Unknown County GaArchives Biographies.....Mallary, Charles D. 1801 - circa 1864
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 4, 2005, 11:40 pm

Author: J. H. Campbell

CHARLES D. MALLARY, D. D.

  CHARLES BUTTON MALLARY was born of worthy and respectable parents, in West
Poultney, Rutland county, Vermont, on the 23d of January, 1801. One of his
brothers, Rollin C. Mallary, became an eminent lawyer, and represented his
native State for many years in the United States Congress, where he occupied a
commanding position as a debater, and exerted, as chairman of the committee on
manufactures, a powerful influence in directing the legislation of the country.
After completing the usual preparatory studies, the subject of this sketch
entered Middlebury College, in August, 1817. He was a college-mate, if not
class-mate, of that distinguished Methodist divine, Rev. Stephen Olin, and also
of Rev. Dr. Howe, of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Columbia, South
Carolina. He graduated in August, 1821, with the first honor—a fact sufficiently
indicative of his superior talents and his diligent application as a student.

  From his earliest years he had been the subject of deep religious impressions,
which he was accustomed to ascribe in large measure to the instructions and
prayers of his pious parents, especially of his devout and honored mother. In
the sixteenth year of his age, during the prevalence of a revival, he
experienced that great moral change which renewed his heart and gave him a
trembling hope of salvation. Shortly after this occurrence he entered college,
and then, owing to various circumstances, a long season of doubt and declension
ensued in his spiritual history, which gradually darkened into dejection and
despair. The distress of his mind was similar to that of Bunyan, and the poet,
Cowper, in their awful days of desertion. Indeed, his companions trembled for
the stability of his reason, and he himself was conscious of treading on the
brink of insanity. At length, through infinite mercy, the cloud broke and rolled
away; his feet were taken out of the horrible pit, and he stood on the rock of
ages, with a new song in his mouth. After canvassing the comparative claims of
the various denominations, (his inclinations rather leaning to the
Congregationalists,) the path of duty became plain, and he was baptized into the
fellowship of the Baptist church in his native town, in June, 1822, by the
pastor, Rev. Clark Kendrick.

  After his graduation Mr. Mallary spent a year as a teacher of youth in his
native State. In October, 1822, he bent his steps southward, and, passing
through Charleston, settled for a while at Cambridge, Abbeville district, South
Carolina. Before leaving Vermont, his mind had been exercised with reference to
the ministry, and he had resolved, so soon as providence should show an open
door, that he would engage in preaching the gospel. Circumstances now being
favorable, he commenced this work, and was soon licensed as a minister. Early in
the JGS.Y 1824, in obedience to a call from the Baptist church in that place, he
removed to Columbia, the capital of the State, where he was ordained in April of
the same year. Here, too, on the 11th of July, 1825, he married Miss Susan Mary
Evans, daughter of John and Sarah Evans, of Georgetown, South Carolina, and
grand-daughter, on the maternal side, of that eminent man of God, Rev. Edmund
Botsford. In this union, according to his own testimony, he found "more
unalloyed enjoyment than generally falls to the lot of man." The excellent
companion of his youth, and the mother of the only two children who survive him,
Charles and Rollin, died of consumption, at Milledgeville, Georgia, in 1834.

  At the expiration of two years, Mr. Mallary left Columbia and settled below
that city, in what is known as the Fork, taking charge of the Beulah and
Congaree churches. In 1830, he accepted a call from the Baptist church at
Augusta, Georgia, where he remained four years. In 1834, he removed to
Millegeville. Here, however, his pastorate was brief, embracing not quite two
years. A constitution, feeble at best, and often assailed with attacks of
illness, disqualified him to a considerable extent for the steady, wearing round
of pastoral duties, and necessitated frequent changes in his place of abode. The
years 1837, 1838 and 1839 he devoted as an agent to the interests of Mercer
University. The year 1840 he was employed as a missionary in the service of the
Central Association. Perhaps this was the period of his highest usefulness. His
powers were fully matured. He 'moved in congenial and appreciative circles. The
peculiar exigencies of the denomination roused all his sacred energies, and thus
these few years in Central Georgia witnessed the best results of his public
career. In company with Dawson, Campbell and others, he engaged in extensive
preaching tours, and in protracted meetings, which were attended with memorable
revivals, and which operated powerfully in giving tone and character to the
Baptists of Georgia. He seemed to live daily in the very atmosphere of heaven.
Every effort, whether of preaching or exhortation, was attended by the unction
from above, and Christians improved in knowledge and holiness, while sinners, in
great numbers, were added to the churches as seals of his ministry.

