED'K T. FRELINCnUYSEN. 
 To Messrs. :Marcu8 L. Ward, Chairman, and A. Q. Keasbey, Sec'y.
 
 ( 
 
 rRELIMIMRY AIUIANG EMliNTS. 
 
 -♦•♦- 
 
 On Monday, K\)v\\ 17, a public meeting was held at Library Hall, to 
 make arrangcnicnts for obsequies in commemoration of Abkaiiam 
 Lincoln, late President of the United States, whose death by the hand 
 of an assassin took 2)lace on Saturday, April 15. William A. Wiiite- 
 iiEAi), Esq., was appointed Chairman of the meeting, and John Y. 
 Foster, Esq., Secretary. 
 
 The following gentlemen were appointed a committee with full power 
 to make arrangements for suitable ceremonies : 
 
 Marcus L. "Ward, Albert Beach, 
 Silas Merchant, , James L. Hays, 
 
 Daniel Haines, Daniel Lauck, 
 
 Orson Wilson, A. Q. Keasbey, 
 
 B. Prieth, Francis Mackin, 
 George A. Halsey, William A. Whitehead, 
 Moses Big:plow, William E. Sturges, 
 John H. Kase, Francis Brill, 
 Theodore Runyoi^, John Y. Foster, 
 Thomas T. Kinney, John C. Littell, 
 
 Dr. F. L[iL, Thomas R. Williams, 
 
 CHRiSTornER Wiedenmeyer, James M. Smith, 
 
 Dr. J. A. Cross, David Anderson, 
 
 Wm. B. Guild, Jr., James Ro^ve. 
 
 The following gentlemen were appointed a committee to prepare 
 resolutions to be read at the celeljration : 
 
 Rev. E. M. Levy, * Dr. S. H. Pennington, 
 
 C. L. C. Gifford, a. Q. Keasbey, 
 
 Rev. George H. Doane. 
 
 The Committee of Arrangements announced on the following day 
 that they had determined upon a funeral procession, and an oration, to 
 take place on Wednesday, April 10, shnultancously with the funeral 
 services at Washington, and requested the city authorities, the various 
 public bodies and associations, and the citizens generally, to j^articijiatc,
 
 6 
 
 Federal salute to be fired at sunrise, and all business to be suspended 
 throughout the city. 
 
 On "Wednesday, Ai)ril 19, the day devoted to the celebration of the 
 obsequies in pursuance of the foregoing arrangements, the whole city 
 was literally in mourning. Business was every^'here suspended, and a 
 deep solemnity and stillness rested upon the crowded streets. The 
 tokens of sorrow were univei*sally displayed upon public and private 
 buildings. 
 
 Upon the tolling of the bells, at noon, the i)eople assembled in their 
 various churches, in accordance with the Governor's proclamation, where 
 religious services suitable to the solemn occasion were held and appro- 
 priate addresses made. 
 
 At 2 P. M., the procession moved from the corner of Broad and Market 
 streets, through Market to Washington, down "Wasliiugton to Broad, up 
 Broad to Washington Place, through Wasliington Place to Washington 
 street, uj) Washington street to Broad, down Broad to Centre street, and 
 thence to ]SIilitarj' Park. 
 
 The following was the order of the procession : 
 
 Detachment of Police. 
 Major William W. Morris, Grand Marshal and Aids. 
 Military Escort. 
 First National Guard and Rifle Corps. 
 Officers of the Army and Na\y. 
 Invalid Soldiers. 
 Officers and Soldiers of the Army out of service. 
 Band. 
 Pall Bearers. • PaU Bearers. 
 
 Marcus L. Ward, H Samuel P. Smith, 
 
 WiLLiAJi A. Whitehead, « John A. Boppe, 
 
 James M. Qtxikbt, fj Dr. FRrooLiN III, 
 
 William A. Myer, ^ CoRXELrcs Walsh, 
 
 Thomas B. Peddie, „ Moses T. Baker, 
 
 Beach Vastjerpool, rj Frederick Wuesthoff. 
 
 Joseph Ward, m 
 
 Veteran Reserve Corps as Guard of Honor. 
 Orator. 
 Clergy. 
 Government and State Officers. 
 Mayor and Common Council. 
 Police. 
 Band. ^ 
 Fire Department. 
 Masonic Order, under William D. Kinney, Marshal. 
 Odd Fellows, under Amos H. Searfoss, Marshal. 
 William S. Whitehead, Grand Master State of New Jersey. 
 Newark Mutual Aid Association. 
 Protestant Association. 
 German Organizations— Philip Somer, Marshal. 
 Social Turners— William Knecht. 
 Aurora, Eintracht, Liederkranz, Arion, Concordia and Teutonia Singing So- 
 cieties— J. P. Huber. 
 Fickler Lodge, Benevolent Society— G. Benkert. 
 Humbolt " " " —J. Gemeinder.
 
 8 
 
 Maehlenberg and Robert Blum Lodges, Benevolent Societies— C. Miller. 
 
 Washington, Lafayette and Jefferson " " " — Chas. Fargel. 
 
 No Surrender Lodge, Benevolent Society — Chas. Seifert. 
 
 Mandas Stamm, Red Men Society— John Lingsman. 
 
 Mamakaus Stamm, Red Men Society— F. Hause. 
 
 Miamies, Ratuca and Union Stamms, Red Men Societies — G. Stetenfeld. 
 
 Robert Blum Association and Benevolent Society No. 1— J. Beisinger. 
 
 Mendelssohn and Teutonia Benevolent Societies — I. Lehman. 
 
 Shoemakers' and Bakers' Associations, Friendship Club and Newark Benevolent 
 
 Association— Schaefer. 
 
 Clinton Township L. & J. Club. 
 
 Newark Young Men's Literary Society. 
 
 Trade Associations. 
 
 Hibernian Provident Benevolent Society. 
 
 Shamrock Benevolent Society. 
 
 Erina Benevolent Society. 
 
 Laborers' Benevolent Society. 
 
 Emerald Benevolent Society. 
 
 St. James' Benevolent Society, 
 
 St. Joseph's Benevolent Society. 
 
 St. Peter's Benevolent Society. 
 
 St. Patrick's Temperance Society. 
 
 Young Men's Roman Catholic Association. 
 
 Second Division of St. Patrick's Temperance Society. 
 
 Citizens generally. 
 
 The Marshals. 
 
 Bells were tolled and minute i^uns fired durinf]^ the march of the 
 
 procession, which occupied an hour in passing a given point, and 
 
 arrived at the Park at 4jr P. M. At that place an immense assemblage 
 
 had gathered. ]SIarcus L. Ward, Esq., took the chair, and the exercises 
 
 were opened with a dirge by Dodworth's Band, followed by a hymn 
 
 from the German Singing Society, which was sung vrith much feeling 
 
 and expression. The Rev. Mr. Levy, Chairman of the Committee on 
 
 Resolutions, then ofiered the following, which were adopted : 
 
 The citizens of Newark, assembled en masse beneath the shadow of a great sorrow, 
 would express in befitting words their sentiments and feelings in view of the recent 
 striking down of the honored head of the Nation by the hands of murderous violence, 
 
 Jiesolved, That we feel the utter inadequacy of language to measure our astonishment 
 and horror at the daring enormity of the crime committed. 
 
 Resolved, That in the presence of this awful dispensation of Providence, it becomes us, 
 the citizens of Newark here assembled, in common with our fellow countrymen through- 
 out the Union, to bow with humble submission under the rod that has smitten us, and 
 with penitence and confession of our national and personal sins to implore God's mercy 
 upon us and our afflicted people. 
 
 Resolved, That the virtues of Abraham Lrs'coLN speak tmmpet-tongned against the 
 execrable deed that has cut short his useful life and deprived the Republic of his invalu. 
 able services — that now more than ever the insulted majesty of the Nation stands in urgent 
 need of vindication ; and that while we would deprecate all vindictive excess, we are 
 nevertheless of the opinion that the laws of God and the instincts of outraged humanity 
 justify and demand that at least the chief plotters and abettors of a rebellion which has 
 deluged the land with blood, should not be allowed to go unpunished. 
 
 Resolved, That we recognize in the brutal murder of the President, and the attempted 
 assaseination of the Secretary of State, lying as he was on a sick bed and rendered de- 
 fenceless by wounds, the same fiendish spirit engendered by slavery, which, years ago, 
 shocked the nation with its barbarous violence, and at last has filled the land with lamen- 
 tation and bitter sorrow, making it the imperative duty of the Government never to cea^d 
 the struggle in which we are engaged, tintil this pestilent cause of all our troubles is for- 
 ever eradicated from our soil.
 
 8 
 
 Besolved, That, while we will retain in cherished remembrance the virtues of that il- 
 lustrious man to whom, and whose compatriots, under God, we owe the foundation of the 
 free institutions we enjoy, our hearts will not consent to withhold an equal place in their 
 afl'ectionate and grateful remembrance, from the martyred patriot, whose life has just been 
 sacrificed for their maintenance ; assured that while time lasts and a reverence for virtue 
 and loyalty remains, the names of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln will 
 stand together in emblazoned characters on history's brightest page, the one as the Father, 
 the other as the Saviour of his country. 
 
 Besolved, That we extend to the afflicted family of our late President our sincere sympa^ 
 thy, assuring them that their affliction and sorrow arc not theirs alone, but are shared by 
 the entire Nation, and that we commend them to the protection and loving regard of the 
 God of all grace and comfort. 
 
 Resolved, That cur sympathies are due and are hereby tendered to the honored Secretary 
 of State, himself the purposed victim of foul conspiracy ; and that we regard it a cause 
 for special and devout thanksgiving that the transcendent ability, which has been so skill- 
 fully employed in averting threatened foreign complications with our domestic troubles, 
 is still saved to our afflicted country in this hour of her severest trial. 
 
 Resolved, That we tender to the distinguished citizen called of God in a manner so 
 signal and solemn, to assume the duties of the Chief Executive office, the expression of 
 our confidence in his patriotism and earnest purpose to administer, in dependence on 
 Divine assistance, the aflTairs of this great people, with the assurance of our earnest sup- 
 port in his efforts to uphold the Government and maintain its authority over our entire 
 National territory. 
 
 Resolved, That over the prostrate body of our murdered President it is eminently fit and 
 proper that every good citizen, every patriot, every man who Anshes to be thought an up- 
 holder of order, and a free Government, should now, ignoring party, swear fresh allegi- 
 ance to the National cause, and new devotion to the work of saving, under God, this great 
 Republic from dismemberment and overthrow. 
 
 Another dirge by the band was followed by the Oration of Hon. 
 Frederick T. Frelinghuysen. 
 
 The "Star-Spangled Banner" and " Rally Round the Flag" were 
 then given by the band, after which, on motion, a resolution was 
 adopted returning thanks to Mr. Frelinghuysen for his able oration, 
 and requesting a copy of the same for publication. In conclusion, 
 the vast multitude was led by Alderman James L. Hays in singing the 
 grand old Doxology — " Praise God from whom all blessings flow."
 
 9 
 
 ORATION. 
 
 -♦•♦- 
 
 Fellow-Citizens : 
 
 The songs of Victory ; tlie patriot's con- 
 gratulations at the speedy advent of Peace ; the bells pealing 
 their anthems of praise to God, are suddenly hushed. The 
 proud huzzah is turned to lamentation, and the land is 
 shrouded with the signals of distress. A grief such as can 
 only come to the great heart of a Nation has fallen upon us. 
 
 The kind, the unpretending, the patient, the laborious, the 
 brave, the wise, the great and good Abraham Lincoln is 
 dead ! The Nation's heart should " melt and be poured out 
 like water." 
 
 We bow, Oh ! God, beneath thy rod. 
 
 After being called to the Chief-Magistracy of this Nation by 
 the overwhelming voice of the people ; after having borne, 
 for four years, a weight of toil and care and responsibility, 
 such as, perhaps, no other man has borne ; after having 
 brought the nation through a complication of difficulties which 
 the best men among us at times have believed would engulph 
 us in ruin ; when he was just introducing the Nation to the 
 halcyon days of peace; when, by acts of sublime magna- 
 nimity, appealing to the better instincts of man's nature, he 
 wai5 endeavoring to join the hands of this estranged people ; 
 when, to all human appearances, his intimate and severely ac- 
 quired knowledge of the conflicting interests, motives and 
 passions of the crisis, was essential to the welfare of the Re- 
 public; when the thanks of a rescued people were just being 
 poured upon him ; when his wisdom and his patriotism had 
 taken from party spirit its bitterness, and all were uniting in 
 2
 
 10 
 
 testimony to his greatness and his goodness — it is, at this point 
 of time, at this juncture of events, in the inscrutable provi- 
 dence of God, the fearful tidings reach us that Abraham 
 Lincoln is dead ! 
 
 That mind, in all its comprehensive originality, stored with 
 practical wisdom, to us invaluable, has now left the transitory 
 scenes of time ! That heart which was moved to active sym- 
 pathy for all in the wide world who were afilicted, down- 
 trodden or oppressed, will never beat again! That hand 
 which, while it swayed the sceptre of a great Nation, none of 
 any state, condition or color were too poor or too degraded to 
 grasp, is now cold and stiff and motionless ! Ah ! afflicted 
 country, go and mourn. 
 
 " It is manliuess to be heart-broken here, 
 
 For the grave of earth's best nobleness is watered by the tear." 
 
 Go deck with mourning wreath your Nation's ensign, for 
 the second Father of his Country is no more. 
 
 When hereafter selfish ambition shall distract and divide 
 the Cabinet counsel of the Nation, you can no longer com- 
 posedly say, Lincoln is there ! When hereafter an uninformed 
 and inflammatory press shall assail valuable civil or military 
 officers, you can no longer quietly lay aside the journal, with 
 the satisfactory consolation, Lincoln is there ! When here- 
 after complications and difficulties arise with foreign nations, 
 knowing the sagacity and peace-loving disposition of your 
 leader, you can no longer exultingly say, Lincoln is there ! 
 When hereafter the true friends of the country, with earnest- 
 ness and talent, shall advocate two diverse and opposite plans 
 for the restoration of the Nation, one crying for justice and 
 for vengeance, and the other counselling pardon and forbear- 
 ance, you can no longer lay your head gently on its pillow, 
 under the conviction that Lincoln is there ! No, he is not 
 there ! He has gone ! Gone to the reward of those who, in 
 imitation of our great Exemplar, forget themselves for the 
 welfare of others. 
 
 Did I say, that the Nation mourned because Abraham
 
 11 
 
 LusTCOLN was dead? I told but half the truth. Had he died 
 in the course of nature, surrounded by all the tender assidui- 
 ties of affection, and had he left this anxious world of trouble 
 for his home above, leaving us his parting counsel and benedic- 
 tion, we would have sorrowed for him most deeply; but the 
 heart of this afflicted people has vastly more than that sorrow 
 to bear. It is anguished and torn by the conflicting emotions 
 of sorrow and bereavement on the one hand, and indignation 
 and desire for justice on the other. 
 
 In Abraham Lincoln was not only centered the affections 
 of the people, but he impersonated the majestic dignity of this 
 great Christian Nation — to protect and vindicate which dignity 
 all men of all parties would be ready, if needs be, again to 
 drench this land in blood and tears and ready to give up life 
 and property ; the Chief Magistrate, who thus impersonated 
 the Nation's dignity, is not only dead, but is foully murdered. 
 
 Let the vile miscreant who did the deed die as he deserves. 
 But ah ! our President had other murderers than that aban- 
 doned man. He was murdered by the two nefarious Powers 
 which, in God's strength he had bravely fought and bravely 
 vanquished, and which were at that moment expiring — 
 Iluman Slavery and Eebellion against Freedom. 
 
 The proximate cause of this agonizing event is a small 
 leaden missile and a few grains of powder ; but the real, the 
 true, the responsible cause of this atrocity, is the two malign 
 agencies which in these later years have been holding their 
 carnival of crime and cruelty and causing the land to wreak 
 with blood. This diabolical consummation is the legitimate 
 result of the sj^irit they have been inculcating. 
 
 It matters not whether the counsel of the assassin's accom- 
 plice to '' wait until Kichmond could be heard from ;" whether 
 the fact that the day selected for the deed w\ns that on which 
 the Nation's banner was re-instated on Sumter ; whether the 
 fact that months ago public advertisement offered a reward for 
 a man to assassinate the President ; whether the fact that a 
 scheme did exist to seize and caiTy him off beyond the ene- 
 
 10
 
 12 
 
 my's lines ; whether the fact that this plot included the whole 
 Cabinet — prove or do not prove that the itinerant government 
 of Eichmond instigated the deed. Those who would- trace 
 this crime to its proper source and then profit by their conclu- 
 sion, must accept the truth that the murderers are the two 
 foul powers I have named. One of w^hich, for generations, 
 has grown rich in luxurious indolence by the sweat of 
 others brows, has revelled in the degradation of those 
 who were without the ability to resist, has severed the ten- 
 derest ligatures of the human heart by tearing husband 
 from wife, and mother from children, and has made the lash 
 and often death the sanction by which to enforce its tyranny ; 
 it has withheld from God's immortal creatures the blessed 
 privilege of reading His gospel of salvation ; has reduced a 
 class well called "poor whites" to a condition little better 
 than the slave, and has robbed those who would be true to 
 their country of the benefits of our priceless institutions. It 
 is the same vile power which at one time by its insidious 
 blandishments has seduced Northern freemen into an abject 
 servility to its will, and at another time has bullied the coun- 
 sels of this Nation into a shape to it agreeable. It is the same 
 that has rendered its votaries arrogant and inhuman, the same 
 that struck Sumner down, and which now, in the agonies of its 
 dissolution, has dealt a blow upon him, who, as God's instru- 
 ment, I believe, has vanquished it. 
 
 The other murderer is the offspring, (as death is of sin,) of 
 that I have just named. It is that foul spirit which rebelled 
 without cause, and without the assignment of any cause, against 
 the fairest and best government of the world ; which has laid 
 in many an unknown grave, cold and stark and dead, hundreds 
 of thousands of the best youth of the Nation. It is that spirit 
 which has filled our land with widows and orphans ; that has 
 murdered by starvation tens of thousands of our brave 
 soldiers, fighting to maintain civil liberty for the world ; the 
 same that prompted commissioned bandit raiders to rob our 
 banks and murder unarmed and quiet citizens ; the same that
 
 13 11 
 
 htos thrown from the track trains of cars, the inmates — women 
 and children — all unguarded and unconscious of danger ; the 
 same that has striven, with the incendiary's torch, to reduce to 
 a seething, burning mass the multitudinous throng attendant 
 on our places of public amusement, and to send anguish to 
 every hamlet in the land by the simultaneous destruction of 
 most of the crowded hotels in yonder metropolis. It is the 
 same spirit that while this horrid deed was being done, in the 
 person of that ruflian leaped on the sick bed of our honored 
 Secretary of State, and with the assassin's blade sought to 
 extinguish a heroism which every other expedient had failed 
 to silence. 
 
 These ! Slavery and Rebellion, are the murderers of our 
 Chief Magistrate. Let the vile instrument who, over the 
 shoulders of a doting wife, assassinated the benefactor of his 
 race, die! 
 
 But come, you noble, just and true men of all parties with 
 me, to the altars of your country and there record it, that these 
 foul murderers of our race, as well as of our President, shall 
 no longer have a foot-place in free America. 
 
 Those influences which transmute the sober-minded Ameri- 
 can citizen into frenzied fiends — burning with a murderous 
 fanaticism, ready, reckless of danger and death, to assassinate 
 whoever is pointed out for vengeance ; those influences which 
 render the stiletto and the pistol, rather than argument and the ' 
 peaceful ballot, the arbiters of the destinies of the Nation, must 
 be torn up, root and branch, and burned in the hot fire of a 
 holy indignation, or we are undone forever. 
 
 For more than four years ; yes, ever since Abraham Lin- 
 coln had the hardihood, as a free American citizen, to accept 
 a nomination for the Presidency, the pampered slave aristoc- 
 racy of the South have followed him with the deepest malig- 
 nity. Fashion and beauty incensed that at the sacrifice of 
 oath and country he would not do obeisance to their assump- 
 tion, have plied their fascinating dalliance to insinuate the 
 venom of hatred and revenge into the heart of the Southern
 
 14 
 
 gentry, while the more vulgar with the rapacity of their blood- 
 dogs have hounded him ; they have exhausted the vocabulary 
 of Billingsgate for opprobrious epithets wherewith to dishonor 
 him; they have villified him as a drunkard, fool and tyrant. 
 And when that miscreant leaped upon the stage and with the 
 theatrical malevolence of the pit, shouted " Stc semj^er tyran- 
 m'Sj^^ he only condensed and echoed the vile sentiment they 
 have fostered. I observe that when the rebel leader heard of 
 the assassination he shut himself up in his house at Kichmond, 
 refusing to hear the details of the tragedy. Ah ! yes ; did 
 conscience tell him that he and his co-conspirators, though not 
 concerned, had guili in that murder ? He is by no means the 
 first who has sown the wind and cowered before the whirl- 
 wind. The event which shocks the nation, is not isolated. It 
 is linked to the past, and that past has its responsibility. 
 
 But come now, you who have rebelled against the Govern- 
 ment ; your victim lies bleeding before you. Look at him. 
 Did he ever take one step further in your path than you made 
 necessary for the preservation of this free Government for 
 your children and for ours ? Did he ever utter to you one 
 unkind word? Has he done more than you would have done, 
 if you have not perjury in your soul, if you, as he, had that 
 constitutional oath recorded in Heaven ? Come, look at your 
 victim — your eyes may now glut themselves with vengeance ; 
 but it would be more rational, let me say, that your hearts 
 should be clothed with sorrow, for there! there! lies your 
 best friend ! His patient, forgiving nature, was the rampart 
 between your crime and an injured country. Think not that 
 this Nation dies with him. No, it lives, and it will live. 
 Hearts throb and stalwart men weep — but an event which would 
 have shaken to their centres the monarchies of the Old World, 
 does not produce a jar to our self-adjusting Government. And 
 let me tell you, if you do not yet submit to the same laws 
 which we rejoice to obey, one will rise up whose little finger 
 shall be as that man's loins. 
 
 This blow is hard to bear ! Martyr of liberty, great
 
 1 "^ 
 
 15 
 
 sacrifice to tliy Nation's existence, rest in thy Western grave ! 
 Those of the opposing party, regretting any hasty word, not 
 said in malice, that might have cast an insult on thy honored 
 name, remembering that not one rancorous expression was 
 ever tempted from thy lips — and seeing in thy death the in- 
 fernal character of the principles against which your war of 
 life was waged, will come with those who were your followers, 
 and both will join with the down-trodden and the oppressed of 
 this and of every land, and at thy tomb renew our devotion 
 to the just and holy cause for which you lived and died. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, in 1809. He 
 was the son of a poor man. He derives no distinction from 
 ancestry, but sheds back upon it a bright lustre. When he 
 was seven years old his lather moved to Indiana, where, for 
 twelve years the son lived, aiding in the support of the family. 
 When Abraham Lincoln was about twenty years old, his 
 father removed to Illinois, and he remained aiding the family 
 until they were settled in their new home. Having learned to 
 read and write during this period of his life, he studied most 
 assiduously such elementary books as came in his way. Ilis 
 father's family settled, and he, being destitute of pecuniary 
 means, hired himself out, some times as a day laborer, some 
 times as a hand on a IMississippi flat-boat. At this period, and 
 in these scenes, he learned, by impressive lessons, the value to 
 each of God's creatures, of his own industry, his own muscles 
 and capabilities, for that was all the patrimony he had. And 
 he learned too, in the integrity of his nature, to look upon the 
 self-appropriation of another's industry without compensation, 
 as the meanest of all thefts and robberies. He learned the 
 dignity of free human toil and that if, and not the ill-gotten 
 gains of a pampered aristocracy, constituted the true wealth of 
 the Nation. He learned that the very diversity of gifts that 
 exist among men in this world — one being rich and another 
 poor — created the mutual dependance of one man upon an- 
 other; for he saw that the man with capital was as dependant 
 on him for his labor, as he was upon the man of wealth for
 
 16 
 
 his support; and he saw that this universal dependance of 
 each member of society on the other members of society, con- 
 stituted the equality of all men in society — and that as all men, 
 hy their dependance^ were equal, they all had equal rights, and 
 thus comprehended that great fundamental doctrine of our 
 Government, " That all men are created equal." lie learned 
 that it was not "a glittering generality," but a great truth, 
 affecting all the relations of men as citizens. These lessons 
 thus learned, helped to prepare him for his great mission. 
 
 After having gathered a little means, for a short time he 
 followed the employment of a country merchant, and then the 
 business of a surveyor. lie then studied law, and soon took 
 a prominent position at the bar — being employed in many 
 important cases at the West. He was then sent to Congress, 
 where he maintained a highly respectable and useful position. 
 
 On his return from Congress, the question of slavery was 
 agitating the country. Senator Stephen A. Douglas was a 
 man of great talent and the foremost debater in the U. S. 
 Senate ; and permit me to say, while he lived, he was as de- 
 termined and patriotic an opposer of the rebellion as any man 
 that has survived him. Douglas and Lincoln met at the 
 hustings to discuss the great question of slavery — vast crowds 
 followed them, the electric wire carried their speeches as de- 
 livered all over the land. Those debates were of marked 
 ability, and I believe that neither of those distinguished men 
 ever claimed a victory, the one over the other. And the 
 people were more enlightened and educated on the subject 
 from these debates than from any other source. 
 
 The ability displayed and the principles enunciated by Mr. 
 Lincoln in these debates, induced the Eepublican party, in 
 1860, to make him their candidate for the Presidency. That 
 election was one of fearful interest and excitement. The slave 
 section of the country had hitherto, by threats and menaces, 
 carried almost every position they had tali:en, and they now 
 pointed to the magazine and to the torchj saying that if Abra- 
 ham Lincoln was elected President, the Union, the Nation,
 
 17 13 
 
 should cease to exist. Many looked upon this as an idle threat ; 
 others determined, that be the consequences what they might, 
 they would lawfully and freely exercise the elective franchise. 
 Tie was elected. They lighted the torch, and were preparing 
 to apply it. Congress implored them to desist ; and, moved 
 by love of country, to induce them to stay their hand, both 
 the Ilouse of Kepresentatives and Senate, by a two-thirds vote, 
 Republicans and Democrats voting together, on the 28th of 
 February, 1861, passed a joint resolution, proposing the fol- 
 io win iz amendment to the Constitution of the United States : 
 
 " No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which 
 " will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or 
 '• interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions 
 *' thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by 
 " the laws of said State." 
 
 President Lincoln, in his inaugural address, plainly ex- 
 pressed his approval of this amendment, and it was a measure 
 of conciliation in which I- then deeply sympathized. That 
 was the hour of power for the Southern malcontents. Had 
 they then desisted, this fair land of freedom would have be- 
 come a pandemonium where slavery and all the crimes of 
 which it is the prolific mother, would have had uncontrolled 
 dominion and sway. But God in his infinite wisdom and 
 mercy had better things in store for us ; and severe as has 
 been the ordeal, this Nation, pruned from its iniquity, is yet 
 to be the grandest and freest Christian Nation of the world. 
 
 Having escaped a plot for his assassination, by changing his 
 arrangements for travel, Mr. Lincoln arrived at Washington > 
 and was inaugurated on the -ith of March, 1861. And he 
 whom the vile fugitive has the hardihood to call a tyrant, 
 thus at his inauguration addressed the South : ''In your hands, 
 " my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine^ is the 
 " momentous issue of civil war. The Government wiW 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, protect and defend it.' 
 3
 
 18 
 
 " I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends ; we 
 " must not be enemies. Tliougli passion may liave strained, it 
 " must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords 
 " of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot 
 "grave to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this 
 " broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when 
 " again touched, as surely they will be by the better angels of 
 " our nature." 
 
 These words had hardly reached the South when, on the 
 i4th of April, Sumter was fired on. Abraham Lincoln 
 sprang to his feet and called for men, and most nobly did all 
 parties of the North respond. And from that time to the 
 hour of his death — in the Cabinet of the Nation, at the front, 
 and in the trenches around the Capitol — he devoted himself to 
 the great interests of his country. Others have wavered — 
 others have desponded, but he never. And now to-day, in 
 the august presence upon which he has entered, he can truly 
 say : " The oath which I took before God and the Nation, I 
 " have tried to fulfill." 
 
 This is not the time or the place to follow the varying for- 
 tunes of this war. To one act alone of Mr. Lincoln's I ad- 
 vert. For a year and a half we had been unsuccessful in 
 quelling the rebellion. Mr. Lincoln believed it was his duty, 
 as Commander-in-Chief, to deprive the rebels of that which 
 supported them, and on the 22d of September, 1862, he issued 
 his proclamation that in all those States, which on the 1st of 
 January, 1863, were in rebellion, the slaves should be free 
 
 FOREVER. 
 
 I shall not discuss the merits of that act. Of one thing I 
 am certain, that Abraham Lincoln will never now recall it ! 
 Yes, a second thing I know, that on those blissful shores, and 
 in that atmosphere of love, where all are equals and all are 
 free, he does not desire to-day to recall it ! Yes ! a third thing 
 I know, the American people, seeing the havoc it has wrought, 
 will never, never, never recall it. 
 
 And now Abraham Lincoln's work is done. He has left
 
 19 1 4 
 
 US forever ! lie has accomplished vastly more than at his in- 
 duction to office he modestly promised. He did not live to 
 see the full consummation of his labors, but from Pisgah he 
 viewed the promised land. And to-day, we, of all political 
 parties, viewing the altar where he lies a sacrifice, find our 
 hearts moved to a warmer and higher patriotism. 
 
 It is a delicate duty to interpret the Providence of God. 
 One thing is certain — God never teaches us to hate any fellow 
 creature, nor to take vengeance in our own hands. lie teaches 
 us to love justice and to loathe iniquity. And I believe this 
 Providence should teach us to hate the Kebellion and Slavery, 
 
 the murderers of our President, more than ever before, and in 
 
 * 
 imitation of him we lament, and so far as is consistent with 
 
 the inflexible laws of justice, forgive as we desire to be for- 
 given. 
 
 I have not the time or the ability to give a correct analysis 
 of Mr. Lincoln's characteristics. He is not one of those 
 ephemeral characters, to which a fervid imagination might add 
 an unreal lustre, or from which a want of appreciation might 
 detract. His life and character are substantial things in the 
 world's history, upon which time, after a rigid scrutiny, will 
 pass an irreversable judgment. That judgment will be to the 
 honor of his name, and to the glory of the Nation. 
 
 But pardon a word as to his characteristics. 
 
 I do not believe in the truth of the maxim, " Vox 2^oj)uli\ 
 vox Dei^^ but I do believe that no man has appended to his 
 name by his associates in daily life, the prefix "honest" who 
 is not a man of sterling integrity, and he was known for years 
 in the West as "Honest Abraham Lincoln." He was a 
 faithful man. 
 
 Many gifted men, fostered by our free institutions, have 
 appeared on the stage of public life, but in how few of them 
 has the keen and jealous vision of the people failed to dis- 
 cover ambition, the taint of sellishness, and the stooping for 
 power? But Mr. Lincoln is believed by the peo])le to have 
 lived not for hiniseJf, but for his country, lli^ star in the con
 
 20 
 
 stellations of history will be known as his^ by its unsullied 
 
 lustre. 
 
 As a patriot, lie did not confine liis efforts to the rescue, or 
 to the grandeur of the Kepublic, and so convert even the Ke- 
 public, as did the Eomans, into a magnifident idol, but in the 
 universality of his benevolence he comprehended the elevation 
 and the happiness of all his countrymen — of the master as 
 well as of the slave, and of those of his race beyond the great 
 waters as well as to those who are here. 
 
 As a statesman, I can only say, that I think he was more 
 wise, had more foresight, more penetration into the future? 
 than most, perhaps than any, of his cotemporaries. So well 
 convinced had the people become of his superior wisdom, that 
 they rendered a cheerful acquiescence in measures, which, 
 emanating from another, they would have looked upon with 
 distrust and doubt. 
 
 A word as to the qualities of his heart. The only stricture 
 I ever heard upon him in this regard is, that he was too kind 
 and too lenient. That is a blessed criticism for one who has 
 gone to Eternity, dependent upon the mercy of his God. He 
 luas merciful to the transgressor, but did he ever parley with 
 the transgression? The two offences he had to deal with 
 were Slavery and Kebellion against Freedom. Let the man 
 in all the world who has done or suffered more for the de- 
 struction of both become his critic. T cannot be. But he 
 was tender-hearted, and often and often when some poor boy- 
 soldier has been tempted to desert, and the military penalty of 
 death has been adjudged against him, Mr. LiNCOLisr has inter- 
 posed to save his life. He may have been wrong, but right or 
 wrong, we all love him the better for it. 
 
 Of his religious character, I can only say, that he of all men 
 was no pretender ; he was an honest man, and being so, the 
 spirit of his numerous proclamations are plenary evidence of 
 his humble reliance on God. Pardon the recital of an inci- 
 dent. A gentleman, as I am credibly informed, visited the 
 President, and an interview was appointed for seven o'clock
 
 21 i^ 
 
 the next morning. As the business was of much importance 
 to the gentleman, he was on the alert, and when he reached 
 the President's he found it was only six o'clock. He walked 
 to the rear of "the mansion and was attracted by a voice which 
 he recognized as that of Mr. Linx'OLN', in a retired back room. 
 He listened and found the President was praying to his God 
 
 « 
 
 for his country. 
 
 We need not this proof — the man's life, principles and 
 utterances, prove his faitli. And we may joyfully believe that 
 a life of so much excellence was but the preface to a better 
 life — clothed in a righteousness not his own. 
 
 I might detain you longer. I might point out to you wliat 
 he accomplished for us, but I forbear. 
 
 Let me oidy say : lie has estcddl^Iicd it, that the will of the 
 majority, restrained oiJf/ by the Constitution of our fathers, is 
 the sovereign power of this Nation. He has cstaldlshed it, that 
 this Government is not a confederation of petty sovereignties, 
 any of which may at will dissolve the Government, but that 
 We are a great Nation, having in ourselves under God, the 
 power of life and of self-preservation. 
 
 He has done one thing more. 
 
 When the Roman master would free a slave, he brought 
 him to the Court of the Praetor Urbanus in the Forum, placed 
 him on a stool, then gave him a whirl, and in the hearing of 
 all the people shouted, ^^ Liber Esto! Libcr Esio ! ''^ Be Free ! 
 Be Free ! and he became a freedman. 
 
 Abraham Lin'coln, as the instrument of God, has in the 
 cadence of heavenly music shouted, " Liber Esto ! IJbcr Esto .'" 
 before the world in the ears of four millions of God's creatures. 
 
 Rest now — thy work is done, thy life's an epoch and a 
 blessing. Rest ! 
 
 " For thou art Freedom's now nncl Fame's 
 " One of the few, tlic immortal namca 
 " That were not born to die."'
 
 22 
 
 THE REMAINS IN NEW JERSEY. 
 
 On Monday, April 24tli, the remains of the lamented President passed 
 tlirougli Newark, accompanied by ]\rcssrs. :\rARCUS L. Ward, Joseph 
 P. Bradley, Andrew Lemassena, Frederick B. Kuhnhold, Cort- 
 LANDT Parker and Andrew Atha, of the Citizens' Committee. The 
 Newark Daily Advertiser^ of the 24th, says : 
 
 " Shortly after 7 o'clock this morning, crowds of people began to 
 'father upon Raili'oad avenue, between Market and Chestnut streets, and 
 soon not only covered the entire street but all the adjoining house-tops, 
 sheds and windows. A feeling of deep sorrow appeared to pervade the 
 entire mass, wliile the fluttering of the black trimmings from the neigh- 
 Ijoring buildmgs, the mourning badges upon the coat or mantle, and 
 the other tokens of grief, gave an unusually sombre cast to the scene. 
 
 " Shortly before 9 o'clock, the members of the Common Council, city 
 officers, clergy, a detachment of the Veteran Reserve Coii3S, and the city 
 police, took possession of the Market street depot, and after removing 
 the crowd, awaited the arrival of the train, whose approach had been 
 announced by the arrival of the jnlot locomotive, hea^dly draped in 
 mourning. Its appearance was heralded by the tolling of l)ells and the 
 tiring of minute guns, and as the train with the remains passed slowly 
 alono- the avenue, heads were uncovered and bowed with reverence, 
 many persons shedding tears. 
 
 " The cars remained at the depot only a few minutes and then pro- 
 ceeded to Jersey City, passing large numbers of citizens who had gath- 
 ered at the various street crossings, and the Centre street station and 
 East Newark." 
 
 [From the Newark Daily Advertiser, April 2Gth, 1865.] 
 
 " A con'espondent of the Boston Advertiser^ who accomjDanied the 
 funeral train fi-om Washington to New York, says of the scene in this 
 city on Monday morning : 
 
 'The incidents of the morning's journey were similar to those seen 
 elsewhere. Sometimes the track was lined on both sides for miles with 
 a continuous array of people. The most imjiressive scene of the whole 
 route thus t\ir was furnished by the city of Newark, although no stop of 
 any length was made there. The track runs directly through the city, 
 and the space on each side of the road is very broad, and afforded ample 
 room for spectators. It seemed as if the inhabitants of Newark had re- 
 solved to turn out en masse to pay their brief tribute of respect to the 
 memory of the departed as his cofhn passed by. For a distance of a 
 mile, the observer on the train could perceive only one sea of Luman 
 beings. It was not a crowd surging with excitement or impatience like 
 most great assemblages, but stood quiet and aj^parently subdued with 
 grief unspeakable. Every man with hardly an exception, from one end 
 of the town to the other, stood bareheaded while the train passed, half 
 of the women were crying, and every face bore an expression of sincere 
 sadness. Housetops, fences, and the very switches beside the track, 
 were covered with men. Words can do no justice to the spectacle. We
 
 90 
 
 16 
 
 liavc become used to tliiillinL,^ scenes by the experience of our journey, 
 but nowhere have we seen anythhig more touchiu''- than the simple una- 
 nimity witli which tlie men and women of Newark left their avocations 
 and waited beside the track for the passage of the funeral train.' 
 
 " Wc may add to the above, that Governor Stone, of Iowa, who was 
 on the train, stated to a gentleman of this city that at no point in the 
 long journey had the tribute to the lamented deceased exceeded in fervor 
 and touchiug solemnity that here displayed.''
 
 ABRAHAM LIXTOLX: 
 
 A PAPER 
 
 READ liKFORK 
 
 The Royal Historical Socip:tv, 
 
 London, ]ink iCiii. 1881. 
 
 15V 
 
 Hon. ISAAC N. ARNOLD, 
 
 I'RESIDKNT OF THE CHICACO HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND IION.»KAKY lEI.l.OW 
 OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY, LONDON. 
 
 KKPRINTKI> FROM 
 
 Transactions of ihe Ronai. Hisiokk, ai. Society. 
 
 Vol. X. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 F K R C r S I' K I N I' I N (; C O M P A N V 
 
 I 8 8 ^^
 
 OFFICERS AND COUNCIL MAY, 1881. 
 
 TnK Kk.hi HoN'ORAni.K Lijkd Ai;i;RitAui , 1. R.S. 
 
 lli> Grace thk Dukk of Wkstminster, K.Ci. 
 'I 'hi RicHi Hox. iHK Eart. or Roskbkrv. 
 KiLiHT Hon. Lord de Lisle and Dudley. 
 The Ri(;ht Hon. Lord Selborne. 
 Sir John Lubbock, Bari., M.P.. D.C.L. 
 James Hevwood, Esq., F.R.S. 
 (iEORGE Harrls, Esq., LL.U., F.I. A. 
 Cornelius Walford, Esq., F.I. A. 
 
 ^ u n c i f . 
 
 GusTAVUS George Zerffi, Esq., Ph. I).. F. R..S. L., Chairman. 
 
 S[r Charles Farquhar Shand, LL. I)., Vice-C/iainnan. 
 
 Right Hon. Earl Ferrers. 
 
 The Righi Hon. Lord Ronald Gowkr. 
 
 John H. Chapman, Esq., M.A., F.S.A. 
 
 Hyde Clark, Esq., D.C.L. 
 
 Rky. J. M. Crombie, F.G.S., F.L.S. 
 
 J. Baker Greene, Esq., M.B., LL.B. 
 
 Henry H. Howorth, Es(j., F.S.A. 
 
 Alderman Hurst. 
 
 Captain E. C. Johnson. 
 
 Tito Pagliardini, Esq. 
 
 1'. K. J. Shenton, Esq. 
 
 Rev. Robin.son Thornton, D.D. (Oxon). 
 
 liRYCK McMuRDo Wright, E.sq., F.R.Ci.S. 
 
 John Russell, Esq. 
 
 ^I^ouorari) ir>ccri'tarii an& ilrcaoun'r. 
 
 ^\'^r. Herba(;k, Esq., F.S.S., i>ondon wwC^ .Suulh-Wcstcrii Bank, 
 7, Fenchurch Street, London, F.C. 
 
 ^iOrariait. 
 
 W. S. W. \' \ux, Esq., M.A., F.R.S. L., Societys Rooms, jj, Albe- 
 marle Street, W.
 
 Among the Honorary Fellows of the Society are the following: 
 
 Hon. (ieorge Bancroft, Washington, U.S.A. 
 
 Hon. Charles H. Bell, President of the New Hampshire Historical 
 Society, Exeter, New Hampshire. 
 
 James Anthony Froude, Esq., LL.D., London. 
 
 His Excellency General Grant, Ex-President of the United States. 
 
 Hon. Horatio Gates Jones, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
 
 The Right-Rev. Bisho]) Kip, San Francisco. 
 
 Professor H. W. Longfellow, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
 Frederic de Peyster, Esq., President of the Hist. Soc. of New York. 
 
 A'ery Rev. Dean Stanley, D.D., London. 
 
 "Pownsend A\'ard, Esq., Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Hon. M. P. Wilder, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
 Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, LL.D.. President of the Historical So- 
 ciety of Massachusetts. 
 
 Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, President Hist. Soc. of Chicago, L'.S.A.
 
 19 
 
 PROCEEDINGS 
 
 OF 
 
 The Royal Historical Socii^tv. 
 
 On the evcniiii;" of tlic i6th of June, 1881, the Society, 
 and a large number of in\-ited i^uests, met at the Society's 
 Rooms, Xo. 22 Albemarle Street, London. 
 
 Tlie chairman, Mr. Alderman Hurst, ]{\-Ma}'or of Bed- 
 ford, in introducing^ Mr. Arnold to the Socict}- said that the 
 occasion was the more interesting to him from the fact that 
 the first emigrants to America were natives of his own part 
 of the country, l^edfordshire and the neighboring counties. 
 It gave him great pleasure to see among them that evening 
 a member of the Society from the distant shores of America, 
 and in the name of the Society he gave him hearts' welcome. 
 They all knew and admired the great man of whom the}- 
 were about to hear, and the paper would proxe doubly 
 interesting, coming as it did from one of his fellow-countr\'- 
 men and one who had known and been associated in political 
 duties with Lincoln. 
 
 Mr. Arnold then read the following paper upon Mr. 
 Lincoln :
 
 20 
 
 ABRAHAM LINXOLN. 
 
 .Mr. PRKSIDKN T. LaDII.s AM) ( i KN Tl.KMKN : 
 
 Till", noblest inheritance \vc, Americans, deri\c from 
 our British ancestors is the memor}' and exami)le of the 
 threat and L^ood men who adorn \our history. They are as 
 much appreciated and honored on our side of the Atlantic 
 as on this. In i;i\ing to the En<;lish-speakin^j world Wash- 
 ington and Lincoln we think we re]oa\', in large part, our 
 obligation. Their preeminence in American histor\' is 
 recognized, and the republic, which the one foiuided imd the 
 other preserved, has already crowned tliem as models for her 
 children. 
 
 In the annals of almost e\er\' great nation some names 
 appear standing out clear and prominent, names of those 
 who have influenced or controlled the great events which 
 make up histor\'. Such were Wallace and Hruce in Scot- 
 land, Alfred and the Edwards, William the Conqueror, 
 Cromwell. Pitt, Nelson, and Wellington in ICngland. and 
 such in a still greater degree were Washington and Lincoln. 
 
 I am here, from near his home, with the hope that 1 
 may, to some extent, aid \'ou in forming a just and true 
 estimate of Abraham Lincoln. 1 knew him, somewhat inti- 
 mately, in private and public life for more than twent>' 
 years. We practised law at the same bar, and tluring his 
 administration, I was a member of Congress, seeing him 
 and conferring with him often, and, therefore, 1 ma\' hope. 
 I trust without \anit\' that I shall be able to contribute 
 something of value in enabling you to judge of him. Wc 
 in America, as well as you in the old world, believe that
 
 8 
 
 '•blood will tell"; that it is a great blessing to have had an 
 honorable and worthy ancestry. We believe that moral 
 principle, physical and intellectual \igor in the forefathers 
 are qualities likely to be manifested in the descendants. 
 Fools are not the fathers or mothers of great men. I claim 
 for Lincoln, humble as was the station to which he was 
 born, and rude and rough as were his early surroundings, 
 that he had such ancestors. I mean that his father and 
 mother, his grandfather and grandmother, and still further 
 back, however humble and rugged their condition, were 
 physically and mentally strong, vigorous men and women; 
 hardy and successful pioneers on the frontier of American 
 civilization. They were among the early settlers in Virginia, 
 Kentucky, and Illinois, and knew how to take care of them- 
 selves in the midst of difficulties and perils; how to live 
 and succeed where the weak would perish. These ances- 
 tors of Lincoln, for several generations, kept on the ver}" 
 crest of the wave of Western settlements — on the frontier^ 
 where the struggle for life was hard and the strong alone 
 survived. 
 
 His grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, and his father, 
 Thomas, were born in Rockingham County, Virginia. 
 
 About 1 78 1, while his father was still a lad, his grand- 
 father's family emigrated to Kentucky, and was a contem- 
 porary with Daniel Boone, the celebrated Indian fighter and 
 early hero of that State. This, a then wild and wooded 
 territory, was the scene of those fierce and desperate con- 
 flicts between the settlers and the Indians which gave it the 
 name of "The dark and bloody ground." 
 
 When Thomas Lincoln, the father of the President, was 
 six years old, his father (Abraham, the grandfather of the 
 President) was shot and instantly killed by an Indian. The 
 boy and his father were at work in the corn-field, near their 
 log-cabin home. Mordecai, the elder brother of the lad, at 
 work not far away, witnessed the attack. He saw his father 
 fall, and ran to the cabin, seized his ready-loaded rifle, and 
 springing to the loop-hole cut through the logs, he saw the
 
 21 
 
 Indian, who had seized the bo\', carr\-in<'' him awaw Rais- 
 in[^ his rifle and ainiini,^ at a siher medal, conspicuous on 
 the breast of the Indian, lie instantly fired. The Indian 
 fell, and the lad, springing to his feet, ran to the open arms 
 of his mother at the cabin-door. Amidst such scenes, the 
 Lincoln famil\' naturalh' produced rude, rough, hardy, and 
 fearless men, familiar with wood-craft; men who could meet 
 the extremes of exposure and fatigue, who knew how to 
 find food and shelter in the forest; men of great powers of 
 endurance — brave and self-reliant, true and faithful to their 
 friends, and dangerous to their enemies. Men with minds 
 to conceive and hands to execute bold enterprises. 
 
 It is a curious fact that the grandfather, Abraham Lin- 
 coln, is noted on the surveys of Daniel Boone as ha\ing 
 purchased, of the Gox'ernment, fixe hundred acres of land. 
 Thomas Lincoln, the father, was also the purchaser of gov- 
 ernment land, and President Lincoln left, as a part of his 
 estate, a quarter-section (one hundred and sixty acres), which 
 he had received from the Lnited States, for services ren- 
 dered in early life as a volunteer soldier in the Hlack-IIawk 
 Indian war. Thus for three generations tlie Lincoln family 
 were land-owners directly from the Government. 
 
 Such was the lineage and family from which President 
 Lincoln sprung. Such was the enxironment in which his 
 character was developed. 
 
 He was born in a log-cabin, in Kentucky, on the I2th 
 of Februar}', 1809. 
 
 It will aid you in picturing to yourselves this \'oung man 
 and his surroundings, to know that, from boyhood to the 
 age of twent\'-one, in winter his head was protected from 
 the cold by a cap made of the skin of the coon, fox, or prai- 
 rie-wolf, and that he often wore the buckskin breeches and 
 hunting-shirt of the pioneer. 
 
 He grew up to be a man of majestic stature and Her- 
 culean strength. ILul he appeared in h^nglaiul or Nor- 
 mandy some centuries ago, he would have been the founder 
 of some great Baronial famil\'. p(^ssibl\' of a Royal tl\'nast\'.
 
 lO 
 
 He could have wielded, with ease, the two-handed sword of 
 Guy, the great Earl of Warwick, or the battle-axe of Rich- 
 ard of the Lion-heart. 
 
 HIS EDUCATION AND TKAIXINCi. 
 
 The world is naturally interested in knowing what was 
 the education and training which fitted Lincoln for the 
 great work which he accomplished. On the extreme fron- 
 tier, the, means of book-learning was very limited. The 
 common free -schools, which now closely follow the heels 
 of the pioneer and organized civil government, and prevail 
 all over the United States, had not then reached the Far- 
 West. An itinerant school-teacher wandered occasionally 
 into a settlement, opened a private school for a few months, 
 and at such Lincoln attended at different times, in all about 
 twelve months. His mother, who was a woman of practical 
 good sense, of strong physical organization, of deep relig- 
 ious feeling, gentle and self-reliant, taught him to read and 
 write. 
 
 Although she died when he was only nine years old, 
 she had already laid deep the foundations of his excellence. 
 Perfect truthfulness and integrity, love of justice, self-con- 
 trol, reverence for God, these constituted the solid basis of 
 his character. These we're all implanted and carefully culti- 
 vated by his mother, and he always spoke of her with the 
 deepest respect and the most tender affection. "All that I 
 am, or hope to be," said he, when President, "I owe to my 
 sainted mother." 
 
 He early manifested the most eager desire to learn, but 
 there were no libraries, and few books in the back settle- 
 ments in which he lived. Among the stray volumes, which 
 he found in the possession of the illiterate families by which 
 he was surrounded, were ^sop's fables, Bunyan's Pilgrim's 
 Progress, a life of W^ashington, the poems of Burns, and the 
 Bible. To these his reading was confined, and he read 
 them o\'er and over again, until they became as familiar 
 almost as the alphabet. His memory was marvelous, and I
 
 9 9 
 
 1 1 
 
 nc\cr \cl nicl ihc man nun'c faniili.ii' with llic Hil^lc than 
 Aljiahani Lincoln. This was apparent in after -hfc. botli 
 fnun his C()n\c'rsati(»n and writings, as scarceU' a spcccli or 
 state paper of his in which iUustrations and alhisions from 
 the I^ible can not l^e found. 
 
 Willie a N'ounij man. he made for himself, of coarse 
 paper, a scrap-book, into which lie copied cvcr}'thing which 
 particularl)' j^leased him. He found an old EngHsh gram- 
 mar, which he studied b\- liimself; and he formed, from hi^ 
 constant study o( the l^ible, that simple, plain, clear Anglo- 
 Sax(Mi style, so effectixe with the people. He illustrated 
 the maxim that it is better to know thorouglilx' a few good 
 books than to skim o\er manw When fifteen \ears old, he 
 began (w ith a \ iew of improxing himself) to write on \ari- 
 ous subjects ami to j^ractise in making political and other 
 speeches. These he made so amusing and attractix'e tliat 
 liis father had to forbid his making -them in working-hours, 
 for. said he, "when Abe begins to speak, all the hands flock 
 to hear him." His mcmor)- was so retentix'e that he could 
 repeat, vcrbatiin, the sermons and political speeches which 
 he heard. 
 
 Wliile his da\'s were spent in hard manual labor, and 
 his exenings in study, he grew up strong in bodx'. healthful 
 in mind, with no bad liabits; no stain of intemperance, pro- 
 fanity, or vice of anv kind. He used neither tobacco nor 
 intoxicating drinks, and, thus lixing. he grew to be six feet 
 four inches high, and a giant in strength. In all athletic 
 sports he had no equal. I have heard an old comrade sa\', 
 "he could strike the hardest blow with the woodman's axe. 
 and the maul of the rail-splitter, jumj) higher, run faster 
 than any of his fellows, and there were none, far or near, 
 who could la\- him on his back." Kind and cordial, he 
 early developed st) much wit and humor, such a capacity 
 for narratixe and storx-telling. that he xvas exerxxvhere a 
 most welcome guest.
 
 12 
 
 A LAND SURVEYOR. 
 
 Like Washington, he became, in early hfe, a good prac- 
 tical surveyor, and I ha\e, in my library, the identical book 
 from which, at eighteen }'ears of age, he studied the art of 
 surveying. B\' his skill and accuracy, and by the neatness 
 of his work, he was sought after by the settlers, to survey 
 and fix the boundaries of their farms, and in this way, in 
 part, he earned a support while he studied law. In 1837, 
 self-taught, he was admitted and licensed, by the Supreme 
 Court of Illinois, to practise law. 
 
 A LAWYER. 
 
 It is difficult for me to describe, and, perhaps, more 
 difficult for you to conceive the contrast when Lincoln 
 began lo practise law, between the forms of the adminis- 
 tration of justice in Westminster Hall, and in the rude log 
 court-houses of Illinois. I recall today what was said a few 
 years ago by an Illinois friend, when we visited, for the first 
 time, Westminster Abbey, and as we passed into Westmin- 
 ster Hall. "This," he exclaimed, "this is the grandest forum 
 in the world. Here Fox, Burke, and Sheridan hurled their 
 denunciations against Warren Hastings. Here Brougham 
 defended Queen Caroline. And this," he went on to repeat, 
 in the words of Macauley (words as familiar in America as 
 here), "This is the great hall of William Rufus, the hall 
 which has resounded with acclamations at the inauguration 
 of thirt}' kings, and which has witnessed the trials of Bacon 
 and Somers and Strafford and Charles the First." "And 
 yet," I replied, "I have seen justice administered on the 
 prairies of Illinois without pomp or ceremony, everything 
 simple to rudeness, and yet, when Lincoln and Douglas led 
 at the bar, I have seen justice administered by judges as 
 pure, aided by advocates as eloquent, if not as learned, as 
 any who ever presided, or plead, in Westminster Hall." 
 
 The common-law of England (said to be the perfection 
 of human wisdom) was administered in both forums, and 
 the decisions of each tribunal were cited as authority in the
 
 13 
 
 23 
 
 other; both ilhistrating that reverence for. and obedience 
 to, law, wliich is the glor\- of the ICnghsh-speakinf^ race. 
 
 Lincoln was a great law)'er. He sought to convince 
 rather b\' the application of principle than b\' the citation 
 of authorities. On the w hole, die was stronger w ith llu- 
 jur\' than with the court. 1 do not know that there has 
 e\er been, in iVnierica. a greater or more successful advo- 
 cate before a jur\-, on the right side, than Abraham Lin- 
 coln. He had a marvelous power of conciliating and im- 
 pressing everyone in his favor. A stranger entering the 
 court, ignorant of the case, and listening a few moments to 
 Lincoln, would fmd himself inx'oluntarih' on his side and 
 w ishing him success. He was a quick and accurate reader 
 of character, and seemed to comprehend, almost intuiti\el\', 
 the peculiarities of those with whom he came in contact. 
 His manner was so candid, his methods so direct, so fair, he 
 seemed so anxious that truth and justice should prex'ail, that 
 everyone w ished him success. He excelled in the statement 
 of his case. Howe\'er complicated, he would disentangle it, 
 and present the important and turning-point in a wa\' so 
 clear that all could understand. Indeed, hi^ statement 
 often alone won his cause, rendering argument unnecessarw 
 The judges would often stop him b}' saying, "If that is the 
 case, brother Lincoln, we w ill hear the other side." 
 
 His abilit\- in examining a witness, in bringing out 
 clearly the important facts, was only surpassed h\- his skil- 
 ful cross-examinations. He could often compel a witness 
 to tell the truth, when he meant to lie. He could make a 
 jur\' laugh, and generalls' weep, at liis pleasure. On the 
 right side, and when fraud «>r injustice were to be exposed, 
 or innocence \indicated, he rose to the highest range of 
 eloquence, and was irresistible. But he must ha\-e faith in 
 his cause to bring out his full strength. His wit and humor, 
 his quaint and homelx' illu-^tralions, his inexhaustible stores 
 of anectlote, alwa}'s to the point, added greatl\- tn his power 
 as a jur\-adv()cate. 
 
 He ne\er misstated evidence or misrepresented his 
 opponent's case, but met it fairl}' and squarel}-.
 
 14 
 
 He remained in acti\e practice until his nomination, in 
 May, i860, for the presidency. He was employed in the 
 leading cases in both the federal and state courts, and had 
 a large clientelage, not onl)' in Illinois, but was frequently 
 called, on special retainers, to other states. 
 
 AN ILLINOIS POLrriCL\N. 
 
 B\' his eloquence and popularity, he became, earl\- in 
 life, the leader of the old Whig party, in Illinois. He served 
 as member of the State Legislature, was the candidate of 
 his party for speaker, presidential elector, and United States 
 senator, and was a member of the lower house of Congress. 
 
 SLAVERY. 
 
 When the independence of the American republic was 
 established, African slavery was tolerated as a local and 
 temporary institution. It was in conflict with the moral 
 sense, the religious con\ictions of the people, and the politi- 
 cal principles on which the government was founded. 
 
 But having been tolerated, it soon became an organ- 
 ized, aggressive power, and, later, it became the master of 
 the government. Conscious of its inherent ^\'eakness, it 
 demanded and obtained additional territory for its expan- 
 sion. First, the great Louisiana Territory was purchased, 
 then Florida, and then Texas. 
 
 By the repeal, in 1854, of the prohibition of slavery 
 north of the Hne of ;^6'', 30' of latitude (known in America 
 as the "Missouri Compromise"), the slavery question became 
 the leading one in American politics, and the absorbing and 
 exciting topic of discussion. It shattered into fragments 
 the old conservative Whig party, with which Mr. Lincoln 
 had, theretofore, acted. It divided the Democratic party, 
 and new parties were organized upon issues growing 
 directly out of the question of slavery. 
 
 The leader of that portion of the Democratic party 
 which continued, for a time, to act with the slavery party, 
 was Stephen Arnold Douglas, then representing Illinois in 
 the United States Senate. He was a bold, ambitious, able
 
 15 
 
 24 
 
 man, and had, thus lar, been unifornils' successful. He had 
 introduced and carried through Con^nx'ss. against llie nK^st 
 vehement opposition, the repeal of the law, jDrohibilin^" 
 slavery, called the Missouri Compromise. 
 
 THK (<»Nri.sr i;i iwii.N irkki)(.).m and >i.A\i;k\ ix 'ihk 
 
 TKKKITORIKS. 
 
 The issue ha\in^ been now tlistinctl\' made between 
 freedom and the extension of sla\'er\' into the territories. 
 Lincoln and Douglas, the leaders of the Free-soil and Dem- 
 ocratic parties, became more than e\'er antagonized. The 
 conflict between freedom and slavery now became earnest, 
 fierce, and \iolent, beyond all [)revious political contro- 
 versies, and from this time on, Lincoln plead the cause of 
 libert)' w ith an energ\'. abilit\', and elocpience, which rapidh' 
 gained for him a national reputation. From this time dn, 
 through the tremendous struggle, it was he who grasped 
 the helm and led his part\' to \ictor\'. Conscious of a 
 great cause, inspired by a generous love of libert)', and 
 animated b\' the moral sublimit}' of his great theme, he 
 proclaimed his determination, e\er thereafter, **to speak 
 for freedom, and against sla\er\', until e\er\'\\ here the sun 
 shall shine, the rain shall fall, and the wind blow upt)n no 
 man who goes forth to unrequited toil." 
 
 THi: LINCOLN AND DOUCJLAS DEBATE. 
 
 The great debate between Lincoln and Douglas, in 
 1858, was. unquestionabl)', both with reference to the ability 
 of the speakers and its influence upon opinion and e\ents, 
 the most important in American histor)-. I do not think I 
 do injustice to others, nor over-estimate their importance, 
 when I sa\' that the speeches of Lincoln published, circu- 
 lated, and reail throughout the I^Vee-States, did more than 
 an\- other agenc}' in creating the public opinit)n, which pre- 
 pared the way for the overthrow of sla\er)'. The speeches 
 of John Ouinc)' i\dams, and those of Senator Sumner, were 
 more learned and scholarl)', and those of Lo\ejo\' and 
 Wendell Phillips were more \ehement and impassioned;
 
 i6 
 
 Senators Seward, Chase, and Hale spoke fconi a more con- 
 spicuous forum, but Lincoln's speeches were as philosophic, 
 as able, as earnest as any, and his manner had a simplicity 
 and directness, a clearness of illustration, and his language 
 a plainness, a \ngor, an Anglo-Saxon strength, better adapted 
 than an}' other to reach and influence the understanding 
 and sentiment of the common people. 
 
 At the time of this memorable discussion, both Lincoln 
 and Douglas were in the full maturity of their powers. 
 Douglas being forty-five and Lincoln forty-nine years old. 
 Douglas had had a long training and experience as a popu- 
 lar speaker. On the hustings (stump, as we say in America) 
 and in Congress, and especially in the United States Senate, 
 he had been accustomed to meet the ablest debaters of his 
 State and of the Nation. 
 
 His friends insisted that never, either in conflict with a 
 single opponent, or when repelling the assaults of a whole 
 party, had he been discomfited. His manner w^as bold, 
 vigorous, and aggressive. He was ready, fertile in resources, 
 familiar with political history, strong and severe in denun- 
 ciation, and he handled with skill all the weapons of the 
 dialectician. His iron will, tireless energy, united w^ith 
 physical and moral courage, and great personal magnetism, 
 made him a natural leader, and gave him personal popula- 
 rity. 
 
 Lincoln was also now a thoroughly -trained speaker. 
 He had contended successfully at the bar, in the legislature, 
 and before the people, with the ablest men of the West, 
 including Douglas, with whom he always rather sought than 
 avoided a discussion. But he was a courteous and generous 
 opponent, as is illustrated by the following beautiful allusion 
 to his rival, made in 1856, in one of their joint debates. 
 "Twent}' years ago, Judge Douglas and I first became 
 acquainted; we were both young then; he a trifle younger 
 than L Even then we were both ambitious, I, perhaps, 
 quite as much as he. With me, the race of ambition has 
 been a flat failure. With him, it has been a splendid sue-
 
 25 
 
 cess. His name fills the Nation, and it is not unknown in 
 forcicjn lands. I affect no contempt for the liif^h eminence 
 he has reached; so reached, that tlie oppressed of ni}' 
 species mi<^ht have shared with me in the elcxation, I would 
 rather stand on that eminence than w ear the richest crown 
 that ever pressed a monarch's brow." 
 
 We know, and the world knows, that Lincoln did reacli 
 that hii;h, nay, far higher eminence, and that he did reach 
 it in such a way that the "oppressed" did share with him in 
 the elevation. 
 
 Such were the champions who, in 1858, were to discuss, 
 before the voters of Illinois, and with the whole Nation as 
 spectators, the political questions then pendini;', and especi- 
 ally the \ital questions relating' to slavery. It was not a 
 sinL;le C(Miibat, but extended through a whole campai<^ni. 
 
 On the return of Doucflas from Washington to Illinois, 
 in Jul)'. 1858, Lincoln and Douglas being candidates for the 
 senate, the former challenged his rival to a series of joint 
 debates, to be held at the principal towns in the State. 
 The challenge was accepted, and it was agreed that each 
 discussion should occup\' three hours; that the speakers 
 should alternate in the opening and the close — the opening 
 speech to occup\' one hour, the reply one hour and a-half, 
 and the close half-an-hour. The meetings were lield in the 
 open air, for no hall could hold the \ast crowds which 
 attended. 
 
 In addition to the immense mass of hearers, reporters 
 from all the principal newspapers in the countr\' attended, 
 so that the morning after each debate the speeches were 
 published and eagerly read b\' a large part, j^erliaps a 
 majority of all the voters of the United States. 
 
 The attention of the American people w as thus arrested, 
 and they watched with intense interest, and devoured every 
 argument of the chamj)ions. 
 
 Each of these great men, 1 doubt not, at that time 
 sincerely believed he was right. Douglas' ardor, while in 
 such a conflict, would make him think, for the time being, 
 
 2
 
 i8 
 
 he was right, and I knoiv that Lincohi argued for freedom 
 against the extension of sla\'ery with the most profound 
 conviction that on the result hung the fate of his country. 
 Lincoln had two advantages over Douglas; he had the best 
 side of the question, and the best temper. He was always 
 good-humored, always had an apt story for illustration, 
 while Douglas sometimes, when hard pressed, was irritable. 
 
 Douglas carried away the most popular applause, but 
 Lincoln made the deeper and more lasting impression. 
 Douglas did not disdain an immediate ad captandiun 
 triumph, while Lincoln aim.ed at permanent conviction. 
 Sometimes when Lincoln's friends urged him to raise a 
 storm of applause (which he could always do by his happy 
 illustrations and amusing stories), he refused, saying the 
 occasion was too serious, the issue too grave. "I do not 
 seek applause," said he, "nor to amuse the people, I want 
 to convince them." 
 
 It was often observed, during this canvass, that while 
 Douglas was sometimes greeted with the loudest cheers 
 when Lincoln closed, the people seemed solemn and seri- 
 ous, and could be heard all through the crowd, gravely and 
 anxiously discussing the topics on which he had been 
 speaking. 
 
 Douglas secured the immediate object of the struggle, 
 but the manly bearing, tlie vigorous logic, the honesty and 
 sincerity, the great intellectual powers exhibited by Mr. 
 Lincoln, prepared the wa}', and two years later, secured 
 his nomination and election to the presidency. It is a 
 touching incident, illustrating the patriotism of both these 
 statesmen, that, widely as they differed, and keen as had 
 been their rivalry, just as soon as the life of the Republic 
 was menaced by treason, they joined hands to shield and 
 save the country they loved. 
 
 The echo and the prophecy of this great debate was 
 heard, and inspired hope in the far- oft" cotton and rice- 
 fields of the South. The toiling blacks, to use the words 
 of Whittier, began hopefully to pray:
 
 26 
 
 '9 
 
 "We pray de Lord. He gib us signs 
 l)at some day we be free. 
 I )e Xorf wind tell it to de pines, 
 1 )e wild duck to de sea. 
 
 " We tink it when de church-bell ring, 
 We dream it in de dreani, 
 De rice-bird mean it wiien he sing, 
 De eagle when he scream." 
 
 THE COUl'KK-IXSTIl'UTE SPKKCH. 
 
 Ill I'Y'bruary, i860, Mr. Lincoln was called to address 
 the people of New York, and speaking to a vast audience 
 at the Cooper Institute (the Exeter Hall of the United 
 States), the poet Bryant presidint^-, he made, perhaps, the 
 most learned, logical, and exhausti\e speech to be found 
 in American anti-slavery literature. The question was, the 
 power of the National (jovernment to exclude slavery from 
 the territories. The orator from the prairies, the mornings 
 after this speech, awoke to find himself famous. 
 
 He closed with these words, "Let us ha\-c faith that 
 right makes might, and in that faith let us, to the end, do- 
 our duty as we understand it." 
 
 This address was the carefull)'-finished product of not 
 an orator and statesman onK', but also of an accurate stu- 
 dent of American histor\-. It confirmed and elevated the 
 reputation he had already accjuired in the ])ou<^das debates, 
 and caused his nomination and election to the presidency. 
 
 If time permitted, I would like to follow Mr. Lincoln, 
 step by step, to enumerate his measures one after another, 
 until, by prudence and coura«^e, and matchless statesman- 
 shi]), he led the loyal people of the republic to the final 
 and complete overthrow of slaver\- and the restoration of 
 the Union. 
 
 From the time he left his humble home in Illinois, to 
 assume the responsibilities of power, the political horizon 
 black with treason and rebellion, the terrific thunder clouds, 
 — the tempest which had been feathering and growing more 
 black and threatening for }'ears, now read)' to explode, — on
 
 20 
 
 and on, through long years ot bloody war, down to his final 
 triumph and death — what a drama! His eventful life termi- 
 nated by his tragic death, has it not the dramatic unities 
 and the awful ending of the Old Greek tragedy? 
 
 HIS FAREWELL TO HIS NEIGHBORS. 
 
