he sits in the council-chamber where martyrs and heroes are convened; where are Washington, and Adams, and Hancock, and Warren; and he is their peer in the love he bore his country, and the love his countrymen bore to him. O, exalted spirit! if you can spare a single moment to look from those heavenly realms which have so lately burst upon your enraptured vision upon our bereaved homes, you shall see how dear was the place you held in all our hearts. You have been the people's friend, and they put the evergreen of gratitude about your name. Calmly you have led us, wisely, tenderly, and yet firmly, through four times twelve months of woe. You have gone with us into the valley of defeat, where we have reckoned the fearful cost of life which was marking the uncertain progress, of the war. You have been with us when the glad tidings of victory came, and we have always found you our friend, faithful and true; our leader, just and wise. You need no monument to tell your worth. These tears are better than the marble shaft. These grateful hearts, which will tell the children who sleep in the cradle the wondrous story of the times through which we have lived, will not forget to say that all the nation trusted, and all the people loved you. You shall live in the new America that is to be, and your best monument shall be your Redeemed and Free Country. You were with us, with kindly word of counsel, when with one voice we cried, "Our country shall be one and indivisible," and when a million men, the flower of the generation, stood side by side to battle and to die for the Union: you were with us when the voice of the people 66 was heard all over the world, saying, Never more shall there be slave upon this soil; hereafter all beneath the protecting folds of our flag shall be freemen;" and when in gratitude two hundred thousand dusky braves sprang to arms, and fought for the honor of the country that dared to proclaim that they were men: you were with us when the weak and worn enemy flew panicstricken from their last defences; when the arch traitor fled the avenging hand of justice, and hid himself in the swamps of the South and the depths of his own crime; and when the commander-in-chief of organized rebellion gave up his blood-stained sword to the noble chieftain who was the representative of order, union, and liberty, and now you have gone! Nay, nay, we will not believe it. You are still with us, and you will be with us unto the end. Brethren, we still trust in God. The meaning of this event we cannot read. We are not robbed of our faith; and who shall dare deny, that Lincoln dead may yet do more for America and Americans, than Lincoln living? In my mind's eye, I see a stout and well-built ship, lying a wreck upon hidden rocks. Bravely she has breasted the storms of a score of winters. She has battled with the tornadoes of Indian seas, bending her proud masts until the frenzied wave threw its furious spray upon the highest sail; she has confronted Atlantic tempests; and, when she came into port at last, was just enough defaced to prove the terrible character of the struggles from which she had come in triumph. She has brought her rich cargo of hope and faith, of good laws and liberty; and, but yesterday, her cargo safely landed upon the wharf, she slipped her moorings and playfully unbent her sails for an hour's enjoyment. But, alas! there were rocks, hidden rocks, in the way,rocks not laid down upon any chart except the chart of Satan. She struck; and tears filled our eyes as we saw the noble vessel that had done her duty so well, lying there, the victim of a mischief that could not have been foreseen. So is it with our country to-day. 11 |