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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5382b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60996 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60996) diff --git a/old/60996-8.txt b/old/60996-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 83b434c..0000000 --- a/old/60996-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,15949 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Soul of Abraham Lincoln, by William Eleazar Barton - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Soul of Abraham Lincoln - -Author: William Eleazar Barton - -Release Date: December 22, 2019 [EBook #60996] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SOUL OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN *** - - - - -Produced by MFR, Alan and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - THE SOUL OF - ABRAHAM LINCOLN - - BY - - WILLIAM E. BARTON - - AUTHOR OF "A HERO IN HOMESPUN," "THE - PRAIRIE SCHOONER," "PINE KNOT," - ETC. - - NEW [Illustration] YORK - GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY - - - - -COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY - -PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - - - - TO MY FOUR SONS - BRUCE, CHARLES, FREDERICK, ROBERT - AND MY SON-IN-LAW, CLYDE - - - - -PREFACE - - -THE author is aware that he is dipping his net into a stream already -darkened by too much ink. The fact that there are so many books on the -religion of Abraham Lincoln is a chief reason why there should be one -more. Books on this subject are largely polemic works which followed -the publication of Holland's biography in 1865, and multiplied in the -controversies growing out of that and the Lamon and Herndon biographies -in 1872 and 1889 respectively. Within that period and until the death -of Mr. Herndon in 1892 and the publication of his revised biography -of Lincoln in 1893, there was little opportunity for a work on this -subject that was not distinctively controversial. The time has come for -a more dispassionate view. Of the large number of other books dealing -with this topic, nearly or quite all had their origin in patriotic or -religious addresses, which, meeting with favor when orally delivered, -were more or less superficially revised and printed, in most instances -for audiences not greatly larger than those that heard them spoken. -Many of these are excellent little books, though making no pretense of -original and thorough investigation. - -Of larger and more comprehensive works there are a few, but they do not -attempt the difficult and necessary task of critical analysis. - -So much has been said, and much of it with such intensity of feeling, -on the subject of Lincoln's religion, that a number of the more -important biographies, including the great work of Nicolay and Hay, say -as little on the subject as possible. - -The author of this volume brings no sweeping criticism against those -who have preceded him in the same field. He has eagerly sought out the -books and speeches of all such within his reach, and is indebted to -many of them for valuable suggestions. A Bibliography at the end of -this volume contains a list of those to whom the author knows himself -to be chiefly indebted, but his obligation goes much farther than he -can hope to acknowledge in print. With all due regard for these earlier -authors, the present writer justifies himself in the publication of -this volume by the following considerations, which seems to him to -differ in important respects from earlier works in the same field: - -(1) He has made an effort to provide an adequate historical background -for the study of the religious life of Abraham Lincoln in the -successive periods of his life; and without immediately going too -deeply into the material of the main subject, to relate the man to his -environment. In this the author has been aided not only by books and -interviews with men who knew Lincoln, but by some years of personal -experience in communities where the social, educational, and religious -conditions were in all essential respects similar to those in which Mr. -Lincoln lived during two important epochs of his career. The author was -not born in this environment, but he spent seven years of his youth -and young manhood as a teacher and preacher in a region which give him -somewhat exceptional opportunities for a discriminating judgment. - -(2) The author has assembled what is, so far as he knows, all the -essential evidence that has appeared in print concerning the religious -life and opinions of Mr. Lincoln, a larger body, as he believes, than -any previous writer has compiled. He has added to this all evidence -available to him from written and personal testimony. - -He has subjected this evidence to a critical analysis, in an effort to -determine the degree of credibility with which its several portions may -reasonably be received. The author is not unaware that this is the most -disputable, as it is the most difficult part of his task, and, as he -believes, the most valuable part of it. Unless some such analysis is -made, the evidence resolves itself into chaos. - -(3) Several entirely new avenues of investigation have been opened and -lines of evidence adduced which find no place in any previous book -on Mr. Lincoln's religious life, and very scant reference, and that -without investigation, in one or two of the biographies. - -(4) The book also contains a constructive argument, setting forth the -conviction to which the author has come with regard to the faith of -Abraham Lincoln. - -It is entirely possible that some readers will find themselves in -essential agreement with the author in the earlier parts of the book, -but will dissent in whole or in part from his own inferences. Whether -the reader agrees or disagrees with the author in his conclusions, he -will find in this book some material not elsewhere available for the -formation of an independent judgment. Nevertheless the author counts -himself justified not only in adducing the evidence but in stating -frankly the conclusion which to his mind this evidence supports. - -This book treats of the religion of Abraham Lincoln; but it does not -consider his religion as wholly expressed in his theological opinions. -Important as it is that a man should think correctly on all subjects, -and especially on a subject of such transcendent value, religion is -more than a matter of opinion. We cannot adequately consider religion -apart from life. Abraham Lincoln's life was an evolution, and so was -his religion. In a way which this volume will seek to set forth, -Lincoln was himself a believer in evolution, and his life and religion -were in accord with this process as he held it. - -This book is, therefore, more than an essay on the religion of Lincoln, -unless religion be understood as inclusive of all that is normal in -life. It deals, therefore, with the life, as well as with the opinions, -of Lincoln; and it considers both life and opinion as in process of -development in each of the successive stages of his career. - -In this respect the present book may claim some distinctive place in -the literature of this subject. Other books have drawn sharp contrasts -between the supposed religious opinions of Lincoln's youth and those -which he is believed to have cherished later. This book undertakes what -may be termed a study of the evolution of the spiritual life of Abraham -Lincoln. The author is not aware that this has been done before in -quite this way. - -The author acknowledges his obligations to many friends for their -assistance in the preparation of this volume. Mr. Jesse W. Weik, of -Greencastle, Indiana, associate of Mr. Herndon in the preparation of -his Life of Lincoln, and owner of the Herndon manuscripts, has been -generous to me. Mrs. Clark E. Carr, of Galesburg, Illinois, widow of -my honored friend, and the friend of Lincoln, Colonel Carr, author of -"Lincoln at Gettysburg," has placed at my disposal all her husband's -books and papers. Mr. Judd Stewart, of New York City, owner of one of -the largest collections of Lincolniana, has assisted me. President John -W. Cook of the Northern Illinois State Normal School has suggested -important lines of research. Mr. John E. Burton, of Lake Geneva, -Wisconsin, whose collection of Lincoln books was once the largest in -America, has sold me some of his chief treasures, and imparted to me -much of the fruit of his experience. Mr. O. H. Oldroyd, of Washington, -owner of the famous Lincoln Collection, and custodian of the house -where Lincoln died, has, on two visits, placed all that he has within -my reach. To these, and to a considerable number of men and women who -knew Lincoln while he was yet living, and to many others whom I cannot -name, my thanks are due. - -I regret that one great collection, consisting, however, more largely -of relics than of manuscripts, is so largely packed away that it has -not been of much use to me. Mr. Charles F. Gunther of Chicago has, -however, produced for me such Lincoln material as seemed to him to bear -upon my quest, and I acknowledge his courtesy. - -Mr. Oliver P. Barrett of Chicago has given me great joy in the -examination of his fine collection of Lincoln manuscripts. - -I have spent a few pleasant and profitable hours in the collection of -Honorable Daniel Fish, the noted Lincoln bibliographer, of Minneapolis, -and thank him for his friendly interest in this undertaking. - -Among libraries, my largest debt is to those of the Chicago Historical -Society, the Illinois State Historical Society at Springfield, and the -Library of Congress in Washington. In each of these I have had not only -unrestricted access to the whole Lincoln material possessed by them, -but the most generous and courteous assistance. I have examined every -rare Lincoln book, and many manuscripts, in these three collections. I -have had occasion also to use the Chicago Public Library, the Newberry -Library, and the Library of the University of Chicago, as well as those -of Chicago Theological Seminary and McCormick Theological Seminary. In -certain important local matters, I have been assisted by the libraries -of Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, Illinois College, Jacksonville, -Illinois, the Public Library of Peoria, Illinois, and the library of -Transylvania University at Lexington, Kentucky. I also visited the -Public Library of Louisville, with its historical collections, but most -that I found there I had already consulted elsewhere. The New York -Public Library and the Library of Columbia University supplemented my -research at a few important points. The Oak Park Public Library has -been constantly at my service. The Library of Berea College, Kentucky, -has given me very valuable assistance in finding for me a large amount -of periodical literature bearing on my study. The five great Boston -libraries would have yielded me much had I come to them earlier. -While the book was undergoing revision, I visited the Athenaeum, the -Massachusetts State, the Boston Public, the Massachusetts Historical, -and the Harvard University libraries. It was gratifying to discover -that even in the last named of these, enriched as it is with the -collections of Charles Sumner, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and the -Lincoln collection of my friend Alonzo Rothschild, author of "Lincoln, -Master of Men," there was practically nothing relating to this subject -which I had not already seen and examined. In the Massachusetts -Historical Library, however, I discovered some manuscripts, and that -quite unexpectedly, which afford me much aid in a collateral study. - -In addition to the foregoing, I have my own Lincoln library, which, -while a working collection rather than one of incunabula, and modest in -size as compared with some that I have used, is still not small. The -Bibliography at the end of the volume is virtually a catalogue of my -own Lincoln books. - -Claims of completeness are dangerous, and I make none. But I have -been diligent in pursuit of all probable sources of knowledge of this -subject, and I do not now know where to look for any other book of -manuscript that would greatly alter or add to the material which this -book contains. I am glad, therefore, at this stage, to share the fruits -of my investigations with the reader. - - W. E. B. - - THE FIRST CHURCH STUDY OAK PARK, ILLINOIS - - - - -CONTENTS - - -PART I: A STUDY OF RELIGIOUS ENVIRONMENTS - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I THE CONFLICT OF TESTIMONY 19 - - II WHY THE BIOGRAPHIES DIFFER 24 - - III THE ENVIRONMENT OF LINCOLN'S BOYHOOD 29 - - IV THE ENVIRONMENTS OF LINCOLN'S YOUNG MANHOOD 51 - - V THE ENVIRONMENT OF LINCOLN'S LIFE IN SPRINGFIELD 71 - - VI THE ENVIRONMENT OF LINCOLN'S LIFE IN WASHINGTON 86 - - -PART II: AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVIDENCE - - VII THE RULES OF EVIDENCE 101 - - VIII THE BATEMAN INCIDENT 114 - - IX THE LAMON BIOGRAPHY 128 - - X THE REED LECTURE 135 - - XI THE HERNDON LECTURES, LETTERS, AND BIOGRAPHY 140 - - XII LINCOLN'S BURNT BOOK 146 - - XIII "THE CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE" 156 - - XIV "VESTIGES OF CREATION" 166 - - XV OTHER FORMATIVE BOOKS 172 - - XVI CHITTENDEN AND CHINIQUY 188 - - XVII THE BEECHER AND SICKLES INCIDENTS 198 - - XVIII "BEHIND THE SCENES" 203 - - XIX FROM THE HOUSETOPS AND IN THE CLOSET 210 - - -PART III: THE RELIGION OF LINCOLN - - XX WHAT LINCOLN WAS NOT 225 - - XXI WHY DID LINCOLN NEVER JOIN A CHURCH? 244 - - XXII THE CONSTRUCTIVE ARGUMENT 260 - - XXIII THE CREED OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 291 - - -APPENDICES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY - - I EXTRACT FROM NEWTON BATEMAN'S LECTURE ON - LINCOLN WITH VARIANTS OF THE SPRINGFIELD - FAREWELL ADDRESS 303 - - II "HIGH-HANDED OUTRAGE AT UTICA" 307 - By Artemus Ward - - III "THE CONVERSION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN" 309 - By the Rev. Edward L. Watson - - IV THE REED LECTURE 314 - - V TWO HERNDON LETTERS CONCERNING LINCOLN'S - RELIGION 336 - - VI THE IRWIN ARTICLE, WITH LETTERS 341 - - VII "THE CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE" 358 - With full chapter analysis - - VIII LINCOLN AND THE CHURCHES 377 - By Nicolay and Hay - - IX "BOUND TOGETHER IN CHRISTIANITY AND PATRIOTISM" 385 - Hitherto unpublished address of Lincoln - - BIBLIOGRAPHY 387 - - INDEX 401 - - - - -PART I: A STUDY OF RELIGIOUS ENVIRONMENTS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE CONFLICT OF TESTIMONY - - -OF no other American have so many biographies been written as of -Abraham Lincoln. No other question concerning his life has evoked more -interest than that of his religious faith and experience. What Abraham -Lincoln believed has been told by many who knew him and whose varied -relations to him during his lifetime rendered it not unreasonable to -suppose that they could give some assured answer to the question of his -belief. The answers are not only varied, but hopelessly contradictory. -It is stated on apparently good authority that in his young manhood he -read Volney's _Ruins_ and Paine's _Age of Reason_, and it is affirmed -that he accepted their conclusions, and himself wrote what might -have been a book or pamphlet denying the essential doctrines of the -Christian faith as he understood them. Friends of his who knew him -well enough to forbid the throwing of their testimony out of court -have affirmed that he continued to hold these convictions; and that, -while he became more cautious in the matter of their expression, he -carried them through life and that they never underwent any radical -change. On the other hand, there are declarations, made by those who -also knew Lincoln well, that these views became modified essentially, -and that Lincoln accepted practically the whole content of orthodox -Christian theology as it was then understood; that he observed daily -family worship in his home; that he carried a Bible habitually upon -his person; and that he was in short in every essential a professed -Christian, though never a member of a Christian church. - -There is more than a conflict of testimony; there is positive chaos. -Every recent biographer has felt the inherent difficulties involved in -it. One or two of them have passed it over with practically no mention; -others have become fierce partisans of the one extreme or the other. - -Besides the formal biographies, a literature of this special topic has -grown up. Entire books and many pamphlets and magazine articles have -been written on this one question. The Chicago Historical Society and -the Chicago Public Library have each devoted a principal division in -the Lincoln material to the literature relating to his religion. It has -been the writer's privilege to examine in both these libraries and in -several others the whole known body of literature of the subject. - -In this investigation the writer came face to face with utterly -contradictory testimony from men who had known Abraham Lincoln -intimately. - -Of him Mr. Herndon, for twenty years his law partner, said: - - "As to Mr. Lincoln's religious views, he was, in short, an infidel.... - Mr. Lincoln told me a thousand times that he did not believe the Bible - was the revelation of God as the Christian world contends."--LAMON: - _Life of Lincoln_, p. 489. - -The direct antithesis of this statement is found in a narrative of Hon. -Newton Bateman, who knew Mr. Lincoln from 1842 until Mr. Lincoln's -death, and whose office was in the State House at Springfield next-door -to that which, for a period of eight months from the time of his -nomination till his departure for his inauguration, was occupied by Mr. -Lincoln. He affirmed (or at least was so quoted by Holland) that Mr. -Lincoln said to him: - - "I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I - see the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a - place and work for me--and I think He has--I believe I am ready. I am - nothing, but truth is everything. I know I am right because I know - that liberty is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God."--J. - G. HOLLAND: _Life of Lincoln_, p. 237. - -Popular oratory has carried even farther these two extremes of -irreconcilable contradiction. On the one hand are to be found -scurrilous publications, shockingly offensive against all good taste, -declaring Lincoln to have been an atheist, a mocker, a hypocrite, a man -of unclean mind, and a violator in his speech of all canons of decency. -We will not quote from any of these at present; but of the length to -which the other extreme can go, has gone, and continues to go, let the -following incident, gleaned from a recent English book, serve as an -illustration: - - "In the year 1861 the Southern States of America were filled with - slaves and slaveholders. It was proposed to make Abraham Lincoln - president. But he had resolved that if he came to that position of - power he would do all he could to wipe away the awful scourge from - the page of his nation's history. A rebellion soon became imminent, - and it was expected that in his inaugural address much would be said - respecting it. The time came. The Senate House was packed with people; - before him was gathered the business skill and the intellectual power - of the States. With one son lying dead in the White House, whom he - loved with a fond father's affection; another little boy on the - borders of eternity; with his nation's eternal disgrace or everlasting - honor resting upon his speech, he speaks distinctly, forcefully, and - without fear. Friend and foe marvel at his collected movements. They - know of the momentous issues which hang on his address. They know the - domestic trials that oppress his heart. But they do not know that, - before leaving home that morning, the President had taken down the - family Bible and conducted their home worship as usual, and then - had asked to be left alone. The family withdrawing, they heard his - tremulous voice raised in pleadings with God, that He whose shoulder - sustains the government of worlds would guide him and overrule - his speech for His own glory. Here was the power of this man's - strength."--G. H. MORGAN: _Modern Knights-Errant_, p. 104; quoted in - Hastings' _Great Texts of the Bible_, volume on "Isaiah," pp. 237-38. - -This incident is now an integral part of the best and most recent -homiletic work in the English language, and will be used in thousands -of sermons and addresses. It is a story that carries its own refutation -in almost every line. Mr. Lincoln had no son either sick or dead and -lying in the White House or anywhere else at the time of his first -inaugural, nor had he as yet entered the White House; and the hours of -that day are fairly well accounted for; but this and similar incidents -illustrate the length to which the oratorical imagination may carry -a speaker either in the pulpit or on the platform, and not only be -preserved in books but pass the supposedly critical eye of a careful -compiler of material for sermons and lectures. - -If another book is justified, it should be one that does more than -compile that part of the evidence which appears to support a particular -theory. The compilation should be as nearly complete as is humanely -possible. But it must do more than plunge the reader into this swamp of -conflicting testimony. It must somehow seek to evaluate the evidence -and present a reasonable conclusion. - -Moreover, in the judgment of the present writer, religion is more -than opinion, and cannot be considered as a detachable entity. -Lincoln's religion was more than his belief, his conjecture, his -logical conclusion concerning particular doctrines. It can only be -properly appraised in connection with his life. While, therefore, the -writer does not now undertake a complete biography of Lincoln, though -cherishing some hope that he may eventually write a book of that -character, this present work endeavors to study the religion of Lincoln -not in detachment, but as part and parcel of his life. - -A word may be said concerning the author's point of view and the -experience which lies behind it. In his early manhood he had an -experience of several years which he considers of value as affording a -background for the interpretation of the Lincoln material. For several -years the author taught school and afterward preached in the mountain -region of Kentucky and Tennessee amid social conditions essentially -parallel to those in which Mr. Lincoln was born and amid which he -spent his manhood up to the time of his going to Washington. The -same kind of preaching that Lincoln heard, not only in Kentucky but -in the backwoods of Indiana and the pioneer villages of central and -southern Illinois, the present author heard in his own young manhood -as a teacher in district schools far back beyond the sound of the -locomotive's whistle or the inroads of modern civilization. How that -kind of preaching affected the inquiring mind of the young Lincoln, -the author is sure he knows better than most of Lincoln's biographers -have known. The fierce theological controversies that waged between -the old-time Baptists and the itinerant Methodists, together with the -emphatic dogmatism of the Southern type of Presbyterianism as it was -held and preached in the Kentucky mountains forty years ago and in -southern Illinois and Indiana eighty years ago are part of the vivid -memory of the present writer. A young man who refused to accept this -kind of teaching might be charged with being an infidel, and might -easily suppose himself to be one; but whether that would be a just -or fair classification depends upon conditions which some of the -controversialists appear not to have known or to have been capable of -appreciating through lack of experience of their own. - -This book attempts, therefore, to be a digest of all the available -evidence concerning the religious faith of Abraham Lincoln. It -undertakes also to weigh that evidence and to pass judgment, the -author's own judgment, concerning it. If the reader's judgment agrees -with the author's, the author will be glad; but if not at least the -facts are here set forth in their full essential content. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -WHY THE BIOGRAPHIES DIFFER - - -THE many biographies of Abraham Lincoln differ widely in their estimate -of his religious opinions and life, partly because the biographers -approach the subject from widely differing angles, and some of them -are seeking in advance the establishment of particular conclusions. -But apart from that personal bias, from which no author can claim to -be wholly free, the biographical study of Abraham Lincoln was itself -an evolution whose main outlines and processes it will be profitable -briefly to consider. - -The first printed biographies of Mr. Lincoln appeared in 1860. They -were the familiar campaign biography, such as is issued for every -candidate for the Presidency. The first man who approached Mr. Lincoln -with a proposal to write his Life was J. L. Scripps of the Chicago -_Tribune_. Mr. Lincoln deprecated the idea of writing any biography. - - "Why, Scripps, [said he] it is a great piece of folly to attempt to - make anything out of me or my early life. It can all be condensed into - a single sentence, and that sentence you will find in Grey's 'Elegy': - - '_The short and simple annals of the poor._' - - That's my life, and that's all you or anyone else can make out of - it."--HERNDON, I, 2. - -Lincoln felt the meagerness of his biographical material, but the -biographers succeeded in making books about him, Scripps wrote his -booklet, and it appeared in thirty-two closely printed double-column -pages, and sold at twenty-five cents. It is now excessively rare. -Lincoln read the proof and approved it. The "Wigwam" Life of Lincoln -appeared simultaneously with the Scripps booklet, and it is not quite -certain which of the two emerged first from the press. It contained -117 pages, of which the last seven were devoted to Hannibal Hamlin, -Republican candidate for Vice-President. This also had a wide sale, and -is now very rare. That Lincoln did not read the proofs of this book is -evidenced by the name "Abram" instead of "Abraham" on its title page -and throughout the book. It relates that "when he was six years old, -his father died, leaving a widow and several children, poor and almost -friendless"; and in other respects shows that Lincoln did not furnish -the data of it, and also indicates how meager was the biographical -material at hand outside the little sketch which Lincoln prepared for -Scripps. - -Another pamphlet, containing 216 pages, was "The Authentic Edition" by -J. H. Barrett, and still another, the "Authorized" edition by D. W. -Bartlett, which extended to 354 pages and was bound in cloth. Perhaps -the best of these campaign biographies of 1860 was that written by -William Dean Howells, then a young man and unknown to fame. Apparently -Lincoln furnished to each of these writers--except the Wigwam -edition--essentially the same material which he had given to Scripps, -or else they borrowed from Scripps, with permission, and to this extent -they were "authorized" or "authentic." But there is no indication that -Lincoln read any of them except that of Scripps. Even this must have -surprised him when he beheld how his little sketch could be spread out -over as many as thirty-two pages. - -The campaign of 1864 brought out a new crop of campaign biographies, -and these used essentially the same material up to 1860, and found -their new matter in the history of the Civil War up to the date of -their publication. - -This campaign material still stood in type or stereotyped pages when -Lincoln was killed, and was hastily used again. The author, who -owns all the books cited above, has also others which came from the -press in May or June of 1865, whose main part was taken over bodily -from the campaign biographies of 1864 and speaks of Lincoln as still -living, while the back part is made up of material concerning the -assassination, the funeral, and the trial of the conspirators. These -called themselves "Complete" biographies, but they were merely revamped -campaign booklets of 1864 with appended matter and virtually no -revision. - -These works represent the first stage of the attempt to make books -out of the life of Abraham Lincoln. The outline of the life itself is -meager in all of them, and they are well padded with campaign speeches; -and the last of them, with full and interesting details of the funeral -services of Lincoln, the death of Booth, and other matter lifted from -the newspapers of the period. - - * * * * * - -The second epoch began with the publication of the Life of Abraham -Lincoln by John G. Holland in 1865. It was by all odds the best of -the books that undertook within a few years after his death to tell -the story of the life of Lincoln, with some estimate of his place in -history. It is also the book which began the controversy concerning -Lincoln's religion. - - * * * * * - -The third period was introduced by the biography of Abraham Lincoln -by Ward Hill Lamon, which was issued in 1872. It was based upon -manuscripts that had been collected by William H. Herndon, who -was supposed to have had a considerable share in the work of its -preparation. Herndon emphatically denied writing any part of it, and -said in a letter to Mr. Horace White that it was written for Lamon -by Chauncey F. Black, son of J. S. Black, a member of Buchanan's -cabinet and a political enemy of Lincoln (Newton: _Lincoln and -Herndon_, p. 307). This valuable but unwisely written book, containing -many things offensive to good taste, occasioned much controversy -for its stark realism and what seemed to many of Lincoln's friends -misrepresentations. Some of the intimate friends of Lincoln are alleged -to have bought a considerable part of the edition and destroyed the -books, but copies are in the principal libraries and in the best -private collections. - -Unterrified by the reception which had been accorded Lamon's work, -William H. Herndon, for twenty years Lincoln's law partner, assisted -by Jesse W. Weik, published in 1889 a Life of Lincoln, in three -volumes.[1] The storm of denunciation that beat upon Herndon's head was -fierce and long. The greater part of the edition disappeared. Libraries -that contain it keep it under lock and key, and the prices bid for it -at occasional book auctions contrast strikingly with those for which -it went begging immediately after it was issued. Four years later, -assisted by Mr. Horace White, Mr. Herndon reissued the book in two -volumes, with those passages elided which had given greatest offense. - -These two biographies mark the rise and high-water mark of the demand -for "the real Lincoln"; and nobody can deny that they were quite -sufficiently realistic. - -The next stage in the Lincoln biography was the ten-volume Life of -Lincoln by his former secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay. It was -issued in 1890, and called itself "a history." It is a history rather -than a biography; the biographical material in it was condensed into a -single volume by Mr. Nicolay in 1904. This work is monumental, and may -be said to attempt the giving of materials for the complete Lincoln -rather than to be in itself an effort within the proper limits of -biography. - -The two-volume biography by John T. Morse, Jr., issued in 1893, was the -first constructive piece of work in this field after the Nicolay and -Hay material had become available; and it remains in some respects the -best short Life of Abraham Lincoln; though the author's New England -viewpoint militates against his correct appraisal of many features of -the life of Lincoln. - -The next period may be said to be the period of the magazine Lincoln, -and to be represented at its best by the work of Ida M. Tarbell, which -first appeared in _McClure's Magazine_, beginning in 1895, and was -subsequently issued in book form in several editions beginning in -1900. This was a pictorial biography, with much new illustrative and -documentary material, and is of permanent value. - -Since 1900 the biographies that have been issued have largely been -devoted to specialized studies, as of Lincoln as a lawyer, Lincoln -as a political leader, Lincoln as a statesman; and there have been -innumerable books and articles made up of reminiscences of the men who -knew Lincoln more or less intimately. - -None of the biographies before Holland attempted anything that could be -called a critical analysis of Lincoln's character. There is virtually -nothing in the earliest Lives of Lincoln concerning his religion or any -other important aspect of his private and personal life. In the nature -of the case those books were superficial. - -Furthermore, some of the more important biographies of more recent -years have made no attempt at systematic character study. While there -is something about Lincoln's religion in almost every one of them, that -topic has been quite incidental and subordinate to the main purpose of -most of the larger books. The authors have been content to take for the -most part the ready-formed judgment of those whose views most nearly -accorded with their own. - -The field of inquiry concerning Lincoln's religion is both more -narrow and broader than it would at first appear. Many even of the -more important biographical works about Lincoln yield nothing of -any real value, so far as this topic is concerned. On the other -hand, the subject has been exploited in magazine articles, newspaper -contributions, lectures and addresses almost innumerable and by no mean -consistent. - -The task, then, is more and other than that of making a scrapbook of -what different authorities have said about Abraham Lincoln's religion. -A vast amount has been said by people who had no personal knowledge of -the subject they were discussing and no adequate power of historical -analysis. The volume of really first-hand evidence is not so vast as -at first it appears; and while it cannot all be reconciled nor its -direct contradictions eliminated, it is not hopelessly beyond the -limits of constructive probability. It is possible to determine some -facts about the religion of Abraham Lincoln with reasonable certainty -and to interpret others in the light of their probable bearing upon the -subject as a whole. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE ENVIRONMENT OF LINCOLN'S BOYHOOD - - -WE have read Buckle's _History of Civilization_ to little effect if we -have not learned that the development of an individual or a nation is -profoundly influenced by environment. The biographers of Lincoln would -appear to have kept this fact carefully in mind, for they have been at -great pains to give to us detailed descriptions of the houses in which -Lincoln lived and the neighborhoods where from time to time he resided. -Although the camera and the descriptive power of the biographers have -done much for us, they leave something to be desired in the way of -sketching a background from which the Abraham Lincoln of the successive -periods emerged into conditions of life and thought that were more -or less religious. For the purpose of this present study the life of -Lincoln divides itself into four parts. - -The first is the period of his boyhood, from his birth in Kentucky -until his coming of age and the removal of his family from Indiana into -Illinois. - -The second is the period of his early manhood, from the time he left -his father's home until he took up his residence in Springfield. - -The third is the period of his life in Springfield, from his first -arrival on April 15, 1837, until his final departure on February 11, -1861, for his inauguration as President. - -The fourth is the period covered by his presidency, from his -inauguration, March 4, 1861, until his death, April 15, 1865. - -Before considering at length the testimony of the people who knew him, -except as that testimony relates to these particular epochs, we will -consider the life of Lincoln as it was related to the conditions in -which he lived in these successive periods. - -The first period in the life of Abraham Lincoln includes the -twenty-one years from his birth to his majority, and is divided -into two parts,--the first seven and one-half years of his life in -the backwoods of Kentucky, and the following thirteen years in the -wilderness of southern Indiana. - -Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President of the United States, was born -near Hodgenville, Kentucky, on Sunday, February 12, 1809. He was the -second child of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, who were married near -Beechland, Washington County, Kentucky, on June 12, 1806, when Thomas -was twenty-eight and Nancy twenty-three. Nine days before the birth -of Abraham Lincoln the territory of Illinois was organized by Act of -Congress; the boy and the future State were twin-born. For four years -the family lived on the Rock Spring farm, three miles from Hodgenville, -in Hardin, now Larue County, Kentucky. When he was four years old his -parents moved to a better farm on Knob Creek. Here he spent nearly four -years more, and he and his sister, Sarah, began going to school. His -first teacher was Zachariah Riney; his second, Caleb Hazel. - -In the autumn of 1816, Thomas Lincoln loaded his household goods upon -a small flatboat of his own construction and floated down Knob Creek, -Salt River, and the Ohio, and landed on the northern bank of the Ohio -River. He thence returned and brought his family, who traveled on -horseback. The distance to where the goods had been left was only about -fifty miles in a straight line from the old home in Kentucky, but was -probably a hundred miles by the roads on which they traveled. Thomas -doubtless rode one horse with a child behind him, and Nancy rode the -other, also carrying a child behind her saddle. - -When the family arrived at the point where the goods had been left, a -wagon was hired, and Thomas Lincoln, with his wife, his two children, -and all his worldly possessions, moved sixteen miles into the -wilderness to a place which he had already selected, and there made his -home. That winter and the greater part of the following year were spent -in a "half-faced camp" from which the family moved in the following -autumn to a log cabin, erected by Thomas Lincoln. For more than a year -he was a squatter on this farm, but subsequently entered it and secured -title from the government. Here Nancy Hanks Lincoln died, October 5, -1818, when Abraham was less than ten years old. A year later Thomas -Lincoln returned to Kentucky and married Sally Bush Johnson, a widow, -with three children. She brought with her better furniture than the -cabin afforded, and also brought a higher type of culture than Thomas -Lincoln had known. She taught her husband so that he was able with some -difficulty to read the Bible and to sign his own name. On this farm -in the backwoods in the Pigeon Creek settlement, with eight or ten -families as neighbors, and with the primitive village of Gentryville a -mile and a half distant, Abraham Lincoln grew to manhood. Excepting for -a brief experience as a ferryman on the Ohio River and a trip to New -Orleans which he made upon a flatboat, his horizon was bounded by this -environment from the time he was eight until he was twenty-one. - -The cabin in which the Lincoln family lived was a fairly comfortable -house. It was eighteen feet square and the logs were hewn. It was high -enough to admit a loft, where Abe slept, ascending to it by wooden -pins driven into the logs. The furniture, excepting that brought by -Sally Bush, was very primitive and made by Thomas Lincoln. Three-legged -stools answered for chairs, and the bedsteads had only one leg each, -the walls supporting the other three corners. - -Of the educational advantages, Mr. Lincoln wrote in 1860: - - "It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still - in the woods. There I grew up. There were some schools so-called, - but no qualification was ever required of a teacher beyond readin', - writin', and cipherin' to the Rule of Three. If a straggler supposed - to understand Latin happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was - looked upon as a wizard. There was absolutely nothing to excite - ambition for education."--NICOLAY, p. 10. - -Here he attended school for three brief periods. The first school was -taught by Azel W. Dorsey, when Abraham was ten years old; the next by -Andrew Crawford, when he was fourteen; and the third by a teacher -named Swaney, whose first name Mr. Lincoln was unable to recall in -later life. His schooling was under five different teachers, two in -Kentucky and three in Indiana. It was scattered over nine years and -embraced altogether less than twelve months of aggregate attendance. - -In Kentucky it is probable that his only textbook was Webster's -Elementary Speller. It was popularly known as the "Old Blueback." - -Webster's Speller is a good speller and more. Each section of words -to be spelled is followed by short sentences containing those words, -and at the end of the book are three illustrated lessons in Natural -History--one on The Mastiff, another on The Stag, and the third on The -Squirrel. Besides these are seven fables, each with its illustration -and its moral lesson. I used this book in teaching school in the -backwoods of Kentucky, and still have the teacher's copy which I thus -employed. - -The two Kentucky schools which Lincoln attended were undoubtedly "blab" -schools. The children were required to study aloud. Their audible -repetition of their lessons was the teacher's only assurance that they -were studying;[2] and even while he was hearing a class recite he would -spend a portion of his time moving about the room with hickory switch -in hand, administering frequent rebuke to those pupils who did not -study loud enough to afford proof of their industry. - -In Indiana, Lincoln came under the influence of men who could cipher -as far as the Rule of Three. He also learned to use Lindley Murray's -English Reader, which he always believed, and with much reason, to be -the most useful textbook ever put into the hands of an American youth -(Herndon, I, 37). He also studied Pike's Arithmetic. Grammar he did not -study in school, but later learned it under Mentor Graham in Illinois. - -The first of these schools was only about a mile and a half distant -from his home; the last was four miles, and his attendance was -irregular. - -In the second school, taught by Andrew Crawford, he learned whatever he -knew of the usages of polite society; for Crawford gave his pupils a -kind of drill in social usages (Herndon, I, 37). - -In Swaney's school he probably learned that the earth was round. A -classmate, Katy Roby, afterward Mrs. Allen Gentry, between whom and -Abraham a boy-and-girl attachment appears to have existed, and who at -the time was fifteen and Abe seventeen, is authority for the statement -that as they were sitting together on the bank of the Ohio River near -Gentry's landing, wetting their bare feet in the flowing water and -watching the sun go down, he told her that it was the revolution of the -earth which made the moon and sun appear to rise and set. He exhibited -what to her appeared a profound knowledge of astronomy (Herndon, I, 39; -Lamon's _Life_, p. 70). - -It is not necessary for us to assume that Abraham knew very much more -about astronomy than the little which he told to Katy Roby; but it is -worth while to note in passing that when Abraham Lincoln learned that -the earth was round, he probably learned something which his father did -not know and which would have been admitted by no minister whom Abraham -had heard preach up to this time. - -We are ready now to consider the character of the preaching which -Abraham Lincoln heard in his boyhood. Direct testimony is fragmentary -of necessity; but it is of such character that we are able without -difficulty to make a consistent mental picture of the kind of religious -service with which he was familiar. - -A recent author has said that Lincoln never lived in a community having -a church building until he went to the legislature in Vandalia in 1834 -(Johnson, _Lincoln the Christian_, p. 31). This is probably true if -we insist upon its meaning a house of worship owned exclusively by -one denomination, but the same author reminds us that there was a log -meeting-house[3] within three miles of Lincoln's childhood home in -Kentucky (p. 22). - -Dr. Peters says: - - "The prayers that Parson Elkin said above the mound of Nancy - Hanks were the first public prayers to which Abraham ever - listened"--_Abraham Lincoln's Religion_, p. 24. - -This is absurdly incorrect. Abraham Lincoln almost certainly heard -public prayers at intervals, probably from the time he was three months -old. - -Abraham Lincoln was born in February, or his mother probably would have -taken him to church earlier; but by May or June, when there was monthly -preaching at the log meeting-house three miles away, she mounted a -horse and Thomas Lincoln another, he with Sarah sitting before him -at the saddlebow and she with Abraham in her arms, and they rode to -meeting. If they had had but one horse instead of two they would have -gone just the same. She would have sat behind Thomas with Abraham in -her arms and Thomas would have had Sarah on the horse before him. -Thomas Lincoln was too shiftless to have a horse-block, but Nancy could -mount her horse from any one of the numerous stumps in the vicinity of -the home. She and every other young mother in the neighborhood knew how -to ride and carry a baby, and having once learned the art, the young -mother was not permitted to forget it for several years. - -Arrived at the log meeting-house, they hitched their horses to -swinging limbs, where the animals could fight flies without breaking -the bridle-reins. Nancy went inside immediately and took her seat on -the left side of the room; Thomas remained outside gossiping with his -neighbors concerning "craps" and politics, and maybe swapping a horse -before the service had gotten fairly under way. After a while he heard -the preacher in stentorian tones lining and singing the opening hymn, -the thin, high voices of the women joining him feebly at first but -growing a little more confident as the hymn proceeded. Then Thomas and -his neighbors straggled in and sat on the right side of the house. -The floor was puncheon and so were the seats; they were rudely split -slabs, roughly hewn, and the second sitting from either end had an -added element of discomfort in the projection of the two legs that had -been driven in from the under side and were not sawed off flush with -the surface of the slab. There were no glass windows. On either side of -the house one section of a log may have been sawed out about four feet -from the floor; but most of the light of the interior came in through -the open door in mild weather, or was afforded by the fireplace in cold -weather. - -On the rude pulpit lay the preacher's Bible and hymn book, if he had -a hymn book--no one else had one; and beside these were a bucket of -water and a gourd. There was no time in the service when Thomas Lincoln -did not feel free to walk up to the pulpit and drink a gourd of water, -and the same was true of every other member of the congregation, the -preacher included. As for Nancy, she spread her riding-skirt on the -seat under her and when her baby grew hungry she nursed him just as the -other women nursed their babies. - -To such congregations the author of this present book preached hundreds -of times in the woods of Kentucky; and there is no essential feature of -the church services which he does not know. - -In the autumn, just before fodder-pulling time, there was an -occasional camp-meeting or big revival, followed by a baptizing, which -brought multitudes of people from long distances. They brought their -provisions, or they stayed with friends, one cabin proving elastic -enough to accommodate two or three households. Under these conditions -the author of this book has slept many nights in houses of one room, -with as many beds as the room could well contain, inhabited not only by -the family but by visitors of both sexes; and in all that experience he -is unable to recall any incident that was immodest. - -When the converts of the camp-meeting or revival were baptized, they -were led into the water with due solemnity; but as each one came to the -surface he or she was likely to break forth into shouting, a proceeding -which, as the author can testify, was sometimes embarrassing, if not -indeed perilous,[4] to the officiating clergyman. - -Herndon tells us of the fondness of the Hanks girls for camp-meeting -and describes one in which Nancy appears to have participated a little -time before her marriage (I, 14). We have no reason to believe that -that was her last camp-meeting. - -Thomas Lincoln is alleged by Herndon to have been a Free-will Baptist -in Kentucky, a Presbyterian in the latter part of his life in Indiana, -and finally a Disciple (I, 11). He does not state where he obtained -his information, but it is almost certain that he got it from Sally -Bush Lincoln on the occasion of his visit to her in 1865; as she is the -accredited source of most of the information of this character. - -I am more than tempted to believe that either she or Herndon was -incorrect in speaking of Thomas Lincoln's earliest affiliation as a -Free-will Baptist. There were more kinds of Baptists in heaven and on -earth than were understood in her philosophy; and I question whether -the Free-will Baptists, who originated in New England, had by this -time penetrated to so remote a section of Kentucky. What she probably -told Herndon was that he was not of the most reactionary kind--the -so-called "Hardshell" or anti-missionary Baptists. Of them we shall -have something to say later. The Scripps biography, read and approved -by Lincoln, said simply that his parents were consistent members of -the Baptist Church. Nicolay and Hay do not record the membership of -Thomas Lincoln in the Presbyterian Church, and one is more than tempted -to question the accuracy of Herndon at this point. Presbyterianism -had at that date very little part in the shaping of the life of the -backwoods of Illinois and Indiana, as we shall see when we come to -the life of Lincoln in Illinois. Nicolay and Hay tell us that "Thomas -Lincoln joined the Baptist church at Little Pigeon in 1823. His oldest -child, Sarah, followed his example three years later. They were known -as consistent and active members of that communion" (Nicolay and -Hay, I, 32-33). If Sarah joined the Baptist church in 1826, and the -family was remembered as active in that church, the relation of Thomas -Lincoln with the Presbyterians in Indiana must have been brief, for -he left that State in 1830. We are assured that he observed religious -customs in his home and asked a blessing at the table; for one day, -when the meal consisted only of potatoes, Abraham said to his father, -that he regarded those as "mighty poor blessings" (Herndon, I, 24). -While Thomas Lincoln was not an energetic man, there is no reason -to doubt the consistency of his religion, in which he was certainly -aided by Sally Bush Lincoln. That he died in the fellowship either -of the Disciples or of the New Lights is probably correct; but the -Presbyterian membership in Indiana, while not impossible, appears more -likely to have been a mistake in Herndon's interpretation of Mrs. -Lincoln's narrative. - -Herndon's statement concerning Thomas Lincoln's religion is as follows: - - "In his religious belief he first affiliated with the Free-will - Baptists. After his removal to Indiana he changed his adherence to the - Presbyterians--or Predestinarians, as they were then called--and later - united with the Christian--vulgarly called Campbellite--Church, in - which latter faith he is supposed to have died" (I, 11-12). - -I am satisfied that Herndon is mistaken in two if not in all three of -these assertions. I am confident that Predestinarian was not a popular -or commonly understood name for Presbyterians, but it was a name for -one type of Baptists. Mrs. Lincoln probably told Herndon that her -husband joined in Indiana, not the hardshell, or most reactionary kind -of Baptists, but the Predestinarians. Knowing that predestination -was a doctrine of Presbyterianism, Mr. Herndon assumed that that was -what the name implied. It implied nothing of the sort. Thomas Lincoln -probably belonged to the old Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian -Baptists, not quite as hard in their shell as the Hardshells, but very -different from the Free-will Baptists or the Presbyterians, the kind -whose preachers were accustomed to shout--"I'd rather have a hard shell -than no shell at all!" - -Dennis Hanks[5] was far from being impeccable authority on matters -where his imagination permitted him to enlarge, but he seldom forgot -anything, and still less frequently made it smaller than it really was. -If Thomas Lincoln had ever sustained any relation to the Presbyterian -Church, he would surely have told it, or some member of his family, -jealous as those members were for the reputation of "Grandfather -Lincoln," would not have failed to report it. In his interview with -Mrs. Eleanor Atkinson, in which his family participated, Dennis evinced -a definite attempt to set forth Thomas Lincoln in as favorable a light -as possible, and there was a high and deserved tribute to his "Aunt -Sairy," Thomas Lincoln's second wife. - - "Aunt Sairy sartainly did have faculty. I reckon we was all purty - ragged and dirty when she got there. The fust thing she did was to - tell me to tote one of Tom's carpenter benches to a place outside - the door, near the hoss trough. Then she had me an' Abe an' John - Johnson, her boy, fill the trough with spring water. She put out a - gourd full of soft soap, and another one to dip water with, an' told - us boys to wash up fur dinner. You just naturally had to be somebody - when Aunt Sairy was around. She had Tom build her a loom, an' when - she heerd o' some lime burners bein' round Gentryville, Tom had to - mosey over an' git some lime an' whitewash the cabin. An' he made her - an ash hopper fur lye, an' a chicken-house nothin' could git into. - Then--te-he-he-he!--she set some kind of a dead-fall trap fur him, an' - got Tom to jine the Baptist Church. Cracky, but Aunt Sally was some - punkins!"--_American Magazine_, February, 1908, p. 364. - -I am of opinion that what Mrs. Sarah Bush Lincoln told Herndon was -that her husband sometimes attended the Presbyterian service, and that -the church he joined was the Baptist, but not the Hardshell Baptist. -But evidence is wholly lacking that he had any connection with the -Presbyterian Church, or with the Free-will Baptists, of which latter -sect he probably never heard. - -The church at Farmington of which Thomas Lincoln became a member is -not now in existence. I have endeavored through investigation in -Farmington, and by correspondence with Mr. Robert T. Lincoln, to -ascertain its denomination. It called itself "Christian," and Herndon -did not doubt that that name indicated that it was a church of the -denomination sometimes called "Campbellite." But that is not certain. -Other denominations claim that as their distinctive name, and one of -them was at that time active in that part of Illinois. My inquiries -have brought me no certain knowledge on this point; but Mr. Jesse W. -Weik is of opinion that the denomination was that known as "New Light." -It is possible that Herndon was in error in every one of his three -affirmations concerning the religion of Thomas Lincoln, and that the -President's father was never a Free-will Baptist, never a Presbyterian, -and never a Disciple or Campbellite. I have endeavored to learn whether -his change from the Baptist to the "Christian" church was a matter of -conviction or convenience, but on this I have found nothing except a -statement from the minister who buried him, in which it would appear -that his change of polity was a matter of conviction. This minister -spoke very highly of Thomas Lincoln, whom he had known well in the -latter years of his life. - -There has been undue attempt to credit the pious boy Abraham with the -religious service conducted over the grave of his mother by Rev. David -Elkin[6] some months after her demise. There is no good authority for -this legend. Herndon probably tells the truth about it: - - "Within a few months, and before the close of the winter, David - Elkin, an itinerant preacher whom Mrs. Lincoln had known in Kentucky, - happened into the settlement, and in response to the invitation from - the family and friends, delivered a funeral sermon over her grave. No - one is able now to remember the language of Parson Elkin's discourse, - but it is recalled that he commemorated the virtues and good phases of - character, and passed in silence the few shortcomings and frailties of - the poor woman sleeping under the winter's snow."--HERNDON, I, 28. - -This does not compel us to believe that there had been no preacher in -the Pigeon Creek settlement since the death of Nancy Hanks.[7] It was -customary among these Kentucky-bred people to hold the funeral service -some weeks or months after the burial. The author of this volume has -attended many such services. - -The reasons require some explanation. The dead were commonly buried -on the day following death. There were, of course, no facilities for -embalming or preserving the corpse for any great length of time. -Preachers were nearly all farmers; and the particular minister -with whose church the family was affiliated might be living at a -considerable distance and be at that time at some distant place upon -his wide circuit. No minister expected to preach every Sunday in any -one place. A monthly appointment was the maximum attempted; and the -more remote settlements were not reached statedly by any one preacher -oftener than once in three months. There were occasional services, -however, by other ministers riding through the country and preaching -wherever they stayed overnight. It was the author's custom when coming -unexpectedly into a valley to spread word up and down the creek that -there would be preaching that night in the schoolhouse or in the home -where he was entertained. The impromptu announcement never failed to -bring a congregation. - -What took David Elkin into Indiana we do not know. He may have been -looking for a better farm than he had in Kentucky, where he could dig -out a living between his preaching appointments. He may have been -burdened for the souls of certain families formerly under his care -and now gone out like the Lincolns into a howling wilderness. The -late summer and early autumn between the end of corn-plowing and the -beginning of fodder-pulling afforded such a minister opportunity to -throw his saddlebags over his horse and start on a longer circuit than -usual; and the winter gave him still another opportunity for long -absence. He took no money and he collected none, or next to none, but -he had free welcome everywhere with pork and corn pone for supper and -fried chicken for breakfast. Many a time the author of this volume has -ridden up to a house just before suppertime, has partaken with the -family of its customary cornbread and bacon or ham, and after preaching -and a good night's rest has been wakened in the morning before the -rising of the sun by a muffled squawk and flutter as one or more -chickens were pulled down out of the trees. After this fashion did the -people of the backwoods welcome the messengers of the Lord. - -Not necessarily on his next appearance in a settlement is the preacher -requested to conduct the funeral service of persons deceased since his -last visit. The matter is arranged with more of deliberation. A date -is set some time ahead and word is sent to distant friends.[8] After -a time of general sickness such as had visited Pigeon Creek in the -epidemic of the "milk sick," Parson Elkin may have had several funerals -to preach in the same cemetery or at the schoolhouse nearest at hand. I -have known a half-dozen funerals to be included in one sermon with full -biographical particulars of each decedent and detailed descriptions -of all the deathbed scenes, together with rapturous forecasts of the -future bliss of the good people who were dead and abundant warnings of -the flaming hell that awaited their impenitent neighbors. Even those -people who had not been noted for their piety during life were almost -invariably slipped into heaven through a deathbed repentance or by -grace of the uncovenanted mercies of God. It is the business of all -preachers to be very stern with the living and very charitable toward -the dead.[9] - -I must add a further word about the custom of deferred funerals. -Although the burial was conducted without religious service, it was not -permitted to be celebrated in neglect. The news that a man was dying -would bring the sympathetic neighbors from miles around, and horses -would be tied up the creek and down while people waited in friendly -sorrow and conversed in hushed voices in the presence of the solemn -dignity of death. That night a group of neighbors would "sit up" with -the dead, and keep the family awake with frequent and lugubrious song. - -Next day the grave must be dug; and that required a considerable part -of the male population of the settlement. If only two or three men -came in the morning they would sit and wait for others and go home for -the dinner and come back. It thus has happened more than once in my -experience that we have brought the body to the burial and have had to -wait an hour or more in sun or wind for the finishing of the digging of -the grave. - -I remember well an instance in which death occurred in the family of -one of the county officials. His wife died suddenly, and under sad -conditions. I mounted my horse and rode four or five miles to his -home. I hitched my horse to the low-swinging limb of a beech tree and -threaded my way among other horses into the yard, which was filled with -men, and up to the porch, which was crowded with women. Passing inside, -I spoke my word of sympathy to the grief-stricken husband and his -children. Then I passed out into the yard and moved from group to group -among the men. Presently a neighbor of the sorrowing husband approached -me and asked me to step aside with him for private converse. This was -strictly in accordance with the custom of the country, and I walked -with him behind the corn-crib. He said to me: "Mr. McCune"--naming -the bereaved husband--"wants to know whether you have come here as a -preacher or as a neighbor?" I answered, "Tell him that I have come as a -neighbor." With this word he returned to the house. Up on the hillside -I could see the leisurely movements of the grave-diggers. From the shed -behind the house came the rhythmic tap of the hammer driving in the -tacks that fastened the white glazed muslin lining of the home-made -coffin. We had some little time still to wait before either the grave -or the coffin would be finished. Presently the neighbor returned to -where I waited behind the corn-crib and brought with him Mr. McCune. -The latter shook my hand warmly and said, in substance: "I appreciate -your coming and the respect which you thus show for me and for my dead -wife. I was glad to see you come when you entered the house, but was -a little embarrassed because I knew it to be your custom to preach -the funeral sermon at the time of the burial. I have no objection to -that custom; and while we are Baptists [he pronounced it Babtist, and -so I have no doubt did Thomas Lincoln], there is no man whom I would -rather have preach my wife's sermon than you. We shall undoubtedly -have a Baptist preacher when the time for the funeral comes, but I -hope you also will be present and participate in the service. But it -is not our custom to hold the service at the time of the burial, and -we have distant friends who should be notified. Moreover, there is -another consideration. I have been twice married, and I never yet have -got round to it to have my first wife's funeral preached. It seems to -me that it would be a discourtesy to my first wife's memory to have my -second wife's sermon preached before the first. What I now plan to do -is to have the two funerals at once, and I hope you will be present and -participate." - -I need only add that before I departed from that region he was -comfortably married to his third wife, not having gotten round to it to -have the funeral sermon of either of his first two wives. I am unable -to say whether when he finally got round to it there was any increase -in the number. It never was my fortune to conduct the joint funeral of -two wives of the same man at the same time; but I have more than once -been present where a second wife was prominent among the mourners; and -I sometimes believed her to be sincerely sorry that the first wife was -dead. - -It is not easy for people who have not lived amid these conditions and -at the same time to have known other conditions to estimate aright -the religious life of a backwoods community. Morse, whose biography -of Lincoln is to be rated high, is completely unable to view this -situation from other than his New England standpoint. He says: - - "The family was imbued with a peculiar, intense, but unenlightened - form of Christianity, mingled with curious superstition, prevalent in - the backwoods, and begotten by the influence of the vast wilderness - upon illiterate men of a rude native force. It interests scholars to - trace the evolution of religious faiths, but it might not be less - suggestive to study the retrogression of religion into superstition. - Thomas Lincoln was as restless in matters of creed as of residence, - and made various changes in both during his life. These were, however, - changes without improvement, and, so far as he was concerned, his son - Abraham might have grown up to be what he himself was contented to - remain" (I, 10). - -This criticism is partly just, but not wholly so. There was -superstition enough in the backwoods religion, and Abraham Lincoln -never wholly divested himself of it; but it was not all superstition. -There was a very real religion on Pigeon Creek. - -In like manner, also, it is difficult for Lincoln's biographers to -strike an even balance between adoring idealization of log-cabin life -and horrified exaggeration of its squalor. Here again Morse is a -classic example of the attempt to be so honest about Lincoln's poverty -as to miss some part of the truth about it. - -The Lincoln family was poor, even as poverty was estimated in the -backwoods. Lincoln himself was painfully impressed with the memory of -it, and Herndon and Lamon, who understood it better than most of his -biographers, felt both for themselves and for Lincoln the pathos of his -descent from "the poor whites"; but there is no evidence that Lincoln -felt this seriously at the time. His melancholy came later, and was -not the direct heritage of his childhood poverty. Life had its joys -for families such as his. Poverty was accepted as in some sort the -common lot, and also as a temporary condition out of which everybody -expected sometime to emerge. Meantime the boy Abraham Lincoln had not -only the joy of going to mill and to meeting, but also the privilege -of an occasional frolic. We know of one or two boisterous weddings -where he behaved himself none too well. Besides these there were other -unrecorded social events on Pigeon Creek where the platter rolled -merrily and he had to untangle his long legs from under the bench and -move quickly when his number was called or pay a forfeit and redeem -it. He played "Skip-to-My-Lou" and "Old Bald Eagle, Sail Around," and -"Thus the Farmer Sows His Seed," and he moved around the room singing -about the millwheel and had to grab quickly when partners were changed -or stand in the middle and be ground between the millstones. As large a -proportion of people's known wants were satisfied on Pigeon Creek as on -some fashionable boulevards. We need not seek to hide his poverty nor -idealize it unduly; neither is it necessary to waste overmuch of pity -upon people who did not find their own condition pitiable. - - * * * * * - -What kind of man had been produced in this environment and as the -result of the conditions of his heredity and of his inherent qualities? -What do we know about the Abraham Lincoln who in 1830 took simultaneous -leave of Indiana and his boyhood, and entered at once upon his manhood -and the new State, that, twin-born with him, was waiting his arrival? - -He was a tall, awkward, uncouth backwoodsman, strong of muscle, -temperate and morally clean. He had physical strength and was not a -bully; was fond of a fight but fought fairly and as a rule on the side -of weakness and of right. He was free from bad habits of all kinds, was -generous, sympathetic, and kind of heart. He was as yet uninfluenced -by any women except his own dead mother and his stepmother. He was -socially shy, and had not profited greatly by the meager lessons in -social usage which had been taught in Andrew Crawford's school. He was -fond of cock-fighting and of boisterous sports, and had a sufficient -leadership to proclaim himself "the big buck of the lick" and to have -that declaration pass unchallenged. - -He could read, write, and cipher, and was eager for learning. He was -ambitious, but his ambitions had no known focus. He was only moderately -industrious, but could work hard when he had to do so. He had some -ambition to write and to speak in public, but as yet he had little -idea what he was to write or speak about. He was a great, hulking -backwoodsman, with vague and haunting aspirations after something -better and larger than he had known or seemed likely to achieve. - -What do we know about the spiritual development of the young Boanerges -who grew almost overnight in his eleventh year into a six-footer and -was so wearied by the effort that he was slow of body and mind and was -thought by some to be lazy ever afterward? - -We know the books he read--the Bible, _Pilgrim's Progress_, _Æsop's -Fables_, _Robinson Crusoe_, and Weems' _Life of Washington_. It was a -good collection, and he made the most of it. Sarah Bush Lincoln noted -that while he did not like to work he liked to read, and she said, "I -induced my husband to permit Abe to study" (Herndon, I, 36). - -John Hanks said of him, "He kept the Bible and _Æsop's Fables_ always -within reach, and read them over and over again." - -Sarah Bush did not claim that he showed any marked preference for the -Bible. Lamon quotes her as saying, "He seemed to have a preference for -the other books" (_Life_, pp. 34, 486). But he certainly read the Bible -with diligence, as his whole literary style shows. Indeed, if we had -only his coarse "First Chronicles of Reuben," which we could heartily -wish he had never written, and whose publication in Herndon's first -edition was one of the chief reasons for an expurgated edition,[10] we -should know that even then Abe Lincoln, rough, uncouth and vulgar as he -was, was modeling his style upon the Bible. - -We are told that when he went to church he noted the oddities of the -preachers and afterward mimicked them (Lamon: _Life_, pp. 55, 486). -This might have been expected, for two reasons. First, he had a love of -fun and of very boisterous fun at that; secondly, he had a fondness for -oratory, and this was the only kind of oratory he knew anything about. - -It is a remarkable fact that the Lincoln family appears never at -any time in its history to have been strongly under the influence -of Methodism.[11] This is not because they did not know of it; no -pioneer could hide so deep in the wilderness as to be long hidden from -the Methodist circuit riders. But the prevailing and almost the sole -type of religion in that part of Indiana during Lincoln's boyhood -was Baptist, and in spite of all that Mrs. Lincoln believed about -the freedom of it, it was a very unprogressive type of preaching. -The preachers bellowed and spat and whined, and cultivated an -artificial "holy tone" and denounced the Methodists and blasphemed the -Presbyterians and painted a hell whose horror even in the backwoods was -an atrocity. Against it the boy Abe Lincoln rebelled. Many another boy -with an active mind has been driven by the same type of preaching into -infidelity. - -Dr. Johnson quotes as indicative of the religious mind of the young -Lincoln the four lines[12] which in his fourteenth year he wrote on -the flyleaf of his schoolbook, and the two lines which he wrote in the -copybook of a schoolmate: - - "_Abraham Lincoln - his hand and pen-- - he will be good but - God knows When_"; - -and - - "_Good boys who to their books apply - Will all be great men by and by._" - -Commenting on these Dr. Johnson says: "These show two things: First, -that the youthful boy had faith in his mother's God; and, second, that -he believed his mother's teachings."[13] - -In like manner Dr. Johnson takes the four hymns which Dennis Hanks -remembered to have been sung by himself and Abe and says: - - "A soul that can appreciate these hymns must recognize, first, that - without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin; second, - that Jesus Christ died upon the Cross for the salvation of the world; - third, that life without the Saviour is an empty bubble, and, fourth, - that loyal devotion to the Christ and his cause is man's highest - calling, and the test of true character."--_Lincoln the Christian_, - pp. 28-29. - -This is very far-fetched. It shows only that Abe sang such songs, good, -bad, and indifferent, as were current in his day, and without any very -fine discrimination either in songs sacred or secular. If one were to -make a creed out of any of his poetry in this period, it were better to -find it in his jingle, about the Kickapoo Indian, Johnny Kongapod.[14] -He was supposed to have composed an epitaph for himself that ran on -this wise: - - "_Here lies poor Johnny Kongapod; - Have mercy on him, gracious God, - As he would do if he was God - And you were Johnny Kongapod._" - -It matters not for our purpose that these lines were not strictly -original with Johnny Kongapod. We meet them in George Macdonald's story -"David Elginbrod," and they have been used doubtless in rural England -for generations. But they involve a certain rude and noble faith that -the Judge of all the earth will do right and that divine justice and -human justice have a common measure. Lincoln never forgot that, and he -learned it on Pigeon Creek. - -Herndon is our authority, if we needed any, that the Baptist preaching -of Lincoln's boyhood made him a lifelong fatalist.[15] He emerged into -manhood with the conviction that "whatever is to be will be," and Mrs. -Lincoln declared that this was his answer to threats concerning his -assassination; that it had been his lifelong creed and continued still -to be the ruling dogma of his life. - -It would have gladdened the heart of Sarah Bush if her stepson, whom -she loved with a tenderness almost surpassing that which she bestowed -upon her own flesh and blood, had manifested in his youth some signs -of that irresistible grace which was supposed to carry the assurance -of conversion as an act not of man but of the Holy Spirit. He did not -manifest that grace in the form in which she desired. She could not -consistently blame him very much, for, according to her own creed and -that of Thomas Lincoln, nothing that he could have done of his own -volition would have mattered very much. - -Horace Bushnell's _Christian Nurture_ had not yet been written; and if -it had there was not a preacher among the Baptists in southern Indiana -who would not have denounced it as a creation of the devil. There were -no Sunday schools in those churches, and when they began to appear they -were vigorously opposed. There was no Christian nurture for the boy Abe -Lincoln save the sincere but lethargic religion of his father and the -motherly ministrations of his stepmother. - -But "Abe was a good boy." With tears in her eyes Sarah Bush could -remember that he never gave her a cross word. He was unregenerate, but -not unlovable; and he had more faith than perhaps he realized. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE ENVIRONMENTS OF LINCOLN'S YOUNG MANHOOD - - -THE second period of Lincoln's religious life extends from his removal -into Illinois in March of 1830 until the establishment of his residence -in Springfield, April 15, 1837. - -Thomas Lincoln was a thriftless farmer who blamed external conditions -for his misfortunes. Following a second appearance of the "milk sick," -which came to southern Indiana in the winter of 1829, he and his family -removed in March of 1830 to Illinois. Abraham was twenty-one years of -age. He assisted his father to get established in the new home, to -which a wearying journey of fourteen days had brought the household, -and then set out in life for himself. For several months he worked -near home, but in the spring of 1831 he made his second flatboat trip -to New Orleans. The boat stuck on a dam at Rutledge's mill at New -Salem, and his ingenuity in getting it over the dam won him local fame -and had something to do with his subsequent establishment of a home -there. The flatboat stuck on April 19, 1831. In June he returned to -New Salem and entered into business with Denton Offutt in a small and -non-remunerative general store. While waiting for the opening of this -store he became acquainted with Mentor Graham, a school teacher of -local celebrity, whom Lincoln assisted as clerk of a local election, -and through him learned the contents of Kirkham's Grammar, and also -acquired the essential elements of surveying. New Salem was a sporadic -town which had no good reason to exist. It was established in 1829 and -lasted barely seven years. It was located on the Sangamon River, some -fifteen miles from Springfield. - -In February, 1832, this flatboat hand, then working as clerk, began -his canvass for the Legislature, his formal announcement of candidacy -appearing March 9. He was defeated, but received an encouraging local -vote. In 1832 he had a brief experience as a soldier, serving in the -Black Hawk War, starting in pursuit of the Indians on April 27 and -returning in July. Excepting for his absences at the Black Hawk War -and in attendance upon the meetings of the Legislature in Vandalia, -he was in New Salem practically during the whole of the history of -that little town. He established a partnership in the firm of Lincoln -& Berry, keepers of a general store, a business for which he had no -qualification, and he accumulated debts, which he was unable to pay in -full until after his first term in Congress seventeen years later. On -May 7, 1833, he became postmaster of the microscopic village of New -Salem, and held that position until May 30, 1836, about which date the -town disappeared. In August, 1834, he was elected to the Legislature, -then sitting at Vandalia, and had an important share in the removal of -the state capital from there to Springfield. - -In New Salem occurred two of Lincoln's three recorded love affairs.[16] -In 1834 he fell in love with Ann Rutledge, to whom he became engaged, -and who died, August 25, 1835. In the autumn of 1836 he made love to -Miss Mary Owens, who refused him. These two love affairs are related -in detail by Lamon and by Herndon; the second of them gave rise to -Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Browning, one of the least creditable things -that ever came from his pen (Herndon, I, 192). - -Heart-broken over the death of Ann Rutledge and ashamed of himself for -his lack of gallantry in his love affair with Miss Owens, he saw New -Salem doomed in all its hopes of being a city. - -While sitting about the store waiting for business which did not come, -he read law after a desultory fashion, becoming what he called not -inappropriately "a mast-fed lawyer." For the benefit of any reader -to whom this term conveys no meaning, it may be stated that "mast" -consists of acorns, nuts, and other edible commodities, which hogs -running at large in the wilderness are able to feed upon. Between a -hog corn-fed in a stye and a backwoods mast-fed razor-back, there -is a marked difference, and Lincoln's phrase was a very apt one. In -the autumn of 1836 he obtained a law license. On March, 1837, he was -admitted to the bar. On April 15, 1837, he moved to Springfield. - -With his Springfield experience we shall deal later; that is an epoch -by itself. We now consider the conditions of life in New Salem and -their influence in shaking the religious character of Abraham Lincoln. -New Salem, while an insignificant hamlet, was located on the Sangamon -River and received its share of the travel to and from Springfield. -Its central institutions were its tavern, where Lincoln boarded, and -the store, where he read grammar and law, discussed politics, and -occasionally sold goods. - -The influence of life in New Salem upon the mind of Abraham Lincoln was -very marked. We must not make the mistake of considering it solely in -the character of a poor little frontier town destined to short life and -in its day of no consequence to the world. To Lincoln it was a city, -and it had its own ambitions to become a greater city. Although it had -scarcely twenty houses, not one of them costing much over a hundred -dollars, and not more than a hundred inhabitants, it was to him no mean -city. Here Lincoln developed rapidly. He read, discussed, thought, -wrote, and spoke on a wide variety of subjects. His style was that of -florid declamation, a stump oratory with some affectation of erudition. -He made the most of his few books, and every one of them left its deep -impression upon him. He continued to read the Bible, and grew somewhat -familiar with Shakespeare, Burns, and even Byron. While there was no -church building in New Salem, and church services were irregular, such -services as were held were generally in the tavern where he boarded, a -tavern kept at first by James Rutledge and afterward by Henry Onstott. -It is interesting to cull out of T. G. Onstott's reminiscences a number -that are based on his own recollections, supplemented perhaps by -traditions received from his father: - - "After James Rutledge moved out of the log tavern, my father, Henry - Onstott, moved in and occupied it from 1833 till 1835, and still had - for a boarder Abraham Lincoln. It was at this time that my early - impressions of him were formed. We did not know at that time that - we were entertaining an angel unawares. My first knowledge of him - was as a great marble player. He kept us small boys running in all - directions gathering up the marbles he would scatter. During this - time he followed surveying, having learned in six weeks from books - furnished him by John Calhoun, of Springfield. About this time he - commenced to read some law-books which he borrowed of Bowling Green, - who lived one-half mile north of Salem. I think my father and Esquire - Green did more than any other two men in determining Lincoln's future - destiny."--T. G. ONSTOTT: _Lincoln and Salem--Pioneers of Menard and - Mason Counties_, p. 25. - -Of Lincoln's habits he says: - - "Lincoln never drank liquor of any kind and never chewed or smoked. - We never heard him swear, though Judge Weldon said at the Salem - Chautauqua that once in his life when he was excited he said, 'By - Jing!'"--ONSTOTT: _Lincoln and Salem_, p. 73. - -Of Peter Cartwright, Onstott says: - - "He was a great man for camp-meetings and prayer meetings. He was - converted at a camp-meeting, and in his early ministry lived in - a tented grove from two to three months in a year. He said: 'May - the day be eternally distant when camp-meetings, class meetings, - prayer meetings, and love feasts shall be laid aside in Methodist - churches.'... - - "There was sound preaching in those days. The preachers preached hell - and damnation more than they do now. They could hold a sinner over - the pit of fire and brimstone till he could see himself hanging by a - slender thread, and he would surrender and accept the gospel that was - offered to him."--ONSTOTT: _Lincoln and Salem_, pp. 120, 127. - -Of one of these preachers, Abraham Bale, Onstott says: - - "He had a habit when preaching of grasping his left ear with his hand, - then leaning over as far as he could and lowering his voice. He would - commence to straighten up and his voice would rise to a high key. He - would pound the Bible with his fist and stamp the floor, and carry - everything before him. He created excitement in the first years of - his ministry in Salem. He was a Baptist, though not of the hardshell - persuasion."--ONSTOTT: _Lincoln and Salem_, p. 149. - -This was the general and accepted habit of Baptist preachers in that -movement, and the author has heard scores of sermons delivered in this -fashion. - -Of the religious life of early Illinois and of frontier communities in -general, Professor Pease says: - - "Religion came to be the most universally persuasive intellectual - force of the frontier. As might be expected, on the frontier the first - tendency was toward a disregard of religious observances. The emigrant - from the older settled regions left behind him the machinery and the - establishment of sectarian religion. Until that machinery could be set - up again on the frontier he lived without formal worship and often for - the time at least the sense of the need of it passed out of his life. - In cases where observance had been due to social convention, there was - no doubt a welcome feeling of freedom and unrestraint. - - "Normally the frontiersman was unreligious. Birkbeck noted with relish - the absence of ceremony at baptism or funeral and the tolerance - of all backwoods preachers alike, whether they raved or reasoned. - Sunday was a day for riot and disorder. Other observers looked with - horror on such a state of things, did their best to set up at least - stated regular worship, and noted an improvement in morals as a - result."--PEASE: _Centennial History of Illinois_, II, 23. - -There were, however, some compensations. Fordham wrote: - - "This is not the land of hypocrisy. It would not here have its reward. - Religion is not the road to wordly respectability, nor a possession of - it the cloak of immorality."--_Personal Narrative_, p. 128. - -Of the sporadic nature of much of the religious effort on the frontier, -Professor Buck says: - - "In spite of the tremendous exertions of the pioneer preachers, - many of the remote settlements must have been practically devoid of - religious observances, and even in the older settlements the influence - of occasional visitations, however inspiring they might be, was often - lacking in permanence."--_Illinois in 1818_, p. 179. - -Of the lack of permanence there may be some room for a difference of -judgment; there certainly was lack of continuity. As in Kentucky and -southern Indiana, and for a time in southern Illinois, there was no -expectation of a regular weekly religious service conducted by any one -minister, but preachers moved in extended circuits and no considerable -settlement was long without occasional religious service. - -There was much godlessness in many of the early settlements. John -Messenger wrote in 1815: "The American inhabitants in the villages -appear to have very little reverence for Christianity or serious things -in any point of view." - -While there was some attempt at Sabbath observance, Reynolds says: - - "In early times in many settlements of Illinois, Sunday was observed - by the Americans only as a day of rest from work. They generally were - employed in hunting, fishing, getting up their stock, hunting bees, - breaking young horses, shooting at marks, horse and foot racing, and - the like. When the Americans were to make an important journey they - generally started on Sunday and never on Friday; they often said; 'the - better the day the better the deed,'"--REYNOLDS: _My Own Times_, p. 80. - -One must not infer from the irregularity of religious services that the -people in these new regions were wholly without religion. Professor -Buck says: - - "The spiritual welfare of the Illinois pioneers was not neglected. - The religious observances, with the exception of those of the French - Catholics, were of the familiar type. The principal Protestant - denominations at the close of the territorial period were the - Methodists and the Baptists, the latter classified as 'regular,' - or 'hardshell,' and separating. Presbyterianism was just beginning - to get a foothold. The ministers were of two types--the circuit - rider, who covered wide stretches of country and devoted all his - time to religious work, and the occasional preacher who supplemented - his meager income from the church by farming or some other - occupation."--BUCK: _Illinois in 1818_, p. 173. - -Governor Ford has left an account of the unlearned but zealous frontier -preachers, of their sermons, and of the results of their work, which -cannot easily be improved upon: - - "Preachers of the gospel frequently sprang up from the body of the - people at home, without previous training, except in religious - exercises and in the study of the Holy Scriptures. In those primitive - times it was not thought to be necessary that a teacher of religion - should be a scholar. It was thought to be his business to preach from - a knowledge of the Scriptures alone, to make appeals warm from the - heart, to paint heaven and hell to the imagination of the sinner, to - terrify him with the one, and to promise the other as a reward for - a life of righteousness. However ignorant these first preachers may - have been, they could be at no loss to find congregations still more - ignorant, so that they were still capable of instructing someone. Many - of them added to their knowledge of the Bible, a diligent perusal of - Young's _Night Thoughts_, Watts' hymns, Milton's _Paradise Lost_, and - Hervey's _Meditations_, a knowledge of which gave more compass to - their thoughts, to be expressed in a profuse, flowery language, and - raised their feelings to the utmost height of poetical enthusiasm. - - "Sometimes their sermons turned upon matters of controversy; unlearned - arguments on the subject of free grace, baptism, free-will, election, - faith, good works, justification, sanctification, and the final - perseverance of the saints. But that in which they excelled, was - the earnestness of their words and manner, leaving no doubt of the - strongest conviction in their own minds, and in the vividness of the - pictures which they drew of the ineffable blessedness of heaven, and - the awful torments of the wicked in the fire and brimstone appointed - for eternal punishment. These, with the love of God to sinful man, - the sufferings of the Saviour, the dangerous apathy of sinners, and - exhortations to repentance, furnished themes for the most vehement and - passionate declamations. But above all, they continually inculcated - the great principles of justice and sound morality. - - "As many of these preachers were nearly destitute of learning and - knowledge, they made up in loud hallooing and violent action what they - lacked in information. And it was a matter of astonishment to what - length they could spin out a sermon embracing only a few ideas. The - merit of a sermon was measured somewhat by the length of it, by the - flowery language of the speaker, and by his vociferation and violent - gestures. Nevertheless, these first preachers were of incalculable - benefit to the country. They inculcated justice and morality, and - to the sanction of the highest human motives to regard them, added - those which arise from a belief of the greatest conceivable amount of - future rewards and punishments. They were truly patriotic also; for - at a time when the country was so poor that no other kind of ministry - could have been maintained in it, they preached without charge to - the people, working week days to aid the scanty charities of their - flocks, in furnishing themselves with a scantier living. They believed - with a positive certainty that they saw the souls of men rushing to - perdition; and they stepped forward to warn and to save, with all - the enthusiasm and self-devotion of a generous man who risks his own - life to save his neighbor from drowning. And to them are we indebted - for the first Christian character of the Protestant portion of this - people."--THOMAS FORD: _History of Illinois_, pp. 38-40. - - "Of the hostility of certain of the early Baptists to enlightenment, - there is abundant evidence in their own fierce opposition to their - ablest minister, John Mason Peck. He was born in 1789 in the - Congregational atmosphere of Connecticut, but, becoming a Baptist - by conviction, became a missionary to the West in 1817. His foes - were they of his own household. They fiercely fought against Bible - societies, Sunday schools, and missionary societies. In 1828, when - Peter Cartwright and James Lemen endeavored to secure the passage of a - bill for the prevention of vice and immorality, there was an attempt - to amend it in the interests of certain of the Hardshell Baptists - by adding to the section against the disturbance of public worship - a clause to fine in any sum not less than five dollars or more than - fifteen any person who on Sunday would sell any pamphlet or book or - take up an offering 'for the support of missionary societies, Bible - societies, or Sunday school.' There were not less than twelve members - of the House of Representatives who voted for this bill."--PEASE: - _Centennial History of Illinois_, II, 28, 29. - -One evidence of the hostility of many of the early inhabitants and -especially of some who were active in politics toward organized -religion, as well as the tendency of ministers of that period to -participate in politics, is found in the fact that Illinois narrowly -escaped having in her Constitution a provision disqualifying all -ministers to hold office in the State. When the Constitutional -Convention assembled at Kaskaskia this question was earnestly -discussed, and the controversy was waged also in the columns of the -_Western Intelligencer_, which was published in Kaskaskia from 1806 -to 1814. A writer who signed himself "A Foe to Religious Tyranny" -roundly denounced the political sermons of certain of the ministers, -and charged that they intended to disqualify any citizens for office -excepting "professors of religion." - -When the first draft of the Constitution was submitted in August, 1818, -Article II, Section 26, read: "Whereas the ministers of the gospel are -by their profession dedicated to God and the care of souls, and ought -not to be diverted from the great duties of their function: Therefore, -no minister of the gospel or priest of any denomination whatever, shall -be eligible to a seat in either house of the Legislature." - -This article was warmly commended by a writer in the _Intelligencer_ -under date of August 12, 1818, who commended the framers of the -Constitution for their provision "to exempt ministers of the gospel -from the servile and arduous drudgery of legislation, and of -electioneering to procure themselves seats in the Legislature," but -urged the convention to extend the provision so as to disqualify -ministers from holding any office whatever. A number of members of -the Constitutional Convention favored this drastic proscription. On -the first reading the proposed article was approved; but it was later -reconsidered and voted down. - -Ministers thus were left on a plane with other citizens as regarded -the holding of public office; and their candidacy for the Legislature -especially was not infrequent; indeed, one of the writers who engaged -in this controversy considered the appalling possibility that the -Constitutional Convention might have been composed entirely of -ministers, and that some future session of the Legislature might find -them in complete control. There never was any danger that ministers -would make up a controlling faction in the Illinois Legislature; but -they were not a negligible element in the early political life of the -State. - -Lincoln soon came into the political atmosphere which was thus affected -by religious controversy, and it had an influence upon him. His most -formidable and persistent opponent, until he met Douglas, was a -Methodist preacher, the redoubtable Peter Cartwright who defeated him -in a contest for the Legislature and whom he defeated in a race for -Congress. Lincoln was quite familiar with religion in its relation to -politics in early Illinois. - -Of Lincoln's theological opinions, especially those which he cherished -while at New Salem, and which Herndon believed he did not materially -change, Herndon says: - - "Inasmuch as he was often a candidate for public office Mr. Lincoln - said as little as possible about his religious opinions, especially - if he failed to coincide with the orthodox world. In illustration of - his religious code, I once heard him say that it was like that of an - old man named Glenn, in Indiana, whom he heard speak at a religious - meeting, and who said, 'When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, - I feel bad; and that's my religion.' In 1834, while still living in - New Salem, and before he became a lawyer, he was surrounded by a - class of people exceedingly liberal in matters of religion. Volney's - _Ruins_ and Paine's _Age of Reason_ passed from hand to hand, and - furnished food for the evening's discussion in the tavern and village - store. Lincoln read both these books, and assimilated them into his - own being. He prepared an extended essay--called by many, a book--in - which he made an argument against Christianity, striving to prove that - the Bible was not inspired, and therefore not God's revelation, and - that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God. The manuscript containing - these audacious and comprehensive propositions he intended to have - published or given a wide circulation in some other way. He carried - it to the store, where it was read and freely discussed. His friend - and employer, Samuel Hill, was among the listeners, and seriously - questioning the propriety of a promising young man like Lincoln - fathering such unpopular notions, he snatched the manuscript from his - hands, and thrust it into the stove. The book went up in flames, and - Mr. Lincoln's political future was secure. But his infidelity and his - skeptical views were not diminished."--HERNDON, III, 439-440. - -We shall have occasion in a subsequent chapter to recur to this -so-called book which Lincoln is alleged to have written while in New -Salem. It is sufficient at this time to remember, and the fact must -not be overlooked, that our knowledge of this book depends solely upon -the testimony of Herndon. Herndon never saw the book, and so far as -is known he never talked with anyone who had seen it. He affirms that -Lincoln never denied having written a book on the subject of religion, -but he nowhere claims that Lincoln told him in detail concerning its -contents. Herndon's principal visit, and perhaps the only one which -he made to New Salem in quest of literary material, was in October in -1866. He had attended the Circuit Court of Menard County on Saturday, -October 13, and on Sunday morning at 11:20 A.M., as he tells us with -painstaking and lawyer-like particularity, he visited the site of New -Salem. That afternoon and a part of the next morning, which he says -was misty, cloudy, foggy, and cold, he made inquiry of the oldest -inhabitant of that part of the country and wrote out the substance of -his lecture on Ann Rutledge. This was a whole generation after Lincoln -had removed from the now depopulated New Salem, and there were very -few people in the neighborhood who remembered him through any personal -association. The town had completely disappeared, but Herndon found -the site of the houses that once had stood there, and also found and -identified the grave of Ann Rutledge. To that visit we are indebted -for a good deal of our knowledge of the background of Lincoln's life -during this formative epoch. But we are not bound to accept all of Mr. -Herndon's inferences regarding it. - -It must be remembered that Herndon's lecture did not pass unchallenged. -So small was the audience when he delivered it and so uniformally -unfavorable were the press comments that he never repeated this -lecture, and some of its statements are open to question. It is not in -this lecture that we learn of the essay which Lincoln is alleged to -have written in criticism of the Bible, but that was the visit on which -Herndon appears to have gathered his information concerning Lincoln's -more intimate relations with New Salem. - -There is no good reason to doubt that Lincoln during this period read -Volney and Paine, and that having read them he rushed rather quickly to -paper and set down his immature thoughts in argumentative fashion. It -would divert us from our present purpose of portraying the environment -if we were to consider in detail at this point the story of Lincoln's -burnt book. The reader will do well to remember, however, that Herndon, -though truthful, was not infallible nor on this point free from bias; -that neither Herndon nor anyone else then living was known to have -seen, much less to have read, the book alleged to have been burned -thirty-two years before; and that there was abundant opportunity -not only for exaggeration but even for a complete misunderstanding -concerning the actual content of this book. - -Indeed, this incident has been allowed to pass with too little -criticism or challenge. Those who did not believe Lincoln to have been -a man of faith were glad to accept the story; those who believed that -he later was a man of faith were not wholly unwilling to believe that -he had once been an infidel and later had undergone a marked change -of opinion. There seemed no good reason to dispute Herndon, and no -one else was supposed to know more about the subject than he. But we -shall discover that Herndon may not have learned the whole truth. There -is more than a possibility that the manuscript that was burned was a -document of quite another sort. - -If Lincoln was regarded as an infidel, and if he ever was tempted -to think himself one, we should not be justified in accepting that -judgment as final until we knew and considered what was required in -that time and place to constitute a man an infidel. - -In the mind of most if not all of the Baptist preachers whom Lincoln -heard while he was at New Salem, a belief that the earth was round was -sufficient to brand a man as an infidel. The Methodists, as a rule, -would have admitted that the earth was round, but Peter Cartwright -would probably have considered a man an infidel who believed that the -earth was not created in seven literal days. At Vandalia, Lincoln heard -some ministers of wider vision, such as Edward Beecher and Julian M. -Sturtevant, who were occasionally there, and John Mason Peck; but these -experiences were rare. His association with Methodists was largely in -the political arena, where he crossed swords three times with Peter -Cartwright. That doughty hero of the Cross was born in Virginia on -September 1, 1786, and exerted a mighty influence for good in early -Illinois. With a nominal salary of $80 a year, and an actual salary -of $30 or $40, he rode thousands of miles through deep mud, baptized -8,000 children and 4,000 adults, conducted camp-meetings and political -campaigns, and sang and shouted and in his own language whipped the -devil round the stump and hit him a crack at every jump until his death -at Pleasant Plains, Illinois, September 25, 1872. He defeated Lincoln -for the Legislature, and was defeated by him for Congress in 1846. So -far as we know, Lincoln left no record of his feeling toward Cartwright -and the Methodists. He could not have failed to respect such men, but -it is not altogether certain that he was tempted to love them. - -By the time Lincoln was seventeen, and possibly earlier, he believed -the earth to be round. I shall not succeed in making the reader -understand the possible effect of this discovery upon him and certain -of his associates without relating an experience of my own. - -In the summer of 1881, being then a college student on vacation, I -taught school in the mountains of Kentucky far beyond the end of -the railroad. The school was a large and prosperous one and brought -many students from other districts who paid a trifling tuition and -were preparing to teach. The curriculum included everything from the -alphabet to a simplified normal course. A majority of my pupils had but -one textbook, Webster's Blueback Speller. I endeavored to make up for -the lack of textbooks by lessons in the Natural Sciences and in such -other branches of study as seemed adapted to the requirements of my -pupils. After a few weeks one of my pupils, son of a Baptist minister, -was taken out of school. His father being interviewed stated that he -was sorry to have the boy lose his education, but could not afford to -permit him to be converted to infidelity. What the boy had learned -which disturbed his father was that the earth was round. - -The subject provoked widespread discussion, and finally resulted in a -joint debate between two school teachers and two Baptist preachers on -the question: - -"_Resolved_, That the earth is flat and stationary, and that the sun -moves around it once in twenty-four hours." - -At early candle-lighting on two successive Friday evenings this -question was debated. On each night the procedure was the same. Each -of the speakers spoke forty-five minutes, and each of the leaders -spent a half-hour in rebuttal, a total of four hours each evening of -solid oratory. I should like to relate, but it would unduly extend -this narrative, the learned arguments of the two college students who -stood for the rotundity of the earth, and how those arguments were -met. I well remember the closing argument of my chief opponent, not -the local preacher but an abler man whom he brought in, the cousin of -a Confederate General of the same name (though himself a stanch Union -man) who stood beside and above me with long descending gestures that -threatened to crush my skull as he shouted: - -"He's a college student-ah! And he's come out here to larn us and -instruct us about the shape of the yarth-ah! And he knows more'n -Joshua-ah! And he'd take Joshua into this here school and tell him he -didn't know what he'd ort to pray for-ah! He'd tell Joshua that he -hadn't orter said, 'Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon-ah, and thou moon -in the valley of Ajalon-ah!' He'd tell Joshua that he'd ort to have -prayed, 'Yarth, stand thou still upon thine axle-tree-ah!' But I reckon -God knowed what Joshua had ort to have prayed for, for it is written -in the Word of God that the sun stood still-ah! I tell ye, brethering, -hit's the doctrine of infidelity-ah! And any man that teaches it ort to -be drove out of the country-ah!" - -There is much more of the story, but this must suffice to illustrate -an important point. Until he went to live in Springfield, Abraham -Lincoln probably never had heard a Baptist preacher, unless it was John -Mason Peck on some errand to Vandalia, who did not believe the earth -flat, and who would not have classified Abraham Lincoln as an infidel -for denying the declaration. - -Now, I knew that I was not an infidel, even though I parted company -with my friends in the Baptist ministry in my belief that the earth -was round, and even though I had a similar debate with a well-informed -Methodist preacher on the length of time that was required to make the -earth. But Abraham Lincoln did not know. Thomas Paine and the preachers -were agreed in their misinformation. - -I count it a privilege to have lived with earnest and intelligent -people who believed the earth flat, and to whom that belief was an -important article of Christian faith. But I saw intelligent young men -who had come to another opinion concerning some of these matters who -accepted without protest the names that overzealous mountain preachers -applied to them, and who, believing themselves to be infidels, in time -became so. - -Not many of Lincoln's biographers, if indeed any of them, have shared -these advantages which for several profitable years I had in the -mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee; and I am less ready than some of -even the most orthodox of them have been to accept the declaration that -when Lincoln left New Salem he was an infidel. Even if I knew that -he thought himself to be such, I should like before forming my final -conclusion to know just what he thought constituted an infidel. I do -not think that at this period of his history Abraham Lincoln possessed -an adequate knowledge of the subject to have been altogether competent -to classify himself. - -A few things we know about him. He had established a reputation for -courage, for kindness, and for honesty. "Honest Abe" was his sobriquet, -and he deserved it. Whatever his opinions, he held them honestly; and -neither on earth nor in heaven can any man be rightfully condemned for -the holding of an honest opinion. - -We shall have occasion later to refer to Mentor Graham, and to quote -him. He came into Lincoln's life at this time, and taught him Kirkham's -Grammar, and the study of surveying, and assisted him with his literary -composition. He knew more of the mind of Abraham Lincoln during this -period than any other man, and we shall hear from him in due time. - -New Salem "winked out," as Lincoln was accustomed to say. It -disappeared from the map. The post-office was discontinued. There was -nothing to hold Lincoln there. But the great city of Springfield, -with its one thousand inhabitants and its majestic pride in its new -State Capitol, which Lincoln had done much to remove thither from -Vandalia, beckoned to this ambitious young lawyer and politician, and -on March 15, 1837, he borrowed a horse, rode to Springfield with all -his worldly goods in his saddlebags, and the saddlebags none too full, -and thereafter became a resident of the capital city of Illinois, and a -permanent factor in its legal and political life. - - * * * * * - -Lincoln arrived in New Salem on April 19, 1831, a tall, lank flatboat -hand, with his trousers rolled up "about five feet," and he left it -on a borrowed horse with all his belongings in a pair of saddlebags, -March 15, 1837. So far as worldly wealth was concerned, he was richer -when he arrived at the age of twenty-two than when he left at the -age of twenty-eight, for he was heavily in debt. It had fared better -with him financially had he spent those six years in Illinois College -at Jacksonville. He might have entered Springfield at the same time -with a college diploma and a smaller debt. A college education was -not impossible for him, and he might have had it had he cared for it -as much as did the Green brothers or the brother of Ann Rutledge, or, -among his later associates, Shelby M. Collum or Newton Bateman. It is -a fair question whether an education under such good and great men -as Julian M. Sturtevant and Edward Beecher would have been more or -less valuable than what he actually got; in any event, it was not an -impossibility if he had cared as much for it as did some other boys as -poor as he. - -But New Salem was his _alma mater_, as Mrs. Atkinson has aptly termed -it, and there he got what had to stand as the equivalent of his -academic course. - -To have seen him entering New Salem on a flatboat and leaving it on -a borrowed horse, one might easily have arrived at very erroneous -conclusions as to what the six years had done for him. But the years -were not lost. - -He came to New Salem a strong pioneer, proud of his great height, -and he always remained almost childishly proud of it, and ready to -challenge any other tall man to back up to him and discover which was -the taller. He was capable of hard work, and disinclined to perform it. -Thomas Lincoln had taught him to work, but not to love work; and his -employers declared that he loved labor far less than his meals and pay. -If he must work, he preferred almost any kind of work rather than that -of the farm, and he had welcomed the brief experiences of the river and -had serious thoughts of being a blacksmith. He had prized his great -strength less for the labor he might perform than for the supremacy -which it gave him in physical contests; and it had made him the admired -leader of the local wrestlers and the idol of the Clary Grove gang. - -He had come to New Salem able to read, and to make what he called -"rabbit tracks" as clerk on election day, assisting Mentor Graham, -who rewarded him many fold in what he later taught to the young -giant. He left New Salem a competent surveyor, a member of the bar, a -representative in the Legislature, and, he might have called himself -Captain, if he had chosen to do so, or even taken advantage of the -frontier's ready system of post-bellum promotions and acquired higher -rank as an officer who had seen actual military service. He had the -good sense not to do this, and about the only commendable thing in -his one important speech in Congress in later years was his mirthful -description of his own military performance. - -He had learned to think, to compose reasonably good English, to stand -on his feet and debate. He had learned to measure his intellectual -strength against that of other men, and to come out ahead at least part -of the time. He was possessed of almost inordinate ambition, and had -no false notion that in his case the office was to seek the man;[17] he -was more than ready for any office that would support him, enable him -to reduce his "national debt," and advance him toward something higher. -He was entering the profession of the law, but law was to him as yet a -means to an end, and that end was office. Politics was the vocation and -law the avocation in a large percentage of the law offices in Illinois -and other new States; and Lincoln was a politician long before he was a -lawyer. - -His residence in New Salem had tested his moral character and confirmed -his personal habits. He did not drink nor swear nor use tobacco. - -In a state of society such as then existed, there was almost nothing -which such a young man might not have aspired to, and Lincoln had high -self-esteem and large aspiration. From this distance we see him leaving -New Salem to "wink out" while he rode his borrowed steed far beyond -Springfield, to tether him at last where Thomas Jefferson is alleged to -have hitched his horse, to the palings of the White House. - -But it was no exultant mood which possessed the soul of Lincoln as he -turned his back upon his _alma mater_ and went forth to conquer the -world. He was a briefless lawyer, and bedless as well as briefless. He -had met and mastered men, but had become painfully aware of his own -poverty, his lack of education, his utter ignorance of the usages of -even such polite society as had been in New Salem, to say nothing of -that in Springfield. - -He was unsettled in love and unsettled in religion, though he had been -on speaking terms with both. He had loved and lost Ann Rutledge, and -he did not love Mary Owens and could not lose her. He was about to -begin one of the loneliest periods of his very lonely life. For a year -only one woman in Springfield spoke to him, and she would rather not -have done so. He did not go to church nor mingle in society, but faced -the hard and bitter problems that confronted him in earning a living, -making some small payments on his debt, settling his relations with -Mary Owens, and possibly giving some thought to his soul. But this was -not a time of one of his spiritual high water-marks. - -If we had seen Abraham Lincoln as he entered New Salem and again -six years later as he left it, we should have found small reason to -anticipate very much of what afterward occurred. But looking back upon -him in the light of what occurred afterward, we discern the "promise -and potency" of the great man he afterward became in the sad young man -who already had become a leader of men, and had earned the right to be -called "Honest Abe." - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE ENVIRONMENT OF LINCOLN'S LIFE IN SPRINGFIELD - - -ABRAHAM LINCOLN became a resident of Springfield on Wednesday, March -15, 1837, and continued to live there until his removal, Saturday, -February 11, 1860, to assume his duties as President of the United -States. He was accepted as partner by his friend and former commander, -Major John T. Stuart, and shared an office in which politics was the -major interest and law was incidentally practiced. His partnership -with Stuart continued for four years, from April 27, 1837, until April -14, 1841. His next partnership was with Judge Stephen T. Logan, and -extended from April 14, 1841, to September 20, 1843. - -He then formed a partnership with William H. Herndon which began on -the day of the dissolution of the partnership with Judge Logan and was -never formally dissolved. Lincoln had a working alliance with some -lawyer in almost every county seat which he habitually visited, whereby -the local lawyer secured the cases and worked them up, and Lincoln took -them in charge as senior counsel when they came to trial.[18] These -were not formal partnerships, though they were often so spoken of. This -method gave him a large practice, and brought him into contact and -collision with the ablest lawyers in central and southern Illinois. - -In 1838 and again in 1840 he was re-elected to the Legislature, and -showed little of the ability which he later manifested, but was a -faithful member, and he flung himself with ardor into the noisy -campaign of 1840. - -In 1842 he had his "duel" with James T. Shields, and later had the good -sense to be ashamed of it. - -In 1846 he ran for Congress, and at this third attempt was elected, -taking his seat December 6, 1847, and continuing for two years. - -The slavery issue was becoming dominant. Lincoln was not at the outset -an abolitionist, and was unwilling to be placed in a position where -he would be compelled to imperil his political chances by taking too -definite a stand on this divisive measure; but on March 3, 1837, -he introduced into the Legislature a vigorous protest against the -aggressions of the pro-slavery party, a protest which probably failed -to affect his political future because it contained only one signature -beside his own. Only a few months later occurred the martyrdom of Owen -Lovejoy at Alton, and the slavery issue was no longer one to be kept -in the background. It is good to be able to remember that Lincoln's -first protest against it was recorded before it had become so burning -an issue. He himself dated his hostility to slavery to what he saw of a -slave market in New Orleans when he visited that city as a boat hand. -But he was unable to remember a time when he had not believed that -slavery was wrong. - -On other moral questions he now began to speak. He delivered an -address on Temperance on Washington's Birthday in 1842. His first -notable oratorical flight outside the spheres of politics and law was -delivered before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield on January 27, -1837, and was on "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions." -It took him longer to say it than it did at Gettysburg, and it was -not so well said, but the rather florid lecture was intended to mean -essentially the same thing which he later expressed much more simply -and effectively. - -His most important case that had a bearing on the slavery issue was -that of Bailey _vs._ Cromwell, when he was thirty-two years of age. In -preparing to argue before the Supreme Court of Illinois in favor of the -freedom of a slave girl, he learned the legal aspects of the question -which later he was to decide on its military and ethical character. - -In 1858 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate -against Stephen A. Douglas, and conducted that series of debates which -made him known throughout the nation as the champion of freedom in the -territories, and of the faith that the nation could not forever endure -half slave and half free. In the autumn of 1859 he visited Kansas, and -was hailed as the friend of freedom. - -On Tuesday evening, February 27, 1860, he delivered an address in -Cooper Union in New York City, an address which greatly extended his -fame. On the preceding Sunday he attended Plymouth Church and heard and -met Henry Ward Beecher. - -On May 16, 1860, he was nominated for the Presidency of the United -States by a great convention meeting in a temporary structure known as -"the Wigwam" standing on Lake and Market Streets near the junction of -the two branches of Chicago River. On November 7, 1860, he was elected -President. - -On Friday, November 4, 1842, he was married to Miss Mary Todd. She -was born in Lexington, Kentucky, December 13, 1818, and had come to -Springfield to be with her sister, Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards, in whose -home the marriage occurred. Concerning this marriage and the events -which went before and after, much has been written and nothing need -here be repeated. - -When Lincoln arrived in Springfield, he found himself for the first -time in his life living in a town with churches that held service every -Sunday, and each church under the care of its own minister. Springfield -had several churches, and he did not at first attend any of them. -This does not seem to have been on account of any hostility which he -entertained toward them, but his first months in Springfield were -months of great loneliness and depression. He was keenly conscious of -his poverty and of his social disqualifications. He was still tortured -by his unhappy love affair with Mary Owens. More than a year after his -arrival in Springfield he wrote to her that he had not yet attended -church and giving as the reason that he would not know how to behave -himself: - - "This thing of living in Springfield is rather a dull business, after - all; at least, it is so to me. I am quite as lonesome here as I ever - was anywhere in my life. I have been spoken to by but one woman since - I have been here, and should not have been by her if she could have - avoided it. I have never been to church yet, nor probably shall not - be soon. I stay away because I am conscious I should not know how to - behave myself. I am often thinking about what we said of your coming - to live at Springfield. I am afraid you would not be satisfied. There - is a great deal of flourishing about in carriages here, which it would - be your doom to see without sharing it. You would have to be poor, - without the means of hiding your poverty." - -Lincoln's habit with respect to churchgoing underwent no very marked -improvement after his marriage until the year 1850. He came, however, -to know a number of ministers[19] and to sustain somewhat pleasant -relations with some of them. - -Mary Todd had been reared a Presbyterian. For a time after her -marriage she attended and was a member of the Episcopal Church. On -February 1, 1850,[20] their second son, Edward Baker Lincoln, died. -The little boy was between three and four years old. The rector of the -Episcopal Church was absent from the city and the funeral service was -conducted by Rev. James Smith, D.D., of the First Presbyterian Church. -A friendship was established between them, and Mr. Lincoln took a pew -in Dr. Smith's church and he and Mrs. Lincoln attended there regularly. - -In a later chapter we shall have occasion to consider more directly and -at length the influence of Dr. Smith upon Mr. Lincoln. We now confine -ourselves to the fact that Lincoln now became a church attendant under -the ministry of a preacher quite different from any he had previously -known. - -James Smith was a large and stalwart Scotchman. He is described as -Websterian in appearance and in the strength of logical argument. Lamon -speaks of him in contemptuous phrase which reflects little credit upon -Lamon, describing him as a man of slender ability. Whatever Dr. Smith -was, he was not a man of meager intellectual power. He had a massive -mind and one well trained. He had a voice of great carrying power and -was accustomed to speaking to large congregations both indoors and out. -He was a wide reader and a skilled controversialist. In his own young -manhood he had been a deist, and when he was converted he entered with -great ardor into various discussions with men who opposed the Christian -faith. One such discussion he had engaged in with a widely known -infidel author. The debate had continued evening after evening in a -Southern city for nearly three weeks and Dr. Smith had emerged from it -triumphant. - -Dr. Smith was just the kind of man to win the admiration of Lincoln -at that time. There is some reason to believe that Dr. Smith's three -weeks' debate with C. G. Olmsted at Columbus, Mississippi, suggested to -Lincoln the idea of his debate with Stephen A. Douglas. - -That Lincoln's views underwent some change at this time there is the -best reason to believe. Lincoln himself declared to his brother-in-law, -Ninian W. Edwards, that his views had been modified. - -Lamon and Herndon both seek to represent Dr. Smith as an officious, -self-advertising meddler, who sought to win renown for himself by -proclaiming Mr. Lincoln's conversion through his personal influence. -The claims and conduct of Dr. Smith do not seem to merit any such -rebuke. Whatever Dr. Smith claimed, Mr. Lincoln knew about it and -was not offended by it. Subsequently he appointed Dr. Smith's son -United States Consul to Dundee, Scotland, and on the son's return to -the United States Mr. Lincoln appointed his father, who by that time -had retired from the ministry, to succeed him in that position. Even -Lamon is compelled to admit that Dr. Smith's claims were made with Mr. -Lincoln's knowledge, and says: - - "Mr. Lincoln permitted himself to be misunderstood and misrepresented - by some enthusiastic ministers and exhorters with whom he came in - contact. Among these was the Rev. Mr. Smith, then pastor of the First - Presbyterian Church of Springfield, and afterward consul at Dundee, in - Scotland, under Mr. Lincoln's appointment."--LAMON, _Life of Lincoln_, - p. 498. - -This statement is thoroughly discreditable, and that which follows -in Lamon's account of Mr. Lincoln's relations with Dr. Smith is a -thorough misrepresentation, as we shall later discover. Lamon was not a -deliberate liar; neither was he in this matter free from prejudice; and -he wrote with reckless disregard of some facts which he did not know -but ought to have known, and which the reader of this book shall know. - -About this time Mr. Lincoln received word that his own father was -dying, and was prevented from making him a personal visit, which, -apparently, he was not wholly sorry for. On January 12, 1851, he wrote -to his stepbrother, John D. Johnson: - - "I sincerely hope father may recover his health, but, tell him to - remember to call upon and confide in our great and good and merciful - Maker, who will not turn away from him in any extremity. He notes the - fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our head, and He will not - forget the dying man who puts his trust in Him. Say to him that if we - could meet now it is doubtful whether it would not be more painful - than pleasant, but that if it be his lot to go now, he will soon have - a joyous meeting with many loved ones gone before, and where the rest - of us, through the help of God, hope ere long to join them." - -Even Herndon grew indignant when anyone attempted to explain away that -letter, or to make it seem anything less than it purported to be. He -said in his letter to Mr. Abbott, under date of February 18, 1870: - - "It has been said to me that Mr. Lincoln wrote the above letter to - an old man simply to cheer him up in his last moments, and that - the writer did not believe what he said. The question is, Was Mr. - Lincoln an honest and truthful man? If he was, he wrote that letter - honestly, believing it. It has to me the sound, the ring, of an honest - utterance. I admit that Mr. Lincoln, in his moments of melancholy - and terrible gloom, was living on the border land between theism and - atheism, sometimes quite wholly dwelling in atheism. In his happier - moments he would swing back to theism, and dwell lovingly there.... - So it seems to me that Mr. Lincoln believed in God and immortality as - well as heaven--a place."--LAMON, p. 495. - -Another incident comes to us from this period and is related by Captain -Gilbert J. Greene. He was a young printer living in Springfield, and at -the time of this incident was eighteen years of age. Whether the story -was in any way exaggerated we may not certainly know, but it is here -given as he himself furnished it for publication and is now printed -with one or two other Lincoln stories in a small volume in limited -edition: - - "'Greene,' said Lincoln to him one day on the streets of Springfield, - 'I've got to ride out into the country tomorrow to draw a will for - a woman who is believed to be on her deathbed. I may want you for a - witness. If you haven't anything else to do I'd like to have you go - along.' - - "The invitation was promptly accepted. - - "On the way to the farmhouse the lawyer and the printer chatted - delightfully, cementing a friendship that was fast ripening into real - affection. Arriving at the house, the woman was found to be near her - end. - - "With great gentleness Lincoln drew up the document disposing of the - property as the woman desired. Neighbors and relatives were present, - making it unnecessary to call on Greene to witness the instrument. - After the signing and witnessing of the will the woman turned to - Lincoln and said, with a smile: - - "'Now I have my affairs for this world arranged satisfactorily. I am - thankful to say that long before this I have made preparation for the - other life I am so soon to enter. Many years ago I sought and found - Christ as my Saviour. He has been my stay and comfort through the - years, and is now near to carry me over the river of death. I do not - fear death, Mr. Lincoln. I am really glad that my time has come, for - loved ones have gone before me and I rejoice in the hope of meeting - them so soon.' - - "Instinctively the friends drew nearer the bedside. As the dying woman - had addressed her words more directly to Lincoln than to the others, - Lincoln, evincing sympathy in every look and gesture, bent toward her - and said: - - "'Your faith in Christ is wise and strong; your hope of a future life - is blessed. You are to be congratulated in passing through life so - usefully, and into the life beyond so hopefully.' - - "'Mr. Lincoln,' said she, 'won't you read a few verses out of the - Bible for me?' - - "A member of the family offered him the family Bible. Instead of - taking it, he began reciting from memory the twenty-third Psalm, - laying emphasis upon 'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow - of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy - staff they comfort me.' Still without referring to the Bible, Lincoln - began with the first part of the fourteenth chapter of John: - - "'Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in - me. - - "'In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would - have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. - - "'And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and - receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.' - - "After he had given these and other quotations from the Scriptures, he - recited various familiar comforting hymns, closing with 'Rock of Ages, - cleft for me.' Then, with a tenderness and pathos that enthralled - everyone in the room, he spoke the last stanza-- - - "'_While I draw this fleeting breath, - When mine eyes shall close in death, - When I rise to worlds unknown, - See Thee on Thy judgment throne, - Rock of Ages, cleft for me, - Let me hide myself in Thee._' - - "While Lincoln was reciting this stanza a look of peace and - resignation lit up the countenance of the dying woman. In a few - minutes more, while the lawyer and the printer were there, she passed - away. - - "The journey back to Springfield was begun in silence. It was the - younger man who finally said: - - "'Mr. Lincoln, ever since what has just happened back there in the - farmhouse, I have been thinking that it is very extraordinary that you - should so perfectly have acted as pastor as well as attorney.' - - "When the answer to this suggestion finally was given--and it was not - given at once--Lincoln said: - - "'God, and Eternity, and Heaven were very near to me today.'"--CHARLES - T. WHITE, _Lincoln the Comforter_, pp. 11-16. - -Reference should be made in our review of this period to Lincoln's -stories as exhibiting an important phase of his character. - -It is not easy to decide what stories actually were Lincoln's. Very -few of them are to be found in their original setting, for he did not -commonly tell stories when he made speeches. They were told in personal -interviews, in hours of recreation, and especially in taverns and other -loafing places. The period of their greatest vogue was that in which -Lincoln traveled the circuit. Most of the successful lawyers of that -day were story-tellers; and in the evenings of court-week they swapped -yarns with local wits. Lincoln was the most famous of a considerable -group of noted Illinois story-tellers. - -During his lifetime he was asked about how many of the stories -attributed to him were his own, and he said he thought about half. -A much larger discount would need to be made now. Many such stories -Lincoln probably never heard. - -The stories which lawyers told to each other and to groups of men were -not all of them overnice; and Lincoln's stories were like the rest. He -did not always confine himself to strictly proper stories. But in those -that are authentic and not quite proper, it is to be observed that the -coarseness was incidental to the real point of the story. I have not -heard any story, authenticated as Lincoln's, which is actually obscene. - -It has been my privilege to examine a considerable quantity of -unpublished writing of Lincoln's, including some manuscripts that -have been withheld for the reason that they were not quite proper. -Of these I can say that they are few in number, and that the element -of vulgarity is very small. Excepting only the "First Chronicles of -Reuben," which was a rude backwoods joke, written in his boyhood, and -in full accord with the standards of humor current in the time and -general environment, there is not very much that one could wish had -been destroyed. - -The frankest piece of questionable literature from Lincoln's pen in -mature years, so far as I am aware, is in a private collection, and its -owner does not permit it to be copied. Not many people are permitted -to see it. It is probably the least attractive scrap of Lincoln's -writing extant that dates from his mature years. It is undated, but -belongs to the period of his life on the circuit. It is a piece of -extravagant nonsense, written in about twenty lines on a quarter sheet -of legal cap, and is probably the effort to recall and record something -that he had heard and which amused him. Its whole point is in the -transposition of the initial letters of compound words, or words in -juxtaposition in a sentence, such as a speaker sometimes makes in a -moment of mental confusion. Thus a cotton-patch is a "potten-catch" and -a fence-corner is a "cence-forner." Every clause contains one or more -of these absurdities, until a sense of boisterous mirth is awakened at -the possibility that there should be so many of them. Most of them are -harmless as the two above quoted, but there are two or three that are -not in good taste. They are not vile nor obscene, but not very pretty. -Lincoln wasted ten minutes of spare time in writing out this rather -ingenious bit of nonsense, and it is not worth more than that length of -discussion. It is probably the worst bit of extant writing of Lincoln's -mature years, written in the period of his circuit-riding, and it has -little to commend it and not a great deal to condemn. - - * * * * * - -Lincoln's religious life in Springfield has been and is the subject of -violent controversy. Much that has been written on both sides bears -the marks of prejudice and exhibits internal evidence of having been -consciously or unconsciously distorted. In a later chapter it will come -before us for review and analysis. Of it we may now remind ourselves -that in this period covering nearly a quarter of a century Lincoln -was developing in many ways. He emerged from grinding poverty into a -condition in which he owned a home and had a modest sum of money in the -bank. From an ill-trained fledgling lawyer, compelled by his poverty -to share a bed in a friend's room above the store, he had come to be a -leader at the Illinois bar. From an obscure figure in State politics -he had come to be the recognized leader of a political party that was -destined to achieve national success and to determine the policies of -the nation with little interruption for more than half a century. Out -of a condition of great mental uncertainty in all matters relating to -domestic relations he had come into a settled condition as the husband -of a brilliant and ambitious woman and the father of a family of sons -to whom he was devotedly attached. For the first time in his life he -lived in a community where there were buildings wholly dedicated to -the purposes of public worship; and after a considerable period of -non-church attendance, and perhaps another of infrequent or irregular -attendance, he had become a regular attendant and supporter of a church -whose minister was his personal friend and whom he greatly admired. - -During his years in Springfield, Mr. Lincoln's political ideals had -undergone marked change. His experience in the Illinois Legislature is -not discreditable; neither does it manifest any notably high ideals. -Nor was he brilliantly successful in his one term in Congress. Lincoln -was an honest politician, in the sense that he kept his promises and -stood by his announced convictions. But it is impossible to read into -his legislative history any such lofty purpose as later possessed him. -He and the other members of the "Long Nine" log-rolled in orthodox -political fashion, and won from Governor Ford the title "spared -monuments of popular wrath."[21] - -As a jury lawyer, also, his arts were those of the successful trial -lawyer of the period. So far as the author has been able to find, -there was no unworthy chapter in all this long history. The story, -for instance, that in the trial of Armstrong Lincoln used an almanac -of another year and won his case by fraud, has, as the author is -convinced, no foundation whatever in fact. On the contrary, Lincoln was -at a serious disadvantage in any case in whose justice he did not fully -believe. - -But there came a time when Lincoln was more than a shrewd and -honest politician; more than a successful jury lawyer. In the brief -autobiographical sketch which he prepared for Mr. Fell, he speaks of -his work at the end of his term in Congress, and says: - - "In 1846 I was once elected to the lower House of Congress. Was not - a candidate for re-election. From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, - practiced law more assiduously than ever before. Always a Whig in - politics, and generally on the Whig electoral tickets, making active - canvasses, I was losing interest in politics when the repeal of the - Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since is pretty - well known." - -He expanded this brief statement somewhat in the sketch which he -furnished a little later to Scripps as a basis of his campaign -biography: - - "Upon his return from Congress, he went to the practice of the law - with greater earnestness than ever before.... In 1854 his profession - had almost superseded the thought of politics in his mind, when the - repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused him as he had never been - before." - -The full effect of this unprecedented arousing was manifest -in his speech at Springfield on June 16, 1858, the -"House-Divided-Against-Itself" speech. - -Lincoln himself is our authority for the statement that the moral -aspects of the slavery issue called him back into politics and roused -him as he never before had been aroused. Politically, at least, Abraham -Lincoln had been born again. Nor had it been a period of spiritual -inaction or retrogression, as we have seen and shall see yet further. - -In addition to all this he had known the discipline of sorrow, and had -had occasion to test religion on the practical side of its availability -for comfort in time of bereavement. He had now been chosen to a -position of responsibility such as no man in all the history of his -nation had ever been called upon to occupy. - -On the day before he was fifty-two years old he stood upon the platform -of a railroad train ready to leave Springfield for the last time. -He did not know that it was the last time, but he had a haunting -presentiment that it might be so. With tears filling his eyes and in -a voice choked with emotion he spoke his last words to his neighbors -and friends. Just what he said we shall never know. A shorthand -reporter endeavored to write it down, but with indifferent success. -Hon. Newton Bateman, State Superintendent of Schools, of whom we shall -hear later, hurried to his office after the train pulled out and wrote -down what, judged by any reasonable test, must be considered a very -satisfactory report of it. Lincoln sat down in the train after it had -left Springfield and endeavored to recall the exact language which -he had used, and in this was assisted by his private secretary, John -Hay. Of these three, and a considerable number of other versions, the -Illinois Historical Society has chosen the third as the authentic -version. It represents what Lincoln wished to be remembered as having -said, and very nearly what he actually did say. This version of his -farewell address, representing the deep feeling of his heart at -the hour of parting, and recorded on the same day as embodying his -deliberate revision of the extempore utterance, is taken from Nicolay -and Hay's edition of his Life and of his Works. It is that which was -cast in bronze and placed in the year of his Centennial, in front of -the State House at Springfield. If one would measure the growth of -Abraham Lincoln intellectually and spiritually he might ask, What kind -of an address in comparison with this Lincoln might have delivered on -his departure from Kentucky in 1816, from Indiana in 1830, or from New -Salem in 1837? The answer is so emphatic as almost to make the question -absurd; but it is worth while to ask the question before we read again -the familiar words of his farewell address. No one reading these few -sentences can question the sincerity of Lincoln's utterance or the -depth of his religious feeling: - - "My friends: No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling - of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these - people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, - and have passed from a youth to an old man. Here my children have been - born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether - ever I may return, with the task before me greater than that which - rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being - who ever attended him I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot - fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you and - be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be - well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will - commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell."--NICOLAY AND HAY, - III, 291. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE ENVIRONMENT OF LINCOLN'S LIFE IN WASHINGTON - - -ABRAHAM LINCOLN was inaugurated sixteenth president of the United -States, on Monday, March 4, 1861. His journey to Washington had served -to impress him even more deeply than before with a sense of the -solemnity of his task. He still was earnestly hoping, and if we may -judge from his speeches along the route, even expecting, that war would -be averted;[22] but the possibility of war was always apparent and its -probability was growing daily more certain. - -Several incidents are related tending to show the solemnity of -Lincoln's feeling at this time. Some of them are plainly apocryphal, -but others are deeply significant. The following was related by Rev. -Dr. Miner, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Springfield, who -was intimately acquainted with the Lincoln family and who visited -them in the White House. This story he declared was related to him by -Mrs. Lincoln on the occasion of his visit to the White House and was -published while Mrs. Lincoln was still living. It appears to rest upon -a sound basis of fact: - - "Here I relate an incident which occurred on the 4th of March, 1861, - as told me by Mrs. Lincoln. Said she: - - "'Mr. Lincoln wrote the conclusion of his inaugural address the - morning it was delivered. The family being present, he read it to - them. He then said he wished to be left alone for a short time. The - family retired to an adjoining room, but not so far distant but that - the voice of prayer could be distinctly heard. There, closeted with - God alone, surrounded by the enemies who were ready to take his - life, he commended his country's cause and all dear to him to God's - providential care, and with a mind calmed by communion with his Father - in heaven, and courage equal to the danger, he came forth from that - retirement ready for duty.'"--_Scribner's Monthly_, 1873, p. 343. - -Fort Sumter fell April 13, and on the 15th Lincoln issued his call for -volunteers, and called Congress in extraordinary session for July 4. On -July 21 occurred the battle of Bull Run, and the war settled down to -its weary and varying fortunes. On September 22, 1862, he issued the -Emancipation Proclamation to take effect January 1, 1863. The battle -of Gettysburg occurred July 1-4, 1863, and destroyed the hope of the -Southern Army of a successful invasion of the North. Simultaneously -with Lee's defeat at Gettysburg, General Grant captured Vicksburg, -opening the Mississippi to the Union gunboats. On November 19, 1863, -Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg address. On March 4, 1865, he was -inaugurated President a second time. On Sunday, April 9, 1865, General -Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox. On Friday night, April 14, at -10:20 P.M., Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford's Theater and died on -Saturday morning, April 15, at 7:22. On Thursday, May 4, his body was -interred at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. - -During his residence in Washington, Mr. Lincoln habitually attended -the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. He was a warm personal friend -of the pastor, Rev. Phineas D. Gurley, D.D., whose grandson, Captain -Gurley of the War Department, relates that Lincoln sat with Dr. Gurley -on the rear porch of the White House during the second battle of -Bull Run, and when the strain had become almost unbearable he knelt -in prayer and Mr. Lincoln knelt beside him and joined reverently in -the petition. Dr. Gurley's testimonies to the religious development -of Lincoln's life were conservative, and bear upon their face marks -of trustworthiness. There are no extravagant claims; no florid and -declamatory theological affirmations,[23] but such as this which Dr. -Gurley remembers to have heard Lincoln say to a company of clergymen -calling upon him in one of the darkest times in the Civil War: - - "My hope of success in this struggle rests on that immutable - foundation, the justness and the goodness of God; and when events - are very threatening I still hope that in some way all will be - well in the end, because our cause is just and God will be on our - side."--_Scribner's Magazine_, 1873, p. 339. - -Lincoln sometimes varied this form of expression and said that he was -less anxious to proclaim that God was on his side than he was to be -sure that he was on God's side. - -During this period Lincoln had frequent occasion to meet delegations -from religious bodies and to reply to their addresses. We shall have -occasion later to consider some of his words to these different -religious bodies. He also issued a number of proclamations, calling -for days of fasting and prayer and days of thanksgiving, in which -he expressed not only the formal sentiment which he might assume -represented the mind of the people, but also to a considerable extent -what must have been his own religious conviction. - -An unbiased reading of these proclamations and addresses compels the -reader to recognize in them, not merely the formal courtesy of an -official to the representatives of large and influential bodies, but -the sincere expression of his own faith. An illustration may be found -in his attitude toward the Quakers. No religious body suffered more -during the Civil War, and with no religious fellowship did Mr. Lincoln -feel a more instinctive sympathy, though he was compelled by the logic -of events to pursue courses of action in contravention of their desires -and at times of their convictions. - -In September, 1862, he received a delegation of Friends, and listened -to an address on their behalf by Mrs. Eliza P. Gurney, wife of Joseph -John Gurney, a wealthy banker, entreating him on behalf of their -peace-loving organization to bring the war to a speedy end. He could -not do what they wished, and moreover, he believed that it was not -the will of God that the war should end till it had wrought out the -purposes of the Divine will. He said: - - "I am glad of this interview, and glad to know that I have your - sympathy and prayers. We are indeed going through a great trial--a - fiery trial. In the very responsible position in which I happen to - be placed, being a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly - Father, as I am, and as we all are, to work out His great purposes, - I have desired that all my works and acts may be according to His - will, and that it might be so, I have sought His aid; but if, after - endeavoring to do my best in the light which He affords me, I find my - efforts fail, I must believe that for some purpose unknown to me, He - wills it otherwise. If I had had my way, this war would never have - been commenced. If I had been allowed my way, this war would have been - ended before this; but we find it still continues, and we must believe - that He permits it for some wise purpose of His own, mysterious and - unknown to us; and though with our limited understandings we may not - be able to comprehend it, yet we cannot but believe that He who made - the world still governs it." - -We are not permitted to believe that on this and similar occasions Mr. -Lincoln met the situation with words of pious evasion, or that what -he said was simply what he thought he might be expected to say. Some -months after this interview Mrs. Gurney, being then in London, wrote -to Mr. Lincoln. He could easily have acknowledged the letter without -committing himself to any religious expression. For several months he -kept the letter, and then, on September 4, 1864, he wrote to her as -follows: - - "My esteemed Friend: I have not forgotten--probably never shall - forget--the very impressive occasion when yourself and friends visited - me on a Sabbath forenoon two years ago. Nor has your kind letter, - written nearly a year later, ever been forgotten. In all it has been - your purpose to strengthen my reliance on God. I am much indebted to - the good Christian people of the country for their constant prayers - and consolations; and to no one of them more than to yourself. The - purposes of the Almighty are perfect, and must prevail, though we - erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in advance. We - hoped for a happy termination of this terrible war long before this; - but God knows best and ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge His - wisdom, and our own error therein. Meanwhile we must work earnestly in - the best light He gives us, trusting that so working still conduces - to the great ends He ordains. Surely He intends some great good to - follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make, and no - mortal could stay. Your people, the Friends, have had, and are having, - a very great trial. On principle and faith opposed to both war and - oppression, they can only practically oppose oppression by war. In - this hard dilemma some have chosen one horn, and some the other. For - those appealing to me on conscientious grounds, I have done, and shall - do, the best I could and can, in my own conscience, under my oath to - the law. That you believe this, I doubt not, and believing it, I shall - receive for my country and myself your earnest prayers to our Father - in Heaven." - -Of Lincoln's habit of public worship during his Presidency, Rev. -William Henry Roberts, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian General -Assembly, writes in a foreword to Dr. Johnson's book: - - "It was my privilege as a young man to have known Abraham Lincoln. - Entering the service of the United States government in the fall - of 1863, the first Sabbath of my sojourn in Washington City I went - to the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. When the time for the - long prayer came, according to immemorial usage in many Presbyterian - congregations, a number of the men stood up for prayer, and among - those upright figures I noticed in particular that of the President - of the United States. As a member of the New York Avenue Church I was - seated not far from Mr. Lincoln at Sunday services for a year and - a half, and his attitude was always that of an earnest and devout - worshiper. He was also an attendant at the weekly meeting, though - for a considerable period taking part in the services privately. It - having become known that he was an attendant at the prayer meeting, - many persons would gather in or near the church at the close of the - service in order to have access to him for various purposes. Desiring - to put an end to these unwelcome interruptions, the Rev. Dr. Phineas - D. Gurley, the pastor of Mr. Lincoln, arranged to have the President - sit in the pastor's room, the door of which opened upon the lecture - room, and there Mr. Lincoln would take a silent part in the service. - He informed his pastor on several occasions that he had received great - comfort from the meetings, and for the reason that they had been - characterized more by prayer than by the making of addresses. - - "Dr. Gurley bore repeated testimony to myself and to other members of - the church of the deeply religious character of Mr. Lincoln, and it is - with pleasure that I add this brief testimony from my own experience - and observation. - - "It will be fifty years next fall since I came into direct touch with - the man, who in the providence of God was the liberator of a race, and - I shall always hold in sweet and blessed memory my first sight of him, - as a devout worshiper standing for prayer in the sanctuary of the Most - High."--_Abraham Lincoln the Christian_, pp. 13-15. - -I have copied direct from the original letter, in possession of Mr. -Jesse W. Weik, Nicolay's letter to Herndon affirming that, to the best -of his knowledge, Lincoln's belief did not change during his years in -the White House. It was addressed to Herndon, and it reads: - - "Executive Mansion, - "Washington, May 27, 1865. - - "FRIEND HERNDON:-- - - "I have this morning received your note of the 23rd inst. and reply at - once. - - "Mr. Lincoln did not, to my knowledge, change in any way his religious - views, beliefs, or opinions from the time he left Springfield to the - day of his death. I do not know just what they were, never having - heard him explain them in detail; but I am very sure he gave no - outward indication of his mind having undergone any change in that - regard while here. - - "Very truly, - "JNO. G. NICOLAY. - - "HON. WILLIAM H. HERNDON." - -While Nicolay's declaration that Lincoln gave no outward indication -that his views had undergone any change during his residence in the -White House is entitled to great weight, it is not wholly conclusive. -It is quite possible that Mr. Lincoln changed more than those who -were closest to him every day realized, more, indeed, than he himself -realized. Some men who had known him in earlier years and who met him -from time to time while he was in the White House observed a change -too subtle to be fully realized by those who saw him daily. Joshua Fry -Speed knew Lincoln from the day Lincoln arrived in Springfield until -his death. Indeed, he had known Lincoln earlier; but their intimate -acquaintance began on the day when Lincoln received his law license -and moved to Springfield, where he shared Speed's bed. Speed told of -that incident frequently, how Lincoln came into his store, greatly -depressed, asking to be permitted to purchase a single bed which he -was not certain he could ever pay for; but Speed invited Lincoln -to sleep with him in the room above the store. Lincoln carried his -saddlebags upstairs and set them down, and came down the stairs with -his countenance beaming, as he said, "Well, Speed, I've moved!" Lamon -declares that Speed was "The most intimate friend Mr. Lincoln ever had -at this or any other time" (_Life of Lincoln_, p. 231). Says Lamon: -"He made to Speed the most confidential communications he ever made -to mortal man. If he had on earth 'a bosom crony,' it was Speed, and -that deep and abiding attachment subsisted unimpaired to the day of -Lincoln's death." To Speed alone Lincoln gave his full confidence in -the matter of his love affairs, and they talked together as men seldom -talk to each other. Speaking out of a most intimate knowledge, Speed -wrote in his lecture on Lincoln: - - "I have often been asked what were Mr. Lincoln's religious opinions. - When I knew him in early life, he was a skeptic. He had tried hard - to be a believer, but his reason could not grasp and solve the great - problem of redemption as taught. He was very cautious never to give - expression to any thought or sentiment that would grate harshly upon a - Christian ear. For a sincere Christian he had great respect. He often - said that the most ambitious man might live to see every hope fail; - but no Christian could live and see his hope fail, because fulfillment - could only come when life ended. But this was a subject we never - discussed. The only evidence I have of any change, was in the summer - before he was killed. I was invited out to the Soldiers' Home to spend - the night. As I entered the room, near night, he was sitting near a - window intently reading his Bible. Approaching him I said, 'I am glad - to see you so profitably engaged.' 'Yes,' said he, 'I am profitably - engaged.' 'Well,' said I, 'if you have recovered from your skepticism, - I am sorry to say that I have not.' Looking me earnestly in the face, - and placing his hand on my shoulder, he said, 'You are wrong, Speed; - take all of this Book upon reason that you can, and the balance on - faith, and you will live and die a happier man.'"--SPEED: _Lecture on - Abraham Lincoln_, pp. 32, 33. - -The Bible which the colored people presented to Lincoln was kept and -prized by him. Hon. H. C. Deming, in his address before the Legislature -of Connecticut, just after Lincoln's death, referred to it: - - "The interview which I am recalling was last summer [1864] just after - General Fremont had declined to run against him for the Presidency. - The magnificent Bible, which the negroes of Washington[24] had just - presented to him lay upon the table, and while we were both examining - it, I recited the somewhat remarkable passage from the Chronicles, - 'Eastward were six Levites, northward four a day, southward four a - day, and toward Assuppim two and two. At Parbar westward, four at - the causeway, and two at Parbar.'[25] He immediately challenged me - to find any such passage as that in _his_ Bible. After I had pointed - it out to him, and he was satisfied of its genuineness, he asked me - if I remembered the text which his friends had applied to Fremont, - and instantly turned to a verse in the first of Samuel, put on his - spectacles, and read in his slow, peculiar, and waggish tone,--'And - everyone that was in distress and everyone that was in debt, and - everyone that was discontented gathered themselves unto him; and he - became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred - men.'"[26] - -There are two interesting facts about this incident related by -Representative Deming. One is that Lincoln knew his Bible well enough -to challenge an unfamiliar passage and require that it be shown to him -before believing that the Bible contained it. Only a man who had read -his Bible much would have been so confident. The other is that this -story recalled to Mr. Deming that very important declaration of Lincoln -which is attested by a number of other credible witnesses in substance, -but which Deming first gave to the world in his notable address: - - "I am here reminded of an impressive remark which he made to me - upon another occasion, and which I shall never forget. He said, he - had never united himself to any church, because he found difficulty - in giving his assent, without mental reservations, to the long - complicated statements of Christian doctrine which characterize their - Articles of Belief and Confessions of Faith. 'When any church,' he - continued, 'will inscribe over its altar as its sole qualification - for membership the Saviour's condensed statement of the substance - of both the law and Gospel, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with - all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy - neighbor as thyself,--that church will I join with all my heart and - soul.'"--_Eulogy upon Abraham Lincoln, before the General Assembly of - Connecticut, 1865_, p. 42. - -Henry C. Whitney knew Lincoln well, from the days of their circuit -riding in Illinois till Lincoln's death. His testimony is valuable: - - "Mr. Lincoln was a fatalist: he believed, and often said, that - - '_There's a divinity that shapes our ends, - Rough-hew them how we will,_' - - and as a corollary from this belief, that the Almighty controlled the - affairs of men and made the wrath of men to praise Him. In all stages - of his administration and before, commencing with his first public - utterance after his election, he declared that with God's help he - should succeed, and without it he would fail. Likewise, before he was - run for the Presidency, he made frequent references to God in the same - spirit of devoutness and trust; and, therefore, he was honest; honest - with his Father on his dying bed, honest in what he feared was (and - which proved to be) his last affectionate farewell to his neighbors, - honest to the many eminent bands of clergymen and Christian people - who visited him, and honest with his Cabinet in the most important - consultation it ever held; then Lincoln, whether as man or as - President, believed in God as the Ruler of the Universe, in a blessed - hereafter, and in the efficacy of prayer. . . . Mr. Lincoln believed - himself to be an instrument of God; and that, as God willed, so would - the contest be. He also believed in prayer and its efficacy, and that - God willed the destruction of slavery through his instrumentality, and - he believed in the Church of God as an important auxiliary."--_Life on - the Circuit with Lincoln_, pp. 267-68. - -Among the men in Washington who best knew the mind of Abraham Lincoln -was Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and -afterward Vice-President under General Grant. In his memorial address -delivered just after the assassination, he paid a high tribute to the -deep religious spirit of Lincoln as he knew it, and said: - - "Nor should I forget to mention that the last Act of Congress signed - by him was one requiring that the motto, in which he sincerely - believed, 'In God we trust' should hereafter be inscribed upon all - our national coins."--HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX, in _Memorial Address in - Chicago, April 30, 1865_. - -During his residence in the White House Mr. Lincoln again met the -discipline of personal bereavement. His son Willie died. There is -conflict of testimony as to Mr. Lincoln's love for his wife, though -the present writer believes that he truly loved her, but no one who -knew him ever doubted his devotion to his children. The death of this -little boy, William Wallace, who was born in Springfield, December 21, -1850, and died in the White House, February 20, 1862, seemed, according -to the testimony of Mrs. Lincoln, to turn his thoughts more to -religion. It must have recalled to him all that had occurred when his -other boy died in Springfield, and it brought new and solemn thoughts -and possibly convictions. - -Moreover, he was now father to the boys of a nation. They were marching -at his order, singing, - - "_We are coming, Father Abraham, - Six hundred thousand more._" - -They were laying down their young lives for a cause that he told -them was holy. How he felt for the fathers and mothers of the land, -his letter to Mrs. Bixby and his countless deeds of mercy testify. -Again and again, as Ingersoll well said, he abused his great power -on the side of mercy and never otherwise. The deepening sense of -responsibility, as he affirmed, again and again drove him to his knees -(Noah Brooks in _Harper's Monthly_ for July, 1885). Did he consciously -change his theology? Very likely not; but he certainly became a more -and more deeply religious man under the discipline of these experiences. - -Perhaps more than all else, the moral aspects of the slavery question -thrust themselves into a foremost place in his religious thinking. We -need not trouble ourselves overmuch about the accuracy of John Hanks's -story that when Lincoln saw slaves sold in the market in New Orleans he -vowed to "hit that institution and hit it hard"; part of that story may -have originated in John's fertile imagination. But the story is not an -unworthy one, and we know from Lincoln's own declaration that on that -very occasion he was smitten with a sense of the iniquity of slavery, -and that on its moral rather than its political side. That he freed -the slaves as a war measure, and that he must thus justify the action -as an extra-constitutional prerogative, need not lessen in our mind -the moral aspects of the decision. The evidence is incontestable, and -we shall quote it later, that to him it was a solemn obligation, the -fulfillment of a vow which he had made to God. - -We are presently to go into a detailed examination of the available -evidence concerning Lincoln's religious life. We are here considering -his environment in the successive stages of his career, and his visible -reaction to it. But even if we were to go no further, we should find -ourselves compelled to believe in the reality of Lincoln's religion. -We might not be able accurately to define it, and we may not be able -to do so to our complete satisfaction after we have finished; we might -even question, and we may still question, whether he himself ever fully -defined it. But we are assured that his religion was real and genuine, -and that it grew more vital as he faced more completely the moral and -spiritual aspects of the work to which, as he honestly believed, he was -divinely called. - -When General Lee surrendered his armies on April 9, 1865, Mr. Stanton, -Secretary of War, though not a very religious man in his profession, -felt with the whole nation the Providence of God in the result. He -surrounded the dome of the Capitol with a transparency, reading, "This -is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes." - -He believed it; the nation believed it; Abraham Lincoln believed it. -That conviction that the hand of God had been in it all had but lately -been expressed in his Second Inaugural. That faith was warm in his -heart, and its expression fresh upon his lips, when on April 14, 1865, -he was shot and killed. - -So ended the earthly life of Abraham Lincoln; and with that end came -the beginning of the discussion of his religion. To the history of that -discussion, and the critical consideration of the evidence which it -adduced, we are now to address ourselves. - - - - -PART II: AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVIDENCE - -CHAPTER VII - -THE RULES OF EVIDENCE - - -THUS far we have dealt primarily with the environments of Lincoln's -religious life. We have not been able to escape the conviction -that Lincoln's religious life was an evolution, influenced by his -environment and experience. We have considered in these successive -chapters some matters in detail which seemed to belong particularly to -the respective periods of which those chapters have treated; but we -have reserved, in general, the evidence that bears upon his religion as -a whole for more critical examination. Particularly have we reserved -those portions of the evidence which, first published after his death, -belong to no one epoch of his life and have become the occasion of -controversy. What kind of man he was religiously in 1865 we shall hope -to know better; indeed, it is not unreasonable to hope that examination -may show in part the processes by which his religion found its final -form and expression. - -We know already that there had been a development. We know that the -Abraham Lincoln who in 1834 delivered his political opinions in -labored and florid style and with the logic current in stump oratory -had undergone mental development and had emerged into the Lincoln who -delivered his thoughts in translucent Anglo-Saxon at Gettysburg and the -Second Inaugural. That there had been a moral and spiritual development -also we have already been assured. Perhaps it was greater than he -himself consciously understood. We shall now endeavor to ascertain what -it had come to be. - -In this inquiry we have no easy task. The mass of evidence is great, -and the contradictions are many. There were contradictions in the -personality of the man himself, and many contradictions in the views -which men, even honest and unprejudiced men, had of him; and not all -the testimony is unprejudiced. - -Lincoln was a man of many moods. He reacted differently to different -stimuli, and to the same stimulus at different times. His feelings ran -the gamut from abysmal dejection to rollicking gaiety: and he never -revealed his whole nature to any one man, nor showed the whole of his -nature at any one time. He cannot be judged by the mechanical tests of -a rigid consistency: for he was not that kind of man. - -When Dr. J. G. Holland went to Springfield immediately after the death -of Lincoln to gather material for his biography he was surprised beyond -measure to find how conflicting were the local judgments of Lincoln's -character. Concerning this he wrote: - - "Such a nature and character seem full of contradictions; and a man - who is subject to such transitions will always be a mystery to those - who do not know him wholly. Thus no two men among his intimate friends - will agree concerning him. - - "The writer has conversed with multitudes of men who claimed to know - Mr. Lincoln intimately; yet there are not two of the whole number who - agree in their estimate of him. The fact was that he rarely showed - more than one aspect of himself to one man. He opened himself to - men in different directions. It was rare that he exhibited what was - religious in him; and he never did this at all, except when he found - just the nature and character that were sympathetic with that aspect - and element of his character. A great deal of his best, deepest, - largest life he kept almost constantly from view, because he would not - expose it to the eyes and apprehension of the careless multitude. - - "To illustrate the effect of the peculiarity of Mr. Lincoln's - intercourse with men, it may be said that men who knew him through - all his professional and political life have offered opinions as - diametrically opposite as these, viz.: that he was a very ambitious - man, and that he was without a particle of ambition; that he was - one of the saddest men that ever lived, and that he was one of the - jolliest men that ever lived; that he was very religious, but that - he was not a Christian; that he was a Christian, but did not know it; - that he was so far from being a religious man or a Christian that 'the - less said upon the subject the better'; that he was the most cunning - man in America, and that he had not a particle of cunning in him; that - he had the strongest personal attachments, and that he had no personal - attachments at all--only a general good feeling toward everybody; that - he was a man of indomitable will, and that he was a man almost without - a will; that he was a tyrant, and that he was the softest-hearted, - most brotherly man that ever lived; that he was remarkable for his - pure-mindedness, and that he was the foulest in his jests and stories - of any man in the country; that he was a witty man, and that he was - only a retailer of the wit of others; that his apparent candor and - fairness were only apparent, and that they were as real as his head - and his hands; that he was a boor, and that he was in all essential - respects a gentleman; that he was a leader of the people, and that he - was always led by the people; that he was cool and impassive, and that - he was susceptible of the strongest passions. It is only by tracing - these separate streams of impression back to their fountain that we - are able to arrive at anything like a competent comprehension of the - man, or to learn why he came to be held in such various estimation. - Men caught only separate aspects of his character--only the fragments - that were called into exhibition by their own qualities."--HOLLAND: - _Life of Lincoln_, pp. 241-42. - -Some writers, and more orators, have professed to see in the character -of Lincoln a perfect balancing of all desirable qualities. Bishop -Fowler, in what was perhaps the most widely popular of all popular -orations on Lincoln, attributed his own inability to analyze the -character of Lincoln to its perfect sphericity, a consistency such that -any attempt to consider any quality by itself met the counterbalancing -consideration of all the other qualities. But the antitheses in -Lincoln's character were not those of a perfect consistency.[27] They -were of a sort which puzzled those who knew him best, and were most -easily explained by those who gave least study to the man himself and -most to their own theories of what a man like Mr. Lincoln must have -been. - -Of these sharp antitheses in Lincoln's character, Col. Clark E. Carr, -who knew him well, said in an address which I heard: - - "Abraham Lincoln was the drollest man I ever saw. - - "He could make a cat laugh. Never was another man so vivacious; never - have I seen another who provoked so much mirth, and who entered into - rollicking fun with such glee. He was the most comical and jocose of - human beings, laughing with the same zest at his own jokes as at those - of others. I did not wonder that, while actively engaged in party - politics, his opponents who had seen him in these moods called Abraham - Lincoln a clown and an ape. - - "Abraham Lincoln was the most serious man I ever saw. - - "When I heard him protest against blighting our new territories with - the curse of human slavery, in his debates with Senator Douglas, - no man could have been more in earnest, none more serious. In his - analysis of legal problems, whether in the practice of his profession - or in the consideration of State papers, he became wholly absorbed - in his subject. Sometimes he lapsed into reverie and communed with - his own thoughts, noting nothing that was going on about him until - aroused, when perhaps he would enter into a discussion of the subject - that had occupied his mind, or perhaps break out into laughter and - tell a joke or story that set the table in a roar. - - "When I saw him at Gettysburg as he exclaimed, 'That we here highly - resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation - shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that the government - of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish - from the earth!'--when I heard him declare in his second inaugural - address, 'Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty - scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it - continue until all the wealth piled up by the bondman's two hundred - and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop - of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the - sword, as was said three thousand years, so still it must be said, - "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."... With - malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right - as God gives us to see the right,'--as I looked upon him and heard him - utter these sentiments, upon these occasions, Abraham Lincoln was the - most solemn, the most dignified, the most majestic, and at the same - time the most benignant human being I ever saw. - - "Rochefoucauld says that 'Gravity is a mystery of the body invented to - conceal defects of the mind.' Lord Shaftesbury says that 'Gravity is - the very essence of imposture.' Abraham Lincoln had none of this. - - "Man is the most serious of animals. Man is the most frivolous of - animals. It is said that man is the only animal that can both laugh - and cry. Abraham Lincoln gave full vent to his emotions. He went - through life with no restraints nor manacles upon his human nature. - He was honest in the expression of his feelings, whether serious or - otherwise, honest in their manifestation, honest with himself. - - "It was because Abraham Lincoln was the most human of human - beings that he is loved as has never been any other man that ever - lived."--CLARK E. CARR: _My Day and Generation_, pp. 107-9. - -There was much reason for this wide disparity of opinion in the -varying moods of Lincoln himself, and the contrary aspects of his -personality. But this was not the sole reason. Springfield itself was -greatly divided concerning Mr. Lincoln. There were lawyers who had been -on opposing sides of cases against him and had sometimes won them. -There were all the petty animosities which grow up in a small city. -Furthermore, Springfield was moderately full of disappointed people -who had expected that their friendship for Lincoln would have procured -for them some political appointment. Any political aspirant living -in Maine or Missouri who had a fourth cousin living in Springfield -and possessed of a speaking acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln, felt that -he and his kinsfolk suffered an unmerited discourtesy if Mr. Lincoln -through such influence did not produce on application a commission as -Major-General or an appointment as Ambassador to some foreign court. - -We have a yet further difficulty to face in the conflict of testimony -of habitually truthful people. If it were becoming in the author of -a book such as this to pass any general criticism upon those authors -who have preceded him in the same field, it might, perhaps, be counted -not invidious to say that for the most part writers on the religion of -Lincoln have been content to adduce the testimony of a limited number -of apparently truthful witnesses in support of their theory, but have -not given the evidence very much examination beyond the general fact -that the witnesses were habitually truthful people. We shall not arrive -at the truth in this fashion. - -We may borrow an illustration from a field which lies just outside the -scope of our present inquiry. Even to this day it is possible to start -a warm discussion almost anywhere in Springfield over the question of -Lincoln's domestic affairs. It is possible to prove on the testimony -of unimpeached witnesses that Lincoln loved his wife passionately, and -that he did not love her at all; that he married Mary Todd because he -loved her and had already answered in his own heart all his previous -questions and misgivings, and that he married her because she and her -relatives practically compelled him to do so, and that he went to the -marriage altar muttering that he was going to hell; that Mary Todd -not only admired Abraham Lincoln, but loved him with a beautiful and -wifely devotion, and that she hated him and never ceased to wreak -revenge upon him for having once deserted her upon the eve of their -announced marriage; that Mary Todd wore a white silk dress on the night -of her wedding, and that she never owned a white silk dress until she -had become a resident of the White House; that the wedding was a gay -affair, with a great dinner, and was followed by a reception for which -several hundred printed invitations were issued, and that the wedding -was hastily performed on a Sunday evening, Mr. Dresser, the minister, -cutting short his evening service and dropping in on the way home -to solemnize a quickly extemporized marriage contract. It would seem -fairly easy to discover from a calendar of the year 1842 at least -what day in the week was chosen for the wedding, but few if any of -the disputants, or even of the biographers, appear to have taken this -pains. If the present writer should ever have occasion to write about -Abraham Lincoln's married life, he would not proceed very far without -consulting a calendar for that year; and he would hope to settle at -least one point in the controversy by telling the world that in 1842 -the fourth day of November did not occur on Sunday or Tuesday, but on -Friday;[28] Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln both being tinged with superstition, -he might raise the question whether the celebration of the wedding upon -that date probably was or was not long premeditated. But the present -book does not concern itself with these questions, and the matter is -here introduced merely to illustrate that no point in controversy in a -matter of this character can be definitely settled by the unsupported -testimony of a single honest witness relying upon his memory after the -lapse of many years. - -Evidence such as we are to consider is of two kinds, known in logic -as _a priori_ and _a posteriori_. The first kind is evidence from -antecedent probability; the second is evidence relating to matter after -the fact. An illustration will serve: - -A man is found dead, with a wound in his forehead, and there are no -witnesses who can be produced in court who saw the man die. The wound -appears to have been produced by a bullet, and, as no weapon is found -beside the body, there is a presumption that the man has been murdered. -A neighbor is accused of having committed the deed. The _a priori_ -evidence is adduced in testimony that the defendant and the deceased -had long been on bad terms with each other on account of a line fence -between their adjacent properties; that the defendant had threatened -to kill the deceased and had recently bought a revolver. The evidence -_a posteriori_ is found in the fact that the defendant's revolver on -examination shows one empty chamber and that the ball in the deceased -man's brain is of the caliber suited to his weapon and of the same -manufacture as the unused cartridges in the weapon. To this may be -added other incriminating facts, as of measured footprints near the -scene of murder which correspond to the size of the defendant's boots, -and of possible blood stains upon his clothing. - -A very large volume of _a priori_ evidence is sometimes set aside -by a single _a posteriori_ fact; for instance, in the foregoing -supposititious case it may be entirely possible to prove that the -murder was committed by a tramp, and that the defendant was ten miles -away at the time the deed was done. - -On the other hand, a large volume of _a posteriori_ evidence sometimes -disappears in the face of a single _a priori_ consideration. A man is -accused of having stolen a sheep. It is shown in evidence that on the -evening when the sheep was stolen he walked through his neighbor's -pasture and was seen to approach the sheep; that he sold mutton on the -day after the loss of the sheep, and that a fresh sheepskin was found -nailed to his barn door. All this _a posteriori_ evidence and much more -may be completely set aside in the minds of the jury by the single fact -that the man accused has lived for forty years in the community and has -borne a reputation incompatible with the crime of sheep-stealing. - -In the examination of testimony concerning alleged utterances of -Abraham Lincoln in matters of religious belief, we must ask such -questions as these: - -Is the witness credible? Had he opportunity to know what he professes -to relate? Were other witnesses present, and if so, do they agree in -their recollection of the words spoken? Was the interview published at -a time when it could have been denied by those who had knowledge of -the incident? Had the witness time to enlarge the incident by frequent -telling and by such exaggeration and enlargement of detail as is likely -to occur with the lapse of years? Had the witness a probable motive -for exaggeration; does he appear to tell what he would presumably have -liked Mr. Lincoln to say, and does it sound more like the narrator's -own style than it does like Mr. Lincoln? Do the language and the -sentiments expressed accord with the published addresses, letters, and -authentic documents of Abraham Lincoln, and are the views expressed -in accord with the views which he is known to have held? On the other -hand, is it possible that in the freedom of personal conversation Mr. -Lincoln may have said some things which he would not have been likely -to say in formal discourse or to write in official documents? - -It is not necessary that we formally ask these and only these -questions; but these are the kinds of sieve through which oral -testimony must be passed if we are to learn the truth. - -Particular care needs to be exercised in the application of these -tests, and especially in the employment of all _a priori_ methods. The -author of this volume is a Christian minister, and would be heartily -glad to find in Mr. Lincoln's authentic utterances indubitable evidence -that Mr. Lincoln was essentially a Christian; there is need that he -take especial care not to apply these discriminating tests in such -fashion as to sustain his own prejudices. Nor must he magnify his -caution until it becomes an inverted prejudice. - -On the other hand, the _a priori_ method must on no account be ruled -out. Mr. Lincoln left a great quantity of authentic material. His -speeches, letters, and state papers fill twelve volumes, and even -these do not contain all of his signed material. We are compelled to -judge alleged utterances of his somewhat in the light of our certain -knowledge of what he wrote and said. Let us illustrate the application -of this principle: - -If an aged man living in central Illinois were now to arise -and say: "I knew Abraham Lincoln, and he said to me one day in -private conversation, 'There is no God,'" we should be justified -in discrediting that man's testimony, even though he bore a good -reputation for veracity. The antecedent improbability of such a -declaration on the part of Mr. Lincoln is too great for us to accept it -on the basis of one man's recollection of a private and unwitnessed -conversation fifty years after Mr. Lincoln's death. - -We should be equally justified in rejecting the testimony at this late -date of one of Mr. Lincoln's old-time neighbors who would say that Mr. -Lincoln told him that he believed the whole of the Athanasian Creed. - -Especial care is necessary in dealing with the alleged utterances of -deceased persons in matters of religion. The author of this book has -conducted a thousand funerals, and has been told every conceivable kind -of story concerning some of the persons deceased. To the credit of our -frail humanity be it recorded that nine-tenths of this testimony was -favorable. There are few finer traits in human nature than those which -prompt us to speak only good of the dead. The eagerness of those who -have known not only the virtues but the faults of living men to pass -lightly over the faults and emphasize the virtues of these same men -when they are dead is not only a manifestation of the finest sort of -love of fair play in refusing to accuse those who cannot make answer, -but is also an exhibition of one of the noblest impulses of the human -spirit. - -Even the tendency of ministers to lie like gentlemen on funeral -occasions is not to be too unsparingly condemned. It springs from a -belief that the better part of a man's life is the truer part of him, -and that a man has a right to be judged by the best that is in him not -only of achievement but even of defeated aspiration. - -William Allen White is fond of relating a story concerning a funeral in -Kansas. The minister was in the midst of his eulogy when a man who had -come in late and had not heard the beginning of the discourse tiptoed -down the aisle, took a long look into the coffin, and returned to his -seat. The minister, somewhat disconcerted by this proceeding, addressed -him, saying, "The opportunity to view the remains will be given later." -"I know that," replied the man, "but I had begun to suspect that I had -gotten into the wrong funeral." - -One who has had much experience with funerals and with attempts to -make dead men appear better than the same men living actually were or -appeared to be, knows that these efforts are not usually the result of -deliberate falsehood. They grow out of generous impulses and an easy -tendency to exaggeration. But some people do actually lie, and this -fact also is not wholly to be forgotten. - -With these reminders of human frailty and human generosity and of the -uncertainty of all things human, we proceed to examine in some detail -the vast and contradictory mass of evidence which after the death of -Abraham Lincoln was published concerning his faith or the lack of it. - - * * * * * - -What is in some respects the foremost example of platform and pulpit -oratory concerning Lincoln is the oration of Bishop Charles Henry -Fowler, deceased, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It illustrates at -once the excellency and the defects of works of this character. The -oration had its beginning in a eulogy delivered in Chicago on May 4, -1865, the day of Lincoln's burial at Springfield. From time to time as -years went by, Bishop Fowler had occasion to deliver other addresses on -Lincoln, which, in 1904, he reshaped into something like the final form -of the oration. First delivered in Minneapolis, it was repeated in many -cities and before great audiences. It became the Bishop's best known -and most popular address. It is the first and easily the greatest of -the five that make up the volume of his Patriotic Orations, the others -being on Grant, McKinley, Washington, and The Great Deeds of Great -Men. Of that large book it fills more than a hundred pages. It was too -long ever to be delivered at one time, but it was completely written, -and fully committed to memory, so that he chose at each delivery what -portions he would utter and what he would omit. Even with the omissions -he rarely spoke less than two and one-half hours, and sometimes -occupied three hours, his audiences hearing with sustained interest to -the close. Of it his son says, that "through its delivery in various -parts of the country, and by the natural process of accretion and -attraction, new facts were added and others verified, until in 1906 it -was put in this final form." - -Here is an address whose composition occupied a strong and able man -for thirty-one years. It thrills with admiration for its subject. It -is alive with patriotism and religion. It deserved, in many respects, -the attention which it received. Men have been known to say that having -heard this address they would never spoil the impression by listening -to any other address on Lincoln. - -And yet it would not be safe to quote this lecture in any of its -substantial parts without further investigation of the authority -on which Bishop Fowler relied. He was a truthful man, and a man of -ability, and if he had been asked what means he took to verify his -statements, he would probably have said that he admitted no statement -to his lecture which he did not find attested by some competent and -truthful witness. Doubtless so, and most of the lecture is true, and -the impression which it makes as a whole is substantially true, but -that is not enough. Doubtless Bishop Fowler read in some book or -magazine article by a truthful writer that on the day Lincoln submitted -the Emancipation proclamation to his Cabinet, he first read in the -presence of the Cabinet a chapter in the Bible. It would not have -required very much of investigation to have convinced Bishop Fowler -that what Lincoln really read was not the Bible, but Artemus Ward. He -did not intend to lie about it. He picked up the account from some -other speaker who had heard or read that Lincoln read a chapter from -some book, and thought that the Bible was the proper book to read on -an occasion of that character. Neither the speaker nor Bishop Fowler -intended to be untruthful, but neither of them had any training in or -inclination toward historical investigation. It would be easy to guess -that a thousand Methodist preachers and some others have retold the -story on the authority of Bishop Fowler. And that is far from being the -only inaccuracy in the lecture. Indeed, it shows throughout how much -it grew "by the natural process of accretion and attraction" and how -little by the verification of the facts. - -This lecture is cited because it is in many respects the very best -of its type, as it is probably also the most noted, and one that was -delivered to more people than any other on Abraham Lincoln. - -It does not suffice to rely upon any second authorities in -investigations of this character, nor to accept the statements of even -truthful witnesses without some sifting of the evidence. - -With this in mind, we come to what is the most crucial and difficult of -all the incidents bearing upon our inquiry--the incident reported to -Dr. Holland by President Bateman. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE BATEMAN INCIDENT - - -HON. NEWTON BATEMAN was for many years Superintendent of Public -Instruction for the State of Illinois, being chosen to that position -in 1858 and holding the place with one brief intermission for fourteen -years. He was then elected President of Knox College and served with -distinction in that capacity for seventeen years. He knew Lincoln well. -He was small in stature, and Lincoln was very tall. Lincoln used to -introduce Bateman to friends, saying, "This is my little friend, the -big schoolmaster of Illinois." He was, perhaps, the last man to shake -hands with Abraham Lincoln as Lincoln was leaving Springfield, and -he was one of the pallbearers at Lincoln's funeral. The version of -Lincoln's Farewell Address which was published in the _Illinois State -Journal_ was printed on the day following Lincoln's departure and was -reproduced from Dr. Bateman's memory of it. Although it varies from the -official report it appears to have been a very nearly accurate report -of what Lincoln actually said as judged by Lincoln's own reproduction -of the address. - -Reference has already been made to the difficulties which Dr. J. G. -Holland met in Springfield when he journeyed thither in quest of -material on the _Life of Lincoln_. To his great satisfaction he was -able to obtain from Mr. Bateman an incident which has become the -corner-stone of a thousand Lincoln eulogies. It is here reproduced -entire: - - "Mr. Newton Bateman,[29] Superintendent of Public Instruction for the - State of Illinois, occupied a room adjoining and opening into the - Executive Chamber. Frequently this door was open during Mr. Lincoln's - receptions; and throughout the seven months or more of his occupation - Mr. Bateman saw him nearly every day. Often when Mr. Lincoln was tired - he closed his door against all intrusion, and called Mr. Bateman into - his room for a quiet talk. On one of these occasions Mr. Lincoln took - up a book containing a careful canvass of the city of Springfield - in which he lived, showing the candidate for whom each citizen had - declared it his intention to vote in the approaching election. Mr. - Lincoln's friends had, doubtless at his own request, placed the result - of the canvass in his hands. This was toward the close of October, and - only a few days before the election. Calling Mr. Bateman to a seat - at his side, having previously locked all doors, he said: 'Let us - look over this book. I wish particularly to see how the ministers of - Springfield are going to vote.' The leaves were turned, one by one, - and as the names were examined Mr. Lincoln frequently asked if this - one and that were not a minister, or an elder, or a member of such - or such a church, and sadly expressed his surprise on receiving an - affirmative answer. In that manner they went through the book, and - then he closed it and sat silently and for some minutes regarding - a memorandum in pencil which lay before him. At length he turned - to Mr. Bateman with a face full of sadness, and said: 'Here are - twenty-three, ministers, of different denominations, and all of them - are against me but three; and here are a great many prominent members - of the churches, a very large majority of whom are against me. Mr. - Bateman, I am not a Christian--God knows I would be one--but I have - carefully read the Bible, and I do not so understand this book'; and - he drew from his bosom a pocket New Testament. 'These men well know,' - he continued, 'that I am for freedom in the territories, freedom - everywhere as far as the Constitution and laws will permit, and that - my opponents are for slavery. They know this, and yet, with this book - in their hands, in the light of which human bondage cannot live a - moment, they are going to vote against me. I do not understand it at - all.' - - "Here Mr. Lincoln paused--paused for long minutes, his features - surcharged with emotion. Then he rose and walked up and down the room - in the effort to retain or regain his self-possession. Stopping at - last, he said, with a trembling voice and his cheeks wet with tears: - 'I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I - see the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a - place and work for me--and I think He has--I believe I am ready. I am - nothing, but truth is everything. I know I am right because I know - that liberty is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I - have told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and - Christ and reason say the same; and they will find it so. Douglas - don't care whether slavery is voted up or voted down, but God cares, - and humanity cares, and I care; and with God's help I shall not fail. - I may not see the end; but it will come, and I shall be vindicated; - and these men will find that they have not read their Bibles aright.' - - "Much of this was uttered as if he were speaking to himself, and with - a sad and earnest solemnity of manner impossible to be described. - After a pause, he resumed: 'Doesn't it appear strange that men can - ignore the moral aspects of this contest? A revelation could not make - it plainer to me that slavery or the government must be destroyed. - The future would be something awful, as I look at it, but for this - rock on which I stand [alluding to the Testament which he still held - in his hand] especially with the knowledge of how these ministers are - going to vote. It seems as if God had borne with this thing [slavery] - until the very teachers of religion have come to defend it from the - Bible, and to claim for it a divine character and sanction; and now - the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath will be poured - out.'"--HOLLAND: _Life of Lincoln_, pp. 236-38. - -Dr. J. G. Holland was an author of ability and character. His _Life -of Lincoln_ was up to the time of its publication far and away the -best that had appeared. Even Herndon and Lamon are compelled to -speak of it with respect. Lamon says: "Out of the mass of work which -appeared, of one only--Dr. Holland's--is it possible to speak with -any degree of respect." That this also represented substantially the -opinion of Herndon is clearly in evidence. With two such names as -Newton Bateman and J. G. Holland supporting it, an incident of this -character was certain to carry great weight. It can be found more or -less abridged and in some cases garbled and enlarged in any one of a -hundred books and of a thousand or probably ten thousand Lincoln's -Day addresses. This report was the direct occasion for the assembling -of a considerable mass of opposing evidence which we shall find in -succeeding chapters. It was attacked publicly and directly by Ward Hill -Lamon in his _Life of Lincoln_ in 1872. The following is Mr. Lamon's -reply: - - "Mr. Newton Bateman is reported to have said that a few days before - the Presidential election in 1860, Mr. Lincoln came into his office, - closed the door against intrusion, and proposed to examine a book - which had been furnished him, at his own request, 'Containing a - careful canvass of the city of Springfield, showing the candidate - for whom each citizen had declared his intention to vote at the - approaching election. He ascertained that only three ministers of the - gospel, out of twenty-three, would vote for him, and that, of the - prominent church-members, a very large majority were against him.' - Mr. Bateman does not say so directly, but the inference is plain - that Mr. Lincoln had not previously known what were the sentiments - of the Christian people who lived with him in Springfield: he had - never before taken the trouble to inquire whether they were for him - or against him. At all events, when he made the discovery out of - the book, he wept, and declared that he 'did not understand it at - all.' He drew from his bosom a pocket New Testament, and, 'with a - trembling voice and his cheeks wet with tears,' quoted it against his - political opponents generally, and especially against Douglas. He - professed to believe that the opinions adopted by him and his party - were derived from the teachings of Christ; averred that Christ was - God; and, speaking of the Testament which he carried in his bosom, - called it 'this rock, on which I stand.' When Mr. Bateman expressed - surprise, and told him that his friends generally were ignorant that - he entertained such sentiments, he gave this answer quickly: 'I know - they are: I am obliged to appear different to them.' Mr. Bateman is a - respectable citizen, whose general reputation for truth and veracity - is not to be impeached; but his story, as reported in Holland's Life, - is so inconsistent with Mr. Lincoln's whole character, that it must - be rejected as altogether incredible. From the time of the Democratic - split in the Baltimore Convention, Mr. Lincoln, as well as every other - politician of the smallest sagacity, knew that his success was as - certain as any future could be. At the end of October, most of the - States had clearly voted in a way which left no lingering doubts of - the final result in November. If there ever was a time in his life - when ambition charmed his whole heart,--if it could ever be said of - him that 'hope elevated and joy brightened his crest,' it was on the - eve of that election which he saw was to lift him at last to the - high place for which he had sighed and struggled so long. It was not - then that he would mourn and weep because he was in danger of not - getting the votes of the ministers and members of the churches he - had known during many years for his steadfast opponents: he did not - need them, and had not expected them. Those who understood him best - are very sure that he never, under any circumstances, could have - fallen into such weakness--not even when his fortunes were at the - lowest point of depression--as to play the part of a hypocrite for - their support. Neither is it possible that he was at any loss about - the reasons which religious men had for refusing him their support; - and, if he had said that he could not understand it at all, he must - have spoken falsely. But the worst part of the tale is Mr. Lincoln's - acknowledgment that his 'friends generally were deceived concerning - his religious sentiments, and that he was obliged to appear different - to them.' - - "According to this version, which has had considerable currency, - he carried a New Testament in his bosom, carefully hidden from - his intimate associates: he believed that Christ was God; yet his - friends understood him to deny the verity of the gospel: he based his - political doctrines on the teachings of the Bible; yet before all men, - except Mr. Bateman, he habitually acted the part of an unbeliever and - reprobate, because he was 'obliged to appear different to them.' How - obliged? What compulsion required him to deny that Christ was God - if he really believed Him to be divine? Or did he put his political - necessities above the obligations of truth, and oppose Christianity - against his convictions, that he might win the favor of its enemies? - It may be that his mere silence was sometimes misunderstood; but he - never made an express avowal of any religious opinion which he did - not entertain. He did not 'appear different' at one time from what he - was at another, and certainly he never put on infidelity as a mere - mask to conceal his Christian character from the world. There is no - dealing with Mr. Bateman, except by a flat contradiction. Perhaps - his memory was treacherous, or his imagination led him astray, or, - peradventure, he thought a fraud no harm if it gratified the strong - desire of the public for proofs of Mr. Lincoln's orthodoxy. It is - nothing to the purpose that Mr. Lincoln said once or twice that he - thought this or that portion of the Scripture was the product of - divine inspiration; for he was one of the class who hold that all - truth is inspired, and that every human being with a mind and a - conscience is a prophet. He would have agreed much more readily with - one who taught that Newton's discoveries, or Bacon's philosophy, or - one of his own speeches, were the works of men divinely inspired above - their fellows. But he never told anyone that he accepted Jesus Christ, - or performed a single one of the acts which necessarily follow upon - such a conviction. At Springfield and at Washington he was beset on - the one hand by political priests, and on the other by honest and - prayerful Christians. He despised the former, respected the latter, - and had use for both. He said with characteristic irreverence, that he - would not undertake 'to run the churches by military authority'; but - he was, nevertheless, alive to the importance of letting the churches - 'run themselves in the interest of his party.' Indefinite expressions - about 'Divine Providence,' the 'justice of God,' 'the favor of the - Most High,' were easy, and not inconsistent with his religious notion. - In this, accordingly, he indulged freely; but never in all that time - did he let fall from his lips or his pen an expression which remotely - implied the slightest faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the Saviour - of men."--LAMON: _Life of Lincoln_, pp. 499-502. - -Confronted by an irreconcilable contradiction like this, the easiest -way is to cut the knot, and this may be done by any one of several -methods. We may say that, while Lamon and Herndon were truthful men, -their reputation for veracity, good as it was, is less than that of -Bateman and Holland, and we prefer to believe the latter pair. Or, we -may say that, while Bateman knew Lincoln well, both Herndon and Lamon -knew him much better, and were better able to judge what Lincoln would -have said. Or, we may say that Bateman was present when Lincoln spoke, -and Holland was present when Bateman related the interview, and neither -Herndon nor Lamon was present on either occasion, and we will believe -the one credible witness who was actually there, and whose positive -testimony outweighs any possible volume of negative testimony on the -part of men who were not present, and who only imagine what Mr. Lincoln -would probably have said. Or, we may say that in the light of the -inherent improbability of such an utterance on the part of Mr. Lincoln, -as determined by a comparison of this alleged utterance with his -authentic statements, we cannot accept it, even though the two men who -vouch, the one for its utterance and the other for its transmission, -are men of exceptional veracity. Or, we may say that in such a -conflict of direct evidence and inherent improbability, and the mutual -opposition of honest men who were in a position to know something -about the religious views of Mr. Lincoln, it is impossible for us to -decide. - -We will not seek by any of these convenient methods to cut the knot, -but endeavor to untie it. We are fortunate in having some collateral -evidence after the fact. - -Herndon had awaited the publication of Holland's book with great -eagerness, and he was pleased with it as a whole. But the Bateman -incident roused his wrath. To him it made Lincoln a hypocrite, -dissembling a Christian faith, which he had no good reason to conceal, -beneath a pretense of infidelity, which was not, as Herndon believed, a -profession that would have helped him. - -Herndon promptly walked over to the State House and interviewed Mr. -Bateman. "I instantly sought Mr. Bateman," he said, "and found him in -his office. I spoke to him politely and kindly, and he spoke to me in -the same manner. I said substantially to him that Mr. Holland, in order -to make Mr. Lincoln a technical Christian, had made him a hypocrite." - -What Bateman said to Herndon he was forbidden to publish, but the -inference is ineluctable that he repudiated, in part, the interview -with Holland, but did it on condition that Herndon should not publish -the statement in a way that would raise the issue of veracity between -himself and Holland. - -This was in the autumn of 1865. In the spring of 1866, Herndon again -called upon Bateman, but got no farther. - -As the controversy waxed furious, Herndon made further and insistent -efforts to obtain from Bateman a statement which could be made to the -public. Herndon preserved notes of the interviews, which he dated, -December 3, 12, and 28, 1866. Bateman still refused to emerge from his -silence. One can imagine Herndon in his yellow trousers twice rolled -up at the bottom, hitching his chair a little closer to the little -superintendent, and with long, skinny forefinger outstretched, probing -with insistent cross-examination into the innermost recesses of the -_ipsissima versa_ of the interview with Lincoln and the subsequent one -with Holland. Whether he and Mr. Bateman continued to address each -other politely is not known, but Herndon endeavored first to persuade -and afterward to force, Bateman to do one of three things,--to avow -over his own signature the story as Holland told it; to repudiate the -interview and throw the responsibility upon Holland; or to permit -Herndon to publish what Bateman had told to him. Bateman would do -none of these three things. If he did the first, Herndon would accuse -him of falsehood; if he did the second, Holland would accuse him of -falsehood; and if he did the third, he would become the central figure -in a controversy that already had become more than red-hot. He refused -to say anything, and announced to all comers that the publicity was -"extremely distasteful" to him. - -Herndon went as far as he could toward making public what Bateman told -to him. He published the following statement, designed to throw the -greater part of the blame upon Holland, but to force Bateman to relate -to the public what Bateman had said to him, and what he had written -down and held ready to produce: - - "I cannot now detail what Mr. Bateman said, as it was a private - conversation, and I am forbidden to make use of it in public. If some - good gentleman can only get the seal of secrecy removed, I can show - what was said and done. On my word, the world may take it for granted - that Holland is wrong; that he does not state Mr. Lincoln's views - correctly. Mr. Bateman, if correctly represented in Holland's _Life of - Lincoln_, is the only man, the sole and only man, who dare say that - Mr. Lincoln believed in Jesus as the Christ of God, as the Christian - world represents. This is not a pleasant situation for Mr. Bateman. I - have notes and dates of our conversation; and the world will sometime - know who is truthful, and who is otherwise. I doubt whether Bateman is - correctly represented by Holland."--LAMON: _Life of Lincoln_, p. 496. - -Mr. Bateman was, indeed, in an uncomfortable position and any one -of the three ways out of it seemed likely to make it still more -uncomfortable. He continued to maintain a profound silence. Years -afterward when Arnold was preparing his _Life of Lincoln_ for the press -and Arnold asked him concerning the truth of the incident as recorded -by Holland, he replied with extreme brevity that it was "substantially -correct." (Arnold: Life of Lincoln, p. 179). - -The only portion of Bateman's admission to Herndon which Bateman -finally, and with great reluctance, consented to have published, was -one which covered the alleged utterance "Christ is God." It was a -letter written in 1867, and marked "Confidential." In this letter -Bateman said: - - "He [Lincoln] was applying the principles of moral and religious truth - to the duties of the hour, the condition of the country, and the - conduct of public men--ministers of the gospel. I had no thought of - orthodoxy or heterodoxy, Unitarianism, Trinitarianism, or any other - ism, during the whole conversation, and I don't suppose or believe he - had." - -This is a guarded letter, but it is sufficiently specific for our -purposes. If the conversation between Bateman and Lincoln was of this -character, with nothing to distinguish the view of Lincoln as Unitarian -or Trinitarian, Lincoln certainly did not say: - - "I know I am right because I know that liberty is right, for Christ - teaches it, and Christ is God." - -It is evident that Bateman, crowded by Herndon in repeated -cross-examination, came as near to repudiating those parts of the -interview to which Herndon objected as he could do without raising -publicly the issue of veracity between himself and Holland. The -attitude of Dr. Bateman in this matter forbids us to believe that the -story as it stands in Holland's book can be true. - -Bateman is not mentioned in the index of Nicolay and Hay's _Life of -Lincoln_, and it is practically certain that they did not credit the -incident. - -What, under these circumstances, shall be our judgment concerning this -most hotly contested of all incidents concerning the religious life of -Abraham Lincoln? - -The incident had a basis of fact. Neither Bateman nor Holland would -have created such a story out of whole cloth. But Bateman was under -very strong temptation to enlarge upon the incident, and had had -five years in which to magnify it in his own mind. The then recent -death of Mr. Lincoln and the strong desire of Christian people for a -clear statement of his faith, made it easy to color the recollection -and sketch in details, which did not seem to be important departures -from the truth when related in verbal conversation, but which had a -different look when they appeared in cold type. Holland, who was a -writer of fiction as well as history, did not fail to embellish the -story as Bateman told it to him. He probably did not write it down -at the time, but recalled it afterward from memory, and in his final -report it underwent additional coloring and the sketching in of detail. - -Neither of these two men intentionally falsified, but between the two -the story was materially enlarged, and there was an undistributed -margin of error between the original event as it occurred in 1860 and -the very pretty story which Holland printed in 1865. Neither Holland -nor Bateman cared, probably, to face too searching an inquiry as to how -that enlargement had come. - -Dr. Bateman was a man of probity and upright character. He never -willfully misrepresented. But he had a rhetorical mind; not only his -style, but his mind, was rhetorical. He embellished his narratives -because it was in him to do so. The two reports which he made of -Lincoln's farewell address in Springfield[30] showed, both of them, -such embellishments,[31] and he was as unconscious that he in later -years enlarged upon his own first report as he was that his first -report enlarged upon the address itself. These enlargements were -slight, and did not destroy nor greatly alter the sense; but his -changes never tended to simplicity. He was a master of good English -style, but it was a grander, more rhetorical style than that of -Lincoln. Lincoln, after receiving his special notice of nomination, -submitted his letter of acceptance to Bateman, and at Bateman's -suggestion changed a split infinitive. Lincoln knew that Bateman was -an authority on good English, and respected his opinion and valued -his friendship. Whatever enlargements Bateman's memory made upon -his interview with Lincoln were made without intent to deceive; and -whatever Holland added was added without intent to deceive. But the -interview of 1860 and the story about it in Holland's book five years -later have between them a discrepancy which must be distributed in a -ratio which we are not able positively to determine between two good -and truthful men, each of whom enlarged a little upon the material that -was given to him. - -A final evidence that Bateman saw no way to remedy the situation by -telling the public exactly what occurred in his interview with Lincoln -in 1860, is found in the fact that while he was President of Knox -College he had occasion to prepare and deliver there and elsewhere a -carefully written lecture on "Abraham Lincoln." Every generation of -Knox College students heard, at least once, that famous oration. That -lecture contains little else than Bateman's own personal reminiscences, -and is an interesting and valuable document. For our present purpose it -is chiefly valuable in this, that it contains not one word about the -interview which had forever associated the name of Newton Bateman with -that of Abraham Lincoln. The fact that Bateman felt compelled to omit -it altogether from that oft-repeated lecture on Lincoln is a sufficient -reason why no one else should ever use it. - -Precisely what did Bateman tell Herndon that he had told to Holland, -which led Herndon to tell the public that Holland misrepresented -Bateman? We do not know precisely. What became of Herndon's carefully -cherished notes of his five interviews with Bateman is not known,[32] -but we are not left wholly to conjecture. Though Herndon was forbidden -to tell what Bateman told to him, he came as near to it as he could do -without open violation of his pledge of secrecy. In his own _Life of -Lincoln_, published in 1889, he inserted a footnote in which he said: - - "One of what Lincoln regarded as the remarkable features of his - canvass for President was the attitude of some of his neighbors in - Springfield. A poll of the voters had been made in a little book and - given to him. On running over the names he found that the greater part - of the clergy of the city--in fact all but three--were against him. - This depressed him somewhat, and he called in Dr. Newton Bateman, who - as Superintendent of Public Instruction occupied the room adjoining - his own in the State House, and whom he habitually addressed as 'Mr. - Schoolmaster.' He commented bitterly on the attitude of the preachers - and many of their followers, who, pretending to be believers in the - Bible and God-fearing Christians, yet by their votes demonstrated - that they cared not whether slavery was voted up or down. 'God cares - and humanity cares,' he reflected, 'and if they do not they surely - have not read their Bible aright.'"--HERNDON: _Life of Lincoln_, III, - 466-67. - -To accept this as containing the essential part of the interview -between Lincoln and Bateman does not involve our preferring the -statement of Herndon to that of Bateman, for we have no definite -statement of Bateman. Bateman, under close examination, told Herndon -what he remembered that Lincoln told him, and Herndon promised not to -tell it without Bateman's permission. Herndon did tell, however, that -it was very different from Holland's story, and he published this in -Lamon's book in 1872 and Bateman did not deny it. He published the -above quoted and additional note in his own book in 1889, while Bateman -was living, and Bateman did not protest. We cannot, therefore, be far -from the truth if we accept the above and stop there. - -Unless the notes of Herndon's five interviews with Bateman shall be -found and published, this is probably the nearest we shall ever come -to knowing what Bateman told Herndon that Lincoln had said to him. -If those notes shall be found, they may amplify the conversation but -cannot be expected materially to modify it. This is all that it is safe -to assume of Lincoln's confession of faith to Bateman. Whoever adds to -it the glosses of the Holland biography does it at his own risk. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE LAMON BIOGRAPHY - - -WARD HILL LAMON was for many years a close friend of Lincoln.[33] -Their relations began in 1847 when Lamon settled at Danville and -continued until Lincoln's death. Both there and at Bloomington, Lamon -was Lincoln's local associate and so-called partner. When Lincoln -voted at the Presidential election of 1860, the men who accompanied -him to the polls were William H. Herndon, Ward Hill Lamon, and Col. -Elmer Ellsworth. When Lincoln was elected and his political friends -had slated Lamon for a foreign mission, Lincoln appointed him Marshal -of the District of Columbia that he might have him close at hand. He -was a member of the party which accompanied Lincoln to Washington, and -when through apparent danger of assassination the route was changed and -Lincoln slipped into Washington with a single companion, it was Lamon -whom he chose to accompany him. Lamon had charge of the arrangements of -Lincoln's trip to Gettysburg, and accompanied Lincoln and was in charge -when he visited the battlefield of Antietam. His book of personal -"Recollections," edited by his daughter and published in 1895, is full -of interest and contains much of permanent value. His _Life of Abraham -Lincoln_, published in 1872, is the most bitterly denounced of all the -biographies of Lincoln. It involved its author and publisher in heavy -financial loss, and the unsold portion of the edition is alleged to -have been bought up by friends of Lincoln and quietly destroyed. Lamon -intended to have followed this volume, whose subject-matter ended with -Lincoln's arrival in Washington in 1861, with a second volume covering -Lincoln's life as President, but neither a second volume nor a second -edition of the first was ever issued. - -How Lamon, being a friend of Lincoln, could ever have written such a -book has been the subject of much conjecture. Herndon believed that -during the latter part of his life in Washington Lamon had become -embittered against Lincoln. Lamon's daughter in a magazine article on -the subject professed her father's abiding friendship for Lincoln, -but maintained that he was endeavoring to tell the true story of a -great life and to recover the real Lincoln from the realm of myth -(Dorothy Lamon Teillard: "Lincoln in Myth and in Fact," _World's Work_, -February, 1911, pp. 14040-44). - -The basis of Lamon's book is the Herndon manuscripts, copies of which -Herndon sold to Lamon for $2,000 in 1870. That Herndon bitterly -regretted the necessity of this sale, there is clear evidence; but -he had come to a condition of great poverty; and there were other -reasons why it seemed unlikely that he himself would ever write a Life -of Lincoln. That Lamon himself wrote the book without assistance was -disputed from the beginning, and Herndon was accused of being its real -author. In letters to Horace White in 1890, Herndon told the truth, as -is now believed, concerning the authorship. - - "You regret, as well as myself, that I sold my MSS. to Lamon. The - reason why I did so was that I was then, in 1870-72, a poor devil - and had to sell to live. From 1853 to 1865 I spent all my time and - money for the 'nigger,' or rather for Liberty and the Union--lost my - practice, went to farming, and went under in the crash of 1871-73, - and that, too, from no speculations, vices, etc. Today I have to work - for tomorrow's bread, and yet I am a happy and contented man. I own a - little farm of sixty-five acres and raise fruits for a living. Now you - have the reasons for my acts. - - "In reference to Lamon's book, I can truthfully say that Chauncey F. - Black,[34] son of J. S. Black, wrote quite every word of it.... I - have for years been written to by various persons to know why Lamon - was so much prejudiced against Lincoln. The bitterness, if any, was - not in Lamon so much as in Black, though I am convinced that Lamon - was no solid, firm friend of Lincoln, especially during Lincoln's - administration, or the latter part of it."--NEWTON: _Lincoln and - Herndon_, pp. 307-8. - -Herndon stoutly denied having written a single line of Lamon's book, -but he furnished the greater part of the material in the form of -documents, and gave further aid by letters and suggestions. Thirteen -years after it was published he wrote to Lamon, who was still hoping to -issue a new biography which would include the volume already issued and -a second volume, and said: - - "I desire to see your new Life win. Your first Life is nearly - suppressed--is suppressed or will be by rings--bears, and like. - Lamon's first Life of Lincoln is the truest Life that was ever written - of a man, as I think. I do not agree to all it says, and yet it is - the most truthful Life of Lincoln written, or to be written probably, - except your second Life. . . . Why, Lamon, if you and I had not told - the exact truth about Lincoln, he would have been a myth in a hundred - years after 1865. We knew him--loved him--had ideas and had the - courage of our convictions. We told the world what Lincoln was and - were terribly abused for it."--(_World's Work_, February, 1911, p. - 14044). - -One of the chief things which Lamon set out to do was to refute -Holland's estimate of Lincoln's faith, particularly as it appeared in -Holland's account of the Bateman story. Lamon held that any impression -which people got that Lincoln possessed substantial Christian faith, -was due to the fact that Lincoln was a wily politician, who saw the -power and appreciated the prejudices of the churches and was determined -not to suffer from their hostility. He not only grew more cautious as -he grew older, but actually dissembled. His religious references were -made as vague and general as possible, and he permitted himself to be -misunderstood and misrepresented by ministers and others because of -"his morbid ambition, coupled with a mortal fear that his popularity -would suffer by an open avowal of his deistic convictions" (Lamon, -_Life of Lincoln_, p. 498). - -His estimate of Lincoln is that "On the whole, he was an honest, -although a shrewd, and by no means unselfish politician." He attributes -Lincoln's melancholy definitely to his utter lack of faith. - - "It is very probable that much of Mr. Lincoln's unhappiness, the - melancholy that 'dripped from him as he walked,' was due to his want - of religious faith. When the black fit was on him, he suffered as much - mental misery as Bunyan or Cowper in the deepest anguish of their - conflicts with the Evil One. But the unfortunate conviction fastened - upon him by his early associations, that there was no truth in the - Bible, made all consolation impossible, and penitence useless. To a - man of his temperament, predisposed as it was to depression of spirit, - there could be no chance of happiness if doomed to live without hope - and without God in the world. He might force himself to be merry - with his chosen comrades; he might 'banish sadness' in mirthful - conversation, or find relief in a jest; gratified ambition might - elevate his feelings, and give him ease for a time: but solid comfort - and permanent peace could come to him only 'through a correspondence - fixed with heaven.' The fatal misfortune of his life, looking at it - only as it affected him in this world, was the influence at New Salem - and at Springfield which enlisted him on the side of unbelief. He paid - the bitter penalty in a life of misery."--LAMON, _Life of Lincoln_, p. - 504. - -In support of this thesis, Lamon, aided and abetted by Herndon, sought -for testimonials from those who had known Lincoln, endeavoring to -prove that he had no religious faith. Herndon himself wrote a letter -which we shall quote later because of its bearing upon a particular -point which we have yet to discuss, and gave the names of Judge Logan, -John T. Stuart, Joshua F. Speed, and James H. Matheny as those who -would confirm his declaration that Lincoln was an infidel. Herndon's -own definition of the term infidel is susceptible of such varying -definitions in his different letters and published articles that it -is not always easy to tell just what he meant by it, but in some of -these he was specific and told, from his own alleged knowledge or his -memory of the testimony of others, what Lincoln believed and denied. -Judge Logan appears not to have contributed to the discussion, but -from several of the others and from some other men whose letters -Herndon already had, Lamon made up a considerable volume of testimony -concerning the unbelief of Lincoln. Some of these we quote, reserving -others for later consideration. - -Hon. John T. Stuart was alleged to have said: - - "I knew Mr. Lincoln when he first came here, and for years afterwards. - He was an avowed and open infidel, sometimes bordered on atheism. I - have often and often heard Lincoln and one W. D. Herndon, who was a - free-thinker, talk over this subject. Lincoln went further against - Christian beliefs and doctrines and principles than any man I ever - heard: he shocked me. I don't remember the exact line of his argument: - suppose it was against the inherent defects, so called, of the Bible, - and on grounds of reason. Lincoln always denied that Jesus was the - Christ of God,--denied that Jesus was the Son of God, as understood - and maintained by the Christian Church. The Rev. Dr. Smith, who wrote - a letter, tried to convert Lincoln from infidelity so late as 1858, - and couldn't do it."--LAMON, _Life of Lincoln_, p. 488. - -It later developed that these quotations which appeared in Lamon's -book in the form of letters to Herndon were in some instances, if not -in all, Herndon's own reports of conversations with these friends of -Lincoln, and not, in any case, signed letters. Several of the putative -authors repudiated the statements attributed to them. - -Dr. C. H. Ray was quoted as saying: - - "I do not know how I can aid you. You [Herndon] knew Mr. Lincoln far - better than I did, though I knew him well; and you have served up - his leading characteristics in a way that I should despair of doing, - if I should try. I have only one thing to ask: that you do not give - Calvinistic theology a chance to claim him as one of its saints and - martyrs. He went to the Old-School Church; but, in spite of that - outward assent to the horrible dogmas of the sect, I have reason from - himself to know that his 'vital purity,' if that means belief in the - impossible, was of a negative sort."--LAMON, _Life of Lincoln_, pp. - 489-90. - -Hon. David Davis was quoted as saying: - - "I do not know anything about Lincoln's religion, and do not think - anybody knew. The idea that Lincoln talked to a stranger about his - religion or religious views, or made such speeches, remarks, etc., - about it as are published, is to me absurd. I knew the man so well: - he was the most reticent, secretive man I ever saw, or expect to see. - He had no faith, in the Christian sense of the term,--had faith in - laws, principles, causes, and effects--philosophically: you [Herndon] - know more about his religion than any man. You ought to know it, of - course."--LAMON, _Life of Lincoln_, p. 489. - -Lamon also printed a letter from James H. Matheny, who had been -Lincoln's "best man" at his wedding, and a long-time and intimate -friend. It would be included in this chapter, as it is to be referred -to in the next, but it is reserved for a more important use in the -chapter on "Lincoln's Burnt Book." - -Lamon's _Life of Lincoln_ lashed into greater fury the tempest that -already raged concerning Lincoln's religious faith. Nor was this the -only criticism upon it. It was the first of the Lives of Lincoln to -which the later term of "muckraking" might have been applied, and its -spirit of hostility is best accounted for by the fact that its real -author was not Lamon but Black, who not only entertained all the local -prejudice which one element in Springfield had against Lincoln, but -represented also a bitter political hostility, Black's father having -been a member of Buchanan's Cabinet. Indeed there is alleged to have -been a three-cornered and acrimonious dispute among the publishers, -Lamon, and Black concerning an omitted chapter on Buchanan's -administration which had something to do with one aspect of the book's -financial failure. Black and Lamon and the publishers all lost money -and the book was a financial disaster. - -Notwithstanding its tone of astonishing bitterness against Lincoln, its -shocking bad taste and its perverted viewpoint, Lamon's biography is a -valuable source of information. Concerning it John Hay wrote to Lamon, -"Nothing heretofore printed can compare with it in interest, and from -the nature of the case all subsequent writers will have to come to you -for a large class of facts." - -In 1895 Lamon's daughter Dorothy, subsequently Mrs. Teillard, -published a book of "Recollections" of Lincoln by her father, with -no objectionable matter, and with a considerable number of valuable -incidents. But this later book, while avoiding the occasions of -criticism which the first book evoked, added little to the character -study which the first volume, with all its manifold defects, had -contained. - -Lamon was a very different man from Lincoln--so different that men who -knew them both wondered at Lincoln's fondness for him. And he knew -Lincoln intimately. But he was not capable of interpreting the best -that was in Lincoln. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE REED LECTURE - - -ONE of the first results of the Lamon biography was a lecture prepared -by Rev. James A. Reed, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of -Springfield. This lecture[35] was delivered several times, and in 1873 -was published in _Scribner's Magazine_, which at that time was edited -by J. G. Holland. Holland had been horrified by the Lamon biography, -and had reviewed it with such disfavor that Herndon attributes -the failure of the book in no small part to Holland's pronounced -opposition. This lecture, published in so widely read a magazine, -produced a profound impression. A doubt which Lamon had raised and -which Herndon later had the bad taste to emphasize concerning Lincoln's -paternity turned to good advantage; and Reed produced from several of -the men whom Lamon had quoted, counter-statements declaring that they -had been misquoted. Of these was James H. Matheny, whose statement to -Herndon we are to consider in connection with the story of Lincoln's -burnt book and who wrote to Dr. Reed: - - "The language attributed to me in Lamon's book is not from my pen. - I did not write it, and it does not express my sentiment of Mr. - Lincoln's entire life and character. It is a mere collection of - sayings gathered from private conversations that were only true of Mr. - Lincoln's earlier life. I would not have allowed such an article to - be printed over my signature as covering my opinion of Mr. Lincoln's - life and religious sentiments. While I do believe Mr. Lincoln to have - been an infidel in his former life, when his mind was as yet unformed, - and his associations principally with rough and skeptical men, yet I - believe he was a very different man in later life; and that after - associating with a different class of men, and investigating the - subject, he was a firm believer in the Christian religion." - -Major John T. Stuart also repudiated the statement attributed to -him, and not only so but gave detailed and positive statements which -directly contradicted the more important part of what Lamon had -attributed to him. - -Dr. Reed went further and set forth with a considerable degree of -precision the grounds for the statement that Lincoln's views had -undergone marked change during his life in Springfield, particularly -under the influence of Dr. Reed's predecessor, the Rev. James Smith. - -Dr. Reed's lecture became the subject of acrimonious attack. His -article was flouted, belittled, and railed at. But its essential -affirmations have not been disproved. We shall devote a chapter to a -consideration of the relations of Dr. Smith to Mr. Lincoln and shall -find that Dr. Reed's claims were not extravagant. - -Other controversialists took up the pen about this time in confutation -of Lamon. One of the most interesting and valuable of the contributions -which then appeared was an article by B. F. Irwin, of Pleasant Plains, -Illinois, published in the _Illinois State Journal_, for May 16, -1874.[36] He produced a considerable number of letters from men who -had known Mr. Lincoln prior to his residence in Springfield and whose -knowledge of his religious beliefs at that time was intimate and -accurate. Of these by far the most important was from Lincoln's old -teacher, Mentor Graham, which we shall quote at length in the chapter -on Lincoln's "Burnt Book." - - * * * * * - -Among these were letters from men who professed to have heard Lincoln -charged with infidelity and had heard him deny it. The most important -of these letters, however, aside from that of Mentor Graham, have value -for us in the light they shed upon what really constituted Lincoln's -alleged infidelity at this early period. That he had doubts and -misgivings upon various subjects was not denied, but his hostility to -the orthodox belief expressed itself chiefly in a vigorous denial of -the endlessness of future punishment. This dogma Lincoln denied upon -two grounds, as these letters affirm. First, the justice and mercy of -God; and secondly, the fact that according to the Biblical scheme of -redemption, whatever right the human race had possessed to immortality -and lost through sin, had been restored in Christ. Lincoln was, -according to the testimony of a number of these men who had known him, -not an infidel, nor even a deist, but essentially a Universalist. - -Irwin had interviewed Colonel James H. Matheny and quoted Matheny as -denying that he had ever heard Lincoln admit that he was an infidel and -did not himself believe it. Irwin himself had known Lincoln personally -for many years and had known large numbers of men who were intimately -acquainted with him and he said: - - "I have never yet heard one single man express the belief that Lincoln - was an infidel. Mr. Herndon, it is true, did have opportunities over - others in knowing Mr. Lincoln's religious opinions, but other men - had some opportunities, as well as Mr. Herndon, and to them I shall - have to appeal, for I do not claim to personally know anything about - Mr. Lincoln's religious faith. Though personally acquainted with Mr. - Lincoln for twenty-eight years and often in his office, I never heard - him say a word on the subject of his religious belief." - -It will be noted that while the statements concerning Mr. Lincoln's -alleged infidelity have been published over the name of Lamon, Herndon -was held responsible for them in these controversies. The impetuous -Herndon possessed none of the reticence of Bateman; and while denying -that he wrote Lamon's book, rushed in as Lamon's champion and covered -himself with wounds if not with glory. - -Irwin's article proceeds to quote these old neighbors and friends of -Lincoln, whose testimony, added to those adduced by Dr. Reed, was -of very great weight. I have copied these[37] from the files of -the _Illinois State Journal_ in the Library of the Illinois State -Historical Society in Springfield and here produce three of them, -reserving others for later comment. - -One of the letters quoted in full by Irwin was from Thomas Mostiller, -of Pleasant Plains, Menard County, Illinois. He professed to have heard -Lincoln when he was a candidate for Congress in 1847 or 1848, when he -was charged with being an infidel and explicitly denied it. Said he: - - "I was present and heard Josiah Grady ask Lincoln a question or two - regarding a charge made against Lincoln of being an infidel, and - Lincoln unqualifiedly denied the charge of infidelity, and said, in - addition, his parents were Baptists, and brought him up in the belief - of the Christian religion; and he believed it as much as anyone, but - was sorry to say he had or made no pretensions to religion himself. - I can't give his exact words, but would make oath anywhere that he - positively denied the charge made against him of infidelity. That was - the first time I ever heard the charge of infidelity against Lincoln. - Grady did not say that he would not vote for Lincoln if he was an - infidel, but my understanding from Grady was that he would not vote - for Lincoln if he was an infidel; and Grady did, as I suppose, vote - for him. I understood him that he should." - -Another statement was by Jonathan Harnett. It was not made in a letter, -like the others, but was verbally stated to Mr. Irwin, who wrote it -from Harnett's dictation, and was then read to him and endorsed by -him. Mr. Harnett related an incident which he declared himself to have -witnessed in Lincoln's office in 1858, when an argument was held on -the truth of the Christian religion, a number of men participating. He -affirmed that Mr. Lincoln ended the discussion by a cogent argument -based on the restitution of all things in Christ, and the ultimate -salvation of all men. - -This line of argument, attested by a number who heard Mr. Lincoln -in these discussions, will be readily understood by those who have -heard, as he had heard from his infancy, the typical argument of the -backwoods Baptist preacher, and who appreciates Mr. Lincoln's theory -of the irrevocability of the Divine will, and the relation of the -atonement to the restitution of all things. The essential difference -between Lincoln's point of view and that of these preachers was -that the preachers saw in the work of Christ the basis of personal -forgiveness of sin; and Lincoln saw in it rather a manifestation of the -irrevocable law of God for the ultimate salvation of the race. - -Another of the letters included in the Irwin article was one from Isaac -Cogdal, who related a conversation in Lincoln's office in Herndon's -presence, in which Lincoln expressed himself somewhat as follows: - - "He did not nor could not believe in the endless punishment of any - one of the human race. He understood punishment for sin to be a - Bible doctrine; that punishment was parental in its object, aim and - design, and intended for the good of the offender; hence it must - cease when justice was satisfied. He added that all that was lost by - the transgression of Adam was made good by the atonement; all that - was lost by the fall was made good by the sacrifice; and he added - this remark, that punishment being a 'provision of the gospel system, - he was not sure but the world would be better off if a little more - punishment was preached by our ministers, and not so much of pardon of - sin.'" - -I need only add, that to me these letters carry the conviction of -reality. Lincoln had been rooted and grounded in the kind of dogma that -began with Adam and related to his fall in vital sort the atonement of -Christ. That Lincoln had some doubts concerning the person of Christ -is not in point. He believed in God, and he knew the fact of sin, and -he was dyed in the wool in arguments concerning the fall of the race -in Adam and its redemption in Christ. But he did not dwell as did the -preachers on individual forgiveness, which he sometimes doubted, but -sought to evolve a legal and moral scheme with a final restoration. I -regard these testimonies as essentially true. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE HERNDON LECTURES, LETTERS, AND BIOGRAPHY - - -THE name of William H. Herndon finds frequent mention in these pages, -as it must in any study of Abraham Lincoln. With all his faults as -a biographer, his astigmatism, his anti-religious prejudice, his -intolerance, his bad taste, he is an invaluable source of information -concerning his partner and friend, Abraham Lincoln. - -The publication of the Lamon biography and the Reed lecture brought him -into a conflict from which no power on earth could probably have kept -him out, and in it he did and said many things which for his own sake -and Lincoln's he might better not have said. - -But Herndon was no liar. Biased as he was, and himself a free-thinker -or perhaps worse, he told the truth in such fashion as to throw it out -of perspective, and sometimes told what he believed to be the truth in -a passion which compels us to discount some of his testimony. But he -did not lie nor intentionally misrepresent. - -For twenty years Lincoln and Herndon were law partners, and their -partnership was never formally dissolved. Lincoln liked Herndon, but -there was no loss of love between Herndon and Mrs. Lincoln. She, if -tradition about Springfield is to be believed, disliked him personally -for his habits, and possibly also for his politics, for he was an -Abolitionist before Lincoln, and a very ardent one at that. Had she -known what Herndon was to say about her in later years she might have -been more gracious to her husband's junior partner, who had learned -some habits at the bar of his father's tavern which he might better not -have learned. - -Herndon in his later life looked not a little like Lincoln, and -showed no disposition by any change of beard or other device to lessen -the resemblance; but in other particulars the two men were most -unlike. Herndon was five feet nine, Lincoln more than six feet three. -Herndon was impetuous, Lincoln extremely deliberate and cautious to -a fault. Herndon was a good judge of human nature and excelled in -cross-examination, while he failed in the careful preparation of his -cases; Lincoln was a very poor judge of human nature, but reduced his -cases to simple principles, and carefully worked up his evidence with -deliberate care. Herndon was a great reader; Lincoln seldom read a book -through. Herndon spent his money for books and had a valuable library; -Lincoln seldom wasted a dollar on a book. Herndon was outspoken; -Lincoln was secretive. Herndon wanted all the world to know what he -thought about everything; Lincoln kept his ear to the ground and chose -his own time for the utterance of his convictions. - -We shall never have another as good description of Abraham Lincoln's -appearance and manner as that which comes from the pen of Herndon, nor -shall we ever obtain better pen pictures of many of the incidents in -his career. But Herndon was too good a witness to be a good judge, and -he lived too near the stump to behold the tree. - -Herndon had already attempted to catechize Dr. Smith,[38] Mr. Lincoln's -pastor, concerning his relations with Lincoln, and Smith had replied -that he was willing to tell what he knew about Lincoln's faith, but -did not choose to make Mr. Herndon his vehicle of communication to the -public. This did not tend to increase Herndon's love for the clergy: -and when Dr. Holland printed Dr. Reed's lecture, with its letters in -which several of the men whom Lamon, on Herndon's authority, had quoted -in support of Lamon's declaration, Herndon quickly replied and Holland -refused to print his article. - -Herndon spilled much ink through a New York newspaper whose editor -later was sent to prison for the circulation of obscene literature, -and wrote a number of letters, in each of which he tended to become a -little more pronounced. - -He scorned the idea that Lincoln had taken strangers into his -confidence concerning his faith. He said in a letter to J. E. Remsburg, -under date of September 10, 1887, "He was the most secretive, reticent, -shut-mouthed man that ever existed." - -The Reed lecture infuriated him. He denounced Dr. Reed publicly as a -liar, and said many things which a more prudent man would not have -said. On November 9, 1882, he issued a broadside, entitled "A Card and -a Correction," beginning: - -"I wish to say a few short words to the public and private ear. About -the year 1870 I wrote a letter to Mr. F. E. Abbott, then of Ohio, -touching Mr. Lincoln's religion.[39] In that letter I stated that Mr. -Lincoln was an infidel, sometimes bordering on atheism, and I now -repeat the same. In the year 1873, the Right Rev. James A. Reed, pastor -and liar of this city, gave a lecture on Mr. Lincoln's religion, in -which he tried to answer me,--" and more to the same purport. - -While Herndon and Lamon were men of quite different, mind and ability, -the two men used essentially the same body of material for the making -of their books about Lincoln, Herndon having sold copies of all his -Lincoln manuscripts to Lamon. - - * * * * * - -Herndon delivered at least three lectures on Lincoln. The first, and -most popular and valuable, was on the "Life and Character of Lincoln." -It was first delivered to a Springfield audience in 1866, was repeated -many times, and it forms the substance of the twentieth chapter of his -book, as it appeared in the first edition, and the eleventh chapter -in the second. It contains the incomparable description of Lincoln's -personal appearance which must stand to all time as the best and final -pen-picture of the man. - -The second was entitled "Abraham Lincoln; Miss Ann Rutledge; New Salem; -the Poem." It was delivered in the old Sangamon County court house in -Springfield in November, 1866, and was based on notes which Herndon -had recently made on a visit to New Salem, Sunday and Monday, October -14-15, 1866. It contains the material out of which all subsequent -romantic works about Lincoln and Ann Rutledge have been woven. It was -heard by a small audience, greeted with manifest disapproval, and came -near to being hopelessly lost; but is preserved in a limited edition -published by H. E. Barker, Springfield. This edition is quoted in part -in the foregoing pages, with special reference to Herndon's personal -touch with New Salem. - -The third was on "The Religion of Abraham Lincoln," and was called out -by the Holland biography and the Bateman interview. Of this and the -first, Mr. Barker says in his preface to the Ann Rutledge lecture, that -they "were allowed to perish for lack of permanence in printed form. -Their subject-matter, however, was embodied in the extended Life of -Lincoln published in 1872 by Ward H. Lamon, and in the still later Life -of Lincoln written and published by Mr. Herndon in 1889." - -This material is quoted practically _in extenso_ in the pages of this -volume, no important statement having been omitted. - -Herndon's regret increased that he had sold to Lamon the copies of his -papers. He was in a position where he was getting most of the blame -for what Lamon had written, and he was not wholly in sympathy with -Lamon's and especially with Black's point of view. Lamon's proposed -new edition, with the new volume that was to have covered the years -of Lincoln's Presidency, did not materialize. There was probably no -publisher who dared undertake it. At length Herndon got to work on -his own biography of Lincoln, and was fortunate in associating with -himself Mr. Jesse W. Weik, who helped him to complete it. The work was -published in 1889 by Belford, Clarke, & Company, of Chicago, and made -its appearance in three volumes. Soon after its publication the firm -failed. The books were hawked about for a song, the greater part of -the edition was unsold, and the balance of the edition is alleged to -have been bought up by Lincoln's friends and destroyed. The author of -this book paid $35.00 for his set, and could sell it at a profit. - -It is a great pity that Herndon had not learned his lesson from the -fate of Lamon's book. If he had omitted some of the objectionable -matter, he would have made for himself a great name. Even as it was, he -did a great piece of work: but he gained neither money nor commendation. - -In 1892, Appletons brought out a new edition in two volumes, with some -matter omitted, and some new matter by Horace White, and that edition -met with favor. But Herndon did not live to see it. He died, poor and -battle-scarred, denounced as the maligner of the man he loved. - -In his younger days, Herndon drank, and it is alleged that in his -later life he used morphine. It is said that he wanted an appointment -to a Government Land Office, but that Lincoln, knowing his weakness, -did not appoint him, and that this had some share in his feeling, -which he still thought to be one of reverence for Lincoln, but which -was unconsciously tinged with resentment. To this it is answered that -Lincoln did offer Herndon an appointment which Herndon declined: but -it was not a very attractive appointment, and there is good reason -to believe that Herndon was disappointed, and that he knew Lincoln's -reason. - -The name which Herndon applied to Lincoln he accepted for himself, -that of infidel. Yet it is fair to ask whether this was a just term -as applied to Herndon himself. In his lecture on Ann Rutledge, he had -occasion to defend himself in advance for views which he knew would be -heard with suspicion, and which, indeed, like almost everything he said -and did, had the unfortunate quality of increasing his unpopularity, he -said: - - "You know my Religion, my Philosophy: That the highest thought and - acts of the human soul and its religious sphere are to think, love, - obey, and worship God, by thinking freely, by loving, teaching, doing - good to, and elevating mankind. My first duty is to God, then to - mankind, and then to the individual man or woman."--_Lecture on Ann - Rutledge_, pp. 9-10. - -One cannot help regretting that the man who had thus defined his own -religion should ever have been led to think himself or any other man -whom he supposed to be like-minded an infidel. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -LINCOLN'S BURNT BOOK - - -IN the chapter on the "Conditions of Lincoln's Young Manhood at New -Salem" mention was made of the "book" which Lincoln is said to have -written, opposed to the Christian religion, a book which his employer, -Samuel Hill, is said to have snatched from his hand and thrown into the -fire lest Lincoln's infidelity should ruin his political career. To -have treated this subject at length would have thrown that chapter out -of focus, and it is time that we should learn the truth about it. - -Colonel Lamon tells us about this book thus: - - "He had made himself thoroughly familiar with the writings of Paine - and Volney,--the _Ruins_ by one and the _Age of Reason_ by the other. - His mind was full of the subject, and he felt an itching to write. He - did write, and the result was a 'little book.' It was probably merely - an extended essay,[40] but it was ambitiously spoken of as a 'book' by - himself and by the persons who were made acquainted with its contents. - In this book he intended to demonstrate,-- - - "First, that the Bible was not God's revelation; and - "Secondly, that Jesus was not the Son of God." - --LAMON, _Life of Lincoln_, pp. 157-58. - -Lamon wrote this in 1872 of a book supposed to have been written by -Lincoln and burned by Hill in 1834. - -We have already quoted from Herndon's account, but it is brief and for -convenience will bear reading here in full: - - "In 1834, while still living in New Salem and before he became a - lawyer, he was surrounded by a class of people exceedingly liberal in - matters of religion. Volney's _Ruins_ and Paine's _Age of Reason_ - passed from hand to hand, and furnished food for the evening's - discussion in the tavern and village store. Lincoln read both these - books and thus assimilated them into his own being. He prepared an - extended essay--called by many a book--in which he made an argument - against Christianity, striving to prove that the Bible was not - inspired, and therefore not God's revelation, and that Jesus Christ - was not the Son of God. The manuscript containing these audacious and - comprehensive propositions he intended to have published or given a - wide circulation in some other way. He carried it to the store, where - it was read and freely discussed. His friend and employer, Samuel - Hill, was among the listeners, and seriously questioning the propriety - of a promising young man like Lincoln fathering such unpopular - notions, he snatched the manuscript from his hands and thrust it into - the stove. The book went up in flames, and Lincoln's political future - was secure."--HERNDON, III, 439, 440. - -Mr. Herndon had already given this information to Lamon in another -form, and Lamon used it in his list of certificates from Lincoln's old -friends that Lincoln was an infidel. - -As printed in Lamon's book, Herndon's account of the burnt manuscript -was communicated in the following letter: - - "As to Mr. Lincoln's religious views, he was, in short, an infidel, - ... a theist. He did not believe that Jesus was God, nor the Son of - God,--was a fatalist, denied the freedom of the will. Mr. Lincoln - told me a thousand times, that he did not believe the Bible was the - revelation of God, as the Christian world contends. The points that - Mr. Lincoln tried to demonstrate [in his book] were: First, That the - Bible was not God's revelation; and, Second, That Jesus was not the - Son of God. I assert this on my own knowledge, and on my veracity. - Judge Logan, John T. Stuart, James H. Matheny, and others, will - tell you the truth. I say they will confirm what I say, with this - exception,--they will make it blacker than I remember it. Joshua F. - Speed of Louisville, I think, will tell you the same thing."--LAMON, - _Life of Lincoln_, p. 489. - -It is important to notice that we do not have two witnesses concerning -this book, but only one. Lamon gives no evidence of having possessed -any independent knowledge of the book. His information was derived -from Herndon. In the chapter on "Lincoln's Young Manhood" we considered -how slight was Herndon's personal connection with New Salem. The town -had vanished long before he ever visited the spot, and apparently the -only time he ever spent there for the purpose of study was a Sunday -afternoon and Monday morning, October 14 and 15, 1866. On the occasion -of that visit he gathered the material for his lecture on Ann Rutledge. -So far as we have evidence, he learned nothing at this time about -Lincoln's burnt book. In his letter, written to be included in Lamon's -biography, in which reference to this book is made, he says: "I assert -this on my own knowledge and on my own veracity." That sentence appears -at first reading to refer to Herndon's personal knowledge of the book, -but a second reading with the context shows that Herndon does not mean -to claim that he had personal knowledge of the book, but personal -knowledge of Lincoln's belief or the lack of it. - -Where did Herndon learn about this book? - -He learned it from James H. Matheny, who had never seen the "book" but -had received the information in confidence from Lincoln. It will be -remembered that Matheny repudiated the supposed letter to Herndon which -Lamon printed as from him and said that he never wrote it, but that -Herndon compiled it from scraps of several conversations, and that it -did not represent Matheny's opinion of Lincoln's ultimate religion. It -is not necessary to suppose that either Herndon or Lamon intended to -misrepresent Matheny. Lamon had no original documents to work from and -the copy which he received of Herndon's notes of Matheny's conversation -he took to be the copy of a letter from Matheny and printed it as such. -It appears to be quite clear that this was the only source of Herndon's -knowledge of Lincoln's burnt book. The following is the report of these -scraps of conversation with Matheny as Herndon wrote them down and as -Lamon printed them: - - "I knew Mr. Lincoln as early as 1834-5; know he was an infidel. He - and W. D. Herndon used to talk infidelity in the clerk's office - in this city, about the years 1837-40. Lincoln attacked the Bible - and the New Testament on two grounds: first, from the inherent or - apparent contradictions under its lids; second, from the grounds of - reason. Sometimes he ridiculed the Bible and New Testament, sometimes - seemed to scoff it, though I shall not use that word in its full and - literal sense. I never heard that Lincoln changed his views, though - his personal and political friend from 1834 to 1860. Sometimes Lincoln - bordered on atheism. He went far that way, and often shocked me. I - was then a young man and believed what my good mother told me. Stuart - & Lincoln's office was in what was called Hoffman's Row, on North - Fifth Street, near the public square. It was in the same building - as the clerk's office, and on the same floor. Lincoln would come - into the clerk's office, where I and some young men--Evan Butler, - Newton Francis, and others--were writing or staying, and would bring - the Bible with him; would read a chapter; argue against it. Lincoln - then had a smattering of geology, if I recollect it. Lincoln often, - if not wholly, was an atheist; at least, bordered on it. Lincoln - was enthusiastic in his infidelity. As he grew older, he grew more - discreet, didn't talk much before strangers about his religion; but to - friends, close and bosom ones, he was always open and avowed, fair and - honest; but to strangers, he held them off from policy. Lincoln used - to quote Burns. Burns helped Lincoln to be an infidel, as I think; at - least, he found in Burns a like thinker and feeler. Lincoln quoted - 'Tam o' Shanter.' 'What! send one to heaven, and ten to hell!' etc. - - "From what I know of Mr. Lincoln and his views of Christianity, and - from what I know as honest and well-founded rumor; from what I have - heard his best friends say and regret for years; from what he never - denied when accused, and from what Lincoln hinted and intimated, to - say no more--he did write a little book on infidelity at or near New - Salem, in Menard County, about the year 1834 or 1835. I have stated - these things to you often. Judge Logan, John T. Stuart, yourself, know - what I know, and some of you more. - - "Mr. Herndon, you insist on knowing something which you know I - possess, and got as a secret, and that is, about Lincoln's little book - on infidelity. Mr. Lincoln did tell me that he did write a little - book on infidelity. This statement I have avoided heretofore; but, - as you strongly insist upon it,--probably to defend yourself against - charges of misrepresentation,--I give it to you as I got it from - Lincoln's mouth."--LAMON, _Life of Lincoln_, pp. 487-88. - -We have here our one witness that Mr. Lincoln while at New Salem,[41] -freshly risen from the reading of Volney and Paine, and having what -Lamon called the "itch for writing" wrote some kind of essay adverse to -the doctrines of Christianity as Lincoln then understood them. Matheny -never saw the book and never talked with anyone so far as we know who -had seen it, excepting Lincoln himself, who told him in confidence that -he had written such an essay. The fact that Matheny says that he "got -it as a secret" would seem to indicate that Lincoln had no pride in it, -and his reference to Herndon's insistence indicates that Herndon had no -other source of information. - -Lincoln did, then, write something of this character and it may -have been burned; though it is extremely doubtful whether it met so -spectacular a fate or was anything like so formidable a document as -tradition has represented it. - -It will be noted that Colonel Matheny says nothing about the burning of -the book. Herndon got that item from some other source, and apparently -misunderstood it. This information, apparently, Herndon picked up -on the occasion of his visit to New Salem. Samuel Hill may, indeed, -have reminded Lincoln that if he intended to run for the Legislature -against Peter Cartwright, it would be better for him not to be known -as an infidel; and indeed if Lincoln was known as an infidel, Peter -Cartwright was not the man to have failed to remind him of it. But at -the time when Samuel Hill snatched something out of Lincoln's hand and -threw it into the fire he was not concerned so much about Lincoln's -political future as he was about something else. The document which -Samuel Hill burned contained very little about theology. - -When on an evening in November, 1866, Mr. Herndon, but lately returned -from his visit to the site of New Salem, delivered in the old court -house in Springfield before a small and critical audience his lecture -on Ann Rutledge, he informed his hearers that in 1834 that sweet young -girl of nineteen was simultaneously loved by three men, one of whom -was Abraham Lincoln. He omitted the names of the other two, and filled -in their place in the manuscript with blanks. The world has long since -learned the other two names, of John McNamur and Samuel Hill. Herndon's -reason for concealing them at the time was probably the fact that their -descendants were living near, but those descendants are well aware of -it now, and have been for years. - -Hill and McNamur were partners, and Ann loved McNamur and rejected -Hill. McNamur went East, and was gone so long that it was believed he -was either dead or had proved untrue, and Hill's hope lit up again only -to meet a second disappointment. Ann Rutledge still loved McNamur, but, -believing him forever lost to her, she had made her second choice, and -that choice was not Hill. Hill awoke to the sad discovery that having -once been refused for his partner's sake he was refused again for the -sake of his clerk. This shy, gawky, lank, and ill-mannered young fellow -who was selling goods in Hill's store and studying law and cherishing -all manner of ambitions had aspired to the hand of Ann Rutledge and had -been accepted. - -The truth about it came out in the discovery of a letter which Hill had -written to McNamur. Hill was making one last effort to learn whether -McNamur was living or dead, and if living whether he still loved Ann; -and was reproaching him for his delay and neglect. This letter did -not find its way to the post office; in some way it was lost and was -picked up by the children who brought it to Lincoln. This was the -document which Lincoln held in his hand when he and Hill came to their -final reckoning concerning the heart of Ann Rutledge; and the argument -between them, while friendly, developed some heat, and that was what -Hill snatched from Lincoln's hand and threw into the fire. - -As for the book or essay or whatever it may have been in which Lincoln -passed on his undigested reading of Volney and Paine, we do not know -what became of that, nor need we greatly care. It went the way of a -good deal of literature which Lincoln was producing at this time, -probably with no dream that any of it would ever see a printing-press. -It is hardly credible that Lincoln, who never printed a book even in -his maturer years, should have had serious purpose of printing this -particular bit of half-fledged philosophy. - -But we have knowledge, and very direct knowledge, of something else -which Lincoln wrote at this time. We learn of it not by any such -circuitous route of hearsay evidence as accompanies the story of the -so-called book on infidelity. We learn of it from a man who received -it at Lincoln's hands and who read it and remembered its contents and -was a competent witness not only as to the production of the book, but -also as to its argument. This is none other than Mentor Graham, the -schoolmaster of New Salem, who introduced Lincoln to Kirkham's Grammar, -who taught Lincoln surveying, who had Lincoln in his home as a lodger, -and who knew more about Lincoln's religious views during his years at -New Salem than any other man who lived to tell the world about it after -Lincoln's death. In Irwin's article, which we have already quoted, is -found this letter from Mentor Graham. - -Mentor Graham is a much better witness than either Mr. Herndon or -Colonel Matheny,--better because equally honest, and a man of less -violent prejudices and of more sober habits, and especially because he -had direct personal knowledge of the facts. In his letter to Mr. Irwin, -under date of March 17, 1874, Mentor Graham relates that when Lincoln -was living in Graham's house in New Salem in 1833, studying English -grammar and surveying under this good schoolmaster, Lincoln one morning -said to him: - -"Graham, what do you think of the anger of the Lord?" - -Graham replied, "I believe the Lord never was angry or mad, and never -will be; that His loving kindness endureth forever, and that He never -changes." - -Lincoln said, "I have a little manuscript written which I will show -you." - -The manuscript was written on foolscap paper, about a half-quire in -size, and was written in a plain hand. Mentor read it. - -"It was a defense of universal salvation. The commencement of it was -something about the God of the universe never being excited, mad, or -angry. I had the manuscript in my possession some week or ten days. -I have read many books on the subject, and I don't think in point of -perspicacity and plainness of reasoning I ever read one to surpass it. -I remember well his argument. He took the passage, 'As in Adam all -die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive,' and followed with the -proposition that whatever the breach or injury of Adam's transgression -to the human race was, which no doubt was very great, was made right by -the atonement of Christ." - -On this point, then, we have abundant witness. Lincoln argued from the -fall of man to the redemptive work of Christ as the Baptist preachers -were in the habit of doing, but instead of finding there the basis -of an argument for individual election and particular salvation or -damnation, found in it the basis of faith in universal salvation. - -How Lincoln can have reconciled this kind of reasoning with his -readings from Thomas Paine can be understood by those who have read -Paine--which most men who discuss him have not--and who know the form -of argument of the backwoods preachers which Lincoln had known all his -life and little else in the way of reasoned discourse in spiritual -things. His line of argument was a not unnatural resultant of the -forces at work in his mind. - -But what about the book which Hill burned? - -Here again we have the personal knowledge of Mentor Graham. He was -not, indeed, actually present when the manuscript was burned. No one, -probably, was present, except Hill and Lincoln. But Graham was very -much nearer to the event in point both of time and distance than either -Herndon or Matheny, from whom Herndon learned about it, and learned -incorrectly. - -What Hill snatched from Lincoln's hand and burned was a letter which -Hill had written to McNamur about Ann Rutledge. The letter was lost -and picked up by the school children, who brought it to Lincoln, the -postmaster. Lincoln, knowing Hill's handwriting, and guessing the -nature of the letter, kept it to discuss with Hill alone; and they did -discuss it together. Hill was demanding of McNamur that he either come -back to New Salem, or release Ann Rutledge from her engagement; and -what he learned was, that his successful rival was not now McNamur, but -Lincoln. Here is what Graham says about it: - -"Some of the school children had picked up the letter and handed it to -Lincoln. Hill and Lincoln were talking about it, when Hill snatched the -letter from Lincoln and put it into the fire. The letter was respecting -a young lady, Miss Ann Rutledge, for whom all three of these gentlemen -seemed to have respect." - -Graham lived in New Salem at the time that this incident occurred. -Neither Herndon nor Matheny lived there. Graham left New Salem when -it ceased to be a town, and spent the remainder of his life among the -people who had been his neighbors in New Salem and who became residents -with him in the near-by town of Petersburg. Graham had direct access to -the facts. - -The reason why it was not much talked about is evident enough. Hill, -McNamur, and Lincoln all married, and their wives and children were -living not far from where these events occurred. The triangular -misunderstanding of three young men about a young woman who had died -many years before was a matter for quiet gossip on the part of the -older inhabitants, but it did not come to the general knowledge of the -public until Herndon delivered his unwelcome lecture on Ann Rutledge. -In some things he learned and told the truth. But his material had been -too hastily gathered, and was too quickly rushed into a lecture to be -reliable in all respects, and it requires about four titles to cover -its diversified and unstratified subject-matter. - -Our knowledge of the burnt book is, therefore, a matter in which we -come finally to the remote recollection of James Matheny on the one -hand, who never saw the book, and who manifestly misunderstood some -parts of the story, and the close and intimate knowledge of Mentor -Graham on the other. Lincoln apparently told Matheny in confidence that -he while he was living in Salem wrote an essay against the Christian -religion, and Matheny regarded it as a secret but told it to Herndon. -Herndon heard some gossip about a manuscript which Hill burned, -and thought it to have been the same. Mentor Graham had reliable -information as to what it was that Hill burned, and moreover knew -from his own personal knowledge that Lincoln wrote a very different -manuscript than the one of which he told Matheny, for he himself had -read it, and remembered its general nature. - -Why Lincoln wrote on both sides of the same subject we do not know and -it is not necessary to ask. He may have been practicing his skill in -debating; he may have held one view at one time and another at another; -he may have been uncertain what view he really held and have been -seeking to formulate his opinions. It would not be fair to judge his -mature opinion by our scant knowledge of what was contained in either -of these two manuscripts. But the thing which should be remembered is -that we know more about the book in favor of Christianity than we know -of the book against it. Mentor Graham was a truthful and a competent -witness and he had both seen and read the book, which is not true of -anyone through whom we have knowledge of the other essay. - -We are not at liberty to draw the sharp distinction which sometimes has -been drawn against the rampant infidelity of Lincoln's earlier years -and the supposed orthodoxy of his mature life. Neither of these may -have been as hard and fast as have sometimes been assumed. It is quite -possible that Abraham Lincoln never became a Christian of the type who -could have expressed his faith in the terms of the Bateman interview; -it is equally possible that even in those callow years when he was -reading Tom Paine and Volney and writing sub-sophomoric effusions on -things he knew little about, the germ of religious faith was actually -present even in his doubt. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -"THE CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE" - - -IN the spring of the year 1850, after the death of their little son -Eddie, Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln visited Mrs. Lincoln's relatives in -Kentucky. While they were on this visit, Mr. Lincoln picked up a -book entitled _The Christian's Defence_, by Rev. James Smith. He was -interested, for Dr. Smith was a townsman of his, and in the absence of -Mrs. Lincoln's rector Dr. Smith had conducted the little boy's funeral -service in the Lincoln home. Lincoln read a part but not the whole -of the book while on this visit. Dr. Smith, as the book showed, had -himself been a doubter, but had become convinced of the truth of the -Christian religion, and had become a valiant defender of the faith, and -an eager debater with skeptics. Out of a three weeks' discussion with -one of these this book had grown. - -On his return to Springfield Mr. Lincoln took occasion to secure the -book, and to cultivate a closer acquaintance with its author. - -Lincoln found him well worth knowing; and the reader of this book -deserves an introduction to him and his work. - -I have obtained from Miss Jeanette E. Smith, of Springfield, -granddaughter of Rev. James Smith, a considerable body of manuscript -and other material relating to her grandfather. - -James Smith was born in Glasgow, Scotland, May 11, 1801, and died in -Scotland July 3, 1871. He was the son of Peter and Margaret Smith. In -youth he was wild, and in his opinions was a deist; but when converted -he became a fearless defender of the faith. He was a big, brainy -man, with a great voice and with positive convictions. He was called -from Shelbyville, Kentucky, to the First Church of Springfield, his -pastorate beginning March 14, 1849, and closing December 17, 1856. - -He was a strong temperance man. His sermon on "The Bottle, Its Evils -and Its Remedy," from Habakkuk 2:15, was preached on January 23, -1853, and printed at the request of thirty-nine men who heard it, -Abraham Lincoln being one of those who signed the request. "Friends of -Temperance" they called themselves. I have a copy of this remarkable -sermon. In one part it essayed a vindication of the distiller and -liquor-seller, affirming that a community that licensed them had no -right to abuse them for doing what they had paid for the privilege of -doing; and that the State with money in its pocket received as a share -in the product of drunkenness had no right to condemn the saloonkeeper -for his share in the partnership. He called on the Legislature then in -session to pass a prohibitory law, forbidding all sale of intoxicating -liquor except for medical, mechanical, and sacramental purposes. - -Such sermons became abundant forty years afterward, but they were -not abundant in 1853. Dr. Smith was one of the men who held these -convictions, and Abraham Lincoln was one of the men who wanted to see -them printed and circulated. - -It is remarkable that all knowledge of the massive book which Dr. -Smith wrote and published should have perished from Springfield. -Lamon manifestly knew nothing of it as a book, but thought of it as -a manuscript tract, prepared especially for the ambitious business -of converting Mr. Lincoln. His sarcastic description implies this, -and Herndon, who may have known better at the time, had apparently -forgotten. Both men were disqualified for the discussion of it by their -ignorance of it, as well as the violence of their prejudice. - -On February 12, 1909, a service was held in the old First Presbyterian -Church in Springfield, then occupied by the Lutherans, the -Presbyterians having erected a larger building. The address was given -by Rev. Thomas D. Logan, Dr. Smith's successor, whose pastorate had -begun in 1888. In all the more than twenty years of his ministry in -Springfield, he had never seen this book. He had never known of it as -a book at the time he wrote the first draft of this centenary address. -The substance of the address he sent in advance as an article for -the Lincoln Number of _The Continent_ in February, 1909; but in the -revision of the proof he inserted a footnote saying that Dr. Smith's -granddaughter, Miss Jeanette E. Smith, had come into possession of a -copy of her grandfather's book, which he had just seen. - -The prime reason for this complete ignorance of the book, even in the -church which Lincoln attended, is that it was published six years -before Dr. Smith came to Springfield, in a limited edition, and -completely sold out before it came from the press; so that it never -came into general circulation in Springfield. - -Miss Smith has placed at my disposal her own copy of this book, -which was her grandfather's, and I have been able to locate about a -half-dozen copies in various public libraries, and by rare good fortune -to buy one for myself. - -Dr. Smith's statement was made in a letter from Cainno, Scotland, dated -January 24, 1867: - - "It was my honor to place before Mr. Lincoln arguments designed - to prove the divine authority and inspiration of the Scriptures, - accompanied by the arguments of infidel objectors in their own - language. To the arguments on both sides Mr. Lincoln gave a most - patient, impartial, and searching investigation. To use his own - language, he examined the arguments as a lawyer who is anxious - to investigate truth investigates testimony. The result was the - announcement made by himself that the argument in favor of the divine - authority and inspiration of the Scriptures was unanswerable."--REV. - JAMES A. REED: "The Later Life and Religious Sentiments of Abraham - Lincoln," _Scribner's Magazine_, July, 1873, p. 333. - -Mr. Thomas Lewis, a lawyer whose office adjoined that of Mr. Lincoln in -Springfield, and who for a time was in the same office, was an elder in -the church which Lincoln attended. In 1898 he wrote his recollections -of Dr. Smith's book and its influence upon Mr. Lincoln: - - "I was an elder, trustee, treasurer, collector, superintendent of - the Sunday school, and pew-renter. The following Tuesday, after the - second Sunday, Mr. Lincoln called on me and inquired if there were - any pews to rent in the church. I replied, 'Yes, and a very desirable - one, vacated by Governor Madison, who has just left the city.' 'What - is the rent?' said he. 'Fifty dollars, payable quarterly.' He handed - me $12.50. Said he, 'Put it down to me.' From that date he paid each - three months on said pew until he left for Washington; and from the - first Sunday he was there I have not known of his not occupying that - pew every Sunday he was in the city until he left. The seat was - immediately in front of mine. The third Sunday his children came in - the Sunday school. - - "Shortly thereafter there was a revival in the church, and Mr. and - Mrs. Lincoln, when he was in the city, attended meeting. In his - absence she was there. They attended not only the regular meetings, - but the inquiry meetings also, and it was the belief that both would - unite with the church. When the candidates were examined Mr. Lincoln - was in Detroit, prosecuting a patent right case, a branch of the - profession in which he had acquired an enviable reputation. Mrs. - Lincoln stated that she was confirmed in the Episcopal Church when - twelve years of age, but did not wish to join the church by letter, - but upon profession of faith, as she was never converted until Dr. - Smith's preaching. She was admitted [1852]. Mr. Lincoln never applied. - Some months later the session of the church invited Mr. Lincoln to - deliver a lecture on the Bible. When it became known that Mr. Lincoln - was to lecture in the Presbyterian church it assured a full house. It - was said by divines and others to be the ablest defense of the Bible - ever uttered in that pulpit. - - "From the introduction of Mr. Lincoln to Dr. Smith their intimacy was - of a most cordial character. At their last meeting previous to Mr. - Lincoln's leaving for Washington, as they parted, Mr. Lincoln said, - 'Doctor, I wish to be remembered in the prayers of yourself and our - church members.'"--_Illinois State Register_, December 10, 1898. - -A very interesting bit of testimony to the relations of Mr. Lincoln -and his pastor, Dr. Smith, was given by Rev. William Bishop, D.D., in -an address at Salina, Kansas, on February 12, 1897, and published in -the local papers at the time. Dr. Bishop was graduated from Illinois -College in 1850, and for a time was a member of the faculty there. In -the summer after his graduation, he supplied Dr. Smith's pulpit during -his vacation: - - "I first met Dr. Smith in the summer of 1850 in Jacksonville, at - the commencement exercises of Illinois College, from which I had - graduated and had just been appointed a member of the faculty of - instruction. The acquaintance then formed ripened into mutual and - congenial friendship. And during the two years of my connection with - the college I was frequently a visitor and guest at his house in - Springfield, and when, by reason of removal to another institution - in another State, the visits were fewer and farther between, 'a free - epistolary correspondence' continued to strengthen and brighten the - links of fellowship. With his other accomplishments, Dr. Smith was - an interesting and instructive conversationalist--in fact, quite a - raconteur, somewhat like his friend Lincoln, always ready with a - story to illustrate his opinions, and which gave piquancy to his - conversation. Whenever he had occasion to speak of Lincoln he always - evinced the strongest attachment and the warmest friendship for him, - which was known to be fully reciprocated. Democrat as he was, and - tinged with Southern hues--though never a secessionist--there seemed - to be a mystic cord uniting the minister and the lawyer. This was - subsequently beautifully shown on the part of Mr. Lincoln, who never - forgot to do a generous thing. When he was elected President Dr. Smith - and wife were getting old, their children all married and gone, except - their youngest[42] son, a young man of twenty-three or four years of - age. One of Lincoln's first official acts, after his inauguration, - was the appointment of this young man to the consulate at Dundee, - Scotland. The doctor, with his wife and son, returned to the land of - his birth. The son soon returned to America, and Dr. Smith himself - was appointed consul, which position he retained until his death in - 1871. - - "In the spring of 1857 Dr. Smith, anticipating a necessary absence - from his church of two or three months during the summer, invited me - to supply his pulpit until his return. Being young and inexperienced - in the ministry, with considerable hesitation I accepted his urgent - invitation. So I spent my college vacation performing as best I could - this service. Mr. Lincoln was a regular attendant at church and - evidently an attentive hearer and devout worshiper. - - "As a college student I had seen and heard him and looked up to him - as a being towering above common men; and, I confess, I was not a - little intimidated by his presence as he sat at the end of a seat - well forward toward the pulpit, with his deep eyes fixed upon me, and - his long legs stretched out in the middle aisle to keep them from - [using one of his own colloquialisms] being scrouged in the narrow - space between the pews. My 'stage fright,' however, was soon very much - relieved by his kindliness and words of encouragement. - - "On a certain Sunday, the third, as I recollect it, in my term of - service, I delivered a discourse on the text, 'Without God in the - World.' The straight translation from the Greek is, 'Atheists in the - World.' In discussing atheism, theoretical and practical, I endeavored - to elucidate and enforce the fallacy of the one and the wickedness - of the other. At the close of the service Mr. Lincoln came up and, - putting his right hand in mine and his left on my shoulder, with other - impressive remarks, said, 'I can say "Amen" to all that you have said - this morning.' From that time on my interest in him grew apace. - - "He was then known extensively all over the West as a great and good - man, and only a year afterward he bounded into national fame by his - victory in the great debate with Douglas, who, up to that time, was - regarded as a debater invincible. - - "During my brief sojourn in Springfield I had many opportunities of - meeting Lincoln, hearing him, and talking with him at home, in church, - in society, and in the courts of justice. - - "Dr. Smith returned in due time to resume his pastoral functions. - In reporting to him, in general, my labors in the church as his - substitute during his absence, and in particular my conceptions of - Lincoln's religious character, he intimated that he knew something - of Lincoln's private personal religious experiences, feelings, and - beliefs which resulted in his conversion to the Christian faith. After - some urging to be more explicit, he made the following statement, - which is herewith submitted, couched substantially in his own - language. The doctor said: - - "'I came to Springfield to take the pastoral charge of this church - [First Presbyterian] about eight years ago [1849]. During the first - of these years, I might say, I had only a speaking or general - acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln [then forty years old]. Two or three - years previous to my coming here Mrs. Lincoln, who had been a member - of our church, for some reason changed her church relations and was - a regular attendant at the services of the Episcopal Church. Mr. - Lincoln, at that time, having no denominational preferences, went with - her. And so the family continued to frequent the sanctuary for a year - or more after I began my ministry here. The occasion which opened up - the way to my intimate relations to Mr. Lincoln was this, viz.: In - the latter part of 1849 death came into his family. His second son - died at about three or four years of age. The rector, an excellent - clergyman, being temporarily absent, could not be present to conduct - the burial service, and I was called to officiate at the funeral. This - led me to an intimate acquaintance with the family, and grew into an - enduring and confidential friendship between Mr. Lincoln and myself. - One result was that the wife and mother returned to her ancestral - church, and the husband and father very willingly came with her, and - ever since has been a constant attendant upon my ministry. I found him - very much depressed and downcast at the death of his son, and without - the consolation of the gospel. Up to this time I had heard but little - concerning his religious views, and that was to the effect that he - was a deist and inclined to skepticism as to the divine origin of - the Scriptures, though, unlike most skeptics, he had evidently been - a constant reader of the Bible. I found him an honest and anxious - inquirer. He gradually revealed the state of his mind and heart, and - at last unbosomed his doubts and struggles and unrest of soul. In - frequent conversations I found that he was perplexed and unsettled on - the fundamentals of religion, by speculative difficulties, connected - with Providence and revelation, which lie beyond and above the - legitimate province of religion. With some suggestions bearing on - the right attitude required for impartial investigation, I placed - in his hands my book (_The Christian's Defence_) on the evidence of - Christianity, which gives the arguments for and against the divine - authority and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. Mr. Lincoln took the - book, and for a number of weeks, as a lawyer, examined and weighed the - evidence, pro and con, and judged of the credibility of the contents - of revelation. And while he was investigating I was praying that the - Spirit of Truth might lead him into the kingdom of truth. And such - was the result, for at the conclusion of his examination he came - forth his doubts scattered to the winds and his reason convinced by - the arguments in support of the inspired and infallible authority of - the Old and New Testaments--a believer in God, in His providential - government, in His Son, the way, the truth, and the life, and from - that time [nearly seven years] to this day his life has proved the - genuineness of his conversion to the Christian faith. For this I - humbly ascribe to our heavenly Father the honor and the glory.'" - -In an earlier statement than that previously quoted, Mr. Thomas Lewis, -under date of January 6, 1873, said: - - "Not long after Dr. Smith came to Springfield, and I think very near - the time of his son's death, Mr. Lincoln said to me that when on a - visit somewhere he had seen and partially read a work of Dr. Smith on - the evidences of Christianity, which had led him to change his view - of the Christian religion, and he would like to get that work and - finish the reading of it, and also to make the acquaintance of Dr. - Smith. I was an elder in Dr. Smith's church, and took Dr. Smith to Mr. - Lincoln's office, and Dr. Smith gave Mr. Lincoln a copy of his book, - as I know, at his own request." - -This is a very different story from that which Lamon tells, of a -self-advertising preacher, ostentatiously preparing a tract to convert -Mr. Lincoln, and thrusting it upon him uninvited and thereafter to be -neglected. - -That Mr. Lincoln was impressed by the book is as certain as human -testimony can make it. He told Dr. Smith that he regarded its argument -as "unanswerable," and Lamon's slighting remark will not stand against -so emphatic a word. - -Moreover, Hon. John T. Stuart, whom Lamon had quoted as saying, "The -Rev. Dr. Smith, who wrote a letter, tried to convert Lincoln as late as -1858, and couldn't do it," repudiated that statement, declared he never -had said it; and on the contrary affirmed that he understood from those -who had reason to know that Dr. Smith's book had produced a change in -the mind of Mr. Lincoln. - -Ninian W. Edwards, Mr. Lincoln's brother-in-law, on December 24, 1872, -entered the discussion with this emphatic statement: - - "A short time after the Rev. Dr. Smith became pastor of the First - Presbyterian Church in this city, Mr. Lincoln said to me, 'I have been - reading a work of Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christianity, and have - heard him preach and converse on the subject, and am now convinced of - the truth of the Christian religion.'" - -Just what doctrines he was convinced were true, we may not know. But -we do know that he requested the book and declared it unanswerable, -that he and his wife changed their church affiliation and he became a -regular attendant, that Dr. Smith became his friend and was honored and -recognized by him as long as Lincoln lived, and that those who knew -Lincoln best were told by him that some change had come in his own -belief. - -Under these conditions, the word and work of Rev. James Smith are not -to be thrown unceremoniously out of court. They have standing in any -fair consideration of the question of Lincoln's religious faith. - -I have looked through many Lives of Lincoln to discover whether any -biographer of Lincoln had ever looked up this book, and thus far have -not discovered any. I have inquired for the book at the Chicago -Historical Library and the Illinois Historical Library, and neither of -those libraries contains it, nor had it been thought of in connection -with Lincoln. Mr. Oldroyd does not have it in his matchless collection, -where I hoped I might find the veritable copy that Lincoln read, and -he had never heard of it; nor does the matron of the Lincoln Home at -Springfield know anything about it.[43] - -I shall give in the Appendix of this book an outline of the contents of -Dr. Smith's solid work, that the reader may judge for himself whether -such a book, placed in the hands of Mr. Lincoln at such a time, may not -have had upon his mind all the influence that Dr. Smith ever claimed -for it. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -"VESTIGES OF CREATION" - - -LINCOLN was a man of few books. Much has been made of the fact that -when a lad he eagerly read every book within reach; but he did not -continue that habit in his mature years. Something happened to the -lad in adolescence that changed him mentally as well as physically. -His sudden upshoot in stature permanently tired him; he became -disinclined to activity. His movements were much slower, and his -habits of thought more sluggish. Arnold attempts to make a list of his -"favorite books," but does not make much progress (_Life of Lincoln_, -pp. 443, 444). About all there is to be said is that he read the -Bible both as a boy and man, and came to have an appreciation and -love of Shakspeare, particularly _Hamlet_ and _Macbeth_, but he never -read Shakspeare through. He was fond of some of the poems of Burns, -the rollicking humor of "Tam o' Shanter," the withering scorn--an -element which had a considerable place in Lincoln's nature--of "Holy -Willie's Prayer," the manly democracy of "A Man's a Man for a' That"; -but he never quoted Burns. He had little appreciation of music, but -liked negro melodies--not the genuine ones, but the minstrel-show -sort--camp-meeting ballads, Scotch songs, and mournful narrative -compositions, of which the woods were moderately full in his boyhood, -and which he continued to enjoy. Broadly humorous songs moved him to -mirth, but he cared more for those that were sad. Everyone knows his -love for the mediocre but melodious poem, "O Why Should the Spirit -of Mortal be Proud," which like the religious song he loved, "How -tedious and tasteless the hours," moved mournfully in triple time, -flaunting crêpe in the face of the spirit of the waltz. About the only -contemporary poem which he is known to have cared much for was Holmes' -"Last Leaf," in which he was particularly moved by the lines,-- - - "_The mossy marbles rest - On the lips that he has prest, - In their bloom, - And the names he loved to hear - Have been carved for many a year - On the tomb._" - -Herndon is correct in saying that Lincoln read less and thought more -than any man prominent in public life in his generation. - -But the few books that Lincoln read in his mature years affected him -greatly; and when we know of his reading a book because he cared for -it, we may well endeavor to discover that book and inquire whether it -be not possible to trace its influence in the development, slow but -sure, of the mental and spiritual processes of Abraham Lincoln. - -A highly important statement concerning the philosophical and religious -views of Lincoln is found in Herndon's _Life of Lincoln_, and it is -remarkable that neither Herndon nor any of the hundreds of writers -who have gleaned, as all must glean, from his pages, appears to have -followed further the most important of its suggestions: - - "For many years I subscribed for and kept on our office table the - _Westminster_ and _Edinburgh Review_ and a number of other English - periodicals. Besides them, I purchased the works of Spencer, Darwin, - and the utterances of other English scientists, all of which I - devoured with great relish. I endeavored, but with little success, - in inducing Lincoln to read them. Occasionally he would snatch one - up and peruse it for a little while, but he soon threw it down with - the suggestion that it was entirely too heavy for an ordinary mind to - digest. A gentleman in Springfield gave him a book called, I believe, - _Vestiges of Creation_, which interested him so much that he read - it through. The volume was published in Edinburgh, and undertook to - demonstrate the doctrine of development, or evolution. The treatise - interested him greatly, and he was deeply impressed with the notion - of the so-called 'universal law' evolution; he did not extend greatly - his researches, but by continual thinking in a single channel seemed - to grow into a warm advocate of the new doctrine. Beyond what I have - stated he made no further advances into the realm of philosophy. - 'There are no accidents,' he said one day, 'in my philosophy. Every - effect must have its cause. The past is the cause of the present, - and the present will be the cause of the future. All these are - links in the endless chain stretching from the Infinite to the - finite.'"--HERNDON, III, 438. - -I count it remarkable that neither Herndon nor any other of Lincoln's -biographers appears to have made further inquiry about this book, -which is not mentioned in Herndon's index, and which I have not found -referred to elsewhere in connection with Lincoln. The book is not in -any of the great Lincoln collections which I have visited, nor has any -Lincoln student to whom I have mentioned it had it in mind, or failed -to be impressed with the value of it when we have discussed the matter. - -The book itself is not in the Lincoln Home at Springfield, nor is it -in the Oldroyd Collection at Washington, in one of which places I -hoped that it might be found. Neither the librarian of the Illinois -Historical Society in Springfield, nor Mr. Barker, the painstaking and -discriminating collector and vendor of Lincoln books in Springfield, -had ever noticed the title in Herndon's book, though both were at once -impressed with its significance when I called it to their attention. - -The material in Herndon's lectures on Lincoln is pretty well absorbed -in his book, and quoted in this volume; but there are some interesting -additional details in Herndon's letters. In these, answering specific -questions or replying to definite statements, he now and then added -a statement which was not later included in his book, but which has -present interest and in some cases value. - -The following is an excerpt from a letter of Herndon to John E. -Remsburg, and bears in an important way on Lincoln's use of _Vestiges -of Creation_: - - "I had an excellent private library, probably the best in the city - for admired books. To this library Mr. Lincoln had, as a matter of - course, full and free access at all times. I purchased such books - as Locke, Kant, Fichte, Lewes; Sir William Hamilton's _Discussions - of Philosophy_; Spencer's _First Principles_, _Social Studies_, - etc.; Buckle's _History of Civilization_, and Lecky's _History of - Rationalism_. I also possessed the works of Parker, Paine, Emerson and - Strauss; Gregg's _Creed of Christendom_, McNaught on _Inspiration_, - Volney's _Ruins_, Feuerbach's _Essence of Christianity_, and other - works on Infidelity. Mr. Lincoln read some of these works. About the - year 1843[44] he borrowed the _Vestiges of Creation_ of Mr. James - W. Keys, of this city, and read it carefully. He subsequently read - the sixth edition of this work, which I loaned him. He adopted the - progressive and development theory as taught more or less directly in - that work. He despised speculation, especially in the metaphysical - world. He was purely a practical man."--REMSBURG: _Six Historic - Americans_, pp. 114-15. - -As already stated Dr. Smith's book _The Christian's Defence_ is -excessively rare. The edition was small; the argument which it -contained was modified with the progress of discovery; there was little -to keep in circulation the few copies of the book that survived. They -have nearly all disappeared. I have searched the second-hand shops -of the principal cities and the dusty duplicates of libraries with -repeated disappointment. For this reason, I have carried a complete -analysis of the book into the Appendix of this volume; for few who read -the present volume will be able to see the book itself. - -It is quite otherwise with _Vestiges of the Natural History of -Creation_. It was widely circulated, and copies of even the older -editions are not impossible to obtain. It can be purchased, new, at -very small cost.[45] But most of the editions that the reader will be -likely to find, if he seeks for them, are later than the one which -influenced Lincoln, and contain more or less of supplementary matter. - -Before passing to another subject, it will be well to say a further -word about this book, for a fuller discussion of which one may go to -Andrew D. White's _Conflict of Science with Theology_ and other learned -works. - -The author of this book was Robert Chambers,[46] one of the famous firm -of publishers, and himself an author of note. He was born in Peebles, -Scotland, July 10, 1802, and died at St. Andrews, March 17, 1871. He -was an author as well as publisher of books. He published this book -anonymously, and its authorship was not known for forty years. In 1884, -thirteen years after his death, his name appeared for the first time -upon the title page of a new edition. - -It was, in the author's own phrase, "the first attempt to connect the -natural sciences with the history of creation." - -From it Lincoln learned geology and comparative biology. In it he -found not only studies of the rocks, but also of the prenatal life of -man, as related in its successive stages to corresponding types in the -geological world. It was, in a word, an introduction to Darwin, which -appeared many years later. - -That many ministers denounced it as contradictory to the Bible we -know, and the author anticipated this, nor is this a matter which gives -us present concern. Some ministers believed it, and others, still -unconvinced, read it with an open mind and waited for more light. - -The important thing for us to know and clearly recognize is that in -this book Abraham Lincoln not only learned what Herndon considers, and -we are justified in considering, the essential theory of evolution, but -he learned that such a view of creation is consistent with faith in God -and the Bible. - -We shall not find it possible to overestimate the importance of this -discovery. Abraham Lincoln wrought out his philosophy of creation, -his scheme of cause and effect, his theory of the processes of nature -and life, under influences not atheistic nor hostile to religion, but -distinctly favorable to it. He learned of evolution, and was convinced -of its truth, from a book whose spirit and purpose was to present the -view in harmony with the Christian faith. - -The second, and subsequent editions, of _Vestiges_ were "Greatly -Amended by the Author," as the title page gave notice, and the changes -were partly to incorporate new scientific data, but more to make clear -the fact that the author's theory did not remove God from his universe, -as some critics had asserted, but like Butler's _Analogy_ had shown -that God is in His world, working through the processes of nature. -In 1846 appeared _Explanations: A Sequel to Vestiges of the Natural -History of Creation_, a thin volume added to carry still further this -double purpose, and doing it with marked success. The sixth edition -combined the two in one volume. - -It is interesting to learn that Lincoln, having read the first edition, -later procured and read the sixth, in which the religious spirit of the -author was made still more apparent. - -This was the book which gave to Lincoln his theory of creation, of -"miracles under law," and with one divine mind and purpose working -through it all. Lincoln read little of natural science and cared -practically nothing for philosophy, but he found in this book what he -needed of both; and he found them in a system whose soul and center was -the will of a righteous God. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -OTHER FORMATIVE BOOKS - - -WE do not know of any other books which deserve to be classed with the -two we have been considering in their relation to the formation of -Mr. Lincoln's religious ideas; but our inquiry is at a point where it -will be instructive to learn of any collateral influence which at this -period, the period of the 50's, after the death of Eddie, and before -his election as President, helped to give shape to his convictions. - -Mr. Lincoln did not unite with Dr. Smith's church. It is difficult -to think that it would have been possible for him to have done so. -Old-school Calvinism had its permanent influence upon him through his -Baptist antecedents, but while that of Dr. Smith came to him most -opportunely, it did not wholly meet his spiritual requirements. - -For many years Herndon was in regular correspondence with Theodore -Parker. They agreed in their view of the slavery question, and had much -in common in their religion. Herndon had Parker's theological books, -and Lincoln read them, not very thoroughly, perhaps, but with interest. - -About the same time, Mr. Jesse W. Fell, for whom he wrote the first -sketch of his life, presented him with the works of William E. Channing. - -When Herndon was gathering material to confute Dr. Reed, he assembled -very nearly everything that seemed to prove that Lincoln was not -orthodox, however far short it fell of proving him an infidel. Among -the rest he interviewed Fell, and from his statements made up this -report, which appeared in Lamon's book, and subsequently in Herndon's: - - "Mr. Jesse W. Fell of Illinois, who had the best opportunities of - knowing Mr. Lincoln intimately, makes the following statement of his - religious opinions, derived from repeated conversations with him on - the subject: - - "'Though everything relating to the character and history of this - extraordinary personage is of interest, and should be fairly stated to - the world, I enter upon the performance of this duty--for so I regard - it--with some reluctance, arising from the fact, that, in stating - my convictions on the subject, I must necessarily place myself in - opposition to quite a number who have written on this topic before - me, and whose views largely preoccupy the public mind. This latter - fact, whilst contributing to my embarrassment on this subject, is, - perhaps, the strongest reason, however, why the truth in this matter - should be fully disclosed; and I therefore yield to your request. If - there were any traits of character that stood out in bold relief in - the person of Mr. Lincoln, they were those of truth and candor. He - was utterly incapable of insincerity, or professing views on this or - any other subject he did not entertain. Knowing such to be his true - character, that insincerity, much more duplicity, were traits wholly - foreign to his nature, many of his old friends were not a little - surprised at finding, in some of the biographies of this great man, - statements concerning his religious opinions so utterly at variance - with his known sentiments. True, he may have changed or modified - those sentiments after his removal from among us, though this is - hardly reconcilable with the history of the man, and his entire - devotion to public matters during his four years' residence at the - national capital. It is possible, however, that this may be the proper - solution of this conflict of opinions; or, it may be, that, with no - intention on the part of anyone to mislead the public mind, those who - have represented him as believing in the popular theological views - of the times may have misapprehended him, as experience shows to be - quite common where no special effort has been made to attain critical - accuracy on a subject of this nature. This is the more probable - from the well-known fact, that Mr. Lincoln seldom communicated to - anyone his views on this subject. But, be this as it may, I have no - hesitation whatever in saying, that, whilst he held many opinions - in common with the great mass of Christian believers, he did not - believe in what are regarded as the orthodox or evangelical views of - Christianity. - - "'On the innate depravity of man, the character and office of the - great Head of the Church, the atonement, the infallibility of the - written revelation, the performance of miracles, the nature and design - of present and future rewards and punishments (as they are probably - called), and many other subjects, he held opinions utterly at variance - with what are usually taught in the church. I should say that his - expressed views on these and kindred topics were such as, in the - estimation of most believers, would place him entirely outside the - Christian pale. Yet, to my mind, such was not the true position, since - his principles and practices and the spirit of his whole life were of - the very kind we universally agree to call Christian; and I think this - conclusion is in no wise affected by the circumstance that he never - attached himself to any religious society whatever. - - "'His religious views were eminently practical, and are summed up, - as I think, in these two propositions: "the Fatherhood of God, and - the brotherhood of man." He fully believed in a superintending and - overruling Providence, that guides and controls the operations of - the world, but maintained that law and order, and not the violation - or suspension, are the appointed means by which this providence is - expressed. - - "'I will not attempt any specification of either his belief or - disbelief on various religious topics, as derived from conversations - with him at different times during a considerable period; but, as - conveying a general view of his religious or theological opinions, - will state the following facts. Some eight or ten years prior to - his death, in conversing with him upon this subject, the writer - took occasion to refer, in terms of approbation, to the sermons - and writings generally of Dr. W. E. Channing; and, finding he was - considerably interested in the statement I made of the opinions - held by that author, I proposed to present him [Lincoln] a copy of - Channing's entire works, which I soon after did. Subsequently, the - contents of these volumes, together with the writings of Theodore - Parker, furnished him, as he informed me, by his friend and law - partner, Mr. Herndon, became naturally the topics of conversation with - us; and though far from believing there was an entire harmony of views - on his part with either of those authors, yet they were generally much - admired and approved by him. - - "'No religious views with him seemed to find any favor, except of - the practical and rationalistic order; and if, from my recollections - on this subject, I was called upon to designate an author whose views - most nearly represented Mr. Lincoln's on this subject, I would say - that author was Theodore Parker. - - "'As you have asked from me a candid statement of my recollections on - this topic, I have thus briefly given them, with the hope that they - may be of some service in rightly settling a question about which--as - I have good reason to believe--the public mind has been greatly misled. - - "'Not doubting that they will accord, substantially, with your own - recollections, and that of his other intimate and confidential - friends, and with the popular verdict after this matter shall have - been properly canvassed, I submit them.'"--LAMON: _Life of Lincoln_, - pp. 490, 491, 492. - -Herndon was attempting to collect evidence that Lincoln was an infidel, -and what he obtained, and what essentially he was called to certify -and did certify in effect, was that Lincoln's views were in essential -accord with those of Theodore Parker and William Ellery Channing. -Theodore Parker was not an orthodox Christian according to the -standards of Dr. Smith's church, or of the church of which the present -writer is pastor, but he was a Christian, and a very brave and noble -Christian. William Ellery Channing's views were not in full accord with -the orthodoxy of his day, but he was a noble friend of God and man, and -a true Christian. - -I have already referred to the very loose and inexact way in which -Herndon and others use the term "infidel" as applied to Lincoln. Such -inexactness is subversive of all clear thinking. - -We are told, for instance, that he was an infidel, his views being -essentially those of Theodore Parker and William Ellery Channing. I -doubt if he ever read very deeply in the writings of these men; but -that he read portions of them and approved of some of their noblest and -most characteristic utterances, is certain. What were the discourses -of these two men which he must almost certainly have read if he read -anything of theirs? He would almost certainly have read Parker's -discourse on "The Transient and Permanent in Christianity," and that -on "Immortal Life," and Channing's Baltimore address and his discourse -on the Church. And these are just the sort of utterances which he -would have read with approval as he found them in these discourses of -Theodore Parker: - - "Compare the simpleness of Christianity, as Christ sets it forth on - the Mount, with what is sometimes taught and accepted in that honored - name, and what a difference! One is of God, one is of man. There is - something in Christianity which sects have not reached,--something - that will not be won, we fear, by theological battles, or the quarrels - of pious men; still we may rejoice that Christ is preached in any way. - The Christianity of sects, of the pulpit, of society, is ephemeral,--a - transitory fly. It will pass off and be forgot. Some new form will - take its place, suited to the aspect of the changing times. Each - will represent something of truth, but no one the whole. It seems - the whole race of man is needed to do justice to the whole of truth, - as 'the whole church to preach the whole gospel.' Truth is intrusted - for the time to a perishable ark of human contrivance. Though often - shipwrecked, she always comes safe to land, and is not changed by her - mishap. That pure ideal religion which Jesus saw on the mount of his - vision, and lived out in the lowly life of a Galilean peasant; which - transforms his cross into an emblem of all that is holiest on earth; - which makes sacred the ground he trod, and is dearest to the best of - men, most true to what is truest in them,--cannot pass away. Let men - improve never so far in civilization, or soar never so high on the - wings of religion and love, they can never outgo the flight of truth - and Christianity. It will always be above them. It is as if we were to - fly towards a star, which becomes larger and more bright the nearer - we approach, till we enter and are absorbed in its glory."--THEODORE - PARKER: _The Transient and Permanent in Christianity_, p. 31. - - "I would not slight this wondrous world. I love its day and night: - its flowers and its fruits are dear to me. I would not willfully lose - sight of a departing cloud. Every year opens new beauty in a star, - or in a purple gentian fringed with loveliness. The laws, too, of - matter seem more wonderful, the more I study them, in the whirling - eddies of the dust, in the curious shells of former life buried by - thousands in a grain of chalk, or in the shining diagrams of light - above my head. Even the ugly becomes beautiful when truly seen. I - see the jewel in the bunchy toad. The more I live, the more I love - this lovely world,--feel more its Author in each little thing, in all - that is great. But yet I feel my immortality the more. In childhood - the consciousness of immortal life buds forth feeble, though full of - promise. In the man it unfolds its fragrant petals, his most celestial - flower, to mature its seed throughout eternity. The prospect of that - everlasting life, the perfect justice yet to come, the infinite - progress before us, cheer and comfort the heart. Sad and disappointed, - full of self-reproach, we shall not be so forever. The light of heaven - breaks upon the night of trial, sorrow, sin: the somber clouds which - overhung the east, grown purple now, tell us the dawn of heaven is - coming in. Our faces, gleamed on by that, smile in the new-born glow. - We are beguiled of our sadness before we are aware. The certainty - of this provokes us to patience, it forbids us to be slothfully - sorrowful. It calls us to be up and doing. The thought that all will - at last be right with the slave, the poor, the weak, and the wicked, - inspires us with zeal to work for them here, and make it all right for - them even now."--THEODORE PARKER: _Immortality_, pp. 23-24. - -It is affirmed that Lincoln was an infidel, believing essentially the -same as Theodore Parker: and he himself expressed such admiration -for and accord with the utterances of Parker which he knew that the -statement is partly true. These two quotations, from two of the most -easily accessible of Parker's discourses, represent the kind of -teaching which Lincoln assimilated from Theodore Parker and show us -what kind of infidelity Lincoln learned from him. - -When Lincoln turned to the most widely circulated of Channing's -discourses, he read such utterances as these: - - "We regard the Scriptures as the records of God's successive - revelations to mankind, and particularly of the last and most perfect - revelation of His will by Jesus Christ. Whatever doctrines seem to us - to be clearly taught in the Scriptures, we receive without reserve or - exception. We do not, however, attach equal importance to all the - books in this collection. - - "Our leading principle in interpreting Scripture is this, that the - Bible is a book written for men, in the language of men, and that its - meaning is to be sought in the same manner as that of other books. We - believe that God, when He speaks to the human race, conforms, if we - may so say, to the established rules of speaking and writing. How else - would the Scriptures avail us more than if communicated in an unknown - tongue? - - "If God be infinitely wise, He cannot sport with the understandings of - His creatures. A wise teacher discovers his wisdom in adapting himself - to the capacities of his pupils, not in perplexing them with what is - unintelligible, not in distressing them with apparent contradictions, - not in filling them with a skeptical distrust of their own powers. An - infinitely wise teacher, who knows the precise extent of our minds, - and the best method of enlightening them, will surpass all other - instructors in bringing down truth to our apprehension, and in showing - its loveliness and harmony. We ought, indeed, to expect occasional - obscurity in such a book as the Bible, which was written for past and - future ages, as well as for the present. But God's wisdom is a pledge, - that whatever is necessary for _us_, and necessary for salvation, - is revealed too plainly to be mistaken, and too consistently to be - questioned, by a sound and upright mind. It is not the mark of wisdom - to use an unintelligible phraseology, to communicate what is above - our capacities, to confuse and unsettle the intellect by appearances - of contradiction. We honor our heavenly teacher too much to ascribe - to Him such a revelation. A revelation is a gift of light. It cannot - thicken our darkness, and multiply our perplexities. - - "We believe, too, that God is just; but we never forget that His - justice is the justice of a good being, dwelling in the same mind, - and acting in harmony with perfect benevolence. By this attribute, we - understand God's infinite regard to virtue or moral worth, expressed - in a moral government; that is, in giving excellent and equitable - laws, and in conferring such rewards and inflicting such punishments, - as are best fitted to secure their observance. God's justice has for - its end the highest virtue of the creation, and it punishes for this - end alone, and thus it coincides with benevolence; for virtue and - happiness, though not the same, are inseparably conjoined. - - "God's justice, thus viewed, appears to us to be in perfect harmony - with His mercy. According to the prevalent systems of theology, these - attributes are so discordant and jarring, that to reconcile them is - the hardest task, and the most wonderful achievement, of infinite - wisdom. To us they seem to be intimate friends, always at peace, - breathing the same spirit, and seeking the same end. By God's mercy, - we understand not a blind, instinctive compassion, which forgives - without reflection, and without regard to the interests of virtue. - This, we acknowledge, would be incompatible with justice, and also - with enlightened benevolence. God's mercy, as we understand it, - desires strongly the happiness of the guilty, but only through their - penitence."--W. E. CHANNING: Baltimore Discourse of 1819, _Passim_. - - "Inward sanctity, pure love, disinterested attachment to God and man, - obedience of heart and life, sincere excellence of character, this - is the one thing needful, this the essential thing in religion; and - all things else, ministers, churches, ordinances, places of worship, - all are but means, helps, secondary influences, and utterly worthless - when separated from this. To imagine that God regards any thing but - this, that He looks at any thing but the heart, is to dishonor Him, - to express a mournful insensibility to His pure character. Goodness, - purity, virtue, this is the only distinction in God's sight. This is - intrinsically, essentially, everlastingly, and by its own nature, - lovely, beautiful, glorious, divine. It owes nothing to time, to - circumstance to outward connections. It shines by its own light. It is - the sun of the spiritual universe. It is God himself dwelling in the - human soul. Can any man think lightly of it, because it has not grown - up in a certain church, or exalt any church above it? My friends, - one of the grandest truths of religion is the supreme importance of - character, of virtue, of that divine spirit which shone out in Christ. - The grand heresy is, to substitute any thing for this, whether creed, - or form, or church."--W. E. CHANNING: _Discourse on the Church_, pp. - 23-24. - -If Lincoln was made an infidel or confirmed in his infidelity by his -reading of William Ellery Channing, the foregoing is a reasonable -sample of the quality of his infidelity: for these are not only -characteristic utterances of Channing: they are among the utterances -which Lincoln was most certain to have had thrust into his hand, and -most likely to have read and to have approved. - -The author of this work is not a Unitarian, and he is ready, on any -proper occasion, to define to anyone who has a right to know, his own -opinions in contradistinction from those of the Unitarian churches. But -his loyalty to his own convictions lays upon him no obligation to be -unfair to men who hold opinions other than his own. It is to be noted -that it is Mr. Herndon, and not some bigoted exponent of orthodoxy, -who calls Theodore Parker an infidel. The present writer holds no -such opinion of Parker, nor yet of Channing. On the contrary, he is -of opinion that their writings were beneficial to Abraham Lincoln, -as helping him to define some of his own views constructively and -reverently. While Beecher or Bushnell might have done it as well or -better, it was not their books which Jesse Fell gave to Lincoln; and -Lincoln used what he had. To say that Lincoln's views were like those -of Parker or Channing is to affirm that Lincoln was not an infidel, but -a Christian. - -Was Lincoln, then, a Unitarian? - -No. Of Unitarianism he knew nothing, so far as we are informed. He knew -the views of certain Unitarians, and these assisted him at important -points in defining certain aspects of his faith. - -There have been rumors that Mr. Lincoln did come into actual contact -with organized Unitarianism. I have been interested in inquiring -whether this was true. During the Billy Sunday meetings in Paterson, -New Jersey, in 1916, the Unitarians opened a booth there for the -distribution of their literature, and there were certain communications -in the local press resulting from the counter-irritation of those -meetings. Among these was one in the Paterson _Guardian_, signed -"Once-in-Awhile." It said: - - "The following is, in part, a sketch of my own youthful experience, - together with a statement of facts that relate to others who long - since have passed on. - - "In 1851-52 the Chicago & Alton Railroad was being built, and I was - employed on a section of the work at that time. Our section extended - from Springfield, Illinois, to a little town called Chatham, situated - near the Sangamon River, a distance of about ten miles south from - Springfield. The majority of the people who had located in that part - of the country at that time were from the central part of New York - State, and among them was Elder Shipman, a Unitarian. He was a very - able preacher and 'made good' with all who knew him in the Sangamon - country. It was not long before he received a call to preach in - Springfield. The little Unitarian church there was located just around - the corner from Capitol Square. When Elder Shipman was permanently - located there, Abraham Lincoln became a regular and seemingly much - interested attendant. Nearly all of the boys in our 'gang' had known - Elder Shipman way back in New York State, and, there being no ball - games or other amusements save an occasional horse race, almost every - Sunday all hands would saddle horses and gallop to Springfield to - attend the services conducted there by our old-time pastor. At the - close of the regular service Mr. Lincoln was often called upon for a - few remarks, and many of his sayings are still fresh in my mind today, - although that was sixty-three years ago. Since then, in the quiet - hours that have passed, I often find myself looking back through the - mist of vanished years and fancy I feel the grip of his great, bony - hand in mine, or rather mine in his, and hear his kindly voice saying, - 'Boys, good-by, come again. Come often!' - - "I am not saying that Mr. Lincoln subscribed to the Unitarian articles - of faith, but I have good and sufficient reason to believe that he - did, and, if I am not mistaken, the proof is wanting that he ever - subscribed to faith in articles of any other religious denomination." - -I challenged the veracity of this letter, reprinting it in _The -Advance_, of which I was editor, and asking these questions: - - 1. Who is Mr. Once-in-Awhile, and why does he not sign his real name? - - 2. How does it happen that no one else of those who attended the - alleged Unitarian church in Springfield in the days when Lincoln is - supposed to have been there has risen up to tell this story some time - during the last half century; and why does it come to us from Paterson - and not from Springfield? - - 3. Who is this Elder Shipman concerning whom this letter tells us? We - are informed that the Unitarian Year Book shows no such man. - - 4. Where was this Unitarian church "just around the corner from - Capitol Square"? Around which corner, and what became of it? - - We are informed that there was no Unitarian church in Springfield - sixty-three years ago. We were not there and do not know: but if one - was there, where was it? When was it organized? Who were its ministers? - - 5. With so popular a preacher as Mr. Shipman appears to have been, is - it altogether likely that he would have made the habit of calling upon - a layman who attended his church to speak at the close of the service? - - 6. If Mr. Lincoln was in the habit of attending this Unitarian church, - how did the Presbyterian church of Springfield get the impression that - Mr. Lincoln attended there with his wife, and why did he continue to - attend the Presbyterian church after he went to Washington? - - 7. Lincoln is known to have said that if he knew any church whose - only creed was the command of Jesus to love God with all one's - heart and his neighbor as himself, he would join that church, and - Unitarians have frequently declared that if Mr. Lincoln had ever come - into contact with the Unitarian Church he must on the basis of that - declaration have united with it. We are not clear if their inference - is correct, but we are clear that there has been a very general - impression among Unitarians that he was not familiar with that church - and creed. - - We do not call in question the veracity of Mr. Once-in-Awhile, whoever - he may be. We merely do what we have done before, we ask for one or - two facts. If anybody knows that Abraham Lincoln habitually attended a - Unitarian church and frequently participated in its public service by - speaking at the close of the sermon, let him now speak or else forever - hold his peace. - -Everybody held his peace, including Mr. Once-in-Awhile! - - * * * * * - -Such stories are rarely made out of whole cloth. I therefore inquired -of the _Christian Register_ (Unitarian) and the _Christian Leader_ -(Universalist) to learn if they knew any basis of truth in the above -statement, and they did not know and were not able to learn anything -accurate about it. However, there came to me in the course of the -inquiry, which was of necessity not very thorough for lack of anything -definite to begin with, an impression, based on information too vague -to be cited, that there was a Mr. Shipman, a Universalist rather than -a Unitarian, whose occasional services in Springfield Mr. Lincoln -attended once or more and enjoyed. But this came to me very vaguely, -and may be far from the truth. - -Whether there be a ten per cent. modicum of fact at the root of the -above letter I will not attempt to guess, for my own information is too -meager. The picture, as a whole, of Mr. Lincoln preaching Unitarianism -from a Unitarian pulpit, and at the close assuming charge of the -service of farewell and exhorting the railroad hands to come again is -too far from the possible truth to require very close analysis. - -The Unitarian books which Mr. Lincoln read cursorily, the books by -Parker and Channing, must have assisted him in this, that they gave -assurance that there were forward-looking men who believed in God and -in human freedom as he did, and who were quite as far from holding the -teaching which he had been taught to call orthodox as he was, yet who -were not infidels, but counted themselves friends of God and disciples -of Jesus Christ. - -Herndon asserts that Lincoln habitually spoke in his presence in terms -of denial of the supernatural birth of Jesus. On this point I have seen -but one bit of documentary evidence, and that of unique interest, in -two words written in a book that once belonged to Lincoln. The book -is entitled _Exercises in the Syntax of the Greek Language_, by Rev. -William Nielson, D.D., and contains two appendixes by Prof. Charles -Anthon, noted as a Greek scholar and the author of a Greek Grammar and -other textbooks. It was published by T. & J. Swords in New York, in -1825. At the bottom of page 34 is a sentence, shortened and modified -from John 16:27, and printed in parallel Greek and English,-- - - "Ye have loved me, and - have believed that I came forth - from God." - -The words "from God" are erased with pen, and the words, "from nature" -substituted, apparently in the handwriting of Mr. Lincoln. This, if its -genuineness be established, would appear to be conclusive that at the -time Lincoln owned this book he denied the supernatural birth of Jesus. - -The book was formerly a part of the noted collection of Mr. John E. -Burton, procured by him from the collection of Dr. J. B. English, and -was retained by Mr. Burton with other unique items when his large -collection was broken up some years ago. I was privileged to examine -the book by A. C. McClurg & Co., in April, 1919; the book being then -and possibly still owned by them. - -That the book was once owned by Lincoln would appear certain. His -signature on the flyleaf is in his firm, mature hand, written as he was -accustomed to write it until some time after he became President, "A. -Lincoln." The ownership would appear to be still further attested by an -inscription on the inside of the front cover, "Compliments to Master -Abe Lincoln, and good success, truly yours, Charles Anthon, Columbia -College." But this inscription raises more questions than it answers. -I am not familiar with the handwriting of Professor Anthon, but I am -disposed to question the genuineness of this inscription. That it has -been received as genuine by previous owners of the book is attested -by the fact that another hand has written before "Columbia College" -the words "A Prof." evidently that Professor Anthon might be properly -introduced to persons who did not know him. Professor Anthon was a -noted classical scholar, but I cannot help wondering at what period of -his career he could have come into personal touch with Abraham Lincoln. -Not, certainly, in 1825, when the book was published, and when Lincoln -was sixteen years old. And at what later period would Professor Anthon -have addressed him as "Master Abe Lincoln"? - -If Anthon came to know Lincoln personally so as to care to present him -with one of his books, it would seem as if he would have given him a -book of which he was the sole or chief author, and not one in which his -part was confined to the appendix. Anthon's interest in the Greek was -primarily classical, and that of the author of this work was primarily -Biblical. If Anthon came to know Lincoln it would probably have been -after Lincoln had become a national figure, say in 1848 or some later -year, by which time a book issued in 1825 would have become an old -story to an author engaged in publishing new books. - -Let me, then, in the absence of direct evidence, venture the hypothesis -that the book was really owned by Lincoln; that it came into his -possession not earlier than the time when, having mastered Kirkham's -Grammar, he welcomed the ownership of a book which suggested the -possible knowledge of a classical tongue. That he bought the book -is hardly probable; that it was the gift of Professor Anthon is -improbable, because there would appear to have been no contact between -the two at a period when such a gift would have been appropriate: let -us assume, then, that someone else gave him the book, and that the -attribution to Professor Anthon is the conjectural record of a later -owner.[47] - -The book might conceivably have come into Lincoln's possession through -the Green boys, or the brother of Ann Rutledge, returning from Illinois -College to New Salem; for it was a book which might easily have been -floating around Jacksonville, and picked up by a student there, and -later discarded because he had no special interest in the Greek of the -New Testament. Lincoln would have been more likely to feel a passing -interest in it then than at any other period of his career, for he was -widening his educational horizon, and had not as yet set any limits -to his learning in one or another direction. He might have picked it -up, or it might have been handed him by some minister, during his -early years in Springfield; but by that time Lincoln must have given -up any passing notion that he might ever learn Greek. He could hardly -have procured it and would not have cared for it before he lived in -New Salem: he must have ceased to think of the possibility of learning -Greek before he had lived long in Springfield. - -I assume, also, that the erasure of the words "from God" and the -substitution of the words "from nature" is in Lincoln's hand; though -the two words are written at the very bottom of the page, with no -support for the hand, and are not as well written as the signature, and -their authenticity might be questioned. I am disposed to think that -he wrote it, and this, evidently, was the opinion of Mr. Burton, as -indicated by a note in the book in his handwriting. - -It might be mentioned in passing that the word "God" is not in this -verse in the New Testament, either Greek or English. It reads, "Ye have -loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father." Perhaps -if Dr. Nielson had followed the text literally, Lincoln would not have -troubled to amend it. - -I accept it as a genuine document, and one of real interest; but the -lack of a date makes it almost valueless as proof of Lincoln's settled -belief. I place it, conjecturally, in the New Salem period of his life, -though it may date from the beginning of his life in Springfield. - -I have not read the entire book, nor compared the Greek throughout -with the English, but I note that in this passage the English is not -translated from the Greek, but the Greek is translated backward from -the English, and that inexactly. I judge this to be not the effect of -bad scholarship but the result of a desire to convey a lesson. For -instance, the Greek of this passage is made into a personal confession -by the change of person in the first part of the verse, without -corresponding change in the second part, leaving the first verb without -a direct object, so that a literal translation reads,-- - - "I love and believe that I came forth from God." - -Dr. Nielson probably knew why he did it so, but Professor Anthon would -have been likely to say that that was not very good Greek syntax. It -served its purpose, however, as showing, what this section was intended -to show, the various uses of the Greek conjunctions. - -Lincoln, it may be presumed, got little if anything out of the Greek. -I find no mark of his except on this and the facing page. There he -found two admonitions which he boxed in, and made a note of them on the -false-title: - - 4. Deliberate slowly, but execute - promptly, the things which - have appeared unto thee proper - to be done. - - 5. Love, not the immoderate - acquisition, but the moderate enjoyment, - of present good. - -In the front of the book he wrote a reference to this, and added, - - Deliberate slowly but - execute promptly. - Think well and do your duty. - -These precepts seemed to impress him; and they were certainly -characteristic of him. But we can draw no very wide deduction from his -use of the Greek or the substitution of the word in the translation. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -CHITTENDEN AND CHINIQUY - - -TWO notable interviews touching the religious opinions of Mr. Lincoln -deserve record here. One is by Rev. Charles Chiniquy, some time priest -in the Roman Catholic Church, and afterward a strong Protestant. He had -been a client of Mr. Lincoln's in Illinois, and Mr. Lincoln trusted and -believed in him. He visited Mr. Lincoln in the White House, and there, -as before Mr. Lincoln's departure for Springfield, he warned him that -there were plots against the life of the President. - -The other is by Hon. L. E. Chittenden, who was chosen by Mr. Lincoln as -Register of the Treasury, and who was an honest and incorruptible man. - -Father Chiniquy visited Mr. Lincoln in the White House in August, 1861, -June, 1862, and June, 1864, for the purpose of warning Mr. Lincoln -of plots, which Father Chiniquy believed to be inspired by Jesuits, -against the life of Mr. Lincoln. On the last of these occasions, June -9, 1864, in the course of an extended interview, he reported Mr. -Lincoln as saying: - - "'You are not the first to warn me against the dangers of - assassination. My ambassadors in Italy, France, and England, as well - as Professor Morse, have, many times, warned me against the plots of - murderers whom they have detected in those different countries. But I - see no other safeguard against these murderers, but to be always ready - to die, as Christ advises it. As we must all die sooner or later, it - makes very little difference to me whether I die from a dagger plunged - through the heart or from an inflammation of the lungs. Let me tell - you that I have, lately, read a message in the Old Testament which has - made a profound, and, I hope, a salutary impression on me. Here is - that passage.' - - "The President took his Bible, opened it at the third chapter of - Deuteronomy, and read from the 22d to the 27th verse: - - "'"22. Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight - for you. - - "'"23. And I besought the Lord at that time, saying, - - "'"24. O Lord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, - and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that - can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? - - "'"25. I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is - beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. - - "'"26. But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not - hear me: and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more - unto me of this matter. - - "'"27. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes - westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it - with thine eyes; for thou shalt not go over this Jordan."' - - "After the President had read these words with great solemnity, he - added: - - "'My dear Father Chiniquy, let me tell you that I have read these - strange and beautiful words several times, these last five or six - weeks. The more I read them, the more it seems to me that God has - written them for me as well as for Moses. - - "'Has He not taken me from my poor log cabin, by the hand, as He did - Moses, in the reeds of the Nile, to put me at the head of the greatest - and most blessed of modern nations just as He put that prophet at - the head of the most blessed nation of ancient times? Has not God - granted me a privilege, which was not granted to any living man, when - I broke the fetters of 4,000,000 of men, and made them free? Has not - our God given me the most glorious victories over my enemies? Are - not the armies of the Confederacy so reduced to a handful of men, - when compared to what they were two years ago, that the day is fast - approaching when they will have to surrender? - - "'Now, I see the end of this terrible conflict, with the same joy of - Moses, when at the end of his trying forty years in the wilderness; - and I pray my God to grant me to see the days of peace and untold - prosperity, which will follow this cruel war, as Moses asked God to - see the other side of Jordan, and enter the Promised Land. But, do - you know, that I hear in my soul, as the voice of God, giving me the - rebuke which was given to Moses? - - "'Yes! every time that my soul goes to God to ask the favor of seeing - the other side of Jordan, and eating the fruits of that peace, after - which I am longing with such an unspeakable desire, do you know that - there is a still but solemn voice which tells me that I will see those - things only from a long distance, and that I will be among the dead - when the nation, which God granted me to lead through those awful - trials, will cross the Jordan, and dwell in that Land of Promise, - where peace, industry, happiness, and liberty will make everyone - happy; and why so? Because He has already given me favors which He - never gave, I dare say, to any man in these latter days. - - "'Why did God Almighty refuse to Moses the favor of crossing the - Jordan, and entering the Promised Land? It was on account of the - nation's sins! That law of divine retribution and justice, by which - one must suffer for another, is surely a terrible mystery. But it is - a fact which no man who has any intelligence and knowledge can deny. - Moses, who knew that law, though he probably did not understand it - better than we do, calmly says to his people: "God was wroth with me - for your sakes." - - "'But, though we do not understand that mysterious and terrible law, - we find it written in letters of tears and blood wherever we go. We do - not read a single page of history without finding undeniable traces of - its existence. - - "'Where is the mother who has not shed real tears and suffered real - tortures, for her children's sake? - - "'Who is the good king, the worthy emperor, the gifted chieftain, who - has not suffered unspeakable mental agonies, or even death, for his - people's sake? - - "'Is not our Christian religion the highest expression of the wisdom, - mercy, and love of God! But what is Christianity if not the very - incarnation of that eternal law of Divine justice in our humanity? - - "'When I look on Moses, alone, silently dying on the Mount Pisgah, I - see that law, in one of its most sublime human manifestations, and I - am filled with admiration and awe. - - "'But when I consider that law of justice, and expiation in the death - of the Just, the divine Son of Mary, on the Mount of Calvary, I remain - mute in my adoration. The spectacle of the Crucified One which is - before my eyes is more than sublime, it is divine! Moses died for his - People's sake, but Christ died for the whole world's sake! Both died - to fulfill the same eternal law of the Divine justice, though in a - different measure. - - "'Now, would it not be the greatest of honors and privileges bestowed - upon me, if God in His infinite love, mercy, and wisdom would put me - between His faithful servant, Moses, and His eternal Son, Jesus, that - I might die as they did, for my nation's sake! - - "'My God alone knows what I have already suffered for my dear - country's sake. But my fear is that the justice of God is not yet - paid. When I look upon the rivers of tears and blood drawn by the - lashes of the merciless masters from the veins of the very heart of - those millions of defenseless slaves, these two hundred years; when - I remember the agonies, the cries, the unspeakable tortures of those - unfortunate people to which I have, to some extent, connived with so - many others a part of my life, I fear that we are still far from the - complete expiation. For the judgments of God are true and righteous. - - "'It seems to me that the Lord wants today, as He wanted in the days - of Moses, another victim--a victim which He has himself chosen, - anointed and prepared for the sacrifice, by raising it above the rest - of His people. I cannot conceal from you that my impression is that I - am the victim. So many plots have already been made against my life, - that it is a real miracle that they have all failed. But can we expect - that God will make a perpetual miracle to save my life? I believe not. - - "'But just as the Lord heard no murmur from the lips of Moses, when He - told him that he had to die before crossing the Jordan, for the sins - of his people, so I hope and pray that He will hear no murmur from me - when I fall for my nation's sake. - - "'The only two favors I ask of the Lord are, first, that I may die for - the sacred cause in which I am engaged, and when I am the standard - bearer of the rights and privileges of my country. - - "'The second favor I ask from God is that my dear son, Robert, when I - am gone, will be one of those who lift up that flag of Liberty which - will cover my tomb, and carry it with honor and fidelity to the end - of his life, as his father did, surrounded by the millions who will - be called with him to fight and die for the defense and honor of our - country.' - - "'Never had I heard such sublime words,' says Father Chiniquy. 'Never - had I seen a human face so solemn and so prophet-like as the face of - the President when uttering these things. Every sentence had come to - me as a hymn from heaven, reverberated by the echoes of the mountains - of Pisgah and Calvary. I was beside myself. Bathed in tears, I tried - to say something, but I could not utter a word. I knew the hour to - leave had come. I asked from the President permission to fall on - my knees and pray with him that his life might be spared; and he - knelt with me. But I prayed more with my tears and sobs than with my - words. Then I pressed his hand on my lips and bathed it with tears, - and with a heart filled with an unspeakable desolation, I bade him - adieu.'"--_Fifty Years in the Church of Rome_, pp. 706-10. - -Hon. L. E. Chittenden, Register of the Treasury under Lincoln, gives -this testimony to Lincoln's religious character: - - "In the Presidential campaign of 1864 there were sullen whisperings - that Mr. Lincoln had no religious opinions nor any interest in - churches or Christian institutions. They faded away with other libels, - never to be renewed until after his death. One of his biographers, - who calls himself the 'friend and partner for twenty years' of the - deceased President, has since published what he calls a history of his - life, in which he revives the worst of these rumors, with additions - which, if true, would destroy much of the world's respect for Mr. - Lincoln. He asserts that his 'friend and partner' was 'an infidel - verging towards atheism.' Others have disseminated these charges - in lectures and fugitive sketches so industriously that they have - produced upon strangers some impression of their truth. The excuse - alleged is, their desire to present Mr. Lincoln to the world 'just as - he was.' Their real purpose is to present him just as they would have - him to be, as much as possible like themselves. - - "It is a trait of the infidel to parade his unbelief before the - public, and he thinks something gained to himself when he can show - that others are equally deficient in moral qualities. But these - writers have attempted too much. Their principal charge of infidelity, - tinged with atheism, is so completely at variance with all our - knowledge of his opinions that its origin must be attributed to malice - or to a defective mental constitution. - - "His sincerity and candor were conspicuous qualities of Mr. Lincoln's - mind. Deception was a vice in which he had neither experience nor - skill. All who were admitted to his intimacy will agree that he was - incapable of professing opinions which he did not entertain. When we - find him at the moment of leaving his home for Washington, surrounded - by his neighbors of a quarter of a century, taking Washington for - his exemplar, whose success he ascribed 'to the aid of that Divine - Providence upon which he at all times relied,' and publicly declaring - that he, himself, 'placed his whole trust in the same Almighty Being, - and the prayers of Christian men and women'; when, not once or twice, - but on all proper, and more than a score of subsequent occasions, he - avowed his faith in an Omnipotent Ruler, who will judge the world in - righteousness--in the Bible as the inspired record of His history and - His law; when with equal constancy he thanked Almighty God for, and - declared his interest in, Christian institutions and influences as the - appointed means for his effective service, we may assert that we know - that he was neither an atheist nor an infidel, but, on the contrary, a - sincere believer in the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. - In fact, he believed so confidently that the Almighty was making use - of the war, of himself, and other instrumentalities in working out - some great design for the benefit of humanity, and his belief that he - himself was directed by the same Omniscient Power was expressed with - such frankness and frequency, that it attracted attention, and was - criticized by some as verging towards superstition. His public life - was a continuous service of God and his fellow-man, controlled and - guided by the golden rule, in which there was no hiatus of unbelief or - incredulity. - - "Here I might well stop, and submit that these charges do not deserve - any further consideration. But I know how false they are, and I may - be excused if I record one of my sources of knowledge. - - "The emphatic statement made by the President to Mr. Fessenden, - that he was called to the Presidency by a Power higher than human - authority, I have already mentioned. His calm serenity at times - when others were so anxious, his confidence that his own judgment - was directed by the Almighty, so impressed me that, when I next had - the opportunity, at some risk of giving offense, I ventured to ask - him directly how far he believed the Almighty actually directed our - national affairs. There was a considerable pause before he spoke, and - when he did speak, what he said was more in the nature of a monologue - than an answer to my inquiry: - - "'That the Almighty does make use of human agencies, and directly - intervenes in human affairs, is,' he said, 'one of the plainest - evidences of His direction, so many instances when I have been - controlled by some other power than my own will, that I cannot doubt - that this power comes from above. I frequently see my way clear to - a decision when I am conscious that I have no sufficient facts upon - which to found it. But I cannot recall one instance in which I have - followed my own judgment, founded upon such a decision, where the - results were unsatisfactory; whereas, in almost every instance where I - have yielded to the views of others, I have had occasion to regret it. - I am satisfied that when the Almighty wants me to do or not to do a - particular thing, He finds a way of letting me know it. I am confident - that it is His design to restore the Union. He will do it in His own - good time. We should obey and not oppose His will.' - - "'You speak with such confidence,' I said, 'that I would like to know - how your knowledge that God acts directly upon human affairs compares - in certainty with your knowledge of a fact apparent to the senses--for - example, the fact that we are at this moment here in this room.' - - "'One is as certain as the other,' he answered, 'although the - conclusions are reached by different processes. I know by my senses - that the movements of the world are those of an infinitely powerful - machine, which runs for ages without a variation. A man who can put - two ideas together knows that such a machine requires an infinitely - powerful maker and governor: man's nature is such that he cannot take - in the machine and keep out the maker. This maker is God--infinite - in wisdom as well as in power. Would we be any more certain if we saw - Him?' - - "'I am not controverting your position,' I said. 'Your confidence - interests me beyond expression. I wish I knew how to acquire it. Even - now, must it not all depend on our faith in the Bible?' - - "'No. There is the element of personal experience,' he said. 'If - it did, the character of the Bible is easily established, at least - to my satisfaction. We have to believe many things which we do not - comprehend. The Bible is the only one that claims to be God's Book--to - comprise His law--His history. It contains an immense amount of - evidence of its own authenticity. It describes a governor omnipotent - enough to operate this great machine, and declares that He made it. - It states other facts which we do not fully comprehend, but which we - cannot account for. What shall we do with them? - - "'Now let us treat the Bible fairly. If we had a witness on the stand - whose general story we knew was true, we would believe him when he - asserted facts of which we had no other evidence. We ought to treat - the Bible with equal fairness. I decided a long time ago that it was - less difficult to believe that the Bible was what it claimed to be - than to disbelieve it. It is a good book for us to obey--it contains - the ten commandments, the golden rule, and many other rules which - ought to be followed. No man was ever the worse for living according - to the directions of the Bible.' - - "'If your views are correct, the Almighty is on our side, and we ought - to win without so many losses----' - - "He promptly interrupted me and said, 'We have no right to criticize - or complain. He is on our side, and so is the Bible, and so are - churches and Christian societies and organizations--all of them, so - far as I know, almost without an exception. It makes me strong and - more confident to know that all the Christians in the loyal States are - praying for our success, that all their influences are working to the - same end. Thousands of them are fighting for us, and no one will say - that an officer or a private is less brave because he is a praying - soldier. At first, when we had such long spells of bad luck, I used to - lose heart sometimes. Now I seem to know that Providence has protected - and will protect us against any fatal defeat. All we have to do is to - trust the Almighty and keep right on obeying His orders and executing - His will.' - - "I could not press inquiry further. I knew that Mr. Lincoln was - no hypocrite. There was an air of such sincerity in his manner of - speaking, and especially in his references to the Almighty, that no - one could have doubted his faith unless the doubter believed him - dishonest. It scarcely needed his repeated statements that 'whatever - shall appear to be God's will, that will I do,' his special gratitude - to God for victories, or his numerous expressions of his firm faith - that God willed our final triumph, to convince the American people - that he was not and could not be an atheist or an infidel. - - "He has written of the Bible, that 'this great Book of God is the best - gift which God has ever given to man,' and that 'all things desirable - for man to know are contained in it.' His singular familiarity with - its contents is even stronger evidence of the high place it held in - his judgment. His second inaugural address shows how sensibly he - appreciated the force and beauty of its passages, and constitutes an - admirable application of its truths, only possible as the result of - familiar use and thorough study. - - "Further comment cannot be necessary. Abraham Lincoln accepted - the Bible as the inspired word of God--he believed and faithfully - endeavored to live according to the fundamental principles and - doctrines of the Christian faith. To doubt either proposition is to - be untrue to his memory, a disloyalty of which no American should be - guilty."--CHITTENDEN: _Recollections of President Lincoln and His - Administration_, pp. 446-51. - -These two incidents call for no extended comment. That in each of -them the literary style is more like that of the narrator than it is -like the style of Mr. Lincoln is evident, and there is other apparent -evidence that the incidents were colored by the imagination of the two -men who related them. But neither of them was a lie. And, when we make -due deductions, each contains a basis of fact in accord with what we -might have expected Lincoln to say. - -For instance, the assurance which he expressed to Chittenden that God -had called him to his work as President, and that he was fulfilling -divine destiny, is fully in accord with the strong conviction of -predestination which he had received in his youth, and which was so -marked that his partners took it as a mark of selfish superiority. He -did feel, and felt so strongly that he sometimes seemed to be oblivious -to other and correlative truths, that God had called him to a great -task, and that he would live till it was accomplished, plots or no -plots. But he had a gloomy foreboding that he would not live much -longer. His conviction of predestination had in it a compelling sense -of destiny and almost of doom, a conviction of Divinity shaping his -ends, even though he rough-hewed them. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE BEECHER AND SICKLES INCIDENTS - - -AMONG the many stories of President Lincoln's religious life, one of -the most impressive concerns an alleged visit of the President to the -home of Henry Ward Beecher and the spending of a night in prayer by -these two men. The story is as follows: - - "Following the disaster of Bull Run, when the strength and resources - of the nation seemed to have been wasted, the hopes of the North were - at their lowest ebb, and Mr. Lincoln was well-nigh overwhelmed with - the awful responsibility of guiding the nation in its life struggle. - Henry Ward Beecher, of Brooklyn, was, perhaps, more prominently - associated with the cause of the North at that time than any other - minister of the gospel. He had preached and lectured and fought its - battles in pulpit and press all over the country, had ransomed slaves - from his pulpit, and his convictions and feelings were everywhere - known. - - "Late one evening a stranger called at his home and asked to see - him. Mr. Beecher was working alone in his study, as was his custom, - and this stranger refused to send up his name, and came muffled - in a military cloak which completely hid his face. Mrs. Beecher's - suspicions were aroused, and she was very unwilling that he should - have the interview which he requested, especially as Mr. Beecher's - life had been frequently threatened by sympathizers with the - South. The latter, however, insisted that his visitor be shown up. - Accordingly, the stranger entered, the doors were shut, and for hours - the wife below could hear their voices and their footsteps as they - paced back and forth. Finally, toward midnight, the mysterious visitor - went out, still muffled in his cloak, so that it was impossible to - gain any idea of his features. - - "The years went by, the war was finished, the President had suffered - martyrdom at his post, and it was not until shortly before Mr. - Beecher's death, over twenty years later, that he made known that the - mysterious stranger who had called on that stormy night was Abraham - Lincoln. The stress and strain of those days and nights of struggle, - with all the responsibilities and sorrows of a nation fighting for - its life resting upon him, had broken his strength, and for a time - undermined his courage. He had traveled alone in disguise and at night - from Washington to Brooklyn, to gain the sympathy and help of one whom - he knew as a man of God, engaged in the same great battle in which he - was the leader. Alone for hours that night, like Jacob of old, the - two had wrestled together in prayer with the God of battles and the - Watcher over the right until they had received the help which He had - promised to those that seek His aid." - -Dr. Johnson endeavored to investigate this story for his book, _Lincoln -the Christian_.[48] The evidence seemed to him sufficient to justify -him in including it in his volume. It rests on the explicit statement -of Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher and was communicated to the public through -some of her grandchildren. This, surely, is evidence that cannot be -wholly disregarded. Mr. Samuel Scoville, Jr., a lawyer in Philadelphia, -a grandson of Henry Ward Beecher, confirmed the accuracy of the story -as here given, saying that this was the form in which his grandmother -had related the story to her grandchildren. - -Another grandson, Rev. David G. Downey, D.D., Book Editor of the -Methodist Book Concern of New York said: - - "It has always seemed to me to be a perfectly possible situation. It - has never, however, been corroborated by any of the members of the - family. It rests entirely upon the statement of Mrs. Beecher in her - old age."--_Lincoln the Christian_, p. 201. - -Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher was a truthful woman. She did not manufacture -an incident of this character, but the incident is highly improbable. -It would be ungracious to point out in detail the elements of weakness -in the story. - -Let one consideration alone be stated. The publishers of the _North -American Review_ gathered from the leading men of America a series of -chapters in which each man related his own personal reminiscences of -Abraham Lincoln. That volume is still easily obtained and is a valuable -mine of information. Among the other men who contributed to it was -Henry Ward Beecher. He wrote a chapter in which he told in detail of -his personal association with Mr. Lincoln. This incident finds no -mention there nor anything remotely resembling it. - -If Mr. Lincoln had felt disposed to visit Mr. Beecher for a purpose of -this character, he knew very well that the easier and safer and far -less embarrassing way was to invite Mr. Beecher to the White House -to see him. Beecher was no stranger in Washington at this time and -Lincoln had the telegraph wires under his control and did not hesitate -to use them when there was need. Beecher made at least one journey to -Washington to confer with Lincoln on a matter of editorial policy. His -well-known sympathy with the President was such that no explanation -need have been made of his taking a train from New York on any day -and spending an evening in Washington. A message in the morning would -have brought Beecher there by night and no one either in Washington -or New York would have thought of it as strange. On the other hand, -the absence of the President from Washington at a time as critical as -that immediately following the Battle of Bull Run and with no one able -to account for his absence from the Capitol or with any knowledge of -the errand that had taken him away is well-nigh preposterous. Such an -absence might have given rise to the wildest rumors of the President's -abduction or murder. Lincoln was too prudent a man, too shrewd and -cautious a man, too deeply concerned for the possible effect of so -rash and needless a journey; too deeply chagrined over the criticisms -of his alleged entering into Washington in disguise at the time of his -inauguration, to have done the thing which Mrs. Beecher, when a very -old woman, imagined him to have done. - -Mr. Beecher was editor of _The Christian Union_ and had occasion to -write about Abraham Lincoln, and he wrote nothing of this kind. In -his sermons and in his lectures he had frequent occasion to mention -Lincoln, and no story of this sort is related as having come from him. -Mr. Beecher knew too well the homiletic and editorial value of such an -incident not to have related it if it had occurred. - -Someone came to see him one stormy night and the two lingered long -together in prayer. For some doubtless good reason Mr. Beecher did -not tell his family the name of the man with whom he had spent those -earnest hours. Many years afterward, Lincoln and Beecher both being -dead, Mrs. Beecher recalled the event and satisfied herself that it was -Mr. Lincoln who had come from Washington to see her husband and spend -some hours in prayer with him. - -This is the reasonable explanation, as it seems to me, of an incident -which has had rather wide currency but which we are not justified in -accepting on the unsupported testimony of even so good a woman as Mrs. -Beecher in her old age. - -An incident of remarkable interest, attested as authentic by two -generals of the Civil War, is related by General James F. Rusling, in -his _Men and Things in Civil War Days_: - - General D. E. Sickles was wounded at Gettysburg, and brought to - Washington, where a leg was amputated. President Lincoln called upon - him, and in reply to a question from General Sickles whether or not - the President was anxious about the battle at Gettysburg, Lincoln - gravely said, 'No, I was not; some of my Cabinet and many others in - Washington were, but I had no fears.' General Sickles inquired how - this was, and seemed curious about it. Mr. Lincoln hesitated, but - finally replied: 'Well, I will tell you how it was. In the pinch of - your campaign up there, when everybody seemed panic-stricken, and - nobody could tell what was going to happen, oppressed by the gravity - of our affairs, I went to my room one day, and I locked the door, and - got down on my knees before Almighty God, and prayed to Him mightily - for victory at Gettysburg. I told Him that this was His war, and our - cause His cause, but we couldn't stand another Fredericksburg or - Chancellorsville. And I then and there made a solemn vow to Almighty - God, that if He would stand by our boys at Gettysburg, I would stand - by Him. And He _did_ stand by you boys, and I _will_ stand by Him. - And after that (I don't know how it was, and I can't explain it), - soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul that God Almighty had taken - the whole business into his own hands and that things would go all - right at Gettysburg. And that is why I had no fears about you.' Asked - concerning Vicksburg, the news of which victory had not yet reached - him, he said, 'I have been praying for Vicksburg also, and believe - our Heavenly Father is going to give us victory there, too.' General - Rusling says that Mr. Lincoln spoke 'solemnly and pathetically, as - if from the depth of his heart,' and that his manner was deeply - touching."[49] - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -"BEHIND THE SCENES" - - -THE family of the President of the United States ought to be permitted -a reasonable degree of privacy, but this has never yet been accorded -them. In the case of the family of President Lincoln the rudeness of -the public was shameful. It is not our present purpose to intrude into -the domestic life of Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, and if we shall ever do so -hereafter it will be, let us hope, with more of consideration than some -critics have shown. - -After the death of Mr. Lincoln, a number of books and articles appeared -which gave close and intimate glimpses of the life of President and -Mrs. Lincoln during the four years which they spent in the White House. -We shall examine two or three of these only in so far as they relate to -Mr. Lincoln's religious life. - -For four years Mrs. Lincoln had with her in the White House as -dressmaker and attendant Mrs. Elizabeth Keckley, an intelligent colored -woman. In 1868 Mrs. Keckley published a book entitled _Behind the -Scenes_.[50] It related many intimate details of life in the Lincoln -household, with much about Mrs. Lincoln's extravagances of expenditure -and infirmities of temper, and some things about Mr. Lincoln. It is a -most informing book, though one containing many details which had been -as well unprinted. Its general truthfulness is attested by its internal -evidence. Of Lincoln's anxiety when battles were in progress, and of -the relief which he sought in agonized prayer, she tells, and with -apparent truthfulness. Of one battle she relates: - - "One day he came into the room where I was fitting a dress for Mrs. - Lincoln. His step was slow and heavy, and his face sad. Like a tired - child he threw himself upon the sofa, and shaded his eyes with his - hands. He was a complete picture of dejection. Mrs. Lincoln, observing - his troubled look, asked: - - "'Where have you been?' - - "'To the War Department,' was the brief, almost sullen answer. - - "'Any news?' - - "'Yes, plenty of news, but no good news. It is dark, dark everywhere.' - - "He reached forth one of his long arms and took a small Bible from a - stand near the head of the sofa, opened the pages of the Holy Book, - and soon was absorbed in reading them. A quarter of an hour passed, - and on glancing at the sofa the face of the President seemed more - cheerful. The dejected look was gone, and the countenance was lighted - up with new resolution and hope. The change was so marked that I could - not but wonder at it, and wonder led to the desire to know what book - of the Bible afforded so much comfort to the reader. Making the search - for a missing article an excuse, I walked gently around the sofa, and, - looking into the open book, I discovered that Mr. Lincoln was reading - that divine comforter, Job. He read with Christian eagerness, and the - courage and the hope that he derived from the inspired pages made him - a new man."--_Behind the Scenes_, p. 118. - -Mrs. Keckley helped prepare the body of Willie for burial. She relates: - - "When Willie died, as he lay on the bed, Mr. Lincoln came to the bed, - lifted the cover from the face of his child, gazed at it long and - earnestly, murmuring: 'My poor boy, he was too good for this earth. - God has called him home. I know that he is much better off in heaven, - but then we loved him so. It is hard, hard to have him die!'"--_Behind - the Scenes_, p. 103. - - "Mrs. Rebecca R. Pomeroy, a Christian woman from Chelsea, - Massachusetts, who had come to nurse the Lincoln children in their - sickness, speaks of Lincoln's great affliction and sadness. On the - morning of the funeral she assured him that many Christians were - praying for him. With eyes suffused with tears, he replied: 'I am - glad to hear that. I want them to pray for me. I need their prayers.' - Mrs. Pomeroy expressed her sympathy with him as they were going out - to the burial. Thanking her gently, he said, 'I will try to go to - God with my sorrows.' She asked him a few days after if he could not - trust God. With deep religious feeling, he replied: 'I think I can, - and I will try. I wish I had that childlike faith you speak of, and - I trust He will give it to me.' Then the memory of his mother filled - his mind with tenderest recollections, and he said: 'I had a good - Christian mother, and her prayers have followed me thus far through - life.'"--_Lincoln Scrapbook_, Library of Congress, p. 54. - -Mrs. Pomeroy was a Baptist, and had recently buried her husband. She -volunteered for service as a nurse in the soldiers' hospitals in -Washington, and in the serious illness of Mr. Lincoln's two sons she -was installed as nurse in the White House and remained these several -months. - -She relates that she frequently saw him reading his mother's Bible, and -that he found especial comfort in the Psalms. - -Mrs. Pomeroy relates: - - "On July 9, 1863, while sitting at the dinner table he could not eat, - for he seemed so full of trouble as he said, 'The battle of Port - Hudson is now going on, and many lives will be sacrificed on both - sides, but I have done the best I could, trusting in God, for if they - gain this important point, we are lost; and, on the other hand, if we - could only gain it we shall have gained much; and I think we shall, - for we have a great deal to thank God for, for we have Vicksburg and - Gettysburg already.' Mrs. Pomeroy said, 'Mr. Lincoln, prayer will do - what nothing else will; can you not pray?' 'Yes, I will,' he replied, - and while the tears were dropping from his face he said, 'Pray for - me,' and picked up a Bible and went to his room. 'Could all the people - of the nation have overheard the earnest petition that went up from - that inner chamber as it reached the ears of the nurse, they would - have fallen upon their knees with tearful and reverential sympathy.' - That night he received a dispatch announcing a Union victory. He went - directly to Mrs. Pomeroy's room, his face beaming with joy, saying: - 'Good news! Good news! Port Hudson is ours! The victory is ours, and - God is good.' When the lady replied, 'Nothing like prayer in times of - trouble,' Mr. Lincoln said, 'Yes, O yes--praise--prayer and praise go - together.' Mrs. Pomeroy in relating this incident, said, 'I do believe - he was a true Christian, though he had very little confidence in - himself.'" - -Most valuable, and also most familiar, of these intimate glimpses into -the life of Mr. Lincoln during his years in the White House is the -book of Frank B. Carpenter called, _Six Months in the White House: The -Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln_. The book was the work of the artist -who painted the large picture of the Signing of the Emancipation -Proclamation. For six months in 1864 he lived in the White House where -a room was fitted up for his use, and Mr. Lincoln and all the members -of the Cabinet sat to him repeatedly. It is hardly necessary to quote -this book, which is widely scattered, and everywhere available. It is -enough to remind ourselves that the picture it gives us of Mr. Lincoln -in those solemn days after the war had settled down to a clear issue of -slavery or freedom, and had become in the mind of the nation and the -world not a political but a moral issue, is one of dignity and heroism -and of definite Christian character. - -An incident following the death of Willie has been related on the -alleged authority of Rev. Francis Vinton, rector of Trinity Church, New -York, who was an acquaintance of Mrs. Lincoln and visited Washington -and called at the White House soon after that sad event. As reported, -he said to Mr. Lincoln: - - "'Your son is alive.' - - "'Alive!' exclaimed Mr. Lincoln. 'Surely you mock me.' - - "'No, sir; believe me,' replied Dr. Vinton; 'it is a most comforting - doctrine of the Church, founded upon the words of Christ Himself.' - - "Mr. Lincoln threw his arm around Dr. Vinton's neck, laid his head - upon his breast, and sobbed aloud, '_Alive? Alive?_' - - "Dr. Vinton, greatly moved, said: 'My dear sir, believe this, for it - is God's most precious truth. Seek not your son among the dead; he is - not there; he lives today in paradise! Think of the full import of the - words I have quoted. The Sadducees, when they questioned Jesus, had - no other conception than that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were dead and - buried. Mark the reply: "Now that the dead _are_ raised, even Moses - showed at the bush when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, the God - of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not the God of the dead, but - of the living, _for all live unto Him_!" Did not the great patriarch - mourn his sons as dead? "Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye - will take Benjamin, also!" But Joseph and Simeon were both living, - though he believed it not. Indeed, Joseph being taken from him was the - eventual means of the preservation of the whole family. And so God has - called your son into His upper kingdom--a kingdom and an existence as - real, more real, than your own. It may be that he too, like Joseph, - has gone, in God's good providence, to be the salvation of _his_ - father's household. It is a part of the Lord's plan for the ultimate - happiness of you and yours. Doubt it not.' - - "Dr. Vinton [so the narrative proceeds] told Lincoln that he had a - sermon upon the subject. Mr. Lincoln asked him to send it to him as - early as possible, and thanked him repeatedly for his cheering and - hopeful words. When Lincoln received the sermon he read it over and - over, and had a copy made for his own private use. A member of the - family said that Mr. Lincoln's views in relation to spiritual things - seemed changed from that hour."--CARPENTER, pp. 117-19. - -Such an incident cannot be wholly false; nor is it quite conceivable -that it is wholly true. That Lincoln talked with Dr. Vinton concerning -his recent sorrow, and was comforted by his assurance of immortality -is not improbable, nor that he accepted Dr. Vinton's sermon and had it -copied; but the scene as finally described for the public has every -appearance of being much colored. - -In 1883 Captain Oldroyd published a collection of Lincoln anecdotes -which had long been making, most of them good and many of them -excellent, but some of them resting on very dubitable authority. Among -those of this class was one that has been widely quoted, perhaps most -widely of any in his book:[51] - - "Shortly before his death an Illinois clergyman asked Lincoln, 'Do you - love Jesus?' Mr. Lincoln solemnly replied: 'When I left Springfield I - asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried - my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when - I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, - I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. Yes, I _do_ love Jesus.' - - "Reticent as he was, and shy of discoursing much of his own mental - exercises, these few utterances now have a value with those who knew - him which his dying words scarcely have possessed."--_Lincoln Memorial - Album_, p. 105. - -Where Captain Oldroyd obtained this incident is now not known; probably -it came to him as a newspaper clipping. It bears no marks that commend -it to our confidence. We are not informed who this Illinois clergyman -was; there may not have been any such clergyman. If there was,-- - - "_E'en ministers they hae been kenned - In holy rapture, - A rousing whid at times to vend, - And nail 't wi' Scripture._" - -Mr. Lincoln made many references to God, but very few to Jesus, and -then not by name, but by some title, as "the Saviour of the World." -The word "love" was one which he almost never used. That he should -have said to a man unnamed "I do love Jesus" is highly improbable; and -the account of his conversation as given here is not probable. We gain -nothing by reliance on such unsupported allegations. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -FROM THE HOUSETOPS AND IN THE CLOSET - - -THIS part of our inquiry draws near its close. We have reserved for -this chapter a selection from those religious expressions of Abraham -Lincoln which belong to his mature years, and which are indisputably -his. They are largely in addresses, proclamations, and official -documents. In them religion is, as a rule, an incidental subject. But -it finds frequent expression. - -Here no literary criticism is necessary, for there is no question -about the accuracy of the report. We shall quote nothing that is -not contained in an accredited compilation of Lincoln's papers or -addresses, omitting all that is disputable or open to the suspicion of -glossation or coloring or exaggeration. - -There is only one question, Was Abraham Lincoln sincere in these -utterances? Did he speak them as his own profound convictions, or -because he was expected to say something of this sort, and took refuge -in pious commonplaces? Both statements have been made concerning these -and like utterances. Let us read them with an open mind and discover -what evidence they bear of their own sincerity. - -These are not reports of private conversations, or utterances addressed -to small groups. These are the words which Lincoln uttered in the ears -of all men; and they afford some evidence of the faith that was in him. - - * * * * * - -In Lincoln's first annual Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, dated October -3, 1863, after reciting the blessings of God to the nation in the -harvest and in the success of our arms, he said: - - "No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out - these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, - who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless - remembered mercy. - - "It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, - reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one - voice by the American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow - citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at - sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and - observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving - and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And - I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly - due Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, - with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, - commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, - mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are - unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the - Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, - as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full - enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union." - -In the summer of 1864, a resolution was adopted concurrently by the -Senate and House of Representatives, requesting the President to -appoint a day of prayer, Mr. Lincoln issued the following proclamation, -July 7, 1864, in which, after quoting the words of the resolution, he -continued: - - "Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, - cordially concurring with the Congress of the United States in - the penitential and pious sentiments expressed in the aforesaid - resolutions, and heartily approving of the devotional design and - purpose thereof, do hereby appoint the first Thursday of August next - to be observed by the people of the United States as a day of national - humiliation and prayer. - - "I do hereby further invite and request the heads of the executive - departments of this government, together with all legislators, all - judges and magistrates, and all other persons exercising authority - in the land, whether civil, military, or naval, and all soldiers, - seamen, and marines in the national service and all the other loyal - and law-abiding people of the United States, to assemble in their - preferred places of public worship on that day, and there and then to - render to the Almighty and merciful Ruler of the Universe such homages - and such confessions, and to offer to Him such supplications, as the - Congress of the United States have, in their aforesaid resolution, so - solemnly, so earnestly, and so reverently recommended." - -Mr. Lincoln issued another special thanksgiving proclamation on May 9, -1864, saying: - - "Enough is known of army operations within the last five days to - claim an especial gratitude to God, while what remains undone demands - our most sincere prayers to, and reliance upon, Him without whom all - human effort is vain. I recommend that all patriots, at their homes, - in their places of public worship, and wherever they may be, unite in - common thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God." - -In a response to a serenade at the White House, on May 9, 1864, -following the Battle of the Wilderness, Mr. Lincoln said: - - "While we are grateful to all the brave men and officers for the - events of the past few days, we should, above all, be very grateful to - Almighty God, who gives us victory." - -May 18, 1864, in a letter of reply to a deputation of ministers -who presented to him resolutions adopted by the Methodist General -Conference, he said, "God bless the Methodist Church--bless all the -churches--and blessed be God, who, in this our great trial giveth us -the churches." - -In a letter to a committee consisting of the Rev. Dr. Ide, Honorable J. -R. Doolittle, and Honorable A. Hubbell, May 30, 1864, Mr. Lincoln says: - - "In response to the preamble and resolutions of the American Baptist - Home Mission Society, which you did me the honor to present, I can - only thank you for thus adding to the effective and almost unanimous - support which the Christian communities are so zealously giving to the - country, and to liberty. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive how it - could be otherwise with anyone professing Christianity, or even having - ordinary perceptions of right and wrong. To read the Bible, as the - word of God Himself, that 'In the sweat of _thy_ face shalt thou eat - bread,' and to preach therefrom that, 'In the sweat of _other men's_ - faces shalt thou eat bread,' to my mind can scarcely be reconciled - with honest sincerity. When brought to my final reckoning may I have - to answer for robbing no man of his goods; yet more tolerable even - this, than for robbing one of himself and all that was his. When, a - year or two ago, those professedly holy men of the South met in the - semblance of prayer and devotion, and, in the name of Him who said, - 'As ye would all men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them,' - appealed to the Christian world to aid them in doing to a whole race - of men as they would have no man do unto themselves, to my thinking - they contemned and insulted God and His church far more than did - Satan when he tempted the Saviour with the kingdoms of earth. The - devil's attempt was no more false, and far less hypocritical. But let - me forbear, remembering it is also written, 'Judge not, lest ye be - judged.'" - -On December 7, 1863, in making announcement of Union success in East -Tennessee, he closed as follows: "I recommend that all loyal people do, -on receipt of this information, assemble at their places of worship -and render special homage and gratitude to Almighty God for His great -advancement of the national cause." - -His Third Annual Message to Congress, December 8, 1863, began: "Another -year of health, and of sufficiently abundant harvests, has passed. -For these, and especially for the improved condition of our national -affairs, our renewed and profoundest gratitude to God is due." - -After the capture of Mobile and Atlanta, on September 3, 1864, Mr. -Lincoln issued his fourth special thanksgiving proclamation, calling on -all people to offer thanksgiving to God "for His mercy in preserving -our national existence"; and also "that prayer be made for divine -protection to our soldiers and their leaders in the field, who have so -often and so gallantly periled their lives in battling with the enemy; -and for blessings and comforts from the Father of Mercies to the sick, -wounded, and prisoners, and to the orphans and widows of those who have -fallen in the service of their country, and that He will continue to -uphold the Government of the United States against all the effects of -public enemies and secret foes." - -He issued a proclamation calling for thanksgiving for victories, July -15, 1863: - - "It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the supplication and - prayers of an afflicted people, and to vouchsafe to the army and navy - of the United States victories on land and on sea so signal and so - effective as to furnish reasonable grounds for augmented confidence - that the union of these States will be maintained, their Constitution - preserved, and their peace and prosperity permanently restored. But - these victories have been accorded not without sacrifice of life, - limb, health, and liberty, incurred by brave, loyal, and patriotic - citizens. Domestic affliction in every part of the country follows - in the train of these fearful bereavements. It is meet and right to - recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty Father and the - power of His hand equally in these triumphs and in these sorrows. - - "Now, therefore, be it known that I do set apart Thursday, the 6th - day of August next, to be observed as a day of national thanksgiving, - praise, and prayer, and I invite the people of the United States to - assemble on that occasion in their customary places of worship, and, - in the forms approved by their own consciences, render the homage - due to the Divine Majesty for the wonderful things He has done in - the nation's behalf, and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to - subdue the anger which has produced and so long sustained a needless - and cruel rebellion, to change the hearts of the insurgents, to guide - the counsels of the government with wisdom adequate to so great a - national emergency, and to visit with tender care and consolation - throughout the length and breadth of our land all those who, through - the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, battles, and sieges, have been - brought to suffer in mind, body, or estate, and finally to lead the - whole nation through the paths of repentance and submission to the - Divine Will back to the perfect enjoyment of union and fraternal - peace." - -On March 30, 1863, President Lincoln issued a proclamation appointing -another national fast-day. It reads as follows: - - "Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the - supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the - affairs of men and of nations has by a resolution requested the - President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and - humiliation: - - "And whereas, it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their - dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and - transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine - repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime - truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, - that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord: - - "And insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations, like - individuals, are subject to punishments and chastisements in this - world, and may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil - war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted - upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national - reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the - choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these many - years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, - and power as no other nation has ever grown; but we have forgotten - God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in - peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have - vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these - blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. - Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient - to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to - pray to the God who made us: - - "It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended - Power, and confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and - forgiveness: - - "Now, therefore, in compliance with the request and fully concurring - in the views of the Senate, I do by this my proclamation designate and - set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national - humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And I do hereby request all the - people to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular pursuits, - and to unite at their several places of public worship and their - respective homes in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to - the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn - occasion. All this being done in sincerity and truth, let us then rest - humbly in the hope authorized by divine teachings, that the united - cry of the nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings - no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of - our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of - unity and peace." - -In 1863 Washington's Birthday occurred on Sunday, and Rev. Alexander -Reed, superintendent of the United States Christian Commission, invited -Mr. Lincoln to preside at a meeting in the House of Representatives on -that day. In reply Mr. Lincoln said: "Whatever shall be sincerely, and -in God's name, devised for the good of the soldier and seaman in their -hard spheres of duty, can scarcely fail to be blest.... The birthday -of Washington and the Christian Sabbath coinciding this year, and -suggesting together the highest interests of this life and of that to -come, is most propitious for the meeting proposed." - -January 5, 1863, in reply to a letter, Mr. Lincoln wrote the following: - - "It is most cheering and encouraging for me that in the efforts which - I have made and am making for the restoration of a righteous peace - for our country, I am upheld and sustained by the good wishes and - prayers of God's people. No one is more deeply than myself aware that - without His favor our highest wisdom is but as foolishness and that - our most strenuous efforts would avail nothing in the shadow of His - displeasure." - - "I am conscious of no desire for my country's welfare that is not - in consonance with His will, and no plan upon which we may not ask - His blessing. It seems to me that if there be one subject upon which - all good men may unitedly agree, it is imploring the gracious favor - of the God of Nations upon the struggles our people are making for - the preservation of their precious birthright of civil and religious - liberty." - -Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862: - - "While it has not pleased the Almighty to bless us with a return of - peace, we can but press on, guided by the best light He gives us, - trusting that in His own good time and wise way all will be well." - -Reply to a committee of colored people who presented him with a Bible, -September 4, 1864: - - "This occasion would seem fitting for a lengthy response to the - address which you have just made. I would make one if prepared; but - I am not. I would promise to respond in writing had not experience - taught me that business will not allow me to do so. I can only say - now, as I have often before said, it has always been a sentiment with - me that all mankind should be free. So far as able, within my sphere, - I have always acted as I believe to be right and just; and I have - done all I could for the good of mankind generally. In letters and - documents sent from this office, I have expressed myself better than I - now can. - - "In regard to this great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift - God has given to man. All the good Saviour gave to the world was - communicated through this Book. But for it we could not know right - from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and - hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it. To you I return my most - sincere thanks for this very elegant copy of the great Book of God - which you present."--Complete Works of Lincoln by John G. Nicolay and - John Hay. New and Enlarged Edition, Twelve Volumes. New York: Francis - D. Tandy Company, 1905, X, 217-18. - -Compiling these and kindred passages from his authentic works, his -two secretaries, Nicolay and Hay, were impressed anew with the -manifest sincerity and deep religious conviction which they expressed. -Commenting upon these as a whole, and having particularly in mind -certain stories which given to the public could not, from their date -and nature, have been mere conventional expressions, and others so -manifestly personal that no consideration of the public opinion could -have had any weight with him, they said: - - "He was a man of profound and intense religious feeling. We have - no purpose of attempting to formulate his creed: we question if he - himself ever did so. There have been swift witnesses who, judging - from expressions uttered in his callow youth, have called him an - atheist; and others who, with the most laudable intentions, have - remembered improbable conversations which they bring forward to - prove at once his orthodoxy and their own intimacy with him. But - leaving aside these apocryphal endeavors, we have only to look at his - authentic public and private utterances to see how deep and strong - in all the latter part of his life was the current of his religious - thought and emotion. He continually invited and appreciated, at - their highest value, the prayers of good people. The pressure of - the tremendous problems by which he was surrounded; the awful moral - significance of the conflict in which he was the chief combatant; the - overwhelming sense of personal responsibility which never left him - for an hour--all contributed to produce, in a temperament naturally - serious and predisposed to a spiritual view of life and conduct, a - sense of reverent acceptance of the guidance of a superior Power. - From the morning when, standing amid the falling snowflakes in the - railway car at Springfield, he asked the prayers of his neighbors in - those touching phrases whose echo rose that night in invocations from - thousands of family altars, to that memorable hour when on the steps - of the Capitol he humbled himself before his Creator in the sublime - words of the Second Inaugural, there is not an expression known - to have come from his lips or pen but proves that he held himself - answerable in every act of his career to a more august tribunal - than any on earth. The fact that he was not a communicant of any - church, and that he was singularly reserved in regard to his personal - religious life, gives only the greater force to these striking proofs - of his profound reverence and faith. - - "In final substantiation of this assertion, we subjoin two papers - from the hand of the President, one official and the other private, - which bear within themselves the imprint of a sincere devotion and - a steadfast reliance upon the power and benignity of an overruling - Providence. The first is an order which he issued on the 16th of - November, 1864, in the observance of Sunday. - -Lincoln's Sunday Rest Order, November 15, 1862: - - "The President, Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy, desires and - enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and - men in the military and naval service. The importance for man and - beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian - soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiments of - a Christian people, and a due regard for the Divine Will, demand that - Sunday labor in the army and navy be reduced to the measure of strict - necessity. - - "The discipline and character of the national forces should not - suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled by the profanation - of the day or name of the Most High. 'At this time of public - distress'--adopting the words of Washington in 1776--'men may - find enough to do in the service of God and their Country without - abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.' The first general - order issued by the Father of his Country, after the Declaration of - Independence, indicates the spirit in which our institutions were - founded and should ever be defended. 'The General hopes and trusts - that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a - Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his - country.' - - "The date of this remarkable order leaves no possibility for the - insinuation that it sprang from any political purposes or intention. - Mr. Lincoln had just been re-elected by an overwhelming majority; his - own personal popularity was unbounded; there was no temptation for - hypocrisy or deceit. There is no explanation of the order except that - it was the offspring of sincere convictions. - - "But if it may be said that this was, after all, an exoteric utterance - springing from those relations of religion and good government which - the wisest rulers have always recognized in their intercourse with - the people, we will give another document of which nothing of the - sort can be said. It is a paper which Mr. Lincoln wrote in September, - 1862, while his mind was burdened with the weightiest question of his - life,--the weightiest with which this country has had to grapple. - Wearied with all the considerations of law and of expediency with - which he had been struggling for two years, he retired within himself - and tried to bring some order into his thoughts by rising above the - wrangling of men and parties, and pondering the relations of human - government to the Divine. In this frame of mind, absolutely detached - from any earthly considerations, he wrote this meditation. It has - never been published. It was not written to be seen of men. It was - penned in the awful sincerity of a perfectly honest soul trying to - bring himself into closer communion with its Maker. - -Meditation on the Divine will, September [30], 1862: - - "The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act - in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, - wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. - In the present Civil War it is quite possible that God's purpose is - something different from the purpose of either party; and yet the best - instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation - to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is probably - true: that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end - yet. By His mere great power on the minds of the now contestants He - could have saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet - the contest began. And, having begun, He could give the final victory - to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."--NICOLAY AND HAY, - Life of Lincoln, _Century_, August, 1889. Vol. 35, pp. 567-68. - - - - -PART III: THE RELIGION OF LINCOLN - -CHAPTER XX - -WHAT LINCOLN WAS NOT - - -It is amazing to discover how many forms of faith and non-faith have -claimed Abraham Lincoln. - - "_Seven cities strove for Homer, dead, - Through which the living Homer begged his bread._" - -More than seven churches have striven for the dead Abraham Lincoln, -some of whom would not even now admit to their membership a living man -who professed his sentiments. - -Before we undertake the difficult task of assessing the real faith of -Abraham Lincoln, let us dispose of a few of the claims that have been -made on his behalf, or the charges that have been made against him, and -which clearly have no sufficient weight of evidence. Let us ask first, - - -_Was Abraham Lincoln an atheist?_ - -Herndon declared that Lincoln was an infidel, "sometimes bordering on -atheism." This last phrase has been overstrained. What Herndon appears -to have meant was that in some of Lincoln's blackest hours of gloom his -mind hung over that utter void; and he more than hints that in such -hours Lincoln's mind was scarcely sound. Herndon was far from believing -or meaning to charge that atheism was Lincoln's real view of God and -the world. The contrary is shown in a score of places in Herndon's -works and letters. - -Some years ago the _Open Court_ of Chicago contained an article by -Theodore Stanton, quoted from the _Westminster Review_. It said: - - "That Lincoln was an orthodox Christian nobody pretends to assert. But - his friends and biographers differ as to how much of a Christian he - was. If Lincoln had lived and died an obscure Springfield lawyer and - politician, he would unquestionably have been classed by his neighbors - among freethinkers. But as is customary with the Church, whether Roman - Catholic or Protestant, when Lincoln became one of the great of the - world, an attempt was made to claim him.... The shrewd politician who - has not an elastic conscience--and that was Lincoln's case--simply - keeps mum on religious subjects, or, when he must touch on the - subject, deals only in platitudes, and this is just what Lincoln - did. Lincoln thought little on religious subjects, and read less. - That, when left to himself, he was quite indifferent to religion, is - frequently evident in the acts of his life."--_Open Court_, September - 24, 1891, pp. 2962-63, quoting _Westminster Review_ of September, 1890. - -This statement was not sufficiently radical for one reader of the _Open -Court_, who thought that Mr. Stanton had made Lincoln out to have been -virtually an agnostic, and who wished to prove him an atheist. He wrote -an article in which he said: - - "Free-thinker means anything or nothing.... Plain words are the best. - That Lincoln was _A-theos_ connotes a definite attitude toward the - great religious chimera, and really defines Mr. Lincoln's position - more closely than any of Mr. Stanton's epithets [as, e.g., Agnostic]. - It is positive, not negative, indicates what the man professedly was - rather than what he was not or what he oppugned. We are in position to - define his life-creed with all due measure of exactness."--"What Was - Abraham Lincoln's Creed?" by George M. McCrie, _Open Court_, November - 26, 1891. - -This writer then proceeded to define Mr. Lincoln's creed in terms -of atheism. But his argument was based on a subjective scheme of -philosophy, a kind of Hylo-Idealism derived from Hegel more than from -Lincoln, and one which it is safe to affirm Lincoln would neither have -admitted nor even understood. - -Some time after, the same journal had a third and very different -article, which said: - - "Lincoln was an extremely religious man, though not a technical - Christian. He thought deeply, and his opinions were positive. His - seriousness was a characteristic trait, showing itself even in his - genuine good humor. His very jokes were a part of his seriousness.... - Lincoln was an extremely practical man. He believed not for belief's - sake, but for his own sake. He made a practice of religion; he used - it. His religion was his life, and his life was his religious service. - It was his own public profession. Religion was a fact to him. He - believed in prayer, because he found use for it: and when the fate of - the Union seemed to waver, when doubt and despair hovered over the - land and the future was uncertain, Lincoln often shut himself within - his room and offered up his prayer to God. 'So, many times,' he said, - 'I was forced to my knees, not knowing where else to go.' - - "While there is considerable in his writings to indicate a strong - faith in God and prayer, there is little to indicate his beliefs - regarding Christ, the Bible, etc. But the very absence of anything on - those points is good evidence that he did not hold the views that have - been attributed to him.... - - "He was a firm believer in the 'great and good and merciful God,' but - not in a revengeful or cruel God who could consign them to an eternal - hell when nothing good to those who suffered could possibly come from - such punishment. He believed in and used prayer as a means to bring - himself in closer relations with right in everything.... He believed - in 'universal inspiration and miracles under law,' and that all - things, both matter and mind, are governed by law. He believed that - all creation is an evolution under law, not a special creation of the - Supreme Being. He hoped for a joyous meeting in the world to come with - many loved ones gone before. He believed that Christianity consists in - being, not believing; in loving 'the Lord thy God with all thy heart - and thy neighbor as thyself.' He believed that the Bible is a book - to be understood and appreciated as any other book, not merely to be - accepted as a divine creation of infallibility. He believed in the man - Christ, not in the God Christ.... He was once an admirer of Volney, - Paine, and Voltaire; later of Theodore Parker, Emerson, and Channing. - He was once a scoffer of religion; later a supporter."--R. C. ROPER, - Religious Beliefs of Abraham Lincoln, _Open Court_, 1903, pp. 76-85. - -Whatever Abraham Lincoln was, he was not an atheist. If any other -convenient term were to be applied to him, it would be necessary that -the term itself should be defined. Thus, Lyman Abbott has spoken of -Lincoln as an agnostic, meaning that Lincoln did not find himself -in position to affirm dogmatically on certain of the articles of -faith. This article by Dr. Abbott was particularly illuminating as -discriminating between the measure of uncertainty which a man may feel -in the matter of positive declaration of his views, while cherishing -in his heart and manifesting in his life the essentials of a Christian -faith. It was published as an editorial in reply to a letter of -inquiry, and both are worth reprinting entire: - - "'My dear Dr. Abbott: You are quoted in the New York _Press_ of - October 15 as having referred in your Yale sermon to Abraham Lincoln - in the following terms: "Agnostic though he was." Are you correct - in the implication? If so, I should greatly like to know, as it is - a subject in which I am much interested. J. G. Holland says, in his - _Life of Lincoln_, page 61 ff., "He believed in God, and in His - personal supervision of the affairs of men.... This unwavering faith - in a divine Providence began at his mother's knee, and ran like a - thread of gold through all the inner experiences of his life"; and - much more to the same purpose. You are doubtless familiar with his - words on leaving Springfield for Washington: "He [Washington] would - never have succeeded except for the aid of divine Providence upon - which he at all times relied. On that same Almighty Being I place - my reliance. Pray that I may receive that divine assistance without - which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain." The - first inaugural would seem to indicate a most pronounced Christian - sentiment. Not to consume too much of your time, I might refer further - to Nicolay and Hay's _Life_, the following passages: Vol. VI, p. 539, - which contains a statement of Lincoln's religious principles; also, - same volume, pp. 323, 324, 327, 328, 341, 342. - - R. A. A.'" - - -To this letter Dr. Abbott replied: - - "The life of Abraham Lincoln appears to me to furnish a very striking - illustration both of the difference between theology and religion and - of the way in which religious experience is often developed in the - life of a true man, and is accompanied by a real though generally - quite unconscious change in theological opinion. Mr. Herndon, in - his _Life of Lincoln_, portrays the earlier religious faith of Mr. - Lincoln, Nicolay and Hay his later religious faith: neither biographer - is able to find that he ever formulated his own creed, neither is able - to formulate one for him. Yet between the religious convictions of the - period when he wrote an essay against Christianity, which, fortunately - for his reputation, a wise friend threw into the fire, and the period - when he wrote his second inaugural address, there is a difference - which cannot be measured by the mere lapse of years. - - "Agnostic? What is an agnostic? Huxley invented the phrase to define - his own position in contrast with that of his friends whom he called - gnostics because they had each a theory of the universe and he had - none. He more specifically defines the basis of his no-theory of the - universe in a pathetic letter to Charles Kingsley (_Life and Letters_, - Vol. II, pp. 233-239): 'It is no use to talk to me of analogies and - probabilities. I know what I mean when I say I believe in the law - of the inverse squares, and I will not rest my lifelong hopes upon - weaker convictions. I dare not, if I would.' Compare with this Mr. - Herndon's measure of Mr. Lincoln's earlier habit of thought: 'As - already expressed, Mr. Lincoln had no faith. In order to believe, he - must see and feel, and thrust his hand into the place. He must taste, - smell, or handle before he had faith or even belief.' Or compare Mrs. - Lincoln's expression concerning her husband's religious opinions, as - quoted by Mr. Herndon: 'Mr. Lincoln had no faith and no hope, in the - usual acceptance of those words. He never joined a church; but still, - as I believe, he was a religious man by nature. He first seemed to - think about the subject when our Willie died, and then more than ever - about the time he went to Gettysburg; but it was a kind of poetry in - his nature; and he was never a technical Christian.' - - "Religion is always a kind of poetry. Faith is kin to imagination; - both faith and imagination look upon the unseen and refuse to base - life merely upon the senses or upon mathematical formularies like the - law of the inverse squares. This poetry is often quite dissociated - from philosophy, or is even inconsistent with the philosophy which the - individual entertains. But Mr. Lincoln's early philosophy prepared for - his later religious experience. Mr. Herndon reports him as saying: - 'There are no accidents in my philosophy. The past is the cause of - the present, and the present will be the cause of the future. All - these are links in the endless chain stretching from the Infinite to - the finite.' With this philosophy of fatalism was a profound faith in - justice, a profound reverence for it, and an uncompromising obedience - to it. At first he did not put this philosophy and this faith - together. He who does put them together, that is, he who infuses this - philosophy in an overruling cause with this faith, which is a 'kind - of poetry,' in the supremacy of righteousness, comes to a faith in a - righteous God, who deserves our reverence, not because he is great, - but because he is good. - - "When Abraham Lincoln began to feel the burden of the nation resting - upon him, and felt it too great a burden for him to carry unaided, - he wanted the sympathy of all men and women in the country who with - him believed in a Power directing the course of human history greater - than the actors in it, and who also believed in eternal justice; and - he asked their prayers. As the conflict went on and the burden grew - heavier and heavier, his faith in righteousness more and more infused - his belief in a superhuman power and transformed it into a belief in a - righteous God; but it was, till the last, a belief in a God of justice - rather than a Christ of pity, even as it phrased itself in that most - religious utterance of his life, his second inaugural: 'Fondly do - we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may - speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until all the - wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred years of unrequited toil - shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall - be paid with another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand - years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are - true and righteous altogether."' - - "There is no evidence that Mr. Lincoln had become a gnostic, or that - he had a comprehensive scheme of the universe, or that he had either - wrought out a system of theology for himself or accepted any that had - been wrought out by others; but there is abundant evidence that he had - learned in the four years of tragedy a lesson of dependence and trust, - that he had insensibly put together his belief in a supreme Power - and his faith in righteousness, and that thus there had been born in - him faith in a supreme righteous Power, whose will we may help to - carry out, and on whose wisdom and strength we may rely in achieving - it. It is thus that the life of Abraham Lincoln illustrates both - how a reverent agnostic may be deeply religious and how the life of - service and self-sacrifice leads through doubt to faith.--L. A."--_The - Outlook_, November 17, 1906. - - -_Was Abraham Lincoln a Roman Catholic?_ - -The question is absurd, and worth asking only that it may receive a -simple negative answer. Yet, singularly, a report was current and -somewhat widely believed in 1860 that Abraham Lincoln had been baptized -as a Roman Catholic and was himself a renegade from that faith. The -rumor appears to have had two roots. First was the fact that much -missionary work was done in early Illinois by Jesuit priests; and it -was assumed, not only contrary to every fact but to every element of -probability, that Abraham Lincoln had been baptized by one of them. The -other was the fact that he acted as attorney for Rev. Charles Chiniquy, -who after fifty years in the Church of Rome came out from that -communion and became a notable antagonist of the church in which he had -been reared. His unsparing criticisms led to various attacks upon him -through the courts and otherwise. When Lincoln was elected President -much was made of the fact that Lincoln had been Father Chiniquy's -attorney, and the rumor that he also was a renegade Catholic gained -wide currency. - -Chiniquy professed to see in these rumors a peril to the life of Mr. -Lincoln, and both then and at intervals during his administration -warned the President that his life was in danger. The scarcely -concealed favor of the Vatican toward the cause of the South did not -tend to allay this anxiety. The fact that among those concerned in the -plot which finally ended in the assassination of the President were -several Roman Catholics, revived these reports immediately after his -death, and they are occasionally recalled even now. - -So far as our present inquiry is concerned, we have only to ask and -answer the question. Mr. Lincoln was not in any period of his life -affiliated in any way with the Roman Catholic Church. - - -_Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist?_ - -During Mr. Lincoln's occupancy of the White House, there were several -rumors to the effect that President and Mrs. Lincoln were both -Spiritualists. A definite claim that Mr. Lincoln fully believed in -Spiritualism was set forth in 1891 by a medium named Mrs. Nettie -Colburn Maynard. She wrote a book relating in detail almost innumerable -sittings which she alleged were attended by Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln. -According to her story her mediumship began in her childhood in 1845. -At the outbreak of the war she was lecturing and giving public séances -and went to Washington to gain a furlough for her brother. She learned -of Mr. Lincoln's interest in Spiritualism, and of the visits to the -White House of two mediums, Charles Colchester and Charles Foster. -She was invited to the White House, where, if we are to credit her -story, she imparted to Mr. Lincoln very nearly all the wisdom which he -possessed during the period of the Civil War. - -We learn from other sources that Lincoln permitted two or three mediums -to come to the White House and to tell him what the spirits said he -ought to know; but Lincoln said of them that the advice of the spirits, -as thus received, was as contradictory as the voices of his own -Cabinet, of whose meetings the séances reminded him. - -The last attempt to make Mr. Lincoln out a Spiritualist is by Mrs. -Grace Garrett Durand, in a privately printed book issued since Sir -Oliver Lodge's _Raymond_. She claims to have talked with Raymond, -with William T. Stead, and other people, as well as with Mrs. Eddy, -from whom she expects to receive additional material supplementary to -her _Science and Health, and Key to the Scriptures_. She is, however, -according to her own account, especially intimate with Mr. Lincoln. She -says: - - "President Lincoln has himself told me in many conversations I have - had with him from the spirit world that he was directed in his great - work during the Civil War by his mother and others in the spirit - world. Mr. Lincoln, or 'Uncle Abe,' as he has lovingly asked me to - call him, said that had he respected his mother's advice the day of - his assassination he would not have gone to the theater the fateful - night, as his mother had that day warned him not to go." - -If Mr. Lincoln's spirit has indeed requested this lady to call him -"Uncle Abe" he has accorded her a liberty which was infrequent during -his lifetime. Near neighbors of Mr. Lincoln during his years in -Springfield inform me that no one called him "Abe" to his face, and -that very few even of his political opponents thus spoke of him. He -habitually addressed his partner as "Billy," but Mr. Herndon uniformly -called him "Mr. Lincoln." One could wish that Abraham Lincoln in heaven -might be at least as dignified as Abraham Lincoln was on earth.[52] - - -_Was Abraham Lincoln superstitious?_ - -Both President and Mrs. Lincoln were superstitious. They believed in -dreams and signs, he more in dreams and she more in signs. When Mrs. -Lincoln was away from him for a little time, visiting in Philadelphia -in 1863, and Tad with her, Lincoln thought it sufficiently important to -telegraph, lest the mail should be too slow, and sent her this message: - - "Executive Mansion, - "Washington, June 9, 1863. - - "MRS. LINCOLN, - "Philadelphia, Pa. - -"Think you better put Tad's pistol away. I had an ugly dream about him. - - "A. Lincoln." - ---Quoted in facsimile in _Harper's Magazine_ for February, 1897; -_Lincoln's Home Life in the White House_, by Leslie J. Perry. - -In Lamon's book of _Recollections_, published in 1895, a very different -book from his Life of Lincoln, he devotes an entire chapter to -Lincoln's dreams and presentiments. He relates the story of the dream -which Lincoln had not long before his assassination wherein he saw the -East Room of the White House containing a catafalque with the body of -an assassinated man lying upon it. Lincoln tried to remove himself from -the shadow of this dream by recalling a story of life in Indiana, but -could not shake off the gloom of it. Lamon says: - - "He was no dabbler in divination, astrology, horoscopy, prophecy, - ghostly lore, or witcheries of any sort.... The moving power of - dreams and visions of an extraordinary character he ascribed, - as did the Patriarchs of old, to the Almighty Intelligence that - governs the universe, their processes conforming strictly to natural - laws."--_Recollections_, p. 120. - -In his Life of Lincoln, Lamon tells the story of the dream which -Lincoln had late in the year 1860, when resting upon a lounge in his -chamber he saw his figure reflected in a mirror opposite with two -images, one of them a little paler than the other. It worried Lincoln, -and he told his wife about it. She thought it was "a sign that Lincoln -was to be elected for a second term and that the paleness of one of -the faces indicated that he would not see life through the last term" -(p. 477). - -As this optical illusion has been so often printed, and has seemed so -weirdly prophetic of the event which followed, it may be well to quote -an explanation of the incident from an address by Dr. Erastus Eugene -Holt, of Portland, Maine: - - "As he lay there upon the couch, every muscle became relaxed as - never before.... In this relaxed condition, in a pensive mood and - in an effort to recuperate the energies of a wearied mind, his eyes - fell upon the mirror in which he could see himself at full length, - reclining upon the couch. All the muscles that direct, control, and - keep the two eyes together were relaxed; the eyes were allowed to - separate, and each eye saw a separate and distinct image by itself. - The relaxation was so complete, for the time being, that the two eyes - were not brought together, as is usual by the action of converging - muscles, hence the counterfeit presentiment of himself. He would have - seen two images of anything else had he looked for them, but he was - so startled by the ghostly appearance that he felt 'a little pang as - though something uncomfortable had happened,' and obtained but little - rest. What a solace to his wearied mind it would have been if someone - could have explained this illusion upon rational grounds!"--Address - at Portland, Maine, February 12, 1901, reprinted by William Abbatt, - Tarrytown, N. Y., 1916. - -Other incidents which relate to Mr. Lincoln's faith in dreams, -including one that is said to have occurred on the night preceding his -assassination, are well known, and need not be repeated here in detail. - -It is not worth while to seek to evade or minimize the element of -superstition in Lincoln's life, nor to ask to explain away any part -of it. Dr. Johnson admits it in general terms, but makes little of -concrete instances: - - "The claim that there was more or less of superstition in his nature, - and that he was greatly affected by his dreams, is not to be disputed. - Many devout Christians today are equally superstitious, and, also, - are greatly affected by their dreams. Lincoln grew in an atmosphere - saturated with all kinds of superstitious beliefs. It is not strange - that some of it should cling to him all his life, just as it was with - Garfield, Blaine, and others. - - "In 1831, then a young man of twenty-two, Lincoln made his second trip - to New Orleans. It was then that he visited a Voodoo fortune teller, - that is so important in the eyes of certain people. This, doubtless, - was out of mere curiosity, for it was his second visit to a city. This - no more indicates a belief in 'spiritualism' than does the fact that - a few days before he started on this trip he attended an exhibition - given by a traveling juggler, and allowed the magician to cook eggs in - his low-crowned, broad-rimmed hat."--_Lincoln the Christian_, p. 29. - -I do not agree with this. Superstition was inherent in the life of the -backwoods, and Lincoln had his full share of it. Superstition is very -tenacious, and people who think that they have outgrown it nearly all -possess it. "I was always superstitious," wrote Lincoln to Joshua F. -Speed on July 4, 1842. He never ceased to be superstitious. - -While superstition had its part in the life and thought of Lincoln, it -was not the most outstanding fact in his thinking or his character. For -the most part his thinking was rational and well ordered, but it had in -it many elements and some strange survivals--strange until we recognize -the many moods of the man and the various conditions of his life and -thought in which from time to time he lived. - - -_Was Lincoln a Quaker?_ - -In his autobiographical sketch written for Jesse W. Fell, Mr. Lincoln -stated that his paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from -Rockingham County, Virginia, to Kentucky about 1781 or 1782; "his -ancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks County, -Pennsylvania." This reference to a remote Quaker ancestry has suggested -to some writers the possibility that Mr. Lincoln himself may have been, -in conviction, a Quaker. - -This suggestion is utilized to its full value and beyond by Henry Bryan -Binns, the first English biographer of Lincoln, whose book appeared in -1907, and others have followed his intimations. He says: - - "In some brief autobiographical notes, Lincoln remarks that his - ancestors, when they left Berks County, Pennsylvania, were Quakers. - The allusion has significance, not merely because it is the only - reference to any religious body in these notes, but because it - suggests an interesting spiritual affiliation to which we shall refer - again later." - -He fulfills this promise, and refers to it repeatedly. The Quaker -ancestry finds reinforcement in his assurance that the Shipley strain -in Nancy Hanks was "probably" Quaker. These references occur a number -of times in the early part of his book, and recur in the concluding -chapter with more than a suggestion that Mr. Lincoln continued to bear -some of the inherited spiritual qualities of the Quaker. - -These suggestions lack evidential value. Lincoln's grandfather's -ancestors were believed by him to have been Quakers in Pennsylvania, -and their ancestors are believed to have been Puritans in -Massachusetts. But the New Englanders no more surely dropped their -Massachusetts Puritanism in Pennsylvania than the Pennsylvania -Quakers dropped their Quakerism in Virginia and Kentucky. The Quaker -ancestry was not forgotten nor was it a thing to be ashamed of, -but the distinctive tenets of the Friends had no large part in the -working creed of Abraham Lincoln. He respected the Quakers, and on -more than one occasion showed his interest in them; but there is no -reason to believe that he shared either their theology or their theory -of non-resistance. He was compelled to approve some severe measures -against American citizens who refused to fight, and a number of Quakers -suffered in consequence. Lincoln saw no way to prevent these sufferings -altogether, though he did his best to mitigate them, and he always -respected the principles of those who held in sincerity the Quaker -faith which he did not share. - - -_Was Lincoln a Unitarian or a Universalist?_ - -It is my opinion that Lincoln did not believe in endless punishment, -and also that he did not accept the supernatural birth of Christ. The -evidence on which these opinions rest has already been indicated. But -I do not regard him as a Universalist or a Unitarian. The basis of -his religious belief was Calvinism of the most rigid sort. It could -accept some incidental features of other systems, but at heart it was -Calvinistic. - -I have talked with Rev. Jasper Douthit, of Shelbyville, concerning -Unitarianism in central Illinois. He quotes Jenkin Lloyd Jones as -saying of his Shelbyville church, that "Unitarianism attempted to -locate in the Capitol City of Illinois, but struck the dome of the -State House, glanced off, and stuck in the mud at Shelbyville." In -some sense the movement of Mr. Douthit is the present survival of -the attempt before the Civil War to domesticate Unitarianism in -Springfield and vicinity. I have clipped from the _Christian Register_ -a communication which, without pretending to technical knowledge of the -organific principle of the several sects, goes near to the heart of -this question: - - "To the editor of the Christian Register:-- - - "_Apropos_ of 'Lincoln Day,' may I ask for _definite information_ as - to Mr. Lincoln's religious belief? The author of that little pamphlet, - 'What do Unitarians Believe?' implies that he is to be numbered among - Unitarians, and quotes from the author of _Six Months at the White - House_ to prove his assertion. Now I don't know _who_ the _author_ - of _Six Months at the White House is_, and care less. His testimony - is 'second hand' viewed in any light you please. He may have been a - Unitarian himself, though I hardly think he would have used the word - 'Saviour,' in speaking of Mr. Lincoln's words, unless Lincoln himself - had used it. At any rate, the only _direct_ testimony bearing on Mr. - Lincoln's religious views is found in _his own writings_, and I want - to quote from his Fast Day proclamation of March 30, 1863, as throwing - some light on the subject. - - "He says: 'Whereas, it is the duty of nations, as well as of men, - to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess - their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured - hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to - recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures, and - proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God - is the Lord. - - "'And, insomuch as we know that by His Divine laws, nations, like - individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this - world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of Civil War, - which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon - us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national - reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the - choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these many years - in peace and prosperity. - - "'We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has - ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious - hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and - strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of - our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior - wisdom and virtue of our own.' - - "If this isn't _Calvinism_ pure and simple, then I don't know what - Calvinism is. - - "Now, Mr. Editor, if you can show me any reference in _Mr. Lincoln's - own words_ that point as strongly toward 'Unitarianism' and those - truths which _it_ claims as peculiarly its own, I shall be glad to see - it. - - "CHARLES B. TOLEMAN." - -A number of Lincoln's old neighbors, contributing to the Irwin article -in denial of the alleged infidelity of Lincoln, affirm that he was a -Universalist. In their denial of his infidelity they were correct; -and also in their detection of the fallacy of Herndon in which he -counted every opinion to be infidel that did not conform to the severe -orthodoxy with which he was familiar. As between Herndon and these -writers, they were correct. Lincoln's "infidelity" consisted in good -part of his denial of eternal punishment. But that did not make him -an infidel; neither did it constitute him technically a Universalist. -The substratum of his belief was the old-time predestinarianism which -he heard in his youth and never outgrew. How he could make this blend -with his wide departures from conventional orthodoxy in other points, -those can best understand who have heard the kind of preaching on which -Lincoln grew up. Its effect is not easily obliterated. - - -_Was Abraham Lincoln a Methodist?_ - -This question would seem to require no answer, yet it is one that -should receive an answer, for claims have been made, and are still -current, which imply that Lincoln was actually converted in the -Methodist Church, whose doctrine he accepted because Calvinism -was repugnant to him; and that while he continued to attend the -Presbyterian Church, he was essentially a Methodist. - -Lincoln had a very high regard for the Methodist Church. It was rent -asunder during the Civil War, and the Northern branch of the church -which had long been vigorously anti-slavery was warmly loyal. On May -18, 1864, in a letter of reply to a deputation of ministers from -that body, he said, "God bless the Methodist Church--bless all the -churches, and blessed be God who, in this our great trial, giveth us -the churches." - -Reference has been made to the fact that Methodism did not at any time -appear greatly to influence the Lincoln family in matters of theology, -and that the early environment of the family from the birth of Lincoln -was Baptist. I am inclined to think that the Hanks family had Methodist -antecedents. Thomas and Nancy Lincoln were married by a Methodist -preacher, Rev. Jesse Head. He is known to have been a foe of slavery, -and there is some reason to think that the Lincoln family derived some -part of its love of freedom from him. - -From time to time Lincoln met Methodist preachers who deeply impressed -him. One of these was Rev. Peter Akers, whom he heard in 1837, when -Lincoln was twenty-eight years of age. - - "He and a group of associates went out to hear him at a camp-meeting - six miles west of Springfield, at the 'Salem Church.' The Rev. Peter - Akers was a vigorous and fearless man. He spoke of certain prophecies, - and predicted 'the downfall of castes, the end of tyrannies, and - the crushing out of slavery.' On the way home they were earnestly - discussing the sermon. Lincoln is alleged to have said: 'It was the - most instructive sermon, and he is the most impressive preacher, I - have ever heard. It is wonderful that God has given such power to - men. I firmly believe his interpretation of prophecy, so far as I - understand it, and especially about the breaking down of civil and - religious tyrannies; and, odd as it may seem, I was deeply impressed - that I should be somehow strangely mixed up with them."