ABRAHAM LINCOLN. A MEMORIAL DISCOURSE, By Rev. T. M. Eddy, D. D. , Delivered at a Union Meeting, held in the Presbyterian Church, Waukegan Illinois, Wednesday, April 19, 1865, The day upon which the funeral services of the president wereconducted in Washington, and observed throughout the loyal states asone of mourning. Published by request. Chicago: Printed at the Methodist Book Depository. Charles Philbrick, Printer. 1865. CORRESPONDENCE. Waukegan, April 19, 1865. Rev. T. M. Eddy, D. D. : The undersigned having listened with much interest and profit toyour eloquent eulogy this day spoken before the citizens of thistown, upon the Life and Death of President Lincoln, unite inrequesting a copy for publication. We feel that much good would cometo the community from a calm perusal of the thoughts so fitly utteredon the occasion. H. W. Blodgett, D. Brewster, C. W. Upton, W. H. P. Wright, W. J. Lucas, C. L. Wright, C. G. Buell, M. M. Biddlecew, P. W. Edwards, A. P. Yard, B. S. Kennicott, Wm. C. Tiffany, S. S. Greenleaf, R. Douglas, Joseph Mallon, James Y. Cory. Editorial Rooms, Northwestern Christian Advocate, 66 WashingtonStreet, Chicago, April 24, 1865. Messrs. Blodgett, Upton and Others: Gentlemen--Your note is before me. You know the time for thepreparation of that discourse was very brief. You are also aware, doubtless, that though spoken from copious notes, much of it wasextemporized, and that I cannot reproduce those passages. But such asit is, I place it in your hands, as my humble tribute to the name andthe virtues of our murdered President. With much respect, gentlemen, Yours truly, T. M. Eddy. MEMORIAL DISCOURSE. "In the day of adversity consider. " It _is_ the day of adversity. A great grief throws its shadow overheart and hearth and home. There is such a sorrow as this land neverknew before; agony such as never until now wrung the heart of thenation. In mansion and cottage, alike, do the people bow themselves. We have been through the Red Sea of war, and across the weary, desert marches of griefs and bereavements, but heretofore we havefelt that _our leader_ was with us, and believed that surely as Moseswas led by the pillar of cloud and of fire, so did God lead him. But now that leader is not. Slain, slain by the hand of theassassin, murdered beside his wife! The costliest blood has beenshed, the clearest eye is closed, the strongest arm is nerveless--theChief Magistrate is no more. "The mighty man cries bitterly; the dayis a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wastenessand desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds andthick darkness. " It is no mere official mourning which hangs its sad draperyeverywhere. It is not alone that a President of the Republic is, forthe first time, assassinated. No; there is a tender grief thatcharacterizes the bereavement of a loved friend, which shows therewas something in this man which grappled him to men's hearts as withhooks of steel. But mourning the death of the Chief Magistrate, it becomes us toreview the elements of his career as a ruler, which have so endearedhim to loyal hearts. If I were to sketch the model statesman, I would say he must havemental breadth and clearness, incorruptible integrity, strength ofwill, tireless patience, humanity, preserved from demoralizingweakness by conscientious reverence for law, ardent love of country, and, regulating all, a commanding sense of responsibility to God, theJudge of all. These, though wrapped in seeming rustic garb, werefound in Abraham Lincoln. He had mental breadth and clearness. Inspite of a defective early education, he became a self-taughtthinker, and later in life he read widely and meditated profoundly, until he acquired a thorough mental discipline. He possessed thepower to comprehend a subject at once in the aggregate and in itsdetails. His eye swept a wide horizon and descried clearly all withinits circumference. He was a keen logician, whose apt manner of"putting things" made him more than a match for practiceddiplomatists and wily marplots. These were men of might about hiscouncil-board, scholars and statesmen, but none arose to hisaltitude, much less was either his master. That very facetiousness sometimes critcised, kept him from becomingmorbid, and gave healthfulness to his opinions, free alike from feverand paralysis. That his was incorruptible integrity, no man darequestion. He was not merely above reproach, but eminently abovesuspicion. Purity is receptive. "Blessed are the pure in heart, forthey shall _see God_, " is as profound in philosophy as comprehensivein theology. Purity in the realm of moral decision and motive, is askylight to the soul, through which truth comes direct. AbrahamLincoln was so pure in motive and purpose, looked so intensely afterthe right that he might pursue it, that he saw clearly where manywalked in mist. Without developing the characteristics of the ideal statesmananalytically, let us see how they were manifest in his administration. It began