[68] The foregoing list, together with a number which seem to me less reliably attested, I have taken from Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, the Christian, pp. 215-17.
[69] Dr. Chapman, who is not content with anything less than a complete orthodox system of theology for Lincoln, says:
"In the forefront of Mr. Lincoln's religious thinking was his belief in the Saviour's Deity." His first, and in fact his only proof, is, of course, the Bateman interview. Beyond this he falls into such generalities as his oft repeated mention of Him as "Our Lord," and declares that "again and again does Mr. Lincoln thus speak of the Saviour" (Latest Light on Lincoln, p. 319). If so, I have not found these repeated references in his authentic speeches and papers.
[70] A reference to Christ dying on the cross is in his lecture on Niagara Falls; and there are a few other references.
[71] Dr. Chapman's Latest Light on Lincoln has a few hitherto unprinted things, one of them being some notes by Rev. Dr. Gurley, the beginnings of a contemplated book or pamphlet which he did not complete. The manuscript as produced by Dr. Chapman was furnished by Dr. Gurley's daughter, Mrs. Emma K. Adams, of Washington. The only incident of any considerable value is that Mr. Lincoln one night invited Dr. Gurley, who like himself was an early riser, to come to the White House next morning at seven o'clock for an hour's talk before breakfast. They had the talk and the breakfast. As Dr. Gurley walked away, he was asked whether he and Mr. Lincoln had been talking about the war, and he replied, "Far from it. We have been talking about the state of the soul after death. That is a subject of which Mr. Lincoln never tires. This morning, however, I was a listener, as Mr. Lincoln did all the talking" (Latest Light on Lincoln, p. 500).
There can be, I think, no serious question of Mr. Lincoln's faith in immortality. It was much more easy for a man of his training and temperament to hold that article of faith than some others which might seem to some other men more easily to be accepted.
[72] The chapter, sometimes alleged to have been from the Bible, which Lincoln read to his cabinet before submitting the Emancipation Proclamation.
[73] The accompanying article was originally prepared by its author (the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, in Springfield, Ill.), as a lecture, and has been repeatedly given in that form to various audiences. At the request of the editor of Scribner's Monthly, to whom it seemed that the testimony contained in the lecture was of permanent value, it is here presented with slight alterations, and with no departure from the rhetorical style which was determined by its original purpose.
[74] This is an error doubtless made by Mr. Irwin in copying. It should be June 16, 1858, instead of January. I have printed it as it stands, but the date should be corrected.
[75] March 10, 1864. McPherson, "History of the Rebellion," p. 522.