Section 3

3. Resolved, That in depriving our nation of its chief, by as- sassination, we recognize a crime without a name ; and for which language fails to express our grief and horror.
4. Resolved, That we humbly approach the grave of our mur- dered President, and with sorrow for his sad fate, will rear a
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broken column to commemorate his many virtues and his un- timely death.
John Scott, W. M. Stone, Enoch Eastman. Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, June 8, 1865.
MAINE.
From address of William P. Preble, G. M., May 2, 1865.
We will not be unmindful of the great loss sustained by our beloved country in the fiendish and indignant assassination of one whose greatest failing (if any he had) was, that from the up- rightness, purity and tender heartedness of his own nature, he could not conceive that any human being could be so utterly de- praved as to raise his hand in murderous assault upon one who, by his unceasing and untiring loving kindness, forgiveness and patience, stood between him and his rebellious and traitorous as- sociates and sympathizers and the fierce and long endured and smothered wrath of a justly incensed and outraged people. Though our horizon is again overshadowed with clouds, just as we all began to hope that the glorious sun of peace was about to rise upon and bless us, we will not give way to useless repinings, but with a firm faith and reliance that our Supreme Grand Mas- ter does not permit any calamity however great or appalling, to befall an individual, much less a nation, but for some great and wise purpose, we will, while renewing our vows of faithfulness to the great principles of our Order, bow in humble submission to his inscrutable dispensations, earnestly invoking his protection and guidance upon our whole country in this her time of peace and that in his own good time he will again unite us into one great and happy people.
MASSACHUSETTS. P. 20, 1865.
Bethesda Lodge forwarded resolution of sympathy to Grand Lodge "the expression of their most sincere condolence and re- gret on the loss of so great and good a man as Abraham Lincoln whose memory should ever be cherished by those who profess the principles of our ancient institution."
Valparaiso, July 31, 1865.
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NEVADA.
From address of Joseph De Bell, G. M., Virginia City.
"April 19, ISn.T. On this day were held the funeral obsequies of our late Chief Magistrate. The hands of an assassin robbed of life the beloved head of the nation. That nation covered its face and wept. I deemed it both right and proper that we as Masons should join in the concord of sorrow and deposit in the open grave of the martyred President our 'chaplet of living laurel.' I therefore convened the Grand Lodge and that body, accompanied by a large number of the fraternity, joined in the funeral procession."
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
From address of Jonathan E. Sargent, G. M., June 11, 1865.
"We, as Masons, as well as citizens, may properly mourn for the national calamity which recently befell us, when the chosen head and ruler of this nation fell by the hand of the base and cowardly assassin."
NEW YORK.
G. L. Report, 1865, p. 43. Report of D. G. M. Robert D. Holmes, May 10, 1865. On the occasion of the obsequies of our late President I deemed it proper to respond to the invitation of the civic authori- ties to take part in the solemn ceremonies of the day. In this W. M. Sir, you agreed with me, and being thus empowered I invited the whole of the local craft to take a position in the procession. Over five thousand brethren responded, and by my direction were dressed in black, with crepe on the left arm, and a sprig of evergreen in the left lapel of the coat of each, the Masters having been distinguished solely by their gavels which they carried dressed in mourning.
NEW YORK, p. 93, 1865.
From report of M. W. John L. Lewis, Chairman Committee of Foreign Correspondence. And there is a sorrow which we bear in common with our stricken nation, nay, let us add of the other nations of the earth.
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that our honored Chief Magistrate has been removed by the wicked hand of violence in the hour of his greatest and noblest triumphs. It is the heart throb of an undivided people, who, for- getting every past difference, and every division which has for a brief time separated them, mournfully entwine the laurel with the cypress.
OHIO.
From address of Thomas Sparrow, G. M. Oct. 17, 1865.
On the morning of the 15th of April last, the public mind was astounded by the announcement that the constitutional Ruler of this great nation had been basely murdered ; that he who so lately was in every mouth the theme of praise or blame, had gone be- yond the reach of both. No man was ever called to greater trials in political life. No man ever bore those trials with greater pa- tience. In the very midst of them, in the very last exposition of his principles and purposes, he paused to give utterance to the noble sentiment, which I trust, will govern us on this and every other occasion : "With charity towards all, with malice to none, doing the right, so far as God gives us to know the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in." Praise to the man who could utter such a sentiment.
He was stricken down at the very moment when the minds of men of all parties and every diversity of views had acquired con- fidence in his moderation and wisdom, and were turned towards him as the only one capable of adjusting the complicated ques- tions arising out of the state of the country and the bitter ani- mosity generated by four years of civil strife.
"Praise to the man. A nation stood Beside his coffin with wet eyes ; I-Ier brave, her beautiful her good, As when a loved one dies."
In the universal grief of the nation, I thought it proper that the fraternity, as such, should express not only their utter ab- horrence of "the deep damnation of his taking ofif," but pay a tribute of respect to his virtues as a man and his integrity as a public servant. Accordingly at the request of the brethren of Cleveland, I issued a Dispensation authorizing them to appear
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in public on the reception of his remains in that city, and on thcii- arrival here, I opened the Grand Lodge, and, in conjunction with the R. W. Deputy Grand Master, and a large concourse of brethren, from all parts of the State, participated in his funeral obsequies.
The Death of the President.
Your committee to whom was referred so much of the Grand Master's address as related to the death of the late President of the United States, beg leave to report that there has been, and can be, but one feeling among the craft in Ohio in relation to the death of the late President Lincoln, and that is of deep regret at his decease, and of the utmost abhorrence of the crime by which he was removed. Your committee sincerely and heart- ily reciprocate the sentiments expressed by the Grand Master in relation to the lamentable event, and approve the language in which they were uttered.
Your committee submit for your approval the following:
Resolved, That the Freemasons of Ohio yield to no class of citizens in their devotion to the Government and Union estab- lished by our patriotic fathers, and have attested their loyalty thereto in every possible manner, the record of which is found not only at home, but on many a crimsoned field.
Resolved, That while we sympathize with the country at large in the bereavement which it sustained in the death of the Presi- dent, we regard with unmixed abhorrence and detestation the fiendish act which deprived the nation of its constitutional head at a perilous juncture in its history.
Respectfully submitted,
C0RNEJ.1US Moore, Jno. D. O'Connor, J. H. Barn HILL.
Above resolutions were unanimously adopted.
WISCONSIN.
From address of G. W. Washburn, G. M., June 13, I860.
But while we may rejoice that victory has perched upon our banners and right has come out triumphant in the contest, we
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cannot fail to share in the general grief that he whose position made him conspicuous above all others, should be destined to close his career upon this earth by the hand of a brutal and cow- ardly wretch, who runs from the scene of his terrible crime, exulting in his infamy and shame.
It is not for me to pronounce the President's eulogy, nor is this the occasion for it. History will deal fairly by him and the world will judge him in kindness.