Columbia phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1865, May 13, 1865, Image 2
COLUMBIA.
Saturday Morning, May 13, 1866:
Charleston Tributes to Lincoln.
A. Charleston Courier, cf the .22d ult.,'gives
U-, under the title, "The Great National Ca?
lamity," the full report x>f a meeting ofthe
citizens of that place, to express" their sorrow
oaths dehth of Abraham Line?te. A prelimi?
nary meeting took place at the house of John
Phillips, Esq.,' where application was made by
a committee, eonsietiri^ of Wm. Aiken, George
W. "Williams, J-ames "Lynah, James S. Gibbes,
Wm. B. Simons and Augustus L. Tavenu, to
Col. Gurney^ for the" use of Hibernian Ha?l..
Their prayer was graciously grant? d, ondthe
meeting took placecm the 21st of April. Col.
* James Lynah calleo the meeting to .order, and
proposed the Hon. Wrat Aiken for the Chair,
Mr. Augustas L. Taveau and Mr. Jacob Wilb?
urn were made Secretaries. The committee,
aa appointed by Mr. Aiken, consisted of Messrs.
John Phillips, Chas. J. Manigault, Jas. S. Gibbes,
Blias Vanderhorst, George W-. Williams, E.
Geddings, M. D.."lion, T. L. Hutchinson, Dan'l
Horlbeek, John 8. Riggs, N. R. Middleton, Col.
James Lynah, Samuel Hart,sr., Wm. E. Simona,
John Ferguson, Benji M. Seixas. E. H. Rodgers,'
O. Reeder, W. ?L Houston, James Moultrie, M.
k>., Wm. Bird, James Marsh, John Van Winkle,
Edmond Ravenel, M. D., Hon. Chas. Maaftet?>,
Wm. HT. Giffiland, ?.S. J. Terry, Benj. D. Roper,
. Wau Kirkwood, James W. Bro ?rn, Rev. Jos.
Seabrook, Robert Thurston, JuT-acsBrawley, W.
Fitch, M. D., B. O'Neill, John S. Ryan, T.
Topper, 6r., T. A Whitney, T. Street, A. Bis
chiff.'John E. Cay, John Rerrneker, William P.
Knox, H.'W.T>eS?ussare, M. D., W. P?stell In
graham, Wm. Laidler, David Barrow, R. W.
Seymour, A. G. Mackey, M. D., John F. Poppen
heim,.P. J. Coogan, ?. W. Scigoious, L. T. fet?
ter, E. B. Jackson. * "
Such are the names of this committee as re?
ported. . Thaymay nave been present, sW of
theo), or not. It is a frequent thing to put
forth the names of parties on such committee,
assuming for them a sympathy for the object in
view, when,?in fact, they may know nothing
about it. We give the following speed} of Hon.
Mr. Aiken, on taking the Chair:
FETLLOW-CITIZEKS: We ure a?semblad to pour
out. tba general grief which has been felt tn this
city for the sudden removal from tf?is life of
Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United
States. Th a horrible and atrocious assassina?
tion of'President Lincoln has filled every feel
ingheart wit!*-sorrow end indignation. I did
not know, personally, the late President, but
those who did have spoken of him iii the kind?
est tr?hnner to me; his heart was benevolent ai?d
forgiving, and we are told, and have reason- to
believe, that through him our difficulties w -uid
Boon ha vq been adjusted and pesca once more
restored to our distracted country Onr ex?
pressions of disgust for the dastardly, wretch
who could have conceived and executed sueh a,
diabolical act,, can scarcely be uttered. Mul?
der is always appalling, but more particularly
so in this momentous crisis of our country
now oar most anxious moment.
Catt it be believed that in the nineteenth
?e&tury that a haman being could be found to
have in bis bosom ao diabolical an idea-and
with aa accomplice, enter the Bick bed-room of
another eminent aad distinguished personage,
the Secretary of State, and plunge iq to his j
-- V . ?(?.? --. .-, ...
?'"Ml" 1 ?
bosom the deadly .weapon? Thc heart Bicken8
at tho- recital of such horrors.
We sympathise with ' the late President's
family and that of Ha Seward's. May the
Almighty stretch over them the.hand of mercy;
"and enable them to bear the sad bereavement
with pions humility.
At this critical juncture of our national af?
fairs, dur thoughts are naturally- turned to the
vice-President, now President of the United
States, Andrew Johnson. When "the people of
Charleston District did me the honpr of making
me their representative in Congress, T met
there Mr. JOUU?OD, of Tennessee, I now take
pleasure in staling that'I soon- became ac?
quainted with him and found him a most intel?
ligent man. He soon impressed me in the
House, by his oratory and his arguments in
debate, a? one of the most talented men there;
and it is no little praise to say 6o, when such
men as Stephens, of -Geo ,ia, sat on the floor,
aud other prominent persons from the different
States of the Union. .
I have tho most entire confidence io his
ability to administer the Government true and
faithfully, haying the Constitution of oar coun?
try as his true guide.
.May a precious Providence, in His mer/sy,
direct his' ways towards peace-and )et us
.again, under thc folds of the American flag,
once more and forever be one and indivisible.
Mr. Aiken was succeeded. by Mr. John Phil*:
lips, who, ia the following speech, moved the
appointment of a committee, and.became .its
chairman:
MB. CUAIEMAN: We are convened on no or?
dinary occasion .and f,*~ no ordinary purpose.
Our times, measured L. -i.fae and wonderful
events, has stretched mi. ".s-into years,end it
seems an age since, the . pie of our ancient
city have assembled for any pcaeeful purpose.