--TARBELL, - _Life of Lincoln_, I, 237. - -In the lecture on Abraham Lincoln by Bishop Fowler, as finally prepared -for the press, is an incident which apparently was not in its earlier -editions. At a reunion of the Seventy-third Illinois Volunteers, held -in Springfield on September 28, 29, 1897, the colonel of that regiment, -Rev. James F. Jacquess, D.D., related an incident in which he stated -that while he was serving a Methodist Church in Springfield in 1839, -Mr. Lincoln attended a series of revival services held in that church, -and was converted. The story was heard with great interest by the old -soldiers of that regiment, many of whose officers had been Methodist -preachers, and it was printed in the Minutes of the Proceedings of the -Eleventh Annual Reunion of Survivors of the Seventy-third Illinois -Infantry. - -Twelve years later, in 1909, in connection with the Centenary -Celebration of the birth of Lincoln, the story was reprinted, with -certain added details obtained from the brother of Colonel Jacquess. -As thus wrought into literary form, it was printed in the New York -_Christian Advocate_ in an article entitled "The Conversion of -Lincoln," by Rev. Edward L. Watson, of Baltimore. - -Already Bishop Fowler, to whom Colonel Jacquess alluded in his address -at Springfield as having no adequate account of Lincoln's conversion, -had accepted the story and incorporated it into the final version of -his famous lecture (_Patriotic Orations_, p. 102). The death of Colonel -Jacquess and the additions made by his brother give this incident its -permanent form in the _Christian Advocate_ article of November 11, 1909. - -I am glad to have been able to obtain from the _Christian Advocate_ -their last copy of that issue, outside their office file, and it -appears in full in the Appendix to this volume. It may be accepted as -the authoritative form of this story. - -That the story as told by Colonel Jacquess must have had some element -of truth I think beyond question; that it occurred exactly as he -related it, I greatly doubt. The years between 1839 and 1897 numbered -fifty-eight, and that is more than ample time for a man's memory to -magnify and color incidents almost beyond recognition. - -The story as it is thus told lacks confirmatory evidence.[53] If -Lincoln was converted in a Methodist Church in 1839 and remained -converted, a considerable number of events which occurred in subsequent -years might reasonably have been expected to have been otherwise than -they really were. Each reader must judge for himself in the light of -all that we know of Abraham Lincoln how much or how little of this -story is to be accepted as literal fact. The present writer cannot say -that he is convinced by the story. - - -_Was Abraham Lincoln a Freemason?_ - -In an address delivered before Harmony Lodge, in Washington, D. C., -on January 28, 1914, Dr. L. D. Carman delivered an address, which has -since been printed, entitled "Abraham Lincoln, Freemason." In this -address it was set forth that "It was not an unusual practice in the -early days of Masonry in this country in sparsely settled localities, -remote from an active lodge, for several members of the fraternity to -get together, form an emergent or occasional lodge, and make Masons." -Abraham Lincoln was presumed to have been made such a Mason because of -utterances of his, quoted at length, which appeared to show familiarity -with Masonic usage.[54] - -Those utterances, when examined, carry no such presumption, nor was -there any occasion for such an emergent lodge. A lodge existed at -Petersburg, near New Salem, and a number of Lincoln's friends belonged -to it; their names are on record. The records of the Springfield Lodge, -also, are preserved, and bear no mention of his name; nor is there any -evidence so far as the present author knows that on any occasion he -was ever in a Masonic Lodge. Orators may use the symbolic language of -architecture without knowledge of speculative Masonry, and Lincoln used -it so. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -WHY DID LINCOLN NEVER JOIN THE CHURCH? - - -MR. THOMAS LEWIS, attorney in Springfield with an office on the same -floor and an elder in the First Presbyterian Church, informs us that -there was some real expectation that Lincoln would have united with -that church in Springfield after his views had been modified through -the influence of Dr. Smith. He says that Lincoln attended with -considerable regularity a series of revival meetings in progress in -the church, but was out of town when application was made for church -membership and the officers of the church were disappointed that he did -not then unite. - -Rev. Dr. Phineas D. Gurley, of Washington, tells of conversations with -Lincoln concerning religion and of some expressed desires on the part -of Lincoln for church fellowship. His feeling of support in prayer was -manifest in his coming to the mid-week prayer service, where, however, -as Dr. Gurley affirms, he commonly sat in the pastor's room with an -open door, hearing the prayers that were offered but preferring not to -attract attention by his visible presence. - -The best statement, and one that has been accepted as truly -representative of Lincoln's feeling with regard to church membership, -is one that comes to us on thoroughly good authority and from the -period immediately following Lincoln's death. - -Hon. Henry C. Deming, member of Congress from Connecticut, in a -memorial address given before the Legislature of Connecticut, June 8, -1865, related that he had asked Mr. Lincoln why he never united with a -church, and Mr. Lincoln answered: - -"I have never united myself to any church, because I have found -difficulty in giving my assent, without mental reservation, to the -long, complicated statements of Christian doctrine which characterize -their articles of belief and confessions of faith. When any church will -inscribe over its altars, as its sole qualification for membership, the -Saviour's condensed statement of the substance of both law and gospel, -'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy -soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,' that church -will I join with all my heart and all my soul" (p. 42). - -To his Washington pastor, Rev. Phineas D. Gurley, he said that he could -not accept, perhaps, all the doctrines of his Confession of Faith, -"but," said he, "if all that I am asked to respond to is what our Lord -said were the two great commandments, to love the Lord thy God with all -thy heart and mind and soul and strength, and my neighbor as myself, -why, I aim to do that." - -Mr. Henry B. Rankin, who wrote his _Reminiscences_ in 1916, states -that he was a boy in Lincoln's office and his parents knew Lincoln -intimately during his years of struggle in New Salem. Mr. Rankin's -recollection of a conversation which Lincoln had with Mr. Rankin's -mother indicates that Lincoln had some such feeling as far back as -his New Salem days. The Rankin family were warm friends of Peter -Cartwright, whom they called Uncle Peter, and also of Mr. Lincoln. -Mrs. Rankin asked him concerning the rumor that he was an infidel, and -Lincoln denied it; but being pressed to explain why he did not then -confess his Christian faith, he gave to her much the answer which in -later years he gave to Mr. Deming and to Dr. Gurley (_Reminiscences of -Lincoln_, pp. 324-26). - -I think, then, we are compelled to accept this threefold testimony -as establishing beyond any reasonable doubt the answer that Lincoln -himself gave to the question, why he did not unite with the Church. It -is a great pity that he was not brought into contact with some form -of organized Christianity, orthodox and constructive in its essential -teachings, but with conditions of church membership as broad as those -of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Churches have learned a little -better than they understood in 1846 that a church creed should be -a testimony and not a test; that it is entirely consistent with the -organization and ideal of a thoroughly orthodox church to receive into -its membership any and every person who loves God and his fellow-man -even though he doubts thirty-eight of the thirty-nine articles of the -creed and is more or less uncertain about the other one. - -But we cannot consider the question of Lincoln's possible church -membership and his failure to acquire it without asking whether the -fault was wholly that of the churches. Other men beside Abraham Lincoln -were more liberal than the churches, including old Mentor Graham, but -were able to find a home there; though Graham was ultimately turned -out of the so-called "hardshell" church for his warm advocacy of the -principles of temperance. Some share of the responsibility for his -failure to unite with the Church must belong to Lincoln himself. - -It is a hazardous thing to suggest any element short of perfection in -the life or thought of any popular hero. Nevertheless let us remind -ourselves that Lincoln had the defects of his qualities. - -Lincoln lacked some of the finer feelings. He combined a deep personal -sympathy for anything which he could visualize with a rather strange -mental obtuseness toward things remote or abstract. Darwin, who was -born in the same year, had an early love of poetry and music. How -these tastes became atrophied in his concentration of thought upon -matters relating to the natural sciences was confessed and mourned by -him, and has often been commented upon by others. The time came to him -when music and poetry gave him physical nausea. Lincoln never had an -appreciation or love of anything very fine either in poetry or music. -At a time when he was being considered for President he could sit in a -stage coach playing "Yankee Doodle" on the mouth-organ[55] and playing -it badly, but he had no fine musical or poetic taste. - -Not long before his assassination his sister-in-law, Mrs. Edwards, -visited at the White House, and he accompanied her one evening to the -conservatory. She greatly admired the rare exotics which she there -beheld for the first time, and Lincoln vainly strove to share her -enthusiasm but confessed to her that something had been left out of his -nature. Such things seemed to make no appeal to him. - -Of Lincoln's lack in matters involving the finer feelings we have -abundant testimony not only in the pages of Lamon and Herndon, but in -other intimate sketches of his life in Illinois, as, for example, in -Whitney's _With Lincoln on the Circuit_,[56] and especially in his -article in the _Arena_ in April, 1898. There were aspects of religion -which did not make as strong an appeal to Abraham Lincoln as they would -have made but for this blind spot in his nature. - -It is not the purpose of this book to go in any detail into Mr. -Lincoln's love affairs; but if any further illustration were desired of -this point of which we are speaking, it could be found very painfully -in his relations with Miss Owens, and his letter to Mrs. Browning. - -Reference has been made to a certain lack of good taste which Lincoln -sometimes manifested, and of which the reminiscences of Lamon, Herndon, -Whitney, and others of his associates have given us sufficient -example. But it was not always so with Lincoln. There was in him an -innate courtesy, an intuitive sympathy, an ability to adapt himself -to another's point of view, which gave him the essential quality of -a gentleman. Fred Douglass said of him that Mr. Lincoln was the only -white man with whom he ever talked for an hour who did not in some way -remind him that he was a negro. That same fine feeling showed itself in -many ways. - -It should be remembered, too, when his uncouthness of apparel is -recalled, that while he was always a careless man in his dress, the -period in which he lived was one in which people of the regions where -he formed his lifelong habits were not given to fastidious dress. He -dressed much as other men dressed. The shawl which he wore was such -a shawl as the author's father wore; such as many men wore. It was a -mark of good breeding rather than the reverse, and some men wore the -shawl very effectively for purposes of display. The author himself has -often carried with him in long rides in the southern mountains what was -called a "saddle-shawl" not unlike that of Lincoln; and he now owns -such a shawl, bequeathed to him by one of Lincoln's contemporaries, and -of the same color and approximately the same size that Lincoln used. - -Mrs. Jane Martin Johns of Decatur, died recently at the age of -ninety-two. Her mind was clear and her memory precise. She has left -this, among other memories of Lincoln, as a reminder that he was a -gentleman, and that at times he showed the finest discrimination and -good taste: - - "When I first knew Mr. Lincoln, he was forty years old; had been a - member of the state legislature and of congress; had traveled the - circuit with men of culture and refinement; had met great statesmen - and elegant gentlemen; and the ungainliness of the pioneer, if he ever - had it, had worn off and his manner was that of a gentleman of the - old school, unaffected, unostentatious, who arose at once when a lady - entered the room, and whose courtly manners would put to shame the - easy-going indifference to etiquette which marks the twentieth century - gentleman. - - "His dress, like his manner, was suited to the occasion, but was - evidently a subject to which he gave little thought. It was certainly - unmarked by any notable peculiarity. It was the fashion of the day for - men to wear large shawls and Mr. Lincoln's shawl, very large, very - soft, and very fine, is the only article of his dress that has left - the faintest impression on my memory. He wore it folded lengthwise - (three and one-half yards long) in scarf fashion over his shoulders, - caught together under the chin with an immense safety-pin. One end of - the shawl was thrown across his breast and over the shoulder, as he - walked up the steps of the Macon House one day in December, 1849. - - "Court was in session in Decatur, Judge David Davis presiding. The - hotel, where I was living temporarily, was kept by David Krone and - his good lady, whose popularity extended over the fourteen counties of - the Eighth Judicial District. - - "Court week was always anticipated with great interest by the people - of the county seat. It was customary for the entire bar of the - district to follow the court from county to county, every man either - seeking new business, or as counsel in cases already on the docket. - The date of their arrival at any particular county seat could not be - definitely fixed, as the judge held court at his pleasure, usually - trying to finish all the business ahead before he migrated to the next - station. - - "He was followed by a curious crowd. Lawyers, clients, witnesses, - itinerant peddlers, showmen, and gamblers filled the towns to - overflowing. It was no unusual thing for men who had no business in - the court, to follow from town to town merely seeking entertainment. - Social events of any moment were wont to be arranged for court week, - as the harvest time when strangers could be taken in. Taverns were - crowded and the hospitality of the people was taxed to the utmost - limit. - - "To the men of the town, who always crowded the court house, the - examination of witnesses and the speeches of the lawyers furnished - an intellectual treat, for there were giants at that bar. There was - David Davis, the companionable judge, who knew the law and who loved - a laugh. And there were Stephen Logan the scholarly, and Stuart the - shrewd and kindly, Swett the clever, and Browning the handsome, and - Lamon the amusing, and Weldon and Gridley and Parks and Harmon and - Ficklin and Linder and Whitney and Oliver L. Davis, and the best - beloved Abraham Lincoln. Some of them traveled to only two or three - counties, but Judge Davis, Mr. Lincoln and Leonard Swett went the - whole circuit; Davis because he had to, Lincoln because he loved it, - and Swett because he loved their company. - - "The Macon House was an oasis in the wilderness of miserable inns at - which they were usually compelled to 'put in.' In Decatur they found - clean beds, good bread and an abundance of the good things of the - season, administered by a genial landlady who greeted them all as - friends. - - "It was in court week that my piano, after a long journey by steamer - down the Ohio and up the Wabash to Crawfordsville, Ind., and thence - by wagon, arrived in Decatur. The wagon was backed up to the steps at - the front door of the Macon House and the question of how to unload - it and get it into the house was a puzzling one. Not a man except the - landlord was to be found, but he soon solved the problem. "Court will - soon adjourn and there will be plenty of men," and almost as he spoke - the crowd began to appear. They gathered curiously around the wagon - that blocked the entrance. Landlord Krone explained: - - "'There is a piano in that box that this woman here wants someone to - help unload. Who will lend a hand?' - - "A tall gentleman stepped forward and, throwing off a big gray Scotch - shawl, exclaimed, 'Come on, Swett, you are the next biggest man.' - - "That was my first meeting with Abraham Lincoln. - - "After a few moments' consultation with the driver of the wagon, Mr. - Lincoln went into the basement where Mr. Krone had a carpenter shop, - and returned with two heavy timbers across his shoulders. With them - he established communication between the wagon and the front door - steps. The piano was unloaded with the assistance of Mr. Linder and - Mr. Swett, amid jokes and jeers galore, most of the jeers coming from - little Judge Logan. - - "Before the legs had been screwed into place, dinner was announced, - and the men hurried to the back porch where two tin wash basins, a - long roller towel and a coarse comb, fastened to the wall by a long - string, afforded toilet accommodations for all guests. When dinner - was served, 'Mother Krone' placed a roast of beef in front of Dr. - Trowbridge to be carved and exclaimed, 'Men, if you can't get your - teeth through this beef you will have to fall back on the sausage. I - agreed to try roasting it without parboiling it, and I am afraid it - will be tougher than it was yesterday, and that was bad enough.' - - "The beef, however, proved to be tender and juicy and was highly - praised by the guests. I recall this incident because Mr. Lincoln once - reminded me of it, saying that 'that was the time he learned that - roast beef ought not to be boiled.' - - "After dinner, Mr. Lincoln superintended the setting up of the piano, - even to seeing that it stood squarely in the center of the wall space - allotted it, and then received my thanks with a polite bow and asked: - 'Are you expecting to follow the court and give concerts?' The immense - relief expressed on his countenance, when he was assured that he - would not be called upon to repeat the performance was very laughable. - - "'Then may we have one tune before we go?' he asked, and I played - 'Rosin the Bow,' with variations. - - "Someone shouted, 'Come on, boys, the judge will be waiting,' and - after I had assured them that if they desired it, I would give my - 'first and only concert on this circuit' when they returned to the - hotel in the evening, the crowd dispersed. - - "Here I wish to note that in the crowd that had assembled to watch the - unloading of the piano, the members of the bar, Mr. Lincoln's friends - and equals, always addressed him as 'Mr. Lincoln,' while to the rabble - and hangers-on he was often 'Abe.' - - "The piano was a 'Gilbert,' made in Boston, and its fame extended far - and wide. It was visited by people from all over the state, stage - coach passengers frequently 'holding the stage' while they went down - to the other tavern (the Harrell House was the stage office) to see - and hear the novel instrument. - - "That evening a notable crowd assembled in the parlor of the Macon - House. Judge Davis, who did not put up with Landlord Krone but was - the guest of Mrs. A. A. Powers, came in after supper; and practically - all of the bar of the Eighth Judicial District was present at what I - suppose we would now call a recital. I found that Mr. Charles Brown, a - wealthy landowner and stock dealer of McLean County, not only sang but - played a little and I called on him for assistance. - - "The program, as I remember it, will illustrate the style of music in - vogue at that period. - - "For show pieces, I played the 'Battle of Prague' and the 'Carnival of - Venice,' then followed with 'Washington's March,' 'Come Haste to the - Wedding,' and 'Woodup Quick Step' to convince the audience that I did - know a tune or two. For tragedy, I sang Henry Russel's 'Maniac' and - 'The Ship on Fire,' and then made their blood run cold with the wild - wail of the 'Irish Mother's Lament.' For comic, we sang 'The Widdy - McGee' and 'I Won't Be a Nun,' topping off with 'Old Dan Tucker,' - 'Lucy Long,' and 'Jim Crow,' the crowd joining in the chorus. These - were followed by more serious music. Mr. Brown and Mr. Swett joined - me in the duet 'Moonlight, Music, Love, and Flowers,' 'Rocked in the - Cradle of the Deep,' 'Pilgrim Fathers,' 'Bonaparte's Grave,' and - 'Kathleen Mavourneen.' Each and all met with applause. - - "As a finale, I sang 'He Doeth All Things Well,' after which Mr. - Lincoln, in a very grave manner, thanked me for the evening's - entertainment, and said: 'Don't let us spoil that song by any other - music tonight.' Many times afterwards I sang that song for Mr. Lincoln - and for Governor Oglesby, with whom it was also a favorite." - -Another limitation must be found in Lincoln's morbid cautiousness. -Herndon tells us that his very walk gave the impression of craftiness; -that it was not the product of deceit, but only of a caution so -excessive that it became something more than second nature. He was -secretive to a marked degree. When he seemed to be confidential it -was in minor matters, or matters on which he had already made up his -mind and intended soon to make a public statement. Whatever may be -the true story of his engagement to Mary Todd and of those stormy and -obscure months between "that fatal first of January, 1840," and the -date of their wedding, November 4, 1842, Lincoln's letters to Speed -show an excess of caution that was positively abnormal. That it was -a mark of insanity has been vigorously denied and with much apparent -reason; but if it was not the mark of acute mental aberration, it was -the manifestation of a permanent mental trait. Such a nature, which -debated like Hamlet the question of suicide and actually printed a -brief article which was later cut from the files of the Springfield -paper--probably by Lincoln himself--which lingered shivering on the -brink of matrimony like the "timorous mortal" of whom Lincoln was -taught to sing, must have hesitated long before coming to such a -confident poise between alternating faith and doubt as that he could -have stood before the altar of a Presbyterian church in Springfield or -in Washington and taken upon him the vows of church membership. - -Different writers have attempted to account for Lincoln's failure to -affiliate with the church wholly on the basis of his being greater than -the churches. I quote from one of these characteristic addresses, and -one that is in many respects excellent: - - "Perhaps his religious nature was so broad that it could not be - compassed within the limits of any particular creed or system of - doctrines. Perhaps he saw the soul of truth so clearly that he could - not accept any one of them as a complete and final revelation of - truth. Perhaps he so clearly realized that all religious creeds and - systems have their roots in human nature that he could look upon - the Christian system as the only deposit of truth committed to the - children of men. Perhaps his conception of Deity was so vast that - he could not see all the Divine attributes manifest in the historic - Christ. Perhaps he felt that some of the doctrines of Christianity, - as they were formulated and preached in his day, would be a hindrance - rather than a help to his religious faith, so clear was his vision of - the things which are unseen and eternal, and so close was his relation - to the Author of his being. Perhaps he felt no need of a daysman or - mediator, because he himself knew the Lord face to face."--MILTON R. - SCOTT: _Lincoln, Was He an Inspired Prophet?_, pp. 55-57. - -There is a measure of truth in this presentation of one side of the -case, but it is not the whole truth. Lincoln did not possess this -supposed clarity of vision of all spiritual truth. Some things he -saw clearly, but his faith and vision had each of them marked and -undeniable limitations. - -In his widely popular and in many respects excellent oration on -Lincoln, Bishop Fowler said: - - "Let us analyze Mr. Lincoln if we are able. This task is difficult - on account of his symmetry. He was so much like a sphere that he - projected farthest in every direction. His comprehension is to us - impossible on account of his immensity, for a man can be comprehended - only by his peers" (p. 28). - -He found the same difficulty in estimating Grant. "It is difficult -to analyze General Grant, because he is so simple and complete. Like -Lincoln, he is like a sphere; approached from any side he seems to -project farthest toward you. Try to divide, and each section is like -all the rest. Cut him through, and he is all the way through alike" (p. -127). - -I do not think that this is correct concerning Grant, and it certainly -is not true concerning Lincoln. He was not a sphere; he was angular or -he was nothing.[57] In endeavoring to assess his religious convictions, -we are liable to encounter contradictions. But there is a certain -inconsistent consistency in those contradictions. There are certain -kinds of contradictions which we do not encounter, and certain which, -encountering, may be interpreted in the light of certain underlying -agreements. - -For instance, the Calvinism which he inherited and heard through -his childhood and which he accepted in a kind of semi-fatalistic -philosophy might seem the reverse of scientific. But the natural -science which Lincoln learned from _Vestiges of Creation_, while it -would have been repudiated by every Baptist preacher whom Lincoln ever -heard in his youth, was capable of being grafted upon that very root. - -I suggest one more limitation in the character of Abraham Lincoln, -which had its possible relation to his hypothetical church membership. -He was possessed in marked degree of the obstinacy of irresolution. -That genial good-nature of his had behind it stubbornness, irony, and a -sullen but mighty temper which rarely broke the bounds of self-control, -but sometimes manifested itself on very slight provocation. Just when -men thought they had discovered in Abraham Lincoln a nose of wax which -they could shape to their own liking, they encountered in him a wholly -unexpected element of passive inertia and of active obstinacy. When he -did not know what to do, he would not do anything. It was this quality -in him which enabled him to rule a rampant Cabinet and which justified -the qualities set forth in such books as Major Putnam's _Abraham -Lincoln the Leader_, Richard Watson Gilder's _Lincoln the Leader_, and -Alonzo Rothschild's _Lincoln, Master of Men_. It was this which enabled -Herndon to write of him: "I know Abraham Lincoln better than he knows -himself.... You and I must keep the people right; God will keep Lincoln -right." - -Those do greatly err who see in Lincoln only genial good humor and -teachableness; there was a point at which his good humor became -withering scorn or towering passion and his gentle and tractable -disposition became adamantine inertia. His successor, Andrew Johnson, -quoted as characterizing himself the lines from Sir Walter Scott: - - "_Come one, come all; this rock shall fly - From its firm base as soon as I._" - -Lincoln might with much more appropriateness have quoted it of himself. - -Mary Todd Lincoln united with the First Presbyterian Church of -Springfield on April 13, 1852, upon profession of her faith. The -church records contain no record of her dismissal, but only the word -"Deceased" without a date. She remained a member until her death, -though, after her return to Springfield in an unhappy state of mind, -she was not a very active one. The only other Lincoln record on the -books of this church is the baptism of Thomas Lincoln--"Tad," "son -of Abraham and Mary"--on April 4, 1855. The records of the financial -secretary, not very complete, show Abraham Lincoln to have been a -pew-holder from 1852 to 1861, and he departed for Washington with his -pew rent paid to the date of his departure. This is all that is to be -learned from the church records in Springfield. - -Mary Todd Lincoln was a member in good and regular standing of the -Episcopal Church when she united with the Presbyterian, but she united -on profession of her faith. She affirmed that she did not believe -that she had ever previously been converted. This statement is one of -several indications that she, and with her her husband, came into a -new religious experience after the death of Willie in Washington, as -earlier he had been profoundly impressed after the death of Eddie in -Springfield. - -We learn through sources outside the records, but wholly credible -sources, that her uniting with the Presbyterian Church was preceded by -a revival in the church, and she and her husband attended the revival -meetings regularly. Not only so, but many of Lincoln's associates, -including Major Stuart and other influential men of Springfield, were -present almost every night and were deeply interested. The letter of -Thomas Lewis, already cited, refers to the general expectation that -Lincoln would have united with the church with his wife. A similar and -wholly independent report comes to us[58] from Lincoln's associates -outside the church. They, also, expected him to go in with his wife. -But Lincoln was not fully persuaded. The logic of Dr. Smith demolished -all the arguments of the infidels and did it over again: - - "_And thrice he vanquished all his foes, - And thrice he slew the slain._" - -But doubts, though logically answered, still rose in Lincoln's mind. On -the other hand, and more important, Lincoln did not find himself able -to accept the rigid Calvinism of the Presbyterian Church of that day. -The evangelist made strong appeals, and Lincoln was not unmoved. But he -said to his friends that "he couldn't quite see it." - -Lincoln was a man of mighty courage when his convictions were assured. -But he was also a man of more than normal caution. He could meet an -issue which he was fully convinced was right with all needful heroism. -But he was capable of evading an issue about which he was uncertain. - -We know what Lincoln did just after his State Fair speech in -Springfield on October 3, 1854. He was roused "as never before," to -quote his own words, by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and -he came out in a four hours' speech following Douglas, and committed -himself unqualifiedly to the anti-Nebraska program. The Abolitionists -were overjoyed, and Lovejoy wanted him to address that body that very -night. Lincoln was in a quandary. To offend the Abolitionists meant -political death, for they were now strong and growing stronger; but, on -the other hand, to become an Abolitionist meant political death also at -that stage of the fight. Herndon, who was himself an Abolitionist, and -not much given to compromise, fully realized that Lincoln was in grave -political danger.[59] With Herndon's approval, Lincoln took Bob in his -buggy and drove off out into the country till the crisis was over.[60] - -We know something also, though probably not the whole truth, about -Lincoln's wavering indecision with respect to his marriage to Mary -Todd. Whether he ran away from his own wedding, as he ran away from the -offer of the leadership of the Abolition movement, and if so, whether -he was sane or insane at the time, are questions which I prefer not, at -this time, to undertake to answer. But that incident may be cited as -another reminder that Lincoln had times of great mental uncertainty, -and that at such times he sometimes did unexpected things. - -It is my firm conviction that, after the death of Eddie, Lincoln was -profoundly stirred in his own spiritual life; that the arguments of Dr. -Smith went far toward answering the arguments of Paine, Volney, and his -freethinking friends; that bereavement and spiritual comfort had done -their work of grace; that the desire for a home more truly united in -its religious relations and spiritual sympathies made a strong appeal -to him; and that the atmosphere of the revival seemed to make it easy -and natural for him to enter the church with Mrs. Lincoln. But, though -a Calvinist in his early training, he was not ready to accept Calvinism -as a complete and articulated system as presented in the Westminster -Confession and in the preaching of Dr. Smith. - -He wavered. Whether he left town to avoid pressure to attend the -meeting of the Session at which his wife made her application for -church membership, we do not know. It is not improbable. Certainly -if his absence had been unavoidable he could have joined at the next -opportunity. I think that he did not join because he was still in -some measure of intellectual uncertainty with reference to doctrinal -matters. I am only sorry that someone did not tell him that these were -no sufficient reasons for his declining to unite with the church. - -It would be possible to carry this study further, but it is not -necessary. An explanation of Lincoln's failure to unite with a -Christian church in that time of bitter sectarianism when to have -joined one church would have made him a target for criticism from -others and when his mind was intent rather upon the application of his -Christian principles than the proclamation of his religious opinions, -is partly to be attributed to the faults of the churches; but a portion -of the explanation is to be found also in qualities inherent in the -life of Abraham Lincoln. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -THE CONSTRUCTIVE ARGUMENT - - -WE are ready now to undertake the difficult task of determining with -some approach to certainty the essential content and character of -Abraham Lincoln's religious belief. - -We must not be surprised if we find ourselves unable to construct a -perfectly symmetrical and consistent confession of faith. The material -is much more abundant and explicit and much better attested in some -departments than in others. Not only so, but we must never forget the -mighty elements of contradiction in Lincoln's personality. - -Mediocre men have this in their favor, that it is relatively easy to -classify them. Not only may they be readily assigned to their several -occupations, and conveniently pigeon-holed as butchers, bakers, and -candlestick makers, but it is a comparatively simple task to group -them under single adjectives, as good and bad, black and white, tall -and short, fat and lean, old and young, intelligent and stupid. -The process is less easy with really great men. There is always an -admirable element of human inconsistency in men of large mold which -would be intolerable in lesser personalities. It has been truly said -that no man becomes really great and influential who is not a good -subject for caricature. The sublime is own sister to the ridiculous. -Genius is next akin to insanity. The men who do really great things -are a perpetual puzzle to those who possess only commonplace standards -of classification. A commonplace villain is a villain, first, last, -and all the time; but a villain like Milton's Satan, Napoleon, or the -late German Kaiser is so great a villain as to be half a hero. The two -hundred seventy-six dripping men who struggled through the surf at -Malta one stormy morning rather more than eighteen hundred years ago -and gathered shivering round the fire, were quickly classified, for -the most part, into four convenient companies, of sailors, soldiers, -passengers, and prisoners; but when one of them shook off a viper into -the fire and showed no sign of hurt, it was quite certain that he was -either a murderer or a god. Opinions might differ and did differ as to -which of the two extremes might properly be claimed for him, but no one -proposed to find a place for him in middle ground. - -The strength of great men lies in their possession and their -counterpoise of opposing qualities. Over against the monotonous -uniformity, the stupid consistency, of those common people whom Lincoln -said God must love because He made so many of them, this quality -displays itself as a peculiar possession of genius. Now and then it is -given to a great man sufficiently so to subordinate the inconsistencies -without which real greatness could not exist as to incarnate some -outstanding principle of which he becomes the exponent. Abraham -Lincoln did this; and the world, or that small part of the world which -can lay claim to any considerable measure of moral discernment, has -redefined its conception of certain high qualities, its measure of the -moral significance of certain notable achievements, in terms of his -personality. This process is highly desirable as well as inevitable; -but the elements of inconsistency are not thereby removed from the -character itself. Of him we might say: - - "_His life was gentle, and the elements - So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up, - And say to all the world: This was a man!_" - --_Julius Caesar, V, 5._ - -It has often been affirmed that "'Lincoln knew his Bible better than -any minister," and large claims have been made concerning his use of it -in public addresses. Mr. Lincoln did know and use the Bible, and his -style is saturated with it; but it would be easy to exaggerate both his -knowledge and use of it. - -Prof. Daniel Kilham Dodge of the University of Illinois examined -twenty-five of Lincoln's extended and carefully prepared addresses with -this result:[61] - -In five speeches from 1839 to 1852 he found six Biblical quotations, of -which four were in his temperance address. - -In his reply to Douglas in 1852 there were two Biblical quotations, -both from the Old Testament. - -In 1856 he found one, and that most notable of all--the "house divided -against itself." - -In his "lost speech" at Bloomington, as recorded by Whitney, there were -six Biblical quotations, four from the Old Testament and two from the -New--the largest number in any single speech. - -In his ten speeches in the Lincoln and Douglas debates there were -two Biblical references, besides a number of allusions to the "house -divided against itself." - -There were no Biblical quotations in the Cooper Union address or in the -First Inaugural or in the Gettysburg address; none in the two messages -to Congress in 1861. - -His Second Inaugural was itself a kind of leaf out of the books of the -prophets. - -In the whole of the twenty-five speeches, there were found twenty-two -Biblical references, eight in the Old Testament and fourteen in the -New. This notwithstanding the impression of many who knew him that -Lincoln preferred the Old Testament to the New, as recorded by Noah -Brooks. - -But this rather meager use of direct quotations and allusions need not -disappoint us. Nor does it militate against the essentially Biblical -substratum of his style. When we come to the study of Lincoln's -literary and oratorical method, we find more striking contradictions -and evolutions than we have here. Lincoln's oratory was not of the same -style at all periods of his career, nor were his methods uniform at any -one period. - -He was a ready stump-speaker, yet he became so cautious while in the -White House that he was timid about responding even to a serenade -without having first written out his address, and on occasion could -appear rude in declining to utter even a simple word of greeting and -appreciation, as on the night before his address in Gettysburg, when he -was very abrupt to the company that serenaded him. - -He had been accustomed to large use of gesture, swinging his great -arms, and sometimes, even in the Douglas debates, bending his knees -till they almost touched the platform, and then rising suddenly almost -with a whoop, but he became very quiet and self-restrained in his -oratory. - -He is alleged to have loved Burns more than any other poet, yet his -speeches have been searched in vain for a single quotation from Burns. -It is said that next to Burns he loved Byron, and he is not known -ever to have quoted Byron in any speech or paper. It is said that -his favorite Shakspeare play was _Richard III._, but his Shakspeare -quotations are from _Hamlet_, _Lear_, _Macbeth_, the _Merchant of -Venice_; and there is one allusion to Falstaff. - -Besides Shakspeare, whom he quoted next to the Bible, his literary -allusions are to T. H. Bayley, Dickens, Robert Herrick, Pope and Scott, -and they are not numerous. The total number of his quotations, as -listed by Professor Dodge, including Shakspeare, but not including the -Bible, is thirty. - -What is more surprising, Lincoln was known as a great story teller. But -his addresses contain hardly a single anecdote. He told stories in jury -trials and to illustrate points in conversation, but he rarely told -them in his addresses.[62] - -No man who knew Lincoln intimately studied him so long, so -industriously, or, in spite of many limitations, so appreciatively, -as William H. Herndon. He was a profound believer in the mental and -spiritual evolution of Lincoln. - -In 1887, while Herndon, after many years of interruption, began -again the preparation of his _Life of Lincoln_, he had an extended -correspondence, partly from Springfield, and partly from Greencastle, -Indiana, where Mr. Jesse W. Weik was at work with him on his book, and -with a Boston sculptor, Mr. Truman H. Bartlett, who was planning a -statue of Lincoln. Herndon's letters went more and more into detail as -the correspondence proceeded, and he gave in some respects the very -best affirmation of the development of Lincoln on the higher side of -his nature that Herndon wrote at any time. - -Herndon seemed to have some apprehension that a study of photographs -and life-masks and other evidences of the physical appearance of -Lincoln would not reveal the man himself. He said that a person -studying his physical nature would say "that his physical nature was -low, coarse, and not high and fine." Before he sent this letter he -re-read it, and inserted the word "comparatively" before "low." Mr. -Bartlett asked him further about this, and Herndon went into detail -as to Lincoln's body. "His blood ran slowly. He was of a low or slow -mechanical power, within him. I did not intend to say that Lincoln's -organization was a low, animal organization. What I meant to say was -that it was a slow-working machine. Lincoln's flesh was coarse, pimply, -dry, hard, harsh; color of his flesh saffron brown; no blood seemingly -in it; flesh wrinkled." - -Mr. Bartlett apparently inquired whether the abnormal qualities of -frontier life produced these effects, and whether Herndon had known -other men of the Lincoln type. Apparently he alluded to the presence of -malaria and the large use of pork in frontier diet. - -Herndon did not accept the pork and malaria theories. He said that all -such theories must give way to facts, and he dealt with facts. The men -of the frontier had the best meat in the world, "venison, bear, turkey, -and of course some hog." - - "You ask me if I ever saw in this great wild west many men of - Lincoln's type, and to which I answer, Yes. The first settlers of - central and southern Illinois were men of that type. They came from - the limestone regions of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and were - men of giant strength, physical force, and by nature mentally strong. - They were original, were individualists. The strong alone from 1818 to - 1830 could get here, and the strong alone could survive here.... No - one was like Lincoln, and yet many were of his type.... He was, as - you say, 'a man of extraordinary contrasts.' You would not look for a - well-rounded man in such a description." - -Lincoln was, then, as Herndon saw him, and as the world must see him, -a legitimate product of his environment. Herndon had read Buckle and -Spencer and Darwin, and was a thoroughgoing believer in evolution, as -was Lincoln, from a far narrower reading, but a very thoughtful study -of _Vestiges of Creation_. - -Physically, Lincoln was akin to the strong pioneers of early Illinois, -and it was not difficult to find each several trait of Lincoln -reduplicated in many of them. But Lincoln himself was never duplicated. -He was a product of his environment, but he was also an evolution which -in terms of an individual personality went beyond environment, and was -still going forward when death came to him. - -This evolution of Lincoln, the spiritual Lincoln, as portrayed in these -letters to a sculptor, who must not be permitted to forget, if he was -in danger of forgetting, that the real man Lincoln had in him more than -his bodily measurements could portray, is one of the most suggestive -studies disclosed by Herndon, and it is sound, both as approached from -the standpoint of science, and as considered in the personal study of -Lincoln in his growth from year to year. - -Like St. Paul, Lincoln had a warfare in his members. He was an -embodiment of forces mutually antagonistic. He would not have been -the man he was had either of them been lacking, and the growth of -either at the total expense of the other would have given us a man -abnormal, which Mr. Lincoln came perilously near to being. But his real -development was mental and spiritual. - -In another place St. Paul says that "The first man is of the earth, -earthy, and the second man is from heaven." It has been assumed without -due warrant that what he had in mind was a contrast between Adam and -Christ, and this view is strengthened by the intrusion of the words -"the Lord" in the authorized English text. But it is quite possible -that St. Paul, even if Adam and Christ were a part of his contrast, -had really in mind the evolution of any man's life; he being himself -in his bodily nature the first man and in the birth and growth of his -higher nature the second and contrasting man. "First is that which is -natural, and after, that which is spiritual." - -This was Herndon's thought of Lincoln, as disclosed in these -letters,[63] and it is true of Lincoln. Lincoln was more than an -embodiment of contrasts; the solar system is that, and it is more. In -the solar system the opposing forces do not neutralize each other, but -together hold the earth and planets in their orbits. So it was with -Lincoln. But with him the higher and nobler forces became increasingly -dominant. - -Herndon resented it when anyone said that Lincoln had died at the right -time. He believed that, great as Lincoln was, his nobler qualities had -not yet come to their full maturity, and that a longer-lived Lincoln -would have been an even nobler Lincoln. Here are some of the things he -says of him in these letters: - - "I said to you once that Mr. Lincoln had not arrived at maturity - in 1865, and I say so now. His blood ran slowly--had low or slow - circulation and consequently a slow build-up. As he had a slow - build-up, so he had a slow development; he grew up like the forest - oak, tough, solid, knotty, gnarled, standing out with power against - the storm, and almost defying the lightning. Hence I conclude that - he had not arrived at his highest development in 1865.... The - convolutions of his brain were long; they did not snap off quickly - like a short, thick man's brain.... The enduring power of Mr. - Lincoln's thought and brain was wonderful. He could sit and think - without food or rest longer than any man I ever saw." - -He goes into detail concerning Mr. Lincoln's bodily lethargy and its -effect on body and mind, the sluggishness of all his functions, and -affirms that this must be taken into account in any right estimate of -the man; but that steadily, and the more surely because slowly, his -mind and soul developed and became more and more dominant. - - "His flesh looked dry and leathery, tough and everlasting; his eyes - were small and gray; head small and forehead receding; but when this - great man was moved by some great and good feeling, by some idea of - Liberty, or Justice, or Right, then he seemed an inspired man. It - was just then that Lincoln's nature was beautiful, and in complete - harmony with the laws of the Great Eternal. I have seen him in this - inspired condition, and thought he was molded in the Spirit's best - mold. Lincoln was a great man, a good man, and a pure man; and beneath - his rough bodily exterior, Nature wove her fine network of nerve.... - Lincoln was a gloomy man at one moment and a joyous man the next; he - was conscious that a terrible fate awaited him. He said to me, 'I - cannot help but believe that I shall meet with some terrible end.' - This idea seized him and made him gloomy. At times his better nature - would get the mastery of him, and he would be happy till the shadow of - his fate flitted before him. In philosophy Lincoln was a fatalist.... - In my poor opinion, Lincoln had not arrived, when he was assassinated, - at the meridian of his intellectual power.... Were you to read his - early speeches thoroughly you would see his then coarse nature. He - gradually rose up, more spiritualistic. This is one of the reasons why - I say that Lincoln was not fully developed in mind at the last. When - a great Boston man said, 'Lincoln died at the right time,' he did not - know what he was talking about." - -In these and like paragraphs Herndon testified to the mental and -spiritual evolution of Lincoln; and he was probably correct when he -opined that that evolution was still in process, and that Lincoln was, -up to the very hour of his death, a growing man in all that meant most -to America and the world. - -The religion of Abraham Lincoln was part and parcel of his life; and -his life was an evolution whose successive stages can be measured with -reasonable certainty. Not only did his religious convictions develop -and broaden under the stimuli of Lincoln's constantly broadening -intellectual and spiritual environment, but they broadened in the -growth of his own personality. - -There was an evolution in his apprehension of the ethical implications -of public office. The Lincoln who re-entered politics after the -repeal of the Missouri Compromise was a changed man from the Lincoln -who, with the other members of the "Long Nine," earned by political -log-rolling the severe but not wholly unmerited name applied to them -by one of Illinois' best governors, "spared monuments of popular -wrath." That Lincoln did not in this earlier period commit any -personally dishonorable act is not an argument against the theory -here advocated. He had, in his later political career, a far higher -ideal of political honor, a greatly nobler conception of the dignity -of public office--which he always sought--as a field of popular -service. His political career was an evolution, and it developed nobler -characteristics than that which characterized his earlier political -life. - -Lincoln's emancipation policy was an evolution. The successive stages -of that policy were worthily set forth by Paul Selby in an address -before the Historical Society of Chicago.[64] There never was a time -when Abraham Lincoln did not believe slavery to be wrong, but there was -a time when he was not an Abolitionist. The moral aspect of the slavery -question grew in his mind and conscience till he promised his God to -free the slaves. - -On Sunday evening, September 7, 1862, a public meeting was held in -Bryan Hall, Chicago, to urge upon the President the desire of Christian -people that he should free the slaves. A petition was circulated, and -was signed by all the Congregational and nearly all the Methodist and -Baptist ministers of that city, courteously requesting the President -to give the matter his earnest attention. The petition was sent -to Washington by the hand of Rev. William W. Patton and Rev. John -Dempster, who met the President by appointment on Saturday afternoon, -September 13, the interview being arranged by Hon. Gideon Welles. - -The story of that meeting has often been told in part, with undue -emphasis upon Mr. Lincoln's statement then made that if God had a -message for him on this subject He would be more likely to communicate -it directly to Mr. Lincoln than to others for him. The latest book to -misuse this incident is one just from the press in Great Britain, the -_Short Life of Lincoln_, by Hon. Ralph Shirley, who says: - - "Some of the ministers in this deputation even went so far as to - assure him that they had authority in God's name to command him to - emancipate the slaves." - -Inasmuch as there were but two of the ministers, and neither of them -assumed any such authority to speak the mind of God, such statements -ought to cease, especially as the true story, from which all these -accounts are garbled, is available for inspection in the files of the -Maryland Historical Society. - -Mr. Lincoln did say to them that he hoped it would not appear -irreverent in him to say that if God were to reveal this duty of his -to others, it was probable that He would reveal it also directly to -Mr. Lincoln. At the beginning of the interview he was guarded; but as -he found common ground with his visitors, he threw first one leg and -then the other over the arm of his chair, and talked to them with the -utmost freedom, and asked them concerning the opinion of ministers and -churches, and assured them that he desired to know the will of God, and -whatever seemed to him to be God's will he would do. - -The next week occurred the battle of Antietam, and on Saturday, -September 20, exactly a week after his interview with the Chicago -ministers, Mr. Lincoln called the Cabinet together and read to them -the Emancipation Proclamation, which was signed and published on the -following Monday. We know now that Lincoln had promised God that if -that battle resulted in the success of the Union cause he would issue -the proclamation. We also know that the meeting with the Chicago -ministers was very timely, and gave him an added assurance of moral -support from the churches, if not added confidence in the help of God. - -Some time after, Joseph Medill, editor of the Chicago _Tribune_, -returning from Washington, said, "Secretary Stanton told me to say -to those Chicago clergymen who waited on the President about the -Proclamation of Emancipation, that their interview finished the -business. After that there was no manifestation of doubt or talk of -delay. Mr. Lincoln's mind was fully made up."--_Proceedings of the -Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore_, 1888. - -Lincoln's literary style was an evolution.[65] His spread-eagle -stump-speeches, with their florid rhetoric and grandiloquent figures -of speech evolved into the calm, dignified, and forceful English of -his maturer years.[66] An able monograph in which this evolution is -traced is cited elsewhere in this volume.[67] That change of style was -the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual as well as -intellectual grace. - -In like manner Lincoln's religion was an evolution, both in its -intellectual and its spiritual qualities. Up to the time of his -residence in New Salem he had heard only the dogmatic sectarianism of -unlettered preachers, proclaiming a creed which furnished him certain -lifelong tenets but which as a whole he could not accept. At New Salem -he read the negative arguments which confuted the dogmas he had heard, -and perhaps unwittingly made room for a more intelligent faith. - -He was deeply impressed by the argument of Dr. Smith in his _The -Christian's Defence_. It was the first time he had heard the Christian -apologetic rationally presented, and it made a lasting impression upon -him without, however, fully satisfying him. He was, however, a much -more religious man when he left Springfield than he was when he came -to it, whether he knew it or not. - -The solemn responsibilities of his office, the daily contemplation of -death as it menaced him and came into the homes of the people of his -country, the profound conviction that God was working His infinite -purpose through the war, and through the human agency of Lincoln -himself, took hold of the deepest impulses of his nature, and became -the controlling forces of his policy. - -Lincoln was no theologian, but I do not find any authority for the -statement of Mr. Binns that Lincoln said, "the more a man knew of -theology, the farther he got away from the Spirit of Christ." It is -possible, of course, for a man to learn theology as an intellectual -system and to have little religion as a spiritual experience, and to -lose that little in the process of his logical subtleties: but Lincoln -was too just a man to make so sweeping and unjust an affirmation of -something of which he would certainly have admitted he knew very little. - -The rock-bottom foundation of Abraham Lincoln's religious faith was -the ultra-Calvinism of his boyhood. He was reared a Predestinarian -Baptist; and while he never became a Baptist he never ceased to be -a Predestinarian. To this he added a strong rationalistic tendency, -inherent in his nature, and strengthened by his study of Paine and -Volney. This also he never wholly outgrew. As a lawyer who was not -well read, pleading before juries that cared little for the letter of -the law, he was accustomed to reduce his cases to simple principles of -elementary justice, and to rest all upon these principles. This habit -of thought and practice he applied also to his theology. His early -recollection of the epitaph of Johnny Kongapod was nothing less than -the application of the Golden Rule to theology--the assurance of an -eternal justice throned in heaven and intelligible on earth. - -Thus, when he argued in favor of universal salvation he did it upon the -basis of the old Calvinistic theology with which he had been familiar -all his life. If God was, indeed, absolute sovereign, and as good as -He was great, and willed not that any should perish, then no one could -finally perish. Universal salvation became logically and ethically -compulsory. The Christ who tasted death for every man, did so as the -necessary means to the efficiency of a plan of salvation whereby the -curse of the fall was fully offset by the sacrifice of Christ, at the -instance of the sovereign will of God. As in Adam all died, even so in -Christ were all made alive. His theory of universal salvation was the -logical expression of his determinism, influenced by his rationalism -and confirmed by his appeal to a justice that would not accept a fall -more universal than the atonement of Christ. This was not because -Lincoln approached the theme from the direction of the grace of Christ, -but of the irresistibility of a divine decree. He profoundly believed -himself an instrument of the divine will, believing that will to be -right, and creation's final law. - -If it were asked, where in such a system as his he found a place -for the forgiveness of sins, the answer would be first that he had -no system, and secondly that he found no place for the doctrine; -but it would then be necessary to add that he found the doctrine, -nevertheless. He had no system. He thought without logical method. But -his thinking was in right lines. He followed simple paths, "blazed" -through technicalities and in quite thorough disregard of them. As -his office desk was in confusion, and he kept a package marked, -"When you don't find it anywhere else, look here," so he had in his -thinking a parcel of unassorted first principles to which he recurred -when he needed them. Forgiveness and law were to him two unreconciled -postulates; but law he had to assume, even though he denied -forgiveness. But if he did not admit belief in forgiveness, he did -believe in mercy, for he himself was merciful, and he believed that he -would be merciful to God if he were God and God were man. Stanton could -argue him down as to the necessity for shooting a soldier who slept on -duty, but Lincoln injected an intuitive, and from Stanton's point of -view, an unreasonable and a certainly unarticulated, element of mercy -that forbade the killing of this particular boy. - -His theory of governmental forgiveness was as irreconcilable with his -theory of military discipline as his theory of divine mercy was with -his system of inexorable law. He did not harmonize the contradictions: -he was merciful, and let his system take the consequences, and he -believed in a divine mercy while holding a theory with which the -exercise of mercy was irreconcilable. - -To such a mind as that of Abraham Lincoln, it was not necessary to -prove the fact of immortality. If God possessed immortality and -intended it for man, then God would make His decree effective in man. -Adam's fall could not hopelessly lose to man what God designed; and, -whether he accepted for himself or not the theory of the fall and of -redemption, he accepted both in meeting an argument which by reason of -the fall could have deprived man of his birthright of immortality. He -believed in the immortality of the soul. - -Did he harmonize that doctrine with the rest of his creed? Probably -not. He was no theologian, in the strict and formal sense, no logician. -He reasoned on the basis of very simple and elementary principles, -whose lines of direction were determined by the early Calvinistic -preaching to which he listened, the rationalistic method which he -learned from Paine, and his simple sense of justice and right. - -His was not wholly an optimistic faith. He knew that man was sinful -and sad and that "the spirit of mortal" had little occasion for pride; -but he believed in an eternal justice and an unconquerable goodness, -regnant above the perplexities and contradictions of this life, and -triumphant in the life everlasting. - -Abraham Lincoln believed in God. Save in his moments of deepest gloom -when everything turned black, he appears never seriously to have -questioned this fundamental article of belief. It is not easy to see -how he could have done so. His idea of causation forbade it, and, what -was more, his profound supernaturalism affirmed it as incontrovertible. -This element of supernaturalism went the full length of orthodox -preaching, as Lincoln heard it and accepted it. It was in accord with -the teachings both of the Baptists, whom he heard in Indiana and rural -Illinois, and the Presbyterians, to whom he listened in Springfield and -in Washington. In a great God, a mighty Creator, a Sovereign Ruler, he -was taught to believe by all the forms of Calvinism to which throughout -his life he listened, and it was in full essential accord with his -own native tendency. His supernaturalism was not only ultra-orthodox; -it went the full length of current superstition. The frontiersman of -that day had superstition wrought into him by the vastness of the -wilderness, the solemnity of the immeasurable forest and plain, and the -insignificance of man; the haunting tales of savagery and witchcraft; -the presence in every frontier community of some person supposed to -be possessed of second sight or other supernatural qualities. The -rationalism of his mature years modified but did not in any degree -eradicate his supernaturalism. - -It must be remembered that Paine and Volney, whose works he read, were -far from being atheists. Thomas Paine, whatever he denied, believed as -strongly as Peter Cartwright or James Smith in a personal God. So far -as we know, Lincoln was never under any strong influence that might -have made him an atheist, his doubts and questionings were all within -the sphere of an expressed or implicit theism. - -The names by which Lincoln referred to God are many and suggestive. The -following is a partial list:[68] - -Almighty, Almighty Architect, Almighty Arm, Almighty Father, Almighty -God, Almighty Hand, Almighty Power, Almighty Ruler of Nations, -Creator, Disposer, Divine Author, Divine Being, Divine Majesty, Divine -Providence, Divine Will, Eternal God, Father, Father in Heaven, Father -of Mercies, God, God Almighty, God of Battles, God of Hosts, God -of Nations, Governor, Heavenly Father, Higher Being, Higher Power, -Holy Spirit, Judge, Lord, Maker, Maker of the Universe, Master, Most -High, Most High God, Omniscient Mind, Power, Providence, Ruler of the -Universe, Supreme Being. - -Lincoln believed in the Bible. I am not sure that he accepted the -whole content of the positive arguments set forth so cogently by his -pastor, Dr. Smith. When he called this argument "unanswerable," it -need not imply that his every doubt was satisfied, his every misgiving -reassured. It is entirely possible that there lingered in his mind -some vestiges of what he had read in writers opposed to the doctrine -of the inspiration of the Scriptures as it was then taught; indeed, -that doctrine in the form in which it was currently stated was not -one by which a modern man's orthodoxy ought to be tested. But he read -the Bible, honored it, quoted it freely, and it became so much a -part of him as visibly and permanently to give shape to his literary -style and to his habits of thought. When Mrs. Speed presented him an -Oxford Bible in 1841, he declared his intention to read it regularly, -believing it to be "the best cure for the blues"; and he kept and loved -and constantly used his mother's Bible. How he would have defined his -theory of its transmission and of the relation of its divine and human -elements we do not know, and we need not be too curious to inquire. -It is more than possible that Mr. Lincoln never made this definition -in his own mind. His attitude toward the Bible was a thoroughly -practical one. We do not know that he ever heard Coleridge's pragmatic -affirmation, but we have every reason to believe that he would have -accepted it, namely, that he valued the Bible because "it finds me as -no other book." - -Concerning his opinion of Jesus Christ our material for constructive -hypothesis is exceedingly scanty.[69] Herndon says he does not believe -the name of Jesus can be found in any of Lincoln's authentic writings. -I have found it in his writings but I must confess that I have not -found it frequently in any which I count to be certainly genuine.[70] -There are, however, a number of references to Jesus Christ in his -writings and published addresses, and they are both positive and -reverent. - -On July 4, 1864, the colored people of Baltimore presented him a -beautiful copy of the Bible of the usual pulpit size, bound in -violet-colored velvet. The corners were bands of solid gold and there -was a thick plate of gold upon the cover, bearing this inscription: - - "To Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, the friend of - universal freedom. From the loyal colored people of Baltimore, as a - token of respect and gratitude. Baltimore, July 4, 1864." - -In accepting this gift, which was presented in person by a committee of -five, the President said: - - "In regard to this great book, I have only to say it is the best - gift which God has ever given man. All the good from the Saviour of - the world is communicated to us through this book."--CARPENTER: _Six - Months in the White House_, p. 199; also NICOLAY and HAY: _Works of - Lincoln_, twelve volume edition, X, 217-18. - -Such references as this show to us the instinctive place which he -accorded Jesus Christ in his own unpremeditated thinking. This was the -best thing he had to say about the Bible, that through it alone we have -knowledge of the Saviour of the world. - -Herndon tells us that Lincoln ridiculed the doctrine of the virgin -birth of Jesus. If this is true, I am very sorry. But Abraham Lincoln's -faith in Christ did not depend wholly or even primarily upon his -interpretation of the mystery of our Lord's birth. I approach a -discussion of this question with some hesitation, for it is one which, -as related to Lincoln we do not know very much about, but it is a -subject which we are not free to pass over in silence. - -It is a sad fact that the argument for the divinity of our Lord Jesus -Christ should ever have been based on the mystery of his birth. Not -thus does the New Testament establish the doctrine of his divinity. -The wonderful story of the birth of Jesus is told in two places -only,--in the introduction to the two Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and -these are the very two that contain genealogies tracing his descent -through Joseph. The theory that one of these gives the family tree of -Mary is unsupported by any evidence. So far as we know, Jesus never -referred to the mystery of his birth, or attached any importance to -it. His two brothers, James and Jude, each wrote a book which we have -in the New Testament, and there is no reference in either of them to -this doctrine. Peter preached his mighty sermons at Pentecost and -afterwards, proclaiming the faith on which the Church was established, -and he grounded his argument for the divinity of Jesus not upon his -birth, but upon his resurrection from the dead. Paul preached the -gospel of Christ throughout the Roman world, and neither in any -recorded sermon nor in any letter did he make any reference to that -dogma. Mark, earliest of the gospels, and for we know not how long a -period the only one, is silent as to the birth of Jesus; and John, -the most definitely spiritual of them all, begins and concludes his -profound philosophy of the person of Christ without a word concerning -the manner of his birth. - -It is, therefore, a wholly unwarranted dogmatism which grounds the -divinity of Jesus in a question of the domestic relations of Joseph and -Mary. Jesus Christ is to be accepted for what He was and is, not for -some opinion as to how He became what He was. - -We do not know whether Abraham Lincoln ever considered the question of -the birth of Christ in any personal thought he may have had concerning -his own birth. We may not forget, however, that if Herndon is right, -Lincoln lived and died without knowing all the facts about his own -mother which later research has made certain. The marriage certificate -of his parents was recorded in another county than that in which he -supposed it would have been recorded, and he appears never to have been -certain that he himself was begotten in lawful wedlock. We know that -Nancy Hanks and Thomas Lincoln were married a year before the birth of -their eldest daughter, who was older than Abraham Lincoln, but he is -believed not to have known that. - -What then? Should a man in 1860 or 1864 refuse to vote for Abraham -Lincoln because he did not feel certain when or whether his parents -were married? - -The man who said, "I believe in Abraham Lincoln," did not commonly have -in mind any question of his parentage, but believed in his integrity, -his patriotism, his moral leadership. Even so the man who believes in -Jesus Christ may believe in Him without ever asking, much less ever -answering, any dubitable question in metaphysics. - -Scant as are the references to Jesus in the authentic utterances of -Abraham Lincoln, they do not seem to me unimportant. They testify to a -faith that was valid as far as it went. They manifest a spirit which is -fundamentally Christian. - -Unable to define his own views in terms that would have been acceptable -to those who believed themselves the rightful guardians of orthodoxy -in his day, it is not surprising that Lincoln was guarded in his -references to a dogma which might have involved him in greater -difficulties than he was prepared to meet. It was true in that day -unhappily as it was in the days of Paul, "Some indeed preach Christ -even of envy and strife; and some also of good-will." It is occasion -for profound sorrow that Christ has been so preached as that men have -sometimes found it difficult to confess their faith in Him without -provoking strife and envy. - -That Lincoln was unwilling to make his doubt the occasion of dogmatic -negation is evident from one or more of the acquaintances of Lincoln, -whom Herndon interviewed in an effort to adduce testimony against his -faith, and whom Lamon quoted in that part of his book in which he made -his attack upon the religion of Lincoln. The following from I. W. -Keys, the man who loaned to him _Vestiges of Creation_, is interesting -in itself and especially interesting in its relation to the group of -testimonies which these two men assembled: - - "In my intercourse with Mr. Lincoln, I learned that he believed in - a Creator of all things, who had neither beginning nor end, and, - possessing all power and wisdom, established a principle, in obedience - to which worlds move, and are upheld, and animal and vegetable life - come into existence. A reason he gave for his belief was that, in - view of the order and harmony of all nature which we behold, it would - have been created and arranged by some great thinking power. As to - the Christian theory, that Christ is God, or equal to the Creator, - he said that it had better be taken for granted; for, by the test of - reason, we might become infidels on that subject, for evidence of - Christ's divinity came to us in a somewhat doubtful shape; but that - the system of Christianity was an ingenious one at least, and perhaps - was calculated to do good."--LAMON: _Life of Lincoln_, p. 490. - -Emphatic proof of Mr. Lincoln's faith is to be found in the positive -declaration of the two men who have done most to destroy the world's -confidence in it, Lamon and Herndon. In Lamon's later book of -_Reminiscences_, he did much to counteract the harsh and to my mind -incorrect impression given in his earlier book. But even in that book -he affirmed that while Lincoln rejected the New Testament as a book of -divine authority, he accepted its precepts as binding upon him and was -a believer in the supernatural even to credulity (p. 503, 504). - -In that same work Herndon set forth that Lincoln was a firm believer in -God and attempted, as he said, "to put at rest forever the charge that -Mr. Lincoln was an atheist." He declared, however, that Lincoln did not -believe in a special creation, but in an "evolution under law"; not in -special revelation, "but in miracles under law"; and that "all things -both matter and mind were governed by laws universal, absolute, and -eternal" (p. 494). - -To this Herndon gives even more emphatic testimony in his own book. -It must then be remembered that while in the loose nomenclature of -these authors Mr. Lincoln was an "infidel" it is these same authors -that assure us, as Lamon does, that "his theological opinions were -substantially those expounded by Theodore Parker."--LAMON: _Life of -Lincoln_, p. 486. - -The question whether Lincoln's views underwent any substantial change -after leaving Springfield, has been answered in the negative by John G. -Nicolay, his private secretary at the White House; who affirmed that -"Mr. Lincoln did not, to my knowledge, in any way change his religious -views, opinions, or beliefs, from the time he left Springfield to the -day of his death." - -This probably is correct. Mr. Lincoln was not conscious of any radical -change; but Mrs. Lincoln noticed a change in him after Willie's death, -which grew more pronounced after his visit to Gettysburg, and his own -faith, while undergoing no sudden and radical transformation, manifests -a consistent evolution. - -But we are not sure how much Mr. Nicolay believed Lincoln's views to -have been in need of change. He said in another place: - - "Benevolence and forgiveness were the very basis of his character. His - nature was deeply religious, but he belonged to no denomination; he - had faith in the eternal justice and boundless mercy of Providence, - and made the Golden Rule of Christ his practical creed."--JOHN G. - NICOLAY, in article "Abraham Lincoln" in _Encyclopedia Britannica_, - ninth edition, XIV, 662. - -Lincoln believed in divine destiny. He could hardly have believed -otherwise. The preaching to which he listened was such as to make it -all but impossible for him to hold any other views. He believed so -strongly that his own life was under divine guidance that Lamon and -Herndon speak of it in a thinly veiled scorn as though it were in -Lincoln's mind a mark of conscious superiority. Whether it was such -a mark or not does not now concern us. Lincoln believed in divine -guidance. He had faith in prayer and his practice of prayer is attested -by many and credible witnesses. A man of his temperament and training -and sense of responsibility could not well have been kept from praying. -Prayer was a necessary part of his life. - -Lincoln not only had faith in prayer considered as a means of obtaining -results from God; he believed in it as establishing a relation with -God, a covenant relation, such as Abraham of old established. If such a -faith seems inconsistent with any other elements in the faith or doubt -of Abraham Lincoln, then the inconsistency must stand, for he did not -hold his views in entire consistency. In no respect does this faith in -the covenant relation emerge more strongly than in connection with the -issue of the Emancipation Proclamation. Fortunately, the evidence here -is incontestable. The Proclamation immediately became historic. Lincoln -had to autograph many copies to be sold at sanitary fairs--copies which -now sell at one thousand dollars each. Every incident relating to the -event became of immediate interest; and members of the Cabinet had to -group themselves for Carpenter's historic painting, of which he has -left so valuable a literary monument in his _Six Months in the White -House_. The members of the Cabinet had no time to invent or imagine -a set of incidents mythical in character, for each of them had to -describe many times, and immediately, the circumstances which attended -the reading of the Proclamation to the Cabinet on Monday, September 22, -1862. - -This is the important and incontestable fact, that Lincoln did not -bring the Proclamation to the Cabinet for discussion, except as to -minor details. He had already determined to issue it. He had promised -God that he would do so. - -This was the statement which profoundly impressed the members of the -Cabinet,--the President told them that he had already promised God that -he would free the slaves. - -The Diary of Gideon Welles was first published in full in the _Atlantic -Monthly_ in 1909, portions of it having earlier appeared in the -Century; but it was written day by day as the events occurred. His -record for Monday, September 22, 1862, begins thus: - - "We have a special Cabinet meeting. The subject was the Proclamation - concerning emancipating slaves after a certain date in States that - should then be in rebellion. For several weeks the subject has been - suspended, but, the President says, never lost sight of. When the - subject was submitted in August, and indeed in taking it up, the - President stated that the matter was finally decided, but that he - felt it to be due to us to make us acquainted with the fact and - invite criticism of the Proclamation. There were some differences in - the Cabinet, but he had formed his own conclusions, and made his - own decisions. He had, he said, made a vow, a covenant, that if God - gave us the victory in the approaching battle (which had just been - fought) he would consider it his duty to move forward in the cause of - emancipation. We might think it strange, he said, but there were times - when he felt uncertain how to act; that he had in this way submitted - the disposal of matters when the way was not clear to his mind what he - should do. God had decided this question in favor of the slave. He was - satisfied it was right--was confirmed and strengthened in his action - by the vow and its results; his mind was fixed, his decision made; but - he wished his paper announcing his course to be as correct in terms as - it could be made without any attempt to change his determination. For - that was fixed."--"The Diary of Gideon Welles," _Atlantic Monthly_, - 1909, p. 369. - -We have no present concern with the question whether Lincoln's method -of determining the divine will was a reasonable method, or wholly -consistent with some of his own questions and doubts; what concerns -us is that the President invited no discussion of the Proclamation in -its essential elements; any disposition which any of the members of -the Cabinet might have felt to discuss the instrument itself or seek -to dissuade the President from issuing it was stopped by his quiet and -emphatic declaration that he had made a covenant with God, and must -keep his vow; and that he was strengthened in his own conviction that -the Proclamation was in accord with the will of God. - -We must not pass lightly over the religious aspects of the Emancipation -Proclamation. Lincoln had submitted his first draft of the Proclamation -to the Cabinet on Tuesday, July 22, 1862, and it met with strong -opposition. Only two members of the Cabinet favored it; Seward and -Chase were strongly against it and the others thought it inopportune. -With the memory of this opposition, which in July had practically voted -the President down, Mr. Lincoln brought the matter again on September -22, not for discussion, for as he said he knew the view already of -every member of the Cabinet, but he had promised God that he would -do this thing. That very night Secretary Chase wrote in his diary an -account of the meeting, which is condensed as follows: - - "_Monday, September 22, 1862._ - - "To Department about nine. State Department messenger came with - notice to heads of Departments to meet at twelve. Received sundry - callers. Went to White House. All the members of the Cabinet were in - attendance. There was some general talk, and the President mentioned - that Artemus Ward had sent him his book. Proposed to read a chapter - which he thought very funny. Read it, and seemed to enjoy it very much. - - "The President then took a graver tone, and said, 'Gentlemen: I have, - as you are aware, thought a great deal about the relation of this - war to slavery; and you all remember that, several weeks ago, I read - to you an order I had prepared on this subject, which, on account of - objections made by some of you, was not issued. Ever since then my - mind has been much occupied with this subject, and I have thought, all - along, that the time for acting on it might probably come. I think the - time has come now. I wish it was a better time. I wish that we were in - a better condition. The action of the army against the Rebels has not - been quite what I should best like. But they have been driven out of - Maryland, and Pennsylvania is no longer in danger of invasion. When - the Rebel Army was at Frederick, I determined, as soon as it should be - driven out of Maryland, to issue a Proclamation of Emancipation, such - as I thought most likely to be useful. I said nothing to anyone, but I - made the promise to myself, and [hesitating a little] to my Maker. The - Rebel Army is now driven out, and I am going to fulfill that promise. - I have got you together to hear what I have written down. I do not - wish your advice about the main matter, for that I have determined for - myself. This, I say, without intending anything but respect for any - one of you. But I already know the views of each on this question. - They have been heretofore expressed, and I have considered them as - thoroughly and carefully as I can. What I have written is that which - my reflections have determined me to say. If there is anything in the - expressions I use, or in any minor matter, which any one of you thinks - had best be changed I shall be glad to receive the suggestions. One - other observation I will make. I know very well that many others - might, in this matter as in others, do better than I can; and if I was - satisfied that the public confidence was more fully possessed by any - one of them than by me, and knew of any constitutional way in which he - could be put in my place, he should have it. I would gladly yield it - to him. But though I believe that I have not so much of the confidence - of the people as I had some time since, I do not know that, all things - considered, any other person has more; and however this may be, there - is no way in which I can have any other man put where I am. I am here; - I must do the best I can, and bear the responsibility of taking the - course which I feel I ought to take.'"--WARDEN: _Life of S. P. Chase_, - pp. 481-82, quoted in Nicolay and Hay, VI, 159-60. - -In the diaries of Secretaries Welles and Chase we have incontrovertible -testimony. The two records were made independently and on that -very night, and were not published for years afterward. There was -no possible collusion or reshaping of the testimony in the light -of subsequent events, no time for imagination to play any part in -enlarging upon the incident. The President recognized that the time was -not wholly propitious, that a majority of the Cabinet probably would -not be disposed to adopt his Proclamation if put to vote, that the -people's support of the administration was wavering and unpredicable -and none too certain to approve this measure. Under these conditions it -is impossible to consider the Emancipation Proclamation solely from the -standpoint either of political expediency or of military necessity. The -fact which silenced all opposition in the Cabinet was the President's -solemn statement that he had made a covenant with God, and that he must -keep it. - -There is a sense in which the solemnity is heightened by the grotesque -incident of the chapter from Artemus Ward read at the beginning. There -is an aspect in which the sublimity of that Cabinet meeting's ending -is heightened by the ridiculousness of its beginning. In any event, -it shows that the mind of Abraham Lincoln that morning was in what -for him was a thoroughly healthy condition. However incongruous it -might have been for another man to begin so solemn a meeting with a -chapter from Artemus Ward, it was a mark of sanity, of thorough normal -psychology, when done by Abraham Lincoln. It showed that the moral -overstrain was finding its relief from excessive tension in what for -Lincoln was an entirely normal way. - -As before stated, these two contemporary accounts by Welles and Chase, -though made at the time, were not published until years afterward; but -there was another publication that was virtually contemporary. Frank -B. Carpenter, the artist, began almost immediately his noted painting -of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, and in the course of -his six months in the White House had long and repeated interviews with -all members of the Cabinet, and talked with them about every incident -connected with that event. He published his account in his book in -1866, while all the members of the Cabinet were living, and, so far as -known, was never objected to or proposed to be modified by any member -of the Cabinet. According to his statement, Lincoln told the Cabinet -that he had promised God that he would do this, uttering the last part -of this sentence in a low voice. Secretary Chase, who was sitting near -the President, asked Mr. Lincoln if he had correctly understood him, -and the President repeated what he had affirmed before, saying: - -"I made a solemn vow before God, that if General Lee was driven back -from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the declaration of -freedom for the slaves."--_Six Months in the White House_, pp. 89, 90. - -In this threefold attestation we have irrefutable testimony that -the determining motive of President Lincoln in his issue of the -Emancipation Proclamation was the keeping of his solemn covenant with -God. - -It is all but impossible to exaggerate the significance of this -incident. The essential fact is as fully proved as human testimony -can possibly prove a fact. When we remember the extreme reticence of -Abraham Lincoln on all such matters, and the fact of which he must -have been painfully conscious that his Cabinet was not very favorably -disposed toward the thing that he proposed to do, his quiet, outspoken, -and repeated declaration that he had promised this thing to God is -sufficient in itself to settle forever the essentially religious -character of Abraham Lincoln. If we had no other word from his lips -touching on the subject of religion but this one, we should be assured -of his unfaltering belief in God, in a profound sense of his own -personal responsibility to God, in prayer, and a personal relation with -God. - -This was no platitude uttered to meet the expectation of the religious -people of the United States; it was no evasive generality intended to -fit whatever religious desire might lie in the minds of those who heard -him. It was no play to the gallery; it was no masquerade; every motive -of pretense or hypocrisy or duplicity was absent. It was the sincere -expression of the abiding faith of Abraham Lincoln in God, and prayer, -and duty. - - * * * * * - -Lincoln was a believer in the immortality of the soul.[71] Herndon -affirms this and declares that any attempt to deny it would imply -that Lincoln was a dishonest man. He believed in the preservation of -identity beyond the grave so that we shall be conscious of our own -identity and be able to recognize our loved ones. - -He believed in future punishment, but not in endless punishment. -Punishment seemed to him so inevitable a part of an inexorable divine -law that he sometimes objected to the preaching of the doctrine of -forgiveness as being subversive of the fact of law, which he held must -continue its sway in this world and in every world; but in eternal -punishment he did not believe. His old neighbors in New Salem, his -friends in Springfield, and those who knew him in Washington agree in -this. We have already quoted from the letter of Isaac Cogdal to Mr. B. -F. Irwin, April 10, 1874, who tells of a conversation he had with Mr. -Lincoln in the latter's office in Springfield about 1859, concerning -Mr. Lincoln's religious faith. Mr. Herndon was present. He says: - - "Mr. Lincoln expressed himself in about these words: He did not nor - could not believe in the endless punishment of anyone of the human - race. He understood punishment for sin to be a Bible doctrine; - that the punishment was parental in its object, aim, and design, - and intended for the good of the offender; hence it must cease - when justice was satisfied. He added that all that was lost by the - transgression of Adam was made good by the atonement; all that was - lost by the fall was made good by the sacrifice. And he added this - remark, that punishment being a provision of the gospel system, he was - not sure but the world would be better if a little more punishment was - preached by our ministers, and not so much pardon for sin." - -William H. Hannah, in Lamon's group of citations, says: - - "Since 1856 Mr. Lincoln told me that he was a kind of immortalist; - that he never could bring himself to believe in eternal punishment; - that man lived but a little while here; and that, if eternal - punishment were man's doom, he should spend that little life in - vigilant and ceaseless preparation by never-ending prayer."--LAMON: - _Life of Lincoln_, p. 489. - -Some who have known of Lincoln's particular utterances on certain of -these points have been misled, as it appears to me, by the similarity -of some of these points to doctrines held by particular religious -sects and have sought to identify Lincoln more or less with those -denominations. The fact that he took portions of his positive thinking -from Theodore Parker and William Ellery Channing, does not necessitate -that he was a Unitarian; nor does the fact that he did not believe -in eternal punishment compel his classification with Universalists. -Theodore Parker and William E. Channing chanced to be the authors -whose writings came into his possession at a time when they served -to define particular aspects of his own faith. Horace Bushnell, or -Henry Ward Beecher might have served him quite as well and possibly in -some respects better. For Lincoln's Calvinism was too deep-rooted to -be eradicated; and a positive faith, both liberal and constructive, -that could have been grafted on to that root might very possibly have -served him better than anything so radical as in its nature to deny any -essential part of what he felt he must continue to believe. Parker and -Channing served him as James Smith's _Christian's Defence_ and Robert -Chambers' _Vestiges of Creation_ served him in assuring him that a man -could hold the views he held and know more about them than he knew and -still be a reverent Christian. Such a Christian Abraham Lincoln appears -to me to have been. - -I do not think that any claim which I am here making for the faith of -Abraham Lincoln can be denied on the basis of any authentic utterance -of his. If at any point he is known to have said or written anything -which is apparently inconsistent with these affirmations, that -utterance I think will be found somewhere in this volume and the reader -will have no difficulty in finding it and in giving it its proper -weight. But I do not think the general position which this chapter sets -forth can be seriously shaken. In the sense which this chapter has -endeavored truthfully to set forth, Abraham Lincoln believed in God, in -Christ, in the Bible, in prayer, in duty, and in immortality. - -Religion is one thing and theology is another. A love of flowers is one -thing and a knowledge of botany is another. A man may love a flower -and call it by the wrong name, or know no name for it. A man may have -the religion of Christ, and hold very wrong opinions or conjectures -concerning Christ. We are saved by faith, not by conjecture. No man -is saved or lost because of the correctness of his opinions. Correct -thinking is important; but it is not so important as a right attitude -toward spiritual realities and practical duties. Faith and opinion are -not unrelated, but neither are they identical. - -Too much of the effort to prove that Abraham Lincoln was a Christian -has begun and ended in the effort to show that on certain theological -topics he cherished correct opinions. That would not prove him to be -a Christian, nor would the lack of these certainly prove that he was -not a Christian. Religion is of the heart and life; theology is of the -brain and mind. Each is important, but theology is less important than -religion. - -Abraham Lincoln was not a theologian, and several of his theological -opinions may have been incorrect; but there is good reason to believe -that he was a true Christian. The world has need of a few theologians, -and of a great many Christians. - -It was Mr. Lincoln's custom when he read a paragraph which deeply -interested him, to draw a pencil line around it in the book; and if it -was something which he wished to commit to memory and meditate upon, he -often copied it upon a scrap of paper. I own a half page of notepaper -containing in Lincoln's handwriting and with his signature, a paragraph -from Baxter's "Saint's Rest." The manuscript was owned by Hon. Winfield -Smith, Lincoln's Attorney-General in 1864, and was among his private -papers when he died. The paragraph reads: - - "It is more pleasing to God to see his people study Him and His will - directly, than to spend the first and chief of their effort about - attaining comfort for themselves. We have faith given us, principally - that we might believe and live by it in daily applications of Christ. - You may believe immediately (by God's help) but getting assurance of - it may be the work of a great part of your life." - -It would be interesting to know just what was in Lincoln's mind when -he read this paragraph, and sat down with pen and ink to copy and -meditate upon it. The "comfort" which Baxter was referring to in -this passage was the comfort of assurance of salvation in Christ. It -was a theme on which Mr. Lincoln heard many sermons, first and last, -by Predestinarian preachers, both Baptist and Presbyterian. If a -man was among the elect, how could he be sure of it, and what means -could he take to make the assurance more certain? Baxter's answer was -that assurance in this matter is less important than to study and -obey God's will; and that faith is given us as something in whose -exercise we may live daily without greatly troubling ourselves about -fathomless mysteries. It was good doctrine for a man who had been -reared as Lincoln had been reared, and the remainder of the passage was -especially in line with his needs. He could believe immediately, even -though the assurance of faith was long delayed. That assurance might -be the work of a lifetime, but faith was something that might be lived -upon now. The thought is akin to that in the fine lines of Lizzie York -Case: - - "_There is no unbelief: - For thus by day and night unconsciously - The heart lives by the faith the lips deny,-- - God knoweth why._" - -A man can live by a faith of which he has not full assurance--so said -the sensible old Puritan, Richard Baxter--he can live on it though it -take him nearly all his life to gain assurance; and I am certain he -would have added, had he been asked, that if assurance never came, and -our heart condemn us, "God is greater than our heart." - -The carefully written paragraph in Lincoln's hand appears to indicate -that the thought was one which deeply impressed Lincoln. Perhaps he -felt that his own faith was of that sort, a faith on which a man could -live, while going forward in the study and pursuit of the will of God, -not seeking one's own comfort or the joy of complete assurance, but -finding in the daily performance of duty the essential quality of true -faith. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -THE CREED OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN - - -ABRAHAM LINCOLN made no effort, so far as we know, to formulate a -creed. It would have been an exceedingly difficult thing for him to -have accomplished. His utterances on religious subjects were not made -as dogmatic affirmations. He merely uttered as occasion seemed to him -to demand such sentiments and principles as expressed those aspects of -truth which he felt and believed to need expression at those particular -times. Nevertheless, these utterances together cover a somewhat wide -range; and while they were not intended to epitomize any system of -Christian doctrine, they make a nearer approach to an epitome of this -character than on the whole might reasonably have been expected. - -It will be interesting and profitable to close this study with a -series of short quotations from documents, letters, and addresses, -certified as authentic and touching directly upon points of Christian -doctrine. In most instances these have been quoted already, with their -context, but they are here brought together in briefer form in order to -facilitate our inquiry whether they afford any material out of which -might be made some approach to a statement of Christian faith. - - -_Materials for a Lincoln creed_: - - I sincerely hope father may recover his health, but, at all events, - tell him to remember to call upon and confide in our great and good - and merciful Maker, who will not turn away from him in any extremity. - He notes the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads, - and He will not forget the dying man who puts his trust in Him.... If - it be his lot to go now he will soon have a joyous meeting with many - loved ones gone before, and where the rest of us with the help of God - hope ere long to join them.--Letter to his dying father, January 12, - 1851. _Complete Works_, I, 165. - - Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him - [Washington] I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail. - Trusting in His care who can go with me, and remain with you, and be - everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be - well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will - commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.--Farewell Address, - Springfield, February 11, 1861. _Complete Works_, I, 672. - - If the Almighty Ruler of Nations, with His eternal truth and justice, - be on our side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth - and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great - tribunal of the American people.... Intelligence, patriotism, - Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken - this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all - our present difficulty.... My dissatisfied fellow countrymen ... you - have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I - have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it.--First - Inaugural, March 4, 1861. _Complete Works_, II, 7. - - May God give you that consolation which is beyond all earthly - power.--Letter to parents of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, May 25, 1861. - _Complete Works_, II, 52. - - And having thus chosen our course, without guile and with pure - purpose, let us renew our trust in God and go forward without fear and - with manly hearts.--First Message to Congress, July 4, 1861. _Complete - Works_, II, 66. - - Whereas it is fit and becoming in all people, at all times, to - acknowledge and revere the supreme government of God; to bow in - humble submission to His chastisements; to confess and deplore their - sins and transgressions, in the full conviction that the fear of the - Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and to pray with all fervency and - contrition for the pardon of their past offenses, and for a blessing - upon their present and prospective action: - - And whereas when our own beloved country, once, by the blessing of - God, united, prosperous, and happy, is now afflicted with factions and - civil war, it is particularly fit for us to recognize the hand of God - in this terrible visitation, and in sorrowful remembrance of our own - faults and crimes as a nation and as individuals, to humble ourselves - before Him and to pray for His mercy.--National Fast Day Proclamation, - August 12, 1861. _Complete Works_, II, 73. - - In the midst of unprecedented political troubles we have cause - of great gratitude to God for unusual health and most abundant - harvest.... The struggle of today is not altogether for today--it is - for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence all the more - firm and earnest, let us proceed to the great task which events have - devolved upon us.--Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1861. - _Complete Works_, II, 93 and 106. - - Whereas it has seemed to me probable that the unsuccessful application - made for the commutation of his sentence may have prevented the said - Nathaniel Gordon from making the necessary preparation for the awful - change which awaits him: Now therefore be it known that I, Abraham - Lincoln, President of the United States, have granted and do hereby - grant unto him, the said Nathaniel Gordon, a respite of the above - recited sentence, until Friday, the 21st of February, A.D. 1862.... - In granting this respite it becomes my painful duty to admonish the - prisoner that, relinquishing all expectation of pardon by human - authority, he refer himself alone to the mercy of the common God and - Father of all men.--Proclamation of Respite for a Convicted Slave - Trader, February 4, 1862. _Complete Works_, II, 121-22. - - Being a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly Father, as I - am, and as we all are, to work out His great purposes, I have desired - that all my works and acts may be according to His will; and that - it might be so, I have sought His aid.--Reply to Mrs. Gurney and - Deputation from Society of Friends, September [28?], 1862. _Complete - Works_, II, 243. - - In full view of my great responsibility to my God and to my country, - I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the - subject.--Message to Congress recommending Emancipation with - Compensation to Owners, March 6, 1862. _Complete Works_, II, 130. - - It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe signal victories to the - land and naval forces.... It is therefore recommended to the people - of the United States that at their next weekly assemblages ... they - especially acknowledge and render thanks to our Heavenly Father - for these inestimable blessings; that they then and there implore - spiritual consolation in behalf of all who have been brought into - affliction by the casualties and calamities of sedition and civil war; - and that they reverently invoke the Divine guidance to our national - counsels, to the end that they may speedily result in restoration of - peace, harmony, and unity.--Special Thanksgiving Proclamation, April - 10, 1862. _Complete Works_, II, 143. - - The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act - in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, - wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. - In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is - something different from the purpose of either party; and yet the - human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best - adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that - this is probably true; that God wills this contest, and wills that - it shall not end yet. By His mere great power on the minds of the - now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union - without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And, having begun, He - could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest - proceeds.--A Meditation on the Divine Will in the handwriting of Mr. - Lincoln, formulated about September 30, 1862, and not written for the - eye of men but apparently in the effort to define the moral aspects - of the subject and to clarify his own spiritual outlook.--_Complete - Works_, II, 243-44. - - Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their - dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins - and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that - genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize - the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proved by all - history, that those nations only are blest whose God is the Lord; And - inasmuch as we know that by His Divine law nations, like individuals, - are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may - we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now - desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our - presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as - a whole people?--Fast Day Proclamation, March 30, 1863. _Complete - Works_, II, 319. - - It is meet and right to recognize and confess the presence of the - Almighty Father and the power of His hand equally in these triumphs - and in these sorrows.... I invite the people of the United States - ... to render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for the wonderful - things He has done in the nation's behalf, and invoke the influence - of his Holy Spirit to subdue the anger which has produced and so long - sustained a needless and cruel rebellion.--Thanksgiving Proclamation, - July 15, 1863. _Complete Works_, II, 370. - - In regard to the Great Book, I have only to say, it is the best - gift which God has ever given man. All the good from the Saviour - of the world is communicated to us through this book.--Response to - Presentation of Bible. _Complete Works_, Nicolay and Hay's new and - enlarged edition, twelve volumes, N. Y., 1905, X, 217-18. - - Signal successes ... call for devout acknowledgment to the Supreme - Being in whose hand are the destinies of nations.--Thanksgiving - Proclamation, September 3, 1864. _Complete Works_, II, 571. - - God knows best ... surely He intends some great good to follow this - mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make and no mortal can - stave.... That you believe this I doubt not; and believing it, I shall - still receive for our country and myself your earnest prayers to our - Father in Heaven.--Letter to Mrs. Gurney, September 4, 1864. _Complete - Works_, II, 573-74. - - I do further recommend to my fellow citizens aforesaid, that they do - reverently humble themselves in the dust, and from thence offer up - penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer - of events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, - and harmony.--Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 20, 1864. _Complete - Works_, II, 587. - - I am thankful to God for this approval of the people; ... I give - thanks to the Almighty for this evidence of the people's resolution - to stand by free government and the rights of humanity.--Response to - Serenade following Re-election, November 9, 1864. _Complete Works_, - II, 595. - - I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is - wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel, and - yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me - an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and - feeling.... I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly - that events have controlled me. Now at the end of three years' - struggle, the nation's condition is not what either party, or any man, - devised or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending - seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills - also that we of the North as well as you of the South, shall pay - fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find - therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness of - God.--Letter to A. G. Hodges, April 4, 1864. _Complete Works_, II, - 508-09. - - Enough is known of army operations within the last five days to claim - an especial gratitude to God, while what remains undone demands our - most sincere prayers to, and reliance upon, Him without whom all - human effort is vain.--Recommendation of Thanksgiving, May 9, 1864. - _Complete Works_, II, 519. - - I invite and request ... all loyal and law-abiding people ... to - render to the Almighty and merciful Ruler of the universe homages and - confessions.--Proclamation of Day of Prayer, July 7, 1864. _Complete - Works_, II, 544. - - Again the blessings of health and abundant harvest claim our - profoundest gratitude to Almighty God.--Annual Address to Congress, - December 6, 1864. _Complete Works_, II, 604. - - You all may recollect that in taking up the sword thus forced into - our hands, this government appealed to the prayers of the pious and - good, and declared that it placed its whole dependence upon the favor - of God. I now humbly and reverently, in your presence, reiterate the - acknowledgment of that dependence, not doubting that, if it shall - please the Divine Being who determines the destinies of nations, this - shall remain a united people, and that they will, humbly seeking the - Divine guidance, make their prolonged national existence a source of - new benefits to themselves and their successors, and to all classes - and conditions of mankind.--Address to Committee from Evangelical - Lutheran General Synod, May 6, 1862. _Complete Works_, II, 148. - - Relying, as I do, upon Almighty Power, and encouraged, as I am, by - the resolutions which you have just read, with the support which - I receive from Christian men, I shall not hesitate to use all the - means at my control to secure the termination of this rebellion, - and will hope for success.--Address to Committee of Sixty-five from - Presbyterian General Assembly, May 30, 1863. _Complete Works_, II, 342. - - I expect [my Second Inaugural] to wear as well as--perhaps better - than--anything I have produced; but I believe it is not immediately - popular. Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been - a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them. To deny it, - however, in this case, is to deny that there is a God governing the - world. It is a truth which I thought needed to be told, and, as - whatever of humiliation there is in it falls most directly on myself, - I thought others might afford for me to tell it.--Letter to Thurlow - Weed, March 15, 1865. _Complete Works_, II, 661. - - It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's - assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's - faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged.... The Almighty - has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses! For - it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the - offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of - those offenses which, in the Providence of God, must needs come, but - which having continued through His appointed time, He now will remove - and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the - woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein - any departure from those Divine attributes which the believers in a - living God always ascribe to Him. Fondly do we hope--perfectly do we - pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if - God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's - two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and - until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another - drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still - must it be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous - altogether." - - With malice toward 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.--Second Inaugural, March 4, 1865. _Complete Works_, - II, 657. - -No one of the foregoing quotations is taken from a private -conversation, nor copied from an unauthorized source. Some -very pleasing selections might have been made from reasonably -well-accredited sources, but all of the foregoing selections, without -any exception, are taken from the authentic writings and addresses -of Lincoln as compiled, edited, and authenticated by his private -secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay. - -We might go much farther and could find a considerable body of -additional material, but this is sufficient and more than sufficient -for our purpose. In these utterances may be found something of the -determinism that was hammered into Lincoln by the early Baptist -preachers and riveted by James Smith, along with some of the -humanitarianism of Parker and Channing, and much which lay unstratified -in Lincoln's own mind but flowed spontaneously from his pen or dropped -from his lips because it was native to his thinking and had come to be -a component part of his life. Anyone who cares to do so may piece these -utterances together and test his success in making a creed out of them. -They lend themselves somewhat readily to such an arrangement. - -In the following arrangement no liberties have been taken except to -change the past tense to the present, or the plural to the singular, -and to add connectives, and preface the words "I believe." Except for -changes such as these, which in no way modify the sense or natural -force of the utterances, the creed which follows is wholly in the words -of Abraham Lincoln. A very little tampering with the text would have -made smoother reading, but this is not necessary. It has the simplicity -and the rugged honesty of the man who said these words. - - -THE CREED OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN HIS OWN WORDS - -I believe in God, the Almighty Ruler of Nations, our great and good and -merciful Maker, our Father in Heaven, who notes the fall of a sparrow, -and numbers the hairs of our heads. - -I believe in His eternal truth and justice. - -I recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and -proven by all history that those nations only are blest whose God is -the Lord. - -I believe that it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own -their dependence upon the overruling power of God, and to invoke the -influence of His Holy Spirit; to confess their sins and transgressions -in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will -lead to mercy and pardon. - -I believe that it is meet and right to recognize and confess the -presence of the Almighty Father equally in our triumphs and in those -sorrows which we may justly fear are a punishment inflicted upon us for -our presumptuous sins to the needful end of our reformation. - -I believe that the Bible is the best gift which God has ever given to -men. All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated to us -through this book. - -I believe the will of God prevails. Without Him all human reliance is -vain. Without the assistance of that Divine Being, I cannot succeed. -With that assistance I cannot fail. - -Being a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly Father, I desire -that all my works and acts may be according to His will; and that it -may be so, I give thanks to the Almighty, and seek His aid. - -I have a solemn oath registered in heaven to finish the work I am in, -in full view of my responsibility to my God, with malice toward none; -with charity for all; with firmness in the right as God gives me to -see the right. Commending those who love me to His care, as I hope in -their prayers they will commend me, I look through the help of God to a -joyous meeting with many loved ones gone before. - - - - -APPENDICES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY - - - - -APPENDIX I - -EXTRACT FROM NEWTON BATEMAN'S LECTURE ON LINCOLN WITH VARIANTS OF THE -FAREWELL ADDRESS, AT SPRINGFIELD, FEBRUARY 11, 1861. - - -BOTH for its own value as an incident in the life of Mr. Lincoln -and because it affords us opportunity of understanding the accuracy -of Newton Bateman's verbal memory, the following is quoted from his -lecture on Abraham Lincoln, a lecture delivered many times in the later -years of his life and printed by his family in 1899 after his death: - - "On the eleventh of February, 1861, on the day preceding his - fifty-second birthday, Mr. Lincoln set out for Washington. He had - sent special invitations to a few of his old friends to accompany him - as far as Indianapolis. That I was included in the number, I shall - be pardoned for remembering with peculiar pleasure. That note of - invitation is preserved among my most cherished memorabilia of Abraham - Lincoln. I shall ever regret that imperative official duties would not - allow me to join the party. - - "But I accompanied him to the railroad station, and stood by his - side on the platform of the car, when he delivered that memorable - farewell to his friends and neighbors. Of those, an immense concourse - had assembled to bid him good-by. The day was dark and chill, and a - drizzling rain had set in. The signal bell had rung, and all was in - readiness for the departure, when Mr. Lincoln appeared on the front - platform of the special car--removed his hat, looked out for a moment - upon the sea of silent, upturned faces, and heads bared in loving - reverence and sympathy, regardless of the rain; and, in a voice broken - and tremulous with emotion and a most unutterable sadness, yet slow - and measured and distinct and with a certain prophetic far-off look - which no one who saw can ever forget, began: - - "'My friends, no one, not in my position can appreciate the sadness I - feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I have - lived more than a quarter of a century. Here my children were born, - and here one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you - again. A duty devolves upon me which is greater, perhaps, than that - which has devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington. He - never would have succeeded, except for the aid of Divine Providence, - upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed - without the same divine aid which sustained him; and upon the same - Almighty Being I place my reliance and support. And I hope you, my - friends, will pray that I may receive that divine assistance, without - which I cannot succeed, and with which success is certain. Again, I - bid you all an affectionate farewell.' - - "His pale face was literally wet with tears as he re-entered the - car, and the train rolled out of the city, which Abraham Lincoln - was to enter no more--till, his great work finished he would come - back from the war, a victor and a conqueror though with the seal of - death upon his visage. Some politicians derided the solemn words of - that farewell--but I knew they were the utterances of his inmost - soul--never did speech of man move me as that did. Seeing every - mournful tremor of those lips--noting every shadow that flitted - over that face--catching every inflection of that voice--the words - seemed to drop, every one, into my heart, and to be crystallized in - my memory. I hurried back to my office, locked the door (for I felt - that I must be alone), wrote out the address from memory and had it - published in the city papers in advance of the reporters. And when - the reports of the stenographers were published, they differed from - mine in only two or three words, and as to even those, I have always - believed that mine were right for the speech was engraved on my - heart and my memory, and I had but to copy the engraving."--_Abraham - Lincoln_, an address by Hon. Newton Bateman, LL.D., published by the - Cadmus Club, 1899, Galesburg. - -Mr. Lincoln's Farewell Address, as given by Mr. Bateman in the -foregoing quotation, would appear to have undergone some revision by -him after its printing. He says that he furnished it to the press and -that it came out in advance of the version taken down by the reporter. -On this point his memory appears to be correct. The _Illinois State -Journal_ of February 12, 1861, contains a report of Mr. Lincoln's -address, which is almost certainly that furnished by Mr. Bateman. - - -_Lincoln's Farewell Address as Printed in the Illinois State Journal, -February 12, 1860, probably from the notes of Hon. Newton Bateman._ - - "Friends, no one who has never been placed in a like position, can - understand my feelings at this hour, nor the oppressive sadness I - feel at this parting. For more than a quarter of a century I have - lived among you, and during all that time I have received nothing but - kindness at your hands. Here I have lived from my youth until now I am - an old man. Here the most sacred ties of earth were assumed; here all - of my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. To you, - dear friends, I owe all that I have, all that I am. All the strange, - checkered past seems now to crowd upon my mind. Today I leave you: - I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved upon - General Washington. Unless the great God who assisted him shall be - with me and aid me, I must fail. But if the same Omniscient Mind and - the same Almighty Arm that directed and protected him shall guide and - support me, I shall not fail; I shall succeed. Let us all pray that - the God of our fathers may not forsake us now. To Him I commend you - all; permit me to ask that with equal sincerity [the word is printed - security but corrected with pen] and faith, you all will invoke His - wisdom and guidance for me. With these few words I must leave you--for - how long I know not. Friends, one and all, I must now bid you an - affectionate farewell." - - -_The So-called Shorthand Report_ - -The so-called shorthand report appears on close examination not to -be a shorthand report, but is that which appeared in the Chicago and -other papers from the Hay and Lincoln revision, more or less garbled in -telegraphic transmission. - - -_The Lincoln-Hay Version of the Farewell Address_ - - "This address was correctly printed for the first time in the Century - Magazine for December, 1887, from the original manuscript, having - been written down after the train started, partly by Mr. Lincoln's - own hand and partly by that of his private secretary from his - dictation."--NICOLAY AND HAY, _Life of Lincoln_, II, 291. - -It is thus apparent that we do not have any verbatim report of the -precise words which Lincoln uttered; but the Illinois Historical -Society has accepted this as the accredited version. It is certainly -that which Lincoln wished to be remembered as having said; but it is -quite possible that in one or two of the variant words Bateman may have -recalled it more accurately than Lincoln himself: - - "My friends: No one not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling - of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these - people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century and - have passed from a youth to an old man. Here my children have been - born and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever - I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested - upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who - ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot - fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me and remain with you and be - everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be - well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will - commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell." - - - - -APPENDIX II - -"HIGH-HANDED OUTRAGE AT UTICA"[72] - -By ARTEMUS WARD - - -BISHOP FOWLER and other lecturers and authors have drawn for us -beautiful pictures of Lincoln reading to his Cabinet a chapter in the -Bible before submitting his draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. -The true story of that incident is related in the foregoing pages. It -may be that some readers who are unfamiliar with the now little-read -writings of "Artemus Ward" will be glad to know precisely what it was -that the President read on that day; and as the chapter is very short, -it will be given herewith. - -No form of literature is more evanescent than humor. The fun-loving -public of one generation labors hard to discover the reasons why other -generations laughed over the old-time jokes. But there are elements -in Artemus Ward that still provoke a smile. The chapter which amused -Lincoln on that day related to the virtue of a community which would -not permit the exhibition of Artemus Ward's famous Wax Works because -the reproduction of the Last Supper contained the figure of Judas. -Some reader may need to be told that there was no such show. The -author of this and the other burlesques that bore the name of Artemus -Ward (Charles F. Browne), presented himself in these sketches as a -good-natured humbug, running a "highly moral show" with "Wax-figgers" -and other attractions. He was never so delightful as when disclosing -his own shams, as when the mob pulled the hay out of the fat man. - -Browne's book had a chapter in which he assisted Lincoln to form his -Cabinet. His first assistance was to turn out all the office-seekers -by threatening to turn his "Boy Constrictor" in among them; and then -advised Mr. Lincoln to fill his Cabinet with Showmen, all of whom were -honest and had nary a politic; "for particulars see small bills." -This and other chapters delighted Lincoln; but the one he read to his -Cabinet just before presenting the second draft of the Emancipation -Proclamation, was the following: - -_High-handed Outrage at Utica_ - -In the Faul of 1856, I showed my show in Utiky, a trooly grate sitty in -the State of New York. - -The people gave me a cordyal recepshun. The press was loud in her -prases. - -1 day as I was giving a description of my Beests and Snaiks in my usual -flowry stile what was my skorn & disgust to see a big burly fellew -walk up to the cage containin my wax figgers of the Lord's Supper, and -cease Judas Iscarrot by the feet and drag him onto the ground. He then -commenced fur to pound him as hard as he cood. - -"What under the son are you abowt?" cried I. - -Sez he, "What did you brung this pussylanermus cuss here fur?" & he hit -the wax figger another tremjis blow on the hed. - -Sez I, "You egrejes ass, that air's a wax figger--a representashun of -the false 'Postle." - -Sez he, "That's all very well fur you to say but I tell you, old man, -that Judas Iscarrot can't show hisself in Utiky by a darn site!" with -whuch observashun he caved in Judassis hed. The young man belonged to 1 -of the first famerlies in Utiky. I sood him, and the Joory brawt in a -verdick of Arson in the 3rd degree. - - - - -APPENDIX III - -THE CONVERSION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN - -By the REV. EDWARD L. WATSON - - -THE religion of Abraham Lincoln is so much in debate that I feel called -upon to give the following narrative of an event of which little seems -to be known--and which is of real importance in understanding the -man. He has been called an infidel--an unbeliever of varying degrees -of blatancy. That he was a Christian in the real sense of the term is -plain from his life. That he was converted during a Methodist revival -seems not to be a matter of common report. The personal element of this -narrative is necessary to unfold the story. In 1894 I was appointed -to the pastorate of the Hennepin Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, -Minneapolis, Minn., by Bishop Cyrus D. Foss, being transferred from -Frederick, Md., a charge in Baltimore Conference. It was in October -that we entered the parsonage, which was a double house, the other -half being rented by the trustees. Shortly after our occupancy of the -church house William B. Jacquess moved into the rented half of the -property, and through this fact I became acquainted with Col. James F. -Jacquess, his brother. At this time Colonel Jacquess was an old man of -eighty years or more, of commanding presence and wearing a long beard -which was as white as snow. His title grew out of the fact of his -being the commanding officer of the Seventy-third Illinois Volunteer -Infantry, known as the Preacher Regiment. Its name was given through -the publication in the Cincinnati _Commercial_ in September, 1862, of -the roster of its officers: - -Colonel--Rev. James F. Jacquess, D.D., late president of Quincy College. - -Lieutenant-Colonel--Rev. Benjamin F. Northcott. - -Major--Rev. William A. Presson. - -Captains--Company B, Rev. W. B. M. Colt; Company C, Rev. P. McNutt; -Company F, Rev. George W. Montgomery; Company H, Rev. James I. -Davidson; Company I, Rev. Peter Wallace; Company K, Rev. R. H. Laughlin. - -Six or seven of the twenty lieutenants were also licensed Methodist -preachers. Henry A. Castle, sergeant-major, was the author of the -article and a son-in-law, if I mistake not, of Colonel Jacquess. - -The history of this regiment is in brief, as follows: It was organized -at the instance of Governor Dick Yates, under Colonel Jacquess, in -August, 1862, at Camp Butler, in Illinois, and became part of General -Buell's army. It fought nobly at Perryville, and in every battle in -which the Army of the Cumberland was engaged, from October, 1862, -to the rout of Hood's army at Nashville. Its dead were found at -Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, where Colonel Jacquess -won especial distinction, and in the succession of battles from -Chattanooga to the fall of Atlanta. It was frequently complimented by -the commanding generals and was unsurpassed in bravery and endurance. -It left the State one of the largest, and returned one of the smallest, -having lost two-thirds of its men in its three years' service. - -Colonel Jacquess was its only colonel and came home disabled by wounds -received at Chickamauga, where two horses were shot under him. He -refused to the last (1897) to receive a pension, until in his extreme -old age, at the urgent request of the Society of the Survivors of -the Seventy-third Illinois, he allowed it to be applied for. He -pathetically said: "My grandfathers were Revolutionary soldiers and -you could get up a row if you mentioned pensions. My father and my -uncles were in the War of 1812, and would take none. I had hoped not -to receive one--but I am unable now to do anything, and it has been my -desire, and not the fault of the government, that I have never received -a pension." These words were spoken in 1897--and not long afterward -Colonel Jacquess went to his reward. - -Toward the end of the war President Lincoln sent Colonel Jacquess as a -secret emissary to arrange for peace and the settlement of the slave -question, so as to avert further shedding of blood. His adventures in -this role are of thrilling interest. The foregoing is told to show -the quality of the man whom it was my privilege to meet in 1896, when -he was in extreme old age. The honors conferred upon him by President -Lincoln and the confidence reposed in him grew out of events which -preceded the war. This was no other than the conversion of Mr. Lincoln -under the ministry of the Rev. James F. Jacquess, at Springfield, Ill., -in the year 1839. The Rev. James F. Jacquess was stationed at this new -town--then of but a few thousand inhabitants--in 1839, when Lincoln -met him during a series of revival services conducted in the Methodist -Episcopal Church. Lincoln had but recently come to the town--having -removed from New Salem, which was in a decadent state. As a member -of the Legislature, Lincoln had been a chief agent in establishing -the State capital at Springfield, and though in debt and exceedingly -poor, he hoped to find friends and practice in the growing town. He -was then thirty years of age and had had few advantages of any sort. -It was on a certain night, when the pastor preached from the text, "Ye -must be born again," that Lincoln was in attendance and was greatly -interested. After the service he came round to the little parsonage, -and like another Nicodemus, asked, "How can these things be?" Mr. -Jacquess explained as best he could the mystery of the new birth and at -Lincoln's request, he and his wife kneeled and prayed with the future -President. It was not long before Mr. Lincoln expressed his sense of -pardon and arose with peace in his heart. - -The narrative, as told thus far, is as my memory recalled it. Since -writing it, the same as told by Colonel Jacquess has recently been -discovered by me in Minutes of the Proceedings of the Eleventh -Annual Reunion Survivors Seventy-third Regiment, Illinois Infantry, -Volunteers (page 30), a copy of which is before me. This meeting, the -last (probably), that Colonel Jacquess attended, was held Tuesday and -Wednesday, September 28, 29, 1897, in the Supreme Court room of the -State Capitol Building, Springfield, Ill. To quote Colonel Jacquess: -"The mention of Mr. Lincoln's name recalls to my mind an occurrence -that perhaps I ought to mention. I notice that a number of lectures -are being delivered recently on Abraham Lincoln. Bishop Fowler has -a most splendid lecture on Abraham Lincoln, but they all, when they -reach one point run against a stone wall, and that is in reference -to Mr. Lincoln's religious sentiments. I happen to know something on -that subject that very few persons know. My wife, who has been dead -nearly two years, was the only witness of what I am going to state to -you as having occurred. Very soon after my second year's work as a -minister in the Illinois Conference, I was sent to Springfield. There -were ministers in the Illinois Conference who had been laboring for -twenty-five years to get to Springfield, the capital of the State. -When the legislature met there were a great many people here, and it -was thought to be a matter of great glory among the ministers to be -sent to Springfield. But I was not pleased with my assignment. I felt -my inability to perform the work. I did not know what to do. I simply -talked to the Lord about it, however, and told Him that unless I had -help I was going to run away. I heard a voice saying to me, 'Fear not,' -and I understood it perfectly. Now I am coming to the point I want to -make to you. I was standing at the parsonage door one Sunday morning, -a beautiful morning in May, when a little boy came up to me and said: -'Mr. Lincoln sent me around to see if you was going to preach today.' -Now, I had met Mr. Lincoln, but I never thought any more of Abe Lincoln -than I did of any one else. I said to the boy: 'You go back and tell -Mr. Lincoln that if he will come to church he will see whether I am -going to preach or not.' The little fellow stood working his fingers -and finally said: 'Mr. Lincoln told me he would give me a quarter if I -would find out whether you are going to preach.' I did not want to rob -the little fellow of his income, so I told him to tell Mr. Lincoln that -I was going to try to preach. I was always ready and willing to accept -any assistance that came along, and whenever a preacher, or one who had -any pretense in that direction, would come along I would thrust him -into my pulpit and make him preach, because I felt that anybody could -do better than I could. - -"The church was filled that morning. It was a good-sized church, but -on that day all the seats were filled. I had chosen for my text the -words: 'Ye must be born again,' and during the course of my sermon I -laid particular stress on the word 'must.' Mr. Lincoln came into the -church after the services had commenced, and there being no vacant -seats, chairs were put in the altar in front of the pulpit, and Mr. -Lincoln and Governor French and wife sat in the altar during the -entire services, Mr. Lincoln on my left and Governor French on my -right, and I noticed that Mr. Lincoln appeared to be deeply interested -in the sermon. A few days after that Sunday Mr. Lincoln called on me -and informed me that he had been greatly impressed with my remarks on -Sunday and that he had come to talk with me further on the matter. I -invited him in, and my wife and I talked and prayed with him for hours. -Now, I have seen many persons converted; I have seen hundreds brought -to Christ, and if ever a person was converted, Abraham Lincoln was -converted that night in my house. His wife was a Presbyterian, but from -remarks he made to me he could not accept Calvinism. He never joined my -church, but I will always believe that since that night Abraham Lincoln -lived and died a Christian gentleman." - -Here ends the narrative of Colonel Jacquess. Now compare that which -my memory preserved for the past thirteen years and the Colonel's own -printed account, and the discrepancies are small. It is with pleasure -I am able to confirm my memory by the words of the original narrator. -It is with no small degree of pleasure that I am able to prove that -Methodism had a hand in the making of the greatest American. Colonel -James F. Jacquess has gone to his reward, but it is his honor to have -been used by his Master to help in the spiritualization of the great -man who piloted our national destinies in a time of exceeding peril. It -is an honor to him, and through him to the denomination of which he was -a distinguished member. - - BALTIMORE, MD. - - _Methodist Christian Advocate_ - - November 11, 1909. - - - - -APPENDIX IV - -THE REED LECTURE - -THE LATER LIFE AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN[73] - - -WHILE the fate and future of the Christian religion in nowise depends -upon the sentiments of Abraham Lincoln, yet the life and character -of this remarkable man belong to the public, to tell for evil or for -good on coming generations; and as the attempt has been made to impute -to him the vilest sentiments, even to his dying day, it is fitting -and just that the weakness and infidelity charged upon his later life -should not go down unchallenged to posterity. The latest biography of -Mr. Lincoln, published under the name of Col. W. H. Lamon, but with -the large co-operation of Mr. W. H. Herndon, concerns itself with the -endeavor to establish certain allegations injurious to the good name of -the illustrious man, whose tragic and untimely death has consecrated -his memory in the hearts of a grateful nation. Two charges in this -biography are worthy of especial notice and disproof,--the charge -that he was born a bastard, and the charge that he died an infidel. -Mr. Lamon begins his pleasing task by raising dark and unfounded -insinuations as to the legitimacy of his hero, and then occupies from -twenty-five to thirty pages with evidence to prove that Mr. Lincoln was -a confirmed infidel, and died playing a "sharp game on the Christian -community"; that, in his "morbid ambition for popularity," he would -say good Lord or good Devil, "adjusting his religious sentiments to -his political interests." In meeting these insinuations and charges I -shall necessarily have recourse to political documents and papers, -but it shall not be my aim to parade Mr. Lincoln's political opinions, -further than to eliminate from his writings and speeches his religious -sentiments. - -As to the ungracious insinuation that Mr. Lincoln was not the child -of lawful wedlock, I have only to say that it is an insinuation -unsupported by a shadow of justifiable evidence. The only thing on -which Mr. Lamon bases the insinuation is, that _he_ has been unable to -find any record of the marriage Mr. Lincoln's parents. Just as if it -would be any evidence against the fact of their marriage if no record -could be found. If every man in this country is to be considered as -illegitimate who cannot produce his parents' certificate of marriage, -or find a record of it in a family Bible anywhere, there will be -a good many very respectable people in the same category with Mr. -Lincoln. Such an insinuation might be raised with as much plausibility -in the case of multitudes of the early settlers of the country. It -is a questionable act of friendship thus to rake "the short and -simple annals of the poor," and upon such slender evidence raise an -insinuation so unfounded. But I am prepared to show that if Mr. Lamon -has found no record of the marriage of Mr. Lincoln's parents, it is -simply because he has not extended his researches as faithfully in -this direction as he has in some others. It appears that there is a -well-authenticated record of the marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy -Hanks, and, in the same connection, the birth of Abraham Lincoln and -Sarah Lincoln. Hearing that the Hon. J. C. Black, of Champaign, Ill., -a warm personal friend of Mr. Lincoln, had in his possession several -papers given to him soon after Mr. Lincoln's death by a member of the -family, and among them a leaf from the family Bible containing the -record of the marriage of Mr. Lincoln's parents, I at once telegraphed -to him in relation to this record, and have in my possession the -following letter, which will explain itself: - - CHAMPAIGN, ILL., Jan. 8th, 1873. - - J. A. REED: - - DEAR SIR--Your telegram of the 7th reached me this A. M. In reply - permit me to say that I was in possession of the leaf of which you - speak, and which contained the record of the marriage of Thos. Lincoln - and Nancy Hanks, the birth of Abraham Lincoln and Sarah Lincoln. The - leaf is very old, and is the last page of the Apocrypha. It was given - to me, with certificate of genuineness, by Dennis F. Hanks in 1866. - I have sent both record and certificate to Wm. P. Black, attorney at - law, 131 La Salle Street, Chicago, Ill., and duly by him delivered to - the Illinois Historical Association. Hon. I. N. Arnold called on my - brother and obtained the originals for use in a revised edition of his - life of Lincoln, and I understand that since then they have passed - into the hands of Robt. Lincoln, Esq., where they were when I last - heard from them. Hoping that what I have written may be of some use, I - remain - - Very truly yours, - J. C. BLACK. - -Presuming that the first of Colonel Lamon's libels upon Mr. Lincoln's -memory is thus sufficiently disposed of, I proceed to consider the -charges against his religious life and character. The best refutation -of these charges lies on the pages of the book in which they are -advanced. However skeptical Mr. Lincoln may have been in his earlier -life, Mr. Lamon persists in asserting and attempting to prove that he -continued a confirmed skeptic to the last: that he was an unbeliever in -the truth of the Christian religion, and died an infidel; that, while -"he was by no means free from a kind of belief in the supernatural, -he rejected the great facts of Christianity as wanting the support -of authentic evidence"; that, "during all the time of his residence -at Springfield and in Washington, he never let fall from his lips an -expression which remotely implied the slightest faith in Jesus Christ, -as the Son of God and the Saviour of men"; that "he was at all times an -infidel." From twenty-five to thirty pages of evidence is produced in -proof of this allegation. - -But all this positive statement as to Mr. Lincoln's persistent and -final infidelity is contradicted by the admissions of the book itself. -It is admitted that there did come a time in Mr. Lincoln's life at -Springfield when he began to affiliate with Christian people, and to -give his personal presence and support to the Church. It is admitted -that he did so plausibly identify himself with the Christian community -that "his New Salem associates and the aggressive deists with whom he -originally united at Springfield gradually dispersed and fell away from -his side." Here is the fact, openly and squarely stated by Mr. Lamon, -that Mr. Lincoln, even while at Springfield, did make such a change in -his sentiments and bearing toward the Christian community, that "the -aggressive deists and infidels with whom he originally united gradually -dispersed and fell away from his side." He no sooner turned away from -them in sentiment than they turned away from him in fact. - -But how does the biographer attempt to explain this? How does he -account for this admitted and observable change in Mr. Lincoln's life, -that relieved him of the presence of so much aggressive deistical -company? Why, by means of an explanation that kills the accusation -itself--an explanation that fastens upon Mr. Lincoln the very charge -of hypocrisy against which he professes to defend him. He accounts for -this admitted and observable change in the attitude of Mr. Lincoln -towards the Christian community, not by supposing that there was any -sincerity about it, but by affirming that he was trying "to play a -sharp game on the Christians of Springfield!" It was because "he was -a wily politician, and did not disdain to regulate his religious -manifestations with reference to his political interests"; and because, -"seeing the immense and augmenting power of the churches, he aspired -to lead the religious community, foreseeing that in order to his -political success he must not appear an enemy within their gates." And -yet, if we are to believe Colonel Lamon, he was an enemy all the while -at heart; and while attending church, and supporting the Gospel, and -making Sabbath school speeches, and speeches before the Bible Society, -he was at heart a disbeliever of the truth and an antagonist of the -cause which he professed to be supporting. In other words, he was all -these years playing the arrant hypocrite; deceiving the Christian -community and wheedling it for political purposes; playing the role -of a gospel hearer in the sanctuary, and a hail fellow well met with -profane fellows of the baser sort in the private sanctum of infidelity -or "aggressive deism." - -Strangely enough, however, Colonel Lamon and his companion in -authorship not only praise Mr. Lincoln's greatness, but laud -his singular conscientiousness and integrity of motive almost -to perfection. Says Mr. Herndon, "He was justly entitled to the -appellation, Honest Abe"; "honesty was his pole star; conscience, the -faculty that loves the just and the right, was the second great quality -and _forte_ of Mr. Lincoln's character." "He had a deep, broad, living -conscience. His great reason told him what was true and good, right and -wrong, just or unjust, and his conscience echoed back the decision, -and it was from this point he spoke and wove his character and fame -among us. His conscience ruled his heart." [See Herndon's letter in -Carpenter's _Life of Lincoln_.] - -In confirmation of this, Mr. Lamon goes on to show that Mr. Lincoln -scorned everything like hypocrisy or deceit. In fact he makes his hero -to be such a paragon of honesty and conscious integrity of motive -that he would not undertake to plead a bad cause before a jury if he -could possibly shift the responsibility over on to some other lawyer, -whose conscience was not quite so tender. He brings in the testimony -of a most reputable lawyer of another place in confirmation of this, -who states: "That for a man who was for a quarter of a century both a -lawyer and a politician, Mr. Lincoln was the most honest man I ever -knew. He was not only morally honest but intellectually so. He could -not reason falsely; if he attempted it he failed. In politics he never -would try to mislead. At the bar, when he thought he was wrong, he was -the weakest lawyer I ever saw." "In a closely contested case where Mr. -Lincoln had proved an account for a client, who was, though he knew it -not, a very slippery fellow, the opposing attorney afterward proved a -receipt clearly covering the entire case. By the time he was through -Mr. Lincoln was missing. The court sent for him to the hotel. 'Tell the -judge,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'that I can't come; my hands are dirty and I -came over to clean them.'" - -Page after page is thus taken to show Mr. Lincoln's singular -conscientiousness and honesty, his incapability of hypocrisy or deceit, -as a lawyer, a politician and a gentleman. And yet these consistent -biographers go back on all this testimony of their own mouths when they -come to explain the admitted change in his life when he began to lean -toward the church, and the "aggressive deists" parted company with him. -Then they find it convenient to call him a "wily politician," who is -"playing a sharp game with the Christians"; "the cautious pretender -who does not disdain to regulate his religious manifestations with -reference to his political interests." They saddle upon him the vilest -hypocrisy and deceit, and make him "act the liar's part," in order to -send him down to posterity an infidel. On one page they reason that Mr. -Lincoln could not have made any such admissions of his belief in the -Christian religion as have been maintained, as such admissions would be -contrary to his well-known character; on the next page they affirm that -Mr. Lincoln could not act the hypocrite; and on a third they do not -hesitate to attribute to him the very grossest duplicity, in their zeal -to fasten on him the charge of permanent skepticism. They go back on -their own logic, eat their own argument, and give the lie to the very -charge they are laboring with such considerable pains to establish. - -The book, therefore, I repeat, bears on its own pages the best -refutation of the charge it makes against Mr. Lincoln. Surely, such -serious inconsistency of statement, such illogical absurdity, even, -could hardly have escaped the notice of the biographers if some -preconceived opinion had not prejudiced their minds and blinded their -eyes. The _animus_ of the book and the purpose for which it was written -are only too apparent. - -Perhaps it might suffice to rest the refutation of this charge against -Mr. Lincoln's religious character on the internal evidence of Colonel -Lamon's volume with which I have thus far been occupied. But there is -something to be said concerning the authenticity and accuracy of the -testimony by which the charge seems to be supported. - -I have been amazed to find that the principal persons whose testimony -is given in this book to prove that their old friend lived and died -an infidel, never wrote a word of it, and never gave it as their -opinion or allowed it to be published as covering their estimate of -Mr. Lincoln's life and religious views. They were simply familiarly -interviewed, and their testimony misrepresented, abridged and distorted -to suit the purpose of the interviewer, and the business he had on hand. - -The two gentlemen whose names are most relied upon, and who stand first -on the list of witnesses to establish the charge these biographers -have made, are the Hon. John T. Stuart, and Col. Jas. H. Matheny, of -Springfield, old and intimate friends of Mr. Lincoln. - -Hon. John T. Stuart is an ex-member of Congress, and was Mr. Lincoln's -first law partner,--a gentleman of the highest standing and ability in -his profesion, and of unimpeachable integrity. Mr. Lamon has attributed -to Mr. Stuart testimony the most disparaging and damaging to Mr. -Lincoln's character and opinions,--testimony which Mr. Stuart utterly -repudiates, both as to language and sentiment, as the following letter -shows:-- - - SPRINGFIELD, Dec. 17th, 1872. - - REV. J. A. REED: - - DEAR SIR--My attention has been called to a statement in relation to - the religious opinions of Mr. Lincoln, purporting to have been made by - me and published in Lamon's _Life of Lincoln_. The language of that - statement is not mine; it was not written by me, and I did not see it - until it was in print. - - I was once interviewed on the subject of Mr. Lincoln's religious - opinions, and doubtless said that Mr. Lincoln was in the earlier part - of his life an infidel. I could not have said that "Dr. Smith tried - to convert Lincoln from infidelity so late as 1858, and couldn't do - it." In relation to that point, I stated, in the same conversation, - some facts which are omitted in that statement, and which I will - briefly repeat. That Eddie, a child of Mr. Lincoln, died in 1848 or - 1849, and that he and his wife were in deep grief on that account. - That Dr. Smith, then Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of - Springfield, at the suggestion of a lady friend of theirs, called upon - Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, and that first visit resulted in great intimacy - and friendship between them, lasting till the death of Mr. Lincoln, - and continuing with Mrs. Lincoln till the death of Dr. Smith. I stated - that I had heard, at the time, that Dr. Smith and Mr. Lincoln had much - discussion in relation to the truth of the Christian religion, and - that Dr. Smith had furnished Mr. Lincoln with books to read on that - subject, and among others one which had been written by himself, some - time previous, on infidelity; and that Dr. Smith claimed that after - this investigation Mr. Lincoln had changed his opinion, and become - a believer in the truth of the Christian religion: that Mr. Lincoln - and myself never conversed upon that subject, and I had no personal - knowledge as to his alleged change of opinion. I stated, however, that - it was certainly true, that up to that time Mr. Lincoln had never - regularly attended any place of religious worship, but that after that - time he rented a pew in the First Presbyterian Church, and with his - family constantly attended the worship in that church until he went to - Washington as President. This much I said at the time, and can now add - that the Hon. Ninian W. Edwards, the brother-in-law of Mr. Lincoln, - has, within a few days, informed me that when Mr. Lincoln commenced - attending the First Presbyterian Church he admitted to him that his - views had undergone the change claimed by Dr. Smith. - - I would further say that Dr. Smith was a man of very great ability and - on theological and metaphysical subjects had few superiors and not - many equals. - - Truthfulness was a prominent trait in Mr. Lincoln's character, and it - would be impossible for any intimate friend of his to believe that he - ever aimed to deceive, either by his words or his conduct. - - Yours truly, - JOHN T. STUART. - -Similar testimony, to the extent of a page or more of finely printed -matter, Mr. Lamon attributes to Col. Jas. H. Matheny, of Springfield, -Ill., an old acquaintance of Mr. Lincoln, an able lawyer and of high -standing in the community. Mr. Matheny testifies that he never wrote a -word of what is attributed to him; that it is not a fair representation -of either his language or his opinions, and that he never would have -allowed such an article to be published as covering his estimate of Mr. -Lincoln's life and character. Here is what this gentleman has to say, -given over his own signature:-- - - SPRINGFIELD, Dec. 16th, 1872. - - REV. J. A. REED: - - DEAR SIR--The language attributed to me in Lamon's book is not from - my pen. I did not write it, and it does not express my sentiments of - Mr. Lincoln's entire life and character. It is a mere collection of - sayings gathered from private conversations that were only true of Mr. - Lincoln's earlier life. I would not have allowed such an article to - be printed over my signature as covering my opinion of Mr. Lincoln's - life and religious sentiments. While I do believe Mr. Lincoln to have - been an infidel in his former life, when his mind was as yet unformed, - and his associations principally with rough and skeptical men, yet - I believe he was a very different man in later life; and that after - associating with a different class of men, and investigating the - subject, he was a firm believer in the Christian religion. - - Yours truly, - JAS. H. MATHENY. - -It is unnecessary that I occupy more space with the rest of the -testimony, as there is none of it given over the signature of anybody, -save that which is given over the signature of W. H. Herndon. All aside -from this bears evidence of having been manipulated to suit the purpose -for which it is wanted, and is either contradictory, or fails to cover -the whole of Mr. Lincoln's life. Judge Davis, for instance, is made to -say: "I don't know anything about Lincoln's religion, nor do I think -anybody else knows anything about it." Of what value can the testimony -be that is prefaced with such declarations of knowing nothing about the -matter? - -John G. Nicolay is made to testify, that "to his knowledge Mr. Lincoln -did not change his views after he came to Washington"; and yet he -states in immediate connection that "he does not know what his views -were, never having heard him explain them." - -Jesse W. Fell either testifies, or is made to testify, to Mr. Lincoln's -skeptical notions. And yet Mr. Fell admits that it "was eight or ten -years previous to his death" that he believed him to be entertaining -the views of which he speaks, "and that he _may have changed his -sentiments_ after his removal from among us." All this would be strange -kind of testimony on which to convict Mr. Lincoln of murder in the -presence of a judge and jury. But with such evidence it is sought to -convict him of infidelity. - -We are enabled to see, therefore, in the light of this revelation, -of what "trustworthy materials" this book is composed; how much Mr. -Lamon's "names and dates and authorities, by which he strengthens his -testimony," are to be depended upon; and what reason unsuspecting or -sympathizing critics and journalists have for arriving at the sage -conclusion that Mr. Lincoln "was, in his habit of thought, heterodox -in the extreme to the close of his life, and a very different man from -what he was supposed to be." The evidence of this book, so far as the -prominent witnesses are concerned, and so far as it relates to the -later years of Mr. Lincoln's life, is not only utterly untrustworthy, -but even an ingenious and romantic invention. - -Having shown what claims Mr. Lamon's book has to being the "only fair -and reliable history" of Mr. Lincoln's life and views, and of what -"trustworthy materials" it is composed, I shall now give the testimony -I have collected to establish what has ever been the public impression, -that Mr. Lincoln was in his later life, and at the time of his death, a -firm believer in the truth of the Christian religion. The infidelity of -his earlier life is not so much to be wondered at, when we consider the -poverty of his early religious instruction and the peculiar influences -by which he was surrounded. Gideon Welles, formerly Secretary of the -Navy, in a recent article in the _Galaxy_, in accounting for the late -and peculiar manifestation of faith which Mr. Lincoln exhibited, says: -"It was doubtless to be attributed in a great measure to the absence -of early religious culture--a want of educational advantages in his -youthful frontier life." This, together with the fact that his youth -and early manhood were spent chiefly among a rough, illiterate and -skeptical class of people, is amply confirmed by Mr. Lamon's narrative. - -On the same authority it appears that Mr. Lincoln had in his former -life read but few books, and that everything he had read, of an -intellectual character, bearing on the truth of the Bible, was of an -infidel sort. It does not appear that he had ever seen, much less -read, a work on the evidences of Christianity till his interview with -Rev. Dr. Smith in 1848. We hear of him as reading Paine, Voltaire and -Theodore Parker, but nothing on the other side. The men by whom he -was surrounded in his earlier life, it seems, kept him well supplied -with their kind of literature. He was familiar with some of the master -spirits of infidelity and theism, but had never grappled with the -evidences of Christianity as presented by the great defenders of the -Christian faith. - -But then Mr. Lincoln's mind was of too much greatness and intellectual -candor to remain the victim of a false theory in the presence of -clear and sufficient intellectual testimony. And he no sooner, in the -providence of God, was placed in possession of the truth, and led to -investigate for himself, than he stood firmly and avowedly on the side -of the Christian religion. - -In proof of this statement, I first of all produce the testimony of -Rev. Dr. Smith, Mr. Lincoln's pastor at Springfield. In relation to Mr. -Lincoln's opinion of Dr. Smith, it is only necessary for me to state -that he stood so high in his esteem, that he gave him the appointment -of Consul to Glasgow. Dr. Smith was in Scotland at the time of Mr. -Lincoln's death, and soon after this sad event, Mr. Herndon conceived -the notion of collecting materials for his intended biography. He -accordingly addressed a letter to Dr. Smith in Scotland, with the view -of getting some information from so respectable a source to prove that -Mr. Lincoln had died an infidel. In this however he was mistaken, to -his evident chagrin and disappointment. I shall give some extracts from -Dr. Smith's printed letter, which is to be found in the Springfield -_Journal_ of March, 1867, in which he gives his opinion of both Mr. -Herndon and Mr. Lincoln. - - EAST CAINNO, SCOTLAND, 24th Jan. 1867. - - W. H. HERNDON, ESQ.: - - SIR--Your letter of the 20th Dec. was duly received. In it you ask me - to answer several questions in relation to the illustrious President - Abraham Lincoln. With regard to your second question, I beg leave to - say it is a very easy matter to prove that while I was pastor of the - First Presbyterian Church of v Springfield, Mr. Lincoln did avow his - belief in the divine authority and inspiration of the Scriptures, and - I hold that it is a matter of the last importance not only to the - present, but all future generations of the Great Republic, and to all - advocates of civil and religious liberty throughout the world, that - this avowal on his part, and the circumstances attending it, together - with very interesting incidents illustrative of the excellence of his - character, in my possession, should be made known to the public. I - am constrained, however, most respectfully to decline choosing you - as the medium through which such a communication shall be made by - me. [Omitting that portion of the letter which bears on Mr. Herndon, - I give what is written in vindication of Mr. Lincoln.--J. A. R.] My - intercourse with Abraham Lincoln convinced me that he was not only an - honest man, but preëminently an upright man--ever ready, so far as in - his power, to render unto all their dues. - - It was my honor to place before Mr. Lincoln arguments designed - to prove the divine authority and inspiration of the Scriptures, - accompanied by the arguments of infidel objectors in their own - language. To the arguments on both sides Mr. Lincoln gave a most - patient, impartial, and searching investigation. To use his own - language, he examined the arguments as a lawyer who is anxious - to reach the truth investigates testimony. The result was the - announcement by himself that the argument in favor of the divine - authority and inspiration of the Scriptures was unanswerable. I could - say much more on this subject, but as you are the person addressed, - for the present I decline. The assassin Booth, by his diabolical - act, unwittingly sent the illustrious martyr to glory, honor, and - immortality; but his false friend has attempted to send him down - to posterity with infamy branded on his forehead, as a man who, - notwithstanding all he suffered for his country's good, was destitute - of those feelings and affections without which there can be no real - excellency of character. Sir, I am with due respect your obedient - servant, - - JAS. SMITH. - - N.B.--It will no doubt be gratifying to the friends of Christianity - to learn that very shortly after Mr. Lincoln became a member of my - congregation, at my request, in the presence of a large assembly at - the annual meeting of the Bible Society of Springfield, he delivered - an address the object of which was to inculcate the importance of - having the Bible placed in possession of every family in the State. In - the course of it he drew a striking contrast between the Decalogue and - the moral codes of the most eminent lawgivers of antiquity, and closed - (as near as I can recollect) in the following language: "It seems to - me that nothing short of infinite wisdom could by any possibility have - devised and given to man this excellent and perfect moral code. It is - suited to men in all conditions of life and includes all the duties - they owe to their Creator, to themselves, and to their fellow-men." - - J. S. - -Mr. Lamon, aware of the importance of Dr. Smith's testimony, attempts -to break the force of it by the _argumentum ad nauseam_. He alludes -to Dr. Smith as a gentleman of "slender abilities for the conversion -of so distinguished a person, and as having in his zeal composed a -heavy tract out of his own head to suit the particular case, and that -he afterwards _drew_ the acknowledgment from Mr. Lincoln that it was -unanswerable," and that he himself is the only man that can testify -of such an admission on the part of Mr. Lincoln. This is all the -gratuitous assertion of a man who is driven to the wall for evidence -to prove his point. Now John T. Stuart has already testified to Dr. -Smith's abilities as a theologian and a metaphysician having few -superiors. He testifies to the fact that Dr. Smith's work was not -written to suit Mr. Lincoln's case. It was written previously, before -Dr. Smith ever saw Mr. Lincoln. Nor is it true that Dr. Smith is the -only one who can testify to an admission on the part of Mr. Lincoln of -a change of sentiments. There are many residents of Springfield, both -ladies and gentlemen, who can testify to this admission. I give one or -two letters as a sample. - - SPRINGFIELD, Dec. 24th, 1872. - - REV. JAS. REED: - - DEAR SIR--A short time after the Rev. Dr. Smith became pastor of - the First Presbyterian Church in this city, Mr. Lincoln said to - me, "I have been reading a work of Dr. Smith on the evidences of - Christianity, and have heard him preach and converse on the subject, - and I am now convinced of the truth of the Christian religion." - - Yours truly, - N. W. EDWARDS. - - SPRINGFIELD, Jan. 6th, 1873. - - REV. J. A. REED: - - DEAR SIR--Not long after Dr. Smith came to Springfield, and I think - very near the time of his son's death, Mr. Lincoln said to me, that - when on a visit somewhere, he had seen and partially read a work of - Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christianity which had led him to change - his views about the Christian religion; that he would like to get that - work to finish the reading of it, and also to make the acquaintance of - Dr. Smith. I was an elder in Dr. Smith's church, and took Dr. Smith - to Mr. Lincoln's office and introduced him, and Dr. Smith gave Mr. - Lincoln a copy of his book, as I know, at his own request. - - Yours, &c., - THOS. LEWIS. - -There are many others who can testify that Mr. Lincoln, both publicly -and privately while at Springfield, made the admission of his belief -in the truth of the Christian religion. He did it in most unequivocal -language, in addresses before the Bible Society and in Sabbath school. - -I next refer to the testimony of Rev. Dr. Gurley, Mr. Lincoln's pastor -at Washington City. Even if, before his election to the Presidency, -Mr. Lincoln had entertained the sentiments attributed to him, after he -had reached the pinnacle of political elevation, there was certainly -no necessity for him any longer to be "playing a sharp game with the -Christians," and destroying his peace of mind by wearing the mask -of hypocrisy. He was surely free now to worship where he felt most -comfortable. But we no sooner find him in Washington than we find him -settling down under the ministry of Dr. Gurley, a sound and orthodox -minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Dr. Gurley was his intimate -friend, and spiritual counselor and adviser, during the most trying -and difficult time of his life. He was with him not only in the hours -of his personal family bereavement, but when his heart was heavy and -perplexed with the welfare of his country. Having been associated -with Dr. Gurley in the charge of his pulpit for a time previous to -his death, and being intimately acquainted with him, I have had the -opportunity of knowing what his views of Mr. Lincoln's sentiments were. -In the funeral oration which Dr. Gurley delivered in Washington, he -says: - - "Probably since the days of Washington no man was ever so deeply and - firmly embedded and enshrined in the hearts of the people as Abraham - Lincoln. Nor was it a mistaken confidence and love. He deserved - it--deserved it all. He merited it by his character, by his acts, - and by the whole tone and tenor of his life.... His integrity was - thorough, all-pervading, all-controlling and incorruptible. He saw his - duty as the Chief Magistrate of a great and imperiled people, and he - determined to do his duty, seeking the guidance, and leaning on the - arm of Him of whom it is written: 'He giveth power to the faint, and - to them that have no might He increaseth strength.' - - "Never shall I forget the emphatic and deep emotion with which he said - in this very room, to a company of clergymen who called to pay their - respects to him in the darkest days of our civil conflict: 'Gentlemen, - my hope of success in this struggle rests on that immutable - foundation, the justness and the goodness of God; and when events are - very threatening I shall hope that in some way all will be well in the - end, because our cause is just and God will be on our side.'" - -This was uttered when Dr. Gurley was not aware, as I suppose, that Mr. -Lincoln had ever been charged with entertaining infidel sentiments. -While sitting in the study one day with him, conversing on Mr. -Lincoln's character, I asked him about the rumor of his infidelity -then being circulated by Mr. Herndon. He said, "I do not believe a -word of it. It could not have been true of him while here, for I -have had frequent and intimate conversations with him on the subject -of the Bible and the Christian religion, when he could have had no -motive to deceive me, and I considered him sound not only on the truth -of the Christian religion but on all its fundamental doctrines and -teaching. And more than that: in the latter days of his chastened -and weary life, after the death of his son Willie, and his visit -to the battlefield of Gettysburg, he said, with tears in his eyes, -that he had lost confidence in everything but God, and that he now -believed his heart was changed, and that he loved the Saviour, and -if he was not deceived in himself, it was his intention soon to make -a profession of religion." Language to this effect Mr. Lincoln, it -appears, used in conversation with other persons, and I refer next -to the corroborating testimony of Noah Brooks, Esq., now associated -with the New York _Tribune_. This gentleman has already published most -interesting testimony in relation to Mr. Lincoln's religious sentiments -in _Harper's Monthly_ of July, 1865. In order that his testimony may -be fully appreciated, I will here state, on the authority of a mutual -friend, that "Mr. Brooks is himself an earnest Christian man, and -had the appointment of private secretary to the President, to which -office he would have acceded had Mr. Lincoln lived. He was so intimate -with the President that he visited him socially at times when others -were refused admission, took tea with the family, spending evenings -with him, reading to him, and conversing with him freely on social and -religious topics, and in my opinion knows more of the secret inner life -and religious views of Mr. Lincoln, at least during the term of his -presidency, than any man living." The following is a letter which I -have received from Mr. Brooks in relation to his views of Mr. Lincoln's -religious sentiments: - - NEW YORK, Dec. 31st, 1872. - - REV. J. A. REED: - - MY DEAR SIR--In addition to what has appeared from my pen, I will - state that I have had many conversations with Mr. Lincoln, which were - more or less of a religious character, and while I never tried to - draw anything like a statement of his views from him, yet he freely - expressed himself to me as having "a hope of blessed immortality - through Jesus Christ." His views seemed to settle so naturally around - that statement, that I considered no other necessary. His language - seemed not that of an inquirer, but of one who had a prior settled - belief in the fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion. Once - or twice, speaking to me of the change which had come upon him, he - said, while he could not fix any definite time, yet it was after he - came here, and I am very positive that in his own mind he identified - it with about the time of Willie's death. He said, too, that after - he went to the White House he kept up the habit of daily prayer. - Sometimes he said it was only ten words, but those ten words he had. - There is no possible reason to suppose that Mr. Lincoln would ever - deceive me as to his religious sentiments. In many conversations with - him, I absorbed the firm conviction that Mr. Lincoln was at heart a - Christian man, believed in the Saviour, and was seriously considering - the step which would formally connect him with the visible Church on - earth. Certainly, any suggestion as to Mr. Lincoln's skepticism or - infidelity, to me who knew him intimately from 1862 till the time of - his death, is a monstrous fiction--a shocking perversion. - - Yours truly, - NOAH BROOKS. - -The following extract I add also from Mr. Brooks's article in _Harper's -Monthly_ of July, 1865: "There was something touching in his childlike -and simple reliance on Divine aid, especially when in such extremities -as he sometimes fell into; then, though prayer and reading the -Scriptures was his constant habit, he more earnestly than ever sought -that strength which is promised when mortal help faileth. He said -once, 'I have been many times driven to my knees by the overwhelming -conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of -all about me, seemed insufficient for that day.' At another time he -said, - - 'I am very sure that if I do not go away from here a wiser man, I - shall go away a better man for having learned here what a very poor - sort of a man I am.'" - -Mr. Carpenter, author of _Six Months in the White House_, whose -intimacy with Mr. Lincoln gives importance to his testimony, says that -"he believed Mr. Lincoln to be a sincere Christian," and among other -proofs of it gives another well-authenticated admission (made by Mr. -Lincoln to an estimable lady of Brooklyn, laboring in the Christian -Commission) of a change of heart, and of his intention at some suitable -opportunity to make a profession of religion. - -Mr. Newton Bateman, Superintendent of Public Instruction in the -State of Illinois, a gentleman of rare literary attainments, and of -unquestionable veracity, has given very important testimony in relation -to one particular point, more especially, Mr. Lincoln's belief in the -divinity of Jesus Christ. Both Mr. Herndon and Mr. Lamon persist in -asserting that Mr. Lincoln never used the name of Jesus Christ except -to deny His divinity, and that Mr. Bateman is "the sole and only man -who dare say that Mr. Lincoln believed Jesus Christ to be the Son of -God." - -Mr. Bateman testifies that in 1860, Mr. Lincoln in conversation with -him used the following language: "I know that there is a God, and -that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming, and I -know that His hand is in it. If He has a place and a work for me, -and I think He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is -everything. I know I am right, because I know that liberty is right, -for Christ teaches it and Christ is God. I have told them a house -divided against itself cannot stand; and Christ and reason say the -same, and they will find it so," &c. This testimony was originally -given in Holland's _Life of Lincoln_. Mr. Herndon, at first unwilling -to impeach Mr. Bateman's veracity, suggests a doubt "whether he is -correctly reported in Holland's history"; presently, however, summoning -courage, he ventures the affirmation: "On my word the world may take it -for granted that Holland is wrong; that he does not state Mr. Lincoln's -views correctly." He then goes on to say that "between himself and -Dr. Holland, Mr. Bateman is not in a very pleasant situation." We -have seen, however, that Mr. Herndon's "word," in a matter where -his prejudices are so violent and his convictions so obstinate, is -hardly a sufficient denial with which to oppose the deliberate and -unretracted statement of an intelligent and reputable witness. And Mr. -Bateman has no need to be disturbed, so long as the "unpleasantness" -of his situation is occasioned by no more serious discomfort than -Mr. Herndon's unsupported contradiction. As the matter now stands, -Mr. Herndon offers a denial, based on general impressions as to Mr. -Lincoln's character, against the direct, specific, and detailed -testimony of a careful and competent man as to what he heard with his -own ears. Mr. Herndon simply did not hear what Mr. Bateman did hear; -and is in the position of that Irishman on trial for his life, who, -when one witness swore directly that he saw the accused commit the -crime, proposed to put upon the stand a dozen witnesses who could swear -they did _not_ see him. - -Mr. Lamon also states that Mr. Bateman is a respectable citizen, whose -general reputation for truth and veracity is not to be impeached, -but his story, as reported in Holland's _Life of Lincoln_, is so -inconsistent with Mr. Lincoln's whole character that it must be -rejected as altogether incredible. Unfortunately, however, for Mr. -Lamon, he has not so impressed us with the trustworthy nature of the -materials of his own book, as that we can afford to distrust the -honesty and integrity of either Dr. Holland or Mr. Bateman for his -sake. If anybody's story of Mr. Lincoln's life and sentiments is to be -"rejected as inconsistent and altogether incredible," the testimony -thus far would seem to indicate that it is Mr. Lamon's story. At least -that is the "unpleasant situation" in which we shall leave the matter, -so far as Mr. Bateman and Dr. Holland are concerned in it. - -But Mr. Bateman is not the only one who can testify that Mr. Lincoln -did use the name of the Saviour, and believed him to be the Christ -of God. I have given several instances already in which he used the -name of Christ as his Saviour, and avowed that he loved Him. Moreover, -he could not have avowed his belief in the truth of the Christian -religion, as many witnesses testify, if he did not believe Jesus to be -the Christ of God. - -To the various testimony which we have thus far cited it only remains -for me to add the testimony of his own lips. In his address to the -colored people of Baltimore, on the occasion of the presentation of a -copy of the Bible, Mr. Lincoln said: "In regard to this great Book, -I have only to say, it is the best gift which God has ever given to -man. All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated to us -through this Book." - -To the Hon. H. C. Deming, of Connecticut, he said that the "article of -his faith was contained in the Saviour's condensed statement of both -law and gospel--'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, -and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy -mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.'" - -Mr. Herndon affirms that Mr. Lincoln did not believe in the "Christian -dogma of the forgiveness of sin": he believed that "God would not -and could not forgive sin. He did not believe in forgiveness through -Christ, nor in fact in any doctrine of forgiveness. In reading Mr. -Lincoln's proclamations, however, we find that he does very distinctly -recognize the doctrine of the forgiveness of sin on the part of God, -and very earnestly implores the people to seek the forgiveness of their -sins. In his proclamation of a fast day, August, 1861, are these words: - -"And, whereas, it is fit and becoming in all people, at all times, to -acknowledge and revere the supreme government of God; to bow in humble -submission to his chastisements; to confess and deplore their sins and -transgressions, in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is -the beginning of wisdom, and to pray with all fervency and contrition -for the _pardon_ of their past offenses, and for a blessing on their -present and prospective action," etc. - -Read also his proclamation enforcing the observance of the Christian -Sabbath in the Army and Navy, and ask yourself, Could an infidel have -done this? - - The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, desires and - enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and men - in the military and naval service. The importance for man and beast of - the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers - and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian - people, and a due regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor - in the Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of a strict necessity. - The discipline and character of the National forces should not suffer, - nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the profanation of the - day and the name of the Most High. At this time of public distress, - adopting the words of Washington in 1776, "Men may find enough to do - in the service of God and their country without abandoning themselves - to vice and immorality." The first general order issued by the Father - of his Country, after the Declaration of Independence, indicates the - spirit in which our institutions were founded and should ever be - defended: "The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man - will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier defending - the dearest rights and liberties of his country." - - ABRAHAM LINCOLN. - -Besides all this, we find Mr. Lincoln often using the very language of -the Saviour, as not only expressing but giving the sanction of Divine -authority to his own views and opinions. What a remarkable instance of -it in the solemn words that fell from his lips in his last inaugural, -as he stood on the steps of the Capitol! Standing upon the verge of his -grave, as he was that day, and addressing his last official words to -his countrymen, his lips touched as with the finger of inspiration, he -said: - -"The Almighty has His own purposes. 'Woe unto the world because of -offenses, for it must needs be that offenses will come; but woe unto -the man by whom the offense cometh.' If we shall suppose that American -Slavery is one of these offenses which, in the providence of God, must -needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He -now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this -terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall -we discern any departure therein from those Divine attributes which -the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we -hope, fervently do we pray, that the mighty scourge of war may pass -away. Yet if God will that it continue until all the wealth piled by -the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall -be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be -paid with another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years -ago, so must it still be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and -righteous altogether.'" - -Thus it appears, that whether Mr. Lincoln was ever accustomed to -blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ or not, or whether he was ever -accustomed to deny His divinity or not, as his defamers allege, he -is willing, in the last eventful days of his life, standing at the -nation's Capitol, in the hearing of the swelling multitude that hangs -upon his lips, to use the sanction of Divine authority to one of the -most remarkable sentences of his official address. - -Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, of Chicago, an intimate acquaintance of Mr. -Lincoln, and who is engaged in a review of his work on Mr. Lincoln's -life, writes me that "from the time he left Springfield, with the -touching request for the prayers of his friends and neighbors, to the -day of his death, his words were the words of a Christian, revering -the Bible, and obeying its precepts. A spirit of reverence and deep -religious feeling pervades nearly all the public utterances and state -papers of his later life." - -The following interesting testimony from Rev. Dr. Byron Sunderland, of -the First Presbyterian Church of Washington City, gives us a little -insight into the philosophy of Mr. Lincoln's mind and religious -sentiments: - - WASHINGTON CITY, Nov. 15th, 1872. - - REV. JAS. A. REED: - - DEAR BRO.--It was in the last days of 1862, about the time Mr. - Lincoln was seriously contemplating the issuing of the Emancipation - Proclamation, that I, in company with some friends of the President, - called upon him. After some conversation, in which he seemed disposed - to have his joke and fun, he settled down to a serious consideration - of the subject before his mind, and for one half-hour poured forth a - volume of the deepest Christian philosophy I ever heard. He began by - saying-- - - "The ways of God are mysterious and profound beyond all - comprehension--'who by searching can find Him out?' Now, judging after - the manner of men, taking counsel of our sympathies and feelings, if - it had been left to us to determine it, we would have had no war. - And going further back to the occasion of it, we would have had no - slavery. And tracing it still further back, we would have had no evil. - There is the mystery of the universe which no man can solve, and it - is at that point that the human understanding utterly backs down. And - then there is nothing left but for the heart of man to take up faith - and believe and trust where it cannot reason. Now, I believe we are - all agents and instruments of Divine providence. On both sides we are - working out the will of God; yet how strange the spectacle! Here is - one half the nation prostrated in prayer that God will help them to - destroy the Union and build up a government upon the cornerstone of - human bondage. And here is the other half equally earnest in their - prayers and efforts to defeat a purpose which they regard as so - repugnant to their ideas of human nature and the rights of society, as - well as liberty and independence. They want slavery; we want freedom. - They want a servile class; we want to make equality practical as far - as possible. And they are Christians, and we are Christians. They - and we are praying and fighting for results exactly the opposite. - What must God think of such a posture of affairs? There is but one - solution--self-deception. Somewhere there is a fearful heresy in our - religion, and I cannot think it lies in the love of liberty and in the - aspirations of the human soul. - - "What I am to do in the present emergency time will determine. I hold - myself in my present position and with the authority vested in me - as an instrument of Providence. I have my own views and purposes, I - have my convictions of duty, and my notions of what is right to be - done. But I am conscious every moment that all I am and all I have is - subject to the control of a Higher Power, and that Power can use me or - not use me in any manner, and at any time, as in His wisdom and might - may be pleasing to Him. - - "Nevertheless, I am no fatalist. I believe in the supremacy of the - human conscience, and that men are responsible beings; that God has a - right to hold them, and will hold them, to a strict personal account - for the deeds done in the body. But, sirs, I do not mean to give you a - lecture upon the doctrines of the Christian religion. These are simply - with me the convictions and realities of great and vital truths, - the power and demonstration of which I see now in the light of this - our national struggle as I have never seen before. God only knows - the issue of this business. He has destroyed nations from the map of - history for their sins. Nevertheless my hopes prevail generally above - my fears for our own Republic. The times are dark, the spirits of ruin - are abroad in all their power, and the mercy of God alone can save us." - - So did the President discourse until we felt we were imposing on his - time, and rising we took our leave of him, confident that he would be - true to those convictions of right and duty which were derived from so - deep a Christian philosophy. - - Yours truly, - BYRON SUNDERLAND. - -The Rev. Dr. Miner, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Springfield, -who was intimately acquainted with Mr. Lincoln, and visited him -and his family in Washington previous to his death, has left most -interesting testimony in reference to Mr. Lincoln's religious -sentiments, confirmatory of what has been given, and which is preserved -in the archives of the University of Chicago. Dr. Miner sums up his -impressions of Mr. Lincoln as follows: "All that was said during that -memorable afternoon I spent alone with that great and good man is -engraven too deeply on my memory ever to be effaced. I felt certain -of this fact, that if Mr. Lincoln was not really an experimental -Christian, he was acting like one. He was doing his duty manfully, -and looking to God for help in time of need; and, like the immortal -Washington, he believed in the efficacy of prayer, and it was his -custom to read the Scriptures and pray himself." And here I would -relate an incident which occurred on the 4th of March, 1861, as told -me by Mrs. Lincoln. Said she: "Mr. Lincoln wrote the conclusion of -his inaugural address the morning it was delivered. The family being -present, he read it to them. He then said he wished to be left alone -for a short time. The family retired to an adjoining room, but not so -far distant but that the voice of prayer could be distinctly heard. -There, closeted with God alone, surrounded by the enemies who were -ready to take his life, he commended his country's cause and all -dear to him to God's providential care, and with a mind calmed with -communion with his Father in heaven, and courage equal to the danger, -he came forth from that retirement ready for duty." - -With such testimony, gathered from gentlemen of the highest standing, -and much more that I could add to confirm it, I leave the later life -and religious sentiments of Abraham Lincoln to the dispassionate and -charitable judgment of a grateful people. While it is to be regretted -that Mr. Lincoln was not spared to indicate his religious sentiments by -a profession of his faith in accordance with the institutions of the -Christian religion, yet it is very clear that he had this step in view, -and was seriously contemplating it, as a sense of its fitness and an -apprehension of his duty grew upon him. He did not ignore a relation -to the Christian church as an obsolete duty and an unimportant matter. -How often do we hear him thanking God for the churches! And he was fast -bringing his life into conformity to the Christian standard. The coarse -story-telling of his early days was less indulged in in his later life. -Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, and Mr. Carpenter, as well as Mr. Lincoln's -physician at Washington, Dr. Stone, all testify that "while his stories -and anecdotes were racy, witty, and pointed beyond all comparison," -yet they "never heard one of a character needing palliation or -excuse." His physician, Dr. Stone, testifies that "Mr. Lincoln was the -purest-hearted man he ever came in contact with." - -His disposition to attend the theater in later life (if to anyone it -seems to need apology) was not so much a fondness for the playhouse -as a relief from his mental anxiety, and an escape from the incessant -pressure of visitors at the White House. "It is a well-known fact," -says Dr. Miner, "that he would not have been at the theater on that -fatal night, but to escape the multitude who were that evening pressing -into the White House to shake hands with him. It has been said that -Mrs. Lincoln urged her husband to go to the theater against his will. -This is not true. On the contrary, she tried to persuade him not to -go, but he insisted. He said, 'I must have a little rest. A large and -overjoyed, excited people will visit me tonight. My arms are lame -by shaking hands with the multitude, and the people will pull me to -pieces.' He went to the theater, not because he was interested in the -play, but because he was care-worn and needed quiet and repose. Mrs. -Lincoln informed me that he seemed to take no notice of what was going -on in the theater from the time he entered it till the discharge of -the fatal pistol. She said that the last day he lived was the happiest -of his life. The very last moments of his conscious life were spent -in conversation with her about his future plans, and what he wanted -to do when his term of office expired. He said he wanted to visit -the Holy Land and see the places hallowed by the footprints of the -Saviour. He was saying there was no city he so much desired to see as -_Jerusalem_; and with that word half spoken on his tongue, the bullet -of the assassin entered his brain, and the soul of the great and good -President was carried by angels to the New Jerusalem above." - - - - -APPENDIX V - -TWO HERNDON LETTERS CONCERNING LINCOLN'S RELIGION - -BRIEF ANALYSIS OF LINCOLN'S CHARACTER - - - SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Sept. 10, 1887. - - J. E. REMSBURG, Oak Mills, Kansas. - -FRIEND REMSBURG: Today I send you Speed's lecture on "Lincoln," which -you can keep till I send for it--and this will probably be never. -It is a very poor lecture if the lecture contains his knowledge of -Lincoln, and, I guess it does. It shows no insight into Lincoln at all, -though it is well enough written. It is said that Speed had a world of -influence over Lincoln. This may be so, and yet I never saw it. It is -said by Nicolay and Hay that Lincoln poured out his soul to Speed. Bah! -Nonsense! Probably, except in his love scrapes, Lincoln never poured -out his soul to any mortal creature at any time and on no subject. He -was the most secretive, reticent, shut-mouthed man that ever existed. - -You had to _guess_ at the man after years of acquaintance and then you -must look long and keenly before you _guessed_, or you would make an -ass of yourself. - -You had to take some leading--great leading and well-established--fact -of Lincoln's nature and then follow it by accurate and close analysis -wherever it went. - -This process would lead you correctly if you knew human nature and -its laws. Lincoln was a mystery to the world; he loved principle, -but moved ever just to suit his own ends; he was a trimmer among -men, though firm on laws and great principles; he did not care for -men; they were his tools and instruments; he was a cool man--an -unsocial one--an abstracted one, having the very quintessence of the -profoundest policies. Lincoln's heart was tender, full of mercy, if -in his presence some imaginative man presented the subject to him. -"Out of sight, out of mind" may truthfully be said of Lincoln. If I am -correct, what do you think of the stories afloat about what Lincoln -said in relation to his religion, especially said to strangers? I -send you two "Truth-Seekers" which you will please read where I speak -of Lincoln in three letters, pages marked at the top. You will learn -something of Lincoln's nature in those three letters of mine--two of -them on Lincoln's religion, and one to a minister. Please read them. -There are some quotations in these letters which I have never had time -to send you as I recollect it. They are good things--one on Laws of -Human Nature and one on the Pride-Haughtiness of Christians. Lincoln -delivered a lecture in which these quotations are to be found. I heard -him deliver it. - - W. H. HERNDON. - -P. S.--Mr. Speed was my boss for three or four years and Lincoln, -Speed, Hurst, and I slept in the same room for a year or so. I was -clerk for Speed. Speed could make Lincoln do much about simple -measures, policies, not involving any principle. Beyond this power -Speed did not have much influence over Lincoln nor did anyone else. - -A CARD AND A CORRECTION - -I wish to say a few short words to the public and private ear. About -the year 1870 I wrote a letter to F. E. Abbott, then of Ohio, touching -Mr. Lincoln's religion. In that letter I stated that Mr. Lincoln was -an infidel, sometimes bordering on atheism, and I now repeat the same. -In the year 1873 the Right Rev. James A. Reed, pastor and liar of this -city, gave a lecture on Mr. Lincoln's religion, in which he tried to -answer some things which I never asserted, except as to Mr. Lincoln's -infidelity, which I did assert and now and here affirm. Mr. Lincoln -was an infidel of the radical type; he never mentioned the name of -Jesus except to scorn and detest the idea of miraculous conception. -This lecture of the withered minister will be found in Holland's Review -[_Scribner's Monthly_]. I answered this lecture in 1874, I think, in -this city to a large and intelligent audience--had it printed and sent -a copy to Holland, requesting, in polite language, that he insert it -in his Review as an answer to the Reed lecture. The request was denied -me, as a matter of course. He could help to libel a man with Christian -courage, and with Christian cowardice refuse to unlibel him. - -Soon thereafter, say from 1874 to 1882, I saw floating around in the -newspaper literature, such charges as "Herndon is in a lunatic asylum, -well chained," "Herndon is a pauper," "Herndon is a drunkard," "Herndon -is a vile infidel and a knave, a liar and a drunkard," and the like. -I have contradicted all these things under my own hand, often, except -as to my so-called infidelity, liberalism, free religious opinions, -or what-not. In the month of October, 1882, I saw in and clipped out -of the Cherryvale _Globe-News_ of September, 1882, a paper published -in the State of Kansas, the following rich and racy article; it is as -follows: - - "_Lincoln's Old Law Partner a Pauper_ - - "Bill Herndon is a pauper in Springfield, Ill. He was once worth - considerable property. His mind was the most argumentative of any - of the old lawyers in the State, and his memory was extraordinary. - For several years before Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency, - Herndon was in some respects the most active member of the firm, - preparing the greatest number of cases for trial and making elaborate - arguments in their behalf. It is said that he worked hard with Lincoln - in preparing the memorable speeches by the man who afterward became - President, during the debates between Lincoln and Douglas in 1858, and - in constructing the Cooper Union address delivered by Lincoln a short - time before the war. Herndon, with all his attainments, was a man who - now and then went on a spree, and it was no uncommon thing for him - to leave an important lawsuit and spend several days in drinking and - carousing. This habit became worse after Lincoln's death, and like - poor Dick Yates, Herndon went down step by step till his old friends - and associates point to him as a common drunkard." - -There are three distinct charges in the above article. First, that -I am a pauper. Second, that I am a common drunkard, and third, that -I was a traitor or false to my clients. Let me answer these charges -in their order. First, I am not a pauper. Never have been and expect -never to be. I am working on my farm, making my own living with my own -muscle and brain, a place and a calling that even Christianity with its -persecution and malignity can never reach me to do much harm. I had, it -is true, once a considerable property, but lost much of it in the crash -and consequent crisis of 1873, caused in part by the contraction of the -currency, in part by the decline in the demand for the agricultural -products which I raise for sale, in part by the inability by the people -to buy, etc., etc., and for no other reasons. - -Second, I never was a common drunkard, as I look at it, and am not -now. I am and have been for years an ardent and enthusiastic temperance -man, though opposed to prohibition by law, by any force or other -choker. The time has not come for this. It is a fact that I once, years -ago, went on a spree; and this I now deeply regret. It however is in -the past, and let a good life in the future bury the past. I have not -fallen, I have risen, and all good men and women will applaud the deed, -always excepting a small, little, bitter Christian like the Right Rev. -pastor and liar of this city, to whom I can trace some of the above -charges. In my case this minister was an eager, itching libeler, and -what he said of me is false--nay, a willful lie. - -Third, I never was a traitor or untrue to my clients or their -interests. I never left them during the progress of a trial or at other -times for the cause alleged, drunkenness. I may have crept--slid--out -of a case during the trial because I had no faith in it, leaving Mr. -Lincoln, who had faith in it, to run it through. My want of faith in a -case would have been discovered by the jury and that discovery would -have damaged my client and to save my client I dodged. This is all -there is on it, and let men make the most of it. - -Now, let me ask a question. Why is all this libeling of me? I am a -mere private citizen, hold no office, do not beg the people to give me -one often. My religious ideas, views, and philosophy are today, here, -unpopular. But wait, I will not deny my ideas, views, or philosophy for -office or station or the applause of the unthinking multitude. I can, -however, answer the above question. It, the libeling, is done because -I did assert and affirm by oral language and by print that Mr. Lincoln -was an infidel, sometimes bordering on atheism, and yet he was among -the best, greatest, and noblest of mankind; he was a grand man. Why do -not the Christians prove that Mr. Lincoln was an evangelical Christian -and thus prove me a liar? One of my friends, for whom I have great -respect, says, that "Mr. Lincoln was a _rational_ Christian because he -believed in morality." Why not say Lincoln was _rational_ Buddhist, -as Buddhism teaches morality? Why not say Lincoln was _rational_ -Mohammedan? By the way, let me say here, that I have a profound respect -for an earnest, manly, and sincere Christian or an Atheist, a profound -respect for an earnest, manly, and sincere Infidel or theist or any -other religion, or the men who hold it, when that belief is woven into -a great manly character to beautify and greaten the world. - -These charges, and I do not know how many more, nor of what kind, have -been scattered broadcast all over the land, and have gone into every -house, have been read at every fireside till the good people believe -them, believe that I am nearly as mean as a little Christian, and all -because I told the truth and stand firm in my conviction. Respectfully, - - W. H. HERNDON. - November 9, 1882. - -[Privately printed by H. E. Barker, Springfield, 1917, edition limited -to 75 copies.] - - - - -APPENDIX VI - -THE IRWIN ARTICLE WITH LETTERS CONCERNING LINCOLN'S RELIGIOUS BELIEF - - -Another Valuable Contribution to the History of the Martyr -President.--Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel?--A Painstaking -Examination of the Case by An Old Acquaintance.--Important Testimony -of Contemporaneous Witnesses.--History of the Famous Manuscript of -1833.--Mentor Graham Says It Was a Defence of Christianity.--The Burned -Manuscript Quite a Different Affair.--The Charge of Infidelity in 1848, -Said to Have Been Disproved at the Time.