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Bank of Wisdom, Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
CHAPTER IV
PRESIDENTS WHO WERE EPISCOPALIANS
FRANKLIN PIERCE
Born, November 23, 1804. Died, October 8, 1869.
President, March 4, 1853 -- March 4, 1857.
Had Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, left the Presidency as
popular a man as he went into it, he would undoubtedly been the
most popular of our chief executives. In the election of 1852 he
carried every State but four. No President, except Franklin D.
Roosevelt, has been elected by such an overwhelming popular and
electoral vote. But when President Pierce left the White House he
was completely out of public favar, and remained in obscurity for
the remainder of his life. Not until 1914 did the State of New
Hampshire erect a statue in commemoration of the only chief
magistrate it had given to the nation. He was called "a northern
man with southern principles," and was elected on a wave of
sentiment which proclaimed that the only way to save the Union and
prevent secession was to accede to all the demands of the slave-
holders. Jefferson Davis was Pierce's Secretary of War and the
future President of the Confederacy dictated his policies.
Information concerning Franklin Pierce is meager. Until
recently the only biography of him available was that written, in
1862, by his college-mate, the well-known American author,
Nathaniel Hawthorne, as a "campaign document." Of Pierce's
religion, Hawthorne said:
"General Pierce has naturally a strong endowment of
religious feeling. At no period of his life, as is well known
to his friends, have the sacred relations of the human soul
been a matter of indifference with him; and of more recent
years, whatever circumstances of good or evil fortune may have
befallen him, they have served to deepen this powerful
sentiment. Whether in sorrow or success he has learned, in his
own behalf, the good lesson, that religious faith is the most
valuable and most sacred of human possessions; but with this
sense, there has come no narrowness or illiberality, but a
wide sympathy for the modes of Christian worship and a
reverence for religious belief, as a matter between the Deity
and man's soul, and with which no other has a right to
interfere." (Hawthorne's 'Life of Franklin Pierce,' p. 123.)
This is rather meager information, coming as it does from so
intimate a friend of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the last night of whose
life was spent in the company of Pierce. The same could be said of
a Catholic or a Protestant, a Mohammedan, a Buddhist or a
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
Zoroastrian. The document issued by the State of New Hampshire,
giving an account of the ceremonies at the unveiling of Pierce's
statue in concord, on November 24, 1914, says nothing of his
religious belief or church affiliation. He was a member of the
constitutional convention of New Hampshire in 1850. There he made
a strenuous fight as did John Adams in Massachusetts, to abolish
that portion of the State Constitution which made the Protestant
religion the official religion of the Granite State. Although
Pierce, like Adams, was unsuccessful, his actions indicated that
his religious views were in advance of his time.
However in my researches I discovered that President Pierce
was always orthodox in his belief, even while in college, but that
he did not join a Church until a few years before his death, when
he united with and became a communicant of St. Paul's Episcopal
Church, of Concord. While I was looking for definite information,
I was informed that Professor Roy F. Nichols, of the Department of
History, in the University of Pennsylvania, was engaged in writing
a life of Pierce. [NOTE: This book by Professor Nichols was
published in 1932.] I applied to him for information, and he
responded in a private letter, as follows:
"Pierce expressed himself in writing at least twice on
the subject of religion, once in a manuscript fragment written
in later life describing his beliefs in college which show
them to be decidedly orthodox. The other was a letter he wrote
to his law partner in the early 1840's still expressing belief
in orthodoxy but showing no vivid religious experience. He was
a constant attendant at church. In Concord he attended the
South Congregational Church and while President in Washington
he attended Presbyterian churches, most frequently that on 4
1/2 Street (now John Marshall Place). I think you may discount
the statement that he attended St. John's Church. In all
probability he went there once in a while but I doubt very
much that he made it a regular practice. In later life, during
the Civil War, he was baptized, confirmed and became a regular
communicant in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, in Coneord."
Like most Public men of his time President Pierce was a man of
convivial habits, and, like some others, he sometimes drank too
much. When it was proposed to nominate him for the Presidency, this
greatly alarmed his friends, who called on him to talk the matter
over. He promised them that if elected he would at once cease
drinking, and remain a total abstainer while his term lasted. He
honorably kept his word.
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
Born, January 30, 1882 --
president, March 4, 1933 --
The 32nd President of the United states is the third Democrat
elected since the Civil War. Like the Harrison and Adams families,
the Roosevelts have furnished two Presidents of the United States.
Franklin D. Roosevelt is the fifth President to come from the State
of New Yolk.
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
The Roosevelt family in America is of Dutch origin, all being
desdendants of Klaes Martensen Roosevelt, who emigrated from
Holland to the then colony of New Netherlands, in 1644. The subject
of this sketch is a fifth cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, who
occupied the Presidential chair from Septerffber 14, 1901, until
March 4, 1909. Both of the Roosevelts were graduated from Harvard,
both were members of the New York legislature, and Assistant-
Secretary of the Navy. Each had been Governor of New York. Each has
been a candidate for Vice President, Both have been prolific
writers. While one was a liberal Republican, the other has been an
equally Progressive Democrat.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park, N.Y., on
January 30, 1882. His father was James Roosevelt, and his mother,
still living, Sarah Delano, whose family was of Flemish origin.
Philip, the founder of the American branch of the Delano family,
came to this country in 1624. They were a sea-faring family and are
said to have owned and operated ships in all parts of the world.
As Franklin Delano Roosevelt descended from two old American
patrician families, he began life with many advantages. In 1904 he
was graduated from Harvard University, later studying at Columbia
University Law School, and he practiced for several years in New
York City. He was elected and reelected to the New York State
Senate, and Under President Wilson was Assistant-Secretary of the
Navy. In 1920 he was nominated for Vice President on the Democratic
ticket, his running-mate being James M. Cox, of Ohio. Roosevelt
supported Alfred E. Smith for the Presidential nomination in 1924,
and worked for him when he was nominated in 1928. At Smith's
suggestion, Roosevelt consented to become the Democratic candidate
for Governor of New York, in 1928. He was successful, and was again
elected in 1930, by a majority of 725,000 votes, the largest that
any candiclate ever received in the history of the State.
Roosevelt had a strong Republican legislature to oppose him,
as well as Tammany Hall, the local New York City Democratic
organization, yet he effected many reforms. He soon became the most
prominent contender for the Democratic Presidential nomination, and
in Chicago, on June 27. 1932, he was nominated on the fourth
ballot, receiving 945 out of 1,154 votes. During the campaign he
visited all sections of the country and was frequently heard over
the radio.
The campaign was an exciting one. For three years the United
States had been in the throes of the worst economic crisis of its
history, and the Hoover administration had became thoroughly
discredited. The people were also in rebellion against Prohibition,
which most right-minded persons held to be ineffective, a farce and
a disgrace to the land. It soon became apparent that the Republican
candidate, Herbert Hoover, was not to be counted in the running. He
carried but six States, while Roosevelt carried 42, with a popular
majority of 7,000 000. It was the greatest victory since 1852, when
the Demoepitic party elected Franklin Pierce.
On February 15, 1933, the President-elect narrowly escaped
assassination when he was shot at by a demented Italian, one
Zangara, in Miama, Fla. Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago was hit
instead by the bullet and after lingering for a few days died.
Bank of Wisdom
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
There can be no doubt that President Roosevelt has faced
greater and more serious problems than has any other peace-time
Psesident, and that he has handled these problems with great
courage and vigor.
In 1905, Franklin D. Roosevelt married Miss Anne Eleanor
Roosevelt, a distant cousin. They have five children. Mrs.
Roosevelt, like the President, takes an active interest in social
welfare, which she manifests by her various activities and by her
public utterances.
Both are members and communicants in the Protestant Episcopal
Church, the President being a vestryman in the church of Hyde Park,
N.Y. It is said that no pressure of piiblic duties has ever
interfered with his duties to his Church. Yet, unlike many, he does
not make merchandise of his religion, and his speeches, messages
and other public utterances are singuarly free from religious cant
and platitude so commonly resorted to by politicians to catch the
church vote. His Thanksgiving proclamation in 1933 was one of the
briefest ever known.
The cliergy seem to be cold toward him because he advocated
the repeal of the 18th Amendment. This led a Methodist bishop to
call him an "alley President," while another Methodist minister,
the Rev. Clarence True Wilson, in comparing him with his
Presidential namesake, said that Theorore Roosevelt was "100,%
American," while Franklin Delano Roosevelt was "2%," both of which
statements illustrate the milignity of the clerical mind under
opposition. The collapse and repeal of their favorite law, which
was a failure for the purposes for which it was enacted, to say
nothing of bringing in its wake other evils, has put a considerable
crimp in the political activities of the Churches.
It is said that while President Roosevelt is a church member
and a church offical, he is a more irregular attendant upon church
services than some Presidents who were not professing Christians.
CHAPTER V
PRESIDENTS WHO WERE NOT MEMBERS OF ANY CHURCH
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
Born, February 9, 1773. Died, April 4, 1841.
President, march 4 -- April 4, 1841.
William Henry Harrison, a son of a signer of the Declaration
of Independence, was the last President who had witnessed scenes in
the Revolution, and the first to die in office, which he held but
30, days. He early went into the army, distinguighed himself in
Indian wars, commanded at the battle of Tippecanoe, where he
defeated Tecumseh, the Indian chief who was so troulolesome to the
settlers. It was to General Harrison that Commodore Perry sent the
famous message, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." Later he
fought a battle on the River Thames, in Canada, where the British
were defeated, and their ally, Tecumseh, was slain.
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
After the War of 1812. General Harrison was continually in
public life, a member of Congress, the State Senate of Ohio and the
U.S. Senate, a presidential elector and minister to the United
States of Columbia. The Whigs thought a military hero was needed as
a candidate for President; hence in 1836 he was nominated to oppose
Martin Van Buren, by whom he was defeated. in 1840, the two
opposing candidates were before the people again, and General
Harrison won, in the famous hard cider and log cabin campaign.
