Qass. Book Six Historic Americans PAINE, JEFFERSON, WASHINGTON, FRANKLIN, LINCOLN, GRANT The Fathers and Saviors of Our RepubHc, Freethinkers By JOHN E. REMSBURG New York THE TRUTH SEEKER COMPANY 62 Vesey Street / ]%^ \l \ JOHN E. REMSBURG Affectio7iately Inscribed to My Daughter, REULLURJ E. HARNESS CONTENTS Preface Indorsement by Robert G. Ingersoll Introduction Thomas Paine Thomas Jefferson George Washington Benjamin Franklin Conclusion ; PART II Abraham Lincoln Ulysses S. Grant PREFACE. Were the American people asked to name the five great historic figures of the first century of our national existence — the illustrious men who contributed most to build and glorify the United States of America — the answer would be, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jeffer- son, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant. To this list of immortals posterity will add another — Thomas Paine. For nearly a century this noble man — the real founder of our Republic — has been buried beneath the stones of obloquy. But slowly the angels of Justice are rolling back these stones from his sepulchre, and the resurrec- tion of Thomas Paine is at hand. While the orthodox clergy, to their everlasting shame, are responsible for the cruel treatment ac- corded this patriot, the liberal Christian minis- ters, to their eternal honor, have been candid and courageous enough to do him justice. These are but a few of their many tributes to him: Rev. John Snyder: — "Paine did more than any Vlll PREFACE. other single man to create this nation. I simply speak what will some day be the sober judgment of history.'^ Eev. Solomon Southwick: — "Had Thomas Paine been a Grecian or Roman patriot in olden times, and performed the same services as he did for this country, he would have had the honor of an apotheosis. The Pantheon would have been opened to him, and w^e should at this day regard his memory with the same veneration that we do that of Socrates and Cicero." Rev. Minot J. Savage, D. D. : — "No man ren- dered grander service to this country; no man ought to be more cherished or remembered." Dr. Moncure D. Conway: — "Above all, Paine was a profoundly religious man — one of the few in our Revolutionary era of whom it can be said that his delight was in the law of his Lord, and in that law did he meditate day and night. Con- sequently, he could not escape the immemorial fate of the great believers, to be persecuted for unbelief — by unbelievers." Rev. Theodore Parker: — "He did more to pro- mote piety and morality among men than a hun- dred ministers of that age in America." Rev. Dr. David Swing: — "Paine was one of the best and grandest men that ever trod the planet." Rev. O. B. Frothingham: — "No private charac- PREFACE. IX ter has been more foully calumniated in the name of God than that of Thomas Paine." Kev. James Kay Applebee: — "I see Thomas Paine as he looms up in history — a great, grand figure. The reputation bigots have created for him fades away, even as the creeds for which they raved and lied, fade away; but distinct and lu- minous, there remains the noble character of Paine created by himself." Dr. John E. Roberts: — ^^So long as human rights are sacred and their defenders held in grateful remembrance; so long as liberty has a flag flung to the skies, a sanctuary in the hearts of men, so long, upon the eternal granite of history, luminous as light and imperishable as the stars, will be engraven the name of Thomas Paine." The Church claims all great men. But the truth is the great men of all nations have, for the most part, rejected Christianity. Of these six his- toric Americans — the six greatest men that have lived on this Continent — not one was a Christian. All were unbelievers — all Infidels — all Free- thinkers. It is popularly supposed that Paine was a very irreligious man, while Washington, Franklin, Jef- ferson, Lincoln and Grant were very religious. The reverse of this is more nearly true. Paine, although not a Christian, was a deeply religious X PREFACE). man; while the others, though practicing the loftiest morals, cared little for religion. Paine was a firm believer in the religion of Deism, and a zealous advocate^ of it; the others, while nomi- nally Deists, and using the conventional language of Deism, were probably more nearly Agnostics in belief. Washington and Grant, while unbelievers, at- tended church and retained the good will of the clergy. Franklin avowed his disbelief, but in a friendly spirit which provoked few censures. Jefferson and Lincoln both talked and wrote against Christianity, but Lincoln's criticisms were never published, while Jefferson's, scattered through several volumes, are little read. The re- jection of Christianity by these men has been, to a great extent, forgotten or forgiven. Paine not only opposed Christianity, but he op- posed it in a book which was read by thousands, and which the defenders of Christianity could not answer. For this he was persecuted while living and calumniated when dead. In this volume is presented the evidence of the disbelief of these great men. The first part entitled *'The Fathers of Our Eepublic,'" deals with the re- ligious views of Paine, Jefferson, Washington, and Franklin. \The basis of it is an address delivered before the tenth annual Conirress of the Ameri- PREFACE. XI can Secular Union, in Chickering Hall, New York, November 13, 188G, at which Colonel Ingersoll presided. The second part, entitled, ^'The Saviors of Our Republic,'' deals with the religious opin- ions of Lincoln and Grant. The matter pertain- ing to Lincoln was published in 1893. It consti- tutes the larger portion of the work. For a quar- ter of a century following Lincoln's death there was a fierce controversy respecting his belief, and the testimony called out by this controversy was quite voluminous. Grant, in regard to his re- ligious opinions, maintained that silence so char- acteristic of him and little was known or said respecting them, MPose connected with their history upon wl %'ious to dwell, and that is the question of t <^od. beliefs. Few questions are so little ^'^^^s? ^ The world has been cursed with tv ' ^^^'^ kingcraft and priestcraft. Kingc^^^^^'^ country, has been destroyed; prie'stP'^^i^^'-^ —a parasitic army preying upon our' ^^'^^^ Founded upon fraud, the clerical pre ^^^^^*^ mr.ny honorable exceptions, depends uf"" for its support. One of its methods I sha^^' iQ this work. While pretending to ignore ^ and intellectuality, and worldly g'^reatn^ members jet realize the importance of ha\" intellectual Titans and the popular heroes world upon their side. "Great men ma nothing from religion, but religion can gaii from great men,'' said the theological buzza daily perched himself beside the dying Gra the same time they realize the humiliatin that it is for the most part the dwarfs, and i giants of the world, that train with them. INTRODUCTION. 19 of their number, more honest than his fellows, says : ^^The great and the wise and the mighty are not with us. These men, the master-minds and imperial leaders among men, are outside our most Christian church." As Saladin observes, "The church would give ten millions of her blockheads for the adherence and support of one man strong enough to hew his name imperishably upon the mountain of adamant into which are cut the names of the immortals." And thus, recognizing the magic influence that a great name carries with it, the clergy have inscribed in the Christian ros- ter the names of hundreds who were total disbe- lievers in their dogmas. As the venders of quack nostrums attach the forged certificates of distin- guished individuals to their worthless drugs, to make them sell, so these theological venders pre- sent the manufactured endorsements of the great to make their nostrums popular. Jefferson, Wash- ington, and Franklin have all been denominated Christians, not because they were such, for they were not, but because of the influence that at- taches to their names. Paine's opposition to priestcraft was too pro- nounced and too well known to claim him as an adherent of their faith, and so they have sought to destroy his influence by destroying his good name. Not only this, knowing the prejudice that 20 INTRODUCTION. has prevailed against Atheism, they have misrep- resented his theological opinions and declared him an Atheist. THOMAS PAINE THOMAS PAINE THOMAS PAINE. 27 to all moD, it is an example calling upon all men to practice the same toward each other.'' A concluding paragraph of the second part reads as follows: "Were man impressed as fully and as strongly as he ought to be with the belief of a God, his moral life would be regulated by the force of that belief; he WTjuld stand in awe of God and of him- self, and would not do the thing that could not be concealed from either. . . . This is Deism." ^Wh en Paine commenced bis "Ag e of Reason," he was fifty-six. The first great x>roduct of his >rain, "Common Sense^" was writt^a ^w^hen he was thirty-eig ht. In this work a recognition of God is expressed on almost every page. He died at the age of seventy-two. His will begins with these words: "Reposing confidence in my Creator, God." It ends as follow: "I die in ixtTfect com- posure and resignation to the will of my Creator, God." Respecting a future existence, he says: "I trouble not myself about the manner of fu- ture existence. I content myself with believing, even to positive conviction, that the power that gave me existence is able to continue it in any form and manner he pleases, either with or with- out this body" (Age of Reason). "I consider myself in the hands of my Creator, 28 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. and that he will dispose of me after this life con- sistently Avith his justice and goodness" (Pri- vate Thoughts on a Future State). Paine was one of the founders and most active members of the Society of Theophilanthropists (lovers of God and man,) which existed in Paris during and after the French Kevolution. Upon their altars was this inscription: "We believe in the existence of a God, and in the immortality of the soul.-' The "Age of Reason/' instead of being an Athe- istic work, as popularly supposed, was w^ritten to oppose Atheism. In a letter to Samuel Adams, Paine says: "The people of France were running headlong into Atheism, and I had the w^ork trans- lated into their own language, to stop them in that career, and fix them in the first article of every man's creed, who has any creed at all — I believe in God." mS PAINE A CHRISTIAN? The evidences of Paine's disbelief in Christian- ity, as a revealed religion, are irrefutable, as shown by the following extracts from his writ- ings: "I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the THOMAS PAINE. 29 Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church" (Age of Reason). "All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit" (Ibid.). "Each of these churches shows certain books, which they call revelation, or the word of God. The Jews say that their word of God was given by God to Moses, face to face; the Christians say that their word of God came by divine inspira- tion; and the Turks say that their word of God, the Koran, was brought by an angel from heaven. Each of these churches accuses the others of unbelief; and, for my own part, I disbelieve them all" (Ibid.). "But some perhaps will say. Are we to have no word of God, no revelation? I answer, Yes; there is a word of God; there is a revelation. "The w^ord of God is the creation we behold. . . . It is only in the creation that all our ideas and conceptions of a word of God can unite. The cre- ation speaketh an universal language, independ- ently of human speech, or human language, mul- tiplied and various as they be. It is an ever-exist- ing original, which every man can read. It can- 30 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. not be forged; it cannot be counterfeited; it can- not be lost; it cannot be altered; it cannot be sup- pressed. It does not depend upon the will of man whether it shall be published or not; it publishes itself from one end of the earth to the other. It preaches to all nations and to all worlds; and this word of God reveals to man all that is necessary for man to know of God. "Do we want to contemplate his power? We see it in the unchangeable order by which the in- comprehensible whole is governed. Do we want to contemplate his munificence? We see it in the abundance with which he fills the earth. Do we want to contemplate his mercy? We see it in his not withholding that abundance even from the unthankful. In fine, do we want to know w^hat God is? Search not the book called the Scripture, which any human hand might make, but the Scripture called the creation'' (Ibid.). "What is it the Bible teaches us? — rapine, cruelty, and murder. What is it the Testament teaches us? — to believe that the Almighty com- mitted debauchery with a woman engaged to be married, and the belief of this debauchery is called faith'' (Ibid.). "It is the fable of Jesus Christ, as told in the New Testament, and the wild and visionary doc- trine raised thereon, against which I contend. THOMAS PAINE. 31 The story, taking it as it is told, is blasphemously obscene" (Ibid.). "As to the Christian system of faith, it appears to me as a species of Atheism— a sort of religious denial of God. It professes to believe in a man rather than in God. It is a compound made up chiefly of Manism with but little Deism, and is as near Atheism as twilight is to darkness. It in- troduces between man and his Maker an opaque body, which it calls a Eedeemer, as the moon in^ troduces her opaque self between the earth and the sun, and it produces by this means a religious, or an irreligious eclipse of light. It has put the whole orbit of reason into shade'^ (Ibid.). ''The intellectual part of religion is a private affair between every man and his Maker, and in which no third party has any right to interfere. The practical part consists in our doing good to each other. But since religion has been made into a trade, the practical part has been made to consist of ceremonies performed by men called priests By devices of this kind true religion has been banished, and such means have been found out to extract money, even from the pockets of the poor, instead of contributing to their relief" (Letter to Camille Jordan). "No man ought to make a living by religion. It is dishonest so to do" (Ibid.). 32 THE FATIIEUS OF OUR REPUBLIC. ^^WLo art thou, vain dust and ashes, by what- ever name thou art called — whether a king, a bishop, a church, or a state — that obtrudest thine insi*inificance between the soul of man and his Maker?" (Rights of Man). -— ' "Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be a true system" (Age of Reason). "To do good is my religion." "I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make o!ir fellow-creatures happy" (Age of Reason). Paine's unbelief was life-long. In his "Age of Reason" he says: "From the time I was capable of conceiving an idea and acting upon it by re- flection, I either doubted the truth of the Chris- tian system or thought it to be a strange affair." It has been claimed that Paine, when he wrote his "Common Sense," and advocated American Independence, was a Christian. Concerning this Moucure D. Conway says: "In his ^Common Sense,' (published January 10, 177G), Paine used the reproof of Israel (1 Samuel) for desiring a king. John Adams, a Unitarian and monarchist, asked him if he really believed in the inspiration of the Old Testament. Paine said he did not, and intended at a later period to publish his opinions on the subject" (Life of Paine, Vol. ii, p. 203). THOMAS PAINE. 33 DID PAINE RECANT? Did Thomas Paine recant? Did Martin Luther recant? Protestants assert that Paine recanted; Catholics assert that Luther recanted. Neither recanted. Knaves invented these stories; fools believe them. The church endeavors to convince the world that her opponents are not sincere. She attempts to impeach the intellectual honesty of those who reject her dogmas. She affects to believe that all must at some time acknowledge the truth of her claims. The supreme test is supposed to come just before dissolution. In the presence of death all bow to her authority. When on his death-bed Paine was beset by emissaries of the church, — pious nurses, bigoted priests, and illiterate laymen — who by entreaties and threats tried to compel him to renounce his Deistic and Anti-Christian opinions. What a far- cical scene! What a commentary on Christian- ity! Poor, ignorant, ill-mannered creatures, ex- pecting with silly gibberish and impudence to change the life-long convictions of a dying philos- opher! After his death, Catholics, Mettlodists, Presby- terians, Baptists, Episcopalians, and orthodox Quakers all vied with each other in inventing cal- 34 THE FATIIEKS OF OUR REPUBLIC. uinnies coucoruiiig him. The last named sect was especially active in this work, because Paine was the son of a Quaker, and apostasy was as hateful to the Quaker as it w^as to the Catholic. About ten years after Paine died, this recanta- tion calumny appeared. Willet nicks, a Quaker merchant and preacher, a cousin of the celebrated Elias nicks, and a broad and liberal man, lived near Paine, and during his last illness did all he could to alleviate the sufferings of the sick man and make his last hours pleasant. Mary Roscoe, afterwards Mary ninsdale, was a servant in the nicks family, and, it is alleged, was sometimes sent to Paine's room on errands. On one of these visits Paine, it is claimed, engaged her in conver- sation, and recanted to her his Infidel opinions. According to this story, ^Taine asked her if she had ever read any of his writings, and on being told she had read very little of them, he inquired what she thought of them, adding, ^From such a one as you I expect a correct answer.' She told him that Avhen very young his *Agc of Reason' was put into her hands, but that the more she read in it the more dark and distressed she felt, and she threw the book into the fire. ^I wish all had done as you,' he replied, ^for if the devil ever bad any agency in any work, he has had it in my writing that book.' When going to carry him THOMAS PAINI]. 35 some refrosliments, she repeatedly heard him ut- tering the language, ^Oh! Lord!' ^Lord God!' or 'Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me!' " (Life of Stephen Grellet, Vol. i., p. 125). What a plausible tale! Paine's "Age of Rea- son" was published in 1794. After a lapse of fif- teen years he desires an opinion of it. Persons of intellectual attainments and mature judgment, believers and unbelievers, many of them familiar with its contents, visit him daily. He ignores all of these and solicits the opinion of an illiterate servant girl! He "expects a correct answer" from her, the more especially as she has read very little of it and is ignorant of its contents. The calumny quickly found its way to Eng- land. The famous English writer, William Cob- bett, afterwards a member of Parliament, wrote a refutation of it. IMr. Cobbett's refutation, with a few abridgements, is as follows: "It is a part of the business of a press sold to the cause of corruption to calumniate those, dead or alive, who have most effectually labored against that cause; and, as Paine was the most powerful and effectual of those laborers, so to calumniate liim has been an object of their pe- culiar attention and care. Among other things said against this famous man is, that he recanted 36 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. before he died; and that in his last illness he dis- covered horrible fears of death.'' ^^I happen to know the origin of this story, and I possess the real original document whence have proceeded these divers editions of the falsehood, of the very invention of which I w^as perhaps my- self the innocent cause! "About two years ago I, being then on Long Island, published my intention of writing an ac- count of the life, labors, and death of Paine. Soon after this a Quaker of New York, named Charles Collins, made many applications for an interview with me, which at last he obtained. I found that his object was to persuade me that Paine had recanted. I laughed at him and sent him away. But he returned again and again to to the charge. He wanted me to promise that I would say that 4t was said' that Paine had re- canted. ^No,' said I, ^but I will say that you say it, and that you tell a lie, unless you prove the truth of what you say; and, if you do that, I shall gladly insert the fact.' This posed ^Friend Char- ley,' whom I suspected to be a most consummate hypocrite. He had a sodden face, a simper, and maneuvred his features precisely like the most perfidious wretch that I have known .... Thus put to his trump, Friend Charley resorted to the aid of a person of his own stamp; and at 1^' THOMAS PAINE. 37 brought me a paper. . . .This paper, very cau- tiously and craftily drawn up, contained only the initials of names. This would not do. I made him, at last, put dowm the full name and address of the informer — Olary Ilinsdale, No. 10 xinthony street, New York.' ^' "The informer w^as a Quaker woman, who, at the time of Mr. Paine's last illness, w^as a servant in the family of Mr. Willet Hicks, an eminent merchant, a man of excellent character, a Quaker, and even, I believe, a Quaker preacher. Mr. Hicks, a kind and liberal and rich man, visited Mr. Paine in his illness; and from his house, which w^as near that of Mr. Paine, little nice things (as is the practice in America) w^ere sometimes sent to him, of w^hich this servant. Friend Mary, was the bearer; and this was the way in which the lying cant got into the room of Mr. Paine. "To friend Mary, therefore, I w^ent on the twenty-sixth of October last, with Friend Char- ley's paper in my pocket. I found her in a lodg- ing in a back room up one pair of stairs. ... I was compelled to come quickly to business. She asked, ^What's thy name, Friend?' and the mo- ment I said, ^William Cobbett,' up went her mouth as tight as a purse! Sack-making ap- peared to be her occupation; and, that I might not extract through her eyes that which she was re- 38 THE FATHERS OP OUR REPUBLIC. solved I should not get out of her mouth, she went and took up a sack and began to sew, and not an- other look or glance could I get from her. "However, I took out my paper, read it, and, stopping at several points, asked her if it w\as true. Talk of the Jesuits, indeed! The whole tribe of Loyola, who had shaken so many king- doms to their base, never possessed the millionth part of the cunning of this drab-colored little woman, whose face, simplicity and innocence seemed to have chosen as the place of their tri- umi^li! She shuffled; she evaded; she equivo- cated; she warded off; she affected not to under- stand me, not to understand the paper, not to re- member.'^ "The result was that it w^as so long ago that she could not speak positively on any part of the mat- ter; that she would not say that any part of the paper was true; that she had never seen the paper; and that she had never given Friend Char- ley (for so she called him) authority to say any- thing about the matter in her name. "I had now nothing to do but to bring Friend Gharley-s nose to the grindstone. But Charley, though so pious a man and doubtless in great haste to get to everlasting bliss, had moved out of the city for fear of the fever." Mr. Cobbett supposed that Mary Hinsdale had THOMAS PAINE. 39 really visited Paine, and this supposition was shared by Paine's friends generally. When Gil- bert Vale, about twenty years later, was collect- ing materials for his life of Paine, he learned from Mr. Hicks that she had never seen Thomas Paine. Mr. Vale says: ''To our surprise, on seeing Mr. Hicks, as a duty which we owed the public, we learned that Mary Hinsdale never saw Paine to Mr. Hicks' knowl- edge; that the fact of his sending some delicacy from his table as a compliment occurred but a very few times, and that he always commissioned his daughters on this errand of kindness, and he designated Mrs. Cheeseman, then a little girl, but now the wife of one of our celebrated physicians, as the daughter especially engaged, and that she stated that Mary Hinsdale once wished to go with her, ])ut was refused'' (Life of Paine, p. 178). This accounts for the embarrassment and reti- cence exhibited by Mary Hinsdale when confront- ed by Cobbett. She had never seen Paine, she had never visited the house in which he died; she could not describe its surroundings or interior; she had never seen any of his attendants. If she attempted to make any statements concerning them she had reason to believe that Madame Bon- neville and other witnesf?es were near at hand to expose her. 40 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. In the neighborhood where Mrs. Hinsdale lived she was universally regarded as a low, disrepu- table woman, addicted to the use of opium, and notorious for her lying propensities. Nor was her share in the Paine calumny her only offense of the kind. Mr. Vale, writing in 1839, cites the fol- lowing testimony of Mr. J. W. Lockwood, a repu- table gentleman, of New York: ^'This gentleman had a sister, a member of the Friends who died about two-and-twenty years ago. On her death, Mary Hinsdale, who was known to the family, stated to them that she should come to the funeral, for that she had met Mary Lockwood a short time before her death; and that she (Mary Lockwood) had said to her: *Mary, I do not expect to live long; my views are changed; I wish thee to come to my funeral, and make this declaration to my friends then assem- bled,' and that consequently she should come. The relatives of the deceased, who were Hicksite Quakers, or Friends, knew the falseness of this statement. Those who had sat by her bedside, and heard her continued and last declarations on religious subjects (for she was emphatically a religious young woman), knew that no change had taken place. Her brother, our informant, had heard her express her opinions with great satis- faction. He and her other relatives therefore THOMAS PAINE. 41 said so to Mary Hinsdale, but invited her to at- tend the funeral. Mary Hinsdale did not attend'^ (Life of Paine, p. 185). Collins himself afterwards tacitly admitted the falsity of the Paine calumny. Mr. Vale, on whom he once called, says: ^^Finding Mr. C. Collins in our house, and know- ing the importance of his testimony, w^e at once asked him w^hat induced him to publish the ac- count of Mary Hinsdale. He assured us he then thought it true. He believed that she had seen Mr. Paine, and that Mr. Paine might confess to her, a girl, w^hen he would not to Willet Hicka He knew that many of their most respected Friends did not believe the account. He knew that Mr. Hicks did not, whom he highly re- spected; but yet he thought it might be true. We asked Mr. Collins what he though of the charac- ter of Mary Hinsdale now? He replied that some of our Friends believe she indulges in opiates and do not give her credit for truth." (Ibid.) The exposures of Cobbett, Vale, and others, while they lessened the influence of the calumny, did not silence it. It mattered little to the church whether Paine recanted or not, but it was impor- tant that the masses should believe that he re- canted. With most theologians a falsehood is as good as a truth so long as it serves its purpose. 42 TllK FATHERS OP OUR REPUBLIC. Tho orthodox t'loi'iiy conliiuiod to tliuiulor it from the ])iilpit; tract distributors sowed it broadcast ovor tho huul; no Sunday school library was con- sidcrod coniphMo without a ytdunio containing it; while the reliii'ious papers kept it continually be- fore their readers. The New York Obseryer, a I'resbyterian paper, repeatedly published it, to- pMher with other calumnies on Paine. In an opeu letter to the Obseryer, Col. Ingersoll, in 1S7T, is- sued the following- challenge: "I will deposit with the First National Bank of Peoria, Illinois, one thousand dollars in gold, upon the following conditions: — This money shall be subject to your order when you shall, in the manner hereafter proyided, substantiate that Thomas Paine admitted the Bible to be an in- spired book, or that he recanted his Infidel opin- ions — or that be dieii regretting that he had disbe- lieyed the Bible — or that he died calling upon Jesus Christ in any religious sense, whateyer. *'In order that a tribunal may be created to try this question, you may select one man, I will se- lect another, and the two thus chosen shall se- lect a third, and any two of the three may decide the matter. "As there will be certain costs and expendi- tures on both sides, such costs and expenditures shall be paid by the defeated party. THOMAS PAINE. 43 "In addition to the one thousand dollars in gold, I will deposit a bond with good and suflicient security in the sum of two thousand dollars, con- ditioned for the payment of all costs in case I am defeated. I shall require of you a like bond. "From the date of accepting this offer you may have ninety days to collect and present your tes- timony, giving me notice of time and place of tak- ing depositions. I shall have a like time to take evidence upon my side, giving you like notice, and you shall then have thirty days to take further testimony in rex>ly to what I may offer. The case shall then be argued before the persons chosen; and their decision shall be final as to us. "If the propositions do not suit you in any par- ticular, please state your objections, and I will modify them in any way consistent with the ob- ject in view. "As soon as you notify me of the acceptance of these propositions I will send you the certificate of the bank that the money has been deposited upon the foregoing conditions, together with copies of bonds for costs." The Observer made a pretence of accepting the challenge and then backed out. It again repeated the Mary Ilinsdale story v/itli this endorsement : "It has been published again and again, and so far as we know has never been impeached. '^ In a siibsoqiiont iss\i(\ i( said: **W(^ liav(^ luncT s(a((Hl in any form, nor havt^ wo ovim* sn|>[)()S(Ml that Paino aclnally rouDuncod his Intiih^ily. The accDunls aj^reo in stating that ho iWcd a bhis- phcMninii' Intich^l." (\>l. lni;vi'S(>irs ripply contained t ho foUowinj;': "From the bottom of my heart T thank myself for having compeUed yon to admit that Tlionias Paine did not recant. ^ ^^ * "You have eaten yonr own words, and, for my part, 1 wonhl rather liave dined witli Kzekiel than with you. "I ask von if it is honest to tlirow awav the testimony of his friends — tlie eviiUMun^ of fair and honorable men — and take the putrid words of avowed and malii;nant enemies? "When Thomas Paine was dyiui^-, he was in- fested by fanatics — by the snaky spies of bii;otry. In the shadows of lU^ith wert^ the unclean birds of prt\v waitinii* to t(\\r with beak and claw the ciu'pse of hiiu who wrote tlie 'Kiuhts of Man.' And there lurkiiii;- and crc>uchino^ in the darkness were the jat'kals and hyenas of superstition ready to violate his iirnv(\ "These birds of prey — these unclean beasts are the witnesses produced and relied upon by yt)u. *H)ne by om^ the instruments of torture have been wriMiched fi'i>in th(^ cnu^l clutch of the TIIOMA}^ PA J MO. 45 (l]\ur(']]j until within Uif armory of orlho^loxy there remains but one weapon — Slander.'' In disproof of the lying statement of this de- praved woman, who never saw Thomas Paine, we have, thanks to tlie unselfish labors of Cobbett, Vale, Ingersoll, and Conway, the testimony of a score of deatli-bed witnesses. Two of Paine's most devoted friends in France w^ere Nicholas Bonneville and his wife. Bonne- ville like Paine was a prominent actor in the French Bevolution. After the Revolution Paine lived with the Bonnevilles in Paris. For criti- cising Naj)oleon in his journal Bonneville was im- prisoned and his family reduced to penury. Paine gave them a home in America. When he was taken sick Madame Bonneville tenderly cared for him until he died. After liis death Bonneville and his wife wrote a sketch of the life of tlieir henc^factor. It \\'as subsequently revised by Cobbett, and will be found appended to Dr. Conway's admirable biography of Paine. The fol- lowing, relative to Paine's death, is from the pen of Madame Bonneville: "When he was near his end, two American clergymen came to see him, and to talk with him on religious matters. ^Let me alone,' said he, ^good morning.' He desired they should be ad- mitted no more. Seeing his end fast approach- 46 THE FATIIKKS OF OIUJ UIOPUIUJC. ing, I askod liiiii, in i)ro80iioo of a frioiul, if lio folt satisfied AvKli tlio tivatineiit lu^ liad i'0('(^iv(Ml at our house, u])on wliieli he could only exchiiui, Oh, yes! He added other words but tliey were inco- herent. It was impossibU^ for me not to exert my- self to the utmost in taking:: care of a person to whom T and my children owed so much. He now appeared (o have lost all kinds of feelinjjj. ITe spent ihe niuht in trampiility, and expired in the morning al eight o'clock.'^ IMadame Bonneville was a lady of spotless char- acter, educated and refined, and, like most French women, a Catholic. Dr. N. Komaine, at that time (he most eminent physician of New York, was Paine's physician. ITe testified that Paine did not recant. A Dr. ^lanley also visited him. Put it afterward trans- pired that he was there as a Christian spy and emissary. His real mission was to extort, if pos- sible, a recantation from the lips of the dying Infidel. In a letter to James Cheetham, the vilest of Paine's calumniators, he says: *vl took oc- casions during the nights of the 5th and (Uli of June to test the strength of his opinions respect- ing revelation. I purposely made him a very late visit; it was a time which seemed to suit exactly with my errand; it was midnight, he was in great distress.' ■ Addressing Paine, Dr. ^lanley said: THOMAS I'AIXi:. 47 ^'Do 3'oii believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ? Come, now, answer me honestly. I want an an- swer from the lips of a dying man, for I verily believe that you will not live twenty-four hours."' Not receiving an immediate answer, he continued, ^'Allow me to ask again, do you believe? or let me ([ualify the question, do you wish to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? After a pause of some minutes, he answ^ered, ^I have no wish to believe on that subject/ '^ Dr. Manley's "minutes'^ were probably seconds. Indignant at the impertinence, not to say brutal- ity, of his pious interrogator, the dying patient paused to summon strength to utter a reply that should not be misunderstood. With the excex)tion of the brief w^ords mentioned by Madame Bonne- ville, those were the last words of Thomas Paine. Dr. Manley says that Paine throughout his ill- ness manifested great fear. "He could not be left alone night or day; he not only required to have some person with him but he must see that he or she was there, and would not allow his curtain to be closed at any time.'' This is true; and sub- sequent events showed that his fears were wx41 founded. Dr. Conway says: "ITis unwillingness to be left alone, ascribed to suj)erstitious terror, wan due to efforts to get a re- cantation from him, so determined that he dare 48 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. not bo witliont witnesses, lie liad foreseen this. While living with Jarvis, twH^ years before, he de- sired him to bear witness that he maintained his theistic convietions to the last. . . . When he knew that his illness was mortal he solemnly re- allirmed these opinions in the presence of Mad- ame Bonneville, Dr. Komaine, Mr. Ilaskin, Cap- tain Pel ton, and Thomas Nixon.'^ (Life of Paine, Vol. ii, p. 414.) It was these witnesses — some of wiiom were al- W'ay^s present wiien Dr. Manley visited him — that prevented this charlatan from doing what Mary Hinsdale did. Just before Paine's death the Rev. Cunningham and the Rev. Milledollar, prominent clergymen of New York, gained access to his room. With that politeness so characteristic of clergymen, when addressing those w^ho do not subscribe to their opinions, Mr. Cunningham said to him, "You have now a full view of death, you cannot live long, and whosoever does not believe in Jesus Christ shall be damned.'^ To this Paine replied, "Let me have none of your popish nonsense. Good morning." Mv. Cunningham and Mr. Milledollar both af- firmed that Paine died unrepentant. A blind preacher, named Pigott, and his brother also visited Paine for the purpose of con- verting him. The brother says that Paine received THOMAS PAINE. 41) (hem cordially and treated them i)olitely, but ex- hibited great displeasure when they attempted to obtrude their religious opinions upon him. Mrs. Redden, Paine's pious nurse, was espe- cially anxious to secure his conversion. She ad- mitted the clergymen who annoyed him during his last hours and is charged with the responsi- bility of Dr. Mauley's visits. But Mrs. Redden de- sired a genuine conversion, not a fabricated re- cantation. She frankly confessed that all efforts to change his views were futile. There is usually an attempt to supply every de- mand. That there was an urgent demand for this recantation story, particularly among the Quak- ers, is attested by the Quaker preacher, Willet Hicks. Mr. Hicks says: "You can have no idea of the anxiety of our people on this subject; I was beset by them, both here and in England, where I soon after went on a journey. ... As for money, I could have had any sums if I would have said anything against Thomas Paine, or if even I would have consented to remain silent. They informed me that the doc- tor (Manley) was willing to say something that would satisfy them if I would engage to be silent.'' (Vale's Life of Paine, p. 178.) The following affidavit was subscribed and 50 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. sworn to by William B. Barnes of Wabash, Indi- ana, October 27, 1877: ^'In the year 1833 Willet Hicks made a visit to Indiana and stayed over night at my father^s house, four miles east of Richmond. In the morn- ing at breakfast my mother asked Willet Hicks the following questions: " ^Was thee with Thomas Paine during his last sickness?' ''Mr. Hicks said: ^I was with him every day during the latter part of his last sickness.' " ^Did he express any regret in regard to writ- ing the "Age of Reason," as the published ac- counts say he did?' "Mr. Hicks replied: ^He did not in any way by word or action.' " 'Did he call on God or Jesus Christ, asking either of them to forgive his sins, or did he curse them or either of them?' "Mr. Hicks answered: 'He did not. He died as easy as any one I ever saw die, and I have seen many die in my time.' " Mr. A. C. Hankinson of Peoria, Illinois, writes: "My parents were Friends (Quakers). My father died when I was very young. The elderly and middle-aged Friends visited at my mother's house. We lived in the city of New York. Among the number I distinctly remember Elias Hicks, THOMAS PAINE. 51 Willet nicks, and a Mr. Day, who was a book roller in Pearl street. There were many others, whose names I do not now remember. The sub- ject of the recantation by Thomas Paine of his ^iews about the Bible in his last illness, or at any 3ther time, w^as discussed by them in my presence at different times. I learned from them that some r)f them had attended upon Thomas Paine in his last sickness and ministered to his wants up to the time of his death. And upon the question of whether he did recant there was but one expres- =5ion. They all said that he did not recant in any manner. I often heard them say they wished he had recanted. In fact, according to them, the nearer he approached death the more positive he appeared to be in his convictions. These conver- sations were from 1820 to 1822." The conversations related by Mr. Hankinson, it will be vseen, occurred almost immediately after the publication of the Hinsdale story and were doubtless prompted by it. In 1839 Gilbert Yale published in the New York Beacon the following testimony from Amasa Woodsworth, a gentleman who lived next door to Paine, and who was one of his most con- stant attendants. Mr. Yale says: "As an act of kindness Mr. Woodsworth visited Mr. Paine everv dav for six weeks before his 52 Tin: TA riuais oi' o\ \i ui:rrr»Lio. (loath. TTo fro(|iiontly sat ii]> with irmi, and did so on tho hist two nights of his life. He was al- ways thoiv with Dr. !Manh\v, tho physician, and assisted in removing ^Ir. Paine while his bed was prepared. He was present when Dr. ^lanley asked Paine 'if he wished to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of (U)d/ and he describes Mr. Paine^s answer as animated, lie says that lyin^- on his baek he used some action and with nuieh em[>hasis, re- plied, 'I have no wish to believe on that subject.' lie lived some time after this, but was not known to speak, for he died tran(|nilly. lie accounts for the insinuatiuii style of Dr. ^lanley's letter by statinu that that uent Ionian just after its publica- tion joined a church, lie informs us that he has openly reproved the doctor for the falsity contain- ed in the spirit of that letter, boldly declariuijj be- fore Dr. Mauley, who is yet living, that nothing which he saw justilied the insinuations. Mr. AVoodsworth assures us that he neither heard nor saw anything to justify the belief of any mental change in the opinions of Mr. Paine previous to his death." The above is corroborated by Dr. Philip Graves who met ^Ir. AYoodsworth in 1S42. Dr. Graves says: **lle told me that he nursed Thomas Paine in his last illness, and closed his eves when dead. THOMAS I'AINE. 53 I aHkcfl him if he nManted and calh^l upon Ood to Have him. Ho replied, ^No. He died as he had taught. He had a sore upon liis side and wlien we turned him it was very painful and he would cry out, "O Ood!" or something like that/ ^But,' said the narrator, ^that was nothing, for he be- lieved in a God.' I told him that I had often lu^ard it asserted from the pulpit that Mr. Paine reeanted in his last moments. The gentleman said that it was not true, and he appeared to be an in- telligent truthful man." John Handel, Jr., a civil engineer of New York, an orthodox Christian, says that ^Ir. Woodsworth was a v(^ry worthy man and that he told him that there was no truth in the report that Paine re- canted. Thomas Nixon and Capt. Daniel Pelton, who attended Paine during his last sickness, wrote, signed and sent the following statement to Wil- liam Cobbett: "All you have heard of his recanting is false. Being aware that such reports would be raised after his death by fanatics who infested his house at the time it was expected he would die, w^e, the subscribers, intimate acquaintances of Thomas Paine, since the year 177G, went to his house — he was sitting up in a chair, and apparently in the full vigor and use of all his mental faculties. We iiUtM'n>i>aUHl him on his roliuious opinions, and if ho luul ohaniiod his mind or ropentod of anythiiiij: ho had said or writton on that snbjoct. Ilo nn- swoi'od, Miot at all,' antl api)eaivd rathor otYondod at onr snpposition that any ohango shonld take place in his mind. Wo took down in writinix the questions put to him, and his answers thereto, be- fore a number of persons then in his room."" Paine's exeeutors were Walter ^lorton, a law- yer of New York, and Thomas Addis Emmet, a brother of Kobert Emmet, the Irish patriot. "Roth attended Taine and both testitied that no ehange took plaee in his o]>inions. ^Ir. ^lorton, who was present when he expired, says: '•In his religious oi)inions, he eontinued to the last as steadfast and tenacious as any sectai'ian to the detinition of his own ereed." Mrs. Kit tie Eew is declared by Conway to be **The woman for whom he (Taine) had the deep- est affection in America." Tlieir friendship dated back almost to tlie Kevolution. She was the daughter of Commodore >yicholson of New York, and the wife of Col. Few, a senator from Georgia. ^Irs. Few visited Paine before he died and oiTered him religious consolation. Had his opinions uu- derii'one anv chauiic he would certainly have com- nninicated the fact to her. But according to Gal- latin's biographer, Henry Adams, "Paine only THOMAS PAINE. 55 luriKMl his faro to tlio wall, and kopi; silence." The eminent orator and statesman, Albert Gab latin, a brother-in-law of Mrs. Few, was also one of Paine's most loyal friends. He visited and con- versed with Paine while on his death-bed, but re- ceived from him no intimation of a mental chanj^e. The gifted painter, John Wesley Jarvis, with whom Paine had formerly resided, testified that Paine on his death-bed reafTirmed the prin- ciples enunciated in his "Age of Reason." So too, did the worthy lawyers, B. F. Ilasldn and Judge Ilertel. And so, too, did Col. John Fellows, one of New York's most honored and respected citizens. This calumny Col. Fellows vehemently denounced. In a preface to Paine's w^orks he "I cannot relinquish this subject without tak- ing notice of one of the most vile and wicked stories that were ever engendered in the fruitful imagination of depraved mortals. It was fabri- cated by a woman, named Mary Hinsdale, and published by one Charles Collins, at New York, or rather, it is probable that this work was the joint production of Collins, and some other fanatics, and that they induced this stupid ignorant woman to stand sponsor for it. . . . Mrs. Bonne- vill(^ was absent in France at the time of its first appearance in New York, and when shown to her 56 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. on her return to America, although her feelings were highly agitated at the baseness of the fabri- cation, she would not permit her name to appear in print in competition with that of Mary Hins- dale. No notice, therefore, has been taken of it, excepting by Mr. Cobbett. Indeed, it was con- sidered by the friends of Mr. Paine generally to be too contemptible to controvert.'' Of this witness, and another death-bed witness, Judge Hertell, Judge Tabor writes: '^I was an associate editor of the New York Beacon with Col. John Fellovrs, then (1S3G) ad- vanced in years, but retaining all the vigor and fire of his manhood. He was a ripe scholar, a most agreeable companion, and had been the cor- respondent and friend of Jefferson, Madison, Mon- roe and John Quincy Adams, under all of whom he held a responsible office . . . Col. Fellows and Judge Hertell visited Paine throughout the whole course of his last illness. They repeatedly con- versed with him on religious topics and they de- clared that he died serenely, philosophically and resignedly. This information I had directly from their own lips, and their characters were so spot- less and their integrity so unquestioned, tliat more reliable testimony it would be impossible to give" (Conway's Life of Paine, Vol. ii., pp. 398, 399). THOMAS PAINE. 57- Before his death "the good gray poet/^ Walt Whitman, in early manhood the friend and com- panion of Col. Fellows, adverting to the Paine calumnies, said: "It was a time when, in religion, there was as yet no philosophical middle-ground; people were very strong on one side or the other; there was a good deal of lying, and the liars were often well paid for their work. Paine and his principles made the great issue. Paine was double-damnably lied about^' (Ibid. p. 423). Here are twenty death-bed witnesses, Madame Bonneville, Dr. Eomaine, Dr. Manley, Rev. Cun- ningham, Rev. Milledollar, Mr. Pigott, Mrs. Red- den, /Willet Hicks, Mrs. Cheeseman, Amasa Woodsworth, Thomas Nixon, Captain Pelton, Walter Morton, Thomas Addis Emmet, Mrs. Few, Albert Gallatin, Mr. Jarvis, B. F. Haskin, Colonel Fellows, and Judge Hertell, many of them Chris- tians, all affirming or admitting that Thomas Paine did not recant. The orthodox clergy have, for the most part, re- jected the testimony of these witnesses and ac- cepted the unsupported statement of a notorious liar and opium fiend who was not a death-bed wit- ness. Can men who do this be honest? Can a religion requiring such support be divine? It should not have required the testimony of a 58 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. single witness to disprove this story. It is self- evidentlv false. Three facts confute it: 1. Its late appearance. Had Thomas Paine recanted every inhabitant of New York would have heard of it within twenty-four hours. The news of it would have spread to the remotest con- fines of America and to Europe as rapidly as the human agencies of that time could have trans- mitted it. It took ten years for this startling revelation to reach the ears of his sick-bed atten- dants. 2 He was denied burial in a Christian ceme- tery. Dr. Manley states that he w\as greatly dis- tressed concerning his interment. Madame Bonneville says: *^He wished to be buried in the Quaker burying ground. . . . The committee of the Quakers refused to receive his body, at which he seemed deeply moved.'^ A renunciation of his Infidel opinions — a simple acknowledgment of Jesus Christ — would have secured him a burial place in any Christian cemetery. He was buried on his farm. 3. The continued assaults of the Church upon his character. The Church does not assail the characters of her converts. "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.'* Had Paine recanted and accepted THOMAS PAINE. 59 Christ, Christians would have placed him on a pedestal higher than that of Washington. A breath of adverse criticism would have been frozen with a frown. But instead of the apothe- osis which the conversion of this great Infidel would have brought him, we witness only the cal- umniation of his character, and the consignment of his soul to endless misery in hell. It needed not the dying testimony of Thomas Paine to prove his intellectual honesty in writing the "Age of Reason.'^ This had been put to a su- preme test when it was given to the world. His sincerity and his intense earnestness, w^hich are evidenced on every page, were fully established by these facts: 1. The prosecution of the work, which had been projected in early manhood, was hastened by what he believed to be the near approach of death. In the first part of the book he writes: "My friends were falling as fast as the guillo- tine could cut their heads off, and as I expected, every day, the same fate, I resolved to begin my work. I appeared to myself to be on my death- bed, for death was on every side of me, and I had no time to lose. This accounts for my writing at the time I did, and so nicely did the time and in- tention meet, that I had not finished the first part 60 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. of the work more than six hours before I was ar- rested and taken to prison.'' 2. On his way to prison — and believing that the prison was but a brief halting place on the road to the guillotine — he entrusted the work which he had dedicated to his ^^fellow citizens of the United States," to his friend Joel Barlow to convey to the publisher. 3. The second and concluding portion of the work was written while a prisoner in the Luxem- bourg, awaiting the summons of Death. 4. Dr. Bond, a fellow prisoner, bears this tes- timony to his sincerity: "Mr. Paine, while hour- ly expecting to die, read to me parts of the *Age of Reason;' and every night when I left him, to be separately locked up, and expected not to see him alive in the morning, he always expressed his firm belief in the principles of that book, and begged I would tell the world such were his dy- ing opinions. ... He was the most conscientious man I ever knew." ''To do good is my religion." "Religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and en- deavoring to make our fellow creatures happy." This is the religion which Thomas Paine professed and practiced; this is the religion which the Church wished him to renounce, and accept in its stead, "I believe in Jesus Christ." The dogma of l^HOMAS PAINE. Gl the Church is passing away; but the religion of Thomas Paine will endure. The seeds of goodness sowed by him are germinating and growing and flowering and fruiting everywhere. Dr. Conway says: "His principles rest not. His thoughts, un- traceable like his dust, are blown about the world which he held in his heart. For a hundred years no human being has been born in the civilized world without some spiritual tincture from that heart whose every pulse was for humanity, whose last beat broke a fetter of fear, and fell on the throne of thrones." Thomas Paine did not recant. But the Church is recanting. On her death-bed tenet after tenet of the absurd and cruel creed which Paine op- posed is being renounced by her. Time will wit- ness the renunciation of her last dogma, and her death. Then will the vindication of Thomas Paine and the "Age of Reason" be complete. THOMAS JEFFERSON THOMAS JEFFERSON THOMAS JEFFERSON. Had Jefferson's works been edited by some pious churchman who would have expunged or modified his radical sentiments; or had his worka been suppressed after they were published, as some desired, the clergy might with less fear of exposure claim that their author was a Christian. But while his writings are accessible to the pub- lic, it adds nothing to their reputation for candor to make the claims respecting his belief which many of them do; for these writings clearly prove that he was not a Christian, but a Freethinker. The ^^Memoirs, Correspondence and Miscellanies from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson,'' edited by Thomas Jefferson Randolph, a grandson of the distinguished statesman, was printed in four large volumes, and published in 1829. From these volumes, and other writings of Jefferson, I have culled some of the most radical thoughts to be found in the whole range of Infidel literature. In a letter to his nephew and ward, Peter Carr, while at school, Jefferson offers the following ad- vice, which though thoroughly sound, would be 65 66 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. considered rather questionable advice for a Chris- tian to give a schoolboy; *'Fix Reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Cjuestion with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason than of blindfolded fear. ... Do not be frightened from this inquiry by any fear of its consequences. If it end in a belief that there is no God, you will find incitements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you feel in its exercise and in the love of others which it will procui*e for you" (Jefferson's Works, Vol. ii., p. 217). The God of the Old Testament— the God which Christians worship — Jefferson pronounces *'a be- ing of terrific character — cruel, vindictive, ca- pricious, and unjust" (Works, Vol. iv., p. 325). In speaking of the Jewish priests, he denomi- mates them ^'a bloodthirsty race, as cruel and re- morseless as the being whom they represented a^ the family God of Abraham, of Isaac, and Ja- cob, and the local God of Israel'^ (Ibid.). In a letter to John Adams, dated April 8, 1816, referring to the God of the Jews, he says: "Their God would be deemed a very indifferent man with us'' (Ibid. p. 373). To his nephew he Avrites as follows regarding the Bible: THOMAS JEFFERSON. 67 '^Read the Bible as you would Livy or Tacitus. For example, in the book of Joshua we are told the sun stood still for several hours. Were we to read that fact in Livy or Tacitus we should class it with their showers of blood, speaking of their statues, beasts, etc. But it is said that the writer of that book was inspired. Examine, there- fore, candidly, what evidence there is of his having been inspired. The pretension is entitled to your inquiry, because millions believe it. On the other hand, you are astronomer enough to know how contrary it is to the law of nature" (Works, Vol. ii., p. 217). In this same letter, he thus refers to Jesus Christ: "Keep in your eye the opposite pretensions: First, of those who say he was begotten by God, born of a virgin, suspended and reversed the laws of Nature at w^ill, and ascended bodily into heaven; and second, of those who say he was a man of illegitimate birth, of a benevolent heart, enthusiastic mind, who set out without preten- sions to divinity, ended in believing them, and was punished capitally for sedition by being gib- beted, according to the Roman law, which pun- ished the first commission of that offence by w^hip- ping, and the second by exile or death in furca.'^ His own opinion respecting the above is ex- 68 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. pressed in a letter to John Adams, written a short time previous to his death: "The day will come when the mystical gener- ation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter" (Works, Vol. iv, p. 365). In the gospel history of Jesus, Jefferson discov- ers what he terms "a groundwork of vulgar igno- rance, of things impossible, of superstitions, fanat- icisms, and fabrications" (Works, Vol. iv, p. 325). He continues: "If we could believe that he [Jesus] really countenanced the follies, the false- hoods, and the charlatanisms which his biogra- phers [Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,] father on him, and admit the misconstructions, inter- polations, and theorizations of the fathers of the early, and the fanatics of the latter ages, the con- clusion would be irresistible by every sound mind that he was an impostor" (Ibid.). Jefferson, how^ever, did not regard Jesus as an impostor. He says: "Among the sayings and discourses imputed to him by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely benevolence; and others, again, of so much ignorance, of so much absurdity, so much untruth and imposture, as to pronounce it im- THOMAS JEFFERSON. 69 possible that such contradictions should have pro- ceeded from the same being. I separate, there- fore, the gold from the dross, restore to him the former, and leave the latter to the stupidity of some and the roguery of others of his disciples'' (Ibid., 320). Jefferson made a compilation of the more rational and humane teachings of Jesus, the ^^gold," as he termed it, which has since been pub- lished. Some superficial readers have supposed this to be an acknowledgment of Christ. Ortho- dox teachers, however, know better and ignore the book. For the man Jesus, Jefferson, like Rousseau, Paine, Ingersoll, and other Freethinkers, had nothing but admiration; for the Christ Jesus of theology, nothing but contempt. In regard to Jesus believing himself inspired he interposes the plea of mild insanity. He says: "This belief carried no more personal imputa- tion than the belief of Socrates that he was under the care and admonition of a guardian demon. And how many of our wisest men still believe in the reality of these inspirations while perfectly sane on all other subjects" (Works, Vol. iv, p. 327). Several of the preceding quotations are from a lengthy communication to William Short. In the 70 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. same oommnnication be characterizes the Four Evangelists as ''groveling authors" with ''feeble minds/' To the early disciples of Jesus he pays the following compliment: ''Of this band of dupes and impostors, Paul was^ the great Corypheus, and first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus" (Ibid.). The puhlisheil writings of Jefferson, which, how- ever, do not contain many of his most radical thoughts, would indicate that he regarded Jesus Christ as a historical character. In a contribution to Frazer's Magazine for March, 1SG5, Dr. Conway shows that he was sometimes disposed to enter- tain the mythical hypothesis. Mr. Conway says: "Jefferson occupied his Sundays at ]Monticello in writing letters to Paine (they are unpublished, I believe, but I have seen them) in favor of the probabilities that Christ and his Twelve Apostles were only personifications of the sun and the twelve signs of the Zodiac.-' This was the opinion held by Paine during the last years of his life. For nearly sixteen hundred years the doctrine of the Trinity has been a leading tenet of the Christian faith. To doubt this dogma is the rankest heresy; for denying it thousands have lost their lives. In a letter to Col. Pickering, Jef- ferson speaks of "the incomprehensible jargon of THOMAS JEFFERSON. 7l the Trinitarian arithmetic, that three are one and one is three/' In a letter to James Smitli, Jefferson says: ''The hocus-pocus phantasm of a God, like an- other Cerberus, with one body and three heads, had its birth and growth in the blood of thou- sands and thousands of martyrs" (Works, Vol. iv., p. 3G0). Again, in the same communication, he says: "The Athanasian paradox that one is three and three but one, is so incomprehensible to the human mind, that no candid man can say he has any idea of it, and how can he believe what pre- sents no idea? lie who thinks he does, only de- ceives himself. lie proves, also, that man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without a rudder, is the sport of every wind. With such persons, gullibility, which they call faith, takes the helm of reason, and the mind becomes a wreck.'' Not at an insignificant minority, not at an un- important and unpopular sect, but at nine hun- dred and ninety-nine out of every thousand Christians — at virtually the entire Christian church — was the above scathing criticism hurled. Even more bitter is the following from a letter to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse: 72 Till: FATIIIOKS OF OVR TJKPITKLIC. "I should as soon undortako to bring the crazy skulls of Bedlam to sound understanding, as in- culcate reason into that of an Athanasian'' (Works, Vol. iv., p. 353). In a letter to John Adams, written August 22, 1813, Jefferson saj's: *'It is too late in the day for men of sincerity to pretend they believe in the Platonic mysticism that three are one and one is three, and yet, that the one is not three, and the three are not one.. . . But this constitutes the craft, the power, and profits of the priests. Sweep aAvay their gossamer fabrics of fictitious religion, and they would catch no more Hies'- (Ibid, p. 205). Writing to John Adams a year later — July 5, 1814 — he again refers to this subject: ^'The Christian priesthood, finding the doctrines of Christ leveled to everv understandinc:, and too plain to need explanation, saw in the mys- ticisms of Plato materials with which they might build \i\i an artificial system, which might, from its indistinctness, admit everlasting controversy, give employment for their order and introduce it to profit, power and pre-emi- nence'^ (Ibid, p. 212). Alluding to the eucharist, he styles the ortho- dox clergy ^'cannibal priests" (Ibid, p. 205). Jefferson's hatred of Calvinism was intense. THOMAS JEFFERSON. 