The Johnson City comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1916-1917, 1916-02-17

! come to him by reasoning, but in tht
stress and strain of life. He laid hOlt
upon certain great truths with tht
grip Of hungering and thirsting ma
ture. 1t is in this way that | believe
the strongest faith is attained. Will
his whole nature stretched TO its
highest tension, no man can avoiC
conviction; SO long as he merely
rests, remains inactive or passive, he
may get along without faith; but
when his soul is awakened and his
feeling aroused believe he must. II
is to be regretted that he never iden-
titled himself with the church, but be
it remembered that up to the time he
went to Washington he had been q
skeptic, and during the dark and
troublesome days of the war when
tremendous burdens of action and
anxiety weighed him down, il was
then he found relief and guidance in
prayer, 1t is told in 1864 when the
tension was the highest and Lincoln's S
I life was like the action of the heart
of The whole people in that time, the
President was found more than once
in prayer. He believed that God can
and does hear and answer prayer.
| Lincoln said in conversation with
| General Sickles concerning the battle
of Gettysburg, that he had no anxiety
as to results. At this General SiCkles
expressed surprise, and inquired into
the reason for this unusual state Of
mind at that period in the history of
the war. Lincoln hesitated to reply
| IN 10 of En-1nro1 hat.
| he was finally prevailed upon to do
so, and this is what he said: We'll,
| l will tell you how it was. In the
pinch of the campaign up there, when
everybody seemed pane-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 Fredericksburg or Chancel-
lorsyille. And ] then and there made
solemn VOW to Almighty God that
il He would stand by our boys at
Gettysburg I would stand by Him.
And He DID and | WILL. And after
that q 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 Getty8
burg. And that.is why l had no fears
about you."
Such faith as this will put to
blush many who are members of the
church. At another time he said to
General Sickles, Il have been praying
over Vicksburg also and believe our
Heavenly Father is going to give us
victory there too, because we need
it, in order to bisect the Confederacy
and have the Mississippi flow un-
veXed to the sea-" In these instances
we can readily see why his unbound
ing success, faith iii prayer.
| am certain we do not appreciate
this God-called man as we should; at
least greater part of us do not. When
we think of the great principles for
which he stood, LincOln's work for
his country stands out in the light of
history not to be misunderstood THE
West, child of the Union, met The
slave power with determined resist !
ance, with defiant assertion of the in-
herent powers of the Nation, and
with a pledge of its young and heroic
life for their enforcement. This dou-
BILE sentiment found it's oracle and
representative in Abraham Lincoln. |
He consolidated the Northwest by de-
claring that the Mississippi shall flow
unvexed to the sea. In the great de
bate with Douglas, his challenge rang
through the whole land, a summons
to battle: "A house divided against |
itself cannot stand" Il believe the |
government cannot endure perma-
nently half slave and half free. ! do |
not expect the union to be dissolved. |
| do not expect the house to fall; but |
do expect it will cease to be di- |
vided." To enforce that expectation |
he called a million of men to arms, he |
emancipated four million of slaves by
presidential proclamation and then |
the victory was won for liberty and !
unity. This most majestic figure of |
our time, clothed with the unlimited |
power of triumphant government, |
stood between the passions of the |
strife and commanded peace and for
giyeness. When he fell by the hand |
of the assassin, the hundred years
struggle for national existence was
ended. He had throttled sectienalism |
and buried it. The Republic for
which half million men had died. |
and million had been wounded, was
so firmly embedded in the hearts, the
minds, and the blood of the people, |
that the question Of dissolution will
never more form 4 part of the scheme
of its politicians, or require the wis
dom of its statesmen, or the patriot
ism of its peoples.
Another great principle fer which
Lincoln stood was the abolition Of the
liquor traffic. He said: / predict un
der the influence of Code Spirit the
time will come when there will be
neither slave nor dlunkard in the
land sanctioned by law. Il have lived,
thank God, to sec one of these proph-
estes fulfilled. | hope to see the 9TH
er realized To Major Merwin he
said: We have cleaned UP with the
help of the people, colossal job.
Slavery is abolished. After recon-
struction, the next great question will
be the overthrow and abolition Of the
| liquor traffic, and you know that my
head and my heart, my hands, and
my purse will go into that work Af-
ter signing a bill by which revenue
was imposed upon distilled spirits, for
which his Secretary Of the Treasury,
Mr.. Chase, plead, he said: i had
| rather lose nv right hand than sign