National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-01-15
PREACHER GARFIELD.
BRILLIANT PULPIT ORATOR
And q Thoughtful and Eloquent AdEoeate-But
He Never Designed to Become Minister
His Study Of the Law Secret at
the Time-His Conservatism.

1hcnts 1.-Two ycdIS ago lucoc CuuISHSS nSlO OSSOhh
ing firmly established in Northern Ohio. They
were aggressive, and enjoyed the full measure OF
opposition and persecution which is always given
to new and wide-awake religious organizations
The result was very rapid growth. The member
ship of the Disciple churches in the United States
is now about 100000. General Garfeld's parents
were among the earliest of Mr.. Campbelps con-
yerts in Ohio, and from them he received the re-
ligious training which established him for life in
the peculiar faith of the Disciples. Early in his
school days he showed an aptness for public speak
Ing and his interest in the study of the Bible led
his friends to believe that he would become a
minister. The Disciples hold that every Christian
should be teacher, and do not require in their
theological training. They do not license and
"Ordain," at least not in the formal manner which
prevails in most
OTHER DENOMINATIONS.
Although General Garfield is often spoken Of as
having been preacher, he was never minister
in the sense in which that word is ordinarily used
After his graduation at Williams College he was
often invited to preach in the Disciple churches
in the region about Cleveland, and many old res
idents tell me that he was remarkable speaker,
earnest and fluent in speech and fresh and bright
in thought and so far superior to the uneducated
preachers who visited thecountry distrctsin those
a most brilliant and accomplished religious
teacher 1t is not probable that he everentertaned
any serious thought of adopting the ministry
profession. He did not enter upon any extended
and thorough course of theological study and he re-
fused several calls to act as pastor. To friend
who recently asked him for the manuscript of one
of his old sermons he declared that he never
wrote one. He preached because
HE LOVED THE EXCITEMENT
of public speaking and preaching was the only
kind of oratOry for which there was at that time
demand within the circle in which he moved. He
a natural, irrepreSSible orator, and his speech
naturally flowed into the first channel which
opened for it. But the regular pastor work of the
Disciple churches had few attractions for one SO
capable and ambitious as he was. The denomina-
ton had no great metropolitan churches in whose
pulpits widespread influence might be acquired
and national fame established The churches
were nearly all small and financially feeble. The
salaries paid to their pastors were ridiculOrIsly
small. There was no chance for promotion the
preachers all being of one order and the churches
being strictly congregational or Independent in
their ecclesiastical relations. To become Disciple
minister was to accept comparative obscurity and
unqualified poverty for life. 1t is not surprising
that young Garfield disappointed his pious adj
mirers by seeking larger and more promising
of divine call to the ministry, probably he would
have brayely entered upon the life Of selfsacrifice
which such a call is supposed to require of those
to whom it comes. But he had not been taught
to believe that certain men must preach or be
damned, and he felt free to choose another profess
sion. With the SecreiveneSS that is characteristic
of him, he studied law privately, keeping the fact
profound secret until his admission to the bar in
Cleveland made it public Shortly after this event
he was unexpectedly nominated as a Republican
candidate for the State senate of Ohio. This
nomination practically ended his brief career as a
preacher Out of respect for the public prejudice
which condemns the blending iof religious and
political work, he Withdrew as quickly as possible
from the pulpit after his party had
PLACED HIM on THE STUMP.
To recapitulate: Mr. Garfield never pursued
regulation course of theological study; he was
never licensed ordained or set apart in any way
for the ministry; he never acted as pastor of
church, he never wrote sermon, and his % ser
mons" delivered at various times and places were
simply religious lectures or addresses, such any
educated and deyOut layman might properly de-
liver. Therefore it is correct to say that he was
never minister in the ordinary sense of the term
The steady adherence of General Garfield to the
religious faith of his childhood is illustration of
his natural conservatism. He has no sympathy
with that radical spirit of progress which is ever
seeking for something new in religion, politics, or
philosophy. If he had been reared by Roman
Catholic parents, he would have adhered to the
Papal Church as faithfully he has to the Disci-
pies. If he had been reared in the South, under
pro-slavery influences, he would never have been
known as Rebupiican After his college training
was finished he had offers of profitable employ
ment in the East, but his natural conservatism,
his love of old associations and familiar scenes,
impeled him to return to the home of his boyhood
and accept unremunerative employment among
his old friends and neighborS. In later years the
same spirit has led him to buy farm here and
establish thereon his home-hiS permanent home
in which he hopes to spend his declining years,
when temporary official homes at Washington or
elsewhere shall have lost all their attractions.
IT Is THIS INFORM CONSERVATISM
of General Garfield which, more than anything
else, assures those who know him that he will be
eminently successful in the Presidency. He will
have no new and untred theories to bring forward.
He will have no peculiar and original policy"
He will make no haSty decisions on important
questions. Inaword, he is absolutely leyel-headed.
Every Sunday morning at a few minutes past
ten o'clock General Garfields team of black colts
is brought out, and the General, taking the lines
himself drives with his family to the little coun-
try church where they worship. 1t is about one
mile east of the Garfield residence, and is plain
wooden building neatly finished within and
without 1t has seats for about two hundred per
sons. Arriving at the church door, General Gar
field alights and tenderly lifts his mother and his
wife from the wagon or sleigh, and then drives to
a friends place near by, where he unhitches his
horses and leaves them in the barn until after the
services. Returning to the church, he walks up
the aisle with bowed head and takes his accus-
toned seat near the 'front.' and only few feet from
the preachers desk, He joins heartily and unaf.
fcetedly in the service of praise and listens attent
lively to the sermon, whether it be good, bad, or
indifferent After the sermon, according to the
custom of the Disciples,
THE LORDS SUPPER Is OBSERVED
in the simplest and most informal manner. After
the congregation is dismissed General Garfield
warmly grasps the pastors hand, speaks kind and
encouraging word i'll his ear, and as he goes down
the aisle toward the door gives hearty greeting to
such of the congregation as finger a moment :" to
be sociable" Then he bitches his team and with
his family drives homeward to spend the afternoon
and evening it may be. in work that is not strictly
religious. For General Garfield is not Sabbath
rian He has no Puritan notions in regard to the
observance of what the Disciples call the Lords
Day" fine can quietly serve his party, his coun-
try his personal friends on that day he believes
no doubt, that the service will be accepted " as
done unto the Lord" He pays little atten-
ton to religious forms and ceremonies beyond
the few and simple rites of his church. He en-
courages the largest freedom of opinion in his
and never obtrudeS his own religious
views his guests. With friends of his own faith
who choose to talk on religious subjects he con-
verses on such themes with great zest, and is
talker His mind is vast reservoir of
knowledge on which he drawS at will for
facts, arguments, and illustrations touching any
subject, and he seems to feel perfectly at home in
any realm of thought.
His pastor said to me, ooh, you ought to hear
General Garfield converse on religious subjects
He is man of profound faith. He believes that
he is guided by Providence in every step of life,
and rests in the sense of Gods absolute SOW
ereignty His religious CONVERSATION is nnrif yinn