before he listened to the will of man.

I verily believe that the religious view of the war, and this seems to me to be the sublimest fact of the war, which has pervaded every class in the community, and shown itself in the subdued manner in which, for the last two years, we have received the tidings of every great victory, is greatly due to the position assumed by Mr. Lincoln. How easily he could have stirred this people to acts of revenge, acts which we might never cease to regret, - had he but issued a series of documents filled with revolutionary rhetoric. But instead of this, America has often been quieted in the hour of intensest excitement by the moral weight of our President's character and words.

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I do not speak thus as one who blindly praises the dead. I have no desire to lift Mr. Lincoln into the upper region of a faultless manhood. I have no wish to forget the fact that he had faults,

ay, even grave faults, - in speaking of his virtues. At a more appropriate time, I may give you an estimate of his relation to, and influence upon, the age; but now our sorrow and our love are our only eloquence, and in reckoning the qualities which so endeared him to us, we will not forget that the tone of simple trust in God, which gave depth and beauty to nearly all his public documents, and which in private intercourse made so lasting an impression upon those who were privileged to take his hand, did much, very much, even more than we knew at the time, to direct public opinion into those channels through which the popular feeling and excitement naturally flowed towards a religious view of our national affairs. And

Who

who can tell the benefit of such a tendency? knows how much of the moral strength of this people to-day comes from this fact?

Many a time have delegations from various organizations gone to this First Citizen of America, and said: “Mr. Lincoln, this people believe that you have been providentially placed in this position for the salvation of the nation. Every village church in the land lifts its fervent petition in your behalf, and every loyal man feels that he may trust you to vindicate and establish his dearest rights;" and the old man, instead of drawing himself up to his full height, and, in courtly fashion, receiving this language as homage done to himself, has bowed his head as in the presence of sublime duties, and consecrated the memory of the interview with tears. Brethren, these things are not often written in the biography of great men.

One other characteristic of which I must not fail to speak was his Firmness. Justice has never been done to Mr. Lincoln in this respect. He was not one of those boisterous men who herald the fact that they have strong wills, and who seem to act as though an unbending will was the chief element of heroism. He had his own way very quietly, yet he generally had his own way He knew the value of advice when given by his peers, and was always courteous and deferential while it was being bestowed. But he held it in about the same estimation in which others of the world's best men have regarded it, a something which it is very necessary to receive, but not always necessary to heed.

It is rather a peculiar fact in the history of his admin

istration, that while so many have blamed him for lagging behind the people, nearly all have thrown the odium of such sloth upon him personally, as though it were the natural tendency of his character, and not the result of any outside influence. The future historian will give him credit for a degree of determination in the establishment and execution of his public policy which may surprise us all. He made but little noise, yet he is more responsible for the acts of his administration than any President we have had for many a year.

And now he is gone. Alas! a good man and a true man has been taken away. Steadily our love and respect for him has increased since 1860. He early won, and has steadfastly kept our confidence in the progress of this tremendous struggle; and now we may say, without fear of contradiction, that no man ever wielded such power, and made so few enemies. I repeat it, no man ever wielded such power during four successive years of blood and sacrifice, of tears and death, and made so few enemies.

"He was a man, take him for all in all,

We shall not look upon his like again."

And now he is gone: gone when we seemed to need him most, and when we loved him best: gone from a good life to a better; from the soldier's home on earth to the soldier's home in heaven; from his triumphs to his reward: gone to the blessed company of great men, who, in times past, have led the people on from sin to liberty, and laid down their own lives as a willing sacrifice on the altar of progress. To-day, while we mourn,

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

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Union you were with us when the voice of the people 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