Excerpt from Proceedings of the City Council of Providence on the Death of Abraham Lincoln: With the Oration Delivered Before the Municipal Authorities and Citizens, June 1, 1865 The events of the past week have given rise to the feeling, that although the dawn of peace seemed breaking and the dark clouds of war seemed rolling away, yet our nation was really in greater danger than at any previous time. The liberal terms granted, upon its surrender, to the army under the command of the second of arch traitors; the indications that were being manifested of a magnanimous treatment of men, guilty of the blackest of crimes; the feeling of generosity that was being cultivated among the people of the North, towards the men who had not only raised their hand against the government, but who also visited upon its captured soldiers a line of treat ment unparalleled in the history of civilized warfare g - these were greater dangers than any we have yet encountered, and they are only checked by a crime, whose baseness will astound the world, and which clearly signifies that the power which has instigated and carried on this wicked rebellion is capable of any barbarity which will aid its infamous designs. That Divine Providence, which through these years of trial has strengthened and protected our President, upon Which he leaned with confidence and submission, and to which he looked at all times for consolation and support, has, at the very hour of his triumph, permitted his removal, and granted to him, as to the Patriarch of old, only a distant View of the promised land. Let us, in this hour of bereavement, trust in. That same Prov idence, to guide us safely on as a nation, and to grant unto us that the successor of him who hath been so suddenly removed may be armed with power and might to drive our enemies out from among us, and by a strong and vigorous policy, teach the world and the generations yet to come, that treason against such a government as ours is not to be rewarded with honor or magnanimity. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.