New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-09-30

and "History" gave us Lincoln the
Statesman in imperishabe and defni-
tive form. We have just considered
briefly most satisfactory work on
Lincoln the Lawyer. Now we have
Lincoln the Man. personally. inti-
mately. and alphabetically to the ex-
clusion of all else. Nor is that the
least of the three major aspects; IL
indeed il is not the chief OF them. We
may easily believe that il was his in
trinsic greatness as man that made
Lincoln so able a lawyer and so great
statesman.
1t is chiefly with Lincoln's life in Hi
nois and at Springfield that the book Is
concerned. There is much about his
several law partners and his relations
with them. of which the most valuable
part relates to Herndon. On this sub
ject Mr.. Rankin speaks with unsur-
passed authority, since he was a law
student in the Lincoln-Herndon Office
and knew both partners intimately. He
gives the best analysis Of Herndon that
we have seen. and while realizing. as
all must now do, the imperfections and
errors in his Life of Lincoln" is able
TO demonstrate their causes and their
unintentional character.
Tho two features Of the work which
will doubtless command and which de
serve most attention are the chapters
on The Springfield Life Of Mary Todd
Lincoln" and on What Religion Meant
TO Lincoln" These are full and frank,
and their statements are backed up
with authorities which cannot be
ignored or minimized. They both cor
rect widely prevalent misapprehen-
sions and. indeed. miscellaneous. Mrs.
Lincoln has long been the victim Of
grossly unmeritcd detraction. Most
gladly would ! prefer 10 pass in silence
the cruel sspersions against her." says
Mr.. Rankin. "if by so doing IL would
contribute TO the oblivion those SLAM
ders deserve. The silence of her
friends has been misconstrued. Death,
which, with most others. slences the
voice Of calumny, in her case stimu-
lated IT." And so. dwelling in detail
upon her life at Springfield. and with
letter upon letter and line upon line of
evidence, he demonstrates the PROPOSE
tion that "she deserved better fate
and history should give her more just
and considerate treatment" Il is not
merely chivalric championship Of de-
fenceless woman: it is vindcation Of
truth and justice.
Lincolns attitude toward religion has
commonly been perhaps the most va
riously misropresented feature of hi
life. He has with tho utmost positive
ness been represented as almost every
thing, from an outright atheist to the
very embodiment Of Christian ortho-
doXy. The truth lies somewhere be.
tween the extremes perhaps about
equi-distant, making one of the ex-
tremes as false as the other. The oft
told story of Lincoin's writing an es-
say attacking Christianity and the
Bible and OF Samuel HIPS burning il
is clrcumstantially shown to be simply
lie. Lincoln never wrote such "A thing.
and the manuscript which Hill burned
on memorable occasion was a bundle
OF business papers and a letter. all
written by Hill himself and having no
more relation to Christianity and the
Bible than TO the AkhoOnd Of Swat.
Lincoln never connected himself with
any specific church and never made any
definite proclamation Of the details Of
his religious belief. But it was not
necessary that he should do so. His ad-
dresses and state papers are his all
sufficient credo. They bear upon their
pages and in their very spirit such di-
rect evidence of what religion meant TO
Lincoln-that il was a vital and domi-
nant force in his life that, as Mr.. Ran
kin justly declares, "to deny its pres
ence and significance there. and in the
soul OF him who delivered them. would
be as unreasonable as to deny the ex-
istence Of sun in the heavens at noon
day The loyal friend, the devoted
husband. the sympathetic humanitarian,
the spiritual minded believer. the
manly man-that was Lincoln as this
biographer knew him. and that is Lin
coin as the American people will always
regard him.