The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-04-15

tons triumph. when Mr.. Lincoln's loyal
faith through those four years had bean jas6.
fed, when without pomp Or parade or martial
surroundings he had walked one morning,
leading his little boy BY the hand, through the
streets Of the rebel capital, when his great
heart was exulting for the dawn ofvictory and
peace, he had been stricken down BY the as-
sassin.
Unto each reader win something of that
mornings heart-throbs come again to-day.
The blighting force Of the great crime the
shadow Of death that seemed to come as
personal presence into every household and
res. upon every hearthstone the strong, weak
with the paralysis Of grief; the minute guns
the bells slow tol!ing; the draprey of black.
the felt.to-b be inefectun trappings of an ut,
terly composites sorrow; soldiers, that were
the war marked and SCARED heroes Of q
score of battle-felds, rendered nerveless by
the report Of that one pistol shot at Washing.
ton, and with blanched cheeks and white lips,
they that had dared many deaths for them
selves were hushed in the presence Of one
death, and that the death of another. We
had jubilated, and upon Friday the unfurled
flags decorated the streets as the guidons of
victory. Upon Saturday those same flags
were furled and hung with Grape for nation
al mourning. The treason that had brought
such burden of woes in all its course; that
L,l ~ rs
exulted with demoniacal glee at the carnival
Of anguish and barbarism, blood and death it
had inaugurated, had added even in its death
another to its catalogue Of infamous triumphs
Would the nation perish because zone man
had fallen? No. Though the blow came,
and staggered q strong people with its force
though it seemed that We were pilotless with
the old landmarks washed away, and the
wonted lights in the heavens darkened,' the
people were strong in their conviction that
the government would not perish. Nor has
it.
"With malice toward none, with charity
for ALL There spake the heart Of Abraham
Lincoln. But we are told that meant lenien-
cy towards rebels. Yes, but 1t didn't mean
their triumph. "With frmness in the right :
There equally spake Abraham Lincoln. He
was taught by events, but he never went back
ward from right position. OF his enamel
patton proclamation he said few hours after
its publication, 1.-THE signature looks a
little tremulons for my hand was tired,
but my resolution was firm. l told them
in September ii they did not return to
their allegiance and cease numbering our
soldiers, | would strike at this pillar of their
strength. And now the promise shall be
kept, and not one word OF it will l ever re.
CALI He loved Frendom too, not with the
clap-trap professions of the demagogue, but
for its own sake. In his speech at Chicago,
in his debate with Mr. Douglas, he said !:
:" Lut us discard all this quibbhng about this
man and the other man-this race and that
race and the other race being inferior, and
therefore they must be placed in an inferior
misunderstanding our standard that we
have left us. Let US discardall these things,
and unite as .one people throughout this
land, until we shall once more stand up
declaring that all men are created equal. :
This was the corner stone of Abraham Lin
coins political character, and however he
might move slowly for the sake Of the Union,
he always moved firmly for the sakeof Lib
erty and human Rights.
Never before or since that 18th Of April,
one year ago, has the nation been so nearly
in the spirit Of the exalted loyalty, liberality
fairness and universal humanity that would do
equal and exact justice to all the people with
out distinctions of color, and establish our
free institution, on their only enduring basis,
by conceding and confirming the manhood OF
man.
A year has passed. The nation is still in
peril. Let us ftudy the character and try and
Undue OURSELVES with the spirit Of Mr.. Lln-
coln-the Savior Of hiscountry-the Enamel
pator of slavesi-the Friend of man. In his
love Of liberty ne would have shielded all its
children. In lis "malce towards none," he
would not have, surrendered the colored sol.
diers and citizens of the Republic over to
rebel hate. In his honesty he would have re-
manned true toprinciple. In his !" firmness
in the right he would have done justice to
white traitors ard loyal black men. In his patr-
otism he would nave preserved the fruits ofthe
victory patriot soldiery won. In his faith
in mans nobility he would not have favored
the preservation Of the odius features of sla-
very. In his love for the Union he would not
have forgotten It's defenders, nor for the crime
of color have passed the black Union soldier
under the rule of the Confederate soldier
The batte-6elds of the Republic would have
beenein his policy of reconstruction, q heritage
of glory, and blick or white, the loyal soldier
would have beeil honored. The future would
have been full If promise, the nation would
have been FIRMLY established, and through all
the centuries, the mystic cords of memory,
stretching from every battlefield and patriot
grave, to every living heart and hearth stone
all over this bro,,d land would swell the cborn.
Of enduring Union when touched by the bet
ter angels of orr nature" Thus would the
prophecy OF his hrst inaugural be fulfilled and
his own mighty labors, and the achievements
Of great loyal people, find a fit reward in
the triumphs Of human rights aud the pernet.
ual establishment of the free Government
saved at SO great a price.
Out from the darkened features of the sad
stern years which form the last half decade,
there stands n ational monument. a nat;on.,
teacher, our mhrtyred President. Cut and
nhrrc4nlirod II, IL. .-..ll. C