USA > Virginia > Sketches of Virginia : historical and biographical > Part 68
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" Bellevue, Sept. 30th, 1851. "REV. WM. HENRY FOOTE, D. D.,
"Dear Brother .- Several days since yours of the 19th was re- ceived. From the time of my settlement here until their death, I was intimately acquainted with Drs. Baxter and Speece. Dr. Baxter and myself were located so near each other, that we often met; and in addition to our frequent meeting on other occasions, we inter- changed our services in communion seasons. Dr. Speece sometimes assisted me on communion occasions, and often visited me at other times. Their kindness to me was great, and ended only with their lives. They were both great men, and yet differed much from each
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MESSRS. BAXTER AND SPEECE. .
other ; they were excellent preachers, and yet differed much in their manner of preaching. Dr. Baxter was always solemn, often very impressive, and sometimes eloquent, I think beyond any man I ever heard. Dr. Speece was always instructive, always interesting, some- times solemn and impressive, but never eloquent in the ordinary acceptation of the word. Dr. Baxter was always remarkable for his clear, correct, well arranged discourses. This was also the case with Dr. Speece, and yet his method was not on the whole so conspicuous as was that of Dr. Baxter. The sentences of Dr. Baxter were usually short : his words well selected to express his ideas, well arranged in his sentences. You never had any doubt of his mean- ing. He expressed his ideas with the clearness of a sunbeam. Happy in the choice and collocation of his words, his sentences were never complicated.
" His words were always dignified, yet he often mispronounced sadly. Dr. Speece was one of the most complete masters of the Eng- lish language I ever knew, remarkable for the correctness of his pro- nunciation. In the selection of his words he was remarkably happy, choosing those that expressed clearly his ideas. You would often think, now it is impossible that our language can express the idea he intended better than he has done it, and yet he would often use un- common words, or rather words that were undignified for the pulpit, and rather low ; and yet even when he did this, you would be very apt to say, he could have used no other word so expressive as the one he did. He would often use expressions that you could not for- get, and, often in conversation as well as in the pulpit, use uncom- mon words, as "befooled, bedabbled." Both Drs. Baxter and Speece were very humble men. I never could find out that Dr. Baxter thought he was a great man; he had the meekness and sim- plicity of a little child. When I first came here I used to be very much afraid of him, and disliked exceedingly to preach where he was ; but I soon found he was a man of so much kindness of feel- ing, that I got to preach in his presence without the slightest em- barassment. I knew well whatever criticism he might be disposed to make, he would keep it to himself, and make the most out of all that was good. I make the remark in reference to Dr. Speece. I recollect, however, one or two occasions when I thought I saw that Dr. Speece was somewhat conscious of his own powers, and yet even in this there was some qualifying remark indicative of modesty.
"In one thing in their preaching, Baxter and Speece were alike, they never preached themselves. I suppose no one ever heard either of them preach, when the idea ever entered his mind, that they wished to set themselves off, or play the great man. They preached Christ and him crucified. They both kept up the attention of their hearers. Dr. Baxter had great power over the feelings of his audi- ence, was often in tears himself; Dr. Speece did not have much power in this way ; he was solemn at times, but I think I never saw him shed a tear, or even have his eye moistened, and yet sometimes his audience was wonderfully melted under his preaching. Were
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MESSRS. BAXTER AND SPEECE.
you present at Prince Edward the time of Synod ? when he spoke of searching out for the thief on the cross, and enquiring if he was not a greater debtor to mercy than he - the whole crowded audi- ence was melted. They were both very strong and decided Pres- byterians, sound Calvinists ; but neither of them high, Calvinists, or what used to be called supra-lapsarians. In the great points, they were remarkable for their great similarity of views ; in some minor matters they differed. Dr. Speece, for instance, never fully fell into the common sentiment, as to the necessity and utility of Theologi- cal Seminaries. He has talked to me on the subject, and spoke modestly, but in doubt. They were both remarkable for their punc- tuality in their attendance on Presbytery, seemed to take great sat- isfaction in meeting with their brethren on those occasions, and to enjoy those meetings wonderfully. Those meetings were delightful; no one ever thought of leaving until Monday, unless there was some clear providential call. In Presbytery they were attentive to busi- ness, but never forward or assuming; neither of them given to speech making. When they did speak it was to the purpose, and they were listened to. They treated their brethren, even the young- est, with great kindness, deference and respect. They were rarely divided in their opinion, and I can scarcely recollect any division on a subject of much importance. The Presbytery was very apt to go with them in their opinions. They both had great powers in de- bate; and there was something of the same difference between them in debate as in their preaching. And yet I think it rather remark- able that to the best of my recollection, in speaking in Presbytery, Dr. Speece did not indulge himself in drollery, as he sometimes did in the pulpit. They were treated with great respect and deference by nearly all the members of Presbytery; and if in one or two in- stances this was not the case, they never appeared to notice it in the least. They were men of humility and meekness, and both knew that such was their standing in the public estimation that they could afford to bear a great deal.
