The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1866-02-16

i0nable to speak OF rebel generals IN
terms of the highest respect. and ffne,,
were almost as thankful to Lee for sur
rendering as to Grant for making him
| surrender. But what did this leniency
l avail? Was the iron heart of slavery
softened by it,, No; nor ever will be
| Nothing will ever soften ii save the mil
itary power Of the United States. Fol
| ii seized that moment when there wa
nothing to be gained, and when We %
| the, North were. meditating mercy, Z
deal upon the nations head its heaviest
blow, by numbering a man tile most
belovedthe nation has ever. known. y -
He was not here to deliver u lecture
this there il little left to be said, especi-
ally after the brilliant Grafton Of yester-
day and yet there Is charm in ii
which makes 1t always an interesting
subject to an American audience. When
our great military chieftains are forgot
tenyand the war itself shall seem n
mere speck in the distance, Abraham
Lincoln, like dear old John Brown, will
still find eloquent tongues to speak o.
his name. The difficulties that he met
on the threshold of his power, the con
scientiOus earnestness and energy with
which he grappled them, the singular
purity of his life, and the tragic manner
of his death, will ever be fertile themes
for the historian. One popularity en-
deared him, and ever must endear him
to all who have struggled up from a low
to high position. He was self-made
man, rail-splitter, the captain of a
flat-boat he took hold of life in the
rough Of it. He Travelled far, but he
made the road in which he advanced |;
L. h., n IoA dar
on which he assembled. This will ever
make the name OF Abraham Lincoln
dear to all the toilers of our land. All
know him well-know of his indepen-
dence, his amiable temper, his devotion
to his country, his temperance, his vigi-
lance, his ability to bring together ex
tremes and opposites in the cause of the
nation. ..t, 5.s#ss.l.,...=s
But why take this theme now, it may
be asked. Because he would underscore
the assas sinatiOn, and warn the Ameri-
can people to have u care that, in the
process of reconstruction, they do not
leave in the soil some root or ii bre out of
which may spring other rebellions and
other assassinatiOns.
The speaker said he was indebted to
our enemies for his text, as the friends
of freedom had been indebted to them
for many steps in our progress. The
annexation of Texas and the fugitive
slave law had added to the ranks Of the
abolitionists. The repeal of the Mis-
souri, Compromise and the invasion Of
Kansas by border rufllans, only reused
in the loyal masses the determination to
make Kansas a free state. And had
Abraham Lincoln lived to the old age
which his strong constitution and his
tar m nQrafa hahifQ nrnn1iaaI him,
should have followed him to his grave
with nothing like the emotion we felt at
his death. Dying as he did, his name
becomes q text from which to show that
the tree on which grew such fruit must
not me L.. 10 cut down, but taken up
by the r. -, and that no vestige of the
slave code must be left. 81 III sd
1t was the speakers great privilege to
know Abraham Lincoln to get near TO
him; and from his conversations with
him, he believed that had Mr.. Lincoln
been living to-day, he would have stood
with those who stand foremost, and gone
with those who go farthest, in the cause
of equal and universal suffrage.
Perhaps, said the speaker, you would
lik to know how l came to visit Mr..
Lincoln. lie invited me. twas a sig
nificant fact both for the men and the
tliucS. tISbt IL SuOWeu JUaJ lie nA0
moral courage that he remembered he
was a man as well as a President: and
If there is one thing tonight that i'm
presses me more than another, it is that
we have presiding over this meeting one
who remembers that he is n man and a
Christian, notwithstanding the ermine.
1t required moral courage to open this
church tonight for meeting of this
character. But let me say that | re-
member time when abolitionism could
ride in an omnibus. He said he had
known 1t in Its infancy and in its child
hood, and f>sday he saw it a giant, and
woe betide those who stand in its path
way, for they must fall. Some men had
physical courage, and would look down
the throat of a cannon, but could not
encounter prejudice that required
moral courage. This courage Mr.. Lin
coin had; and not only did he invite a
black man to his house, but also invited
him to the Soldiers Home to take tea
with him. $50 ts.' 'l'' -.
The speaker had observed. in his in
tercourse with men, that the higher
sphere in which he moved, the less
prejudice did he find. Prejudice -four
lshed most vigorously among those who
had the least to boast of in the form of
intellectual requirements. He here re-
lated an incident that occurred to him
in train between Baltimore and WASH
ington. He was requested to leave the
car in which he had taken his seat. and
at the same moment saw lady enter
with a dog in her arms. He looked
forward to a time when black man
might go where a dog could be permit
ted. ~
But this invitation implied more than
moral courage and freedom from preiu-
dice. 1t showed that Mr.. Lincoln
comprehended the situation, and saw
what was coming. He was a tall man.
morally as well as physically. and great.
moral truths shed their lnstre on his
brow long before they reached the dwell.
lers in valleysor delivers i'm copper mines
He had before said that had MIR. Lincoln
been living to-day, he would have stood
with those who stood foremost. and gone
with those who went farthest. He said
this because he knew him to be pro
gressive man-one who did not begin az
Moses and end as Pharaoh. He learned
wisdom from war, and he would have
learned it from peace. He had during
his life expressed the opinion tina. two
classes of colored man should be en- fran.
chised-those who had fought i'm our
armies, and those who were educated .
and at the same time he desired to see
the means provided whereby all could
receive the education necessary to fit
them for this priyilega