Character of Christian Testimony--Summary of Evidence
Adduced in Proof of Lincoln's Unbelief--Douglas an
Unbeliever--Theodore Parker's Theology--Fallacy of Claims
Respecting Lincoln's Reputed Conversion--His Invocations of
Deity--His Alleged Regard for the Sabbath--The Church and
Hypocrisy--Lincoln's Religion.
In the prosecution of this inquiry, the testimony of one hundred and
twenty witnesses has been presented. The testimony of twenty of these
witnesses is to the effect that Lincoln was a Christian; the testimony
of one hundred is to the effect that he was not.
Of those who have testified in support of the claim that Lincoln was a
Christian, ten admit that during a part of his life he was a disbeliever
in Christianity, while not one of the remaining ten disputes the fact.
If he never changed his belief then he died an unbeliever. Did he change
his belief and become a convert to Christianity? It devolves upon those
who affirm that he did to prove it. Have they done this? They have
not. Their attempts have been in every instance pitiable failures. The
unreasonable and conflicting character of the testimony adduced refutes
itself. When was he converted? No less than five different dates have
been assigned. One witness states that it was in 1848; one, that it was
in 1858; another, that it was in 1862; another, that it was in July,
1863; and still another, that it was in November, 1863.
The remarkable character of the statements recorded in Chapter
I.--remarkable when compared with the statements given in the preceding
ten chapters, and not less remarkable when compared with each other--may
be variously accounted for. A part of them are based upon a false
premise, an erroneous conception of what the term _Christian_ means;
a portion of them are merely the expressions of beliefs unsupported
by actual knowledge; while a not inconsiderable share of them are the
statements of those who have knowingly and deliberately borne false
witness. These witnesses comprise: 1. Those who do not know what
constitutes a Christian--who confound Christianity with morality--who
affirm that he was a Christian simply because he was a moral man. 2.
Those who do not know what his religious views were, but who infer that
he was a Christian because others have declared that he was, and because
of the frequent allusions to Deity that occur in his speeches and state
papers. 3. Those who know that he was not a Christian, but who believe
it to be right and proper to lie for the glory of Christianity and the
profit of its priests.
The testimony advanced in support of the claim of Lincoln's Christianity
is, for the most part, the testimony of orthodox Christians--a majority
of them orthodox clergymen. Dr. Holland, the chief of these Christian
claimants, says: "The fact is a matter of history that he never exposed
his own religious life to those who had no sympathy with it." This, so
far as the later years of his life are concerned, is substantially true;
and this very fact precludes the possibility of these orthodox witnesses
being able to state from personal knowledge what his religious views
were.
In refutation of this claim, I have presented the testimony of those who
were nearest to Lincoln, in the confidential relations of life. I have
presented the testimony of his wife, the testimony of his stepmother,
the testimony of his step-sister, the testimony of his cousin, the
testimony of his nephew, the testimony of his three law partners, the
testimony of four members of his Cabinet, the testimony of his private
secretary, the testimony of his executor, the testimony of seven of his
biographers, and the testimony of many more of his most intimate friends
both in Illinois and at Washington.
That he was not an orthodox Christian, as claimed, is attested by nearly
all of the one hundred witnesses whose testimony has been given; that he
was not in any sense of the term a Christian is proved by the testimony
of a majority of them.
I affirmed that he was not religious in his youth--that he was a
skeptic in Indiana. In proof of this I have adduced the testimony of his
step-mother, Sarah Lincoln; his step-sister, Matilda Moore; his cousin,
Dennis F. Hanks; his nephew, John Hall; his law partner, W. H. Herndon,
and his biographer, Col. Ward H. Lamon.
I affirmed that he was an Infidel or Freethinker, during the thirty
years that he resided in Illinois. In support of this I have given the
testimony of Colonel Lamon, W. H. Herndon, Maj. John T. Stuart, Col.
