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Show OXK WAV TO MAKE INTEREST. A Washington correspondent of the ' Chicago Tribune relates the following j amusing incident in relerruce to a chaplain of ihe United States senate: THE METHODIST QUESTION IN POLITICS. POLI-TICS. A eleieyiuan by the name of Newman, New-man, u.-uuiiy calied Dr. Newman, by r virtue of some complimentary degree quahfyiji: him to prescribe for the souls of folks, has been setting an edi- tor to deny that he (Newman) ever i trotted around the departments at i Wahincion to get offices. His denial j wan swifily fo! lowed up by as many as a di'Z'.-u people reporting at my house , i with direct instances of this man's audacity au-dacity in uQiee breging. Last year the ebaphiir.cy at West Point was recommended recom-mended io be vacated by a couple of these preachers, in order that one or the other of them might get into the 1 place. It is currently reported that i the recommendations of these clerical ! visitors accomplished the retirement of: old Father Mahan, the engineer there, I and that his suicide resulted from the mortification ef the blow. Mr. Gor- i ham, the secretary of the United ! States senate, gave me an instance of clerical rapacity only yesterday. A 1 certain chaplain came to him and said: "Mr. Secretary, as I am the. chaplain of this body, and have been1 elected to fill the place for the period ; of this congress, I wish to ask if you i have any objection to advancing my : salary for the whole of that time, and . I will use it to purchase government : bonds, which I will put in your hands , as security, so that in no case can you lose anything." Gorham, with much i apparent simplicity, looked up at the j reverend investor, and said: "Well, Mr. , of course, being a clergyman, you are not apt to see tho whole situation sit-uation in a business matter like this. Those bonds will bear interest while they are in my hands, and, as the government gov-ernment does not owe you anything, you can readily see that it Would not be exactly right for you to take interest inter-est from it. I am sure I have only to 1 suggest this to your mind in order that . you can see tho full force of my objec- : tions. " The clergyman went away sorrowfully, for he had expected groat possessions. OPINION OF THE AUE ON CLERICAL POLITICIANS. It is also capable of proof, since the matter has got to be at issue, that Mr. Dr. Newman who is, perhaps, the best exponent of the class of clergymen, clergy-men, of the Methodist church particularly, partic-ularly, who mingle in politics and think political influence to be a consistent and proper feature of religious polity has run down several departments here, particularly the internal revenue. It is a legitimate part of my business to speak uf these things; for no greater calamity could come to our country than to see powerful and vigorous religious re-ligious bodies assuming the aggressive in the military and secular concerns of democratic government. |
