among the many stories of president lincoln's religious life, one of the most impressive concerns an alleged visit of the president to the home of henry ward beecher and the spending of a night in prayer by these two men. the story is as follows:
"following the disaster of bull run, when the strength and resources of the nation seemed to have been wasted, the hopes of the north were at their lowest ebb, and mr. lincoln was well-nigh overwhelmed with the awful responsibility of guiding the nation in its life struggle. henry ward beecher, of brooklyn, was, perhaps, more prominently associated with the cause of the north at that time than any other minister of the gospel. he had preached and lectured and fought its battles in pulpit and press all over the country, had ransomed slaves from his pulpit, and his convictions and feelings were everywhere known.
"late one evening a stranger called at his home and asked to see him. mr. beecher was working alone in his study, as was his custom, and this stranger refused to send up his name, and came muffled in a military cloak which completely hid his face. mrs. beecher's suspicions were aroused, and she was very unwilling that he should have the interview which he requested, especially as mr. beecher's life had been frequently threatened by sympathizers with the south. the latter, however, insisted that his visitor be shown up. accordingly, the stranger entered, the doors were shut, and for hours the wife below could hear their voices and their footsteps as they paced back and forth. finally, toward midnight, the mysterious visitor went out, still muffled in his cloak, so that it was impossible to gain any idea of his features.
"the years went by, the war was finished, the president[pg 199] had suffered martyrdom at his post, and it was not until shortly before mr. beecher's death, over twenty years later, that he made known that the mysterious stranger who had called on that stormy night was abraham lincoln. the stress and strain of those days and nights of struggle, with all the responsibilities and sorrows of a nation fighting for its life resting upon him, had broken his strength, and for a time undermined his courage. he had traveled alone in disguise and at night from washington to brooklyn, to gain the sympathy and help of one whom he knew as a man of god, engaged in the same great battle in which he was the leader. alone for hours that night, like jacob of old, the two had wrestled together in prayer with the god of battles and the watcher over the right until they had received the help which he had promised to those that seek his aid."
dr. johnson endeavored to investigate this story for his book, lincoln the christian.[48] the evidence seemed to him sufficient to justify him in including it in his volume. it rests on the explicit statement of mrs. henry ward beecher and was communicated to the public through some of her grandchildren. this, surely, is evidence that cannot be wholly disregarded. mr. samuel scoville, jr., a lawyer in philadelphia, a grandson of henry ward beecher, confirmed the accuracy of the story as here given, saying that this was the form in which his grandmother had related the story to her grandchildren.
another grandson, rev. david g. downey, d.d., book editor of the methodist book concern of new york said:
[pg 200]
"it has always seemed to me to be a perfectly possible situation. it has never, however, been corroborated by any of the members of the family. it rests entirely upon the statement of mrs. beecher in her old age."—lincoln the christian, p. 201.
mrs. henry ward beecher was a truthful woman. she did not manufacture an incident of this character, but the incident is highly improbable. it would be ungracious to point out in detail the elements of weakness in the story.
let one consideration alone be stated. the publishers of the north american review gathered from the leading men of america a series of chapters in which each man related his own personal reminiscences of abraham lincoln. that volume is still easily obtained and is a valuable mine of information. among the other men who contributed to it was henry ward beecher. he wrote a chapter in which he told in detail of his personal association with mr. lincoln. this incident finds no mention there nor anything remotely resembling it.
if mr. lincoln had felt disposed to visit mr. beecher for a purpose of this character, he knew very well that the easier and safer and far less embarrassing way was to invite mr. beecher to the white house to see him. beecher was no stranger in washington at this time and lincoln had the telegraph wires under his control and did not hesitate to use them when there was need. beecher made at least one journey to washington to confer with lincoln on a matter of editorial policy. his well-known sympathy with the president was such that no explanation need have been made of his taking a train from new york on any day and spending an evening in washington. a message in the morning would have brought beecher there by night and no one either in washington or new york would have thought of it as strange. on the other hand, the absence of the president from washington at a time as critical as that immediately following the battle of bull run and with no one able to account for his absence from the capitol or with any knowledge of the errand[pg 201] that had taken him away is well-nigh preposterous. such an absence might have given rise to the wildest rumors of the president's abduction or murder. lincoln was too prudent a man, too shrewd and cautious a man, too deeply concerned for the possible effect of so rash and needless a journey; too deeply chagrined over the criticisms of his alleged entering into washington in disguise at the time of his inauguration, to have done the thing which mrs. beecher, when a very old woman, imagined him to have done.
mr. beecher was editor of the christian union and had occasion to write about abraham lincoln, and he wrote nothing of this kind. in his sermons and in his lectures he had frequent occasion to mention lincoln, and no story of this sort is related as having come from him. mr. beecher knew too well the homiletic and editorial value of such an incident not to have related it if it had occurred.
someone came to see him one stormy night and the two lingered long together in prayer. for some doubtless good reason mr. beecher did not tell his family the name of the man with whom he had spent those earnest hours. many years afterward, lincoln and beecher both being dead, mrs. beecher recalled the event and satisfied herself that it was mr. lincoln who had come from washington to see her husband and spend some hours in prayer with him.
this is the reasonable explanation, as it seems to me, of an incident which has had rather wide currency but which we are not justified in accepting on the unsupported testimony of even so good a woman as mrs. beecher in her old age.
an incident of remarkable interest, attested as authentic by two generals of the civil war, is related by general james f. rusling, in his men and things in civil war days:
general d. e. sickles was wounded at gettysburg, and brought to washington, where a leg was amputated. president lincoln called upon him, and in reply to a question from general sickles whether or not the president was anxious about the battle at gettysburg, lincoln gravely said, 'no, i was not; some of my cabinet and many others in washington were, but i had no fears.' general sickles inquired how this[pg 202] was, and seemed curious about it. mr. lincoln hesitated, but finally replied: 'well, i will tell you how it was. in the pinch of your campaign up there, when everybody seemed panic-stricken, and nobody could tell what was going to happen, oppressed by the gravity of our affairs, i went to my room one day, and i 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 was his war, and our cause his cause, but we couldn't stand another fredericksburg or chancellorsville. and i then and there made a solemn vow to almighty god, that if he would stand by our boys at gettysburg, i would stand by him. and he did stand by you boys, and i will stand by him. and after that (i don't know how it was, and i can't explain it), soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul that god almighty had taken the whole business into his own hands and that things would go all right at gettysburg. and that is why i had no fears about you.' asked concerning vicksburg, the news of which victory had not yet reached him, he said, 'i have been praying for vicksburg also, and believe our heavenly father is going to give us victory there, too.' general rusling says that mr. lincoln spoke 'solemnly and pathetically, as if from the depth of his heart,' and that his manner was deeply touching."
