Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

.

SPEECH OF MAJOR-GENERAL N. P. BANKS:

AT NEW ORLEANS, LA., APRIL 21, 1865.

MR.

R. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW-CITIZENS,- It is only since arrival upon my this platform that I have been informed of the part I am expected to take in the ceremonies of this occasion, and could wish for longer preparation, with the view of doing more perfect justice to the subject of the hour; but, in accordance with the wishes of your committee, I will proceed. God knows why it is, or how it is, or for what purpose it is, that we have been summoned here; but now, indeed, can we feel the nothingness of man, and that it is best for us to bow in supplication to God for his counsel and support. The language of the hour is that, not of comment, not of condolence, not of consolation, but of supplication; and we should stand before the throne of God to-day, in sackcloth and in ashes, in silent petition to him for that counsel and support.

Human plans are failures: the ideas and purposes of God alone are successful. This very week was spontaneously and unanimously set apart by the American people as a season for thanksgiving and joy, for the great relief which the people had experienced from a terrible war, which had bereft nearly every family in the North and South of its dearest, and draped nearly every family altar as is now draped the national altar. Suddenly

-

the skies were brightened, and universal peace was accepted by the nation as the reward of the terrible struggle in which we had been engaged. The opening of the Mississippi; the brilliant victories of the Army of the Cumberland in 1863; the fall of the rebel cities upon the Atlantic coast before the triumphant march of Sherman; the surrender of Lee to Grant; and the occupation of Mobile by the gallant chieftain who is here in our presence to-day, not waiting for the intelligence that the last army of the rebellion had surrendered to the glorious Sherman, all justified the assumption that God had given this nation permanent, lasting, honorable, and glorious peace! But while we were preparing for the announcement by the officers of the Government, — always behind, in instincts and purposes of power, the people of the government, — unexpectedly, in the twinkling of an eye, as if with the suddenness, strength, and power of God, -all of us lay low in sorrow, mourning and despair. I believe that never before in human history were a people so horrified as by the announcement of the death of the President, and the fall of his great assistant in council and action, - the Secretary of State. We know not why it is, but we have the great consolation to say that we believe it is for good to our nation. Ay, for good to the man that has fallen as our representative. He had committed

[ocr errors]

no crimes. There is not a man on the continent or globe that will or can say that Abraham Lincoln was his enemy, or that he deserved punishment or death for his individual acts. No, Mr. President, it was because he represented us that he died; and it is for our good, and the glory of our nation, that God, in his inscrutable providence, has been pleased to do this, while, for the late President, it is the great crowning act and security of his career. To die is "to go home," - to go to our Father, and be relieved from sorrow, care, suffering, labor, and from danger; but to live, ―ay, sir, to live is the great punishment inflicted upon

man. All that we can ask is to go when all things are ready, when duty is discharged, strength exhausted, and the triumph effected, then it is our joy to go home to "Our Father." As has been beautifully said, sir,

[blocks in formation]

God has given our great leader the privilege to go, under circumstances like this. He had lived his time, fought his fight, and, God be thanked! had kept the faith. Let me say it reverently, that for Abraham Lincoln to live was for Abraham Lincoln to fall! He had ascended to the highest point, - the highest culmination of human destiny; to be better and greater and purer, he must leave us, and go to the bosom of God. He is enjoying the highest culmination of glory that God has given, in his wise and mysterious dispensation for the human family.

Sir, I had seen him but little, but that which I had seen, stamped upon my heart the indelible feeling that he was a rare man, not a great or a successful man: many of both kinds have I seen; but he was a rare man, who believed in the power of ideas, and knew that human agencies were unable to control or direct them. In the dispensation of what men call "power," I have seen Mr. Lincoln give it to the right and left as if of no consequence at all; and, when reproached for so doing, I have heard him say, "What harm did this generous confidence in men do me?" I have seen, amidst the hours of trial, his manifestations of patience and confidence, more almost than human; until I had come to believe that that which is designed to be done would be accomplished, if not by human power, at least by the concurrent action and support and will of God.

Though taken from us, his influence is still here; and there is

not a man in this assembly to-day, who is not more impressed with his spirit and purpose than he would be if Abraham Lincoln were living at this hour; nor is there a man here to-day, who is not a disciple of him, and the agent of his works for evermore. We may, indeed, be assured that his great purpose- the Union, first of all-will - will be carried out. We might as well expect the Mississippi to turn back at its mouth, and seek again the mountain rivulets and springs, as to believe that human power is to sunder the States of the Union. Abraham Lincoln's wisdom and patriotism has led us as far as human effort can bring us; and now his blood cements for ever the holy Union of the States.

You know, fellow-citizens, how deeply he was interested in the destinies of Louisiana. No friend in your midst ever thought so much about or wished so much for your good as the late President of the United States; and it was among the first wishes of his heart, that the prosperity of its people, the liberty of all its races, and their elevation, should be perfected during his administration: or, as he said in one of his letters to me, "My word is out for these things, and I don't intend to turn back from it." It is not for me to act or speak in the spirit of prophecy, but I can say to you, that I believe his wish will be consummated by the return of Louisiana to the Union, by the honor, freedom, and elevation of all classes of its people.

To the colored people of this assembly and State, as well as the Union, I can say, that the work in which he was engaged will go on, and that the day is not far distant when they will enjoy the freedom that God and the people have given them, and also be advanced to all the privileges that, under the Constitution of our country, or that of any other, God has deigned to bestow upon any class of people. But they must remember, that they have a work to do, and that while God is just to all his people, he requires that they shall be just to him. You shall be free, and invested with

« AnteriorContinuar »