73 He never ceased to denounce the ^^blasphemous absurdity of llie five 7)oints of Calvin." Three years before his death he writes John Adams: *'IIis [Calvin's] religion was demonism. If ever man worshiped a false God, he did. The being described in his five points is ... a demon of malignant spirit. It would be more pardonable to believe in no God at all, than to blaspheme him by the atrocious attributes of Calvin" (Works, Vol. iv., p. 3G3). "It is hard to say," observes Bancroft, "which surpassed the other in boiling hatred of Calvin- ism, Jefferson or John Adams." To Dr. Cooper, November 2, 1822, Jefferson writes: "I had no idea, however, that in Pennsylvania, the cradle of toleration and freedom of religion, it [fanaticism] could have arisen to the height you describe. This must be owing to the growth of Presbyterianism. The blasphemy of the five points of Calvin, and the impossibility of defend- ing them, render their advocates impatient of reasoning, irritable, and prone to denunciation" (Works, Vol. iv, p. 358). In the same letter, after mentioning the fact that in Virginia where he resides, the Christians being divided into different sects, including the Presbyterian, are more tolerant, he continues: 74 THE FATIIEUS OF OUK REPUBLIC. "It is not SO in tlio districts wlioro Prosbyteri- anism prevails nndividodlv. Their ambition and tyranny wonld tolerate no riyal if they had power. Systematical in grasping at an ascend- ancy oyer all other sects, they aim, like the Jesuits, at engrossing the education of the coun- try, are hostile to eyery institution they do not direct, and jealous at seeing others begin to at- tend at all to that object/' In the folloAying significant passage we haye Jefferson's opinion of the Christian religion as a whole : "I haye recently been exam in in*]: all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition [Christianity] one redeem- ing feature. They are all alike, founded upon fables and mythologies'' (Letter to Dr. Woods). Could a more emphatic declaration of disbelief in Christianity be framed than this? In his "Notes on Virginia,'" the following caus- tic allusion to Christianity occurs: "trillions of innocent men, women, and chil- dren, since the introduction of Christianity, haye been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniform- ity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools and the other half hypocrites." TITOAfAS .Tr:rFKiisr>N. 75 In hiH letter to Dr. Cooper, jn-fiyQV meetingH and revivalB receive thiK eruel thrust from his pen: "In our Itiehmond there is rn ueh fanaticism, but chiefly among the women. They have their night meetings and praying parties, where, attended by their i)riests, jjnd sonielimr-s by a henpecked hus- band, they x)our forth the effusions of their love to JesuB in terms as amatory and carnal as their modesty would permit to a merely earthly lover" (Works, Vol. iv., p. 358). A short time before his death, Jefferson, in a letter to John Adams, after commending the mor- als of Jesus, wrote as follows concerning his philosophical belief: ^'Tt is not to be understood that I am wdth him [Jesus] in all his doctrines. I am a Materialist." In support of his ^laterialistic creed, he argues as follows: ^'On the basis of sensation we may erect the fabric of all the certainties we can have or need. I can conceive thought to be an action of matter or magnetism of loadstone. Wh^^n he who denies to the Creator the power of endowing matter with the mode of motion called thinking shall show how he could endow the sun with the mode of action called attraction, which reins the planets in their orbits, or how an absence of matter can have a will, and by that will put matter into motion, 76 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. then the Materialist may be lawfully required to explain the process by which matter exercises the faculty of thinking. When once we quit the basis of sensation, all is in the wind. To talk of im- material existences, is to talk of nothings. To say that the human soul, angels, God, are immaterial, is to say they are nothings, or that there is no God, no angels, no soul. I cannot reason otherwise. But I believe that I am supported in my creed of Materialism by the Lockes, the Tracys, and the Stewarts.'' Noting the absence of the idea of immortality in the Bible and particularly in the books ascribed to Moses, he writes: ^'Moses had either not believed in a future state of existence, or had not thought it essential to be explicitly taught to the people." (Works, Vol. iv., p. 326.) Jefferson's wife preceded him to the grave by nearly forty-four years. If ever woman was adored by man this woman was adored by her husband. The blow stunned him; and for weeks he lay prostrated with grief. Referring to the sad event, Wm. O. Stoddard, the Presidential biographer, says: "He was utterly absorbed in sorrow, and took no note of what was going on around him. His dream of life had been shattered, and it seemed THOMAS JEFFERSON. 77 as if life itself had lost its claim upon him, for no faith or hope of his reached onward and inward to any other.'' (Lives of the Presidents, Vol. ii, p. 270.) In the following brave and truthful words we have Jefferson's estimate of priestcraft: "In every country and in every age the priest has been hostile to liberty; he is always in alli- ance with the despot, abetting his abuses in re- turn for protection to his own." Alluding to his beloved child, the University of Virginia, he writes: "The serious enemies are the priests of the dif- ferent religious sects to whose spells on the hu- man mind its improvement is ominous" (Works, Vol. iv., p. 322). "We have most unwisely committed to the hierophants of our particular superstition the direction of public opinion — that lord of the uni- verse. We have given them stated and privileged days to collect and catechise us, opi)ortunities of delivering their oracles to the people in mass, and of molding their minds as wax in the hollow of their hands." (Ibid.). His uncomplimentary allusions to the Christian clergy, to the Christian Sabbath, and to Chris- tianity itself as "our particular superstition," are as unorthodox as anything to be found in Paine. 78 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. To John Adams ho writes as follows rogardinjx (lisestablishiiiont in New Eii^ijlaiul: ^'I join you, therefore, in sincere congratulations that this den of the priesthood is at length broken up, and that a Protestant Popedom is no longer to disgrace the American history and character." (Works, Vol. iv., p. 301). Jefferson's hatred of priestcraft was life-long; for while the above was written but a few years ])rior to his death, the following from a letter to Mr. Whyte, was written nearly half a century be- fore : ''If anybody thinks that kings, nobles and priests, are good conservators of the public happi- ness, send him here [Paris]. It is the best school in the universe to cure him of that folly. He will see here with his own eyes that these descriptions of men are an abandoned confederacy against the happiness of the mass of the people." While he detested the entire clergy, regarding them as a Avorthless class, living like parasites upon the labors of others, his denunciation of the Presbyterian priesthood was particularly severe, as evinced by the following: "The Presbyterian clergy are the loudest, the most intolerant of all sects; the most tyrannical and ambitious, ready at the word of the law-giver, if such a word could now be obtained, to put their THOMAS JKFFERSOX. 70 torch to t\i(t pil(', arid to rekindle in tliis vir^irj hemisphere the flame in which their oracle, Cal- vin, consumed the poor Servetus, because he could not subscribe to the proposition of Calvin, that magistrates have a right to extornjinate all here- tics to the Calvinistic creed! They pant to re-es- tablish by law that holy inrpjisition which they can now only infuse into public ox)inion" (Works, Vol. iv., p. :i22). He charges the early church in this country with uniform cruelty — in Virginia as well as New England. He says: ^'If no capital execution [of Quakers] took place here it was not owing to the moderation of the church.'' (Notes on Virginia, p. 202.) His noble fight against the church and in behalf of religious freedom for Virginia, in which he acknowledged the valiant support of Madison, entitles him to the everlasting gratitude of every lover of liberty. From his argument in favor of the disestablishment of religion, to be found in his ^^Notes on Virginia," (pp. 234-237,) the follow- ing extracts are taken: "By our own act of Assembly of 1705, c. 30, if a person brought up in the Christian religion de- nies the being of God, or the Trinity, or asserts there are more gods than one, or denies the Chris- tian religion to be true, or the Scriptures to be of 80 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. divine authority, he is punishable on the first of- fense by incapacity to hold any office or employ- ment, ecclesiastical, civil, or military; on the sec- ond, by disability to sue, to take any gift or leg- acy, to be guardian, executor, or administrator, any by three years^ imprisonment without bail. A father's right to the custody of his own children being founded in law on his right of guardianship, this being taken away, they may of course be severed from him, and put by the authority of the court, into more orthodox hands. This is a sum- mary view of that religious slavery under which a people have been willing to remain, who have lavished their lives and fortunes for the estab- lishment of civil freedom." ^The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. . . . Constraint may make him worse by making him a hypocrite, but it will never make him a truer man.'' ^^Eeason and persuasion are the only prac- ticable instruments. To make way for these free inquiry must be indulged; how can we wish others to indulge it while w^e refuse it ourselves? But every state, says an inquisitor, has established some religion. No two, say I, have established the THOMAS JEFFERSON. 81 same. Is this a proof of the infallibility of estab- lishments?" "It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.'^ There are still existing on the statute books of many states laws but little less intolerant than those which Jefferson and his friends removed from the statute books of Virginia. To those who contend that these laws are not dangerous be- cause no longer enforced, I commend these words of Jefferson: "I doubt whether the people of this country would suffer an execution for heresy, or a three months' imprisonment for not comprehending the mysteries of the Trinity. But is the spirit of the people infallible — a permanent reliance? Is it government? Is this the kind of protection we receive in return for the rights we give up? Be- sides, the spirit of the times may alter — will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt, our people care- less. A single zealot may become persecutor, and better men become his victims.'' (Notes on Vir- ginia, p. 269.) Jefferson's Presidential administration was probably the most purely secular this country has ever had. During his eight years' incumbency of the office not a single religious proclamation was 82 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. issued. Referring to his action in this matter, he says : *^I know it will give great offense to the clergy, but the advocate of religious freedom is to expect neither peace nor forgiveness from them.'^ In answer to a communication from the Rev. Mr. Miller relative to this subject, he writes as fol- lows : *'I consider the Government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from meddling with religious institutions, their doc- trines, discipline, or exercises. . . . But it is only proposed that I should recommend, not prescribe a day of fasting and praying. That is, I should indirectly assume to the United States an author- ity over religious exercises, which the Constitu- tion has directly precluded them from. . . . Every one must act according to the dictates of his own reason and mine tells me that civil powers alone have been given to the President of the United States, and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents." A favorite claim with the church is that we are indebted to the Bible and Christianity for our moral and civil law, and especially that the teach- ings of the Bible and Christianity are a part of the common law. This claim is universally urged by Christians and generally conceded by jurists. In THOMAS JEFFEUISON. 83 a letter to Maj(;r John Cartwrigbt, JefTerson ex- poses the fraudulent character of the claim. Of such importance is the question, and so thorough is the refutation, that I give it entire: "I was glad to find in your book a formal con- tradiction at length of the judiciary usurx)ation of legislative powers; for such the judges have usurped in their repeated decisions, that Chris- tianity is a part of the common law. The proof of the contrary which you have adduced is incon- trovertible; to wit, that the common law existed while the Anglo-Saxons were yet Pagans, at a time when they had never yet heard the name of Christ pronounced, or knew that such a character had ever existed. But it may amuse you to show when and by what means they stole the law in upon us. In a case of quare impedit in the Year Book 34 IT. 6, folio 38, (anno 1458,) a question was made, how far the ecclesiastical law was to be respected in a common law court. And Prisot, Chief Justice, gives his opinion in these words: *A tiel leis quMls de seint eglise out en ancien scripture covient a nous a donner credence,' etc. ... See S. C. Fitzh. Abr. Qu. imp. 89. Bro. ; Abr. Qu. imp. 12. Finch, in his first book, c. 3 is the first afterwards who quotes this case, and mis- takes it thus: To such laws of the chuch as have warrant in Holy Scripture our law giveth ere- 84 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. dence;' and cites Prisot, mistranslating ^ancien scripture' into ^Holy Scripture.' Whereas Prisot palpably says, ^To such laws as those of holy church have in ancient writing it is proper for us to give credence;' to wit, to their ancient written laws. This was in 1613, a century and a half after the dictum of Prisot. Wingate, in 1658, erects this false translation into a maxim of common law^, copying the words of Finch, but citing Prisot. Wing, Max. 3. And Sheppard, title ^Eeligion,' in 1675, copies the same mistranslation, quoting the Y. B. Finch and Wingate. Hale expresses it in these words: ^Christianit}^ is parcel of the laws of England.' 1 Yentr. 293. 3 Keb. (507. But he quotes no authority. By these echoings and re- echoings from one to another it had become so es- tablished in 1728 that, in case the King vs. Wool- ston, 2 Stra. 834, the court would not suffer it to be debated, w^hether to write against Christianity was punishable in the temporal courts at common law. Wood, therefore, 409, ventures still to vary the phrase, and say that all blasphemy and pro- faneness are offences by the common law, and cites 2 Stra. Then Blackstone, in 1763, 4.59, re- peats the words of Hale, that ^Christianity is part of laws of England,' citing Yentris and Strange. And finally. Lord Mansfield, with a little qualification, in Evans's case, in 1767, says that THOMAS JEFFERSON. 85 ^the essential principles of revealed religion are part of the common law.' Thus ingulfing Bible, Testament, and all, into the common law, with- out citing any authority. And thus we find this chain of authorities hanging link by link, one upon another, and all ultimately on one and the same book, and that a mistranslation of the words ^ancien scripture' used by Prisot. Finch quotes Prisot; Wingate does the same. Sheppard quotes Prisot, Finch, and Wingate. Hale cites nobody. The court in Woolston's case cites Hale. Wood cites Woolston's case. Blackstone quotes Wool- ston's case and Hale. And Lord Mansfield, like Hale, ventures on his own authority. Here I might defy the best read lawyer to produce an- other scrip of authority for this judiciary forgery; and I might go on further to show how some of the Anglo-Saxon priests interpolated into the texts of Alfred's laws 20th, 21st, 22d, and 23d chapters of Exodus, and the 15th of the Acts of the Apos- tles, from the 23d to the 29th verse. But this would lead my pen and your patience too far. What a conspiracy this between church and state! Sing Tantarara, rogues all, rogues all! sing Tan- tarara, rogues all!" (Works, Vol. iv., pp. 397, 398). It is claimed by Christian apologists that the grossest intolerance prevailed in Pagan Rome, that Christians were punished for their opinions 86 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. merely, that religious freedom was denied. The student of Roman history knows this to be un- true. Religious intolerance in the Roman Em- pire was virtually unknown. The so-called "Chris- tian persecutions" are mostly Christian myths, and the Christian martyrs of the early church were mostly Christian criminals. To this Chris- tian claim Jefferson pertinently replies: "Had not the Roman Government permitted free enquiry Christianity could never have been introduced'^ (Notes on Virginia, p. 265). The Fourth of July, 1826, was the fiftieth an- niversary^ of the Declaration of American Inde- pendence. The people of Washington had decid- ed to celebrate the memorable occasion in a fit- ting manner, and Mr. Weightman was deputed to invite the illustrious author of the Declaration to attend. On the 24th of June, Jefferson wrote a letter declining, on account of his infirmities, to be present. In this letter a new Declaration of Independence is proclaimed. Bravely he writes: "All eyes are opened or opening to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legiti- mately, by the grace of God." THOMAS JEFFERSON. 87 Those were the last words Jefferson penned. Ten days later — on the day that he had con- tributed so much to make immortal — the Sage of Monticello breathed his last. On the same day, too, died John Adams. Politically at variance these men differed but little in theology. Writing to Jefferson on the 5th of May, 1817, Adams, giv- ing expression to the matured conviction of eighty-tw^o eventful years, declares^ "This would be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it." To this radical declaration Jefferson replied: "If by religion, we are to understand sectarian dogmas, in which no two of them agree, then your exclamation on that hypothesis is just, ^that this would be the best of worlds if there were no re- ligion in it' '' (Works, Vol. iv., p. 301). Referring to another letter he received from Adams, he says: "Its crowd of skepticisms kept me from sleep" (Ibid, p. 331). Writing to Adams in 1817, Jefferson says: "The result of your fifty or sixty years of re- ligious reading in the four words: ^Be just and good,' is that in which all our enquiries must end; as the riddles of all the priesthood end in four more: ^Ubi panis ibi Deus.' What all agree in is 88 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. ' probably right; what no two agree in most prob- ably wrong" (Ibid, p. 300). These anti-Christian views of Jefferson were for the most part written after he had retired to pri- vate life; but that the public had always been apprised of his unbelief, there can be no doubt. When he ran for President, the more bigoted or- thodox journals opposed his election upon these grounds. At his inauguration, some of these jour- nals appeared in mourning, while flags were dis- played at half-mast, in token of grief because an Infidel had been elevated to the Presidency. It is true that Washington and Adams, both disbe- lievers in Evangelical Christianity, had filled the office before him; but they were reticent in re- gard to the subject, openly expressing no opinions that would offend the church. That Jefferson's Deistic opinions were well known before he retired from public life is shown by a letter which Paine wrote to Jefferson after his re-election. Paine says: "When I was in Connecticut the summer before last, I fell in company with some Baptists among whom were three ministers. The conversation turned on the election for President, and one of them who appeared to be a leading man said, 'They cry out against Mr. Jefferson because they say he is a Deist. Well, a Deist may be a good "THOMAS JEFFERSON. 89 man, and if he think it right, it is right to him. For my own part,' said he, ^I had rather vote for a Deist than for a blue-skin Presbyterian.' " Jefferson's library contained the leading Freethought works of his day. They gave evidence of having been carefully studied, and the margin- al annotations from his pen showed that the most radical sentiments were endorsed by him. He wrote letters to Volney, and x)laced the bust of Voltaire in his library. He manifested the strongest attachment for Paine, which continued till the latter's death. When Paine signified his intention of returning from France to America, Jefferson furnished a national ship to convey him home. After his return he became the honored guest of the President, both at Washington and Monticello. Alluding to Paine's visit to W^ashington, the editor of the "Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris" says that "Jefferson received him warmly, dined him at the White House, and could be seen walking arm in arm with him on the street any fine afternoon." This was eight years after Paine published his "Age of Eeason," and when in the eyes of Christians he had become infamous. President Jefferson continued to correspond with Paine on theological subjects up to Paine'sl \)0 THE FATllEUS OF Ol'K incl'lTr.LlO. last illness, which occurrod aboiii tlio time ho ro- tiivd from the Presidency. To Paine and the j^jreat English Deist, Boling- broke, tlefferson paid the followint:: fribnte: ^'You ask my opinion of Lord Bolini^broke and Thomas Paine. They were alike in makini:: bitter enemies of the priests and Pharisees of their day. Both were honest men; both advocates for hnmau liberty" (Letter to Francis Eppes). To the English heretic, Dr. Priestley, he extend- ed the following: welcome: "It is with heartfelt satisfaction that in the tirst moments of my pnblic action, 1 can hail yon with welcome to onr land, tender to yon the hom- age of its respect and esteem, and cover you under the protection of tliose laws which were made for the good and the wise like you." ^A'hen elelTerson's works were first published, the New York Observer, then the leading Chris- tian journal of this country, gave them the follow- ing notice: "Mr. Jefferson, it is well known, was never sus- pected of being very friendly to orthodox ivligion, but these volumes prove not only that he was a disbeliever, but a scoffer of the very lowest class.'- What is remarkable, the Observer has never rlaimed that JetTerson recanted; while it has claimed that Paine did. According to this author- THOMAS JKIFKRHON. 01 ity Jr^^fforHon wan rnon* f:ojjfirrriod in IiIh diHboli^'f than i*ain^. Tho (:](triry circulatf.'d a story to the effect that JefferHon admitted his indebtr^dness to the church by de<-laring that it was to a preacher, Dr. Small, of William and Mary Ojllege, that he owed the destinies of his life. Ikying in doubt as to whether the Dr. Hmall referred to was rr^ally a preacher or not, ^fr. Wm. Edmonds, of Texas, in 1887, ad- dressed a letter to Or>vemor Fitzhugh Lee, of Virginia, on the subject. Gov. Lee instructed his private secretary, Mr. J. E. Waller, to send the following reply: ^'The Governor directs me fo say, in reply to your letter of inquiry of August 2Gth, that, from the best infoiTuation lie can get, he is satisfied that I)r. Hmall was either an M. D., or scientist, which would entitle him to i]i<' degree of Doctor. Mr. JefTerson was a Freethinker, and, as there is no record of Dr. Small ever having a church in Virginia, the natural conclusion is that this Dr. Small was of the same belief. John Randolph claims to have imbibed some of his skeptical ideas from a Dr. Small." The TiCV. Thornton Stringfellow, D. D., a promi- nent Christian divine of JefTerson's own state, in his ^^Scriptural View of Slavery," a work showing that the Bible sanctions slavery, says: 92 THE FATIIEKS OF OUR REPUBLIC. "^ly correspond (Ml t thinks with IMr. eTofforson, that Jehovah has no attributes that will harmon- ize with slavery; and that all men are born free and equal. Now, I say let him throw away his Bible as Mr. Jefferson did his and then they will be fit companions. But never disgrace the Bible by making Mr. Jefferson its expounder, nor Mr. Jefferson by deriving his sentiments from it. Mr. Jefferson did not bow to the authority of the Bible, and on this subject I do not bow to him." John S. C. Abbot, the panegyrist of Napoleon Bonaparte, in his "Lives of the Presidents'' (p. 142), referring to one of Jefferson's most distin- guished efforts in behalf of religious liberty, savs : "He devoted much attention to the establish- ment of the University at Charlottesville. Having no religious faith which he was willing to avow, he was not willing that any religious faith what- ever should be taught in the University as a part of its course of instruction. This establishment, in a Christian land, of an institution for the edu- cation of youth, where the relation existing be- tween man and his Maker was entirely ignored, raised a general cry of disapproval throughout the whole country. It left a stigma upon the repu- tation of Mr. Jefferson, in the minds of Christian people, which can never be effaced." THOMAS JEFFEUSON. 93 The noted divine, Dr. Wilson, in liis celebrated sermon on "The Religion of the Presidents," has this to say of Jefferson: ^'Whatever difference of opinion there may have been as to his religious faith at the time [of his election to the Presidency], it is now rendered certain that he was a Deist. . . . That fact after his *Notes on Virginia' ought never to have been doubted by any reasonable man. That work itself contains sufficient evidence of the fact, and I be- lieve the influence of his example and name has done more for the extension of Infidelity than that of any other man. Since his death, and the X>ublication of Randolph, [Jefferson's Works,] there remains not the shadow of doubt of his Infi- del principles. If any man thinks there is, let him look at the book itself. I do not recommend the purchase of it to any man, for it is one of the most wicked and dangerous books extant.'' The Rev. Dr. D. J. Burrell, of New York, recent- ly said: "Xo man could be elected President of the United States to-day who is an avowed opponent of Christianity. Thomas Jefferson would not be an available candidate to-day for either party." The "International Cyclopedia," edited by Daniel Coit Oilman, LL. D., President of Johns Hopkins University, says: 94 THE FATHERS OP OUR REPUBLIC. "In religion it is probable that he [Jefferson] was not far from what was then known and exe- crated as a Freethinker." The "New American Cyclopedia/' In its edition of 1860, makes the following frank and truthful statement of Jefferson's belief: "Discarding faith as unphilosophical, he be- came an Infidel." This statement was offensive to some, and the edition of 1874 substituted the following which means the same thing: "He carried the rule of subjecting everything to the test of abstract reason into matters of re- ligion, venerating the moral character of Christ, but refusing belief in his divine mission." Bancroft, referring to Jefferson, says: "He was not only a hater of priestcraft and superstition and bigotry and intolerance, he was thought to be indifferent to religion" (History of United States, Vol. v., p. 323). Benson J. Lossing, in his "Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence," sums up the religious and moral character of Jefferson in the following brief words: "In religion he was a Freethinker; in morals pure and unspotted" (p. 183). Morse, in his "Life of Jefferson," which forms a part of the "American Statesman" series, says: THOMAS JEFFERSON. 95 ^'To my mind it is very clear that Jefferson never believed that Christ was other than a hu- man moralist" (p. 341). Tucker, in his biography of Jefferson, says: ^'It is very certain that he did not believe at all in the divine origin of Christianity, and of course not in the inspiration of the Scriptures; even of the New Testament." Theodore Dwight, in "The Character of Jef- ferson," (p. 364) gives expression to the following sensible conclusion: "It cannot be necessary to adopt any train of reasoning to show that a man who disbelieves the inspiration and divine authority of the Scriptures — who not only denies the divinity of the Savior, but reduces him to the grade of an uneducated, ignorant and erring man — who calls the God of Abraham (the Jehovah of the Bible), a cruel and remorseless being, cannot be a Christian." In an article on Jefferson's religious belief, the Chicago Tribune says: "A question has been raised as to Thomas Jef- ferson's religious views. There need be no ques- tion, for he has settled that himself. He was an Infidel, or, as he chose to term it, a Materialist. By his own account he was as heterodox as Col. Ingersoll, and in some respects even more so." Surely, Christians, your cause must be growing [H\ THE FATHERS OF OIJll llEPUBLIC. dosporato, >v1kmi, io sustain it, you must needs claim for its su])i)oi't so bitter an enemy as Thomas JelTerson — a man Avho atVirmed that he was a ^laterialist; a man Avho reeoi;nized in your religion only ^'our particular sui)erstitiou/' a superstition without "one redeeminj;" feature;'- a man who divided the Christian world into two classes — hypocrites and fools; a nuin who assert- ed that your Bible is a book abounding with "vul- gar ignorance;" a man avIio termed your Father, Son, and Holy (Uiost, a "hocus-pocus phantasm;" a man who denouncinl your God as '^cruel, vindic- tive, and unjust;'- a man who intimated that your Savior was "a man of illegitimate birth ;" a man who declared his disciples, including your oracle, Paul, to be a ^'band of dupes and impostors," and who characterized your modern priesthood as "cannibal priests" and an "abandoned confeder- acy" against public happiness. GEORGE WASHINGTON GEORGE WASHINGTON GEORGE WASHINGTON GEORGE WASHINGTON. Durin^ the presidential campaign of 1880, the Christian Union made the startling admission that of the nineteen men who, up to that time, had 'held the office of President of the United States, not one, with the possible exception of Washington, had ever been a member of a Chris- tian charch. Was Washington a church member? Was he in any .ense a Christian? In early life he held a formal adherence to the church of England, serv- incr for a time, as a vestryman in the parish in which he resided. But this being merely a tem- poral office did not necessitate his being a com- municant, nor even a believer in Christianity. In his maturer age he was connected with no church. Washington, the young Virginia planter, might, perhaps, with some degree of truthfulness, have • been called a Christian; Washington, the soldier, statesman and sage, was not a Christian, but a Deist. This great man, like most men in public life, was reticent respecting his religious views. This 1 m 102 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. rendered a general knowledge of his real belief impossible, and made it easy for zealous Chris- tians to impose upon the public mind and claim him for their faith. Whatever evidence of his un- belief existed was, as far as possible, suppressed. Enough remains, however, to prompt me to at- tempt the task of proving the truth of the follow- ing propositions: 1. That Washington was not a Christian com- municant. 2. That he was not a believer in the Christian religion. mS WASHINGTON A COMMUNICANT? Washington was not a communicant. This fact can be easily demonstrated. A century ago it was the custom of all classes, irrespective of their religious beliefs, to attend church. Washington, adhering to the custom, attended. But when the administration of the sacrament took place, in- stead of remaining and partaking of the Lord^s Supper as a communicant would have done, he invariablv arose and retired from the church. |f The closing years of his life, save the last two, were passed in Philadelphia, he being then Presi- dent of the United States. In addition to his eight years' incumbency of the presidency, he was, dur- ing the eight years of the Eevolutionary war, and GEORGE WASHINGTON. 103 also (luring the six years that elapsed between the Revolution and the establishment of the Federal government, not only a frequent visitor in Philadelphia, but during a considerable portion of the time a resident of that city. While there he attended the Episcopal churches of which the Rev. William White and the Rev. James Aber- crombie were rectors. In regard to his being a communicant, no evidence can be so pertinent or so decisive as that of his pastors. Bishop White, the father of the Protestant Episcopal church of America, is one of the most eminent names in church history. During a large portion of the period covering nearly a quarter of a century, Washington, with his wife, attended the churches in which Bishop White officiated. In a letter dated Fredericksburg, Aug. 13, 1835, Colonel Mercer sent Bishop White the following inquiry relative to this question: "I have a desire, my dear Sir, to know whether Gen. Washington was a communicant of the Prot- estant Episcopal church, or whether he occasion- ally went to the communion only, or if ever he did so at all. . . . No authority can be so au- thentic and complete as yours on this point." To this inquiry Bishop White replied as fol- lows: 104 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. "riiiladelphia, Aug. 15, 1S35. "Dear Sir: lu regard to the subject of your inquiry, truth requires me to say that Gen. Wash- ington neyer reeeiyed the communion in the churches of which I am the parochial minister. Mrs. Washington >yas an habitual communicant. .... I haye been written to b}^ many on that point, and haye been obliged to answer them aa I now do jou. I am respectfully. "Your humble seryant, "WILLIAM WHITE." —(Memoir of Bishop White, pp. lOG, 197). In a standard Christian authority, Sprague's "Annals of the American Pulpit," written and compiled by Eey. Wm. B. Sprague, D. D., is a sketch of the life of Bey. James Abercrombie, D. D. In this biographical sketch is to be found some yery imi^ortant eyidence from the pen of Washington's other pastor, pertaining to the sub- ject under consideration. I quote the following: "One incident in Dr. Abercrombie's experience as a clergyman, in connection with the Father of his Country, is especially worthy of record; and the following account of it was giyen by the Doc- tor himself, in a letter to a friend, in 1831 shortly after there had been some public allusion to it: 'With respect to the inquiry 3'ou make I can only GEORGE WASHINGTON. 105 state the following facts; that, as pastor of the Episcopal church, observing that, on sacramental Sundays, Gen. Washington, immediately after the desk and pulpit services, went out with the greater part of the congregation — always leaving Mrs. Washington with the other communicants — she invariably being one — I considered it my duty in a sermon on Public Worship, to state the un- happy tendency of example, particularly of those in elevated stations who uniformly turned their backs upon the celebration of the Lord's Supper. I acknowledge the remark was intended for the President; and as such he received it. A few days after, in conversation with, I believe, a senator of the United States, he told me he had dined the day before with the President, who in the course of conversation at table said that on the preceding Sunday he had received a very just reproof from the pulpit for always leaving the church before the administration of the Sacra- ment; that he honored the preacher for his in- tegrity and candor; that he had never sufificiently considered the influence of his example, and that he would not again give cause for the repetition of the reproof; and that, as he had never been a communicant, were he to become one then it would be imputed to an ostentatious display of religious zeal, arising altogether from his elevated lOG THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. statioD. Accordiiioly, he never afterwards came on the morning of sacramental Sunday, though at other times he was a constant attendant in the morning"' (Annals of the American Pulpit, Vol. V, p. 394). Here we have a confirmation of the statement previously made that Washington absented him- self from church on sacramental Sundays; un- deniable proof that during the later years of his life he was not a communicant; and, above all, the assurance of Washington himself that "he had never been a communicant.'^ The Rev. E. D. Neill, in the Episcopal Recorder, the organ of the church of which it is claimed Washington was a communicant, says: "As I read, a few days ago, of the death of the Rev. Richard M. Abercrombie, rector of St. Mat- thew's Protestant Episcopal church in Jersey Cit}^ memories of my boyhood arose. He was born not far from my father's house in Philadelphia and was the son of the Rev. James Abercrombie, a fine scholar and preacher, who had in early life corresponded with the great lexicographer. Dr. Samuel Johnson, and in later years was the as- sistant minister of Christ's and St. Peter's churches, in Philadelphia, where my maternal ancestors had worshiped for more than one gen- eration. One day, after the father had reached GEORGE WASHINGTON. 107 four score years, the lately deceased son took me into the study of the aged man, and showed me a letter which President George Washington had written to his father, thanking him for the loan of one of his manuscript sermons. Washington and his wife were regular attendants upon his ministry while residing in Philadelphia. The President was not a communicant, notwithstand- ing all the pretty stories to the contrary, and after the close of the sermon on sacramental Sundays, had fallen into the habit of retiring from the church while his wife remained and communed." Referring to Dr. Abercrombie's reproof of Washington, Mr. Neill says: "Upon one occasion Dr. Abercrombie alluded to the unhappy tendency of the example of those dig- nified by age and position turning their backs upon the celebration of the Lord's Supper. The discourse arrested the attention of Washington, and after that he never came to church with his wife on Communion Sunday." The Rev. Dr. Wilson, in his famous sermon on the Religion of the Presidents, also alludes to this subject. He says: "When the Congress sat in Philadelphia, Presi- dent Washington attended the Episcopal church. The rector. Dr. Abercrombie, told me that on the days when the sacrament of the Lord's Supper lOS THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. was to be administered, Washington's custom was to rise just before the ceremony commenced, and walk out of church. This became a subject of remark in the congregation, as setting a bad ex- ample. At length the Doctor undertook to speak of it, with a direct allusion to the President. Washington was heard afterwards to remark that this was the first time a clergyman had thus preached to him, and he should henceforth neither trouble the Doctor nor his congregation on such occasions; and ever after that, upon com- munion days, he ^absented himself altogether from the church.' " The Eey. Bird Wilson, D. D., author of the ^^Memoir of Bishop White," says: ^^Though the General attended the churches in which Dr. White officiated, whenever he was in Philadelphia during the Eevolutionary war, and afterwards while President of the United States, he never was a communicant in them" (Memoir of Bishop White, p. 188). The Bev. Beverly Tucker, D. D., of the Episco- pal church, has attempted to prove that Wash- ington was a churchman. But while professing to believe that he was a communicant before the Revolution he is compelled to admit that there is a doubt about his communing after the Rev- olution. He says: GEORGE WASHINGTON. 10;) "The doubt has been raised partly on the strength of a letter written by Bishop White in 1832. He says that Washington attended St. Peter's church one winter, during the session of the Continental Congress, and that during his Presidency he had a pew in Christ church, Vhich was habitually occupied by himself, by Mrs. Washington, who was regularly a communicant, and by his secretaries. This language is taken to mean, and probably correctly, that Washington did not commune.'' Dr. Tucker is evidently not acquainted with Bishop White's letter to Col. Mercer in 1835. There is no question as to the meaning of that letter. Continuing, Dr. Tucker says : "The doubt rests again on the recollection of Mrs. Fielding Lewis, Nelly Custis, Gen. Washing- ton's step-granddaughter, written in 1833, who states that after the Mount Vernon family re- moved from Pohick church to Christ church, Alexandria, the General was accustomed, on Com- munion Sundays, to leave the church with her, sending the carriage back for Mrs. Washington." Washington's biographer, the Rev. Jared Sparks, who seems to have entertained the popu- lar notion that Washington was in early life a communicant, admits that at a latter period he ceased to commune. He says: no Tin: iwrjiKUs t>r oik Ki:rrm,u\ "Tho rirruinsiaiu'o o( his ^vit luliawinu- hiiusolf from tho ooninuiiiion sorvioo at a t'cn'tain poriod of his ]ifo lias boon roniarkod as sinu'ular. Tliis may bo admin oil and rourottod. both on account of his oxampU^ and tho vahu^ of his opinions as to the impm'tanc'o and practical tondoncy of this rite" [\a(c o\' \Vasliinutim, \o\. ii, p. iUU). ("•rimMi I'acholor, in his dobato with Kobort Palo ("^won in ISiU. mado an otTort to provo that Washiniitou was a C^hristian communicant. Ho ap- pealed for help \o tho Kev. Wm. Jackson, rector of the Episcopal church o( Alexandria, the church which Washiuiitou had attondiHl. ^[r. Jackson was only to*'* willing lo aid him. lie instituted an exhaustive invest iuatiim fiu* tho purpose of dis- covei'inu" if possible some evidence o( Washiuiiton havinL: been a commuuicant. Letters of iuciuiry wore addressed to his relatives and friends. But his OtTort s were unsuccessful. While he professed 10 believe that Washiuuton was a Christiau, he was compelled to say: "1 tind no one who over communed with him'* (Bachelor-Owen Debate. Vol. ii, p. '2&2). This, as uiight be supposed, did mn satisfy Mr. Bachelor, and he entreated the rector to uuike an- other attempt. The second at tempi was as fruit- less as the tirst. He writes: **1 am sorrv after so louii* a delav iu replviujj to r; Koiic K vvA sn I xgton. 1 1 1 your last, that it is not in my povvffr to communi- cate something decinive in reference to General Washington's church rriern?jerHhip" flbid., ii, p. 370.) In the same h-tter Mr. Jackson says: "Nor can I find any ohl person who ever com- muned with him." The "Peoph^'s Library of Information" con- tains the following: "The question has been raised as to whether any one of our Presidents was a communicant in a Christian church. There is a tradition that Washington asked peiTnission of a Presbyterian minister in New Jersey to unite in communion. But it is only a tradition. Washington was a ves- trvman in the Episcopal church. But that office required no rrjore piety than it would to be mate of a ship. There is no account of his communing in Boston, or in New York, or Philadelphia, or elsewhere, during the Revolutionary struggle." The tradition of Washington's wishing to unite with a Presbyterian minister in communion, like many othrr so-called traditions of the same char- actf^-r, has been industriously circulated. And yet it is scarcely possible to conceive of a more im- probable story. Refusing to commune with the members of the church in which he was ramtd, and the church he was in the habit of attending, 112 THE FATHERS OP OUR REPUBLIC. and going to the priest of another church — a stranger — and aslving to commune with him! Had Washington been some intemperate vagabond, the story might have been believed. But Washing- ton was not an inebriate, and was never so pressed for a drink as to beg a sup of sacramental wine from a Calvinistic clergyman. Gen. A. W. Greely, U. S. A., in an article on ^^Washington's Domestic and Religious Life-* which was published in the Ladies' Home Journal for April, 1896, says: ^^But even if he was ever confirmed in its [the Episcopal] faith there is no reliable evidence that lie ever took communion with it or with any other church." Some years ago, I met at Paris, Texas, an old gentlemen, Mr. F. W. Miner, who was born and who lived for a considerable time near Mt. Ver- non. He told me that when a boy he w^as once in company with a party of old men, neighbors in early life of Washington, who were discussing the question of his religious belief. He says that it was admitted by all of them that he was not a church member, and by the most of them that he was not a Christian. Mr. George Wilson of Lexington, Mo., w^hose ancestors owned the Custis estate, and founded Alexandria, where Washington attended church, GEORGi: WASHINGTON. 113 writes as follows: ''My great-grandmother was Mary Alexander, daughter of 'John the younger/ who founded Alexandria. The Alexander pew in Christ church was next to Washington's, and an old lady, a kinswoman of mine, born near Alex- andria and named Alexander, told me that the tradition in the Alexander family was that Wash- ington NEVER took communion.'^ In regard to Washington being a vestrj'man, Mr. Wilson says: "At that time the vestry was the county court, and in order to have a hand in managing the affairs of the county, in w^hich his large property lay, regulating the levy of taxes, etc., Washington had to be a vestryman." The Rt. Louis Globe contained the following in regard to the church membership of Washing- ton: "It is a singular fact that much as has been written about W^ashington, particularly with re- gard to his superior personal virtue, there is noth- ing to show that he was ever a member of the church. He attended divine service, and lived an honorable and exemplary life, but as to his being a communicant, the record is surjjrisingly doubt- ful.'' In an article conceding that Washington was not a communicant, the AVestern Christian Ad- vocate says: 114 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. "This is evident and convincing from the Life of Bishop White, bishop of the Episcopal church in America from 1787 to 1836. Of this evidence it has been well said: ^There does not appear to be any such undoubtable evidence existing, The more scrutinously the church membership of Washington is examined, the more doubtful it appears. Bishop White seems to have had more intimate relations with Washington than any clergyman of his time. His testimony outweighs any amount of influential argumentation on the question.' '' The following is a recapitulation of the salient points in the preceding testimony, given in the words of the witnesses. It is in itself an over- whelming refutation of the claim that Washington was a communicant : "Gen. Washington never received the com- munion in the churches of which I am the pa- rochial minister." — Bishop White. "On sacramental Sundays, Gen. Washington, immediately after the desk and pulpit services, •went out with the greater part of the congrega- tion." — Rev. Dr. Abercrombie. "After that, [Dr. Abercrombie's reproof,] upon communion days, he absented himself altogether from the church." — Rev. Dr. Wilson. "The General was accustomed, on communion GEORGE WASHINGTON. 115 Sundays, to leave the church with her [Nelly Cus- tis], sending the carriage back for Mrs. Washing- ton." — Kev. Dr. Beverly Tucker. '^He never was a communicant in them [Dr. White's churches].''— Rev. Dr. Bird Wilson. "I find no one who ever communed with him." — Rev. William Jackson. ^'The President was not a communicant." — Rev. E. D. Neill. *'This [his ceasing to commune] may be ad- mitted and regretted."— Rev. Jared Sparks. 'There is no reliable evidence that he ever took communion." — Gen. A. W. Greely. 'There is nothing to show that he was ever a member of the church."- St. Louis Globe.' "I have never been a communicant." — Wash- ington, quoted by Dr. Abercrombie. The claim that Washington was a Christian communicant must be abandoned; the claim that he was a believer in Christianity, I shall en- deavor to show, is equally untenable. WAS WASHINGTON A CHRISTIAN? In the political documents, correspondence, and other writings of Washington, few references to the prevailing religion of his day are found. In no instance has he expressed a disbelief in the Christian religion, neither can there be found in 116 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC, all bis writings a single sentence that can with propriety be construed into an acknowledgment of its claims. Once or twice be refers to it in com- plimentary terms, but in tbese compliments tbere is notbing inconsistent witb tbe conduct ofj a con- scientious Deist. Religions, like tbeir adherents, possess both good and bad qualities, and Christian- ity is no exception. While there is much in it deserving the strongest condemnation, there is also much that commands tbe respect and even challenges tbe admiration of Infidels. Occupying the position that Washington did, enjoying as be did tbe confidence and support of Christians, it was not unnatural that he should indulge in a few friendly allusions to their religious faith. In bis ^^Farewell Address,'' tbe last and best political paper he gave to tbe public, tbe Chris- tian religion is not once named. In this work be manifests tbe fondest solicitude for the future of bis country. His sentences are crowded witli words of w^arning and fatherly advice. But he does not seem to be impressed witb tbe idea that the safety of tbe government or tbe happiness of the people depends upon Christianity. He recom- mends a cultivation of tbe religious sentiment, but evinces no partiality for tbe popular faith. In tbe absence of any recorded statements from Washington himself concerning: bis religious be- GEORGE WASHINGTON. 117 lief, the most conclusive evidence that can be pre- sented is the admissions of his clerical acquaint- ances. Among these there has been preserved the testimony of his pastors, Bishop White and Dr. Abercrombie. In a letter to Rev. B. C. C. Parker of Massachu- setts, dated Nov. 28, 1832, in answer to some in- quiries respecting Washington's religion, Bishop White says: "His behavior [in church] was always serious and attentive, but as your letter seems to intend an inquiry on the point of kneeling during the service, I owe it to the truth to declare that I never saw him in the said attitude. . . . Al- though I w^as often in company with this great man, and had the honor of dining often at his table, I never heard anything from him which could manifest his opinions on the subject of re- ligion. . . . Within a few days of his leaving the presidential chair, our vestry waited on him with an address prepared and delivered by me. In his answer he was pleased to express himself gratified by w^hat he had heard from our pulpit; but there was nothing that committed him rela- tively to religious theory'' ("Memoir of Bishop White," pp. 189-191; Sparks' "Life of Washing- ton," Vol. ii., p. 359). The Rev. Parker, to whom Bishop White's let- 118 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. . ter is addressed, was, it seems, anxious to obtain some evidence that Washington was a believer in Christianity, and, not satisfied with the bishop's answer, begged him, it would appear, to tax his mind for some fact that would tend to show that Washington was a believer. In a letter dated Dec. 21, 1832, the bishop writes as follows: "I do not believe that any degree of recollection will bring to my mind any fact which would prove General Washington to have been a believer in the Chrisian revelation further than as may be hoped from his constant attendance upon Chris- tian worship, in connection with the general re- serve of his character'^ ("Memoir of Bishop White,'' p. 193). Bishop White's testimony does not afford posi- tive proof of Washington's unbelief, but it cer- tainly furnishes strong presumptive evidence of its truth. It is hardly possible to suppose that he could have been a believer and have let his most intimate Christian associates remain in total ig- norance of the fact. Bishop White indulges a faint hope that he may have been, but this hope is simply based on his "constant attendance" at church, and when we consider how large a pro- portion of those who attend church are unbe- lievers, that many of our most radical Freethink- ers are regular church-goers, there are very small GEORGE WASHINGTON. 119 grounds, I think, upon which to indulge even a hope. But even this "constant attendance" on the part of Washington cannot be accepted with- out some qualification; for, while it is true that he often attended church, he was by no means a constant attendant. Not only did he uniformly absent himself on communion days, but the en- tries in his diary show that he remained away for several Sundays in succession, spending his time at home reading and writing, riding out into the country, or in visiting his friends. But if Bishop White cherished a faint hope that Washington had some faith in the religion of Christ, Dr. Abercrombie did not. Long after Washington's death, in reply to Dr. Wilson, who had interrogated him as to his illustrious audit- .or's religious views, Dr. Abercrombie's brief but emphatic answer was: "Sir, Washington was a Deist.'' Washington rarely attended, as we ha^^e seen, any church but the Episcopal, hence, if any de- nomination of Christians could claim him as an adherent, it was this one. Yet here we have two of its most distinguished representatives, pastors of the churches which he attended, the one not knowing what his belief was, the other disclaim- ing him and asserting that he was a Deist. The Rev. Dr. Wilson, who was almost a con- 120 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. temporary of our earlier statesmen and presi- dents, and who thoroughly investigated the sub- ject of their religious beliefs, in his sermon al- ready mentioned affirmed that the founders of our nation were nearly all Infidels, and that of the presidents who had thus far been elected — George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jef- ferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson — not one had professed a belief in Christianity. From this sermon I quote the following: "When the war was over and the victory over our enemies won, and the blessings and happiness of liberty and peace were secured, the Constitu- tion was framed and God was neglected. He was not merely forgotten. He was absolutely voted out of the Constitution. The proceedings, as pub- lished by Thompson, the secretary, and the his- tory of the day, show that the question was gravely debated whether God should be in the Constitution or not, and after a solemn debate he was deliberately voted out of it. . . . There is not only in the theory of our government no recognition of God's laws and sovereignty, but its practical operation, its administration, has been conformable to its theory. Those who have been called to administer the government have not been men making any public profession of Chris- Cii:ORGE WASHINGTON. l2l tianity. . . . Washington was a man of valor and wisdom. He was esteemed by the whole world as a great and good man; but he was not a professing Christian." Dr. Wilson's sermon was published in the Al- bany Daily Advertiser in 1831, and attract- ed the attention of Robert Dale Owen, then a young man, who called to see its author in regard to his statement concerning Washington's belief. The result of his visit is given in a letter to Amos Gilbert. The letter is dated Albany, November 13, 1831, and was published in New York a fort- night later. He says: "I called last evening on Dr. Wilson, as I told you I should, and I have seldom derived more pleasure from a short interview with anyone. Unless my discernment of character has been grievously at fault, I met an honest man and sin- cere Christian. But you shall have the particu- lars. A gentleman of this city accompanied me to t-he Doctor's residence. We were very courte- ously received. I found him a tall, commanding figure, with a countenance of much benevolence, and a brow indicative of deep thought, apparently approaching fifty years of age. I opened the in- terview by stating that though personally a stranger to him, I had taken the liberty of calling in consequence of having perused an interesting 122 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. sermon of his, which had been reported in the Daily Advertiser of this city, and regarding which, as he probably knew, a variety of opinions pre- vailed. In a discussion, in w^hich I had taken a part, some of the facts as there reported had been questioned; and I wished to know from him w^hether the reporter had fairly given his words or not. ... I then read to him from a copy of the Daily Advertiser the paragraph which re- gards Washington, beginning, ^Washington was a man,' etc., and ending, ^absented himself alto- gether from the church.' ^I indorse,' said Dr. Wil- son, with emphasis, 'every word of that. Nay, I do not wish to conceal from you any part of the truth, even what I have not given to the public. Dr. Abercrombie said more than I have repeated. At the close of our conversation on the subject his emphatic expression was — for I w^ell remem- ber the very words — 'Sir, Washington was a Deist.' " In concluding the interview. Dr. Wilson said: "I have diligently perused every line that Wash- ington ever gave to the public, and I do not find one expression in which he pledges himself as a believer in Christianity. I think anyone who will candidly do as I have done, will come to the con- clusion that he was a Deist and nothing more." In February, 1800, a few weeks after Washing- GEORGE WASHINGTON. 123 ton's death, Jefferson made the following entry in his journal: ^'Dr. Rush told me (he hac" it from Asa Green) that when the clergy addressed General Washing- ton, on his departure from the government, it was observed in their consultation that he had never, on any occasion, said a word to the public which showed a belief in the Christian religion, and they thought they should so pen their address as to force him at length to disclose publicly whether he was a Christian or not. However, he observed, the old fox was too cunning for them. He an- swered every article of their address particularly, except that, w^hich he passed over without notice'* (Jefferson's Works, Vol. iv., p. 572). Jefferson further says: '^I know that Gouver- neur Morris, who claimed to be in his secrets, and believed himself to be so, has often told me that General Washington believed no more in that system [Christianity] than he did" (Ibid). Gouverneur Morris was the principal drafter of the Constitution of the United States; he was a member of the Continental Congress, a United States senator from New York, and minister to France. He accepted, to a considerable ex- tent, the skeptical views of French Freethinkers. The "Asa" Green mentioned by Jeffer-son was lUidoubtedly the Rev. Aslibel Green, chaplain to 124 THE FATHERS OP OUR REPUBLIC. Congress during Washington's administration. In an article on Washington's religion, contributed to the Chicago Tribune, B. F. Underwood sa^^s: ''If there were an Asa Green in Washington's time he was a man of no prominence, and it is probable the person referred to by Jefferson w^as the Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, who served as chap' lain to the Congress during the eight years that bod}^ sat in Philadelphia, was afterwards presi- dent of Princeton College, and the only clerical member of Congress that signed the Declaration of Independence. His name shines illustriously in the annals of the Presbyterian church in the United States.'' Some years ago I received a letter from Hon. A. B. Bradford of Pennsylvania, relative to Wash- ington's belief. Mr. Bradford was for a long time a prominent clergyman in the Presbyterian church, and was appointed a consul to China by President Lincoln. His statements help to cor- roborate the statements of Dr. Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, and Mr. Underwood. He says: '^I knew^ Dr. Wilson personally, and have en- tertained him at my house, on w^hich occasion he said in my hearing what my relative, the Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green of Philadelphia, frequently told me in his study, viz., that during the time that Con- gress sat in that city the clergy, suspecting from GEORGE WASHINGTON. 125 good evidence that Washington was not a believer in the Bible as a revelation from heaven, laid a plan to extort from him a confession, either pro or con, but that the plan failed. Dr. Green was chap- lain to Congress during all the time of its sitting in Philadelphia; dined with the President on special invitation nearly every week; was well acquainted with him, and after he had been dead and gone many years, often said in my hearing, though very sorrowfully, of course, that while Washington was very deferential to religion and its ceremonies, like nearly all the founders of the Republic, he was not a Christian, but a Deisf Mr. Underwood's article contained the follow- ing from the pen of Mr. Bradford: "It was during his [Dr. Green's] long residence in Philadelphia that I became intimately ac- quainted with him as a relative, student of the- ology at Princeton, and a member of the same Presbytery to which he belonged. . . . Many an hour during my student and clergyman days did I spend with him in his study at No. 150 Pine street, Philadelphia, listening to his interesting and instructive conversation on Revolutionary times and incidents. I recollect well that during one of these interviews in his study I inquired of him what were the real opinions Washington en- tertained on the subject of religion. He promptly 120 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. ansAvered pretty nearly in the language which Jefferson says Dr. Kush used. He explained more at length the plan laid by the clergy of Phila- delphia at the close of Washington's administra- tion as President to get his views of religion for the sake of the good influence they supposed they would have in counteracting the Infidelity of Paine and the rest of the Revolutionary patriots, military and civil. But I well remember the smile on his face and the twinkle of his black eye when he said: ^The old fox was too cunning for us.^ He affirmed, in concluding his narrative, that from his long and intimate acquaintance with Washington he knew it to be the case that while he respectfully conformed to the religious customs of society by generally going to church on Sundays, he had no belief at all in the divine origin of the Bible, or the Jewish-Christian re- ligion." The testimony of General Greely, whose thor- ough investigation of Washington's religious be- lief makes him an authority on the subject, is among the most important yet adduced. From liis article on ^'Washington's Domestic and Re- ligious Life'' I quote the following paragraphs: *'The effort to depict Washington as very de- vout from his childhood, as a strict Sabbatarian, and as in intimate spiritual communication wuth GEORGE WASHINGTON. 127 the church is practically contradicted by his ovvd letters.'' "In his letters, even those of consolation, there appears almost nothing to indicate his spiritual frame of mind. A x)articularly careful study of the man's letters convinces me that while the spirit of Christianity, as exemplified in love of God and love of man [Theopliilanthropy or Deism], was the controlling factor of his nature, yet he never formulated his religious faith." "It is, however, somewhat striking that in sev- eral thousand letters the name of Jesus Christ never appears, and it is notably absent from his last will." "His services as a vestryman had no special significance from a religious standpoint. The po- litical affairs of a Virginia county were then di- rected by the vestry, which, having the power to elect its own members, was an important instru- ment of the oligarchy of Virginia." "He was not regular in attendance at church save possibly at home. While present at the First Provincal Congress in Philadelphia he went once to the Roman Catholic and once to the Epis- copal church. He spent four months in the Consti- tutional Convention, going six times to church, once each to the Romish high mass, to the 128 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. Friends', to the Presbyterian, and thrice to the Episcopal service." ^'From his childhood he traveled on Sunday whenever occasion required. He considered it proper for his negroes to fish, and on that day made at least one contract. During his official busy life Sunday was largely given to his home correspondence, being, as he says, the most con- venient day in which to spare time from his pub- lic burdens to look after his impaired fortune and estates." Dr. IMoncure D. Conway, who made a study of Washington's life and character, who had access to his private papers, and w^ho was employed to edit a volume of his letters, has written a mono- graph on ^'The Eeligion of Washington," from which I take the following: "In editing a volume of Washington's private letters for the Long Island Historical Society, I have been much impressed by indications that this great historic personality represented the Liberal religious tendency of his time. That ten- dency was to respect religious organizations as part of the social order, which required some min- ister to visit the sick, bury the dead, and perform marriages. It was considered in nowise incon- sistent with disbelief of the clergyman's doctrines GEORGE WASHINGTON. 120 to contribute to his support, or even to be a ves- tryman in his church/' *'In his many letters to his adopted nephew and young relatives, he admonishes them about their manners and morals, but in no case have I been able to discover any suggestion that they should read the Bible, keep the Sabbath, go to church, or any warning against Infidelity." "Washington had in his library the writings of Paine, Priestley, Voltaire, Frederick the Great, and other heretical works." Conway says that "Washington was glad to have Volney as his guest at Mount Vernon," and cited a letter of introduction which Washington gave him to the citizens of the United States dur- ing his travels in this country. In a contribution to the New York Times Dr. Conway says: "Augustine Washington, like most scholarly Virginians of his time, was a Deist. . . . Contem- porary evidence shows that in mature life Wash- ington was a Deist, and did not commune, which is quite consistent with his being a vestryman. In England, where vestries have secular func- tions, it is not unusual for Unitarians to be ves- trymen, there being no doctrinal subscription re- quired for that office. Washington's letters dur- ing the Revolution occasionally indicate his recog- 130 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. nition of the hand of Providence in notable public events, but in the thousands of his letters I have never been able to find the name of Christ or any reference to him." There is no evidence to show that Washington, even in early life, was a believer in Christianity. The contrary is rather to be presumed. His father, as Dr. Conway states, was a Deist; while his mother was not excessively religious. His brother, Lawrence Washington, was, it is claimed, the first advocate of religious liberty in Virginia, and evidently an unbeliever, so that instead of being surrounded at home by the stifling atmos- phere of superstition, he was permitted to breathe the pure air of religious freedom. It is certain that at no time during his life did he take any special interest in church affairs. Gen. Greely says that '^He was not regular in church attendance save possibly at home.'^ At home he was the least regular in his attendance. o His diary shows that he attended about twelve times a year. During the week he superintend- ed the affairs of his farm; on Sunday he usually attended to his correspondence. Sunday visitors at his house were numerous. If he ever objected to them it was not because they kept him from his devotions, but because they kept him from his work. In his diary he writes: GEORGE WASHINGTON. 131 "It hath so happened, that on the last Sundays — call them the first or seventh [days] as you please, I have been unable to perform the latter duty on account of visits from strangers, with whom I could not use the freedom to leave alone, or recommend to the care of each other, for their amusement." When he visited his distant tenants to collect his rent, their piety, and not his, prevented him from doing the business on Sunday, as the follow- ing entry in his diary shows: "Being Sunday, and the people living on my land very religious, it was thought best to post- pone going among them till to-morrow." His diary also shows that he "closed land pur- chases, sold wheat, and, while a Virginia planter, went fox hunting on Sunday." He did not, like most pious churchmen, believe that Christian servants are better than others. When on one occasion he needed servants, he wrote: "If they are good workmen, they may be from Asia, Africa, or Europe; they may be Mahome- dans, Jews, or Christians of any sect, or they may be Atheists." These extracts contain no explicit declarations of disbelief in Christianity, but between the lines we can easily read, "I am not a Christian." 131! THE F.VniERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. There is no evidence that he ever entertained any special reverence for the Bible, or devoted any particular attention to its teachings. The writer has seen Washington's Bible and is pre- pared to vouch for the correctness of the follow- ing notice of it which appeared in the Washington Tost: ^^It is not injured inside, the leaves are not dog- eared, nor the margins marked, and it does not look as if it w^as ever used at all.'' Had Washington been a Christian it is reason- able to suppose that on his death-bed, at least, he would have let fall from his lips some word reveal- ing the fact, conscious as he was from the first that his illness would prove fatal. We have the certificate of Dr. Craik and Dr. Dick, the physicians who attended him during his last illness, and thin shows that he made no recognition of Christ or Christianity. This is corroborated by the testi- mony of his private secretary, Mr. Tobias Lear. Thus writes Moncure D. Conway of his last hours : "When the end was near, Washington said to a physician present — an ancestor of the writer of these notes — ^I am not afraid to go.' With his right fingers on his left wrist he counted his own pulses, which beat his funeral march to the grave. ^He bore his distress,' so next day wrote one pros- GEORGE WASHINGTON. 133 ent, ^with astonishing fortitude, and conscious, as he declared, several hours before his death, of his approaching dissolution, he resigned his breath with the greatest composure, having the full pos- session of his reason to the last moment.' Mrs. Washington knelt beside his bed, but no word passed on religious matters. With the sublime taciturnity which had marked his life he passed out of existence, leaving no act or word which can be turned to the service of superstition, cant, or bigotry'' (Open Court). In his discussion with Bacheler, Robert Dale Owen says: "When I spoke of Washington's death-bed, I had the account of an eye-witness lying before me. And most strongly does that corroborate my opinion that Washington's religion was of the most liberal stamp. No clergyman around his death-bed. No protestations that in the dying hour religion afforded him aid. No praying. No repeating texts. No asking for a Bible to read a chapter. Not a syllable about the redeeming blood of Christ, or the saving efficacy of divine grace. Not even a straw for the orthodox to catch at and work up in tract form, as ^The dying testimony of that distinguished Christian, George Washington.' True, the father of his country died the death of a patriot; he died as he had lived, in dignity and lo4: THE FATHERS OF OUR REFUBLIO. peace; but lie left behind him not one word to warrant the belief that he was other than a sin- cere Deist.-' *'It has been confidently stated to me," says Mr. Owen, ''that he actually refused spiritual aid when it was proposed to send for a clergyman." The Key. Dr. Miller, of Birmingham, England, who devoted much time to an investigation of this subject, in London Notes and Queries, says: "My researches do not enable me to affirm that Washington, on his death-bed, gave evidence of Christian belief." In the last hour of the dav, on the last day of the week, in the last month of the year, at the end of a long and illustrious career, with the simple words, '*I am not afraid to go," the hero of a dozen battle-fields surrendered. Every child is familiar with the story of Wash- ington praying at Valley Forge. The Peter Par- leys who write historical romances and label them "School Histories'' have repeated it as a historical fact. But it is false. It bears the stamp of fiction on its face, and is of itself suffi- cient to excite the suspicion that Washington was not a religious man. Unable to prove that he was in the habit of praying in public, unable to cite a single instance of his ever having uttered a (■AJ)\ICA: WASHINGTON. 135 prajc^r in his family, this pioun tale was fabri- cated. lieferring to the Sunday-school stories that have bf-en related of Washington, and that have gained popular credence, the Encyclopedia Bri- tannica says: ''The story of the hatchet and the cherry tree, and similar tales, are quite apocryphal, having been coined by Washington's most popular biog- rapher, Weems.'' Of all these apocryphal tales none is so utterly unworthy of credit as is this fable about his pray- ing at Valley Forge. Intelligent Christians are ashamed of it. ^J'he Rev. E. D. Xeill, whose fath- er's uncle owned the building occupied by Wash- ington at Valley Forge, thus writes : ''There is a story about Washington being found in the woods in winter time in prayer by the owner of the house which he used as his head- quarters at Valley Forge, which I would like to believe, if it were not so improbable, and if it had not first been put in print by the eccentric and not very accurate Episcopal minister. Rev. Morgan L. Weems. . . . With the capacious and com- fortable house at his disposal, it is hardly possible that the shy, silent, cautious Washington should leave such retirement and enter the leafless woods, in the vicinity of the winter encampment of an loO THE FATHERS OF OUR REPURLIC. {irinv, and oiigago in audible prayer'- (Episcopal Kecorder). Alluding to the same subject, Rev. Minot J. Savage, in a sermon, said: *'Tbe pictures that re])resent bim on bis knees in the winter forest at Valley Forge are even silly caricatures. AYasbington was, at least, not senti- mental, and be bad notbing about bim of tbe riiarisee Ibat displays bis religion at street cor- ners or out in tbe woods in tbe sigbt of observers, or wbere bis portrait could be taken by ^our special artist.' " Moncure D. Conway, wbose researcbes enable bim to speak autboritatively, makes tbe following statement, wbicb will be a profound surprise to tbe student of Weems: "i\Iany clergymen visited bim, but tbey were never invited to bold family prayers, and no grace was ever said at table'' (Open Court). General Greely says: *^Wben be was urged to bave public prayers in camp, so as to excite the curiosity and foster the conversion of tbe Indians, he ignored tbe recommendation'' (Ladies' Home Journal). Washington was a great man and a good man, but he was not a demigod nor a saint. He was entirely human and possessed of human virtues and human frailties. If the churchmen could read GEORGE WASHINGTON. 137 his diary, and read the testimony of those who knew him best — in short, could they become ac- quainted with the man Washington — they would scarcely conclude that he had much regard for Christian piety. They would be disposed to be- lieve that after all the race track had more attrac- tions for him than the church; that he preferred a glass of good brandy to a drop of communion wine; that he was x>robably more addicted to swearing than he was to praying. Washington was one of the leading spirits who molded our present from of government, presid- ing over the convention that framed our Consti- tution. ITis influence was very great, and the greatest deference was paid to his opinions. Had he desired it he could probably have had the government established upon a Christian founda- tion; and had he been a very zealous adherent of that faith, it is reasonable to suppose that he would have done so, or at least have favored some recognition of its claims in the Constitution. But he did not utter a w^ord in its behalf. Above his official signature, as President of the United States, appears this important declar- ation: "The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion'' (Treaty with Tripoli). 138 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. He furtlior solemnly declares that "the United States is not a Christian nation any more than it is a Jewish or a Mohammedan nation/^ referring to it, of course, in a political and not in a religious sense. Washington, like Paine, Jefferson, and Frank- lin, was a staunch opponent of ecclesiastical tyrann3\ Almost immediately after his first in- auguration, in answer to an address presented by the Baptists of Virginia, he said: *^If I could have entertained the slightest ap- prehension that the Constitution framed in the Convention, Avhen I had the honor to preside, might possibly endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly I would never have placed my signature to it; and if I could now conceive that the general government might be so administered as to render the liberty of con- science insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to es- tablish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny and every species of religious persecution." In reply to an address received from the Quakers, he said: "Government being, among other purposes, in- stituted to protect the consciences of men from oppression, it certainly is the duty of rulers, not GEORGE WASHINGTON. 139 only to abstain from it thomsc4ves, but accordinir to their stations, to prevent it in others While men perform their social duties faith- fully, they do all that society or the state can with propriety demand or expect; and remain respon- sible to their maker for the religion, or mode of faith, which they may prefer or profess/' That he was fully cognizant of the intolerant spirit of Christianity is evidenced by a letter writ- ten to Sir Edward Newenham, dated October 20, 1702, in which he says: "Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a dif- ference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlight- ened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Chris- tians of every denomination so far that we should never again see their religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society.'' To Lafayette, who was trying to secure reli- gious toleration for France, he wrote: "I am not less ardent in my wish that you may succeed in your plan of toleration in religious matters. Being no bigot myself, I am disposed to indulge the professors of Christianity in the 140 THE FATHERS OF OUll KEPUBLIC. oliuivh with that road to hoaveu which to them shall seem the most direct, plainest, easiest, aud least liable to exception.-' Soon after he became President, the First Presbytery of the Eastward sent him an address containing the folloAving: "We shonld not have been alone in rejoicing to have seen some ex- plicit acknowledgment of the only trne God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent, inserted some- where in the ^launa Charter of our country." To this AYashington replied: "The path of true piety is so plain as to require but little political direction In the progress of morality and science, to which our goyernment will give every furtherance, we may contidently expect the advancement of true religion and the completion of our happiness." Washington's most popular biographers were Weems and Sparks, both clergymen. Weems' "Life of Washington," the delight of many an American boy, a w(^rk made up of historical facts highly colored and interwoven with traditional stories and anecdotes, has long since been dis- carded as an authority. Weems does not give us the real Washington, but an ideal hero of his own creation. This hero he surrounds with a halo of piety. And yet the religion of this hero is not the religion of Christ, but the religion of God. The GEOU(;i-: WASHINGTON. 141 Washington of Weems is a Theist, not a Chrin- tian. Sparks affirms that Washington was a Christian. But from his standpoint the affirma- tion was one easily made. Sparks was a Unita- rian — one who rejects the dogmas of the insi)i- ration of the Bible and the divinity of Christ — one who defines Christianity as ^^one with the abso- lute religion of nature and reason" — one who classes as Christians all good men, regardless of their religious belief. It is true that Sparks de- clares that Washington was a member of the Episcopal church, but he also admits that during his life he ceased to be a communicant of this church. Theodore Parker, in his '^Four Historic Ameri- cans," describes the religion of Washington as follows: '^ne had much of the principle, little of the sen- timents of religion. He was more moral than pious. In early life a certain respect for ecclesi- astical forms made him vestryman at two churches. This respect for outward forms with ministers and rej)orters for newsapers very often passes for the substance of religion. It does not appear that Washington took a deep and sponta- neous delight in religious emotions more than in poetry, in works of art, or in the beauties of na- ture. . . . Silence is a figure of speech, and in the 1 1*J Tin: FATIIKUS OV OUU RKPUnLlO. latter years of his life 1 sn]>poso his tlieoloi^ioal opiiiioTis worc^ (hos(^ of Joliii Adams, Dr. FraukliD, and Thomas fhMTorson, only ho was not a spocii- lativo man, and did not care io i>nblish thorn to tho world/' The Kov. l>r. Minot J. Savage, in a sermon on AVashini^ton, says: *'Tlu>st^ best (|ualilied to testify tell us ih'Ai \\c was (UH'idedly LibtM'al in his the- oloi::y in his malim^ manhood; and we know he was not shoek(Hl by the teaehini^s of Thomas Paine. That he trusted in (^od, believed in a Providenee that in some large way guided human destiny, is, doubtless, true; but that he was an evangelical Christian is almost certainly not true/' The Kev. John Snyder, of St. Louis, in an ar- ticle on Thomas Paine says: **If Thomas Paine is in hell on account of his religious opinions, George Washington, Penjamin Franklin and Thomas JelTerson are in his com]>any. . . . He shared the religicuis convictions of Washington, Franklin and JetTerson.'' It has been claimed that Washington's failure to demand Paine's release, when he was im- prisoned in L^rance, was because of Paine's Infi- delitv. Nothini: can be further from the truth than ft *" this. His failure io interfere in Paine's behalf was owing to the misrepresentations of his minis- (;kou(;i: WASiiiXf/roN. 143 tor, Oouvcrriour Morris, wJio doclarr-d that Paino had bcfconio a I'rerich citizc^ri, and his dctfirrni- rialion fo observe a strict neutrality in rf^gard to European affairs. His iovo for Lafayette was Bcareely less than that of n. faUir-r for his son; yet when Lafayette was irn7)risonf'd in Austria lie wrote: ^^\s I*resident there must be no eoinmit- ment of the Government to any interference of mine." The Ttev. Dr. Swing of Chicago, in a sermon on Washington and Lincoln, said: ''It is often l;i- mentr*d by the churchman thjit Washington and Lincoln possessed little religion except tluit found in the word 'Cod.' All tljat can here be jifTirmed is that what the religion of these two men lacked in theological details it made up in greatness. Their minds were born with a lov(; of great j)rin- ciples. Washington loved njid exalted each great principle. He was compelled by his nature to se- l(;ct from Christianity its central ideas. This tend- ency was intensified by the local friend sliip for France. France was battling against a vast bundle of false Christian X)articulars. The Colonies so hat- ed England and so admired France that most of our early statesmen reduced Christianity to that French Kationalism which was quite well satis- fied with the doctrine of a creator. A supersti- tious Christianity was falling to j^ieces, and the 144 THE FATHERS OF 01 ■« RKPUlUilO. new orthodoxy had not vet coiiio. ^lany of those statesmen when they took any steps at all in the path of reliuion walked with Ood alone." Judge J. 1>. Stallo, minister to Italy during President Cleveland's tirst administration, in an argument before ihe Superior Court of Cineinnati, made use of the folloAving words: ^'The men who assembled in Philadelphia to frame our Consti- tution were, many of them, imbued with the spirit of Freethought then prevalent. I am not without apprehension that this will be found to be true to a certain extent of George Washington — elarum et venerabile nomeu — who presided in that con- Yontion; that when you turn to the reliable ac- counts of his life and not to the rhetoricians, who have seen lit to meddle with it, the suspicion will arise that he would hardly have subscribed to any of the dogmatic creeds of the day." The centennial of AVashington's inauguration called out an increased degree of interest in his history. Everything pertaining to the man, in- cluding his religious belief, was fully and freely discussed. It was gratifying to note that the facts connected with this subject, which of late years have been exhumed and made public by our industrious truth seekers, had had their effect in largely disabusing the popular mind of the fraudulent claims so persistently maintained by CKOllCi: WASHIXGTOX. 115 the church. Twenty-five years a^o. Washington's orthodoxy was rarely questioned. Now, in spite of religions prejudice and bigotry, the secular press, the barometer of public sentiment, gener- ally affirms its improbability. Even the religious press is beginning to admit the truth. The Western Christian Advocate, one of the most influential organs of the leading Pro- testant denomination of the United States, edi- torially says: ^'The simple truth is, that while many denom- inations claim Washington, he belonged to no church, and was not perhaps a Christian in that experimental sense necessary, by the Xew Testa- ment standards, to constitute a child of God." The Catholic World makes this significant ad- mission: ''In all the voluminous wTitings of Gen- eral Washington, the holy name of Jesus Christ is never once wTitten.'^ A Southern paper, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, recently gave a pen picture of Washing- ton which, although rather harshly drawn, is a more truthful picture than the one usually drawn by Sunday-school artists : "Several waiters of late have marred the per- fect wooden image which history has left us of George Washington. They have showm that he was a master hand at swearing; that he could 140 THE FATUKKS OF OIK KlirUHLIO. carry about :is imich licjiior as any other of \\\s os- tooinod iH)iitoini>orarios, aiul that ho was, in short, soiuethin*:: of a doad iramo sport, lliiinan iiatun* is such that it lias ratlior rejoiced over these revelations. It gaus at ])er feet ion just as strenu- ously as it condemns total di^pravity. *'Zealons elVorts have Ihhmi made by priestly falsitiers io make the Thither of his Country' somethinu' he was not. 'rhi\v rc^prc^scMitcHl him, while at the head of the army, frequently going aside to ]>ray. This is wholly false, as is the hatchet and cherry-tree story told by Elder Weenis. "Truthful history presents Washington as iras- cible, impetuous, and vimt profane on great occa- sions, lie Avas human, with the intirmities of human nature. He was not an orthodox believer, but, like nearly all the fathers of the Uepublic, he was a Deist.'' The following extracts from the evidence ad- duced epitomizes this evidence and clearly show that the truth of my second proposition, *' Wash- ington was not a believer in the Christian reli- gion,- ^ has been established: "I do not believe that any degree of recollection will bring to any mind any fact which would prove Ceneral Washington to have been a be- GL'oitor: \VAsni\r;TOx. 147 lievor in the Christian revelation." — Jiishop White. "8ir, Washington was a Deist." — Rev. Dr. Abercronibie. "Like nearly all the founders of the Republic, he was not a Christian, but a Deist." — Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, quoted by Mr. Bradford. "He had no belief at all in the divine origin of the Bible."— Ibid. "I think anyone who will candidly do as I have done, will come to the conclusion that he was a Deist and nothing more." — Rev. Dr. W^ilson. "Oouverneur Morris . . . has often told me that General Washington believed no more in that system [Christianity] than he did." — Thomas Jefferson. "He left behind him not one word to warrant the belief that he was other than a sincere Deist." — Robert Dale Owen. "It has been confidently stated to me that he actually refused spiritual aid when it was pro- posed to send for a clergyman." — Ibid. "My researches do not enable me to aflSrm that Washington, on his death-bed, gave evidence of Christian belief."— Rev. Dr. Miller. "In mature life Washington was a Deist." — Dr. Moncure D. Conway. "3Iany clergyman visited him, but they were 148 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. never invited to hold family prayers, and no grace was ever said at table.'' — Ibid. ^'In the thousands of his letters I have never been able to find the name of Christ or any refer- ence to him." — Ibid. "In several thousand letters the name of Jesus Christ never appears, and it is notably absent from his last will." — Gen. A. W. Greely. "In all the voluminous writings of General Washington, the holy name of Jesus Christ is never once written." — Catholic World. "He belonged to no church, and was not per- haps a Christian in that experimental sense neces- sary, by the New^ Testament standards, to consti- tute a child of God." — Western Christian Advo- cate. "That he was an evangelical Christian is almost certainly not true." — Rev. M. J. Savage. , "I suppose his theological opinions were those of John Adams, Dr. Franklin and Thomas Jeffer- son." — Theodore Parker. "He [Paine] shared the religious convictions of Washington." — Eev. John Snyder. "Most of our early statesmen [including Wash- ington] reduced Christianity to that French Ea- tionalism which was quite well satisfied with the doctrine of a Creator." — Rev. Dr. Swing. "The men who assembled in Philadelphia to GEORGE WASHINGTON. 149 frame our Constitution were, many of them [in- cluding Washington] imbued with the spirit of Freethought then prevalent." — Judge J. B. Stallo. Washington was not a church member; he was not a Christian. Like Paine and Jefferson, he was a disbeliever in Christianity — a Freethinker, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. The world has produced few wiser or better men than our American Socrates, Benjamin Franklin. While he lived he was loved and honored by all; when he died, two continents mourned as a child mourns the loss of a beloved father. Eagerly has the church striven to place to her credit the pres- tige of this wise and good man's name. But in vain; she cannot efface the oft-repeated declara- tions of his disbelief. Franklin received a religious training, but his good sense and his humane nature forced him to rebel against the irrational and inhuman tenets of his parents' faith, and at an early age a sfjirit of skepticism was developed in him, as the fol- lowing extracts from his Autobiography will show : "My parents had given me betimes religious im- pressions, and I received from my infancy a pious education in the principles of Calvinism. But Bcarely was I arrived at fifteen years of age, when, after having doubted in turn of different tenets, according as I found them combated in the 153 154 THE FATHERS OP OUR RErUBLIC. different books that I read, I begau to doubt of Revelation itself (Autobiography, p. GG). lie read much, and the ambition of his youth, as he declares, was to become a decent writer of the English language. ELis favorite exercise was to reproduce, in his own words, the ideas of the authors he read. Alluding to this, he says: *'The time which I devoted to these exercises, and to reading, was the evening after my day's labor was tlnished, the morning before it began, and Sundays when I could escape divine service. While I lived with my father, he had insisted on my punctual attendance on public worship, and I still indeed considered it as a duty, but a duty which I thought I had no time to practice'- (Ibid. p. 16). In the course of his mental pursuits he read Locke on the ''Human Understanding,-' and care- fullv studied some essavs which taught the Bocratic method of disputation, which he immed- iately put to use in combating superstition: ^'Charmed to a degree of enthusiasm with this mode of disputing, I adopted it, and renouncing blunt contradictions, and direct and positive argu- ment, I assumed the character of a humble ques- tioner. The perusal of Shaftesbury and Collins had made me a skeptic; and, being previously so as to many doctrines of Christianity, I found BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 155 Sooratos' method to bo both the safest for myself, as well as the most embarrassing to those against whom I applied it. It soon afforded me singular pleasure; I incessantly practiced it; and became very adroit in obtaining, even from persons of superior understanding, concessions of which they did not foresee the consequence'' (Ibid, p. 17). The result of his many disputes upon the sub- ject of religion is easily divined. He says: "I began to be regarded, by pious souls, with horror, either as an apostate or an Atheist" (Ibid, p. 22). Being associated with an elder brother in the publication of the New England Courant, young Franklin made use of its columns to propagate his radical thoughts. From an old edition of Goodrich's Reader (Fifth, pp. 273, 274) I quote the following relative to his adventures in this field of religious criticism: "In Boston, in 1721, when the pulpit had mar- shaled Quakers and witches to the gallows, one newspaper, the New England Courant, the fourth American periodical, was established as an organ of independent opinion, by James Franklin. Its temporary success w^as advanced by Benjamin, his brother and apprentice, a boy of fifteen, who wrote pieces for its humble columns. "The little sheet satirized hypocrisy and spoke 156 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. of religious knaves as of all knaves the worst. This was described as tending 'to abuse the minis- ters of religion in a manner which was intoler- able.' *I can well remember,' whites Increase Mather, then more than four score years of age, 'when the civil government would have taken an effectual course to suppress such a cursed libel.' "The ministers persevered, and, in January, 1723, a committee of inquiry was raised by the legislature. Benjamin Franklin, being examined, escaped with an admonition; James, the publish- er, refusing to discover the author of the offense, was kept in jail for a month; his paper was cen- sured as reflecting injuriously on the reverend ministers of the gospel; and, by a vote of the House and Council, he was forbidden to print it, 'except it be first supervised.' " This young opponent of priestcraft soon after left Boston, went to New York, and from thence to Philadelphia. In passing through New Jersey he stopped at an inn near Burlington, kept by a Dr. Brown. Of this Dr. Brown, he writes as fol- lows: "This man entered into a conversation with me while I took some refreshment, and perceiving that I had read a little, he expressed toward me considerable interest and friendship. Our ac- quaintance continued during the remainder of his BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 157 life. I believe him to have been what is called an itinerant doctor; for there was no town in Eng- land, or indeed in Europe, of which he could not give a particular account. He was neither defi- cient in understanding nor literature, but he was a sad Infidel; and, some years after, wickedly undertook to travesty the Bible, in burlesque verse, as Cotton has travestied Virgil. He ex- hibited, by this means, many facts in a very ludi- crous point of view, which would have given um- brage to weak minds, had this work been published, which it never was" (Autobiography, p. 25). I can see the sly twinkle in Benjamin's eye as he writes about this "sad Infidel" who "wickedly undertook to travesty the Bible." It was with these same "sad Infidels" that he delighted to associate throughout his life, while many a time he, too, "wickedly undertook to travesty the Bible" by pretending to read from it, but extem- porizing in a ludicrous manner as he went along (Par-ton's Life of Franklin, Vol. i., p. 320). In Philadelphia he was associated with a print- er named Keimer. Bef erring to Keimer, he says: "He formed so high an opinion of my talents for refutation that he seriously proposed to me to become his colleague in the establishment of a new religious sect. He was to propagate the doc- trine by preaching, and I to refute every opponent. 158 THE FATHERS OF OUR REPUBLIC. "When he explained to me his tenets, I found many absurdities which I refused to admit. . . . Keimer wore liis beard long, because Moses had somewhere said, ^Thou shalt not mar the corners of thy beard/ lie likewise observed the Sab- bath; and these were with him two very essential points. I disliked them both" (Autobiog.p. 40). At a later period, alluding to his religious be- lief, Franklin says: "Some volumes against Deism fell into my hands. They were said to be the substance of sermons preached at Boyle's Lecture. It happened that they produced on me an effect precisely the reverse of what was intended by the writers; for the arguments of the Deists, which were cited in order to be refuted, appealed to me much more forcibly than the refutation itself. In a word, I soon became a thorough Deist" (Ibid, p. G6). In one of his youthful essays he professes a sort of polytheistic belief as shown by the following extracts: "The Infinite Father expects or requires no wor- ship or praise from us." "I conceive, then, that the Infinite has created many beings or gods vastly superior to man." "It may be these created gods are immortals; or it may be that after many ages, they are changed, and others supply their places. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 159 "llowbeit, I conceive that each of these is ex- ceeding good and very povs^erful; and that each has made for himself one glorious sun, attended with a beautiful and admirable s^^stem of planets. ^^It is that particular wise and good God, who is the author and owner of our system, that I pro- pose for the object of my praise and adoration" (Franklin's Works, Vol. ii., p. 2). He subsequently rejected some of his earlier philosophical and ethical views, particularly those contained in a small pamphlet which he wrote, entitled a "Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain.'' Referring to his arguments in this pamphlet he says: "The object was to prove, from the attributes of God, his goodness, wisdom, and power, that there could be no such thing as evil in the world; that vice and virtue did not in reality exist, and were nothing more than vain distinctions. I no longer regarded it as so blameless a work as I had form- erly imagined; and I suspected that some error must have imperceptibly glided into my argu- ment, by which all the inferences I had drawn from it had been affected, as frequently happens in metaphysical reasonings. In a word, I was at last convinced that truth, probity, and sincerity in transactions between man and man were of the utmost importance to the happiness of life; and IGO Tin: FATIIEKIS OF 01 K RKPURLIO. I rosolvod from that inonioiit, and wrote (ho ros- ol lit ion ill my journal, (o practice them as lon*^ as 1 lived" (Antobiouraphy, pp. (>(>, 07). His unbelief in Christ iauity, however, remained iinchanle of pleasing the i>>eity'' (Works, Vol. vii., p. 7oj. Writing to his sister, Mrs. Jane Mecora, five years later, he says: ^'It is pity that good works, among some sorts of people, are so little valued, and good wrjrds ad- mired in their stead. I mean seemingly pious dis- courses, instead of humane, benevolent actions. These they almost put out of countenance by call- ing morality, rotten morality; righteousness, ragged righteousness, and even filthy rags, and when you mention virtue, puck^^r up their noses; at the same time that they eagerly snulT up an empty, canting harangue, as if it were a posy of the choicest flowers" (Works, \'ol. vii., p. l>^oj. "Improvement in religion is called building up and edification. T-^aith is then the ground floor, hope is up onr- pair of stairs. My dear beloved Jenny, don't delight so much to dwell in those lower rooms, but get as fast as you can into the gaiTct; for in truth the best room in the house is charity. For my part I wish the house was turned upside down" (Ibid, p. 184). Franklin possibly believed in a future state of existence, but his conception of immortality was that of the F)eist, and not of the Christian. In hi^ lt>2 THE FATHERS OP OUR REPURLIO. letter to Wliitefield, previously alluded to, he says: "By heaven, we understand a state of happi- ness, intinite in degree and eternal in duration. I can do nothing to deserve such a reward. lie that, for giving a draught of water to a thirsty person, should expect to be paid with a good plantation, would be modest in his demands compared with those who think they deserve heaven for the little good they do on earth. . . . for my part, I have not the vanity to think I deserve it, the folly to ex- pect, or the ambition to desire it" (Works, Vol. vii., p. 75). In a letter to Mrs. Elizabeth Partridge, he ob- serves : *'With regard to future bliss, I cannot help im- agining that multitudes of the zealously orthodox of ditYerent sects, who at the last day may flock together in hopes of seeing each other damned, will be disappointed, and obliged to rest content with their own salvation" (Works, Vol. x., p. 360). Writing to his sister, Mrs. ^lecom, he says: ^*When religious people quarrel about religion, or hungry people about their victuals, it looks as if they had not much of either about them'' (Works, Vol. vii., p. 438). In a letter to "A Friend in England" (supposed to be Dr. Priestley), Franklin makes some observa- tions regarding the inspiration of the Bible: liKN-TAMIX FRANKLIN. 1 G3 "I a^rood with you in sentiments concerning the Old Testament, and thought the clause in our [Pennsylvania] Constitution, which required the members of 11 je Assembly to declare their ?jelief that the whole of it was given by divine inspira- tion, had better have been omitted. That I had opposed the clause; but, being overpowered by numbers, and fearing more in future might be grafted on it, I prevailed to have the additional clause, ^that no further or more extended profes- sion of faith should ever be exacted.' I observed to you, too, that the evil of it was the less, as no inhabitant, nor any officer of government, except the members of Assembly, was obliged to make the declaration. "So much for that letter; to which I may now add, that there are several things in the Old Tes- tament impossible to be given by divine inspi- ration; such as the approbation ascribed to the angel of the Lord of that abominably wickelanted in both sections of the Union, had proved unprofitable in the North and profitable in the South. The South sought to expand the influence of the institution, the North sought to contract it. "A house divided against itself cannot stand.'' Either slavery or the nation must perish. Com- promises had proved ineffectual. There was an appeal to the arbitrament of arms; the most stu- pendous civil conflict the world has witnessed followed; the South went down in defeat; slavery perished, and the Nation lived. The South was sincere in its advocacy of slav- ery. Its people had been educated to believe in its justness. They had been taught that it was divine. The Bible sanctioned it, and the church upheld it. Those who believed in the divinity of this institution — those who w^ere reduced from af- fluence to poverty by its abolition — can never be* come wholly reconciled to the new order of things. But aside from these the South as well as the iii iv THE SAVIORS OF OUR REPUBLIC. North now rejoices that the Union was preserved and the Republic saved. The great statesman who ruled with gentle hand, and guided with wondrous skill the ship of state on its perilous voyage, and the great cap- tain who with consummate ability, valor, and per- severance, conquered the rebellious hosts, were Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. By near- ly all the North, and by a large portion of the South, these men are held in loving remembrance as the Saviors of our Republic. While the president of the Confederacy, and the general of its vanquished armies — a statesman of acknowledged worth, and a soldier unsurpassed — were devout believers in Christianity, their vic- torious adversaries, Lincoln and Grant, were dis- believers. If the God of Christians be the God of battles, as claimed, he fought a losing fight, or deserted the standard of his devotees for that of aliens. ABRAHAM LINCOLN ABRAHAM LINCOLN PREFACE. Almost immediately after the remains of America's most illustrious son were laid to rest at Springfield, one of his biographers put forward the claim that he was a devout believer in Christianity. The claim was promptly denied by the dead statesman's friends, but only to be renewed again, and again denied. And thus for a quarter of a century the question of Abra- ham Lincoln's religious belief has been tosser^ like a battledoor from side to side. As a result of this controversy, thousands have become interested in a subject that otherwise might have excited but little interest. This is the writer's apology for collecting the testimony of more than one hundred witnesses, and devoting more than three hundred pages to the question, " Was Lincoln a Christian ? " About few other men has so much been written as about Abraham Lincoln ; while no other American's life has engaged the pens of so many biographers. A thousand volunaes record his name and refer to VI PREFACE. liis deeds. In a hundred of these he is the central figure. Nearly a score of elaborate biographies of him have been written. As many more books per- taining wholly to his life, his martyrdom, and his character have been published. Of the many works on Lincoln which the writer has consulted in the preparation of this volume, the following deserve to be mentioned : Nicolay and Hay's " Life of Lincoln," Herndon and Weik's " Life of Lincoln," Lamon's " Life of Lincoln," Holland's " Life of Lincoln," Arnold's " Life of Lincoln," Eaymond's " Life of Lincoln," Stoddard's "Life of Lincoln," Barrett's "Life of Lincoln," " Every-Day Life of Lincoln," Arnold's " Lincoln and Slavery," Carpenter's " Six Months at the "White House with Lincoln," " Eemi- niscences of Lincoln," "Anecdotes of Lincoln," " Lincolniana," "The President's Words," "The Martyr's Monument," " Tribute of the Nations to Lincoln," "Lincoln Memorial " and "Lincoln Me- morial Album." The testimony concerning Lincoln's religious belief presented in this volume has been derived chiefly from three sources. 1. A part of it has been gathered from the works above named. In a single volume is published for the first time matter which heretofore was only to be found scattered through numerous volumes, some of them inaccessible to the general reader. 2. A considerable portion of it PREFACE. ^11 has boon gleaned from newspapers and periodicals containing statements brougLt out by this contro- versy, many of which would otherwise soon be lost or forgotten. 3. A very large share of it has been obtained by the writer from personal friends of Lin- coln ; and when wo realize how rapidly those who lived and moved with him are passing away-that erelong none of them will remain to testify_the im- portance of this evidence can hardly be overestimated The writer believes that ho has fully established the negative of the proposition that forms the title of his book. He does not expect to silence tho claims of the affirmative ; but he has furnished an arsenal of facts whereby these claims may bo ex- posed and refuted as often as made. This effort to prove that Lincoln was not a Chris- tian will be condemned by many as an attempt to fasten a stain upon this great man's character. But the demonstration and perpetuation of this fact will only add to his greatness. It will show that he was in advance of his generation. The fame of Abraham Lincoln belongs not to this age alone, but will endure for all time. The popular faith is tran- sient and must perish. It is unpopular now to reject Christianity, but the day is fast approaching when to accept its dogmas will be considered an evidence of human weakness. To perpetuate the claim that Lincoln was a Christian is to perpetuate an idea Viii PREFACE. that in a future age will lessen the luster of his name. It will be urged by some that the intent and pur- pose of this work is solely to promote the interests of Freethought. But it is not. The writer advo- cates no cause that requires the prestige of a great name to make it respectable. The cause that re- quires the indorsement of the great to sustain it is not worthy to survive. He has prosecuted this in- vestigation, not in the interest of any belief or creed, but in the interest of truth; and truth is certainly as high as any creed, even if that creed be true. In proving Lincoln a disbeliever he does not presume to have proved Christianity false, or Freethought true ; but he has shown that some Christians are not honest, and that an honest man may be a Freethinker. Atchison, Kan., Aj)ril, 1893. CONTENTS. CHAPTEK I. CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY. Dr. J. G. Holland — Hon. Newton Bateman— Rev. J. A. Reed— Rev. James Smith, D.D. — N. W. Edwards— Thomas Lewis — Noah Brooks — Rev. Byron Sunderland, D.D. — Rev. Dr. Miner — Rev. Dr. Gurley — Hon. I. N. Arnold — P. B. Carpenter — Isaac Hawley — Rev. Mr. Willets — A Pious Nurse— IFes^ern Christian Advocate — An Illinois Clergyman — Rev. J. H. Barrows, D.D. — Rev. Francis Yiuton, D.D. — Bishop Simpson. CHAPTEE II. REVIEW OF CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY — HOLLAND AND BATE- MAN. Character of Holland's " Life of Lincoln " — The Bateman Interview — Inconsistency and untruthfulness of its statements — Holland's Subse- quent Modification and Final Abandonment of his original Claims. CHAPTEE III. REVIEW OF CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY — REED AND HIS WIT- NESSES. Reed — Smith — Edwards — Lewis — Brooks — Statements of Edwards, Smith, and Brooks Compared — Sunderland — Miner — Guriey — Failure of Reed to Establish his Claims. X CONTENTS. CHAPTEE IV. REVIEW OF CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY — ARNOLD AND OTHER WITNESSES. Arnold's " Lifo of Lincoln " — Claims Concerning Lincoln's Religious Belief — Address to Negroes of Baltimore — Carpenter — TIawley — Willets — Pious Nurse — Western Christian Advocate — Illinois Clergyman — Barrows — Yinton — Simpson. CHAPTEE V. TESTIMONY OF HON. WILLIAM H. HERNDON— PUBLISHED TESTIMONY. Herndon's Association with Lincoln — Character — Writings — Com- petency as a Witness — The Abbott Letter — Contribution to the Liberal Age — Article in the Truth Seeker — Herndon's " Life of Lincoln." CHAPTEE YI. TESTIMONY OF HON. WILLIAM H. HERNDON— UNPUBLISHED TESTIMONY. Extracts from Herndon's Letters — The Books Lincoln Read — His Philosophy — His Infidelit}' — Refutation of Christian Claims — Attempts to Invalidate Herndon's Testimony — Reed's Calumnies — Yindication. CHAPTEE YII. TESTIMONY OF COL. WARD H. LAMON. Lamon's ''Life of Lincoln "--Lincoln's Early Skepticism — His Inves- tigations at New Salem — His Book on Intidelity — His Religious Opin- ions Remain Unchanged — Holland's Condemnation of Lamon's Work — Holland's and Lamon's Works Compared. CONTENTS. XI CHAPTEE YIII. TESTIMONY OF LAMON's WITNESSES — HON. J. T. STUART AND COL. J. H. MATHENY. Testimony of Hon. John T. Stuart — Testimony of Col. James H. Ma- theny — Stuart's Disclaimer — Matheny's Disclaimer — Examination and Authorship of Disclaimers, Including the Edwards and Lewis Letters. CHAPTEE IX. TESTIMONY OF LAMON's WITNESSES — CONCLUDED. Dr. 0. H. Ray— Wm. H. Hannah, Esq.— James W. Keys— Hon. Jesse W. P'ell — Col. John G. Nicolay — Hon. David Davis — Mrs. Mary Lincoln — Injustice to Mrs. Lincoln — Answer to Reed's Pretended Ref- utation of the Testimony of Lamon's Witnesses. CHAPTEK X. TESTIMONY OF LINCOLN'S RELzVTIVES AND INTIMATE AS- SOCIATES. Mrs. Sarah Lincoln — Dennis F. Hanks — Mrs. Matilda Moore — John Hall — Wm. McNcely — Mr. Ly nan— James B. Spaulding — Ezra String- ham — Dr. Cx. H Ambrose — Wm. G. Green — Joshua F. Speed — John Decamp — Green Caruthers — J. II. Chcnciy — Squire Perkins — W. Per- kins — Hon. Joseph Gillespie — James Gorley — Dr. Wm. Jayne — Hon. Jesse K. Dubois — Judge Stephen T. Logan — Hon, Leonard Swett. CHAPTEE XL TESTIMONY OF FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES OF LINCOLN WHO KNEW HIM IN ILLINOIS. Hon. W. H. T. Wakefield— Hon. D. W. Wilder— Dr. B. F. Gardner— Hon. J. K. Yandermark — A. Jeffrey — Dr. Arch E. McNeal — Charles McGrew — Edward Butler — Joscpli Stafford — Judge A. D. Norton — XU CONTENTS. J. L. Morrell — Mablon Ross — L. Wilson — H, K. Magie — Hon. Jame? Tiittle — Col. F. S. Rutherford — Judgo Robert Leacliman — Hon. Orin B. Gould— M. S. Gowin — Col. R. G. lugersoll — Leonard W. Yolk — Joseph Jefferson — Hon. E. B. Wasliburn — Hon. E. M. Haines. CHAPTER XII. TESTIMONY OF FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES OF LINCOLN WHO KNEW HIM IN WASHINGTON. Hon. Geo. W. Julian — Hon. John B. Alley— Hon. Hugh McCul- loch — Doun Piatt — Hon. Schuyler Colfax — Hon. Geo. S. Boutwell — Hon. Wm. D. Kelly— E. H. Wood— Dr. J. J. Thompson— Rev. James Shrigley — Hon. John Covode — Jas. E. Murdock — Hon. M. B. Field — Harriet Beecher Stowe — Hon. J. P. Usher — Hon. S. P. Chase — Frederick Douglas — Mr. Defrees^-Hon. Wm. H. Seward — Judge Aaron Goodrich — Nicolay and Hay's "Life of Lincoln" — Warren Chase — Hon. A. J. Grover — Judge James M. Nelson. CHAPTER XIII. OTHER TESTIMONY AND OPINIONS. New Y'ork Wo7'ld— Boston Globe — Chicago Herald— Manf or cCs Magazine — Herald and Eevieiv — Chambers's Encyclopedia — Encyclopedia Britannica — People's Library of Information — The World's Sages — Every-Day Life of Lincoln — Hon. Jesse W. Weik — Chas. W. French— Cyrus 0. Poole — A Citizen of Springfield — Henry Walker — Wm. Bissett — Frederick Heath — Rev. Edward Eggleston — Rev. Robert Collyer — Allen Thorndike Rice — Robert C. Adams — Theodore Stanton— Geo. M. McCrie — Gen. M. M. Trumbull — Rev. David Swing, D.D. — Rev. J. Lloyd Jones — Rev. John W. Chadwick. CHAPTER Xiy. EVIDENCE GATHERED FROM LINCOLN'S LETTERS, SPEECHES, AND CONVERSATIONS. The Bible and Christianity — Christ's Divinity — Future Rewards and Punishments — Freedom of Mind — Fatalism — Providence — Lines in CONTENTS. Xiii Copy-book— Parker— Paine— Opposition of Church — Clerical Officious- ness Rebuked — Irreverent Jokes — Profanity — Temperance Reform — In- dorsement of Lord Bolingbroke'8 Writings— Golden Rule. CHAPTER Xy. Recapitulation and Conclusion. Character of Christian Testimony — Summary of Evidence Adduced in Proof of Lincoln's Unbelief— Douglas an UnbeUever — Theodore Parker's Theology— Fallacy of (/laims Respecting Lincoln's Reputed Conversion— His Invocations of Deity— His Alleged Regard for the Sabbath— The Church and Hypocrisy— Lincoln's Religion. INTRODUCTION. Was Abraliam Lincoln a Christian? Many confi- dently believe and earnestly contend that he was ; others as confidently believe and as earnestly con- tend that he was not. Before attempting to answer this question, let us define what constitutes a Christian. A Christian is one who, in common with the adherents of nearly all the religions of mankind, believes, 1. In the ex- istence of a God ; 2. In the immortality of the soul. As distinguished from the adherents of other relig- ions, he believes, 1. That the Bible is a revelation from God to man; 2. That Jesus Christ was the miraculously begotten son of God. He also believes in various other doctrines peculiar to Christianity, the chief of which are, 1. The fall of man ; 2. The atonement. Those who in nominally Christian countries reject the dogmas of Christianity are denominated Infi- dels, Freethinkers, Liberals, Bationalists, unbeliev- 16 16 INTKODUCTION. ers, disboliovors, skeptics, etc. These Infidels, or Freetliinkors, represent various phases of belief, among which are, 1. Deists, who affirm the existence of a God and the immortality of the soul ; 2. Atheists, who deny the existence of a God, and, generally, the soiil's immortality ; 3. Agnostics, who neither affirm nor deny these doctrines. The foUowinc: are the reliejious views Lincoln is said to have held as presented by those wlio affirm that he was a Christian : 1. He believed in the existence of a God, and ac- cepted the Christian conception of this Being. 2. Ho believed in the immortality of the soul, and in the Christian doctrine of the resurrection. 3. He believed that the Bible is a revelation from God — the only revealed will of God. 4. He believed in the divinity of Christ — believed that Christ is God. 5. He believed in the efficacy of prayer, and was accustomed to pray himself. 6. He believed in the doctrine of experimental re- ligion, and had experienced a change of heart. 7. Although he never united with any church, he was contemplating such a step at the time of his as- sassination. 8. The church with which he would have united, we are led to infer, was the Presbyterian. The followinor is a statement of the theolocrical INTRODUCTION. 17 opinions of Lincoln as understood by those who deny that he was a Christian : 1. In regard to a Supreme Being he entertained at times Agnostic and even Atheistic opinions. During the later years of his life, however, he professed a sort of Deistic belief, but he did not accept the Christian or anthropomorphic conception of a Deity. 2. So far as the doctrine of immortality is con- cerned, he was an Agnostic. 3. He did not believe in the Christian doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures. He believed that Burns and Paine were as much inspired as David and Paul. 4. He did not believe in the doctrine of Christ's divinity. He affirmed that Jesus was either the son of Joseph and Mary, or the illegitimate son of Mary. 5. He did not believe in the doctrine of a special creation. 6. He believed in the theory of Evolution, so far as this theory had been developed in his time. 7. He did not believe in miracles and special providences. He believed that all things are gov- erned by immutable laws, and that miracles and special providences, in the evangelical sense of these terms, are impossible. 8. He rejected the doctrine of total, or inherent depravity. 18 INTRODUCTION. 9. He ropudiated tlio doctrino of vicarious atone- ment. 10. Ho condemned tlie doctrine of forgiveness for sin. 11. He opposed the doctrine of future rewards and punishments. 12. He denied the doctrine of the freedom of the will. 13. He did not believe in the efficacy of prayer as understood by orthodox Christians. 1-i. He indorsed, for the most part, the criticisms of Thomas Paine on the Bible and Christianit}^ and accepted, to a great extent, the theological and hu- manitarian views of Theodore Parker. 15. Ho wrote a book (which was suppressed) against the Bible and Christianity. IG. His connection with public affairs prevented him from giving prominence to his religious opin- ions during the later years of his life, but his earlier views concernincj the unsoundness of the Christian system of religion never underwent any material change, and he died, as he had lived, an unbeliever. ABRAHAM LINCOLN: WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? CHAPTER I. CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY. Dr. J. a. Holland— lion. Nowton Batornan— Rev. J. A. Reed— Rev. James Smith, D.D.— N. W. Edwards— Thomas Lewis— Noah Brooks — Rev. Byroa Sunderland, D.D.— Rev. Dr. Miner— Rev. Dr. GurJey— Hon. I. N. Arnold— F. B. Carpenter— Tnaac Hawloy— Rev. Mr. Willets — A Pious Nurse— Western Christian Advocate— An Illinois Clergyman- Rev. J. il. Barrows, D.D. — Rev. Francis Vhiton, D.D. — Bishop Simpson. In confirmation of tlio claim tliat Lincoln was a Christian, the following evidence has been adduced : DR. J. G. HOLLAND. President Lincoln died on the 15th of April, 18G5. In the same year, the " Life of Abraham Lincoln," written by Dr. J. G. Holland, appeared. In the fields of poetry and fiction, and as a magazine writer, Dr. Holland had achieved an enviable reputation. His "Life of Lincoln" was written in his usually 20 ABRAHAM IJNCOLN: entertaining style and secured a wide circulation. He affirmed that Lincoln was a Christian, and by means of this work, and through Scribncrs ATagazinc^ of which he was for many years the editor, contrib- uted more than any other person to render a belief in this claim popular, lleferring to Lincoln's admin- istration, Dr. HoHand says : *' The power of a true-hearted Christian man, in perfect sympathy with a true-hearted Christian peo- ple, was Mr. Lincoln's power. Open on one side of his nature to all descending influences from him to whom he prayed, and open on the other to all as- cending influences from the people whom he served, he aimed simply to do his duty to God and man. Acting rightly ho acted greatly. While he took care of deeds fashioned by a purely ideal standard, God took care of results. Moderate, frank, truthful, gentle, forgiving, loving, just, Mr. Lincoln will al- ways be remembered as eminently a Christian Presi- dent ; and the almost immeasurabl}- great results which he had the privilege of achieving were due to the fact that he was a Christian President " (Life of Lincoln, p. 5^2). HON. NEWTON BAT EM AN. Dr. Holland's claim rests chiefly upon a confession which Lincoln is said to have made to Newton Bateman in 1860. Daring the Presidential campaign WAH IfK A CfritlBTIAN? 