CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



129 



ters of the Methodist Protestant Church. I 

 need not say that ho is a thoroughly loyal gen- 

 tleman. 1 hope that the House will elect him 

 jus its Chaplain." 



Mr. Smith, of Kentucky, followed, saying: 

 "I de>iiv ID plaeo in nomination Rev. Charles 

 I'. Pars. >ns, of Lexington, Kentucky. Follow- 

 ing the course of gentlemen who have preceded 

 will say that Mr. Parsons is a true, de- 

 vuteil, loyal man, a gentleman, and a Christian, 

 and the most eloquent divine to whom I ever 

 listened. Ho belongs to the Methodist Episco- 

 pal Church, in which he has rendered good 

 for the last twenty-five or thirty years, 

 and during the last four years has signalized 

 himself' l>y his efforts on behalf of the Govern- 

 ment of the United States. 



" I hope that the House will have the liber- 

 ality to give us at least one man south of Mason 

 and Dixou's line, because north of that line 

 there cannot be found a better, a truer, an 

 abler, or a more eloquent man than Mr. Par- 

 sons. I may hero remark that the most beau- 

 tiful, most appropriate, most eloquent address 

 delivered upon the death of President Lincoln, 

 was delivered by Mr. Parsons. If this House 

 will but hear him preach, listen to his exhorta- 

 tions to do right, and follow them, the legisla- 

 tion of this body will redound to the interest 

 and honor of the Republic." 



Mr. Furnsworth, of Illinois, said : "I desire 

 to nominate Rev. L. 0. Matlock, of Illinois. He 

 is a very worthy clergyman, a gentleman of 

 most excellent character, and an eloquent 

 speaker. He was at one time the president of 

 a university in our State. After the breaking 

 out of the rebellion ho was chosen chaplain of 

 a regiment, and served in that capacity for 

 about one year, when, believing that he could 

 serve the country, and serve, too, the soldiers 

 with whom he was associated as well, if not 

 better, in another capacity, he raised a com- 

 pany, which ho took into another regiment, of 

 which he was elected major, and commissioned 

 as such by the Governor of Illinois. For the 

 last two years ho has been fighting the rebels, 

 giving them hard blows in the field. He is 

 both a praying and a fighting patriot. He has 

 shown his loyalty where it cost a man some- 

 thing to be loyal in the battle's front ; and, as 

 a soldier, he has in no instance been charged 

 with sullying the cloth of his ministerial pro- 

 fession. Ho has not thrown aside his dignity 

 or his manhood, but comes out of the war, at 

 its termination, pure as he went in. This loyal 

 and eloquent minister of the gospel and soldier 

 of the Republic I nominate for the position of 

 Chaplain of this House." 



Mr. Kelley, of Pennsylvania, said : " Mr. 

 Speaker, I rise, with the indulgence of the 

 House, for the purpose of seconding the nomi- 

 nation of Rev. Thomas H. Stockton, so eloquent- 

 y presented by my colleague, Mr. O'Neill. 



" Mr. Stockton will be remembered by many 

 of the members of the present House as the 

 Chaplain of the Thirty-seventh Congress; aud 

 VOL. vi. 9 A 



all such will remember him as one whoso lifo, 

 in its simplicity and purity, illustrated tho re- 

 ligion he preached. He is a man as remarkable 

 tr li\a learning and eloquence as for 

 It has boon my privilege to know him for many 

 years ; and I may point, as an illustration of hi , 

 power, to tho prayer delivered by him ai th: 

 consecration of the field at Gettysburg." 



Mr. Moorhcad, of Pennsylvania, said : " I 

 rise for the purpose of nominating licv. James 

 Presley, of tho United Presbyt- riaii Chun-h, 

 for tho office of Chaplain of tho Thirty-ninth 

 Congress. Mr. Presley preached in this hall 

 last winter, and I have no doubt tho old mem- 

 bers heard him, for I know members of Con- 

 gress generally attend church, and as generally 

 attend at the Capitol. I have no doubt, then, 

 that many of the gentlemen present well recol- 

 lect the eloquent Dr. Presley who delivered an 

 address in this hall. For loyalty, patriotism, 

 and eloquence he is not exceeded by any man 

 in the Union." 



Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, followed, say- 

 ing : " I nominate Rev. James G. Butler, of the 

 Lutheran Church. I learn he has done more 

 good than any other man. And I will say for 

 the Rev. Mr. Stockton, in addition to what 

 others have already said, that he is the most 

 eloquent man in tho United States since the fall 

 of Henry Ward Beecher." 



Mr. Delano, of Ohio, said: "M Speaker, 

 let me add to the long list of nominations al- 

 ready before tho House, by suggesting the name 

 of Rev. J. H. 0. Bonte, of Georgetown, District 

 of Columbia, and, iu pursuance of the custom 

 in reference to these nominations, I will say 

 that Mr. Bonte entered the service as chaplain 

 of the Forty-second Ohio regiment, and faith- 

 fully discharged the duties of that position un- 

 til his health failed. Since then he has been, 

 in pursuance of his profession, in Iowa and at 

 Georgetown, and I will say in one word, that 

 if the House will come to know him as well as 

 I do, they will find him a man of marked abil- 

 ity, of decided piety, and unwavering loyalty." 



Mr. Price, of Iowa, said : " I nominate, as 

 candidate for Chaplain of tho House of Repre- 

 sentatives, Rev. B. H. Nadal, of this city, and 

 should have done so without saying a word, if 

 the precedent had not been established of say- 

 ing something as a reason why a nomination 

 should bo made and an election should take 

 place. 



" On the platform, in tho folpit, with his 

 pen, before the commencement of the war and 

 during its continuance, ho has not failed or fal- 

 t red to be the foremost on the right side, and 

 in tho rfght cause." 



Mr. Miller, of Pennsylvania, said: "I desire, 

 Mr. Speaker, to nominate Rev. John Walker 

 Jackson, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for Chap- 

 lain of this House. Mr. Jackson is an earnest 

 divine of the Methodist persuasion, a loyal man, 

 and patriot. During the four years of the war 

 he did good service, both in and out of the pul- 

 pit, iu behalf of his country. He worked in- 



