USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 4th series, 1885-1902 > Part 17
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Another of his letters at that period hit off an early, and may be later, fault of mine-carelessness about dress. J. W. M. Williams, meeting Broadus, reported on me, and the latter drew a humorously exaggerated picture of my appearance, closing with an injunction to me to have a good laugh thereat.
Later he helped me in 'a very useful protracted meet- ing at Staunton. In going to that infant church, I men- tioned to Dr. Jeter that there were no leading members, to which he replied that this did not matter if there were following members, as the pastor could lead. In fact, a better church in this latter regard there never was. The brethren and sisters were ever ready to do anything I asked them, at which I was pleased and proud. There was danger that I would not be careful enough, and Broadus saw the danger and gave me a hint of it, warn- ing me not to be like Louis XIV of France, who said, "L'état c'est moi." (I am the state. )
One night during the meeting, circumstances rendered it impossible for him to go over his notes before preach- ing. It was suggested to take them with him to the pul- pit, but he declined, saying that much of the impressive- ness of free preaching was sacrificed if the people saw a manuscript.
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He, at that period, possibly afterwards, made his notes on a half sheet of foolscap paper folded lengthways, and a sheaf of these skeletons, always neatly kept and la- beled, looked like so many sheriff's bills.
His sermons, as preached, seemed so faultless and com- plete, that I supposed he never forgot and left out any- thing he meant to say, but he once told me that this oc- curred not infrequently, and a friend recounts that, spending the night with him after he had preached on an interesting occasion, Broadus was quite unhappy about a passage which had thus dropped out of the discourse. According to Dr. McGuffey, the thing forgotten were better omitted, as likely not to be logically, and, therefore, naturally, connected with the rest. Whether this be so or not, it would always be better to leave out matter called for by the notes, but not apropos, or if time were short and people beginning to be weary. This last, how- ever, could not be when he was the preacher.
He did not at first accept a place in the new Theo- logical Seminary; it attracted him strongly, but there were reasons for waiting, and he wanted to be sure be- fore taking so important a step. His going at all de- pended upon the organization adopted. With Boyce's "Three Changes in Theological Schools" he was heartily in sympathy, one of them being in striking accord with the University of Virginia plan of instruction; but there was an idea with some that at least one old, well-known man should be appointed, and the name of the elder Basil Manly had been presented. This, Broadus confided to me, would be an insuperable objection to his becoming a member of the Faculty, for, argued he, we should all be so much in awe of our superior in age and reputation that we could not be our truest, best selves. He was wise in this, and it was for the best that (to use his own descriptive words) the professors were "all boys to- gether."
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He found it easy to like Greenville, and wrote me : "The Baptists of South Carolina are as much like Vir- ginia Baptists as one pea is like another." Of his work at the Seminary and of his books others have told and will tell, as also of his country pastorate, his connection with the Sunday School Board formed during the War, and of his mission to Lee's army. I know something of his privations during that dark time, and of the sacrifice made for the Seminary then and afterwards when he had only to yield to shining inducements pressed upon him in order to enjoy every comfort and opportunity. No doubt he was in the place that suited him, but still the sacrifice was real and great, and is a triumphant answer to the popular sneer that ministers feel it their duty to go where the salary is largest. He had been somewhat slow to take hold of the Seminary, but he held on till death-his death-and till the fortunes of the School, financially and still more morally, were out of danger. Having served it in so many other ways, he proved a successful agent and raised thousands of dollars for it, both at the North and in the South. Dr. Boyce once said to me: "The brethren think of Broadus as a fine preacher and professor, but he is also a splendid financier as well."
During the War he began to prepare his "Commentary on Matthew," designing to cover the four Gospels, and well do I remember his reading me the passage describ- ing the scene of John's baptizing, and saying that he had constantly in his eye men like Dr. Jeter, of high intelli- gence, but not learned in the ancient languages.
After the commencement exercises of 1886 we went with two or three students to a cafè for refreshments. Relieved, no doubt, that another period of pressing work was successfully finished, he was in fine spirits and play- ful as a boy without any sacrifice of propriety. He
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quoted to the young theologues some one's etymology of the word restaurant, deducing it from taurus (Greek), a bull, and res (Latin), a thing; result, restaurant-a bully thing. When I uttered the name of the poet Keats, as if it were pronounced Kates, he inquired if that was the usage in England, and I had to confess that it was only my own caprice, and the boys were highly amused at the clever way in which he had pulled me up; but I had my revenge later when he spoke of the Eustachian tube, pronouncing it as if it were Eustatchian, whereas I, owing my deafness to that organ, and passing daily in Rome the Square of St. Eustachius, deserved no credit for knowing that the ch had the force of k.
Twice more was I to see him ere my return to Rome, once when he rode out to the University of Virginia par- sonage to visit me, and we sat under the trees; and a little later, when he delivered the James Thomas Memo- rial address in Richmond. On the former occasion he tenderly urged me to remain some time in the home-land for a period of perfect rest ; and when I said that I would have no means of living, he added: "Draw the salary all the same," citing half jovially his own course : "When they have gotten all the work they can out of me, 'tis but just that I be turned out to graze."
The address referred to he read from MS., as he had done that on A. M. Poindexter, and he read both of them as well as if he had been reading his sermons all his life. I was struck with the orderly way in which each sheet, when finished, was so placed as to leave them at the end in their original form. When I expressed my enjoyment of the address, he accepted the tribute in a very cordial manner. On that and on similar occasions, his way of receiving congratulations recalled to my mind the words about Lord Macaulay by his younger sister : "I like so much the manner in which he receives compli-
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ments. He does not pretend to be indifferent, but smiles in his kind and animated way, with 'I am sure it is very kind of you to say so,' or something of that nature." The truth is, while hating flattery, one always likes ap- preciation, specially from friends, and Dr. Broadus was too sincere a man not to show any gratification felt. If it is sweet to be "praised by the praised," much more is it to be praised by those whom we love and of whose love we are sure.
I will now mention some other of the distinctive traits in the character of John A. Broadus, as revealed to me in an acquaintance of nearly half a century.
He always held the conservative, and what might be called the distinctively Southern, conception and senti- ment concerning woman. When, at a church in Flu- vanna, a girl in bloomer, or semi-bloomer, costume was seen, he expressed his disgust most strongly. I recall his note to the Religious Herald, protesting against the "tilting skirt" and begging every woman reader to set her face against all such fashions. His views as a Chris- tian teacher concerning women's speaking in public as- semblies, harmonized perfectly with his feelings on the subject.
He was a great worker, and his work was done as a fine art. His intellectual growth and activity resembled not a wild and tangled mass of vegetation, but the trained and cultivated and, therefore, largely fruitful vine.
Varied were the manifestations of his sturdy inde- pendence. As a State student, or as a candidate for the ministry, he had been, like all others such, exempted from the payment of tuition fees at the University of Virginia ; nevertheless, he paid them with his earliest earnings after leaving that institution. He was never ashamed or afraid to confess a mistake. Once when I found him doing
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what he had once condemned, I asked : "What have you to say about it ?" and he replied : "Only this, that I was wrong, and have learned better." He evidently be- lieved, with Goethe, that the confession of a past error only means that we have grown in character and gotten new light.
His voice, though not very strong, was singularly sweet, and was a source of power in conversation and in public speech, while his easy flow of choice language, his evident conviction, his modesty which disarmed criti- cism, and his historical imagination, together with the tenderest pathos, made him the prince of preachers ; yet, when all is said, one feels that every attempt at analysis or description is inadequate. We inhale with delight the fragrance of the violet, but can not through words con- vey it to another.
It has been said that he was not original; perhaps not, in the strictest sense of the word, for not one man in a generation, the world over, is original; but in another and as good a sense, he was original, standing more sig- nally and grandly alone in his whole make-up and career and position among the brotherhood than any of his con- temporaries, at least in our Southland.
His superiority was rather in description and on ques- tions involving knowledge than in the realm of thought; and, it seems to me, of his published discourses, the his- torical and biographical addresses are of a higher order than the sermons. For effectiveness when preached, which was their true aim and end, these last are unsur- passed; while as literature they might, in the judgment of some, suffer in comparison with the published sermons of Richard Fuller.
He was a matchless host and abounded ever in what William Wirt called the "sweet, small courtesies of life," and his manner towards the gentler sex was fine.
