There was a Frenchman once, in olden times; he said people were crazy because, though they couldn't even make worms, they believed they could make gods.

And so whenever countries or parts of a country get into a war, each side makes a god and a devil, and says: 'God's on our side and the Devil's on the other.' The South thought the Devil was on our side, you see." "Well, that kind o' mixes it all up more'n ever." "Yes, it seems so; but Abraham Lincoln wasn't mixed up about it.

When some people told him that God was on our side, he said the important thing was to find out if we were on God's side.

That was the whole question, you see; because either side could make up a god, the kind of a god they liked and wanted; and then they'd believe in him, too, and fight for him--but if he was only a made-up god they'd lose.

President Lincoln didn't want to have a made-up god on his side; he wanted to find God Himself and find out what he wanted, and then do it.