or notes of any kind, and was a noble, impassioned tribute to the worth of the departed. He said:

"How different the occasion which witnessed his departure from that which witnessed his return! Doubtless you expected to take him by the hand, and to feel the warm grasp which you had felt in other days, and to see the tall form walking among you which you had delighted to honor in years past. But he was never permitted to come until he came with lips mute and silent, the frame encoffined, and a weeping nation following as his mourners. Such a scene as his return to you was never witnessed.

Among the events of history there have been great processions of mourners. There was one for the patriarch Jacob, which went up from Egypt, and the Egyptians wondered at the evidences of reverence and filial affection which came from the hearts of the Israelites. There was mourning when Moses fell upon the hights of Pisgah, and was hid from human view. There have been mournings in the kingdoms of the earth when kings and warriors have fallen. But never was there in the history of man such mourning as that which has accompanied this funeral procession, and has gathered around the mortal remains of him who was our loved one, and who now sleeps among us. If we glance at the procession which followed him, we see how the nation stood aghast. Tears filled the eyes of manly, sunburnt faces. Strong men, as they clasped the hands of their friends, were not able in words to find vent for their grief. Women and little children caught up the tidings as they ran through the land, and were melted into tears. The nation stood still. Men left their plows in the fields and asked what the end should be. The hum of manufactories ceased, and the sound of the hammer was not heard. Busy merchants closed their doors, and in the exchange gold passed no more from hand to hand. Though three weeks have elapsed, the nation has scarcely breathed easily yet. A mournful silence is abroad upon the land; nor is this mourning confined to any class or to any district of country. Men of all political parties, and of all religious creeds, have united in paying this mournful tribute. The Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in New York and a Protestant minister walked side by side in the sad procession, and a Jewish Rabbi performed a part of the solemn services.

"Here are gathered around his tomb the representatives of the army and navy, senators, judges, governors and officers of all the branches of the government. Here, too, are members of civic processions, with men and women, from the humblest as well as the highest occupations. Here and there, too, are tears as sincere and warm as any that drop, which come from the eyes of those whose kindred and whose race have been freed from their chains by him whom they mourn as their deliverer. More persons have gazed on the face of the deceased than ever looked upon the face of any other departed man. More have looked on the procession for sixteen hundred miles, by night and by day, by sunlight, dawn, twilight and by torchlight, than ever before watched the progress of a procession.

"But the great act of the mighty chieftain, on which his fame shall rest long after his frame shall moulder away, is that of giving freedom to a race. We have all been taught to revere the sacred characters. Among them Moses stands pre-eminently high. He received the law from God, and his name is honored among the hosts of heaven. Was not his greatest act the delivering of three millions. of his kindred out of bondage? Yet we may assert that Abraham Lincoln, by his proclamation, liberated more enslaved people than ever Moses set free, and those not of his kindred or his race. Such a power, or such an opportunity, God has seldom given to man. When other events shall have been forgotten; when this world shall have become a network of republics; when every throne shall be swept from the face of the earth; when literature shall enlighten all minds; when the claims of humanity shall be recognized every where, this act shall still be conspicuous on the pages of history. We e are thankful that God gave to Abraham Lincoln the decision and wisdom and grace to issue that proclamation, which stands high above all other papers which have been penned by uninspired men.

"The time will come when, in the beautiful words of him whose lips are now forever sealed, 'The mystic cords of memory stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth-stone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus

of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.'

"Chieftain, farewell! The nation mourns thee. Mothers shall teach thy name to their lisping children. The youth of our land shall emulate thy virtues. Statesmen shall study thy record and learn lessons of wisdom. Mute though thy lips be, yet they still speak. Hushed is thy voice, but its echoes of liberty are ringing through the world, and the sons of bondage listen with joy. Prisoned thou art in death, and yet thou art marching abroad, and chains and manacles are bursting at thy touch. Thou didst fall not for thyself. The assassin had no hate for thee. at, our national life was sought. We crown thee as our martyr, and humanity enthrones thee as her triumphant son. Hero, Martyr, Friend, FAREWELL !”

Our hearts were aimed

Rev. Dr. Gurley read the following ode, and offered a short prayer, and committed "ashes to ashes, dust to dust," and the bodies of father and son were placed within the vault and the massive door closed!

