THIS part of our inquiry draws near its close. We have reserved for this chapter a selection from those religious expressions of Abraham Lincoln which belong to his mature years, and which are indisputably his. They are largely in addresses, proclamations, and official documents. In them religion is, as a rule, an incidental subject. But it finds frequent expression. Here no literary criticism is necessary, for there is no question about the accuracy of the report. We shall quote nothing that is not contained in an accredited compilation of Lincoln's papers or addresses, omitting all that is disputable or open to the suspicion of glossation or coloring or exaggeration. There is only one question, Was Abraham Lincoln sincere in these utterances? Did he speak them as his own profound convictions, or because he was expected to say something of this sort, and took refuge in pious commonplaces? Both statements have been made concerning these and like utterances. Let us read them with an open mind and discover what evidence they bear of their own sincerity. These are not reports of private conversations, or utterances addressed to small groups. These are the words which Lincoln uttered in the ears of all men; and they afford some evidence of the faith that was in him. * * * * * In Lincoln's first annual Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, dated October 3, 1863, after reciting the blessings of God to the nation in the harvest and in the success of our arms, he said: "No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. "It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union."