Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1865-04-21

i After Lies itful fever he sleeps well,
Treason has done his woret; nor steel nor poison =
Malice domestic, foreign levy nothing
Can touch him further"
Tie Nation mourns to-day as nation Z
never mournod before. Assassinations of
rulers have taken place before: but never, F.
since the world was made, IF one in whom So !;
many people trusted with such entire and /.
such loving confidence. shocking crime +.
have agitated communities with wide ANA (
deep emotion but never was whole cont &
nent so struck with horror by a moment (
work as ours has been, or been So wrapped E
in mourning as is our land to-day.
We happened to be in Washington when
the awful crime and calamity which fills ALI
thoughts took place and when the President
breathed his last. and saw and shared thel
deep feeling which throbbed in the heart OF !
the Nation, and radiated with tie pulsations
of the telegraph wires throughout the coun-
try. 1t took hours to fully comprehend the
reality of the crime. or 10 realize in any adj
eouate degree the public loss. Til Satur-
day noon. the people Of the Capital were
silent No man seemed to have heart or!
thought to speak Silently they hung their
dwellings and places Of business IN black
They met each Other and pressed hands IN 81.
lenee. They lat sTeechless and with bowed
heads. Thesouud Of the fatal shot, the shrlck- Of
tine distracted wife. seemed still to echo mi
every ear. The blood which driPpei uponI
the uayements over which the stricken Pres.
ident was borne. seemed to stain the who,
city. An unspcakable horror of the muir
der. so foul. 20 atrocious. 80 terrible in its
lenormity, hung heavily On every heart and
stidcd utterancc.
As tine day-a day OF black clouds andI
weeping skics-worcon "a Tcyulsion Of strong
excitement succeeded. An business had ceased
from the first announcement. The people
were ali in their doors or in the streets, and
any sudden noise. an arrest Of a suspected
person. or the Passage through the street OF
guard with rebel prisoner or two. would
cause rush and the collection of a crowd
which was numbered 10y thousands This
continued through Sunday. The churchc,
were filed with sobbIng congregations but
the constant rumors of the capture Of the
iassassiu~, OF of m0bbings and lamp post exc
BUTTONS of abettors or applauders Of the deed,
kept The mass of the population, apparently,
in the street, and sustained and intensified
tic excitement The outward signs %.
mourning continued TO increase as last as
black cloth uld be procured from other
markcts.-for the stores Of Washington Were
az once cleared Of all suitable draperic-, and
private houses were to be seen hung with
costly black silks and GRAPES, in lack Of
cheaper material. The contrast between
the scenes OF three evenings before,
when tire Capitol, the public build
inss. and Pennsylvania Avenue biazei with
the most magnificent illumination ever
seen on this continent, struck every one.
But no, Washington alone-the lrhoie COM
M is hung in black. In New York city the
display Of public grief exceeds eysa that in
the National Capital Passing through
Broadway TUESDAY, we could see but one
building from Trinity to Grace Church, that
was not draped in mourning, many Of them
to an extent, and at a disregard of cost
which would astonish even those who know
hest that New York is not wont to do things
by halves 1t is so every where. The people,
cannot do enough. and wholly lack words to
express their emotions Of sorrow for the na-
tion's loss. horror for the crime, and solemn
Iyengeange for Its perpetrators and abettors.
They do not wish 10 cCufound the innocent
with the guilty; but they feel that this
lawful crime IL but an outburst Of the anima-
ting spirit Of the rebellion; they know that
thousands of traitors and rebels rel
ioice in the deed and they consider that
whoever is glad of it is stained with the
guilt of the murderer. Nay more, they
seem to see in this event an indication Of {
the design Of Providence that the guilty au-
thors of the rebellion shall not 90 unpunish-
led. When asked, or asking themselves,
why was this terrible thing permitted - !
they answer Perhaps because Lincoln had
finished his own work, and a stcrner band
was needed to deal out ius,ioe in the day Of
reckoning
Mr. Lincoln had accomplished substantial !
", the great work of the restoration of Ma
tional authority He lived till the last for
midable rebel army had been shattered and Z
dissolved I'll the last seaport, (though be (
Knew it not) Mobile, had been occupied and 1
Possessed; tall the old flag waved again over
sumter, though he heard not the - hail and s
well done to the President by the orator. S
who from that pulpit Of broken stone,
poke to the world, as the old banner went 8
Up TO its place. and declared 1t dedicated to
Peace, Union and Liberty. In the very S
lour Of victory and triumph, when bic heart,
50 long oppressed by his country's peril,
lad first heguu to throw of the load and
ind rest, when all his utterances were O.
forgiveness and lenient iorbearance, MIR q
Lincoln has been taken away; and in his s.
place stands Just man indeed but one
who represents the strong aud intense feel Z
ng of the border loyalists-one on whom E
md on whose family have passed the very fires 3
If the rebellion-who knows from experience e
is bellish spirit, who realizes that mercy to 3
he individual may be cruelty to the nation. q
md who VIII see to it that the guilty shall g
lot go unpupished Z
The Murder of President Lincoln. "a