MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI
A HISTORY OF
RELIGIOUS PROSCRIPTION, THE SEIZURE OF CHURCHES, AND THE PERSECUTION OF
MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL, IN THE STATE OF MISSOURI
DURING THE LATE CIVIL WAR,
AND UNDER THE
“TEST OATH” OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
BY
REV. W. M. LEFTWICH, D. D.
VOLUME I.
SAINT LOUIS:
S. W. BOOK & PUB. CO., 510 & 512 WASHINGTON AVE.
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR.
1870.
=Dedication.=
TO THE
MARTYRS OF MISSOURI,
AND THE
CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY SUFFERED,
THIS BOOK
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,
BY THE AUTHOR.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
W. M. LEFTWICH,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Eastern District of Missouri.
PREFACE.
“We are making history,” was the convenient and popular boast of certain
politico-religious fanatics during the late civil war, and for a few
years subsequent to its close. It will not be considered impertinent,
now that the “piping times of peace” have come, and men are permitted to
look back upon the cooled passions and crystallized events of that
dreadful period with somewhat of calm philosophy, if the fact should be
announced that “we are writing history.” It is one thing to make the
history, it is quite another thing to write it. If others could afford
to “make history,” and, then, in popular cant and with prurient vanity,
boast of it, we can well afford to write it up for them. And if our part
of the task be fairly, candidly and correctly done, they will have
little reason to complain if they appear before the world and go down to
posterity in the light of the history they have made, and with their
true character brought out by the shadows they have thrown forward upon
the future. History is valuable, not merely as a catalogue of events and
an inventory of things, but for the principles involved and the lessons
taught. The events herein narrated are notorious, the principles
involved are vital, and the lessons important.
Missouri will ever be conspicuous in the annals of history as the only
State in the American Union to inaugurate and authorize a formal
opposition to Christianity, as an institution, and legalize the
persecution of ministers of the gospel, as a class. The fact will not be
denied, and the history furnishes the saddest, wisest lessons. Ministers
of the gospel have been robbed, arrested, imprisoned, and even murdered,
for no other cause than that they were ministers of the gospel. They
have been indicted by grand juries, arrested and imprisoned with common
felons, mobbed and put to death for no other cause than that of
preaching the gospel without taking the “Test Oath” of the New
Constitution. A pure, unsecular Christianity owes much to the moral
heroism of the Missouri ministry. The faith once delivered unto the
saints, the integrity of the Church of Jesus Christ, as a kingdom not of
this world, the purity of the gospel, the divine authority of the
ministry, the liberty of conscience, and the rightful sovereignty of
Christ in his Church, with every principle and phase of religious
liberty, have been illustrated in the lives and sublimely vindicated in
the sufferings of the ministers of the gospel in Missouri.
The author fully appreciates the delicacy and difficulty of dealing with
such recent events and so many living names—events, too, which belong to
the catalogue of crime, and names that will pass into history associated
with the persecution and stained with the blood of the Lord’s annointed.
But if the task is difficult and the questions delicate, the duty is no
less imperative. It is due alike to the martyrs, living and dead, and to
the holy cause for which they suffered, that their names and deeds be
preserved, and that their unswerving fidelity and sublime devotion to a
principle and a cause, equal to the purest heroism of the ancient
martyrs, should not be lost to the Church. It is one of the gravest
responsibilities of the hour, and one of the most gracious opportunities
of the Church, to preserve the history, vindicate the faith, maintain
the principles and impress the lessons of the turbulent past upon the
peaceful future, that grace may abound through suffering and God may be
glorified in his servants.
A diluted charity says, “Let the dead past bury its dead, and let the
living present draw the mantle of charity over the unfortunate
by-gones.” This might be well enough if the “dead past” did not contain
the imperishable gem of a resurrection life that speaks to us with
authority in the vital principles of yesterday, to-day and forever, and
tells us, amongst other thins, that the chief of the Christian virtues—a
pure, discriminating charity—has no mantle for crime, however
Christ-like may be its compassion for the penitent criminal.
Both Federal and State legislation shield those who committed the crimes
of the war from legal prosecution; but such enactments possess no
control over the pen and the press.
In presenting this work to the public the author is fully conscious of
its many literary defects. But for all that, he dare not sacrifice the
facts of history, even to literary excellence. Many subjects possess an
importance and a grandeur wholly independent of those who handle them.
If, in treating of so many men and such recent events, injustice has
been done the living or the dead, the author pleads the absence of
intention and claims the benefit of a discriminating charity.
Both the work and the author will receive the severest criticism—perhaps
censure—possibly abuse. The first—he would not escape if he could; the
second—he could not escape if he would; the third—well—it is no new
thing under the sun for those who are set for the defense of truth and
righteousness to be abused.
The following prefatory notes, furnished by Dr. M‘Anally and Bishop
Marvin, together with the Introduction by Dr. Summers, will not only
assure the timid and establish the doubtful, but will be as grateful to
the Methodist and general public as to the author:
PREFATORY NOTE.
“In the following pages the reader may find an account of some of
those horrible outrages perpetrated on Christian ministers in
Missouri, chiefly because they were Christian men and Christian
ministers; but scarce a tenth of all such outrages have been, or
likely ever will be, placed before the public. They have cast a foul
and ineraseable blot upon the fame of the State of Missouri, and must
consign the immediate perpetrators to an infamy as lasting and as
hateful as that of the most cruel persecutors of Christians in gone-by
ages. And what deepens, blackens and renders more odious the guilt of
these things is, they were for the greater part done by, or under the
sanction of, men professing to love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ;
with a claim to, and under the pretext of, a purer patriotism and
holier Christianity, they committed atrocities that would disgrace
barbarians and savages.
“It is well the record of these horrible deeds be preserved, that the
better portion of the people in this and other States may have some
knowledge of what was done and suffered here during the dark and
bloody days, from 1861 to ’65.
“Many of those, directly or indirectly, implicated in these deeds of
cruelty and shame are now loud and earnest in their entreaties for
‘by-gones to be by-gones,’ and profess great grief that anything
should be said or done ‘to keep alive the feelings of the past.’ It is
not strange they should feel thus; but can they reasonably expect an
honest and outraged people should continue to cover up such
abominations, receive those who committed them into respectable
society, and treat them as though they were innocent, honest,
high-minded, Christian gentlemen? That would be strange—passing
strange! No! Truth and righteousness, justice and mercy, alike demand
that a faithful record of all such inhuman outrages be made,
extensively circulated and carefully preserved; that all the
perpetrators, instigators and abettors be consigned to that infamy
they so deservedly earned. Of such a record this is the first volume,
and it is hoped another, and another, and, if need be, yet another,
will be forthcoming, until the whole matter shall be placed in its
true and proper light.
“Of the manner in which the author has performed his work in the pages
following I need not speak. Each reader will judge for himself, and
each will find something to interest and instruct. The facts developed
are exceedingly suggestive, and suggestive, too, in regard to all the
interests of society.
“The thoughtful render will naturally inquire as to the cause of, and
reason for, such things, as well as to their natural and legitimate
effects, and this may induce an honest, healthful inquiry as to what
influences should be brought to bear to make men better, and thus
prevent the recurrence of such things as are here detailed. Let the
book be extensively circulated, carefully read, and its contents well
considered.
“D. R. M’ANALLY.
“CARONDELET, MO., December 29, 1869.”
“ST. LOUIS, December 24, 1869.
“REV. W. M. LEFTWICH:
“_Dear Sir_—I have seen the proof sheets of a large portion of the
first volume of ‘Martyrdom in Missouri,’ now soon to come from the
press.
“The publication of this book meets my hearty approval. I have met
with some who say, ‘Let the past sleep; let all its crimes, and the
had blood engendered by them, be buried forever.’ I have not so
learned Christ. He, the Incarnate Love, charged the blood of the
prophets upon the sons of their murderers. The true work of Christian
charity is to _eradicate_ crime, not to ignore it. The maudlin
sentiment that would daub over the great public crimes committed by
the highest dignitaries of the Northern Methodist Church and their
representatives in the South and along the border, is _not_ charity.
It is at best a clumsy counterfeit of that chief of the virtues. True
charity will seek to bring them to confession and recantation of their
deeds.
“To all their former misdeeds they now add, to avoid the shame of the
past, denials, equivocation and, as in the case of the Holston
property seized by them, false recriminations. The sober truth is that
they never hesitated during the time of our public trouble to use the
influence an active partisanship gave them with the party in power, to
take possession of our property, either by military order, or
terrorism, or mob violence. The public conscience of that Church seems
to have been debauched by their efforts to defraud us of our property
at the time of the division of the Church.
“But the stench of these recent atrocities is so strong in the
nostrils of the people that the perpetrators resort to the ever open
refuge of the evil-doer—denial. This book is opportune. The great body
of the preachers and members of the Church North are honest men. The
denials made by their leading men and Church papers they suppose to be
true. Here are facts in detail, with places, names, dates, and copies
of legal proceedings taken from official sources.
“Before the war, when Northern preachers were objects of suspicion,
and public demonstrations were sometimes made against them, the editor
of the St. Louis _Christian Advocate_, Rev. D. R. M‘Anally, raised his
voice against all mobs and mob violence with a will and an emphasis
that left no covert suggestions of encouragement to those who might
have been disposed to resort to violent measures. Led by the
_Advocate_, the whole Southern Church in the State gave its influence,
publicly and privately, against all violent proceedings. If that paper
and our Church had, at that time, pursued the course that the Northern
preachers and papers did towards us during the war, they would have
been driven from the State. As it was, in order to get credit for
persecution, they had to resort to the most remarkable tricks. Take,
for instance, the case, given with proper names in this book, of one
of their camp meetings being broken up by the preacher in charge of it
being caught in the act of adultery—broken up by their own members.
This they published to the world as a case of persecution by Southern
people.
“While I do not agree fully with all the views set forth in the
preliminary chapters of this volume, I am prepared to say that the
_facts_ bearing on the main topic have been collected and verified
with great care, and that there can be no doubt of the accuracy of the
statements. You have been pleased to hold yourself responsible, giving
proper names, dates, etc. I do not hesitate to invite upon myself a
full share of the responsibility.
“Hoping that you will soon have the second volume, containing the
names of our other murdered brethren, ready for the press,
“I am, very respectfully,
“E. M. MARVIN.”
INTRODUCTION.
BY
REV. T. O. SUMMERS, D.D.
The author of the following work has desired an expression of our
opinion in regard to its publication. We have read the manuscript with
painful interest, and are free to say that we have had some misgivings
as to the expediency of sending it forth to the world. The facts here
brought to light are so revolting, and their record is so damaging to
the reputation of those by whom they were perpetrated and their aiders
and abettors, that we might well hesitate, as to the propriety of their
publication. As Methodists, in particular, we are strongly tempted to
throw the veil of oblivion over those scenes of oppression and outrage,
in which many of our co-religionists of the North bore so conspicuous a
part.
But the cause of truth and righteousness demands the publication. There
is a measure of retribution which must not be relegated to the “judgment
to come,” but which must be dealt out in the present world.
We owe it to “the noble army of martyrs,” whose lives were sacrificed to
appease the demands of fanaticism, bigotry, cruelty, and hate, that
their murderers shall not go unwhipped of justice—at least, such
castigation as the truth of history can inflict.
We owe it to those who were made widows and orphans by the monsters who
enacted these bloody scenes, to let the world know that the husbands and
fathers of these innocent sufferers were not rebels and traitors, but
good men and true, “of whom the world was not worthy.”
We owe it to the institutions of our country to let it be known that the
appalling scenes that were enacted during the late reign of terror were
not the result of the principles which underlie our Federal and State
governments, but of the palpable contravention of them.
We owe it to the ecclesiastical bodies of the South that posterity shall
be told who invaded their rights; who robbed them of their churches,
parsonages, cemeteries, and seminaries; who murdered, scourged, and
plundered, and banished many of their ministers and lay members,
including even women and children, because they would not compromise
principles which they held dearer than life itself.
It is well for the world to be told that moral heroism has not, like
Astræa, left the earth and ascended to the skies. Thank God! there have
been heroes in our times; and we are encouraged to believe that the race
will not soon become extinct. The night of persecution would bring such
stars to view again. Daniel and the “three children,” the Maccabees, the
Apostles, Polycarp, Ignatius, and other victims of Pagan persecution in
primitive times—the Albigenses, Waldenses, Huguenots, the Marian
martyrs, and other victims of papal persecution—Nonconformist and
Remonstrant confessors, who “took joyfully,” or at least patiently, “the
spoiling of their goods,” imprisonment, exile, and sometimes death—these
have had their successors in the fearful times through which we have
passed, and the record of them gives us a guaranty that under similar
circumstances such heroes will appear again.
