In 1862 the people of New York City feared bombardment by Confederate cruisers, and public meetings were held to consider the gravity of the situation. Finally a delegation of fifty gentlemen, representing hundreds of millions of dollars, was selected to go to Washington and persuade the President to detail a gunboat to protect their property. David Davis, while on the Supreme Bench, went to the White House and presented them to the President.
Mr. Lincoln heard them attentively, much impressed, apparently, by the "hundreds of millions." When they had concluded, he said,—
"Gentlemen, I am, by the Constitution, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Navy of the United States, and as a matter of law I can order anything to be done that is practicable to be done. I am in command of the gunboats and ships of war; but, as a matter of fact, I do not know exactly where they are. I presume they are actively engaged, and it therefore is impossible for me to furnish you a gunboat. The credit of the government is at a very low ebb; greenbacks are not worth more than forty or fifty cents on the dollar, and in this condition of things, if I were worth half as much as you gentlemen are represented to be, and as badly frightened as you seem to be, I would build a gunboat and give it to the government."
Judge Davis said he never saw one hundred millions sink to such insignificant proportions as it did when the delegation left the White House.
[X]
LINCOLN'S PHILOSOPHY, MORALS, AND RELIGION
Abraham Lincoln has left us abundant testimony in words and works of his code of morals and religious creed. He was a man of keen perception of right and wrong, of acute conscience and deep religious sentiment, although he was not "orthodox." He declined to join a church because of conscientious scruples. He would not confess a faith that was not in him. His reason forbade him to accept some of the doctrines taught by the Baptist and Christian churches, to which his parents belonged, and the Presbyterian denomination, of which his wife was a member. Nevertheless, he was regular and reverential in his attendance upon worship. Shortly after his marriage he rented a pew in the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, and occupied it with his wife and children at the service each Sunday morning unless detained by illness. In Washington he was an habitual attendant of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, and his pastor, the Reverend Dr. Gurley, who was also his intimate friend, tells us that he was "a true believer" and "entirely without guile." One of Lincoln's mental traits was his inability to accept or put aside a proposition until he understood it. His conscience required him to see his way clearly before making a start, and his honesty of soul would not allow him to make a pretence that was not well founded. No consideration or argument would induce him to abandon a line of conduct or accept a theory which his analytical powers or sense of caution taught him to doubt.
From his mother he inherited a rigid honesty which was demanded by public opinion in early days and was the safeguard of the frontier. There were no locks upon the cabin doors nor upon the stables. A man who committed a theft would not be tolerated in a community, and if he took a horse or a cow or any article which was necessary for the sustenance of a family he was outlawed, if he escaped with his life. Merchants never thought of locking up their stores, and often left them entirely unprotected for days at a time while they went to the nearest source of supply to replenish their stock or were absent for other reasons. If their patrons found no one to serve them, they helped themselves, and, as prices varied little from year to year, they were able to judge for themselves of the value of the goods, and reported the purchase and paid the bill the next time they found the merchant at home.
When Abraham Lincoln was clerking for Denton Offutt, he walked three miles one evening after the store was closed to return a sixpence which had been overpaid. On another occasion he gave four ounces for half a pound of tea and delivered the difference before he slept. For this and other acts of the same sort he became known as "Honest Old Abe," but he was no more conspicuous for that quality than many of his neighbors. He was the type and representative of a community which not only respected but required honesty, and were extremely critical and intolerant towards moral delinquencies. Accustomed all their lives to face danger and grapple with the mysterious forces of nature, their personal and moral courage were qualities without which no man could be a leader or have influence. A liar, a coward, a swindler, and an insincere man were detected and branded with public contempt. Courage and truth were commonplace and recognized as essential to manhood.