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THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND. JANUARY 19, 1903.
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PENNSYLVANIA. AND J)ZRSCT0R OF THE I2ZNT,
SZTff&SSZED ZfOTTO. . 2ZfGClZ WE TRUST
E
VEN despite . all 'the attention di
rected to the motto, "In God We
Trust" by President Roosevelt 9
much-discussed order of removal. . the
story of how the sentiment first came to
be placed on Uncle Sam's coins has been
curiously overlooked.
It was In a crisis In the National life,
at a time of never-to-be-forgotten strife,
that a devotit and patriotic official In the
Treasury Department,' James Pollock,
made the .suggestion, and with the full
approval of Salmon P. Chase, at that
time Secretary of the Treasury, and of
Lincoln himself, the motto was adopted.
Pollock, author of the suggestion, was
one of those useful citizens who, wufle
their services are .many and "varied, never
force themselvea sufficiently . .into the
limelight to get the measure of credit due
them.
Born In Milton. Northumberland" Coun
ty. Pa.. Mr. Pollock took tip the law as
his life calling, graduated from Princeton
and wa forced Into the stream of .poli
tics by the obligation which every North
ern man then felt, to take sides in the
struggle then ; developing.
Pollock was a Whig, and. as sjich went
to Congress. He left the legislative halls
to take a place on the bench.
The demand of his party that he run
for the office of Oovernor drew him from
the obscurity of Judicial life and put him
In the thick of i the excitement that beset
the existence , of every. Executive of a
state. .
Bollock's studies had especially, adapted
him for a', proper 'comprehension 'of
finance.- Next to the. great . Issues of
slavery and state fights, the prolrttm of
money was the biggest . tlfat called , for
attention. - .
The virtual certainty of war had com
pletely upset all values; currency had
been scared into retirement,- and business
was prostrated at the time when Pollock
went to Harrishurg.
A min of less power might have' avoid
ed the tremendous responsibilities that
came with attempting to deal with the
issue, en the score that it was a Na
tional question, not a state one, and that
no action by a Pennsylvania Governor
could better conditions that needed action
from "Washington. ,
Hut Pollock addressed, himself to the
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TYZZERE FTR31 COUPS TZZTET ttOTTO 'JIT
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GOZ PK& 3TJZZS3T COZMED
task of forcing the state banks to a re
sumption of specie, payment. In 1STJ he
rammed this reform through. an5 at a
time when currency was almost unknown
throughout tho remainder of the country
it was paid ot unhesitatingly by the
banks of the Keystone State.
This .piece .of artistic work, ably
driven through, made a .deep impression
on Abraham Lincoln, then just coming
to -the ,fore as one of- the Nati'on" des
tined leaders in' the great conflict . to
come.
During alt the period before the Waf
Lincoln always insisted that much of the
misery, especially that resulting from dis
turbed financial conditions, could have
been averted if men in places of power
TZZTET 2VOTTO
had only taken responsibility. When he
became President later he. had a. chance
to see how much harder his qwn Hercu
lean task had been made by the burdens
which others allowed to pile up.
Wrhat Pollock did In Pennsylvania,
1lncoln contended could have been done
elsewjiere, and when he became Presi
dent one of his first acts was to summon
BORN A: YEAR. -"AFTER HIS
to his aid the able Pehnsylvanlan. In
1S61 Pollock was appointed to theJpost
of Director of the. Mint. .
Most of his time the new Director
spent in the famous old building in
Philadelphia, which has now been -torn
down, but which for T5 years was the
main minting place for Uncle Sam's coin.
It was early In 1S64 that Mr. Pollock
first 'conceived the plan of putting sopie
religious sentiment on the Nation's
money.
As a devout Christian he constantly
felt the need of appealing for Divine aid,
and his thought Was. that a declaration
of faith placed- on the medium of ex
change, which Is ever circulating from
hand to hand, would help to give men
-courage In godly guidance, would make
them "more often lift their thoughts to the
Supreme arbiter of all destinies, man or
Nation. . . -
Mr. Pollock at once wrote to Sir. Chase
and asked his. opinion as to the- pro
priety of putting on the coins one of two
sentiments, ."In God We Trust," or "God
Our Trust." .
