Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-02-15

| will do him any good: give me that
/ pen, and so the pardon was signed.
| A soldier, having been absent from
his family for year. had gone home
! without leave to see them. On his
way back to the army he was arrested
| as deserter, and sentenced to be
shot, The wife came on to Washing
| ton to intercede for her husband. The
4 President listened attentively and fin
/ ally said: why of course this man
wanted to see his family. and they
oughtn't to shoot him for that" So he
immediately called his secretary, and
I gave him orders to send off kilograms,
| suspending the sentence and ordering
| the record Of the case to be sent to
him. AS he went on debating to his
secretary, he became more and more
anxious about the matter. Get that
! off as quick as you can, he said, "or
| they may shoot this man in spite Of
me-. Such was the tenderness of Mr..
Lincolns heart A hundred tales of
it could be recited did time permit.
He said to friend once: IF have
one vice, it is in not being able to
say mo- Thank God, for not MAX
| ing me woman | presume If he had,
he would have made me Just as ugly
as am, and nobody would ever have
given me a chance to say no At
another time, speaking in defence of
his clemency, he said: Some of our
generals complain that l impair dis
cipline and encourage INSTRUMENTATION
in the army, by my pardons and res
| pites, but it makes me rested after a
hard days work, if l can find some
good cause for saving a mans life,
and | can go to bed happy, thinking
how joyous the signing of my name
will make him and his family, and he
took the pen again to write that potent
| signature that would save life and
rejoice a household. Though it was
sometimes feared, that his extreme
| tenderness would prove detriment to
his country, yet how winsome is the
| light in which it leaves his gracious
memory. What wonder that Secre-
| tary Stanton said of him. as he gazed
upon the tall form and kindly face, as
he lay there, smitten down by the as
sassin's bullet: There lies the most
perfect ruler of men that ever lived
g. Another feature of Mr.. Lincoln's
| character was his simple ana sincere
| faith in God He was not what might
be called an actively religious man.
Though evidently a Christian in senti-
ment, he never united with any
church. He explained on one occa-
sion that he had never become a
church-member because he did not like
/ and could not in conscience subscribe
| to the long and frequently complicat-
/ ed statements of Christian doctrines
| which characterized the confessions of
the Churches. He said: when any
Church will inscribe over its altar as
it's sole qualification for membership
| the Savior's condensed statement of
the substance of both law and gospel,
/ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy
i soul, and with all thy mind, and thy
neighbor as myself that Church will
| I join with all my heart and SOUL
Speaking with General Sickels. con-
corning the battle of Gettysburg, he
said that he had no anxiety as to the
result At that General Sickels, ex-
4 pressed surprise, and inquired into the
reason of this unusual state of mind,
at that period in the history of the
war. The President replied: well, |
will tell you how it was. In the pinch
of your campaign up there, when
everybody seemed panic-stricken, and
| nobody could tell what was going to
happen, oppressed by the gravity OF
our affairs, went into my room one
day and locked the door and got down
on my knees before Almighty God, and
prayed to Him nightly for victory at
Gettysburg. told Him this was His
war, and our cause His cause, but that
we could not stand another Fredericks-
/ burg or Charlottesville. And | then
and there made solemn vow to Al
mighty God that if He would stand by
/ our boys at Gettysburg would stand
! by Him. And He did, and will. And
after that Il don't know how it was,
/ and | can't explain it) but soon a
| sweet comfort crept into my soul that
things would go all right at Gettys-
! burg, and that is why had no fears
about you
L speak of this, because an effort
has been made to parade him as an
unbeliever, or an agnostic That is a
most unjust shadow to cast on his
memory. He was a man of profound
faith, he believed in God, he believed
| in Christ, he believed in the Bible, he
believed in men, his faith was one
! of the elements that made him great
So stands before. us the peerless
character of Abraham Lincoln. In the
most essential qualities Of manhood
he has seldom been equalled, and new
er surpassed, There have been more
| learned men. men with wider intel
lectual grasp, but none have been SUI
perior to him in sagacity in COM
mon sense, in those qualities which
enabled him to solve the profoundest
| problems of government. He was
great without being naughty. strong
without being despotic, humorous
without being frivolous, tender with
out being weak, tolerant without con-
doning evil, strong in his convictions,
without prejudice He hated slavery
but not the men who made slavery
strong. He was sincere, honest, good.
with the fire of reformer and martyr
in his heart. he yet proceeded, by the
| ways of cautious and practical state