The public worship in the several Christian Churches was conducted without interruption. In several of them politics were introduced into the prayers to God or in the preaching to men from the pulpit, or in both. After Confederate troops occupied the place, the chaplain of a regiment would now and then preach in a church that was strongly in sympathy with the Confederacy. The pastor of one of the churches kept aloof in his sermons from the chief topic of the day, but often made the success of the Confederacy a subject of petition in his public devotions. The pastor of another was less reticent, and expressed his political sentiments with much warmth and frequency from the pulpit, in both prayers and sermons. The minister of a third church, in 1861 became involved in local strife connected with the great conflict of the time, to the partial hurt of his usefulness. His successor was a stranger, and adhered more closely to the usual line of clerical duty, but it was understood that he heartily sympathized with the friends of secession. They were largely in the majority among church-goers, and all these ministers were esteemed and beloved by the great body of their respective peoples. The war therefore, occasioned no break in the substantial unity of their churches, nor any material decrease in the attendance of worshippers. Than these, another church was less fortunate. Its rector entertained Union sentiments, to which some of its more influential families were strongly opposed. He was also in disagreement with the bishop of the diocese, not personally, but officially, as the latter had set forth in July, 1861, by request of the Diocesan Convention, a form of prayer for the success of the Confederacy which the rector felt he could not in good conscience use. The bishop, while manifesting all fatherly kindness to the non-conforming minister, decided that he could make no exception to the rule of obedience. He was then asked for and gave the rector a letter dimissory to Bishop Smith, of the Diocese of Kentucky, which was forwarded and accepted. The minister was disabled by an accident from following the letter in person as he intended, and the rectorship, which he had before resigned, was filled by a clergyman from the neighboring town of Loudon. The priest of the Roman Catholic Church was unknown in connection with the troubles. His successor at a later period, “Father Ryan,” was quite a young man, of delicate physique, but of a ready mind, lively imagination and rhetorical power. He had espoused the cause of the Confederacy with fervid enthusiasm, and used his talents zealously in its behalf. His published poetical effusions were often inspired by devotion to the “Sunny South” and its flag. Sometimes they were filled with his thoughts of the wrongs it had suffered, and have been no little admired and praised by many of its friends. It showed the mastery of political over religious as well as other sympathies