E-text prepared by David Edwards and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustration. See 38434-h.htm or 38434-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/38434/pg38434-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38434/38434-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See http://www.archive.org/details/lincolnsuseofbib4038jack LINCOLN'S·USE OF·THE·BIBLE S·TREVENA·JACKSON [Illustration: A. Lincoln 1864] LINCOLN'S USE OF THE BIBLE by S. TREVENA JACKSON The Abingdon Press New York Cincinnati Copyright, 1909, by Eaton & Mains. Printed December, 1909 Reprinted February, 1910; October, 1914 When quiet in my house I sit, Thy book be my companion still; My joy thy sayings to repeat, Talk o'er the records of thy will, And search the oracles divine, Till every heartfelt word be mine. --_Charles Wesley._ The Bible is a book of faith, A book of doctrine, And a book of religion, Of especial revelation from God. --_Daniel Webster._ And weary seekers of the best, We come back laden from our quest, To find that all the sages said-- Is in the Book our mothers read. --_Whittier._ LINCOLN'S USE OF THE BIBLE "The Bible is the king's best copy, the magistrate's best rule, the housewife's best guide, the servant's best directory, and the best companion of youth." In a log cabin at Nolin's Creek, Hardin County, Kentucky, the boy breathed the first breath of life. Hope's anchor hung on a slender string, if we are to measure by the child's home surroundings. But his birthplace possessed a soul; for a home with a good book in it has a soul. This book was the Bible. It mastered his manners, molded his mind, made mighty his manhood, and gave to America the matchless man. In the Bible he found the truth for the ills of men, the secret for the solution of life's perplexing problems, the boon for the best beaten path, the succor for the suffering, the calmest comforts for the dying, and the faithful friend when foes are near and other friends so far away. We shall speak of what others have said concerning Lincoln's use of the Bible; what he himself said of it; the use he made of it; and the influence of the Scriptures on his life and literature. In Herndon's Life of Lincoln the partner and President is portrayed as a foe rather than a friend of the Bible. This is seen to be erroneous by simply reading his speeches, for they are like the dewdrops on the blades of green in early fall, sparkling everywhere. It is hard to read a great speech of Lincoln's without seeing the influence of the Bible on his life, works, and style.