amid the rockings of rebellion. A servile predecessor, deplorably weak, if not criminal, had permitted treason to be freelymouthed in the national capitol, treasonable action to be taken byState authorities, and armed treason to resist and defy federalauthority, and environ with bristling works the forts and flag of theUnion. At such a juncture, Mr. Lincoln, then barely escapingassassination, was inaugurated. As was right, he made all properefforts for conciliation, tendered the olive-branch, proposed suchchanges as existing laws, and even of the Constitution, as shouldsecure Southern rights from the adverse legislation of a sectionalmajority. All was refused, and traitors said, "We will not live withyou. Though you sign a blank sheet and leave us to fill it with ourown conditions, we will not abide with you. " Refusing peace, war was commenced, not by the President, but bysecessionists. War has been waged on a scale of astounding vastnessfor four years, and Mr. Lincoln falls as the day of victory dawns. His claim to the character of a great statesman is to be estimatedin view of the fiery ordeal which tried him, and not by the gauge ofpeaceful days. In addition to the most powerful armed rebellion everorganized, he was confronted by a skillful, able, persistent, wellcompacted partisan opposition. He was to harmonize sectional feelingsas antagonistic as Massachusetts and Kentucky, and to rally to oneflag generals as widely apart in sentiment and policy as Phelps andFitz John Porter. That under such difficulties he sometimes erred injudgment and occasionally failed in execution, is not strange, for hewas a man, but that he erred so seldom, and that he so admirablyretrieved his mistakes, shows that he was more by far than anordinary man; more by far than an average statesman. Standing wherewe do today, we feel that he was divinely appointed for the crisis;that he was chosen to be the Moses of our pilgrimage, albeit, he wasto die at Pisgah and be buried against Beth-Peor, while a Joshuashould be commissioned to lead us into the land of promise. In studying the administration of these four eventful years, itseems to me there were four grand landmarks of principle governinghim, ever visible to the eye of the President, by which he steadilymade his way. I. THE UNION IS INCAPABLE OF DIVISION. In his first Inaugural, he said: "I hold that in contemplation ofuniversal law and of the Constitution, the Union of these States isperpetual. " In his reply to Fernando Wood, then Mayor of New York, hesaid, "There is nothing that could ever bring me willingly to consentto the destruction of the Union. " By this rule he walked. The Unionwas one for all time, and there was no authority for its divisionlodged anywhere. He would use no force, would exercise no authoritynot needed for this purpose. But what force _was_ needed, whethermoral or physical, should be employed. Hence the call for troops. Hence the marching armies of the Republic, and the thunder of cannonat the gates of Vicksburg, Charleston and Richmond. Hence thesuspension of the _habeas corpus_, the seizure and occasionalimprisonment of treason-shriekers and sympathizers, for which he hasbeen denounced as a tyrant by journals, which, slandering him whileliving, have the effrontery to put on the semblance of grief andthrow lying emblems of mourning to the wind! For the exercise of thatauthority, he went for trial to the American people, and theytriumphantly sustained him. II. The second grand regulating idea of his administration may bebest stated in his own words: "GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE BY THEPEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE. " He conceded the people _to be theGovernment_. Their will was above the opinion of secretaries andgenerals. He recognized their right to dictate the policy of theadministration. Their majesty was ever before him as an actualpresence. On the 11th of February, 1861, he said, in Indianapolis, "Of the people when they rise in mass in behalf of the Union and theliberties of their country, it may be said, 'The gates of hell shallnot prevail against them, '" and again, "I appeal to you to constantlybear in mind that with you, and not with politicians, not with thePresident, not with office-seekers, but _with you_ rests thequestion, Shall the Union and shall the liberties of this country bepreserved to the latest generation?" Again, on that memorable journeyto Washington, he said, "It is with you, the people, to advance thegreat cause of the Union and the Constitution. " "I am sure I bring atrue heart to the work. For the ability to perform it, I must trustin that Supreme Being who has never foresaken this favored land, through the instrumentality of this great and intelligent people. " Inhis first Inaugural he said: "This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. " "The Chief Magistrate derivesall his authority from the people. " "Why should there not be apatient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is thereany better or any equal hope in the world?" These sentences were utterances of a faith within him. In the peoplehe had faith. He saw them only lower than the King of kings, and theywere to be trusted and obeyed. Yet this man who thus trusted and honored the people, who soreverenced their authority, and bowed before their majesty, has beencalled "tyrant, " "usurper, " by men who now would make the worldforget their infamy by putting on badges of woe, and who seek to washout the record of their slander by such tears as crocodiles shed! Outupon the miserable dissemblers! When the people had spoken, he bowed to their mandate. When itbecame necessary to anticipate their decision, he did so, calmlytrusting their integrity and intelligence. He considered their wishesin the constitution of his cabinet, in the choice of militarycommanders, in the appointment of Chief Justice of the Supreme Courtof the United States, and in the measures he recommended to Congress. The people proved worthy of the trust. They promptly took every loanasked for the relief of the treasury and sustained the nationalcredit. They answered all his calls for men. They sprang into theranks, shouting "We are coming, Father Abraham. " They cheerfully laid down life at his word. So far from thisconflict proving a republic unfit to make war, or that for itsprosecution there must be intensely centralized authority, it hasdemonstrated that a democracy trusted, is mightier than adictatorship. III. His third towering landmark was THE RIGHT OF ALL MEN TOFREEDOM. And here with his practical sense and acute vision he roseto a higher, and I think a healthier, elevation than that of manyheroic antislavery leaders. They _were_ anti-slavery. Their liveswere spent in attack. They sought to destroy a system; they told itswrongs and categoried its iniquities. He knew that light, let in, will cast out darkness, and that kindledwarmth will drive out cold. He knew that freedom was better thanslavery, and that when men see that it is so, they will decreefreedom instead of slavery. He therefore entered the lists FORFREEDOM. He spoke of its inestimable blessings, and then unrollingthe immortal Declaration of Independence claimed that, with all itsdignity and all its endowments, liberty is the birthright of ALL MEN. He taught the American people that the inalienable right of all mento liberty was the first utterance of the young Republic, and thather voice must be stifled so long as slavery lives. In his Ottawaspeech he said: "Henry Clay--my beau-ideal of a statesman--the manfor whom I fought all my humble life, once said of a class of men whowould repress all tendencies to liberty and ultimate emancipation, that they must, if they would do this, go back to the era of ourindependence and muzzle the cannon which thunders its annual joyousreturn; they must blow out the moral lights around us, they mustpenetrate the human soul and eradicate there the love of liberty, andthen, and not till then, could they perpetuate slavery in thiscountry. " He laid his spear in rest and went forth with armor on, the championof freedom. He claimed she should walk the world everywhere, untrammeled and free to bless the lowest as well as the highest. Itwas not right and never could be made right, to forbid workinglawfully that all men might be free. Slavery debased--freedom liftedup. Slavery corrupted, freedom purified. Freedom might be abused, butslavery was itself a colossal abuse. He was no dreaming visionary, but stated with commanding clearnessthe doctrine of equality before the law, or political equality, distinguishing it from social equality. In old Independence Hall, in1861, he said of the Colonies: "I have often enquired of myself whatgreat principle or idea it was that kept this confederacy so longtogether. It was not the mere matter of the separation of theColonies from the mother land, but the sentiment in the Declarationof Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of thiscountry, but I hope to the world for all future time. It was thatwhich gave promise that in due time the weight should be lifted fromthe shoulders of all men. " He held that instrument to teach that"nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into theworld to be trodden on, degraded and imbruted by its fellows. " We search vainly for a clearer and terser statement of the truetheory of equality than he gave last autumn in an address to aWestern regiment. "We have, as all will agree, a free government, where _every man has a right to be equal with every other man_. " Hasa _right to be!_ Take the fetters from his limbs, take the load ofdisability from his shoulders, give him room in the arena, and thenif he cannot succeed with others, the failure is his. _But he has theright_ TO TRY. You have no right to forbid the trial. If he will tryfor wealth, fame, political position, he has the right. Let himexercise it and enjoy what he lawfully wins. With such views he came to the presidency. Here he was an executiveofficer, bound by the Constitution, and charged with its maintenanceand defense. He was to take the nation as the people placed it in hishands, rule it under the Constitution and surrender it unbroken tohis successor. Accordingly he made to the Southern States allconceivable propositions for peace. Slavery should be left withoutfederal interference. They madly rejected all. War came. He saw atthe outset that slavery was our bane. It confronted each regiment, perplexed each commander. It was the Southern commisariat, dugSouthern trenches and piled Southern breastworks. But certain Border States maintained a quasi loyalty and clung toslavery. They were in sympathy with rebellion, but wore the semblanceof allegiance and with consequential airs assumed to dictate thepolicy of the President. He was greatly embarrassed. He made themevery kind and conciliatory offer, but all was refused. Slavery onthe gulf and on the border, in Charleston and in Louisville, was thesame intolerant, incurable enemy of the Union. He struck it at last. The Proclamation of Emancipation came, followed in due time by therecommendation that the Constitution be so amended as forever torender slavery impossible in State or Territory. For these acts, hewas arraigned before the American people on the 8th of last November, and received their emphatic approval. In a letter written to a citizen of Kentucky, the President gave anexposition of his policy so transparent, that I reproduce it in thisplace. It is his sufficient explanation and vindication. Executive Mansion, Washington, April 4, 1864. A. G. Hodges, Esq. , Frankfort, Ky. "My Dear Sir:--You ask me to put in writing the substance of whatI verbally stated the other day, in your presence, to GovernorBramlette and Senator Dixon. It was about as follows: "I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong nothing iswrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel; and yet Ihave never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me anunrestricted right to act officially in this judgment and feeling. Itwas in the oath I took that I would to the best of my abilitypreserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Icould not take the office without taking the oath. Nor was it in myview that I might take the oath to get power, and break the oath inusing the power. I understood, too, that in ordinary civiladministration this oath even forbade me to practically indulge myprimary abstract judgment on the moral question of slavery. I hadpublicly declared this many times and in many ways; and I aver that, to this day I have done no official act in mere deference to myabstract judgment and feeling on slavery. I did understand, however, that my oath to preserve the Constitution to the best of my abilityimposed upon me the duty of preserving, by every indispensable means, that government, that nation, of which that Constitution was theorganic law. Was it possible to lose the nation, and yet preserve theConstitution? By general law, life and limb must be protected; yetoften a limb must be amputated to save a life, but a life is neverwisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwiseunconstitutional, might become lawful by becoming indispensable tothe preservation of the Constitution through the preservation of thenation. Right or wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it. Icould not feel that to the best of my ability I had even tried topreserve the Constitution, if, to save slavery, or any minor matter, I should permit the wreck of government, country, and Constitutionaltogether. When, early in the war, General Fremont attemptedmilitary emancipation, I forbade it, because I did not then think itan indispensable necessity. When, a little later, General Cameron, then Secretary of War, suggested the arming of the blacks, Iobjected, because I did not yet think it an indispensable necessity. When, still later, General Hunter attempted military emancipation, Iforbade it, because I did not yet think the indispensable necessityhad come. When, in March and May and July, 1862, I made earnest andsuccessive appeals to the Border States to favor compensatedemancipation, I believed the indispensable necessity for militaryemancipation and arming the blacks would come, unless averted by thatmeasure. They declined the proposition; and I was, in my bestjudgment, driven to the alternative of either surrendering the Union, and with it the Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon thecolored element. I chose the latter. In choosing it, I hoped forgreater gain than loss; but of this I was not entirely confident. More than a year of trial now shows no loss by it in our foreignrelations, none in our home popular sentiment, none in our whitemilitary force--no loss by it anyhow or anywhere. On the contrary, itshows a gain of quite a hundred and thirty thousand soldiers, seamen, and laborers. These are palpable facts, about which, as