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Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2012 with funding from

State of Indiana through the Indiana State Library

http://archive.org/details/searchlightOOanti

THE SEARCHLIGHT

WHERE ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS BORN, FEB. 12, 1809

INSTRUCTIVE ILLUSTRA- TIONS

The distinctive epochs in Lincoln's life are strikingly represented by the artistic features of this number of The Searchlight.

First we have a young man of heroic proportions, with throbbing brain and bronzed muscles, tearing the sturdy oak into fence rails. Years of experience have taught the writer, and doubtless some of our readers, that it was tedious though inspiring toil that then taxed the efforts of this typical American.

Then in the home and family, in the blessed companionship of wife and children, the great man sits humbly though so ardently loved and revered. It is a typical Ameri- can scene in the life of the most tru- ly typical American.

But in the arena of public dis- course the genius of Lincoln shone with transcendant splendor, and the bronzed, young rail splitter, the lov- ing and beloved husband and father stands with impressive grace and in- spiring vigor proclaiming to the na- tion, to the world, and to all succeed- ing generations, the policy of the ad- ministration to which he had been called by his confiding countrymen.

Then as the commander-in-chief of the nation's military and naval forces he sits in calm composure re- viewing the battle scarred veterans whose loving hearts, like an impreg- nable wall, encircled our nation's life and interests.

But more impressive than these is the scene in the secret chamber, where, as in fitting seriousness and solemnity, he tells us, unseen of men, he pleads with God for the nation He had brought into being, and, re-

ligiously consecrates himself anew to the Divine will and work.

Lincoln was pre-eminently a man of prayer. No one of all our public men has with so great fullness and clearness declared his faith in the efficacy of intercession, and the pray- erfulness of his life. His young or- phan-heart refused to be healed of the wound inflicted by his mother's death until, in response to his en- treaty, a man of God stood by her resting place to conduct the minis- trations of religion. And whenever in subsequent years his lips were heard to speak of prayer, the words they uttered were always in declara- tion of his faith in God and his de- pendence upon the Divine arm.

He had faith in the army and in its commanders, but more than all else he believed in Power with God, and while Meade rose to eminence from the fields of Gettysburg, and How- ard lost an arm and Sickles a leg,

"I am not ashamed to confess that twenty-five years ago I was a hired laborer, mauling rails, at work on a flatboat — just what might happen to any poor man's son." — Abraham Lincoln at New Haven, March 6, 1860.

THE SEARCH LI GHT

STUDY LINCOLN

Justice Hughes of the U. S. Supreme Court Makes a Unique Sugges- tion Respecting Studies in College

"A Course in Lincoln" Recom- mended by the Distinguished Jurist

LINCOLN'S FIRST PICTURE— AGE 37

in that struggle, and while thou- sands laid down their lives to con- secrate that sacred spot, by the pray- ers of Lincoln during that battle that field was more fittingly and sweetly consecrated than even by his incom- parable address at its dedication.

But the story is not complete un- til the greatest of men is seen at the evening hour when the sun that had shone so brightly was sinking out of sight. What a story is told by this succession of pictures by which we have long sought to tell our readers their deeply impressive story.

IF TOO BUSY

To read all of this paper now, don't fail to read the portion on Prayer, beginning on page 17.

In a recent address at a Lincoln birthday celebration, Supreme Jus- tice Charles E. Hughes made the original and patriotic suggestion that in all college curriculums there should be made provisions for "a course in Lincoln."

We regard this suggestion as ex- ceedingly wise and opportune. No course in study could be more help- ful to college students, and especi- ally to those intending to enter pro- fessional and political life — and to all others also — than a well-ordered and conducted course of instruction in the character and life of "the first American." Whether this sugges- tion ever causes "a course in Lin- coln" to become a part of college and university instruction or not, certain it is that the rising generation will receive, and indeed is now receiving, instruction in all that pertains to the life and character of this great American.

Most important of all features of that "course in Lincoln" which is being pursued by the rising genera- tion is that which pertains to his

A WORD TO THE READER

So wide has been the re- search required to prepare this number of The Search- light, that its publication has been unavoidably de- layed. This, we trust, will be fully atoned for by its attractive beauty and great value.

LINCOLN'S HOME IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS Lincoln and Two Younger Boys in Yard

PRESIDENT AND MRS. LINCC

religious belief and life. Lincoln and his services are modern-day miracles without clue consideration of his re- lation to the Divine.

A Child of Poverty

"I was born and have ever lived in the humblest walks of life," was the declaration with which, in his first address, he introduced himself to the world. Meager, indeed, was the fertility of that environment of poverty and countless disadvantages in which this peerless product was planted and in which it grew with miraculous vigor and symmetry.

AYe say "miraculous." for not oth- erwise can we account for such a fruitfulness in soil so seemingly un- productive and from such unpromis- ing stock.

Lincoln was a diligent student. So have been countless other Ameri- cans who have never gained distinc- tion. As we study his career we see the rail splitter and the princely platform debater. These two char- acteristics stand out so prominently in the thought of the world that the real secret of his growth and great- ness is not seen. If any have sought to claim him as a doubter it has been because his tremendous religious faith has been hidden from view by the vision of the rail splitter, the lawyer, the platform advocate and emancipator.

Mysterious Fruitfulness

LTpon one side of a narrow, peren- nial stream there was hard, unpro- ductive earth. Upon the other was deep, alluvial soil. Upon the barren side there grew a vigorous apple tree from whose wide spreading branches golden pippins hung in plentiful abundance. The fruitful- ness of that tree in such soil was a

al and infinitely wise and loving heavenly Father.

To enable our readers to discover the true secret of his greatness and of his achievements, to see the roots of this fruitful tree making a net- work in the soil that covers the nar- row bridge and pushing out and down deeply into the rich soil of the eternal is our purpose in devoting so large a space to the words in which are found his simple and sufficient confession of faith.

His Greatest Power

Hezekiah was a great and virtu- ous king, but at his best he is seen in the house of God on his knees, holding up to heaven the insulting message of Sennacherib. Calvary is made luminous by the scene in Geth- semane, and all the story of the revo- lution is lighted up by the picture of

Washington on his knees in the frosty snow at Valley Forge. So, also, we could never see "The True Abraham Lincoln" until, looking be- yond his early life of hardship and toil, his later years of forensic force, and his peerless power as a leader of men — looking beyond these, we see him as he is represented on our first page, kneeling before God in prayer. That is the vision of Abra- ham Lincoln which the world must have, before it understands this unique character and resistless cham- pion of human rights and civic right- eousness.

Never will the thinking world un- derstand Lincoln's "power with man" until they have learned the lesson of his "power with God." The purpose of this paper — the product of great research and most diligent and delightful labor — is to aid the world, in college and out, to learn

well the "course in Lincoln" which God Himself has designed as a part of their educational training.

Conclusive Testimony

None can call in question the con- clusive character of Lincoln's own words. To these, in connection with the testimony of others who knew him intimately and well, we invite diligent attention.

In the quotations that follow "C. W." stands for "Lincoln's Complete Works," "N. & H." for "Nicolay and Hay," and other authorities will be designated more fully.

MOTHER-TAUGHT

Lincoln's knowledge of the Bible began in his early childhood. In the most significant of his tributes to his mother he says :

"I recall her prayers that she was wont to offer on Sundays with her children, after she had read to them stories from the Bible. They have followed me everywhere and have remained with me all through life." Wettstein, page 70.

No wonder that many, many times from early manhood to his latest years Lincoln delighted to say, "God bless my mother. All that I am and all that I hope to be, I owe to her."

Nancy Hanks Lincoln, mother of Abraham Lincoln, was one of the choicest of our products of American womanhood. Foremost among the merrymakers of her girlhood's days she became a devout Christian, a diligent Bible student and a model pioneer wife and mother. When Abraham was born she realized, as did the mother of Moses, that "a godly child" was entrusted to her guardianship and care. It was, as Lincoln said, "in the humblest walks of life," and as we know, in a rude, uncomfortable log cabin, that this chosen mother and her wonderful son, first met ; as was the case with the unnamed Levite's wife who was a slave when she became the mother of Moses. The leadings of the Di- vine Spirit in the Bible training of Lincoln, by his godly mother, are*as manifest as in the unique conduct of the mother of Moses, who, though a slave, "was not afraid of the king's commandment."

That this Bible teaching was not a mere perfunctory service is indicated by the profound and abiding impres- sion which it made upon the mind and character of the gifted boy, from whom she was taken away when he had seen but nine years of very hum- ble life.

