triumphs of the month, nor to the momentous issues of the hour. We believe with all the heart in his wisdom and goodness, and that he will eventually bring good to the people out of this national bereavement. He has a righteous purpose in the removal of leading men as well as in the marshalling of thrilling events. All may be dark with us, but all is light with him, who lives in the future as he lives in the present. The time for the removal of the President from this scene of action had come, and he ascended to the bosom of the Infinite. The God who protected our fathers in the dark days of the Revolution, we believe, will protect their children in the present time. We know that he is on the side of justice and humanity, and that nothing can defeat his great plans, mock his righteous purposes, or strike down his right arm. With David, we believe, as we look up this morning from a land filled with mourning and desolation, that the Almighty will save his afflicted people.

And here, at the close, we remember that many churches are celebrating to-day with a startling significance the resurrection of Jesus. We rejoice in this sublime ceremonial, which tends to keep alive in the heart the truth of immortality. And whilst we stand at the opened door of the empty sepulchre, rejoicing in the resurrection of Jesus, let us date from this very hour the resurrection of the nation to a higher life, a grander power, and a more enduring glory.

The Universalist, Boston, May 4, 1865.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S DEATH:

A SERMON DELIVERED AT THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN DES MOINES,

IOWA, ON SUNDAY EVENING, APRIL 23, 1865;

BY REV. D. L. HUGHES.

ΤΗ

2 SAMUEL, i. 19: "How are the mighty fallen!”

HE text originally referred to Saul. He was the chosen King of Israel. He was appointed and anointed of God to his official power. He reigned forty years; and, although guilty of many plain violations of duty, yet as the King of Israel he was entitled to honor. He was also a mighty man of war. He had often been victorious over the enemies of Israel, and "vexed them whithersoever he turned." His "sword returned not empty," but was satiated with blood and spoil. As said David in this funeral dirge, of which the text forms a part, "He was swifter than an eagle, he was stronger than a lion." Yet he was overcome by the Philistines, and fell upon his own sword "in the midst of battle." The finishing stroke to his life was given, it seems, however, by a reckless Amalekite. This murderous act, he thought, was sufficient ground for boasting, and over it he expected King David, Saul's successor, to rejoice. But, instead of this, David and all the men that were with him, when they heard it, were filled with deep sorrow. They rent their clothes, and mourned and wept and fasted until even. They

thus manifested great propriety, as well as sound wisdom and true noble-heartedness, in refusing to rejoice over even an enemy that was slain, and especially, as one high in authority having fallen by violent hands. Solomon says, "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth, lest the Lord see it, and it displease him." And again," He that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished." Public losses are most laid to heart by men of public spirit. But this strange Amalekite was sorely disappointed, not only in that neither did David nor his people rejoice in his murderous conduct, but also that in the end it afforded no ground to himself for boasting. "And David said unto him, 'How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?' And David called one of the young men, and said, 'Go near, and fall upon him.' And he smote him that he died. And David said unto him, 'Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed.'" This was a suitable punishment to the murderer of his prince; and let just such punishment fall unerringly upon every such murderer.

One greater than Saul in all the elements that constitute a wise and noble ruler was lately the Chief Executive of this nation; but now his lamentable death, at the hands of a fiendish assassin, has filled our land with gloom and sorrow. We exclaim, "How are the mighty fallen!"

It is wise and proper to observe God's dealings with us, and then to improve them by suitable meditations.

"God's purposes are ripening fast,
Unfolding every hour:

The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

"Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain :
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain."

We live in times of great national agitation. - of rapid changes - of stirring scenes and of terrible events. Nor do we yet see the end. The future is big with awful realities with great demands upon men, and means, and efforts — and with grand results. The year 1866, according to the expounders of prophecy, is to be a remarkable period; and already do we see something of the conflict and trial, as well as the triumph and glory, that shall follow. The saying is often found true, "Coming events cast their shadows before." But "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. Jehovah shall hide his people in his pavilion, until these calamities be overpast."

The first reflection I offer from the text is, How is the Rebellion fallen! This rebellion against the Government of the United States was inaugurated in 1860, and ripened early the next year into full maturity. It has been well called "The Great Rebellion." Although President Lincoln was the choice of the people, and was constitutionally elected and inducted into office, yet a multitude rebelliously declared, "We will not have this man to reign over us." It was an unnatural, unnecessary, and unjustifiable rebellion. It was "mighty," therefore, in its folly and madness, in attempting with limited resources to cope with a more formidable enemy. "What king going to make war with another king sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?" Solomon's wisdom was certainly disregarded: he said, "With good advice make war." I remarked at the beginning of this rebellion, to a native of Kentucky, then residing in Nevada Territory, that the South might bring into this contest every man, woman, and child she had, if she wished, and every dollar she possessed, and then it would only be a work of time, — she must, under ordinary providences, yield. She had undertaken a contest

which she was unable to carry through. The odds were fearfully against her. The rebellion was mighty, too, in its wickedness. Its secret springs were the lust of gain and the lust of power. It violated both civil and divine law. Its leaders had sworn allegiance to the Constitution and Government of the United States, and yet they trampled upon both with impunity. They rejected, too, the counsels of the Most High. "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake." It was awfully wicked to plot the entire destruction, if possible, of the wisest and best Government under the sun; to resist a mild, good, and firm Magistrate in the execution of the high trusts imposed upon him; and to entail upon millions of their fellow-citizens poverty, sickness, wounds, death, and a multitude of sorrows. The results of this rebellion also have been mighty; for millions of treasures have been expended, as well as thousands of precious lives sacrificed, to this insatiate demon of war. But it has not all been in vain. God has made the wrath of man to praise him, and he is restraining the remainder thereof. He is accomplishing thereby his own glorious purposes, in behalf of suffering humanity, and of the advancement of his own kingdom in all the earth.

But this mighty rebellion is fallen: and how great is the fall of it! It is utterly broken, and "dashed to pieces like a potter's vessel." The so-called Southern Confederacy, which was so rapid in its growth, spreading like wildfire, and in a few months embraced in its mazy folds eleven States; which was mighty in its united strength, in its military skill, bravery and efficiency, and in its varied resources and self-sacrificing delusion, has all gone to decay. Its great lights have been extinguished; its