"To you, men of Illinois, Lincoln is the most famous and worthy of all those who have adorned your commonwealth. To you, citizens of the United States, he is the President who carried you through a terrible conflict and saved the Union. To us in England he is one of the heroes of the race whence you and we sprung. We honor his memory as you do; and it is fitting that one who is privileged here to represent the land from which his forefathers came should bring on behalf of England a tribute of admiration for him and of thankfulness to the Providence which gave him to you in your hour of need. "Great men are the noblest possession of a nation, and are potent forces in the molding of national character. Their influence lives after them, and if they be good as well as great, they remain as beacons lighting the course of all who follow them. They set for succeeding generations the standards of public life. They stir the spirit and rouse the energy of the youth who seek to emulate their virtues in the service of the country." At Washington City all Government and leading business houses were closed. The Senate adjourned until Monday, but in the House, Lincoln's famous Gettysburg speech was read by Representative Boutell, of Illinois. Appropriate exercises were held at Howard University, where a large negro student body witnessed the unveiling of a large painting of the "Underground Railroad." Secretary of the Interior Garfield and other speakers were on the program. In Boston, the city sometimes called the literary "hub of the universe," Senator Lodge gave an address on the life and work of Mr. Lincoln before the Massachusetts Legislature. At a meeting held in the evening in Symphony Hall, John D. Long, former Secretary of the Navy, gave an address, and Julia Ward Howe, author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," read a poem she had written for the occasion, depicting Lincoln's rise from obscurity to the leader of the nation. In Chicago, the metropolis of Lincoln's adopted State, fifty public meetings were held in his honor. The city was fairly buried beneath flags, buntings, and pictures of Lincoln. Show-windows were filled with war relics and Lincoln mementoes. Streets were crowded with marchers and military bands. Standing bareheaded in Lincoln Park, in sight of the Lincoln Statue, a group of Civil War veterans fired a presidential salute. Dexter Pavilion, at night, was crowded, while a chorus of one thousand voices sang patriotic songs. At Gettysburg, where Lincoln delivered his classic address dedicating the national cemetery, November 19, 1863, the day was duly observed. The principal exercises were held on the campus of Gettysburg College, near Seminary Ridge, where much of the first and second days' fighting occurred during the great battle. Lincoln's Gettysburg address was read by Judge Samuel McSwope.