Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1865-04-21
Iaa.ssmru ) stateSpptpsl. Z
agtE. ts ! lIJI ]
MONTPELIER. XPML2i, fseS. V
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN


after nation, till the whole world shall have ac-
knowledged the reverence due to great Chris
tan ruler. To-day "wednesday commenced the I
funeral procession, which will move from the cap
ital through the chief cities of the North and
West and close the long and mourniul march by /
committing the mangled body to rest in the heart
Of Illinois. All along the way will be the most
impressive signs of sadness-the minute guns,
tolling bells, mournful music, cities and townsI
draped in the habiliments Of woe millions Of aces
wet with tears, and everywhere will loyal hearts,
sympathize in the great grief and the whole ma
ton sincerely mourn.
=" For within the hollow crown,
That rounds the mortal temples Of king,
Keeps Death his court"
But why does the Nation mourn? Is il forI
the loss Of President? We have one still The
wheels Of Government move undisturbed I'M
their stately round no shock Of death jostles the
machinery Of the nation; the assassin's blow ID
lighter than the dust upon the wheel. Is it the
death of good man roughly gentle, generous,
honest, loving man, whose boundless charity COW
cred all the sins Of traitors and deadly enemies
and longed to conquer them in the bonds of frater
nal Unioh and love? Alas how many good men
has Death relentlessly stricken down by the muir
derers hand the shock of battle, or fell disease,
and how many have fallen by the deliberate, lin
gering. devish torture Of starvation and neglect
in rebel prisons,-and not a tear been shed but
at the home desolated, by the family bereaved, OF
the sympathetic friend.
We do mourn Abraham Lincoln as our Presi-
dent; we do mourn him as the good man ruthless
" slain but we mourn him also because the af-
fections of our hearts and all our hopes for our
country have been bound up in him as, to our
sight the chosen one Of the Lord to lead the ma
ton from the house of bondage to the promised
land OF Freedom, Righteousness and Rest. He
will longest live in the annals of the world as the
President OF Emancipation the hottest tears will
fall from the eyes of the most humble and the
most despised; the heaviest grief will weigh upon
the soul OF the slave
The humble birth of Mr.. Lincoln his lack OF
almost all training save that which was self-im-
posed and self-directed in time snatched from
labors necessary to earn his daily bread his mas
terry, nevertheless, over the ablest men and the
gravest questions, in defiance of all traditions
and all the rules OF the schools,-and at last his
q a., q a
ded to old opinions-at an early age, Che was the
/ youngest President but two, seemed very clearly
to indicate that Providence had raised him up for
special work, and this conclusion was confirmed
to all religious men, who observed that in his first
speech when leaving home as President elect, in
his first inaugural address, and in his first mes.
sage, he recognized God as the ruler Of the ma.
tons and the disposer OF events. How impressive
now are the concluding passages of bis first mes
sage
"As private citizen, the Executive could not
have consented that these institutions shall perish
much less could he, in BETRAYAL of 30 vast and SC
sacred trust as these free people had confded to
/ him. lie felt that he had no moral right "a
SHRINK, not epen to count the chances Of his oiea
! life, IN lohat might .fotiow. In full view Of hi,
great responsibility, he has so far, done what he
( has deemed his duty. You will now according to
( your own Judgment, perform yours.
And having thus chosen our course, ,oithom gull,
( and l0ith pure purpose let reneic our trust IN
! God, and go foroard oithom fear and NTH man
/ ly hearts,
Here, within this nutshell, we have the charac-
ter of Mr.. Lincoln as President: patriotic, self
] eacriGciuo r,,,ialaog =
ways trusting in God. We can add but one more
feature, and that is only his guelessness practi.
cally exemplifed we mean his too broad charity
for wrong-doers. Guleless and thoroughly hon
est himself, he seemed to think that nobody could
do wrong, unless it be through some great temp
tation or delusion dragging really good man
into bad courses. So he pardoned multitudes Of
rascals, and seemed to yearn for the chance to
gladden. the hearts of rebels with forgiveness, and
to pour upon them all the richness of paternal love
showered upon the prodigal son.
! AS a man he was unassuming, accessible to ev-
! erybody, genial with everybody. In taking the
! Presidential office he put on no supercilious airs
assumed no dignity to which he was not born in
the woods of Kentucky, or which he did not ac-
| quire among the farmers OF Indiana and Illinois.
As a husband and father he was afectionate and
indulgent; and whether it be at the reception of
an ambassador, conference of the cabinet. or
calls of ceremony or business from congressman,
his youngest son TAD would often be present,
!
trundlng mimic wheel-barow or whirling top.
Abraham Lincoln is dead, but not before his
work had been fully done. To doubt that would
be impious, making the pistol of the murderer
stronger than the decree of the Almighty. To us
it seems that his work has been to suppress the re-
bellion, magnify the National Government, and
firmly fix the principle of universal Emancipation
as the cornerstone OF the reconstructed Union.
UNION AND LIBERTY have been bequeathed to the
country by the Most High, through Abraham Lin
coin Washington sought them BOTH but the
time was not then; Lincoln has achieved both,
and forevermore his name will live with that OF
| Washington, and receive the homage of freemen