  In December, 1840, he was married to his second wife, Mrs. Mary E. Welch, of
Twiggs county, Georgia, a woman of very superior talents and worth, and most
happily adapted to cheer his own disposition, which was rather prone to
dejection and melancholy. She preceded him but a little to the skies, having
died suddenly on the 28th of August, 1862, After this second marriage, he took
up his abode in Twiggs county, near Jeffersonviile, on his wife's plantation,
where he resided for several years. Though now in a somewhat sequestered
situation, where most ministers would have considered themselves entitled to
retirement and repose after so many labors, he indulged in no relaxation. Like
his Master, he sanctified even his hours of rest with benevolent deeds. His
recreations were other men's toils. During the period of his residence in Twiggs
county he served, more or less, the following churches: New Providence, Macon,
Forsyth, Evergreen, Jeffersonville, Irwinton and Wood's meeting-house. It was
through his efforts, and mainly at his expense, that a comfortable house of
worship was built at Jeffersonville, and the churches at that place and at
Evergreen were started through his instrumentality. But in 1848 the LaGrange
church summoned him from his laborious retreat. He responded to the summons,
and, though constantly failing in strength, continued in this connection for
four years. In 1852, finding it impossible to prosecute his pastoral labors, he
retired to the neighborhood of Albany, where he passed the remainder of his days
in such services as his physical infirmities permitted. He loved to preach, and
he never ceased preaching until the end. His finished his useful career at
Magnolia Springs, Sumter county, on Sunday noon, the 31st of July, 1864, aged
sixty-three years.

  In turning from this meagre outline of the more marked events and incidents in
his career, it is exceedingly difficult to present in any moderate limits a just
review and estimate of his character and services. As we attempt to recall him
to our attention and survey, what, we naturally ask, most distinguished him as a
man? What, in particular, constituted his individuality, gave him his definite
"form and pressure," and raised him above the dull uniformity of the great human
mass? One reply springs to the lips of all who knew him well—his piety. He was
singularly and greatly good, a distinction "above all Greek or Roman fame;" and
this was his general reputation. He was marked by more Christian virtues and by
fewer faults than any man the author has ever known. He was by nature an amiable
man, formed to love and be loved, peaceful in spirit, and wholly free from a
temper violent and petulant in its manifestations. He was also a man of stern
integrity, of incorruptible honesty, and withal of unflinching fidelity to his
convictions of right and truth. Without being aggressively bold, he did not in
the least lack decision and firmness, and his characteristic gentleness never
sank into tame compliance with the demands of error and injustice. Probably no
ill natured or carping man of the world, nor splenetic church member, ever
seriously questioned his essential uprightness. On such a basis as this the
fabric of his piety was reared. Over such amiabilities as these it cast its
heavenly charm, while it woke in his own heart a variety of new and sacred
passions.

  His piety was ardent and intense, manifesting itself, not in occasional
raptures and excited emotions, but in a habitual frame of devotion. Religion was
the atmosphere in which he lived, moved and had his being. He did not separate
his life into sacred and secular, saying, this is for God, and that is for the
world—it was all for God. His religion sanctified his recreations, and gave a
heavenly flavor to his worldly enjoyments. He loved much. The name of Jesus was
fragrant and precious to him, always in his heart, and often on his lips. He
loved the brethren. He was a lover of all good men. Though a devoted Baptist,
holding our distinctive principles as firmly and conscientiously as one could
well do, he still consorted joyfully and fraternally with all who honored the
Saviour and bore his image. He was emphatically .a man of prayer. "The spirit of
grace and supplications" was possessed by him in a measure which, it is
believed, has seldom been equaled, and never, surpassed, in modern times. Early
in his ministry, he laid out for himself a regular plan of prayer, assigning
certain general subjects to each day in the week, to which he faithfully adhered.

