From Columbus via Urbana, Piqua, Greenville, Richmond, and Knightstown to Indianapolis.. 188 Indianapolis via Lafayette and Michigan City to 212 66 Chicago via Joliet, Chenoa and Bloomington to 185 Total.. 1662 It is but natural that the very best that could be written would appear in those papers of Mr. Lincoln's own way of thinking in politics; but some of the finest articles appeared in papers that had always been opposed to him politically. The Daily Register, a Democratic paper published at Springfield, in its issue of Saturday evening, April 15, 1865, after relating the news of the assassination, says: "Just in the hour when the crowing triumph of his life awaited him; when the result which he had labored and prayed for four years with incessant toil, stood almost accomplished; when he could begin clearly to see the promised land of his longings-the restored Union-even as Moses, from the top of Pisgah, looked forth upon the Canaan he had for forty years been striving to attain, the assassin's hand at once puts a rude period to his life and to his hopes. As Moses of old, who had led God's people through the gloom and danger of the wilderness, died when on the eve of realizing all that his hopes had pictured, so Lincoln is cut off just as the white wing of peace begins to reflect its silvery radiance over the red billows of war. It is hard for a great man to die, but doubly cruel that he should be cut off after such a career as that of him we mourn to-day." And the same paper of April 18th says: "History has recorded no such scene of bloody terror. The murder of monarchs has been written. Cæsar was slain in the Senate Chamber; Gustavus was butchered in the ball room; but these were usurpers and tyrants, not the chosen heads of a people, empowered to select their rulers. And, O horrible! that he should have been assassinated when his best efforts to tranquilize the fears and fury of his people were so nearly realized. We are dumb with sorrow." The Illinois State Journal, at Springfield, the oldest paper in the State north of Edwardsville, was the first in which Lincoln's name ever appeared in connection with any office-he having been announced as a candidate for Representative of Sangamon county, in its issue of March 15, 1832. It was then Whig and is now Republican in politics, and supported Lincoln every time he was ever a candidate. The Daily Journal of Saturday morning, April 15, 1865, gave the telegraphic announcement of his assassination, without comment. Monday morning, the 17th, it said: "ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS DEAD! These portentious words, as they sped over the wires throughout the length and breadth of the land on Saturday morning last, sent a thrill of agony through millions of loyal hearts, and shrouded a nation, so lately rejoicing in the hour of victory, in the deepest sorrow. The blow came at a moment so unexpected, and was so sudden and staggering— the crime by which he fell was so atrocious and the manner of it so revolting, that men were unable to realize the fact that one of the purest of citizens, the noblest of patriots, the most beloved and honored of Presidents, the most forbearing and magnanimous of rulers, had perished at the hands of an assassin. The horrifying details recalled only the scenes of blood which have disgraced barbaric ages. People were unwilling to believe that, in our own time, there could be found men capable of a crime so utterly fiendish and brutal. And yet this is called chivalry." * * * "President Lincoln died at the hand of Slavery. It was Slavery that conceived the fearful deed; it was Slavery that sought and found the willing instrument and sped the fatal ball; it is Slavery alone that will justify the act. Henceforth men will look upon Slavery as indeed 'the sum of all villanies.'" The same paper of Saturday morning, the 22d, says: "A week ago this morning, the intelligence first startled the the nation that a crime of the most fearful character had been perpetrated in Washington. The spirit of our honored and beloved President, the most genial, patient and forbearing of men, but the victim of the most atrocious assassination, was then taking its flight to the 'God who gave it.'" * * * "One week has passed, and such a week was never known in this or any other land. The popular sorrow, instead of abating by time, has grown even more intense, as the people have been gradually enabled to comprehend the terrible facts. The heart of the nation has been moved as it was never moved before. Every village and city of the land, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, have joined in the most heartfelt demonstrations of grief, in view of the national loss. To-day the sorrowful cortege accompanying the remains of our beloved President is at last approach. ing the home whence, four years ago, he set out with many misgivings, but strong in the sense of duty, to assume the reins of government, to which the suffrages of the people had called him. The eyes of the whole nation are upon it, and wherever that dark and sorrow-burdened train appears, it is attended by the lamenta tions of the people." Friday morning, 28th, the Journal announced the death of the assassin, and said: * * * * "Retribution, swift and sure, has fallen upon his murderer! J. Wilkes Booth, the author of that atrocious deed, lies as lifeless as Abraham Lincoln. It is no compensation for the loss to the nation of such a man as Abraham Lincoln, that judgment has overtaken his murderer. * The only satisfaction we feel is that justice has been done." * The Journal of Wednesday morning, May 3d, says: "To-day all that is mortal of Abraham Lincoln comes back to us to be deposited among a people with whom he spent so many years of his life, and among whom he hoped, his work being done, to spend the evening of his days." The Journal, Thursday, May 4th: To-day we lay him reverently to rest, amid the scenes he loved so well. Millions will drop a tear to his memory, and future generations will make pilgrimages to his tomb. Peace to his ashes." CHAPTER XXIII. It will be remembered that, on the twenty-fourth day of April, a public meeting was held in Springfield, at which a committee was chosen to make arrangements for the sepulture of the remains of President Lincoln. It will also be borne in mind that the committee resolved itself into a National Lincoln Monument Association. A conditional contract had been made for a plat of ground on which to erect a monument, and the work of constructing a temporary vault, at the expense of the city, had been commenced. It was designed to be a resting place for the remains until the monument could be erected. By the men working night and day, through sunshine and rain, it was ready for use at the appointed time, although the work was not quite completed on the outside. It was ascertained, on the morning of the fourth, that Mrs. Lincoln objected to the body of her husband being placed, even temporarily, in the new vault, on account of the location of the grounds selected. She having expressed her preference for Oak Ridge Cemetery, it was in compliance with her wishes that the remains were taken there and deposited in the public receiving vault of the cemetery. The new vault was on the grounds that have since been purchased and donated by the city of Springfield to the State of Illinois, upon which the State is now erecting a Capitol, at an expense of three and a half millions of dollars. The vault stood about fifty yards north of the new State House. A cenotaph should, and doubtless will, be |