Washington, April 15, 1865. }
“To Major-General Dix, New York:—
“Abraham Lincoln died this morning at twenty-two minutes after seven o’clock.
“EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.”
This grievous intelligence fell upon the heart of the Nation like the storm which follows the thunderbolt. The fierce, mad excitement and indignation which had fired the bosoms of all Americans at the news of their beloved President having been struck down by the hand of an assassin, was instantly followed by passionate grief and lamentation at the speedy news of his death. A deep gloom hung over the whole North—a gloom which might be compared to the dark clouds from whose bosoms flash forth vivid streams of destroying fire. In every heart arose a stern demand for retribution against the man who had bereaved a great nation in destroying its leader. This feeling gave force and depth to the mournfulness which fell solemnly on the land. In every city throughout the North, in every village,—in every place where men dwelt, strangers grasped each other by the hand, and with tear-wet eyes bewailed their country’s loss; for the universal grief made all men feel their universal fraternity. The whole country was draped in mourning. No man was so poor that his sorrow did not show itself in some touching acknowledgment of his country’s bereavement and his own sorrow. For thirty days the emblems of mourning remained on every public building; while flags heavily draped with crape were hung in the windows, or streamed from the flagstaffs of thousands on thousands of private dwellings.
The body of the martyred President lay in state at the White House for four days, where, upon the 19th of April, the funeral services were celebrated in every church throughout the North, and in most of the Canadian cities. The ceremony at the White House being over, the President’s remains were removed to the Capitol, where they lay in state for two days. On the 21st they were placed within a handsome and grandly imposing funeral car, and proceeded on their melancholy journey, stopping a certain length of time at each of the following cities: Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Chicago; arriving in Springfield, Illinois, at eight o’clock on the morning of May 3d. There—amid the scenes that had witnessed his manly labors, his successful career, his prosperity, his home affections, and his honorable progress in the esteem of his fellow-workers and fellow-citizens, the good President was laid down to his last earthly sleep. The love and the prayers of a whole people followed him to his grave, and the veneration of posterity will hallow it forever.
And there his countrymen shall come,
With memory proud, with pity dumb,
And strangers far and near,
For many and many a year.