Rest, Rest for Him
Rest, rest for him whose noble work is done;
For him who led us gently, unaware,
Till we were readier to do and dare
For Freedom, and her hundred fields were won.
His march is ended where his march began;
More sweet his sleep for toil and sacrifice,
And that rare wisdom whose beginning lies
In fear of God, and charity for man;
And sweetest for the tender faith that grew
More strong in trial, and through doubt more clear,
Seeing in clouds and darkness One appear
In whose dread name the Nation's sword he drew.
Rest, rest for him; and rest for us today
Whose sorrow shook the land from east to west
When slain by treason on the Nation's breast
Her martyr breathed his steadfast soul away.
THE FUNERAL CAR
This car bore the remains of the Martyr President to his home in Springfield, Illinois, where they were laid to rest. The funeral train left Washington, D. C., on the 21st of April, 1865, proceeded from that city to Baltimore, Maryland; Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York City, Albany and Buffalo, New York; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Chicago, Illinois; and finally to Springfield, reaching the latter place May 3, where the last sad rites were performed on the succeeding day. The body lay in state in all the above cities, brief stops being also made in many smaller places.
Richard Henry Stoddard in the following Horatian Ode made a beautiful analysis of the Martyr President's character, with a magnificent picture of the nation's tribute of mourning for its dead chief: