as black as night by the crimes of some who should have labored to uphold such record. From the jubilant outcries of joyous hearts and happy souls they may be compelled to turn away, and, in bitter sorrow, to pour forth wail after wail, each striving to give expression to that grief which, indeed, beggars expression. Then is heard the voice, as in Ramah in former days, "lamentation and bitter weeping; Rachael weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they were not." But there is a balm even for such wounded hearts, even the word of the Lord: "Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded." Our nation has just passed through a transition such as I have described. Four years ago a formal outbreak against law and authority occurred, of such magnitude that our minds, unaccustomed to thoughts of war, could hardly grasp its details. The degenerate descendants of an aristocracy, that once proudly claimed respect on account of its virtues and valorous deeds, had nursed so carefully the idea of their own importance and superiority in all that marks the true gentleman had learned to despise the man of low degree, no matter how earnestly and honestly he might strive to raise himself, intellectually and socially, and had for years fretted under the laws which the growing power of the people was wisely enacting for the good of the land. These haughty and intolerant men associated with them another class, alike haughty and intolerant, but from a different cause. Sprung from obscurity, some had gained wealth and position by honest efforts and hard labor, but had then assumed an air of superiority over those with whom their early years had been spent, treating contemptuously the very class it should have been their greatest happiness to have aided; others, by fraud and dishonesty, had simply gained wealth, and, feeling how uncertain position, based upon money alone, was in a republic, affected to despise the honest mechanic and the deserving laborer, who, in reality, may have possessed more excellencies of head and heart than they could even appreciate. There were others, fretful spirits, ́restless under law of any kind,-Ishmaelites, full of guile,-the scum of cities and country towns, too indolent to work, too proud to beg, but not too honest to violate law in any and every form. Of such materials was a grand conspiracy formed. Years were required in its formation, and all the ingenuity of the diplomatist, with the appeals to interest and personal advancement, that the Evil One always holds forth as inducements for enlistment in His service, were employed to gather into the conspiracy other men, whose names and characters had never before been stained by the slightest dishonor. In the fulness of its time this conspiracy burst upon the nation. At first, those who loved their country and the starry ensign of its honor, considered the proclamations and early utterances of the conspirators as mere vaporings, the empty declamations of thoughtless penny-a-liners or briefless barristers. But the storm clouds became thicker and darker, the atmosphere was saturated with the unwholesome breathings of treason, and finally it was received as a fixed fact that 'resistance to the powers that be' was fully inaugurated. Then was manifested that love of law and order, that loyalty to nationality, that sense of responsibility to God and our forefathers for the government which had protected us so many long years in our peaceful duties as citizens, that disregard of self and family,-that high-toned patriotism, -- which filled our armies with men of all ranks and professions. Throwing aside the implements of agriculture, the tools of trade, and the books of the student, these extemporized soldiers began a war of defence. They felt that it would have been the vilest ingratitude to have hesitated to assume any duties that their country imposed on them in her hour of need. Every family, with loyal hearts, contributed in some way or other to the operations then deemed necessary. Armies were formed and instructed. Providence, when it was feared that there was no military talent adequate to the mighty problem, raised up for us, where we least expected it, wise, prudent, skilful and accomplished officers. While our preparations were going on, those of the insurgents were not neglected. The very spirit of unrest and defiance made them at first more at home in war and warlike matters. Deluding the entire population of the States to which they belonged, with the idea that the war was aggressive on the part of the Federal Government, they coaxed, deceived and cajoled them into a belief that they must seize arms with them for the conservation of their own rights. And when such arts failed (there were some men that. would not bow to Belial, no matter in what form he was presented), then force was employed, and a reign of terror prevailed throughout their borders. At first the love of peace and quiet so filled the hearts of loyal men, that, at times, they were almost prepared to say to the insurgents, "Take your course: leave us, if you do not appreciate the heritage left you by our common forefathers." But to such weak hearts courage came, when the calm resolution, the earnest determination, and the high resolve of the nation's Standard-Bearer was seen. When all seemed dark, not a ray of sunshine, or even the faintest flicker of a star could be seen penetrating the political firmament, he stood undisturbed. He had sworn in the presence of the nation "to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States," and, to the best of his ability, "to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States," and had called God to witness the oath. This oath he intended to keep, even though it should cost him