When he took the chair, in 1841, General Harrison was 68 years
old, and in feeble health. He had taken cold on the day of the
inauguration. He over-exerted himself, and died when but a month in
office. President Harrison had never been a church member, as is
proved by the following account of his funeral, to be found both in
Montgomery's 'Life of Harrison,' and in 'The Diary of John Quincy
Adams.'
"At half past 11 o'clock, the Rev. Mr. Hawley, Rector of
St. John's Church arose, and observed that he would mention an
incident connected with the Bible which lay on the table
before him (covered with black silk velvet). 'This Bible,'
said he, 'was purchased by the President on the fifth of
Mareh. He has since been in the habit of daily reading it. He
was accustomed not only to attend church, but to join audibly
in the services, and to kneel humbly before his maker.'
"Dr. Hawley stated that had the President lived, and been
in health, he intended on the next Sabbath to become a
communicant at the Lord's table."
This proves that, at the age of 68, President Harrison did not
own a Bible, and had not thought religion worthy of his attention,
for if he had was he not derelict in his duty all his life? Or, did
he suddenly take an interest because he was in public office? This
would appear suspicious in a politician. And was it any credit to
the Rev. Hawley to convert a broken-down oId man, whom, when he was
in the bloom of youth and health, all the Churches and ministers
had failed to draw into the fold? For all this, we have no evidence
except the word of the clergyman. Yet if all he has said is true,
the transaction sheds no luster on either President Harrison or
himself.
ANDREW JOHNSON
Born, December 29, 1808. Died, July 31, 1875.
President, April 15, 1865 -- March 4, 1869.
The successor of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United
States, and the third to become President through death, Andrew
Johnson, is one of the interesting characters of American history.
Springing from that class of people called in the South, "Poor
white trash," he was without educational advantages in his youth.
A tailor by trade, he learned to read while working in a shop.
After his marriage, his wife taught him to write. He began at the
bottom of the ladder politically, serving as alderman, mayor.,
member of the legislature of Tennessee, a member of Congress,
Senator, and finally President.
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
Until recently Andrew Johnson was one of the most
misrepresented men in American history, and one of the most common
errors concerning him is the statement that he was a member of the
Methodist Church. Anyone who will only take the trouble to
investigate will learn that this was not a fact, as will be proved
in this chapter. Johnson had the courage to stand firm against the
political spoilsmen of his time. This was "the head and front of
his offending." [NOTE: For proof of this statement, see a recent
work (1929), 'Andrew Johnson, A Study in Courage,' by Lloyd Paul
Stryker. The Macmillan Co.]
The truth is, that after the death of Lincoln, Johnson
determine to follow the policy of the deceased Psesident in the
reconstructioin of the States lately in rebellion. This did not
please demagogues like Thaddeus Stevens, Benjamin F. Wade and
Charles Sumner, who stood at the head of the party seeking revenge
upon the South and an opportunity to persecute and plunder its
people. Had Lincoln lived he would have had the same conflict on
his hands -- in fact, it begun ibefore his assassination,
When the cotton States seceded in 1861, and their Senator and
Conoessmen went South to aid in the rebellion, Andrew Johnson was
the only one who stood by the Union and remained in his seat in the
Senate. President Lincoln sent him to Tennessee, in 1862, as
military governor of that State. At the risk of his life he did his
duty, brought his State back into the Union, restored the authority
of the national government, and as a reward was elected Vice
President, with Lincoln, in 1864.
In spite of this service, malignant partisans have called him
a traitor. He was even accused of complicity in the murder of
Lincoln. Articles of Impeachment, born of malice, were framed-up
against him, that he might be expelled from the White House, and
one of the South-hating radicals put in his place. It was a close
contest; Johnson escaped impeachment by only one vote. There were,
however, enough honest men in the then corrupt Senate of the United
States to prevent this disgrace of the law-making body of the
American people. Most of those involved in this great wrong, among
them Charles Sumner, who was its chief instigator, afterwards
expressed their regret that they were connected with it.
Andrew Johnson was not a Methodist, nor was he a member of any
other Church, though he always claimed to be a reliious man. At one
time William G. ("Parson") Brownlow accused him of being an
"Infidel." This is usually a term of reproach. Mr. Johnson replied,
"As for my religion, it is the doctrine of the Bible, as taught and
practised by Jesus Christ." (See The Age of Hate, by G.F. Minton,
p. 80.)
Mrs. Eliza Johnson was a Methodist, and, like a loyal husband,
Johnson would sometimes accompany her to services. We will now give
the facts as told by Winston. (Life of Andrew Johnson, p. 101):
"I have stated that the influence of Mrs. Johnson over
her husband was unbounded, and yet into one place he would not
follow her, the organized Church. She might find satisfaction
in such a Church, but he could not. Like Lincoln, if he could
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
have found an organization based on the personality of Christ,
without creed or dogmas, without class distinctions or the
exaltation and deification of money, he was willing to join it
'with all his soul.' But so far as he could make out, there
was no such Church. Believing in a rule of right and in a
revealed religion, he took Christ as a model, yet he feared
that the Christians of his day were further away from the
simplicity, the charity and the love of their fellows, which
Christ enjoined, than many a heathen was."