 I know of nothing in history more pathetic than the 
 scene when he bade good-bye to his old friends and neigh- 
 bors. Conscious of the difficulties and dangers before him, 
 difficulties which seemed almost insurmountable, with a sad- 
 ness as though a presentiment that he should return no 
 more was pressing upon him, but with a deep religious trust 
 which was characteristic, on the platform of the rail-car- 
 riage which was to bear him away to the Capital, he paused 
 and said, "No one can realize the sadness I feel at this part- 
 ing. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century. 
 Here mv children were born, and here one of them lies 
 buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. I go 
 to assume a task more difficult than that which has devolved 
 upon any other man since the days of Washington. He 
 never would have succeeded but for the aid of Divine Pro- 
 vidence upon which, at all times, he relied. ^ '" '''' 
 I hope you, my dear friends, will all pray that I may receive 
 that Divine assistance, without which I can not succeed, but 
 with which success is certain." 
 
 And as he waved his hand in farewell to the old home, 
 to which he w^as never to return, he heard the response 
 from many old friends, "God bless and keep you." "God 
 protect you from all traitors." His neighbors "sorrowing 
 most of all," for the fear "that they should see his face no 
 more." 
 
 HIS INAUGURAL AND APPEAL FOR PEACE. 
 
 In his inaugural address, spoken in the open air, and 
 from the eastern portico of the capitol, and heard by thrice 
 ten thousand people, on the very verge of ci\'il war, he 
 made a most earnest appeal for peace. He gave the most
 
 2 I 
 
 solemn assurance, that "the property, peace, and security of 
 no portion of the RepubHc should be endant^ered by his 
 athiiinistration." l^ut lie declared with firmness, that the 
 union of the States must be "perpetual," and that he should 
 "execute the laws faithfully in every State." "In doinc^ 
 this,'" said he, "there need be no bloodshed nor \iolence, 
 nor shall there be, unless forced upon the National Au- 
 thorit)'." In regard to the difficulties which thus divided 
 the people, he appealed to all to abstain from precipitate 
 action, assuring them that intelligence, patriotism, and a 
 firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken the 
 Republic, "were competent to adjust, in the best wa\', all 
 existing troubles." 
 
 His closing appeal against civil war was most touch- 
 ing, "In your hands," said he, and his voice for the first 
 time faltered, "In your hands, and not in mine, are the 
 momentous issues of civil war." " '" '- "You can 
 liave no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors." 
 ''^ "''^ "I am," continued he, "loth to close, we are not 
 enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies, though 
 passion may strain, — it must not break the bonds of affec- 
 
 A. * " 
 
 tion. 
 
 The answer to these appeals was the attack upon Fort 
 Sumpter, and immediately broke loose all the maddening 
 passions which riot in blood and carnage and ci\il war. 
 
 I know not how I can better picture and illustrate the 
 condition of affairs and of public feeling at that time, than 
 by narrating two or three incidents. 
 
 DOUGLAS' PROPHECY, JANUARY I, 1861. 
 
 in Januar}', 1861, Senator Douglas, then lateU' a candi- 
 date for the presidenc}', with Mrs. Douglas, one of the most 
 beautiful and fascinating women in America, a relative of 
 Mrs. Madison, occupied at Washington a house in a most 
 magnificent block of dwellings, called the "Minnesota 
 Block." On New- Year's -day, 1861, Gen. Charles Stewart 
 of New York, from whose lips I write an account (jf the 
 incident, says:
 
 o o 
 
 "I was making a New-Year's-call on Senator Douglas; 
 after some conversation, 1 asked him: 
 
 "'What will be the result, Senator, of the efforts of 
 Jefferson Davis and his associates to divide the Union?' 
 We were," said Stewart, "sitting on the sofa together when 
 I asked the question. Douglas rose, walked rapidly up 
 and down the room for a moment, and then pausing, he 
 exclaimed, with deep feeling and excitement: 
 
 " 'The Cotton States are making an effort to draw in 
 the Border States to their schemes of Secession, and I am 
 but too fearful thev will succeed. If thev do, there will be 
 the most fearful civil war the world has ever seen, lasting 
 for years.' 
 
 "Pausing a moment, he looked like one inspired, while 
 he proceeded: 'Virginia, over yonder, across the Potomac,' 
 pointing toward Arlington, 'will become a charnel-house — 
 but in the end the Union will triumph. They will try,' he 
 continued, 'to get possession of this Capital, to give them 
 prestige abroad, but in that eftbrt they will never succeed; 
 the North will rise eii masse to defend it. But Washington 
 will become a city of hospitals, the churches will be used 
 for the sick and wounded. This house,' he continued, 'the 
 Minnesota Block will be devoted to that purpose before the 
 end of the war.' "^ 
 
 Every word he said was literally fulfilled — all the 
 churches nearly were used for the wounded, and the Min- 
 nesota Block, and the very room in which this declaration 
 was made, became the "Douglas Hospital." 
 
 "'What justification for all this.''' said Stewart. 
 
 "'There is no justification,' replied Douglas. 
 
 "'I will go as far as the constitution will permit to 
 maintain their just rights. But,' said he, rising upon his 
 feet and raising his arm, 'if the Southern States attempt 
 to secede, I am in favor of their having just so many slaves, 
 and just so much slave territory as they can hold at the 
 point of the bayonet, and no more.' "
 
 28 
 
 WILL TIIK NORTH 1 ICHT ? 
 
 AlaiU' Suuthcrn leaders beliexed there would be no 
 serious war, and labored kidustriousl\' to impress this idea 
 on the Southern people. 
 
 Ik^njamin V . lUitler, wlio, as a delegate from Massachu- 
 setts to the Charlestown Convention, had \'oted man\' times 
 for Brecken ridge, the extreme Southern candidate for presi- 
 dent, came to Washington in the winter of 1 860-1, to in- 
 (|uire of his old associates what they meant by their threats. 
 
 "We mean," replied the}', "we mean Separation — a 
 Southern Confederacy. We will ha\e our independence, a 
 Southern government — with no discordant elements." 
 
 "Are \'Ou prepared for war.'" said Butler, coolU'. 
 
 "Oh, there will be no war; the North won't fight." 
 
 "The North Tc-/// fight," said l^utler, "the North will 
 send the last i)ia)i and expend the last dollar to maintain the 
 Government." 
 
 "But," replied Ikitler's Southern friends, "the North 
 can't fight — we have too many allies there." 
 
 "You have friends," responded Butler, "in the North, 
 who will stand b\' \'ou st) long as )'ou fight your battles in 
 the Union, but the moment you fire on the flag, the North 
 will be a unit against you." "And," Butler continued, "you 
 ma)' be assured if w ar comes, slavery euds^ 
 
 THK SPECIAL SESSION OF CONGRESS, JULY, 1861. 
 
 On the brink of this civil war, the President summoned 
 Congress to meet on the 4th of July, 1861, the anniversary 
 of our Independence. Seven states had already seceded, 
 were in open revolt, and the chairs of their representatives, 
 in both h(juses of Congress, were \acant. It needed but a 
 glance at these so numerous vacant seats to realize the 
 extent of the defection, the gravity of the situation, and 
 the magnitude of the impending struggle. The old pro- 
 slavery leaders were absent. Some in the rebel govern- 
 ment, set up at Richmond, and others marshalling troops
 
 24 
 
 in the field. Hostile armies were gathering, and from the 
 dome of the Capitol, across the Potomac, and on toward 
 Fairfax, in Virginia, could be seen the Confederate flag. 
 
 Breckenridge, late the Southern candidate for president,, 
 now Senator from Kentucky, and soon to lead a rebel army, 
 still lingered in the Senate. Like Cataline among the 
 Roman Senators, he was regarded with aversion and dis- 
 trust. Gloomy and perhaps sorrowful, he said, "I can only 
 look \\ith sadness on the melancholy drama that is being 
 enacted." 
 
 Pardon the digression, while I relate an incident which 
 occurred in the Senate at this special session. 
 
 Senator Baker of Oregon was making a brilliant and 
 impassioned reply to a speech of Breckenridge, in which he 
 denounced the Kentucky senator, for giving aid and encour- 
 agement to the enemy by his speeches. At length he 
 paused, and turning toward Breckenridge, and fixing his 
 eye upon him, he asked, "What would have been thought 
 if, after the battle of Cannae, a Roman senator had risen 
 amidst the conscript Fathers, and denounced the war, and 
 opposed all measures for its success r' 
 
 Baker paused, and every eye in the Senate and in the 
 crowded galleries was fixed upon the almost solitary sena- 
 tor from Kentucky. Fessenden broke the painful silence 
 by exclaiming, in low deep tones, which gave expression to 
 the thrill of indignation, which ran through the hall, "He 
 would have been hurled from the Tarpeian Rock." 
 
 Congress manifested its sense of the gravity of the 
 situation by authorizing a loan of two hundred and fifty 
 millions of dollars, and empowering the President to call 
 into the field five hundred thousand men, and as many 
 more as he might deem necessary. 
 
 SURRENDER OF MASON AND SEIDELL. 
 
 No act of the British Government, since the "stamp 
 act" of the Revolution, has ever excited such intense feel- 
 ing of hostility toward Gfeat Britain, as her haughty
 
 25 
 
 29 
 
 clcniaiul for the surrender of Mason and Slidell. It 
 required //cm- in tlie President to stem the storm of popu- 
 lar feehn^^ and yield to that demand, and it was, for a 
 time, the most unpopuhir aet of liis administration. Hut 
 when the excitement o( the day had passed, it was 
 appro\cd b)' the sober judi;nicnt of the Nation. 
 
 Prince Albert is kindly and f]^ratefull\- remembered in 
 America, where it is belie\-ed that his action, in modif}'- 
 in^ the terms of that demand, prt)bably saved the United- 
 States and Great Britain from the horrors of war. 
 
 LINCOLN AND MIL AlloLmON OF SLAVLRV. 
 
 When in June, 1858, at his home in Springfield, Mr. 
 Lincoln startled the people with the declaration, "This 
 government can not endure, permanenth', half-slave and 
 half- free," and when, at the close of his speech, to those 
 who were laborini; for the ultimate extinction of slaver}\ 
 he exclaimed, with the \c)ice of a prophet, "We shall not 
 fail, if we stand firm, we shall Not fail. Wise councils may 
 accelerate, or mistakes delay, but sooner or later the vic- 
 tory is sure to come;" he anticipated success throui^h \ears 
 of discussion, and final triumph through peaceful and con- 
 stitutional means b\' the ballot. He did not forsee nor 
 even dream (unless in those dim m\'sterious shadows, which 
 sometimes startle by half-re\'ealing the future) his own 
 elevation to the presidency. He did not then suspect that 
 he had been appointed by God, and should be choosen by 
 the people to proclaim the emancipation of a race, and to 
 save his country. He did not forsee that slaver\- was so 
 soon to be destro\'ed amidst the flames of war which itself 
 kindled. 
 
 IMS M()I)i:i<.\'l I().\. 
 
 He entered upon his administration w ith the single pur- 
 pose of maintaining national unity, and manv reproachetl 
 and denounced him for the slowness of his ant i- slavery 
 measures. The first (jf the series was the abolition of sla-
 
 26 
 
 very at the National Capital. This act gave freedom to 
 three thousand slaves, with compensation to their loyal 
 masters. Contemporaneous with this was an act confer- 
 ring freedom upon all colored soldiers who should serve in 
 the Union armies and upon their families. The next was 
 an act, which I had the honor to introduce, prohibiting 
 slavery in all the territories, and wherev^er the National 
 Government had jurisdiction. But the great, the decisive 
 act of his administration, was the "Emancipation Procla- 
 mation." 
 
 EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 
 
 The President had urged with the utmost earnestness 
 on the lo}'al slave-holders of the Border States, gradual and 
 compensated emancipation, but in vain. He clearly saw, 
 all saw, that the slaves, as used by the confederates, were a 
 vast power, contributing immensely to their ability to carry 
 on the war, and that by declaring their freedom, he would 
 convert millions of freedftien into active friends and allies 
 of the Union. The people knew that he was deliberating 
 upon the question of issuing this Emancipation Proclama- 
 tion. At this crisis, the Union men of the Border States 
 made an appeal to him to withhold the edict, and suffer 
 slavery to survive. 
 
 They selected John J. Crittenden, a venerable and elo- 
 quent man, and their ablest statesman, to make, on the floor 
 of Congress, a public appeal to the President, to withhold 
 the proclamation. Mr. Crittenden had been governor of 
 Kentucky, her senator in Congress, attorney-general of the 
 United States, and now, in his old age, covered with honors, 
 he accepted, like John Ouincy Adams, a seat in Congress, 
 that in this crisis he might help to save his country. 
 
 He was a sincere Union man, but believed it unwise to 
 disturb slavery. In his speech, he made a most eloquent 
 and touching appeal from a Kentuckian to a Kentuckian. 
 He said, among other things, "There is a niche, near to that 
 of Washington, to him who shall save his country. If Mr.
 
 30 
 
 Lincoln will stcj) into that niclic, the fouudtT and the pre- 
 server of the Republic shall stand side b\' side." " * 
 (Owen Lovejo)', tlie brother of I^lijah P. Lovejo)', who liad 
 been mobbed and murdered, because he would not surren- 
 der the libert)' of the press, replied to Crittenden. .After 
 his brother's murder, kneelin*; upon the green sod which 
 covered tliat brother's grav^e, lie had taken a solemn vow 
 i^{ eternal war upon sla\er\'. V.xqx after, like Peter tlie 
 Hermit, with a heart of fire and a tongue of lightning, he 
 liad gone forth, preaching his crusade against slavery. At 
 length, in his reph', turning to Crittenden, he said, "The 
 gentleman from Kentuck)' says he has a niche for Abraham 
 Lincoln, where is it.'" 
 
 Crittenden pointed toward Heaven. 
 
 Lovejo}' continuing said, "He points upward, but, sir! 
 if the l^resident follows the counsel of that gentleman, and 
 becomes the perpetuator of slaver}', he should point doivn- 
 ward, to some dungeon in the temple of Moloch, who feeds 
 on human blood, and where are forged chains for human 
 limbs; in the recesses of whose temple woman is scourged 
 and man tortured, and outside the walls are K'ing dogs, 
 gorged with human flesh, as B\Ton describes them lying 
 around the walls of Stambool." "That," said Lovejoy, "is 
 a suitable place Tor the statue of him who would perpetuate 
 sla\er}'. " 
 
 "I, too," said he, "ha\e a temple for Abraham Lincoln, 
 but it is in freedom's hol\' fane, - ''' not surrounded 
 by slave- fetters and chains, but with the s\'mbois of free- 
 dom — not dark w ith bondage, but radiant with the light of 
 libert)'. In that niche he shall stand proudl}', nobh', glori- 
 ously, with broken chains and slaves" whips beneath his feet. 
 " ^' That is a fame worth li\ing for, a\'e, more, it is a 
 fame worth d\ing for, though that death led through (leth- 
 semene and the agon\' of the accursed tree." "^'^ " '^^ 
 
 "It is said," continued lie, "that W'ilberforce went up to 
 the judgment seat witli the broken chains of eight luindred 
 tliousand slaves! Let Lincoln make himself the Liberator,
 
 28 
 
 and his name shall be enrolled, not only in this earthly 
 temple, but it shall be traced on the living stones of that 
 temple which is reared amid the thrones of Heav^en." 
 
 Lovejoy's prophecy has been fulfilled — in this world — 
 you see the statues to Lincoln, with broken chains at his 
 feet, rising all over the world, and — in that other world — 
 few will doubt that the prophecy has been realized. 
 
 In September, 1862, after the Confederates, by their 
 defeat at the great battle of Antietam, had been driven 
 back from Maryland and Pennsylvania, Lincoln issued the 
 Proclamation. It is a fact, illustrating his character, and 
 showing that there was in him what many would call a 
 tinge of superstition, that he declared to Secretary Chase 
 that he had made a solemn vow to God, saying, "if Gen- 
 eral Lee is driven back from Pennsylvania, I will crown the 
 result with the declaration of P^REEDOM TO THE SLAVE." 
 The final Proclamation was issued on the first of January, 
 1863. In obedience to an American custom, he had been 
 receiving calls on that New-Year's-day, and, for hours, shak- 
 ing hands. As the paper was brought to him by the Secre- 
 tary of State to be signed, he said, "Mr. Sewa;rd, I have been 
 shaking hands all day, and my right hand is almost para- 
 lyzed. If my name ever gets into history, it will be for this 
 act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when 
 I sign the proclamation, those who examine the document 
 hereafter, will say, "he hesitated." 
 
 Then resting his arm a moment, he turned to the table, 
 took up the pen, and slowly and firmly wrote AbraJiani Lin- 
 coln. He smiled as, handing the paper to Mr. Seward, he 
 said, "that will do." 
 
 From this day, to its final triumph, the tide of victory 
 seemed to set more and more in favor of the Union cause. 
 The capture of Vicksburg, the victory of Gettysburg, Chat- 
 tanooga, Chickamauga, Lookout-Mountain, Missionary Ridge, 
 Sheridan's brilliant campaign in the Valley of the Shenan- 
 doah; Thomas' decisive victory at Nashville; Shermans 
 march through the Confederacy to the sea; the capture of
 
 31 
 
 29 
 
 Fort McAllister; X.\\ii sinkiug of tJic Alnbauia ; the taking of 
 Mobile b\' Farragut; the occupation of Columbus, Charles- 
 ton, "Savannah; the evacuation of Petersburg aiul Ivich- 
 mond; the surrender of Lee to Grant; the taking of Jeffer- 
 son Davis a prisoner; the triumph everywhere of the National 
 Arms; such were the events which followed (though with 
 dela\'s and bloodshed) the "Proclamation of F^mancipation." 
 
 nil-: AMhNDMliXT TO THK CoNSTlTUTK )X. 
 
 Meanwhile Lincoln had been triumphant!}' reelected, 
 Congress had, as before stated, abolished slavery at the 
 Capital, prohibited it in all tlie territories, declared all 
 negro soldiers in tlie Union armies and their families free, 
 and had repealed all laws which sanctioned or recognized 
 slavery, and the President had crowned and consummated 
 all by the proclamation of emancipation. One thing alone 
 remained to perfect, confirm, and make everlastingly per- 
 manent these measures, and this was to embody in the Con- 
 stitution itself the prohibition of slavery everywhere within 
 the Republic. 
 
 To change the organic law, required the adoption by a 
 two-thirds' vote of a joint resolution b\' Congress, and that 
 this should be submitted to and ratified bv three-fourths of 
 the States. 
 
 The President, in his annual message and in personal 
 interviews with members of Congress, urged the passage of 
 such resolution. To test th(? strength of the measure, in the 
 House of Representatives. I had the honor, in February, 
 1864,. to introduce the following resolution: 
 
 "'Resolved, That the Constitution sliould be so amended 
 as to abolish slaver)- in the United States wherever it now 
 exists, and to prohibit its existence in e\'er\- part thereof 
 forever" (Cong, (ilobe, vol. 50, p. 659). This was adopted 
 by a decided vote, and was the first resolution e\'er passed 
 by Congress in favor of the entire abolition of slavery. 
 J^ut, although it received a majorit}', it did not receive a 
 majorit}- of two-thirds.
 
 30 
 
 The debates on the Constitutional Amendment (perhaps 
 the greatest in our Congressional history, certainly the most 
 important since the adoption of the Constitution) ran thi'bugh 
 two sessions of Congress. Charles Sumner, the learned sen- 
 ator from Massachusetts, brought to the discussion in the 
 Senate his ample stores of historical illustration, quoting 
 largely in its favor from the historians, poets, and states- 
 men of the past. 
 
 The resolution was adopted in the Senate by the large 
 vote of ayes, 38, noes, 6. 
 
 In the lower House, at the first session, it failed to 
 obtain a two -third vote, and, on a motion to reconsider, 
 went over to the next session. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln again earnestly urged its adoption, and in 
 a letter to Illinois friends, he said, "The signs look better. 
 * ^ Peace does not look so distant as it did. I hope 
 it will come soon, and come to stay, and so come as to be 
 worth keeping in all future time." 
 
 I recall very vividly my New-Year's-call upon the Presi- 
 dent, January, 1864. I said: 
 
 'T hope, Mr. President, one year from today I may 
 have the pleasure of congratulating you on the occurrence 
 of three events which now seem probable." 
 
 "What are they.''" inquired he. 
 
 "I. That the rebellion may be entirely crushed. 
 
 "2. That the Constitutional Amendment, abolishing and 
 prohibiting slavery, may have been adopted. 
 
 "3. And that Abraham Lincoln may have been re- 
 elected President." 
 
 'T think," replied he, with a smile, *T would be glad to 
 accept the first two as a compromise." 
 
 General Grant, in a letter, remarkable for that clear 
 good-sense and practical judgment for which he is distin- 
 guished, condensed into a single sentence the political argu- 
 ment in favor of the Constitutional Amendment, "The North 
 and South," said he, "can ;iever live at peace with each other 
 except as one nation and tliat zvitJiotit slavcryT
 
 31 
 
 32 
 
 (iARllLl.U S STKIXII, 
 
 I would be ^lad to quote from this great debate, but 
 must confine myself to a brief extract from the speecli of 
 the })resent President, then a member of tlie House. He 
 began b)' saying: 
 
 "Mr. Speaker, we shall never know \\h\' sla\er\' dies so 
 hard in this Republic and in this Hall, until we know why 
 sin outlives disaster and Satan is immortal." "' '-'^ '- 
 "How well do I remember. " he continued, "the history of 
 that distinguished predecessor of mine, Joshua R. iiiddiugs, 
 lateU' gone to his rest, who, w ith his forlorn hope of faith- 
 ful men, took his life in his hands and, in the name of Jus- 
 tice, protested against the great crime, and who stood 
 brave!}' in his place until liis white locks, like the plume of 
 Henry of Navarre, marked where the battle of freedom 
 raged fiercest." ■'" ■" "In its mad arrogance, slavery 
 lifted its hand against tlie Union, and since that fatal da}-, 
 it has been a fugitive and a \agabond upon the earth." 
 
 L'p to the last roll-call, on the question of the passage 
 of the resolution, we were uncertain and anxious about the 
 result. We needed Democratic votes. We knew we should 
 get some, but whether enough to carry the measure, none 
 could surely tell. 
 
 As the clerk called the names of members, so perfect 
 was the silence that the sound of a hundred pencils keeping 
 talh' could be heard throuc^h the Hall. 
 
 J'inalU-, when the call was completed, and the speaker 
 announced that the Resolution was adopted, the result was 
 received by an uncontrollable burst of enthusiasm. Mem- 
 bers and spectators (especiall)' the galleries, which were 
 crowded with convalescent soldiers) shouted and cheered, 
 and before the speaker could obtain quiet, the roar of artil- 
 lery on Capitol Hill proclaimed to the Cit>' of Washington 
 the passage of the Resolution. Congress adjourned, and we 
 liastened to the White House to congratulate the President 
 on the event. 
 
 He made one of his happiest speeches. In his own
 
 32 
 
 peculiar words, he said, '' The great job is finisJiedr **I can 
 not but congratulate," said he, "all present, myself, the coun- 
 try, and the whole world on this great moral victory." 
 
 PERSONAL CHARACTP:RISTICS. 
 
 And now, with an attempt to sketch very briefly some 
 of his peculiar personal characteristics, I must close. 
 
 This great Hercules of a man had a heart as kind and 
 tender as a woman. Sterner men thought it a weakness. It 
 saddened him to see others suffer, and he shrunk from inflict- 
 ing pain. Let me illustrate his kindness and tenderness by 
 one or two incidents. One summer's day, walking along the 
 shaded path leading from the Executive-mansion to the 
 War-office, I saw the tall, awkward form of the President 
 seated on the grass under a tree. A wounded soldier, seek- 
 ing back- pay and a pension, had met the President, and 
 having recognized him, asked his counsel. Lincoln sat 
 down, examined the papers of the soldier, and told him 
 what to do, sent him to the proper Bureau with a note, 
 which secured prompt attention. 
 
 After the terribly destructive battles between Grant and 
 Lee in the Wilderness of Virginia, after days of dreadful 
 slaughter, the lines of ambulances, conveying the wounded 
 from the steamers on the Potomac to the great field hospi- 
 tals on the heights around Washington, would be continu- 
 ous, — one unbroken line from the wharf to the hospital. 
 At such a time, I have seen the President in his carriage, 
 driving slowly along the line, and he looked like one who 
 had lost the dearest members of his own family. On one 
 such occasion, meeting me, he stopped and said, "I can not 
 bear this; this suffering, this loss of life — is dreadful." 
 
 I recalled to him a line from a letter he had j^ears before 
 written to a friend whose great sorrow he had sought to con- 
 sole. Reminding him of the incident, I asked him, "Do you 
 remember writing to your suffering friend these words: 
 
 ''And this too shall pass away, 
 Never fear. Victory will comer
 
 33 33 
 
 In all his State papers and speeclies durin<; these years 
 of strife and passion, there can be found no words of bitter- 
 ness, no denunciation. When others railed, he railed not 
 a^ain. He was always dignified, ma«^nanimous, patient, con- 
 siderate, manly, and true. His duty was ever performed 
 "with malice toward non(\ with charity for all," and with 
 **firmness in the ri^ht as Ciod ij;;ives us to see the riiiht." 
 
 NEVKR A 1)EMAG()(;UE. 
 
 Lincoln was nex'cr a demagogue. He respected and 
 loved the people, but never flattered them. No man ever 
 heard him allude to his humble life and manual labor, in a 
 way to obtain \'otes. None knew better than he, that split- 
 ting rails did not qualify a man for public duties. He real- 
 ized painfull}' the defects of his education, and labored 
 diligent!}' and successfull}- to supply his deficiencies. 
 
 HIS CONVERSATION. 
 
 He had no equal as a talker in social life. His conver- 
 sation was fascinating and attractive. He was full of wit, 
 humor, and anecdote, and at the same time, original, sug- 
 gestive, and instructive. There was in his character a sin- 
 gular mingling of mirthfulness and melancholy. While his 
 sense of the ludicrous was keen, and his fun and mirth were 
 exuberent, and sometimes almost irrepressible; his conver- 
 sation sparkling with jest, stor}% and anecdote and in droll 
 description, he would pass suddenly to another mood, and 
 become sad and pathetic — a melancholy expression of his 
 homely face would show that he was "a man of sorrows and 
 acquainted with grief." 
 
 HIS STORIES. 
 
 The newspapers in America have alwa}'s been full of 
 Lincoln's stories and anecdotes, some true and man}- fabu- 
 lous. 
 
 He always had a stor}' ready, and if not, he could im- 
 provise one just fitted for the occasion. The following ma}', 
 
 I think, be said to hav^c been adapted: 
 
 •>
 
 34 
 
 An Atlantic port, in one of the British provinces, was^ 
 during the war, a great resort and refuge for blockade-run- 
 ners, and a large contraband trade was said to have been 
 carried on from that port with the Confederates. Late in 
 the summer of 1864, while the election of president was 
 pending, Lincoln being a candidate, the Governor-General 
 of that province, with some of the principal officers, visited 
 Washington, and called to pay their respects to the execu- 
 tive. Mr. Lincoln had been very much annoyed by the 
 failure of these officials to enforce very strictly the rules of 
 neutrality, but he treated his guests with great courtesy. 
 After a pleasant interview, the Governor, alluding to the 
 approaching presidential election, said, jokingly, but with a 
 grain of sarcasm, "I understand, Mr. President, everybody 
 votes in this countr}^ If we remain until November, can 
 we vote.^" 
 
 "You remind me," replied the President, "of a country- 
 man of yours, a green emigrant from Ireland. Pat arriv^ed 
 in New York on election-day, and was, perhaps, as eager as 
 Your Excellency to vote, and to vote early and late and 
 often. So, upon his landing at Castle Garden, he hastened 
 to the nearest voting place, and as he approached, the judge 
 who received the ballots, inquired, 'who do you want to vote 
 for.-^ on which side are you.^' Poor Pat was embarrassed, 
 he did not know who were the candidates. He stopped, 
 scratched his head, then, with the readiness of his country- 
 men, he said: 
 
 "'I am foment the Government, anyhow. Tell me, if 
 your Honor plases, which is the rebellion side, and I'll tell 
 you how I want to vote. In Ould Ireland, I was always on 
 the rebellion side, and, by Saint Patrick, I '11 stick to that 
 same in America.' 
 
 "Your Excellency," said Mr. Lincoln, "would, I should 
 think, not be at all at a loss on which side to vote.^" 
 
 THE BOOKS HE READ. 
 The two books he read most were the Bible and Shake-
 
 ,, 34 
 
 spcarc. With them lie was famihar, rcadini; aiul i[uoting' 
 from them constanth'. Next to Shakespeare, amon<^ the 
 poets, was l^urns. witli whom he had a hearty s)'mpathy, 
 and upon whose poetr\^ lie wrote a lecture. He was 
 extremely fond of ballads, and of simple, sad, and ])lain- 
 tive music. 
 
 I called one da\- at the White House, to introduce two 
 officers of the Union army, both Swedes. Immediatel}' he 
 began and repeated from memory, to the delight of his 
 \isitors, a long ballad, descriptive of Norwegian scenery, a 
 Norse legend, and the ad\entures of an old X'iking among 
 the fiords of the North. 
 
 He said he had read the poem in a newspaper, and the 
 \isit of these Swedes recalled it to his memory. 
 
 On the last Sunda\' of his life, as he was sailing up the 
 Potomac, returniuij to Washinc^ton from his \'isit to Rich- 
 mond, he read aloud man}- extracts from Macbeth, and 
 among others, the following, and with a tone and accent so 
 impressive that, after his death, it was \'ividly recalled by 
 those who heard him: 
 
 "Duncan is in his grave; 
 After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well; 
 Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison. 
 Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing, 
 Can touch him fui ther ! " 
 
 After his assassination, those friends could not fail to 
 recall this passage from the same play. 
 
 "This Duncan 
 ilatli borne his faculties so meek, hath been 
 .So clear in his great office, that his virtues 
 Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued against 
 The deep damnation of his taking-off. " 
 
 HIS KKI.K.ION. 
 
 It is strange that an)- reader of Lincoln's speeches and 
 w ritings should have had the hardihood to charge him w ith 
 infidelity, but the charge having been repeated!}- made, 1 
 reply, in the light of facts accessible to all, that no more
 
 36 
 
 rev^erent christian (not excepting Washington) ever filled the 
 chair of President. Declarations of his trust in God, his 
 faith in the efficacy of prayer, pervade his speeches and 
 writings. From the time he left Springfield, to his death, 
 he not only himself continually prayed for Divine assistance, 
 but never failed to ask the prayers of others for himself and 
 his country. 
 
 His reply to the negroes of Baltimore, who, in 1864, 
 ])resented him with a beautiful Bible, as an expression of 
 their love and gratitude, ought to have silenced all who have 
 made such charges. After thanking them, he said, " This 
 great book is the best gift God has given to man. All the 
 good from the Saviour of the world is communicated through 
 this book." 
 
 When a member of Congress, knowing his religious 
 character, asked him "why he did not join some church.^" 
 Mr. Lincoln replied, "Because I found difficulty, without 
 mental reservation, in giving my assent to their long and 
 complicated confessions of faith. When any church will 
 inscribe over its altar the Saviour's condensed statement of 
 law and gospel, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
 all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and 
 thy neighbor as thyself," that church will I join with all my 
 heart." 
 
 WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED. 
 
 Let us try to sum up in part what he accomplished. 
 
 When he assumed the duties of the executive, he found 
 an empty treasury, the National credit gone, the little 
 nucleus of an armv and nav\- scattered and disarmed, the 
 officers, who had not deserted to the rebels, strangers; the 
 party which elected him in a minorit}' (he having been 
 elected only because his opponents were divided between 
 Douglas, Breckenridge, and Everett), the old Democratic 
 party, which had ruled most of the time for half a century, 
 hostile, and even that part of it in the North, from long- 
 association, in s}'mpath}- with the insurgents; his own party
 
 35 
 
 o / 
 
 iiuide up of discordant elements, and neither he nor his 
 party had acciuired prestige and the confidence of the peo- 
 ple. It is the exact truth to say that when he entered the 
 f[7//A' House he was the object of personal prejudice to a 
 niajoritv of the American people, and of contempt to a 
 powerful minorit}'. He entered upon his task of restoring 
 the integrity of a brc^ken Union, without sympath\- from 
 an)' of the great powers of Western r>urope. Those which 
 were not hostile, manifested a cold neutrality, exhibiting 
 toward him and his government no cordfal good -will, nor 
 extending an\' moral aid. Vet, in spite of all, he crushed 
 the most stupendous rebellion, supported by armies more 
 vast, by resources greater, and an organization more per- 
 fect than ever before undertook the dismemberment of a 
 nation. He united and held together, ai/ainst contending 
 factions, his o\\\\ part}', and strengthened it by securing the 
 confidence and winning the support of the best part of all 
 parties. He composed the cjuarrels of rival generals; and 
 at length, won the respect and confidence and sympathy of 
 all nations and peoples. He was reelected, almost by accla- 
 mation, and after a series of brilliant victories, he annihilated 
 all armed opposition. He led the people, step b}' step, to 
 emancipation, and saw his work crowned b\' an amendment 
 of the Constitution, eradicating and prohibiting sla\er)' for- 
 ever throughout the Republic. 
 
 Such is a brief and imperfect summary of his achieve- 
 ments during the last five years of his life. And this good 
 man, when the hour of victory came, made it not the hour 
 of vengeance, but of forgiveness and reconciliation. 
 
 These five years of incessant labor and fearful responsi- 
 bilit}' told even upon his strength and vigor. He left Illinois 
 for the Capital with a frame of iron and nerves of steel. 
 His old friends who had known him as a man who did not 
 know what illness was ; who had seen him on the prairies 
 before the Illinois courts, full of life, genial, and sparkling 
 with fun; now saw the wrinkles on his forehead deepened 
 into furrows — the laugh of the old days lost its heartiness;
 
 38 
 
 anxiety, responsibility, care, and hard work wore upon him, 
 and his nerv^es of steel, at times, became irritable. He had 
 had no respite, had taken no holidays. When others fled 
 away from the dust and heat of the Capital, he stayed. He 
 would not leave the helm until all danger was past, and the 
 good ship of state had made her port. 
 
 1 will not dwell upon the unutterable sorrow of the 
 American people at his shocking death. But I desire to 
 express here, in this great City of this grand Empire, the 
 scnsibilit}' with which the people of the United States 
 received, at his death, the sympathy of the English-speak- 
 
 ing race. 
 
 That sympathy was most eloquently expressed by all. 
 It came from Windsor Castle to the White House; from 
 England's widowed Oueen to the stricken and distracted 
 widow at Washington. Erom Parliament to Congress, from 
 the people of all this magnificent Empire, as it stretches 
 round the world. Erom England to India, from Canada to 
 Australia, came words of deep feeling, and they were 
 received by the American people, in their sore bereave- 
 ment, as the expression of a kindred race. 
 
