Chapter XXXI: Appendix: Lincoln in a Law Case

Mr. Lincoln believed that: "He who knows only his own side of a case knows little of that." The first illustration of his peculiar mental operations which led him always to study the opposite side of every disputed question more exhaustively than his own, was on his first appearance before the Supreme Court of Illinois when he actually opened his argument by telling the court that after diligent search he had not found a single decision in favor of his case but several against it, which he then cited, and submitted his case. This may have been what Mr. Lincoln alluded to when he told Thurlow Weed that the people used to say, without disturbing his self-respect, that he was not lawyer enough to hurt him.

The most important case Mr. Lincoln ever argued before the Supreme Court was the celebrated case of the Illinois Central Railroad Company vs. McLean County.

The case was argued twice before this tribunal; one brief of which is among the forty pages of legal manuscript written by Mr. Lincoln in the writer's possession. While its four pages may have more historic value than a will case argued in the Circuit Court of Sangamon County, still the latter is chosen to illustrate the period of Mr. Lincoln's mature practice and to show his analytical methods, his original reasoning, and his keen sense of justice.

The case is one wherein land has been left to three sons and a grandson and the personal estate to be divided among three daughters after the death of the widow. Mr. Lincoln is employed to defend the will against the three daughters and their husbands.

The brief consists of fifteen pages of legal cap paper only four of which are here given.

It is said that he wrote few papers, less perhaps than any other man at the bar; therefore this memorandum in his own hand is also valuable as an example of the notes he so rarely made.

Correll & others }
vs } Will Case--
M. Daniel & others }

1 General remarks on the law of Wills--

2. Answer the particular points and objections made by the other
side--See notes taken while they were speaking--

3. Read from the authorities and settle on a +definition+ of "Sound mind
and memory"--

4 Show that in this case, the Testator had such "+Sound mind and
memory+" at the time of making the Will--

1 By his asking D^r Randall to write his Will.

2. His reply to M^{rs} Herron*, when she saw* he was too sick & weak to
make Wills.

3. His saying his Will was already made, and getting roll of blank
paper--

4 His getting the package of title papers--

5 His making first provision for his wife; and charge upon Sutcliff for
her and his sisters--

6 His deciding correctly, as to the "+long-way+* of the land*

7 His providing that James should pay rent to his mother.

8 His decision as to what was to be done with the home place--

9 His reply when Correll proposed that all should leave the house--

10 His calling for Robert's widow; and +so+ +asking+ the land to be
given to her children.

10-1/2 His recollection of his enmity to Correll & M. Lutiro*.

11 His objection that any of his own family should be Administrator.

12. His suggesting of Hamm* for Administrator

13 His asking Cyrus Correll & Samuel Havener to witness the Will--

Add to all this his long settled purpose to make, substantially, such a
Will--Quote authorities--

His eagerness about it the night before, & on the day the Will was
made--his being reminded of it the day +after+--and still remaining
quiet till his death--

The Will is unquestionably as it would have been, if it had been made
before his sickness.]

Then a copy of the will and the evidence of sixteen witnesses, after which the following page of authorities:--

Illustration: The declarations of the Testator long before his
sickness, to make such a Will as he finally did make, are admissable,
and weighty evidence in support of the Will

7 Ala. 55
5 Strob. 167
7 Humph. 320
7 Ala. 519
6 Geo. 324.

Where an influence is acquired+ over a testator, by kind offices, or
persuasion, unconnected with fraud, the Will made under such influence,
would not be set aside--

2 N. J. 117
5 Strob. 167
3 Strob. 44. 552.
6 Geo. 324.
3 Denis 37.
1 Rich. 80
. Cheve, 37.
2 J.J. Mav. 340.
3 SvR. 267
1 Hanrig* 454.
2 Do. 375

A lower degree of of intellect is requisite to make a Will than to make
a contract.

21 Vt. 168
9 Iren. 99
6 Geo 324
7 B Mon. 655
3 Denis 37
9 Conn. 102. (over, on the start*)

On "+Sound mind and memory+" and also on "+opinions+" of witnesses, see.

Sowe vs Williamson 1 Green's Ch. 82
Stoan vs Maxwell 2 Green's Ch. 563.
Hunt's heirs vs Hunt 3. B. Mon. 575
M. Daniel's Will 2. J.J. Mar 331

Note--Hunt's heirs vs Hunt, above cited, contains an excellent form of
an instruction to be given to a jury, as to the weight and to the
opinions of the witnesses--][M]

[M] This was evidently written twice by Mr. Lincoln for it seems to be
the corrected page of one in the Collection of General Orendorff. This
corrected page has not the first allegation found in the rough draft:
"The widow of the testator is not a competent witness. II Hump. 565."

One of the opposing attorneys in the case was Mr. Lincoln's former law partner, Judge Stephen T. Logan, who was the acknowledged leader of the Illinois Bar for many years and from whom Mr. Lincoln derived more benefit than from any other.[N]

[N] Mr. Lincoln's first partner, John T. Stuart, enjoyed telling of his
own arrival in Springfield in 1828 from Kentucky; how the next morning
he was standing in front of the village store wondering how to introduce
himself to the community, when a well-dressed old gentleman approached
him, who, interesting himself in his welfare, inquired after his history
and business. "I am from Kentucky," answered Mr. Stuart, "and my
profession is that of a lawyer, sir. What is the prospect here?"
Throwing back his head and closing his left eye the old gentleman
reflected a moment, then replied: "Young man, d---- slim chance for that
kind of a combination here."

That there was a chance for that combination in Springfield has been most conclusively proven. Lincoln's three law partners at that place as well as himself were all from Kentucky, to say nothing of other prominent members of the bar of Springfield who came from the Blue Grass state.

Wants the jury to watch me +very closely+.

Says some Judges decide one way, and some another, in Will cases--

Comments on what passed between Testator & Mrs Herron, the day +after+
the Will was made--

Jonathan M. Daniel--"how* sixteen feet high"--

Comments on what is "a sound memory"

Comments on the fact that the Will was not in strict conformity to his
long expressed points* now*.

Comments on fact of several of the boys having died--

Jew's notion* that names* be perpetuated* on the land

Older* arguments of last term, as to new purpose to make all equal "to
stand on judgment"--

Comments on the +real+ inequality of the distribution of the property.]

Was Mr. Lincoln's experience at the bar a mere episode in his wonderful career, or was it the foundation upon which rested the whole structure of that career? He said himself that "Law is the greatest science of man. It is the best profession to develop the logical faculty and the highest platform on which man can exhibit his powers of well trained manhood."

Chicago, March 28_ 1860

Hon. W. H. Lamon.

My dear Sir:

Yours about motion to quash an indictment, was received yesterday.
I think I have* no authority but the Statute when I wrote the
Indictment--In fact, I remember but little about it. I think yet
there is no necessity for setting out the latter per +haec verba+.
Our Statute, as I think, relaxes* the high degree of **** certainty
formerly required--

I am so busy with our case on that heir, that I can not examine
authorities near as freely as you can there--

If after all, the indictment shall be quashed, it will only prove
that my _forte_ is as a Statesman, rather than as a Prosecutor*

Yours, as ever
A. Lincoln.]