" Dr. Speece was fond of books and a great reader. In general literature I think I have never known his equal. He once told me that he never permitted a book to remain in his library that would not bear to be read three times. Dr. Baxter was by no means so extensively read in general and light literature as Dr. Speece ; he read much, but was rather a thinker than a reader.
"Sincerely and affectionately,
"JAMES MORRISON."
565
RECOLLECTIONS ; SACRAMENT AT MONMOUTH.
CHAPTER XLIV.
RECOLLECTIONS ; - SACRAMENT AT MONMOUTH.
THE Rev. Dr. Leyburn, of Philadelphia, being a native of Lex- ington, Virginia, and his father having been an elder in Dr. Bax- ter's Church, enjoyed favorable opportunities in his youth for seeing something of the great men, of whom sketches have already been given. At the request of the author, he has furnished the following recollections.
"Philadelphia, August 30th, 1855. "REV. DR. FOOTE,
" My Dear Sir :- You ask for my recollections of some of the great men of the Virginia Presbyterian Church, and particularly Turner, Mitchell, Speece, and Baxter. I have no doubt your ample researches have already enriched the pages of your forthcoming volume, with full illustrations of the characters and lives of these honored worthies ; and my narrow limits and scanty time, will per- mit only the most cursory notice.
"James Turner passed from the stage of life so long ago, that my memory retains but little in regard to him; I remember often to have seen him in my visits to Bedford County, in my childhood, and to have heard him preach in the old Peak Meeting-House. He never impressed me with the awe I had usually felt towards ministers of the gospel ; there was something so genial, warm-hearted, and social in his manners, that he naturally won the esteem and confidence of all classes and conditions, even on the most casual acquaintance. All that I can recall as to his preaching at the Peak Meeting-House is, that he seemed to me somewhat odd, and that he shed tears, and was much in earnest. I was present at the meeting of the Synod of Virginia, in Lynchburg, when he preached on the occasion, since so often spoken of ; but I was then too little interested in religious matters, to receive and treasure up any intelligent impression of what he said. Sometimes a smile was raised at his downright and odd expressions, but oftener the cheeks of his auditors ran down with tears. Even this had almost passed from my memory, and the only thing which I can very distinctly recall, is the fact that the ministers and pious people talked a great deal about the sermon afterwards, and seemed to have thought it very remarkable.
"REV. JAMES MITCHEL.
" Of Mr. Mitchel, I saw much more than of Turner, as the former outlived by many years his eloquent colleague. The first time I ever saw Mr. Mitchel was at a meeting of Synod in Lexing- ton. He was delicately formed, and diminutive in stature, wore the
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DR. SPEECE.
old-fashioned fair-topped boots ; and particularly attracted my child- ish attention by a habit he had, of chewing all the while; arising I believe, from his having lost his teeth. I often heard him preach at the Peak Meeting-House. He was not, as you know, an eloquent man, but he was a sound and faithful expounder of the Scriptures, and remarkable for his indefatigable industry in his Master's work. It used to be said of him, that he had never declined to preach, when asked, in any instance in his whole life. Even when he seemed to be in extreme old age, he still continued to ride on horseback to fulfil appointments wherever the people would hear the gospel ; and I have often heard apprehensions expressed lest something should befall him, when venturing on these excursions, frequently many miles from his home. Towards the close of his life, a venerable sister of his, as eminent for her extraordinary and almost romantic affection for her brother, as for her deep and fervent piety, accom- panied him, probably for the double purpose of enjoying more of his society during the short remnant of their days, and to be near in case any evil should befall him. Few ministers have ever so dili- gently for a long time served their Master, as did James Mitchel.
