The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-01-20
GARFIELD AS A PREACHER.

GARFIELD AS A PREACHER.
But He Never Designed 20 Become Minis.
ter-His Study OF the Law Secret at the
Tims-His Congervatisn,..
Correspondence of the Cincinnati Gazette.
MENTOR, O., Jan. g..
Half a century ago the renowned
Alexander Campbell founded the Chris
tian denomination, now generally known
as the Disciple churches. twenty-five
years ago these churches were becoming
firmly established in Northern Ohio
They were aggressive, and enjoyed the
full measure Of opposition and persecu:
ton which is always given to new and
wideawake religious organization. The
result was very rapid growth. The
membership of the Disciple churches in
the United States is now about 600, 900.
t. Gen. Garfeld's parents were among
| the earliest of Mr.. Campbell's converts
in Ohio, and from thsm he received the
religious training which established him
for life in the peculiar faith of the Dis
ciples. Early in his school days he
showed an aptness for public speaking,
and his interest in the study of the
Bible led his his friends to believe
that he would become minister. The
Disciples hold that every Christian
should be teae.-er, and do not require
in their candidates for the pastoral Of
fice q certain course oftheological train.
ing. They do not license" and "ordain," "
at least not in the formal manner which
prevails in: most other denominations.
Although Gen. Garfield is often spoken
of as having been a preacher, he was
never minister in the sense in which
that word ia 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 residents tell me that he
was remarkable speaker, earnest and
fluent in speech and fresh and bright in
thought, and so far superior to the un'
educated preachers who visited the coun-
try districts in those days that he was
regarded by the people generally as 2
most brilliant and accomplished religious
teacher. Itis not probable that re ever
entertained uyserious thong Mt OF adopt
ing the ministry as a profession. he
did not enter upon any extended and
thorough course of theological study, and
he refused 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.
lie preached because he loved the ex.
citement of the public speaking, and
preaching was the only kind of oratory
| for which there was that time demand
within the circle in which he moved.
He was 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
denomination had no great metropolitan
churches, in whose pulpits widespread
influence might be acquired and ma
tional fame established. The churches
we're nearly all small and financially
feeble. The salaries paid to their pastors
were ridiculously small. There was no
chance for promotion, the preachers all
being of one order, and the churches
being strictly congregational or indcpen'
dent in their ecclesiastical relations. To
become Disciple minister was to &C.
cep, comparative obscurity and unquail'
fed poverty for life. 1t is not surprising
that young Garfield disappointed his
pious admirers by seeking larger and
more promising sphere of activity. If
he had held to the doctrine OF divine
call to the ministry, probably he would
have bravely entered upon the life of
self.sacri6ce which such call is supposed
to require of those to whom it comes.
But he had not been taught to believe
certain men must preach or be damned
and he felt free to choose another pro.
fession. With the secretiveness 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 nomina-
ted as republican candidate for The State
Senate of Ohio. This nomination prac-
tically ended his brief career as preach
er. Out of respect for the public preju.
dice which condemns the blending of
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 theologi'
cal study; be was never licensed or
ordained, or set apart in any way for the
ministry; be never acted as pastor of q
church; he never wrote sermon; aud
his sermons" delivered at various times
aud places were simply religious lectures
or addresses, such as any educated and
devout layman might properly deliver.
Therefore it is correct to say That he was
never a minister in the ordinary sense Of
the term.
The steady adherence of Gen. Garfield
to the religious faith of his childhood is
an illustration of his natural conserva.
tism. He has no sympathy with that
radical spirit of progress which is ever
seeking for something new in religion,
politics or philosophy. It he had been
reared by Roman Catholic parents, he
would have adhered to the Papal Church
as faithfully as he has to the Disciples.
fhe had been reared in the South under
pru.slavery influence, he would never
have been known as Republican. At
ter his college training was finished he
had offers of profitable employment
in the East, but his natural conservatism,
his love of old associations and familiar
scenes impelled him TO return to the home
of his boyhood aud accept unremuneras
tive employment among his old friends
and neighhors. In later years The same
spirit has led him to buy farm here
and establish thereon his home-his per-
manent home, in which he hopes to
spend his declining years, when tempo
rary official homes at Washington or
elsewhere shall have lost all their attrac.
tions.
r. :, th;, ;,tor, oo,oory.f f;o,,, of Gap