MR. LINCOLN'S VIEWS OF THE AMERICAN OR KNOW-NOTHING PARTY.

That Mr. Lincoln found in the Declaration of Independence his perfect standard of political truth is perhaps in none of his utterances more conclusively shown than in a private letter to his old friend Joshua F. Speed, written in 1855, in which he says: "You enquire where I now stand. That is a disputed point. I think I am a Whig; but others say there are no Whigs, and that I am an Abolitionist. I am not a Know-Nothing! that is certain. How could I be? How can anyone who abhors the oppression of negroes be in favor of degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation we began by declaring that '_All men are created equal_.' We now practically read it, 'All men are created equal except negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control it will read, 'All men are created equal, except negroes and foreigners and Catholics.' When it comes to this, I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty,--where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy."

ACCOUNT OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR COOPER INSTITUTE SPEECH.

NEW YORK, March 20, 1872.

MY DEAR SIR,--....I send you for such use as you may deem proper
the following letter written by me when at "Old Orchard Beach" a
few years ago, giving the "truth of history" in relation to the
address of Mr. Lincoln at the Cooper Institute in this City on the
27th of February, 1860....

... We, the world, and all the coming generation of mankind down
the long line of ages, cannot know too much about Abraham Lincoln,
our martyr President.

Yours truly,
(Signed) JAMES A. BRIGGS.

MR. WARD H. LAMON,
WASHINGTON, D. C.

"In October, 1859, Messrs. Joseph H. Richards, J. M. Pettingill, and S. W. Tubbs called on me at the office of the Ohio State Agency, 25 William Street, and requested me to write to the Hon. Thomas Corwin, of Ohio, and the Hon. Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, and invite them to lecture in a course of lectures these young gentlemen proposed for the winter in Plymouth Church, Brooklyn.

"I wrote the letters as requested, and offered as compensation for each lecture, as I was authorized, the sum of two hundred dollars. The proposition to lecture was accepted by Messrs. Corwin and Lincoln. Mr. Corwin delivered his lecture in Plymouth Church as he was on his way to Washington to attend Congress. Mr. Lincoln could not lecture until late in the season, and a proposition was agreed to by the gentlemen named, and accepted by Mr. Lincoln, as the following letter will show:--

DANVILLE, ILL., November 13, 1859.

JAMES A. BRIGGS, Esq.:

DEAR SIR,--Yours of the 1st, closing with my proposition for
compromise, was duly received. I will be on hand, and in due time
will notify you of the exact day. I believe, after all, I shall
make a political speech of it. You have no objection?

I would like to know in advance, whether I am also to speak or
lecture in New York.

Very, very glad your election went right.

Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.

P. S. I am here at court, but my address is still at Springfield,
Ill.

"In due time Mr. Lincoln wrote me that he would deliver the lecture, a political one, on the evening of the 27th of February, 1860. This was rather late in the season for a lecture, and the young gentlemen who were responsible were doubtful about its success, as the expenses were large. It was stipulated that the lecture was to be in Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. I requested and urged that the lecture should be delivered at the Cooper Institute. They were fearful it would not pay expenses--three hundred and fifty dollars. I thought it would.

"In order to relieve Messrs. Richards, Pettingill, and Tubbs of all responsibility, I called upon some of the officers of the 'Young Men's Republican Union' and proposed that they should take Mr. Lincoln, and that the lecture should be delivered under their auspices. They respectfully declined.

"I next called upon Mr. Simeon Draper, then President of 'The Draper Republican Union Club of New York,' and proposed to him that his 'Union' take Mr. Lincoln and the lecture, and assume the responsibility of the expenses. Mr. Draper and his friends declined, and Mr. Lincoln was left in the hands of 'the original Jacobs.'

"After considerable discussion, it was agreed on the part of the young gentlemen that the lecture should be delivered in the Cooper Institute, if I would agree to share the expenses, if the sale of tickets (twenty-five cents each) for the lecture did not meet the outlay. To this I assented, and the lecture was advertised to be delivered in the Cooper Institute on the evening of the 27th of February, 1860.

"Mr. Lincoln read the notice of the lecture in the papers and, without any knowledge of the arrangement, was somewhat surprised to learn that he was first to make his appearance before a New York instead of a 'Plymouth Church' audience. A notice of the proposed lecture appeared in the New York papers, and the 'Times' spoke of him 'as a lawyer who had some local reputation in Illinois.'

"At my personal solicitation Mr. William Cullen Bryant presided as chairman of the meeting, and introduced Mr. Lincoln for the first time to a New York audience.

"The lecture was over, all the expenses were paid, I was handed by the gentlemen interested the sum of $4.25 as my share of the profits, as they would have called on me if there had been a deficiency in the receipts to meet expenses."

[Mr. Briggs received as his share of the profits $4.25. What the country profited by this, Mr. Lincoln's first triumph outside of his own state, has never been computed.]

THE RAIL-SPLITTER.

It has been said that the term "rail-splitter" which became a leading feature of the campaign in 1860 originated at the Chicago convention when Mr. Deland of Ohio, who seconded the nomination of Mr. Lincoln, said: "I desire to second the nomination of a man who can split rails and maul Democrats."

Mr. Delano not only seconded the nomination, but "seconded" the campaign "cry."

Gov. Oglesby one week before at the State Convention at Decatur introduced into the assemblage John Hanks, who bore on his shoulder two small rails surmounted by a banner with this inscription: "Two rails from a lot made by Abraham Lincoln and John Hanks in the Sangamon Bottom in the year 1830."

For six months Rail-splitter was heard everywhere and rails were to be seen on nearly everything, even on stationery. One of the Lincoln delegates said: "These rails represent the issue between labor free and labor slave, between democracy and aristocracy."

The Democrats disliked to hear so much about "honest Old Abe," "the rail-splitter" the "flatboatman," "the pioneer." These cries had an ominous sound in their ears. Just after the State Convention which named Lincoln as first choice of the Republicans of Illinois, an old man, devoted to the principles of Democracy and much annoyed by the demonstration in progress, approached Mr. Lincoln and said, "So you're Abe Lincoln?"--"That's my name, sir," answered Mr. Lincoln. "They say you're a self-made man," said the Democrat. "Well, yes," said Lincoln, "what there is of me is self-made."--"Well, all I've got to say," observed the old man after a careful survey of the statesman before him, "is that it was a ---- bad job."

TEMPERANCE.

On the temperance question Mr. Lincoln has been quoted by the adherents of both sides. He had no taste for spirituous liquors and when he took them it was a punishment to him, not an indulgence. In a temperance lecture delivered in 1842 Mr. Lincoln said:--"In my judgment such of us as have never fallen victims have been spared more from the absence of appetite than from any mental or moral superiority over those who have. Indeed, I believe if we take habitual drunkards as a class their heads and their hearts will bear an advantageous comparison with those of any other class."

None of his nearest associates ever saw Mr. Lincoln voluntarily call for a drink but many times they saw him take whiskey with a little sugar in it to avoid the appearance of discountenancing it to his friends. If he could have avoided it without giving offence he would gladly have done so. He was a conformist to the conventionalities of the surroundings in which he was placed.

Whether Mr. Lincoln sold liquor by the dram over the counter of the grocery store kept by himself and Berry will forever remain an undetermined question. When Douglas revived the story in one of his debates, Mr. Lincoln replied that even if it were true, there was but little difference between them, for while he figured on one side of the counter Douglas figured on the other.

Mr. Lincoln disliked sumptuary laws and would not prescribe by statute what other men should eat or drink. When the temperance men ran to the Legislature to invoke the power of the state, his voice--the most eloquent among them--was silent. He did not oppose them, but quietly withdrew from the cause and left others to manage it.

In 1854 he was induced to join the order called Sons of Temperance, but never attended a single meeting after the one at which he was initiated.

Judge Douglas once undertook to ridicule Mr. Lincoln on not drinking. "What, are you a temperance man?" he inquired. "No," replied Lincoln, "I am not a temperance man but I am temperate in this, to wit: I don't drink."

He often used to say that drinking spirits was to him like thinking of spiritualism, he wanted to steer clear of both evils; by frequent indulgence he might acquire a dangerous taste for the spirit and land in a drunkard's grave; by frequent thought of spiritualism he might become a confirmed believer in it and land in a lunatic asylum.

In 1889 Miss Kate Field wrote W. H. Lamon saying:--

Will you kindly settle a dispute about Lincoln? Lately in
Pennsylvania I quoted Lincoln to strengthen my argument against
Prohibition, and now the W. C. T. U. quote him for the other side.
What is the truth?

... As you are the best of authority on the subject of Abraham
Lincoln, can you explain why he is quoted on the Prohibition side?
Did he at any time make speeches that could be construed with total
abstinence?

To this Lamon replied:--

You ask my recollection of Mr. Lincoln's views on the question of
Temperance and Prohibition. I looked upon him as one of the safest
temperance men I ever knew. He seemed on this subject, as he was on
most others, unique in profession as well as in practice. He was
neither what might be called a drinking man, a total abstainer, nor
a Prohibitionist. My acquaintance with him commenced in 1847. He
was then and afterwards a politician. He mixed much and well with
the people. Believed what the people believed to be right was
right.

Society in Illinois at that early day was as crude as the country
was uncultivated. People then were tenacious of their natural as
well as their acquired rights and this state of things existed
until Mr. Lincoln left the State to assume the duties of President.
The people of Illinois firmly believed it was one of their
inalienable rights to manufacture, sell, and drink whiskey as it
was the sacred right of the southern man to rear, work, and whip
his own nigger,--and woe be unto him who attempted to interfere
with these rights--(as the sequel afterwards showed when Mr.
Lincoln and his friends tried to prevent the southern man from
whipping his own nigger in the territories).

I heard Mr. Lincoln deliver several temperance lectures. One
evening in Danville, Ill., he happened in at a temperance meeting,
the "Old Washingtonian Society," I think, and was called on to make
a speech. He got through it well, after which he and other members
of the Bar who were present were invited to an entertainment at the
house of Dr. Scott. Wine and cake were handed around. Mrs. Scott,
in handing Mr. Lincoln a glass of homemade wine, said, "I hope you
are not a teetotaler, Mr. Lincoln, if you are a temperance
lecturer." "By no means, my dear madam," he replied; "for I do
assure you (with a humorous smile) I am very fond of my 'Todd' (a
play upon his wife's maiden name). I by no means oppose the use of
wine. I only regret that it is not more in universal use. I firmly
believe if our people were to habitually drink wine, there would be
little drunkenness in the country." In the conversation which
afterward became general, Judge David Davis, Hon. Leonard Swett,
and others present joining in the discussion, I recollect his
making this remark: "I am an apostle of temperance only to the
extent of coercing moderate indulgence and prohibiting excesses by
all the moral influences I can bring to bear."

LINCOLN'S SHREWDNESS.

Perhaps no act of Mr. Lincoln's administration showed his political shrewdness more clearly than the permission he gave for the rebel legislature of Virginia to meet for the purpose of recalling the state troops from General Lee's Army. This permission was given in a note to General Weitzel. Mr. Lincoln told Governor Francis H. Pierpont that "its composition occupied five hours of intense mental activity." Governor Pierpont says he was the loyal Governor of Virginia at the time, and Mr. Lincoln deemed it necessary to say something to him about so extraordinary a measure as permitting the rebel legislature to assemble when a loyal legislature with a loyal governor was in existence and was recognized by the federal government. Mr. Lincoln's note to General Weitzel read:--

"It has been intimated to me that the gentlemen who have acted as the legislature of Virginia in support of the rebellion may now desire to assemble at Richmond and take measures to withdraw the Virginia troops and other support from resistance to the general government. If they attempt it, give them permission and protection until, if at all, they attempt some action hostile to the United States, in which case you will notify them, give them reasonable time to leave, and at the end of which time arrest any who remain. Allow Judge Campbell to see this, but do not make it public."

To write this note occupied all Mr. Lincoln's time from 9 P. M. till 2 A. M.--"five hours of uninterrupted stillness."

Mr. Lincoln foresaw that an attempt would be made to construe his permission into a virtual recognition of the authority of the rebel legislature. He steered clear of this recognition by not speaking of them "as a legislature," but as, "the gentlemen who have acted as the legislature of Virginia in support of rebellion," and explained afterward when it was misconstrued, that he "did this on purpose to exclude the assumption that I was recognizing them as a rightful body. I dealt with them as men having power de facto to do a specific thing."

LETTERS.

FAIRFIELD, CONN., Jan. 9, 1861.

W. H. LAMON, Esq.:

DEAR SIR,--Yours of December 26th duly received. Connecticut is
death on secession. I regard it the duty of the Government to
uphold its authority in the courts as effectually south as it has
done north if it can, and to hold its forts and public grounds at
whatever cost and collect the revenue ditto. There is but one
feeling here, I believe, though in the city of New York there are
those who sustain her actions, that secession is _disgraceful_ as
well as ruinous on the part of South Carolina. I glory in Lincoln
now for I feel that he is the most suitable man of our party for
this terrible ordeal through which he has to pass. I rely with
entire confidence upon his urbanity, gentleness, goodness, and
ability to convince his enemies of his perfect uprightness as well
as his firmness and courage. I do not expect him to be as warlike
as Jackson, but I look for the calm courage befitting a Judge on
the bench. With Lincoln as President and Scott as
Lieutenant-General, I have no fears but the dignity of the
Government will be sustained after the 4th of March. What is being
done to protect Lincoln personally at Washington before and after
Inauguration? Is there not a propriety in some of his friends
making it their especial business to escort him without even his
knowing it? You know these Southern men better than I do. If there
is propriety in such a thing, or need for it, rather, I would meet
you at Washington when he goes on and stay with you while it is
needed.