As the Methodist Church was somewhat interested in the
impeachment proceedings against President Johnson, the truth of
history demands that we say something albout that Church at this
period. Its clergy have always insisted that Methodism is
synonymous with patriotism and all other virtues. This depends
largely upon the epoch and the geographical location. During the
Revolution it took the side of England, following the example of
its founder, John Wesley. As a result, Methodist preachers were
obliged to leave the country, or go into hiding, as did Francis
Asbury, who afterwards became the first Methodist Bishop in the
United states.
Upon the question of slavery, John Wesey said it was "the sum
of all villainies." This was said in England, before buying and
selling Negroes became profitable in the United States. When it
became profitable, from 1820 on, the position of the Church was
either in favor of Negro servitude or it was equivocal. At its
General Conference, held in 'Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1836, it censured
by an overwhelming vote some members who had attended an Abolition
meetin. In 1841, at the meeting of the General Conference, the
Church split, and the Methodist Church South was organized.
Most assuredly, the Southern church was pro-slavery. The
mistake many make is in assuming that the Northern Church was anti-
slavery. The fact is that members of the Northern Church continued
to hold slaves without coming into conflict with the Discipline,
and it was not until the Conference of 1864, a year after the
Emancipation Proclamation, that the Northern Conference came to the
conclusion that slavery was wrong. They had plenty of time to think
it over, and were now certain they were on the safe side, as all
church organizations in polities aim to be. Hence, while the
Southern Church was always proslavery, that of the North trimmed
its sails to float with the tide.
It might be asked why the Methodist Church of the North took
such a great interest in the impeachment of president Johnson, and
why their Conference of 1868 was so anxious to throw him out of the
White House. The reason was that it followed the hue and cry of
politicians, expecting thereby to attain some advantage to itself.
We have seen such a case in our own day. While our ministers were
preaching peace before the United States entered the European war,
none were more belligerent than these game reverend gentlemen after
we did enter it. They expected their reward, and they received it.
They obtained chaplaincies. They were permitted, with the aid of
the Government, to stage "drives" for money, which were so
remunerative that they tried to continue them after the war was
over. The canteen service in the Army was turned over to religious
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
organizations, some of whom obtained as much as they could free of
charge, and charged the soldiers all they could. and made millions.
The presiding Bishop at the Conference of 1868 was Matthew
Simpson, who for years had been an astute Republican politician.
The Methodists had been influential enough to have President
Lincoln appoint James Harlan, who was once one of their preachers,
Secretary of the Interior instead of appointing as he wished to do,
his old Illinois friend, Jesse K. DuBois. Harlan served in the
Cabinet for about a year under President Johnson, and then
resigned. He went back to Iowa, was again elected to the Senate,
was on hand in 1868 -- one of the bitterest enemies of his former
chief in the impeachment proceedings. It appeared that there would
not be enough Senators opposed to President Johnson to make out a
case. As Senator Willey, of West Virginia, was a Methodist, the
influence of the Conference was brought to bear upon him, and he
voted for the impeachment. Then they offered a resolution for an
hour of prayer that they might ask God to cast out the President of
the United States. Under these conditions, why ask the Senate of
the United States to waste its time further? Why not turn President
Johnson over to the Methodist Conference actin under the direct
influence of the Almighty? one of their members saw they were in a
very ticklish position. He called their attention to the fact that
the Senate was under oath to decide the case under the law and the
evidence, and that this resolution could only be interpreted as
demanding that they violate that oath, and decide regardless of the
law and the evidence, for it placed the Methodist Church above
both. Bishop Simpson saw the point, and unctuously introduced
another resolution praying "to save our Senators from error." This
would take them out of a very embarrassing situation, and they had
faith that God would understand them just the same. At the same
time the white Methodists were in conference in Chicawo, the Negro
members of that Church were in session in Washington. They also
took up the question of President Johnson's impeachment. They
did not bother God at all about it. They appealed first hand to the
Senate to impeach him.
It is needless to say these proceedings of the Methodists,
white and black, did not please the President. Out of courtesy to
his wife he had been attending their Church. Now he ceased going,
and went to the Catholic St. Patrick's Cathedral to hear Father
McGuire, who, he said, "cut out politics." He admired the Catholic
Church "because of its treatment of the rich and poor alike. in the
cathedral there were no high-priced pews and no reserved seats, the
old woman with calico dress and poke bonnet sitting up high and
being as welcome as the richest." (Plebeian and Patriot, b. 47,6.)
Andrew Johnson died at his home in Tennessee, in 1875. just
after taking his seat as United States Senator from that State. He
had been a Mason, and the lodge to which he belonged conducted his
funeral.
ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT
Born, April 27, 1822. Died July 23, 1885.
President, March 4, 1869 -- March 4, 1877.
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
The life of U.S. Grant, commanding general of the Union forces
in the Civil War, was, in large part, tragic. He was graduated from
the U.S. Military Academy, but his scholastic record at West Point
was not brilliant. His career in the Mexican War was honorable, but
he did not like the army. In the earlier 5O's he was sent to
California, where, possibly because of the monotony of army life on
the frontier, he took to excessive drinking, as a result of which
he was obliged to resign. This habit grew on him, to the great
detriment of himself and his family.
The opening of the Civil War found him in Galena, Ill., a
clerk in the leather store of his younger brothers. With great
difficulty he obtained a commission as colonel of an Illinois
regiment. Here he found his opportunity in middle life. From small-
town clerk to commanding general and, eventually, to the
Presidency, Was quite a stride for the unknown and almost penniless
man of eight year's before.
President Grant was wholly unacquainted with and without
training in statecraft; he innocently became the victim of
dishonest politicions, and his two administrations have passed into
history as the most corrupt on record. He was obliged to bear some
of the infamy of this, although it is generally agreed that Grant
himself retained his integrity.
He was as unfamiliar with business affairs as with polities,
and innocently permitted his name to be associated with that of a
sharper in a fraudulent banking enterprise. It collapsed, after
victims in all sections of the country had been fleeced. General
and Mrs. Grant, their children and other relatives were ruined
financially in this debacle. An ex-President of the United States,
the most successful general of modern times, he was thrown back
into the poverty of earlier years and at the same time he had to
endure the implied reflection upon his character. As though this
were not enouoh, General Grant developed a cancer, and, after
months of patient suffering, died. We do not believe the history of
the world records a case more pathetic. While his health and life
capitulated to disease and death, General Grant at no time
surrendered his principles or his honor. He was more of a hero as
he lay in the cottage at Mt. McGregor, than before Donelson,
Vicksburg or in the Valley of Virginia.
It has been erroneously maintained that General Grant was a
Methodist. The fact is, he was not a member of any Church, and had
not even been baptized. Once, while a cadet at West Point, he
failed to attend chapel. For this he received eight demerits, and
was placed under arrest. He tells of this incident in a letter
written to his cousin, McKinsey Grifflith, September 22, 1839. He
objected to being compelled to go to church, saying, "This is not
republican." (Brown's 'Life of Grant,' p. 320.)
Mrs. Julia Dent Grant was a Methodist, a member and attendant
of the Metropolitan Methodist Church of New York City, after the
Grant family made the metropolis their home, Her husband
accompanied her, as many other husbands have done when their wives
have been church members. Some men who do not dance accompany their
wives to balls. Does this make them dancers?
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
The minister of this church was the Rev. J.P. Newman, D.D.,
afterwards a Methodist bishop. He was a lover of notoriety, and
ever sought to have his name on the front page of the newspapers,
as was demonstrated by the following incident.
In 1869 there was a great contreversy in Utah over the subject
of polygamy. The government was trying to suppress it, but the
Mormons were defendinol, it and chief among their defenses was the
plea that it was sustained by the Bible. The Rev. Newman traveled
to Utah and challenged the Mormons to debate the question with him.
His offer was accepted, and Elder Orson Pratt, one of the leading
Mormon preachers, was selected to meet him. The Mormons were so
jublant over the success of their champion that they issued the
discussion in pamphlet form as a campain document, and for years
circulated it as a justification of polygamy from a biblical
standpoint. When I first visited Salt Lake City, in 1897, I bought
a copy of this work at the church bookstore.
From the time General Grant became seriously ill, in the
spring of 1886, until his death, on July 23, the Rev. Newman
devoted to him almost all his attention. He became a member of the
family, leading in family prayer, and endeavoring to point out to
the General the way of salvation. He made as inglorious a failure
in this endeavor as he did in trying to convince the Mormons that
the Bible did not sanction Polygamy. He did succeed, as W.E.
Woodward says, in "making a fool of himself."
We may well wonder why he was thus permitted to plague the
dying man. General Chaffee, one of whose daughters General Grant's
son married, enlightens us, in the following words: "There has been
a good deal of nonsense in the papers about Dr. Newman's visits.
General Grant does not believe that Dr. Newman's prayers will save
him. He allows the doctor to pray simply because he does not want
to hurt his feelings, He is indifferent on his own account to
everything." General Chaffee had formerly been a senator from
Colorado, was with Grant frequently during his illness and knew
whereof he spoke.
A contemporary journalist said: "His acceptance of the
effusive and offensive ministrations of the peripatetic preacher
was probably due as much to his regard for the feelings of his
family and his tolerance of his ministerial friend as to any faith
in religion. All the press can gather now about his religious
belief is filtered through Dr. Newman, and must, therefore, be
largely discounted." To what extent this writer is telling the
truth will appear hereafter.
Yet, the Rev. Newman had a reason of his own for being there
and he was candid enough to tell it. It was not to save from hell
the soul of the man who had witnessed so much death, destruction
and carnage on the field of battle. He said, "Great men may gain
nothing from relegion, but religion can gain much from great men,"
In other words he was there to obtain publicity for his Church and
for himself.
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
When Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln's great opponent, who, like
General Grant, was not a church member, lay dying in Chicage, Mrs.
Douglas, who was a devout Roman Catholic, called in Bishop Duggan,
of that Church, to see her husband. Wives who are religious
naturally think their husbands ought to be the same, so we can
account for the attitude of Mrs. Douglas and Mrs. Grant. The Bishop
asked Senator Douglas whether he had ever been baptized according
to the rites of any Church. "Never," replied the Senator. "Do you
wish to have mass said after the ordinances of the holy Catholic
Church?" inquired the Bishop. "No, sir," was the prompt reply.
"When I do, I will communicate with you freely." The next day Mrs.
Douglas again sent for the Bishop. Coming to the Senator's bedside,
he said: "Mr. Douglas, you know your condition fully, and in view
of your dissolution, do you desire the ceremony of extreme unction
to be performed?" "No," replied the dying man, "I have no time to
discuss these things now." The Bishop left the room, as any other
clergyman who was also a gentleman would have done.
The Rev. Dr. Newman, however, was a sticker. When he found
that General Grant had never been baptized, he did not ask
permission to perform the rite. While Grant was asleep, he took a
pan of water and sprinkled him. He was determined that General
Grant should go to heaven, in spite of himself.
The reverend doctor frequently questioned General Grant,
hoping that in his replies he would say something that would commit
him to the Methodist faith. When he refused to do this, Dr. Newman
put words into Grant's mouth which he never uttered. Once he quoted
him as saying: "Three times have I been in the valley of the shadow
of death, and three times have I returned thither." Mark Twain
called the attention of the public to this misrepresentation,
saying the General always spoke in plain, blunt language and never
used figures of speech. Mark Twain was a personal friend of the
General, frequently called on him while he was sick, and was the
publisher of his Memoirs after his death. Fortunately, we know just
what Grant did say. It was true that his life was despaired of
three times and he later recovered. The last time, he was revived
by the physicians with the aid of brandy. General Adam Badeau, an
old personal friend, who was on his staff during the war, was
present at the time and gives the exact facts, and the exact words
uttered:
"At this crisis he did not wish to live. 'THE DOCTORS ARE
RESPONSIBLE THREE TIMES,' HE SAID, 'FOR MY BEING ALIVE, AND --
UNLESS THEY CAN CURE ME -- I DON'T THANK THEM.' He had no desire to
go through the agony again. For he had suffered death; be had
parted with his family; he had undergone every physical pang that
could have come had he died before the brandy was administered."
(Badeau's 'Grant in Peace,' p. 450.)
Quite a difference between these words and those attributed to
him the Rev. Newman, who interpolated three times have I been in
the shadow of death," and "three times have I returned thither," to
give the incident a dramatic effect and a pious air.
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
At another time Dr. Newman asked General Grant what was the
supreme thought on his mind when death was so near? The answer was
"The comfort of the consciousness that I have tried to live a good
and honerable life." Would that all men could say this when they
are about to leave this world, but it did not please the reverend
doctor, nor did it please his friends, the religious press. The
'New York Independant' commented thus:
"The honest effort 'to live a good and honerable life'
may well be a source of comfort at any time, and especially so
in the hour and article of death: and we see no impropriety in
referring to it as such. But it would be a great mistake to
make such an effort, or such a life, even though the best that
any man ever lived, the basis on which sinners are to rest for
their peace with God and their hope of salvation. Sinners are
saved, if at all, through grace, and by the suffering and
death of Christ, and upon the condition of their repentance
toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the
gospel plan of salvation as Christ himself taught it and the
Apostles preached it. There is no other plan known to the
Bible.
"Great men and small men viewed simply as men, as
subjects of the moral government of God, and as sinners, stand
at a common level in respect to their wants and the method of
their relief; and they must alike build their hopes on
Christ."
We will let the New York 'Commercial Advertiser' tell the
story of General Giant's death, and the relation of the Rev. Dr.
Newman to that event:
"About 7:15 o'clock on the morning that Grant died
Dr.Newman said he thought he would go over to the hotel and
get a little breakfast. The physician warned him that a change
might occur at any moment, and that he had better not go. He
turned to Henry, the nurse, and asked his advice. Henry
thought the General would live for an hour. so off went the
Doctor and ate his breakfast. In the meantime, Dr. sands, who
had left the cottage at 10 o'clock the previous evening in
order to have a good night's rest, came back about 7:50, just
in time. Dr. Newman was not so fortunate. After breakfast, he
came up the path at so quick a rate, his arms waving, that he
was short of breath. Dr. Shrady saw him coming, walked out,
and said, 'Hush! he's dead.' The Doctor almost fell. His
terrible disappointment was depicted on his face."
The secular press did not hesitate to ridicule the
Rev. Newman and call him a mountebank. Other religious journals
criticised him, even more severely than did the 'New York
Independent., The 'New York World' said: "Dr. Newman beautifully
remarks that 'some of the last scenes of General Grant's death were
pitiful and at the same time eloquent,' which is alike creditable
to Dr. Newman's elocution and eyesight, since he witnessed these
scenes from the breakfast table at the hotel some distance away
from the cottage occupied by the general."
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
On the morning followinl, the General's death, the 'World'
said: General Grant, as it would appear, had no settled convictions
on the subject of religion. Having been interrogated during his
last illiness on the question of religion, he replied that he had
not given it deep study, and was unprepared to express an opinion.
He intimated that he saw no use of devoting, any special thought to
theology at so late a day, and that he was prepared to take his
chances with the millions of people who went before him."
The 'Christian Statesman' said: "It is not on record that he
(Grant] spoke at any time of the Saviour, or expressed his sense of
dependence on his atonement and mediation." The Nashville
'Christian Advocate,' a Methodist organ, rebuked Dr. Newman in
these words:
"Some ministers seem to have an incurable itch for
claiming that all the men who have figured prominently in
public life are Christians. Mr. Lincoln has almost been
canonized, and General Grant has been put forward as
possessing all the graces, though neither one of them ever
joined the Church or made the slightest public profession of
faith in Jesus. Has it (Christianity) anything to gain by
decking itself with the ambiguous compliments of men who never
submitted themselves to its demands? The less of all this the
better. We are sick of the pulpit toadyism that pronounces its
best eulogies over those who are not the real disciples of
Jesus Christ."
After General Grant's death, Dr. Newman issued, a statement
filled with rhetoric and generalities. but he does not assert that
the subject of his great solicitude acknowledged faith in Christ.
That was further than he could go in safety.
General Grant was a firm believer in separation of church and
state, and had no patience with clerical interference with the
government. In his 'Memoirs' (vol. 1, p, 213), he said: "No
political party can, or ought to, exist when one of its corner-
stones is opposition to freedom of thought. If a sect sets up its
laws as binding above the state laws, whenever the two come in
conflict, this claim must be resisted and suppressed at any cost.
He was opposed to all types of religious interference with the
public schools. In his speech before the Army of the Tennessee,
delivered in Des Moines Iowa, in 1875, General Grant used these
words, which are often quoted:
"The free school is the promoter of that intelligence
which is to preserve us as a nation. If we were to have
another contest in the near future of our national existence,
I prediet that the dividing line will not be Mason's and
Dixon's, but between patriotism and intelligence on one side,
and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. Let us
all labor to add all needful guarantees for the more perfect
security of FREE THOUGHT, FREE SPEECH AND FREE PRESS, pure
morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and of equal rights
and privileges to all men, irrespective of nationality, color
or religion. Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
dollar of money be appropriated to the support of any
sectarian school. Resolve that neither the State nor nation,
or both combined, shall support institutions of learning other
than those sufficient to afford every child growing up in the
land the opportunity of a good common education, unmixed with
sectarian, pagan or atheistical tenets. Leave the matter of
religion to the family altar, the Church, and the private
schools, supported entirely by private contributions. KEEP
CHURCH AND STATE FOREVER SEPARATE."
Some persons said that General Grant was here attacking the
Catholic schools. On this point, his friend, General Sherman, says,
"The Des Moines speech was prompted by a desire to defend the
freedom of our public schools from sectarian influences, and, as I
remember the conversation which led him to write that speech, it
was because of the clamor for set religious exercises in the public
schools, not from Catholic but from Protestant denominations."
(Packard'S 'Grant's Tour Around the World,' p. 566.)
General Grant believed that church property should be taxed
the same as other property. In an annual message to Congress
(1875), he used this language:
"In connection with this important question, I would also
call your attention to the importance of correcting an evil
that if permitted to continue, will probably lead to great
trouble in our land before the close of the 19th Century. It
is the acquisition of vast amounts of untaxed Church property.
In 1850, I believe, the Church property of the United States,
Which paid no tax, municipal or State, amounted to
$87,000,000. in 1860 the amount had doubled. In 1870 it was
$354,483,587. By 1900, without a check, it is safe to say this
property will reach a sum exceeding $3,000,000,000. So vast a
sum, receiving all the protection and benefits of the
government, without bearing its proportion of the burdens and
expenses of the same, will not be looked upon acquiescently by
those who have to pay the taxes. In a growing country, where
real estate enhances so rapidly with time as in the United
States, there is scarcely a limit to the wealth that may be
acquired by corporations, religious or otherwise, if allowed
to retain real estate without taxation. The contemplation of
so vast a property as here alluded to, without taxation, may
lead to sequestration without constitutional authority, and
through blood. I would suggest the taxation of all property
equally."
Two weeks before he died, General Grant wrote the following
note, addressed to his wife, which was found on his person after
his death:
"Look after our dear children and direct them in the
paths of rectitude. It would distress me far more to think
that one of them could depart from an honorable, upright, and
virtuous life than it would to know that they were prostrated
on a bed of sickness from which they were never to arise
alive. They have never given us any cause for alarm on this
account, and I trust they never will. With these few
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
injunctions and the knowled@e I have of your love and
affection and the dutiful affection of all our children, I bid
you a final farewell, until we meet in another and, I trust,
a better world. You will find this on my person after my
demise."
Here is shown no partiality for any creed, Church or religion.
General Grant hoped for a future life, as do all religionists, and
even some Agnostics. [NOTE: For the facts about the religions
opinions of General Grant, I am largely indebted to 'Six Historic
Americans,' by John E. Remsburg; to 'Grant in Peace,' by Adam
Badeau, and to 'Meet General Grant,' by W.E. Woodward.]
RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
Born, October 4, 1822. Died, January 17, 1893.
President, March 4, 1877 -- March 4, 1881.
While Rutherford Birchard Hayes was President of the United
States, it was said by his enemies that he was ruled by his wife,
who was, in fact, the Chief Executive. While this statement
contained an element of truth, it grossly exaggerated the
situation, particularly in regard to President Hayes' religious
belief.
As is well known, Mrs. Lucy Webb Hayes was a Methodist of the
strictest type. When she took charge of the White House, cards,
dancing, and low neeked dresses were banished. Wine and liquors
disappeared from the table -- even the glasses in which they had
been served were put out of sight. The Discipline of the Methodist
Church prevailed. Yet the good lady was unable to convince her
husband of the superiority of the doctrines of John Wesley, for
President Hayes was not a Methodist, held views contrary to the
Discipline, and was not a member of any Church. Many persons were
astonished when President Hayes' Biography was published, and the
real facts of his religious views given to the world.
The mother of President Hayes was a Presbyterian. He attended
Kenyon College, where he had Episcopalian instructors, but his
biographer, Charles Richard Williams, says: "While he felt himself
to be a Christian in all essential respects, he never united with
any Church. There were declarations of belief in the orthodox
creeds, that he could not conscientiously make." (Vol. 2, p. 435.)
In his Diary (May 17, 1890), he states his position: "I am not
a subscriber to any creed. I belong to no Church. But in a sense
satisfactory to myself, and believed by me to be important, I try
to be a Christian and to help do Christian work." (P. 435.)
Before his last sickness he said: "I am a Christian according
to my conscience, in belief, not, of course, in character and
conduct, but in purpose and wish: not, of course, by the orthodox
standard. But I am content and have a feeling of trust and safety."
(P. 437.)
He read and admired Emerson, who was not orthodox but a
Pantheist. From him he said he obtained "mental improvment,
information and kept the mental faculties alert and alive." He
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
thought the Sage of Concord prepared us "for the inevitable, to be
content at least for the time, and also for the future," and that
he "developed and strengthened character." "How Emerson prepares
one to meet the disappointmerts and griefs of this mortal life! His
writings seem to me to be religion. They bring peace, consolation;
that rest for the mind and heart which we all long for -- content."
(pp. 433-434.)
President Hayes was an admirer of the closing declaration of
the will of Charles Dickens, which read: "I commend my soul to the
mercy of God through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and I
exhort my dear children humbly to try to guide themselves by the
teaching the New Testament in its broad spirit, and to put no faith
in any man's narrow construction of the letter here, or there."
(Dickens attended the old South Place Unitarian Chapel in Finsbury,
London.)
Hayes copied this in his Diary (p. 437), under date of March
13, 1892. Were President Hayes to be classified religiously, he
might find a proper place among the Unitarians of the middle of the
19th Century.
In writing of President Hayes, we cannot forbear, mentioning
the case of D.M. Bennett; first, because it involved the President
himself; second, it involved religion; third, it aroused great
controversy in 1879; fourth, it is one of the noted cases in the
Federal Reports.
Bennett was a Freethinker and edited a Freethought, or, as
Some preferred to call it, an "Infidel," weekly in New York City.
He smote the popular orthodoxy of his time "hip and thigh." He also
published many books and cheap tracts, all attacking the
supernatural claims of Christianity. He had no pretensions to
learning or literary ability. He was, however, thoroughly honest
and earnest, and a "hard hitter." Quite naturally, such a journal
would arouse the antipathy of orthodox religionists. The old
tactics of suppressing by law those whose ideas one does not like
were not out of vogue in the 1870's, nor are they today. The ultra
Evangelicals sought a method to put this troublesome man Bennett
out of business, As he was a small publisher with little capital,
it was hoped that a prosecution followed by a term in prison would
accomplish the object. Blasphemy laws were in existence, although
they were unpopular; and there was also a law providing severe
penalties for sending obscene matter through the Mails.
This law was passed in 1873, just at the close of the
congressional session. Attention was then called to the nature of
the bill. Among other things it was pointed out that it could be
utilized to throttle free press and penalize the discussion of
legitmate questions upon which the people ought to be informed.
This law was very flexable, and might, and did, result in the
imprisonment of those who sent through the mails articles or
literature that offended the prejudices of judge or jury. As
further evidence of its flexibility, we can point to 84 other
decisions.
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