Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1926-12-04


IMPRESSIONS AT THE TOMB OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
BY Walter II. Brooks, d, D.,
Pastor OF Nineteenth Street Baptist
Church, Washington, d. c.
I have walked with silent tread,
the marble floors of Westminster
Abbey. where host of Great Brit
aims heroes and scholars, scientists
and sages. kings and men OF noble
birth and attainments, repose;
have paused amid the tombs OF
Sweden's noble dead, in the temple
that rises above them, in one OF her
cities of the far North more than
once have l visited the city OF Paris,
where beheld monuments OF
marble and bronze--visible remind
ers OF the military aspirations and
achievements of France-and. in that
city, l have looked down, with kim
ding interest, upon the tomb OF
Napoleon the Great; have visited
the resting place OF Thomas Jefer-
son, the author Of Americas Decla-
ration of independence, and. with
keen appreciation Of his worth haye
thought Of him as great states
man. a friend and promoter OF liber-
al culture. and an advocate of JUS
tice and liberty, in the interest OF
all men: have visited the sacred
soil. on the banks ofNthe Potomac,
where the remains OF George Wash
ington, the first President Of the
United States of America, are en-
tombed and thought of that mill
tary hero and statesman, as the
founder of great government,
which, as Americans think, is the
frcest and best in all the world;
have visited annually. during two
score Of years, my native city. Rich
mond. Va, where is the home Of the
late Mr.. Jefferson Davis. President
of the Southern Confederacy. and
where. in the Capitol Square and
along an avenue OF monuments, are
seen the statues, in granite and mar
BILE and bronze. of soldiers and
statesmen. who were in life and are
in death the pride and glory of the
South: have visited the conse-
Grated ground, on the Hudson.
where repose the remains of General
Ulysses S Grant. recognizing in that
CHI eftain the man of iron will. who
put an end to the great Civil War,
thereby making it possible for me,
and the people of my race I'm Amer
lea. to possess and enjoy the priv
ileges and advantages which are
ours as free and native-born Amer
lean citizens; yes, have visited all
these places, which are sacred in
the memory OF nations, and often
have I gazed upon statues of Abra-
ham Lincoln, and even upon the
Lincoln Memorial at Washington, d.
c.. which the Nation has erected at
great cost but never, in all these
sixty-odd years of my personal free
dom, and the freedom Of the people
of my own blood and kind, have I
been SO strangely and so tenderly
wrought, as. when at Springfield,
Illinois, on the fifteenth day of Sep
TENDER, 1925, / stood over the dead
and buried body of Abraham Lin
coin. and laid wreath upon his
tomb. Somehow or other, I thought
of Jesus or Nazareth, thought of
His life, thought of His vicarious
death and sufferings, thought Of the
manifold blessings of God which are
mine in Christ, in fine as I stood
over the very body of Abraham Lin
coin saw in Mr. Lincoln's life and
spirit something truly Christ like.
and something Christlike in his
death.
L am not accustomed to weep, but
as stood and thought. and thought
the more. the depths of my affection
were broken up, and it was only by
resolute effort that I could keep
back the tears which for moment
dimmed my sight-tears of love and
gratitude
When our little group of visitors
vas about to turn away from that
sacred shrine, Mr.. H. w. Fay, the
faithful custodian. singled me out,
as an ex-slave, and remarked: do
you wish to say anything?" re-
fected moment. then unbosomed
myself after this manner:
abraham Lincoln saved the gov
ernment Of the United States of
America. when it's very existence
was threatened, and rendered his
government the better service still.
in issuing his Proclamation of Eman.
clpatlon. as death blow to the in
stitution Of slavery, as it existed in
me states then at war with the gov
eminent of the United States For.
Mr. Lincoln realized in his inmost
soul, that the institution of slavery
was the real cause of the great Civil
war, and had been source OF I'M
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