Yours truly,
BRONSON MURRAY.

NEWARK, OHIO, Feby. 14, 1861.

FRIEND LAMON,--I concluded to drop you this note, on learning
that you in company with our mutual friend Judge Davis were with
the President Elect on his tour to the Seat of Government. I was
led to this through fear of the failure of some correspondence to
reach your eye, the drift of it was to secure the appointment of
postmaster at this city for your humble servant. Now if you have
not been bored to death already by friends who are your _humble
servants_, say a kind word for me. I have asked for the Post Office
here for some good reasons. Poor enough to ask it and capable to
fill it ... and have my second papers for being _Black_ Republican.
I might add that the Citizens would not look upon my appointment as
an overt _act_ against this City. I was removed from the Post
Office Dept. in 1855 for opposition to Judge Douglas for removing
the Missouri Compromise.... I would beg to be remembered to Messrs.
Lincoln and Davis. Wishing you all a pleasant trip, safe arrival
and a smooth sea in the future.

Yours very truly,
JAS. H. SMITH.

The following letter may be of interest as showing the impression made at a time when opinions of Mr. Lincoln were in the formative state. New York City, as a whole, was unfriendly to Lincoln. Written when Lincoln was in New York on his way to Washington.

NEW YORK, Feby. 20, 1861.

DEAR LAMON,--I was glad today to recognize you; and drop you a
line instead of a call when you must be so weary.

Just before we met, my father and old Ald^{n} Purdy (both
wheel-horses in the Dem^{t} party here) were canvassing matters
politic. Purdy said he had seen Lincoln and liked the man; said he
was much better looking and a finer man than he expected to see;
and that he kept aloof from old politicians here and seemed to have
a mind of his own. Old Judge Benson too (who was with us) is a
Democrat and was equally pleased with Lincoln. He says Lincoln has
an eye that shows power of mind and will, and he thinks he will
carry us safely.

I repeat these comments, because they came from behind the scenes
of the popular apprehensions whence at present our friend Lincoln
is excluded, and I feel sure he will be pleased to know how
favorable an impression he makes....

Tell Lincoln to use his _own_ judgment and be bold and firm. The
_people_ of all parties here are prepared to sustain _him_. But he
may beware of all old politicians of both parties.

Because he is a fresh man and an able one he was taken up. Let his
freshness enter his policy also

Your friend,
BRONSON MURRAY.

SPRINGFIELD, Feb. 22, 1861.

HILL,--This is Dick Gilmer of Pike--he is to that neck of _Woods_
what you or Dick Oglesby are to this region of Country.... Do what
you can consistently for him--and oblige

Your friend,
O. M. HATCH.

BLOOMINGTON (ILL.), Feby. 25, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--Nothing of moment has occurred since your departure.
Do write me immediately explaining the cause of your mysterious
transit through Maryland.

Here let me say a word about Washington. It is the worst place in
the world to judge correctly of anything. A ship might as well
learn its bearings in the Norway Maelstrom, as for you people to
undertake to judge anything correctly upon your arrival there.

You are the subject of every artful and selfish appliance. You
breathe an air pregnant with panic. You have to decide before you
can discover the secret springs of the action presented to you.

There is but one rule and that is to stand by and adopt the
judgment you formed before you arrived there.

The atmosphere of Washington and the country are as unlike as the
atmosphere of Greenland and the tropics.

The country is moved and moves by its judgment--Washington by its
artificial life. The country really knows nothing of Washington and
Washington knows nothing of the country. Washington is drunk, the
Country is sober and the appeal from your judgment there to your
home judgment is simply an appeal from Philip drunk to Philip
sober.

Please give these ideas in better language than I have done to Mr.
Lincoln. I know his sound home judgment, the only thing I fear is
the bewilderment of that city of rumors. I do ache to have him do
well.

Yours truly,
LEONARD SWETT.

WASHINGTON, March 2, 1861.

DEAR SIR,--I have received your request and shall take great
pleasure to do what you wish in respect to Delaware.

Very truly your friend,
WINFIELD SCOTT.

WARD H. LAMON, Esq.
DANVILLE, ILL., March 5, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--Have just read Lincoln's inaugural.--It is just right
and pleases us much. Not a word too much or too little. He assumes
the tone and temper of a statesman of the olden time. God bless
him--and keep him safely to the end.--Are you coming home to see us
ere you depart hence? You could unfold to us a chapter that would
be spicy, rich and rare.

We were at first disposed to regret Lincoln's hasty trip from
Harrisburgh. But the action of the crowd at Baltimore convinces us
that it was the most prudent course to pursue....

O. F. HARMON.

ON BOARD STEAMER WARSAW, March 8, 1861.

DEAR LAMON,--I got home a week ago. I have heard a good many
things said pro and con about the new administration, and as far as
I have heard the mass of the people have confidence in Mr. Lincoln,
and this applies to the people of the border slave states as well
as the free states. But it is not worth while to disguise the fact
that a large majority of the free states in the Northwest are
opposed to _Ultra measures_ and the people of the slave states are
almost unanimous against coercion. Many appointments that have been
made by the new administration were unfortunate. It must
necessarily be so with all administrations, and Mr. Lincoln has had
more than his share of trouble in making his selection. I fear that
a majority of the Senators on our side care but little for his
success further than it can contribute to their own glory, and they
have had such men appointed to office as they felt would serve
their own purpose without any reference to Mr. Lincoln and but
little for the party....

As far as I could see when at Washington, to have been an original
friend of Mr. Lincoln was an unpardonable offence with Members of
Congress....

I have the utmost confidence in the success of Mr. Lincoln but I
do not expect his support to come from the radical element of our
party....

Your true friend,
HAWKINS TAYLOR.

HON. W. H. LAMON.

STATE OF ILLINOIS,
SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
SPRINGFIELD, March, 18, 1861.

WARD H. LAMON:

DEAR HILL,--My brother is foolish enough to desire an
office.--When you see him, and this, if he still _insists_ that he
has as good right to a place as anybody else, I want you to do for
him, what you would for me. No more, no less--...

Your friend,
O. M. HATCH.

March 19, 1861.

MY DEAR COLONEL,--When I left Washington I handed to Judge Davis
a letter setting forth what I wished him to do for me in Washington
if it met his views.

I desired to be detailed as acting Inspector General of the Army in
place of Emory promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of the Cavalry. This
appointment needs only an order of the Secretary of War. Mr.
Cameron promised Judge Davis to attend to it at once, but I presume
he has overlooked it. Will you do me the favor to see Cameron on
the subject? He knows all about it and precisely what to do.

