CHRISTIAN TRUST Mr. Lincoln's sublime trust in the Almighty is conclusive evidence that he was a Christian. In an address to a company of ministers, during the progress of the war, he remarked: "Gentlemen, my hope of success in this struggle rests on that immutable foundation, the justness and goodness of God."38 The following is from the President's annual message of December 1st, 1862: “And while it has not pleased the Almighty to bless us with a return of peace, we can but press on guided by the best light He gives us, trusting that in His own good time and wise way all will yet be well."'37 That Mr. Lincoln's trust in God never wavered is indicated by the following from Hon. W. D. Kelley: “During our conversation, I said: 'Mr. President, don't you think the rebellion is very nearly at an end?' "He took his spectacles from his brow and raising his head, after a pause of a few seconds said: 'I think it is; I think it is; but if we have not Divine support and guidance there is room yet for us to fail utterly and we will fail. You have nothing but Divine support and guidance to rely upon. None of us yet comprehend this rebellion and its power.' "Thus at that time when there seemed to be nothing to invoke an expression of that kind his sense of his, and our, dependence upon God must have utterance. That there were times when the President's trust in God ripened into full and comforting assurance, is indicated by the following from Dr. Robert Browne: "I went over to the President's, to see how things were going there. He was engaged, but soon found an excuse to retire. When we were alone, I saw that a great change had been wrought. He was 86 Rev. J. A. Reed, Scribner's Magazine, Vol. VI., p. 339. 37 Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. VIII., p. 93. 88 Eulogies on Lincoln, Scrap-book, Vol. II., p. 2. comparatively at his ease. His face and features, distinctly, in smoothed-out lines and cheerful, disclosed a new-born hope. He was alive again, and as he grasped my hand firmly, I felt that the faith of God was in the man, and that his soul was full of it. He stood before me, calm, resolute and determined the Lincoln of other and brighter days. He said: 'I am glad you have dropped in. I wanted to see you just a few minutes out of the rush about us. But things are going all right; we are going to win a victory.' 939 Mr. Oliver S. Munsell, president of Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Illinois, had a very pleasing acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln which began when he was only fifteen years old and continued during the years that followed. In a letter to General Chas. C. T. Collis, dated April 15th, 1893, referring to his last interview with President Lincoln in the White House, Mr. Munsell says: "In the course of the conversation I said: 'Mr. Lincoln, in our dear old Illinois, of which we have just been talking, we are anxious, very anxious, in regard to the issue of this terrible war. We have our opinions, our hopes, and our fears. And sometimes the suspense is terrible. The thought has come to me, as I have talked with you, that you see the whole field as no other man sees, or can see it; and it has awakened in me an intense desire to ask you, seeing as you thus do see it, will our country come through safe and alive?' "Mr. Lincoln in the outset of our interview had seemed more worn and depressed than I had ever seen him under any circumstances. No sooner had he heard my question, than his face clouded with the heavy lines of anxious thought, and the shadows again fell around him. "He paused a moment before he made any reply, and when he did essay to speak he made two ineffectual efforts before he could command his voice, and with trembling lips and tears trickling down his furrowed cheeks, said: "I do not doubt, I never have doubted for a moment, that 89 Abraham Lincoln and Men of his Time, Vol. II., p. 684. our country would finally come through safe and undivided. But do not misunderstand me, I do not know how it can be. I do not rely on the patriotism of our people, though no people rallied around their king as ours have rallied around me. I do not trust in the bravery and devotion of the boys in blue; God bless them, though! God never gave a prince or conqueror such an army as He has given to me. Nor yet do I rely on the loyalty and skill of our generals; though, I believe, we have the best generals in the world at the head of our armies. But the God of our fathers, who raised up this country to be the refuge and asylum of the oppressed and down-trodden of all nations, will not let it perish now. I may not live to see it, and (he added after a moment's pause) I do not expect to live to see it, but God will bring us through safe.' "I felt humbled in the presence of Mr. Lincoln's sublime faith in the God of our fathers, which shamed my own doubts and fears; and from that hour my faith in the ultimate triumph of our country never again faltered, and I bade Mr. Lincoln, as it proved, a final farewell, thanking God as I had never before thanked Him, for such a leader in our country's deadly hour of peril."40 TRUST IN TIME OF TROUBLE There were many times when Mr. Lincoln's trust in God was put to very severe tests; times when the trend of events seemed to indicate that the struggle for the preservation of the nation was doomed to failure; times when Mr. Lincoln lost confidence in some of his commanding generals and in the success of some of his most cherished plans and efforts; but there never came a time when his confidence in the ultimate triumph of right wavered or weakened. The appalling Chancellorsville disaster in May, 1863, enshrouded President Lincoln in the greatest darkness he ever experienced. 40 General Charles H. T. Collis, The Religion of Abraham Lincoln, p.15. There was every reason why the Union Army should have been victorious, and just as the forces were about to join in that fearful struggle, the commanding General gave to his army and to the President, assurance that decisive victory was certain. The existing conditions which were all thoroughly understood by the President, and the assurance received by him from General Hooker, caused him to be illy prepared for the tidings which in due time came, telling of the overwhelming defeat, and humiliating retreat, of the Union forces. By no pen has the majestic demeanor of the President upon that occasion been so graphically depicted as by that of Colonel W. O. Stoddard, one of Mr. Lincoln's private secretaries: "That night, the last visitors in Lincoln's room were Stanton and Halleck. They went away together in silence, at somewhere near nine o'clock, and the President was left alone. Not another soul was on that floor except the one secretary, who was busy with the mail in his room across the hall from the President's; and the doors of both rooms were ajar, for the night was warm. The silence was so deep that the ticking of a clock would have been noticeable; but another sound came that was almost as regular and ceaseless. It was the tread of the President's feet as he strode slowly back and forth across the chamber in which so many Presidents of the United States had done their work. Was he to be the last of the line? The last President of the entire United States? At that hour that very question had been asked of him by the battle of Chancellorsville. If he had wavered, if he had failed in faith or courage or prompt decision, then the nation, and not the army of the Potomac, would have lost its great battle. "Ten o'clock came, without a break in the steady march, excepting now and then a pause in turning at either wall. "Eleven o'clock came, and then another hour of that ceaseless march so accustomed the ear to it that when, a little |