Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1865-04-27
The Slain and the Slayer.
The blacklist paragraph in Ameri-

graph as ever disgraced the face of
any history since iends found their
way 10 earth, is the record Of the
slaughter Of Abraham Lincoln ,Presi
dent of these United States, on the
14th day Of April, 1865, by the hands
Of an assassin. Future generations
will advert to this year as among the
darkest for crime in the calendar Of
ages, and to this crime Of assassina-
ton, as among the foulest for its in
fanny, that human depravity has ever
committed, not excepting the infamy
Of Judas Iscariot itself. There have
been assassinations before, but hardly
Of like character to this, and COM
mitted under similar circumstances.
If ever man has been sacrificed for
his country--martSred for princi
pie, and that principle the veal Of the
nation, and of man, it is Abraham
Lincoln and his name will shine
forever among the galaxy Of great
names which she'd a halo Of light on
the ages Of benefactors Of the human
race. He, hero in his very nature,
a chieftain without claiming to be
such, great man, without himself
knowing that he was great, a born
king unconscious Of his own majesty,
possessed Of moral power, Of gov
erning power far ahead Of any man
known in this generation, and yet he
the while unconscious Of his own ca
pacity. Well may a nation weep
now that he is dead and he died
martyr, for the right-fallen the VIC
tim Of terrible conspiracy; a fend-
ish malignity has shed his blood.
The hearts Of hundreds Of thousands
Of people tremble because of his fate;
world is shocked +; and everywhere,
in city, and town, and village, and
hamlet where Americans live, the
the drapery Of mourning is displayed
testifying the heart sorrow Of a great
nation. Men look at one another as
they never looked before, as they see
the flag Of the country shrowded in
black /; and weeping in the home cir
Gle, weeping in the churches, weep
ing in the street, is heard on all
hands, as if some dire calamity had
befallen the land All this because
men know that great man has been
fendishly murdered.
but tho ,aurdoror WIN wonll
have thought that the nineteenth
century, end a country claiming to
be Christianized, enlightened, edu-
Gated, could have produced anything
diabolical enough to perpetrate such
a foul deed? Alas educated viliauy
is the most terrible Of all viilianics
and the monster who she'd the Presi-
dents blood is said to be educated,
educated to be an actor, educated to
perform mock tragedies on the stage
for the qualification Of the gentecl
church-goors who have more faith in
fun than they have in piety. Our
city churches throughout the land
abound in such, and wereit not for the
support they give to stage bufoon-
cry, the theatre would fall into bad
repute. Even Abraham Lincoln
might have been found in many
better place than theatre, to meet
his fate; and the scene Of "The
American Cousins played at Ford's
Theatre, on the 18th of April, was
graced with the tragic death of the
American President. Play actors
may henceforth add this horrible
tradegy to the programme of "The
American Cousins. Alas, that wise
people, good people, good meaning
people, cannot find any better en-
ployment for their time and money
than to spend both in such a way. |
confess I would rather meet my death
stroke somewhere else than in a
theatre. And when we think Of it,
the transition from a mock tragedy
to a true one, is not SO very great af-
ter all. The school where mimic
tradegies are taught, is pretty ia
vorable place to develop the qualities
necessary to perform real ones. But
there is school capable of produc-
ing more malignity in the soul than
even the theatre can. The school Of
despotic slaveholding, under the
fierce rule of rampant secession; per-