We are again in Hibernian Hall, under the
flag of our .country; the memories of the past
are clustering around our hearts, not uncon?
scious that- the incidents of this moment are
becoming historic, and truth stands out in-bold
relief more wondrous than fiction. We have
withdrawn from the avocations and the labors
of the hour. We " have taken a respite from
the drudgery of business and the corroding
anxieties whieh oppress the wearied mind. We
have come here to expresa our sentiments at
the demise of his Excellency Abraham Lincoln^
the late President of the United States. At the
grave, there can be no place more propitious
for cherishing.r.r.d enlarging the noblest of all
tlie virtues-charity. There can be no place
chosen more fitting where passion and preju?
dice should be buried.
-The late President, Abraham Lincoln*, Was an
extraordinary man in extraordinary times. H?
was by birth a Kentuckian. From his native
State, he emigrated to Indiana mid subsequent?
ly to. Illinois, where lie settled arid then com
tnenced the practice of law. His public discas
s4on with the late Senator Douglas, and th-i
publication and circulation of his argument
gave him world wide reputation, and led to hi.i
nomination and election as President of the
United- States. " The country divided and dis?
tracted by civil war, in the exercise of the
functions of his great office, exhibiting indom?
itable energy, fixed d?termination and undevi?
ating consister^' iu executing the high, trusts
confided t?*his' care, he rose to the' occasion,
aud however severe the ordeal through which
he had to pass, he realized and justified the
opinion formed of his character and patriotism
by his constituency, the Ameiican people.
The President's official duties ordinarily are
onerous and perplexing, but from the unparal?
leled embarrassing circumstances " attending
bis administration, they must have become ex?
cessively toilsome'and dietressicgly laborious*.
Each moment came freighted with care; every
transpiring eveut was replete with anxiety.
Mr. Lincoln's re-election to the Presidency
waB the people's crown-popular approbation
conferred for the meritorioxts discharge of duty.
-.
Next to the approbation " of conscience, the
highest distinctionV e American citizen ought
to refeogni?e should be the people's Approbation.
The sordid mind, seeks office for. its honors, its -
powers and it* emoluments; the just mun ac?
cepts office for-the good h<g can be the means of
effecting. . " ?
On his. reelection to office, he expressed " the
hope and cherished the belief that peace would
soon .be restored, that the opportunity ' Would
be presented enablmg-bim to fulfil) his deter?
mination to mitiga te, it' not remove, ali sause
for the continuance of civil dissension. Hi-3
acts have now passed into history.. The dise-us
eioi't of them would now be out of place, and I
will not trespass longer. I do, therefore, sir,
more yo? theta committee be:appuLnted to
prepare and pi ese nt to this meeting n preamble
und resolutions expressing their ton timen le at
; the demise of the late Presiden^.
During ibo absence* of tlje committee. Col,
James Lynnh entertained the assembly with the .
following discourse. He said: '...
The Slow that deprived Presideut Lincoln of
his life, was a blow struck at the heart of Jiu- *
?sanity itself- " ,
NV plea before God or man' can. justify, ex?
tenuate or excuse it If the. destruction of the *
President had even been indispensable jto the
peace end happiness of the whole nation, the
assassin must stiH be condemned, and bear with .
him to his gra^e the stigma and the awful aen- ?
lenee pronounced by God with his own votes'
on Cain, the first murderer, "A fugitive and J a
vagabond thou ?halt be in the earth."
.Cruel and hard,- indeed, ranst joe his heart***
harder than the nether milis-tone-who, in such -
a place, ia. the hoar of ration af and pleasurable , # .
recreation, in the relaxation of arduocs magis?
terial fu?ctionb and duties-the very highest
perftaps confided to any man upon earth
seated by theTalde of ker who was the partuer
of his joya and his griefs-presenting to thoe-j
around them that most touching ana most sa?
cred of all ttie relations in life, that of husbaud
and wife-to deal the blow at sucL a momeut
WAS truly the deed of a monster. Every human
heart will shrink wherever this tale of horror
shall be Cold.
Our sympathies, theieiore, as men-oiir sa?
cred obligations as Christians-*)yr judgment MS
citizens, deeply interested in the observance
and practice of whatever can man.tain the
supremacy ol' the laws, both of God and man
call upon us to declare aud" deliver, not only
to this community, but to all other communis -
.ties, our reprobation abd abhorrence of this
appalling murder. We avow nur profound
shame and grief that so horrible a crime will
have to blot and blur thc annula of American
.??story. ?s it is the first'death b\ violence ot
a Chief Magistrate of a republic, so may God
in Iiis mercy grant that it 6kull be the Just.
We avow our sincere sorrow at the sul?eringe
of a .fond wife, who felt the blow entering her
husband's body gs a blow piercing lier own
heart, and who was not allowed to hear his last
farewell or receive (lie parting clasp of his hand. *
No friand of the President btrtitruta weep
no enemy but must bow his head wit H a solemn
refpect lo the requiem o& Abraham Lmcoln.
At this juncture, Co). Phillips returned with
! his committee, and reported the preamble and
! resolutions on the death ot Abraham Lincoln,
j which we give below, and which were unani?
mously adopted* There were yet other pro?
ceedings in this connection-perhaps* o.lhe?
speeches--which the editor of the Qouricr re?
grets thal he could npt find place for in that,
day's issue, bat promised them in his next. We
need make no comments: '
A national-calamity has befallea our country.
Excited as this community has been for the last ?>
four years by war-its rumors, its miseries and'
its desolations; familiarized by passing events
to feel, not murk, the bitteraess of death in all