Dr. J. G. Holland was an author of ability and character. His _Life of Lincoln_ was up to the time of its publication far and away the best that had appeared. Even Herndon and Lamon are compelled to speak of it with respect. Lamon says: "Out of the mass of work which appeared, of one only--Dr. Holland's--is it possible to speak with any degree of respect." That this also represented substantially the opinion of Herndon is clearly in evidence. With two such names as Newton Bateman and J. G. Holland supporting it, an incident of this character was certain to carry great weight. It can be found more or less abridged and in some cases garbled and enlarged in any one of a hundred books and of a thousand or probably ten thousand Lincoln's Day addresses. This report was the direct occasion for the assembling of a considerable mass of opposing evidence which we shall find in succeeding chapters. It was attacked publicly and directly by Ward Hill Lamon in his _Life of Lincoln_ in 1872. The following is Mr. Lamon's reply: "Mr. Newton Bateman is reported to have said that a few days before the Presidential election in 1860, Mr. Lincoln came into his office, closed the door against intrusion, and proposed to examine a book which had been furnished him, at his own request, 'Containing a careful canvass of the city of Springfield, showing the candidate for whom each citizen had declared his intention to vote at the approaching election. He ascertained that only three ministers of the gospel, out of twenty-three, would vote for him, and that, of the prominent church-members, a very large majority were against him.' Mr. Bateman does not say so directly, but the inference is plain that Mr. Lincoln had not previously known what were the sentiments of the Christian people who lived with him in Springfield: he had never before taken the trouble to inquire whether they were for him or against him. At all events, when he made the discovery out of the book, he wept, and declared that he 'did not understand it at all.' He drew from his bosom a pocket New Testament, and, 'with a trembling voice and his cheeks wet with tears,' quoted it against his political opponents generally, and especially against Douglas. He professed to believe that the opinions adopted by him and his party were derived from the teachings of Christ; averred that Christ was God; and, speaking of the Testament which he carried in his bosom, called it 'this rock, on which I stand.' When Mr. Bateman expressed surprise, and told him that his friends generally were ignorant that he entertained such sentiments, he gave this answer quickly: 'I know they are: I am obliged to appear different to them.' Mr. Bateman is a respectable citizen, whose general reputation for truth and veracity is not to be impeached; but his story, as reported in Holland's Life, is so inconsistent with Mr. Lincoln's whole character, that it must be rejected as altogether incredible.