The members of the House of Hope were intensely patriotic. Many of their number were at the front defending their imperiled country. Scores and scores of times during the desperate conflict had the eloquent pastor of this church delivered stirring addresses favoring a vigorous prosecution of the war. During the darkest days of the Rebellion, when the prospect of the final triumph of the cause of the Union seemed furthest off, Mr. Noble never faltered; he believed that the cause was just and that right would finally triumph. When the terrible and heart-rending news was received that an assassin's bullet had ended the life of the greatest of all presidents the effect was so paralyzing that hearts almost ceased beating. Every member of the congregation felt as if one of their own household had been suddenly taken from them. The services at the church on the Sunday morning following the assassination were most solemn and impressive. The little edifice was crowded almost to suffication, and when the pastor was seen slowly ascending the pulpit, breathless silence prevailed. He was pale and haggard, and appeared to be suffering great mental agony. With bowed head and uplifted hands, and with a voice trembling with almost uncontrollable emotion, he delivered one of the most fervent and impressive invocations ever heard by the audience. Had the dead body of the president been placed in front of the altar, the solemnity of the occasion could not have been greater. In the discourse that followed, Mr. Noble briefly sketched the early history of the president, and then devoted some time to the many grand deeds he had accomplished during the time he had been in the presidential chair. For more than four years he had patiently and anxiously watched the progress of the terrible struggle, and now, when victory was in sight, when it was apparent to all that the fall of Richmond, the surrender of Lee and the probable surrender of Johnston would end the long war, he was cruelly stricken down by the hand of an assassin. "With malice towards none and with charity to all, and with firmness for the right, as God gives us to see the right," were utterances then fresh from the president's lips. To strike down such a man at such a time was indeed a crime most horrible. There was scarcely a dry eye in the audience. Men and women alike wept. It was supposed at the time that Secretary of State Seward had also fallen a victim of the assassin's dagger. It was the purpose of the conspirators to murder the president, vice president and entire cabinet, but in only one instance did the attempt prove fatal. Secretary Seward was the foremost statesmen of the time. His diplomatic skill had kept the country free from foreign entanglements during the long and bitter struggle. He, too, was eulogized by the minister, and it rendered the occasion doubly mournful.
Since that time two other presidents have been mercilessly slain by the hand of an assassin, and although the shock to the country was terrible, it never seemed as if the grief was as deep and universal as when the bullet fired by John Wilkes Booth pierced the temple of Abraham Lincoln.
AN ALLEGORICAL HOROSCOPE
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IN TWO CHAPTERS.
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CHAPTER I.—AN OPTIMISTIC FORECAST.
As the sun was gently receding in the western horizon on a beautiful summer evening nearly a century ago, a solitary voyageur might have been seen slowly ascending the sinuous stream that stretches from the North Star State to the Gulf of Mexico. He was on a mission of peace and good will to the red men of the distant forest. On nearing the shore of what is now a great city the lonely voyageur was amazed on discovering that the pale face of the white man had many years preceded him. "What, ho!" he muttered to himself; "methinks I see a paleface toying with a dusky maiden. I will have speech with him." On approaching near where the two were engaged in some weird incantation the voyageur overheard the dusky maiden impart a strange message to the paleface by her side. "From the stars I see in the firmament, the fixed stars that predominate in the configuration, I deduce the future destiny of man. 'Tis with thee. O Robert, to live always. This elixer which I now do administer to thee has been known to our people for countless generations. The possession of it will enable thee to conquer all thine enemies. Thou now beholdest, O Robert, the ground upon which some day a great city will be erected. Thou art destined to become the mighty chief of this great metropolis. Thy reign will be long and uninterrupted. Thou wert born when the conjunction of the planets did augur a life of perfect beatitude. As the years roll away the inhabitants of the city will multiply with great rapidity. Questions of great import regarding the welfare of the people will often come before thee for adjustment. To be successful In thy calling thou must never be guilty of having decided convictions on any subject, as thy friends will sometimes be pitted against each other in the advocacy of their various schemes. Thou must not antagonize either side by espousing the other's cause, but must always keep the rod and the gun close by thy side, so that when these emergencies arise and thou doth scent danger in the air thou canst quietly withdraw from the scene of action and chase the festive bison over the distant prairies or revel in piscatorial pleasure on the placid waters of a secluded lake until the working majority hath discovered some method of relieving thee of the necessity of committing thyself, and then, O Robert. thou canst return and complacently inform the disappointed party that the result would have been far different had not thou been called suddenly away. Thou canst thus preserve the friendship of all parties, and their votes are more essential to thee than the mere adoption of measures affecting the prosperity of thy people. When the requirements of the people of thy city become too great for thee alone to administer to all their wants, the great family of Okons, the lineal descendants of the sea kings from the bogs of Tipperary, will come to thy aid. Take friendly counsel with them, as to incur their displeasure will mean thy downfall. Let all the ends thou aimest at be to so dispose of the offices within thy gift that the Okons, and the followers of the Okons, will be as fixed in their positions as are the stars in their orbits."
After delivering this strange astrological exhortation the dusky maiden slowly retreated toward the entrance of a nearby cavern, the paleface meandered forth to survey the ground of his future greatness and the voyageur resumed his lonely journey toward the setting sun.
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