In perusing this work one is constantly reminded of the saying of the
wise man, “Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new?
it hath been already of old time which was before us.” He had seen
similar evils to those which we have seen and suffered. “There is an
evil which I have seen under the sun as an error which proceedeth from
the ruler: folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon
the earth.” “So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are
done under the sun and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and
they had no comforter.” Then, as in our late calamitous times, good men
mourned as they were forced to
——bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th’ oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th’ unworthy takes.
The history of these terrible transactions is valuable, too, as an
admonitory lesson, teaching us that no sect is absolutely proof against
the seductive influence of political power and ascendency. Down to the
present decade the Methodists could plume themselves with an honest
satisfaction upon the fact that while nearly all other sects had risen
to power and abused it to persecuting purposes, they never had. It was,
indeed, sometimes insinuated that they never had persecuted because they
never had the power to do so. But they contended, and, it was thought,
with good reason, that the principles of Methodism, being so pure,
spiritual, and catholic, would be a sure safeguard from political
alliances, worldly ambitions, and persecuting practices; but, alas! that
ground of boasting is taken away. The devil came with his “third
temptation” to Northern Methodists, including even bishops of the
Church, and they did not say, “Get thee hence, Satan!” They ascended by
the devil’s ladder to “thrones of power,” and played such tricks during
the continuance of their brief authority as made the angels weep! The
wrongs of 1844 and 1848 developed into horrible atrocities in the sun of
political prosperity which shone upon them during the war which
subjugated the South. The lesson, we repeat, is admonitory. We trust in
God no such temptation will ever be set before the Southern Church; it
seems to be “a test for human frailty too severe.”
It is not intended by these remarks to inculpate all the ministers and
members of the Northern Methodist Church. God forbid! There are
thousands among them who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They are
attached to the Northern connection because of their location—they
denounce the evil deeds of their brethren; indeed, in many instances
they are not apprised of them, or honestly believe that they are gross
exaggerations.
These enormities, however, are, to a great extent, charged upon the
Northern Methodist Connection because they were perpetrated by its
bishops and other agents; endorsed, or at least not disowned, by General
and Annual Conferences, and have not been repented of until this day.
Need any one seek further for a reason why the Southern Church wants no
fellowship with those who murder, rob, oppress, and slander its
ministers and members, or sanction those who do?
It must not be supposed that we lay all the blame upon Northern
Methodists—other Churches furnished their quota of persecution and
oppression, though, for obvious reasons, Southern Methodists suffered
more from their Northern co-religionists than from any other parties.
Thus was it with pagan and popish persecutions—a man’s foes were
frequently those of his own household. Apostates have ever been the most
bitter and unscrupulous persecutors. This is a painful reflection. The
eagle is pierced by an arrow feathered from an eagle’s wing! Thus
history repeats itself.
The perusal of this work will teach us not to put our trust in man, not
even in princes; no, nor in institutions of our own framing, written
constitutions, compacts, and the like, which upon occasion may prove to
be worth no more than the parchment on which they are engrossed.
Nothing is perfectly true, and just, and good, and stable, but the
kingdom of God. Nevertheless, the recital of the horrors portrayed in
this book, which contains a mere modicum of what might be narrated,
ought to lead us to thank God most devoutly that these calamities are
nearly overpast, and we have the prospect of civil and religious
liberty, which we know better than ever how to appreciate. The changes
which have taken place in the government of the United States lead many
to entertain gloomy anxieties for the future, and to despair of the
permanency of republican institutions; yet we venture to hope that a
wise, gracious, and powerful Providence will so interpose in behalf of
our country that these forebodings will not be realized.
We may just state that we are assured of the truth of many of the
details in this work by other testimonies; and for the rest we depend
confidently on the accuracy of the author, who has taken great pains in
collecting his materials from the most trustworthy sources. He is a
reputable minister of the Missouri Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, and holds himself responsible for all that he narrates.
T. O. S.
_Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 22, 1869._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
MISSOURI DISTINGUISHED FOR RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION.
Religious Liberty Secured to every Citizen by the Constitution of the
United States, by every State Constitution and every Department of
the Federal and State Governments—Religious Liberty Protected and
Enjoyed for two Centuries—The Stephen Girard Will Case—Mr. Webster’s
Great Speech—Religious Rights Defined—General Assembly of Missouri
Refuses to elect a Chaplain—Legalizes Sunday Beer Gardens—A Card—A
Renegade Minister—Reflections.
CHAPTER II.
POLITICAL EXCITEMENT OF 1850 AND ’60.
Foreigners—Know-Nothingism—Foreign Element in Politics—Class
Legislation to Encourage Immigration, Develop the Resources, and
Subvert the Religious Institutions of the State—German Rationalists
and Christianity—The True Interests of a State—Modern
Spiritualism—Its Pretensions—Phenomena—Influence upon the
Credulous—“Circles”—Mediums—Agents—Lecturers—Free-Loveism—Thousands
of Disciples—Midnight Lamp in Thousands of Homes—Many Turned from
the Faith to Serve Tables—Most Dangerous and Powerful Form of
Infidelity—Free-Thinkers—A Novel Encounter with an “Improved
Monkey”—Napoleon’s “Moral Combinations” at Work upon the Public
Mind.
CHAPTER III.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POPULATION.
All Nationalities and all Social Peculiarities Fused into a Common
Mass—Missourian—First Settlers of the State—Where From and their
Type of Domestic and Social Life—The “Kansas-Nebraska Bill”—Its
Effect upon the Population of Missouri—“Emigration Aid
Societies”—Extremes Brought Together in Missouri—Reflex Tides of
Population—Rapid Increase—Unique Social Formation—Social
Peculiarities Fuse—Religious Characteristics Become more
Distinct—Religious Thought and Feeling—Doctrines and Dogmas are
Sharply Defined and Fearfully Distinct in Missouri—Sects and their
Peculiarities—Sectarian Strife Uncompromising—Why—Religious
Controversy—Published Debates—Their Effect—Sectarian Bigotry and
Intolerance—Differences, Essential and Non-essential—History Ever
Repeating Itself—Persecution has Adopted Few New Expedients—Early
Martyrs and the Missouri Martyrs—“The Altar, the Wood and the Lamb
for a Burnt Offering.”
CHAPTER IV.
DIVISION OF THE CHURCH IN 1844.
Slavery only the Occasion—Action of the General Conference in
1836—Slavery in the Church in 1796 and in 1836—No Change of its
Moral Aspects in 1844—Facts Perverted—Constitutional Powers of the
Church—Bishop Andrew a Scapegoat—Protest of the Southern
Conferences—Resolution and Plan of Separation—Dr. Elliott and
Schism—The Vote—The Question in the South—Louisville Convention in
1845—Division—The Bishops of the M. E. Church Accept the Division
the following July—Failure to Change the Sixth Restrictive
Rule—General Conference of 1848 Pronounce the Whole Proceedings Null
and Void—Dr. Lovick Pierce Rejected—Fraternization
Denied—Responsibility of Non-Fraternization—Northern Church Refuse
to Make any Division of Property—Appeal to the Civil Courts—Decision
of the United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New
York—Justice McLean—United States Circuit Court for the Southern
District of Ohio—Judge Leavitt’s Decision—Supreme Court of the
United States—Points Decided—The Decision of the Supreme Court in
Full.
CHAPTER V.
FROM THE DIVISION OF THE CHURCH, IN 1845, TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL
WAR, IN 1861.
Provision of the Plan of Separation—Line of Division—The Missouri a
Border Conference—Vote on Adhering North or South nearly
Unanimous—The Disaffected—Covenant Breakers—The M. E. Church in
Missouri after the Division—Her Ministers and Members—How
Regarded—Relative Strength of the Two Churches in Numbers and
Property—Sympathy—Persecution—Tenacity in Spite of
Opposition—Success the only Revenge—The Class of Northern Methodist
Preachers—Their Connection with Clandestine Efforts to Free the
Slaves—Their Condemnation and their Secret Service—Character of the
Old Missourians—Their Vindication—Northern Methodists Condemned for
being Secret Political Partisans, and not for Preaching the
Gospel—The Anti-Slavery Element in Missouri Ten Years before the
War—Lawful _vs._ Clandestine Means—“Underground Railroad” and other
Nefarious Schemes to Run off the Slaves of Missouri—These Things
Condemned by the Anti-Slavery Party—Public Meetings of Citizens in
the Interest of Order and Peace.
CHAPTER VI.
FROM 1845 TO 1861, CONTINUED.
Responsibility of Ministers, Editors and Publishers—Perversion of
Facts, a Double Guilt—Public Meetings—Presses Mobbed—Fabius Township
Meeting in 1854—Rev. Mr. Sellers—Review of the Preamble and
Resolutions—Meeting at Rochester, Andrew County—Three Facts Affirmed
of these Meetings—The Best Citizens Controlled Them—What the Author
of the Fabius Township Resolutions Says—Jackson Seminary in Cape
Girardeau County—The Jefferson City Land Company and the Great
Northern Methodist University—The Transaction Transparent—Resolution
of Missouri Conference of 1858—A. Bewley—The True Facts in his
Case—That he was Hanged at Fort Worth, Texas, not for being a
Minister of the Gospel, but for Complicity in the most Horrible
Crimes—The Facts Analyzed—The Bailey Letter—Bishop Morris—Dr.
Elliott—Truth is Mighty—Correct View of the Relation of the M. E.
Church to the People of Missouri prior to the War.
CHAPTER VII.
CHARACTER OF THE STRIFE IN MISSOURI.
Conflict of Sentiment—Party Spirit—New England and Missouri
Fanatics—Fraternal Blood—“Houses Divided—Three against Two and Two
against Three”—Organized Armies and Predatory Brigands—Bull Run,
Seven Pines, The Wilderness, Gettysburg and Vicksburg Reproduced on
a small scale in every County and Cross Roads in Missouri—War upon
Non-Combatants—The Bloodiest Records—Ministers of the Gospel—Their
Troubles and Perplexities—Peculiar Trials and Persecutions—Military
Fetters put upon the Conscience—Disloyal Prayers and Military
Orders.
CHAPTER VIII.
ANOMALOUS CONDITION OF THE STATE—GREAT EXCITEMENT.
Border Slave State—Missouri State Convention—The Last Hope—Virginia
Convention—Missouri would not Secede—Rights in the
Union—Disappointment—Anomalous Position—Governor Jackson and General
Trice—Great Excitement—Ministers Embarrassed—One False Step
Fatal—The Sword _vs._ Sympathy—Why the Innocent and Helpless
Suffered more in Missouri than Elsewhere—Constructive
Sympathy—Predatory Bands—Hon. Luther J. Glenn Commissioner from
Georgia—The Effect of the Fall of Fort Sumter and President
Lincoln’s Proclamation—The State Officers, Legislature and Militia
Adhere South—Assemble at Neosho, Pass an Act of Secession, Elect
Delegates to the Confederate Congress, etc., etc.—Preparations for
War—Union _vs._ Price’s Army State Convention Meets Again—Its Acts
and Doings—Two State Governments—Sympathy, Property and
Plunder—Ministers Again—Their Course—Days of Fasting and
Prayer—Conferences—Meeting in St. Charles—Resolutions—Prudence and
Prayer—The Press—Anti-Christ Abroad—_Central Christian Advocate_ and
a few Facts—Rev. Mr. Gardner—“Men and Brethren Help”—State
Convention again in October—The First Oath for Ministers.
CHAPTER IX.
THE PULPIT AND PRESS ON THE SITUATION IN MISSOURI.
Ministers of Peace—Course Pursued by the St. Louis _Christian
Advocate_—Rev. Dr. M‘Anally its Editor—Candid, Truthful, Honest—The
Cause of its Suppression, and the Imprisonment of the
Editor—Ministers of the M. E. Church, South, Labor and Pray
Earnestly for Peace—Days of Fasting, Humiliation and
Prayer—Ministers who became Political Partisans had no use for such
days—“Breathing out Threatening and Slaughter”—Spirit of the
Northern Methodist Press—False Publications for a Purpose—One Mr.
John Stearns and the _Western Advocate_—Glaring
Falsehoods—Excitement in St. Louis and Throughout the
State—Persecution of Ministers in Kansas and Reign of Terror along
the Border—Rev. W. H. Mobly and Rev. John Monroe in Southwest
Missouri—Systematic Efforts to Break up the M. E. Church, South, and
Disperse her Ministers—Editorial in _St. Louis Advocate_—_The
Central Again_—Impressions Abroad—Baptists and Presbyterians
Implicated—“Religion in Missouri”—Missouri Conference at Glasgow—St.
Louis Conference at Arrow Rock and Waverly—Conference Stampeded by
the Rumor of a Gunboat—Author Arrested.
CHAPTER X.
PILLAGE, PLUNDER, BLACK-MAIL—MURDER OF THE REV. J. FEWEL—3,050 NEW
ENGLAND CLERGYMEN.
Indiscriminate Robbery, Pillage, Arson and Murder—Banditti and
Revenge—Black-Mail and Espionage—Panic, Depopulation and
Plunder—Demoralization—Virtue Sacrificed—Some who Would not Bow the
Knee to Moloch—God had an Altar and Israel a Priest—Persecution,
Arrest and Imprisonment of Revs. J. Ditzler, J. B. H. Wooldridge and
D. J. Marquis—Many others Suffered in Like Manner—Rev. James Fewel
Arrested, Cruelly Treated, and Died from the Effects of Inhuman
Treatment, aged Seventy-two Years—Many such Victims—The True Office
and Work of the Ministry—Its Spirit and Mission—Any Departure
Unsettles the Public Mind—A Sad Day for the Country, Church and
State—Relations and Dependencies—Three Thousand and Fifty New
England Clergymen Before Congress—A Solemn Protest and its
Effects—Then and Now—Ecclesiastical Bodies on the “State of the
Country”—Ecclesiastical Bummers—A Settled Policy to Drive the Old
Ministers out of the State—General Halleck’s Order.
CHAPTER XI.
SEIZURE OF CHURCHES—CHURCHES IN KANSAS CITY AND INDEPENDENCE.
Church Property—Can the War Revive or Create Titles—Church Property on
the Border—Maysville, Kentucky—Legal Rights of
Property—Attainder—Honest Inquiry—Eighth Commandment—The Truth of
History—_Church in Kansas City_—North Methodists—Faithful
Ladies—What was Said at the Time—Some who were with us Went out from
us—Their loss our gain—_Church in Independence_—How they Got it and
Why they Kept it—The Former Pastor—Why he left—Battle of
Independence—“Black Thursday”—A Rev. James Lee—How he got Possession
of the Church—Rev. Mr. DeMott—How he got Possession of the
Parsonage—A Poor Widow Turned Out by Military Order—Strategy—Rev. M.
M. Pugh Demands the Property—Why Refused—Recourse to the Civil
Courts—Statement of the Case by Counsel—Side Scenes—Extracts from
the St. Louis _Advocate_—This Property in the Statistics of Northern
Methodism—Action of the Missouri and Arkansas Conferences, M. E.
Church, on the Subject—Reflections.
CHAPTER XII.
CHURCH SEIZURES—CONTINUED.
_Church at Lexington_—Suit Brought for it by the Methodist
Church—Statement of Mr. Sawyer—Suit Dismissed—Salem, Arrow Rock,
California and other Churches—_Lagrange Church History_—How the
Church North Borrowed and then Seized it—Notice Served—Colonel W. M.
Redding the “Faithful Guardian”—Rev. W. C. Stewart—Christian
Charity—What a Southern Methodist Says—_Central Advocate_—Mr.
Stewart’s “Honor” Transmitted—Suit for
Possession—Arbitration—_Louisiana Church_—Its History and how it was
Seized—Civil Courts and Church Trustees—Names Forged—Counter
Petition—Decision of Court of Common Pleas—Supreme Court of
Missouri—History of the Case—Opinion of the Supreme Court—S. S.
Allen, Esq., on Church and State—Rulings of the Court—The Case
Reversed—Efforts to Compromise—Five Years’ Possession—Reported in
Church Statistics—Supplement—Able Argument of Smith S. Allen, Esq.
CHAPTER XIII.
CHURCH SEIZURES—CONTINUED.
Church in Boonville—One of the Oldest Religious Centers—Rev. J. N.
Pierce and his Exploits—“An Honest Looker On” in the St. Louis
_Christian Advocate_—Circuit Court vs. County Court and J. N.
Pierce—Supreme Court—Howard et al. _vs._ Pierce—Report and
Opinion—Circuit Court Sustained—John N. Pierce et al. Exhibited in
no Enviable Light—Legal History of the Case—Decision—Points to be
Noted—Moral Travestie—Judgment of Posterity—_Church in
Springfield_—How Obtained—How Long Used—How Released—Particulars
Reported by a Committee of the St. Louis Conference—_Church in
Potosi_—Statement of W. S. Woodard—Plattsburg, Fillmore, Macon,
Glasgow and other Churches—Strange Assertion—Statistical Value of
Churches Seized over $100,000—How Restored—Property Rights Secured
to the M. E. Church, South—Great Moral Courage or “Hard
Cheek”—“Making History”—Martyrdom of Principle.
CHAPTER XIV.
CHURCH SEIZURES CONTINUED AND MADE GENERAL.
War Claims of Northern Methodists Settled by Ecclesiastical
Black-Mail—Military Mitres and Episcopal Shoulder-Straps—The
Difference—The “Stanton-Ames Order”—“The Great Episcopal
Raid”—“Special Order, No. 15,” from Major-General Banks—Official
Board of Carondelet Street Church, New Orleans, and Bishop
Ames—Episcopal Power Then and Ecclesiastical Criticism Now—Popular
Verdict—Abandoned(?) and Embarrassed Churches and Ecclesiastical
“Bummers”—Church Extension in the South—Letters and Extracts—Bishop
Clark and “Church Extension Meetings”—Does the End Justify the
Means, or Success Satisfy the Demands of Modern Ethics?—Property
Acquired by the M. E. Church in the South in a few Years—Four
Hundred and Eight Churches, Eighteen Parsonages and Eight Literary
Institutions in two Years, Worth $446,659.00, all in Five
Conferences—Opinions of their Leading Men and Journals—Hon. John
Hogan, of St. Louis, Scuttles the Episcopal Ram—Order from the War
Department, with President Lincoln’s Endorsement—Possible
Deception—Rev. Dr. Keener, of New Orleans, Sues for the Churches of
Louisiana four Months—McKendree Church, Nashville, Vacated, “by
Order from Bishop Simpson”—Memorial of the Holston Conference M. E.
Church, South, to the Chicago General Conference, and How it was
Treated—Action of Chicago General Conference—“Stanton-Ames Order”
Duplicated for the Baptists—Conclusion—Sensible Warning from the St.
Louis _Anzeiger_.
CHAPTER XV.
MARTYRDOM—REVS. J. M. PROCTOR, M. ARRINGTON, J. M’GLOTHLIN AND JAMES
PENN.
Philosophy of Martyrdom—Living Martyrs—Names Made Immortal by
Persecution—Martyrs of Missouri—Difference Between Martyrs for the
Testimony of Jesus, only Questions of Time and Place—The Spirit the
Same Everywhere—Causes—Explanatory Remarks—_Rev. James M. Proctor_
Arrested Coming out of the Pulpit—Connection with the M. E. Church,
South, his only Offense—Kept in Prison for Weeks, then
Released—_Rev. Marcus Arrington_—Chaplain—Insulted—Kept in Alton
Prison—_Rev. John McGlothin_—Petty Persecution and Tyranny—_Rev.
James Penn_—Meeting Broken Up—Driven from His own Churches by a
Northern Methodist Preacher Leading an Armed Mob—Persecution—Prayer.
CHAPTER XVI.
REVS. W. CLEAVELAND AND JESSE BIRD.
Ministers of other Churches in the Fellowship of Suffering and on the
Rolls of Martyrdom—_Rev. Wm. Cleaveland_ Arrested for Preaching in a
Rebel Camp—Imprisoned and Insulted—Made to Pray for Mr. Lincoln on a
Loyal Cannon—Rev. Captain Cox, a Northern Methodist Preacher, his
Persecutor—Other Indignities—Indicted, Arrested and Arraigned as a
Common Felon for Preaching without taking the “Test Oath”—_Rev.
Jesse Bird_ Arrested, Silenced and Banished—Losses, Exposure and
Hardships of his Family—Returns—Arrested and put in Jail for
Preaching without taking the “Test Oath”—Public Indignation—The Most
Virulent Persecutors Subsequently Elevated to the Highest Civil
Offices.
CHAPTER XVII.
ELDERS J. DUVAL, ISAAC ODELL AND ALLEN SISK.
_Elder James Duval_—His Own Statement—Endorsement—Minister of the
Regular Baptist Church—Arrested at Midnight—Suffered Much—Passes and
Permits—Assessment for Military Purposes—Arrest of Elder G. W.
Stout—Elder Duval again Arrested—Sent to Chillicothe—Charge, Trial
and Acquittal—Making History—Re-arrested at New Garden—Heavy Bond—In
Court for not Taking the Oath—Met others in the Same
Condemnation—_Isaac Odell_ and _Allen Sisk_ under Indictment with
Elder Duval—Estebb, the Prosecuting Attorney—Dunn & Garver for the
Defense—Baptist Church at New Garden—Trial of their Pastor, Elder
Isaac Odell, for not taking the Oath—Acquitted—Then
Convicted—Division of the Church—Troubles—Non-Fellowship.
CHAPTER XVIII.
WOOLDRIDGE, MARQUIS, PUGH AND BREEDING.
Exceptional Distinction—_Revs. J. B. H. Wooldrige_, _D. J. Marquis_ and
Geo. N. Johnson Arrested, Abused and Imprisoned for Associating
Together—_Rev. M. M. Pugh_ Arrested and Imprisoned—Arrested Three
Times—Indicted—Northern Methodists Implicated in his
Persecutions—Flags over Pulpits by Military Orders—Efforts to Force
the Consciences of Ministers—A Caustic Note—“Der Union Flag on Der
Secesh Church”—A Minister’s Wife Ordered to Make a Shroud for a Dead
Union Soldier—Keen Retort—An Old Minister in a Rebel Camp—How he
“Went Dead” and “Saved his Bacon” and Potatoes—_Rev. J. M.
Breeding_—Armed Men Visit him at Midnight—Order him to Leave the
Country in Six Days because he was a Southern Methodist
Preacher—Arrested at Church by Lieutenant Combs—A Parley—Men said if
They were not Permitted to Shoot They would Egg Him—Waylaid by
Soldiers to Assassinate Him—Providential Escape—Waylaid the Second
Time, and Providential Escape—Move to Macon County—Further
Troubles—Reflections.
CHAPTER XIX.
REVS. R. N. T. HOLLIDAY AND GREEN WOODS.
_Rev. R. N. T. Holliday_—Statement of his Persecutions Furnished by Dr.
Richmond, a Federal Officer—Could not War upon the Institutions of
Heaven—Mr. Holliday aloof from Politics—Misconstrued—General Wm. P.
Hall and his Militia Proclamation—General Hall and Mr.
Holliday—General Bassett—Rev. Wm. Toole, Provost-Marshal, and Mr.
Holliday—A Renegade—Platte City Burned by Jennison and Mr. H.
Ordered to be Shot on Sight—He Escapes—Is Arrested in Clinton
County—Again Ordered to be Shot—Escapes to Illinois—Returns in
1865—Goes to Shelbyville and is Indicted, for Preaching Without
Taking the Oath—Crimes of the War—Common Law Maxim
Reversed—Prominent Ministers of the M. E. Church, South, Assumed to
be Guilty of Treason—Murder of _Rev. Green Woods_—Birth, Early
Ministry and General Character—Gives up his District—Retires to his
Farm in Dent County—Affecting Account of his Murder given by his
Daughter—Extract from a Letter Written by his Wife—Details Published
in the St. Louis _Advocate_ of June 13, 1866—Reflections.
CHAPTER XX.
REVS. A. MONROE, W. M. RUSH, NATHANIEL WOLLARD.
_Rev. A. Monroe_, the Patriarch of Missouri Methodism—Age, Honor and
Sanctity not Exempt from Profanation—Mr. Monroe and his Wife
Arrested in Fayette—Mrs. Monroe’s Trials and Witty Retorts—How Mr.
Monroe Escaped the Bond—Robbed of Everything by Kansas Soldiers in
1861—An Old Man Without his Mittens—A Tower of Strength—“Our
Moses”—Calls the Palmyra Convention—_Rev. W. M. Rush_—The Character
of Missouri Preachers—A Native Missourian—Settles in Chillicothe—In
St. Joseph the First Year of the War—Caution in Public Worship—An
Offensive Prayer by Rev. W. C. Toole—General Loan Closes the Church
and Deposes Mr. Rush from the Ministry by Military Order—General W.
P. Hall vs. Mr. Rush—Hall Publishes a Letter that Denies Mr. Rush
Protection, and Exposes him to Assassination—Mr. Rush Returns to
Chillicothe—His House a Stable and his Home a Desolation—Bold
Attempt to Assassinate him—Correspondence with General Hall—Goes to
St. Louis—Masonic Endorsement—In Charge of the Mound Church—Will
Hear of Him Again—_Rev. Nathaniel Wollard_ Murdered in Dallas
County—Horrible Details—Particulars—Reflections.
CHAPTER XXI.
REV. B. H. SPENCER.
