Bismarck weekly tribune., 1889-09-06
LINCOLN AMID THE CHURCHES.

LINCOLN AMID THE CHURCHES.
The August installment of Nicolay &
Hays History of Abraham Lincoln, in
the Century Magazine, contains among
other interesting paragraphs, under the
above subdivision head, the following:
There was All instance in one place !
where a young officer rose in MS pew and
prayer for the president Of the United
States, which he had omitted. Upon the !
minister's refusal the soldier advanced to !
the pulpit and led the preacher, loudly pro-
testing. to the door, and then quietly re-
turning to the altar himself read the
editication of the congregation. General
Butler arrested a clergyman at Norfolk,
and placed him at hard labor on the public
works, for disloyalty in belief and action;
but the president reversed this sentence
and changed it to one of exclusion from
the Union lines.
It is in the interest of the ''history"
part of this narration that notice is taken
of the two instances quoted. In relation
to the first the ''local historian" at the
time made record which in an abbrevi-
ated form is here given:
On Sunday morning, to be precise it
was the 10Th of October, 1862, Major
Strong. then chief of General Buffers
staff at New Orleans, entered the Office
of the general in plain clothes and said:
II havn't been able to go to church since
we came to New Orleans. This morning
am going" He crossed the street and
took a front seat III the Episcopal
church, of which Dr.. Goodrich was
rector, opposite the mansion of General
Twiegs. He joined in the exercises with
an earnestness that become a good
churchman, with devoted mind, until
the Clergyman, reached that part of the
service where the prayer for the presi-
dent of the United States occurs. The
prayer was omitted, and the minister in
vited the congregation to spend a few
moments in silent prayer. The young
officer" regarded this not only an evasion
of the requirements of the church, but
also the orders of the commanding gen.
eral. He rose in his place and said
'Stop, sir. 1t is my duty to bring these
exercises to close. came here for
the purpose, and for the sole purpose of
worshiping God; but inasmuch as your
minister has seen fit to omit invoking a
blessing, as our church requires, upon
the president of the United States, I
propose to close the services. The house
will be shut within ten minutes" The
clergyman, astonished, began to remon-
strate. "This is no time for discussion,
SIR" said the major. The minister was
speechless and indignant. The ladies
flashed wrath upon the officer who had
remained motionless with folded arms.
and the men scowled. The minister
soon pronounced the benediction, the
congregation dispersed, and Major
Strong retired to report the circum-
stances at headquarters.
This in brief is the true story of one
of the incidents referred to in Messrs.
Nicolay-Hay's history. The affair did
not end here, however. General Butler
sent for the Episcopal clergyman, DR..
Leacock, DR.. Goodrich, DR.. Fulton, and
others, who were accustomed to omit the
prayer for the president, and pray in
silence for the triumph of treason, and
courteously argued the point with them.
They replied that, in omitting the prayer,
they were only obeying the orders of the
Right Reverend Major General Poll, their
ecclesiastical superior. The general could |
not admit the military prelate's authority
to change the liturgy, and said "this
praying for Davis must stop at some
time; why not now?" Furthermore the
clergy of the Episcopal church had taken
upon themselves the most solemn VOW to |
obey the canons and rubrics Of the
church, and their omission of part of the
itugy was of the nature of perjury.
DR.. Leacock replied sYour insisting
upon taking the oath of allegiance is
causing half of my church members to
perjure themselves
WE'LL" replied the general, .sif that is |
the result Of your nine years preaching,
II your people will commit perjury so
freely, the sooner you leave the pulpit |
the better"
After further conversation, DIR. Lea
cock asked il the general was going to |
"shut up the churches?'
No, sir; I am more likely to shut up |
the minister's = was the reply.
The clergymen, showing no DISPOSE
tionto yield, the interview ended with this
ultimatum: Read the prayer for the |
president, omit the silent act Of devotion,
or leave New Orleans prisoners Of state
for Fort Lafayette 2
How three Of the D. d. eacock,
Goodrich and Fulton we're shipped to
New York, and and after many days returned