First Fruits

None will doubt that these Bible lessons learned at his mother's knee, and those quiet but impressive serv-

THE SEARCHLIGHT

ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1862

ices of prayer, as they knelt on the dirt floor of the Kentucky log cabin, had much to do in causing the or- phan lad diligently to seek until he had secured a gospel minister to con- duct fitting religious services by his mother's grave. Burials without re- ligious services were not infrequent in those early days of scant gospel ministrations. Why then should this child of the timbered wilderness be so insistent respecting religious serv- ices at his mother's grave? Because the living Word of God from that mother's lips, like good seed, had fallen into fertile soil and was pro- ducing its early, if not its first, fruits in his experience and life.

It was by prolonged and tedious efforts that the desired religious services were secured, but the moth- er-taught lad could not permit his mother's remains to rest in burial without fitting recognition of the faith she had cherished and had taught her children.

As early as he could read he was a Bible student, and even in those early days his soul was taking root in the deep and fertile soil of Divine

truth, and was preparing for the abundant harvest of later years.

Studied Daily

Lincoln's Bible study was not oc- casional and fragmentary. It was daily and diligent. In a letter to Miss Mary Speed, dated Sept. 27th, 1841, he says:

"Tell your mother that I have not got her present (an Oxford Bible) with me, but I intend to read it reg- ularly when I return home. I doubt not that it is really, as she says, 'the best cure for the blues' could one but take it according to the truth."

C. W. Vol. 1, page 180.

Lincoln was thirty-two years old when this very impressive letter was written. Twenty-three years had passed since, with broken hearted sorrow, he parted with his Christian mother. But only a brief interim elapsed until another took her place, and a model, Christian mother was Mary Johnston, Thomas Lincoln's second wife. That the good work of Nancy Hanks was effectively sup- plemented by the efforts and influ- ence of this noble, Christian woman is indicated not alone by the testi-

mony and attachment of Abraham Lincoln, but by what he became un- der her influence.

Studied Believingly

That Lincoln's attitude to the Word of God was not that of critical perusal, but of sympathetic believing inquiry, is indicated by his own dec- laration :

"I decided long ago that it was less difficult to believe that the Bible was what it claimed to be, than to disbelieve it."

Henry Bryan Binns, on Lincoln, page 345.

The above quotation is one of the most striking and sensible of all Lincoln's sayings. It prompts the suggestion we make to any who may claim to doubt the authenticity of the Bible to examine their own hearts and efforts to see if they are not in- finitely more unreasonable than could be their unquestioning faith and confidence.

To the colored people of Baltimore who presented him with a costly Bi- ble on July 4th, 1864, he said :

"In regard to the great book, I have only to say, it is the best gift which God has ever given man.

"All the good from the Savior of the World is communicated to us through this book. But for that book we could not know right from wrong. I return you my sincere thanks for this very elegant copy of the great book of God which you present."

C. W. Vol. 10, page 218.

To speak appreciatively of a gift thus bestowed upon him would have been on Lincoln's part only what was demanded by the claims of of- ficial courtesy, but the language of this address respecting the Bible in- dicates far more than that. And of the same character is the following written to his life-long friend, Joshua F. Speed, only a few months before his death :

"I am profitably engaged reading the Bible. Try to comprehend as much as possible of this book with your mind and accept the rest with faith, and you will live and die a better man."

Wettstein, page 83.

Well would it be for our race if in letters of living light these words of counsel and advice were so em- blazoned as to be read and heeded by the children of men. Step by step as we proceed in this investiga- tion and listen to the voice of Abra- ham Lincoln, we discover the secret of his greatness and of his achieve- ments.

THE SEARCHLIGHT

LINCOLN REVIEWING ARMY

BIBLE-BUILT

"God give us men, large-hearted manly men," is the cry of humanity in every age, and the mother-taught boy, by daily, believing Bible study was preparing to answer that call. He was becoming stalwart in frame and more stalwart in character. The nourishing Word had done and was doing its appointed work, for Om- nipotence had said: "It shall not re- turn unto me void ; but it shall ac- complish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." In fulfillment of that Di- vine promise we now see

A Model Candidate

In the clamor and confusion of the political struggles which swept over the seemingly boundless prairies of Illinois during the year 1832, a high- keyed and far reaching voice is heard. With such modesty does it speak one would think it would not be heard, and if heard would be soon forgotten. But not so. The speaker was only twenty-three years of age, and was for the first time a candidate for office, yet his words found a hearing and an allodgement in the thought and heart of civilized hu- manity. Listen to the first utter- ances of this unconscious though consecrated messenger of God:

"Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem. How far I shall suc- ceed in gratifying this ambition is yet to be developed.

"I am young and unknown to many of you. I was born, and have ever remained, in the most humble walks of life. I have no wealthy or popular relations or friends to rec- ommend me. My case is thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of the country; and, if elect- ed, they will have conferred a favor upon me for which I shall be un- remitting in my labors to compen- sate. But, if the good people, in their wisdom shall see fit to keep me in the background, I have been too familiar with disappointments to be very much chagrined."

C. W. Vol. 1, page 8.

Bible-Bred Courage

When in American history did a veteran politician speak with great- er wisdom or with more winsome persuasiveness. Here is the courage which characterized all his life. It was at a time when his portion of Illinois was dominated by a unique

oligarchy from which the rewards of office were dispensed to its few favorites, yet this unknown young aspirant for political preferment, in his first utterances proclaims his humble origin and life.

The echo of this courageous dec- laration is heard at Columbus, Ohio, when in February, 1861, on his way to assume the duties of chief magis- trate of the nation he says : "With- out a name, perhaps without any reason why I should have a name, there has fallen upon me a task such as did not rest even upon the Father of his Country ; and so feeling, I can turn and look for that support with- out which it will be impossible for me to perform that great task. I turn, then, and look to the American people, and to that God who has never forsaken them."

SPIRIT-LED

Peculiarly manifest are the lead- ings of the Divine Spirit during the danger-infested decade from 1832 to 1842, when his wedded life began.

During that decade he began the practice of law and served eight years in the Illinois legislature, but at the end of that decade not only were his pledges of Bible study and of total abstinence unbroken, but he

THE SEARCHLIGHT

was actively enlisted in the cause of total abstinence.

Like an obedient messenger of God he had been Divinely led through this preparatory period un- tarnished by the pollutions of his environment.

A View of the Cross

Abraham Lincoln was in every re- spect of such heroic proportions that his period of manhood's peculiar trials came later than is usual. But it is during that period that we find fruitage of his Bible training like the following :

In his famous temperance address delivered on the 22nd of Febuary, 1842, he says :

" 'But,' say some, 'we are no drunkards, and we shall not ac- knowledge ourselves such by joining a Reformed Drunkards' Society, whatever our influence might be.' Surely no Christian will adhere to this objection. If they believe as they profess, that Omnipotence con- descended to take on Himself the form of sinful man, and as such to die an ignominious death for their sakes, surely they will not refuse submission to the infinitely lesser condescension, for the temporal and perhaps, eternal salvation of a large, erring and unfortunate class of our fellow creatures."

C. W. Vol. 1, page 206.

Trusting the Leader

In a letter to Hon. Joshua F. Speed, March 27, 1842, referring to his (Speed's) marraige, he says:

"I know you too well to suppose your expectations were not, at least, sometimes extravagant, and if the reality exceeds them all, I say, Enough, dear Lord."

C. W. Vol 1, page 214.

In the same letter referring to the acknowledgement of an unnamed friend, he says :

"God be praised for that."

C. W. Vol. 1, page 215.

In a letter to Hon. Joshua F. Speed, July 4, 1842, he said :

"I believe God made me one of the instruments of bringing your Fanny and you together, which un- ion I have no doubt He had foreor- dained. Whatever He designs He will do for me yet. 'Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord' is my text just now."

C. W. Vol. 1, page 218.

Filial Consolation

Having learned that his father was seriously ill, Mr. Lincoln sent to his step-brother, John D. Johnston, a let-

PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND TAD

In 1866 in Brady's Studio in Washington City, the writer saw the original nega- tive of this famous picture. He also has a fine steel engraving of the same at his, office in Los Angeles.

ter full of tender affection and scrip- tural consolation for his father, which could never have been writ- ten by a true man who was himself a stranger to grace. Here is a por- tion of that letter :

January 12, 1851. "I sincerely hope father may re- cover his health, but at all events, tell him to remember to call upon and confide in our great and good and merciful Maker, who will not turn away from him in any extrem- ity. He notes the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads, and He will not forget the dying man who puts his trust in Him. Say to him that if we could meet now it is doubtful whether it would not be more painful than pleasant, but that if it be his lot to go now, he will soon have a joyous meeting with many loved ones gone before, and where the rest of us, through the help of God, hope ere long to join them." C. W. Vol. 2. page 148.

