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Bank of Wisdom, Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
CHAPTER II
PRESIDENTS WHO WERE PRESBYTERIANS
ANDREW JACKSON
Born, March 15, 1767. Died, June 8, 1845. President, 1829-1837.
The story of the early religious background of the United
States is of interest 'When we consider the beliefs of its people.
The wilds of America were early settled by representatives of the
then most prominent forms of the Christian faith. While a large
number of them emigrated to find on this western continent
religious liberty, most of them, if strong enough, sought to to
establish, by law, the Church they brought with them.
In New England, with the exception of Rhode Island,
Congregationalism was the State Church. In New York, it was at
first the Dutch Reformed. Later, the English governors sought to
establish the Church of England but the opposition was so strong
that they were not successful except in theory. In New Jersey, the
same attempt was made, though there was not an Episcopal church in
the colony at the time. Pennsylvania granted liberty to all "who
confess and acknowledge the one Almighty and eternal God"; but the
holders of office "shall be such as profess faith in Jesus Christ."
The constitution of Delaware, formed in 1776, declared that all
persons professing the Christian religion "ought forever to enjoy
equal rights and privileges," but to hold office the
acknowledgement of the trinity and the inspiration of the
scriptures was mandatory. Maryland was first settled by Catholics.
Then the Puritans arrived, obtained power and persecuted them.
Later the Church of England was established. The so-called freedom
of conscience law of Maryland is a myth. It granted liberty to
trinitarian Christians only, the Jew, the Unitarian and the
unbeliever being excluded. it punished blasphemy by boring the
tongue with a red-hot iron, The first act favoring absolute
religious liberty passed in America, and, for all we know to the
contrary, in the modern world, was enacted in Rhode Island. There,
20 years before Maryland was settled, Roger Williams proclaimed
freedom to all, Christian, Jew, Pagan and infidel. In 1647, two
years before the Maryland law, which did not provide freedom at
all, these sentiments of Williams were enacted into a statute.
In Virginia, the Church of England was established, and the
penalties for heresy and non-conformity were very severe, even up
to the Revolution. The same establishment was set up in the
Carolinas. Georgia, under the benevolent Oglethorpe, had no
established Church, but Romanists were excluded. When, in 1752, the
colony lost its charter, the Church of England was made the State
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
Church. [NOTE: For a full and accurate history of religious laws in
the thirteen colonies, see 'The Rise of Religious Liberty in
America' by Sanford H. Cobb. Published by Henry Holt & Co., New
York City.]
Among the early settlers was a large proportion of those
holding the doctrines of John Calvin. The Puritans of New Engrand,
the Dutch settlers of New York, the Scotch and the Ulsterites all
held Presbyterian doctrines, though all did not hold to the
Presbyterian form of church government. Hence, it is natural that
this Church should leave its impress upon the people of the United
States and upon some of its statesmen, as it did upon Andrew
Jackson, the seventh President. His parents emigrated from the
North of Ireland and settled in South Carolina. Although he was not
a communicant until after he retired from the Presidency, he was a
believer in the Christian religion, as taught by John Calvin, and
a fairly regular church attendant.
Andrew Jackson is one of the most picturesque characters in
American history. As a boy, he fought in the Revolution, was taken
prisoner, and had his arm cut to the bone by the sword of a British
officer because he refused to clean the oincer's muddy boots. A
planter, frontier lawyer and judge; a congressman and senator from
Tennessee immedlately after that State's admission to the Union; a
militia general, Indian fighter, hero of the Battle of New Orleans,
he became, after a bitter struggle, President of the United States,
the first "man of the people" to hold this high office. He was so
accustomed, to the wild life of the frontier that he did not feel
at home anywhere else. He has been described, when young, as
"reckless, impetuous, quarrelsome, and passionate in temper;
thoroughly disinclined to learning of any sort, his favorite
pursuits being racing, gamins' and cock-fighting; but he was
Possessed of invincible determination, dauntless courage and
excelled in marksmanship and riding, qualities which later served
him well." He fought during his lifetime two duels, in one of which
he "killed his man," and in the other received a slight wound
himself. His political enemies many times published lists of his
fights and escapades.
