The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1864-10-17

home, here. f. Washington. Citizens
Of Spring6eldss what . soene Was here
presented on that memorable llth of Feb
ruary. It must still live in your memoir
les. The words he uttered at parting
With you, Is you stood around him un-
covered and 10 tears, are known the world
over. they are classic alike in their SIM
plicity, touching pathos, and depth of
meaning. "My Friends" said he, "no
one not in my position can appreciate the
sadness feel at this parting. To this
people owe all that l am. Here l have
lived more than quarter Of q century;
here my children were born, and here
one of them liss buried. know not how
soon shall. see you again. A duty de-
wolves upon me which is, peshsps, great
err than that which has devolved upon
any other man since the days of Wash
ington.
He never would have succeeded except
for the aid Of Divine Providence, upon
which he at all times relied. | feel that
| cannot succeed without the same Divine
aid which sustained him On the same
Almighty Being | place my reliance for
support, and hope you, my friends. will
all pray that may receive that Divine
assistance, without which | cannot sue
coed, but with which success is certain "
How clearly he saw, how deeply he
felt the great duty, devolved upon him;
the work to which he was called, via: to
maintain the Union, some c whose pill
lars had long been undermined, and were
then crumbling around him; to defeud
| the Constitution. whose authority the par
| " then in power, aud which Is seeking il
again, would not enforce; aud declared il
had no right to enforce BY arms; to exc
cute tie laws 10 every State; aid hold
occupy and possess the for s, property
and places belonging to the Government
one third Of which had already been sen
ed by armed traitors, or basely surrender
ed BY the administration of James Blu
chaDan; in one word, to take from tb.
hands of weak and cowardy imbecile
the flag of The Union thus insulted, out
ragged and trampied upon, and raise i
once. more aloft, as the glorious STANDARD
Of common oountry-with not one strip,
erased, nor ore star obscurea-full higi
| advanced and right onward, until, in spit,
! OF rebellion at home and threatened inter
vention from abroad, it should aoat again
honored, respected, on every Too, of ever,
State and Territory Of the United States
How true, almost prophetic were thes,
parting words. 0 what duty; what
gigantic work, what heavy responsible,
gss inGeed devolsed upon that heart ane
brain! When would man more need Di
vine assistance to sustain aud strengthen
hin? And shall we not give him GU
sympathy and support!
Never, in my opinion. since the work
began has a higher duty. greater work
weightier responsibility rested pom an
human being than upon him. [Cheers
For almost four years he has been en-
gsged in discharglng that duty. in per
forming the great work, III bearing tha
possibility. The amount Of lis men
tai aud physical labor is almost incredi
BILE, more than that of the President il
ordinary times. In the mere matter O
| appointing nts to Office he has been Gale,
| upon TO make more aid to sign more com
missions than all the other Presideut
put together That he may have mad,
mistakes is true; but The marvel OF mar
wells is, that he has not made many NOR,
ADD can only be accounted for in the fac
that he is endowed by nature With a Wig
or, activity and clearness Of intellect IN
surpassed in any man OF our time
cheers; and by patriotic, unsel6sl
singleness OF purpose in disposing of ever,
question as it arises, cheers The WELD
ing OF great patronage is the seyerest ties
of executive ability. That in addition Il
all his other duties he has done so Ions
aud upon so vast scale, and still retain
ed his unbounded popularity among thu
masses of the people, is the highest evi
dence of capacity, aud will place his nam,
IN history among the great ones of earth
as Of the few, the immortal few, ths
we're not born to die" TGrea. and pro
longed cheering.]
| Could those men who denounce Mr.
| Lincoln as tyrant and usurper know
him as you have known him for a quar-
ter OF century, or as | have seen hin
and come TO know him at Washington
during these last four years of great tria
their tongues would cleave to the root O
their mouths have seen him under va
nous circumstances in the Joy of success,
in the anguish of defeat. 1t has beer
my good fortune to share, in some meas
ure, bis friendship and confidence, as i,
has been my highest duty at all times tc
give him words of encouragement and
support. | have seen him by day and by
night: In time Of victory, when his SOU
was lit up and his face beaming with 8
halo OF Joy. have seen him in the hou,
of defeat when his soul Was all bat read,
to sink, with his head bowed like bul.
rush, overwhelmed with agony and tears
and tell you that know from personal
knowledge. that the sense of that crea,
duty which he felt and expressed at bis
departure from this place in Fetruar,
1861, has ever been present with him
has never forsaken him. 1t has become
and is, the absorbing idea of his SOUL
TO restore peace to bleeding country
to save the Uuion and with it our Nation
| al life, 10 preserve constitutional republican
liberty to ourselves aud to our posterit,
forever aud to bring cur beloved corn.
Try safely through this terrible baptism Of