The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1865-04-25
The Funeral Scenes I'm the City Yes
terday.

1The Funeral Scenes I'm the City Yes
terday.
4 The remains of Abraham Lincoln are among
us. They repose peacefully at the City Hall,
4 where thousands Of our citizens paid them due
) homage yesterday. With military punctuality
\ the remains arrived here precisely at the
q appointed hour, and were conveyed under
4 military escort to their temporary resting place.
1 The most imposing part of this branch of the
3 funeral ceremonies was the breathless silence
i which prevailed as the mournful oortege passed
a from the pier to the Hall. Though the streets
l were lined with countless multitude, not a.
3 sound could be heard save the measured tramp
of the soldiers and the subdued dirge of the
4 band. Every voice was hushed, and every
! heart beat heavily with repressed sorrow. Tt
: was as the silence OF the desert, though every
1 foot of ground contained living being The
I mpressiveness of the scene will not be soon
= forgotten. 1t was not an event Of yesterday,
but of all time; just as the assassination was
{ not bloody incident merely of that Good
) Friday upon which it occurred, but something
which, in its electric effect upon the entire
] country marks an epoch from which to date
the most wonderful moral revolution in the
{ history of nations.
When the fatal bullet winged its fight
= it obliterated not only the life of the
victim, but all party lines, all sectional
: lines, all animosities, passions and preju-
) dices, and woke up every latent feeling of
! patriotism in the popular heart. The dagger
: that struck down Caesar might have caused the
: stones of Rome to rise in mutiny; but the
/ bullet that cut off Abraham Lincoln nerved
a mems souls to deeper love of country; stirred
: them, not to public vengeance, but to pub
: lie virtue. Henceforth the republic will be
! stronger, more united, obtaining the service OF
+ all her children in generous rivalry Of afec-
ton, rising above the petty strifes and ignoble
+ ambitions of party. Thus, then, the sacrifice,
: though bitter, is not all in vain. Even the
: rebels themselves lament and execrate the deed
{ which has robed the whole North and the re-
L claimed States of the South in the draperies OIL
: unfeigned wo.
Nothing could be more orderly or more
! solemn than the manner in which the vast
throng paid their last tribute to the illustrious
8 dead yesterday, and far into the night Al
! though the place selected to lay the body in
Z State was most inappropriate, and the access
4 to it was difficult, tortuous and inconvenient,
4 there was no confusion, which, considering the
! immense population of the metropolis and the
4 Surrounding cities who united in the ceremony,
{ is alike remarkable and satisfactory. How
ever, the wisdom of our suggestion that the
c1fnfuJo,e shonld have been erected on the
esplanade in front of the City. Hall instead OF
rwfthin the building must have been apparent
"a to every one, from the difficulty experienced
4 yesterday in gratifying the very natural desire
- of the masses to behold the remains Of the late
q President. The weather was most suspicious
q and nothing could have interfered to render
4 such plan the most proper one. AS it was.
81 probably not one-tenth of those who wished
81 to see the corpse had an opportunity of doing
81 so. The display of deep feeling and sym
4 pathy OH the occasion was, however, witheu,
s parallel, and may never be witnessed again
d and, we sincerely trust, never will be called
81 forth under similar circumstances This is bu
q the first scene in the magnificent funereal drama
q The spectacle to-day will exceed it in solem
+ nifty, in numbers and in pomp. The metropolis
Il and its surrounding satellites on the Hudson
s. and East rivers will perform their last mournfu
81 duty TO the deceased Chief Magistrate, and viii
q Register silent vow over bis bier to support hi
u successor in the great work Of reconstructnp
q the nation which the departed President had
/: redeemed from the throes and agonies of re-
4 bellion.