In the Emancipation Proclamation appears the following paragraph, which contains the only allusion to Deity to be found in this immortal document: "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."
The appearance of the above paragraph in the Proclamation is thus accounted for in Francis F. Brown's "Every-Day Life of Lincoln," and agrees with Judge Usher's and Chief Justice Chase's account of it:
"It is stated that Mr. Lincoln gave the most earnest study to the composition of the Emancipation Proclamation. He realized, as he afterward said, that the Proclamation was the central act of his administration, and the great event of the Nineteenth Century. When the document was completed, a printed copy of it was placed in the hands of each member of the Cabinet, and criticisms and suggestions were invited. Mr. Chase remarked: '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" (Every-Day Life of Lincoln, pp. 549,550).
The amendment suggested was allowed by the President, and Mr. Chase requested to supply the words he desired to be inserted. The paragraph quoted was accordingly prepared by him and included in the Proclamation. This fact is also admitted by Holland in his "Life of Lincoln" (p. 401).
HON. JESSE W. WEIK.
Judge Weik, of Greencastle, Ind., who was associated with Mr. Herndon in the preparation of his "Life of Lincoln," in a lecture on "Lincoln's Boyhood and Early Manhood," delivered in Plymouth Church, Indianapolis, Feb. 4, 1891. said:
"As a young man he sat back of the country store stove and said the Bible was not inspired, and Christ was not the Son of God" (Indianapolis News, Feb. 5, '91).
CHARLES WALLACE FRENCH.
One of the last biographies of Lincoln that has appeared is "Abraham Lincoln The Liberator," written by Charles W. French. After citing with approval some of Mr. Herndon's statements regarding Lincoln's belief, Mr. French says:
"The world was his [Lincoln's] church. His sermons were preached in kindly words and merciful deeds" (p. 91).