"Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battlefield; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect a continuance of years, with large increase of freedom. "No human council hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath, nevertheless, remembered mercy. "It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to our beneficent Father, who dwells in the heavens; and I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions, justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the Nation, and restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union." In a letter written to Mrs. Eliza P. Gurney, dated September 30, 1864, the following passage occurs: "I am much indebted to the good Christian people of the country for their constant prayers and consolations, and to no one of them more than yourself. The purposes of the Almighty are perfect and must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible war long before this; but God knows best and has ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom and our own errors therein; meanwhile, we must work earnestly in the best light He gives us, trusting that so working conduces to the great end He so ordains. Surely He intends some great good to follow this mighty convulsion which no mortal could make, and no mortal could stay. Your people, the Friends, have had, and are having, very great trials on principles and faith opposed to both war and oppression. They can only practically oppose oppression by war. In this hard dilemma some have chosen one horn and some the other. "For those appealing to me on conscientious grounds I have done and shall do the best I could and can, in my own conscience, under my oath to the land. That you believe this I doubt not and, believing it, I shall still receive for my country and myself your earnest prayers to our Father in heaven." A few words of his illustrate a different aspect of the same question, and give more than a hint at the practical, every-day character of his religion. Late in 1864, two ladies from Tennessee came to the President to beg for the release of their husbands, who were held as prisoners of war at Johnson's Island. They were accorded several interviews before their request was granted, and at each visit one of the ladies urged, as additional grounds for her husband's release that he was a religious man. Finally their request was granted, and the order was given for their release. Mr. Lincoln said to the lady, who had reminded him so persistently of her husband's religious character: "You say your husband is a religious man; tell him when you meet him that I say I am not much of a judge of religion, but that, in my opinion the religion that sets men to rebel and fight against this Government, because, as they think, that Government doesn't sufficiently help some men to eat their bread on the sweat of other men's faces, is not the sort of religion upon which people can get to heaven." These illustrations show that his thoughts were not wholly centred on the things of this world, but that he had pondered deeply upon the higher problems of life, that he had felt the need of light, and had sought until he found it. He was not a constant attendant upon church services, but this is far from proving that he was heedless of religious influences. The seeds of true religion are not necessarily planted within the walls of a sanctuary. That religion is truest and best whose profession is made in a pure life and a self-sacrificing love for humanity. The spirit of Christ may manifest itself more perfectly in deeds than in words. If ever a man lived a religious life that man was Abraham Lincoln. Love to God and love to man was his creed. The world was his church. His sermons were preached in kindly words and merciful deeds. His loving benediction still rests upon the heads of millions of his fellow-men, whom he raised up from the humiliation of bondage to the level of manhood and womanhood. "O, slow to smite and swift to spare, Who, in the fear of God, didst bear INDEX. Albany, Lincoln's Speech at, 183-184. Anderson, Lieut. Robert, 47-48. Antietam, 263. Ashmun, Hon. George, notifies Lincoln of his nomination Baker, Col., death of, 216. Ball's Bluff, Battle of, 216. Bateman, Dr. Newton, Conversation with Lincoln, 162–163. Blair, Judge, 192. Boone, Daniel, 13. Booth, J. Wilkes, 337–338. Breckenridge, John, 29. Buchanan, James, elected President, 117; his Cabinet, Bull Run, Battle of, 214–215. Cabinet, Buchanan's, 176–177; Lincoln's, 188–192. Campaign of 1860, 169–170. Capital of Illinois, location at Springfield, 64. Chancellorsville, 274. Chase, Hon. Salmon P., character, 191; candidate for Chicago, National Republican Convention at, 157-160; Cleveland, Convention of malcontents at, 304. |