" DR. SPEECE.
"Dr. Speece was frequently in Lexington, my native place, during my boyhood. None who ever saw him could easily forget his personal appearance. His frame was almost gigantic ; his coat was cut in defiance of all tailors' rules as to fitting - the only thing aimed at apparently in its construction, having been that it should hang securely on his shoulders, and cover as much of his person as possi- ble. It was of vast width and length, with monstrous gaping pockets, and must have consumed an extraordinary amount of cloth. Imagine such a figure surmounted with a thick, brown wig, and speaking weighty sentences in an extremely heavy, coarse voice, and you have Dr. Speece.
"He was, as you know, an old bachelor, and had some odd ways about him. One of his habits, I remember, when sitting in the meetings of the Virginia Synod, and often before a crowded church, was, to seize his wig on the top between his thumb and finger, and take it off and shake it, probably with a view to ventilating and cooling his head. When attending meetings of Synod and Presby- tery in Lexington, he was not unfrequently at my father's house. On one of these occasions, when sitting at the dinner table, having been helped to tomatoes, his favorite vegetable, he said, in his slow, heavy voice, 'If tomatoes grew on trees, I should think they were the forbidden fruit.'
"Dr. Speece's omniverousness, as regards books, was notorious. He had the reputation of devouring whatever he could lay his hands on, and also of having a strong taste for light literature. The latter he may have resorted to, to some extent, by way of relieving the solitude of his bachelor life. In common with most Virginia minis- ters, he was an extempore preacher ; and there have lived few men
567
DR. BAXTER.
whom a manuscript less became. Beyond all others whom I have ever seen make the attempt, he was most superlatively awkward when he undertook to use a written discourse in the pulpit. I was once at a meeting of Lexington Presbytery when he was to preach a sermon on some important topic, by previous appointment. A large con- gregation had been drawn together, expecting that the great man would make an extra effort; but they were probably disappointed, as the effect of the discourse was greatly neutralized by his taking his manuscript up in his hand, and reading from his 'copy-book,' as he called it, in the most monotonous and almost ludicrous fashion.
"The last time I remember to have seen Dr. Speece, was at a meeting of the Synod of Virginia, at the College church, in Prince Edward. He took part in administering the Lord's Supper to a very large body of communicants - the entire building, above and below, being occupied by them. He was then in advanced years, and declining health, and was much affected. He said it was pro- bably the last time he would ever meet with his brethren of the Synod he loved so much. After reading the hymn beginning -- ''Twas on that dark and doleful night,' he paused and said -' My brethren, I'm an old-fashioned man, and love old-fashioned tunes. I would like to have this sung to Windham,' laying emphasis on the ' ham,' according to his mode of pronunciation. Windham was accordingly sung, and right heartily ; and the old Doctor seemed much edified. When addressing the table he alluded to the tender- ness and compassion of our Saviour to the dying thief, and to the virtue of his blood in cleansing away the guilt of such a sinner. "But my brethren,' said he, 'we must not forget that our guilt may be greater than that of this poor outcast. I have sometimes thought that if I am so happy as to get to heaven, one of the first things I will do, after telling my Saviour the debt of love I owe him, will be to hunt for the dying thief, and compare my case with his, and see which of the two is the greater debtor to redeeming mercy.' His appearance on that occasion, and the solemn and tremulous tones of his voice, will long be remembered by all who were present.
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"DR. BAXTER.
" What can I say of Dr. Baxter in a letter such as this ? He was my pastor, and the pastor of my fathers before me. I was baptized by him, sat during my childhood and early youth under his ministry, was received by him to the membership of the church, and sat at his feet in the school of the prophets in Prince Edward. I was also a student of Washington College for a time, during his Presidency. In the latter department, Dr. Baxter was probably less himself than anywhere else. His guilelessness and want of knowledge of human nature in its minor developments, did not suit for the position of a teacher and disciplinarian over a company of bad boys and unruly young men. He was too unsuspicious and indulgent for such work. In the Theological Seminary, however, where he occupied the chair of Theology, he was eminently happy.