21 Lijicolu <)('j'Ai[)l(^<\ ilio Exf;ciiiivo Cliambor at ili^i Stato l£(/uso. Mr. J>atoman was Superintondent of Public Instruction at ilio time, had liis office in the ' same buildinj^, and was frerjuently in Lincoln's room. The conversation in which Lincoln is alleged to have expressed a beliet' in Christianity is thus related in Holland's " Life of Lincoln :" " On one of these occasions Mr. Lincoln took up a book containing a careful canvass of the city of Springfield in which he lived, showing the candidate for whom each citizen had declared it his intention to vote in tlie approaching election, Mr. Lincoln's friends had, douV)tless at his own request, placed the result of the canvass in his hands. This was toward the close of October, and only a few days be- fore the election. Calling Mr. Bateman to a seat at his side, having previously locked all the doors, he said : ' Let us look over this book. I wish particu- larly to see how the ministers of Springfield are going to vote.' The leaves were turned, one by one, and as tlie names were examined Mr. Lincoln frequently asked if this one and that were not a minister, or an elder, or the member of such or such a church, and sadly expressed his surprise on receiving an affirma- tive answer. In that manner they went through the book, and then he closed it and sat silently and for some minutes regarding a memorandum in pencil which lay Ijofore him. At length he turned to Mr. 22 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Batemau, with a face full of sadness, and said : * Here are twenty-three ministers, of different denomina- tions, and all of them are against me but three ; and here are a great many prominent members of the churches, a very large majority of whom 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 from his bosom a pocket New Testament. * These men well know,' he continued, ' that I am for freedom in the territories, freedom everywhere as far as the Constitution and laws will permit, 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 cannot live a moment, they are going to vote against me. I do not understand it at alL' Here Mr. Lincoln paused — paused for long minutes — his features surcharged with emotion. Then he rose and walked up and down the room in the effort to retain or regain his self-possession. Stopping at last, he said, with a trembling voice and his cheeks wet with tears : * 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 for me — and I think he has — I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is everything. I know I am right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God.' WAS HE A CHllLSTIAN? 23 " The effect of this conversation upon the mind of Mr. Bateman, a Christian gentleman whom Mr. Lin- coln profoundly respected, was to convince him that Mr. Lincoln had, in his quiet way, found a path to the Christian standpoint — that he had found God, and rested on the eternal truth of God. As the two men were about to separate, Mr. Bateman remarked : ' I have not supposed that you were accustomed to think so much upon this class of subjects. Certainly your friends generally are ignorant of the sentiments you have expressed to me.' He replied quickly : ' I know they are. I am obliged to appear different to them ; but I think more upon these subjects than upon all others, and I have done so for years ; and I am willing that yrm should know it ' " (Life of Lin- coln, pp. 236-239). REV. J. A. REED. In 1872, seven years after the publication of Hol- land's work, Lamon's "Life of Abraham Lincoln" was published. In this work the statements of Hol- land and Bateman concerning Lincoln's religious belief are disputed, and the testimony of numerous witnesses cited to prove that he lived and died a dis- believer. Soon after Lamon's book was published, the Rev. J. A. Heed, a Presbyterian clergyman, of Springfield, 111., delivered a lecture in which he at- tempted to refute or modify the evidence of Lamon's 24 ABEAHAM LINCOLN : witnesses and prove that Lincoln died a Christian. He admitted that Lincoln was an Infidel up to 1848, and possibly as late as 1862, but endeavored to show that previous to his death he changed his views and became a Christian. The following extracts present the salient points in his discourse : *' Having shown what claims Mr. Lamon's book has to being the ' only fair and reliable history ' of Mr. Lincoln's life and views, and of what ' trust- worthy materials ' it is composed, I shall now give the testimony I have collected to establish what has ever been the public impression, that Mr. Lincoln was in his later life, and at the time of his death, a firm believer in the truth of the Christian religion. The Infidelity of his earlier life is not so much to be wondered at, when we consider the poverty of his early religious instruction and the peculiar influences by which he was surrounded." " It does not appear that he had ever seen, much less read, a work on the evidences of Christianity till his interview with Eev. Dr. Smith in 1848. We hear of him as reading Paine, Voltaire, and Theodore Parker, but nothing on the other side. " While it is to be regretted that Mr. Lincoln was not spared to indicate his religious sentiments by a profession of his faith in accordance with the insti- tutions of the Christian religion, yet it is very clear that he had this step in view, and was seriously con- WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 25 templating it, as a sense of its fitness and an appre- hension of his duty grew upon him.' In support of his claims, Dr. Reed presents the testimony of Rev. Dr. Smith, Ninian W. Edwards, Thomas Lewis, Noah Brooks, Bev. Dr. Sunderland, Rev. Dr. Miner, and Rev. Dr. Gurley. REV. JAMES SMITH, D.D. The Rev. James Smith was for many years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield. Lincoln formed his acquaintance soon after he lo- cated there, remained on friendly terms with him, and with Mrs. Lincoln frequently attended his church. Dr. Smith was one of the three Springfield clergymen who supported Lincoln for President in 1860, and in recognition of his friendship and fidel- ity, he received the consulship at Dundee. Dr. Reed quotes from a letter to W. H. Herndon, dated East Cainno, Scotland, January 24, 1867, in which Dr. Smith says : *' It is a very easy matter to prove that while I was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Spring- field, Mr. Lincoln did avow his belief in the divine authority and inspiration of the scriptures, and I hold that it is a matter of the last importance not only to the present, but all future generations of the great Republic, and to all advocates of civil and re- ligious liberty throughout the world, that this avowal lit) AiUiAllAAl JAISCOLN : Oil his part, anil tho oirrunisiancos jitfcomlinjj; it, togothor with vorv intorostiui; iiu'i^louts illustrativo o( tho o\c"o1Umu*o o{ Ills c'haractor, in my possession, siiouKl bo ma Jo kiunvu to tlio publii*. . . . Ifc was inv hiMior to phu'o boforo Mr. Lincohi av«:;uiuoiits dosigiunl to piovo tho Jivino authority and inspira- tion of tho soripturos iwoonipaniod by tho arguments oi Inlidol objectors in thoir own hini;nau;e. To tho a.rt;'umonts on both sides Mr. Linoobi gave a most patient, impartial, and soarching investigation. To use his own hinguago, he examined the arguments as a hiwyer who is anxious io reaeh the truth investi- ixates testimonv. Tho rosidt was tho announcement bv himself that tho argument in favor of the divine authority and inspiration o( the Scriptures was un- answerable." NOM. N IN I AN W. EDWARDS. Ninian W. Edwards, a brother-in-law of Lincoln, writes as follows : '' Springtield, Doc. 2:ttb, 1S72. '* T\ov. Jas. A. Eeed : " Pear Sir— *' A short time after the Eov. Pr. Smith became pastor of tho First Presbyterian ehurch in this city, Mr. Lincoln said tv^ mo, * 1 have been reading a work of Pr. Smith on the ovidonees of Christianity, and have hoard him jn-oaeh and eonvorso on the subject, WA« HE A CHBIBTIAN? 27 and I arn now cony'mccA of the truth of the ChriBtian religion.' Yours truly, " N. W. Edwarrlii." \r\ corroboration of Mr. Edwards*» statement, Thoma.s Lewis, of Springfield, IlL, testifjes as fol- lows : " Springfield, Jan. 6tli, 1873. "Rev. J. A. Kr:r;d: " Dear Sir— "Not long after Dr. Smith came to Springfield, and I think very near the time of his son's death, Mr. Lincoln said to me, that when on a visit some- where, Le had seen and partially read a work of Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christianity which had led him to change his views about the Christian religion ; that he would like to get that work to finish the reading of it, and also to make the ac- quaintance of Dr. Smitli, 1 was an elder in Dr. Smith's church, and took Dr. Smith to Mr. Lincoln's office and introduced him; and Dr. Smith gave Mr. Lincoln a copy of his book, as I know, at his own request. Yours etc., " Thos. Lewis." NOAH BHOOKS. Noah Brooks, a newspaper corre.spjondent of New 28 ABBAHAM LINCOLN I York, and the author of a biography of Lincoln, gives the following testimony : "New York, Dec. 31, 1872. " Eev. J. A. Keed, '' My Dear Sir : "In addition to what has appeared from my pen, I will state that I have had many conversations with Mr. Lincoln, which were more or less of a religious character, and while I never tried to draw anything like a statement of his views from him, yet he freely expressed himself to me as having ' a hope of blessed immortality through Jesus Christ.' His views seemed to settle so naturally around that statement, that I considered no other necessary. His language seemed not that of an inquirer, but of one who had a prior settled belief in the fundamental 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 suppose that Mr. Lincoln would ever deceive me as to his religious sentiments. In many conversations with him, I absorbed the firm WAS HE A CHRISTIAN r ^d conviction that Mr. Lincoln was at heart a Christian man, believed in the Savior, and was seriously con- sidering the step which would formally connect him with the visible church on earth. Certainly, any suggestion as to Mr. Lincoln's skepticism or Infidel- ity, to me who knew him intimately from 1862 till the time of his death, is a monstrous fiction — a shocking perversion. " Yours truly, " Noah Brooks." REV. BYRON SUNDERLAND, D.D. Mr. Eeed presents a lengthy letter from the Bev. Byron Sunderland, of Washington, dated Nov. 15, 1872. Dr. Sunderland in company with a party of friends visited the President in the autumn of 1862. In this letter he says : *' After some conversation, in which he seemed disposed to have his joke and fun, he settled down to a serious consideration of the subject before his mind, and for one half-hour poured forth a volume of the deepest Christian philosophy I ever heard." REV. DR. MINER. The Eev. Dr. Miner, who met Lincoln in Washing- ton, says : " All that was said during that memorable after- noon I spent alone with that great and good man is 30 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I engraven too deeply on my memory ever to be effaced. I felt certain of tins fact, that if Mr. Lin- coln was not really an experimental Christian, he was acting like one. He was doing his duty man- fully, and looking to God for help in time of need ; and, like the immortal Washington, he believed in the efficacy of prayer, and it was his custom to read the Scriptures and pray himself." REV. P, D, CURLEY, D.D, While in Washington, Lincoln with his family attended the Presbyterian church of which the Rev. Dr. Gurley was pastor. Mr. Reed cites the follow- ing as the testimony of Dr. Gurley in regard to the alleged Infidelity of Lincoln : '' I do not believe a word of it. It could not have been true of him while here, for I have had frequent and intimate conversations with him on the subject of the Bible and the Christian religion, when he could have had no motive to deceive me, and I con- sidered him sound not only on the truth of the Christian religion but on all its fundamental doctrines and teachings. And more than that, 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 WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? . 31 loved the Savior, and, if he was not deceived in him- self, it was his intention soon to make a profession of religion." HON. ISAAC N. ARNOLD, One of the most ardent friends and admirers of Abraham Lincoln was Isaac N. Arnold, for several years a member of Congress from Illinois. Mr. Arnold wrote a work on " Lincoln and Slavery," and a " Life of Lincoln " which was published in 1885. Lincoln's religions views are thus described by Mr. Arnold : "No more reverent Christian than he ever sat in the Executive chair, not excepting Washington. He was by nature religious ; full of religious sentiment. The veil between him and the supernatural was very thin. It is not claimed that he was orthodox. For creeds and dogmas he cared little. But in the- great fundamental principles of religion, of the Christian religion, he was a firm believer. Belief in the exist- ence of God, in the immortality of the soul, in the Bible as the revelation of God to man, in the efficacy and duty of prayer, in reverence toward the Almighty, and in love and charity to man, was the basis of his religion " (Life of Lincoln, p. 446). "His reply to the Negroes of Baltimore when they, in 1864, presented him with a magnificent Bible, ought to silence forever those who charge him 3lJ ABRAHAM LINCOLN: with nnbolicf. Ho saiJ : ' In regard to the Groat Book I have only to sa}' that it is the best gift which God has given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated through this book ' '* (Ibid., p. U7). "His faith in a Divine Providence began at his mother's knee, and ran through all the changes of his life. Not orthodox, not a man of creeds, he was a man of simple trust in God " (lb., p. 4rkS), F. B. CARPENTER. Mr. Carpenter, the artist, in his popular book, entitled " Six Months in the White House with Abraham Lincoln," uses the following language : " I would scarcely have called Mr. Lincoln a re- ligious man — and yet I believe him to have been a sincere Christian " (Six Months in the White House, p. 185). ISAAC HAW LEY. In the spring of 1887, in going from Springfield to Havana, I met Isaac Hawley, one of the early settlers of Illinois, and who for nearly twenty years resided within a few blocks of Lincoln in Springtield. In answer to the question, '' Was Lincoln a Chris- tian?" Mr. Hawley replied : '* I believe that Lincoln was a Christian, and that he was God's chosen instrument to perform the mighty work he did." I 1 WAH HE A CUillSTIAN? 33 REV. MR. WILLETS. The Rev. Mr. Willets, of Brooklyn, N. Y., is cred- ited with the following statement concerning Lin- coln's reputed conversion. The information it con- tains was obtained, it is said, from a lady of Mr. Willets's acquaintance who met Lincoln in AYashing- ton: ** The President, it seemed, had been much im- pressed with the devotion and earnestness of pur- pose manifested by the lady, and on one occasion, after she had discharged the object of her visit, he said to her : " Mrs. , I have formed a high opin- ion of your Christian character, and now, as we are alone, I have a mind to ask you to give me, in brief, your idea of wliat constitutes a true religious expe- rience.' Tlie lady replied at some length, stating that, in her judgment, it consisted of a conviction of one's own sinfulness and weakness, and personal need of a Savior for strength and support ; that views of mere doctrine might and would differ, but when one was really brought to feel his need of divine help, and to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance, it was satisfactory evi- dence of his having been born again. This was the substance of her reply. When she had concluded, Mr. Lincoln was very thoughtful for a few moments. He at length said, very earnestly, 'If what you have 34 ABRAHAM LINCOLN! told me is really a correct view of this great subject, I think I can say with sincerity that I hope I am a Christian ' " (Anecdotes of Lincoln, pp. 166, 167). A PIOUS NURSE. A pious lady, who served in the capacity of a hos- pital nurse at Washington, and who sometimes vis- ited the White House, testifies to Lincoln's belief in the efficacy of pra5^er. The incident narrated oc- curred while a battle was in progresSo The report saj's : ** The possibility of defeat depressed him greatly ; but the lady told him he must trust, and that he could at least pray. * Yes,' said he, and taking up a Bible, he started for his room. Could all the peo- ple of the nation have overheard the earnest peti- tion that went up from that inner chamber as it reached the ears of the nurse, they would have fallen upon their knees with tearful and reverential sym- pathy " (Anecdotes of Lincoln, p. 120). WESTERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE. Soon after the close of the war, the Western Chris- tian Advocate, the leading Christian journal of the West, published the following : " On the day of the receipt of the capitulation of Lee, as we learn from a friend intimate with the late President Lincoln, the cabinet meeting was held an WAB HE A GHHISTIAN? 35 hour earlier than usual. Neither the President nor any member was able, for a time, to ^ive utterance to his feelings. At the suggestion of Mr. Lincoln all dropped on their knees, and offered in silence and in tears their humble and heartfelt acknowledgment to the Almighty for the triumph he had granted to the national cause." The above is quoted by Eaymond and other biog- raphers of Lincoln. AN ILLINOIS CLERGYMAN. In the " Lincoln Memorial Album " appears what is reported to be Lincoln's " Beply to an Illinois Clergyman :" " When I left Springfield I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg, and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. Yes, I do love Jesus" (L. M. A., p. 'dm), REV. JOHN H. BARROWS. In the " Lincoln Memorial Album," Dr. J. H. Barrows contributes an article on " The Eeligious Aspects of Abraham Lincoln's Career," from which I quote as follows : " In the anxious uncertainties of the great war, he 36 ABIUIIAM LINCOLN : gv:ulu:vllv roso to tho hights whovo .Tohovali booamo io him tho siiMiinost of ro:vHtios. tho v\i\ov of nations. AVhoii ho >Yvoto his immortal rroohuuation, ho iuvokoJ upon it not only Mho ooiisiJorato jnilt:;mont of mankind,' bnt * tho i;vaoions favor of Almii^hty God.' >Vhon darkness gathorod ovor tho bravo armios tight in^;- for th.o nation's lifo, this strong man in tho oarly morning knolt and wrostUnl in prayor with him who hohls in his hand tho fato of ompiros. AVhon tho ohnids liftovl abovo tho oarnago of Oottys- bnrg, ho gavo his hoart to tho Lord Jesus Christ. AVheu he pronounood his matohU^ss ovation on tho chief battletield of tho war, ho gavo expression to the resolve that * this nation, nndor God, should have a now birth of freedom.' And when ho wrote his h\st Inaugural Address, he gavo to it the lofty religious tone of an old Hebrew psalm " (L. M. A., p. oOS). RFy. FR^.VC/S VINTON. D.D. This elorgvman, a vosidoni of Now York, and a stranger to Lincoln, visited tho AVhite House in 1SG*2, it is claimed, and indulged in an argument and exhortation, tho eft'eet of which was to convert the President to a belief in the Christian doctrine of the resurrection and the immortality of the soul lour- ing the interview, Lincoln, it is reported, foil upon the nock of his clerical visitor and wept like a child. WAS HE A CHIIISTIAN? 37 Boforo retiring, Dr. Vinton said : " I have a sermon upon this subject which I think might interest you." " Mr. Lincoln," the report continues, " begged him to send it at an early day, thanking him repeatedly for liis cheering and hopjeful words. The sermon was sent, and read over and over by the President, wlio caused a copy to be made for his own private use before it was returned " (Anecdotes of Lincoln, pp. 107, 108;. BISHOP SIMPSON. The most eminent Methodist divine of that period was Bishop Simpson. During the war his com- manding influence and rare eloquence did much to secure for the Union cause the united support of Northern Methodists. Lincoln appreciated the services of the distinguished divine, and they became warm friends. When the remains of tlie President were conveyed to their final resting-pjlace at Springfield, Bishop Simpson was selected to deliver the funeral oration. Alluding to the religious phase of Lincoln's character, he spoke as fol- lows : " As a ruler, I doubt if any President has ever shown such trust in God, or in public documents so frequently referred to divine aid. Often did he remark to friends and to delegations that his hope for our success rested in his conviction that God 88 ABKAIIAM LINCOLN; would bless our oli'orts because wo wore trying to Jo right " (Liucolu aud Slavery, p. G73). '3t ' lit ?». PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S EAIUY HOME. I WAS HE A CmtlHTIAN? 39 CHAPTEE II. REVIEW OE CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY — HOLLAND AND liATE- MAN. Character of Hollarid'H " Lifh of Lincoln " — ThcBatcman Tntcrviow — IncoiiHiHtency and unlnilhfiilii08H of its ^HtalornciitH — ilolland'H kSubHO qncnt Modification and Einal Abandonment of his original Claim.s. In tho pre(;ediii[< chapter has been presented the Christian side of this question. It has been pre- sented fully and fairly. Even the Christian claimant must admit that it is the longest and most complete array of testimony that has yet been published in support of his claim. This evidence is explicit and apparently conclusive. To attempt its refutation may seem presumptuous. And yet, in the face of all this evidence, the writer does not hesitate to declare that Abraham Lincoln was not a Christian, and pledge himself to refute the statements of these wit- nesses by a volume of testimony that is irresistible and overwhelming. Before introducing this testimony the evidence already adduced will be reviewed. This evidence may properly be grouped into three divisions : 1. Tlie testimony of Holland and Bateman ; 2. The 40 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : testimony of Ecod and liis witnesses ; 3. The tes- timony of Arnold and the miscellaneous evidence remaining. Holland's " Life of Lincoln," from a literary point of view, is a work of more than ordinary merit. It possesses a beauty of diction and an intellectual vigor seldom surpassed ; but as an authority it is unreliable. Like Weems's " Life of Washington," it is simply a biographical romance founded upon fact, but paying little regard to facts in presenting the details. Following the natural bent of Christian biographers, Holland parades the subject of his work as a model of Christian piety. He knew that this was false ; for, while he was unacquainted with Lincoln, he had been apprised of his unbelief — had been repeatedly told of it before he wrote his biography. But this did not deter him from assert- ing the contrary. He knew that if he stated the facts the clergy would condemn his book. They needed the influence of Lincoln's great name to support their crumbling creed, and would have it at any sacrifice, particularly when its possession re- quired no greater sacrifice than truth. Holland was equal to the emergency. When one of Lincoln's friends in Springfield suggested that the less said about his religious views the better, he promptly replied : *' Oh, never mind ; I'll fix that." And he did. With dramatic embellishments, he presented WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 41 to the delight of the orthodox world the now tamous, or rather infamous, Bateman interview. The publication of this story produced a profound sensation among the personal friends of the dead President. It revealed to them the unpleasant fact, assuming Holland's account to be correct, either that Newton Bateman, who had hitherto borne the repu- tation of being a man of veracity, was an unscrupu- lous liar, or that Abraham Lincoln, whose reputation for honesty and candor, long anterior to 1860, had become proverbial, was a consummate hypocrite ; and loath as they were to believe the former, they rejected with disdain the latter. Eeferring to this story, Lamon, in his "Life of Lincoln," says : " There is no dealing with Mr. Bateman except by a flat contradiction. Perhaps his memory was treacherous or his imagination led him astray, or, peradventure, he thought a fraud no harm if it gratified the strong desire of the public for proofs of Mr. Lincoln's orthodoxy " (Life of Lincoln, p. 501). While Bateman undoubtedly misrepresented Lin- coln in his account of their conversation — for it is not denied that he had an interview with Lincoln — it is quite probable that he did not to the extent represented by Holland. Bateman doubtless exag- gerated the affair, and Holland magnified Bate- man's report of it. In an article originally published 42 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : in the Index, and subseqnentl}' quoted by Lamon, Lincoln's law partner, Mr. Herndon, says : " I doubt whether Mr. Bateman said in full what is recorded there. I doubt a great deal of it. I know the whole story is untrue — untrue in sub- stance, untrue in fact and spirit. As soon as the [Holland's] ' Life of Lincoln ' was out, on reading that part here referred to, I instantly sought Mr. Bateman and found him in his office. I spoke to him politely and kindly, and he spoke to me in the same manner. I said substantially to him that Mr. Holland, in order to make Mr. Lincoln a technical Christian, made him a hypocrite ; and so his ' Life of Lincoln ' quite plainly says. I loved Mr. Lincoln, and was mortified, if not angry, to see him made a hypocrite. I cannot now detail what Mr. Bateman said, as it was a private conversation, and I am forbidden to make use of it in public. If some good gentleman can only get the seal of secrecy removed I can show what was said and done. On my word, the world may take it for granted that Holland is wrong — that he does not state Mr. Lincoln's views correctly" (Lamon's Life of Lincoln, p. 496). In a lecture on " Lincoln's Eeligion," delivered in Springfield in 1874, alluding to the same subject, Mr. Herndon says : *' My notes of our conversation bear date Decem- ber 3, 12, and 28, 1865. Our conversations were WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 43 private, I suppose. However, I can say this much : that Mr. Bateman expressly told me Mr. Lin- coln was, in the conversation related in Hol- land, UYkmg politics and not religion, nor Christian- ity, nor morals, as such. I have persistently dogged Mr. Bateman for the privilege of publishing my notes, or to give me a letter explaining what Mr. Lincoln did say, so that I might make known the facts of the case. Mr. Bateman has as stoutly refused." Dr. Bateman finally permitted Mr. Herndon to make public a letter, marked " confidential," which he had written Mr. Herndon in 1867. In this letter Bateman says : "He [Lincoln] was applying the principles of moral and religious truth to the duties of the hour, the condition of the country, and the conduct of public men— ministers of the gospel. I had no thought of orthodoxy or heterodoxy, Unitarianism, Trinitarianism, or any other ism, during the whole conversation, and I don't suppose or believe he had." Had Lincoln made the confession he is reported to have made, this would have suggested to Mr. Bateman the idea of his admitted orthodoxy as well as his reputed heterodoxy. Had Lincoln declared that - Christ is God," this would have suggested to him the idea of Trinitarianism. It will be seen, even from this letter, that instead of talking theology and 44 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: professing a belief in Christianity, lie was talking politics and denouncing the intolerance and bigotry of Christian ministers. Dr. Bateman privately asserts that he was not cor- rectly reported, that Holland's version of the inter- view "is colored." It is to be regretted that he had not the courage to state this fact to the public, and his plea, " My aversion to publicity in such matters is intense," is a poor apology for refusing to do so. As previously intimated, this story is probably founded on fact and has an element of truth in it. Lincoln and Bateman had a political interview, and the object of this interview was the examination and discussion of tlie list of Springfield voters. This list revealed the fact that twenty out of twenty-three clergymen and a very large majority of the church- members of Springfield were opposed to Lincoln. The significance of this fact Dr. Holland and Dr. Bateman have apparently overlooked. Why was the church opposed to him ? It must have been either because it was opposed to the Republican party, or because he was personally objectionable to the mem- bers of that party. His political principles were the principles of his party, his ability was conceded, and his moral character was above reproach. It is fair to assume that the political sentiment of the Chris- tians of Springfield was substantially the political WAS HE A CHRISTIAN r 45 sentiment of Northern Christians generally. Now, was the Northern Church overwhelmingly in favor of the extension of slavery ? Were eighty-seven per cent, of Northern Christians Democrats ? Or did the Christians of Springfield oppose Lincoln because he was an Infidel? Holland makes Bateman affirm that Lincoln " drew from his bosom a pocket New Testament." It is generally believed by Lincoln's friends that he did not have a New Testament, that the only book used in the interview was the book containing the list of Springfield voters. One of them says : " The idea that Mr. Lincoln carried the New Testament or Bible in his bosom or boots, to draw on his opponents in debate, is ridiculous." It is possible, however, that there was a New Testament in the room, and that Lincoln used it to enforce an argument. Indeed, there is internal evidence in the story, aside from the declaration of Bateman, that such was the case. The central idea in his political creed — the keynote of his campaigns, both in 1858 and in 1860 — was con- tained in that memorable passage, '* ' A house divided against itself cannot stand.' This government can not endure permanently half slave and half free." The figure quoted was a familiar and powerful one, and Lincoln recognized its force in dealing with the masses. It was taken from the New Testament, and from the words of Christ himself. That he should 40 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I use it agjiinst those Christians who were acting con- trary to this well-known trutli, is not strange. Im- mediately after the declaration, " Christ is God," lie is reported as saying : " I have told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and Christ and reason say the same." This furnishes a solution to the whole story. This shows what he was doing with a New Testament. In connection with this, nothing is more natural than that he should exclaim : " Christ teaches it, and Christ is [their] God ! " That he was terribly iu earnest, that he was deeply agi- tated and pained to learn that his Christian neigh- bors were opposed to him, is not improbable. Thus the incidents of a simple political interview that were natural and reasonable have been perverted to make it appear that he was a Christian. A mere reference to the New Testament and Christ Lave been twisted into an acknowledgment of their divin- ity. Bateman himself admits that Lincoln said : " I am not a Christian." Why not accept his statement, then ? Why then distort his words and in the face of this positive declaration attempt to prove that he was a Christian ? Bateman reports him as modify- ing the statement by adding : " God knows I would be one." Yes, '' God knows I would be one were I convinced that Christianity is true, but not convinced of its truth, I am an unbeliever." Lincoln is also reported io have said that in the WAH HE A CirrJHTIAN ? 47 liglit of tlie Now Testamont " human bondage can not IJvo a momont." But he did not uttor these wordn. He did not utter them because they are un- true, and none knew this better than liimself. He knew that in the light of this book liurnan bondage liad lived for nearly two thousand years; he knew that this book Avas one of the great bulwarks of hu- man slavery ; ]je knew that there was not to be found between its lids a single text condemning slavery, while there were to be found a score of texts sus- taining it ; he knew that that infamous law, the Fugitive Slave law, received its warrant from this book — that Paul, in the light of its earliest teach- ings, had returned a fugitive slave to his master. In this story Lincoln is charged with the grossest hypocrisy. He is declared to have professed a be- lief in Christ and Christianity, and when Bateman observed that his friends were ignorant of this, he is made to reply : " I know they are. I am obliged to appear different to them." Now, to use Lincoln's own words, " A sane person can no more act with- out a motive than can there be an effect without a cause," and what possible motive could he have had for such conduct? Supposing that he was base enough to be a hypocrite, what could induce him to lead the world to suppose he was an Infidel if he were not? In the eyes of tlie more ignorant and bigoted class of Christians, Infidelity is a more / 48 ABBAHAM LINCOLN: heinous crime than murder, and an Infidel is a creature scarcely to be tolerated, much less to be intrusted with a public office. Freethinkers gen- erally detest the dogmas of Christianity as thoroughly as Christians possibly can the principles of Freethought. But free thought and free speech are the leading tenets of their creed. They recog- nize the fact that we are all the children of circum- stances, that our belief is determined by our en- vironments, and while they reject Christianity, they have nothing but charity for those who consci- entiously profess it. They may repudiate a bigot, but will not oppose a man merely because he is a Christian. If Lincoln were an Infidel, discretion might urge a concealment of his views ; if he were a Christian, policy would prompt him to give it as wide a publicity as possible, especially when he rested under the imputation of being a disbeliever. Had he changed his belief and become a convert to Christianity, a knowledge of the fact would not have lost him the support of his friends, even though some of them were Freethinkers ; while it would have secured for him a more cordial support from the Kepublican side of the church, many of whom had been alienated on account of his supposed anti- Christian sentiments. It is hard to believe that Lincoln was a hypocrite ; but this story, if true, makes him not only a hypocrite but a fooL If he WAS iHE A CHRISTIAN? 49 believed in Christianity there can be but one reason advanced for his desiring to keep it a secret — he was ashamed of it. Holland, in trying to explain away the inconsist- encies of this fabrication, repeatedly blunders. In one of his attempts he makes use of the following remarkable language : " It was one of the peculiarities of Mr. Lincoln to hide these religious experiences from the eyes of the world. . . . They [his friends] did not re- gard him as a religious man. They had never seen anything but the active lawyer, the keen politician, the jovial, fun-loving companion in Mr. Lincoln. All this department of his life he had kept carefully hidden from them. Why he should say that he was obliged to appear differently to others does not ap- pear ; but the fact is a matter of history that he never exposed his own religious life to those who had no sympathy with it. It is doubtful whether the clergymen of Springfield knew anything of these experiences" (Life of Lincoln, pp. 239, 240). What ! had the clergymen of Springfield no sym- pathy with a religious life ? A person can utter one falsehood with some degree of plausibility ; but when he attempts to verify it by uttering another, he usually trips and falls. The above passage is mere hypocritical cant. It carries with it not only its own refutation, but that of the rest of Holland's testi- 50 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: moil}' also. It is tlio Linguago of tlio man who is conscious of having stated a falsehood ; conscious that there are others who believe it to be a false- hood. He know that the personal friends of Lin- coln all understood him to be a disbeliever. He knew that the church-members of Springfield all entertained the same opinion. He virtually sa3^s to these people : ** It is true that Lincoln professed to be an Inlidel, but ho was not ; ho was a Christian. The fact lias been kept a profound secret. Bateman and I have been the sole custodians of this secret, and we now give it to the world." A Christian writer, apologizing for the absurd and contradictory statements of Holland and Bateman, says, " They aimed at the truth." I do not believe it. It is clearly evident that they aimed at a plau- sible lie. But in either case they made a bad shot. In his " Life of Lincoln," HoUand endeavors to convey the impression that Lincoln was always a devout Christian. He declares that even during the years of his early manhood at Now Salem, " he was a religious man ;" that " he had a deep religious life." When Horndon and Lamon exposed his shameful misrepresentations he retreated from his first position, and in So'ihners Monfhli/ wrote as fol- lows : " What Abraham Lincoln was when he lived at New Salem and wrote an anti-Christian tract (which WAS HE A CJflilSTIAN? 51 tho fnVind to whom ho showod it somewhat violently hut most judiciously put in tlie fire; is one thing, and it may Ije necessary for an impartial historian to record it. WJiat Jje was when he died at Wash- irjr/ton witli those most Christian words of the Second Inau^nij-al upon his lips, and that most Christian record of five years of patient tenderness and charity behind him, is quite another tljinr^." He admits that Lincoln was an IniJdel in Illinois, but would have us believe tljat he was a Christian in Washington. He refers to " those most Christian words of the Second Inaugural," and "that most Christian record of five years of patient tenderness and charity." In the Second Inaugural there is not a word affirming a belief in Christianity— not a word in reference to Christianity. He mentions God, and quotes from the Bible, but does not intimate that the Bible is God's word. That Christians have a mo- nopoly of "patient tenderness and charity," can hardly be accepted. Tlie history of the church does not confirm this assumption. Many Christians have possessed these virtues. So have the votaries of other religions. These attributes belong to good men everywhere, but they are the distinguishing features of no particular creed. Smarting under his exposure, with that whining cant so peculiar to the vanquished religionist, Hoi- 62 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: land finally sent forth this parting wail and virtually abandoned the whole case : *' The question is, not whether Abraham Lincoln was a subscriber to the creeds of orthodoxy, but whether he was a believing — that is to say, a truthful Chris- tian man ; not whether he was accustomed to call Jesus Christ ' Lord, Lord,' but whether he was used to do those things which Jesus Christ exemplified and enforced. He was accustomed, as we know well enough, to speak of an Almighty Father, of whom justice and mere}' and sympathy with weak and suf- fering humanity were characteristic attributes. Who was it that revealed to man a God like this ? Who was it that once ' showed us the Father and it suf- ficed us ? ' Whoever it was that made this revela- tion to mankind it was of him that this man, even though he knew it not, had learned, and it was in his spirit that he acted " (Scribner's Monthly). The concluding w^ords of Dr. Holland's testimony, as quoted from his " Life of Lincoln," are as follows : ** Moderate, frank, truthful, gentle, forgiving, lov- ing, just, Mr. Lincoln will always be remembered as eminently a Christian President ; and the almost immeasurably great results which he had the privi- lege of achieving were due to the fact that he was a Christian President." This prediction and this assumption are false. 1 change one word and make them grandly true. WAS HE A CHFJSTIAN? 63 "Moderate, frank, truthful, gentle, forgiving, loving, just, Mr. Lincoln will always be remembered as eminently a Liberal President ; and the almost immeasurably great results which he had the privi- lege of achieving were due to the fact that he was a Liberal President/"' 64 ABlvAlIAAI LINCOLN : CHArTEE III rvEVIE^Y OF CinUSTLlN TESTIMONY — HEED AND HIS WIT- NESSES. Rood — Smith — Edwards — Lewis — B''ooks — SUitemonts of Edwards, Smith, and Brooks Compared — Suudorlaud — Miner — Gurley — Failiuo oC Reed to Establish his Chiims. Of the twenty Cliristiiin witnesses whose testimony is given in Chapter I., ten admit that, during a part of his life, Lincoln was an unbeliever, or Inlidel. Of the remaininsr ten, not one denies the fact. It is conceded, then, that he was once an Infidel. Now, it is a rule of law that when a certain state or condi- tion of things is once proven to exist, that state or condition is presumed to continue to exist until the contrary is proven. If Lincoln was, at one time, an Infidel, it is fair to assume that he remained an In- fidel, unless it can be shown that he changed his be- lief and became a Christian. This Dr. Eeed at- tempts to do. His lecture, under the caption of " The Later Life and Eeligious Sentiments of Abraham Lincoln," will be found in Scrlhncrs Monthly for July, 1873. The evidence presented by Lamon had placed Dr. Hoi- WAS HE A CHIIISTIAN? 55 land in a most unenvial;lr3 li^.ht. As Bod's lecture reaffirmed the claim made by Holland, and brought forward fresh evidence to substantiate the claim, it was naturally regarded by many Christians as a vin- dication of Holland's position, especially by those who had not read Lamon's work. Holland was par- ticularly pleased at its opportune appearance, and cheerfully gave it a place in his magazine. Eeed's individual testimony proves nothing. He does not profess to know, from personal knowledge, what Lincoln's religious views were. The object of his lecture was to invalidate, if possible, the testi- mony of those who affirmed that he died an Infidel, and to present, in addition to what had already been presented by Holland, the testimony of those who affirmed that during the last years of his life he was a Christian. To answer his witnesses is to answer his lecture. The Eev. Dr. Smith affirms that he converted Lin- coln to a belief in ''the divine authority and inspira- tion of the Scriptures:' It was imperative that he should, for, said he, '' It was my honor to place be- fore Mr. Lincoln arguments designed to prove th^ divine authority and inspiration of the Scriptures:' As a matter of course, ''the result was the announce- ment by himself that the arguments in favor of the divine authority and inspiration of the Scriptures were unanswerable." .Consequently, '' Mr. Lincoln 66 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : did avow his belief in the divine authority and inspira- tion of the Scriptures^ Impressed with a deep sense of the gravity and importance of his work, he declares that " It is a matter of the last importance not only to the present but to all future generations of the great Kepublic, and to all advocates of civil and religious liberty throughout the world that this avowal on his part, . . . should be made known to the public," coupled with the more important fact, of course, that it was Dr. Smith who did it. It is to be re- gretted that his waiting until after Lincoln's death to announce it, prevented the convert's Christian friends from tendering their congratulations and ex- tending the hand of fellowship. It is possible that he counseled Dr. Smith not to divulge the secret for fear it might injure his political prospects. Certain it is, his neighbors were ignorant of this remarkable change. When Holland canvassed Springfield, in 1865, eager to obtain a morsel of evidence upon which to base his claim that Lincoln was a Christian, he failed to catch even the faintest whisper regard- ing this alleged conversion. When Dr. Smith's letter was made public, the Christians of Springfield generally smiled, but said nothing, while unbelievers laughed outright and pronounced it the acme of absurdity. Dr. Keed read it to his audience and tried to look serious, WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 57 Concerning this claim, Lincoln's biographer, Colo- nel Lamon, says : " The abilities of this gentleman to discuss such a topic to the edification of a man like Mr. Lincoln seem to have been rather slender ; but the chance of converting so distinguished a person inspired him with a zeal which he might not have felt for the salvation of an obscurer soul. Mr. Lincoln listened to his exhortations in silence, apparently resjDectful, and occasionally sat out his sermons in church with as much patience as other people. Finding these oral appeals unavailing, Mr. Smith composed a heavy tract out of his own head to suit the particular case. *The preparation of that work,' says he, * cost me long and arduous labor ;' but it does not appear to have been read. Mr. Lincoln took the * work ' to his office, laid it down without writing his name on it, and never took it up again to the knowl- edge of a man who inhabited the office with him, and who saw it lying on the same spot every day for months. Subsequently Mr. Smith drew from Mr. Lincoln an acknowledgment that his argument was unanswerable — not a very high compliment under the circumstances " (Life of Lincoln, p. 498). The gentleman whom Colonel Lamon refers to as testifying that Lincoln did not read Dr. Smith's book was Lincoln's partner, Mr. Herndon. In his lecture on " Lincoln's Eeligion," Mr. Herndon says ; 58 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: " Mr. Liucolu received a book from Dr. Smith on Infidelity. He placed it on our law table. He never opened it — never read it to my knowledge." If Dr. Smith had converted Lincoln, as claimed, is it not reasonable to suppose that he would have joined Dr. Smith's church? Had he been converted would the clergymen of Springfield have denounced him as an Iniidel in 18G0? Again, if Dr. Smith's book was so effective as to convert from Infidelity to Christianity as great a mind as Lincoln, why have we not heard more of it ? Why has it not been used to convert other Infidels ? Was its vitality as an evangelizer exhausted in converting Lincoln? Mr. Reed was a trifle more successful than Dr. Holland in obtaining witnesses ; for while Holland was able to secure but one witness in Illinois, Eeed was able to summon two — Ninian Edwards and Thomas Lewis. The testimony of Mr. Edwards, providing that he was the author of the letter accredited to him, can only be accounted for on the following supposition. Being a believer in Christianity himself, he consid- ered Lincoln's Infidelity a grave defect in his char- acter, and was vexed to see that this controversy had given it such wide publicity. To assist in removing this stain, as he regarded it, from his kinsman's name, he allowed to be published over his signature a statement which, unless his memory was very WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 59 treaclicrons, lie must have known was nntrue. It may be that Lincoln did change his views in regard to some historical or doctrinal point con- nected with Christianity, and informed Mr. Edwards and other friends at the time of the fact. He might have changed his opinions on a hundred theological questions without having in the least changed his views in relation to the main or fundamental doctrines of Christianity. An admission concern- ing some trivial question connected with Christian- ity has been tortured to convey the idea that he accepted the whole system. A prominent and respected citizen of Springfield, a gentleman whose name has, as yet, not been men- tioned in connection with this controversy, had a conversation with Mr. Edwards relative to this sub- ject, soon after Eeed's lecture was published, and, as the result of that conversation, he writes as fol- lows : " Mr. Edwards was not as good a witness on oral examination as he was in print." The letter of Mr. Edwards is dated Dec. 24, 1872. On Jan. 6, 1873, the letter of Thomas Lewis was written. After two weeks of arduous labor. Reed, it seems, succeeded in finding one witness in Spring- field who was prepared to corroborate the testimony of Edwards — Thomas Lewis. In a lecture on Lincoln which appeared in the GO ABRVTIAM LINCOLN : State Register, of Springrield, Mr. Heriulou disposed of this witness as follows : *' Mr. Lewis's veracity and integrity in tliis com- munity need no comment. I have hoard good men say they would not believe his word under any cir- cumstances, especially if ho wore interested. I hate to state this of Tom, but if ho will obtrude himself in this discussion, I cannot help but say a word in self-defense. Mr. Lincoln detested this man, I know. The idea that Mr. Lincoln wxiuld go to Tom Lewis and reveal to him his religious convictions, is to me, and to all who know Mr. Lincoln and Tom Lewis, too absurd." The introduction of this Lewis as a witness dem- onstrates the paucity of evidence to bo obtained on this side of the question among Lincoln's neighbors, Eeod, living in a city of twenty thousand inhabitants, many of them the personal friends of Abraham Lin- coln, after a vigorous search for evidence, is able only to present this pitiable apology. I have reason to believe that the letters of Ed- wards and Lewis were drafted, not by the persons whose siernatures thev bear, but bv the Kev. J. A. Keed. We come next to the testimony of Noah Brooks. Mr. Edwards, supported by Mr. Lewis, states that Lincoln was converted soon after Dr. Smith located at Springfield, and about the time of his son Eddie's 1 WAS JU: A CJUaSTlAN? 6i death. Dr. Smith came to Springfield in 1818, and Eddie died toward the close of the same year. Dr. Smith, in his letter, does not state when Lincoln's conversion took place, Ijut it is understood from other sources that he claimed that it occurred about the year 1858. Mr. Brooks, in his letter to Dr. lieed, says : " 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 [Washing- ton], and I am very positive that in his own mind he identified it witli about the time of Willie's death." Willie's death occurred in February, 1862, nearly fourteen years after the death of Eddie, and four years after Smith claimed to have converted Lincoln. Thus it will be seen that these witnesses nullify each other. The testimony of each is contradicted and refuted by the testimony of the other two. Mr. Edwards says that Lincoln was converted in 1848. This is contradicted by the testimony of both Smith and Brooks. According to Dr. Smith his conversion happened about 1858. This is contradicted by the testimony of both Edwards and Brooks. Mr. Brooks is quite positive that it took place about the time of Willie's death, in 18G2. This, in turn, is contra- dictod by the testimony of both- Edwards and Smith. If Mr. Edwards is right, both Dr. Smith and Mr. Brooks are wrong. If Dr. Smith is correct, both Mr. Ed- wards and Mr. Brooks are incorrect. If Mr. Brooks 62 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : has stated the truth both Mr. Edwards aud Dr. Smith have stated falsehoods. The testimony of these witnesses does not strengthen Eeed's case, but weakens it. The testi- mony of two of them is self-evidently false, and this is a sufficient reason for doubting the truthfulness of the third. Had the evidence of neither Edwards nor Smith been invalidated b}' the evidence of the others, the fact that Lincoln is so generally conceded to have been an unbeliever up to the time that he became President, would render it unworthy of con- sideration. The testimon}' of Brooks alone demands notice. Did Lincoln chancje his belief after he left Springfield and went to Washington ? The evidence upon this point is decisive. The man who stood nearest to President Lincoln at Washington — nearer than any clergyman or news- paper correspondent — was his private secretary, Col. John G. Nicolay. In a letter dated May 27, 1865, Colonel Nicolay says : " Mr. Lincoln did not, to my knowledge, in any way change his religious ideas, opinions, or beliefs from the time he left Spring tield to the day of his death." In a letter to his old friend. Judge Wakefield, written after Willie's death, he declared that his earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation, and the human origin of the WAB HE A CPIRISTIAN? 03 Scriptures, had become clearer and stronger with advancing years, and he did not think he should ever change them. After his assassination Mrs. Lincoln said : " Mr. Lincoln had no hope and no faith in the usual ac- ceptance of these words." His lifelong friend and executor, Judge David Davis, affirmed the same : "He had no faith in the Christian sense of the term." His biographer, Colonel Lamon, intimately acquainted with him in Illinois, and with him during all the years that he lived in Washington, says : "IS ever in all that time did he let fall from his lips or his pen an expression which remotely implied the slightest faith in Jesus as the son of God and the Savior of men." Why do the statements of these witnesses, Smith, Edwards, and Brooks, not agree respecting the date of Lincoln's conversion? When their testimony was given, Smith was iii Scotland, Edwards was in Illinois, and Brooks was in New York. If he was converted, why was the fact not revealed before his death ? Why did these men wait until he died to make these statements to the world? Simply because the dead can make no reply. Had Lincoln been converted, the news would have been wafted on the wings of lightning from one end of the continent to the other. It would have been published in every newspaper ; it Avould have been 64 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: proclaimed from every pulpit ; it would liave been a topic of conversation at ever}' fireside. Wlien Henry Wilson, a man of far less note than Lincoln, was con- verted to Christianity, the fact was heralded all over the land. Lincoln's home was twice visited by death during his lifetime, and both occasions have been seized upon to assert that he experienced a change of heart. The death of a beloved child is no common sorrow, and the womanly tenderness of Lincoln's heart made it doubly poignant to him. " When death entered his household," sa3's his friend, George W. Julian, *' his sorrow was so consuming that it could only be measured by the singular depth and intensity of his love." That Mr. Edwards and Mr. Brooks did each observe a change in the demeanor of the grief- stricken father, following the sad events referred to, is not improbable. But a manifestation of sorrow is no proof of a theological change. Three of Keed's witnesses remain — three clergy- men — Dr. Sunderland, Dr. Miner, and Dr. Gurle3\ Dr. Sunderland is a man of distinction. He has had the honor of praying for the United States Senate and officiating at the marriage of a President. Yet, distinction is not always the badge of honesty. W. H. Burr, a literary gentleman, of Washington, writing to a Boston paper in 1880, paid the following tribute to Dr. Sunderland's veracity : " He can prob- WAS HE A CHRISTIAK? 65 jibly put more falsehood and calumny in a page of foolscap tlian any priest out of prison." Mr. Sunderland called upon the President in 18G2. In his letter to Reed he says : " For one half hour [he] poured forth a volume of the deepest Christian philosophy I ever heard." Notwithstanding ten years had elapsed since that visit, he proceeded to give from memory a verbatim report of Lincoln's remarks. The report is too long to reproduce in this work, and even if correct, would add but little to the weight of Christian evidence already pre- sented. It is merely an ethical discourse, and aside from a few indirect admissions in favor of Christian- ity for which Sunderland doubtless drew upon his imagination, there is nothing that Paine or any other Deist might not with propriety have uttered. Those who wish to peruse Mr. Sunderland's letter will find it in Scrihner's Monthly for July, 1873. Dr. Miner, like Dr. Sunderland, had a quiet chat with the President, and what was said he assures us is too deeply engraved on his memory ever to be effaced. But, unlike Dr. Sunderland, he* does not favor us with a transcript of it. He does not repeat a word that was uttered. He states, however, that, "If Mr. Lincoln was not really an experimental Christian, he was acting like one." But how does an experimental Christian act ? If he behaves himself, if he is intelligent and honest, his actions are not GO ABRAHAM LINCOLN! materialh* different from those of a good Freetliiuker. Dr. Miner did not believe that Lincoln was an eX' perimental Christian, and in his article there is an implied admission that he knew nothing about his religion. He says that, " Like the immortal Washington, he believed in the efficacy of prayer." The comparison is happily drawn. Lincoln probably did believe as much in the efficacy of prayer as Washington ; that is to say, he did not believe in it at all, in the evan- gelical sense. There is no evidence that Washing- ton believed in prayer, no proof that he ever ut- tered a prayer. That story about his praying at Vallov Foro-e is as truly a mvtli as the story about the hatchet. The Eev. E. D. Keill, an eminent Episcopal minister, and a relative of the person who is reported to have seen Washington engaged in prayer, pronounces it a liction. Dr. Gurley is represented as saying: *' I con- sidered him sound not only on the truth of the Christian religion, but on all its fundamental doc- trines and teachings." This, remember, is from a Calvinistic standpoint. Lincoln, then, not only ac- cepted Christianity, but its most ultra variety — Cal- vinism. He believed in original sin, predestination (including infant damnation\ particular redemption, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. Because he sometimes went with his wife to the WAH HE A CniilSTIAN? 