“These men well know that I am for freedom in the Territories, freedom everywhere as far as the Constitution and laws will permit, and that my opponents are for slavery. They know this, and yet, with this book in their hands, in the light of which human bondage cannot live a moment, they are going to vote against me. I do not understand it at all.”

Mr. Lincoln was on his feet, evidently filled with emotion over the grave and perilous condition of the country. In silence he walked up and down the room, going back and forth several times, with deep sadness depicted on his face, as if a mighty burden were resting on his heart. At length, suddenly stopping in the centre of the hall, and lifting his right arm heavenward, while tears were on his cheek, he exclaimed:—

“I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place and work for me, I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is everything. I know I am right, because I know that liberty is right. I have told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and Christ and reason say the same; and they will find it so. Douglas don’t care whether slavery is voted up or voted down; but God cares, and humanity cares, and I care; and, with God’s help, I shall not fail. I may not see the end; but it will come, and I shall be vindicated; and these men will find that hey have not read their Bibles aright.”

He spoke much of this as if soliloquizing, and then, turning to Mr. Bateman, he added,—

“Does it not appear strange that men can ignore the moral aspects of the contest? A revelation could not make it plainer to me that slavery or the government must be destroyed. The future would be something awful, as I look at it, but for this rock on which I stand, especially with the knowledge of how some of these ministers are going to vote. It seems as if God had borne with slavery until the very teachers of religion have come to defend it from the Bible, and to claim for it a divine character and sanction” [referring to Drs. Ross and Palmer of the South, of whom mention had been made]; “and now the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath will be poured out.”

He went on still further, expressing his confidence in Divine Providence, declaring that “right is might,” and that faith in God “is indispensable to successful statesmanship;” and that the support which a public man receives from these truths is grander than all other support. He freely announced his belief in the duty and power of prayer, and intimated that he had sought Divine guidance in his solemn and responsible position.

Mr. Bateman responded to him,—

“I have not supposed that you were accustomed to think so much upon this class of subjects. Your friends are ignorant of the fact that you entertain such pronounced sentiments on these topics as you have expressed to me.”

“I am aware of that,” Mr. Lincoln answered; “but I think more on these subjects than upon all others, and I have done so for years.”

That Mr. Lincoln was a child of Providence, without knowing it, led and disciplined for graver responsibilities than any previous President had ever borne, not excepting Washington, is clear to the Bible student. His language was that of prophecy, and his spirit was that of a Christian hero and martyr.

Before leaving Springfield for Washington, Mr. Lincoln paid his mother and other relatives a visit. His mother was living with her daughter, Mrs. Moore, at Farmington. “The meeting between him and the old lady,” says Mr. Lamon, “was of the most affectionate and tender character. She fondled him as her own Abe, and he her as his own mother.”