568
DR. BAXTER.
All the great topics he was called upon to handle, had been themes of reflection during almost all his life. They were imbedded, too, in his heart as well as in his understanding. In the discussions of the lecture-room, even when others might have been taken up with the mere intellectual aspects of the subject, his tear-filled eyes would give evidence that the truths he was examining had penetrated fur- ther than the regions of the understanding., He was sometimes, however, full of humor. This was particularly manifested when he could get a student into a logical dilemma. In order to this, he would begin with questions remote from his ultimate purpose, and having elicited from the unsuspecting pupil one answer after ano- ther, would finally bring him, very much to his surprise, right up into a corner. This feat was always accompanied by our venerable professor's shaking his great sides with good-natured laughter.
"You have, doubtless, incorporated in your volume, a full and just estimate of Dr. Baxter as a preacher. In this highest work of the ministry, was his chief delight. He loved to proclaim the mes- sages of glad tidings to his fellow-men ; and in doing it was eminently evangelical. He preached Christ Jesus, and him crucified ; and he did it with infinite sincerity and tenderness. I have never known any minister of the gospel who so often shed tears in the pulpit. It was very common for his voice to falter, and become tremulous from the swelling tide of his strong emotions, especially when speaking of the suffering of Christ, or when warning sinners to flee from the wrath to come. By the way, he was peculiar in his pronounciation of a few words, for instance, he always called 'wrath' wroth. There was a sublime and majestic roll in his sentences, when he was in his best preaching mood, that brought out his well-digested thoughts with great power and effect. He was, uniformly, an extempore preacher, but was accustomed to put his sermons into language, often audibly, before he came into the pulpit. I have frequently overheard him, as he was walking from his house to the College and back, engaged in this audible preparation. In common with all truly great men, he was a model of the unassuming. Modesty was one of his prominent characteristics. I never saw the slightest indication in Dr. Baxter, that he had the remotest idea, that he was anything more than an ordinary man. He was willing to learn from a child. He was a sincere lover of revivals of religion, and had the happiness to witness some of great power in his congregation at Lexington. His sermons were never long. I think I have seldom, if ever, heard him exceed three-quarters of an hour. It used to be told of him, when he first removed to Prince Edward, where the congregation of the College church, on account of their being much scattered, were not accustomed to hear but one sermon on the Sabbath, that the session of the church formally waited on him, and requested that he would give them longer sermons. They had to come so far, and make one discourse last so long, that they wished to have good measure.
"In personal appearance, Dr. Baxter was fleshy and plethoric.
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A COUNTRY SACRAMENT DAY.
His head was a model; I have scarcely ever seen a more massive one on human shoulders. It seemed the appropriate dome for great thoughts. One limb being slightly shorter than the other, he had a scarcely perceptible limp in his gait. His peculiar manner of clearing his throat was familiar to every body, and often heralded his approach before he came within view.
" As your printer is waiting, I must bring to a close these ex -. tremely inadequate tracings of men whose names are worthy of ever- lasting remembrance. I have written currente calamo, and if I have not furnished what was desired, I have at least given you this slight additional evidence, that I am,
"Your friend and brother in Christ, "JOHN LEYBURN."
A COUNTRY SACRAMENT DAY.
The following is also from the pen of Dr. Leyburn, having ap- peared in a series of sketches in the Presbyterian. The name, as is intimated, is fictitious ; the place alluded to having been New Mon- mouth, in the neighbourhood of Lexington, at one time a joint pas- toral charge with the Lexington church. Dr. Baxter is the person spoken of as having preached the morning sermon. In addition to the interest of the sketch, as an illustration of the country sacra- ments, the particular occasion here described, was one probably never surpassed in interest in any of the churches of the Valley.
" Weymouth Sacrament Days.
"'Emblem and earnest of eternal rest, A festival with fruits celestial crowned, A jubilee releasing him from earth, This day delights and animates the saint. It gives new vigor to the languid pulse, Of life divine.'
