There has been much controversy over Lincoln’s religious beliefs, many claiming that he was a deist while others have sought to prove that he was an infidel. Although never a member of any church, there is much documentary as well as corroborative evidence which show him to have been a believer in Providence; and in his parting address to his Springfield neighbors, when leaving for Washington, he said:

“Washington would never have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine blessing which sustained him; and on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support. And I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain.”