SERMON XVIII.

REV. ALBERT S. HUNT.

“The wisdom of God was in him to do judgment.”—1 KINGS iii. 28. WE MEET IN TEARS. The darkness and the grief which have made us faint have fallen upon myriads besides "for in every house there is one dead." Never since the world began has heaven looked down, at any one time, upon so many mourning assemblies as crowd the Christian temples of this land to-day. Why is it so? Is not this the festive day when believers in "Jesus and the resurrection" should adorn their altars with garlands, and sing joyful anthems? And have we not heard too, since we last met, such tidings of victory over an armed foe as almost never before cheered the hearts of a loyal and God-fearing people? All true! but our Easter anthems give place to dirges, and our "victories are turned into mourning unto all the people" to-day, because Abraham Lincoln has been assassinated.. What do I say? Strange, sad words! Are we in the midst of a troubled vision? God of our fathers, have mercy upon us!

WE MOURN THE DEATH OF ONE OF THE MOST COMMANDING PERSONAGES OF HISTORY. His life has been a magnificent

success. I will not attempt, by words, to prove this statement. "If you seek his monument, look about you." The Union is saved!

WHERE NOW SHALL WE FIND AN EXPLANATION OF THIS TRIUMPHANT SUCCESS? "The wisdom of God was in him to do judgment." That this text furnishes the only full response to our inquiry, will become more apparent if we seek the explanation elsewhere.

Is it to be found in the essential worth of his character? It is too early to attempt a finished portraiture, or even a full outline, but a glance at a few features which most attract us will serve the purpose of our argument.

He had a clear, strong intellect. This was manifest in the ease with which he grappled with great public questions. If his logical processes were not always conducted in obedience to the rules of the schools, his conclusions would yet silence the most orderly thinkers.

The same clearness was always evident in his easy intercourse with others, when his mind was unbent and at play.

He was also justly distinguished for the tenderness of his heart. This was indicated, not only in his care to occasion no needless suffering in the discharge of his executive duties, but also in numberless words and ways which were unofficial. You remember the touching letter he wrote to the mother in Boston, who had lost her sons in the cause of the country. His address at Gettysburg, remarkable as it is for the grandeur of its thought, is even more so for the tenderness he breathed into it. And only a few days ago, when at City Point, on his way from Richmond to Washington, he refused multiplied invitations which promised ease and entertainment, because "he had only time," as he said, "to go through the hospital and

speak to the sick and wounded boys." Thus he passed from one cot to another, clasping the hands of such as had them, and pressing the foreheads of the handless, smiling through his tears upon all, and thanking them for their self-sacrificing patriotism.

He was a man, too, of more than ordinary conscientiousness. Here we find the explanation of the hesitancy which appears, at times, in his action. A legion of politicians might beset him and urge him to effort, but having heard them all, he would take counsel of his conscience, and perhaps still remain inactive. He would do nothing unless he could see clearly what it was right to do. Here, also, we find the explanation of his undeviating firmness, when once he had become convinced of the rectitude of his measures.

Thus have we touched the salient points of his character. The study has indeed been superficial, but sufficiently thorough to convince all candid inquirers that we must look elsewhere for a full explanation of his success. We have discovered elements of character which exalt him to a place among the truly great, and without which he could never have succeeded, but which must be largely supplemented before we are furnished with a credible solution of his wonderful mastery.

BUT AGAIN. We may be told that although the secret of Abraham Lincoln's success has not yet been discovered, we are not driven to the explanation suggested by the text as the only alternative, since there is another method of detecting the hiding-place of the power of imperial men. We discover that all such personages are perfectly familiar with the elements they have to mould and control, and that they also have a commanding position above their fellow-men, in consequence of greatness which was born

in them-a kind of genius which is beyond the reach of analysis. They know all about the common people, and yet are made greater and nobler than they, by towering gifts.

Shall we find here the explanation we are seeking? It is rue that he knew all about the materials he was called to mould and control. Without the social elevation which results from aristocratic associations, born in a humble home and reared with the common people, he thoroughly understood all their wants, failings, foibles, and excellencies. He had, too, a certain native greatness of soul, which gave him a commanding position above the crowd. He was of them, yet not of them. He had a strange power over all who approached him, which did not find its spring in the arts of statesmanship, nor in familiarity with the great models of history. His soul was broad, deep, and lofty. He had a genius for comma..d. All this is true of him, and if it had not been true he would have failed, yet it does not fully solve the marvel of his sucHad he been called to preside over thirty millions of people during a period of peace, such powers would surely have been no more than equal to his duty, but he entered upon his work at the opening of a vast civil war, whose close was coincident with the close of his career. The unknown quantities of the problem he was called to solve were well-nigh infinite in number, and the common processes of elimination were too slow to serve the demands of the work. A power was required which could arrive at results with electric haste, but which would neither flash nor thunder on its way. Or, to use another illustration, his work has often been as delicate as that of the daguerreotypist, whose pictures would quickly fade if he did not gild them, but who applies his gold in the form of a solution. His vast abilities have been em

cess.

ployed, but not according to common methods. Held, as it were, in solution by heavenly wisdom, they have been poured out in blessings on the land.

Elihu declared to Job that "great men are not always wise;" but the great man whose loss we mourn to-day was one of whom we may truly say "The wisdom of God was in him to do judgment."

WHY NOW SHOULD WE HESITATE TO ACCEPT THE STATEMENT OF THE TEXT AS THE TRUE EXPLANATION OF HIS SUCCESS? Was there not a religiousness in his wisdom which cannot be accounted natural? His conscientiousness, of which we have spoken, was perhaps chiefly a natural endowment; but he was more than conscientious. He wished to obey right, not only because it was right, but because he saw the relation of all that is right to the righteousness of God. He obeyed conscience, not simply because he recognized its eminent authority, but because he felt it to be the voice of God in the soul of man. "He did not care to have the Lord on his side, but did most sincerely desire to be always found on the Lord's side." All this, I repeat, was not of nature. "The wisdom of God was in him." Nor need we wonder at this, if we believe that the God of Israel is our God, and that there is power in prayer. It is evident that he was not unwilling to be directed by the Almighty, for when he left his home in Springfield to enter upon his presidential duty, he asked the prayers of his neighbors for his success. Now consider what multitudes have been interceding for him ever since that day! Was there ever a man for whose success so many earnest prayers were offered? If God has not heard these prayers our faith is vain; if he has heard them, it is easy to understand how the "wisdom of God" came to