I hope you are having a good time in Washington. I presume you are
as you seem to have very much enjoyed the excitement along the road
and in Washington. I shall always cherish a most pleasant
remembrance of our journey and of the agreeable acquaintances and
friends I made on the road. Among the last I have rated you and
Judge Davis with peculiar satisfaction and I hope you will always
believe that I shall cherish the warmest personal regard for you.

Very truly your friend,
JOHN POPE.

MARCH 23, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--The public mind is prepared to hear of the evacuation
of Sumter, but it is a great humiliation. Still if Mr. Lincoln
gives the order you may swear that such is the public confidence in
him it will be at once taken as a necessity of the situation.

W. H. HANNA.

BLOOMINGTON, ILL., March 30, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--I saw the "Telegraphic Announcement" of your
prospective trip to Charleston before your kind and cordial letter
was received. Yesterday, the "Telegraph" announced your return to
Washington, which gratified us all. The papers represent you as
quite a Lion. I have no doubt you bear your honors meekly....

I am anxious about the country. Are we to be divided as a nation?
The thought is terrible. I never entertained a question of your
success in getting to and from Charleston.

How do things look at Washington? Are the appointments
satisfactory? No foreign appointments for the border slave states?
Is this policy a wise one? Off here it does not look so to me.

Did Hawkins Taylor of Iowa get anything?...

Your friend,
D. DAVIS.

URBANA, Apr. 6, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--The Judge and I are now attending Court at this
place, the only wreck of that troupe which was once the life and
soul of professional life in this country. I see Judge McLean has
departed this life. The question is who shall succeed to the ermin
so worthily worn by him. Why should not David Davis who was so
instrumental in giving position to him who now holds the matter in
the hollow of his hand? Dear Hill, if retribution, justice, and
gratitude are to be respected, Lincoln can do nothing less than to
tender the position to Judge Davis. I want you to suggest it to
Lincoln.... Of course you will. I know your noble nature too well
to believe that you would not think of a suggestion of this kind as
soon as myself. Write me.

Yours,
L. WELDON.

BLOOMINGTON, Apr. 7, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--Why don't you write. Tell us something.

By the way, since McLean's death the friends of Judge Davis think
Lincoln ought to put him on Supreme Bench. Now I want you to find
out when this appointment will be made. Also tell Lincoln that
Judge Davis will be an applicant, so that he may not ignore the
fact or act without that knowledge. I wish, too, _you_ would
_without fail_ go immediately to Cameron, Caleb B. Smith, and Gov.
Seward and tell them Davis will be an applicant. Tell Smith what I
know, that it was through the Illinois fight and Judge Davis that
Judd went out and he went in, and we think we ought to be
remembered for it. Now, Hill, I know you are bored to death, but
our mutual regard for the Judge must make us doubly industrious and
persistent in this case.

Write immediately what the chances are, how Lincoln feels about it,
and what we ought to do.

Yours truly,
LEONARD SWETT.

WASHINGTON, April 8, 1861.

HON. WARD H. LAMON:

MY DEAR SIR,--I cannot deny the request of the Reverend Mr.
Wright, so far as to enclose the within letter. I do not know the
person recommended personally; but the Reverend gentleman who
writes the letter is a most estimable and worthy man, whom I should
be delighted to gratify if I felt at liberty to recommend any one,
which I do not under existing circumstances.

I am very respectfully your obedient servant,
S. A. DOUGLAS.

ST. LOUIS, MO., April 11, 1861.

COL. WARD H. LAMON:

DEAR SIR,--On the 30th of July last I was assaulted by
twenty-five outlaws in Texas--with but one _fighting_ friend to
stand by me. I gave an honorable compromise, and came forth from my
stronghold, in the presence of my would-be hangmen, a daring
Republican and a fearless Lincoln man. But it afterwards became
necessary for me to leave Texas or be _suspended_. As I preferred
dying in a horizontal position, _I left_, came to St. Louis and am
now at the service of Mr. Lincoln and _our_ country. If war is made
I want a showing in Texas. There are many true and loyal men there.
A few thousand soldiers thrown in there to form a nucleus around
which the Houston Union men can rally will soon form a barrier to
rebellion in the Southwest. When the "ball" opens I would like to
be authorized to raise five hundred men to occupy a position on Red
River at the mouth of Bogy Creek.

What can you do to assist me in doing something of the kind. I will
look for a reply to this in a few days.

Yours truly,
J. E. LEMON.

BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, April 16, 1861.

COL. W. H. LAMON:

DEAR HILL,--I send you the result of a public meeting here last
night. We are, thank God, all right....

Secession, disunion and even fault finding is done with in this
City. We shall all stand firmly by the administration and fight it
out.

On last Monday we had a few fights, for just at that time we could
not and would not allow a single word of fault found with the
administration; the result was that three Democrats got thrashed.
Just then we were hearing the news of Fort Sumter, now we are all
on one side.

I write this that you may know the exact truth about us. If there
is any service I can render the government--count me always on hand
to do it. Write me if you can get time.

Your friend,
W. H. HANNA.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, April 19, 1861.

DEAR SIR,--Sufficient companies have been formed in Indiana or
nearly so to fill the six Regiments of our state. They of course
contain all classes of persons, but many of them are our _best_ and
_dearest_ youths with whom it has cost many a sigh and burning tear
to part. Thousands more will soon be made ready to join. We are
now of course intensely anxious about the Commandants and suppose
that the President will have the appointment of those officers, and
my object in writing this is to request you _without fail_ to see
the President and General Cameron and say to them that we are all
sensitive upon the appointments of the Brigadier General of this
state, and say to them that the appointment of a mere civilian will
give extreme dissatisfaction not only to the troops but to their
friends.

I name no person of that character who is an aspirant but I regret
to say that there are some of that character here. From the
appointment of one of whom, may God in his infinite mercy save us.

I believe every man in our State will arm, and those who refuse
will be hung and their property confiscated. There is a feeling all
through the State of the most intense character, wholly
indescribable. I can do nothing of business. I am now helping our
200 men off, encouraging and counselling them what I can. Unless
some change in my feelings now strained to the utmost pitch, I
shall not be far behind them.

Our boys are taking the oath in the Hall of the House, and the
telegraph brings intelligence of the fighting at Baltimore and the
burning of Harper's Ferry. The boys take the oath with a look of
determination to do or die.

All our fears now are for Washington. May God preserve you until
succor comes.

Ever yours,
J. P. USHER.

I am so excited that I can scarcely write legibly, but say to the
President that the _entire power_ of Indiana with all its men,
women and children, money and goods, will be sacrificed if
necessary to sustain the government; the treachery of Virginia only
intensifies the feeling.

J. P. U.

TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA, May 5, 1861.

W. H. LAMON, Esq.:

DEAR SIR,--Since I wrote to you on the 19th ult. I have been at
Indianapolis endeavoring to aid the Governor in such way as I
could. My desire has been to prevent rash counsels from being
followed and from incurring unnecessary expense, and I think I have
had some influence in keeping down extravagance. We are appalled
every day by some new development of the dreadful conspiracy which
has been formed for the entire overthrow of the Government. I hope
its worst has now been realized and that whatever may occur
hereafter will be for the better. Of one thing the President may
rest perfectly satisfied, that the entire voice of Indiana is for
the most vigorous prosecution of the War. I have no doubt but that
50,000 men could be raised in a month. All business has been
suspended and the people do not expect to do anything until the war
is ended. My desire is that it be pushed as fast as it possibly
can, not rashly, but rapidly accompanied by such necessary severity
as will be a terror to evil-doing. We have nothing to expect from
Kentucky or Missouri, they remain partly quiet because of their
proximity to the free states. My opinion is that they will not
revolt now, or if they do, it will be in that partial way to avoid
any entire destruction for the industrial interests of those
states. However that may be, they refuse to answer to the call of
the President for volunteers and I am totally opposed to their
being suffered to remain in the attitude like cow-boys of the
Revolution. I am for suspending all trade with them, if they will
not furnish their quota of troops.

If you please, and think it will not be deemed to be too
impertinent in me, say to the President that my opinion is that the
troops at Cairo should stop all boats of every kind passing down
the river and that no provisions whatever should be permitted to be
shipped to any state refusing to furnish their quota of troops. It
will prevent violence here: throughout Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois
most of the people think that trade of all kinds with the rebels
should cease, and that can only be accomplished by the proclamation
of the President. I hope he will make the proclamation. Our people
want it, but his advisers there and his own wisdom, in which I have
all confidence, will control. The people of the West expect him,
nay all the civilized world expects him to press forward with
undeviating firmness until the rebellion is crushed. We possess
nothing too valuable for the sacrifice. Let us not be rash, but to
the best advantage let us put the lives and worldly goods of us all
upon the altar for the sacrifice, for the preservation of the
government. Neither life nor goods will be valuable or worth
preservation if the Constitution is to be overthrown. No villainy
like this has ever occurred in the history of man, or one that
deserves such terrible punishment. I believe it is said in history,
though fabulous, that no spear of grass ever grew where Attila
stepped his foot. I do most religiously hope that there will be a
foot heavy enough to let down upon old Virginia to stop the growth
of grass for a time. The evil must be met, and we were never in a
better condition to test our patriotism.

Western Virginia has a Convention on the 14th; how will it do for
Indiana to send a Commissioner? I think I could get Governor Morton
to send R. W. Thompson. Suppose you ask Lincoln what he thinks of
it. Thompson has been taking great interest in the war, making
speeches and putting the people right. I have no doubt he will be
much flattered at an appointment to the loyal Virginians, and if it
is thought best at Washington, I think I can have it done. I shall
be at Indianapolis for a day or two, when I shall return and be at
the Charleston and Danville, Illinois, Courts for the next two
weeks. Don't you wish you could be there?

Most truly yours,
J. P. USHER.

BLOOMINGTON, ILL., May 6, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--Your anxious and harassing state at Washington during
those perilous times has so occupied your time and attention that
you have not had any leisure to write. I have not heard from you
for three weeks. For the last three weeks I have been holding court
in Lincoln. The excitement about enlisting nearly broke the court
up for two weeks. I was at Springfield two days week before last
and found everything astir. I need not say that you were missed at
Lincoln by me and everybody else. Your absence was regretted by
everyone and yet everyone thought you deserved your good fortune.

I found Trumbull very unpopular with the members of the Legislature
and other parties at Springfield. Douglas is in the topmost wave.
Douglas would beat Trumbull before this legislature. My course last
summer in using my best endeavors to elect Trumbull does not meet
with my own approbation.

This war and its dreadful consequences affects my spirits.... It is
very lonely going round the circuit without you.

DAVID DAVIS.

DEAR HILL,--I have written you about every week since I left
Urbana. Dan Voorhees has been here for two days. He is a devoted
friend of yours. He feels badly about the state of the country but
is for the maintenance of the Government....

Mr. [Joseph G.] Cannon the new Prosecutor is a pleasant, unassuming
gentleman and will in time make a good Prosecutor.[O]

[O] This prophecy was certainly fulfilled.

I need not tell you that it is lonesome here--on account of your
absence. This is my last court here and no lawyer is practising
here who was practising here when I held my first court. This is
emphatically a world of change.

Your friend as ever,
DAVID DAVIS.

WASHINGTON, D. C., June 4, 1861.

COLONEL LAMON:

MY DEAR SIR,--I would be obliged to you to procure for me that
Presidential interview as soon as practicable. I do not wish to
trouble you, but I am in a considerable hurry. I wish to say some
things to the President about matters in North Carolina. There are
some Union men there yet.

Respectfully yours,
CHAS. HENRY FOSTER.

BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, August 25, 1861.

COL. WARD H. LAMON:

DEAR HILL,--We are making great preparations for war in this
State, and will have twenty thousand men in camp, besides those
already in Missouri, in a very short time. There is a universal
demand for the removal of Mr. Cameron, and I think after all, the
sooner it is done the better. Mr. Lincoln certainly has no idea of
the universal disposition of the whole people on this subject. I
feel that Cameron wants to render the war unpopular by
mismanagement, for they all know that if this war is successfully
prosecuted that all the scoundrels cannot keep Mr. Lincoln from
being re-elected President.

Do tell Mr. Lincoln this thing, tell him also that he has the
confidence of all parties, except the traitors....

I know Lincoln well enough to know that he will make no mistakes,
if he will consult his own will and act up to it bravely and
without hesitation. It is the best time in the world to be
President, but he must be all President. Halfway measures will only
now tend to our ruin and disgrace.

I fear Trumbull is a rascal,--the idea of his being unprepared in
the Senate to vote for the resolution approving the act of the
President, has killed him off. I will bet you a bottle of wine that
he sees the day he will want to exchange that little speech....

I am perhaps too impatient, and I am besides under some personal
obligations to Mr. Cameron, but in this fight I care nothing about
obligations of friendship in opposition to the welfare of the
country. No one man nor any number of men can in my estimation be
allowed for one moment to stand in the way of good government.

Excuse me for all this and believe me in everything. I am,

Your friend,
W. A. HANNA.
The city is full of soldiers and we are all marching left foot
foremost.

W. H. H.

WILLARD'S HOTEL, 7 P. M. Aug. 30, 1861.

DEAR SIR,--General Scott notified me that if I would make an
arrangement with the President to receive the Fort Sumter Garrison
at some definite time, he would be most happy to be present at the
reception. My men are at leisure either to-morrow or Monday, or in
fact any time during the next week. Will you have the kindness to
arrange it and let me know the result? I will call at this hotel
for your answer.

Yours very truly,
A. DOUBLEDAY.

TO COL. WARD H. LAMON.

FORT LAFAYETTE, Oct. 24, 1861.

MY DEAR SIR,--It is nearly _three months_ since I have been
seized and held as a close prisoner by the Government of the United
States. No charge ever has--none can be--preferred against me,--and
yet I am robbed of my liberty--separated from my family and home,
and have been subjected to irreparable pecuniary loss. Is it
possible that your friend Mr. Lincoln can permit such acts to be
done in his name and under his administration? It is not possible
for me to give you in a brief letter a just view of my relations to
the Government or of its conduct to me, but I ask you to get the
President in company with yourself to examine my correspondence
with the War and State Departments, commencing on the nineteenth of
September. After their perusal I think you will agree with me, that
no man has ever within the limits of the United States been more
unjustly deprived of his liberty. In truth, the President and
yourself will reach the conclusion that the _honor_ and _good
faith_ of the Government demand my release.

Yours truly,
CHAS. J. FAULKNER.

In 1862 Hawkins Taylor wrote:--

Thinking back to the Presidential Campaign I cannot help but think
how _strange_ things have turned. I was an original Lincoln man,
worked for him before, at, and in the State Convention for the
nomination of Delegates to the Chicago Convention. Grimes scouted
the idea of such a country lawyer being President. When the Chicago
Convention came off Colonel Warren, knowing that I was scarce of
funds and knowing my anxiety for the nomination of Mr. Lincoln,
sent me a ticket to Chicago and back. I pledged a watch that cost
me $128 for money to pay expenses there and to our State
Convention.

Colonel Warren also went to Chicago, and to _my own certain
knowledge, rendered most important services to Mr. Lincoln_. At the
State Convention he was put at the head of the electoral ticket,
canvassed the entire state, made more than _one hundred speeches_,
spent his money by the hundreds. While Grimes made two or three
speeches, _grumbled_ privately at the nomination, damned the
President upon all occasions since he took his seat. Yet Grimes has
controlled the entire patronage of the State of Iowa to the
exclusion of Colonel Warren and all his friends. How can Mr.
Lincoln expect friends in Iowa under this state of things?

ILLINOIS, Feb. 12, 1862.

... By the bye I do not care how soon you come back to Illinois
provided always that I should hate for Hale Grimes & Co. to have
their way in driving off every one who does not believe in negro
stealing.... Yet I feel a good deal like they profess to feel. I
should be glad to see the poor negroes free and provided for, but
the abolition leaders seem to me to entertain more hatred to the
owners than love for the negroes, and to be willing to sacrifice
Whites, Negroes, Country and Constitution to the gratification of
their ambition and malignity.

I feel very glad at the progress the war is now making as I do hope
the present prospect of speedy success will enable Lincoln and
other conservative Republicans and Democrats to set at defiance the
ravings of the abolitionists and universal confiscation men. If
their mouths can be stopped I have now good hope that the union can
soon be restored and that a few months will bring daylight out of
the troubles of the Country....

Yours respectfully,
S. T. LOGAN.

OFFICE CHIEF QUARTER-MASTER
DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF
NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 8, 1862.

DEAR HILL,--I have given both our Representatives from here
letters of introduction to you. Messrs. Flanders and Hahn. You will
find Flanders old enough to take care of himself, but I desire that
you be especially attentive to Hahn as I want him to defend Mr.
Lincoln. He is very popular here and has very considerable
influence and can do Mr. Lincoln a great deal of good. See that he
falls into the right hands,--men who support the policy of the
administration. Both men are now right and I depend on our friends
to keep them right. Let me hear from you.

As ever your friend,
J. WILSON SHAFFER.

Quietly say to Lincoln to cultivate these men as they both desire
to find out what he wants and they will do it.

J. W. S.

12 NORTH A STREET, Feb. 26, 1863.

MY DEAR SIR,--Mr. J. N. Carpenter, who is a pay-master in the
Navy, has always borne and does now bear the character of a
truthfully upright and veracious man. I am requested to say this of
him to you and I give my testimony accordingly without knowing what
the object may be of getting it. He is a member of the true church
which believes in the ancient gospel, and you are related by
marriage to the same establishment. If you can do any good for Mr.
C. you will recollect that it is done unto them of the household of
faith and you will no doubt do it with the more alacrity when you
remember that Satan also takes care of his own.

I am most respectfully yours, &c.,
HON. W. H. LAMON. J. S. BLACK.

DECATUR, ILL., March 24, 1863.

COLONEL WARD,--Received a letter yesterday from Judge Davis who
informs me that you and Swett joined him heartily in efforts to
secure my promotion, that this was all done without my knowledge or
encouragement, from pure motives of personal attachment and kind
old remembrances. Allow me, Sir, to thank you kindly for this
disinterested and zealous effort to benefit and honor me. I did not
deserve the honor. I will try to do my best, however, and save my
friends and self from disgrace. I learn you are prospering and are
unchangeably the same. I hope some day to meet you again when our
Country will allow us all once more to feel happy and at rest.

I go to the field to-day, although I am far from well....

Do not forget to remember me to the President cordially. May God
spare his life many years yet. I hope he never despairs or falters
under his heavy burden.

Most respectfully
Your friend,
R. J. OGLESBY.

WARD H. LAMON,
Marshal of D. C.

NASHVILLE, January 10, 1865.

TO WARD H. LAMON:

DEAR SIR,--I am anxious to have a young Philadelphia lawyer made
captain of the regular army, and I know of no one so likely to
present the matter directly to Mr. Stanton or the President as
yourself. Will you oblige me by attending to the matter? I am
suffering from a fall and unable to get to Washington.

Most respectfully your obedient servant,
J. CATRON.

KENTUCKY, January 23, 1865.

WARD H. LAMON, Esq.:

MY DEAR SIR,--....Please remember me to Mr. Lincoln and thank him
for his great kindness shown me during my last visit to your city.
I do hope and pray that he may stand firm to the end of this wicked
Rebellion, and while he administers mercy so freely that he will
not forget _justice_. I am in favor of _mercy_, but never at the
expense of _justice_. I know he is magnanimous. He is too much so
sometimes, I fear. But I had rather trust him in this great crisis
than any other man living. May God give him wisdom to direct, mercy
to temper, and justice to balance the mighty interests of humanity
that tremble in the balance!

I should be happy to hear from you at an early date.

With kindest wishes for your health and prosperity,

I am, dear Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
D. P. HENDERSON.

CHICAGO, February 10, 1865.

DEAR SIR,--Enclosed is a letter which I wish you to place in the
hands of President Lincoln in person.

I fear it will not get to him until action is had.

I am very sorry to trouble him, but my friends demand it of me. I
told them that you would put it in his hands yourself.

Your obedient servant,
JNO. WENTWORTH.

BLOOMINGTON, ILL., April 4, 1865.[P]

[P] Only ten days before the Assassination.

COL. WARD H. LAMON:

DEAR HILL,--....I am going with Governor Oglesby to visit the
armies of Grant and Sherman, and shall call on you in passing.

We have glorious news, and am feeling happy over it.

