Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-04-21
Henry Watterson on
the Death of Lincoln
rrom ths courisr-gonrnsl.

ITO THOSE who are old enough clearly 70 remem-
Der the morning % the 18th OF April tSGs. Il seems
only yesterday that they swoke 70 stand aghsst be
fore the that met them At the door'IAncoin
assassnated last night"
t'p and down through town and country. through
the very powder-clouds still lowering recent bat
tsfleids. the tidngs swept onward IRON one end OF
the land to the other. awe-insprng alike TO the VIC
and the vanduished their fun pOrtent conceived
by none at the north horror and execration I'M
bounded At the south dazed feeling Of wonder not
unrnixed hut happily only and there. with those
ebuiitions Of unhinting cruelty which, even as tears
tell men. tell ne also that we are saFsge
The problems Of life and death who shall dare at
tempt 90 solve theni7 God moves I'm a mysterious
way That He has not stayed the hand Of the
assassin only imply that underneath there lay
some all wise purpose Yet werdest and saddest tho
subjects victims OF these murderous freaks have
not been the hated among men, the monsters and
despots history; but the noble and the useful the
arnabs and the gentle: quite all the way from Julius
Caesar to william Mckinley. from Henri ouatre to
the Empress Bzabeth--Lincoln in the foreground
the Christ child OF destiny-the curtain which rose
upon tragedy in the wild woods Of Kentucky and In
diana. falling upon tragedy In Washington the ma
tlon's capital Yes, and In an actual piayhouse-be-
meath its prosceniam sfchn front Of its footghts-
the leading part played by an actor 'TwiI strange
twas passing stransei Twas ptfui. twas wondrous
pitifu
What might have happened had IAncoln Iived7
He the one friend OF the stricken south having
power In n thousand ways he had shown this
friendship Not prosctiptive word fell from his
lips. with malice toward none-with charity for alt
GodlIke words, the inbpired cue and Keynote Of his
mind and heart.
Two short months before those awful scenes in
Fords theater he had said at Fortress Monroe to his
old friend. stephsns-the now vice president OF the
confederacy. but still to Lincoln the loved whg coli
league Of other days-"stcphens. let write union
at the top Of this page and you may write below 1t
whatever else you please
SO poised was mis- sense OF equity. acute his
hatred Of injustice that unwilling to vst the offense
Of the south militant upon the south innocent-im-
poverished widows and orphans and babes In their
cradles when war declared and waged-he Of
fered syent for the slaves along with the completes
rehabilitation OF the seeded states n the union for
the immediate cessation Of hostilities
Nothing seems harder to reconcile both with
and existing conditions. with the actual ana obvious
state Of the contendng parties than the rejection Of
this offer II part Of the fatality that pur.
sued tho south from first 10 last IL was the VIII OF
Heaven that the confederacy should be destroyed root
and branch that there should be possible eduivo-
cation az to the result: and n the south had not
been sufficiently punished Llncona son Of the soil
standing ready with his hand uped and outstretched
to protect his kindred peope-was struck down. ten
additional years travail ensuing dire
Of the causeless murder
Half century has interviewed to separate us frorn
these dread times. Two generations that them
not have come upon the stake-the generation that
suffered and endured mostly TO Its accountits
few survivors but as the misty figures OF = dream
lingering moment upon the outer edges Of the scene
presently to pass beyond and to be seen no more
They saw the hand OF Deity upon the battlefield ana
long ago accepted the verdict To them ct least the
judgments Of the Lord are true ana righteous alto
gether" The south learned Its lesson too. 1t learned
that slavery not divine institution. Cotton was
never king The union was best God knew where
the weak spot and smote us there and. 10. we
are one people again; sti true to the reason Of
being. the faith Of fathers world power. yet
nation OF ffeernen known respected honorcd to the
ends OF the eatth How much OF this do we not owe
Abraham Lnooln7 II is meet that Kentucky should
be first to acknowledse the eourys oblgation to his
and words should recall the example ne set and
behind him; should the light that shines above
his tomb and be cheered and nvIgorated the first
truly typical American. kentuckian and Kentuckys
best historic asset.
| Thus Il is that teaching children in the
schools this day. Tllus IL that the flags at half
mast God bless the nasi God keep the memory Of