" Three miles from our village was an old church, which I shall call Weymouth, though that was not its name - a favorite and me- morable resort of the villagers on special occasions. Built of blue limestone, blackened by the pencil of time, with a steep stair-way to the gallery outside on the front, crowning the summit of a beautiful knoll, and peering out from a dense grove of majestic old oaks, it was the very beau ideal of an ancient rural house of God. For many years it was under the same pastoral charge with our village congregation ; and after this connection was severed, it was custom- ary for our minister to assist the pastor on 'Sacrament days,' and for many of his people to resort thither. Great was the joy amongst us young folks, when one of these days arrived; much the bustle and stir in the village - horses saddled and ready for mounting at various front doors ; groups of children in their best Sunday clothes, bright as a new pin, eager for the time to set off; and baskets laden with the wherewithal for cold dinners. Most of the older people went on horseback, but the younger ones were afoot; and as the
570
A COUNTRY SACRAMENT DAY.
. sacraments were usually in the spring and autumn, it was a beauti- ful walk over the hills, through the well-tilled fields, and amid the noble forests. Some of those bright autumn Sabbaths have left their pictures clear and strong in my memory; the delicious inspir- ing October air, the very atmosphere seeming to sparkle as with diamonds ; the deep blue of the fathomless heavens, with fleets of white clouds floating lazily on its ocean bosom, and here and there one aground upon a mountain top : the grand old mountains in parti- colored livery of black, green, red, and yellow; the forests waving their lofty pennants of crimson and gold, with now and then a chestnut-tree holding out its ripened nuts, and tempting little folks to break the Sabbath by gathering a pocket-full ; yellow fields, thick with stubble, from which had been garnered spacious barn-fulls of wheat, rye, and oats, or covered with crowded stalks of Indian corn, rustling their dry leaves in the breezes, and showing a proud array of massive teeth from out the parted lips of broken husks ; melan- choly cows, or pondrous oxen, feeding in pastures of clover, with sheep-bells tinkling from the flock on the distant hill ; birds carolling their morning hymns, and children's voices prattling with the exu- berance of the young life within them, more intense from the excite- ment of the day. Bright, beautiful, glorious, long to be remembered Sabbaths !
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The scene as we gained the summit of the last hill, bringing us in view of the Church, was most inspiring. From every country road, old men and matrons, young men and maidens, in long pro- cessions, two abreast, came pouring in on horseback, emerging from the thick forests, and clattering across the limpid brook that mur- mured through the intervening vale; hundreds of impatient steeds tied under the trees of the grove, neighing salutations to new-comers ; groups sitting upon rude benches, or on the moss-covered rocks, or clustered around the sparkling spring; the sound of sacred song floating from the old Church doors, mellowed and harmonized by the distance; friends meeting and greeting, and the crowd growing too great to be contained within doors. In the "Session House" adjoining the Church in the rear, the ministers and elders assembled at an early hour to exchange fraternal salutations, to spend a sea- son in prayer, examine candidates for communion, and make ar- rangements for the day. Here baskets and napkins filled with pro- - vision, were deposited till the "interval" between the public ser- vices, the stated time for taking refreshments; and here rustic mothers, who could not leave their babes at home, brought their in- fant charges, and sometimes remained during the sermons, listening with eager ears to the minister's words, as they fell through tho open door over head, adjoining the pulpit.
The interior of the meeting-house wore an antique and time-worn aspect. The pulpit, unlike our primeval octagon box in the old Church at home, was long, and capable of accommodating a goodly number of ministers, and the sounding-board over head, suspended by a rusty iron rod, sufficiently extended to have shut them all in,
571
A COUNTRY SACRAMENT DAY.
had it come down from its fastenings ; the pews were extravagantly tall, and the aisles depressed, so that when persons were in the latter, nothing but their heads and shoulders could be seen - the benches and backs, as you sat in them, being the perfection of discomfort, and to the young folks the most serious draw-back to the favorite Weymouth sacrament days. Not a speck of paint had ever touched pulpit, pew, or gallery ; the yellow pine, grown tawny by the lapse of years, stood up in its native nudity. But when village, farm- house, and mountain glen had poured their quotas into the old sanc- tuary, until every nook and crevice was filled, below and above stairs, leaving crowds at the doors and on the benches without, it was a congregation which might have fired the heart of any minister.
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