His Character and Position as a Minister—Order of Banishment—Interview
with General Merrill—Note to Colonel Kettle—Cause of
Banishment—Letter to A. C. Stewart—Provost-Marshall at
Danville—Frank, Manly Reply—Second Letter to Mr. Stewart, and
Petition to General McKean—The Latter Treated with Silent
Contempt—Strong Loyal Petition Endorsed by H. S. Lane, U. S.
Senator, and O. P. Morton, Governor of Indiana—“Red Tape”—Petition
Returned—Hon. S. C. Wilson Counsel for the Exiles—General Schofield
Finally and Unconditionally Revokes the Order of
Banishment—Indictment for Preaching Without Taking the “Test Oath.”
CHAPTER XXII.
REVS. D. B. COOPER, H. N. WATTS AND THOS. GLANVILLE.
_Rev. D. B. Cooper_—Attempt Made to Ride him on a Rail—Defeated by the
Timely Appearance of Soldiers—Particulars Furnished by Dr. N. W.
Harris—_Rev. H. N. Watts_—A Native of Missouri—Efforts Made to Place
the Old Ministers under Disability or Run them out of the State—Mr.
Watts Arrested—Silenced—Correspondence with Provost-Marshals Ried
and Sanderson—“Test Oath”—_Rev. Thos. Glanville_—An Englishman by
Birth—Early Life—Peculiar Trials—Manner of Life as a Citizen and a
Minister—Driven from Home in 1863—Returns and Obtains Written
Permission to Preach—Warned not to fill his Appointment on Sabbath,
September 20, 1863—Remains at Home—That Night he is Shot Through his
Window—Shot a Second and Third Time, and Expires Praying for his
Murderers—His Eldest Son Shot and Killed the Same Night—Details
Furnished by J. H. Ross and Rev. John Monroe—Conclusion.
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
CHAPTER I.
Missouri Distinguished for Religious Persecution—Religious Liberty
Secured to every Citizen by the Constitution of the United States,
by every State Constitution, and every Department of the Federal and
State Governments—Religious Liberty Protected and Enjoyed for two
Centuries—The Stephen Girard Will Case—Mr. Webster’s Great
Speech—Religious Rights Defined—General Assembly of Missouri Refuses
to elect a Chaplain—Legalizes Sunday Beer Gardens—A Card—A Renegade
Minister—Reflections.
The State of Missouri is justly entitled to the distinction of being the
first and only State in the American Union to inaugurate and authorize a
formal opposition to Christianity, as an institution, and to legalize a
systematic proscription and persecution of ministers of the gospel, as a
class. Her constitution, statute books and judicial proceedings alone
reproduce the ordinances, enactments and decisions of the “dark ages,”
without the papal superstitions and priestly conscience. Her prison
walls and dungeons dark have revived the horrors of Spain without the
Inquisition, and her civil and military officers, her courts and mobs,
have re-enacted the cruel tyranny and the religious intolerance of
Austria, with the papal “concordat” left out.
Her fertile soil has been stained with the blood of real martyrs, and
the “seed of the church” has been scattered all over her broad prairies
and along her winding streams. Unmarked graves and marble monuments here
and there fix the eye of God as he watches the dust of his martyred
servants awaiting the resurrection, and a double portion of his Spirit
is given to the living watchman in answer to the brother’s blood that
cries from the ground.
The Spirit of the Divine Master, in whose service they fell, inspires
charity for the living, and will not rebuke the tears that fall for the
dead. We have both, and it is profitable to indulge them, while we
accord to Missouri the distinction she has justly won in reviving the
laws and repeating the religious persecutions which an enlightened
Christianity vainly hoped had passed away with the barbarous times which
produced them.
The right to worship God without molestation, according to the dictates
of conscience, was not only secured by the Federal and State
Constitutions, but was always sacredly preserved and defended by the
three co-ordinate branches of the Federal Government, and by the
executive, judicial and legislative departments of the several State
governments, until it had become so thoroughly interwoven with every
form and feature, every principle and fiber of our institutions, and had
penetrated so deeply and permeated so generally the popular heart, that
its defenses were considered impregnable and its sacredness inviolable.
Every attempt to abridge the religious liberties involved in the rights
of conscience, from whatever quarter and under whatever disguise, has
been met and resisted by a public sentiment that pronounced it the most
dangerous and unwarranted invasion of the dearest rights of American
citizens. The enactment of laws to restrain the liberties of the citizen
in any other direction might be tolerated, but whenever and wherever the
enactment of laws, the decision of courts or the exercise of power have
impinged upon the rights of conscience, or placed religious institutions
under disability, the American people have moved to a resistance that
subordinated all minor differences and distinctions and put their hearts
and lives, their all, upon the defense.
The strenuous efforts made to break the will of Stephen Girard, in the
courts of Pennsylvania, in 1839 and ’41, and in the Supreme Court of the
United States in 1844, are too fresh in the minds of American jurists
and many of the American people to require more than a reference to one
single item in this connection as an illustration.
The founding of the institution in the city of Philadelphia that bears
the name of Girard, and his princely bequest for that purpose, would
have passed his name down to the generations to come as one of the great
benefactors of his race, but for one restrictive clause in his will; and
it was in the light of that clause that the case assumed a national
importance, and enlisted some of the ablest advocates of the American
bar, prominent amongst whom was Mr. Webster.
After providing for all the college buildings that would be necessary,
and the enclosure of the grounds by high stone walls, with iron gates
for ingress and egress, he adds the following restrictions:
“Secondly—I enjoin and require that no ecclesiastic, missionary or
minister of any sect whatever shall ever hold or exercise any station or
duty whatever in the said college, nor shall any such person ever be
admitted for any purpose, or as a visitor, within the premises
appropriated to the purposes of said college.”
Mr. Girard had a right to dispose of his estate in any way that his
wisdom might direct, provided, however, the rights of others were duly
respected; and Mr. Webster’s unanswerable argument clearly sets forth
the relations of Christianity to the State, and shows that such
disabilities are in direct conflict with the institutions of the
country, against the public policy of Pennsylvania, and every other
State in which Christianity is recognized as the law of the land, and
must be subversive of the dearest rights and liberties of the people.
What is the value of Mr. Girard’s bequest, however great or munificent,
when it touches the very foundations of human society—when it touches
the foundations of religious liberty, of public law, and endangers the
well-being of the State?
The restrictive provisions of Mr. Girard’s will, in the opinion of Mr.
