the last syllable of recorded time,' when the volume of human history shall be sealed up and delivered to the omnipotent Judge. In all future time, on the recurrence of this day, I doubt not that the citizens of this republic will meet in solemn assembly to reflect on the life and character of Abraham Lincoln, and the awful tragic event of April 14, 1865, —an event unparalleled in the history of nations, certainly unparalleled in our own. It is eminently proper that this House should this day place upon its records a memorial of that event. The last five years have been marked by wonderful developments of individual character. Thousands of our people, before unknown to fame, have taken their places in history, crowned with immortal honors. In thousands of humble homes are dwelling heroes and patriots whose names shall never die. But greatest among all these great developments were the character and fame of Abraham Lincoln whose loss the nation still deplores. His character is aptly described in the words of England's great laureate — written thirty years ago --in which he traces the upward steps of

some

'Divinely gifted man,

Whose life in low estate began,
And on a simple village green;

'Who breaks his birth's invidious bar,

And grasps the skirts of happy chance,
And breasts the blow of circumstance,

And grapples with his evil star;

'Who makes by force his merit known,

And lives to clutch the golden keys,

To mold a mighty State's decrees,

And shape the whisper of the throne;

'And moving up from high to higher,
Becomes on Fortune's crowning slope,
The pillar of a People's hope,

The center of a world's desire.'

Such a life and character will be treasured forever as the sacred possession of the American people and of mankind. In the great drama of the rebellion there were two acts. The first was the war with its battles and sieges, victories and defeats, its sufferings and tears.

That act was closing one year ago to-night, and just as the curtain was lifting on the second and final act, the restoration of peace and liberty, just as the curtain was rising upon new characters and new events, the evil spirit of the rebellion, in the fury of despair, nerved and directed the hand of the assassin to strike down the chief character in both. It was no one man who killed Abraham Lincoln; it was the embodied spirit of treason and slavery, inspired with fearful, despairing hate, that struck him down in the moment of the nation's supremest joy.

Ah, sir, there are times in the history of men and nations, when they stand so near the veil that separates mortals from the immortals, time from eternity, and men from their God, that they can almost hear the beatings, and feel the pulsations of the heart of the Infinite. Through such a time has this nation passed. When two hundred and fiftv

thousand brave spirits passed from the field of honor, through that thin veil, to the presence of God; and when at last its parting folds admitted the martyr President to the company of the dead heroes of the republic, the nation stood so near the veil, that the whispers of God were heard by the children of men. Awe-stricken by his voice, the American people knelt in tearful reverence, and made a solemn covenant with Him, and with each other, that their nation should be saved from its enemies, that all its glories should be restored, and on the ruins of slavery and treason, the temple of freedom and justice. should be built, and should survive forever. It remains for us, consecrated by that great event, and under a covenant with God, to keep that faith, to go forward in the great work until it shall be completed. Following the lead of that great man, and obeying the high behests of God, let us remember that,

'He that sounded forth a trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat; Be swift my soul to answer him; be jubilant my feet;

To the eulogy of 1866, he added another in 1878, which should be preserved for future generations to read.

On the 16th of January, 1878, he introduced into the House of Representatives the following joint resolution, which was adopted without a division. It was subsequently adopted by the Senate, and was approved by the President, February 1, 1878:

Whereas, Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson of New York

city has tendered to Congress Carpenter's painting of President Lincoln and his Cabinet, at the time of his first reading of the Proclamation of Emancipation : Therefore,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That said painting is hereby accepted in the name of the people of the United States; and the thanks of Congress are tendered to the donor for her generous and patriotic gift.

And be it further resolved, That the Joint Committee on the Library are hereby instructed to make. arrangements for the formal presentation of said. painting to Congress, on Tuesday, the twelfth of February next; and said committee shall cause said. painting to be placed in an appropriate and conspicuous place in the Capitol, and shall carefully provide for its preservation.

And be it further resolved, That the President is requested to cause a copy of these resolutions to be forwarded to Mrs. Thompson.

In pursuance of its provisions, the hour of two o'clock, P. M., Tuesday, February 12th, was fixed for the formal presentation and acceptance of the painting, and Mr. Garfield said :

"Mr. President: By the order of the Senate and the House, and on behalf of the donor, Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, it is made my pleasant duty to deliver to Congress the painting which is now unveiled. It is the patriotic gift of an American woman whose years have been devoted to gentle and generous

charities, and to the instruction and elevation of the laboring poor.

Believing that the perpetuity and glory of her country depend upon the dignity of labor and the equal freedom of all its people, she has come to the Capitol, to place in the perpetual custody of the nation, as the symbol of her faith, the representation of that great act which proclaimed 'liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.'

Inspired by the same sentiment, the representatives of the nation have opened the doors of this Chamber to receive at her hands the sacred trust. In coming hither, these living representatives have passed under the dome and through that beautiful and venerable hall which, on another occasion, I have ventured to call the third House of American representatives, that silent assembly whose members have received their high credentials at the impartial hand of history. Year by year, we see the circle of its immortal membership enlarging; year by year, we see the elect of their country, in eloquent silence, taking their places in this American pantheon, bringing within its sacred precincts the wealth of those immortal memories which made their lives illustrious; and year by year, that august assembly is teaching deeper and grander lessons to those who serve in these more ephemeral Houses of Congress.

Among the paintings, hitherto assigned to places within the Capitol, are two which mark events forever memorable in the history of mankind; thrice memorable in the history of America,