Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-04-29

fury on the flag, did he. arm for the Union.
For. four years the war ragged, and theH
Presideit was tried as man was never tried
before.s -fstas. .ds Z
OH 9with what a. load Of toll and care'E
has he come, with steady, 4eadfast step 4
through the valley and shadow OF defeat,
over the bright mountain of victory, up to-
the sunlit plain of peace.
Tried by dire disaster at Bull Run, whereE
volunteer patriots met veteran traitors; att
Fredericksburg, where courage contend-E !
ed with nature; at Charlottesville,
that desperate venture; in the dismals
swamps of the Chickahominy, wherek
II brave army was buried in vain h
by the chronic siege of Charleston, theE
mockery of Richmond, and the dangers att
Washington-through all these trials the7
President stood firm. trusting in God andi
the people, Willie the people trusted in God!
and in him.
There were never braver men than thel
Union volunteers; none drawer ever ralliedl
in Grecian phalanx or Roman legion; nonel
braver ever bent the Saxon bow, or boreE
barbarian battle-ax, or set the lance in rest; 4
none drawer ever followed the crescent ori
the cross, or fought with Napoleon, or Wei
lington, or Washington. Yet the Conf
mander-in- Chief, of the Union Army and
Navy was worthy of the men-filling forI
four years the foremost and most perilousl
post unfalteringly. -
Tried by good fortune, he saws the sol
diers of the West recover the great valley,
and bring back to the Union the Father of
Waters and all his beautiful children. HeI
saw the legions Of Lee hurled from theI
nights Of Gettysburg. He saw Ne flag of!
the free rise on Lookout Mountain andl
spread from the river to the sea, and rest
10 uatyy hn norll
Banner, frightened by the1Dblaze of BATTLE
I bloom over Richmond, and he saw LeeI
surrender. Yet, he remained wise andl
! modest, giving all the gloryto God and our
/ Army and Navy.
Tried by civil affairs, which would haveE
taxed the powers and tested the virtue OIL
i jefferson, Hamilton and Washington, he adj
I ministered them so wisely and well, that!
after three years no man was found 10 1talleI
4 his place. He was reelected and the,har-I
A vest of success came in SO gra9hy. chat hel
might have said "Now, Eord, lettest thou
\ thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes
I have seen thy salvation, 1etAe was free
4 from weakness or vanity.
Thus did be exhibit on OCCASION in due
! proportion and harmonious action, those
/ cardinal virtues, the trinity, of true. great
I ness-courage, wisdom ahdks goodness
] goodness to love the right, wisdom TO know
the right, and courage to dostte right
I Tried by these tests and by tie touch-stoneI
of success, he was the- greatest of livingI
men. @ itl
He stood on the summit, his brow bathedl
4 in the beams of the rising sun of Peace,
singing in his heart the angelic song of
''Glory to God in the highest; peace on earth;,
I good will to man." =
"With malice to none, with charity forI
ALL" he had forgiven the people ofthe South
and might have forgotten their leaders;
covering with the broad mantle OF his char
ity their multitude of sins. l7 HuL
But he is slain--slainr by slavery. That
fiend incarnate did tire deed. Beaten inI
battle, the leaders sought to save slavery byD
assassination. Their madness presagedl
their destruction.
Abraham Lincoln;was the personificationI
of Mercy. Andrew johnson is the person.
iication of Justice
They have mgfdered Mercy, and Justicei
rules alone--and the people, with one voice. /
pray to Heaven that justice may be done.s
The mere Jlomentum of our victorious ar-
mics will crush every rebel in arms, andl
then may our eyes behold the majesty of
the law. They have appealed to the swOrd;y
Iii they were tried by the laws of war, theire
barbarous crimes against humanity would
doom them to death. o. ..l al
The blood of thousands of murdered pris-s
oners cries to heaven. The shades of sixty-I
two thousand starved soldiers rise up in1
Judgment against them. The body of theI
murdered President condemns them. Somel
deprecate vengeance. There is no room fOri
vengeance here. Long before justice CAM
have her perfect work the material will be,
exhausted, and the record closed. -.U
Some wDpderwhy the South killed herr
best friend. Abraham Lincoln was the trueL
friend of the people of the South; forhe wasI
their friend as Jesus is the friend of sinnersE
ready to save when they repent. He wass
not the friend of rebellion, of treason, of
|slavery-he was their boldest and strongestS
foe, and therefore they slew him--but inS
his death they die-the people have Judged
them, and they stand convicted, smittenk
with remorse and dismay-while the causef
for which the President perished, sanctffiedt
by his blood, grows stronger and brighter h
These are someof the consequences of the
death of Abraham Lincoln. Ours is they
grief-theirs is the loss, and his is the gain. !
He died for Liberty and Union, and now het
wears the martyrs. glorious crown. He isl
our crowned President. While the UnionE
survives-while the love of Liberty warmsS
the human heart, Abraham Lincoln willy
hold high rank among the immortal dead. 3
The nation is saved and redeemed. Shek
needs no aid from rebel hands to reconstruct
the Union.i The Union needs no recon- z
struction. 1t was not made by man; it wasS
created by the God of Nations. 1t is vital
and immortal. If it has wounds in thek
members of its body, they will heal, andy
leave no scar, without the cordial of com-E
promise with treason. Let us beware of thek
Delilah of the South, who has so lately be- &
trayed our strong man. Let the ''Prodigals"R +
feed on the husks, till they come in repent-&
ance, and ask to be received in their faith <
er's houser-not as the equals to their faith-k
full brethren, but on a level with their form-&
er servants. Then we can consider their
petition, and discuss the question, not of the !
reconstruction of the Union, but of theS
formation of free States from the national +
domain. Until then let the sword which, 4
reclaimed their territory rule it, tempered
by national law. Some cry concila-
tion, and say there can be no true
peace by conquest. On the contra =
.ry, there is no enduring peace butt
the peace thatois conquered. The peaceK
of France is a conquered peace; the peacen
of England is conquered and conqueredk
again; the peace OF our fathers was con-
quered peace; the Peace of the world is a
conquered peace; the peace of Heaven is a
conquered peace; and thanks be to God, our
peace is to be conquered, and therefore al
lasting peace. For hundred years shall B
the people enjoy Liberty and Union ink
peace and security. The nation revivedk
through all her members by the hand of freek
labor, prosperity shall fill and overflow thek
land-roll along the railways--thrill theE
electric wires-pulsate on the rivers-blos-
som on the lakes; and the imperial free Re-
public, the best and strongest GovernmentE
on earth, will bea monument of the gloryE