67 Presbyterian church, of which she was an adherent, the priests of this denomination have the contempt- ible assurance to assort that he was a rigid Calvin- ist! When he died Dr. Gurley, being Mrs. Lincoln's pastor, delivered the funeral oration in Washington. In that oration Dr. Gurley did not affirm that Lin- coln was a Christian, a thing lie would not have failed to do had it been true. Long after Lincoln's death, Dr. Gurley, if Reed has correctly reported him, makes a statement that ho had not the courage to make over his dead body. A reputable Christian gentleman, of Springfield, who desires to have his name withheld from the public, declares that Dr. Gurley knew and admitted that Lincoln was a disbeliever in Christianity. It is quite probable that Gurley did not state in full what Heed reports him to have stated. A man who can take up his pen and at one sitting indite a score of falsehoods and misrepresentations, as Eeed, on a subsequent occasion, is shown to have done, can not be relied upon for accuracy as a reporter. The reader has doubtless not failed to notice the introduction of a claim by Reed to the effect that Lincoln at the time of his assassination was intend- ing to unite with the church. That the idea was suggested by Reed is shown by the fact that no less than three of these witnesses, including Reed, allude 68 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: to it. Eeed says : " While it is to be regretted that Mr. Lincoln was not spared to indicate his religious sentiments by a profession of his faith in accordance with the institutions of the Christian religion, yet it is very clear that he had this step in view." Dr. Gurley is made to say : "It was his intention soon to make a profession of religion." Mr. Brooks says : ** I absorbed [the porosity of some of these witnesses is remarkable] the firm conviction that Mr. Lincoln . . . was seriously considering the step which would formally connect him with the visible church on earth." This dernier resort of an argument has been re- peated respecting nearly every notable person who has died outside of the church. Soon after the pub- lication of Eeed's lecture, the New York World con- tained the following pertinent answer to this stale fabrication : *' It is admitted by Mr. Reed and everybody else that Mr. Lincoln was a working Infidel up to a very late period of his life, that he wrote a book and labored earnestly to make proselytes to his own views, that he never publicly recanted, and that he never joined the church. Upon those who, in the face of these tremendous facts, allege that he was nevertheless a Christian lies the burden of proof. Let them produce it or forever hold their peace. lu the mean time it is a sad and puerile subterfuge to WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 69 argue that he luould have been a Christian if he had lived long enough, and to lament that he was not ' spared ' for that purpose. He had been spared fifty-six years and surrounded by every circumstance that might soften his heart and every influence that might elevate his faith. If he was at that late, that fatal hour standing thus gloomily without the pale, what reason have we to suppose that he intended ever to enter? " Keed speaks of " the poverty of his early religious instruction," apparently forgetting that he was raised by Christian parents. His father was a church- member, his mother was a church-member, and his stepmother was a church-member. Reed states, also, that the books he read were all of an anti- religious character. Holland, on the contrary, de- clares that better books than those he read could not have been chosen from the richest library. The fact is, Abraham Lincoln did not become an Infidel to Christianity from a lack of knowledge respecting its claims. He thoroughly examined its claims, and rejected them because he found them untenable. One important feature of this subject Reed has either inadvertently omitted or purposely ignored, and that is in regard to the validity of the Bateman story. As the result of previous controversy this evidence had been rendered valueless. Lincoln's partner had declared it to be false, had a^sserted that ^^^ ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Mr. Biitoinan in private coiivorsations iicknowlodgGd it io bo in part untrue, and announced his readiness io substantiate liis assertions if Mr. Batemau could be prevailed upon to permit the publication of his notes of these conversations taken at the time. If Mr. Herndou's affirmations were true, it destroyed the testimony of Holland and Batemau ; if untrue, it challenged Mr. Batemau to reaffirm the state- ments recorded by Holland, and allow the seal of pnvacy to be removed from his conversations on the subject. Why did Mr. Beed not rehabilitate this damaged evidence? Did he forget it? No, it is plainly evident that he did not dare to attempt it. In reviewing this Calvinistic co/cr/V of witnesses (they are all Calvinists, and nearly all Presbjterians), one is struck with the formidable display of tlioo- logical appendages. What an imposing array of D.D.'s! Bov. J.A.Eeed,D.D.! Bev. James Smith, D.D.! Bev. Byroji Sunderland, D.D.! Bev. Mr. Miner, D.D.! Bev. Mr. Gurley, D.D.! It was a desperate case— divinity was sick and needed doc- toring. The doctors of divinity were accordingly called in, and prescribed " The Later Life and Be- ligious Sentiments of Abraham Lincoln," after which it was supposed that divinity would recover. Ho may be better, but it is painfully apparent that some of these D.D.'s are themselves sadly in need of a doctor. Mrs. CAvnv.M Ai^KK-CiV u.n, Niiw W^kk, S^vivvok l.lN(.\n.N WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 71 CHAPTER IV. REVIEW OP CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY — ARNOLD AND OTHER WITNESSES. Arnold's " Life of Lincoln " — Claims Concerning Lincoln's Religioua Belief — Address to Negroes of Biltimorc — Carpenter — Hawley — Willets — Pious Nurse — Wesiern Christian Advocate — Illinois Clergyman — Barrows — Vinton — Simpson. With the Christian masses whose minds have be- come warped by the bigoted teachings of their cler- ical leaders, nothing affects the reputation of a man so much as his religious belief. Public men who are disbelievers are fully cognizant of this, and generally refrain from expressing sentiments that would tend to alienate those upon whom the retention of their positions depends. Biographers understand this, too, and are likewise aware that a dead Infidel is as cordially hated as a live one. They know that a cold reception awaits their works unless they are able to clothe the characters of their subjects in the robes of popular superstition. Mr. Arnold realized this when he wrote his "Life of Lincoln." He had been most forcibly reminded of the fact by the fate of two biographies of his own subject which had 72 ABRAHAM LINCOLN! already appeared — Holland's and Lamon's. Hol- land's work by catering to popular prejudice, regard- less of truth, had been financially a success; Lamon's work by adhering to truth, regardless of popular prejudice, had been financially a failure. Determined to profit by these examples, and in- timidated by the threats and entreaties of those who had resolved to secure for Christianity the influence of the Great Emancipator's name, Arnold dare not give the facts regarding Lincoln's religious belief. Nor is it to be presumed that he desired to. He had previously appeared as a special pleader for the pop- ular faith. He af&rms that " No more reverent Christian than Lincoln ever sat in the Executive chair, not except- ing Washington." The fact is, when Arnold wrote his biography of Lincoln, no very reverent Christian ever had occupied the Executive chair. Previous to the installation of Gen. B. H. Harrison no real orthodox Christian communicant had held the office of President. If Mr. Arnold knew no more about Lincoln's religion than he appears to have known about Wash- ington's, a more charitable reason than those sug- gested might be assigned for his statements concern- ing the former. Washington, like Lincoln, has been claimed by the church ; yet, Washington, like Lin- coln, was a Deist. This is admitted even by the WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 73 leading churchmen of his day. Three of the most eminent divines of his age, and the three to whom he was most intimately related in a social way, were Bishop White, Rev. Dr. Abercrombie, and Eev. Dr. Ashbel Green. Bishop White declares that Wash- ington was not a communicant, as claimed by some, and intimates that he was a disbeliever. The Rev. Dr. Abercrombie, whose church he attended while he was President, said : '' Washington was a Deist." The Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, chaplain to Congress during his administration, said : " Like nearly all the founders of the Republic, he was not a Christian, but a Deist." Arnold presents the following as the basis of Lin- coln's religion, and proofs of his Christianity : "(1) Belief in the existence of God, (2) in the immortality of the soul, (3) in the Bible as the revelation of God to man, (4) in the efficacy and duty of prayer, (5) in reverence toward the Almighty, and (6) in love and charity to man." L '• Belief in the existence of God." This does not prove a belief in Christianity. The Jew believes in the existence of God ; the Mohammedan believes in the existence of God ; the Deistic Infidel believes in the existence of God. 2. " Belief in the immortality of the soul." That he believed in the immortality of the soul is a claim that cannot be clearly established ; and even if it 74 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: could, would not confirm tlie assumption tliat he was a Christian. Deists, many of them, believe in the doctrine of immortality. Paine believed in immor- tality ; Yoltaire believed in immortality. 3. " Belief in the Bible as the revelation of God to man." This, if true, would be evidence of his Chris- tianity ; but, unfortunately for Mr. Arnold's claim, Lincoln did not entertain this belief. 4. " Belief in the efficacy and duty of prayer." This, in the orthodox sense of these terms, is not true ; and if it were, would not furnish conclusive evidence that he was a Christian. Jews pray ; Mo- hammedans pray ; Buddhists pray ; some Deists pray. Franklin believed in the efficacy and duty of prayer, and Franklin was an Infidel. 5. ''Belief in reverence to the Almighty." This does not demonstrate a belief in Christianity, for all Deists believe in reverence to the Almighty. 6. " Belief in love and charity to man." When it can be shown that only Christians believe in love and charity, then will it be time to affirm that Lin- coln was a Christian. Arnold confounds Christianity with Deism. In the following words he admits that Lincoln was simply a Deist : "Not orthodox, not a man of creeds, he was a man of simple trust in God." When the subiect of Lincoln's belief was once mentioned to Mr. Arnold, he said : " Lincoln was a WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 76 rational Christian because he believed in morality." With equal propriety one might say of an upright Christian, " He is a rational Freethinker because he believes in morality." " His reply to the Negroes of Baltimore," he says, " ought to silence forever those who charge him with unbelief." This alleged reply of Lincoln was as fol- lows : " In regard to the Great Book I have only to say that it is the best gift which God has given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is com- municated to us through this book. But for this book we could not know right from wrong. All those things desirable to man are contained in it " (Lincoln Memorial Album, p. 340). The writer of this was in Washington when the colored deputation from Baltimore presented the President with a $500 Bible. The papers mentioned the fact at the time, but no such speech as Lincoln is said to have made appeared in the reports. About two months later, this apocryphal version of his re- marks on the occasion referred to, made its appear- ance. The first two sentences contained in this speech (the only part of it that Arnold has quoted), Lincoln, if a Christian, might have uttered. They are words that any intelligent Christian might, from his stand- point, with propriety affirm. We are familiar with 7() ABRAHAM LINOOLN ! tlioso claims. Wo arc also familiar with the claims embodied in the last two sentences. They are re- peatedh' made. But the}' are made only b}' very ignorant persons, or b}' clerical hypocrites who try to impose upon the ignorance and credulity of their hearers. Had Lincoln been a Christian he would not have used these words, because he was too in- telligent to believe them, and too honest to pretend to believe them. Concerning this speech, Lincoln's partner, Mr. Herndon, thus vigorously, yet truthfully, remarks : ** I am aware of the fraud committed on Mr. Lin- coln in reporting some insane remarks supposed to have been made b}- him, in 1864, on the presenta- tion of a Bible to him by the colored people of Balti- more. No sane man ever uttered such folly, and no sane man will ever believe it. In that speech Mr. Lincoln is made to say : * But for this book we could not know right from wrong.' Does any human being believe that Lincoln ever uttered this ? What did the whole race of man do to know right from wrong during the countless years that passed before this book was given to the world ? How did tlie strug- gling race of man build up its grand civilizations in the world before this book was given to mankind ? What do the millions of people now living, who never heard of this book, do to know how to dis- tinguish right from wrong ? Was Lincoln a fool, an Was he a CillllBTIAN? ?? ass, a liypocrite, or a combination of them all ? or is this speech — this supposed — this fraudulent speech —a lie?" Arnold would have his readers believe that this speech is genuine. And yet it is plainly evident that he himself does not believe it. He mutilates it by omitting the more orthodox portion of it — the very portion he would have retained had he believed it to be genuine. The first part would suffice to serve his purpose ; the remainder he kaew was too incredible for belief and would stamp the whole as a fraud. Arnold says : " The veil between him and the supernatural was very thin." Yes, so thin that he easily saw through it and recognized the greater part of it to be a sham. *' His faith in a Divine Providence began at his mother's knee, and ran through all the changes of his life." I do not desire to charge Mr. Arnold with plagiarism, but tlio foregoing recalls the following much admired passage to be found in Holland : " This unwavering faith in a Divine Providence began at his mother's knee, and ran like a thread of gold through all the inner experiences of his life " (Life of Lincoln, pp. 61, 62). There is much in Arnold's biography, aside from the above, to suggest tliat Holland's work formed the basis and model of his own. While more accu- 78 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: rate in the maiu tliau Holland's "Life," Arnold's " Life " is iu some respects equally unreliable, and less readable. Adverting to the many fraudulent stories that liaye been circulated concerning Lincoln, in an acldress delivered in London, Mr. Arnold said : " The news- papers in America have always been full of Lincoln stories and anecdotes, some true and many fabulous." Unfortunately for the cause of truth, Mr. Arnold has himself recorded some of these fabulous stories, not because he deemed them authentic, but because they agreed with his preconceived prejudices, or the prejudices of those whom he wished to please. Mr. Carpenter says : " I would scarcely have called Mr. Lincoln a religious man, and yet I believe him to have been a sincere Christian." In a letter, Mr. Herndon makes the following cor- rection in regard to his friend Carpenter's state- ment : *' Mr. Carpenter has not expressed his own ideas correctly. To say that a man is a Christian and yet not a religious man is absurd. licJigion is the generic term including all forms of religion; Christianity is a specific term representing one form of religion. Carpenter means to say that Mr. Lincoln was a religious man but not a Christian, and this is the trutli." It is unfortunate that while in manv cases we WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 79 have several words to express the same idea, tlie same word in many cases is employed to express different ideas. Ideas thus become confused. If the terms morality^ religion, and Christianity, were always used in their legitimate sense — used to ex- press the ideas of which they were the original signs — much trouble and ambiguity would be avoided. As it is, they are promiscuously used as interchange- able terms. Man}^ use the word rdigion and even Christianity when they mean morality. Mr. Carpen- ter uses the word religious in its proper sense, and the word Christian to mean a moral man. The fol- lowing examples will serve to illustrate the various forms employed to express the thought now under consideration : " I would scarcely have called Mr. Lincoln a re- ligious man, and yet I believe him to have been a sincere Christian." — Carpenter, " I would scarcely have called Mr. Lincoln a Christian, and yet I believe him to have been a truly religious man." — Herndon. I would scarcely have called Mr. Lincoln a relig- ious man, and yet I believe him to have been a truly moral man. — Author. We all desire to express substantially the same thought. I do not wish to dictate to Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Herndon what words they shall employ to convey an idea, but this explanation is essential to 80 ABllAllAM lilNCOLNl a proper uiulorstaudiiig of ilio qiiostiou in dispute and will help to reconcilo much of tho apparoutly conllietiug tostimouy presented in this work. As Lincoln was in a certain sense a Deist, the re- ligious element was not entirely wanting in him, and hence the statement of Mr. Herndon that he was a religious man is, in a degree, true. The basis of Carpenter's work was a series of articles contributed io the New York hnh'pcndcnt. When it was decided to publish these in book form, to swell them into a volume of the desired size, to his personal reminiscences he added many of the stories pertaining to Lincoln then going the rounds of the press. Although he was as it were a member of Lincoln's household six months he failed to hear from Lincoln's lips a word expressing a belief in Christianity. These apocryphal stories, and these alone, contain all the evidences of Lincoln's alleged piety to be found in Carpenter's book. And his admission that Lincoln was not a religious man dis- proves them. Mr. Hawley professed to believe that Lincoln was a Christian, but he had no personal knowledge of the fact, although his neighbor for many 3'ears. The only reasons he was able to adduce upon which to predicate his belief were the Bateman story and his farewell speech on leaving Springfield. The former has been exploded, the latter proves nothing. Wah itK A cntasTiAN? 8l During all tlifi later years of his life Lincoln gen- erally refrained from expressing Lis anti-Christian opinions, except to friends wlio shared his views. This silence, in connection with his sterling moral character, rniglit lead some of his Christian neigh- bors to suppose that he was a believer, the more especially as Christians are generally ignorant of the extent of unbelief, and are loath to believe that a person, unless he openly avows his disbelief, can be an Infidel. According to Mr. Willets, Lincoln, during the war, had an attack of wliat he thought might be a *' change of lieart." He consulted a pious lady in regard to it and requested Ijer to describe to him the symptoms attending this theological disease. She defined " a true religious experience " as " a con- viction of one's own sinfulness and weakness, and personal need of the Savior for strength and sup- port." She said that '' when one was really brought to feel liis need of divine help, and to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance, it was satisfactory evidence of his having been born again." Lincoln replied that if what she had told him was " a correct view of this great subject," he hoped he was a Christian. But was this a correct view of it ? I was not aware that conviction constituted con- version. We have been taught that conviction is but a preliminary step toward conversion. If Lincoln 82 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: relied upon this as a true exposition of this doctrine, the genuineness of his conversion may well be ques- tioned. It is to be regretted that Mr. Willets did not give the name of his informant. As it is, we do not know whether to credit *' a lady acquaintance of his," or himself, with the invention of a first-class fiction. In regard to the story of the " Pious Nurse," we have not even a clergyman to vouch for its authen- ticity. We do not know the name of this witness ; we do not know whom she communicated the story to ; we do not know when nor where it made its first appearance. We only know that for years it has been floating through the columns of the religious press, a companion-jDiece to Washington's devotional exercise at Yalley Forge. " History," said Napoleon, " is a set of lies agreed upon." Of the many lies agreed upon by Christian writers in making up the history of Lincoln, none has become more thoroughly established than the one originally published by the Western Christian Advocate. It has been incorporated into the works of a score of historians and biographers, and is almost universally accepted as a historical fact. Nearly all the pious stories relating to Lincoln, while palpably false in the eyes of those who knew him, are yet of such a nature as to render a com- plete refutation of them extremely difficult. The WAS HE A CHrJSTIAN? 83 story under consideration, however, is of a different character. Its truthfulness or falsity could at the time of its publication have been easily ascertained. If true, any member of Lincoln's cabinet could have verified it. I knew that it was untrue — at least I knew that a Cabinet meeting had never been trans- formed into a prayer meeting at Lincoln's sugges- tion. I finally resolved to demonstrate its falsity if possible. But a quarter of a century had passed away, and every member of Lincoln's Cabinet was dead save one, Hugh McCulloch, his last Secretary of the Treasury. With the aid of a friend, Mr. N. P. Stockbridge, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., an old acquaint- ance of Mr. McCulloch's, I succeeded in bringing the matter before this only surviving witness, and re- ceived from his pen, in February, 1891, the following prompt denial : " The description of what occurred at the Execu- tive Mansion, when the intelligence was received of the surrender of the Confederate forces, which you quote from the Western Christian Advocate, is not only absolutely groundless, but absurd. After I became Secretary of the Treasury I was present at every Cabinet meeting, and I never saw Mr. Lincoln or any of his ministers upon his knees or in tears. "We were not especially jubilant over Lee's sur- render, for this we had been prepared for some days. The time for our great rejoicing was a little 84 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : earlier. After Sherman had commenced his cele- brated march to the sea, and long and weary days had passed without any reliable reports from him, we were filled with anxiety and apprehension. It was when the news came that he and his army, in excellent condition, were in the neighborhood of Charleston, that our joy was irrepressible ; not only because of their safety, but because it was an assur- ance that the days of the Confederacy were nearly ended. With Grant before Eichmond in command of superior forces, and Sherman with the finest army in the world, ready to move northward, every- body felt that the war must be soon concluded, and that the Union was safe. "We were, of course, happy when General Lee and his severely tried soldiers laid down their arms, but this, as I have said, was not unexpected. It was when our anxiety in regard to Sherman was suc- ceeded by hopefulness and confidence that our joy became exuberant. But there was no such exhibi- tion of it as has been published by the Advocate.'' An " Illinois Clergyman " reports Lincoln as say- ing that when he left Springfield he was not a Chris- tian, that when his son Willie died he was not a Christian, but that when he visited the battlefield of Gettysburg he gave his heart to Christ. Christians cite the testimony of this anonymous witness, seem- ingly unconscious of the fact that if true it refutes WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 85 the testimony of every other Christian witness. If this statement be true what becomes of the testi- mony of Holland and Bateman? What becomes of the testimony of Eeed's witnesses ? The testimony of Brooks invalidated the testimony of every other witness ; the testimony of this Illinois clergyman invalidates the testimony of Brooks itself. Eeed did not present this evidence, doubtless aware that his lecture already contained a sufficient number of discrepancies. He was thoughtful enough, however, to anticipate it. He had Dr. Gurley refer to Lincoln's conversion as taking place *' after the death of his son Willie and his visit to the battle- field of Gettysburg." These events are referred to as if they occurred in close proximity to each other ; whereas the death of Willie occurred during the first year of his administration, his visit to Gettys- burg less than seventeen months before his assassi- nation. The passage quoted from Dr. Barrows contains six specific affirmations. 1. " In the anxious uncertainties of the great war, he gradually rose to the hights where Jehovah be- came to him the sublimest of realities, the ruler of nations.'* Collect all the utterances of Abraham Lincoln, all the letters he ever wrote, all the speeches he ever delivered, all the state papers he gave to the public ; 86 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : aud from tins full store of words that fell from liis lips and flowed from his pen, I challenge Dr. Bar- rows to produce one word expressing a recognition of Jehovah. Jehovah was to him, not *' the sublim- est of realities," not " the ruler of nations," but a hideous phantom. He recognized a God, but his God was not Jehovah, the God of Dr. Barrows. 2. " When he wrote his immortal Proclamation, he invoked upon it not only ' the considerate judgment of mankind,' but ' the gracious favor of Almighty God.' " When he wrote his immortal Proclamation he did not invoke " the gracious favor of Almighty God." This instrument, as drafted by Lincoln, contained no allusion to God. The paragraph containing the w^ords quoted was drafted by Secretary Chase and inserted in the Proclamation at his urgent request after it was printed and ready for delivery. 3. " When darkness gathered over the brave armies fighting for the nation's life, this strong man, in the early morning, knelt and wrestled in prayer with Him who holds in his hand the fate of em- pires." A " Christian lady from Massachusetts" (name un- known), and a Christian gentleman from New York (Noah Brooks), declare that Lincoln was accustomed to pray. This declaration is echoed by Arnold, and reechoed by Barrows. If true, is it not strange that WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 87 a hospital nurse and a newspaper reporter were in possession of the fact while his most intimate friends were entirely ignorant of it? 4. " When the clouds lifted above the carnage of Gettysburg, he gave his heart to the Lord Jesua Christ." This is the fifth time that Lincoln gave his heart to Christ. The above statement is the vital one in Dr. Barrows's testimony — the keystone in the arch comprising " the religious aspects " of Lincoln's Presidential career. The others, even if true, only prove a Theistic belief. Tliis statement affirms that he became a Christian — a statement evidently based upon the anonymous story of the " Illinois clergy- man." Between the original presented by the " Illi- nois clergyman " at large, and that presented by the Illinois clergyman from Chicago, however, a grave discrepancy appears. From the time that " the clouds lifted above the carnage of Gettysburg " to the time that Lincoln visited its cemetery, a period of twenty weeks had elapsed. Now, did Lincoln give his heart to Christ when the battle ended on the 3rd of July, as stated by the one, or not until he stood upon the battle-field on the 19th of Novem- ber, as asserted by the other? This is a question that we leave for the Illinois clergymen themselves to decide. 5. " When ho pronounced his matchless oration on 88 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I the chief battle-fiekl of the war, he gave expression to the resolve that * this nation, under God, should have a new birth of freedom.' " This simple Deistic phrase, " under God," is the only utterance of a religious character to be found in that oration. When this speech was delivered, Lin- coln, it is claimed, had experienced a change of heart, and consecrated himself to Christ. This address furnishes an overwhelming refutation of the claim. At the dedication of a cemetery, surrounded by thousands of graves, he ignores Christianity, and even the doctrine of immortality. 6. ''And when he wrote his last Inaugural Ad- dress, he gave to it the lofty tone of an old Hebrew psalm." This is true ; and it is likewise true that in that document he made no more reference to Christianity than did the Hebrew psalmist who lived and wrote a thousand years before it had its birth. The '' Lincoln Memorial Album," in which Dr. Barrows's article appears, contains the offerings of two hundred contributors, twenty of them divines, and among them Lyman Abbot, Dr. Bellows, Theo- dore L. Cuyler, Eobert Col Iyer, Bishop Coxe, Dr. Crosby, Bishop Haven, Philip Schaaf, and Bishop Simpson. The work is prefaced with a biographical sketch of Lincoln, written by Isaac N. Arnold, in ■^liich he makes substantially the same statements WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 89 regarding Lincoln's belief as those made in his "Life of Lincoln." Aside from this, Dr. Barrows is the only one of these two hundred memorialists who ventures to affirm that Lincoln was a Christian. The story of Dr. Vinton, too absurd to demand serious consideration — apparently too incredible for belief — is yet believed by thousands. When such fabulous tales are told by men who are looked upon as the exponents of morality, and published in papers and periodicals that are presumed to be the repos- itories only of truth, it is not strange that such stories as Washington's Praying at Valley Forge, Ethan Allen and His Daughter, Don't Unchain the Tiger, Paine's Recanting, and a thousand and one other pious fictions of a similar character, have gained popular credence. To read the fabrications of this class pertaining to Lincoln alone, one would suppose that this astute statesman, this Chief Magistrate of a great nation, this Commander-in- Chief of two millions of soldiers, engaged in the most stupendous civil conflict the world has known, occu- pied the greater portion of his time in studying the Scriptures, poring over doctrinal sermons, partici- pating in prayer-meetings led by pious nurses, and weeping upon the necks of clerical visitors. Bishop Simpson's remarks have been presented, not because they furnish any proofs of Lincoln's re- puted Christianity, but because he was one of the 90 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : clergymen wlio officiated at Lincoln's funeral, and because liis words on tliat occasion have been cited in support of this claim. But he does not assert that Lincoln was a Christian. He simply testifies tO' his belief and trust in God — to his Deistic faith — nothing more. I am aware that in some of the published reports of his address there have been interpolated words intended to convey the idea that Lincoln accepted Christ. Bishop Simpson, I am sure, never autho- rized the insertion of these words. They express a claim he never made — a claim he certainly did not make on the day of Lincoln's interment. In his funeral address at Washington, Dr. Gurley did not affirm that Lincoln was a Christian, or that he was intending to make a profession of religion. Bishop Simpson, in his oration at Springfield, made no mention of these claims, and Dr. Gurley and Bishop Simpson are known to have held a consulta- tion before that oration was delivered. This silence is conclusive evidence that these men knew that Lincoln was an unbeliever. Commenting on this notable omission, Mr. Herndon says : *' Bishop Simpson delivered the funeral oration, and in that oration there was not one word aboui Mr. Lincoln's Christianity. Bishop Simpson was Lincoln's friend ; Dr. Gurley was Lincoln's pastor iuWashincfton. Now these men knew, or had reason WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 91 to know, Lincoln's religion, and the world would have heard of his Christianity on the day of his burial if it had been known. But Simpson and Gurley are silent — dumb before the Christian world." One of the most beautiful and exhaustive tributes ever paid to Lincoln, aside from the matchless tribute paid by Colonel Ingersoll, is that from the pen of Bishop Simpson which appears in the " Lin- coln Memorial Album." In this tribute he does not make even the remotest allusion to Lincoln's religious belief. He appears to have heeded the advice ten- dered a less discreet Christian writer, and recognized the fact that, from his standpoint, the less said about the subject the better. Had all Christians acted as wisely and as honorably in this matter as Bishop Simpson, this controversy about Lincoln's religion would never have arisen. I have now reviewed the testimony of these wit- nesses. Tested in the crucible of honest criticism, little remains of their statements save the dross of falsehood and error. I may be charged with unjust severity toward these witnesses, nearly all of whom are men of recognized respectability and distinction. But a majority of them have testified to what they know to be false, and against those who knowingly bear false witness no censure can be too severe. Thousands of Christian men and women, misled by this false testimony, honestly believe and contend 9^ ABRAHAM LINCOLN! 1| that Lincoln was a Christian. Against these I have not an unkind word to offer. But I am resolved to disabuse their minds of this erroneous belief. Pain- ful as the birth of an unwelcome idea is, they shall know the truth. WAS HE A CHIIISTIAN? " SS CHAPTEK Y. TESTIMONY OF HON. WILLIAM H. HERNDON — PUBLISHED TESTIMONY. Ilerndon's Association with Lincoln — Character — Writings — Com- petency as a Witness — The Abbott Letter — Contribution to the Liberal Age — Article in the Truth Seeker — Herndon's " Life of Lincoln." Having presented and reviewed the evidence in behalf of the affirmative of this question, the evi- dence in support of the negative will next be given, and in consideration of his long and intimate asso- ciation with Lincoln, and the character and com- prehensiveness of his testimony, the first . to testify will be Hon. "Wm. H. Herndon, of Springfield, 111. In 1843, Lincoln formed a partnership with Mr. Herndon in the law business, which existed for a period of twenty-two years, and was only dissolved by the bullet of the assassin. The strong attach- ment that these men had for each other is illustrated in the following touching incident, related in '* The Everyday Life of Lincoln :" " When he was about to leave for Washington, he went to the dingy little law office which had shel- tered his saddest hours. He sat down on the couch 94: ABRAHAM LINCOLN: and said to his law-partner, Herndon, ' Billy, you and I have been together more than twenty years, and have never '* passed a word." Will you let my name stay on the old sign till I come back from Washiucfton ?' The tears started to Mr. Herndon's eyes. He put out his hand. ' Mr. Lincoln,' said he, * I will never have any other partner while you live ;' and to the da}' of the assassination all the doings of the firm were in the name of ' Lincoln Sc Herndon (Everyday Life of Lincoln, p. 377). Mr. Herndon died in 1891. Though younger than his illustrious partner, he was at the time of his death well advanced in years. He had retired from the active practice of law, and resided at his country home near Springfield. He was noted for his rugged honesty, for his broad philanthropy, and for his strong and original mental qualities. He was one of the pioneers in the antislavery movement, and one of the founders of the Republican party. He was the Eepublicau nominee for Presidential Elector of the Springfield district when the first Eepublican ticket, Fremont and Dayton, was placed in the field. Governor Bissell, Governor Yates and Governor Oglesby successively appointed him Bank Commis- sioner of Illinois. His talents were recognized and his friendship was sought by many of the most emi- nent men in the nation. Garrison stopped for weeks at his home ; Theodore Parker was his guest ; Hor- WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 95 ace Greeley was his devoted friend, and Charles Bumnor was his friend and correspondent. When Lincoln and Herndon were first thrown into each other's society, Lincoln's mind was dwelling, for tlie most part, in the theological (or rather anti-theo- logical) world, while Herndon's found a most conge- nial habitation in the world of politics. They were destined to exercise an important influence in mold- ing each other's characters. Herndon was indebted chiefly to Lincoln for the religious views he enter- tained, while Lincoln was indebted mainly to Hern- don for the political principles which he finally espoused. Colonel Lamon, in his " Life of Lincoln," gives the following truthful sketch of the character of the man whom Lincoln made a Deist, and who in turn made an Abolitionist of Lincoln. Alluding to the Abolitionists of Illinois, as tliey appeared in 1854, when Lincoln took his stand on the side of freedom, Lamon says : " Chief among them was Owen Lovejoy ; and second to him, if second to any, was William H. Herndon. But the position of this latter gentleman was one of singular embarrassment. According to himself, he was an Abolitionist ' some time before he was born,' and hitherto he had made his * callinj^ and election sure ' by every word and act of a life devoted to political philanthropy and disinterested political labors. While the two great national parties 96 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : divided tlie suffrages of the people, North and South, everything in his eyes was dead. He detested the bargains by which those parties were in the habit of composing sectional troubles, and sacrificing the principle of freedom. When the Whig party paid its breath to time, he looked upon its last agonies as but another instance of divine retribution. He had no patience with time-servers, and regarded with indignant contempt the policy which would postpone the natural rights of an enslaved race to the success of parties and politicians. He stood by at the sacri- fice of the Whig party in Illinois with the spirit of Paul when he held the clothes of them that stoned Stephen. He believed it was for the best, and hoped to see a new party rise in its place, great in the fervor of its faith, and animated by the spirit of Wilberforce, Garrison, and the Lovejoys. He was a fierce zealot, and gloried proudly in his title of * fanatic ;' for it was his conviction that fanatics were at all times the salt of the earth, with power to save it from the blie^ht that follows the wickedness of men. He believed in a God, but it was the God of Nature — the God of Socrates and Plato, as well as the God of Jacob. He believed in a Bible, but it was the open scroll of the universe ; and in a religion clear and well defined, but it was a religion that scorned what he deemed the narrow slavery of verbal inspiration. Hot-blooded, impulsive, brave, morally Was he a ciiiiisTiAN? 97 .'iiid physically, careless of consequences when moved by a sense of individual duty, lie was the very man to receive into his inmost heart the precepts of Mr. Seward's ' higher law ' " (Life of Lincoln, pp. 350, 351), His literary abilities, both as a speaker and as a writer, were of a lii^li order. He had written a meritorious work on Mental Philosophy, and a " Life of Lincoln," which had just been publislied when he died. In addition to numerous addresses upon his- torical, economical, and other subjects he prepared and delivered several able and interesting lectures on Lincoln : " Abraham Lincoln and Ann Kutledge," a beautiful and touching representation of that pathetic and romantic love episode which forms one of the saddest chapters in Lincoln's history ; " The Analysis of Lincoln's Character," which appears in the " Lincoln Memorial Album," and " Lincoln's Religion," which was published in the State Register, of Springfield, 111. Carpenter, and in fact nearly every writer on Lin- coln, has made free use of Herndon's writings. Carpenter declares that liis "masterly * Analysis of Lincoln's Character ' ]ias scarcely an equal in the annals of biographical literature." Both Holland and Lamon acknowledge that they were more deeply indebted to him in the preparation of their respective works tli.in to any other person. The 98 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I Petersburg Dcinocnif, published in Meuard couuty, where Liucolu spent the first years of his manhood, says : " Mr. Herndon was the hiw partner of Mr. Lincoln from 1SJ:3 to ISGO, and knew his inner life better than any other man." The Sangamon county Monifo)', of Springfield, where Lincoln lived for a quarter of a century, says : '' Herndon knew Lin- coln's views better than any man in America." Judge David Davis, the lifelong friend of Lincoln, in whose court both Lincoln and Herndon practiced for years, declared that Herndon knew more about Lincoln's religion than any other man. In this chapter will be reproduced the evidence of Mr. Herndon that has already been made public. The first elaborate exposition of Lincoln's Free- thought views was made in 1S70, in what is known as the " Abbott Letter," an article which Mr. Hern- don by request contributed to the Indtw, a paper then published at Toledo, O., and edited by Francis E. Abbott. The article was extensively copied and commented upon, and produced a profound sensa- tion in the religious world, which, to a great extent, had been misled by such writers as Holland. The first and more important part of Mr. Herndon's article will now be presented : '' Mr. Abbott : Some time since I promised you that I would send a letter in relation to Mr. Lin- coln's religion. I do so now. Before entering on WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 99 that question, one or two preliminary remarks will help US to understand why he disagreed with the Christian world in its principles as well as in its theology. In the first place, Mr. Lincoln's mind was a purely logical mind ; secondly, Mr. Lincoln was a purely practical man. He had no fancy or imagination, and not much emotion. He was a real- ist as opposed to an idealist. As a general rule, it is true that a purely logical mind has not much hope, if it ever has faith in the unseen and unknown. Mr. Lincoln had not much hope and no faith in things that lie outside of the domain of demonstra- tion ; he was so constituted, so organized, that he could believe nothing unless his senses or logic could reach it. I have often read to him a law point, a decision, or something I fancied. He could not understand it until he took the book out of my hand, and read the thing for himself. Ho was ter- ribly, vexatiously skeptical. He could scarcely un- derstand anything, unless he had time and place fixed in his mind. " I became acquainted with Mr. Lincoln in 1834, and I think I knew him well to the day of his death. His mind, when a boy in Kentucky, showed a certain gloom, an unsocial nature, a peculiar abstractedness, a bold and daring skepticism. Li Indiana, from 1817 to 1830, it manifested the same qualities or attributes as in Kentucky : it only intensified, developed itself, 100 ABRAHAM LINCOLN*. along those lines in Indiana. He came to Illinois in 1830, and, after some little roving, settled in New Salem, now in Menard county and state of Illinois. This village lies about twenty miles northwest of this city. It was here that Mr. Lincoln became ac- quainted with a class of men the world never saw the like of before or since. They were large men — large in body and large in mind ; hard to whip and never to be fooled. They were a bold, daring, and reckless sort of men ; they were men of their own minds — believed what was demonstrable ; were men of great common sense. With these men Mr. Lin- coln was thrown ; with them he lived, and with them he moved and almost had his being. They were skeptics all — scoffers some. These scoffers were good men, and their scoffs were protests against theology — loud protests against the follies of Christianity. They had never heard of Theism and the newer and better religious thoughts of this age. Hence, being natural skeptics, and being bold, brave men, they uttered their thoughts freely. They declared that Jesus was an illegitimate child. They were on all occasions, when opportunity offered, debating the various questions of Christianity among themselves. They took their stand on common sense and on their own souls ; and, though their arguments were rude and rough, no man could overthrow their homely logic. They riddled all divines, and not unfrequently WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 101 made them skeptics, disbelievers as bad as them- selves. They were a jovial, healthful, generous, so- cial, true, and manly set of people. " It was here and among these people that Mr. Lincoln was thrown. About the year 1834 he chanced to come across Volney's ' Euins ' and some of Paine's theological works. He at once seized hold of them, and assimilated them into his own being. Yolney and Paine became a part of Mr. Lin- coln from 1834 to the end of his life. " In 1835 he wrote out a small work on Infidelity, and intended to have it published. This book was an attack upon the whole grounds of Christianity, and especially was it an attack upon the idea that Jesus was the Christ, the true and only-begotten son of God, as the Christian world contends. Mr. Lin- coln was at that time in New Salem, keeping store for Mr. Samuel Hill, a merchant and postmaster of that place. Lincoln and Hill were very friendly. Hill, I think, was a skeptic at this time. Lincoln, one day after the book was finished, read it to Mr. Hill, his good friend. Hill tried to persuade him not to make it public, not to publish it. Hill at that time saw in Mr. Lincoln a rising man, and wished him success. Lincoln refused to destroy it — said it should be published. Hill swore it should never see light of day. He had an eye on Lincoln's popularity — his present and future success ; and be^ 102 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: lioviui; that if tlio book was publislunl it wouUl kill Linoolu forovor, ho snatched it from Linoolii's hand when Lincoln was not expecting it, and ran it into an t^ld-fashioned tinphito stove, heated as hot as a furnace ; and so Lincoln's book went up to the clouds in smoke. It is confessed by all who heard parts of it that it was at once able and eloquent ; and, if I may judge of it from Mr. Lincoln's subse- quent ideas and opinions, often expressed to me and to others in my presence, it was able, strong, plain, and fair. His argument was grounded on the internal mistakes of the Old and New Testaments, and on reason and on the experiences and observa- tions of men. The criticisms from internal defects were sharp, strong, and manly. " Mr. Lincoln moved to this city in 1837, and here became acquainted with various men of his own way of thinkini]r. At that time thev called themselves Freethinkers, or free thinking men. I remember all these things distinctly ; for I was with them, heard them, and was one of them. Mr. Lincoln here found other works — Hume, Gibbon, and others — and drank them in. He made no secret of his views ; no con- cealment of his religion. He boldly avowed himself an Intidel. "When Mr. Linoolu was a candidate for our Legislature, he was accused of being an Intidel and of having said that Jesus Christ was an illegitimate WAH HK A rjHiiiHTJA.N' ? 103 olilld. Iff) i)f;vor fl(;fjif;(l Ijj'h opiuiuMH ijor flirjr;]iod from JjJH rcM^loiiH vi(;w.s. Hf; vv?ih a tru(; marj, and yet it rrj;j,y fj(} truthfully Haid t});i.i irj 18'>7 liin roli^ion was low \\i<]<:(-'\. lt\ IjI:-; mornfjilH of ^loom ho would (lr)ij}>i, if Jj(; (Ji(i u()i sorrifJj'rnoH fh;jjy, God. "Mr. \Aii('j)\]i tiui for Coii^roHH a^^aiiiHt tlui lifiV. Totfir Cartwri^djt in i\)() yoar 1840. In tljat contoHt }i(3 wan accuHcd of Ix-Auf/^ arj Ijifl'loj, if not an AthoiHt. l\(i nrtvfir doniftfl Uk-, cIjjit^o — would not — ' would dio flrnt.' fn tlio first f)lacf;, l^ocauso hf; kiKtw it could and would })o provf^d on him; ;i,n(l in tho Hocond plao(5, ho waH too truo to his ()\vn convir^tionn, to his own Houl, to (h-,ny it. " Whon Mr. liinooln loft tlils city for Wasliin^don, I kn(iw ho Ini/l iindor^orjo no cliango in liis roli^ious opinions or viows. ITo hold rnajjy of tho Christian idoas in alihorroncc, and among thorn there was this on(;, narr-oly, that God would forj_M*vo the sinner for a vic>lation of liis laws. Lincoln maintained that God could nf>t for^dvo ; that punishment has to follow the sin ; that (Jhristianity was wrong in teaching for- giv(inoss. "From what I knr>w of Mr. Lincoln, and from what T have hoard and vorily holiovc;, I can say, first, that he did not Ijoliovo' in a special creation, his idea being that all creation was an evolution under law ; secondly, that Ik; did not l)oliove that the Bible was a s[)ecial rov^l;i,tion from (iod, as thr*. Christian world 104 ABEAHAM LINCOLN: contends ; thirdly, he did not believe in miracles as understood by Christians ; fourthly, he believed in universal inspiration and miracles under law ; fifthly, he did not believe that Jesus was the Christ, the son of God, as the Christian church contends ; sixthly, he believed that all things, both matter and mind, were governed by laws, universal, absolute, and eternal. All his speeches and remarks in Washing- ton conclusively prove this. Law was to Lincoln everything, and special interferences, shams and delusions.'* In 1874: Mr. Herndon delivered in Springfield a lecture on *' Lincoln's Keligion." It was a reply to Eeed's lecture, and was published in the State Beg- ister, of Springfield. In this lecture he reaffirms the statements made in the '* Abbott Letter," supports them with substantial arguments and proofs, and completely overthrows the claims advanced by Beed. From it I quote the following : " It is a curious fact that when any man by his genius, good fortune, or otherwise rises to public notice and to fame, it does not make much differ- ence what life he has led, that the whole Christian world claims him as a Christian, to be forever held up to view as a hero and a saint during all the com- ing ages, just as if religion would die out of the soul of man unless the great dead be canonized as a model Christian. This is a species of hero or saint WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 105 worship. Lincoln tliey are determined oO enthrone among the saints, to be forever worshiped as such." " I believe that Mr. Lincoln did not late in life become a firm believer in the Christian religion. What ! Mr. Lincoln discard his logical faculties and reason with his heart ? What ! Mr. Lincoln believe that Jesus was the Christ of God, the true and only begotten son of him, as the Christian creed contends ? What! Mr. Lincoln believe that the New Testa- ment is of special divine authority, and fully and infallibly inspired, as the Christian contends? What! Mr. Lincoln abandon his lifelong ideas of universal, eternal and absolute laws and contend that the New Testament is any more inspired than Homer's poems, than Milton's * Paradise Lost,' than Shakspere, than his own eloquent and inspired oration at Gettysburg ? What! Mr. Lincoln believe that the great Creator had connection through the form and instrumentality of a shadow with a Jewish girl ? Blasphemy ! These things must be believed and acknowledged in order to be a Christian." " One word concerning this discussion about Mr. Lincoln's religious views. It is important in this : L It settles a historic fact. 2. It makes it possible to write a true history of a man free from the fear of fire and stake. 3. It assures the reading public that the life of Mr. Lincoln will be truly written. 4. It will be a warning forever to all untrue men, 106 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : that the life they have lived will be held up to view. 5. It should convince the Christian pulpit and press that it is impossible in this day and generation, at least in America, to daub up sin, and make a hero out of a fool, a knave, or a villain, which Mr. Lincoln was not. Some true spirit will drag the fraud and lie out to the light of day. 6. Its tendency will be to arrest and put a stop to romantic biographies. And now let it be written in history, and on Mr. Lincoln's tomb : * He died an unbeliever.' " In January, 1883, Mr. Herndon contributed an article on " Lincoln's Religion " to the Liberal Age, of Milwaukee. From this article the following ex- tracts are taken and submitted : " In 1837, Mr. Lincoln moved to the city of Spring- field, and there came across many people of his own belief. They called themselves at that time Free- thinkers. Some of these men were highly educated and polished gentlemen. Mr. Lincoln read in this city Hume, Gibbon, and other Liberal books. He was in this city from 1837 to 1861, an Infidel — Free- thinker — Liberal — Free Religionist — of the radical type." *' In his philosophy, he was a realist, as opposed to an idealist ; he was a sensationalist, as opposed to an intuitionalist ; and was a materialist as opposed to a spiritualist." *' Some good men and women say that Mr. Lincoln WAS HE A CIimSTIAN? 107 was a Christiau, because he was a moral man. They say that he was a rational Christian, because he loved morality. Do not other people, who are not Chris- tians, love morality ? Morality is not the test of Christianity, by any means. If it is the test, then all moral men. Atheists, Agnostics, Infidels, Moham- medans, Buddhists, Mormons, and the rest, are Christians. A rational Christian is an anomaly, an impossibility ; because when reason is left free, it demands proofs — it relies on experience, observa- tion, logic, nature, laws. Why not call Mr. Lincoln a rational Buddhist, a rational Mohammedan, a rational Confucian, a rational Mormon, for all these, if true to their faith, love morality." " Did Mr. Lincoln believe in prayer as a means of moving God ? It is said to me by Christians, touch- ing his religion : * Did not he, in his parting speech in Springfield, in 1861, say, " I hope you, my friends, will pray that I may receive,'* etc.?' and to which I say, yes. In his last Inaugural he said : * Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray.' These ex- pressions are merely conventional. They do not prove that Mr. Lincoln believed that prayer is a means of moving God. . . . He believed, as 1 understood him, that human prayer did the prayer good ; that prayer was but a drum beat — the taps of the spirit on the living human soul, arousing it to acts of repentance for bad deeds done, or to inspire it to a 108 ABRAHAM LINCOLN ! loftier and a liiglier effort for a nobler and a grander life." " Did Mr. Lincoln, in Lis said Inaugural, say : * Both read tlie same Word of God ?' No, because tliat would be admitting revelation. He said : * Both read the same Bible,' Did Mr. Lincoln say: ^Yet if God wills that it [the war] continue till all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid with another drawn by the sword, as was saidhy God three thousand years ago ?' He did not ; he was cautious, and said : * As teas said three thousand years ago.' Jove never nods." A little later Mr. Herndon wrote an article entitled, ** Abraham Lincoln's Eeligious Belief,'* which appeared in the Truth Seeker of New York. From this article I quote the following passages : "In 184:2 I heard Mr. Lincoln deliver a speech before the Washingtonian Temperance Society, of this city. . . . He scored the Christians for the position they had taken. He said in that lecture this : *If they [the Christians] believe, as they pro- fess — that Omnipotence condescended to take on himself the form of sinful man,* etc. This was spoken with energy. He scornfully and contempt- uously emphasized the words as they pro/ess. The rebuke was as much in the manner of utterance as WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 109 in the substance of what was said. I heard the criticisms of some of the Christians that night. They said the speech was an insult and an outrage." " It is my opinion that no man ever heard Mr. Lincoln pray, in the true evangelical sense of that word. His philosophy is against all human prayer, as a means of reversing God's decrees." *' He has told me often that there was no freedom in the human will, and no punishment beyond this world. He denied God's higher law, and wrote on the margin of a newspaper to his friends in the Chicago convention in 1860, this : * Lincoln agrees with Seward in his irrepressible-conflict idea ; but he is opposed to Seward's higher law.'' This paper was handed to Judge Davis, Judge Logan, and other friends." " Mr. Lincoln and a minister, whose name is kept in the dark, had a conversation about religion. It ap- pears that Mr. Lincoln said that when his son — bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, and blood of his own heart — died, though a severe affliction, it did not arouse him to think of Christ ; but when he saw the graves of so many soldiers — strangers to him — . . . that sad sight aroused him to love Jesus. . . . It is a fine thing for the reputation of the ' Illinois Clergyman ' that his name is to the world unknown. It is a most heartless thing, this supposed conversa- tion of Lincoln with the Illinois clergyman. What ! 110 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I Lincoln feel more for the graves of strangers than for the death of his once living, loving, and lovable son, now dead, moldering to ashes in the silent tomb ! The charge is barbarous. To make Lincoln a lover of Jesns, whom he once ridiculed, this minister makes him a savage." ** I wish to give an illustration of the uncertainty and unreliability of those loose things that lloat around in the newspapers of the day, and how liable things are to be inaccurate — so made even by the best of men. Mr. Lincoln on the morning he started for Washington to take the oath of office, and be in- augurated President of this great Eepublic, gave a short farewell address to his old friends. It was eloquent and touching. That speech is copied in Holland's ' Life of Lincoln,' in Arnold's * Lincoln and Slavery,' and in Lamon's * Life of Lincoln,' and no two are exactly alike. If it is hard to get the exact truth on such an occasion as this, how impos- sible is it to get at Mr. Lincoln's sayings which have been written out by men weeks and months after what he did say have passed by ! All these loose and foolish things that Mr. Lincoln is supposed to have said are like the cords of driftwood, floating on the bosom of the great Mississippi, down to the great gulf of — Forgetfulness. Let them go." Herndon's " Life of Lincoln," is a most important contribution to biographical literature. It will I WAS HE A CHEISTIAN? Ill enable the present and future generations to become better acquainted with Lincoln the man than with any other prominent American. The author has performed substantially the same work for Lincoln that Boswell performed for Johnson ; only he has performed it more faithfully. Political partisans and religious bigots may condemn the work, but im- partial critics are almost unanimous in their praise of it. The metropolitan journals of Lincoln's and Hern- don's own state commend the work. The Chicago Tribune says : " All these loving adherents [of Lin- coln] will hail Herndon's ' Lincoln ' with unmixed, unbounded joy." The Chicago Times says : " Hern- don's ' Life ' is the best yet written." The Inter Ocean says that Herndon *' knew more of Lincoln's inner life than any living man." The Chicago Herald says : *' It enables one to approach more closely to the great President." The Chicago Evening Journal says : " It presents a truthful and living picture of the greatest of Americans." The Nation thus refers to it : " The sincerity and honesty of the biographer appear on every page." The New York Sun says : " The marks of unflinch- ing veracity are patent in every line." The Wash- ington Capital says that it places " Lincoln before the world as he really was." The Commercial Gazette, of Cincinnati, says : " He describes the life 112 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: of his friend Lincolu just as lie saw it." The ^lorn- ing Colly of San Francisco, affirms that it " contains the only true history of the lamented President." The St. Louis BepuUic says : " It will do more to shape the judgment of posterity on Mr. Lincoln's character than all that has been written or will be hereafter written." In this work Mr. Herndon states in brief the sub- stance of the articles already quoted in this chapter. I quote as follows : *' No man had a stronger or firmer faith in Provi- dence — God — than Mr. Lincolu, but the continued use by him late in life of the word God must not be interpreted to mean that he believed in a per- sonal God. In 1854 he asked me to erase the word God from a speech which I had written and read to him for criticism, because my language indicated a personal God, whereas he insisted that no such per^ sonality ever existed " (Life of Lincoln, pp. 445, 446). "The world has always insisted on making an orthodox Christian of him, and to analyze his language or sound his belief is but to break the idol * (Ibid). " The benevolence of his impulses, the seriousness of his convictions, and the nobility of his character, are evidences unimpeachable that his soul was ever filled with the exalted purity and the sublime faith of natural religion " (lb.). WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 113 CHAPTEE VI. TESTIMONY OF HON. WILLIAM H. HERNDON — UNPUBLISHED TESTIMONY. Extracts from Herndon's Letters— The Books Lincoln Read— His Philosophy— If is Infidelity— Refutation of Christian Claims- Attempts to Invalidate Herndon's Testimony— Reed's Calumnies— Yin dication. In the preceding chapter has been submitted the evidence of Mr. Herndon that has already been pub- lished. In this chapter will be presented some hitherto unpublished testimony. The writer corresponded with Mr. Herndon for many years. Much of this correspondence related to Abraham Lincoln, and no inconsiderable portion of it to the subject under consideration. Permission was granted by Mr. Herndon to use such parts of this correspondence as may be deemed of value. The limits of this work preclude the presentation of much that is really interesting, but no apology is needed for devoting space to the following extracts from his letters, written at various intervals between 1880 and 1890 : " I was the personal friend of Mr. Lincoln from 1834 to the day of his death. In 1843 we entered 114 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: into a partnersliip which was never formally dis- solved. When he became unpopular in this Con- gressional district because of his speeches on the Mexican war, I was faithful to him. When he espoused the antislavery cause and in the eyes of most men had hopelessly ruined his political pros- pects, I stood by him, and through the press defended his course. In these dark hours, by our unity of sentiment and by political ostracism we were driven to a close and enduring friendship. You should take it for granted, then, that I knew Mr. Lincoln well. During all this time, from 1834 to 1862, when I last saw him, he never intimated to me, either directly or indirectly, that he had changed his religious opinions. Had he done so — had he let drop one word or look in that direction, I should have detected it. *' I had an excellent private library, probably the best in the city for admired books. To this library Mr. Lincoln had, as a matter of course, full and free access at all times. I purchased such books as Locke, Kant, Fichte, Lewes ; Sir Wm. Hamilton's * Discussions on Philosophy ;' Spencer's * First Principles,' 'Social Statics,' etc.; Buckle's 'History of Civilization,' and Lecky's 'History of Eational- ism.' I also possessed the works of Parker, Paine, Emerson, and Strauss ; Gregg's ' Creed of Christen- dom,' McNaught on Inspiration, Yolney's ' Kuins,' Feuerbach's 'Essence of Christianity,' and other WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 115 works on Infidelity. Mv. Lincoln read some of these works. About the year 1843 he borrowed * The Ves- tiges of Creation' of Mr. James W. Keys, of this city, and read it carefully. He subsequently read the sixth edition of this work, which I loaned him. Mr. Lincoln had always denied special creation, but from his want of education he did not know just what to believe. He adopted the progressive and development theory as taught more or less directly in that work. He despised speculation, especially in the metaphysical world. He was purely a prac- tical man. He adopted Locke's notions as his system of mental philosophy, with some modifications to suit his own views. He held that reason drew her inferences as to law, etc., from observation, experi- ence, and reflection on the facts and phenomena of nature. He was a pure sensationalist, except as above. He was a materialist in his philosophy. He denied dualism, and at times immortality in any sense. " Before I wrote my Abbott letter I diligently searched through Lincoln's letters, speeches, state papers, etc., to find the word immortality, and I could not find it anywhere except in his letter to his father. The word immortality appears but once in his writings." *' If he had been asked the plain question, * Do you know that a God exists ?' he would have said : ' I do not know that a God exists.' " 116 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I *' At one moment of his life I know that he was an Atheist. I was preparing a speech on Kansas, and in it, like nearly all reformers, I invoked GocL He made me wipe out that word and substitute the word 3Ia]cer, affirming that said Maker was a principle of the universe. When he went to Washington he did the same to a friend there." "Mr. Lincoln told me, over and over, that man has no freedom of will, or, as he termed it, *I^o man has a freedom of mind.' He was in one sense a fatalist, and so died. He believed that he was under the thumb of Providence (which to him was but another name for fate). The longer he lived the more firmly he believed it, and hence his oft invoca- tions of God. But these invocations are no evidence to a rational mind that he adopted the blasphemy that God seduced his own daughter, begat a son on purpose to have mankind kill him, in order that he, God, might become reconciled to his own mistakes, according to the Christian view." "Lincoln would wait patiently on the flow and logic of events. He believed that conditions make the man and not man the conditions. Under his own hand he says : * I attempt no compliment to my own sagacity. I claim not to have controled events, but confess plainly that events have controled me.' He believed in the supreme reign of law. This law fated things, as he would express it. Now, how WAS HE A CHEISTIAN? 117 could a man be a Christian — could believe that Jesus Christ was God— could believe in the efficacy of prayer — and entertain such a belief?" **He did not believe in the efficacy of prayer, although he used that conventional language. He said in Washington, ' God has his own purposes.* If God has his own purposes, then prayer will not change God's purposes." " I have often said to you, and now repeat it, that Lincoln was a scientific Materialist, i.e., that this was his tendency as opposed to the Spiritualistic idea. Lincoln always contended that general and universal laws ruled the universe — always did — do now — and ever wilL He was an Agnostic generally, sometimes an Atheist." " That Mr. Lincoln was an Infidel from 1834 to 1861, I know, and that he remained one to the day of his death, I honestly believe. I always under- stood that he was an Infidel, sometimes bordering on Atheism. I never saw any change in the man, and the change could not have escaped my observa- tion had it happened." " Lincoln's task was a terrible one. When he took the oath of office his soul was bent on securing har- mony among all the people of the North, and so he chose for his Cabinet officers his opponents for the Presidential candidacy in order and as a means of creating a united North. He let all parties, profes- 118 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : sious, and callings liave their way where their wishes did not cut across his own. He was apparently pliant and supple. He ruled men when men thought they were ruling him. He often said to me that the Christian religion was a dangerous element to deal with when aroused. He saw in the Kansas affairs — in the whole history of slaver}', in fact — its rigor and encroachments, that Christianity was aroused. It must be controled, and that in the right direction. Hence he bent to it, fed it, and kept it within bounds, well knowing that it would crush his administra- tion to atoms unless appeased. His oft and oft invocations of God, his conversations with Christians, his apparent respect for Chris- tianity, etc., were all means to an end. And yet sometimes he showed that he hated its nasal whines." *'A gentleman of veracity in Washington told me this story and vouched for its truthfulness : * A tall saddle-faced man,' said he, * came to Washington to pray with Lincoln, having declared this to be his intention at the hotel- About 10 o'clock a.m. the bloodless man, dressed in black with white cravat, went to the White House, sent in his card, and was admitted. Lincoln glanced at the man and knew his motives in an instant. He said to him angrily : "What, have you, too, come to torment me with your prayers ? " The man was squelched — said, " No, WAS HE A CHRISTIAN V 119 Mr. Lincolu " — lied out iiud out. Lincoln spoiled those prayers.' " "Mr. Lincoln was thought to be understood by the mob. But what a delusion ! He was one of the most reticent men that ever lived. All of us— Stuart, Speed, Logan, Matheny, myself, and others, had to guess at much of the man. He was a mystery to the world — a sphinx to most men. One peculiarity of Mr. Lincoln was his irritability when anyone tried to peep into his own mind's laboratory. Consider- ing all this, what can be thought of the stories about what he is said to have confided to strangers in regard to his religion ? " *' Not one of Lincoln's old acquaintances in this city ever heard of his conversion to Christianity by Dr. Smith or anyone else. It was never suggested nor thought of here until after his death." ** I never saw him read a second of time in Dr. Smith's book on Infidelity. He threw it down upon our table — spit upon it as it were — and never opened it to my knowledge." " My opinion is, from what I have heard and know, that these men — Gurley and Simpson — refused to be a party to a fraud on the public touching Lincoln's religion. I think that they understood each other the day that the remains of Lincoln were put to rest." " Holland came into my office, in 1865, and asked 120 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: me tliis question : ' What about Mr. Lincoln's Chris- tianity ? ' To this, I replied : ' The less said about it the better.* Holland then said to me, ' Oh, never mind, I'll fix that,' and went over to Bateman and had it fixed." " Lincoln never revealed to Judge Davis, Judge Mathenj, Joshua F. Speed, Joseph Gillespie, nor myself that he was a Christian, or that he had a change of heart, or anything like it, at any time. Now, taking into consideration the fact that he was one of the most non-communicative of men — that Bateman was, as it were, a mere stranger to him — that Bateman was frightened, excited, conscience- smitten when I approached him on the subject, and that in after years he confessed to me that his notes in Holland's ' Life of Lincoln ' ivere colored — taking all this into consideration, I say, can you believe Bateman's story to be true ? " " I see quoted frequently a supposed speech made by Mr. Lincoln to the colored people of Baltimore, on the presentation of a Bible to him. This sup- posed speech contains the following : * All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book.' This idea is false and foolish. What becomes of nine-tenths of the life of Jesus of which we have no history — nine-tenths of the great facts of this grand man's life not recorded in this book? Mr. Lincoln was full and exact in his WAS HE A CHEISTIAN? 121 language. He never nsed the word Savior, unless in a conventional sense ; in fact, he never used the word at all. Again, he is made to say : ' But for this book we could not know right from wrong.' The lowest organized life, I was about to say, knows right from wrong in its particular sphere. Every good dog that comes into possession of a bone, knows that that bone belongs to him, and he knows that it is wrong for another dog to rob him of it. He protests with bristling hair and glistening teeth against such dog robbery. It requires no revelation to teach him right from wrong in the dog world; yet it requires a special revelation from God to teach us right from wrong in- the human world. According to this speech, the dog has the advantage. But Mr. Lincoln never uttered such nonsense." " I do think that anyone who knew Mr. Lincoln — his history — his philosophy — his opinions — and still asserts that he was a Christian, is an unbounded falsifier. I hate to speak thus plainly, but I cannot respect an untruthful man." " Let me ask the Christian claimant a few ques- tions. Do you mean to say, when you assert that Mr. Lincoln was a Christian, that he believed that Jesus was the Christ of God, as the evangelical world contends ? If so, where do you get your information ? Do you mean to say that Mr. Lincoln was a converted man and that he so declared ? If so. 122 ABRAHAM LINCOLN! where, when, and before whom did he declare or reveal it ? Do you mean to say that Mr. Lincoln joined a church ? If so, what church did he join, and when did he join it? Do you mean to say that Mr. Lincoln was a secret Christian, acting under the cloak of the devil to advance Christianity ? If so, what is your authority ? If you will tell me when it was that the Creator caught with his almighty arms, Abraham, and held him fast while he poured the oil of grace on his rebellious soul, then I will know when it was that he was converted from his Infidel views to Christianity." " The best evidence this side of Lincoln's own written statement that he was an Infidel, if not an Atheist, as claimed by some, is the fact that he never mentions the name of Jesus. If he was a Christian it could be proved by his letters and speeches. That man is a poor defender of a principle, of a person, or of a thing, who never mentions that principle, person, or thing. I have never seen the name of Jesus men- tioned by Mr. Lincoln." " Mr. Lincoln never mentioned the name of Christ in his letters and, speeches as a Christian. I have searched for such evidence, but could not find it I have had others search, but they could not iind it. This dead silence on the part of Mr. Lincoln is over- whelming proof that he was an unbeliever." *' While Lincoln frequently, in a conventional WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 123 way, appeals to God, he never appeals to Christ nor mentions him. I know that he at first maintained that Jesus was a bastard, and later that he was the son of Joseph and not of God." " Lincoln was not a Christian in any sense other than that he lived a good life and was a noble man. If a good life constitutes one a Christian, then Mill and a million other men who repudiated and denied Christianit}' were Christians, for they lived good and noble lives." "If Mr. Lincoln changed his religious views he owed it to, me to warn me, as he above all other men ^caused me to be an unbeliever. He said nothing to me, intimated nothing to me, either directly or in- directly. He owed this debt to many young men whom he had led astray, if astray the Christian calls it. I know of two young men of promise, now dead and gone — gone into endless misery, according to the evangelical creed — caused by Mr. Lincoln's teachings. I know some of the living here, men in prominent positions of life, who were made un- believers by him." *' One by one, these apocryphal stories go by the board. Courageous and remorseless criticism will wipe out all these things. There will not be a vestige of them in fifty years to laugh at or to weep at." Mr. Herndon's testimony, even in the absence of 124 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: all other evidence, is conclusive. This was recog- nized by the Christian claimants after the appear- ance of his " Abbott Letter." They employed various measures to break the force of his testimony by trying to induce him either to retract or modify his statements. But they were not successful. He was not to be coaxed, he was not to be purchased, he was not to be intimidated. He had stated the truth and by the truth he proposed to stand. Foiled in these efforts, their last resort was to destroy his credibility as a witness by destroying his character. The most brazen falsehoods were invented and the most cruel calumnies circulated in order to crush him. Some of these stated that he was a drunkard, others that he was a pauper, and still others that he had become insane. These defamatory statements were usually first noticed in some religious paper or periodical. From this they were naturally copied into the secular papers and sent broadcast over the land. Journalists who had once known Mr. Herndon, either personally or by reputation, were surprised and shocked at the announcements, and wrote articles like the following which appeared in a Kansas paper : *' Bill Herndon is a pauper in Springfield, 111. He was once worth considerable property. His mind was the most argumentative of any of the old lawyers in the state, and his memory was extraordinary Was he a cHiiisTiAN? 125 For several years before Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency, Herndon was in some respects the most active member of the firm, preparing the greatest number of cases for trial and making elab- orate arguments in their behalf. It is said that he worked hard with Lincoln in preparing the memo- rable speeches delivered by the man who afterward became President, during the debates between Lin- coln and Douglas in 1858, and in constructing the Cooper Institute address delivered by Lincoln a short time before the war. Herndon, with all his attainments, was a man who now and then went on a spree. This habit became worse after Lincoln's death, and, like poor Dick Yates, he went down step by step till his old friends and associates point to him as a common drunkard." I was in Springfield the very week that this article was published, and passed a day with Mr. Herndon at his home. I was prepared to testify, as all his neighbors were, that the charges it contained, to- gether with others that were being circulated, were false. I knew that he still possessed a sound and vigorous intellect ; I knew that he was in com- fortable circumstances financially ; I knew that he was an earnest advocate of temperance, and that he practiced what he preached ; in short, I knew him to be a man of pure morals and exemplary character. At the very time that he was declared to be an in- 126 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I mate of tlie insane asylum, the Old Settlers' Society selected him to examine and report upon the correct- ness of the " History of Sangamon County," which, as it included a history of the capital of the state where, at one time or another, had resided a major- ity of Illinois' s most gifted sons, was an important work, and one whose revision would not likely be intrusted to a lunatic. At the very time that he was said to be a pauper in the county poorhouse, he was entertaining such distinguished guests as William Lloyd Garrison. At the very time that he was reported to be a common drunkard, his neigh- bors had just appointed him guardian of the educa- tional interests of their children. All efforts to trace these slanders to their source and discover their author proved futile until 1880, when the writer of this saw in an Ohio paper an article on Lincoln, in which was quoted a portion of a letter which the contributor of the article stated had just been received from the Rev. J. A. Reed, of Springfield. It related wholly to Mr. Herndon, and did not contain one fair, truthful statement. In thirty brief lines were concentrated, in addition to several statements calculated and intended to de- ceive, no less than sixteen deliberate falsehoods, some of them of the most cruel and infamous char- acter. It was evident that Reed had intended that the substance of his letter should be given to the WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 127 public without disclosing its authorship. But, thanks to the innocent credulity and indiscreetness of the friend to whom it was sent, the defamer was discovered and exposed. And this sneaking, cow- ardly assassin was the " defender of Lincoln's Chris- tian faith !" Could the inanimate remains of Abra- ham Lincoln have been revivified when this ex- posure was made, he would have arisen from his mausoleum at Oak Ridge, have come into the city, and have kicked this pretended " defender," this base calumniator of his beloved friend and associ- ate, out of Springfield. The cause of all the vituperation which for years had been heaped upon Mr. Herndon was now appar^ ent. He had replied to Reed's lecture, and openly, honestly, and courteously, but effectively, refuted it ; and because the latter could not come forward with a successful rejoinder, he was thus heartlessly and covertly plunging a dagger into the reputation of his chivalrous opponent. The intercession of friends secured for the culprit immunity from arrest for libel, but in the newspapers of his city he received such a castigation as he will not soon forget. The Daily Blonitor^ in an editorial replying to the slanders that were being circulated concerning Mr. Herndon, said : ** Mr. Herndon is not a pauper, is not a drunkard ; whisky did not ruin him, and, in a word, the whole 128 ABRAHAM HNOOLN : thing is a lie. Mr. Herndon lives on his farm near this city. He is a great admirer of nature, loves flowers, and spends his whole time on the farm, ex- cept when doing his trading, or coming into the city to see his children and grandchildren. He don't drink, he don't chew tobacco, he don't gamble, he is honorable and truthful, and he is highly respected by his fellow-citizens. He is a great reader, a great thinker, loves his neighbors and his neighbors love him. He has a great, big, kind heart for his fellow- man in distress, and, while never worth * consider- able property,' he has always had enough for his generous purposes. Just why this thing should be allowed we are at a loss to know, and have waited to see if some of those who profess so much of the Christ-like in their composition would not have enough of the man-like to be men, and not allow a good and true man as Mr. Herndon is to be thus in- famously maligned and belied by those whose works in the salvation of men would have more effect if more akin to Christ in practice." After a life of honest toil, much of it in behalf of the poor and the weak, without reward and without the expectation of reward, to be in his old age thus shamefully robbed of his good name, was an outrage almost without a parallel, save in the treatment re- ceived by Thomas Paine. That Mr. Herndon was keenly sensitive to this great wrong is disclosed by WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 129 the tone of his letters written at the time. In one he says : " I have done nothing in the spirit of self- laudation. I prefer moving down the grooves of time unnoticed and unknown, except to friends. I have no ambition for fame or money. My ambition is to try to do good. I spent ten or more years of my best life for the negro, liberty, and union, not forgetting Kansas and her brave people. But let it all go ; I make no complaint. I try to live a moral and a manly life, love my fellow man, love freedom, love justice, and would die for the eternal right." As an index of public sentiment in the community where the defamed and the defamer resided, I will state two facts. On a pleasant September evening, in 1882, I attended Dr. Eeed's church in Springfield. In that commodious edifice, built to accommodate an audience of nearly one thousand, I found assembled to listen to this renowned "defender of Lincoln's Christian faith," an audience of forty-four persons. About the same time, in the published report of a public meeting held near Springfield, appeared the following : *' Five thousand people hovered around the speaker's stand for the purpose of listening to the able, eloquent, and well-known Hon. W. H. Herndon." It has been charged that Mr. Herndon's statements concerning Lincoln's unbelief were inspired by a spirit of revenge in consequence of Lincoln's not 130 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: having recognized liim with an appointment. This charge and this assumption are both false. There is now on file at Washington and at Springfield a telegram from Lincoln tendering him a judgeship, which he declined. To know Lincoln was to love him. None knew him better than Mr. Herndon, and none entertained a deeper affection for his memory. In a letter to me, dated Nov. 4, 1881, he pays this tribute to his dead friend : "Some people say that Mr. Lincoln was an un- grateful man. This is not true, and especially when applied to myself. He was always kind, tender, and grateful to me — clung to me with hooks of steel. I know that I was true to him. It is said that no man is great to his valet. If I was Mr. Lincoln's valet, the rule does not apply in this case, for my opinion of him is too well known. His was a grand, noble, true, and manly life. He dreamed dreams of glory, and glory was justly his. He was growing and ex- panding to the day of his death. He was slow in his development, but strong and big when he did come. The last letter which I ever received from him concluded thus : ■ * God bless you, says your friend. — A. Lincoln' He felt what he expressed, and in return I say, God bless you, Lincoln,'* 1 WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 131 CHAPTEE VIL TESTIMONY OF COL. WARD H. LAMON. Lamon's " Life of Lincoln " — Lincoln's Early Skepticism — His Inves* ligations at New Salem — His Book on Infidelity — His Religious Opin- ions Remain Unchanged — Holland's Condemnation of Lamon's Work — Holland's and Lamon's Works Compared. In 1872, seven years after the President's assassi- nation, appeared the "Life of Abraham Lincoln," written by Col. Ward H. Lamon. As a faithful record of the life of one of the most sublime char- acters in the world's history, this work stands un- rivaled. More accomplished writers have written biography — have written the biography of Lincoln. But no writer has ever been more thoroughly in- formed respecting his subject, and no writer has ever made a more conscientious use of the information in his possession than has Colonel Lamon in his " Life of Lincoln." In Illinois he was the friend and con- fidant of Lincoln. When the time approached for Lincoln to take the Executive chair, and the journey from Springfield to Washington was deemed a danger- ous undertaking, to Colonel Lamon was intrusted the responsible duty of conducting him to the national 132 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I capital. During tlie eventful years that followed, he remained at the President's side, holding an im- portant official position in the District of Columbia. When Lincoln died, at the great funeral pageant in Washington, he led the civic procession, and was, with Major General Hunter and Judge David Davis, selected to convey the remains to their final resting- place at Springfield. The following extract, from the preface to his work, shows what an inexhaustible mine of materials he had with which to prepare a full and authentic record of Lincoln's life and character ; "At the time of Mr. Lincoln's death, I determined to write his history, as I had in my possession much valuable material for such a purpose. . . . Early in 1869, Mr. Herndon placed at my disposal his remarkable collection of materials — the richest, rarest, and fullest collection it was possible to con- ceive. . . . Mr. Herndon had been the partner in business and the intimate personal associate of Mr. Lincoln for something like a quarter of a cent- ury; and Mr. Lincoln had lived familiarly with several members of his family long before their individual acquaintance began. New Salem, Spring- field, the old judicial circuit, the habits and friends of Mr. Lincoln, were as well known to Mr. Herndon as to himself. With these advantages, and from the numberless facts and hints which had dropped from WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 133 Mr. Lincoln during the confidential intercourse of an ordinary lifetime, Mr. Herndon was able to institute a tliorough system of inquiry for every noteworthy circumstance and every incident of value in Mr. Lincoln's career. The fruits of Mr. Herndon's labors are garnered in three enormous volumes of original manuscripts and a mass of unarranged letters and papers. They comprise the recollections of Mr. Lincoln's nearest friends ; of the surviving members of his family and his family-connections ; of the men still living who knew him and his parents in Kentucky ; of his schoolfellows, neighbors, and acquaintances in Indiana ; of the better part of the whole population of New Salem ; of his associates and relatives at Springfield ; and of lawyers, judges, politicians, and statesmen everywhere, who had any- thing of interest or moment to relate. They were collected at vast expense of time, labor, and money, involving the employment of many agents, long journeys, tedious examinations, and voluminous correspondence. Upon the value of these materials it would be impossible to place an estimate. That I have used them conscientiously and justly is the only merit to which I lay claim." Lamon's evidence concerning Lincoln's unbelief is complete and unanswerable. He did not present it because he was himself an unbeliever and wished to support his views with the prestige of Lincoln's loi ABRAHAM LINCOLN: great name. While the Freethinker regards Lin- coln's rejection of Christianity as in the highest degree meritorious — a proof of his strong logical acumen, his sterling common sense, and his broad humanity — Lamon considered it a grave defect in his character. He states the fact because it is a fact, and because the purpose of his work is to disclose and not conceal the facts of Lincoln's life. If he devotes considerable space to the subject, and ex- hibits a special earnestness in its presentation, the misrepresentations of Lincoln's Christian biogra- phers have furnished a reasonable pretext for it. In the pages immediately following will be given the individual testimony of Colonel Lamon ; " Any analysis of Mr. Lincoln's character would be defective that did not include his religious opin- ions. On such matters he thought deeply, and his opinions were positive. But perhaps no phase of his character has been more persistently misrepre- sented and variously misunderstood, than this of his religious belief. Not that the conclusive testimony of many of his intimate associates relative to his fre- quent expressions on such subjects has ever been wanting ; but his great prominence in the world's history, and his identification with some of the great questions of our time, which, by their moral import, were held to be eminently religious in their character, have led many good people to trace in his WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 135 motives and actions similar convictions to those held by themselves. His extremely general expressions of religious faith called forth by the grave exigen- cies of his public life, or indulged in on occasions of private condolence, have too often been distorted out of relation to their real significance or meaning to suit the opinions or tickle the fancies of individ- uals or parties. " Mr. Lincoln was never a member of any church, nor did he believe in the divinity of Christ, or the inspiration of the Scriptures in the sense understood by evangelical Christians " (Life of Lincoln, p. 486). Holland and other Christian biographers have represented Lincoln as a youth of extreme piety, whose constant companion was the Bible. The con- current testimony of the friends of his boyhood com- pels Colonel Lamon to affirm that the reverse of this is true — that Lincoln, at an early age, was noted for his skepticism. He says : " When a boy, he showed no sign of that piety which his many biographers ascribe to his manhood. , . . When he went to church at all, he went to mock, and came away to mimic " (Ibid, pp. 486, 487). "At an early age he began to attend the * preach- ings * roundabout, but principally at the Pigeon Creek church, with a view to catching whatever might be ludicrous in the preacher's air or matter, 136 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I and making it tlie subject of mimicry as soon as lie could collect an audience of idle boys and men to hear him. A pious stranger, passing that way on a Sunday morning, was invited to preach for the Pigeon Creek congregation ; but he banged the boards of the old pulpit, and bellowed and groaned so wonderfully, that Abe could hardly contain his mirth. This memorable sermon was a great favor- ite with him ; and he frequently reproduced it with nasal tones, rolling eyes, and all manner of droll aggravations, to the great delight of Nat Grigsby and the wild fellows whom Nat was able to assem- ble" (lb., p. 55). " His chronicles were many, and on a great variety of subjects. They were written, as his early ad- mirers love to tell us, ' in the Scriptural stj'le ;' but those we have betray a very limited acquaintance with the model " (lb., p. 63). Of his Freethought reading and theological inves- tigations at New Salem, and his book on Infidelity, Lamon says : " When he came to New Salem, he consorted with Freethinkers, joined with them in deriding the gos- pel history of Jesus, read Yolney and Paine, and then wrote a deliberate and labored essay, wherein he reached conclusions similar to theirs. The essay was burnt, but he never denied or regretted its composition. On the contrary, he made it the sub- WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 1,37 ject of free and frequent conversations with his friends at Springfield, and stated, with much par- ticularity and precision, the origin, arguments, and objects of the work " (lb., p. 487). " The community in which he lived was pre- eminently a community of Freethinkers in matters of religion j and it was then no secret, nor has it been a secret since, that Mr. Lincoln agreed with the majority of his associates in denying to the Bible the authority of divine revelation. It was his honest belief, a belief which it was no reproach to hold at New Salem, Anno Domini 1834, and one which he never thought of concealing. It was no distinction, either good or bad, no honor, and no shame. But he had made himself thoroughly familiar with the writings of Paine and Yolney — the ' Kuins ' by the one, and ' The Age of Reason ' by the other. His mind was full of the subject, and he felt an itching to write. He did write, and the result was a little book. It was probably merely an extended essay, but it is ambitiously spoken of as * a book * by him- self and by the persons who were made acquainted with its contents. In this work he intended to demonstrate — " * First, that the Bible was not God's revelation ; " * Secondly, that Jesus was not the son of God.' ** No leaf of this little volume has survived. Mr. Lincoln carried it in manuscript to the store of Mr. I 138 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Samuel Hill, where it was read and discussed. Hill was himself an unbeliever, but his son consid- ered his book ' infamous.' It is more than probable that Hill, being a warm personal friend of Lincoln, feared that the publication of the essay would some day interfere with the political advancement of hi^ favorite. At all events, he snatched it out of his hand, and thrust it into the fire, from which not a shred escaped " (lb., pp. 157, 158). Colonel Lamon is confident that while Lincoln finally ceased to openly promulgate his Freethought opinions, he never abandoned them. He says : " As he grew older, he grew more cautious ; and as his New Salem associates, and the aggressive Deists with whom he originally united at Spring- field, gradually dispersed, or fell away from his side, he appreciated more and more keenly the violence and extent of the religious prejudices which freedom in discussion from his standpoint would be sure to arouse against him. He saw the immense and augmenting power of the churches, and in times past had practically felt it. The imputation of Infidelity had seriously injured him in several of his earlier political contests ; and, sobered by age and expe- rience, he was resolved that that same imputation should injure him no more. Aspiring to lead relig- ious communities, he foresaw that he must not appear as an enemy within their gates j aspiring to WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 139 public honors under the auspices of a political party which persistently summoned religious people to assist in the extirpation of that which is denounced as the * nation's sin/ he foresaw that he could not ask their suffrages whilst aspersing their faith. He perceived no reason for changing his convictions, but he did perceive many good and cogent reasons for not making them public" (lb., pp. 497, 498). " But he never told anyone that he accepted Jesus as the Christ, or performed a single one of the acts which necessarily follow upon such a conviction. At Springfield and at Washington he was beset on the one hand by political priests, and on the other by honest and prayerful Christians. He despised the former, respected the latter, and had use for both. He said with characteristic irreverence that he would not undertake to ' run the churches by military authority ;' but he was, nevertheless, alive to the importance of letting the churches * run ' themselves in the interest of his party. Indefinite expressions about * Divine Providence,' the ' Justice of God,' * the favor of the Most High,' were easy, and not inconsistent with his religious notions. In this, accordingly, he indulged freely ; but never in all that time did he let fall from his lips or his pen an expression which remotely implied the slightest faith in Jesus as the son of God and the Savior of men" (lb., p. 502). i40 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Lamon was Lincoln's intimate and trusted friend at Washington, and had he changed his belief, his biographer, as well as Noah Brooks and the Illinois clergyman, would have been in possession of the fact. In 1851 Lincoln wrote a letter of consolation to his dying father, in which he counseled him to " confide in our great and good and merciful Maker." This letter was given to the public by Mr. Herndon, and has been cited by the orthodox to prove that Lincoln was a believer. Adverting to this letter Lamon says : " If ever there was a mordent when Mr. Lincoln might have been expected to express his faith in the atonement, his trust in the merits of a living Redeemer, it was when he undertook to send a com- posing and comforting message to a dying man. . . . But he omitted it wholly. He did not even mention the name of Jesus, or intimate the most distant suspicion of the existence of a Christ " (Ibid., p. 497). Lincoln's mind was not entirely free from super- stition, but though born and reared in Christendom, the superstitious element in his nature was not essentially Christian. His fatalistic ideas, so char- acteristic of the faith of Islam, have already been mentioned by Mr. Herndon, and are thus referred to by Colonel Lamon : WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 141 " Mr. Lincoln was bj no means free from a kind of belief in the supernatural. . . .. He lived constantly in the serious conviction that he was him- self the subject of a special decree, made by some unknown and mysterious power, for which he had no name " (Ibid., p. 503). *' His mind was filled with gloomy forebodings and strong apprehensions of impending evil, mingled with extravagant visions of personal grandeur and power. His imagination painted a scene just be- yond the veil of the immediate future, gilded with glory yet tarnished with 'blood. It was his ' des- tiny ' — splendid but dreadful, fascinating but terrible. His case bore little resemblance to those of religious enthusiasts like Bunyan, Cowper,.and others. His was more like the de- lusion of the fatalist conscious of his star " (Ibid., p. 475). When Lamon's work appeared, Holland, backed by the Christian element generally, fell upon it like a savage and sought, as far as possible, to suppress it. Lamon had committed an unpardonable offense. He had declared to the world that Lincoln had died a disbeliever, and, what was worse, he had proved it. Holland's attack was made in an eight-column review of Lamon's " Life," which was published in Scrihner's Monthly, for August, 1872. In order to give an air of candor and judicial fairness to his veno- 142 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I mous criticisms, Le opens witli tliis flattering recogni- tion of its merits : " It is not difficult to see liow Colonel Lamon, wLo during Mr. Lincoln's Presidency held an office in the District of Columbia, which must have brought him into somewhat frequent intercourse with the Presi- dent, and who, indeed, had come with him from Springfield to the Capital, should feel that there rested on him a certain biographical duty. And certainly he was in possession of a mass of material so voluminous, so original, and so fresh that in this respect at least his fitness for the work was remark- ably complete. Moreover, Mr. W. H. Herndon, who was Mr. Lincoln's partner in the practice of the law at Springfield, and was, of course, closely intimate with his partner in a business way, . . . added to Colonel Lamon's material the valuable documents which he had himself collected, and the memoranda which, with painstaking and lawyer-like ability, he had recorded from the oral testimony of living wit- nesses. " As far as the story of Mr. Lincoln's childhood and early life is concerned, down to the time when his political life began, it has never been told so fully, with such spirit and zest, and with such evi- dent accuracy, as by Colonel Lamon." Nearly the entire review is devoted to a denuncia- tion of Lamon's exposition of Lincoln's religious WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 143 opinions. He repeatedly pronounces this " an out- rage on decency," and characterizes Lincoln's Free- thought companions as " heathen," " barbarians," and ''savages." The review concludes as follows : *' The violent and reckless prejudice, and the utter want of delicacy and even of decency by which the book is characterized, in such instances as this, will more than counterbalance the value of its new ma- terial, its fresh and vigorous pictures of Western life and manners, and its familiar knowledge of the "inside politics' of Mr. Lincoln's administration, and will even make its publication (by the famous publishers whose imprint imparts to it a prestige and authority which its authorship would fail to give) something like a national misfortune. In some quarters it will be readily received as the standard life of the good President. It is all the more desir- able that the criticism upon it should be prompt and unsparing." Christianity must have the support of Lincoln's great name. To secure it Holland is willing to mis- represent the honest convictions of Lincoln's life- time, to traduce the characters of his dearest friends, and to rob a brother author and a publisher of their just reward. Lamon states that during the last years of Lin- coln's life he ceased to proclaim his Infidel opinions because they were unpopular. Eeferring to this 144 ABRAHAJVI LINCOLN: statement, Holland says : " The eagerness with which this volnme strives to cover Mr. Lincoln's memory with an imputation so detestable is one of the most pitiable exhibitions which we have lately witnessed." This outburst of righteous indignation, coming from the source it does, is peculiarly refreshing. To appreciate it, we have only to open Holland's work, and read such passages as the following : " I am obliged to appear different to them." " It was one of the peculiarities of Mr. Lincoln to hide these religious [Christian] experiences from the eyes of the world." "Who had never in their whole lives heard from his lips one word of all these religious convictions and experiences." " They [his friends] did not regard him as a religious man." " All this department of his life he had kept carefully hidden from them." " There was much of his conduct that was simply a cover to these thoughts — an effort to conceal them " (Holland's Life of Lincoln, pp. 239, 2ti0). Consummate hypocrisy in a Christian is all right with this moralist ; but for a Freethinker to with- hold his views from an intolerant religious world is a detestable crime. As a biographer of Lincoln, Holland possessed many advantages over Lamon. His work was writ- ten and published immediately after the awful trag- WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 145 edy, when almost the entire reading public was deeply interested in everything that pertained to Lincoln's life. So far as Lincoln's religious views are concerned, he advocated the popular side of the question ; for while those outside of the church cared but little about the matter, the church desired the influence of his great name, and was ready to reward those who assisted her in obtaining it. Hol- land, too, had an established reputation as an author — had nearly as large a class of readers as any writer in this country. His name alone was suffi- cient to guarantee a large circulation to any book he might produce. Lamon, on the other hand, pos- sessed but a single advantage over his rival, that of having the truth on his side. And while " truth is mighty," and will in the end prevail, yet how often is it " crushed to earth " and for the time obscured. In view of all this, it is not strange that the public should be so slow to reject the fictions of Holland and accept the facts of Lamon. That Lamon's " Life of Lincoln " is wholly unde- serving of adverse criticism, is not claimed. He has, perhaps, given undue prominence to some matters connected with Lincoln's private affairs which might with propriety have been consigned to oblivion. A larger manifestation of charity, too, for the imperfections of those with whom Lincoln mingled, especially in the humbler walks of life, 146 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: would not have detracted from its merit. And yet, tliose who desire to know Lincoln as lie really was, should read Lamon rather than Holland. In Lamon's work, Lincoln's character is a rugged oak, towering above its fellows and clothed in nature's livery ; in Holland's work, it is a dead tree with the bark taken off, the knots planed down, and varnished. In the New York World appeared the following just estimate of these two biographies : " Mr. Ward H. Lamon is the author of one * Life of Lincoln,' and Dr. J. G. Holland is the author of an- other. Mr. Lamon was the intimate personal and political friend of Mr. Lincoln, trusting and trusted, from the time of their joint practice in the Illinois Quarter Sessions to the moment of Mr. Lincoln's death at Washington. Dr. Holland was nothing to Mr. Lincoln — neither known nor knowing. Dr. Holland rushed his 'Life' from the press before the disfigured corpse was fairly out of sight, while the public mind lingered with horror over the details of the tragedy, and, excited by morbid curiosity, was willing to pay for its gratification. Mr. Lamon waited many years, until all adventitious interest had subsided, and then with incredible labor and pains, produced a volume founded upon materials which for their fulness, variety, and seeming authen- ticity are unrivaled in the history of biographies. WA8 HE A CHRISTIAN? 147 Dr. Holland's single volume professed to cover the whole of Mr. Lincoln's career. Mr. Lamon's single volume was modestly confined to a part of it. Dr. Holland's was an easy, graceful, off-hand perform- ance, having Vjut the one slight demerit of being in all essential particulars untrue from beginning to end. Mr. Lamon's was a labored, cautious, and carefully verified narrative which seems to have been accepted by disinterested critics as entirely authentic. " Dr. Holland would probably be very much shocked if anybody should ask him to hear false witness in favor of his neighbor in a court of justice, but he takes up his pen to make a record which he hopes and intends shall endure forever, and in that record deliVjerately bears false witness in favor of a public man whom he happened to admire, with no kind of offense to his serene and ' cultured ' con- science. If this were all — if Dr. Holland merely asserted his own right to compose and publish elaborate fictions on historical subjects — we might comfort ourselves with the reflection that such literature is likely to be as evanescent as it is dis- honest, and let him pass in silence. But this is not all. He maintains that it is everybody's duty to help him to deceive the public and to write down his more conscientious competitor. He turns up the nose of ' culture ' and curls the lip of * art ' at 148 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : Mr. Lamon's homely narrative of facts, and gravely insists that all other noses and all other lips shall be turned up and curled because his are. He implores the public, which he insulted and gulled with his own book, to damn Mr. Lamon's, and he puts his request on the very ground that Mr. Lamon has stupidly gone and narrated undeniable truths, whereby he has demolished an empty shrine that was profitable to many, and broken a painted idol that might have served for a god. "The names of Holland and Lamon are not ol themselves and bv themselves illustrious : but start- ing from the title-pages of the two Lives of Lincoln, and representing, as they do, the two schools o| biography writers, the one stands for a principle and the other for the want of it." I WAS HE A CHKISTIAN? 149 CHAPTEK YIII. TESTIMONY OF HON. JOHN T. STUAET AND COL. JAMES H. MATHENY. Testimony of Hon. John T. Stuart — Testimony of Col. James H.Ma- theny — Stuart's Disclaimer — Matheny's Disclaimer — Examination and Authorship of Disclaimers, Including the Edwards and Lewis Letters. Besides his own testimony concerning Lincoln's unbelief, Colonel Lamon cites the testimony of ten additional witnesses : Hon. Wm. H. Herndon, Hon. John T. Stuart, Col. James H. Matheny, Dr. C. H. Eay, Wm. H. Hannah, Esq., Mr. Jas. W. Keys, Hon. Jesse W. Fell, Col. John G. Nicolay, Hon. David Davis and Mrs. Mary Lincoln. The testimony of Mr. Herndon having already been presented, the testimony of Mr. Stuart and Colonel Matheny will next be given. This testimony was procured by Mr. Herndon for the purpose of refuting the errone- ous statements of Dr. Holland. Hon. John T. Stuart, who was for a time a mem- ber of Congress from Hlinois, was the first law partner of Lincoln. He says : "Lincoln went further against Christian beliefs and doctrines and principles than any man I ever 150 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : heard : lie shocked me. I don't remember the exact line of his argument — suppose it was against the inherent defects, so called, of the Bible, and on grounds of reason. Lincoln always denied that Jesus was the Christ of God — denied that Jesus was the son of God, as understood and maintained by the Christian church. The Kev. Dr. Smith, who wrote a letter, tried to convert Lincoln from Infidel- ity so late as 1858, and couldn't do it " (Lamon's Life of Lincoln, p. 488). Col. James H. Matheny was one of Lincoln's most intimate friends, and was for many years his chief political manager. He testifies as follows : " I knew Mr. Lincoln as early as 1834-7 ; know he was an Lifidel. He and W. D. Herndon used to talk Infidelity in the Clerk's office in this city, about the years 1837-40. Lincoln attacked the Bible and the New Testament on two grounds : first, from the in- herent or apparent contradictions under its lids ; second, from the grounds of reason. Sometimes he ridiculed the Bible and the New Testament, some- times seemed to scoflf it, though I shall not use that word in its full and literal sense. I never heard that Lincoln changed his views, though his personal and political friend from 1834 to 1860. Sometimes Lincoln bordered on Atheism. He went far that way and shocked me. I was then a youug man, and believed what my good mother told me. Stuart and WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 151 Lincoln's office was in what is called Hoffman's Kow, on North Fifth street, near the public square. It was in the same building as the Clerk's office, and on the same floor. Lincoln would come into the Clerk's office, where I and some young men — Evan Butler, Newton Francis and others — were writing or staying, and would bring the Bible with him ; would read a chapter, argue against it. Lincoln then had a smattering of geology, if I recollect it. Lincoln often, if not wholly, was an Atheist; at least, bor- dered on it. Lincoln was enthusiastic in his Infidel- ity. As he grew older, he grew more discreet, didn't talk much before strangers about his religion ; but to friends, close and bosom ones, he was always open and avowed, fair and honest ; but to strangers, he held them off from policy. Lincoln used to quote Burns. Burns helped Lincoln to be an Infidel, as I think ; at least he found in Burns a like thinker and feeler. " From what I know of Mr. Lincoln and his views of Christianity, and from what I know as honest, well-founded rumor ; from what I have heard his "b^st friends say and regret for years; from what he never denied when accused, and from what Lincoln has hinted and intimated, to say no more, he did write a little book on Infidelity, at or near New Salem, in Menard county, about the year 1834 or 1835. I have stated these things to you often. 162 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Judge Logan, Jolm T. Stuart, yourself, know what I know, and some of you more. " Mr. Herudou, you insist on knowinsj sometliiucj which jou know I possess, and got as a secret, and that is, about Lincoln's little book on Infidelity. Mr. Lincoln did tell me that he did icrite a little hook on Injidelity. This statement I have avoided hereto- fore ; but, as you strongly insist upon it — probably to defend yourself against charges of mi>;representa- tions — I give it to you as I got it from Lincoln's mouth " (Life of Lincoln, pp. 487, 488). The evidence of Stuart and Mathenv, as recorded in Lamon's work, having been presented, it is now proper to state that this evidence has, in a measure, been repudiated by them. Dr. Reed, in his lecture, produced letters from them disclaiming in part or modifying the statements imputed to them. Dr. Heed says : " I have been amazed to find that the principal persons whose testimony is given in this book to prove that their old friend lived and died an Infidel, never wrote a word of it, and never gave it as their opinion or allowed it to be published as covering their estimate of Mr. Lincoln's life and religious views." Alluding to Stuart's evidence, he says : " Mr. Lamon has attributed to Mr. Stuart testimony the most disparaging and damaging to Mr. Lincoln's character and opinions — testimony which Mr. Stuart utterly repudiates, both as to WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 153 language and sentiment." Eegarding Mathenj's testimony, he says : " Mr. Matheny testifies that he never wrote a word of what is attributed to him ; that it is not a fair representation of either his lan- guage or his opinions, and tliat he never would have allowed such an article to be published as cov- ering his estimate of Mr. Lincoln's life and char- acter." The following is the disclaimer of Mr. Stuart : " Springfield, Dec. 17th, 1872. "Rev. J. A. Eeed: " Dear Sir— ** My attention has been called to a statement in relation to the religious opinions of Mr. Lincoln, purporting to have been made by me, and published in Lamon's 'Life of Lincoln.' The language of that statement is not mine ; it was not written by me, and I did not see it until it was in print. I was once interviewed on the subject of Mr. Lincoln's religious opinions, and doubtless said that Mr. Lincoln was in the earlier part of his life an InfideL I could not have said that ' Dr. Smith tried to convert Lincoln from Infidelity so late as 1858, and couldn't do it.' In relation to that point I stated, in the same con- versation, some facts which are omitted in that statement, and which I will briefly repeat. That Eddie, a child of Mr. Lincoln, died in 1848 or 1849, and that he and his wife were in deep grief on the 154 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: account. That Dr. Smith, then pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Springfield, at the suggestion of a hxdy friend of theirs, called upon Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, and that first visit resulted in great intimacy and friendship between them, lasting till the death of Mr. Lincoln, and continuing with Mrs. Lincoln till the death of Dr. Smith. I stated that I had heard at the time that Dr. Smith and Mr. Lin- coln had much discussion in relation to the truth of the Christian religion, and that Dr. Smith had fur- nished Mr. Lincoln with books to read on that sub- ject, and among others one which had been written by himself, sometime previous, on Infidelity; and that Dr. Smith claimed that after this investigation Mr. Lincoln had changed his opinions, and became a believer in the truth of the Christian religion ; that Mr. Lincoln and myself never conversed upon that subject, and I had no personal knowledge as to his alleged change of opinion. I stated, however, that it was certainly true that up to that time Mr. Lincoln had never regularly attended any place of religious worship, but that after that time he rented a pew in the First Presbyterian church, and with his family constantly attended the worship in that church until he went to Washington as President. This much I said at the time, and I can now add that the Hon. Ninian W. Edwards, the brother-in- law of Mr. Lincoln, has, within a few days, informed WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 165 me that when Mr. Lincoln commenced attending the First Presbyterian church he admitted to him that his views had undergone the change claimed by Dr. Smith. I would further say that Dr. Smith was a man of great ability, and on theological and meta- physical subjects had few superiors and not many equals. Truthfulness was a prominent trait in Mr. Lincoln's character, and it would be impossible for any intimate friend of his to believe that he ever aimed to deceive, either by his words or his con- duct. " Yours truly, "JohnT. Stuart." Col. Matheny*s disclaimer is as follows : " Springfield, Dec. 16th, 1872. ** Eev. J. A. Eeed : *' Dear Sir — " The language attributed to me in Lamon's book is not from my pen. I did not write it, and it does not express my sentiments of Mr. Lincoln's entire life and character. It is a mere collection of say- ings gathered from private conversations that were only true of Mr. Lincoln's earlier life. I would not have allowed such an article to be printed over my signature as covering my opinion of Mr. Lincoln's life and religious sentiments. While I do believe Mr. Lincoln to have been an Infidel in his former life, when his mind was as yet unformed, and his 156 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: associations principally with rough and skeptical men, yet I believe he was a very different man in later life, and that after associating with a different class of men and investigating the subject, he was a firm believer in the Christian religion. ** Yours truly, "Jas. H. Matheny." This disclosure startles you, my dear reader. But be patient. I will show you that this apparently mortal thrust of Dr. Eeed's was made, not with a lance, but with a boomerang. When Reed made his assault upon Lamon's wit- nesses, all stood firm but two — two old Springfield politicians whose political aspirations had not yet become extinct — John T. Stuart and James H. Math- eny. These men had been among the first to testify in regard to Lincoln's unbelief. His Christian biographers had misrepresented his religious views ; they believed that the fraud ought to be exposed, and they were ready and willing to aid in the work. Their testimony exhibits a frankness that is truly commendable. They knew that lying was a vice, but they did not know that truth-telling was a crime. They had yet to learn that the church tolerates murder more readily than the promulgation of a truth that is antagonistic to her creed. But this fact they were destined to learn. Lamon's work had scarcely been issued from the press before he WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 157 was anathematized and his book proscribed. The merciless attack that had already been commenced upon Horndon portended danger to them. Nor had they long to wait. In December, 1872, they were approached by Eeed and his coadjutors. They were informed that the idol which their ruthless iconoclasm had helped to break must be repaired. They were given to understand that if they repented of the part they had performed and recanted, peace would be their portion here and endless bliss hereafter ; but that if they did not, endless misery would begin on Jan. 1, a.d. 1873. The situation was critical. They did not like to tell the world that they had borne false witness against the dead, nor did they, any more than Gali- leo, wish to wear a martyr's crown. A compromise was finally effected. It was incidentally ascertained by Reed that their evidence as presented by Lamon was not originally given in the shape of a letter or a written statement, but orally. A happy thought suggested itself — one worthy of the unscrupulous theological pettifogger that he is. The thought was this : " Say to the public, or rather let me say it for you, that you did not write a word of the testimony attributed to you." Just as a witness in court might point to the stenographer's report of his testimony and say, " I did not write a word of that." In addition to this, Mr. Stuart, in endeavoring to 158 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : explain away, as far as possible, the obnoxious char- acter of his testimony, declared that some things which he did say at the time his testimony was given had been omitted ; while something he did not say was inserted. They were both trivial matters, hardly worthy of notice, even if true, and having no especial bearing upon the case. But they served an admi- rable purpose in enabling Reed to say that the testi- mony adduced by Lamon was " abridged and dis- torted." Stuart's disclaimer, then, divested of its mislead- ing verbiage, contains but two points. In the first place, he says : " I could not have said that ' Dr. Smith tried to convert Lincoln from Infidelity so late as 1858, and couldn't do it.' " This sentence, like everything else in these disclaimers, is cunningly worded and intended to deceive. One would naturally suppose the idea he intends to convey is that he never declared that Dr. Smith tried to con- vert Lincoln and couldn't do it. This, it has been ascertained, is not his meaning. What he means is this : " I could not have said that ' Dr. Smith tried to convert Lincoln from Infidelity, so late as 1858, and couldn't do it.' " His denial is a mere quibble about a date. He did undoubtedly say just what he is reported to have said. But admitting a doubt, and giving him the benefit of this doubt, by throwing out the disputed date, the passage is not less damaging WAB HE A CHIilSTIAJS' ? 