James H. Matheny, Dr. C. H. Ray, W. H. Hannah, James W. Keys, Jesse W.
Fell, Judge David Davis, Wm. McNeely, Mr. Lynan, Wm. G. Green, Joshua
F. Speed, Green Caruthers, Squire Perkins, Judge Gillespie, John Decamp,
James Gorley, Dr. Wm. Jayne, Jesse K. Dubois, Judge Logan, Leonard
Swett, W. H. T. Wakefield, D. W. Wilder, Dr. B. F. Gardner, J. K.
Vandemark, Judge Leachman, Orin B. Gould, Edward Butler, M. S. Go win,
J. H. Chenery, J. B. Spalding, Ezra Stringham, Col. R. G. Ingersoll, A.
Jeffrey, Dr. McNeal, Charles McGrew, J. L. Morrell, Judge A. D. Norton,
W. W. Perkins, H. K. Magie, James Tuttle, Leonard Volk, Col. F. S.
Rutherford, E. H. Wood, Dr. J. J. Thomson, A. J. Grover, Judge Nelson,
and others.
I affirmed that he did not change his belief after leaving
Illinois--that he was not converted to Christianity at Washington--that
he died an unbeliever. In confirmation of this I have presented the
testimony of his wife, Mary Lincoln; of his private secretary, Colonel
Nicolay; of his executor, Judge Davis; of his biographer, Colonel Lamon;
and of his intimate associates, Geo. W. Julian, John B. Alley, Schuyler
Colfax, Hugh McCulloch, A. J. Grover, Donn Piatt, Judge Nelson, and
others.
Many of these witnesses simply testify to his disbelief in the Christian
system as a whole without reference to his particular views concerning
its individual tenets. Every statement of his unbelief as presented in
the introduction has, however, been substantiated by the testimony of
one or more witnesses. That he did not believe in the Christian Deity,
that he even held Agnostic and Atheistic views, at times, is proved by
the testimony of W. H. Herndon, Colonel Matheny, Judge Nelson, Jesse K.
Dubois, and D. W. Wilder
That he was an Agnostic in regard to the immortality of the soul is
attested by E. H. Wood, Judge Nelson, and W. H. Herndon.
That he did not believe that the Bible is the word of God is affirmed
by Colonel Lamon, John T. Stuart, Judge Matheny, W. H. Herndon, Jesse
W. Fell, Dennis Hanks, W. Perkins, Colonel Rutherford, and Chambers'
Encyclopedia.
That he did not believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God is affirmed
by Colonel Lamon, W. H. Herndon, Jesse W. Fell. Colonel Matheny, John
T. Stuart, Jas. W. Keys, Judge Nelson, D. W. Wilder, Green Caruthers,
Colonel Rutherford, Rev. J. Lloyd Jones, Chambers' Encyclopedia, and the
New York _World_.
That he did not believe in a special creation, the statements of Mr.
Herndon clearly prove.
That he accepted the theory of Evolution, so far as this theory had been
developed in the "Vestiges of Creation" and other writings of his day,
is attested by the same witness.
That he did not admit the possibility of miracles is confirmed by the
statement of Jesse W. Fell, W. Perkins, Dennis Hanks, and Mr. Herndon.
That he rejected the Christian doctrine of total or inherent depravity,
William McNeely and Jesse W. Fell affirm.
That he repudiated the doctrine of vicarious atonement is sustained by
the testimony of Jesse W. Fell, Joshua F. Speed, W. Perkins, and Colonel
Lamon.
That he condemned the doctrine of forgiveness for sin, General Wilder
and Mr. Herndon both testify.
That he opposed the doctrine of future rewards and punishments, Win. H.
Hannah, E H. Wood, A. Jeffrey, Jesse W. Fell, and _Manford's Magazine_,
all testify.
That he denied the freedom of the will, Mr. Herndon explicitly affirms.
That he did not believe in the efficacy of prayer is fully established
by the evidence of Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Herndon, and Dr. Gardner.
That he was a disciple of Thomas Paine and Theodore Parker is shown by
the evidence of Colonel Lamon, W. H. Herndon, James Tuttle, Jesse W.
Fell, Dr. Ray, Robert Collyer, the New York _World_, and Chambers'
Encyclopedia.
That he wrote a book against Christianity is sustained by the testimony
of Colonel Matheny, Judge Nelson, W. H. Herndon, Colonel Lamon, J.
B. Spalding, A. Jeffrey, J. H. Chenery, Chicago _Herald_, _Manford's
Magazine_, and Chambers' Encyclopedia.
That Lincoln did not believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures, that
he did not believe in the divinity of Christ, that he did not believe in
the freedom of the will, that he did not believe in future rewards and
punishments, that he did not believe in the efficacy of prayer, that he
was, in short, a disbeliever in Christianity, is also attested by the
evidence cited from his own recorded words.
In connection with this controversy the significance of the following
facts cannot be overlooked: 1. Notwithstanding the strong temptation to
credit Lincoln to the popular faith, a majority of his biographers have
either declared that he was not a Christian, or have refrained from
affirming that he was. 2. The secular press, fearing to offend the
church, has generally been silent regarding the question. When it has
ventured to express an opinion, however, it has been to concede
his unbelief. 3. The leading encyclopedias, such as the Britannica,
Chambers', New American, etc., have either admitted that he was a
Freethinker, or have made no reference to his religious belief. 4. In
the "Lincoln Memorial Album" appear two hundred tributes to Lincoln, the
greater portion of them from the pens of Christians. In but two of
these two hundred tributes is it claimed that Lincoln was a believer
in Christianity. 5. The "Reminiscences of Lincoln" contain thirty-three
articles on Lincoln, written by as many distinguished men who were
acquainted with him. In not a single instance in this work, is it
asserted that he was a Christian. 6. In none of the leading eulogies
pronounced upon his character, at the time of his demise, is it affirmed
that he accepted Christ.
It is stated that during the last years of his life Lincoln held
substantially the same theological opinions held by Theodore Parker. His
own words are, referring to Parker: "I think that I stand about where
that man stands." Where did Theodore Parker stand? The following
extracts from his writings will show: "To obtain a knowledge of duty, a
man is not sent away, outside of himself, to ancient documents; for the
only rule of faith and practice, the Word, is very nigh him, even in
his heart, and by this Word he is to try all documents." "There is no
intercessor, angel, mediator, between man and God; for man can speak and
God hear, each for himself. He requires no advocates to plead for men."
"Manly, natural religion--it is not joining the church; it is not
to believe in a creed--Hebrew, Christian, Catholic, Protestant,
Trinitarian, Unitarian, Nothingarian. It is not to keep Sunday idle;
to attend meeting; to be wet with water; to read the Bible; to offer
prayers in words; to take bread and wine in the meeting-house; love a
scapegoat Jesus, or any other theological claptrap."
If Lincoln was known to be a Freethinker, it may be asked why this
fact was not more generally published and urged against him during the
Presidential campaign of 1860. The answer is easy. His chief opponent,
Douglas, was himself a Freethinker. Stephen A. Douglas, like Abraham
Lincoln, died an unbeliever. Like Washington, he declined the services
of a clergyman in his last hours. The following is an extract from
a monograph on "The Deathbed of Douglas," published in the Boston
_Budget_: "When Stephen A. Douglas lay stricken with death at Chicago,
his wife, who was a devout Roman Catholic, sent for Bishop Duggan, who
asked whether he had ever been baptized according to the rites of any
church. 'Never,' replied Mr. Douglas. 'Do you desire to have mass said
after the ordinances of the holy Catholic church?' inquired the Bishop.
'No, sir!' answered Douglas; 'when I do I will communicate with you
freely.'