--Letter of Hon. Wm. Reid, U. -S. Consul at Dundee, Scotland. - - By B. F. IRWIN - - PLEASANT PLAINS, ILL., April 20, 1874. - -EDITOR STATE JOURNAL: For some time, I believe, in 1870 there has -been a constant and continued effort upon the part of the Hon. W. H. -Herndon, Springfield, Ill., to convince and prove to the world that -Abraham Lincoln lived and died an infidel. He has succeded, as I -suppose, in proving that proposition to his own entire satisfaction and -probably to the satisfaction of some others. The last effort I have -noticed upon the subject was Herndon's reply to the Rev. J. A. Reed, in -a lecture delivered in the court house in Springfield, some months ago. -A few days after that lecture was delivered, I was urgently requested -by a prominent minister of the gospel and friend of Lincoln's (and also -a lady friend now residing in Kansas) to review that speech. I promised -each of those persons I would do so at the proper time. That time has -now arrived, and I propose noticing a few points in the address of Mr. -Herndon, - -"THE RELIGION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN" - -also a point or two in his Abbott letter and I think I will be able to -show that Mr. Herndon, himself, never knew or understood really what -the faith of Lincoln was or what the - -RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF LINCOLN - -was. I wish it now and here understood that Mr. Herndon's candor or -veracity I do not call in question. Nor will I designedly say anything -to offend him. He and I have been for twenty-five years good personal -friends, and I hope that friendship may continue. Mr. Herndon has a -right to prove Mr. Lincoln an infidel if he can. I claim the same right -to prove that - -LINCOLN WAS NOT AN INFIDEL - -if I can. If Mr. Lincoln was an infidel, as Herndon says, it is proper -for the world to know it. If he was not an infidel the charge is wrong -and a slander, for infidelity in the nineteenth century is no honor to -any man, dead or alive. - -Mr. Herndon, in his speech, uses this language: "One side of this -question can be proved. It is admitted on all hands that Lincoln once -was an infidel; that he wrote a small book, or essay, or pamphlet -against Christianity, and that he (Lincoln) continued an unbeliever -until late in life." Herndon further says: "It is a rule of law, as -well as a rule of common sense, that when a certain state or condition -of affairs is once proved to exist, the presumption is, that it still -exists until the contrary is proved." Now I stand by that proposition -as a true one. Will Mr. Herndon do so? But - -HE IS WOEFULLY MISTAKEN - -in his statement that "all admit that Lincoln was once an infidel." I -have never yet heard one single man express the belief that Lincoln was -an infidel, either early or late in life, while I am confident I have -heard one hundred different persons express astonishment at Mr. Herndon -writing and publishing Lincoln to the world an infidel. Mr. Herndon, it -is true, did have opportunities and advantages over others in knowing -Mr. Lincoln's religious opinions. But other men had some opportunities -as well as Mr. Herndon, and to them I shall have to appeal, for I do -not claim to personally know anything about Mr. Lincoln's religious -faith. Though personally acquainted with Lincoln for twenty-five years, -and often in his office, I never heard him say a word on the subject -of Christianity or religious belief. Hence, my opinion of Lincoln's -faith or belief is based on the testimony of those who do know, who had -it - -FROM LINCOLN HIMSELF; - -and I believe them, for the weight of testimony is certainly against -Mr. Herndon. The Scriptures of Truth lay it down as a Divine rule, that -the evidence of two or three witnesses is better than one. Common law -lays down the same rule, borrowed from Divine authority, and our courts -are governed by it in their decisions. - -Mr. Herndon, in his - -REPLY TO MR. REED, - -says, "He is talking to establish the truth of a controversy between -those who hold that Lincoln was a disbeliever, and those who hold that -he died a Christian (a believer in Christ)" and then says: "If I fail -to establish my point it will be because of the manner and method of -presenting the facts." I have read that lecture carefully over, and I -fail to find any proof of Herndon's proposition that Lincoln ever was -an infidel or an unbeliever. The nearest I see to it, is the - -STATEMENT OF J. H. MATHENY - -He uses this language, substantially: "Mr. Lincoln's earlier life is -his whole life and history in Illinois up to the time he left for -Washington City. He (Lincoln) was, as I understand it, a confirmed -infidel." Now, Matheny fails to tell us how he got that understanding. -Did he get it from Lincoln? He don't say so, and the reason he don't -say so doubtless is, he got it from some other source--probably from -Herndon. But clearly, to be of any weight as evidence, he must have -that understanding from Mr. Lincoln himself. Mr. Matheny may have some -time in life heard Lincoln use some of the - -ARGUMENTS OF TOM PAINE, - -or advance infidel ideas, and still not be an infidel. I have heard an -official member of the Methodist Church in this town advance as strong -infidel sentiments as Tom Paine ever did, and you would insult the -man to say he was an infidel. So any Christian may use the language or -advance some of the sentiments of Tom Paine and be far from an infidel. -Lincoln may have done all that, and still not be an infidel. I do not -believe Mr. Lincoln ever was an infidel, and I can truly state and -say just what Matheny said. I understood Lincoln was an infidel, but -I never believed the statement true. Matheny understood it: in other -words, he had heard it but knew nothing about the facts in the case. I -have seen Mr. Matheny since, and he states that he - -NEVER HAD IT FROM LINCOLN - -that he was an infidel, and he never believed it. - -If Mr. Herndon is in possession of the evidence, in writing or -otherwise, to prove that Lincoln was an infidel, either earlier or -later in life, he ought to bring forward the proof to sustain his -proposition: for he has long since learned that the statement alone -fails to satisfy the public mind that Lincoln ever was an infidel. Mr. -Herndon in his - -ABBOTT LETTER - -truly says the charge of infidelity was made against Mr. Lincoln when -he was a candidate for Congress in 1848; and then adds: "Mr. Lincoln -did not deny the charge, because it was true." The charge of infidelity -was made against Lincoln at that time, and I suppose Lincoln made no -public denial of the charge, for the reason that the canvass was being -made on political grounds, and not religious faith or belief. This much -was said at the time, as I well remember to be the facts in the case. - -About the time of building the flatboat on the Sangamon River in 1830, -when Lincoln was quite a young man, a - -RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY - -was the topic in which Lincoln took a part; and in the argument Lincoln -used the language that, according to the history of the case, in the -New Testament, Christ was a bastard and his mother a base woman. This -he may have used at the time, as young men sometimes do use vain -language, and seventeen years afterward, when he was a candidate for -Congress against - -PETER CARTWRIGHT - -a Methodist preacher, that vain remark was remembered, and Tom Paine -having used similar language, Lincoln was published in some of the -papers as an infidel. The above was the explanation published at the -time, and the charge of infidelity did no harm. Had Lincoln been known -as an infidel, or believed to be one at that time, I am certain he -would have been beaten badly by Cartwright in the canvass. - -Again, Mr. Herndon, in his Abbott letter (I believe it is), says: "It -is not to be found in print that Lincoln ever used the word Christ." In -fact, Herndon says, "he never did use it, only to deny Christ as the -son of God." Now that statement may be true, that he did not use the -term Christ: but if Mr. Herndon will examine the speeches of the public -men of this nation, I believe I am safe in saying that Mr. Lincoln used -and - -QUOTED MORE SCRIPTURE - -than any man in the nation; and that he quoted the parables and -language of Christ oftener than any public man living. Not only did -Lincoln quote Scripture, but he used it as being of Divine authority, -and applicable to the affairs of earth. Mr. Herndon gives us to -understand that Lincoln did not believe the New Testament Scriptures to -be any more inspired than Homer's songs, Milton's "Paradise Lost," or -Shakspeare. If Herndon is correct, it seems strange Lincoln made no use -of those books. On the 16th of January, 1858,[74] as a foundation for -an argument, he used the language of Christ - -"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND," - -in reply to Douglas. In the same campaign he four times used the -parables of Christ; in his second inaugural address--"woe unto the -world because of its offenses"--Christ's language, again. - -But I need not multiply quotations. His speeches, proclamations, and -messages are so full of quotations of scripture, always the language -of Christ himself, that if an angel of light should proclaim it -trumpet-tongued from the skies, that Lincoln was an unbeliever in -Christ, I could not believe it. He could not have been an infidel -without being a base hypocrite; and I don't believe a more honest man -lived on earth. - -THE EVIDENCE - -Now I will take up some evidence on the question being discussed. Mr. -Herndon has said that, in Lincoln's early life, he wrote - -A PAMPHLET - -book, or manuscript against Christianity. I propose to show that the -manuscript written by Lincoln was - -IN FAVOR OF CHRISTIANITY - -To do so, I will offer the evidence of Mr. Graham, who knew Lincoln -when he was a boy in Kentucky, with whom Lincoln boarded some two -years; and if any man on earth ought to know Lincoln's religious faith -or belief, that man is Mentor Graham, who was intimate with Lincoln -from the time he came to Illinois to the time he left for Washington -City. I will give the letter in full. - -STATEMENT OF MR. GRAHAM - - PETERSBURG, ILL., March 17, 1874. - - B. F. IRWIN: - - SIR--In reply to your inquiries, Abraham Lincoln was living at my - house in New Salem, going to school, studying English grammar and - surveying, in the year 1833. One morning he said to me, "Graham, what - do you think about the anger of the Lord?" I replied, "I believe - the Lord never was angry or mad and never would be; that His loving - kindness endurest forever; that He never changes." Said Lincoln, "I - have a little manuscript written, which I will show you"; and stated - he thought of having it published. Offering it to me, he said he had - never showed it to anyone, and still thought of having it published. - The size of the manuscript was about one-half quire of foolscap, - written in a very plain hand, on the subject of Christianity and a - defense of universal salvation. The commencement of it was something - respecting the God of the universe never being excited, mad, or - angry. I had the manuscript in my possession some week or ten days. I - have read many books on the subject of theology and I don't think in - point of perspicuity and plainness of reasoning, I ever read one to - surpass it. I remember well his argument. He took the passage, "As in - Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," and followed - up with the proposition that whatever the breach or injury of Adam's - transgressions to the human race was, which no doubt was very great, - was made just and right by the atonement of Christ. - - As to Major Hill burning the manuscript, I don't believe he did, nor - do I think he would have done such a thing. About the burning of a - paper by Hill, I have some recollection of his snatching a letter from - Lincoln and putting it into the fire. It was a letter written by Hill - to McNamur. His real name was McNeal. Some of the school children - had picked up the letter and handed it to Lincoln. Hill and Lincoln - were talking about it, when Hill snatched the letter from Lincoln and - put it into the fire. The letter was respecting a young lady, Miss - Ann Rutledge, for whom all three of these gentlemen seemed to have - respect. Yours truly, - - MENTOR GRAHAM. - -Now the next point I wish to notice is Mr. Herndon's statement, in -his Abbott letter, that Lincoln, in 1846, was charged with being an -infidel. Herndon says he [Lincoln] did not deny the charge, because it -was true. As I have before stated, I admit the charge was made, and I -think at the time there was no public denial by Lincoln, for the reason -that the canvass was made on political grounds, and not religious faith -or belief. Nevertheless, the charge was denied, as the following letter -will show. - -STATEMENT OF THOMAS MOSTILLER - - PLEASANT PLAINS, ILL., April 28, 1874. - - B. F. IRWIN: - - SIR--In regard to your inquiry, just received, of what I heard Lincoln - say about a charge of infidelity made against him when a candidate - for Congress in 1847, or '48, it was this. I was present and heard - Josiah Grady ask Lincoln a question or two regarding a charge made - against Lincoln of being an infidel, and Lincoln unqualifiedly denied - the charge of infidelity, and said, in addition, his parents were - Baptists, and brought him up in the belief of the Christian religion; - and he believed in the Christian religion as much as anyone, but - was sorry to say he had or made no pretensions to religion himself. - I can't give his exact words, but would make oath anywhere that he - positively denied the charge made against him of infidelity. That - was the first time I ever heard of the charge of infidelity against - Lincoln. - - Grady did not say that he would not vote for Lincoln if he was an - infidel; but my understanding from Grady was, that he would not vote - for Lincoln if he was an infidel, and Grady did, as I suppose, vote - for him. I understood him that he should. - - Respectfully, - THOMAS MOSTILLER. - - MENARD COUNTY, ILL. - -The next evidence I shall offer is that of Isaac Cogdal, an intimate -friend of Lincoln's from the time Lincoln came to Salem, Menard County, -to the time he left for Washington City, and I will let Cogdal speak -for himself. - -STATEMENT OF ISAAC COGDAL - - April 10, 1874. - - B. F. IRWIN: Yours received making inquiries about what I heard - Lincoln say about his religious belief, is this, as near as I can - tell it and recollect. I think it was in 1859, I was in Lincoln's - office in Springfield, and I had a curiosity to know his opinions or - belief religiously; and I called on him for his faith in the presence - of W. H. Herndon. At least Herndon was in the office at the time. - Lincoln expressed himself in about these words: He did not nor could - not believe in the endless punishment of any one of the human race. - He understood punishment for sin to be a Bible doctrine; that the - punishment was parental in its object, aim, and design, and intended - for the good of the offender; hence it must cease when justice is - satisfied. He added that all that was lost by the transgression of - Adam was made good by the atonement: all that was lost by the fall was - made good by the sacrifice, and he added this remark, that punishment - being a "provision of the gospel system, he was not sure but the world - would be better off if a little more punishment was preached by our - ministers, and not so much pardon of sin." I then, in reply, told - Mr. Lincoln he was a sound Universalist, and would advise him to say - but little about his belief, as it was an unpopular doctrine, though - I fully agreed with him in sentiment. Lincoln replied that he never - took any part in the argument or discussion of theological questions. - Much more was said, but the above are the ideas as advanced by Lincoln - there. - - Respectfully yours, - ISAAC COGDAL. - -The next witness I shall offer on the subject is Jonathan Harnett, of -Pleasant Plains. Mr. Harnett is here. I shall now furnish a statement -over his signature, as he is present and dictates as I write. - -DICTATED STATEMENT OF JONATHAN HARNETT - -Mr. Harnett says, that in 1858, a short time after he came to Illinois, -he had a curiosity to see Lincoln and went into his office. There were -several others in that he did not know; that religious faith seemed -to be the subject of conversation. After some time was spent in the -controversy, it seemed to be Lincoln's time, and in a few words he -heard Lincoln condense into a small space greater thoughts and larger -ideas, and sounder logic, than he ever heard brought into so small -space. Lincoln, he says, covered more ground in a few words than he -could in a week, and closed up with the restitution of all things to -God, as the doctrine taught in the scriptures, and if anyone was left -in doubt in regard to his belief in the atonement of Christ and the -final salvation of all men, he removed those doubts in a few questions -he answered and propounded to others. After expressing himself, -some one or two took exceptions to his position, and he asked a few -questions that cornered his interrogators and left no room to doubt -or question his soundness on the atonement of Christ, and salvation -finally of all men. He did not pretend to know just when that event -would be consummated, but that it would be the ultimate result, that -Christ must reign supreme, high over all, The Saviour of all; and the -supreme Ruler, he could not be with one out of the fold; all must come -in, with his understanding of the doctrine taught in the scriptures. - -[The above statement since writing it has been read to Mr. Harnett and -indorsed by him.] - -The next evidence I shall offer is Erasmus Manford, of Chicago. About -1850, he had a debate in Springfield, Ill., with Mr. Lewis. In his -book, "Twenty-five Years in the West," page 219, he says: "I remember -well seeing Mr. Lincoln then punctually every day and night. He often -nodded his head to me when I made a strong point." Does that look as -though Lincoln was an infidel? Manford was discussing the proposition -of the restitution of all things to God which is manifested in Christ -Jesus our Lord. Manford gives the quotation, chapter, and verse, -and Lincoln nods assent to the position. That nodding assent to the -restitution agrees precisely with Mr. Harnett's statement of Lincoln's -position in his presence seven or eight years afterward. Everyone -understands that nodding assent to the argument of a speaker is an -indorsement of what is said, and about equivalent to speaking it -yourself. Manford so understood it: so anyone would understand it. - -My next and last witness is W. H. Herndon. In his Abbott lecture in -1870, Herndon says that Lincoln's belief was, that - -ALL WOULD BE SAVED, - -or none. That remark he frequently or often made; that agrees with -Harnett's statement that he believed all would be saved. When a man -believes all men will be saved, he can then be logical and say all will -be saved or none, and not otherwise. In the same letter, Mr. Herndon -says Mr. Lincoln held that God had a fixed punishment for sin and no -means could bribe him to remit that punishment. That evidence agrees -with Cogdal's statement that sin was to be punished, but not endlessly. -Both Herndon and Cogdal agree in the statement that Lincoln believed -that if our ministers would preach punishment and not so much pardon -the world would be benefited by it. - -I am now through with the evidence I shall offer at this time, though I -could add the evidence of a dozen more to the same purport. I think I -have clearly proved that - -LINCOLN WAS A UNIVERSALIST - -in 1833; that he wrote a manuscript on that subject then; that in 1847 -he - -DENIED THE CHARGE - -of infidelity; that in 1850-58-59 he was still a Universalist. If this -be true when was he an infidel? But to get a clear understanding of -the case, Universalism and infidelity are as far apart as the poles. -Universalism maintains that there is one God, whose nature is love -revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. This Lincoln certainly believed, -infidelity denies it. Universalism maintains that Christ was the Son -of God; infidelity denies it. Universalism maintains that the Old and -New Testament Scriptures contain a record of God's revelation to man; -infidelity denies it, and says the New Testament is no more inspired -than Homer's songs, Milton's "Paradise Lost," or Shakspeare. My -authority for the infidel view is W. H. Herndon, in his letter. - -Before closing, I wish it distinctly understood that if I could show -that - -LINCOLN WAS NOT AN INFIDEL - -without showing him a Universalist, I would do so; that I am not trying -to bolster up Universalism on Lincoln's faith, as I do not claim to be -a Universalist myself. - -There are many points in Mr. Herndon's lecture and letter that I might -notice, but as I am only trying to show that - -HERNDON IS WRONG - -in his understanding of Lincoln's religious belief, I shall not notice -them, as they do not concern me or the question in dispute. - -Mr. Herndon, in his lecture and letter both, says Mr. Lincoln wrote a -manuscript against Christianity. Mr. Graham, - -LINCOLN'S TEACHER - -at the time, testifies that he had the manuscript in his possession -eight to ten days, read it two or three times carefully and it was -in favor of Christianity and universal salvation. Mr. Mostiller says -Lincoln flatly denied infidelity in 1847, and he would swear to it. Mr. -Harnett heard Lincoln on the atonement in 1858. Mr. Cogdal testifies -to the same in 1859. The character of all these men for truth and -veracity is as good as any man in Sangamon or Menard County. Harnett -and Mostiller are both Methodists, differing politically. Graham and -Cogdal are both Universalists, and agree politically. Mr. Herndon in -his letter says the manuscript was burned by Sam Hill. Mr. Graham -explains it was a letter in regard to a lady, - -MISS ANN RUTLEDGE, - -that Hill burned. It seems to me Mr. Herndon has got the manuscript -and letter confounded, and shot off hand without taking aim at the -right object. My friend Herndon, at the close of his lecture, derives -consolation from the fact that a true history can be written free from -the fear of fire and stake. Friend Herndon, if your life is certainly -not in danger some true spirit will - -DRAG THE TRUTH - -out to the light of day. - -But hear the closing words of Herndon's lecture; "Now let it be -written in history and on Mr. Lincoln's tomb he died an unbeliever." -Mr. Herndon is in a hurry about it. Be patient, William; wait for the -unfolding of events. The decree has long since gone out; those words -will never be inscribed on - -LINCOLN'S TOMB, - -nor written in history. When my friend, W. H. Herndon, dies, if he -wishes a monument on a small scale placed over his grave with the -inscription, "Here lies W. H. Herndon, a man who in life held that the -New Testament Scriptures were no more inspired than Homer's songs, -Milton's Paradise Lost, or Shakspeare," or if he desires it, add -"Munchausen's Travels," I will not, for one, object to the inscription. -As regards Mr. Herndon's own belief, he leaves no room for doubt. - - B. F. IRWIN. - - From the Illinois _State Journal_, Saturday Morning, May 15, 1874. - -MORE TESTIMONY - -Letter from the Hon. Wm. Reid, U. S. Consul at Dundee, Scotland. -(Dundee, Scotland, Correspondence [March 4, 1874] Portland [Oregon] -_Oregonian_). - -The _Weekly Oregonian_ of January last arrived and I am grieved to -see in it opened afresh that controversy over Lincoln's religious -views. Being well conversant with the affairs of the Lincoln family, -knowing Mrs. Lincoln personally, having been in correspondence with -that lady, and having also been of some assistance in a work entitled -"Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," I may be permitted to speak with -some knowledge of the facts. - -Lincoln, when 16 years of age, - -IN THE BACKWOODS OF WESTERN INDIANA - -heard a sermon by a traveling Presbyterian minister--the Rev. Dr. -Smith--(afterwards of the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, -Illinois) then a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. -The subject was: "Is there no Balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician -there?" The sermon was delivered at the village of Rockfort, four -miles from the small farm of Thomas Lincoln, Abraham's father. There -was a great revival on that occasion. Always a deep thinker, even -when a boy, Lincoln was seriously impressed. Adopting his own words, -he remembered the sermon for more than twenty years afterwards. Book -after book he then read on the authenticity of the Scriptures, and was -satisfied. Many years after delivering that sermon Dr. Smith removed to -Springfield, Illinois. - -This same Dr. Smith, I spent two years with here at Dundee, and -attended him to his death in 1871. He was the bosom friend of Lincoln, -and the friend and dearly beloved pastor of the Lincoln family. - -Some years after Dr. Smith happened on a Sabbath day, in his church at -Springfield, to re-deliver his sermon (delivered, I think, eighteen -years previous). "Is there no Balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician -there?" Lincoln, always a regular attendant, was there and was much -startled. When the congregation had gone, he sought the preacher. "Dr. -Smith," said he, "was it you who preached that sermon when I was a boy -at Rockfort?" "Yes." "Well," said Mr. Lincoln, "I have never forgotten -that sermon, and never will." I need not narrate what then passed -between them. Sometime after this a discussion arose in Springfield, as -to the credibility of the Scripture. Knowing Lincoln's well-balanced -mind, his studious and deep-thinking nature and downright honesty, -a gentleman, anxious to have his views, asked if he believed the -Scriptures were strictly true. Lincoln answered: "I have investigated -that matter thoroughly, as a lawyer would do, examining testimony, and -I hold that the arguments in favor of the credibility, inspiration, and -Divine authority of the Scripture are unanswerable." - -At an annual meeting of the Presbyterian Church of Springfield, or -rather of the Bible Society of that church, Lincoln delivered a long -address on the same subject--the authenticity of the Scriptures. An -able address it was. His arguments are too lengthy for me to narrate. -For seven years, down to the day of his departure for Washington to - -ASSUME THE DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENCY, - -he was a member of that congregation, and took part and aided in all -benevolent undertakings in connection with the church. Were I allowed -to unfold to the public what is sacred, that which I know of Mr. -Lincoln's inner life during the four years he was President, his memory -would be revered by all Christians for his entire dependence during -that eventful period upon God's guidance, and not on himself. Truly no -man thought less of himself and of his nothingness without God. This is -exemplified in his public life. When assuming the Presidency, what did -he say? Speaking of the contrast of his time to Washington's: - -"I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine Aid which -sustained him [Washington], and on the same Almighty Being I place my -reliance for support. And I hope that you, my friends, will all pray -that I may receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot -succeed, but with which success is certain." - -If an infidel, then is it possible that Abraham Lincoln could be an -honest man as the world knows he was--and make that assertion? Is it -necessary for me to say more? If so, let me remind you of his words - -(1) To that zealous - -LADY OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMISSION - -during the war, in answer to her views of religion: - -If what you have told me is really a correct view, I think I can say -with sincerity that I hope I am a Christian. - -(2) To the Philadelphia Church Conference in 1864: Allow me to attest, -in response to your address, the accuracy of its historical statements; -indorse the sentiments it expresses, and thank you in the Nation's name -for the sure promise it gives. God bless the Methodist Church, God -bless all the churches, and blessed be God who giveth us, in this our -great trial, churches! - -(3) To the Cabinet on the emancipation of the slaves: - -"I made a solemn vow before God that if General Lee were driven from -Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by declaring freedom to the -slaves." - -(4) On the same subject [slavery] remember he said: "Whatever appears -to be God's will, I will do." - -ONE MORE FINAL PUBLIC ACT - -and I am done. At Baltimore he was presented by the negroes of that -city with a copy of the Scriptures. In reply, Lincoln said: - -"In regard to the great Book, I have only to say, it is the best gift -which God has given to man. All the good from the Saviour of the world -is communicated to us through this Book. But for that Book we could not -know right from wrong. All those things desirable to man are contained -in it." - -It may appear unnecessary for me to repeat Lincoln's - -PUBLIC EXPRESSIONS OF RELIGION - -in conjunction with what I have issued to the world for the first time, -as to his religious life in private before he was President, but as -my object is to connect his private and public religious expressions -together, and bring them down from the time he was sixteen years old to -his death, and to show that he was, for these thirty years, - -UNIFORMLY A CHRISTIAN MAN, - -you will pardon my repeating in part what the whole world already -knows. Take Lincoln's expressions altogether as above quoted by me, -and I submit you will find not only an absence of the slightest doubt -of religion on his part, but an entire reliance on God alone for -guiding himself and the events of the world. And yet that foolish -man, Herndon, will say--and I am sorry to see a small portion of the -American press will repeat--that Abraham Lincoln was an Infidel. -Marvelous! I am proud to think I have in my possession--as a reward for -a few insignificant services done by me on account of Mrs. Lincoln--the -great and Martyred President's psalm book, which he used while at the -White House, and I shall retain it as a proud memento for my family, of -"Lincoln the Good--the Saviour of his Country." - -A word before I close, as to Mrs. Lincoln. She is a lady of great -merit, and spite of Herndon's mad expression to the contrary, was -dearly loved by the President, as his letters to her will show, and one -does not wonder at it, as her love and regard for him to this day is -even greater than tongue can tell. If the American people understood -Mrs. Lincoln as well as I do, they would respect her equally as they -did Lincoln. - - Yours truly, - WILLIAM REED, - - United States Consul, Dundee, Scotland. - - From the Illinois _State Journal_, Saturday Morning, May 15, 1874. - -WHY LINCOLN APPOINTED HIM - -Reading (Pa.) _News_ - -The Rev. James Shrigley who is well known here, was appointed by -President Lincoln a hospital Chaplain during the war. Pending his -confirmation by the United States, a self-constituted committee of -the Young Men's Christian Association called on the President to -protest against the appointment. After Mr. Shrigley's name had been -mentioned the President said: "Oh, yes, I have sent it to the Senate. -His testimonials are highly satisfactory, and the appointment will, no -doubt, be confirmed at an early day." - -The young men replied: "But, sir, we have come not to ask the -appointment, but to solicit you to withdraw the nomination, on the -ground that Mr. Shrigley is not evangelical in his sentiments." "Ah!" -said the President, "that alters the case. On what point of doctrine is -the gentleman unsound?" "He does not believe in endless punishment," -was the reply. "Yes," added another of the committee, "he believes that -even the rebels themselves will finally be saved, and it will never do -to have a man with such views a hospital Chaplain." - -The President hesitated to reply for a moment, and then responded with -an emphasis they will long remember: "If that be so, gentlemen, and -there be any way under heaven whereby the rebels can be saved, then for -God's sake let the man be appointed!" - -He was appointed. - -From the _Daily Illinois State Register_, Friday, April 29, 1881. - - - - -APPENDIX VII - -"THE CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE" - - -THE debate out of which this volume grew was held at Columbus, -Mississippi, in the spring of 1841, between Rev. James Smith and Mr. -C. G. Olmsted. Mr. Olmsted, the author of a work entitled, "The Bible -Its Own Refutation," was a resident of Columbus. Dr. Smith visited -this city during the winter of 1839-1840, and finding the young men -of the place to be very largely under the influence of Mr. Olmsted, -he delivered a series of lectures, especially addressed to the young -men of the place, on "The Natures and Tendencies of Infidelity," and -another upon, "The Evidences of Christianity." While these lectures -were in progress, Dr. Smith was approached by a committee, who -sympathized with Mr. Olmsted's views, and who, with the sanction of Mr. -Olmsted, brought a written challenge to Dr. Smith to meet Mr. Olmsted -in a public discussion of the whole ground at issue between them. Dr. -Smith accepted on condition that he have time for adequate preparation. -He communicated with friends in Great Britain, who procured and sent -to him the latest and best material bearing on the subject. His -book contains reproductions of the supposed Zodiac at Denderah, and -a colored reproduction from the monuments of Egypt of brickmakers, -believed to be Israelites. The researches of Rawlinson were made -available to him, and a considerable body of additional literature. - -Because Dr. Smith's book has been spoken of slightingly by men who -never saw it and who had the vaguest possible notion of its content, -and because the book itself is so excessively rare that in the nature -of the case few readers of this volume can have access to it, I have -copied the Title Page, a portion of the advertisement, and the whole of -the very full Table of Contents. - -We need not concern ourselves with the question whether Dr. Smith's -line of argument is that which probably would be found most cogent -if a similar debate were to be held at the present day. Sources of -information are now available, of which neither Dr. Smith nor his -opponent could possibly have had any knowledge. But any reader of this -chapter analysis will be compelled to testify that a book which covered -the ground of this outline and did it with logical acumen and force -of reasoning, is not to be spoken of now in terms other than those of -admiration for the industry and earnestness of the author, and the -cogency of the conclusions which he deduced from his premises. One is -prepared to believe from the testimony included in a number of letters -that are reprinted in the advertisement and in the preface that these -lectures produced a profound impression upon those who heard this -discussion. - -The more carefully these lectures are examined, the more probable does -it appear that in form and method they would have been likely to make, -what they appear to have made, a very strong impression upon Abraham -Lincoln. It must have been evident to him that Dr. Smith was familiar -with both sides of the question, and Lincoln can but have admired the -courage and ardor with which he went into a discussion so fully in -keeping with methods which Abraham Lincoln himself enjoyed and which -later he employed in his great debate with Douglas. We can well believe -that he spoke with the utmost sincerity when he told Dr. Smith that he -counted the argument unanswerable, and stated to his brother-in-law, -Hon. Ninian W. Edwards, and his associate at the bar, Mr. Thomas Lewis, -that these lectures had modified his own opinion. - - -NOTICES OF THE DEBATE WHICH LED TO THE PUBLISHING OF THE CHRISTIAN'S -DEFENCE - -From the _Southwestern Christian Advocate_, Columbus, Miss., 1841 - -MR. EDITOR--I have thought that a concise account of this debate might -not be unacceptable to your readers. It is a mortifying fact, that -this city has become FAMOUS--or rather INFAMOUS for the prevalence of -deism and atheism among her citizens. This has been produced in a good -degree by the efforts of an old gentleman by the name Olmsted. Since -his residence here, which has been for about four years, he has been -untiring in his exertions to sow the seeds of moral death in this -community. He has organized his converts into a band, that operates -systematically. He has written a book, which is not exceeded by TOM -PAINE'S _Age of Reason_, for scurrility and ridicule. The old gentleman -is as artful as the old DESTROYER himself; by which means he has -obtained an immense influence over the minds of the young men of this -place. - -The circumstances which gave rise to the debate were as follows: -The Rev. James Smith, during a visit in this city, delivered a few -discourses on the dangerous tendencies of infidelity, addressing -himself particularly to the youth. This induced a committee of infidel -gentlemen to address a written challenge to Mr. S., to meet their -champion, Mr. O., in a public debate. Mr. S. by the advice of many -intelligent friends of truth, accepted the challenge. The time arrived, -and the discussion commenced. All was anxiety and interest. The house -was crowded, even the aisles and windows, with attentive hearers. They -arranged to speak alternately, one, two hours each night, and the other -a half hour; so the debate continued two hours and a half each night. -From the representation of Mr. O's talents, learning, and preparation, -we were made to tremble for the results; but we were not a little -disappointed to find the old gentleman fall far below his fame.... - -He asserted that the Jews did not believe in a future state of -existence, until after the Babylonish captivity; that they borrowed -their doctrines of the immortality of the soul from the nations among -whom they were dispersed--that the Jews believed in a plurality of -gods--that St. Paul was the author of Christianity--that Christianity -encourages polygamy. To prove this last position, he quoted Paul's -directions to Timothy: "Let a bishop be the husband of one wife." And -to crown the mass of absurdities, he endeavored to prove that the -blessed Jesus was a base impostor. - -We found Mr. Smith well prepared for the contest. He had his arguments -systematically arranged--had written them all, and read them well. -He proved to a demonstration, the GENUINENESS, AUTHENTICITY and -INSPIRATION of the Old Testament Scriptures. His arguments were -interesting and convincing. His arguments on the New Testament were -equally happy, and if possible, more convincing. The conclusion of -every inquirer after truth, must have been, that the champion of -deism was signally defeated, and his cause left bleeding on the field. -I doubt not but the defeat would have been more complete, had Mr. S. -omitted some of his personal allusions, and had he suppressed his -natural inclination to sarcasm. Indeed his blasts of sarcasm were truly -WITHERING. His opponent, finding that he could not cope with him in -this respect, retreated, and took shelter under the sympathies of his -audience. - - Yours, &c., - ONE OF THE HEARERS. - - - THE - CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE - - CONTAINING - A FAIR STATEMENT AND IMPARTIAL EXAMINATION - OF THE - LEADING OBJECTIONS URGED BY INFIDELS - AGAINST THE - ANTIQUITY, GENUINENESS, CREDIBILITY AND - INSPIRATION - OF THE - HOLY SCRIPTURES; - ENRICHED WITH COPIOUS EXTRACTS FROM - LEARNED AUTHORS. - - BY JAMES SMITH. - - "The Christian Faith, - Unlike the tim'rous creeds of pagan priests, - Is frank, stands forth to view, inviting all - To prove, examine, search, investigate; - And gave herself a light to see her by." - --_Pollock's Course of Time_, B. iv. - - "If I have done well, and as is fitting the story, it is - that which I desired; but if slenderly and meanly, it - is that which I could attain unto."--2 _Maccabees_ xv, 38. - - TWO VOLUMES IN ONE - - CINCINNATI: - STEREOTYPED AND PUBLISHED BY J. A. JAMES - 1843 - - -CONTENTS - - VOLUME I - - ON THE CREDIBILITY, ANTIQUITY, AND GENUINENESS OF - THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES - - CHAPTER I - - The nations of the earth are indebted to the Jews for the - Bible.--Taylor's assertion, that no such nation as the Jewish - ever existed. Its confutation. The Jews and Christians - hold the Old Testament to be a revelation from God. - Infidels hold this to be untrue. How the question at issue - is to be settled. The frame of mind necessary to an impartial - examination of the subject.--Objections of the - Atheistical Infidel against the claims of the Bible as a - divine revelation. Mr. Olmsted's misrepresentation of the - position of the advocates of Revelation. The questions at - issue between the Christian and Atheist. That between - the Christian and the Deist 1 - - SECTION I.--Confutation of the theory of the materialist. - Confutations of the positions of the two classes of - Atheists 6 - - SECTION II.--Hume's argument to prove that Polytheism - was the first religion of mankind. Its confutation 23 - - SECTION III.--Of the style of the Old Testament Scriptures. - Example from Mr. Olmsted, showing the necessity - of understanding its nature. The Scriptures speak the language - of appearances, but strictly philosophical 40 - - CHAPTER II - - Mr. Olmsted's assertion concerning the requisitions of the advocate - of Revelation in examining the credibility of the - Mosaic writings. Its falsehood. His allegation that the - first sentence in the Bible contains a falsehood. The confutation - of his argument. His objection to the credibility - of the Mosaic narrative of the creation founded on the - statement that the world was made in six days. Vindication - of the Mosaic narrative.--Infidel objection to the - Mosaic narrative founded on the zodiacs in the temples of - Latapolis and Tantyra. Its fallacy.--Dr. Keith's proofs - of the truthfulness of the Mosaic narrative of the creation 48 - - SECTION I.--Mosaic account of the creation confirmed - by tradition. The Hindoo account; that of Ovid; the - Phenician; the Egyptian; that of Plato.--The heathen - tradition concerning the first man. Division of time into - weeks, a confirmation of the Mosaic narrative 75 - - SECTION II.--Paine's and Olmsted's objection on account - of the narrative of the fall of man. Their confutation. - The Mosaic narrative of the fall of man confirmed - by heathen traditions; by the universality of serpent worship; - by the condition of mankind; by the opinions of the - heathen philosophers concerning the corruption of human - nature; by the belief of the Brahmins; by the opinions of - the classical mythologists, and by the universal practice of - animal sacrifice.--The account of the translation of Enoch - confirmed by the Grecian fables.--The longevity of the - antediluvian patriarchs confirmed by heathen traditions.--Mosaic - account of man of gigantic stature confirmed by - the Greek and Latin poets 85 - - CHAPTER III - - Objection to the Mosaic narrative of the deluge, because contrary - to the philosophy of Nature. Its fallacy.--The truth - of the narrative confirmed by the fossil remains of animals. - --Objection founded on the size of the ark. Shown - to be fallacious.--Objection founded on certain marks of - antiquity said to exist in the lava of Mt. Etna. Mr. - Horne's confutation of the argument.--Objection on account - of the differences in color, existing among mankind. - Its fallacy. Dr. Good's argument, confirmatory of the - Mosaic narrative.--Objections founded upon the supposed - antiquity of the eastern nations. Confutation of the objection. - --Objections founded on the condition of America - when discovered by Columbus. Proofs that two distinct - races of men immigrated into America from Asia. The - present Indians, of the same race with the tribes of - northern Asia. The ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, - originally proceeded from the same stock with the nations - of southern Asia 100 - - SECTION I.--Mosaic account of the deluge confirmed by - Pagan history. Its memory incorporated with almost every - part of the heathen mythology. Noah claimed by all the - heathen nations as their founder, and worshiped by them as - a god. Saturn, of the Greeks and Latins, Menu of the - Hindoos, and Noah identical. The Hindoo account of the - deluge. The Chinese and Grecian accounts. The ark mentioned - by heathen historians. Plutarch's notice of the dove - which was sent out of the ark. The heathens carried their - deities in an ark. Ancient medals commemorative of the - deluge. American traditions of that calamity. Summing - up of the argument 125 - - SECTION II.--Confirmation of the Mosaic representation - of the origin of families and nations. Testimony of - Sir W. Jones.--Confirmation of the Mosaic accounts of - the tower of Babel.--Of the destruction of Sodom and - Gomorrah. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, known to the ancient - heathens. Mr. Olmsted's attempt to invalidate the - Mosaic account of the condition of the Israelites in Egypt. - The confutation of his argument.--His argument to invalidate - the truth of the Mosaic narrative of the exode of - the Israelites from Egypt and the circumstances attending - it. Vindication of the Mosaic narrative.--Explanation of - the design of the miraculous interposition in behalf of the - Israelites. The fitness and tendency of each of the plagues - inflicted upon the Egyptians. Confutation of Mr. Olmsted's - allegation that Moses extorted permission for the - Israelites to leave Egypt, by false pretentions. Vindication - of the Mosaic account of the hardening of Pharaoh's - heart. Mr. Olmsted's supposition that the Israelites were - a horde of rude barbarians, in behalf of whom there was - no divine interposition. The fallacy and absurdity of his - supposition 135 - - SECTION III.--Collateral testimony confirmative of the - Mosaic account of the exode of the Israelites from Egypt, - their sojourn in the wilderness, and settlement in Canaan. - Curious discovery confirmatory of the Mosaic narrative. - Trogus' account of the origin of the Jews. The account of - their origin by Apion, an Egyptian writer. Manetho's account - of the shepherds who retreated from Egypt to Judea. - Tacitus' account of the origin of the Jews. Artapanus' - relation concerning Moses. Janes and Jambres, the Egyptian - magicians, well known to heathen writers. Strabo's account - of Moses. The account of the Heliopolitans concerning the - passage of the Red Sea. A similar tradition by Diodorus. - The inhabitants of Corondel to this day preserve the remembrance - of the passing of the Red Sea by the Israelites. - The names of different places passed by the Israelites - during their sojourn in the wilderness confirm the Mosaic - narrative. The writer of the Orphic verses speaks of - Moses and the tables of the Laws. Didorus Siculus notices - Moses. Dionysius Longius makes honorable mention of - Moses. Accuracy of the Mosaic narrative of the sojourn - in the wilderness confirmed by Laborde. The tomb of - Aaron on Mount Hor, confirms the truth of the Mosaic - narrative. Summing up of the argument from collateral - testimony. A very conclusive evidence of the truth of the - Mosaic history quoted from Dr. Keith.--The history of the - Israelites subsequent to the settlement in Canaan corroborated - by profane writers. Curious discovery, illustrative - of the Scriptural account of the war carried on by - Pharaoh-Necho against the Jews and Babylonians.--Confutation - of the objection founded by Infidels upon the supposed - sterility of the soil of Palestine. Forcible testimony - to the credibility of the Old Testament Scriptures afforded - by the present condition of the Jews 159 - - CHAPTER IV - - Efforts of Infidels to show that the books of the Old Testament - are forgeries of comparative modern date. Their - objections considered. Curious discovery illustrative of the - antiquity and exactness of the Mosaic writings. The utter - impossibility of the books being forgeries proven.--Mr. - Olmsted's argument to prove that the book of the law was - forged by Ezra. Confutation of his argument. Proofs - that the law could not have been forged by Daniel nor by - any of the captives in Babylon; that it could not have been - forged by Isaiah. A forgery could not have been effected - after the revolt of the ten tribes. It could not have been - forged by David; nor by Saul: nor by any of the Judges - who preceded Samuel. The law existed in Joshua's time. - Joshua could not have forged the law. The impossibility - of practicing a fraud upon the Israelites during a sojourn - in the wilderness.--The books of the Pentateuch have internal - marks, which demonstrate that they were written - by Moses. The book of Genesis included by the Jews in - the book of the law. Evidences of its antiquity and genuineness. - --Profane testimony to the genuineness of the - Mosaic writings. Objection on the ground that although - Moses wrote a book called the book of the law, we have - no evidence that it was the book now current in his name. - The objection considered and answered 193 - - SECTION I.--Objection of Infidels against the books of - Judges, Kings, and Chronicles, because they are anonymous. - The objection answered.--The objections against the genuineness - of the other books of the Old Testament. In effect - answered in the foregoing arguments.--Mr. Paine's argument - to prove that the Mosaic writings are spurious, - founded upon the style. Confutation of his argument. His - argument founded on the passage "Now the man Moses - was very meek," etc. Its confutation.--His argument - founded on the statement that Abraham pursued the four - kings unto Dan. Its fallacy.--His argument founded on - what is said of the descendants of Esau. The argument - considered, confuted.--His argument founded on the passage - "The children of Israel did eat manna until they came - to a land inhabited," etc. Its fallacy. His argument founded - on what is said concerning Og's bedstead. The argument - confuted.--The argument founded on the record of the - death of Moses being contained in the books attributed to - him. The argument confuted.--The evidence adduced - establishes the genuineness and credibility of the books.--Objection - that Moses must have borrowed the history of - the creation from the traditions which obtained in his time. - Reply to the objection.--The question, Whence did Moses - derive the materials of his history? Answered by Mr. - Horne.--Objections on the ground that no dependence is to - be placed in the present text of the Old Testament Scriptures. - Its fallacy 227 - - CHAPTER V - - A number of objections necessarily omitted, stated and answered.--Mr. - Olmsted's argument to prove that the author - of the book of Genesis was a polytheist. Its confutation.--His - argument to prove that the author of the book of - Genesis believed God to be a corporeal being. Its confutation. - Objections founded on the statements concerning - Cain. Their fallacy.--Cavil of Infidels at the curse pronounced - by Noah upon Canaan. Its unreasonableness. - Objections founded on the cause assigned for the diversity - of languages. Vindication of the Scriptural account.--Objection - founded on the conduct of Lot. Its fallacy.--Objection - founded on the misconduct of Abraham. Consideration - of the objection as applied not merely to Abraham, - but also to Jacob and David.--Objection on the ground that - God is represented as commanding Abraham to sacrifice - Isaac. Vindication of the Scriptural account of that affair. - --Objection, on the ground that circumcision was first - practiced by the Egyptians. Its fallacy.--Objection - founded on the representation given by Moses of the works - of the Egyptian magicians during the plagues in Egypt. - Mr. Farmer's satisfactory reply 250 - - SECTION I.--Infidels assert that the pillar of cloud and - fire is a fiction. The assertion considered and answered.--The - assertion that the Israelites crossed the Red Sea at - Suez. Vindication of the Scriptural account. Assertion - that the tremendous scene upon Sinai was a cheat. Its - fallacy. Olmsted's objection founded on the length of time - the Israelites were in the wilderness. Explanation of the - design of the dealings of Jehovah with the Israelites. - Vindication of the dresses, rites, and customs enjoyed by - the ceremonial law. Objection founded on the repeated - apostacies of the Israelites. The objection considered and - answered. The objection founded on the treatment of the - Moabites and the Midianites. Considered and answered.--Objection, - on the ground that the Israelites were commanded - to exterminate the Canaanites. Considered and - answered.--Assertion that the Old Testament Scriptures - sanction adultery and murder. Its falsehood.--Assertion - that Jehovah kept false prophets, and violated his promises. - Mr. Horne's answer.--Objection founded on the speaking - of Balaam's ass. Considered and answered. Mr. Paine's - objection on the ground that the sun is represented as - standing still upon Mt. Gibeon. Vindication of the Scriptural - account of that miraculous event. Dr. Clarke's very - satisfactory reply to the objection. Objection founded on - the passage, "Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord, and - he brought the shadow ten degrees backward by which it - had gone down on the dial of Ahaz."--Objection founded - on what is said of the Witch of Endor. Considered and - answered 275 - - - VOLUME II - - THE GENUINENESS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES - - CHAPTER I - - The books of the New Testament written by eight Jews.--Why - called New Testament? Infidels deny the genuineness - of the books.--Hold that the writers were impostors, and - the religion taught in them a fraud practiced upon mankind. - The difficulties attending the examination of the claims - of the New Testament to genuineness and credibility.--How - the subject should be approached.--The denial of the - genuineness of the books of modern dates. Toland charged - with having betrayed his suspicion that the writings were - forgeries. The suspicion of an anonymous Italian.--Its - absurdity.--Gibbon acknowledges the genuineness of the - writings.--Volney lays it down as a clear case, that no such - person as Jesus Christ ever existed. His theory adopted, - defended, and extensively circulated by Taylor. His positions - defined in his manifesto.--His unblushing falsehoods - promptly met and refuted by English Divines. Hitherto - unanswered in this country.--His first and second propositions - taken up.--How the authorship which has no name - prefixed to it is to be ascertained. The rule applied to the - New Testament 3 - - SECTION I.--Marks given by Michaelis by which the - spuriousness of a book may be discovered.--How books - anciently found their way to the public. The congregations - before whom the original copies of the New Testament - were read, vouchers of their genuineness.--The ancient adversaries - of Christianity admitted the genuineness of the - writings. The testimony of Trypho, the Jew. The testimony - of Celsus. The writings of Celsus against Christianity - of great value in enabling the advocate of Revelation, - of the present day, to prove that Jesus Christ is the - son of God. The testimony of Porphyry. Testimony of - Hierocles, the philosopher.--Testimony of the emperor - Julian. Testimony of Taylor himself. The quotations - from the New Testament by the most virulent enemies of - Christianity of ancient times. Demonstrate the genuineness - of the writings.--The immediate disciples of the - apostles acknowledge the genuineness of the books. The - epistles of the Apostolic fathers. Their genuineness unquestionable. - These writings prove the genuineness of the - New Testament. The epistles of Barnabas written shortly - after the destruction of Jerusalem. Table illustrating that - the New Testament writings were extant when Barnabas - wrote, or, at least, that he was conversant with some of - the writers of the book. The epistle of Clement, when and - to whom written. Table exhibiting quotations from the - New Testament in the epistle of Clement. Writings of - Hermas; when written. Table exhibiting the quotations of - Hermas from the New Testament. Ignatius, when he - flourished. Table of his quotations from the New Testament. - Polycarp, the friend of the apostle John. Table of - his quotations from the New Testament. Summing up of - the testimony of the apostolic fathers.--Ignatius and Polycarp - seal their testimony with their blood.--Martyrdom of - Polycarp 13 - - SECTION II.--Papias ascribes two gospels to Matthew - and Mark. Testimony of Justin, of Irenaenus, of Tertullian, - of Clemens Alexandrinus. Table of quotations by - these witnesses. Testimony of Origen: His quotations - from the New Testament. Testimony of Eusebius and - Jerome.--Number and antiquity of the manuscripts of the - New Testament. An argument for the genuineness of its - books. Curious discovery which confirms the genuineness - of the New Testament writings.--The council of Laodicea - did not design to settle the Canon 67 - - CHAPTER II - - ON THE GENUINENESS OF THE BOOKS.--Mr. Taylor's arguments - to prove that the writings of the New Testament are spurious. - Exposure of his dishonesty in quoting from Dr. - Lardner. Mr. P. Smith's refutation of his allegation that - the Scriptures were altered by the Emperor Anastasius. - Exposure of his dishonesty in quoting from Beausobre. - Refutation of his allegation that the Scriptures were altered - by Lanfranc. Refutation of his argument drawn from the - various readings. The passage of the Unitarian New - Version cited by Mr. Taylor in support of his allegation. - Dr. Bentley on the various readings. Gaussen on the - various readings. Tables illustrative of the various readings. - Trouble of Bengel about the integrity of the original - text. The success of his labors in sacred criticism 84 - - SECTION I.--Taylor's dishonesty in referring to the - works of Herbert Marsh, in support of his allegation that - the manuscript from which the received text was taken was - stolen from the librarian. Explanation of the story of the - sale of the manuscript to a skyrocket maker. Taylor's falsehood - in his pretended reference to Bishop Marsh, in support - of his allegation that for the principal passage in the book of - Revelation there was no original Greek. Notice of Mr. - Taylor's charge that the tendency of the New Testament is - immoral and wicked. J. J. Rousseau's testimony to the - morality of the Gospel. Exposure of Mr. Taylor's dishonesty - in quoting from Mosheim in support of his allegation - that ecclesiastical historians admit their inability to show - when or by whom the New Testament Scriptures were - written. Refutation of his allegation. The Apocryphal - books collected and published by Jeremiah Jones. Refutation - of Mr. Taylor's assertion what he terms the true and - genuine gospel. Refutation of Mr. Taylor's objection on - the ground of modernisms contained in some passages of - the New Testament, and the ignorance of the four evangelists - of the geography and statistics of Judea. The - summing up of the argument on the genuineness of the - New Testament Scriptures 107 - - CHAPTER III - - CREDIBILITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.--The number - of the witnesses who testify to the facts detailed in the - New Testament. How the credibility of a historical book - is to be ascertained. The rule as applied to Christian - writings. Their genuineness proves their credibility. The - writers of the New Testament could not have falsified the - facts relative to Jesus Christ. The objection on the ground - that the Jews rejected the claims of Jesus Christ. Its confutation. - The conduct of the Jewish nation in rejecting - Christ accounted for. The conversion of many of the - Gentiles proves the credibility of the book. The character, - circumstances, and conduct of the men who testify of - Jesus prove their credibility. Difficulty to be surmounted - by those who maintain that the apostles and evangelists - were impostors. Summing up of the argument on the - credibility of the witnesses 125 - - SECTION I.--Collateral testimony of the truthfulness of - the writers of the New Testament. Testimonies to the - truthfulness of St. Matthew's statement concerning Herod - and Archalaus. Testimony to the truthfulness of the statement - of Luke concerning Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee, and - his brother Phillip, Tetrarch of Itruria. Testimony to the - truthfulness of the evangelists relative to Herod marrying - Herodias. Josephus corroborates Luke's account of the - death of Herod Agrippa. Testimonies of the truthfulness - of the statements in the Acts concerning Felix. A number - of notices, by profane authors, of Pilate, confirmatory of - the truthfulness of the evangelists. Testimonies to the - truthfulness of the evangelists in their statements of the - treatment of Jesus Christ upon trial and when crucified. - Testimonies confirming statements of the evangelists concerning - the burial of Jesus Christ. Notice taken of John - the Baptist by Josephus. What he says concerning Jesus - Christ. Notices of Jesus Christ from the ancient Jewish - Talmudical writings. Testimony of the heathen adversary - to the leading facts detailed by the evangelists. Summing - up of the argument 140 - - SECTION II.--The same ground retraced, and the objections - of Mr. Taylor considered and answered. Representation - of Taylor's third and fourth propositions. The - falsehood of Mr. Taylor's assertion that no such person as - Jesus Christ ever existed, proven by the testimony of - Tacitus, of Suetonius, of Martial, of Pliny the Younger. - Mr. Taylor's assertion that some, many, or all, of the - events related of Jesus Christ by the evangelists had formerly - been related of the gods and goddesses of Greece - and Rome. Its confutation to be found in any of the - Pantheons or mythological dictionaries. Exposure of the - malignity and falsehood of Mr. Taylor exhibited in his - attempt to identify Jesus Christ with the heathen idol - Crishna. Citations from Sir W. Jones concerning Crishna. - The testimony of Sir W. Jones impartial. The unreasonableness - and absurdity of Mr. Taylor's conclusions 164 - - SECTION III.--The last refuge of the infidel is to maintain - either that Jesus Christ was a mistaken enthusiast or - a wicked impostor. Mr. English's argument to prove that - Jesus was a mistaken enthusiast. Its confutation 181 - - SECTION IV.--Argument by Mr. Olmsted to prove that - Jesus Christ was a wicked impostor. Its confutation 190 - - CHAPTER IV - - OBJECTIONS STATED AND ANSWERED.--The objections urged by - infidels of such a nature that, though numerous, to answer - one or two of each class is to answer all. Quotation from - Gaussen, explanatory of the nature and causes of the supposed - contradictions in the writings of the evangelists. Examples - by Gaussen. Explanation of the seeming contradictions - between the genealogies of Matthew and Luke. - Answer to the objection, that certain names occur in Luke's - list of the apostles, which do not appear in that of Matthew. - Answer to the objection on account of the seeming contradiction - in the title which was written over Jesus Christ - when on the cross. Answer to the objection founded on - the seeming contradiction in the different accounts of the - hour when Jesus Christ was suspended on the cross. Answer - to the objection urged against St. Luke when he says, - "It came to pass in those days, that there went out a - decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be - taxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was - Governor of Syria." Answer to the objection founded upon - Jesus cursing the fig-tree. Answer to Taylor's assertion that - Romans 3:7 recommends telling lies for the glory of God. - His assertion that Jesus Christ was not crucified. Its confutation. - His assertion that "Paul and Barnabas did not - preach the same story." Its falsehood demonstrated. His - assertion that some preached a Christ who was not crucified. - Its falsehood. His assertion that Paul called the other - apostles false apostles and dogs. Vindication of the apostles - from this calumny. His assertions that Paul curses the other - apostles and recommends that they should be privately - assassinated. The falsehood of these accusations. The last - refuge of Mr. Taylor in asserting that Christianity had its - origin among the Therapeutae. Other infidels pretend that - the Essenes were the originators of Christianity. Watson's - account of the Essenes and Therapeutae 214 - - CHAPTER V - - DIVINE AUTHORITY AND INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES.--What - is to be understood by inspiration? None but an - atheist can deny its possibilities. The gift of inspiration - proved by the performance of supernatural works, and by - the foretelling of future events with preciseness. If these - signs accompanied the authors of the dispensations contained - in the Old and New Testaments, it must be admitted - that the Bible is a revelation from God. The performance - of miracles by the authors of these dispensations attests - their divine mission. A miracle defined. Mr. Hume's argument - against miracles. Lord Brougham's confutation of - the argument. Keith's demonstration of its fallacy. The - miracles of Moses, of Jesus Christ and his apostles accompanied - by evidences which cannot be brought to substantiate - any pretended fact whatever. Mr. Leslie's argument - in favor of this position. Mr. Olmsted's attempt to destroy - the force of Mr. Leslie's argument. Exposure of the - misrepresentations and falsehoods contained in Mr. Olmsted's - argument. Confutation of his argument 232 - - SECTION I.--Mr. Leslie's criteria applied to the miracles - recorded in the Scriptures. Applied to those of Moses; they - all meet in his miracles. Applied to those of Jesus Christ - and his apostles. Their number, their variety, and the - public manner in which they were performed, attest their - veracity. Miracles of Christ contrasted with those of impostors. - The pretended miracles wrought by Vespasian. - The pretended miracles of the Roman Catholics. Many of - them have been proved to be impostors. The object of - the miracles of Jesus attests their veracity. The great - miracle which lies at the foundation of Christianity, the - resurrection of Jesus Christ. The miracle examined. - Testimony of the evangelists, that Jesus during his life predicted - his death and resurrection. The prediction well - known to the Jewish rulers. The rulers took every necessary - precaution to put his pretensions to the test. The - crucifixion and death of Christ well attested. Precautions - that the body should not be removed until life was extinct. - The precautions of the rulers to prevent the body being - stolen out of the sepulchre. The whole question at issue - between Jesus and the Jewish rulers, suspended on the naked - fact, whether He did or did not rise again on the third - day. The Jewish rulers make their preparation on the - Sabbath to produce the body on the third day. On the - third day the body is missing. Different ways of accounting - for the fact. The disciples alleged that Jesus had - risen from the dead. Their testimony examined. The - Jewish rulers asserted that the disciples stole the body. - The allegation examined. Its falsehood demonstrated. - Subsequent conduct of the Sanhedrin confirms the testimony - of the apostles and evangelists. The adoption of the Jewish - mode of accounting for the fact accompanied with many - difficulties. An acknowledgment of the resurrection of - Jesus involves an acknowledgment of His divine mission. - Mr. Olmsted's objection on the ground that Jesus did not - show Himself publicly and ascend to heaven in the presence - of the whole nation. Its fallacious nature. The testimony - we have of the resurrection of Jesus Christ much more - satisfactory and convincing than that required by Mr. - Olmsted. Insuperable difficulties attending the denial of - the resurrection of Jesus Christ 279 - - CHAPTER VI - - Divine authority of the Scriptures proved from prophecy and - its fulfillment. A prophecy defined. Mr. Watson's argument - in support of the possibility of prophecy. Criteria by - which true may be distinguished from false prophecies. - The prophecies of heathen oracles examined. Proved to - have been impostures. Contrast between the pretended predictions - of the heathen oracles and the prophecies contained - in the Scriptures. Mr. Paine's remarks in relation to the - manner in which future events would be communicated by - a true prophet. Mr. Olmsted's requisition and pledge if it - be met to acknowledge the truth of prophecy. Mr. Olmsted - met upon his own ground. Prophecy relative to the destruction - of Tyre. Its fulfillment proved by the infidel - Volney, and other competent witnesses. Mr. Olmsted, - from his own showing, is bound to believe that Ezekiel - was a true prophet of God. Table of quotations from the - prophecies of the Old Testament, and from Volney's writings, - showing that in spite of himself this infidel proves the - truthfulness of the seers of Israel. Mr. Olmsted's assertion - that the history of Isaiah is made up of scraps, and destitute - of order and meaning. The truth of the assertion tested. - Prophecy of Isaiah concerning Edom. Volney's testimony - of its fulfillment. Testimony of Mr. Stevens. Prophecy - of Jeremiah concerning the capital of Edom. Burchkhardt's - testimony of its fulfillment. Testimony of Captains Irby - and Mangles. Testimony of Mr. Stevens. The infidel - having been met on his own ground, and the fulfillment of - many prophecies proved by competent witnesses, it follows - that the seers of Israel were the true prophets of God 302 - - SECTION I.--The great theme of the Old Testament - prophets was the coming of the Messiah. The Christian - maintains that these prophecies found an accomplishment in - Christ. This denied by the Jew and the infidel. Mr. English's - argument to show that Jesus was not the Messiah. - First, on account of His genealogy, and, second, because the - prophecies of the Old Testament found no accomplishment - in Him. Mr. English's argument refuted in all its particulars. - Jesus proved to be the true Messiah. The Messiahship - of Jesus Christ being proved, it proves that the - Bible is a revelation from God. Closing address 324 - - APPENDIX - - Starkie's confutation of Hume's argument on evidence 362 - - - - -APPENDIX VIII - -LINCOLN AND THE CHURCHES - -By JOHN G. NICOLAY AND JOHN HAY - - NOTE.--Some of the important material bearing upon Lincoln's religious - convictions which was collected by Nicolay and Hay and published in - the _Century Magazine_, has, through faulty indexing, been almost - lost. The words "churches" and "religion" are not in the thick index - in the tenth volume of their great work. Finding in the _Century - Magazine_ for August, 1889, an important article on this subject, I - searched in vain for any way of finding it in the book by means of the - index, and two librarians, working in separate libraries, searched - for it and reported to me that it was not in the book. I came to the - conclusion that in the editing of the work for its publication in - book form, the two former secretaries of the President had deemed - some of this matter too personal for their title, "Abraham Lincoln: - a History." But I have discovered the missing passage in the sixth - volume, pages 314-342. Its testimony is in full accord with that - subsequently given by Mr. Hay in the address delivered by him from - Mr. Lincoln's old pew, which is printed in the volume of John Hay's - addresses. The article in the _Century_ is so important that the first - and last portions of it will justify reprinting here. The omitted - portions relate to the relations of Mr. Lincoln and of the Government - to particular churches or denominations. - - W. E. B. - - -IN a conflict which was founded upon the quickened moral sense of -the people it was not strange that the Government received the most -earnest support from the churches. From one end of the loyal States to -the other all the religious organizations, with few exceptions, moved -by the double forces of patriotism and religion, ranged themselves -upon the side of the Government against the rebellion. A large number -of pulpits in the North had already taken their places as tribunes -for the defense of popular freedom, and it was from them that, at -the menace of war, the first cry of danger and of defiance rang out. -Those ministers who had for years been denouncing the encroachments -of slavery did not wait for any organized action on the part of their -colleagues, but proclaimed at once in a thousand varying tones that -peace was "a blessing worth fighting for." The more conservative -churches were but little in the rear of the more advanced. Those who -had counseled moderation and patience with the South on account of -the divided responsibility for slavery which rested on both halves of -the nation speedily felt the sense of release front the obligations -of brotherhood when the South had repudiated and renounced them, and -rallied to the support of the insulted flag with an earnestness not -less ardent, and more steadily trustworthy, than that of the original -antislavery clergy. As the war went on, and as every stage of it gave a -clearer presage of the coming destruction of slavery, the deliverances -of the churches became every day more and more decided in favor of -the national cause and the downfall of human bondage. To detail the -thousand ways in which the churches testified their support of the -national cause, to give even an abstract of the countless expressions -of loyalty which came from the different religious bodies of the -country, would occupy many volumes; we can only refer briefly to a -few of the more important utterances of some of the great religious -societies. - -In all the church conventions which met after the President's -preliminary proclamation of the 22d of September, 1862, that act of -liberation was greeted with the heartiest expressions of approval and -support. - -As the national authority began to be reëstablished throughout the -States in rebellion, not the least embarrassing of the questions -which generals in command were called upon to decide was that of the -treatment of churches whose pastors were openly or covertly disloyal -to the Union. There was no general plan adopted by the Government for -such cases; in fact, it was impossible to formulate a policy which -should meet so vast a variety of circumstances as presented themselves -in the different regions of the South. The Board of Missions of the -Methodist Church sent down some of their ablest ministers, with general -authority to take charge of abandoned churches, and to establish -in them their interrupted worship. The mission boards of other -denominations took similar action, and the Secretary of War[75] gave -general orders to the officers commanding the different departments -to permit ministers of the gospel bearing the commission of these -mission boards to exercise the functions of their office and to give -them all the aid, countenance, and support which might be practicable. -But before and after these orders there was much clashing between -the military and the ecclesiastical authorities, which had its rise -generally in the individual temperaments of the respective generals -and priests. There was an instance in one place where a young officer -rose in his pew and requested an Episcopal minister to read the prayer -for the President of the United States, which he had omitted. Upon -the minister's refusal the soldier advanced to the pulpit and led the -preacher, loudly protesting, to the door, and then quietly returning -to the altar himself read the prayer--not much, it is to be feared, -to the edification of the congregation. General Butler arrested a -clergyman in Norfolk, and placed him at hard labor on the public works -for disloyalty in belief and action; but the President reversed this -sentence and changed it to one of exclusion from the Union lines.[76] -The Catholic Bishop of Natchez having refused to read the prescribed -form of prayer for the President, and having protested in an able -and temperate paper against the orders of the commanding general in -this regard, the latter ordered him to be expelled from the Union -lines, although the order was almost immediately rescinded. General -Rosecrans issued an order[77] in Missouri requiring the members of -religious convocations to give satisfactory evidence of their loyalty -to the Government of the United States as a condition precedent to -their assemblage and protection. In answer to the protestations which -naturally resulted from this mandate he replied that it was given at -the request of many loyal church members, both lay and clerical; that -if he should permit all bodies claiming to be religious to meet without -question, a convocation of Price's army, under the garb of religion, -might assemble with impunity and plot treason. He claimed that there -was no hardship in compelling the members of such assemblages to -establish their loyalty by oath and certificate, and insisted that his -order, while providing against public danger, really protected the -purity and the freedom of religion. - -In the course of these controversies between secessionist ministers -and commanding generals an incident occurred which deserves a moment's -notice, as it led to a clear and vigorous statement from Mr. Lincoln -of his attitude in regard to these matters. During the year 1862 a -somewhat bitter discussion arose between the Rev. Dr. McPheeters of -the Vine Street Church in St. Louis and some of his congregation in -regard to his supposed sympathies with the rebellion. Looking back -upon the controversy from this distance of time it seems that rather -hard measure was dealt to the parson; for although, from all the -circumstances of the case, there appears little doubt that his feelings -were strongly enlisted in the cause of the rebellion, he behaved with -so much discretion that the principal offenses charged against him by -his zealous parishioners were that he once baptized a small rebel by -the name of Sterling Price, and that he would not declare himself in -favor of the Union. The difference in his church grew continually more -flagrant and was entertained by interminable letters and statements on -both sides, until at last the provost-marshal intervened, ordering the -arrest of Dr. McPheeters, excluding him from his pulpit, and taking the -control of his church out of the hands of its trustees. This action -gave rise to extended comment, not only in Missouri, but throughout -the Union. The President, being informed of it, wrote[78] to General -Curtis disapproving the act of the provost-marshal, saying, in a terse -and vigorous phrase, which immediately obtained wide currency, "The -United States Government must not, as by this order, undertake to run -the churches. When an individual in a church, or out of it, becomes -dangerous to the public interest he must be checked; but let the -churches, as such, take care of themselves." But even this peremptory -and unmistakable command did not put an end to the discussion. Taking -the hands of the Government away from the preacher did not quench the -dissensions in the church, nor restore the pastor to the position -which he occupied before the war; and almost a year later some of the -friends of Dr. McPheeters considered it necessary and proper to ask the -intervention of the President to restore to him all his ecclesiastical -privileges in addition to the civil rights which they admitted he -already enjoyed. This the President, in a letter[79] of equal clearness -and vigor, refused to do. "I have never interfered," he said, "nor -thought of interfering, as to who shall, or shall not, preach in any -church; nor have I knowingly or believingly tolerated anyone else to -so interfere by my authority"; but he continues, "If, after all, what -is now sought is to have me put Dr. McPheeters back over the heads of -a majority of his own congregation, that too will be declined. I will -not have control of any church on any side." The case finally ended by -the exclusion of Dr. McPheeters from his pulpit by the order of the -presbytery having ecclesiastical authority in the case. - -In this wise and salutary abstention from any interference with the -churches, which was dictated by his own convictions as well as enjoined -by the Constitution, the President did not always have the support -of his subordinates. He had not only, as we have seen, to administer -occasional rebukes to his over-zealous generals, but even in his own -Cabinet he was sometimes compelled to overrule a disposition to abuse -of authority in things spiritual. Several weeks after he had so clearly -expressed himself in the McPheeters case, he found, to his amazement, -that the Secretary of War had been giving orders virtually placing the -army in certain places at the disposition of a Methodist bishop for the -enforcement of his ecclesiastical decrees. He addressed to Mr. Stanton -a note of measured censure,[80] which was followed by an order from the -War Department explaining and modifying the more objectionable features -of the former document. The Secretary explained that his action had -no other intention than to furnish "a means of rallying the Methodist -people in favor of the Union, in localities where the rebellion had -disorganized and scattered them."[81] This explanation was not entirely -satisfactory to the President, but he thought best to make no further -public reference to the matter. Scarcely was this affair disposed of -when a complaint was received from Memphis of some interference by the -military with a church edifice there. Mr. Lincoln made upon the paper -this peremptory indorsement: "If the military have military need of -the church building, let them keep it; otherwise, let them get out -of it, and leave it and its owners alone, except for the causes that -justify the arrest of anyone."[82] Two months later the President, -hearing of further complications in the case, made still another -order, which even at the risk of wearying the reader we will give, -from his own manuscript, as illustrating not only his conscientious -desire that justice should be done, but also the exasperating obstacles -he was continually compelled to surmount, in those troubled times, -to accomplish, with all the vast powers at his disposition, this -reasonable desire. - - "I am now told that the military were not in possession of the - building; and yet that in pretended execution of the above they, - the military, put one set of men out of and another set into the - building. This, if true, is most extraordinary. I say again, if - there be no military need for the building, leave it alone, neither - putting anyone in or out of it, except on finding someone preaching or - practicing treason, in which case lay hands upon him, just as if he - were doing the same thing in any other building, or in the streets or - highways."[83] - -He at last made himself understood and his orders respected; yet -so widespread was the tendency of generals to meddle with matters -beyond their jurisdiction, that it took three years of such vehement -injunctions as these to teach them to keep their hands away from the -clergy and the churches. - -Lincoln had a profound respect for every form of sincere religious -belief. He steadily refused to show favor to any particular -denomination of Christians; and when General Grant issued an unjust and -injurious order against the Jews, expelling them from his department, -the President ordered it to be revoked the moment it was brought to his -notice.[84] - -He was a man of profound and intense religious feeling. We have no -purpose of attempting to formulate his creed; we question if he -himself ever did so. There have been swift witnesses who, judging from -expressions uttered in his callow youth, have called him an atheist, -and others who, with the most laudable intentions, have remembered -improbable conversations which they bring forward to prove at once his -orthodoxy and their own intimacy with him. But leaving aside these -apocryphal evidences, we have only to look at his authentic public -and private utterances to see how deep and strong in all the latter -part of his life was the current of his religious thought and emotion. -He continually invited and appreciated, at their highest value, the -prayers of good people. The pressure of the tremendous problems by -which he was surrounded; the awful moral significance of the conflict -in which he was the chief combatant; the overwhelming sense of personal -responsibility, which never left him for an hour--all contributed -to produce, in a temperament naturally serious and predisposed to a -spiritual view of life and conduct, a sense of reverent acceptance of -the guidance of a Superior Power. From that morning when, standing -amid the falling snowflakes on the railway car at Springfield, he asked -the prayers of his neighbors in those touching phrases whose echo rose -that night in invocations from thousands of family altars, to that -memorable hour when on the steps of the Capitol he humbled himself -before his Creator in the sublime words of the second inaugural, there -is not an expression known to have come from his lips or his pen but -proves that he held himself answerable in every act of his career to -a more august tribunal than any on earth. The fact that he was not -a communicant of any church, and that he was singularly reserved in -regard to his personal religious life, gives only the greater force to -these striking proofs of his profound reverence and faith. - -In final substantiation of this assertion, we subjoin two papers -from the hand of the President, one official and the other private, -which bear within themselves the imprint of a sincere devotion and -a steadfast reliance upon the power and benignity of an overruling -Providence. The first is an order which he issued on the 16th of -November, 1864, on the observance of Sunday: - - "The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, desires and - enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and - men in the military and naval service. The importance for man and - beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian - soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of - Christian people, and a due regard for the Divine will, demand that - Sunday labor in the Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of strict - necessity. The discipline and character of the national forces should - not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the profanation - of the day or name of the Most High. 'At this time of public distress - [adopting the words of Washington in 1776] men may find enough to - do in the service of their God and their country without abandoning - themselves to vice and immorality.' The first General Order issued - by the Father of his Country after the Declaration of Independence - indicated the spirit in which our institutions were founded and should - ever be defended. 'The General hopes and trusts that every officer - and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, - defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.'"[85] - -The date of this remarkable order leaves no possibility for the -insinuation that it sprung from any political purpose, or intention. -Mr. Lincoln had just been re-elected by an overwhelming majority; -his party was everywhere triumphant; his own personal popularity was -unbounded; there was no temptation to hypocrisy or deceit. There -is no explanation of the order except that it was the offspring of -sincere conviction. But if it may be said that this was, after all, -an exoteric utterance, springing from those relations of religion and -good government which the wisest rulers have always recognized in their -intercourse with the people, we will give one other document, of which -nothing of the sort can be said. It is a paper which Mr. Lincoln wrote -in September, 1862, while his mind was burdened with the weightiest -question of his life, the weightiest with which this century has had to -grapple. Wearied with all the considerations of law and of expediency -with which he had been struggling for two years, he retired within -himself and tried to bring some order into his thoughts by rising -above the wrangling of men and of parties, and pondering the relations -of human government to the Divine. In this frame of mind, absolutely -detached from any earthly considerations, he wrote this meditation. -It has never been published. It was not written to be seen of men. It -was penned in the awful sincerity of a perfectly honest soul trying to -bring itself into closer communion with its Maker. - - "The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to - act in accordance with the will of God. Both _may_ be and one _must_ - be wrong. God cannot be _for_ and _against_ the same thing at the - same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's - purpose is something different from the purpose of either party; and - yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the - best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that - this is probably true; that God wills this contest, and wills that it - shall not end yet. By His mere great power on the minds of the now - contestants, He could have either _saved_ or _destroyed_ the Union - without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun, he - could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest - proceeds." - -The following brief address by Mr. Lincoln appears never to have been -published. It was discovered, just as this book was going to press, by -Mr. Jesse W. Weik, who hastened to send it to me. It is the shorthand -report of a brief address delivered by Mr. Lincoln at a railroad -junction near La Fayette, Indiana, a few hours after he had left -Springfield on his way to Washington, Saturday, February 11, 1860. - - W. H. B. - - When I first came to the west some forty-four or forty-five years ago, - at sundown you had completed a journey of some thirty miles, which - you had commenced at sunrise; and you thought you had done well. Now, - only six hours have elapsed since I left my home in Illinois, where I - was surrounded by a large concourse of my fellow citizens, most all of - whom I could recognize; and I find myself far from home, surrounded - by the thousands I now see before me, who are strangers to me. Still - we are bound together, I trust, in Christianity, civilization and - patriotism, and are attached to our country and our whole country. - While some of us may differ in political opinions, still we are all - united in one feeling for the Union. - - - - -A CONDENSED BIBLIOGRAPHY - - -(The bibliographical notes which the author made while this work was -in preparation reached a total of several thousand. From these he at -first selected about five hundred titles, being practically a catalogue -of his own Lincoln library, a list of books about Lincoln which he -considered worth buying. But this also appeared much longer than was -needed for the purposes of this book, and he has therefore prepared -this shorter list of books bearing more directly upon the subject -matter of this volume, and for the convenience of such readers as are -unfamiliar with the literature of the subject he has added comments -upon some of the books or articles.) - -I. LINCOLN'S OWN WRITINGS AND SPEECHES - - -_Abraham Lincoln: Complete Works._ Edited by John G. Nicolay and John -Hay. In Two Volumes. New York: The Century Company, 1894. - -There is a larger edition in twelve volumes, with some additions, and -there are two other notable collections, both of them good. No one -of these, however, is entirely complete; and there are volumes such -as "The Uncollected Letters of Lincoln" edited by Gilbert A. Tracy -(Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1917) which supplement the "complete" works. -Very nearly everything which the reader requires, however, is in the -Nicolay and Hay work. - - -II. LIVES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN - -_Autobiography._ Facsimile Reproduction of Autobiographical Sketch -written by Abraham Lincoln for Jesse W. Fell in 1860. Published by his -daughters at Normal, Ill. - -_The Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln._ Sketch furnished by him in 1860 -to John Locke Scripps. New York: Francis D. Tandy Company, 1905. - -This and the preceding item contain virtually all that Lincoln told the -public about himself. - -_Life of Abraham Lincoln._ By John Locke Scripps. 1860. Tribune Tract -No. 6. Prepared from information given by Mr. Lincoln and read and -approved by him before publication. - -"_The Wigwam Edition._" The Life, Speeches and Public Services of -Abraham Lincoln, Together with a Sketch of Hannibal Hamlin. New York: -Rudd and Carleton, 1860. - -It disputes with Scripps the honor of being the first printed life of -Lincoln, and is of great interest as showing how little was known of -Lincoln in 1860 apart from the sketch which he had himself prepared. - -_Life of Abraham Lincoln._ By J. Q. Howard, Cincinnati: Anderson, Gates -and Wright, 1860. With pictures of the Wigwam on the back and is as -rare and desirable as the real "Wigwam Edition." - -_Life of Abraham Lincoln_ (of Illinois). With a Condensed View of his -Most Important Speeches; also a Sketch of the Life of Hannibal Hamlin -(of Maine). Authentic edition. By J. H. Barrett. Cincinnati: Moore, -Wilstach, Keyes & Co., 1860. - -_Lives and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin._ Life of -Lincoln by W. D. Howells. Life of Hamlin by John L. Hays. Columbus, -Ohio: Follett, Foster and Company, 1860. - -_The Life and Public Services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln_: to which is -added a Biographical Sketch of Hon. Hannibal Hamlin by D. W. Bartlett. -Authorized edition. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1860. - -_Life and Public Services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln of Illinois and Hon. -Hannibal Hamlin of Maine._ Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860. - -The above listed campaign biographies, all of them, except the Wigwam -Edition, based directly or indirectly upon the information furnished -first to Scripps, and then to other biographers, are all of remarkable -interest as showing what was then available to make a biography out -of, and what various biographers, under stress of the campaign and the -enterprise of publishers, were able to make out of it. - -A list might be added of the 1864 campaign biographies, but for the -present purpose they are unimportant, as also are the first that -followed his death. - -_The Life of Abraham Lincoln._ By J. G. Holland. Springfield, Mass., -published by Gurdon Bill, 1865. By far the best life of Lincoln -published in the first few years after his death, and noted as -containing the Bateman interview, which gave rise to the controversy -concerning Lincoln's religion. - -_Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln, Together With State -Papers._ By Henry J. Raymond. To which are added anecdotes and -reminiscences of Frank B. Carpenter. New York: Derby & Miller, 1865. -At the time of publication this was the best life of Lincoln in its -assembling of State Papers and important documents. - -_The Life of Abraham Lincoln from His Birth to His Inauguration As -President._ By Ward H. Lamon. Boston: James R. Osgood & Company, 1872. -First attempt to give to the world the story of the "real" Lincoln and -a conspicuous example of the fate a man may suffer at the hands of his -friends. Invaluable in its material, but with shocking bad taste; and -said by Herndon to have been written by Chauncey F. Black. - -Brings the narrative down to the time of Lincoln's inauguration and was -intended to have been followed by a second volume, but was received -with such disfavor that the concluding volume was never issued. - -_Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847-1865._ By Ward Hill Lamon. -Edited by Dorothy Lamon. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1895. -Second Edition of the Same, with Memoir of Ward Hill Lamon by his -daughter, Dorothy Lamon Teillard. Washington, D. C. Published by the -editor, 1911. - -_Herndon's Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life. Etiam in minimis -major._ The History and Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln. By -William H. Herndon, for twenty years his friend and law partner; and -Jesse William Weik, A.M. Chicago, New York and San Francisco: Belford, -Clarke & Co., publishers. London: Henry J. Drane, Lovells Court, -Paternoster Road. 3 volumes. 1889. Unexpurgated first edition. - -_Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life._ By William H. -Herndon and Jesse W. Weik, with an introduction by Horace White. In two -volumes. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1892. - -_Abraham Lincoln: A History._ By John G. Nicolay and John Hay. In ten -volumes. New York: The Century Co., 1890. First edition. - -_A Short Life of Abraham Lincoln._ Condensed from Nicolay and Hay's -_Abraham Lincoln: A History_. By John G. Nicolay. New York: The Century -Co., 1906. - -_Personal Traits of Abraham Lincoln._ By Helen Nicolay. New York: The -Century Company, 1912. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ By John T. Morse, Jr. In two volumes. American -Statesman Series. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1893. In -many respects the best short life of Lincoln. - -_The Early Life of Abraham Lincoln._ Containing many unpublished -documents and unpublished reminiscences of Lincoln's early friends. By -Ida M. Tarbell, assisted by J. McCan Davis. New York: S. S. McClure -Co., Limited, 1896. - -_The Life of Abraham Lincoln._ Drawn from original sources. By Ida M. -Tarbell. Two volumes. New York: The Doubleday & McClure Co., 1900. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ An Essay. By Carl Schurz. Boston and New York: -Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1891. - -_Lincoln the Leader: and Genius for Expression._ By Richard Watson -Gilder. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1909. - -_Abraham Lincoln: The People's Leader in the Struggle for National -Existence._ By George Haven Putnam, Litt.D. New York and London: G. P. -Putnam's Sons, 1909. - -_Lincoln, Master of Men: A Study in Character._ By Alonzo Rothchild. -Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1906. - -_Honest Abe: A Study in Integrity._ By Alonzo Rothchild. Boston and New -York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1917. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ By Rose Strunsky. New York: Macmillan Company, 1914. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ By Noah Brooks. Centennial Edition. G. P. Putnam's -Sons, New York, 1888. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ By Henry Bryan Binns. London: J. M. Dent & Co., 1907. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ By Lord Charnworth (Godfrey Rathbone Benson). Henry -Holt and Company, 1907. - -_Latest Light on Lincoln, and War Time Memories._ By Ervin Chapman, -D.D., LL.D. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1917. - -_The Everyday Life of Abraham Lincoln._ By Frances Fisher Browne. -Chicago: Browne & Howell Co., 1913. New and thoroughly revised edition. - -_The True Abraham Lincoln._ By William Eleroy Curtis. Philadelphia and -London: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1903. - -_Abraham Lincoln: The Man of the People._ By Norman Hapgood. New York: -The Macmillan Co., 1899. - -_Sketch of the Life of Abraham Lincoln._ Compiled in most part from the -History of Abraham Lincoln and the overthrow of slavery. By Isaac N. -Arnold. New York: John D. Bachelder, 1869. - -_The Life of Abraham Lincoln._ By Isaac N. Arnold. Chicago: A. C. -McClurg & Co., 1901. Twelfth edition, 1916. - -_Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life._ By William O. -Stoddard, one of President Lincoln's private secretaries during the War -of the Rebellion. Revised edition. New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert, -1896. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ By Charles Carleton Coffin. New York: Harper and -Brothers, 1893. - - -III. EARLY ILLINOIS HISTORY - -_A. W. Snyder in Illinois 1817-1842._ Virginia, Illinois: E. Needham, -1906. - -_Illinois in 1818._ By Solon Justus Buck. Illinois Centennial -Commission, Springfield, 1917. - -_The Centennial History of Illinois._ Vol. II. _The Frontier State, -1818-1848._ By Theodore Calvin Pease. Published by the Illinois -Centennial Commission, 1918, Springfield, Illinois. - -_The Lincoln Illinois Country._ By Daniel Kilham Dodge. _The -Independent._ - -_Pioneering: An Article on Lincoln and Herndon._ By C. H. Dall. -_Atlantic Monthly_, April, 1867. - -_Lincoln and Salem: Pioneers of Mason and Menard Counties._ By T. G. -Onstott. Published by the author, Forest City, Illinois, 1902. - -_Illinois._ An address delivered before the faculty and students of -the University of Illinois on Illinois Day, 1911, by Clark E. Carr. -Illinois University Press, December 6, 1911. - -_The Illini: A Story of the Prairies._ By Clark E. Carr. Chicago: A. C. -McClurg & Co. Issued 1904; eighth edition, 1916. - -_My Day and Generation._ By Clark E. Carr. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & -Co., 1908. - -_Illinois: Travel and Description, 1765-1865._ By Solon Justus Buck. -Springfield, Ill. Published by trustees Illinois State Historical -Library, 1914. - - -IV. LINCOLN'S YOUTH - -_Lincoln's Boyhood._ By Eleanor Atkinson. The Narrative of an Interview -with Dennis Hanks in 1889. _American Magazine_, February, 1908. - -_In the Boyhood of Lincoln._ By Hezekiah Butterworth. New York: D. -Appleton & Co., 1892. - -_The Boy Lincoln._ By W. O. Stoddard. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1905. - -_The Pioneer Boy._ By William M. Thayer. Boston: Walker and Wise -Company, 1863. - -_Abraham Lincoln, the Boy and the Man._ By James Morgan. New York: The -Macmillan Company, 1907. - -_The Education of Lincoln._ By Hamilton W. Mabie. _The Outlook_, -February 20, 1904. - -_Lincoln's Self-Education._ By Hamilton Wright Mabie. _The -Chautauquan_, April, 1900. - -_Lincoln's Alma Mater._ By Eleanor Atkinson. _Harper's_, May, 1913. - - -V. LINCOLN'S LOVE AFFAIRS AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS - -_Abraham Lincoln; Miss Ann Rutledge; New Salem; Pioneering; The Poem._ -A lecture delivered in the old Sangamon court house, November, 1866, -by William H. Herndon, Springfield, Ill. H. E. Barker, 1916. Edition -limited to 150 copies. - -_Lincoln's Love Story._ By Eleanor Atkinson. New York: Doubleday, Page -& Co., 1909. - -_Abraham Lincoln in His Relations to Women._ By Julien Gordon. _The -Cosmopolitan_, December, 1894. - -_Lincoln's Marriage._ Newspaper interview with Mrs. Frances Wallace, -September 2, 1895. Privately printed by H. E. Barker, Springfield, -1917. Edition limited to 75 copies. Denies that more than one date was -ever set for the Lincoln wedding. - -_The Truth About Mrs. Lincoln._ By Howard Glyndon. _The Independent_, -August 10, 1882. - -_Lincoln's Home Life in Washington._ By Leslie J. Perry. _Harper's_, -February, 1897. - - -VI. EPOCHS AND ASPECTS OF THE LIFE OF LINCOLN - -_Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln._ By Henry B. Rankin. New -York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1916. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ By H. C. Whitney. _The Arena_, April, 1898. Contains -some valuable reminiscences not in his book. - -_Life on the Circuit with Lincoln._ By Major Henry C. Whitney. Boston: -Estes and Lauriat, 1892. - -_Lincoln and Herndon._ By Joseph Fort Newton. Cedar Rapids, Iowa: The -Torch Press, 1910. - -_Lincoln in Myth and in Fact._ By Dorothy Lamon Teillard. _World's -Work_, February, 1911. - -_Six Months in the White House._ By Frank B. Carpenter. New York: Hurd -& Houghton, 1866. First edition. - -_The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln: Six Months at the White House._ By -Frank B. Carpenter. New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1867. - -_Lincoln and Seward._ By Gideon Welles. New York: Sheldon & Co., 1874. - -_Diary of Gideon Welles._ _Atlantic Monthly_, 1909. - -_Greeley on Lincoln and Mr. Greeley's Letters._ Edited by Joel Benton. -New York: The Baker & Taylor Co., 1893. - -_Lincoln at Gettysburg._ By Clark E. Carr. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & -Co., 1906. - -_Gettysburg and Lincoln._ By Henry Sweetser Burrage. New York: G. P. -Putnam's Sons, 1906. - -_Lincoln's Gettysburg Address._ By Orton H. Carmichael. New York: The -Abingdon Press, 1917. - -_Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg._ Report of the -Commission on the Gettysburg Reunion. Harrisburg, Pa., 1915. - -_Recollections of Lincoln._ By James Grant Wilson, with facsimiles of -the Gettysburg and Second Inaugural Addresses. _Putnam's Magazine_, -February, 1909. - -_The Gettysburg Address with Facsimile of the Manuscript._ By John G. -Nicolay. _Century Magazine_, 1894. - -_Lincoln's Gettysburg Address._ By Prof. Philip M. Bikle and Rev. H. C. -Holloway. _Lutheran Church Work_, February 10, 1916. - -_Variations in the Reports of the Gettysburg Address._ By W. H. -Lambert, _The Century Magazine_, February, 1894. - -_Gettysburg._ By Elsie Singmaster. Boston: Houghton & Mifflin Co., 1913. - -_Lincoln at Gettysburg._ Address delivered before the Illinois State -Historical Society at Springfield, Ill., January 25, 1906. By Clark E. -Carr. - -_Lincoln's Masterpiece._ By Isaac Markens. Published by the author, 274 -W. 140th Street, New York. - -_The Perfect Tribute._ By Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews. New York: -Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907. - -_Revised Report of the Select Committee on the Soldiers' National -Cemetery._ Together with the Accompanying Documents as Reported to -the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. -Harrisburg: Hornsby, Singerly & Myers, State Printers, 1865. - - -VII. THE DEATH OF LINCOLN - -_The Death of Lincoln._ By Clara E. Laughlin. New York: Doubleday, Page -& Co., 1909. - -_The Assassination of Lincoln._ By David Miller Dewitt. New York: The -Century Co., 1909. - -_The Assassination of Lincoln: A History of the Great Conspiracy._ By -T. M. Harris, a member of the commission that tried the conspirators. -Boston: American Citizen Co., 1892. - -_Assassination of Lincoln._ By Osborn H. Oldroyd. Washington D. C., -1901. - -_Through Five Administrations._ By William H. Crook. Lincoln's -Bodyguard. New York: Harper & Brother, 1910. - -_Lincoln's Last Day._ By William H. Crook. _Harper's_, September, 1907. - - -VIII. ANTHOLOGIES - -_The Lincoln Memorial: Album-Immortelles._ Collected and edited by -Osborn H. Oldroyd. New York: G. W. Carleton & Co., 1882. - -_Poetical Tributes to the Memory of Abraham Lincoln._ Philadelphia: J. -B. Lippincott & Co., 1865. - -_The Poets' Lincoln: Tributes in Verse to the Martyred President._ -Selected by Osborn H. Oldroyd. Washington, D. C.: Published by the -editor at "The House Where Lincoln Died," 1915. - -_The Praise of Lincoln: An Anthology._ Collected and arranged by A. -Dallas Williams. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1911. - -_The Book of Lincoln._ Compiled by Mary Wright Davis. New York: George -H. Doran Company, 1919. - - -IX. LINCOLN'S LITERARY STYLE - -_Abraham Lincoln As a Man of Letters._ By Luther Emerson Robinson, M.A. -Chicago: The Reilly & Britton Co., 1918. - -_Lincoln's Literary Experiments._ By John G. Nicolay. With a lecture -and verses hitherto unpublished. _Century Magazine_, April, 1894. - -_The Evolution of Lincoln's Literary Style._ By Prof. Daniel Kilham -Dodge. Champaign and Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1900. - - -X. THE RELIGION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN - -_Religious Views of Abraham Lincoln._ Compiled and published by Orrin -Henry Pennell. The R. M. Scranton Co., Alliance, Ohio, 1899. - -_Brief Analysis of Lincoln's Character._ By W. H. Herndon. A letter to -J. E. Remsburg, September 10, 1887. Privately printed by H. E. Barker, -Springfield, Ill. Edition limited to 50 copies. - -_A Card and a Correction._ A Broadside on Lincoln's religion. By W. H. -Herndon. Privately printed by H. E. Barker, Springfield, Ill. Edition -limited to 75 copies. - -_Abraham Lincoln the Christian._ By William J. Johnson. New York and -Cincinnati: The Abingdon Press, 1913. - -_The Later Life and Religious Sentiments of Abraham Lincoln._ By Rev. -James A. Reed. _Scribner's Monthly_, 1873, pp. 333-344. - -_Lincoln's Religious Belief._ By B. F. Irwin. Article in the Illinois -_State Journal_ of May 16, 1874. Manuscript copy. - -_More Testimony._ Letter from Hon. William Reid, U. S. Consul at -Dundee, Scotland. Article in Portland _Oregonian_, March 4, 1874. -Copied in Illinois _State Journal_. Manuscript copy. - -_Abraham Lincoln's Religion._ By Madison C. Peters. Boston: Richard G. -Badger, The Gorham Press, 1909. - -_Lincoln and the Church._ Article by John G. Nicolay and John Hay in -_Century_, August, 1889. - -_The Record of a Quaker Conscience._ By Cyrus Pringle. New York: -Macmillan Company, 1918 (_Lincoln and the Quakers_). - -_The Conversion of Lincoln._ By Rev. Edward L. Watson, New York, -_Christian Advocate_, November 11, 1909. - -_The Religious Beliefs of Abraham Lincoln._ By R. C. Roper. Article in -_The Open Court_. - -_Lincoln's Religious Faith and Principles._ By Thomas D. Logan, D.D. -_The Interior_, February 11, 1909. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ Address delivered in Springfield, February 12, 1909, -and reported in, the Springfield _Evening Record_ of that date by Rev. -Thomas D. Logan, D.D. - -_Lincoln Defamers Refuted._ By Henry B. Rankin. Broadside issued for -the Lincoln Day celebration at Old Salem, February 12, 1919, with -author's corrections and accompanying autograph letters. - -_Abraham Lincoln's Cardinal Traits: A Study in Ethics, with an Epilogue -Addressed to Theologians._ By C. S. Beardslee. Boston: Richard G. -Badger, The Gorham Press, 1914. - -_Abraham Lincoln: His Religion._ By Robert N. Reeves. Chicago: N. D. - -_The Religion of Abraham Lincoln._ By George A. Thayer. Cincinnati: -1909. - -_Abraham Lincoln the Preacher's Teacher._ By William J. Hutchins. -Lecture in volume on "The Preacher's Ideals and Inspirations." New -York: Fleming H. Revell, 1917. - -_Essay on Lincoln: Was He An Inspired Prophet?_ By Milton R. Scott. -Published by the author, Newark, Ohio, 1906. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ By Charles Henry Fowler, late bishop of the -Methodist Episcopal Church. Leading oration in volume of "Patriotic -Orations." New York: Eaton & Mains, 1910. - -_Lincoln's Use of the Bible._ By S. Trevena Jackson. New York: The -Abingdon Press, 1909. - -_The Agnosticism of Abraham Lincoln._ By Lyman Abbott. _The Outlook_, -November 17, 1906. - -_Lincoln's Faith._ By John Hay. Address given from President Lincoln's -pew in the New York Avenue Church, November 16, 1902. In John Hay's -addresses. - -_The Religious Opinions and Life of Abraham Lincoln._ By the Rev. -William H. Bates, D.D., Washington, D. C., 1914. - -_Abraham Lincoln: A Lecture._ By Robert G. Ingersoll. New York: C. P. -Farrell, 1895. - -_The Religion of Abraham Lincoln._ Correspondence between General -Charles H. T. Collis and Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll. With Appendix, -containing interesting anecdotes by Major-General Daniel E. Sickles and -Hon. Oliver S. Munsell. New York: G. H. Dillingham Company, 1890. - -_Fifty Years in the Church of Rome._ By Father Chiniquy. 42nd edition. -Chicago: The Craig Press, 1892. Contains interesting account of -Lincoln's service as Father Chiniquy's attorney and of interviews at -the White House. - -_Abraham Lincoln: Was He a Christian?_ By James E. Remsburg. Extended -chapter in "Six Historical Americans." New York: The Truth Seeker Co. -Extended argument to prove that Lincoln was and continued to be an -infidel. - -_Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist?_ By Mrs. Nettie Colburn Maynard. -Philadelphia: Rufus C. Hartranft, 1891. Contains extraordinary claims -of revelations made to Lincoln while in the White House by a trance -medium. - -_Sir Oliver Lodge Is Right: Spirit Communication a Fact._ By Grace -Garrett Durand. Privately printed, Lake Forest, Ill., 1917. Contains -alleged revelations from Abraham Lincoln. - -_Abraham Lincoln a Practical Mystic._ By Frances Grierson. New York: -The John Lane Co., 1918. - -_The Abraham Lincoln Myth._ By Bocardo Bramantip (Oliver Prince Buel). -New York: The Mascot Publishing Co., 1894. A reprint from _The Catholic -World_ of November and December, 1893, intended as a satire upon the -Higher Criticism. Apparently suggested by the famous essay "Historical -Doubts Concerning the Existence of Napoleon Bonaparte." - -_The Mythifying Theory; or, Abraham Lincoln a Myth._ By D. B. Turney. -Metropolis, Ill. B. O. Jones, Book and Job Printer, 1872. Photostat -from copy in Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. - - -XI. LINCOLN AND TEMPERANCE. - -_Lincoln's First Address Delivered in Springfield_, February 22, 1842. -The Union Signal. - -_A Discourse on the Bottle: Its Evils and Its Remedy._ By Rev. James -Smith. Sermon delivered in the First Presbyterian Church, Springfield, -January 23, 1853. Reprinted 1892. A surprisingly straightforward plea -for legislative prohibition, printed at the request of a committee who -heard it, among them being Abraham Lincoln. - -_Lincoln a Temperance Man._ By Howard H. Russell. _The Interior_, -February 11, 1909. - -_The Lincoln Legion._ By Howard H. Russell, Westerville, Ohio, 1913. - -_Lincoln and Temperance._ By Rev. Thomas D. Logan. _The Advance_, -February 11, 1909. - - -XII. LINCOLN AND SLAVERY - -_History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America._ By Henry -Wilson, 3 vols. Third edition. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., 1875. - -_Lincoln and Slavery._ By Albert E. Pillsbury. Boston and New York: -Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913. - -_Abraham Lincoln: The Evolution of His Emancipation Policy._ By Paul -Selby. Chicago Historical Society, 1909. - -_Anti-Slavery History: State and Nation._ By Austin Willey. Portland, -Maine: Hoyt, Fogg & Donham, 1886. - -_The Dred Scott Decision._ New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1857. - -_The Martyrdom of Elijah P. Lovejoy._ By H. Tanner. Chicago: Fergus -Printing Co., 1881. - -_Dedication of Lovejoy Monument, November 8, 1897._ Alton, Ill.: -Charles Holden, 1897. - -_The Underground Railroad._ By William M. Cockrum. Oakland City, Ind.: -J. W. Cockrum Printing Co., 1915. - -_Lincoln, Grant, and the Freedmen._ By John Eaton. New York: Longmans, -Green & Co., 1907. - -_The Negro a Beast._ By Charles Carroll. American Book and Bible House, -St. Louis, 1900. - -_The Journal of Negro History._ Washington, D. C., 4 volumes to date. - -_The History of Abraham Lincoln and the Overthrow of Slavery._ By Isaac -N. Arnold. Chicago: Clarke & Co., 1866. - - -XIII. ATTACKS ON THE CHARACTER OF LINCOLN - -_The Real Lincoln._ From the testimony of his contemporaries. By -Charles L. C. Minor, M.A., LL.D. Second edition, revised and enlarged. -Richmond, Va.: Everett Waddey Co., 1904. A vicious assault on the -integrity of Lincoln. - -_Facts and Falsehoods Concerning the War on the South, 1861-1865._ By -George Edmonds [Mrs. Elizabeth (Avery) Merriwether]. Memphis, Tenn. For -sale by A. R. Taylor & Co., 1904. Displays the most diligent effort in -the compilation of items derogatory to Lincoln and the North, but is -manifestly dependent upon second authorities and in some cases shows -marked ignorance of the original sources cited. Quotes freely from an -imaginary edition of Herndon, alleged to have been published in 1866 -and suppressed. - -_Abraham Lincoln: An Address Delivered Before R. E. Lee Camp, No. 1, -Confederate Veterans at Richmond, Virginia, October 29, 1909._ By Hon. -Geo. L. Christian. Second edition. Richmond: L. H. Jenkins, Publisher. -Based upon the historical data in Minor's _Real Lincoln_ and Edmonds' -_Facts and Falsehoods_. - -_Crimes of the Civil War and Curse of the Funding System._ By Henry -Clay Dean. Baltimore: J. Wesley Smith & Brother, 1869. Excessively -scarce and most pronounced of its kind of literature. Denounces Lincoln -as a tyrant, murderer, and inhuman monster and lauds the act of -assassination by John Wilkes Booth. - -_Confederate Echoes._ By A. T. Goodloe. Publishing House M. E. Church, -South, Nashville, Tenn., 1907. - -_Lincoln the Rebel Candidate._ Democratic Campaign Pamphlet of 1864. -Photostat from original in New York Public Library. - - -XIV. LECTURES, ADDRESSES, AND REMINISCENCES - -_Abraham Lincoln._ An address by Hon. Newton Bateman, LL.D. Galesburg, -Ill.: The Cadmus Club, 1909. - -_Abraham Lincoln: An Oration._ Delivered on Washington's Birthday, -1891, by William Goodell Frost. Oberlin News, 1891. - -_Abraham Lincoln: An Oration._ By John E. Burton. Lake Geneva, -Wisconsin, 1903. - -_Abraham Lincoln: An Address._ By Frederick A. Noble. Chicago, February -12, 1901. - -_Abraham Lincoln: An Essay._ By Joseph Fort Newton. The Torch Press, -Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1910. - -_The Mystery of Lincoln._ By Robert E. Knowles. _The Independent._ - -_The Making of Lincoln._ Editorial in _The Outlook_, February 13, 1909. - -_Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln._ By Distinguished Men of His Time. -Collected and edited by Allen Thorndike Rice. New York: _The North -American Review_, 1888. Separate articles by thirty-three distinguished -contemporaries of Lincoln. - -_Abraham Lincoln: Tributes from His Associates._ Edited by William -Hayes Ward. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1895. Forty-five chapters -by soldiers, statesmen, and citizens who had known Lincoln. - -_Sermons Preached in Boston on the Death of Abraham Lincoln, Together -with the Funeral Service in the East Room of the Executive Mansion in -Washington._ Boston: J. E. Tilton & Co., 1865. - -_Our Martyred President: Lincoln Memorial Addresses._ The Abingdon -Press, 1915. A reprint of the original edition containing sermons by -New York ministers, together with the orations of George Bancroft, -Bishop Simpson, and Richard S. Storrs. - -_Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of Abraham Lincoln in -the House of Representatives, February 12, 1866._ By George Bancroft. -Washington: Government Printing Office, 1866. - -_Abraham Lincoln, by Some Men Who Knew Him._ Edited by Isaac N. -Phillips, Bloomington, Ill., Pantagraph Co., 1910. - -_Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln; and a Visit to California._ By -Joshua Fry Speed, Louisville, 1884. - -_Eulogy of Abraham Lincoln._ By Henry Champion Deming. Before the -General Assembly of Connecticut, Hartford, June 8, 1865. Hartford: A. -N. Clark & Co., State printers, 1865. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ An address before the Lincoln League Club of -Chicago, in the Auditorium, February 12, 1895. By Henry Watterson. - -_Lincoln._ By Isaac Newton Phillips. Reporter of Decisions of the -Supreme Court of Illinois. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1910. - -_The Message of the President to Congress._ First message of Andrew -Johnson following the assassination of Lincoln, Washington, 1865. - -_The Promises of the Declaration of Independence. Eulogy on Abraham -Lincoln._ By Charles Sumner. Boston: J. E. Farwell & Co., 1865. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ By Joseph H. Choate. New York: T. Y. Crowell & Co., -1901. - -_Abraham Lincoln Today._ By William Charles Langdon, Edmund J. James, -and Captain Fernand Baldensperger. University of Illinois Press, 1918. - -_Abraham Lincoln and Boston Corbett._ With personal recollections of -each. _John Wilkes Booth and Jefferson Davis._ A true story of their -capture. By Berkeley Byron Johnson. Waltham, Mass.: Privately printed, -1914. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ By Phillips Brooks. A sermon preached in -Philadelphia, April 23, 1865. - -_Abraham Lincoln._ By S. Parkes Cadman. Address before the New York -Republican Club. - -_Some Impressions of Lincoln._ By E. S. Nadal. _Scribner's_, 1906. - -_Life and Principles of Abraham Lincoln._ By Hon. Schuyler Colfax. -Philadelphia, 1865. - -_The Voice of the Rod._ Funeral sermon by the Rev. P. D. Gurley, D.D. -Washington, 1865. - -_Abraham Lincoln and the London Punch._ By William S. Walsh. New York: -Moffat, Yard & Co., 1909. - -_Lincoln and Men of Wartime._ By A. K. McClure. Philadelphia: The Times -Publishing Co., 1892. - -_Recollections of President Lincoln and His Administration._ By L. E. -Chittenden. New York: Harper & Brother, 1891. - -_Personal Reminiscences Including Lincoln and Others._ By L. E. -Chittenden. New York: Richmond, Croscup & Co., 1893. - -_Personal Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln._ By Thomas Lowry. Privately -printed, Minneapolis, 1910. - -_The Footsteps of Lincoln._ By J. T. Hobson. Dayton, Ohio: The -Otterbein Press, 1909. - -_The Master and His Servant._ A comparison of the incidents of -Lincoln's life with that of Jesus. By J. T. Hobson. United Brethren -Publishing House, Dayton, Ohio, 1913. - -_The Picture and the Men._ Compiled by Fred B. Perkins. A. J. Johnson, -New York, 1867. - -_Inside the White House in War Times._ By William O. Stoddard. New -York: Charles L. Webster & Co., 1890. - -_Behind the Scenes._ By Elizabeth Keckley. New York: G. W. Carleton & -Co., 1868. - -_Behind the Seams._ By a Nigger Woman Who Took in Work for Mrs. Lincoln -and Mrs. Davis. New York: The National News Company, 1868. A satire on -Mrs. Keckley's _Behind the Scenes_. Photostat of copy in Library of -Congress. - - -XV. BOOKS WHICH INFLUENCED LINCOLN - -_The Holy Bible._ - -_The Elementary Spelling Book._ By Noah Webster. New York: D. Appleton -& Co. - -_The Life of George Washington with Curious Anecdotes._ By W. R. Weems. -Philadelphia: Joseph Allen, 1844. - -_Pilgrim's Progress._ By John Bunyan. London: Ward, Lock & Co. Reprint -with curious old cuts. - -_Æsop's Fables._ Old edition with curious cuts. Title page missing. - -_The English Reader._ By Lindley Murray. New York: Collins & Co., 1832. - -_The Christian's Defence._ Containing a fair statement and impartial -examination of the leading objections, urged by infidels against the -antiquity, genuineness, credibility, and inspiration of the Holy -Scriptures; enriched with copious extracts from learned authors. Two -volumes in one. Volume I, The Old Testament, pp. 312; Volume II, The -New Testament, pp. 364. Cincinnati: J. A. James, 1843. - -_Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation._ London: George Rutledge -& Sons, 1890. American agents, E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. Reprint of -the first edition, issued in 1844. - -Second American edition of the same, with an introduction by Rev. -George B. Cheever, D.D. New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1845. - -Third edition of the same, with an Appendix, containing an extended -review from the _North British Review_ of July, 1845. New York: Wiley & -Putnam, 1845. - -_Explanations._ A sequel to _Vestiges of the Natural History of -Creation_. By the author of that work. New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1846. -From and after the sixth edition the explanations were added as a -supplement to regular editions of _Vestiges_. The author's name, Robert -Chambers, was not given in any edition of the _Vestiges_ until the -twelfth, which appeared after his death. - - - - -INDEX - - - Abbatt, William, 235. - - Abbott, F. E., letter of Herndon to, 142, 337, 344. - - Abbott, Lyman, on Lincoln's religion, 228-231. - - Abolitionist, Lincoln not at beginning, 257; - how he became one, 268. - - _Advance_, editorial in, 181. - - Agnostic, Lincoln said to have been an, 226, 229. - - Akers, Rev. Peter, anti-slavery preacher, 241. - - Anthon, Prof. Charles, 184. - - Antietam, Battle of, 269. - - Arnold, Hon. I. N., 122, 315, 331, 334. - - Astronomy, Lincoln's knowledge of, 33. - - Atheist, Lincoln was not, 225. - - Atkinson, Eleanor, interview with Dennis Hanks, 38. - - _Atlantic Monthly_, 281-282. - - Atonement as ground for universal salvation, 153. - - - Bale, Abraham, Baptist preacher, 55. - - Baptists, in frontier communities, 34-45; - Lincoln family essentially Baptist, 50. - - Barrett, J. H., author of _Life of Lincoln_, 25. - - Bartlett, D. W., author of _Life of Lincoln_, 25. - - Bartlett, Truman H., correspondence with Herndon, 264-267. - - Bateman, Newton, superintendent of Public Instruction in Illinois; - his interview with Lincoln, 20; - outline of life and service, 114-115; - Holland's story of the interview, 114 _seq.;_ - controversy with Herndon, 121 _seq._; - virtually repudiates Holland interview, 123; - corrects Lincoln's grammar, 124; - his lecture on Lincoln, 125; - what Lincoln probably said to him, 126; - extract from lecture on Lincoln, 303, 328-329. - - Baxter, Richard, Lincoln's quotation, 289. - - Bayley, T. H., 263. - - Beecher, Edward, 67. - - Beecher, Henry Ward, 198-201, 288. - - Beecher, Mrs. Henry Ward, author of an honest but incredible story, - 201. - - Bible, Lincoln's use of, 93; - his lecture on, 159, 354; - gift of colored people, 217, 276; - knowledge of, 261-262. - - Bibliography, 368-390. - - Binns, Henry B., English biographer, 237. - - Biology, Lincoln's knowledge of, 170. - - Bishop, William, address on Lincoln, 160 _seq._ - - Black, Chauncey F., alleged author of Lamon's "Life of Lincoln," 26, - 129. - - Black, J. C., 315. - - Books, read by Lincoln in youth, 47; - read few in later years, 166. - - Boyd, Lucinda, quoted, 39. - - Brodie, Sir Benjamin, 170. - - Brooks, Noah, 327. - - Browning, O. H., 249. - - Browning, Mrs. O. H., 53. - - Bryan Hall meeting, 268. - - Buck, Solon J., on early Illinois, 57. - - Buckle, Henry T., author of "History of Civilization," 29. - - Burns, Robert, Lincoln's familiarity with, 150, 166, 263. - - "Burnt Book," Lincoln's, 146, 148, 152 _seq._, 320, 341, 346-347. - - Burton, John E., 184, 208. - - Bushnell, Horace, author of "Christian Nurture," 50, 288. - - Butterworth, Hezekiah, 49. - - Byron, Lincoln's use of, 263. - - - Calhoun, John, loaned Lincoln books on surveying, 54. - - Calvinism, a permanent influence in life of Lincoln, 171, 197, 271. - - Carman, Dr. L. D., 242. - - Carpenter, Frank B., painter of Emancipation picture, 206, 276, 281, - 285, 328, 334. - - Carr, Clark E., on Lincoln, 104-105. - - Cartwright, Peter, pioneer preacher, 55; - candidate against Lincoln, 61; - career, 63, 345. - - Case, Lizzie York, "There is no Unbelief," 290. - - Catholic, Lincoln not a, 231. - - Chambers, Robert, author of "Vestiges of Creation," 166-171. - - Channing, William E., Lincoln reads, 175-178, 288. - - Chapman, Ervin, "Latest Light on Lincoln," 48; - on the Beecher incident, 199, 275, 286. - - Chase, Salmon P., account of Emancipation Proclamation, 283-284. - - Chiniquy, Rev. Charles, 188-197. - - Chittenden, L. E., 188-197. - - "Christian's Defence," _see_ Smith, James. - - _Christian Advocate_, 241. - - _Christian Leader_, 183. - - _Christian Register_, 183. - - Church, Lincoln's esteem for, 240; - why he did not join, 244 _seq._ - - Churches, Lincoln and the, 377. - - Cogdal, Isaac, on Lincoln's religion, 139, 287, 348-349. - - Colfax, Schuyler, 95. - - Collum, Shelby M., 67. - - Congregational ministers, petition and delegation to influence - Emancipation Proclamation, 268-269. - - Cooper Union Address, 73, 262. - - Crawford, Andrew, teacher of Lincoln, 31, 33, 46. - - Creed, Lincoln did not formulate, 291; - quotations used as basis of, 292-299; - compiled from his own utterances, 300. - - - Davis, David, on Lincoln's religion, 133, 248-249. - - Deming, Henry C., address on Lincoln, 93-94, 244, 330. - - Dempster, Rev. John, 268. - - Dickens, Charles, Lincoln's use of, 263. - - Disciples, so-called Campbellite church, 38. - - Dodge, Daniel Kilham, 261-262, 270. - - Dorsey, Abel W., teacher of Lincoln, 31. - - Douglas, Fred, 247. - - Douglas, Stephen A., 61, 73, 76, 104, 161, 263, 359. - - Douthit, Rev. Jasper, 238. - - Downey, David G., 199. - - Dreams, Lincoln believed in, 233-236. - - Dresser, Rev. Charles, 106. - - - _Edinburgh Review_, 167. - - Edwards, Matilda, 52. - - Edwards, Ninian W., 76; - testifies as to Lincoln's changed views, 164, 324, 359. - - Elkin, David, preaches at Nancy Lincoln's funeral, 34, 39, 41. - - Ellsworth, Col. Elmer, 128; - Lincoln's letter to his parents, 292. - - Emancipation Proclamation, evolution of, 268-270, 281-286. - - English, Dr. J. B., 184. - - - Farewell Address at Springfield, 84, 303-306. - - Fell, Jesse W., Lincoln writes biographical sketch for, 236; - presents Lincoln books of Channing and Parker, 175, 321. - - Ford, Governor Thomas, on frontier preachers, 58-59; - on "Long Nine," 82. - - Fowler, Bishop Charles H., 103; 111 _seq._, 242, 253. - - Freemason, Lincoln not a, 242. - - Free-will Baptist, Thomas Lincoln not a, 37-38. - - Funerals, often deferred, 40-45. - - - Geology, Lincoln's knowledge of, 170. - - Gesture, Lincoln's use of, 263. - - Gordon, Nathaniel, 293. - - Grady, Josiah, questions Lincoln's religion, 138. - - Graham, Mentor, teacher of Lincoln, 32, 51, 67, 68, 136; - on Lincoln's "Burnt Book," 152 _seq._, 346-347. - - Grant, Ulysses S., 253-254. - - Green, Bowling, 54, 185. - - Greene, Gilbert J., 78-79. - - Gurley, Rev. Phineas D., Lincoln's pastor in Washington, 87, 90, 244, - 245, 325-326. - - Gurney, Eliza P., 88-90; 294. - - - Hanks, Dennis, on Lincoln's youth, 38, 49. - - Hanks, John, on Lincoln's impression of slavery, 96. - - Hannah, William H., on Lincoln's faith, 287. - - Harnett, Jonathan, 138, 349. - - "Harp, French," 246. - - Hay, John, author of "Life of Lincoln," 27. - - Hazel, Caleb, teacher of Lincoln, 30. - - Head, Rev. Jesse, 240. - - Herndon, W. D., discussed religion with Lincoln, 132, 148. - - Herndon, William H., author of "Life of Lincoln," 20, 24, 26, 27, 35; - says Lincoln was a fatalist, 50; - an infidel, 61-62; - his visit to site of New Salem, 62; - his lectures on Lincoln 62, 142-143; - his partnership with Lincoln, 71; - on Lincoln's letter to his father, 77; - letter from Nicolay, 91; - controversy with Bateman, 121 _seq._; - notes of his five interviews, 125; - writes a life of Lincoln, 140-145; - no friend of Mrs. Lincoln, 140; - the Abbott letter, 142; - his letter to Dr. Smith, 141; - reply to Reed lecture, 141; - regretted sale of papers to Lamon, 143; - revised edition of his work, 144; - personal habits and religion, 144-145; - never saw Lincoln's "Burnt Book," 148; - correspondence with Bartlett, 264-267; - attempts "to put at rest forever" the charge that Lincoln was an - atheist, 279; - affirms Lincoln's faith in immortality, 286; - reads reply to, 314 _seq._; - letters concerning Lincoln's religion, 336-340. - - Herrick, Robert, 263. - - Hill, Samuel, burns Lincoln manuscript, 146-155. - - Hodgenville, Kentucky, a Baptist settlement, 34. - - Hodges, A. G., Lincoln's letter to, 296. - - Holland, Josiah G., author of "Life of Lincoln," 26; - asymmetry of Lincoln's life, 102 _seq._; - story of the Bateman incident, 115-117; - prints the Reed lecture in _Scribner's_ magazine, 135, 328-329, - 337. - - Holmes, O. W., 167. - - Holt, Dr. E. E., on Lincoln's dream, 235. - - Howells, William D., "Life of Lincoln," 25. - - - Illinois College, 67. - - Illinois, twin born with Lincoln, 30. - - Insanity, Lincoln's approach to, 252. - - Irwin, B. F., on Lincoln's religion, 136, 287, 341. - - - Jacquess, Col. James F., story of Lincoln's conversion, 241, 309 - _seq._ - - Jacquess, William B., 309. - - Johnny Kongapod, 49, 271. - - Johns, Mrs. Jane Martin, reminiscences of Lincoln, 248 _seq._ - - Johnson, John D., Lincoln's stepbrother, 77. - - Johnson, William J., author of "Lincoln the Christian," 48; - on the Beecher incident, 199, 235. - - - Kansas, Lincoln visits, 73. - - Keckley, Elizabeth, 203-204. - - Keys, I. W., loaned Lincoln "Vestiges of Creation," 277. - - Kirkham's Grammar, studied by Lincoln, 51, 67, 185. - - Knox College, 125. - - Krone, David, 249. - - - Lamon, Ward Hill, author of "Life of Lincoln," 26, 47, 52; - affirms Lincoln permitted himself to be misrepresented, 76; - quotes Herndon on Lincoln's letter to his father, 78; - answer to Holland, 117-120; - his relations with Lincoln, 128; - his life of Lincoln an unfinished fragment, 128; - the controversy growing out of his book, 128-134; - Black, the author, 129; - his recollections, 134; - on Lincoln's "Burnt Book," 146; - affirms Lincoln's faith essentially that of Parker, 279; - reads reply to, 314 _seq._ - - Lewis, Thomas, 158-163, 256, 325, 359. - - Lincoln, Abraham, sixteenth president of the United States; - periods of his life, 29; - birth of, boyhood, 30 _seq._; - schools and teachers, 30-33; - early religious privileges, 33 _seq._; - early influence Baptist, 34 _seq._; - migration to Illinois, 51; - on flat-boat, 51; - at New Salem, 51 _seq._; - studies grammar, 51; - works on flat-boat, 51; - service in Blackhawk War, 52; - candidate for legislature, 52; - keeper of post office, 52; - love affairs, 52-53; - influenced by life in New Salem, 54; - did not drink or swear, 55; - Herndon's statement of his religion, 61; - known as "Honest Abe," 70; - removal to Springfield, 71; - his partnerships, 71; - beginnings of his interest in slavery, 72; - early orations, 72; - important cases, 73; - marriage, 73; - election as president, 73; - his children, 75; - death of Eddie, 75; - letter to dying father, 77; - comforts a dying woman, 78; - his stories, 80; - religious life in Springfield, 81; - development of political ideals, 82; - in Armstrong trial, 83; - ethical aspects of the slavery issue, 83, 268; - farewell at Springfield, 84; - inauguration as President, 86; - outline of his administration, assassination, and death, 87; - death of Willie, 95; - why he freed the slaves, 96; - domestic affairs, 106; - read "Artemus Ward," 111; - the charges in Lamon's biography, 130-134; - his "Burnt Book," 146-155; - reads "The Christian's Defence," 156 _seq._; - pronounces it unanswerable, 164; - reads "Vestiges of Creation," 166-171; - reads Channing and Parker, 172 _seq._; - erased words in Greek exercise book, 183; - the Chittenden interview, 188 _seq._; - the Chiniquy interview, 188 _seq._; - alleged visit to Beecher, 198 _seq._; - the Sickles interview, 201 _seq._; - life in the White House, 203 _seq._; - sorrow at death of Willie, 204; - alleged statement, "I do love Jesus," 208; - religious character of his proclamations, 210-221; - not an atheist, 225; - not a Roman Catholic, 231; - not a spiritualist, 232; - not addressed as "Abe," 233; - believed in dreams and signs, 233; - not a Quaker, 236; - questioned supernatural birth of Jesus, but not a Unitarian, 238; - denied eternal punishment, but not a Universalist, 238; - not a Methodist, 240; - not a Freemason, 242; - attended a revival, 244; - why he did not join the church, 244 _seq._; - the creed he could have accepted, 245; - lacked some of the finer feelings, 246; - his dress, 247; - possessed an innate courtesy, 247-249; - helps move a piano, 250; - morbidly cautious, 252; - breadth of his religious nature, 253; - not symmetrical in his development, 254; - essentially Calvinistic, 254, 271; - his capacity for obstinacy, 255; - his ability to evade an issue, 257; - his periods of mental uncertainty, 258; - his literary style, 261; - use of quotations, 262; - seldom told stories in speeches, 263; - thought and moved slowly, 264; - his characteristic pioneer trails, 265; - an embodiment of contrasts, 266; - neutral and spiritual evolution, 267; - interview with Chicago ministers, 268-269; - his changed style of oratory, 270; - his religious development, 270-275; - his belief in universal salvation, 272; - in immorality, 273, 286; - his references to God, 273-274; - his belief in the Bible, 274-275; - in Jesus Christ, 275-277; - his question of the supernatural birth, 277-278; - in divine destiny and prayer, 280-281; - his promise to God, 281-286; - in future but not endless punishment, 287; - not a theologian, 289; - his quotation from Baxter, 289; - materials for his creed, 291-299; - his creed in his own words, 300. - - Lincoln, Edward Baker, son of the - President, birth and death, 75, 258. - - Lincoln, Mary Todd, wife of Abraham; - courtship and marriage, 52-53, 73, 103; - relates incident of morning of inaugural, 86; - unites with Presbyterian Church, 159, 255-256; - broken engagement and wedding, 252. - - Lincoln, Nancy Hanks, mother of the President; - marriage, 30, 48, 315; - death of, 31, 40; - at public worship, 34; - funeral, 40 _seq._ - - Lincoln, Robert Todd, son of President, 39; - birth, 75. - - Lincoln, Sally, or Sarah Bush, second wife of Thomas, 31; - her religion, 37, 47, 50; - supplied information to Herndon, 36; - her love for Abraham, 50. - - Lincoln, Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Nancy - (sometimes incorrectly called Nancy), 34; - united with Pigeon Creek Church, 37. - - Lincoln, Thomas, father of the President; - marriages, 30, 31, 315; - religion of, 34, 36-45; - a thriftless farmer, 51; - Abraham's letter to, 77. - - Lincoln, Thomas, "Tad," son of the President, birth and death, 75. - - Lincoln, William Wallace, son of the President; - birth, 75; - death, 95. - - Logan, Stephen T., Lincoln's partner, 71, 249. - - Logan, Thomas D., address on Lincoln, 75; - learned of Dr. Smith's book in 1909, 157. - - Lyon, Benjamin, early Baptist minister, 34. - - - Maryland Historical Society, 269. - - Matheny, James H., on Lincoln's religion, 133-135, 137; - Herndon's authority for the story of Lincoln's "Burnt Book," 148, - 320-321, 343. - - Maynard, Nettie Colburn, 232. - - McCrie, George M., 226. - - McNamur, John, lover of Ann Rutledge, 151. - - Medill, Joseph, 269. - - Melancholy, Lincoln's habitual, 252. - - Methodist Church, little influence in life of the Lincoln family, 48; - Lincoln's high regard for, 240. - - Miner, Rev. Dr., 86, 333-334. - - Ministers in early Illinois politics, 59-61. - - "Miracles under law," 171, 279. - - Missouri Compromise, 268. - - Morgan, G. H., quoted, 21. - - Morse, John T., Jr., author of "Life of Lincoln," 27. - - Mostiller, Thomas, on Lincoln's religion, 138, 347-348. - - Murray, Lindley, author of English Reader, 32. - - Music, little appreciated by Lincoln, 246. - - - New England, Lincoln visits, 73. - - New Light Church at Farmington, 38. - - New Salem, Illinois, 51; - influence on Lincoln, 54; - Lincoln's Alma Mater, 67. - - Newton, Joseph Fort, author of "Lincoln and Herndon," 26, 129. - - Nicolay, John G., author of "Life of Lincoln," 27, 31; - letter concerning Lincoln's religion, 91, 279-280, 321. - - Nielson, William, his book on Greek Syntax owned by Lincoln, 183. - - - Offutt, Denton, 51. - - Oldroyd, Osborn H., 208. - - Olmsted, Charles G., 76, 358 _seq._ - - Onstott, T. G., reminiscences of New Salem, 54 _seq._ - - _Open Court_, articles in, 225-227. - - Owens, Mary, courted by Lincoln, 52, 69. - - - Paine, Thomas, author of "Age of Reason," read by Lincoln, 19, 61, - 63, 146, 152, 343. - - Parker, Theodore, Lincoln reads, 175-178, 288. - - Patton, Rev. William W., 268. - - Paul at Malta, 260. - - Pease, Theodore C., on early Illinois, 56, 59. - - Peck, John Mason, preacher in early Illinois, 59. - - Peters, Madison, on Religion of Lincoln, 34. - - Philosophy, unknown to Lincoln, 171. - - Piano, Lincoln helps to move, 250. - - Poems loved by Lincoln, 166. - - Poetry, Lincoln's use of, 246, 263. - - Poetry and religion, 230. - - Pomeroy, Rebecca R., 205-206. - - Pope, Alexander, 263. - - Presbyterian, Thomas Lincoln was not, 37. - - - Quakers, Lincoln's attitude toward, 88, 236, 237. - - - Rankin, Henry B., 245. - - Ray, Dr. C. H., on Lincoln's religion, 133. - - Reed, Rev. James A., his lecture and the controversy which followed, - 135 _seq.;_ 158; - text of lecture, 314, 337. - - Reid, William, letter on Lincoln's religion, 352-356. - - Religion in Kentucky backwoods, 34. - - Religion, more and other than theology, 22; - part and parcel of Lincoln's life, 267. - - Remsburg, J. E., Herndon's letter to, 336. - - Reynolds, Governor, on early Illinois, 57. - - Rickard, Sarah, alleged to have been courted by Lincoln, 52. - - Riney, Zachariah, teacher of Lincoln, 30. - - Roberts, William Henry, 90. - - Roby, Katy (Mrs. Allen Gentry), 33. - - Roper, R. C., on Lincoln's religion, 227. - - Rusling, General James F., on Sickles interview, 201-202. - - Rutledge, Ann, courted by Lincoln, 52 _seq.;_ 62, 69, 143, 352. - - Rutledge, James, father of Ann, 54. - - - Science, little known by Lincoln, 171. - - Scott, Milton R., 253. - - Scott, Walter, Lincoln's use of, 263. - - Scoville, Samuel, 199. - - Scripps, John Locke, "Life of Lincoln," 24. - - Shakspeare, Lincoln's use, 263. - - Shields, James T., 72. - - Shipman, Elder, alleged Unitarian minister, 181. - - Shirley, Ralph, 268. - - Shrigley, Rev. James, 356-357. - - Sickles, General D. E., interview with Lincoln, 201-202. - - Slavery, beginnings of Lincoln's interest in, 72; - growth of moral aspect, 83; - "If not wrong, nothing is wrong," 296. - - Smith, Jeannette E., 158. - - Smith, Rev. James, Lincoln's pastor at Springfield, 75-76; - relations with Lincoln, 132, 136; - his life and ministry, 156; - his sermon on temperance, 157; - Lincoln becomes a member of his congregation, 159; - Lincoln reads "The Christian's Defence," 162; - change in Lincoln's views, 164; - convinced Lincoln but did not wholly satisfy, 270, 323-324, - 353-354; - complete chapter analysis of the book, 358 _seq._ - - Smith, Winfield, 289. - - Speed, Joshua Fry, 92-93, 236, 336-337. - - Spiritualist, Lincoln not a, 232. - - Stanton, Theodore, article by, 226. - - State Fair Speech of Lincoln, 257. - - Stories, Lincoln's, 80, 263. - - Stuart, John T., Lincoln's partner, 71; - on Lincoln's religion, 132, 249, 256, 319-320. - - Sunderland, Rev. Byron, 332-333. - - Superstition, Lincoln believed in, 233, 236. - - Swett, Leonard, 249. - - - Tarbell, Ida, M., author of "Life of Lincoln," 27. - - Teillard, Dorothy Lamon, 129-130, 134. - - Thomas, Lewis, 244. - - Toleman, letter of, 238. - - - Unitarian, Lincoln was not, 180, 238. - - Universalist, Lincoln was not, 238. - - - Vandalia, state capital of Illinois, 52. - - "Vestiges of Creation," by Robert Chambers, 166-171, 255, 265. - - Vinton, Rev. Francis, alleged interview with Lincoln, 206. - - Volney, Constantin François, author of "Ruins," read by Lincoln, 19, - 61, 63, 146, 152. - - Voodoo Fortune-teller, Lincoln visits, 236. - - - "Ward, Artemus," read by Lincoln, 113, 307. - - Watson, Rev. Edward L., story of Lincoln's conversion, 24, 309. - - Weik, Jesse W., associate of Herndon in authorship of - "Life of Lincoln," 26; - opinion of Thomas Lincoln's religion, 39; - searches for lost Herndon papers, 125. - - Welles, Gideon, 268, 281. - - _Westminster Review_, 167, 226. - - Whitcomb, Rev. W. W., sermon on Lincoln, 208. - - White, Charles T., 80. - - White, Horace, 26, 27, 129. - - White, William Allen, 110. - - Whitney, Henry C., on Lincoln's religion, 94-95; - on Lincoln's lack of method, 103, 246, 247, 254, 263. - - Wigwam edition of "Life of Lincoln," 24. - - Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, 170. - - - Yates, Governor Richard, 310. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] All the quotations in this book from Herndon's _Lincoln_ are from -the first edition in three volumes. - -[2] The habit of studying aloud, learned in the "blab-school," remained -with him. Lamon says he read aloud and "couldn't read otherwise." -Whitney tells of his writing a ruling one time when he was sitting -(illegally) for Judge Davis, and he pronounced each word aloud as he -wrote it. This was not his invariable custom, but it was a common one -with him. - -[3] Hodgenville was a Baptist settlement from its foundation. Robert -Hodgen, for whom the settlement was named, and John Larue, his -brother-in-law, for whom the county was named, were both Baptists, and -among the first settlers was a Baptist minister, Rev. Benjamin Lyon. - -[4] Baptisms of this noisy character were familiar to Lincoln in his -boyhood and certainly as late as the period of his residence in New -Salem. Henry Onstott, at whose tavern Lincoln boarded, tells of such -baptisms performed by Rev. Abraham Bale, including one at which the -husband of the lady who was being baptized called out to the preacher -to hold her, as he valued her more highly than the best cow and calf in -the county (_Lincoln and Salem_, p. 122). - -[5] While the statements of Dennis Hanks are often colored by his -imagination, he is, after all, our best witness concerning Lincoln's -boyhood. - -[6] Some writers have spoken of Mr. Elkin as a Methodist circuit rider. -Mrs. Lucinda Boyd, in a book which might better not have been published -and which I will not name, but which is correct in some local matters, -speaks of Rev. Robert Elkin, the minister who preached the funeral -sermon of Mrs. Lincoln, as belonging to the "Traveling Baptist Church." -She says: "His grave is in the open field, and soon the traces of it -will be lost." Apparently this grave was in Clark County, Kentucky. -I think, however, that she is in error as to the name Robert. It was -David. - -[7] The latest writer to lend to the incident of Nancy Lincoln's -funeral the aid of a vivid imagination and a versatile pen is Rose -Strunsky. Discarding the theory that Abraham wrote his first letter to -invite a minister to come from Kentucky to preach his mother's funeral, -she sends him on foot to a nearer settlement: - -"The boy Abraham had his standards of life. There were things of too -much meaning to let pass without some gesture. And the unceremonious -burial in the forest haunted him. When he heard that a wandering -preacher had reached the neighborhood, he tramped many miles in the -snow to bring him to the spot where the dead body lay, so that a -funeral sermon might be delivered over the now white grave" (_Abraham -Lincoln_, p. 6). - -There was nothing unusual about the burial. Nor was there anything -unusual about the deferred funeral. These writers simply do not know -the conditions of life in which the boy Lincoln lived. - -[8] While this manuscript was in process of writing, Professor Raymond, -of Berea College, Kentucky, enumerating his summer engagements for the -season of 1919, informed me of a funeral he was engaged to preach in -August of a boy who died ten years ago. The boy's companions have by -this time grown to manhood, but the service will be held: and before -this book is published doubtless will have been held according to -immemorial custom in that region. This is not because there has been -no preacher in its vicinity within ten years; nor is there any reason -to suppose that the delay in the case of Lincoln's mother was due to -the utter absence of ministers. They were not abundant, certainly; but -there is no reason whatever to suppose that in the interval between -the death and funeral of Nancy Hanks no preacher had been in the -neighborhood of Pigeon Creek. - -[9] I have often been deeply impressed by the charity of primitive -preachers for dead people, and their ingenuity in inventing possible -opportunities for repentance where no outward sign was given or -apparently possible. There was something impressive in their manner of -doing it, as well as an exhibition of fine tenderness for the feelings -of friends and of generosity toward the dead. - - "_Between the saddle and the ground, - He pardon sought and pardon found_" - -is a very precious article of faith in the creed of men who have to -preach a stern doctrine to the living, with warning of a hell that -yawns for all impenitent sinners. - -[10] In my own judgment, it would have been better to have let the -first edition stand. It ought not to have included these vulgarities; -but they are not so bad as the impression which is created by the -knowledge that a new edition had to be made on their account. They are -coarse bits of rustic buffoonery. - -[11] I do not forget that Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks were married -by Rev. Jesse Head, who was a Methodist preacher. But I do not find -evidence that Mr. Head exerted any marked influence over them. Mr. Head -was not only a minister, but a justice of the peace, an anti-slavery -man, and a person of strong and righteous character. I am not sure -whether the fact that he performed this marriage is not due in some -measure to the fact that he was about the court house, and a convenient -minister to find. - -[12] Dr. Chapman goes even beyond Johnson in his admiration of these -youthful lines. He says: - -"It is profoundly significant that this child of destiny, at his life's -early morning, in clumsy but impressive verse thus reverently coupled -his name with that of his Creator.... I am not claiming for this -fragment of a Lincoln manuscript any divine inspiration" (_Latest Light -on Lincoln_, p. 315). - -But he stops little short of that, and might about as well have -claimed it. The simple truth is that the lines have no significance -whatever. They were a current bit of schoolboy doggerel, not original -with Lincoln, and were scribbled by him as by other boys, with no real -purpose beyond that of working his name into a jingle. - -[13] I have seen these and other examples of Lincoln's early penmanship -in the library of Mr. Jesse W. Weik. - -[14] The story of Johnny Kongapod was one which Lincoln often related -in after life. It is found in several collections of his stories, and -with some variation. The Indian himself has found a place in literature -in "In the Boyhood of Lincoln" by my friend, now deceased, Hezekiah -Butterworth. The epitaph more nearly in its ancient English form is -found in "David Elginbrod," by George Macdonald: - - "_Here lie I, Martin Elginbrod; - Hae mercy o' my soul, Lord God, - As I would hae if I were God, - And Thou wert Martin Elginbrod._" - -[15] "His early Baptist training made him a fatalist to the day of his -death" (Herndon, I, 34). - -[16] The story of Lincoln's love affairs lies mostly outside the -field of our present inquiry. He had at least one more of them than -his biographers have learned about. Those that are best known are the -ones with Ann Rutledge, Mary Owens, and Mary Todd. Lamon declares that -Lincoln loved Miss Matilda Edwards, sister of Ninian W. Edwards, whose -wife was sister to Mary Todd. He gives this as the real reason for the -estrangement of Lincoln and his fiancée (Lamon's _Life of Lincoln_, -p. 259). This is vigorously denied by members of the Edwards family, -and the opinions in Springfield are anything but unanimous. Herndon -informs us that in 1840, when Lincoln was thirty-one, and during -the period when he was attracted to Mary Todd, he proposed to Sarah -Rickard, a girl of sixteen. The present writer has no occasion to go -into the discussions attending these several affairs of the heart. -Lincoln's unsettled condition of mind on matrimonial and other matters -is, however, an important element in any study of his religious life -in this period. Herndon, between whom and Mrs. Lincoln little love was -lost, was not unwilling to inform her and the world that Lincoln had -loved one woman, at least, more than he ever loved her; and that he -married her reluctantly. This was not pleasant information for a proud -and erratic grief-stricken woman, and it is not certain that Herndon -was impartial authority or that he learned the whole truth. Lincoln -was not a lady's man, and Mary Owens was quite right in deeming him -"deficient in those little links that make up the chain of a woman's -happiness." - -Students of the Lincoln material are informed by those who suppose -themselves to know, that beside the above-mentioned adventures, Lincoln -had at least one additional love affair, and one that was not to his -credit. They are told that the proof of this exists in an unpublished -letter from the hand of Lincoln, a letter sacredly guarded and seldom -shown by its owner. If this book had any reason to go at length into -the subject of Lincoln's love affairs, I should be glad to consider -that matter in detail; for the owner of that letter has permitted me to -read and copy it, and I have the copy, which I intend to use in another -volume on Lincoln. I wish to say, however, that the letter, which is -a free, unguarded note to an intimate friend, does not sustain the -impression that Lincoln had any other love affair, or that any wrong -act or motive lay behind his words. Lincoln was not a tactful man in -his relations with women; but he was a clean man. - -[17] "Mr. Lincoln was never agitated by any passion more than by -his wonderful thirst for distinction. There is no instance where an -important office was within his reach, and he did not try to get it" -(Lamon, _Life of Lincoln_, p. 237). This is a harsh and unfriendly way -of stating it, but it is not wholly false. - -[18] Mr. John E. Burton has documentary evidence that Lincoln was -associated as so-called partner with seven law firms. Mr. Burton has -owned the firm signatures in Lincoln's handwriting as follows: - - Stuart and Lincoln 1838 - Ficklin and Lincoln 1842 - Logan and Lincoln 1845 - Harlan and Lincoln 1845 - Goodrich and Lincoln October 1855 - Lincoln and Herndon 1852 - Lincoln and Lamon - -But these associates, except Stuart, Logan, and Herndon, were not -strictly partnerships. They were local associations with lawyers whose -practice he shared. - -[19] Mr. Barker, the bookseller and publisher of Springfield, has or -had an interesting item in a volume which Mr. Lincoln presented to Rev. -William A. Chapin, a returned missionary, who lived with the family of -his relative, Albert Hale. Mr. Lincoln was on close terms with "Father -Hale" and a friend of Mr. Chapin. The book is one volume, the others -being lost, of a set entitled "_Horae Solitariae, or, Essays on Some -Remarkable Names and Titles of the Holy Spirit._ First American from -the Second London Edition. Philadelphia: Cochran & McLoughlan, 1801." -The book bears no name of author. Upon the flyleaf is the autograph of -Mr. Chapin in these words, "William A. Chapin, 1844. A present from -Abr. Lincoln." How Lincoln obtained the book is not known; nor is it -one for which he would have been likely to care. But he cared enough -for the book or for the missionary or for both to present the one to -the other. His aversion to ministers, which Lamon portrays, may have -had some reason in certain cases; but it was not inclusive of all -ministers nor of ministers as a class. - -[20] I have been at much trouble to get the exact name and dates of -this little boy. He was called Eddie, and the name is sometimes given -Edwin and sometimes Edward, and I did not find it easy to learn, -even at the monument at Springfield, the exact date of his death. He -was named for his father's friend, and associate in the Legislature, -Edward Baker. He was born March 10, 1846, and died February 1, 1850. -Lincoln's children were: Robert Todd, born August 1, 1843, still -living; Edward Baker, born March 10, 1846, died in Springfield February -1, 1850; William Wallace, born December 21, 1850, died in the White -House February 20, 1862; Thomas or "Tad," born April 4, 1853; died -in Chicago, July 15, 1871. Mary Todd Lincoln, their mother, was born -in Lexington, Kentucky, December 13, 1818; married Abraham Lincoln, -November 4, 1842, and died in Springfield July 16, 1882. - -The date of the death of Eddie is important, because it gives us a -_terminus a quem_ for Lincoln's acquaintance with Rev. James Smith. -Dr. Smith gives the date as "in the latter part of 1849." I sought in -vain not only in published Lives of Lincoln but in the material on -file with the State Historical Society for the precise date. What is -more surprising, Colonel Johnson, custodian of the Lincoln tomb, has -made diligent search for me and cannot find the date. In an article, -prepared for the Lincoln Centenary in 1909, Rev. Thomas D. Logan, -D.D., then pastor of the church in Springfield which Lincoln attended -and successor of Dr. Smith, said it was "about 1848 or 1849"; but in -working over the material, as he manifestly did, after furnishing it to -_The Interior_, in which it was printed, and delivering the substance -of it as a centenary address, he gives the date as February 1, 1850. -This I judge to be correct, and it is upon his authority I have given -that date above. The other dates of the Lincoln family's relation to -this church support this statement. - -[21] Governor Ford uses this term as inclusive of the "Long Nine" and -their associates who voted for the combination of evils which brought -financial disaster to Illinois in that early day. Among them were -Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, John A. McClernand, and James -Shields--"all of them spared monuments of popular wrath, evincing how -safe it is to be a politician, but how disastrous it may be to the -country to keep along with the present fervor of the people." FORD: -_History of Illinois_. - -[22] A careful reading of Mr. Lincoln's speeches while en route for -Washington will reveal, I think, that Mr. Lincoln was confident there -would be no war. A much more solemn note was in his First Inaugural, a -few days later. - -[23] Even Herndon commends Dr. Gurley and Bishop Simpson for their very -conservative claims concerning the religion of Lincoln. - -[24] Carpenter says that these were the negroes of Baltimore, and is -probably correct. - -[25] This curious passage, which is very nearly meaningless if read -apart from its context, has to do with the appointment of the priestly -families that furnished the porters, or guards, for the approaches to -the temple in Jerusalem. It is found in I Chronicles 26:17-18. - -[26] This well-known and picturesque passage describes the army of -David when he was an outlaw and half a freebooter, fleeing from the -fury of Saul and hiding in the cave of Adullam. I Samuel 22:2. - -[27] "Mr. Lincoln had no method, system, or order in his exterior -affairs; he had no library, no clerk, no stenographer; he had no -common-place-book, no _index rerum_, no diary. Even when he was -President and wanted to preserve a memorandum of anything, he noted it -down on a card and stuck it into a drawer or in his vest pocket. But in -his mental processes and operations, he had the most complete system -and order. While outside of his mind all was anarchy and confusion, -inside all was symmetry and method." WHITNEY: _Life on the Circuit with -Lincoln_, p. 110. - -[28] Mrs. Edwards, Mrs. Lincoln's sister, in a published interview -which Barker of Springfield has reprinted in a limited edition, gives a -circumstantial account of the wedding, which, she affirms, occurred on -Sunday night. The calendar contradicts her. Nor would the court house -have been open for the issue of the license on Sunday; its date is the -date of the wedding. The license was procured, and the marriage was -solemnized, on Friday. - -[29] Newton Bateman was born at Fairfield, New York, July 27, 1822, and -migrated with his parents to Illinois in his boyhood. He was graduated -from Illinois College, in Jacksonville, in 1843, and was honored as -one of the ablest men in the alumni of that institution. He first knew -Abraham Lincoln in 1847, and knew him with increasing intimacy during -the years of 1859 and 1860 when Mr. Bateman was in Springfield. Mr. -Bateman served as Superintendent of Schools of the State of Illinois -continuously from 1859 to 1875, except for the single term 1863-65. -During his administration the school system of Illinois made notable -progress, and he is remembered as having done large things for the -educational system of his State. He was the author of the plan for -the education of all the children of all the people of the State at -the expense of all the property of the State. He wrought his system -into the new constitution of Illinois, adopted in 1871, while he was -at the zenith of his power. He was repeatedly re-elected, his defeat -in 1862 being a defeat shared with the whole Republican ticket of the -State in an off-year election when nearly the whole North, weary of the -war which had scarcely begun, defeated partly by hostility and partly -by lethargy the party and the policies that had sent Lincoln to the -White House; and Bateman was triumphantly re-elected when Lincoln was -re-elected, and for many terms thereafter. He established the Normal -School system of the State; and his work was monumental in the life of -the State University. Few men deserve so well to be remembered with -honor in Illinois. - -At the close of his long term of service as Superintendent of Schools, -he became President of Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, from 1875 -to 1893. He was small in stature, and by his friends was familiarly -called "Little Newt," but was held in high regard as a man of honor -and an educator of note. Besides his published reports and addresses, -he compiled a large encyclopedia of men of Illinois,--a kind of "Who's -Who" of much value. His family at one time proposed to gather and issue -a memorial volume of his addresses, but the plan appears not to have -been carried out. He died of angina pectoris at Galesburg, October 21, -1897. - -[30] Bateman's version of the Farewell Address, as reported in the -_State Journal_, was that accepted by Herndon, and, with its more -profound recognition of God's providential care, is given in Lamon's -_Life of Lincoln_, p. 506. It is repeated in his _Recollections_, p. 31. - -[31] For these two reports and that of Lincoln and Hay, see the -Appendix. - -[32] Mr. Jesse W. Weik, who was associated with Herndon in the -authorship of his _Life of Lincoln_, and who has Herndon's papers, has -made diligent search for me in the effort to locate the notes of these -interviews. Herndon certainly desired to preserve them, and desired -that they should be published. But thus far they have not been found, -and presumably are not in existence. - -[33] Lamon was a Virginian by birth, and was, in many of his habits, a -very different man from Lincoln, but Lincoln liked and trusted him. - -[34] Black was Lamon's law partner in Washington after the war. The -firm of Black, Lamon, and Hovey did a large business in prosecuting -claims against the Government. - -[35] This lecture is now very rare, and the text is given in the -Appendix to this volume. - -[36] This important communication containing signed letters from a -number of Lincoln's friends is given in full in the Appendix. - -[37] Although a number of these letters are quoted in the text, the -article as a whole is so important that it is given in full in the -Appendix. - -[38] Herndon's letter to Dr. Smith was impudent, demanding that -he answer as a man, if he could, and if not as a man, then as a -Christian--a challenge which the old Scotchman answered in kind. - -[39] The Abbott letter is printed in Herndon's _Life of Lincoln_, pp. -492-497: portions of it have been quoted in this book. - -The Remsburg letter and the broadside above referred to are printed in -full in the Appendix to this book. - -[40] Statements of this nature show, what we know without them, that -Herndon had never seen the "book" nor heard it described by anyone who -actually saw it. - -[41] We may note in passing that it is not in "Tam o' Shanter" but in -"Holy Willie's Prayer" that Burns uses the line quoted by Matheny. - -[42] I am informed that this is a slight error. Dr. Smith had another -son, still younger. - -[43] There are three copies in Chicago, one in the library of the -University of Chicago, one in the library of McCormick Theological -Seminary, and one in my own library. There are copies also in the -libraries of Union Theological Seminary, New York; Center College, -Danville, Kentucky; the College of the Bible, Lexington, Kentucky; the -Library of Congress, and Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati. These, -and the one owned by Miss Smith, are the only copies of which I have -learned thus far; though doubtless there are others in dusty attics. - -[44] This date is wrong. The book was not published until 1844. - -[45] _Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation_, by Robert Chambers, -is published still by E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, and sold at 75 -cents. This is an excellent reprint of the first Edinburgh edition, -which Lincoln first read. - -[46] It is now known that it was through the influence of Robert -Chambers that T. H. Huxley was present and made his famous reply -to Bishop Wilberforce at Oxford in 1860. Huxley was in Oxford, but -intended to have left that morning because he believed that the -discussion would take a theological, or other than a scientific turn, -and would be unprofitable, but "on the Friday afternoon he chanced -to meet Robert Chambers, the reputed author of the _Vestiges of -Creation_, who begged him not to desert them, accordingly he postponed -his departure" (_Life and Letters of Thomas H. Huxley_, by his Son, I, -193). In this discussion Bishop Wilberforce, in closing a half-hour's -clever, but unfair speech, turned to Huxley and asked him whether -it was on the side of Huxley's grandfather or grandmother that he -claimed his own descent from a monkey? Huxley endured the laughter -and applause which followed this personal sally with something more -than good nature. He turned to Sir Benjamin Brodie, who sat beside -him, and slapping his knee, exclaimed: "The Lord hath delivered him -into my hands!" It was even so. Huxley rose to reply, and said that he -would not be ashamed of having a monkey as an ancestor, but he would -be ashamed of any relationship to a gifted man, who, not content with -success in his own sphere of activity, plunged into a discussion of -matters of which he had no real acquaintance "only to obscure them by -an aimless rhetoric, and distract the attention of his hearers from the -real point at issue by eloquent digressions, and skilled appeals to -religious prejudice." - -In its way that speech established the popularity of Huxley as a -debator, and effectually punctured one argument then coming into use in -the discussion of evolution. It also was an incident never forgotten -concerning Bishop Wilberforce. Huxley afterward wrote, "In justice to -the Bishop, I am bound to say he bore me no malice, but was always -courtesy itself when we met in after years." In the same letter Huxley -says, "The odd part of the business is, that I should not have been -present except for Robert Chambers." - -[47] I have communicated with Mr. Burton and he agrees with me in the -opinion that the inscription from Professor Anthon is not genuine. -He thinks it may have been added by Dr. English, not with intent to -deceive, but as giving his impression of the manner in which Lincoln -acquired the book. Whoever wrote it I think was in error. - -[48] This book had been written and was in course of revision when I -procured Dr. Chapman's _Latest Light on Lincoln_. It is a book by one -who loved Lincoln sincerely, and can discover in him no lack of any -desirable quality; even physical beauty and grace of movement are here -attributed to Lincoln, as well as the acceptance of all the fundamental -articles of the creeds. He accepts the Beecher incident, declaring that -Dr. Johnson informed him that "after thorough investigation he fully -believed it to be truthful and authentic," and affirming that "upon -the scene of this unique event there rests a halo of celestial beauty -too sacred to be regarded with indifference or doubt." The halo may be -there, but is it true? Was there any period of twenty-four hours while -Lincoln was in the White House when this could have occurred, and the -fact concealed from the public? It is altogether less improbable that -Mrs. Beecher in her extreme old age and failing mentality was mistaken -about the identity of one of Mr. Beecher's callers. - -[49] Dr. Johnson quotes this in his _Abraham Lincoln the Christian_, -and with it gives a photo reproduction of this page of his manuscript, -bearing in the margin the attestation of both Generals Sickles and -Rusling: - -"I certify that this statement of a conversation between President -Lincoln and General Sickles, in my presence, at Washington, D. C., July -5, 1863, relating to Gettysburg, is correct and true. JAMES F. RUSLING, -Trenton, N. J., Feb. 17, 1910." - -"I hereby certify that the foregoing statement by General Rusling is -true in substance. I know from my intimate acquaintance with President -Lincoln that he was a religious man--God-fearing and God-loving ruler. -D. E. SICKLES, Major General U. S. Army, Ret'd, New York, Feb. 11, -1911." - -[50] The Library of Congress has a scurilous pamphlet entitled _Behind -the Seams; by a Nigger Woman, who took in work for Mrs. Lincoln and -Mrs. Davis, New York: The National News Company, 21 and 23 Ann Street, -1868_. The preface is signed, "Betsy X (her mark) Kickley, a Nigger." -It is a coarse parody on the above, but would appear sometimes to have -been mistaken for the original work. - -[51] This incident must have appeared in print immediately after -Lincoln's death, for I find it quoted in memorial addresses of May, -1865. Mr. Oldroyd has endeavored to learn for me in what paper he found -it and on whose authority it rests, but without result. He does not -remember where he found it. It is inherently improbable, and rests on -no adequate testimony. It ought to be wholly disregarded. The earliest -reference I have found to the story in which Lincoln is alleged to -have said to an unnamed Illinois minister "I do love Jesus" is in a -sermon preached in the Baptist Church of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, April -19, 1865, by Rev. W. W. Whitcomb, which was published in the Oshkosh -_Northwestern_, April 21, 1865, and in 1907 issued in pamphlet form, by -John E. Burton. The form of quotation is indefinite, but I judge that -the incident was current in the papers of that week, as it is quoted -as something with which the congregation was assumed to be familiar. I -judge, therefore, that this was a story that found currency immediately -after Lincoln's death, running the round of the newspapers with no -one's name attached. - -[52] Lincoln addressed most of his friends by their family name, -seldom prefixing "Mr." A few he called by their first name. Herndon he -called "Billy." Ward Hill Lamon he addressed as "Hill." Some of his -friends called him "Lincoln," but most of them, "Mr. Lincoln." If any -habitually addressed him as "Abe," the author has been unable to learn -the fact. - -"Although I have heard of cheap fellows, professing that they were -wont to address him as 'Abe,' I never knew any one who did it in his -presence. Lincoln disdained ceremony, but he gave no license for being -called 'Abe'." WHITNEY: _Life on the Circuit with Lincoln_, p. 53. - -[53] Dr. Chapman, who appears to have permitted no improbable story of -Lincoln's orthodoxy to escape him, records this incident with complete -assurance of its correctness; but it is a story which it is impossible -to fit into the life of Lincoln. - -In _Latest Light on Lincoln_, p. 396, Chapman says, "There is every -reason for giving this remarkable story unquestioning credence." On -the contrary, there is every good reason for questioning it at every -essential point, and the questions do not evoke satisfactory answers. - -[54] Whitney affirms that Lincoln was never a member of any secret -society. If he had been, that society would certainly have produced a -record of his membership. - -[55] Whitney tells us of this in his _With Lincoln on the Circuit_, -describing the instrument as a "French harp." This term has given rise -to some ludicrous mistakes on the part of those who have quoted it In -Kentucky and in "Egypt" a French harp is a harmonica. - -[56] - - "Of dress, food, and the ordinary comforts and luxuries of life, - he was an incompetent judge. He could not discern between well and - ill-cooked and served food. He did not know whether or not clothes - fitted. He did not know whether music was artistic or in bad taste." - WHITNEY: _Life on the Circuit with Lincoln_, p. 52. - -[57] - - "I repeat that his was one of the most uneven, eccentric, and - heterogeneous characters, probably, that ever played a part in the - great drama of history; and it was for that reason that he was - so greatly misjudged and misunderstood; that he was on the one - hand described as a mere humorist--a sort of Artemus Ward or Mark - Twain--that it was thought that by some irony of fate a low comedian - had got into the Presidential chair by mistake and that the nation was - being delivered over to conflagration, while this modern Nero fiddled - upon its ruins; or that, on the other hand, he should have been thus - sketched by as high authority as Ralph Waldo Emerson: 'He is the true - history of the American people to his time. Step by step he walks - beside them, quickening his march by theirs, the true representative - of this continent, an entirely public man, Father of his Country, the - pulse of twenty millions throbbing through his heart, the thought of - their minds articulated by his tongue. His heart was as great as the - world, but there was no room in it to hold the memory of a wrong.'" - WHITNEY: _Life on the Circuit with Lincoln_, p. 147. - - "One of the most obvious of Mr. Lincoln's peculiarities was his - dissimilitude of qualities, or inequality of conduct, his dignity - of deportment and action, interspersed with freaks of frivolity and - inanity; his high aspiration and achievement, and his descent into - the most primitive vales of listlessness, and the most ridiculous - buffoonery. He combined the consideration of the movement of armies or - grave questions of international concern, with Nasby's feeble jokes or - Dan Rice's clownish tricks. In the chief drawer of his cabinet table, - all the current joke books of the time were in juxtaposition with - official commissions lacking only his final signature, applications - for pardons from death penalties, laws awaiting executive action, - and orders, which, when issued, would control the fate of a million - men and the destinies of unborn generations.... Hence it was that - superficial persons, who expected great achievements to be set in - a _mise en scéne_, and to be ushered in with a prologue, could not - understand or appreciate that this wonderful man's administration - was a succession of acts of grand and heroic statesmanship, or that - he was a prodigy of intellect and moral force, and a genius in - administration." WHITNEY: _Life on the Circuit with Lincoln_, pp. - 147-48-49. - -[58] Mr. Jesse W. Weik investigated this report, and told me of it. It -comes not through Lewis or other members of the church, but through -Lincoln's associates outside the church, who seem to have expected him -to unite. - -[59] - - "He had not then announced himself for freedom, only discussed - the inexpediency of repealing the Missouri Compromise line. The - Abolitionists that day [the day of Lincoln's State Fair speech] - determined to make Lincoln take a stand. I determined he should not - at that time, because the time had not yet come when Lincoln should - show his hand. When Lovejoy announced the abolition gathering in the - evening, I rushed to Lincoln, and said: 'Lincoln, go home, take Bob - and the buggy, and leave the country, go quickly, go right off, and - never mind the order of your going.' Lincoln took the hint, got his - horse and buggy, and did leave quickly, not noting the order of his - going. He stayed away till all conventions and fairs were over." - HERNDON, in LAMON, p. 354. - -[60] Lincoln's evasion of an issue which he did not wish to meet was -put to a severe test in 1864, when the convention that renominated -him for the Presidency had to decide whether to renominate -also Vice-President Hamlin. Lincoln liked Hamlin; but, while a -Vice-President from Maine had strengthened the ticket in 1860, a war -Democrat from one of the border States could help it more in 1864. -Lincoln managed never to let it be known whether he favored Hamlin, who -greatly desired his support, or whether, as was probably the case, he -preferred Johnson. He was skillful in evasion when he chose to be so. - -[61] _Abraham Lincoln; Evolution of His Literary Style._ By Daniel -Kilham Dodge. Press of the University of Illinois, 1900. - -[62] Few writers who knew Lincoln intimately have given us more -detailed accounts of Lincoln's career as a story teller than his friend -and associate, Major Henry C. Whitney, who habitually shared his bed in -the rounds of the Eighth Judicial Circuit. In his chapter on "Lincoln -as a Merry Andrew," in which he tells the undignified length to which -these bouts of story telling were wont to go, he says: "But it is a -singular fact that Lincoln very rarely told stories in his speeches. -In both his forensic and political speeches he got down to serious -business, and threw away the mask of Momus altogether. I never heard -him narrate but one story in a speech." _Life on the Circuit with -Lincoln_, p. 179. - -[63] These letters have lately been presented to the Massachusetts -Historical Society. - -[64] _Abraham Lincoln; The Evolution of His Emancipation Policy._ An -address delivered before the Chicago Historical Society, February 27, -1906. - -[65] See _The Evolution of Lincoln's Literary Style_, by Prof. Daniel -Kilham Dodge. University of Illinois Press, 1900. - -[66] - - "By reference to Mr. Lincoln's early political and literary - performances it will appear that he was more than usually addicted to - a florid style, and to greatly exaggerated figures of speech; that - the plain, direct, homely, common-sense methods of his later and - statesmanlike years were wholly wanting. Rhodomontade was as common - in those youthful productions as plain assertion was in his mature - life. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that, in the years of - his adolescence, he is credited with very decided opinions, radical - views, and florid expressions on the subject of religion; but he - was forty-five years of age when I first knew him, and his views - either underwent a change or else he had grown reticent on that great - subject. Certain it is that I never heard Lincoln express himself on - the subject of religion at all." WHITNEY: _Life on the Circuit with - Lincoln_, p. 268. - -[67] _The Evolution of Lincoln's Literary Style_, by Prof. D. K. Dodge. - -[68] The foregoing list, together with a number which seem to me less -reliably attested, I have taken from Johnson, _Abraham Lincoln, the -Christian_, pp. 215-17. - -[69] Dr. Chapman, who is not content with anything less than a complete -orthodox system of theology for Lincoln, says: - -"In the forefront of Mr. Lincoln's religious thinking was his belief -in the Saviour's Deity." His first, and in fact his only proof, is, -of course, the Bateman interview. Beyond this he falls into such -generalities as his oft repeated mention of Him as "Our Lord," and -declares that "again and again does Mr. Lincoln thus speak of the -Saviour" (_Latest Light on Lincoln_, p. 319). If so, I have not found -these repeated references in his authentic speeches and papers. - -[70] A reference to Christ dying on the cross is in his lecture on -Niagara Falls; and there are a few other references. - -[71] Dr. Chapman's _Latest Light on Lincoln_ has a few hitherto -unprinted things, one of them being some notes by Rev. Dr. Gurley, -the beginnings of a contemplated book or pamphlet which he did not -complete. The manuscript as produced by Dr. Chapman was furnished by -Dr. Gurley's daughter, Mrs. Emma K. Adams, of Washington. The only -incident of any considerable value is that Mr. Lincoln one night -invited Dr. Gurley, who like himself was an early riser, to come to the -White House next morning at seven o'clock for an hour's talk before -breakfast. They had the talk and the breakfast. As Dr. Gurley walked -away, he was asked whether he and Mr. Lincoln had been talking about -the war, and he replied, "Far from it. We have been talking about the -state of the soul after death. That is a subject of which Mr. Lincoln -never tires. This morning, however, I was a listener, as Mr. Lincoln -did all the talking" (_Latest Light on Lincoln_, p. 500). - -There can be, I think, no serious question of Mr. Lincoln's faith -in immortality. It was much more easy for a man of his training and -temperament to hold that article of faith than some others which might -seem to some other men more easily to be accepted. - -[72] The chapter, sometimes alleged to have been from the Bible, -which Lincoln read to his cabinet before submitting the Emancipation -Proclamation. - -[73] The accompanying article was originally prepared by its author -(the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, in Springfield, Ill.), -as a lecture, and has been repeatedly given in that form to various -audiences. At the request of the editor of _Scribner's Monthly_, to -whom it seemed that the testimony contained in the lecture was of -permanent value, it is here presented with slight alterations, and with -no departure from the rhetorical style which was determined by its -original purpose. - -[74] This is an error doubtless made by Mr. Irwin in copying. It should -be June 16, 1858, instead of January. I have printed it as it stands, -but the date should be corrected. - -[75] March 10, 1864. McPherson, "History of the Rebellion," p. 522. - -[76] Report of Judge-Advocate General, April 30, 1864. - -[77] March 7, 1864. - -[78] Jan. 2, 1863. - -[79] Dec. 22, 1863. - -[80] "After having made these declarations in good faith and in -writing, you can conceive of my embarrassment at now having brought to -me what purported to be a formal order of the War Department, bearing -date November 30, 1863, giving Bishop Ames control and possession of -all the Methodist churches in certain Southern military departments -whose pastors have not been appointed by a loyal bishop or bishops, -and ordering the military to aid him against any resistance which may -be made to his taking such possession and control. What is to be done -about it?" [Lincoln to Stanton, MS., Feb. 11, 1864.] - -[81] Lincoln to Hogan, Feb. 13, 1864. - -[82] Lincoln MS., March 4, 1864. - -[83] Lincoln MS., May 13, 1864. - -[84] War Records, Vol. XVII, pp. 424, 530. - -[85] General McDowell used to tell a story which illustrates Mr. -Lincoln's Sabbatarian feeling. The President had ordered a movement -which required dispatch, and in his anxiety rode to McDowell's -headquarters to inquire how soon he could start. "On Monday morning," -said McDowell; "or, by pushing things, perhaps Sunday afternoon." -Lincoln, after a moment's thought, said, "McDowell, get a good ready -and start Monday." [Herman Haupt, MS. Memoirs.] - - - - -Transcribers Notes: - - Italics are shown thus: _sloping_. - - Small capitals have been capitalised. - - Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. - - Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved. - - Obvious typos were silently corrected. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Soul of Abraham Lincoln, by -William Eleazar Barton - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SOUL OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN *** - -***** This file should be named 60996-8.txt or 60996-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/9/9/60996/ - -Produced by MFR, Alan and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Soul of Abraham Lincoln - -Author: William Eleazar Barton - -Release Date: December 22, 2019 [EBook #60996] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SOUL OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN *** - - - - -Produced by MFR, Alan and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /> -</div> - - - -<h1 class="verybig"> -THE SOUL OF<br /> -ABRAHAM LINCOLN</h1> - - - -<p class="c">BY</p> - -<p class="titlepage xxxlarge">WILLIAM E. BARTON</p> - -<p class="titlepage">AUTHOR OF "A HERO IN HOMESPUN,"<br /> "THE -PRAIRIE SCHOONER," "PINE KNOT,"<br /> -ETC.</p> - -<p class="titlepage xlarge">NEW <img src="images/fig1.jpg" alt="" /> YORK<br /> -GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY -</p> - - - - -<p class="titlepage medium">COPYRIGHT, 1920,<br /> -BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY</p> - -<p class="titlepage medium">PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</p> - - - - -<p class="titlepage"> -TO MY FOUR SONS<br /> -BRUCE, CHARLES, FREDERICK, ROBERT<br /> -AND MY SON-IN-LAW, CLYDE -</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>PREFACE</h2></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> author is aware that he is dipping his net into a stream -already darkened by too much ink. The fact that there are so -many books on the religion of Abraham Lincoln is a chief -reason why there should be one more. Books on this subject -are largely polemic works which followed the publication of -Holland's biography in 1865, and multiplied in the controversies -growing out of that and the Lamon and Herndon -biographies in 1872 and 1889 respectively. Within that period -and until the death of Mr. Herndon in 1892 and the publication -of his revised biography of Lincoln in 1893, there was little -opportunity for a work on this subject that was not distinctively -controversial. The time has come for a more dispassionate -view. Of the large number of other books dealing -with this topic, nearly or quite all had their origin in patriotic -or religious addresses, which, meeting with favor when orally -delivered, were more or less superficially revised and printed, -in most instances for audiences not greatly larger than those -that heard them spoken. Many of these are excellent little -books, though making no pretense of original and thorough -investigation.</p> - -<p>Of larger and more comprehensive works there are a few, -but they do not attempt the difficult and necessary task of -critical analysis.</p> - -<p>So much has been said, and much of it with such intensity -of feeling, on the subject of Lincoln's religion, that a number -of the more important biographies, including the great -work of Nicolay and Hay, say as little on the subject as -possible.</p> - -<p>The author of this volume brings no sweeping criticism -against those who have preceded him in the same field. He -has eagerly sought out the books and speeches of all such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span> -within his reach, and is indebted to many of them for valuable -suggestions. A Bibliography at the end of this volume contains -a list of those to whom the author knows himself to be -chiefly indebted, but his obligation goes much farther than -he can hope to acknowledge in print. With all due regard for -these earlier authors, the present writer justifies himself in -the publication of this volume by the following considerations, -which seems to him to differ in important respects from earlier -works in the same field:</p> - -<p>(1) He has made an effort to provide an adequate historical -background for the study of the religious life of Abraham -Lincoln in the successive periods of his life; and without -immediately going too deeply into the material of the main -subject, to relate the man to his environment. In this the -author has been aided not only by books and interviews with -men who knew Lincoln, but by some years of personal experience -in communities where the social, educational, and religious -conditions were in all essential respects similar to those in -which Mr. Lincoln lived during two important epochs of his -career. The author was not born in this environment, but he -spent seven years of his youth and young manhood as a -teacher and preacher in a region which give him somewhat -exceptional opportunities for a discriminating judgment.</p> - -<p>(2) The author has assembled what is, so far as he knows, -all the essential evidence that has appeared in print concerning -the religious life and opinions of Mr. Lincoln, a larger body, -as he believes, than any previous writer has compiled. He has -added to this all evidence available to him from written and -personal testimony.</p> - -<p>He has subjected this evidence to a critical analysis, in an -effort to determine the degree of credibility with which its -several portions may reasonably be received. The author is -not unaware that this is the most disputable, as it is the most -difficult part of his task, and, as he believes, the most valuable -part of it. Unless some such analysis is made, the evidence -resolves itself into chaos.</p> - -<p>(3) Several entirely new avenues of investigation have -been opened and lines of evidence adduced which find no place<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span> -in any previous book on Mr. Lincoln's religious life, and very -scant reference, and that without investigation, in one or two -of the biographies.</p> - -<p>(4) The book also contains a constructive argument, setting -forth the conviction to which the author has come with -regard to the faith of Abraham Lincoln.</p> - -<p>It is entirely possible that some readers will find themselves -in essential agreement with the author in the earlier parts -of the book, but will dissent in whole or in part from his own -inferences. Whether the reader agrees or disagrees with the -author in his conclusions, he will find in this book some -material not elsewhere available for the formation of an independent -judgment. Nevertheless the author counts himself -justified not only in adducing the evidence but in stating -frankly the conclusion which to his mind this evidence supports.</p> - -<p>This book treats of the religion of Abraham Lincoln; but -it does not consider his religion as wholly expressed in his -theological opinions. Important as it is that a man should -think correctly on all subjects, and especially on a subject of -such transcendent value, religion is more than a matter of -opinion. We cannot adequately consider religion apart from -life. Abraham Lincoln's life was an evolution, and so was -his religion. In a way which this volume will seek to set -forth, Lincoln was himself a believer in evolution, and his -life and religion were in accord with this process as he held it.</p> - -<p>This book is, therefore, more than an essay on the religion -of Lincoln, unless religion be understood as inclusive of all -that is normal in life. It deals, therefore, with the life, as -well as with the opinions, of Lincoln; and it considers both -life and opinion as in process of development in each of the -successive stages of his career.</p> - -<p>In this respect the present book may claim some distinctive -place in the literature of this subject. Other books have drawn -sharp contrasts between the supposed religious opinions of -Lincoln's youth and those which he is believed to have cherished -later. This book undertakes what may be termed a study -of the evolution of the spiritual life of Abraham Lincoln.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> -The author is not aware that this has been done before in -quite this way.</p> - -<p>The author acknowledges his obligations to many friends -for their assistance in the preparation of this volume. Mr. -Jesse W. Weik, of Greencastle, Indiana, associate of Mr. -Herndon in the preparation of his Life of Lincoln, and owner -of the Herndon manuscripts, has been generous to me. Mrs. -Clark E. Carr, of Galesburg, Illinois, widow of my honored -friend, and the friend of Lincoln, Colonel Carr, author of -"Lincoln at Gettysburg," has placed at my disposal all her -husband's books and papers. Mr. Judd Stewart, of New York -City, owner of one of the largest collections of Lincolniana, -has assisted me. President John W. Cook of the Northern -Illinois State Normal School has suggested important lines of -research. Mr. John E. Burton, of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, -whose collection of Lincoln books was once the largest in -America, has sold me some of his chief treasures, and imparted -to me much of the fruit of his experience. Mr. O. H. Oldroyd, -of Washington, owner of the famous Lincoln Collection, and -custodian of the house where Lincoln died, has, on two visits, -placed all that he has within my reach. To these, and to a -considerable number of men and women who knew Lincoln -while he was yet living, and to many others whom I cannot -name, my thanks are due.</p> - -<p>I regret that one great collection, consisting, however, more -largely of relics than of manuscripts, is so largely packed away -that it has not been of much use to me. Mr. Charles F. -Gunther of Chicago has, however, produced for me such -Lincoln material as seemed to him to bear upon my quest, -and I acknowledge his courtesy.</p> - -<p>Mr. Oliver P. Barrett of Chicago has given me great joy -in the examination of his fine collection of Lincoln manuscripts.</p> - -<p>I have spent a few pleasant and profitable hours in the collection -of Honorable Daniel Fish, the noted Lincoln bibliographer, -of Minneapolis, and thank him for his friendly interest -in this undertaking.</p> - -<p>Among libraries, my largest debt is to those of the Chicago<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span> -Historical Society, the Illinois State Historical Society at -Springfield, and the Library of Congress in Washington. In -each of these I have had not only unrestricted access to the -whole Lincoln material possessed by them, but the most generous -and courteous assistance. I have examined every rare -Lincoln book, and many manuscripts, in these three collections. -I have had occasion also to use the Chicago Public Library, -the Newberry Library, and the Library of the University of -Chicago, as well as those of Chicago Theological Seminary -and McCormick Theological Seminary. In certain important -local matters, I have been assisted by the libraries of Knox -College, Galesburg, Illinois, Illinois College, Jacksonville, -Illinois, the Public Library of Peoria, Illinois, and the library -of Transylvania University at Lexington, Kentucky. I also -visited the Public Library of Louisville, with its historical -collections, but most that I found there I had already consulted -elsewhere. The New York Public Library and the -Library of Columbia University supplemented my research at -a few important points. The Oak Park Public Library has -been constantly at my service. The Library of Berea College, -Kentucky, has given me very valuable assistance in finding for -me a large amount of periodical literature bearing on my study. -The five great Boston libraries would have yielded me much -had I come to them earlier. While the book was undergoing -revision, I visited the Athenaeum, the Massachusetts State, -the Boston Public, the Massachusetts Historical, and the Harvard -University libraries. It was gratifying to discover that -even in the last named of these, enriched as it is with the collections -of Charles Sumner, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, -and the Lincoln collection of my friend Alonzo Rothschild, -author of "Lincoln, Master of Men," there was practically -nothing relating to this subject which I had not already seen -and examined. In the Massachusetts Historical Library, however, -I discovered some manuscripts, and that quite unexpectedly, -which afford me much aid in a collateral study.</p> - -<p>In addition to the foregoing, I have my own Lincoln -library, which, while a working collection rather than one of -incunabula, and modest in size as compared with some that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span> -I have used, is still not small. The Bibliography at the end of -the volume is virtually a catalogue of my own Lincoln books.</p> - -<p>Claims of completeness are dangerous, and I make none. -But I have been diligent in pursuit of all probable sources of -knowledge of this subject, and I do not now know where -to look for any other book of manuscript that would greatly -alter or add to the material which this book contains. I am -glad, therefore, at this stage, to share the fruits of my investigations -with the reader.</p> - -<p class="r"> -W. E. B. -</p> - - - -<p class="l"><span class="smcap">The First Church Study<br /> -<span class="l1">Oak Park, Illinois</span></span></p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CONTENTS</h2></div> - - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><th colspan="3">PART I: A STUDY OF RELIGIOUS ENVIRONMENTS</th></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt"><span class="half">CHAPTER</span></td><td class="tdl hang"></td><td class="tdrb"><span class="half">PAGE</span></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">I</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Conflict of Testimony</span></td><td class="tdrb wid3"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">II</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Why the Biographies Differ</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">III</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Environment of Lincoln's Boyhood</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">IV</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Environments of Lincoln's Young Manhood</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">V</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Environment of Lincoln's Life in Springfield</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">VI</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Environment of Lincoln's Life in Washington</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td></tr> -<tr><th colspan="3">PART II: AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVIDENCE</th></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">VII</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Rules of Evidence</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">VIII</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Bateman Incident</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">IX</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Lamon Biography</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">X</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Reed Lecture</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XI</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Herndon Lectures, Letters, and Biography</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_140">140</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XII</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Lincoln's Burnt Book</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XIII</td><td class="tdl hang">"<span class="smcap">The Christian's Defence</span>"</td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XIV</td><td class="tdl hang">"<span class="smcap">Vestiges of Creation</span>"</td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XV</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Other Formative Books</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XVI</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Chittenden and Chiniquy</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_188">188</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XVII</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Beecher and Sickles Incidents</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XVIII</td><td class="tdl hang">"<span class="smcap">Behind the Scenes</span>"</td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XIX</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">From the Housetops and in the Closet</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td></tr> -<tr><th colspan="3">PART III: THE RELIGION OF LINCOLN<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span></th></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XX</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">What Lincoln Was Not</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XXI</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Why Did Lincoln Never Join a Church?</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_244">244</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XXII</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Constructive Argument</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">XXIII</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Creed of Abraham Lincoln</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_291">291</a></td></tr> -<tr><th colspan="3">APPENDICES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY</th></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">I</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Extract from Newton Bateman's Lecture on Lincoln with Variants of the Springfield Farewell Address</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_303">303</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">II</td><td class="tdl hang">"<span class="smcap">High-Handed Outrage at Utica</span>" By Artemus Ward</td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_307">307</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">III</td><td class="tdl hang">"<span class="smcap">The Conversion of Abraham Lincoln</span>" By the Rev. Edward L. Watson</td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_309">309</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">IV</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Reed Lecture</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_314">314</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">V</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Two Herndon Letters Concerning Lincoln's Religion</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_336">336</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">VI</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">The Irwin Article, with Letters</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_341">341</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">VII</td><td class="tdl hang">"<span class="smcap">The Christian's Defence</span>" With full chapter analysis</td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_358">358</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">VIII</td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Lincoln and the Churches</span> By Nicolay and Hay</td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_377">377</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt">IX</td><td class="tdl hang">"<span class="smcap">Bound together in Christianity and Patriotism</span>" Hitherto unpublished address of Lincoln</td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_385">385</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt"></td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Bibliography</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_387">387</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdrt"></td><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Index</span></td><td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_401">401</a></td></tr> -</table></div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2">PART I: A STUDY OF RELIGIOUS<br /> -ENVIRONMENTS</p></div> - - -<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> - -<p class="c">THE CONFLICT OF TESTIMONY</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Of</span> no other American have so many biographies been written -as of Abraham Lincoln. No other question concerning his life -has evoked more interest than that of his religious faith and -experience. What Abraham Lincoln believed has been told by -many who knew him and whose varied relations to him during -his lifetime rendered it not unreasonable to suppose that they -could give some assured answer to the question of his belief. -The answers are not only varied, but hopelessly contradictory. -It is stated on apparently good authority that in his young -manhood he read Volney's <i>Ruins</i> and Paine's <i>Age of Reason</i>, -and it is affirmed that he accepted their conclusions, and himself -wrote what might have been a book or pamphlet denying -the essential doctrines of the Christian faith as he understood -them. Friends of his who knew him well enough to forbid -the throwing of their testimony out of court have affirmed that -he continued to hold these convictions; and that, while he became -more cautious in the matter of their expression, he carried -them through life and that they never underwent any -radical change. On the other hand, there are declarations, -made by those who also knew Lincoln well, that these views -became modified essentially, and that Lincoln accepted practically -the whole content of orthodox Christian theology as it -was then understood; that he observed daily family worship in -his home; that he carried a Bible habitually upon his person; -and that he was in short in every essential a professed Christian, -though never a member of a Christian church.</p> - -<p>There is more than a conflict of testimony; there is posi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>tive -chaos. Every recent biographer has felt the inherent difficulties -involved in it. One or two of them have passed it over -with practically no mention; others have become fierce partisans -of the one extreme or the other.</p> - -<p>Besides the formal biographies, a literature of this special -topic has grown up. Entire books and many pamphlets and -magazine articles have been written on this one question. The -Chicago Historical Society and the Chicago Public Library -have each devoted a principal division in the Lincoln material -to the literature relating to his religion. It has been the -writer's privilege to examine in both these libraries and in -several others the whole known body of literature of the -subject.</p> - -<p>In this investigation the writer came face to face with -utterly contradictory testimony from men who had known -Abraham Lincoln intimately.</p> - -<p>Of him Mr. Herndon, for twenty years his law partner, -said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"As to Mr. Lincoln's religious views, he was, in short, -an infidel.... Mr. Lincoln told me a thousand times that -he did not believe the Bible was the revelation of God as the -Christian world contends."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>: <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, p. 489.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The direct antithesis of this statement is found in a narrative -of Hon. Newton Bateman, who knew Mr. Lincoln from -1842 until Mr. Lincoln's death, and whose office was in the -State House at Springfield next-door to that which, for a -period of eight months from the time of his nomination till -his departure for his inauguration, was occupied by Mr. -Lincoln. He affirmed (or at least was so quoted by Holland) -that Mr. Lincoln said to him:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and -slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know that His hand -is in it. If He has a place and work for me—and I think He -has—I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is everything. -I know I am right because I know that liberty is right, -for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God."—<span class="smcap">J. G. Holland</span>: -<i>Life of Lincoln</i>, p. 237.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> - -<p>Popular oratory has carried even farther these two extremes -of irreconcilable contradiction. On the one hand are -to be found scurrilous publications, shockingly offensive -against all good taste, declaring Lincoln to have been an -atheist, a mocker, a hypocrite, a man of unclean mind, and a -violator in his speech of all canons of decency. We will not -quote from any of these at present; but of the length to which -the other extreme can go, has gone, and continues to go, let -the following incident, gleaned from a recent English book, -serve as an illustration:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"In the year 1861 the Southern States of America were -filled with slaves and slaveholders. It was proposed to make -Abraham Lincoln president. But he had resolved that if he -came to that position of power he would do all he could to -wipe away the awful scourge from the page of his nation's -history. A rebellion soon became imminent, and it was -expected that in his inaugural address much would be said -respecting it. The time came. The Senate House was packed -with people; before him was gathered the business skill and -the intellectual power of the States. With one son lying dead -in the White House, whom he loved with a fond father's -affection; another little boy on the borders of eternity; with -his nation's eternal disgrace or everlasting honor resting upon -his speech, he speaks distinctly, forcefully, and without fear. -Friend and foe marvel at his collected movements. They -know of the momentous issues which hang on his address. -They know the domestic trials that oppress his heart. But they -do not know that, before leaving home that morning, the -President had taken down the family Bible and conducted -their home worship as usual, and then had asked to be left -alone. The family withdrawing, they heard his tremulous -voice raised in pleadings with God, that He whose shoulder -sustains the government of worlds would guide him and -overrule his speech for His own glory. Here was the power -of this man's strength."—<span class="smcap">G. H. Morgan</span>: <i>Modern Knights-Errant</i>, -p. 104; quoted in Hastings' <i>Great Texts of the Bible</i>, -volume on "Isaiah," pp. 237-38.</p></blockquote> - -<p>This incident is now an integral part of the best and most -recent homiletic work in the English language, and will be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> -used in thousands of sermons and addresses. It is a story -that carries its own refutation in almost every line. Mr. -Lincoln had no son either sick or dead and lying in the White -House or anywhere else at the time of his first inaugural, nor -had he as yet entered the White House; and the hours of that -day are fairly well accounted for; but this and similar incidents -illustrate the length to which the oratorical imagination -may carry a speaker either in the pulpit or on the platform, -and not only be preserved in books but pass the supposedly -critical eye of a careful compiler of material for sermons and -lectures.</p> - -<p>If another book is justified, it should be one that does -more than compile that part of the evidence which appears to -support a particular theory. The compilation should be as -nearly complete as is humanely possible. But it must do more -than plunge the reader into this swamp of conflicting testimony. -It must somehow seek to evaluate the evidence and -present a reasonable conclusion.</p> - -<p>Moreover, in the judgment of the present writer, religion -is more than opinion, and cannot be considered as a detachable -entity. Lincoln's religion was more than his belief, his conjecture, -his logical conclusion concerning particular doctrines. -It can only be properly appraised in connection with his life. -While, therefore, the writer does not now undertake a complete -biography of Lincoln, though cherishing some hope that -he may eventually write a book of that character, this present -work endeavors to study the religion of Lincoln not in detachment, -but as part and parcel of his life.</p> - -<p>A word may be said concerning the author's point of view -and the experience which lies behind it. In his early manhood -he had an experience of several years which he considers of -value as affording a background for the interpretation of the -Lincoln material. For several years the author taught school -and afterward preached in the mountain region of Kentucky -and Tennessee amid social conditions essentially parallel to -those in which Mr. Lincoln was born and amid which he spent -his manhood up to the time of his going to Washington. The -same kind of preaching that Lincoln heard, not only in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> -Kentucky but in the backwoods of Indiana and the pioneer -villages of central and southern Illinois, the present author -heard in his own young manhood as a teacher in district schools -far back beyond the sound of the locomotive's whistle or the -inroads of modern civilization. How that kind of preaching -affected the inquiring mind of the young Lincoln, the author -is sure he knows better than most of Lincoln's biographers -have known. The fierce theological controversies that waged -between the old-time Baptists and the itinerant Methodists, together -with the emphatic dogmatism of the Southern type of -Presbyterianism as it was held and preached in the Kentucky -mountains forty years ago and in southern Illinois and Indiana -eighty years ago are part of the vivid memory of the present -writer. A young man who refused to accept this kind of -teaching might be charged with being an infidel, and might -easily suppose himself to be one; but whether that would be a -just or fair classification depends upon conditions which some -of the controversialists appear not to have known or to -have been capable of appreciating through lack of experience -of their own.</p> - -<p>This book attempts, therefore, to be a digest of all the -available evidence concerning the religious faith of Abraham -Lincoln. It undertakes also to weigh that evidence and to -pass judgment, the author's own judgment, concerning it. -If the reader's judgment agrees with the author's, the author -will be glad; but if not at least the facts are here set forth -in their full essential content.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER II</h2></div> - -<p class="c">WHY THE BIOGRAPHIES DIFFER</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> many biographies of Abraham Lincoln differ widely in -their estimate of his religious opinions and life, partly because -the biographers approach the subject from widely differing -angles, and some of them are seeking in advance the -establishment of particular conclusions. But apart from that -personal bias, from which no author can claim to be wholly -free, the biographical study of Abraham Lincoln was itself -an evolution whose main outlines and processes it will be -profitable briefly to consider.</p> - -<p>The first printed biographies of Mr. Lincoln appeared in -1860. They were the familiar campaign biography, such as -is issued for every candidate for the Presidency. The first -man who approached Mr. Lincoln with a proposal to write -his Life was J. L. Scripps of the Chicago <i>Tribune</i>. Mr. -Lincoln deprecated the idea of writing any biography.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Why, Scripps, [said he] it is a great piece of folly to -attempt to make anything out of me or my early life. It -can all be condensed into a single sentence, and that sentence -you will find in Grey's 'Elegy':</p> - -<p class="c"> -'<i>The short and simple annals of the poor.</i>' -</p> - -<p>That's my life, and that's all you or anyone else can make -out of it."—<span class="smcap">Herndon</span>, I, 2.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Lincoln felt the meagerness of his biographical material, -but the biographers succeeded in making books about him, -Scripps wrote his booklet, and it appeared in thirty-two -closely printed double-column pages, and sold at twenty-five -cents. It is now excessively rare. Lincoln read the proof -and approved it. The "Wigwam" Life of Lincoln appeared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> -simultaneously with the Scripps booklet, and it is not quite -certain which of the two emerged first from the press. It -contained 117 pages, of which the last seven were devoted to -Hannibal Hamlin, Republican candidate for Vice-President. -This also had a wide sale, and is now very rare. That Lincoln -did not read the proofs of this book is evidenced by the -name "Abram" instead of "Abraham" on its title page and -throughout the book. It relates that "when he was six years -old, his father died, leaving a widow and several children, -poor and almost friendless"; and in other respects shows that -Lincoln did not furnish the data of it, and also indicates how -meager was the biographical material at hand outside the -little sketch which Lincoln prepared for Scripps.</p> - -<p>Another pamphlet, containing 216 pages, was "The Authentic -Edition" by J. H. Barrett, and still another, the -"Authorized" edition by D. W. Bartlett, which extended to -354 pages and was bound in cloth. Perhaps the best of these -campaign biographies of 1860 was that written by William -Dean Howells, then a young man and unknown to fame. Apparently -Lincoln furnished to each of these writers—except -the Wigwam edition—essentially the same material which -he had given to Scripps, or else they borrowed from Scripps, -with permission, and to this extent they were "authorized" -or "authentic." But there is no indication that Lincoln read -any of them except that of Scripps. Even this must have surprised -him when he beheld how his little sketch could be -spread out over as many as thirty-two pages.</p> - -<p>The campaign of 1864 brought out a new crop of campaign -biographies, and these used essentially the same material -up to 1860, and found their new matter in the history of the -Civil War up to the date of their publication.</p> - -<p>This campaign material still stood in type or stereotyped -pages when Lincoln was killed, and was hastily used again. -The author, who owns all the books cited above, has also -others which came from the press in May or June of 1865, -whose main part was taken over bodily from the campaign -biographies of 1864 and speaks of Lincoln as still living, while -the back part is made up of material concerning the assassi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>nation, -the funeral, and the trial of the conspirators. These -called themselves "Complete" biographies, but they were -merely revamped campaign booklets of 1864 with appended -matter and virtually no revision.</p> - -<p>These works represent the first stage of the attempt to -make books out of the life of Abraham Lincoln. The outline -of the life itself is meager in all of them, and they are well -padded with campaign speeches; and the last of them, with -full and interesting details of the funeral services of Lincoln, -the death of Booth, and other matter lifted from the newspapers -of the period.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>The second epoch began with the publication of the Life -of Abraham Lincoln by John G. Holland in 1865. It was -by all odds the best of the books that undertook within a few -years after his death to tell the story of the life of Lincoln, -with some estimate of his place in history. It is also the book -which began the controversy concerning Lincoln's religion.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>The third period was introduced by the biography of -Abraham Lincoln by Ward Hill Lamon, which was issued in -1872. It was based upon manuscripts that had been collected -by William H. Herndon, who was supposed to have had a -considerable share in the work of its preparation. Herndon -emphatically denied writing any part of it, and said in a letter -to Mr. Horace White that it was written for Lamon by -Chauncey F. Black, son of J. S. Black, a member of Buchanan's -cabinet and a political enemy of Lincoln (Newton: -<i>Lincoln and Herndon</i>, p. 307). This valuable but unwisely -written book, containing many things offensive to good taste, -occasioned much controversy for its stark realism and what -seemed to many of Lincoln's friends misrepresentations. -Some of the intimate friends of Lincoln are alleged to have -bought a considerable part of the edition and destroyed the -books, but copies are in the principal libraries and in the best -private collections.</p> - -<p>Unterrified by the reception which had been accorded -Lamon's work, William H. Herndon, for twenty years Lin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>coln's -law partner, assisted by Jesse W. Weik, published in -1889 a Life of Lincoln, in three volumes.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> The storm of denunciation -that beat upon Herndon's head was fierce and long. -The greater part of the edition disappeared. Libraries that -contain it keep it under lock and key, and the prices bid for it -at occasional book auctions contrast strikingly with those for -which it went begging immediately after it was issued. Four -years later, assisted by Mr. Horace White, Mr. Herndon reissued -the book in two volumes, with those passages elided -which had given greatest offense.</p> - -<p>These two biographies mark the rise and high-water mark -of the demand for "the real Lincoln"; and nobody can deny -that they were quite sufficiently realistic.</p> - -<p>The next stage in the Lincoln biography was the ten-volume -Life of Lincoln by his former secretaries, John G. -Nicolay and John Hay. It was issued in 1890, and called itself -"a history." It is a history rather than a biography; the -biographical material in it was condensed into a single volume -by Mr. Nicolay in 1904. This work is monumental, and may -be said to attempt the giving of materials for the complete -Lincoln rather than to be in itself an effort within the proper -limits of biography.</p> - -<p>The two-volume biography by John T. Morse, Jr., issued -in 1893, was the first constructive piece of work in this field -after the Nicolay and Hay material had become available; -and it remains in some respects the best short Life of Abraham -Lincoln; though the author's New England viewpoint militates -against his correct appraisal of many features of the life -of Lincoln.</p> - -<p>The next period may be said to be the period of the -magazine Lincoln, and to be represented at its best by the -work of Ida M. Tarbell, which first appeared in <i>McClure's -Magazine</i>, beginning in 1895, and was subsequently issued in -book form in several editions beginning in 1900. This was -a pictorial biography, with much new illustrative and documentary -material, and is of permanent value.</p> - -<p>Since 1900 the biographies that have been issued have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> -largely been devoted to specialized studies, as of Lincoln as -a lawyer, Lincoln as a political leader, Lincoln as a statesman; -and there have been innumerable books and articles made up -of reminiscences of the men who knew Lincoln more or less -intimately.</p> - -<p>None of the biographies before Holland attempted anything -that could be called a critical analysis of Lincoln's character. -There is virtually nothing in the earliest Lives of Lincoln -concerning his religion or any other important aspect -of his private and personal life. In the nature of the case -those books were superficial.</p> - -<p>Furthermore, some of the more important biographies of -more recent years have made no attempt at systematic character -study. While there is something about Lincoln's religion -in almost every one of them, that topic has been quite -incidental and subordinate to the main purpose of most of -the larger books. The authors have been content to take -for the most part the ready-formed judgment of those whose -views most nearly accorded with their own.</p> - -<p>The field of inquiry concerning Lincoln's religion is both -more narrow and broader than it would at first appear. Many -even of the more important biographical works about Lincoln -yield nothing of any real value, so far as this topic is concerned. -On the other hand, the subject has been exploited -in magazine articles, newspaper contributions, lectures and addresses -almost innumerable and by no mean consistent.</p> - -<p>The task, then, is more and other than that of making a -scrapbook of what different authorities have said about -Abraham Lincoln's religion. A vast amount has been said by -people who had no personal knowledge of the subject they -were discussing and no adequate power of historical analysis. -The volume of really first-hand evidence is not so vast as at -first it appears; and while it cannot all be reconciled nor its -direct contradictions eliminated, it is not hopelessly beyond -the limits of constructive probability. It is possible to determine -some facts about the religion of Abraham Lincoln -with reasonable certainty and to interpret others in the light -of their probable bearing upon the subject as a whole.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER III</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE ENVIRONMENT OF LINCOLN'S BOYHOOD</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have read Buckle's <i>History of Civilization</i> to little effect -if we have not learned that the development of an individual -or a nation is profoundly influenced by environment. The -biographers of Lincoln would appear to have kept this fact -carefully in mind, for they have been at great pains to give to -us detailed descriptions of the houses in which Lincoln lived -and the neighborhoods where from time to time he resided. -Although the camera and the descriptive power of the biographers -have done much for us, they leave something to be -desired in the way of sketching a background from which the -Abraham Lincoln of the successive periods emerged into conditions -of life and thought that were more or less religious. -For the purpose of this present study the life of Lincoln -divides itself into four parts.</p> - -<p>The first is the period of his boyhood, from his birth in -Kentucky until his coming of age and the removal of his -family from Indiana into Illinois.</p> - -<p>The second is the period of his early manhood, from the -time he left his father's home until he took up his residence -in Springfield.</p> - -<p>The third is the period of his life in Springfield, from his -first arrival on April 15, 1837, until his final departure on -February 11, 1861, for his inauguration as President.</p> - -<p>The fourth is the period covered by his presidency, from his -inauguration, March 4, 1861, until his death, April 15, 1865.</p> - -<p>Before considering at length the testimony of the people -who knew him, except as that testimony relates to these particular -epochs, we will consider the life of Lincoln as it was related -to the conditions in which he lived in these successive periods.</p> - -<p>The first period in the life of Abraham Lincoln includes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> -the twenty-one years from his birth to his majority, and is -divided into two parts,—the first seven and one-half years of -his life in the backwoods of Kentucky, and the following thirteen -years in the wilderness of southern Indiana.</p> - -<p>Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President of the United States, -was born near Hodgenville, Kentucky, on Sunday, February -12, 1809. He was the second child of Thomas and Nancy -Hanks Lincoln, who were married near Beechland, Washington -County, Kentucky, on June 12, 1806, when Thomas was -twenty-eight and Nancy twenty-three. Nine days before the -birth of Abraham Lincoln the territory of Illinois was organized -by Act of Congress; the boy and the future State were -twin-born. For four years the family lived on the Rock -Spring farm, three miles from Hodgenville, in Hardin, now -Larue County, Kentucky. When he was four years old his -parents moved to a better farm on Knob Creek. Here he -spent nearly four years more, and he and his sister, Sarah, -began going to school. His first teacher was Zachariah Riney; -his second, Caleb Hazel.</p> - -<p>In the autumn of 1816, Thomas Lincoln loaded his household -goods upon a small flatboat of his own construction and -floated down Knob Creek, Salt River, and the Ohio, and -landed on the northern bank of the Ohio River. He thence -returned and brought his family, who traveled on horseback. -The distance to where the goods had been left was only about -fifty miles in a straight line from the old home in Kentucky, -but was probably a hundred miles by the roads on which they -traveled. Thomas doubtless rode one horse with a child behind -him, and Nancy rode the other, also carrying a child behind -her saddle.</p> - -<p>When the family arrived at the point where the goods had -been left, a wagon was hired, and Thomas Lincoln, with his -wife, his two children, and all his worldly possessions, moved -sixteen miles into the wilderness to a place which he had -already selected, and there made his home. That winter and -the greater part of the following year were spent in a "half-faced -camp" from which the family moved in the following -autumn to a log cabin, erected by Thomas Lincoln. For more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> -than a year he was a squatter on this farm, but subsequently -entered it and secured title from the government. Here -Nancy Hanks Lincoln died, October 5, 1818, when Abraham -was less than ten years old. A year later Thomas Lincoln -returned to Kentucky and married Sally Bush Johnson, a -widow, with three children. She brought with her better furniture -than the cabin afforded, and also brought a higher type -of culture than Thomas Lincoln had known. She taught her -husband so that he was able with some difficulty to read the -Bible and to sign his own name. On this farm in the backwoods -in the Pigeon Creek settlement, with eight or ten -families as neighbors, and with the primitive village of -Gentryville a mile and a half distant, Abraham Lincoln grew -to manhood. Excepting for a brief experience as a ferryman -on the Ohio River and a trip to New Orleans which he made -upon a flatboat, his horizon was bounded by this environment -from the time he was eight until he was twenty-one.</p> - -<p>The cabin in which the Lincoln family lived was a fairly -comfortable house. It was eighteen feet square and the logs -were hewn. It was high enough to admit a loft, where Abe -slept, ascending to it by wooden pins driven into the logs. -The furniture, excepting that brought by Sally Bush, was very -primitive and made by Thomas Lincoln. Three-legged stools -answered for chairs, and the bedsteads had only one leg each, -the walls supporting the other three corners.</p> - -<p>Of the educational advantages, Mr. Lincoln wrote in 1860:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild -animals still in the woods. There I grew up. There were -some schools so-called, but no qualification was ever required -of a teacher beyond readin', writin', and cipherin' to the Rule -of Three. If a straggler supposed to understand Latin happened -to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked upon as -a wizard. There was absolutely nothing to excite ambition -for education."—<span class="smcap">Nicolay</span>, p. 10.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Here he attended school for three brief periods. The first -school was taught by Azel W. Dorsey, when Abraham was ten -years old; the next by Andrew Crawford, when he was four<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>teen; -and the third by a teacher named Swaney, whose first -name Mr. Lincoln was unable to recall in later life. His -schooling was under five different teachers, two in Kentucky -and three in Indiana. It was scattered over nine years and -embraced altogether less than twelve months of aggregate -attendance.</p> - -<p>In Kentucky it is probable that his only textbook was -Webster's Elementary Speller. It was popularly known as the -"Old Blueback."</p> - -<p>Webster's Speller is a good speller and more. Each section -of words to be spelled is followed by short sentences containing -those words, and at the end of the book are three illustrated -lessons in Natural History—one on The Mastiff, another -on The Stag, and the third on The Squirrel. Besides these are -seven fables, each with its illustration and its moral lesson. -I used this book in teaching school in the backwoods of Kentucky, -and still have the teacher's copy which I thus employed.</p> - -<p>The two Kentucky schools which Lincoln attended were -undoubtedly "blab" schools. The children were required to -study aloud. Their audible repetition of their lessons was the -teacher's only assurance that they were studying;<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> and even -while he was hearing a class recite he would spend a portion -of his time moving about the room with hickory switch in -hand, administering frequent rebuke to those pupils who did -not study loud enough to afford proof of their industry.</p> - -<p>In Indiana, Lincoln came under the influence of men who -could cipher as far as the Rule of Three. He also learned to -use Lindley Murray's English Reader, which he always believed, -and with much reason, to be the most useful textbook -ever put into the hands of an American youth (Herndon, I, -37). He also studied Pike's Arithmetic. Grammar he did not -study in school, but later learned it under Mentor Graham in -Illinois.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> - -<p>The first of these schools was only about a mile and a -half distant from his home; the last was four miles, and his -attendance was irregular.</p> - -<p>In the second school, taught by Andrew Crawford, he -learned whatever he knew of the usages of polite society; for -Crawford gave his pupils a kind of drill in social usages -(Herndon, I, 37).</p> - -<p>In Swaney's school he probably learned that the earth was -round. A classmate, Katy Roby, afterward Mrs. Allen -Gentry, between whom and Abraham a boy-and-girl attachment -appears to have existed, and who at the time was fifteen -and Abe seventeen, is authority for the statement that as they -were sitting together on the bank of the Ohio River near -Gentry's landing, wetting their bare feet in the flowing water -and watching the sun go down, he told her that it was the revolution -of the earth which made the moon and sun appear to -rise and set. He exhibited what to her appeared a profound -knowledge of astronomy (Herndon, I, 39; Lamon's <i>Life</i>, -p. 70).</p> - -<p>It is not necessary for us to assume that Abraham knew -very much more about astronomy than the little which he -told to Katy Roby; but it is worth while to note in passing -that when Abraham Lincoln learned that the earth was round, -he probably learned something which his father did not know -and which would have been admitted by no minister whom -Abraham had heard preach up to this time.</p> - -<p>We are ready now to consider the character of the preaching -which Abraham Lincoln heard in his boyhood. Direct -testimony is fragmentary of necessity; but it is of such character -that we are able without difficulty to make a consistent -mental picture of the kind of religious service with which he -was familiar.</p> - -<p>A recent author has said that Lincoln never lived in a community -having a church building until he went to the legislature -in Vandalia in 1834 (Johnson, <i>Lincoln the Christian</i>, p. -31). This is probably true if we insist upon its meaning a -house of worship owned exclusively by one denomination, but -the same author reminds us that there was a log meeting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>-house<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> -within three miles of Lincoln's childhood home in -Kentucky (p. 22).</p> - -<p>Dr. Peters says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The prayers that Parson Elkin said above the mound of -Nancy Hanks were the first public prayers to which Abraham -ever listened"—<i>Abraham Lincoln's Religion</i>, p. 24.</p></blockquote> - -<p>This is absurdly incorrect. Abraham Lincoln almost certainly -heard public prayers at intervals, probably from the time -he was three months old.</p> - -<p>Abraham Lincoln was born in February, or his mother -probably would have taken him to church earlier; but by May -or June, when there was monthly preaching at the log meeting-house -three miles away, she mounted a horse and Thomas -Lincoln another, he with Sarah sitting before him at the -saddlebow and she with Abraham in her arms, and they rode -to meeting. If they had had but one horse instead of two -they would have gone just the same. She would have sat -behind Thomas with Abraham in her arms and Thomas would -have had Sarah on the horse before him. Thomas Lincoln was -too shiftless to have a horse-block, but Nancy could mount -her horse from any one of the numerous stumps in the vicinity -of the home. She and every other young mother in the -neighborhood knew how to ride and carry a baby, and having -once learned the art, the young mother was not permitted to -forget it for several years.</p> - -<p>Arrived at the log meeting-house, they hitched their horses -to swinging limbs, where the animals could fight flies without -breaking the bridle-reins. Nancy went inside immediately and -took her seat on the left side of the room; Thomas remained -outside gossiping with his neighbors concerning "craps" and -politics, and maybe swapping a horse before the service had -gotten fairly under way. After a while he heard the preacher -in stentorian tones lining and singing the opening hymn, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> -thin, high voices of the women joining him feebly at first but -growing a little more confident as the hymn proceeded. Then -Thomas and his neighbors straggled in and sat on the right -side of the house. The floor was puncheon and so were the -seats; they were rudely split slabs, roughly hewn, and the -second sitting from either end had an added element of discomfort -in the projection of the two legs that had been driven -in from the under side and were not sawed off flush with -the surface of the slab. There were no glass windows. On -either side of the house one section of a log may have been -sawed out about four feet from the floor; but most of the light -of the interior came in through the open door in mild weather, -or was afforded by the fireplace in cold weather.</p> - -<p>On the rude pulpit lay the preacher's Bible and hymn book, -if he had a hymn book—no one else had one; and beside -these were a bucket of water and a gourd. There was no -time in the service when Thomas Lincoln did not feel free -to walk up to the pulpit and drink a gourd of water, and -the same was true of every other member of the congregation, -the preacher included. As for Nancy, she spread her riding-skirt -on the seat under her and when her baby grew hungry she -nursed him just as the other women nursed their babies.</p> - -<p>To such congregations the author of this present book -preached hundreds of times in the woods of Kentucky; and -there is no essential feature of the church services which he -does not know.</p> - -<p>In the autumn, just before fodder-pulling time, there was -an occasional camp-meeting or big revival, followed by a -baptizing, which brought multitudes of people from long distances. -They brought their provisions, or they stayed with -friends, one cabin proving elastic enough to accommodate two -or three households. Under these conditions the author of this -book has slept many nights in houses of one room, with as -many beds as the room could well contain, inhabited not only -by the family but by visitors of both sexes; and in all that -experience he is unable to recall any incident that was immodest.</p> - -<p>When the converts of the camp-meeting or revival were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> -baptized, they were led into the water with due solemnity; -but as each one came to the surface he or she was likely to -break forth into shouting, a proceeding which, as the author -can testify, was sometimes embarrassing, if not indeed -perilous,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> to the officiating clergyman.</p> - -<p>Herndon tells us of the fondness of the Hanks girls for -camp-meeting and describes one in which Nancy appears to -have participated a little time before her marriage (I, 14). -We have no reason to believe that that was her last camp-meeting.</p> - -<p>Thomas Lincoln is alleged by Herndon to have been a Free-will -Baptist in Kentucky, a Presbyterian in the latter part of -his life in Indiana, and finally a Disciple (I, 11). He does -not state where he obtained his information, but it is almost -certain that he got it from Sally Bush Lincoln on the occasion -of his visit to her in 1865; as she is the accredited source of -most of the information of this character.</p> - -<p>I am more than tempted to believe that either she or -Herndon was incorrect in speaking of Thomas Lincoln's -earliest affiliation as a Free-will Baptist. There were more -kinds of Baptists in heaven and on earth than were understood -in her philosophy; and I question whether the Free-will Baptists, -who originated in New England, had by this time penetrated -to so remote a section of Kentucky. What she probably -told Herndon was that he was not of the most reactionary -kind—the so-called "Hardshell" or anti-missionary Baptists. -Of them we shall have something to say later. The Scripps -biography, read and approved by Lincoln, said simply that his -parents were consistent members of the Baptist Church. -Nicolay and Hay do not record the membership of Thomas -Lincoln in the Presbyterian Church, and one is more than -tempted to question the accuracy of Herndon at this point. -Presbyterianism had at that date very little part in the shaping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> -of the life of the backwoods of Illinois and Indiana, as we -shall see when we come to the life of Lincoln in Illinois. -Nicolay and Hay tell us that "Thomas Lincoln joined the -Baptist church at Little Pigeon in 1823. His oldest child, -Sarah, followed his example three years later. They were -known as consistent and active members of that communion" -(Nicolay and Hay, I, 32-33). If Sarah joined the Baptist -church in 1826, and the family was remembered as active in -that church, the relation of Thomas Lincoln with the Presbyterians -in Indiana must have been brief, for he left that State -in 1830. We are assured that he observed religious customs -in his home and asked a blessing at the table; for one day, -when the meal consisted only of potatoes, Abraham said to -his father, that he regarded those as "mighty poor blessings" -(Herndon, I, 24). While Thomas Lincoln was not an energetic -man, there is no reason to doubt the consistency of his -religion, in which he was certainly aided by Sally Bush Lincoln. -That he died in the fellowship either of the Disciples or -of the New Lights is probably correct; but the Presbyterian -membership in Indiana, while not impossible, appears more -likely to have been a mistake in Herndon's interpretation of -Mrs. Lincoln's narrative.</p> - -<p>Herndon's statement concerning Thomas Lincoln's religion -is as follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"In his religious belief he first affiliated with the Free-will -Baptists. After his removal to Indiana he changed his adherence -to the Presbyterians—or Predestinarians, as they were -then called—and later united with the Christian—vulgarly -called Campbellite—Church, in which latter faith he is supposed -to have died" (I, 11-12).</p></blockquote> - -<p>I am satisfied that Herndon is mistaken in two if not in -all three of these assertions. I am confident that Predestinarian -was not a popular or commonly understood name for -Presbyterians, but it was a name for one type of Baptists. -Mrs. Lincoln probably told Herndon that her husband joined -in Indiana, not the hardshell, or most reactionary kind of -Baptists, but the Predestinarians. Knowing that predestina<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>tion -was a doctrine of Presbyterianism, Mr. Herndon assumed -that that was what the name implied. It implied nothing of -the sort. Thomas Lincoln probably belonged to the old Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit -Predestinarian Baptists, not quite as hard -in their shell as the Hardshells, but very different from the -Free-will Baptists or the Presbyterians, the kind whose -preachers were accustomed to shout—"I'd rather have a hard -shell than no shell at all!"</p> - -<p>Dennis Hanks<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> was far from being impeccable authority -on matters where his imagination permitted him to enlarge, -but he seldom forgot anything, and still less frequently made -it smaller than it really was. If Thomas Lincoln had ever -sustained any relation to the Presbyterian Church, he would -surely have told it, or some member of his family, jealous as -those members were for the reputation of "Grandfather Lincoln," -would not have failed to report it. In his interview with -Mrs. Eleanor Atkinson, in which his family participated, -Dennis evinced a definite attempt to set forth Thomas Lincoln -in as favorable a light as possible, and there was a high and -deserved tribute to his "Aunt Sairy," Thomas Lincoln's second -wife.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Aunt Sairy sartainly did have faculty. I reckon we was -all purty ragged and dirty when she got there. The fust thing -she did was to tell me to tote one of Tom's carpenter benches -to a place outside the door, near the hoss trough. Then she -had me an' Abe an' John Johnson, her boy, fill the trough with -spring water. She put out a gourd full of soft soap, and -another one to dip water with, an' told us boys to wash up fur -dinner. You just naturally had to be somebody when Aunt -Sairy was around. She had Tom build her a loom, an' when -she heerd o' some lime burners bein' round Gentryville, Tom -had to mosey over an' git some lime an' whitewash the cabin. -An' he made her an ash hopper fur lye, an' a chicken-house -nothin' could git into. Then—te-he-he-he!—she set some kind -of a dead-fall trap fur him, an' got Tom to jine the Baptist -Church. Cracky, but Aunt Sally was some punkins!"—<i>American -Magazine</i>, February, 1908, p. 364.</p></blockquote> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> -<p>I am of opinion that what Mrs. Sarah Bush Lincoln told -Herndon was that her husband sometimes attended the Presbyterian -service, and that the church he joined was the Baptist, -but not the Hardshell Baptist. But evidence is wholly lacking -that he had any connection with the Presbyterian Church, or -with the Free-will Baptists, of which latter sect he probably -never heard.</p> - -<p>The church at Farmington of which Thomas Lincoln became -a member is not now in existence. I have endeavored -through investigation in Farmington, and by correspondence -with Mr. Robert T. Lincoln, to ascertain its denomination. -It called itself "Christian," and Herndon did not doubt that -that name indicated that it was a church of the denomination -sometimes called "Campbellite." But that is not certain. -Other denominations claim that as their distinctive name, and -one of them was at that time active in that part of Illinois. -My inquiries have brought me no certain knowledge on this -point; but Mr. Jesse W. Weik is of opinion that the denomination -was that known as "New Light." It is possible that -Herndon was in error in every one of his three affirmations -concerning the religion of Thomas Lincoln, and that the President's -father was never a Free-will Baptist, never a Presbyterian, -and never a Disciple or Campbellite. I have endeavored -to learn whether his change from the Baptist to the -"Christian" church was a matter of conviction or convenience, -but on this I have found nothing except a statement from -the minister who buried him, in which it would appear that his -change of polity was a matter of conviction. This minister -spoke very highly of Thomas Lincoln, whom he had known -well in the latter years of his life.</p> - -<p>There has been undue attempt to credit the pious boy -Abraham with the religious service conducted over the grave -of his mother by Rev. David Elkin<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> some months after her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> -demise. There is no good authority for this legend. Herndon -probably tells the truth about it:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Within a few months, and before the close of the winter, -David Elkin, an itinerant preacher whom Mrs. Lincoln had -known in Kentucky, happened into the settlement, and in response -to the invitation from the family and friends, delivered -a funeral sermon over her grave. No one is able now to -remember the language of Parson Elkin's discourse, but it is -recalled that he commemorated the virtues and good phases -of character, and passed in silence the few shortcomings and -frailties of the poor woman sleeping under the winter's snow."<br />—<span class="smcap">Herndon</span>, -I, 28.</p></blockquote> - -<p>This does not compel us to believe that there had been no -preacher in the Pigeon Creek settlement since the death of -Nancy Hanks.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> It was customary among these Kentucky-bred -people to hold the funeral service some weeks or months after -the burial. The author of this volume has attended many such -services.</p> - -<p>The reasons require some explanation. The dead were -commonly buried on the day following death. There were, of -course, no facilities for embalming or preserving the corpse for -any great length of time. Preachers were nearly all farmers; -and the particular minister with whose church the family was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> -affiliated might be living at a considerable distance and be at -that time at some distant place upon his wide circuit. No -minister expected to preach every Sunday in any one place. -A monthly appointment was the maximum attempted; and -the more remote settlements were not reached statedly by any -one preacher oftener than once in three months. There were -occasional services, however, by other ministers riding through -the country and preaching wherever they stayed overnight. -It was the author's custom when coming unexpectedly into a -valley to spread word up and down the creek that there would -be preaching that night in the schoolhouse or in the home -where he was entertained. The impromptu announcement -never failed to bring a congregation.</p> - -<p>What took David Elkin into Indiana we do not know. -He may have been looking for a better farm than he had in -Kentucky, where he could dig out a living between his preaching -appointments. He may have been burdened for the souls -of certain families formerly under his care and now gone out -like the Lincolns into a howling wilderness. The late summer -and early autumn between the end of corn-plowing and the -beginning of fodder-pulling afforded such a minister opportunity -to throw his saddlebags over his horse and start on a -longer circuit than usual; and the winter gave him still another -opportunity for long absence. He took no money and he collected -none, or next to none, but he had free welcome everywhere -with pork and corn pone for supper and fried chicken -for breakfast. Many a time the author of this volume has -ridden up to a house just before suppertime, has partaken with -the family of its customary cornbread and bacon or ham, and -after preaching and a good night's rest has been wakened in -the morning before the rising of the sun by a muffled squawk -and flutter as one or more chickens were pulled down out of -the trees. After this fashion did the people of the backwoods -welcome the messengers of the Lord.</p> - -<p>Not necessarily on his next appearance in a settlement is -the preacher requested to conduct the funeral service of persons -deceased since his last visit. The matter is arranged with more -of deliberation. A date is set some time ahead and word is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> -sent to distant friends.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> After a time of general sickness such -as had visited Pigeon Creek in the epidemic of the "milk -sick," Parson Elkin may have had several funerals to preach -in the same cemetery or at the schoolhouse nearest at hand. I -have known a half-dozen funerals to be included in one sermon -with full biographical particulars of each decedent and detailed -descriptions of all the deathbed scenes, together with rapturous -forecasts of the future bliss of the good people who -were dead and abundant warnings of the flaming hell that -awaited their impenitent neighbors. Even those people who -had not been noted for their piety during life were almost -invariably slipped into heaven through a deathbed repentance -or by grace of the uncovenanted mercies of God. It is the -business of all preachers to be very stern with the living and -very charitable toward the dead.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - -<p>I must add a further word about the custom of deferred -funerals. Although the burial was conducted without religious -service, it was not permitted to be celebrated in neglect. The -news that a man was dying would bring the sympathetic neighbors -from miles around, and horses would be tied up the creek<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> -and down while people waited in friendly sorrow and conversed -in hushed voices in the presence of the solemn dignity -of death. That night a group of neighbors would "sit up" -with the dead, and keep the family awake with frequent and -lugubrious song.</p> - -<p>Next day the grave must be dug; and that required a considerable -part of the male population of the settlement. If -only two or three men came in the morning they would sit -and wait for others and go home for the dinner and come back. -It thus has happened more than once in my experience that -we have brought the body to the burial and have had to wait -an hour or more in sun or wind for the finishing of the -digging of the grave.</p> - -<p>I remember well an instance in which death occurred in -the family of one of the county officials. His wife died suddenly, -and under sad conditions. I mounted my horse and -rode four or five miles to his home. I hitched my horse to -the low-swinging limb of a beech tree and threaded my way -among other horses into the yard, which was filled with men, -and up to the porch, which was crowded with women. Passing -inside, I spoke my word of sympathy to the grief-stricken -husband and his children. Then I passed out into the yard -and moved from group to group among the men. Presently -a neighbor of the sorrowing husband approached me and asked -me to step aside with him for private converse. This was -strictly in accordance with the custom of the country, and I -walked with him behind the corn-crib. He said to me: "Mr. -McCune"—naming the bereaved husband—"wants to know -whether you have come here as a preacher or as a neighbor?" -I answered, "Tell him that I have come as a neighbor." -With this word he returned to the house. Up on the hillside -I could see the leisurely movements of the grave-diggers. -From the shed behind the house came the rhythmic tap of -the hammer driving in the tacks that fastened the white glazed -muslin lining of the home-made coffin. We had some little -time still to wait before either the grave or the coffin would be -finished. Presently the neighbor returned to where I waited -behind the corn-crib and brought with him Mr. McCune. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> -latter shook my hand warmly and said, in substance: "I -appreciate your coming and the respect which you thus show -for me and for my dead wife. I was glad to see you come -when you entered the house, but was a little embarrassed because -I knew it to be your custom to preach the funeral sermon -at the time of the burial. I have no objection to that custom; -and while we are Baptists [he pronounced it Babtist, and so -I have no doubt did Thomas Lincoln], there is no man whom -I would rather have preach my wife's sermon than you. We -shall undoubtedly have a Baptist preacher when the time for -the funeral comes, but I hope you also will be present and -participate in the service. But it is not our custom to hold -the service at the time of the burial, and we have distant -friends who should be notified. Moreover, there is another -consideration. I have been twice married, and I never yet -have got round to it to have my first wife's funeral preached. -It seems to me that it would be a discourtesy to my first wife's -memory to have my second wife's sermon preached before the -first. What I now plan to do is to have the two funerals at -once, and I hope you will be present and participate."</p> - -<p>I need only add that before I departed from that region -he was comfortably married to his third wife, not having -gotten round to it to have the funeral sermon of either of his -first two wives. I am unable to say whether when he finally -got round to it there was any increase in the number. It never -was my fortune to conduct the joint funeral of two wives of -the same man at the same time; but I have more than once -been present where a second wife was prominent among the -mourners; and I sometimes believed her to be sincerely sorry -that the first wife was dead.</p> - -<p>It is not easy for people who have not lived amid these -conditions and at the same time to have known other conditions -to estimate aright the religious life of a backwoods community. -Morse, whose biography of Lincoln is to be rated -high, is completely unable to view this situation from other -than his New England standpoint. He says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The family was imbued with a peculiar, intense, but -unenlightened form of Christianity, mingled with curious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> -superstition, prevalent in the backwoods, and begotten by the -influence of the vast wilderness upon illiterate men of a rude -native force. It interests scholars to trace the evolution of -religious faiths, but it might not be less suggestive to study -the retrogression of religion into superstition. Thomas Lincoln -was as restless in matters of creed as of residence, and -made various changes in both during his life. These were, -however, changes without improvement, and, so far as he was -concerned, his son Abraham might have grown up to be what -he himself was contented to remain" (I, 10).</p></blockquote> - -<p>This criticism is partly just, but not wholly so. There -was superstition enough in the backwoods religion, and Abraham -Lincoln never wholly divested himself of it; but it -was not all superstition. There was a very real religion on -Pigeon Creek.</p> - -<p>In like manner, also, it is difficult for Lincoln's biographers -to strike an even balance between adoring idealization -of log-cabin life and horrified exaggeration of its squalor. -Here again Morse is a classic example of the attempt to be so -honest about Lincoln's poverty as to miss some part of the -truth about it.</p> - -<p>The Lincoln family was poor, even as poverty was estimated -in the backwoods. Lincoln himself was painfully impressed -with the memory of it, and Herndon and Lamon, who -understood it better than most of his biographers, felt both -for themselves and for Lincoln the pathos of his descent from -"the poor whites"; but there is no evidence that Lincoln -felt this seriously at the time. His melancholy came later, -and was not the direct heritage of his childhood poverty. -Life had its joys for families such as his. Poverty was -accepted as in some sort the common lot, and also as a -temporary condition out of which everybody expected sometime -to emerge. Meantime the boy Abraham Lincoln had not -only the joy of going to mill and to meeting, but also the -privilege of an occasional frolic. We know of one or two -boisterous weddings where he behaved himself none too well. -Besides these there were other unrecorded social events on -Pigeon Creek where the platter rolled merrily and he had to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> -untangle his long legs from under the bench and move quickly -when his number was called or pay a forfeit and redeem it. -He played "Skip-to-My-Lou" and "Old Bald Eagle, Sail -Around," and "Thus the Farmer Sows His Seed," and he -moved around the room singing about the millwheel and had -to grab quickly when partners were changed or stand in the -middle and be ground between the millstones. As large a proportion -of people's known wants were satisfied on Pigeon -Creek as on some fashionable boulevards. We need not seek -to hide his poverty nor idealize it unduly; neither is it necessary -to waste overmuch of pity upon people who did not find -their own condition pitiable.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>What kind of man had been produced in this environment -and as the result of the conditions of his heredity and of his -inherent qualities? What do we know about the Abraham -Lincoln who in 1830 took simultaneous leave of Indiana and -his boyhood, and entered at once upon his manhood and the -new State, that, twin-born with him, was waiting his arrival?</p> - -<p>He was a tall, awkward, uncouth backwoodsman, strong -of muscle, temperate and morally clean. He had physical -strength and was not a bully; was fond of a fight but fought -fairly and as a rule on the side of weakness and of right. -He was free from bad habits of all kinds, was generous, sympathetic, -and kind of heart. He was as yet uninfluenced by -any women except his own dead mother and his stepmother. -He was socially shy, and had not profited greatly by the -meager lessons in social usage which had been taught in -Andrew Crawford's school. He was fond of cock-fighting -and of boisterous sports, and had a sufficient leadership to -proclaim himself "the big buck of the lick" and to have that -declaration pass unchallenged.</p> - -<p>He could read, write, and cipher, and was eager for learning. -He was ambitious, but his ambitions had no known -focus. He was only moderately industrious, but could work -hard when he had to do so. He had some ambition to write -and to speak in public, but as yet he had little idea what he -was to write or speak about. He was a great, hulking back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>woodsman, -with vague and haunting aspirations after something -better and larger than he had known or seemed likely -to achieve.</p> - -<p>What do we know about the spiritual development of the -young Boanerges who grew almost overnight in his eleventh -year into a six-footer and was so wearied by the effort that -he was slow of body and mind and was thought by some to be -lazy ever afterward?</p> - -<p>We know the books he read—the Bible, <i>Pilgrim's Progress</i>, -<i>Æsop's Fables</i>, <i>Robinson Crusoe</i>, and Weems' <i>Life of Washington</i>. -It was a good collection, and he made the most of it. -Sarah Bush Lincoln noted that while he did not like to work -he liked to read, and she said, "I induced my husband to -permit Abe to study" (Herndon, I, 36).</p> - -<p>John Hanks said of him, "He kept the Bible and <i>Æsop's -Fables</i> always within reach, and read them over and over -again."</p> - -<p>Sarah Bush did not claim that he showed any marked -preference for the Bible. Lamon quotes her as saying, "He -seemed to have a preference for the other books" (<i>Life</i>, pp. -34, 486). But he certainly read the Bible with diligence, as -his whole literary style shows. Indeed, if we had only his -coarse "First Chronicles of Reuben," which we could heartily -wish he had never written, and whose publication in Herndon's -first edition was one of the chief reasons for an expurgated -edition,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> we should know that even then Abe Lincoln, rough, -uncouth and vulgar as he was, was modeling his style upon -the Bible.</p> - -<p>We are told that when he went to church he noted the -oddities of the preachers and afterward mimicked them -(Lamon: <i>Life</i>, pp. 55, 486). This might have been expected, -for two reasons. First, he had a love of fun and of -very boisterous fun at that; secondly, he had a fondness for -oratory, and this was the only kind of oratory he knew anything -about.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is a remarkable fact that the Lincoln family appears -never at any time in its history to have been strongly under -the influence of Methodism.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> This is not because they did not -know of it; no pioneer could hide so deep in the wilderness as -to be long hidden from the Methodist circuit riders. But the -prevailing and almost the sole type of religion in that part of -Indiana during Lincoln's boyhood was Baptist, and in spite -of all that Mrs. Lincoln believed about the freedom of it, it -was a very unprogressive type of preaching. The preachers -bellowed and spat and whined, and cultivated an artificial -"holy tone" and denounced the Methodists and blasphemed -the Presbyterians and painted a hell whose horror even in the -backwoods was an atrocity. Against it the boy Abe Lincoln -rebelled. Many another boy with an active mind has been -driven by the same type of preaching into infidelity.</p> - -<p>Dr. Johnson quotes as indicative of the religious mind of -the young Lincoln the four lines<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> which in his fourteenth year -he wrote on the flyleaf of his schoolbook, and the two lines -which he wrote in the copybook of a schoolmate:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"<i>Abraham Lincoln</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>his hand and pen—</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>he will be good but</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>God knows When</i>";</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> - -<p>and</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"<i>Good boys who to their books apply</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>Will all be great men by and by.</i>"</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Commenting on these Dr. Johnson says: "These show two -things: First, that the youthful boy had faith in his mother's -God; and, second, that he believed his mother's teachings."<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> - -<p>In like manner Dr. Johnson takes the four hymns which -Dennis Hanks remembered to have been sung by himself and -Abe and says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"A soul that can appreciate these hymns must recognize, -first, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission -of sin; second, that Jesus Christ died upon the Cross for the -salvation of the world; third, that life without the Saviour is -an empty bubble, and, fourth, that loyal devotion to the Christ -and his cause is man's highest calling, and the test of true -character."—<i>Lincoln the Christian</i>, pp. 28-29.</p></blockquote> - -<p>This is very far-fetched. It shows only that Abe sang -such songs, good, bad, and indifferent, as were current in his -day, and without any very fine discrimination either in songs -sacred or secular. If one were to make a creed out of any of -his poetry in this period, it were better to find it in his jingle, -about the Kickapoo Indian, Johnny Kongapod.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> He was -supposed to have composed an epitaph for himself that ran on -this wise:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"<i>Here lies poor Johnny Kongapod;</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>Have mercy on him, gracious God,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>As he would do if he was God</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>And you were Johnny Kongapod.</i>"</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> - -<p>It matters not for our purpose that these lines were not -strictly original with Johnny Kongapod. We meet them in -George Macdonald's story "David Elginbrod," and they have -been used doubtless in rural England for generations. But -they involve a certain rude and noble faith that the Judge of -all the earth will do right and that divine justice and human -justice have a common measure. Lincoln never forgot that, -and he learned it on Pigeon Creek.</p> - -<p>Herndon is our authority, if we needed any, that the Baptist -preaching of Lincoln's boyhood made him a lifelong -fatalist.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> He emerged into manhood with the conviction that -"whatever is to be will be," and Mrs. Lincoln declared that -this was his answer to threats concerning his assassination; -that it had been his lifelong creed and continued still to be the -ruling dogma of his life.</p> - -<p>It would have gladdened the heart of Sarah Bush if her -stepson, whom she loved with a tenderness almost surpassing -that which she bestowed upon her own flesh and blood, had -manifested in his youth some signs of that irresistible grace -which was supposed to carry the assurance of conversion as -an act not of man but of the Holy Spirit. He did not manifest -that grace in the form in which she desired. She could -not consistently blame him very much, for, according to her -own creed and that of Thomas Lincoln, nothing that he could -have done of his own volition would have mattered very much.</p> - -<p>Horace Bushnell's <i>Christian Nurture</i> had not yet been -written; and if it had there was not a preacher among the -Baptists in southern Indiana who would not have denounced -it as a creation of the devil. There were no Sunday schools -in those churches, and when they began to appear they were -vigorously opposed. There was no Christian nurture for the -boy Abe Lincoln save the sincere but lethargic religion of his -father and the motherly ministrations of his stepmother.</p> - -<p>But "Abe was a good boy." With tears in her eyes Sarah -Bush could remember that he never gave her a cross word. -He was unregenerate, but not unlovable; and he had more -faith than perhaps he realized.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE ENVIRONMENTS OF LINCOLN'S YOUNG<br /> -MANHOOD</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> second period of Lincoln's religious life extends from his -removal into Illinois in March of 1830 until the establishment -of his residence in Springfield, April 15, 1837.</p> - -<p>Thomas Lincoln was a thriftless farmer who blamed external -conditions for his misfortunes. Following a second -appearance of the "milk sick," which came to southern Indiana -in the winter of 1829, he and his family removed in March -of 1830 to Illinois. Abraham was twenty-one years of age. -He assisted his father to get established in the new home, to -which a wearying journey of fourteen days had brought the -household, and then set out in life for himself. For several -months he worked near home, but in the spring of 1831 he -made his second flatboat trip to New Orleans. The boat -stuck on a dam at Rutledge's mill at New Salem, and his -ingenuity in getting it over the dam won him local fame and -had something to do with his subsequent establishment of a -home there. The flatboat stuck on April 19, 1831. In June -he returned to New Salem and entered into business with -Denton Offutt in a small and non-remunerative general store. -While waiting for the opening of this store he became acquainted -with Mentor Graham, a school teacher of local -celebrity, whom Lincoln assisted as clerk of a local election, -and through him learned the contents of Kirkham's Grammar, -and also acquired the essential elements of surveying. New -Salem was a sporadic town which had no good reason to exist. -It was established in 1829 and lasted barely seven years. It -was located on the Sangamon River, some fifteen miles from -Springfield.</p> - -<p>In February, 1832, this flatboat hand, then working as -clerk, began his canvass for the Legislature, his formal an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>nouncement -of candidacy appearing March 9. He was defeated, -but received an encouraging local vote. In 1832 he -had a brief experience as a soldier, serving in the Black Hawk -War, starting in pursuit of the Indians on April 27 and -returning in July. Excepting for his absences at the Black -Hawk War and in attendance upon the meetings of the Legislature -in Vandalia, he was in New Salem practically during -the whole of the history of that little town. He established -a partnership in the firm of Lincoln & Berry, keepers of a -general store, a business for which he had no qualification, -and he accumulated debts, which he was unable to pay in full -until after his first term in Congress seventeen years later. -On May 7, 1833, he became postmaster of the microscopic -village of New Salem, and held that position until May 30, -1836, about which date the town disappeared. In August, -1834, he was elected to the Legislature, then sitting at Vandalia, -and had an important share in the removal of the state -capital from there to Springfield.</p> - -<p>In New Salem occurred two of Lincoln's three recorded -love affairs.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> In 1834 he fell in love with Ann Rutledge, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> -whom he became engaged, and who died, August 25, 1835. -In the autumn of 1836 he made love to Miss Mary Owens, -who refused him. These two love affairs are related in detail -by Lamon and by Herndon; the second of them gave rise to -Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Browning, one of the least creditable -things that ever came from his pen (Herndon, I, 192).</p> - -<p>Heart-broken over the death of Ann Rutledge and ashamed -of himself for his lack of gallantry in his love affair with Miss -Owens, he saw New Salem doomed in all its hopes of being -a city.</p> - -<p>While sitting about the store waiting for business which did -not come, he read law after a desultory fashion, becoming -what he called not inappropriately "a mast-fed lawyer." For -the benefit of any reader to whom this term conveys no meaning, -it may be stated that "mast" consists of acorns, nuts, -and other edible commodities, which hogs running at large in -the wilderness are able to feed upon. Between a hog corn-fed -in a stye and a backwoods mast-fed razor-back, there is a -marked difference, and Lincoln's phrase was a very apt one. -In the autumn of 1836 he obtained a law license. On March, -1837, he was admitted to the bar. On April 15, 1837, he -moved to Springfield.</p> - -<p>With his Springfield experience we shall deal later; that is -an epoch by itself. We now consider the conditions of life in -New Salem and their influence in shaking the religious character -of Abraham Lincoln. New Salem, while an insignificant -hamlet, was located on the Sangamon River and received its -share of the travel to and from Springfield. Its central institutions -were its tavern, where Lincoln boarded, and the store,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> -where he read grammar and law, discussed politics, and occasionally -sold goods.</p> - -<p>The influence of life in New Salem upon the mind of -Abraham Lincoln was very marked. We must not make the -mistake of considering it solely in the character of a poor little -frontier town destined to short life and in its day of no -consequence to the world. To Lincoln it was a city, and it had -its own ambitions to become a greater city. Although it had -scarcely twenty houses, not one of them costing much over a -hundred dollars, and not more than a hundred inhabitants, it -was to him no mean city. Here Lincoln developed rapidly. -He read, discussed, thought, wrote, and spoke on a wide -variety of subjects. His style was that of florid declamation, -a stump oratory with some affectation of erudition. He made -the most of his few books, and every one of them left its deep -impression upon him. He continued to read the Bible, and -grew somewhat familiar with Shakespeare, Burns, and even -Byron. While there was no church building in New Salem, -and church services were irregular, such services as were held -were generally in the tavern where he boarded, a tavern kept -at first by James Rutledge and afterward by Henry Onstott. -It is interesting to cull out of T. G. Onstott's reminiscences a -number that are based on his own recollections, supplemented -perhaps by traditions received from his father:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"After James Rutledge moved out of the log tavern, my -father, Henry Onstott, moved in and occupied it from 1833 -till 1835, and still had for a boarder Abraham Lincoln. It -was at this time that my early impressions of him were formed. -We did not know at that time that we were entertaining an -angel unawares. My first knowledge of him was as a great -marble player. He kept us small boys running in all directions -gathering up the marbles he would scatter. During this time -he followed surveying, having learned in six weeks from -books furnished him by John Calhoun, of Springfield. About -this time he commenced to read some law-books which he borrowed -of Bowling Green, who lived one-half mile north of -Salem. I think my father and Esquire Green did more than -any other two men in determining Lincoln's future destiny."— -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span><span class="smcap">T. G. Onstott</span>: <i>Lincoln and Salem—Pioneers of Menard and -Mason Counties</i>, p. 25.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Of Lincoln's habits he says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Lincoln never drank liquor of any kind and never chewed -or smoked. We never heard him swear, though Judge Weldon -said at the Salem Chautauqua that once in his life when he -was excited he said, 'By Jing!'"—<span class="smcap">Onstott</span>: <i>Lincoln and -Salem</i>, p. 73.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Of Peter Cartwright, Onstott says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"He was a great man for camp-meetings and prayer meetings. -He was converted at a camp-meeting, and in his early -ministry lived in a tented grove from two to three months -in a year. He said: 'May the day be eternally distant when -camp-meetings, class meetings, prayer meetings, and love feasts -shall be laid aside in Methodist churches.'...</p> - -<p>"There was sound preaching in those days. The preachers -preached hell and damnation more than they do now. They -could hold a sinner over the pit of fire and brimstone till -he could see himself hanging by a slender thread, and he would -surrender and accept the gospel that was offered to him."—<span class="smcap">Onstott</span>: -<i>Lincoln and Salem</i>, pp. 120, 127.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Of one of these preachers, Abraham Bale, Onstott says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"He had a habit when preaching of grasping his left ear -with his hand, then leaning over as far as he could and lowering -his voice. He would commence to straighten up and his -voice would rise to a high key. He would pound the Bible -with his fist and stamp the floor, and carry everything before -him. He created excitement in the first years of his ministry -in Salem. He was a Baptist, though not of the hardshell -persuasion."—<span class="smcap">Onstott</span>: <i>Lincoln and Salem</i>, p. 149.</p></blockquote> - -<p>This was the general and accepted habit of Baptist -preachers in that movement, and the author has heard scores -of sermons delivered in this fashion.</p> - -<p>Of the religious life of early Illinois and of frontier communities -in general, Professor Pease says:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Religion came to be the most universally persuasive -intellectual force of the frontier. As might be expected, on -the frontier the first tendency was toward a disregard of -religious observances. The emigrant from the older settled -regions left behind him the machinery and the establishment -of sectarian religion. Until that machinery could be set up -again on the frontier he lived without formal worship and -often for the time at least the sense of the need of it passed -out of his life. In cases where observance had been due to -social convention, there was no doubt a welcome feeling of -freedom and unrestraint.</p> - -<p>"Normally the frontiersman was unreligious. Birkbeck -noted with relish the absence of ceremony at baptism or funeral -and the tolerance of all backwoods preachers alike, whether -they raved or reasoned. Sunday was a day for riot and disorder. -Other observers looked with horror on such a state of -things, did their best to set up at least stated regular worship, -and noted an improvement in morals as a result."—<span class="smcap">Pease</span>: -<i>Centennial History of Illinois</i>, II, 23.</p></blockquote> - -<p>There were, however, some compensations. Fordham -wrote:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"This is not the land of hypocrisy. It would not here -have its reward. Religion is not the road to wordly respectability, -nor a possession of it the cloak of immorality."—<i>Personal -Narrative</i>, p. 128.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Of the sporadic nature of much of the religious effort on -the frontier, Professor Buck says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"In spite of the tremendous exertions of the pioneer -preachers, many of the remote settlements must have been -practically devoid of religious observances, and even in the -older settlements the influence of occasional visitations, however -inspiring they might be, was often lacking in permanence."—<i>Illinois -in 1818</i>, p. 179.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Of the lack of permanence there may be some room for a -difference of judgment; there certainly was lack of continuity. -As in Kentucky and southern Indiana, and for a time in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> -southern Illinois, there was no expectation of a regular weekly -religious service conducted by any one minister, but preachers -moved in extended circuits and no considerable settlement was -long without occasional religious service.</p> - -<p>There was much godlessness in many of the early settlements. -John Messenger wrote in 1815: "The American inhabitants -in the villages appear to have very little reverence -for Christianity or serious things in any point of view."</p> - -<p>While there was some attempt at Sabbath observance, -Reynolds says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"In early times in many settlements of Illinois, Sunday -was observed by the Americans only as a day of rest from -work. They generally were employed in hunting, fishing, getting -up their stock, hunting bees, breaking young horses, shooting -at marks, horse and foot racing, and the like. When -the Americans were to make an important journey they generally -started on Sunday and never on Friday; they often -said; 'the better the day the better the deed,'"—<span class="smcap">Reynolds</span>: -<i>My Own Times</i>, p. 80.</p></blockquote> - -<p>One must not infer from the irregularity of religious -services that the people in these new regions were wholly without -religion. Professor Buck says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The spiritual welfare of the Illinois pioneers was not -neglected. The religious observances, with the exception of -those of the French Catholics, were of the familiar type. The -principal Protestant denominations at the close of the territorial -period were the Methodists and the Baptists, the latter -classified as 'regular,' or 'hardshell,' and separating. Presbyterianism -was just beginning to get a foothold. The ministers -were of two types—the circuit rider, who covered wide -stretches of country and devoted all his time to religious work, -and the occasional preacher who supplemented his meager income -from the church by farming or some other occupation."—<span class="smcap">Buck</span>: -<i>Illinois in 1818</i>, p. 173.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Governor Ford has left an account of the unlearned but -zealous frontier preachers, of their sermons, and of the results -of their work, which cannot easily be improved upon:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Preachers of the gospel frequently sprang up from the -body of the people at home, without previous training, except -in religious exercises and in the study of the Holy Scriptures. -In those primitive times it was not thought to be necessary -that a teacher of religion should be a scholar. It was thought -to be his business to preach from a knowledge of the Scriptures -alone, to make appeals warm from the heart, to paint -heaven and hell to the imagination of the sinner, to terrify -him with the one, and to promise the other as a reward for -a life of righteousness. However ignorant these first preachers -may have been, they could be at no loss to find congregations -still more ignorant, so that they were still capable of instructing -someone. Many of them added to their knowledge -of the Bible, a diligent perusal of Young's <i>Night Thoughts</i>, -Watts' hymns, Milton's <i>Paradise Lost</i>, and Hervey's <i>Meditations</i>, -a knowledge of which gave more compass to their -thoughts, to be expressed in a profuse, flowery language, and -raised their feelings to the utmost height of poetical enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>"Sometimes their sermons turned upon matters of controversy; -unlearned arguments on the subject of free grace, -baptism, free-will, election, faith, good works, justification, -sanctification, and the final perseverance of the saints. But -that in which they excelled, was the earnestness of their words -and manner, leaving no doubt of the strongest conviction in -their own minds, and in the vividness of the pictures which -they drew of the ineffable blessedness of heaven, and the -awful torments of the wicked in the fire and brimstone appointed -for eternal punishment. These, with the love of God -to sinful man, the sufferings of the Saviour, the dangerous -apathy of sinners, and exhortations to repentance, furnished -themes for the most vehement and passionate declamations. -But above all, they continually inculcated the great principles -of justice and sound morality.</p> - -<p>"As many of these preachers were nearly destitute of -learning and knowledge, they made up in loud hallooing and -violent action what they lacked in information. And it was -a matter of astonishment to what length they could spin out -a sermon embracing only a few ideas. The merit of a sermon -was measured somewhat by the length of it, by the flowery -language of the speaker, and by his vociferation and violent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> -gestures. Nevertheless, these first preachers were of incalculable -benefit to the country. They inculcated justice and -morality, and to the sanction of the highest human motives to -regard them, added those which arise from a belief of the -greatest conceivable amount of future rewards and punishments. -They were truly patriotic also; for at a time when -the country was so poor that no other kind of ministry could -have been maintained in it, they preached without charge to -the people, working week days to aid the scanty charities of -their flocks, in furnishing themselves with a scantier living. -They believed with a positive certainty that they saw the souls -of men rushing to perdition; and they stepped forward to warn -and to save, with all the enthusiasm and self-devotion of a -generous man who risks his own life to save his neighbor from -drowning. And to them are we indebted for the first Christian -character of the Protestant portion of this people."—<span class="smcap">Thomas -Ford</span>: <i>History of Illinois</i>, pp. 38-40.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Of the hostility of certain of the early Baptists to enlightenment, -there is abundant evidence in their own fierce -opposition to their ablest minister, John Mason Peck. He was -born in 1789 in the Congregational atmosphere of Connecticut, -but, becoming a Baptist by conviction, became a missionary to -the West in 1817. His foes were they of his own household. -They fiercely fought against Bible societies, Sunday schools, -and missionary societies. In 1828, when Peter Cartwright and -James Lemen endeavored to secure the passage of a bill for -the prevention of vice and immorality, there was an attempt to -amend it in the interests of certain of the Hardshell Baptists -by adding to the section against the disturbance of public -worship a clause to fine in any sum not less than five dollars -or more than fifteen any person who on Sunday would sell -any pamphlet or book or take up an offering 'for the support -of missionary societies, Bible societies, or Sunday school.' -There were not less than twelve members of the House of -Representatives who voted for this bill."—<span class="smcap">Pease</span>: <i>Centennial -History of Illinois</i>, II, 28, 29.</p></blockquote> - -<p>One evidence of the hostility of many of the early inhabitants -and especially of some who were active in politics toward -organized religion, as well as the tendency of ministers of that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> -period to participate in politics, is found in the fact that Illinois -narrowly escaped having in her Constitution a provision disqualifying -all ministers to hold office in the State. When the -Constitutional Convention assembled at Kaskaskia this question -was earnestly discussed, and the controversy was waged -also in the columns of the <i>Western Intelligencer</i>, which was -published in Kaskaskia from 1806 to 1814. A writer who -signed himself "A Foe to Religious Tyranny" roundly denounced -the political sermons of certain of the ministers, and -charged that they intended to disqualify any citizens for office -excepting "professors of religion."</p> - -<p>When the first draft of the Constitution was submitted in -August, 1818, Article II, Section 26, read: "Whereas the -ministers of the gospel are by their profession dedicated to -God and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from -the great duties of their function: Therefore, no minister of -the gospel or priest of any denomination whatever, shall be -eligible to a seat in either house of the Legislature."</p> - -<p>This article was warmly commended by a writer in the -<i>Intelligencer</i> under date of August 12, 1818, who commended -the framers of the Constitution for their provision "to exempt -ministers of the gospel from the servile and arduous drudgery -of legislation, and of electioneering to procure themselves seats -in the Legislature," but urged the convention to extend the -provision so as to disqualify ministers from holding any office -whatever. A number of members of the Constitutional Convention -favored this drastic proscription. On the first reading -the proposed article was approved; but it was later reconsidered -and voted down.</p> - -<p>Ministers thus were left on a plane with other citizens as -regarded the holding of public office; and their candidacy for -the Legislature especially was not infrequent; indeed, one of -the writers who engaged in this controversy considered the -appalling possibility that the Constitutional Convention might -have been composed entirely of ministers, and that some future -session of the Legislature might find them in complete control. -There never was any danger that ministers would make up a -controlling faction in the Illinois Legislature; but they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> -not a negligible element in the early political life of the -State.</p> - -<p>Lincoln soon came into the political atmosphere which was -thus affected by religious controversy, and it had an influence -upon him. His most formidable and persistent opponent, until -he met Douglas, was a Methodist preacher, the redoubtable -Peter Cartwright who defeated him in a contest for the Legislature -and whom he defeated in a race for Congress. Lincoln -was quite familiar with religion in its relation to politics in -early Illinois.</p> - -<p>Of Lincoln's theological opinions, especially those which -he cherished while at New Salem, and which Herndon believed -he did not materially change, Herndon says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Inasmuch as he was often a candidate for public office -Mr. Lincoln said as little as possible about his religious opinions, -especially if he failed to coincide with the orthodox world. -In illustration of his religious code, I once heard him say that -it was like that of an old man named Glenn, in Indiana, -whom he heard speak at a religious meeting, and who said, -'When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad; -and that's my religion.' In 1834, while still living in New -Salem, and before he became a lawyer, he was surrounded -by a class of people exceedingly liberal in matters of religion. -Volney's <i>Ruins</i> and Paine's <i>Age of Reason</i> passed from hand -to hand, and furnished food for the evening's discussion in -the tavern and village store. Lincoln read both these books, -and assimilated them into his own being. He prepared an -extended essay—called by many, a book—in which he made -an argument against Christianity, striving to prove that the -Bible was not inspired, and therefore not God's revelation, -and that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God. The manuscript -containing these audacious and comprehensive propositions -he intended to have published or given a wide circulation -in some other way. He carried it to the store, where it was -read and freely discussed. His friend and employer, Samuel -Hill, was among the listeners, and seriously questioning the -propriety of a promising young man like Lincoln fathering -such unpopular notions, he snatched the manuscript from his -hands, and thrust it into the stove. The book went up in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> -flames, and Mr. Lincoln's political future was secure. But his -infidelity and his skeptical views were not diminished."—<span class="smcap">Herndon</span>, -III, 439-440.</p></blockquote> - -<p>We shall have occasion in a subsequent chapter to recur -to this so-called book which Lincoln is alleged to have written -while in New Salem. It is sufficient at this time to remember, -and the fact must not be overlooked, that our knowledge of -this book depends solely upon the testimony of Herndon. -Herndon never saw the book, and so far as is known he -never talked with anyone who had seen it. He affirms that -Lincoln never denied having written a book on the subject -of religion, but he nowhere claims that Lincoln told him in -detail concerning its contents. Herndon's principal visit, and -perhaps the only one which he made to New Salem in quest of -literary material, was in October in 1866. He had attended the -Circuit Court of Menard County on Saturday, October 13, and -on Sunday morning at 11:20 <span class="smcap">A.M.</span>, as he tells us with painstaking -and lawyer-like particularity, he visited the site of New -Salem. That afternoon and a part of the next morning, which -he says was misty, cloudy, foggy, and cold, he made inquiry -of the oldest inhabitant of that part of the country and wrote -out the substance of his lecture on Ann Rutledge. This was -a whole generation after Lincoln had removed from the now -depopulated New Salem, and there were very few people in -the neighborhood who remembered him through any personal -association. The town had completely disappeared, but Herndon -found the site of the houses that once had stood there, -and also found and identified the grave of Ann Rutledge. To -that visit we are indebted for a good deal of our knowledge -of the background of Lincoln's life during this formative -epoch. But we are not bound to accept all of Mr. Herndon's -inferences regarding it.</p> - -<p>It must be remembered that Herndon's lecture did not -pass unchallenged. So small was the audience when he delivered -it and so uniformally unfavorable were the press comments -that he never repeated this lecture, and some of its -statements are open to question. It is not in this lecture that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> -we learn of the essay which Lincoln is alleged to have written -in criticism of the Bible, but that was the visit on which -Herndon appears to have gathered his information concerning -Lincoln's more intimate relations with New Salem.</p> - -<p>There is no good reason to doubt that Lincoln during this -period read Volney and Paine, and that having read them -he rushed rather quickly to paper and set down his immature -thoughts in argumentative fashion. It would divert us from -our present purpose of portraying the environment if we were -to consider in detail at this point the story of Lincoln's burnt -book. The reader will do well to remember, however, that -Herndon, though truthful, was not infallible nor on this point -free from bias; that neither Herndon nor anyone else then -living was known to have seen, much less to have read, the -book alleged to have been burned thirty-two years before; and -that there was abundant opportunity not only for exaggeration -but even for a complete misunderstanding concerning the -actual content of this book.</p> - -<p>Indeed, this incident has been allowed to pass with too -little criticism or challenge. Those who did not believe Lincoln -to have been a man of faith were glad to accept the story; -those who believed that he later was a man of faith were -not wholly unwilling to believe that he had once been an -infidel and later had undergone a marked change of opinion. -There seemed no good reason to dispute Herndon, and no one -else was supposed to know more about the subject than he. -But we shall discover that Herndon may not have learned the -whole truth. There is more than a possibility that the manuscript -that was burned was a document of quite another sort.</p> - -<p>If Lincoln was regarded as an infidel, and if he ever was -tempted to think himself one, we should not be justified in -accepting that judgment as final until we knew and considered -what was required in that time and place to constitute a man -an infidel.</p> - -<p>In the mind of most if not all of the Baptist preachers -whom Lincoln heard while he was at New Salem, a belief -that the earth was round was sufficient to brand a man as an -infidel. The Methodists, as a rule, would have admitted that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> -the earth was round, but Peter Cartwright would probably -have considered a man an infidel who believed that the earth -was not created in seven literal days. At Vandalia, Lincoln -heard some ministers of wider vision, such as Edward Beecher -and Julian M. Sturtevant, who were occasionally there, and -John Mason Peck; but these experiences were rare. His association -with Methodists was largely in the political arena, -where he crossed swords three times with Peter Cartwright. -That doughty hero of the Cross was born in Virginia on -September 1, 1786, and exerted a mighty influence for good in -early Illinois. With a nominal salary of $80 a year, and an -actual salary of $30 or $40, he rode thousands of miles through -deep mud, baptized 8,000 children and 4,000 adults, conducted -camp-meetings and political campaigns, and sang and shouted -and in his own language whipped the devil round the stump -and hit him a crack at every jump until his death at Pleasant -Plains, Illinois, September 25, 1872. He defeated Lincoln -for the Legislature, and was defeated by him for Congress in -1846. So far as we know, Lincoln left no record of his -feeling toward Cartwright and the Methodists. He could not -have failed to respect such men, but it is not altogether certain -that he was tempted to love them.</p> - -<p>By the time Lincoln was seventeen, and possibly earlier, -he believed the earth to be round. I shall not succeed in making -the reader understand the possible effect of this discovery -upon him and certain of his associates without relating an -experience of my own.</p> - -<p>In the summer of 1881, being then a college student on -vacation, I taught school in the mountains of Kentucky far -beyond the end of the railroad. The school was a large and -prosperous one and brought many students from other districts -who paid a trifling tuition and were preparing to teach. -The curriculum included everything from the alphabet to a -simplified normal course. A majority of my pupils had but -one textbook, Webster's Blueback Speller. I endeavored to -make up for the lack of textbooks by lessons in the Natural -Sciences and in such other branches of study as seemed adapted -to the requirements of my pupils. After a few weeks one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> -my pupils, son of a Baptist minister, was taken out of school. -His father being interviewed stated that he was sorry to have -the boy lose his education, but could not afford to permit him -to be converted to infidelity. What the boy had learned which -disturbed his father was that the earth was round.</p> - -<p>The subject provoked widespread discussion, and finally -resulted in a joint debate between two school teachers and -two Baptist preachers on the question:</p> - -<p>"<i>Resolved</i>, That the earth is flat and stationary, and that -the sun moves around it once in twenty-four hours."</p> - -<p>At early candle-lighting on two successive Friday evenings -this question was debated. On each night the procedure was -the same. Each of the speakers spoke forty-five minutes, and -each of the leaders spent a half-hour in rebuttal, a total of four -hours each evening of solid oratory. I should like to relate, -but it would unduly extend this narrative, the learned arguments -of the two college students who stood for the rotundity -of the earth, and how those arguments were met. I well -remember the closing argument of my chief opponent, not -the local preacher but an abler man whom he brought in, the -cousin of a Confederate General of the same name (though -himself a stanch Union man) who stood beside and above -me with long descending gestures that threatened to crush -my skull as he shouted:</p> - -<p>"He's a college student-ah! And he's come out here to -larn us and instruct us about the shape of the yarth-ah! And -he knows more'n Joshua-ah! And he'd take Joshua into this -here school and tell him he didn't know what he'd ort to pray -for-ah! He'd tell Joshua that he hadn't orter said, 'Sun, stand -thou still upon Gibeon-ah, and thou moon in the valley of -Ajalon-ah!' He'd tell Joshua that he'd ort to have prayed, -'Yarth, stand thou still upon thine axle-tree-ah!' But I -reckon God knowed what Joshua had ort to have prayed for, -for it is written in the Word of God that the sun stood -still-ah! I tell ye, brethering, hit's the doctrine of infidelity-ah! -And any man that teaches it ort to be drove out of the -country-ah!"</p> - -<p>There is much more of the story, but this must suffice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> -to illustrate an important point. Until he went to live in -Springfield, Abraham Lincoln probably never had heard a -Baptist preacher, unless it was John Mason Peck on some -errand to Vandalia, who did not believe the earth flat, and -who would not have classified Abraham Lincoln as an infidel -for denying the declaration.</p> - -<p>Now, I knew that I was not an infidel, even though I -parted company with my friends in the Baptist ministry in -my belief that the earth was round, and even though I had a -similar debate with a well-informed Methodist preacher on -the length of time that was required to make the earth. But -Abraham Lincoln did not know. Thomas Paine and the -preachers were agreed in their misinformation.</p> - -<p>I count it a privilege to have lived with earnest and intelligent -people who believed the earth flat, and to whom that -belief was an important article of Christian faith. But I -saw intelligent young men who had come to another opinion -concerning some of these matters who accepted without protest -the names that overzealous mountain preachers applied to them, -and who, believing themselves to be infidels, in time became so.</p> - -<p>Not many of Lincoln's biographers, if indeed any of them, -have shared these advantages which for several profitable -years I had in the mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee; -and I am less ready than some of even the most orthodox of -them have been to accept the declaration that when Lincoln -left New Salem he was an infidel. Even if I knew that he -thought himself to be such, I should like before forming my -final conclusion to know just what he thought constituted an -infidel. I do not think that at this period of his history -Abraham Lincoln possessed an adequate knowledge of the -subject to have been altogether competent to classify himself.</p> - -<p>A few things we know about him. He had established a -reputation for courage, for kindness, and for honesty. -"Honest Abe" was his sobriquet, and he deserved it. Whatever -his opinions, he held them honestly; and neither on earth -nor in heaven can any man be rightfully condemned for the -holding of an honest opinion.</p> - -<p>We shall have occasion later to refer to Mentor Graham,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> -and to quote him. He came into Lincoln's life at this time, -and taught him Kirkham's Grammar, and the study of surveying, -and assisted him with his literary composition. He -knew more of the mind of Abraham Lincoln during this period -than any other man, and we shall hear from him in due -time.</p> - -<p>New Salem "winked out," as Lincoln was accustomed to -say. It disappeared from the map. The post-office was discontinued. -There was nothing to hold Lincoln there. But -the great city of Springfield, with its one thousand inhabitants -and its majestic pride in its new State Capitol, which Lincoln -had done much to remove thither from Vandalia, beckoned -to this ambitious young lawyer and politician, and on March -15, 1837, he borrowed a horse, rode to Springfield with all his -worldly goods in his saddlebags, and the saddlebags none too -full, and thereafter became a resident of the capital city of -Illinois, and a permanent factor in its legal and political life.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Lincoln arrived in New Salem on April 19, 1831, a tall, -lank flatboat hand, with his trousers rolled up "about five -feet," and he left it on a borrowed horse with all his belongings -in a pair of saddlebags, March 15, 1837. So far as -worldly wealth was concerned, he was richer when he arrived -at the age of twenty-two than when he left at the age of -twenty-eight, for he was heavily in debt. It had fared better -with him financially had he spent those six years in Illinois -College at Jacksonville. He might have entered Springfield -at the same time with a college diploma and a smaller debt. -A college education was not impossible for him, and he might -have had it had he cared for it as much as did the Green -brothers or the brother of Ann Rutledge, or, among his later -associates, Shelby M. Collum or Newton Bateman. It is a -fair question whether an education under such good and -great men as Julian M. Sturtevant and Edward Beecher would -have been more or less valuable than what he actually got; -in any event, it was not an impossibility if he had cared as -much for it as did some other boys as poor as he.</p> - -<p>But New Salem was his <i>alma mater</i>, as Mrs. Atkinson<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> -has aptly termed it, and there he got what had to stand as -the equivalent of his academic course.</p> - -<p>To have seen him entering New Salem on a flatboat and -leaving it on a borrowed horse, one might easily have arrived -at very erroneous conclusions as to what the six years had -done for him. But the years were not lost.</p> - -<p>He came to New Salem a strong pioneer, proud of his -great height, and he always remained almost childishly proud -of it, and ready to challenge any other tall man to back up to -him and discover which was the taller. He was capable of -hard work, and disinclined to perform it. Thomas Lincoln -had taught him to work, but not to love work; and his employers -declared that he loved labor far less than his meals -and pay. If he must work, he preferred almost any kind of -work rather than that of the farm, and he had welcomed the -brief experiences of the river and had serious thoughts of being -a blacksmith. He had prized his great strength less for the -labor he might perform than for the supremacy which it gave -him in physical contests; and it had made him the admired -leader of the local wrestlers and the idol of the Clary Grove -gang.</p> - -<p>He had come to New Salem able to read, and to make -what he called "rabbit tracks" as clerk on election day, -assisting Mentor Graham, who rewarded him many fold in -what he later taught to the young giant. He left New Salem -a competent surveyor, a member of the bar, a representative -in the Legislature, and, he might have called himself Captain, -if he had chosen to do so, or even taken advantage of the -frontier's ready system of post-bellum promotions and acquired -higher rank as an officer who had seen actual military -service. He had the good sense not to do this, and about the -only commendable thing in his one important speech in Congress -in later years was his mirthful description of his own -military performance.</p> - -<p>He had learned to think, to compose reasonably good -English, to stand on his feet and debate. He had learned to -measure his intellectual strength against that of other men, -and to come out ahead at least part of the time. He was pos<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>sessed -of almost inordinate ambition, and had no false notion -that in his case the office was to seek the man;<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> he was more -than ready for any office that would support him, enable him -to reduce his "national debt," and advance him toward something -higher. He was entering the profession of the law, but -law was to him as yet a means to an end, and that end was -office. Politics was the vocation and law the avocation in a -large percentage of the law offices in Illinois and other new -States; and Lincoln was a politician long before he was a -lawyer.</p> - -<p>His residence in New Salem had tested his moral character -and confirmed his personal habits. He did not drink nor -swear nor use tobacco.</p> - -<p>In a state of society such as then existed, there was almost -nothing which such a young man might not have aspired to, -and Lincoln had high self-esteem and large aspiration. From -this distance we see him leaving New Salem to "wink out" -while he rode his borrowed steed far beyond Springfield, to -tether him at last where Thomas Jefferson is alleged to have -hitched his horse, to the palings of the White House.</p> - -<p>But it was no exultant mood which possessed the soul of -Lincoln as he turned his back upon his <i>alma mater</i> and went -forth to conquer the world. He was a briefless lawyer, and -bedless as well as briefless. He had met and mastered men, -but had become painfully aware of his own poverty, his lack -of education, his utter ignorance of the usages of even such -polite society as had been in New Salem, to say nothing of -that in Springfield.</p> - -<p>He was unsettled in love and unsettled in religion, though -he had been on speaking terms with both. He had loved and -lost Ann Rutledge, and he did not love Mary Owens and -could not lose her. He was about to begin one of the loneliest -periods of his very lonely life. For a year only one woman -in Springfield spoke to him, and she would rather not have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> -done so. He did not go to church nor mingle in society, but -faced the hard and bitter problems that confronted him in -earning a living, making some small payments on his debt, -settling his relations with Mary Owens, and possibly giving -some thought to his soul. But this was not a time of one of -his spiritual high water-marks.</p> - -<p>If we had seen Abraham Lincoln as he entered New Salem -and again six years later as he left it, we should have found -small reason to anticipate very much of what afterward -occurred. But looking back upon him in the light of what -occurred afterward, we discern the "promise and potency" -of the great man he afterward became in the sad young man -who already had become a leader of men, and had earned the -right to be called "Honest Abe."</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER V</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE ENVIRONMENT OF LINCOLN'S LIFE IN<br /> -SPRINGFIELD</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span> became a resident of Springfield on Wednesday, -March 15, 1837, and continued to live there until his -removal, Saturday, February 11, 1860, to assume his duties -as President of the United States. He was accepted as -partner by his friend and former commander, Major John T. -Stuart, and shared an office in which politics was the major -interest and law was incidentally practiced. His partnership -with Stuart continued for four years, from April 27, 1837, -until April 14, 1841. His next partnership was with Judge -Stephen T. Logan, and extended from April 14, 1841, to -September 20, 1843.</p> - -<p>He then formed a partnership with William H. Herndon -which began on the day of the dissolution of the partnership -with Judge Logan and was never formally dissolved. Lincoln -had a working alliance with some lawyer in almost every -county seat which he habitually visited, whereby the local -lawyer secured the cases and worked them up, and Lincoln -took them in charge as senior counsel when they came to trial.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> -These were not formal partnerships, though they were often -so spoken of. This method gave him a large practice, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> -brought him into contact and collision with the ablest lawyers -in central and southern Illinois.</p> - -<p>In 1838 and again in 1840 he was re-elected to the Legislature, -and showed little of the ability which he later manifested, -but was a faithful member, and he flung himself with ardor -into the noisy campaign of 1840.</p> - -<p>In 1842 he had his "duel" with James T. Shields, and -later had the good sense to be ashamed of it.</p> - -<p>In 1846 he ran for Congress, and at this third attempt -was elected, taking his seat December 6, 1847, and continuing -for two years.</p> - -<p>The slavery issue was becoming dominant. Lincoln was -not at the outset an abolitionist, and was unwilling to be -placed in a position where he would be compelled to imperil -his political chances by taking too definite a stand on this -divisive measure; but on March 3, 1837, he introduced into -the Legislature a vigorous protest against the aggressions of -the pro-slavery party, a protest which probably failed to affect -his political future because it contained only one signature -beside his own. Only a few months later occurred the -martyrdom of Owen Lovejoy at Alton, and the slavery issue -was no longer one to be kept in the background. It is good -to be able to remember that Lincoln's first protest against -it was recorded before it had become so burning an issue. He -himself dated his hostility to slavery to what he saw of a -slave market in New Orleans when he visited that city as a -boat hand. But he was unable to remember a time when he -had not believed that slavery was wrong.</p> - -<p>On other moral questions he now began to speak. He -delivered an address on Temperance on Washington's Birthday -in 1842. His first notable oratorical flight outside the -spheres of politics and law was delivered before the Young -Men's Lyceum of Springfield on January 27, 1837, and was -on "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions." It -took him longer to say it than it did at Gettysburg, and it -was not so well said, but the rather florid lecture was intended -to mean essentially the same thing which he later expressed -much more simply and effectively.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> - -<p>His most important case that had a bearing on the slavery -issue was that of Bailey <i>vs.</i> Cromwell, when he was thirty-two -years of age. In preparing to argue before the Supreme -Court of Illinois in favor of the freedom of a slave girl, -he learned the legal aspects of the question which later he was -to decide on its military and ethical character.</p> - -<p>In 1858 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the United -States Senate against Stephen A. Douglas, and conducted that -series of debates which made him known throughout the -nation as the champion of freedom in the territories, and of -the faith that the nation could not forever endure half slave -and half free. In the autumn of 1859 he visited Kansas, and -was hailed as the friend of freedom.</p> - -<p>On Tuesday evening, February 27, 1860, he delivered an -address in Cooper Union in New York City, an address -which greatly extended his fame. On the preceding Sunday -he attended Plymouth Church and heard and met Henry -Ward Beecher.</p> - -<p>On May 16, 1860, he was nominated for the Presidency -of the United States by a great convention meeting in a -temporary structure known as "the Wigwam" standing -on Lake and Market Streets near the junction of the two -branches of Chicago River. On November 7, 1860, he was -elected President.</p> - -<p>On Friday, November 4, 1842, he was married to Miss -Mary Todd. She was born in Lexington, Kentucky, December -13, 1818, and had come to Springfield to be with her -sister, Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards, in whose home the marriage -occurred. Concerning this marriage and the events which -went before and after, much has been written and nothing -need here be repeated.</p> - -<p>When Lincoln arrived in Springfield, he found himself -for the first time in his life living in a town with churches -that held service every Sunday, and each church under the -care of its own minister. Springfield had several churches, -and he did not at first attend any of them. This does not -seem to have been on account of any hostility which he entertained -toward them, but his first months in Springfield were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> -months of great loneliness and depression. He was keenly -conscious of his poverty and of his social disqualifications. -He was still tortured by his unhappy love affair with Mary -Owens. More than a year after his arrival in Springfield -he wrote to her that he had not yet attended church and -giving as the reason that he would not know how to behave -himself:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"This thing of living in Springfield is rather a dull business, -after all; at least, it is so to me. I am quite as lonesome -here as I ever was anywhere in my life. I have been spoken -to by but one woman since I have been here, and should not -have been by her if she could have avoided it. I have never -been to church yet, nor probably shall not be soon. I stay -away because I am conscious I should not know how to behave -myself. I am often thinking about what we said of your -coming to live at Springfield. I am afraid you would not be -satisfied. There is a great deal of flourishing about in carriages -here, which it would be your doom to see without sharing -it. You would have to be poor, without the means of -hiding your poverty."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Lincoln's habit with respect to churchgoing underwent -no very marked improvement after his marriage until the year -1850. He came, however, to know a number of ministers<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> -and to sustain somewhat pleasant relations with some of -them.</p> - -<p>Mary Todd had been reared a Presbyterian. For a time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> -after her marriage she attended and was a member of the -Episcopal Church. On February 1, 1850,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> their second son, -Edward Baker Lincoln, died. The little boy was between -three and four years old. The rector of the Episcopal Church -was absent from the city and the funeral service was conducted -by Rev. James Smith, D.D., of the First Presbyterian -Church. A friendship was established between them, and Mr. -Lincoln took a pew in Dr. Smith's church and he and Mrs. -Lincoln attended there regularly.</p> - -<p>In a later chapter we shall have occasion to consider more -directly and at length the influence of Dr. Smith upon Mr. -Lincoln. We now confine ourselves to the fact that Lincoln -now became a church attendant under the ministry of a -preacher quite different from any he had previously known.</p> - -<p>James Smith was a large and stalwart Scotchman. He is -described as Websterian in appearance and in the strength -of logical argument. Lamon speaks of him in contemptuous -phrase which reflects little credit upon Lamon, describing him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> -as a man of slender ability. Whatever Dr. Smith was, he -was not a man of meager intellectual power. He had a -massive mind and one well trained. He had a voice of great -carrying power and was accustomed to speaking to large -congregations both indoors and out. He was a wide reader -and a skilled controversialist. In his own young manhood -he had been a deist, and when he was converted he entered -with great ardor into various discussions with men who -opposed the Christian faith. One such discussion he had -engaged in with a widely known infidel author. The debate -had continued evening after evening in a Southern city for -nearly three weeks and Dr. Smith had emerged from it triumphant.</p> - -<p>Dr. Smith was just the kind of man to win the admiration -of Lincoln at that time. There is some reason to believe that -Dr. Smith's three weeks' debate with C. G. Olmsted at -Columbus, Mississippi, suggested to Lincoln the idea of his -debate with Stephen A. Douglas.</p> - -<p>That Lincoln's views underwent some change at this time -there is the best reason to believe. Lincoln himself declared -to his brother-in-law, Ninian W. Edwards, that his views had -been modified.</p> - -<p>Lamon and Herndon both seek to represent Dr. Smith -as an officious, self-advertising meddler, who sought to win -renown for himself by proclaiming Mr. Lincoln's conversion -through his personal influence. The claims and conduct of -Dr. Smith do not seem to merit any such rebuke. Whatever -Dr. Smith claimed, Mr. Lincoln knew about it and was not -offended by it. Subsequently he appointed Dr. Smith's son -United States Consul to Dundee, Scotland, and on the son's -return to the United States Mr. Lincoln appointed his father, -who by that time had retired from the ministry, to succeed -him in that position. Even Lamon is compelled to admit -that Dr. Smith's claims were made with Mr. Lincoln's knowledge, -and says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Mr. Lincoln permitted himself to be misunderstood and -misrepresented by some enthusiastic ministers and exhorters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> -with whom he came in contact. Among these was the Rev. -Mr. Smith, then pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of -Springfield, and afterward consul at Dundee, in Scotland, -under Mr. Lincoln's appointment."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>, <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, -p. 498.</p></blockquote> - -<p>This statement is thoroughly discreditable, and that which -follows in Lamon's account of Mr. Lincoln's relations with -Dr. Smith is a thorough misrepresentation, as we shall later -discover. Lamon was not a deliberate liar; neither was he -in this matter free from prejudice; and he wrote with reckless -disregard of some facts which he did not know but ought -to have known, and which the reader of this book shall know.</p> - -<p>About this time Mr. Lincoln received word that his own -father was dying, and was prevented from making him a personal -visit, which, apparently, he was not wholly sorry for. -On January 12, 1851, he wrote to his stepbrother, John D. -Johnson:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I sincerely hope father may recover his health, but, tell -him to remember to call upon and confide in our great and -good and merciful Maker, who will not turn away from him -in any extremity. He notes the fall of a sparrow, and numbers -the hairs of our head, and He will not forget the dying -man who puts his trust in Him. Say to him that if we could -meet now it is doubtful whether it would not be more painful -than pleasant, but that if it be his lot to go now, he will soon -have a joyous meeting with many loved ones gone before, and -where the rest of us, through the help of God, hope ere long -to join them."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Even Herndon grew indignant when anyone attempted -to explain away that letter, or to make it seem anything less -than it purported to be. He said in his letter to Mr. Abbott, -under date of February 18, 1870:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"It has been said to me that Mr. Lincoln wrote the above -letter to an old man simply to cheer him up in his last moments, -and that the writer did not believe what he said. The question<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> -is, Was Mr. Lincoln an honest and truthful man? If he was, -he wrote that letter honestly, believing it. It has to me the -sound, the ring, of an honest utterance. I admit that Mr. -Lincoln, in his moments of melancholy and terrible gloom, -was living on the border land between theism and atheism, -sometimes quite wholly dwelling in atheism. In his happier -moments he would swing back to theism, and dwell lovingly -there.... So it seems to me that Mr. Lincoln believed -in God and immortality as well as heaven—a place."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>, -p. 495.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Another incident comes to us from this period and is -related by Captain Gilbert J. Greene. He was a young printer -living in Springfield, and at the time of this incident was -eighteen years of age. Whether the story was in any way -exaggerated we may not certainly know, but it is here given -as he himself furnished it for publication and is now printed -with one or two other Lincoln stories in a small volume in -limited edition:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"'Greene,' said Lincoln to him one day on the streets -of Springfield, 'I've got to ride out into the country tomorrow -to draw a will for a woman who is believed to be on her -deathbed. I may want you for a witness. If you haven't -anything else to do I'd like to have you go along.'</p> - -<p>"The invitation was promptly accepted.</p> - -<p>"On the way to the farmhouse the lawyer and the printer -chatted delightfully, cementing a friendship that was fast -ripening into real affection. Arriving at the house, the woman -was found to be near her end.</p> - -<p>"With great gentleness Lincoln drew up the document -disposing of the property as the woman desired. Neighbors -and relatives were present, making it unnecessary to call on -Greene to witness the instrument. After the signing and -witnessing of the will the woman turned to Lincoln and said, -with a smile:</p> - -<p>"'Now I have my affairs for this world arranged satisfactorily. -I am thankful to say that long before this I have -made preparation for the other life I am so soon to enter. -Many years ago I sought and found Christ as my Saviour. -He has been my stay and comfort through the years, and is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> -now near to carry me over the river of death. I do not fear -death, Mr. Lincoln. I am really glad that my time has come, -for loved ones have gone before me and I rejoice in the -hope of meeting them so soon.'</p> - -<p>"Instinctively the friends drew nearer the bedside. As -the dying woman had addressed her words more directly to -Lincoln than to the others, Lincoln, evincing sympathy in -every look and gesture, bent toward her and said:</p> - -<p>"'Your faith in Christ is wise and strong; your hope of a -future life is blessed. You are to be congratulated in passing -through life so usefully, and into the life beyond so hopefully.'</p> - -<p>"'Mr. Lincoln,' said she, 'won't you read a few verses -out of the Bible for me?'</p> - -<p>"A member of the family offered him the family Bible. -Instead of taking it, he began reciting from memory the -twenty-third Psalm, laying emphasis upon 'Though I walk -through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, -for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.' -Still without referring to the Bible, Lincoln began with the -first part of the fourteenth chapter of John:</p> - -<p>"'Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe -also in me.</p> - -<p>"'In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were -not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.</p> - -<p>"'And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come -again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there -ye may be also.'</p> - -<p>"After he had given these and other quotations from the -Scriptures, he recited various familiar comforting hymns, -closing with 'Rock of Ages, cleft for me.' Then, with a tenderness -and pathos that enthralled everyone in the room, he -spoke the last stanza—</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"'<i>While I draw this fleeting breath,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>When mine eyes shall close in death,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>When I rise to worlds unknown,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>See Thee on Thy judgment throne,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>Rock of Ages, cleft for me,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>Let me hide myself in Thee.'</i></span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>"While Lincoln was reciting this stanza a look of peace -and resignation lit up the countenance of the dying woman.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> -In a few minutes more, while the lawyer and the printer were -there, she passed away.</p> - -<p>"The journey back to Springfield was begun in silence. -It was the younger man who finally said:</p> - -<p>"'Mr. Lincoln, ever since what has just happened back -there in the farmhouse, I have been thinking that it is very -extraordinary that you should so perfectly have acted as -pastor as well as attorney.'</p> - -<p>"When the answer to this suggestion finally was given—and -it was not given at once—Lincoln said:</p> - -<p>"'God, and Eternity, and Heaven were very near to me -today.'"—<span class="smcap">Charles T. White</span>, <i>Lincoln the Comforter</i>, -pp. 11-16.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Reference should be made in our review of this period to -Lincoln's stories as exhibiting an important phase of his -character.</p> - -<p>It is not easy to decide what stories actually were Lincoln's. -Very few of them are to be found in their original -setting, for he did not commonly tell stories when he made -speeches. They were told in personal interviews, in hours of -recreation, and especially in taverns and other loafing places. -The period of their greatest vogue was that in which Lincoln -traveled the circuit. Most of the successful lawyers of that -day were story-tellers; and in the evenings of court-week they -swapped yarns with local wits. Lincoln was the most famous -of a considerable group of noted Illinois story-tellers.</p> - -<p>During his lifetime he was asked about how many of the -stories attributed to him were his own, and he said he thought -about half. A much larger discount would need to be made -now. Many such stories Lincoln probably never heard.</p> - -<p>The stories which lawyers told to each other and to groups -of men were not all of them overnice; and Lincoln's stories -were like the rest. He did not always confine himself to -strictly proper stories. But in those that are authentic and not -quite proper, it is to be observed that the coarseness was incidental -to the real point of the story. I have not heard any -story, authenticated as Lincoln's, which is actually obscene.</p> - -<p>It has been my privilege to examine a considerable quan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>tity -of unpublished writing of Lincoln's, including some manuscripts -that have been withheld for the reason that they were -not quite proper. Of these I can say that they are few in -number, and that the element of vulgarity is very small. -Excepting only the "First Chronicles of Reuben," which was -a rude backwoods joke, written in his boyhood, and in full -accord with the standards of humor current in the time and -general environment, there is not very much that one could -wish had been destroyed.</p> - -<p>The frankest piece of questionable literature from Lincoln's -pen in mature years, so far as I am aware, is in a private -collection, and its owner does not permit it to be copied. Not -many people are permitted to see it. It is probably the least -attractive scrap of Lincoln's writing extant that dates from -his mature years. It is undated, but belongs to the period of -his life on the circuit. It is a piece of extravagant nonsense, -written in about twenty lines on a quarter sheet of legal cap, -and is probably the effort to recall and record something that -he had heard and which amused him. Its whole point is in -the transposition of the initial letters of compound words, or -words in juxtaposition in a sentence, such as a speaker sometimes -makes in a moment of mental confusion. Thus a -cotton-patch is a "potten-catch" and a fence-corner is a -"cence-forner." Every clause contains one or more of these -absurdities, until a sense of boisterous mirth is awakened at -the possibility that there should be so many of them. Most of -them are harmless as the two above quoted, but there are two -or three that are not in good taste. They are not vile nor -obscene, but not very pretty. Lincoln wasted ten minutes of -spare time in writing out this rather ingenious bit of nonsense, -and it is not worth more than that length of discussion. -It is probably the worst bit of extant writing of Lincoln's -mature years, written in the period of his circuit-riding, and -it has little to commend it and not a great deal to condemn.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Lincoln's religious life in Springfield has been and is -the subject of violent controversy. Much that has been written -on both sides bears the marks of prejudice and exhibits<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> -internal evidence of having been consciously or unconsciously -distorted. In a later chapter it will come before us for -review and analysis. Of it we may now remind ourselves -that in this period covering nearly a quarter of a century -Lincoln was developing in many ways. He emerged from -grinding poverty into a condition in which he owned a home -and had a modest sum of money in the bank. From an ill-trained -fledgling lawyer, compelled by his poverty to share -a bed in a friend's room above the store, he had come to be a -leader at the Illinois bar. From an obscure figure in State -politics he had come to be the recognized leader of a political -party that was destined to achieve national success and to -determine the policies of the nation with little interruption -for more than half a century. Out of a condition of great -mental uncertainty in all matters relating to domestic relations -he had come into a settled condition as the husband of a brilliant -and ambitious woman and the father of a family of -sons to whom he was devotedly attached. For the first time -in his life he lived in a community where there were buildings -wholly dedicated to the purposes of public worship; and after -a considerable period of non-church attendance, and perhaps -another of infrequent or irregular attendance, he had become -a regular attendant and supporter of a church whose minister -was his personal friend and whom he greatly admired.</p> - -<p>During his years in Springfield, Mr. Lincoln's political -ideals had undergone marked change. His experience in the -Illinois Legislature is not discreditable; neither does it manifest -any notably high ideals. Nor was he brilliantly successful in -his one term in Congress. Lincoln was an honest politician, -in the sense that he kept his promises and stood by his announced -convictions. But it is impossible to read into his -legislative history any such lofty purpose as later possessed -him. He and the other members of the "Long Nine" log-rolled -in orthodox political fashion, and won from Governor -Ford the title "spared monuments of popular wrath."<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> - -<p>As a jury lawyer, also, his arts were those of the successful -trial lawyer of the period. So far as the author has been -able to find, there was no unworthy chapter in all this long -history. The story, for instance, that in the trial of Armstrong -Lincoln used an almanac of another year and won his -case by fraud, has, as the author is convinced, no foundation -whatever in fact. On the contrary, Lincoln was at a serious -disadvantage in any case in whose justice he did not fully -believe.</p> - -<p>But there came a time when Lincoln was more than a -shrewd and honest politician; more than a successful jury -lawyer. In the brief autobiographical sketch which he prepared -for Mr. Fell, he speaks of his work at the end of his -term in Congress, and says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"In 1846 I was once elected to the lower House of Congress. -Was not a candidate for re-election. From 1849 to -1854, both inclusive, practiced law more assiduously than ever -before. Always a Whig in politics, and generally on the -Whig electoral tickets, making active canvasses, I was losing -interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise -aroused me again. What I have done since is pretty -well known."</p></blockquote> - -<p>He expanded this brief statement somewhat in the sketch -which he furnished a little later to Scripps as a basis of his -campaign biography:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Upon his return from Congress, he went to the practice -of the law with greater earnestness than ever before.... -In 1854 his profession had almost superseded the thought of -politics in his mind, when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise -aroused him as he had never been before."</p></blockquote> - -<p>The full effect of this unprecedented arousing was manifest -in his speech at Springfield on June 16, 1858, the "House-Divided-Against-Itself" -speech.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> - -<p>Lincoln himself is our authority for the statement that -the moral aspects of the slavery issue called him back into -politics and roused him as he never before had been aroused. -Politically, at least, Abraham Lincoln had been born again. -Nor had it been a period of spiritual inaction or retrogression, -as we have seen and shall see yet further.</p> - -<p>In addition to all this he had known the discipline of -sorrow, and had had occasion to test religion on the practical -side of its availability for comfort in time of bereavement. -He had now been chosen to a position of responsibility such -as no man in all the history of his nation had ever been called -upon to occupy.</p> - -<p>On the day before he was fifty-two years old he stood -upon the platform of a railroad train ready to leave Springfield -for the last time. He did not know that it was the last -time, but he had a haunting presentiment that it might be so. -With tears filling his eyes and in a voice choked with emotion -he spoke his last words to his neighbors and friends. Just -what he said we shall never know. A shorthand reporter -endeavored to write it down, but with indifferent success. -Hon. Newton Bateman, State Superintendent of Schools, of -whom we shall hear later, hurried to his office after the train -pulled out and wrote down what, judged by any reasonable -test, must be considered a very satisfactory report of it. -Lincoln sat down in the train after it had left Springfield and -endeavored to recall the exact language which he had used, -and in this was assisted by his private secretary, John Hay. -Of these three, and a considerable number of other versions, -the Illinois Historical Society has chosen the third as the -authentic version. It represents what Lincoln wished to be -remembered as having said, and very nearly what he actually -did say. This version of his farewell address, representing -the deep feeling of his heart at the hour of parting, and -recorded on the same day as embodying his deliberate revision -of the extempore utterance, is taken from Nicolay and Hay's -edition of his Life and of his Works. It is that which was -cast in bronze and placed in the year of his Centennial, in -front of the State House at Springfield. If one would meas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>ure -the growth of Abraham Lincoln intellectually and spiritually -he might ask, What kind of an address in comparison -with this Lincoln might have delivered on his departure from -Kentucky in 1816, from Indiana in 1830, or from New Salem -in 1837? The answer is so emphatic as almost to make the -question absurd; but it is worth while to ask the question -before we read again the familiar words of his farewell -address. No one reading these few sentences can question -the sincerity of Lincoln's utterance or the depth of his religious -feeling:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"My friends: No one, not in my situation, can appreciate -my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the -kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have -lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a youth -to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is -buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I -may return, with the task before me greater than that which -rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that -Divine Being who ever attended him I cannot succeed. With -that assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go -with me, and remain with you and be everywhere for good, -let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care -commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend -me, I bid you an affectionate farewell."—<span class="smcap">Nicolay and Hay</span>, -III, 291.</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE ENVIRONMENT OF LINCOLN'S LIFE IN<br /> -WASHINGTON</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span> was inaugurated sixteenth president of -the United States, on Monday, March 4, 1861. His journey -to Washington had served to impress him even more deeply -than before with a sense of the solemnity of his task. He -still was earnestly hoping, and if we may judge from his -speeches along the route, even expecting, that war would be -averted;<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> but the possibility of war was always apparent and -its probability was growing daily more certain.</p> - -<p>Several incidents are related tending to show the solemnity -of Lincoln's feeling at this time. Some of them are plainly -apocryphal, but others are deeply significant. The following -was related by Rev. Dr. Miner, pastor of the First Baptist -Church of Springfield, who was intimately acquainted with the -Lincoln family and who visited them in the White House. -This story he declared was related to him by Mrs. Lincoln -on the occasion of his visit to the White House and was published -while Mrs. Lincoln was still living. It appears to rest -upon a sound basis of fact:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Here I relate an incident which occurred on the 4th of -March, 1861, as told me by Mrs. Lincoln. Said she:</p> - -<p>"'Mr. Lincoln wrote the conclusion of his inaugural address -the morning it was delivered. The family being present, -he read it to them. He then said he wished to be left alone for -a short time. The family retired to an adjoining room, but not -so far distant but that the voice of prayer could be distinctly -heard. There, closeted with God alone, surrounded by the -enemies who were ready to take his life, he commended his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> -country's cause and all dear to him to God's providential care, -and with a mind calmed by communion with his Father in -heaven, and courage equal to the danger, he came forth from -that retirement ready for duty.'"—<i>Scribner's Monthly</i>, 1873, -p. 343.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Fort Sumter fell April 13, and on the 15th Lincoln issued -his call for volunteers, and called Congress in extraordinary -session for July 4. On July 21 occurred the battle of Bull -Run, and the war settled down to its weary and varying fortunes. -On September 22, 1862, he issued the Emancipation -Proclamation to take effect January 1, 1863. The battle of -Gettysburg occurred July 1-4, 1863, and destroyed the hope -of the Southern Army of a successful invasion of the North. -Simultaneously with Lee's defeat at Gettysburg, General Grant -captured Vicksburg, opening the Mississippi to the Union gunboats. -On November 19, 1863, Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg -address. On March 4, 1865, he was inaugurated President -a second time. On Sunday, April 9, 1865, General Lee -surrendered his army at Appomattox. On Friday night, April -14, at 10:20 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>, Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford's Theater -and died on Saturday morning, April 15, at 7:22. On Thursday, -May 4, his body was interred at Oak Ridge Cemetery in -Springfield.</p> - -<p>During his residence in Washington, Mr. Lincoln habitually -attended the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. -He was a warm personal friend of the pastor, Rev. Phineas D. -Gurley, D.D., whose grandson, Captain Gurley of the War -Department, relates that Lincoln sat with Dr. Gurley on the -rear porch of the White House during the second battle of -Bull Run, and when the strain had become almost unbearable -he knelt in prayer and Mr. Lincoln knelt beside him and joined -reverently in the petition. Dr. Gurley's testimonies to the -religious development of Lincoln's life were conservative, and -bear upon their face marks of trustworthiness. There are no -extravagant claims; no florid and declamatory theological -affirmations,<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> but such as this which Dr. Gurley remembers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> -to have heard Lincoln say to a company of clergymen calling -upon him in one of the darkest times in the Civil War:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"My hope of success in this struggle rests on that immutable -foundation, the justness and the goodness of God; -and when events are very threatening I still hope that in some -way all will be well in the end, because our cause is just and -God will be on our side."—<i>Scribner's Magazine</i>, 1873, p. 339.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Lincoln sometimes varied this form of expression and said -that he was less anxious to proclaim that God was on his side -than he was to be sure that he was on God's side.</p> - -<p>During this period Lincoln had frequent occasion to meet -delegations from religious bodies and to reply to their addresses. -We shall have occasion later to consider some of his -words to these different religious bodies. He also issued a -number of proclamations, calling for days of fasting and -prayer and days of thanksgiving, in which he expressed not -only the formal sentiment which he might assume represented -the mind of the people, but also to a considerable extent what -must have been his own religious conviction.</p> - -<p>An unbiased reading of these proclamations and addresses -compels the reader to recognize in them, not merely the formal -courtesy of an official to the representatives of large and -influential bodies, but the sincere expression of his own faith. -An illustration may be found in his attitude toward the -Quakers. No religious body suffered more during the Civil -War, and with no religious fellowship did Mr. Lincoln feel a -more instinctive sympathy, though he was compelled by the -logic of events to pursue courses of action in contravention of -their desires and at times of their convictions.</p> - -<p>In September, 1862, he received a delegation of Friends, -and listened to an address on their behalf by Mrs. Eliza P. -Gurney, wife of Joseph John Gurney, a wealthy banker, entreating -him on behalf of their peace-loving organization to -bring the war to a speedy end. He could not do what they -wished, and moreover, he believed that it was not the will of -God that the war should end till it had wrought out the purposes -of the Divine will. He said:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I am glad of this interview, and glad to know that I have -your sympathy and prayers. We are indeed going through a -great trial—a fiery trial. In the very responsible position in -which I happen to be placed, being a humble instrument in the -hands of our Heavenly Father, as I am, and as we all are, -to work out His great purposes, I have desired that all my -works and acts may be according to His will, and that it might -be so, I have sought His aid; but if, after endeavoring to do -my best in the light which He affords me, I find my efforts -fail, I must believe that for some purpose unknown to me, He -wills it otherwise. If I had had my way, this war would never -have been commenced. If I had been allowed my way, this -war would have been ended before this; but we find it still -continues, and we must believe that He permits it for some -wise purpose of His own, mysterious and unknown to us; and -though with our limited understandings we may not be able to -comprehend it, yet we cannot but believe that He who made -the world still governs it."</p></blockquote> - -<p>We are not permitted to believe that on this and similar -occasions Mr. Lincoln met the situation with words of pious -evasion, or that what he said was simply what he thought he -might be expected to say. Some months after this interview -Mrs. Gurney, being then in London, wrote to Mr. Lincoln. -He could easily have acknowledged the letter without committing -himself to any religious expression. For several -months he kept the letter, and then, on September 4, 1864, -he wrote to her as follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"My esteemed Friend: I have not forgotten—probably -never shall forget—the very impressive occasion when yourself -and friends visited me on a Sabbath forenoon two years -ago. Nor has your kind letter, written nearly a year later, -ever been forgotten. In all it has been your purpose to -strengthen my reliance on God. I am much indebted to the -good Christian people of the country for their constant prayers -and consolations; and to no one of them more than to yourself. -The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, and must prevail, -though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive them -in advance. We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible -war long before this; but God knows best and ruled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> -otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom, and our -own error therein. Meanwhile we must work earnestly in the -best light He gives us, trusting that so working still conduces -to the great ends He ordains. Surely He intends some great -good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal could -make, and no mortal could stay. Your people, the Friends, -have had, and are having, a very great trial. On principle and -faith opposed to both war and oppression, they can only practically -oppose oppression by war. In this hard dilemma some -have chosen one horn, and some the other. For those appealing -to me on conscientious grounds, I have done, and shall do, -the best I could and can, in my own conscience, under my -oath to the law. That you believe this, I doubt not, and believing -it, I shall receive for my country and myself your earnest -prayers to our Father in Heaven."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Of Lincoln's habit of public worship during his Presidency, -Rev. William Henry Roberts, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian -General Assembly, writes in a foreword to Dr. Johnson's book:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"It was my privilege as a young man to have known -Abraham Lincoln. Entering the service of the United States -government in the fall of 1863, the first Sabbath of my -sojourn in Washington City I went to the New York Avenue -Presbyterian Church. When the time for the long prayer -came, according to immemorial usage in many Presbyterian -congregations, a number of the men stood up for prayer, and -among those upright figures I noticed in particular that of the -President of the United States. As a member of the New -York Avenue Church I was seated not far from Mr. Lincoln at -Sunday services for a year and a half, and his attitude was -always that of an earnest and devout worshiper. He was also -an attendant at the weekly meeting, though for a considerable -period taking part in the services privately. It having become -known that he was an attendant at the prayer meeting, many -persons would gather in or near the church at the close of the -service in order to have access to him for various purposes. -Desiring to put an end to these unwelcome interruptions, the -Rev. Dr. Phineas D. Gurley, the pastor of Mr. Lincoln, arranged -to have the President sit in the pastor's room, the door -of which opened upon the lecture room, and there Mr. Lincoln<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> -would take a silent part in the service. He informed his -pastor on several occasions that he had received great comfort -from the meetings, and for the reason that they had been -characterized more by prayer than by the making of addresses.</p> - -<p>"Dr. Gurley bore repeated testimony to myself and to other -members of the church of the deeply religious character of -Mr. Lincoln, and it is with pleasure that I add this brief testimony -from my own experience and observation.</p> - -<p>"It will be fifty years next fall since I came into direct -touch with the man, who in the providence of God was the -liberator of a race, and I shall always hold in sweet and blessed -memory my first sight of him, as a devout worshiper standing -for prayer in the sanctuary of the Most High."—<i>Abraham -Lincoln the Christian</i>, pp. 13-15.</p></blockquote> - -<p>I have copied direct from the original letter, in possession -of Mr. Jesse W. Weik, Nicolay's letter to Herndon affirming -that, to the best of his knowledge, Lincoln's belief did not -change during his years in the White House. It was addressed -to Herndon, and it reads:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="r"> -"Executive Mansion,<br /> -"Washington, May 27, 1865.</p> -<p> -"<span class="smcap">Friend Herndon</span>:— -</p> - -<p>"I have this morning received your note of the 23rd inst. -and reply at once.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Lincoln did not, to my knowledge, change in any -way his religious views, beliefs, or opinions from the time he -left Springfield to the day of his death. I do not know just -what they were, never having heard him explain them in -detail; but I am very sure he gave no outward indication of -his mind having undergone any change in that regard while -here.</p> - -<p class="c"> -"Very truly,</p> -<p class="r">"<span class="smcap">Jno. G. Nicolay</span>.</p> -<p class="l"> -"<span class="smcap">Hon. William H. Herndon.</span>" -</p></blockquote> - -<p>While Nicolay's declaration that Lincoln gave no outward -indication that his views had undergone any change during his -residence in the White House is entitled to great weight, it is -not wholly conclusive. It is quite possible that Mr. Lincoln<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> -changed more than those who were closest to him every day -realized, more, indeed, than he himself realized. Some men -who had known him in earlier years and who met him from -time to time while he was in the White House observed a -change too subtle to be fully realized by those who saw him -daily. Joshua Fry Speed knew Lincoln from the day Lincoln -arrived in Springfield until his death. Indeed, he had known -Lincoln earlier; but their intimate acquaintance began on the -day when Lincoln received his law license and moved to Springfield, -where he shared Speed's bed. Speed told of that incident -frequently, how Lincoln came into his store, greatly depressed, -asking to be permitted to purchase a single bed which -he was not certain he could ever pay for; but Speed invited -Lincoln to sleep with him in the room above the store. Lincoln -carried his saddlebags upstairs and set them down, and came -down the stairs with his countenance beaming, as he said, -"Well, Speed, I've moved!" Lamon declares that Speed was -"The most intimate friend Mr. Lincoln ever had at this or any -other time" (<i>Life of Lincoln</i>, p. 231). Says Lamon: "He -made to Speed the most confidential communications he ever -made to mortal man. If he had on earth 'a bosom crony,' it -was Speed, and that deep and abiding attachment subsisted -unimpaired to the day of Lincoln's death." To Speed alone -Lincoln gave his full confidence in the matter of his love affairs, -and they talked together as men seldom talk to each -other. Speaking out of a most intimate knowledge, Speed -wrote in his lecture on Lincoln:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I have often been asked what were Mr. Lincoln's religious -opinions. When I knew him in early life, he was a skeptic. -He had tried hard to be a believer, but his reason could not -grasp and solve the great problem of redemption as taught. -He was very cautious never to give expression to any thought -or sentiment that would grate harshly upon a Christian ear. -For a sincere Christian he had great respect. He often said -that the most ambitious man might live to see every hope fail; -but no Christian could live and see his hope fail, because fulfillment -could only come when life ended. But this was a -subject we never discussed. The only evidence I have of any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> -change, was in the summer before he was killed. I was invited -out to the Soldiers' Home to spend the night. As I entered -the room, near night, he was sitting near a window intently -reading his Bible. Approaching him I said, 'I am glad to -see you so profitably engaged.' 'Yes,' said he, 'I am profitably -engaged.' 'Well,' said I, 'if you have recovered from -your skepticism, I am sorry to say that I have not.' Looking -me earnestly in the face, and placing his hand on my shoulder, -he said, 'You are wrong, Speed; take all of this Book upon -reason that you can, and the balance on faith, and you will live -and die a happier man.'"—<span class="smcap">Speed</span>: <i>Lecture on Abraham Lincoln</i>, -pp. 32, 33.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The Bible which the colored people presented to Lincoln -was kept and prized by him. Hon. H. C. Deming, in his -address before the Legislature of Connecticut, just after Lincoln's -death, referred to it:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The interview which I am recalling was last summer -[1864] just after General Fremont had declined to run against -him for the Presidency. The magnificent Bible, which the -negroes of Washington<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> had just presented to him lay upon -the table, and while we were both examining it, I recited the -somewhat remarkable passage from the Chronicles, 'Eastward -were six Levites, northward four a day, southward four a -day, and toward Assuppim two and two. At Parbar westward, -four at the causeway, and two at Parbar.'<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> He immediately -challenged me to find any such passage as that in -<i>his</i> Bible. After I had pointed it out to him, and he was -satisfied of its genuineness, he asked me if I remembered the -text which his friends had applied to Fremont, and instantly -turned to a verse in the first of Samuel, put on his spectacles, -and read in his slow, peculiar, and waggish tone,—'And -everyone that was in distress and everyone that was in debt, -and everyone that was discontented gathered themselves unto<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> -him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with -him about four hundred men.'"<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p></blockquote> - -<p>There are two interesting facts about this incident related -by Representative Deming. One is that Lincoln knew his -Bible well enough to challenge an unfamiliar passage and require -that it be shown to him before believing that the Bible -contained it. Only a man who had read his Bible much -would have been so confident. The other is that this story -recalled to Mr. Deming that very important declaration of -Lincoln which is attested by a number of other credible witnesses -in substance, but which Deming first gave to the world -in his notable address:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I am here reminded of an impressive remark which he -made to me upon another occasion, and which I shall never -forget. He said, he had never united himself to any church, -because he found difficulty in giving his assent, without mental -reservations, to the long complicated statements of Christian -doctrine which characterize their Articles of Belief and Confessions -of Faith. 'When any church,' he continued, 'will -inscribe over its altar as its sole qualification for membership -the Saviour's condensed statement of the substance of both -the law and Gospel, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with -all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, -and thy neighbor as thyself,—that church will I join with all -my heart and soul.'"—<i>Eulogy upon Abraham Lincoln, before -the General Assembly of Connecticut, 1865</i>, p. 42.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Henry C. Whitney knew Lincoln well, from the days of -their circuit riding in Illinois till Lincoln's death. His testimony -is valuable:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Mr. Lincoln was a fatalist: he believed, and often said, -that</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">'<i>There's a divinity that shapes our ends,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>Rough-hew them how we will,'</i></span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> -<p>and as a corollary from this belief, that the Almighty controlled -the affairs of men and made the wrath of men to praise Him. -In all stages of his administration and before, commencing -with his first public utterance after his election, he declared -that with God's help he should succeed, and without it he would -fail. Likewise, before he was run for the Presidency, he made -frequent references to God in the same spirit of devoutness and -trust; and, therefore, he was honest; honest with his Father -on his dying bed, honest in what he feared was (and which -proved to be) his last affectionate farewell to his neighbors, -honest to the many eminent bands of clergymen and Christian -people who visited him, and honest with his Cabinet in the -most important consultation it ever held; then Lincoln, whether -as man or as President, believed in God as the Ruler of the -Universe, in a blessed hereafter, and in the efficacy of prayer. -. . . Mr. Lincoln believed himself to be an instrument of -God; and that, as God willed, so would the contest be. He -also believed in prayer and its efficacy, and that God willed the -destruction of slavery through his instrumentality, and he believed -in the Church of God as an important auxiliary."—<i>Life -on the Circuit with Lincoln</i>, pp. 267-68.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Among the men in Washington who best knew the mind -of Abraham Lincoln was Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the -House of Representatives, and afterward Vice-President under -General Grant. In his memorial address delivered just after -the assassination, he paid a high tribute to the deep religious -spirit of Lincoln as he knew it, and said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Nor should I forget to mention that the last Act of Congress -signed by him was one requiring that the motto, in which -he sincerely believed, 'In God we trust' should hereafter be -inscribed upon all our national coins."—<span class="smcap">Hon. Schuyler -Colfax</span>, in <i>Memorial Address in Chicago, April 30, 1865</i>.</p></blockquote> - -<p>During his residence in the White House Mr. Lincoln -again met the discipline of personal bereavement. His son -Willie died. There is conflict of testimony as to Mr. Lincoln's -love for his wife, though the present writer believes that -he truly loved her, but no one who knew him ever doubted his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> -devotion to his children. The death of this little boy, William -Wallace, who was born in Springfield, December 21, 1850, and -died in the White House, February 20, 1862, seemed, according -to the testimony of Mrs. Lincoln, to turn his thoughts -more to religion. It must have recalled to him all that had -occurred when his other boy died in Springfield, and it brought -new and solemn thoughts and possibly convictions.</p> - -<p>Moreover, he was now father to the boys of a nation. -They were marching at his order, singing,</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"<i>We are coming, Father Abraham,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>Six hundred thousand more.</i>"</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>They were laying down their young lives for a cause that he -told them was holy. How he felt for the fathers and mothers -of the land, his letter to Mrs. Bixby and his countless deeds of -mercy testify. Again and again, as Ingersoll well said, he -abused his great power on the side of mercy and never otherwise. -The deepening sense of responsibility, as he affirmed, -again and again drove him to his knees (Noah Brooks in -<i>Harper's Monthly</i> for July, 1885). Did he consciously change -his theology? Very likely not; but he certainly became a more -and more deeply religious man under the discipline of these -experiences.</p> - -<p>Perhaps more than all else, the moral aspects of the slavery -question thrust themselves into a foremost place in his religious -thinking. We need not trouble ourselves overmuch about the -accuracy of John Hanks's story that when Lincoln saw slaves -sold in the market in New Orleans he vowed to "hit that -institution and hit it hard"; part of that story may have -originated in John's fertile imagination. But the story is not -an unworthy one, and we know from Lincoln's own declaration -that on that very occasion he was smitten with a sense of -the iniquity of slavery, and that on its moral rather than its -political side. That he freed the slaves as a war measure, and -that he must thus justify the action as an extra-constitutional -prerogative, need not lessen in our mind the moral aspects of -the decision. The evidence is incontestable, and we shall quote<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> -it later, that to him it was a solemn obligation, the fulfillment -of a vow which he had made to God.</p> - -<p>We are presently to go into a detailed examination of the -available evidence concerning Lincoln's religious life. We are -here considering his environment in the successive stages of -his career, and his visible reaction to it. But even if we were -to go no further, we should find ourselves compelled to believe -in the reality of Lincoln's religion. We might not be able -accurately to define it, and we may not be able to do so to -our complete satisfaction after we have finished; we might -even question, and we may still question, whether he himself -ever fully defined it. But we are assured that his religion was -real and genuine, and that it grew more vital as he faced more -completely the moral and spiritual aspects of the work to -which, as he honestly believed, he was divinely called.</p> - -<p>When General Lee surrendered his armies on April 9, 1865, -Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, though not a very religious -man in his profession, felt with the whole nation the Providence -of God in the result. He surrounded the dome of the -Capitol with a transparency, reading, "This is the Lord's -doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes."</p> - -<p>He believed it; the nation believed it; Abraham Lincoln -believed it. That conviction that the hand of God had been in -it all had but lately been expressed in his Second Inaugural. -That faith was warm in his heart, and its expression fresh -upon his lips, when on April 14, 1865, he was shot and killed.</p> - -<p>So ended the earthly life of Abraham Lincoln; and with -that end came the beginning of the discussion of his religion. -To the history of that discussion, and the critical consideration -of the evidence which it adduced, we are now to address ourselves.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a><br /><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a><br /><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a><br /><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2">PART II: AN ANALYSIS OF THE<br /> -EVIDENCE</p></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> - -<p class="c">THE RULES OF EVIDENCE</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Thus</span> far we have dealt primarily with the environments of -Lincoln's religious life. We have not been able to escape the -conviction that Lincoln's religious life was an evolution, influenced -by his environment and experience. We have considered -in these successive chapters some matters in detail which -seemed to belong particularly to the respective periods of which -those chapters have treated; but we have reserved, in general, -the evidence that bears upon his religion as a whole for more -critical examination. Particularly have we reserved those portions -of the evidence which, first published after his death, -belong to no one epoch of his life and have become the occasion -of controversy. What kind of man he was religiously in 1865 -we shall hope to know better; indeed, it is not unreasonable -to hope that examination may show in part the processes by -which his religion found its final form and expression.</p> - -<p>We know already that there had been a development. We -know that the Abraham Lincoln who in 1834 delivered his -political opinions in labored and florid style and with the logic -current in stump oratory had undergone mental development -and had emerged into the Lincoln who delivered his thoughts -in translucent Anglo-Saxon at Gettysburg and the Second Inaugural. -That there had been a moral and spiritual development -also we have already been assured. Perhaps it was -greater than he himself consciously understood. We shall now -endeavor to ascertain what it had come to be.</p> - -<p>In this inquiry we have no easy task. The mass of evidence -is great, and the contradictions are many. There were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> -contradictions in the personality of the man himself, and many -contradictions in the views which men, even honest and unprejudiced -men, had of him; and not all the testimony is -unprejudiced.</p> - -<p>Lincoln was a man of many moods. He reacted differently -to different stimuli, and to the same stimulus at different times. -His feelings ran the gamut from abysmal dejection to rollicking -gaiety: and he never revealed his whole nature to any one -man, nor showed the whole of his nature at any one time. -He cannot be judged by the mechanical tests of a rigid consistency: -for he was not that kind of man.</p> - -<p>When Dr. J. G. Holland went to Springfield immediately -after the death of Lincoln to gather material for his biography -he was surprised beyond measure to find how conflicting were -the local judgments of Lincoln's character. Concerning this -he wrote:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Such a nature and character seem full of contradictions; -and a man who is subject to such transitions will always be -a mystery to those who do not know him wholly. Thus no -two men among his intimate friends will agree concerning him.</p> - -<p>"The writer has conversed with multitudes of men who -claimed to know Mr. Lincoln intimately; yet there are not two -of the whole number who agree in their estimate of him. The -fact was that he rarely showed more than one aspect of himself -to one man. He opened himself to men in different directions. -It was rare that he exhibited what was religious in him; and -he never did this at all, except when he found just the nature -and character that were sympathetic with that aspect and element -of his character. A great deal of his best, deepest, largest -life he kept almost constantly from view, because he would not -expose it to the eyes and apprehension of the careless multitude.</p> - -<p>"To illustrate the effect of the peculiarity of Mr. Lincoln's -intercourse with men, it may be said that men who knew him -through all his professional and political life have offered -opinions as diametrically opposite as these, viz.: that he was a -very ambitious man, and that he was without a particle of -ambition; that he was one of the saddest men that ever lived, -and that he was one of the jolliest men that ever lived; that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> -he was very religious, but that he was not a Christian; that -he was a Christian, but did not know it; that he was so far -from being a religious man or a Christian that 'the less said -upon the subject the better'; that he was the most cunning -man in America, and that he had not a particle of cunning in -him; that he had the strongest personal attachments, and that -he had no personal attachments at all—only a general good -feeling toward everybody; that he was a man of indomitable -will, and that he was a man almost without a will; that he -was a tyrant, and that he was the softest-hearted, most -brotherly man that ever lived; that he was remarkable for his -pure-mindedness, and that he was the foulest in his jests and -stories of any man in the country; that he was a witty man, -and that he was only a retailer of the wit of others; that his -apparent candor and fairness were only apparent, and that they -were as real as his head and his hands; that he was a boor, -and that he was in all essential respects a gentleman; that he -was a leader of the people, and that he was always led by -the people; that he was cool and impassive, and that he was -susceptible of the strongest passions. It is only by tracing -these separate streams of impression back to their fountain -that we are able to arrive at anything like a competent comprehension -of the man, or to learn why he came to be held in such -various estimation. Men caught only separate aspects of his -character—only the fragments that were called into exhibition -by their own qualities."—<span class="smcap">Holland</span>: <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, pp. -241-42.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Some writers, and more orators, have professed to see in -the character of Lincoln a perfect balancing of all desirable -qualities. Bishop Fowler, in what was perhaps the most widely -popular of all popular orations on Lincoln, attributed his own -inability to analyze the character of Lincoln to its perfect -sphericity, a consistency such that any attempt to consider any -quality by itself met the counterbalancing consideration of all -the other qualities. But the antitheses in Lincoln's character -were not those of a perfect consistency.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> They were of a sort<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> -which puzzled those who knew him best, and were most easily -explained by those who gave least study to the man himself -and most to their own theories of what a man like Mr. Lincoln -must have been.</p> - -<p>Of these sharp antitheses in Lincoln's character, Col. Clark -E. Carr, who knew him well, said in an address which I -heard:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Abraham Lincoln was the drollest man I ever saw.</p> - -<p>"He could make a cat laugh. Never was another man -so vivacious; never have I seen another who provoked so much -mirth, and who entered into rollicking fun with such glee. -He was the most comical and jocose of human beings, laughing -with the same zest at his own jokes as at those of others. -I did not wonder that, while actively engaged in party politics, -his opponents who had seen him in these moods called Abraham -Lincoln a clown and an ape.</p> - -<p>"Abraham Lincoln was the most serious man I ever saw.</p> - -<p>"When I heard him protest against blighting our new -territories with the curse of human slavery, in his debates with -Senator Douglas, no man could have been more in earnest, -none more serious. In his analysis of legal problems, whether -in the practice of his profession or in the consideration of -State papers, he became wholly absorbed in his subject. Sometimes -he lapsed into reverie and communed with his own -thoughts, noting nothing that was going on about him until -aroused, when perhaps he would enter into a discussion of the -subject that had occupied his mind, or perhaps break out into -laughter and tell a joke or story that set the table in a roar.</p> - -<p>"When I saw him at Gettysburg as he exclaimed, 'That -we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in -vain; that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of -freedom, and that the government of the people, by the people, -and for the people, shall not perish from the earth!'—when I -heard him declare in his second inaugural address, 'Fondly do -we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> -war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue -until all the wealth piled up by the bondman's two hundred -and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until -every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by -another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand -years, so still it must be said, "the judgments of the Lord are -true and righteous altogether."... With malice toward -none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God -gives us to see the right,'—as I looked upon him and heard -him utter these sentiments, upon these occasions, Abraham -Lincoln was the most solemn, the most dignified, the most -majestic, and at the same time the most benignant human -being I ever saw.</p> - -<p>"Rochefoucauld says that 'Gravity is a mystery of the -body invented to conceal defects of the mind.' Lord Shaftesbury -says that 'Gravity is the very essence of imposture.' -Abraham Lincoln had none of this.</p> - -<p>"Man is the most serious of animals. Man is the most -frivolous of animals. It is said that man is the only animal -that can both laugh and cry. Abraham Lincoln gave full vent -to his emotions. He went through life with no restraints nor -manacles upon his human nature. He was honest in the expression -of his feelings, whether serious or otherwise, honest -in their manifestation, honest with himself.</p> - -<p>"It was because Abraham Lincoln was the most human of -human beings that he is loved as has never been any other -man that ever lived."—<span class="smcap">Clark E. Carr</span>: <i>My Day and Generation</i>, -pp. 107-9.</p></blockquote> - -<p>There was much reason for this wide disparity of opinion -in the varying moods of Lincoln himself, and the contrary -aspects of his personality. But this was not the sole reason. -Springfield itself was greatly divided concerning Mr. Lincoln. -There were lawyers who had been on opposing sides of cases -against him and had sometimes won them. There were all the -petty animosities which grow up in a small city. Furthermore, -Springfield was moderately full of disappointed people who -had expected that their friendship for Lincoln would have -procured for them some political appointment. Any political -aspirant living in Maine or Missouri who had a fourth cousin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> -living in Springfield and possessed of a speaking acquaintance -with Mr. Lincoln, felt that he and his kinsfolk suffered an -unmerited discourtesy if Mr. Lincoln through such influence -did not produce on application a commission as Major-General -or an appointment as Ambassador to some foreign court.</p> - -<p>We have a yet further difficulty to face in the conflict of -testimony of habitually truthful people. If it were becoming -in the author of a book such as this to pass any general criticism -upon those authors who have preceded him in the same -field, it might, perhaps, be counted not invidious to say that -for the most part writers on the religion of Lincoln have been -content to adduce the testimony of a limited number of apparently -truthful witnesses in support of their theory, but have -not given the evidence very much examination beyond the -general fact that the witnesses were habitually truthful people. -We shall not arrive at the truth in this fashion.</p> - -<p>We may borrow an illustration from a field which lies -just outside the scope of our present inquiry. Even to this -day it is possible to start a warm discussion almost anywhere -in Springfield over the question of Lincoln's domestic affairs. -It is possible to prove on the testimony of unimpeached witnesses -that Lincoln loved his wife passionately, and that he -did not love her at all; that he married Mary Todd because -he loved her and had already answered in his own heart all his -previous questions and misgivings, and that he married her -because she and her relatives practically compelled him to do -so, and that he went to the marriage altar muttering that he -was going to hell; that Mary Todd not only admired Abraham -Lincoln, but loved him with a beautiful and wifely devotion, -and that she hated him and never ceased to wreak revenge upon -him for having once deserted her upon the eve of their announced -marriage; that Mary Todd wore a white silk dress on -the night of her wedding, and that she never owned a white -silk dress until she had become a resident of the White House; -that the wedding was a gay affair, with a great dinner, and -was followed by a reception for which several hundred printed -invitations were issued, and that the wedding was hastily performed -on a Sunday evening, Mr. Dresser, the minister, cut<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>ting -short his evening service and dropping in on the way -home to solemnize a quickly extemporized marriage contract. -It would seem fairly easy to discover from a calendar of the -year 1842 at least what day in the week was chosen for the -wedding, but few if any of the disputants, or even of the biographers, -appear to have taken this pains. If the present writer -should ever have occasion to write about Abraham Lincoln's -married life, he would not proceed very far without consulting -a calendar for that year; and he would hope to settle at least -one point in the controversy by telling the world that in 1842 -the fourth day of November did not occur on Sunday or -Tuesday, but on Friday;<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln both being -tinged with superstition, he might raise the question whether -the celebration of the wedding upon that date probably was -or was not long premeditated. But the present book does not -concern itself with these questions, and the matter is here -introduced merely to illustrate that no point in controversy -in a matter of this character can be definitely settled by the -unsupported testimony of a single honest witness relying upon -his memory after the lapse of many years.</p> - -<p>Evidence such as we are to consider is of two kinds, known -in logic as <i>a priori</i> and <i>a posteriori</i>. The first kind is evidence -from antecedent probability; the second is evidence relating to -matter after the fact. An illustration will serve:</p> - -<p>A man is found dead, with a wound in his forehead, and -there are no witnesses who can be produced in court who saw -the man die. The wound appears to have been produced by a -bullet, and, as no weapon is found beside the body, there is a -presumption that the man has been murdered. A neighbor is -accused of having committed the deed. The <i>a priori</i> evidence -is adduced in testimony that the defendant and the deceased -had long been on bad terms with each other on account of a -line fence between their adjacent properties; that the de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>fendant -had threatened to kill the deceased and had recently -bought a revolver. The evidence <i>a posteriori</i> is found in the -fact that the defendant's revolver on examination shows one -empty chamber and that the ball in the deceased man's brain -is of the caliber suited to his weapon and of the same manufacture -as the unused cartridges in the weapon. To this may -be added other incriminating facts, as of measured footprints -near the scene of murder which correspond to the size of the -defendant's boots, and of possible blood stains upon his -clothing.</p> - -<p>A very large volume of <i>a priori</i> evidence is sometimes set -aside by a single <i>a posteriori</i> fact; for instance, in the foregoing -supposititious case it may be entirely possible to prove that the -murder was committed by a tramp, and that the defendant was -ten miles away at the time the deed was done.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, a large volume of <i>a posteriori</i> evidence -sometimes disappears in the face of a single <i>a priori</i> consideration. -A man is accused of having stolen a sheep. It is shown -in evidence that on the evening when the sheep was stolen he -walked through his neighbor's pasture and was seen to approach -the sheep; that he sold mutton on the day after the -loss of the sheep, and that a fresh sheepskin was found nailed -to his barn door. All this <i>a posteriori</i> evidence and much -more may be completely set aside in the minds of the jury by -the single fact that the man accused has lived for forty years -in the community and has borne a reputation incompatible -with the crime of sheep-stealing.</p> - -<p>In the examination of testimony concerning alleged utterances -of Abraham Lincoln in matters of religious belief, we -must ask such questions as these:</p> - -<p>Is the witness credible? Had he opportunity to know what -he professes to relate? Were other witnesses present, and if -so, do they agree in their recollection of the words spoken? -Was the interview published at a time when it could have been -denied by those who had knowledge of the incident? Had the -witness time to enlarge the incident by frequent telling and -by such exaggeration and enlargement of detail as is likely to -occur with the lapse of years? Had the witness a probable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> -motive for exaggeration; does he appear to tell what he would -presumably have liked Mr. Lincoln to say, and does it sound -more like the narrator's own style than it does like Mr. -Lincoln? Do the language and the sentiments expressed accord -with the published addresses, letters, and authentic documents -of Abraham Lincoln, and are the views expressed in -accord with the views which he is known to have held? On -the other hand, is it possible that in the freedom of personal -conversation Mr. Lincoln may have said some things which -he would not have been likely to say in formal discourse or -to write in official documents?</p> - -<p>It is not necessary that we formally ask these and only -these questions; but these are the kinds of sieve through which -oral testimony must be passed if we are to learn the truth.</p> - -<p>Particular care needs to be exercised in the application of -these tests, and especially in the employment of all <i>a priori</i> -methods. The author of this volume is a Christian minister, -and would be heartily glad to find in Mr. Lincoln's authentic -utterances indubitable evidence that Mr. Lincoln was essentially -a Christian; there is need that he take especial care not to -apply these discriminating tests in such fashion as to sustain -his own prejudices. Nor must he magnify his caution until it -becomes an inverted prejudice.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, the <i>a priori</i> method must on no account -be ruled out. Mr. Lincoln left a great quantity of -authentic material. His speeches, letters, and state papers fill -twelve volumes, and even these do not contain all of his signed -material. We are compelled to judge alleged utterances of his -somewhat in the light of our certain knowledge of what he -wrote and said. Let us illustrate the application of this -principle:</p> - -<p>If an aged man living in central Illinois were now to arise -and say: "I knew Abraham Lincoln, and he said to me one -day in private conversation, 'There is no God,'" we should be -justified in discrediting that man's testimony, even though he -bore a good reputation for veracity. The antecedent improbability -of such a declaration on the part of Mr. Lincoln is -too great for us to accept it on the basis of one man's recol<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>lection -of a private and unwitnessed conversation fifty years -after Mr. Lincoln's death.</p> - -<p>We should be equally justified in rejecting the testimony -at this late date of one of Mr. Lincoln's old-time neighbors -who would say that Mr. Lincoln told him that he believed the -whole of the Athanasian Creed.</p> - -<p>Especial care is necessary in dealing with the alleged utterances -of deceased persons in matters of religion. The author -of this book has conducted a thousand funerals, and has been -told every conceivable kind of story concerning some of the -persons deceased. To the credit of our frail humanity be it -recorded that nine-tenths of this testimony was favorable. -There are few finer traits in human nature than those which -prompt us to speak only good of the dead. The eagerness -of those who have known not only the virtues but the faults of -living men to pass lightly over the faults and emphasize the -virtues of these same men when they are dead is not only a -manifestation of the finest sort of love of fair play in refusing -to accuse those who cannot make answer, but is also an exhibition -of one of the noblest impulses of the human spirit.</p> - -<p>Even the tendency of ministers to lie like gentlemen on -funeral occasions is not to be too unsparingly condemned. It -springs from a belief that the better part of a man's life is -the truer part of him, and that a man has a right to be judged -by the best that is in him not only of achievement but even of -defeated aspiration.</p> - -<p>William Allen White is fond of relating a story concerning -a funeral in Kansas. The minister was in the midst of his -eulogy when a man who had come in late and had not heard -the beginning of the discourse tiptoed down the aisle, took a -long look into the coffin, and returned to his seat. The minister, -somewhat disconcerted by this proceeding, addressed -him, saying, "The opportunity to view the remains will be -given later." "I know that," replied the man, "but I had -begun to suspect that I had gotten into the wrong funeral."</p> - -<p>One who has had much experience with funerals and with -attempts to make dead men appear better than the same men -living actually were or appeared to be, knows that these efforts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> -are not usually the result of deliberate falsehood. They grow -out of generous impulses and an easy tendency to exaggeration. -But some people do actually lie, and this fact also is -not wholly to be forgotten.</p> - -<p>With these reminders of human frailty and human generosity -and of the uncertainty of all things human, we proceed -to examine in some detail the vast and contradictory mass of -evidence which after the death of Abraham Lincoln was -published concerning his faith or the lack of it.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>What is in some respects the foremost example of platform -and pulpit oratory concerning Lincoln is the oration of Bishop -Charles Henry Fowler, deceased, of the Methodist Episcopal -Church. It illustrates at once the excellency and the defects -of works of this character. The oration had its beginning in -a eulogy delivered in Chicago on May 4, 1865, the day of Lincoln's -burial at Springfield. From time to time as years went -by, Bishop Fowler had occasion to deliver other addresses on -Lincoln, which, in 1904, he reshaped into something like the -final form of the oration. First delivered in Minneapolis, it -was repeated in many cities and before great audiences. It -became the Bishop's best known and most popular address. -It is the first and easily the greatest of the five that make up -the volume of his Patriotic Orations, the others being on Grant, -McKinley, Washington, and The Great Deeds of Great Men. -Of that large book it fills more than a hundred pages. It was -too long ever to be delivered at one time, but it was completely -written, and fully committed to memory, so that he chose at -each delivery what portions he would utter and what he would -omit. Even with the omissions he rarely spoke less than two -and one-half hours, and sometimes occupied three hours, his -audiences hearing with sustained interest to the close. Of it -his son says, that "through its delivery in various parts of the -country, and by the natural process of accretion and attraction, -new facts were added and others verified, until in 1906 it was -put in this final form."</p> - -<p>Here is an address whose composition occupied a strong -and able man for thirty-one years. It thrills with admiration<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> -for its subject. It is alive with patriotism and religion. It -deserved, in many respects, the attention which it received. -Men have been known to say that having heard this address -they would never spoil the impression by listening to any other -address on Lincoln.</p> - -<p>And yet it would not be safe to quote this lecture in any of -its substantial parts without further investigation of the -authority on which Bishop Fowler relied. He was a truthful -man, and a man of ability, and if he had been asked what -means he took to verify his statements, he would probably have -said that he admitted no statement to his lecture which he did -not find attested by some competent and truthful witness. -Doubtless so, and most of the lecture is true, and the impression -which it makes as a whole is substantially true, but that -is not enough. Doubtless Bishop Fowler read in some book or -magazine article by a truthful writer that on the day Lincoln -submitted the Emancipation proclamation to his Cabinet, he -first read in the presence of the Cabinet a chapter in the Bible. -It would not have required very much of investigation to have -convinced Bishop Fowler that what Lincoln really read was -not the Bible, but Artemus Ward. He did not intend to lie -about it. He picked up the account from some other speaker -who had heard or read that Lincoln read a chapter from some -book, and thought that the Bible was the proper book to read -on an occasion of that character. Neither the speaker nor -Bishop Fowler intended to be untruthful, but neither of them -had any training in or inclination toward historical investigation. -It would be easy to guess that a thousand Methodist -preachers and some others have retold the story on the authority -of Bishop Fowler. And that is far from being the only -inaccuracy in the lecture. Indeed, it shows throughout how -much it grew "by the natural process of accretion and attraction" -and how little by the verification of the facts.</p> - -<p>This lecture is cited because it is in many respects the very -best of its type, as it is probably also the most noted, and -one that was delivered to more people than any other on -Abraham Lincoln.</p> - -<p>It does not suffice to rely upon any second authorities in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> -investigations of this character, nor to accept the statements of -even truthful witnesses without some sifting of the evidence.</p> - -<p>With this in mind, we come to what is the most crucial -and difficult of all the incidents bearing upon our inquiry—the -incident reported to Dr. Holland by President Bateman.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE BATEMAN INCIDENT</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Hon. Newton Bateman</span> was for many years Superintendent -of Public Instruction for the State of Illinois, being chosen to -that position in 1858 and holding the place with one brief -intermission for fourteen years. He was then elected President -of Knox College and served with distinction in that -capacity for seventeen years. He knew Lincoln well. He -was small in stature, and Lincoln was very tall. Lincoln used -to introduce Bateman to friends, saying, "This is my little -friend, the big schoolmaster of Illinois." He was, perhaps, the -last man to shake hands with Abraham Lincoln as Lincoln was -leaving Springfield, and he was one of the pallbearers at -Lincoln's funeral. The version of Lincoln's Farewell Address -which was published in the <i>Illinois State Journal</i> was printed -on the day following Lincoln's departure and was reproduced -from Dr. Bateman's memory of it. Although it varies from -the official report it appears to have been a very nearly accurate -report of what Lincoln actually said as judged by -Lincoln's own reproduction of the address.</p> - -<p>Reference has already been made to the difficulties which -Dr. J. G. Holland met in Springfield when he journeyed -thither in quest of material on the <i>Life of Lincoln</i>. To his -great satisfaction he was able to obtain from Mr. Bateman an -incident which has become the corner-stone of a thousand -Lincoln eulogies. It is here reproduced entire:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Mr. Newton Bateman,<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> Superintendent of Public Instruction -for the State of Illinois, occupied a room adjoining<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> -and opening into the Executive Chamber. Frequently this -door was open during Mr. Lincoln's receptions; and throughout -the seven months or more of his occupation Mr. Bateman -saw him nearly every day. Often when Mr. Lincoln was tired -he closed his door against all intrusion, and called Mr. Bateman -into his room for a quiet talk. On one of these occasions Mr. -Lincoln took up a book containing a careful canvass of the -city of Springfield in which he lived, showing the candidate -for whom each citizen had declared it his intention to vote in -the approaching election. Mr. Lincoln's friends had, doubtless -at his own request, placed the result of the canvass in his -hands. This was toward the close of October, and only a few -days before the election. Calling Mr. Bateman to a seat at his -side, having previously locked all doors, he said: 'Let us look -over this book. I wish particularly to see how the ministers of -Springfield are going to vote.' The leaves were turned, one by -one, and as the names were examined Mr. Lincoln frequently -asked if this one and that were not a minister, or an elder, -or a member of such or such a church, and sadly expressed his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> -surprise on receiving an affirmative answer. In that manner -they went through the book, and then he closed it and sat -silently and for some minutes regarding a memorandum in -pencil which lay before him. At length he turned to Mr. -Bateman with a face full of sadness, and said: 'Here are -twenty-three, ministers, of different denominations, and all of -them are against me but three; and here are a great many -prominent members of the churches, a very large majority of -whom are against me. Mr. Bateman, I am not a Christian—God -knows I would be one—but I have carefully read the -Bible, and I do not so understand this book'; and he drew -from his bosom a pocket New Testament. 'These men well -know,' he continued, 'that I am for freedom in the territories, -freedom everywhere as far as the Constitution and laws will -permit, and that my opponents are for slavery. They know -this, and yet, with this book in their hands, in the light of -which human bondage cannot live a moment, they are going to -vote against me. I do not understand it at all.'</p> - -<p>"Here Mr. Lincoln paused—paused for long minutes, his -features surcharged with emotion. Then he rose and walked -up and down the room in the effort to retain or regain his -self-possession. Stopping at last, he said, with a trembling -voice and his cheeks wet with tears: 'I know there is a God, -and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming, -and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place -and work for me—and I think He has—I believe I am ready. -I am nothing, but truth is everything. I know I am right -because I know that liberty is right, for Christ teaches it, -and Christ is God. I have told them that a house divided -against itself cannot stand, and Christ and reason say the -same; and they will find it so. Douglas don't care whether -slavery is voted up or voted down, but God cares, and humanity -cares, and I care; and with God's help I shall not fail. I -may not see the end; but it will come, and I shall be vindicated; -and these men will find that they have not read their Bibles -aright.'</p> - -<p>"Much of this was uttered as if he were speaking to himself, -and with a sad and earnest solemnity of manner impossible -to be described. After a pause, he resumed: 'Doesn't -it appear strange that men can ignore the moral aspects of -this contest? A revelation could not make it plainer to me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> -that slavery or the government must be destroyed. The -future would be something awful, as I look at it, but for this -rock on which I stand [alluding to the Testament which he -still held in his hand] especially with the knowledge of how -these ministers are going to vote. It seems as if God had -borne with this thing [slavery] until the very teachers of -religion have come to defend it from the Bible, and to claim -for it a divine character and sanction; and now the cup of -iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath will be poured out.'"—<span class="smcap">Holland</span>: -<i>Life of Lincoln</i>, pp. 236-38.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Dr. J. G. Holland was an author of ability and character. -His <i>Life of Lincoln</i> was up to the time of its publication -far and away the best that had appeared. Even Herndon -and Lamon are compelled to speak of it with respect. Lamon -says: "Out of the mass of work which appeared, of one only—Dr. -Holland's—is it possible to speak with any degree of -respect." That this also represented substantially the opinion -of Herndon is clearly in evidence. With two such names as -Newton Bateman and J. G. Holland supporting it, an incident -of this character was certain to carry great weight. It can -be found more or less abridged and in some cases garbled and -enlarged in any one of a hundred books and of a thousand -or probably ten thousand Lincoln's Day addresses. This report -was the direct occasion for the assembling of a considerable -mass of opposing evidence which we shall find in succeeding -chapters. It was attacked publicly and directly by Ward Hill -Lamon in his <i>Life of Lincoln</i> in 1872. The following is Mr. -Lamon's reply:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Mr. Newton Bateman is reported to have said that a few -days before the Presidential election in 1860, Mr. Lincoln -came into his office, closed the door against intrusion, and proposed -to examine a book which had been furnished him, at his -own request, 'Containing a careful canvass of the city of -Springfield, showing the candidate for whom each citizen had -declared his intention to vote at the approaching election. -He ascertained that only three ministers of the gospel, out -of twenty-three, would vote for him, and that, of the prominent -church-members, a very large majority were against him.'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> -Mr. Bateman does not say so directly, but the inference is plain -that Mr. Lincoln had not previously known what were the -sentiments of the Christian people who lived with him in -Springfield: he had never before taken the trouble to inquire -whether they were for him or against him. At all events, when -he made the discovery out of the book, he wept, and declared -that he 'did not understand it at all.' He drew from his -bosom a pocket New Testament, and, 'with a trembling voice -and his cheeks wet with tears,' quoted it against his political -opponents generally, and especially against Douglas. He -professed to believe that the opinions adopted by him and his -party were derived from the teachings of Christ; averred that -Christ was God; and, speaking of the Testament which he carried -in his bosom, called it 'this rock, on which I stand.' -When Mr. Bateman expressed surprise, and told him that his -friends generally were ignorant that he entertained such sentiments, -he gave this answer quickly: 'I know they are: I am -obliged to appear different to them.' Mr. Bateman is a respectable -citizen, whose general reputation for truth and -veracity is not to be impeached; but his story, as reported in -Holland's Life, is so inconsistent with Mr. Lincoln's whole -character, that it must be rejected as altogether incredible. -From the time of the Democratic split in the Baltimore Convention, -Mr. Lincoln, as well as every other politician of the -smallest sagacity, knew that his success was as certain as any -future could be. At the end of October, most of the States -had clearly voted in a way which left no lingering doubts of -the final result in November. If there ever was a time in his -life when ambition charmed his whole heart,—if it could ever -be said of him that 'hope elevated and joy brightened his -crest,' it was on the eve of that election which he saw was to -lift him at last to the high place for which he had sighed and -struggled so long. It was not then that he would mourn and -weep because he was in danger of not getting the votes of the -ministers and members of the churches he had known during -many years for his steadfast opponents: he did not need them, -and had not expected them. Those who understood him best -are very sure that he never, under any circumstances, could -have fallen into such weakness—not even when his fortunes -were at the lowest point of depression—as to play the part -of a hypocrite for their support. Neither is it possible that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> -he was at any loss about the reasons which religious men had -for refusing him their support; and, if he had said that he -could not understand it at all, he must have spoken falsely. -But the worst part of the tale is Mr. Lincoln's acknowledgment -that his 'friends generally were deceived concerning his -religious sentiments, and that he was obliged to appear different -to them.'</p> - -<p>"According to this version, which has had considerable -currency, he carried a New Testament in his bosom, carefully -hidden from his intimate associates: he believed that Christ -was God; yet his friends understood him to deny the verity -of the gospel: he based his political doctrines on the teachings -of the Bible; yet before all men, except Mr. Bateman, he -habitually acted the part of an unbeliever and reprobate, because -he was 'obliged to appear different to them.' How -obliged? What compulsion required him to deny that Christ -was God if he really believed Him to be divine? Or did he put -his political necessities above the obligations of truth, and -oppose Christianity against his convictions, that he might win -the favor of its enemies? It may be that his mere silence was -sometimes misunderstood; but he never made an express -avowal of any religious opinion which he did not entertain. -He did not 'appear different' at one time from what he was -at another, and certainly he never put on infidelity as a mere -mask to conceal his Christian character from the world. There -is no dealing with Mr. Bateman, except by a flat contradiction. -Perhaps his memory was treacherous, or his imagination led -him astray, or, peradventure, he thought a fraud no harm if -it gratified the strong desire of the public for proofs of Mr. -Lincoln's orthodoxy. It is nothing to the purpose that Mr. -Lincoln said once or twice that he thought this or that portion -of the Scripture was the product of divine inspiration; for he -was one of the class who hold that all truth is inspired, and -that every human being with a mind and a conscience is a -prophet. He would have agreed much more readily with one -who taught that Newton's discoveries, or Bacon's philosophy, -or one of his own speeches, were the works of men divinely -inspired above their fellows. But he never told anyone that -he accepted Jesus Christ, or performed a single one of the acts -which necessarily follow upon such a conviction. At Springfield -and at Washington he was beset on the one hand by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> -political priests, and on the other by honest and prayerful -Christians. He despised the former, respected the latter, and -had use for both. He said with characteristic irreverence, that -he would not undertake 'to run the churches by military -authority'; but he was, nevertheless, alive to the importance -of letting the churches 'run themselves in the interest of his -party.' Indefinite expressions about 'Divine Providence,' the -'justice of God,' 'the favor of the Most High,' were easy, -and not inconsistent with his religious notion. In this, accordingly, -he indulged freely; but never in all that time did -he let fall from his lips or his pen an expression which remotely -implied the slightest faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the -Saviour of men."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>: <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, pp. 499-502.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Confronted by an irreconcilable contradiction like this, the -easiest way is to cut the knot, and this may be done by any one -of several methods. We may say that, while Lamon and -Herndon were truthful men, their reputation for veracity, -good as it was, is less than that of Bateman and Holland, and -we prefer to believe the latter pair. Or, we may say that, while -Bateman knew Lincoln well, both Herndon and Lamon knew -him much better, and were better able to judge what Lincoln -would have said. Or, we may say that Bateman was present -when Lincoln spoke, and Holland was present when Bateman -related the interview, and neither Herndon nor Lamon was -present on either occasion, and we will believe the one credible -witness who was actually there, and whose positive testimony -outweighs any possible volume of negative testimony on the -part of men who were not present, and who only imagine what -Mr. Lincoln would probably have said. Or, we may say that -in the light of the inherent improbability of such an utterance -on the part of Mr. Lincoln, as determined by a comparison of -this alleged utterance with his authentic statements, we cannot -accept it, even though the two men who vouch, the one for -its utterance and the other for its transmission, are men of -exceptional veracity. Or, we may say that in such a conflict of -direct evidence and inherent improbability, and the mutual opposition -of honest men who were in a position to know some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>thing -about the religious views of Mr. Lincoln, it is impossible -for us to decide.</p> - -<p>We will not seek by any of these convenient methods to -cut the knot, but endeavor to untie it. We are fortunate in -having some collateral evidence after the fact.</p> - -<p>Herndon had awaited the publication of Holland's book -with great eagerness, and he was pleased with it as a whole. -But the Bateman incident roused his wrath. To him it made -Lincoln a hypocrite, dissembling a Christian faith, which he -had no good reason to conceal, beneath a pretense of infidelity, -which was not, as Herndon believed, a profession that would -have helped him.</p> - -<p>Herndon promptly walked over to the State House and -interviewed Mr. Bateman. "I instantly sought Mr. Bateman," -he said, "and found him in his office. I spoke to him -politely and kindly, and he spoke to me in the same manner. -I said substantially to him that Mr. Holland, in order to make -Mr. Lincoln a technical Christian, had made him a hypocrite."</p> - -<p>What Bateman said to Herndon he was forbidden to publish, -but the inference is ineluctable that he repudiated, in -part, the interview with Holland, but did it on condition that -Herndon should not publish the statement in a way that would -raise the issue of veracity between himself and Holland.</p> - -<p>This was in the autumn of 1865. In the spring of 1866, -Herndon again called upon Bateman, but got no farther.</p> - -<p>As the controversy waxed furious, Herndon made further -and insistent efforts to obtain from Bateman a statement which -could be made to the public. Herndon preserved notes of the -interviews, which he dated, December 3, 12, and 28, 1866. -Bateman still refused to emerge from his silence. One can -imagine Herndon in his yellow trousers twice rolled up at -the bottom, hitching his chair a little closer to the little superintendent, -and with long, skinny forefinger outstretched, probing -with insistent cross-examination into the innermost recesses -of the <i>ipsissima versa</i> of the interview with Lincoln and the -subsequent one with Holland. Whether he and Mr. Bateman -continued to address each other politely is not known, but -Herndon endeavored first to persuade and afterward to force,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> -Bateman to do one of three things,—to avow over his own signature -the story as Holland told it; to repudiate the interview -and throw the responsibility upon Holland; or to permit -Herndon to publish what Bateman had told to him. Bateman -would do none of these three things. If he did the first, -Herndon would accuse him of falsehood; if he did the second, -Holland would accuse him of falsehood; and if he did the -third, he would become the central figure in a controversy -that already had become more than red-hot. He refused to -say anything, and announced to all comers that the publicity -was "extremely distasteful" to him.</p> - -<p>Herndon went as far as he could toward making public -what Bateman told to him. He published the following statement, -designed to throw the greater part of the blame upon -Holland, but to force Bateman to relate to the public what -Bateman had said to him, and what he had written down and -held ready to produce:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I cannot now detail what Mr. Bateman said, as it was -a private conversation, and I am forbidden to make use of it -in public. If some good gentleman can only get the seal of -secrecy removed, I can show what was said and done. On -my word, the world may take it for granted that Holland is -wrong; that he does not state Mr. Lincoln's views correctly. -Mr. Bateman, if correctly represented in Holland's <i>Life of -Lincoln</i>, is the only man, the sole and only man, who dare say -that Mr. Lincoln believed in Jesus as the Christ of God, as -the Christian world represents. This is not a pleasant situation -for Mr. Bateman. I have notes and dates of our conversation; -and the world will sometime know who is truthful, -and who is otherwise. I doubt whether Bateman is correctly -represented by Holland."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>: <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, p. 496.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Bateman was, indeed, in an uncomfortable position -and any one of the three ways out of it seemed likely to make -it still more uncomfortable. He continued to maintain a -profound silence. Years afterward when Arnold was preparing -his <i>Life of Lincoln</i> for the press and Arnold asked -him concerning the truth of the incident as recorded by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> -Holland, he replied with extreme brevity that it was "substantially -correct." (Arnold: Life of Lincoln, p. 179).</p> - -<p>The only portion of Bateman's admission to Herndon -which Bateman finally, and with great reluctance, consented to -have published, was one which covered the alleged utterance -"Christ is God." It was a letter written in 1867, and marked -"Confidential." In this letter Bateman said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"He [Lincoln] was applying the principles of moral and -religious truth to the duties of the hour, the condition of the -country, and the conduct of public men—ministers of the -gospel. I had no thought of orthodoxy or heterodoxy, Unitarianism, -Trinitarianism, or any other ism, during the whole -conversation, and I don't suppose or believe he had."</p></blockquote> - -<p>This is a guarded letter, but it is sufficiently specific for -our purposes. If the conversation between Bateman and Lincoln -was of this character, with nothing to distinguish the view -of Lincoln as Unitarian or Trinitarian, Lincoln certainly did -not say:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I know I am right because I know that liberty is right, -for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God."</p></blockquote> - -<p>It is evident that Bateman, crowded by Herndon in repeated -cross-examination, came as near to repudiating those -parts of the interview to which Herndon objected as he could -do without raising publicly the issue of veracity between himself -and Holland. The attitude of Dr. Bateman in this matter -forbids us to believe that the story as it stands in Holland's -book can be true.</p> - -<p>Bateman is not mentioned in the index of Nicolay and -Hay's <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, and it is practically certain that they -did not credit the incident.</p> - -<p>What, under these circumstances, shall be our judgment -concerning this most hotly contested of all incidents concerning -the religious life of Abraham Lincoln?</p> - -<p>The incident had a basis of fact. Neither Bateman nor -Holland would have created such a story out of whole cloth.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> -But Bateman was under very strong temptation to enlarge -upon the incident, and had had five years in which to magnify -it in his own mind. The then recent death of Mr. Lincoln -and the strong desire of Christian people for a clear statement -of his faith, made it easy to color the recollection and sketch -in details, which did not seem to be important departures from -the truth when related in verbal conversation, but which had -a different look when they appeared in cold type. Holland, -who was a writer of fiction as well as history, did not fail to -embellish the story as Bateman told it to him. He probably -did not write it down at the time, but recalled it afterward -from memory, and in his final report it underwent additional -coloring and the sketching in of detail.</p> - -<p>Neither of these two men intentionally falsified, but between -the two the story was materially enlarged, and there -was an undistributed margin of error between the original -event as it occurred in 1860 and the very pretty story which -Holland printed in 1865. Neither Holland nor Bateman cared, -probably, to face too searching an inquiry as to how that -enlargement had come.</p> - -<p>Dr. Bateman was a man of probity and upright character. -He never willfully misrepresented. But he had a rhetorical -mind; not only his style, but his mind, was rhetorical. He -embellished his narratives because it was in him to do so. -The two reports which he made of Lincoln's farewell address -in Springfield<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> showed, both of them, such embellishments,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> -and he was as unconscious that he in later years enlarged -upon his own first report as he was that his first report enlarged -upon the address itself. These enlargements were -slight, and did not destroy nor greatly alter the sense; but -his changes never tended to simplicity. He was a master of -good English style, but it was a grander, more rhetorical style -than that of Lincoln. Lincoln, after receiving his special<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> -notice of nomination, submitted his letter of acceptance to -Bateman, and at Bateman's suggestion changed a split infinitive. -Lincoln knew that Bateman was an authority on -good English, and respected his opinion and valued his friendship. -Whatever enlargements Bateman's memory made upon -his interview with Lincoln were made without intent to deceive; -and whatever Holland added was added without intent -to deceive. But the interview of 1860 and the story about it -in Holland's book five years later have between them a discrepancy -which must be distributed in a ratio which we are -not able positively to determine between two good and truthful -men, each of whom enlarged a little upon the material that was -given to him.</p> - -<p>A final evidence that Bateman saw no way to remedy the -situation by telling the public exactly what occurred in his -interview with Lincoln in 1860, is found in the fact that while -he was President of Knox College he had occasion to prepare -and deliver there and elsewhere a carefully written lecture on -"Abraham Lincoln." Every generation of Knox College -students heard, at least once, that famous oration. That lecture -contains little else than Bateman's own personal reminiscences, -and is an interesting and valuable document. For our -present purpose it is chiefly valuable in this, that it contains -not one word about the interview which had forever associated -the name of Newton Bateman with that of Abraham Lincoln. -The fact that Bateman felt compelled to omit it altogether -from that oft-repeated lecture on Lincoln is a sufficient reason -why no one else should ever use it.</p> - -<p>Precisely what did Bateman tell Herndon that he had told -to Holland, which led Herndon to tell the public that Holland -misrepresented Bateman? We do not know precisely. What -became of Herndon's carefully cherished notes of his five -interviews with Bateman is not known,<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> but we are not left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> -wholly to conjecture. Though Herndon was forbidden to tell -what Bateman told to him, he came as near to it as he could -do without open violation of his pledge of secrecy. In his -own <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, published in 1889, he inserted a footnote -in which he said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"One of what Lincoln regarded as the remarkable features -of his canvass for President was the attitude of some -of his neighbors in Springfield. A poll of the voters had been -made in a little book and given to him. On running over -the names he found that the greater part of the clergy of the -city—in fact all but three—were against him. This depressed -him somewhat, and he called in Dr. Newton Bateman, who -as Superintendent of Public Instruction occupied the room adjoining -his own in the State House, and whom he habitually -addressed as 'Mr. Schoolmaster.' He commented bitterly on -the attitude of the preachers and many of their followers, -who, pretending to be believers in the Bible and God-fearing -Christians, yet by their votes demonstrated that they cared not -whether slavery was voted up or down. 'God cares and -humanity cares,' he reflected, 'and if they do not they surely -have not read their Bible aright.'"—<span class="smcap">Herndon</span>: <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, -III, 466-67.</p></blockquote> - -<p>To accept this as containing the essential part of the interview -between Lincoln and Bateman does not involve our preferring -the statement of Herndon to that of Bateman, for -we have no definite statement of Bateman. Bateman, under -close examination, told Herndon what he remembered that -Lincoln told him, and Herndon promised not to tell it without -Bateman's permission. Herndon did tell, however, that it -was very different from Holland's story, and he published this -in Lamon's book in 1872 and Bateman did not deny it. He -published the above quoted and additional note in his own book -in 1889, while Bateman was living, and Bateman did not -protest. We cannot, therefore, be far from the truth if we -accept the above and stop there.</p> - -<p>Unless the notes of Herndon's five interviews with Bateman -shall be found and published, this is probably the nearest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> -we shall ever come to knowing what Bateman told Herndon -that Lincoln had said to him. If those notes shall be found, -they may amplify the conversation but cannot be expected -materially to modify it. This is all that it is safe to assume -of Lincoln's confession of faith to Bateman. Whoever adds -to it the glosses of the Holland biography does it at his own -risk.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE LAMON BIOGRAPHY</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Ward Hill Lamon</span> was for many years a close friend of -Lincoln.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> Their relations began in 1847 when Lamon settled -at Danville and continued until Lincoln's death. Both there -and at Bloomington, Lamon was Lincoln's local associate and -so-called partner. When Lincoln voted at the Presidential -election of 1860, the men who accompanied him to the polls -were William H. Herndon, Ward Hill Lamon, and Col. -Elmer Ellsworth. When Lincoln was elected and his political -friends had slated Lamon for a foreign mission, Lincoln appointed -him Marshal of the District of Columbia that he might -have him close at hand. He was a member of the party which -accompanied Lincoln to Washington, and when through apparent -danger of assassination the route was changed and -Lincoln slipped into Washington with a single companion, it -was Lamon whom he chose to accompany him. Lamon had -charge of the arrangements of Lincoln's trip to Gettysburg, -and accompanied Lincoln and was in charge when he visited -the battlefield of Antietam. His book of personal "Recollections," -edited by his daughter and published in 1895, is full -of interest and contains much of permanent value. His <i>Life -of Abraham Lincoln</i>, published in 1872, is the most bitterly -denounced of all the biographies of Lincoln. It involved its -author and publisher in heavy financial loss, and the unsold -portion of the edition is alleged to have been bought up by -friends of Lincoln and quietly destroyed. Lamon intended -to have followed this volume, whose subject-matter ended with -Lincoln's arrival in Washington in 1861, with a second volume -covering Lincoln's life as President, but neither a second -volume nor a second edition of the first was ever issued.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> - -<p>How Lamon, being a friend of Lincoln, could ever have -written such a book has been the subject of much conjecture. -Herndon believed that during the latter part of his life in -Washington Lamon had become embittered against Lincoln. -Lamon's daughter in a magazine article on the subject professed -her father's abiding friendship for Lincoln, but maintained -that he was endeavoring to tell the true story of a great -life and to recover the real Lincoln from the realm of myth -(Dorothy Lamon Teillard: "Lincoln in Myth and in Fact," -<i>World's Work</i>, February, 1911, pp. 14040-44).</p> - -<p>The basis of Lamon's book is the Herndon manuscripts, -copies of which Herndon sold to Lamon for $2,000 in 1870. -That Herndon bitterly regretted the necessity of this sale, -there is clear evidence; but he had come to a condition of -great poverty; and there were other reasons why it seemed -unlikely that he himself would ever write a Life of Lincoln. -That Lamon himself wrote the book without assistance was -disputed from the beginning, and Herndon was accused of -being its real author. In letters to Horace White in 1890, -Herndon told the truth, as is now believed, concerning the -authorship.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"You regret, as well as myself, that I sold my MSS. to -Lamon. The reason why I did so was that I was then, in -1870-72, a poor devil and had to sell to live. From 1853 to -1865 I spent all my time and money for the 'nigger,' or rather -for Liberty and the Union—lost my practice, went to farming, -and went under in the crash of 1871-73, and that, too, from -no speculations, vices, etc. Today I have to work for tomorrow's -bread, and yet I am a happy and contented man. -I own a little farm of sixty-five acres and raise fruits for a -living. Now you have the reasons for my acts.</p> - -<p>"In reference to Lamon's book, I can truthfully say that -Chauncey F. Black,<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> son of J. S. Black, wrote quite every -word of it.... I have for years been written to by various -persons to know why Lamon was so much prejudiced against<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> -Lincoln. The bitterness, if any, was not in Lamon so much -as in Black, though I am convinced that Lamon was no solid, -firm friend of Lincoln, especially during Lincoln's administration, -or the latter part of it."—<span class="smcap">Newton</span>: <i>Lincoln and -Herndon</i>, pp. 307-8.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Herndon stoutly denied having written a single line of -Lamon's book, but he furnished the greater part of the material -in the form of documents, and gave further aid by -letters and suggestions. Thirteen years after it was published -he wrote to Lamon, who was still hoping to issue a new -biography which would include the volume already issued -and a second volume, and said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I desire to see your new Life win. Your first Life is -nearly suppressed—is suppressed or will be by rings—bears, -and like. Lamon's first Life of Lincoln is the truest Life -that was ever written of a man, as I think. I do not agree -to all it says, and yet it is the most truthful Life of Lincoln -written, or to be written probably, except your second Life. -. . . Why, Lamon, if you and I had not told the exact -truth about Lincoln, he would have been a myth in a hundred -years after 1865. We knew him—loved him—had ideas -and had the courage of our convictions. We told the world -what Lincoln was and were terribly abused for it."—(<i>World's -Work</i>, February, 1911, p. 14044).</p></blockquote> - -<p>One of the chief things which Lamon set out to do was -to refute Holland's estimate of Lincoln's faith, particularly -as it appeared in Holland's account of the Bateman story. -Lamon held that any impression which people got that Lincoln -possessed substantial Christian faith, was due to the fact that -Lincoln was a wily politician, who saw the power and appreciated -the prejudices of the churches and was determined not -to suffer from their hostility. He not only grew more cautious -as he grew older, but actually dissembled. His religious references -were made as vague and general as possible, and he -permitted himself to be misunderstood and misrepresented -by ministers and others because of "his morbid ambition, -coupled with a mortal fear that his popularity would suffer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> -by an open avowal of his deistic convictions" (Lamon, <i>Life -of Lincoln</i>, p. 498).</p> - -<p>His estimate of Lincoln is that "On the whole, he was an -honest, although a shrewd, and by no means unselfish politician." -He attributes Lincoln's melancholy definitely to his -utter lack of faith.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"It is very probable that much of Mr. Lincoln's unhappiness, -the melancholy that 'dripped from him as he walked,' -was due to his want of religious faith. When the black fit -was on him, he suffered as much mental misery as Bunyan -or Cowper in the deepest anguish of their conflicts with the -Evil One. But the unfortunate conviction fastened upon him -by his early associations, that there was no truth in the Bible, -made all consolation impossible, and penitence useless. To a -man of his temperament, predisposed as it was to depression -of spirit, there could be no chance of happiness if doomed -to live without hope and without God in the world. He might -force himself to be merry with his chosen comrades; he might -'banish sadness' in mirthful conversation, or find relief in -a jest; gratified ambition might elevate his feelings, and give -him ease for a time: but solid comfort and permanent peace -could come to him only 'through a correspondence fixed -with heaven.' The fatal misfortune of his life, looking at -it only as it affected him in this world, was the influence at -New Salem and at Springfield which enlisted him on the side -of unbelief. He paid the bitter penalty in a life of misery."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>, -<i>Life of Lincoln</i>, p. 504.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In support of this thesis, Lamon, aided and abetted by -Herndon, sought for testimonials from those who had known -Lincoln, endeavoring to prove that he had no religious faith. -Herndon himself wrote a letter which we shall quote later -because of its bearing upon a particular point which we have -yet to discuss, and gave the names of Judge Logan, John T. -Stuart, Joshua F. Speed, and James H. Matheny as those -who would confirm his declaration that Lincoln was an infidel. -Herndon's own definition of the term infidel is susceptible of -such varying definitions in his different letters and published -articles that it is not always easy to tell just what he meant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> -by it, but in some of these he was specific and told, from his -own alleged knowledge or his memory of the testimony of -others, what Lincoln believed and denied. Judge Logan -appears not to have contributed to the discussion, but from -several of the others and from some other men whose letters -Herndon already had, Lamon made up a considerable volume -of testimony concerning the unbelief of Lincoln. Some of -these we quote, reserving others for later consideration.</p> - -<p>Hon. John T. Stuart was alleged to have said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I knew Mr. Lincoln when he first came here, and for -years afterwards. He was an avowed and open infidel, sometimes -bordered on atheism. I have often and often heard -Lincoln and one W. D. Herndon, who was a free-thinker, -talk over this subject. Lincoln went further against Christian -beliefs and doctrines and principles than any man I ever heard: -he shocked me. I don't remember the exact line of his argument: -suppose it was against the inherent defects, so called, -of the Bible, and on grounds of reason. Lincoln always -denied that Jesus was the Christ of God,—denied that Jesus -was the Son of God, as understood and maintained by the -Christian Church. The Rev. Dr. Smith, who wrote a letter, -tried to convert Lincoln from infidelity so late as 1858, and -couldn't do it."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>, <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, p. 488.</p></blockquote> - -<p>It later developed that these quotations which appeared -in Lamon's book in the form of letters to Herndon were in -some instances, if not in all, Herndon's own reports of conversations -with these friends of Lincoln, and not, in any -case, signed letters. Several of the putative authors repudiated -the statements attributed to them.</p> - -<p>Dr. C. H. Ray was quoted as saying:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I do not know how I can aid you. You [Herndon] -knew Mr. Lincoln far better than I did, though I knew him -well; and you have served up his leading characteristics in a -way that I should despair of doing, if I should try. I have -only one thing to ask: that you do not give Calvinistic theology<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> -a chance to claim him as one of its saints and martyrs. He -went to the Old-School Church; but, in spite of that outward -assent to the horrible dogmas of the sect, I have reason from -himself to know that his 'vital purity,' if that means belief -in the impossible, was of a negative sort."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>, <i>Life of -Lincoln</i>, pp. 489-90.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Hon. David Davis was quoted as saying:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I do not know anything about Lincoln's religion, and do -not think anybody knew. The idea that Lincoln talked to a -stranger about his religion or religious views, or made such -speeches, remarks, etc., about it as are published, is to me -absurd. I knew the man so well: he was the most reticent, -secretive man I ever saw, or expect to see. He had no faith, -in the Christian sense of the term,—had faith in laws, principles, -causes, and effects—philosophically: you [Herndon] -know more about his religion than any man. You ought to -know it, of course."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>, <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, p. 489.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Lamon also printed a letter from James H. Matheny, who -had been Lincoln's "best man" at his wedding, and a long-time -and intimate friend. It would be included in this chapter, -as it is to be referred to in the next, but it is reserved for a -more important use in the chapter on "Lincoln's Burnt Book."</p> - -<p>Lamon's <i>Life of Lincoln</i> lashed into greater fury the -tempest that already raged concerning Lincoln's religious -faith. Nor was this the only criticism upon it. It was the -first of the Lives of Lincoln to which the later term of "muckraking" -might have been applied, and its spirit of hostility -is best accounted for by the fact that its real author was not -Lamon but Black, who not only entertained all the local -prejudice which one element in Springfield had against Lincoln, -but represented also a bitter political hostility, Black's -father having been a member of Buchanan's Cabinet. Indeed -there is alleged to have been a three-cornered and acrimonious -dispute among the publishers, Lamon, and Black concerning -an omitted chapter on Buchanan's administration which had -something to do with one aspect of the book's financial failure.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> -Black and Lamon and the publishers all lost money and the -book was a financial disaster.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding its tone of astonishing bitterness against -Lincoln, its shocking bad taste and its perverted viewpoint, -Lamon's biography is a valuable source of information. Concerning -it John Hay wrote to Lamon, "Nothing heretofore -printed can compare with it in interest, and from the nature -of the case all subsequent writers will have to come to you -for a large class of facts."</p> - -<p>In 1895 Lamon's daughter Dorothy, subsequently Mrs. -Teillard, published a book of "Recollections" of Lincoln by -her father, with no objectionable matter, and with a considerable -number of valuable incidents. But this later book, -while avoiding the occasions of criticism which the first book -evoked, added little to the character study which the first -volume, with all its manifold defects, had contained.</p> - -<p>Lamon was a very different man from Lincoln—so different -that men who knew them both wondered at Lincoln's -fondness for him. And he knew Lincoln intimately. But he -was not capable of interpreting the best that was in Lincoln.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER X</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE REED LECTURE</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">One</span> of the first results of the Lamon biography was a lecture -prepared by Rev. James A. Reed, pastor of the First Presbyterian -Church of Springfield. This lecture<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> was delivered -several times, and in 1873 was published in <i>Scribner's Magazine</i>, -which at that time was edited by J. G. Holland. Holland -had been horrified by the Lamon biography, and had reviewed -it with such disfavor that Herndon attributes the failure of -the book in no small part to Holland's pronounced opposition. -This lecture, published in so widely read a magazine, produced -a profound impression. A doubt which Lamon had raised and -which Herndon later had the bad taste to emphasize concerning -Lincoln's paternity turned to good advantage; and Reed produced -from several of the men whom Lamon had quoted, -counter-statements declaring that they had been misquoted. -Of these was James H. Matheny, whose statement to Herndon -we are to consider in connection with the story of Lincoln's -burnt book and who wrote to Dr. Reed:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The language attributed to me in Lamon's book is not -from my pen. I did not write it, and it does not express my -sentiment of Mr. Lincoln's entire life and character. It is a -mere collection of sayings gathered from private conversations -that were only true of Mr. Lincoln's earlier life. I -would not have allowed such an article to be printed over my -signature as covering my opinion of Mr. Lincoln's life and -religious sentiments. While I do believe Mr. Lincoln to have -been an infidel in his former life, when his mind was as yet -unformed, and his associations principally with rough and -skeptical men, yet I believe he was a very different man in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> -later life; and that after associating with a different class of -men, and investigating the subject, he was a firm believer in -the Christian religion."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Major John T. Stuart also repudiated the statement -attributed to him, and not only so but gave detailed and -positive statements which directly contradicted the more important -part of what Lamon had attributed to him.</p> - -<p>Dr. Reed went further and set forth with a considerable -degree of precision the grounds for the statement that Lincoln's -views had undergone marked change during his life in -Springfield, particularly under the influence of Dr. Reed's -predecessor, the Rev. James Smith.</p> - -<p>Dr. Reed's lecture became the subject of acrimonious -attack. His article was flouted, belittled, and railed at. But -its essential affirmations have not been disproved. We shall -devote a chapter to a consideration of the relations of Dr. -Smith to Mr. Lincoln and shall find that Dr. Reed's claims -were not extravagant.</p> - -<p>Other controversialists took up the pen about this time -in confutation of Lamon. One of the most interesting and -valuable of the contributions which then appeared was an -article by B. F. Irwin, of Pleasant Plains, Illinois, published -in the <i>Illinois State Journal</i>, for May 16, 1874.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> He produced -a considerable number of letters from men who had known -Mr. Lincoln prior to his residence in Springfield and whose -knowledge of his religious beliefs at that time was intimate -and accurate. Of these by far the most important was from -Lincoln's old teacher, Mentor Graham, which we shall quote -at length in the chapter on Lincoln's "Burnt Book."</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Among these were letters from men who professed to -have heard Lincoln charged with infidelity and had heard -him deny it. The most important of these letters, however, -aside from that of Mentor Graham, have value for us in the -light they shed upon what really constituted Lincoln's alleged -infidelity at this early period. That he had doubts and mis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>givings -upon various subjects was not denied, but his hostility -to the orthodox belief expressed itself chiefly in a vigorous -denial of the endlessness of future punishment. This dogma -Lincoln denied upon two grounds, as these letters affirm. -First, the justice and mercy of God; and secondly, the fact -that according to the Biblical scheme of redemption, whatever -right the human race had possessed to immortality and lost -through sin, had been restored in Christ. Lincoln was, according -to the testimony of a number of these men who had known -him, not an infidel, nor even a deist, but essentially a Universalist.</p> - -<p>Irwin had interviewed Colonel James H. Matheny and -quoted Matheny as denying that he had ever heard Lincoln -admit that he was an infidel and did not himself believe it. -Irwin himself had known Lincoln personally for many years -and had known large numbers of men who were intimately -acquainted with him and he said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I have never yet heard one single man express the belief -that Lincoln was an infidel. Mr. Herndon, it is true, did -have opportunities over others in knowing Mr. Lincoln's -religious opinions, but other men had some opportunities, as -well as Mr. Herndon, and to them I shall have to appeal, for -I do not claim to personally know anything about Mr. Lincoln's -religious faith. Though personally acquainted with Mr. Lincoln -for twenty-eight years and often in his office, I never -heard him say a word on the subject of his religious belief."</p></blockquote> - -<p>It will be noted that while the statements concerning -Mr. Lincoln's alleged infidelity have been published over the -name of Lamon, Herndon was held responsible for them in -these controversies. The impetuous Herndon possessed none -of the reticence of Bateman; and while denying that he wrote -Lamon's book, rushed in as Lamon's champion and covered -himself with wounds if not with glory.</p> - -<p>Irwin's article proceeds to quote these old neighbors and -friends of Lincoln, whose testimony, added to those adduced -by Dr. Reed, was of very great weight. I have copied these<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> -from the files of the <i>Illinois State Journal</i> in the Library of -the Illinois State Historical Society in Springfield and here -produce three of them, reserving others for later comment.</p> - -<p>One of the letters quoted in full by Irwin was from -Thomas Mostiller, of Pleasant Plains, Menard County, Illinois. -He professed to have heard Lincoln when he was a candidate -for Congress in 1847 or 1848, when he was charged with -being an infidel and explicitly denied it. Said he:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I was present and heard Josiah Grady ask Lincoln a -question or two regarding a charge made against Lincoln -of being an infidel, and Lincoln unqualifiedly denied the charge -of infidelity, and said, in addition, his parents were Baptists, -and brought him up in the belief of the Christian religion; -and he believed it as much as anyone, but was sorry to say he -had or made no pretensions to religion himself. I can't give -his exact words, but would make oath anywhere that he positively -denied the charge made against him of infidelity. That -was the first time I ever heard the charge of infidelity against -Lincoln. Grady did not say that he would not vote for -Lincoln if he was an infidel, but my understanding from -Grady was that he would not vote for Lincoln if he was an -infidel; and Grady did, as I suppose, vote for him. I understood -him that he should."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Another statement was by Jonathan Harnett. It was not -made in a letter, like the others, but was verbally stated to -Mr. Irwin, who wrote it from Harnett's dictation, and was -then read to him and endorsed by him. Mr. Harnett related -an incident which he declared himself to have witnessed in -Lincoln's office in 1858, when an argument was held on the -truth of the Christian religion, a number of men participating. -He affirmed that Mr. Lincoln ended the discussion by a cogent -argument based on the restitution of all things in Christ, and -the ultimate salvation of all men.</p> - -<p>This line of argument, attested by a number who heard -Mr. Lincoln in these discussions, will be readily understood -by those who have heard, as he had heard from his infancy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> -the typical argument of the backwoods Baptist preacher, and -who appreciates Mr. Lincoln's theory of the irrevocability of -the Divine will, and the relation of the atonement to the restitution -of all things. The essential difference between Lincoln's -point of view and that of these preachers was that the -preachers saw in the work of Christ the basis of personal -forgiveness of sin; and Lincoln saw in it rather a manifestation -of the irrevocable law of God for the ultimate salvation -of the race.</p> - -<p>Another of the letters included in the Irwin article was -one from Isaac Cogdal, who related a conversation in Lincoln's -office in Herndon's presence, in which Lincoln expressed himself -somewhat as follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"He did not nor could not believe in the endless punishment -of any one of the human race. He understood punishment -for sin to be a Bible doctrine; that punishment was -parental in its object, aim and design, and intended for the -good of the offender; hence it must cease when justice was -satisfied. He added that all that was lost by the transgression -of Adam was made good by the atonement; all that was lost -by the fall was made good by the sacrifice; and he added this -remark, that punishment being a 'provision of the gospel -system, he was not sure but the world would be better off if a -little more punishment was preached by our ministers, and not -so much of pardon of sin.'"</p></blockquote> - -<p>I need only add, that to me these letters carry the conviction -of reality. Lincoln had been rooted and grounded in -the kind of dogma that began with Adam and related to his -fall in vital sort the atonement of Christ. That Lincoln had -some doubts concerning the person of Christ is not in point. -He believed in God, and he knew the fact of sin, and he was -dyed in the wool in arguments concerning the fall of the -race in Adam and its redemption in Christ. But he did not -dwell as did the preachers on individual forgiveness, which -he sometimes doubted, but sought to evolve a legal and moral -scheme with a final restoration. I regard these testimonies -as essentially true.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE HERNDON LECTURES, LETTERS, AND<br /> -BIOGRAPHY</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> name of William H. Herndon finds frequent mention in -these pages, as it must in any study of Abraham Lincoln. -With all his faults as a biographer, his astigmatism, his anti-religious -prejudice, his intolerance, his bad taste, he is an -invaluable source of information concerning his partner and -friend, Abraham Lincoln.</p> - -<p>The publication of the Lamon biography and the Reed -lecture brought him into a conflict from which no power on -earth could probably have kept him out, and in it he did and -said many things which for his own sake and Lincoln's he -might better not have said.</p> - -<p>But Herndon was no liar. Biased as he was, and himself -a free-thinker or perhaps worse, he told the truth in such -fashion as to throw it out of perspective, and sometimes told -what he believed to be the truth in a passion which compels -us to discount some of his testimony. But he did not lie nor -intentionally misrepresent.</p> - -<p>For twenty years Lincoln and Herndon were law partners, -and their partnership was never formally dissolved. Lincoln -liked Herndon, but there was no loss of love between Herndon -and Mrs. Lincoln. She, if tradition about Springfield is to -be believed, disliked him personally for his habits, and possibly -also for his politics, for he was an Abolitionist before Lincoln, -and a very ardent one at that. Had she known what Herndon -was to say about her in later years she might have been more -gracious to her husband's junior partner, who had learned -some habits at the bar of his father's tavern which he might -better not have learned.</p> - -<p>Herndon in his later life looked not a little like Lincoln,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> -and showed no disposition by any change of beard or other -device to lessen the resemblance; but in other particulars the -two men were most unlike. Herndon was five feet nine, -Lincoln more than six feet three. Herndon was impetuous, -Lincoln extremely deliberate and cautious to a fault. Herndon -was a good judge of human nature and excelled in cross-examination, -while he failed in the careful preparation of his -cases; Lincoln was a very poor judge of human nature, but -reduced his cases to simple principles, and carefully worked -up his evidence with deliberate care. Herndon was a great -reader; Lincoln seldom read a book through. Herndon spent -his money for books and had a valuable library; Lincoln seldom -wasted a dollar on a book. Herndon was outspoken; Lincoln -was secretive. Herndon wanted all the world to know what -he thought about everything; Lincoln kept his ear to the -ground and chose his own time for the utterance of his -convictions.</p> - -<p>We shall never have another as good description of -Abraham Lincoln's appearance and manner as that which -comes from the pen of Herndon, nor shall we ever obtain -better pen pictures of many of the incidents in his career. -But Herndon was too good a witness to be a good judge, -and he lived too near the stump to behold the tree.</p> - -<p>Herndon had already attempted to catechize Dr. Smith,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> -Mr. Lincoln's pastor, concerning his relations with Lincoln, -and Smith had replied that he was willing to tell what he -knew about Lincoln's faith, but did not choose to make Mr. -Herndon his vehicle of communication to the public. This -did not tend to increase Herndon's love for the clergy: and -when Dr. Holland printed Dr. Reed's lecture, with its letters -in which several of the men whom Lamon, on Herndon's -authority, had quoted in support of Lamon's declaration, -Herndon quickly replied and Holland refused to print his -article.</p> - -<p>Herndon spilled much ink through a New York newspaper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> -whose editor later was sent to prison for the circulation of -obscene literature, and wrote a number of letters, in each of -which he tended to become a little more pronounced.</p> - -<p>He scorned the idea that Lincoln had taken strangers into -his confidence concerning his faith. He said in a letter to -J. E. Remsburg, under date of September 10, 1887, "He was -the most secretive, reticent, shut-mouthed man that ever -existed."</p> - -<p>The Reed lecture infuriated him. He denounced Dr. Reed -publicly as a liar, and said many things which a more prudent -man would not have said. On November 9, 1882, he issued -a broadside, entitled "A Card and a Correction," beginning:</p> - -<p>"I wish to say a few short words to the public and private -ear. About the year 1870 I wrote a letter to Mr. F. E. Abbott, -then of Ohio, touching Mr. Lincoln's religion.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> In that letter -I stated that Mr. Lincoln was an infidel, sometimes bordering -on atheism, and I now repeat the same. In the year 1873, -the Right Rev. James A. Reed, pastor and liar of this city, -gave a lecture on Mr. Lincoln's religion, in which he tried -to answer me,—" and more to the same purport.</p> - -<p>While Herndon and Lamon were men of quite different, -mind and ability, the two men used essentially the same body -of material for the making of their books about Lincoln, -Herndon having sold copies of all his Lincoln manuscripts -to Lamon.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Herndon delivered at least three lectures on Lincoln. The -first, and most popular and valuable, was on the "Life and -Character of Lincoln." It was first delivered to a Springfield -audience in 1866, was repeated many times, and it forms the -substance of the twentieth chapter of his book, as it appeared -in the first edition, and the eleventh chapter in the second. -It contains the incomparable description of Lincoln's personal -appearance which must stand to all time as the best and final -pen-picture of the man.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> - -<p>The second was entitled "Abraham Lincoln; Miss Ann -Rutledge; New Salem; the Poem." It was delivered in the -old Sangamon County court house in Springfield in November, -1866, and was based on notes which Herndon had recently -made on a visit to New Salem, Sunday and Monday, October -14-15, 1866. It contains the material out of which all subsequent -romantic works about Lincoln and Ann Rutledge -have been woven. It was heard by a small audience, greeted -with manifest disapproval, and came near to being hopelessly -lost; but is preserved in a limited edition published by H. E. -Barker, Springfield. This edition is quoted in part in the -foregoing pages, with special reference to Herndon's personal -touch with New Salem.</p> - -<p>The third was on "The Religion of Abraham Lincoln," -and was called out by the Holland biography and the Bateman -interview. Of this and the first, Mr. Barker says in his -preface to the Ann Rutledge lecture, that they "were allowed -to perish for lack of permanence in printed form. Their -subject-matter, however, was embodied in the extended Life -of Lincoln published in 1872 by Ward H. Lamon, and in the -still later Life of Lincoln written and published by Mr. Herndon -in 1889."</p> - -<p>This material is quoted practically <i>in extenso</i> in the pages -of this volume, no important statement having been omitted.</p> - -<p>Herndon's regret increased that he had sold to Lamon the -copies of his papers. He was in a position where he was -getting most of the blame for what Lamon had written, and -he was not wholly in sympathy with Lamon's and especially -with Black's point of view. Lamon's proposed new edition, -with the new volume that was to have covered the years of -Lincoln's Presidency, did not materialize. There was probably -no publisher who dared undertake it. At length Herndon got -to work on his own biography of Lincoln, and was fortunate -in associating with himself Mr. Jesse W. Weik, who helped -him to complete it. The work was published in 1889 by Belford, -Clarke, & Company, of Chicago, and made its appearance -in three volumes. Soon after its publication the firm -failed. The books were hawked about for a song, the greater<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> -part of the edition was unsold, and the balance of the edition -is alleged to have been bought up by Lincoln's friends and -destroyed. The author of this book paid $35.00 for his set, -and could sell it at a profit.</p> - -<p>It is a great pity that Herndon had not learned his lesson -from the fate of Lamon's book. If he had omitted some of -the objectionable matter, he would have made for himself -a great name. Even as it was, he did a great piece of work: -but he gained neither money nor commendation.</p> - -<p>In 1892, Appletons brought out a new edition in two -volumes, with some matter omitted, and some new matter -by Horace White, and that edition met with favor. But -Herndon did not live to see it. He died, poor and -battle-scarred, denounced as the maligner of the man he -loved.</p> - -<p>In his younger days, Herndon drank, and it is alleged -that in his later life he used morphine. It is said that he -wanted an appointment to a Government Land Office, but -that Lincoln, knowing his weakness, did not appoint him, and -that this had some share in his feeling, which he still thought -to be one of reverence for Lincoln, but which was unconsciously -tinged with resentment. To this it is answered that -Lincoln did offer Herndon an appointment which Herndon -declined: but it was not a very attractive appointment, and -there is good reason to believe that Herndon was disappointed, -and that he knew Lincoln's reason.</p> - -<p>The name which Herndon applied to Lincoln he accepted -for himself, that of infidel. Yet it is fair to ask whether this -was a just term as applied to Herndon himself. In his lecture -on Ann Rutledge, he had occasion to defend himself in advance -for views which he knew would be heard with suspicion, and -which, indeed, like almost everything he said and did, had -the unfortunate quality of increasing his unpopularity, he -said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"You know my Religion, my Philosophy: That the -highest thought and acts of the human soul and its religious -sphere are to think, love, obey, and worship God, by thinking -freely, by loving, teaching, doing good to, and elevating mankind. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>My first duty is to God, then to mankind, and then to -the individual man or woman."—<i>Lecture on Ann Rutledge</i>, -pp. 9-10.</p></blockquote> - -<p>One cannot help regretting that the man who had thus -defined his own religion should ever have been led to think -himself or any other man whom he supposed to be like-minded -an infidel.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2></div> - -<p class="c">LINCOLN'S BURNT BOOK</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the chapter on the "Conditions of Lincoln's Young Manhood -at New Salem" mention was made of the "book" -which Lincoln is said to have written, opposed to the Christian -religion, a book which his employer, Samuel Hill, is said to -have snatched from his hand and thrown into the fire lest -Lincoln's infidelity should ruin his political career. To have -treated this subject at length would have thrown that chapter -out of focus, and it is time that we should learn the truth -about it.</p> - -<p>Colonel Lamon tells us about this book thus:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"He had made himself thoroughly familiar with the writings -of Paine and Volney,—the <i>Ruins</i> by one and the <i>Age of -Reason</i> by the other. His mind was full of the subject, and -he felt an itching to write. He did write, and the result was -a 'little book.' It was probably merely an extended essay,<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> -but it was ambitiously spoken of as a 'book' by himself and -by the persons who were made acquainted with its contents. -In this book he intended to demonstrate,—</p> - -<p class="l"> -"First, that the Bible was not God's revelation; and<br /> -"Secondly, that Jesus was not the Son of God."</p> -<p class="l6"> -—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>, <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, pp. 157-58. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Lamon wrote this in 1872 of a book supposed to have been -written by Lincoln and burned by Hill in 1834.</p> - -<p>We have already quoted from Herndon's account, but it -is brief and for convenience will bear reading here in full:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"In 1834, while still living in New Salem and before he -became a lawyer, he was surrounded by a class of people -exceedingly liberal in matters of religion. Volney's <i>Ruins</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> -and Paine's <i>Age of Reason</i> passed from hand to hand, and -furnished food for the evening's discussion in the tavern and -village store. Lincoln read both these books and thus assimilated -them into his own being. He prepared an extended -essay—called by many a book—in which he made an argument -against Christianity, striving to prove that the Bible was not -inspired, and therefore not God's revelation, and that Jesus -Christ was not the Son of God. The manuscript containing -these audacious and comprehensive propositions he intended -to have published or given a wide circulation in some other -way. He carried it to the store, where it was read and freely -discussed. His friend and employer, Samuel Hill, was among -the listeners, and seriously questioning the propriety of a -promising young man like Lincoln fathering such unpopular -notions, he snatched the manuscript from his hands and thrust -it into the stove. The book went up in flames, and Lincoln's -political future was secure."—<span class="smcap">Herndon</span>, III, 439, 440.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Herndon had already given this information to Lamon -in another form, and Lamon used it in his list of certificates -from Lincoln's old friends that Lincoln was an infidel.</p> - -<p>As printed in Lamon's book, Herndon's account of the -burnt manuscript was communicated in the following letter:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"As to Mr. Lincoln's religious views, he was, in short, -an infidel, ... a theist. He did not believe that Jesus was -God, nor the Son of God,—was a fatalist, denied the freedom -of the will. Mr. Lincoln told me a thousand times, that he -did not believe the Bible was the revelation of God, as the -Christian world contends. The points that Mr. Lincoln tried -to demonstrate [in his book] were: First, That the Bible was -not God's revelation; and, Second, That Jesus was not the -Son of God. I assert this on my own knowledge, and on my -veracity. Judge Logan, John T. Stuart, James H. Matheny, -and others, will tell you the truth. I say they will confirm -what I say, with this exception,—they will make it blacker -than I remember it. Joshua F. Speed of Louisville, I think, -will tell you the same thing."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>, <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, p. 489.</p></blockquote> - -<p>It is important to notice that we do not have two witnesses -concerning this book, but only one. Lamon gives no evidence -of having possessed any independent knowledge of the book.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> -His information was derived from Herndon. In the chapter -on "Lincoln's Young Manhood" we considered how slight -was Herndon's personal connection with New Salem. The -town had vanished long before he ever visited the spot, and -apparently the only time he ever spent there for the purpose -of study was a Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, -October 14 and 15, 1866. On the occasion of that visit he -gathered the material for his lecture on Ann Rutledge. So -far as we have evidence, he learned nothing at this time about -Lincoln's burnt book. In his letter, written to be included in -Lamon's biography, in which reference to this book is made, -he says: "I assert this on my own knowledge and on my -own veracity." That sentence appears at first reading to refer -to Herndon's personal knowledge of the book, but a second -reading with the context shows that Herndon does not mean -to claim that he had personal knowledge of the book, but -personal knowledge of Lincoln's belief or the lack of it.</p> - -<p>Where did Herndon learn about this book?</p> - -<p>He learned it from James H. Matheny, who had never seen -the "book" but had received the information in confidence -from Lincoln. It will be remembered that Matheny repudiated -the supposed letter to Herndon which Lamon printed -as from him and said that he never wrote it, but that Herndon -compiled it from scraps of several conversations, and that it -did not represent Matheny's opinion of Lincoln's ultimate -religion. It is not necessary to suppose that either Herndon -or Lamon intended to misrepresent Matheny. Lamon had -no original documents to work from and the copy which he -received of Herndon's notes of Matheny's conversation he -took to be the copy of a letter from Matheny and printed it -as such. It appears to be quite clear that this was the only -source of Herndon's knowledge of Lincoln's burnt book. The -following is the report of these scraps of conversation with -Matheny as Herndon wrote them down and as Lamon printed -them:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I knew Mr. Lincoln as early as 1834-5; know he was an -infidel. He and W. D. Herndon used to talk infidelity in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> -clerk's office in this city, about the years 1837-40. Lincoln -attacked the Bible and the New Testament on two grounds: -first, from the inherent or apparent contradictions under its -lids; second, from the grounds of reason. Sometimes he -ridiculed the Bible and New Testament, sometimes seemed to -scoff it, though I shall not use that word in its full and -literal sense. I never heard that Lincoln changed his views, -though his personal and political friend from 1834 to 1860. -Sometimes Lincoln bordered on atheism. He went far that -way, and often shocked me. I was then a young man and -believed what my good mother told me. Stuart & Lincoln's -office was in what was called Hoffman's Row, on North -Fifth Street, near the public square. It was in the same -building as the clerk's office, and on the same floor. Lincoln -would come into the clerk's office, where I and some young -men—Evan Butler, Newton Francis, and others—were writing -or staying, and would bring the Bible with him; would -read a chapter; argue against it. Lincoln then had a smattering -of geology, if I recollect it. Lincoln often, if not wholly, -was an atheist; at least, bordered on it. Lincoln was enthusiastic -in his infidelity. As he grew older, he grew more -discreet, didn't talk much before strangers about his religion; -but to friends, close and bosom ones, he was always open and -avowed, fair and honest; but to strangers, he held them off -from policy. Lincoln used to quote Burns. Burns helped -Lincoln to be an infidel, as I think; at least, he found in Burns -a like thinker and feeler. Lincoln quoted 'Tam o' Shanter.' -'What! send one to heaven, and ten to hell!' etc.</p> - -<p>"From what I know of Mr. Lincoln and his views of -Christianity, and from what I know as honest and well-founded -rumor; from what I have heard his best friends -say and regret for years; from what he never denied when -accused, and from what Lincoln hinted and intimated, to say -no more—he did write a little book on infidelity at or near -New Salem, in Menard County, about the year 1834 or 1835. -I have stated these things to you often. Judge Logan, John -T. Stuart, yourself, know what I know, and some of you -more.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Herndon, you insist on knowing something which -you know I possess, and got as a secret, and that is, about -Lincoln's little book on infidelity. Mr. Lincoln did tell me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> -that he did write a little book on infidelity. This statement -I have avoided heretofore; but, as you strongly insist upon -it,—probably to defend yourself against charges of misrepresentation,—I -give it to you as I got it from Lincoln's mouth."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>, -<i>Life of Lincoln</i>, pp. 487-88.</p></blockquote> - -<p>We have here our one witness that Mr. Lincoln while at -New Salem,<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> freshly risen from the reading of Volney and -Paine, and having what Lamon called the "itch for writing" -wrote some kind of essay adverse to the doctrines of Christianity -as Lincoln then understood them. Matheny never -saw the book and never talked with anyone so far as we know -who had seen it, excepting Lincoln himself, who told him in -confidence that he had written such an essay. The fact that -Matheny says that he "got it as a secret" would seem to -indicate that Lincoln had no pride in it, and his reference to -Herndon's insistence indicates that Herndon had no other -source of information.</p> - -<p>Lincoln did, then, write something of this character and -it may have been burned; though it is extremely doubtful -whether it met so spectacular a fate or was anything like so -formidable a document as tradition has represented it.</p> - -<p>It will be noted that Colonel Matheny says nothing about -the burning of the book. Herndon got that item from some -other source, and apparently misunderstood it. This information, -apparently, Herndon picked up on the occasion of his -visit to New Salem. Samuel Hill may, indeed, have reminded -Lincoln that if he intended to run for the Legislature against -Peter Cartwright, it would be better for him not to be known -as an infidel; and indeed if Lincoln was known as an infidel, -Peter Cartwright was not the man to have failed to remind -him of it. But at the time when Samuel Hill snatched something -out of Lincoln's hand and threw it into the fire he was not -concerned so much about Lincoln's political future as he was -about something else. The document which Samuel Hill -burned contained very little about theology.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> - -<p>When on an evening in November, 1866, Mr. Herndon, -but lately returned from his visit to the site of New Salem, -delivered in the old court house in Springfield before a small -and critical audience his lecture on Ann Rutledge, he informed -his hearers that in 1834 that sweet young girl of nineteen -was simultaneously loved by three men, one of whom was -Abraham Lincoln. He omitted the names of the other two, -and filled in their place in the manuscript with blanks. The -world has long since learned the other two names, of John -McNamur and Samuel Hill. Herndon's reason for concealing -them at the time was probably the fact that their descendants -were living near, but those descendants are well aware of it -now, and have been for years.</p> - -<p>Hill and McNamur were partners, and Ann loved McNamur -and rejected Hill. McNamur went East, and was -gone so long that it was believed he was either dead or had -proved untrue, and Hill's hope lit up again only to meet a -second disappointment. Ann Rutledge still loved McNamur, -but, believing him forever lost to her, she had made her -second choice, and that choice was not Hill. Hill awoke to the -sad discovery that having once been refused for his partner's -sake he was refused again for the sake of his clerk. This -shy, gawky, lank, and ill-mannered young fellow who was -selling goods in Hill's store and studying law and cherishing -all manner of ambitions had aspired to the hand of Ann -Rutledge and had been accepted.</p> - -<p>The truth about it came out in the discovery of a letter -which Hill had written to McNamur. Hill was making one -last effort to learn whether McNamur was living or dead, -and if living whether he still loved Ann; and was reproaching -him for his delay and neglect. This letter did not find its -way to the post office; in some way it was lost and was picked -up by the children who brought it to Lincoln. This was the -document which Lincoln held in his hand when he and Hill -came to their final reckoning concerning the heart of Ann -Rutledge; and the argument between them, while friendly, -developed some heat, and that was what Hill snatched from -Lincoln's hand and threw into the fire.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> - -<p>As for the book or essay or whatever it may have been in -which Lincoln passed on his undigested reading of Volney and -Paine, we do not know what became of that, nor need we -greatly care. It went the way of a good deal of literature -which Lincoln was producing at this time, probably with no -dream that any of it would ever see a printing-press. It is -hardly credible that Lincoln, who never printed a book even -in his maturer years, should have had serious purpose of -printing this particular bit of half-fledged philosophy.</p> - -<p>But we have knowledge, and very direct knowledge, of -something else which Lincoln wrote at this time. We learn -of it not by any such circuitous route of hearsay evidence -as accompanies the story of the so-called book on infidelity. -We learn of it from a man who received it at Lincoln's hands -and who read it and remembered its contents and was a competent -witness not only as to the production of the book, but -also as to its argument. This is none other than Mentor -Graham, the schoolmaster of New Salem, who introduced -Lincoln to Kirkham's Grammar, who taught Lincoln surveying, -who had Lincoln in his home as a lodger, and who -knew more about Lincoln's religious views during his years -at New Salem than any other man who lived to tell the world -about it after Lincoln's death. In Irwin's article, which we -have already quoted, is found this letter from Mentor -Graham.</p> - -<p>Mentor Graham is a much better witness than either -Mr. Herndon or Colonel Matheny,—better because equally -honest, and a man of less violent prejudices and of more sober -habits, and especially because he had direct personal knowledge -of the facts. In his letter to Mr. Irwin, under date of March -17, 1874, Mentor Graham relates that when Lincoln was -living in Graham's house in New Salem in 1833, studying -English grammar and surveying under this good schoolmaster, -Lincoln one morning said to him:</p> - -<p>"Graham, what do you think of the anger of the Lord?"</p> - -<p>Graham replied, "I believe the Lord never was angry or -mad, and never will be; that His loving kindness endureth -forever, and that He never changes."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> - -<p>Lincoln said, "I have a little manuscript written which -I will show you."</p> - -<p>The manuscript was written on foolscap paper, about a -half-quire in size, and was written in a plain hand. Mentor -read it.</p> - -<p>"It was a defense of universal salvation. The commencement -of it was something about the God of the universe never -being excited, mad, or angry. I had the manuscript in my -possession some week or ten days. I have read many books -on the subject, and I don't think in point of perspicacity and -plainness of reasoning I ever read one to surpass it. I remember -well his argument. He took the passage, 'As in Adam -all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive,' and followed -with the proposition that whatever the breach or injury of -Adam's transgression to the human race was, which no doubt -was very great, was made right by the atonement of Christ."</p> - -<p>On this point, then, we have abundant witness. Lincoln -argued from the fall of man to the redemptive work of Christ -as the Baptist preachers were in the habit of doing, but instead -of finding there the basis of an argument for individual election -and particular salvation or damnation, found in it the -basis of faith in universal salvation.</p> - -<p>How Lincoln can have reconciled this kind of reasoning -with his readings from Thomas Paine can be understood by -those who have read Paine—which most men who discuss -him have not—and who know the form of argument of the -backwoods preachers which Lincoln had known all his life -and little else in the way of reasoned discourse in spiritual -things. His line of argument was a not unnatural resultant -of the forces at work in his mind.</p> - -<p>But what about the book which Hill burned?</p> - -<p>Here again we have the personal knowledge of Mentor -Graham. He was not, indeed, actually present when the -manuscript was burned. No one, probably, was present, -except Hill and Lincoln. But Graham was very much nearer -to the event in point both of time and distance than either -Herndon or Matheny, from whom Herndon learned about it, -and learned incorrectly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> - -<p>What Hill snatched from Lincoln's hand and burned was -a letter which Hill had written to McNamur about Ann Rutledge. -The letter was lost and picked up by the school children, -who brought it to Lincoln, the postmaster. Lincoln, -knowing Hill's handwriting, and guessing the nature of the -letter, kept it to discuss with Hill alone; and they did discuss -it together. Hill was demanding of McNamur that he either -come back to New Salem, or release Ann Rutledge from her -engagement; and what he learned was, that his successful -rival was not now McNamur, but Lincoln. Here is what -Graham says about it:</p> - -<p>"Some of the school children had picked up the letter and -handed it to Lincoln. Hill and Lincoln were talking about -it, when Hill snatched the letter from Lincoln and put it into -the fire. The letter was respecting a young lady, Miss Ann -Rutledge, for whom all three of these gentlemen seemed to -have respect."</p> - -<p>Graham lived in New Salem at the time that this incident -occurred. Neither Herndon nor Matheny lived there. Graham -left New Salem when it ceased to be a town, and spent -the remainder of his life among the people who had been -his neighbors in New Salem and who became residents with -him in the near-by town of Petersburg. Graham had direct -access to the facts.</p> - -<p>The reason why it was not much talked about is evident -enough. Hill, McNamur, and Lincoln all married, and their -wives and children were living not far from where these -events occurred. The triangular misunderstanding of three -young men about a young woman who had died many years -before was a matter for quiet gossip on the part of the older -inhabitants, but it did not come to the general knowledge of -the public until Herndon delivered his unwelcome lecture on -Ann Rutledge. In some things he learned and told the truth. -But his material had been too hastily gathered, and was too -quickly rushed into a lecture to be reliable in all respects, -and it requires about four titles to cover its diversified and -unstratified subject-matter.</p> - -<p>Our knowledge of the burnt book is, therefore, a matter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> -in which we come finally to the remote recollection of James -Matheny on the one hand, who never saw the book, and who -manifestly misunderstood some parts of the story, and the close -and intimate knowledge of Mentor Graham on the other. -Lincoln apparently told Matheny in confidence that he while -he was living in Salem wrote an essay against the Christian -religion, and Matheny regarded it as a secret but told it to -Herndon. Herndon heard some gossip about a manuscript -which Hill burned, and thought it to have been the same. -Mentor Graham had reliable information as to what it was -that Hill burned, and moreover knew from his own personal -knowledge that Lincoln wrote a very different manuscript -than the one of which he told Matheny, for he himself had -read it, and remembered its general nature.</p> - -<p>Why Lincoln wrote on both sides of the same subject we -do not know and it is not necessary to ask. He may have -been practicing his skill in debating; he may have held one -view at one time and another at another; he may have been -uncertain what view he really held and have been seeking to -formulate his opinions. It would not be fair to judge his -mature opinion by our scant knowledge of what was contained -in either of these two manuscripts. But the thing which -should be remembered is that we know more about the book -in favor of Christianity than we know of the book against it. -Mentor Graham was a truthful and a competent witness and -he had both seen and read the book, which is not true of -anyone through whom we have knowledge of the other essay.</p> - -<p>We are not at liberty to draw the sharp distinction which -sometimes has been drawn against the rampant infidelity of -Lincoln's earlier years and the supposed orthodoxy of his -mature life. Neither of these may have been as hard and -fast as have sometimes been assumed. It is quite possible -that Abraham Lincoln never became a Christian of the type -who could have expressed his faith in the terms of the Bateman -interview; it is equally possible that even in those callow years -when he was reading Tom Paine and Volney and writing sub-sophomoric -effusions on things he knew little about, the germ -of religious faith was actually present even in his doubt.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2></div> - -<p class="c">"THE CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE"</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the spring of the year 1850, after the death of their little -son Eddie, Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln visited Mrs. Lincoln's -relatives in Kentucky. While they were on this visit, Mr. -Lincoln picked up a book entitled <i>The Christian's Defence</i>, by -Rev. James Smith. He was interested, for Dr. Smith was a -townsman of his, and in the absence of Mrs. Lincoln's rector -Dr. Smith had conducted the little boy's funeral service in -the Lincoln home. Lincoln read a part but not the whole of -the book while on this visit. Dr. Smith, as the book showed, -had himself been a doubter, but had become convinced of the -truth of the Christian religion, and had become a valiant -defender of the faith, and an eager debater with skeptics. Out -of a three weeks' discussion with one of these this book had -grown.</p> - -<p>On his return to Springfield Mr. Lincoln took occasion -to secure the book, and to cultivate a closer acquaintance with -its author.</p> - -<p>Lincoln found him well worth knowing; and the reader -of this book deserves an introduction to him and his work.</p> - -<p>I have obtained from Miss Jeanette E. Smith, of Springfield, -granddaughter of Rev. James Smith, a considerable body -of manuscript and other material relating to her grandfather.</p> - -<p>James Smith was born in Glasgow, Scotland, May 11, -1801, and died in Scotland July 3, 1871. He was the son of -Peter and Margaret Smith. In youth he was wild, and in -his opinions was a deist; but when converted he became a -fearless defender of the faith. He was a big, brainy man, -with a great voice and with positive convictions. He was -called from Shelbyville, Kentucky, to the First Church of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> -Springfield, his pastorate beginning March 14, 1849, and -closing December 17, 1856.</p> - -<p>He was a strong temperance man. His sermon on "The -Bottle, Its Evils and Its Remedy," from Habakkuk 2:15, was -preached on January 23, 1853, and printed at the request of -thirty-nine men who heard it, Abraham Lincoln being one of -those who signed the request. "Friends of Temperance" -they called themselves. I have a copy of this remarkable -sermon. In one part it essayed a vindication of the distiller -and liquor-seller, affirming that a community that licensed -them had no right to abuse them for doing what they had paid -for the privilege of doing; and that the State with money in its -pocket received as a share in the product of drunkenness had -no right to condemn the saloonkeeper for his share in the -partnership. He called on the Legislature then in session -to pass a prohibitory law, forbidding all sale of intoxicating -liquor except for medical, mechanical, and sacramental -purposes.</p> - -<p>Such sermons became abundant forty years afterward, -but they were not abundant in 1853. Dr. Smith was one of -the men who held these convictions, and Abraham Lincoln -was one of the men who wanted to see them printed and -circulated.</p> - -<p>It is remarkable that all knowledge of the massive book -which Dr. Smith wrote and published should have perished -from Springfield. Lamon manifestly knew nothing of it as -a book, but thought of it as a manuscript tract, prepared -especially for the ambitious business of converting Mr. Lincoln. -His sarcastic description implies this, and Herndon, who -may have known better at the time, had apparently forgotten. -Both men were disqualified for the discussion of it -by their ignorance of it, as well as the violence of their prejudice.</p> - -<p>On February 12, 1909, a service was held in the old First -Presbyterian Church in Springfield, then occupied by the -Lutherans, the Presbyterians having erected a larger building. -The address was given by Rev. Thomas D. Logan, Dr. Smith's -successor, whose pastorate had begun in 1888. In all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> -more than twenty years of his ministry in Springfield, he -had never seen this book. He had never known of it as a -book at the time he wrote the first draft of this centenary -address. The substance of the address he sent in advance -as an article for the Lincoln Number of <i>The Continent</i> in -February, 1909; but in the revision of the proof he inserted -a footnote saying that Dr. Smith's granddaughter, Miss -Jeanette E. Smith, had come into possession of a copy of -her grandfather's book, which he had just seen.</p> - -<p>The prime reason for this complete ignorance of the book, -even in the church which Lincoln attended, is that it was -published six years before Dr. Smith came to Springfield, in a -limited edition, and completely sold out before it came from -the press; so that it never came into general circulation in -Springfield.</p> - -<p>Miss Smith has placed at my disposal her own copy of this -book, which was her grandfather's, and I have been able -to locate about a half-dozen copies in various public libraries, -and by rare good fortune to buy one for myself.</p> - -<p>Dr. Smith's statement was made in a letter from Cainno, -Scotland, dated January 24, 1867:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"It was my honor to place before Mr. Lincoln arguments -designed to prove the divine authority and inspiration of -the Scriptures, accompanied by the arguments of infidel objectors -in their own language. To the arguments on both sides -Mr. Lincoln gave a most patient, impartial, and searching -investigation. To use his own language, he examined the -arguments as a lawyer who is anxious to investigate truth -investigates testimony. The result was the announcement -made by himself that the argument in favor of the divine -authority and inspiration of the Scriptures was unanswerable."—<span class="smcap">Rev. -James A. Reed</span>: "The Later Life and Religious -Sentiments of Abraham Lincoln," <i>Scribner's Magazine</i>, July, -1873, p. 333.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Thomas Lewis, a lawyer whose office adjoined that -of Mr. Lincoln in Springfield, and who for a time was in the -same office, was an elder in the church which Lincoln attended.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> -In 1898 he wrote his recollections of Dr. Smith's book and -its influence upon Mr. Lincoln:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I was an elder, trustee, treasurer, collector, superintendent -of the Sunday school, and pew-renter. The following Tuesday, -after the second Sunday, Mr. Lincoln called on me and -inquired if there were any pews to rent in the church. I -replied, 'Yes, and a very desirable one, vacated by Governor -Madison, who has just left the city.' 'What is the rent?' -said he. 'Fifty dollars, payable quarterly.' He handed me -$12.50. Said he, 'Put it down to me.' From that date he -paid each three months on said pew until he left for Washington; -and from the first Sunday he was there I have not -known of his not occupying that pew every Sunday he was -in the city until he left. The seat was immediately in front -of mine. The third Sunday his children came in the Sunday -school.</p> - -<p>"Shortly thereafter there was a revival in the church, -and Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, when he was in the city, attended -meeting. In his absence she was there. They attended not -only the regular meetings, but the inquiry meetings also, and -it was the belief that both would unite with the church. When -the candidates were examined Mr. Lincoln was in Detroit, -prosecuting a patent right case, a branch of the profession -in which he had acquired an enviable reputation. Mrs. Lincoln -stated that she was confirmed in the Episcopal Church -when twelve years of age, but did not wish to join the church -by letter, but upon profession of faith, as she was never -converted until Dr. Smith's preaching. She was admitted -[1852]. Mr. Lincoln never applied. Some months later the -session of the church invited Mr. Lincoln to deliver a lecture -on the Bible. When it became known that Mr. Lincoln was -to lecture in the Presbyterian church it assured a full house. -It was said by divines and others to be the ablest defense of -the Bible ever uttered in that pulpit.</p> - -<p>"From the introduction of Mr. Lincoln to Dr. Smith -their intimacy was of a most cordial character. At their -last meeting previous to Mr. Lincoln's leaving for Washington, -as they parted, Mr. Lincoln said, 'Doctor, I wish to -be remembered in the prayers of yourself and our church -members.'"—<i>Illinois State Register</i>, December 10, 1898.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> - -<p>A very interesting bit of testimony to the relations of Mr. -Lincoln and his pastor, Dr. Smith, was given by Rev. William -Bishop, D.D., in an address at Salina, Kansas, on February -12, 1897, and published in the local papers at the time. Dr. -Bishop was graduated from Illinois College in 1850, and for -a time was a member of the faculty there. In the summer -after his graduation, he supplied Dr. Smith's pulpit during -his vacation:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I first met Dr. Smith in the summer of 1850 in Jacksonville, -at the commencement exercises of Illinois College, from -which I had graduated and had just been appointed a member -of the faculty of instruction. The acquaintance then formed -ripened into mutual and congenial friendship. And during -the two years of my connection with the college I was frequently -a visitor and guest at his house in Springfield, and -when, by reason of removal to another institution in another -State, the visits were fewer and farther between, 'a free -epistolary correspondence' continued to strengthen and -brighten the links of fellowship. With his other accomplishments, -Dr. Smith was an interesting and instructive conversationalist—in -fact, quite a raconteur, somewhat like his friend -Lincoln, always ready with a story to illustrate his opinions, -and which gave piquancy to his conversation. Whenever he -had occasion to speak of Lincoln he always evinced the -strongest attachment and the warmest friendship for him, -which was known to be fully reciprocated. Democrat as he -was, and tinged with Southern hues—though never a secessionist—there -seemed to be a mystic cord uniting the minister -and the lawyer. This was subsequently beautifully shown -on the part of Mr. Lincoln, who never forgot to do a generous -thing. When he was elected President Dr. Smith and wife -were getting old, their children all married and gone, except -their youngest<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> son, a young man of twenty-three or four -years of age. One of Lincoln's first official acts, after his -inauguration, was the appointment of this young man to the -consulate at Dundee, Scotland. The doctor, with his wife and -son, returned to the land of his birth. The son soon returned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> -to America, and Dr. Smith himself was appointed consul, -which position he retained until his death in 1871.</p> - -<p>"In the spring of 1857 Dr. Smith, anticipating a necessary -absence from his church of two or three months during the -summer, invited me to supply his pulpit until his return. -Being young and inexperienced in the ministry, with considerable -hesitation I accepted his urgent invitation. So I -spent my college vacation performing as best I could this -service. Mr. Lincoln was a regular attendant at church and -evidently an attentive hearer and devout worshiper.</p> - -<p>"As a college student I had seen and heard him and looked -up to him as a being towering above common men; and, I -confess, I was not a little intimidated by his presence as he -sat at the end of a seat well forward toward the pulpit, with -his deep eyes fixed upon me, and his long legs stretched out -in the middle aisle to keep them from [using one of his own -colloquialisms] being scrouged in the narrow space between -the pews. My 'stage fright,' however, was soon very much -relieved by his kindliness and words of encouragement.</p> - -<p>"On a certain Sunday, the third, as I recollect it, in my -term of service, I delivered a discourse on the text, 'Without -God in the World.' The straight translation from the Greek -is, 'Atheists in the World.' In discussing atheism, theoretical -and practical, I endeavored to elucidate and enforce the fallacy -of the one and the wickedness of the other. At the close of -the service Mr. Lincoln came up and, putting his right hand -in mine and his left on my shoulder, with other impressive -remarks, said, 'I can say "Amen" to all that you have said -this morning.' From that time on my interest in him grew -apace.</p> - -<p>"He was then known extensively all over the West as a -great and good man, and only a year afterward he bounded -into national fame by his victory in the great debate with -Douglas, who, up to that time, was regarded as a debater -invincible.</p> - -<p>"During my brief sojourn in Springfield I had many -opportunities of meeting Lincoln, hearing him, and talking -with him at home, in church, in society, and in the courts -of justice.</p> - -<p>"Dr. Smith returned in due time to resume his pastoral<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> -functions. In reporting to him, in general, my labors in the -church as his substitute during his absence, and in particular -my conceptions of Lincoln's religious character, he intimated -that he knew something of Lincoln's private personal religious -experiences, feelings, and beliefs which resulted in his conversion -to the Christian faith. After some urging to be -more explicit, he made the following statement, which is -herewith submitted, couched substantially in his own language. -The doctor said:</p> - -<p>"'I came to Springfield to take the pastoral charge of -this church [First Presbyterian] about eight years ago -[1849]. During the first of these years, I might say, I had -only a speaking or general acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln -[then forty years old]. Two or three years previous to my -coming here Mrs. Lincoln, who had been a member of our -church, for some reason changed her church relations and was -a regular attendant at the services of the Episcopal Church. -Mr. Lincoln, at that time, having no denominational preferences, -went with her. And so the family continued to frequent -the sanctuary for a year or more after I began my -ministry here. The occasion which opened up the way to my -intimate relations to Mr. Lincoln was this, viz.: In the latter -part of 1849 death came into his family. His second son -died at about three or four years of age. The rector, an -excellent clergyman, being temporarily absent, could not be -present to conduct the burial service, and I was called to -officiate at the funeral. This led me to an intimate acquaintance -with the family, and grew into an enduring and confidential -friendship between Mr. Lincoln and myself. One -result was that the wife and mother returned to her ancestral -church, and the husband and father very willingly came with -her, and ever since has been a constant attendant upon my -ministry. I found him very much depressed and downcast -at the death of his son, and without the consolation of the -gospel. Up to this time I had heard but little concerning -his religious views, and that was to the effect that he was a -deist and inclined to skepticism as to the divine origin of the -Scriptures, though, unlike most skeptics, he had evidently been -a constant reader of the Bible. I found him an honest and -anxious inquirer. He gradually revealed the state of his -mind and heart, and at last unbosomed his doubts and struggles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> -and unrest of soul. In frequent conversations I found that -he was perplexed and unsettled on the fundamentals of -religion, by speculative difficulties, connected with Providence -and revelation, which lie beyond and above the legitimate province -of religion. With some suggestions bearing on the -right attitude required for impartial investigation, I placed in -his hands my book (<i>The Christian's Defence</i>) on the evidence -of Christianity, which gives the arguments for and against -the divine authority and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. -Mr. Lincoln took the book, and for a number of weeks, as -a lawyer, examined and weighed the evidence, pro and con, -and judged of the credibility of the contents of revelation. -And while he was investigating I was praying that the Spirit -of Truth might lead him into the kingdom of truth. And -such was the result, for at the conclusion of his examination -he came forth his doubts scattered to the winds and his reason -convinced by the arguments in support of the inspired and -infallible authority of the Old and New Testaments—a believer -in God, in His providential government, in His Son, the way, -the truth, and the life, and from that time [nearly seven years] -to this day his life has proved the genuineness of his conversion -to the Christian faith. For this I humbly ascribe to our -heavenly Father the honor and the glory.'"</p></blockquote> - -<p>In an earlier statement than that previously quoted, Mr. -Thomas Lewis, under date of January 6, 1873, said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Not long after Dr. Smith came to Springfield, and I -think very near the time of his son's death, Mr. Lincoln said -to me that when on a visit somewhere he had seen and partially -read a work of Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christianity, -which had led him to change his view of the Christian -religion, and he would like to get that work and finish the -reading of it, and also to make the acquaintance of Dr. Smith. -I was an elder in Dr. Smith's church, and took Dr. Smith to -Mr. Lincoln's office, and Dr. Smith gave Mr. Lincoln a copy -of his book, as I know, at his own request."</p></blockquote> - -<p>This is a very different story from that which Lamon -tells, of a self-advertising preacher, ostentatiously preparing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> -a tract to convert Mr. Lincoln, and thrusting it upon him -uninvited and thereafter to be neglected.</p> - -<p>That Mr. Lincoln was impressed by the book is as certain -as human testimony can make it. He told Dr. Smith that he -regarded its argument as "unanswerable," and Lamon's slighting -remark will not stand against so emphatic a word.</p> - -<p>Moreover, Hon. John T. Stuart, whom Lamon had quoted -as saying, "The Rev. Dr. Smith, who wrote a letter, tried -to convert Lincoln as late as 1858, and couldn't do it," repudiated -that statement, declared he never had said it; and on the -contrary affirmed that he understood from those who had -reason to know that Dr. Smith's book had produced a change -in the mind of Mr. Lincoln.</p> - -<p>Ninian W. Edwards, Mr. Lincoln's brother-in-law, on -December 24, 1872, entered the discussion with this emphatic -statement:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"A short time after the Rev. Dr. Smith became pastor -of the First Presbyterian Church in this city, Mr. Lincoln -said to me, 'I have been reading a work of Dr. Smith on the -evidences of Christianity, and have heard him preach and -converse on the subject, and am now convinced of the truth -of the Christian religion.'"</p></blockquote> - -<p>Just what doctrines he was convinced were true, we may -not know. But we do know that he requested the book and -declared it unanswerable, that he and his wife changed their -church affiliation and he became a regular attendant, that Dr. -Smith became his friend and was honored and recognized by -him as long as Lincoln lived, and that those who knew Lincoln -best were told by him that some change had come in his -own belief.</p> - -<p>Under these conditions, the word and work of Rev. James -Smith are not to be thrown unceremoniously out of court. -They have standing in any fair consideration of the question -of Lincoln's religious faith.</p> - -<p>I have looked through many Lives of Lincoln to discover -whether any biographer of Lincoln had ever looked up this -book, and thus far have not discovered any. I have inquired<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> -for the book at the Chicago Historical Library and the Illinois -Historical Library, and neither of those libraries contains it, -nor had it been thought of in connection with Lincoln. Mr. -Oldroyd does not have it in his matchless collection, where -I hoped I might find the veritable copy that Lincoln read, and -he had never heard of it; nor does the matron of the Lincoln -Home at Springfield know anything about it.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> - -<p>I shall give in the Appendix of this book an outline of -the contents of Dr. Smith's solid work, that the reader may -judge for himself whether such a book, placed in the hands -of Mr. Lincoln at such a time, may not have had upon his -mind all the influence that Dr. Smith ever claimed for it.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2></div> - -<p class="c">"VESTIGES OF CREATION"</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Lincoln</span> was a man of few books. Much has been made of -the fact that when a lad he eagerly read every book within -reach; but he did not continue that habit in his mature years. -Something happened to the lad in adolescence that changed him -mentally as well as physically. His sudden upshoot in stature -permanently tired him; he became disinclined to activity. His -movements were much slower, and his habits of thought more -sluggish. Arnold attempts to make a list of his "favorite -books," but does not make much progress (<i>Life of Lincoln</i>, -pp. 443, 444). About all there is to be said is that he read -the Bible both as a boy and man, and came to have an appreciation -and love of Shakspeare, particularly <i>Hamlet</i> and -<i>Macbeth</i>, but he never read Shakspeare through. He was fond -of some of the poems of Burns, the rollicking humor of -"Tam o' Shanter," the withering scorn—an element which -had a considerable place in Lincoln's nature—of "Holy Willie's -Prayer," the manly democracy of "A Man's a Man for a' -That"; but he never quoted Burns. He had little appreciation -of music, but liked negro melodies—not the genuine ones, -but the minstrel-show sort—camp-meeting ballads, Scotch -songs, and mournful narrative compositions, of which the -woods were moderately full in his boyhood, and which he -continued to enjoy. Broadly humorous songs moved him to -mirth, but he cared more for those that were sad. Everyone -knows his love for the mediocre but melodious poem, "O -Why Should the Spirit of Mortal be Proud," which like the -religious song he loved, "How tedious and tasteless the -hours," moved mournfully in triple time, flaunting crêpe in -the face of the spirit of the waltz. About the only contemporary -poem which he is known to have cared much for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> -was Holmes' "Last Leaf," in which he was particularly -moved by the lines,—</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"<i>The mossy marbles rest</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>On the lips that he has prest,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i3"><i>In their bloom,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>And the names he loved to hear</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>Have been carved for many a year</i></span><br /> -<span class="i3"><i>On the tomb.</i>"</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Herndon is correct in saying that Lincoln read less and -thought more than any man prominent in public life in his -generation.</p> - -<p>But the few books that Lincoln read in his mature years -affected him greatly; and when we know of his reading a -book because he cared for it, we may well endeavor to discover -that book and inquire whether it be not possible to trace its -influence in the development, slow but sure, of the mental and -spiritual processes of Abraham Lincoln.</p> - -<p>A highly important statement concerning the philosophical -and religious views of Lincoln is found in Herndon's <i>Life of -Lincoln</i>, and it is remarkable that neither Herndon nor any of -the hundreds of writers who have gleaned, as all must glean, -from his pages, appears to have followed further the most -important of its suggestions:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"For many years I subscribed for and kept on our office -table the <i>Westminster</i> and <i>Edinburgh Review</i> and a number of -other English periodicals. Besides them, I purchased the -works of Spencer, Darwin, and the utterances of other English -scientists, all of which I devoured with great relish. I endeavored, -but with little success, in inducing Lincoln to read -them. Occasionally he would snatch one up and peruse it for -a little while, but he soon threw it down with the suggestion -that it was entirely too heavy for an ordinary mind to digest. -A gentleman in Springfield gave him a book called, I believe, -<i>Vestiges of Creation</i>, which interested him so much that he -read it through. The volume was published in Edinburgh, and -undertook to demonstrate the doctrine of development, or evolution. -The treatise interested him greatly, and he was deeply -impressed with the notion of the so-called 'universal law' -evolution; he did not extend greatly his researches, but by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> -continual thinking in a single channel seemed to grow into a -warm advocate of the new doctrine. Beyond what I have -stated he made no further advances into the realm of philosophy. -'There are no accidents,' he said one day, 'in my philosophy. -Every effect must have its cause. The past is the -cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the -future. All these are links in the endless chain stretching from -the Infinite to the finite.'"—<span class="smcap">Herndon</span>, III, 438.</p></blockquote> - -<p>I count it remarkable that neither Herndon nor any other -of Lincoln's biographers appears to have made further inquiry -about this book, which is not mentioned in Herndon's index, -and which I have not found referred to elsewhere in connection -with Lincoln. The book is not in any of the great Lincoln -collections which I have visited, nor has any Lincoln student -to whom I have mentioned it had it in mind, or failed to be -impressed with the value of it when we have discussed the -matter.</p> - -<p>The book itself is not in the Lincoln Home at Springfield, -nor is it in the Oldroyd Collection at Washington, in one of -which places I hoped that it might be found. Neither the -librarian of the Illinois Historical Society in Springfield, nor -Mr. Barker, the painstaking and discriminating collector and -vendor of Lincoln books in Springfield, had ever noticed the -title in Herndon's book, though both were at once impressed -with its significance when I called it to their attention.</p> - -<p>The material in Herndon's lectures on Lincoln is pretty -well absorbed in his book, and quoted in this volume; but there -are some interesting additional details in Herndon's letters. -In these, answering specific questions or replying to definite -statements, he now and then added a statement which was not -later included in his book, but which has present interest and -in some cases value.</p> - -<p>The following is an excerpt from a letter of Herndon to -John E. Remsburg, and bears in an important way on Lincoln's -use of <i>Vestiges of Creation</i>:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I had an excellent private library, probably the best in the -city for admired books. To this library Mr. Lincoln had, as -a matter of course, full and free access at all times. I p<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>urchased -such books as Locke, Kant, Fichte, Lewes; Sir William -Hamilton's <i>Discussions of Philosophy</i>; Spencer's <i>First Principles</i>, -<i>Social Studies</i>, etc.; Buckle's <i>History of Civilization</i>, -and Lecky's <i>History of Rationalism</i>. I also possessed the -works of Parker, Paine, Emerson and Strauss; Gregg's <i>Creed -of Christendom</i>, McNaught on <i>Inspiration</i>, Volney's <i>Ruins</i>, -Feuerbach's <i>Essence of Christianity</i>, and other works on Infidelity. -Mr. Lincoln read some of these works. About the -year 1843<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> he borrowed the <i>Vestiges of Creation</i> of Mr. -James W. Keys, of this city, and read it carefully. He subsequently -read the sixth edition of this work, which I loaned him. -He adopted the progressive and development theory as taught -more or less directly in that work. He despised speculation, -especially in the metaphysical world. He was purely a practical -man."—<span class="smcap">Remsburg</span>: <i>Six Historic Americans</i>, pp. 114-15.</p></blockquote> - -<p>As already stated Dr. Smith's book <i>The Christian's Defence</i> -is excessively rare. The edition was small; the argument -which it contained was modified with the progress of -discovery; there was little to keep in circulation the few copies -of the book that survived. They have nearly all disappeared. -I have searched the second-hand shops of the principal cities -and the dusty duplicates of libraries with repeated disappointment. -For this reason, I have carried a complete analysis of -the book into the Appendix of this volume; for few who read -the present volume will be able to see the book itself.</p> - -<p>It is quite otherwise with <i>Vestiges of the Natural History -of Creation</i>. It was widely circulated, and copies of even the -older editions are not impossible to obtain. It can be purchased, -new, at very small cost.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> But most of the editions -that the reader will be likely to find, if he seeks for them, are -later than the one which influenced Lincoln, and contain more -or less of supplementary matter.</p> - -<p>Before passing to another subject, it will be well to say a -further word about this book, for a fuller discussion of which -one may go to Andrew D. White's <i>Conflict of Science with -Theology</i> and other learned works.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> - -<p>The author of this book was Robert Chambers,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> one of the -famous firm of publishers, and himself an author of note. -He was born in Peebles, Scotland, July 10, 1802, and died -at St. Andrews, March 17, 1871. He was an author as well -as publisher of books. He published this book anonymously, -and its authorship was not known for forty years. In 1884, -thirteen years after his death, his name appeared for the first -time upon the title page of a new edition.</p> - -<p>It was, in the author's own phrase, "the first attempt to -connect the natural sciences with the history of creation."</p> - -<p>From it Lincoln learned geology and comparative biology. -In it he found not only studies of the rocks, but also of the -prenatal life of man, as related in its successive stages to corresponding -types in the geological world. It was, in a word, -an introduction to Darwin, which appeared many years later.</p> - -<p>That many ministers denounced it as contradictory to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> -Bible we know, and the author anticipated this, nor is this a -matter which gives us present concern. Some ministers believed -it, and others, still unconvinced, read it with an open -mind and waited for more light.</p> - -<p>The important thing for us to know and clearly recognize -is that in this book Abraham Lincoln not only learned what -Herndon considers, and we are justified in considering, the -essential theory of evolution, but he learned that such a view -of creation is consistent with faith in God and the Bible.</p> - -<p>We shall not find it possible to overestimate the importance -of this discovery. Abraham Lincoln wrought out his philosophy -of creation, his scheme of cause and effect, his theory of -the processes of nature and life, under influences not atheistic -nor hostile to religion, but distinctly favorable to it. He -learned of evolution, and was convinced of its truth, from a -book whose spirit and purpose was to present the view in -harmony with the Christian faith.</p> - -<p>The second, and subsequent editions, of <i>Vestiges</i> were -"Greatly Amended by the Author," as the title page gave -notice, and the changes were partly to incorporate new scientific -data, but more to make clear the fact that the author's -theory did not remove God from his universe, as some critics -had asserted, but like Butler's <i>Analogy</i> had shown that God is -in His world, working through the processes of nature. In -1846 appeared <i>Explanations: A Sequel to Vestiges of the -Natural History of Creation</i>, a thin volume added to carry still -further this double purpose, and doing it with marked success. -The sixth edition combined the two in one volume.</p> - -<p>It is interesting to learn that Lincoln, having read the first -edition, later procured and read the sixth, in which the religious -spirit of the author was made still more apparent.</p> - -<p>This was the book which gave to Lincoln his theory of -creation, of "miracles under law," and with one divine mind -and purpose working through it all. Lincoln read little of -natural science and cared practically nothing for philosophy, -but he found in this book what he needed of both; and he -found them in a system whose soul and center was the will -of a righteous God.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2></div> - -<p class="c">OTHER FORMATIVE BOOKS</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">We</span> do not know of any other books which deserve to be -classed with the two we have been considering in their relation -to the formation of Mr. Lincoln's religious ideas; but our -inquiry is at a point where it will be instructive to learn of any -collateral influence which at this period, the period of the 50's, -after the death of Eddie, and before his election as President, -helped to give shape to his convictions.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln did not unite with Dr. Smith's church. It is -difficult to think that it would have been possible for him to -have done so. Old-school Calvinism had its permanent influence -upon him through his Baptist antecedents, but while -that of Dr. Smith came to him most opportunely, it did not -wholly meet his spiritual requirements.</p> - -<p>For many years Herndon was in regular correspondence -with Theodore Parker. They agreed in their view of the -slavery question, and had much in common in their religion. -Herndon had Parker's theological books, and Lincoln read -them, not very thoroughly, perhaps, but with interest.</p> - -<p>About the same time, Mr. Jesse W. Fell, for whom he -wrote the first sketch of his life, presented him with the works -of William E. Channing.</p> - -<p>When Herndon was gathering material to confute Dr. -Reed, he assembled very nearly everything that seemed to -prove that Lincoln was not orthodox, however far short it fell -of proving him an infidel. Among the rest he interviewed -Fell, and from his statements made up this report, which appeared -in Lamon's book, and subsequently in Herndon's:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Mr. Jesse W. Fell of Illinois, who had the best opportunities -of knowing Mr. Lincoln intimately, makes the follow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>ing -statement of his religious opinions, derived from repeated -conversations with him on the subject:</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"'Though everything relating to the character and history -of this extraordinary personage is of interest, and should be -fairly stated to the world, I enter upon the performance of this -duty—for so I regard it—with some reluctance, arising from -the fact, that, in stating my convictions on the subject, I must -necessarily place myself in opposition to quite a number who -have written on this topic before me, and whose views largely -preoccupy the public mind. This latter fact, whilst contributing -to my embarrassment on this subject, is, perhaps, the -strongest reason, however, why the truth in this matter should -be fully disclosed; and I therefore yield to your request. If -there were any traits of character that stood out in bold relief -in the person of Mr. Lincoln, they were those of truth and -candor. He was utterly incapable of insincerity, or professing -views on this or any other subject he did not entertain. -Knowing such to be his true character, that insincerity, much -more duplicity, were traits wholly foreign to his nature, many -of his old friends were not a little surprised at finding, in -some of the biographies of this great man, statements concerning -his religious opinions so utterly at variance with his known -sentiments. True, he may have changed or modified those -sentiments after his removal from among us, though this is -hardly reconcilable with the history of the man, and his entire -devotion to public matters during his four years' residence at -the national capital. It is possible, however, that this may -be the proper solution of this conflict of opinions; or, it may -be, that, with no intention on the part of anyone to mislead the -public mind, those who have represented him as believing in -the popular theological views of the times may have misapprehended -him, as experience shows to be quite common -where no special effort has been made to attain critical accuracy -on a subject of this nature. This is the more probable -from the well-known fact, that Mr. Lincoln seldom communicated -to anyone his views on this subject. But, be this as it -may, I have no hesitation whatever in saying, that, whilst he -held many opinions in common with the great mass of Christian -believers, he did not believe in what are regarded as the -orthodox or evangelical views of Christianity.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> -<p>"'On the innate depravity of man, the character and -office of the great Head of the Church, the atonement, the -infallibility of the written revelation, the performance of -miracles, the nature and design of present and future rewards -and punishments (as they are probably called), and many other -subjects, he held opinions utterly at variance with what are -usually taught in the church. I should say that his expressed -views on these and kindred topics were such as, in the estimation -of most believers, would place him entirely outside the -Christian pale. Yet, to my mind, such was not the true position, -since his principles and practices and the spirit of his -whole life were of the very kind we universally agree to call -Christian; and I think this conclusion is in no wise affected -by the circumstance that he never attached himself to any -religious society whatever.</p> - -<p>"'His religious views were eminently practical, and are -summed up, as I think, in these two propositions: "the Fatherhood -of God, and the brotherhood of man." He fully believed -in a superintending and overruling Providence, that guides and -controls the operations of the world, but maintained that law -and order, and not the violation or suspension, are the appointed -means by which this providence is expressed.</p> - -<p>"'I will not attempt any specification of either his belief or -disbelief on various religious topics, as derived from conversations -with him at different times during a considerable period; -but, as conveying a general view of his religious or theological -opinions, will state the following facts. Some eight or ten -years prior to his death, in conversing with him upon this -subject, the writer took occasion to refer, in terms of approbation, -to the sermons and writings generally of Dr. W. E. -Channing; and, finding he was considerably interested in the -statement I made of the opinions held by that author, I proposed -to present him [Lincoln] a copy of Channing's entire -works, which I soon after did. Subsequently, the contents of -these volumes, together with the writings of Theodore Parker, -furnished him, as he informed me, by his friend and law partner, -Mr. Herndon, became naturally the topics of conversation -with us; and though far from believing there was an entire -harmony of views on his part with either of those authors, yet -they were generally much admired and approved by him.</p> - -<p>"'No religious views with him seemed to find any favor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> -except of the practical and rationalistic order; and if, from -my recollections on this subject, I was called upon to designate -an author whose views most nearly represented Mr. Lincoln's -on this subject, I would say that author was Theodore Parker.</p> - -<p>"'As you have asked from me a candid statement of my -recollections on this topic, I have thus briefly given them, -with the hope that they may be of some service in rightly -settling a question about which—as I have good reason to believe—the -public mind has been greatly misled.</p> - -<p>"'Not doubting that they will accord, substantially, with -your own recollections, and that of his other intimate and -confidential friends, and with the popular verdict after this -matter shall have been properly canvassed, I submit them.'"—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>: -<i>Life of Lincoln</i>, pp. 490, 491, 492.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Herndon was attempting to collect evidence that Lincoln -was an infidel, and what he obtained, and what essentially he -was called to certify and did certify in effect, was that Lincoln's -views were in essential accord with those of Theodore Parker -and William Ellery Channing. Theodore Parker was not an -orthodox Christian according to the standards of Dr. Smith's -church, or of the church of which the present writer is pastor, -but he was a Christian, and a very brave and noble Christian. -William Ellery Channing's views were not in full accord with -the orthodoxy of his day, but he was a noble friend of God -and man, and a true Christian.</p> - -<p>I have already referred to the very loose and inexact way -in which Herndon and others use the term "infidel" as applied -to Lincoln. Such inexactness is subversive of all clear -thinking.</p> - -<p>We are told, for instance, that he was an infidel, his views -being essentially those of Theodore Parker and William Ellery -Channing. I doubt if he ever read very deeply in the writings -of these men; but that he read portions of them and approved -of some of their noblest and most characteristic utterances, is -certain. What were the discourses of these two men which -he must almost certainly have read if he read anything of -theirs? He would almost certainly have read Parker's discourse -on "The Transient and Permanent in Christianity,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> -and that on "Immortal Life," and Channing's Baltimore address -and his discourse on the Church. And these are just the -sort of utterances which he would have read with approval -as he found them in these discourses of Theodore Parker:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Compare the simpleness of Christianity, as Christ sets it -forth on the Mount, with what is sometimes taught and accepted -in that honored name, and what a difference! One is -of God, one is of man. There is something in Christianity -which sects have not reached,—something that will not be -won, we fear, by theological battles, or the quarrels of pious -men; still we may rejoice that Christ is preached in any way. -The Christianity of sects, of the pulpit, of society, is ephemeral,—a -transitory fly. It will pass off and be forgot. Some -new form will take its place, suited to the aspect of the changing -times. Each will represent something of truth, but no one -the whole. It seems the whole race of man is needed to do -justice to the whole of truth, as 'the whole church to preach -the whole gospel.' Truth is intrusted for the time to a perishable -ark of human contrivance. Though often shipwrecked, -she always comes safe to land, and is not changed by her mishap. -That pure ideal religion which Jesus saw on the mount -of his vision, and lived out in the lowly life of a Galilean -peasant; which transforms his cross into an emblem of all -that is holiest on earth; which makes sacred the ground he -trod, and is dearest to the best of men, most true to what is -truest in them,—cannot pass away. Let men improve never so -far in civilization, or soar never so high on the wings of religion -and love, they can never outgo the flight of truth and -Christianity. It will always be above them. It is as if we -were to fly towards a star, which becomes larger and more -bright the nearer we approach, till we enter and are absorbed -in its glory."—<span class="smcap">Theodore Parker</span>: <i>The Transient and Permanent -in Christianity</i>, p. 31.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I would not slight this wondrous world. I love its day -and night: its flowers and its fruits are dear to me. I would -not willfully lose sight of a departing cloud. Every year opens -new beauty in a star, or in a purple gentian fringed with loveliness. -The laws, too, of matter seem more wonderful, the -more I study them, in the whirling eddies of the dust, in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> -curious shells of former life buried by thousands in a grain -of chalk, or in the shining diagrams of light above my head. -Even the ugly becomes beautiful when truly seen. I see the -jewel in the bunchy toad. The more I live, the more I love -this lovely world,—feel more its Author in each little thing, in -all that is great. But yet I feel my immortality the more. In -childhood the consciousness of immortal life buds forth feeble, -though full of promise. In the man it unfolds its fragrant -petals, his most celestial flower, to mature its seed throughout -eternity. The prospect of that everlasting life, the perfect -justice yet to come, the infinite progress before us, cheer -and comfort the heart. Sad and disappointed, full of self-reproach, -we shall not be so forever. The light of heaven -breaks upon the night of trial, sorrow, sin: the somber clouds -which overhung the east, grown purple now, tell us the dawn -of heaven is coming in. Our faces, gleamed on by that, smile -in the new-born glow. We are beguiled of our sadness before -we are aware. The certainty of this provokes us to patience, -it forbids us to be slothfully sorrowful. It calls us to be up -and doing. The thought that all will at last be right with -the slave, the poor, the weak, and the wicked, inspires us with -zeal to work for them here, and make it all right for them -even now."—<span class="smcap">Theodore Parker</span>: <i>Immortality</i>, pp. 23-24.</p></blockquote> - -<p>It is affirmed that Lincoln was an infidel, believing essentially -the same as Theodore Parker: and he himself expressed -such admiration for and accord with the utterances of Parker -which he knew that the statement is partly true. These two -quotations, from two of the most easily accessible of Parker's -discourses, represent the kind of teaching which Lincoln assimilated -from Theodore Parker and show us what kind of -infidelity Lincoln learned from him.</p> - -<p>When Lincoln turned to the most widely circulated of -Channing's discourses, he read such utterances as these:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"We regard the Scriptures as the records of God's successive -revelations to mankind, and particularly of the last and -most perfect revelation of His will by Jesus Christ. Whatever -doctrines seem to us to be clearly taught in the Scriptures, we -receive without reserve or exception. We do not, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> -attach equal importance to all the books in this collection.</p> - -<p>"Our leading principle in interpreting Scripture is this, -that the Bible is a book written for men, in the language of -men, and that its meaning is to be sought in the same manner -as that of other books. We believe that God, when He speaks -to the human race, conforms, if we may so say, to the established -rules of speaking and writing. How else would the -Scriptures avail us more than if communicated in an unknown -tongue?</p> - -<p>"If God be infinitely wise, He cannot sport with the understandings -of His creatures. A wise teacher discovers his wisdom -in adapting himself to the capacities of his pupils, not -in perplexing them with what is unintelligible, not in distressing -them with apparent contradictions, not in filling them with -a skeptical distrust of their own powers. An infinitely wise -teacher, who knows the precise extent of our minds, and the -best method of enlightening them, will surpass all other instructors -in bringing down truth to our apprehension, and in -showing its loveliness and harmony. We ought, indeed, to -expect occasional obscurity in such a book as the Bible, which -was written for past and future ages, as well as for the present. -But God's wisdom is a pledge, that whatever is necessary for -<i>us</i>, and necessary for salvation, is revealed too plainly to be -mistaken, and too consistently to be questioned, by a sound -and upright mind. It is not the mark of wisdom to use an -unintelligible phraseology, to communicate what is above our -capacities, to confuse and unsettle the intellect by appearances -of contradiction. We honor our heavenly teacher too much -to ascribe to Him such a revelation. A revelation is a gift of -light. It cannot thicken our darkness, and multiply our perplexities.</p> - -<p>"We believe, too, that God is just; but we never forget -that His justice is the justice of a good being, dwelling in the -same mind, and acting in harmony with perfect benevolence. -By this attribute, we understand God's infinite regard to -virtue or moral worth, expressed in a moral government; that -is, in giving excellent and equitable laws, and in conferring -such rewards and inflicting such punishments, as are best fitted -to secure their observance. God's justice has for its end the -highest virtue of the creation, and it punishes for this end -alone, and thus it coincides with benevolence; for virtue and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> -happiness, though not the same, are inseparably conjoined.</p> - -<p>"God's justice, thus viewed, appears to us to be in perfect -harmony with His mercy. According to the prevalent systems -of theology, these attributes are so discordant and jarring, that -to reconcile them is the hardest task, and the most wonderful -achievement, of infinite wisdom. To us they seem to be -intimate friends, always at peace, breathing the same spirit, -and seeking the same end. By God's mercy, we understand -not a blind, instinctive compassion, which forgives without reflection, -and without regard to the interests of virtue. This, -we acknowledge, would be incompatible with justice, and also -with enlightened benevolence. God's mercy, as we understand -it, desires strongly the happiness of the guilty, but only through -their penitence."—<span class="smcap">W. E. Channing</span>: Baltimore Discourse of -1819, <i>Passim</i>.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Inward sanctity, pure love, disinterested attachment to -God and man, obedience of heart and life, sincere excellence of -character, this is the one thing needful, this the essential thing -in religion; and all things else, ministers, churches, ordinances, -places of worship, all are but means, helps, secondary influences, -and utterly worthless when separated from this. To -imagine that God regards any thing but this, that He looks at -any thing but the heart, is to dishonor Him, to express a -mournful insensibility to His pure character. Goodness, purity, -virtue, this is the only distinction in God's sight. This is -intrinsically, essentially, everlastingly, and by its own nature, -lovely, beautiful, glorious, divine. It owes nothing to time, to -circumstance to outward connections. It shines by its own -light. It is the sun of the spiritual universe. It is God himself -dwelling in the human soul. Can any man think lightly of it, -because it has not grown up in a certain church, or exalt any -church above it? My friends, one of the grandest truths of -religion is the supreme importance of character, of virtue, of -that divine spirit which shone out in Christ. The grand heresy -is, to substitute any thing for this, whether creed, or form, or -church."—<span class="smcap">W. E. Channing</span>: <i>Discourse on the Church</i>, -pp. 23-24.</p></blockquote> - -<p>If Lincoln was made an infidel or confirmed in his infidelity -by his reading of William Ellery Channing, the foregoing is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> -reasonable sample of the quality of his infidelity: for these are -not only characteristic utterances of Channing: they are among -the utterances which Lincoln was most certain to have had -thrust into his hand, and most likely to have read and to have -approved.</p> - -<p>The author of this work is not a Unitarian, and he is -ready, on any proper occasion, to define to anyone who has a -right to know, his own opinions in contradistinction from those -of the Unitarian churches. But his loyalty to his own convictions -lays upon him no obligation to be unfair to men who hold -opinions other than his own. It is to be noted that it is Mr. -Herndon, and not some bigoted exponent of orthodoxy, who -calls Theodore Parker an infidel. The present writer holds no -such opinion of Parker, nor yet of Channing. On the contrary, -he is of opinion that their writings were beneficial to -Abraham Lincoln, as helping him to define some of his own -views constructively and reverently. While Beecher or Bushnell -might have done it as well or better, it was not their books -which Jesse Fell gave to Lincoln; and Lincoln used what he -had. To say that Lincoln's views were like those of Parker -or Channing is to affirm that Lincoln was not an infidel, but a -Christian.</p> - -<p>Was Lincoln, then, a Unitarian?</p> - -<p>No. Of Unitarianism he knew nothing, so far as we are -informed. He knew the views of certain Unitarians, and these -assisted him at important points in defining certain aspects of -his faith.</p> - -<p>There have been rumors that Mr. Lincoln did come into -actual contact with organized Unitarianism. I have been interested -in inquiring whether this was true. During the Billy -Sunday meetings in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1916, the Unitarians -opened a booth there for the distribution of their literature, -and there were certain communications in the local press -resulting from the counter-irritation of those meetings. -Among these was one in the Paterson <i>Guardian</i>, signed -"Once-in-Awhile." It said:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p><blockquote> - -<p>"The following is, in part, a sketch of my own youthful -experience, together with a statement of facts that relate to -others who long since have passed on.</p> - -<p>"In 1851-52 the Chicago & Alton Railroad was being built, -and I was employed on a section of the work at that time. -Our section extended from Springfield, Illinois, to a little town -called Chatham, situated near the Sangamon River, a distance -of about ten miles south from Springfield. The majority of -the people who had located in that part of the country at that -time were from the central part of New York State, and -among them was Elder Shipman, a Unitarian. He was a very -able preacher and 'made good' with all who knew him in the -Sangamon country. It was not long before he received a call -to preach in Springfield. The little Unitarian church there was -located just around the corner from Capitol Square. When -Elder Shipman was permanently located there, Abraham Lincoln -became a regular and seemingly much interested attendant. -Nearly all of the boys in our 'gang' had known Elder Shipman -way back in New York State, and, there being no ball -games or other amusements save an occasional horse race, -almost every Sunday all hands would saddle horses and gallop -to Springfield to attend the services conducted there by our -old-time pastor. At the close of the regular service Mr. Lincoln -was often called upon for a few remarks, and many of -his sayings are still fresh in my mind today, although that was -sixty-three years ago. Since then, in the quiet hours that have -passed, I often find myself looking back through the mist of -vanished years and fancy I feel the grip of his great, bony -hand in mine, or rather mine in his, and hear his kindly voice -saying, 'Boys, good-by, come again. Come often!'</p> - -<p>"I am not saying that Mr. Lincoln subscribed to the Unitarian -articles of faith, but I have good and sufficient reason -to believe that he did, and, if I am not mistaken, the proof is -wanting that he ever subscribed to faith in articles of any -other religious denomination."</p></blockquote> - -<p>I challenged the veracity of this letter, reprinting it in <i>The -Advance</i>, of which I was editor, and asking these questions:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1. Who is Mr. Once-in-Awhile, and why does he not sign -his real name?</p> - -<p>2. How does it happen that no one else of those who at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>tended -the alleged Unitarian church in Springfield in the days -when Lincoln is supposed to have been there has risen up to -tell this story some time during the last half century; and why -does it come to us from Paterson and not from Springfield?</p> - -<p>3. Who is this Elder Shipman concerning whom this letter -tells us? We are informed that the Unitarian Year Book -shows no such man.</p> - -<p>4. Where was this Unitarian church "just around the -corner from Capitol Square"? Around which corner, and -what became of it?</p> - -<p>We are informed that there was no Unitarian church in -Springfield sixty-three years ago. We were not there and do -not know: but if one was there, where was it? When was it -organized? Who were its ministers?</p> - -<p>5. With so popular a preacher as Mr. Shipman appears to -have been, is it altogether likely that he would have made the -habit of calling upon a layman who attended his church to -speak at the close of the service?</p> - -<p>6. If Mr. Lincoln was in the habit of attending this Unitarian -church, how did the Presbyterian church of Springfield -get the impression that Mr. Lincoln attended there with his -wife, and why did he continue to attend the Presbyterian -church after he went to Washington?</p> - -<p>7. Lincoln is known to have said that if he knew any -church whose only creed was the command of Jesus to love -God with all one's heart and his neighbor as himself, he would -join that church, and Unitarians have frequently declared that -if Mr. Lincoln had ever come into contact with the Unitarian -Church he must on the basis of that declaration have united -with it. We are not clear if their inference is correct, but we -are clear that there has been a very general impression among -Unitarians that he was not familiar with that church and -creed.</p> - -<p>We do not call in question the veracity of Mr. Once-in-Awhile, -whoever he may be. We merely do what we have -done before, we ask for one or two facts. If anybody knows -that Abraham Lincoln habitually attended a Unitarian church -and frequently participated in its public service by speaking -at the close of the sermon, let him now speak or else forever -hold his peace.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> - -<p>Everybody held his peace, including Mr. Once-in-Awhile!</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Such stories are rarely made out of whole cloth. I therefore -inquired of the <i>Christian Register</i> (Unitarian) and the -<i>Christian Leader</i> (Universalist) to learn if they knew any -basis of truth in the above statement, and they did not know -and were not able to learn anything accurate about it. However, -there came to me in the course of the inquiry, which was -of necessity not very thorough for lack of anything definite -to begin with, an impression, based on information too vague -to be cited, that there was a Mr. Shipman, a Universalist -rather than a Unitarian, whose occasional services in Springfield -Mr. Lincoln attended once or more and enjoyed. But -this came to me very vaguely, and may be far from the truth.</p> - -<p>Whether there be a ten per cent. modicum of fact at the -root of the above letter I will not attempt to guess, for my own -information is too meager. The picture, as a whole, of Mr. -Lincoln preaching Unitarianism from a Unitarian pulpit, and -at the close assuming charge of the service of farewell and -exhorting the railroad hands to come again is too far from -the possible truth to require very close analysis.</p> - -<p>The Unitarian books which Mr. Lincoln read cursorily, -the books by Parker and Channing, must have assisted him in -this, that they gave assurance that there were forward-looking -men who believed in God and in human freedom as he did, -and who were quite as far from holding the teaching which -he had been taught to call orthodox as he was, yet who were -not infidels, but counted themselves friends of God and disciples -of Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p>Herndon asserts that Lincoln habitually spoke in his presence -in terms of denial of the supernatural birth of Jesus. On -this point I have seen but one bit of documentary evidence, and -that of unique interest, in two words written in a book that -once belonged to Lincoln. The book is entitled <i>Exercises in -the Syntax of the Greek Language</i>, by Rev. William Nielson, -D.D., and contains two appendixes by Prof. Charles Anthon, -noted as a Greek scholar and the author of a Greek Grammar -and other textbooks. It was published by T. & J. Swords in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> -New York, in 1825. At the bottom of page 34 is a sentence, -shortened and modified from John 16:27, and printed in -parallel Greek and English,—</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"Ye have loved me, and</span><br /> -<span class="i0">have believed that I came forth</span><br /> -<span class="i0">from God."</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The words "from God" are erased with pen, and the -words, "from nature" substituted, apparently in the handwriting -of Mr. Lincoln. This, if its genuineness be established, -would appear to be conclusive that at the time Lincoln owned -this book he denied the supernatural birth of Jesus.</p> - -<p>The book was formerly a part of the noted collection of -Mr. John E. Burton, procured by him from the collection of -Dr. J. B. English, and was retained by Mr. Burton with other -unique items when his large collection was broken up some -years ago. I was privileged to examine the book by A. C. -McClurg & Co., in April, 1919; the book being then and -possibly still owned by them.</p> - -<p>That the book was once owned by Lincoln would appear -certain. His signature on the flyleaf is in his firm, mature -hand, written as he was accustomed to write it until some -time after he became President, "A. Lincoln." The ownership -would appear to be still further attested by an inscription -on the inside of the front cover, "Compliments to Master -Abe Lincoln, and good success, truly yours, Charles Anthon, -Columbia College." But this inscription raises more questions -than it answers. I am not familiar with the handwriting of -Professor Anthon, but I am disposed to question the genuineness -of this inscription. That it has been received as genuine -by previous owners of the book is attested by the fact that -another hand has written before "Columbia College" the -words "A Prof." evidently that Professor Anthon might be -properly introduced to persons who did not know him. Professor -Anthon was a noted classical scholar, but I cannot help -wondering at what period of his career he could have come -into personal touch with Abraham Lincoln. Not, certainly, in -1825, when the book was published, and when Lincoln was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> -sixteen years old. And at what later period would Professor -Anthon have addressed him as "Master Abe Lincoln"?</p> - -<p>If Anthon came to know Lincoln personally so as to care -to present him with one of his books, it would seem as if he -would have given him a book of which he was the sole or chief -author, and not one in which his part was confined to the -appendix. Anthon's interest in the Greek was primarily classical, -and that of the author of this work was primarily Biblical. -If Anthon came to know Lincoln it would probably have been -after Lincoln had become a national figure, say in 1848 or -some later year, by which time a book issued in 1825 would -have become an old story to an author engaged in publishing -new books.</p> - -<p>Let me, then, in the absence of direct evidence, venture the -hypothesis that the book was really owned by Lincoln; that it -came into his possession not earlier than the time when, having -mastered Kirkham's Grammar, he welcomed the ownership -of a book which suggested the possible knowledge of a classical -tongue. That he bought the book is hardly probable; that -it was the gift of Professor Anthon is improbable, because -there would appear to have been no contact between the two at -a period when such a gift would have been appropriate: let us -assume, then, that someone else gave him the book, and that -the attribution to Professor Anthon is the conjectural record -of a later owner.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> - -<p>The book might conceivably have come into Lincoln's possession -through the Green boys, or the brother of Ann Rutledge, -returning from Illinois College to New Salem; for it -was a book which might easily have been floating around Jacksonville, -and picked up by a student there, and later discarded -because he had no special interest in the Greek of the New Testament. -Lincoln would have been more likely to feel a passing -interest in it then than at any other period of his career, -for he was widening his educational horizon, and had not as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> -yet set any limits to his learning in one or another direction. -He might have picked it up, or it might have been handed him -by some minister, during his early years in Springfield; but -by that time Lincoln must have given up any passing notion -that he might ever learn Greek. He could hardly have procured -it and would not have cared for it before he lived in -New Salem: he must have ceased to think of the possibility of -learning Greek before he had lived long in Springfield.</p> - -<p>I assume, also, that the erasure of the words "from God" -and the substitution of the words "from nature" is in Lincoln's -hand; though the two words are written at the very -bottom of the page, with no support for the hand, and are -not as well written as the signature, and their authenticity -might be questioned. I am disposed to think that he wrote -it, and this, evidently, was the opinion of Mr. Burton, as indicated -by a note in the book in his handwriting.</p> - -<p>It might be mentioned in passing that the word "God" is -not in this verse in the New Testament, either Greek or English. -It reads, "Ye have loved me, and have believed that I -came forth from the Father." Perhaps if Dr. Nielson had -followed the text literally, Lincoln would not have troubled to -amend it.</p> - -<p>I accept it as a genuine document, and one of real interest; -but the lack of a date makes it almost valueless as proof of -Lincoln's settled belief. I place it, conjecturally, in the New -Salem period of his life, though it may date from the beginning -of his life in Springfield.</p> - -<p>I have not read the entire book, nor compared the Greek -throughout with the English, but I note that in this passage -the English is not translated from the Greek, but the Greek is -translated backward from the English, and that inexactly. -I judge this to be not the effect of bad scholarship but the -result of a desire to convey a lesson. For instance, the Greek -of this passage is made into a personal confession by the -change of person in the first part of the verse, without corresponding -change in the second part, leaving the first verb -without a direct object, so that a literal translation reads,—</p> - - -<p class="c"> -"I love and believe that I came forth from God." -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> - -<p>Dr. Nielson probably knew why he did it so, but Professor -Anthon would have been likely to say that that was not -very good Greek syntax. It served its purpose, however, as -showing, what this section was intended to show, the various -uses of the Greek conjunctions.</p> - -<p>Lincoln, it may be presumed, got little if anything out of -the Greek. I find no mark of his except on this and the facing -page. There he found two admonitions which he boxed in, -and made a note of them on the false-title:</p> - - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">4. Deliberate slowly, but execute</span><br /> -<span class="i0">promptly, the things which</span><br /> -<span class="i0">have appeared unto thee proper</span><br /> -<span class="i0">to be done.</span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">5. Love, not the immoderate</span><br /> -<span class="i0">acquisition, but the moderate enjoyment,</span><br /> -<span class="i0">of present good.</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In the front of the book he wrote a reference to this, and -added,</p> - -<p class="c"> -Deliberate slowly but<br /> -execute promptly.<br /> -Think well and do your duty.<br /> -</p> - -<p>These precepts seemed to impress him; and they were certainly -characteristic of him. But we can draw no very wide -deduction from his use of the Greek or the substitution of the -word in the translation.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2></div> - -<p class="c">CHITTENDEN AND CHINIQUY</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Two</span> notable interviews touching the religious opinions of Mr. -Lincoln deserve record here. One is by Rev. Charles Chiniquy, -some time priest in the Roman Catholic Church, and afterward -a strong Protestant. He had been a client of Mr. Lincoln's -in Illinois, and Mr. Lincoln trusted and believed in him. He -visited Mr. Lincoln in the White House, and there, as before -Mr. Lincoln's departure for Springfield, he warned him that -there were plots against the life of the President.</p> - -<p>The other is by Hon. L. E. Chittenden, who was chosen by -Mr. Lincoln as Register of the Treasury, and who was an -honest and incorruptible man.</p> - -<p>Father Chiniquy visited Mr. Lincoln in the White House -in August, 1861, June, 1862, and June, 1864, for the purpose -of warning Mr. Lincoln of plots, which Father Chiniquy believed -to be inspired by Jesuits, against the life of Mr. Lincoln. -On the last of these occasions, June 9, 1864, in the course of -an extended interview, he reported Mr. Lincoln as saying:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"'You are not the first to warn me against the dangers of -assassination. My ambassadors in Italy, France, and England, -as well as Professor Morse, have, many times, warned me -against the plots of murderers whom they have detected in -those different countries. But I see no other safeguard against -these murderers, but to be always ready to die, as Christ advises -it. As we must all die sooner or later, it makes very little -difference to me whether I die from a dagger plunged through -the heart or from an inflammation of the lungs. Let me tell -you that I have, lately, read a message in the Old Testament -which has made a profound, and, I hope, a salutary impression -on me. Here is that passage.'</p> - -<p>"The President took his Bible, opened it at the third<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> -chapter of Deuteronomy, and read from the 22d to the 27th -verse:</p> - -<p>"'"22. Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God -he shall fight for you.</p> - -<p>"'"23. And I besought the Lord at that time, saying,</p> - -<p>"'"24. O Lord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant -thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in -heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and -according to thy might?</p> - -<p>"'"25. I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land -that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.</p> - -<p>"'"26. But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, -and would not hear me: and the Lord said unto me, Let it -suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.</p> - -<p>"'"27. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up -thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, -and behold it with thine eyes; for thou shalt not go over -this Jordan."'</p> - -<p>"After the President had read these words with great -solemnity, he added:</p> - -<p>"'My dear Father Chiniquy, let me tell you that I have -read these strange and beautiful words several times, these last -five or six weeks. The more I read them, the more it seems -to me that God has written them for me as well as for Moses.</p> - -<p>"'Has He not taken me from my poor log cabin, by the -hand, as He did Moses, in the reeds of the Nile, to put me -at the head of the greatest and most blessed of modern nations -just as He put that prophet at the head of the most blessed -nation of ancient times? Has not God granted me a privilege, -which was not granted to any living man, when I broke -the fetters of 4,000,000 of men, and made them free? Has -not our God given me the most glorious victories over my -enemies? Are not the armies of the Confederacy so reduced -to a handful of men, when compared to what they were two -years ago, that the day is fast approaching when they will -have to surrender?</p> - -<p>"'Now, I see the end of this terrible conflict, with the same -joy of Moses, when at the end of his trying forty years in the -wilderness; and I pray my God to grant me to see the days -of peace and untold prosperity, which will follow this cruel -war, as Moses asked God to see the other side of Jordan, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> -enter the Promised Land. But, do you know, that I hear in -my soul, as the voice of God, giving me the rebuke which was -given to Moses?</p> - -<p>"'Yes! every time that my soul goes to God to ask the -favor of seeing the other side of Jordan, and eating the fruits -of that peace, after which I am longing with such an unspeakable -desire, do you know that there is a still but solemn voice -which tells me that I will see those things only from a long -distance, and that I will be among the dead when the nation, -which God granted me to lead through those awful trials, will -cross the Jordan, and dwell in that Land of Promise, where -peace, industry, happiness, and liberty will make everyone -happy; and why so? Because He has already given me -favors which He never gave, I dare say, to any man in these -latter days.</p> - -<p>"'Why did God Almighty refuse to Moses the favor of -crossing the Jordan, and entering the Promised Land? It was -on account of the nation's sins! That law of divine retribution -and justice, by which one must suffer for another, is -surely a terrible mystery. But it is a fact which no man who -has any intelligence and knowledge can deny. Moses, who -knew that law, though he probably did not understand it better -than we do, calmly says to his people: "God was wroth with -me for your sakes."</p> - -<p>"'But, though we do not understand that mysterious and -terrible law, we find it written in letters of tears and blood -wherever we go. We do not read a single page of history -without finding undeniable traces of its existence.</p> - -<p>"'Where is the mother who has not shed real tears and -suffered real tortures, for her children's sake?</p> - -<p>"'Who is the good king, the worthy emperor, the gifted -chieftain, who has not suffered unspeakable mental agonies, or -even death, for his people's sake?</p> - -<p>"'Is not our Christian religion the highest expression of -the wisdom, mercy, and love of God! But what is Christianity -if not the very incarnation of that eternal law of Divine justice -in our humanity?</p> - -<p>"'When I look on Moses, alone, silently dying on the -Mount Pisgah, I see that law, in one of its most sublime human -manifestations, and I am filled with admiration and awe.</p> - -<p>"'But when I consider that law of justice, and expiation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> -in the death of the Just, the divine Son of Mary, on the Mount -of Calvary, I remain mute in my adoration. The spectacle of -the Crucified One which is before my eyes is more than -sublime, it is divine! Moses died for his People's sake, but -Christ died for the whole world's sake! Both died to fulfill -the same eternal law of the Divine justice, though in a different -measure.</p> - -<p>"'Now, would it not be the greatest of honors and privileges -bestowed upon me, if God in His infinite love, mercy, -and wisdom would put me between His faithful servant, -Moses, and His eternal Son, Jesus, that I might die as they -did, for my nation's sake!</p> - -<p>"'My God alone knows what I have already suffered -for my dear country's sake. But my fear is that the justice -of God is not yet paid. When I look upon the rivers of tears -and blood drawn by the lashes of the merciless masters from -the veins of the very heart of those millions of defenseless -slaves, these two hundred years; when I remember the -agonies, the cries, the unspeakable tortures of those unfortunate -people to which I have, to some extent, connived with so -many others a part of my life, I fear that we are still far from -the complete expiation. For the judgments of God are true -and righteous.</p> - -<p>"'It seems to me that the Lord wants today, as He wanted -in the days of Moses, another victim—a victim which He has -himself chosen, anointed and prepared for the sacrifice, by -raising it above the rest of His people. I cannot conceal from -you that my impression is that I am the victim. So many plots -have already been made against my life, that it is a real -miracle that they have all failed. But can we expect that -God will make a perpetual miracle to save my life? I believe -not.</p> - -<p>"'But just as the Lord heard no murmur from the lips of -Moses, when He told him that he had to die before crossing -the Jordan, for the sins of his people, so I hope and pray -that He will hear no murmur from me when I fall for my -nation's sake.</p> - -<p>"'The only two favors I ask of the Lord are, first, that -I may die for the sacred cause in which I am engaged, and -when I am the standard bearer of the rights and privileges of -my country.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> -<p>"'The second favor I ask from God is that my dear son, -Robert, when I am gone, will be one of those who lift up that -flag of Liberty which will cover my tomb, and carry it with -honor and fidelity to the end of his life, as his father did, -surrounded by the millions who will be called with him to fight -and die for the defense and honor of our country.'</p> - -<p>"'Never had I heard such sublime words,' says Father -Chiniquy. 'Never had I seen a human face so solemn and -so prophet-like as the face of the President when uttering -these things. Every sentence had come to me as a hymn from -heaven, reverberated by the echoes of the mountains of Pisgah -and Calvary. I was beside myself. Bathed in tears, I tried -to say something, but I could not utter a word. I knew the -hour to leave had come. I asked from the President permission -to fall on my knees and pray with him that his life might -be spared; and he knelt with me. But I prayed more with my -tears and sobs than with my words. Then I pressed his hand -on my lips and bathed it with tears, and with a heart filled -with an unspeakable desolation, I bade him adieu.'"—<i>Fifty -Years in the Church of Rome</i>, pp. 706-10.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Hon. L. E. Chittenden, Register of the Treasury under -Lincoln, gives this testimony to Lincoln's religious character:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"In the Presidential campaign of 1864 there were sullen -whisperings that Mr. Lincoln had no religious opinions nor -any interest in churches or Christian institutions. They faded -away with other libels, never to be renewed until after his -death. One of his biographers, who calls himself the 'friend -and partner for twenty years' of the deceased President, has -since published what he calls a history of his life, in which -he revives the worst of these rumors, with additions which, if -true, would destroy much of the world's respect for Mr. Lincoln. -He asserts that his 'friend and partner' was 'an infidel -verging towards atheism.' Others have disseminated these -charges in lectures and fugitive sketches so industriously that -they have produced upon strangers some impression of their -truth. The excuse alleged is, their desire to present Mr. Lincoln -to the world 'just as he was.' Their real purpose is to -present him just as they would have him to be, as much as -possible like themselves.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> -<p>"It is a trait of the infidel to parade his unbelief before -the public, and he thinks something gained to himself when he -can show that others are equally deficient in moral qualities. -But these writers have attempted too much. Their principal -charge of infidelity, tinged with atheism, is so completely at -variance with all our knowledge of his opinions that its origin -must be attributed to malice or to a defective mental constitution.</p> - -<p>"His sincerity and candor were conspicuous qualities of -Mr. Lincoln's mind. Deception was a vice in which he had -neither experience nor skill. All who were admitted to his -intimacy will agree that he was incapable of professing opinions -which he did not entertain. When we find him at the -moment of leaving his home for Washington, surrounded by -his neighbors of a quarter of a century, taking Washington for -his exemplar, whose success he ascribed 'to the aid of that -Divine Providence upon which he at all times relied,' and -publicly declaring that he, himself, 'placed his whole trust in -the same Almighty Being, and the prayers of Christian men -and women'; when, not once or twice, but on all proper, and -more than a score of subsequent occasions, he avowed his faith -in an Omnipotent Ruler, who will judge the world in -righteousness—in the Bible as the inspired record of His history -and His law; when with equal constancy he thanked -Almighty God for, and declared his interest in, Christian institutions -and influences as the appointed means for his effective -service, we may assert that we know that he was neither an -atheist nor an infidel, but, on the contrary, a sincere believer in -the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. In fact, he -believed so confidently that the Almighty was making use of -the war, of himself, and other instrumentalities in working out -some great design for the benefit of humanity, and his belief -that he himself was directed by the same Omniscient Power -was expressed with such frankness and frequency, that it -attracted attention, and was criticized by some as verging -towards superstition. His public life was a continuous service -of God and his fellow-man, controlled and guided by the -golden rule, in which there was no hiatus of unbelief or -incredulity.</p> - -<p>"Here I might well stop, and submit that these charges do -not deserve any further consideration. But I know how false<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> -they are, and I may be excused if I record one of my sources -of knowledge.</p> - -<p>"The emphatic statement made by the President to Mr. -Fessenden, that he was called to the Presidency by a Power -higher than human authority, I have already mentioned. His -calm serenity at times when others were so anxious, his confidence -that his own judgment was directed by the Almighty, -so impressed me that, when I next had the opportunity, at -some risk of giving offense, I ventured to ask him directly -how far he believed the Almighty actually directed our national -affairs. There was a considerable pause before he spoke, and -when he did speak, what he said was more in the nature of a -monologue than an answer to my inquiry:</p> - -<p>"'That the Almighty does make use of human agencies, -and directly intervenes in human affairs, is,' he said, 'one of -the plainest evidences of His direction, so many instances when -I have been controlled by some other power than my own will, -that I cannot doubt that this power comes from above. I frequently -see my way clear to a decision when I am conscious -that I have no sufficient facts upon which to found it. But I -cannot recall one instance in which I have followed my own -judgment, founded upon such a decision, where the results -were unsatisfactory; whereas, in almost every instance where -I have yielded to the views of others, I have had occasion -to regret it. I am satisfied that when the Almighty wants me -to do or not to do a particular thing, He finds a way of letting -me know it. I am confident that it is His design to restore the -Union. He will do it in His own good time. We should obey -and not oppose His will.'</p> - -<p>"'You speak with such confidence,' I said, 'that I would -like to know how your knowledge that God acts directly upon -human affairs compares in certainty with your knowledge of a -fact apparent to the senses—for example, the fact that we are -at this moment here in this room.'</p> - -<p>"'One is as certain as the other,' he answered, 'although -the conclusions are reached by different processes. I know by -my senses that the movements of the world are those of an -infinitely powerful machine, which runs for ages without a -variation. A man who can put two ideas together knows that -such a machine requires an infinitely powerful maker and -governor: man's nature is such that he cannot take in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> -machine and keep out the maker. This maker is God—infinite -in wisdom as well as in power. Would we be any more certain -if we saw Him?'</p> - -<p>"'I am not controverting your position,' I said. 'Your -confidence interests me beyond expression. I wish I knew how -to acquire it. Even now, must it not all depend on our faith -in the Bible?'</p> - -<p>"'No. There is the element of personal experience,' he -said. 'If it did, the character of the Bible is easily established, -at least to my satisfaction. We have to believe many things -which we do not comprehend. The Bible is the only one that -claims to be God's Book—to comprise His law—His history. -It contains an immense amount of evidence of its own authenticity. -It describes a governor omnipotent enough to operate -this great machine, and declares that He made it. It states -other facts which we do not fully comprehend, but which we -cannot account for. What shall we do with them?</p> - -<p>"'Now let us treat the Bible fairly. If we had a witness -on the stand whose general story we knew was true, we would -believe him when he asserted facts of which we had no other -evidence. We ought to treat the Bible with equal fairness. I -decided a long time ago that it was less difficult to believe -that the Bible was what it claimed to be than to disbelieve -it. It is a good book for us to obey—it contains the ten commandments, -the golden rule, and many other rules which ought -to be followed. No man was ever the worse for living according -to the directions of the Bible.'</p> - -<p>"'If your views are correct, the Almighty is on our side, -and we ought to win without so many losses——'</p> - -<p>"He promptly interrupted me and said, 'We have no right -to criticize or complain. He is on our side, and so is the Bible, -and so are churches and Christian societies and organizations—all -of them, so far as I know, almost without an exception. -It makes me strong and more confident to know that all the -Christians in the loyal States are praying for our success, that -all their influences are working to the same end. Thousands -of them are fighting for us, and no one will say that an officer -or a private is less brave because he is a praying soldier. At -first, when we had such long spells of bad luck, I used to -lose heart sometimes. Now I seem to know that Providence -has protected and will protect us against any fatal defeat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> -All we have to do is to trust the Almighty and keep right on -obeying His orders and executing His will.'</p> - -<p>"I could not press inquiry further. I knew that Mr. -Lincoln was no hypocrite. There was an air of such sincerity -in his manner of speaking, and especially in his references to -the Almighty, that no one could have doubted his faith unless -the doubter believed him dishonest. It scarcely needed his -repeated statements that 'whatever shall appear to be God's -will, that will I do,' his special gratitude to God for victories, -or his numerous expressions of his firm faith that God willed -our final triumph, to convince the American people that he was -not and could not be an atheist or an infidel.</p> - -<p>"He has written of the Bible, that 'this great Book of -God is the best gift which God has ever given to man,' and -that 'all things desirable for man to know are contained in -it.' His singular familiarity with its contents is even stronger -evidence of the high place it held in his judgment. His second -inaugural address shows how sensibly he appreciated the force -and beauty of its passages, and constitutes an admirable application -of its truths, only possible as the result of familiar use -and thorough study.</p> - -<p>"Further comment cannot be necessary. Abraham Lincoln -accepted the Bible as the inspired word of God—he believed -and faithfully endeavored to live according to the -fundamental principles and doctrines of the Christian faith. -To doubt either proposition is to be untrue to his memory, a -disloyalty of which no American should be guilty."—<span class="smcap">Chittenden</span>: -<i>Recollections of President Lincoln and His Administration</i>, -pp. 446-51.</p></blockquote> - -<p>These two incidents call for no extended comment. That -in each of them the literary style is more like that of the narrator -than it is like the style of Mr. Lincoln is evident, and -there is other apparent evidence that the incidents were colored -by the imagination of the two men who related them. But -neither of them was a lie. And, when we make due deductions, -each contains a basis of fact in accord with what we -might have expected Lincoln to say.</p> - -<p>For instance, the assurance which he expressed to Chittenden -that God had called him to his work as President, and that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> -he was fulfilling divine destiny, is fully in accord with the -strong conviction of predestination which he had received in -his youth, and which was so marked that his partners took it -as a mark of selfish superiority. He did feel, and felt so -strongly that he sometimes seemed to be oblivious to other and -correlative truths, that God had called him to a great task, and -that he would live till it was accomplished, plots or no plots. -But he had a gloomy foreboding that he would not live much -longer. His conviction of predestination had in it a compelling -sense of destiny and almost of doom, a conviction of -Divinity shaping his ends, even though he rough-hewed them.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE BEECHER AND SICKLES INCIDENTS</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Among</span> the many stories of President Lincoln's religious life, -one of the most impressive concerns an alleged visit of the -President to the home of Henry Ward Beecher and the spending -of a night in prayer by these two men. The story is as -follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Following the disaster of Bull Run, when the strength -and resources of the nation seemed to have been wasted, the -hopes of the North were at their lowest ebb, and Mr. Lincoln -was well-nigh overwhelmed with the awful responsibility of -guiding the nation in its life struggle. Henry Ward Beecher, -of Brooklyn, was, perhaps, more prominently associated with -the cause of the North at that time than any other minister of -the gospel. He had preached and lectured and fought its -battles in pulpit and press all over the country, had ransomed -slaves from his pulpit, and his convictions and feelings were -everywhere known.</p> - -<p>"Late one evening a stranger called at his home and asked -to see him. Mr. Beecher was working alone in his study, as -was his custom, and this stranger refused to send up his name, -and came muffled in a military cloak which completely hid his -face. Mrs. Beecher's suspicions were aroused, and she was -very unwilling that he should have the interview which he -requested, especially as Mr. Beecher's life had been frequently -threatened by sympathizers with the South. The latter, however, -insisted that his visitor be shown up. Accordingly, the -stranger entered, the doors were shut, and for hours the wife -below could hear their voices and their footsteps as they paced -back and forth. Finally, toward midnight, the mysterious -visitor went out, still muffled in his cloak, so that it was impossible -to gain any idea of his features.</p> - -<p>"The years went by, the war was finished, the President<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> -had suffered martyrdom at his post, and it was not until shortly -before Mr. Beecher's death, over twenty years later, that he -made known that the mysterious stranger who had called on -that stormy night was Abraham Lincoln. The stress and -strain of those days and nights of struggle, with all the responsibilities -and sorrows of a nation fighting for its life resting -upon him, had broken his strength, and for a time undermined -his courage. He had traveled alone in disguise and at night -from Washington to Brooklyn, to gain the sympathy and help -of one whom he knew as a man of God, engaged in the same -great battle in which he was the leader. Alone for hours that -night, like Jacob of old, the two had wrestled together in -prayer with the God of battles and the Watcher over the right -until they had received the help which He had promised to -those that seek His aid."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Dr. Johnson endeavored to investigate this story for his -book, <i>Lincoln the Christian</i>.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> The evidence seemed to him sufficient -to justify him in including it in his volume. It rests on -the explicit statement of Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher and was -communicated to the public through some of her grandchildren. -This, surely, is evidence that cannot be wholly disregarded. -Mr. Samuel Scoville, Jr., a lawyer in Philadelphia, -a grandson of Henry Ward Beecher, confirmed the accuracy -of the story as here given, saying that this was the form in -which his grandmother had related the story to her grandchildren.</p> - -<p>Another grandson, Rev. David G. Downey, D.D., Book -Editor of the Methodist Book Concern of New York said:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"It has always seemed to me to be a perfectly possible -situation. It has never, however, been corroborated by any -of the members of the family. It rests entirely upon the -statement of Mrs. Beecher in her old age."—<i>Lincoln the -Christian</i>, p. 201.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher was a truthful woman. She -did not manufacture an incident of this character, but the -incident is highly improbable. It would be ungracious to point -out in detail the elements of weakness in the story.</p> - -<p>Let one consideration alone be stated. The publishers of -the <i>North American Review</i> gathered from the leading men of -America a series of chapters in which each man related his -own personal reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln. That -volume is still easily obtained and is a valuable mine of information. -Among the other men who contributed to it was -Henry Ward Beecher. He wrote a chapter in which he told -in detail of his personal association with Mr. Lincoln. This -incident finds no mention there nor anything remotely resembling -it.</p> - -<p>If Mr. Lincoln had felt disposed to visit Mr. Beecher for -a purpose of this character, he knew very well that the easier -and safer and far less embarrassing way was to invite Mr. -Beecher to the White House to see him. Beecher was no -stranger in Washington at this time and Lincoln had the -telegraph wires under his control and did not hesitate to use -them when there was need. Beecher made at least one journey -to Washington to confer with Lincoln on a matter of editorial -policy. His well-known sympathy with the President -was such that no explanation need have been made of his -taking a train from New York on any day and spending an -evening in Washington. A message in the morning would -have brought Beecher there by night and no one either in -Washington or New York would have thought of it as strange. -On the other hand, the absence of the President from Washington -at a time as critical as that immediately following the -Battle of Bull Run and with no one able to account for his -absence from the Capitol or with any knowledge of the errand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> -that had taken him away is well-nigh preposterous. Such an -absence might have given rise to the wildest rumors of the -President's abduction or murder. Lincoln was too prudent a -man, too shrewd and cautious a man, too deeply concerned for -the possible effect of so rash and needless a journey; too -deeply chagrined over the criticisms of his alleged entering into -Washington in disguise at the time of his inauguration, to -have done the thing which Mrs. Beecher, when a very old -woman, imagined him to have done.</p> - -<p>Mr. Beecher was editor of <i>The Christian Union</i> and had -occasion to write about Abraham Lincoln, and he wrote nothing -of this kind. In his sermons and in his lectures he had -frequent occasion to mention Lincoln, and no story of this sort -is related as having come from him. Mr. Beecher knew too -well the homiletic and editorial value of such an incident not to -have related it if it had occurred.</p> - -<p>Someone came to see him one stormy night and the two -lingered long together in prayer. For some doubtless good -reason Mr. Beecher did not tell his family the name of the -man with whom he had spent those earnest hours. Many -years afterward, Lincoln and Beecher both being dead, Mrs. -Beecher recalled the event and satisfied herself that it was Mr. -Lincoln who had come from Washington to see her husband -and spend some hours in prayer with him.</p> - -<p>This is the reasonable explanation, as it seems to me, of an -incident which has had rather wide currency but which we are -not justified in accepting on the unsupported testimony of even -so good a woman as Mrs. Beecher in her old age.</p> - -<p>An incident of remarkable interest, attested as authentic by -two generals of the Civil War, is related by General James -F. Rusling, in his <i>Men and Things in Civil War Days</i>:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>General D. E. Sickles was wounded at Gettysburg, and -brought to Washington, where a leg was amputated. President -Lincoln called upon him, and in reply to a question from -General Sickles whether or not the President was anxious -about the battle at Gettysburg, Lincoln gravely said, 'No, I -was not; some of my Cabinet and many others in Washington -were, but I had no fears.' General Sickles inquired how this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> -was, and seemed curious about it. Mr. Lincoln hesitated, but -finally replied: 'Well, I will tell you how it was. In the pinch -of your campaign up there, when everybody seemed panic-stricken, -and nobody could tell what was going to happen, oppressed -by the gravity of our affairs, I went to my room one -day, and I locked the door, and got down on my knees before -Almighty God, and prayed to Him mightily for victory at -Gettysburg. I told Him that this was His war, and our cause -His cause, but we couldn't stand another Fredericksburg or -Chancellorsville. And I then and there made a solemn vow -to Almighty God, that if He would stand by our boys at -Gettysburg, I would stand by Him. And He <i>did</i> stand by -you boys, and I <i>will</i> stand by Him. And after that (I don't -know how it was, and I can't explain it), soon a sweet comfort -crept into my soul that God Almighty had taken the whole -business into his own hands and that things would go all -right at Gettysburg. And that is why I had no fears about -you.' Asked concerning Vicksburg, the news of which victory -had not yet reached him, he said, 'I have been praying for -Vicksburg also, and believe our Heavenly Father is going to -give us victory there, too.' General Rusling says that Mr. -Lincoln spoke 'solemnly and pathetically, as if from the depth -of his heart,' and that his manner was deeply touching."<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p></blockquote> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2></div> - -<p class="c">"BEHIND THE SCENES"</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> family of the President of the United States ought to -be permitted a reasonable degree of privacy, but this has never -yet been accorded them. In the case of the family of President -Lincoln the rudeness of the public was shameful. It is not our -present purpose to intrude into the domestic life of Mr. and -Mrs. Lincoln, and if we shall ever do so hereafter it will be, -let us hope, with more of consideration than some critics have -shown.</p> - -<p>After the death of Mr. Lincoln, a number of books and -articles appeared which gave close and intimate glimpses of -the life of President and Mrs. Lincoln during the four years -which they spent in the White House. We shall examine two -or three of these only in so far as they relate to Mr. Lincoln's -religious life.</p> - -<p>For four years Mrs. Lincoln had with her in the White -House as dressmaker and attendant Mrs. Elizabeth Keckley, -an intelligent colored woman. In 1868 Mrs. Keckley published -a book entitled <i>Behind the Scenes</i>.<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> It related many -intimate details of life in the Lincoln household, with much -about Mrs. Lincoln's extravagances of expenditure and infirmities -of temper, and some things about Mr. Lincoln. It -is a most informing book, though one containing many details -which had been as well unprinted. Its general truthfulness is -attested by its internal evidence. Of Lincoln's anxiety when -battles were in progress, and of the relief which he sought in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> -agonized prayer, she tells, and with apparent truthfulness. Of -one battle she relates:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"One day he came into the room where I was fitting a -dress for Mrs. Lincoln. His step was slow and heavy, and -his face sad. Like a tired child he threw himself upon the -sofa, and shaded his eyes with his hands. He was a complete -picture of dejection. Mrs. Lincoln, observing his troubled -look, asked:</p> - -<p>"'Where have you been?'</p> - -<p>"'To the War Department,' was the brief, almost sullen -answer.</p> - -<p>"'Any news?'</p> - -<p>"'Yes, plenty of news, but no good news. It is dark, -dark everywhere.'</p> - -<p>"He reached forth one of his long arms and took a small -Bible from a stand near the head of the sofa, opened the pages -of the Holy Book, and soon was absorbed in reading them. -A quarter of an hour passed, and on glancing at the sofa the -face of the President seemed more cheerful. The dejected -look was gone, and the countenance was lighted up with new -resolution and hope. The change was so marked that I could -not but wonder at it, and wonder led to the desire to know -what book of the Bible afforded so much comfort to the reader. -Making the search for a missing article an excuse, I walked -gently around the sofa, and, looking into the open book, I -discovered that Mr. Lincoln was reading that divine comforter, -Job. He read with Christian eagerness, and the courage -and the hope that he derived from the inspired pages -made him a new man."—<i>Behind the Scenes</i>, p. 118.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mrs. Keckley helped prepare the body of Willie for burial. -She relates:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"When Willie died, as he lay on the bed, Mr. Lincoln came -to the bed, lifted the cover from the face of his child, gazed -at it long and earnestly, murmuring: 'My poor boy, he was -too good for this earth. God has called him home. I know -that he is much better off in heaven, but then we loved him -so. It is hard, hard to have him die!'"—<i>Behind the Scenes</i>, -p. 103.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Mrs. Rebecca R. Pomeroy, a Christian woman from -Chelsea, Massachusetts, who had come to nurse the Lincoln -children in their sickness, speaks of Lincoln's great affliction -and sadness. On the morning of the funeral she assured him -that many Christians were praying for him. With eyes suffused -with tears, he replied: 'I am glad to hear that. I want -them to pray for me. I need their prayers.' Mrs. Pomeroy -expressed her sympathy with him as they were going out to -the burial. Thanking her gently, he said, 'I will try to go to -God with my sorrows.' She asked him a few days after if -he could not trust God. With deep religious feeling, he replied: -'I think I can, and I will try. I wish I had that childlike -faith you speak of, and I trust He will give it to me.' -Then the memory of his mother filled his mind with tenderest -recollections, and he said: 'I had a good Christian mother, -and her prayers have followed me thus far through life.'"—<i>Lincoln -Scrapbook</i>, Library of Congress, p. 54.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mrs. Pomeroy was a Baptist, and had recently buried her -husband. She volunteered for service as a nurse in the soldiers' -hospitals in Washington, and in the serious illness of -Mr. Lincoln's two sons she was installed as nurse in the White -House and remained these several months.</p> - -<p>She relates that she frequently saw him reading his -mother's Bible, and that he found especial comfort in the -Psalms.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Pomeroy relates:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"On July 9, 1863, while sitting at the dinner table he could -not eat, for he seemed so full of trouble as he said, 'The battle -of Port Hudson is now going on, and many lives will be -sacrificed on both sides, but I have done the best I could, trusting -in God, for if they gain this important point, we are lost; -and, on the other hand, if we could only gain it we shall have -gained much; and I think we shall, for we have a great deal -to thank God for, for we have Vicksburg and Gettysburg -already.' Mrs. Pomeroy said, 'Mr. Lincoln, prayer will do -what nothing else will; can you not pray?' 'Yes, I will,' -he replied, and while the tears were dropping from his face -he said, 'Pray for me,' and picked up a Bible and went to -his room. 'Could all the people of the nation have overheard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> -the earnest petition that went up from that inner chamber as -it reached the ears of the nurse, they would have fallen upon -their knees with tearful and reverential sympathy.' That -night he received a dispatch announcing a Union victory. He -went directly to Mrs. Pomeroy's room, his face beaming with -joy, saying: 'Good news! Good news! Port Hudson is -ours! The victory is ours, and God is good.' When the lady -replied, 'Nothing like prayer in times of trouble,' Mr. Lincoln -said, 'Yes, O yes—praise—prayer and praise go together.' -Mrs. Pomeroy in relating this incident, said, 'I do believe he -was a true Christian, though he had very little confidence in -himself.'"</p></blockquote> - -<p>Most valuable, and also most familiar, of these intimate -glimpses into the life of Mr. Lincoln during his years in the -White House is the book of Frank B. Carpenter called, <i>Six -Months in the White House: The Inner Life of Abraham -Lincoln</i>. The book was the work of the artist who painted -the large picture of the Signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. -For six months in 1864 he lived in the White -House where a room was fitted up for his use, and Mr. Lincoln -and all the members of the Cabinet sat to him repeatedly. It -is hardly necessary to quote this book, which is widely scattered, -and everywhere available. It is enough to remind ourselves -that the picture it gives us of Mr. Lincoln in those -solemn days after the war had settled down to a clear issue -of slavery or freedom, and had become in the mind of the -nation and the world not a political but a moral issue, is one -of dignity and heroism and of definite Christian character.</p> - -<p>An incident following the death of Willie has been related -on the alleged authority of Rev. Francis Vinton, rector of -Trinity Church, New York, who was an acquaintance of Mrs. -Lincoln and visited Washington and called at the White House -soon after that sad event. As reported, he said to Mr. -Lincoln:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"'Your son is alive.'</p> - -<p>"'Alive!' exclaimed Mr. Lincoln. 'Surely you mock me.'</p> - -<p>"'No, sir; believe me,' replied Dr. Vinton; 'it is a most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> -comforting doctrine of the Church, founded upon the words -of Christ Himself.'</p> - -<p>"Mr. Lincoln threw his arm around Dr. Vinton's neck, -laid his head upon his breast, and sobbed aloud, '<i>Alive? -Alive?</i>'</p> - -<p>"Dr. Vinton, greatly moved, said: 'My dear sir, believe -this, for it is God's most precious truth. Seek not your son -among the dead; he is not there; he lives today in paradise! -Think of the full import of the words I have quoted. The -Sadducees, when they questioned Jesus, had no other conception -than that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were dead and -buried. Mark the reply: "Now that the dead <i>are</i> raised, even -Moses showed at the bush when he called the Lord the God of -Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He -is not the God of the dead, but of the living, <i>for all live unto -Him</i>!" Did not the great patriarch mourn his sons as dead? -"Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin, -also!" But Joseph and Simeon were both living, though he -believed it not. Indeed, Joseph being taken from him was -the eventual means of the preservation of the whole family. -And so God has called your son into His upper kingdom—a -kingdom and an existence as real, more real, than your own. -It may be that he too, like Joseph, has gone, in God's good -providence, to be the salvation of <i>his</i> father's household. It is -a part of the Lord's plan for the ultimate happiness of you -and yours. Doubt it not.'</p> - -<p>"Dr. Vinton [so the narrative proceeds] told Lincoln -that he had a sermon upon the subject. Mr. Lincoln asked -him to send it to him as early as possible, and thanked him -repeatedly for his cheering and hopeful words. When Lincoln -received the sermon he read it over and over, and had -a copy made for his own private use. A member of the -family said that Mr. Lincoln's views in relation to spiritual -things seemed changed from that hour."—<span class="smcap">Carpenter</span>, pp. -117-19.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Such an incident cannot be wholly false; nor is it quite -conceivable that it is wholly true. That Lincoln talked with -Dr. Vinton concerning his recent sorrow, and was comforted -by his assurance of immortality is not improbable, nor that he -accepted Dr. Vinton's sermon and had it copied; but the scene<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> -as finally described for the public has every appearance of -being much colored.</p> - -<p>In 1883 Captain Oldroyd published a collection of Lincoln -anecdotes which had long been making, most of them good -and many of them excellent, but some of them resting on -very dubitable authority. Among those of this class was -one that has been widely quoted, perhaps most widely of any -in his book:<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Shortly before his death an Illinois clergyman asked -Lincoln, 'Do you love Jesus?' Mr. Lincoln solemnly replied: -'When I left Springfield I asked the people to pray for me. -I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest -trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to -Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, -I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. Yes, I <i>do</i> -love Jesus.'</p> - -<p>"Reticent as he was, and shy of discoursing much of his -own mental exercises, these few utterances now have a value -with those who knew him which his dying words scarcely -have possessed."—<i>Lincoln Memorial Album</i>, p. 105.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Where Captain Oldroyd obtained this incident is now -not known; probably it came to him as a newspaper clipping. -It bears no marks that commend it to our confidence. We are -not informed who this Illinois clergyman was; there may not -have been any such clergyman. If there was,—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"<i>E'en ministers they hae been kenned</i></span><br /> -<span class="i2m"><i>In holy rapture,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>A rousing whid at times to vend,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i2m"><i>And nail 't wi' Scripture.</i>"</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln made many references to God, but very few -to Jesus, and then not by name, but by some title, as "the -Saviour of the World." The word "love" was one which -he almost never used. That he should have said to a man -unnamed "I do love Jesus" is highly improbable; and the -account of his conversation as given here is not probable. We -gain nothing by reliance on such unsupported allegations.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2></div> - -<p class="c">FROM THE HOUSETOPS AND IN THE CLOSET</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">This</span> part of our inquiry draws near its close. We have -reserved for this chapter a selection from those religious -expressions of Abraham Lincoln which belong to his mature -years, and which are indisputably his. They are largely in -addresses, proclamations, and official documents. In them -religion is, as a rule, an incidental subject. But it finds frequent -expression.</p> - -<p>Here no literary criticism is necessary, for there is no -question about the accuracy of the report. We shall quote -nothing that is not contained in an accredited compilation of -Lincoln's papers or addresses, omitting all that is disputable -or open to the suspicion of glossation or coloring or exaggeration.</p> - -<p>There is only one question, Was Abraham Lincoln sincere -in these utterances? Did he speak them as his own profound -convictions, or because he was expected to say something -of this sort, and took refuge in pious commonplaces? Both -statements have been made concerning these and like utterances. -Let us read them with an open mind and discover -what evidence they bear of their own sincerity.</p> - -<p>These are not reports of private conversations, or utterances -addressed to small groups. These are the words which -Lincoln uttered in the ears of all men; and they afford some -evidence of the faith that was in him.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>In Lincoln's first annual Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, -dated October 3, 1863, after reciting the blessings of God to -the nation in the harvest and in the success of our arms, he -said:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal -hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious -gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in -anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.</p> - -<p>"It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be -solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one -heart and one voice by the American people. I do, therefore, -invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, -and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning -in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday -of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our -beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I -recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions -justly due Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, -they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness -and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those -who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in -the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably -engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the -Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to -restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, -to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, -and union."</p></blockquote> - -<p>In the summer of 1864, a resolution was adopted concurrently -by the Senate and House of Representatives, requesting -the President to appoint a day of prayer, Mr. Lincoln -issued the following proclamation, July 7, 1864, in which, -after quoting the words of the resolution, he continued:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the -United States, cordially concurring with the Congress of the -United States in the penitential and pious sentiments expressed -in the aforesaid resolutions, and heartily approving of the -devotional design and purpose thereof, do hereby appoint the -first Thursday of August next to be observed by the people -of the United States as a day of national humiliation and -prayer.</p> - -<p>"I do hereby further invite and request the heads of -the executive departments of this government, together with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> -all legislators, all judges and magistrates, and all other persons -exercising authority in the land, whether civil, military, or -naval, and all soldiers, seamen, and marines in the national -service and all the other loyal and law-abiding people of the -United States, to assemble in their preferred places of public -worship on that day, and there and then to render to the -Almighty and merciful Ruler of the Universe such homages -and such confessions, and to offer to Him such supplications, -as the Congress of the United States have, in their aforesaid -resolution, so solemnly, so earnestly, and so reverently -recommended."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln issued another special thanksgiving proclamation -on May 9, 1864, saying:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Enough is known of army operations within the last -five days to claim an especial gratitude to God, while what -remains undone demands our most sincere prayers to, and -reliance upon, Him without whom all human effort is vain. -I recommend that all patriots, at their homes, in their places -of public worship, and wherever they may be, unite in common -thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God."</p></blockquote> - -<p>In a response to a serenade at the White House, on May 9, -1864, following the Battle of the Wilderness, Mr. Lincoln -said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"While we are grateful to all the brave men and officers -for the events of the past few days, we should, above all, be -very grateful to Almighty God, who gives us victory."</p></blockquote> - -<p>May 18, 1864, in a letter of reply to a deputation of ministers -who presented to him resolutions adopted by the Methodist -General Conference, he said, "God bless the Methodist -Church—bless all the churches—and blessed be God, who, in -this our great trial giveth us the churches."</p> - -<p>In a letter to a committee consisting of the Rev. Dr. Ide, -Honorable J. R. Doolittle, and Honorable A. Hubbell, May -30, 1864, Mr. Lincoln says:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"In response to the preamble and resolutions of the American -Baptist Home Mission Society, which you did me the -honor to present, I can only thank you for thus adding to -the effective and almost unanimous support which the Christian -communities are so zealously giving to the country, and -to liberty. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive how it could be -otherwise with anyone professing Christianity, or even having -ordinary perceptions of right and wrong. To read the Bible, -as the word of God Himself, that 'In the sweat of <i>thy</i> face -shalt thou eat bread,' and to preach therefrom that, 'In the -sweat of <i>other men's</i> faces shalt thou eat bread,' to my mind -can scarcely be reconciled with honest sincerity. When -brought to my final reckoning may I have to answer for -robbing no man of his goods; yet more tolerable even this, -than for robbing one of himself and all that was his. When, -a year or two ago, those professedly holy men of the South -met in the semblance of prayer and devotion, and, in the name -of Him who said, 'As ye would all men should do unto you, -do ye even so unto them,' appealed to the Christian world -to aid them in doing to a whole race of men as they would -have no man do unto themselves, to my thinking they contemned -and insulted God and His church far more than did -Satan when he tempted the Saviour with the kingdoms of -earth. The devil's attempt was no more false, and far less -hypocritical. But let me forbear, remembering it is also -written, 'Judge not, lest ye be judged.'"</p></blockquote> - -<p>On December 7, 1863, in making announcement of Union -success in East Tennessee, he closed as follows: "I recommend -that all loyal people do, on receipt of this information, -assemble at their places of worship and render special homage -and gratitude to Almighty God for His great advancement -of the national cause."</p> - -<p>His Third Annual Message to Congress, December 8, 1863, -began: "Another year of health, and of sufficiently abundant -harvests, has passed. For these, and especially for the improved -condition of our national affairs, our renewed and -profoundest gratitude to God is due."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> - -<p>After the capture of Mobile and Atlanta, on September 3, -1864, Mr. Lincoln issued his fourth special thanksgiving -proclamation, calling on all people to offer thanksgiving to God -"for His mercy in preserving our national existence"; and -also "that prayer be made for divine protection to our soldiers -and their leaders in the field, who have so often and so gallantly -periled their lives in battling with the enemy; and -for blessings and comforts from the Father of Mercies to the -sick, wounded, and prisoners, and to the orphans and widows -of those who have fallen in the service of their country, and -that He will continue to uphold the Government of the United -States against all the effects of public enemies and secret foes."</p> - -<p>He issued a proclamation calling for thanksgiving for victories, -July 15, 1863:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the supplication -and prayers of an afflicted people, and to vouchsafe -to the army and navy of the United States victories on land -and on sea so signal and so effective as to furnish reasonable -grounds for augmented confidence that the union of these -States will be maintained, their Constitution preserved, and -their peace and prosperity permanently restored. But these -victories have been accorded not without sacrifice of life, -limb, health, and liberty, incurred by brave, loyal, and patriotic -citizens. Domestic affliction in every part of the country -follows in the train of these fearful bereavements. It is meet -and right to recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty -Father and the power of His hand equally in these triumphs -and in these sorrows.</p> - -<p>"Now, therefore, be it known that I do set apart Thursday, -the 6th day of August next, to be observed as a day of -national thanksgiving, praise, and prayer, and I invite the -people of the United States to assemble on that occasion in -their customary places of worship, and, in the forms approved -by their own consciences, render the homage due to the Divine -Majesty for the wonderful things He has done in the nation's -behalf, and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> -the anger which has produced and so long sustained a needless -and cruel rebellion, to change the hearts of the insurgents, to -guide the counsels of the government with wisdom adequate -to so great a national emergency, and to visit with tender care -and consolation throughout the length and breadth of our land -all those who, through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, -battles, and sieges, have been brought to suffer in mind, body, -or estate, and finally to lead the whole nation through the -paths of repentance and submission to the Divine Will back -to the perfect enjoyment of union and fraternal peace."</p></blockquote> - -<p>On March 30, 1863, President Lincoln issued a proclamation -appointing another national fast-day. It reads as -follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing -the supreme authority and just government of Almighty -God in all the affairs of men and of nations has by a -resolution requested the President to designate and set apart -a day for national prayer and humiliation:</p> - -<p>"And whereas, it is the duty of nations as well as of men -to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; -to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet -with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy -and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in -the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those -nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord:</p> - -<p>"And insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations, -like individuals, are subject to punishments and chastisements -in this world, and may we not justly fear that the awful -calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be -but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous -sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a -whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest -bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these many -years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, -wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown; but -we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand -which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and -strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>fulness -of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced -by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated -with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to -feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too -proud to pray to the God who made us:</p> - -<p>"It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the -offended Power, and confess our national sins, and to pray -for clemency and forgiveness:</p> - -<p>"Now, therefore, in compliance with the request and fully -concurring in the views of the Senate, I do by this my proclamation -designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of -April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and -prayer. And I do hereby request all the people to abstain on -that day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite -at their several places of public worship and their respective -homes in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to -the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that -solemn occasion. All this being done in sincerity and truth, -let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by divine teachings, -that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high, -and answered with blessings no less than the pardon of our -national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and -suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and -peace."</p></blockquote> - -<p>In 1863 Washington's Birthday occurred on Sunday, -and Rev. Alexander Reed, superintendent of the United States -Christian Commission, invited Mr. Lincoln to preside at a -meeting in the House of Representatives on that day. In -reply Mr. Lincoln said: "Whatever shall be sincerely, and -in God's name, devised for the good of the soldier and seaman -in their hard spheres of duty, can scarcely fail to be -blest.... The birthday of Washington and the Christian -Sabbath coinciding this year, and suggesting together the -highest interests of this life and of that to come, is most -propitious for the meeting proposed."</p> - -<p>January 5, 1863, in reply to a letter, Mr. Lincoln wrote -the following:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"It is most cheering and encouraging for me that in the -efforts which I have made and am making for the restoration -of a righteous peace for our country, I am upheld and sustained -by the good wishes and prayers of God's people. No one is -more deeply than myself aware that without His favor our -highest wisdom is but as foolishness and that our most strenuous -efforts would avail nothing in the shadow of His displeasure."</p> - -<p>"I am conscious of no desire for my country's welfare -that is not in consonance with His will, and no plan upon -which we may not ask His blessing. It seems to me that if -there be one subject upon which all good men may unitedly -agree, it is imploring the gracious favor of the God of Nations -upon the struggles our people are making for the preservation -of their precious birthright of civil and religious liberty."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"While it has not pleased the Almighty to bless us with -a return of peace, we can but press on, guided by the best light -He gives us, trusting that in His own good time and wise way -all will be well."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Reply to a committee of colored people who presented him -with a Bible, September 4, 1864:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"This occasion would seem fitting for a lengthy response -to the address which you have just made. I would make one -if prepared; but I am not. I would promise to respond in -writing had not experience taught me that business will not -allow me to do so. I can only say now, as I have often -before said, it has always been a sentiment with me that all -mankind should be free. So far as able, within my sphere, I -have always acted as I believe to be right and just; and I have -done all I could for the good of mankind generally. In -letters and documents sent from this office, I have expressed -myself better than I now can.</p> - -<p>"In regard to this great Book, I have but to say, it is the -best gift God has given to man. All the good Saviour gave -to the world was communicated through this Book. But for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> -it we could not know right from wrong. All things most -desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be -found portrayed in it. To you I return my most sincere -thanks for this very elegant copy of the great Book of God -which you present."—Complete Works of Lincoln by John -G. Nicolay and John Hay. New and Enlarged Edition, -Twelve Volumes. New York: Francis D. Tandy Company, -1905, X, 217-18.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Compiling these and kindred passages from his authentic -works, his two secretaries, Nicolay and Hay, were impressed -anew with the manifest sincerity and deep religious conviction -which they expressed. Commenting upon these as a whole, -and having particularly in mind certain stories which given -to the public could not, from their date and nature, have -been mere conventional expressions, and others so manifestly -personal that no consideration of the public opinion could -have had any weight with him, they said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"He was a man of profound and intense religious feeling. -We have no purpose of attempting to formulate his creed: we -question if he himself ever did so. There have been swift -witnesses who, judging from expressions uttered in his callow -youth, have called him an atheist; and others who, with the -most laudable intentions, have remembered improbable conversations -which they bring forward to prove at once his -orthodoxy and their own intimacy with him. But leaving -aside these apocryphal endeavors, we have only to look at his -authentic public and private utterances to see how deep and -strong in all the latter part of his life was the current of his -religious thought and emotion. He continually invited and -appreciated, at their highest value, the prayers of good people. -The pressure of the tremendous problems by which he was surrounded; -the awful moral significance of the conflict in which -he was the chief combatant; the overwhelming sense of personal -responsibility which never left him for an hour—all -contributed to produce, in a temperament naturally serious -and predisposed to a spiritual view of life and conduct, a -sense of reverent acceptance of the guidance of a superior -Power. From the morning when, standing amid the falling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> -snowflakes in the railway car at Springfield, he asked the -prayers of his neighbors in those touching phrases whose -echo rose that night in invocations from thousands of family -altars, to that memorable hour when on the steps of the Capitol -he humbled himself before his Creator in the sublime -words of the Second Inaugural, there is not an expression -known to have come from his lips or pen but proves that he -held himself answerable in every act of his career to a more -august tribunal than any on earth. The fact that he was not -a communicant of any church, and that he was singularly -reserved in regard to his personal religious life, gives only -the greater force to these striking proofs of his profound -reverence and faith.</p> - -<p>"In final substantiation of this assertion, we subjoin two -papers from the hand of the President, one official and the -other private, which bear within themselves the imprint of a -sincere devotion and a steadfast reliance upon the power and -benignity of an overruling Providence. The first is an order -which he issued on the 16th of November, 1864, in the -observance of Sunday.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Lincoln's Sunday Rest Order, November 15, 1862:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The President, Commander-in-chief of the Army and -Navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath -by the officers and men in the military and naval service. -The importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly -rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a -becoming deference to the best sentiments of a Christian -people, and a due regard for the Divine Will, demand that -Sunday labor in the army and navy be reduced to the measure -of strict necessity.</p> - -<p>"The discipline and character of the national forces should -not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled by the -profanation of the day or name of the Most High. 'At this -time of public distress'—adopting the words of Washington -in 1776—'men may find enough to do in the service of God -and their Country without abandoning themselves to vice and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> -immorality.' The first general order issued by the Father of -his Country, after the Declaration of Independence, indicates -the spirit in which our institutions were founded and should -ever be defended. 'The General hopes and trusts that every -officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a -Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of -his country.'</p> - -<p>"The date of this remarkable order leaves no possibility -for the insinuation that it sprang from any political purposes -or intention. Mr. Lincoln had just been re-elected by an -overwhelming majority; his own personal popularity was -unbounded; there was no temptation for hypocrisy or deceit. -There is no explanation of the order except that it was the -offspring of sincere convictions.</p> - -<p>"But if it may be said that this was, after all, an exoteric -utterance springing from those relations of religion and -good government which the wisest rulers have always recognized -in their intercourse with the people, we will give another -document of which nothing of the sort can be said. It is a -paper which Mr. Lincoln wrote in September, 1862, while his -mind was burdened with the weightiest question of his life,—the -weightiest with which this country has had to grapple. -Wearied with all the considerations of law and of expediency -with which he had been struggling for two years, he retired -within himself and tried to bring some order into his thoughts -by rising above the wrangling of men and parties, and pondering -the relations of human government to the Divine. In -this frame of mind, absolutely detached from any earthly -considerations, he wrote this meditation. It has never been -published. It was not written to be seen of men. It was -penned in the awful sincerity of a perfectly honest soul trying -to bring himself into closer communion with its Maker.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Meditation on the Divine will, September [30], 1862:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The will of God prevails. In great contests each party -claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both -may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and -against the same thing at the same time. In the present Civil<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> -War it is quite possible that God's purpose is something -different from the purpose of either party; and yet the best -instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best -adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say -that this is probably true: that God wills this contest, and -wills that it shall not end yet. By His mere great power on the -minds of the now contestants He could have saved or destroyed -the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. -And, having begun, He could give the final victory to either -side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."—<span class="smcap">Nicolay and -Hay</span>, Life of Lincoln, <i>Century</i>, August, 1889. Vol. 35, -pp. 567-68.</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a><br /><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a><br /><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a><br /><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2">PART III: THE RELIGION OF LINCOLN</p></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> - -<p class="c">WHAT LINCOLN WAS NOT</p> - - -<p>It is amazing to discover how many forms of faith and non-faith -have claimed Abraham Lincoln.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"<i>Seven cities strove for Homer, dead,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>Through which the living Homer begged his bread.</i>"</span><br /> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>More than seven churches have striven for the dead -Abraham Lincoln, some of whom would not even now admit -to their membership a living man who professed his sentiments.</p> - -<p>Before we undertake the difficult task of assessing the real -faith of Abraham Lincoln, let us dispose of a few of the claims -that have been made on his behalf, or the charges that have -been made against him, and which clearly have no sufficient -weight of evidence. Let us ask first,</p> - - -<p><i>Was Abraham Lincoln an atheist?</i></p> - -<p>Herndon declared that Lincoln was an infidel, "sometimes -bordering on atheism." This last phrase has been overstrained. -What Herndon appears to have meant was that -in some of Lincoln's blackest hours of gloom his mind hung -over that utter void; and he more than hints that in such hours -Lincoln's mind was scarcely sound. Herndon was far from -believing or meaning to charge that atheism was Lincoln's real -view of God and the world. The contrary is shown in a -score of places in Herndon's works and letters.</p> - -<p>Some years ago the <i>Open Court</i> of Chicago contained an -article by Theodore Stanton, quoted from the <i>Westminster -Review</i>. It said:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"That Lincoln was an orthodox Christian nobody pretends -to assert. But his friends and biographers differ as to how -much of a Christian he was. If Lincoln had lived and died -an obscure Springfield lawyer and politician, he would unquestionably -have been classed by his neighbors among freethinkers. -But as is customary with the Church, whether -Roman Catholic or Protestant, when Lincoln became one of -the great of the world, an attempt was made to claim him.... -The shrewd politician who has not an elastic conscience—and -that was Lincoln's case—simply keeps mum on -religious subjects, or, when he must touch on the subject, -deals only in platitudes, and this is just what Lincoln did. -Lincoln thought little on religious subjects, and read less. -That, when left to himself, he was quite indifferent to religion, -is frequently evident in the acts of his life."—<i>Open Court</i>, -September 24, 1891, pp. 2962-63, quoting <i>Westminster Review</i> -of September, 1890.</p></blockquote> - -<p>This statement was not sufficiently radical for one reader -of the <i>Open Court</i>, who thought that Mr. Stanton had made -Lincoln out to have been virtually an agnostic, and who wished -to prove him an atheist. He wrote an article in which he said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Free-thinker means anything or nothing.... Plain -words are the best. That Lincoln was <i>A-theos</i> connotes a -definite attitude toward the great religious chimera, and really -defines Mr. Lincoln's position more closely than any of Mr. -Stanton's epithets [as, e.g., Agnostic]. It is positive, not -negative, indicates what the man professedly was rather than -what he was not or what he oppugned. We are in position -to define his life-creed with all due measure of exactness."—"What -Was Abraham Lincoln's Creed?" by George M. -McCrie, <i>Open Court</i>, November 26, 1891.</p></blockquote> - -<p>This writer then proceeded to define Mr. Lincoln's creed -in terms of atheism. But his argument was based on a subjective -scheme of philosophy, a kind of Hylo-Idealism derived -from Hegel more than from Lincoln, and one which it is safe -to affirm Lincoln would neither have admitted nor even -understood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> - -<p>Some time after, the same journal had a third and very -different article, which said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Lincoln was an extremely religious man, though not a -technical Christian. He thought deeply, and his opinions -were positive. His seriousness was a characteristic trait, -showing itself even in his genuine good humor. His very -jokes were a part of his seriousness.... Lincoln was an -extremely practical man. He believed not for belief's sake, -but for his own sake. He made a practice of religion; he -used it. His religion was his life, and his life was his religious -service. It was his own public profession. Religion was a -fact to him. He believed in prayer, because he found use for -it: and when the fate of the Union seemed to waver, when -doubt and despair hovered over the land and the future was -uncertain, Lincoln often shut himself within his room and -offered up his prayer to God. 'So, many times,' he said, 'I -was forced to my knees, not knowing where else to go.'</p> - -<p>"While there is considerable in his writings to indicate -a strong faith in God and prayer, there is little to indicate -his beliefs regarding Christ, the Bible, etc. But the very -absence of anything on those points is good evidence that he -did not hold the views that have been attributed to him....</p> - -<p>"He was a firm believer in the 'great and good and merciful -God,' but not in a revengeful or cruel God who could -consign them to an eternal hell when nothing good to those -who suffered could possibly come from such punishment. -He believed in and used prayer as a means to bring himself -in closer relations with right in everything.... He believed -in 'universal inspiration and miracles under law,' and that -all things, both matter and mind, are governed by law. He -believed that all creation is an evolution under law, not a -special creation of the Supreme Being. He hoped for a -joyous meeting in the world to come with many loved ones -gone before. He believed that Christianity consists in being, -not believing; in loving 'the Lord thy God with all thy heart -and thy neighbor as thyself.' He believed that the Bible is -a book to be understood and appreciated as any other book, -not merely to be accepted as a divine creation of infallibility. -He believed in the man Christ, not in the God Christ.... -He was once an admirer of Volney, Paine, and Voltaire; later<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> -of Theodore Parker, Emerson, and Channing. He was once -a scoffer of religion; later a supporter."—<span class="smcap">R. C. Roper</span>, Religious -Beliefs of Abraham Lincoln, <i>Open Court</i>, 1903, -pp. 76-85.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Whatever Abraham Lincoln was, he was not an atheist. -If any other convenient term were to be applied to him, it -would be necessary that the term itself should be defined. -Thus, Lyman Abbott has spoken of Lincoln as an agnostic, -meaning that Lincoln did not find himself in position to affirm -dogmatically on certain of the articles of faith. This article -by Dr. Abbott was particularly illuminating as discriminating -between the measure of uncertainty which a man may feel -in the matter of positive declaration of his views, while cherishing -in his heart and manifesting in his life the essentials -of a Christian faith. It was published as an editorial in -reply to a letter of inquiry, and both are worth reprinting -entire:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"'My dear Dr. Abbott: You are quoted in the New York -<i>Press</i> of October 15 as having referred in your Yale sermon -to Abraham Lincoln in the following terms: "Agnostic -though he was." Are you correct in the implication? If so, -I should greatly like to know, as it is a subject in which I am -much interested. J. G. Holland says, in his <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, -page 61 ff., "He believed in God, and in His personal supervision -of the affairs of men.... This unwavering faith -in a divine Providence began at his mother's knee, and ran -like a thread of gold through all the inner experiences of his -life"; and much more to the same purpose. You are doubtless -familiar with his words on leaving Springfield for Washington: -"He [Washington] would never have succeeded except -for the aid of divine Providence upon which he at all times -relied. On that same Almighty Being I place my reliance. -Pray that I may receive that divine assistance without which -I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain." The -first inaugural would seem to indicate a most pronounced -Christian sentiment. Not to consume too much of your time, -I might refer further to Nicolay and Hay's <i>Life</i>, the following -passages: Vol. VI, p. 539, which contains a statement of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> -Lincoln's religious principles; also, same volume, pp. 323, 324, -327, 328, 341, 342.</p> - -<p class="r"> -R. A. A.'" -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>To this letter Dr. Abbott replied:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The life of Abraham Lincoln appears to me to furnish -a very striking illustration both of the difference between -theology and religion and of the way in which religious -experience is often developed in the life of a true man, and is -accompanied by a real though generally quite unconscious -change in theological opinion. Mr. Herndon, in his <i>Life of -Lincoln</i>, portrays the earlier religious faith of Mr. Lincoln, -Nicolay and Hay his later religious faith: neither biographer -is able to find that he ever formulated his own creed, neither -is able to formulate one for him. Yet between the religious -convictions of the period when he wrote an essay against -Christianity, which, fortunately for his reputation, a wise -friend threw into the fire, and the period when he wrote his -second inaugural address, there is a difference which cannot -be measured by the mere lapse of years.</p> - -<p>"Agnostic? What is an agnostic? Huxley invented the -phrase to define his own position in contrast with that of -his friends whom he called gnostics because they had each -a theory of the universe and he had none. He more specifically -defines the basis of his no-theory of the universe in a -pathetic letter to Charles Kingsley (<i>Life and Letters</i>, Vol. II, -pp. 233-239): 'It is no use to talk to me of analogies and -probabilities. I know what I mean when I say I believe in -the law of the inverse squares, and I will not rest my lifelong -hopes upon weaker convictions. I dare not, if I would.' Compare -with this Mr. Herndon's measure of Mr. Lincoln's earlier -habit of thought: 'As already expressed, Mr. Lincoln had no -faith. In order to believe, he must see and feel, and thrust -his hand into the place. He must taste, smell, or handle before -he had faith or even belief.' Or compare Mrs. Lincoln's -expression concerning her husband's religious opinions, as -quoted by Mr. Herndon: 'Mr. Lincoln had no faith and no -hope, in the usual acceptance of those words. He never joined -a church; but still, as I believe, he was a religious man by -nature. He first seemed to think about the subject when our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> -Willie died, and then more than ever about the time he went -to Gettysburg; but it was a kind of poetry in his nature; -and he was never a technical Christian.'</p> - -<p>"Religion is always a kind of poetry. Faith is kin to -imagination; both faith and imagination look upon the unseen -and refuse to base life merely upon the senses or upon mathematical -formularies like the law of the inverse squares. This -poetry is often quite dissociated from philosophy, or is even -inconsistent with the philosophy which the individual entertains. -But Mr. Lincoln's early philosophy prepared for his -later religious experience. Mr. Herndon reports him as saying: -'There are no accidents in my philosophy. The past -is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause -of the future. All these are links in the endless chain stretching -from the Infinite to the finite.' With this philosophy of -fatalism was a profound faith in justice, a profound reverence -for it, and an uncompromising obedience to it. At first he did -not put this philosophy and this faith together. He who does -put them together, that is, he who infuses this philosophy in -an overruling cause with this faith, which is a 'kind of -poetry,' in the supremacy of righteousness, comes to a faith -in a righteous God, who deserves our reverence, not because -he is great, but because he is good.</p> - -<p>"When Abraham Lincoln began to feel the burden of -the nation resting upon him, and felt it too great a burden for -him to carry unaided, he wanted the sympathy of all men and -women in the country who with him believed in a Power directing -the course of human history greater than the actors in it, -and who also believed in eternal justice; and he asked their -prayers. As the conflict went on and the burden grew heavier -and heavier, his faith in righteousness more and more infused -his belief in a superhuman power and transformed it into a -belief in a righteous God; but it was, till the last, a belief in a -God of justice rather than a Christ of pity, even as it phrased -itself in that most religious utterance of his life, his second -inaugural: 'Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that -this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if -God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the -bondman's two hundred years of unrequited toil shall be -sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall -be paid with another drawn with the sword, as was said three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> -thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgments -of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."'</p> - -<p>"There is no evidence that Mr. Lincoln had become a -gnostic, or that he had a comprehensive scheme of the universe, -or that he had either wrought out a system of theology for -himself or accepted any that had been wrought out by others; -but there is abundant evidence that he had learned in the four -years of tragedy a lesson of dependence and trust, that he had -insensibly put together his belief in a supreme Power and his -faith in righteousness, and that thus there had been born in -him faith in a supreme righteous Power, whose will we may -help to carry out, and on whose wisdom and strength we may -rely in achieving it. It is thus that the life of Abraham -Lincoln illustrates both how a reverent agnostic may be deeply -religious and how the life of service and self-sacrifice leads -through doubt to faith.—L. A."—<i>The Outlook</i>, November 17, -1906.</p></blockquote> - - -<p><i>Was Abraham Lincoln a Roman Catholic?</i></p> - -<p>The question is absurd, and worth asking only that it may -receive a simple negative answer. Yet, singularly, a report -was current and somewhat widely believed in 1860 that -Abraham Lincoln had been baptized as a Roman Catholic -and was himself a renegade from that faith. The rumor -appears to have had two roots. First was the fact that -much missionary work was done in early Illinois by Jesuit -priests; and it was assumed, not only contrary to every fact -but to every element of probability, that Abraham Lincoln -had been baptized by one of them. The other was the fact -that he acted as attorney for Rev. Charles Chiniquy, who -after fifty years in the Church of Rome came out from that -communion and became a notable antagonist of the church in -which he had been reared. His unsparing criticisms led to -various attacks upon him through the courts and otherwise. -When Lincoln was elected President much was made of the -fact that Lincoln had been Father Chiniquy's attorney, and -the rumor that he also was a renegade Catholic gained wide -currency.</p> - -<p>Chiniquy professed to see in these rumors a peril to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> -life of Mr. Lincoln, and both then and at intervals during -his administration warned the President that his life was in -danger. The scarcely concealed favor of the Vatican toward -the cause of the South did not tend to allay this anxiety. -The fact that among those concerned in the plot which finally -ended in the assassination of the President were several -Roman Catholics, revived these reports immediately after his -death, and they are occasionally recalled even now.</p> - -<p>So far as our present inquiry is concerned, we have only -to ask and answer the question. Mr. Lincoln was not in any -period of his life affiliated in any way with the Roman Catholic -Church.</p> - - -<p><i>Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist?</i></p> - -<p>During Mr. Lincoln's occupancy of the White House, -there were several rumors to the effect that President and -Mrs. Lincoln were both Spiritualists. A definite claim that -Mr. Lincoln fully believed in Spiritualism was set forth in -1891 by a medium named Mrs. Nettie Colburn Maynard. She -wrote a book relating in detail almost innumerable sittings -which she alleged were attended by Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln. -According to her story her mediumship began in her childhood -in 1845. At the outbreak of the war she was lecturing -and giving public séances and went to Washington to gain a -furlough for her brother. She learned of Mr. Lincoln's -interest in Spiritualism, and of the visits to the White House -of two mediums, Charles Colchester and Charles Foster. -She was invited to the White House, where, if we are to -credit her story, she imparted to Mr. Lincoln very nearly all -the wisdom which he possessed during the period of the -Civil War.</p> - -<p>We learn from other sources that Lincoln permitted two -or three mediums to come to the White House and to tell him -what the spirits said he ought to know; but Lincoln said of -them that the advice of the spirits, as thus received, was as -contradictory as the voices of his own Cabinet, of whose -meetings the séances reminded him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> - -<p>The last attempt to make Mr. Lincoln out a Spiritualist -is by Mrs. Grace Garrett Durand, in a privately printed book -issued since Sir Oliver Lodge's <i>Raymond</i>. She claims to -have talked with Raymond, with William T. Stead, and other -people, as well as with Mrs. Eddy, from whom she expects to -receive additional material supplementary to her <i>Science and -Health, and Key to the Scriptures</i>. She is, however, according -to her own account, especially intimate with Mr. Lincoln. -She says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"President Lincoln has himself told me in many conversations -I have had with him from the spirit world that he -was directed in his great work during the Civil War by his -mother and others in the spirit world. Mr. Lincoln, or -'Uncle Abe,' as he has lovingly asked me to call him, said that -had he respected his mother's advice the day of his assassination -he would not have gone to the theater the fateful night, -as his mother had that day warned him not to go."</p></blockquote> - -<p>If Mr. Lincoln's spirit has indeed requested this lady -to call him "Uncle Abe" he has accorded her a liberty which -was infrequent during his lifetime. Near neighbors of Mr. -Lincoln during his years in Springfield inform me that no -one called him "Abe" to his face, and that very few even -of his political opponents thus spoke of him. He habitually -addressed his partner as "Billy," but Mr. Herndon uniformly -called him "Mr. Lincoln." One could wish that Abraham -Lincoln in heaven might be at least as dignified as Abraham -Lincoln was on earth.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> - - -<p><i>Was Abraham Lincoln superstitious?</i></p> - -<p>Both President and Mrs. Lincoln were superstitious. -They believed in dreams and signs, he more in dreams and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> -she more in signs. When Mrs. Lincoln was away from him -for a little time, visiting in Philadelphia in 1863, and Tad -with her, Lincoln thought it sufficiently important to telegraph, -lest the mail should be too slow, and sent her this message:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="r"> -"Executive Mansion,<br /> -"Washington, June 9, 1863.</p> - -<p> -"<span class="smcap">Mrs. Lincoln</span>,<br /> -"Philadelphia, Pa. -</p> - -<p>"Think you better put Tad's pistol away. I had an -ugly dream about him.</p> - -<p class="r"> -"A. Lincoln." -</p> - -<p>—Quoted in facsimile in <i>Harper's Magazine</i> for February, -1897; <i>Lincoln's Home Life in the White House</i>, by -Leslie J. Perry.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In Lamon's book of <i>Recollections</i>, published in 1895, a -very different book from his Life of Lincoln, he devotes an -entire chapter to Lincoln's dreams and presentiments. He -relates the story of the dream which Lincoln had not long -before his assassination wherein he saw the East Room of -the White House containing a catafalque with the body of an -assassinated man lying upon it. Lincoln tried to remove -himself from the shadow of this dream by recalling a story -of life in Indiana, but could not shake off the gloom of it. -Lamon says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"He was no dabbler in divination, astrology, horoscopy, -prophecy, ghostly lore, or witcheries of any sort.... The -moving power of dreams and visions of an extraordinary -character he ascribed, as did the Patriarchs of old, to the -Almighty Intelligence that governs the universe, their processes -conforming strictly to natural laws."—<i>Recollections</i>, p. 120.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In his Life of Lincoln, Lamon tells the story of the dream -which Lincoln had late in the year 1860, when resting upon -a lounge in his chamber he saw his figure reflected in a mirror -opposite with two images, one of them a little paler than the -other. It worried Lincoln, and he told his wife about it. She -thought it was "a sign that Lincoln was to be elected for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> -second term and that the paleness of one of the faces indicated -that he would not see life through the last term" (p. 477).</p> - -<p>As this optical illusion has been so often printed, and has -seemed so weirdly prophetic of the event which followed, it -may be well to quote an explanation of the incident from -an address by Dr. Erastus Eugene Holt, of Portland, Maine:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"As he lay there upon the couch, every muscle became -relaxed as never before.... In this relaxed condition, in -a pensive mood and in an effort to recuperate the energies of -a wearied mind, his eyes fell upon the mirror in which he -could see himself at full length, reclining upon the couch. -All the muscles that direct, control, and keep the two eyes -together were relaxed; the eyes were allowed to separate, and -each eye saw a separate and distinct image by itself. The -relaxation was so complete, for the time being, that the two -eyes were not brought together, as is usual by the action of -converging muscles, hence the counterfeit presentiment of -himself. He would have seen two images of anything else -had he looked for them, but he was so startled by the ghostly -appearance that he felt 'a little pang as though something -uncomfortable had happened,' and obtained but little rest. -What a solace to his wearied mind it would have been if -someone could have explained this illusion upon rational -grounds!"—Address at Portland, Maine, February 12, 1901, -reprinted by William Abbatt, Tarrytown, N. Y., 1916.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Other incidents which relate to Mr. Lincoln's faith in -dreams, including one that is said to have occurred on the -night preceding his assassination, are well known, and need not -be repeated here in detail.</p> - -<p>It is not worth while to seek to evade or minimize the -element of superstition in Lincoln's life, nor to ask to explain -away any part of it. Dr. Johnson admits it in general terms, -but makes little of concrete instances:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The claim that there was more or less of superstition in -his nature, and that he was greatly affected by his dreams, -is not to be disputed. Many devout Christians today are -equally superstitious, and, also, are greatly affected by their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> -dreams. Lincoln grew in an atmosphere saturated with all -kinds of superstitious beliefs. It is not strange that some of -it should cling to him all his life, just as it was with Garfield, -Blaine, and others.</p> - -<p>"In 1831, then a young man of twenty-two, Lincoln -made his second trip to New Orleans. It was then that he -visited a Voodoo fortune teller, that is so important in the -eyes of certain people. This, doubtless, was out of mere -curiosity, for it was his second visit to a city. This no more -indicates a belief in 'spiritualism' than does the fact that a -few days before he started on this trip he attended an exhibition -given by a traveling juggler, and allowed the magician -to cook eggs in his low-crowned, broad-rimmed hat."—<i>Lincoln -the Christian</i>, p. 29.</p></blockquote> - -<p>I do not agree with this. Superstition was inherent in -the life of the backwoods, and Lincoln had his full share of -it. Superstition is very tenacious, and people who think that -they have outgrown it nearly all possess it. "I was always -superstitious," wrote Lincoln to Joshua F. Speed on July 4, -1842. He never ceased to be superstitious.</p> - -<p>While superstition had its part in the life and thought -of Lincoln, it was not the most outstanding fact in his thinking -or his character. For the most part his thinking was -rational and well ordered, but it had in it many elements and -some strange survivals—strange until we recognize the many -moods of the man and the various conditions of his life and -thought in which from time to time he lived.</p> - - -<p><i>Was Lincoln a Quaker?</i></p> - -<p>In his autobiographical sketch written for Jesse W. Fell, -Mr. Lincoln stated that his paternal grandfather, Abraham -Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, Virginia, to -Kentucky about 1781 or 1782; "his ancestors, who were -Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks County, Pennsylvania." -This reference to a remote Quaker ancestry has suggested to -some writers the possibility that Mr. Lincoln himself may have -been, in conviction, a Quaker.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> - -<p>This suggestion is utilized to its full value and beyond by -Henry Bryan Binns, the first English biographer of Lincoln, -whose book appeared in 1907, and others have followed his -intimations. He says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"In some brief autobiographical notes, Lincoln remarks -that his ancestors, when they left Berks County, Pennsylvania, -were Quakers. The allusion has significance, not merely -because it is the only reference to any religious body in these -notes, but because it suggests an interesting spiritual affiliation -to which we shall refer again later."</p></blockquote> - -<p>He fulfills this promise, and refers to it repeatedly. The -Quaker ancestry finds reinforcement in his assurance that the -Shipley strain in Nancy Hanks was "probably" Quaker. -These references occur a number of times in the early part of -his book, and recur in the concluding chapter with more than -a suggestion that Mr. Lincoln continued to bear some of the -inherited spiritual qualities of the Quaker.</p> - -<p>These suggestions lack evidential value. Lincoln's grandfather's -ancestors were believed by him to have been Quakers -in Pennsylvania, and their ancestors are believed to have been -Puritans in Massachusetts. But the New Englanders no more -surely dropped their Massachusetts Puritanism in Pennsylvania -than the Pennsylvania Quakers dropped their Quakerism in -Virginia and Kentucky. The Quaker ancestry was not forgotten -nor was it a thing to be ashamed of, but the distinctive -tenets of the Friends had no large part in the working creed -of Abraham Lincoln. He respected the Quakers, and on more -than one occasion showed his interest in them; but there is -no reason to believe that he shared either their theology or -their theory of non-resistance. He was compelled to approve -some severe measures against American citizens who refused -to fight, and a number of Quakers suffered in consequence. -Lincoln saw no way to prevent these sufferings altogether, -though he did his best to mitigate them, and he always -respected the principles of those who held in sincerity the -Quaker faith which he did not share.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> - - -<p><i>Was Lincoln a Unitarian or a Universalist?</i></p> - -<p>It is my opinion that Lincoln did not believe in endless -punishment, and also that he did not accept the supernatural -birth of Christ. The evidence on which these opinions rest -has already been indicated. But I do not regard him as a -Universalist or a Unitarian. The basis of his religious belief -was Calvinism of the most rigid sort. It could accept some -incidental features of other systems, but at heart it was -Calvinistic.</p> - -<p>I have talked with Rev. Jasper Douthit, of Shelbyville, -concerning Unitarianism in central Illinois. He quotes Jenkin -Lloyd Jones as saying of his Shelbyville church, that -"Unitarianism attempted to locate in the Capitol City of Illinois, -but struck the dome of the State House, glanced off, and -stuck in the mud at Shelbyville." In some sense the movement -of Mr. Douthit is the present survival of the attempt -before the Civil War to domesticate Unitarianism in Springfield -and vicinity. I have clipped from the <i>Christian Register</i> -a communication which, without pretending to technical knowledge -of the organific principle of the several sects, goes near -to the heart of this question:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p> -"To the editor of the Christian Register:—<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<i>Apropos</i> of 'Lincoln Day,' may I ask for <i>definite -information</i> as to Mr. Lincoln's religious belief? The author -of that little pamphlet, 'What do Unitarians Believe?' implies -that he is to be numbered among Unitarians, and quotes from -the author of <i>Six Months at the White House</i> to prove his -assertion. Now I don't know <i>who</i> the <i>author</i> of <i>Six Months -at the White House is</i>, and care less. His testimony is 'second -hand' viewed in any light you please. He may have been a -Unitarian himself, though I hardly think he would have used -the word 'Saviour,' in speaking of Mr. Lincoln's words, -unless Lincoln himself had used it. At any rate, the only -<i>direct</i> testimony bearing on Mr. Lincoln's religious views is -found in <i>his own writings</i>, and I want to quote from his -Fast Day proclamation of March 30, 1863, as throwing some -light on the subject.</p> - -<p>"He says: 'Whereas, it is the duty of nations, as well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> -as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling -power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in -humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance -will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime -truth announced in the Holy Scriptures, and proven by all -history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the -Lord.</p> - -<p>"'And, insomuch as we know that by His Divine laws, -nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and -chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the -awful calamity of Civil War, which now desolates the land, -may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous -sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a -whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest -bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these many -years in peace and prosperity.</p> - -<p>"'We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no -other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. -We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in -peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and -we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts, -that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom -and virtue of our own.'</p> - -<p>"If this isn't <i>Calvinism</i> pure and simple, then I don't -know what Calvinism is.</p> - -<p>"Now, Mr. Editor, if you can show me any reference in -<i>Mr. Lincoln's own words</i> that point as strongly toward -'Unitarianism' and those truths which <i>it</i> claims as peculiarly -its own, I shall be glad to see it.</p> - -<p class="r"> -"<span class="smcap">Charles B. Toleman.</span>" -</p></blockquote> - -<p>A number of Lincoln's old neighbors, contributing to the -Irwin article in denial of the alleged infidelity of Lincoln, -affirm that he was a Universalist. In their denial of his -infidelity they were correct; and also in their detection of -the fallacy of Herndon in which he counted every opinion -to be infidel that did not conform to the severe orthodoxy -with which he was familiar. As between Herndon and these -writers, they were correct. Lincoln's "infidelity" consisted -in good part of his denial of eternal punishment. But that did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> -not make him an infidel; neither did it constitute him technically -a Universalist. The substratum of his belief was the -old-time predestinarianism which he heard in his youth and -never outgrew. How he could make this blend with his -wide departures from conventional orthodoxy in other points, -those can best understand who have heard the kind of preaching -on which Lincoln grew up. Its effect is not easily -obliterated.</p> - - -<p><i>Was Abraham Lincoln a Methodist?</i></p> - -<p>This question would seem to require no answer, yet it is -one that should receive an answer, for claims have been -made, and are still current, which imply that Lincoln was -actually converted in the Methodist Church, whose doctrine -he accepted because Calvinism was repugnant to him; and -that while he continued to attend the Presbyterian Church, -he was essentially a Methodist.</p> - -<p>Lincoln had a very high regard for the Methodist Church. -It was rent asunder during the Civil War, and the Northern -branch of the church which had long been vigorously anti-slavery -was warmly loyal. On May 18, 1864, in a letter of -reply to a deputation of ministers from that body, he said, -"God bless the Methodist Church—bless all the churches, and -blessed be God who, in this our great trial, giveth us the -churches."</p> - -<p>Reference has been made to the fact that Methodism did -not at any time appear greatly to influence the Lincoln family -in matters of theology, and that the early environment of the -family from the birth of Lincoln was Baptist. I am inclined -to think that the Hanks family had Methodist antecedents. -Thomas and Nancy Lincoln were married by a Methodist -preacher, Rev. Jesse Head. He is known to have been a -foe of slavery, and there is some reason to think that the -Lincoln family derived some part of its love of freedom -from him.</p> - -<p>From time to time Lincoln met Methodist preachers who -deeply impressed him. One of these was Rev. Peter Akers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> -whom he heard in 1837, when Lincoln was twenty-eight years -of age.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"He and a group of associates went out to hear him at a -camp-meeting six miles west of Springfield, at the 'Salem -Church.' The Rev. Peter Akers was a vigorous and fearless -man. He spoke of certain prophecies, and predicted 'the -downfall of castes, the end of tyrannies, and the crushing out -of slavery.' On the way home they were earnestly discussing -the sermon. Lincoln is alleged to have said: 'It was the -most instructive sermon, and he is the most impressive -preacher, I have ever heard. It is wonderful that God has -given such power to men. I firmly believe his interpretation -of prophecy, so far as I understand it, and especially about -the breaking down of civil and religious tyrannies; and, odd -as it may seem, I was deeply impressed that I should be somehow -strangely mixed up with them."—<span class="smcap">Tarbell</span>, <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, -I, 237.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In the lecture on Abraham Lincoln by Bishop Fowler, as -finally prepared for the press, is an incident which apparently -was not in its earlier editions. At a reunion of the Seventy-third -Illinois Volunteers, held in Springfield on September 28, -29, 1897, the colonel of that regiment, Rev. James F. Jacquess, -D.D., related an incident in which he stated that while he was -serving a Methodist Church in Springfield in 1839, Mr. Lincoln -attended a series of revival services held in that church, and -was converted. The story was heard with great interest by -the old soldiers of that regiment, many of whose officers had -been Methodist preachers, and it was printed in the Minutes -of the Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Reunion of Survivors -of the Seventy-third Illinois Infantry.</p> - -<p>Twelve years later, in 1909, in connection with the Centenary -Celebration of the birth of Lincoln, the story was -reprinted, with certain added details obtained from the brother -of Colonel Jacquess. As thus wrought into literary form, it -was printed in the New York <i>Christian Advocate</i> in an article -entitled "The Conversion of Lincoln," by Rev. Edward L. -Watson, of Baltimore.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> - -<p>Already Bishop Fowler, to whom Colonel Jacquess alluded -in his address at Springfield as having no adequate account of -Lincoln's conversion, had accepted the story and incorporated -it into the final version of his famous lecture (<i>Patriotic Orations</i>, -p. 102). The death of Colonel Jacquess and the additions -made by his brother give this incident its permanent -form in the <i>Christian Advocate</i> article of November 11, 1909.</p> - -<p>I am glad to have been able to obtain from the <i>Christian -Advocate</i> their last copy of that issue, outside their office file, -and it appears in full in the Appendix to this volume. It may -be accepted as the authoritative form of this story.</p> - -<p>That the story as told by Colonel Jacquess must have had -some element of truth I think beyond question; that it occurred -exactly as he related it, I greatly doubt. The years between -1839 and 1897 numbered fifty-eight, and that is more than -ample time for a man's memory to magnify and color incidents -almost beyond recognition.</p> - -<p>The story as it is thus told lacks confirmatory evidence.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> -If Lincoln was converted in a Methodist Church in 1839 and -remained converted, a considerable number of events which -occurred in subsequent years might reasonably have been -expected to have been otherwise than they really were. Each -reader must judge for himself in the light of all that we know -of Abraham Lincoln how much or how little of this story is -to be accepted as literal fact. The present writer cannot -say that he is convinced by the story.</p> - - -<p><i>Was Abraham Lincoln a Freemason?</i></p> - -<p>In an address delivered before Harmony Lodge, in Washington, -D. C., on January 28, 1914, Dr. L. D. Carman delivered -an address, which has since been printed, entitled "Abra<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>ham -Lincoln, Freemason." In this address it was set forth -that "It was not an unusual practice in the early days of -Masonry in this country in sparsely settled localities, remote -from an active lodge, for several members of the fraternity -to get together, form an emergent or occasional lodge, and -make Masons." Abraham Lincoln was presumed to have -been made such a Mason because of utterances of his, quoted -at length, which appeared to show familiarity with Masonic -usage.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> - -<p>Those utterances, when examined, carry no such presumption, -nor was there any occasion for such an emergent lodge. -A lodge existed at Petersburg, near New Salem, and a number -of Lincoln's friends belonged to it; their names are on record. -The records of the Springfield Lodge, also, are preserved, -and bear no mention of his name; nor is there any evidence -so far as the present author knows that on any occasion he -was ever in a Masonic Lodge. Orators may use the symbolic -language of architecture without knowledge of speculative -Masonry, and Lincoln used it so.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2></div> - -<p class="c">WHY DID LINCOLN NEVER JOIN THE CHURCH?</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Thomas Lewis</span>, attorney in Springfield with an office on -the same floor and an elder in the First Presbyterian Church, -informs us that there was some real expectation that Lincoln -would have united with that church in Springfield after his -views had been modified through the influence of Dr. Smith. -He says that Lincoln attended with considerable regularity -a series of revival meetings in progress in the church, but -was out of town when application was made for church membership -and the officers of the church were disappointed that -he did not then unite.</p> - -<p>Rev. Dr. Phineas D. Gurley, of Washington, tells of conversations -with Lincoln concerning religion and of some -expressed desires on the part of Lincoln for church fellowship. -His feeling of support in prayer was manifest in his -coming to the mid-week prayer service, where, however, as -Dr. Gurley affirms, he commonly sat in the pastor's room with -an open door, hearing the prayers that were offered but preferring -not to attract attention by his visible presence.</p> - -<p>The best statement, and one that has been accepted as -truly representative of Lincoln's feeling with regard to church -membership, is one that comes to us on thoroughly good -authority and from the period immediately following Lincoln's -death.</p> - -<p>Hon. Henry C. Deming, member of Congress from -Connecticut, in a memorial address given before the Legislature -of Connecticut, June 8, 1865, related that he had asked -Mr. Lincoln why he never united with a church, and Mr. -Lincoln answered:</p> - -<p>"I have never united myself to any church, because I -have found difficulty in giving my assent, without mental -reservation, to the long, complicated statements of Christian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> -doctrine which characterize their articles of belief and confessions -of faith. When any church will inscribe over its -altars, as its sole qualification for membership, the Saviour's -condensed statement of the substance of both law and gospel, -'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and -with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor -as thyself,' that church will I join with all my heart and all -my soul" (p. 42).</p> - -<p>To his Washington pastor, Rev. Phineas D. Gurley, he -said that he could not accept, perhaps, all the doctrines of his -Confession of Faith, "but," said he, "if all that I am asked -to respond to is what our Lord said were the two great commandments, -to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and -mind and soul and strength, and my neighbor as myself, why, -I aim to do that."</p> - -<p>Mr. Henry B. Rankin, who wrote his <i>Reminiscences</i> in -1916, states that he was a boy in Lincoln's office and his -parents knew Lincoln intimately during his years of struggle -in New Salem. Mr. Rankin's recollection of a conversation -which Lincoln had with Mr. Rankin's mother indicates that -Lincoln had some such feeling as far back as his New Salem -days. The Rankin family were warm friends of Peter -Cartwright, whom they called Uncle Peter, and also of Mr. -Lincoln. Mrs. Rankin asked him concerning the rumor that -he was an infidel, and Lincoln denied it; but being pressed to -explain why he did not then confess his Christian faith, he -gave to her much the answer which in later years he gave -to Mr. Deming and to Dr. Gurley (<i>Reminiscences of Lincoln</i>, -pp. 324-26).</p> - -<p>I think, then, we are compelled to accept this threefold -testimony as establishing beyond any reasonable doubt the -answer that Lincoln himself gave to the question, why he did -not unite with the Church. It is a great pity that he was -not brought into contact with some form of organized Christianity, -orthodox and constructive in its essential teachings, -but with conditions of church membership as broad as those -of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Churches have -learned a little better than they understood in 1846 that a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> -church creed should be a testimony and not a test; that it is -entirely consistent with the organization and ideal of a thoroughly -orthodox church to receive into its membership any -and every person who loves God and his fellow-man even -though he doubts thirty-eight of the thirty-nine articles of -the creed and is more or less uncertain about the other one.</p> - -<p>But we cannot consider the question of Lincoln's possible -church membership and his failure to acquire it without -asking whether the fault was wholly that of the churches. -Other men beside Abraham Lincoln were more liberal than -the churches, including old Mentor Graham, but were able -to find a home there; though Graham was ultimately turned -out of the so-called "hardshell" church for his warm advocacy -of the principles of temperance. Some share of the -responsibility for his failure to unite with the Church must -belong to Lincoln himself.</p> - -<p>It is a hazardous thing to suggest any element short of -perfection in the life or thought of any popular hero. Nevertheless -let us remind ourselves that Lincoln had the defects of -his qualities.</p> - -<p>Lincoln lacked some of the finer feelings. He combined -a deep personal sympathy for anything which he could visualize -with a rather strange mental obtuseness toward things remote -or abstract. Darwin, who was born in the same year, had -an early love of poetry and music. How these tastes became -atrophied in his concentration of thought upon matters relating -to the natural sciences was confessed and mourned by -him, and has often been commented upon by others. The -time came to him when music and poetry gave him physical -nausea. Lincoln never had an appreciation or love of anything -very fine either in poetry or music. At a time when he -was being considered for President he could sit in a stage -coach playing "Yankee Doodle" on the mouth-organ<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> and -playing it badly, but he had no fine musical or poetic taste.</p> - -<p>Not long before his assassination his sister-in-law, Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> -Edwards, visited at the White House, and he accompanied -her one evening to the conservatory. She greatly admired -the rare exotics which she there beheld for the first time, and -Lincoln vainly strove to share her enthusiasm but confessed -to her that something had been left out of his nature. Such -things seemed to make no appeal to him.</p> - -<p>Of Lincoln's lack in matters involving the finer feelings -we have abundant testimony not only in the pages of Lamon -and Herndon, but in other intimate sketches of his life in -Illinois, as, for example, in Whitney's <i>With Lincoln on the Circuit</i>,<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> -and especially in his article in the <i>Arena</i> in April, 1898. -There were aspects of religion which did not make as strong -an appeal to Abraham Lincoln as they would have made but -for this blind spot in his nature.</p> - -<p>It is not the purpose of this book to go in any detail into -Mr. Lincoln's love affairs; but if any further illustration were -desired of this point of which we are speaking, it could be -found very painfully in his relations with Miss Owens, and -his letter to Mrs. Browning.</p> - -<p>Reference has been made to a certain lack of good taste -which Lincoln sometimes manifested, and of which the reminiscences -of Lamon, Herndon, Whitney, and others of his associates -have given us sufficient example. But it was not always -so with Lincoln. There was in him an innate courtesy, an -intuitive sympathy, an ability to adapt himself to another's -point of view, which gave him the essential quality of a -gentleman. Fred Douglass said of him that Mr. Lincoln was -the only white man with whom he ever talked for an hour who -did not in some way remind him that he was a negro. That -same fine feeling showed itself in many ways.