Going due west from the east gate, you are soon on the south side of the ravine, which brings you to the receiving tomb, where the remains of Abraham Lincoln were placed May 4, 1865. It is a solid stone structure, built in the south bank and faces north. About fifty yards southeast of this vault, and about half way to the top of the bluff, stood the tomb which was built for the temporary sepulture of the remains of the President, and in which they rested from December 21, 1865, until September 1871, when they were removed into the monument. After their last removal, the tomb vacated was torn down and the ground where it stood graded down about fifteen feet, as previously stated. The relative position of the receiving vault, the temporary tomb and the monument is all shown on the map. Just east of the monument there is a new avenue, beautifully graded and graveled. Following that south leads to the south gate, at the northern extension of Second street, which, at that point, is called Monument avenue.

For a cemetery so new, and for a city of such lim ́ited population, the improvements are unusually good. The grounds, naturally beautiful, have been very much improved by art, and are susceptible of the highest ornamentation. The great attraction that will draw visitors from all parts of the world for all coming time, is the Mausoleum containing the remains of the martyred President.

APPENDIX.

CHAPTER XXXII.

The preceding part of this book closed with the dedication of the Monument, and the appointment of a Custodian to open the same for the reception of visitors.

The Infantry and Naval groups of statuary had been modeled at Florence, Italy, the models transferred to Chicopee, Massachusetts, and the work of casting and finishing was satisfactorily progressing, by the Ames Manufacturing Company.

Assurances were given by prominent gentlemen in Boston that the money would be raised in that city to pay for the Cavalry group.

Pennsylvania being the largest iron producing State in the Union, and Pittsburgh the city where the greatest quantity of heavy ordnance was manufactured to be used in suppressing the rebellion, it would have been a fitting recognition of this fact for the commercial metropolis of the State to furnish the Artillery group. When the proposition was made by Governor Oglesby that this should be done, it was heartily acceded to, by some prominent gentlemen in Philadelphia.

The National Lincoln Monument Association having been notified that the Naval group of statuary had been completed and was ready for shipment from

Chicopee, Massachusetts, to Springfield, a meeting of the Association was called for November 25, 1875. At that meeting, upon motion of Hon. John T Stuart, it was,

Resolved, That the whole matter in relation to the Naval group, as also the settlement with Mr. Mead for bronze used, is hereby left with the Treasurer and Secretary of this Association, under direction of the Executive Committee.

Mr. Dubois laid before the Association a photographic copy of a letter written by Mr. Lincoln to Mrs. Eliza P. Gurney. The letter was ordered to be spread upon the records. The circumstances under which it was written gives it a charm that it would not otherwise possess. Among the delegations from religious bodies who visited President Lincoln early in the war to suppress the slaveholders' rebellion, a large number of women belonging to the Society of Friends gave him a call. One of their number, the widow of Joseph John Gurney, a distinguished Quaker preacher, of England, though herself an American, afterwards wrote him a letter. His reply will ever be highly prized, because it contains such emphatic and unequivocal expressions of his belief in the over-ruling providence of God. The following is the letter:

ELIZA P. GURNEY:

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 4, 1864.

My Esteemed Friend:-I have not forgotten-probably never shall forget the very impressive occasion when yourself and friends visited me, on a Sabbath forenoon, two years ago; nor has your kind letter, written nearly a year later, ever been forgotten.. In all, it has been your purpose to strengthen my reliance on God. I am much indebted to the good Christian people of this country, for their constant prayers and consolations; and to no one of them more than to yourself. The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, and must prevail; though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible war long before this; but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom and our own error therein. Meanwhile we must work earnestly in the best light He gives us, trusting that so working still conduces to the great ends He ordains. Surely, He intends some great good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make and no mortal could stay.

Your people, the Friends, have had, and are having a very great trial. On principle and faith, opposed to both war and oppression, they can only practically oppose oppression by war. In this hard dilemma, some have chosen one horn and some the other. For those appealing to me on conscientious grounds, I have done, and shall do, the best I could and can, in my own conscience, under my oath to the law. That you believe this I doubt not; and believing it, I shall still receive, for our country and myself, your earnest prayers to our Father in Heaven.

Your sincere friend,

A. LINCOLN.

The Secretary laid before the Association a communication from Mr. J. C. Power, the Custodian of the Monument, in relation to the purchase of the surveying instruments formerly owned and used by Mr. Lincoln, but then owned by a Mr. Bean, of Petersburg, Illinois. This led to the purchase of them for one hundred and seventy-five dollars,-the Executive Committee paying seventy-five dollars, and the Custodian one hundred dollars from the receipts at the Monument. instruments are preserved in Memorial Hall.

The

I find the following letter as part of the records of the proceedings of the Association for this meeting, transcribed there, "that its beautiful sentiments may be preserved." For the same reason I insert it here: EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, November 21, 1864.

DEAR MADAM:-I have seen in the files of the War Department, a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons, who died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine, which should attempt to beguile you of the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully,

TO MRS. BIXBY, Boston, Mass.

A. LINCOLN.