Norwich bulletin., 1909-02-15
MORAL EFFECT OF
LINcoLN'S ASSASSINATION
Inspiring Sermon by Rev. Or. L. l.
West Heard by Large Congregation.

Sunday at the Second Congregations
al church there were many in attend
ance at the morning service: and an
inspiring sermon by the pastor, KEY.
4. L. West. DID,, was listened to with
commencing interest. DR.. West spoke
upon The Moral Effects of the Assas-
sination of President Lincoln, with the
text Deuteronomy XxXiv: 40: And the
Lord said unto him, This is the land
which 1 sware unto Abraham, unto
Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, 1 Will
give II unto thy seed; l have caused
thee to see it with thine eyes, but
thou shalt not go over thither. So
Moses. the servant of the Lord. died
there in the land of Moab, according
to the word of the Lord. DIR. West
spoke as follows:
On Good Friday, April IA, 1865, there
was no man on this planet so loved as
Abraham Lincoln, no one who had
done so much for the nation and for
the world, no man who seemed to have
in his hands such reinS of power Tor
the solution and the performance OF
the tasks before him, and none so
trusted by the people as Mr.. Lincoln.
Could a vote that morning have been
taken of the life most needed to be
conserved, there would have been an
overwhelming majority for Mr. Lincoln.
IQeE6 was every IGdSOu 4OL MIN "
live, none for him to die. Yet, COM
ing from the very manner of his death
there are moral effects that help to
explain the situation.
The first moral effect from the as
sassination of Mr.. Lincoln was that
his death was the sudden revelation
of the venom and enormous evil of
slavery and secession. The light of
that pistol was a lightning flash which
1,s 40 cYafyif Of Ell
cry and where there had been mil
lions to apologize for it, they were now
brought to repudiate it. With prOph-
etic insight Jefferson Davis said that
the death Of Mr.. Lincoln was one OF
the two severest blows ever struck the
south.
The second effect was the quenching
of the spirit of revenge and the draw
ing togther of the north and south.
The eloQuence Of MIR, Lincoln dead was
greater than Of Mr.. Lincoln dead was
When men looked at his dead lips, they
! seemed to say Charity towards all
malice toward none" with a more final
authority than ever before. One can
hardly tell how it came. but it seemed
| that the rain of tears of a nations sor-
row had quenched the fires of a ma
| tons hate, and there was no power by
| which they could be rekindled.
! Third, the assassination Of Lincoln
made in an instant this emacipator oi
/ a race their hero saint for all ages
! The bullet of Booth sent Mr.. Lincoln
| to the inmost heart of the African
/ people. Only a few weeks before he
+ had stood upon the steps of the cap
itol. like a high priest Of the people
and confessed the sin Of the nation il
those immortal words: 'FOndly do We
hope fervently do we pray that thi:
mighty scourge Of war my speedily
pass away; but If God will that it con-
tinue that the wealth piled up b!
bondmen by $50 years Of unrequiteC
| toll be sunk, and until every drop O.
| blood drawn with the lash shall bt
paid for by another drawn with thu
sword, as was said 5000 years ago, 81
it still must be said that the Judgment
of the Lord are true and righteous al
| togther." Then, having confessed tn
sin. he laid himself a sacrifice upon tn,
altar of the peoples need. Small won
der that they must adore himl
He thus completed his work of sac
rifice by his sacrifcial death. A sac
rificial life is the highest attainable b.
man on this earth, and the only eli
max Of such a>.Se, the only one not al
anti-climax is a sacrificial death
Fifth, in the moral effects resulting
from the assassination Of the presiden
was that tho nation was revitalized b,
the blood OF MT. Lincoln. 1t was
way Of giving Historically to the ma
ton which he could not do in any 9th
er way Mr.. Lincoln did not die out o
the nation, he died into it. When h
fell. the iron that was in him enteret
into the will of the people, and hi
spirit Of charity entered into thei
hearts, and new vow was registere
in the ear Of Olmighty God that thi
nation should not perish from tn
earth.
Lastly. this death was the coronation
Of Mr.. Lincoln by the hand Of Al
mighty God before the eyes of the ma
ton. Of the world, and the ages.
How God can condense eternity int
an instant! How out Of the miserabl
vfleness of a most detestable crime h
can express his gloryi When that bull
let left the pistol it was an instrumen
of hell, but God touched it as it passed
and when it struck the president it wa
a messenger of heaven. When it LEI
the pistol, it spoke the hiss of all til
hatred of the rebellion, but when
touched the flesh of Mr.. Lincoln it wa
the lip of God, kissing him into lif,
Thus can God make the wrath Of ma
to praise him.