Abraham Lincoln: Was He a Christian?

by John E. Remsburg

CHAPTER X. TESTIMONY OF LINCOLN'S RELATIVES AND INTIMATE ASSOCIATES

Mrs. Sarah Lincoln—Dennis F. Hanks—Mrs. Matilda Moore—
John Hall—Win. McNeely—Wm. G. Green—Joshua F. Speed—
Green Caruthers—John Decamp—Mr. Lynan—James B.
Spaulding—Ezra Stringham—Dr. G. H Ambrose—J. H. Chenery—
Squire Perkins—W. Perkins—James Gorley—Dr. Wm. Jayne—
Jesse K. Dubois—Hon. Joseph Gillespie—Judge Stephen T.
Logan—Hon. Leonard Swett

Were I to rest my case here, the evidence already adduced is sufficient, I think, to convince any unprejudiced mind that Lincoln was not a Christian. But I do not propose to rest here. I have presented the testimony of half a score of witnesses; before I lay down my pen I shall present the testimony of nearly ten times as many more.

In this chapter will be given the testimony of some of the relatives and intimate associates of Lincoln. The testimony of his relatives confirms the claim that he was not religious in his youth; the others testify to his unbelief while a resident of New Salem and Springfield.

MRS. SARAH LINCOLN.

If there was one person to whom Lincoln was more indebted than to any other, it was his stepmother, Sally Lincoln, a beautiful woman—beautiful not only in face and form, but possessed of a most lovely character. She was not highly educated, but she loved knowledge, and inspired in her step-son a love for books. She was a Christian, but she attached more importance to deed than to creed. She loved Lincoln. After his death she said: "He was dutiful to me always. I think he loved me truly. I had a son, John, who was raised with Abe. Both were good boys; but I must say, both now being dead, that Abe was the best boy I ever saw, or expect to see." Lincoln was too good and too great not to appreciate this woman's care and affection.

When the materials for Lincoln's biography were being collected, Mrs. Lincoln was considered the most reliable source from which to obtain the facts pertaining to his boyhood. Her recollections of him were recorded with the utmost care. His Christian biographers, in order to make a Sunday-school hero of him, have declared him to be a youth remarkable for his Christian piety and his love of the Bible. The statements of Mrs. Lincoln disprove this claim. The substance of her testimony, as given by Lamon, is given as follows: "His step-mother—herself a Christian, and longing for the least sign of faith in him—could remember no circumstance that supported her hope. On the contrary, she recollected very well that he never went off into a corner, as has been said, to ponder the sacred writings, and to wet the page with his tears of penitence" (Life of Lincoln, pp. 486, 487).

"The Bible, according to Mrs. Lincoln, was not one of his studies; 'he sought more congenial books.' At that time he neither talked nor read upon religious subjects. If he had any opinions about them, he kept them to himself" (Ibid, p. 38).

DENNIS F. HANKS.

The next witness is Lincoln's cousin, Dennis Hanks. Mr. Hanks held "the pulpy, red, little Lincoln" in his arms before he was "twenty-four hours old," and remained his constant companion during all the years that he lived in Kentucky and Indiana. He lived a part of the time in the Lincoln family, and married one of Lincoln's step-sisters. I met him recently at Charleston, Ill. With evident delight he rehearsed the story of Lincoln's boyhood, and reaffirmed the truthfulness of the following statements attributed to him by Lincoln's biographers:

"Abe wasn't in early life a religious man. He was a moral man strictly.... In after life he became more religious; but the Bible puzzled him, especially the miracles" (Every-Day Life of Lincoln, p. 54).

"'Religious songs did not appear to suit him at all,' says Dennis Hanks; but of profane ballads and amorous ditties he knew the words of a vast number.

"Another was:

'Hail Columbia, happy land!
If you ain't drunk, I'll be damned,'

a song which Dennis thinks should be warbled only in the 'fields;' and tells us they knew and enjoyed all such songs as this'" (Lamon's Life of Lincoln, pp. 58, 59).

The fitness of the above coarse travesty to be warbled, even in the fields, may well be doubted. Lamon would hardly have recorded it, and I certainly should not quote it, but for the fact that it strikingly illustrates one phase of Lincoln's "youthful piety."

Among the many Christian hymns which Lincoln parodied, Mr. Hanks recalls the following:

"How tedious and tasteless the hours."
"When I can read my title clear."
"Oh! to grace how great a debtor!"
"Come, thou fount of every blessing."

MRS. MATILDA MOORE.

Lincoln's first husband was named Johnston. By him she had three children, a son and two daughters. The latter, like their mother, developed into noble specimens of womanhood; and both loved Lincoln as tenderly as though he had been their own brother. The elder was married to Dennis Hanks; the younger, Matilda, married Lincoln's cousin, Levi Hall, and, after his death, a gentleman named Moore.

Lamon says that Lincoln in his youth made a mockery of the popular religion; not from any lack of reverence for what he believed to be good, but because "he thought that a person had better be without it." That he was accustomed to turn so-called sacred subjects into ridicule is attested by his stepsister, Mrs. Moore. She says:

"When father and mother would go to church, Abe would take down the Bible, read a verse, give out a hymn, and we would sing. Abe was about fifteen years of age. He preached and we would do the crying" (Every-Day Life of Lincoln, p. 71).

JOHN HALL.

On the 28th of April, 1888, the writer, in company with Mr. Charles Biggs, of Westfield, Ill., visited the old Lincoln homestead, near Farmington, Ill. We dined with Mr. John Hall, a son of Lincoln's stepsister Matilda, in the old log-house built by Lincoln's father sixty years ago, and in which his father and step-mother died. Mr. Hall, who owns the homestead and preserves with zealous care this venerable relic, is an intelligent farmer over sixty years of age. He greatly reveres the memory of his illustrious uncle and loves to dwell on his many noble traits of character. He stated that the family tradition is that while Abe was a most honest and humane boy he was not religious. He referred to the mock sermons he is said to have preached. "At these meetings," said Mr. Hall, "my mother would lead in the singing while Uncle Abe would lead in prayer. Among his numerous supplications, he prayed God to put stockings on the chickens' feet in winter."

WILLIAM McNEELT.

William McNeely, of Petersburg, Ill., who became acquainted with Lincoln in 1831, when he arrived at New Salem on a flatboat, says:

"Lincoln said he did not believe in total depravity, and although it was not popular to believe it, it was easier to do right than wrong; that the first thought was: what was right? and the second—what was wrong? Therefore it was easier to do right than wrong, and easier to take care of, as it would take care of itself. It took an effort to do wrong, and a still greater effort to take care of it; but do right and it would take care of itself.

"I was acquainted with him a long time, and I never knew him to do a wrong act" (Lincoln Memorial Album, pp. 393-395).

WILLIAM G. GREEN.

One of Lincoln's early companions at New Salem was William G. Green. He and Lincoln clerked in the same store and slept together on the same cot. The testimony of Mr. Green has not been preserved. We have simply an observation of his, incidentally made, the substance of which is thus presented by Lamon:

"Lincoln's incessant reading of Shakspere and Burns had much to do in giving to his mind the 'skeptical' tendency so fully devoloped by the labors of his pen in 1834-5, and in social conversations during many years of his residence at Springfield" (Life of Lincoln, p. 145).

Mr. Green's conclusion, especially in regard to Burns, is quite generally shared by Lincoln's friends. Burns's satirical poems were greatly admired by-Lincoln. "Holy Willie's Prayer," one of the most withering satires on orthodox Christianity ever penned, was memorized by him. Every one of its sixteen stanzas, beginning with the following, was an Infidel shaft which he delighted to hurl at the heads of his Christian opponents:

"O thou, wha in the heavens dost dwell,
Wha, as it pleases best thysel',
Sends ane to heaven and ten to hell,
A' for thy glory,
And no for ony guid or ill
They've done afore thee!"

JOSHUA F. SPEED.

Another of Lincoln's earliest and best friends was Joshua F. Speed. When he was licensed as a lawyer and entered upon his professional career at Springfield without a client and without a dollar, Speed assisted him to get a start. W. H. Herndon was clerking for Speed at the time, and for more than a year Lincoln, Herndon and Speed roomed together. Referring to the religious views held by Lincoln at that time, Mr. Speed, in a lecture, says:

"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."

This is the testimony of an orthodox Christian, and a church-member. Mr. Speed, during the years that he was acquainted with Lincoln, was not a member of any church; but late in life he united with the Methodist church. As "the wish is father to the thought," Mr. Speed professed to believe that Lincoln before his death modified, to some extent, the radical views of his early manhood.

GREEN CARUTHERS.

Soon after Lincoln removed to Springfield, he became acquainted with Mr. Green Caruthers and remained on intimate terms with him during all the subsequent years of his life. Mr. Caruthers was a quiet, unobtrusive old gentleman, universally respected by those who knew him. The substance of his testimony is as follows:

"Lincoln, Bledsoe, the metaphysician, and myself, boarded at the Globe hotel in this city. Bledsoe tended toward Christianity, if he was not a Christian. Lincoln was always throwing out his Infidelity to Bledsoe, ridiculing Christianity, and especially the divinity of Christ."

JOHN DECAMP.

Another of Lincoln's most intimate Springfield friends was John Decamp. Mr. Decamp was interviewed by Mr. Herndon regarding Lincoln's religious views in July, 1887. His statement was brief, but to the point. He says:

"Lincoln was an Infidel."

MR. LYNAN. In 1880, at Bismarck Grove, Kan., the writer of this delivered a lecture entitled, "Four American Infidels," a portion of which was devoted to a presentation of Lincoln's religious views. In its report of the lecture, the Lawrence Standard, edited by Hon. E. G. Ross, formerly United States Senator from Kansas, and more recently Governor of New Mexico, said:

"In regard to Abraham Lincoln being an Infidel, the evidence adduced was overwhelming, and was confirmed by a gentleman present, Mr. Lynan, who had known him intimately for thirty years. Mr. Lynan declared that none but personal acquaintance could enable one to realize the nobility and purity of Lincoln's character, but that he was beyond doubt or question a thorough disbeliever in the Christian scheme of salvation to the end of his life" (Lawrence Standard, Sept. 4, 1880).

JAMES B. SPAULDING.

Mr. J. B. Spaulding, well known as one of the leading nurserymen and horticulturists of the United States, a man of broad culture and refinement, who resides near Springfield, became intimately acquainted with Lincoln as early as 1851, and for a long time resided on the same street with him in Springfield. Mr. Spaulding says:

"Lincoln perpetrated many an irreverent joke at the expense of church doctrines. Regarding the miraculous conception, he was especially sarcastic. He wrote a manuscript as radical as Ingersoll which his political friends caused to be destroyed."

EZRA STRINGHAM.

A short time since I was conversing with a party of gentlemen in Riverton, Ill. It being near Lincoln's old home, the subject of his religious belief was introduced. An old gentleman, who up to this time had not been taking part in the conversation, quietly observed: "I think I knew Lincoln's religious views about as well as any other man." "What was he?" said one of the party. "An Infidel of the first water," was the prompt response. The old gentleman was Ezra Stringham, one of Lincoln's early acquaintances in Illinois.

DR. G. H. AMBROSE.

Dr. G. H. Ambrose, of Waldo, Fla., who was associated in the law business at Springfield from 1846 to 1849 with a relative of Mrs. Lincoln, says: "Mr. Lincoln was an Infidel—an outspoken one."

J. H. CHENERY.

Mr. J. H. Chenery, one of Springfield's pioneers—for many years owner and proprietor of the leading hotel of Springfield—says:

"Reed tried to prove that Lincoln was a church man; but everybody here knows that he was not. Once in a great while, and only once in a great while, I saw him accompany his wife and children to church. His attacks upon the church were most bitter and sarcastic. He wrote a book against Christianity, but his friends got away with it."

SQUIRE PERKINS.

A few years ago there died near Atchison, Kan., an old gentleman named Perkins. He was poor, but honest, and a bright man intellectually. He was a son of Major Perkins who was killed in the Black Hawk war. Lincoln after the fight discovered the scalp of Major Perkins, which his savage assassin had taken but lost. His first impulse was to keep it and take it home to the family of the dead soldier. Then realizing that it would only tend to intensify their grief, he opened the grave and deposited it with the body. This incident led to an intimate acquaintance between Lincoln and the younger Perkins. In June, 1880, Mr. Perkins made the following statement relative to Lincoln's religious belief:

"During all the time that I was acquainted with Abraham Lincoln I know that he was what the church calls an Infidel. I do not believe that he ever changed his opinions. When Colfax was in Atchison I had a talk with him about Lincoln. Among other things, I asked him if Lincoln had ever been converted to Christianity. He told me that he had not."

W. PERKINS.

Mr. Perkins, an old lawyer and journalist of Illinois, who was acquainted with Lincoln for upward of twenty years, and who was his associate counsel in several important cases, writing from Belleview, Fla., under date of August 22, 1887, says:

"The unfair efforts that Christians have been putting forth to drag Lincoln into their waning faith betray a pitiable imbecility. Were it possible for them to get the world to believe that Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, all prayed, had faith, and were washed in the blood of the Lamb, would that prove the inspiration of their Bible, harmonize its contradictions, put a ray of reason in its gross absurdities, or humanize the first one of its numerous bloody barbarities? I knew Mr. Lincoln from the spring of 1838 till his death. Like Archibald Williams, our contemporary, an able Lord Coke lawyer, he no more believed in the inspiration of the Bible than Hume, Paine, or Ingersoll. Less inclined openly to denounce its absurdities and cruelties, or to antagonize the well-meaning credulous professors, than was Williams. Mr. Lincoln had no faith whatever in the first miracle of the Bible, or the scheme of bloody redemption it teaches. To attribute such sentiments to him, is to tarnish his well-earned reputation for common sense, and to impair the estimation of his countrymen and the world of his high sense of humanity, justice, and honor. Two of my Presbyterian friends at Indian Point, near Petersburg, told me that they had interviewed Mr. Lincoln to prevent his impending duel with Shields—claiming that it was contrary to the Bible and Christianity. He admitted that the dueling code was barbarous and regretted much to find himself in its toils, but said he, 'The Bible is not my book, nor Christianity my profession.'"

In some reminiscences of Lincoln, recently published, referring to a celebrated murder case in which they were counsel for the defendant, Mr. Perkins says: "I reminded him that from the first I had seen, and to him said, the case is hopeless, and that he must have expected to work a miracle to save the accused. He answered that I did him injustice, since he had no faith in miracles."

Alluding to Lincoln's alleged change of heart, he writes:

"He never changed a sentiment on the subject up to his final sleep."

JAMES GORLEY.

Mr. Gorley, who was the confidential friend of Lincoln, and who spent much time with him, both at home and abroad, made the following statement:

"Lincoln belonged to no religious sect. He was religious in his own way—not as others generally. I do not think he ever had a change of heart, religiously speaking. Had he ever had a change of heart he would have told me. He could not have neglected it."

WILLIAM JAYNE, M.D.

Dr. Jayne, who was appointed Governor of Dakota by Lincoln, is one of the most prominent citizens of Springfield, and was one of Lincoln's ablest and most faithful political friends. He secured Lincoln's nomination for the Legislature once, and was one of the first to pit him against Douglas. In a letter to me, dated August 18, 1887, Dr. Jayne says:

"His general reputation among his neighbors and friends of twenty-five years' standing was that of a disbeliever in the accepted faith of orthodox Christians. His mind was purely logical in its construction and action. He believed nothing except what was susceptible of demonstration.... His most intimate friends here, and close to him in the confidential relations of life, assert, in regard to those who claim for Lincoln a faith in the orthodox Christian belief, that the claim is a fraud and utter nonsense."

HON. JESSE K. DUBOIS.

Jesse K. Dubois, for a time State Auditor of Illinois, a noble and gifted man, and one whom Lincoln dearly loved, once related an anecdote which shows that if Lincoln did believe in a Supreme Being, he had little reverence for the God of Christianity. In company with Dubois, he was visiting a family in or near Springfield. It was summer, and while Dubois was in the house with the family, Lincoln occupied a seat in the yard with his feet resting against a tree, as was his wont. The lady, who was a very zealous Christian, called attention to his appearance and commented rather severely upon his ugliness. When they returned home Dubois referred to the lady's remarks. Lincoln was silent for a moment, and then said: "Dubois, I know that I am ugly, but she worships a God who is uglier than I am."

HON. JOSEPH GILLESPIE.

Judge Gillespie, of Edwardsville, Ill., one of Lincoln's most valued friends, writes as follows:

"Mr. Lincoln seldom said anything on the subject of religion. He said once to me that he never could reconcile the prescience of Deity with the uncertainty of events." "It was difficult," says Judge Gillespie, "for him to believe without demonstration."

JUDGE STEPHEN T. LOGAN.

Lincoln was admitted to the bar in 1837, when he was twenty-eight years of age, Judge Logan being on the bench at the time. Soon after his admission he formed a partnership with John T. Stuart which existed nearly four years, or until Mr. Stuart entered Congress. He then became the partner of Judge Logan, and continued in business with him until 1843, when he united his practice with that of Mr. Herndon. The testimony of Mr. Stuart and Mr. Herndon has already been given. No formal statement of Judge Logan concerning this question has been preserved. All that I have been able to find is contained in a letter from Mr. Herndon dated Dec. 22, 1888. Mr. Herndon wrote in relation to Lincoln's letter of consolation to his dying father. In Lincoln's letter, while Christ and Christianity are wholly ignored, there is an implied recognition of immortality and an expressed hope that he may meet his father again. Lincoln's friends, for the most part, consider the letter merely conventional, not an expression of his real sentiments, but simply an effort to console his Christian father whom he could never meet again on earth. Mr. Herndon, however, is inclined to believe that while the tone of the letter is not exactly in accordance with the views generally held by Lincoln, it is yet a sincere expression of the feelings he entertained at the time. Referring to this letter, Mr. Herndon says:

"I showed the letter to Logan, Stuart, et al, Logan laughed in my face as much as to say: 'Herndon, are you so green as to believe that letter to be Lincoln's real ideas?' I cannot give the exact words of Logan, but he in substance said: 'Lincoln was an Infidel of the most radical type.'"

HON. LEONARD SWETT.

I close this division of my evidence with the testimony of that gifted lawyer and honored citizen of Illinois, Leonard Swett. Previous to his removal to Chicago, in 1865, Mr. Swett resided in Bloomington, and for a dozen years traveled the old Eighth Judicial Circuit with Lincoln. Few men knew Lincoln better than did Swett, and none was held in higher esteem by Lincoln than he. It was he who placed Lincoln in nomination for the Presidency at Chicago in 1860. I quote from a letter written by Mr. Swett in 1866:

"You ask me whether he [Lincoln] changed his religious opinions toward the close of his life. I think not. As he became involved in matters of the greatest importance, full of great responsibility and great doubt, a feeling of religious reverence, a belief in God and his justice and overruling providence increased with him. He was always full of natural religion. He believed in God as much as the most approved church member, yet he judged of him by the same system of generalization as he judged everything else. He had very little faith in ceremonials or forms. In fact he cared nothing for the form of anything.... If his religion were to be judged by the lines and rules of church creeds, he would fall far short of the standard."

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CHAPTER XI. TESTIMONY OF FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES OF LINCOLN WHO KNEW HIM IN ILLINOIS

Hon. W. H. T. Wakefield—Hon. D. W. Wilder—Dr. B. P.
Gardner—Hon. J. K. Vandemark—A. Jeffrey—Dr. Arch E.
McNeal—Charles McGrew—Edward Buller—Joseph Stafford—
Judge A. D. Norton—J. L. Morrell—Mahlon Ross—L. Wilson—
H. K. Magie—Hon. James Tuttle—Col. P. S. Rutherford—Judge
Robert Leachman—Hon. Orin B. Gould—M. S. Gowin—Col. R. G.
Ingersoll—Leonard W. Volk—Joseph Jefferson—Hon. E. B.
Washburn—Hon. E. M. Haines.

I will next present the evidence that I have gleaned from the lips or pens of personal friends of Lincoln who were acquainted with him in Illinois. The relations of these persons to Lincoln were, for the most part, less intimate than were those of the persons named in the preceding chapter; but all of them enjoyed in no small degree his confidence and esteem.

HON. W. H. T. WAKEFIELD.

Mr. Wakefield, our first witness, is a son of the distinguished jurist, Judge J. A. Wakefield. He is a prominent journalist, and was the nominee of the United Labor party, for Vice-President, in the Presidential contest of 1888. In a letter to the author, dated Lawrence, Kan., Sept. 28, 1880, Mr. Wakefield says: "My father, the late Judge J. A. Wakefield, was a life-long friend of Lincoln's, they having served through the Black Hawk war together and been in the Illinois Legislature together, during which latter time Lincoln boarded with my father in Vandalia, which was then the state capital. I remember of his visiting my father at Galena, in 1844 or 1845. They continued to correspond until Lincoln's death. My father was a member of the Methodist church and frequently spoke of and lamented Lincoln's Infidelity, and referred to the many arguments between them on the subject. The noted minister, Peter Cartwright, boarded with my father at the same time that Lincoln did, and my father and mother told me of the many theological and philosophical arguments indulged in by Lincoln and Cartwright, and of the fact that they always attracted many interested listeners and usually ended by Cartwright's getting very angry and the spectators being convulsed with laughter at Lincoln's dry wit and humorous comparisons."

Lincoln's legislative career at Vandalia extended from 1834 to 1837. It was about the beginning of this period that he wrote his book against Christianity. He was thoroughly informed and enthusiastic in his Infidel views, and it is not to be wondered at that on theological questions, he was able to vanquish in debate even so eminent a theologian as Peter Cartwright. Ten years later, Lincoln was the Whig, and Cartwright the Democratic candidate for Congress. In this campaign a determined effort was made by the church to defeat Lincoln on account of his Infidelity. But his popularity, his reputation for honesty, his recognized ability, and his transcendent powers on the stump, carried him successfully through, and he was triumphantly elected.

HON. D. W. WILDER.

One of the most gifted and honorable of Western journalists is D. W. Wilder, of Kansas. He was Surveyor General of Kansas before it was admitted into the Union, and after it became a state, he held the office of State Auditor. Many years ago Gen. Wilder wrote and published an editorial on Lincoln's religious views in which he affirmed that Lincoln was a disbeliever in Christianity. The article excited the wrath of the clergy, among them the Rev. D. P. Mitchell, the leading Methodist divine of Kansas, who replied with much warmth, but without refuting the statements of Gen. Wilder. Some of my Western readers will recall the article and the controversy it provoked. I have been unable to procure a copy of it, but in its place I present the following extract from a letter received from Gen. Wilder, dated St. Joseph, Mo., Dec. 29, 1881:

"Lincoln believed in God, but not in the divinity of Christ. At first, like Franklin, he was probably an Atheist. Although a 'forgiving' man himself, he did not believe that any amount of 'penitence' could affect the logical effects of violated law. He has a remarkable passage on that theme."

Concerning Lincoln's partner, Mr. Herndon, with whom he was acquainted, Gen. Wilder says:

"Write to Wm. H. Herndon, a noble man, Springfield, Ill. Send him your book ['Life of Paine']. He will reply. The stories told about him are lies."

B. F. GARDNER, M.D.

Dr. Gardner, an old and respected resident of Atlanta, Ill., in March, 1887, made the following statement in regard to Lincoln's views:

"I knew Lincoln from 1854 up to the time he left Springfield. He was an Infidel. He did not change his belief. Herndon told the truth in his lecture. Lincoln did not believe that prayer moved God. When he requested the prayers of his neighbors on leaving Springfield for Washington, he saw that & storm was coming and that he must have the support of the church."

These words of Lincoln in his farewell speech requesting the prayers of his friends, though used merely in a conventional way, have been cited by Holland, Arnold, and others, to prove that he believed in the efficacy of prayer. That no such import was attached to them at the time is admitted by Holland himself. He says: "This parting address was telegraphed to every part of the country, and was strangely misinterpreted. So little was the man's character understood that his simple and earnest request that his neighbors should pray for him was received by many as an evidence both of his weakness and his hypocrisy. No President had ever before asked the people, in a public address, to pray for him. It sounded like the cant of the conventicle to ears unaccustomed to the language of piety from the lips of politicians. The request was tossed about as a joke—'old Abe's last'" (Holland's Life of Lincoln, p. 254).

HON. J. K. VANDEMARK.

J. K. Vandemark, who formerly resided near Springfield, Ill., and who was well acquainted with Lincoln, on the 13th of October, 1887, at Valparaiso, Neb., testified as follows:

"I met Lincoln often—had many conversations with him in his office. To assert that he was a believer in Christianity is absurd. He had no faith in the dogmas of the church."

Mr. Vandemark at the time his testimony was given was a member of the State Senate of Nebraska.

A. JEFFREY.

Mr. Jeffrey, who has resided near Waynesville, Ill., for a period of fifty years, and who was in the habit of attending court with Lincoln, year after year, in an interview on the 1st of March, 1887, made the following statement:

"Lincoln was decidedly Liberal. He admitted that he wrote a book against Christianity. In later years he seldom talked on this subject, but he did not change his belief. A thrust at the doctrine of endless punishment always pleased him. This doctrine he abhorred."

DR. ARCH E. McNEALL

Dr. McNeall, an old physician of Bowen, Ill., who was a delegate to the Decatur Convention which brought Lincoln forward as a candidate for the Presidency, says:

"I met Lincoln often during our political campaigns, and was quite well acquainted with him. I know that he was a Liberal thinker."

CHARLES McGREW.

Dr. McGrew is a resident of Coles County, Ill.—the county in which nearly all of Lincoln's relatives have resided for sixty years. He is a cousin of Hon. Allen G. Thurman, and is a man of sterling character. He was for a time related to Lincoln, in a business way, and met him frequently. I met Dr. McGrew in 1888, and when I propounded the question, "Was Lincoln a Christian?" he replied: "Lincoln was not a Christian. He was cautious and reserved and seldom said anything about religion except when he was alone with a few companions whose opinions were similar to his. On such occasions he did not hesitate to express his unbelief."

EDWARD BUTLER.

Early in 1858, Lincoln delivered his memorable Springfield speech which prepared the way for his debates with Douglas, and made him President of the United States. Mr. Edward Butler, who resided in Springfield for a period of twenty-six years, and who was well acquainted with Lincoln, was leader of the band which furnished the music on this occasion. In a letter written at Lyons, Kan., Jan. 16,1890, Mr. Butler relates some incidents connected with the meeting, and quotes a passage from Lincoln's speech to the effect that from the agitation of the slavery question, truth would in the end prevail Alluding to this passage, Mr. Butler says: "Shortly after the meeting referred to, I chanced to be talking with Lincoln and quizzingly enquired how he could reconcile this and similar utterances with Holy Writ? Without committing himself, he enquired if I had read Gregg's 'Creed of Christendom.' I informed him that I had not. 'Then,' said he, 'read that book and perhaps you may ascertain my views about truth prevailing.' I never conversed with Lincoln afterwards, but I obtained the book, which I keep treasured in my library. I am well convinced that no man who is used to weighing evidence, especially of Lincoln's humane and unbiased disposition, can read the book in question without truth coming to the surface."

