The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-10-21
LINCOLN MEMORIAL.
USvKIIASG THE. STATUE AT SPRING
FIELD.

, nessee assemble. this morning, an
selected Des Moines, Iowa, for tbi
/. nexs meeting. which VIII be bel,
, September 80 and 80, 1875. Gen
Thomas G. Fletcher, Of Maine. wa
elected orator. The Society thel
adjourned 10 participate 10 The ccre
monies Of unwilling the Lincolr
statue at OAK Ridge Cemetery Tb,
procession began 10 form at ! o'clock
lGov. Beverage acting es Crane
Marshal
President Gfaut, with Secretary
Belknap, occupied d carriage at IL,
head Of the procession, preceded BIS
1.-The military BAUD from Newport Bar
racks, add escorted by the Cover
nor's Guard, a military organization
Of this city, as a guard of honor
Next came Rev. DIR. Hale, an old
friend Of President Lincoln, anC
Bishop Wayman, colored- In other
carriages rode Vice President Wilson
Sir Dowell Buxton, N. p, and w.
q. Forster, NJ. p, of England; Gen.
~erals Mcdowell and Custer, and
Hon. j. K Dubois, with Mrs. Grant
and Mrs. Gov. Beveridge.
General Sherman marched on foot
at the bead of the Society of the
Army Of the Tennessee, and follow
ing him vas the long line Of army,
military and civil societies. The
procession arrived at the cemetery at
] O'Clock. Not less than TWENTY-FIVE
THOUSAND persons were present. After
the playing Of the "Dead March by
the band, Bishop Wayman offered a
~fervent and eloquent prayer, and the
choir ofsingers chanted,
an it'll malice toward none, with
charity for all"
Hon. Jesse K. Dubois. then read
ia historical sketch Of the Lincoln
Monument Association and The re:
suit of its Iabors, concluding as
follows:
BY liberal contributions of g CRATE
full nation, we have been enabled to
provide a suitable place for the -e-
mains of the wisest and purest Of
men known TO our national history.
There may they rest in peace.
After Governor 0glesby's grafton
the choir sang "Rest Spirit Rest
At the conclusion, two Sisters of
/ charity, seated on either side of the
statue, rose, and amid a breathless
silence raised the red, white and.
blue drapery from the marble form.
President Edwards then read a
poem written for the occasion BY
James Judson Lord. The band
played an appropriate air, when, loud
calls being made for President Grant.
be stepped forward amid enthusiastic
applause, and spoke as follows:
THE PRESIDENTS REMARKS.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and GEN
Hemen;-0nxan occasion like the
present, it is a duty on my part to
bear testimony to the great and good
qualities Of the patriotic man whose
earthly remains now rest beneath the
dedicated monument. IL was not
my fortune to make the personal &C.
quaintance of Mr.. Lincoln till the
beginning of the last year of the
great struggle for national existence.
During those years of doubt and de-
spondency among the many patriotic
men Of the country, Abraham Lin
coin never for a moment doubted but
that the final result would be in favor
of peace. His faith in an All-wise
Providence directing our arms to this
joyful result was the faith Of the
Christian that his Redeemer Iiveth.
Amidst obloquy, personal abuse and
bate undisguised, which was given
vent to without restraint through the
press, upon the stump, and in private
circles, he remained the same stauneb,
nnyielding servant of the people /;
never exhibiting reVengeful feelings
against his traducers He rather
pitied them, and hoped, for their own
sake and the good name of their pos
terity, they might desist. 1t did not
occur to him for a single momen that
the man Lincoln was being assassin
ated, but that reasonable spirit, one
waiting TO destroy the frecst govern
ment the sun ever shone upon, was
giving ven to itself on him as chief
executive of the nation, only because
be was such executive. As alawyer
10 your midst he would have avoid
ed all that SANDER, for his life was a
pure and simple one, and be, no
doubt, would have been a much hap
pier man. But who can tell what
migbt,have been the fate Of the pa
ton but for the pure, unselish and
wise administration of Lincoln ?
From March 1864, to the day when
the hand of an assassin opened the
grave for Mr.. Lincoln, then President
of the United States, my personal
relations with him were as close, as
intimate, as the nature Of our respec-
tive duties would permit.
To know him personally was to
love and respect him for his great
qualities-of head aud heart. and for
his patience and patriotism, with all
his disappoiutments from failures on
the part of those to whom he entrust-
ed command, aud treatchery on the
part Of those who he'd gained his
confidence but to betray it. I never
heard him utter a complaint nor cast
censure for bad conduct or bad faith.
1t was bis nature to ind excuses
for his adversaries. In his death the
nation lost its greatest head. Ia his
death the South lost its most Just
friend.
A SPEECH FROM Mr. coLFAx
Ex-Vice President Coifax. vii
was discovered on the platform, wa>
loudly called for. AIn elouaeni. feel.
ing remarks he paid bis tribute Of
love and respect TO the honored
dead.
Remarks were also made By Gen-I
eral Sherman. Vice President WiIson,
and General w. Z. Lindon, after
which the doxology was sung, lbe
benediction proa ,ul-el |, AL the vast
assemblage quietly dispersed.
Robert T. Lincoln. ouly s,irv wing
son of the deceased Presldent, Mrs.
L. L. Smith, sister Of Mrs. Lincoln,
and other relations occupied carriages