"Fondly do we hope-fervently do we pray-that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, that 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work that we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan-to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations." I well remember as a youth, the nation's grief over the death of Kentucky's distinguished son, Henry Clay; the widespread mourning occasioned by the departure of New England's majestic Webster, and the sorrow caused by the passing away of famous Farragut, and the illustrious triumvirate, Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan; but never except in the death of Lincoln, did the country witness such sorrow among the plain people and the race that he had liberated, and also such numbers of sailors and soldiers shedding tears for the great Commander whom they never saw. Children were seen crying in our streets. Never before, it has been truthfully said by Lowell, was funeral panegyric so eloquent as the silent look of sympathy which strangers exchanged when they met on that day. Their common manhood had lost a kinsman. Grant said to your speaker that the day of Lincoln's death was the saddest of his life. The great War President's was a life that made a vast difference for all Americans; all are better off than if he had not lived; and this betterment is for always, it did not die with him-that is the true estimate of a great life. President Roosevelt, who is on this platform, said of his three most illustrious predecessors: "Washington fought in the earlier struggle, and it was his good fortune to win the highest renown alike as a soldier and statesman. In the second and even greater struggle, the deeds of Lincoln the statesman, were made good by those of Grant the soldier, and later Grant himself took up the work that dropped from Lincoln's tired hands when the assassin's bullet went home, and the sad, patient, kindly eyes were closed forever." What would have been the history of our country without these three mighty men? It certainly may be questioned if we could have achieved independence without Washington, and it is equally open to doubt if the Republic could have maintained its integrity without Lincoln and Grant. National unity is no longer a theory, but a condition, and we are now united in fact, as well as name. In the words of the greatest of poets, "Those opposed eyes Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven, Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks It is perhaps the greatest glory of the triumvirate of uncrowned American kings, that they were alike spotless in all the varied relations of private life. Their countrymen will continue to cherish their memory far on in summers that we shall not see, and upon the adamant of their fame, the stream of Time will beat without injury. The names of Washington, the founder, Lincoln, the liberator, and Grant, the saviour of our country, are enrolled in the Capitol, and they belong to the endless and everlasting ages. THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL HON. JOSEPH W. FOLK THE people of every great nation have in all times honored their heroes with memorials. In studying the history of other peoples we, in a large measure, judge them by these tokens of affection for the illustrious men that led them in some mighty crisis. This nation has had many men whose deeds have emblazoned the pages of history, but no name is now dearer in the hearts of the people than that of Abraham Lincoln. Washington fought to give us this nation, guaranteeing to the citizen, rights never obtained nor exercised by any other people; Lincoln struggled to keep it as a government "of the people, for the people, and by the people." Jefferson taught the simple truths necessary for the happiness of a democratic people; Lincoln applied these truths to the troubles of his time and steered the Ship of State into a peaceful harbor. Jackson thundered against and overcame the evils of his day; Lincoln, with a heart ready for any fate, breathed a new force into the doctrines of JackWe preserve Mount Vernon in memory of WashingMonticello is still the Mecca for the followers of JefferThe Hermitage is kept as when Old Hickory lived and worked and wrought. Save for an occasional monument there is no suitable memorial of Lincoln, whose fame grows brighter as the years go by. son. son. Here on this farm, one hundred years ago to-day, was born the strongest, strangest, gentlest character the Republic has ever known. His work was destined to have a more farreaching influence than any that went before him. Until recently, this spot, which should be hallowed by every American, was unnoticed and abandoned. Inspired by the idea that a due regard for the apostle of human liberty who sprang from this soil demanded the preservation of his birthplace, a few patriotic men organized the Lincoln Farm Association to purchase this property and to erect upon it a memorial to that simple but sublime life that here came into the world. This Association is purely patriotic in its purposes and the movement has met with a ready response from every section of the nation. The Governors of nearly all the States have appointed commissioners to coöperate in this work. The South has responded as generously as the North. In revering the name of Lincoln, there is now no North nor South nor East nor West. There is but one heart in all, and that the heart of patriotic America. So the memorial to be erected here by South as well as North will not only be in memory of Lincoln, but it will be a testimony that the fires of hatred, kindled by the fierce Civil conflict of nearly half a century ago, are dead, and from the ashes has arisen the red rose of patriotism to a common country and loyalty to a common flag. It will be a monument in the forward progress of a nation dedicated to the liberty and happiness of mankind. It is appropriate that these dedicatory exercises, participated in by representatives of every part of the nation, should be held upon the centenary of Lincoln's birth. We have not come so much to dedicate this ground, but to set it apart as a gift to the American people as a lasting memorial to the Matchless American. The man born here has already consecrated this place. It is for us to be here dedicated to the great task before us, that this nation shall not have been preserved merely to fall before the enemies of peace, but that it shall be made free from the things that dishonor and oppress. The inspiration of high citizenship must ever emanate from this spot. |