It is hardly necessary to state that Gregg's "Creed of Christendom" is a standard work in Infidel literature, one of the most scholarly, powerful and convincing arguments against orthodox Christianity ever written.

JOSEPH STAFFORD.

Joseph Stafford, a resident of Galesburg, Ill., and an acquaintance of Lincoln, says:

"I know that Lincoln was a Liberal."

JUDGE A. D. MORTON.

In April, 1893, at Ardmore, I. T., I met Judge Norton, of Gainesville, Tex., an old acquaintance of Lincoln and Douglas. Judge Norton related many interesting reminiscences of these noted men. Speaking of Lincoln's religion, he said:

"For nearly fifty years I was a resident of Illinois. I practiced for many years in the same courts with Lincoln and knew him well. He was an Infidel. In his early manhood he wrote a book against Christianity which his friends prevented him from publishing. Because he had become famous, the church preached him from a theatre to heaven."

J. L MORRELL.

Mr. J. L. Morrell, a worthy citizen of Virden, Ill., who came to Illinois soon after Lincoln did, settled in the adjoining county to him, and like him followed for a time the avocation of surveyor, in a conversation with the writer, on the 8th of February, 1889, made the following statement:

"I knew Lincoln well—met him often. His religion was the religion of common sense. He went into this subject as deep as any man. He did not believe the inconsistencies of theology. He was not a Christian."

MARLON ROSS, ESQ.

Squire Boss, another old resident of Virden, Ill., a lawyer, and a writer of some repute, says:

"I was acquainted with Lincoln, but never talked with him on religion. He did not belong to church, and his friends say that he was not a Christian."

LUSK WILSON.

Similar to the above is the testimony of Mr. Lusk Wilson, a prominent and respectable citizen of Litchfield, Ill.:

"I was acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, but never heard him give his views on the subject of religion. His partner, Herndon, and other friends, state that he was not a believer in Christianity."

HON. JAMES TUTTLE.

Two miles east of Atlanta, Ill., resides one of the pioneers of Illinois, James Tuttle, now over eighty years of age. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1847, and is a man universally esteemed for his love of truth and honesty. Mr. Tuttle's residence is situated on the state road leading from Springfield to Bloomington. In going from Springfield to Bloomington, to attend court, and in returning home again, Lincoln always stopped over night with Mr. Tuttle. Theological questions were favorite topics with both of them, and the evening hours were usually spent in conversations of this character. Mr. Tuttle accordingly became well acquainted with Lincoln's religious views. Feb. 26, 1887, at Minier, Ill., he made the following statement relative to them: "Mr. Lincoln did not believe in Christianity. He denounced it unsparingly. He had the greatest contempt for religious revivals, and called those who took part in them a set of ignoramuses. He was one of the most ardent admirers of Thomas Paine I ever met. He was continually quoting from the 'Age of Reason.' Said he, 'I never tire of reading Paine.'"

Mr. Tuttle is confident that Lincoln always remained a Freethinker, and believes that those who claim to have evidence from him to the contrary, willfully affirm what they know to be false.

H. K. MAGIE.

Mr. Magie formerly lived in Illinois, and was for a time connected with the State Department at Springfield. Writing from Brooklyn, N. T., March 19, 1888, he says:

"My acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln was limited, as I did not reside in Springfield during his residence there. I met him during his campaign with Douglas at different times, and was with him once for three days.... Mr. Lincoln was a Freethinker of the Thomas Paine type. There have been picked up some of Mr. Lincoln's utterances about 'Providence,' 'God,' and the like, on which an attempt is made to make him out a Christian. Those who knew him intimately agree in the statement that he was a pronounced skeptic."

Mr. Magie also refers to the Infidel pamphlet written by Lincoln. His knowledge regarding this, however, was derived, not from Lincoln himself, but from his friends. He says: "At one time he wrote a criticism of the New Testament which he proposed to publish and which his friends succeeded in having suppressed, solely because of their regard for his political future."

In a recent contribution to a New York paper from Washington, D. C, Mr. Magie writes as follows: "I have always been fully persuaded in my own mind that it would have been utterly impossible for a man possessing that intuitive wisdom, keenness of logic, and discernment of truth, which were the marked characteristics of Mr. Lincoln's mind, ever to have subscribed to the atrocious doctrines of the Christian church. He was developed far above it, and although making no war upon the church, he did not hesitate to speak his mind freely upon these subjects upon all proper occasions. I lived in Springfield among his old neighbors for many years, and I have talked with many of them, and to those who had good opportunity to know his views touching religious matters. All, without exception, classed him among the skeptics. It was not until after his death that he was claimed as a Christian. I am sorry for Newton Bateman. He has placed himself in a most awkward predicament by trying to keep out of one.... He permitted Mr. Holland to circulate an atrocious falsehood in his 'Life of Lincoln' rather than incur 'unpleasant notoriety' by a firm and courageous denial." "It is not a matter of much importance as to just what Abraham Lincoln did believe concerning God, the Bible, or the man Jesus, but when we discover an earnest, persistent, mean, and wicked attempt by lying and deceitful men to pervert the truth in this matter, in order that their 'holy religion' shall profit by their lies, the matter does become of some importance, and I am glad that Mr. ———— has taken hold of this subject with that zeal and earnestness which usually characterize his great ability, and from what I know in this matter I can assure all whom it may concern that by the time he is through with the subject it will be deemed settled that Mr. Lincoln was not a hypocrite, neither was he a believer in the monstrous and superstitious doctrines of the Christian church."

The foregoing evidence, with the exception of a portion of Mr. Magie's testimony, was all given to the writer by the witnesses themselves, either by letter or orally, and he hereby certifies to its faithful transcription. This evidence is from men whose characters as witnesses cannot be impeached, and it is hardly possible that one of them will ever favor the other side with a disclaimer.

COL. F. S. RUTHERFORD.

I wish now to record a statement from Colonel Rutherford, a well-known citizen and soldier of Illinois. It was not made to the writer, but was made during the war to Mr. W. W. Fraser, a member of his regiment, and a man of unquestionable veracity. I will let Mr. Fraser present it, together with the circumstances which called it out. I quote from a letter dated Ottawa, Kan., Dec. 16, 1881: "During the siege of Vicksburg our colonel, F. S. Rutherford, Colonel of the 97th 111. Vol. Inft., was about to leave us, and I went to see him about taking a small package to Alton—his home and mine. He had been sick and quite unable to do active service. During our conversation I said that many of the Alton boys did not like to be left under the command of —————. Colonel Rutherford then said:

'If my life is worth anything I owe it as much to my family as my country, and it will be worthless to either if I stay much longer in camp, but I hate to leave the boys.' Colonel Rutherford said that he had stumped his district for Mr. Lincoln, and had expected, from Mr. Lincoln's promises, something better than a colonelcy. I told Colonel Rutherford that I was sorry to hear that, as I had always thought so well of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Rutherford then said: 'What more could you expect of an Infidel?' I said:

'Why, Colonel, doesn't Lincoln believe in a God?'

He replied: 'Well, he may believe in God, but he doesn't believe in the Bible nor Christ. I know it, for I have heard him make fun of them and say that Christ was a bastard if Joseph was not his father, and I have some sheets of paper now at home that he wrote, making fun of the Bible."

JUDGE ROBERT LEACH MAN.

The venerable Southern jurist, Judge Leachman, was one of Lincoln's intimate and valued friends. He is a Christian, but candidly confesses that Lincoln was not a believer. In the autumn of 1889, at Anniston, Ala., Judge Leachman made the following statement to Mr. W. S. Andres, of Portsmouth, O.:

"Lincoln was not such a Christian as the term is used to imply by church members and church-going people. He was in the strictest sense a moralist, he looked to actions and not to belief. He greatly admired the Golden Rule, and was one of those who thought that 'One world at a time' was a good idea.... He thought this a good place to be happy as is shown by his wonderful love for liberty and mercy. No, I can truthfully say, Abraham Lincoln was not a Christian."

HON. ORIN B. GOULD.

Another friend and admirer of Lincoln was Orin B. Gould, of Franklin Furnace, O. Mr. Gould was one of the noted men of Southern Ohio. He was a man of sterling worth and extensive knowledge, and was familiarly known as the "Sage of the Furnace." He became acquainted with Lincoln in Illinois at an early day, and a close friendship existed between them while Lincoln lived. Mr. Gould survived his illustrious friend nearly a quarter of a century, dying recently at his beautiful home on the banks of the Ohio. Previous to his death the question of Lincoln's religion was presented to him and his own views on the subject solicited. His response was as follows:

"He, like myself, recognized no monsters for Gods. He, like myself, discarded the divinity of Christ, and the idea of a hell's fire. He, like myself, admired Christ as a man, and believed the devil and evil to be simply 'truth misunderstood.' He, like myself, thought good wherever found should be accepted and the bad rejected."

M. S. GOWIN.

Mr. Gowin, an old and prominent citizen, and a Justice of the Peace, of McCune, Kan., in a recent article, has this to say regarding Lincoln:

"I lived near Springfield, Ill., from the time that I was a child, and at the time Lincoln came before the people, and during the time he was President, his enemies called him an Infidel, and his friends did not deny it."

COL. ROBERT G. INGERSOLL.

On the eighty-fourth anniversary of Lincoln's birth, Col. Ingersoll delivered in New York his masterly oration on Abraham Lincoln. In this oration he affirmed that the religion of Lincoln was the religion of Voltaire and Paine. Immediately after its delivery Gen. Collis, of New York, addressed the following note to Col. Ingersoll:

"Dear Col. Ingersoll: I have just returned home from listening to your most entertaining lecture upon the life of Abraham Lincoln. I thank you sincerely for all that was good in it, and that entitles me to be frank in condemning what I consider was bad. You say that Lincoln's religion was the religion of Voltaire and Tom Paine. I know not where you get your authority for this, but if the statement be true Lincoln himself was untrue, for no man invoked 'the gracious favor of Almighty God' in every effort of his life with more apparent fervor than did he, and this God was not the Deists' God but the God whom he worshiped under the forms of the Christian Church, of which he was a member. I do not write this in defense of his religion or as objecting to yours, but I think it were better for the truth of history that you should blame him for what he was than commend him for what he was not.

"Sincerely yours,

"Charles H. T. Collis."

In answer to the above Col. Ingersoll penned the following reply:

"Gen. Charles H. T. Collis,

"My dear sir:

"I have just received your letter in which you criticise a statement made by me to the effect that Lincoln's religion was the religion of Voltaire and Thomas Paine, and you add, 'I know not where you get your authority for this, but if the statement be true Lincoln himself was untrue, for no man ever invoked the gracious favor of Almighty God in every effort of his life with more apparent fervor than did he.'

"You seem to be laboring under the impression that Voltaire was not a believer in God, and that he could not have invoked the gracious favor of Almighty God. The truth is that Voltaire was not only a believer in God, but even in special Providence. I know that the clergy have always denounced Voltaire as an Atheist, but this can be accounted for in two ways: (1) By the ignorance of the clergy, and (2) by their contempt of truth. Thomas Paine was also a believer in God, and wrote his creed as follows: 'I believe in one God and no more, and hope for immortality.' The ministers have also denounced Paine as an Atheist. You will, therefore, see that your first statement is without the slightest foundation in fact. Lincoln could be perfectly true to himself if he agreed with the religious sentiments of Voltaire and Paine, and yet invoke the gracious favor of Almighty God. You also say, 'This God' (meaning the God whose favor Lincoln invoked) 'was not the Deists' God.' The Deists believe in an Infinite Being, who created and preserves the universe. The Christians believe no more. Deists and Christians believe in the same God, but they differ as to what this God has done, and to what this God will do. You further say that 'Lincoln worshiped his God under the forms of the Christian Church, of which he was a member.' Again you are mistaken. Lincoln was never a member of any church. Mrs. Lincoln stated a few years ago that Mr. Lincoln was not a Christian. Hundreds of his acquaintances have said the same thing. Not only so, but many of them have testified that he was a Freethinker; that he denied the inspiration of the Scriptures, and that he always insisted that Christ was not the son of God, and that the dogma of the atonement was and is an absurdity. I will very gladly pay you one thousand dollars for your trouble to show that one statement in your letter is correct—even one. And now, to quote you, 'Do you not think it were better for the truth of history that you should state the facts about Lincoln, and that you should commend him for what he was rather than for what he was not?'

"Yours truly,

"R. G. Ingersoll."

LEONARD W. VOLK.

In the spring of 1860, just before Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency, the celebrated sculptor, Volk, made a bust of him. He spent a week in Chicago and made daily sittings in the artist's studio. Mr. Volk relates the following incident, which hardly accords with the tales told about Lincoln's reverence for the Sabbath, and his love for church services: "He entered my studio on Sunday morning, remarking that a friend at the hotel had invited him to go to church. 'But,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'I thought I'd rather come and sit for the bust. The fact is,' he continued, 'I don't like to hear cut-and-dried sermons.'"

JOSEPH JEFFERSON.

It is difficult for orthodox Christians to reconcile Lincoln's fondness for the play with his reputed piety. That his last act was a visit to the theater is a fact that stands out in ghastly prominence to them. To break its force they offer various explanations. Some say that he went to avoid the office-seekers; others that Mrs. Lincoln compelled him to go; and still others that he was led there by fate. The truth is he was a frequent attendant at the theater. He went there much oftener than he went to church. The visit of a clergyman annoyed him, but the society of actors he enjoyed. He greatly admired the acting of Edwin Booth. He sent a note to the actor Hackett, praising him for his fine presentation of Falstaff. He called John McCulloch to his box one night and congratulated him on his successful rendition of the part he was playing.

In his autobiography, which recently appeared in the Century Magazine, Joseph Jefferson gives some interesting reminiscences of Lincoln. In the earlier part of his dramatic career he was connected with a theatrical company, the managers of which, one of whom was his father, built a theater in Springfield, Ill. A conflict between the preachers and players ensued. The church was powerful then, and the city joined with the church to suppress the theater. The history of the struggle and its termination, as narrated by Mr. Jefferson, is as follows:

"In the midst of their rising fortunes a heavy blow fell upon them. A religious revival was in progress at the time, and the fathers of the church not only launched forth against us in their sermons, but by some political maneuver got the city to pass a new law enjoining a heavy license against our 'unholy' calling; I forget the amount, but it was large enough to be prohibitory. Here was a terrible condition of affairs—all our available funds invested, the Legislature in session, the town full of people, and by a heavy license denied the privilege of opening the new theater!

"In the midst of their trouble a young lawyer called on the managers. He had heard of the injustice, and offered, if they would place the matter in his hands, to have the license taken off, declaring that he only desired to see fair play, and he would accept no fee whether he failed or succeeded. The case was brought up before the council. The young man began his harangue. He handled the subject with tact, skill, and humor, tracing the history of the drama from the time when Thespis acted in a cart to the stage of to-day. He illustrated his speech with a number of anecdotes, and kept the council in a roar of laughter; his good humor prevailed, and the exorbitant tax was taken off. This young lawyer was very popular in Springfield, and was honored and beloved by all who knew him, and, after the time of which I write, he held rather an important position in the Government of the United States. He now lies buried near Springfield, under a monument commemorating his greatness and his virtues—and his name was Abraham Lincoln."

HON. ELIHU B. WASHBURN.

The ball-room, too, had its attractions for him. Some years ago Hon. E. B. Washburn contributed to the North American Review a lengthy article on Lincoln. When President Taylor was inaugurated, Lincoln was serving his term in Congress. Alluding to the inaugural ball, Mr. Washburn says: "A small number of mutual friends including Mr. Lincoln—made up a party to attend the inauguration ball together. It was by far the most brilliant inauguration ball ever given.... We did not take our departure until three or four o'clock in the morning" (Reminiscences of Lincoln, p. 19).

HON, ELIJAH M. HAINES.

In February, 1859, Governor Bissell gave a reception in Springfield which Lincoln attended. Hon. E. M. Haines, then a member of the Legislature, and one of Lincoln's supporters for the Senate, referring to the affair, says:

"Dancing was going on in the adjacent rooms, and Mr. Lincoln invited my wife to join him in the dancing, which she did, and he apparently took much pleasure in the recreation" (Every-Day Life of Lincoln, p. 308).

Early in January, 1863, President and Mrs. Lincoln gave a reception and ball at the White House. This was a severe shock to the Christians of the country, and provoked a storm of censure from the religious press.

According to Ninian Edwards, Lincoln is converted to Christianity about 1848. In March, 1849, he attends the inauguration ball and "Won't go home till morning." According to Dr. Smith, he is converted in 1858. In February, 1859, he attends and participates in a ball at Springfield. According to Noah Brooks, he is converted in 1862. In January, 1863, he gives a ball himself. In every instance he retires from the altar only to enter the ball-room.

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CHAPTER XII. TESTIMONY OF FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES OF LINCOLN WHO KNEW HIM IN WASHINGTON

Hon. Geo. W. Julian—Hon. John B. Alley—Hon. Hugh McCulloch—
Donn Piatt—Hon. Schuyler Colfax—Hon. Geo. S.
Boutwell—Hon. Wm. D. Kelly—E. H. Wood—Dr. J. J. Thompson—
Rev. James Shrigley—Hon. John Covode—Jas. E. Murdock—
Hon. M. B. Field—Harriet Beecher Stowe—Hon. J. P. Usher—
Hon. S. P. Chase—Frederick Douglas—Mr. Defrees—Hon. Wm.
H. Seward—Judge Aaron Goodrich—Nicolay and Hay's "Life of
Lincoln"—Warren Chase—Hon. A. J. Grover—Judge James M.
Nelson.

The evidence of more than fifty witnesses has already been adduced to prove that Lincoln was not a Christian in Illinois. Those who at first were so forward to claim that he was, have generally recognized the futility of the claim. They have abandoned it, and content themselves with affirming that he became a Christian after he went to Washington. These claimants, being for the most part rigid sectarians themselves, endeavor to convince the world that he not only became a Christian, but an orthodox Christian, and a sectarian; that even from a Calvinistic standpoint, he was "sound not only on the truth of the Christian religion but on all its fundamental doctrines and teachings."

The testimony of Colonel Lamon, Judge Davis, Mrs. Lincoln, and Colonel Nicolay, not only refutes this claim, but shows that he was not in any just sense of the term a Christian when he died. In addition to this evidence, I will now present the testimony of a score of other witnesses who knew him in Washington. These witnesses do not all affirm that he was a total disbeliever in Christianity; but a part of them do, while the testimony of the remainder is to the effect that he was not orthodox as claimed.

HON. GEORGE W. JULIAN.

Our first witness is George W. Julian, of Indiana. Mr. Julian was for many years a leader in Congress, was the Anti-Slavery candidate for Vice-President, in 1852, and one of the founders of the party that elected Lincoln to the Presidency. He was one of Lincoln's warmest personal friends and intimately acquainted with him at Washington. Writing to me from Santa Fe, N. M., under date of March 13,1888, Mr. Julian says: "I knew him [Lincoln] well, and I know that he was not a Christian in any old-fashioned orthodox sense of the word, but only a religious Theist. He was, substantially, such a Christian as Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, and John Adams; and it is perfectly idle to assert the contrary."

HON. JOHN B. ALLEY.

In 1886, the publishers of the North American Review issued one of the most unique, original, and interesting works on Lincoln that has yet appeared—"Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln." It was edited by Allen Thorndike Rice, and comprises, in addition to a biographical sketch of Lincoln's life by the editor, thirty-three articles on Lincoln written by as many distinguished men of his day. One of the best articles in this volume is from the pen of one of Boston's merchant princes, John B. Alley. Mr. Alley was for eight years a member of Congress from Massachusetts, serving in this capacity during all the years that Lincoln was President. To his ability and integrity as a statesman this remarkable yet truthful tribute has been paid: "No bill he ever reported and no measure he ever advocated during his long term of service failed to receive the approbation of the House." Lincoln recognized his many sterling qualities, and throughout the war his relations with the President were of the most intimate character. Mr. Alley is one of the many who know that Lincoln was not a Christian, and one of the few who have the courage to affirm it. He says: "In his religious views Mr. Lincoln was very nearly what we would call a Freethinker. While he reflected a great deal upon religious subjects he communicated his thoughts to a very few. He had little faith in the popular religion of the times. He had a broad conception of the goodness and power of an overruling Providence, and said to me one day that he felt sure the Author of our being, whether called God or Nature, it mattered little which, would deal very mercifully with poor erring humanity in the other, and he hoped better, world. He was as free as possible from all sectarian thought, feeling, or sentiment. No man was more tolerant of the opinions and feelings of others in the direction of religious sentiment or had less faith in religious dogmas" (Reminiscences of Lincoln, pp. 590, 591).

In conclusion, Mr. Alley says: "While Mr. Lincoln was perfectly honest and upright and led a blameless life, he was in no sense what might be considered a religious man" (Ibid).

HON. HUGH MCCULLOCH.

Hon. Hugh McCulloch, a member of Lincoln's Cabinet, his last Secretary of the Treasury, writes: "Grave and sedate in manner, he was full of kind and gentle emotion. He was fond of poetry. Shakspere was his delight. Few men could read with equal expression the plays of the great dramatist. The theater had great attractions for him, but it was comedy, not tragedy, he went to hear. He had great enjoyment of the plays that made him laugh, no matter how absurd and grotesque, and he gave expression to his enjoyment by hearty and noisy applause. He was a man of strong religious convictions, but he cared nothing for the dogmas of the churches and had little respect for their creeds" (Reminiscences of Lincoln, pp. 412, 413).

DONN PIATT.

The distinguished lawyer, soldier and journalist, Donn Piatt, who knew Lincoln in Illinois and who met him often in Washington, writes: "I soon discovered that this strange and strangely gifted man, while not at all cynical, was a skeptic. His view of human nature was low, but good-natured. I could not call it suspicious, but he believed only what he saw" (Reminiscences of Lincoln, p. 480).

Those who are disposed to believe that Lincoln's Christian biographers have observed an inflexible adherence to truth in their statements concerning his religious belief would do well to ponder the following words of Mr. Piatt: "History is, after all, the crystallization of popular beliefs. As a pleasant fiction is more acceptable than a naked fact, and as the historian shapes his wares, like any other dealer, to suit his customers, one can readily see that our chronicles are only a duller sort of fiction than the popular novels so eagerly read; not that they are true, but that they deal in what we long to have—the truth. Popular beliefs, in time, come to be superstitions, and create gods and devils. Thus Washington is deified into an impossible man, and Aaron Burr has passed into a like impossible monster. Through the same process Abraham Lincoln, one of our truly great, has almost gone from human knowledge" (Ibid, p. 478).

HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX.

Previous to the war no class of persons were louder in their denunciation of Abolitionism than the clergy of the North. When at last it became evident that the institution of slavery was doomed, in their eagerness to be found on the popular side, they were equally loud in their demands for its immediate extirpation. In September, 1862, a deputation of Chicago clergymen waited upon the President for the purpose of urging him to proclaim the freedom of the slave. Notwithstanding he had matured his plans and was ready to issue his Proclamation, he gave them no intimation of his intention. In connection with their visit, Colfax relates the following: "One of these ministers felt it his duty to make a more searching appeal to the President's conscience. Just as they were retiring, he turned, and said to Mr. Lincoln, 'What you have said to us, Mr. President, compels me to say to you in reply, that it is a message to you from our Divine Master, through me, commanding you, sir, to open the doors of bondage that the slave may go free!' Mr. Lincoln replied, instantly, 'That may be, sir, for I have studied this question, by night and by day, for weeks and for months, but if it is, as you say, a message from your Divine Master, is it not odd that the only channel he could send it by was that roundabout route by that awfully wicked city of Chicago?" (Reminiscences of Lincoln, pp. 334, 335).

In a lecture delivered in Brooklyn, N. T., in 1886, Mr. Colfax stated that Lincoln was not a Christian, in the evangelical sense. To a gentleman who visited him at his home in South Bend, Ind., he declared that Lincoln was not a believer in orthodox Christianity. Again at Atchison, Kan., he informed Mr. Perkins that Lincoln had never been converted to Christianity, as claimed.

HON. WILLIAM O. KELLEY.

William D. Kelley, for thirty years a member of Congress from Pennsylvania, relates an incident similar to the one related by Mr. Colfax. A "Quaker preacher" called at the White House to urge the President to proclaim at once the freedom of the slave. To illustrate her argument and emphasize her plea, she cited the history of Deborah. "Having elaborated this Biblical example," says Mr. Kelley, "the speaker assumed that the President was, as Deborah had been, the appointed minister of the Lord, and proceeded to tell him that it was his duty to follow the example of Deborah, and forthwith abolish slavery, and establish freedom throughout the land, as the Lord had appointed him to do.

"'Has the Friend finished?' said the President, as she ceased to speak. Having received an affirmative answer, he said: 'I have neither time nor disposition to enter into discussion with the Friend, and end this occasion by suggesting for her consideration the question whether, if it be true that the Lord has appointed me to do the work she has indicated, it is not probable that he would have communicated knowledge of the fact to me as well as to her'" (Reminiscences of Lincoln, pp. 284, 285).

HON. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL.

A great many pious stories have been circulated in regard to the Emancipation Proclamation. We are told that he made a "solemn vow to God" that if Lee was defeated at Antietam he would issue the Preliminary Proclamation. And yet this document contains no recognition of God. He even completed the draft of it on what Christians are pleased to regard as God's holy day. Mr. Boutwell states that Lincoln once related to him the circumstances attending the promulgation of the instrument. He quotes the following as Lincoln's words: "The truth is just this: When Lee came over the river, I made a resolution that if McClellan drove him back I would send the Proclamation after him. The battle of Antietam was fought Wednesday, and until Saturday I could not find out whether we had gained a victory or lost a battle. It was then too late to issue the Proclamation that day, and the fact is I fixed it up a little Sunday, and Monday I let them have it" (Reminiscences of Lincoln, p. 126).

E. H. WOOD.

Mr. E. H. Wood, one of Lincoln's old Springfield neighbors, who visited him at Washington during the war, made the following statement to Mr. Hern-don, in October, 1881:

"I came from Auburn, N. Y.—knew Seward well—knew Lincoln very well—lived for three years just across the alley from his residence. I had many conversations with him on politics and religion as late as 1859 and '60. He was a broad religionist—a Liberal. Lincoln told me Franklin's story. Franklin and a particular friend made an agreement that when the first one died he would come back and tell how things went. Well, Franklin's friend died, but never came back. 'It is a doubtful question,' said Lincoln, 'whether we get anywhere to get back.' Lincoln said, 'There is no hell.' He did not say much about heaven. I met him in Washington and saw no change in him."

I have given the testimony of two of Lincoln's nearest neighbors in Springfield, Isaac Hawley and E. H. Wood. Mr. Hawley believes that Lincoln was a Christian; Mr. Wood knows that he was not. Mr. Hawley never heard Lincoln utter a word to support his belief; Mr. Wood obtained his knowledge from Lincoln himself. Mr. Hawley's belief is of little value compared with Mr. Wood's knowledge. Mr. Hawley never heard Lincoln defend Christianity and probably never heard him oppose it. Lincoln knew that Mr. Hawley was a Christian—that he had no sympathy with his Freethought views. He did not desire to offend or antagonize him, and hence he refrained from introducing a subject that he knew was distasteful to him. Mr. Wood, on the other hand, was a man of broad and Liberal ideas, and Lincoln did not hesitate to express to him his views with freedom.

J. J. THOMPSON, M.D.

Dr. J. J. Thompson, an old resident of Illinois, now in Colorado, in a letter, dated March 18, 1888, writes as follows: "I knew Abraham Lincoln from my boyhood up to the time of his death. I was in his law office many times and met him several times in Washington. He was a Liberal, outspoken, and seemed to feel proud of it."

"This great and good man," concludes Dr. Thompson, "claimed Humanity as his religion."

REV. JAMES SHRIGLEY.

Rev. Jas. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, who was acquainted with President Lincoln in Washington, and who received a hospital chaplaincy from him, says: "President Lincoln was also remarkably tolerant. He was the friend of all, and never, to my knowledge, gave the influence of his great name to encourage sectarianism in any of its names and forms" (Lincoln Memorial Album, p. 335).

HON. JOHN COVODE.

In connection with Mr. Shrigley's appointment, the following anecdote is related. Mr. Shrigley was not orthodox, and when it became known that his name had been sent to the Senate, a Committee of "Young Christians" waited upon the President for the purpose of inducing him to withdraw the nomination. Hon. John Covode, of Pennsylvania, was present during the interview and gave it to the press. It is as follows:

"'We have called, Mr. President, to confer with you in regard to the appointment of Mr. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, as hospital chaplain.'

"The President responded: 'Oh, yes, gentlemen; I have sent his name to the Senate, and he will no doubt be confirmed at an early day.'

"One of the young men replied: 'We have not come to ask for the appointment, but to solicit you to withdraw the nomination.'

"'Ah,' said Lincoln, 'that alters the case; but on what ground do you ask the nomination withdrawn?'

"The answer was, 'Mr. Shrigley is not sound in his theological opinions.'

"The President inquired: 'On what question is the gentleman unsound?'

"Response: 'He does not believe in endless punishment; not only so, sir, but he believes that even the rebels themselves will finally be saved.'

"'Is that so?' inquired the President.

"The members of the committee both responded, 'Yes,' 'Yes.'

"'Well, gentlemen, if that be so, and there is any way under heaven whereby the rebels can be saved, then, for God's sake and their sakes, let the man be appointed'" (L. M. A., pp. 336, 337).

And he was appointed.

JAMES E. MURDOCH.

It is claimed that few public men have made greater use of the Bible than Lincoln. This is true. He was continually quoting Scripture or alluding to Scriptural scenes and stories, sometimes to illustrate or adorn a serious speech, but more frequently to point or emphasize a joke. The venerable actor and elocutionist, James E. Murdoch, who had met Lincoln, both in Springfield and Washington, relates an anecdote of him while at Washington which serves to illustrate this propensity: "One day a detachment of troops was marching along the avenue singing the soul-stirring strain of 'John Brown.' They were walled in on either side by throngs of citizens and strangers, whose voices mingled in the roll of the mighty war-song. In the midst of this exciting scene, a man had clambered into a small tree, on the sidewalk, where he clung, unmindful of the jeers of the passing crowd, called forth by the strange antics he was unconsciously exhibiting in his efforts to overcome the swaying motion of the slight stem which bent beneath his weight. Mr. Lincoln's attention was attracted for a moment, and he paused in the serious conversation in which he was deeply interested and in an abstracted manner, yet with a droll cast of the eye, and a nod of the head in the direction of the man, he repeated, in his dry and peculiar utterance, the following old-fashioned couplet:

'And Zaccheous he did climb a tree,
His Lord and Master for to see.'"
(L. M. A., pp. 349, 350).

Mr. Murdoch states that in connection with this incident Lincoln was charged "with turning sacred subjects into ridicule." He apologizes for, and attempts to palliate this levity, and affects to believe that Lincoln was a Christian. But almost daily Lincoln indulged in jokes at the expense of the Bible and Christianity, many of them ten-fold more sacrilegious in their character than this trifling incident related by Mr. Murdoch. If the scrupulously pious considered this simple jest, uttered in the midst of a mixed crowd, irreverent, what would have been their horror could they have listened to some of his remarks made when alone with a skeptical boon companion? With Christians and with strangers he was generally guarded in his speech, lest he should give offense; but with his unbelieving friends, up to the end of his career, his keenest shafts of wit were not infrequently aimed at the religion of his day. This shows that the popular faith had no more sacredness for Lincoln, the President, in Washington, than it had for Lincoln, the farmer's boy, who mocked and mimicked it in Indiana, or Lincoln, the lawyer, who scoffed at it and argued against it in Illinois.

HON. MAUNSELL B. FIELD.

Mr. Field, who had met nearly all the noted characters of his day, both of Europe and America, in his "Memories of Many Men," has this significant sentence respecting Lincoln:

"Mr. Lincoln was entirely deficient in what the phrenologists call reverence [veneration]."

This made it easy for him to emancipate himself from the slavery of priestcraft and become and remain a Freethinker. Professor Beall, one of the ablest of living phrenological writers, says:

"No man can 'enjoy religion,' as the Methodists express it, unless he has well developed veneration and wonder" (The Brain and the Bible, p. 109). "All those who rebel against any form of government which in childhood they were taught to revere, must of necessity do so in opposition to the faculty of veneration. Thus it is obvious that the less one possesses of the conservative restraining faculties, the more easily he becomes a rebel or an Infidel to that which his reason condemns. On the other hand, the profoundly conscientious and reverential man, who sincerely regards unbelief as a sin, of course instinctively antagonizes every skeptical thought, and is thus likely to remain a slave to the religion learned at his mother's knee" (Ibid, p. 228).

Mr. Field also relates the following anecdote of Lincoln: "I was once in Mr. Lincoln's company when a sectarian controversy arose. He himself looked very grave, and made no observation until all the others had finished what they had to say. Then with a twinkle of the eye he remarked that he preferred the Episcopalians to every other sect, because they are equally indifferent to a man's religion and his politics."

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.

The noted author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" had several interviews with the President. She wrote an article on him which has been cited in proof of his "deeply religious nature." But if her words prove anything, they prove that he was not an evangelical Christian. They are as follows:

"But Almighty God has granted to him that clearness of vision which he gives to the true-hearted, and enabled him to set his honest foot in that promised land of freedom which is to be the patrimony of all men, black and white; and from henceforth nations shall rise up and call him blessed. We believe he has never made any religions profession, but we see evidence that in passing through this dreadful national crisis, he has been forced by the very anguish of the struggle to look upward, where any rational creature must look for support. No man in this agony has suffered more and deeper, albeit with a dry, weary, patient pain, that seemed to some like insensibility. 'Whichever way it ends,' he said to the writer, 'I have the impression that I shan't last long after it's over'" (Every-Day Life of Lincoln, pp. 575, 576).

Mrs. Stowe was herself an orthodox Christian communicant, but her store of good sense was too great to allow her to inflict her religious notions upon the unbelieving President, and, as a consequence, she did not see him rush out of the room with a Bible under his arm to—I was going to say—pray God to deliver him from an intolerable nuisance.

That the mighty burden which pressed upon Lincoln made him a sadder and more serious man at Washington than he had been before is true. Christians are always mistaking sadness for penitence and seriousness for piety, and so they claim that he experienced a change of heart.

HON. JOHN P. USHER.

Christians and Theists are wont to speak of Lincoln's constant and firm reliance upon God. But it is a little remarkable that in the preparation of his greatest work he did not rely upon God. In the supreme moments of his life he forgot God. Dr. Barrows says: "When he wrote his immortal Proclamation, he invoked upon it... 'the gracious favor of Almighty God.'"

When he wrote his immortal Proclamation he had no thought of God. Judge Usher, a member of his Cabinet, tells us how God came to be invoked: "In the preparation of the final Proclamation of Emancipation, of January 1, 1863, Mr. Lincoln manifested great solicitude. He had his original draft printed and furnished each member of his Cabinet with a copy, with the request that each should examine, criticise, and suggest any amendments that occurred to them. At the next meeting of the Cabinet Mr. Chase said: 'This paper is of the utmost importance—greater than any state paper ever made by this Government. A paper of so much importance, and involving the liberties of so many people, ought, I think, to make some reference to Deity. I do not observe anything of the kind in it.' Mr. Lincoln said: 'No; I overlooked it. Some reference to Deity must be inserted. Mr. Chase, won't you make a draft of what you think ought to be inserted?' Mr. Chase promised to do so, and at the next meeting presented the following: 'And upon this Act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God'" (Reminiscences of Lincoln, pp. 91, 92).

HON. SALMON P. CHASE.

In the New York Tribune of Feb. 22d, 1893, appeared an article on "How the Emancipation Proclamation was made," written by Mrs. Janet Chase Hoyt, daughter of Salmon P. Chase. In this article Mrs. Hoyt gives the following extract from a letter written to her by her father in 1867: "Looking over old papers, I found many of my memoranda, etc., of the war, and among them my draft of a proclamation of emancipation submitted to Mr. Lincoln the day before his own was issued. He asked all of us for suggestions in regard to its form and I submitted mine in writing, and among other sentences the close as it now stands, which he adopted from my draft with a modification. It may be interesting to you to see precisely what I said, and I copy it. You must remember that in the original draft there was no reference whatever to Divine or human sanction of the act. What I said was this at the conclusion of my letter: 'Finally, I respectfully suggest that on an occasion of such interest there can be no imputation of affectation against a solemn recognition of responsibility before men and before God, and that some such close as this will be proper: "And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted by the Constitution (and of duty demanded by the circumstances of the country), I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.'" Mr. Lincoln adopted this close, substituting only for the words inclosed in parentheses these words: 'upon military necessity,' which I think was not an improvement.'"

MR. DEFREES.

During his Presidency the clergy petitioned him to recommend in his message to Congress an amendment to the Constitution recognizing the existence of God. In preparing his message it seems that he inserted the request. Referring to this, Mr. Defrees, Superintendent of Public Printing during Lincoln's administration, says: "When I assisted him in reading the proof he struck it out, remarking that he had not made up his mind as to its propriety" (Westminster Review, Sept. 1891).

HON. WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

In his "Travels Around the World," Seward records one of Lincoln's sarcastic hits at the doctrine of endless punishment. Speaking of England's jealousy of the United States in certain matters, Seward says:

"That hesitation and refusal recall President Lincoln's story of the intrusion of the Universalists into the town of Springfield. The several orthodox churches agreed that their pastors should preach down the heresy. One of them began his discourse with these emphatic words: 'My Brethren, there is a dangerous doctrine creeping in among us. There are those who are teaching that all men will be saved; but my dear brethren, we hope for better things'" (Travels Around the World, p. 513).

JUDGE AARON GOODRICH.

Judge Goodrich, of Minnesota, Lincoln's minister to Belgium, who was one of the most accomplished scholars in the West, and an author of note, and who was on terms of close intimacy with Lincoln, both before and after he became President, says:

"He [Lincoln] believed in a God, i.e., Nature; but he did not believe in the Christ, nor did he ever affiliate with any church."

FREDERICK DOUGLAS.

Abraham Lincoln believed in a Supreme Being, but he did not believe in the God of Christians. The God of Christians was to him the most hideous monster that the imagination of man had ever conceived. There were two doctrines taught in connection with this deity which he especially abhorred—the doctrine of endless punishment, and the doctrine of vicarious atonement. That the innocent should suffer for the guilty—that God should permit his sinless son to be put to a cruel death to atone for the sins of wicked men—was to him an act of the most infamous injustice. His whole nature rebelled against the idea. Frederick Douglas narrates an incident which, while it has no direct reference to this theological doctrine, yet tends to disclose his abhorrence of the idea. Mr. Douglas was engaged in recruiting colored troops and visited the President for the purpose of securing from him a pledge that colored soldiers would be allowed the same privileges accorded white soldiers. As the Confederate Government had declared that they would be treated as insurgents, he also urged upon him the necessity of retaliating, if colored prisoners were put to death. But to the latter proposition Lincoln would not listen. Mr. Douglas says:

"I shall never forget the benignant expression of his face, the tearful look of his eye and the quiver of his voice, when he deprecated a resort to retaliatory measures. He said he could not take men out and kill them in cold blood for what was done by others. If he could get hold of the persons who were guilty of killing the colored prisoners in cold blood, the case would be different, but he could not kill the innocent for the guilty" (Reminiscences of Lincoln, pp. 188, 189).

NICOLAY AND HAY'S "LIFE OF LINCOLN."

Of the numerous biographies of Lincoln that have been published, the authors of three, above all others, were specially qualified and possessed the necessary materials for a reliable biography of him—Herndon, Lamon, and Nicolay and Hay.

As Colonel Lamon's "Life" covers but a part of Lincoln's career, and as Mr. Herndon's "Life" deals more with his private life than with his public history, the biography of Lincoln that is likely to be accepted as the standard authority, is the work written by his private secretaries, Col. John G. Nicolay and Col. John Hay, which originally appeared in the Century Magazine. In the chapter on "Lincoln and the Churches," the religious phase of Lincoln's character is presented. In dealing with this question the authors have carefully avoided the rock upon which Lamon's "Life" was wrecked, and at the same time have refrained from repeating the misrepresentations of Holland and Arnold. They do not offend the church by openly declaring that Lincoln was an Infidel; neither do they outrage truth by asserting that he was a Christian. They affirm that during the latter years of his life he recognized a "superior power," but they do not intimate that he recognized Jesus Christ as this power, or any part of it, nor that he accepted the Bible as a special revelation of this power. In the following passage they impliedly deny both his alleged Atheism and his alleged orthodoxy: "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."

As it is not claimed that Lincoln was an Atheist, especially during the last years of his life, the above can very properly be brought forward in support of the negative of this question. In the last clause it is intended by the authors to administer a sarcastic rebuke to such witnesses as Brooks, Willets and Vinton, as well as deny the truthfulness of their statements.

In regard to Lincoln's youth, the following from Nicolay and Hay's work corroborates Lamon's statements and refutes those of Holland: "We are making no claim of early saintship for him. He was merely a good boy, with sufficient wickedness to prove his humanity.... It is also reported that he sometimes impeded the celerity of harvest operations by making burlesque speeches, or worse than that, comic sermons, from the top of some tempting stump, to the delight of the hired hands and the exasperation of the farmer."

HON. WARREN CHASE.

In 1888, I received a brief letter from Warren Chase pertaining to Lincoln's religious belief. Mr. Chase was acquainted with Lincoln in Washington. His letter has been mislaid, but I recall the principal points in it, which are as follows: 1. Lincoln was not a believer in Christianity; 2. He was much interested in the phenomena of Spiritualism.

HON. A. J. GROVER.

A. J. Grover, a life-long reformer, an old-time Abolitionist, an able advocate of human liberty, and a personal friend and admirer of Lincoln, in a letter written April 13, 1888, sends me the following as his testimony:

"Mr. Lincoln was not a religious man in the church sense. He was an Agnostic. He did not believe in the Bible as the infallible word of God. He believed that Nature is God's word, given to all men in a universal language which is equally accessible to all, if all are equally intelligent. That this great lesson, God's word in his works, is infinite, and that men have only learned a very little of it, and have yet the most to learn. That the religions of all ages and peoples are only very feeble and imperfect attempts to solve the great problems involved in nature and her laws. Mr. Lincoln heartily disliked the narrow and silly pretensions of the church and priesthood who now falsely claim him, as they do Washington, Franklin and others.

"I knew Mr. Lincoln from the Douglas campaign in Illinois in 1858 until his death, and I never heard him on any occasion use a single pious expression in the sense of the church—not a word that indicated that he believed in the church theology. But I have heard him use many expressions that indicated that he did not know much, or pretend to know much, and had no settled convictions concerning the great questions that theology deals so flippantly with, and pretends to know all about. And I know to my own knowledge that the claim the church now sets up that he was a Christian is false—as false as it is in regard to Washington."

Writing to me again under date of Jan. 12, 1889, Mr. Grover says: "I knew Mr. Lincoln in Illinois and in Washington. I was in the War office, for a time, in a department which had charge of the President's books, so-called. I met him in passing between the White House and the buildings then occupied by the War Department, almost every day. I often had to go to Mr. Stanton's office, and have often seen Mr. Lincoln there. I frequently had to go to the White House to see him. It was known to all of his acquaintances that he was a Liberal or nationalist."

JUDGE JAMES M. NELSON.

The last, and in some respects the most important, of our Washington witnesses is Judge James M. Nelson. Judge Nelson for many years has been a resident of New York, but he formerly lived in Kentucky and Illinois, Lincoln's native and adopted states. He is a son of Thomas Pope Nelson, a distinguished member of Congress from Kentucky, and the first United States Minister to Turkey. His great grandfather was Thomas Nelson, Jr., a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Virginia. He was long and intimately acquainted with Lincoln both in Illinois and Washington. About the close of 1886, or early in 1887, Judge Nelson published his "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln" in the Louisville, Ky., Times. In reference to Lincoln's religious opinions he says: "In religion, Mr. Lincoln was about of the same belief as Bob Ingersoll, and there is no account of his ever having changed. He went to church a few times with his family while he was President, but so far as I have been able to find out he remained an unbeliever." "Mr. Lincoln in his younger days wrote a book," says Judge Nelson, "in which he endeavored to prove the fallacy of the plan of salvation and the divinity of Christ."

I have yet another passage from Judge Nelson's "Reminiscences" to present, a passage which, more than anything else in this volume, perhaps, is calculated to provoke the wrath of Christian claimants. To lend an air of plausibility to their claims these claimants are continually citing expressions of a seemingly semi-pious character occasionally to be met with in his speeches and state papers. These expressions, in a measure accounted for by Mr. Herndon, Colonel Lamon, and others, are still further explained by a revelation from his own lips. Judge Nelson says: "I asked him once about his fervent Thanksgiving Message and twitted him with being an unbeliever in what was published. 'Oh,' said he, 'that is some of Seward's nonsense, and it pleases the fools.'"

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