TRIBUTES TO HIS CHARACTER.

Who trusts the strength will with the burden grow,
That God makes instruments to work his will,

If but that will we can arrive to know,

Nor tamper with the weights of good and ill.

So he went forth to battle on the side

That he felt clear was Liberty's and Right's, As in his peasant boyhood he had plied

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His warfare with rude Nature's thwarting mights

The uncleared forest, the unbroken soil;

The iron-bark, that turns the lumberer's ax;
The rapids, that o'erbears the boatman's toil;
The prairie, hiding the mazed wanderer's tracks ;
The ambushed Indian, and the prowling bear-

Such were the needs that helped his youth to train;
Rough culture, but such trees large fruit may bear,
If but their stocks be of right girth and grain.

So he grew up a destined work to do,

And lived to do it; four long suffering years Ill-fate, ill-feeling, ill-report lived through,

And then he heard the hisses change to cheers,

The taunts to tribute, the abuse to praise,

And took both with the same unwavering mood; Till, as he came on light from darkling days,

And seemed to touch the goal from where he stood,

A felon hand, between the goal and him,

Reached from behind his back, a trigger press'dAnd those perplexed and patient eyes were dim,

Those gaunt, long laboring limbs were laid to rest!

The words of mercy were upon his lips,

Forgiveness in his heart and on his pen, When this vile murderer brought swift eclipse

To thoughts of peace on earth, good-will to men.

The Old World and the New, from sea to sea,

Utter one voice of sympathy and shame!
Sore heart, so stopped when it at last beat high!
Sad life, cut short just as its triumph came!

A deed accursed! Strokes have been struck before
By the assassin's hand, whereof men doubt

If more of horror or disgrace they bore;

But thy foul crime, like Cain's, stands darkly out.

Vile hand, that brandest murder on a strife,
Whate'er its grounds, stoutly and nobly striven;
And with the martyr's crown crownest a life
With much to praise, little to be forgiven!

Young man, friend and brother, we have seen what honesty, Christian principles, and persevering industry accomplished for an obscure pioneer laborer. If we practice the same virtues, we can not fail to win the confidence and affection of our fellow-men, or fail in usefulness to ourselves, our friends, and our country. If we avoid his errors, we will also avoid many of his sorrows. If we give our hearts to Jesus, we may fail of the distinction achieved by him on earth, but we

TRIBUTES TO HIS CHARACTER.

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will be crowned with honors before which the brightest earthly glory is as emptiness and vanity. Let us stand up for ourselves, our honor, our purity, our manhood. Let us defend justice, liberty, and human rights, at any cost, and at all hazards. Above all, let us stand firm for JESUS, who was not ashamed to die for us; firm in honoring him by obeying him and following his example; and may his mighty arm uphold us to the end!

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.

O, SLOW to smite and swift to spare!
Gentle, and merciful, and just!
Who in the fear of God did'st bear
The sword of power-a nation s trust―

In sorrow by thy bier we stand,
Amid the awe that hushes all,
And speak the anguish of a land

That shook with horror at thy fall.

Thy task is done-the bond are free;
We bear thee to thy honored grave,
Whose proudest monuments shall be
The broken fetters of the slave.

Pure was thy life; its bloody close

Has placed thee with the sons of light,

Among the noble host of those

Who perished in the cause of Right.