"Rest, noble Martyr! rest in peace :

Rest with the true and brave,

Who, like thee, fell in Freedom's cause,

The nation's life to save.

"Thy name shall live while time endures,
And men shall say of thee,

'He saved his country from its foes,

And bade the slave be free.'

"These deeds shall be thy monument,

Better than brass or stone;

They leave thy fame in glory's light,
Unrivaled and alone.

"This consecrated spot shall be
To Freedom ever dear;

And Freedom's sons of every race
Shall weep and worship here.

"O God! before whom we, in tears,

Our fallen Chief deplore,

Grant that the cares for which he died

May live forevermore."

There, in that quiet spot, in that beautiful cemetery, sleeps all that was mortal of the noblest man born to this country. The author will attempt no eulogy. Lincoln's monument is in the love of a saved nation, and it will lift its summit higher with each succeeding age. His work was finished. We may not comprehend the mystery which permitted his removal at such an hour and in such a way. God hideth himself wondrously, and sometimes seems to stand afar from his truth and his cause when most needed.

He came to his high position with his great qualities half hidden beneath rustic manners, but as emergencies revealed the man he was found to have mental breadth and clearness, incorruptible integrity, strength of will, tireless patience, humanity, preserved from weakness by conscientious reverence for law, ardent love of country, confidence in the American people, and an all-regulating sense of responsibility to God, the King of nations. He possessed the power to comprehend a subject at once in the aggregate and in its details. His eye swept a wide horizon and descried clearly all within its circumference. He was a keen logician, whose apt manner of "putting things" made him more than a match for practiced diplomatists and wily marplots. There were men of might about his council-board, scholars and statesmen, but none arose to his altitude, much less was either his master.

That very facetiousness sometimes criticised, kept him from becoming morbid, and gave healthfulness to his opinions, free alike from fever and paralysis. That his was incorruptible integrity, no man dare question. He was not merely above reproach, but eminently above suspicion. Purity is receptive. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," is as profound in philosophy as comprehensive in theology. Purity in the realm of moral decision and motive, is a skylight to the soul, through which truth comes direct. Abraham Lincoln was so pure in motive and purpose, looked so intensely after the right that he might pursue it, that he saw clearly where many walked in mist.

He made mistakes, for he was human. But it is evident he was the divinely chosen Moses of our deliverance, albeit he was to die at Pisgah and be "buried over against Bethpeor."

In the dawning hour of peace, amid the exultations of the Union,

was he slain! As the ship which had been rocking in the waves and trembling before the storm was entering the harbor, a pirate who sailed with the passengers, basely shot the pilot at the wheel! Never assassination produced so terrible a shock. For

"He had borne his faculties so meek, had been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Do plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking off.”

One more impressive pageant was to commemorate his virtues. By order of Congress, the 12th of February, 1866, was observed by the National authorities and both Houses as commemorative of Mr. Lincoln.

The hall was richly draped; mourning festoons had been arranged around the speaker's table and the " American flag" hung just above and encircled the old clock which has noted time there since the days of Clay and Webster.

An observer in the gallery thus wrote: "Twelve o'clock, and Speaker Colfax called the House to order, and prayer was of fered by Dr. Boynton, Chaplain of the House of Representatives, at the conclusion of which a letter was laid before the House by the Speaker, from Hon. W. H. Seward, Secretary of State, expressing his regrets that the state of his health forbade his participating in the ceremonies of the occasion.

"At ten minutes past 12 the Senate of the United States was announced, which entered in a body, preceded by the Sergeant-atArms, and headed by Hon. Lafayette S. Foster, Vice-President of the United States, pro tempore, and was received by the House standing.

"Five minutes later the President of the United States and Cabinet were announced. President Johnson entered arm-in-arm with Hon. Solomon Foote, Chairman of the Joint Committee of Arrangements on the part of the Senate, followed by Hon. George Bancroft, orator of the day, Senator Doolittle and the Cabinet. The President and Cabinet were seated immediately in front of the Speaker's table. Mr. Bancroft was conducted to his seat at the table of the Speaker of the House, and Hon. Solomon Foote seated at his right and Hon. E. B. Washburne at his left. Acting Vice