 I can not forbear referring in particular to the words 
 spoken in Parliament on that occasion by Lords Russell and 
 Derby, and, especially, by that great and picturesque leader, 
 so lately passed away. Lord J^eaconsfield. After a discrimi- 
 nating eulogy upon the late President, and the expression of • 
 profound sympathy, he said : 
 
 "Nor is it possible for the people of P^ngland, at such a 
 moment, to forget that he sprang from the same father-land 
 and spake the same mother-tongue." 
 
 God grant that, in all the unknown future, nothing may 
 ever disturb the friendly feeling and respect which each 
 nation entertains for the other. May there never be another 
 quarrel in the family.
 
 36 
 
 39 
 
 I'm PKKSiDfNc. Ofkickr, at the conclusion called upon Mr. 
 V. G. l''i.iAN, M.A.. who, speaking of the synipatii)- which existed 
 between the mother-country and the great American nation, attri- 
 buted it in some degree to tiie influence of tin,' interchange of the 
 literature of the two countries, and showed that that influence, 
 though of a comparatively recent date, was daily becoming more 
 widely and deeply ifelt, and would continue to grow. He spoke 
 in. sympathetic terms of the admiration borne in this country for 
 the character and work of the lamented Lincoln, and of the in- 
 tense earnestness with which the operative classes in this countrx 
 espoused the cause of the North during the great war. Though 
 that earnestness was undoubtedly, in some measure, due to the sad 
 effects which the paralysis of the cotton industry produced in the 
 great manufacturing districts, he knew, from personal observation 
 and exi)erience during that trying time, that it was also due to the 
 inherent love of liberty, deep-seated in the heart of England, and 
 ever ready to succor the oppressed of all nations and to help those 
 ■who were fighting for the cause of freedom. 
 
 Mr. Tiiu PAi.i.iAKDiM followed and said: 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladiks, and (iKNTLEMAX: — Seldom have I 
 listened to a paper that has so deeply interested me. It has given 
 us a living portrait of one of the most remarkable individualities ot 
 recent times — a portrait, too, traced by the hand of one who, hav- 
 ing himself taken a prominent i)art in the great national struggle 
 which put an end to slavery, had constant opportunities of seeing 
 and studying in every phase of his life the eminent man he has so 
 graphically portrayed. And though it has been said that familiarity 
 breeds contempt, and that there is no hero for his valet, yet men of 
 the Garibaldi and Lincoln type, whose influence on their country 
 and mankind at large is chiefly du-? to mornl force, can only gain 
 by a closer view of them in their prosaic every-day life. When we 
 see the gentler feelings of the human heart combined in a ])romi- 
 nent man with a rigid sense of duty and the intellectual power and 
 perseverance necessary l(; fulfil that dut), we not only admire that 
 man, but revere and love him. Hence Abraham Lincoln, the pre- 
 server, as Washington was the founder of the great L'nion, always, 
 1 must confess, stood hitiher in mv estimation and love than all the
 
 40 
 
 Alexanders, Caesars, and Napoleons who have reddened the pages 
 of history with their briUiant exploits. 
 
 Before his time, I was often taunted by my French republican 
 friends for showing but scant enthusiasm for "La grande Repub- 
 lique Americaine." In answer, I pointed to the huge black spot 
 which, though it only covered half, yet extended its moral taint ta 
 the whole of the otherwise glorious Union. That could not be the 
 model land of Liberty where millions of our fellow-creatures were 
 born to slavery, to be bought and sold like swine. 
 
 But when the great deliverer arose, humble though his origin^ 
 as is that of most deliverers, my sentiments toward America 
 changed. I hailed him with enthusiasm and stood almost alone 
 in my circle, composed chiefly of readers of the conservative and 
 semi-conservative press; for, to their shame and ultimate discom" 
 fiture, the leading papers almost all took the wrong side, prophesy- 
 ing continuous disasters to the anti-slavery party and a consequent 
 disruption of the Union. Their grand but specious argument, 
 which misled many honest minds, ignorant of the history of the 
 several States, was that the South had as much right to fight for 
 their liberty as the United States themselves had to fight for their 
 independence against England. Liberty, indeed! The liberty to 
 perpetuate the curse of slavery! 
 
 But Americans must not judge of British sentiments by the 
 conservative press, which only represents a portion of the public^ 
 but which, unfortunately, was that which most easily found its way 
 across the Atlantic. The real heaft of Great Britain was from the 
 beginning with the North. Indeed, Lincoln's warmest sympathizers- 
 were those who suffered most from the direful American civil con- 
 test — the cotton-spinners and the whole body of the working classes. 
 And as nothing succeeds like success, I am bound to add that in 
 the process of time the undaunted determination of the Northern 
 States, under a series of alarming defeats, with their best trained 
 generals and officers, and their chief arsenals on the side of the 
 slave-holders, gradually gained for them and for their great inspirer^ 
 Abraham Lincoln, the respect and admiration of all parties — and 
 this admiration and this respect were vastly increased when, in the 
 hour of victory, all cries for vengeance were hushed, and the hand 
 of brotherhood was held out to the defeated party by the noble- 
 hearted President with the full consent of his victorious country- 
 men.
 
 37 
 
 And now that what was deemed impossible is an accomphshed 
 fact, 7'iz.: the abomination of slavery eradicated forever from the 
 great American Republic, and Peace and Prosperity restored 
 throughout the land, I trust thai, in Mr. Arnold's own words, 
 "nothing may ever disturb the friendly feeling and respect which 
 each of the great Anglo-Saxon Nations entertains for the other." 
 
 Already have . they given a striking proof of their advanced 
 civilization and friendly feelings, and a noble example to all other 
 civilized nations, in the peaceful settlement of the burning Alabama 
 c[uestion, which, but one generation ago, would most certainly have 
 led to an obstinate war, ruinous to both countries. That the deci- 
 sion of the neutral body of Arbitrators yas impartial and tolerably 
 just was proved by its giving at the lime entire satisfaction to nei- 
 ther party, the whole question being, however, soon after completely 
 dropped, leaving no angry feelings behind, as would have done a 
 war however successful in the end. May God grant that any future 
 differences between these two great nations having a common 
 origin, a common language, a common literature, and so many in- 
 stitutions in common, be settled in the same just, friendly, and 
 rational manner. No fratricidal war must or can ever arise between 
 them. All their future battles must be fought on the peaceful fields 
 of science, literature, and the industrial arts. Victories on these 
 fields will benefit both, and the whole human race into the bargain. 
 
 I will now conclude these hasty remarks by proposing a hearty 
 vote of thanks to the Hon. Isaac N. Arnold for his very valuable 
 and interesting paper. 
 
 ^Vhich was unanimously adopted.
 
 42 
 
 NOTE FROM THE RIGHT HON. JOHN BRIGHT: 
 
 No. 132 Piccadilly, London, 
 Jime 28th, '81. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 T have read with much pleasure your interesting paper on 
 President Lincoln. I wish all men could read it, for the Hfe of 
 your great President affords much that tends to advance all that 
 is good and noble among men. I thank you for sending me the 
 report of your paper. 
 
 i^am, very sincerely yours, 
 
 John Bright. 
 Hon. Isaac N. Arnold. 
 
 LP:TTER from MRS. ANNE C. BOTTA: 
 
 Buckingham Palace Hotel, 
 yiiue 22d^ 188 I. 
 My Dear Mr. Arnold: 
 
 An hour ago I opened the pamphlet you gave me yesterday, 
 intending to glance at the contents and lay it aside to read when I 
 reached home, but I found myself unable to lay it down mitil I had 
 carefully read every word from first to last. It is certainly the most 
 clear, exhaustive, and eloquent tribute to Mr. Lincoln that I have 
 ever seen. But the pleasure it has given me is quite equalled by 
 the pride I feel in knowing that it was listened to by the London 
 Historical Society, to whom it must have been as novel as interest- 
 ing. As a good American, I thank you cordially for thus giving to 
 the English people so noble a picture of our great President, while 
 at the same time, you presented to them in person his able friend 
 and coadjutor. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 Anne C. Botta.
 
 43 38 
 
 'Hie following account of the meeting is taken from a letter of 
 MoNCURK I). C(iNWAY, to the Cincinnati Commercial : 
 
 London, June 18, 1881. 
 
 On Thursday evening, an unusually large comi)any of ladies 
 and gentlemen gathered in the rooms of tlic Royal Historical 
 Society to listen to a pa])er on Abraham i-incoln, by Hon. Isaar 
 N. Arnold, President of the Chicago Historical Society, autlior also 
 of the "Life of Benedict Arnold, " who was in no sense his ances- 
 tor. * * 
 
 Mr. Arnold, who was accompanied by Mr. Mathews (author of 
 "(letting on in Life") and Mrs. Mathews, was a remarkable figure 
 among the blonde and ruddy Knglish people around him, and who 
 greeted him with great cordiality. He is a tall, lithe, sinewy sort of 
 man, with a brownish complexion, a fine forehead, a (juick, penetrat- 
 ing eye, and a face whose many lines are not the marks of age or 
 care, but the inscriptions of experience. It was grateful to sec such 
 a typical western man, so self-poised and dignified, so related to his 
 American habitat, and yet so human in his sympathies, come to tell 
 the Entflish about our martvr President. As he went on, I felt that 
 the dreary disquisition [referring to a i)aper which had been read 
 previously] which we liad been enduring, now added to the pictu- 
 resqueness of the situation. It was as if, while we were fumbling 
 in the Valley of Dry Bones, })icking up now Saladin's skull, next 
 Urban's thigh-bone, suddenly our eyes were caught by the eye and 
 front of a man worth many Saladin.s, and a Crusader saving races 
 instead of destroying them. It is not often that the Royal Histori- 
 cal Society has an opportunity of considering history in the making, 
 but the satisfaction with which it a\ailed itself of that given it on 
 Thursday, may have the result of multiplying such opportunities. 
 
 After a graceful recognition of the debt .Americans owe to their 
 British ancestors, a debt repaid in giving to the Knglish-speaking 
 world Washington and Lincoln. Mr. Arnold stated modestly his long 
 ac(}uaintance with the man of whom he was speaking. He knew 
 him, somewhat intimately, in i)rivate and public life for more than 
 twenty years. He gave a grai)hic account of the shooting of Lin- 
 coln's grandtather by an Indian; Mordecai's shooting the Lidian 
 through a loop-hole of their cabin, as he (the Indian) was carrying 
 off his younger brother 'i'homas, who lived to become father of the 
 President. A good ])icture in frontier life was drawn in few words, 
 and the figure of young Abraham, "his head protected from the 
 cold by a cap made of the skin of the coon, fox, or i)rairie-wolf," 
 and with the "buckskin breeches and hunting-shirt of the pioneer." 
 "He grew up to be a man of majestic stature and herculean strength. 
 Had he appeared in England or Normandy some centuries ago, he 
 would have been the founder of some I'aronial family, ])ossil)le of a
 
 44 
 
 Royal dynasty. He could have wielded with ease the two-handed 
 sword of Guy, or the battle-ax of Richard of the I,ion-heart."' The 
 kindliness and fine feeling of this man, so roughly nurtured, were 
 brought out with art by Mr. Arnold, and all present were impressed 
 by the pathos of the scene when Lincoln was leaving his neighbors 
 to assume the hard duties of his Presidency. * * "* He 
 told some touching incidents in the life of Lincoln at Washing- 
 ton, and gave an excellent account of his personal characteristics. 
 Among other things he related that when a member of Congress 
 asked him why he did not join some church, Lincoln replied: "Be- 
 cause I found difficulty, without mental reservation, in giving my 
 consent to the long and complicated confessions of faith. When 
 any church will inscribe over its altar the Saviour's condensed state- 
 ment of law and gospel, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor 
 as thyself,' that church will T join with all my heart." [The substi- 
 tution of "gospel'' for Christ's word, "prophets," in this story is an 
 indication of how new versions are made by other than royal com- 
 missions.] This anecdote, like several other things in Mr. Arnold's 
 essay, was warmly applauded. The reader showed a good deal of 
 feeling when he described Lincoln near the close of his career. 
 "He left Illinois for the Capital, with a frame of iron and nerves of 
 steel. His old friends who had known him as a man who did not 
 know what illness was, who had seen him on the prairies before the 
 Illinois courts, full of life, genial, and sparkling with fun, now saw 
 wrinkles on his forehead deepened into furrows — the laugh of the 
 old days lost its heartiness; anxiety, responsibility, care, and hard 
 work wore upon him, and his nerves of steel at times became irri- 
 table. He had no respite, had taken no holidays. When others 
 fled away from the dust and heat of the Capital, he stayed. He 
 would not leave the helm until all danger was past, and the good 
 ship of state had made her port.'" 
 
 When, in conclusion, Mr. Arnold spoke with earnestness of the 
 sympathy which came from the English-speaking race at Lincoln's 
 death, and of the sympathy which "came from Windsor Castle to 
 the AVhite House," it is probable that his words carried suggestions 
 which he had not thought of '^ * *
 
 39 
 
 4.^ 
 
 - NOTE FROM ROHl-RT T. LINCOLN: 
 
 War Di:rARTMENT, Washington, 
 
 Aug. 20, 1 88 1. 
 Mv Dkar Mr. Arnold: 
 
 Please accept my thanks for the cop\' of }'our 
 
 address before the Royal Historical Societ)-, which I have 
 
 read carefully and with the greatest pleasure. 
 
 I tell vou sincerch' that 1 ha\'e never seen an\'thin"" 
 of the character so gratif\'ing to myself and so complete. 
 General R. S. Drum, our adjutant - general, has also read 
 your lecture. He is a very warm friend of my father, and 
 is very anxious to have a copy for preservation. 
 
 I will be very much obliged if \'ou can send one, 
 either directly to him or to me for him, as I wish to keep 
 the copy I now have for myself 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 Robert T. Lincoln. 
 Hon. 1. N. .\rnoli), 
 
 Chicago.
 
 40
 
 '\
 
 4 
 
 41
 
 A
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 
 Read before The Royal Historical Society, 
 London, June 16111, 1881. 
 
 BY 
 
 Hon. ISAAC N. ARNOLD, F.R.H.S. 
 
 i/ 
 
 STEPHEN A. DOLGLAS: 
 
 AN EULOGY 
 
 Delivered before The Chicago University, 
 
 July 31), 1861. 
 
 BY 
 
 Hon. JAMES W. SHEAHAN. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 FERGU.S PRINTING COMPANY, 
 1 881.
 
 43 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Bv HON. ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 
 
 A Paper read before the Royal Historical Society, London, June 16, 1881. 
 
 Thk noblest inheritance we, Americans, derive from 
 our British ancestors is the memory and example of the 
 great and good men who adorn }'our history. They are 
 as much appreciated and honored on our side of the 
 Atlantic as on this. In giving to the English-speaking 
 world Washington and Lincoln we think we repa\', in 
 large part, our obligation. Their preeminence in Ameri- 
 can histor\' is recognized, and the republic, which the one 
 founded and the other preserved, has, alread)', crowned 
 theni as models for her children. 
 
 In the annals of almost every great nation some names 
 appear standing out clear and prominent, names of those 
 who have influenced, or controlled, the great events which 
 make up history. Such were Wallace and Bruce, in Scot- 
 land. Alfred and the Edwards, William the Conqueror. 
 Cromwell, Pitt, Nelson, and Wellington, in England, and 
 such in a still greater degree were Washington and Lincoln. 
 
 I am here, from near his home, with the hope that I 
 may, to some extent, aid \'ou in forming a just and true 
 estimate of Abraham Lincoln. I knew him, somewhat 
 intimately, in private and public life for more than twent\' 
 years. \\'e practised law at the same bar, and, during 
 his administration, I was a member of Congress, seeing 
 him and conferring with him often, and, therefore, I ma\' 
 hope without vanit>', I trust that I shall be able to con- 
 tribute something of \'alue in enabling you to judge of 
 him. We in America, as well as \'ou in the old world, 
 believe that "blood will tell;" that it is a great blessing 
 to have had an honorable and worth)' ancestry. We 
 12
 
 1 66 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 believ^e that moral principle, physical and intellectual 
 vigor in the forefathers are qualities likely to be mani- 
 fested in the descendants. Fools are not the fathers or 
 mothers of great men. I claim for Lincoln, humble as 
 was the station to which he was born, and rude and 
 rough as were his early surroundings, that he had such 
 ancestors. I mean that his father and mother, his grand- 
 father and grandmother, and still further back, however 
 humble and rugged their condition, were physically and 
 mentally strong, vigorous men and women; hardy and 
 successful pioneers on the frontier of American civilization. 
 They were among the early settlers in Virginia, Kentucky, 
 and Illinois, and knew how to take care of themselves in 
 the midst of difficulties and perils; how to live and suc- 
 ceed when the weak would perish. These ancestors of 
 Lincoln, for several generations, kept on the very crest 
 of the wave of Western settlements — on the frontier, 
 where the struggle for life was hard and the strong alone 
 survived. 
 
 His grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, and his father, 
 Thomas, were born in Rockingham County, Virginia. 
 
 About 1 78 1, while his father was still a lad, his grand- 
 father's family emigrated to Kentuck}% and was a contem- 
 porary with Daniel Boone, the celebrated Indian fighter 
 and early hero of that State. This, a then wild and 
 wooded territory, was the scene of those fierce and des- 
 perate conflicts between the settlers and the Indians 
 which gave it the name of "The dark and bloody ground." 
 
 When Thomas Lincoln, the father of the President, was 
 six years old, his father (Abraham, the grandfather of 
 the President) was shot and instantl}* killed by an Indian. 
 The boy and his father were at work in the corn-field, 
 near their log-cabin home. ]\Iordecai, the elder brother of 
 the lad, at work not far away, witnessed the attack. He 
 saw his father fall, and ran to the cabin, seized his ready- 
 loaded rifle and springing to the loop-hole cut through 
 the logs, he saw the Indian, who had seized the boy, 
 carrying him away. Raising his rifle and aiming at a 
 silver medal, conspicuous on the breast of the Indian, he 
 instantly fired. The Indian fell, and the lad, springing 
 to his feet, ran to the open arms of his mother, at the
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 167 
 
 cabin door. Amidst such scenes, the Lincohi faniil\- natu- 
 ralK' produced rude, rough, liardy, and fearless men, 
 famihar witli wood -craft ; men wlio could meet the 
 extremes of exposure and fatigue, who knew how to find 
 food and shelter in the forest; men of great powers of 
 endurance — brave and self-reliant, true and faithful to 
 their friends and dangerous to their enemies. Men with 
 minds to conceive and hands to execute bold enterprises. 
 
 It is a curious fact that the grandfather, Abraham 
 Lincoln, is noted on the surveys of Daniel Hoone as hav- 
 ing purchased, of the Government, fi\'e hundred acres of 
 land. Thomas Lincoln, the' father, was also the purchaser 
 of government land, and President Lincoln left, as a part 
 of his estate, a quarter- section (one hundred and sixty 
 acres), which he had received from the United States, for 
 services rendered in earl)' life as a volunteer soldier, in the 
 Black- Hawk Indian war. Thus for three generations the 
 Lincoln famil)' were land-owners directly from the Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Such was the lineage and famil\' from which President 
 Lincoln sprung. Such was the enx'ironmcnt in which his 
 character was developed. 
 
 He was born in a log-cabin, in Kentuck}-, on the 12th 
 of February, 1809. 
 
 It will aid you in picturing to }'ourself this young man 
 and his surroundings, to know that, from boyhood to the 
 age of twenty-one, in winter his head was protected from 
 the cold by a cap made of the skin of the coon, fox, or 
 prairie-wolf, and that he often wore the buckskin breeches 
 and hunting-shirt of the pioneer. 
 
 He grew up to be a man of majestic stature and Her- 
 culean strength. Had he appeared in England or Nor- 
 mandy, some centuries ago, he would have been the 
 founder of some great Baronial famil\', possibly of a 
 Royal dynasty. He could have wielded, with ease, the 
 two-handed sword of Gu\', the great I^arl of Warwick, or 
 the battle-axe of Richard of the Lion-heart. 
 
 HIS EDUCATION AND TRAINING. 
 
 The world is naturall)' interested in knowing what was 
 the education and training which fitted Lincoln for the
 
 -A- 
 
 l68 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 great work which he accompHshed. On the extreme 
 frontier, the means of book-learning was very hmited. 
 The common free schools, which now closely follow the 
 heels of the pioneer and organized civil government, and 
 prevail all over the United States, had not then reached 
 the Far -West. An itinerant school-teacher wandered 
 occasionally into a settlement, opened a private school 
 for a few months, and, at such, Lincoln attended at differ- 
 ent times in all about twelve months. His mother, who 
 was a woman of practical good sense, of strong physical 
 organization, of deep religious feeling, gentle and self- 
 reliant, taught him to read and write. 
 
 Although she died when he was only nine years old, 
 she had already laid deep the foundations of his excel- 
 lence. Perfect truthfulness and integrity, love of justice, 
 self-control, reverence for God, these constituted the solid 
 basis of his character. These were all implanted and 
 carefully cultivated by his mother, and he always spoke 
 of her with the deepest respect and the most tender affec- 
 tion. " All that 1 am, or hope to be," said he, when 
 President, *T owe to my sainted mother." 
 
 He early manifested the most eager desire to learn, but 
 there were no libraries, and few books in the back settle- 
 ments in which he lived. Among the stray volumes, 
 which he found in the possession of the illiterate families 
 by which he was surrounded, were yEsop's Fables, Bun- 
 yan's Pilgrim's Progress, a life of Washington, the poems 
 of Burns, and the Bible. To these his reading was con- 
 fined, and he read them over and over again, until they 
 became as familiar almost as the alphabet. His memory 
 was marv^ellous, and I never yet met the man more 
 familiar with the Bible than Abraham Lincoln. This 
 was apparent in after-life, both from his conversation and 
 writings, scarcely a speech or state paper of his in which 
 illustrations and allusions from the Bible can not be found. 
 
 While a young man, he made for himself, of coarse 
 paper, a scrap-book, into which he copied everything 
 which particularly pleased him. He found an old English 
 grammar, which he studied by himself; and he formed, 
 from his constant study of the Bible, that simple, plain, 
 clear Anglo-Saxon style, so effective with the people. He
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 1 69 
 
 illustrated the maxim that it is better to know thoroughly 
 a few good books than to skim over man}'. When fifteen 
 years old, he began (with a view of improving himself) to 
 write on various subjects and to practise in making politi- 
 cal and other speeches. These he made so amusing and 
 attractive that his father had to forbid his making them 
 in working-hours, for, said he, "when Abe begins to speak, 
 all the hands flock to hear him." His memory was so 
 retentive that he could repeat, verbatim, the sermons and 
 political speeches which he heard. 
 
 While his days were spent in hard manual labor, and 
 his evenings in study, he grew up strong in body, health- 
 ful in mind, with no bad habits; no stain of intemperance, 
 profanity, or vice of any kind. He used neither tobacco 
 nor intoxicating drinks, and, thus living, he grew to be 
 six feet four inches high, and a giant in strength. In all 
 athletic sports he had no equal. I have heard an old 
 comrade say, "he could strike the hardest blow with the 
 woodman's axe, and the maul of the rail-splitter, jump 
 higher, run faster than any of his fellows, and there were 
 none, far or near, who could lay him on his back." Kind 
 and cordial, he early developed so much wit and humor, 
 such a capacity for narrative and story-telling, that he was 
 everywhere a most welcome guest. 
 
 A LAND SURVEYOR. 
 
 Like Washington, he became, in early life, a good prac- 
 tical surveyor, and I have, in my library, the identical 
 book from which, at eighteen years of age, he studied the 
 art of surveying. By his skill and accuracy, and b\' the 
 neatness of his work, he was sought after by the settlers, 
 to survey and fix the boundaries of their farms, and in 
 this way, in part, he earned a support while he studied 
 law. In 1837, self-taught, he was admitted and licensed, 
 by the Supreme Court of Illinois, to practise law. 
 
 A LAWYER. 
 
 It is difficult for me to describe, and, perhaps, more 
 difficult for you to conceive the contrast when Lincoln 
 began to practise law, between the forms of the adminis- 
 tration of justice in Westminster Hall, and in the rude
 
 -^ 
 
 170 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 log court-houses of Illinois. I recall to-day what was said 
 a few years ago by an Illinois friend, when we visited, for 
 the first time, Westminster Abbe)', and as we passed into 
 Westminster Hall. *' This," he exclaimed, " this is the 
 grandest forum in the world. Here Fox, Burke, and 
 Sheridan hurled their denunciations against Warren Hast- 
 ings. Here Brougham defended Queen Caroline. And 
 this," he went on to repeat, in the words of Macauley, 
 (words as familiar in America as here), "This is the great 
 hall of William Rufus, tlie hall which has resounded with 
 acclamations at the inauguration of thirty kings, and 
 which has witnessed the trials of Bacon and Somers and 
 Strafford and Charles the First." "And yet," I replied, 
 *T have seen justice administered on the prairies of Illi- 
 nois without pomp or ceremony, everything simple to 
 rudeness, and yet, when Lincoln and Douglas led at that 
 bar, I have seen justice administered by judges as pure, 
 aided by advocates as eloquent, if not as learned, as any 
 who ever presided, or plead, in Westminster Hall." 
 
 The common-law of England (said to be the perfection 
 of human wisdom) was administered in both forums, and 
 the decisions of each tribunal were cited as authority in 
 the other; both illustrating that reverence for, and obedi- 
 ence to, law, which is the glor}' of the English-speaking 
 race. 
 
 Lincoln was a great lawyer. He sought to convince 
 rather by the application of principle than by the citation 
 of authorities. On the whole, he was stronger with the 
 jury than with the court. I do not know that there has 
 ever been, in America, a greater or more successful advo- 
 cate before a jury, on the right side, than Abraham 
 Lincoln. He had a marvellous power of conciliating and 
 impressing everyone in his favor. A stranger entering the 
 court, ignorant of the case, and listening a few moments 
 to Lincoln, would find himself involuntarily on his side 
 and wishing him success. He was a quick and accurate 
 reader of character, and seemed to comprehend, almost 
 intuitiv^el}-, the peculiarities of those with whom he came 
 in contact. His manner was so candid, his methods so 
 direct, so fair, he seemed so anxious that truth and 
 justice should prevail, that everyone wished him success.
 
 ABRAHAxM LINCOLN. IJl 
 
 He excelled in the statement of his case. However com- 
 plicated, he would disentangle it, and present the import- 
 ant and turninj^- point in a way so clear that all could 
 understand. Indeed, his statement often alone won his 
 cause, rendering argument unnecessary. The judges 
 would often stop him b)' saying, "If that is the case, 
 brother Lincoln, we will hear the other side." 
 
 His ability in examining a witness, in bringing out 
 clearly the important facts, was only surpassed b}' his 
 skilful cross-examinations. He could often compel a wit- 
 ness to tell the truth, where he meant to lie. He could 
 make a jur\' laugh, and generalh' weep, at his pleasure. 
 On the right side, and when fraud or injustice were to be 
 exposed, or innocence vindicated, he rose to the highest 
 range of eloquence, and was irresistable. But he must 
 have faith in his cause to bring out his full strength. His 
 wit and humor, his quaint and homely illustrations, his 
 inexhaustible stores of anecdote, alwa}'s to the point, 
 added greatl}' to his power as a jur)'-advocate. 
 
 He never misstated e\'idence or misrepresented his 
 opponent's case, but met it fairly and squarely. 
 
 He remained in active practice until his nomination, 
 in Ma}-, iS6o, for the presidency. He was employed in 
 the leading cases in both the federal and state courts, and 
 had a large clientelage, not only in Illinois, but was fre- 
 quentU' called, on special retainers, to other States. 
 
 AN ILLINOLS POLITICL\N. 
 
 B)' his eloquence and popularit)* he became, earh' in 
 life, the leader of the old \\ hig party, in Illinois. He 
 served as member of the State Legislature, was the can- 
 date of his party for speaker, presidential elector, and 
 United States senator, and was a member of the lower 
 house of Congress. 
 
 SLAVERY. 
 
 When the independence of the American republic was 
 established, African slaver}' was tolerated as a local and 
 temporary institution. It was in conthct with the moral 
 sense, the religious convictions of the people, and the 
 political principles on which the government was founded. 
 
 But having been tolerated, it soon became an organized,
 
 1/2 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 aggressive power, and, later, it became the master of the 
 government. Conscious of its inherent weakness, it 
 demanded and obtained additional territory for its expan- 
 sion. First, the great Louisiana territory was purchased,, 
 then Florida, and then Texas. 
 
 By the repeal, in 1854, of the prohibition of slavery 
 north of the line of 36°, 30' of latitude (known in America 
 as the "Missouri Compromise"), the slavery question 
 became the leading one in American politics, and the 
 absorbing and exciting topic of discussion. It shattered 
 into fragments the old conservative Whig party, with 
 which Mr. Lincoln had, theretofore, acted. It divided 
 the Democratic party, and new parties were organized 
 upon issues growing directly out of the question of slavery. 
 
 The leader of that portion of the Democratic party 
 which continued, for a time, to act with the slavery party, 
 was Stephen Arnold Douglas, then representing Illinois 
 in the United States Senate. He was a bold, ambitious, 
 able man, and had, thus far, been uniformly successful. 
 He had introduced and carried through Congress, against 
 the most vehement opposition, the repeal of the law, pro- 
 hibiting slavery, called the Missouri Compromise. 
 
 THE CONTEST BETWEEN FREEDOM AND SLAVERY IN 
 
 THE TERRITORIES. 
 
 The issue having been now distinctly made between 
 freedom and the extension of slavery into the territories, 
 Lincoln and Douglas, the leaders of the Free-soil and 
 Democratic parties, became more than ever antagonized. 
 The conflict between freedom and slavery now became 
 earnest, fierce, and violent, beyond all previous political 
 controversies, and from this time on, Lincoln plead the 
 cause of liberty with an energy, ability, and eloquence,, 
 which rapidly gained for him a national reputation. 
 From this time on, through the tremendous struggle, it 
 .was he who grasped the helm and led his party to victory. 
 Conscious of a great cause, inspired by a generous love of 
 liberty, and animated by the moral sublimity of his great 
 theme, he proclaimed his determination, ever thereafter,, 
 "to speak for freedom, and against slavery, until every- 
 where the sun shall shine, the rain shall fall, and the wind
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN'. 1 73 
 
 blow upon no man who goes forth to unrequited toil." 
 
 THE LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DERATE. 
 
 The i^reat debate between Lincohi and Doughis, in 
 1858, was, unquestionably, botli with reference to the 
 abiht)' of the speakers and its influence upon opinion and 
 events, the most important in American history. I do 
 not think I do injustice to others, nor over-estimate their 
 importance, when I say that the speeches of Lincohi pub- 
 hshed, circuLated, and read, throughout the Free-States, 
 did more than an}- other agency in creating the pubhc 
 opinion, which prepared the way for the overthrow of 
 slavery. The speeches of John Ouincy Adams, and those 
 of Senator Sumner, were more learned and scholarly, 
 and those of Lovejoy and Wendel Philips were more 
 vehement and impassioned; Senators Seward, Chase, and 
 Hale spoke from a more conspicuous forum, but Lincoln's 
 speeches were as philosophic, as able, as earnest as any, 
 and his manner had a simplicity and directness, a clear- 
 ness of illustration, and his language a plainness, a vigor, 
 an Anglo-Saxon strength, better adapted, than any other, 
 to reach and influence the understanding and sentiment 
 of the common people. 
 
 At the time of this memorable discussion, both Lincoln 
 and Douglas were in the full maturity of their powers. 
 Douglas being forty-five and Lincoln forty-nine years old. 
 Douglas had had a long training and experience as a 
 popular speaker. On the hustings (stump, as we say in 
 America) and in Congress, and- especially in the United 
 States Senate, he had been accustomed to meet the ablest 
 debaters of his State and of the Nation. 
 
 His friends insisted that never, either in conflict with a 
 single opponent, or when repelling the assaults of a whole 
 party, had he been discomfited. His manner was bold, 
 vigorous, and aggressive. He was ready, fertile in 
 resources, familiar with political history, strong and severe 
 in denunciation, and he handled, with skill, all the 
 weapons of the dialectician. His iron will, tireless energy, 
 united with physical and moral courage, and great per- 
 sonal magnetism, made him a natural leader, and gave 
 him personal popularity.
 
 -^ 
 
 174 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 Lincoln was also now a thoroughly trained speaker. 
 He had contended successfully at the bar, in the legisla- 
 ture, and before the people, with the ablest men of the 
 West, including Douglas, with whom he always rather 
 sought than avoided a discussion. But he was a courte- 
 ous and generous opponent, as is illustrated by the follow- 
 ing beautiful allusion to his rival, made in 1856, in one of 
 their joint debates. "Twenty years ago. Judge Douglas 
 and I first became acquainted ; we were both young then ; 
 he a trifle younger than I. Even then, we were both am- 
 bitious, I, perhaps, quite as much as he. With me, the 
 race of ambition has been a flat failure. With him, it has 
 been a splendid success. His name fills the Nation, and 
 it is not unknown in foreign lands. I affect no con- 
 tempt for the high eminence he has reached; so reached, 
 that the oppressed of my species might have shared with 
 me in the elevation, I would rather stand on that emi- 
 nence than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a 
 monarch's brow." 
 
 We know, and the world knows, that Lincoln did reach 
 that high, nay, far higher eminence, and that he did reach 
 it in such a way that the "oppressed" did share with him 
 in the elevation. 
 
 Such were the champions who, in 1858, were to discuss, 
 before the voters of Illinois, and with the whole Nation as 
 spectators, the political questions then pending, and espec- 
 ially the vital questions relating to slavery. It was not a 
 single combat, but extended through a whole campaign. 
 
 On the return of Douglas, from Washington, to Illinois, 
 in July, 1858, Lincoln and Douglas being candidates for 
 the senate, the former challenged his rival to a series of 
 joint debates, to be held at the principal towns in the 
 State. The challenge was accepted, and it was agreed 
 that each discussion should occupy three hours, that the 
 speakers should alternate in the opening and the close — 
 the opening speech to occupy one hour, the reply one 
 hour and a-half, and the close half an hour. The meet- 
 ings were held in the open air, for no hall could hold the 
 vast crowds which attended. 
 
 In addition to the immense mass of hearers, reporters, 
 from all the principal newspapers in the country, attended,
 
 ABRAHAM LIXCQLX. 1 75 
 
 SO that the morning after each debate, the speeches were 
 pubhshed, and eagerl}- read b)- a large part, perhaps a 
 majority of all the voters of the United States. 
 
