American Minute

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"Mark Twain," a river measurement meaning "12-feet-deep," was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who died APRIL 21, 1910. Growing up on the Mississippi, he left school at age 12 when his father died, became a printer's apprentice, then piloted steamboats till the War between the States suspended river traffic. Clemens joined the Confederates, but after 2 weeks got discharged to work for his brother Orion, who was secretary to Nevada's Governor. After an attempt at mining, he became a reporter in Virginia City, Nevada, using the name "Mark Twain" for the first time. He moved to San Francisco, sailed the world, then married Olivia Langdon. His attempt at publishing failed and he paid off debts by lecturing across America. Mark Twain wrote: Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, Prince and the Pauper, Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court, and Joan of Arc. His later success was unfortunately offset by nearly all his family dying before him. He talked Ulysses S. Grant into writing his Civil War memoirs. Answering Bible skeptics, Mark Twain said: "If the Ten Commandments were not written by Moses, then they were written by another fellow of the same name."

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A gunshot at high noon on APRIL 22, 1889, began the famous Oklahoma land rush. Within 9 hours some two million acres became the private property of settlers who staked their claims. Riding as fast as they could, many found desirable plots already taken by "Sooners," individuals who entered the territory sooner than was permitted. The remaining land was assigned to the various Indian tribes, who joined together in approving the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma in 1907. The Preamble begins: "Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessing of liberty; to secure just and rightful government; to promote our mutual welfare and happiness, we, the people of the State of Oklahoma, do ordain and establish this Constitution." Cherokee Will Rogers, who was an actor, cowboy philosopher and offered the nomination for Oklahoma Governor, said: "The Lord constituted everybody that no matter what color you are, you require the same amount of nourishment." Will Rogers remarked "Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." Rogers quipped "The trouble with our praying is, we just do it as a means of last resort," and "Lord, let me live until I die."

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William Shakespeare was born APRIL 23, 1564. His 37 plays impacted world literature. He married Ann Hathaway, had three children, moved to London, and became shareholding director of Globe Theater, writing such classics as Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In King Henry VIII, 1613, act III, scene ii, line 456, Shakespeare wrote: "Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king, he would not in mine age have left me naked to mine enemies." In Othello, 1604, act I, scene i, line 108, Shakespeare wrote: "You are one of those that will not serve God if the devil bid you." Four years before the Pilgrims landed in America at Plymouth Rock, Shakespeare died on this same day, APRIL 23, in 1616. In his Will, Shakespeare wrote: "I commend my soul into the hands of God, my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting." Carved on his tomb in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-on-Avon, England, is: "Good Friend For Jesus Sake Forbeare, To Digg The Dust Enclosed Heare. Blese Be Ye Man Spares Thes Stones, And Curst Be He Moves My Bones."

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Originally for legislators to do research, it began APRIL 24, 1800, with a $5,000 grant from Congress. The British set fire to it during the War of 1812, burning hundreds books. Thomas Jefferson provided over 6,400 volumes to restock it. The Library of Congress relocated to its present site in 1897, and is now the largest library in the world with over 118 million items on more than 500 miles of shelves. The Library of Congress's Rare Book Division has 1,470 Bibles dating from the beginning of printing, including one of three existing copies of the original 15th Century Gutenberg Bible on vellum. Inscribed on the walls of the Library are the verses: "The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not" (John 1:5); "Wisdom is the principal thing therefore get wisdom and withall thy getting, get understanding" (Proverbs 4:7); "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God" (Micah 6:; "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handywork (Psalm 19:1). Also inscribed in the Library is Alfred, Lord Tennyson's line "One God, one law, one element, and one far-off divine event, to which the whole creation moves."

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Beginning APRIL 25, 1789, every session of the U.S. Senate has opened with prayer. This continued the Continental Congress' practice during the Revolution, as Franklin remarked in 1787: "In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection." The first Senate Chaplain was Bishop Samuel Provoost, who conducted George Washington's Inaugural Service at St. Paul's Chapel. All 62 Senate Chaplains have been Christian, though leaders of other faiths have periodically been invited to offer prayer. The U.S. Senate Chaplain after World War II was Peter Marshall, who prayed: "Our liberty is under God and can be found nowhere else. May our faith be not merely stamped upon our coins, but expressed in our lives." On February 7, 1984, President Reagan addressed the National Association of Secondary School Principals: "God...should never have been expelled from America's schools. As we struggle to teach our children...we dare not forget that our civilization was built by men and women who placed their faith in a loving God. If Congress can begin each day with a moment of prayer...so then can our sons and daughters."