facts, therecan be no caviling. We have the men; and we could not have had themwithout the measure. "And now let any Union man who complains of the measure testhimself by writing down in one line that he is for subduing therebellion by force of arms; and in the next, that he is for takingthree [one?] hundred and thirty thousand men from the Union side, andplacing them where they would be but for the measure he condemns. Ifhe cannot face his case so stated, it is only because he cannot facethe truth. "I add a word which was not in the verbal conversation. In tellingthis tale, I attempt no compliment to my own sagacity. I claim not tohave controlled events, but confess plainly that events havecontrolled me. Now, at the end of three years' struggle, the nation'scondition is not what either party or any man desired or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God nowwills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of theNorth, as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for ourcomplicity in that wrong, impartial history will find therein newcauses to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God. "Yours truly, A. Lincoln. " He struck slavery because slavery had clutched the throat of theRepublic, and one of the twain must die! Mr. Lincoln said, LET IT BESLAVERY! Christianity, declaring the brotherhood of race, redemption andretribution answered, _So be it!_ The Bible, sealed by slave-codes tofour millions for whom its truths were designed, answered _Amen!_ Thegospel long fettered by the slave-master's will, and instead of anevangel of freedom made to proclaim a message of bondage, lifted upits voice in thanksgiving. Marriage, long dishonored, put on itsrobes of purity, and its ring of perpetual covenant, and answered_Amen, _ and from above, God's strong angels and six-winged cherubim, bending earthward, shouted their response to the edict of the GreatEmancipator! IV. The next controlling idea was PROFOUND RELIGIOUS DEPENDENCE. As a public man, he set God before his eyes, and did reverence tothe Most High. It was deeply a touching scene as he stood upon theplatform of the car which was to carry him from his Springfield home, and tearfully asked his neighbors and old friends that they shouldremember him in their prayers. Amid tears and sobs they answered "Wewill pray for you. " Again and again has he publicly invoked Divineaid, and asked to be remembered in the prayers of the people. Hissecond Inaugural seems rather the tender pastoral of a white-hairedbishop than a political manifesto. What were his person relations to his God, I know not. We are not inall things able to judge him by our personal standard. How muchetiquette may be demanded, how much may have been yielded to thetyranny of custom we cannot tell. In public life he was spotless inintegrity and dependent upon Divine aid. He had made no publicconsecration to God in church covenant, but we may not enter thesanctuary of his inner life. He constantly read the holy oracles, andrecognized their claim to be the inspired Scriptures. He felt that religious responsibility when he set forth theProclamation of Emancipation closing with the sublime sentence: "Andupon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warrantedby the Constitution, on military necessity, I invoke the considerablejudgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. " In one of the gloomy hours of the struggle he said to a delegationof clergymen: "My hope of success in this great and terrible strugglerests on that immutable foundation, the justice and goodness of God. And when events are very threatening, and prospects very dark, Istill hope, in some way which men cannot see, all will be well in theend, because our cause is just and God is on our side. " If, as the executive officer of the nation he erred, it was inexcessive tenderness in dealing with criminals. Unsuspecting andpure, he could not credit unmixed guilt in others, and withdifficulty could he bring himself to suffer condign punishment to beinflicted. There were times when he was inflexible. In vain didwealth and position plead for Gardner, the slave-captain. As vainlydid they for Beall and Johnson. If he was lenient it was the error ofamiableness. In reviewing the administration of Abraham Lincoln, we see in himanother of those Providentially called and directed leaders who havebeen raised up in great crises. His name stands on the roll withthose of Moses and Joshua, and William of Orange, and Washington. Notonly did Providence raise him up, but it divinely vindicated hisdealings with slavery. As emancipation was honored, did the pillar offlame light our hosts on to victory! In the dawning morn of peace and Union has this leader been slain. When the nation thought it most needed him, has he been baselybutchered! As the ship which had been rocking in the waves and bowingbefore the storm was reaching the harbor, a pirate, who sailed withthe passengers, basely stole on deck and shot the pilot at the wheel! The assassin has been held in abhorrence among all people and in allages. Here was a foul plot to destroy at one swoop the President, theofficers eligible to the succession, the Cabinet, the Lieutenant-General, and no doubt the loyal Governors of the States. That thescheme was successful only in part, God be praised. Never has anassassination produced so terrible a shock. For-- "He had borne his faculties so meek, had been So clear in his great office, that his virtues Do plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against The deep damnation of his taking off. " He fell, and the whole land mourns. Secession smote him in herimpotent death-rage, but the State lives on! The reins which droppedfrom his nerveless hand another grasped, and the nation lives. Norevolution comes. No war of rival dynasties! The constitutionalsuccessor is in the chief seat of power, and how much secession hastaken by this new crime remains to be seen. Fellow-citizens, there are some duties which press upon us in thishour. 1. We must anew commit ourselves to the work of suppressingrebellion and re-enthroning the majesty of the Union andConstitution. Mr. Lincoln lived until the nation's flag had waved intriumph over every important Southern city; until the proud Southernaristocracy had thrown itself at the feet of its slaves, and withfrantic outcries implored salvation at their hands; had lived to walkthrough Richmond, and be hailed by its dusky freedmen as theirdeliverer; had lived until he received the report of the surrender ofLee's grand army, and then he was slain. We must complete the work. Onward, until it be wrought. We believe it will be soon, but were ita hundred years it must be accomplished! 2. We must complete the destruction of slavery. Added to its longcatalogue of crimes, it has now slain the Lord's Anointed, the manwhom he made strong! Now as THE ETERNAL liveth, it must die! By theagonies it has caused, by the uncoffined graves it has filled, by thetears it has wrung from pure women and little children, by our sonsand brothers starved to death in its mined prisons, by our belovedChief Magistrate murdered, by all these do we this day swear unto theLORD that slavery SHALL DIE and that he would save it shallpolitically die with it! 3. This day, as funeral rites are being said, and sobs are comingup from a smitten household and bereaved people, before the Lord dowe solemnly demand that justice be done in the land upon evil-doers, that blood-guiltiness may be taken away, and that men shall not darerepeat such crimes. _When treason slew Abraham Lincoln, it slew the pardoning power, _and by its own act placed authority in the hands of one of sternermold and fiery soul--one deeply wronged by its atrocities. Now let itreceive the reward of its own hands! This is the demand of mercy aswell as justice, that after generations may see the expiation oftreason is too costly for its commission. Mercy to the many demandsthe punishment of the guilty. The assassin of the Chief Magistrate must be found. Though all seasmust be crossed, all mountains ascended, all valleys traversed, he_must_ be found! If he hide him under the mane of the British lion, beneath the paw of the Russian bear or among the lilies of France, hemust be found and plucked thence for punishment! If there be noextradition treaty, then the strong hands of our power must make one. He was a tragedian. Had he never read-- "If the assassination Could trammel up the consequences and catch With this surcease, success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all _here, _ * * * * * * * * * * "We'd jump the life to come. But in these cases _We still have judgment here. _ We but teach Bloody inventions, which, being taught, return To plague the inventors. Thus even-handed justice Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice To our own lips. " We are told that he excelled in the part of Richard III. Did he notremember the tent scene-- "My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, And every tongue brings in a several tale, And every tale condemns me for a villain-- Perjury, perjury, in the highest degree, Murder, stern murder, in the darkest degree; All several sins, all used in each degree, Throng to the bar, crying all--Guilty! guilty! I shall despair. There is no creature loves me; And, if I die, no soul will pity me. " He has murdered the Lord's Anointed, and vengeance shall pursue him. Tell me not, in deprecation of this sentiment "Vengeance is mine, Iwill repay saith the Lord. " Human justice has its work and mustfollow the assassin, if need be, to the very gates of hell! It isGod's edict that he who causelessly takes any human life, "By menshall his blood be shed"--how much more when it is such a life! [FN#1] [FN#1] Since the MS. Of this discourse was given the printer, theassassin has met his retribution. Hunted like a wild beast to hislair, he was surrounded by his pursuers, forsaken by his accomplice, the barn to which