 The attention of the American people was thus arrested, 
 and the}' watched with intense interest, and devoured 
 every argument of the champions. 
 
 Each of these great men, I doubt not, at that time, 
 sincerely believed he was right. Douglas' ardor, while in 
 such a conflict, would make him think, for the time being, 
 he was right, and I kmnv that Lincoln argued for freedom 
 against the extension of sla\'er}' with the most profound 
 conviction that on the result hung the fate of his country. 
 Lincoln had two adxantages over Douglas; he had the 
 best side of the question, and the best temper. He was 
 always good-humored, always had an apt stor)- iox illus- 
 tration, while Douglas sometimes, when hard pressed, was 
 irritable. 
 
 Douglas carried awa}- the most popular applause, but 
 Lincoln made the deeper and more lasting impression. 
 Douglas did not disdain an immediate ad captandtuu 
 triumph, while Lincoln aimed at permanent conviction. 
 Sometimes, when Lincoln's friends urged him to raise a 
 storm of applause (which he could always do by his happy 
 illustrations and amusing stories), he refused, saying the 
 occasion was too serious, the issue too grave. *T do not 
 seek applause," said he, "nor to amuse the people, I want 
 to convince them." 
 
 It was often observed, during this canvass, that while 
 Douglas was sometimes greeted with the loudest cheers, 
 when Lincoln closed, the people seemed solemn and seri- 
 ous, and could be heard, all through the crowd, gravel)' 
 and anxiously discussing the topics on which he had been 
 speaking. 
 
 Douglas secured the immediate object of the struggle, 
 but the manl}' bearing, the vigorous logic, the honest)' and 
 sincerit)', the great intellectual powers, exhibited b)- Mr. 
 Lincoln, prepared the wa)', and, two years later, secured 
 his nomination and election to the presidency. It is a 
 touching incident, illustrating the patriotism of both these 
 statesmen, that, widel)- as tlic)' differed, and keen as hai.1 
 been their rivalr)', just as soon as the life of the Republic
 
 176 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 was menaced, by treason, they joined hands, to shield and 
 save the county they loved. 
 
 The echo and the prophecy of this great debate was 
 heard, and inspired hope in the far-off cotton and rice- 
 fields of the South The toiling blacks, to use the words 
 of Whittier, began hopefully to pray: 
 
 " We pray de Lord. He gib us signs 
 Dat some day we be free. 
 De Norf wind tell it to de pines, 
 De wild duck to de sea. 
 
 " We tink it when de church-bell ring, 
 We dream it in de dream, 
 De rice-bird mean it when he sing, 
 De eagle when he scream. " 
 
 THE COOPER-INSTITUTE SPEECH. 
 
 In February, i860, Mr. Lincoln was called to address 
 the people of New York, and, speaking to a vast audience, 
 at the Cooper Institute (the Exeter Hall of the United 
 States), the poet Bryant presiding, he made, perhaps, the 
 most learned, logical, and exhaustive speech to be found 
 in American anti-slavery literature. The question was, 
 the power of the National Government to exclude slavery 
 from the territories. The orator from the prairies, the 
 morning after this speech, awoke to find himself famous. 
 
 He closed with these words, "Let us have faith that 
 right makes might, and in that faith let us, to the end, 
 do our duty as we understand it." 
 
 This address was the carefully finished product of, not 
 an orator and statesman only, but also of an accurate 
 student of American history. It confirmed and elevated 
 the reputation he had already acquired in the Douglas 
 debates, and caused his nomination and election to the 
 presidency. 
 
 If time permitted, I would like to follow Mr. Lincoln, 
 step by step, to enumerate his measures one after another,, 
 until, by prudence and courage, and matchless states- 
 manship, he led the loyal people of the republic to the 
 final and complete overthrow of slavery and the restora- 
 tion of the Union. 
 
 From the time he left his humble home, in Illinois, to 
 assume the responsibilities of power, the political horizon
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 1/7 
 
 black with treason and rebellion, the terrific thunder 
 clouds, — the tempest which had been ijatherini; and j^row- 
 ini^ more black and threatening for years, now ready to 
 explode, — on and on, throui^h lon;^ years of bloody war, 
 down to his final triumph and death — what a drama! 
 His eventful life terminated b}' his tragic death, has it not 
 the dramatic unities, and the awful ending, of the Old 
 Greek tragedy? 
 
 TTIS FAREWELL TO HIS NEIGHBORS. 
 
 I know of nothing, in history, more pathetic than the 
 scene when he bade good-bye to his old friends and 
 neighbors. Conscious of the difficulties and dangers 
 before him, difficulties which seemed almost insurmount- 
 able, with a sadness as though a presentiment that he 
 should return no more was pressing upon him, but with 
 a deep religious trust which was characteristic, on the 
 platform of the rail-carriage, which was to bear him away 
 to the Capital, he pauseci and said, "No one can realize 
 the sadness I feel at this parting. Here I hav^e lived more 
 than a quarter of a centur}-. Here m\' children were born, 
 and here one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I 
 shall see you again. I go to assume a task more difficult 
 than that which has devolved upon any other man since 
 the days of Washington. He never would have suc- 
 ceeded but for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which, 
 at all times, he relied. * " '" I hope you, my 
 
 dear friends, will all pra\' that I ma\' receive that Divine 
 assistance, without which I can not succeed, but with 
 which, success is certain." 
 
 And as he waved his hand in farewell to the old home, 
 to which he was never to return, he heard the response 
 from many old friends, "God bless and keep you." "God 
 protect you from all traitors." His neighbors "sorrowing 
 most of all," for the fear "that they should see his face no 
 more." 
 
 HIS INAL'CiL'RAL AND AI'l'LAL FOR PEACE. 
 
 In his inaugural address, spoken in the open air, and 
 from the eastern portico of the capitol, and heard by 
 thrice ten thousand people, on the ver}^ verge of ci\il war,
 
 178 EARLY ILLINOIS 
 
 he made a most earnest appeal for peace. He gave the 
 most solemn assurance, that "the property, peace, and 
 security of no portion of the Repubhc should be endan- 
 gered by his administration." But he declared, with firm- 
 ness that the union of the States must be "perpetual," 
 and that he should "execute the laws faithfully in every 
 state." "In doing this," said he, "there need be no blood- 
 shed nor violence, nor shall there be, unless forced upon the 
 National Authority." In regard to the difficulties which 
 thus divided the people, he appealed to all to abstain 
 from precipitate action, assuring them that intelligence, 
 patriotism, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet 
 forsaken the Republic, "were competent to adjust, in the 
 best way, all existing troubles." 
 
 His closing appeal, against civil war, was most touch- 
 ing. "In your hands," said he, and his voice, for the first 
 time faltered, "In your hands, and not in mine, are the 
 momentous issues of civil war." ^ " "You can 
 
 have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors." 
 '^ ^ "I am," continued he, "loth to close, we are 
 not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies, 
 though passion may strain, — it must not break the bonds 
 of affection." 
 
 The answer to these appeals was the attack upon Fort 
 Sumpter, and immediately broke loose all the maddening 
 passions which riot in blood and carnage and civil war. 
 
 I know not how I can better picture and illustrate the 
 condition of affairs, and of public feeling, at that time, 
 than bv narrating; two or three incidents. 
 
 DOUGLAS' PROPHECY, JANUARY I, 1861. 
 
 In January, 1861, Senator Douglas, then lately a candi- 
 date for the presidency, with Mrs. Douglas, one of the 
 most beautiful and fascinating women in America, a rela- 
 tive of Mrs. Madison, occupied, at Washington, one of the 
 most magnificent blocks of dwellings, called the "Minne- 
 sota Block." On New-Year's-day, 1861, General Charles 
 Stewart, of New York, from whose lips I write an account 
 of the incident, says, 
 
 "I was making a New-Year's-call on Senator Douglas; 
 after some conversation, I asked him,
 
 A13KAHAM LIN'COLN. 1 79 
 
 " 'What will be the result, Senator, of the efforts of 
 Jefferson Davis, and his associates, to divide the Union?' 
 We were," said Stewart, "sitting on the sofa together, 
 when I asked the question. Douglas rose, walked rapidly 
 up and down the room for a moment, and then pausing, 
 he exclaimed, with deep feeling and excitement: 
 
 "'The Cotton States are making an effort to draw in 
 the Border States, to their schemes of Secession, and I 
 am but too fearful they will succeed. If they do, there 
 Will be the most fearful civil war the world has ever seen, 
 lasting for years.' 
 
 "Pausing a moment, he looked like one inspired, while 
 he proceeded: 'X'irginia, over yonder, across the Potomac,' 
 pointing toward Arlington, 'will become a charnel-house 
 — but in the end the Union will triumph. They will tr}',' 
 he continued, 'to get possession of this Capital, to give 
 them prestige abroad, but in that effort the}- will never 
 succeed; the North will rise eii masse to defend it. But 
 Washington will become a city of hospitals, the churches 
 will be used for the sick and wounded. This house,' he 
 continued, 'the Minnesota Block will be devoted to that 
 purpose before the end of the war.' 
 
 "Every word he said was literally fulfilled — all the 
 churches nearly were used for the wounded, and the Min- 
 nesota IMock, and the very room in which .this, declaration 
 was made, became the 'Douglas Hospital.' 
 
 "'What justification for all this.^' said Stewart. 
 
 " 'There is no justification,' replied Douglas. 
 
 "'I will go as far as the constitution will permit to 
 maintain their just rights, l^ut,' said he, rising upon his 
 feet and raising his arm, 'if the Southern States attempt 
 to secede, I am in favor of their having just so many 
 slaves, and just so much slave territory, as they can hold 
 at the point of the bayonet, and no more.' " 
 
 WILL THE NORTH FKHIT .^ 
 
 Many Southern leaders believed there would be no seri- 
 ous war, and labored industriously to impress this idea on 
 the Southern people. 
 
 Benjamin F. l^utler, who, as a delegate from Massachu- 
 setts, to the Charlestown Convention, had voted many
 
 l80 , EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 times for Breckenridge, the extreme Southern candidate 
 for president, came to Washington, in the winter of 1 860-1, 
 to inquire of his old associates what they meant by their 
 threats. 
 
 *'We mean," rephed they, "we mean Separation — a 
 Southern Confederacy. We will have our independence, 
 a Southern government — with no discordant elements." 
 
 ''Are you prepared for war.'" said Butler, coolly. 
 
 "Oh, there will be no war; the North won't fight." 
 
 "The North zci// fight," said Butler, "the North will 
 send the /ast man and expend the last dollar to maintain 
 the Government." 
 
 "But," replied Butler's Southern friends, "the North 
 can't fight — we have too many allies there." 
 
 "You have friends," responded Butler, "in the North, 
 who will stand by you so long as you fight your battles 
 in the Union, but the moment you fire on the flag, the 
 North will be a unit against you." "And," Butler con- 
 tinued, "you may be assured if war comes, slavery oidsT 
 
 THE SPECIAL SESSION OF CONGRESS, JULY, 1 86 1. 
 
 On the brink of this civil war, the President summoned 
 Congress to meet on the 4th of July, 1861, the anniver- 
 sary of our Independence. Seven States had already 
 seceded, were in open revolt, and the chairs of their repre- 
 sentatives, in both houses of Congress, were vacant. It 
 needed but a glance at these so numerous vacant seats to 
 realize the extent of the defection, the gravity of the situ- 
 ation, and the magnitude of the impending struggle. 
 The old pro-slaver\* leaders were absent. Some in the 
 rebel government, set up at Richmond, and others mar- 
 shalling troops in the field. Hostile armies were gather- 
 ing, and from the dome of the Capitol, across the Poto- 
 mac, and on toward Fairfax, in Virginia, could be seen 
 the Confederate flag. 
 
 Breckenridge, late the Southern candidate for president, 
 now Senator from Kentucky, and soon to lead a rebel 
 army, still lingered in the Senate. Like Cataline among 
 the Roman Senators, he was regarded with aversion and 
 distrust. Gloomy and, perhaps, sorrowful, he said, "I can
 
 51 
 
 ABRAIIAxM LINCOLN. l8l 
 
 only look with sadness on the melancholy drama that is 
 being enacted." 
 
 Pardon the digression, while I relate an incident which 
 occurred in the Senate, at this special session. 
 
 Senator Baker, of Oregon, was making a brilliant and 
 impassioned reply to a speech of Ikeckenridge, in which 
 he denounced the Kentucky senator, for giving aid and 
 encouragement to the enemy, by his speeches. At length 
 he paused, and, turning toward I^reckenridgc, and fixing his 
 eye upon him, he asked, "What would have been thought 
 if, after the battle of Cannai, a Roman senator had risen, 
 amidst the conscript Fathers, and denounced the war, and 
 opposed all measures for its success." 
 
 Baker paused, and every eye in the Senate, and in the 
 crowded galleries was fixed upon the almost solitary sena- 
 tor from Kentucky. Fessenden broke the painful silence, 
 by exclaiming, in low deep tones, which gave expression 
 to the thrill of indignation, which ran through the hall, 
 "He would hav^e been hurled from the Tarpeian Rock." 
 
 Congress manifested its sense of the gravity of the 
 situation by authorizing a loan of two hundred and fift}" 
 millions of dollars, and empowering the President to call 
 into the field five hundred thousand men, and as many 
 more as he might deem necessary. 
 
 SURRENDER OF MASON AND SLIDELL. 
 
 No act of the British Government, since the "stamp 
 act" of the Revolution, has ever excited such intense feel- 
 ing of hostility toward Great Britain, as her haughty 
 demand for the surrender of Mason and Slidell. It 
 required nerve, in the President, to stem the storm of 
 popular feeling, and yield to that demand, and it was, for 
 a time, the most unpopular act of his administration. 
 But when the excitement of the day had passed, it was 
 approved by the sober judgment of the Nation. 
 
 Prince Albert is kindly and gratefully remembered in 
 America, where it is believ^ed that his action, in modify- 
 ing the terms of that demand, probably saved the United 
 States and Great Britain from the horrors of war. 
 
 13
 
 \ 
 
 182 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 LINCOLN AND THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. 
 
 When in June, 1858, at his home, in Springfield, Mr. 
 Lincoln startled the people with the declaration, "This 
 government can not endure, permanently, half slave and 
 half free," and when, at the close of his speech, to those 
 who were laboring for the ultimate extinction of slavery, 
 he exclaimed, with the voice of a prophet, "We shall not 
 fail, if we stand firm, we shall not fail. Wise councils may 
 accelerate, or mistakes delay, but sooner or later the vic- 
 tory is sure to come;" he anticipated success, through 
 years of discussion, and final triumph through peaceful 
 and constitutional means by the ballot. He did not for- 
 see, nor even dream (unless in those dim mysterious 
 shadows, which sometimes startle by half revealing the 
 future), his own elevation to the presidency. He did not 
 then suspect that he had been appointed by God, and 
 should be chosen by the people, to proclaim the emanci- 
 pation of a race, and to save his country. He did not for- 
 see that slavery was so soon to be destroyed, amidst the 
 flames of war which itself kindled. 
 
 HIS MODERATION. 
 
 He entered upon his administration with the single pur- 
 pose of maintaining national unity, and many reproached 
 and denounced him for the slowness of his anti-slavery 
 measures. The first of the series was the abolition of slav- 
 ery at the National Capitol. This act gave freedom to 
 three thousand slaves, with compensation to their loyal 
 masters. Contemporanious with this was an act confer- 
 ring freedom upon all colored soldiers who should serve 
 in the Union armies and upon their families. The next 
 was an act, which I had the honor to introduce, pro- 
 hibiting slavery in all the territories, and wherever the 
 National Government had jurisdiction. But the great, the 
 decisive act of his administration, was the "Emancipation 
 Proclamation." 
 
 EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 
 
 The President had urged, with the utmost earnestness, 
 on the loyal slave-holders, of the Border States, gradual
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 183 
 
 and compensated emancipation, but in vain. He clearly 
 saw, all saw, that the slaves, as used by the confederates, 
 were a vast power, contributing^ immensely to their ability 
 to carry on the war, and, that by declaring their freedom, 
 he woulci convert millions of freedmen into active friends 
 and allies of the Union. The people knew that he was 
 deliberating upon the question of issuing this Emancipa- 
 tion Proclamation. At this crisis, the Union men of the 
 Border States made an appeal to him to withhold the 
 edict, and suffer slavery to survive. 
 
 They selected John J. Crittenden, a venerable and elo- 
 quent man, and their ablest statesman, to make, on the 
 floor of Congress, a public appeal to the President, to 
 withhold the proclamation. Mr. Crittenden had been 
 governor of Kentucky, her senator in Congress, attorney- 
 general of the United States, and now, in his old age, 
 covered with honors, he accepted, like John Ouincy Adams, 
 a seat in Congress, that in this crisis he might help to 
 save his country. 
 
 He was a sincere Union man, but believed it unwise to 
 disturb slavery. In his speech, he made a most eloquent 
 and touching appeal, from a Kentuckian to a Kentuckian. 
 He said, among other things, "There is a niche, near to 
 that of Washington, to him who shall save his country. 
 If Mr. Lincoln will step into that niche, the founder and 
 the preserver of the Republic shall stand side by side." 
 * "^ Owen Lovejoy, the brother of Elijah P. Love- 
 joy, who had been mobbed and murdered, because he 
 would not surrender the liberty of the press, replied to 
 Crittenden. After his brother's murder, kneeling upon the 
 green sod which covered that brother's grave, he had taken 
 a solemn vow, of eternal war upon slavery. Ever after, 
 like Peter the Hermit, with a heart of fire and a tongue of 
 lightning, he had gone forth, preaching his crusade 
 against slavery. At length, in his reph', turning to Crit- 
 tenden, he said, "The gentleman, from Kentucky, says he 
 has a niche for Abraham Lincoln, where is it.-*" 
 
 Crittenden pointed toward Heaven. 
 
 Lovejoy continuing said, "He points upward, but, sir! 
 if the President follows the counsel of that gentleman, 
 and becomes the perpetuator of slaver}', he should point
 
 184 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 dozumuard, to some dungeon in the temple of Moloch, 
 who feeds on human blood, and where are forged chains 
 for human limbs; in the recesses of whose temple woman 
 is scourged and man tortured, and outside the walls are 
 lying dogs, gorged with human flesh, as Byron describes 
 them, lying around the walls of Stambool." "That," said 
 Lov^ejoy, "is a suitable place for the statue of him who 
 would perpetuate slavery." 
 
 *T, too," said he, "have a temple for Abraham Lincoln, 
 but it is in freedom's holy fane, ^ "" not sur- 
 
 rounded by slave fetters and chains, but with the symbols 
 of freedom — not dark with bondage, but radiant with the 
 light of liberty. In that niche he shall stand proudly, 
 nobly, gloriously, with broken chains and slave's whips 
 beneath his feet. ^ ^ That is a fame worth liv- 
 ing for, aye, more, it is a fame worth dying for, though 
 that death led through Gethsemene and the agony of the 
 accursed tree." ^ ^ -h- 
 
 "It is said," continued he, "that Wilberforce went up to 
 the judgment seat with the broken chains of eight hun- 
 dred thousand slaves! Let Lincoln make himself the 
 Liberator, and his name shall be enrolled, not only in this 
 earthly temple, but it shall be traced on the living stones 
 of that temple which is reared amid the thrones of 
 Heaven." 
 
 Lovejoy's prophecy has been fulfilled — in this world — 
 you see the statues to Lincoln, with broken chains at his 
 feet, rising all over the world, and — in that other world — 
 few will doubt that the prophecy has been realized. 
 
 In September, 1862, after the Confederates, by their 
 defeat at the great battle of Antietam, had been driven 
 back from Maryland and Pennsylvania, Lincoln issued the 
 Proclamation. It is a fact, illustrating his character, and 
 showing that there was in him what many would call a 
 tinge of superstition, that he declared, to Secretary Chase, 
 that he had made a solemn vow to God, saying, "if Gen- 
 eral Lee is driven back from Pennsylvania, I will crown 
 the result with the declaration of I^REEDOM TO THE 
 Slave." The final Proclamation was issued on the first 
 of January, 1863. In obedience to an American custom, 
 he had been receiving calls on that New-Year's-day, and,
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 1 85 
 
 for liours, shakin<^ hands. As the paper was brought to 
 him by the Secretary of State, to be signed, he said, 
 "iNIr. Seward, I liave been shaking liands all day, and my 
 right hand is almost paralyzed. If my name ever gets 
 into history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in 
 it. If m\' hand trembles when I sign the proclamation, 
 those who examine the document hereafter, will say, "he 
 hesitated." 
 
 Then, resting his arm a moment, he turned to the table, 
 took up the pen, and slowly and firmly wrote Abra/iam. 
 Lincoln. He smiled as, handing the paper to Mr. Seward, 
 he said, "that will do." 
 
 From this day, to its final triumph, the tide of victory 
 seemed to set more and more in favor of the Union cause. 
 The capture of Vicksburg, the victory of Gettysburg, 
 Chattanooga, Chicamauga, Lookout-IMountain, Missionary 
 Ridge, Sheridan's brilliant campaign in the Valley of the 
 Shenandoah; Thomas' decisive victory at Nashville; Sher- 
 man's march, through the Confederacy, to the sea; the 
 capture of Fort McAllister; the sinking of tJic Alabama; 
 the taking of Mobile, by Farragut; the occupation of Col- 
 umbus, Charlestown, Savannah; the evacuation of Peters- 
 burg and Richmond; the surrender of Lee to Grant; the 
 taking of Jefferson Davis a prisoner; the triumph every- 
 where of the National Arms; such were the events which 
 followed (though with delays and bloodshed) the "Procla- 
 mation of Emancipation." 
 
 THE AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 Meanwhile Lincoln had been triumphantly reelected, 
 Congress had, as before stated, abolished slavery at the 
 Capital, prohibited it in all the territories, declared all 
 negro soldiers in the Union armies, and their families free, 
 and had repealed all laws which sanctioned or recognized 
 slavery, and the President had crowned and consummated 
 all, by the proclamation of emancipation. One thing 
 alone remained to perfect, confirm, and make everlastingly 
 permanent these measures, and this was to embody in the 
 Constitution itself, the prohibition of slavery everywhere 
 within the Republic. 
 
 To change the organic law, rcc^uired the adoption by a
 
 ^ 
 
 1 86 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 two-thirds' vote of a joint resolution, by Congress, and that 
 this should be submitted to, and ratified by two-thirds of 
 the States. 
 
 The President, in his annual message and in personal 
 interviews with members of Congress, urged the passage 
 of such resolution. To test the strength of the measure, 
 in the House of Representatives, I had the honor, in Feb- 
 ruary, 1864, to introduce the following resolution: 
 
 ''Resolved, That the Constitution should be so amended 
 as to abolish slavery in the United States wherever it now 
 exists, and to prohibit its existence in every part thereof 
 forever" (Cong. Globe, vol. 50, p. 659). This was adopted, 
 by a decided vote, and was the first resolution ever passed 
 by Congress in favor of the entire abolition of slavery. 
 But, although it received a majority, it did not receive a 
 majority of two-thirds. 
 
 The debates on the Constitutional Amendment (perhaps 
 the greatest in our Congressional history, certainly the 
 most important since the adoption of the Constitution) ran 
 through two sessions of Congress. Charles Sumner, the 
 learned senator from Massachusetts, brought to the dis- 
 cussion, in the Senate, his ample stores of historical illus- 
 tration, quoting largely in its favor from the historians, 
 poets, and statesmen of the past. 
 
 The resolution was adopted in the Senate by the large 
 vote of ayes, 38, noes, 6. 
 
 In the lower House, at the first session, it failed to 
 obtain a two-thirds' vote, and, on a motion to reconsider, 
 went over to the next session. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln again earnestly urged its adoption, and, in 
 a letter to Illinois friends, he said, "The signs look better. 
 * * Peace does not look so distant as it did. I 
 hope it will come soon, and come to stay, and so come as 
 to be worth keeping in all future time." 
 
 I recall, very vividly, my New-Year's-call upon the 
 President, January, 1864. I said: 
 
 "I hope, Mr. President, one year from to-day I may 
 have the pleasure of congratulating you on the occur- 
 rence of three events which now seem probable." 
 
 "What are they.^" inquired he. 
 
 "i. That the rebellion may be entirely crushed.
 
 ABRAHAM LINXOLN. 1 8/ 
 
 "2. That the Constitutional Amendment, abolishing and 
 prohibiting slavery, may have been adopted. 
 
 "3. And that Abraham Lincoln may have been re- 
 elected President." 
 
 "I think," replied he, with a smile, "I would be glad to 
 accept the first two as a compromise." 
 
 General Grant, in a letter, remarkable for that clear 
 good-sense and practical judgment for which he is distin- 
 guished, condensed into a single sentence the political 
 argument in favor of the Constitutional Amendment, "The 
 North and South," said he, "can never live at peace with 
 each other except as one nation and that zuithoiit slavery^ 
 
 GARFIELD'S SPEECH. 
 
 I would be glad to quote from this great debate, but 
 must confine myself to a brief extract from the speech 
 of the present President, then a member of the House. 
 He began by saying, "Mr. Speaker, we shall never know 
 why slavery dies so hard in this Republic, and in this 
 Hall, until we know why sin outlives disaster and Satan 
 is immortal." "" ^ "How well do I remember," 
 
 he continued, "the history of that distinguished predeces- 
 sor of mine, JosJina R. Giddings, lately gone to his rest, 
 who, with his forlorn hope of faithful men, took his life 
 in his hands and, in the name of justice, protested against 
 the great crime, and who stood bravely in his place until 
 his white locks, like the plume of Henry of Navarre, 
 marked where the battle of freedom raged fiercest." "^^ 
 '" "In its mad arrogance, slavery lifted its hand against 
 the Union, and since that fatal day it has been a fugi- 
 tive and a vagabond upon the earth." 
 
 Up to the last roll-call, on the question of the passage 
 of the resolution, we were uncertain and anxious about 
 the result. We needed Democratic votes. We knew we 
 should get some, but whether enough to carry the meas- 
 ure none could surely tell. 
 
 As the clerk called the names of members, so perfect 
 was the silence that the sound of a hundred pencils keep- 
 ing tally could be heard through the Hall. 
 
 Finally, when the call was completed, and the speaker 
 announced that the resolution was adopted, the result was
 
 -^ 
 
 1 88 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 received by an uncontrollable burst of enthusiasm. Mem- 
 bers and spectators (especially the galleries, which were 
 crowded with convalescent soldiers) shouted and cheered, 
 and, before the speaker could obtain quiet, the roar of 
 artillery on Capitol Hill proclaimed to the City of Wash- 
 ington, the passage of the resolution. Congress adjourned, 
 and we hastened to the White House to" congratulate the 
 President on the event. 
 
 He made one of his happiest speeches. In his own 
 peculiar words, he said, '' TJie great job is finishcdr "I 
 can not but congratulate," said he, "all present, myself, 
 the country, and the whole world on this great moral 
 victory." 
 
 PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 And now, with an attempt to sketch very briefly some 
 of his peculiar personal characteristics, I must close. 
 
 This great Hercules of a man had a heart as kind and 
 tender as a woman. Sterner men thought it a weak- 
 ness. It saddened him to see others suffer, and he shrunk 
 from inflicting pain. Let me illustrate his kindness and 
 tenderness by one or two incidents. One summer's day, 
 walking along the shaded path leading from the Execu- 
 tive-mansion to the War-oflice, I saw the tall awkward 
 form of the President seated on the grass under a tree. 
 A wounded soldier, seeking back-pay and a pension, had 
 met the President, and, having recognized him, asked his 
 counsel. Lincoln sat down, examined the papers of the 
 soldier, and told him what to do, sent him to the proper 
 Bureau with a note, which secured prompt attention. 
 
 After the terribly destructive battles between Grant and 
 Lee, in the Wilderness of Virginia, after days of dreadful 
 slaughter, the lines of ambulances, conveying the wounded 
 from the steamers on the Potomac to the great field 
 hospitals on the heights around Washington, would be 
 continuous, — one unbroken line from the wharf to the 
 hospital. At such a time, I have seen the President, in 
 his carriage, driving slowly along the line, and he looked 
 like one who had lost the dearest members of his own 
 family. On one such occasion, meeting me, he stopped 
 and said, "I can not bear this; this suffering, this loss of 
 life — is dreadful."
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 1 89 
 
 I recalled to him a line from a letter he had years 
 before written to a friend, whose great sorrow he had 
 sought to console. Reminding him of the incident, I 
 asked him, "Do you remember writing to your suffering 
 friend these words: 
 
 ''A fid tJiis too s J tail pass aiuay, 
 Never fear. Victory will comer 
 
 In all his State papers and speeches during these years 
 of strife and passion, there can be found no words of 
 bitterness, no denunciation. When others railed, he railed 
 not again. He was always dignified, magnanimous, 
 patient, considerate, manl}% and true. His duty was ever 
 performed " with malice toward none, with charity for 
 all," and with "firmness in the right as God givx-s us to 
 see the right." 
 
 NEVER A DEMAGOGUE. 
 
 Lincoln was never a demagogue. He respected and 
 loved the people, but never flattered them. No man ever 
 heard him allude to his humble life and manual labor, 
 in a way to obtain votes. None knew better than he, 
 that splitting rails did not qualify a man for public duties. 
 He realized painfully the defects of his education, and 
 labored diligently and successfully to supply his defi- 
 ciencies. 
 
 HIS CONVERSATION. 
 
 He had no equal as a talker in social life. His con- 
 versation was fascinating and attractive. He was full of 
 wit, humor, and anecdote, and, at the same time, original, 
 suggestive, and instructive. There was in his character a 
 singular mingling of mirthfulness and melanchol)'. While 
 his sense of the ludicrous was keen, and his fun and mirth 
 were exuberent, and sometimes almost irrepressible; his 
 conversation sparkling with jest, story, and anecdote and 
 in droll description, he would pass suddenly to another 
 mood, and become sad and pathetic — a melancholy ex- 
 pression of his homely face would show that he was " a 
 man of sorrows and acquainted with grief"
 
 190 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 HIS STORIES. 
 
 The newspapers, in America, have ahvays beeri full of 
 Lincoln's stories and anecdotes, some true and many fabu- 
 lous. 
 
 He always had a story ready, and, if not, he could 
 improvise one, just fitted for the occasion. The follow- 
 ing may, I think, be said to have been adapted: 
 
 An Atlantic port, in one of the British provinces, was, 
 during the war, a great resort and refuge for blockade- 
 runners, and a large contraband trade was said to have 
 been carried on from that port with the Confederates. 
 Late in the summer of 1864, while the election of presi- 
 dent was pending, Lincoln being a candidate, the Gov- 
 ernor-General of that province, with some of the principal 
 officers, visited Washington, and called to pay their 
 respects to the executive. Mr. Lincoln had been very 
 much annoyed by the failure of these officials to enforce, 
 very strictly, the rules of neutrality, but he treated his 
 guests with great courtesy. After a pleasant interview, 
 the Governor, alluding to the approaching presidential 
 election, said, jokingly, but with a grain of sarcasm, 'T 
 understand, Mr. President, everybody votes in this coun- 
 try. If we remain until November can we vote.''" 
 
 **You remind me," replied the President, "of a country- 
 man of yours, a green emigrant from Ireland. Pat arrived 
 in New York on election day, and was, perhaps, as eager 
 as Your Excellency, to vote, and to vote early and late 
 and often. So, upon his landing at Castle Garden, he 
 hastened to the nearest voting place, and, as he ap- 
 proached, the judge, who received the ballots, inquired, 
 'who do you want to vote for.^ on which side are you.-^' 
 Poor Pat was embarrassed, he did not know who were the 
 candidates. He stopped, scratched his head, then, with 
 the readiness of his countrymen, he said: 
 
 ** ' I am foment the Government, anyhow. Tell me, if 
 your Honor plases, \yhich is the rebellion side, and I'll tell 
 you how I want to vote. In Ould Ireland, I was always 
 on the rebellion side, and, by Saint Patrick, I'll stick to 
 that same in America.' 
 
 **Your Excellency," said Mr. Lincoln, "would, I should 
 think, not be at all at a loss on which side to vote.''"
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. I9I 
 
 THE BOOKS HE READ. 
 
 The two books he read most were the Bible and Shake- 
 speare. With them he was famihar, readin<j and quoting 
 from them constantly. Next to Shakespeare, among the 
 poets, was Burns, with whom he had a hearty sympath}-, 
 and upon whose poetry he wrote a lecture. He was 
 extremely fond of ballads, and of simple, sad, and plain- 
 tive music. 
 
 I called one day at the White House, to introduce two 
 officers of the Union army, both Swedes. Immediately 
 he began and repeated from memory, to the delight of 
 his visitors, a long ballad, descriptive of Norwegian sce- 
 nery, a Norse legend, and the adventures of an old Viking 
 among the fiords of the -North. 
 
 He said he had read the poem in a newspaper, and the 
 visit of these Swedes recalled it to his memory. 
 
 On the last Sunday of his life, as he was sailing up the 
 Potomac, returning to Washington from his visit to Rich- 
 mond, he read aloud many extracts from Macbeth, and, 
 among others, the following, and with a tone and accent 
 so impressive that, after his death, it was vividly recalled 
 by those who heard him: 
 
 "Duncan is in his grave; 
 After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well; 
 Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison, 
 Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing, 
 Can touch him further!" 
 
 After his assassination, those friends could not fail to 
 recall this passage from the same play. 
 
 "This Duncan 
 Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been 
 So clear in his great office, that his virtues 
 Will plead like angels, trum]iet-tongued against 
 The deep damnation of his taking-oflf. " 
 
 HIS RELIGION. 
 
 It is strange that any reader of Lincoln's speeches and 
 writings, should have had the hardihood to charge him 
 with infidelity, but the charge, having been repeatedly 
 made, I reply, in the light of facts accessible to all, that 
 no more reverent christian (not excepting Washington)
 
 \ 
 
 192 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 ever filled the chair of President. Declarations of his 
 trust in God, his faith in the efficacy of prayer, pervade 
 his speeches and writings. From the time he left Spring- 
 field, to his death, he not only himself continuedly prayed 
 for Divine assistance, but never failed to ask the prayers 
 of others for himself and his country. 
 
 His reply to the negroes of Baltimore, who, in 1864, 
 presented him with a beautiful Bible, as an expression of 
 their love and gratitude, ought to have silenced all who 
 have made such charges. After thanking them, he said, 
 "This great book is the best gift God has given to man. 
 All the good from the Saviour of the world is communi- 
 cated through this book." 
 
