The Worthington advance., 1901-02-08
HONORED THE LORD.
All of Our Presidents Were Faith
full Church Goers.
From WashinEton Down to McKin.
ley No -Out-and-Out AtheiSt
Ever Occupied the Ex-
ecutive Mansion.

Especial Washington Letter.
ct AM 90 years old and have lived
in this city all of my ife,"
says William Birth, one of our
most respected citizens.
II can only hear from the world now
by means of this ear-trumpet, but I
can read without glasses, eat with my
natural teeth, and walk several miles
a day without overtaxing myself.
II have no genuine recollection
Of the war of 1912. but my earliest rec
objections are the conversations I
heard about it. It has always been
very hard for me to tell the difference
between what I saw and what heard.
While 1 am sure that I was taken away
and did not see the burning of the
capitol, heard so much talk about it.
and so many descriptions of it, that I
have a picture of it in my mind, and all
of my mature life have been inclined
to believe that I really saw that great
historic vandalism.
II never saw Washington, but have
seen every other president of the re-
public. 1 have known some of them,
and have worshiped in the same church
with some of them. I presume that
Washington was our greatest Christian
president, and that Jackson was far
thest from being an ideal worshiper.
''Five of our presidents were church
officers, trustees or vestrymen, name
ly: Washington, John Quincy Adams.
Grant, Garfield and Harrison, the last
named being at present an elder of a
Presbyterian church at Indianapolis.
In addition to the above, Madison, Mon
roe, Tyler and Fillmore were commune
cants.
Everyone knows that Washington
was an Episcopalian, and nearly all vis-
itors to the capital make a pilgrimage
to Christ church, Alexandria,. where
the Father of His Country worshiped.
A less visited scene of his religious de-
votions is the church at Pohick, Va,
the site for which edifice Washington
located. As it was nearer Mount Yer
non than was Alexandria he attended
service there more frequently than he
did at the latter.place, but it is now
difficult of access and but little known
to the general public. Washington's s
church at Pohick was vandalized dur
ing the civil war and finally used as a
stable for northern troops. It is now
restored, and a congregation weekly
assemblies for worship within its walls.
"John Adams came of old Puritan
stock of New England. He was reared
as an independent, or Congregational
ist, but finally became Unitarian in
principles.
Jefferson was what might be called
q free thinker. and he imbibed, while
in France at the time of the revolution,
a good many of the ideas of what was
called French infidelity, although he
always recognized the existence of
God. He was denounced during his
campaign for the presidency as a
French infidel. OF slavery he said:
When think of human slavery in this
country and think that God is just I
tremble for my country His two
daughters were educated in a Catholic
convent in France.
James Madison was an Episcopal
Ian, although educated at Princeton,
the great Presbyterian stronghold.
Monroe was also an Episcopalian.
"John Quincy Adams was Unitari-
an, although he attended the Second
Presbyterian church during the time
of his stay in Washington.
jackson was a Scotch Presbyterian
When he came to Washington he at.
tended the Second Presbyterian
church, but got mad because Campbell,
the minister, objected to Mrs. Eaton,
and left the congregation. Jackson
took up the cause of the wife of his
old friend. Gen. Eaton. and defended