Tale University Library

In Memory of
William White Gleason
Yale 1903
From the Fund Established
By his Wife
Elsie Smith Gleason
1944

A DISCOURSE;
On the terrible, irresistible yet sublime logic of events ag sqggested by the assassination
^j~~- -o'l President Lincoln, and the attempted assassination of Secretary. Seward;
delivered in the -KwwcKWjiBt Church, Ripon, Wis., Sutiday . i-v'
Eveniiig; April 23d, 1865,
By Rev. R. S. SANBORN:'

EiPOK,' April 24, 1865.
Rev.' R. S. Sanborn,
• Deak SiE: — -Wk, the undersigfied. heliSv-
ing that,the ¦jridest publicity possible, should
be given to the sentiments contained in yoiir
discourse of Sunday eyening last, on the sub
ject of our national mouriiiug, rdSpeCtfully
solicit you to filrnisb a copy of the same for
publiffatioii . Trusting tllat you will cheerfully
Comply with tWs request, we r'eiiiaiii
"Very Re'sjeptfally Yours,
H. 1?. HuNt'oS', G. W.DELLiNafia.
.John S. HoRNEK, Q-ilbeet'Lane,
3 M.DEFiiEES, Wm! Jackson,
G. E.BUSHN-ELI,, A. R. EoGLEsiouf,
B*Pram, C. p. Dodge,
A^W.-'Ste'vens, J Irting,
'" ¦"' And 50 others'.
, ' , EiPOB, April .27, 1865,
To H. T. Henton, John S. Horner, J. M. Da-
Fnes, O- E. Bif^fmeU, arid others:
/Gestlemen: — More out p,f deference , to
yoiw^ exipresged wish ih3,n. any special merit
which I .consider my discourse to contain, 1
Gonsept to its publication.
Yours for Justice and Truth,
R..S. Sanbqrn.

"Surely, tbe.wrath ofraanshall praise Thee; thej:e-
rnainder of wrath sh^lt TliGurestraill: PsALlvls 76; 10.
I ojfer no apology for the words which
I may speak at this bpjir, other.than io say
t)iq.t during a ministry oftwenty-four years, I
have never delivered a strictly political ser
mon, for in the most common usage of the terrn^,
1, have not, at any time of life, been a politi
cian — I have not, ir. a public manner, entered
into political discussions, tihough 1 have watch
ed closely tie grea,t current events, and three
or four times voted, when great and important
political issues w^re, at stakp. And now, but
for the occurrence of the terrible tragedjjf at
Washington, I miglit have remained a silent
^peclator of strictly political aifairs.

But to-night let me tell yoii, that in times
like these, and with an evetif occuTring so
heinous in its nature, and with prSnciples'alnd
passions at Work so wicked as to cause the
nlurder of the nation's chief magistrate;! that'
silenee is sin! fOr he who USs eyes tb'see; ears'
to hear, a; tongue to utter. Or a spill to' feel,'
aiid a will to determine, should ejliproy everyi
faculty of which he is possessed, in giViflgfoi'Be
and power to denounce, not only the horrible
act of assassination itSelf,' but also to orUBh'tbfe'
'damning wrongs arid prifaciples <?hioh' instiga
ted, planned and executed the foUl'dedd'.' ¦ NO'
such malignant and dastardlj act CotiM' have'
been perpetrated, tinlfess a mOl^fe infamdus;
principle were foilti'd lying back i'f it as the
.procuring cause. Years of the festering gan-'
grene of injustice and national signing, oul-
Iminated in that malignant and deep dyed
iorimfe! If #ds'the bolt of the red'Hghthiogs;
acoumulatiig in the moral and political at^'
mosphere of years of wrong; and is it fell, 'its'
crashing and crushing force -was id rend the
black cloud in which it had fathered', though
it saiites the national 'heart with a g^eat'ei*'
woe, so that from out Sts' agony, theh^lef'and
puri'fyer might come and do for you' and liie,
and this nation, 'what had so grdat a nded to
be done. God never permits the wicKedness'
or wrath of man, or men, or nation^; to get
beyond His control, and He never will.
One week ago to-day — while at a disfance,
from home in the country, to attend tlie fu
neral of a soldier, I first receiyed, t|ie' in
telligence of the startling fact; and I ddiifet
not that my experience, at the time," Wais like,
that of yourp,'.'and of millions of others, who
were aifected more deeply, aiid agitated more '
powerfully, than ever bef'ore. First t hi ere,
came an astoiii'shment! an overwheliiiiijgsur-'
prise! and our credulity refused an, assent to
the, terrilile' news, for we cpuld hoi .heliCVe"
that B9 fiendiBh an act could ' poasibjy ndye,
taken place ! But, as a cpiivi'cSw of .tlje faoii'

