Show ABRAHAM LINCOLN i L Assassinated April 11 lSu53 This Is the remarkable poem In which I on May 0 lsu5 London Punch confessed i11 t Its error after having for four years lampooned Lincoln with pencil amid pen i I You lay a wreath on murdered Lincolns I bier You who with mocking pencil wont to I tract Broad for the sclfcomplacont British I I sneer Ills length of nhambling limb his furrowed I fur-rowed face I Hip gaunt gnarled hands his unkempt bristling hair Ills garb uncouth his bearing 111 at ease His lack of all we prlzo as debonair Of power or will to shlno of art to I pleuac You whose smart pen backed up the pencils pen-cils laugh I I Judging each step 03 though the way were plain i Reckless so It could point n paragraph Of chiefs perplexity or peoples pain i Beside this corpse that bears for wind I sheet The Stars and Stripes be lived to rear JillOW notwel tho mourners at his head and I feet Say scurrlljestcr Is there room for I you 7 I Yes he had lived to shamo me from my sneer To lam my pencil and confute my pen To make mo own thlo hind of princes peer I This rallspllttcr a trueborn king of 1 I men My shallow Judpmcnt I had learnt to rue Noting how to occasions height ho rose I i How Ills quaint wit mado hometruth 1 seem more true How Ironllkc his temper grew by blows How humblo yet how hopeful ho could be How In good fortune and In III the same Nor bitter Jn success nor boastful he Thirsty for gold nor feverish for fame Ho went about lib work such work as few Ever had laid on head and heart and hand As ono who knows where theres a tank to do Mans honest will must heavens good grace command Who trusts the strength will with tho burden grow That God makes Instruments to work Ills will If but that will we can arrive to know Nor tamper with tho weights of good and 111 So ho went forth to battle on the sldo That he felt clear was Libertys and Rights As In Jils peasant boyhood ho had plied His warfare with rude natures thwarting thwart-ing mights Time uncl fired forest tho unbroken soil The Ironbark that turns time laborers I ux The rapid that ocrbcars the boatmans toil The prairie hiding tho amazed wanderers wander-ers tracks The ambushed Indian and the prowling bear Such were the needs that helped his youth to train Rough culture but such trees largo fruit may bear If but their stocks bo of girth and grain So ho grew up a destined work to do I I And lived to do It four longsufTorlng years Illfato Illfortune Illreport lived lhrou hAnd h-And then ho heard the hisses change to cheers Tho taunts to tribute the abuso to praise And took both with the same unwaver ing mood i I Tll as ho came on light from darkling days And seemed to touch the goal from whore he stood A felon hand between the goal and him Reached from behind his back a trigger prcst And those perplexed and patient eves were dim Thoso gaunt longlaboring limbs woro laid to rest Tho words of mercy were upon his lips Forgiveness In his heart and on his pen When this vllo murderer brought swift eclipse I To thoughts of peaco on earth good will to men Tho Old World and time New from sea to sea Utter ono voice of sympathy and shame Sro heart so stopped when It at last beat high Sad life cut short Just as Its triumphs came A deed accurst Strokes have been struck before By time assassins hand whereof men doubt If more of horror or disgrace they boro But thy foul crime like Cains stands darkly out Vila hand that brandest murder on a strife Whatoer striven its grounds stoutly and nobly And with iho martyrs crown crowncst a life With much to praise little to bo for given |