Page:Abraham Lincoln address (1909).djvu/13

 despised churches. He never entered a church except to scoff and ridicule. On coming from a church he would mimic the preacher. Before running for any office, he wrote a book against Christianity and the Bible. He showed it to some of his friends and read extracts. A man named Hill was greatly shocked and urged Lincoln not to publish it; urged it would kill him politically. Hill got this book in his hands, opened the stove door, and it went up in flames and ashes. After that Lincoln became more discreet, and when running for office often used words and phrases to make it appear that he was a Christian. He never changed on this subject; he lived and died a deep-grounded infidel." (Facts and Falsehoods, p. 53.) (See also Lamon, 489-493.)

Lamon says:

"'Mr. Lincoln was never a member of any church, nor did he believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures in the sense understood by evangelical Christians.' * * * 'Overwhelming testimony out of many mouths, and none stronger than out of his own, place these facts beyond controversy.' (Lamon, p. 486.) * * * 'When he went to church at all, he went to mock, and came away to mimic.' (Id., p. 487.)"

Lamon further says:

"'It was not until after Mr. Lincoln's death that his alleged orthodoxy became the principal topic of his eulogists; but since then the effort on the part of some political writers and speakers to impress the public mind erroneously seems to have been general and systematic.' (Id., 487.)"

He then inserts the letters of a number of Mr. Lincoln's closest friends and neighbors, all of whom fully sustain his statements. One of these says:

"Lincoln was enthusiastic in his infidelity."

Another says:

"Lincoln went further against Christian beliefs and doctrines and principles than any man I ever heard. He shocked me." (Id., 488.)

Another (Herndon) says: "'Lincoln told me a thousand times that he did not believe the Bible was a revelation from God as the Christian world contends.' * * * 'And that Jesus was not the Son of God.' (Id., 489.)"