see such sentiments manifested by the chief magistrate of the United States that we could not help but, love him. Is it to be wondered at that we mourn today? Nay, we have seen old gray-headed men and young maidens weep because of this affliction. Had disease attacked him and he had passed away according to the natural course of nature, we could have consoled ourselves with the thought that it was God's will it should be so. But falling as he did by the hand of the wicked, we derive our consolation only from the assurance that by his uprightness, his honesty and his principles of Christianity, he is now enjoying that rest that remains for the just. Our text is a fitting one for the occasion. A great man has fallen. From whatever stand-point we view Mr. Lincoln, we find in him the marks of true greatness. A few years ago this plain, homely lawyer was scarcely known outside of his own state. But how soon did he become the point of attraction. Not only was he the centre of observation in this country, but the civilized world was watching him. He far exceeded the expectations of all men. He became as the ark of safety to his country, the praise and glory of his fellow men. To us as a despised people, he was a second Moses- a second Daniel in wisdom. From a humble position in life he reached the very summit of honor, occupied the highest seat that it was in the power of the American people to give him, and filled that seat as no man ever filled it before him. The mind that conceived and drew up the Proclamation of Emancipation was a great mind. The results of this grand deed are patent to all. He was a philanthropist in the most extensive sense of the word - benevolent, kind, and ever ready to make others happy. One of the most prominent features in the character of our departed friend was his merciful disposition even towards his foes. He was strictly honest; this is admitted by his worst enemies. "Honest Abe," he was familiarly called by all classes. He was honest with his people, honest to himself, honest to his God. This is what God requires of all men, to be honest in heart. The exterior of this great man may have been plain, homely and awkward, but the interior was beautifully finished and furnished with Christian graces. It was his reliance upon God that carried him safely through the storm of four years duration. It was this that has made him blessed in the favor of God, forever. Yes, Abraham Lincoln is no more, and we mingle our tears with those of the mourning widow and bereaved friend. We feel that in his loss our punishment is more that we can bear, yet in God is our consolation. Let us hope for the best. An all-wise God has permitted this great grief to come upon us. Let us look to him for deliverance in the time of our distress. We are humbled, we are mortified, we are brought very low. Our trust must be in God. Whilst we mourn, he whose death we deplore, is enjoying the reward of his labor, happy with his God, mingling with those kindred spirits who went before him. The two truest and greatest men that ever lived on earth, John Brown and Abraham Lincoln, have met in glory, and they cease not to give praise and honor to him that liveth forever and ever. The memory of Abraham Lincoln will ever be dear to us. It is engraved upon our hearts. It can never be effaced. He has been our true friend and we never can forget him. We feel as though God had raised him up for a special purpose, and that having accomplished the labor assigned him, he has gone to his rest. May God protect us and keep us from farther evils. SERMON PREACHED IN THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ON SUNDAY MORNING. BY REV. D. S. GREGORY. The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. REVELATION, xix, 6. One thought to-day fills every heart. God has sent us a subject for our solemn consideration. To-day there is a nation mourning. I have seen the strong man pass along these streets of the city weeping like a child. The transition from the highest joy to the profoundest sorrow has been so sudden, so instantaneous, that it has left a nation with a broken heart and closed mouth. It seems almost better to be silent today in these sanctuaries and let God speak. He has never spoken so before to any people. In the capital of this nation there lies dead this morning one who -- but yesterday was the honored and beloved ruler of this land. But it is not simply that a president is dead. Other and honored presidents of this republic have been called from the places of state to the great account and no such mourning been witnessed as fills the land to-day. One has fallen now, who more than any other, was identified with this grand struggle in which we have been engaged for these four years, one who was strangely designated by God to take the lead among us, and who had honestly and nobly and unselfishly done his work, and quietly found his place in the nation's heart. This man has been removed in a moment by an assassin's hand, and his chief counsellor lies unconscious, a victim to the same fiendish spirit, which hoped in that one hour to reach also the life of the leader of our hosts. It was a blow aimed at the nation and which sought in an hour to destroy the work of these years, and to stay the onward march of truth and justice. Ah, vain thought! There is one upon the throne who rules all things and who cannot be reached by the murderous bullet or the assassin's dagger! "The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth," and truth and justice shall prevail! What other refuge have we to-day? What other consolation in this our national bereavement? It is a dark day, but "the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." Let us dwell upon the thought, that our faith in God's truth, in God's justice, and in God's love may not be shaken by this our national calamity. 1st. Our faith in this Great Ruler and His government assures us, that not one word of His truth uttered among this people can fall to the ground. The great King who is above all presidents, has all along the history of this nation, been uttering among us and through us to the world with peculiar clearness, His proclamation of truth and universal freedom. Our pilgrim forefathers built upon God's word of freedom at the first, and our fathers on that memorable day of 1776 made this same word of freedom the basis of their "Declaration," and, again, in later years made it the foundation of the national constitution. They proclaimed freedom for man in the name of God, but they were merely instruments in His hands whose word they proclaimed. It was but His repeated proclamation of His word of emancipation to man. Whatever else awaits us we know that He who has made these utterances is omnipotent. Yes, there is omnipotence in every word of God uttered among men. The efficiency, the omnipotence, the almightiness of God's word, are expressions that sound strangely to us perhaps, for with us words are but the breath shaped and made articulate, and then, to all appearance, dying away on the air. There is nothing which seems at first thought more fleeting and powerless than our words. And even when we rise above this first thought and consider man's words of eloquence, sent, with aid of logic and rhetoric, out of the depths of |
