Abraham Lincoln : $b A memorial discourse — John Shaqi
Abraham Lincoln : $b A memorial discourseEddy, T. M. (Thomas Mears)
Religion
Abraham Lincoln : $b A memorial discourse
Eddy, T. M. (Thomas Mears)
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
2. We must complete the destruction of slavery. Added to its long
catalogue of crimes, it has now slain the Lord's Anointed, the man
whom he made strong! Now as THE ETERNAL liveth, it must die! By the
agonies it has caused, by the uncoffined graves it has filled, by the
tears it has wrung from pure women and little children, by our sons
and brothers starved to death in its mined prisons, by our beloved
Chief Magistrate murdered, by all these do we this day swear unto the
LORD that slavery SHALL DIE and that he would save it shall
politically die with it!
3. This day, as funeral rites are being said, and sobs are coming
up from a smitten household and bereaved people, before the Lord do
we solemnly demand that justice be done in the land upon evil-doers,
that blood-guiltiness may be taken away, and that men shall not dare
repeat such crimes.
_When treason slew Abraham Lincoln, it slew the pardoning power,_
and by its own act placed authority in the hands of one of sterner
mold and fiery soul--one deeply wronged by its atrocities. Now let it
receive the reward of its own hands! This is the demand of mercy as
well as justice, that after generations may see the expiation of
treason is too costly for its commission. Mercy to the many demands
the punishment of the guilty.
The assassin of the Chief Magistrate must be found. Though all seas
must be crossed, all mountains ascended, all valleys traversed, he
_must_ be found! If he hide him under the mane of the British lion,
beneath the paw of the Russian bear or among the lilies of France, he
must be found and plucked thence for punishment! If there be no
extradition treaty, then the strong hands of our power must make one.
He was a tragedian. Had he never read--
"If the assassination
Could trammel up the consequences and catch
With this surcease, success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all _here,_
* * * * * * * * * *
"We'd jump the life to come. But in these cases
_We still have judgment here._ We but teach
Bloody inventions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventors. Thus even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice
To our own lips."
We are told that he excelled in the part of Richard III. Did he not
remember the tent scene--
"My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain--
Perjury, perjury, in the highest degree,
Murder, stern murder, in the darkest degree;
All several sins, all used in each degree,
Throng to the bar, crying all--Guilty! guilty!
I shall despair. There is no creature loves me;
And, if I die, no soul will pity me."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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