John Parton, one of the best of Jackson's biographers,
describes the circumstances under which he joined the Church, as
they were related to him by the Rev. Dr. Edgar, who received the
ex-President into the fold:
"Ere long a 'Protracted meeting, was held in the little
church on the Hermitage farm. Dr. Edgar conducted the
exercises, and the family at the Hermitage were constant in
their attendance. The last day of the meeting arrived, which
was also the last day of the week. General Jackson sat in his
accustomed Seat, and Dr. Edgar preached. The subject of the
sermon was the interposition of Providence in the affairs of
men, a subject congenial with the habitual tone of General
Jackson's mind. The preacher spoke in detail of the perils
which beset the life of man, and how often he is preserved
from sickness and sudden death. Seeing General Jackson
listening with rapt attention to his discourse, the eloquent
preacher sketched the career of a man who, in adidition to the
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
ordinary dangers of human life, had encountered those of the
wilderness, of war, and of keen political conflict; who had
escaped the tomahawk of the savage, the attaeks of his
country's enemies, the privations and fatigues of border
warfare, and the aim of the assassin. How is it, exclaimed the
preacher, that a man endowed with reason and gifted with
intellioence can pass through such scenes as these unharmed,
and not see the hand of God in his deliverance? While
enlarging upon his theme, Dr. Edgar saw that his words were
sinking into the General's heart, and he spoke with unusual
animation and impressiveness."
We judge from this that Dr. Edgar had learned, his business
well, as those who are familiar with the psychology of conversions
can testify. The biographer continues:
"The services ended, General Jackson got into his
carriage and, was riding homeward. He was overtaken by Dr.
Edgar on horseback. He hailed the Doctor and said he wished
to, speak with him. Both havinog alighted, the general led the
clergyman a little way into the grove. 'Doctor,' said the
general, 'I want You to come home with me tonight.' 'I cannot
come tonight,' was his reply: 'I am engaged elsewhere.' Dr.
Edgar said he had promised to visit that evening a sick lady,
and he felt bound to keep his promise. General Jackson, as
though he had not heard the reply, said a third time and more
pleadingly than before, 'Doctor, I want you to come home with
me tonight. 'General Jackson,' said the clergyman, 'my word is
pledged; I cannot break it; but I will be at the Hermitage
tomorrow morning very early.'
The anxious man was obliged to be contented with this
arrangement, and went home alone. He retired to his apartment.
He passed the evening and the greater part of the night in
meditation, in reading, in conversing with his beloved
daughter and in prayer. He was sorely distressed. Late at
night when his daughter left him, he was still agitated and
sorrowful. What thoughts passed through his mind as he paced
his room in the silence of the night, of what sins he repented
and what actions of his life he wished he had not done, no one
knows or ever will know."
Those who have studied the human mind, in relation to the
emotions will think all of this has a natural interpretation. Many
a man and woman view their past careers, think of their errors and
realize they must be corrected or their lives will be failures.
Many have abandoned their vices and bad habits owing to the fear of
losing their health and the respect of their neighbor's and
friends. Some give up their vices through sheer disgust with them.
Self condemnation is not the exclusive property of supernaturalism.
Thoughtful people are coming to recognize that the facts of
religion can be traced to natural causes. The chief aim of the
religion of General Jackson's day, as represented by Dr. Edgar, was
to save the soul through faith in the supernatural attributes of
Christ. It was the teaching of the Presbyterian Church of that day,
and is yet the teaching of its ereed, that good conduct cannot save
in lieu of faith. Such has been the teaching of all other orthodox
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
Churches. They have merely followed the teaching of Paul that faith
can be counted for righteousness, Martin Luther said, "If any one
says that the Gospel requires works for salvation, I say flat and
plain, he is a liar."
Jackson's biographer concludes the story of the General's
conversion:
"In the morning the Rev. Dr. Edgar appeared soon after
sunrise. General Jackson told the joyful history of the night
and expressed a desire to be admitted into the Church with his
daughter that very morning. The usual questions respecting
doctrine and experience were satisfactorily answered by the
candidate. Then there was a pause in the conversation. The
clergyman said at length: 'General, there is one more question
it is my duty to ask you. Can you forgive all your enemies?'
The question was evidently unexpected, and the candidate was
silent for a while. 'My political enemies,' said he, 'I can
freely forgive; but as for those who abused me when I was
serving my country in the field, and those who attacked me for
serving my country -- Doctor, that is a different case.
"The Doctor assured him it was not. Christianity, he
said, forbade the indulgence of enmity absolutely and in all
cases. No man could be received into a Christian Church who
did not cast out of his heart every feeling of that nature. It
was a condition that was fundamental and indispensable.
