ent position; and looking to Him, I must work out my destiny as best I can.' Our conversation was free, and I felt certain that if Mr. Lincoln was not really an experimental Christian, he was acting like one. And here I would relate an incident which occurred on the 4th of March, 1861, as told to me by Mrs. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln wrote the conclusion of his inaugural address the morning it was delivered. The family being present, he read it to them. He then said he wished to be left alone for a short season. The family retired to an adjoining room, but not so far distant but that the voice of prayer could be distinctly heard. . . ."

During the war a lady connected with the Christian Commission had occasion in the course of her duties, to have several interviews with the President. On one occasion after business with him was finished, he said to her:

"Mrs., I have formed a high opinion of your Christian character, and now, I have a mind to ask you to give me, in brief, your idea of what constitutes a true religious experience."

The lady stated that, in her judgment, it consisted of a conviction of one's own sinfulness and weakness, and personal need of the Saviour for strength and support; that views of mere doctrine might and would differ, but when one was really brought to feel his need of Divine help, and to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance, it was evidence of his having been born again. . .

Mr. Lincoln was thoughtful for a few moments, and at length said: "If what you have told me is a correct view of this great subject, I think I can say that I hope I am a Christian. I had lived," he continued, "until my boy Willie died, without realizing fully these things. That blow overwhelmed me. It showed me my weakness as I had never felt it before, and if I can take what you have stated as a test, I think I can safely say that I know something of the change of which you speak; and I will further add, that it has been my intention for some time, at a suitable opportunity to make a public religious profession."

A gentleman called at the White House to see the President on business and relates: "I was shown into the office of his private secretary, and told that Mr. Lincoln was busy just then, but

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would be disengaged in a short time. While waiting, I heard a very earnest prayer being uttered in a loud, female voice in the adjoining room. I inquired what it meant, and was told that an old Quaker lady, a friend of the President's, had called that afternoon and taken tea at the White House, and that she was then praying with Mr. Lincoln. After the lapse of a few minutes the prayer ceased, and the President, accompanied by a Quakeress not less than eighty years old, entered the room where I was sitting."

In the course of a conversation of Mr. Bateman, of Illinois, with Mr. Lincoln previous to his first election, the latter unfolded himself in such a way as caused Mr. Bateman to feel that he had in his quiet way found a path to the Christian standpoint. Said he to Mr. Lincoln: "I have not supposed that you were accustomed to think so much upon this class of subjects; certainly your friends generally are ignorant of the sentiments you have expressed to me." He replied quickly, “I know they are, but I think more on these subjects than upon all others, and I have done so for years; and I am willing you should know it."

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church met in Springfield, Illinois, May, 1882. Dr. Henry Darling, in the course of his reply to the Governor's welcome spoke as follows: "In the last year of the war, when victory seemed to be following our armies, one of our Synods, now represented in this Assembly, met in the city of Washington, when it was decided to visit the President in a body. After a brief address by the Moderator, Mr. Lincoln replied, thanking them, as well as other churches for what had been done by them to save our land from the terrors of secession. Then hesitating, he closed his remarks by a few faint words, but sufficiently loud to be heard by every one present as follows: 'I never thought I was a great man; I am not. And I have often wondered why in these perilous times God put me in such a position of responsibility as this; and my only explanation is that God would make the American people feel that it was Himself that brought deliverance.'"

Mr. Lincoln was noted for his talent in producing an apt illustration or story, and a volume of "Lincoln's Stories," by J. B. McClure, was issued in 1879. The private secretaries of Mr.

Lincoln, John G. Nicolay and John Hay, are engaged in producing an important work upon his "Life and Times.”

His home was a modest mansion in the city of Springfield, Ill. He married November 4, 1842, Mary, daughter of Robert S. Todd, of Lexington, Ky. His son, Robert, entered President Garfield's Cabinet as Secretary of War, and served four years; in 1889 was appointed by President Harrison Minister to England.

JAMES LOGAN.

ACTING GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1736.*

PATRICK LOGAN, of Scotch ancestry, father of James, was educated at the University of Edinburgh, entered the ministry, served for a time as chaplain, and finally "joined in religious society with the Quakers." He married Isabel Hume, "a lady of distinction by birth and connections."

James Logan was born in Lurgan, Ireland, October 20, 1674; died at Stenton, Penn., October 31, 1751.

Before he was thirteen years of age he had attained a knowledge of Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He was put apprentice to a linen-draper in Dublin, but the war in Ireland coming on before he was bound, he was returned to his parents, and went with them, first to Edinburgh, then to London, then to Bristol. In Bristol he entered upon trade with good promise of

success.

In the spring of 1699, while engaged in business at Bristol, he was solicited by William Penn to accompany him to his newlyfounded Colony in America. He submitted this offer to his friends, who did not favor the proposal. He decided himself to accept the proposal of the Governor; and, accordingly, sailed with Penn to America, in the Canterbury, in the seventh month. (September), 1699.

He was appointed Secretary to the Province of Pennsylvania, with general charge both of the government and property. William Penn, when about sailing for England, in 1701, thus addresses him: "I have left thee in an uncommon trust, with a

*"Memoirs of James Logan," by Wilson Armistead, London, 1851; “The Historic Mansions of Philadelphia," by Thompson Westcott, 1877; Apple

ton.

singular dependence on thy justice and care, which I expect thou wilt faithfully employ in advancing my honest interest."

From 1731 till 1739, Mr. Logan served as Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and after the death of Governor Gordon in 1736, he served as Acting Governor of the Province for two years.

Mr. Logan was a Quaker in religious belief. He was styled by Mr. Armistead "A Distinguished Scholar and Christian Legislator." The following are extracts from a paper drawn up by James Logan, addressed "To Myself."

"Remember that thou art not of thy own production, but brought into this world by the Creator and Supreme Lord of it... Enter into covenant with him forever to be his by service, whose thou art by creation."

"Remember that thou art by profession a Christian; that is, one who art called after the immaculate Lamb of God, who, by offering himself a sacrifice for thee, atoned for thy sins; and, by debasing himself to thy condition, has given thee the example of his own unspotted life to copy after. Clothe thyself, therefore, with his spirit, make him thy holy pattern, and do nothing unbecoming so great and glorious a title."

"In the morning at thy rising, prostrate thyself before thy Great Master, who has led thee safe through the dark vale of the past night, as a servant ready and desirous to perform his holy will the following day. . . . Suffer not the sun in winter at farthest, or the sixth hour in summer, to find thee, if in health, on thy pillow. Rouse with the more simple servants of nature, and, borrowing one hour from the sleep of sluggards, spend it in thy chamber in dressing thy soul with prayer and meditation, reading the Scriptures and good authors. Thrice happy those blessed moments, they will yield an immortal harvest of never failing treasures."

"In the evening before thou suffer sleep to invade thine eyes, recollect the actions of the past day, keeping, if possible, an exact account of all thy hours. . . . Thus anticipate the reckoning of the great and last day, and calming thy conscience in a true peace with thy God, to his Divine protection commit thyself, and as if it were thy last sleep, compose thyself to rest."