The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1870-05-13
EMPORIA NEWS.
Friday, May 13, 1870.
W. H. MERNDON-LINCOLN.

If not the meanest, of seslsdtionGLs.
| abraham Lincoln's Religion" is going
the rounds, and so far as I have seen
but few have undertaken review. The
obscurity of the author may be the
cause. If so, 1 am justifiable in my
course. shall not attempt the defense
of Mr.. L. He needs no defense. Nor
will / deny any of Herndon's state
ments, for know nothing of the facts.
l will leave that to those who knew Mr..
l.. personally.
But careful reading of Mr.. Hern-
don's article leads me to the conclusion
that he unearths the martyred Presi-
dent to make fling at the Christian re-
ligien. His article is evidently a very
weak defense of his own infidelity. He
is welcome to his skepticism, and Mr..
L. had right to believe as he pleased /;
but Mr.. III. has no right to stab the
church through the dead body of the
Nations fallen hero.
He says Mr.. Lincoln disagreed with
the Christian world in its principles, as
well as its theology" because his mind
was ''purely logical ;" he "was practi-
cal mana realist as opposed to an
idealist"-had "no faith in the things
that lie outside the domain of demon
stration." Now all this simply means
that men of purely logical minds, &C.,
/ must be skeptical. And men to be
Christians must have more clancy" than
logic-more idealism than reality, and
more Imagination than practical sense,
ready to believe all ''things that lie out
side the domain of demonstration -
Where was Mr.. II. raised? How many
theOlOgians did he ever know? What
have been his associations? Did he
ever know an intelligent Christian /?
Does he know anything about modern
logical or mathematical authors? Did
he ever hear of Christian colleges or ed
ucators? Mr.. H. must be greatly pushed
for logic when he consents to cast such
unfounded insinuations upon the whole
Christian family. There is not much
demonstration in such twaddle.
| Speaking of Mr.. Lincoln's settlement
in New Salem, Illinois, he says that he
|
men = large in body and large in
mind-men of their own minds-of
great common sense" He says, ''these
scoffers were good men, and their SCOTS
were loud protests against the fol-
lies of Christianity" They ''took their
stand on common sense ;" and ''no man
could overthrow their homely logic
they "riddled all divines, and not un-
frequently made them disbelievers
as bad as themselves" And closes the
wonderful paragraph by saying, "these
ScoFerS," these men who made divines
as ''6ad Gs..thenaselces, were generous,
social, true and manly set of people,"
Mr.. II. may fail to prove his point con-
corning Mr.. Lincoln's skepticism, but
man with one eye and half sense can see
that he is not Christian. He is as gem
erous as Harriet Beecher Stowe, and as
'bold and reckless" as the men he de-
scribes, and like his diyines as "as bad
themselves; )" but verp few men will be-
lieve that "manly" man would attack
whole christian church across the dead
the body of a murdered president. l do
not know, of course, just what prompt
ed Mr.. IL. to write as he did, but sup
pose it was the desire that prompted
him to do his ''little best to lead those
'jovial, generous, social, common sense,
strong minded, manly set of scoffers"
up "to higher thoughts" l hope, for
the sake of his religion, that the "new-
er and better religious thoughts of this
age" had nothing to do with it. If so,
may the good Lord deliver the world
from such religion. But Mr.. Herndon's
''homely logic" is more likely to Grid
die" himself than abraham Lincoln's
Religion"
The following shows the animus of
the man eff Christianity cannot live
without falsehood the sooner it dies the
better for mankind. Every great man
that dies-infidel, pantheist, theist or
atheists instantly dragged into the
folds of the church, and transformed,
through falsehood, into the great defen-
| der of the faith, unless his opinions
are too well known to allow it.
Is Christianity in dread or fear? What
does it dread its doom? Would that it
would shake itself free from its follies,
and still live till all mankind outgrow it !"
There, he feels better. He was afraid,
l presume, his greatness would be
dragged into the folds of the church"
there is no danger now. 1t would take
more than ''falsehood" to transform,
him into defender of the faith" But
pray tell us what church it is that has
dragged President Lincoln into its folds I?
Whoever claimed that he was a member
of any Christian church? w. II. Hern-
| don is beside himself; his "higher
thoughts" make him mad. He has
dragged" Mr.. L. through infidelity,
Universalism, UnitariaRism, 'Vnlney's
Ruins" and associated him with, and
allied him to, the New Salem "scoffers,' ,
| and made him drink in Hume and Glib
bon, and left him in ''terrible gloom"
son the border of theism and atheism"
May not ask "what is the matter with
Herndon? In his desire to traduce the
Christian religion, he has made out Pres
ident Lincoln most inconsistent, vas
cillating hypocrite. For no one can
think of Mr.. L. asking the prayers OF
Christians, and blessing God for the
churches, and read his inaugurals, mes.
sages and proclamations without feeling
that if Mr.. H. has correctly represent
ed" his religious views" that he was a
hypocrite! But who believes that Lin
coin was hypocritical? The Byron
scandal is made respectable by this at
tack upon the religion of the nations
martyr.
But my article is growing lengthy,
and find that am taking up the de-
Tense of Mr.. l. This is not my pur-
pose. He needs no defense. He is dead,
but he still speaks.
Verify, Mr.. H. is envious at the
churches. His -jovial" New Salem
scoffers have not "riddled" the church
and Mr.. Lincoln's manuscript event up
to the clouds in smoke )" and he and all
his class of s'free thinkers" have failed
TINS far tn destroy the christian PeliOion