Abraham Lincoln: Was He a Christian?

by John E. Remsburg

It was only by leaving Illinois and going to Washington that he was thrown into religious society. Washington politicians are noted for their piety, you know. According to Matheny et al., New Salem was a second Sodom, Springfield a second Gomorrah and Washington a sort of New Jerusalem, inhabited chiefly by saints.

Neither in Matheny's letter, nor in his interpretation of this letter, is there a word to indicate that he recognized the fact that Lincoln went to Washington to assume the office and perform the duties of President. On the contrary, the whole tenor of his remarks is to the effect that he believed the people sent him there on account of his wickedness, and while "his mind was as yet unformed," to attend a reform school, and that subsequently he entered a theological seminary, and there died.

The most amusing feature of Matheny's letter is that he unwittingly certifies that his own character was not good. He declares that Lincoln was an Infidel because his associations were "with rough and skeptical men;" but that after removing to Washington and "associating with a different class of men" he became a Christian. Now, it is well known that one of the most conspicuous of his "rough and skeptical" associates in Illinois was James H. Matheny.

Colonel Matheny, in his explanatory remarks, says: "I believe he thought he became a Christian;" and in almost the next breath says, "I knew nothing of Mr. Lincoln's investigation into the subject of Christianity." Can anything be more unreasonable than this? Colonel Matheny knowing that Lincoln was a confirmed Infidel—an Infidel when he went to Washington—knowing nothing about his having afterward investigated Christianity—knowing that he had no time for such an investigation, and yet believing that Lincoln thought he became a Christian! Why did he not mention this when he gave his testimony? The fact is, he did not believe that Lincoln became a Christian; but with an orthodox club raised above his head, he found it very convenient to profess to believe it.

As Mr. Reed has endeavored to prove that Lamon and Herndon did not faithfully report the evidence of Stuart and Matheny, it is but just that Mr. Herndon, who took down their testimony, be permitted to speak in his own defense. In his Springfield lecture, delivered in Major Stuart's town, if not in his presence, referring to Stuart's testimony, he says:

"Mr. Stuart did not write the note and no one ever said he did. What is there stated was the substance of a conversation between Mr. Stuart and myself about Mr. Lincoln's religion. I took down in a note in his office and in his presence his words and ideas as I did in other cases. The conversation spoken of took place in Mr. Stuart's office, and in the east room. Mr. Stuart does not deny that the note is substantially correct. He simply says he could not have said that Dr. Smith tried to convert Mr. Lincoln, and couldn't do it. I well remember that he did use this language. It seemed to do him good to say it.... It seems that Mr. Stuart had heard that Mr. Lincoln and Dr. Smith had much discussion about Christianity, but he failed to hear of Mr. Lincoln's conversion, or anything like it, and well might he say, as he did, that 'Dr. Smith tried to convert Mr. Lincoln, but couldn't do it.'"

Any charitably disposed person, knowing the general good character of both men, instead of crying "Fraud!" as Reed has done, will readily conclude that Mr. Herndon was mistaken, or that Mr. Stuart had forgotten just what he did say, and is it not more reasonable to suppose that the latter gentleman, in the lapse of six years, should have forgotten some things he said, than that Mr. Herndon, who recorded them the moment they were uttered, should be mistaken?

Alluding to Colonel Matheny's evidence, in the same lecture, Mr. Herndon says:

"The next gentleman introduced by Mr. Reed is Col. James H. Matheny. He is made to say, in a letter addressed to Mr. Reed, that he did not write the statement in Lamon's 'Life of Lincoln.' I do not claim that he did. I wrote it in the court house—this hall—in Mr. Matheny's presence, and at his dictation. I read it over to him and he approved it. I wrote it all at once as he spoke it to me; it is not made up of scraps—'a mere collection of sayings gathered from private conversations, that were only true of Mr. Lincoln's earlier life.' I say that this statement was written all at one time and place, and not at different times and places. Let any critic, any man of common sense, read it and he will say: 'This was all written at once.' I appeal to the manner—the close connection of words and ideas in which it runs—word with word, sentence with sentence, and idea with idea, for the proof that it was made at one sitting. Mr. Matheny has often told me that Mr. Lincoln was an Infidel. He admits this in his letter to Mr. Reed. He never intimated in that or any other conversation with me that he believed that Mr. Lincoln in his later life became a Christian."

In a letter dated Sept. 14, 1887, Mr. Herndon writes: