does we do not always know now, but we shall know hereafter. The event which has crushed our hopes and spirits seems to be one of those mysterious and inscrutable permissions, with which He is wont to remind us, that His ways are not as our ways. To us it seems a terrible and irreparable calamity. I confess, that as I look at it from one side and another, I can hardly find a single bright spot to relieve its darkness. But let us have faith in God; I doubt not that He has some wise purpose to serve, some great end in view, though it is now hidden from us. I cannot fathom His motive in allowing this awful crime; perhaps this was needed to bring the people to some desired point; perhaps He had a work to be done fitter for some other hands than those which have done so much noble work, and are now forever still; perhaps He found that we were not humbled enough, and has more trouble in store for us; I will not pretend to explain the enigma, but I am very sure that there is wisdom and mercy in it all; and wisdom and mercy for us. I do not believe that God intends anything but that which in the end will be best for our beloved but unhappy country; the prayers and tears of our fathers will not permit Him to give us up to ruin. I do not believe that the safety and prosperity of this country are dependent upon the life of any one man, however great and good; much less can I believe that they are in the hands of an infuriated and probably drunken actor. God is able to raise up other instruments instead of those that he lays down. Moses may lie down to die, on the very borders of the promised land, but a Joshua shall be raised up to lead the people in to possess it. And it is remarkable how often it happens, in the providence of God, that the Moses dies. It is seldom granted to the same man to guide through the desert, and to enter into the land of promise. For President Lincoln himself, perhaps there was no better time to pass away. He fell in the very height of glory. Just re-established in the Presidential chair by the overwhelming choice of his countrymen, risen into the profound respect of the civilized world, permitted to see his long watchings and toils crowned with success, to rejoice in stupendous military achievements, in the prospect of speedy peace, and in the assured approach of universal freedom, to fall honored by all men, wept by a nation, in the bosom of his family, with his cabinet around him, with a nation waiting in tears, in the hope of the gospel, was a death becoming a Christian patriot,—a glorious death to die. It may be that he could not, in a hundred years, have found a moment in which to fall so lamented, or leave behind him such a memory. Henceforth a humble tomb in the capital of Illinois will divide with Mount Vernon the homage and pilgrimages of our countrymen. Perhaps if these mighty dead, the leaders in the two wars for freedom, are permitted to revisit their resting-places, the murdered President will experience the greater joy, in finding not only his head-stone worn with the kisses of his own race, but the sods of his grave sprinkled with the tears of eyes that used to weep in the house of bondage. God bless the memory of Abraham Lincoln ! God bless the President! God in his mercy bless and save these United States of America! |