"The Hermitage church was crowded to the utmost of its
small capacity; the very windows were darkened with the eager
faces of the servants. After the usual services the General
rose to make the required public declaration of his
concurrenre with the doetrines, and his resolve to obey the
precepts of the Church. He leaned heavily upon his stick with
both hands; tears rolled down his cheeks. His daughter, the
fair young matron, stood beside him. Amed a silence the most
profound the General answered the questions proposed to him.
When he me was formally pronounced a member of the Church, and
the clergyman was about to continue the service, the long
restrained feelings of the congregation burst forth in sobs
and exclamations which compelled him to pause for several
minutes. The clergyman himself was speechless with emotion,
and abandoned himself to the exaultation of the hour. A
familiar hymn was raised in which the entire assembly joined
with a fervor which at once expressed and relieved their
feelings."
The conversion of General Jackson gives us an idea of the
emotional religion so prevalent a century ago, and which still
linger among us today. Once the question was put to Bishop White,
one of the pastors of George Washington, "What is your opinion of
revivals?' The Bishop answered, "They have one great evil, in that
they cause some to mistake their animal for their spiritual
nature." Those who want evidence of this should read the chapter in
Henry A. Wise' 'Seven Decades of the Union,' in which he tells of
Tangier Island, loceated in Chesapeake Bay, and a part of Virginia,
where revivals were a regular feature of the island's life, After
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a visit from a prominent evangelist the ministers of Pittsburgh met
and resolved that they would give no more countenance to traveling
evangelists.
It must be remembered that General Jackson was of a very
emotional nature, and all his life was imbued with strong passions.
In all his career these prevailed. Sometimes he was desperately
right, while at other times he was equally desperately wrong. He
was not a thinker, a student or even a reader, except of the news
though he had been admitted to the bar, it is sald he never read a
law book through. He was emphatically a man of action and in that
sphere he shines in American history. Later he forgot that he had
agreed to forgive his enemies, and shortly before he died he said
the greatest mistake he had ever made was when he did not hang John
C. Calhoun, the leader of the South Carolina nullifiers. To the end
of his life he delighted to show his friends the pistol with which
he had killed Charles Dickinson in a duel.
It must be remembered that those who have led rough, irregular
lives in their youth often become fanatically religious in old age.
"Old Hickory," as he was called owing to his unbending naature,
except for his military exploits, does not stand as well in history
as he stood in the estimation of his contemporaries. Yet in his
commendable qualities many think it would not be an evil to have
men of his stamp in public life today.
JAMES KNOX POLK
Born, November 2, 1795. Died, June 15, 1849.
President, March 4, 1845 -- March 4, 1849.
When James Knox Polk, of Tennessee, was nominated by the
Democratic party for President, in 1844, after he had been in
Congress 14 years, Speaker of the House of Representatives for two
terms and Governor of his own State, he was but little known
outside of it. His selection was a surprise even to his own party.
Governor Letcher, of Virginia, exclaimed, "Polk, great God, what a
nomination!" Stephen A. Douglas remarked, "From henceforth no
private citizen is safe!" The Whigs sang in a campaign song:
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Such a nominee,
As James K. Polk of Tennessee."
He was nominated because the current issues were the
annexation of Texas and the extension of slavery, two things he
could be depended upon to accomplish. From 1840 to 1860 is known in
our history as the era of weak men in the White House. All were
mere politicians and "trimmers," when a real principle was
broached. As was the case with a President in our time, the arduous
duties of his office caused President Polk to break down in health.
He left Washington an incurably sick man and died within a few
months after he had returned to his home in Tennessee.
The Polk family, like most families of Scotch ancestry, was
Presbyterian. Mrs. Polk was of the same faith and prohibited
dancing and card playing in the White House. During the Tyler
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administration the Presidential mansion was the scene of gaiety and
grand entertainments; but on the inauouration of President Polk it
was said the reign of the Cavalier ended and that of the Puritan
began. Yet the President was not a member of any Church and had
never been baptized. While he was an habitual attendant of the
Presbyterian Church, with his wife, his own private opinions leaned
toward Methodism. McCormac's 'Life of Polk,' the only one in
existence so far as we know, on page 721, contains the following
statement:
"The Polk family,, as well as Mrs. Polk, were
Presbyterians, but the ex-President was not a member of any
church. He went regularly with his wife to the Church of her
choice, though his preference was for the Methodist
denomination. A few days before his death his aged mother came
from Columbia bringing her own pastor in the hope that her son
might accept baptism and unite with the Presbyterian Church.
But the son recalled a promise once given to the Rev. Mr.
McFerren, of the Methodist Church, that, when he was ready to
join the Church, the Rev. McFerren should baptise him. Having
thus formally embraced Christianity, he felt prepared to meet
the 'great event."'
Theodore Parker says that on his deathbed he acknowledged that
his good works had been as "filthy rags." But he was safely on
board 'the old ship of Zion before she weighed anchor and spread
her sails for the Elysian fields.
JAMES BUCHANAN
Born, April 22, 1791. Died, June 1, 1868.
President, March 4, 1857 -- March 4, 1861.
James Buchanan was the last of the pre-Civil War Presidents.
He had been in the House and Senate for 20 years, had been
Secretary of State and Minister to England. Born in pennsylvania
and descended, from Scotch emiogrants, he was a Presbyterian by
inheritance; but like Presidents Jackson and Polk he never joined
the Church until he retired to private life. All his life, however,
he had been a regular attendant, and a contributor to all Churches,
including the Catholic.
In August, 1860, his last year in the White House, President
Buchanan was stopping at Bedford Springs, a summer resort in
Pennsylvania, where the Rev. Dr. William M. Paxton, pastor of the
First Presbyterian Church of New York City, was also a guest.
Having had some previous acquaintance with the reverend doctor he
one day invited him into his room, where he opened his heart. He
said:
"I think I may say that for 12 years I have 'been in the habit
of reading the Bible and praying daily. I have never had any one
with whom I have felt disposed to converse, and now that I find you
here I have thought you would understand my feelings, and that I
would venture to open my mind to you upon this important subject,
and ask for an explanation of some things I do not clearly
understand."
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He then asked Dr. Paxton what a religious experience is, and
wanted to know how a man might know he was a Christian, to which
the doctor gave replies that satisfied him, Thereupon the President
said:
"Well, sir, I thank you. My mind is now made up. I hope I am
a Christian. I think I have had some of the experience which you
describe, and as soon as I retire from my office as Presiclent, I
will unite with the Presbyterian Church."
Dr. PaxtGn here became excited. It is not often a minister has
an opportunity to gather a President of the United States into the
fold. Then he was an old man, and might die, as did President
Harrison, who so sorely disappointed the Rev. Dr. Hawley. Therefore
he exclaimed, "Why not now, Mr. President? God's invitation is now
and you should not say tomorrow." President Buchanan replied with
deep feeling and a strong gesture: "I must delay, for the honor of
religion. If I were to unite with the Church now, they would say
hypocrite. from Maine to Georgia." Here he was different from some
statesmen of today who seem to take no interest in religion until
they get into politics, when "the honor of religion" does not
disturb them.
Shortly after the 4th of March, 1861, President Buchanan kept
his word and was received into the Presbyterian Church of
Lancaster, Pa., his home city. He was fortunate in living 80 years
ago instead of today. Now he would not be permitted to serve his
term in office. He would be compelled to run successfully the
clerical gauntlet before he could be elected.
GROVER CLEVELAND
Born, March 18, 1837. Dired, July 24, 1908.
President, March 4, 1885 -- March 4, 1889.
March 4, 1893 -- March 4, 1897.
The first Democratic President to be elected after the Civil
War was the son of the Rev. Richard Cleveland, a Presbyterian
minister. Like many other mininsters, the Rev. Mr. Cleveland
supported a large family on a small salary. His children were
therefore obliged to work as soon as they were able. Grover worked
in a store in Fayetteville, N.Y., where his father held his last
charge before his death. In this place, we are informed by a living
sister of Mr. Cleveland, he joined the church of which his father
was the pastor.
Later he went to New York City, where he taught for a while in
a school for the blind. Here he became acquainted with Fanny
Crosby, the noted hymn writer. He moved from New York City to
Buffalo, where he studied law, was admitted to the bar, entered
politics and laid the foundation of his later eminence. While in
Buffalo, he kept his name on the roll of his father's old church in
Fayetteville. That he was a member of the Church in Buffalo is
doubtful. While living there, he had the reputation of being a
blunt, honest man of the world, whose attendance at the house of
Bacchus was more regular than his attendance in the house of God.
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He loved to play pinochle in favorite salgons, and had he not
been a drinking man would perhaps not have been elected Mayor of
Buffalo,' from which office he stepped into the Governor's chair
and afterwards into the Presidency. He happened to be in a saloon
drinking a glass of beer and eating a lunch, when in came a number
of Democratic politicians looking for a candidate for mayor. One of
them in a joking manner said, "Let us nominate Grover." The joke
became serious, He was nominated and elected; then nominated and
elected governor by the greatest majority a governor ever received;
and in less than four years after he stood in front of the saloon
bar, was inaugurated President of the United, States.
