The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1865-05-13
Our Dead President.
ELOQUENT ADDRESS OF
BISHOP SIMPSON.

We make the following extract from thu
sermon of Bishop Simpson, delivered a
Springfield, H., on Thursday OF last week
at the funeral of our late lamented Presi
read it:
Fellow citizens of Illinois, and of our en-
tire Union Near the capitol of this large
and growing State of Illinois, in the midst
of this beautiful grove, and at the open
mouth of the vault which has just received
the remains of our fallen Chicftain, we gather
to pay tribute of respect and drop the tears
of sorrow around the ashes Of the mighty
dead. A little more than four years ago.
from his plain and quiet home in yondcr
city, he started, receiving the parting words
of the concourse of friends who gathered
around him, and in the midst of the drop
ping of the gentle shower he told of the
pains of parting trom the place where his
children had been born and his home had
becn made so pleasant by early recolcctions.
And rs he left he made an earnest request
i'll the hearing of some who are present that,
as he was about TO cntor upon responsible
ties which he believed to be greater than
any which had fallen upon any man since
the days of Washington, the people would
offer up their prayers that God would aid
and sustain him in the work they had given
him to do. His company left your quiet
city, but, as it went, snares were in waiting
for the Chief Magistrate Scarcely did he
escape the dangers of the way, or the hands
of the assassin, as he ncarrd Washington,
and | believe he escaped only through the
viglcnce Of the officers and the prayers of
the people; so that the blow was suspended
for more than four years which was at last
permitted through the providence Of God to
fall.
How different the occasion which witness
ed his return! Doubtless you expected to
take him by the hands, to feel the warm
grasp which you felt in other days, and to
see the tall form walking among YOU which
You had delighted to honor in years past
But he was never permitted to return until
he came with lips mute aud silent, his frame
cncothned, and Il weeping nation following
rs his mourners. Such scene as his return
to You was never witnessed among the events
of history. There have been great process
patriarch Jacob which came up from Egypt.
and the Egyptians wondered at the evidences
of reverence and flal affection which came
from the hearts of the lsraclitcs. There was
mourning when Moses fell upon the heights
of Pisgah and was hid from human view
There have been MORNINGS in the king
dcms of the earth when kings and warriors
have fallen; but never was there in the his
tory of man such mourning as that which
has accompanied the funeral procession, and
has gathered around the mortal remains of
him who was our loved one. and who now
sleeps among us. If we glance at the pro-
ccssion which followed him, we see how the
nation stood aghast. Tears filed the eyes
'of many sunburnt faces. Strong men, as
they rlasped the hands of their friends, were
unable to find vent for their grief in words.
Women and little children caught up the
tdings rs they ran through the land and
were melted into tears. The nation stood
still. Men left their ploughs in the fields
and asked what the end would he. The hum
"of manufactures ceased, and the sound of
the hammer was not heard. Busy mcr-
chants closed their doors. and in the En-
change gold passed no more from hand to
hand.
War had come upon us, dividing families,
separating nearest and dearest iriendS-a
war the extent and magnitude of which no
oaC could cStimate-a war i'll which the blood
of brethren was shed by Il brothers hand. e.
A call for soldiers was made by this voice.
now llushed, and all over this land. from hill
to mountain, from plain to valley. they
SiNanS Hi'' HuluItNS Oh lnoUSanuS OF Dolu
hearts, ready to go forth and save our Ma.
tional Union. This feeling of excitement
was transformed next into a feeling Of deer
grief because of the dangers IN which our
cou:rtry was placed. Many said-Is it pos
siblc to save our nation? Some in oul
coAntry, aud nearly all the leading men in
otter countries, declared ii to be impossible
to maintain the Union; and many an hon.
est heart was deeply panied with apprchcn-
SONS OF common ruin, and many in grief
and almost in despair anxiously inquired
What shall the end of these things be? In
addition. the wives had given their hus-
bands, mothers their sons.
In the pride and JOY of their hearts they
saw them put on the uniform. they saw them
take their martial step, and they tried to
hide their deep feelings of sadness. Many
dear ones slept on the battle field, never
never TO return again, and there was mourn
ing in every mansion and in every cabin il
cur broad land. Then came feeling tc
deepen sadness as the story came of priso
ncrs tortured to death or starved through
the mandates of those who are called the
representatives Of the chivalry, or who claim
to be the honorable ones of the earth, anC
as we read the stories Of frames attcnuatcd
oar grief turned partly into horror and parl,
into "A cry for vengeance Then the feeling
was changed to one Of irv. There cam,
signs of the end of this Rebellion. We fol
lowed the career OF our glorious generals. -
We saw our army under the command o
the brave officer who is guiding this process
sion, climb up the nights of Lookout Noun
tain and drove the Rebels from their strong
holds.
Another brave General swept through
Georgia, South and North Carolina, anc
drove the combined armies of the Rebels
before him, while the honored Lieutenant
General held Lee and his hosts in a death
grasp. Then the tidings came that Rich
mond was evacuated and that Lee had sur
rehdered. The bells rang merrily all Owe
the land. The booming of cannon wa
heard. Examinations and torchlight process
sons manifested the general JOY, and tami
lies were looking for the speedy return o
their loved ones from the field of battle. go
Just in the midst of the widest Joy, in one
hour--nay, in one moment-the tidings ran!
through the land that Abraham Lincoln, tn,
best of Presidents had persisted by tn,
hands of an assassin. He was stricken
down when his hopes for the end of the Re
bellion were bright, and the prospects of
joyous life were before him. There was
Cabinet meeting that day, said to have beer
the most cheerful and happy Of any helc
since the beginning of the Rebellion. Ate
this meeting he talked with his friends, an,
spoke of the four years of tempest, of thu
storm being over, and of the four years o
pleasure and joy now awaiting him; as tn
weight of care and anguish would be takeI