The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1866-08-02


A Monument 90 Abraham Lincoln.
Among thc latest procectllngsoi the Rump
lCongress was 10 vote an appropriation Of
$4,000 % build monument TO the late
Abraham Lincoln. Except that we regard
lt as awanton squandering Of the public
money we have no objection 10 it. They
may,if they please.build u monument until
II reaches the skies; they may put upon it
any inscription which fllsOmc flattery may
suggest or cover It over with lies in bronze
but 1t VIII neither add dignity 10 or confer
honor upon him whose memory u designs 30
perpetuate. On the contrary, the more brill
liant the monumental shRft, the more labored
the inscription, the poorer the character OF
Abraham Lincoln win appear by tho con-
trast No chief ruler of country was ever
SO unfit as he. He had no qualification to|
inspire personal respect, much less admira-
tiOn. Nothing could have ever converted
him even into an apology for hero. He
rendered no service whatever to the country
either political or personal. Inlearning,cul-
tivation and accomplishments, he was- In
every respect, burlesque. His effusions,
that were. by courtesy 20 his place, called
State papers, were as destitute OF logical
conference and vigor as of grammatical con-
structiOn aud elegance. Ills antecetlents,
before he entered upon his high Office, were
contemplate In their obscurity. He only
succeeded In connecting his name with the
most gigantic blunders and crimes of adj
nIlnistration OF which history makes mem
tion. His ignorance and partisan preiudi-
ces brought upon the country the most un-
heard-of national sorrows and misfOrtunes.
No scourgc of disease aud pestilence, no
conyulsion Of nature, could have been so
great calamity MS his election to the Pres
idency proved. National unity and good
feeling fled before his approach to the Fed
eral capital. The delicate and intricate ma
chinery of our Government was disorgan-
ized as soon as his coarse. rude and mex
perienced hands were laid upon IL. He
crushed under his heel the beautiful flower
of liberty, that had been the great orna-
ment of our political system. rD
A monument to Lineolnl What better
monument can his enemies desire than the
recollection of those bastiles which, in de-
tiance of law, he filled with groaning and
unhappy captives? Forts Lafayette and
Warren--names now OF Infamous in-repute
will forever be associated with that of
Abraham Lincolni The press whose free
dom he destroyed, will take care that his
name shall go down properly to posterity,
monument or no monument
The memory ofhis tvrannical acts, of the
deadly injury he inflicted upon the cause
of constitutional government. will survive
when the loftiest and proudest column of
marble shall perish and molder away be-
meath the action of the elements. Tic cir
cumstances of his death were dramatic and
almost inexplicable. In the moment of his
greatest eXaltation when coercion had per-
formed its appointed work. when he who
had sent those engaged in it upon their
mission was preparing to enjoy the fruition
for which he had toiled, he was struck
down by the hand of violence. On a day
given up to festivity and rejoicing. the
American, like the raler of Babylon of old,
whose name is recorded in sacred writ. per-
ished by the hand of an assassin. IL is this
untoward and deplored event that gives
him his only claim upon our sympathy,
and throws around him the robe which he
never should have wor1l-thatof a martyr
and embalms the victim of murder with a
kind of halo and regard.