 When a member of Congress, knowing his religious 
 character, asked him "why he did not join some church.'^" 
 Mr. Lincoln replied, "Because I found difficulty, without 
 mental reservation, in giving my assent to their long and 
 complicated confessions of faith. When any church will 
 inscribe over its altar the Saviour's condensed statement 
 of law and gospel, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, 
 and thy neighbor as thyself,' that church will I join with 
 all my heart." 
 
 WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED. 
 
 Let us try to sum up in part what he accomplished. 
 
 When he assumed the duties of the executive, he found 
 an empty treasury, the National credit gone, the little 
 nucleus of an army and navy scattered and disarmed, the 
 officers, who had not deserted to the rebels, strangers; the 
 party which elected him in a minority (he having been 
 elected only because his opponents were divided between 
 Douglas, Breckenridge, and Everett), the old Democratic 
 party, which had ruled most of the time for half a century, 
 hostile, and even that part of it in the North, from long 
 association, in sympathy with the insurgents; his own party 
 made up of discordant elements, and neither he nor his par- 
 ty had acquired prestage and the confidence of the people. 
 It is the exact truth to say that when he entered the 
 White House he was the object of personal prejudice to a 
 majority of the American people, and of contempt to a
 
 5 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCULX. 1 93 
 
 powerful minority. He entered upon his task of restoring 
 the integrity of a broken Union, without sympathy from 
 any of the great powers of Western Europe. Those which 
 were not hostile, manifested a cold neutralit)', exhibiting 
 toward him and his government no cordial good-will, nor 
 extending any moral aid. Yet, in spite of all, he crushed 
 the most stupendous rebellion, supported by armies more 
 vast, b\' resources greater, and an organization more per- 
 fect, than ever before undertook the dismemberment of a 
 nation. He united and held together, against contending 
 factions, his own party, and strengthened it by securing 
 the confidence and winning the support of the best part of 
 all parties. He composed the quarrels of rival generals; 
 and, at length, won the respect, and confidence, and .sym- 
 pathy of all nations and peoples. He was reelected, 
 almost by acclamation, and, after a series of brilliant vic- 
 tories, he annihilated all armed opposition. He led the 
 people, step b)' step, to emancipation, and saw his work 
 crowned by an amendment of the Constitution, eradicat- 
 ing and prohibiting slavery forever, throughout the Re- 
 public. 
 
 Such is a brief and imperfect summary of his achieve- 
 ments during the last five years of his life. And this 
 good man, when the hour of victory came, made it not the 
 hour of vengeance, but of forgiveness and reconciliation. 
 
 These five years of incessant labor and fearful responsi- 
 bility told even upon his strength and vigor. He left 
 Illinois, for the Capital, with a frame of iron and nerves of 
 steel. His old friends who had known him as a man who 
 did not know what illness was; who had seen him on the 
 prairies before the Illinois courts, full of life, genial, and 
 sparkling with fun; now saw the wrinkles on his forehead 
 deepened into furrows — the laugh of the old days lost its 
 heartiness; anxiety, responsibilit}', care, and hard work 
 wore upon him, and his nerves of steel, at times, became 
 irritable. He had had no respite, had taken no holidays. 
 When others fled awa}', from the dust and heat of the 
 Capital, he stayed. He. would not leave the helm until 
 all danger was past, and the good ship of state had made 
 her port. 
 
 I will not dwell upon the unutterable sorrow, of the
 
 194 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 American people, at his shocking death. But I desire to 
 express here, in this great City of this grand Empire, the 
 sensibility with which the people of the United States 
 received, at his death, the sympathy of the English-speak- 
 ing race. 
 
 That sympathy was most eloquently expressed by all. 
 It came from Windsor Castle to the White House; from 
 Ensfland's widowed Oueen to the stricken and distracted 
 widow at Washington. From Parliament to Congress, 
 from the people of all this magnificent Empire, as it 
 stretches round the world, from England to India, from 
 Canada to Australia, came words of deep feeling, and they 
 w^ere received by the American people, in their sore 
 bereavement, as the expression of a kindred race. 
 
 I can not forbear referring in particular to the words 
 spoken in Parliament on that occasion, by Lords Russell 
 and Derby, and, especially, by that great and picturesque 
 leader, so lately passed away. Lord Beaconsfield. After a 
 discriminating eulogy upon the late President, and the 
 expression of profound sympathy, he said: 
 
 "Nor is it possible for the people of England, at such a 
 moment, to forget that he sprang from the same father- 
 land and spake the same mother-tongue." 
 
 God grant that, in all the unknown future, nothing may 
 ever disturb the friendly feeling and respect which each 
 nation entertains for the other. May there never be an- 
 other quarrel in the family.
 
 ABRAHAM LIN'COLX. 
 
 Edwardsville, III., Sept. 6, iSSi. 
 
 Hon. I. N. Arnold, 
 
 Dear Sir: — I thank you for that copy of your admir- 
 able address before the London Historical Society touching 
 our great and good friend Mr. Lincoln; and I doubly thank 
 you for the truthful and attractive manner in which you 
 presented his life and character in his lowly and higher 
 walks. 
 
 Sometimes I feel that my life has been a mere delusion; 
 that I could have personally known and been on terms of 
 intimacy with one who fills so large a measure of space in 
 the world's estimation appears impossible and unreal. 
 
 I became acquainted with the great commoner in 1832, 
 in the second Blackhawk campaign. He was wrestling at 
 the time with one Dow Thompson, the champion wrestler 
 of Southern Illinois. Lincoln was Captain of a company 
 from Menard County, and was champion of the Northern 
 section. There was hardly any North at that time, in its 
 present acceptation. They were both men of huge pro- 
 portions and Herculean strength. Thompson was six feet 
 high, Lincoln six feet four, and the bystanders concluded 
 that Dow had the advantage in that respect, but Lincoln 
 came out triumphant owing to his greater mental resources. 
 He had more skill than his opponent. 
 
 I have talked with Mr. Lincoln about this incident after 
 he became President, and it amused him exceedingly to
 
 194^^ LETTER OF HON. JOSEPH GILLESPIE. 
 
 recall the scenes of his early life in the backwoods. He 
 alluded very kindly to Dow Thompson, and had kept trace 
 of him from St. Clair County, Illinois, to Arkansas. Dow 
 was a true specimen of the genus Pioneer. His property 
 was all absorbed in paying fines for fighting with the Ger- 
 mans, who began soon after the Blackhawk war to move 
 into St. Clair County, and Dow had to emigrate, and, like 
 most of his class, went to Arkansas where game was more 
 abundant and he could fight in peace ''without being 
 troubled with the minions of the law." Dow had no malice 
 in his composition. He seldom fought because he was 
 mad, but just to find out who was the best man; but his 
 curiosity on this head was intense and often gratified. He 
 held Lincoln in high estimation because he was a funny 
 fellow "and much of a man." 
 
 The next I saw of Lincoln was at Vandalia as a Repre- 
 sentative in the Legislature from Sangamon County. He 
 was one of the celebrated "long nine." By this time he 
 had studied law, and was the acknowledged leader of the 
 Whig party in the House, and was always put forth to 
 squelch out some poor wight of a Democrat (who had 
 made himself particularly obnoxious) by one of his inimi- 
 table stories. 
 
 Lincoln and I were born in the same year, of the same 
 political faith and calling, and raised in the same back- 
 woods fashion, and soon became intimate. I ever after- 
 ward followed his lead, and regarded him as a rough dia- 
 mond of the purest water. But, with all my admiration 
 for him, it never entered my head that he had those 
 supreme qualities that are essential to enable a man to 
 guide the ship of State safely through the storms, among 
 the rocks, and over the quicksands of direful war. 
 
 Events have proven, however, that he had transcendant 
 greatness stored away in the recesses of his nature, quali-
 
 LETTKK OF HON. JOSEPH GILLESPIE. 194^ 
 
 ties that would make him equal to the greatest emergen- 
 cies. And now that his fame knows no bounds, that the 
 loftiest intellects and those occupying the highest positions 
 in the world bow in deference to his greatness and his vir- 
 tues, I can hardly realize that it was my lot to have been 
 on terms of personal intimacy with one of his almost super- 
 human endowments. I see him at one view the rough, 
 awkward, good-natured backwoods boy, delighting his 
 companions with his apt and amusing stories and illustra- 
 tions. Next I see him in the forum convincing the court 
 and entrancing the juries; then I behold him in the halls 
 of legislation and on the busting the peer (I may say the 
 superior) of all his antagonists, but yet he was not beyond 
 rivalry; others were his equals thus far, but his time had 
 not yet come. Now without any adventitious aids he has 
 worked himself into the Presidential chair. He takes the 
 helm of the ship of State in the most turbulent and trying 
 period in the world's history. Will he be equal to this su- 
 preme occasion? We doubt, we almost despair. Day by 
 da)', however, his powers unfold themselves, and he meets 
 . and overcomes every difficulty with transcendant ability- 
 We are beginning to feel that in the ungainly Illinois law- 
 }'er we have the right man in the right place. We soon 
 make up our minds that Providence has raised up Abra- 
 ham Lincoln for this special occasion, and we trust with 
 childlike confidence in his wisdom and patriotism. Now 
 he begins to attract the attention and command the admi- 
 ration of all mankind. A Collosus has risen in the West. 
 Two millions of men have sprung to arms at his bidding. 
 Is he to be a disturber, or has he come for the repose of 
 the nations? Let us see. He crushes out the Rebellion. 
 He strikes the shackles from the limbs of 4,000,000 slaves. 
 He preaches good-will to all men, even those who had been 
 striving to destroy this blest Government. He has demon-
 
 194'^ LETTER OF HON. JOSEPH GILLESPIE. 
 
 strated that ours is not only the best, but the strongest 
 Government in the world. At this juncture he is stricken 
 by the hand of the assassin, while in the full blaze of his 
 glory, when the whole earth was filled with his praises and 
 deep regret at his death. 
 
 No impartial man has ever imputed to Abraham Lincoln 
 an error of judgment or an unworthy intent. I claim my 
 share of the credit of belonging to a race and a nation that 
 is capable of producing so great and so good a man. I 
 was proud to see that Englishmen could appreciate his 
 abilities and his worth. None but the Anglo-Saxon blood 
 could unite such greatness with such moderation. I delight 
 in the admiration of England, and am vexed when she acts 
 in a spirit of hostility toward us. I was for war with her 
 on account of the Trent affair; but still I like her with all 
 her faults. She has so many of the noblest of God's crea- 
 tion in her midst. Her John Bright, and her Goldwin 
 Smith, and that sort of men prevented our swearing eternal 
 hostility to our old mother. 
 
 I again thank you for giving our cousins a just and truth- 
 ful view of our model man and President. Write at your 
 earliest convenience. It always affords me pleasure to 
 hear from you. I am your old friend, 
 
 J. GILLESPIE.
 
 STEPHEN ARXOLD DOUGLAS. 
 
 By JAMES W. SHEAHAN, ESQ. 
 
 A Paper read before the Chicago University, Bryan Hall, July 3, 1861. 
 
 At a meeting of the Trustees and Regents of the Chicago University, 
 held June 5, 1861, with other proceedings, touching the death of the Hon. 
 S. A. Douglas, it was ordered that at the annual commencement exercises on 
 the 3d of July, there be an oration upon the illustrious Statesman, and I'resi- 
 dent of the 15oard of Trustees. The Hon. Samuel H. Treat, Judge of the 
 United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, was ap- 
 pointed orator for the occasion. Subsequently, on the 30th June, Judge Treat 
 informed the committee of his inability to be present. In the meantime, 
 committees of the Common Council, and of the Douglas Club having been 
 similarly disappointed in the persons chosen by them to deliver a like oration, 
 proposed to Mr. Sheahan to deliver the address, and for that purpose united 
 with the committee on the part of the University, and agreed to have but one 
 address, to be delivered at the commencement exercises. Extracts from this 
 address are given in this publication. 
 
 When the traveler hears, in his old age and retirement, 
 the name of some distant city, village, or land which had 
 been familiar to him in his journeys, how his eyes will 
 brighten, and the blood course more warmly through his 
 heart, as that name recalls scenes of love, of peril, of 
 pleasure, or of storm. And to you, gentlemen, who were 
 his political friends, and you who served with him in the 
 establishment and conduct of this University, and to us 
 all of Chicago, and of Illinois, will not, until the latest 
 days of our lives, the name of Stephen Arnold Douglas 
 carry back memories to days when he stood a tower of 
 strength in the national edifice, and we found happiness 
 and honor in resting at his feet.^ 
 
 And now, what shall I say of him.' What shall I say 
 of him whose name and achievements are familiar to us 
 all.'^ Shall I say to you that he was intellectually great.' 
 That fact is recorded in enduring characters upon the his- 
 tory of his country — characters carved by himself mid the
 
 196 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 storms of controversy, the heat of popular anger, the 
 tumult of popular passion, as well as in the hours of na- 
 tional peace. Stephen A. Douglas was a man not only 
 intellectually great, but gifted with a mind that was extra- 
 ordinarily active. Trace him from the day, when having 
 mastered his letters at his mother's knee, he was sent with 
 his sister to the village school, down to the last moment 
 before death stilled forever the massive, active brain, and 
 you find that the mind of Douglas not only took in the 
 present in its comprehensive grasp, but also and always, 
 sought to penetrate that future, in which for the honor and 
 glory of his country, he hoped and determined to bear an 
 active and honorable part. He was rarely, if ever, merely 
 quiescent. He rarely, if ever, gave a partial, cold or a 
 careless support to any measure of public policy; he was 
 either the firm and persevering and ardent advocate, or he 
 was the firm and persevering and ardent opponent. His 
 mind was so constituted, that even when surrounded bv 
 counsellors and friends urging him to a policy that would 
 result in his own personal advancement, he could not 
 govern his acts, control his speech, or regulate his move- 
 ments by any thought of personal advantage; and hence 
 it was that there was forever coming up from the lips of 
 professional politicians the complaint that just as every- 
 thing had been fixed, and every plan and preparation made 
 for his elevation, Douglas would, by some speech, letter, or 
 act blow their whole scheme to atoms, and dissipate all 
 their hopes of ever reaching power and place through his 
 statesmanship. If there be any present who ever partici- 
 pated in party struggles with him, they will, I am sure, 
 verify the truth of what I have said. He was forever 
 knocking over the paper houses and pasteboard castles 
 which the professional politicians of his party were erect- 
 ing for his benefit; and he did so because his mind was of 
 that practical nature which rejected everything and all 
 things that would not survive the severe test and crushing 
 pressure of fixed and imperative principle. 
 
 He was remarkable for the almost instantaneous judg- 
 ments he formed and expressed upon all propositions; he 
 never wavered ; he rarely doubted ; and never changed his 
 conviction. This peculiarity has been the subject of com-
 
 STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. I97 
 
 plaint from friend, and has served to poison many a shaft 
 from an adv^ersary's bow. Political friends, whose notion 
 of political navic^ation is to keep forever in smooth water, 
 and never go out of si^ht of land, always considered 
 Douglas an unsafe leader, because, instead of looking at 
 new questions, with the view of taking such course as 
 would avoid a storm, and keep the cargo of spoils safely 
 stowed, he would promptly decide the matter upon its 
 merits, and calling on all who dare defend the right, boldly 
 launch out to meet the gale, and battle with its conse- 
 quences. 
 
 And why, fellow-citizens, did Mr. Douglas act thus.^ I 
 say that it was because he had the most unbounded confi- 
 dence in the people. He believed, and the conviction had 
 become part of his nature, that the popular heart was 
 honest, that the popular mind was intelligent, and that 
 time and reason would inevitably bring an honest and 
 intelligent people to an appreciation of the right; and that 
 a people thus led to appreciate and approve, would in the 
 end prove far more reliable citizens, and a surer bulwark 
 for the Union than a people cajoled by sophistry into a 
 hasty endorsement of a policy, which, not having been 
 examined and adopted by reason, might, at any moment 
 of popular excitement be as hastily abandoned. 
 
 The great secret, or, the great means which enabled him 
 to decide with such apparent rapidity and accuracy, upon 
 all points of national politics, consisted in nothing more 
 nor less than that he tried all such quustions by certain 
 principles. As parallel lines must be equally distant from 
 each other at all points, and can not be parallel if other- 
 wise, so if any measure, or policy, or doctrine deviated even 
 to a hair's-breadth from the iron rule by which he marked 
 the line of duty and of patriotism, then, to the extent of 
 that deviation, be it great or small, that measure, or policy, 
 or doctrine, in his judgment, was wrong. But do not let 
 me be understood as saying that his judgments were after 
 the Procrustean style. He did not say a thing should be 
 so short or so long, so broad and so narrow; but he said the 
 north star indicated the true pole, and that that compass 
 that turned to the right or to the left, and pointed else- 
 where than to the starry beacon, fixed from all time by 
 
 14
 
 198 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 God's own unerring hand, was a false compass, and, to- 
 gether with the pilot who persisted in its use, ought to be 
 thrown overboard, and sunk into the sea. 
 
 It has been popular at times, with the enemies of Mr. 
 Douglas, to charge him with truckling to the slave interest. 
 Never, never, was there greater injustice. I speak of this 
 not to vindicate his party fidelity, nor his patriotism, but 
 to vindicate from an ungenerous aspersion, his powerful 
 intellect. He truckle to any one! He stoop, and be 
 mean and sordid! It was impossible for him to do so. 
 He despised and held in utter abhorrence that system of 
 political bondage which held free-born micn of intelligence 
 as servitors at the stirrup of those who claim by prescrip- 
 tion the privilege of riding rough -shod over all who 
 thronged the high-road of life. He was a FREEMAN in 
 the fullest sense of the term. He resisted the aggressive 
 claims of slavery, and with equal power the aggressive 
 aims of the abolitionists. He could not unite with either 
 wholly, because he held both to be wrong. He stood man- 
 fully beside slavery when slavery claimed what the Con- 
 stitution granted it; he stood as manfully with the abo- 
 litionists in resisting slavery when it demanded more than 
 the Constitution granted. But he would stand by neither 
 slavery nor abolitionism when they sought to go beyond 
 the Constitution. Had slavery been content with what 
 the Constitution granted it, it would have been an easy 
 task to crush out abolitionism. Had abolitio'nism sought 
 only to confine slavery by the limits of the Constitution, 
 it would have been as easy to crush out the wild advocates 
 of extra Constitutional privileges. Mr. Douglas labored to 
 bring either of these adverse factions to a Constitutional 
 theory and practice, and would have succeeded, had he not 
 been betrayed, even in the hour of success, by men who 
 were ready to sacrifice themselves and country for the 
 wretched satisfaction of ruining him. 
 
 Mr. Douglas never, I say it confidently, yielded one iota 
 of principle to slavery. His intellect forbade it. His 
 whole political system was like a delicately constructed 
 apparatus, in which the motive power, as well as mechani- 
 cal agents, were principles so intimately connected and 
 harmoniously arranged, that were he to withdraw a single
 
 STKI'IIKX A. DuLHiLAS. I99 
 
 spriny^, or pivot, or wheel, or other part, no matter how 
 minute, the whole fabric would fall to pieces, a total wreck 
 and ruin. He took pride in beini; the architect of his own 
 fame — a fame chained in spite of opposition, and those who 
 knew him intimatel)- know that there was alwaj's a greater 
 probability of his seeking and provoking; hostility' than 
 trucklin<4 or }'ielding to avoid it. He was brave; he was 
 confident; he knew the power of his own great intellect; 
 and it is unnatural to suppose that he would stoop when 
 he miirht command. 
 
 Mr. Douglas was a Patriot, and his patriotism, his devo- 
 tion to the flag, and honor and integrit)' of the Union, did 
 not date their birth with the commencement of the pres- 
 ent war. There have been other wars, and other occasions, 
 when there was need of strong arms in the field, and stout 
 hearts and eloquent words in council. Mr. Douglas, the 
 moment this war commenced, promptly visited the Presi- 
 dent, tendering him all the aid he could render, — not 
 seeking, like others, to be made a brigadier in a service of 
 which he knew nothing — but tendering him for the sup- 
 port of the Constitution and the laws, a power in the 
 nation which no one save himself could successfully wield. 
 In this we have another instance of Mr. Douglas' prompt- 
 ness in decision. We all know how hostile a large body 
 of our own people were to the war; we all know that had 
 Stephen A. Douglas hesitated; had he played false to 
 himself and his country; had he called on the disloyal and 
 disaffected to resist the war, the campaign would have 
 commenced not on the banks of the Potomac, but on the 
 shores of Lake Michigan. In this case, as in all others, 
 his conduct was governed by principle; that principle he 
 had expressed in these bold and emphatic words: "Pa- 
 triotism emanates from the heart; it fills the soul; inspires 
 the whole man with a devotion to his country's cause; and 
 speaks and acts in the same language. The Union wants 
 no friends, acknowledges the fidelity of no citizen who, 
 after war is declared, condemns the justice of her cause 
 and sympathizes with her enemies. All such are traitors 
 in their hearts, and it onl)- remains for them to commit 
 some overt act, for which they may be dealt with accord- 
 ing to their deserts."
 
 200 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 When were these memorable words uttered ? Were they 
 spoken when Sumter was sustaining the fiery cannonade? 
 Were they uttered when hostile legions were investing 
 Pickens? When traitorous Twiggs was giving up the 
 country's arms and munitions to the traitors in Texas? 
 Was it when preparations were maturing for the capture 
 of the federal city? Not so, fellow-citizens! Stephen A. 
 Douglas had not lived to the mature age of forty-eight to 
 have his tongue touched for the first time with the fire of 
 patriotism. He was a patriot in 1861, but he had been as 
 patriotic before that period. The words I have quoted 
 were uttered when the brave and gallant old veteran Tay- 
 lor occupied the east bank of the Rio Grande, and a 
 miserable faction in Congress were disputing, as another 
 miserable faction is now disputing in Congress,"^ over the 
 point whether the President of the United States had not 
 exceeded his constitutional authority in defending the soil 
 and government from invasion. If the words I have read 
 are just and patriotic to-day, and who will say they are 
 not? they were as just and patriotic fifteen years ago; and 
 being just and patriotic then, he did not hesitate to utter 
 them tJicn, but left to craven time-servers and sycophantic 
 demagogues the privilege of waiting until 1861 to say it 
 was treason to give aid or comfort, material or moral, to 
 the enemies of their country's flag. 
 
 I have spoken of his confidence in the honesty and in- 
 telligence of the people. This was the grand foundation 
 of all his plans and policies. He proposed nothing, sug- 
 gested nothing, planned nothing that did not have as the 
 foundation the honest will of the people. Take up all the 
 schemes that he may have framed, examine them closely, 
 notice the varied styles and purposes of the superstruct- 
 ures, and then you will find that each and all of them rest, 
 or were intended to rest, upon the virtuous intelligence of 
 his countrymen. He never, even in the darkest hours of 
 popular hostility, never despaired of the people. He never 
 complained of them, but the records of the country con- 
 tain many an expression of his estimate of the demagogues 
 who ride upon every storm, not caring into what folly or 
 
 * This Oration was, by invitation, repeated July i8th, in Chicago, for the 
 benefit of the "Douglas Fund."
 
 STEPIIKN A. DOUGLAS. 201 
 
 confusion it may cany the country. His devotion to pop- 
 ular interests was tinc^cd with no dcmagogisni. He was 
 oftener in conflict with the leaders and fomenters of 
 popular violence and passion than at peace with them. 
 He claimed to be one of the people; he laid no claim to 
 distinction from ancestry; he preferred to be an honor to 
 his name than to recei\e honor from it. lie had known 
 poverty and humiliation; he had known what it was to 
 want for bread, and not to have the means to procure it. 
 He had known and seen, when stru<^gling in obscurity, the 
 artifices and wickedness of those who abuse the confidence 
 of the unsuspecting populace. His sympathies and feel- 
 ings were all with the mass of his country-men, and to 
 their service did he devote his life. He never feared a 
 political result, if the popular decision was postponed to 
 a time which admitted of reaching them by argument and 
 reason. He never was defeated by popular will. The 
 election of last year w^as no criterion of Mr. Douglas' 
 popular strength. Had there been any hope of his elec- 
 tion; had the country not been divided by sectional strife 
 and wicked purposes, there would have been a popular 
 manifestation in his favor such as had never been made in 
 the case of any other American statesman. 
 
 You have heard that in the conduct of military matters 
 the fortunes of a disastrous conflict or campaign are some- 
 times reversed by the indomitable energy and bravery of 
 a forlorn hope — that body of men who are sent out on a 
 desperate enterprise, as a last resort, to overcome, by a 
 bold adventure, the advantages o( the enemy. You can 
 well understand the feelings of the brave hearts engaged 
 in this enterprise, as they march upon a mission that is to 
 end in their death and in the defeat of their cause, or in 
 rolling back the tide of defeat that has pursued them. 
 Yet they have /io/>i\ The chances may be fearful, but 
 nevertheless, there is hope, and history is filled with in- 
 stances of the successful achievements of a forlorn hope. 
 But in November last, what a spectacle was presented! 
 One million five hundred thousand freemen, with an un- 
 failing constancy, a devotion and a heroic fidelity to their 
 cause, marched up to the polls and voted for Stephen A. 
 Douglas! Their cause was in as desperate a strait as ever
 
 202 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 was that of a defeated army ; they knew they were marked 
 men; they were conspicuously adorned for the shots of 
 the enemy, yet they hesitated not, they faltered not, nor 
 were they dismayed. They were forlorn, but they could 
 not call themselves a forlorn hope, for they had no hope; 
 all was lost, all was gone. An active enemy in front, a 
 base and treacherous foe in the rear; nevertheless, with 
 bayonets fixed, shoulder to shoulder, and with locked step, 
 in solid column, and with rapid stride, they marched boldly 
 to the last encounter! That was devotion to be proud of, 
 and the noble leader, whose courage had led him personally 
 into the very recesses of the enemy's camp, felt prouder 
 of these million and half of unbought votes, given for him 
 by men who knew he had not and would not have offices 
 or rewards to bestow, than if he had been elected by the 
 exertions of those who were confident of favors from him. 
 
 Since Clay, no American ever had such hosts of devoted 
 personal friends, ever had such multitudes follow him be- 
 cause they loved him personally. In the consciousness of 
 this popular affection, Mr. Douglas found ample compen- 
 sation for his public labors. And it was his boast and his 
 pride, that he. had never, by precept or example, taught 
 any of his countrymen to refuse to honor and to follow the 
 flag of his country, or to resist, oppose, and defy the laws 
 and Constitution of the Union. So strong was this honor- 
 able pride, so ever-present was the gratifying thought, that 
 even in his dying hours, rousing temporarily from the 
 delirium of fever, he gave that memorable message to his 
 children: "Tell them to Love and Obey the Con- 
 stitution OF THE United States." 
 
 I have said Mr. Douglas was an American. His Ameri- 
 canism was of a peculiar nature. Long before he entered 
 Congress, during the political controversies of i84i-'42, 
 he laid down as a fact which he hoped to see demonstrated 
 in recorded history, that North America was not too large 
 for this American republic, that the American flag could 
 cover but one nation, and that nation should extend from 
 the extreme north to the lowest waters of the Gulf of 
 Mexico. Twenty years ago, he declared in Congress that 
 there was not room enough on this continent for another 
 government — either republican or monarchical, and at the
 
 STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. 203 
 
 hour of his death, this nation, with the gov^ernment in 
 tlie hands of men who had sneered at his doctrine, and 
 st}'led his pohcy as dema^^ogism, was about to tr\', by the 
 ordeal of battle, whether the national ensign could be kept 
 extended over our present existing limits, or a banner with 
 a strange device, planted over half the republic. I can not 
 do him greater justice than to quote his own clear and 
 forcible language: "It therefore, becomes us to put this 
 nation in a state of defence; and when we are told that 
 this will lead to war, all I have to say is this: violate no 
 treaty stipulations, nor any principle of the law of nations; 
 preserve the national honor and integrity of the country; 
 but, at the same time, assert our right to the last inch, and 
 then, if war comes, let it come. We may regret the neces- 
 sity which produced it, but when it does come, I would 
 administer to our citizens Hannibal's oath of eternal en- 
 mity, and not terminate it until the question was settled 
 forever." That was his language twenty years ago, and 
 yet there are those who affect to believe that Stephen A. 
 Douglas did not become a patriot until after he had lost 
 all hope of Southern support. It is true that this was said 
 respecting anticipated trouble with a foreign foe, but the 
 language is perfectly applicable to a domestic enemy. He 
 had more respect for, and could recognize and admit a 
 degree of honor on the part of a foreign enemy, that he 
 could not concede to a domestic one. His memorable 
 words — that in civil war there can be no neutrals — we 
 must be patriots or traitors — will serve to show his esti- 
 mate of those who dare to violate the Constitution of the 
 United States. 
 
 But that was not all he said. In almost prophetic lan- 
 guage, he then described a case which is now before the 
 country for decision. He declared that he would never 
 consent that rival petty republics should grow up on our 
 border, engendering jealousy of each other, and interfer- 
 ing with each other's domestic affairs, and continuall}' en- 
 dangering the i^oace of all. And the reason given for this 
 was, that the establishment of a new republic on this con- 
 tinent would at once excite a jealousy toward our own, 
 and as that new republic must natural I \' be the weaker, it 
 would seek European alliances, and these alliances would.
 
 204 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 of course, make this rival an instrument in the hands of 
 British power, through which to assail our interests. An 
 ocean-bound republic, with the whole continent under one 
 flag, was the favorite project of his early statesmanship, 
 and he lived just long enough to see the commencement 
 of an attempt, by the very men who repudiated his policy, 
 which, if successful, will see the Union split into as many 
 governments as there are States, and each of them a prey 
 to the avarice or intrigues of despotism abroad. 
 
 Time will not permit, nor is this altogether an appro- 
 priate occasion to dwell upon the many and varied national 
 matters in which Mr. Douglas took an active part. For 
 twenty years he was a leading man in the politics of the 
 country. During that time he has borne a conspicuous 
 part. His name has been blended with the legislative his- 
 tory of his country, and in all the branches of its progress. 
 The debates of Congress are an imperishable monument 
 to his industry, his sagacity, and his love of country. The 
 great act of legislation upon which his opponents have 
 assailed him most fiercely, and which, even after death, has 
 been quoted as "the great mistake, not to say crime" of 
 his life, was the one in which he took the most pride, and 
 which he felt to be the wisest and the best. It was the 
 Nebraska Act. A defence of that act is not needed here, 
 but as it served for years as a battery from which he was 
 assailed, it is but proper that in a few sentences it be stated 
 why he proposed it, why he pressed it, and why it failed. 
 
 Mr. Douglas was one of those who saw that the agita- 
 tion of the slavery question in Congress could accomplish 
 nothing, save to widen the social and political breach that 
 has always existed between the slaveholding and non- 
 slavehoiding States. Seven years experience in Congress 
 confirmed him in the opinion that it was necessary to- 
 remove that question from the halls of the national legis- 
 lature. In 1850, the compromise bills of that year, of 
 which he wrote every word, were passed. California had 
 been acquired, and a road to the Pacific was indispensable. 
 In 1854, the immense tract of territory, now known as 
 Nebraska and Kansas, was closed, by law, to emigration 
 and to travel. Like a huge block, it barred the natural 
 pathway to the Pacific. The South was pressing a railroad
 
 STEPHEN A. DOUflLAS. 205 
 
 from Memphis, and south-westerly across the continent. 
 ]\Ir. Douglas wanted a fair chance to have that railroad 
 lead from the north, where it could find communication 
 through Chicago to the Atlantic. Our railroads had al- 
 ready reached the Mississippi, and others were projected, 
 extending to the Missouri. Me wanted Nebraska and 
 Kansas opened, and the country made free to the enter- 
 prise of the north. In case of a dissolution of the Union, 
 it was essential to have the Pacific connected by some 
 other route than one through a hostile section. That was 
 the motive for organizing these territories — a motive hav- 
 ing its origin in the desire to benefit the whole nation, and 
 especially to give to the northwest a fair o])portunity to 
 compete for the commerce of the great east. 
 
 But that curse of all things, the question of African 
 slavery, la}' at the threshold. He could not open Kansas 
 and Nebraska without waking the sleeping Demon. He 
 therefore determined to make one grand struggle, to seize 
 the monster, to invite both North and South to unite in 
 chaining it; and, having it in chains, to remove it forever 
 beyond the limits of national legislation. For that pur- 
 pose he framed the Nebraska Act, by which he asked the 
 North and the South forever to bind themselves to leave 
 the question of the existence or non-existence of slavery 
 to the exclusive adjudication and determination of the 
 people of the respective territories. The bill passed, and 
 became a law. Its design and intent plainly stamped upon 
 its face, and its friends all committed to abide its results. 
 He had accomplished all his purposes, so far as they could 
 be done by legislation. The rest he left to time and to 
 the intelligence of the people; and throughout the ev^ent- 
 ful years that followed he was not an indifterent but a 
 confident spectator, waiting for results which every day 
 seemed more inevitably certain. For two years he fought 
 rebellion in Kansas, and to Pierce he offered just what he 
 offered to Lincoln — his aid in suppressing rebellion, and 
 resistance to the laws and Constitution. In 1856, the Cin- 
 cinnati convention met. He was but little troubled as to 
 who should be the nominee, but he was greatly agitated 
 lest some portion of the South would not ratify and 
 approve the great act of 1854. But that convention, with-
 
 '-V 
 
 206 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 out a dissenting voice, did ratify that act, and then from 
 the very bottom of his heart he rejoiced. Tlie chain which 
 bound fanaticism forever had been riveted, and the terri- 
 tories were no longer to be divided by a black line, but 
 freedom was as free to go to the lowest confines of the 
 continent as it was to tread the ocean-washed shores of 
 Oregon. Never, except by something approaching a 
 miracle, would there be another slave-State formed by the 
 free will of the people, and no State, except formed by the 
 free will of the people, could ever be admitted without a 
 violation of the contract. In the fullness of his joy, and 
 in the tumult of his gratitude, he sent that dispatch which, 
 while it withdrew his name, unfortunately made Mr. Bu- 
 chanan President. 
 
 Despite the civil war and rebellion which had reigned in 
 Kansas, the great measure worked its own way successfully 
 toward the contemplated result; when lo, there came a 
 blow so sudden and unexpected, that no human sagacity 
 could have been prepared to meet it. The Lecompton 
 fraud was taken to the executive bosom, nursed into life; 
 a message was sent to Congress, requesting that, after the 
 manner of royal infants in other lands, this only child of 
 the bachelor President, should be portioned, pensioned, and 
 provided for at the national charge. Had Mr. Buchanan 
 been true to his trust, true to his plighted honor, and true 
 to the solemn oath of office, the issue of disunion would 
 have been tried on the Lecompton question, and rebellion 
 would have been compelled to take up arms in defence of 
 that horrid fraud — a fraud covered with blood, and reeking 
 with the stenches of the most shocking corruptions. Had 
 he been true, Mr. Douglas' original design and expecta- 
 tions would have been verified, and the ultraists of the 
 South, and not of the North, would have heaped contumely 
 upon the Nebraska bill and its author. 
 
