Year: 1865

I,r.. Abraham LLncoIn. aa~


Funeral Grafton, delivered in New
4 York, by George Bancroft, April 25


1885. 7.a-.E- .-- ..


-a.E- --r g-.- .IE


Our grief and horror at the crime
which has clothed the Continent in
/ morning, find no adequate expression in
I words and no relief in tears. The Presi.
( dent Of the United States of America
has fallen by the hands Of an assassin
Neither the Office With which he was In
1 vested by the approved choice Of mighty
people, nor the most simple hearted kind
illness of nature, could save him from
the fendish passions of relentless fanati-
cism. The Wailings of tbe millions attend
I his remains as they are borne in solemn
il procession over our great rivers, along
the seaside, beyond the mountains, across
the prairie, to their final resting place in
the valley of the Mississippi The echoes
Of his funeral knelI vibrate through the
world, and the friends of freedom Of eE-
cry tongue and in every climate are his
mourners. Too few days have passed
away since Abraham Lincoln stood 10 the
4 flush of vigorous manhood topermit any
attempt at an analysis of his character or
an exposition of his career We find il
hard to believe that his large eyes, which
in their softness aud beauty expressed
1 nothing but benevulence and gentleness,
are closed in death we almost look fol
the pleasant smile that brought out more
vividly the earnest east Of his features,
which we're serious even to sadness. A
few years ago he vas village attorney,
engaged in the support Of rising family,
unknown to fame, scarcely named beyond
his neighbOrhood; his administration made
him the most c.nspicuOus man IN his
country, and drew on him first the aston
ished gaze, and then the respect and adj
miration of the world. Those who come
after -us- will decide how much Of the
wonderful results Of his public career is
/ due to his own common sense, his shreWd
sagacity, readiness of wit, quick interpre-
tation o.. the public mind, his rare combi-
nation Of fxedness and Pliancy, Unsteady
tendency of purpose how much to the
/ American people, who, as he walked with
them side by side, inspired them with
bis own RisdOm and energy; and how
much to the oveFruling laws of the NOR
al world, by which the seIfshuess Of evil
Is made to defeat itself. But af,er every
allowance, it will remain that members of
the Government which preceded his ad-
ministration opened the gates of treason,
and be closed them; that when he went
to Washington the ground on which he
trod shook under his feet, and he left the
Republic on a solid fOu" dation that trait
Ors had seized public forts and arsenals,
and be recovered them for the United
States, to whom they belonged, that the
capital which he found the abode of slaves,
Is now the home only Of the free; that
the bonndless public domain which was
grasped at, aud, in a great measure, held
for the diffusion of Sfavery,is now irre7o-
cably devoted to freedom that then men
talked of jargou of balauce Of power in
/ the Republic between Slave States and Free
States, aud now the foolish words are blown
away forever By the breath of Maryland,
7 Missouri and Tennessee; that a terrible
cloud of political heresy rose from the
abyss threatening to hide the light Of the,
sun, and under its darkness a rebellion
was rising into jndefnable proportions,
now the atmosphere is purer than ever be-
fore, and the insurreotion is vanishing
away the country is cast into another
mold, and the gigantic systsm of WrOn g,
which had been the work of more than
two centuries, is dashed down, we hope
forever. And as to himself personally !;
he was then scoffed at by the proud as
unfit for his station, and now against the
usage Of later years, and in spite of num-
erous competitors he was the unbiased
and the undoubted choice of the Ameri-
can; people for a second term of service.
Through all the mad business of treason
he retained the sweetness of a most plac-
able disposition and the slaughter of
myriads of the best on the battlefield and
the more terrible destruction of our men
in captivity by the slow torture of expo
sure and starvation, had never been able
to provoke him into harboring one venge-
full feeling or one purpose Of cruelty. How
shall the nation most cOmpletelyshOw its
sorrow at Mr.. Lincoln's death? How shall
is best honor his memory? p? There can be
but one answer. He was struck down
when highest in its service, and in strict
conformity with duty was engaged in
carrying out principles affecting its life,
its good name, and its relations to the
cause of freedom and the progress Of man


kind. Grief must take the character Of
action, and breathe itself forth in the as
sertion,of the policy to which he fell a
sacrifice. The standard which he held in
his hand must be uplifted again, higher
and more firmly than before, and must be
carried on to triumph. Above everything
else, his proclamation Of the first day Of
January, 1868, declaring throughout the
parts Of the country in rebellion the free
dom Of all persons who have been held as
slaves, must be affirmed and maintained.
Events, as they rolled onward, have re-
moved every doubt of the legality and
binding force of that proclamation. The


country and the Rebel Government have
each laid claim to the public service of
the slave, and yet but one Of the two can.
have a rightful claim to such service.
That rigbtful claim belongs to the United
States, because every one born on their
soil, with the few ezceptiOnsr.Of the chill,