The chaste literary beauty of this letter which has called forth the ad- miration of the world is not its chief characteristic. It is most disting- uished for its sublime scriptural faith. The Fatherhood of God, His tender sympathies with human suf- fering, one of the sweet declarations of the Savior, the certainty of recog- nition and fellowship in heaven, and a personal hope of eternal salvation "through the help of God" were nev- er more clearly or more felicitiously stated. And this letter was written by Lincoln just at that period when free thinkers were most active in their efforts to destroy his faith in the Bible and in Christianity, and when his modesty and diffidence led to that silence which caused some to be in uncertainty respecting the extent and character of his religious experience and life. And how sweet is the knowledge that so early in his rugged, struggling manhood he was so fullv grounded in the eternal

10

THE SEARCHLIGHT

ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1864

truths, and rested so trustingly on the precious promises of God.

AT THE THRESHOLD

On Wednesday, May 16th, 1860, the national republican convention met in The Wigwam at Chicago.

On Friday following, May 18th, Abraham Lincoln was, on the third ballot, nominated as candidate for the presidency.

The next day, Saturday, May 19th, 1860, Hon. Joshua R. Giddings of Ohio (who had during the conven- tion vainly struggled for a resolution subsequently carried under the lead- ership of George William Curtis of New York, committing the party to the equality feature of the Declara- tion of Independence) wrote Mr.

Lincoln a letter, to which he replied on May 21st, saying:

"May the Almighty grant that the

cause of true justice and humanity

shall in no wise suffer at my hands."

C. W. Vol 6, page 14.

On May 23rd, 1860, he wrote Hon. George Ashmun, stating that he ac- cepted the nomination, "imploring the assistance of Divine Providence." C. W. Vol. 6, page 14.

Thus with his trust in God, Abra- ham Lincoln began the campaign which resulted in his great presiden- tial career.

During all the preceding years of his life the third member of the co-operating triumvirate, the Holy Spirit, was at work making effective the influence of the other two, the

mother and the Bible. No efforts of agencies are effective for good with- out the co-operation and aid df the Divine Executive.

"I have raised him up in right- eousness and I will direct all his ways," is a promise pertaining to Abraham Lincoln as well as to the Hope of Israel. Unconsciously the soul of the coming messenger was saying, "Open Thou mine eyes that I may behold wonderous things out of Thy law" for "the entrance of Thy Word giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple."

As silently as the operations of light and more potentially the Divine Spirit was building into the char- acter of this diligent, submissive Bible student qualities for future need. He had just passed into his fifty-second year, when he entered upon his presidential career. It is not more than is due to claim that for even more than fifty-two years had that Spirit been preparing this chosen leader for his work. Precious indeed is the assurance that the op- erations of the Divine Spirit are not excluded from the realm of pre-natal influences.

When we remember how exceed- ingly meager were Mr. Lincoln's educational advantages we discover in what was achieved, strong testi- mony to the effectiveness of the co- operation of the Divine Spirit with the Divine Word and the influence of a godly mother. But Mr. Lin- coln's character and achievements can never be fully understood with- out considering also

HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH

There is no lack of material for determining with certainty what were Mr. Lincoln's religious beliefs. So fully and so freely, and without the least equivocation, did he, in personal conversation, in letters, in public addresses, and in state papers, set forth his religious beliefs that "whosoever will" may be correctly and satisfactorily informed respect- ing this important subject.

FAREWELL ADDRESS AT

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS,

FEBRUARY 11, 1861

"My Friends : No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these peo- ple, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I' how leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before

THE SEARCH LIGHT

11

DEATH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, APRIL 15, 1865

me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the as- sistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us con- fidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will com- mend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell."

Four Great Lessons

The literary beauty of this address has secured for it a place among the most charming of Mr. Lincoln's pro- ductions, but it also has caused its religious features to be in a measure overlooked.

It should be remembered that Mr. Lincoln did not phrase his expres- sions of religious belief or experience in the language of a church man. From the warmth of a most affec- tionate heart, his words came well- ing up like the waters of a perennial spring, sparkling with their own pur- ity and their reflection of the light.

Four principle features of this brief address should be considered :

1st: Its recognition of God's agency in establishing, maintaining and conducting civil government. But slight yet sufficient reference is made to this in his mention of "the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended" Washington. We cannot too often be reminded of the

fact that God is as certainly the author of civil government as of the church; that He has assigned to each a part in His great work for the children of men and that co-ordinate and equal these two Divinely ap- pointed agencies should conform to the will and word of their Divine author.

2nd : Mr. Lincoln's declaration of utter dependence upon God. "With- out the assistance of that Divine Be- ing who ever attended him I cannot succeed." He does not state that

his work would be made difficult by the lack of that assistance, but that it would fail. Those who would for their own profit and for the sake of having a correct knowledge of truth, learn the lessons taught by the life and character of Abraham Lincoln should never lose sight of the fact that from the beginning of his public life to the last day of his earthly con- sciousness, he never forgot his own utter inefficiency without Divine guidance, assistance and help. By the noiseless and perhaps to him un-

LINCOLN MONUMENT, SPRINGFIELD, ILL.

12

THE SEARCHLIGHT

conscious operations of the Divine Spirit, there had been wrought into the very essence of his being this Divine promise : "I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." This four- fold assurance was present and ef- fective in every pulsation of his her- oic heart. "With thee," "strengthen thee," "help thee," "uphold thee" — God's presence, strength, help and assurance of success.

3rd: His trust in God... "With that assistance I cannot fail." More effective than in letters of living light, to be looked upon and read every conscious moment of life, these words should be written. Into the very fibre of American cit- izenship should there be wrought this unquestioning and sustaining confidence in the success of all which is pleasing to God. Again and again as we shall have occasion to see, in addresses, state papers and personal letters, this confidence is expressed by Mr. Lincoln. Cherishing that faith as he cherished it, and obeying God as he obeyed Him, discourage- ment, timidity, defeat, are impos- sible.

4th : The efficacy of prayer. With a delicacy of expression, and almost diffidently, Mr. Lincoln states his faith in the efficacy of concurrent in- tercession. He was familiar with the promise of the Savior, "If two of you shall agree on earth as touch- ing anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven," and many times had he heard others say, "Please remember me in your pray- ers and I will so remember you." Perhaps he was not conscious of as- suming the role he had so often wit- nessed in others at religious services. But, nevertheless, his language upon this occasion cannot be understood to mean less than a most tender and pathetic request to be remembered in the prayers of his friends and neighbors, and his assurance that they would not be forgotten when he also made his requests unto God. "To His care commending you" is no more nor less than an assurance to them that when he should "speak to the Rock," the remembrance of them would be in his mind and heart, and "as I hope in your prayers you will commend me" is such a simple, beautiful, tender entreaty and re- quest to be remembered and men- tioned in their intercessions that it cannot honestly be misunderstood, even though too often forgotten.

Turning from his weeping neigh- bors, from his home and his home city which he would never see again, that he might face the great work to which he was called, the "Pray-

ing President" starts on his memor- able journey to the nation's capital.

The Journey to Washington

The following brief extracts from addresses delivered by the Presi- dent-elect at points on the way to Washington indicate the spirit in which he entered upon the great work to which he had been called.

At Columbus, Feb. 13, 1861

"This is a most consoling circum- stance, and from it we may conclude that all we want is time, patience and a reliance on that God who has never forsaken this people."

C. W. Vol. 6, page 121.

At Steubenville, Ohio, Feb. 14, 1861

"Encompassed by vast difficulties as I am, nothing shall be wanting on my part, if sustained by God and the American people."

C. W. Vol. 6, page 123. At Buffalo, N. Y., Feb. 16, 1861 "For the ability to perform it, I must trust in that Supreme Being who has never forsaken this favored land, through the instrumentality of this great and intelligent people. Without that assistance I shall sure- ly fail; with it, I cannot fail."

C. W. Vol. 6, page 133.

At Albany, N. Y., Feb. 18, 1861

"In the meantime, if we have pa- tience, if we restrain ourselves, if we allow ourselves not to run off in a passion, I still have confidence that the Almighty, the Maker of the uni- verse, will, through the instrumen- tality of this great and intelligent people, bring us through this as He has through all the other difficulties of our country."

