Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-02-13
Washington News.
The lincoln memorial Meeting.


tons had been extended, and to those hold
ing tickets of admission to the galleries.
The hall of the House of Representatives
was opened for the admission of Represent
atives and those to whom invitations had
been extended, who were conducted to the
seats assigned them. The President of the
United States was seated in front of the
Speakers table; the Chief Justice and As
sOciate justices of the Supreme Court of the
United States occupied seats near the Presi-
dent, on the right of the Speakers table /;
the heads of departments, with the diplo-
matte corps, occupied seats near the Presi-
dent on the left of the Speakers table; the
officers of the army and navy who by name
| have received the thanks of Congress, oc-
eupied seats next to the Supreme Court, on
the right of tho Speakers table; the Rep
resentatives occupied seats on either side of
the Hall, in the rear ef those invited. Four
rows Of seats on either side of the main aisle
for Senators, in addition to the above men
toned, were occupied by assistant heads of
1 departments, Governors of States and Ter
ritories, the Mayors of Washington and
| Georgetown, the Chief Justice and Judges of
the Court of Claims, and the Chief Justice
and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court
of the District of Columbia, the heads of
bureaus, and others.
When Lieutenant General Grant entered
he was greeted with applause. The army
and navy officers were in uniforms, and the
diplomatic corps in citizens dress. The
House was called to order at II o'clock by
the Speaker, who. after a prayer by Rev.
Mr.. Boynton, laid before them letter from
Secretary Seward, addressed to the Speaker,
making his acknowledgements for the invi-
| tatiOn to be present on this occasion, but
regretting that the state Of his health for
| bids his attendance
The Cabinet, excepting Mr.. Seward, were
present Senator Doolittle conducted the
orator of the day to a seat at the table of
the Clerk of the House, when the Senators,
the Cabinet, and the Supreme Court entered
the Hall. Those on the floor rose TO their
feet and stood till the former were all
| seated. The marine band, in the rear of
the reporters gallery, performed a solemn
| air; the Rev. DR.. BOynton, the Chaplain of
the House, delivered a prayer; the Hon.
Lafayette S. Foster, President of the Senate,
pro tenn, called the House to order, and in
few pertinent remarks introduced the
Hon. George Bancroft, who delivered the
memorial address.
Mr.. FOSTERS SPEECH or INTRODUCTION.
No ordinary occasion could have convened
this august assembly. For four years storm
of civil war ragged fiercely over the country.
The blood Of the best and bravest of her
sons has been freely shed to preserve her
name and place among nations of the earth.
In April last the dark clouds which had SO
long hung heavily and glOomily over our
heads were all dispersed, and the light Of
peace, more welcome than the vernal san
shine, gladdened the eyes and the hearts of
our people shouts of joy and songs of tri-
uph echoed through our land. The hearts
of the devout placed themselves in prisons
and thanksgiving to the God OF
battles and of nations, that the most
wicked and the most formidable rebel
lion ever known in history had been
efiectually crushed and our country
saved. In the midst Of the abOunding Joy
suddenly and swiftly as the lightning flash
came the fearful tidings that the Chief Magis-
trate, our President, loved and hOnored as
few men ever were, honest, faithful and
true TO his duty and country, had been
fouily murdered, had fallen by the bullet OF
an assassin. All hearts were stricken with
horror. The transition from extreme joy
TO profound sorrow was never more sudden
anil universal. Had it been possible for a
stranger ignorant of the truth to have
looked over the land he would have sup
posed there had came upon us some vista
ton from the Almighty no less dreadful
than that which fell on ancient Egypt.
The nation wept for him. After being
gazed upon by myriads of loving eyes under
the dome of this magnificent Capitol the re-
mains ofour President were borne in solemn
procession through our cities, towns and
villages, all draped in habilments of sor-
row, the symbols and tokens of profound
and heartfelt grief, to their final resting
place in the Capital of his own State. There |
he sleeps peacefully, embalmed in the tears
of his countrymen. The Senate and House
of Representatives have thought proper TO
commemorate this tragic event by appro-
pirate services, and this day, the birthday
of him whom we mourn, has properly been |
selected. An eminent citizen, distinguished !
by his labors in high and responsible pub |
lie position at home and abroad, whose pen
has instructed the present age in the his
tory of his country and done much to
transmit the fame and renown of that eoun-
try to future ages, the Hon. GEORGE BAN
CROFT, will now deliver a discourse. [Ap-
plause.l
Mr. Bancroft, who was sitting between
Senate Foote on one side and Representa- |
tive Washburne, of Illinois, on the other, |
then arose and delivered his address.
MIR. BancrOft's Address.
The following is the concluding portion |
of Mr.. Bancrofs's address:
In his character Lincoln was through and |
through an American. He is the first native |
of the region west of the Alleghany's to at |
tain to the highest station, and how happy |
it is that the man who was brought forward |
as the natural outgrOwth and first fruits of /
that region, should have been of unblem-
ished purity in private lile-a good son, a |
kind husband most affectionate father,and |
as q man so gentle TO all. As TO integrity, |
Douglas, his rival, said of him: Lincoln is
the hOnestest man l ever saw. The habits |
of his mind were those of meditation and |
inward thought rather than Of action. He |
excelled in logical statement more than in |
executive ability. He measured closely. |
His reflective judgment was good, and his |
purposes were fixed but like Hamlet, his will |
was tardy in action, and for this reason and |
not from humility or tenderness of feeling, |
he sometimes deplOred the duty which de- |
volved on him had not fallen to the lot of
another. He never sought to electrify the |
public by taking an advanced position with |
a banner of opinion, but rather studied to |
move forward compaetly, exposing no de- |
tachment in front or rear, SO thatthe course |
of his administration might have been ex-
planned as the calculating policy of the |
shrewd and watehful politician had there |
not been seen behind it a fixedness of prin
eiple, which from the first determined |
his purpose and grew more intense |
with every year, consuming his life by its |
energy, as the sum Of all. 1ne nanu OF |
Lincoln raised the flag and with the Amer
lean people was the hero of the war and |
therefore the result is new era of republi-
canism. The disturbances in the country |
grew out of anything but republicanism, |
but out Of slavery, which is part of the |
system of hereditary wrong, and the expul- |
sion of this domestic anomaly opens to the |
renovated nation, a career of unthought of
dignity and glory. Henceforth our coun-
try has a moral unity as the land of free |
labor. The party for slavery and the party |
against slavery are no more, and are merged |
in the party of union and freedom. The |
States which would have left US are not |
brought back as conquered States, for then |
we should hold them only so long as that |
conquest could be maintained. They come |
to their rightful place under the cOnstitu- |
ton as original, necessary and inseparable |
members of the State. We build monu-
ments to the dead. but no monuments of |
victory. We respect the example of the |
Romans, who never, even in conquered |
lands, raised emblems of triumph, and our
Generals are not to be elassed in the herd |
of vulgar eonquerors. but are of the school |
of Tam OF and William, of Orange ald |
Washington. They have used the sword |
only to give peace to their country and re-
store her to her place in the great assembly |
Of the nations.
The orator was frequently interrupted |
by applause, especially in those parts which |
he emphasized, in which while speaking of |
Great Britain, he said let bill of reform
improve worn class and infuse new life in
the British Constitution, by confding right
ful powers TO the people, and we cannot be |