-Caveat Lector- ---------- Forwarded message - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ David Chesebrough analyzes 340 sermons delivered during the seven weeks following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on 14 April 1865 in this volume. The majority of the sermons were delivered on Easter Sunday, 16 April, and the following Wednesday, the day that Lincoln's funeral services were conducted in Washington, D.C. About twenty percent of the sermons studied were delivered on 1 June, the Day of National Humiliation marking the end of the official mourning period for Lincoln. The author states: "It was a time of pervasive grief, bitter anger, and wrenching frustration; a time when passions overruled the rational, inspired both noble and caustic words, and dictated radical actions. Such emotionalism could not long be sustained, and it was not" (107). On the other hand, these sermons contributed to the "immortalization of Abraham Lincoln" (110). The two criteria used in the selection of the sermons were that they were Protestant and that they were delivered by preachers who were Northern in orientation. Although thousands of sermons were preached, the author was able to look at only those that were printed. This means that most of the sermons were delivered in large urban churches that were financially well enough off to have the sermons printed. Some of the most moving sermons that are cited were delivered by black preachers. Chesebrough divides the volume into five major themes: grief, the character of Lincoln, who was responsible, the demand for justice, and the assassination as an act of Providence. The focus of the vast majority of the sermons -- the longest chapter in the book -- is on Lincoln's character, described by one preacher as the character of an American under the discipline of freedom" (17). Although it was thought by the preachers that Lincoln's most memorable action was the Emancipation Proclamation, the sermons emphasized the quality of his goodness and intellect. Lincoln had a "great and manly soul" that was honest and open and worthy of entire trust (20). His intellect was powerful, and even so soon after his death it was understood that his great capacity was not unrelated to a study of Euclid and to the few great books he studied, including the Bible, while his humor indicated that he studied many men and understood their nature. His ability to tell stories was understood to be "philosophy in parables" (25). Although some sermons showed a certain uneasiness about Lincoln's religious commitment because he had never made a public profession of his faith and because he had never officially joined a church, the vast majority understood then what modem biographers since have made clear (8). According to one sermon, Lincoln "was a man of decided religious turn of mind, who lived and acted in the light arid influence of a practical" faith (32). It is interesting that he was often compared to both Moses and Washington. If Washington was the "Founder," Lincoln was the "Restorer" (39). To read these sermons is to have some understanding of the overwhelming grief that hung over the American people, and why, as one poetic sermon put it: "It is manly to weep to-day" (1). The appendix to the volume contains two full sermons. One is a radical one, arguing that justice demands harsh penalties from the South. The other, more typical in tone and demeanor, emphasizes the quality of mercy and spends much time on Lincoln's moral power and the basis of his greatness. The second part of the appendix -- most fifty pages in length -- contains an annotated list of the 340 post-assassination sermons that the author has examined. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
