Mr. Stanton closed the martyr’s eyes, drew the sheet over his face, and said, “Now he belongs to the Ages.”
[CHAPTER X]
I. THE FRIEND OF HUMANITY
The nation was in mourning at the unspeakable tragedy. Friend and foe had just begun to learn how great was the difference between him and other men. Coming as it did at the close of the war, in the very dawn of peace, the assassination seemed so needless and cruel, even in the name of his bitterest foe.
Walt Whitman wrote one of the most stirring appreciations of the time.
“O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every wrack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,