The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1865-05-16

Il
ing echoes down The ages OF time
II was his privilege 10 stand in The
fore front Of the battle Cor the con
sl;.ution and win it With his al.
ministraiion will always be competed
the story OF the great crisis Of repub-
lcan institutions. how he stood Ike
a rock when Others wavered, how pa
iirnt hr was, how faithful, how clear
minded, how large hearted. how trust
ful in The people, how leaning on
God To aim pistol al the head Of
such a man, who never willing iniur-
ed anybody, who never deceived trust
reposed in him. whose character was
simple, transparent, homely, sturdy,
kindly, the word viii never debate
whether that was a blunder or a
crime il has already pronounced it TO
be an unmitiga,ed and 6endish crime,
and that verdicl will stand. An exc
Grafton. a malediction, urse, call it
what you will, rests already on the
name OF the assassin, and will abide
there till the trump OF doom. But
| for him whom we call the victim, there
could have been no more auspicious
moment in which TO die. II was
death in the climax Of physical and
moral victory. II was the day of the
end. 1t was the day OF the flag rais-
ing on Sumter the citadel Of treason,
the day of the promulgation of the
order to stop drafting, the day which
more than any other marked and sig.
nalized the end Of the war. 1t was
just four years work % day, and
he did it, and departed. Ii was buta
step, by the grace of the Master, from
the earthly joy and glory Of that
hour to the rest Of the heavens. Let
him rest
Ii has been pleasure TO compare
the late President in certain aspects
with the noble Roman whom Shak-
speare calls
The foremost man of all the world"
1t is higher pleasure now to com
pare him with better if not great
er man, William the silent, the found
er of the Dutch republic. One would
say that that man did and suffered in
the cause of human freedom, up to
the limits of which human nature is
capable. With slender resources and
few adherents, and the light Of Gods
truth in his soul, he planted himself
on the sands, and few ships on the
water, of Northen Holland, in opPe-
sition TO the vast Spanish monarchy
which then ruled the country in :he
interest Of bigoted and prosecuting
church, and determined as only silent
men do determine that there should
be one spot in Europe, at least, free
from ralgious prosecutions. The re-
sourses of the whole Spanish king
dom, and the wealth of Mexico and
Peru, which then belonged to Spain,
were exhausted before he could be
moved from his moral position on the
truth and his ply scsl position on the
sands. A little nation was growing
up around him, the hearts of brave
and long suffering people were being
linked to him, new power was ris
ing on the coast of the North Sea
whose moral elements were entago-
nstic to church and state as then con.
stituted, and the fanatical Philip ii Of
Spain, whose armies had been dashed
in vain against the fearless breasts of
the Protestant Dutch, had recourse
in his despair TO the arts of assassins
to despatch an antagonist whom he
could not overcome by arms. Twen-
ty-fve thousand crowns in gold and a
patent Of nobility were offered to any
one +" sufficiently generous of heart to
rid us of this pest, delivering him to
US alive or dead, or taking his life"
When was religious fanaiicism and
the love of pelt combined ever ap.
pealed to in vain to perpetrate deed
of horror? In obedience to these
motives, the good William fell at the
door Of his banqurting house in Delft
on the 10th Of July. 1904. 1t is re.
freshing 10 remember that the assas-
in, instead Of his hoped for reward,
received four days later a torturing
death at The hands Of the indignant
Spain gained nothing by her kiug's
low yillsiny, while popular and relig-
ious liberty gained martyr who ce-
menied with his blood the foundations
and the superstructure OF a still ex-
isIing state. The people foudly call
him Father William" still, Just as
the colored race upon this continent
for generation to come viii breathe the
name of $ Father Abraham" In
point Of tenacIly Of purpose and of
personal integrity and of a deep, un-
religious faith, we like 10
the late President with Will
liam OF Orange, and believe that the
results Of the act Of assassination will (
not be different in the two cases
namely, the toning up and stengthen-
ng Of nation.
To some il may appear less appro. |
pirate that we choose to compare
inally President Lincoln and his
ieaih with the person and death OF
he joyous and elastic Henry Nv, the I
Protestant king Of France. But
here is one point of comparison ,
shich will strike the sense Of every /
,erson as appropriate. The Edict Of !
Nantes. BY which the oppressed Prot {
pf France rAna4WaH al