 As the corner-stone of this University was laid under an 
 malediction upon the Nebraska bill and its living author, I 
 have thought it not inappropriate, that in burying the 
 illustrious dead beneath its monumental towers, a record 
 of the motive should be placed where posterity may find 
 that and the malediction together. 
 
 Mr. Douglas was an independent statesman. Looking
 
 STEPIIKN A. DOUGLAS. 20/ 
 
 at all questions from an immovable stand-point of princi- 
 ple, he could neither be coaxed nor driven into an approval 
 of what lie deemed to be \vron<^. To you, fellow-citizens, 
 in whose memory the eventful strug<^le of i857-'58 is still 
 fresh, it is unnecessary to enter into a detail of the wicked 
 and desperate efforts to destroy him, put forth by the 
 relentless old tyrant that fancied he was President, but 
 who was a mere puppet in the hands of that junta that 
 since then have openly avowed themselves traitors, even 
 while in office, to the government of which they were 
 sworn members. His offence was that he would not 
 truckle to the South, would not support a fraud, would not 
 overturn popular liberty, and would not falsify every act 
 and speech of his life. Party rule and party lash were 
 threatened; party rule and party lash were applied, but 
 strong and powerful as were his fealty and obligations 
 to his party, he acknowledged a higher fealty to the peo- 
 ple, and a stronger obligation to his own conscience. He 
 spurned executive smiles when those smiles were invita- 
 tions to crime, and with giant arm, he struck to the dust 
 the slaves who sought to bind him with chains of execu- 
 tive despotism. Standing almost alone in the Senate 
 House, he met the storm, and sustained the shock un- 
 moved, and never laid down his arms until the foul mon- 
 ster — Lecompton — lay dead and prostrate beneath his 
 feet. That contest afforded a fairer exhibition of Mr. 
 Douglas' varied talents than any that had preceded it. 
 But it also conveyed to the heart of ever}- honest man, the 
 conviction that he was sincere. No man had ever been 
 subjected to such an ordeal. Denounced and proscribed 
 by the Democratic administration; excluded, as far as a 
 mean and vengeful cabinet could do so, politically and 
 socially; surrounded by thousands of politicians, from 
 every part of the country, beseeching him not to sacrifice 
 his part)', by dividing it, and not to sacrifice his friends, 
 by having them thrust from office; deserted b)- the entire 
 Democratic press outside of his own State, and abandoned 
 by all those public men upon whose support he had reason 
 to rely; with a watchful enemy in front, anxious for him 
 to trip, or overstep the line of principle, that they might 
 precipitate his ruin, and elect one of their own men in his
 
 208 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 place; with his house watched by detectives, to report who 
 visited him, and with visitors coming under the guise of 
 confidence and friendship, to hold conversations, which 
 they purposed revealing to his injury; stricken even in the 
 midst of these fearful circumstances, by a painful and 
 disabling illness, it is not too much to say that the mental 
 faculties must have been strong indeed to have passed 
 through that protracted contest without once giving way 
 to doubt or hesitancy. And when, so far as the Senate 
 was concerned, the last vote was to be taken, how that 
 mind, operating sympathetically upon his physical nature, 
 enabled him to rise from a bed, where, for days, he had 
 been racked with pain, and in that chamber deliver a speech 
 which has never been surpassed. 
 
 His power of endurance, both physical and mental, were 
 truly surprising, commencing as long ago as 1838, when 
 he traversed in his campaign with Mr. Stuart, a region that 
 now has nine congressional districts, down to 1840, and 
 annually to 1852; and then the stormy campaigns of 1854, 
 where opposite every hustings hung his own effigies; and 
 again in 1856, when he traveled, up to the very hour of the 
 election, pledging himself that Buchanan was a patriot and 
 a man of truth. Hardly had he placed that individual in 
 power, before he was called upon to vindicate himself from 
 his agency in the fraud. And then followed the campaign 
 (I use the term by which these affairs are popularly known) 
 of 1858, with its excitements, its personalities, and you 
 will pardon a soldier in that memorable contest, for saying 
 — its brilliant results. That election Mr. Douglas never 
 claimed as a personal victory; he did not regard it as a 
 defeat of Mr. Lincoln, but he claimed it as a triumph of 
 the People, in a direct conflict with executive tyranny. 
 In i860, his physical and mental endurance was again 
 fearfully tested. Commencing on the Potomac, I may say, 
 he spoke day and night along the Atlantic coast, until he 
 reached the shores of New England; his voice then 
 sounded on his own native hills of Vermont, and the valley 
 of the Connecticut echoed to its clarion notes. Passing 
 westward through New York, he reached Lake Erie, and 
 then by another route returned to the sea-coast. We hear 
 of him awaking the yeomanry of Pennsylvania, and then
 
 STEPIIEX A. DOUGLAS. 209 
 
 he is electrifying^ the Van Winkles of Nortli Carolina and 
 Virginia, lie then turned to the west, and throuij^h Ohio, 
 Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, and his own loved 
 Illinois, he spoke to the gallant hosts that everywhere 
 greeted him, not in the despairing mood of one who knew 
 that all was lost, but in the language of a patriot and bro- 
 ther, finding more consolation in a virtuous defeat than a 
 \'ictory bought with personal shame and national ruin. 
 His words may be said to have been these: "We have 
 stood thus long defending the altars of our country; if we 
 must be overcome by numbers, lot us fall side by side, and 
 be buried with a constitution we can no longer successful!}- 
 defend." 
 
 He was an Orator such as America has never known. 
 His oratory was not exclusively adapted to any one, or 
 any number of circumstances. Wherever he was, at the 
 festive table, at the college exhibition, at a public recep- 
 tion, at a meeting of savans, at the village school, before 
 the court, before a town meeting, in the Senate — every- 
 where, under all circumstances, he was equal to the occa- 
 sion, and claimed and won the proud title of an Orator. 
 His oratory was peculiar to himself. He was always 
 natural. He never attempted the pedantic; he never 
 sought to dazzle by fanciful imagery; he never employed 
 any but the simplest language. The consequence was that 
 gifted with a strong mind, a complete vocabulary of purest 
 Saxon, and speaking always from an earnest conviction, he 
 addressed himself to the minds of his hearers, and rarely 
 ever failed to reach their hearts and enlist their sympathies. 
 
 No man owed more to his powers of orator}' than Mr. 
 Douglas, and no man every accomplished more by oratory 
 than he did. In 1834, when he had not been in the State 
 six months, he met, in debate, one of the ablest lawyers 
 and distinguished speakers of that day. He was a beard- 
 less youth, unknown, small and delicately made. His 
 opponent the political leader of his country, at home and 
 among friends and neighbors who took pride in his success. 
 That event is familiarly known. It was but a rc-cnact- 
 ment of the story of David and Goliath, with this addition 
 that the populace in their enthusiasm bestowed upon the 
 victor the title of the vanc^uished, a term which followed 
 him ever after.
 
 2IO EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 But it was in the Senate that this great power was shown 
 in all its force. That was the great arena of his glory. 
 There he stood without a successful rival. In that theatre 
 he bid defiance to all opponents, and in that theatre he 
 gained his most unfading laurels. 
 
 It was my good fortune, while engaged in another busi- 
 ness than that I now follow, to have been a witness of, and 
 to have heard all, the debates in the Senate on the com- 
 promises of 1850, and on the celebrated Kansas and Ne- 
 braska Act. And what debates they were! As I recall 
 them at this time, when the literature and conversation of 
 the day is altogether of a military and warlike character, 
 that Senate seems to me as one general battle-field, in 
 which every possible engine of war is playing its noisy and 
 destructive part. * * * -k- 
 
 But I leave the public servant, and ask your patience 
 while I speak of the man. And after all, there can be no 
 true greatness that has not an honorable heart to support 
 and maintain it. His integrity was unquestionable and 
 unquestioned. Never, even in the fiercest and most pitiless 
 of all the many storms that broke upon him, was there 
 ever a stain or an imputation upon his personal honor. 
 Clay, with all his greatness, did not escape the calumny of 
 corruption; Webster had enemies mean enough to charge 
 him with bribery; but high as party and personal malice 
 may reach after their victim, they spared the personal 
 honor of Douglas. He went through nearly thirty years 
 of public life, and no word of suspicion against his integ- 
 rity was uttered. Until within a few years he had been 
 poor; for twenty-five, years he held ofiice continually, and 
 as legislator, judge, and senator, he had remained not only 
 pure, but unsuspected. He never received from ofiice 
 more than enough to yield him an ordinary support for 
 himself and family. Some years ago he invested a few 
 hundred dollars in real estate. That investment grew in 
 wealth, and extended until it became magnificent. His 
 purchases were in and near Chicago, and if he became 
 rich, it was because Chicago became rich. His wealth 
 increased with the wealth of the City, and as that receded 
 so did the value of his possessions. He could never amass 
 wealth by the regular rules of trade. What he had was
 
 68 
 
 STEPHEN A. DOIGI.AS. 211 
 
 held by him only as trustee for the multitude who called 
 him friend. With hand ever open, with purse-strings never 
 drawn, he dealt out with liberal hand to all who soucfht 
 his aid. He prized riches only as a means of aiding; others, 
 and he gave freely and cordiall}' while a dollar was left. 
 His was no ostentatious liberalit\'. Instead of creditinc^ his 
 own sagacity with the fortune that resulted from his in- 
 vestments, he recognized the disbursement of that fortune 
 for noble purposes, as an additional obligation imposed 
 upon him by Providence. Hence it was that the establish- 
 ment of the Chicago University, when proposed to him, 
 met, as you (President Burroughs) well know, a prompt 
 and ready response. He saw in it a means by which he 
 could serve the State, this City, and his fellows-men, for all 
 time to come, and with him Action ahvays followed con- 
 viction. The establishment of the University at once 
 became an object, and with the endowment came the prac- 
 tical and the only condition, that the building should at 
 once be commenced. He did not fancy that spirit which 
 hoards through life great masses of wealth, to be admin- 
 istered for good purposes after the owner is gone. He 
 preferred to do good at once, and in seeing others enjoy 
 the benefits of his liberality, found infinitely more happi- 
 ness than if it had been retained by himself. He took the 
 utmost pride in this University, and those who have sup- 
 posed his life to have been devoted to the attainment of 
 the Presidency, should know, as his friends do know, that 
 personally, he found as much pleasure in the anticipation 
 of presiding as President of the Regents of this Univer- 
 sity, and in the active business of all public enterprises, as 
 in presiding at the cabinet councils of the nation. I do 
 not say that he did not aspire to the Presidency of the 
 Republic; but I do say, and say it from personal knowl- 
 edge, that were it not for the sake of friends, and to gratify 
 their devotion of unlimited zeal, his political ambition 
 would have soucfht no hiijher title than the Leader of the 
 American Senate. He often contrasted the two positions 
 of President and Senator, and took great personal pride in 
 the fact that it had been demonstrated in his own case, 
 that a President, through backed by all the powers of the 
 nation, was not equal to a contest with a single Senator 
 who did his duty to the people.
 
 ^\ 
 
 212 EARLY ILLINOIS. 
 
 He is buried within sight of the halls of this University. 
 At evening hour its shadows reach his tomb, covering it 
 witli the mellow light so appropriate to its solemn silence. 
 As the pilgrim to his tomb shall stand at its side, musing 
 on the memory of the dead, he will turn involuntarily to 
 the west, and gazing upon the noble edifice, will exclaim 
 — there stands the monument to the Man which shall live 
 forever; and which each year shall send forth to the 
 country its graduates, all bearing upon their hearts the 
 lesson of Douglas' great example. 
 
 Yet, this man with the free and bountiful hand, whose 
 whole life was devoted to the service of the people, and 
 upon whose private purse there was a never-ending de- 
 mand, died poor. From the magnificent domain, which a 
 few years ago he called his own, his family is debarred by 
 the legal claims of others. In the broad State of Illinois, 
 enriched by his labors, developed by his genius, and peo- 
 pled through his enterprise, there was not ground enough 
 that his children could call their own, in which to deposit 
 his coflin. 
 
 The faithful widow, faithful even to the memory of the 
 love which her husband bore to Illinois, at the solicitation 
 of the people, gave up all that was left of him, and gave 
 too her own little tract of land for his grave. 
 
 Let us hope that his life, devoted to the benefit of his 
 race, may not have been spent in vain. His great heart 
 throbbed and pulsated only for the public good, and let us 
 hope that his countrymen now and hereafter may find in 
 his patriotism, integrity, and life an example worthy of 
 imitation. 
 
 He has gone from among us, but he lives in his fame. 
 No more will this City resound with the fierce clamor of 
 popular rage, or be filled with the pageantry of his tri- 
 umphal processions. No more will his voice be heard on 
 the stump, in the forum, or in the Senate, but the student 
 of history, during all coming time, will search in vain for 
 the record of brighter deeds, of a purer life, of a nobler 
 heart, of an equal eloquence, or for evidences of those 
 indomitable attributes of intellect and manhood, that be- 
 long to, and must forev^er attach to the name of Douglas!
 
 69 
 
 From the Chica<jo Trihmie. 
 
 THE DOUGLAS MONUMENT. 
 
 The monument erected by the State of Illinois over the 
 remains of Stephen A. Douglas, at Douglas place, was 
 completed Thursday, August i8, 1881, when the fourth and 
 last entablature was put in position on, the south side of 
 the base. The erection of this memorial has been the work 
 of twenty years, the first meeting in the interest of it hav- 
 ing been held in the parlors of the Tremont House, Oct. 
 22, 1 86 1. The call for this meeting was signed by the fol- 
 lowing-named gentlemen: J. \V. Sheahan, S. W. Fuller, S. 
 H. Kerfoot, \V. C. Goud\', Thomas Drummond, David A. 
 Gage, J. P. Clarkson, and Leonard \V. V^olk. A monument 
 association was organized, committees were appointed, and 
 the work of erecting an enduring monument over the grave 
 of the deceased Senator was proceeded with. 
 
 The ground upon which the monument is erected was 
 intended as the site of the Douglas homestead, and was 
 purchased by the State from the widow for the sum of 
 $25,000. It is now neatly laid out with walks and flower 
 beds, and is surrounded by stone copings and hedges. 
 The corner-stone of the monument was laid Sept. 6, 1866, 
 with appropriate ceremon)', and many prominent public 
 men participated, including Pres. Johnson and his Cabi- 
 net. In 1877, the late Joseph E. Smith, of this cit}', who 
 was a member of the Legislature at the time, introduced a 
 bill appropriating $50,000 for the completion of the monu- 
 ment, and finally succeeded in getting it through. Two 
 years later, after he had retired from the Legislature, it 
 was found that $9000 more was needed to complete the 
 monument, and Mr. Smith went to Springfield of his own 
 accord and secured another appropriation, making an elo- 
 quent speech in favor of the measure. 
 
 The monument, as completed, together with the grounds, 
 cost about $97,000. The State Commission for the com- 
 pletion of the monument have had a great deal of gratui- 
 tous work to do, as their predecessors of the original Asso- 
 ciation, especially the gentlemen of the Executive Commit- 
 tee, — Judge J. D. Caton, Potter Palmer, L\-man Trum-
 
 50 STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. 
 
 bull, Robert T. Lincoln, and Melville W. Fuller. Judge 
 Caton is Chairman and Melville W. Fuller is Secretary, and 
 the burden of the work attaching to the completion of the 
 monument has fallen upon the latter gentlemen. They all 
 worked without remuneration, and deserve credit for get- 
 ting the work done so cheaply and so well. 
 
 Following is a description of the monument as com- 
 pleted : 
 
 The octagonal base coping, of Lemont, 111., limestone, is 
 70 feet in diameter. The first of the three circular bases 
 of the substructure is 42 feet 2 inches in diameter, and the 
 height of the three together is 4 feet 3 inches. The tomb 
 is octagonally formed, 20 feet 3 inches in diameter, and 10 
 feet high, to the plinth-base of superstructure. Its chamber 
 is 8 feet 9 inches square by 7 feet 2 inches high. The 
 pedestal at each of the four corners of the tomb is 6 feet 
 high, with base 4 feet 2 inches square. The octagonalh^- 
 formed pedestal of the superstructure abov^e the tomb is 18 
 feet 10 inches high, to the circular base of the column. Its 
 plinth-base is 15 feet in diameter. The length of the col- 
 umn, including its base, which is 2 feet thick, is 46 feet $ 
 inches, and is 5 feet 2 inches in diameter at the base, with 
 a diameter of 3 feet 6 inches at the top. The cap, includ- 
 ing the ornamental frieze, is 4 feet 6 inches high, and the 
 statue-base above is 2 feet high, making the entire height 
 of the monument, including the statue, 95 feet 9 inches. 
 The ornamentation cut in the granite consists of a wreath 
 and the letter "D" on the lintel of the tomb-door. There 
 are raised shields on the corners of the main base of the 
 superstructure, the pedestal of which is ornamented with 
 festoons and wreaths of laurel, and flambeaux on the octa- 
 gonal corners, all in high bas-relief. 
 
 The two main sections of the column are marked by 
 belts of raised stars, indicating the number of States; and 
 the frieze of the cap is encircled with oak leaves in high 
 relief. Within the tomb-chamber repose the remains of 
 Senator Douglas in an iron casket, which is placed in a 
 white marble sarcophagus, lined with lead. Surmounting 
 its top is a life-size bust of Douglas in marble, made by 
 Volk in 1857. 
 
 The following inscription is lettered on the front side:
 
 STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. 5 I 
 
 "STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, 
 
 "Born April 23, 1813; died June 3, 1861. 
 
 "Tell my children to obey the laws and uphold the Constitution." 
 
 The marble of the sarcophagus is from his native State 
 and count}' — Rutland, Vt. The tomb has a heav}-, wrought- 
 iron, grated door, with padlock, and an inner iron safe door 
 with combination lock. The entire superstructure of the 
 monument is made of solid blocks of granite except the 
 die of the pedestal, which is in four parts, and has a small 
 hollow space within containing the copper box of records, 
 coins, etc., which was deposited in the corner-stone of the 
 original limestone tomb. The faces of the raised shields, 
 stars, and panels are polished or glossed. 
 
 The last of the statues of the monument, representing 
 Eloquence, was safely placed May 13, 1880. All these 
 statues, including the Douglas, were first modeled in clay 
 by Leonard \V. Volk, in Chicago, and approved by the' 
 Commissioners; then cast in plaster of paris, and in that 
 material forwarded to the bronze foundry of M. J. Power, 
 New York, who has cast them in the best bronze metal, — 
 I. c, ninety parts copper, eight parts tin, and two parts zinc. 
 
 The statue of Douglas, which is 9 feet 9 inches higli, 
 weighs about 2200 pounds. The four symbolical statues, 
 if standing in upright posture, would be about 7 feet 6 
 inches high, and the average weight of each is about 11 50 
 pounds. 
 
 The colossal statue of Douglas surmounting the top o{ 
 the column, looking eastward over the lake, represents him 
 standing in repose, with scroll in left hand pressed against 
 the hip, and the right hand thrust under the lapel of his 
 tightly-buttoned undercoat. 
 
 The four pedestals at the base are occupied by heroic- 
 sized statues representing Illinois, History, Justice, and 
 Eloquence, in sitting attitudes ; the former has her right 
 hand placed on the State coat-of-arms, with ears of corn in 
 her left hand, and crowned with a chaplet of wheat, and is 
 supposed to be in the act of relating the story of the State 
 to History, on the opposite corner, who, with stylus in 
 hand, is about to record it upon the scroll lying across her 
 lap; her left foot rests upon a pile of tablets.
 
 52 STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. 
 
 Justice rests her right hand upon a sheathed sword, and 
 holds the balances in her left. Eloquence points with her 
 right hand toward the statue of Douglas, while the left rests 
 upon a lyrical instrument. 
 
 All these statues are differently composed and robed in 
 harmonious and classical garments. 
 
 The four bas-reliefs in the panels of the main base of 
 superstructure represent the advance of civilization in 
 America, first by an aboriginal Indian scene, on the east 
 side, in which appears the sun rising above the horizon of 
 a lake, upon which two Indians are about to embark in a 
 canoe; wigwams, with sqaws and papoose, and an elder 
 and two younger Indians, and a dog, the elder in the act 
 of shooting a deer with bow and arrow. 
 
 The second, on the north side, represents pioneer settlers 
 building log- cabin, plowing, sowing grain, and a group of 
 mother, children, and dog resting before the unfinished 
 cabin and the "prairie schooner" wagon. 
 
 In the third scene, on the west side, Commerce and En- 
 terprise are represented by trackmen working on the rail- 
 road, a locomotive, vessels discharging and receiving mer- 
 chandise, an elevator warehouse and telegraph line. 
 
 The fourth and last of the scenes, which was put in place 
 yesterday, represents Legislation, by a group of statesmen, 
 contemporaries of Douglas, in the interior of a public hall 
 of Doric architecture. John C. Calhoun occupies the chair 
 and Henry Clay is addressing the house. Grouped about 
 listening to him are Daniel Webster, Stephen A. Douglas, 
 John Ouincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas H. Ben- 
 ton, William H. Seward, Gov. Cullom., and others to make 
 up the group, among them the late Joseph E. Smith. Mr. 
 Volk said he had not noticed until just before this relief 
 was put in place that of the nine central figures three had 
 been Whigs, three Republicans, and three Democrats. 
 
 The ground upon which the monument stands is bounded 
 on the north by Woodland Park, with a frontage of 260 
 feet; on the east by the Illinois Central Railroad and Lake 
 Michigan, with a frontage of 300 feet; on the south by 
 Douglas avenue or Thirty-fifth street, with a frontage of 
 412 feet; and on the west by an alley, and the width of the 
 ot along the alley is 266 feet.
 
 70 
 
 ^ 1882. ' 
 
 Abraham Lincoln Post 
 
 NO. 13, G^. A. R., 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF NEW YORK. 
 
 CEREMONIES IN UNION SQUARE AND AT 
 
 THE CEMETERIES. 
 
 NKW YORK : 
 John Poi.hp:mus, Mf'g Stationer and Printer, 102 Nassau Street. 
 
 1882.
 
 71 
 
 THE CEREMONIES AT THE LINCOLN STATUE. 
 
 From tlie foot of Lincoln'fs .statue in Union Square, tlie solemn 
 ceremonies ot" Decoration Hav, May 30tli, 1882, were ushered in 
 by Abraham Lincoln Post No. 18, in flie presence oi' thousands 
 of citizens, and ol' an unusual number of distinguished guests. 
 The heavens, resoiumt as it were with the patriotic sentiments 
 that pervaded all the people, snuled benignantly upon the pic- 
 turesque scene that was witnessed around the martyr President's 
 statue in the early morning hour, and all around the great 
 square, which has been made sacred by the events of the great 
 civil war. Encomiums were heard upon the enthusiasm with 
 which, even at daybreak, several comrades assisted Mr. Gr. W. 
 Wilson, the llorist, in perfecting his artistic decoration of the 
 statue. It was evident, even then, that Decoration Day of 
 1882 would surj)ass in grandtin' and solemnity any previous ob- 
 servance of the day. The heart of New York, always loyal, 
 never lukewarm, always ])roud of the deeds of its sons, beat in 
 unison with the siirvivors of (hose comrades who fell on the 
 **P^ield of Honor" that the Republic might live. No greater sig- 
 nificance was ever attached to these pa tiiotic celebrations than by 
 the reverence shown in that early moiiiing hour by the masses of 
 ( itizens to the statue of the Martyr, the Emancipator, the Man 
 of the people, and for the people, who saved the Union of these 
 States, for their good, theij- welfare and their ha})])iness.
 
 FORMATION. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln Post No. 13 formed at their headquarters, 
 No. 8 Union Square, at 7 A. M., and marched to the Statue of 
 Lincohi in the following order : 
 
 Lincoln Post G. A. R. Band. 
 
 LINCOLN POST BATTALION. 
 
 Joseph Forbes, Commanding. 
 John A. Ruefner, Adjutant. 
 
 Aids: 
 
 Schuyler Hamilton. 
 Thomas Elliott. 
 Lehman Israels. 
 Thomas H. Knight. 
 John M. Schmidt. 
 
 Alfred Wagstaff. 
 C. A. Wells. 
 A. A. Scheidler. 
 William Schimper. 
 E. S. Vanderpoel. 
 
 John H. Tyson. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln Post, No. 13. 
 
 Chas. F. Spaulding (First Commander of the Post, who lost 
 his left arm at the battle of Fredericksburgh, Ya.), acting as 
 Marshal. 
 
 Three battle flags. Every comrade fully uniformed and wear- 
 ing the badge of the Army Corps in which he served. The Post 
 was followed by carriages containing its disabled comrades. 
 
 On arriving at the platform the Post and its ofiicers were 
 cheered by the crowds surrounding the platform, and it was with 
 difficulty that the guard could make an open space for the align- 
 ment of the Post on the north side of the statue. Commander 
 Forbes then mounted the platform and cordially welcomed the 
 distinguished gentlemen who, by their presence, added still more 
 enthusiasm to the occasion.
 
 72 
 
 Guests. 
 
 Among" these were ex-President U. S. Grant, Col. Fred. 
 Grant, Gen. John Cochrane, Rev. Dr. J. P. Newman, Hon. 
 John D. Lawson, Hon. Cornelius Van Cott, Hon. A. J. Camp- 
 bell, Gen. Geo. W. Palmer, Hon. Robert L. Darragh, Hon. 
 Thos. E. Stewart, Hon. Bankson T. Morgan, ^Villiam Van 
 Tassel, Esq., Hugh O'Neill, Esq., Fred. Althof, Esq., 
 Colonel James Mix and Captain Augustus Fuller, of the 
 Old Guard; Robert Curran, Esq., Robert L. Fabian, Esq., 
 Leon Harviei', Esq., John Laird, Esq., W. Livingston 
 Forbes, Esq., Royal Prescott, M. D., Oiestes Forbes, Esq., 
 Gen. Yon Schaek, Thomas P. Clench, Esq., Hon. Jacob 
 Hess, Dr. D. T. Fuller, Col. Addison Ware, of the Army 
 of the Tennessee, Henry A. Meette, Esq., Martin Kelly, 
 Esq., John Ruft'ner, William Knowland, Albert Lewis, 
 Esq., William \V. Philbrick, 71st N. G. Veterans, John 
 Tyson, Esq., whose two sons (comrades of the Post) fought 
 under Gen. Grant at Fort Donelsen. 
 
 THE SERVICES. 
 
 Commander Forbes called the large assemblage to order, 
 and introduced General John Cochrane as cliairman of the 
 decoration ceremonies. The General addressed the vast 
 audience in the following terms: 
 
 GENERAL COCHRANE's REMARKS. 
 
 Comrades : Another year's march brings us to our annual halt 
 beneath the shadow of the martyred Lincoln. In the fruition of the 
 hopes begotten of his earthly }Hlgrimage, again we invoke the nur- 
 ture of his large and loving heart. At the morning's rendezvous, 
 in the ployed column, on the serried march — in all the circuit of 
 the day, his mighty shade presides beneficent, lie is not alone. 
 Another is with him, grave and majestic in the joint sanctitude of 
 assassination. It is the martyred Garfield. Ala^ ! that so bright an
 
 6 
 
 exhalation should have hastened to so sad a setting ; that the glori- 
 ous morning's reveille should have been followed so soon by night's 
 solemn tattoo. Our heart throbs were the drum-beat that con- 
 voyed him to his grave, and nations, habited in mourning, bowed 
 at his tomb. The Soldier, Statesman and Christian Gentleman, has 
 passed to his apotheosis in the skies. Wherever in all the earth a 
 fane shall rise consecrated to Freedom, the mute marble and the 
 plaintive peal shall plead to remembrance for her martyrs, and 
 transmit them to latest times. But yesterday the chiefs of a Re- 
 public, from whose presence Kings retired and kingdoms shrank 
 away, and now the mournful emblems of an eventful past the 
 hallowed harbingers of a pregnant future. 
 
 Twin victims of faction, and joint heirs of fame — Lincoln and 
 Garfield — hail and farewell ! 
 
 After a dime bv the G. A. R. band, the Rev. Dr. J. P. 
 Newman spoke as follows : 
 
 REV. DR. J. p. NEWMAX ON ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Call the roll of honor, recount the benefactors of man- 
 kind, enumerate the illustrious statesmen of the mighty 
 past, and there is no name more deserving of immortal re- 
 nown, and more certain of imperishable fame, than the 
 name of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 His place in history is assured ; generations may pass 
 away ; empires may rise and fall ; governments ma}^ change 
 in form and substance ; but so long as men shall revere 
 purity, honor integrity, admire greatness, so long will they 
 recall with admiration and delight the name of Lincoln. 
 
 Some men are brilliant in their times, but their names 
 fade from the memory of the world because their words 
 and deeds are worthless to history ; other men, less honored 
 by tiieir contemporaries, grow upon the attention and affec- 
 tion of posterity because of the enduring part they took in 
 the Avorld's advancement to a better future.
 
 73 
 
 Measured by this standard, Lincoln sliall live in ineniory 
 from age to age. 
 
 It is a law of om- nature to segregate some chief benefac- 
 tor and crown him with honor. We do not love and admire 
 men in groups. We speak with pride of Guttenberg and 
 his coadjutors ; of Wnshingtcm and his generals ; of Lin- 
 coln and his cahinet; but when the day of coronation 
 comes, we crown th(^ inventor of ])rinting; the fatiier of his 
 country; and the saviour of our Republic. Lincohi had 
 grand associates — Seward, th(^ sagacious diplomatist; 
 Chase, the eminent tinancier ; Stanton, the incomj)ar- 
 able war secretary — but they were great as subordi- 
 nate actors in the mightiest of national dramas of which 
 Lincoln was the ])i-e-eminent character and masterful 
 spirit. Neither could take his ])art, noi* till his position. 
 More than either of them, he is memorable for the unique- 
 ness of his character and the majesty of his individuality. 
 Like Milton's angel, he was an original conception. He 
 was made for his times. He was a leader of leaders. By 
 instinct the common heart trusted in him. He was of the 
 people and for the people. He had been ])0()r, and humble 
 and laborious, but gnnitness did not change the tone of his 
 spii'it or the syniparhi(^s of his nature. His character was 
 strangely s\'mnietrical. He was temperate without aus- 
 terity, cautious without fear, brave without rashness, and 
 constant without ol)stinancy. His marvelous hopefulness 
 never betrayed him into impracticable measures. His love 
 of justice was only equaled by his delight in compassion. 
 His regard for pei-sonal honor w;is only exceled by love of 
 counti-y. His self-abneicarion found its liiichest exi)ression 
 in the public good. His integrity was never questioned, 
 his honesty was above suspicion, and iiis private life and 
 public deeds were alike reputable to himself and honorable 
 to his country.
 
 8 
 
 His enemies said that he was not brilliant ; that there 
 were no salient points in his character ; that there was 
 nothing in him that dazzled. But his immeasurable use 
 fulness to his country is the best answer. Of all the 
 stellar hosts not one is more important to mankind than the 
 North Star, yet it is not so brilliant as many of his fellows. 
 The ocean, in grandeur and utility is not so captivating as 
 the summer cloud decked with the celestial bow, but it is 
 the highway of international commerce. The lightning, 
 whether in sheets of light or bars of fire, may dazzle the be- 
 holder, but it is not com23arable to the daily sun, spreading 
 warmth, plenty and beauty over the habitations of man. 
 Lincoln was the Republic's polar star in the darkest night, 
 the ocean of its wealth and the sun of its glory. 
 
 God raised him ujd to be a representative man, more solid 
 than brilliant, whose judgment dominated the imagination 
 whose ambition was subject to modesty, and whose love of 
 justice held the mastery over all personal considerations. 
 Not excepting Washington, who inherited wealth and high 
 social position, Lincoln is the fullest representative Ame- 
 rican in our national annals. He had trodden every round 
 in the human ladder. He illustrated the possibilities of our 
 citizenship. We are not ashamed of his humble origin ; we 
 are proud of his greatness and glory. In nothing more is 
 the sagacity and might of his statesmanship apparent than 
 in his determination to save the union of these States. 
 Herein the clearness, the calmness, the firmness of his in- 
 tellect was most conspicuous. This was the objective point 
 of his administration. He would listen to no coui promise ; 
 he would surrender neither jot or tittle ; he would have 
 the Union or nothing. He denied the right of the South to 
 revolutionize, as our forefathers had exhausted that right, 
 inasmuch as they had provided in the Constitution for the 
 possession and enjoyment of all natural rights, and made
 
 74 
 
 9 
 
 pi'ovisioii for the airiciHlnient of that Constimrion ))y the 
 will of the people, as the growth of the couiitiy might de- 
 mand. He denied State sovereignty as paramount to na- 
 tional sovereignty. States have their rights and their obli- 
 gations, and their chief oMigation is to remain in the Union. 
 Some political philos()])hers advocated tlu' right of the i>eo- 
 ple to change our form of government, but Lincoln de- 
 nounced that as x)olitical heresy ; at all events, if changed 
 at all, it must be done in times of peace and not by armed 
 rebellion. There were political philanthropists who clamoied. 
 for the overthrow of slavery, and advocated the dissolution 
 of the Union rather than live in a country under whose 
 governnK^nt slavery was tolerated. 
 
 But Lincoln was a wiser and better i)hihintr()phist than 
 they. He would have the Union with slavery or without 
 slavery. He preferred it without, and his ])r^lVrence pre- 
 vailed. How incomi)arably worse would have been the 
 condition of the slave in the Confederacy with a living 
 slave for its chief corner-stone, than in the Uiii<jn. 
 
 Time has justified the wisdom of his statesmanshiji. 
 Seventeen years are gone since our great martyr was slain. 
 The providential permission of his death issiill a m^'stery. 
 Clergymen and statesmen joined in ex))ressi()n.5 of belief 
 that it would prove a national blessing; that the kindliness 
 of Lincoln's nature would incline him to oifer such condi- 
 tions to the South as would virtually leave the rebels mas- 
 ters of the situation. With this reflection all bowed in 
 luunble submission to the will of the Almighty God, and 
 looked to Andv Johnson as the President who wtmld 
 make treason odious. The only thing that Johnson made 
 odious was liimseU'. He became the patron saint of traitors, 
 and the rewarder of treason. He did whar Lincoln never 
 would have done, and to-da}'', the South reveres Lincoln 
 and despisHs Johnson. From oui- standjioint Lincoln's
 
 10 
 
 death seems to have a compeasation — it gav^e the South the 
 opportunity under Johnson's administration, to disclose 
 its purpose to gain by the ballot what it had lost by the 
 bayonet. But the eternal vigilance of Congress, bai)tized 
 by the spirit of the great martyr, defeated a purpose no less 
 treasonable than the armed rebellion against the Federal 
 government. 
 
