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Bide, whose source is far distant, are made to flow oul and penetrate 

 every house and home" in our city, so there will go forth from this 

 spot, hallowed by precious thoughts and memories, an influence that 

 shall animate and strengthen all hearts; thai this influence may de- 

 scend from generation to generation, advancing whatever is worthy 

 of emulation in the past or present. And so our work of to-day shall 

 be blest. 



From the lips of another you will presently be called to c< ntorn- 

 plate the influence exerted upon our own age by the life and death 

 of him whose virtues we seek to commemorate — whose loss we cease 

 not to deplore. The same voice, always welcome to our ears, was 

 heard not long since in glowing eulogy at the funeral obsequies of 

 the departed. 



We have come here to-day by invitation of the War Fund Com- 

 mittee, to take part in the consummation of this long cherished pur- 

 pose, to eel el irate with appropriate ceremonies the unveiling of the 

 statue of our late lamented president, Abraham Lincoln. 



The President of the United States, the Governor of the State of 

 New York, the Mayor and Common Council of our city, Judges of 

 the respective courts, officers of the army and navy, soldiers and 

 sailors, who shared in the perils and in the glories of the war, and all 

 who contributed to the erection of this monument, have been asked 

 to be present, to witness the transfer of this gift of the people to the 

 city of their pride, and, on the part of the Park Commissioners, to 

 whose charge it is to be committed, the acceptance of this sacred 

 trust. 



Permit me, in concluding these introductory remarks, to associate 

 with the rich memories of this hour, and of this occasion, the ever 

 memorable words uttered by Mr. Lincoln at the close of his second 

 inaugural — the last, I believe, publicly addressed by him to the 

 American people. They will endure longer than bronze, however 

 imperishable it seems. What better inscription can be put upon 

 this monument? 



'• With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness 

 in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to 

 finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for 

 him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and orphans, 

 to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace 

 among ourselves and with all nations." 