C. W. Vol. 6, page 141.

At Trenton, N. J., Feb. 21, 1861

"I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, His almost chosen people, for per- petuating the object of that great struggle."

C. W. Vol. 6, page 152.

In an address given at Philadel- phia on the raising of a flag over In- dependence Hall, Feb. 22, 1861, he said :

"I wish to call your attention to the fact that, under the blessing of God, each additional star added to that flag has given additional pros- perity and happiness to this coun- try."

C. W. Vol. 6, page 159.

Replying to Governer Curtin of Pennsylvania, at Harrisburg, Feb. 22, 1861, he said:

"I feel that, under God, in the strength of the arms and wisdom of the heads of these masses, after all, must be my support."

C. W. Vol. 6, page 160.

AT THE NATIONAL CAPITAL

Few and stormy were the years that now lay before this Mother- taught, Bible-built, Spirit-led Pray- ing President, but many and great were the achievements of those temptous years. Those achieve- ments, greater than those of a like period in the life of any human be- ing, were accomplished under God because of Abraham Lincoln's four- fold faith.

1. DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY

During the Campaign

During the campaign which re- sulted in Lincoln's first election to the presidency in November, 1860, Hon. Newton Bateman was super- intendent of Public Instruction for the State of Illinois and occupied rooms in the Capitol Building ad- joining those which the Governor had permitted Mr. Lincoln to oc- cupy during the campaign.

One evening in October, as the time for election drew near, Mr. Lincoln examined the polling book for the city of Springfield, which Mr. Bateman had, and was greatly grieved to learn that some of the pastors of the city were against him. According to Mr. Bateman's state- ment, as published in Holland's life of Lincoln, Mr. Lincoln was greatly grieved by this fact and said:

"Here are twenty-three ministers of different denominations, and all of them are against me but three ; and here are a great many prominent members of the churches, a very large majority are against me. Mr. Bateman, I am not a Christian — God knows I would be one — but I have carefully read the Bible, and I do not so understand this book (and he drew forth a pocket New Testa- ment). These men well know that I am for freedom in the Territories, freedom everywhere as free as the Constitution and the laws will per- mit, and that my opponents are for slavery. They KNOW this, and yet, with this book in their hands, in the light of which human bondage can- not live a moment, they are going to vote against me ; I do not understand it at all. * * *

"I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place and work for me — and I think He has — I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is everything. I know I am right, because I know that liberty is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I have told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand ; and Christ and Reason say the same; and they will find it so."

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After further reference to a belief in Divine Providence, and the fact of God in history, the conversation turned upon prayer. He freely stat- ed his belief in the duty, privilege and efficacy of prayer, and intimated in no unmistakable terms, that he had sought in that way the Divine guidance and favor. The effect of this conversation upon the mind of Mr. Bateman, a Christian gentleman, whom Mr. Lincoln profoundly re- spected, was to convince him that Mr. Lincoln had, in his quiet way, found a path to the Christian stand- point— that he had found God, and rested on the eternal truth of God.

His First Inaugural

In his first inaugural address, March 4th, 1861, he says:

"If the Almighty Ruler of Na- tions, with His eternal truth and jus- tice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great tri- bunal of the American people."

C. W. Vol. 6, page 183.

In the same address he says :

"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without be- ing yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect and defend it.' '

C. W. Vol. 6, page 184.

Alone with God

"In September, 1862, while his mind was burdened with the weight- iest question of his life, wearied with all the considerations of law and ex- pediency with which he had been struggling for two years, he retired within himself and tried to bring some order into his thoughts by ris- ing above the wrangling of men and of parties and pondering the rela- tions of human government to the Divine. In this frame of mind, abso- lutely detached from any earthly considerations, he wrote this medita- tion. It has never been published. It was not written to be seen of men. It was penned in the awful sincerity of a perfectly honest soul trying to bring itself into closer communion with its Maker:

"The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be and one must be wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the pur- pose of either party; and yet the

human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adap- tation to ertect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is prob- ably true ; that God wills this con- test, and wills that it shall not end yet. By His mere great power on the minds of the contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began, and having begun, He could give the final vic- tory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."

Curtis' "The True Abraham Lin- coln," pages 391-393.

To Mrs. Eliza P .Gurney, Sept. 4, 1864:

"The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, and must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accu- rately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible war long before this ; but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowl- edge His wisdom, and our own error therein. Meanwhile we must work earnestly in the best lights He gives us, trusting that so working still conduces to the great ends He or- dains. Surely He intends some great good to follow this mighty convul- sion, which no mortal could make, and no mortal could stay."

C. W. Vol. 10, pages 215-16.

President Lincoln's Pastor

In Scribner's Magazine for 1873, on page 333, is an article by Rev. J. A. Reed, entitled, "The Religious Sentiments of Abraham Lincoln." In that article, Mr. Reed quotes the following from the oration which Doctor Gurley delivered at Lincoln's funeral in Washington :

"Never shall I forget the emphatic and deep emotion with which Lin- coln said in this very room to a com- pany of clergymen who called to pay their respects to him in the darkest days of our conflict: 'Gentlemen, my hope of success in this struggle rests on that immutable foundation, the justness and the goodness of God; and when events are very threaten- ing, I still hope that in some way all will be well in the end, because our cause is just and God will be on our side.' ... In the latter days of his chastened and weary life, after the death of his son Willie, and his visit to the battlefield of Gettysburg, he said with tears in his eyes, that he had lost confidence in everything but God, and that he now believed his heart was changed, and that he loved the Savior, and if he was not deceived in himself, it was his inten- tion soon to make a profession of religion."

In his message to Congress rec- ommending Compensated Emanci-

pation, March 6, 1862, he says :

"In full view of my great respon- sibility to my God and to my coun- try, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the sub- ject."

C. W. Vol. 7, page 115. In his reply to Resolutions of the East Baltimore Methodist Confer- ence (May 15, 1862), he says:

"By the help of an all-wise Pro- vidence, I shall endeavor to do my duty, and I shall expect the contin- ance of your prayers for a right solu- tion of our national difficulties and the restoration of our country to peace and prosperity."

C. W. Vol. 7, page 163.

2. DIVINE GUIDANCE

There is a sublime majesty in Mr. Lincoln's confidence in the guidance and goodness of God.

In an interview with some mem- bers of Congress during the dark days of his administration, he said :

"My faith is greater than yours. I not only believe that Providence is not unmindful of the struggle in which this nation is engaged, that if we do not do right God will let us go to our own way to ruin ; and that if we do right, He will lead us safely out of this wilderness, crown our arms with victory, and restore our dissevered union, as you have ex- pressed your belief, but I also be- lieve He will compel us to do right in order that He may do these things, not so much because we desire them as that they accord with His plans of dealing with this nation, in the midst of which He means to estab- lish justice. I think that He means that we shall do more than we have yet done in the furtherance of His plans and He will open the way for our doing it. I have felt His hand upon me in great trials and submit- ted to His guidance, and I trust that as He shall further open the way, I will be ready to walk therein, relying on His help and trusting in His goodness and wisdom."

Senator James F. Wilson, in North American Review, 1896.

Hon. L. E. Chittenden

During the administration of Abraham Lincoln, Hon. L. E. Chit- tenden of Vermont, held an exceed- ingly important office of Register of the Treasury. His official duties brought Mr. Chittenden into inti- mate relations with President Lin- coln, and being a man of most ex- alted character, superb ability and legal training, and being held in uni- versal esteem he became and contin- ued to be one of Mr. Lincoln's most trusted counsellors. It is not prob- able that any public official — not even the members of the Cabinet —

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knew more of the inner life of the President or exerted a greater in- fluence in his administration than did Mr. Chittenden, who says :

"His calm serenity at times when others were so anxious, his confi- dence that his own judgment was directed by the Almighty, so im- pressed me that, when I next had the opportunity, at some risk of giving offense, I ventured to ask him direct- ly how far he believed the Almighty actually directed our national affairs. There was a considerable pause be- fore he spoke, and when he did speak, what he said was more in the nature of a monologue than an an- swer to my inquiry:

" 'That the Almighty does make use of human agencies, and directly intervenes in human affairs, is' he said, 'one of the plainest statements of the Bible. I have had so many evidences of His direction, so many instances when I have been control- led by some other power than my own will, that I cannot doubt that this power comes from above. I fre- quently see my way clear to a de- cision when I am conscious that I have no sufficient facts upon which to found it. But I cannot recall one instance in which I have followed my own judgment, founded upon such a decision, where the results were unsatisfactory ; whereas, in al- most every instance where I have vielded to the view of others, I have had occasion to regret it. I am sat- isfied that when the Almighty wants me to do or not to do a particular thing. He finds a way of letting me know it. I am confident that it is His design to restore the Union. He will do it in His own good time. We should obey and not oppose His will.'

