"The language attributed to me in Lamon's book is not from my pen. I did not write it, and it does not express my sentiment of Mr. Lincoln's entire life and character. It is a mere collection of sayings gathered from private conversations that were only true of Mr. Lincoln's earlier life. I would not have allowed such an article to be printed over my signature as covering my opinion of Mr. Lincoln's life and religious sentiments. While I do believe Mr. Lincoln to have been an infidel in his former life, when his mind was as yet unformed, and his associations principally with rough and skeptical men, yet I believe he was a very different man in later life; and that after associating with a different class of men, and investigating the subject, he was a firm believer in the Christian religion." Major John T. Stuart also repudiated the statement attributed to him, and not only so but gave detailed and positive statements which directly contradicted the more important part of what Lamon had attributed to him. Dr. Reed went further and set forth with a considerable degree of precision the grounds for the statement that Lincoln's views had undergone marked change during his life in Springfield, particularly under the influence of Dr. Reed's predecessor, the Rev. James Smith. Dr. Reed's lecture became the subject of acrimonious attack. His article was flouted, belittled, and railed at. But its essential affirmations have not been disproved. We shall devote a chapter to a consideration of the relations of Dr. Smith to Mr. Lincoln and shall find that Dr. Reed's claims were not extravagant. Other controversialists took up the pen about this time in confutation of Lamon. One of the most interesting and valuable of the contributions which then appeared was an article by B. F. Irwin, of Pleasant Plains, Illinois, published in the _Illinois State Journal_, for May 16, 1874.[36] He produced a considerable number of letters from men who had known Mr. Lincoln prior to his residence in Springfield and whose knowledge of his religious beliefs at that time was intimate and accurate. Of these by far the most important was from Lincoln's old teacher, Mentor Graham, which we shall quote at length in the chapter on Lincoln's "Burnt Book." * * * * *