increased upon ua, surprise gave place to a
thrill of horror! the very blood seemed to cur
dle in our veins! a feeling of suffocation and
oppression, like a nightmare, pressed us do-yvn!
then came a soul sickening and deathly faint-
ness, and for a moment our hearts seemed still
in their throbbings! a tempest had burst upon
us from out a clear sky of rejoicing— when
peace had just begun to smile as sunlight at
the dawning of day! 0, what a stroke of
mingled, startling, thrilling, intense feelings
and emotions! Never before, in my experi
ence, did I feel the ¦weight of so great and
terrible a grief; never came there such a
blinding and staggering of faith in our common
humanity. And did you and I, and thousands
of others, not ask ourselves, can it be that this
land of ours contains such a demon as the
assassin? Can it be that the light of the nine
teenth century shines upon so dark and guilty
a soul? Or has the world rolled back into the
dark ages — back into the old barbarisms —
back, far back of the christian age? It seemed
next to impossible that such a deed, so mali
cious in all its bearings, so heinous in its
connections, surroundings and details, could
take place at the nation's capital, in this land
of common schools and boasted christian civil
ization. What an hour of bitter national ex
perience! How solemn the moments, as tho'
the band on the dial of time had commenced
to move backwards! But it was a pang and a
throe of national deliverance! Days, months
and years were compressed into the hour; and
as th6 horrid facts burned like hot iron into
the very depths of our consciousness, there
next came to our experience a corresponding
burning indignation; a most righteous deter
mination, swelling and surging like ocean
billows in a storm — too great and vast to be
allied to, or partake of the spirit or teeling of
revenge, but a nobler, stronger, clearer, more
intense — a twenty million power of the national
soul at white heat! swearing in its just and
righteous sense of justice, that the foul wrong
and insult shall be expiated in wiping out the
detestable spirit and principles which begat
the deed, and that a national regeneration
shall sweep away every vestage of slavery's
curse! Then the sacred ofith was registered
by millions of soals all over the land, that by
God's help and their 'vigilant endeavor, the
assassination shall have a trumpet tongue to
execrate itself, and blast as with lightning
flame, the black treason, and wicked cause
wbioh planned and executed the infernal plot.
Never hav.e the American people been stirred
clear dojvn into the vast depth of their thought,
disgust and abhorrence of wrong, as by this
assassination, which did not aim its murderous
weapons simply .upon Abraham Lincoln and
the Secretary pf gtate, but which was meant
to be the assassination of human rights; a
murder of free government, apd an intimida
tion and menace to all future occupants of the
ojdair's of state,, that they must bow to the be-
bepts of the slave tyra,nny or die!

Now we ask, in thunder tones of inquiry,
has it come to this, that henceforth, in our
government, the assassin's dagger is to rule
or ruin? Shall dark conspirators, with mur
der in their hearts, and murder reeking from
their hands, be the power behind the nation's
life, ready to take that life when the votes of
the people and the national legislation will
not go at their bidding? No, never! and
millions of men say to-night, no, never!
And so it is that we have not felt till now,
what traitors are and what treason is! Now we
know and feel that we have plunged to the'
bottom of the seething, boiling cauldron of
rebellion, and seen ita dregs muddy with cor
rupted souls ripened for darkest and most
infamous deeds. Now we probe the foul dis
ease of slavery to the core; now we compre
hend the spirit of liendishness which it engen
ders — we see its boasted honor, chivalry and
bravery, culminated in cowardice too craven
for tongue to utter, too low. vile and venom
ous for words to name! There is no feature
of courage in such deeds as the assassin com
mits. There may be a nerve to strike, but a
loathsome coward is the murderer; the most
execrable of all the wretches which the earth
contains. The duellist may have the semb
lance of bravery — the villain who robs you in
the light of day, or says to you beforehand,
"prepare to defend yourself, for you or I must
die," may have a spark of manliness — the
venomous rattlesnake which gives wirning
before it strikes with its tooth of poison, is
more brave, more generous, and more entitled
to be above the list of the meanest things and
creatures, than that consummation of all cow
ardice and meanness combined, thejftssassin,
who gives his victim no warning, bqpBiurders
more stealthily than the thief steals. Did
secession employ the emblem of a venomous
snake to illustrate the warfare which it ¦would
wage? that was an outrage on the poisonous
reptile — a clear slander of his nature; for
there is no creature which crawls or creeps on
the earth, so vile and cowardly as the assassin,
who strikes his dagger in the hour least sus
pected, and without warning to the victim of
his rage. But Booth and hjs co-workers in
murder are not all the cowards in this coward
ly work; each and all of the abettors, all of
the originators, all the vile miscreants who
countenanced or planned the scheme, are
more cowardly and loathsome than he ¦who
done the deed. I have been told that there
are persons in our midst ¦who rejoice over and
approve the act. This I cannot believe; I
have not heard any such expression.from any
tongue, and I cannot think that anywhere in
our midst such a specimen of depravity is to
be found. (A. voice in the audience — "I do.")
Well, I do not; but I say if there are any who
rejoice over the deed, and in the spirit of its
malignity exult, then such vile creatures are
less than human, and are even more craven
more cowardly and mean than Booth himself,
and I have no language adequate to express

their meanness, or the punishment which they
deserve. I tell you that the people and the
nation are at a white heat of righteous indig
nation against this dastardly act which has
lacerated millions of souls, as well as the na
tional feelings, and now it is time for all trait
ors to beware! and take full warning, for the
day of reckoning is come, and the great, tor
tured and bleeding heart of the people will no
longer bear the insult heretofore borne. The
great conspiracy against justice, liberty and
free government has become too hideous and
loathsome to be longer endured — it has emit
ted too much of its pestilent breath of vileness
for men of any pretensions to decency or
manhood, to be found, or known to have sym
pathy with it.
The rebellion has now no masks to screen
its hideous features-^all pretenses for the
revolt are gone by the board, and it is appa
rent and patent to all -men, that nothing but
a deep seated hatred 'Of free government, free
institutions and just Itiws, and a satanic and
malignant pride of caste — a despising of hon
est labor and laborers, and a determination
•on the part of the leaders of the rebellion, to
set up a despotism more oontemptable than any
which the world has seen; and if need be, to
employ the most diabolical and unhallowed
means to accomplish their ends. All this the
assassination makes more certain than ever;
and that the leading rebels are too deep-dyed
in infamy to retain, any longer, one spark of
sympathy from the civilized world.
Was there beginning to be felt some senti
ment of oommisserat'on for the baffled and
beaten legions of the Confederate army? was
there beginning to be inaugurated a move
ment of leniency towards even the leaders in
their great crime of treason ? Let me tell
you that they have dashed the proffered chal
ice to tlie ground — that they have assassinated
and murdered the common feelings of com-
misseration which the victorious might feel for
the vanquished, by this las*, act of crowning
brutality and cowardice. They have mur
dered their benefactor and well wisher, and
smote with inhuman vengeance the benevo
lence which would have mitigated their just
deserts, and saved to them something of the
privileges which they had forfeited forever.
The deed i^ done, which seals with irresista-
ble fiat the doom of slavery — and you and I
know how accursed and aocursing is its power!
I have never been known as an abolitionist
according to its most radical sense; but now,
I tell you my hearers, that I ara, in every
sense, all through and through; and that my
sentiments and feelings are those of thousands
who, up to the moment of this assassination,
might have been only indifferently so, or
somewhat inclined to think that slavery should
be let alone. The most cursing power of
slavery has been its crushing force on the
poor whites of the South, whom it has cheated
of education — of genersj intelligence; whom
it has robbed of even the chance of rising

