"It is very probable that much of Mr. Lincoln's unhappiness, the melancholy that 'dripped from him as he walked,' was due to his want of religious faith. When the black fit was on him, he suffered as much mental misery as Bunyan or Cowper in the deepest anguish of their conflicts with the Evil One. But the unfortunate conviction fastened upon him by his early associations, that there was no truth in the Bible, made all consolation impossible, and penitence useless. To a man of his temperament, predisposed as it was to depression of spirit, there could be no chance of happiness if doomed to live without hope and without God in the world. He might force himself to be merry with his chosen comrades; he might 'banish sadness' in mirthful conversation, or find relief in a jest; gratified ambition might elevate his feelings, and give him ease for a time: but solid comfort and permanent peace could come to him only 'through a correspondence fixed with heaven.' The fatal misfortune of his life, looking at it only as it affected him in this world, was the influence at New Salem and at Springfield which enlisted him on the side of unbelief. He paid the bitter penalty in a life of misery."--LAMON, _Life of Lincoln_, p. 504. In support of this thesis, Lamon, aided and abetted by Herndon, sought for testimonials from those who had known Lincoln, endeavoring to prove that he had no religious faith. Herndon himself wrote a letter which we shall quote later because of its bearing upon a particular point which we have yet to discuss, and gave the names of Judge Logan, John T. Stuart, Joshua F. Speed, and James H. Matheny as those who would confirm his declaration that Lincoln was an infidel. Herndon's own definition of the term infidel is susceptible of such varying definitions in his different letters and published articles that it is not always easy to tell just what he meant by it, but in some of these he was specific and told, from his own alleged knowledge or his memory of the testimony of others, what Lincoln believed and denied. Judge Logan appears not to have contributed to the discussion, but from several of the others and from some other men whose letters Herndon already had, Lamon made up a considerable volume of testimony concerning the unbelief of Lincoln. Some of these we quote, reserving others for later consideration. Hon. John T. Stuart was alleged to have said: