5. In each of them the address is followed by a colon instead of a comma, the proper mark to use. Had they been written by four persons, it is possible that a part, or even all, would have made an error, but it is highly improbable that all would have made the same error.
6. In these letters, the introductory words are uniformly "Dear Sir"—the most common form of introduction, and the one that a writer, in drafting a letter addressed to himself, would most naturally employ.
7. In every instance, the introduction is followed by a dash instead of a colon—a uniformity of error, again.
8. In the subscription, the term, "Yours truly," is invariably used, except in the Lewis letter, which concludes with "Yours, etc."
9. The Edwards letter and the Lewis letter begin with the same idea, expressed in nearly the same words. Edwards is made to say, "A short time after the Rev. Dr. Smith," etc.; and Lewis—"Not long after Dr. Smith."
10. Omitting the introductory sentence in the Stuart letter, which is merely the expansion of an idea used in writing the Matheny letter on the preceding day, the Stuart and Matheny letters begin with the same idea. Stuart says: "The language of that statement is not mine; it was not written by me." Matheny says: "The language attributed to me... is not from my pen. I did not write it." Reed himself uses substantially the same language that is ascribed to them. Had their statements, as published in Lamon's work, been forgeries, or grossly inaccurate, they might have used the language quoted above. Under the circumstances they would not have used it. Major Stuart and Colonel Matheny were lawyers, not pettifoggers.
11. These prefatory sentences of Stuart and Matheny both begin with the same words—"the language."
12. In both the Edwards and Lewis letters, reference is made to a theological work which Dr. Smith is said to have written. The writer of neither letter is able to state the name of the book; Dr. Reed is unable to state the name of it; Dr. Smith himself does not mention the name of it; but he does plainly state that it was a work on the Bible. For "the business he had on hand," however, it suited Reed's purpose better to give a semi-erroneous impression of its character, and so he affirms that it was a work on "the evidences of Christianity." Curiously enough, in the Edwards letter and again in the Lewis letter, the book is described as a work on "the evidences of Christianity."
13. The Edwards letter reports Lincoln as saying: "I have been reading a work of Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christianity." The Lewis letter represents him as saying that "He had seen and partially read a work of Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christianity" Here are ten consecutive words in the two letters identical.
14. Mr. Reed, in his lecture, never once uses the word "Christianity," except as above noticed to describe Dr. Smith's book; he always uses the words "the Christian religion"—employing this term no less than seven times. This usage is not common. An examination of various theological writings shows that "Christianity" is used twenty times where "the Christian religion" is used once. Yet in these letters the word "Christianity" is not to be found, except in the same sense as used by Dr. Reed, while "the Christian religion" occurs in each of the four letters.