"His reply to the Negroes of Baltimore when they, in 1864, presented him with a magnificent Bible, ought to silence forever those who charge him with unbelief. He said: 'In regard to the Great Book I have only to say that it is the best gift which God has given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated through this book'" (Ibid., p. 447).
"His faith in a Divine Providence began at his mother's knee, and ran through all the changes of his life. Not orthodox, not a man of creeds, he was a man of simple trust in God" (lb., p. 448).
F. B. CARPENTER.
Mr. Carpenter, the artist, in his popular book, entitled "Six Months in the White House with Abraham Lincoln," uses the following language:
"I would scarcely have called Mr. Lincoln a religious man—and yet I believe him to have been a sincere Christian" (Six Months in the White House, p. 185).
ISAAC HAWLEY.
In the spring of 1887, in going from Springfield to Havana, I met Isaac Hawley, one of the early settlers of Illinois, and who for nearly twenty years resided within a few blocks of Lincoln in Springfield. In answer to the question, "Was Lincoln a Christian?" Mr. Hawley replied:
"I believe that Lincoln was a Christian, and that he was God's chosen instrument to perform the mighty work he did."
REV. MR. WILLETS.
The Rev. Mr. Willets, of Brooklyn, N. Y., is credited with the following statement concerning Lincoln's reputed conversion. The information it contains was obtained, it is said, from a lady of Mr. Willets's acquaintance who met Lincoln in Washington: