The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-04-21

Of the heart. His utterdnces all lndieate
that he was patriot in the sense of ear
nestly seeking what he believed to be
the welfare of the land. am persuaded
that the decision of history with refer
ence to his public career will be the
same as that of his acquaintance with
reference to his private character
he was an honest man.
lie was possessed Of "a large degree Of be-
nerolent feeling, Indeed his kindness was
proverbial. Sometimes i'm the earlier
part of his administration it may have
cansed him to become to ia certain ex-
tent the victim of harpies, who are apt
to prey upon such men. There Were
those q few days ago, who had raised the
alarm that he was forgetting that 1T vas
his duty to be Just as well as mercifnl =
But remembering how much mercy God
shows to us and how much stress is laid
in the Scriptures upon that charity which
suffereth long, and is kind, and which
indeed never fails; we cannot reckon this
disposition to have been fault. No, M,
let us rather initiate the example which
he set to the nation If any man might
be stern and revengeful toward his enc
mics, surely Mr.. Lincoln was the man.
No one had been more bitterly abused
and hated Yet when he had his enemies
at his feet, he through his subOrdinates
permitted them with unusual hOnOrs to
| Law down their arms and return to their
| homes. The very last official act which
he ever performed was-as is certainly
knOwn-to sign permit to Jacob
| Thompson, late Secretary of the Interior
under Mr.. Buchanan, to leave for En-
rope. have no doubt that the .benevo-
lence of our beloved President, especial
| ly as it stands in contrast with the hell
ish malignity of his murderer, will be a
theme over which the pen of many a wri-
ter will fiMgef in admiration when we
all have followed the illnstriOus dead ill.,
| to another world
lie ,pas rey friendly to evangelical re-
| ligiom. Abraham Lincoln is reported by
all who knew him to have been highly
| moral He was not, as too many public
| men are, swearer, a drunkard, or an
| adulterer. I would that it.could be add
| ded that he was by profession member
of the Church of Christ. We people OF
| God cannot do otherwise than regret,
| and they ought to express their feeling
| that he fell in theatre. Yet il is said
that he was reluctant to go, and he went
| only because it was announced that he
with General Grant would be present,
and he did not wish that there should be
! a total disappointment. But while We
| lament these things, we must not forget
| that he showed the utmost respect to re-
| ligion. Both ut his home in Springfield
| and at Washington he held pew in the
| Presbyterian church, Of which his wife
| is a member His numerous prOclama-
| tons for fast days or days of thanksgiv-
ing were most appropriate to the feel,
ings of Christians. His last inaugural
was so much like sermon that some peO-
pie at first thought that it could hardly
be sincere, but at last even foreign news
papers declared that it had the ring of
| one of Cromwell's productions. 1t is re-
| puted that his pastor, DIR. Gurley, be
| lieves him to he a converted man For
| my own part, remember with pleasure
two scenes which it was my privilege to
| witness less than three months ago at
| Washington. In company with large
| delegation of Christian men represent
ing the Christian Commission, | was in
| troduced i'm the East Room of the White
House to Mr.. Lincoln After the intro
duction, it was proposed that prayer
should be offered by Bishop James OF
the Methodist Episcopal Church. The
President, although greatly pressed for
time, cheerfully consented and earnestly
joined in the petition. The other scene
was in the Hall of the House of Repre-
sentatives on Sabbath evening The
east hall with its galleries was filled with
people to overlooking Many of the
most distinguished men of the nation
were present, Mr. Seward himself pre-
siding. Among others thePresident was
there with his wife, having urged others
to go, and was seated with the audience
During the exercises, a beautiful hymn
IA solo-was sung, the burden of which
was the mission of the Christian in the
war, to bind up the wounds of those
stricken down in battle, to bury the dead
and to point souls to Jesus. Mr.. Lin
coin was affected te tears and sent up a
request to have the hymn repeated
These are small things in themselves.
hut they show how far he was removed
from the profanc scotfer, who would have
refused us the privilege of prayer at his
home, and who would have considered it
pitiable weakness to weep under n
hymn. Let us hope that he died in the
faith and entered into rest.
So much worth probably all of You are
prepared to ascribe to him. Others, of
whom am one, could go farther and
could attribute to him q place among
the greatest men of the world. While
we do not demand that any one shall
unite in our peculiar estimate of the de-
ceased, unless they can conscientiously
do so, we wOuld give him n very high
place in the temple of earthly honor
We think that he was man who by his
sterling worth, though not by any tran
scendent genius, was peculiarly quail
fled for the position to which he had
been raised We would apply to him the
language of Macaulay with reference to
Hampden. But in Hampden, and in
Hampdcn alone, were united all the quail
tiles, which at such crisis, were neces-
sary to save the state--the valor and
energy of Cromwell, the discernment
and eloquence of Vane, the humanity,
and moderation of Manchester the stern
integrity of Hale, the ardent public
spirit of Sidney. Others might possess
the qualities which were necessary to
save the popular party in the crisis of
danger, he alone had both the power and
the inclination TO restrain ifs eyceSses i'm