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English settlers landed in North America on APRIL 26, 1607, at the site of Cape Henry, named for Prince Henry of Wales. Their first act was to erect a wooden cross and commence a prayer meeting. They ascended the James River, named for King James, and settled Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America. Virginia, so named for the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth, stated in its Charter, April 10, 1606: "Greatly commending...their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of His Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God." The Second Charter of Virginia, May 23, 1609, stated: "The principal Effect which we can expect or desire of this Action is the Conversion and reduction of the people in those parts unto the true worship of God and the Christian Religion." Virginia's Charter continued: "It shall be necessary for all such our loving Subjects...to live together, in the Fear and true Worship of Almighty God, Christian Peace, and civil Quietness, with each other."

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Forced to resign from the Army for excessive drinking, he failed as a farmer and a businessman. Not until he volunteered for the Civil War did things change. He was promoted to brigadier general, captured Fort Henry and Vicksburg, and won Union control of the Mississippi. Lincoln placed him over the entire Army and within a year he forced Lee to surrender. His name was Ulysses S. Grant, born APRIL 27, 1822. As 18th President, Grant stated: "It seems fitting that on the occurrence of the hundredth anniversary of our existence as a nation, a grateful acknowledgment should be made to Almighty God for the protection and the bounties which He has vouchsafed to our beloved country." In his 2nd Annual Message, December 5, 1870, Ulysses S. Grant said: "...Such religious denominations as had heretofore established missionaries among the Indians, and perhaps to some other denominations who would undertake the work on the same terms-i.e., as a missionary work. The societies selected are allowed to name their own agents...and are expected to watch over them and aid them as missionaries, to Christianize and civilize the Indians, and to train him in the arts of peace."

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Leading the charge at the Battle of Trenton, a musket ball struck his shoulder, hitting an artery. He recovered and continued to fight for General Washington, becoming friends with French officer Lafayette. After the Revolution, he studied law under Thomas Jefferson, was elected Senator, Governor of Virginia, and Secretary of State, where he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase and the Monroe Doctrine. Who was he? James Monroe, the 5th President of the United States, born APRIL 28, 1758. James Monroe stated in his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1817: "I enter on the trust to which I have been called by the suffrages of my fellow-citizens with my fervent prayers to the Almighty that He will be graciously pleased to continue to us that protection which He has already so conspicuously displayed." In his First Annual Message to Congress, 1817, President James Monroe stated: "For advantages so numerous and highly important it is our duty to unite in grateful acknowledgments to that Omnipotent Being from whom they are derived, and in unceasing prayer that He will endow us with virtue and strength to maintain and hand them down in their utmost purity to our latest posterity."

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"Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" yelled Admiral David Farragut, who had lashed himself atop the mainsail to see over the smoke. His fleet of wooden ships with hulls wrapped in chains, and his four iron clad monitors, were attacking Fort Morgan in Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864. When one of his ships, the TECUMSEH, sank after hitting an underwater mine, called a torpedo, his fleet faltered in confusion, but Farragut drove them on to capture the last Confederate stronghold in the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier, APRIL 29, 1862, Farragut captured New Orleans, the Confederacy's largest city. Sailing the Mississippi River at night, his ships were hard to hit, as he tied tree branches to the riggings and covered the hulls with mud. The first U.S. Navy Admiral, Farragut declined offers to run for President. A statue of him is in Farragut Square, Washington, D.C. His son, Loyall Farragut, wrote in a book titled "The Life and Letters of Admiral David Glasgow Farragut": "He never felt so near his Master as he did when in a storm, knowing that on his skill depended the safety of so many lives." During his last illness, David Farragut asked for a clergyman to pray to the Lord, saying: "He must be my pilot now!"

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The size of the U.S. doubled APRIL 30, 1803, with the Louisiana Purchase. Nearly a million square miles, at less than three cents an acre - it was the greatest land bargain in history! Of this land purchase from France, President Thomas Jefferson stated in his Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1805: "I know that the acquisition of Louisiana has been disapproved by some from a candid apprehension that the enlargement of our territory would endanger the union, but who can limit the extent to which the federative principle may operate effectively?" Why did France sell the Louisiana Territory? Napoleon Bonaparte needed money quickly for his military campaigns, therefore he sold all the French controlled lands west of the Mississippi for just fifteen million dollars. Napoleon fought in Europe, Egypt and Russia, yet in 1815 he was banished to the tiny island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, where he commented to General Count de Montholon: "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but upon what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force! But Jesus Christ founded His upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."