I hope the President will keep out of danger; the chivalry are a
greater set of scoundrels than he thinks them to be.

Mr. Lincoln's personal safety is of such vast importance to the
country at this time, that his friends feel more or less solicitous
when they read of his "going to the front." But he has made a
glorious trip this time.

Your friend,
W. H. HANNA.

RELIGION.

January 31, 1874.

REV. HENRY WARD BEECHER:

MY DEAR SIR,--My attention has been directed to a "Review of the
Life of Lincoln" which appeared in the "Christian Union." This
paper was by many attributed to your pen; it certainly must have
received your editorial sanction.

I do not conceal the fact that some of its criticisms touched me
sharply; but I determined, after no little deliberation, that it
was better to submit in silence to whatever might be said or
written of that biography. It happens, however, that certain
lectures delivered by Mr. Herndon of Illinois have renewed the
discussion of Mr. Lincoln's unbelief, and incident to that
discussion some of the bitterest enemies of my own have taken
occasion to renew their assaults upon me for what my honest duty as
a biographer made it necessary for me to record in regard to so
important an element in Mr. Lincoln's character.

Many of these self-appointed critics I know, and have long known.
Their motives need no interpretation. Their hostility to me is very
great, but it fails to equal the treachery with which they betrayed
Mr. Lincoln while living, or the hypocrisy with which they chant
his eulogies when dead.

Their malignment of the lamented President during the most anxious
and trying period of his administration was so outrageous and
vindictive that if Booth had wrapped his bullet in a shred of their
correspondence he might have lodged a vindication of his crime in
the brain of his victim. But these men could have no connection
with this letter were it not that in this assault upon my character
they have claimed the authority of the "Union" to sustain one of
their unjust charges. I trust you will pardon the earnestness with
which I protest against your conclusions as to myself, both because
of their intrinsic injustice, and the sanction they have since
given to the expression of others who can know nothing of the
dignity and impartiality which belongs to honest criticism.

When the life of Lincoln was written it was my honest purpose to
give to the world a candid, truthful statement of all facts and
incidents of his life of which I was possessed, or could, by
diligent investigation, procure, so as to give a true history of
that wonderful man. I was well aware from the first that by
pursuing such a course I would give offence to some; for who that
ever had courage enough to write or utter great truths, since the
commencement of the Christian era to the present time, has not been
held up to public scorn and derision for his independence? Knowing
this and yet believing that I knew Mr. Lincoln as well, and knew as
much about him as any man living, I undertook to furnish biography,
facts, truth, history--not eulogy--believing then, as I believe
now, that the whole truth might be told of him and yet he would
appear a purer, better, and greater man than there is left living.
But he was human, composed of flesh and blood, and to him, as to
others, belonged amiable weaknesses and some of the small sins
incident to men. He was not perfect as a man, yet with all his
humanity he was better than any other man I ever knew or expect to
know. He was not a Christian in the orthodox sense of the term, yet
he was as conscientiously religious as any man. I think I am
justified in saying that had Mr. Lincoln been called upon to
indicate in what manner the biography of him should be written, he
would have preferred that no incident or event of his life should
be omitted; that every incident and event of his history and every
characteristic of his nature should be presented with photographic
accuracy. He would have been content that the veil of obscurity
should be withdrawn from his early life. All that was rude in it
could detract nothing from the career which he afterwards so
wonderfully accomplished. The higher elements of his character, as
they were developed and wrought their effect, could have lost
nothing in the world's judgment by a contrast, however strong, with
the weaker and cruder elements of his nature. His life was a type
of the society in which he lived, and with the progress and
development of that society, advanced and expanded with a
civilization which changed the unpeopled West to a land of churches
and cities, wealth and civilization.

In your comment upon that part of the biography which treats of Mr.
Lincoln's religion you say:--"A certain doubt is cast upon his
argument by the heartlessness of it. We cannot avoid an impression
that an anti-Christian animus inspires him." And you further say,
"He does not know what Lincoln was, nor what religion is." That I
did not know what Mr. Lincoln was, I must take leave to contradict
with some emphasis; that I do not know what religion is, in the
presence of so many illustrious failures to comprehend its true
character, I may be permitted to doubt. Speaking of Mr. Lincoln in
reference to this feature of his character, I express the decided
opinion that he was an eminently moral man. Regarding him as a
moral man, with my views upon the relations existing between the
two characteristics, I have no difficulty in believing him a
religious man! Yet he was not a Christian. He possessed, it is
true, a system of faith and worship, but it was one which Orthodox
Christianity stigmatizes as a false religion.

It surely cannot be a difficult matter to determine whether a man
who lived so recently and so famously was a Christian or not. If he
was a Christian he must have been sincere, for sincerity is one of
the first of Christian virtues, and if sincere he must have availed
himself of the promises of our Lord by a public profession of His
faith, baptism in His name and membership of His church. Did Mr.
Lincoln do this? No one pretends that he did, and those who
maintain that he was nevertheless a Christian must hold that he may
follow Jesus and yet deny Him; that he may be ashamed to own his
Redeemer and yet claim His intercession; that he may serve Him
acceptably, forsaking nothing, acknowledging nothing, repenting
nothing.

When it is established by the testimony of the Christian Ministry
that sinners may enter Heaven by a broad back gate like this, few
will think it worth while to continue in the straight and narrow
path prescribed by the Word of God. They who would canonize Mr.
Lincoln as a saint should pause and reflect a brief moment upon the
incalculable injury they do the cause which most of them profess to
love. It would certainly have been pleasant to me to have closed
without touching upon his religious opinions; but such an omission
would have violated the fundamental principle upon which every line
of the book is traced. Had it been possible to have truthfully
asserted that he was a member of the Church of Christ or that he
believed in the teachings of the New Testament, the facts would
have been proclaimed with a glow of earnest and unfeigned
satisfaction.

In conclusion I may say that my friendship for Mr. Lincoln was of
no recent hot-house growth. Unlike that of many who have made me
the subject of hostile criticism, it antedates the beginning of his
presidential term and the dawn of his political triumphs. I had the
good fortune to be in intimate association with his private life
when it was humble and obscure, and I was near him too in the
darkest hour of his executive responsibility, until, indeed, the
first rays of God-given peace broke upon the land. I can say, with
truth that none can assail, that I retained his confidence unshaken
as he retained my affections unbroken until his life was offered up
as a crowning sacrifice to domestic discord at the very threshold
of his and the nation's triumph. Is it, therefore, likely that
words of mine, written or spoken, should do purposed injustice to
his memory? With the most profound respect, I am

Very truly your obedient servant,
WARD H. LAMON.

* * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Page xxv: The date 1661 has been changed to 1861.

Page 24: "at Harrisburg to chose one companion"--"chose" has been replaced with "choose".

The following line of the Table of Contents has been moved from the first heading in CHAPTER II to the end of CHAPTER I:

"Time between Election and Departure for Washington 28".