Those who, like the present writer, recall the presidential
campaign of 1884 between James G. Blaine and Grover Cleveland,
remember the bitter, abusive, acrid personalities of that year. Mr.
Blaine had a vulnerable public record, and his opponents flaunted
the Mulligan letters" with all their strength. His private life,
however, had been beyond reproach. When he was nominated, Mr.
Cleveland was an almost unknown man outside of his own State, but
his public record as sheriff, mayor and governor commended him to
the people of the United States. His adversaries then launched an
attack upon his private life. one charge was that he had not done
his duty to his country during the Civil War by enlisting in the
army, but had hired a substitute. The fact was that owing to two
brothers having enlisted, he had to remain home as the sole support
of his mother and two sisters. When the draft came, he borrowed
$300 to hire a man to go in his stead.
The second charge was not so easily met. A certain Rev. George
H. Ball, of Buffalo, charged him with seduction and bastardy. This
preacher of that "charity that thinketh no evil" prayed God not to
strike him dead because he had voted for Cleveland for governor.
The friends of Mr. Cleveland prepared to issue a denial, but he
would not, permit them. He said, "It is true. Tell the truth!" He
held that while he was willing to defend all his public acts, his
parivate acts did not concern the public. He was quite justified in
this view. Another minister, the Rev. Mr. Burchard, in his "Rum,
Romanism and Rebellion" speech, quite neutralized the attack of the
Rev. Mr. Ball on the youthful morals of Mr. Cleveland, who was
elected, the first Democratic President in a quarter of a century.
The illegitimate child of which so much was said afterwards became
a prominent professional man and an honored citizen of Buffalo. His
father was twice elected President of the United States, the Rev.
Mr. Ball received much free advertising, and when the smoke cleared
away no one was injured beyond recovery.
After Grover Cleveland entered the White House, he gave more
attention to the Church, as he also did to matrimony, marrying his
ward, Miss Frances Folsom, a young lady of great personal charm. It
was not until his second term, on which he entered March 4, 1993,
that he became prominently religious. A wave of piety swept over
the country during this year of the great panic, as had happened in
the two former periods of financial distress, in 1857 and 1873, The
Churches registered their protests against the inaugural ball,
which, almost from the foundation of the government, had been an
occasion of greatl gaiety. The new President was prompt to unite
with the Churches in voicing his disapproval.
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This was also the year of the World's Columbian Exposition in
Chicago. The Churches had been organizing for three years to
prevent the doors from opening on Sunday. Religious societies had
met in conventions and pledged themselves not to attend unless the
Sabbath was strictly observed. The question was carried into the
courts. The ministers demanded that Cleveland call out the
military, if necessary, to shut the gates, but while he sympathized
with the Sabbatarians he did not go that far.
In the fall, he recognized Jesus Christ in his Thanksgiving
Proclamation, something no other President had ever done. The pace
for religious legislation having been set during the administration
of President Harrison, President Cleveland was now looked upon as
the patron saint of the "National Reformers" and other theocratic
organizations. During Cleveland's second administration, a Sunday
law was introduced for the District of Columbia, as was also the
"Christian amendment," placing God in the Constitution and making
Christianity the official religion of the State. The late William
Jennings Bryan was preparing to advocate such an amendment when he
died.
Nor can the sincerity of Mr. Cleveland be doubted. while he
had not been a "practical Christian" at all times, he seemed to
revert to the priety, of his youth as he grew older. This happens
to many who have never given the foundation of religion their
attention. On January 7, 1904, after the death of his oldest
daughter Ruth, he wrote to a friend:
"I had a season of great trouble in keeping out of my
mind the idea that Ruth was in the Cold, cheerless grave
instead of in the arms of her Saviour. It seems to me I mourn
our darling Ruth's death more and more. So much of the time I
can only think of her as dead, not joyfully living in heaven.
God has come to my help and I have felt able to adjust my
thought to dear Ruth's death with as much comfort as selfish
humanity will permit. One thing I can Say: not for a moment
since she left us has a rebellious thought entered my mind."
His sister writes that she knew "his boyhood's faith
brightened his dying hours." The grief of a father for the death of
a loved child is not a proper subject for discussion, and we can be
pleased to think that under the circumstances he found consolation.
We could say the same had he been a Buddhist, a Mohammedan, a
Mormon or a Confucian.
Yet President Cleveland was not a Puritan, and if he were
alive today, he would not stand well on the Anti-Saloon League's
card-index. He liked beer, fished on Sunday and kept a store of
good liquor for himself and his friends.