Webster, distinctly repelled Christianity in the person of its
accredited ministers; for whatever proscribes the minister of
Christianity proscribes Christianity itself. The ministry is a part of
Christianity, divinely instituted and authorized, and whoever makes war
upon ministers of the gospel, as a class, makes war upon the
Christianity they teach and represent.
In the light of these facts the State of Missouri, by her military and
civil officers, her conventions, her General Assembly and her courts,
has fairly won the unenviable distinction here announced, the painful
history of which is recorded in these pages.
The ground work of this persecution was laid in the public mind years
before its manifestation. The first out-croppings of the anti-Christian
spirit was in the session of the General Assembly of 1858–9, in
declining to elect a Chaplain, and in the refusal to repeal what was
called the “Sunday Law.” The encouragement given to this infidel spirit
by a large portion of the press of the State, and by many so-called
benevolent associations of foreigners, and from other influential
sources hereafter noticed, prepared the public mind for the legislation,
the military and civil despotism, and the mob violence which authorized
and executed a system of persecution, the history of which presents a
catalogue of crime and scenes of blood and murder disgraceful to the
State and revolting to the whole civilized world.
The refusal of the General Assembly to elect a chaplain, December, 1858,
derives its importance, not from the fact, but the _animus_ of the
debates, and the sentiment reflected by the action.
The journal of the House of Representatives, of Dec. 29th, 1858,
contains the following:
“EVENING SESSION.—Mr. King, of St. Charles, offered the following
resolution: _Resolved_, That the House do now proceed to the election of
chaplain. Mr. Edwards, of Dallas, offered the following amendment to the
resolution: ‘And that the individual members of this House pay said
chaplain for his services out of their private means;’ which, on motion
of Mr. Sitton, was tabled by a vote of 79 to 43.
“Dec. 30th, 1858.—The House resumed the consideration of the regular
order of business, viz., the election of chaplain, when Mr. King, of St.
Charles, nominated Mr. Leftwich; Mr. Brisco, of Cass, nominated Mr.
Williams; Mr. Boulware, of Callaway, nominated Mr. McGuire; Mr. Lenox,
of Miller, nominated Mr. Litsinger; Mr. Davis, of Buchanan, nominated
Mr. Welch. Mr. Ament moved to reconsider the vote on the adoption of the
resolution to proceed to the election of chaplain, pending which motion
Mr. Morris, of Barton, nominated Mr. Crow. Mr. Welch moved to lay the
motion to reconsider on the table, which was negatived by a vote of 49
to 69.
“AFTERNOON SESSION.—Mr. Ament offered the following resolution as a
substitute for the resolution of Mr. King, of St. Charles, in regard to
the election of chaplain for the House: ‘_Resolved_, That the speaker be
authorized to invite, each alternate week, the services of the
respective resident ministers of this city, in opening, daily, this
House with prayer.’”
This resolution awakened a lively discussion, which consumed much of the
time of the three succeeding days—at a cost to the tax-payers of the
State of not less than $20,000—and was finally passed under the
operation of the previous question. Several efforts wore made afterward
to reconsider, but to no effect. The Senate, after some discussion,
adopted a similar resolution.
The debate upon this resolution was very spirited, and drew out the
sentiments of the people’s representatives quite fully. Party lines were
drawn clearly between the chaplain men and the anti-chaplain men, and
this resolution was considered by both parties a compromise upon the
vexed question. But why compromise such a question? Why make it a vexed
question at all? Former Legislatures had elected chaplains and paid
them, and thus recognized Christianity, not only as an element of
national character, but as an accepted institution of the State, the
doctrines of which were confessed in the oath of office and in all
judicial tribunals, and the institutions of which conserve the highest
interests of public weal, as they appeal to the most sacred guardianship
of the State.
If the position taken by Mr. Webster, in his great speech before the
Supreme Court of the United States, in the Girard will case, is accepted
as true—and it is so accepted by all the right-thinking men of the
country—there is nothing in the New Testament more clearly established
by the Author of Christianity than the appointment of a Christian
ministry; that the ministry is a necessary part of Christianity,
divinely ordained for its propagation, and whoever rejects the regularly
authorized minister of the gospel rejects the Christianity he teaches
and represents; whatever repels the ministry repels Christianity, for it
is idle, and a mockery and an insult to common sense, to pretend that
any man has respect for the Christian religion who yet derides,
reproaches and stigmatizes all its ministers and teachers.
The action of the House of Representatives was spread upon the journal,
but the _animus_ of the members could only be gathered from the
speeches, and then only by one who was present to hear and see. The kiss
of betrayal precedes crucifixion.
It was in view of the spirit developed by this action, more than the
action itself, that three of the resident ministers of the city held a
council, and after due deliberation published the following card in the
city papers:
“A CARD.
“We, the undersigned, resident ministers of this city, believing that
the discussion just closed in both branches of the General Assembly,
on the office of chaplain, is a virtual repudiation of the claims of
Christianity by that body; and that the action had is only a
compromise measure, designed to reconcile the hostility of members
somewhat to that office; and believing that for us to comply with any
request to officiate in that capacity, under existing circumstances,
will compromise the dignity of our office and the gospel which we
preach; therefore,
“_Resolved_, That we will not sacrifice our self-respect and
ministerial dignity to the enemies of Christianity by officiating in
the office of chaplain for either branch of the General Assembly.
(Signed) “W. M. LEFTWICH,
Pastor M. E. Church, South.
“S. D. LOUGHEED,
Pastor Presbyterian Church.
“R. H. WELLER,
Rector Episcopal Church.
“JEFFERSON CITY, MO., Dec. 31, 1858.”
It is due alike to Christian integrity, ministerial fidelity and the
truth of history to state that Rev. Mr. Lougheed did subsequently
officiate as chaplain to the Senate, upon the solicitation of one or two
members of that body, and under the operation of the unrescinded action
of December 31st, 1858, after he had solemnly affirmed and formally
announced to the world, through the public prints, that to do so would
“compromise his self-respect and ministerial dignity.”
This same session of the Legislature was made famous by the failure to
repeal what was known as the “Sunday Law,” which was passed merely upon
its title, and in disguise, by the previous session, and which legalized
the opening of beer gardens, play-houses, and many other places of
drunken licentiousness on the Christian Sabbath in St. Louis. Pending
the effort to repeal this unchristian law the discussions in both Houses
and in the public press assumed an importance and a gravity which
greatly alarmed the Christian people of the State for the freedom and
safety of all religious institutions, and awakened the faithful watchmen
upon the walls to the real issues that the enemies of Christianity would
make, and to the real danger that threatened the peace and well-being of
society in the not distant future.