The Irish standard., 1909-02-20
ABE's RELIGION
Article From Archbishop Ireland o.
lincoIn's Creed.

Researches for July, 1905, the follow
ing letter from Archbishop Ireland on
the religion of Lincoln Is addressed to
the editor, Mr.. Martin l. ]. Griffin of
Philadelphia:
My Dear Mr.. Griffin notice by
the late number of The Researches
that the question is again raised,
WAS Abraham Lincoln a Catholic?"
You report Rev. John w. Moore, C. NJ,
| as affirming on the authority Of the
| pioneer missionary of Southern Him
OILS, Rev. j. M. j. st. Cyr, that Abra-
ham Lincoln was, at one period Of his
| life, Catholic; and In rebuttal of Fa-
Their Moore's statement you publish
| letter from an intimate acquaintance
of Mr.. Lincoln, Miss Ida M. Tarbell, to
the effect that Mr.. Lincoln was never
father, Thomas Lincoln, was Baptist
according to the best authorities, and
Lincoln attended the church of that
denomination in his early days in Indi-
ana. In Springfield he attended the
| Presbyterian church, although he was
never a member of any denominations"
I happen to be able to furnish a.
slight contribution to the discussion,
by repeating, beyond peril of mistake,
what the old missionary, Father ST.
Cyr, was wont actually to say touch
ing Catholicity in the Lincoln house,
hold.
Father st. Cyr was priest of the
Diocese of st. Louis, from which in
early days the scattered Catholics of
Southern Illinois received ministerial
attention. He was remarkable man,
most Jealous in work, most holy in life.
1 knew him in later years as
chaplain to the Sisters Of st. Joseph,
Of Carondelet. He held in vivid recol-
lection the story of the Church in old
times through Missouri and Illinois. It
was delight and means of most
valuable information to sit by and con-
verse with him. In 1866, he spent
is his statement, as then took it down
in writing, regarding the Lincoln fam
| lily:
II visited several times the Lincolns
! in their home in Southern Illinois, The
father and the stepmother of Abraham
| Lincoln both were Catholics. How
they had become Catholics, do not
know. They were not we'll instructed
In their religion; but they were strong
and sincere In their profession of it.
said Mass repeatedly in their house.
Abraham was not a Catholic; he never
had been one, and he never led me to
believe that he would become one. At
the time, Abraham was 20 years old or
thereabouts, thin, tall young fellow,
kind and good natured; he used to as
! sist me In preparing the altar for Mass
Once he made me a present of a hall
dozen OF chairs. He had made those
chairs with his own hands, expressly
for me; they were simple in form and
fashion as chairs used in country
places then would be-"
Those are Father st. Cyr's words. II
Father st. Cyr is again referred to, let
him be quoted for what he was won't
tc say-neither more or less.
What reliance is to be put on the
statement, as made to me by Father st.
Cyr and now repeated by me, the read
or will decide as he thinks best. For
my part, I can not allow myself to
doubt it's absolute correctness
Is not the supposition permissible,
that the second wife of Thomas Lin
coin, a Kentuckian, If not Catholic
from the first, brought with her to the
West tendencies which afterwards led
her to become a Catholic, and that she
drew her husband into the fold. with
out being able to influence her stepson,
Abraham? And is not this other sup
position equally permissible, in view
Of the religious conditions at the time
In Southern Illinois, that Thomas Lin
coin and his wife had been known to
Father st. Cyr as Catholics without
being afterwards known as such to
other priests. or at least without be-
ing ever reported as such by others, or
even that they were remembered by
some persons as attending. afterwards
now and then non-catholic churches?
Retiring from his labors in Illinois, Fa-
Their st. Cyr returned to. Missouri and
lost sight Of the people whom he had
been attending in Illinois. among them
the Lincoln family. When he spoke
with me he was not able to say wheth-
er the parents of Abraham persevered
or not until death in the Catholic
Church. - 80 d..
49,.
A Bog Slide. 80
A dispatch from Dublin says that
an immense bog-slide has occurred at