" 'You speak with such confi- dence,' I said, 'that I would like to know how vour knowledge that God acts directly upon human affairs compares in certainty with your knowledge of a fact apparent to the senses — for example, the fact that we are at this moment here in this room.'

" 'One is as certain as the other,' he answered, 'although the conclu- sions are reached by different pro- cesses. I know by my senses that the movements of the world are those of an infinitely powerful ma- chine, which runs for ages without a variation. A man who can put two ideas together knows that such a machine requires an infinitely pow- erful maker and governer ; man's na- ture is such that he cannot take in the machine and keep out the mak- er. This maker is God — infinite in wisdom as well as in power. Would we be any more certain if we saw Him?'

" T am not controverting your po- sition,' I said. 'Your confidence in- terests me beyond expression. I wish I knew how to acquire it. Even now, must it not all depend on our faith in the Bible?'

" 'No. There is the element of personal experience,' he said. 'If it did, the character of the Bible is easily established, at least to my sat- isfaction. We have to believe many things which we do not comprehend. The Bible is the only one that claims to be God's book — to comprise His law — His history. It contains an im- mense amount of evidence of its own authenticity. It describes a governor omnipotent enough to op- erate this great machine, and de- clares that He made it. It states other facts which we do not fully comprehend, but which we cannot account for. What shall we do with them?'

" 'Now, let us treat the Bible fair- ly. If we had a witness on the stand whose general story we knew was true, we would believe him when he asserted facts of which we had no other evidence. We ought to treat the Bible with equal fairness. I de- cided a long time ago that it was less difficult to believe that the Bible was what it claimed to be than to disbelieve it.'

" 'If your views are correct, the Almighty is on our side, and we ought to win without so many losses.'

"He promptly interrupted me and said, 'We have no right to criticise or complain. He is on our side, and so is the Bible, and so are churches and Christian societies and organi- zations— all of them, so far as I know, almost without an exception. It makes me stronger and more con- fident to know that all the Christians in the loyal states are praying for our success, that all their influences are working to the same end. Thou- sands of them are fighting for us, and no one will say that an officer or a private is less brave because he is a praying soldier. At first, when we had such long spells of bad luck, I used to lose heart sometimes. Now I seem to know that Providence has protected and will protect us against any fatal defeat. All we have to do is to trust the Almighty and keep right on obeying his orders and ex- ecuting His will.' . . .

"Further comment cannot be nec- essary. Abraham Lincoln accepted the Bible as the inspired word of God — he believed and faithfully en- deavored to live according to the fundamental principles and doctrines of the Christian faith. To doubt either proposition is to be untrue to

his memory, a disloyalty of which no American should be guilty."

Chittenden, page 448.

Dr. J. G. Holland

Dr. J. G. Holland has recorded the following as Lincoln's reply to cer- tain ministers of the Christian Com- mission :

" 'If it were not for my firm belief in an overruling Providence,' re- sponded Mr. Lincoln, 'it would be difficult for me, in the midst of such complications of affairs, to keep my reason on its seat. But I am con- fident that the Almighty has His plans, and will work them out; and, whether we see it or not, they will be the wisest and best for us. I have always taken counsel of Him, and referred to Him my plans, and have never adopted a course of proceeding without being assured, as far as I could be, of His approbation. To be sure, He has not conformed to my desires, or else we should have been out of our trouble long ago. On the other hand, His will does not seem to agree with the wish of our enemy over there (pointing across the Po- tomac). He stands the Judge be- tween us, and we ought to be willing to accept His decisions. We have reason to anticipate that it will be favorable to us, for our cause is right.' It was during this interview that the fact was privately commun- icated to a member of the commis- sion, that Mr. Lincoln was in the habit of spending an early hour each day in prayer."

Hon. W. P. Fessenden

When informed of his nomination to succeed Chase as Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. W. P. Fessenden said:

"I cannot! I will not! I should be a dead man in a week. I am a sick man now. I cannot accept this appointment, for which I have no qualifications. You, Mr. President, ought not to ask me to do it. Pray relieve me by saying that you will withdraw it. I repeat, I cannot and will not accept it."

With calmness and with manifes- tations of loving regard, Mr. Lincoln replied :

"Fessenden, since I have occupied this place, every appointment I have made upon my own judgment has proved to be a good one. I do not say the best that could have been made, but good enough to answer the purpose. All the mistakes I have made have been in cases where I have permitted my own judgment to be overruled by that of others. Last night I saw my way clear to appoint you Secretary of the Treasury. I do not think you have any right to

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tell me you will not accept the place. I believe that the suppression of the rebellion has been decreed by a high- er power than any represented by us, and that the Almighty is using his own means to that end. You are one of them. It is as much your duty to accept as it is mine to appoint. Your nomination is now on the way from the State Department, and in a few minutes it will be here. ;It will be in the Senate at noon, you will be immediately and unanimously con- firmed, and by one o'clock today you must be signing warrants in the Treasury."

Chittenden, page 382.

Dr. Sunderland

The following letter from the pas- tor of the First Presbyterian Church, Washington, during President Lin- coln's administration, is worthy of reproduction in full.

"Washington City, Nov. 15, 1872. "Rev. Jas. A. Reed:

"Dear Bro: It was in the last days of 1862, about the time Mr. Lincoln was seriously contemplating the is- suing of the Emancipation procla- mation, that I, in company with some friends of the President, called upon him. After some conversation in which he seemed disposed to have his joke and fun, he settled down to a serious consideration of the sub- ject before his mind, and for one- half hour poured forth a volume of the deepest Christian philosophy I ever heard. He began by saying :

" 'The ways of God are mysterious and profound beyond all comprehen- sion— "who by searching can find Him out?" Now, judging after the manner of men, taking counsel of our sympathies and feelings, if it had been left to us to determine it, we would have had no war. And going further back to the occasion of it, we would have had no slavery. And tracing it still further back, we would have had no evil. There is the mystery of the universe which no man can solve, and it is at that point that the human understanding utterly backs down. And then there is nothing left but for the heart of man to take up faith and believe and trust where it cannot reason. Now, I believe we are all agents and in- struments of Divine Providence. On both sides we are working out the will of God ; yet how strange the spectacle ! Here is one-half the na- tion prostrated in prayer that God will help them to destroy the Union and build up a government upon the corner-stone of human bondage. And here is the other half equally earnest in their prayers, and efforts to de- feat a purpose which they regard as so repugnant to their ideas of human nature and the rights of society, as

well as liberty and independence. They want slavery; we want free- dom. They want a servile class ; we want to make equality practical as far as possible. And they are Chris- tians, and we are Christians. They and we are praying and fighting for results exactly the opposite. What must God think of such a posture of affairs? There is but one solution — self-deception. Somewhere there is a fearful heresy in our religion, and I cannot think it lies in the love of liberty and in the aspirations of the human soul.

' 'What I am to do in the present emergency time will determine. I hold myself in my present position and with the authority vested in me as an instrument of Providence. I have my own views and purposes. I have my convictions of duty, and my notions of what is right to be done. But I am conscious every moment that all I am and all I have is subject to the control of a Higher Power, and that Power can use me or not use me in any manner, and at any time, as in His wisdom and might may be pleasing to Him.

' 'Nevertheless, I am no fatalist. I believe in the supremacy of the hu- man conscience, and that men are responsible beings ; that God has a right to hold them, and will hold them, to a strict personal account for the deeds done in the body. But, sirs, I do not mean to give you a lecture upon the doctrines of the Christian religion. These are sim- ply with me the convictions and real- ities of great and vital truths, the power and demonstration of which I see now in the light of this our na- tional struggle as I have never seen before. God only knows the issue of this business. He has destroyed na- tions from the map of history for their sins. Nevertheless my hopes prevail generally above my fears for our own Republic. The times are dark, the spirits of ruin are abroad in all their power, and the mercy of God alone can save us.'

"So did the President discourse until we felt we were imposing on his time, and rising we took our leave of him, confident that he would be true to those convictions of right and duty which were derived from so deep a Christian philosophy. "Yours truly, "Byron Sunderland."

The Religious Sentiments of Abra- ham Lincoln, Rev. Jas. A. Reed, Scribners' Magazine, 1873, page 343.