</p> - -<p>It should be remembered, too, when his uncouthness of -apparel is recalled, that while he was always a careless man in -his dress, the period in which he lived was one in which people -of the regions where he formed his lifelong habits were not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> -given to fastidious dress. He dressed much as other men -dressed. The shawl which he wore was such a shawl as the -author's father wore; such as many men wore. It was a mark -of good breeding rather than the reverse, and some men wore -the shawl very effectively for purposes of display. The author -himself has often carried with him in long rides in the southern -mountains what was called a "saddle-shawl" not unlike that -of Lincoln; and he now owns such a shawl, bequeathed to him -by one of Lincoln's contemporaries, and of the same color and -approximately the same size that Lincoln used.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Jane Martin Johns of Decatur, died recently at the -age of ninety-two. Her mind was clear and her memory precise. -She has left this, among other memories of Lincoln, as -a reminder that he was a gentleman, and that at times he -showed the finest discrimination and good taste:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"When I first knew Mr. Lincoln, he was forty years old; -had been a member of the state legislature and of congress; -had traveled the circuit with men of culture and refinement; -had met great statesmen and elegant gentlemen; and the ungainliness -of the pioneer, if he ever had it, had worn off and -his manner was that of a gentleman of the old school, unaffected, -unostentatious, who arose at once when a lady entered -the room, and whose courtly manners would put to shame the -easy-going indifference to etiquette which marks the twentieth -century gentleman.</p> - -<p>"His dress, like his manner, was suited to the occasion, -but was evidently a subject to which he gave little thought. -It was certainly unmarked by any notable peculiarity. It was -the fashion of the day for men to wear large shawls and Mr. -Lincoln's shawl, very large, very soft, and very fine, is the -only article of his dress that has left the faintest impression on -my memory. He wore it folded lengthwise (three and one-half -yards long) in scarf fashion over his shoulders, caught -together under the chin with an immense safety-pin. One end -of the shawl was thrown across his breast and over the -shoulder, as he walked up the steps of the Macon House one -day in December, 1849.</p> - -<p>"Court was in session in Decatur, Judge David Davis presiding. -The hotel, where I was living temporarily, was kept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> -by David Krone and his good lady, whose popularity extended -over the fourteen counties of the Eighth Judicial District.</p> - -<p>"Court week was always anticipated with great interest by -the people of the county seat. It was customary for the entire -bar of the district to follow the court from county to county, -every man either seeking new business, or as counsel in cases -already on the docket. The date of their arrival at any particular -county seat could not be definitely fixed, as the judge -held court at his pleasure, usually trying to finish all the business -ahead before he migrated to the next station.</p> - -<p>"He was followed by a curious crowd. Lawyers, clients, -witnesses, itinerant peddlers, showmen, and gamblers filled the -towns to overflowing. It was no unusual thing for men who -had no business in the court, to follow from town to town -merely seeking entertainment. Social events of any moment -were wont to be arranged for court week, as the harvest time -when strangers could be taken in. Taverns were crowded and -the hospitality of the people was taxed to the utmost limit.</p> - -<p>"To the men of the town, who always crowded the court -house, the examination of witnesses and the speeches of the -lawyers furnished an intellectual treat, for there were giants -at that bar. There was David Davis, the companionable judge, -who knew the law and who loved a laugh. And there were -Stephen Logan the scholarly, and Stuart the shrewd and -kindly, Swett the clever, and Browning the handsome, and -Lamon the amusing, and Weldon and Gridley and Parks and -Harmon and Ficklin and Linder and Whitney and Oliver L. -Davis, and the best beloved Abraham Lincoln. Some of them -traveled to only two or three counties, but Judge Davis, Mr. -Lincoln and Leonard Swett went the whole circuit; Davis -because he had to, Lincoln because he loved it, and Swett -because he loved their company.</p> - -<p>"The Macon House was an oasis in the wilderness of -miserable inns at which they were usually compelled to 'put -in.' In Decatur they found clean beds, good bread and an -abundance of the good things of the season, administered by a -genial landlady who greeted them all as friends.</p> - -<p>"It was in court week that my piano, after a long journey -by steamer down the Ohio and up the Wabash to Crawfordsville, -Ind., and thence by wagon, arrived in Decatur. The -wagon was backed up to the steps at the front door of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> -Macon House and the question of how to unload it and get -it into the house was a puzzling one. Not a man except the -landlord was to be found, but he soon solved the problem. -"Court will soon adjourn and there will be plenty of men," -and almost as he spoke the crowd began to appear. They -gathered curiously around the wagon that blocked the entrance. -Landlord Krone explained:</p> - -<p>"'There is a piano in that box that this woman here wants -someone to help unload. Who will lend a hand?'</p> - -<p>"A tall gentleman stepped forward and, throwing off a -big gray Scotch shawl, exclaimed, 'Come on, Swett, you are -the next biggest man.'</p> - -<p>"That was my first meeting with Abraham Lincoln.</p> - -<p>"After a few moments' consultation with the driver of -the wagon, Mr. Lincoln went into the basement where Mr. -Krone had a carpenter shop, and returned with two heavy -timbers across his shoulders. With them he established communication -between the wagon and the front door steps. The -piano was unloaded with the assistance of Mr. Linder and -Mr. Swett, amid jokes and jeers galore, most of the jeers -coming from little Judge Logan.</p> - -<p>"Before the legs had been screwed into place, dinner was -announced, and the men hurried to the back porch where two -tin wash basins, a long roller towel and a coarse comb, -fastened to the wall by a long string, afforded toilet accommodations -for all guests. When dinner was served, 'Mother -Krone' placed a roast of beef in front of Dr. Trowbridge to -be carved and exclaimed, 'Men, if you can't get your teeth -through this beef you will have to fall back on the sausage. -I agreed to try roasting it without parboiling it, and I am -afraid it will be tougher than it was yesterday, and that was -bad enough.'</p> - -<p>"The beef, however, proved to be tender and juicy and -was highly praised by the guests. I recall this incident because -Mr. Lincoln once reminded me of it, saying that 'that -was the time he learned that roast beef ought not to be boiled.'</p> - -<p>"After dinner, Mr. Lincoln superintended the setting up -of the piano, even to seeing that it stood squarely in the center -of the wall space allotted it, and then received my thanks with -a polite bow and asked: 'Are you expecting to follow the court -and give concerts?' The immense relief expressed on his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> -countenance, when he was assured that he would not be -called upon to repeat the performance was very laughable.</p> - -<p>"'Then may we have one tune before we go?' he asked, -and I played 'Rosin the Bow,' with variations.</p> - -<p>"Someone shouted, 'Come on, boys, the judge will be -waiting,' and after I had assured them that if they desired it, -I would give my 'first and only concert on this circuit' when -they returned to the hotel in the evening, the crowd -dispersed.</p> - -<p>"Here I wish to note that in the crowd that had assembled -to watch the unloading of the piano, the members of -the bar, Mr. Lincoln's friends and equals, always addressed -him as 'Mr. Lincoln,' while to the rabble and hangers-on he -was often 'Abe.'</p> - -<p>"The piano was a 'Gilbert,' made in Boston, and its fame -extended far and wide. It was visited by people from all over -the state, stage coach passengers frequently 'holding the stage' -while they went down to the other tavern (the Harrell House -was the stage office) to see and hear the novel instrument.</p> - -<p>"That evening a notable crowd assembled in the parlor of -the Macon House. Judge Davis, who did not put up with -Landlord Krone but was the guest of Mrs. A. A. Powers, came -in after supper; and practically all of the bar of the Eighth -Judicial District was present at what I suppose we would now -call a recital. I found that Mr. Charles Brown, a wealthy -landowner and stock dealer of McLean County, not only sang -but played a little and I called on him for assistance.</p> - -<p>"The program, as I remember it, will illustrate the style -of music in vogue at that period.</p> - -<p>"For show pieces, I played the 'Battle of Prague' and -the 'Carnival of Venice,' then followed with 'Washington's -March,' 'Come Haste to the Wedding,' and 'Woodup Quick -Step' to convince the audience that I did know a tune or two. -For tragedy, I sang Henry Russel's 'Maniac' and 'The Ship -on Fire,' and then made their blood run cold with the wild -wail of the 'Irish Mother's Lament.' For comic, we sang -'The Widdy McGee' and 'I Won't Be a Nun,' topping off -with 'Old Dan Tucker,' 'Lucy Long,' and 'Jim Crow,' the -crowd joining in the chorus. These were followed by more -serious music. Mr. Brown and Mr. Swett joined me in the -duet 'Moonlight, Music, Love, and Flowers,' 'Rocked in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> -Cradle of the Deep,' 'Pilgrim Fathers,' 'Bonaparte's Grave,' -and 'Kathleen Mavourneen.' Each and all met with -applause.</p> - -<p>"As a finale, I sang 'He Doeth All Things Well,' after -which Mr. Lincoln, in a very grave manner, thanked me for -the evening's entertainment, and said: 'Don't let us spoil that -song by any other music tonight.' Many times afterwards I -sang that song for Mr. Lincoln and for Governor Oglesby, -with whom it was also a favorite."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Another limitation must be found in Lincoln's morbid -cautiousness. Herndon tells us that his very walk gave the -impression of craftiness; that it was not the product of deceit, -but only of a caution so excessive that it became something -more than second nature. He was secretive to a marked -degree. When he seemed to be confidential it was in minor -matters, or matters on which he had already made up his -mind and intended soon to make a public statement. Whatever -may be the true story of his engagement to Mary Todd -and of those stormy and obscure months between "that fatal -first of January, 1840," and the date of their wedding, November -4, 1842, Lincoln's letters to Speed show an excess of -caution that was positively abnormal. That it was a mark of -insanity has been vigorously denied and with much apparent -reason; but if it was not the mark of acute mental aberration, -it was the manifestation of a permanent mental trait. Such a -nature, which debated like Hamlet the question of suicide -and actually printed a brief article which was later cut from -the files of the Springfield paper—probably by Lincoln himself—which -lingered shivering on the brink of matrimony -like the "timorous mortal" of whom Lincoln was taught to -sing, must have hesitated long before coming to such a confident -poise between alternating faith and doubt as that he -could have stood before the altar of a Presbyterian church in -Springfield or in Washington and taken upon him the vows -of church membership.</p> - -<p>Different writers have attempted to account for Lincoln's -failure to affiliate with the church wholly on the basis of his -being greater than the churches. I quote from one of these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> -characteristic addresses, and one that is in many respects -excellent:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Perhaps his religious nature was so broad that it could -not be compassed within the limits of any particular creed or -system of doctrines. Perhaps he saw the soul of truth so -clearly that he could not accept any one of them as a complete -and final revelation of truth. Perhaps he so clearly realized -that all religious creeds and systems have their roots in human -nature that he could look upon the Christian system as the only -deposit of truth committed to the children of men. Perhaps -his conception of Deity was so vast that he could not see all -the Divine attributes manifest in the historic Christ. Perhaps -he felt that some of the doctrines of Christianity, as they were -formulated and preached in his day, would be a hindrance -rather than a help to his religious faith, so clear was his vision -of the things which are unseen and eternal, and so close was -his relation to the Author of his being. Perhaps he felt no -need of a daysman or mediator, because he himself knew the -Lord face to face."—<span class="smcap">Milton R. Scott</span>: <i>Lincoln, Was He an -Inspired Prophet?</i>, pp. 55-57.</p></blockquote> - -<p>There is a measure of truth in this presentation of one side -of the case, but it is not the whole truth. Lincoln did not -possess this supposed clarity of vision of all spiritual truth. -Some things he saw clearly, but his faith and vision had each -of them marked and undeniable limitations.</p> - -<p>In his widely popular and in many respects excellent oration -on Lincoln, Bishop Fowler said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Let us analyze Mr. Lincoln if we are able. This task is -difficult on account of his symmetry. He was so much like a -sphere that he projected farthest in every direction. His comprehension -is to us impossible on account of his immensity, for -a man can be comprehended only by his peers" (p. 28).</p></blockquote> - -<p>He found the same difficulty in estimating Grant. "It is -difficult to analyze General Grant, because he is so simple and -complete. Like Lincoln, he is like a sphere; approached from -any side he seems to project farthest toward you. Try to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> -divide, and each section is like all the rest. Cut him through, -and he is all the way through alike" (p. 127).</p> - -<p>I do not think that this is correct concerning Grant, and it -certainly is not true concerning Lincoln. He was not a sphere; -he was angular or he was nothing.<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> In endeavoring to assess -his religious convictions, we are liable to encounter contradictions. -But there is a certain inconsistent consistency in -those contradictions. There are certain kinds of contradictions -which we do not encounter, and certain which, encountering, -may be interpreted in the light of certain underlying agreements.</p> - -<p>For instance, the Calvinism which he inherited and heard -through his childhood and which he accepted in a kind of semi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>-fatalistic -philosophy might seem the reverse of scientific. But -the natural science which Lincoln learned from <i>Vestiges of -Creation</i>, while it would have been repudiated by every Baptist -preacher whom Lincoln ever heard in his youth, was capable -of being grafted upon that very root.</p> - -<p>I suggest one more limitation in the character of Abraham -Lincoln, which had its possible relation to his hypothetical -church membership. He was possessed in marked degree of -the obstinacy of irresolution. That genial good-nature of his -had behind it stubbornness, irony, and a sullen but mighty -temper which rarely broke the bounds of self-control, but -sometimes manifested itself on very slight provocation. Just -when men thought they had discovered in Abraham Lincoln a -nose of wax which they could shape to their own liking, they -encountered in him a wholly unexpected element of passive -inertia and of active obstinacy. When he did not know what -to do, he would not do anything. It was this quality in him -which enabled him to rule a rampant Cabinet and which justified -the qualities set forth in such books as Major Putnam's -<i>Abraham Lincoln the Leader</i>, Richard Watson Gilder's <i>Lincoln -the Leader</i>, and Alonzo Rothschild's <i>Lincoln, Master of -Men</i>. It was this which enabled Herndon to write of him: -"I know Abraham Lincoln better than he knows himself.... -You and I must keep the people right; God will keep -Lincoln right."</p> - -<p>Those do greatly err who see in Lincoln only genial good -humor and teachableness; there was a point at which his good -humor became withering scorn or towering passion and his -gentle and tractable disposition became adamantine inertia. -His successor, Andrew Johnson, quoted as characterizing himself -the lines from Sir Walter Scott:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0"><i>Come one, come all; this rock shall fly</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>From its firm base as soon as I.</i>"</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Lincoln might with much more appropriateness have -quoted it of himself.</p> - -<p>Mary Todd Lincoln united with the First Presbyterian -Church of Springfield on April 13, 1852, upon profession of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> -her faith. The church records contain no record of her dismissal, -but only the word "Deceased" without a date. She -remained a member until her death, though, after her return -to Springfield in an unhappy state of mind, she was not a very -active one. The only other Lincoln record on the books of -this church is the baptism of Thomas Lincoln—"Tad," "son -of Abraham and Mary"—on April 4, 1855. The records of -the financial secretary, not very complete, show Abraham Lincoln -to have been a pew-holder from 1852 to 1861, and he -departed for Washington with his pew rent paid to the date of -his departure. This is all that is to be learned from the church -records in Springfield.</p> - -<p>Mary Todd Lincoln was a member in good and regular -standing of the Episcopal Church when she united with the -Presbyterian, but she united on profession of her faith. She -affirmed that she did not believe that she had ever previously -been converted. This statement is one of several indications -that she, and with her her husband, came into a new religious -experience after the death of Willie in Washington, as earlier -he had been profoundly impressed after the death of Eddie -in Springfield.</p> - -<p>We learn through sources outside the records, but wholly -credible sources, that her uniting with the Presbyterian Church -was preceded by a revival in the church, and she and her husband -attended the revival meetings regularly. Not only so, but -many of Lincoln's associates, including Major Stuart and other -influential men of Springfield, were present almost every night -and were deeply interested. The letter of Thomas Lewis, -already cited, refers to the general expectation that Lincoln -would have united with the church with his wife. A similar -and wholly independent report comes to us<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> from Lincoln's -associates outside the church. They, also, expected him to go -in with his wife. But Lincoln was not fully persuaded. The -logic of Dr. Smith demolished all the arguments of the infidels -and did it over again:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0"><i>"And thrice he vanquished all his foes,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>And thrice he slew the slain.</i>"</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>But doubts, though logically answered, still rose in Lincoln's -mind. On the other hand, and more important, Lincoln did -not find himself able to accept the rigid Calvinism of the -Presbyterian Church of that day. The evangelist made strong -appeals, and Lincoln was not unmoved. But he said to his -friends that "he couldn't quite see it."</p> - -<p>Lincoln was a man of mighty courage when his convictions -were assured. But he was also a man of more than normal -caution. He could meet an issue which he was fully convinced -was right with all needful heroism. But he was capable of -evading an issue about which he was uncertain.</p> - -<p>We know what Lincoln did just after his State Fair speech -in Springfield on October 3, 1854. He was roused "as never -before," to quote his own words, by the repeal of the Missouri -Compromise, and he came out in a four hours' speech following -Douglas, and committed himself unqualifiedly to the anti-Nebraska -program. The Abolitionists were overjoyed, and -Lovejoy wanted him to address that body that very night. -Lincoln was in a quandary. To offend the Abolitionists meant -political death, for they were now strong and growing -stronger; but, on the other hand, to become an Abolitionist -meant political death also at that stage of the fight. Herndon, -who was himself an Abolitionist, and not much given to compromise, -fully realized that Lincoln was in grave political -danger.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> With Herndon's approval, Lincoln took Bob in his -buggy and drove off out into the country till the crisis was -over.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> - -<p>We know something also, though probably not the whole -truth, about Lincoln's wavering indecision with respect to his -marriage to Mary Todd. Whether he ran away from his own -wedding, as he ran away from the offer of the leadership of -the Abolition movement, and if so, whether he was sane or -insane at the time, are questions which I prefer not, at this -time, to undertake to answer. But that incident may be cited -as another reminder that Lincoln had times of great mental -uncertainty, and that at such times he sometimes did unexpected -things.</p> - -<p>It is my firm conviction that, after the death of Eddie, -Lincoln was profoundly stirred in his own spiritual life; that -the arguments of Dr. Smith went far toward answering the -arguments of Paine, Volney, and his freethinking friends; that -bereavement and spiritual comfort had done their work of -grace; that the desire for a home more truly united in its -religious relations and spiritual sympathies made a strong appeal -to him; and that the atmosphere of the revival seemed to -make it easy and natural for him to enter the church with -Mrs. Lincoln. But, though a Calvinist in his early training, he -was not ready to accept Calvinism as a complete and articulated -system as presented in the Westminster Confession and -in the preaching of Dr. Smith.</p> - -<p>He wavered. Whether he left town to avoid pressure to -attend the meeting of the Session at which his wife made her -application for church membership, we do not know. It is not -improbable. Certainly if his absence had been unavoidable -he could have joined at the next opportunity. I think that he -did not join because he was still in some measure of intellectual -uncertainty with reference to doctrinal matters. I am only -sorry that someone did not tell him that these were no sufficient -reasons for his declining to unite with the church.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> - -<p>It would be possible to carry this study further, but it is -not necessary. An explanation of Lincoln's failure to unite -with a Christian church in that time of bitter sectarianism -when to have joined one church would have made him a target -for criticism from others and when his mind was intent rather -upon the application of his Christian principles than the proclamation -of his religious opinions, is partly to be attributed to -the faults of the churches; but a portion of the explanation -is to be found also in qualities inherent in the life of Abraham -Lincoln.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE CONSTRUCTIVE ARGUMENT</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">We</span> are ready now to undertake the difficult task of determining -with some approach to certainty the essential content -and character of Abraham Lincoln's religious belief.</p> - -<p>We must not be surprised if we find ourselves unable to -construct a perfectly symmetrical and consistent confession of -faith. The material is much more abundant and explicit and -much better attested in some departments than in others. Not -only so, but we must never forget the mighty elements of contradiction -in Lincoln's personality.</p> - -<p>Mediocre men have this in their favor, that it is relatively -easy to classify them. Not only may they be readily assigned -to their several occupations, and conveniently pigeon-holed as -butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers, but it is a comparatively -simple task to group them under single adjectives, as -good and bad, black and white, tall and short, fat and lean, -old and young, intelligent and stupid. The process is less easy -with really great men. There is always an admirable element -of human inconsistency in men of large mold which would be -intolerable in lesser personalities. It has been truly said that -no man becomes really great and influential who is not a good -subject for caricature. The sublime is own sister to the ridiculous. -Genius is next akin to insanity. The men who do really -great things are a perpetual puzzle to those who possess only -commonplace standards of classification. A commonplace villain -is a villain, first, last, and all the time; but a villain like -Milton's Satan, Napoleon, or the late German Kaiser is so -great a villain as to be half a hero. The two hundred seventy-six -dripping men who struggled through the surf at Malta one -stormy morning rather more than eighteen hundred years ago -and gathered shivering round the fire, were quickly classified,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> -for the most part, into four convenient companies, of sailors, -soldiers, passengers, and prisoners; but when one of them -shook off a viper into the fire and showed no sign of hurt, it -was quite certain that he was either a murderer or a god. -Opinions might differ and did differ as to which of the two -extremes might properly be claimed for him, but no one proposed -to find a place for him in middle ground.</p> - -<p>The strength of great men lies in their possession and their -counterpoise of opposing qualities. Over against the monotonous -uniformity, the stupid consistency, of those common -people whom Lincoln said God must love because He made -so many of them, this quality displays itself as a peculiar possession -of genius. Now and then it is given to a great man -sufficiently so to subordinate the inconsistencies without which -real greatness could not exist as to incarnate some outstanding -principle of which he becomes the exponent. Abraham Lincoln -did this; and the world, or that small part of the world which -can lay claim to any considerable measure of moral discernment, -has redefined its conception of certain high qualities, its -measure of the moral significance of certain notable achievements, -in terms of his personality. This process is highly -desirable as well as inevitable; but the elements of inconsistency -are not thereby removed from the character itself. -Of him we might say:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"<i>His life was gentle, and the elements</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>And say to all the world: This was a man!</i>"</span><br /> -<span class="i10">—<i>Julius Caesar, V, 5.</i></span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It has often been affirmed that "'Lincoln knew his Bible -better than any minister," and large claims have been made concerning -his use of it in public addresses. Mr. Lincoln did -know and use the Bible, and his style is saturated with it; but it -would be easy to exaggerate both his knowledge and use of it.</p> - -<p>Prof. Daniel Kilham Dodge of the University of Illinois -examined twenty-five of Lincoln's extended and carefully prepared -addresses with this result:<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> - -<p>In five speeches from 1839 to 1852 he found six Biblical -quotations, of which four were in his temperance address.</p> - -<p>In his reply to Douglas in 1852 there were two Biblical -quotations, both from the Old Testament.</p> - -<p>In 1856 he found one, and that most notable of all—the -"house divided against itself."</p> - -<p>In his "lost speech" at Bloomington, as recorded by Whitney, -there were six Biblical quotations, four from the Old -Testament and two from the New—the largest number in any -single speech.</p> - -<p>In his ten speeches in the Lincoln and Douglas debates -there were two Biblical references, besides a number of allusions -to the "house divided against itself."</p> - -<p>There were no Biblical quotations in the Cooper Union -address or in the First Inaugural or in the Gettysburg address; -none in the two messages to Congress in 1861.</p> - -<p>His Second Inaugural was itself a kind of leaf out of the -books of the prophets.</p> - -<p>In the whole of the twenty-five speeches, there were found -twenty-two Biblical references, eight in the Old Testament and -fourteen in the New. This notwithstanding the impression of -many who knew him that Lincoln preferred the Old Testament -to the New, as recorded by Noah Brooks.</p> - -<p>But this rather meager use of direct quotations and allusions -need not disappoint us. Nor does it militate against -the essentially Biblical substratum of his style. When we -come to the study of Lincoln's literary and oratorical method, -we find more striking contradictions and evolutions than we -have here. Lincoln's oratory was not of the same style at -all periods of his career, nor were his methods uniform at -any one period.</p> - -<p>He was a ready stump-speaker, yet he became so cautious -while in the White House that he was timid about responding -even to a serenade without having first written out his address, -and on occasion could appear rude in declining to utter even a -simple word of greeting and appreciation, as on the night -before his address in Gettysburg, when he was very abrupt to -the company that serenaded him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> - -<p>He had been accustomed to large use of gesture, swinging -his great arms, and sometimes, even in the Douglas debates, -bending his knees till they almost touched the platform, and -then rising suddenly almost with a whoop, but he became very -quiet and self-restrained in his oratory.</p> - -<p>He is alleged to have loved Burns more than any other poet, -yet his speeches have been searched in vain for a single quotation -from Burns. It is said that next to Burns he loved -Byron, and he is not known ever to have quoted Byron in any -speech or paper. It is said that his favorite Shakspeare play -was <i>Richard III.</i>, but his Shakspeare quotations are from -<i>Hamlet</i>, <i>Lear</i>, <i>Macbeth</i>, the <i>Merchant of Venice</i>; and there is -one allusion to Falstaff.</p> - -<p>Besides Shakspeare, whom he quoted next to the Bible, -his literary allusions are to T. H. Bayley, Dickens, Robert -Herrick, Pope and Scott, and they are not numerous. The -total number of his quotations, as listed by Professor Dodge, -including Shakspeare, but not including the Bible, is thirty.</p> - -<p>What is more surprising, Lincoln was known as a great -story teller. But his addresses contain hardly a single anecdote. -He told stories in jury trials and to illustrate points in -conversation, but he rarely told them in his addresses.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> - -<p>No man who knew Lincoln intimately studied him so long, -so industriously, or, in spite of many limitations, so appreciatively, -as William H. Herndon. He was a profound believer -in the mental and spiritual evolution of Lincoln.</p> - -<p>In 1887, while Herndon, after many years of interruption, -began again the preparation of his <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, he had an -extended correspondence, partly from Springfield, and partly -from Greencastle, Indiana, where Mr. Jesse W. Weik was at -work with him on his book, and with a Boston sculptor, Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> -Truman H. Bartlett, who was planning a statue of Lincoln. -Herndon's letters went more and more into detail as the correspondence -proceeded, and he gave in some respects the very -best affirmation of the development of Lincoln on the higher -side of his nature that Herndon wrote at any time.</p> - -<p>Herndon seemed to have some apprehension that a study -of photographs and life-masks and other evidences of the -physical appearance of Lincoln would not reveal the man himself. -He said that a person studying his physical nature would -say "that his physical nature was low, coarse, and not high -and fine." Before he sent this letter he re-read it, and inserted -the word "comparatively" before "low." Mr. Bartlett asked -him further about this, and Herndon went into detail as to -Lincoln's body. "His blood ran slowly. He was of a low or -slow mechanical power, within him. I did not intend to say -that Lincoln's organization was a low, animal organization. -What I meant to say was that it was a slow-working machine. -Lincoln's flesh was coarse, pimply, dry, hard, harsh; color -of his flesh saffron brown; no blood seemingly in it; flesh -wrinkled."</p> - -<p>Mr. Bartlett apparently inquired whether the abnormal -qualities of frontier life produced these effects, and whether -Herndon had known other men of the Lincoln type. Apparently -he alluded to the presence of malaria and the large -use of pork in frontier diet.</p> - -<p>Herndon did not accept the pork and malaria theories. He -said that all such theories must give way to facts, and he dealt -with facts. The men of the frontier had the best meat in -the world, "venison, bear, turkey, and of course some hog."</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"You ask me if I ever saw in this great wild west many -men of Lincoln's type, and to which I answer, Yes. The first -settlers of central and southern Illinois were men of that type. -They came from the limestone regions of Virginia, Kentucky, -and Tennessee, and were men of giant strength, physical force, -and by nature mentally strong. They were original, were individualists. -The strong alone from 1818 to 1830 could get -here, and the strong alone could survive here.... No one -was like Lincoln, and yet many were of his type.... He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> -was, as you say, 'a man of extraordinary contrasts.' You -would not look for a well-rounded man in such a description."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Lincoln was, then, as Herndon saw him, and as the world -must see him, a legitimate product of his environment. Herndon -had read Buckle and Spencer and Darwin, and was a -thoroughgoing believer in evolution, as was Lincoln, from a -far narrower reading, but a very thoughtful study of <i>Vestiges -of Creation</i>.</p> - -<p>Physically, Lincoln was akin to the strong pioneers of -early Illinois, and it was not difficult to find each several trait -of Lincoln reduplicated in many of them. But Lincoln himself -was never duplicated. He was a product of his environment, -but he was also an evolution which in terms of an individual -personality went beyond environment, and was still going forward -when death came to him.</p> - -<p>This evolution of Lincoln, the spiritual Lincoln, as portrayed -in these letters to a sculptor, who must not be permitted -to forget, if he was in danger of forgetting, that the real man -Lincoln had in him more than his bodily measurements could -portray, is one of the most suggestive studies disclosed by -Herndon, and it is sound, both as approached from the standpoint -of science, and as considered in the personal study of -Lincoln in his growth from year to year.</p> - -<p>Like St. Paul, Lincoln had a warfare in his members. He -was an embodiment of forces mutually antagonistic. He -would not have been the man he was had either of them been -lacking, and the growth of either at the total expense of the -other would have given us a man abnormal, which Mr. Lincoln -came perilously near to being. But his real development was -mental and spiritual.</p> - -<p>In another place St. Paul says that "The first man is of -the earth, earthy, and the second man is from heaven." It -has been assumed without due warrant that what he had in -mind was a contrast between Adam and Christ, and this view -is strengthened by the intrusion of the words "the Lord" in -the authorized English text. But it is quite possible that St. -Paul, even if Adam and Christ were a part of his contrast,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> -had really in mind the evolution of any man's life; he being -himself in his bodily nature the first man and in the birth and -growth of his higher nature the second and contrasting man. -"First is that which is natural, and after, that which is -spiritual."</p> - -<p>This was Herndon's thought of Lincoln, as disclosed in -these letters,<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> and it is true of Lincoln. Lincoln was more -than an embodiment of contrasts; the solar system is that, and -it is more. In the solar system the opposing forces do not -neutralize each other, but together hold the earth and planets -in their orbits. So it was with Lincoln. But with him the -higher and nobler forces became increasingly dominant.</p> - -<p>Herndon resented it when anyone said that Lincoln had -died at the right time. He believed that, great as Lincoln was, -his nobler qualities had not yet come to their full maturity, -and that a longer-lived Lincoln would have been an even -nobler Lincoln. Here are some of the things he says of him -in these letters:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I said to you once that Mr. Lincoln had not arrived at -maturity in 1865, and I say so now. His blood ran slowly—had -low or slow circulation and consequently a slow build-up. -As he had a slow build-up, so he had a slow development; he -grew up like the forest oak, tough, solid, knotty, gnarled, -standing out with power against the storm, and almost defying -the lightning. Hence I conclude that he had not arrived at his -highest development in 1865.... The convolutions of his -brain were long; they did not snap off quickly like a short, -thick man's brain.... The enduring power of Mr. Lincoln's -thought and brain was wonderful. He could sit and -think without food or rest longer than any man I ever saw."</p></blockquote> - -<p>He goes into detail concerning Mr. Lincoln's bodily -lethargy and its effect on body and mind, the sluggishness of -all his functions, and affirms that this must be taken into account -in any right estimate of the man; but that steadily, and -the more surely because slowly, his mind and soul developed -and became more and more dominant.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"His flesh looked dry and leathery, tough and everlasting; -his eyes were small and gray; head small and forehead receding; -but when this great man was moved by some great and -good feeling, by some idea of Liberty, or Justice, or Right, -then he seemed an inspired man. It was just then that Lincoln's -nature was beautiful, and in complete harmony with -the laws of the Great Eternal. I have seen him in this inspired -condition, and thought he was molded in the Spirit's -best mold. Lincoln was a great man, a good man, and a pure -man; and beneath his rough bodily exterior, Nature wove her -fine network of nerve.... Lincoln was a gloomy man at -one moment and a joyous man the next; he was conscious -that a terrible fate awaited him. He said to me, 'I cannot help -but believe that I shall meet with some terrible end.' This idea -seized him and made him gloomy. At times his better nature -would get the mastery of him, and he would be happy till the -shadow of his fate flitted before him. In philosophy Lincoln -was a fatalist.... In my poor opinion, Lincoln had not -arrived, when he was assassinated, at the meridian of his intellectual -power.... Were you to read his early speeches -thoroughly you would see his then coarse nature. He gradually -rose up, more spiritualistic. This is one of the reasons -why I say that Lincoln was not fully developed in mind at the -last. When a great Boston man said, 'Lincoln died at the -right time,' he did not know what he was talking about."</p></blockquote> - -<p>In these and like paragraphs Herndon testified to the -mental and spiritual evolution of Lincoln; and he was probably -correct when he opined that that evolution was still in -process, and that Lincoln was, up to the very hour of his -death, a growing man in all that meant most to America and -the world.</p> - -<p>The religion of Abraham Lincoln was part and parcel of -his life; and his life was an evolution whose successive stages -can be measured with reasonable certainty. Not only did his -religious convictions develop and broaden under the stimuli of -Lincoln's constantly broadening intellectual and spiritual environment, -but they broadened in the growth of his own -personality.</p> - -<p>There was an evolution in his apprehension of the ethical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> -implications of public office. The Lincoln who re-entered -politics after the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was a -changed man from the Lincoln who, with the other members -of the "Long Nine," earned by political log-rolling the severe -but not wholly unmerited name applied to them by one of -Illinois' best governors, "spared monuments of popular -wrath." That Lincoln did not in this earlier period commit -any personally dishonorable act is not an argument against -the theory here advocated. He had, in his later political career, -a far higher ideal of political honor, a greatly nobler conception -of the dignity of public office—which he always sought—as a -field of popular service. His political career was an evolution, -and it developed nobler characteristics than that which characterized -his earlier political life.</p> - -<p>Lincoln's emancipation policy was an evolution. The successive -stages of that policy were worthily set forth by Paul -Selby in an address before the Historical Society of Chicago.<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> -There never was a time when Abraham Lincoln did not believe -slavery to be wrong, but there was a time when he was not an -Abolitionist. The moral aspect of the slavery question grew -in his mind and conscience till he promised his God to free -the slaves.</p> - -<p>On Sunday evening, September 7, 1862, a public meeting -was held in Bryan Hall, Chicago, to urge upon the President -the desire of Christian people that he should free the slaves. -A petition was circulated, and was signed by all the Congregational -and nearly all the Methodist and Baptist ministers of -that city, courteously requesting the President to give the -matter his earnest attention. The petition was sent to Washington -by the hand of Rev. William W. Patton and Rev. John -Dempster, who met the President by appointment on Saturday -afternoon, September 13, the interview being arranged by -Hon. Gideon Welles.</p> - -<p>The story of that meeting has often been told in part, with -undue emphasis upon Mr. Lincoln's statement then made that -if God had a message for him on this subject He would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> -more likely to communicate it directly to Mr. Lincoln than to -others for him. The latest book to misuse this incident is one -just from the press in Great Britain, the <i>Short Life of Lincoln</i>, -by Hon. Ralph Shirley, who says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Some of the ministers in this deputation even went so -far as to assure him that they had authority in God's name to -command him to emancipate the slaves."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Inasmuch as there were but two of the ministers, and -neither of them assumed any such authority to speak the mind -of God, such statements ought to cease, especially as the true -story, from which all these accounts are garbled, is available -for inspection in the files of the Maryland Historical Society.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln did say to them that he hoped it would not -appear irreverent in him to say that if God were to reveal -this duty of his to others, it was probable that He would -reveal it also directly to Mr. Lincoln. At the beginning of -the interview he was guarded; but as he found common ground -with his visitors, he threw first one leg and then the other over -the arm of his chair, and talked to them with the utmost freedom, -and asked them concerning the opinion of ministers and -churches, and assured them that he desired to know the will -of God, and whatever seemed to him to be God's will he -would do.</p> - -<p>The next week occurred the battle of Antietam, and on -Saturday, September 20, exactly a week after his interview -with the Chicago ministers, Mr. Lincoln called the Cabinet -together and read to them the Emancipation Proclamation, -which was signed and published on the following Monday. -We know now that Lincoln had promised God that if that -battle resulted in the success of the Union cause he would -issue the proclamation. We also know that the meeting with -the Chicago ministers was very timely, and gave him an added -assurance of moral support from the churches, if not added -confidence in the help of God.</p> - -<p>Some time after, Joseph Medill, editor of the Chicago -<i>Tribune</i>, returning from Washington, said, "Secretary Stan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>ton -told me to say to those Chicago clergymen who waited -on the President about the Proclamation of Emancipation, that -their interview finished the business. After that there was no -manifestation of doubt or talk of delay. Mr. Lincoln's mind -was fully made up."—<i>Proceedings of the Maryland Historical -Society, Baltimore</i>, 1888.</p> - -<p>Lincoln's literary style was an evolution.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> His spread-eagle -stump-speeches, with their florid rhetoric and grandiloquent -figures of speech evolved into the calm, dignified, and -forceful English of his maturer years.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> An able monograph -in which this evolution is traced is cited elsewhere in this -volume.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> That change of style was the outward and visible -sign of an inward and spiritual as well as intellectual grace.</p> - -<p>In like manner Lincoln's religion was an evolution, both in -its intellectual and its spiritual qualities. Up to the time of his -residence in New Salem he had heard only the dogmatic sectarianism -of unlettered preachers, proclaiming a creed which -furnished him certain lifelong tenets but which as a whole he -could not accept. At New Salem he read the negative arguments -which confuted the dogmas he had heard, and perhaps -unwittingly made room for a more intelligent faith.</p> - -<p>He was deeply impressed by the argument of Dr. Smith in -his <i>The Christian's Defence</i>. It was the first time he had -heard the Christian apologetic rationally presented, and it -made a lasting impression upon him without, however, fully -satisfying him. He was, however, a much more religious man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> -when he left Springfield than he was when he came to it, -whether he knew it or not.</p> - -<p>The solemn responsibilities of his office, the daily contemplation -of death as it menaced him and came into the homes -of the people of his country, the profound conviction that God -was working His infinite purpose through the war, and through -the human agency of Lincoln himself, took hold of the deepest -impulses of his nature, and became the controlling forces of -his policy.</p> - -<p>Lincoln was no theologian, but I do not find any authority -for the statement of Mr. Binns that Lincoln said, "the more a -man knew of theology, the farther he got away from the -Spirit of Christ." It is possible, of course, for a man to learn -theology as an intellectual system and to have little religion as -a spiritual experience, and to lose that little in the process of his -logical subtleties: but Lincoln was too just a man to make so -sweeping and unjust an affirmation of something of which he -would certainly have admitted he knew very little.</p> - -<p>The rock-bottom foundation of Abraham Lincoln's -religious faith was the ultra-Calvinism of his boyhood. He -was reared a Predestinarian Baptist; and while he never -became a Baptist he never ceased to be a Predestinarian. To -this he added a strong rationalistic tendency, inherent in his -nature, and strengthened by his study of Paine and Volney. -This also he never wholly outgrew. As a lawyer who was not -well read, pleading before juries that cared little for the letter -of the law, he was accustomed to reduce his cases to simple -principles of elementary justice, and to rest all upon these -principles. This habit of thought and practice he applied also -to his theology. His early recollection of the epitaph of -Johnny Kongapod was nothing less than the application of the -Golden Rule to theology—the assurance of an eternal justice -throned in heaven and intelligible on earth.</p> - -<p>Thus, when he argued in favor of universal salvation he -did it upon the basis of the old Calvinistic theology with which -he had been familiar all his life. If God was, indeed, absolute -sovereign, and as good as He was great, and willed not that -any should perish, then no one could finally perish. Universal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> -salvation became logically and ethically compulsory. The -Christ who tasted death for every man, did so as the necessary -means to the efficiency of a plan of salvation whereby the curse -of the fall was fully offset by the sacrifice of Christ, at the -instance of the sovereign will of God. As in Adam all died, -even so in Christ were all made alive. His theory of universal -salvation was the logical expression of his determinism, influenced -by his rationalism and confirmed by his appeal to a -justice that would not accept a fall more universal than the -atonement of Christ. This was not because Lincoln approached -the theme from the direction of the grace of Christ, -but of the irresistibility of a divine decree. He profoundly -believed himself an instrument of the divine will, believing that -will to be right, and creation's final law.</p> - -<p>If it were asked, where in such a system as his he found a -place for the forgiveness of sins, the answer would be first -that he had no system, and secondly that he found no place -for the doctrine; but it would then be necessary to add that he -found the doctrine, nevertheless. He had no system. He -thought without logical method. But his thinking was in right -lines. He followed simple paths, "blazed" through technicalities -and in quite thorough disregard of them. As his office -desk was in confusion, and he kept a package marked, "When -you don't find it anywhere else, look here," so he had in his -thinking a parcel of unassorted first principles to which he -recurred when he needed them. Forgiveness and law were to -him two unreconciled postulates; but law he had to assume, -even though he denied forgiveness. But if he did not admit -belief in forgiveness, he did believe in mercy, for he himself -was merciful, and he believed that he would be merciful to -God if he were God and God were man. Stanton could argue -him down as to the necessity for shooting a soldier who slept on -duty, but Lincoln injected an intuitive, and from Stanton's -point of view, an unreasonable and a certainly unarticulated, -element of mercy that forbade the killing of this particular -boy.</p> - -<p>His theory of governmental forgiveness was as irreconcilable -with his theory of military discipline as his theory of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> -divine mercy was with his system of inexorable law. He did -not harmonize the contradictions: he was merciful, and let his -system take the consequences, and he believed in a divine -mercy while holding a theory with which the exercise of -mercy was irreconcilable.</p> - -<p>To such a mind as that of Abraham Lincoln, it was not -necessary to prove the fact of immortality. If God possessed -immortality and intended it for man, then God would make -His decree effective in man. Adam's fall could not hopelessly -lose to man what God designed; and, whether he accepted for -himself or not the theory of the fall and of redemption, he -accepted both in meeting an argument which by reason of the -fall could have deprived man of his birthright of immortality. -He believed in the immortality of the soul.</p> - -<p>Did he harmonize that doctrine with the rest of his creed? -Probably not. He was no theologian, in the strict and formal -sense, no logician. He reasoned on the basis of very simple -and elementary principles, whose lines of direction were determined -by the early Calvinistic preaching to which he listened, -the rationalistic method which he learned from Paine, and his -simple sense of justice and right.</p> - -<p>His was not wholly an optimistic faith. He knew that man -was sinful and sad and that "the spirit of mortal" had little -occasion for pride; but he believed in an eternal justice and -an unconquerable goodness, regnant above the perplexities and -contradictions of this life, and triumphant in the life everlasting.</p> - -<p>Abraham Lincoln believed in God. Save in his moments -of deepest gloom when everything turned black, he appears -never seriously to have questioned this fundamental article -of belief. It is not easy to see how he could have done so. -His idea of causation forbade it, and, what was more, his -profound supernaturalism affirmed it as incontrovertible. This -element of supernaturalism went the full length of orthodox -preaching, as Lincoln heard it and accepted it. It was in accord -with the teachings both of the Baptists, whom he heard -in Indiana and rural Illinois, and the Presbyterians, to whom -he listened in Springfield and in Washington. In a great God,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> -a mighty Creator, a Sovereign Ruler, he was taught to believe -by all the forms of Calvinism to which throughout his life he -listened, and it was in full essential accord with his own native -tendency. His supernaturalism was not only ultra-orthodox; -it went the full length of current superstition. The frontiersman -of that day had superstition wrought into him by the vastness -of the wilderness, the solemnity of the immeasurable -forest and plain, and the insignificance of man; the haunting -tales of savagery and witchcraft; the presence in every frontier -community of some person supposed to be possessed of second -sight or other supernatural qualities. The rationalism of his -mature years modified but did not in any degree eradicate his -supernaturalism.</p> - -<p>It must be remembered that Paine and Volney, whose -works he read, were far from being atheists. Thomas Paine, -whatever he denied, believed as strongly as Peter Cartwright -or James Smith in a personal God. So far as we know, -Lincoln was never under any strong influence that might have -made him an atheist, his doubts and questionings were all -within the sphere of an expressed or implicit theism.</p> - -<p>The names by which Lincoln referred to God are many and -suggestive. The following is a partial list:<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> - -<p>Almighty, Almighty Architect, Almighty Arm, Almighty -Father, Almighty God, Almighty Hand, Almighty Power, -Almighty Ruler of Nations, Creator, Disposer, Divine Author, -Divine Being, Divine Majesty, Divine Providence, Divine -Will, Eternal God, Father, Father in Heaven, Father of -Mercies, God, God Almighty, God of Battles, God of Hosts, -God of Nations, Governor, Heavenly Father, Higher Being, -Higher Power, Holy Spirit, Judge, Lord, Maker, Maker of -the Universe, Master, Most High, Most High God, Omniscient -Mind, Power, Providence, Ruler of the Universe, Supreme -Being.</p> - -<p>Lincoln believed in the Bible. I am not sure that he -accepted the whole content of the positive arguments set forth -so cogently by his pastor, Dr. Smith. When he called this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> -argument "unanswerable," it need not imply that his every -doubt was satisfied, his every misgiving reassured. It is entirely -possible that there lingered in his mind some vestiges of -what he had read in writers opposed to the doctrine of the inspiration -of the Scriptures as it was then taught; indeed, that -doctrine in the form in which it was currently stated was not -one by which a modern man's orthodoxy ought to be tested. -But he read the Bible, honored it, quoted it freely, and it became -so much a part of him as visibly and permanently to give -shape to his literary style and to his habits of thought. When -Mrs. Speed presented him an Oxford Bible in 1841, he declared -his intention to read it regularly, believing it to be "the best -cure for the blues"; and he kept and loved and constantly used -his mother's Bible. How he would have defined his theory of -its transmission and of the relation of its divine and human elements -we do not know, and we need not be too curious to -inquire. It is more than possible that Mr. Lincoln never made -this definition in his own mind. His attitude toward the Bible -was a thoroughly practical one. We do not know that he ever -heard Coleridge's pragmatic affirmation, but we have every -reason to believe that he would have accepted it, namely, that -he valued the Bible because "it finds me as no other book."</p> - -<p>Concerning his opinion of Jesus Christ our material for -constructive hypothesis is exceedingly scanty.<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> Herndon says -he does not believe the name of Jesus can be found in any of -Lincoln's authentic writings. I have found it in his writings -but I must confess that I have not found it frequently in any -which I count to be certainly genuine.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> There are, however, -a number of references to Jesus Christ in his writings and published -addresses, and they are both positive and reverent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> - -<p>On July 4, 1864, the colored people of Baltimore presented -him a beautiful copy of the Bible of the usual pulpit -size, bound in violet-colored velvet. The corners were bands -of solid gold and there was a thick plate of gold upon the -cover, bearing this inscription:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"To Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, -the friend of universal freedom. From the loyal colored -people of Baltimore, as a token of respect and gratitude. -Baltimore, July 4, 1864."</p></blockquote> - -<p>In accepting this gift, which was presented in person by a -committee of five, the President said:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"In regard to this great book, I have only to say it is the -best gift which God has ever given man. All the good from -the Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this -book."—<span class="smcap">Carpenter</span>: <i>Six Months in the White House</i>, p. 199; -also <span class="smcap">Nicolay</span> and <span class="smcap">Hay</span>: <i>Works of Lincoln</i>, twelve volume -edition, X, 217-18.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Such references as this show to us the instinctive place -which he accorded Jesus Christ in his own unpremeditated -thinking. This was the best thing he had to say about the -Bible, that through it alone we have knowledge of the Saviour -of the world.</p> - -<p>Herndon tells us that Lincoln ridiculed the doctrine of the -virgin birth of Jesus. If this is true, I am very sorry. But -Abraham Lincoln's faith in Christ did not depend wholly or -even primarily upon his interpretation of the mystery of our -Lord's birth. I approach a discussion of this question with -some hesitation, for it is one which, as related to Lincoln we -do not know very much about, but it is a subject which we are -not free to pass over in silence.</p> - -<p>It is a sad fact that the argument for the divinity of our -Lord Jesus Christ should ever have been based on the mystery -of his birth. Not thus does the New Testament establish the -doctrine of his divinity. The wonderful story of the birth of -Jesus is told in two places only,—in the introduction to the two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> -Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and these are the very two that -contain genealogies tracing his descent through Joseph. The -theory that one of these gives the family tree of Mary is unsupported -by any evidence. So far as we know, Jesus never -referred to the mystery of his birth, or attached any importance -to it. His two brothers, James and Jude, each wrote a book -which we have in the New Testament, and there is no reference -in either of them to this doctrine. Peter preached his -mighty sermons at Pentecost and afterwards, proclaiming the -faith on which the Church was established, and he grounded -his argument for the divinity of Jesus not upon his birth, but -upon his resurrection from the dead. Paul preached the gospel -of Christ throughout the Roman world, and neither in any -recorded sermon nor in any letter did he make any reference -to that dogma. Mark, earliest of the gospels, and for we know -not how long a period the only one, is silent as to the birth of -Jesus; and John, the most definitely spiritual of them all, -begins and concludes his profound philosophy of the person -of Christ without a word concerning the manner of his birth.</p> - -<p>It is, therefore, a wholly unwarranted dogmatism which -grounds the divinity of Jesus in a question of the domestic -relations of Joseph and Mary. Jesus Christ is to be accepted -for what He was and is, not for some opinion as to how He -became what He was.</p> - -<p>We do not know whether Abraham Lincoln ever considered -the question of the birth of Christ in any personal thought he -may have had concerning his own birth. We may not forget, -however, that if Herndon is right, Lincoln lived and died without -knowing all the facts about his own mother which later -research has made certain. The marriage certificate of his -parents was recorded in another county than that in which he -supposed it would have been recorded, and he appears never -to have been certain that he himself was begotten in lawful -wedlock. We know that Nancy Hanks and Thomas Lincoln -were married a year before the birth of their eldest daughter, -who was older than Abraham Lincoln, but he is believed not -to have known that.</p> - -<p>What then? Should a man in 1860 or 1864 refuse to vote<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> -for Abraham Lincoln because he did not feel certain when or -whether his parents were married?</p> - -<p>The man who said, "I believe in Abraham Lincoln," did -not commonly have in mind any question of his parentage, but -believed in his integrity, his patriotism, his moral leadership. -Even so the man who believes in Jesus Christ may believe in -Him without ever asking, much less ever answering, any -dubitable question in metaphysics.</p> - -<p>Scant as are the references to Jesus in the authentic utterances -of Abraham Lincoln, they do not seem to me unimportant. -They testify to a faith that was valid as far as it -went. They manifest a spirit which is fundamentally -Christian.</p> - -<p>Unable to define his own views in terms that would have -been acceptable to those who believed themselves the rightful -guardians of orthodoxy in his day, it is not surprising that -Lincoln was guarded in his references to a dogma which might -have involved him in greater difficulties than he was prepared -to meet. It was true in that day unhappily as it was in the -days of Paul, "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and -strife; and some also of good-will." It is occasion for profound -sorrow that Christ has been so preached as that men -have sometimes found it difficult to confess their faith in Him -without provoking strife and envy.</p> - -<p>That Lincoln was unwilling to make his doubt the occasion -of dogmatic negation is evident from one or more of the -acquaintances of Lincoln, whom Herndon interviewed in an -effort to adduce testimony against his faith, and whom Lamon -quoted in that part of his book in which he made his attack -upon the religion of Lincoln. The following from I. W. Keys, -the man who loaned to him <i>Vestiges of Creation</i>, is interesting -in itself and especially interesting in its relation to the group -of testimonies which these two men assembled:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"In my intercourse with Mr. Lincoln, I learned that he -believed in a Creator of all things, who had neither beginning -nor end, and, possessing all power and wisdom, established a -principle, in obedience to which worlds move, and are upheld, -and animal and vegetable life come into existence. A reason<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> -he gave for his belief was that, in view of the order and harmony -of all nature which we behold, it would have been -created and arranged by some great thinking power. As to -the Christian theory, that Christ is God, or equal to the -Creator, he said that it had better be taken for granted; for, -by the test of reason, we might become infidels on that subject, -for evidence of Christ's divinity came to us in a somewhat -doubtful shape; but that the system of Christianity was an -ingenious one at least, and perhaps was calculated to do good."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>: -<i>Life of Lincoln</i>, p. 490.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Emphatic proof of Mr. Lincoln's faith is to be found in -the positive declaration of the two men who have done most -to destroy the world's confidence in it, Lamon and Herndon. -In Lamon's later book of <i>Reminiscences</i>, he did much to counteract -the harsh and to my mind incorrect impression given in -his earlier book. But even in that book he affirmed that while -Lincoln rejected the New Testament as a book of divine -authority, he accepted its precepts as binding upon him and -was a believer in the supernatural even to credulity (p. 503, -504).</p> - -<p>In that same work Herndon set forth that Lincoln was a -firm believer in God and attempted, as he said, "to put at rest -forever the charge that Mr. Lincoln was an atheist." He declared, -however, that Lincoln did not believe in a special creation, -but in an "evolution under law"; not in special revelation, -"but in miracles under law"; and that "all things both -matter and mind were governed by laws universal, absolute, -and eternal" (p. 494).</p> - -<p>To this Herndon gives even more emphatic testimony in -his own book. It must then be remembered that while in the -loose nomenclature of these authors Mr. Lincoln was an "infidel" -it is these same authors that assure us, as Lamon does, -that "his theological opinions were substantially those expounded -by Theodore Parker."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>: <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, -p. 486.</p> - -<p>The question whether Lincoln's views underwent any substantial -change after leaving Springfield, has been answered -in the negative by John G. Nicolay, his private secretary at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> -the White House; who affirmed that "Mr. Lincoln did not, -to my knowledge, in any way change his religious views, -opinions, or beliefs, from the time he left Springfield to the -day of his death."</p> - -<p>This probably is correct. Mr. Lincoln was not conscious of -any radical change; but Mrs. Lincoln noticed a change in him -after Willie's death, which grew more pronounced after his -visit to Gettysburg, and his own faith, while undergoing no -sudden and radical transformation, manifests a consistent -evolution.</p> - -<p>But we are not sure how much Mr. Nicolay believed Lincoln's -views to have been in need of change. He said in -another place:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Benevolence and forgiveness were the very basis of his -character. His nature was deeply religious, but he belonged to -no denomination; he had faith in the eternal justice and -boundless mercy of Providence, and made the Golden Rule of -Christ his practical creed."—<span class="smcap">John G. Nicolay</span>, in article -"Abraham Lincoln" in <i>Encyclopedia Britannica</i>, ninth edition, -XIV, 662.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Lincoln believed in divine destiny. He could hardly have -believed otherwise. The preaching to which he listened was -such as to make it all but impossible for him to hold any other -views. He believed so strongly that his own life was under -divine guidance that Lamon and Herndon speak of it in a -thinly veiled scorn as though it were in Lincoln's mind a mark -of conscious superiority. Whether it was such a mark or not -does not now concern us. Lincoln believed in divine guidance. -He had faith in prayer and his practice of prayer is attested by -many and credible witnesses. A man of his temperament and -training and sense of responsibility could not well have been -kept from praying. Prayer was a necessary part of his life.</p> - -<p>Lincoln not only had faith in prayer considered as a means -of obtaining results from God; he believed in it as establishing -a relation with God, a covenant relation, such as Abraham of -old established. If such a faith seems inconsistent with any -other elements in the faith or doubt of Abraham Lincoln, then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> -the inconsistency must stand, for he did not hold his views -in entire consistency. In no respect does this faith in the -covenant relation emerge more strongly than in connection -with the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation. Fortunately, -the evidence here is incontestable. The Proclamation -immediately became historic. Lincoln had to autograph many -copies to be sold at sanitary fairs—copies which now sell at -one thousand dollars each. Every incident relating to the -event became of immediate interest; and members of the Cabinet -had to group themselves for Carpenter's historic painting, -of which he has left so valuable a literary monument in his -<i>Six Months in the White House</i>. The members of the Cabinet -had no time to invent or imagine a set of incidents mythical in -character, for each of them had to describe many times, and -immediately, the circumstances which attended the reading of -the Proclamation to the Cabinet on Monday, September 22, -1862.</p> - -<p>This is the important and incontestable fact, that Lincoln -did not bring the Proclamation to the Cabinet for discussion, -except as to minor details. He had already determined to -issue it. He had promised God that he would do so.</p> - -<p>This was the statement which profoundly impressed the -members of the Cabinet,—the President told them that he had -already promised God that he would free the slaves.</p> - -<p>The Diary of Gideon Welles was first published in full in -the <i>Atlantic Monthly</i> in 1909, portions of it having earlier appeared -in the Century; but it was written day by day as the -events occurred. His record for Monday, September 22, 1862, -begins thus:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"We have a special Cabinet meeting. The subject was the -Proclamation concerning emancipating slaves after a certain -date in States that should then be in rebellion. For several -weeks the subject has been suspended, but, the President says, -never lost sight of. When the subject was submitted in -August, and indeed in taking it up, the President stated that -the matter was finally decided, but that he felt it to be due to -us to make us acquainted with the fact and invite criticism of -the Proclamation. There were some differences in the Cabi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>net, -but he had formed his own conclusions, and made his own -decisions. He had, he said, made a vow, a covenant, that if -God gave us the victory in the approaching battle (which had -just been fought) he would consider it his duty to move forward -in the cause of emancipation. We might think it strange, -he said, but there were times when he felt uncertain how to -act; that he had in this way submitted the disposal of matters -when the way was not clear to his mind what he should do. -God had decided this question in favor of the slave. He was -satisfied it was right—was confirmed and strengthened in his -action by the vow and its results; his mind was fixed, his decision -made; but he wished his paper announcing his course -to be as correct in terms as it could be made without any attempt -to change his determination. For that was fixed."—"The -Diary of Gideon Welles," <i>Atlantic Monthly</i>, 1909, -p. 369.</p></blockquote> - -<p>We have no present concern with the question whether -Lincoln's method of determining the divine will was a reasonable -method, or wholly consistent with some of his own questions -and doubts; what concerns us is that the President invited -no discussion of the Proclamation in its essential elements; any -disposition which any of the members of the Cabinet might -have felt to discuss the instrument itself or seek to dissuade -the President from issuing it was stopped by his quiet and -emphatic declaration that he had made a covenant with God, -and must keep his vow; and that he was strengthened in his -own conviction that the Proclamation was in accord with the -will of God.</p> - -<p>We must not pass lightly over the religious aspects of the -Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln had submitted his first -draft of the Proclamation to the Cabinet on Tuesday, July -22, 1862, and it met with strong opposition. Only two members -of the Cabinet favored it; Seward and Chase were -strongly against it and the others thought it inopportune. -With the memory of this opposition, which in July had practically -voted the President down, Mr. Lincoln brought the -matter again on September 22, not for discussion, for as he -said he knew the view already of every member of the Cabinet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> -but he had promised God that he would do this thing. That -very night Secretary Chase wrote in his diary an account of -the meeting, which is condensed as follows:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p> -"<i>Monday, September 22, 1862.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"To Department about nine. State Department messenger -came with notice to heads of Departments to meet at -twelve. Received sundry callers. Went to White House. All -the members of the Cabinet were in attendance. There was -some general talk, and the President mentioned that Artemus -Ward had sent him his book. Proposed to read a chapter -which he thought very funny. Read it, and seemed to enjoy -it very much.</p> - -<p>"The President then took a graver tone, and said, -'Gentlemen: I have, as you are aware, thought a great deal -about the relation of this war to slavery; and you all remember -that, several weeks ago, I read to you an order I had prepared -on this subject, which, on account of objections made by some -of you, was not issued. Ever since then my mind has been -much occupied with this subject, and I have thought, all along, -that the time for acting on it might probably come. I think -the time has come now. I wish it was a better time. I wish -that we were in a better condition. The action of the army -against the Rebels has not been quite what I should best like. -But they have been driven out of Maryland, and Pennsylvania -is no longer in danger of invasion. When the Rebel Army -was at Frederick, I determined, as soon as it should be driven -out of Maryland, to issue a Proclamation of Emancipation, -such as I thought most likely to be useful. I said nothing to -anyone, but I made the promise to myself, and [hesitating a -little] to my Maker. The Rebel Army is now driven out, and -I am going to fulfill that promise. I have got you together -to hear what I have written down. I do not wish your advice -about the main matter, for that I have determined for myself. -This, I say, without intending anything but respect for any -one of you. But I already know the views of each on this -question. They have been heretofore expressed, and I have -considered them as thoroughly and carefully as I can. What -I have written is that which my reflections have determined me -to say. If there is anything in the expressions I use, or in any -minor matter, which any one of you thinks had best be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> -changed I shall be glad to receive the suggestions. One other -observation I will make. I know very well that many others -might, in this matter as in others, do better than I can; and -if I was satisfied that the public confidence was more fully -possessed by any one of them than by me, and knew of any -constitutional way in which he could be put in my place, he -should have it. I would gladly yield it to him. But though -I believe that I have not so much of the confidence of the -people as I had some time since, I do not know that, all things -considered, any other person has more; and however this may -be, there is no way in which I can have any other man put -where I am. I am here; I must do the best I can, and bear -the responsibility of taking the course which I feel I ought to -take.'"—<span class="smcap">Warden</span>: <i>Life of S. P. Chase</i>, pp. 481-82, quoted in -Nicolay and Hay, VI, 159-60.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In the diaries of Secretaries Welles and Chase we have -incontrovertible testimony. The two records were made independently -and on that very night, and were not published for -years afterward. There was no possible collusion or reshaping -of the testimony in the light of subsequent events, no time for -imagination to play any part in enlarging upon the incident. -The President recognized that the time was not wholly propitious, -that a majority of the Cabinet probably would not be -disposed to adopt his Proclamation if put to vote, that the -people's support of the administration was wavering and unpredicable -and none too certain to approve this measure. -Under these conditions it is impossible to consider the Emancipation -Proclamation solely from the standpoint either of -political expediency or of military necessity. The fact which -silenced all opposition in the Cabinet was the President's -solemn statement that he had made a covenant with God, and -that he must keep it.</p> - -<p>There is a sense in which the solemnity is heightened by -the grotesque incident of the chapter from Artemus Ward -read at the beginning. There is an aspect in which the sublimity -of that Cabinet meeting's ending is heightened by the ridiculousness -of its beginning. In any event, it shows that the -mind of Abraham Lincoln that morning was in what for him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> -was a thoroughly healthy condition. However incongruous it -might have been for another man to begin so solemn a meeting -with a chapter from Artemus Ward, it was a mark of sanity, -of thorough normal psychology, when done by Abraham Lincoln. -It showed that the moral overstrain was finding its -relief from excessive tension in what for Lincoln was an entirely -normal way.</p> - -<p>As before stated, these two contemporary accounts by -Welles and Chase, though made at the time, were not published -until years afterward; but there was another publication that -was virtually contemporary. Frank B. Carpenter, the artist, -began almost immediately his noted painting of the signing of -the Emancipation Proclamation, and in the course of his six -months in the White House had long and repeated interviews -with all members of the Cabinet, and talked with them about -every incident connected with that event. He published his -account in his book in 1866, while all the members of the Cabinet -were living, and, so far as known, was never objected to or -proposed to be modified by any member of the Cabinet. According -to his statement, Lincoln told the Cabinet that he -had promised God that he would do this, uttering the last -part of this sentence in a low voice. Secretary Chase, who was -sitting near the President, asked Mr. Lincoln if he had correctly -understood him, and the President repeated what he -had affirmed before, saying:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I made a solemn vow before God, that if General Lee was -driven back from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by -the declaration of freedom for the slaves."—<i>Six Months in the -White House</i>, pp. 89, 90.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In this threefold attestation we have irrefutable testimony -that the determining motive of President Lincoln in his issue -of the Emancipation Proclamation was the keeping of his -solemn covenant with God.</p> - -<p>It is all but impossible to exaggerate the significance of this -incident. The essential fact is as fully proved as human testimony -can possibly prove a fact. When we remember the extreme -reticence of Abraham Lincoln on all such matters, and -the fact of which he must have been painfully conscious that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> -his Cabinet was not very favorably disposed toward the thing -that he proposed to do, his quiet, outspoken, and repeated declaration -that he had promised this thing to God is sufficient in -itself to settle forever the essentially religious character of -Abraham Lincoln. If we had no other word from his lips -touching on the subject of religion but this one, we should be -assured of his unfaltering belief in God, in a profound sense -of his own personal responsibility to God, in prayer, and a -personal relation with God.</p> - -<p>This was no platitude uttered to meet the expectation of -the religious people of the United States; it was no evasive -generality intended to fit whatever religious desire might lie in -the minds of those who heard him. It was no play to the -gallery; it was no masquerade; every motive of pretense or -hypocrisy or duplicity was absent. It was the sincere expression -of the abiding faith of Abraham Lincoln in God, and -prayer, and duty.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Lincoln was a believer in the immortality of the soul.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> -Herndon affirms this and declares that any attempt to deny it -would imply that Lincoln was a dishonest man. He believed -in the preservation of identity beyond the grave so that we -shall be conscious of our own identity and be able to recognize -our loved ones.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> - -<p>He believed in future punishment, but not in endless punishment. -Punishment seemed to him so inevitable a part of -an inexorable divine law that he sometimes objected to the -preaching of the doctrine of forgiveness as being subversive -of the fact of law, which he held must continue its sway in -this world and in every world; but in eternal punishment he -did not believe. His old neighbors in New Salem, his friends -in Springfield, and those who knew him in Washington agree -in this. We have already quoted from the letter of Isaac -Cogdal to Mr. B. F. Irwin, April 10, 1874, who tells of a -conversation he had with Mr. Lincoln in the latter's office in -Springfield about 1859, concerning Mr. Lincoln's religious -faith. Mr. Herndon was present. He says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Mr. Lincoln expressed himself in about these words: -He did not nor could not believe in the endless punishment of -anyone of the human race. He understood punishment for sin -to be a Bible doctrine; that the punishment was parental -in its object, aim, and design, and intended for the good of -the offender; hence it must cease when justice was satisfied. -He added that all that was lost by the transgression of Adam -was made good by the atonement; all that was lost by the fall -was made good by the sacrifice. And he added this remark, -that punishment being a provision of the gospel system, he was -not sure but the world would be better if a little more punishment -was preached by our ministers, and not so much pardon -for sin."</p></blockquote> - -<p>William H. Hannah, in Lamon's group of citations, says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Since 1856 Mr. Lincoln told me that he was a kind of -immortalist; that he never could bring himself to believe in -eternal punishment; that man lived but a little while here; -and that, if eternal punishment were man's doom, he should -spend that little life in vigilant and ceaseless preparation by -never-ending prayer."—<span class="smcap">Lamon</span>: <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, p. 489.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Some who have known of Lincoln's particular utterances -on certain of these points have been misled, as it appears to -me, by the similarity of some of these points to doctrines held -by particular religious sects and have sought to identify Lin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>coln -more or less with those denominations. The fact that he -took portions of his positive thinking from Theodore Parker -and William Ellery Channing, does not necessitate that he was -a Unitarian; nor does the fact that he did not believe in eternal -punishment compel his classification with Universalists. Theodore -Parker and William E. Channing chanced to be the -authors whose writings came into his possession at a time -when they served to define particular aspects of his own faith. -Horace Bushnell, or Henry Ward Beecher might have served -him quite as well and possibly in some respects better. For -Lincoln's Calvinism was too deep-rooted to be eradicated; and -a positive faith, both liberal and constructive, that could have -been grafted on to that root might very possibly have served -him better than anything so radical as in its nature to deny any -essential part of what he felt he must continue to believe. -Parker and Channing served him as James Smith's <i>Christian's -Defence</i> and Robert Chambers' <i>Vestiges of Creation</i> served -him in assuring him that a man could hold the views he held -and know more about them than he knew and still be a reverent -Christian. Such a Christian Abraham Lincoln appears to me -to have been.</p> - -<p>I do not think that any claim which I am here making -for the faith of Abraham Lincoln can be denied on the basis -of any authentic utterance of his. If at any point he is known -to have said or written anything which is apparently inconsistent -with these affirmations, that utterance I think will be -found somewhere in this volume and the reader will have no -difficulty in finding it and in giving it its proper weight. But -I do not think the general position which this chapter sets -forth can be seriously shaken. In the sense which this chapter -has endeavored truthfully to set forth, Abraham Lincoln believed -in God, in Christ, in the Bible, in prayer, in duty, and -in immortality.</p> - -<p>Religion is one thing and theology is another. A love of -flowers is one thing and a knowledge of botany is another. -A man may love a flower and call it by the wrong name, or -know no name for it. A man may have the religion of Christ, -and hold very wrong opinions or conjectures concerning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> -Christ. We are saved by faith, not by conjecture. No man -is saved or lost because of the correctness of his opinions. -Correct thinking is important; but it is not so important as a -right attitude toward spiritual realities and practical duties. -Faith and opinion are not unrelated, but neither are they -identical.</p> - -<p>Too much of the effort to prove that Abraham Lincoln -was a Christian has begun and ended in the effort to show -that on certain theological topics he cherished correct opinions. -That would not prove him to be a Christian, nor would the -lack of these certainly prove that he was not a Christian. -Religion is of the heart and life; theology is of the brain and -mind. Each is important, but theology is less important than -religion.</p> - -<p>Abraham Lincoln was not a theologian, and several of his -theological opinions may have been incorrect; but there is good -reason to believe that he was a true Christian. The world -has need of a few theologians, and of a great many Christians.</p> - -<p>It was Mr. Lincoln's custom when he read a paragraph -which deeply interested him, to draw a pencil line around it -in the book; and if it was something which he wished to -commit to memory and meditate upon, he often copied it upon -a scrap of paper. I own a half page of notepaper containing -in Lincoln's handwriting and with his signature, a paragraph -from Baxter's "Saint's Rest." The manuscript was owned -by Hon. Winfield Smith, Lincoln's Attorney-General in 1864, -and was among his private papers when he died. The paragraph -reads:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"It is more pleasing to God to see his people study Him -and His will directly, than to spend the first and chief of -their effort about attaining comfort for themselves. We have -faith given us, principally that we might believe and live by -it in daily applications of Christ. You may believe immediately -(by God's help) but getting assurance of it may be the -work of a great part of your life."</p></blockquote> - -<p>It would be interesting to know just what was in Lincoln's -mind when he read this paragraph, and sat down with pen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> -and ink to copy and meditate upon it. The "comfort" which -Baxter was referring to in this passage was the comfort of -assurance of salvation in Christ. It was a theme on which -Mr. Lincoln heard many sermons, first and last, by Predestinarian -preachers, both Baptist and Presbyterian. If a man -was among the elect, how could he be sure of it, and what -means could he take to make the assurance more certain? -Baxter's answer was that assurance in this matter is less important -than to study and obey God's will; and that faith is -given us as something in whose exercise we may live daily -without greatly troubling ourselves about fathomless mysteries. -It was good doctrine for a man who had been reared -as Lincoln had been reared, and the remainder of the passage -was especially in line with his needs. He could believe immediately, -even though the assurance of faith was long delayed. -That assurance might be the work of a lifetime, but -faith was something that might be lived upon now. The -thought is akin to that in the fine lines of Lizzie York Case:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2m">"<i>There is no unbelief:</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>For thus by day and night unconsciously</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>The heart lives by the faith the lips deny,—</i></span><br /> -<span class="i2m"><i>God knoweth why.</i>"</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>A man can live by a faith of which he has not full assurance—so -said the sensible old Puritan, Richard Baxter—he -can live on it though it take him nearly all his life to gain -assurance; and I am certain he would have added, had he been -asked, that if assurance never came, and our heart condemn -us, "God is greater than our heart."</p> - -<p>The carefully written paragraph in Lincoln's hand appears -to indicate that the thought was one which deeply impressed -Lincoln. Perhaps he felt that his own faith was of that sort, -a faith on which a man could live, while going forward in -the study and pursuit of the will of God, not seeking one's -own comfort or the joy of complete assurance, but finding in -the daily performance of duty the essential quality of true -faith.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE CREED OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span> made no effort, so far as we know, to -formulate a creed. It would have been an exceedingly difficult -thing for him to have accomplished. His utterances on religious -subjects were not made as dogmatic affirmations. He -merely uttered as occasion seemed to him to demand such sentiments -and principles as expressed those aspects of truth which -he felt and believed to need expression at those particular -times. Nevertheless, these utterances together cover a somewhat -wide range; and while they were not intended to epitomize -any system of Christian doctrine, they make a nearer -approach to an epitome of this character than on the whole -might reasonably have been expected.</p> - -<p>It will be interesting and profitable to close this study with -a series of short quotations from documents, letters, and addresses, -certified as authentic and touching directly upon points -of Christian doctrine. In most instances these have been -quoted already, with their context, but they are here brought -together in briefer form in order to facilitate our inquiry -whether they afford any material out of which might be made -some approach to a statement of Christian faith.</p> - -<p><i>Materials for a Lincoln creed</i>:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>I sincerely hope father may recover his health, but, at all -events, tell him to remember to call upon and confide in -our great and good and merciful Maker, who will not turn -away from him in any extremity. He notes the fall of a -sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads, and He will -not forget the dying man who puts his trust in Him.... -If it be his lot to go now he will soon have a joyous meeting -with many loved ones gone before, and where the rest of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> -us with the help of God hope ere long to join them.—Letter -to his dying father, January 12, 1851. <i>Complete Works</i>, -I, 165.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended -him [Washington] I cannot succeed. With that assistance, -I cannot fail. Trusting in His care who can go with -me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us -confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending -you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, -I bid you an affectionate farewell.—Farewell Address, Springfield, -February 11, 1861. <i>Complete Works</i>, I, 672.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>If the Almighty Ruler of Nations, with His eternal truth -and justice, be on our side of the North, or on yours of the -South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail by the -judgment of this great tribunal of the American people.... -Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on -Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still -competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty.... -My dissatisfied fellow countrymen ... you -have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, -while I have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and -defend it.—First Inaugural, March 4, 1861. <i>Complete Works</i>, -II, 7.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>May God give you that consolation which is beyond all -earthly power.—Letter to parents of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, -May 25, 1861. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 52.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>And having thus chosen our course, without guile and with -pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God and go forward -without fear and with manly hearts.—First Message to Congress, -July 4, 1861. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 66.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Whereas it is fit and becoming in all people, at all times, -to acknowledge and revere the supreme government of God; -to bow in humble submission to His chastisements; to confess<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> -and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full conviction -that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and to -pray with all fervency and contrition for the pardon of their -past offenses, and for a blessing upon their present and prospective -action:</p> - -<p>And whereas when our own beloved country, once, by the -blessing of God, united, prosperous, and happy, is now afflicted -with factions and civil war, it is particularly fit for us -to recognize the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and -in sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as a -nation and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him and -to pray for His mercy.—National Fast Day Proclamation, -August 12, 1861. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 73.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>In the midst of unprecedented political troubles we have -cause of great gratitude to God for unusual health and most -abundant harvest.... The struggle of today is not altogether -for today—it is for a vast future also. With a reliance -on Providence all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed -to the great task which events have devolved upon us.—Annual -Message to Congress, December 3, 1861. <i>Complete Works</i>, -II, 93 and 106.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Whereas it has seemed to me probable that the unsuccessful -application made for the commutation of his sentence may -have prevented the said Nathaniel Gordon from making the -necessary preparation for the awful change which awaits him: -Now therefore be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President -of the United States, have granted and do hereby grant unto -him, the said Nathaniel Gordon, a respite of the above recited -sentence, until Friday, the 21st of February, A.D. 1862.... -In granting this respite it becomes my painful duty to admonish -the prisoner that, relinquishing all expectation of pardon by -human authority, he refer himself alone to the mercy of the -common God and Father of all men.—Proclamation of Respite -for a Convicted Slave Trader, February 4, 1862. <i>Complete -Works</i>, II, 121-22.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Being a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly -Father, as I am, and as we all are, to work out His great purposes, -I have desired that all my works and acts may be according -to His will; and that it might be so, I have sought His -aid.—Reply to Mrs. Gurney and Deputation from Society of -Friends, September [28?], 1862. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 243.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>In full view of my great responsibility to my God and to -my country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the -people to the subject.—Message to Congress recommending -Emancipation with Compensation to Owners, March 6, 1862. -<i>Complete Works</i>, II, 130.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe signal victories -to the land and naval forces.... It is therefore recommended -to the people of the United States that at their next -weekly assemblages ... they especially acknowledge and -render thanks to our Heavenly Father for these inestimable -blessings; that they then and there implore spiritual consolation -in behalf of all who have been brought into affliction by -the casualties and calamities of sedition and civil war; and -that they reverently invoke the Divine guidance to our national -counsels, to the end that they may speedily result in restoration -of peace, harmony, and unity.—Special Thanksgiving -Proclamation, April 10, 1862. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 143.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The will of God prevails. In great contests each party -claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may -be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against -the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is -quite possible that God's purpose is something different from -the purpose of either party; and yet the human instrumentalities, -working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to -effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is -probably true; that God wills this contest, and wills that it -shall not end yet. By His mere great power on the minds -of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed -the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> -began. And, having begun, He could give the final victory -to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.—A Meditation -on the Divine Will in the handwriting of Mr. Lincoln, -formulated about September 30, 1862, and not written for the -eye of men but apparently in the effort to define the moral -aspects of the subject and to clarify his own spiritual outlook.—<i>Complete -Works</i>, II, 243-44.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own -their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess -their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with -assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and -pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the -Holy Scriptures and proved by all history, that those nations -only are blest whose God is the Lord; And inasmuch as we -know that by His Divine law nations, like individuals, are subjected -to punishments and chastisements in this world, may -we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which -now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon -us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our -national reformation as a whole people?—Fast Day Proclamation, -March 30, 1863. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 319.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>It is meet and right to recognize and confess the presence -of the Almighty Father and the power of His hand equally in -these triumphs and in these sorrows.... I invite the people -of the United States ... to render the homage due to the -Divine Majesty for the wonderful things He has done in the -nation's behalf, and invoke the influence of his Holy Spirit to -subdue the anger which has produced and so long sustained -a needless and cruel rebellion.—Thanksgiving Proclamation, -July 15, 1863. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 370.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>In regard to the Great Book, I have only to say, it is the -best gift which God has ever given man. All the good from -the Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this -book.—Response to Presentation of Bible. <i>Complete Works</i>, -Nicolay and Hay's new and enlarged edition, twelve volumes, -N. Y., 1905, X, 217-18.</p></blockquote> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p> -<blockquote> - -<p>Signal successes ... call for devout acknowledgment to -the Supreme Being in whose hand are the destinies of nations.—Thanksgiving -Proclamation, September 3, 1864. <i>Complete -Works</i>, II, 571.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>God knows best ... surely He intends some great good -to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make -and no mortal can stave.... That you believe this I doubt -not; and believing it, I shall still receive for our country and -myself your earnest prayers to our Father in Heaven.—Letter -to Mrs. Gurney, September 4, 1864. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, -573-74.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I do further recommend to my fellow citizens aforesaid, -that they do reverently humble themselves in the dust, and -from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications -to the Great Disposer of events for a return of the -inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony.—Thanksgiving -Proclamation, October 20, 1864. <i>Complete Works</i>, -II, 587.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I am thankful to God for this approval of the people; ... -I give thanks to the Almighty for this evidence of the people's -resolution to stand by free government and the rights of -humanity.—Response to Serenade following Re-election, November -9, 1864. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 595.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, -nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think -and feel, and yet I have never understood that the Presidency -conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially -upon this judgment and feeling.... I claim not to have -controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled -me. Now at the end of three years' struggle, the -nation's condition is not what either party, or any man, devised -or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is -tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great -wrong, and wills also that we of the North as well as you of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> -the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, -impartial history will find therein new cause to attest and -revere the justice and goodness of God.—Letter to A. G. -Hodges, April 4, 1864. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 508-09.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Enough is known of army operations within the last five -days to claim an especial gratitude to God, while what remains -undone demands our most sincere prayers to, and reliance -upon, Him without whom all human effort is vain.—Recommendation -of Thanksgiving, May 9, 1864. <i>Complete Works</i>, -II, 519.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I invite and request ... all loyal and law-abiding -people ... to render to the Almighty and merciful Ruler -of the universe homages and confessions.—Proclamation of -Day of Prayer, July 7, 1864. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 544.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Again the blessings of health and abundant harvest claim -our profoundest gratitude to Almighty God.—Annual Address -to Congress, December 6, 1864. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 604.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>You all may recollect that in taking up the sword thus -forced into our hands, this government appealed to the prayers -of the pious and good, and declared that it placed its whole -dependence upon the favor of God. I now humbly and reverently, -in your presence, reiterate the acknowledgment of that -dependence, not doubting that, if it shall please the Divine -Being who determines the destinies of nations, this shall remain -a united people, and that they will, humbly seeking the -Divine guidance, make their prolonged national existence a -source of new benefits to themselves and their successors, and -to all classes and conditions of mankind.—Address to Committee -from Evangelical Lutheran General Synod, May 6, -1862. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 148.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Relying, as I do, upon Almighty Power, and encouraged, -as I am, by the resolutions which you have just read,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> -with the support which I receive from Christian men, I -shall not hesitate to use all the means at my control to secure -the termination of this rebellion, and will hope for success.—Address -to Committee of Sixty-five from Presbyterian General -Assembly, May 30, 1863. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 342.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I expect [my Second Inaugural] to wear as well as—perhaps -better than—anything I have produced; but I believe it is -not immediately popular. Men are not flattered by being -shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the -Almighty and them. To deny it, however, in this case, is to -deny that there is a God governing the world. It is a truth -which I thought needed to be told, and, as whatever of humiliation -there is in it falls most directly on myself, I thought others -might afford for me to tell it.—Letter to Thurlow Weed, -March 15, 1865. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 661.</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a -just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat -of other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not -judged.... The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe -unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that -offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense -cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one -of those offenses which, in the Providence of God, must needs -come, but which having continued through His appointed -time, He now will remove and that He gives to both North -and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom -the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from -those Divine attributes which the believers in a living God -always ascribe to Him. Fondly do we hope—perfectly do we -pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass -away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth -piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited -toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood -drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the -sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still must it be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> -said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous -altogether."</p> - -<p>With malice toward 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.—Second Inaugural, -March 4, 1865. <i>Complete Works</i>, II, 657.</p></blockquote> - -<p>No one of the foregoing quotations is taken from a private -conversation, nor copied from an unauthorized source. Some -very pleasing selections might have been made from reasonably -well-accredited sources, but all of the foregoing selections, -without any exception, are taken from the authentic -writings and addresses of Lincoln as compiled, edited, and -authenticated by his private secretaries, John G. Nicolay and -John Hay.</p> - -<p>We might go much farther and could find a considerable -body of additional material, but this is sufficient and more -than sufficient for our purpose. In these utterances may be -found something of the determinism that was hammered into -Lincoln by the early Baptist preachers and riveted by James -Smith, along with some of the humanitarianism of Parker -and Channing, and much which lay unstratified in Lincoln's -own mind but flowed spontaneously from his pen or dropped -from his lips because it was native to his thinking and had -come to be a component part of his life. Anyone who cares -to do so may piece these utterances together and test his success -in making a creed out of them. They lend themselves -somewhat readily to such an arrangement.</p> - -<p>In the following arrangement no liberties have been taken -except to change the past tense to the present, or the plural -to the singular, and to add connectives, and preface the words -"I believe." Except for changes such as these, which in no -way modify the sense or natural force of the utterances, the -creed which follows is wholly in the words of Abraham Lincoln. -A very little tampering with the text would have made -smoother reading, but this is not necessary. It has the simplicity -and the rugged honesty of the man who said these -words.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span></p> - - -<p class="c">THE CREED OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN<br /> -IN HIS OWN WORDS</p> - -<p>I believe in God, the Almighty Ruler of Nations, our -great and good and merciful Maker, our Father in Heaven, -who notes the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs of -our heads.</p> - -<p>I believe in His eternal truth and justice.</p> - -<p>I recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures -and proven by all history that those nations only are -blest whose God is the Lord.</p> - -<p>I believe that it is the duty of nations as well as of men -to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, -and to invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit; to confess -their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with -assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and -pardon.</p> - -<p>I believe that it is meet and right to recognize and confess -the presence of the Almighty Father equally in our triumphs -and in those sorrows which we may justly fear are a punishment -inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the needful -end of our reformation.</p> - -<p>I believe that the Bible is the best gift which God has ever -given to men. All the good from the Saviour of the world -is communicated to us through this book.</p> - -<p>I believe the will of God prevails. Without Him all human -reliance is vain. Without the assistance of that Divine Being, -I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail.</p> - -<p>Being a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly -Father, I desire that all my works and acts may be according -to His will; and that it may be so, I give thanks to the Almighty, -and seek His aid.</p> - -<p>I have a solemn oath registered in heaven to finish the work -I am in, in full view of my responsibility to my God, with -malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in -the right as God gives me to see the right. Commending -those who love me to His care, as I hope in their prayers -they will commend me, I look through the help of God to a -joyous meeting with many loved ones gone before.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a><br /><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a><br /><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2">APPENDICES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY</p></div> - - - - -<h2><a name="APPENDIX_I" id="APPENDIX_I"></a>APPENDIX I</h2> - -<p class="c">EXTRACT FROM NEWTON BATEMAN'S LECTURE ON<br /> -LINCOLN WITH VARIANTS OF THE FAREWELL<br /> -ADDRESS, AT SPRINGFIELD,<br /> -FEBRUARY 11, 1861.</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Both</span> for its own value as an incident in the life of Mr. Lincoln -and because it affords us opportunity of understanding the accuracy -of Newton Bateman's verbal memory, the following is -quoted from his lecture on Abraham Lincoln, a lecture delivered -many times in the later years of his life and printed by his -family in 1899 after his death:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"On the eleventh of February, 1861, on the day preceding -his fifty-second birthday, Mr. Lincoln set out for Washington. -He had sent special invitations to a few of his old friends to -accompany him as far as Indianapolis. That I was included in -the number, I shall be pardoned for remembering with peculiar -pleasure. That note of invitation is preserved among my most -cherished memorabilia of Abraham Lincoln. I shall ever regret -that imperative official duties would not allow me to join the -party.</p> - -<p>"But I accompanied him to the railroad station, and stood -by his side on the platform of the car, when he delivered that -memorable farewell to his friends and neighbors. Of those, an -immense concourse had assembled to bid him good-by. The -day was dark and chill, and a drizzling rain had set in. The -signal bell had rung, and all was in readiness for the departure, -when Mr. Lincoln appeared on the front platform of the special -car—removed his hat, looked out for a moment upon the sea of -silent, upturned faces, and heads bared in loving reverence and -sympathy, regardless of the rain; and, in a voice broken and -tremulous with emotion and a most unutterable sadness, yet -slow and measured and distinct and with a certain prophetic -far-off look which no one who saw can ever forget, began:</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p> -<p>"'My friends, no one, not in my position can appreciate the -sadness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I -am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century. Here -my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. -I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty devolves -upon me which is greater, perhaps, than that which has devolved -upon any other man since the days of Washington. He -never would have succeeded, except for the aid of Divine Providence, -upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot -succeed without the same divine aid which sustained him; and -upon the same Almighty Being I place my reliance and support. -And I hope you, my friends, will pray that I may receive that -divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, and with -which success is certain. Again, I bid you all an affectionate -farewell.'</p> - -<p>"His pale face was literally wet with tears as he re-entered -the car, and the train rolled out of the city, which Abraham -Lincoln was to enter no more—till, his great work finished he -would come back from the war, a victor and a conqueror though -with the seal of death upon his visage. Some politicians derided -the solemn words of that farewell—but I knew they were the -utterances of his inmost soul—never did speech of man move me -as that did. Seeing every mournful tremor of those lips—noting -every shadow that flitted over that face—catching every inflection -of that voice—the words seemed to drop, every one, into my -heart, and to be crystallized in my memory. I hurried back to my -office, locked the door (for I felt that I must be alone), wrote -out the address from memory and had it published in the city -papers in advance of the reporters. And when the reports of -the stenographers were published, they differed from mine in -only two or three words, and as to even those, I have always -believed that mine were right for the speech was engraved on my -heart and my memory, and I had but to copy the engraving."—<i>Abraham -Lincoln</i>, an address by Hon. Newton Bateman, LL.D., -published by the Cadmus Club, 1899, Galesburg.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln's Farewell Address, as given by Mr. Bateman -in the foregoing quotation, would appear to have undergone some -revision by him after its printing. He says that he furnished it -to the press and that it came out in advance of the version taken -down by the reporter. On this point his memory appears to be -correct. The <i>Illinois State Journal</i> of February 12, 1861, con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>tains -a report of Mr. Lincoln's address, which is almost certainly -that furnished by Mr. Bateman.</p> - - -<p class="c"><i>Lincoln's Farewell Address as Printed in the Illinois State<br /> -Journal, February 12, 1860, probably from the notes of Hon.<br /> -Newton Bateman.</i></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Friends, no one who has never been placed in a like position, -can understand my feelings at this hour, nor the oppressive -sadness I feel at this parting. For more than a quarter of a -century I have lived among you, and during all that time I have -received nothing but kindness at your hands. Here I have lived -from my youth until now I am an old man. Here the most -sacred ties of earth were assumed; here all of my children -were born, and here one of them lies buried. To you, dear -friends, I owe all that I have, all that I am. All the strange, -checkered past seems now to crowd upon my mind. Today I -leave you: I go to assume a task more difficult than that which -devolved upon General Washington. Unless the great God who -assisted him shall be with me and aid me, I must fail. But if -the same Omniscient Mind and the same Almighty Arm that -directed and protected him shall guide and support me, I shall -not fail; I shall succeed. Let us all pray that the God of our -fathers may not forsake us now. To Him I commend you all; -permit me to ask that with equal sincerity [the word is printed -security but corrected with pen] and faith, you all will invoke -His wisdom and guidance for me. With these few words I -must leave you—for how long I know not. Friends, one and -all, I must now bid you an affectionate farewell."</p></blockquote> - - -<p class="c"><i>The So-called Shorthand Report</i></p> - -<p>The so-called shorthand report appears on close examination -not to be a shorthand report, but is that which appeared in the -Chicago and other papers from the Hay and Lincoln revision, -more or less garbled in telegraphic transmission.</p> - - -<p class="c"><i>The Lincoln-Hay Version of the Farewell Address</i></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"This address was correctly printed for the first time in the -Century Magazine for December, 1887, from the original manuscript, -having been written down after the train started, partly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> -by Mr. Lincoln's own hand and partly by that of his private -secretary from his dictation."—<span class="smcap">Nicolay and Hay</span>, <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, -II, 291.</p></blockquote> - -<p>It is thus apparent that we do not have any verbatim report -of the precise words which Lincoln uttered; but the Illinois -Historical Society has accepted this as the accredited version. -It is certainly that which Lincoln wished to be remembered as -having said; but it is quite possible that in one or two of the -variant words Bateman may have recalled it more accurately -than Lincoln himself:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"My friends: No one not in my situation, can appreciate my -feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness -of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a -quarter of a century and have passed from a youth to an old -man. Here my children have been born and one is buried. I -now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, -with a task before me greater than that which rested upon -Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who -ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I -cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me and remain -with you and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope -that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I -hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate -farewell."</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="APPENDIX_II" id="APPENDIX_II"></a>APPENDIX II</h2></div> - -<p class="c">"HIGH-HANDED OUTRAGE AT UTICA"<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> - -<p class="c">By <span class="smcap">Artemus Ward</span></p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Bishop Fowler</span> and other lecturers and authors have drawn for -us beautiful pictures of Lincoln reading to his Cabinet a chapter -in the Bible before submitting his draft of the Emancipation -Proclamation. The true story of that incident is related in the -foregoing pages. It may be that some readers who are unfamiliar -with the now little-read writings of "Artemus Ward" -will be glad to know precisely what it was that the President -read on that day; and as the chapter is very short, it will be -given herewith.</p> - -<p>No form of literature is more evanescent than humor. The -fun-loving public of one generation labors hard to discover the -reasons why other generations laughed over the old-time jokes. -But there are elements in Artemus Ward that still provoke a -smile. The chapter which amused Lincoln on that day related -to the virtue of a community which would not permit the exhibition -of Artemus Ward's famous Wax Works because the reproduction -of the Last Supper contained the figure of Judas. -Some reader may need to be told that there was no such show. -The author of this and the other burlesques that bore the name -of Artemus Ward (Charles F. Browne), presented himself in -these sketches as a good-natured humbug, running a "highly -moral show" with "Wax-figgers" and other attractions. He -was never so delightful as when disclosing his own shams, as -when the mob pulled the hay out of the fat man.</p> - -<p>Browne's book had a chapter in which he assisted Lincoln to -form his Cabinet. His first assistance was to turn out all the -office-seekers by threatening to turn his "Boy Constrictor" in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> -among them; and then advised Mr. Lincoln to fill his Cabinet -with Showmen, all of whom were honest and had nary a politic; -"for particulars see small bills." This and other chapters delighted -Lincoln; but the one he read to his Cabinet just before -presenting the second draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, -was the following:</p> - -<p class="c"><i>High-handed Outrage at Utica</i></p> - -<p>In the Faul of 1856, I showed my show in Utiky, a trooly -grate sitty in the State of New York.</p> - -<p>The people gave me a cordyal recepshun. The press was -loud in her prases.</p> - -<p>1 day as I was giving a description of my Beests and Snaiks -in my usual flowry stile what was my skorn & disgust to see a -big burly fellew walk up to the cage containin my wax figgers -of the Lord's Supper, and cease Judas Iscarrot by the feet and -drag him onto the ground. He then commenced fur to pound -him as hard as he cood.</p> - -<p>"What under the son are you abowt?" cried I.</p> - -<p>Sez he, "What did you brung this pussylanermus cuss here -fur?" & he hit the wax figger another tremjis blow on the hed.</p> - -<p>Sez I, "You egrejes ass, that air's a wax figger—a representashun -of the false 'Postle."</p> - -<p>Sez he, "That's all very well fur you to say but I tell you, -old man, that Judas Iscarrot can't show hisself in Utiky by a -darn site!" with whuch observashun he caved in Judassis hed. -The young man belonged to 1 of the first famerlies in Utiky. I -sood him, and the Joory brawt in a verdick of Arson in the 3rd -degree.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="APPENDIX_III" id="APPENDIX_III"></a>APPENDIX III</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE CONVERSION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN</p> - -<p class="c">By the <span class="smcap">Rev. Edward L. Watson</span></p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> religion of Abraham Lincoln is so much in debate that I -feel called upon to give the following narrative of an event of -which little seems to be known—and which is of real importance -in understanding the man. He has been called an infidel—an -unbeliever of varying degrees of blatancy. That he was a -Christian in the real sense of the term is plain from his life. -That he was converted during a Methodist revival seems not to -be a matter of common report. The personal element of this -narrative is necessary to unfold the story. In 1894 I was -appointed to the pastorate of the Hennepin Avenue Methodist -Episcopal Church, Minneapolis, Minn., by Bishop Cyrus D. Foss, -being transferred from Frederick, Md., a charge in Baltimore -Conference. It was in October that we entered the parsonage, -which was a double house, the other half being rented by the -trustees. Shortly after our occupancy of the church house -William B. Jacquess moved into the rented half of the property, -and through this fact I became acquainted with Col. James -F. Jacquess, his brother. At this time Colonel Jacquess was an -old man of eighty years or more, of commanding presence and -wearing a long beard which was as white as snow. His title -grew out of the fact of his being the commanding officer of the -Seventy-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, known as the Preacher -Regiment. Its name was given through the publication in the -Cincinnati <i>Commercial</i> in September, 1862, of the roster of its -officers:</p> - -<p>Colonel—Rev. James F. Jacquess, D.D., late president of -Quincy College.</p> - -<p>Lieutenant-Colonel—Rev. Benjamin F. Northcott.</p> - -<p>Major—Rev. William A. Presson.</p> - -<p>Captains—Company B, Rev. W. B. M. Colt; Company C, -Rev. P. McNutt; Company F, Rev. George W. Montgomery;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> -Company H, Rev. James I. Davidson; Company I, Rev. Peter -Wallace; Company K, Rev. R. H. Laughlin.</p> - -<p>Six or seven of the twenty lieutenants were also licensed -Methodist preachers. Henry A. Castle, sergeant-major, was the -author of the article and a son-in-law, if I mistake not, of Colonel -Jacquess.</p> - -<p>The history of this regiment is in brief, as follows: It was -organized at the instance of Governor Dick Yates, under Colonel -Jacquess, in August, 1862, at Camp Butler, in Illinois, and became -part of General Buell's army. It fought nobly at Perryville, -and in every battle in which the Army of the Cumberland -was engaged, from October, 1862, to the rout of Hood's army -at Nashville. Its dead were found at Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, -Missionary Ridge, where Colonel Jacquess won especial -distinction, and in the succession of battles from Chattanooga -to the fall of Atlanta. It was frequently complimented by the -commanding generals and was unsurpassed in bravery and endurance. -It left the State one of the largest, and returned one -of the smallest, having lost two-thirds of its men in its three -years' service.</p> - -<p>Colonel Jacquess was its only colonel and came home disabled -by wounds received at Chickamauga, where two horses were -shot under him. He refused to the last (1897) to receive a pension, -until in his extreme old age, at the urgent request of the -Society of the Survivors of the Seventy-third Illinois, he allowed -it to be applied for. He pathetically said: "My grandfathers -were Revolutionary soldiers and you could get up a row -if you mentioned pensions. My father and my uncles were in -the War of 1812, and would take none. I had hoped not to -receive one—but I am unable now to do anything, and it has -been my desire, and not the fault of the government, that I -have never received a pension." These words were spoken in -1897—and not long afterward Colonel Jacquess went to his -reward.</p> - -<p>Toward the end of the war President Lincoln sent Colonel -Jacquess as a secret emissary to arrange for peace and the -settlement of the slave question, so as to avert further shedding -of blood. His adventures in this role are of thrilling interest. -The foregoing is told to show the quality of the man whom it -was my privilege to meet in 1896, when he was in extreme old -age. The honors conferred upon him by President Lincoln and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> -the confidence reposed in him grew out of events which preceded -the war. This was no other than the conversion of Mr. Lincoln -under the ministry of the Rev. James F. Jacquess, at Springfield, -Ill., in the year 1839. The Rev. James F. Jacquess was stationed -at this new town—then of but a few thousand inhabitants—in -1839, when Lincoln met him during a series of revival services -conducted in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Lincoln had but -recently come to the town—having removed from New Salem, -which was in a decadent state. As a member of the Legislature, -Lincoln had been a chief agent in establishing the State capital -at Springfield, and though in debt and exceedingly poor, he hoped -to find friends and practice in the growing town. He was then -thirty years of age and had had few advantages of any sort. -It was on a certain night, when the pastor preached from the -text, "Ye must be born again," that Lincoln was in attendance -and was greatly interested. After the service he came round to -the little parsonage, and like another Nicodemus, asked, "How -can these things be?" Mr. Jacquess explained as best he could -the mystery of the new birth and at Lincoln's request, he and -his wife kneeled and prayed with the future President. It was -not long before Mr. Lincoln expressed his sense of pardon and -arose with peace in his heart.</p> - -<p>The narrative, as told thus far, is as my memory recalled it. -Since writing it, the same as told by Colonel Jacquess has recently -been discovered by me in Minutes of the Proceedings of -the Eleventh Annual Reunion Survivors Seventy-third Regiment, -Illinois Infantry, Volunteers (page 30), a copy of which is -before me. This meeting, the last (probably), that Colonel -Jacquess attended, was held Tuesday and Wednesday, September -28, 29, 1897, in the Supreme Court room of the State Capitol -Building, Springfield, Ill. To quote Colonel Jacquess: "The -mention of Mr. Lincoln's name recalls to my mind an occurrence -that perhaps I ought to mention. I notice that a number of -lectures are being delivered recently on Abraham Lincoln. -Bishop Fowler has a most splendid lecture on Abraham Lincoln, -but they all, when they reach one point run against a stone wall, -and that is in reference to Mr. Lincoln's religious sentiments. I -happen to know something on that subject that very few persons -know. My wife, who has been dead nearly two years, was the -only witness of what I am going to state to you as having occurred. -Very soon after my second year's work as a minister<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> -in the Illinois Conference, I was sent to Springfield. There were -ministers in the Illinois Conference who had been laboring for -twenty-five years to get to Springfield, the capital of the State. -When the legislature met there were a great many people here, -and it was thought to be a matter of great glory among the -ministers to be sent to Springfield. But I was not pleased with -my assignment. I felt my inability to perform the work. I did -not know what to do. I simply talked to the Lord about it, -however, and told Him that unless I had help I was going to run -away. I heard a voice saying to me, 'Fear not,' and I understood -it perfectly. Now I am coming to the point I want to -make to you. I was standing at the parsonage door one Sunday -morning, a beautiful morning in May, when a little boy came -up to me and said: 'Mr. Lincoln sent me around to see if you -was going to preach today.' Now, I had met Mr. Lincoln, but I -never thought any more of Abe Lincoln than I did of any one -else. I said to the boy: 'You go back and tell Mr. Lincoln that -if he will come to church he will see whether I am going to -preach or not.' The little fellow stood working his fingers and -finally said: 'Mr. Lincoln told me he would give me a quarter if -I would find out whether you are going to preach.' I did not -want to rob the little fellow of his income, so I told him to tell -Mr. Lincoln that I was going to try to preach. I was always -ready and willing to accept any assistance that came along, and -whenever a preacher, or one who had any pretense in that direction, -would come along I would thrust him into my pulpit and -make him preach, because I felt that anybody could do better -than I could.</p> - -<p>"The church was filled that morning. It was a good-sized -church, but on that day all the seats were filled. I had chosen -for my text the words: 'Ye must be born again,' and during the -course of my sermon I laid particular stress on the word 'must.' -Mr. Lincoln came into the church after the services had commenced, -and there being no vacant seats, chairs were put in the -altar in front of the pulpit, and Mr. Lincoln and Governor -French and wife sat in the altar during the entire services, Mr. -Lincoln on my left and Governor French on my right, and I -noticed that Mr. Lincoln appeared to be deeply interested in -the sermon. A few days after that Sunday Mr. Lincoln called -on me and informed me that he had been greatly impressed with -my remarks on Sunday and that he had come to talk with me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> -further on the matter. I invited him in, and my wife and I -talked and prayed with him for hours. Now, I have seen many -persons converted; I have seen hundreds brought to Christ, and -if ever a person was converted, Abraham Lincoln was converted -that night in my house. His wife was a Presbyterian, but from -remarks he made to me he could not accept Calvinism. He never -joined my church, but I will always believe that since that night -Abraham Lincoln lived and died a Christian gentleman."</p> - -<p>Here ends the narrative of Colonel Jacquess. Now compare -that which my memory preserved for the past thirteen years -and the Colonel's own printed account, and the discrepancies -are small. It is with pleasure I am able to confirm my memory -by the words of the original narrator. It is with no small -degree of pleasure that I am able to prove that Methodism had -a hand in the making of the greatest American. Colonel James -F. Jacquess has gone to his reward, but it is his honor to have -been used by his Master to help in the spiritualization of the -great man who piloted our national destinies in a time of exceeding -peril. It is an honor to him, and through him to the -denomination of which he was a distinguished member.</p> - -<p class="l"> -<span class="smcap">Baltimore, Md.</span><br /> - -<i>Methodist Christian Advocate</i><br /> - -November 11, 1909. -</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="APPENDIX_IV" id="APPENDIX_IV"></a>APPENDIX IV</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE REED LECTURE</p> - -<p class="c">THE LATER LIFE AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS OF<br /> -ABRAHAM LINCOLN<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">While</span> the fate and future of the Christian religion in nowise -depends upon the sentiments of Abraham Lincoln, yet the life -and character of this remarkable man belong to the public, -to tell for evil or for good on coming generations; and as the -attempt has been made to impute to him the vilest sentiments, -even to his dying day, it is fitting and just that the weakness and -infidelity charged upon his later life should not go down unchallenged -to posterity. The latest biography of Mr. Lincoln, -published under the name of Col. W. H. Lamon, but with the -large co-operation of Mr. W. H. Herndon, concerns itself with -the endeavor to establish certain allegations injurious to the -good name of the illustrious man, whose tragic and untimely -death has consecrated his memory in the hearts of a grateful -nation. Two charges in this biography are worthy of especial -notice and disproof,—the charge that he was born a bastard, and -the charge that he died an infidel. Mr. Lamon begins his pleasing -task by raising dark and unfounded insinuations as to the -legitimacy of his hero, and then occupies from twenty-five to -thirty pages with evidence to prove that Mr. Lincoln was a -confirmed infidel, and died playing a "sharp game on the Christian -community"; that, in his "morbid ambition for popularity," -he would say good Lord or good Devil, "adjusting his religious -sentiments to his political interests." In meeting these insinuations -and charges I shall necessarily have recourse to political<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> -documents and papers, but it shall not be my aim to parade Mr. -Lincoln's political opinions, further than to eliminate from his -writings and speeches his religious sentiments.</p> - -<p>As to the ungracious insinuation that Mr. Lincoln was not -the child of lawful wedlock, I have only to say that it is an -insinuation unsupported by a shadow of justifiable evidence. -The only thing on which Mr. Lamon bases the insinuation is, -that <i>he</i> has been unable to find any record of the marriage -Mr. Lincoln's parents. Just as if it would be any evidence -against the fact of their marriage if no record could be found. -If every man in this country is to be considered as illegitimate -who cannot produce his parents' certificate of marriage, or find -a record of it in a family Bible anywhere, there will be a good -many very respectable people in the same category with Mr. -Lincoln. Such an insinuation might be raised with as much -plausibility in the case of multitudes of the early settlers of the -country. It is a questionable act of friendship thus to rake "the -short and simple annals of the poor," and upon such slender -evidence raise an insinuation so unfounded. But I am prepared -to show that if Mr. Lamon has found no record of the marriage -of Mr. Lincoln's parents, it is simply because he has not extended -his researches as faithfully in this direction as he has in some -others. It appears that there is a well-authenticated record of -the marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, and, in -the same connection, the birth of Abraham Lincoln and Sarah -Lincoln. Hearing that the Hon. J. C. Black, of Champaign, Ill., -a warm personal friend of Mr. Lincoln, had in his possession -several papers given to him soon after Mr. Lincoln's death by a -member of the family, and among them a leaf from the family -Bible containing the record of the marriage of Mr. Lincoln's -parents, I at once telegraphed to him in relation to this record, -and have in my possession the following letter, which will explain -itself:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Champaign, Ill.</span>, Jan. 8th, 1873.</p> - -<p> -<span class="smcap">J. A. Reed</span>: -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>—Your telegram of the 7th reached me this <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> In reply -permit me to say that I was in possession of the leaf of which you -speak, and which contained the record of the marriage of Thos. Lincoln -and Nancy Hanks, the birth of Abraham Lincoln and Sarah Lincoln. -The leaf is very old, and is the last page of the Apocrypha. It was given -to me, with certificate of genuineness, by Dennis F. Hanks in 1866. I -have sent both record and certificate to Wm. P. Black, attorney at law, -131 La Salle Street, Chicago, Ill., and duly by him delivered to the Illinois<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> -Historical Association. Hon. I. N. Arnold called on my brother and -obtained the originals for use in a revised edition of his life of Lincoln, -and I understand that since then they have passed into the hands of -Robt. Lincoln, Esq., where they were when I last heard from them. -Hoping that what I have written may be of some use, I remain</p> - -<p class="r"> -Very truly yours,<br /> -<span class="smcap">J. C. Black</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Presuming that the first of Colonel Lamon's libels upon Mr. -Lincoln's memory is thus sufficiently disposed of, I proceed to -consider the charges against his religious life and character. The -best refutation of these charges lies on the pages of the book -in which they are advanced. However skeptical Mr. Lincoln -may have been in his earlier life, Mr. Lamon persists in asserting -and attempting to prove that he continued a confirmed -skeptic to the last: that he was an unbeliever in the truth of -the Christian religion, and died an infidel; that, while "he was by -no means free from a kind of belief in the supernatural, he -rejected the great facts of Christianity as wanting the support -of authentic evidence"; that, "during all the time of his residence -at Springfield and in Washington, he never let fall from his lips -an expression which remotely implied the slightest faith in -Jesus Christ, as the Son of God and the Saviour of men"; that -"he was at all times an infidel." From twenty-five to thirty -pages of evidence is produced in proof of this allegation.</p> - -<p>But all this positive statement as to Mr. Lincoln's persistent -and final infidelity is contradicted by the admissions of the book -itself. It is admitted that there did come a time in Mr. Lincoln's -life at Springfield when he began to affiliate with Christian -people, and to give his personal presence and support to the -Church. It is admitted that he did so plausibly identify himself -with the Christian community that "his New Salem associates -and the aggressive deists with whom he originally united at -Springfield gradually dispersed and fell away from his side." -Here is the fact, openly and squarely stated by Mr. Lamon, that -Mr. Lincoln, even while at Springfield, did make such a change -in his sentiments and bearing toward the Christian community, -that "the aggressive deists and infidels with whom he originally -united gradually dispersed and fell away from his side." He -no sooner turned away from them in sentiment than they turned -away from him in fact.</p> - -<p>But how does the biographer attempt to explain this? How -does he account for this admitted and observable change in Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> -Lincoln's life, that relieved him of the presence of so much -aggressive deistical company? Why, by means of an explanation -that kills the accusation itself—an explanation that fastens -upon Mr. Lincoln the very charge of hypocrisy against which he -professes to defend him. He accounts for this admitted and observable -change in the attitude of Mr. Lincoln towards the -Christian community, not by supposing that there was any sincerity -about it, but by affirming that he was trying "to play a -sharp game on the Christians of Springfield!" It was because -"he was a wily politician, and did not disdain to regulate his -religious manifestations with reference to his political interests"; -and because, "seeing the immense and augmenting power of the -churches, he aspired to lead the religious community, foreseeing -that in order to his political success he must not appear an enemy -within their gates." And yet, if we are to believe Colonel Lamon, -he was an enemy all the while at heart; and while attending -church, and supporting the Gospel, and making Sabbath school -speeches, and speeches before the Bible Society, he was at heart -a disbeliever of the truth and an antagonist of the cause which -he professed to be supporting. In other words, he was all these -years playing the arrant hypocrite; deceiving the Christian community -and wheedling it for political purposes; playing the role -of a gospel hearer in the sanctuary, and a hail fellow well met -with profane fellows of the baser sort in the private sanctum of -infidelity or "aggressive deism."</p> - -<p>Strangely enough, however, Colonel Lamon and his companion -in authorship not only praise Mr. Lincoln's greatness, but laud -his singular conscientiousness and integrity of motive almost to -perfection. Says Mr. Herndon, "He was justly entitled to the -appellation, Honest Abe"; "honesty was his pole star; conscience, -the faculty that loves the just and the right, was the -second great quality and <i>forte</i> of Mr. Lincoln's character." -"He had a deep, broad, living conscience. His great reason told -him what was true and good, right and wrong, just or unjust, -and his conscience echoed back the decision, and it was from -this point he spoke and wove his character and fame among -us. His conscience ruled his heart." [See Herndon's letter in -Carpenter's <i>Life of Lincoln</i>.]</p> - -<p>In confirmation of this, Mr. Lamon goes on to show that -Mr. Lincoln scorned everything like hypocrisy or deceit. In -fact he makes his hero to be such a paragon of honesty and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> -conscious integrity of motive that he would not undertake to -plead a bad cause before a jury if he could possibly shift the -responsibility over on to some other lawyer, whose conscience -was not quite so tender. He brings in the testimony of a most -reputable lawyer of another place in confirmation of this, who -states: "That for a man who was for a quarter of a century -both a lawyer and a politician, Mr. Lincoln was the most honest -man I ever knew. He was not only morally honest but intellectually -so. He could not reason falsely; if he attempted it -he failed. In politics he never would try to mislead. At the -bar, when he thought he was wrong, he was the weakest lawyer -I ever saw." "In a closely contested case where Mr. Lincoln -had proved an account for a client, who was, though he knew it -not, a very slippery fellow, the opposing attorney afterward -proved a receipt clearly covering the entire case. By the time -he was through Mr. Lincoln was missing. The court sent for -him to the hotel. 'Tell the judge,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'that I -can't come; my hands are dirty and I came over to clean them.'"</p> - -<p>Page after page is thus taken to show Mr. Lincoln's singular -conscientiousness and honesty, his incapability of hypocrisy or -deceit, as a lawyer, a politician and a gentleman. And yet these -consistent biographers go back on all this testimony of their own -mouths when they come to explain the admitted change in his -life when he began to lean toward the church, and the "aggressive -deists" parted company with him. Then they find it convenient -to call him a "wily politician," who is "playing a sharp -game with the Christians"; "the cautious pretender who does -not disdain to regulate his religious manifestations with reference -to his political interests." They saddle upon him the vilest -hypocrisy and deceit, and make him "act the liar's part," in -order to send him down to posterity an infidel. On one page -they reason that Mr. Lincoln could not have made any such -admissions of his belief in the Christian religion as have been -maintained, as such admissions would be contrary to his well-known -character; on the next page they affirm that Mr. Lincoln -could not act the hypocrite; and on a third they do not hesitate -to attribute to him the very grossest duplicity, in their zeal to -fasten on him the charge of permanent skepticism. They go -back on their own logic, eat their own argument, and give the -lie to the very charge they are laboring with such considerable -pains to establish.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> - -<p>The book, therefore, I repeat, bears on its own pages the best -refutation of the charge it makes against Mr. Lincoln. Surely, -such serious inconsistency of statement, such illogical absurdity, -even, could hardly have escaped the notice of the biographers -if some preconceived opinion had not prejudiced their minds -and blinded their eyes. The <i>animus</i> of the book and the purpose -for which it was written are only too apparent.</p> - -<p>Perhaps it might suffice to rest the refutation of this charge -against Mr. Lincoln's religious character on the internal evidence -of Colonel Lamon's volume with which I have thus far been occupied. -But there is something to be said concerning the authenticity -and accuracy of the testimony by which the charge seems -to be supported.</p> - -<p>I have been amazed to find that the principal persons whose -testimony is given in this book to prove that their old friend -lived and died an infidel, never wrote a word of it, and never -gave it as their opinion or allowed it to be published as covering -their estimate of Mr. Lincoln's life and religious views. They -were simply familiarly interviewed, and their testimony misrepresented, -abridged and distorted to suit the purpose of the -interviewer, and the business he had on hand.</p> - -<p>The two gentlemen whose names are most relied upon, and -who stand first on the list of witnesses to establish the charge -these biographers have made, are the Hon. John T. Stuart, and -Col. Jas. H. Matheny, of Springfield, old and intimate friends of -Mr. Lincoln.</p> - -<p>Hon. John T. Stuart is an ex-member of Congress, and -was Mr. Lincoln's first law partner,—a gentleman of the highest -standing and ability in his profesion, and of unimpeachable -integrity. Mr. Lamon has attributed to Mr. Stuart testimony -the most disparaging and damaging to Mr. Lincoln's character -and opinions,—testimony which Mr. Stuart utterly repudiates, -both as to language and sentiment, as the following letter -shows:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Springfield</span>, Dec. 17th, 1872. -</p> -<p> -<span class="smcap">Rev. J. A. Reed</span>: -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>—My attention has been called to a statement in relation -to the religious opinions of Mr. Lincoln, purporting to have been made -by me and published in Lamon's <i>Life of Lincoln</i>. The language of that -statement is not mine; it was not written by me, and I did not see it -until it was in print.</p> - -<p>I was once interviewed on the subject of Mr. Lincoln's religious -opinions, and doubtless said that Mr. Lincoln was in the earlier part of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> -his life an infidel. I could not have said that "Dr. Smith tried to convert -Lincoln from infidelity so late as 1858, and couldn't do it." In -relation to that point, I stated, in the same conversation, some facts -which are omitted in that statement, and which I will briefly repeat. -That Eddie, a child of Mr. Lincoln, died in 1848 or 1849, -and that he and his wife were in deep grief on that account. That -Dr. Smith, then Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, -at the suggestion of a lady friend of theirs, called upon Mr. and Mrs. -Lincoln, and that first visit resulted in great intimacy and friendship -between them, lasting till the death of Mr. Lincoln, and continuing with -Mrs. Lincoln till the death of Dr. Smith. I stated that I had heard, -at the time, that Dr. Smith and Mr. Lincoln had much discussion in -relation to the truth of the Christian religion, and that Dr. Smith had -furnished Mr. Lincoln with books to read on that subject, and among -others one which had been written by himself, some time previous, on -infidelity; and that Dr. Smith claimed that after this investigation Mr. -Lincoln had changed his opinion, and become a believer in the truth -of the Christian religion: that Mr. Lincoln and myself never conversed -upon that subject, and I had no personal knowledge as to his -alleged change of opinion. I stated, however, that it was certainly true, -that up to that time Mr. Lincoln had never regularly attended any place -of religious worship, but that after that time he rented a pew in the -First Presbyterian Church, and with his family constantly attended the -worship in that church until he went to Washington as President. This -much I said at the time, and can now add that the Hon. Ninian W. -Edwards, the brother-in-law of Mr. Lincoln, has, within a few days, -informed me that when Mr. Lincoln commenced attending the First -Presbyterian Church he admitted to him that his views had undergone -the change claimed by Dr. Smith.</p> - -<p>I would further say that Dr. Smith was a man of very great ability -and on theological and metaphysical subjects had few superiors and not -many equals.</p> - -<p>Truthfulness was a prominent trait in Mr. Lincoln's character, and -it would be impossible for any intimate friend of his to believe that he -ever aimed to deceive, either by his words or his conduct.</p> - -<p class="r"> -Yours truly,<br /> -<span class="smcap">John T. Stuart</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Similar testimony, to the extent of a page or more of finely -printed matter, Mr. Lamon attributes to Col. Jas. H. Matheny, -of Springfield, Ill., an old acquaintance of Mr. Lincoln, an able -lawyer and of high standing in the community. Mr. Matheny -testifies that he never wrote a word of what is attributed to him; -that it is not a fair representation of either his language or his -opinions, and that he never would have allowed such an article -to be published as covering his estimate of Mr. Lincoln's life -and character. Here is what this gentleman has to say, given -over his own signature:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Springfield</span>, Dec. 16th, 1872. -</p> -<p> -<span class="smcap">Rev. J. A. Reed</span>: -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>—The language attributed to me in Lamon's book is not -from my pen. I did not write it, and it does not express my sentiments -of Mr. Lincoln's entire life and character. It is a mere collection of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> -sayings gathered from private conversations that were only true of Mr. -Lincoln's earlier life. I would not have allowed such an article to be -printed over my signature as covering my opinion of Mr. Lincoln's life -and religious sentiments. While I do believe Mr. Lincoln to have been -an infidel in his former life, when his mind was as yet unformed, and -his associations principally with rough and skeptical men, yet I believe -he was a very different man in later life; and that after associating -with a different class of men, and investigating the subject, he was a -firm believer in the Christian religion.</p> - -<p class="r"> -Yours truly,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Jas. H. Matheny</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>It is unnecessary that I occupy more space with the rest of -the testimony, as there is none of it given over the signature -of anybody, save that which is given over the signature of W. -H. Herndon. All aside from this bears evidence of having been -manipulated to suit the purpose for which it is wanted, and is -either contradictory, or fails to cover the whole of Mr. Lincoln's -life. Judge Davis, for instance, is made to say: "I don't know -anything about Lincoln's religion, nor do I think anybody else -knows anything about it." Of what value can the testimony -be that is prefaced with such declarations of knowing nothing -about the matter?</p> - -<p>John G. Nicolay is made to testify, that "to his knowledge -Mr. Lincoln did not change his views after he came to Washington"; -and yet he states in immediate connection that "he does -not know what his views were, never having heard him explain -them."</p> - -<p>Jesse W. Fell either testifies, or is made to testify, to Mr. -Lincoln's skeptical notions. And yet Mr. Fell admits that it "was -eight or ten years previous to his death" that he believed him -to be entertaining the views of which he speaks, "and that he -<i>may have changed his sentiments</i> after his removal from among -us." All this would be strange kind of testimony on which to -convict Mr. Lincoln of murder in the presence of a judge and -jury. But with such evidence it is sought to convict him of -infidelity.</p> - -<p>We are enabled to see, therefore, in the light of this revelation, -of what "trustworthy materials" this book is composed; -how much Mr. Lamon's "names and dates and authorities, by -which he strengthens his testimony," are to be depended upon; -and what reason unsuspecting or sympathizing critics and journalists -have for arriving at the sage conclusion that Mr. Lincoln -"was, in his habit of thought, heterodox in the extreme to the -close of his life, and a very different man from what he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> -supposed to be." The evidence of this book, so far as the prominent -witnesses are concerned, and so far as it relates to the -later years of Mr. Lincoln's life, is not only utterly untrustworthy, -but even an ingenious and romantic invention.</p> - -<p>Having shown what claims Mr. Lamon's book has to being -the "only fair and reliable history" of Mr. Lincoln's life and -views, and of what "trustworthy materials" it is composed, I -shall now give the testimony I have collected to establish what -has ever been the public impression, that Mr. Lincoln was in -his later life, and at the time of his death, a firm believer in the -truth of the Christian religion. The infidelity of his earlier -life is not so much to be wondered at, when we consider the -poverty of his early religious instruction and the peculiar influences -by which he was surrounded. Gideon Welles, formerly -Secretary of the Navy, in a recent article in the <i>Galaxy</i>, in accounting -for the late and peculiar manifestation of faith which -Mr. Lincoln exhibited, says: "It was doubtless to be attributed -in a great measure to the absence of early religious culture—a -want of educational advantages in his youthful frontier life." -This, together with the fact that his youth and early manhood -were spent chiefly among a rough, illiterate and skeptical class of -people, is amply confirmed by Mr. Lamon's narrative.</p> - -<p>On the same authority it appears that Mr. Lincoln had in -his former life read but few books, and that everything he had -read, of an intellectual character, bearing on the truth of the -Bible, was of an infidel sort. It does not appear that he had -ever seen, much less read, a work on the evidences of Christianity -till his interview with Rev. Dr. Smith in 1848. We hear of -him as reading Paine, Voltaire and Theodore Parker, but nothing -on the other side. The men by whom he was surrounded in his -earlier life, it seems, kept him well supplied with their kind of -literature. He was familiar with some of the master spirits of -infidelity and theism, but had never grappled with the evidences -of Christianity as presented by the great defenders of the -Christian faith.</p> - -<p>But then Mr. Lincoln's mind was of too much greatness and -intellectual candor to remain the victim of a false theory in the -presence of clear and sufficient intellectual testimony. And he -no sooner, in the providence of God, was placed in possession of -the truth, and led to investigate for himself, than he stood firmly -and avowedly on the side of the Christian religion.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> - -<p>In proof of this statement, I first of all produce the testimony -of Rev. Dr. Smith, Mr. Lincoln's pastor at Springfield. In relation -to Mr. Lincoln's opinion of Dr. Smith, it is only necessary -for me to state that he stood so high in his esteem, that he gave -him the appointment of Consul to Glasgow. Dr. Smith was in -Scotland at the time of Mr. Lincoln's death, and soon after -this sad event, Mr. Herndon conceived the notion of collecting -materials for his intended biography. He accordingly addressed -a letter to Dr. Smith in Scotland, with the view of getting some -information from so respectable a source to prove that Mr. -Lincoln had died an infidel. In this however he was mistaken, -to his evident chagrin and disappointment. I shall give some -extracts from Dr. Smith's printed letter, which is to be found -in the Springfield <i>Journal</i> of March, 1867, in which he gives -his opinion of both Mr. Herndon and Mr. Lincoln.</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">East Cainno, Scotland</span>, 24th Jan. 1867. -</p> -<p> -<span class="smcap">W. H. Herndon, Esq.</span>: -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>—Your letter of the 20th Dec. was duly received. In it you ask -me to answer several questions in relation to the illustrious President -Abraham Lincoln. With regard to your second question, I beg leave -to say it is a very easy matter to prove that while I was pastor of the -First Presbyterian Church of v Springfield, Mr. Lincoln did avow his -belief in the divine authority and inspiration of the Scriptures, and I -hold that it is a matter of the last importance not only to the present, -but all future generations of the Great Republic, and to all advocates -of civil and religious liberty throughout the world, that this avowal on -his part, and the circumstances attending it, together with very interesting -incidents illustrative of the excellence of his character, in my possession, -should be made known to the public. I am constrained, however, most -respectfully to decline choosing you as the medium through which such -a communication shall be made by me. [Omitting that portion of the -letter which bears on Mr. Herndon, I give what is written in vindication -of Mr. Lincoln.—J. A. R.] My intercourse with Abraham Lincoln -convinced me that he was not only an honest man, but preëminently an -upright man—ever ready, so far as in his power, to render unto all their -dues.</p> - -<p>It was my honor to place before Mr. Lincoln arguments designed -to prove the divine authority and inspiration of the Scriptures, accompanied -by the arguments of infidel objectors in their own language. To -the arguments on both sides Mr. Lincoln gave a most patient, impartial, -and searching investigation. To use his own language, he examined the -arguments as a lawyer who is anxious to reach the truth investigates -testimony. The result was the announcement by himself that the argument -in favor of the divine authority and inspiration of the Scriptures -was unanswerable. I could say much more on this subject, but as you -are the person addressed, for the present I decline. The assassin Booth, -by his diabolical act, unwittingly sent the illustrious martyr to glory, -honor, and immortality; but his false friend has attempted to send him -down to posterity with infamy branded on his forehead, as a man who,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> -notwithstanding all he suffered for his country's good, was destitute of -those feelings and affections without which there can be no real excellency -of character. Sir, I am with due respect your obedient servant,</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Jas. Smith</span>. -</p> - -<p>N.B.—It will no doubt be gratifying to the friends of Christianity to -learn that very shortly after Mr. Lincoln became a member of my congregation, -at my request, in the presence of a large assembly at the annual -meeting of the Bible Society of Springfield, he delivered an address the -object of which was to inculcate the importance of having the Bible -placed in possession of every family in the State. In the course of it -he drew a striking contrast between the Decalogue and the moral codes -of the most eminent lawgivers of antiquity, and closed (as near as I can -recollect) in the following language: "It seems to me that nothing -short of infinite wisdom could by any possibility have devised and given -to man this excellent and perfect moral code. It is suited to men in -all conditions of life and includes all the duties they owe to their Creator, -to themselves, and to their fellow-men."</p> - -<p class="r"> -J. S. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Lamon, aware of the importance of Dr. Smith's testimony, -attempts to break the force of it by the <i>argumentum ad -nauseam</i>. He alludes to Dr. Smith as a gentleman of "slender -abilities for the conversion of so distinguished a person, and -as having in his zeal composed a heavy tract out of his own -head to suit the particular case, and that he afterwards <i>drew</i> -the acknowledgment from Mr. Lincoln that it was unanswerable," -and that he himself is the only man that can testify of -such an admission on the part of Mr. Lincoln. This is all the -gratuitous assertion of a man who is driven to the wall for -evidence to prove his point. Now John T. Stuart has already -testified to Dr. Smith's abilities as a theologian and a metaphysician -having few superiors. He testifies to the fact that -Dr. Smith's work was not written to suit Mr. Lincoln's case. -It was written previously, before Dr. Smith ever saw Mr. Lincoln. -Nor is it true that Dr. Smith is the only one who can -testify to an admission on the part of Mr. Lincoln of a change -of sentiments. There are many residents of Springfield, both -ladies and gentlemen, who can testify to this admission. I give -one or two letters as a sample.</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Springfield</span>, Dec. 24th, 1872. -</p> -<p> -<span class="smcap">Rev. Jas. Reed</span>: -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>—A short time after the Rev. Dr. Smith became pastor -of the First Presbyterian Church in this city, Mr. Lincoln said to me, "I -have been reading a work of Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christianity, -and have heard him preach and converse on the subject, and I am now -convinced of the truth of the Christian religion."</p> - -<p class="r"> -Yours truly,<br /> -<span class="smcap">N. W. Edwards</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Springfield</span>, Jan. 6th, 1873. -</p> -<p> -<span class="smcap">Rev. J. A. Reed</span>: -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>—Not long after Dr. Smith came to Springfield, and I -think very near the time of his son's death, Mr. Lincoln said to me, -that when on a visit somewhere, he had seen and partially read a work -of Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christianity which had led him to -change his views about the Christian religion; that he would like to get -that work to finish the reading of it, and also to make the acquaintance -of Dr. Smith. I was an elder in Dr. Smith's church, and took Dr. Smith -to Mr. Lincoln's office and introduced him, and Dr. Smith gave Mr. -Lincoln a copy of his book, as I know, at his own request.</p> - -<p class="r"> -Yours, &c.,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Thos. Lewis</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>There are many others who can testify that Mr. Lincoln, -both publicly and privately while at Springfield, made the admission -of his belief in the truth of the Christian religion. He -did it in most unequivocal language, in addresses before the -Bible Society and in Sabbath school.</p> - -<p>I next refer to the testimony of Rev. Dr. Gurley, Mr. Lincoln's -pastor at Washington City. Even if, before his election -to the Presidency, Mr. Lincoln had entertained the sentiments -attributed to him, after he had reached the pinnacle of political -elevation, there was certainly no necessity for him any longer -to be "playing a sharp game with the Christians," and destroying -his peace of mind by wearing the mask of hypocrisy. He was -surely free now to worship where he felt most comfortable. -But we no sooner find him in Washington than we find him -settling down under the ministry of Dr. Gurley, a sound and -orthodox minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Dr. Gurley was -his intimate friend, and spiritual counselor and adviser, during -the most trying and difficult time of his life. He was with him -not only in the hours of his personal family bereavement, but -when his heart was heavy and perplexed with the welfare of -his country. Having been associated with Dr. Gurley in the -charge of his pulpit for a time previous to his death, and being -intimately acquainted with him, I have had the opportunity of -knowing what his views of Mr. Lincoln's sentiments were. In -the funeral oration which Dr. Gurley delivered in Washington, -he says:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Probably since the days of Washington no man was ever -so deeply and firmly embedded and enshrined in the hearts of -the people as Abraham Lincoln. Nor was it a mistaken confidence -and love. He deserved it—deserved it all. He merited -it by his character, by his acts, and by the whole tone and tenor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> -of his life.... His integrity was thorough, all-pervading, all-controlling -and incorruptible. He saw his duty as the Chief -Magistrate of a great and imperiled people, and he determined -to do his duty, seeking the guidance, and leaning on the arm of -Him of whom it is written: 'He giveth power to the faint, -and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.'</p> - -<p>"Never shall I forget the emphatic and deep emotion with -which he said in this very room, to a company of clergymen who -called to pay their respects to him in the darkest days of our -civil conflict: 'Gentlemen, my hope of success in this struggle -rests on that immutable foundation, the justness and the goodness -of God; and when events are very threatening I shall hope -that in some way all will be well in the end, because our cause -is just and God will be on our side.'"</p></blockquote> - -<p>This was uttered when Dr. Gurley was not aware, as I suppose, -that Mr. Lincoln had ever been charged with entertaining -infidel sentiments. While sitting in the study one day with him, -conversing on Mr. Lincoln's character, I asked him about the -rumor of his infidelity then being circulated by Mr. Herndon. -He said, "I do not believe a word of it. It could not have been -true of him while here, for I have had frequent and intimate -conversations with him on the subject of the Bible and the -Christian religion, when he could have had no motive to deceive -me, and I considered him sound not only on the truth of the -Christian religion but on all its fundamental doctrines and teaching. -And more than that: in the latter days of his chastened -and weary life, after the death of his son Willie, and his visit -to the battlefield of Gettysburg, he said, with tears in his eyes, -that he had lost confidence in everything but God, and that he -now believed his heart was changed, and that he loved the -Saviour, and if he was not deceived in himself, it was his intention -soon to make a profession of religion." Language to -this effect Mr. Lincoln, it appears, used in conversation with -other persons, and I refer next to the corroborating testimony -of Noah Brooks, Esq., now associated with the New York -<i>Tribune</i>. This gentleman has already published most interesting -testimony in relation to Mr. Lincoln's religious sentiments in -<i>Harper's Monthly</i> of July, 1865. In order that his testimony -may be fully appreciated, I will here state, on the authority of -a mutual friend, that "Mr. Brooks is himself an earnest Christian -man, and had the appointment of private secretary to the Presi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>dent, -to which office he would have acceded had Mr. Lincoln -lived. He was so intimate with the President that he visited him -socially at times when others were refused admission, took tea -with the family, spending evenings with him, reading to him, -and conversing with him freely on social and religious topics, -and in my opinion knows more of the secret inner life and religious -views of Mr. Lincoln, at least during the term of his -presidency, than any man living." The following is a letter -which I have received from Mr. Brooks in relation to his views -of Mr. Lincoln's religious sentiments:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">New York</span>, Dec. 31st, 1872. -</p> -<p> -<span class="smcap">Rev. J. A. Reed</span>: -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Sir</span>—In addition to what has appeared from my pen, I will -state that I have had many conversations with Mr. Lincoln, which were -more or less of a religious character, and while I never tried to draw -anything like a statement of his views from him, yet he freely expressed -himself to me as having "a hope of blessed immortality through Jesus -Christ." His views seemed to settle so naturally around that statement, -that I considered no other necessary. His language seemed not that -of an inquirer, but of one who had a prior settled belief in the fundamental -doctrines of the Christian religion. Once or twice, speaking to -me of the change which had come upon him, he said, while he could -not fix any definite time, yet it was after he came here, and I am very -positive that in his own mind he identified it with about the time of -Willie's death. He said, too, that after he went to the White House -he kept up the habit of daily prayer. Sometimes he said it was only -ten words, but those ten words he had. There is no possible reason -to suppose that Mr. Lincoln would ever deceive me as to his religious -sentiments. In many conversations with him, I absorbed the firm conviction -that Mr. Lincoln was at heart a Christian man, believed in the -Saviour, and was seriously considering the step which would formally -connect him with the visible Church on earth. Certainly, any suggestion -as to Mr. Lincoln's skepticism or infidelity, to me who knew him intimately -from 1862 till the time of his death, is a monstrous fiction—a -shocking perversion.</p> - -<p class="r"> -Yours truly,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Noah Brooks</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>The following extract I add also from Mr. Brooks's article -in <i>Harper's Monthly</i> of July, 1865: "There was something touching -in his childlike and simple reliance on Divine aid, especially -when in such extremities as he sometimes fell into; then, though -prayer and reading the Scriptures was his constant habit, he -more earnestly than ever sought that strength which is promised -when mortal help faileth. He said once, 'I have been many -times driven to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I -had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about -me, seemed insufficient for that day.' At another time he said,</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p> -<blockquote> - -<p>'I am very sure that if I do not go away from here a wiser -man, I shall go away a better man for having learned here what -a very poor sort of a man I am.'"</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Carpenter, author of <i>Six Months in the White House</i>, -whose intimacy with Mr. Lincoln gives importance to his testimony, -says that "he believed Mr. Lincoln to be a sincere Christian," -and among other proofs of it gives another well-authenticated -admission (made by Mr. Lincoln to an estimable lady -of Brooklyn, laboring in the Christian Commission) of a change -of heart, and of his intention at some suitable opportunity to -make a profession of religion.</p> - -<p>Mr. Newton Bateman, Superintendent of Public Instruction -in the State of Illinois, a gentleman of rare literary attainments, -and of unquestionable veracity, has given very important testimony -in relation to one particular point, more especially, Mr. -Lincoln's belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Both Mr. Herndon -and Mr. Lamon persist in asserting that Mr. Lincoln never -used the name of Jesus Christ except to deny His divinity, and -that Mr. Bateman is "the sole and only man who dare say -that Mr. Lincoln believed Jesus Christ to be the Son of God."</p> - -<p>Mr. Bateman testifies that in 1860, Mr. Lincoln in conversation -with him used the following language: "I know that there -is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the -storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has -a place and a work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am -ready. I am nothing, but truth is everything. I know I am -right, because I know that liberty is right, for Christ teaches -it and Christ is God. I have told them a house divided against -itself cannot stand; and Christ and reason say the same, and -they will find it so," &c. This testimony was originally given -in Holland's <i>Life of Lincoln</i>. Mr. Herndon, at first unwilling -to impeach Mr. Bateman's veracity, suggests a doubt "whether -he is correctly reported in Holland's history"; presently, however, -summoning courage, he ventures the affirmation: "On my -word the world may take it for granted that Holland is wrong; -that he does not state Mr. Lincoln's views correctly." He then -goes on to say that "between himself and Dr. Holland, Mr. -Bateman is not in a very pleasant situation." We have seen, -however, that Mr. Herndon's "word," in a matter where his -prejudices are so violent and his convictions so obstinate, is -hardly a sufficient denial with which to oppose the deliberate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> -and unretracted statement of an intelligent and reputable witness. -And Mr. Bateman has no need to be disturbed, so long as -the "unpleasantness" of his situation is occasioned by no more -serious discomfort than Mr. Herndon's unsupported contradiction. -As the matter now stands, Mr. Herndon offers a denial, -based on general impressions as to Mr. Lincoln's character, -against the direct, specific, and detailed testimony of a careful -and competent man as to what he heard with his own ears. Mr. -Herndon simply did not hear what Mr. Bateman did hear; and -is in the position of that Irishman on trial for his life, who, when -one witness swore directly that he saw the accused commit the -crime, proposed to put upon the stand a dozen witnesses who -could swear they did <i>not</i> see him.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lamon also states that Mr. Bateman is a respectable -citizen, whose general reputation for truth and veracity is not -to be impeached, but his story, as reported in Holland's <i>Life -of Lincoln</i>, is so inconsistent with Mr. Lincoln's whole character -that it must be rejected as altogether incredible. Unfortunately, -however, for Mr. Lamon, he has not so impressed us with the -trustworthy nature of the materials of his own book, as that -we can afford to distrust the honesty and integrity of either Dr. -Holland or Mr. Bateman for his sake. If anybody's story of -Mr. Lincoln's life and sentiments is to be "rejected as inconsistent -and altogether incredible," the testimony thus far would -seem to indicate that it is Mr. Lamon's story. At least that is -the "unpleasant situation" in which we shall leave the matter, -so far as Mr. Bateman and Dr. Holland are concerned in it.</p> - -<p>But Mr. Bateman is not the only one who can testify that -Mr. Lincoln did use the name of the Saviour, and believed him -to be the Christ of God. I have given several instances already -in which he used the name of Christ as his Saviour, and avowed -that he loved Him. Moreover, he could not have avowed his -belief in the truth of the Christian religion, as many witnesses -testify, if he did not believe Jesus to be the Christ of -God.</p> - -<p>To the various testimony which we have thus far cited it -only remains for me to add the testimony of his own lips. In -his address to the colored people of Baltimore, on the occasion -of the presentation of a copy of the Bible, Mr. Lincoln said: -"In regard to this great Book, I have only to say, it is the -best gift which God has ever given to man. All the good from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> -the Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this -Book."</p> - -<p>To the Hon. H. C. Deming, of Connecticut, he said that the -"article of his faith was contained in the Saviour's condensed -statement of both law and gospel—'Thou shalt love the Lord -thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all -thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.'"</p> - -<p>Mr. Herndon affirms that Mr. Lincoln did not believe in -the "Christian dogma of the forgiveness of sin": he believed -that "God would not and could not forgive sin. He did not -believe in forgiveness through Christ, nor in fact in any doctrine -of forgiveness. In reading Mr. Lincoln's proclamations, however, -we find that he does very distinctly recognize the doctrine -of the forgiveness of sin on the part of God, and very earnestly -implores the people to seek the forgiveness of their sins. In -his proclamation of a fast day, August, 1861, are these words:</p> - -<p>"And, whereas, it is fit and becoming in all people, at all -times, to acknowledge and revere the supreme government of -God; to bow in humble submission to his chastisements; to -confess and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full -conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, -and to pray with all fervency and contrition for the <i>pardon</i> of -their past offenses, and for a blessing on their present and -prospective action," etc.</p> - -<p>Read also his proclamation enforcing the observance of the -Christian Sabbath in the Army and Navy, and ask yourself, -Could an infidel have done this?</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, desires -and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and -men in the military and naval service. The importance for man and -beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers -and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian -people, and a due regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor -in the Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of a strict necessity. -The discipline and character of the National forces should not suffer, -nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the profanation of the day -and the name of the Most High. At this time of public distress, adopting -the words of Washington in 1776, "Men may find enough to do in -the service of God and their country without abandoning themselves -to vice and immorality." The first general order issued by the Father -of his Country, after the Declaration of Independence, indicates the -spirit in which our institutions were founded and should ever be defended: -"The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will -endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier defending the -dearest rights and liberties of his country."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln.</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span></p> - -<p>Besides all this, we find Mr. Lincoln often using the very -language of the Saviour, as not only expressing but giving the -sanction of Divine authority to his own views and opinions. -What a remarkable instance of it in the solemn words that -fell from his lips in his last inaugural, as he stood on the steps -of the Capitol! Standing upon the verge of his grave, as he -was that day, and addressing his last official words to his countrymen, -his lips touched as with the finger of inspiration, he -said:</p> - -<p>"The Almighty has His own purposes. 'Woe unto the -world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses -will come; but woe unto the man by whom the offense cometh.' -If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of these offenses -which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, -having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to -remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible -war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall -we discern any departure therein from those Divine attributes -which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? -Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that the mighty scourge -of war may pass away. Yet if God will that it continue until -all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty -years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of -blood drawn with the lash shall be paid with another drawn -by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so must -it still be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous -altogether.'"</p> - -<p>Thus it appears, that whether Mr. Lincoln was ever accustomed -to blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ or not, or whether -he was ever accustomed to deny His divinity or not, as his -defamers allege, he is willing, in the last eventful days of his -life, standing at the nation's Capitol, in the hearing of the -swelling multitude that hangs upon his lips, to use the sanction -of Divine authority to one of the most remarkable sentences of -his official address.</p> - -<p>Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, of Chicago, an intimate acquaintance -of Mr. Lincoln, and who is engaged in a review of his work on -Mr. Lincoln's life, writes me that "from the time he left Springfield, -with the touching request for the prayers of his friends -and neighbors, to the day of his death, his words were the words -of a Christian, revering the Bible, and obeying its precepts. A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> -spirit of reverence and deep religious feeling pervades nearly -all the public utterances and state papers of his later life."</p> - -<p>The following interesting testimony from Rev. Dr. Byron -Sunderland, of the First Presbyterian Church of Washington -City, gives us a little insight into the philosophy of Mr. Lincoln's -mind and religious sentiments:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Washington City</span>, Nov. 15th, 1872. -</p> -<p> -<span class="smcap">Rev. Jas. A. Reed</span>: -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Bro.</span>—It was in the last days of 1862, about the time Mr. -Lincoln was seriously contemplating the issuing of the Emancipation -Proclamation, that I, in company with some friends of the President, -called upon him. After some conversation, in which he seemed disposed -to have his joke and fun, he settled down to a serious consideration of -the subject before his mind, and for one half-hour poured forth a volume -of the deepest Christian philosophy I ever heard. He began by saying—</p> - -<p>"The ways of God are mysterious and profound beyond all comprehension—'who -by searching can find Him out?' Now, judging after -the manner of men, taking counsel of our sympathies and feelings, if -it had been left to us to determine it, we would have had no war. And -going further back to the occasion of it, we would have had no slavery. -And tracing it still further back, we would have had no evil. There is -the mystery of the universe which no man can solve, and it is at that -point that the human understanding utterly backs down. And then -there is nothing left but for the heart of man to take up faith and believe -and trust where it cannot reason. Now, I believe we are all agents -and instruments of Divine providence. On both sides we are working -out the will of God; yet how strange the spectacle! Here is one half -the nation prostrated in prayer that God will help them to destroy the -Union and build up a government upon the cornerstone of human -bondage. And here is the other half equally earnest in their prayers -and efforts to defeat a purpose which they regard as so repugnant to -their ideas of human nature and the rights of society, as well as liberty -and independence. They want slavery; we want freedom. They want a -servile class; we want to make equality practical as far as possible. And -they are Christians, and we are Christians. They and we are praying -and fighting for results exactly the opposite. What must God think of -such a posture of affairs? There is but one solution—self-deception. -Somewhere there is a fearful heresy in our religion, and I cannot think -it lies in the love of liberty and in the aspirations of the human soul.</p> - -<p>"What I am to do in the present emergency time will determine. -I hold myself in my present position and with the authority vested in -me as an instrument of Providence. I have my own views and purposes, -I have my convictions of duty, and my notions of what is right to be -done. But I am conscious every moment that all I am and all I have -is subject to the control of a Higher Power, and that Power can use -me or not use me in any manner, and at any time, as in His wisdom and -might may be pleasing to Him.</p> - -<p>"Nevertheless, I am no fatalist. I believe in the supremacy of the -human conscience, and that men are responsible beings; that God has -a right to hold them, and will hold them, to a strict personal account for -the deeds done in the body. But, sirs, I do not mean to give you a -lecture upon the doctrines of the Christian religion. These are simply -with me the convictions and realities of great and vital truths, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> -power and demonstration of which I see now in the light of this our -national struggle as I have never seen before. God only knows the issue -of this business. He has destroyed nations from the map of history -for their sins. Nevertheless my hopes prevail generally above my fears -for our own Republic. The times are dark, the spirits of ruin are -abroad in all their power, and the mercy of God alone can save us."</p> - -<p>So did the President discourse until we felt we were imposing on -his time, and rising we took our leave of him, confident that he would -be true to those convictions of right and duty which were derived from -so deep a Christian philosophy.</p> - -<p class="r"> -Yours truly,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Byron Sunderland</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>The Rev. Dr. Miner, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of -Springfield, who was intimately acquainted with Mr. Lincoln, -and visited him and his family in Washington previous to his -death, has left most interesting testimony in reference to Mr. -Lincoln's religious sentiments, confirmatory of what has been -given, and which is preserved in the archives of the University -of Chicago. Dr. Miner sums up his impressions of Mr. Lincoln -as follows: "All that was said during that memorable afternoon -I spent alone with that great and good man is engraven too -deeply on my memory ever to be effaced. I felt certain of this -fact, that if Mr. Lincoln was not really an experimental Christian, -he was acting like one. He was doing his duty manfully, -and looking to God for help in time of need; and, like the immortal -Washington, he believed in the efficacy of prayer, and -it was his custom to read the Scriptures and pray himself." -And here I would relate an incident which occurred on the 4th -of March, 1861, as told me by Mrs. Lincoln. Said she: "Mr. -Lincoln wrote the conclusion of his inaugural address the morning -it was delivered. The family being present, he read it to -them. He then said he wished to be left alone for a short time. -The family retired to an adjoining room, but not so far distant -but that the voice of prayer could be distinctly heard. There, -closeted with God alone, surrounded by the enemies who were -ready to take his life, he commended his country's cause and -all dear to him to God's providential care, and with a mind -calmed with communion with his Father in heaven, and courage -equal to the danger, he came forth from that retirement ready -for duty."</p> - -<p>With such testimony, gathered from gentlemen of the highest -standing, and much more that I could add to confirm it, I leave -the later life and religious sentiments of Abraham Lincoln to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> -the dispassionate and charitable judgment of a grateful people. -While it is to be regretted that Mr. Lincoln was not spared to -indicate his religious sentiments by a profession of his faith -in accordance with the institutions of the Christian religion, yet -it is very clear that he had this step in view, and was seriously -contemplating it, as a sense of its fitness and an apprehension -of his duty grew upon him. He did not ignore a relation to -the Christian church as an obsolete duty and an unimportant -matter. How often do we hear him thanking God for the -churches! And he was fast bringing his life into conformity -to the Christian standard. The coarse story-telling of his early -days was less indulged in in his later life. Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, -and Mr. Carpenter, as well as Mr. Lincoln's physician at Washington, -Dr. Stone, all testify that "while his stories and anecdotes -were racy, witty, and pointed beyond all comparison," yet they -"never heard one of a character needing palliation or excuse." -His physician, Dr. Stone, testifies that "Mr. Lincoln was the -purest-hearted man he ever came in contact with."</p> - -<p>His disposition to attend the theater in later life (if to anyone -it seems to need apology) was not so much a fondness for the -playhouse as a relief from his mental anxiety, and an escape from -the incessant pressure of visitors at the White House. "It is -a well-known fact," says Dr. Miner, "that he would not have -been at the theater on that fatal night, but to escape the multitude -who were that evening pressing into the White House to -shake hands with him. It has been said that Mrs. Lincoln urged -her husband to go to the theater against his will. This is not -true. On the contrary, she tried to persuade him not to go, -but he insisted. He said, 'I must have a little rest. A large -and overjoyed, excited people will visit me tonight. My arms -are lame by shaking hands with the multitude, and the people -will pull me to pieces.' He went to the theater, not because -he was interested in the play, but because he was care-worn and -needed quiet and repose. Mrs. Lincoln informed me that he -seemed to take no notice of what was going on in the theater -from the time he entered it till the discharge of the fatal pistol. -She said that the last day he lived was the happiest of his life. -The very last moments of his conscious life were spent in conversation -with her about his future plans, and what he wanted -to do when his term of office expired. He said he wanted to -visit the Holy Land and see the places hallowed by the foot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>prints -of the Saviour. He was saying there was no city he so -much desired to see as <i>Jerusalem</i>; and with that word half -spoken on his tongue, the bullet of the assassin entered his brain, -and the soul of the great and good President was carried by -angels to the New Jerusalem above."</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="APPENDIX_V" id="APPENDIX_V"></a>APPENDIX V</h2></div> - -<p class="c">TWO HERNDON LETTERS CONCERNING LINCOLN'S<br /> -RELIGION</p> - -<p class="c little">BRIEF ANALYSIS OF LINCOLN'S CHARACTER</p> - - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Springfield, Ill</span>., Sept. 10, 1887. -</p> -<p> -<span class="smcap">J. E. Remsburg</span>, Oak Mills, Kansas. -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Friend Remsburg</span>: Today I send you Speed's lecture on -"Lincoln," which you can keep till I send for it—and this will -probably be never. It is a very poor lecture if the lecture contains -his knowledge of Lincoln, and, I guess it does. It shows no -insight into Lincoln at all, though it is well enough written. -It is said that Speed had a world of influence over Lincoln. -This may be so, and yet I never saw it. It is said by Nicolay -and Hay that Lincoln poured out his soul to Speed. Bah! -Nonsense! Probably, except in his love scrapes, Lincoln never -poured out his soul to any mortal creature at any time and on -no subject. He was the most secretive, reticent, shut-mouthed -man that ever existed.</p> - -<p>You had to <i>guess</i> at the man after years of acquaintance -and then you must look long and keenly before you <i>guessed</i>, or -you would make an ass of yourself.</p> - -<p>You had to take some leading—great leading and well-established—fact -of Lincoln's nature and then follow it by accurate -and close analysis wherever it went.</p> - -<p>This process would lead you correctly if you knew human -nature and its laws. Lincoln was a mystery to the world; -he loved principle, but moved ever just to suit his own ends; -he was a trimmer among men, though firm on laws and great -principles; he did not care for men; they were his tools and -instruments; he was a cool man—an unsocial one—an abstracted -one, having the very quintessence of the profoundest policies. -Lincoln's heart was tender, full of mercy, if in his presence some -imaginative man presented the subject to him. "Out of sight, -out of mind" may truthfully be said of Lincoln. If I am correct,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> -what do you think of the stories afloat about what Lincoln said -in relation to his religion, especially said to strangers? I send -you two "Truth-Seekers" which you will please read where I -speak of Lincoln in three letters, pages marked at the top. -You will learn something of Lincoln's nature in those three letters -of mine—two of them on Lincoln's religion, and one to a -minister. Please read them. There are some quotations in these -letters which I have never had time to send you as I recollect -it. They are good things—one on Laws of Human Nature -and one on the Pride-Haughtiness of Christians. Lincoln delivered -a lecture in which these quotations are to be found. I heard -him deliver it.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">W. H. Herndon.</span> -</p> - -<p>P. S.—Mr. Speed was my boss for three or four years and -Lincoln, Speed, Hurst, and I slept in the same room for a year -or so. I was clerk for Speed. Speed could make Lincoln do -much about simple measures, policies, not involving any principle. -Beyond this power Speed did not have much influence over -Lincoln nor did anyone else.</p> - -<p class="c little">A CARD AND A CORRECTION</p> - -<p>I wish to say a few short words to the public and private -ear. About the year 1870 I wrote a letter to F. E. Abbott, -then of Ohio, touching Mr. Lincoln's religion. In that letter -I stated that Mr. Lincoln was an infidel, sometimes bordering -on atheism, and I now repeat the same. In the year 1873 the -Right Rev. James A. Reed, pastor and liar of this city, gave -a lecture on Mr. Lincoln's religion, in which he tried to answer -some things which I never asserted, except as to Mr. Lincoln's -infidelity, which I did assert and now and here affirm. Mr. -Lincoln was an infidel of the radical type; he never mentioned -the name of Jesus except to scorn and detest the idea of miraculous -conception. This lecture of the withered minister will -be found in Holland's Review [<i>Scribner's Monthly</i>]. I answered -this lecture in 1874, I think, in this city to a large and intelligent -audience—had it printed and sent a copy to Holland, requesting, -in polite language, that he insert it in his Review as an answer -to the Reed lecture. The request was denied me, as a matter -of course. He could help to libel a man with Christian courage, -and with Christian cowardice refuse to unlibel him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span></p> - -<p>Soon thereafter, say from 1874 to 1882, I saw floating around -in the newspaper literature, such charges as "Herndon is in a -lunatic asylum, well chained," "Herndon is a pauper," "Herndon -is a drunkard," "Herndon is a vile infidel and a knave, -a liar and a drunkard," and the like. I have contradicted all -these things under my own hand, often, except as to my so-called -infidelity, liberalism, free religious opinions, or what-not. In the -month of October, 1882, I saw in and clipped out of the Cherryvale -<i>Globe-News</i> of September, 1882, a paper published in the -State of Kansas, the following rich and racy article; it is as -follows:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="c"> -"<i>Lincoln's Old Law Partner a Pauper</i> -</p> - -<p>"Bill Herndon is a pauper in Springfield, Ill. He was once worth -considerable property. His mind was the most argumentative of any -of the old lawyers in the State, and his memory was extraordinary. -For several years before Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency, -Herndon was in some respects the most active member of the firm, -preparing the greatest number of cases for trial and making elaborate -arguments in their behalf. It is said that he worked hard with Lincoln -in preparing the memorable speeches by the man who afterward became -President, during the debates between Lincoln and Douglas in 1858, and -in constructing the Cooper Union address delivered by Lincoln a short -time before the war. Herndon, with all his attainments, was a man who -now and then went on a spree, and it was no uncommon thing for him -to leave an important lawsuit and spend several days in drinking and -carousing. This habit became worse after Lincoln's death, and like poor -Dick Yates, Herndon went down step by step till his old friends and -associates point to him as a common drunkard."</p></blockquote> - -<p>There are three distinct charges in the above article. First, -that I am a pauper. Second, that I am a common drunkard, -and third, that I was a traitor or false to my clients. Let me -answer these charges in their order. First, I am not a pauper. -Never have been and expect never to be. I am working on -my farm, making my own living with my own muscle and brain, -a place and a calling that even Christianity with its persecution -and malignity can never reach me to do much harm. I had, -it is true, once a considerable property, but lost much of it -in the crash and consequent crisis of 1873, caused in part by -the contraction of the currency, in part by the decline in the -demand for the agricultural products which I raise for sale, in -part by the inability by the people to buy, etc., etc., and for no -other reasons.</p> - -<p>Second, I never was a common drunkard, as I look at it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> -and am not now. I am and have been for years an ardent and -enthusiastic temperance man, though opposed to prohibition by -law, by any force or other choker. The time has not come -for this. It is a fact that I once, years ago, went on a spree; -and this I now deeply regret. It however is in the past, and -let a good life in the future bury the past. I have not fallen, -I have risen, and all good men and women will applaud the -deed, always excepting a small, little, bitter Christian like the -Right Rev. pastor and liar of this city, to whom I can trace -some of the above charges. In my case this minister was an -eager, itching libeler, and what he said of me is false—nay, a -willful lie.</p> - -<p>Third, I never was a traitor or untrue to my clients or -their interests. I never left them during the progress of a trial -or at other times for the cause alleged, drunkenness. I may -have crept—slid—out of a case during the trial because I had -no faith in it, leaving Mr. Lincoln, who had faith in it, to run -it through. My want of faith in a case would have been discovered -by the jury and that discovery would have damaged -my client and to save my client I dodged. This is all there is -on it, and let men make the most of it.</p> - -<p>Now, let me ask a question. Why is all this libeling of me? -I am a mere private citizen, hold no office, do not beg the people -to give me one often. My religious ideas, views, and philosophy -are today, here, unpopular. But wait, I will not deny my ideas, -views, or philosophy for office or station or the applause of -the unthinking multitude. I can, however, answer the above -question. It, the libeling, is done because I did assert and affirm -by oral language and by print that Mr. Lincoln was an infidel, -sometimes bordering on atheism, and yet he was among the best, -greatest, and noblest of mankind; he was a grand man. Why -do not the Christians prove that Mr. Lincoln was an evangelical -Christian and thus prove me a liar? One of my friends, for -whom I have great respect, says, that "Mr. Lincoln was a -<i>rational</i> Christian because he believed in morality." Why not -say Lincoln was <i>rational</i> Buddhist, as Buddhism teaches morality? -Why not say Lincoln was <i>rational</i> Mohammedan? By -the way, let me say here, that I have a profound respect for an -earnest, manly, and sincere Christian or an Atheist, a profound -respect for an earnest, manly, and sincere Infidel or theist or -any other religion, or the men who hold it, when that belief is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> -woven into a great manly character to beautify and greaten the -world.</p> - -<p>These charges, and I do not know how many more, nor of -what kind, have been scattered broadcast all over the land, and -have gone into every house, have been read at every fireside till -the good people believe them, believe that I am nearly as mean -as a little Christian, and all because I told the truth and stand -firm in my conviction. Respectfully,</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">W. H. Herndon</span>.</p> -<p class="l">November 9, 1882. -</p> - -<p>[Privately printed by H. E. Barker, Springfield, 1917, edition -limited to 75 copies.]</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="APPENDIX_VI" id="APPENDIX_VI"></a>APPENDIX VI</h2></div> - -<p class="c">THE IRWIN ARTICLE WITH LETTERS CONCERNING<br /> -LINCOLN'S RELIGIOUS BELIEF</p> - - -<p class="c">Another Valuable Contribution to the History of the Martyr<br /> -President.—Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel?—A Painstaking<br /> -Examination of the Case by An Old Acquaintance.—Important<br /> -Testimony of Contemporaneous Witnesses.—History<br /> -of the Famous Manuscript of 1833.—Mentor Graham<br /> -Says It Was a Defence of Christianity.—The Burned Manuscript<br /> -Quite a Different Affair.—The Charge of Infidelity in<br /> -1848, Said to Have Been Disproved at the Time.—Letter of<br /> -Hon. Wm. Reid, U. S. Consul at Dundee, Scotland.</p> - -<p class="c"> -By <span class="smcap">B. F. Irwin</span> -</p> -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Pleasant Plains, Ill.</span>, April 20, 1874. -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Editor State Journal</span>: For some time, I believe, in 1870 -there has been a constant and continued effort upon the part -of the Hon. W. H. Herndon, Springfield, Ill., to convince and -prove to the world that Abraham Lincoln lived and died an infidel. -He has succeded, as I suppose, in proving that proposition -to his own entire satisfaction and probably to the satisfaction -of some others. The last effort I have noticed upon the -subject was Herndon's reply to the Rev. J. A. Reed, in a lecture -delivered in the court house in Springfield, some months ago. -A few days after that lecture was delivered, I was urgently -requested by a prominent minister of the gospel and friend of -Lincoln's (and also a lady friend now residing in Kansas) to -review that speech. I promised each of those persons I would -do so at the proper time. That time has now arrived, and I -propose noticing a few points in the address of Mr. Herndon,</p> - -<p class="c little">"THE RELIGION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN"</p> - -<p>also a point or two in his Abbott letter and I think I will be -able to show that Mr. Herndon, himself, never knew or under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>stood -really what the faith of Lincoln was or what the</p> - -<p class="c little">RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF LINCOLN</p> - -<p>was. I wish it now and here understood that Mr. Herndon's -candor or veracity I do not call in question. Nor will I designedly -say anything to offend him. He and I have been for -twenty-five years good personal friends, and I hope that friendship -may continue. Mr. Herndon has a right to prove Mr. -Lincoln an infidel if he can. I claim the same right to prove that</p> - -<p class="c little">LINCOLN WAS NOT AN INFIDEL</p> - -<p>if I can. If Mr. Lincoln was an infidel, as Herndon says, it -is proper for the world to know it. If he was not an infidel the -charge is wrong and a slander, for infidelity in the nineteenth -century is no honor to any man, dead or alive.</p> - -<p>Mr. Herndon, in his speech, uses this language: "One side -of this question can be proved. It is admitted on all hands that -Lincoln once was an infidel; that he wrote a small book, or essay, -or pamphlet against Christianity, and that he (Lincoln) continued -an unbeliever until late in life." Herndon further says: "It is a -rule of law, as well as a rule of common sense, that when a -certain state or condition of affairs is once proved to exist, the -presumption is, that it still exists until the contrary is proved." -Now I stand by that proposition as a true one. Will Mr. Herndon -do so? But</p> - -<p class="c little">HE IS WOEFULLY MISTAKEN</p> - -<p>in his statement that "all admit that Lincoln was once an infidel." -I have never yet heard one single man express the -belief that Lincoln was an infidel, either early or late in life, -while I am confident I have heard one hundred different persons -express astonishment at Mr. Herndon writing and publishing -Lincoln to the world an infidel. Mr. Herndon, it is true, did -have opportunities and advantages over others in knowing Mr. -Lincoln's religious opinions. But other men had some opportunities -as well as Mr. Herndon, and to them I shall have to -appeal, for I do not claim to personally know anything about -Mr. Lincoln's religious faith. Though personally acquainted -with Lincoln for twenty-five years, and often in his office, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> -never heard him say a word on the subject of Christianity or -religious belief. Hence, my opinion of Lincoln's faith or belief -is based on the testimony of those who do know, who had it</p> - -<p class="c little">FROM LINCOLN HIMSELF;</p> - -<p>and I believe them, for the weight of testimony is certainly -against Mr. Herndon. The Scriptures of Truth lay it down as a -Divine rule, that the evidence of two or three witnesses is better -than one. Common law lays down the same rule, borrowed -from Divine authority, and our courts are governed by it in their -decisions.</p> - -<p>Mr. Herndon, in his</p> - -<p class="c little">REPLY TO MR. REED,</p> - -<p>says, "He is talking to establish the truth of a controversy -between those who hold that Lincoln was a disbeliever, and -those who hold that he died a Christian (a believer in Christ)" -and then says: "If I fail to establish my point it will be because -of the manner and method of presenting the facts." I have read -that lecture carefully over, and I fail to find any proof of Herndon's -proposition that Lincoln ever was an infidel or an unbeliever. -The nearest I see to it, is the</p> - -<p class="c little">STATEMENT OF J. H. MATHENY</p> - -<p>He uses this language, substantially: "Mr. Lincoln's earlier -life is his whole life and history in Illinois up to the time he -left for Washington City. He (Lincoln) was, as I understand -it, a confirmed infidel." Now, Matheny fails to tell us how -he got that understanding. Did he get it from Lincoln? He -don't say so, and the reason he don't say so doubtless is, he -got it from some other source—probably from Herndon. But -clearly, to be of any weight as evidence, he must have that understanding -from Mr. Lincoln himself. Mr. Matheny may have -some time in life heard Lincoln use some of the</p> - -<p class="c little">ARGUMENTS OF TOM PAINE,</p> - -<p>or advance infidel ideas, and still not be an infidel. I have heard -an official member of the Methodist Church in this town advance -as strong infidel sentiments as Tom Paine ever did, and you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> -would insult the man to say he was an infidel. So any Christian -may use the language or advance some of the sentiments of Tom -Paine and be far from an infidel. Lincoln may have done all -that, and still not be an infidel. I do not believe Mr. Lincoln -ever was an infidel, and I can truly state and say just what -Matheny said. I understood Lincoln was an infidel, but I never -believed the statement true. Matheny understood it: in other -words, he had heard it but knew nothing about the facts in the -case. I have seen Mr. Matheny since, and he states that he</p> - -<p class="c little">NEVER HAD IT FROM LINCOLN</p> - -<p>that he was an infidel, and he never believed it.</p> - -<p>If Mr. Herndon is in possession of the evidence, in writing -or otherwise, to prove that Lincoln was an infidel, either earlier -or later in life, he ought to bring forward the proof to sustain -his proposition: for he has long since learned that the statement -alone fails to satisfy the public mind that Lincoln ever was an -infidel. Mr. Herndon in his</p> - -<p class="c little">ABBOTT LETTER</p> - -<p>truly says the charge of infidelity was made against Mr. Lincoln -when he was a candidate for Congress in 1848; and then adds: -"Mr. Lincoln did not deny the charge, because it was true." -The charge of infidelity was made against Lincoln at that time, -and I suppose Lincoln made no public denial of the charge, for -the reason that the canvass was being made on political grounds, -and not religious faith or belief. This much was said at the -time, as I well remember to be the facts in the case.</p> - -<p>About the time of building the flatboat on the Sangamon -River in 1830, when Lincoln was quite a young man, a</p> - -<p class="c little">RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY</p> - -<p>was the topic in which Lincoln took a part; and in the argument -Lincoln used the language that, according to the history -of the case, in the New Testament, Christ was a bastard and -his mother a base woman. This he may have used at the time, -as young men sometimes do use vain language, and seventeen -years afterward, when he was a candidate for Congress against</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span></p> - -<p class="c little">PETER CARTWRIGHT</p> - -<p>a Methodist preacher, that vain remark was remembered, and -Tom Paine having used similar language, Lincoln was published -in some of the papers as an infidel. The above was the explanation -published at the time, and the charge of infidelity -did no harm. Had Lincoln been known as an infidel, or believed -to be one at that time, I am certain he would have been beaten -badly by Cartwright in the canvass.</p> - -<p>Again, Mr. Herndon, in his Abbott letter (I believe it is), -says: "It is not to be found in print that Lincoln ever used the -word Christ." In fact, Herndon says, "he never did use it, only -to deny Christ as the son of God." Now that statement may -be true, that he did not use the term Christ: but if Mr. Herndon -will examine the speeches of the public men of this nation, I -believe I am safe in saying that Mr. Lincoln used and</p> - -<p class="c little">QUOTED MORE SCRIPTURE</p> - -<p>than any man in the nation; and that he quoted the parables and -language of Christ oftener than any public man living. Not only -did Lincoln quote Scripture, but he used it as being of Divine -authority, and applicable to the affairs of earth. Mr. Herndon -gives us to understand that Lincoln did not believe the New -Testament Scriptures to be any more inspired than Homer's -songs, Milton's "Paradise Lost," or Shakspeare. If Herndon -is correct, it seems strange Lincoln made no use of those books. -On the 16th of January, 1858,<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> as a foundation for an argument, -he used the language of Christ</p> - -<p class="c little">"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND,"</p> - -<p>in reply to Douglas. In the same campaign he four times used -the parables of Christ; in his second inaugural address—"woe -unto the world because of its offenses"—Christ's language, again.</p> - -<p>But I need not multiply quotations. His speeches, proclamations, -and messages are so full of quotations of scripture, always -the language of Christ himself, that if an angel of light should -proclaim it trumpet-tongued from the skies, that Lincoln was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> -an unbeliever in Christ, I could not believe it. He could not -have been an infidel without being a base hypocrite; and I don't -believe a more honest man lived on earth.</p> - -<p class="c little">THE EVIDENCE</p> - -<p>Now I will take up some evidence on the question being -discussed. Mr. Herndon has said that, in Lincoln's early life, -he wrote</p> - -<p class="c little">A PAMPHLET</p> - -<p>book, or manuscript against Christianity. I propose to show that -the manuscript written by Lincoln was</p> - -<p class="c little">IN FAVOR OF CHRISTIANITY</p> - -<p>To do so, I will offer the evidence of Mr. Graham, who knew -Lincoln when he was a boy in Kentucky, with whom Lincoln -boarded some two years; and if any man on earth ought to -know Lincoln's religious faith or belief, that man is Mentor -Graham, who was intimate with Lincoln from the time he came -to Illinois to the time he left for Washington City. I will give -the letter in full.</p> - -<p class="c little">STATEMENT OF MR. GRAHAM</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Petersburg, Ill.