Hath placed thee with the sons of light,
Among the noble host of those
Who perished in the cause of right.”
In the long history of human affairs individuals occupy but small spaces. Generation succeeds generation like the waves of the sea. Man goeth to his long home, and there be few who, in the retrospect of time, are distinguishable from the general mass. But while history shall be written, while liberty shall find a refuge on earth, the name of Lincoln shall stand beside that of Washington. There they are, written together; for ever safe against the assaults of envy, malice or detraction. The Founder and the Restorer. The man who first gave life and form to our National existence, and the man who saved it from destruction in the crisis of its fate, and in doing it restored liberty and hope to four millions of the human race.
There are other great results of the war which time fails me to enumerate. We have demonstrated that liberty is not necessarily weakness. We have consolidated our strength at home. We have rendered ourselves for the first time absolutely independent abroad. We are henceforth in a position in which we are not to be much affected either by foreign favors or foreign frowns. We ask of them nothing but what is right, and will submit to nothing that is wrong. Wherever our flag floats there are we, in the majesty of our triumphant republicanism, in the conscious power of our renovated nationality.
Let us rejoice then at this auspicious day. Let us rejoice that the black cloud of war hath spent its fury and that white robed peace walks again through all the land. This is the day to which our great departed chief looked so longingly when he said in his hopeful, trusting way, although all was then still dark and inscrutable: “Peace does not appear so far distant as it did. I hope it will come soon, and come to stay, and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time. It will then have been proved that among freemen there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet, and that they who take such appeal are sure to lose their case and pay the cost.”
Let us, who enjoy the fruits of his labors and of the labors of the brave men who toiled and hoped with him, who struggled and died with him, be mindful of the great sacrifices which have been made for the preservation of our country and the triumphant peace which now returns to bless it. Let us value our free institutions, not only for the blessings they bestow, but for the great price which has been paid for them. So shall our love of country be elevated, ennobled, strengthened and enlarged.
When Charlemagne was crowned at Rome, the people, believing that the Roman Empire had been restored, exclaimed with shouts of joy, “Carolo augusto, magno, et pacifico imperatori, vita et victoria!” Let us thank Heaven to-day that after the trials and sufferings, the darkness and dismay of war, we are permitted, upon this day, which blends the memory of our first great struggle with that of our last great deliverance, to exclaim, in a higher sense and with a profounder meaning, “Long life and victory to the Republic, great, and strong, and peaceful!”
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