Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1868-04-15
Address by b. b. French, Esq.
B. B. French, Esq, the orator OF the day,
then addressed (he assembiage as follows:

States, here, in the central part OF their own
Capital, the form and serublance OF one whom
they dearly loved in life, and whose memory
they can never cease to revere; who three years
ago tins day yielded up his life a martyr to his
love Of his country-his love of his fellow men,
and his mistaken confidence in the affection
and reverence for his person of all around him.
The statue which We now inaugurate, is
emphatically the offering of the citizens of
Washington to the memory of the man whose
form and features it represents.
In April, 1865, the Coun ellis of the city adopted
resolution unanimously appointing commit
tee to consist of the Mayor and three members OF
each Board for the purpose OF forming a"W Wash
inston Lincoln Monument Association That COM
mittee, in conformity with the resolution.
elected a large number of their most respectable
citizens, who, with the original committee,
formed the Association with the Hon. Richard
Wallach, Mayor, President; q. s. Noyes,
Esq, as Secretary, and Geo. w. Riggs Esq, as
Treasurer. Subscriptions were solicited from
the citizens of Washington and a sum sufficient
to secure the erection of the statue was OBJ
tained. contract was entered into " ith Mr..
Lot Flannery, Of Washington, to furnish the
statue, and it nowstands before you the work
of his hands.
Who can ever forget that night of horror
when the awful intelligence was borne by the
telegraphic wires all through the land, that
Abraham Lincoln had been struck down by
aOh night, of woe,
ssHew are you joined with hell in triple knot"
And that day of grief which followed, when
the messenger of death went forth with the sad
tidngs that our good President was no longer
Of earth-can it be forgettenl There is not one
within the reach of my voice-and think may
truly add, there Is not one in this broad laud-tO
whom il is not a wonder and a mystery how
the people bore up as they did under so terrible,
so appalling calamity. But they did bear up;
and, although the President whom they almost
adored was dead the nation lived. And let me
say here, that / believe nothing save the final
disruption Of "the great globe itself" can de-
stroy this nation. The providence OF God
QfOh nVQ MS nc Yn n0h oil
trials, and will preserve US free and inde-
pendent people through all time.
1t does not require any monument or any
words to perpetuats the memory Of that great
and good and pure man. Monumental marble
may crumble into dust; bronze may melt away;
granite may perish from the earth; but the
memory Of Abraham Lincoln shall live In hu-
man bosoms, and be perpetuated on the living
pages OF history as long as any nation or people
shall exist on earth. [Applause.l
But II is satisfaction and a pleasure, tinged
with elancholy, TO look upon that venerated
form and TO view those features, which, what.
ever else they may indicate, if true to the life,
will glow with goodness, kindness, and love,
and whereOn never rested for moments single
characteristic other than such AS gave outward
proof of a good and loving heart, a conscience
void OF offence, and charity toward all man
kind. Oh, Heaven! that such a man should
have died at such time, and In such manner!
hardly know, my fello citizens, where TO
bPgin, on an occasion like this. Although the
field is ample, IL has been thoroughly cleaned
been gaInered in the bosoms of a loving people
Still am aware of your affection for his mem.
ory, and that you never tire in listening to q
rehearsal of his virtues. [Cries Of "Never.''I
Abraham Lincoln was unlike any other man.
He seemed TO be born 10 fill the very station he
occupied for the last five years of his life, and
the faith that was in us stands firm to this day,
that he alone could have carried the country
safely through the awful perils that beset it
while he filled the responsible and dangerous
position of Chief Magistrate. [Cries of s'That's
as it was said of one of the greatest and best of
English statesmen, he was, indeed,
''The pilot that weathered the Storm
Let us attempt to analyze the man. He was
possessed OF heart as pure as the snow flake
As il tails from above. Although of great sim
plicity OF mind and manner, there was in that
mind penetration which seemed to read the
very thoughts of others, and which spoke
through the eye in language more powerful
than could be uttered in words, defiance to
any one who sought to deceive HIM. l have
heard il called sshrewdness." 1t was m ore
than shrewdness, and 1 hardly know how
otherwise to characterize il, but in the strong
language Of the Apostle, as the sssword of the
Spirit" for, as l have myself seen the search
ing, powerful, inquisitiye expression of that
remarkable eye when turned upon one whose
statement the President had cause to doubt, it
has seemed to me to pierce the buckler of de-
ception through and through, and that the
wearer was conscious of his discontinue be-
fore word was uttered.
With a disposition as genial as bright Nav
q
ruffied by the most untoward circumstan nces
with soul absolutely beaming through the
eyes, with an affection that captivated every
one, he was possessed of a firmness of purpose
IN his determination to do right, that could not
be overcome.
Pride Of place was unknown TO his character
To him that spark Of the Eternal which cleaned
in the bosom Of the most humble shone az
bright as if il animated the breast Of the proud
est and highest in the land; and the widow and
the fatherless ever found a ready listener to the
tale of distress, and never left him without
words Of consolation and acts which spoke
louder than words.
Even the language he used was as peculiar
to him as was any other peculiarly OF his ma.
ture-terse, pointed, plain; never wandering
among the mazes Of rhetoric after adornment,
but simple as the man himself, and gsing as
straight TO the mark at which he aimed as an
arrow from the bow of Tell Solomon, in all
the glory of his proverbs, might have en- wed
him had he lived in these days of diffusiye
writing and still more dIffusive speaking!
That single sentence in his last inaugural
coming up undefiled from the pure well of his
noble heart-"With malice toward none; with
charity for all; with firmness in the right, as
God gives Us see the right, let us strive on to
finish the work we are in"-spoke the charac-
ter Of the man, and will live among the sayings
OF great and good men as long as human lips
can speak or types can print; and as we read
itnow, We can scarcely repress a tear as we
reflect how soon after it was said the voice that
said it was silenced forever and the york that
he rds an was finished.
The first we know of Abraham Lincoln as a
National man is that he came into the House
of Representatives of the United States, as a
member from Illinois, at the first session Of the
Both Congress on the first Monday of Decem-
ber, 1s47. He served through tina. Congress
without any partioula distinction, except that
he was regarded as an honest, kind hearted,
genial, mirth loving man, popular with ali
who knew him, and the few speeches he
then made, Indicated a man OF no incsnsider.
able talent. But no one, as think, m mistru sted
the hidden mine Of ability which existed under
the unprete nding exterior.
In the spirited canvass between him and the
lamented Douglas, in 1855, he SO conducted his
part in the controversy, as to convince his elo-
quent and talented competitor that he had
"a foeman worthy Of his STEEL" and the eyes of
the whole people were turned upon HIM as
1.-THE rising man..
Whenever the people begin really to love a
mar, when he has fairly stolen away their
hearts, they invariably bestow upon hlm pet
name. believe may say that the homelier the
name the better the individual is beloved, So
we find in the annals Of those days that .Honest
Old Abe" as asynonym for Abraham Lincoln,
began to be q household phrase. There is
probably no better indication Of the loves of
the people-the real genuine affection Of the
mas ses-for men, than in this pet nomenclature
that they give. We can readily call to mind
s.The Father Of his Country" ssfhe Mill boy of
the Constitution, sold Zack," with his "littIe
more grape Capt. Bragg" "Old Ironsides,' p
and many more. But we must return to the
subject OF our remarks.
In 1850, Abraham Lincoln was nominated AZ
the Republican candidate for President of the
United States, and the nomination was hailed
throughout the loyal portion OF the Union with