his life. He feared to violate an oath,‚—a rare fear in an age when perjury had become a common vice in the land. Oh, those four years of war, desolation, and misery! They are filled with a history of ruin and destruction. Millions on millions of property destroyed, fertile districts laid waste, thousands of homes desolated, and tens of thousands of fire-sides deprived of those who constituted all that made life dear to the bereaved. Oh, those terrible battle-fields, covered with the mangled corpses of thousands,―the air, for miles around, tainted with the sickening stench of putrefaction and sulphurous fumes! The scenes of suffering and pain amid crowded Hospitals filled with the fragmentary bodies of martyrs in a nation's defence! Some of us have seen these so frequently that we have almost forgotten how to weep, but the scenes have been so indelibly photographed on the tablets of memory, that a century of peace cannot efface them. The land was becoming one vast Aceldama, and many a fertile region converted into a horrible Golgotha. The earnest determination of the President, the patriotic valor of the army whose soldiers "gave their lives that the nation might live," the military genius of commanders whose knowledge of the science of war had been obtained in the field, and, above all, the propitious smiles of Provi --- dence, all these at length began to secure victory after victory. The space occupied by the rebellion became smaller and smaller. Finally the seat of the rebellion falls, and the ablest military officer of the insurgent army, yielding to the stern logic of war, surrenders and offers to aid in the establishment of peace. The clouds have nearly all been driven from the sky, the sun shines once more serenely, and peace-fair, white-winged peace, with angelic grace is seen flying towards us with countless blessings in her train, a strong government, liberty to every man in the nation to do his devoir for God and his native land,-and there, floating high over our heads, with her beauteous stripes the azure field of our country's flag, every star in place, and all bound together by a law that will allow them endless activity without possibility of rude contact or interference! Was not all this cause for joy? No good citizen likes war, and the nation had undertaken it, as a man uses a weapon when attacked by the assassin, to save his life. The good news was quickly carried through the length and breadth of our land. Young hearts beat with joyous exultation; old hearts grew young again. The bells rang out their merry peals, the wild huzzas of an overjoyed people mingled with the clear strains of national airs as martial and civic bands joined in the celebration of the coming event. And that flag, once disgraced within Sumter's walls, was raised, amid honor and rejoicing, proudly over a region re-claimed from rebellion. Such an intensity of happiness is rarely the lot of any people. And no one, who was permitted the privilege of participating in the rejoicing that followed the events just described, can ever forget how the patriotic longings of the people then found expression. In the prospect of peace not only was resentment laid aside, but fraternal love for the rank and file of the conspirators began to manifest itself throughout the land. Victorious, we could afford to be magnanimous to those who repented of their crimes, having been deluded or forced into practical treason by the leaders of the Rebellion. The Commander-in-Chief of the Army had granted terms of unprecedented liberality, and the President had shown himself free from malevolent feelings towards those who had for four years cultivated the bitterest hatred and the most malignant feelings towards him. On the evening of the 11th of April, in an address to his fellow-citizens, he spoke of the surrender of the principal insurgent army giving "hope of a righteous and speedy peace, whose joyous expressions cannot be restrained," and reminded his hearers that "in the midst of this, however, He, from whom all blessings flow, must not be forgotten." But, on Friday night, while seated with the sharer of his toils and sorrows, the blow is struck by the assassin's hand which closes the career of this great and noble-hearted man. So paralyzing was the deed that brave men were rendered, for the instant, powerless, and the magnitude of the crime was so appalling that the infamous perpetrator made his escape from those who would have perilled their own lives to have saved that of their President. "O horror! horror! horror! Tongue nor heart Confusion now hath made his master-piece! The bells now toll forth the sorrowful knell of mourning, the sombre drapery of grief bedecks public and private buildings, flags are furled that had been floating proudly to the breeze, and one deep, impenetrable gloom gathers thick and fast over the hearts of all loyal citizens throughout the land. In the hour of triumph-when law and order were to be restored, when the enrapturing prospects of peace, all ablaze with the prismatic colors of the rainbow of promise, were widely extended before the patriot's eye, the Standard-Bearer of the country, who had firmly stood unmoved in times that tried men's souls when an almost superhuman energy was necessary to resist the tide of treason, the patriot and the lover of his country—is stiffened in the grasp of death. Victory seemed of no value, triumph empty, and success but a mocking phantom. Then was it first known, how dear to the hearts of the people the late President had become, how his life was associated with the life of the nation, and his death robbed every family of one as near and dear to it as any of those embraced in the ties of blood. Said a simple-hearted, honest, God-fearing, Christian woman, whose