he had fled fired, then shot to death, lingeringseveral hours in intense suffering and his remains consigned toimpenetrable obscurity. Retribution came to him before his victim wasburied. So be it ever! His accomplices are known and _must be_punished. A morning journal, which has been somehow retained in the interestof wrong, of home-traitors, of misrule, has already impliedly put inthe plea of insanity for the assassin. The same journal runs aparallel between him and John Brown. Well, Virginia executed JohnBrown--its own precedent is fatal to its own client! Let justice be done on the leaders of rebellion. Have done with themiserable cant of curing those perjured conspirators with kindness. Libby Prison mined under Federal captives, the starved skeletons ofour slowly murdered kinsmen, the grave of Lincoln, and the gapingwounds of Seward are your answer. It must be taught men for all timethat treason is, in this life, unpardonable! It is all crimes in one. In this case it is without the glitter of seeming chivalry for itsrelief. It has had nothing knightly. It has conspired to starveprisoners, has plotted conflagrations which were to consume, in onedread holocaust, the venerable matron, the gray-haired sire and themother with her babe; has resorted to poison, the knife of the cut-throat and the pistol of the assassin. No treason was ever sorepulsively foul, so reekingly corrupt. For its great leaders, theblock and the halter; for its chieftains, military and civic, of thesecond class, perpetual banishment with confiscation of their goods, for all who have volunteered to fight against the Union perpetualdisfranchisement--these are the demands of a long-suffering people. The case of treason-sympathizers among us is one of grave moment. Itis hard to bear their sneers and patiently to listen to their coverttreason. It is a question whether the limit of toleration has notbeen passed. The era of assassination has been commenced. Be surethat any man who will excuse an assassin, will himself do foul murderwhen he can shoot from behind a hedge, or strike a victim in theback. It is matter of self-defence to cast such from our midst. Letus have no violence, no lawlessness, _but such persons must bepersuaded to depart from us. _ "They are gentlemen. " Booth was courtlyin speech and mien. Have they been State officers? So was Walsh, whose house was a disunion arsenal. The time has come when we cannotpermit men in sympathy with armed rebellion, which employs theassassin, to dwell in our midst. Abraham Lincoln is no more. His work is done. We may not comprehendthe mystery which permitted his removal at such an hour, in such away. God hideth himself wondrously, and sometimes seems to stand afarfrom His truth and His cause when most needed. Our leader is gone. His work is finished, and it may be that hisProvidential mission was fully accomplished. His memory isimperishably fragrant. WASHINGTON--LINCOLN! Who shall say which nameshall shine brighter in the firmament of the historic future! He is dead! In the Presidential Mansion are being said words ofsolemn admonition and godly counsel. In a few hours his remains willbe on their way to sleep in their Illinois grave! Dead! "How is the strong staff broken and the beautiful rod!" Pray devoutly for the smitten widow and fatherless children of ourChief Magistrate. They are sorely stricken and God alone can healthem. To them it is not the loss of the Chief Magistrate that makesthis hour so sad, but that they have no more a husband or a father! And now that there has been sorrow in all the land, and the death-angel in all its homes, from the humblest to the highest, is not ourexpiation well-nigh wrought, and will not our Father have compassionupon us? Let us devoutly pray the King of nations to guide _our nation_through its remaining struggle! It may be He means to show us that Healone is the Savior! Let us implore Divine guidance upon Mr. Lincoln's successor, AndrewJohnson, President of the United States. He was faithful amid thefaithless. He was true to the Union when few in his section had forit aught but curses. Pray for him. He comes to power at a criticaltime and needs wisdom from above. Confide in him. He will surely riseabove the one error which temporarily drew him down. He is only hatedby traitors, and when they hate, it is safe for loyal men to trust. By and by we may understand all this. Now it passes comprehension, but we have seen so many manifestations of God's supervising agencywhen we least looked for it, that we may safely trust Him. He meansto save us. Nay, blessed be His name, He _has_ saved us! His grand purposes will go forward. The wrath of man shall praiseHim, and the remainder of wrath will He restrain. Remember, and takeheart as you remember, the ringing line of Whittier. "God's errands never fail. " He who rides upon the whirlwind and directs the storm, is neitherdead nor sleeping, and He is a God who never compromises with wrong, and never abdicates His throne.