into the condition and privileges of progress
ive manhood— -whom it has made the subserv
ient, cringing, ignorant tools for villains to
mould and handle as they have in this war —
and whose condition bas ever been below that
of the slaves themselves. 0 yes, it has cursed
the slave holders too ! It has made them the
wicked outrage rs of all that is sacred and
humane; it has sucked out their humanity,
till they could starve, insult, and murder their
prisoners without one feeling of pity or
remorse. It has vanquished all honor — and
seared, as with poisonous simoon breath, the
common sense, common honesty, and respect
for decency, on the part of those who have
been the slave owners and man sellers for
years. And it may be that such a withering
crime against God and man, had need to be
burned out as with fire ! and that only through
the pangs of this terrible hour of national
calamity and grief, can the nation be Jjorn
into a new, and higher life. Now uot^only
the blacks shall be free, but a greater eman
cipation than Lincoln proclaimed shall take
place ! the white race of the South shall be
set free! They, too, except the leaders in
this rebellion reserved to be punished, shall
find a deliverance greater than that of the
Jsraelites out of Egyptian bondage — though
through the red and more crimson sea of blood
lies their pathway to the promised land. I
for one, my hearers,, have no feelings of
revenge to-night — I pity as God's angels may
pity, the great masses of the poor white people
of the South, and I might not go for the
hanging of Jefferson Davis, and his colleagues
in crime, if they will lay down their arms and
surrender on unconditional terms; but jf it be
necessary to crush out the hydra-headed
monster of secession, slavery and wrojjg,
then let them all hang till they ^re dead ! and
all the people saj, Amen ! I tell you for one,
I have declared that my speech,, my reasop,^
my influence, shall be used and go forth'
against any and every system of wrong and
oppression, and that my life shall be a life of
endeavor to crush out and put down whatever
conspires against the rights and privileges of
my race, whether they be white or black,
rich or poor, or in whatever country they may
have been born. I have no doubt but a like
resolve has come to millions of souls within
the week that is past — a seven days, multiplied
by seventy in intensity of experience and
determination for the just and the right.
Never has liberty and equal human rights
loomed up so gloriously as in this hour — as in
this time of our nation'smourning and grief. .,,
Athwart tb.e dark oloud-storm arches
the "bow of promise," betokening that the
deluge of injustice shall no more drown the
consciences of the ruled and the rulers of this
land; but that the whole Continent of Ameri
ca shall emerge from out the deep, turbid
waters of all slavery, monarchy, and aristo
cratic rule; and that a glorious democracy,
purified, washed and madc^ clean aa the robes

of the saints' in the apocalyptic vision, shall
be theforoe, the law, and the air of govern
ment "for all coming time ! This is tbe irre
sistible 'and subli'me logic of the events now
trahspirlfig; and which Cotnes to us a glorious
baptiSni of new faith, for Thou, God, art
making- and shall mjEke; "the. wrath of man
tb praise Theo, arid the remainder of wrath
Shalt Thou restrain." '¦' ' '
' 1 am iiot Oiie of those who divorce the Deity
¦from' the affairs of men — God is sometimes in
the'-whirlwind dirtectihg the storm. ' The right
hand of His power grasps all terrible events,
and with them smites the power of evil — He
disappoints the wickedness of the wicked, and
takes them in tlieit own snare. And So it is
that the murdere'r caniiot go where his murder
shall n'ot find him out ! No place or people
sball afford him asylum or safe retreat; and
if he' shall eatiSLpe the vigilance or vengeance
of men, yet juStiCe'will .espy and find him;
ah'd'not 'only he who done the deed, but those
'who planned and conspired shall get their
full defeerts; 'their oWn 'Wlrath shall 'come upon
theili to the 'nttermost, and with 'Swift and
terrible' recoil ! This is 'the terrible logic of
tlj'e event — while the sublime and irresistible
conclusion also' comes, that to the eye of God
and'angels there might have been seen the
need of all'tWs grief and sorrow, as a storm
pf purification, which shall remove the films
from the jaundiced vision of so many hitherto
morally or mentally blind,
Had tliere already been offered the sacrifice
of half- a million of precious lives — has nearly
ev'*ry htjuse anidhome in' ourland become a
shrinfe of grief and mourning for those who
have starved' in'prisons, died in hospitals, or
fallen 'in bal!tle ? Even these may 'not have
br'Ouglit the '-^pepple far enough along tb
m'easure, with truest perception, the great
cause for -which they were contending. Even
these had, not lifted the veil and cleai^ly
revekled Ml the dark workings and plottingS'
of the gf eat curse; and so' there was pertait-
ted another' offering of the nation's noblest
I'epresentativeman, to establish and glorify
thei na'tion'S 'central principle and truth of self
govefnmcint; <Ae people ruling and ruled iy tlie
people, "'wbick is to-day, and shall be right
onward and ever, the 'vital otirreut of our
national life. ' ' ' '' '
There shall go out from this crOwning act'
Of;treasbn, an irresistible force against trea
son, smiting it; for all along the line of the
ages such has been the conflict 'between right
ftSd'wrOn'g, the truei and the falsie, that each'
martyr's biood has helped to consecrate the
good cause for which they 'have died, while
rtcoiliag wic'kedfiess has smote itself by the'
stroke of death which' it 'would iniSiot on 'what
it -opposed. No grand forward mardli has
beeuttiken, but what 'has received the bap
tising blood of the heroes of the' foremost
ranks ! Any hoary Sin and wrong 'dies hard,
and grows mote spiteful and venomous in the
last throes of its struggle with death. Did

