Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1885-04-24
President Cleveland as a Church-tOsT.

he err as to the UNCONVENTIONAL in'
fiuences he should surround him
self with. Utterly unconscious OF
the impertinence of comment OF
suggestion upon such a subject, the
Qaid muncs of the press, and the
court. flies, had at last to let the
President decide for himself.
President Cleveland has never
made any public profession of re-
ligious faith, and naturally paid
proper tribute to his fathers men,
ory, and to the religious preferences
of his family for generations, when
be selected the Presbyterian church
as his place OF public worship. His
father was an eminent clergyman
of that sturdy and timehOnored
faith, aud others than Presbyte-
rians will see in the sons respect
for the faith of his father and fami'
ly, not less than IN many charac.
teristics the President has shown,
the outgrowth Of the robust and
sinewy religious belief in which the
President was reared. President
Arthur, like President Cleveland,
has never made a public declara-
ton Of religion, and he too is the
son of a clergyman, his father hav-
ing been an earnest Baptist divine
| in Vermont for years before and
after his son Chester A. Arthur was
born. Having married a Virginia
lady, herself an EpiscOpalian, and
belonging to distinguished family
who have been EpiscOlians for gen.
erations, Mr.. Arthur continued af-
| ter his accession to the Presidency,
to attend the church which his wife,
then dead, had so much loved
throughout her lifetime.
There has been no rule of church
membership, or even of church at
tendance, among the Presidents
But the strong Presbyterian par
tialities of President Cleveland en-
phasize the distinction that church
has had in its contributions to the
government of this country. An
drew Jackson became q Presbyte'
rian, after leaving the Presidency,
and James X. Polk, another Ten
nessee President, was also 3 Pres
byterian. These we're eminent &C.
cupants of the presidential chair,
and do not need to have their his
tories even summarized. They
we're of North of Ireland origin, and
that fact explains their inherited
Presbyterian prOclivities. With
memories Of another president Of
Presbyterian training, Virginia has
much of tender sympathy. He was
the supplemented old soldier, the
hero of Tippecanoe, the conqueror
Of Tecumseh, who was taken from
his log-cabin at North Bend on the
Ohio river, and transported to the
White House on the "Tippecanoe
and Tyler too" wave Unpopular en-
thusiasm Of 1910. 1t will be re-
membered that General Harrison
! died within one month after his in
auguratiOn. He was born in
Charles City county, within astone's
throw of James River, and was ed
ucated at Hampden Sidney College
! in Prince Edward county, the edu-
cational nursery of Presbyterianism
in Virginia, rich'in the names OF
the Hoges, the Alexanders, the
Cushings, the Maxwells, the Car
rolls, the Rices and other lights of
| the PRESBYTERIAN church in Virginia.
| OF recent presidents none have
been more active advocates and
| promoters of UNCONVENTIONAL ad-
yancement than Presidents Garfield
| and Hayes, though General Grant
is a very Jealous Methodist, as have
been all his family for many years.
President Hayes and his wife are
| Methodists and took great interest
during their residence in the White
House, in all matters pertaining to
| the growth of the Methodist church
| in Washington. President Garfield
4
| was an ardent member of the
church, by some called the Chris
tan church, and by others the
| Church of the Disciples, and took
an active part in the deliberations
| of his religious brethren both al
Washington, during his long public
service and at his home in North
. ern Ohio.
Other presidents Ueginnlng with
Washington, who was an Episcopa
, liam, as were several Of the presi
dents now deceased, have been
governed in their church cOnnec
. tons by the usual influences thai
j. determine choice of religious asso
! citation, more or less, such as home
: training, marriage and family con
; nections. Several of them were
attached to no orthodox belief
John Adams, the successor o
1 Washington, was Unitarian, al
: was also his son John Quincy AID
/, ans, who succeeded Mr.. Monroe a
o president. President Jefferson wa
T Unitarian with strong leaning to
o wards the ultra rationalism tina
!. dominated the French mind during
J, the great revolution in France
!, hundred years ago. Indeed hi