LINCOLN THE GREAT AND GOOD. "Well fermented, weal and woe, And hereafter thou shalt know How life's bitter yeast below Earth may make thee taste her gall, But heaven shall make amends for all GOOD Abraham Lincoln has passed away to his eternal rest and reward, lamented by all nations. Few sons that have not mourned, and few daughters that have not wept over the irreparable loss. While amid the pleasures and gaieties of life he passed into the solemnities and solitude of death. His sun went down while it was yet day-before his lustrous eye was dimmed-before the quick ear was heavy— before the strong men had bowed themselvesbefore the keepers of the house trembled-before the almond tree had blossomed-before he had turned afraid of that which is high-before the grasshopper had become a burden-yea while his bones were filled with marrow, his mind with stamina, and his heart with ardent energy, his sun went down again to rise and shine forth in the kingdom of our heavenly Father for ever and for ever. "Honest Abe" has got linked in the glorious chain of martyrs; nor in that luminous galaxy is there one who will shine more brightly than the martyred prince for Negro Emancipation. He lived to become a vanguard in the ranks of common humanity for equal liberties and rights. He lived to see nobility of soul respected in whatever coloured skin. He lived to remove the greatest hinderance to the acknowledgement of a common Christian brotherhood, irrespective of caste, and then suddenly winged his way to the realm of bliss with the jubilant tidings. "And there is comfort: victim soul, Go straight before that Judge; His Ancestry. His ancestors were English, who had gone and settled for a time in the new colony-which was founded by the good Wm. Penn-Pensylvania. They were quakers in religious profession, but were very enterprising in secular things. They consequently soon migrated into the grand primeval forests of that mighty region, armed with the token of industry and civilisation-the woodman's axe. Here, as pioneers of progress, they succeeded well, till a sad catastrophe occurred which cast a sad and melancholy gloom over their home and over their peace. Abraham, the grandfather of the late good President, was killed by the Red Indians, who carried away with them his scalp, as a trophy. By this cold-blooded and barbar ous murder a widow and five children were bereft of their earthly stay. Thomas was the youngest of the five, and he was very much devoted to anything that would promote the comfort and happiness of his bleeding-hearted and widowed mother. He remained with her till he was twenty-eight years of age, when he married a very pious and beautiful young woman, named Nancy Hanks. Their union was a very happy one, and was blessed by the birth of two children—a daughter and son. The latter was named Abraham, in filial remembrance of his martyred grandfather. Ah! how little did the loving parents then dream that their only son would, after attaining the highest post of honour his country could give, have also to die a martyr's death! How wisely such things are hid from us: if otherwise, who would be able to carry life's burden? Could that affectionate father and that Christian mother have looked through the vista of future years and seen that execrable assassin inflaming his brain at the hotel that he might be able to murder their benevolenthearted Abraham, how could they have borne But now if Thomas and Nancy could retrospectively look upon the glorious path their Abraham has trod, and see that through the pure devotedness of his life, and the sinful shamefulness of his death,-four millions of persons had been emancipated, enfranchised, and admitted into the brotherhood of nationstheir joyful hearts would swell with increased up? rapture and cause them to sing, Surely "He doeth all things well." His birth and education. The patriotic and philanthropic Abraham was born on the 12th of February, 1809, in a log hut, at Hardin, in Kentucky. He went to school for a short time to Zachariah Riney, and Caleb Hazel, from whom he learned to read well, and to write a little. His good mother was his best instructor, and her lessons he never forgot. She got him to read the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress, Esop's Fables, and the Life of the immortal George Washington. The reading of these books contributed much to the building up of his useful life-accomplishments, which have excited the admiration of universal man. At the tender age of nine his mother died, which filled his heart with sorrow that he never forgot. An American writer says― "That she was a truly noble woman, the son's after life attested. From her came his deep and abiding reverence for holy things-his profound trust in Providence, and faith in the triumph of truth. From her he learned the gentleness and amiability of temper which, in the lofty station of Chief Magistrate, he displayed so strikingly during years of most appalling responsibility. From her he received the spirit of playfulness, and the desire to see others happy, which afterwards formed so prominent a trait in his character. Though uneducated in books, she was wise in the wisdom of experience and truth, and He was to her son a good mother indeed. never ceased to mourn her loss, and never mentioned her name in after years but with the deepest reverence.” His starting in life. His father, having married a second time, removed with his family westward to Illinois. It was here that Abraham became a rail splitter, assisted by a son of his stepmother's. Three thousand rails were split to fence in his father's farm. At the age of nineteen his love of adventure and extraordinary physical strength led him to leave home, and commence business on his own account. He soon got hired at ten dollars a month to go to New Orleans as a boatman. In this capacity, with no bed but the deck, and no covering but a counterpane, this hardy adventurous youth performed a voyage of 1000 miles. He had by this time nearly attained his full stature of manhood. He was six feet four inches in height; possessed large features, with a uniform facetious expression, an intelligent eye, and a comely and dignified carriage. But within that robust body dwelt a feeling heart, a sympathetic soul, and an ever active and well-balanced mind. But his greatness and goodness manifested itself most in his deep hatred of wrong, in his true love of right, and in his deep sympathies for the oppressed. "The patriot of a race down-trod; |