The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1864-1911, 1865-05-03

his LiGe-The Radical AbOIi-
tlOn View or the NatIOuaI CAL
anity.
Dispatch of New York Associated Press.
WASHINGTON, April is, 1865.
At large meeting Of the citizens of Mas
sachusetts, held here tonight TO make ar
rangementS for appearing in the funeral
procession, Major General Butler delivered
an eloquent address.
General B. +. Butler said that while it
was too carly to examine with care, so as TO
speak with propriety of the acts of Mr..
Lincoln through the period Of the even;lul
four years, and to show how great was his
connection with the important acts Of that
period, we all know enough Of that history
to be able to dimly discern some Of the les
sons which the special providence Of his
death seems 10 calculated to teach to the
nation. He had fulfilled all the part that
seemed designed for him to do Ly the acts
Of his t!te, and nothing Of has l!te, great as
ueTf has services, tcdS Of more use 10 the cOltq-
try taaa uould be tie c1ect Of his losing 1t.
The coincidence Of time seemed to point
US to one of the great lessons Of his death.
On the 14th Of April, 1861, the malice and
hate of the rebels in South Carolina caused
them to fire upon Sumner, and ty tie blow
to unite the North as one man, as they
stood hesitating to jump into the gulf Of
| bloodshed which stood before them, 10 ar
rive at the extinguishment of great natur-
| al sin.
The parrieidal act of striking down the
flag, the symbol of government, caused
every true-hearted man in the Government
on that day to come together, and joining
hands, to swear never to cease their efforts
until that greatest Of sins, slavery was ex-
tinguished, the authority of the Union re-
stored, and the authors Of the great WRONG
to the nation punished
We had gone through four years, spend
ing millions If money, and almost millions
Of lives, and had succeeded in fully cradica-
ting the national sin, and by force OF arms
in sustaining the national authority ly ex-
terminating the armies CT the rebellion.
In our JOY ut our victories and the success
Of our arms, the nation had began to be d.
yldCd upon the question whether we should
punish the trcaSonable authors Of our ca
lanities, and whether we should not receive
back the authors of the rebellion, and to
extend to them the hand of friendship as
! brothers.
But the same madness Of hate which i'm
PEELED the rebels in siXty-one to precipitate
us uDprepared into a war, and TO unite us in
its prosecution, on the l4th of April, 1865,
| Jy the murder Of orr bclored President, pre-
rentsns from mohlng Il too prscip'tate lcacc,
and from forgetting our vow that these ma
tional paracides should be punished. The
Shot 1T Sumpter aud that from the assas
sins pistol at Lincoln were but the eman-
tons Of the rebellion whfch 1oere needed to
unite the North then, as now, as one man,
| al ,lnt el,yrr1, 81 ~ 4
be rooted out, that slavery should be extin-
guished, and that perjury and treason Sho'd
| Ge punished. Y"
Another lesson 10 be 0rdtrn from the sad
death qf tie President was that the people of
| the rebe!lous States were not yet fitted in
spirit to be admitted to their old position
in the Union; that the soul of the rebellion
had net been eXtiDguishcd. We had be-
gun to talk Of receiving them back on an
equality with ourselves. Two experiments
had been made in taking back rebellious
| States, one in Louisiana the other in Vir-
gnia BY the first we were warned that
! the people were not fit to become part of
the Government OF. the U. S., by the at
tempted murder Of distinguished mem
Der Of Congress for words spoken in debate
by one Of the Representatives of the re-
turning State, and when President Lincoh,
attempted to recall Virginia into hcr procti-
cal relations Uah other States, he was an
swered by the as>assin's bullet, sped to his
death under the war cry of the motto Of
| that State.
We had begun to talk of the noble mag
nanimity Of the rebel General. We had
seen that on the very day Of the murder OF
the President, he and his staff had been re-
ceived with cheers in the city of Richmond
and by a portion of the people he was held
up as a soldier of honor, and general whose
example was worthy Of imitation. 1t was
imposs ible to understand this. 1t was i'm
possible to understand chivalric treason,
magnanmous mulder and pure-minded per-
jaIy. Educated ut public expense, advanc-
ed to dignity and honor in the army, mar
ying into the estate Of Washington, Lees
case was one where treason and perjury
were united with ingratitude, and il such as
he were to be paldoned petted, then in
deed we're the wrongs of the country una
venged.
Indeed it seemed to be Gods special prori-
dence IN the deoh Of otrr lomented President
to prerent H.tS, to teach usthat perfdy, muir
| der and treason were hot the insignia OF
''erring brothers" or hayward sisters. -
! We are not ready to receive such men back
| to take part with us or to be Of us.
Another lesson this death has taught us
is that if we had proceeded too soon and
too fast to bring back these States, we should
! have periled the passage of the Constitu-
tional amendment abolshihg slavery. This
conspiracy of assassination teaches us that
there is spirit abroad that renders it ne
cessary that we should hold these rebellious
States until the rebellion is conquered sub
dued and submissive to the laws, and until
by the act of the people of those States it is
made certain that by no political action can
freedom to all ever be disturbed.
Then, and not till then, is the country
prepared to receive back the rebellious
States. The hour calls our attention to an
other coincidence of time. On the nine
teenth of April, ninety years ago, the first
blood ives shed of Massachusetts men in the
Revolution. On the same day four years
ago the first blood of Massachusetts, soldiers
stained the soil of Maryland, as we marched
to the defense of the National Capital. On
the nineteenth of April the last victim OF
this accursed spirit of hate will horne to its
final resting place, and as with the same
promptness with which Massachusetts raj
lied to avenge the blood Of her first mar
tyrs, her martys Of Lexington and Balti-
more, so will her citizens go forward as one
man to take retribution upon the authors OF
the rebellion, and the aiders and abettors
in the murder of Lincoln.