President Roosevelt, in behalf of the nation, said, in part:
"He lived in days that were great and terrible, when brother fought against brother for what each sincerely deemed to be the right. In a contest so grim the strong men who alone can carry it through are rarely able to do justice to the deep convictions of those with whom they grapple in mortal strife. At such times men see through a glass darkly; to only the rarest and loftiest spirits is vouchsafed that clear vision which gradually comes to all, even to the lesser, as the struggle fades into distance, and wounds are forgotten, and peace creeps back to the hearts that were hurt. But to Lincoln was given this supreme vision. He did not hate the man from whom he differed. Weakness was as foreign as wickedness to his strong, gentle nature; but his courage was of a quality so high that it needed no bolstering of dark passion. He saw clearly that the same high qualities, the same courage and willingness for self-sacrifice, and devotion to the right as it was given them to see the right, belonged both to the men of the North and to the men of the South. As the years roll by, and as all of us, wherever we dwell, grow to feel an equal pride in the valor and self-devotion alike of the men who wore the blue and the men who wore the gray, so this whole nation will grow to feel a peculiar sense of pride in the man whose blood was shed for the union of his people, and for the freedom of a race. The lover of his country and of all mankind; the mightiest of the mighty men who mastered the mighty days, Abraham Lincoln."
Governor Willson, in behalf of Kentucky, for her greatest son, said, in part:
"We have met here on this farm where he was born, in memory of Abraham Lincoln, to know for ourselves and to prove to the world, by a record made to endure, and deep graven on these acres, that the love of country and of its nobly useful citizens are not dreams, nor idle words, but indeed living, stirring, and breathing feelings. Abraham Lincoln is claimed by all humanity and all time as the type of the race best showing forth the best in all men in all conditions of life.
"Here are met to-day, with equal zeal to do him honor, soldiers of the war for and against the Union, heroes of the Union and the Confederacy, Americans all, no one less pledged than the other, not only by the bond of the covenant of our law, but alike by the dearest feelings of his heart and fervor of his blood, to our united country and its beautiful flag."