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: