The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-12-17

/ knees he said during the darkesES
period OF the Civil War, FOR have noe
where else to go" Mrs. Lincoln wa ass
presbyterian, and for years tho qrea&
Emancipation accompanied her and ilisN
children to churches of that denoninaS
ton. and in various ways My. rincolpS
nade 1t evident that his religious pretss
crenccs were in that direction. M &
Although his religious ancestry was
angiican-his grandfather was thaE
fifth Virginia President BenjanlIIsR
Harrison united with the Presbytorian$
church early In life and died In thatA
faith. For thirty years he was regus5
lar attendant at the First PrcsbyteriaE
Church of indianapolis, ana when fss
went to Washington he avs cquaIIy8
| punctilious in his observance. Growers
Cleveland was not so regular in his
church attendance. but he was Prose-
bytcrian, both by birth and from pref
erence. His father was minister OF
| that church. although the Cleveland
ancestry Is Puritan and dates from thar
settlement Of New England. That MlTf
Cleveland was most at home among
his co-reiiSionists Is made evident by
| the fact that when he retired from
| public service he settled down at
Princeton and lived there for the re rS
| maindcr OF his life. s5f4
Including Andrew Johnson. wKoua3
religious preferences were dccidedlyS
| Mcthodistic. but who never united pub
licly with that church. four Americars
Presidents have been disciples OF John
Wesley. Up to the time GeueraIS
Grant went into the White House he
had not Identified himself publicly with
any religious denomination, although
| his family had found the Methodist
Church spiritually congenial In WashsS
| ington the President and his family
/ not -. a
| great congregation assembled by Df.4
Newman. an eloquent and popular.
| Methodist minister OF the day. 435
Although Rutherford B. Hayes was}
| born and passed his early boyhood I'M
| the very centre of Ohio Methodism Del-S
| aware, the scat OF Ohio Wesleyan Uni<a
| vcrsity, his youthful religious prefer;
enccs were Eplscopalian.
William Mckinley became a member
of the Methodist Church at the age Of
sixteen, while he was attending COLI
| lcge at Mcadville. Pa. Like James Az
| Garfield, he entered the political field
with the determination never to ens3
| gage in any movement which conflict-5
| ed with his religious convictions. He
| was not n religious partisan, and ael-
| dom made himself prominent In the ac-I
| tivities Of his church, but never relax;
ed In his observance of its Discipline
even under the stress of political eX-'
| element s&
James a. Garfield was the only:
American President who was equallys
at homo In the pulpit and on the;
| rostrum. While he was still a, child
his parents united with the Church. OF,
! the Disciples. then in it's infancy. and.
their son made up his mind to become
| "A minister of that denomination. With:
| that end in view. he worked his way,
upward securing tho necessary cduca-5
ton, but impelled by his poverty to,
! follow the more lucrative profession Of
law. lie was of deeply-spirituar
| temperament. and never abandoned his
taste for pulpit oratory. not even after
he became President. Every pulpit Of
his church In the land was open to-
| him. and he awaited himself not in9
frequently Of his opportunity. HI
! Willard Fillmore and William II.
Taft are the two professed Unitarians
IN the presidential group. Mr.. Fiji:
more didn't mako a great point of his
religious equipment. nor does our pres
cnt chief executive incline toward
doGmatic notoriety. Probably neither
| Is as essentially Unitarian in belief as
| was old John Adams, although he man
aged to remain within the Congrega+
/ tionalist fold from sheer "religious
! perrcrsity.' as an old time theologfan
| put IT. Ei 5ilst
Copyright. 1911, by the Associated;
! Literary Press.) &
~