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his discourse, there is the pious sense always appearing of dependence upon the heavenly Friend. How strangely prophetic now appears that inaugural word, spoken only a few weeks ago, on that lowering day, in front of the Capitol (sad augury of woe soon to come), -no hint there of any course that he should pursue; no policy marked out for the coming years: but only an expression of trust in the Lord; only a vision of the Great Head of all Comm.onwealths, of the judgments of God, of God leading the people,-"Whatsoever He wills to do, let his will be done"! This was a religious man, a religious ruler. That kindness of soul was stayed upon a principle of faith. That seeming weakness of will was supported by the invisible arm. The trembling magistrate leaned upon God; and, when others seemed to see an unsteady purpose, he felt beneath him the divine succor, and was strong in that uplifting. No place more proper to honor his name and to tell his worth than the house of God, to which his summons has so often called the worshippers in these years of trial. Again and again he has asked us to pray for the nation, and for the rulers of the nation; and has been quickened in the blessing of these united prayers. Perhaps the last work of his hand may have been a call of the nation to thanksgiving and praise; to render thanks in their sanctuaries to that Disposer of events, that God of battles, who has guided the instruments of his will below, and whose right hand and whose holy arm, more than any counsel or work of men, have gotten us the victory.

That so good and pure a man, so worthy of the love and honor of the nation, should have been taken from us in such a way, immensely deepens the great lament in the land. We mourn not chiefly for the lost ruler, taken at so critical a time of public affairs; but more for the upright, noble, and patriotic man, whose large heart had endeared him to the people as no ruler since the first has been endeared. This was the people's President, not by

any qualities of high genius, of various gifts, of commanding will; not as the great philosopher who wrote the Declaration of our Freedom, or as the inflexible general who called the Eternal One to witness that the Constitution should not be nullified or impaired, — but as the man whom the people believed in as one who would not deceive them, who would not oppress them, who would not betray them. He loved those even who hated him, better than the ambitious leaders who drew them astray. He was a truer friend to the men who fought against his rule, than the haughty lords of the lash, who used these poor millions only as the tools of their pride and their will. And he died really as the Saviour died, -on the very anniversary, too, of the Saviour's death, and by a crime hardly less revolting, - with a prayer in his heart for his enemies. What have the last acts of this our ruler been, but a comment upon that dying word of Jesus, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do"? Well may we borrow the words of one of our eminent men, and call the ruler who has so died, in a double sense, "the Saviour of his country."

Nor may we omit to speak of the other eminent intended victim of this horrid conspiracy, who has stood by the side of his chief, in these four years of trying difficulty, to cheer by his hopefulness, to advise from his knowledge of public affairs, and to perform all the office of a ready friend. How well the former

rival gave up disappointment and vexation, to do his part in this crisis of the nation! With what moderation and what skill he has managed those relations of the nation in foreign lands! saving us from added war; magnanimously confessing errors, and making restitution, yet always upholding the country's dignity; daring to oppose popular clamor, rather than risk the safety of the nation, and the success of its efforts to quench the fires of rebellion! That the land is saved, is owing in no small degree to the wisdom. and patriotism of this optimist, as we have believed him. His

sanguine heart has only helped to keep up the faith of the people, but has not driven him into any errors of folly or rashness. He, too, whether he live or die, will have an honorable record, -honorable, not only in the story of long, various, and distinguished services in so many public charges, for more than a generation; not only in the ability of his statesmanship, and the success of his diplomacy: but honorable as he has lived down calumnies, vindicated his prophecies, and won to himself the applause of enemies. This man, too, the country cannot afford to spare. Who shall stand in his place?

A great sorrow indeed has come upon us in these outrages; and it almost seems that these bright skies, this cheerful sunshine, these songs of birds to-day, insult our grief. We would have the heavens hung with black, as we have draped the doors of our houses and the walls of our churches. But, after all, is it not better to take the omen of the sunshine than to brood upon our grief and its emblems? We may be glad, that, heavy as our loss is, it is no worse; that, successful as this great crime has been, it was not more successful. Other victims were aimed at; and, if all the work had been done, we should have been left without a head for our armies, and almost without a Government. The crime has defeated its own ends. It will recoil upon those who have expected to profit by it. This crowning wickedness is only the last of that series of follies by which Providence has blinded insane men here to their destruction. It cannot hinder the triumph of the righteous cause. Not falsely was the vision given to our martyr, the vision of freedom established, and a country saved. Not in vain has been his service. Not too early did the good man die, for the fruition of his hopes and his labors. Our illumination has been changed to cloud, our thanksgiving to lamenting; and the voice of wailing is heard in the land. But there is no voice of despair: the blackness is not that of a cavern or of night, but

only of a cloud in the sky: the lament is not a wail,-not the threnody of those who see no future; but is rather a requiem for the dead, the minor chord which goes in the funeral march before the full note of triumph. The land is safe, for God is its ruler. He leads us to deliverance. We will not trust in any arm of flesh, which may be broken; but we will trust in the living God, who hath led us hitherto. We will go on in the strength of this conviction, that, if we are constant in his righteousness, he will give the answer to our prayer, will give peace, prosperity, plenty,

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a goodlier union, and a more glorious future.

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THE MURDER OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN:

AN ADDRESS SPOKEN AT A MEMORIAL SERVICE IN THE CHURCH OF THE

MESSIAH, MONTREAL, ON SUNDAY EVENING, APRIL 23, 1865;

BY REV. JOHN CORDNER.

THE

HE lessons we have read this evening are those of the service for the burial of the dead. "Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am."-"Lord, thou hast been my dwelling-place in all generations." The solemn strain of these grand old psalms has swept the chord of human hearts throughout the Hebrew and Christian ages. And they are fresh and strong to-day as when Moses wrote and David sang. "Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. . . . As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. . . . Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." This is the jubilant utterance of the great apostle, with mind illuminated by the new light which Christ brought from on high. And when the darkest shadows of death are projected upon our path, this light gives consolation, hope, joy.

Our present memorial service is but a single refrain of the wide-spread expression of grief which the past week witnessed on

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