Fraternity-Testvériség, 1965 (43. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1965-02-01 / 2. szám

FRATERNITY

3

These records disclose that one of the more prominent of Lincolns Swedenborgian friends was Isaac S. Britton, later to become the Illinois State Superintendent of Schools. And journals of visiting Swedenborgian missionaries record being introduced to President Lincoln by Mr. Britton. These journals also confirm

that Lincoln was an interested student of the theological works of Swedenborg.

The following is from the notes of Rev. J. R. Hibbard:

. . At Springfield we remained for a week or more to

rest after our long and fatiguing journey. Here I first met

that remarkable man, Abraham Lincoln ... I was astonished at the man. I had never seen nor heard of him until that morning. He was then unknown to fame ... Mr. Lincoln was not a member of any of the various sects or Churches. A very few knew why. He was a religious man, a very conscientious man, and his conscience was formed by the Ten Commandments and the Word of God, which, in private, he read much.

“His views concerning the Lord Jesus Christ as God manifest, concerning the moral government of the universe and the civil government of nations, the humanity of man and the duty of rulers to protect and preserve the principles of humanity wherever found, in the highest or in the lowest, were largely formed and influenced by the writings of Swedenborg, furnished to him by his friend, Mr. I. S. Britton . .

Other early Swedenborgians among Lincoln’s intimates were Col. William B. Archer and Jacob Harlan, whose cousin, James Harlan, became Secretary of the Interior and the father-in-law of Robert Lincoln. Jacob died a young man and his widow married Stephen Sargent, whom she converted to the teachings of Swedenborg.

The Sargent home in Coles County became a stop-over for Lincoln on his many journeys between Springfield and Marshall. There he joined in family Sunday religious services on occasion.

The memoirs of the Sargent family recall that Lincoln joined in one particular service and acknowledged acceptance of the doctrine of the “Universal Church of the New Jerusalem” presented as a Universal Christian Dispensation, not as a church organization. A grand-daughter asserts that this involved “lay baptism”, and some form of this may have occurred in the observance without implying any formal baptism into a church