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All that he was in mien had its source in a naturally kind heart under the influence of divine grace. He al- ways saw the best in one and was ready to say an en- couraging word to and of one. In my early ministry I wrote for the Religious Herald an article, entitled "Blue Monday," the object of which was to show that in every sphere of life ideals failed of perfect realization .* I signed it "Rolyat" and it was published on the fourth page of the paper. What was my pleased surprise to receive a few days later a letter somewhat thus: "Many thanks for 'Blue Monday.' John A. Broadus." This and other generous notice taken of my pen work led me whenever I wrote anything to think of him and of the impression he would receive from it, and it was a stimu- lus alike to heart and head.
His tact and thoughtful courtesy prevented or dis- armed envy. When he got his D. D. he said to some of his juniors: "Your turn will come." He never got above his old friends in spirit, high above them as he soared. He was my oldest, best, dearest friend, helpful alike in word and deed. There was this God-like char- acter in his friendship that while he loved many, he loved all heartily, though differently, and each one was so sure of being warmly, tenderly beloved as to feel neither fear nor jealousy. The Greek saying, "Many friends, no friend," was disproved by his large-hearted, appreciative friendship for so many and so widely dif- ferent men.
His whole life and being were dominated by a loyal, reverential love to Jesus Christ, of whose love to himself he had no doubt. He was a man purified in the furnace of affliction, having, as he once wrote me, experienced every form of bereavement, and the Refiner could see in him His own face.
*The theme was suggested by my brother, C. E. Taylor.
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Late in the evening of the first day of November, I stood by the graves of Boyce, Manly, and John A. Broadus, the latest grave of the three. The western sky was aglow with the departed sun and the moon was shining in the East. A chill was in the air and a chill would have been in my heart but for the blissful certainty -Boyce, Manly, John A. Broadus, are "with Christ, which is far better."
George B. Taylor.
Rome, Italy, June 3, 1896.
THOMAS NICHOLAS JOHNSON
This sketch is based on an article by Rev. Dr. L. R. Thornhill in the Religious Herald upon the life of Rev. Thomas Nicholas Johnson. He was born June 20, 1812, in Buckingham County, Virginia, near Mount Zion Bap- tist Church. Although his parents were not Christians, he early made a profession of his faith in Jesus. His father died when he was eight years old, leaving a widow and two sons. He was convicted of his sins at a meeting when the venerable minister, walking down the aisle and speaking to persons about their souls, said to him: "Young, Tommie, but not too young to die." The boy had prepared an answer for the preacher, but he had been approached at an unguarded point; the arm of convic- tion had reached him. When sixteen years of age he took a decided stand for Jesus, and three years later deter- mined to become a minister. He went first to Humanity Hall Academy and then to what is now Richmond Col- lege.
In July, 1836, he was ordained, the presbytery consist- ing of Elders P. P. Smith, William Moore, and Joseph Jenkins. After laboring as a missionary of the General Association of Virginia, in 1837 he accepted a call to Sharon, Mulberry Grove, and Enon Churches, in Buck- ingham County, Virginia. He remained as pastor at Sharon seventeen years; at Mulberry Grove, with two short breaks, for fifty-seven years; at Enon first only a short time, but later was there for eleven years, and still later for twenty-one years. His other pastorates were at Fairmount and Mount Shiloh, in Nelson County, and Hebron and Liberty Chapel, in Appomattox County. He
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was pastor of this last-named church almost forty-one years. This was probably his most satisfactory pastor- ate and here he did his best work. His ministry covered a period of sixty-three years. The country pastorate has its compensations and, along with the exposure of long cross-country rides, comes also physical vigor. Brother Johnson had a magnificent physique, standing six feet two inches tall. Upon one occasion a wicked fellow threatened this man of God with personal violence if he preached at a certain time and place; but he did preach at that place and time, nor was he molested.
As a preacher he was patient and careful in his prepa- ration; clear, logical, simple in his presentation of the truth. He was felicitous in his use of illustrations and effective in his quotations from the Bible. While by nature timid and shrinking, this weakness was not a hin- drance to him in the pulpit. Since he was called by conviction to deliver his message, he did not fear the face of man, and his appeal was to men's consciences. He had many traits of character which helped to make him an excellent pastor. While strong and fearless in his con- victions as to the truth, he was affectionate and as gentle as a woman. While utterly devoid of anything approach- ing to "gush," the cordial grasp of his hand and the genial light of his eyes brought warmth and strength. He was fond of children and went with blessing into the homes of rich and poor alike. His wisdom and dis- cretion made his ear a safe repository for the secrets and sorrows and troubles of his people. He entered into the joys and sorrows of his flock, whom he bound to him with hooks stronger than steel.
He was married three times. Of the first marriage only two children lived to maturity. The daughter be- came the wife of Rev. Dr. J. A. Mundy. Of the two children of the second marriage, one became the wife of
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Rev. Dr. W. J. Shipman. The eight children of the third marriage all lived to the estate of manhood and woman- hood. His home was a happy one. For many years he lived on his own farm, in a comfortable dwelling, not far from his Mulberry Grove Church.
He once expressed the desire that he might die at home in his own bed. This desire was granted to him. After two months upon a bed of sickness, during which time he displayed not only patience, but even ecstatic joy, he was called to his heavenly reward on September 13, 1894.
MELZI S. CHANCELLOR
The Religious Herald of April 4, 1895, contained a sketch of Rev. Melzi S. Chancellor, and the Minutes of the General Association for the same year his obituary. These papers were from the pen of Rev. Dr. T. S. Dun- away. No other material has been secured, so this sketch is practically a reproduction of these articles. Melzi S. Chancellor was born in Spottsylvania County, Virginia, June 29, 1815. While living in Baltimore with his uncle, Mr. Lorman, and clerking for him, he made a profes- sion of religion. His ordination took place at the Wilder- ness Church, Spottsylvania County, and for more than half a century the preaching of the gospel was his busi- ness. He was pastor of the following churches in the Goshen Association for longer or shorter periods": Wil- derness, Piney Branch, Mine Road, Salem, Goshen, Craig's, Eley's Ford, and New Hope. Of this last-named church he was the loved and honored pastor for thirty years. Some of these churches were organized by him, and the meeting-houses in which they worshiped were built largely through his personal gifts and liberality. He was a beneficent man, and besides these gifts, he dis- pensed a large amount of charity without ostentation. He was instrumental in leading many souls to Christ. Few ministers of the gospel baptized, married and buried as many persons as he did. He belonged to that honor- able and useful class of the human family who, with good minds, industrious habits, kind hearts, noble aims, sterling principles, and strong faith, are useful in their day and generation ; shining examples to the young, cher- ished and honored members of society, whose deeds and
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memories are worthy to be held in everlasting remem- brance. While he was a pronounced Baptist and confi- dently believed their principles and practices were in harmony with the teachings of the word of God, yet he had a broad charity for all, and loved all Christians, by whatever name called, and freely accorded to others the right to interpret the word of God for themselves.
He was a useful citizen. He rendered valuable service to his State and county, filling most acceptably several positions of trust. He was a patriot and loved his State and country. True to the cause of the South in the war between the States, he suffered a long imprisonment as a citizen hostage, in consequence of his loyalty to his State and section. He was twice married. His first wife was Miss Lucy Frazier, and his second, to whom he was married October 20, 1886, and who survived him, was Miss Bettie W. Caldwell. Six children were born of the first marriage, three sons and three daughters. In the good providence of God his last years were years of temporal as well as spiritual comfort. He had the means needed for his physical comfort, and his last years were bright by reason of a conscious fellowship with his Saviour and a pleasing prospect of a blissful immor- tality. After a brief illness, he died at his home in Fred- ericksburg on February 20, 1895.
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R. H. W. BUCKNER
R. H. W. Buckner was born in Caroline County, Vir- ginia, December 9, 1810. The county of his birth was his home and the sphere of the larger part of his life's labors. He was baptized by Rev. Lawrence Battaile and soon afterwards was ordained to the gospel ministry. He was educated at the Rappahannock Academy, and for some years was associate principal with Charles Lewis. He was useful in the vineyard of the Lord, preaching and doing other ministerial work. In 1840 he was the founder of Round Oak Church, Caroline, and, accord- ing to one account, its pastor for many years. Another record says he was never pastor of any church. During the declining years of Rev. James D. Coleman, he was selected as supply pastor for Mr. Coleman's whole field, having already been for some years Mr. Coleman's as- sistant at Liberty Church. For fourscore and five years he lived in the same community, and by his talents, his acquirements, and his personal integrity had large influ- ence among the people. As a minister of the gospel, he officiated at the marriages and funerals, wrote the wills, adjusted the differences, and with his wholesome advice was a comfort to the whole community. He was mar- ried twice, his first wife being Miss Judith Boulware, of Caroline, and his second Miss Slaughter, of Rappa- hannock. He left no child and was a widower for some years before his death. At the time of his death he was a member of Liberty Church, which had been "the love of his youth, the pride of his manhood, and the home of his old age." He died February 25, 1895.