the cruoifyers of Christ suppose that they
could crucify Christ's truth ? Doubtless they
thoilght thus. So have all the persecutors of
right and righteousness malignantly dreamed.
fiutlo! their dreams have vanished — God's
truth, and all the principles boi^ of it, never
die ! — each martyr consecrates them anew,
while a' thousand bands of evil which have
crucified and opposed have been broken
forever. When will the men who oppose the
just, the true, and the right, learn the great
lessons which history reads to themfrom her
voluminous records? Could not the^ plotiters
of this rebellion see that a war for the wrong
would be a crushing po"wer for the wrong?
Had they not all along felt 'the crumbling
forces of the earthquake which was shaking
down the walls of that ifistitutiott founded on
the chattelism of human bodies and souls ?
Did they not see in the unpar.illeled and
darkest of all conspiracies to ass'assinate the
President and his Cabinet, (for they an
nounced weeks ago that the world would soon
be startled by a new mode of warfare, and be
astonished at what would soon take place,)'
that their malignity would be their weakness,
and that thpir own venom would be their own
poison? No, they; did not see. Fiendish
malignity is alw-ays blind. , It has no eyes of
prophetic seeing; it alwa;^^ o'erleaps itself.
Wrong has no cool, calm head' of reasoning;
but it has the headlong rush to ruin ! Hell
rages; but God reigns! Right is'patient,
trusting, believiiig. and has a vital current of
immortality; and though in its conflicts with
evil, it seems sometimes to be- vanquished';.
when lo ! a hand moves through the smoke-
and carnage of battle, and there it is seen,
radiant as an angel of God; unconquered and
unharmed. Ever since the rebellion fired the first gun on
Sumter, It has heeia .pulling down its own house
on its own head — its cruelty to its own people
has helped to doit — its starving of Union pris--
oners has 'helped to do it — it? Sfeudish acts and'
wanton out)'ages conspicuous in every depart
ment ofits operptions, have been its suicidal
mad thrusts at its own v-itals ; and never have
tl)e^6 facts,, the terrible and irresistible logic of
events, been more fully demonstrated than in
this crowning act of ferocity, wherein a giant
tyranny reaches out its witBering hand for one
more Stab at liberty before it expttes. Aiid
now. Oh ye plotters ! yo blind schemers !¦ ^S
dftrk-souled haters of justice ; secret conclaves
of treason ; ye seal your own doom, and get for
yourselves and the cause yon represent, not only
the execration of all noble minds and good mem
the wide -Sforld over, hut in, coming time, the!
nations and people yet unborn shall read jour
history and detest;, ypu, while what you have
warred against, and tried to overthrow, sli,all
live, more gloriously bright and strong as wave,'
chases vrave, down to the last one ''that shall
bi'eak' oh the shorbs of time !
Had the slave power in the Soil th been con
tent to have remained in a peaceful attit'ude a
little longer, then might the peiiod of i"ts life '
been obrrespondiugly oontiniied ; but liow it dies

hy its own triad phrenZy— dies by its own suioi
dal hand. What a singular blindness ¦was that,
when the slave tyranny rebelled for tyranny,
and struck the first blo^vv again.st liberty, as the
aggressive force. There is no parallel to' this in
the history of the world, or even appro.ximate
in' the annals of all "past time. Had the .sUivSs
risen in rebellion against their masters, and the
¦ipasters used tfieir force in putting such rebell
ion down, then might 'there have been sortie-
tbing of respect aiid' sympathy, even for t'he
slave pow'er, in' its ^far of self defense iigaiiist
rebellion. Or had .'the poor vvhitie population
rebelled ifg.^inst ' tbfe aristocracy which held
them, and ever hafe, in a mental, moral and
social dcgredation, beldw the fi'l'acks, 'even then
this aristocracy, acting in Self defense, "mighti
naturally enough have fought such rebellion
withaliirge chance fOr' success ; and possibly
the pyinpathies of a large number of eveii good
men, might have reiiiained on the side 'of law
ful and constit.utfed' authority. Or if the free
Nortel' bad commenced the war upon the South,
a.nd ,' sought b.'V' fdi-oe of arni.^ to exterininat'e
slavery or divide the Union, then, top, iniglit
th'e , slave power ar'd'the 'slave Stttesl acting on
the'Vlcfensiv'e.' had 'some' justice 'on their side,
and posfeibly ilai'ght ¦hiiveCO'nquered or held their
own. , Sut ho'w .absolutely 'the i-everse of all tliese
conditions arid "circuriist'itii'es ' stknd the case.
The slaves have not rebelled against their mas
ters— the poor'whitea hare not rebelled against
the aristocracy — the South has not' tne'd to nave
the Union against the efforts of the jN'orth to'
break it up ; but slavery has i-ebellecl ag.<ilnst
Freedom, and" Wroug, uiiprovokod, struck Ja
blow for wrbng, and dared the right, aud in
sulted it; and said' to all the world, we hate
freedom, we hate even an alliance -with it, we
¦*ill not live u'lider' the same flag— even its de-
liioci-acy -tv'hidli'we'hav&inude a'pretense of aid
ing and rcspecfiEg,'\frij'now abuse.' Iri God and
reason's name,'Who'' shall wonder that Euoh an
unparalleled warfare of unrighteousness aggres
sively fishting for itself, agairist the most, just
and righteous caO'iie, could have the leiist possi
bility of success ? Unde"!- the irresistible !bg;c
of 'these facts, I said -when the. rebellion first
commenced, th'at'God ati'dbrave souls would see
to it that the right shall triiimph!' I' saw the
doOmof'slavery atthe very stai't of the war fbr
slavery. I never have had a doubt how the con
test would erid, though! coirld not tell when it
would ehd. So lip disaster bas shaken my faith;
no momentW.Y trium-ph of the rebellion has ev
er shattc'red my 'hopes; and terrible as the
scourge pf 'tire war has been in all its forms and
features, both to 'the' North and the South, and
more 'especially so to the latter, I have said, and
still' sky; thdt' the noblest form'of 'patinrialfree-
dom. has beijn permitted to contend withtibe
worst form Of national slavery ; and that by the
issue the'ques'tion is to be settled for liberty, and.
a purely demd^ratic self government, against
not only the' qUestiOn of 'slavery at the South,
but for free grfvBrnment andfree institutions all
01 er the world'. It is the great initiatory war
for freedorti'for all people^— and the issue of the
cdhtest here'j'.is to be the issue everywhere ; and
so it ia, that on the other side' of the Atlantic
Ocean, millions are watching it with a' more"
breathless 'anxiety than ourselves; -and man-'
archil tremble ! and aristoeraoies vent their I'age !'¦

