The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-04-16
my BELIEVE IN GOD.
DELICIOUS FAITHS OF OUR
PRESIDENTS.

vUes Not an lnhdeI-DeclAred
7,tention of Making a Profess
p If Faith Just Before His Assss-
.0..,on-"Old Hickory's" CONVEX
son. cCopyriohtS
49, YORK, April 15.-Everybody In
vork has heard OF the remark recently
Ne" ~ Col Robert G. IngersoI to the eff
p'l' 10, Abraham Lincoln was no more
s' -;s,;sn than Voltaire was. This has
rise to a discussion Of the religious
- the martyr President which prom
VIZ, have a long run.
BE- y y a remarkable fact that Of the twenty
prssidepts of the United States very
tnI90 accorded by the biographers OF the
Huo Of them as TO their religious faith.
ps! 't,r,ber remarkable that as TO all of
j. ID orsatest Of them, Washington
pe ,sI there was much doubt during
exp .iI lives and much discussion after
me. Deaths as to whether they were
H We. at all and, if they were, to what
4 Cl..3scation of Christians they properly
bsIoDeed By common consent tee greatest
Ve-9i-5ssntial names are those of Washington
sa-son Jackson, Lincoln and Grant. The
'IlIions belief of all these men, except
ITTnlssbingtou. was a matter of doubt during
W. later part Of their lives. and in the
We of Jefferson aud Lincoln-the two
latest Of all our Presidents in the judg-
49, AZ the most critical and disoriminRt-
~ snthorities-the controversy is still an
mE one. AS to both OF the last named
I5Frseidents the assertion has been made
sadly. as Col. Ingersoll has quite recently
rrsde II in regard to Lincoln, that they
were not Christans
The nanorama of the Presidents presents
.orna curious contrasts IN the matter Of the
soigious professions, utterances and prac-
,css N the successive inoumbents OF the
white house.
BELIEVED IN PRAYER.
Everybody knows that Washington was
a member of the Episcopal church of Vir-
ginia in good and regular standing; that
Ss resorted to prayer at all the critical
moments in his career and'attributed to AL
MIGHTY God direct personal interposition in
his bebalf and that OF the American people.
Fairly in ITO be wrote to the continental
congress earnestly asking for chaplains for
the army. The blessing and protection of
heaven are at all times necessary" he wrote,
"but especially 30 IN time of public distress
and danger. The general hopes and trusts
that every officer and man will endeavor to
live and act as becomes Christian soldier. "
In August of the same year he issued the
following notice to his army at New York
"Tbe general is sorry to be informed that
the foolish and profane practice OF oursing
and swearing, a vice hitherto little known
in an American army, is growing into
fashion. He hopes that the officers will by
example, as well as by influence, endeevor
to check it, and that both they and the men
will reflect that we can have little hope OF
the blessing Of heaven on our cause IL we
insult by our impiety and folly. Added to
this it is a vice so mean and low, without
any temptation, that every man OF sense
and character detests and despises IL.
When, his army was in the neighborhood
Of Morristown, N. j., the communion serv-
ice was to be administered in the Presbyte-
rian church Of that place and Gen. Wash
ington called upon the pastor, DR.. Jones, and
asked him II it would be proper according
to the rules of his church for members of
other denominations to attend. Certainly"
said the pastor, "ours is not the Presbyte-
rien table, but the Lords table; and we
give the Lords invitation to all his follow
ers Of whatever name"
81 am glad of it," replied Washington:
that is as it ought to be. But as was not
quite sure of the fact thought / would asr
certain it from yourself, as | propose to
Join with you on that occasion. Though a
member of the Church Of England l have
no exclusive partialities."
A CONSISTENT CHRISTIAN.
When Lord CORVALLIS had capitulated
and the cause Of independence was won,
Washington issued this order TO the army
Divine service is to be performed to-mor-
row in the several brigades and divisions.
The commander-in- chief earnestly recon-
mends that the troops not on duty should
universally attend with that seriousness OF
department and gratitude OF heart which
the recognition of such reiterated and
astonishing interpretations Of providence de-
mands of u.s."
There is no DOUBT whatever that in his re-
llglous beliefs, as in all else, President
Washington was thoroughly sincere man.
his private life Tailed with his public pro-
fesslons. He revolted from slavery, and
though be owned slaves never treated them
as such and set them free by his will While
ne was OF the Episcopalian communion no
one can study either his private letters or
his public papers without finding in them
frequent expressions of belief in
the personal and direct daily interior
ence OF God in the affairs OF
men, similar TO those we find in the private
and public writings of Oliver Cromwell and
the old Covenanters. Death, the supreme
Test, found him as it finds all such men,
undismayed. To his physician about 4
o'clock in the afternoon of the day on
winch he died he turned and said: 81 die
hard, but am not afraid to 60. Two hours
laser they raised him on his pillow, and he
sa'u' Il feel that am going l thank you
ior your attentions. You had better not
take any more trouble about me, but let me
90 OIL quietly" At 10 O'Clock he spoke
agaln; Il am just going. Have me de-
Sentiy buried. but do not let my body be
puV INTO the vault until three days after
on ON dead. DO you understand mep To
. .neir reply, YES, sir, " he rejoined at is
well, and spoke no more.
Next came President John Adams. He
"as Congregationalist, the descendant of
long line of Puritan ancestors. He was
osspEzed Oct. %, 1875, in the first church
VI Qulncy, Mass. not unfairly called "the
ouurcn OF statesmen" because within it's
N NailS nave worshiped the Adamses, the
%g4noys and the Hancocks. But John
Suauls was by no means a Puritan of the
CalVlnlst type. The first church of Quincy
was q Unitarian church to all intents and
purposes long before Chauning preached his
oLLuloNs baltimore sermon, which brought
Soyu1 the separation of the Uni
t 90 ian from the Trinitarian Congrega-
IsIg 5Iists In New England. When John
1lIaihs went to church In Quincy, which he
ulu very regularly when he was there, the
VACnange minister's who occupied the pulpit
, mele accustomed TO bring their best SER
n n.ons out OF Difference to him, very much as
preachers preachers used to do in England when sum-
s'Iueu TO preach before the king. John
5nos wife, the famous Abigail Adams.
vas the daughter Of the Congregational
-IIlll In the neighboring town Of Wey-
iItIouyh' and her father did not at first take
ma.I 20 tue match. Her two sisters had
married ministers with good settlements,