Note 48 — Chapter XVII

This book had been written and was in course of revision when I procured Dr. Chapman's Latest Light on Lincoln. It is a book by one who loved Lincoln sincerely, and can discover in him no lack of any desirable quality; even physical beauty and grace of movement are here attributed to Lincoln, as well as the acceptance of all the fundamental articles of the creeds. He accepts the Beecher incident, declaring that Dr. Johnson informed him that "after thorough investigation he fully believed it to be truthful and authentic," and affirming that "upon the scene of this unique event there rests a halo of celestial beauty too sacred to be regarded with indifference or doubt." The halo may be there, but is it true? Was there any period of twenty-four hours while Lincoln was in the White House when this could have occurred, and the fact concealed from the public? It is altogether less improbable that Mrs. Beecher in her extreme old age and failing mentality was mistaken about the identity of one of Mr. Beecher's callers.