Page images
PDF
EPUB

REPLY TO THE RESOLUTIONS OF THE

EAST BALTIMORE METHODIST

CONFERENCE

OF 1862.

THESE kind words of approval, coming from so numerous a body of intelligent Christian people, and so free from all suspicion of sinister motives, are indeed encouraging to me. By the help of an all-wise Providence, I shall endeavor to do my duty, and I shall expect the continuance of your prayers for a right solution of our national difficulties, and the restoration of our country to peace and prosperity.

EMERSON BENNETT.

249

Ο

N several occasions, during our unfortunate internecine troubles, it fell to my iot to visit Washington and have personal interviews with Abraham Lincoln, and my impression of him then was, and still is, that he possessed a heart, which, in its great humane reach, would take in all mankind; that he was a man of earnest, honest, single purpose; entirely unostentatious, free from petty jealousy and ignoble ambition; willing to live and labor for the good of mankind; full of genuine sympathy; thinking of everybody except himself; and who felt as if he were sent to perform a mission on earth, that must hasten to a completion in order that he might be removed to another scene of action. He was intellectual beyond most men, with a grand reach of thought, which could grasp a great subject and comprehend it in its entirety, and then, with a few well-chosen words he could so simplify as to make it plain and clear to the most ordinary understanding. Along with a gentle, tender, yearning sympathy, he had the firmness of a rock and the courage of a lion. No one in the right ever feared to meet him, and no one in the wrong could stand unmoved before his deep, searching gaze. He was evidently a man of destinyhere for a purpose-to be removed with the end of his mission. Simple, sincere, honest, earnest, upright, just,

pure, noble and good, he was one of the best men who ever lived to bless mankind, or died a martyr in a holy

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

EUGENE J. HALL.

251

[ocr errors]

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

HONORED name, revered and undecaying, Engraven on each heart, O soul sublime! That, like a planet through the heavens straying, Outlives the wreck of time!

O rough strong soul, your noble self-possession
Is unforgotten. Still your work remains.
You freed from bondage and from vile oppression
A race in clanking chains.

O furrowed face, beloved by all the nation !

O tall gaunt form, to memory fondly dear!
O firm bold hand, our strength and our salvation!
O heart that knew no fear!

Lincoln, your manhood shall survive forever,
Shedding a fadeless halo round your name.
Urging men on, with wise and strong endeavor,
To bright and honest fame!

Through years of care, to rest and joy a stranger,
You saw complete the work you had begun,
Thoughtless of threats, nor heeding death or danger,
You toiled till all was done.

You freed the bondman from his iron master,
You broke the strong and cruel chains he wore,
You saved the Ship of State from foul disaster
And brought her safe to shore.

You fell! An anxious nation's hopes seemed blighted,
While millions shuddered at your dreadful fall;
But God is good! His wondrous hand has righted

And reunited all.

You fell, but in your death you were victorious;

To moulder in the tomb your form has gone,
While through the world your great soul grows more glorious
As years go gliding on!

All hail, great Chieftain! Long will sweetly cluster
A thousand memories round your sacred name,
Nor time, nor death shall dim the spotless luster
That shines upon your fame.

[merged small][ocr errors]
« PreviousContinue »