John S. Wise, in his 'Recollections of Thirteen Presidents,'
says there were two men in American history who above all others
were attacked by venomous personal abuse, Grover Cleveland and
Robert G. Ingersoll. This was because of their holding unpopular
ideas. Fifty years ago, to be a Democrat in some sections was
synonymous. with being a traitor, an enemy of your country, its
prosperity and happiness; while to say openly that you did not
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accept the orthodox Christian religion was to place yourself
outside the pale of social recognition and to be looked upon as
having hoofs and horns.
Years ago, I knew an old man in a rural community who was an
outspoken "Infidel." A woman who knew him remarked: "I do not
see why some people are so bitter at Mr. ________. He does not
appear to be any different from other men." Since the partisan
prejudices that swayed the minds of his contemporaries have become
extinct, history has been just toward President Cleveland. Now,
regardless of party, he is considered to have been one of our most
efficient Presidents.
BENJAMIN HARRISON
Born, August 20, 1833. Died, March 13, 1901.
President, March 4, 1889 -- March 4, 1893.
Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States,
waw a great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison, who signed the
Declaration of Independence, and a grandson of William Henry
Harrison, the ninth President, at whose house he was born, in 1833.
He was a Presbyterian, an elder in the Church, and the first
President who was unquestionably a communicant in an orthodox
Church at the time he was elected. Grover Cleveland was a
communicant in his youth and late in life, but there is no evidence
that he was such when he was first elected.
President Harrison was deeply religious, a believer in divine
providence, and thought himself an object of its particular care.
Knowing this, during his administration the Churches were
successful in introducing bills in Congress to promote religion by
law. On May 21, 1886, Senator Henry W. Blair, of New Hamphire,
introduced a "National Sunday Rest Bill," the preamble of which
read, "A bill to secure to the enjoyment of the first day of the
week, commonly Sunday, as a day of rest, and to promote its
observance as religious worship." A great outcry was raised against
this bill as worded, and on December 9, 1889, Senator Blair re-
introduced it, making the title read, "A bill to secure to the
people the privilege of rest and religious worship, free from the
disturbance of others, on the first day of the week." Except that
it granted exemption from the penalties those "who conscientiously
believe in and observe any other day than Sunday as the Sabbath or
day of religious worship," its provisions were not different from
the first. Not since 1829 had a bill for the enforcement of a
Sunday law been introduced in the national legislature. As the bill
entered into the realm of conscience and the field of religious
controversy, it was not reported from the committee room and died
a natural death. Similar bills have been since introduced and have
met the same fate. Four days after introducing his Sunday bill,
Senator Blair introduced an "Educational Amendment" the
Constitution of the United States, section 2 of which read: "Each
State in this Union shall establish a system of public schools,
adequate for the education of all the children living therein,
between the ages of six and 16 years inclusive, in the common
branches of knowledge and in virtue, morality, and the principles
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of the Christian religion." This, like his Sunday bill, was very
deceptive, and, like it, was laid on the table. Senator Blair
having failed, Mr. W.C.P. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, who was later
to acquire an unsavory reputation, introduced, on January 6, 1890,
a Sunday bill for the District of Columbia, which also failed.
President Harrison's well-known orthodox predilection encouraged
the sponsors of these bills. Religious legislation has always been
unpopular, except with the extremists in the Church, yet it is an
ever present danger.
General Harrison had an undistinguished though honorable
record as an officer in the Civil War, and was Senator from Indiana
for one term. He was a splendid platform speaker, and publicly had
a great influence over the masses. In private he had the reputation
of being cold and distant.
WOODROW WILSON
Born, December 28, 1856. Died, February 3, 1924.
President, March 4, 1913 -- March 4, 1921.
Our World War President was Presbyterian through a long line
of Scotch and Irish ancestors on both his father's and mother's
side. His father, the Rev. James Ruggles Wilson, was a Presbyterian
minister who was born in Ohio, of Irish ancestry. His mother's
father, the Rev. Thomas Woodrow, after whom he was named, came from
Scotland, and was a graduate of the University of Glasgow. each
held a high position in the Church, and both are known in its
history.
The father of the future President moved from ohio to Virginia
early in the 50's. Woodrow Wilson was born at Staunton, Va,; later
the Wilson family moved to Augusta, Georgia. While in Ohio the Rev.