3- DIVINE RETRIBUTION

No feature of the faith of Abra- ham was more pronounced than his assurance of the certainty and sev- erity of the punishment which God

inflicts upon nations for their viola- tions of His laws.

This doctrine is made prominent in the Second Inaugural.

SECOND INAUGURAL AD- DRESS, MARCH 4, 1865

"Fellow-Countrymen: At this sec- ond appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occa- sion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a state- ment, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public dec- larations have been constantly call- ed forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the en- ergies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself ; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encour- aging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

"On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an im- pending civil war. All dreaded it — all sought to avert it. While the in- augural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, in- surgent agents were in the city seek- ing to destroy it without war — seek- ing to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both par- ties deprecated war ; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive ; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

"One-eighth of the whole popula- tion were colored slaves, not distri- buted generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate and extend this interest was the object for which the insur- gents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.

"Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neith- er anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier tri- umph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread

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from the sweat of other men's faces ; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered — that of neither has been answered fully.

"The Almighty has his own pur- poses. "Woe unto the world be- cause of offenses ! for it must needs be that offenses come ; but woe to that man by whom the offense cora- eth." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those of- fenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through his ap- pointed time, he now wills to re- move, and that he gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern there- in any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him?

"Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of un- requited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. '

"With malice towards none ; with charity for all ; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in ; to bind up the na- tion's wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our- selves and with all nations."

Peerless Production

Many regard Lincoln's address at Gettysburg as his literary master- piece, but in a letter addressed to Thurlow Weed on the 15th of March, 1865, eleven days after his second inaugural, Mr. Lincoln ex- pressed the conviction that his sec- ond inaugural address would out- live anything he had produced.

We have no doubt of the correct- ness of Mr. Lincoln's estimate of that wonderful inaugural address, which it was our priceless privilege to hear when it was delivered. From that noonday hour of rifting clouds and dazzling sunshine, through the starlit afternoon that followed, and down to the present time, that address has steadilv advanced in public favor and in critical appreciation. No one ever has suggested for that address a word to add or subtract.

It seems that in its preparation, as in the days of Caesar Augustus, there went out a decree "that all the

world should be taxed," and that thus was produced a faultless com- posite with each of its component parts fully disclosed and none able to show that any one part is domin- ant. Its rhetoric is perfect, its his- tory is full and complete and its statecraft is like Divine revelation. Its lines are illuminated by gems of sacred truth and never was the word of God more faithfully interpreted or more fittingly applied. With ex- alted majesty it proclaims the sov- ereignty of God and His inexorable law of righteous retribution, and with pathetic penitence bears wit- ness that His judgments "are true and righteous altogether." In the submissive spirit of Gethsemane it holds up the rod of intercession, and dazzles humanity with its reflection of the celestial glory of the Cross in its "malice toward none" and its "charity for all."

If not as pleasing as the Gettys- burg address, it is far greater and more lastingly impressive and poten- tial. It is more than a masterpiece, it is an unclassed state paper and a literary solitaire.

Lincoln's Estimate

The following letter shows that the famous second inaugural was prepared with great care and Mr. Lincoln expected its doctrine of Di- vine Retribution had caused it to be "not immediately popular," but would give it prolonged life. Letter to Thurlow Weed

"Executive Mansion, March 15, 1865. "Dear Mr. Weed:

"Every one likes a compliment. Thank you for yours on my little notification speech and on the recent inaugural address. I expect the lat- ter to wear as well as — perhaps bet- ter than — anything I have produced ; but I believe it is not immediately popular. Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them. To deny it, however, in this case, is to deny that there is a God governing the world. It is a truth which I thought needed to be told, and, as whatever of hu- miliation there is in it falls most di- rectly on myself, I thought others might afford for me to tell it. "Truly vours,

"A. Lincoln."

The North's Complicity

In the Century Magazine for July, 1861, page 308, Horace Greely gives an account of an interview between President Lincoln and Gov. Bram- lette. ex-Senator Dixon and Editor A. G. Hodges of Kentucky, after which Mr. Hodges requested Mr. Lincoln to put in writing what had

been orally stated by him during the interview. This Mr. Lincoln did on the 4th of April, 1864, and at the close of his account of their inter- view, he says :

"I add a word which was not in the verbal conversation. In telling this tale I attempt no compliment to my own sagacity. I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the end of three years' struggle, the nation's condition is not what either party or any man de- vised, or expected. God alone can claim it. Wither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for our com- plicity in that wrong, impartial his- tory will find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God."

C. W. Vol. 10, page 68.

The above interview with the three Kentuckians was nearly a year prior to the second inaugural. This fact gives significance to the pains taken by Mr. Lincoln to insist upon the great law of Divine Retribution, and in the presence of these disting- uished Southerners deliberately to link the North and the South togeth- er as in complicity in the wrong for which the punishment of civil war was being" inflicted upon both par- ties.

We call attention to this for the purpose of emphasizing the fact that the discussion of retributive justice in the second inaugural was the re- sult of prolonged meditation and set- tled conviction upon the part of the President.

So important did he regard this matter that he carefully wrote out his convictions as a supplement to his written account of what he stat- ed orally at the interview.

Lincoln's Complicity

In the following quotation from Mr. Lincoln's statement to Father Cheniquy he emphasizes the same great law while declaring that the lash of retributive justice is fallinw with terrible severity upon himself. Note the words. "To which I have to some extent connived with so many others a part of my life." And note further that while moaning in this Gethsemane of Suffering: he says: "I fear that we are still far from complete expiation, for the judg- ments of the Lord are true and righteous."

"Mv God alone knows what I have already suffered for my dear coun- try's sake. But my fear is that the justice of God is not yet paid. When I look upon the rivers of tears and blood drawn bv the lashes of the

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merciless masters from the veins of the very heart of those millions of defenseless slaves, these two hun- dred years ; when I remember the agonies, the cries, the unspeakable tortures of those unfortunate people to which I have, to some extent, connived with so many others a part of my life, I fear that we are still far from the complete expiation. For the judgments of God are true and righteous."

Interview with Father Cheniquy in Wettstein, page 102.

Today's Impending Peril

While standing in the presence of these solemn declarations of our great Chieftain respecting a Divine law not sufficiently considered, it is a fitting time to state that it is not the liquor habit nor the liquor traf- fic, but governmental complicity in that traffic that is at present our na- tion's greatest peril.

4. THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER

The crowning glory of the life of Abraham Lincoln is his sublime and childlike faith in prayer.

With faultless beauty and resist- less pathos that faith found expres- sion when on the day of his depart- ure from Springfield he tenderly asked for the fellowship of inter- cession with his friends who came to bid him adieu. From that hour his own words bear witness to his con- fident dependence on God and his continuance "in the secret of His presence."

Nicholay and Hay, his secretaries, say :

"Air. Lincoln was a, man of pro- found and intense religious feeling. * * * He continually invited and appreciated at their highest value the prayers of good people. * * *" From that morning when, standing amid the falling snow-flakes on the railway car at Springfield, he asked the prayers of his neighbors in those touching phrases whose echo rose that night in invocations from thou- sands of family altars, to the mem- orable hour when on the steps of the National Capitol he humbled himself before his Creator in the sublime words of the second inaugural, there is not an expression known to have come from his lips or his pen but proves that he held himself answer- able in every act of his career to a more august tribunal than any on earth. The fact that he was not a communicant of any church, and that he was singularly reserved in regard to his personal religious life, gives onlv the greater force to these

striking proofs of his profound rev- erence and faith."

In perfect harmony with these statements are

Lincoln's Own Words

Formal and dignified are usually the religious features of state papers, but not such are those which were spoken or written by Abraham Lin- coln. Note in the following his re- peated declarations of his own per- sonal remembrance of others in prayer:

In a letter to Col. Ellsworth's par- ents, May 25, 1861, he says:

"May God give you that consola- tion which is beyond all earthly power."

C. W. Vol. 6, page 288.

In replying to The Tycoon of Ja- pan, August 1, 1861, he says :

"Wishing abundant prosperity and length of years to the great state over which you preside, I pray God to have your Majesty always in his safe and holy keeping."

C. W. Vol. 6, page 337.

In his speech to the 12th Indiana Regiment taken from the New York "Evening Post" of May IS, 1862, he says :

"The thanks of the nation will fol- low you, and may God's blessing rest upon you now and forever."