steps are now fast tending towards the grave, "I cried when I heard it, because it seemed as if I had lost a father." Yes! the nation has lost a father, whose every thought and prayer was devoted to its interests and welfare, self-sacrificing beyond example in a selfish age. No one knew how great the reciprocal love existing between people and President, until the murderous act deprived us of the foremost man of the times. And, whereas, we have delighted to call WASHINGTON the father of his country, it is now our pride to place by his side, as of equal glory and renown, and equally endeared to the American people-the name of ABRAHAM LINCOLN. GEORGE WASHINGTON, under God's protection, led the American nation out of the stormy trials and persecutions of foreign injustice into the pathway of prosperity and renown: ABRAHAM LINCOLN, under the protection of the same God-the God of our forefathers-led the nation through intestine troubles, that threatened to efface all that made it great and capable for good, and taught its people to understand how great their birth-right and how sacredly it should be guarded. The former died in peace, surrounded by his family at Mt. Vernon,-the latter fell a victim to the murderous hate of wicked patricides. Had such an act been predicted to us, we should have felt like using Shakspeare's words-as we scouted at the prediction, This Duncan hath 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." But, my friends, I must hasten on. Let us now see who was this man, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, whose death has made a nation mourn, and each loyal man feel as though he had lost a father. ABRAHAM LINCOLN was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, February 12th, 1809, of parents who struggled honestly with poverty and toil for the support of their family. While the future President was quite a boy his parents removed to Indiana, and there, amid the wilds of primeval forests, a log hut was constructed, and a home created for the Pioneer's family. We know of but few incidents of his childhood: it is probable from these that the child's hands were employed to assist the father in his daily toil, while his mother taught him to read, using God's Holy Book as the text-book in her teachings. Although he lost his mother when only ten years of age, yet her teachings constituted the seed that, under the vigorrous influences of Western life, developed eventually into those startling qualities of head and heart which gained him not only the respect, but the love of all with whom he was subsequently thrown into contact. How many of the world's great men have owed all that was noble and praiseworthy in their future lives to the instructions received at a mother's knee! Oh! mothers of this nation, how great a responsibility has been imposed upon you by Providence! On your quiet and unobtrusive labors the hopes and future glory of our land depend. See to it, that you implant principles of morality, honesty and religion, with love of country and devotion to its rights, in the bosoms of your little ones. Pray for strength to accomplish the tasks assigned you. Yours, not the labors of the rougher walks of life, not the attractive honors of the bar, or the pulpit, or the tented field,but the more glorious duties of preparing those who shall go forth with stout hearts and honest souls to undertake all such labors. In a cabin, where a school had been opened by one of the settlers, MR. LINCOLN pursued his studies in additional branches of knowledge. He was faithful and laborious as a student,- -a boy of but few books, but thoroughly acquainted with those that could be procured. His mental training was accomplished amid such literature as Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, "Esop's Fables," "Weems' Life of Washington," and a campaign life of that other great commoner, Henry Clay. These were books calculated to develop hard common sense, disregard for ornaments of style, and love of right and honor. They aided in the formation of a character which challenged respect from all, as rugged in its honesty and unwavering in its love of truth. Trained in all the work of the farm, he acquired a muscular frame and Herculean constitution, that seemed adequate to all the work that might fall to his lot in life. At times employed as a clerk in a country store, or in boating on the Mississippi, he acquired a reputation as a youth of promising business talent. At the age of twenty-one, he removed with his father to Illinois, and two years afterwards was made captain of a company of volunteers, raised for service in the Black Hawk war. Here, his biographer tells us, "He was an efficient, faithful officer, watchful of his men, and prompt in the discharge of his duty, while his courage and patriotism shrank from no dangers or hardships." His fellow-citizens send him to the State Legislature in 1834, and two years afterwards he obtains a license to practise law, and opens an office in Springfield. He was three several times elected to the legislature, and in 1847 was one of the Whig representatives in the National Congress. From this time to the year 1860 he was engaged in the business of his profession, and actively interested in the various political movements of the day. His reputation was, however, mostly confined to the West, and but comparatively little was known of him in the East. His nomination to the Presidency was made in 1860, and was followed by an election to the highest position in our gift. Naturally, all felt anxious with reference to the future, when a new leader was placed at the head of the nation. The prayers of the good and the loyal were freely offered up to the Most High, that He might look with favor upon him, imbue him |
