Leon Lewis
[Extract]
a requiem for abraham lincoln: an address to the liberals of europe.
“Awake! thou shalt and must!”
Brothers: One of our best friends, and one of the best men the world has ever seen, has been called suddenly from us. We will not say that he is dead, for there is no death for such as he: nothing but life—a glorified and immortal life—both on earth and in heaven. It will be as wise as consoling for us to reflect that this good man, instead of dying, as his wretched enemies have supposed; has attained to a higher existence—has gone to a companionship more worthy of his exalted merits—has been welcomed home like a good servant to repose from his labors—and is henceforth to be known as one of that sublime brotherhood of sages and heroes who have died that men may be wiser and better.
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I. The glory of mr. lincoln.
Grandest among the sages and heroes of this generation! the most perfect embodiment of the genius of a free and mighty people! the noblest benefactor of his species that has ever toiled and suffered among men! the glorious father of a whole world’s regeneration! the great prophet of the speedy emancipation of every man on the earth who is burdened and wronged! there is no mortal [Page 261] name beneath the stars that can be placed beside that of Abraham Lincoln. He has lived and died not for America alone, but for the people of England, the people of France, the people of Germany, the people of Italy, the people of every land under heaven. He has lived and died, not only for American unity and brotherhood, but for the unity and brotherhood of all the groaning and oppressed peoples of Europe. As simple as a child in the sublime faith that moved him, as sound in every attribute as the sturdy oaks of his native hills, as kindly towards all mankind as a loving mother to her children, as unselfish and as spotless in all his attribute as an angel from heaven, it is not for nought that he has been elevated in the providence of God to the highest pinnacle of glory, where the eyes of all the sons of men can behold him, as a bright and deathless example. When the foremost of the Liberals who had called him to his high office were calling sternly for judgment upon the rebels, he knew how to temper judgment with mercy; when all around him were discouraged by unexpected reverses, his faith remained calm and unshaken. When sympathizers with rebellion obtruded themselves upon him, and told him that certain proposed measures would be the certain destruction of his country, he smilingly bowed them out of his presence, and went on with his labours as steadily as though these croakers of evil had never existed. When a hundred different cliques and parties endeavoured to sway him in as many different directions, he wisely selected the right course, and placed his foot firmly upon the precise road that his far-seeing wisdom and humanity pointed out to him. A mental and moral giant, he did not waste his strength upon the little expedients of politicians, but he charged directly upon the great towers of human wretchness, assaulted incessantly the strongholds of the misguided men who had taken up arms against human liberty; and nobly and gloriously did he carry his warfare to the hour of victory. Patient and long-suffering, animated by a trust in God that gave him sufficient endurance for the onerous duties devolving upon him, looking hopefully towards heaven for the regeneration of mankind, and loving even those who had pointed their weapons at his throat, it was in keeping with all his thoughts and actions that he spoke kindly of Lee and others in the confederacy, in the last hours preceding his assassination, and thus grandly sealed the yearnings and tender affection he had so long displayed towards the brave but mistaken men who had attempted the life of the republic
Brothers! the world is too small to furnish a grave for Abraham Lincoln, and the spirit of the glorious martyr must continue to dwell among us!
II. The power and grandeur of the American republic.
In the land beyond the sea, where the spirit of Abraham Lincoln still animates his people, there is honor and glory. There is weeping, too, there is sorrow too great for utterance, but there is also a hope as radiant as the morning of that blessed eternity to which we are all hastening. The great prophet has indeed left us, but the true seer of God lives forever in the fulfilment of his aspirations, and greater than all surviving voices is that voice which has been so rudely silenced. Over the sea, towering supremely above all the mighty things of the world, there is a redeemed and ennobled nation, quickened into universal life by the spirit of its great leader, and ordained by Almighty God to be the bulwark and the impregnable fortress of universal freedom.
The initial battles of a universal regeneration have been won!
If Mr. Lincoln did not live to perform all that he intended, and all that we had reason to expect of him, he did certainly live to set in motion the forces that will soon sweep from the face of the earth the enemies of mankind who hated and abused him.
A great change for the better has already been accomplished, and it only remains to carry Mr. Lincoln’s work to its completion.
[Page 262]If the dungeons built by tyranny have not been destroyed, they have at least been shattered by the lightnings of progress, and the light of liberty is to-day shining into them, never more to be darkened.
Glorious light! all hail!
If we are not all of us fully awake to the duties devolving upon us, and if we have not yet entered fully into possession of our promised land, and if we are still loaded unjustly with burdens grievous to be borne, and if many of us are still driven to and fro like cattle, the glad truth is nevertheless manifest that the spirit of God is working lovingly among us, and that the long-desired morning of the world’s regeneration will soon dawn upon us.
If there is yet sin and suffering around us, and if weary men are still toiling hard and long for the bare necessities of existence, and if the most vital titles and claims of manhood are yet denied by our governments, and if cruelty and injustice are still potent in many of the affairs touching our personal honor and happiness, it is nevertheless easy to see that the idea of a government of the people for the people will soon be realized among all the civilized nations of the earth.
Once more, O glorious era of freedom and freemen, all hail!
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A Citizen of the United States.