"We didn't mean any sectarian god,"
explained Mr. Pollock. "There was no
bias in this reverent sentiment. We
meant equally the God of the Protestant,
the Catholic, the Jew. We wished an ap
peal directed to - that Superior Being,
which In one form or another is the
basis of all creeds."
Secretary Chase immediately approved
the idea, but his preference was so en
tirely for the first mentioned of the mottoes-
that the second was dropped en
tirely. The President was consulted and inter
posed no objection. In fact.' his trust In
Secretary Chase In all matters relating
to finance was so complete that it was
almost out of the question to expect any
protest from him. But It was more than
an acquiescence that came from the
martyr. He felt that a recognition of
God on the Nation's coin' was a National
as well as a personal religious duty.
But in those days executive desire was
not enough. The matter had to go
through the law-making 'channels before
being incorporated in the Nation's stat
utes. To Mr. Pollock was delegated the task
of drafting a bill to be introduced into
Congress, which provided that the motto
should be placed upon all coins of the
United States, gold or silver. The only
exception was made in the case of coins
not large enough to contain the . motto.
In this latter, class 'naturally come the
dime, and the npw forgotten 3-cent piece,
which in that, day w.as as frequent as
the nickel of today.
In .neither body of Congress was there
raised the faintest hint of opposition, and
diii was passea unanimously.
In 1865, before the final passage of the
bill, coins were struck off to be used as
specimens in order to show the legis
lators what the currency would look like
with the devout words included.
The design was heartily praised. Presi
dent Uncoln signed the bill, one of his
last official acts, and from 1866 the motto
appeared on all coins without interruption
until President Roosevelt recently ordered
Its. removal from the new gold coin.
Naturally this action did not escape
criticism. It was inevitable that the re
ligious sentiment" ol the
would be moved to protest.
community
In explaining his action. President
Roosevelt said that his-motives had not
been lack of religious deference,' but
rather an objection to Irreverence. tin
told of how the phrase had come Into
flippant use. how In some stores could ,
be found such signs as "In God Wo
Trust, 'others Must Pay Cash," and simi
lar perversions, which showed that men
no longer took to heart the purpose of
the sentiment, but were only actuated to
levity by it. .' .
Under these conditions Mr. Roosevelt
argued it was far better' that a cause
for profane use of the sacred name b
removed.
Undoubtedly much of what President
Roosevelt said In his letter is true. Tim
stress of war times past the custom oi"
Invoking divine aid in matters involvine
the Nation's financial system has been al
most forgotten, and the unthinking make
sorry jests out of what was projected
an) put through in purest reverence.
But the sentiment in favor of the motto
ill not die in spite of the admitted force
of the objections. Born In the midst of
the terrible experiences of the war. It
has a historic appeal entirely apart from .
Its religious one, 'and the discussion is
likely to continue.
Appropriately, it was a Pennsylvanian,
Representative J. -Hampton Moore, who
Introduced the bill to restore to the Na-'
tion's gold coins the motto that, another
Pennsylvania originally put there.
Mr. Moore is a great admirer of the
Chief Executive and a consistent advo
cate of his policies, but in this case he
felt that an error had been made, and
that the motto should not have been dis
carded.. It Is not probable that should this prove
tq be the sentiment of Congress that
President Roosevelt will veto a bill to re
store the m&tto. He has said that he
would be glad to hear what Senators and
Representatives .thought on the subject,
which la not far removed from intimat
ing that he will be gulden by their wishes.-
Pollock passed out of- his office just
after accomplishing his plan to make
each coin speak the. Nation's confidence
in the Maker. But he was only allowed
to stay out of. the office briefly. In 1S(J)
President Grant appointed him again, and
he served ten years till 1879. Iater he
became naval officer of Philadelphia, and
died In 1894.
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Anniversary of Robert E. Lee's Birth
Recalls a Little -Known Fact. Other
Remarkable Cases of Reyiviscence
WAS
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STRATFORD J0U5E, WESTlf (IRELAND C0UNTZ VA.
ROBERT DWUU JEE
TODAT is the 101st anniversary of the
birth or General Robert E. Lee. and
: it recalls the little known fact, that
he was born more than a year after his
mother had been buried, furnishing to the
world one of the nmsl astonishing cases
of reviviscence on record.
General Lee's mother was by no means
an entirely healthy woman, and the phy
sician at Stratford, Va., tha Itome of
Henry. Lee (Light-Horse Harry) was kept
in almost constant attendance.' Mrs. Lee
suffered from catelepsy. and during a pro
longed trance she was pronounced dead.
The body-was prepared for'interment. and
the morning of the third day after her
supposed death the remains were laid to
rest in the family vault In the graveyard
of. 'that pretty little Virginia village ,
Members of the family made frequent
visits to tha vault and while the sexton
was cleaning up and arranging some fresh
flowers to be placed on the casket, toe
heard a faint voice a though of someone
calling for assistance. Of course the olj)
man .was somewhat alarmed, but as he
bad seen many years of service in the
"city of the dead" he did not leave the
vault. - He listened closely and the voice
was 'distinctly heard again. . Becoming
satisfied that the voice came from within
the casket he at once set to work and
opened It, discovering that Mrs. Lee was
alive. Releasing the poor woman from
tier awful fate, assistance was soon sum
moned and within a short time she was
safe In bed at her own home.
Mrs. Lee's recovery waa alow, but she
did regain good health and a little more
than .a year after- she was burled alive
her youngest son, Robert EL, was born.
and thus came into the world one of her
bravest men. . -
Sir Richard Edgecumbe's Escape.
But there have been a number of cases
of .revlviscerice, 'and General Lee was not
the only celebrity who was actually bom
after the burial of his own mother. Sir
Richard Bdgecumbe's mother, after a
brief illness, was believed to have ex
pired, and site, too," was laid away in the
family vault. About a week after her
supposed death the sexton,' from motives
sufficiently obvious, and entirely too
often exercised, entered the vault and
tried to take a valuable ring from Lady
Edgecumbe'a finger. During the sexton's
efforts to secure the ring by pressing
and squeezing the fingep, the body moved
almost to one side.- This audden awaken
ing of the dead caused the. sexton to- flee
in terror, leaving his lantern in the vault
Lady Edgecumbe succeeded In extricat
ing herself from the casket, and taking
the lantern whlchatbe frightened sexton
had left In his flight, she walked to her
home. Under careful treatment she re
gained her health, and five years after
this Sir Richard was born.
' Still another . notable case of re
vivlecence was that of Ebenezer Hrskine,
one of- the founders of the United Free
Church, of Scotland, who was born after
the burial of his mother. Mrs. Brokine,
while in a trance, was pronounced dead,
and was burled in. a grave there being
no vault. The gravedlgger had noticed
a very costly diamond ring on- the finger
of. Mrs. Brskine and he determined that
he would that night open the grave
and secure the ring. Stealthily he re
moved the earth from the newly-made
grave and opened the coffin. The ladya
hand had swollen and' the gravedlgger
could not get the ring off the finger, so
he waa In the act of cutting, off the
finger when ' the supposed corpse gave
a loud shriek. Perhaps no man ever
vacated a .grave-yard quicker than did
that gravedlgger-, and Mrs. Erskine arose
from her coffin, hurried to her home,
and lived tcr become the mother of one
of-the greatest pulpit orators Scotland
ever produced.
Henry F. Hupers, at one time a large
planter and cattle owner, of Beaumont,
Tex., was born after the supposed death
of his mother. Mrs. Hupers, like Mrs.
Lee, suffered from catalepsy, and' while
in a long trance, her physician pro
nounced her dead. She was placed in a
coffin, but Just before the funeral serv
ices she opened her eyes and asked, in a
faint voice for a drink of water. ' The
grief-stricken family . and sorrowing
friends were greatly alarmed and fright
ened over this sudden coming to life, but
the water was pressed to her lips and in
a few moments she had returned to entire
consciousness, and after a short illness
regained her health. Her son, Henry,
was born six months after this. I
Still another case of revlvlscence nearer
home Is that of John Adams, of Del Rio.
East Tennessee. Adams Is a mining eni
glneer. and one morning" he was found in
bed apparently dead. A physician said it
was a case of heart failure. The remains
were made ready for interment and rela
tives and friends in Philadelphia were
notified. A check was received from
Philadelphia in payment of the under
taker's .bill, but the undertaker declined
to accept anything save the hard cash.