butfnillioris on millions of souls hiave one beat
ing heart, one hope, one holy desire ; and as'
true, as God lives, the concentrated, and conse
crated "i-iray'er of those millions, Pf souls, ,tliijt
our.dause, which is their cause,, shall suoooe(J, is
registci-od already in' the Eternal Decrees— it
shall be acoomplished"! ' ', , , , ,.
I sald'more than two years agp, iri the second
ser^u'cJin'l preached in this city, from the text,
"The 'mbrning cometh and also the nightj" tbat
dark as was then our national night, and, it
might g'l'Dw darker jiiill ; yet, that the, morning
pf its deliverance wasus siire as the night of its
darkness. .Well, as it is always "darke.st ju?t
before day," so -now wa know th^t- the radiant
niorning dawns,; the assassination , of our Presi
dent is the, darli ,bour before the break of glori
ous morning! Oh what an hour cf darkness!
But the gloom is parting its sombre folds. 'The
sl;one is being rolled away from'the ^epulohre,— r
liberty'sresusitationcommsnces ffofn this hour.
I see the certainty of,,'its' resurrected aud glorified
life. I know til a,!;^ justice ohall,be vindicated.
I. feel what tweiity m'illipns of m.j oountryriien
feel in this, tiriiebf our gi-icf, that we are being,
baptized wlth'tbc fire of 'nation,al, regeneration,
So let the furnace glow, till all the drosS and
alloy are consumed'; till the fine gold'.of our
national freedom, which slavery has, dimmed,
shall have liberfy's face, like tljftt,pf an angel,
clearly and fully reflected therefroml ' Now,
you and 1 feel that not' onl.y Am'erjba shall rise
in tiie grandeur of a 'pure democracy— the peo
ple governed aiid governing thenii^elvea — the law
makers obeying the laws ; but on thi^.cojitinenti
from the Northern 'Seas to the, |G'rilf o^.'^e.idoo'j,
and clear on to Cape Horn, mpjj^rchy, aristop|-
racy, and.eyery oppressive, divarflrig, 'apd on-.
slaving po^wer shall die! This is the. pnblime!
logic of, event's; rigAt is coming tp f^e/mightl]
Gpd isfor it-— noble minds are f|o,r'it ;, humanity-
shiill feel it'thrllling like grand ebjipes all thprongh
its great beating heart of hope ! ' Jjlussia, says.it
in the emancipation of her millions of serfs b'y
tin alisolute pjoparoh, ',Yhose edict pf freedom is
greater thau liiraself, .and the iaOjS^' glorious' act
that any 'mpijarch ever,perfOrmed':;',^nd an hun
dred millions of' pepple in the Old'.'jV'prld, watch
ing the issues p.f pur struggle, and '.to. whom, ^Ije
Inews of ',the|Prcsident's assassina,tipn','s^aU'c*ome
these shall'swear by all their det;e3tatipn of the
grgat'iiisUlt to humanity's rightf;,,that the oa'we'^
of 'Americiiu Liberliy is the cause of the ¦yvprlp,,;.,
and so sh'all t'beir prayers, and all thpir. soiij
yearnings be', v/itb us, an electric power; a fnag-|
tiet'rriind forbe'; helping to vanquish tbe.'wrongi
and help' on the right! ThenationaJ ol'oud pf
grief ' shall turn its "sili/ej-' 'lining;" , Last
Wednesday, there 'was 'the sub'liriie 'e'-vent of
t^vi^enty millions of souls in moul'h'ing fo'-r'the
dea'th of one njan ;' all'smitteli -witjh "he'na'riie'
grief '; party feeling 'hushed; alT pblitioar'rano'or
slundbering; the ^vei'' of differehceS ' calnied ;
^nd' these pebble 'all unite in t]ie''fnneTal '.servi
ces' tb ho.nor and' respect the m'artyred "man' of
the people," IIow'|;his mighty, surging, Batibn-
al emotioh, swelling in solemn dirge ;. spoken li' .
funeral sbi-mbns and orations, in every town' and
State— ihow this' sliHimo spectacle 'shall go forth
¦with its''prophet voice, speaking' in. powel- 'and
working -ivith irresistable force.
I Jiavo been asked during the past week, why .
it is that lb many gocdinei,- t^lftiriaihg the'itame''

•of democracy, have been so strongly in sympa
thy with the South and its peculiar institution,
and why, during this rebellion, they have still
expressed that sympathy? I answer, that by a
most singular train of circumstances, that sym
pathy was begotten, and by a more singular hal
lucination, has that sympathy been retained.
Pemoeracy is a talismanic term and idm of -the
people; it is, in its fullest significance, aii in
stinot of the rights and privileges of the people-
it allows no aristocracy to rule and govern the
majority! it allows no monopoly to create pirivi-
leges for the few which are not shared in by the
man.y — it Is the people ruling, and ruled by the
people; and as it grows and deepens in harmony
¦with an enlightened public moral sentiment, the
people becotae a law unto themselves — respect
ing themselves, ahd demand that the greatest
good of the greatest number, shall not infringe
upon the absolute rights of the least number.
This is the ideal ahd genius of our government
in ita tree northern aspects, unallied with the
slave-making aristocracy of the South. In niy
earliest re'JoUections, this principle of democracy
had a strong party, and was sensitively Jealous
of its rights, and strenuously opposed money
monopoly in every possible shape— high tariff,
and gigantic corporations were its mortal foes.
Andrew Jackson was its embodiment and ex
ponent, and ideal man. Now, Southern politi
cians, although slaveholders and aristocrats,
saw their chance to wield the sceptre of power
if an alliance offensive and defensive could be
fi'rmed with this numerous party at the North.
Tariff for manufacturers' interest at the North
was against their interest ; in this they and the
democracy were one, so that alliance was formed
and numeroiLs political battles fought, and vic
tories won by that alliance, cemented a very
strong friendship between them, while the inter
ests of the South were kept intact. Now the
Northern democracy lost sight of the absolute
conditions of the case; they did not see that
while they opposed monopolies at the North,
that lihey were allied to, and in every way as
sisting to create and strengthen both a gigantic
monopoly and aristocracy at the South ; and, as
long as by their alliance they could make sUre
¦of presidential elections, and get control of gov-
letnraent ofUces, all other ideas, thoughts, feel
ings or principles were entirely ignored ; ^o you
see that the slave power, the very antipodes of
democracy, seduced the noble principle, abd the
^oriouB name, as wicked men sometimes "steal
the livery of the Court of Heaven to serve the
devil in,"— and with most tenacious grasp tas
'held her name, though the vital spirit has long
since died from out the name. Now thousands
'Of good men cling to the name of demooraoy, as
'the word expressive of their ideal, and by the
most astonishing of hallucinations think that
slavery and demooraoy are one. Pe.gasus yokea
to the ox, in the poet's fable, was never so un-
'equaled a match ; and why deraocraoy has not
done what the noble Pegasus did, by refusing to
draw with the ox, can only be accounted for on
the ground that this latter I'egasus must have
been blind in one eye at least, if not in both,
and did n'ot see the name and nature of the
creature to which he was yoked. But now let
me tell you that the scales and films of obsoura-
ted vision are dropping off— the spell is being
broken— the rebellion reveals the creature ; and

this dark and damning deed of assassination is
making Pegasus feel the horns as well as see the
fflaligtiant tlglinfess of the creature to Which he
has so long been allied. And I tell you that
henceforth it shall be clearly seen, and gloriously
understood, that a democracy -worthy of the
name, or embodying a spark of its grand and
glorious principles, has no possible affinity with
an aristocracy built and perpetuated on the
slavery of blacks, and the worse than slavery of
the masses of the poor whites ; and where the
select few feed and fatten, and grow insoleht,
and heaven and humanity-defying, on the sweat
and toil of the toany. Why, one of the boldest
blasphemies that the rebels have uttered during
the war, has been that of saying that they were
"fighting for freedom," "stragling for liberty"—
this has beeti the great lie all along that should
have blistered their lips as with a coal of fire !
But the lie is dying— they have stabbed it again;
so it shall not deceive any more. And now
shall not democraey become disenthralled from
the foul embrace of its seducer ? Shall it not
rise and be glorified in a redemption of its name
from the disreputable company it has so long
kept? Two great parties may ever exist in our
country as checks and balances on each other,
but in reason and humanity's name, may neith
er of them ever be allied to a giant wrong, like
that which is now biting itself and dying by its
own poison !
You may think, some of you, my hearers, that
I speak in too plain terms, and that I go beyond
the proper sphere of my duties on this Sunday
evening; but I tell you again, that it were a sin
to be silent in the perils and hopes Of this hour;
and with Martin Luther, who said that he would
go to the Diet, at Worhis, "though every tile on
the house-tops were a devil to oppose" — so now
I would speak, and give undisguised and honest
expression, lo my thoughts,if every shingle on
this chtirch were a devil bidding me cease.
"Th're ia a tide in tiie afTairs of men,
"Which, ir taken at the flood.
Leads on to fortune,"
So it is with nations; and as this is the flood tide
of our hational affairs, let us see to it that all of
us so speak and act, as that the fortune of the
national salvatioii shall jbe secured.
I am not angry — 1 breathe no spirit of revenge
— I harbor no hatred against men, but I feel
strong and clear for thedright — clearer, stronger
and calmer than ever before; and I have regis
tered the determination, as thousands of others
have done the past week, that I will live for the
right, labor for the just, and resist the oppres
sive, in all right and honorable ways, so long as
I live. The elevation of the masses, and the
emancipation of the world from all kinds of op
pression, this is mine, this is yours, and my
country's mission, which is -n-iitten and declared
in the irresistible aud sublime logic of passing
events. The peoples' President is murdered 1 but
the peoples' cause lives, and will live and grow
purer and grander the longer it lives ! Hear it,
tyrants, all over the world; hear it ye who would
live on the toil and sweat of the many; hear it
ye short sighted powers of evil: ye cannot assas
sinate a righteous cause ! You may battle lor
the wrong, and thousands may die in the contest,
but all that is pure, and holy, and just, and true,
belongs to the eternal and imporishable; these
cannot die ! for it is written, "surely the wrath

of man shall praise Thes; the remai nder of wrath
shalt Thou restrain." Now I see the cloud folds
of this great national bereavment parting, and
filoft, through the bright opening, the angel of

liberty waves her banner and beckons the nation
onward, and higher, till the azure blue of God's
sky, with all the stars shining in beauty, shall be
over one people, wiited, happy and free !