Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1869-03-05
Chaplains of Congress.

Donn Piatt thus discOurseth in one Of
his letters from Washington
lam q firm believer in political SER
mons. Our morals have so much to do
with our politics, and our politics with
our morals, that I can not see how a
minister can do his duty and not mix
the two. Christ and his Apostles were
the most effective add persistent pOliti-
cal preachers the world ever saw.
have no doubt but that the aristOcratic
circles of Jerusalem were terribly shock
ed at the impertinent interference Of
men they considered very low fellows.
The artistoracy of to-day is about the
same as was that of Jerusalem, and it
wants the minister to be a sort of
Rev. Mr.. Japonica Cheesewax, and de-
vote himself to the holiness of the holy
and the sinfulness of sin, and leave the
congregation alone to its money getting
meanDess, its W0rldliness, and, above
al, its politics, be they good, bad or
Indifferent. This sort of thing [ do not
countenance, and our bretheren of the
Methodist Church have made il live
institution by ignoring such precepts.
But l do most earnestly protest
against the practice of injecting politics
into our prayers-in other words, to ad-
dress the prayer to the audience IN
stead of the Lord. On this account our
chaplains to legislative assemblies and
Rt public meetings have come to be
called, irrevently, 'the Lords stump
orators, and a gentleman once remark
ed, as he walked out of church, that
tine prayer just given was the most
eloquent effort he had ever heard be-
fore Boston audience" During the
late war an enthusiastic chaplain to the
senate one morning prayed the Lord
20 give the Senate brain. "Give them
brain, o Lord, give them brain - Ger
tainly sensible proposition, but rather
fIng
The better way for the chaplain is to
suppose that the Lord has some sense,
and not crowd in too much advice. i
have heard more blasphemy poured out
in prayer. than ever heard in curses
and all instructions and advice to the
Lord, and all hits at the congregation,
come under that head. ra--..-.
1 never hear this sort of thing that /
am not reminded of little Choptanlxs, /
as we used to call him up the Mac-a-
cheek, who had his wife arrested for as
saulting him with tire-shoVel, while |
at his deYotions., 1t was5an aggravated |
case. But Mrs. OhOptanks asked to be |
heard, and she said that little Choppy |
'sdidn't dare give her any of his sars /
in his talk; but he abused her in his /
prayers, and ont this occasion he was on /
his knees, with q crowd about the door,
gathered there by his thoHerin' and |
. callin' on the Lord to forgive this
'blRek-hearbed womRn,' make her tell |
The truth, OiLord, ? he followed, 'and |
make her quit gaddin about and a lynn
70 the neighbors,' and couldn't stand
It, and jist took him swipe with the
Hat of the shovel, and I'll do it again"
A friend of mine tells me a good story
Of a worthy divine of the Democratic
iaith, who, during the Mexican war,
held forth in prayer, one night, be-
ore his little congregation, somewhat
n this wise: ',ThOu knowest, o Lord,
hat our rights were invaded by those
Mexicans-that they crossed the Rio
5rande into our territory, and so de-
,lared war on us all of which, o Lord,
Thou wilt find set forth clearly and
in the message of our ex-
'ellent President"