"The Bishop withdrew, but the next day Mrs. Douglas sent for him again,
and, going to the bedside, he said: 'Mr. Douglas, you know your own
condition fully, and in view of your dissolution do you desire the
ceremony of extreme unction to be performed?' 'No!' replied the dying
man, 'I have no time to discuss these things now.'
"The Bishop left the room, and Mr. Rhodes, who was in attendance, said:
'Do you know the clergymen of this city?' 'Nearly every one of them.'
'Do you wish to have either or any of them call to see you to converse
on religious topics?' 'No, I thank you,' was the decided answer."
Among America's most eminent statesmen none probably ever possessed a
more logical mind than Lincoln. Judge Davis says: "His mind was
logical and direct." James G. Blaine says: "His logic was severe and
faultless." George S. Boutwell says: "He takes rank with the first
logicians and orators of every age." In his funeral oration at
Springfield, Bishop Simpson said: "If you ask me on what mental
characteristic his greatness rested, I answer, on a quick and ready
perception of facts; on a memory unusually tenacious and retentive; and
on a logical turn of mind, which followed sternly and unwaveringly
every link in the chain of thought on every subject he was called to
investigate."
Lincoln was once called to investigate the subject of Christianity. He
"followed sternly and unwaveringly every link in the chain of thought"
suggested by this subject, and the result was its rejection by him.
If he was subsequently converted to Christianity, it was only after a
reexamination and a thorough and exhaustive investigation of its
claims. This his friends positively state never took place, and the
circumstances associated with each and every period assigned for his
reputed conversion confirm their statements. In 1848 he was a member
of Congress, his mind absorbed with the novelties, the duties, and the
aspirations that usually attend a first term in this important capacity.
In 1858, and for years preceding and following, the great political
questions of the day occupied his mind. He was engaged in a mortal
struggle with one of the most powerful intellectual athletes of his
time. He was contending with Douglas for a prize, and that prize was the
Presidency. He must be ever on the alert. He must crush his antagonist
or his antagonist would crush him. Think of Lincoln sitting down in the
very crisis of this conflict and engaging in the study of theology! In
1862, and 1863, the other years assigned for his conversion, he was in
the midst of the great Rebellion, all his thoughts and all his energies
enlisted in the mighty task of saving the Union.
That Lincoln was a Freethinker in Illinois, that he was for a time a
zealous propagandist of his faith, that he was instrumental in making
unbelievers of many of his associates, it is useless to deny. If he was
afterward converted to Christianity, his friends were ignorant of his
conversion. He failed to notify them of his previous mistake and warn
them of their impending danger. If it could be shown that he renounced
his former views and became a Christian, this fact would be one of the
most damaging arguments against Christianity that could be advanced.
As a Freethinker he was one of the most tender and humane of men,
ever solicitous for the welfare of his fellow-beings. Did Christianity
transform him into a selfish, heartless being, who coolly disregarded
even the eternal welfare of his best and dearest friends? Think of a man
directing a friend to take a road which he afterward discovers leads to
certain death, and then not lifting a finger of warning to save him from
destruction, when it is in his power to do so!
The Freethinker will require no other evidence to convince him that
Lincoln died a disbeliever than the fact that he once fully investigated
this subject and proclaimed himself an Infidel. The mere skeptic who
has no settled convictions--who has never examined the evidences against
historical Christianity--may become a sincere believer in the Christian
religion. The confirmed Freethinker never can, albeit a Thomas Cooper,
a Joseph Barker and a George Chainey may profess to. As Col. Thomas
Wentworth Higginson happily expresses it: "You may take the robin's egg
from the nest in yonder tree, and so near is the bird to being hatched
you may crack it with the edge of your nail, and the bird is free. But
all your power, and all your patient fidelity, and all the mucilage and
sticking plaster you can put on it, will never get that birdling back
into that little egg again. So complete is the sense of satisfaction,
such is the feeling of freedom, which comes from once finding yourself,
not merely out of these little sectarian names, but out of the name of
the larger and grander sect, which is Christianity, that you will find
when the egg is once broken, the _bird_ is free forever."
