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

But He Mover Designed to become q Minis,
ter-His Study Of tho Law Secret ct the
Timo-Rts Conservatieua..
Correspondence of she Cincinnati Gazette.
MENTOR, O., Jan. g..
dali 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 estahliehsd in Nogtha.n Ohio
They were s1gressive, aud enjoyed che
full measure of opposition aud persecu.
ton which is always giyer to new and
wideawake religious organization. The
result was q very rapid growth. The
membership of the Disciple Churches in
the United States is now about GOO, 600
Gen. Garfeld's parents were among
the earliest Of Mr. Csmpbell's converts
in Ohio, and from th.m 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 10 believe
that he would become q minister. The
Disciples hold that every Christian
should be teacher, and do not require
in their candidates for the pastoral Of
Gee O 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 q preacher, he was
never q minister in the sense in which
that word is ordinarily used After h;s
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 ~ the people generally as q
most brilliant and accomplished religious
teacher. It is not probable that re ever
entertained any serious thought of adopt.
ing the ministry as q profession. lie
did not enter upon any extended aud
thorough course of theological study, and
he refused several calls TO act as pastor.
To friend who recently asked h!r. for
the manuscript Of one of his old eermons
he declared that he never wrote one.
lie preached because he loved the ex-
citement Of the public speaking, and
,nreaehingg @@ss the .a,11!y Kind os 0Tstofy
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 lie was. The
denomination had no great metropolitan
churches, in whose pulpits o widespread
influence might be acquired and ma
tional fame established. The churches
were 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 tho churches
being atrictly congregational or indepen.
dent in their ecclesiastical relations. To
become Disciple minister was to &C.
cept comparative obscurity and unquali-
fed poverty for life. II 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
cal! to the ministry, probably he would
have bravely entered upon the life of
self-sacrifice 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 secretiyeness that is
characteristic Of him, he studied law
privately, keeping the fact n 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 tho 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; he war never licensed or
ordained, or set apart in any way for the
ministry; he never acted us pastor of a
church he never wrote q sermon; and
his sermons" delivered st various times
and places were simply religious lectures
or addresses, such as any educated and
devnnt layman might properly deliver.
Therefore it il correct to say that he was
never q minister in the ordinary sense of
the term.
The steady adherence of Gen. Garfield
to the religious faith of his childhood is
en illustration of his natural conserva.
tism. He has no sympathy with that
radical opirit of progress which is ever
Heekipg for ecmething new in religion,
politics or philosophy. II he had been
reared by Roman Catholic parents, he
would have adhered to the Papal Church
as faithfully as he has to the Disciples.
Ifhe had been reared in the South under
e-ss!!svs:y influence, ha would never
have been known rs 3 Republican. Af-
ter his college training was finished he
had offers of profitable employment
in the East, but his natural conservatism
bic !c:c <,e cd c;s...cns end famnilia
scSiiaS III ip5'i5d him tu seiurn 10 ine nome
of his buyhood and accept unremuneras
tive employment aE nng his old friends
and neighbors. In later years the same
spirit has led him to buy o 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 ut Washington or
elsewhere shall have lost a.. their atiyac
t;ons.
It ia this Unborn conservatism of Gen
Garfield which, more than anything else
assures those who know him that he will
be eminently successful in the Presiden.
cy. He will havo no new and untried
.heories to bring forward. He will have
no peHtiliar and original 1DojinvD Ne