Lincoln on Democracy

"THE PURPOSES OF THE ALMIGHTYARE PERFECT"

330 LINCOLN ON DEMOCRACY "THE PURPOSES OF THE ALMIGHTY ARE PERFECT" Letter to Eliza P. Gurney [SEPTEMBER 4, 1864] No one is certain what prompted Lincoln to answer the wife ofa prominent English Quaker more than a year after she wrote to offer her "hearty sympathy" for his "blessed purposes." But with election day looming, Lincoln may haveagain been pondering divine will. As Lincoln well knew from their previous meeting (see page 263), Mrs. Gurney and her fellow Quakers were antislavery but also antiwar. Eliza P. Gurney. My esteemed friend. Executive Mansion Washington, September 4. 1864. I have not forgotten-probably never shall forget-the very impressive occasion when yourself and friends visited me on a Sabbath forenoon two years ago. Nor has your kind letter, written nearly a year later, ever been forgotten. In all, it has been your purpose to strengthen my reliance on God. I am much indebted to the good christian people of the country for their constant prayers and consolations; and to no one of them, more than to yourself. The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, and must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible war long before this; but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom and our own error therein. Meanwhile we must work earnestly in the best light He gives us, trusting that so working still conduces to the great ends He ordains. Surely He intends some great good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make, and no mortal could stay. Your people-the Friends-have had, and are having, a very great trial. On principle, and faith, opposed to both war and oppression, they can only practically oppose oppression by war. In this hard dilemma, Lincoln and Democracy, 1863-1865 331 some have chosen one hom and some the other. For those appealing to me on conscientious grounds, I have done, and shall do, the best I could and can, in my own conscience, under my oath to the law. That you believe this I doubt not; and believing it, I shall still receive, for our country and myself, your earnest prayers to our Father in Heaven. Your sincere friend A. LINCOLN. "STRUGGLING TO MAINTAIN GOVERNMENT, NOT TO OVERTHROW IT" From a Response to a Serenade, the White House [OCTOBER 19, 1864] Lincoln was serenaded by loyal Marylanders celebrating the end ofslavery in their state. He acknowledged them from an upstairs White House window, and with his eleven-year-old son, Tad, holding a torch for light, read this reply, pledging to abide by the Constitution if he was defeated for reelection. Something said by the Secretary of State in his recent speech at Auburn, has been construed by some into a threat that, if I shall be beaten at the election, I will between then and the end of my constitutional term, do what I may be able, to ruin the government. Others regard the fact that the Chicago Convention adjourned, not sine die, but to meet again, if called to do so by a particular individual, as the intimation of a purpose that if their nominee shall be elected, he will at once seize control ofthe government. I hope the good people will permit themselves to suffer no uneasiness on either point. I am struggling to maintain government, not to overthrow it. I am struggling especially to prevent others from overthrowing it. I therefore say, that ...