  Dr. Mallary was singularly kind and charitable in his judgments of others. He
was never heard to utter a biting sarcasm, a stinging jest, a cruel innuendo,
nor even a word that savored of slander against a fellow-creature. He literally
almost seemed to " think no evil." He always put the best possible construction
upon conduct, and when compelled to condemn, he did it with pain and sorrow,
and, very likely, with the final suggestion of some extenuating or hopeful view
of the delinquent. He was no severe critic or censor of his brethren.

He appeared absolutely a stranger to that mean spirit which, I am afraid, has
been the too just reproach of the ministry: a spirit of envy, jealousy and
rivalship. It gave him no pain that a brother should outshine or outstrip him,
and it did not seem to occur to him that a minister, by superior gifts and
graces, could ever be in his way. He was a model church member, which is not
always the case with retired preachers. He was the pastor's friend and
counselor. He did not plead or employ his ministerial prerogative as a ground of
exemption, from ordinary duties in the church, but bore his own burden, and
often more than his own, with cordial patience.

  The blessing of the, peacemaker was on him. His own spirit was tranquil and
pacific, and, so far from widening breaches and exasperating dissensions by a
fierce temper of partisanship, he labored to compose strifes and reconcile
alienated brethren.

  He was a willing and generous contributor of his worldly substance to every
good cause. In his ministrations, he insisted much on the duty of giving, a duty
he never undertook to discharge by proxy.

  His caution in speaking of the faults of others has already been referred to.
It is proper to add that he rigidly ruled out of his speech all foolish^
jesting, and more especially all that approached impurity. While occasionally
indulging the quiet humor of delicate wit, of which he had a rich vein, his
conversation was never stained by malice or pollution. He seemed to accept, as a
rule for himself, that maxim of-the ancient Persians, which pronounced "unlawful
to speak of what it was not lawful to do."

  His politeness may be said, in part at least, to have been a development of
his piety. If politeness may be defined as kindness, expressing itself in kind
and self-denying acts, he was a model of this cheap yet potent virtue,
immeasurably superior to Chesterfield, or any of his school. While he never
affected the airs and artificial graces of a polished man of society, and would
have scorned them, if he could scorn anything, he was still a pattern of
courtesy, and was guided by the nice instinct of Christian feeling to the
performance of those various acts which marked him for a true gentleman.

  If there was any defect in his Christian character, perhaps it was a lack of
that sort of cheerfulness which gives to piety a pleasant and winning aspect,
and which, in particular, recommends it to the young. Though removed as far as
possible from a morose and prim severity, he displayed a little too much,
probably, the sad and sombre side of religion. It is thought his usefulness
would have been enhanced if the bright and joyous elements of piety had been
more conspicuous in his life. The mention of this defect as the most serious
which criticism can suggest in the review of his Christian character, only
serves to demonstrate how extraordinary that character was, and how far elevated
in holy grandeur above the vast majority of latter day examples of saintship.
And yet Charles D. Mallar-y entertained the most painful conceptions of his own
utter uuworthiness, and worthlessness even, in the sight of God. Indeed, his
unaffected humility was one of the most striking traits of his piety. His views
of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and of the holiness of God, were such as to
bow him in the very dust. A delicate spiritual modesty softened and refined
every manifestation of his inner life. A volume that would do justice to his
piety would be a book of devotion not inferior to the biographies of Henry
Martyn, Samuel Pearce and Edward Payson.

  While Dr. Mallary will be remembered for his goodness, that goodness would not
have been so conspicuous and noteworthy, if it had not been associated with a
mind of uncommon capacity and vigor. His intellect and heart operated in
delightful harmony, imparting to each other light and strength, and, in their
blended movements, their almost perfect synthesis, presenting us with a complete
and effective character. His mental endowments were of a very high order. It
would, doubtless, be extravagant to assert for him the possession of that sort
of ability which originates new thoughts, strikes out new paths of
investigation, and makes memorable contributions to the stock of human
knowledge. It is only a very few, in the long succession of ages, who can justly
be assigned to this intellectual rank, and be classed with those sceptered kings
in the realms of thought, "who rule us from their urns." But, while not claiming
for him this style of greatness, we insist that his talents were such as to make
him a man of special mark. To the more solid qualities of the understanding,
such as a quick and clear perception, a calm, sound judgment, a tenacious
memory, a capacity for bold and vigorous thinking, he added a fertile fancy and
a soaring, creative imagination, which enabled him to illustrate and adorn
whatever he touched.- His grasp of subjects was broad and firm, indicating
intellectual strength and comprehensiveness. His mental operations were
distinguished, not so much by formal logical processes—by regular advances, in
which each minute step was ostentatiously displayed—as by rapid intuitions, and
by a series of steadily progressive leaps and bounds towards his goal. Without
any technical elaboration and parade of argument, he was still a solid and able
reasoner. There was great symmetry and admirable balance in his intellectual
constitution, no one faculty being developed out of proportion to, and at the
expense of, another faculty. Had his will been a little more positive and
imperative, and his taste a little more exacting, his mental conformation would
have gained somewhat in imposing and attractive force.

  This richly endowed intellect had been well disciplined and furnished with
ample stores of knowledge. He was fortunate, as we have seen, in his early
opportunities of education, and these he zealously improved. Subsequently, he
had been, as circumstances allowed, a diligent student. His range of
acquaintance with books was extensive. There were few subjects, even outside of
his profession, with which he was most surprisingly familiar. In theology, and
the history of religious opinions, he was well read. The degree of Doctor of
Divinity, conferred by Columbian College, District of Columbia, though little
prized by him, was richly merited. He retained, beyond what is common among our
working ministers, his knowledge of the ancient classics, and a marked fondness
for their beauties. Indeed, his tastes were quite scholarly, and had his mode of
life been more settled and regular, and his health more favorable to the
pursuit, he would doubtless have acquired distinction as a man of profound and
varied learning. Under proper influences, he would have made a Biblical critic
and commentator of rare excellence. His thorough common sense and solid
judgment, along with the spiritual insight and intuition of his deep piety,
would have constituted him a theological teacher of the style of the "judicious
Hooker," and the yet more judicious Andrew Fuller.

  Of the gifts and graces of Dr. Mallary, we have pleasing memorials in his
various printed works. He figured in his day more than most of our leading
ministers as a writer and author. He entertained an exalted appreciation of the
power of the press, and from no mere scribbling propensity, no weak ambition to
see himself in. print, but from a solemn conviction of duty he wrote much. He
was master of a facile pen, and of a style characterized by numerous
excellencies. It was always correct, smooth and animated, often ornate and
eloquent. His leading productions are the "Life of Botsford," "Memoir of
Mercer," "Soul-Prosperity," "Sanctification," "Sabbath-School Instruction,"
"Simple Rhymes for Children," "The Alphabetical Dinner." "Prince Alcohol," an
allegory in the style of Bunyan, and almost worthy of the immortal dreamer
himself, was published many years since by the American Tract Society and
obtained an immense circulation. The poetical talent of Dr. Mallary was
remarkable, and, if thoroughly cultivated, might have achieved for him
distinction in this department of literature. A little before his death he
completed a didactic poem which had occupied his leisure hours for many years.
It is entitled "Lord's Day Musings," written in blank verse, and extending
through seven books. His contributions to the "Christian Index," on a great
variety of subjects, always arrested attention and repaid perusal. His chief
fault as a writer consisted, probably, in a certain diffuseness of style and a
lack of that sententious brevity or terseness which keeps the mind alert and
expectant. In the too limited authorship which characterizes the Baptist
ministry of Georgia and of the South, he occupies a foremost place. All that he
ever published was like himself, pure, and good, and kind.

     " He never wrote
   A line which, dying, he could wish to blot."

