General McPherson commanded pastors of Vicksburg (1864) to read the prescribed prayer for the President at each and every service; pastors of churches without such prescribed form were instructed to invent one. The Bishop of Natchez, William Henry Elder, was banished because he would not read the prayer. Some young ladies, of Vicksburg, were banished because they rose and left the church, on Christmas morning, when a minister read it. An order signed by General McPherson, served on each, said she was "hereby banished and must leave the Federal lines within forty-eight hours under penalty of imprisonment." No extension of time for getting "their things ready" was allowed. Permission was given for the mother of one delinquent to chaperon the bevy, which, with due ceremony, was deported under flag of truce, hundreds of Federal soldiers watching. One Sunday in New Orleans under Butler's rule, Major Strong was at Dr. Goodrich's church; time came for prayer for the Confederacy; there was silence. Major Strong rose and thundered: "Stop, sir! I close this church in ten minutes!" Rev. Dr. Leacock[9] wrote Butler a tender letter begging him not to force people to perjury in taking the oath through fear, prefacing: "No man more desires restoration of the Union than I." Helen Gray, Dr. Leacock's granddaughter, tells me: "My grandfather was arrested in church and marched through the city in ecclesiastical robes to answer for not praying as Butler bade; Rev. Dr. Goodrich and Rev. Mr. Fulton (now Editor of the 'Church Standard') were also arrested. Butler sent them North to be imprisoned in Fort Lafayette. The levee was thronged with people, many weeping to see them go. They were met at New York by influential citizens, among these Samuel Morse, the inventor, who offered them his purse, carriage and horses. They were paroled and entertained at the Astor House. Some people were bitter and small towards them; many were kind, among these, I think, was Bishop Potter. Hon. Reverdy Johnson took up their case. Grandfather served St. Mark's, Niagara, Canada, in the rector's absence; the people presented him, through Mrs. Dr. Marston, with a purse; he served at Chamblee, where the people also presented him with a purse. Mrs. Greenleaf, Henry W. Longfellow's sister, sent him a purse of $500; she had attended his church during ante-bellum visits to New Orleans, and she loved him dearly. Rev. F. E. Chubbuck, the Yankee Chaplain appointed to succeed my grandfather, called on my grandmother, expressed regrets and sympathies, and offered to do anything he could for her. I tell the tale as it has come to me." Government reports confirm this in essentials. [Illustration: MRS. WILLIAM HOWELL (Mary Leacock) MRS. ANDREW GRAY (Lina Leacock) Daughters of the Rev. Dr. Leacock, of Christ Church, New Orleans.]