[From the Dublin Reformer, Saturday, April 29, 1865.]
the assassination of abraham lincoln.
“Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States, was shot by an assassin on the 14th instant, and died the following morning.” This was the intelligence which reached Europe on Wednesday, the 26th instant, and never was greater consternation, horror, and grief exhibited, than that which appeared in the faces of the millions who crowded the streets of European cities. * * * Were it not that official information has been received confirming the diabolical butchery of a man equal in every respect to the immortal Washington, we should scout the statement contained in Renter’s telegram as a most wicked and clumsy imposture. Information subsequently received, however, has gone too far to leave room for any reasonable doubt as to the lamentable fate of this great patriot, statesman, and philanthropist. In an age teeming with intellectual genius and refinement, Abraham Lincoln, the humble woodman, was called to play an arduous, noble, and conspicuous part in the great drama of civilization and progress. The earliest days of his presidency were employed in raising gigantic armies, money, and all the munitions of war, on a scale never before contemplated or necessary; and which he had to draw from a people who adored peace, and who trampled on all the instincts of selfishness and individual aggrandizement, in order to raise their country to the highest pinnacle of social prosperity, political purity, and moral advancement.
No people in the world have yielded to greater lengths in the cause of peace than the Americans. “Peace with all, and to all,” was their motto, until Jefferson Davis plotted for that brutal effusion of blood which has ended so characteristically in the cowardly and brutal assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the good and the great. This last savage act was only one of the many that were planned and enacted by Davis and his secession aiders and abettors. Davis disappeared with a carpet-bag the moment a signal reverse attended his man-stealing government. And after the massacre by General Lee of the remnant of the army he opposed to Grant’s forces, we have the most substantial reasons for believing that southern leaders would not stop at anything, and it would be [Page 373] hard to entertain an idea that they are wholly free from complicity in the savage deed of blood which hurried Abraham Lincoln to an untimely but glorious grave. As lately as the month of February last, General Lee is reported to have said that “he would startle the whole world,” which he has not done since that date by his military successes; and let us hope that the death of President Lincoln, and the attempted assassination of a no less trustworthy and indefatigable public servant, Mr. Seward, are not the tragedies “which were to startle the world.” Happily for America, before Lincoln fell, Grant had proved himself a man of honor, and a military commander of the highest genius, and Sherman, Sheridan, and Thomas had signalized themselves as men of the same stamp, whose names, if not respected for their valor by the South, will long be dreaded by the disturbers of the peace of a people who loathe and despise war, and seek greatness in the harmony and advancement of all nations. Before these men appeared on the stage Abraham Lincoln was left with armies shattered by intriguing and incompetent leaders, whose place could not be readily supplied. These armies were reorganized by Lincoln in his cabinet, who never allowed the war and public spirit to flag, until men of honor and consummate skill as commanders led the desponding and almost panic-stricken troops of the North to victory as complete as the contest was great.
While engaged in directing great warlike operations, without leaders, except those who had not been fairly tried, but who have since shown themselves equal to the work, Abraham Lincoln held together the civil government intact, and left none of the duties of his high office undone. With the greatest power ever placed in the hands of a single man, Abraham Lincoln never took upon himself any unconstitutional power, but openly conveyed his views and opinions to the criticism of public opinion, and acted in strict accordance with the popular voice. He was an American, and he breathed only for America; and, horrible to think, the soil of America has drunk his blood. But great and deplorable as this calamity is, much as the sympathizers of the South may rejoice over this terrible deed, and secessionists may think that it will open the door to fresh tumult and bloodshed, the great republic, with all its giant powers, genius, and interests, will be safe, and handed down to posterity by Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, and Thomas. Four such men were never seen at any one time in a single battle-field, and if the armies of the North do not wreak their vengence on Mobile and the other confederate positions still holding out against the North, it will be simply because they respect and honor the names of those commanders who have led them to victory, and delivered their country from further carnage. But before we conclude, we hope that the citizens of Dublin, and of the other large towns in Ireland, will follow the example of Liverpool, Manchester, and other cities in England, and hold meetings to express the horror and disgust with which the assassination of President Lincoln has filled the public mind of Europe, and to offer the American people all the condolence they can bestow on a nation who has suffered so great and so bitter a loss.