Abraham Lincoln: The Practical Mystic

Chapter 28: The Great Puzzle

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About This Book

The study presents Abraham Lincoln as a practical mystic whose public decisions and private life were influenced by a persistent sense of divine will and spiritual insight. Drawing on contemporary testimonies, anecdotes, and comparative reflections, it explores his mystical experiences, premonitions, and prophetic temperament alongside traits of simplicity, serenity, and intellectual originality. Chapters analyze how unseen influences intersected with law, authority, and moral responsibility, and consider his style, wit, and critical faculties in light of mystical conviction. The work also situates these interpretations within broader discussions of science, destiny, and the moral challenges of leadership.

The Great Puzzle

"One day, at Washington, he made this remark to me: 'If ever this free people, if this Government itself is ever utterly demoralised, it will come from this human wriggle and struggle for office—a way to live without work.'

"It puzzled him at Washington to know and to get at the root of this dread desire, this contagious disease of national robbery in the nation's death-struggle.

"This man, this long, bony, wiry, sad man, floated into our country in 1831, in a frail canoe, down the north fork of the Sangamon River, friendless, penniless, powerless, and alone—begging for work in our city—ragged, struggling for the common necessities of life. This man, this peculiar man, left us in 1861, the President of the United States, backed by friends, power, fame, and all human force."