lincoln was a man of few books. much has been made of the fact that when a lad he eagerly read every book within reach; but he did not continue that habit in his mature years. something happened to the lad in adolescence that changed him mentally as well as physically. his sudden upshoot in stature permanently tired him; he became disinclined to activity. his movements were much slower, and his habits of thought more sluggish. arnold attempts to make a list of his "favorite books," but does not make much progress (life of lincoln, pp. 443, 444). about all there is to be said is that he read the bible both as a boy and man, and came to have an appreciation and love of shakspeare, particularly hamlet and macbeth, but he never read shakspeare through. he was fond of some of the poems of burns, the rollicking humor of "tam o' shanter," the withering scorn—an element which had a considerable place in lincoln's nature—of "holy willie's prayer," the manly democracy of "a man's a man for a' that"; but he never quoted burns. he had little appreciation of music, but liked negro melodies—not the genuine ones, but the minstrel-show sort—camp-meeting ballads, scotch songs, and mournful narrative compositions, of which the woods were moderately full in his boyhood, and which he continued to enjoy. broadly humorous songs moved him to mirth, but he cared more for those that were sad. everyone knows his love for the mediocre but melodious poem, "o why should the spirit of mortal be proud," which like the religious song he loved, "how tedious and tasteless the hours," moved mournfully in triple time, flaunting crêpe in the face of the spirit of the waltz. about the only contemporary poem which he is known to have cared much for[pg 167] was holmes' "last leaf," in which he was particularly moved by the lines,—
"the mossy marbles rest
on the lips that he has prest,
in their bloom,
and the names he loved to hear
have been carved for many a year
on the tomb."
herndon is correct in saying that lincoln read less and thought more than any man prominent in public life in his generation.
but the few books that lincoln read in his mature years affected him greatly; and when we know of his reading a book because he cared for it, we may well endeavor to discover that book and inquire whether it be not possible to trace its influence in the development, slow but sure, of the mental and spiritual processes of abraham lincoln.
a highly important statement concerning the philosophical and religious views of lincoln is found in herndon's life of lincoln, and it is remarkable that neither herndon nor any of the hundreds of writers who have gleaned, as all must glean, from his pages, appears to have followed further the most important of its suggestions:
"for many years i subscribed for and kept on our office table the westminster and edinburgh review and a number of other english periodicals. besides them, i purchased the works of spencer, darwin, and the utterances of other english scientists, all of which i devoured with great relish. i endeavored, but with little success, in inducing lincoln to read them. occasionally he would snatch one up and peruse it for a little while, but he soon threw it down with the suggestion that it was entirely too heavy for an ordinary mind to digest. a gentleman in springfield gave him a book called, i believe, vestiges of creation, which interested him so much that he read it through. the volume was published in edinburgh, and undertook to demonstrate the doctrine of development, or evolution. the treatise interested him greatly, and he was deeply impressed with the notion of the so-called 'universal law' evolution; he did not extend greatly his researches, but by[pg 168] continual thinking in a single channel seemed to grow into a warm advocate of the new doctrine. beyond what i have stated he made no further advances into the realm of philosophy. 'there are no accidents,' he said one day, 'in my philosophy. every effect must have its cause. the past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future. all these are links in the endless chain stretching from the infinite to the finite.'"—herndon, iii, 438.
i count it remarkable that neither herndon nor any other of lincoln's biographers appears to have made further inquiry about this book, which is not mentioned in herndon's index, and which i have not found referred to elsewhere in connection with lincoln. the book is not in any of the great lincoln collections which i have visited, nor has any lincoln student to whom i have mentioned it had it in mind, or failed to be impressed with the value of it when we have discussed the matter.
the book itself is not in the lincoln home at springfield, nor is it in the oldroyd collection at washington, in one of which places i hoped that it might be found. neither the librarian of the illinois historical society in springfield, nor mr. barker, the painstaking and discriminating collector and vendor of lincoln books in springfield, had ever noticed the title in herndon's book, though both were at once impressed with its significance when i called it to their attention.
the material in herndon's lectures on lincoln is pretty well absorbed in his book, and quoted in this volume; but there are some interesting additional details in herndon's letters. in these, answering specific questions or replying to definite statements, he now and then added a statement which was not later included in his book, but which has present interest and in some cases value.
