On the day of his death, this simple Western attorney, who according to one party was a vulgar joker, and whom the doctrinaires among his own supporters accused of wanting every element of statesmanship, was the most absolute ruler in Christendom, and this solely by the hold his good-humored sagacity had laid on the hearts and understandings of his countrymen. Nor was this all, for it appeared that he had drawn the great majority, not only of his fellow-citizens, but of mankind, also, to his side. So strong and so persuasive is honest manliness without a single quality of romance or unreal sentiment to help it! A civilian during times of the most captivating military achievement, awkward, with no skill in the lower technicalities of manners, he left behind him a fame beyond that of any conqueror, the memory of a grace higher than that of outward person, and of gentlemanliness deeper than mere breeding. Never before that startled April morning did such multitudes of men shed tears for the death of one they had never seen, as if with him a friendly presence had been taken away from their lives, leaving them colder and darker. Never was funeral panegyric so eloquent as the silent look of sympathy which strangers exchanged when they met on that day. Their common manhood had lost a kinsman. ABRAHAM LINCOLN January First, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-Three BY FRANK MOORE Stand like an anvil, when 'tis beaten With the full vigor of the smith's right arm! Stand like the noble oak-tree, when 'tis eaten By the Saperda and his ravenous swarm! For many smiths will strike the ringing blows Ere the red drama now enacting close; And human insects, gnawing at thy fame, Conspire to bring thy honored head to shame. Stand like the firmament, upholden By an invisible but Almighty hand! He whomsoever JUSTICE doth embolden, Unshaken, unseduced, unawed shall stand. Invisible support is mightier far, With noble aims, than walls of granite are; And simple consciousness of justice gives Strength to a purpose while that purpose lives. Stand like the rock that looks defiant Far o'er the surging seas that lash its form! Composed, determined, watchful, self-reliant, Be master of thyself, and rule the storm! And thou shalt soon behold the bow of peace Span the broad heavens, and the wild tumult cease; And see the billows, with the clouds that meet, Subdued and calm, come crouching to thy feet. THE PROCLAMATION[6] BY JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER Saint Patrick, slave to Milcho of the herds Of Ballymena, sleeping, heard these words: "Arise, and flee Out from the land of bondage, and be free!"