C. W. Vol. 7, page 165.

To Commander Bertinatti, Italian Envoy Extraordinary, etc., Tuly 23rd, 1864:

"I pray God to have your country in His holy keeping, and to vouch- safe to crown with success her noble aspirations to renew, under the aus- pices of her present enlightened gov- vernment, her ancient career, so wonderfully illustrated in the achievements of art, science and free- dom."

C. W. Vol. 10, page 170.

"After the second battle of Bull Run, Lincoln was deeply depressed because of the heavy losses of the Union army. 'I have done as well as I could,' said he at the time to a woman friend. 'I prayed to God to direct me the right way and now I must leave the consequences to Him alone.' " |

Wettstein, page 70.

To the Presbyterians, May 30, 1863

"Relying, as I do, upon the Al- mighty Power, and encouraged, as I am, by these resolutions which you have just read, with the support which I receive from Christian men, I shall not hesitate to use all the means at my control to secure the termination of this rebellion, and will hope for success."

Wettstein, page 80.

To Mrs. Gurney

' 'In the very responsible position in which I happen to be placed, be- ing an humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly Father as I am, and as we all are, to work out His great purposes, I have desired that all my works and acts may be according to His will, and that it might be so, I have sought His aid ; but if, after endeavoring to do my best in the light which He affords me, I find my efforts fail, I must be- lieve that, for some purpose un- known to me, He wills it other-

wise.

Wettstein, page 81.

Letter to Mrs. Bixby, of Boston, Mass.

"Executive Mansion, Nov. 21, 1864. "Dear Madam : I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should at- tempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. I pray that our heav- enly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

"Yours very sincerely and respect- fully, "Abraham Lincoln."

Simple and Pathetic

The Hon. James Bryce, English ambassador to Washington, said of this letter: "It deals with a theme on which hundreds of letters are written daily. But I do not know where the nobility of self-sacrifice for a great cause, and of the consolation which the thought of a sacrifice so made should bring, is set forth with such simple and pathetic beauty."

We should not permit the charm- ing beauty of this letter, dashed off without meditation or opportunity for correction, to cause us to over- look its proof of the prayerfulness of Mr. Lincoln's life. "I pray" — how many times, and with what soul ful- ness, did he write or speak those words.

Another friend of Mr. Lincoln — Mr. Whitney — quotes the President as saying:

"I have been driven many times upon my knees bv the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go : my own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that dav." Whitney.

18

THE SEARCHLIGHT

Bishop Simpson

"One day, during the darkest hours of the war,' said Bishop Simp- son to Chaplain C. E. McCabe, 'I went to Lincoln. We had a long talk about the situation. AVhen I was ready to go, Lincoln locked the door, and said: 'Bishop, I feel the need of prayer more than ever before ; please do pray for me.' And we knelt down in an earnest prayer, and the Presi- dent responded from the bottom of his heart."

Wettstein, page 69.

Lincoln-Sickles Interview

The story of the Lincoln-Sickles interview, soon after the Battle of Gettysburg, was first told, as we be- lieve, by General Sickles himself in an address at a banquet in Washing- ton City. It was subsequently writ- ten out with care by General Rusling and is here repeated that we may aid in giving it widest possible pub- licity.

General Rusling was on General Sickles' staff and during 1856 was a professor in Dickinson's Seminary, Williamsport, Pa. When his article respecting the Lincoln-Sickles inter- view appeared, Dr. I. L. Kephart, a distinguished minister and editor of The Religious Telescope, having been under General Rusling's in- struction at Williamsport, promptly wrote him inquiring whether the ar- ticle which had appeared was au- thentic as he wished to reproduce it if such were the case.

Respecting General Rusling's re- ply Dr. Kephart says :

"In due time we received a very cordial, courteous reply assuring us that the article was correct in all its particulars."

It will be remembered that the Battle of Gettysburg was fought on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of July, 1863, and that General Sickles, while in command of the third corps, received a severe wound which required the amputation of one of his legs. On the Sunday following this casuality (July 5th, 1863), General Sickles was in the hospital at Washington and was called upon by General Rusling, who states that soon after his arrival President Lincoln arrived "with his son Tad and remained an hour or more." General Rusling states that during this visit General Sickles in- quired of the President if he were anxious respecting the results of the battles at Gettysburg. What fol- lowed this inquiry is thus stated and confirmed by both General Rushing and General Sickles:

"Mr. Lincoln gravely replied, no, he was not ; that some of his cab- inet and many others in Washington were, but that he himself had had

no fears. General Sickles inquired how this was, and seemed curious about it. Mr. Lincoln hesitated, but finally replied: 'Well, I will tell you how it was. In the pinch of your campaign up there, when everybody seemed panic-stricken, and nobody could tell what was going to happen, oppressed by the gravity of our af- fairs, I went to my room one day, and locked the door, and got down on my knees before Almighty God and prayed to Him mightily for vic- tory at Gettysburg. I told Him this was His war, and our cause His cause, but that we couldn't stand another Fredericksburg or Chancel- lorsville. And I then and there made a solemn vow to Almighty God that if He would stand by our boys at Gettysburg, I would stand by Him. And He did, and I will. And after that (I don't know how it was, and I can't explain it) soon a sweet com- fort crept into my soul that things would go all right at Gettysburg. And that is why I had no fears about you.' He said this solemnly and pathetically, as if from the very depths of his heart, and both Sickles and I were deeply touched by his manner.

"Presently General Sickles asked him what news he had from Vicks- burg. He answered that he had none worth mentioning, but that Grant was still 'pegging away' down there, and he thought a good deal of him as a general, and wasn't going to remove him, though urged to do so; and, 'Besides,' he added, T have been praying over Vicksburg also, and believe our Heavenly Father is going to give us victory there, too.' Of course he did not know that Vicksburg had already fallen, July 4, and that a gun-boat was soon to arrive at Cairo with the great news that was to make that Fourth of July memorable in history forever."

Lincoln and Beecher in Prayer

We are delighted to be permitted to lay before our readers the fol- lowing article because from its first appearance we have believed it to be strictly true. It was written by Samuel Scoville, Jr., and first ap- peared several years ago in the col- umns of the Sunday School Times. No publication is more carefully guarded against all forms of misrep- resentation than this great Sunday School periodical ever has been. But not alone because of our confidence in the author of this article and in the Sunday School Times, which first gave it publicity, but also be- cause of our knowledge of the two conspicuous figures in this most re- markable scene have we always

given it credence. It was just like Abraham Lincoln seemingly to give way to the great burdens upon him and in just the manner here de- scribed to seek the help that would come from an interview with a man of God in whom he had unquestion- ing confidence.

And Henry Ward Beecher was undoubtedly the one minister of the gospel in whom Lincoln most fully confided. It was at Mr. Lincoln's earnest and almost authoritative re- quest that Mr. Beecher visited Eng- land and delivered those greatest ad- dresses which ever fell from the lips of uninspired man. So great was the danger of British recognition of the Confederacy, and so important that the people of England should be in- formed respecting conditions in this country that Mr. Beecher finally con- sented to undertake the task, and none who are familiar with the fact will regard as extravagant the state- ment that never in human history has the platform wrought such a revolution in popular and govern- mental attitude as was accomplished by Mr. Beecher during that brief lec- ture tour.

It will also be remembered that it was at Mr. Lincoln's request that Henry Ward Beecher was chosen to deliver the oration at the time the Stars and Stripes were restored to Fort Sumter.

These and other considerations to- gether with our strong and growing conviction that of all our public men Lincoln was the most solicitous to know and follow the Divine will, cause us to rejoice in the opportunity of aiding to give this article largest possible publicity and to ask for it the sympathetic perusal of all our readers.

The following is a portion of Mr. Scoville's article :

"During the year 1862, the hopes of the North were at their lowest ebb. It was in that year that the second battle of Bull Run had been fought and lost, McClellan was en- trenched before Richmond, and the strength and resources of the nation seemed to have been fruitlessly wasted. Henry Ward Beecher was then in Brooklyn, and was perhaps more prominently associated with the cause of the North at that time than any other minister of the Gos- pel. He had preached and lectured and fought its battles in pulpit and press all over the country, had ran- somed slaves from his pulpit, and his convictions and feelings were ev- erywhere known.

"Late one evening a stranger call- ed at his home and asked to see him. Mr. Beecher was working alone in his study, as was his usual custom, and this stranger refused to send up

k

his name, and came muffled in a mil- itary cloak which completely hid his face.

