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however seemingly adverse some may have for a time appeared, working together to produce the grand result, in the near approach of which we now rejoice, and in view of the final solution of that dread problem of human slavery which had so long baffled the wisdom of the wisest, and seemed hopeless even in the eyes of Christian faith, it seems, I say, hardly possible to doubt the immediate hand of God, as guiding us through this wilderness of crime and suffering. May we not hope that the fervent faith of our fathers has descended, with their love of freedom and energy of character, to their children, and that we may manifest ourselves to be, as they were, a Godtrusting and God-abiding people? God has permitted his chosen servant, after fulfilment of the glorious mission on which he was sent, to depart without lingering pain, in the zenith of his fame, amidst the affections of a grateful people, and with the tears of a great nation falling on his grave, to take his place above, with Him upon whom he trusted, — and his place in the eternal memory of ages, by the side of the Father of his Country. Let us humbly believe that His guardian care will still be over us, and that this dire calamity, now so fearful in our eyes, may be made instrumental in the restoration of our country.

One other duty awaits us, my friends, to which I must allude before relieving your patience. It is that which we owe to him who now, under the Constitution, has become the Chief Magistrate of the nation. He was chosen by us to the position which now makes him the executive head of the Union, because of our confidence in his ability and patriotism; because of his meritorious services in up

holding the Government in circumstances of peculiar personal peril, and his unquestionable fidelity to the cause of the Union. Let us, then, readily and cheerfully pledge to him the same united and cordial support given to his predecessor, in full confidence that he will deserve it, and so fulfil the solemn duties of his exalted station as to enrol his name also, among the distinguished benefactors of his country.

Hon. Alexander H. Rice was then introduced. He said :

MR. MAYOR: I earnestly wish that I might remain a silent observer and listener amid these solemn scenes. To me the occasion needs no interpretation by speech; the meditations of the last two days, the appalling tidings as they have spread from mouth to mouth, the saddened countenances of the people, the tearful eyes, the beating hearts, the solemn step, the decorated dwellings, the closed places of business, and now these mourning emblems in this temple of liberty, - these eloquent interpreters of the public sorrow.

I feel deep down in my soul a fervent love and veneration for that great and good patriot who has just now passed from the society of men and the duties of earth to the assembly of heaven; but it is impossible for me thus early either to rightly estimate his services or to portray his virtues. It will indeed require more than one day or one lifetime to gather up all the beneficent fruits of his career.

Would that some tongue could gather up all that he

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has done and its consequences, and pour it into the ears of this nation and of mankind, so that in this time, of stupendous sorrow we might lay upon his bier the just tribute of our veneration and gratitude and love. He was a patriot and a statesman in the broadest and completest signification of those terms. He was eminently wise, fearless in the maintenance of the right, as gentle as a child to the erring, magnanimous beyond all precedent to his personal enemies. Who that contemplates such a character, united to such varied and important services as marked his administration of the Presidential office, can but exclaim, O, Justice, surveying our past national sins, could'st thou be satisfied with no less a sacrifice? O, Death, could not reddened fields and hecatombs of dead complete thy carnival without taking him also who was the deliverer and the hope of 'this people?

Fellow Citizens: Among the great benefits which the nation has derived from its experience under the guidance of him whose departure we mourn, is a better knowledge of ourselves and of the nature and stability of the institutions under which we live. We have, during the whole of his administration, been passing through the terrible ordeal of civil war. Before the test of this experience was applied, one-half of the discord and resistance which we have endured, would, in the belief of mankind, have thrown the nation into anarchy, and its institutions, civil and political, into ruin; but with all the conflicts of the four years past, and with the prospect of immediate peace before us, I believe the nation is stronger now than it has

been at any period since the sun first shone upon its flag. And we may also learn from this last and tragical calamity that the country lives, not in men, but in institutions and laws. Let us gather out of the past and the present the sustaining hope that comes to us as we look upon the effigies of departed patriots by which we are here surrounded, and upon whom and their compeers the Republic so much depended in days by gone. Washington is dead, Franklin is dead, the Adamses are dead, and all their associates are gone. Clay and Jackson, and our own Webster and Everett, of later years, have departed, and now Lincoln is dead. But the Republic lives; and because its foundations are laid in immortal truth, it will live as long as the stars shine on the face of the sky. And hence we derive the admonition that we must not long bathe our faces with tears, must not stand gazing upon the cold remains in the Presidential mansion, nor into the waiting grave so soon to receive all that is mortal of him in whom we just now trusted. We may, indeed, mingle our sympathies with that weeping wife and with those sorrowing children, weighed down with grief almost insupportable; and we may mourn with the poor and the oppressed everywhere, who have lost, in the martyred President, their greatest friend and their untiring benefactor. But we must summon also our best energies for the new exigencies and duties of the present and the future which this calamity has thrown upon us and upon our countrymen. And first of all let us give our prompt and cordial and undivided support to Andrew Johnson, who now becomes President in accordance with

the provisions of the Constitution. He is worthy of our confidence, of our respect, and of our hearty co-operation in the great and exhausting duties to which he is so suddenly called. Since he appeared in public life, his career has been that of a patriot and a hero; and since the great Rebellion against the Government arose, he, a Southern man, has maintained a steadfast fealty to his country, to its laws, its institutions and to its liberties; and, whether in the Senate Chamber or as Governor of Tennessee, has met the doctrines and machinations of treason in every form with manly and defiant resistance. Let us admit to our minds no fears or doubts that the same guiding Providence which has carried the nation safely thus far through this tremendous trial will be with it to the end. Does some man say that he does not know Andrew Johnson? Well, we knew Abraham Lincoln even less; but we took him upon trust, and God revealed him to us as a great instrument of his power in delivering the oppressed from their bondage, and in shaping the destiny of this nation through a more exalted and illustrious career. Does some man doubt whether any successor can be like him? God only knows how great a patriot or what varied qualities of mind and heart may be needed; but if the exigencies of the immediate future shall call for the exercise of great and strong, and yet gentle powers, we may trust that the selection of him who now accedes to the place of the lately departed President, was not made without the same acknowledged Divine interposition and direction.

The record of Andrew Johnson is the history of a brave

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