MEMORIAL ADDRESS
ON THE
LIFE AND CHARACTER
OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
DELIVERED,
AT THE REQUEST OF BOTH HOUSES OF THE
CONGRESS OF AMERICA,
BEFORE THEM,
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AT WASHINGTON,
ON THE 12TH OF FEBRUARY, 1866.
BY GEORGE BANCROFT.
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1866.
ORATION.
SENATORS,
REPRESENTATIVES OF AMERICA:
That God rules in the affairs of men is as certain as any truth ofphysical science. On the great moving power which is from the beginninghangs the world of the senses and the world of thought and action.Eternal wisdom marshals the great procession of the nations, working inpatient continuity through the ages, never halting and never abrupt,encompassing all events in its oversight, and ever effecting its will,though mortals may slumber in apathy or oppose with madness. Kings arelifted up or thrown down, nations come and go, republics flourish andwither, dynasties pass away like a tale that is told; but nothing is bychance, though men, in their ignorance of causes, may think so. Thedeeds of time are governed, as well as judged, by the decrees ofeternity. The caprice of fleeting existences bends to the immovableomnipotence, which plants its foot on all the centuries and has neitherchange of purpose nor repose. Sometimes, like a messenger through thethick darkness of night, it steps along mysterious ways; but when thehour strikes for a people, or for mankind, to pass into a new form ofbeing, unseen hands draw the bolts from the gates of futurity; anall-subduing influence prepares the minds of men for the comingrevolution; those who plan resistance find themselves in conflict withthe will of Providence rather than with human devices; and all heartsand all understandings, most of all the opinions and influences of theunwilling, are wonderfully attracted and compelled to bear forward thechange, which becomes more an obedience to the law of universal naturethan submission to the arbitrament of man.
In the fulness of time a republic rose up in the wilderness of America.Thousands of years had passed away before this child of the ages couldbe born. From whatever there was of good in the systems of formercenturies she drew her nourishment; the wrecks of the past were herwarnings. With the deepest sentiment of faith fixed in her inmostnature, she dis