Abraham Lincoln's Religion
MADISON C. PETERS
_Author of "Justice to the Jew," etc., etc._
BOSTON RICHARD G. BADGER The Gorham Press 1909
_Copyright, 1909, by Richard G. Badger_
_All rights reserved_
_The Gorham Press Boston, U S A_
CONTENTS
I. Lincoln the Man 1
II. Was Abraham Lincoln a Christian 15
III. Why did Lincoln Never Join the Church 39
LINCOLN THE MAN
_Thou, too, sail on O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity with all its fears, With all its hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate!_
_We know what Master laid thy keel, What Workman wrought thy ribs of steel, Who made each mast and sail and rope, What anvils rang, what hammers beat, In what a forge and what a heat Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!_
_Fear not each sudden sound and shock: 'Tis the wave, and not the rock, 'Tis but the flapping of the sail, And not a rent made by the gale!_
_In spite of rock and tempest's roar, In spite of false lights on the shore, Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee_--are all with thee!
_Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_
I
LINCOLN THE MAN
The name of Abraham Lincoln is imperishable, immortal; can never fade from the pages of history or grow dim with the lapse of time.
Had this lowly born Kentucky boy been ushered into the world centuries ago in England, doubtless he would have become the father of a royal family, the founder of a kingly dynasty, the pioneer of a courtly line whose proudest boast would be to acclaim him their progenitor.
Fortunately he belongs to modern time and sprang from the loins of a democratic race in a young and democratic country, around whose virgin brow he twined the garlands of a never-fading luster.
His fame is America's, but his glory belongs to the world, and humanity is proud to honor him as one of the noblest among the sons of men.
He founded no royal house to perpetuate his name on its escutcheon, yet no Caliph or Conqueror, no Emperor or Excellency, no Master or Monarch, no Prince or Potentate, no Prelate or Pontiff, no Saladin or Sultan has left behind a name so dear to the hearts of posterity as that of this plain man of the people, this champion of human rights, this friend of the down-trodden and oppressed, whose heart went out in sympathy and love to all mankind, irrespective of race or religion.
No character in American history or, perhaps, in the world's history stands out so clearly silhouetted against the background of time as Lincoln; none so free from defect or flaw, with no irregularities to mar its outlines, no inequalities to detract from its perfect formation; its every curve and section a symmetry of proportion.
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: Abraham Lincoln's Religion by Peters
- 2: Lincoln was a Providential man
- 3: We have enshrined Lincoln in a Pantheon of Glory
- 4: Lincoln would not have antagonized
- 5: A friend of his Sam Hill burned the manuscript
- 6: When Abraham was nine years old
- 7: Reach the greatest eminence possible for an American
- 8: I bid you an affectionate farewell
- 9: Your experience will help me to bear my affliction
- 10: The President took Sickles by the hand
- 11: In the old rut of orthodox tradition
- 12: An orthodox believer Lincoln may not have been
- 13: Abraham Lincoln never joined a church
- 14: The preachers were mostly silent
- 15: Abraham Lincoln carried his religion into daily life
- 16: To be a Baptist is as high as I can get