Really enjoyed this look back at one who had so much impact on our nation. Some of my favorite quotes:
And it was from his mother's lips that little Abe first heard the sublime Bible stories and verses. And, with her encouragement, he began to commit to memory short Bible verses, and to become familiar with the simpler aspects of the moral code laid down in the Bible. Later he could repeat from memory whole Psalms and other chapters.
Offutt bragged continually of Lincoln's mental & physical might. He claimed that Abe was exceedingly smart, and that he could outrun, throw, or whip any man in the community.
You may burn my body to ashes, and scatter them to the winds of heaven; you may drag my soul down to the regions of darkness and despair to be tormented forever; but you will never get me to support a measure which I believe to be wrong, although by doing so I may accomplish that which I believe to be right.
"The church was filled that morning. It was a good sized church, but on that day all the seats were filled. I had chosen for my text the words 'Ye must be born again' , and during the course of my sermon I laid particular stress on 'must'. Mr. Lincoln came into the church after the services had commenced, and there being no vacant seats, chairs were put in the altar in front of the pulpit, and Mr. Lincoln and Governor French and his wife sat in the altar during the entire service, Mr. Lincoln on my left and Governor French on my right, and I noticed that Mr. Lincoln appeared to be deeply interested in the sermon. A few days after that Sunday, Mr. Lincoln called on me and informed me that he had been greatly impressed with my remarks on Sunday and that he had come to talk with me further on the matter. I invited him in, and my wife and I talked and prayed with him for hours. Now, I have seen many persons converted; I have seen hundreds brought to Christ, and if ever a person was converted, Abraham Lincoln was converted that night in my house.”
"It seems to me that nothing short of infinite wisdom could by any possibility have devised and given to man this excellent and perfect moral code. It is suited to man in all conditions of life, and includes all the duties they owe to their Creator, to themselves and to their fellow-man."
Lincoln quoted from memory the Twenty-Third Psalm. He then quoted. ‘Let not your heart be troubled: Ye believe also in me.’ And recited the words of ‘Rock of Ages.’
“I would willingly take out of my life a period in years equal to the two months which intervene between now and my inauguration to take the oath of office now.'' ``Why?'' asked Gillespie. ``Because every hour adds to the difficulties I am called upon to meet, and the present administration does nothing to check the tendency toward dissolution. I, who have been called to meet this awful responsibility, am compelled to remain here, doing nothing to avert it or lessen its force when it comes to me.”
But every day adds to the difficulty of the situation, and makes the outlook more gloomy…I have read, upon my knees, the story of Gethsemane, where the Son of God prayed in vain that the cup of bitterness might pass from him. I am in the Garden of Gethsemane now, and my cup of bitterness is full and overflowing.
Never did an incoming President of the United States face so many seemingly insurmountable problems – human crisis, uncertainty, a divided world. Yet, during the first few days in office self-seeking men demanded much of his priceless time and energy.
Some hours after the funeral (of his son) Lincoln said: “I now see as never before the preciousness of God's love in Jesus Christ, and how we are brought near to God as our Father by Him.”
Julia Ward Howe had a dream or vision of victory. Under the inspiration of that dream-vision, she arose and wrote her famous ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic' – which stirred President Lincoln ‘like a trumpet blast’, and became his best loved marching song."
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; he hath loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift sword -- His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps, They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps -- His day is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me; As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on.
I have considered everything that has been said to me about the expediency of emancipation, and have made up my mind to issue this proclamation, and I have invited you to come together, not to discuss what is to be done, but to have you hear what I have written and to get your suggestions about form and style. I have thought it all over, and have made a promise that this should be done to myself and to God.
…oppressed by the gravity of our affairs, I went to my room one day and locked the door and got down on my knees before almighty God and prayed to Him mightily for victory at Gettysburg. I told Him that this war was His, and our cause His cause, but we could not stand another Fredricksburg or Chancellorsville. Then and there I made a solemn vow to almighty God that if He would stand by our boys at Gettysburg, I would stand by Him. And after that, I don't know how it was, and I cannot explain it, soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul. The feeling came that God had taken the whole business into His own hands, and that things would go right at Gettysburg…
Seven days after the memorable Gettysburg Address, Lincoln nationalized the New England observance of Thanksgiving Day. By his proclamation that day was set aside as National Thanksgiving – the first ever to be observed by presidential proclamation, but followed yearly by every president since.
Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.
‘Mr. President, I believe God has hewn you out of a rock, for this great and mighty purpose. Many have been led away by bribes of gold, of silver, of presents; but you have stood firm, because God was with you, and if you are faithful to the end, he will be with you.’ With his eyes full of tears, he walked round and examined the present, pronounced it beautiful, thanked me kindly, but said: 'You must not give me the praise--it belongs to God.'
At the 18th corps camp, Lincoln met throngs of black soldiers who circled roundabout him. Tears ran down their faces as they cheered, laughed and sang. They waved their hands and shouted: ‘God bless Massa Linkum!’ ‘De Laud save Fader Abraham!’ The President rode with bowed head; tears in his eyes, and his voice broken with emotion.
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have.
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. End of Second Inaugural Address-Sat, March 4, 1865
On April 2, when Lincoln toured the Confederate capital of Richmond to loud hosannahs: “Bress de Lord, dere is de great Messiah! I knowed him as soon as I seed him. He's been in my heart fo' long yeahs, an' he's cum at las' to free his children from deir bondage. Glory hallelujah.” And he fell upon his knees before the President and began kissing his feet.
Don't kneel to me. That is not right, You must kneel to God only, and thank him for the liberty you will hereafter enjoy. I am but God's humble instrument; but you may rest assured that as long as I live no one shall put a shackle to your limbs and you shall have all the rights which God has given to every other free citizen of this Republic.
I always thought 'Dixie' one of the best tunes I ever heard.
‘If ever a man made war in the Christian spirit, that man was Abraham Lincoln.’ Horace Greeley ( )