Wilson seemed to take no particular interest in the then all-
absorbing question of slavery. But in 1861, he was a delegate to
the National Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, held in
Philadelphia, where a resolution was passed reading out of the
Church all slave-holders. The Rev. Mr. Wilson at once took up the
cudgel for his adopted section, and invited southern Presbyterians
to meet with him in Augusta, where he organized the Southern
Presbyterian Church. He cast his fortunes with the South during the
war and became a chaplain in the Confederate Army, while his
brothers were fighting in the Union Army. After the war, when upon
a visit to Ohio, he was asked if he was a reconstructed rebel, his
reply was, "No, only a whipped one." When his son was first
proposed as a teacher in Princeton University, objection was raised
against him because of his southern antecedents.
The Rev. Joseph Ruggles Wilson was an interesting characte. He
had all the geniality of the Celt, and was far from being
puritanical. He loved a good dinner, enjoyed smgking his pipe, and
sometimes took a nip of "Old Scotch." This, of course, was before
the crusade for Prohibition had captured the Protestant Churches.
His Irish wit, combined with his knowledge and interesting
conversation, made him a social favorite, as those who remember him
when he passed his latter years at the home of his son will recall.
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
The maternal uncle of the World War President also had an
interesting history, which is recorded in the chronicles of his
adopted country. The Rev. James Woodrow was originally a printer
and publisher, and sometimes, to hasten work, it was necessary for
his printers to work nights. He would permit no Sunday work. At
midnight Saturday he compelled his employes to cease their labors,
but promptly at two minutes after 12 on Monday morning they
resumed. In this way the work was accomplished, but the old scotch
custom of Sabbath keeping was not invalidated. Yet while he was a
very religious man, and conformed to the standards of the
Presbyterian Church, he finally got into trouble, and had to leave
the Church. He believed in and preached Evolution. A minority in
the Church defended him, but he was ousted from the Presbyterian
seminary in Columbia, S.C., where he was a teacher of the natural
sciences. Andrew D. White, in 'The Warfare Between Science and
Theology in Christendom,' vol. 1, pp. 317-318, thus speaks of his
case:
"This hostile movement became so strong that, in spite of
the favorable action of the directors of the seminary, and
against the efforts of a broad-minded minority in the
representative bodies having ultimate charge of the
institution, the delegates from the various synods raised a
storm of orthodoxy and drove Dr. Woodrow from his post.
Happily, he was at the same time professor in the University
of South Carolina in the same city of Columbia, and from his
chair in that institution he continued to teach natural
science with the approval of the great majority of thinking
men in that region; hence, the only effect of the attempt to
crush him was, that his position was made higher, respect for
him deeper, and his reputation wider."
Dr. Woodrow was a real man, and would not compromise as many
ministers have done. He finally left the Church and became the
president of a bank. He was a member of a number of learned
scientific societies both in Europe and America. His trial for
heresy, in the 1880's, aroused national attention. Nearly 40 years
later, when his nephew was President of the United States and the
Fundamentalists had renewed the old battle against Evolution, some
one wrote to President Wilson asking whether he believed in
Evolution. He replied: "Of course, like every other man of
education and intelligence I do believe in organic EvolutiGn. It
surpises me that at this late date such questions should be
raised." It is good that while these Scotch Presbyterians are often
very stubborn in maintaining their opinions, when they change them,
they are equally stirbborn in defending their new ones.
It will, at this point, be pertinent to consider President
Wilson's views upon the relation of science to certain problems. He
once said that college instructors could "easily forget that they
were training citizens as well as drilling pupils"; that a college
should be "a school of duty." When he was once attacked for being
hostile to science, he replied:
"I have no indictment against what science has done: I
have only a warning to utter against the atmosphere which has
stolen from laboratories into lecture rooms and into the
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
general air of the world at large. Science has not changed the
nature of society, has not made history a whit easier to
understand, human nature a whit easier to reform. It has won
for us a great liberty in the physical world, a liberty from
superstitious fear and disease, a freedom to use nature as a
familiar servant, but it has not freed us from ourselves. We
have not given science too big a place in our education; but
we have made a perilous mistake in giving it too great a
Preponderance in method over every other 'branch of study."
on the subject of the relation of science to religion, there
are three sets of opinions: those of the Fundamentalists, who
reject science; of the Rationalists, who reject the claims of
religion; of the modernists, of whom President Wilson was one, who
accept science in the physical world, but will not be bound 'by its
laws in the spiritual.
Mr. Wilson was the first president of Princeton University who
was not a minister. When he moved there, he found two presbyterian
Churches, the First and the Second. He thought but one was needed,
and tried to unite them. He joined the Second and was elected an
elder, but afterwards left it and gave his support to the First.
