eral Townsend, Brigadier-General McCallum, Colonel Swords, Colonel Simpson, Colonel Lathrop, Captain Taylor, Hon. T. B. Shannon, of California, Hon. T. W. Terry of Michigan, Hon. Mr. Clarke of Kansas, the orator, Hon. Job E. Stevenson of Chillicothe, and Revs. E. P. Goodwin and C. E. Felton of Columbus. After appropriate music by military bands, and the singing of a hymn by a choir, under the direction of J. A. Scarritt, a prayer, impressive in thought and earnest in manner and word, was offered by the pastor of the Congregational Church of Columbus, Mr. Goodwin. A solemn hymn was then sung by the choir. When Mr. Stevenson began his oration a mournful quiet pervaded the large assembly. It was broken during the delivery of the oration only when the orator, alluding to the great crime which rebellion had instigated, demanded that justice be done the criminals, and declared that conciliation of those who had murdered Mercy was condemned by the cries to heaven of thousands of soldiers murdered in rebel prisons - by bereaved homes in all loyal States. Mr. Stevenson's oration follows: My Fellow Citizens:-Ohio mourns, America mourns, the civilized world will mourn the cruel death of Abraham Lincoln, the brave, the wise, the good; bravest, wisest, best of men. History alone can measure and weigh his worth, but we, in parting from his mortal remains, may indulge the fullness of our hearts in a few broken words of his life and his death and his fame; his noble life and martyr's death, and matchless fame. A western farmer's son, self-made, in early manhood he won, by sterling qualities of head and heart, the public confidence, and was entrusted with the people's power. Growing with his growing State, he became a leader in the West. Elected President, he disbelieved the threats of traitors and sought to serve his term in peace. The clouds of civil war darkened the land. The President pleaded and prayed for peace, "long declined the war," and only when the storm broke in fury on the flag, did he arm for the Union. For four years the war raged, and the President was tried as man was never tried before. Oh, "with what a load of toil and care" has he come, with steady, steadfast step, through the valley and shadow of defeat, over the bright mountain of victory, up to the sunlit plain of peace. Tried by dire disaster at Bull Run, where volunteer patriots met veteran traitors; at Fredericksburg, where courage contended with nature; at Chancellorsville, that desperate venture; in the dismal swamps of the Chickahominy, where a brave army was buried in vain; by the chronic siege of Charleston; the mockery of Richmond, and the dangers at Washington-through all these trials the President stood firm, trusting in God and people, while the people trusted in God and in him. There were never braver men than the Union volunteers; none braver ever rallied in Grecian phalanx or Roman legion; non braver ever bent the Saxon bow, or bore barbarian battle-ax, or set the lance in rest; none braver ever followed the crescent or the cross, or fought with Napoleon, or Wellington, or Washington. Yet the Commander-in-Chief of the Union army and navy was worthy of the men filling for four years the foremost and most perilous post unfaltering. Tried by good fortune, he saw the soldiers of the west recover the great valley, and bring back to the Union the Father of Waters, and all his beautiful children; he saw the legions of Lee hurled from the heights of Gettysburg; he saw the flag of the free rise on Lookout Mountain and spread from the river to the sea, and rest over Sumter; he saw the Star Spangled Banner, brightened by the blaze of battle, bloom over Richmond, and he saw Lee surrender. Yet, he remained wise and modest, giving all the glory to God and our army and navy. Tried by civil affairs, which would have taxed the powers and tested the virtue of Jefferson, Hamilton and Washington, he administered them so wisely and well, that after three years no man was found to take his place. He was re-elected and the harvest of success came in so grandly, that he might have said; "Now Lord lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Yet he was free from the weakness of vanity. Thus did he exhibit, on occasion, in due proportion and harmonious action, those cardinal virtues, the trinity of true greatness-courage, wisdom and goodness;-goodness to love the right, and courage to do the right. Tried by these tests and by the touch-stone of success, he was the greatest of living men. He stood on the summit, his brow bathed in the beams of the rising sun of peace, singing in his heart the angelic song of "Glory to God in the highest; peace on earth; good will to man." "With malice toward none, and charity for all," he had forgiven the people of the South, and might have forgotten their leaders-covering with the broad mantle of his charity their multitude of sins. But he is slain-slain by slavery. That fiend incarnate did the deed. Beaten in battle, the leaders sought to save slavery by assassination. Their madness presaged their destruction. Abraham Lincoln was the personification of Mercy. Andrew Johnson is the personification of Justice. They have murdered Mercy, and Justice reigns alone—and the people, with one voice, pray to heaven that justice may be done. The mere momentum of our victorious armies will crush every rebel in arms, and then may our eyes behold the majesty of the law. They have appealed to the sword;-if they were tried by the laws of war, their barbarous crimes against humanity would doom them to death. The blood of thousands of murdered prisoners cries to heaven. The shades of sixty-two thousand starved soldiers rise up in judgment against them. The body of the murdered President condemns them. Some deprecate vengeance. There is no room for vengeance here. Long before justice can have her perfect work the material will be exhausted, and the record closed. Some wonder why the South killed her best friend. Abraham Lincoln was the true friend of the people of the South; for he was their friend as Jesus is the friend of sinners-ready to save when they repent. He was not the friend of rebellion, of treason, of slavery-he was their boldest and strongest foe, and therefore they slew him-but in his death they die; the people have judged them, and they stand convicted, smitten with remorse and dismay-while the cause for which the President perished, sanctified by his blood, grows stronger and brighter. These are some of the consequences of the death of Abraham Lincoln. Ours is the grief-theirs the loss, and his is the gain. He died for Liberty and Union, and now he wears the martyr's glorious crown. He is our crowned President. While the Union survives -while the love of Liberty warms the human heart, Abraham Lincoln will hold high rank among the immortal dead. The nation is saved and redeemed. She needs no aid from rebel hands to reconstruct the Union. The Union needs no reconstruction. It was not made by man; it was created by the God of Nations. It is vital and immortal. If it has wounds in mem Vol. XXXII-18. bers of its body, they will heal, and leave no scar, without the opiate of compromise with treason. Let us beware of the Delilah of the South, who has so lately betrayed our strong man. Let the "Prodigals" feed on the husks till they come in repentance, and ask to be received in their father's house-not as the equals to their faithful brethren, but on a level with their former servants. Then we can consider their petition, and discuss the question, not of the reconstruction of the Union, but of the formation of free States from the national domain. Until then let the sword which reclaimed their territory rule it, tempered by national law. Some cry conciliation, and say there can be no true peace by conquest. On the contrary, there is no enduring peace but the peace that is conquered. The peace of France is a conquered peace; the peace of England was conquered and conquered again; the peace of our fathers was a conquered peace; the peace of the world is a conquered peace; the peace of Heaven is a conquered peace; and thanks be to God, our peace is to be a conquered, and therefore a lasting peace. For a thousand years shall the people enjoy Liberty and Union in peace and security. The nation revived through all her members by the hand of free labor, prosperity shall fill and overflow the land-roll along the railwaysthrill the electric wires-pulsate on the rivers-blossom on the lakes, and whiten the seas; and the imperial free Republic, the best and strongest Government on earth, will be a monument of the glory of Abraham Lincoln-while over and above all, shall rise and swell the great "dome of his fame." When the orator took his seat earnest and solemn manifestations of approval testified that he had appropriately and impressively spoken for the people. Immediately there were cries for Hooker. Major General Hooker rose from his seat, when the band began to play a dirge. He stood until the music stopped and then administered to those who called for him a just rebuke: General Hooker said: "My friends, I thank you very much for the compliment you pay me by your call. If I do not respond by remarks, you will ascribe it to the inappropriateness of the occasion. Your call was dictated by curiosity as much as to hear a speech from me; that I grant you. Further you must excuse me." |