The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1902-02-27

answered. 1 knew that God was on
| our side. | had no misgivings about
! lhe result at Gettysburg" Gen. Sickles
then asked: How 10 you feel about
Vicksburg, Mr.. PRESIDENT" Grant
will pull through all right, he said 81
am sure of it. have been Respondent,
but am so no longer. God is with us"
Now, in all fairness, are these the
words of an agnostic or skeptic? Are
they words that in any way express
doubt of the great underlying truths of
religion and life? In asserting that
Lincoln was on his side III his disbelief
of the truths of religion the Famous
agnostic has somewhat over-stepped
the bounds of careful consideration and
statement Before me as l write L
have masses of material, an pointing
to Abraham Lincoln's bellet IN God ana
immortality, and ettectua!ly re1ntlng
, and answering the assertion tnau ne
was an agnostic or skeptlc. 1T the
assertions of Mr.. Ingersol be true,
then we are forced to the unwarrantable
and repelent conclusion that Abraham
Lincoln was saying these words merely
for effect, for policy'S sake; in other
words, that he was soulless hypocrite;
conclusion that no right thinking
man or woman will for a moment
entertain. The truth is that great as
was Mr.. Ingersoll as an orator and
rhetorician he was one of the poorest
and often most laundering of students;
as deeply prejudiced and almost as
intolerant as any of the sectS and
creeds that he attacked. Nowhere is
this more clearly seen than 10 his
lecture on Lincoln, master1ul as a
piece of eloquence but worthless. as
We have in a measure seen, as a careful,
accurate. scholarly statement OF the
views and ideas of our great national
leader
Back of all the shambling limb, the
awkward, grotesque gait, the fnrroWed
homely face, there was beauty and
nobility of manhood. strength of soul,
that made him one of the princes of
the earth; one of the heaven-born
saviors Of men. Gaunt and uncouth
as we mig hit choose to call him, he was
at heart the peer of any scion of
royalty: one whom we honor to simply
call a man: a man such as God makes
and man too often mars. Throughout
his life Lincoln bore himself as became
man and when. i'll the hush and
silence of Ford'S theatre, the pistol
shot of poor deluded John Wilkes Booth
rang out. announcing a murderous act
and a dying chieftan. he yet bore hlm-
self as became a redeemer OF his people,
with the same prayer Of forgiveness
upon his lips, and surely IN hls heart,
as was breathed by the Master and
saviour of us all upon the mount of his
clucitixion. Like our last martyred
President, he torgave those who did
him wrong.
Gentle. plain, just and resolute,'
such was the life and such. therefore,
the religion of Abraham Lincoln. The
words of Tom Taylor, editor of London
Punch, who had by pen and pencil
caricatured and cartooned the PreS-
dent during his life. paid one OF the
nobIest tributes to him when he was
dead:
eyes, he had lived to shame me from my
sheer.
To lame my pencil and confute my pen;
To make me own this hind of princes peer.
This rail-spitter a true born king OF men.
How humble, yet how hopeful he could be,
How in good fortune and in i'll the same,
Nor bitter in success, nor boastiul he,
Thirsty not for gold, nor feverSh for
fame.
He went about his work, such work as few
Ever had laid on head and heart and
! hand
AS one who knows, where there's task to
do,
Mans honest will must Heavens good
grace command.
Who trusts the strength will with the
burden grow,
! That God makes instruments to work his
will,
If but that will we can arrive to know,
l, ,y,ffr
The Old World and the New, from sea to
sea,
Utter one voice of sympathy and shame;
Sore heart, so stopped when it at last beat
high.
Sad life, cut short just as its triumph
came.