159 than it was Vjefore : " Dr. Smith tried to convert Lincoln from Infidelity, and couldn't do it." But let us omit the entire sentence, and the testimony of Mr. Stuart that remains, about which there is no dispute, that portion of his testimony which he ad- mits to be correct — is as follows : " Lincoln went further against Christian beliefs and doctrines and principles than any man I ever heard ; he shocked me. I don't remember the exact line of his argument ; suppose it was against the inherent defects, so called, of the Bible, and on grounds of reason. Lincoln always denied that Jesus was the Christ of God — denied that Jesus was the Son of God, as understood and maintained by the Christian church." In the second place, Mr. Stuart complains that the rumors concerning Dr. Smith's attempted con- version of Lincoln which he had mentioned to Mr. Herndon at the time of giving his testimony, were omitted. They were, and very properly, too. Mr. Stuart, or any other good lawyer, would have omit- ted them. Mr. Herndon desired him to testify about what he kneWj and not about what he had heard, especially as he was going to headquarters in regard to these rumors. He wrote to Dr. Smith himself about them, received his testimony, and gave it to the public. Stuart affects to believe that this story, which 160 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Niuiau Edwards is dragged around by Eeed to verify, may possibly liaye been true. But in tlie same sentence, lie refutes this idea, and refutes the claim itself, by saying : "I had no personal knowl- edge as to his alleged change of opinion." Stuart was a family connection of Lincoln, and if Lincoln had been converted, he, as well as every other per- son in Springfield, would have known it. He states that Dr. Smith's first visit to Lincoln was " at the suggestion of a lady friend." To have avoided another glaring contradiction in the evidence of his witnesses. Heed should have had Major Stuart state that this " lady friend " was Thomas Lewis. As it is, the account given by Stuart of Dr. Smith's first yisit and acquaintance with Lincoln is entirely at variance with the account given by Mr. Lewis in his letter, quoted in chapter L Mr. Stuart evidently entertained no very kind opinion of Colonel Lamon's work, and this made him all the more disposed to accede to Eeed's de- mands. His position on the slavery question, for a time, was one which, in the light of subsequent events, he had no reason to be proud of, and Lamon in narrating the acts of Lincoln's life found it neces- sary frequently to refer to this. Such passages as the following were calculated not only to make him offended at Lamon, but jealous of Herndon : '' John T. Stuart was keeping his eye on Lincoln, with the WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 161 view of keeping him on liis side — tlie totally dead conservative side." " Mr. Lincoln was beset by warm friends and by old coadjutors, and besought to pause in his anti-slavery course while there was yet time. Among these there was none more earnest or persuasive than John T. Stuart, who was but the type of a class. . . . But Mr. Herndon was more than a match for the full array against him. An earnest man, instant in season and out of season, he spoke with the eloquence of apparent truth and of real personal love " (Life of Lincoln, pp. 374, 352). Colonel Matheny was not prepared to deny the correctness of a single statement in his testimony, but was forced to modify its bearing as a whole. He was made to say : '' It does not express my senti- ments of Mr. Lincoln's entire life and character." Now, anyone who reads his evidence cannot fail to observe that he did intend to cover Lincoln's entire life and character. There is not in it the slightest intimation that he referred merely to a part of his life. Indeed, there is one statement in his evidence which utterly precludes such an assumption. He expressly says : " I never heard that Lincoln changed his views, though his personal and political friend from 1834 to 1860." But Beed must have a sufficient portion of his life reserved in which to in- ject the story of his alleged conversion ; and so Matheny's offense was condoned on the condition 162 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: that lie retain tlie earlier part of Lincoln's life for liis testimon}^ to rest upon, and concede the remain- der to Eeed for *' The Later Life and Eeligious Sentiments of Lincoln." This division of Lincoln's life is quite indefinite, but Eeed would have us be- lieve that Colonel Mathenj^'s evidence relates wholly to that portion of his life anterior to 18J:8, when Dr. Smith began the task of Christianizing him. Mathenj's disclaimer is dated Dec. 16, 1872. On Dec. 9, 1873, he made the following explanation, which was published in a Springfield paper : *' What I mean, in my Eeed letter, by Mr. Lincoln's earlier life, is his whole life and history in Illinois. In Illinois, and up to the time he left for Washing- ton, he was, as I understand it, a confirmed Infidel. What I mean by Mr. Lincoln's later life, is his Washington life, where he associated with religious people, when and where I believe he thought he became a Christian. I told Mr. Eeed all this just before signing the letter spoken of. I knew nothing of Mr. Lincoln's investigation into the subject of Christianity." He says that his evidence *' is a mere collection of sayings gathered from private conversations." It is doubtless true that he had many private conversa- tions with Mr. Herndon on tliis subject ; but his published testimony was all given at one sitting, and more, he signed that testimony. Every word attributed WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 163 to him in Lamon's work, and repeated in this chap- ter, originally appeared above his signature. The concluding words of his disclaimer are as fol- lows : " While I do believe Mr. Lincoln to have been an Infidel in his former life, when his mind was as yet unformed, and his associations principally with rough and skeptical men, yet I believe he was a very different man in later life ; and that after associating with a different class of men, and investigating the subject, he was a firm believer in the Christian religion." These words, as modified by the following, con- stitute a most remarkable statement : "In Illinois, and up to the time he left for Wash- ington, he was, as I understand it, a confirmed In- fidel. What I mean by Mr. Lincoln's later life, is his Washington life, where he associated with re- ligious people." Colonel Matheny confines Lincoln's Infidelity to that portion of his life " when his mind was as yet unformed," and affirms that this portion comprised all the years preceding his removal to Washington in 1861. Thus during the first fifty-two years of Lincoln's life, " his mind was as yet unformed." His enviable reputation as one of the foremost law- yers of Illinois was achieved while " his mind was as yet unformed ;" when his friends sent him to Con- 164 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : gress "his mind was as yet unformed;" when he made his Bloomington speech, " his mind was as yet unformed ;" when he delivered his famous Spring- field speech, " his mind was as yet unformed ;" when he conducted his masterly debates with Stephen A. Douglas, " his mind was as yet un- formed;" when he prepared and delivered that model of political addresses, the Cooper In- stitute address, " his mind was as yet unformed ;" when at the Chicago Convention he outstripped in the race for Presidential nominee such emi- nent leaders as Seward and Chase, "his mind was as yet unformed ;" when he was elected Chief Magistrate of this great nation, " his mind was as yet unformed." It was only by leaving Illinois and going to Wash- ington that he was thrown into religious society. Washington politicians are noted for their piety, you know. According to Matheny et al., New Salem was a second Sodom, Springfield a second Gomorrah and Washincfton a sort of New Jerusalem, inhabited chiefiy by saints- Neither in Matheny 's letter, nor in his interpreta- tion of this letter, is there a word to indicate that he recognized the fact that Lincoln went to Washington to assume the office and perform the duties of Presi- dent. On the contrary, the whole tenor of his re- marks is to the effect that he believed the people WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 165 sent him there on account of his wickedness, and wliile '' his mind was as jet unformed," to attend a reform school, and that subsequently he entered a tlieological seminary, and there died. The most amusing feature of Matheny's letter is that he unwittingly certifies that his own character was not good. He declares that Lincoln was an Infidel because his associations were *' with rough and skeptical men ;" but that after removing to Washington and " associating with a different class of men " he became a Christian. Now, it is well known that one of the most conspicuous of his "rough and skeptical" associates in Illinois was James H. Matheny. Colonel Matheny, in his explanatory remarks, says : " I believe he thought he became a Christian ;" and in almost the next breath says, " I knew nothing of Mr. Lincoln's investigation into the subject of Christianity." Can anything be more unreasonable than this ? Colonel Matheny knowing that Lincoln was a confirmed Infidel — an Infidel when he went to Washington — knowing nothing about his having afterward investigated Christianity — knowing that he had no time for such an investigation, and yet believing that Lincoln thought he became a Chris- tian ! Why did he not mention this when he gave his testimony ? The fact is, he did not believe that Lincoln became a Christian ; but with an orthodox 166 ABRAHAM LINCOLN; club I'caised above Lis head, lie found it very con- venient to profess to believe it. As Mr. Eeed lias endeavored to prove tliat Lamon and Herndon did not faithfully report the evidence of Stuart and Matheny, it is but just that Mr. Hern- don, who took down their testimony, be permitted to speak in his own defense. In his Springfield lecture, delivered in Major Stuart's town, if not in his pres- ence, referring to Stuart's testimony, he saj^s : " Mr. Stuart did not write the note and no one ever said he did. What is there stated was the sub- stance of a conversation between Mr. Stuart and my- self about Mr. Lincoln's religion. I took down in a note in his office and in his presence his words and ideas as I did in other cases. The conversation spoken of took place in Mr. Stuart's office, and in the east room. Mr. Stuart does not deny that the note is substantially correct. He simply says he could not have said that Dr. Smith tried to convert Mr. Lincoln, and couldn't do it. I well remember that he did use this language. It seemed to do him good to say it. . . . It seems that Mr. Stuart had heard that Mr. Lincoln and Dr. Smith had much discussion about Christianity, but he failed to hear of Mr. Lincoln's conversion, or anything like it, and well might he say, as lie did, that * Dr. Smith tried to convert Mr. Lincoln, hict coiddnH do it.' " Any charitably disposed person, knowing the gen- WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 167 eral good character of both men, instead of crying "Fraud!" as Keed has done, will readily conclude that Mr. Herndon was mistaken, or that Mr. Stuart had forgotten just what he did say, and is it not more reasonable to suppose that the latter gentle- man, in the lapse of six years, should have forgotten some things he said, than that Mr. Herndon, who recorded them the moment they were uttered, should be mistaken ? Alluding to Colonel Matheny's evidence, in the same lecture, Mr. Herndon says : " The next gentleman introduced by Mr. Reed is Col. James H. Matheny. He is made to say, in a letter addressed to Mr. Reed, that he did not write the statement in Lamon's *Life of Lincoln.' I do not claim that he did. I wrote it in the court house — this hall — in Mr. Matheny's presence, and at his dictation. I read it over to him and he approved it. I wrote it all at once as he spoke it to me ; it is not made up of scraps — ' a mere collection of sayings gathered from private conversations, that were only true of Mr. Lincoln's earlier life.' I say that this statement was written all at one time and place, and not at different times and places. Let any critic, any man of common sense, read it and he will say : 'This was all written at once.' I appeal to the manner — the close connection of words and ideas in which it runs — word with word, sentence with sen- loS ABRAHAM UNO OLN : toiuw and idoa with idoa. fvn- tho proof that it was mado at ono sitting. Mr. Mathony has often toUl mo that Mr. Lincoln was an Intidol. Ho admits this in his h^ttor to Mr. Eood. Ho novor intimated in that or any other conversation with me that he belie Yod that Mr. Lincoln in his later life became a Christian." In a letter dated Sept. 1^ 1SS7, Mr. Herndou writes: ** I acted in this matter honestly, and I will always abide by my notes taken down at the time. I was cantious — very carefnl of what I did, bocanse I knew that tho chnrch wonld damn me and prove me false if it conld. I stood on the exactness of truth squarely." I have thus far assumed that Stuart and Mathony reallv wrote tho letters of disclaimer addressed to Eoed. ^[r. l\ood states that he is " amazed to liud " that they did not write the statements attributed to them bv Lamon. The reader is by this time sutVi- ciently familiar with this reverend gentleman's methods that he will uof be " amazed to find " that Stuart and Mathony did not write these disclaimers. I now atVirm that James H. Mathony did not write a word of the letter purporting to have boon written by him. It was irn'ften by thr Iicr. J. A. Inrd ! We have not the expressed declaration of Mr. Stuart that this is true of the letter imputed to him, but 1 WAH Hi-: A Cifj'JK'nAN? 1G9 i]i(;r(i IB otiior cvidonco winch lankdH it clearly ap- parent tljat tljin letter waH alno written by Mr. Keed. Nor i;-i thin all. J nljal] rjow erjdeavoj- to hIjow that t}j<; r.aeater part of the eviderice preHented hy Keed, in hiK lecture, wan cornponed and written by IjirriBelL J jet uh take the four letters credited rcHpoctively to Edwardn, Lewin, Stuart, and Matheny. I Hhall attempt to demonstrate the common f^rigin of these letters, first, by their form ; secondly, by the lan/^ua^e of thoir contents. The different forms f-.mfJoyed in epistolary corre- spondence are numerous, far more numerous than j^enerally supposed. To illustrate : four hundred letters, written by as many different persons, and all addressed to the same person, were, without examina- tion, divided into one hundred parcels of four letters each. They were then examined in K-.ff ard to the form employ(;d by the writer. The heading, the ad- dress, the introduction, and the subscription were noted — no attention being paid to the br^dy of the letter, f;r the signature. In not one of these one hundred parcels werr; found four letters having the same form. The heading of these letters exhibited nine different forms; the address, fourteen; the introduction, eight ; and the subscription, eleven. Again, nearly every writer employs certain idioms of language that are peculiar to him, and which reveal his identity, even though he tries to conceal it. 170 ABBAHAM LINCOLN: Let us now institute a brief analysis of the four letters under consideration. Errors will be noticed, -not for the purpose of reflecting upon the literary attainments of the writer, but solely with a view of discovering his identity. These are mostly of a trivial character, confined to marks of punctuation, etc.; and it is a recognized fact that a majority of educated persons, including many professional writers, are more or less deficient in the art of punctuation. In proof of the common authorship of these four letters, the following reasons are sub- mitted : 1. In all of them we recognize a stiff formality — a studied effort to conform to one ideal standard. 2. All of them were written at Springfield, 111., and all omit the name of the state. 3. In each of them, the day of the month is fol- lowed by the suffix "th." This, if not wholly im- proper, is not common usage. Had these letters been written by the four persons to whom they are ascribed, at least three of them would have omit- ted it. 4 In all, but one, the address is " Kev. J. A. Reed," and in the exception the writer merely sub- stitutes '^ Jas." for "J." 5. In each of them the address is followed by a colon instead of a comma, the proper mark to use. Had they been written by four persons, it is possible Was he a christian? 171 that a part, or even all, would have made an error, but it is highly improbable that all would have made the same error. 6. In these letters, the introductory words are uniformly " Dear Sir " — the most common form of introduction, and the one that a writer, in drafting a letter addressed to himself, would most naturally employ. 7. In every instance, the introduction is followed by a dash instead of a colon — a uniformity of error, again. 8. In the subscription, the term, " Yours truly,'* is invariably used, except in the Lewis letter, which concludes with '"Yours, etc." 9. The Edwards letter and the Lewis letter begin with the same idea, expressed in nearly the same words. Edwards is made to say, *' A short time after the Rev. Dr. Smith," etc.; and Lewis — "Not long after Dr. Smith." 10. Omitting the introductory sentence in the Stuart letter, which is merely the expansion of an idea used in writing the Matheny letter on the pre- ceding day, the Stuart and Matheny letters begin with the same idea. Stuart says : " The language of that statement is not mine ; it was not written by me." Matheny says : " The language attributed to me ... is not from my pen. I did not write it." Reed himself uses substantially the same Ian- 172 ABBAHAM LINCOLN : guage that is ascribed to them. Had their state- ments, as published in Lamon's work, been forgeries, or grossly inaccurate, they might have used the language quoted above. Under the circumstances they would not have used it. Major Stuart and Colonel Matheny were lawyers, not pettifoggers. 11. These prefatory sentences of Stuart and Ma- theny both begin with the same words — " the lan- guage." 12. In both the Edwards and Lewis letters, refer- ence is made to a theological work which Dr. Smith is said to have written. The writer of neither letter is able to state the name of the book ; Dr. Reed is unable to state the name of it ; Dr. Smith himself does not rqention the name of it; but he does plainly state that it was a work on the Bible. For " the business he had on hand," however, it suited Heed's purpose better to give a semi-erroneous im- pression of its character, and so he affirms that it was a work on ''the evidences of Christianity." Curiously enough, in the Edwards letter and again in the Lewis letter, the book is described as a work on "the evidences of Christianity." 13. The Edwards letter reports Lincoln as saying : "I have been reading a ivorh of Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christianity J" The Lewis letter repre- sents him as saying that " He had seen and partially read a ivorJc of Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christian- WAS HE A CHRISTIAN ? 173 ityy Here are ten consecutive words in the two letters identical. 14. Mr. Eeed, in his lecture, never once uses the word " Christianity," except as above noticed to de- scribe Dr. Smith's book ; he always uses the words " the Christian religion " — employing this term no less than seven times. This usage is not common. An examination of various theological writings shows that " Christianity " is used twenty times where ** the Christian religion " is used once. Yet in these letters the word " Christianity " is not to be found, except in the same sense as used by Dr. Eeed, while ** the Chris- tian religion " occurs in each of the four letters. 15. " The truth of the Christian religion " is a favorite phrase with Reed, occurring three times in his lecture. This phrase also occurs three times in these letters — once in the Edwards letter, and twice in the Stuart letter. 16. Reed has much to say about Lincoln's *' life and religious sentiments ;" in fact, his lecture is entitled, *' The Later Life and Religious Sentiments of Abraham Lincoln." In the Matheny letter, too, we find "Mr. Lincoln's life and religious senti- ments." 17. The words " earlier " and " later " are fre- quently used by Reed in connection with Lincoln's life. The same words are used in the Stuart and Matheny letters, and in the same connection. 174 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : 18. The Stuart letter is, for the most part, do- voted to the narration of '* some facts " which Mr. Stuart is said to have presented to Mr. Herndon, beginning with this : '' That Eddie, a chiki of Mr. Lincoln, died in 18:i8 or 1849," etc. Now, Mr. Stuart well knew that, during all this time, Mr. Herndon was the intimate associate of Lincoln and thoroughly familiar with every event in his history. The *' facts " given in this letter are not such as Mr. Stuart w^ould have communicated to Mr. Herndon, but they are such as Mr. Reed would naturally desire to place before the public. 19. Nothing in Dr. Eeed's career has excited his vanity more than the fact that he was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield — the church which Lincoln once attended. Consequently, the ** First Presbyterian Church " is a conspicuous ob- ject in his lecture, and nowhere is it more conspic- uous than in these letters. In the Stuart letter it appears three times, and the writer never fails to state that it was the " First Presbyterian Church " — the church of which Dr. Eeed was pastor. 20. According to the principle of accretion, if two articles or letters are written on the same subject, the second will usually be longer than the first. This is true of these letters. The Lewis letter, re- lating to Smith's reputed conversion of Lincoln, was written after the Edwards letter relative to the WAR HE A CHIilBTIAN? 175 same subject, and is longer. The Stuart disclaimer, which is the longer of the two, was written after the Matheny disclaimer. From the foregoing, is it not clearly evident that these four letters were all written by the same per- son ? If so, then knowing tliat Dr. Pteed wrote one of them, the Matheny letter, does it not necessarily follow that he wrote them all ? Ill tlie Gurley testimony, such expressions as "the Christian religion " and " the truth of the Christian religion," together with the Reed story concerning Lincoln's intention of making a profession of relig- ion, reveal the authorship of this testimony also. -7G ABRAHAM Lincoln: OHAPTEB IX. TESTIMONY OF THE REMAINING WITNESSES PRESENTED BY LAMON. Dr. 0. 11. Raj— Wm. U. llannali, Esq.— James W. Keys- lion. Jesse "W. Fell — Col. John G. Nieolay — Hon. David Davis — Mrs. Mary Lincoln — Injustice to Mrs. Lincoln — Answer to Rood's Protended Ref- utation of the Testimony of Lamou's Witnesses. Seven of Lamon's witnesses — Bay, Hannah, Keys, Fell, Nicolay, Davis, and Mrs. Lincoln — remain to testify. The testimony of these witnesses will now be presented. DR. C. H. RAY. Dr. Eay, editor of the Chicago Tribune, a promi- nent figure in Illinois politics thirty 3'ears ago, and a personal friend and admirer of Lincoln, testifies as follows : "Yon knew Mr. Lincoln far better than I did, though I knew him well ; and 3'ou have served up his leading characteristics in a way that I should despair of doing, if I should try. I have onl}^ one thing to ask : that you do not give Calviuistic theol- ogy a chance to claim him as one of its saints and martyrs. He went to the Old School Church ; but, WAH HE A OlJiaBTlAN? l77 in Bpito of that outward asHont to tlio liorriblo dogmaB of tlio noct, I havo reason from liirnsfilf to know that his 'vital purity,' if that means belief in the impossible, was of a negative sort" fLamon's Life of Lincoln, pp. 489, 490;. Dr. Hay states that Lincoln held substantially the Bame theological opinions as those held by Theodore Parker. WILLIAM H. HANNAH. A leading member of the Bloomington bar, when Lincoln practiced there, was Wm. H. Hannah. He was an honest, trutliful man, and knew Lincoln well. Concerning Lincoln's views on the doctrine of endless x^Tii^isliment, Mr. Han- nah says : *' Since 185G Mr. Lincoln told me that he was a kind of immortalist ; but that he never could bring himself to believe in eternal punishment ; that man lived but a little while here, and that, if eternal punishment were man's doom, he should spend that little life in vigilant and ceaseless preparation by never-ending prayer " (Life of Lincoln, p. 489;. JAMES W. KEYS. Mr. Jas. W. Keys, an old and respected citizen of Springfield, who became acquainted with Lincoln soon after his removal there, and who had many con- 178 ABRAHAM LINCOLl^ t versations with him on the subject of theology, says: " As to the Christian theory, that Christ is God, or equal to the Creator, he said that it had better be taken for granted ; for, by the test of reason, we might become Infidels on that subject, for evidence of Christ's divinity came to us in a somewhat doubt- ful shape " (Life of Lincoln, p. 490). HON. JESSE W. FELL, Jesse W. Fell, who died at Bloomington in the spring of 1887, was one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of Illinois. He was Secre- tary of the Kepublican State Central Commitee dur- ing the memorable Lincoln-Douglas campaign, and was largely instrumental in bringing Lincoln forward as a candidate for the Presidency in 1860. It was for him that Lincoln wrote an autobiographical sketch of his life, which formed the basis of his cam- paign biographies, the facsimile of which appears in Lamon's " Life of Lincoln," and in the " Lincoln Memorial Album.'* Mr. Fell was a Christian of the Unitarian denomination, and there were few men for whom Lincoln had a more profound respect. The following is his testimony : " Though everything relating to the character of this extraordinary personage is of interest, and should be fairly stated to the world, I enter upon the WAS HE A CnPJSTIAN? 179 performance of this duty — for so I regard it — with some reluctance, arising from the fact that, in stating my convictions on the subject, I must necessarily place myself in opposition to quite a number who have written on this topic" before me, and whose views largely pre-occupy the public mind. This latter fact, whilst contributing to my embarrassment on this subject, is, perhaps, the strongest reason, however, why the truth in this matter should be fully disclosed ; and I therefore yield to your request. If there were any traits of character that stood out in bold relief in the person of Mr. Lincoln, they were those of truth and candor. He was utterly in- capable of insincerity, or professing views on this or any other subject he did not entertain. Knowing such to be his true character, that insin- cerity, much more duplicity, were traits wholly foreign to his nature, many of his old friends were not a little surprised at finding, in some of the biographies of this great man, statements concerning his religious opinions so utterly at variance with his known sentiments. True, he may have changed or modified those sentiments after his removal from among us, though this is hardly reconcilable with the history of the man, and his entire devotion to public matters during his four years' residence at the national capital. It is possible, however, that this may be the proper solution of this conflict oi 180 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: opinions ; or, it may be, that, with no intention on tlie part of anyone to mislead the public mind, those who have represented him as believing in the popular theological views of the times may have mis- apprehended him, as experience shows to be quite common where no special effort has been made to attain critical accuracy on a subject of this nature. This is the more probable from the well-known fact that Mr. Lincoln seldom communicated to anyone his views on this subject. But, be this as it may, I have no hesitation whatever in saying that, whilst he held many opinions in common with the great mass of Christian believers, he did not believe in what are regarded as the orthodox or evangelical views of Christianity. " On the innate depravity of man, the character and office of the great head of the church, the atone- ment, the infallibility of the written revelation, the performance of miracles, the nature and design of present and future rewards and punishments (as they are popularly called) and many other subjects, he held opinions utterly at variance with what are usually taught in the church. I should say that his expressed views on these and kindred topics were such as, in the estimation of most believers, would place him entirely outside the Christian pale. Yet, to my mind, such was not the true position, since his principles and practices and the spirit of his whole WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 181 life were of tlie very kind we universally agree to call Christian ; and I think this conclusion is in no wise affected by the circumstance that he never at- tached himself to any religious society whatever. " His religious views were eminently practical, and are summed up, as I think, in these two proposi- ^ tions : ' the fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood j of man.' He fully believed in a superintending and overruling Providence that guides and controls the operations of the world, but maintained that law and order, and not their violation or suspension, are the appointed means by which this Providence is exercised. " I will not attempt any specification of either his belief or disbelief on various religious topics, as de- rived from conversations with him at different times during a considerable period; but, as conveying a general view of his religious or theological opinions, will state the following facts : Some eight or ten years prior to his death, in conversing with him on this subject, the writer took occasion to refer, in terms of approbation, to the sermons and writings generally of Dr. W. E. Channing ; and, finding he was considerably interested in the statement I made of the opinions held by that author, I proposed to present him a copy of Channing's entire works, which I soon after did. Subsequently, the contents of these volumes, together with the writings of 182 ABRAHA3I LINCOLN: Theodore Parker, furnished him, as he informed me, by his friend and law-partner, Mr. Herndon, became naturally the topics of conversation with us ; and though far from believing there was an entire har- mony of views on his part with either of those authors, yet they were generally much admired and approved by him. " No religious views with him seemed to find any favor, except of the practical and rationalistic order ; and if, from my recollections on this subject, I was called upon to designate an author whose views most nearly represented Mr. Lincoln's on this subject, I would say that author was Theodore Parker. "As you have asked from me a candid statement of my recollections on this topic, I have thus briefly given them, with the hope that they may be of some service in rightly settling a question about which — as I have good reason to believe — the public mind has been greatly misled. Not doubting that they will accord, substantially, with your own recollec- tions, and that of his other intimate and confidential friends, and with the popular verdict after this mat- ter shall have been properly canvassed, I submit them '* (Life of Lincoln, pp. 490-492). Mr. Fell's testimony is full and explicit. He affirms that Lincoln rejected nearly all the leading tenets of orthodox Christianity ; the inspiration of the Scriptures, the divinity of Christ, the innate de- WAS HE A CHIIISTIAN? 183 pravity of man, the atonement, tlie performance of mirac^ .s, and future rewards and punishments. "Hii expressed views on these and kindred topics," M:. Fell says, " were such as, in the estimation of r .ost believers, "would place him entirely outside the Christian pale." Mr. Fell, himself, was not disposed to withhold from Lincoln the appellation of Chris- tian, but it was only because he stood upon the broad Liberal Christian, or rather non-Christian, platform which permitted him to welcome a Theist, like Parker ; a Pantheist, like Emerson ; or even an A<:^nostic, like Ingersoll. COL. JOHN G. N ICO LAY. The next witness introduced by Lamon, is Col. John O. Nicolay, Lincoln's private secretary at the Vhite H' use. Nicolay 's relations with the President ^ intimate than those of any other man. -juote the words of Lincoln's partner, " Mr. Lin- coln loved him and trusted him." His testimony is among the most important that this controversy has elicited. It proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that all these stories concerning Lincoln's alleged conversation at Washington are false, that he did not change his belief, that he died as he had always lived — a Freethinker. In a letter written May 27, 1865, just six weeks after Lincoln's death. Colonel Nicolay says : ISJ: ABIUHAM LINCOLN ' ** Mr. Lincoln did not, to mv knowledge, in any way, change his religious ideas, opinions or beliefs, from the time he left Springfield till the da>' of his deMh. I do not know just what they were, never haviLg heard him exphiin them in detail, but I am very sure he gave no outward indications of his mind having undergone any change in that regard while here " (Life of Lincoln, p. 4:92). HON. DAVID DAVIS. One of the most important, and in some respects the most eminent witness summoned to testify in regard to this question, is the Hon. David Davis. In moral character he stood above reproach, in intel- lectual ability, almost without a peer. Every step in his career was marked by unswerving integrity and freedom from prejudice. His rulings and decisions in the lower courts of Illinois, and on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, commanded universal respect. As a legislator, his love of truth and justice prevented him from being a political partisan. As United States Senator and Yice-Presi- dent of the United States, the party that elected him could obtain his support for uo measure that he deemed unjust. Referring to his acquaintance with Lincoln, Judge Davis says : '' I enjoyed for over twenty years the personal friendship of Mr. Lincoln. "We were admitted to the bar about the same time, WAS UE A CiliilSTIAN? 185 and travolod for many years what in known in Illinois as the Eighth Judicial Circuit. In 1848, when I first went on the bench, the circuit embraced fourteen counties, and Mr. Lincoln went with the court to every county." A large portion of this time they passed in each other's company. They often rode in tlie same vehicle, generally ate at the same table, and not infrequently slept together in the same bed. The closest intimacy existed between them as long as Lincoln lived, and when he died, Mr. Davis became his executor. Judge Davis would not intentionally have misrepresented the opinions of an enemy, much less the opinions of his dear dead friend. Briefly, yet clearly, he defines the theolog- ical views of Lincoln : " He had no faith, in the Christian .sense of the term — had faith in laws, principles, causes, and effects — philosophically " (Life of Lincoln, p. 489;. Speaking of the many stories that had been circu- lated concerning Lincoln's religious belief, .such as the Bateman and Vinton interviews, together with the various pious speeches he is reported to have made to religious committees and delegations that visited him, such as li is reputed speech to the Negroes of Baltimore, Judge Davis says : " The idea that Lincoln talked to a stranger about his religion or religions views, or made such speeche.s, remarks, &c., about it as are puVjlished, is 186 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I to me absurd. I knew tlie mau so well. He was the most reticent, secretive mau I ever saw, or expect to see " (Ibid). MRS. MARY LINCOLN. But one of Lamon's witnesses remains — tlie wife of the martyred President. Her testimony ought of itself to put this matter at rest forever. Mrs. Lin- coln says : " Mr. Lincoln had no hope, and no faith, in the usual acceptation of those words " (Life of Lincoln, p. 489). In addition to what Colonel Lamon has presented, Mrs. Lincoln also stated the following : " Mr. Lincoln's maxim and philosophy were, * What is to be, will be, and no prayers of ours can arrest the decree.' He never joined any church. He was a religious man always, I think, but was not a technical Christian" (Herndon's *' Religion of Lin- coln "). It may be charged that Mrs. Lincoln subsequently repudiated a portion of this testimony. In anticipa- tion of such. a charge I will here state a few facts. This testimony was given by Mrs. Lincoln in 1865. When it was given, while her heart was pierced by the pangs of her great grief, her mind was sound. About Jan. 1, 1874, a brief article, purporting to come from her pen, appeared, in which the testimony WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 187 attributed to her was in part denied. At the time this denial was written, Mrs. Lincoln had been for more than two years insane. The chief cause in de- throning her reason was the death of her universally beloved Tad (Thomas), which occurred on July 15, 1871. Referring to this sad event, Mr. Arnold, one of the principal witnesses on the Christian side of this controversy, says : " From this time Mrs. Lin- coln, in the judgment of her most intimate friends, was never entirely responsible for her conduct " (Life of Lincoln, p. 439). The only effect of this denial on the minds of those acquainted with the circumstances, was to excite a mingled feeling of pity and disgust — pity for this unfortunate woman, and disgust for the contemptible methods of those who would take advantage of her demented condition and make her contradict the honest statements of her rational life. Before dismissing this witness, I wish to advert to a subject with which many of my readers are familiar. For years, both before and after Lincoln's death, the religious press of the country was contin- ually abusing Mrs. Lincoln. If a ball was held at the White House, she became at once the recipient of unlimited abuse. If Lincoln attended the theater, she was accused of having dragged him there against his will. It was ahnost uniformly asserted that he would not have gone to the theater on that fatal 188 ABKAHAM LINCOLN: night had it not been for her, and in not a few in- stances it was infamously hinted that she was cogni- zant of the plot to murder him. But even the Eev. Dr. Miner, who was acquainted with the facts, is willing to vindicate her from these imputations. He says : " It has been said that Mrs. Lincoln urged her husband to go to the theater against his will. This is not true. On the contrary, she tried to persuade him not to go." Lincoln's biographers have, for the most part, en- deavored to do his wife justice, and have rebuked the insults showered upon her. Alluding to President and Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Herndon says: "All that I know ennobles both." Colonel Lamon says : " Almost ever since Mr. Lincoln's death a portion of the press has never tired of heaping brutal reproaches upon his wife and widow, whilst a certain class of his friends thought they were honoring his memory by multi- plying outrages and indignities upon her at the very moment when she was broken by want and sorrow, defamed, defenseless, in the hands of thieves, and at the mercy of spies." Mr. Arnold says : '' There is nothing in American history so unmanly, so devoid of every chivalric impulse as the treatment of this poor, broken-hearted woman." The evidence of Colonel Lamon's ten witnesses has now been presented. This evidence includes, in addition to the testimony of other intimate friends, WAS HE A CHBISTIAN? 189 the testimony of his wife ; the testimony of his first law partner, Hon. John T. Stuart ; the testimony of his last law partner, Hon. Wm. H. Herndon ; the tes- timony of his friend and political adviser. Col. James H. Matheny ; the testimony of his private secretary, Col. John G. Nicolay ; and the testimony of his life- long friend and executor after death. Judge David Davis. No one can read this evidence and then honestly affirm that Abraham Lincoln was a Chris- tian. This is the evidence, the perusal of which so thoroughly enraged that good Christian biographer, Dr. J. G. Holland ; this is the evidence, the truthful- ness of which the Eev. J. A. Reed, unmindful of the fate of Ananias, attempted to deny. As a full and just answer to this attempted refuta- tion of Lamon's witnesses by Reed, I quote from the New York World the following : " This individual testimony is clear and over- whelming, without the documentary and other evi- dence scattered profusely through the rest of the volume. How does Mr. Reed undertake to refute it ? In the first place, firstly, he pronounces it a * libel,' and in the second place, secondly, he is * amazed to find ' — and he says he has found — that the principal witnesses take exception to Mr. Lamon's report of their evidence. This might have been true of many or all of Mr. Lamon's witnesses without exciting the wonder of a rational man. Few 190 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: persons, indeed, are willing to endure reproacli merely for the truth's sake, and popular opinion in the Eepublican party of Springfield, 111., is probably very much against Mr. Lamon. It would, therefore, be quite in the natural order if some of his witnesses who find themselves unexpectedly in print should succumb to the social and political terrorism of their place and time, and attempt to modify or ex- plain their testimony. They zealously assisted Mr. Herndon in ascertaining the truth, and while they wanted him to tell it in full they were prudently re- solved to keep their own names snugly out of sight. But Mr. Reed's statement is not true, and his amazement is entirely simulated. Two only out of the ten witnesses have gratified him by inditing, at his request, weak and guarded complaints of unfair treatment. These are John T. Stuart, a relative of the Lincolns and Edwardses, and Jim Matheny, both of Springfield, whom Mr. Lincoln taught his peculiar doctrines, but who may by this time be deacons in Mr. Reed's church. Neither of them helps Mr. Reed's case a particle. Their epistles open, as if by concert, in form and words almost identical. They say they did not write the language attributed to them. The denial is' wholly unneces- sary, for nobody affirms that they did write it. They talked and Mr. Herndon wrote. His notes were made when the conversation occurred, and WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 191 probably in their presence. At all events, they are both so conscious of the general accuracy of his re- port that they do not venture to deny a single word of it, but content themselves with lamenting that something else, which they did not say, was excluded from it. They both, however, in these very letters, repeat emphatically the material part of the state- ments made by them to Mr. Herndon, namely, that Mr. Lincoln was to their certain knowledge, until a very late period of his life, an * Infidel,' and neither of them is able to tell when he ceased to be an Infi- del and when he began to be a Christian. And this is all Mr. Keed makes by his re-examination of the two persons whom he is pleased to exalt as Mr. Lamon's ' principal witnesses.' They are but two out of the ten. What of the other eight ? They have no doubt been tried and plied by Mr. Reed and his friends to no purpose ; they stand fast by the record. But Mr. Reed is to be shamed neither by their speech nor their silence." 192 ABRAHAM LINCOLN CHAPTEE X. TESTIMONY OF LINCOLN'S RELATIVES AND INTIMATE AS- SOCIATES. Mrs. Sarah Lincoln — Dennis F. Hanks — Mrs. Matilda Moore — John Hall — "Wm. McNeely — Wm. G. trreen — Joshua F. Speed — Green Caru- thers — John Decamp — Mr. Lynan — James B. Spaulding — Ezra String- ham — Dr. G. H Ambrose — J. H. Chenery — Squire Perkins — "W. Per- kins — James Gorley — Dr. "Wm. Jayne — Jesse K. Dubois — Hon. Joseph Gillespie — Judge Stephen T. Logan — Hon. Leonard Swett Were I to rest my case here, the evidence already adduced is sufficieut, I think, to convince any un- prejudiced mind that Lincoln was not a Christian. But I do not propose to rest here. I have presented the testimony of half a score of witnesses ; before I lay down my pen I shall present the testimony of nearly ten times as many more. In this chapter will be given the testimony of some of the relatives and intimate associates of Lin- coln. The testimony of his relatives confirms the claim that he was not religious in his youth ; the others testify to his unbelief while a resident of New Salem and Springfield. WAB HE A CHllLSTIAN? 193 MRS. SARAH LINCOLN. If there was one person to wliom Lincoln was more indebted than to any other, it was his step- mother, Sally Lincoln, a beautiful woman — beautiful not only in face and form, but possessed of a most lovely character. She was not highly educated, but she loved knowledge, and inspired in her step-son a love for books. She was a Christian, but she attached more importance to deed than to creed. She loved Lincoln. After his death she said : ** He was dutiful to me always. I think he loved me truly. I had a son, John, who was raised with Abe. Both were good boys ; but I must say, both now being dead, that Abe was the best boy I ever saw, or expect to see." Lincoln was too good and too great not to appreciate this woman's care and affection. When the materials for Lincoln's biography were being collected, Mrs. Lincoln was considered the most reliable source from which to obtain the facts pertaining to his boyhood. Her recollections of him were recorded with the utmost care. His Christian biographers, in order to make a Sunday-school hero of him, have declared him to be a youth remarkable for his Christian piety and his love of the Bible. The statements of Mrs. Lincoln disprove this claim. The substance of her testimony, as given by Lamon, is given as follows : 19-4 ABiiAHAM LINCOLN: " His step-mother — herself a Christian, and long- ing for the least sign of faith in him — could remem- ber no circumstance that supported her hope. On the contrar}^ she recollected very well that he never went off into a corner, as has been said, to ponder the sacred writings, and to wet the page with his tears of penitence " (Life of Lincoln, pp. 486, 487). " The Bible, according to Mrs. Lincoln, was not one of his studies ; ' he sought more congenial books.' At that time he neither talked nor read upon religious subjects. If he had any opinions about them, ho kept them to himself" (Ibid, p. 38). DENNIS F. HANKS. The next witness is Lincoln's cousin, Dennis Hanks. Mr. Hanks held " the pulpy, red, little Lincoln" in his arms before he was "twenty-four hours old," and remained his constant companion during all the years that he lived in Kentucky and Indiana. He lived a part of the time in the Lincoln family, and married one of Lincoln's step-sisters. I met him recently at Charleston, 111. With evident delight he rehearsed the story of Lincoln's boyhood, and reaffirmed the truthfulness of the following statements attributed to him by Lincoln's biogra- phers ; " Abe wasn't in early life a religious man. He was a moral man strictly. ... In after life he be- WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 195 came more religious ; but the Bible puzzled Lim, especially the miracles " (Everj-Day Life of Lin- coln, p. 54). ***Keligious songs did not appear to suit Lim at all,' says Dennis Hanks ; but of profane ballads and amorous ditties he knew the words of a yast number. • •••••••• " Another was : ' Hail Columbia, happy land I If you ain't drunk, I'll ha damned,' a song which Dennis thinks should be warbled only in the * fields ;' and tells us they knew and enjoyed * all such songs as this ' " (Lamon's Life of Lincoln, pp. 58, 59). The fitness of the above coarse travesty to be warbled, even in the fields, may well be doubted. Lamon would hardly have recorded it, and I cer- tainly should not quote it, but for the fact that it strikingly illustrates one phase of Lincoln's "youth- ful piety." Among the many Christian hymns which Lincoln parodied, Mr, Hanks recalls the following : " How tedious and tasteless the hours." " When I can read my title clear," "Oh I to grace how great a debtor 1" *' Come, tliou fount of every blessing." 196 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: MRS. MATILDA MOORE. Mrs. Lincolu's first husband was named Johnston. By him she had three chiklren, a son and two daugh- ters. The hitter, like their mother, developed into noble specimens of womanhood ; and both loved Lincoln as tenderly as though he had been their own brother. The elder was married to Dennis Hanks ; the younger, Matilda, married Lincoln's cousin, Levi Hall, and, after his death, a gentleman named Moore. Lamon says that Lincoln in his youth made a mockery of the popular religion ; not from any lack of reverence for what he believed to be good, but be- cause *' he thought that a person had better be with- out it." That he was accustomed to turn so-called sacred subjects into ridicule is attested by his step- sister, Mrs. Moore. She says : " When father and mother would go to church, Abe would take down the Bible, read a verse, give out a hymn, and we would sing. Abe was about fifteen 3'ears of age. He preached and we would do the crying " (Every-Day Life of Lincoln, p. 71). JOHN HALL. On the 28tli of April, 1888, the writer, in company with Mr. Charles Biggs, of Westfield, 111., visited the old Lincoln homestead, near Farmington, 111. We dined with Mr. John Hall, a son of Lincoln's step- WAS HE A CHllISTIAN? 197 sister Matilda, in the old log-Louse built by Lincoln's father sixty years ago, and in which his father and step-mother died. Mr. Hall, who owns the home- stead and preserves with zealous care this venerable relic, is an intelligent farmer over sixty years of age. He greatly reveres the memory of his illustrious uncle and loves to dwell on his many noble traits of character. He stated that the family tradition is that while Abe was a most honest and humane boy he was not religious. He referred to the mock ser- mons he is said to have preached. " At these meet- ings," said Mr. Hall, "my mother would lead in the singing while Uncle Abe would lead in prayer. Among his numerous supplications, he prayed God to put stockings on the chickens' feet in winter." WILLIAM McNEELY, William McNeely, of Petersburg, 111., who became acquainted with Lincoln in 1831, when he arrived at New Salem on a flatboat, says : " Lincoln said he did not believe in total depravity, and although it was not popular to believe it, it was easier to do right than wrong ; that the first thought was : what was right ? and the second — what was wrong ? Therefore it was easier to do right than wrong, and easier to take care of, as it would take care of itself. It took an effort to do wrong, and a 198 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : still greater effort to take care of it ; but do right and it would take care of itself. ** I was acquainted with him a long time, and I never knew him to do a wrong act" (Lincoln Me- morial Album, pp. 393-395). WILLIAM G. GREEN. One of Lincoln's early companions at New Salem was William G. Green. He and Lincoln clerked in the same store and slept together on the same cot. The testimony of Mr. Green has not been preserved. We have simply an observation of his, incidentally made, the substance of which is thus presented by Lam on : " Lincoln's incessant reading of Shakspere and Burns had much to do in giving to his mind the * skeptical ' tendency so fully devoloped b}- the labors of his pen in 183-i-5, and in social conversa- tions during man}' years of his residence at Spring- field " (Life of Lincoln, p. 145). Mr. Green's conclusion, especially in regard to Burns, is quite generally shared by Lincoln's friends. Burns's satirical poems were greatly admired by Lincoln. "Holy Willie's Prayer," one of the most withering satires on orthodox Christianity ever penned, was memorized by him. Every one of its sixteen stanzas, beginning with the following, was WAS HE A CHPJSTUN? 199 an Infidel shaft which he delighted to hurl at the heads of his Christian opponents : " thou, wha in the heavens dost dwell, Wha, as it pleases best thysel', Sends anc to heaven and ton to hell, A' for thy g"ory, And no for ony guid or ill They've done afore theel'' JOSHUA F. SPEED. Another of Lincoln's earliest and best friends was Joshua r. Speed. When he was licensed as a law- yer and entered upon his professional career at Springfield without a client and without a dollar, Speed assisted him to get a start. W. H. Herndon was clerking for Speed at the time, and for more than a year Lincoln, Herndon and Speed roomed together. Referring to the religious views held by Lincoln at that time, Mr. Speed, in a lecture, says : " I have often been asked what were Mr. Lincoln's religious opinions. When I knew him, in early life, he was a skeptic. He had tried hard to be a be- liever, but his reason could not grasp and solve the great problem of redemption as taught." This is the testimony of an orthodox Christian, and a church-member. Mr. Speed, during the years that he was acquainted with Lincoln, was not a member of any church ; but late in life he united with the Methodist church. As " the wish is father 200 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : to the thought," Mr. Speed professed to believe that Lincoln before his death modified, to some extent, the radical views of his early manhood. GREEN CARUTHERS. Soon after Lincoln removed to Springfield, he be- came acquainted with Mr. Green Caruthers and remained on intimate terms with him during all the subsequent years of his life. Mr. Caruthers was a quiet, unobtrusive old gentleman, universally re- spected by those who knew him. The substance of his testimony is as follows : " Lincoln, Bledsoe, the metaphysician, and myself, boarded at the Globe hotel in this city. Bledsoe tended toward Christianity, if he was not a Christian. Lincoln was always throwing out his Infidelity to Bledsoe, ridiculing Christianity, and especially the divinity of Christ." JOHN DECAMP. Another of Lincoln's most intimate Springfield friends was John Decamp. Mr. Decamp was inter- viewed by Mr. Herndon regarding Lincoln's religious views in July, 1887. His statement was brief, but to the point. He says : "Lincoln was an Infidel." MR. LYNAN. In 1880, at Bismarck Grove, Kan., the writer of this delivered a lecture entitled, ''Four American WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 201 Infidels," a portion of wliich was devoted to a pre- sentation of Lincoln's religious views. In its report of the lecture, the Lawrence Standard, edited by Hon. E. G. Koss, formerly United States Senator from Kansas, and more recently Governor of New Mexico, said : " In regard to Abraham Lincoln being an Infidel, the evidence adduced was overwhelming, and was confirmed by a gentleman present, Mr. Lynan, who had known him intimately for thirty years. Mr. Lynan declared that none but personal acquaintance could enable one to realize the nobility and purity of Lincoln's character, but that he was beyond doubt or question a thorough disbeliever in the Christian scheme of salvation to the end of his life " (Lawrence Standard, Sept. 4, 1880). ^ JAMES B. SPAULDING. Mr. J. B. Spaulding, well known as one of the leading nurserymen and horticulturists of the United States, a man of broad culture and refinement, who resides near Springfield, became intimately ac- quainted with Lincoln as early as 1851, and for a long time resided on the same street with him in Springfield. Mr. Spaulding says : *' Lincoln perpetrated many an irreverent joke at the expense of church doctrines. Kegarding the miraculous conception, he was especially sarcastic. 202 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : He wrote a manuscript as radical as Ingersoll which his political friends caused to be destroyed.'* EZRA STRINGHAM. A short time since I was conversing with a party of gentlemen in Riverton, 111. It being near Lin- coln's old home, the subject of his religious belief was introduced. An old gentleman, who up to this time had not been taking part in the conversation, quietly observed : " I think I knew Lincoln's relig- ious views about as well as any other man," " What was he ?" said one of the party. " An Infidel of the first water," was the prompt response. The old gentleman was Ezra Stringham, one of Lincoln's early acquaintances in Illinois. DR, G, H. AMBROSE. Dr. G. H. Ambrose, of Waldo, Fla., who was asso- ciated in the law business at Springfield from 1846 to 1849 with a relative of Mrs. Lincoln, says : *' Mr. Lincoln was an Infidel — an outspoken one." J. H. CHENERY. Mr. J. H. Chenery, one of Springfield's pioneers — for many years owner and proprietor of the leading hotel of Springfield — says : " Reed tried to prove that Lincoln was a church man ; but everybody here knows that he was not. Once in a great while, and only once in a great Was he a christian? 203 while, I saw him accompany his wife and children to church. His attacks upon the church were most bitter and sarcastic. He wrote a book against Christianity, but his friends got away with it." SQUIRE PERKINS, A few years ago there died near Atchison, Kan., an old gentleman named Perkins. He was poor, but honest, and a bright man intellectually. He was a son of Major Perkins who was killed in the Black Hawk war. Lincoln after the fight discovered the scalp of Major Perkins, which his savage assassin had taken but lost. His first impulse was to keep it and take it home to the family of the dead soldier. Then realizing that it would only tend to intensify their grief, he opened the grave and deposited it with the body. This incident led to an intimate acquaint- ance between Lincoln and the younger Perkins. In June, 1880, Mr. Perkins made the following state- ment relative to Lincoln's religious belief : " During all the time that I was acquainted with Abraham Lincoln I know that he was what the church calls an Infideh I do not believe that he ever changed his opinions. When Colfax was in Atchi- son I had a talk with him about Lincoln. Among other things, I asked him if Lincoln had ever been converted to Christianity. He told me that he had not." 204 ABBAHAM LINCOLN: W. PERKINS. Mr. Perkins, an old lawyer and journalist of Illi- nois, who was acquainted with Lincoln for upward of twenty years, and who was his associate counsel in se\ eral important cases, writing from Belleview, Fla., under date of August 22, 1887, says : "The unfair efforts that Christians have been putting forth to drag Lincoln into their waning faith betray a pitiable imbecility. Were it possible for them to get the world to believe that Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, all prayed, had faith, and were washed in the blood of the Lamb, would that prove the inspiration of their Bible, harmonize its contradictions, put a ray of reason in its gross ab- surdities, or humanize the first one of its numerous bloody barbarities? " I knew Mr. Lincoln from the spring of 1838 till his death. Like Archibald Williams, our contem- porary, an able Lord Coke lawyer, he no more be- lieved in the inspiration of the Bible than Hume, Paine, or Ingersoll. Less inclined openly to de- nounce its absurdities and cruelties, or to antagonize the well-meaning credulous professors, than was Williams. Mr. Lincoln had no faith whatever in the first miracle of the Bible, or the scheme of bloody redemption it teaches. To attribute such sentiments to him, is to tarnish his well-earned reputation for common sense, and to impair the estimation of his WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 205 countrymen and the world of his high sense of hu- manity, justice, and honor. " Two of my Presbyterian friends at Indian Point, near Petersburg, told me that they had interviewed Mr. Lincoln to prevent his impending duel with Shields — claiming that it was contrary to the Bible and Christianity. He admitted that the dueling code was barbarous and regretted much to find him- self in its toils, but said he, * The Bible is not my book, nor Christianity my profession.' " In some reminiscences of Lincoln, recently pub- lished, referring to a celebrated murder case in which they were counsel for the defendant, Mr. Perkins says : " I reminded him that from the first I had seen, and to him said, the case is hopeless, and that he must have expected to work a miracle to save the accused. He answered that I did him injustice, since he had no faith in miracles." Alluding to Lincoln's alleged change of heart, he writes : " He never changed a sentiment on the subject up to his final sleep." JAMES GORLEY. Mr. Gorley, who was the confidential friend of Lincoln, and who spent much time with him, both at home and abroad, made the following statement : '206 ABILVIIAM LINCOLN : '' Liucolu belouired to no reliirioiis sect. He was religious iu liis own way — not as others generally. I Jo not think he ever had a change of heart, relig- iously speaking. Had he ever had a change of heart he would have told me. He could not have neglected it." WILLIAM JAYNE. M.D. Dr. Jayne, who was appointed Governor of Dakota by Lincoln, is one of the most prominent citizens of Springfield, and was one of Lincoln's ablest and most faithful political friends. He secured Lincoln's nomination for the Legislature once, and was one of the first to pit him against Douglas. Li a letter to me, dated August 18, 1887, Dr. Jayne says : " His general reputation among his neighbors and friends of twenty-five years' standing was that of a disbeliever in the accepteel faith of orthodox Chris- tians. His mind was purely logical in its construc- tion and action. He believed nothing except what was susceptible of demonstration. . . . His most intimate friends here, and close to him in the confi- dential relations of life, assert, in regard to those who claim for Lincoln a faith in the orthodox Chris- tian belief, that the claim is a fraud and utter non- sense." HON. JESSE K. DUBOIS. Jesse K. Dubois, for a time State Auditor of Illi- nois, a noble and gifted man, and one whom Lincoln WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 207 dearly loved, once related an anecdote which shows that if Lincoln did believe in a Supreme Being, he had little reverence for the God of Christianity. In company with Dubois, he was visiting a family in or near Springfield. It was summer, and while Dubois was in the house with the family, Lincoln occupied a seat in the yard with his feet resting against a tree, as was his wont. The lady, who was a very zealous Christian, called attention to his appearance and commented rather severely upon his ugliness. When they returned home Dubois referred to the lady's remarks. Lincoln was silent for a moment, and then said: "Dubois, I know that I am ugly, but she worships a God who is uglier than I am." HQN. JOSEPH GILLESPIE. Judge Gillespie, of Edwardsville, 111., one of Lin- coln's most valued friends, writes as follows : " Mr. Lincoln seldom said anything on the subject of religion. He said once to me that he never could reconcile the prescience of Deity with the uncer- tainty of events." " It was difficult," says Judge Gillespie, " for him to believe without demonstration." JUDGE STEPHEN T. LOGAN. Lincoln was admitted to the bar in 1837, when he was twenty-eight years of age. Judge Logan being on the bench at the time. Soon after his admission 208 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : he formed a partnorsliip with John T. Stuart which existed uearl}- four years, or until Mr. Stuart entered Congress. He then became the partner of Judge Logan, and continued in business with him until 1843, when he united his practice with that of Mr. Herndon. The testimony of Mr. Stuart and Mr. Herndon has already been given. No formal state- ment of Judge Logan concerning this question has been preserved. All that I have been able to find is contained in a letter from Mr. Herndon dated Dec. 22, 1888. Mr. Herndon wrote in relation to Lincoln's letter of consolation to his dying father. In Lin- coln's letter, while Christ and Christianity are wholly ignored, there is an implied recognition of immortal- ity and an expressed hope that he may meet his father again. Lincoln's friends, for the most part, consider the letter merely conventional, not an ex- pression of his real sentiments, but simply an effort to console his Christian father whom he could never meet again on earth. Mr. Herndon, however, is inclined to believe that while the tone of the letter is not exactly in accordance with the views generally held by Lincoln, it is yet a sincere expression of the feelings he entertained at the time. Referring to this letter, Mr. Herndon savs : " I showed the letter to Logan, Stuart, ci ah Logan laughed in my face as much as to say : ' Herndon, are you so green as to believe that letter to be Lincoln's WAH ITE A CniilHTIAN? 209 r^^al idoan?' I canuot Lnve the exact words of Lor/arj, hut he in suhHtance said : ' Lincoln was an In- fidol of the most radical type.' " //O/^. LEONAHD SWETT. I close this division of my evidence with the testi- mony of that r/ifted lawy^.r and honored citizen of Illinois, Leonard Bwett. Previous to his removal to Chicapjo, in 1805, Mr. Swett resided in Bloominp^ton, and for a dozen years traveled the old Eighth Judicial Circuit with Lincoln. Few men knew Lin- coln better than did Bwett, and none was held in higher esteem by Lincoln than he. It was he who placed Lincoln in nomination for the Presidency at Chicago in 1800. I quote from a letter written by Mr. Swett in 18GG : " You ask me whether he [Lincoln] changed his religious opinions toward the close of his life. I think not. As he became involved in matters of the greatest importance, full of great responsibility and great douVjt, a feeling of religious reverence, a belief in God and his justice and overruling providence in- creased with him. He was always full of natural religion. He l>elieved in God as much as the most approved church member, yet he judged of him by the same system of generalization as he judged every- thing else. He had very little faith in ceremonials or forms. In fact he cared nothing for the form of ^^^ ABEAIIAM LINCOLN: ""y tiling. . . . If his religion were to be jad<^ed by the hues and rules of church creeds, he would fall far short of the standard." I WAS nE A CnPJSTIAN? 211 CHAPTEE XI. TESTIMONY OF FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES OF LINCOLN WHO KNEW HIM IN ILLINOIS. Hon. W. II. T. Wakofield— Hon. D. W. Wilder— Dr. B. F. Gardner— Hon. J. K. Vandemark— A. Jeffrey — Dr. Arch E. McNeal— Charlo:-* McGrew — Edward Butler — Joseph StaHord — Judge A. D. Norton — J, L. Morrell — Mahlon Ross — L. Wilson — H, K. Magie — Hon, Jarnes Tuttle— Col. F. S. Rutherford — Judge Robert Leachman — Hon. Grin B. Gould — M. S. Gowin — Col. R. G. Ingersoll — Leonard W. Volk — Joseph Jefferson- Hon. E. B. Washburn- Hon. E. M. Haines. I WILL next present the evidence that I have gleaned from the lips or pens of personal friends of Lincoln who were acquainted with him in Illinois. The relations of these persons to Lincoln were, for the most part, less intimate than were those of the persons named in the preceding chapter ; but all of them enjoyed in no small degree his confidence and esteem. HON. W. H. T. WAKEFIELD. Mr. Wakefield, our first witness, is a son of the distinguished jurist, Judge J. A. Wakefield. He is a prominent journalist, and was the nominee of the United Labor party, for Vice-President, in the Presi- 212 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : dential contest of 1888. In a letter to the author, dated Lawrence, Kan., Sept. 28, 1880, Mr. Wake- fieki says : *' My father, the late Judge J. xV. Wakefield, was a life-long friend of Lincoln's, they having served through the Black Hawk war together and been in the Illinois Legislature together, during which latter time Lincoln boarded with my father in Yandalia, which was then the state capital. I remember of his visiting my father at Galena, in 1844 or 1845. They continued to correspond until Lincoln's death. " My father was a member of the Methodist church and frequently spoke of and lamented Lincoln's In- fidelity, and referred to the many arguments between them on the subject. " The noted minister, Peter Cartwright, boarded with my father at the same time that Lincoln did, and my father and mother told me of the many theolog- ical and philosophical arguments indulged in by Lincoln and Cartwright, and of the fact that they always attracted many interested listeners and usually ended by Cartwright's getting very angry and the spectators being convulsed with laughter at Lincoln's dry wit and humorous comparisons." Lincoln's legislative career at Yandalia extended from 1834 to 1837. It was about the beginning of this period that he wrote his book against Christian- ity. He was thoroughly informed and enthusiastic WAH HE A CHRISTIAN? 213 in his Infidel views, and it is not to Le wondered at that on theological questions, he was able to vanquish in debate even so eminent a theologian as Peter Cartwright. Ten years later, Lincoln was the Whig, and Cartwright the Democratic candidate for , Congress. In this campaign a determined effort was I made by the church to defeat Lincoln on account of ' his Infidelity. But his j^opularity, his reputation for i honesty, his recognized ability, and his transcendent powers on the stump, carried him successfully through, and he was triumphantly elected. HON. D. W. WILDER. One of the most gifted and honorable of Western journalists is D. W. Wilder, of Kansas. He Avas Surveyor General of Kansas before it was admitted into the Union, and after it became a state, he held the office of State Auditor. Many years ago Gen. Wilder wrote and published an editorial on Lincoln's religious views in which he affirmed that Lincoln was a disbeliever in Christianity. The article ex- cited the wrath of the clergy, among them the Rev. D. P. Mitchell, the leading Methodist divine of Kansas, who replied with much warmth, but with- out refuting the statements of Gen. Wilder. Some of my Western readers will recall the article and the controversy it provoked. I have been unable to procure a copy of it, but in its place I present the 214 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: following extract from a letter received from Gen. Wilder, dated St. Joseph, Mo., Dec. 29, 1881 : '' Lincoln believed in God, but not in the divinity of Christ. At first, like Franklin, he was probably an Atheist. Although a ' forgiving ' man himself, he did not believe that any amount of ' penitence ' could affect the logical effects of violated law. He has a remarkable passage on that theme." Concerning Lincoln's partner, Mr. Herndon, with whom he was acquainted, Gen. Wilder says : " Write to Wm. H. Herndon, a noble man, Spring- field, IlL Send him your book ['Life of Paine']. He will reply. The stories told about him are lies." B. F. GARDNER, M.D. Dr. Gardner, an old and respected resident of Atlanta, IlL, in March, 1887, made the following statement in regard to Lincoln's views : *' I knew Lincoln from 1854 up to the time he left Springfield. He was an Infidel. He did not change his belief. Herndon told the truth in his lecture. Lincoln did not believe that prayer moved God. When he requested the prayers of his neighbors on leaving Springfield for Washington, he saw that a storm was coming and that he must have the sup- port of the church." These words of Lincoln in his farewell speech requesting the prayers of his friends, though used WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 215 merely in a conventional way, liave been cited by Holland, Arnold, and others, to prove that he be- lieved in the efficacy of prayer. That no such im- port was attached to them at the time is admitted by Holland himself. He says : " This parting address was telegraphed to every part of the country, and was strangely misinterpreted. So little was the man's character understood that his simple and earnest request that his neighbors should pray for him was received by many as an evidence both of his weakness and his hypocrisy. No President had ever before asked the people, in a public address, to pray for him. It sounded like the cant of the con- venticle to ■ ears unaccustomed to the language of piety from the lips of politicians. The request was tossed about as a joke — ' old Abe's last ' " (Holland's Life of Lincoln, p. 254). HON. J. K. VANDEMARK. J. K. Vandemark, who formerly resided near Springfield, HI., and who was well acquainted v/ith Lincoln, on the 13th of October, 1887, at Valparaiso, Neb., testified as follows : "I met Lincoln often — had many conversations with him in his office. To assert that he was a be- liever in Christianity is absurd. He had no faith in the dogmas of the church." Mr. Yandemark at the time his testimony was 216 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : given was a member of the State Senate of Ne- braska. A. JEFFREY. Mr. Jeffrey, wlio lias resided near Waynesville, 111., for a period of fifty years, and who was in the habit of attending court with Lincoln, year after year, in an interview on the 1st of March, 1887, made the following statement : " Lincoln was decidedly Liberal. He admitted that he wrote a book against Christianit3\ In later years he seldom talked on this subject, but he did not change his belief. A thrust at the doctrine of endless punishment always pleased him. This doc- trine he abhorred." DR. ARCH E. McNEALL. Dr. McNeall, an old physician of Bo wen. 111., who was a delegate to the Decatur Convention which broucfht Lincoln forward as a candidate for the Presidency, says : " I met Lincoln often during our political cam- paigns, and was quite well acquainted with him. I know that he was a Liberal thinker." CHARLES McGREW. Dr. McGrew is a resident of Coles County, 111. — the county in which nearly all of Lincoln's relatives have resided for sixty years. He is a cousin of Hon. WAH TIE A CHRISTIAN? 217 Allen G. Tliurmari, and is a man of sterling charac- ter. He was for a time related to Lincoln, in a Vjusiness way, and met him frequently. I met Dr. McGrew in 1888, and when I propounded the question, "Was Lincoln a Christian?" he replied : " Lincoln was not a Christian. He was cautious and reserved and seldom said anything about relig- ion except when he was alone with a few companions whose opinions were similar to his. On such occa- sions he did not hesitate to express his unbelief." EDWARD BUTLER. Early in 1858, Lincoln delivered his memorable Springfield speech which prepared the way for his debates with Douglas, and made him President of the United States. Mr. Edward Butler, who resided in Springfield for a period of twenty-six years, and who was well acquainted with Lincoln, was leader of the band which furnished the music on this occasion. In a letter written at Lyons, Kan., Jan. 16, 1890, Mr. Butler relates some incidents connected with the meeting, and quotes a passage from Lincoln's speech to the effect that from the agitation of the slavery question, truth would in the end prevail Alluding to this passage, Mr. Butler says : " Shortly after the meeting referred to, I chanced to be talking with Lincoln and quizzingly enquired how he could reconcile this and similar utterances 218 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I with Holy Writ ? Without committing himself, he enquired if I had read Gregg's * Creed of Christen- dom.' I informed him that I had not. 'Then,' said he, * read that book and perhaps you may ascertain my views about truth prevailing.' I never conversed with Lincoln afterwards, but I obtained the book, which I keep treasured in my library. I am well convinced that no man who is used to weighing evidence, especially of Lincoln's humane and un- biased disposition, can read the book in question without truth coming to the surface." It is hardly necessary to state that Gregg's " Creed of Christendom " is a standard work in Infidel litera- ture, one of the most scholarly, powerful and con- vincing arguments against orthodox Christianity ever written. JOSEPH STAFFORD. Joseph Stafford, a resident of Galesburg, 111., and an acquaintance of Lincoln, says : " I know that Lincoln was a Liberal." JUDGE A. D. NORTON. In April, 1893, at Ardmore, I. T., I met Judge Norton, of Gainesville, Tex., an old acquaintance of Lincoln and Douglas. Judge Norton related many interesting reminiscences of these noted men. Speaking of Lincoln's religion, he said ; 1 WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 219 "For nearly fifty years I was a resident of Illinois. I practiced for many years in tlie same courts with Lincoln and knew liim well. He was an Infidel. In his early manhood he wrote a book against Chris- tianity which his friends prevented him from pub- lishing. Because he had become famous, the church preached him from a theatre to heaven." J. L. MORRELL Mr. J. L. Morrell, a worthy citizen of Virden, 111., who came to Illinois soon after Lincoln did, settled in the adjoining county to him, and like him fol- lowed for a time the avocation of surveyor, in a conversation with the writer, on the 8th of February, 1889, made the following statement : " I knew Lincoln well — met him often. His relig- ion was the religion of common sense. He went into this subject as deep as any man. He did not believe the inconsistencies of theology. He was not a Christian." MAHLON ROSS, ESQ. Squire Ross, another old resident of Virden, 111., a lawyer, and a writer of some repute, says : " I was acquainted with Lincoln, but never talked with him on religion. He did not belong to church, and his friends say that he was not a Christian." 220 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: LUSK WILSON. Similar to the above is the testimony of Mr. Lusk Wilson, a prominent and respectable citizen of Litchfield, 111. : " I was acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, but never heard him give his views on the subject of religion. His partner, Herndon, and other friends, state that he was not a believer in Christianity." HON. JAMES TUTTLE. Two miles east of Atlanta, 111., resides one of the pioneers of Illinois, James Tuttle, now over eighty years of age. He was a member of the Constitu- tional Convention of 1847, and is a man universally esteemed for his love of truth and honesty. Mr. Tuttle's residence is situated on the state road leading from Springfield to Bloomington. In going from Springfield to Bloomington, to attend court, and in returning home again, Lincoln always stopped over night with Mr. Tuttle. Theological questions were favorite topics with both of them, and the evening hours were usually spent in conversations of this character. Mr. Tuttle accordingly became well acquainted with Lincoln's religious views. Feb. 26, 1887, at Minier, 111., he made the following statement relative to them : *' Mr. Lincoln did not believe in Christianity. He denounced it unsparingly. He had the greatest con- WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 22l tempt for religious revivals, aud called tliose who took part in tliem a set of ignoramuses. He was one of the most ardent admirers of Thomas Paine I ever met. He was continually quoting from the 'Age of Keason.' Said he, * I never tire of reading Paine.' " Mr. Tuttle is confident that Lincoln always re- mained a Freethinker, and believes that those who claim to have evidence from him to the contrary, willfully affirm what they know to be false. H. K. MAGI£. Mr. Magie formerly lived in Illinois, and was for a time connected with the State Department at Springfield. Writing from Brooklyn, N. Y., March 19, 1888, he says : " My acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln was limited, as I did not reside in Springfield during his resi- dence there. I met him during his campaign with Douglas at different times, and was with him once for three days. . . . Mr. Lincoln was a Free- thinker of the Thomas Paine type. There have been picked up some of Mr. Lincoln's utterances about * Providence,' * God,' and the like, on which an at- tempt is made to make him out a Christian. Those who knew him intimately agree in the statement that he was a pronounced skeptic." Mr. Magie also refers to the Infidel pamphlet 222 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: written bj Lincoln. His knowledge regarding this, however, was derived, not from Lincoln himself, but from his friends. He says : " At one time he wrote a criticism of the New Testament which he proposed to publish and which his friends succeeded in having suppressed, solely because of their regard for his political future." In a recent contribution to a New York paper from Washington, D. C, Mr. Magie writes as follows : " I have always been fully persuaded in my own mind that it would have been utterly impossible for a man possessing that intuitive wisdom, keenness of logic, and discernment of truth, which were the marked characteristics of Mr. Lincoln's mind, ever to have subscribed to the atrocious doctrines of the Christian church. He was developed far above it, and although making no war upon the church, he did not hesitate to speak his mind freely upon these subjects upon all proper occasions. I lived in Springfield among his old neighbors for many years, and I have talked with many of them, and to those who had good opportunity to know his views touch- ing religious matters. All, without exception, classed him among the skeptics. It was not until after his death that he was claimed as a Christian. " I am sorry for Newton Bateman. He has placed himself in a most awkward predicament by trying to keep out of one. ... He permitted Mr. Holland WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 223 to circulate an atrocious falsehood in his ' Life of Lincoln' rather than incur 'unpleasant notoriety ' by a firm and courageous denial." " It is not a matter of much importance as to just what Abraham Lincoln did believe concerning God, the Bible, or the man Jesus, but when we discover an earnest, persistent, mean, and wicked attempt by lying and deceitful men to pervert the truth in this matter, in order that their * holy religion * shall profit by their lies, the matter does become of some impor- tance, and I am glad that Mr. has taken hold of this subject with that zeal and earnestness which usually characterize his great ability, and from what I know in this matter I can assure all whom it may concern that by the time he is through with the sub- ject it v/ill be deemed settled that Mr. Lincoln was not a hypocrite, neither was he a believer in the monstrous and superstitious doctrines of the Chris- tian church." The foregoing evidence, with the exception o. a portion of Mr. Magie's testimony, was all given to the writer by the witnesses themselves, either by letter or orally, and he hereby certifies to its faith- ful transcription. This evidence is from men whose characters as witnesses cannot be impeached, and it is hardly possible that one of them will ever favor the other side with a disclaimer. 224 ABRAHAM LINCOLN! COL. F. S. RUTHERFORD. I wisli now to record a statement from Colonel E-utlierford, a well-known citizen and soldier of Illinois. It was not made to the writer, but was made during the war to Mr. W. W. Eraser, a member of his regiment, and a man of unquestionable veracity. I will let Mr. Eraser present it, together with the circumstances which called it out. I quote from a letter dated Ottawa, Kan., Dec. 16, 1881 : " During the siege of Yicksburg our colonel, F. S. Rutherford, Colonel of the 97th 111. Yol. Inft., was about to leave us, and I went to see him about tak- ing a small package to Alton — his home and mine. He had been sick and quite unable to do active ser- vice. During our conversation I said that many of the Alton boys did not like to be left under the com- mand of . Colonel Rutherford then said : ' If my life is worth anything I owe it as much to my family as my country, and it will be worthless to either if I stay much longer in camp, but I hate to leave the boys.' Colonel Rutherford said that he had stumped his district for Mr. Lincoln, and had expected, from Mr. Lincoln's promises, something better than a colonelcy. I told Colonel Rutherford that I was sorry to hear that, as I had always thought so well of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Rutherford then said : * What more could you expect of an Infidel ?' I said : * Why, Colonel, doesn't Lincoln believe in a God ?' WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 225 He replied : ' Well, be may believe in God, but Lie doesn't believe in the Bible nor Christ. I know it, for I have heard him make fun of them and say that Christ was a bastard if Joseph was not his father, and I have some sheets of paper now at home that he wrote, making fun of the Bible." JUDGE ROBERT LEACH MAN. The venerable Southern jurist, Judge Leachman, was one of Lincoln's intimate and valued friendsL He is a Christian, but candidly confesses that Lin- coln was not a believer. . In the autumn of 1889, at Anniston, Ala., Judge Leachman made the following statement to Mr. W. S. Andres, of Portsmouth, O. : " Lincoln was not such a Christian as the term is used to imply by church members and church-going people. He was in the strictest sense a moralist. He looked to actions and not to belief. He greatly admired the Golden Eule, and was one of those who thought that ' One world at a time ' was a good idea. . . . He thought this a good place to be happy as is shown by his wonderful love for liberty and mercy. No, I can truthfully say, Abraham Lin- coln was not a Christian." HON. ORIN B. GOULD. Another friend and admirer of Lincoln was Orin B. Gould, of Franklin Furnace, O. Mr. Gould was 226 ABrv.\.nAM Lincoln: cue of the noted men of Soiitliern Ohio. He was a man of sterling worth and extensive knowledge, and was familiarly known as the *' Sage of the Furnace.'* He became acquainted with Lincoln in Illinois at an early day, and a close friendship existed between them while Lincoln lived. Mr. Gould survived his illustrious friend nearly a quarter of a century, dying recently at his beautiful home on the banks of the Ohio. Previous to his death the question of Lin- coln's religion was presented to him and his own views on the subject solicited. His response was as follows : " He, like myself, recognized no monsters for Gods. He, like myself, discarded the divinity of Christ, and the idea of a hell's fire. He, like myself, admired Christ as a man, and believed the devil and evil to be simply ' truth misunderstood.' He, like myself, thought good wherever found should be accepted and the bad rejected." M. S. GOWIN. Mr. Gowin, an old and prominent citizen, and ^ Justice of the Peace, of McCune, Kan., in a recen^ article, has this to say regarding Lincoln: "I lived near Springfield, 111., from the time that; I was a child, and at the time Lincoln came before the people, and during the time he was President, WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 227 his enemies called him an Infidel, and his friends did not deny it." COL. ROBERT G. INGERSQLL. On the eighty-fourth anniversary of Lincoln's birth, Col. Ingersoll delivered in New York his masterly oration on Abraham Lincoln. In this oration he affirmed that the religion of Lincoln was the religion of Yoltaire and Paine. Immediately after its delivery Gen. Collis, of New York, ad- dressed the following note to Col. Ingersoll : "Dear Col. Ingersoll: I have jast returned home from listening to your most entertaining lecture upon the life of Abraham Lincoln. I thank you sincerely for all that was good in it, and that entitles me to be frank in condemning what I consider was bad. You say that Lincoln's religion was the religion of Yol- taire and Tom Paine. I know not where you get your authority for this, but if the statement be true Lincoln himself was untrue, for no man invoked *the gracious favor of Almighty God ' in every effort of his life with more apparent fervor than did he, and this God was not the Deists' God but the God whom he worshiped under the forms of the Christian Church, of which he was a member. *'I do not write this in defense of his religion eras objecting to yours, but I think it were better for the 228 ABEAHAM LINCOLN I truth of history that you should blame him for what he was than commend him for what he was not. " Sincerely yours, *' Charles H. T. Collis." In answer to the above Col. lugersoll penned the following reply : *' Gen. Charles H. T. Collis, " My dear sir ; "I have just received your letter in which you criticise a statement made by me to the effect that Lincoln's religion was the religion of Yoltaire and Thomas Paine, and you add, ^ I know not where you get your authority for this, but if the statement be true Lincoln himself was untrue, for no man ever in- voked the gracious favor of Almighty God in every effort of his life with more apparent fervor than did he.' "You seem to belaboring under the impression that Yoltaire was not a believer in God, and that he could not have invoked the gracious favor of Almighty God. The truth is that Yoltaire was not only a believer in God, but even in special Provi- dence. I know that the clergy have always de- nounced Yoltaire as an Atheist, but this can be accounted for in two ways : (1) By the ignorance of the clergy, and (2) by their contempt of truth. Thomas Paine was also a believer in God, and wrote his creed as follows ; ' I believe in one God and no WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 229 more, and liope for immortality.' Tlie ministers have also denounced Paine as an Atheist. " You will, therefore, see that your first statement is without the slightest foundation in fact. Lincoln could be perfectly true to himself if he agreed with the religious sentiments of Yoltaire and Paine, and yet invoke the gracious favor of Almighty God. '^ You also say, ' This God ' (meaning the God whose favor Lincoln invoked) ' was not the Deists' God.' The Deists believe in an Infinite Being, who created and preserves the universe. The Christians believe no more. Deists and Christians believe in the same God, but they differ as to what this God has done, and to what this God will do. You fur- ther say that ' Lincoln worshiped his God under the forms of the Christian Church, of which he was a member.' Again 30U are mistaken. Lincoln was never a member of any church. Mrs. Lincoln stated a few years ago that Mr. Lincoln was not a Chris- tian. Hundreds of his acquaintances have said the same thing. Not only so, but many of them have testified that he was a Freethinker ; that he denied the inspiration of the Scriptures, and that he always insisted that Christ was not the son of God, and that the dogma of the atonement was and is an absurd- ity. " I v/ill very gladly pay you one thousand dollars for your trouble to show that one statement in 230 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : your letter is correct — eveu one. And now, to quote you, * Do you not tliink it were better for the truth of history that you should state the facts about Lincoln, and that you should commend him for what he was rather than for what he was not ?' ** Tours truly, "K. G. Ingersoll." LEONARD W. VQLK. In the spring of 1860, just before Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency, the celebrated sculp- tor, Yolk, made a bust of him. He spent a week in Chicago and made daily sittings in the artist's studio. Mr. Yolk relates the following incident, which hardly accords with the tales told about Lin- coln's reverence for the Sabbath, and his love for church services : " He entered my studio on Sunday morning, re- marking: that a friend at the hotel had invited him to go to church. ' But,' said Mr. Lincoln, ' I thought I'd rather come and sit for the bust. The fact is,' he continued, 'I don't like to hear cut-and-dried sermons.' " JOSEPH JEFFERSON. It is difficult for orthodox Christians to reconcile Lincoln's fondness for the play with his reputed piety. That his last act was a visit to the theater is WAK HE A CHIilSTIAN? 231 a fact that stands out in ghastly prominence to them. To break its force they offer various explana- tions. Some say that he went to avoid the of&ce- seekers ; others that Mrs. Lincoln compelled him to go ; and still others that he was led there by fate. The truth is he was a frequent attendant at the theater. He went there much oftener than he went to church. The visit of a clergyman annoyed him, but the society of actors he enjoyed. He greatly admired the acting of Edwin Booth. He sent a note to the actor Hackett, praising him for his fine pres- entation of Falstaff. He called John McCulloch to his box one night and congratulated him on his suc- cessful rendition of the part he was playing. *=■ In his autobiography, which recently appeared in the Century Mago-zine^ Joseph Jefferson gives some interesting reminiscences of Lincoln. In the earlier part of his dramatic career he was connected with a theatrical company, the managers of which, one of whom was his father, built a theater in Springfield, 111. A conflict between the preachers and players ensued. The church was powerful then, and the city joined with the church to suppress the theater. The history of the struggle and its termination, as narrated by Mr. Jefferson, is as follows : "In the midst of their rising fortunes a heavy blow fell upon them. A religious revival was in progress at the time, and the fathers of the church 232 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : not only launclied forth against us in their sermons, but by some political maneuver got the city to pass a new law enjoining a heavy license against our 'unholy' calling; I forget the amount, but it was large enough to be prohibitory. Here was a terrible condition of affairs — all our available funds invested, the Legislature in session, the town full of people, and by a heavy license denied the privilege of open- ing the new theater ! ** In the midst of their trouble a young lawyer called on the managers. He had heard of the in- justice, and offered, if they would place the matter in his hands, to have the license taken off, declaring that he only desired to see fair play, and he would accept no fee whether he failed or succeeded. The case was brought up before the council. The young man began his harangue. He handled the subject with tact, skill, and humor, tracing the history of the drama from the time when Thespis acted in a cart to the stage of to-day. He illustrated his speech with a number of anecdotes, and kept the council in a roar of laughter ; his good humor pre- vailed, and the exorbitant tax was taken off. " This young lawyer was very popular in Spring- field, and was honored and beloved by all who knew him, and, after the time of which I write, he held rather an important position in the Government of the United States. He now lies buried near Spring- WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 233 field, under a monument commemorating his great- ness and his virtues — and his name was Abraham Lincoln." HON. EUHU B, W/^SHBURN. The ball-room, too, had its attractions for him. Some years ago Hon. E. B. Washburn contributed to the North American Revieiu a lengthy article on Lincoln. When President Taylor was inaugurated, Lincoln was serving his term in Congress. Alluding to the inaugural ball, Mr. Washburn says : "A small number of mutual friends— including Mr. Lincoln — made up a party to attend the inau- guration ball together. It was by far the most brilliant inauguration ball ever given. . . . We did not take our departure until three or four o'clock in the morning " (Reminiscences of Lincoln, p. 19). HON. ELIJAH M. HAINES. In February, 1859, Governor Bissell gave a recep- tion in Springfield which Lincoln attended. Hon. E. M. Haines, then a member of the Legislature, and one of Lincoln's supporters for the Senate, referring to the affair, says : *' Dancing was going on in the adjacent rooms, and Mr. Lincoln invited my wife to join him in the dancing, which she did, and he apparently took 234 ABRAHAM LINCOLN I much pleasure in the recreation " (Everj-Day Life of Lincoln, p. 308). Early in January, 1863, President and Mrs. Lin- coln gave a reception and ball at the White House. This was a severe shock to the Christians of the country, and provoked a storm of censure from the religious press. According to Ninian Edwards, Lincoln is con- verted to Christianity about 1848. In March, 1849, he attends the inauguration ball and " Won't go home till morning." According to Dr. Smith, he is con- verted in 1858. In February, 1859, he attends and participates in a ball at Springfield. According to Noah Brooks, he is converted in 1862. In January, 1863, he gives a ball himself. In every instance he retires from the altar only to enter the ball-room. WAS HE A CHitlSTIAN? 2o5 CHAPTER XII. TESTIMONY OF FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES OF LINCOLN WHO KNEW HIM IN WASHINGTON. Hon. Geo. W. Julian — Hon. John B. Alley— Hon. Hugh McCul- loch — Doun Piatt — Hon, Schuyler Colfax — Hon. Goo. S. Boutwell — Hon. \Vm. D. Kelly—?:. H. Wood— Dr. J. J. ThompBon— Rev. .James Shrigley — Hon. John Covode — JaH. E. Murdook — Hon. M. B. Field — Harriet Beecher Stowe — Hon. J. P. Uhher — Hon. S. P. Chase — Frederick Douglas — Mr. Defrees — Hon. Wm. H. Seward — Judge Aaron Goodrich — Nicolay and Hay's "Life of Lincoln" — Warren Chase — Hon, A. J. Grover — Judge James M. Nelson. The evidence of more than fifty witnesses has already been adduced to prove that Lincoln was not a Christian in Illinois. Those who at first were so forward to claim that he was, have generally recog- nized the futility of the claim. They have aban- doned it, and content themselves with affirming that he became a Christian after he went to Washington. These claimants, being for the most part rigid sec- tarians themselves, endeavor to convince the world that he not only became a Christian, but an orthodox Christian, and a sectarian ; that even from a Calvin- istic standpoint, he was "sound not only on the truth of the Christian religion but on all its funda- mental doctrines and teachings." The testimony of 236 ABRAHAM LINCOLN*. Colouel Lainoii, Judge Davis, Mrs. Lincoln, and Colonel Nicolay, not only refutes this claim, but shows that he was not in any just sense of the term a Christian when he died. In addition to this evi- dence, I will now present the testimony of a score of other witnesses who knew him in Washington. These witnesses do not all affirm that he was a total disbeliever in Christianity ; but a part of them do, while the testimony of the remainder is to the effect that he was not orthodox as claimed. HON. GEORGE W. JULIAN. Our first witness is George W. Julian, of Indiana. Mr. Julian was for many years a leader in Congress, was the Anti-Slavery candidate for Yice-President, in 1852, and one of the founders of the party that elected Lincoln to the Presidency. He was one of Lincoln's w^armest personal friends and intimately acquainted with him at Washington. Writing to me from Santa Fe, N. M., under date of March 13, 1888, Mr. Julian says : *' I knew him [Lincoln] well, and I know that he was not a Christian in any old-fashioned orthodox sense of the word, but only a religious Theist. He was, substantially, such a Christian as Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, and John Adams ; and it is perfectly idle to assert the contrary." WAH HE A CHRISTIAN? 237 HON. JOHN B. ALLEY. In 1886, the publishers of the North American Beviev; issued one of the most unique, original, and interesting works on Lincoln that has yet appeared — " Pteminiscences of Abraham Lincoln." It was edited Vjy Allen Thorndike Eice, and comprises, in addition to a biographical sketch of Lincoln's life by the editor, thirty-three articles on Lincoln written by as many distinguished men of his day. One of the best articles in this volume is from the pen of one of Boston's merchant princes, John B. Alley. Mr. Alley was for eight years a member of Congress from Massachusetts, serving in this capacity during all the years that Lincoln was President. To his ability and integrity as a statesman this remarkaVjle yet truthful tribute has been paid : " No bill he ever reported and no measure he ever advocated during his long term of service failed to receive the approbation of the House." Lincoln recognized his many sterling qualities, and throughout the war his relations with the President were of the most intimate character. Mr. Alley is one of the many who know that Lincoln was not a Christian, and one of the few who have the courage to affirm it. He says: " In his religious views Mr. Lincoln was very nearly what we would call a Freethinker. While he re- flected a great deal upon religious subjects he com- 238 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: municated his thoughts to a very few. He had little faith in the popular religion of the times. He had a broad conception of the goodness and power of an overruling Providence, and said to me one day that he felt sure the Author of our being, whether called God or Nature, it mattered little which, would deal very mercifully with poor erring humanity in the other, and he hoped better, world. He was as free as possible from all sectarian thought, feeling, or sentiment. No man was more tolerant of the opin- ions and feelings of others in the direction of relig- ious sentiment or had less faith in religious dogmas " (Reminiscences of Lincoln, pp. 590, 591). In conclusion, Mr. Alley says : " While Mr. Lincoln was perfectly honest and up- right and led a blameless life, he was in no sense what might be considered a religious man " (Ibid). HON. HUGH Mcculloch. Hon. Hugh McCuUoch, a member of Lincoln's Cabinet, his last Secretary of the Treasury, writes : " Grave and sedate in manner, he was full of kind and gentle emotion. He was fond of poetry. Shakspere was his delight. Few men could read with equal expression the plays of the great dra- matist. The theater had great attractions for him, but it was comedy, not tragedy, he went to hear. He had great enjoyment of the plays that made him WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 239 laugh, no matter liow absurd and grotesque, and lie gave expression to his enjoyment by hearty and noisy applause. He was a man of strong religious convictions, but he cared nothing for the dogmas of the churches and had little respect for their creeds " (Eeminiscences of Lincoln, pp. 412, 413). DONN PIATT. The distinguished lawyer, soldier and journalist, Donn Piatt, who knew Lincoln in Illinois and who met him often in Washington, writes : " I soon discovered that this strange and strangely gifted man, while not at all cynical, was a skeptic. His view of human nature was low, but good- natured. I could not call it suspicious, but he be- lieved only what he saw " (Reminiscences of Lincoln, p. 480). V Those who are disposed to believe that Lincoln's Christian biographers have observed an inflexible adherence to truth in their statements concerning his religious belief would do well to ponder the following words of Mr. Piatt : " History is, after all, the crystallization of popular beliefs. As a pleasant fiction is more acceptable than a naked fact, and as the historian shapes his wares, like any other dealer, to suit his customers, one can readily see that our chronicles are only a duller sort of fiction than the popular novels so 240 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : eiigei'ly read ; not that tlie\' are true, but that they deal in what we long to have — the truth. Popular beliefs, in time, come to be superstitions, and create gods and devils. Thus Washini^ton is deified into an impossible man, and Aaron Burr has passed into a like impossible monster. Through the same proc- ess Abraham Lincoln, one of our truly great, has almost gone from human knowledge " (Ibid, p. 4:18). HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX. Previous to the war no class of persons were louder in their denunciation of Abolitionism than the clergy of the Nortli. When at last it became evident that the institution of slavery was doomed, in their eagerness to be found on the popular side, they were equally loud in their demands for its immediate extirpation. In September, 1862, a depu- tation of Chicago clergymen waited upon the Presi- dent for the purpose of urging him to proclaim the freedom of the slave. Notwithstanding he had matured his plans and was ready to issue his Proclamation, he gave them no intimation of his in- tention. In connection with their visit, Colfax relates the following : " One of these ministers felt it his duty to make a more searching appeal to the President's conscience. Just as they were retiring, he turned, and said to WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 241 Mr. Lincoln, * What you have said to us, Mr. Presi- dent, compels me to say to you in reply, that it is a message to you from our Divine Master, through me, commanding you, sir, to open the doors of bondage that the slave may go free ! ' Mr. Lincoln replied, instantly, * That may be, sir, for I have studied this question, by night and by day, for weeks and for months, but if it is, as you say, a message from your Divine Master, is it not odd that the only channel he could send it by was that roundabout route by that awfully wicked city of Chicago?" (Reminis- cences of Lincoln, pp. 334, 335;. In a lecture delivered in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1886, Mr. Colfax stated that Lincoln was not a Christian, in the evangelical sense. To a gentleman who visited him at his home in South Bend, Ind., he declared that Lincoln was not a believer in orthodox Christianity. Again at Atchison, Kan., he informed Mr. Perkins that Lincoln had never been converted to Christianity, as claimed. HON. WILLIAM D. KELLEY. William D. Kelley, for thirty years a member of Congress from Pennsylvania, relates an incident similar to the one related by Mr. Colfax. A *' Quaker preaclier " called at the White House to urge the President to proclaim at once the freedom f!42 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : of the slave. To illustrate her argument and empha- size her plea, she cited the history of Deborah. " Having elaborated this Biblical example," says Mr. Kelley, " the speaker assumed that the President was, as Deborah had been, the appointed minister of the Lord, and proceeded to tell him that it was his duty to follow the example of Deborah, and forth- with abolish slavery, and establish freedom through- out the land, as the Lord had appointed him to do. " ' Has the Friend finished ?' said the President, as she ceased to speak. Having received an affirmative answer, he said : ' I have neither time nor disposi- tion to enter into discussion with the Friend, and end this occasion by suggesting for her consideration the question whether, if it be true that the Lord has appointed me to do the work she has indicated, it is not probable that he would have communicated knowledge of the fact to me as well as to her ' " (Beminiscences of Lincoln, pp. 284, 285). HON. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL. A great many pious stories have been circulated in regard to the Emancipation Proclamation. We are told that he made a *' solemn vow to God " that if Lee was defeated at Autietam he would issue the Preliminary Proclamation. And yet this document contains no recognition of God. He even com- pleted the draft of it on what Christians are pleased WAS HE A CHRISTIAN ? 243 to regard as God's holy day. Mr. Boutwell states that Lincoln once related to him the circumstances attending the promulgation of the instrument. He quotes the following as Lincoln's words : " The truth is just this : When Lee came over the river, I made a resolution that if McClellan drove him back I would send the Proclamation after him. The battle of Antietam was fought Wednesday, and until Saturday I could not find out whether we had gained a victory or lost a battle. It was then too late to issue the Proclamation that day, and the fact is I fixed it up a little Sunday^ and Monday I let them have it " (Keminiscences of Lincoln, p. 126). E. H. WOOD. Mr. E. H. Wood, one of Lincoln's old Springfield neighbors, who visited him at Washington during the war, made the following statement to Mr. Hern- don, in October, 1881 : " I came from Auburn, N. Y. — knew Seward well — knew Lincoln very well — lived for three years just across the alley from his residence. I had many conversations with him on politics and religion as late as 1859 and '60. He was a broad religionist — a Liberal. Lincoln told me Franklin's story. Frank- lin and a particular friend made an agreement that when the first one died he would come back and tell how things went. Well, Franklin's friend died, but 244 ABRAHAM LINCOLN : never came back. * It is a doubtful questiou,' said Lincoln, ' whether we get anywhere to get back.* Lincoln said, * There is no hell.' He did not say much about heaven. I met him in Washington and saw no change in him." I have given the testimony of two of Lincoln's nearest neighbors in Springfield, Isaac Hawley and E. H. Wood. Mr. Hawley believes that Lincoln was a Christian ; Mr. Wood hioivs that he was not. Mr. Hawley never heard Lincoln utter a word to support his belief; Mr. Wood obtained his knowledge from Lincoln himself. Mr. Hawley's belief is of little value compared with Mr. Wood's knowledge. Mr. Hawley never heard Lincoln defend Christianity and probably never heard him oppose it. Lincoln knew that Mr. Hawley was a Christian — that he had no sympathy with his Freethought views. He did not desire to offend or antagonize him, and hence he refrained from introducing a subject that he knew was distasteful to him. Mr. Wood, on the other hand, was a man of broad and Liberal ideas, and Lincoln did not hesitate to express to him his views with freedom. J, J. THOMPSON, M,D. Dr. J. J. Thompson, an old resident of Illinois, now in Colorado, in a letter, dated March 18, 1888, writes as follows : WAS HE A CHRISTIAN? 245 "I knew Abraham Lio coin from my boyliood up to the time of his death. I was in his law office many times and met him several times in Washing- ton. He was a Liberal, outspoken, and seemed to feel proud of it." " This great and good man," concludes Dr. Thompson, " claimed Humanity as his religion." REV. JAMES SHRIGLEY. Eev. Jas. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, who was ac- quainted with President Lincoln in Washington, and who received a hospital chaplaincy from him, says : " President Lincoln was also remarkably tolerant. He was the friend of all, and never, to my knowl- edge, gave the influence of his great name to encourage sectarianism in any of its names and forms " (Lincoln Memorial Album, p. 335). HON. JOHN COVODE. In connection with Mr. Shrigley's appointment, the following anecdote is related. Mr. Shrigley was not orthodox, and when it became known that his name had been sent to the Senate, a Committee of "Young Christians" waited upon the President for the purpose of inducing him to withdraw the nomi- nation. Hon. John Covode, of Pennsylvania, was present during the interview and gave it to the press. It is as follows : •3-it) AiniAHAM LINCOLN : " ' Wo h:ivo oallod, Mr. Prosidont, to I'onfor with you in i-Oi;ard to tho :ippointmoiit of Mr. Shriglev, of riiihulolphia, rts hospital chaphiin.' '* Tho Prosidont responded : * Oh, yos, i^ontlomeu ; I have sont his n:inu> to tho Sonato, and ho will uc doubt bo oontirmod at an oarly day.' " One of tho youn^; nion ropliod : ' Wo havo not como to ask for tho appointmont, but to solicit you to withdraw the nomination.' '• * Ah,' said Lincoln, * that alters the case ; but on what i:;round do you ask tho nomination with- drawn ?' '• Tho answer was, * Mr. Shrigley is not sound in bis theological opinions.' '• The President inquired : * Ou what question is tho gentleman unsound?' *' Response : ' Ho does not believe in endless punishment ; not only so, sir, but he beliovos that even the rebels themselves will finally be saved.' '* * Is that so ?' inquired the President '* The members of the committee both responded, *Yes,' 'Yes.' *• ' Well, gentlemen, if that be so, and there is any way under heaven whereby the rebels can be saved^ then, for God's sake and their sakes, let the man be appointed ' " (L. M. A., pp. 33(5, 337). And he was appointed. WAH ay: A cif/'JH'Jus? 247 JAMES E. MURDOCH. It in claimed that f^;w public m'';ii havo mad^; greater ubo of the Bible than Liucolrj. ThiH In true. He wa8 continually quoting Scripture or alluding 1/j Bcriptural BceneH and ntories, sometimes to illuBtrat^^ or adorn a seriouK H])fi(i(:\i, hut more frequently to point or (■Aii])]\iiv>v/Ji a joke. The venerable actor and elocutioniftt, JameB E. Murdoch, who had met Lin- coln, both in Springfield and Washington, relates an anecdote of jjim while at Washington which serves to illustrate this propensity: '' One day a detachment of troops was marching along the avenue singing the soul-stirring strain of 'John J:>rown.' They were walled in on either side h>y throngs of citizens and strangers, whose voices mingled in tlje roll of the mighty war-song. In the midst of tijis exciting scene, a man had clamV^ered into a small tree, on the sidewalk, where he clung, unmindful of th^i jeers of the passing crowd, called fortli by the strange antics he was unconsciously ex- hibiting in Ijis efforts to overcome the swaying motion of the slight stem which bent beneath his weight. Mr. Lincoln's attention was attracted for a moment, and he paused in the serious conversation in which he was deeply interested and in an ab- stracted manner, yet with a droll cast of the eye, and a nod of the head in the direction of the man, he re- po.itisl. in i\is vhv :\\u\ |>Oinili:ir \itt(M';vtioo. tli(^ fv>l- vK. M. A.. \^\y :ui). ;oi^v Mr. MurvK>v^h st;it(^s thai m iv>i\ntuMiiM\ \> ith ilus uuMvltMit lau<\^ln \N as i^h;n;-;ovl "with luinuij; saorovi SUlnootH into luiu-uUv" Wo ap^>h\iV\ir,08 t\>\\ J^ud att(Mi\pts to p.ilhato this h^\U\. aiul aHV^Ms t>> In^liov^ft tiiat Liuoolu was a OUristiau. ImH aluuv;t vlaily LitiOolu itulul^^t^l in joKos at tho oxpcMiso v>f tho \Uh\o anil Ohristianitv, n\anv v>f thtMn ton toKl nivM<> saori loi^ious in thoir oharavMor t han t his t ritliii;; uunvhrnt vt^- Latisl l\v Mv. Muvvhu-h. It" th(^ svMn|Mih>iisl\ puMjs OvMisivhM-(\l this siinph^ }o->\. nttoroil m th*^ nmh^t ot" a nu\(vl rvvMNvl. ur(MorrrvM- v\>nhl tht\\ ha\(^ listoin^l tv> ^.v>uu^ oi Ins riMnarlvs inavh^ w hon aU>no with a sLv^ptu^al 1>v>vmi <\>nipanu>n? \\ \\\\ rhnt lan^^tM's \\o was .'^tMioialh !.;naiilovl m Ins spoooh. l(v;t \\o slunihl «;i\tM>tVons(^ ; but with his uul>(^li(^\ inj< truMliln, np to tho oiul i>l" Ills oaroor, hu; ktVMiost shafts v>f wit wort> not iiitioi|niMit Iv aiinoil at tho rolij-Mou of liU^laN. This shows that thi^ p»>|Mih'ir faitli hail \\k> \\\ovo savM^uluoss for l,iin\^lii. thi^ TrosuhMit. ui Wushiliujton. than it hail loi- l.iiu'olii. tlio faruuM's boy, whv^ nuu'lvOvl aiiil nm>u»lv«nl it in liuliana. v>r WAH III'. A <;iiujin'iAN V '2,'ii) Lincoln, ilni lawyer, wlio HcaiXcA at it and ar^nutd ap^ainsl; il, in Illinois. MOAf. MAUN SELL Li. FIELD. Mr. i<'j(5l1" lOujopi; and A.fnr;rica, ill liin " McifiorioH ol" Many Mi-n," li;i,;i tlji.s ni^nifi- caiiL M(!n(,(*nc,<5 r«;,s|)(u;tinf4 Lincoln : " Mr. Lincoln wan entirely deficient in what the pIirenolo^JHtH call reverance [veneraM(ju\." Thin niaile it (tany for liim to (imancip.tti^ liiiriHcIf fr(jia tho Hlav<^ry of prieHtcral't and Ixtconie and remain a i'''iossesHes of the conservative restnunijij/ faculti(is, the mor). One of the first products of Grant's pen that has been preserved is a letter to his cousin, Mc- Kinstry Griffith, written at West Point, Sept. 22, 1839. With the exception of a few brief lines, the last that he wrote was his "Memoirs." It is sig- nificant that in each of these — in the one written in the first year of his manhood and in the other, written in the last year of his existence — there is to be found a protest against ecclesiastical domi- nation of our government and its institutions. In the letter alluded to, referring to the demerit marks received by the cadets, he writes : "To show how easily one can get these, a man by the name of Grant, of this State, got eight of these marlcs for not going to cliurch to-day. He was put under arrest, so he cannot leave his room THE RELIGIOUS OPINIONS OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 365 perhaps for a month; all this for not going to church. We are not only obliged to go to church, but we must march there by companies. This is not republican'' (Brown's Life of Grant, p. 329). The following is from his ^'Memoirs:" ''No political party can, or ought to, exist when one of its corner-stones is opposition to freedom of thought. ... If a sect sets up it laws as binding above the state laws, whenever the two come in conflict, this claim must be resisted and suppressed at whatever cost" (Memoirs, Vol. i., p. 213). Instead of being a believer in the Christian re- ligion and in favor of Christianizing our govern- ment, as many suppose. General Grant was an un- believer and a zealous advocate of state secular- ization. A New Book About the Bible. The Best One of All THE BIBLE By JOHN E. REMSBURG. Large 12mo. 500 pages. Cloth, %1M net Postpaid. Eleven Chapters on the Authenticity of the Bible— Thirteen on the Credibility of the Bible- Ten on the Morality of the Bible— With an Ap- pendix of Unanswerable Arguments Against the Divine Origin and in Favor of the Human Origin of the Bible. Twenty-six pages of Index, enabling the reader to refer in an instant to any Authority quoted or Argument used. The titles of the chapters, in detail, are: Sacred Books of the World, The Christian Bible, Formation of the Can- on Different Versions of the Bible, Authorship and Dates, The Pentateuch, The Prophets, The Hagiograpna, The Four Gospels, Acts, Catholic Epistles, and Revelation; Pauline Epistles, Fextnal Errors, Two Cosmogonies of Genesis, The Patriarchal Age, The Jewish Kings. In- Boired Numbers, When Did Jehoshaphat Die? Harmony of the Gospels, Paul and the Apostles, The Bible and History The Bible and Science, Prophecies, Miracles, Tue BilDle God, The Bible Not a Moral Guide, Lying, Cheating, Stealing, Murder, War, Human Sacrifices, Cannibalism, Witchcraft, Slavery, Polygamy, Adultery. Obscenity, Intemperance, Vagrancy, Ignorance Injus- tice to women, Unkindness to Children, Cruelty to Ani- mals, Tyranny, Intolerance, Conclusion, Appendix. ♦»• The book makes some five hundred pages and ts printed handsomely on heavy paper, with wide margtns. Price, f 1.25 net Address THE TRUTH SEEKER CO., 62 Vesey Street, New York, N. Y. Works by John E. Remsburg The Bible. A new book about the Bible. The best one of all. Large 12mo. 500 pages. Cloth, $1.25. Postpaid, Christian Sabbath. A small and valuable tract for promiscuous distribu- tion wherever the Sunday bigots are enforcing their Sunday Laws. 3 cents. Decline of Faith. 5 cents. False Claims of the Church. Analyzing and confuting the claims made by churchmen that the Christian church has promoted morality, learning, temperance, science, freedom, and showing how she has opposed progress. Paper, 10 cents. Image Breaker. 25 cents. Paine and Wesley. 5 cents. Piety and the Slave Trade. The Record of Methodism. (Tract.) 5 cents. Prophets and Prophecies. Future Events Not Predicted. (Tract.) 3 cents. Protestant Intolerance. (Tract.) 5 cents. Sabbath Breaking. Giving the origin of Sabbath ideas, examining Sun- day arguments, and showing that there is no scriptural authority for the observance of the day : also showing that the Christian " Fathers " did not specially regard the day and that the Reform- ers opposed its adoption by the church. A book brimful of good reasons why the Sunday laws should be repealed. Paper, 25 cents. Six Historic Americans. This work consists of two parts, '* The Fathers of the Republic," and "'The Saviors of Our Republic." In regard to Paine's religious views, Mr. Remsburg establishes the negative of the following : (l) Was Paine an Atheist ? (2) Was he a Christian? (3) Did he recant? Page after page of the most radical Freethought sentiments are culled from the correspond- ence and other writings of Franklin and Jefferson, which show that tliese men were as pronounced in their rejection of Chris- tianity as Paine and Ingersoll. That Washington was not a church communicant, nor even a believer in Christianity, is affirmed or admitted by more than a score of witnesses, one-half of them eminent clergymen, including the pastors of the churches, which he with his wife attended. In support of Lincoln's Infidelity, he has collected the testimony of more than one hundred witnesses. These witnesses include Mr. Lincoln's wife ; his three law part- ners, Maj. Stuart, Judge Logan and W. H. Herndon ; his private secretaries, Col. Nicolay and Col. Hay ; his executor after death, Judge David Davis; many of his biographers, including his com- panion and confidant. Col. Lamon; his political advisers. Col. Matheny, Jesse W. Fell, and Dr. Jayne; members of his cabinet, and scores more of his most intimate friends and associates. The refutation of Grant's alleged Christian belief is complete, and the proofs of his unbelief are full and convincing. Large 12mo. Price, $1.25. Was Washington a Christian ? 8 cents. THE TRUTH SEEKER CO. 62 Vesey Street, New York A Short History of the Inquisition Illustrated with Pictures of the Instru- ments of Torture used upon Heretics, Auto-de-fe Scenes, etc. CONTENTS Persecution of the Jews. Expulsion of the Moors from Spain. The Crusades. The Popes and the Inquisition. Persecution of the Waldenses. Persecution of the Albigenses. Persecution of the Huguenots. The Jesuits. Kilhng of Witches. The War Between Rehgion and Science. The Attitude of the Church Toward Slavery. Large 12 mo. About 500 pages. Cloth. $1.50. THE TRUTH SEEKER CO. 62 Vesey Street, New York The Bible Comlcafily Illustrated TWO VOLUMES IN ONE. Illustrations by WATSON HESTON About 800 Pages and 400 Pictures The Old Testament Stories Comically Illustrated is one of the most popular books ever issued, and is well calculated for serious argument and for ridiculing superstitic.i. The quaint conceits of Mr. Heston concerning the familiar Bible stories are productive of great mirth, and the facts given in the texts easily convince the reader that the Old Testament is not of divine origin. To see this book is to want to own it. Ten thousand sold. The New Testament Stories Comically Illustrated is a companion work, of the same size, and what is said of the other volume applies equally to the New Testament Stories. For convenience of readers we have combined the two, and offer it at the price of the others separately. In board covers, $2. In cloth covers, $2.50 THE TRUTH SEEKER COMPANY 62 Vesey St., New York, N. Y.