</span>, March 17, 1874. -</p> -<p> -<span class="smcap">B. F. Irwin</span>: -</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>—In reply to your inquiries, Abraham Lincoln was living -at my house in New Salem, going to school, studying English -grammar and surveying, in the year 1833. One morning he said -to me, "Graham, what do you think about the anger of the -Lord?" I replied, "I believe the Lord never was angry or -mad and never would be; that His loving kindness endurest -forever; that He never changes." Said Lincoln, "I have a little -manuscript written, which I will show you"; and stated he -thought of having it published. Offering it to me, he said he -had never showed it to anyone, and still thought of having it -published. The size of the manuscript was about one-half -quire of foolscap, written in a very plain hand, on the subject -of Christianity and a defense of universal salvation. The commencement -of it was something respecting the God of the uni<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>verse -never being excited, mad, or angry. I had the manuscript -in my possession some week or ten days. I have read many books -on the subject of theology and I don't think in point of perspicuity -and plainness of reasoning, I ever read one to surpass -it. I remember well his argument. He took the passage, "As -in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," and -followed up with the proposition that whatever the breach or -injury of Adam's transgressions to the human race was, which -no doubt was very great, was made just and right by the atonement -of Christ.</p> - -<p>As to Major Hill burning the manuscript, I don't believe he -did, nor do I think he would have done such a thing. About -the burning of a paper by Hill, I have some recollection of his -snatching a letter from Lincoln and putting it into the fire. It -was a letter written by Hill to McNamur. His real name was -McNeal. Some of the school children had picked up the letter -and handed it to Lincoln. Hill and Lincoln were talking about -it, when Hill snatched the letter from Lincoln and put it into -the fire. The letter was respecting a young lady, Miss Ann -Rutledge, for whom all three of these gentlemen seemed to -have respect. Yours truly,</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Mentor Graham</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Now the next point I wish to notice is Mr. Herndon's statement, -in his Abbott letter, that Lincoln, in 1846, was charged -with being an infidel. Herndon says he [Lincoln] did not deny -the charge, because it was true. As I have before stated, I admit -the charge was made, and I think at the time there was no public -denial by Lincoln, for the reason that the canvass was made -on political grounds, and not religious faith or belief. Nevertheless, -the charge was denied, as the following letter will show.</p> - -<p class="c little">STATEMENT OF THOMAS MOSTILLER</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Pleasant Plains, Ill.</span>, April 28, 1874. -</p> -<p> -<span class="smcap">B. F. Irwin</span>: -</p> - - - -<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>—In regard to your inquiry, just received, of what I -heard Lincoln say about a charge of infidelity made against -him when a candidate for Congress in 1847, or '48, it was this. -I was present and heard Josiah Grady ask Lincoln a question or -two regarding a charge made against Lincoln of being an infidel, -and Lincoln unqualifiedly denied the charge of infidelity, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> -said, in addition, his parents were Baptists, and brought him -up in the belief of the Christian religion; and he believed in -the Christian religion as much as anyone, but was sorry to say -he had or made no pretensions to religion himself. I can't give -his exact words, but would make oath anywhere that he positively -denied the charge made against him of infidelity. That -was the first time I ever heard of the charge of infidelity against -Lincoln.</p> - -<p>Grady did not say that he would not vote for Lincoln if he -was an infidel; but my understanding from Grady was, that he -would not vote for Lincoln if he was an infidel, and Grady did, -as I suppose, vote for him. I understood him that he should.</p> - -<p class="c"> -Respectfully,</p> -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Thomas Mostiller</span>.</p> -<p class="l"> -<span class="smcap">Menard County, Ill.</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>The next evidence I shall offer is that of Isaac Cogdal, an -intimate friend of Lincoln's from the time Lincoln came to -Salem, Menard County, to the time he left for Washington -City, and I will let Cogdal speak for himself.</p> - -<p class="c little">STATEMENT OF ISAAC COGDAL</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="r"> -April 10, 1874. -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">B. F. Irwin</span>: Yours received making inquiries about what I -heard Lincoln say about his religious belief, is this, as near as -I can tell it and recollect. I think it was in 1859, I was in -Lincoln's office in Springfield, and I had a curiosity to know his -opinions or belief religiously; and I called on him for his faith -in the presence of W. H. Herndon. At least Herndon was in -the office at the time. Lincoln expressed himself in about these -words: He did not nor could not believe in the endless punishment -of any one of the human race. He understood punishment -for sin to be a Bible doctrine; that the punishment was parental -in its object, aim, and design, and intended for the good of the -offender; hence it must cease when justice is satisfied. He added -that all that was lost by the transgression of Adam was made -good by the atonement: all that was lost by the fall was made -good by the sacrifice, and he added this remark, that punishment -being a "provision of the gospel system, he was not sure but -the world would be better off if a little more punishment was -preached by our ministers, and not so much pardon of sin." I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> -then, in reply, told Mr. Lincoln he was a sound Universalist, and -would advise him to say but little about his belief, as it was -an unpopular doctrine, though I fully agreed with him in sentiment. -Lincoln replied that he never took any part in the argument -or discussion of theological questions. Much more was -said, but the above are the ideas as advanced by Lincoln there.</p> - -<p class="r"> -Respectfully yours,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Isaac Cogdal</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>The next witness I shall offer on the subject is Jonathan -Harnett, of Pleasant Plains. Mr. Harnett is here. I shall now -furnish a statement over his signature, as he is present and -dictates as I write.</p> - -<p class="c little">DICTATED STATEMENT OF JONATHAN HARNETT</p> - -<p>Mr. Harnett says, that in 1858, a short time after he came -to Illinois, he had a curiosity to see Lincoln and went into his -office. There were several others in that he did not know; -that religious faith seemed to be the subject of conversation. -After some time was spent in the controversy, it seemed to be -Lincoln's time, and in a few words he heard Lincoln condense -into a small space greater thoughts and larger ideas, and sounder -logic, than he ever heard brought into so small space. Lincoln, -he says, covered more ground in a few words than he could -in a week, and closed up with the restitution of all things to -God, as the doctrine taught in the scriptures, and if anyone was -left in doubt in regard to his belief in the atonement of Christ -and the final salvation of all men, he removed those doubts in -a few questions he answered and propounded to others. After -expressing himself, some one or two took exceptions to his -position, and he asked a few questions that cornered his interrogators -and left no room to doubt or question his soundness -on the atonement of Christ, and salvation finally of all men. -He did not pretend to know just when that event would be consummated, -but that it would be the ultimate result, that Christ -must reign supreme, high over all, The Saviour of all; and the -supreme Ruler, he could not be with one out of the fold; all -must come in, with his understanding of the doctrine taught in -the scriptures.</p> - -<p>[The above statement since writing it has been read to Mr. -Harnett and indorsed by him.]</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span></p> - -<p>The next evidence I shall offer is Erasmus Manford, of -Chicago. About 1850, he had a debate in Springfield, Ill., with -Mr. Lewis. In his book, "Twenty-five Years in the West," -page 219, he says: "I remember well seeing Mr. Lincoln then -punctually every day and night. He often nodded his head to me -when I made a strong point." Does that look as though Lincoln -was an infidel? Manford was discussing the proposition of -the restitution of all things to God which is manifested in Christ -Jesus our Lord. Manford gives the quotation, chapter, and -verse, and Lincoln nods assent to the position. That nodding -assent to the restitution agrees precisely with Mr. Harnett's -statement of Lincoln's position in his presence seven or eight -years afterward. Everyone understands that nodding assent to -the argument of a speaker is an indorsement of what is said, -and about equivalent to speaking it yourself. Manford so understood -it: so anyone would understand it.</p> - -<p>My next and last witness is W. H. Herndon. In his Abbott -lecture in 1870, Herndon says that Lincoln's belief was, that</p> - -<p class="c little">ALL WOULD BE SAVED,</p> - -<p>or none. That remark he frequently or often made; that agrees -with Harnett's statement that he believed all would be saved. -When a man believes all men will be saved, he can then be logical -and say all will be saved or none, and not otherwise. In the -same letter, Mr. Herndon says Mr. Lincoln held that God had -a fixed punishment for sin and no means could bribe him to -remit that punishment. That evidence agrees with Cogdal's -statement that sin was to be punished, but not endlessly. Both -Herndon and Cogdal agree in the statement that Lincoln believed -that if our ministers would preach punishment and not -so much pardon the world would be benefited by it.</p> - -<p>I am now through with the evidence I shall offer at this -time, though I could add the evidence of a dozen more to the -same purport. I think I have clearly proved that</p> - -<p class="c little">LINCOLN WAS A UNIVERSALIST</p> - -<p>in 1833; that he wrote a manuscript on that subject then; that -in 1847 he</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span></p> - -<p class="c little">DENIED THE CHARGE</p> - -<p>of infidelity; that in 1850-58-59 he was still a Universalist. If -this be true when was he an infidel? But to get a clear understanding -of the case, Universalism and infidelity are as far -apart as the poles. Universalism maintains that there is one -God, whose nature is love revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. -This Lincoln certainly believed, infidelity denies it. Universalism -maintains that Christ was the Son of God; infidelity denies it. -Universalism maintains that the Old and New Testament Scriptures -contain a record of God's revelation to man; infidelity -denies it, and says the New Testament is no more inspired than -Homer's songs, Milton's "Paradise Lost," or Shakspeare. My -authority for the infidel view is W. H. Herndon, in his letter.</p> - -<p>Before closing, I wish it distinctly understood that if I could -show that</p> - -<p class="c little">LINCOLN WAS NOT AN INFIDEL</p> - -<p>without showing him a Universalist, I would do so; that I am -not trying to bolster up Universalism on Lincoln's faith, as I -do not claim to be a Universalist myself.</p> - -<p>There are many points in Mr. Herndon's lecture and letter -that I might notice, but as I am only trying to show that</p> - -<p class="c little">HERNDON IS WRONG</p> - -<p>in his understanding of Lincoln's religious belief, I shall not -notice them, as they do not concern me or the question in dispute.</p> - -<p>Mr. Herndon, in his lecture and letter both, says Mr. Lincoln -wrote a manuscript against Christianity. Mr. Graham,</p> - -<p class="c little">LINCOLN'S TEACHER</p> - -<p>at the time, testifies that he had the manuscript in his possession -eight to ten days, read it two or three times carefully and it -was in favor of Christianity and universal salvation. Mr. Mostiller -says Lincoln flatly denied infidelity in 1847, and he would -swear to it. Mr. Harnett heard Lincoln on the atonement in -1858. Mr. Cogdal testifies to the same in 1859. The character -of all these men for truth and veracity is as good as any man -in Sangamon or Menard County. Harnett and Mostiller are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> -both Methodists, differing politically. Graham and Cogdal are -both Universalists, and agree politically. Mr. Herndon in his -letter says the manuscript was burned by Sam Hill. Mr. Graham -explains it was a letter in regard to a lady,</p> - -<p class="c little">MISS ANN RUTLEDGE,</p> - -<p>that Hill burned. It seems to me Mr. Herndon has got the -manuscript and letter confounded, and shot off hand without -taking aim at the right object. My friend Herndon, at the -close of his lecture, derives consolation from the fact that a -true history can be written free from the fear of fire and stake. -Friend Herndon, if your life is certainly not in danger some -true spirit will</p> - -<p class="c little">DRAG THE TRUTH</p> - -<p>out to the light of day.</p> - -<p>But hear the closing words of Herndon's lecture; "Now let -it be written in history and on Mr. Lincoln's tomb he died an -unbeliever." Mr. Herndon is in a hurry about it. Be patient, -William; wait for the unfolding of events. The decree has long -since gone out; those words will never be inscribed on</p> - -<p class="c little">LINCOLN'S TOMB,</p> - -<p>nor written in history. When my friend, W. H. Herndon, dies, -if he wishes a monument on a small scale placed over his grave -with the inscription, "Here lies W. H. Herndon, a man who -in life held that the New Testament Scriptures were no more -inspired than Homer's songs, Milton's Paradise Lost, or Shakspeare," -or if he desires it, add "Munchausen's Travels," I will -not, for one, object to the inscription. As regards Mr. Herndon's -own belief, he leaves no room for doubt.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">B. F. Irwin.</span> -</p> -<p class="c"> -From the Illinois <i>State Journal</i>, Saturday Morning, May 15, 1874. -</p> - -<p class="c little">MORE TESTIMONY</p> - -<p>Letter from the Hon. Wm. Reid, U. S. Consul at Dundee, Scotland. -(Dundee, Scotland, Correspondence [March 4, 1874] -Portland [Oregon] <i>Oregonian</i>).</p> - -<p>The <i>Weekly Oregonian</i> of January last arrived and I am -grieved to see in it opened afresh that controversy over Lin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span>coln's -religious views. Being well conversant with the affairs -of the Lincoln family, knowing Mrs. Lincoln personally, having -been in correspondence with that lady, and having also been -of some assistance in a work entitled "Reminiscences of Abraham -Lincoln," I may be permitted to speak with some knowledge -of the facts.</p> - -<p>Lincoln, when 16 years of age,</p> - -<p class="c little">IN THE BACKWOODS OF WESTERN INDIANA</p> - -<p>heard a sermon by a traveling Presbyterian minister—the Rev. -Dr. Smith—(afterwards of the First Presbyterian Church of -Springfield, Illinois) then a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian -Church. The subject was: "Is there no Balm in Gilead? -Is there no Physician there?" The sermon was delivered at -the village of Rockfort, four miles from the small farm of -Thomas Lincoln, Abraham's father. There was a great revival -on that occasion. Always a deep thinker, even when a boy, -Lincoln was seriously impressed. Adopting his own words, he -remembered the sermon for more than twenty years afterwards. -Book after book he then read on the authenticity of the Scriptures, -and was satisfied. Many years after delivering that -sermon Dr. Smith removed to Springfield, Illinois.</p> - -<p>This same Dr. Smith, I spent two years with here at Dundee, -and attended him to his death in 1871. He was the bosom -friend of Lincoln, and the friend and dearly beloved pastor of -the Lincoln family.</p> - -<p>Some years after Dr. Smith happened on a Sabbath day, in -his church at Springfield, to re-deliver his sermon (delivered, -I think, eighteen years previous). "Is there no Balm in Gilead? -Is there no Physician there?" Lincoln, always a regular attendant, -was there and was much startled. When the congregation -had gone, he sought the preacher. "Dr. Smith," said he, -"was it you who preached that sermon when I was a boy at -Rockfort?" "Yes." "Well," said Mr. Lincoln, "I have never -forgotten that sermon, and never will." I need not narrate -what then passed between them. Sometime after this a discussion -arose in Springfield, as to the credibility of the Scripture. -Knowing Lincoln's well-balanced mind, his studious and deep-thinking -nature and downright honesty, a gentleman, anxious -to have his views, asked if he believed the Scriptures were strictly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> -true. Lincoln answered: "I have investigated that matter thoroughly, -as a lawyer would do, examining testimony, and I hold -that the arguments in favor of the credibility, inspiration, and -Divine authority of the Scripture are unanswerable."</p> - -<p>At an annual meeting of the Presbyterian Church of Springfield, -or rather of the Bible Society of that church, Lincoln delivered -a long address on the same subject—the authenticity of -the Scriptures. An able address it was. His arguments are -too lengthy for me to narrate. For seven years, down to the -day of his departure for Washington to</p> - -<p class="c little">ASSUME THE DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENCY,</p> - -<p>he was a member of that congregation, and took part and aided -in all benevolent undertakings in connection with the church. -Were I allowed to unfold to the public what is sacred, that -which I know of Mr. Lincoln's inner life during the four years -he was President, his memory would be revered by all Christians -for his entire dependence during that eventful period upon -God's guidance, and not on himself. Truly no man thought -less of himself and of his nothingness without God. This is -exemplified in his public life. When assuming the Presidency, -what did he say? Speaking of the contrast of his time to Washington's:</p> - -<p>"I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine Aid -which sustained him [Washington], and on the same Almighty -Being I place my reliance for support. And I hope that you, my -friends, will all pray that I may receive that Divine assistance, -without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is -certain."</p> - -<p>If an infidel, then is it possible that Abraham Lincoln could -be an honest man as the world knows he was—and make that -assertion? Is it necessary for me to say more? If so, let me -remind you of his words</p> - -<p>(1) To that zealous</p> - -<p class="c little">LADY OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMISSION</p> - -<p>during the war, in answer to her views of religion:</p> - -<p>If what you have told me is really a correct view, I think I -can say with sincerity that I hope I am a Christian.</p> - -<p>(2) To the Philadelphia Church Conference in 1864: Allow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> -me to attest, in response to your address, the accuracy of its -historical statements; indorse the sentiments it expresses, and -thank you in the Nation's name for the sure promise it gives. -God bless the Methodist Church, God bless all the churches, and -blessed be God who giveth us, in this our great trial, churches!</p> - -<p>(3) To the Cabinet on the emancipation of the slaves:</p> - -<p>"I made a solemn vow before God that if General Lee were -driven from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by declaring -freedom to the slaves."</p> - -<p>(4) On the same subject [slavery] remember he said: -"Whatever appears to be God's will, I will do."</p> - -<p class="c little">ONE MORE FINAL PUBLIC ACT</p> - -<p>and I am done. At Baltimore he was presented by the negroes -of that city with a copy of the Scriptures. In reply, Lincoln -said:</p> - -<p>"In regard to the great Book, I have only to say, it is the best -gift which God has given to man. All the good from the Saviour -of the world is communicated to us through this Book. But for -that Book we could not know right from wrong. All those -things desirable to man are contained in it."</p> - -<p>It may appear unnecessary for me to repeat Lincoln's</p> - -<p class="c little">PUBLIC EXPRESSIONS OF RELIGION</p> - -<p>in conjunction with what I have issued to the world for the -first time, as to his religious life in private before he was -President, but as my object is to connect his private and public -religious expressions together, and bring them down from the -time he was sixteen years old to his death, and to show that he -was, for these thirty years,</p> - -<p class="c little">UNIFORMLY A CHRISTIAN MAN,</p> - -<p>you will pardon my repeating in part what the whole world -already knows. Take Lincoln's expressions altogether as above -quoted by me, and I submit you will find not only an absence of -the slightest doubt of religion on his part, but an entire reliance -on God alone for guiding himself and the events of the world. -And yet that foolish man, Herndon, will say—and I am sorry -to see a small portion of the American press will repeat—that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> -Abraham Lincoln was an Infidel. Marvelous! I am proud to -think I have in my possession—as a reward for a few insignificant -services done by me on account of Mrs. Lincoln—the great and -Martyred President's psalm book, which he used while at the -White House, and I shall retain it as a proud memento for my -family, of "Lincoln the Good—the Saviour of his Country."</p> - -<p>A word before I close, as to Mrs. Lincoln. She is a lady -of great merit, and spite of Herndon's mad expression to the -contrary, was dearly loved by the President, as his letters to her -will show, and one does not wonder at it, as her love and regard -for him to this day is even greater than tongue can tell. If the -American people understood Mrs. Lincoln as well as I do, they -would respect her equally as they did Lincoln.</p> - -<p class="r"> -Yours truly,<br /> -<span class="smcap">William Reed</span>,<br /> -United States Consul, Dundee, Scotland. -</p> -<p class="c"> -From the Illinois <i>State Journal</i>, Saturday Morning, May 15, 1874. -</p> - -<p class="c little">WHY LINCOLN APPOINTED HIM</p> - -<p class="c">Reading (Pa.) <i>News</i></p> - -<p>The Rev. James Shrigley who is well known here, was appointed -by President Lincoln a hospital Chaplain during the war. -Pending his confirmation by the United States, a self-constituted -committee of the Young Men's Christian Association called on -the President to protest against the appointment. After Mr. -Shrigley's name had been mentioned the President said: "Oh, -yes, I have sent it to the Senate. His testimonials are highly -satisfactory, and the appointment will, no doubt, be confirmed -at an early day."</p> - -<p>The young men replied: "But, sir, we have come not to ask -the appointment, but to solicit you to withdraw the nomination, -on the ground that Mr. Shrigley is not evangelical in his sentiments." -"Ah!" said the President, "that alters the case. On -what point of doctrine is the gentleman unsound?" "He does -not believe in endless punishment," was the reply. "Yes," added -another of the committee, "he believes that even the rebels themselves -will finally be saved, and it will never do to have a man -with such views a hospital Chaplain."</p> - -<p>The President hesitated to reply for a moment, and then -responded with an emphasis they will long remember: "If that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> -be so, gentlemen, and there be any way under heaven whereby the -rebels can be saved, then for God's sake let the man be appointed!"</p> - -<p>He was appointed.</p> - -<p class="c">From the <i>Daily Illinois State Register</i>, Friday, April 29, 1881.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="APPENDIX_VII" id="APPENDIX_VII"></a>APPENDIX VII</h2></div> - -<p class="c">"THE CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE"</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> debate out of which this volume grew was held at Columbus, -Mississippi, in the spring of 1841, between Rev. James Smith -and Mr. C. G. Olmsted. Mr. Olmsted, the author of a work entitled, -"The Bible Its Own Refutation," was a resident of -Columbus. Dr. Smith visited this city during the winter of -1839-1840, and finding the young men of the place to be very -largely under the influence of Mr. Olmsted, he delivered a series -of lectures, especially addressed to the young men of the place, -on "The Natures and Tendencies of Infidelity," and another -upon, "The Evidences of Christianity." While these lectures -were in progress, Dr. Smith was approached by a committee, -who sympathized with Mr. Olmsted's views, and who, with the -sanction of Mr. Olmsted, brought a written challenge to Dr. -Smith to meet Mr. Olmsted in a public discussion of the whole -ground at issue between them. Dr. Smith accepted on condition -that he have time for adequate preparation. He communicated -with friends in Great Britain, who procured and sent -to him the latest and best material bearing on the subject. His -book contains reproductions of the supposed Zodiac at Denderah, -and a colored reproduction from the monuments of Egypt of -brickmakers, believed to be Israelites. The researches of Rawlinson -were made available to him, and a considerable body of -additional literature.</p> - -<p>Because Dr. Smith's book has been spoken of slightingly by -men who never saw it and who had the vaguest possible notion -of its content, and because the book itself is so excessively rare -that in the nature of the case few readers of this volume can have -access to it, I have copied the Title Page, a portion of the advertisement, -and the whole of the very full Table of Contents.</p> - -<p>We need not concern ourselves with the question whether -Dr. Smith's line of argument is that which probably would be -found most cogent if a similar debate were to be held at the -present day. Sources of information are now available, of which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> -neither Dr. Smith nor his opponent could possibly have had any -knowledge. But any reader of this chapter analysis will be -compelled to testify that a book which covered the ground of -this outline and did it with logical acumen and force of reasoning, -is not to be spoken of now in terms other than those of -admiration for the industry and earnestness of the author, and -the cogency of the conclusions which he deduced from his -premises. One is prepared to believe from the testimony included -in a number of letters that are reprinted in the advertisement and -in the preface that these lectures produced a profound impression -upon those who heard this discussion.</p> - -<p>The more carefully these lectures are examined, the more -probable does it appear that in form and method they would -have been likely to make, what they appear to have made, a very -strong impression upon Abraham Lincoln. It must have been -evident to him that Dr. Smith was familiar with both sides of -the question, and Lincoln can but have admired the courage and -ardor with which he went into a discussion so fully in keeping -with methods which Abraham Lincoln himself enjoyed and which -later he employed in his great debate with Douglas. We can -well believe that he spoke with the utmost sincerity when he -told Dr. Smith that he counted the argument unanswerable, and -stated to his brother-in-law, Hon. Ninian W. Edwards, and his -associate at the bar, Mr. Thomas Lewis, that these lectures had -modified his own opinion.</p> - - -<p class="c">NOTICES OF THE DEBATE WHICH LED TO THE<br /> -PUBLISHING OF THE CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE</p> - -<p class="c">From the <i>Southwestern Christian Advocate</i>, Columbus,<br /> -Miss., 1841</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Editor</span>—I have thought that a concise account of this -debate might not be unacceptable to your readers. It is a mortifying -fact, that this city has become <span class="smcap">FAMOUS</span>—or rather -<span class="smcap">INFAMOUS</span> for the prevalence of deism and atheism among -her citizens. This has been produced in a good degree by the -efforts of an old gentleman by the name Olmsted. Since his -residence here, which has been for about four years, he has been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> -untiring in his exertions to sow the seeds of moral death in -this community. He has organized his converts into a band, -that operates systematically. He has written a book, which is -not exceeded by <span class="smcap">Tom Paine's</span> <i>Age of Reason</i>, for scurrility -and ridicule. The old gentleman is as artful as the old <span class="smcap">DESTROYER</span> -himself; by which means he has obtained an immense -influence over the minds of the young men of this place.</p> - -<p>The circumstances which gave rise to the debate were as -follows: The Rev. James Smith, during a visit in this city, delivered -a few discourses on the dangerous tendencies of infidelity, -addressing himself particularly to the youth. This induced -a committee of infidel gentlemen to address a written challenge -to Mr. S., to meet their champion, Mr. O., in a public -debate. Mr. S. by the advice of many intelligent friends of -truth, accepted the challenge. The time arrived, and the discussion -commenced. All was anxiety and interest. The house -was crowded, even the aisles and windows, with attentive hearers. -They arranged to speak alternately, one, two hours each -night, and the other a half hour; so the debate continued two -hours and a half each night. From the representation of Mr. -O's talents, learning, and preparation, we were made to tremble -for the results; but we were not a little disappointed to find the -old gentleman fall far below his fame....</p> - -<p>He asserted that the Jews did not believe in a future state -of existence, until after the Babylonish captivity; that they borrowed -their doctrines of the immortality of the soul from the -nations among whom they were dispersed—that the Jews believed -in a plurality of gods—that St. Paul was the author of Christianity—that -Christianity encourages polygamy. To prove this -last position, he quoted Paul's directions to Timothy: "Let a -bishop be the husband of one wife." And to crown the mass -of absurdities, he endeavored to prove that the blessed Jesus -was a base impostor.</p> - -<p>We found Mr. Smith well prepared for the contest. He -had his arguments systematically arranged—had written them -all, and read them well. He proved to a demonstration, the -<span class="smcap">GENUINENESS</span>, <span class="smcap">AUTHENTICITY</span> and <span class="smcap">INSPIRATION</span> of the Old -Testament Scriptures. His arguments were interesting and -convincing. His arguments on the New Testament were equally -happy, and if possible, more convincing. The conclusion of -every inquirer after truth, must have been, that the champion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> -of deism was signally defeated, and his cause left bleeding on -the field. I doubt not but the defeat would have been more -complete, had Mr. S. omitted some of his personal allusions, and -had he suppressed his natural inclination to sarcasm. Indeed his -blasts of sarcasm were truly <span class="smcap">WITHERING</span>. His opponent, finding -that he could not cope with him in this respect, retreated, and took -shelter under the sympathies of his audience.</p> - -<p class="r"> -Yours, &c.,<br /> -<span class="smcap">One of the Hearers</span>. -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="c xlarge"> -THE</p> -<p class="c xxxlarge">CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="little">CONTAINING</span><br /> -A FAIR STATEMENT AND IMPARTIAL EXAMINATION<br /> -<span class="little">OF THE</span><br /> -LEADING OBJECTIONS URGED BY INFIDELS<br /> -<span class="little">AGAINST THE</span><br /> -ANTIQUITY, GENUINENESS, CREDIBILITY AND<br /> -INSPIRATION<br /> -<span class="little">OF THE</span><br /> -HOLY SCRIPTURES;<br /> -ENRICHED WITH COPIOUS EXTRACTS FROM<br /> -LEARNED AUTHORS.</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smcap">By</span> <span class="large">JAMES SMITH.</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i8">"The Christian Faith,</span><br /> -<span class="i0">Unlike the tim'rous creeds of pagan priests,</span><br /> -<span class="i0">Is frank, stands forth to view, inviting all</span><br /> -<span class="i0">To prove, examine, search, investigate;</span><br /> -<span class="i0">And gave herself a light to see her by."</span><br /> -<span class="i8">—<i>Pollock's Course of Time</i>, B. iv.</span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2m">"If I have done well, and as is fitting the story, it is</span><br /> -<span class="i2m">that which I desired; but if slenderly and meanly, it</span><br /> -<span class="i2m">is that which I could attain unto."—2 <i>Maccabees</i> xv, 38.</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="titlepage">TWO VOLUMES IN ONE</p> - -<p class="titlepage">CINCINNATI:</p> -<p class="c large">STEREOTYPED AND PUBLISHED BY J. A. JAMES</p> -<p class="c">1843 -</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span></p> - - -<p class="c">CONTENTS</p> - - -<p class="c">VOLUME I</p> - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">On the Credibility, Antiquity, and Genuineness of<br /> -the Old Testament Scriptures</span></p> - -<div class="center"> -<table> - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">CHAPTER I</th> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tdl hang">The nations of the earth are indebted to the Jews for the -Bible.—Taylor's assertion, that no such nation as the Jewish -ever existed. Its confutation. The Jews and Christians -hold the Old Testament to be a revelation from God. -Infidels hold this to be untrue. How the question at issue -is to be settled. The frame of mind necessary to an impartial -examination of the subject.—Objections of the -Atheistical Infidel against the claims of the Bible as a -divine revelation. Mr. Olmsted's misrepresentation of the -position of the advocates of Revelation. The questions at -issue between the Christian and Atheist. That between -the Christian and the Deist</td> -<td class="tdrb">1</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—Confutation of the theory of the materialist. -Confutations of the positions of the two classes of -Atheists</td> -<td class="tdrb">6</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section II.</span>—Hume's argument to prove that Polytheism -was the first religion of mankind. Its confutation</td> -<td class="tdrb">23</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section III.</span>—Of the style of the Old Testament Scriptures. -Example from Mr. Olmsted, showing the necessity -of understanding its nature. The Scriptures speak the language -of appearances, but strictly philosophical</td> -<td class="tdrb">40</td></tr> - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">CHAPTER II</th> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang">Mr. Olmsted's assertion concerning the requisitions of the advocate -of Revelation in examining the credibility of the -Mosaic writings. Its falsehood. His allegation that the -first sentence in the Bible contains a falsehood. The confutation -of his argument. His objection to the credibility -of the Mosaic narrative of the creation founded on the -statement that the world was made in six days. Vindication -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>of the Mosaic narrative.—Infidel objection to the -Mosaic narrative founded on the zodiacs in the temples of -Latapolis and Tantyra. Its fallacy.—Dr. Keith's proofs -of the truthfulness of the Mosaic narrative of the creation</td> - -<td class="tdrb">48</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—Mosaic account of the creation confirmed -by tradition. The Hindoo account; that of Ovid; the -Phenician; the Egyptian; that of Plato.—The heathen -tradition concerning the first man. Division of time into -weeks, a confirmation of the Mosaic narrative</td> -<td class="tdrb">75</td></tr> - - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section II.</span>—Paine's and Olmsted's objection on account -of the narrative of the fall of man. Their confutation. -The Mosaic narrative of the fall of man confirmed -by heathen traditions; by the universality of serpent worship; -by the condition of mankind; by the opinions of the -heathen philosophers concerning the corruption of human -nature; by the belief of the Brahmins; by the opinions of -the classical mythologists, and by the universal practice of -animal sacrifice.—The account of the translation of Enoch -confirmed by the Grecian fables.—The longevity of the -antediluvian patriarchs confirmed by heathen traditions.—Mosaic -account of man of gigantic stature confirmed by -the Greek and Latin poets</td> - -<td class="tdrb">85</td></tr> - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">CHAPTER III</th> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang">Objection to the Mosaic narrative of the deluge, because contrary -to the philosophy of Nature. Its fallacy.—The truth -of the narrative confirmed by the fossil remains of animals. -—Objection founded on the size of the ark. Shown -to be fallacious.—Objection founded on certain marks of -antiquity said to exist in the lava of Mt. Etna. Mr. -Horne's confutation of the argument.—Objection on account -of the differences in color, existing among mankind. -Its fallacy. Dr. Good's argument, confirmatory of the -Mosaic narrative.—Objections founded upon the supposed -antiquity of the eastern nations. Confutation of the objection. -—Objections founded on the condition of America -when discovered by Columbus. Proofs that two distinct -races of men immigrated into America from Asia. The -present Indians, of the same race with the tribes of -northern Asia. The ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, -originally proceeded from the same stock with the nations -of southern Asia</td> - -<td class="tdrb">100</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—Mosaic account of the deluge confirmed by -Pagan history. Its memory incorporated with almost every -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span>part of the heathen mythology. Noah claimed by all the -heathen nations as their founder, and worshiped by them as -a god. Saturn, of the Greeks and Latins, Menu of the -Hindoos, and Noah identical. The Hindoo account of the -deluge. The Chinese and Grecian accounts. The ark mentioned -by heathen historians. Plutarch's notice of the dove -which was sent out of the ark. The heathens carried their -deities in an ark. Ancient medals commemorative of the -deluge. American traditions of that calamity. Summing -up of the argument</td> - -<td class="tdrb">125</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section II.</span>—Confirmation of the Mosaic representation -of the origin of families and nations. Testimony of -Sir W. Jones.—Confirmation of the Mosaic accounts of -the tower of Babel.—Of the destruction of Sodom and -Gomorrah. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, known to the ancient -heathens. Mr. Olmsted's attempt to invalidate the -Mosaic account of the condition of the Israelites in Egypt. -The confutation of his argument.—His argument to invalidate -the truth of the Mosaic narrative of the exode of -the Israelites from Egypt and the circumstances attending -it. Vindication of the Mosaic narrative.—Explanation of -the design of the miraculous interposition in behalf of the -Israelites. The fitness and tendency of each of the plagues -inflicted upon the Egyptians. Confutation of Mr. Olmsted's -allegation that Moses extorted permission for the -Israelites to leave Egypt, by false pretentions. Vindication -of the Mosaic account of the hardening of Pharaoh's -heart. Mr. Olmsted's supposition that the Israelites were -a horde of rude barbarians, in behalf of whom there was -no divine interposition. The fallacy and absurdity of his -supposition</td> - -<td class="tdrb">135</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section III.</span>—Collateral testimony confirmative of the -Mosaic account of the exode of the Israelites from Egypt, -their sojourn in the wilderness, and settlement in Canaan. -Curious discovery confirmatory of the Mosaic narrative. -Trogus' account of the origin of the Jews. The account of -their origin by Apion, an Egyptian writer. Manetho's account -of the shepherds who retreated from Egypt to Judea. -Tacitus' account of the origin of the Jews. Artapanus' -relation concerning Moses. Janes and Jambres, the Egyptian -magicians, well known to heathen writers. Strabo's account -of Moses. The account of the Heliopolitans concerning the -passage of the Red Sea. A similar tradition by Diodorus. -The inhabitants of Corondel to this day preserve the remembrance -of the passing of the Red Sea by the Israelites. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span>The names of different places passed by the Israelites -during their sojourn in the wilderness confirm the Mosaic -narrative. The writer of the Orphic verses speaks of -Moses and the tables of the Laws. Didorus Siculus notices -Moses. Dionysius Longius makes honorable mention of -Moses. Accuracy of the Mosaic narrative of the sojourn -in the wilderness confirmed by Laborde. The tomb of -Aaron on Mount Hor, confirms the truth of the Mosaic -narrative. Summing up of the argument from collateral -testimony. A very conclusive evidence of the truth of the -Mosaic history quoted from Dr. Keith.—The history of the -Israelites subsequent to the settlement in Canaan corroborated -by profane writers. Curious discovery, illustrative -of the Scriptural account of the war carried on by -Pharaoh-Necho against the Jews and Babylonians.—Confutation -of the objection founded by Infidels upon the supposed -sterility of the soil of Palestine. Forcible testimony -to the credibility of the Old Testament Scriptures afforded -by the present condition of the Jews</td> - -<td class="tdrb">159</td></tr> - - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">CHAPTER IV</th> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang">Efforts of Infidels to show that the books of the Old Testament -are forgeries of comparative modern date. Their -objections considered. Curious discovery illustrative of the -antiquity and exactness of the Mosaic writings. The utter -impossibility of the books being forgeries proven.—Mr. -Olmsted's argument to prove that the book of the law was -forged by Ezra. Confutation of his argument. Proofs -that the law could not have been forged by Daniel nor by -any of the captives in Babylon; that it could not have been -forged by Isaiah. A forgery could not have been effected -after the revolt of the ten tribes. It could not have been -forged by David; nor by Saul: nor by any of the Judges -who preceded Samuel. The law existed in Joshua's time. -Joshua could not have forged the law. The impossibility -of practicing a fraud upon the Israelites during a sojourn -in the wilderness.—The books of the Pentateuch have internal -marks, which demonstrate that they were written -by Moses. The book of Genesis included by the Jews in -the book of the law. Evidences of its antiquity and genuineness. -—Profane testimony to the genuineness of the -Mosaic writings. Objection on the ground that although -Moses wrote a book called the book of the law, we have -no evidence that it was the book now current in his name. -The objection considered and answered</td> - -<td class="tdrb">193<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span></td></tr> - - - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—Objection of Infidels against the books of -Judges, Kings, and Chronicles, because they are anonymous. -The objection answered.—The objections against the genuineness -of the other books of the Old Testament. In effect -answered in the foregoing arguments.—Mr. Paine's argument -to prove that the Mosaic writings are spurious, -founded upon the style. Confutation of his argument. His -argument founded on the passage "Now the man Moses -was very meek," etc. Its confutation.—His argument -founded on the statement that Abraham pursued the four -kings unto Dan. Its fallacy.—His argument founded on -what is said of the descendants of Esau. The argument -considered, confuted.—His argument founded on the passage -"The children of Israel did eat manna until they came -to a land inhabited," etc. Its fallacy. His argument founded -on what is said concerning Og's bedstead. The argument -confuted.—The argument founded on the record of the -death of Moses being contained in the books attributed to -him. The argument confuted.—The evidence adduced -establishes the genuineness and credibility of the books.—Objection -that Moses must have borrowed the history of -the creation from the traditions which obtained in his time. -Reply to the objection.—The question, Whence did Moses -derive the materials of his history? Answered by Mr. -Horne.—Objections on the ground that no dependence is to -be placed in the present text of the Old Testament Scriptures. -Its fallacy</td> - -<td class="tdrb">227</td></tr> - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">CHAPTER V</th> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tdl hang">A number of objections necessarily omitted, stated and answered.—Mr. -Olmsted's argument to prove that the author -of the book of Genesis was a polytheist. Its confutation.—His -argument to prove that the author of the book of -Genesis believed God to be a corporeal being. Its confutation. -Objections founded on the statements concerning -Cain. Their fallacy.—Cavil of Infidels at the curse pronounced -by Noah upon Canaan. Its unreasonableness. -Objections founded on the cause assigned for the diversity -of languages. Vindication of the Scriptural account.—Objection -founded on the conduct of Lot. Its fallacy.—Objection -founded on the misconduct of Abraham. Consideration -of the objection as applied not merely to Abraham, -but also to Jacob and David.—Objection on the ground that -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span>God is represented as commanding Abraham to sacrifice -Isaac. Vindication of the Scriptural account of that affair. -—Objection, on the ground that circumcision was first -practiced by the Egyptians. Its fallacy.—Objection -founded on the representation given by Moses of the works -of the Egyptian magicians during the plagues in Egypt. -Mr. Farmer's satisfactory reply</td> - -<td class="tdrb">250</td></tr> - - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—Infidels assert that the pillar of cloud and -fire is a fiction. The assertion considered and answered.—The -assertion that the Israelites crossed the Red Sea at -Suez. Vindication of the Scriptural account. Assertion -that the tremendous scene upon Sinai was a cheat. Its -fallacy. Olmsted's objection founded on the length of time -the Israelites were in the wilderness. Explanation of the -design of the dealings of Jehovah with the Israelites. -Vindication of the dresses, rites, and customs enjoyed by -the ceremonial law. Objection founded on the repeated -apostacies of the Israelites. The objection considered and -answered. The objection founded on the treatment of the -Moabites and the Midianites. Considered and answered.—Objection, -on the ground that the Israelites were commanded -to exterminate the Canaanites. Considered and -answered.—Assertion that the Old Testament Scriptures -sanction adultery and murder. Its falsehood.—Assertion -that Jehovah kept false prophets, and violated his promises. -Mr. Horne's answer.—Objection founded on the speaking -of Balaam's ass. Considered and answered. Mr. Paine's -objection on the ground that the sun is represented as -standing still upon Mt. Gibeon. Vindication of the Scriptural -account of that miraculous event. Dr. Clarke's very -satisfactory reply to the objection. Objection founded on -the passage, "Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord, and -he brought the shadow ten degrees backward by which it -had gone down on the dial of Ahaz."—Objection founded -on what is said of the Witch of Endor. Considered and -answered</td> - -<td class="tdrb">275</td></tr> -</table></div> - -<p class="c">VOLUME II</p> - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">The Genuineness of the New Testament Scriptures</span></p> - -<div class="center"> -<table> - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">CHAPTER I</th> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang">The books of the New Testament written by eight Jews.—Why -called New Testament? Infidels deny the genuineness -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span>of the books.—Hold that the writers were impostors, and -the religion taught in them a fraud practiced upon mankind. -The difficulties attending the examination of the claims -of the New Testament to genuineness and credibility.—How -the subject should be approached.—The denial of the -genuineness of the books of modern dates. Toland charged -with having betrayed his suspicion that the writings were -forgeries. The suspicion of an anonymous Italian.—Its -absurdity.—Gibbon acknowledges the genuineness of the -writings.—Volney lays it down as a clear case, that no such -person as Jesus Christ ever existed. His theory adopted, -defended, and extensively circulated by Taylor. His positions -defined in his manifesto.—His unblushing falsehoods -promptly met and refuted by English Divines. Hitherto -unanswered in this country.—His first and second propositions -taken up.—How the authorship which has no name -prefixed to it is to be ascertained. The rule applied to the -New Testament</td> - -<td class="tdrb">3</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—Marks given by Michaelis by which the -spuriousness of a book may be discovered.—How books -anciently found their way to the public. The congregations -before whom the original copies of the New Testament -were read, vouchers of their genuineness.—The ancient adversaries -of Christianity admitted the genuineness of the -writings. The testimony of Trypho, the Jew. The testimony -of Celsus. The writings of Celsus against Christianity -of great value in enabling the advocate of Revelation, -of the present day, to prove that Jesus Christ is the -son of God. The testimony of Porphyry. Testimony of -Hierocles, the philosopher.—Testimony of the emperor -Julian. Testimony of Taylor himself. The quotations -from the New Testament by the most virulent enemies of -Christianity of ancient times. Demonstrate the genuineness -of the writings.—The immediate disciples of the -apostles acknowledge the genuineness of the books. The -epistles of the Apostolic fathers. Their genuineness unquestionable. -These writings prove the genuineness of the -New Testament. The epistles of Barnabas written shortly -after the destruction of Jerusalem. Table illustrating that -the New Testament writings were extant when Barnabas -wrote, or, at least, that he was conversant with some of -the writers of the book. The epistle of Clement, when and -to whom written. Table exhibiting quotations from the -New Testament in the epistle of Clement. Writings of -Hermas; when written. Table exhibiting the quotations of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span>Hermas from the New Testament. Ignatius, when he -flourished. Table of his quotations from the New Testament. -Polycarp, the friend of the apostle John. Table of -his quotations from the New Testament. Summing up of -the testimony of the apostolic fathers.—Ignatius and Polycarp -seal their testimony with their blood.—Martyrdom of -Polycarp</td> - -<td class="tdrb">13</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section II.</span>—Papias ascribes two gospels to Matthew -and Mark. Testimony of Justin, of Irenaenus, of Tertullian, -of Clemens Alexandrinus. Table of quotations by -these witnesses. Testimony of Origen: His quotations -from the New Testament. Testimony of Eusebius and -Jerome.—Number and antiquity of the manuscripts of the -New Testament. An argument for the genuineness of its -books. Curious discovery which confirms the genuineness -of the New Testament writings.—The council of Laodicea -did not design to settle the Canon</td> - -<td class="tdrb">67</td></tr> - - - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">CHAPTER II</th> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">On the Genuineness of the Books.</span>—Mr. Taylor's arguments -to prove that the writings of the New Testament are spurious. -Exposure of his dishonesty in quoting from Dr. -Lardner. Mr. P. Smith's refutation of his allegation that -the Scriptures were altered by the Emperor Anastasius. -Exposure of his dishonesty in quoting from Beausobre. -Refutation of his allegation that the Scriptures were altered -by Lanfranc. Refutation of his argument drawn from the -various readings. The passage of the Unitarian New -Version cited by Mr. Taylor in support of his allegation. -Dr. Bentley on the various readings. Gaussen on the -various readings. Tables illustrative of the various readings. -Trouble of Bengel about the integrity of the original -text. The success of his labors in sacred criticism</td> - -<td class="tdrb">84</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—Taylor's dishonesty in referring to the -works of Herbert Marsh, in support of his allegation that -the manuscript from which the received text was taken was -stolen from the librarian. Explanation of the story of the -sale of the manuscript to a skyrocket maker. Taylor's falsehood -in his pretended reference to Bishop Marsh, in support -of his allegation that for the principal passage in the book of -Revelation there was no original Greek. Notice of Mr. -Taylor's charge that the tendency of the New Testament is -immoral and wicked. J. J. Rousseau's testimony to the -morality of the Gospel. Exposure of Mr. Taylor's dishonesty -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span>in quoting from Mosheim in support of his allegation -that ecclesiastical historians admit their inability to show -when or by whom the New Testament Scriptures were -written. Refutation of his allegation. The Apocryphal -books collected and published by Jeremiah Jones. Refutation -of Mr. Taylor's assertion what he terms the true and -genuine gospel. Refutation of Mr. Taylor's objection on -the ground of modernisms contained in some passages of -the New Testament, and the ignorance of the four evangelists -of the geography and statistics of Judea. The -summing up of the argument on the genuineness of the -New Testament Scriptures</td> - -<td class="tdrb">107</td></tr> - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">CHAPTER III</th> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Credibility of the New Testament Scriptures.</span>—The number -of the witnesses who testify to the facts detailed in the -New Testament. How the credibility of a historical book -is to be ascertained. The rule as applied to Christian -writings. Their genuineness proves their credibility. The -writers of the New Testament could not have falsified the -facts relative to Jesus Christ. The objection on the ground -that the Jews rejected the claims of Jesus Christ. Its confutation. -The conduct of the Jewish nation in rejecting -Christ accounted for. The conversion of many of the -Gentiles proves the credibility of the book. The character, -circumstances, and conduct of the men who testify of -Jesus prove their credibility. Difficulty to be surmounted -by those who maintain that the apostles and evangelists -were impostors. Summing up of the argument on the -credibility of the witnesses</td> - -<td class="tdrb">125</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—Collateral testimony of the truthfulness of -the writers of the New Testament. Testimonies to the -truthfulness of St. Matthew's statement concerning Herod -and Archalaus. Testimony to the truthfulness of the statement -of Luke concerning Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee, and -his brother Phillip, Tetrarch of Itruria. Testimony to the -truthfulness of the evangelists relative to Herod marrying -Herodias. Josephus corroborates Luke's account of the -death of Herod Agrippa. Testimonies of the truthfulness -of the statements in the Acts concerning Felix. A number -of notices, by profane authors, of Pilate, confirmatory of -the truthfulness of the evangelists. Testimonies to the -truthfulness of the evangelists in their statements of the -treatment of Jesus Christ upon trial and when crucified. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span>Testimonies confirming statements of the evangelists concerning -the burial of Jesus Christ. Notice taken of John -the Baptist by Josephus. What he says concerning Jesus -Christ. Notices of Jesus Christ from the ancient Jewish -Talmudical writings. Testimony of the heathen adversary -to the leading facts detailed by the evangelists. Summing -up of the argument</td> - -<td class="tdrb">140</td></tr> - - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section II.</span>—The same ground retraced, and the objections -of Mr. Taylor considered and answered. Representation -of Taylor's third and fourth propositions. The -falsehood of Mr. Taylor's assertion that no such person as -Jesus Christ ever existed, proven by the testimony of -Tacitus, of Suetonius, of Martial, of Pliny the Younger. -Mr. Taylor's assertion that some, many, or all, of the -events related of Jesus Christ by the evangelists had formerly -been related of the gods and goddesses of Greece -and Rome. Its confutation to be found in any of the -Pantheons or mythological dictionaries. Exposure of the -malignity and falsehood of Mr. Taylor exhibited in his -attempt to identify Jesus Christ with the heathen idol -Crishna. Citations from Sir W. Jones concerning Crishna. -The testimony of Sir W. Jones impartial. The unreasonableness -and absurdity of Mr. Taylor's conclusions</td> - -<td class="tdrb">164</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section III.</span>—The last refuge of the infidel is to maintain -either that Jesus Christ was a mistaken enthusiast or -a wicked impostor. Mr. English's argument to prove that -Jesus was a mistaken enthusiast. Its confutation</td> - -<td class="tdrb">181</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section IV.</span>—Argument by Mr. Olmsted to prove that -Jesus Christ was a wicked impostor. Its confutation</td> - -<td class="tdrb">190</td></tr> - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">CHAPTER IV</th> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Objections Stated and Answered.</span>—The objections urged by -infidels of such a nature that, though numerous, to answer -one or two of each class is to answer all. Quotation from -Gaussen, explanatory of the nature and causes of the supposed -contradictions in the writings of the evangelists. Examples -by Gaussen. Explanation of the seeming contradictions -between the genealogies of Matthew and Luke. -Answer to the objection, that certain names occur in Luke's -list of the apostles, which do not appear in that of Matthew. -Answer to the objection on account of the seeming contradiction -in the title which was written over Jesus Christ -when on the cross. Answer to the objection founded on -the seeming contradiction in the different accounts of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span>hour when Jesus Christ was suspended on the cross. Answer -to the objection urged against St. Luke when he says, -"It came to pass in those days, that there went out a -decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be -taxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was -Governor of Syria." Answer to the objection founded upon -Jesus cursing the fig-tree. Answer to Taylor's assertion that -Romans 3:7 recommends telling lies for the glory of God. -His assertion that Jesus Christ was not crucified. Its confutation. -His assertion that "Paul and Barnabas did not -preach the same story." Its falsehood demonstrated. His -assertion that some preached a Christ who was not crucified. -Its falsehood. His assertion that Paul called the other -apostles false apostles and dogs. Vindication of the apostles -from this calumny. His assertions that Paul curses the other -apostles and recommends that they should be privately -assassinated. The falsehood of these accusations. The last -refuge of Mr. Taylor in asserting that Christianity had its -origin among the Therapeutae. Other infidels pretend that -the Essenes were the originators of Christianity. Watson's -account of the Essenes and Therapeutae</td> - -<td class="tdrb">214</td></tr> - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">CHAPTER V</th> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Divine Authority and Inspiration of the Scriptures.</span>—What -is to be understood by inspiration? None but an -atheist can deny its possibilities. The gift of inspiration -proved by the performance of supernatural works, and by -the foretelling of future events with preciseness. If these -signs accompanied the authors of the dispensations contained -in the Old and New Testaments, it must be admitted -that the Bible is a revelation from God. The performance -of miracles by the authors of these dispensations attests -their divine mission. A miracle defined. Mr. Hume's argument -against miracles. Lord Brougham's confutation of -the argument. Keith's demonstration of its fallacy. The -miracles of Moses, of Jesus Christ and his apostles accompanied -by evidences which cannot be brought to substantiate -any pretended fact whatever. Mr. Leslie's argument -in favor of this position. Mr. Olmsted's attempt to destroy -the force of Mr. Leslie's argument. Exposure of the misrepresentations -and falsehoods contained in Mr. Olmsted's -argument. Confutation of his argument</td> - -<td class="tdrb">232</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—Mr. Leslie's criteria applied to the miracles -recorded in the Scriptures. Applied to those of Moses; they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span>all meet in his miracles. Applied to those of Jesus Christ -and his apostles. Their number, their variety, and the -public manner in which they were performed, attest their -veracity. Miracles of Christ contrasted with those of impostors. -The pretended miracles wrought by Vespasian. -The pretended miracles of the Roman Catholics. Many of -them have been proved to be impostors. The object of -the miracles of Jesus attests their veracity. The great -miracle which lies at the foundation of Christianity, the -resurrection of Jesus Christ. The miracle examined. -Testimony of the evangelists, that Jesus during his life predicted -his death and resurrection. The prediction well -known to the Jewish rulers. The rulers took every necessary -precaution to put his pretensions to the test. The -crucifixion and death of Christ well attested. Precautions -that the body should not be removed until life was extinct. -The precautions of the rulers to prevent the body being -stolen out of the sepulchre. The whole question at issue -between Jesus and the Jewish rulers, suspended on the naked -fact, whether He did or did not rise again on the third -day. The Jewish rulers make their preparation on the -Sabbath to produce the body on the third day. On the -third day the body is missing. Different ways of accounting -for the fact. The disciples alleged that Jesus had -risen from the dead. Their testimony examined. The -Jewish rulers asserted that the disciples stole the body. -The allegation examined. Its falsehood demonstrated. -Subsequent conduct of the Sanhedrin confirms the testimony -of the apostles and evangelists. The adoption of the Jewish -mode of accounting for the fact accompanied with many -difficulties. An acknowledgment of the resurrection of -Jesus involves an acknowledgment of His divine mission. -Mr. Olmsted's objection on the ground that Jesus did not -show Himself publicly and ascend to heaven in the presence -of the whole nation. Its fallacious nature. The testimony -we have of the resurrection of Jesus Christ much more -satisfactory and convincing than that required by Mr. -Olmsted. Insuperable difficulties attending the denial of -the resurrection of Jesus Christ</td> - -<td class="tdrb">279</td></tr> - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">CHAPTER VI</th> - </tr> -<tr><td class="tdl hang">Divine authority of the Scriptures proved from prophecy and -its fulfillment. A prophecy defined. Mr. Watson's argument -in support of the possibility of prophecy. Criteria by -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span>which true may be distinguished from false prophecies. -The prophecies of heathen oracles examined. Proved to -have been impostures. Contrast between the pretended predictions -of the heathen oracles and the prophecies contained -in the Scriptures. Mr. Paine's remarks in relation to the -manner in which future events would be communicated by -a true prophet. Mr. Olmsted's requisition and pledge if it -be met to acknowledge the truth of prophecy. Mr. Olmsted -met upon his own ground. Prophecy relative to the destruction -of Tyre. Its fulfillment proved by the infidel -Volney, and other competent witnesses. Mr. Olmsted, -from his own showing, is bound to believe that Ezekiel -was a true prophet of God. Table of quotations from the -prophecies of the Old Testament, and from Volney's writings, -showing that in spite of himself this infidel proves the -truthfulness of the seers of Israel. Mr. Olmsted's assertion -that the history of Isaiah is made up of scraps, and destitute -of order and meaning. The truth of the assertion tested. -Prophecy of Isaiah concerning Edom. Volney's testimony -of its fulfillment. Testimony of Mr. Stevens. Prophecy -of Jeremiah concerning the capital of Edom. Burchkhardt's -testimony of its fulfillment. Testimony of Captains Irby -and Mangles. Testimony of Mr. Stevens. The infidel -having been met on his own ground, and the fulfillment of -many prophecies proved by competent witnesses, it follows -that the seers of Israel were the true prophets of God</td> - -<td class="tdrb">302</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang"><span class="smcap">Section I.</span>—The great theme of the Old Testament -prophets was the coming of the Messiah. The Christian -maintains that these prophecies found an accomplishment in -Christ. This denied by the Jew and the infidel. Mr. English's -argument to show that Jesus was not the Messiah. -First, on account of His genealogy, and, second, because the -prophecies of the Old Testament found no accomplishment -in Him. Mr. English's argument refuted in all its particulars. -Jesus proved to be the true Messiah. The Messiahship -of Jesus Christ being proved, it proves that the -Bible is a revelation from God. Closing address</td> - -<td class="tdrb">324</td></tr> - -<tr> - <th colspan="2">APPENDIX</th> - </tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl hang">Starkie's confutation of Hume's argument on evidence</td> - -<td class="tdrb">362</td></tr> -</table></div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a><br /><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="APPENDIX_VIII" id="APPENDIX_VIII"></a>APPENDIX VIII</h2></div> - -<p class="c">LINCOLN AND THE CHURCHES</p> - -<p class="c">By <span class="smcap">John G. Nicolay and John Hay</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Some of the important material bearing upon Lincoln's religious -convictions which was collected by Nicolay and Hay and published -in the <i>Century Magazine</i>, has, through faulty indexing, been -almost lost. The words "churches" and "religion" are not in the thick -index in the tenth volume of their great work. Finding in the <i>Century -Magazine</i> for August, 1889, an important article on this subject, I searched -in vain for any way of finding it in the book by means of the index, -and two librarians, working in separate libraries, searched for it and -reported to me that it was not in the book. I came to the conclusion -that in the editing of the work for its publication in book form, the two -former secretaries of the President had deemed some of this matter too -personal for their title, "Abraham Lincoln: a History." But I have -discovered the missing passage in the sixth volume, pages 314-342. Its -testimony is in full accord with that subsequently given by Mr. Hay -in the address delivered by him from Mr. Lincoln's old pew, which is -printed in the volume of John Hay's addresses. The article in the -<i>Century</i> is so important that the first and last portions of it will justify -reprinting here. The omitted portions relate to the relations of Mr. -Lincoln and of the Government to particular churches or denominations.</p> - -<p class="r"> -W. E. B. -</p></blockquote> - - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> a conflict which was founded upon the quickened moral sense -of the people it was not strange that the Government received the -most earnest support from the churches. From one end of the -loyal States to the other all the religious organizations, with few -exceptions, moved by the double forces of patriotism and religion, -ranged themselves upon the side of the Government against the -rebellion. A large number of pulpits in the North had already -taken their places as tribunes for the defense of popular freedom, -and it was from them that, at the menace of war, the first cry of -danger and of defiance rang out. Those ministers who had for -years been denouncing the encroachments of slavery did not wait -for any organized action on the part of their colleagues, but proclaimed -at once in a thousand varying tones that peace was "a -blessing worth fighting for." The more conservative churches -were but little in the rear of the more advanced. Those who had -counseled moderation and patience with the South on account of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> -the divided responsibility for slavery which rested on both halves -of the nation speedily felt the sense of release front the obligations -of brotherhood when the South had repudiated and renounced -them, and rallied to the support of the insulted flag with -an earnestness not less ardent, and more steadily trustworthy, -than that of the original antislavery clergy. As the war went -on, and as every stage of it gave a clearer presage of the coming -destruction of slavery, the deliverances of the churches became -every day more and more decided in favor of the national cause -and the downfall of human bondage. To detail the thousand -ways in which the churches testified their support of the national -cause, to give even an abstract of the countless expressions of -loyalty which came from the different religious bodies of the -country, would occupy many volumes; we can only refer briefly -to a few of the more important utterances of some of the great -religious societies.</p> - -<p>In all the church conventions which met after the President's -preliminary proclamation of the 22d of September, 1862, that -act of liberation was greeted with the heartiest expressions of -approval and support.</p> - -<p>As the national authority began to be reëstablished throughout -the States in rebellion, not the least embarrassing of the questions -which generals in command were called upon to decide was that -of the treatment of churches whose pastors were openly or -covertly disloyal to the Union. There was no general plan -adopted by the Government for such cases; in fact, it was impossible -to formulate a policy which should meet so vast a variety -of circumstances as presented themselves in the different regions -of the South. The Board of Missions of the Methodist Church -sent down some of their ablest ministers, with general authority -to take charge of abandoned churches, and to establish in them -their interrupted worship. The mission boards of other denominations -took similar action, and the Secretary of War<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> gave -general orders to the officers commanding the different departments -to permit ministers of the gospel bearing the commission -of these mission boards to exercise the functions of their office -and to give them all the aid, countenance, and support which -might be practicable. But before and after these orders there -was much clashing between the military and the ecclesiastical authorities, -which had its rise generally in the individual tempera<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span>ments -of the respective generals and priests. There was an instance -in one place where a young officer rose in his pew and -requested an Episcopal minister to read the prayer for the President -of the United States, which he had omitted. Upon the -minister's refusal the soldier advanced to the pulpit and led the -preacher, loudly protesting, to the door, and then quietly returning -to the altar himself read the prayer—not much, it is to be -feared, to the edification of the congregation. General Butler -arrested a clergyman in Norfolk, and placed him at hard labor -on the public works for disloyalty in belief and action; but the -President reversed this sentence and changed it to one of exclusion -from the Union lines.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> The Catholic Bishop of Natchez -having refused to read the prescribed form of prayer for the -President, and having protested in an able and temperate paper -against the orders of the commanding general in this regard, the -latter ordered him to be expelled from the Union lines, although -the order was almost immediately rescinded. General Rosecrans -issued an order<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> in Missouri requiring the members of religious -convocations to give satisfactory evidence of their loyalty to the -Government of the United States as a condition precedent to -their assemblage and protection. In answer to the protestations -which naturally resulted from this mandate he replied that it -was given at the request of many loyal church members, both lay -and clerical; that if he should permit all bodies claiming to be -religious to meet without question, a convocation of Price's -army, under the garb of religion, might assemble with impunity -and plot treason. He claimed that there was no hardship in -compelling the members of such assemblages to establish their -loyalty by oath and certificate, and insisted that his order, while -providing against public danger, really protected the purity and -the freedom of religion.</p> - -<p>In the course of these controversies between secessionist ministers -and commanding generals an incident occurred which deserves -a moment's notice, as it led to a clear and vigorous -statement from Mr. Lincoln of his attitude in regard to these -matters. During the year 1862 a somewhat bitter discussion -arose between the Rev. Dr. McPheeters of the Vine Street -Church in St. Louis and some of his congregation in regard to -his supposed sympathies with the rebellion. Looking back upon -the controversy from this distance of time it seems that rather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> -hard measure was dealt to the parson; for although, from all -the circumstances of the case, there appears little doubt that -his feelings were strongly enlisted in the cause of the rebellion, he -behaved with so much discretion that the principal offenses -charged against him by his zealous parishioners were that he -once baptized a small rebel by the name of Sterling Price, and -that he would not declare himself in favor of the Union. The -difference in his church grew continually more flagrant and was -entertained by interminable letters and statements on both sides, -until at last the provost-marshal intervened, ordering the arrest -of Dr. McPheeters, excluding him from his pulpit, and taking the -control of his church out of the hands of its trustees. This action -gave rise to extended comment, not only in Missouri, but throughout -the Union. The President, being informed of it, wrote<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> -to General Curtis disapproving the act of the provost-marshal, -saying, in a terse and vigorous phrase, which immediately obtained -wide currency, "The United States Government must not, -as by this order, undertake to run the churches. When an individual -in a church, or out of it, becomes dangerous to the public -interest he must be checked; but let the churches, as such, take -care of themselves." But even this peremptory and unmistakable -command did not put an end to the discussion. Taking -the hands of the Government away from the preacher did not -quench the dissensions in the church, nor restore the pastor to the -position which he occupied before the war; and almost a year -later some of the friends of Dr. McPheeters considered it necessary -and proper to ask the intervention of the President to -restore to him all his ecclesiastical privileges in addition to the -civil rights which they admitted he already enjoyed. This the -President, in a letter<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> of equal clearness and vigor, refused to do. -"I have never interfered," he said, "nor thought of interfering, -as to who shall, or shall not, preach in any church; nor have I -knowingly or believingly tolerated anyone else to so interfere by -my authority"; but he continues, "If, after all, what is now -sought is to have me put Dr. McPheeters back over the heads -of a majority of his own congregation, that too will be declined. -I will not have control of any church on any side." The case -finally ended by the exclusion of Dr. McPheeters from his pulpit -by the order of the presbytery having ecclesiastical authority -in the case.</p> - -<p>In this wise and salutary abstention from any interference<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> -with the churches, which was dictated by his own convictions as -well as enjoined by the Constitution, the President did not always -have the support of his subordinates. He had not only, as we -have seen, to administer occasional rebukes to his over-zealous -generals, but even in his own Cabinet he was sometimes compelled -to overrule a disposition to abuse of authority in things -spiritual. Several weeks after he had so clearly expressed himself -in the McPheeters case, he found, to his amazement, that -the Secretary of War had been giving orders virtually placing -the army in certain places at the disposition of a Methodist -bishop for the enforcement of his ecclesiastical decrees. He -addressed to Mr. Stanton a note of measured censure,<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> -which was followed by an order from the War Department -explaining and modifying the more objectionable features -of the former document. The Secretary explained that his action -had no other intention than to furnish "a means of rallying -the Methodist people in favor of the Union, in localities where -the rebellion had disorganized and scattered them."<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> This explanation -was not entirely satisfactory to the President, but he -thought best to make no further public reference to the matter. -Scarcely was this affair disposed of when a complaint was received -from Memphis of some interference by the military with -a church edifice there. Mr. Lincoln made upon the paper this -peremptory indorsement: "If the military have military need of -the church building, let them keep it; otherwise, let them get -out of it, and leave it and its owners alone, except for the causes -that justify the arrest of anyone."<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> Two months later the President, -hearing of further complications in the case, made still -another order, which even at the risk of wearying the reader -we will give, from his own manuscript, as illustrating not only -his conscientious desire that justice should be done, but also the -exasperating obstacles he was continually compelled to surmount, -in those troubled times, to accomplish, with all the vast -powers at his disposition, this reasonable desire.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I am now told that the military were not in possession of -the building; and yet that in pretended execution of the above -they, the military, put one set of men out of and another set into -the building. This, if true, is most extraordinary. I say again, -if there be no military need for the building, leave it alone, neither -putting anyone in or out of it, except on finding someone preaching -or practicing treason, in which case lay hands upon him, -just as if he were doing the same thing in any other building, or -in the streets or highways."<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></p></blockquote> - -<p>He at last made himself understood and his orders respected; -yet so widespread was the tendency of generals to meddle with -matters beyond their jurisdiction, that it took three years of such -vehement injunctions as these to teach them to keep their hands -away from the clergy and the churches.</p> - -<p>Lincoln had a profound respect for every form of sincere -religious belief. He steadily refused to show favor to any particular -denomination of Christians; and when General Grant issued -an unjust and injurious order against the Jews, expelling -them from his department, the President ordered it to be revoked -the moment it was brought to his notice.<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a></p> - -<p>He was a man of profound and intense religious feeling. We -have no purpose of attempting to formulate his creed; we question -if he himself ever did so. There have been swift witnesses -who, judging from expressions uttered in his callow youth, have -called him an atheist, and others who, with the most laudable -intentions, have remembered improbable conversations which -they bring forward to prove at once his orthodoxy and their own -intimacy with him. But leaving aside these apocryphal evidences, -we have only to look at his authentic public and private utterances -to see how deep and strong in all the latter part of his -life was the current of his religious thought and emotion. He -continually invited and appreciated, at their highest value, the -prayers of good people. The pressure of the tremendous problems -by which he was surrounded; the awful moral significance -of the conflict in which he was the chief combatant; the overwhelming -sense of personal responsibility, which never left him -for an hour—all contributed to produce, in a temperament naturally -serious and predisposed to a spiritual view of life and conduct, -a sense of reverent acceptance of the guidance of a Superior<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> -Power. From that morning when, standing amid the falling -snowflakes on the railway car at Springfield, he asked the prayers -of his neighbors in those touching phrases whose echo rose that -night in invocations from thousands of family altars, to that -memorable hour when on the steps of the Capitol he humbled -himself before his Creator in the sublime words of the second -inaugural, there is not an expression known to have come from -his lips or his pen but proves that he held himself answerable -in every act of his career to a more august tribunal than any on -earth. The fact that he was not a communicant of any church, -and that he was singularly reserved in regard to his personal -religious life, gives only the greater force to these striking proofs -of his profound reverence and faith.</p> - -<p>In final substantiation of this assertion, we subjoin two papers -from the hand of the President, one official and the other private, -which bear within themselves the imprint of a sincere devotion -and a steadfast reliance upon the power and benignity of an overruling -Providence. The first is an order which he issued on the -16th of November, 1864, on the observance of Sunday:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and -Navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath -by the officers and men in the military and naval service. The -importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the -sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference -to the best sentiment of Christian people, and a due regard -for the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor in the Army and -Navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity. The discipline -and character of the national forces should not suffer, -nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the profanation of the -day or name of the Most High. 'At this time of public distress -[adopting the words of Washington in 1776] men may find -enough to do in the service of their God and their country without -abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.' The first General -Order issued by the Father of his Country after the Declaration -of Independence indicated the spirit in which our institutions -were founded and should ever be defended. 'The General hopes -and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and -act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights -and liberties of his country.'"<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span></p> - -<p>The date of this remarkable order leaves no possibility for -the insinuation that it sprung from any political purpose, or intention. -Mr. Lincoln had just been re-elected by an overwhelming -majority; his party was everywhere triumphant; his own personal -popularity was unbounded; there was no temptation to -hypocrisy or deceit. There is no explanation of the order except -that it was the offspring of sincere conviction. But if it may -be said that this was, after all, an exoteric utterance, springing -from those relations of religion and good government which the -wisest rulers have always recognized in their intercourse with -the people, we will give one other document, of which nothing -of the sort can be said. It is a paper which Mr. Lincoln wrote -in September, 1862, while his mind was burdened with the -weightiest question of his life, the weightiest with which this -century has had to grapple. Wearied with all the considerations -of law and of expediency with which he had been struggling -for two years, he retired within himself and tried to bring some -order into his thoughts by rising above the wrangling of men and -of parties, and pondering the relations of human government to -the Divine. In this frame of mind, absolutely detached from any -earthly considerations, he wrote this meditation. It has never -been published. It was not written to be seen of men. It was -penned in the awful sincerity of a perfectly honest soul trying to -bring itself into closer communion with its Maker.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The will of God prevails. In great contests each party -claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both <i>may</i> be -and one <i>must</i> be wrong. God cannot be <i>for</i> and <i>against</i> the -same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite -possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose -of either party; and yet the human instrumentalities, working -just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. -I am almost ready to say that this is probably true; that -God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By -His mere great power on the minds of the now contestants, He -could have either <i>saved</i> or <i>destroyed</i> the Union without a human -contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun, he could give -the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span></p> - -<p>The following brief address by Mr. Lincoln appears never to have -been published. It was discovered, just as this book was going to press, -by Mr. Jesse W. Weik, who hastened to send it to me. It is the shorthand -report of a brief address delivered by Mr. Lincoln at a railroad -junction near La Fayette, Indiana, a few hours after he had left Springfield -on his way to Washington, Saturday, February 11, 1860.</p> - -<p class="r"> -W. H. B. -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>When I first came to the west some forty-four or forty-five -years ago, at sundown you had completed a journey of some -thirty miles, which you had commenced at sunrise; and you -thought you had done well. Now, only six hours have elapsed -since I left my home in Illinois, where I was surrounded by a -large concourse of my fellow citizens, most all of whom I could -recognize; and I find myself far from home, surrounded by the -thousands I now see before me, who are strangers to me. Still -we are bound together, I trust, in Christianity, civilization and -patriotism, and are attached to our country and our whole country. -While some of us may differ in political opinions, still we -are all united in one feeling for the Union.</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a><br /><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="A_CONDENSED_BIBLIOGRAPHY" id="A_CONDENSED_BIBLIOGRAPHY"></a>A CONDENSED BIBLIOGRAPHY</h2></div> - - -<p class="medium">(The bibliographical notes which the author made while this work -was in preparation reached a total of several thousand. From these he -at first selected about five hundred titles, being practically a catalogue -of his own Lincoln library, a list of books about Lincoln which he -considered worth buying. But this also appeared much longer than was -needed for the purposes of this book, and he has therefore prepared -this shorter list of books bearing more directly upon the subject matter -of this volume, and for the convenience of such readers as are unfamiliar -with the literature of the subject he has added comments upon some -of the books or articles.)</p> - -<p class="c">I. <span class="smcap">Lincoln's Own Writings and Speeches</span></p> - - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: Complete Works.</i> Edited by John G. Nicolay and -John Hay. In Two Volumes. New York: The Century Company, -1894.</p> - -<p class="medium">There is a larger edition in twelve volumes, with some additions, and -there are two other notable collections, both of them good. No one of -these, however, is entirely complete; and there are volumes such as "The -Uncollected Letters of Lincoln" edited by Gilbert A. Tracy (Houghton -Mifflin & Co., 1917) which supplement the "complete" works. Very -nearly everything which the reader requires, however, is in the Nicolay -and Hay work.</p> - - -<p class="c">II. <span class="smcap">Lives of Abraham Lincoln</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Autobiography.</i> Facsimile Reproduction of Autobiographical Sketch -written by Abraham Lincoln for Jesse W. Fell in 1860. Published -by his daughters at Normal, Ill.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln.</i> Sketch furnished by him in -1860 to John Locke Scripps. New York: Francis D. Tandy Company, -1905.</p> - -<p class="medium">This and the preceding item contain virtually all that Lincoln told -the public about himself.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Life of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By John Locke Scripps. 1860. Tribune Tract -No. 6. Prepared from information given by Mr. Lincoln and read -and approved by him before publication.</p> - -<p class="hang">"<i>The Wigwam Edition.</i>" The Life, Speeches and Public Services of -Abraham Lincoln, Together with a Sketch of Hannibal Hamlin. New -York: Rudd and Carleton, 1860.</p> - -<p class="medium">It disputes with Scripps the honor of being the first printed life -of Lincoln, and is of great interest as showing how little was known -of Lincoln in 1860 apart from the sketch which he had himself -prepared.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Life of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By J. Q. Howard, Cincinnati: Anderson, -Gates and Wright, 1860. With pictures of the Wigwam on the back -and is as rare and desirable as the real "Wigwam Edition."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Life of Abraham Lincoln</i> (of Illinois). With a Condensed View of his -Most Important Speeches; also a Sketch of the Life of Hannibal -Hamlin (of Maine). Authentic edition. By J. H. Barrett. Cincinnati: -Moore, Wilstach, Keyes & Co., 1860.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lives and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin.</i> Life of -Lincoln by W. D. Howells. Life of Hamlin by John L. Hays. Columbus, -Ohio: Follett, Foster and Company, 1860.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Life and Public Services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln</i>: to which is -added a Biographical Sketch of Hon. Hannibal Hamlin by D. W. -Bartlett. Authorized edition. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1860.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Life and Public Services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln of Illinois and Hon. -Hannibal Hamlin of Maine.</i> Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860.</p> - -<p class="medium">The above listed campaign biographies, all of them, except the -Wigwam Edition, based directly or indirectly upon the information -furnished first to Scripps, and then to other biographers, are all of -remarkable interest as showing what was then available to make a biography -out of, and what various biographers, under stress of the campaign -and the enterprise of publishers, were able to make out of it.</p> - -<p class="medium">A list might be added of the 1864 campaign biographies, but for -the present purpose they are unimportant, as also are the first that -followed his death.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Life of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By J. G. Holland. Springfield, Mass., -published by Gurdon Bill, 1865. By far the best life of Lincoln -published in the first few years after his death, and noted as containing -the Bateman interview, which gave rise to the controversy -concerning Lincoln's religion.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln, Together With State -Papers.</i> By Henry J. Raymond. To which are added anecdotes and -reminiscences of Frank B. Carpenter. New York: Derby & Miller, -1865. At the time of publication this was the best life of Lincoln -in its assembling of State Papers and important documents.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Life of Abraham Lincoln from His Birth to His Inauguration As -President.</i> By Ward H. Lamon. Boston: James R. Osgood & Company, -1872. First attempt to give to the world the story of the -"real" Lincoln and a conspicuous example of the fate a man may -suffer at the hands of his friends. Invaluable in its material, but -with shocking bad taste; and said by Herndon to have been written -by Chauncey F. Black.</p> - -<p class="medium">Brings the narrative down to the time of Lincoln's inauguration -and was intended to have been followed by a second volume, but was -received with such disfavor that the concluding volume was never -issued.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847-1865.</i> By Ward Hill Lamon. -Edited by Dorothy Lamon. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, -1895. Second Edition of the Same, with Memoir of Ward Hill -Lamon by his daughter, Dorothy Lamon Teillard. Washington, D. C. -Published by the editor, 1911.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Herndon's Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life. Etiam in minimis -major.</i> The History and Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln. -By William H. Herndon, for twenty years his friend and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> -law partner; and Jesse William Weik, A.M. Chicago, New York -and San Francisco: Belford, Clarke & Co., publishers. London: -Henry J. Drane, Lovells Court, Paternoster Road. 3 volumes. 1889. -Unexpurgated first edition.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life.</i> By William H. -Herndon and Jesse W. Weik, with an introduction by Horace White. -In two volumes. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1892.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: A History.</i> By John G. Nicolay and John Hay. In -ten volumes. New York: The Century Co., 1890. First edition.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>A Short Life of Abraham Lincoln.</i> Condensed from Nicolay and Hay's -<i>Abraham Lincoln: A History</i>. By John G. Nicolay. New York: -The Century Co., 1906.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Personal Traits of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Helen Nicolay. New York: -The Century Company, 1912.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> By John T. Morse, Jr. In two volumes. American -Statesman Series. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin & Co., -1893. In many respects the best short life of Lincoln.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Early Life of Abraham Lincoln.</i> Containing many unpublished -documents and unpublished reminiscences of Lincoln's early friends. -By Ida M. Tarbell, assisted by J. McCan Davis. New York: S. S. -McClure Co., Limited, 1896.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Life of Abraham Lincoln.</i> Drawn from original sources. By Ida -M. Tarbell. Two volumes. New York: The Doubleday & McClure -Co., 1900.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> An Essay. By Carl Schurz. Boston and New York: -Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1891.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln the Leader: and Genius for Expression.</i> By Richard Watson -Gilder. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: The People's Leader in the Struggle for National -Existence.</i> By George Haven Putnam, Litt.D. New York and -London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln, Master of Men: A Study in Character.</i> By Alonzo Rothchild. -Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1906.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Honest Abe: A Study in Integrity.</i> By Alonzo Rothchild. Boston and -New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1917.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Rose Strunsky. New York: Macmillan Company, -1914.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Noah Brooks. Centennial Edition. G. P. Putnam's -Sons, New York, 1888.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Henry Bryan Binns. London: J. M. Dent & Co., -1907.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Lord Charnworth (Godfrey Rathbone Benson). -Henry Holt and Company, 1907.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span></p> -<p><i>Latest Light on Lincoln, and War Time Memories.</i> By Ervin Chapman, -D.D., LL.D. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1917.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Everyday Life of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Frances Fisher Browne. -Chicago: Browne & Howell Co., 1913. New and thoroughly revised -edition.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The True Abraham Lincoln.</i> By William Eleroy Curtis. Philadelphia -and London: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1903.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: The Man of the People.</i> By Norman Hapgood. New -York: The Macmillan Co., 1899.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Sketch of the Life of Abraham Lincoln.</i> Compiled in most part from -the History of Abraham Lincoln and the overthrow of slavery. By -Isaac N. Arnold. New York: John D. Bachelder, 1869.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Life of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Isaac N. Arnold. Chicago: A. C. -McClurg & Co., 1901. Twelfth edition, 1916.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life.</i> By William O. -Stoddard, one of President Lincoln's private secretaries during the -War of the Rebellion. Revised edition. New York: Fords, Howard -& Hulbert, 1896.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Charles Carleton Coffin. New York: Harper and -Brothers, 1893.</p> - - -<p class="c">III. <span class="smcap">Early Illinois History</span></p> - -<p><i>A. W. Snyder in Illinois 1817-1842.</i> Virginia, Illinois: E. Needham, 1906.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Illinois in 1818.</i> By Solon Justus Buck. Illinois Centennial Commission, -Springfield, 1917.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Centennial History of Illinois.</i> Vol. II. <i>The Frontier State, 1818-1848.</i> -By Theodore Calvin Pease. Published by the Illinois Centennial -Commission, 1918, Springfield, Illinois.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Lincoln Illinois Country.</i> By Daniel Kilham Dodge. <i>The Independent.</i></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Pioneering: An Article on Lincoln and Herndon.</i> By C. H. Dall. <i>Atlantic -Monthly</i>, April, 1867.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln and Salem: Pioneers of Mason and Menard Counties.</i> By T. G. -Onstott. Published by the author, Forest City, Illinois, 1902.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Illinois.</i> An address delivered before the faculty and students of the -University of Illinois on Illinois Day, 1911, by Clark E. Carr. Illinois -University Press, December 6, 1911.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Illini: A Story of the Prairies.</i> By Clark E. Carr. Chicago: A. C. -McClurg & Co. Issued 1904; eighth edition, 1916.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>My Day and Generation.</i> By Clark E. Carr. Chicago: A. C. McClurg -& Co., 1908.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Illinois: Travel and Description, 1765-1865.</i> By Solon Justus Buck. -Springfield, Ill. Published by trustees Illinois State Historical Library, -1914.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span></p> - - -<p class="c">IV. <span class="smcap">Lincoln's Youth</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Boyhood.</i> By Eleanor Atkinson. The Narrative of an Interview -with Dennis Hanks in 1889. <i>American Magazine</i>, February, -1908.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>In the Boyhood of Lincoln.</i> By Hezekiah Butterworth. New York: D. -Appleton & Co., 1892.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Boy Lincoln.</i> By W. O. Stoddard. New York: D. Appleton & Co., -1905.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Pioneer Boy.</i> By William M. Thayer. Boston: Walker and Wise -Company, 1863.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln, the Boy and the Man.</i> By James Morgan. New York: -The Macmillan Company, 1907.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Education of Lincoln.</i> By Hamilton W. Mabie. <i>The Outlook</i>, -February 20, 1904.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Self-Education.</i> By Hamilton Wright Mabie. <i>The Chautauquan</i>, -April, 1900.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Alma Mater.</i> By Eleanor Atkinson. <i>Harper's</i>, May, 1913.</p> - - -<p class="c">V. <span class="smcap">Lincoln's Love Affairs and Domestic Relations</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln; Miss Ann Rutledge; New Salem; Pioneering; The -Poem.</i> A lecture delivered in the old Sangamon court house, November, -1866, by William H. Herndon, Springfield, Ill. H. E. Barker, -1916. Edition limited to 150 copies.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Love Story.</i> By Eleanor Atkinson. New York: Doubleday, -Page & Co., 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln in His Relations to Women.</i> By Julien Gordon. <i>The -Cosmopolitan</i>, December, 1894.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Marriage.</i> Newspaper interview with Mrs. Frances Wallace, -September 2, 1895. Privately printed by H. E. Barker, Springfield, -1917. Edition limited to 75 copies. Denies that more than one date -was ever set for the Lincoln wedding.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Truth About Mrs. Lincoln.</i> By Howard Glyndon. <i>The Independent</i>, -August 10, 1882.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Home Life in Washington.</i> By Leslie J. Perry. <i>Harper's</i>, -February, 1897.</p> - - -<p class="c">VI. <span class="smcap">Epochs and Aspects of the Life of Lincoln</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Henry B. Rankin. -New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1916.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> By H. C. Whitney. <i>The Arena</i>, April, 1898. Contains -some valuable reminiscences not in his book.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span></p> -<p class="hang"><i>Life on the Circuit with Lincoln.</i> By Major Henry C. Whitney. Boston: -Estes and Lauriat, 1892.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln and Herndon.</i> By Joseph Fort Newton. Cedar Rapids, Iowa: -The Torch Press, 1910.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln in Myth and in Fact.</i> By Dorothy Lamon Teillard. <i>World's -Work</i>, February, 1911.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Six Months in the White House.</i> By Frank B. Carpenter. New York: -Hurd & Houghton, 1866. First edition.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln: Six Months at the White House.</i> -By Frank B. Carpenter. New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1867.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln and Seward.</i> By Gideon Welles. New York: Sheldon & Co., -1874.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Diary of Gideon Welles.</i> <i>Atlantic Monthly</i>, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Greeley on Lincoln and Mr. Greeley's Letters.</i> Edited by Joel Benton. -New York: The Baker & Taylor Co., 1893.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln at Gettysburg.</i> By Clark E. Carr. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & -Co., 1906.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Gettysburg and Lincoln.</i> By Henry Sweetser Burrage. New York: -G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1906.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.</i> By Orton H. Carmichael. New York: The -Abingdon Press, 1917.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.</i> Report of the Commission -on the Gettysburg Reunion. Harrisburg, Pa., 1915.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Recollections of Lincoln.</i> By James Grant Wilson, with facsimiles of the -Gettysburg and Second Inaugural Addresses. <i>Putnam's Magazine</i>, -February, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Gettysburg Address with Facsimile of the Manuscript.</i> By John G. -Nicolay. <i>Century Magazine</i>, 1894.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.</i> By Prof. Philip M. Bikle and Rev. H. C. -Holloway. <i>Lutheran Church Work</i>, February 10, 1916.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Variations in the Reports of the Gettysburg Address.</i> By W. H. Lambert, -<i>The Century Magazine</i>, February, 1894.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Gettysburg.</i> By Elsie Singmaster. Boston: Houghton & Mifflin Co., 1913.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln at Gettysburg.</i> Address delivered before the Illinois State Historical -Society at Springfield, Ill., January 25, 1906. By Clark E. Carr.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Masterpiece.</i> By Isaac Markens. Published by the author, -274 W. 140th Street, New York.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Perfect Tribute.</i> By Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews. New -York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Revised Report of the Select Committee on the Soldiers' National Cemetery.</i> -Together with the Accompanying Documents as Reported to -the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. -Harrisburg: Hornsby, Singerly & Myers, State Printers, 1865.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span></p> - - -<p class="c">VII. <span class="smcap">The Death of Lincoln</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Death of Lincoln.</i> By Clara E. Laughlin. New York: Doubleday, -Page & Co., 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Assassination of Lincoln.</i> By David Miller Dewitt. New York: -The Century Co., 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Assassination of Lincoln: A History of the Great Conspiracy.</i> -By T. M. Harris, a member of the commission that tried the conspirators. -Boston: American Citizen Co., 1892.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Assassination of Lincoln.</i> By Osborn H. Oldroyd. Washington D. C., -1901.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Through Five Administrations.</i> By William H. Crook. Lincoln's Bodyguard. -New York: Harper & Brother, 1910.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Last Day.</i> By William H. Crook. <i>Harper's</i>, September, 1907.</p> - - -<p class="c">VIII. <span class="smcap">Anthologies</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Lincoln Memorial: Album-Immortelles.</i> Collected and edited by -Osborn H. Oldroyd. New York: G. W. Carleton & Co., 1882.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Poetical Tributes to the Memory of Abraham Lincoln.</i> Philadelphia: -J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1865.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Poets' Lincoln: Tributes in Verse to the Martyred President.</i> -Selected by Osborn H. Oldroyd. Washington, D. C.: Published by -the editor at "The House Where Lincoln Died," 1915.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Praise of Lincoln: An Anthology.</i> Collected and arranged by A. -Dallas Williams. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1911.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Book of Lincoln.</i> Compiled by Mary Wright Davis. New York: -George H. Doran Company, 1919.</p> - - -<p class="c">IX. <span class="smcap">Lincoln's Literary Style</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln As a Man of Letters.</i> By Luther Emerson Robinson, -M.A. Chicago: The Reilly & Britton Co., 1918.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Literary Experiments.</i> By John G. Nicolay. With a lecture and -verses hitherto unpublished. <i>Century Magazine</i>, April, 1894.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Evolution of Lincoln's Literary Style.</i> By Prof. Daniel Kilham -Dodge. Champaign and Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1900.</p> - - -<p class="c">X. <span class="smcap">The Religion of Abraham Lincoln</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Religious Views of Abraham Lincoln.</i> Compiled and published by Orrin -Henry Pennell. The R. M. Scranton Co., Alliance, Ohio, 1899.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Brief Analysis of Lincoln's Character.</i> By W. H. Herndon. A letter -to J. E. Remsburg, September 10, 1887. Privately printed by H. E. -Barker, Springfield, Ill. Edition limited to 50 copies.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span></p> -<p class="hang"><i>A Card and a Correction.</i> A Broadside on Lincoln's religion. By W. H. -Herndon. Privately printed by H. E. Barker, Springfield, Ill. Edition -limited to 75 copies.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln the Christian.</i> By William J. Johnson. New York and -Cincinnati: The Abingdon Press, 1913.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Later Life and Religious Sentiments of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Rev. -James A. Reed. <i>Scribner's Monthly</i>, 1873, pp. 333-344.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Religious Belief.</i> By B. F. Irwin. Article in the Illinois <i>State -Journal</i> of May 16, 1874. Manuscript copy.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>More Testimony.</i> Letter from Hon. William Reid, U. S. Consul at -Dundee, Scotland. Article in Portland <i>Oregonian</i>, March 4, 1874. -Copied in Illinois <i>State Journal</i>. Manuscript copy.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln's Religion.</i> By Madison C. Peters. Boston: Richard G. -Badger, The Gorham Press, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln and the Church.</i> Article by John G. Nicolay and John Hay in -<i>Century</i>, August, 1889.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Record of a Quaker Conscience.</i> By Cyrus Pringle. New York: -Macmillan Company, 1918 (<i>Lincoln and the Quakers</i>).</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Conversion of Lincoln.</i> By Rev. Edward L. Watson, New York, -<i>Christian Advocate</i>, November 11, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Religious Beliefs of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By R. C. Roper. Article in -<i>The Open Court</i>.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Religious Faith and Principles.</i> By Thomas D. Logan, D.D. -<i>The Interior</i>, February 11, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> Address delivered in Springfield, February 12, 1909, -and reported in, the Springfield <i>Evening Record</i> of that date by -Rev. Thomas D. Logan, D.D.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln Defamers Refuted.</i> By Henry B. Rankin. Broadside issued for -the Lincoln Day celebration at Old Salem, February 12, 1919, with -author's corrections and accompanying autograph letters.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln's Cardinal Traits: A Study in Ethics, with an Epilogue -Addressed to Theologians.</i> By C. S. Beardslee. Boston: Richard G. -Badger, The Gorham Press, 1914.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: His Religion.</i> By Robert N. Reeves. Chicago: N. D.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Religion of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By George A. Thayer. Cincinnati: -1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln the Preacher's Teacher.</i> By William J. Hutchins. -Lecture in volume on "The Preacher's Ideals and Inspirations." -New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1917.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Essay on Lincoln: Was He An Inspired Prophet?</i> By Milton R. Scott. -Published by the author, Newark, Ohio, 1906.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Charles Henry Fowler, late bishop of the Methodist -Episcopal Church. Leading oration in volume of "Patriotic Orations." -New York: Eaton & Mains, 1910.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span></p> -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Use of the Bible.</i> By S. Trevena Jackson. New York: The -Abingdon Press, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Agnosticism of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Lyman Abbott. <i>The Outlook</i>, -November 17, 1906.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's Faith.</i> By John Hay. Address given from President Lincoln's -pew in the New York Avenue Church, November 16, 1902. In John -Hay's addresses.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Religious Opinions and Life of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By the Rev. -William H. Bates, D.D., Washington, D. C., 1914.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: A Lecture.</i> By Robert G. Ingersoll. New York: -C. P. Farrell, 1895.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Religion of Abraham Lincoln.</i> Correspondence between General -Charles H. T. Collis and Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll. With Appendix, -containing interesting anecdotes by Major-General Daniel E. -Sickles and Hon. Oliver S. Munsell. New York: G. H. Dillingham -Company, 1890.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Fifty Years in the Church of Rome.</i> By Father Chiniquy. 42nd edition. -Chicago: The Craig Press, 1892. Contains interesting account of -Lincoln's service as Father Chiniquy's attorney and of interviews -at the White House.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: Was He a Christian?</i> By James E. Remsburg. Extended -chapter in "Six Historical Americans." New York: The Truth -Seeker Co. Extended argument to prove that Lincoln was and -continued to be an infidel.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist?</i> By Mrs. Nettie Colburn Maynard. -Philadelphia: Rufus C. Hartranft, 1891. Contains extraordinary -claims of revelations made to Lincoln while in the White House by -a trance medium.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Sir Oliver Lodge Is Right: Spirit Communication a Fact.</i> By Grace -Garrett Durand. Privately printed, Lake Forest, Ill., 1917. Contains -alleged revelations from Abraham Lincoln.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln a Practical Mystic.</i> By Frances Grierson. New York: -The John Lane Co., 1918.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Abraham Lincoln Myth.</i> By Bocardo Bramantip (Oliver Prince -Buel). New York: The Mascot Publishing Co., 1894. A reprint -from <i>The Catholic World</i> of November and December, 1893, intended -as a satire upon the Higher Criticism. Apparently suggested by the -famous essay "Historical Doubts Concerning the Existence of -Napoleon Bonaparte."</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Mythifying Theory; or, Abraham Lincoln a Myth.</i> By D. B. Turney. -Metropolis, Ill. B. O. Jones, Book and Job Printer, 1872. Photostat -from copy in Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.</p> - - -<p class="c">XI. <span class="smcap">Lincoln and Temperance.</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln's First Address Delivered in Springfield</i>, February 22, 1842. The -Union Signal.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span></p> -<p class="hang"><i>A Discourse on the Bottle: Its Evils and Its Remedy.</i> By Rev. James -Smith. Sermon delivered in the First Presbyterian Church, Springfield, -January 23, 1853. Reprinted 1892. A surprisingly straightforward -plea for legislative prohibition, printed at the request of a -committee who heard it, among them being Abraham Lincoln.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln a Temperance Man.</i> By Howard H. Russell. <i>The Interior</i>, -February 11, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Lincoln Legion.</i> By Howard H. Russell, Westerville, Ohio, 1913.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln and Temperance.</i> By Rev. Thomas D. Logan. <i>The Advance</i>, -February 11, 1909.</p> - - -<p class="c">XII. <span class="smcap">Lincoln and Slavery</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America.</i> By Henry -Wilson, 3 vols. Third edition. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., -1875.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln and Slavery.</i> By Albert E. Pillsbury. Boston and New York: -Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: The Evolution of His Emancipation Policy.</i> By Paul -Selby. Chicago Historical Society, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Anti-Slavery History: State and Nation.</i> By Austin Willey. Portland, -Maine: Hoyt, Fogg & Donham, 1886.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Dred Scott Decision.</i> New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1857.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Martyrdom of Elijah P. Lovejoy.</i> By H. Tanner. Chicago: Fergus -Printing Co., 1881.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Dedication of Lovejoy Monument, November 8, 1897.</i> Alton, Ill.: Charles -Holden, 1897.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Underground Railroad.</i> By William M. Cockrum. Oakland City, -Ind.: J. W. Cockrum Printing Co., 1915.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln, Grant, and the Freedmen.</i> By John Eaton. New York: Longmans, -Green & Co., 1907.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Negro a Beast.</i> By Charles Carroll. American Book and Bible -House, St. Louis, 1900.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Journal of Negro History.</i> Washington, D. C., 4 volumes to date.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The History of Abraham Lincoln and the Overthrow of Slavery.</i> By -Isaac N. Arnold. Chicago: Clarke & Co., 1866.</p> - - -<p class="c">XIII. <span class="smcap">Attacks on the Character of Lincoln</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Real Lincoln.</i> From the testimony of his contemporaries. By -Charles L. C. Minor, M.A., LL.D. Second edition, revised and -enlarged. Richmond, Va.: Everett Waddey Co., 1904. A vicious -assault on the integrity of Lincoln.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span></p> -<p class="hang"><i>Facts and Falsehoods Concerning the War on the South, 1861-1865.</i> By -George Edmonds [Mrs. Elizabeth (Avery) Merriwether]. Memphis, -Tenn. For sale by A. R. Taylor & Co., 1904. Displays the most -diligent effort in the compilation of items derogatory to Lincoln and -the North, but is manifestly dependent upon second authorities and -in some cases shows marked ignorance of the original sources cited. -Quotes freely from an imaginary edition of Herndon, alleged to have -been published in 1866 and suppressed.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: An Address Delivered Before R. E. Lee Camp, No. 1, -Confederate Veterans at Richmond, Virginia, October 29, 1909.</i> By -Hon. Geo. L. Christian. Second edition. Richmond: L. H. Jenkins, -Publisher. Based upon the historical data in Minor's <i>Real Lincoln</i> -and Edmonds' <i>Facts and Falsehoods</i>.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Crimes of the Civil War and Curse of the Funding System.</i> By Henry -Clay Dean. Baltimore: J. Wesley Smith & Brother, 1869. Excessively -scarce and most pronounced of its kind of literature. Denounces -Lincoln as a tyrant, murderer, and inhuman monster and -lauds the act of assassination by John Wilkes Booth.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Confederate Echoes.</i> By A. T. Goodloe. Publishing House M. E. Church, -South, Nashville, Tenn., 1907.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln the Rebel Candidate.</i> Democratic Campaign Pamphlet of 1864. -Photostat from original in New York Public Library.</p> - - -<p class="c">XIV. <span class="smcap">Lectures, Addresses, and Reminiscences</span></p> - -<p><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> An address by Hon. Newton Bateman, LL.D. Galesburg, -Ill.: The Cadmus Club, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: An Oration.</i> Delivered on Washington's Birthday, -1891, by William Goodell Frost. Oberlin News, 1891.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: An Oration.</i> By John E. Burton. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, -1903.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: An Address.</i> By Frederick A. Noble. Chicago, February -12, 1901.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: An Essay.</i> By Joseph Fort Newton. The Torch -Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1910.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Mystery of Lincoln.</i> By Robert E. Knowles. <i>The Independent.</i></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Making of Lincoln.</i> Editorial in <i>The Outlook</i>, February 13, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Distinguished Men of His -Time. Collected and edited by Allen Thorndike Rice. New York: -<i>The North American Review</i>, 1888. Separate articles by thirty-three -distinguished contemporaries of Lincoln.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln: Tributes from His Associates.</i> Edited by William -Hayes Ward. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1895. Forty-five -chapters by soldiers, statesmen, and citizens who had known Lincoln.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span></p> -<p class="hang"><i>Sermons Preached in Boston on the Death of Abraham Lincoln, Together -with the Funeral Service in the East Room of the Executive Mansion -in Washington.</i> Boston: J. E. Tilton & Co., 1865.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Our Martyred President: Lincoln Memorial Addresses.</i> The Abingdon -Press, 1915. A reprint of the original edition containing sermons -by New York ministers, together with the orations of George Bancroft, -Bishop Simpson, and Richard S. Storrs.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of Abraham Lincoln in -the House of Representatives, February 12, 1866.</i> By George Bancroft. -Washington: Government Printing Office, 1866.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln, by Some Men Who Knew Him.</i> Edited by Isaac N. -Phillips, Bloomington, Ill., Pantagraph Co., 1910.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln; and a Visit to California.</i> By -Joshua Fry Speed, Louisville, 1884.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Eulogy of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Henry Champion Deming. Before -the General Assembly of Connecticut, Hartford, June 8, 1865. Hartford: -A. N. Clark & Co., State printers, 1865.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> An address before the Lincoln League Club of -Chicago, in the Auditorium, February 12, 1895. By Henry Watterson.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln.</i> By Isaac Newton Phillips. Reporter of Decisions of the -Supreme Court of Illinois. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1910.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Message of the President to Congress.</i> First message of Andrew -Johnson following the assassination of Lincoln, Washington, 1865.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Promises of the Declaration of Independence. Eulogy on Abraham -Lincoln.</i> By Charles Sumner. Boston: J. E. Farwell & Co., 1865.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Joseph H. Choate. New York: T. Y. Crowell & -Co., 1901.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln Today.</i> By William Charles Langdon, Edmund J. -James, and Captain Fernand Baldensperger. University of Illinois -Press, 1918.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln and Boston Corbett.</i> With personal recollections of -each. <i>John Wilkes Booth and Jefferson Davis.</i> A true story of their -capture. By Berkeley Byron Johnson. Waltham, Mass.: Privately -printed, 1914.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Phillips Brooks. A sermon preached in Philadelphia, -April 23, 1865.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln.</i> By S. Parkes Cadman. Address before the New -York Republican Club.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Some Impressions of Lincoln.</i> By E. S. Nadal. <i>Scribner's</i>, 1906.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Life and Principles of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Hon. Schuyler Colfax. -Philadelphia, 1865.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Voice of the Rod.</i> Funeral sermon by the Rev. P. D. Gurley, D.D. -Washington, 1865.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span></p> -<p class="hang"><i>Abraham Lincoln and the London Punch.</i> By William S. Walsh. New -York: Moffat, Yard & Co., 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Lincoln and Men of Wartime.</i> By A. K. McClure. Philadelphia: The -Times Publishing Co., 1892.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Recollections of President Lincoln and His Administration.</i> By L. E. -Chittenden. New York: Harper & Brother, 1891.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Personal Reminiscences Including Lincoln and Others.</i> By L. E. Chittenden. -New York: Richmond, Croscup & Co., 1893.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Personal Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln.</i> By Thomas Lowry. Privately -printed, Minneapolis, 1910.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Footsteps of Lincoln.</i> By J. T. Hobson. Dayton, Ohio: The Otterbein -Press, 1909.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Master and His Servant.</i> A comparison of the incidents of Lincoln's -life with that of Jesus. By J. T. Hobson. United Brethren Publishing -House, Dayton, Ohio, 1913.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Picture and the Men.</i> Compiled by Fred B. Perkins. A. J. Johnson, -New York, 1867.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Inside the White House in War Times.</i> By William O. Stoddard. New -York: Charles L. Webster & Co., 1890.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Behind the Scenes.</i> By Elizabeth Keckley. New York: G. W. Carleton -& Co., 1868.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Behind the Seams.</i> By a Nigger Woman Who Took in Work for Mrs. -Lincoln and Mrs. Davis. New York: The National News Company, -1868. A satire on Mrs. Keckley's <i>Behind the Scenes</i>. Photostat of -copy in Library of Congress.</p> - - -<p class="c">XV. <span class="smcap">Books Which Influenced Lincoln</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Holy Bible.</i></p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Elementary Spelling Book.</i> By Noah Webster. New York: D. -Appleton & Co.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Life of George Washington with Curious Anecdotes.</i> By W. R. -Weems. Philadelphia: Joseph Allen, 1844.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Pilgrim's Progress.</i> By John Bunyan. London: Ward, Lock & Co. -Reprint with curious old cuts.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Æsop's Fables.</i> Old edition with curious cuts. Title page missing.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The English Reader.</i> By Lindley Murray. New York: Collins & Co., -1832.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>The Christian's Defence.</i> Containing a fair statement and impartial examination -of the leading objections, urged by infidels against the -antiquity, genuineness, credibility, and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; -enriched with copious extracts from learned authors. Two -volumes in one. Volume I, The Old Testament, pp. 312; Volume II, -The New Testament, pp. 364. Cincinnati: J. A. James, 1843.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span></p> -<p class="hang"><i>Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation.</i> London: George Rutledge -& Sons, 1890. American agents, E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. -Reprint of the first edition, issued in 1844.</p> - -<p class="hang">Second American edition of the same, with an introduction by -Rev. George B. Cheever, D.D. New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1845.</p> - -<p class="hang">Third edition of the same, with an Appendix, containing an -extended review from the <i>North British Review</i> of July, 1845. New -York: Wiley & Putnam, 1845.</p> - -<p class="hang"><i>Explanations.</i> A sequel to <i>Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation</i>. -By the author of that work. New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1846. -From and after the sixth edition the explanations were added as -a supplement to regular editions of <i>Vestiges</i>. The author's name, -Robert Chambers, was not given in any edition of the <i>Vestiges</i> until -the twelfth, which appeared after his death.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span></p> - -<h2>INDEX</h2> - - -<ul class="index"><li class="ifrst">Abbatt, William, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Abbott, F. E., letter of Herndon to, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Abbott, Lyman, on Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_228">228-231</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Abolitionist, Lincoln not at beginning, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">how he became one, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Advance</i>, editorial in, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Agnostic, Lincoln said to have been an, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Akers, Rev. Peter, anti-slavery preacher, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Anthon, Prof. Charles, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Antietam, Battle of, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Arnold, Hon. I. N., <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Astronomy, Lincoln's knowledge of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Atheist, Lincoln was not, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Atkinson, Eleanor, interview with Dennis Hanks, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Atlantic Monthly</i>, <a href="#Page_281">281-282</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Atonement as ground for universal salvation, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Bale, Abraham, Baptist preacher, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Baptists, in frontier communities, <a href="#Page_34">34-45</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lincoln family essentially Baptist, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Barrett, J. H., author of <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bartlett, D. W., author of <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bartlett, Truman H., correspondence with Herndon, <a href="#Page_264">264-267</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bateman, Newton, superintendent of Public Instruction in Illinois;</li> -<li class="isub1">his interview with Lincoln, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">outline of life and service, <a href="#Page_114">114-115</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Holland's story of the interview, <a href="#Page_114">114</a> <i>seq.;</i></li> -<li class="isub1">controversy with Herndon, <a href="#Page_121">121</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">virtually repudiates Holland interview, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">corrects Lincoln's grammar, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his lecture on Lincoln, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">what Lincoln probably said to him, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">extract from lecture on Lincoln, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328-329</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Baxter, Richard, Lincoln's quotation, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bayley, T. H., <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Beecher, Edward, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Beecher, Henry Ward, <a href="#Page_198">198-201</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Beecher, Mrs. Henry Ward, author of an honest but incredible story, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bible, Lincoln's use of, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his lecture on, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">gift of colored people, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">knowledge of, <a href="#Page_261">261-262</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bibliography, <a href="#Page_368">368-390</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Binns, Henry B., English biographer, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Biology, Lincoln's knowledge of, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bishop, William, address on Lincoln, <a href="#Page_160">160</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - -<li class="indx">Black, Chauncey F., alleged author of Lamon's "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Black, J. C., <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Books, read by Lincoln in youth, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">read few in later years, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Boyd, Lucinda, quoted, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Brodie, Sir Benjamin, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Brooks, Noah, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Browning, O. H., <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Browning, Mrs. O. H., <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bryan Hall meeting, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Buck, Solon J., on early Illinois, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Buckle, Henry T., author of "History of Civilization," <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Burns, Robert, Lincoln's familiarity with, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">"Burnt Book," Lincoln's, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346-347</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Burton, John E., <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bushnell, Horace, author of "Christian Nurture," <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Butterworth, Hezekiah, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Byron, Lincoln's use of, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Calhoun, John, loaned Lincoln books on surveying, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Calvinism, a permanent influence in life of Lincoln, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Carman, Dr. L. D., <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Carpenter, Frank B., painter of Emancipation picture, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Carr, Clark E., on Lincoln, <a href="#Page_104">104-105</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Cartwright, Peter, pioneer preacher, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">candidate against Lincoln, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">career, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Case, Lizzie York, "There is no Unbelief," <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Catholic, Lincoln not a, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Chambers, Robert, author of "Vestiges of Creation," <a href="#Page_166">166-171</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Channing, William E., Lincoln reads, <a href="#Page_175">175-178</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Chapman, Ervin, "Latest Light on Lincoln," <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on the Beecher incident, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Chase, Salmon P., account of Emancipation Proclamation, <a href="#Page_283">283-284</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Chiniquy, Rev. Charles, <a href="#Page_188">188-197</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Chittenden, L. E., <a href="#Page_188">188-197</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">"Christian's Defence," <i>see</i> Smith, James.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Christian Advocate</i>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Christian Leader</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Christian Register</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Church, Lincoln's esteem for, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">why he did not join, <a href="#Page_244">244</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - -<li class="indx">Churches, Lincoln and the, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Cogdal, Isaac, on Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348-349</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Colfax, Schuyler, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Collum, Shelby M., <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Congregational ministers, petition and delegation to influence Emancipation Proclamation, <a href="#Page_268">268-269</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Cooper Union Address, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Crawford, Andrew, teacher of Lincoln, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Creed, Lincoln did not formulate, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">quotations used as basis of, <a href="#Page_292">292-299</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">compiled from his own utterances, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Davis, David, on Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248-249</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Deming, Henry C., address on Lincoln, <a href="#Page_93">93-94</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dempster, Rev. John, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dickens, Charles, Lincoln's use of, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Disciples, so-called Campbellite church, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dodge, Daniel Kilham, <a href="#Page_261">261-262</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dorsey, Abel W., teacher of Lincoln, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Douglas, Fred, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Douglas, Stephen A., <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Douthit, Rev. Jasper, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Downey, David G., <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dreams, Lincoln believed in, <a href="#Page_233">233-236</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dresser, Rev. Charles, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Edinburgh Review</i>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Edwards, Matilda, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Edwards, Ninian W., <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">testifies as to Lincoln's changed views, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Elkin, David, preaches at Nancy Lincoln's funeral, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ellsworth, Col. Elmer, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lincoln's letter to his parents, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Emancipation Proclamation, evolution of, <a href="#Page_268">268-270</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281-286</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">English, Dr. J. B., <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Farewell Address at Springfield, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303-306</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Fell, Jesse W., Lincoln writes biographical sketch for, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">presents Lincoln books of Channing and Parker, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ford, Governor Thomas, on frontier preachers, <a href="#Page_58">58-59</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on "Long Nine," <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Fowler, Bishop Charles H., <a href="#Page_103">103</a>; <a href="#Page_111">111</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Freemason, Lincoln not a, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Free-will Baptist, Thomas Lincoln not a, <a href="#Page_37">37-38</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Funerals, often deferred, <a href="#Page_40">40-45</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Geology, Lincoln's knowledge of, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Gesture, Lincoln's use of, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Gordon, Nathaniel, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Grady, Josiah, questions Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Graham, Mentor, teacher of Lincoln, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Lincoln's "Burnt Book," <a href="#Page_152">152</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_346">346-347</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Grant, Ulysses S., <a href="#Page_253">253-254</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Green, Bowling, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Greene, Gilbert J., <a href="#Page_78">78-79</a>·</li> - -<li class="indx">Gurley, Rev. Phineas D., Lincoln's pastor in Washington, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325-326</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Gurney, Eliza P., <a href="#Page_88">88-90</a>; <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Hanks, Dennis, on Lincoln's youth, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hanks, John, on Lincoln's impression of slavery, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hannah, William H., on Lincoln's faith, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Harnett, Jonathan, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">"Harp, French," <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hay, John, author of "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hazel, Caleb, teacher of Lincoln, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Head, Rev. Jesse, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Herndon, W. D., discussed religion with Lincoln, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Herndon, William H., author of "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">says Lincoln was a fatalist, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">an infidel, <a href="#Page_61">61-62</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his visit to site of New Salem, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his lectures on Lincoln <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142-143</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his partnership with Lincoln, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Lincoln's letter to his father, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">letter from Nicolay, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">controversy with Bateman, <a href="#Page_121">121</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">notes of his five interviews, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">writes a life of Lincoln, <a href="#Page_140">140-145</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">no friend of Mrs. Lincoln, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the Abbott letter, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his letter to Dr. Smith, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reply to Reed lecture, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">regretted sale of papers to Lamon, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">revised edition of his work, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">personal habits and religion, <a href="#Page_144">144-145</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">never saw Lincoln's "Burnt Book," <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">correspondence with Bartlett, <a href="#Page_264">264-267</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">attempts "to put at rest forever" the charge that Lincoln was an atheist, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">affirms Lincoln's faith in immortality, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reads reply to, <a href="#Page_314">314</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">letters concerning Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_336">336-340</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Herrick, Robert, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hill, Samuel, burns Lincoln manuscript, <a href="#Page_146">146-155</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hodgenville, Kentucky, a Baptist settlement, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hodges, A. G., Lincoln's letter to, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Holland, Josiah G., author of "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">asymmetry of Lincoln's life, <a href="#Page_102">102</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">story of the Bateman incident, <a href="#Page_115">115-117</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">prints the Reed lecture in <i>Scribner's</i> magazine, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328-329</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Holmes, O. W., <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Holt, Dr. E. E., on Lincoln's dream, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Howells, William D., "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Illinois College, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Illinois, twin born with Lincoln, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Insanity, Lincoln's approach to, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Irwin, B. F., on Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Jacquess, Col. James F., story of Lincoln's conversion, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - -<li class="indx">Jacquess, William B., <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Johnny Kongapod, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Johns, Mrs. Jane Martin, reminiscences of Lincoln, <a href="#Page_248">248</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - -<li class="indx">Johnson, John D., Lincoln's stepbrother, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Johnson, William J., author of "Lincoln the Christian," <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on the Beecher incident, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Kansas, Lincoln visits, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Keckley, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_203">203-204</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Keys, I. W., loaned Lincoln "Vestiges of Creation," <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Kirkham's Grammar, studied by Lincoln, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Knox College, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Krone, David, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Lamon, Ward Hill, author of "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">affirms Lincoln permitted himself to be misrepresented, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">quotes Herndon on Lincoln's letter to his father, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">answer to Holland, <a href="#Page_117">117-120</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his relations with Lincoln, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his life of Lincoln an unfinished fragment, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the controversy growing out of his book, <a href="#Page_128">128-134</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Black, the author, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his recollections, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Lincoln's "Burnt Book," <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">affirms Lincoln's faith essentially that of Parker, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reads reply to, <a href="#Page_314">314</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - -<li class="indx">Lewis, Thomas, <a href="#Page_158">158-163</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, Abraham, sixteenth president of the United States;</li> -<li class="isub1">periods of his life, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">birth of, boyhood, <a href="#Page_30">30</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">schools and teachers, <a href="#Page_30">30-33</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">early religious privileges, <a href="#Page_33">33</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">early influence Baptist, <a href="#Page_34">34</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">migration to Illinois, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on flat-boat, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">at New Salem, <a href="#Page_51">51</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">studies grammar, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">works on flat-boat, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">service in Blackhawk War, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">candidate for legislature, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">keeper of post office, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">love affairs, <a href="#Page_52">52-53</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">influenced by life in New Salem, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">did not drink or swear, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Herndon's statement of his religion, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">known as "Honest Abe," <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">removal to Springfield, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his partnerships, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">beginnings of his interest in slavery, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">early orations, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">important cases, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">marriage, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">election as president, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his children, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">death of Eddie, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">letter to dying father, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">comforts a dying woman, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his stories, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">religious life in Springfield, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">development of political ideals, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in Armstrong trial, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">ethical aspects of the slavery issue, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">farewell at Springfield, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">inauguration as President, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">outline of his administration, assassination, and death, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">death of Willie, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">why he freed the slaves, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">domestic affairs, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">read "Artemus Ward," <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the charges in Lamon's biography, <a href="#Page_130">130-134</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his "Burnt Book," <a href="#Page_146">146-155</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reads "The Christian's Defence," <a href="#Page_156">156</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub2">pronounces it unanswerable, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reads "Vestiges of Creation," <a href="#Page_166">166-171</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reads Channing and Parker, <a href="#Page_172">172</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">erased words in Greek exercise book, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the Chittenden interview, <a href="#Page_188">188</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the Chiniquy interview, <a href="#Page_188">188</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">alleged visit to Beecher, <a href="#Page_198">198</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the Sickles interview, <a href="#Page_201">201</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">life in the White House, <a href="#Page_203">203</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">sorrow at death of Willie, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">alleged statement, "I do love Jesus," <a href="#Page_208">208</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">religious character of his proclamations, <a href="#Page_210">210-221</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">not an atheist, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">not a Roman Catholic, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">not a spiritualist, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">not addressed as "Abe," <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">believed in dreams and signs, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">not a Quaker, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">questioned supernatural birth of Jesus, but not a Unitarian, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">denied eternal punishment, but not a Universalist, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">not a Methodist, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">not a Freemason, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">attended a revival, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">why he did not join the church, <a href="#Page_244">244</a> <i>seq.</i>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the creed he could have accepted, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lacked some of the finer feelings, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his dress, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">possessed an innate courtesy, <a href="#Page_247">247-249</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">helps move a piano, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">morbidly cautious, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">breadth of his religious nature, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">not symmetrical in his development, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">essentially Calvinistic, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his capacity for obstinacy, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his ability to evade an issue, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his periods of mental uncertainty, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his literary style, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">use of quotations, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">seldom told stories in speeches, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">thought and moved slowly, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his characteristic pioneer trails, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">an embodiment of contrasts, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">neutral and spiritual evolution, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">interview with Chicago ministers, <a href="#Page_268">268-269</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his changed style of oratory, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his religious development, <a href="#Page_270">270-275</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his belief in universal salvation, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>;</li> -<li class="isub2">in immorality, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his references to God, <a href="#Page_273">273-274</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his belief in the Bible, <a href="#Page_274">274-275</a>;</li> -<li class="isub2">in Jesus Christ, <a href="#Page_275">275-277</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his question of the supernatural birth, <a href="#Page_277">277-278</a>;</li> -<li class="isub2">in divine destiny and prayer, <a href="#Page_280">280-281</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his promise to God, <a href="#Page_281">281-286</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in future but not endless punishment, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">not a theologian, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his quotation from Baxter, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">materials for his creed, <a href="#Page_291">291-299</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his creed in his own words, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, Edward Baker, son of the President,</li> -<li class="isub1">birth and death, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, Mary Todd, wife of Abraham;</li> -<li class="isub1">courtship and marriage, <a href="#Page_52">52-53</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">relates incident of morning of inaugural, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">unites with Presbyterian Church, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255-256</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">broken engagement and wedding, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, Nancy Hanks, mother of the President;</li> -<li class="isub1">marriage, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">death of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">at public worship, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">funeral, <a href="#Page_40">40</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, Robert Todd, son of President, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">birth, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, Sally, or Sarah Bush, second wife of Thomas, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">her religion, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">supplied information to Herndon, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">her love for Abraham, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Nancy (sometimes incorrectly called Nancy), <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">united with Pigeon Creek Church, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, Thomas, father of the President;</li> -<li class="isub1">marriages, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">religion of, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36-45</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">a thriftless farmer, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Abraham's letter to, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, Thomas, "Tad," son of the President, birth and death, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, William Wallace, son of the President;</li> -<li class="isub1">birth, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">death, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Logan, Stephen T., Lincoln's partner, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Logan, Thomas D., address on Lincoln, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">learned of Dr. Smith's book in 1909, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lyon, Benjamin, early Baptist minister, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Maryland Historical Society, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Matheny, James H., on Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_133">133-135</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Herndon's authority for the story of Lincoln's "Burnt Book," <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320-321</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Maynard, Nettie Colburn, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">McCrie, George M., <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">McNamur, John, lover of Ann Rutledge, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Medill, Joseph, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Melancholy, Lincoln's habitual, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Methodist Church, little influence in life of the Lincoln family, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lincoln's high regard for, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Miner, Rev. Dr., <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333-334</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ministers in early Illinois politics, <a href="#Page_59">59-61</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">"Miracles under law," <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Missouri Compromise, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Morgan, G. H., quoted, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Morse, John T., Jr., author of "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Mostiller, Thomas, on Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347-348</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Murray, Lindley, author of English Reader, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Music, little appreciated by Lincoln, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">New England, Lincoln visits, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">New Light Church at Farmington, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">New Salem, Illinois, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">influence on Lincoln, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lincoln's Alma Mater, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Newton, Joseph Fort, author of "Lincoln and Herndon," <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Nicolay, John G., author of "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">letter concerning Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279-280</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Nielson, William, his book on Greek Syntax owned by Lincoln, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Offutt, Denton, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Oldroyd, Osborn H., <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Olmsted, Charles G., <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - -<li class="indx">Onstott, T. G., reminiscences of New Salem, <a href="#Page_54">54</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Open Court</i>, articles in, <a href="#Page_225">225-227</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Owens, Mary, courted by Lincoln, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Paine, Thomas, author of "Age of Reason," read by Lincoln, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Parker, Theodore, Lincoln reads, <a href="#Page_175">175-178</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Patton, Rev. William W., <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Paul at Malta, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Pease, Theodore C., on early Illinois, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Peck, John Mason, preacher in early Illinois, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Peters, Madison, on Religion of Lincoln, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Philosophy, unknown to Lincoln, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Piano, Lincoln helps to move, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Poems loved by Lincoln, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Poetry, Lincoln's use of, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Poetry and religion, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Pomeroy, Rebecca R., <a href="#Page_205">205-206</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Pope, Alexander, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Presbyterian, Thomas Lincoln was not, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Quakers, Lincoln's attitude toward, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Rankin, Henry B., <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ray, Dr. C. H., on Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Reed, Rev. James A., his lecture and the controversy which followed, <a href="#Page_135">135</a> <i>seq.;</i> <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">text of lecture, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Reid, William, letter on Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_352">352-356</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Religion in Kentucky backwoods, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Religion, more and other than theology, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">part and parcel of Lincoln's life, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Remsburg, J. E., Herndon's letter to, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Reynolds, Governor, on early Illinois, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Rickard, Sarah, alleged to have been courted by Lincoln, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Riney, Zachariah, teacher of Lincoln, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Roberts, William Henry, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Roby, Katy (Mrs. Allen Gentry), <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Roper, R. C., on Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Rusling, General James F., on Sickles interview, <a href="#Page_201">201-202</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Rutledge, Ann, courted by Lincoln, <a href="#Page_52">52</a> <i>seq.;</i> <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Rutledge, James, father of Ann, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Science, little known by Lincoln, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Scott, Milton R., <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Scott, Walter, Lincoln's use of, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Scoville, Samuel, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Scripps, John Locke, "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Shakspeare, Lincoln's use, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Shields, James T., <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Shipman, Elder, alleged Unitarian minister, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Shirley, Ralph, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Shrigley, Rev. James, <a href="#Page_356">356-357</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Sickles, General D. E., interview with Lincoln, <a href="#Page_201">201-202</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Slavery, beginnings of Lincoln's interest in, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">growth of moral aspect, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">"If not wrong, nothing is wrong," <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Smith, Jeannette E., <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Smith, Rev. James, Lincoln's pastor at Springfield, <a href="#Page_75">75-76</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">relations with Lincoln, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his life and ministry, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his sermon on temperance, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lincoln becomes a member of his congregation, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lincoln reads "The Christian's Defence," <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">change in Lincoln's views, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">convinced Lincoln but did not wholly satisfy, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323-324</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353-354</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">complete chapter analysis of the book, <a href="#Page_358">358</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - -<li class="indx">Smith, Winfield, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Speed, Joshua Fry, <a href="#Page_92">92-93</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336-337</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Spiritualist, Lincoln not a, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Stanton, Theodore, article by, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">State Fair Speech of Lincoln, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Stories, Lincoln's, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Stuart, John T., Lincoln's partner, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319-320</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Sunderland, Rev. Byron, <a href="#Page_332">332-333</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Superstition, Lincoln believed in, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Swett, Leonard, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Tarbell, Ida, M., author of "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Teillard, Dorothy Lamon, <a href="#Page_129">129-130</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Thomas, Lewis, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Toleman, letter of, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Unitarian, Lincoln was not, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Universalist, Lincoln was not, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Vandalia, state capital of Illinois, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">"Vestiges of Creation," by Robert Chambers, <a href="#Page_166">166-171</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Vinton, Rev. Francis, alleged interview with Lincoln, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Volney, Constantin François, author of "Ruins," read by Lincoln, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Voodoo Fortune-teller, Lincoln visits, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">"Ward, Artemus," read by Lincoln, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Watson, Rev. Edward L., story of Lincoln's conversion, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Weik, Jesse W., associate of Herndon in authorship of "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">opinion of Thomas Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">searches for lost Herndon papers, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Welles, Gideon, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Westminster Review</i>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Whitcomb, Rev. W. W., sermon on Lincoln, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">White, Charles T., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">White, Horace, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">White, William Allen, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Whitney, Henry C., on Lincoln's religion, <a href="#Page_94">94-95</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Lincoln's lack of method, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Wigwam edition of "Life of Lincoln," <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Yates, Governor Richard, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li></ul> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> All the quotations in this book from Herndon's <i>Lincoln</i> are from -the first edition in three volumes.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The habit of studying aloud, learned in the "blab-school," remained -with him. Lamon says he read aloud and "couldn't read otherwise." -Whitney tells of his writing a ruling one time when he was -sitting (illegally) for Judge Davis, and he pronounced each word aloud -as he wrote it. This was not his invariable custom, but it was a common -one with him.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Hodgenville was a Baptist settlement from its foundation. Robert -Hodgen, for whom the settlement was named, and John Larue, his -brother-in-law, for whom the county was named, were both Baptists, -and among the first settlers was a Baptist minister, Rev. Benjamin Lyon.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Baptisms of this noisy character were familiar to Lincoln in his -boyhood and certainly as late as the period of his residence in New -Salem. Henry Onstott, at whose tavern Lincoln boarded, tells of such -baptisms performed by Rev. Abraham Bale, including one at which the -husband of the lady who was being baptized called out to the preacher -to hold her, as he valued her more highly than the best cow and calf in -the county (<i>Lincoln and Salem</i>, p. 122).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> While the statements of Dennis Hanks are often colored by his -imagination, he is, after all, our best witness concerning Lincoln's boyhood.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Some writers have spoken of Mr. Elkin as a Methodist circuit -rider. Mrs. Lucinda Boyd, in a book which might better not have been -published and which I will not name, but which is correct in some local -matters, speaks of Rev. Robert Elkin, the minister who preached the -funeral sermon of Mrs. Lincoln, as belonging to the "Traveling Baptist -Church." She says: "His grave is in the open field, and soon the traces -of it will be lost." Apparently this grave was in Clark County, Kentucky. -I think, however, that she is in error as to the name Robert. It -was David.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> The latest writer to lend to the incident of Nancy Lincoln's funeral -the aid of a vivid imagination and a versatile pen is Rose Strunsky. -Discarding the theory that Abraham wrote his first letter to invite a minister -to come from Kentucky to preach his mother's funeral, she sends -him on foot to a nearer settlement: -</p> -<p> -"The boy Abraham had his standards of life. There were things of -too much meaning to let pass without some gesture. And the unceremonious -burial in the forest haunted him. When he heard that a wandering -preacher had reached the neighborhood, he tramped many miles -in the snow to bring him to the spot where the dead body lay, so that -a funeral sermon might be delivered over the now white grave" (<i>Abraham -Lincoln</i>, p. 6). -</p> -<p> -There was nothing unusual about the burial. Nor was there anything -unusual about the deferred funeral. These writers simply do not know -the conditions of life in which the boy Lincoln lived.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> While this manuscript was in process of writing, Professor Raymond, -of Berea College, Kentucky, enumerating his summer engagements -for the season of 1919, informed me of a funeral he was engaged to -preach in August of a boy who died ten years ago. The boy's companions -have by this time grown to manhood, but the service will be -held: and before this book is published doubtless will have been held -according to immemorial custom in that region. This is not because -there has been no preacher in its vicinity within ten years; nor is there -any reason to suppose that the delay in the case of Lincoln's mother -was due to the utter absence of ministers. They were not abundant, certainly; -but there is no reason whatever to suppose that in the interval -between the death and funeral of Nancy Hanks no preacher had been -in the neighborhood of Pigeon Creek.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> I have often been deeply impressed by the charity of primitive -preachers for dead people, and their ingenuity in inventing possible -opportunities for repentance where no outward sign was given or apparently -possible. There was something impressive in their manner of -doing it, as well as an exhibition of fine tenderness for the feelings of -friends and of generosity toward the dead. -</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"<i>Between the saddle and the ground,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>He pardon sought and pardon found</i>"</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p> -is a very precious article of faith in the creed of men who have to preach -a stern doctrine to the living, with warning of a hell that yawns for all -impenitent sinners.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> In my own judgment, it would have been better to have let the -first edition stand. It ought not to have included these vulgarities; but -they are not so bad as the impression which is created by the knowledge -that a new edition had to be made on their account. They are coarse -bits of rustic buffoonery.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> I do not forget that Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks were -married by Rev. Jesse Head, who was a Methodist preacher. But I do -not find evidence that Mr. Head exerted any marked influence over them. -Mr. Head was not only a minister, but a justice of the peace, an anti-slavery -man, and a person of strong and righteous character. I am not -sure whether the fact that he performed this marriage is not due in -some measure to the fact that he was about the court house, and a -convenient minister to find.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Dr. Chapman goes even beyond Johnson in his admiration of -these youthful lines. He says: -</p> -<p> -"It is profoundly significant that this child of destiny, at his life's -early morning, in clumsy but impressive verse thus reverently coupled -his name with that of his Creator.... I am not claiming for this -fragment of a Lincoln manuscript any divine inspiration" (<i>Latest Light -on Lincoln</i>, p. 315). -</p> -<p> -But he stops little short of that, and might about as well have -claimed it. The simple truth is that the lines have no significance whatever. -They were a current bit of schoolboy doggerel, not original with -Lincoln, and were scribbled by him as by other boys, with no real purpose -beyond that of working his name into a jingle.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> I have seen these and other examples of Lincoln's early penmanship -in the library of Mr. Jesse W. Weik.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> The story of Johnny Kongapod was one which Lincoln often -related in after life. It is found in several collections of his stories, and -with some variation. The Indian himself has found a place in literature -in "In the Boyhood of Lincoln" by my friend, now deceased, Hezekiah -Butterworth. The epitaph more nearly in its ancient English form is -found in "David Elginbrod," by George Macdonald: -</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"<i>Here lie I, Martin Elginbrod;</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>Hae mercy o' my soul, Lord God,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>As I would hae if I were God,</i></span><br /> -<span class="i0"><i>And Thou wert Martin Elginbrod.</i>"</span> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> "His early Baptist training made him a fatalist to the day of his -death" (Herndon, I, 34).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> The story of Lincoln's love affairs lies mostly outside the field -of our present inquiry. He had at least one more of them than his -biographers have learned about. Those that are best known are the ones -with Ann Rutledge, Mary Owens, and Mary Todd. Lamon declares that -Lincoln loved Miss Matilda Edwards, sister of Ninian W. Edwards, -whose wife was sister to Mary Todd. He gives this as the real reason -for the estrangement of Lincoln and his fiancée (Lamon's <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, -p. 259). This is vigorously denied by members of the Edwards -family, and the opinions in Springfield are anything but unanimous. -Herndon informs us that in 1840, when Lincoln was thirty-one, and -during the period when he was attracted to Mary Todd, he proposed to -Sarah Rickard, a girl of sixteen. The present writer has no occasion -to go into the discussions attending these several affairs of the heart. -Lincoln's unsettled condition of mind on matrimonial and other matters -is, however, an important element in any study of his religious life in -this period. Herndon, between whom and Mrs. Lincoln little love was -lost, was not unwilling to inform her and the world that Lincoln had -loved one woman, at least, more than he ever loved her; and that he -married her reluctantly. This was not pleasant information for a proud -and erratic grief-stricken woman, and it is not certain that Herndon -was impartial authority or that he learned the whole truth. Lincoln was -not a lady's man, and Mary Owens was quite right in deeming him -"deficient in those little links that make up the chain of a woman's -happiness." -</p> -<p> -Students of the Lincoln material are informed by those who suppose -themselves to know, that beside the above-mentioned adventures, Lincoln -had at least one additional love affair, and one that was not to his credit. -They are told that the proof of this exists in an unpublished letter from -the hand of Lincoln, a letter sacredly guarded and seldom shown by its -owner. If this book had any reason to go at length into the subject of -Lincoln's love affairs, I should be glad to consider that matter in detail; -for the owner of that letter has permitted me to read and copy it, and -I have the copy, which I intend to use in another volume on Lincoln. -I wish to say, however, that the letter, which is a free, unguarded note -to an intimate friend, does not sustain the impression that Lincoln had -any other love affair, or that any wrong act or motive lay behind his -words. Lincoln was not a tactful man in his relations with women; but -he was a clean man.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> "Mr. Lincoln was never agitated by any passion more than by his -wonderful thirst for distinction. There is no instance where an important -office was within his reach, and he did not try to get it" (Lamon, <i>Life -of Lincoln</i>, p. 237). This is a harsh and unfriendly way of stating it, but -it is not wholly false.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Mr. John E. Burton has documentary evidence that Lincoln was -associated as so-called partner with seven law firms. Mr. Burton has -owned the firm signatures in Lincoln's handwriting as follows: -</p> - -<ul><li>Stuart and Lincoln 1838</li> -<li>Ficklin and Lincoln 1842</li> -<li>Logan and Lincoln 1845</li> -<li>Harlan and Lincoln 1845</li> -<li>Goodrich and Lincoln October 1855</li> -<li>Lincoln and Herndon 1852</li> -<li>Lincoln and Lamon</li></ul> - - -<p> -But these associates, except Stuart, Logan, and Herndon, were not -strictly partnerships. They were local associations with lawyers whose -practice he shared.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Mr. Barker, the bookseller and publisher of Springfield, has or -had an interesting item in a volume which Mr. Lincoln presented to -Rev. William A. Chapin, a returned missionary, who lived with the -family of his relative, Albert Hale. Mr. Lincoln was on close terms -with "Father Hale" and a friend of Mr. Chapin. The book is one -volume, the others being lost, of a set entitled "<i>Horae Solitariae, or, -Essays on Some Remarkable Names and Titles of the Holy Spirit.</i> -First American from the Second London Edition. Philadelphia: Cochran -& McLoughlan, 1801." The book bears no name of author. Upon the -flyleaf is the autograph of Mr. Chapin in these words, "William A. -Chapin, 1844. A present from Abr. Lincoln." How Lincoln obtained the -book is not known; nor is it one for which he would have been likely -to care. But he cared enough for the book or for the missionary or for -both to present the one to the other. His aversion to ministers, which -Lamon portrays, may have had some reason in certain cases; but it was -not inclusive of all ministers nor of ministers as a class.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> I have been at much trouble to get the exact name and dates of -this little boy. He was called Eddie, and the name is sometimes given -Edwin and sometimes Edward, and I did not find it easy to learn, even -at the monument at Springfield, the exact date of his death. He was -named for his father's friend, and associate in the Legislature, Edward -Baker. He was born March 10, 1846, and died February 1, 1850. Lincoln's -children were: Robert Todd, born August 1, 1843, still living; -Edward Baker, born March 10, 1846, died in Springfield February 1, -1850; William Wallace, born December 21, 1850, died in the White House -February 20, 1862; Thomas or "Tad," born April 4, 1853; died in Chicago, -July 15, 1871. Mary Todd Lincoln, their mother, was born in Lexington, -Kentucky, December 13, 1818; married Abraham Lincoln, November 4, -1842, and died in Springfield July 16, 1882. -</p> -<p> -The date of the death of Eddie is important, because it gives us -a <i>terminus a quem</i> for Lincoln's acquaintance with Rev. James Smith. -Dr. Smith gives the date as "in the latter part of 1849." I sought in -vain not only in published Lives of Lincoln but in the material on file -with the State Historical Society for the precise date. What is more -surprising, Colonel Johnson, custodian of the Lincoln tomb, has made -diligent search for me and cannot find the date. In an article, prepared -for the Lincoln Centenary in 1909, Rev. Thomas D. Logan, D.D., then -pastor of the church in Springfield which Lincoln attended and successor -of Dr. Smith, said it was "about 1848 or 1849"; but in working over -the material, as he manifestly did, after furnishing it to <i>The Interior</i>, -in which it was printed, and delivering the substance of it as a centenary -address, he gives the date as February 1, 1850. This I judge to be correct, -and it is upon his authority I have given that date above. The other dates -of the Lincoln family's relation to this church support this statement.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Governor Ford uses this term as inclusive of the "Long Nine" -and their associates who voted for the combination of evils which -brought financial disaster to Illinois in that early day. Among them were -Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, John A. McClernand, and James -Shields—"all of them spared monuments of popular wrath, evincing how -safe it is to be a politician, but how disastrous it may be to the country -to keep along with the present fervor of the people." <span class="smcap">Ford</span>: <i>History of -Illinois</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> A careful reading of Mr. Lincoln's speeches while en route for -Washington will reveal, I think, that Mr. Lincoln was confident there -would be no war. A much more solemn note was in his First Inaugural, -a few days later.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Even Herndon commends Dr. Gurley and Bishop Simpson for their -very conservative claims concerning the religion of Lincoln.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Carpenter says that these were the negroes of Baltimore, and is -probably correct.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> This curious passage, which is very nearly meaningless if read -apart from its context, has to do with the appointment of the priestly -families that furnished the porters, or guards, for the approaches to the -temple in Jerusalem. It is found in I Chronicles 26:17-18.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> This well-known and picturesque passage describes the army of -David when he was an outlaw and half a freebooter, fleeing from the -fury of Saul and hiding in the cave of Adullam. I Samuel 22:2.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> "Mr. Lincoln had no method, system, or order in his exterior -affairs; he had no library, no clerk, no stenographer; he had no common-place-book, -no <i>index rerum</i>, no diary. Even when he was President and -wanted to preserve a memorandum of anything, he noted it down on a -card and stuck it into a drawer or in his vest pocket. But in his mental -processes and operations, he had the most complete system and order. -While outside of his mind all was anarchy and confusion, inside all was -symmetry and method." <span class="smcap">Whitney</span>: <i>Life on the Circuit with Lincoln</i>, -p. 110.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Mrs. Edwards, Mrs. Lincoln's sister, in a published interview which -Barker of Springfield has reprinted in a limited edition, gives a circumstantial -account of the wedding, which, she affirms, occurred on Sunday -night. The calendar contradicts her. Nor would the court house have -been open for the issue of the license on Sunday; its date is the date -of the wedding. The license was procured, and the marriage was solemnized, -on Friday.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Newton Bateman was born at Fairfield, New York, July 27, 1822, -and migrated with his parents to Illinois in his boyhood. He was graduated -from Illinois College, in Jacksonville, in 1843, and was honored -as one of the ablest men in the alumni of that institution. He first knew -Abraham Lincoln in 1847, and knew him with increasing intimacy during -the years of 1859 and 1860 when Mr. Bateman was in Springfield. Mr. -Bateman served as Superintendent of Schools of the State of Illinois -continuously from 1859 to 1875, except for the single term 1863-65. -During his administration the school system of Illinois made notable -progress, and he is remembered as having done large things for the -educational system of his State. He was the author of the plan for -the education of all the children of all the people of the State at the -expense of all the property of the State. He wrought his system into -the new constitution of Illinois, adopted in 1871, while he was at the -zenith of his power. He was repeatedly re-elected, his defeat in 1862 -being a defeat shared with the whole Republican ticket of the State -in an off-year election when nearly the whole North, weary of the war -which had scarcely begun, defeated partly by hostility and partly by -lethargy the party and the policies that had sent Lincoln to the White -House; and Bateman was triumphantly re-elected when Lincoln was -re-elected, and for many terms thereafter. He established the Normal -School system of the State; and his work was monumental in the life -of the State University. Few men deserve so well to be remembered -with honor in Illinois. -</p> -<p> -At the close of his long term of service as Superintendent of -Schools, he became President of Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, from -1875 to 1893. He was small in stature, and by his friends was familiarly -called "Little Newt," but was held in high regard as a man of honor -and an educator of note. Besides his published reports and addresses, -he compiled a large encyclopedia of men of Illinois,—a kind of "Who's -Who" of much value. His family at one time proposed to gather and -issue a memorial volume of his addresses, but the plan appears not to -have been carried out. He died of angina pectoris at Galesburg, October -21, 1897.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Bateman's version of the Farewell Address, as reported in the <i>State -Journal</i>, was that accepted by Herndon, and, with its more profound recognition -of God's providential care, is given in Lamon's <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, -p. 506. It is repeated in his <i>Recollections</i>, p. 31.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> For these two reports and that of Lincoln and Hay, see the Appendix.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Mr. Jesse W. Weik, who was associated with Herndon in the -authorship of his <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, and who has Herndon's papers, has -made diligent search for me in the effort to locate the notes of these -interviews. Herndon certainly desired to preserve them, and desired -that they should be published. But thus far they have not been found, -and presumably are not in existence.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Lamon was a Virginian by birth, and was, in many of his habits, a -very different man from Lincoln, but Lincoln liked and trusted him.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Black was Lamon's law partner in Washington after the war. The -firm of Black, Lamon, and Hovey did a large business in prosecuting -claims against the Government.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> This lecture is now very rare, and the text is given in the Appendix -to this volume.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> This important communication containing signed letters from a -number of Lincoln's friends is given in full in the Appendix.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Although a number of these letters are quoted in the text, the -article as a whole is so important that it is given in full in the Appendix.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Herndon's letter to Dr. Smith was impudent, demanding that he -answer as a man, if he could, and if not as a man, then as a Christian—a -challenge which the old Scotchman answered in kind.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> The Abbott letter is printed in Herndon's <i>Life of Lincoln</i>, pp. 492-497: -portions of it have been quoted in this book. -</p> -<p> -The Remsburg letter and the broadside above referred to are printed -in full in the Appendix to this book.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Statements of this nature show, what we know without them, that -Herndon had never seen the "book" nor heard it described by anyone -who actually saw it.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> We may note in passing that it is not in "Tam o' Shanter" but -in "Holy Willie's Prayer" that Burns uses the line quoted by Matheny.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> I am informed that this is a slight error. Dr. Smith had another -son, still younger.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> There are three copies in Chicago, one in the library of the University -of Chicago, one in the library of McCormick Theological Seminary, -and one in my own library. There are copies also in the libraries -of Union Theological Seminary, New York; Center College, Danville, -Kentucky; the College of the Bible, Lexington, Kentucky; the Library -of Congress, and Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati. These, and -the one owned by Miss Smith, are the only copies of which I have -learned thus far; though doubtless there are others in dusty attics.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> This date is wrong. The book was not published until 1844.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation</i>, by Robert Chambers, -is published still by E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, and sold at 75 cents. -This is an excellent reprint of the first Edinburgh edition, which Lincoln -first read.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> It is now known that it was through the influence of Robert -Chambers that T. H. Huxley was present and made his famous reply -to Bishop Wilberforce at Oxford in 1860. Huxley was in Oxford, but -intended to have left that morning because he believed that the discussion -would take a theological, or other than a scientific turn, and would be -unprofitable, but "on the Friday afternoon he chanced to meet Robert -Chambers, the reputed author of the <i>Vestiges of Creation</i>, who begged -him not to desert them, accordingly he postponed his departure" (<i>Life -and Letters of Thomas H. Huxley</i>, by his Son, I, 193). In this discussion -Bishop Wilberforce, in closing a half-hour's clever, but unfair -speech, turned to Huxley and asked him whether it was on the side of -Huxley's grandfather or grandmother that he claimed his own descent -from a monkey? Huxley endured the laughter and applause which followed -this personal sally with something more than good nature. He -turned to Sir Benjamin Brodie, who sat beside him, and slapping his -knee, exclaimed: "The Lord hath delivered him into my hands!" It -was even so. Huxley rose to reply, and said that he would not be -ashamed of having a monkey as an ancestor, but he would be ashamed -of any relationship to a gifted man, who, not content with success in his -own sphere of activity, plunged into a discussion of matters of which -he had no real acquaintance "only to obscure them by an aimless rhetoric, -and distract the attention of his hearers from the real point at issue by -eloquent digressions, and skilled appeals to religious prejudice." -</p> -<p> -In its way that speech established the popularity of Huxley as a -debator, and effectually punctured one argument then coming into use -in the discussion of evolution. It also was an incident never forgotten -concerning Bishop Wilberforce. Huxley afterward wrote, "In justice -to the Bishop, I am bound to say he bore me no malice, but was always -courtesy itself when we met in after years." In the same letter Huxley -says, "The odd part of the business is, that I should not have been -present except for Robert Chambers."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> I have communicated with Mr. Burton and he agrees with me in -the opinion that the inscription from Professor Anthon is not genuine. -He thinks it may have been added by Dr. English, not with intent to -deceive, but as giving his impression of the manner in which Lincoln -acquired the book. Whoever wrote it I think was in error.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> This book had been written and was in course of revision when -I procured Dr. Chapman's <i>Latest Light on Lincoln</i>. It is a book by one -who loved Lincoln sincerely, and can discover in him no lack of any -desirable quality; even physical beauty and grace of movement are here -attributed to Lincoln, as well as the acceptance of all the fundamental -articles of the creeds. He accepts the Beecher incident, declaring that -Dr. Johnson informed him that "after thorough investigation he fully -believed it to be truthful and authentic," and affirming that "upon the -scene of this unique event there rests a halo of celestial beauty too sacred -to be regarded with indifference or doubt." The halo may be there, but -is it true? Was there any period of twenty-four hours while Lincoln -was in the White House when this could have occurred, and the fact -concealed from the public? It is altogether less improbable that Mrs. -Beecher in her extreme old age and failing mentality was mistaken about -the identity of one of Mr. Beecher's callers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Dr. Johnson quotes this in his <i>Abraham Lincoln the Christian</i>, and -with it gives a photo reproduction of this page of his manuscript, bearing -in the margin the attestation of both Generals Sickles and Rusling: -</p> -<p> -"I certify that this statement of a conversation between President -Lincoln and General Sickles, in my presence, at Washington, D. C., July -5, 1863, relating to Gettysburg, is correct and true. <span class="smcap">James F. Rusling</span>, -Trenton, N. J., Feb. 17, 1910." -</p> -<p> -"I hereby certify that the foregoing statement by General Rusling -is true in substance. I know from my intimate acquaintance with President -Lincoln that he was a religious man—God-fearing and God-loving -ruler. <span class="smcap">D. E. Sickles</span>, Major General U. S. Army, Ret'd, New York, -Feb. 11, 1911."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> The Library of Congress has a scurilous pamphlet entitled <i>Behind -the Seams; by a Nigger Woman, who took in work for Mrs. Lincoln -and Mrs. Davis, New York: The National News Company, 21 and 23 -Ann Street, 1868</i>. The preface is signed, "Betsy X (her mark) Kickley, -a Nigger." It is a coarse parody on the above, but would appear sometimes -to have been mistaken for the original work.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> This incident must have appeared in print immediately after Lincoln's -death, for I find it quoted in memorial addresses of May, 1865. -Mr. Oldroyd has endeavored to learn for me in what paper he found it -and on whose authority it rests, but without result. He does not remember -where he found it. It is inherently improbable, and rests on -no adequate testimony. It ought to be wholly disregarded. The earliest -reference I have found to the story in which Lincoln is alleged to have -said to an unnamed Illinois minister "I do love Jesus" is in a sermon -preached in the Baptist Church of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, April 19, 1865, -by Rev. W. W. Whitcomb, which was published in the Oshkosh <i>Northwestern</i>, -April 21, 1865, and in 1907 issued in pamphlet form, by John E. -Burton. The form of quotation is indefinite, but I judge that the incident -was current in the papers of that week, as it is quoted as something -with which the congregation was assumed to be familiar. I judge, -therefore, that this was a story that found currency immediately after -Lincoln's death, running the round of the newspapers with no one's -name attached.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Lincoln addressed most of his friends by their family name, seldom -prefixing "Mr." A few he called by their first name. Herndon he called -"Billy." Ward Hill Lamon he addressed as "Hill." Some of his friends -called him "Lincoln," but most of them, "Mr. Lincoln." If any habitually -addressed him as "Abe," the author has been unable to learn the -fact. -</p> -<p> -"Although I have heard of cheap fellows, professing that they were -wont to address him as 'Abe,' I never knew any one who did it in his -presence. Lincoln disdained ceremony, but he gave no license for being -called 'Abe'." <span class="smcap">Whitney</span>: <i>Life on the Circuit with Lincoln</i>, p. 53.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Dr. Chapman, who appears to have permitted no improbable story -of Lincoln's orthodoxy to escape him, records this incident with complete -assurance of its correctness; but it is a story which it is impossible -to fit into the life of Lincoln. -</p> -<p> -In <i>Latest Light on Lincoln</i>, p. 396, Chapman says, "There is every -reason for giving this remarkable story unquestioning credence." On -the contrary, there is every good reason for questioning it at every essential -point, and the questions do not evoke satisfactory answers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Whitney affirms that Lincoln was never a member of any secret -society. If he had been, that society would certainly have produced a -record of his membership.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Whitney tells us of this in his <i>With Lincoln on the Circuit</i>, describing -the instrument as a "French harp." This term has given rise to -some ludicrous mistakes on the part of those who have quoted it In -Kentucky and in "Egypt" a French harp is a harmonica.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Of dress, food, and the ordinary comforts and luxuries of life, -he was an incompetent judge. He could not discern between well and -ill-cooked and served food. He did not know whether or not clothes -fitted. He did not know whether music was artistic or in bad taste." -<span class="smcap">Whitney</span>: <i>Life on the Circuit with Lincoln</i>, p. 52.</p></blockquote> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I repeat that his was one of the most uneven, eccentric, and -heterogeneous characters, probably, that ever played a part in the great -drama of history; and it was for that reason that he was so greatly -misjudged and misunderstood; that he was on the one hand described -as a mere humorist—a sort of Artemus Ward or Mark Twain—that it -was thought that by some irony of fate a low comedian had got into -the Presidential chair by mistake and that the nation was being delivered -over to conflagration, while this modern Nero fiddled upon its -ruins; or that, on the other hand, he should have been thus sketched -by as high authority as Ralph Waldo Emerson: 'He is the true history -of the American people to his time. Step by step he walks beside them, -quickening his march by theirs, the true representative of this continent, -an entirely public man, Father of his Country, the pulse of twenty -millions throbbing through his heart, the thought of their minds articulated -by his tongue. His heart was as great as the world, but there was -no room in it to hold the memory of a wrong.'" <span class="smcap">Whitney</span>: <i>Life on the -Circuit with Lincoln</i>, p. 147.</p></blockquote> - - -<blockquote> - -<p>"One of the most obvious of Mr. Lincoln's peculiarities was his -dissimilitude of qualities, or inequality of conduct, his dignity of deportment -and action, interspersed with freaks of frivolity and inanity; his -high aspiration and achievement, and his descent into the most primitive -vales of listlessness, and the most ridiculous buffoonery. He combined -the consideration of the movement of armies or grave questions of -international concern, with Nasby's feeble jokes or Dan Rice's clownish -tricks. In the chief drawer of his cabinet table, all the current joke books -of the time were in juxtaposition with official commissions lacking only -his final signature, applications for pardons from death penalties, laws -awaiting executive action, and orders, which, when issued, would control -the fate of a million men and the destinies of unborn generations.... -Hence it was that superficial persons, who expected great achievements -to be set in a <i>mise en scéne</i>, and to be ushered in with a prologue, could -not understand or appreciate that this wonderful man's administration -was a succession of acts of grand and heroic statesmanship, or that he -was a prodigy of intellect and moral force, and a genius in administration." -<span class="smcap">Whitney</span>: <i>Life on the Circuit with Lincoln</i>, pp. 147-48-49.</p></blockquote></div> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Mr. Jesse W. Weik investigated this report, and told me of it. It -comes not through Lewis or other members of the church, but through -Lincoln's associates outside the church, who seem to have expected him -to unite.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"He had not then announced himself for freedom, only discussed -the inexpediency of repealing the Missouri Compromise line. The Abolitionists -that day [the day of Lincoln's State Fair speech] determined -to make Lincoln take a stand. I determined he should not at that time, -because the time had not yet come when Lincoln should show his hand. -When Lovejoy announced the abolition gathering in the evening, I rushed -to Lincoln, and said: 'Lincoln, go home, take Bob and the buggy, and -leave the country, go quickly, go right off, and never mind the order of -your going.' Lincoln took the hint, got his horse and buggy, and did -leave quickly, not noting the order of his going. He stayed away till all -conventions and fairs were over." <span class="smcap">Herndon</span>, in <span class="smcap">Lamon</span>, p. 354.</p></blockquote></div> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Lincoln's evasion of an issue which he did not wish to meet was -put to a severe test in 1864, when the convention that renominated him -for the Presidency had to decide whether to renominate also Vice-President -Hamlin. Lincoln liked Hamlin; but, while a Vice-President from -Maine had strengthened the ticket in 1860, a war Democrat from one of -the border States could help it more in 1864. Lincoln managed never to -let it be known whether he favored Hamlin, who greatly desired his -support, or whether, as was probably the case, he preferred Johnson. -He was skillful in evasion when he chose to be so.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> <i>Abraham Lincoln; Evolution of His Literary Style.</i> By Daniel -Kilham Dodge. Press of the University of Illinois, 1900.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Few writers who knew Lincoln intimately have given us more detailed -accounts of Lincoln's career as a story teller than his friend and -associate, Major Henry C. Whitney, who habitually shared his bed in -the rounds of the Eighth Judicial Circuit. In his chapter on "Lincoln -as a Merry Andrew," in which he tells the undignified length to which -these bouts of story telling were wont to go, he says: "But it is a singular -fact that Lincoln very rarely told stories in his speeches. In both his -forensic and political speeches he got down to serious business, and threw -away the mask of Momus altogether. I never heard him narrate but -one story in a speech." <i>Life on the Circuit with Lincoln</i>, p. 179.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> These letters have lately been presented to the Massachusetts Historical -Society.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> <i>Abraham Lincoln; The Evolution of His Emancipation Policy.</i> An -address delivered before the Chicago Historical Society, February 27, -1906.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> See <i>The Evolution of Lincoln's Literary Style</i>, by Prof. Daniel -Kilham Dodge. University of Illinois Press, 1900.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"By reference to Mr. Lincoln's early political and literary performances -it will appear that he was more than usually addicted to a -florid style, and to greatly exaggerated figures of speech; that the plain, -direct, homely, common-sense methods of his later and statesmanlike -years were wholly wanting. Rhodomontade was as common in those -youthful productions as plain assertion was in his mature life. It is -not, therefore, to be wondered at that, in the years of his adolescence, -he is credited with very decided opinions, radical views, and florid expressions -on the subject of religion; but he was forty-five years of age -when I first knew him, and his views either underwent a change or else -he had grown reticent on that great subject. Certain it is that I never -heard Lincoln express himself on the subject of religion at all." <span class="smcap">Whitney</span>: -<i>Life on the Circuit with Lincoln</i>, p. 268.</p></blockquote></div> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> <i>The Evolution of Lincoln's Literary Style</i>, by Prof. D. K. Dodge.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> The foregoing list, together with a number which seem to me less -reliably attested, I have taken from Johnson, <i>Abraham Lincoln, the -Christian</i>, pp. 215-17.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Dr. Chapman, who is not content with anything less than a complete -orthodox system of theology for Lincoln, says: -</p> -<p> -"In the forefront of Mr. Lincoln's religious thinking was his belief -in the Saviour's Deity." His first, and in fact his only proof, is, of course, -the Bateman interview. Beyond this he falls into such generalities as -his oft repeated mention of Him as "Our Lord," and declares that -"again and again does Mr. Lincoln thus speak of the Saviour" (<i>Latest -Light on Lincoln</i>, p. 319). If so, I have not found these repeated references -in his authentic speeches and papers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> A reference to Christ dying on the cross is in his lecture on -Niagara Falls; and there are a few other references.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Dr. Chapman's <i>Latest Light on Lincoln</i> has a few hitherto unprinted -things, one of them being some notes by Rev. Dr. Gurley, the beginnings -of a contemplated book or pamphlet which he did not complete. The -manuscript as produced by Dr. Chapman was furnished by Dr. Gurley's -daughter, Mrs. Emma K. Adams, of Washington. The only incident of -any considerable value is that Mr. Lincoln one night invited Dr. Gurley, -who like himself was an early riser, to come to the White House next -morning at seven o'clock for an hour's talk before breakfast. They had -the talk and the breakfast. As Dr. Gurley walked away, he was asked -whether he and Mr. Lincoln had been talking about the war, and he -replied, "Far from it. We have been talking about the state of the -soul after death. That is a subject of which Mr. Lincoln never tires. -This morning, however, I was a listener, as Mr. Lincoln did all the -talking" (<i>Latest Light on Lincoln</i>, p. 500). -</p> -<p> -There can be, I think, no serious question of Mr. Lincoln's faith in -immortality. It was much more easy for a man of his training and -temperament to hold that article of faith than some others which might -seem to some other men more easily to be accepted.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> The chapter, sometimes alleged to have been from the Bible, which -Lincoln read to his cabinet before submitting the Emancipation Proclamation.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> The accompanying article was originally prepared by its author (the -pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, in Springfield, Ill.), as a lecture, -and has been repeatedly given in that form to various audiences. At the -request of the editor of <i>Scribner's Monthly</i>, to whom it seemed that the -testimony contained in the lecture was of permanent value, it is here -presented with slight alterations, and with no departure from the rhetorical -style which was determined by its original purpose.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> This is an error doubtless made by Mr. Irwin in copying. It should -be June 16, 1858, instead of January. I have printed it as it stands, but -the date should be corrected.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> March 10, 1864. McPherson, "History of the Rebellion," p. 522.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Report of Judge-Advocate General, April 30, 1864.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> March 7, 1864.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Jan. 2, 1863.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Dec. 22, 1863.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> "After having made these declarations in good faith and in writing, -you can conceive of my embarrassment at now having brought to me -what purported to be a formal order of the War Department, bearing -date November 30, 1863, giving Bishop Ames control and possession of -all the Methodist churches in certain Southern military departments -whose pastors have not been appointed by a loyal bishop or bishops, and -ordering the military to aid him against any resistance which may be -made to his taking such possession and control. What is to be done -about it?" [Lincoln to Stanton, MS., Feb. 11, 1864.]</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Lincoln to Hogan, Feb. 13, 1864.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Lincoln MS., March 4, 1864.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Lincoln MS., May 13, 1864.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> War Records, Vol. XVII, pp. 424, 530.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> General McDowell used to tell a story which illustrates Mr. Lincoln's -Sabbatarian feeling. The President had ordered a movement -which required dispatch, and in his anxiety rode to McDowell's headquarters -to inquire how soon he could start. "On Monday morning," -said McDowell; "or, by pushing things, perhaps Sunday afternoon." -Lincoln, after a moment's thought, said, "McDowell, get a good ready -and start Monday." [Herman Haupt, MS. Memoirs.]</p></div></div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="transnote"> - -<p class="c">Transcribers Notes:</p> - -<p>Punctuation has been preserved as it appears in the original publication.</p> - -<p>Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.</p> - -<p>Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.</p> - -<p>Obvious typos were silently corrected.</p> - -</div> - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Soul of Abraham Lincoln, by -William Eleazar Barton - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SOUL OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN *** - -***** This file should be named 60996-h.htm or 60996-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/9/9/60996/ - -Produced by MFR, Alan and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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