"Mrs. Beecher's suspicious were aroused, and she was very unwilling that he should have the interview which he requested, especially as Mr. Beecher's life had been frequent- ly threatened by sympathizers with the South. The latter, however, in- sisted that his visitor be shown up. Accordingly the stranger entered, the doors were shut, and for hours the wife below could hear their voices and their footsteps as they paced back and forth. Finally, to- ward midnight, the mysterious visi- tor, went out, still muffled in his cloak, so that it was impossible to gain any idea of his features.

"The years went by, the war was finished, the President had suffered martyrdom at his post, and it was not until shortly before Mr. Beech- er's death, over twenty years later, that it was known that the mysteri- ous stranger who had called on the stormy winter night was Abraham Lincoln. The stress and strain of those days and nights of struggle, with all the responsibilities and sor- rows of a nation fighting for its life thrust upon him, had broken down his strength, and for a time under- mined even his courage. He had traveled alone in disguise and at night from Washington to Brooklyn to gain the sympathy and help of one whom he knew as a man of God, engaged in the same great battle in which he was the leader. Alone for hours that night the two had wrest- led together in prayer with the God of battles and the Watcher over the right, until they had received the help which He had promised to those who seek His aid."

Samuel Scoville, Jr., in Sunday School Times.

After Chancellorsville

One of President Lincoln's pri- vate secretaries gives the following graphic account of the night in the White House after word had been received of the disaster at Chancel- lorsville :

"That night the last visitors in Lincoln's room were Stanton and Halleck. They went away together in silence, at somewhere near nine o'clock, and the President was left alone. Not another soul was on that floor except the one secretary, who was busy with the mail in his room across the hall from the President's ; and the doors of both rooms were ajar, for the night was warm. The silence was so deep that the ticking of a clock would have been notice- able; but another sound came that was almost as regular and ceaseless. It was the tread of the President's

THE SEARCHLIGHT

feet as he strode slowly back and forth across the chamber in which so many Presidents of the United States had done their work. Was he to be the last of the line? The last President of the entire United States? At that hour that very question had been asked of him by the battle of Chancellorsville. If he had wavered, if he had failed in faith or courage or prompt decision, then the nation, and not the Army of the Potomac, would have lost its great battle.

"Ten o'clock came, without a break in the steady march, excepting now and then a pause in turning at either wall. . . .

"Eleven o'clock came, and then another hour of that ceaseless march so accustomed the ear to it that when, a little after twelve, there was a break of several minutes, the sud- den silence made one put down let- ters and listen.

"The President may have been at his table writing, or he may — no man knows or can guess — but at the end of the minutes, long or short, the tramp began again. Two o'clock, and he was walking yet, and when, a lit- tle after three, the secretary's task was done, and he slipped noiselessly out, he turned at the head of the stairs for a moment. It was so — the last sound he heard as he went down was the foot-fall in Lincoln's room. "That was not all, however. The young man had need to return early, and he was there again before eight o'clock. The President's room door was open and he went in. There sat Mr. Lincoln eating breakfast alone. He had not been out of his room, but there was a kind of cheery, hopeful, morning light on his face, instead of the funereal battle-cloud from Chan- cellorsville. He had watched all night, but a dawn had come, for besides his cup of coffee lay the written draft of his instructions to General Hooker to push forward, to fight again.

"There was a decisive battle won that night in that long vigil with dis- aster and despair. Only a few weeks later the Army of the Potom- ac fought it over again as desperate- lv — and they won it — at Gettys- burg."

W. O. Stoddard in Abraham Lin- coln, page 48.

Death of Willie Lincoln

"Early in 1862 an event occurred that added to the sorrow that seemed to enshroud the life of Mr. Lincoln. It was the death of his son Willie, a bright and promising boy, to whom his father was devotedly attached. This was a new burden ; and the visitation which, in his firm faith in Providence, he regarded as provi-

19

dential was also inexplicable. Why should he, with so many burdens upon him, and with such necessity for solace in his home and his af- fections, be brought into so tender a trial? It was to him a trial of faith, indeed. A Christian lady of Massa- chusetts, who was officiating as nurse in one of the hospitals, came in to attend the sick children. She reports that Mr. Lincoln watched with her about the bedside of the sick ones, and that he often walked the room, saying sadly:

" 'This is the hardest trial of my life; why is it? Why it is?'

"In the course of conversations with her he questioned her concern- ing her situation. She told him she was a widow, and that her husband and two children were in heaven ; and added that she saw the hand of God in it all, and that she had never loved Him so much before as she had since her affliction.

" 'How is that brought about,' in- quired Mr. Lincoln. 'Simply by trusting in God, and feeling that He does all things well,' she replied. 'Did you submit fully under the first loss?' he asked. 'No,' she answered, 'not wholly; but as blow came upon blow, and all were taken, I could and did submit, and was very hap- py.' He responded, 'I am glad to hear you say that. Your experience will help me to bear my afflictions.' On being assured that many Chris- tians were praying for him on the morning of the funeral, he wiped away the tears that sprang in his eyes and said, 'I am glad to hear that. I want them to pray for me. I need their prayers.' As he was going out to the burial the good lady expressed her sympathy for him. He thanked her gently and said: 'I will try to go to God with my sor- rows.' A few days afterward, she asked him if he could trust God. He replied, 'I think I can and I will try. I wish I had that childlike faith you speak of and I trust He will give it to me.' And then he spoke of his mother, whom so many years before he had committed to the dust among the wilds of Indiana. In this hour of his great trial, the memory of her who had held him upon her bosom, and soothed his childish griefs, came back to him with ten- derest recollections. T Remember her prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.' "

Holland's Life of Lincoln.

Mrs. Lincoln's Statement

Dr. A. J. Reed, quoting from Dr. Miner, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Springfield, intimate friend of Mr. Lincoln and his family, and whose testimony confirmatory

20

THE SEARCHLIGHT

of what has been said regarding- Mr. Lincoln's religious sentiments, says:

"I would relate an incident that occurred on the 4th of March, 1861, and was related to me by Mrs. Lin- coln. She said, 'Mr. Lincoln wrote the conclusion of his inaugural ad- dress the morning it was delivered. The family being present, he read it to them. He then said he wished to be left alone for a short time. The family retired to an adjoining room, but not so far distant that the voice of prayer could not be distinct- ly heard. There, closeted with God alone, surrounded by the enemies who were ready to take his life, he commended his country's cause and all dear to him to God's providential care, and with a mind calmed with communion with his Father in Heaven, and courage equal to the danger, he came forth from that re- tirement ready for duty.' "

Scribner's Magazine, 1873, page 333.

In the same article the following letter to Rev. Dr. J. A. Reed in Scrib- ner's Magazine, 1873, page 333, is reproduced :

New York, Dec. 31, 1872. "Rev. J. A. Reed :

"My Dear Sir: In addition to what has appeared from my pen, I will state that I have had many conver-

sations with Mr. Lincoln, which were more or less of a religious char- acter, and while I never tried to draw anything like a statement of his views from him, yet he freely ex- pressed himself to me as having 'a hope of blessed immortality through Jesus Christ.' His views seemed to settle so naturally around that state- ment, that I considered no other nec- essary. His language seemed not that of an inquirer, but of one who had a prior settled belief in the fun- damental doctrines of the Christian religion. Once or twice, speaking to me of the change which had come upon him, he said, while he could not fix any definite time, yet it was after he came here, and I am very positive that in his own mind he identified it with about the time of Willie's death. He said, too, that after he went to the White House he kept up the habit of daily prayer. Sometimes he said it was only ten words, but those ten words he had. There is no possible reason to sup- pose that Mr. Lincoln would ever deceive me as to his religious senti- ments. In many conversations with him, I absorbed the firm conviction that Mr. Lincoln was at heart a Christian man, believed in the Sav- ior, and was seriously considering the step which would formally con-

nect him with the visible church ort earth.

"Yours truly,

"Noah Brooks."

A True Christian

No member of Congress stood closer to President Lincoln than did Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, representative from Chicago. He had been for many years an intimate friend of Lincoln ; had wrought heroically for Lincoln's presidential nomination and election, and was one of those in whose counsel Lincoln reposed great confidence.

The writer was an employee of the national House of Representatives while Mr. Arnold was a member of that body and can, from personal knowledge, bear witness to his com- manding ability, exalted character and high standing among his official associates.

None knew better than did Mr. Arnold how closely and how con- stantly Abraham Lincoln "walked with God," and how true was his statement that "from the time he left Springfield, with the touching re- quest for the prayers of his friends and neighbors, to the day of his death, his words were the words of a Christian, revering the Bible, and obeying its precepts."

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