Abraham Lincoln | Page 7

man
whom he made strong! Now as THE ETERNAL liveth, it must die! By
the agonies it has caused, by the uncoffined graves it has filled, by the

tears it has wrung from pure women and little children, by our sons and
brothers starved to death in its mined prisons, by our beloved Chief
Magistrate murdered, by all these do we this day swear unto the LORD
that slavery SHALL DIE and that he would save it shall politically die
with it!
3. This day, as funeral rites are being said, and sobs are coming up from
a smitten household and bereaved people, before the Lord do we
solemnly demand that justice be done in the land upon evil-doers, that
blood-guiltiness may be taken away, and that men shall not dare repeat
such crimes.
When treason slew Abraham Lincoln, it slew the pardoning power, and
by its own act placed authority in the hands of one of sterner mold and
fiery soul--one deeply wronged by its atrocities. Now let it receive the
reward of its own hands! This is the demand of mercy as well as justice,
that after generations may see the expiation of treason is too costly for
its commission. Mercy to the many demands the punishment of the
guilty.
The assassin of the Chief Magistrate must be found. Though all seas
must be crossed, all mountains ascended, all valleys traversed, he must
be found! If he hide him under the mane of the British lion, beneath the
paw of the Russian bear or among the lilies of France, he must be
found and plucked thence for punishment! If there be no extradition
treaty, then the strong hands of our power must make one. He was a
tragedian. Had he never read--
"If the assassination Could trammel up the consequences and catch
With this surcease, success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and
the end-all here,
* * * * * * * * * *
"We'd jump the life to come. But in these cases We still have judgment
here. We but teach Bloody inventions, which, being taught, return To
plague the inventors. Thus even-handed justice Commends the
ingredients of our poisoned chalice To our own lips."

We are told that he excelled in the part of Richard III. Did he not
remember the tent scene--
"My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, And every tongue
brings in a several tale, And every tale condemns me for a villain--
Perjury, perjury, in the highest degree, Murder, stern murder, in the
darkest degree; All several sins, all used in each degree, Throng to the
bar, crying all--Guilty! guilty! I shall despair. There is no creature loves
me; And, if I die, no soul will pity me."
He has murdered the Lord's Anointed, and vengeance shall pursue him.
Tell me not, in deprecation of this sentiment "Vengeance is mine, I will
repay saith the Lord." Human justice has its work and must follow the
assassin, if need be, to the very gates of hell! It is God's edict that he
who causelessly takes any human life, "By men shall his blood be
shed"--how much more when it is such a life! [FN#1]
[FN#1] Since the MS. of this discourse was given the printer, the
assassin has met his retribution. Hunted like a wild beast to his lair, he
was surrounded by his pursuers, forsaken by his accomplice, the barn to
which he had fled fired, then shot to death, lingering several hours in
intense suffering and his remains consigned to impenetrable obscurity.
Retribution came to him before his victim was buried. So be it ever!
His accomplices are known and must be punished.
A morning journal, which has been somehow retained in the interest of
wrong, of home-traitors, of misrule, has already impliedly put in the
plea of insanity for the assassin. The same journal runs a parallel
between him and John Brown. Well, Virginia executed John Brown--its
own precedent is fatal to its own client!
Let justice be done on the leaders of rebellion. Have done with the
miserable cant of curing those perjured conspirators with kindness.
Libby Prison mined under Federal captives, the starved skeletons of our
slowly murdered kinsmen, the grave of Lincoln, and the gaping wounds
of Seward are your answer. It must be taught men for all time that
treason is, in this life, unpardonable! It is all crimes in one. In this case
it is without the glitter of seeming chivalry for its relief. It has had

nothing knightly. It has conspired to starve prisoners, has plotted
conflagrations which were to consume, in one dread holocaust, the
venerable matron, the gray-haired sire and the mother with her babe;
has resorted to poison, the knife of the cut- throat and the pistol of the
assassin.