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CHARLES A. RAYMOND
Charles A. Raymond was born in New Haven, Conn., February 5, 1822. The larger part of his life was spent in the South, where he "labored as a minister of the gos- pel and the true friend of the interests and work of the denomination." So far as can be learned, his work among Virginia Baptists was in the bounds of the Rap- pahannock Association. His post-office for years was Hick's Wharf, and the churches he served were Math- ews, Gwynn's Island, and Westville. For twenty years he lived and labored in this Association, helping not only in his own churches, but also by meetings held in other churches. "For twelve years he suffered intensely from a malignant form of blood poisoning, which kept him from active work and deprived him of fellowship with his brother pastors, for which he daily longed. In all this time of sore trouble, pain could not make him impa- tient; nor did consequent privations cause a murmur to escape his lips." He died at his home in Mathews County, March 5, 1895. He left a widow and seven children, all of his children being members of the "household of faith" and three of his sons Baptist ministers. The facts for this sketch are taken from the obituary, written by Rev. B. C. Hening, in the Minutes of the General Association for 1895.
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JOSEPH WALKER
The life of Joseph Walker lacked only nine years of extending over the whole of the nineteenth century. While born in Pennsylvania, his life, in the main, was identified with the South, especially Virginia. Could all of his contributions to the newspapers be collected, the story of his life would be told in a most interesting way and there would be many pages filled with discus- sions covering a wide range of subjects. This sketch will be autobiographical rather than biographical, for it will be best in every way for us to hear this nonogenarian tell his own life record. The quotations that follow are taken from the columns of the Religious Herald, for which paper he wrote from 1838 practically to the end of his life.
Rather more than four years before his death he wrote: "Since my nativity, April 10, 1804, there have been twenty-one Presidents of the United States of. America ; three Popes of Rome; four Kings of Sweden; ten rulers of France, including three Napoleons; three Sultans of Turkey; three sovereigns of England, includ- ing the reigning Queen; three Emperors of Russia, three of Austria, two Kings of Italy, and three Emperors of the consolidated German States. Of distinguished pre- miers, I remember Peel, Russell, Palmerston, Disraeli, and Gladstone, of England; Talleyrand, LaFayette, and Thiers, of France; Bismarck, of Prussia ; Count Cavour, of Sardinia; Metternich, of Austria; Gortchakoff, of Russia, and Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, Webster, and Seward, Bayard and Blaine, of America." He wrote much about the changes and improvements since his early
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days, and once suggested that some day "airships may transport burdens and passengers on the wings of the atmosphere." Describing agricultural and industrial life in his days, he wrote: "When I was a boy the farmers turned over the sod with wooden mold-boards and had their coulters set and sharpened with the blacksmith's hammer. They mowed grass with hand scythes and cut grain of all descriptions with sickles and scythe-cradles. Hay they raked with hand rakes and bound sheaves with such implements as God himself had given them. It was not uncommon to see blooming maidens in the meadows and harvest fields in those days raking after the reapers. When I was yet quite young, nearly all wearing apparel was made and made up by hand within the circle of a man's own family. Mothers picked cotton and wool with their own expert fingers, then corded it into rolls with hand-cards, while daughters spun the rolls into yarn, then wove it into cloth, or knit socks or stockings with it. Why, as late as 1839, when I began my ministry on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, the girls of my congregation supplied me with all the socks I needed, and they were the best article of the kind I ever had. In those thrifty times if a young woman could not milk a half- dozen cows before breakfast, spin yarn when necessary, weave it into cloth with a hand-shuttle, and then make up her own linsey-woolsey garments, her chances for matrimony were hardly above second rate. My father had an old Continental flintlock musket, and when fire was needed for any purpose, he'd look up the rusty old gun, prime it with powder, snap it over tow or cot- ton, and so, after repeated trials, kindle a fire. It was this or borrow from a neighbor, and it was as common to borrow brands of fire-coals, in those times, as it was to borrow anything else. . . When I first began to write letters, epistolary correspondence was both more
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