Josiah Gilbert Holland

“ Hundreds of those who pressed around the sacred dust, uttered some affectionate word, or phrase, or sentence. The rich and the poor, the white and the black, mingled their tokens of affectionate regard, and dropped side by side their tears upon the coffin. It was humanity weeping over the dust of its benefactor.
On Wednesday, the day of the funeral, all the departments were closed, all public work was suspended, flags were placed at half-mast, and the public buildings were draped with mourning. ”

“ It seemed as if the whole state had come to the railroad line, simply to witness the passage of the funeral train.
It is bewildering to read the accounts of the ceremonies at New York, and impracticable to reproduce them. The passage of the beloved remains into and through the great city, and the interval of their brief rest while they lay in state in the City Hall, were marked at every stage by some new and impressive expression of the public grief. ”

“ Churches were thrown open, where prayer and sermon and music united in the expression of affection for the dead, and lamentation for the national loss. Great public gatherings were held, in which the memory of the good President was celebrated in impulsive speech or studied eulogy. The whole nation suspended its business, and gave itself up to the mournful services and associations of the day. Never had such a funeral been given to a national ruler. Never had died a man who received such testimonials of universal affection and grief. A whole nation mourned its dead. ”

“ Minute-guns, tolling bells, requiems by choirs of singers, dirges by bands of musicians, military and civic displays, suspended business, draped flags, and shrouded private and public buildings, all mingled their testimony to the universal sorrow, and the common wish to do justice and honor to a hallowed memory. Every street and avenue around the City Hall was filled with people. The first line formed for viewing the remains was three quarters of a mile long, and reached far up the Bowery. ”

“ On the twenty-first, the funeral train left Washington, amid the silent grief of thousands who had gathered to witness its departure. With the coffin which contained the remains of the President, went back to the western home the coffin which contained the dust of his beloved Willie, whose death has already been mentioned; and father and son, in the touching companionship of death, traveled together the long journey. At ten o'clock, the train reached Baltimore. ”

“ Even these expressions of the British press do not indicate the popular feeling with which the English people received the announcement of Mr. Lincoln's assassination. The excitement which filled the public mind, on the reception of the startling tidings, in all the great cities and considerable towns of England, was only equaled by that which swept over those of our own country. It was hard to tell whether horror at the crime or grief for its victim was the predominant emotion of the British people. Men who applauded the deed, were kicked out of assemblies in London, as they were in New York. ”

“ On the basis of such a manhood as this, all the coming generations of the nation will not fail to build high and beautiful ideals of human excellence, whose attractive power shall raise to a nobler level the moral sense and moral character of the nation. This true manhood--simple, unpretending, sympathetic with all humanity, and reverent toward God--is among the noblest of the nation's treasures ”

“ Lincoln constantly rose in general estimation, by calmness of temper, by an intuitively logical appreciation of the character of the conflict, and by undisputed sincerity." The Economist said, "The murder of Mr. Lincoln is a very great and very lamentable event--perhaps the greatest and most lamentable which has occurred since the Coup d'etat, if not since Waterloo. It affects directly and immensely the welfare of the three most powerful countries in the world,--America, France and England,--and it affects them all for evil." ”

“ Slain as no other man has been slain, cut down while interposing his great charity and mercy between the wrath of the people and guilty traitors, the people of Chicago tenderly receive the sacred ashes, with bowed heads and streaming eyes."
The remains reached Springfield on the morning of May third. Throughout the long ride of two hundred miles, over the continuous prairie that lies between Chicago and Springfield, there had transpired the most affecting demonstrations of the popular grief. ”

“ We have seen a great popular government, poisoned in every department by the virus of treason, and blindly and feebly tottering to its death, restored to health and soundness through the beneficent ministry of this true man, who left it with vigor in its veins, irresistible strength in its arms, the fire of exultation and hope in its eyes, and with such power and majesty in its step, that the earth shook beneath its stately goings. ”

“ He had accomplished the greatest work for his country and for mankind that had ever been committed to a mortal to perform. A great nation had been saved from wreck by his hands; a race had been disenthralled by his word and his policy; and a popular government had been established in the faith and affections of its subjects, and in the respect of the governments of the world. His enemies had been silenced, his friends had been reassured, his motives and his policy had been vindicated, and his person had come to be regarded with tender affection by tens of millions of men. ”

“ At this place, as at all the places on the route, there were new pall-bearers, new processions, and new expressions of the popular grief. A very large procession accompanied the remains to the cars; and from Harrisburg to Philadelphia the funeral train moved through crowds of people, assembled at every convenient point. For several miles before the train reached Philadelphia, both sides of the railway were occupied by almost continuous lines of men, women, and children, who stood with uncovered heads as the train passed them. ”

“ Uninfluenced by popular clamor, and unbent by his own humane and Christian desire to see all men free, he did not speak the word of emancipation until his duty to the Constitution which he had sworn to protect and defend demanded it. There is no doubt that, if he could have saved the country without destroying slavery, he would have done it, and done it against the most ardent wishes of his heart, through his regard for the Constitution which protected the inhuman institution, and the oath by which he had been invested with power. ”

“ It was estimated that there were sixty thousand people in the streets of Albany. Here was another great procession; and, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the train started for Buffalo. Throughout the entire range of large and beautiful towns which the Central Railroad threads in its passage from Albany to Buffalo, the same demonstrations of grief and respect were witnessed which had thus far distinguished the homeward journey of the dead President. The reporter of the New York Tribune wrote that "a funeral in each house in Central New York would hardly have added solemnity to the day." ”

“ The demonstrations of the popular grief which had been witnessed throughout the journey, were repeated at every station along the route. Not only men, but women and children were up and wakeful all night, to catch a glimpse of the car which bore the precious dust of the beloved ruler; and, whenever the train stopped, flowers were brought in and deposited upon the coffin. At Cleveland, great preparations were made to receive the President's remains and the funeral party, with befitting honors. ”

“ The party reached the theater at twenty minutes before nine o'clock, to find the house filled in every part; and, as they passed to their seats in the private box reserved for them, the whole assembly rose and cheered them, with the most cordial enthusiasm. This demonstration was intended as an expression of good-will, and as a popular congratulation on the victories that had brought the rebellion to a close. The President bowed to the audience, took his seat, and was soon afterwards absorbed in the scenes of mimic life upon the stage. ”

“ There, surrounded by the sweetest scenes of nature, his tomb a shrine, his name the watchword of liberty, his fame in the affectionate keeping of mankind, his memory hallowed by martyrdom for the humane and Christian principles to which his life was devoted, the weary patriot rests. ”

“ He believed that negroes were men, endowed by their Creator with the rights of men; and, thus believing, there was no manly privilege which he enjoyed, that he would not have been glad to see conferred upon them. Hence, had he lived, he would logically have numbered himself among those who will agitate the right of universal loyal suffrage until that right shall be secured to every loyal man living under the American flag. ”

“ He supposed that every man would require some rational purpose to be answered by so terrible a crime. "If they kill me," said he, on one occasion, "the next man will be just as bad for them; and, in a country like this, where our habits are simple, and must be, assassination is always possible, and will come if they are determined upon it." ”

“ The immense crowd that had assembled here to pay their last tribute of respect to the departed President, was full of its suggestions of the change which four years had wrought upon the city. It seemed incredible that this was the city through which the living President had so lately passed, in fear of the fate which had at last overtaken him. ”

“ John Bigelow, the American consul in Paris, wrote under date of July 15th, 1864: "There is no doubt that, from a period anterior to the breaking out of the insurrection, plots and conspiracies for the purposes of assassination have been frequently formed and organized." Mr. Bigelow had reported to Mr. Seward a plot which had become known abroad. Mr. Seward added: "Assassination is not an American practice or habit; and one so vicious and so desperate cannot be engrafted into our political system. ”

“ Standing above the loose morality of party politics, standing above the maxims and conventionalisms of statesmanship, leaving aside all the indirections and insincerities of diplomacy, trusting the people, leaning upon the people, inspired by the people, who in their Christian homes and Christian sanctuaries gave it their confidence, this administration of Abraham Lincoln stands out in history as the finest exhibition of a Christian democracy the world has ever seen. The power of a true-hearted Christian man, in perfect sympathy with a true-hearted Christian people, was Mr. ”

“ Only a single man in the audience took in at once the meaning of the scene; and, although he undertook to follow Booth, the assassin had disappeared before he reached the door.
Mrs. Lincoln screamed, and Miss Harris called for water. The scene among the audience defies all description. Women shrieked and fainted. Men called for vengeance. The most terrible uproar prevailed. Laura Keene, the actress, begged the audience to be calm, abd entered the box from the stage, bearing water and cordials. ”

“ The following day was Sunday, and from six o'clock in the morning until one o'clock on Monday morning, during which the remains were exposed to view, a dense, unbroken stream of men, women, and children, pressed into and out of the building. The Philadelphia Inquirer, in its report of the occasion, said: "Never before in the history of our city was such a dense mass of humanity huddled together. ”

“ Bishop McIlvaine, of the diocese of Ohio, read the Episcopal burial service on the opening of the coffin, and offered prayer; after which the long procession filed through the pavilion, and caught a last glimpse of the honored dead. All day long, through falling rain, the crowd, unabated in numbers, pressed through the little building. At ten o'clock at night, one hundred thousand people had viewed the remains ”

“ Hundreds of persons were seriously injured, from being pressed in the mob; and many fainting females were extricated by the police and military, and conveyed to places of security." After a person was once in the line, it took from four to five hours to reach the hall. At one o'clock, on Monday morning, the procession recommenced its march, bearing the body to Kensington Station, which was left at four, for the passage to New York. Bells were tolled, mottoes were displayed, minute-guns were fired, and the people were gathered at the various stations along the entire passage through New Jersey. ”

“ Further on in its article, it confessed that "Englishmen learned to respect a man who showed the best characteristics of their race, in his respect for what is good in the past, acting in unison with a recognition of what was made necessary by the events of passing history." ”

“ Every day's experience confirms it." Notwithstanding Mr. Seward's theory, plots were formed against his own life, as well as that of Mr. Lincoln--plots, indeed, embracing more than these two persons, and extending to nearly all the prominent men in the government and in its military service. General Grant and General Sherman were both the unconscious objects of deadly conspiracies. It is now known that, not only in the States, but in Canada and Europe, plots of this character were concocted ”