His entire family attended church services, but the children did
not go to Sunday School. Mrs. Wilson taught them the sunday school
lesson and the Westminster catechism at home. President Wilson
often led the chapel exercises in the college, but his talks took
a practical trend. For instance, he once took as his text a verse
from Paul's address to Agrippa: "Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was
not disobedient unto the heavenly vision." (Acts, 26:19.) He then
enlarged upon the necessity of all having a vision, or a purpose in
life.
President Wilson was not a Puritan. His daughter says that,
like his father, he was a mixture of dignity and gaiety. He liked
to play whist, euchre and backgammon, was a remarkable mimic and
could tell endless dialect stories. Shortly after his entrance into
the White House, in 1913, his Secretary of State, William Jennings
Bryan, suggested over the telephone that he make his administration
a temperance, or white ribbon, affair, and, conforming to the
custom in President Hayes' day, not serve wine. Mr. Wilson replied
he would not do this for three reasons: first, it had been the
custom to serve wine at public dinners, except in one
administration, since the foundation of the government; second, he
was not a Prohibitionist, and, third, he liked a drink sometimes
himself, The Volstead Act was passed and went into effect without
his signature.
Yet anomalies are associated with both Bryan and Wilson. The
first, an apostle of peace, rests in a military cemetery. The
second, of the sturdiest Presbyterian stock, found his last resting
place in a gorgeous Episcopal cathedral.
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The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents
CHAPTER III.
PRESIDENTS WHO WERE UNITARIANS
In point of numbers the Unitarian Church has always been among
the minor religious bodies. Yet its influence upon the
intellectual, moral and literary forces of the united states has
been far greater Proportionately than its numerical strength. No
other Church has Contributed to this country so many distinguished
men and women in all departments of human activity. A few words
touching the history of this Church, particularly in America, will
enable us better to comprehend the subject.
From the earliest history of the Christian Church there was
controversy over disputed theological questions. Among these none
occupied greater attention than the nature of God. Some held to his
unity, others to the trinity. Those holding the first view were
almost successful in making it the dogma of the whole Church. They
were specially strong in the West. They were called Arians, after
their leader Arius; sometimes Socinians and later Unitarians. The
Council of Nice" the first ecumenical council of the Church, held
in the city of that name in southeastern France, was assembled to
consider two questions: the canon of the Bible, and the "Arian
controversy," as the question of the Godhead was then called. This
council sent Arius into exile and condemned his doctrines.
Afterwards, he died suddenly, and, as his friends maintained,
through the treachery of his enemies.
Wherever Unitarianism penetrated, it was persecuted and
stamped out. The last two heretics burned at the stake in England
(in 1612), Bartholomew Legate and Edward Wightman, were put to
death for denying the trinity. A special law for the punishment of
this offense by death was passed during the Commonwealth. In the
toleration act of, 1689 all dissenters except Unitarians were
granted freedom of worship. In spite of persecution they grew, and
one of the most distinguished writers on Christian evidence, Dr.
Nathaniel Lardner, was a Unitarian, and Unitarian views were held
by John Milton, the poet, Sir Isaac Newton, the scientist, and John
Locke, the philosopher.
In the last quarter of the 18th Century they had two
distinguished advocates in Richard Price and Joseph Priestley, the
latter, the discoverer of oxygen. In Birmingham, a mob attacked the
house of Dr. Priestley, burned it to the ground, destroying all his
valuable scientific apparatus. He was driven out of the city and
took refuge in the United States, where he died in Pennsylvania, in
1804. Some of his descendants are still among us. In 1813
toleration was granted the Unitarian Church.
The invasion of Unitarian thought among the puritanical
churches of New England began in the last quarter of the 18th
Century, There was an intellectual and moral revulsion against the
doctrines of origional sin, predeesteination, hell, and the blood
atonement. King's Chapel, built in 1749, the oldest Episcopal
church in New England, became Unitarian. James Truslow Adams, in
his 'New England in the Republic,' p. 220, quotes from G.W. Cooke's
'Unitarianism in America,' p. 75:
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"In Boston a visitor wrote in 1791 that the ministers
there were so diverse in their views that they could not agree in
any one point in theology. Ten years later there was but one
minister in that city who accepted the doctrine of the Trinity."
In 1810 the great controversy upon the subject was still on,
and by 1,925 Unitarianism had captured a large number of the New
England
@@@@ book p. 54 on to 65 must be scanned again, print does not scan
well.
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