Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1865-07-28
IFron the Atlantic MonthIy.
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W ucu SnO uESs uumDcG VI TIC Ouiluucy
Corner appeared the sHow lay white on
The ground. the buds on the trees were
closed and frozen, and beneath the hard
soil lay buried the last years
aower roots, waiting for resurrection.
So in our hearts it was winter,-a
winter Of patient suffering and expect
ancy,-a winter Of suppressed sobs, Of
inward bleedings,-a cold, choked, COM
pressed anguish of endurance, for how
long and how much God only could
tell us.
The Grst paper ofthe Chimney Corner,
IS was most meet and fitting, was given
to those homes made sacred and venera.
BILE by the cross Of m martyrdom, ,-by the
ehrism Of great sorrow. That Chin
ney. Corner made bright by home 6fe-
light seemed fitting place for solemn
act of reverent sympathy for the homes
by whose darkness our homes had been
preserved bright, by whose emptiness
our homes had been kept full, by whose
losses our homes had been enriched; !;
and so we yentured with trembling TO
utter these words Of sympathy and
cheer to those whom God had chosen to
this great sacrifice Of sorrow,
The winter months passed with silent
footsteps, spring returned, and the sun,
wi,G ever-waxing power, unsealed the
snowy sephulcre Of buds and leaves
birds re-appeared, brooks were unchaiT-
ed, flowers filed every desolate dell with
blossoms and perfume. Aud with re.
turning spring, in like manner, the chill
frost of our feara aud of our dangers
melted before the breath Of the Lord.
The great war, which lay like . noun
tain Of ice upon our hearts, suddenly
dissolved aud was gone. The fears OF
the past were as dream when one
awaketh, and now we scarce realize our
deliverance. A thousand hopes are
springing up everywhere, like spring
flowers in the forest All is hopeful
ness, All is bewildering JOY.
Bot this our Joy has been ordained to
be changed into q wall Of sorrow. The
kind hard hand that hsld the helm so
steadily in the tossings of the storm,
has been stricken down just IS we en-
tered port,-the fatherly heart that bore
all our sorrows can take no earthly part
in our joys. His were the cares, the
watchiugs, the tolls, the agouies Of a
nation in mortal struggle; aud God
looking down was SO weh pleased with
his humble faithfulness, hie patient con-
tinuance in weIl-doing, that earthly re-
wards and honors seemed all too poor
for him, so He reached down and took
him to immortal glories. "Well done,
good and faithful servant, enter thou
into the Joy of thy Lord
Henceforth the place of Abraham
Lincoln is first among that noble army
of martyrs who have given their blood
to the cause Of human freedom. The
eyes are yet too dim with tears that
would seek calmly to trace ont his place
in history. He has been marvel and q
phenomenon among statesmen, pew
kind Of ruler in the earth. There has
been something even unearthly about
his extreme unsel6shness, his utter want
Of personal ambition, personal self
valuation, personal feeling.
The most unsparing criticism, denun-
citation and ridicuie never moved him to
a single bitter expression, never seemed
to awaken in him single bitter thought.
The most exultiDg hour of party victory
brought no exultation to him; hs accept
ed power not as an honor, but as q re-
sponsibility; and when, after q severe
struggle, that power came second time
into bis hands, there was something pre-
ternaiural in the calmness of his accept.
ance Of it. The 6rst impulse seemed to
be a disclaimer oil all triumph over the
party that had strained their utmost tc
push him from bis seat, and then sober
girding up of bis loins to go on with the
work TO which he was appointed. Hii
last inaugural was characterized by q
tone so peculiarly solemn aud free IRON
earthly passion, that it seems to us now
who lock back on il IN the light Of what
has followed, as if his soul had already y
parted from earthly things, and felt the
powers of the world to come. 1t wal
not the formal state. paper of the chic
of patty in an hoar of victory, 81
much as the solemn soliloquy Of . grea
soul reviewing its course under . vas
responsibility, and appealing from al
earthly judgments 20 the tribunal o.
Infinite Justice. 1t was the solemn
clearing of his sonl for the greater sac
rament of Death, and the words that hG
quoted in 1t with such thrilling powel
were those of the sdoring spirits tina
veil their faces before the throne: "Jus
and true are thy ways, thou King o
Saintsl" A-a Ga Fl. =affT
Among the rich treasures which thil
bitter struggle has brought to our coun
try, not the least is the moral wealth
which has come to US in The memory o
our martyrs. Thousands OF men
women, and children, too, in this grea
conflict, have endured tortures, no
accepting deliverance," counting no
their lives dear unto them in the boil,
cause: aud they have done this as IN
derstandingly and thoughtfully as thi
| first Christians who sealed their witness
with their blood wsa
Let us in our hour of deliverance ans
victory record the solemn VOW, that on
right hand shall forget her cunning be
fore we forget them and their suferings
THAT our tongue shall eleave to th'
roof Of cur month, If We remsmbe
them not above our chief JOY. -. -
Least suffering among that noble BAN
were those who laid down their lives Of
the battlefield, % rhOm was given
brief and speedy passage TO the victor,
need. The moufnexs- Who mourn fe
such as these must give place 10 snoshe
and more august band, who have sound
ed lower deeps of anguish, and draine
bisterer drops out of our great cup G
trembling. as = y Z.
The narrative of the lingering tol
lures. indignities and suferings of OF
soldiers in rebel prisons, bag been som.
thing 90 narrowing that we have nj
dared TO dwell upon IL We have bee
helplessly dumb before it, and hsy
turned away our eyes from what We coul
not relieve, and therefore could not 81
!dure to lock upon But now, when Il
nstion II called TO ssriks the great an
solemn balance Of justice, and to deciG