This caused further delay, and while
waiting the coming of the money by
express, the eyes of the"corpse," which,
lay on the cooling board, opened, as from
a refreshing sleep, there was a yawn, and
there was likewise a sudden disappear
ance of the undertaker and others from
the room. Mr. Adams recovered and is
still alive.
Many other cases could be cited, -and
so frequent are premature burials becom
ing that it is now a serious question' as
to what measures can be taken to guard
against this' terrible fate.
Guard Against Premature Burial.
Physicians and undertakers are agreed
that there are but few Infallible signs of
death, and. possibly, none absolutely sure
save, that of decomposition. However, it
is positively and absolutely certain that
no person will eveir be buried alive if the
embalmer does his work well, for if the
corpse Is. not 'already dead. It will be
after the embalming fluid is use'd. There
Is little consolation to know that the em
balmer is sure and certain death.
It is not a difficult matter to tell the
difference between a dead person and
one seized with a catalepsy. There is a
tremendous difference in .the rigidity. The
temperature will also show you, and you
will be able to feel that tfie Dulse is
beating. Should these tests fail, open a
small ilood vessel and you will know
whether a person Is living or dead. The
greatest danger of premature burials lies
in countries where there are extremes in
temperature, and interment should not be
made under from four to six days. by.
which time decomposition will have set
in if death is really there. -
In the case of Baroness Cloquet. who
died In Paris in 1888. it was seven days
before decomposition set in. The Bar
oness labored -under the impression that
her mother had been burled alive, and In- i
structed her undertaker not to permit
her burial until there was decomposition.
The undertaker carried out instructions
and the Baroness was not buried until
the seventh day after death. Another
curious case was that of Mrs. Scott-Sid-dons,
granddaughter of the great'actress.
It was six days before her relatives were
fully satisfied that death had really taken,
place.
Persons Burled Alive.
Many cases are recalled by European
physicians of persons being buried alive.
One remarkable case relates to a woman
at Limoges in 1895. After the body had
been placed in the coffin and transported
to the village church, the pallbearers
heard sounds proceeding from the coffin.
The coffin was opened, and the woman
was found to be suffering from eclampsia,
which had been mistaken for death by
her physician and family.
In 1876 a number of chortera corpses re
vived in the mortuary at DInapoor Ccme
tarty, Ireland, and two years later Color
Sergeant Thomas Hall and Corporal Will
iam Bellamy, of the Bast Norfolk Regi
ment, were placed 'in cantonmenta for
burial as' cholera corpses. There was
some delay In their interment, owing to
difficulty in securing wood to make cof
fins, so both bodies were placed in the
deadhouse and sprinkled with disinfec
tants. First Hall and then Bellamy re
gained consciousness and duly returned to
duty.
Shortly after the Afghan War. in 1878.
Surgeon-Major Barnwell and Dr. Chew
were taking a number of time-expired
men, invalids and wounded to a certain
point. Trooper Holmes, of the Tonth
Huzzars, had an ugly bullet wound run
ning along his left thigh, under the groin.
He -grew weaker day by day, and was
finally pronounced dead. There was nei
ther time nor convenience for a post
mortem examination, and the bod? wan
laid on the floor of a mortuary tent and
covered with a tarpaulin. This was. his
salvation, as the next morning, the third
day succeeding his supposed death, when
the tarpaulin was raised, hundreds of
field mice scampered out. The mice had
attacked the wound, aroused the soldier,
and under careful treatment he recov
ered. Provided for Certain Death. .
Throughout, the civilized world there
are people who fear being buried alive.
Henry R. Magruder, a prominent citizen
of Baltimore, and who died during last
year in Rome, left a clause In his will: "I
wish my body to be kept after death 48
hours in an open coffin in my house, and
then to be kept in an open coffin 48 hours
in a church, after which I wish my arm
and leg cut deeply with a knife to Insure
death (for if the blood comes I am not '
yet dead). Then I want a post mortem
made and my body cremated. ..."
Wllkie Collins left a paper directing
that when he died a thorough examina
tion of his body be made by skilled stir-
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