From the church steward's standpoint, there is nothing so desirable as
the early conversion of one who is destined to become rich. From
the evangelist's point of view, there is nothing like the deathbed
repentance of one who has become great. Had the bullet of the assassin
not immediately destroyed consciousness, all these stories that we have
heard about Lincoln's conversion--the Edwards story, the Smith story,
the Brooks story, the Willets story, the Vinton story, and the story of
the Illinois clergyman--would never have been invented. Instead of these
we would have the story of some domestic, or some intruding priest who
saw him during his dying hours. Aaron Burr was kinder to the church than
John Wilkes Booth.
But whatever the religious opinions of Lincoln were when he died,
whether he had changed his belief or not, in view of the fact that he
never thought enough of the church to unite with it, the frantic efforts
of clergymen and church-members to claim him seem quite uncalled for, if
not ridiculous.
The opinion of a writer previously quoted in this work, is that the
bitter war waged against the persons who have declared that Lincoln was
not a Christian arises, not from a belief that they have stated what
is false, but from a consciousness that they have "demolished an empty
shrine that was profitable to many, and broken a painted idol that
might have served for a god." It is strange how Christians tend toward
fetichism. Not satisfied with three Gods, they must canonize and deify
men and make saints and demi-gods. They have already deified three
Americans--Washington, Grant, and Lincoln--and what is remarkable, in
each instance they have selected an unbeliever--an Infidel. It is said
that men have stolen the livery of heaven in which to serve the devil;
but it seems hardly consistent with the pretensions of the church that
she should be compelled to appropriate the beadroll of Infidelity in
order to make her appear respectable.
Lincoln's speeches and state papers contain many allusions to Deity. As
Colonel Lamon observes, "These were easy, and not inconsistent with his
religious notions." But it is a mistake to attribute all the Deistic
expressions that appear in his state papers to him. Just how much
of this was the work of his private secretaries, how much of it was
"Seward's nonsense," or how much of it was suggested by Chase and other
Cabinet ministers, can never be determined. It is significant, however,
that in those documents of least importance, those which he would most
likely leave to his secretaries or other officials to draft, these
expressions are chiefly to be found. In his debates with Douglas, and
his other great political speeches delivered in Illinois, he seldom
refers to Deity. In his carefully prepared Cooper Institute address,
that model of political addresses, the name of Deity does not once
occur. In his First Inaugural Address, he refers to God, and makes
a complimentary reference to Christianity intended to conciliate
the church and gain for his administration its support in the coming
struggle with the South. One paragraph of the second Inaugural contains
allusions to Deity and quotations from the Bible; but in this address he
makes no recognition of Christ or Christianity. Even his quotations from
the Bible are made in a guarded manner which clearly indicates that
he did not believe in its divinity. In the Preliminary Proclamation of
Emancipation, which was drafted by himself, the name of Deity does not
appear. In the final Proclamation, an acknowledgment of God was
inserted only at the urgent request of Secretary Chase. The Emancipation
Proclamation, with the possible exception of the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution of the United States, is the most
important political document ever issued in America. He knew that this
was the crowning act of his career, that it would place him among the
immortals. In the preparation of this work he expended much thought
and labor, and it was his desire that it should be free from religious
verbiage. In that masterpiece of eloquence, the Gettysburg oration,
the name of God occurs but once, while not the remotest reference
to Christianity or even immortality appears. When we take into
consideration the fact that this address was made at the dedication of a
cemetery, the significance of this omission can not be overlooked. This
speech was the product of Lincoln's own mind free from the suggestions
and emendations of others, and the occasion was too sacred to indulge in
pious cant in which he did not believe.