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MAY 1, 305 AD, the most powerful man in the world, Emperor Diocletian, stepped down from ruling Rome. Two years prior he began a systematic persecution of Christians, intending to exterminate them. He forbade worship, burned books, arrested clergy, and demanded pagan sacrifices. From Europe to North Africa, hundreds were martyred. Suddenly Diocletian was struck with a painful intestinal disease and resigned. Eight years later Emperor Constantine ended the persecution of Christians. In 1984, President Reagan said: "In the fourth century, a monk thought he heard God telling him to go to Rome...He followed a crowd into the Coliseum and saw the gladiators. He realized they were going to fight to the death. He cried out, 'In the Name of Christ, stop!'...made his way through the crowd and climbed the wall into the arena...As he was pleading with the gladiators...one of them plunged his sword into his body...his last words were, 'In the Name of Christ, stop!' Suddenly the gladiators stood looking at this tiny form...In dead silence, everyone left. That was the last battle in the Coliseum. One tiny voice...'In the Name of Christ, stop!' We could be saying that today."

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The director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, died MAY 2, 1972. For 48 years, under eight Presidents, he oversaw the Federal Bureau of Investigation, becoming famous for his dramatic campaigns to stop gangsters and organized crime. He established the use of fingerprints in law enforcement and successfully tracked down well-known criminals. FDR gave him the task of investigating foreign espionage and left-wing activist groups. J. Edgar Hoover stated: "The criminal is the product of spiritual starvation. Someone failed miserably to bring him to know God, love Him and serve Him." In the introduction to Edward L.R. Elson's book, America's Spiritual Recovery, 1954, J. Edgar Hoover wrote: "We can see all too clearly the devastating effects of Secularism on our Christian way of life. The period when it was smart to 'debunk' our traditions undermined...high standards of conduct. A rising emphasis on materialism caused a decline of 'God-centered' deeds and thoughts." J. Edgar Hoover continued: "The American home...ceased to be a school of moral and spiritual education. When spiritual guidance is at a low ebb, moral principles are in a state of deterioration. Secularism advances when men forget God."

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He was a physician in the Revolutionary War, a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Constitution. He was Secretary of War under Washington and Adams, helping to plan the Military Academy at West Point. The Star-Spangled Banner was written while the British bombed the fort named for him. Who was he?... James McHenry, who died MAY 3, 1816. As president of the first Bible Society in Baltimore, James McHenry stated in 1813: "Neither let it be overlooked, that public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness." James McHenry continued: "In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw intrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong intrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience...It is a book...fitted to every situation."

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Selling a million copies a year for over 100 years, McGuffey's Readers were the mainstay of public education in America. Generations of school children read them, making them some of the most influential books of all time. They were written by William McGuffey, who died MAY 4, 1873. A professor at the University of Virginia and president of Ohio University, he began one of nation's first teachers' associations. In the foreword of McGuffey's Reader, 1836, he wrote: "The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our prevalent notions of the character of God, the great moral governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free institutions." In McGuffey's 5th Eclectic Reader, 1879, is a lesson by William Ellery Channing, titled Religion The Only Basis of Society: "How powerless conscience would become without the belief of a God...Erase all thought and fear of God from a community, and selfishness and sensuality would absorb the whole man. Appetite, knowing no restraint...would trample in scorn on the restraints of human laws... Man would become...what the theory of atheism declares him to be-a companion for brutes."

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President Washington declared a National Day of Prayer, as did President John Adams when France threatened war, President Madison during the War of 1812, President Tyler when the previous president died, and President Taylor during a cholera epidemic. President Buchanan proclaimed a Day of Prayer to avert civil strife, as did President Lincoln during the Civil War, President Johnson when Lincoln was shot and President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. In 1952, President Truman made the National Day of Prayer an annual event, stating: "In times of national crisis when we are striving to strengthen the foundations of peace...we stand in special need of Divine support." President Reagan made it the first Thursday in May, stating: "Americans in every generation have turned to their Maker in prayer...We have acknowledged both our dependence on Almighty God and the help He offers us as individuals and as a Nation...Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim MAY 5, 1988, as a National Day of Prayer. I call upon the citizens of our great Nation to gather together on that day in homes and places of worship to pray."