Had Lincoln Lived
Had Lincoln lived,
How would his hand, so gentle yet so strong,
Have closed the gaping wounds of ancient wrong;
How would his merry jests, the way he smiled,
Our sundered hearts to union have beguiled;
How would the South from his just rule have learned
That enemies to neighbors may be turned,
And how the North, with his sagacious art,
Have learned the power of a trusting heart;
What follies had been spared us, and what stain,
What seeds of bitterness that still remain,
Had Lincoln lived!
With Lincoln dead,
Ten million men in substitute for one
Must do the noble deeds he would have done:
Must lift the freedman with discerning care,
Nor house him in a castle of the air;
Must join the North and South in every good,
Fused in co-operating brotherhood;
Must banish enmity with his good cheer,
And slay with sunshine every rising fear;
Like him to dare, and trust, and sacrifice,
Ten million lesser Lincolns must arise,
With Lincoln dead.
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
Henry Bacon, Architect
The Lincoln Memorial will be the costliest monument to the memory of one man ever reared by a republic. The Capitol, at one end of the great parkway stretching from Capitol Hill to the Potomac, is a monument to the Government; the Lincoln Memorial, at the other end of that parkway, is a monument to the savior of that Government; and the Washington Monument, standing between, is a monument to its founder. The memorial will stand on a broad terrace 45 feet above grade. The colonnade will be 188 feet long and 118 feet wide, and will contain 36 columns, 44 feet high and 7 feet 5 inches in diameter at the base. Within the interior of the structure will be three halls. In the central hall, which will be 60 feet wide, 70 long, and 60 high, there will be a noble statue of Lincoln, while in the two side halls will be bronze tablets containing the Great Emancipator's second inaugural address and his Gettysburg speech. The George A. Fuller Company of Washington are the builders of the Memorial, which will be completed in 1917.
Samuel Green Wheeler Benjamin, born at Argos, Greece, February 13, 1837. Was United States Minister to Persia (1883-1885). Assistant Librarian in the New York State Library. In 1861-1864 sent two companies of cavalry to the war. Served in war hospitals, studied art. Art editor of American Department Magazine of Art, also of the New York Mail. Marine painter and illustrator. Among his numerous works in prose and verse are Art in America, Contemporary Art in Europe (1877); Constantinople (1860); Persia and the Persians (1866); The Choice of Paris (1870), a romance; Sea Spray (1887), a book for yachtsmen, etc.