Homage Due to Lincoln
Well may we all to Lincoln homage pay,
For patriotic duty points the way,
And tells the story of the debt we owe—
A debt of gratitude that all should know;
And ne'er will perish that historic tale.
To him, the Union's great defender, hail!
Through battling years he steered the ship of state,
And ever proved a captain just and great.
Through storm and tempest, and unnumbered woes,
While oft assailed in fury by his foes,
He held his course, and triumphed over all,
Responding ever to his country's call;
And more divine than human seemed the deed
When he the slave from hellish bondage freed,
And from the South its human chattels tore.
'Twas his to Man his manhood to restore.
That righteous action sealed rebellion's doom,
And paved secession's pathway to the tomb.
But, lo! when Peace with Union glory, came,
And all the country rang with his acclaim—
A reunited country, great and strong—
A foul assassin marked him for his prey;
A bullet sped, and Lincoln dying lay.
Alas! Alas! that he should thus have died—
His country's leader, and his country's pride!
No deed more infamous than this—
No fate more cruel and unjust than his—
Can in the annals of the world be found.
The Nation shuddered in its grief profound,
And mourning emblems draped the country o'er
Alas! Alas! its leader was no more!
But still he lives in his immortal fame,
And evermore will Glory gild his name,
And keep his memory in eternal view,
And o'er his grave unfading garlands strew.
STATUE OF LINCOLN
At Edinburgh, Scotland, George E. Bissell, sculptor
It is within an inclosed cemetery, known as the Calton burying ground, which is separated from the Calton Hill by a wide thoroughfare. The statue is the work of an American sculptor, George E. Bissell. It is a fine bronze figure, and rests on a massive granite pedestal. The figure at the base is that of a freed negro holding up a wreath. On one face of the pedestal are Lincoln's words, "To preserve the jewel of liberty in the framework of freedom." The statue is a memorial not alone to Lincoln; the legend on the pedestal tells that this plot of ground was top given by the lord provost and town council of Edinburgh to Wallace Bruce, United States Consul, and dedicated as a burial place for Scottish soldiers of the American Civil War, 1861-65. Cut in the granite are the names and records of Scots who fought to preserve the Union, and who have found their last resting place in this old burying ground at the Scottish capital.
David K. Watson was born near London, Madison County, Ohio, June 18, 1849. Moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1875, where he now resides. Was Assistant United States District Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio from 1881 to 1885. Elected Attorney-General of Ohio in 1887 and re-elected in 1889. Member of the fifty-fourth Congress. Was member of the Commission to revise the Federal Statutes. Author of History of American Coinage and Watson on the Constitution of the United States.