the correctness of his opinions and the wisdom of his policy; his wonderful skill in reconciliating the differences among the friends of the Union, leading them away from obstructions, and inducing them to work together and harmoniously for the common weal; his true and enlarged philanthropy that knew no distinction of color or race, but regarded all men as brethren, and endowed alike by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, amongst which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; his inflexible purpose that what freedom had gained in our terrible strife should never be lost, and that the end of the war should be the end of slavery, and as a consequence of rebellion; his readiness to spend and be spent for the attainment of such a triumpha triumph the blessed fruits of which should be as widespreading as the earth and as enduring as the sun. All these things commanded and fixed our admiration and the admiration of the world, and stamped upon his character and life the unmistakable impress of greatness. But, more sublime than any or all of these, more holy and influential, more beautiful and strong and sustaining was his abiding confidence in God, and in the final triumph of truth and righteousness, through Him and for His sake. This was his noblest virtue, his grandest principle, the secret alike of his strength, his patience, and his success; and this, it seems to me, after being near him steadily and with him often for more than four years, is the principle by which more than by any other, he being dead, yet speaketh.

Yes, by his steady enduring confidence in God, and in the complete ultimate success of the cause of God, which is the cause of humanity, more than in any other way does he now speak to us, and to the nation he loved and served so well. By this he speaks to his successor in office, and charges him to have faith in God. By this he speaks to the members of his Cabinet, the men with whom he counselled so often and was associated with so long, and he charges them to have faith in God. By this he speaks to

all who occupy positions of influence and authority in these sad and troublesome times, and he charges them all to have faith in God. By this he speaks to this great people as they sit in sackcloth to-day and weep for him with a bitter wailing, and refuse to be comforted; and he charges them to have faith in God; and by this he will speak through the ages, and to all rulers and peoples in every land, and his message to them will be: "Cling to liberty and right; battle for them; bleed for them; die for them, if need be, and have confidence in God." Oh! that the voice of this testimony may sink down into our hearts to-day and every day, and into the heart of the nation, and exert its appropriate influence upon our feelings, our faith, our patience and our devotion to the cause, now dearer to us than ever before, because consecrated by the blood of the most conspicuous defender, its wisest and most fondly trusted friend. He is dead, but the God in whom he trusted lives, and he can guide and strengthen his successor as he guided and strengthened him. He is dead, but the memory of his virtues, of his wise and patriotic counsels and labors, of his calm and steady faith in God lives, is precious, and will be a power for good in the country quite down to the end of time. He is dead; but the cause he so ardently loved, so ably, patiently, faithfully represented and defended, not for himself only, not for us only, but for all people, in all their coming generations, till time shall be no more-that cause survives his fall, and will survive it. The light of its brightening prospects flashes cheeringly to-day around the gloom occasioned by his duties, and the language of God's united providences is telling us that, though the friends of liberty die, liberty itself is immortal; there is no assassin strong enough, and no weapon deadly enough to quench its inextinguishable life or arrest its onward march to the conquest and empire of the world. This is our confidence and this is our consolation as we weep and mourn to-day. Though our beloved President is slain, our beloved country

is saved, and so we sing of mercy as well as of judgment. Tears of gratitude mingle with those of sorrow, while there is also the dawning of a brighter, happier day, upon our stricken and weary land. God be praised that our fallen chief lived long enough to see the day dawn and the day star of joy and peace arise upon the nation. He saw it and he was glad. Alas! alas! he only saw the dawn. When the sun has risen full orbed, and a glorious and a happy reunited people are rejoicing in its light, it will shine upon his grave. But that But that grave will be a precious and a consecrated spot. The friends of liberty and of the Union will repair to it in years and ages to come to pronounce the memory of its occupant blessed, and gathering from his very ashes and from the rehearsal of his deeds and virtues fresh incentives to patriotism. They will then renew their vows of fidelity to their country and their God. And now I know not that I can more appropriately conclude this discourse, which is but a sincere and simple utterance of the heart, than by addressing to our departed President, with some slight modification, the language which Tacitus, in his life of Agricola, addressed to his venerated and departed fatherin-law: "With you we may now congratulate. You are blessed, not only because your life was a career of glory, but because you were released when, your country safe, it was happiness to die. We have lost a parent, and, in our distress, it is now an addition to our heartfelt sorrows that we had it not in our power to commune with you on the bed of languishing and receive your last embrace. Your dying words would have been ever dear to us. Your commands we should have treasured up and graved them on our hearts. This sad comfort we have lost, and the wound for that reason pierces deeper. From the world of spirits behold your disconsolate family and people. Exalt our minds from fond regret and unavailing grief to the contemplation of your virtues. These we must not lament. It were impiety to sully them with a tear. To cherish

your

their memory, to embalm them with our praises, and so far as we can to emulate your bright example, will be the truest mark of your respect, the best tribute we can offer. Your wife will thus preserve the memory of the best of husbands, and thus your children will prove their final piety. By dwelling constantly on your words and actions they will have an illustrious character before their eyes; and not content with the base image of your mortal frame, they will have what is more valuable-the form and features of mind. Busts and statues, like their originals, are frail and perishable. The soul is formed of finer elements, and its inward form is not to be expressed by the hand of an artist with unconscious matter. Our manners and our morals may in some degree trace the resemblance. All of you that gained our love and raised our admiration still subsist, and will ever subsist, preserved in the minds of men, the register of ages and the records of fame. Others, matured on the stages of life, and who were the worthies of a former day, will sink for want of a faithful historian into the common lot of oblivion, inglorious and unremembered; but you, our lamented friend and head, delineated with truth and fairly consigned to posterity, will survive yourself and triumph over the injuries of time."

FUNERAL ORATION OF BISHOP SIMPSON AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

Rev. BISHOP SIMPSON, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a great favorite with the late President of the United States. In the summer of 1864, at the United States Sanitary Fair held in Philadelphia, the President was expected to deliver the opening address, but public duties and executive labors prevented him from being able to meet the expectations of the people. This was a great disappointment. The President atoned for this by enlisting the services of his eloquent and reverend friend, Bishop Simpson. As thousands of living witnesses who heard that thrilling and patriotic speech can testify, the President did not make a mistake in delegating to that Methodist Bishop this responsible task.

Bishop Simpson was again selected by the representatives of his illustrious but departed friend, to deliver the funeral oration at Springfield, Illinois, his former home, and his resting-place, until "this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality."

FELLOW-CITIZENS OF ILLINOIS, AND OF MANY PARTS OF OUR ENTIRE UNION: Near the capital of this large and growing State of Illinois, in the midst of this beautiful grove, and at the open mouth of the vault which has just received the remains of our fallen chieftain, we gather to pay a tribute of respect and drop the tears of sorrow around the ashes of the mighty dead. A little more than four years ago, he left his plain and quiet home in yonder city, receiving the parting words of the concourse of friends who, in the midst of the dropping of the gentle shower, gathered around him. He spoke of the pain of parting from the place where he had lived for a quarter of a century, where his children had been born, and his home had been rendered so pleasant by friendly associations. And as he left he made an earnest request in the hearing of some who are present at this hour, that, as he was about to enter upon responsi