The clergy parade Lincoln's recognitions of a Supreme Being as a
triumphant refutation of the claim that he was an Infidel. Yet, at
the same time, they do not hesitate to denounce as Infidels, Paine and
Voltaire, when they know, or ought to know, that two more profound
and reverential believers in God never lived and wrote than Paine and
Voltaire.
If Infidelity and Atheism were synonymous terms it would be difficult to
maintain that Lincoln, during the last years of his life at least, was
an Infidel. But Infidelity and Atheism are not synonymous terms. An
Atheist is an Infidel, but an Infidel is not necessarily an Atheist. A
Presbyterian is a Christian, but all Christians are not Presbyterians.
Christians themselves coined the word _Infidel_, and they have used
it to denote a disbeliever in Christianity. A disbelief or denial of
Christianity is not necessarily a denial of God. Christians, many of
them, regard the term as odious and as carrying with it the idea of
immorality, notwithstanding the most intelligent and the most highly
moral class in Christendom are these so-called Infidels. "Who are
to-day's Infidels?" says the Rev. William Ohanning Gannett. He answers:
"Very many of the brightest minds, the warmest hearts, the most loyal
consciences, the most zealous seekers after God, the most honest tellers
of what they find--yes, and the most successful finders. Infidels to
what are they? Not to morality: Infidels to morality are too wise to
train with them."
It is not claimed that Lincoln was wholly free from a belief in the
supernatural. He possessed in some respects a simple, childlike
nature, and carried with him through life some of the superstitions of
childhood. But the dogmas of Christianity were not among them; these he
had examined and discarded.
As a proof of Lincoln's regard for Christian institutions, great
prominence is given to his proclamation to the army enjoining the
observance of the Sabbath. This document gives expression to sentiments
regarding the sanctity of the Christian Sabbath that Lincoln personally
did not entertain. It was issued to appease the clamor of the clergy
who demanded it, and was drafted, not by Lincoln, but by some pious
Sabbatarian. Lincoln himself attached no more sanctity to Sunday than to
other days. He worked on Sunday himself. In Springfield his Sundays were
frequently spent in preparing cases for court. In company with his boys
he often passed the entire day making excursions into the country or
rambling through the woods that skirted the Sangamon. He seldom went to
church either in Springfield or Washington, the claims of some of his
Christian biographers to the contrary notwithstanding. Previous to
his nomination, in 1860, we find him sitting for a bust on Sunday in
preference to attending church. On the Sunday immediately following
his nomination an artist was busy with him molding his hands and taking
negatives for a statue. The draft of the preliminary Proclamation of
Emancipation was finished on Sunday. The last Sunday of his life was
spent, not in studying the Scriptures, but in reading his beloved
Shakespere.
It was stated by friends of Lincoln that he generally refrained from
giving publicity to his religious opinions while in public life because
of their unpopularity. In answer to this the Christian claimant retorts:
"If this be true then he was a hypocrite." But let us be honest. Nearly
every person entertains opinions which he does not deem it discreet or
necessary to make public. You, my Christian friend, entertain doubts and
heresies concerning your creed which you keep a secret or disclose
only to your most intimate associates. If you, in private life, and not
dependent upon the public, hide your unpopular thoughts from the world,
can you consistently blame Lincoln for his silence when the fate of a
nation depended upon him and the alienation even of a few bigots might
turn the scales against him? A Christian general does not hesitate to
deceive the enemy or withhold his plans even from his own soldiers.
Again, the clergy are forever advising and entreating men not to publish
their doubts and heresies. Is it consistent in them to condemn a man for
following their advice?
The church should learn to respect honesty herself before she charges
others with dishonesty. It is the shame of Christianity that men have
been obliged to conceal their honest convictions in order to escape
ostracism and persecution. When the church herself becomes honest
enough to tolerate and respect the honest opinions of those who cannot
conscientiously accept her creed, then will it be time for her to charge
Lincoln with hypocrisy for having partially withheld his unpopular views
from religious ruffians. It does not evince a want of honesty, nor even
a lack of moral courage, to flee from a tiger or avoid a skunk.
To do good was Lincoln's religion. To live an honest, manly life--to add
to the sum of human happiness--to make the world better for his having
lived--this was the aspiration of his life and the essence of his faith.
In youth, the meanest creature found in him a friend, and if need be, a
defender. He wrote essays and made speeches against cruelty to animals,
and sought to impress upon his playmates' minds the sacredness of life.
The same tender regard for the weak and unfortunate characterized his
manhood. Whilst riding through a forest once with a party of friends,
he saw a brood of young birds on the ground which a storm had blown from
their nest. He dismounted from his horse, and after a laborious search,
found the nest and placed the birdlings snugly in their little home.
When he reached his companions, and was chided by them for his delay, he
said: "I could not have slept to-night if I had not given those birds to
their mother."
The narration of his many deeds of kindness and mercy while at
Washington would fill a volume. He loved to rescue an erring soldier boy
from the jaws of death and fill a mother's eyes with tears of joy. He
loved to dispel the clouds of sorrow from a wife's sad heart and warm
it with the sunshine of happiness. He loved to take the child of poverty
upon his knee and plant within its little breast the seeds of confidence
and hope.
A giant in stature, and a lion in strength and courage, he possessed
the gentleness of a child and the tenderness of a woman. The sufferings,
even of a stranger, would fill his eyes with tears, and the death of a
friend would overwhelm him. In his tenth year his mother died, and for
a time his heart was desolate and he could not be consoled. In his
fifteenth year his only sister, a lovely, fragile flower, just blooming
into womanhood, drooped and died, and life seemed purposeless to him
again. Of his four children, two died while he was living--Eddie, a
fair-haired babe, and his beloved Willie. When death took these his
sorrow was unutterable. The untimely death of his young friend, the
gallant Colonel Ellsworth, at Alexandria, and the death of his life-long
friend, the lamented Edwin F. Baker, at Ball's Bluff, were blows that
staggered him. At the death of his good friend, Bowlin Green, he was
chosen to deliver a funeral address. When the hour arrived, and he
stepped forward to perform the sacred task, his eyes fell upon the
coffin of his dead friend and for a time he stood transfixed--helpless
and speechless. The only tribute he could pay was the tribute of
his tears. When he turned for the last time from the bedside of the
beautiful Ann Rut-ledge, his betrothed, it was with a broken heart and
a mind dethroned. "Oh! I can never be reconciled to have the snow, the
rain, and the storm beat upon her grave," was the pitiful burden of his
plaint for weeks. Reason after a time returned, but his wonted gladness
never; and down through all those eventful years to that fatal April
night when his own sweet life-blood slowly oozed away, beneath that
sparkling surface of feigned mirth, drifted the memory and the agonies
of that great grief.
In the social relations of life, he was a most exemplary man. He was
a devoted husband, an indulgent father, an obliging neighbor, and a
faithful friend. Mrs. Colonel Chapman, a lady who lived for a time in
his family, pays this tribute to his private life: "He was all that a
husband, father, and neighbor should be, kind and affectionate to his
wife and child, and very pleasant to all around him. Never did I hear
him utter an unkind word." "His devotion to wife and children," says
George W. Julian, "was as abiding and unbounded as his love of country."
The strong attachment always manifested by him for his friends has often
been remarked. Rich and poor, great and humble, all were equally dear
to him and alike the recipients of his regard and love. The prince he
treated like a man, the humblest man he treated like a prince. Nothing
in his career exhibits the greatness and nobleness of his character in
a loftier degree than the cordial and unaffected manner in which, at
Washington, in the midst of wealth, and splendor, and refinement, he
was accustomed to receive and entertain the plain, uncultured friends of
other days.
Upon his rugged honesty, I need not dwell. The _sobriquet_ of "Honest
Abe" was early won by him and never lost. In his profession--a
profession in which, too often, cunning and deceit, falsehood and
dishonesty, are the means, and robbery the end--a profession in which,
too often, Injustice is a purpled Dives sitting at a bounteous board,
and Justice, a ragged Lazarus lying at the gate--he never wavered in his
loyalty to truth, to justice, and to honesty. Engaged in a just cause,
he was one of the most powerful advocates that ever addressed a judge or
jury; engaged in an unjust cause, he was the weakest member of his bar.
In fact, he could not be induced to plead a cause in which he did not
see some element of justice, even though the technicalities of law
insured success. To one who had sought his services and had stated
his case, he replied: "Yes, I can win it; but there are some things
_legally_ right that are not _morally_ right; this is one: I cannot take
your case." He was once employed to defend a person accused of murder.
As the trial progressed, it became apparent to him that his client
had done the deed. Turning to his associate counsel, with a look of
disappointment and pain, he said: "Swett, the man is guilty; you defend
him; I cannot." On another occasion, when he discovered that his client
had grossly imposed upon his confidence and instituted an unjust
suit, he left the court-room, and when the bailiff called for him,
he answered: "Tell Judge Treat that I can't come; _I have to wash my
hands_."
He was the most magnanimous of men. William H. Seward, his chief
opponent for the Presidential nomination, he made the Premier of his
Cabinet. Secretary Chase became his political, if not his personal,
enemy. Yet, recognizing his fitness for the place, he waived all
personal grievances and appointed him to the exalted position of Chief
Justice of the United States, the highest gift within the power of
a President to bestow. During his professional career he was sent to
Cincinnati to assist Edwin M. Stanton in an important legal case.
The grim Stanton had never met this plain, Western lawyer before, and
displeased at his uncouth appearance, and apparent lack of ability,
treated him so discourteously that Lincoln's self-respect compelled
him to practically withdraw from the case. It was a brutal affront, too
poignant for him ever to forget, but not to forgive, and linked together
on one of the most momentous pages of history stand the names of Lincoln
and Stanton, an enduring witness to his sublime magnanimity.
The murder of this loving savior of our Union was a disastrous blow,
not to the victorious North alone, but to the vanquished South as well.
Could he have lived, the balm of his great, kindly nature would have
quickly healed the nation's wounds. At the commencement of the conflict,
in pleading tones, he said: "We are not enemies, but friends." And at
its close, notwithstanding all the cruel, bitter anguish he had endured
during those four long years of fratricidal strife, "With malice toward
none, with charity for all," he died, and many a brave Confederate
deplored
The deep damnation of his taking off.
When Stonewall Jackson died, he paid a touching tribute to his
gallantry, and said: "Let us forget his errors over his fresh-made
grave." in the darkness of night, on a bloody field of the Peninsula,
he bent beside the prostrate form of a dying soldier of the South, and
while the hot tears rolled down his furrowed cheeks, soothed him with
words of tender-est sympathy, and, by the dim rays of a lantern, took
down from his lips a message to his mother, and sent it by a flag of
truce into the enemies' lines to be transmitted to his home.
Glorious apostle of humanity! When shall we look upon his like again? so
honest, so truthful, so just, so charitable, so loving, so merciful! Law
was his God, justice his creed, and liberty his heaven. If he sinned,
mercy prompted him. In the presence of such a man, and in the presence
of such a religion, how contemptible your puny theologians and their
narrow creeds appear! Born in the cabin of a Western wild, dying in
a nation's capital, its honored chief, enshrined in the hearts of an
admiring world, Abraham Lincoln stands to-day the gentlest, purest,
noblest character in human history. Millenniums may pass away,
unnumbered generations come and go, creeds rise and fall; but the divine
faith of Freedom's martyr--a faith based upon immutable law, eternal
justice, universal liberty--a faith formulated not in perishable words,
but in immortal deeds, will live through all the years to come, a torch
of hope to every son of toil.