the following is an excerpt from a letter of herndon to john e. remsburg, and bears in an important way on lincoln's use of vestiges of creation:
"i had an excellent private library, probably the best in the city for admired books. to this library mr. lincoln had, as a matter of course, full and free access at all times. i p[pg 169]urchased such books as locke, kant, fichte, lewes; sir william hamilton's discussions of philosophy; spencer's first principles, social studies, etc.; buckle's history of civilization, and lecky's history of rationalism. i also possessed the works of parker, paine, emerson and strauss; gregg's creed of christendom, mcnaught on inspiration, volney's ruins, feuerbach's essence of christianity, and other works on infidelity. mr. lincoln read some of these works. about the year 1843[44] he borrowed the vestiges of creation of mr. james w. keys, of this city, and read it carefully. he subsequently read the sixth edition of this work, which i loaned him. he adopted the progressive and development theory as taught more or less directly in that work. he despised speculation, especially in the metaphysical world. he was purely a practical man."—remsburg: six historic americans, pp. 114-15.
as already stated dr. smith's book the christian's defence is excessively rare. the edition was small; the argument which it contained was modified with the progress of discovery; there was little to keep in circulation the few copies of the book that survived. they have nearly all disappeared. i have searched the second-hand shops of the principal cities and the dusty duplicates of libraries with repeated disappointment. for this reason, i have carried a complete analysis of the book into the appendix of this volume; for few who read the present volume will be able to see the book itself.
it is quite otherwise with vestiges of the natural history of creation. it was widely circulated, and copies of even the older editions are not impossible to obtain. it can be purchased, new, at very small cost.[45] but most of the editions that the reader will be likely to find, if he seeks for them, are later than the one which influenced lincoln, and contain more or less of supplementary matter.
before passing to another subject, it will be well to say a further word about this book, for a fuller discussion of which one may go to andrew d. white's conflict of science with theology and other learned works.
[pg 170]
the author of this book was robert chambers,[46] one of the famous firm of publishers, and himself an author of note. he was born in peebles, scotland, july 10, 1802, and died at st. andrews, march 17, 1871. he was an author as well as publisher of books. he published this book anonymously, and its authorship was not known for forty years. in 1884, thirteen years after his death, his name appeared for the first time upon the title page of a new edition.
it was, in the author's own phrase, "the first attempt to connect the natural sciences with the history of creation."
from it lincoln learned geology and comparative biology. in it he found not only studies of the rocks, but also of the prenatal life of man, as related in its successive stages to corresponding types in the geological world. it was, in a word, an introduction to darwin, which appeared many years later.
that many ministers denounced it as contradictory to the[pg 171] bible we know, and the author anticipated this, nor is this a matter which gives us present concern. some ministers believed it, and others, still unconvinced, read it with an open mind and waited for more light.
the important thing for us to know and clearly recognize is that in this book abraham lincoln not only learned what herndon considers, and we are justified in considering, the essential theory of evolution, but he learned that such a view of creation is consistent with faith in god and the bible.
we shall not find it possible to overestimate the importance of this discovery. abraham lincoln wrought out his philosophy of creation, his scheme of cause and effect, his theory of the processes of nature and life, under influences not atheistic nor hostile to religion, but distinctly favorable to it. he learned of evolution, and was convinced of its truth, from a book whose spirit and purpose was to present the view in harmony with the christian faith.
the second, and subsequent editions, of vestiges were "greatly amended by the author," as the title page gave notice, and the changes were partly to incorporate new scientific data, but more to make clear the fact that the author's theory did not remove god from his universe, as some critics had asserted, but like butler's analogy had shown that god is in his world, working through the processes of nature. in 1846 appeared explanations: a sequel to vestiges of the natural history of creation, a thin volume added to carry still further this double purpose, and doing it with marked success. the sixth edition combined the two in one volume.
it is interesting to learn that lincoln, having read the first edition, later procured and read the sixth, in which the religious spirit of the author was made still more apparent.
this was the book which gave to lincoln his theory of creation, of "miracles under law," and with one divine mind and purpose working through it all. lincoln read little of natural science and cared practically nothing for philosophy, but he found in this book what he needed of both; and he found them in a system whose soul and center was the will of a righteous god.