 Aside from this seeming compensation, Lincoln's death is 
 an untold mystery, whose secret is lodged in the mind of 
 the Intinite. But time has vindicated the sagacity of his 
 statesmanship, that to preserve the Union was to^ave this 
 great nation for human liberty, was to ultimately crush out 
 the spirit of secession and unify North and South, and was 
 to advance the emancipated slave to education, to thrift and 
 political equality. All this is an accomplished fact. To-day 
 the American Republic is the , inspiration to men every- 
 where who are struggling for their political rights and liber- 
 ty, and silently and surely its successful example is modify- 
 ing the governments .of the world, in behalf of personal 
 liberty. The spirit of loyal devotion to the Union and Federal 
 government is gaining the mastery in the South, so that the 
 time is at hand when the term " South " will have no polit- 
 ical significance, but like the "East" and the " West," will 
 be descriptive of a geographical section of our national do- 
 main. And under Mr. Lincoln's wise policy, all the fond- 
 est dreams of the abolitionists are realized by the indus- 
 trial, educational and political condition of those made for- 
 ever free by his Proclamation of Emancipation. 
 
 It is therefore eminently fitting that once a year we gath- 
 ered around this monument and recall what Lincoln did for 
 his country, and through that country for mankind ; to ob- 
 serve, with vigilance and care, whether the principles for 
 which he died are respected by our people and enforced by 
 our public men, and to rekindle the fires of patriotism upon
 
 75 
 
 11 
 
 the altai- of our hearts, and see to if that "this nation, 
 under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that the 
 government of the peo])le, by the people, and for the jieople, 
 shall not perish from the earth." 
 
 Both Gen. Cochrane' s and Dr. Newman's remarks were 
 repeatedly interrui)ted by applause from the vast mul- 
 titude. 
 
 Ex-PiiEsiDKNT Grant. 
 
 At the conclusion of the hitter's address there were loud 
 cries of "Grant !" "Grant !" The ex-President, and kite 
 command(^r of the armies in the field, arose and said : "I 
 thank you for your cordial reception on this interesting 
 occasion, and I would gladly speak in honor of our mem- 
 orable comrades had you not already heard enough, and 
 were the noise in the street less, so that you could hear me." 
 
 The Orphans. 
 
 Toward the close of the ceremonies a procession of two 
 hundred children from the Protestant Half Or[)lian Asylum, 
 in West Tenth street, headed by their Superintendent and 
 accompanied by their teachers ranged themselves around 
 the platform, and w^ere cordially received by the comrades 
 of Abraham Lincoln Post, and by the ex-President and the 
 other guests. They subsequently sang witli considt^'able 
 fervor " Nearer My God To Thee ! " The Superintendent 
 then presented the Post with two beautiful wreaths of 
 flowers, which were placed upon the Lincoln statue. 
 
 A TRIBUTE BY THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 While the Old Guard, under command of Major Geo. W. 
 McLean, were forming at their head-quarters, in Fourteenth 
 Street and Fifth Avenue, to act as Guard of honor to the 
 President of the United States during the ceremonies of the
 
 . 12 
 
 day, a detail was appointed to proceed to the Lincoln 
 statue and j)resent to the commander of Abraham Lincoln 
 Post a wreath of Howers in the name of the Old Guard. 
 The detail, headed by Colonel Mix, soon made its appear- 
 ance near the statue, and handed to Major Forbes — as 
 instructed by the Guard — a magnificent wreath which was 
 conspicuously placed ujjon the statue amid the proper 
 recognition and salute of the Post. 
 
 ABSENT FROM ROLL-CALL. 
 
 The chairman then asked, " Is there anv comrade of this 
 Post whose grave cannot be decorated to-day «" 
 
 Response by Post-Commander Forbes : "Oscar Tompkins, 
 late 4th N. Y. Cavalry, Past Commander of Post 13, died at 
 Buenaventura, U. S. Colombia, while in the discharge of 
 his duty as IT. S. Consul; and in behalf of this Post I give 
 this tribute, a symbol of undying love for our late comrade 
 of the w^ar." 
 
 The commander then read the following official record of 
 the proceedings held in regard to the late Oscar Tompkins 
 at the State Encampment, held in Syracuse, in January, 
 1882 : 
 
 "Oscar Tompkins, an ex-meniber of the Department 
 Council of Administration, for ten years a member of this 
 Encampment, and past commander of Lincoln Post No. 13, 
 died at his post of duty, as United States Consul at Buena- 
 ventura, in August last, leaving on the records of the De- 
 partment of State a favorable reputation as an official, a 
 soldier and a man. His last work for the Grand Army was 
 performed at Bath, for which he obtained a short leave of 
 absence from his consular duties. In view of his energy in 
 promoting the objects and growth of the Grand Army of 
 the Republic, it is deemed litting to place this minute on 
 the journal of the Encampment.
 
 76 
 
 13 
 
 In advocating its adoption Comiade James Tanner paid a 
 flowing tJ'ibiite to tlie worth and cliararterof the deceased ; 
 and by a rising vote the minute was nnaiiiniously direcred 
 to he spread on tlie record of the session." 
 
 The Post having passed in review before tlie Command«M- 
 the ceremonies chased and tlie comrades formed in Four- 
 teenth Street on their way to take their place in line of the 
 great parade. 
 
 DECORATION OF TIIK MXCOLN STATU K. 
 
 Abraham LincobTs statue in Union Square was decorated 
 in the most elaborate manner, the facsmille of the great 
 emancipator being left severely alone, while the pedestal was 
 ornamented in the most elaborate and artistic style, which 
 will forever tend to the credit of George W. Wilson, tlie 
 florist, who himself has been made an honorary member 
 of the Post. The side of the pedestal facing Broadway, 
 contained at the top of tlie shaft a solid bed of flowers, be- 
 low the side of the shaft, facing Broadway contained a 
 knapsack of ivy and blue immortelles with the words, 
 •'Post 13." A green festooning surrounded both sides 
 of the shaft at the lower end. On two sides at the 
 bottom of the shaft were shields containing the National 
 colors with black bands and the words : "In Memoriam." 
 On the other side was a grand star with the word in semi- 
 circle "The Emancipator.*' There were four columns of 
 flowers which supported the bed of flowers on which the 
 statue seemed to rest. The enclosure contained four vases 
 of palms and other plants, giving a tropical appearance 
 to the decoration. 
 
 The entire Press of New York and suburbs but voiced 
 the sentiments of the people who admired the beauty and 
 simplicity of the decoration of this statue, which was con- 
 sidered in perfect harmony with the character of the man 
 and martyr, and a])])ro])riate to the day.
 
 LINCOLN POST AT THE GBAVEf^ OF PATRIOTIC 
 
 LADIES. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln Post, No. 18, lias for years made it a 
 practice not to ignore the valuable services rendered during 
 the war by the noble women of our land, who succored the 
 maimed, nursed the sick, and tenderly cared for the orj)hans 
 of deceased comrades. 
 
 LINCOLN POST AT GREENWOOD, N. Y. 
 
 Mrs. Edward Yanderpoel, 
 
 Wife of Dr. Edward Vanderpoel. A detail of the Post 
 decorated the grave of Mrs. Vanderpoel in Greenwood 
 Cemetery, and planted there a flag with an appropriate in- 
 scription. Mrs. Yanderpoel founded the Lexington Avenue 
 Hospital for wounded soldiers during the war, and received 
 in recognition of her services a beautifully engraved cer- 
 tificate, ordered by President Lincoln, and signed by 
 Surgeon- General Barnes. This lady has, daring and since 
 the war, been frequently designated as the Florence Night- 
 ingale of New York. 
 
 LINCOLN POST AT SYRACUSE, N. Y. 
 
 Mrs. Gen. H. A. Barnum, 
 
 Wife of Gen. H. A. Barnum, Chairman of the Memorial 
 Committee, G. A. R., N. Y. City. We quote from the 
 Syracuse Courier : 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE. 
 
 The Abraham Lincoln Post of the Grand Army of the 
 Rebublic of New York City, sent a superb wreath of tube 
 roses to be placed upon the grave of the late Mrs. General 
 Barnum in Oakwood. The Horal tribute was placed upon 
 Mrs. Barnum' s grave by relatives, and was a loving remem- 
 brance and fitting testimonial from kind friends. General 
 Barnum took a prominent part in the Decoration Day 
 exercises in New York City yesterday.
 
 77 
 
 15 
 
 LINCOLN POST AT CEDAR LAWN CEMETERY. 
 
 Situated on the l)anks of the Passaic River, near Paterson, 
 N. J., J() miles I'roni New York. A derail of the Post decorated 
 the f!:i'ave of 
 
 iMiis. Saijaii M. FomJF.s. 
 
 We quote from the l^aterson, N. J., Daily Press^ of Tuesday 
 evening, May 30 : 
 
 *'The detail of Abraham Lincoln Post, No. 13, G. A. R., 
 arrived in Paterscm yesterday I'rom New Yoik to decorate the 
 ^rave of Mrs. tFoseph Forbes, a lady well-known for her iKitriotic 
 ende^avors. She at all times was foremost in (;hariiable institu- 
 tions, and since rhe war faihMl not to visit the homes of veterans 
 who were sufferini;- from wounds or disease. Mrs. Forbes was 
 tlie wife of Jose])h Forbes, of Abraham Lincoln Post, No. 13. 
 wlio is now a delegate to the National Encani])ment, which meets 
 in Baltimore on June 21. The detail was received by comrades 
 and was escorted to the cemetery. There they placed on Mrs. 
 Forbes' s grave a beautiful wreath of flowers, accomi)anied by a 
 national ensign, inscribed, 'Tribute from Abraham Lincoln 
 Post, No. 13,^ G. A. R., to Mrs. Joseph Forbes.' " 
 
 LINCOLN POST AT THE GRAVES OF THEIR LATE 
 
 COMRA PES. 
 
 Among the comrades who left our i-anks duiing the ])ast year 
 at the call of death, was 
 
 '? 
 
 Dk. I. 1. Hayes, 
 
 who is buried in Chester, Pa., whither a tribute of the Post was 
 sent. We copy from the Westchester, Pa., 'Republican of 
 May 31 : 
 
 "Abraham Lincoln Post, No. 13, Department of New York, 
 G. A. R., S(Mit as a Tribute to the memory of \^\. 1. I. Hayes a 
 handsome silk Hag, which was placed u])()ii his grave in the 
 Friends' burial giound ncjii- Oaklands. Tliis kindly tribute 
 U()\\\ tiie New York friends of Dr. Hayes will l)e appreciated by
 
 16 
 
 his friends in West Chester. His grave was decorated with a 
 handsome white wreath and strewn with beautiful flowers. 
 Post-commander H. C. Reagan received the following letter with 
 the flag : 
 
 Comrade H. C. Reagan^ Commander of McCall Post, No. 31, 
 
 G. A. R., Dejyartment of Pennsylvania, West Chester, Pa. 
 
 Dp:ak Sir and Comrade : — We have sent a flag to mark the 
 grave of Comrade I. I. Hayes, the Arctic explorer, and a surgeon 
 in the late war. He was for many years a member of the Legis- 
 lature of this State and a comrade of our Post, and was buried 
 in your village. 
 
 Yours in F. C. and L. 
 
 JOSEPH FORBES, Commander. 
 
 LINCOLN POST AT CYPRESS HILL, GREENWOOD, LUTHERAN, WOOD- 
 LAWN, NEW YORK BAY AND STATEN ISLAND CEMETERIES. 
 
 Details of the Post were also sent to the above cemeteries to 
 decorate the graves of 
 
 William Smith, Theodore Schortau, 
 
 Bernhard Brauer, ! Gustav Fambach, 
 
 George H. Quin, ; John Stengie, 
 
 Peter Sutor, | Henrv C. Clench, 
 
 Lorenz Feuerbach, | John Haas, 
 
 George Kingsley, 
 
 all of whom have left behind creditable records as citizens, 
 soldiers and comrades of the Post. 
 
 REUNION AT THE KNICKERBOCKER COTTAGE. 
 
 At the close of the ceremonies of the day the Post held a re- 
 union at Knickerbocker Cottage in Sixth avenue, where, after 
 partaking of the hospitalities of the host. Captain William Fow- 
 ler, himself a veteran of the war. Commander Forbes rapped to 
 order. Music by the G. A. R. Band, and Chaplain Wolff then 
 uttered thanks to Divine Providence for permitting this Post to 
 perform, though with ranks thinned by death, the solemn duties
 
 7^ 
 
 17 
 
 of the day. The Commander then called upon Comrade Lehman 
 Israels to address the Post, which he did, though fati<j:Hed by the 
 labors of the many weeks wliich he as Secretary of the Memo- 
 rial Committee had to endure in prei)ariiig the details of this 
 vast celebration. He congratulated the Post upon its piompt- 
 ness at the morning observance of the day, upon its soldierly 
 appearance in the line of procession, and upon the honor be- 
 stowed by the presence of the ex-President of the United States, 
 who though requested to accompany the President during the 
 celebration of the day, nevertheless considered it his duty to 
 pay homage to Lincoln and the Post that bore his honored name. 
 Comrades C. A. Welles, D. E. Gregory, John A. Ruffner, John 
 H. Tyson and Col. Mix, of the Old Guard, also made remarks, 
 after which Commander Forbes introduced the oldest son of 
 veteran present, Charles H. Israels, who was honored with a seat 
 among the veterans. The Post, after pledging renewed fealty to 
 the Order, closed the proceedings by singing Auld Lang Syne, 
 and then participated in the evening ceremonies at the Academy 
 
 of Music. 
 
 COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 Thomas H. Knight, 
 D. E. Grkgory, 
 J. J. Fouii, 
 L. Brown, 
 Samuel McCoy, 
 
 John F. Connell, 
 Joseph Arnold, 
 Joseph O'Brien, 
 DeWitt R. Myers, 
 James Gale, 
 
 Isaac C. Tyson. 
 
 CONTRIBUTORS. 
 
 By resolution of Abraham Lincoln Post, No. 13, the thanks 
 of the Post are hereby tendered to the following citizens, who 
 contributed flowers, cash and other necessary articles for the 
 use of the Post on Decoration Day. 
 
 VVhitelaw Reid, 
 
 Janes & Kirtlaiid, 
 
 American District Telegra}»h Co., 
 
 Hugh O'Xeil, 
 W. Van Tassel, 
 Fred Althof,
 
 ^ 
 
 18 
 
 Delnionico's 
 
 TiffaDy & Co., 
 
 L. M. Bates, 
 
 Theodore B. Starr, 
 
 Mrs. A. T. Stewart, 
 
 Col. William A. Pond, 
 
 Bank of Metropiles, 
 
 G. P. Putnam Sons, 
 
 Herring & Co., 
 
 Lord & Tavlor, 
 
 Arnold, Constable & Co., 
 
 Black, Starr & Frost, 
 
 Gorliani Manufacturing Co., 
 
 Hotel Brunswick, 
 
 Mason & Hamlin, 
 
 Domestic Sewing 3Iachine Co., 
 
 Worthington & Smith, 
 
 Degraaf & Taylor, 
 
 Hoffman House, 
 
 Co-operative Dress Association, 
 
 J. M. Biunswick & Balke Co., 
 
 A. A Vantine & Co., 
 
 Miller & Co., 
 
 Stein way & Sons, 
 
 A. J. Dam, 
 Sheridan Shook, 
 Huyler's 
 
 Clarendon Hotel, 
 Everett House, 
 
 B. L. Solomons' Sons, 
 Plympton ct Co., 
 Col. Thomas Rafferty, 
 Gillis & Geoghegan, 
 A. H. Brummell, 
 
 M. Costello, 
 Michael Noonan, 
 
 P. Kehoe, 
 J. A. Linlier, 
 E. S. Spencer, 
 
 E. T. Paxton, 
 
 A. L. McDermott, 
 W. T. Hoffmann, 
 
 A. B. Dayton, 
 Herbert Stout, 
 
 I. H. Lippencott, 
 W. H. Sexton, 
 
 B. F. Gatens, 
 G. A. Fuller, 
 Wm. J. Tailor, 
 A. P. Chase & Co. 
 Mat Kane, 
 
 P. Dubreuil, 
 Louis Spinner, 
 Peter Doelger, 
 Geo. A. Havuno^a, 
 Mrs. Theresa Sutor, 
 M. Rock, 
 
 Dr. Joseph Schnetter, 
 Henrv Franz, 
 William Stitz, 
 L. Arnheim, 
 Theodore Birdsall, 
 David Cochran, 
 John Jacobs, 
 T. M. Lynch, 
 G. K. Johnson, 
 William Richardson, 
 Clarence W. Donnelly, 
 William H. Cushing, 
 
 F. M. Johnson, 
 Jos. L. Hilton, 
 Edward Green,
 
 19 
 
 79 
 
 Chr. Zubel, 
 J. A. 8ho})hard, 
 JoliM 1). Liiwson, 
 Thos. Willis, 
 R. Isaacs & Brother, 
 Thos. Eglinton, 
 A. P. \^ollnu'r, 
 John F. Young, 
 F. P. Munlock, 
 John Anderson, 
 J. P. Wright, 
 M. H. Nugent, 
 Jacob Camnu'ver, 
 AVilliani F. Malion, 
 
 II. <le Koster, 
 
 James Connolly, 
 
 Thos. Ward. 
 
 Jas. B. (ioggin, Jr., 
 
 F. A. O. Scliwarz, 
 
 Chas, W. Randall, 
 
 N. Y. Sunday Dispatch, 
 
 N. Kennedy, 
 
 John Doyle, 
 
 M. F. Glynn, 
 
 D. D. Byrne, 
 
 Francisco Barta, 
 
 llirani Truss.
 
 1-^ 
 
 20 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN POST, No. 13, 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF NEW YORK, 
 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLK 
 
 HEADQUARTERS, 8 UNION SQUARE, 
 
 ENCAMPMENTS FIRST AND THIRD WEDNESDAYS OF EACH MONT 
 This Organization is purely Fraternal, Charitable and Loyal, 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE POST. 
 
 commander. 
 JOSEPH FORBES, 
 
 165 Sixth Avenue. 
 
 senior vice commander. junior vice-commander. 
 
 W. S. DUNBAR. FRED W. SCHMIDT. 
 
 chaplain. surgeon. 
 
 REV. WILLIAM WOLFF. FREDERICK GUYER. 
 
 adjutant. quartermaster. 
 
 JOHN A. RUFFNER. JOHN H. TYSON. 
 
 OFFICER OF THE DAY. OFFICER OF THE GUARD. 
 
 JAMES W. FOSTER. ANDREW MOFFAT. 
 
 SERGEANT-MAJOR. Q. M. SARGEANT. 
 
 E. S. VANDERPOEL. WILLIAM SCHIMPER. 
 
 HISTORIAN. ORGANIST. 
 
 D. E. GREGORY. EUGENE SUBIT. 
 
 ORATOR OF THE POST. 
 
 GENERAL JOHN COCHRANE. 
 
 State Encampment, 
 delegate. alternate. 
 
 ANDREW A. SCHEIDLER. LEHMAN ISRAELS. 
 
 INITIATION FEE, $5.00. 
 Dues, $4.00 per year, payaMe quarterly in advance 
 
 OBJECTS. 
 
 "To preserve and strengthen those kind and fraternal feelings which b 
 together the Soldiers, Sailors and Marines who united to suppress the late 
 bellion, and to perpetuate the memory and history of the dead. "
 
 
 OF 
 
 Gen. W. W. H. Davis, 
 
 AT THE 
 
 Lincoln Monument, Philadelphia. 
 
 ON 
 
 DECORATION DAY, MAY 30, 1883.
 
 -^ 
 
 Address : 
 
 It is meet, and proper, my countrymon, lliat you 
 lialt at the loot of this statue, on your way to decorate 
 the graves of your fallen comrades. On such occasion* 
 a new inspiration of patriotism and devotion to duty 
 seems needed, before entering upon the discharge of 
 that solemn, and loving, office ; and no spot is better 
 calculated to inspire these sentiments. In this pres- 
 ence patriotic in)pulses flow out as freely as the waters 
 from the rock in Horeb. Moreover, Abraham Lin- 
 coln, as commander-in-chief of all the armies of the 
 Union, was the tirst soldier of the Republic, and it is 
 fitting that he receive the first tribute of Howers on 
 Decoration Day. 
 
 A group of statuary, at the Paris Expositi<m of 
 1878, attracted great attention. Tlie objective figure 
 represented him who stood at the head of the iron in- 
 dustry of France, a man who challenged the es:eem of 
 all. At his feet were two sjualler figures ; one the 
 wife of a miner, the other her little son. The moiher 
 hehl the boy with one hand, and, with the other, 
 p;)inted to the statue above, as if calling the attenti< n 
 of the chiM to the life and work of the original, an<l 
 begging him to follow his example. How significant 
 of our situation. And will you allow me. my coun- 
 trymen, to call your attention to the objective figure of 
 this group, and beg you, in the presence of tlie«e wit- 
 nesses, to emulate the love of country, the courage, the
 
 f<nixt:in«-v ami lorl)fai:in( f, ami tn luhivaii' llu- ineriv 
 aii<l cliarity of liiiii wlm Itntk^ liowii ii|hiii you tVuin 
 tlif lili'K-ss iiu'tal ■/ 
 
 Al»raliam Lincoln i>« ilie most uni<|iu' iKTsonaj^e in 
 Anu'rican history, and ont* of tlu* ,i;n'atesi. His rliar- 
 aftiT is lull of salii'nt points. If time woiihl jK'rmit, 
 and tlio occasi<m justil'y, it would Ix' |)roHtal)U' to trace 
 his life, irom tiie huiidde Kentucky eahin,u|i thronj^h 
 its various phases, to the hij^hest earthly honor, and 
 then to his martyr-^rave. Few j)id)lie men have 
 traveU'(l a more thorny road ; tiiou^jh hard, it proved 
 a >;olden pathway to him ; adversity was necessary to 
 brin^ out the Jewels in his character; his sorrows 
 were lilessings in disguise, for they fitted him for his 
 «;reat luture. His early struggles and final success are 
 Kii<nilicant i-omments on the }d:lorv of free institutions, 
 an<l i»rove every achievement to lie jxtssihln under 
 them. The lines of Pope, 
 
 " Honor ami ^illame I'rom no condition ri.^e, 
 Act well your part— there all ihe honor Hep," 
 
 were more forcibly exemplified in the life of Abraham 
 l/iiu'(»ln than in any other public man in America. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln's fame culminated in the Presidential 
 ofljce ; there he i^ained imj>erishable renown and a 
 nuirtyr's tjrave. He did not enter upon his threat 
 tru-it imprepared fur its duties. He had alieady taken 
 rank with the altlest mei» of the West ; he had had 
 an experience of thirty years at the bar in a varied 
 praciice; and had held a seat in the State, and Kederal, 
 legislature. He had studied, with profound attention, 
 the structure of our pivernmeut, and his interpreta- 
 tion was accepted, without (|Ue>tion, by a very huye 
 proportiiMi of the American people. From a l«H*al
 
 -A 
 
 leader he became, by force o( cliaracter. ami his won- 
 derful knowledge of, and control over, men, one of the 
 greatest political chieftains of modern times. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln saw, in his elevation to the Presidency, 
 but another step toward the hilHllment of the destiny 
 he believed, at times, awaited him. Few rulers ever 
 had a more difficult part to play when they took office ; 
 none of his predecessors had problems of equal mo- 
 ment to deal with. He found the country on the very 
 threshold of revolution. The government was threat- 
 ened with overthrow ; and, within sixty days, a civil 
 war. of gigantic proportions, broke out. The firing 
 on Sumter was the gage of battle thrown down by 
 the enemy, and the Federal government was not in a 
 position even to consider the propriety of taking it up. 
 The challenge was accepted at once : and the new ad- 
 ministration found itself engaged in a conflict of arms 
 before fairly w^arm in its seat. We frecjuently ask our- 
 selves the question, "could not the war have been 
 averted?" Great conflicts can always be averted if 
 one party or the other will give up their convictions. 
 There would not have been any American Revolution 
 had our fathers submitted to the unjust demands of the 
 English king. The conflict , between human slavery 
 and freedom, had reached such a point, by 1861, 
 that any other settlement, than by appeal to arms, 
 seemed out of the question. The ordeal of war is al- 
 ways terrible, but there are greater evils. The dear- 
 est of human rights have been won in the carnage of 
 battle, and freedom, in Cimrch and State, received its 
 first baptism in blood. 
 
 During the conflict the Union had no warmer friend 
 than him whose hand guided the ship of State. U
 
 82 
 
 there were one nmn, :il)ove all others, anxious to pre- 
 serve the intet^rity nl" tiu' Tnion, and to brinf< it out of 
 the eontiiet unimpaired, that man was Mr. Lincoln. 
 He entered uiM)n the struirjjle wilii the intt-nt (»f sav- 
 inj; the I'nion at wliatevir eost, and it is hardly nec- 
 essary to remind you, my comrades, how suecessfully 
 it wa.s aeeontplisiied. Mistakes, and «;reat ones, were 
 to i)e expected, hut, in the lij?ht of the past, we are 
 astonishecl thcv were so few. Those who stoo<l closest 
 to Mr. Lincoln, in the darke.st hours of the war, say 
 that his weight of care was almost too nnich for man 
 to hear, and that he often attempted to throw it off' by 
 indul^in^ in levity. 
 
 The only great politiial question of the war was 
 negro slavery. Like Banquo's ghost, it would not 
 down. Having been the cause of the strife, it seemed 
 impossible to put it out of sight by the usual meth- 
 ods. It recpiired heroic treatment. When Mr. Lin- 
 coln came to deal with it. he touched the most mo- 
 mentous cjuestion of the century, and found it sur- 
 rounded with difficulties. It wa.s not our own crea- 
 tion ; it was forced upon our fathers by their British 
 ancestors, and, when the colonies Ijecame free, it was 
 left behind a legacy of evil. Its recognition waa a 
 condition i)rei-edent to the fi)rmation of the Federal 
 Union, and the social and labor systems in fifteen 
 States rested upon it. To remove it from the body 
 politic, and save the life of the country, was as diffi- 
 cult as cutting a cancer fr<>m the human body and 
 saving the patient. Slavery had long been a reproach 
 to us. A government, founded on the sublime tloetrine 
 of the Declaration of !nde|>en<lence, that *'all men are 
 created etiual," and as underst(t<»<l in the light of iucmI-
 
 -n 
 
 ern civilization, could not jiffbrJ to ix^rpetuate a system 
 which gave the lie to our political in^^titutions and 
 most cherished traditions. This great evil confronted 
 Mr. Lincoln at the most critical ])eriod of the war. 
 He hesitated at first, but the moment he was satisfied 
 slavery was an obstacle to the success of the cause of 
 the Union, he applied the knife. The Emancipation 
 Proclamation remove*! the only thing in the way of 
 our becoming a homogmeous, and hapj)y, people, and 
 immortalized the name of its destrover. 
 
 The war for tlie Union was noted for two remarkable 
 features: the mercy of the victors and the cheerful 
 acquiescence of the vanquised. In these respects his- 
 tory does not record its equal. It was the only great 
 rebellion put down by the strong arm, that was not 
 followed by confiscations and penalties and blood-shed- 
 ding. When the Confederate flags were furled at Ap- 
 pomattox, in April, I860, the war was over, except to 
 a few politicians, and the weapons of both armies were 
 " hung up as bruised monuments." The last shot 
 was fired in actual conflict. After that not a drop of 
 blood was shed, and but a single life taken, and that 
 for cruelty to helpless prisoners This tenderness, for 
 those who had raised their hands against the life of 
 the Republic, came of three causes : the government 
 waged the war from the standpoint of the nineteenth 
 century civilization ; the enemy were our own kith 
 and kin with whom we hoped to dwell in peace in fu- 
 ture ; but, above all, because the great heart of the 
 Chief Magistrate was deeply imbued with the quality 
 of that mercy that 
 
 " Droppeth as the gentle dew from Heaven 
 Upon the place beneath."
 
 o 
 
 But for Mr. Lincoln's mild, and gentle, nature the 
 war \v«)ul(i liave been nnu-h more sanguinary. lie 
 lVe(iuently eheeked extreme measures, and at times 
 was a wall of adamant hefore liis confidential advisers. 
 He never closed his vnr to an appeal for mercy ; and 
 many owe to him a life forfeited to the rigors of war. 
 He, who could l«M)k abroad upon the bloody conllict 
 devastating the country, and proclaim " charity for all 
 with m:dice toward none," must have iK)sses.sed a 
 measure of justice and mercy that lifted him above 
 the plain of common mortals. May his gentle spirit 
 hover over the country as a guardian angel, and may 
 its benign intluence cement the sections in fraternal 
 love! 
 
 In l<»oking back upon the war, a-s it has passed into 
 history, it will not be out of place for me to remark, on 
 this occasion, that the men who fonght us were wor- 
 thy foemen ; that in the higher (pialities of manhood 
 they were our equals, and that the time will come 
 when the counige, constancy and forbearance, of those 
 who fought on one side ;nid the other, will be cher- 
 ished as a common inheritance. 
 
 It is difficult to portray the character of Abraham 
 Lincoln. Although nature denie 1 him the grace of 
 person she confers upon most men, he had his com- 
 pensation in (jualities of head and heart rarely etjual- 
 ed. He wa.s given a keen, and subtle, intellect, and his 
 common sense was wonderful — almost amounting to 
 prescience. Without posse.ssingseln)larly attainments, 
 he was well-read on most ^ubjects, and his strong 
 memory retained his gathered knowledge. His pub- 
 lic a lilres-;es were models of pure ICnglish and un- 
 nilorned ehxjuence. Among these pro(hiclions his
 
 -A 
 
 & 
 
 sjpeeeh, at the laying of tlie corner-stone of the Gettys- 
 burg monument, i« the most noted. The Lon'lon 
 H'lne-H said of it, at the time, there w:us only one speech 
 known in hi>*tory that can compare with it, the ora- 
 tion of Thucydides, of Alheas, ibr the Athenian tlead 
 of the Peloponesian war, and that Mr. Lincoln's had 
 the advantage over that in being more natural, and 
 better voiiehed for as a matter of imdoubted occur- 
 rence. 
 
 His sense of ju4iee was remarkable. He was never 
 known to fail to succor the weak and afHicted, an I lie 
 i)oldly espoused the side of the oppressed regardle-H 
 of consequences. It is doubtful if the country ever 
 had another public man who so thoroughly hated 
 wrong and injustice. Integrity of character was one 
 of his marked characteristics. Judge Dtivis, his inti- 
 mate friend, says the framework of his mental, and 
 moral, being was honesty. He was a man of wonder- 
 ful humanity and great depth ot ieeling. On one oc- 
 casion he attempted to deliver tlie luneral oration over 
 the body of a beloved iriend, but he broke down an! 
 could not proceed. His stejvmother, who mourned 
 him as one of her own, said, after his death, " Abe 
 was the best )joy I ever saw." One phase of Air. 
 Lincoln's character is inexpressibly sad, the deep 
 gloom and depression that never left him. He was 
 sometimes the gaye-^t when the saddest, and not infre- 
 quently the joke and jest were the onlv silver lining 
 to the cloud. He once said to a friend, that although 
 he appeared to enjoy life rapturously, it was a mis- 
 take. He often sought consolation by repeating por- 
 tions of a poem, entitled " Immortality," by an un- 
 known autlior, beginning, 
 
 " Oh ! why shouUl the .spirit of mortal be proud?"
 
 
 and he has been known to turn aside from wei^jhty 
 aHJiirs of State to (jimte his favorite stanzas to a visitor. 
 After a carefnl estimate of the character of Mr. Lin- 
 cohi, I am justified in repeatinj? the words of the En>?- 
 lish poet, Decker, as applicable to him : — 
 
 " 'I'he best of uien 
 That e'er wore eartli Hl>uiit him, 
 A soft, meek, humMe, patient, tranquil spirit." 
 
 We pass, in silence, the tragic end of Mr. Lincoln. 
 The fatal shot, on that April evening, sent a thrill of 
 horror through the world hardly eipialed since the 
 cruel deed on Calvary. The night Hernando Corlez 
 was driven from the Aztec capital, has come down in 
 Sjmnish history as Noche Triste, the sad night, and for 
 like rea.son will the night of Mr. Lincoln's assassina- 
 tion be the Noche Tr j.?/e of American history. 
 
 If "the blood of the martyr is the seed of the 
 Church," Die lessons, faiij^hl by the life an<l iinaih of 
 Abraham Lincoln, will bf, ot inestimable value. 
 What an example to him whose life is a life of toil ! 
 His long struggle sanctified labor ; and paid a tribute 
 to self-denial more pronounced than by any other 
 public man of his geueia'ion. Many will succeed, 
 in future, who would have failed without, bis ex- 
 ample. The Duke of Ormond, on the occasion of 
 the death of his gallant son, the Earl of Ossory, said 
 he would not exchange his dead son for any living 
 son in Christendom. The Kepublic holds in the same 
 estimation the life and memory of her martyred 
 Prnsident. 80 long as the lessons ot Mr. Lincoln 
 shall be ivmembered, "a government of the people, 
 by the people, and for the people, shall not perish 
 fiom the earth."
 
 -n 
 
 lO 
 
 T 
 
 Every nation has its Mecca, wliiiher^the people 
 make pilgrimage to draw new i\ispiraiions. France 
 stands uncovered around the tomb of the great Na- 
 poleon in the crypt of the Invalids; tlie Kusiian 
 bends his steps to the mausoleum of Peter the Grear, 
 where he recalls the wondeiful career of the great 
 Muscovite; while the Englishman contemplates, in 
 silent awe, the monuments erected to the great and 
 good in Westminster Abb?y. But America, more 
 fortunate than these, has two Meccas to which her 
 sons resort ; one, on the hanks of the beautiful Pi>- 
 tomac, where sleeps the Father of his Country ; the 
 other on the great prairies of the West, where lest 
 all that is mortal of Abraham Lincoln, who died 
 that the Union might live. These Meccas will have 
 their pilgrims while the Republic survives, or history 
 ecounta the deeds of the great. 
 
 \ 
 
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