  But, after all, it was probably in the pulpit that Charles D. Mallary gave the
highest exhibition of the rare and various gifts with which he was endowed.
First for his goodness, his holiness, and next for his power as a preacher, is
he likely to be longest and most widely remembered. In his generation, among the
Baptist ministers of Georgia he had few equals and no superior. The pulpit was
the throne where he seemed most at home, in the fullest command of all his
powers, and the most perfect display of all his sacred passions. He was
emphatically an able preacher, replete with rich thought, mighty in the
scriptures, lucid and happy in the method of his discussions, and powerful in
the arguments with which he defended and enforced his positions. He loved what
are called .the "doctrines of grace," and often presented them as pulpit themes
with masterly strength and consummate skill. He was a truly eloquent preacher,
gifted with a rare command of appropriate, energetic and beautiful language in
which to clothe his sublime conceptions. His occasional hesitation for a word,
perhaps, rather heightened than impaired the effect of his preaching, since that
hesitation was almost sure to terminate, not in a lame and impotent escape from
the difficulty, but in a new and bolder outburst of impassioned thought. His
imagination was one of the most striking of his intellectual endowments, and,
when fired in the discussion of divine truth, it often bore him to the highest
heaven of invention, sweeping his hearers along with him "beyond the flaming
bounds of space and time," up to

      " The throne of God, the sapphire blaze.
          Where angels tremble as they gaze."

He was an exceedingly ingenious preacher, not in the sense of being able to
excite attention by the petty conceits, smart surprises and startling paradoxes
of sensation sermonizers, but as conveying truth, like the great Teacher, by
similes, parables and happy illustrations. It was this peculiarity which gave
him in large measure his enviable distinction as a preacher for negroes and
children. His preaching was strongly marked by that indescribable excellence
denominated unction, the blending of sincerity, earnestness and tenderness. He
impressed all hearers with the conviction that he believed what he spoke and
felt what he believed. In the pulpit he betrayed little self-consciousness and
no vanity. He seemed conscious only of his Master's presence and claims. He kept
himself behind the cross and lost himself in the theme. He showed his greatness
as a preacher by being nearly always equal to great occasions, although in his
esteem there were no small occasions. At associational meetings, with an
audience of thousands gathered in the grand temple of nature, his powers
acquired their freest play, his feeble form dilated and became instinct with
strange vigor, his long arms swung about him with Titanic energy, and his voice,
in tones of organ-thunder, poured out the sublime thoughts and emotions with
which he almost seemed inspired. Many of his sermons were-very memorable and
produced impressions which will long live in tradition. He never affected the
arts of the orator, though he naturally adopted many of the best rules of the
rhetorician and elocutionist. He spoke right on as his heart prompted, careless
of gesture, intonations and all the niceties of style and manner. Indeed, it was
unfortunate that he did not pay more attention to these minor matters. Had he
cultivated and disciplined his naturally fine voice, and pruned away certain
little infelicities of manner, and kept his pulpit forces more compactly
together and more thoroughly in hand, his preaching would have gained
considerably in its uniform impression. In his sermons, as in his writings, a
certain diffuseness of style and a negligence of minute graces, together with a
prolix tendency and a disposition to multiply divisions where differences were
not sufficiently broad, constituted his most serious faults. But on the whole,
while not a perfect pulpit model for imitation—as no minister is or should be
regarded—he was a preacher of such compass and force, such fidelity and
affection, such stately eloquence and childlike simplicity as is rarely
vouchsafed to the church of Christ.

  It is natural to think of Mallary as a preacher in connection with the
ministerial associates of his life. Of course it would be improper to compare
him with any of those brethren still living with whom he delighted to labor, and
it is a delicate task to institute a comparison between him and any of those
companions who are now sharing with him the heavenly rest. There is one name,
however, which involunturily starts up at the mention of Mallary, as if united
with it. We mean, of course, Dawson. This noble pair of brethren lived out their
days in mutual esteem and love. They preached much together, they were
singularly as one in their views of most subjects, and they co-operated heartily
in promoting the same great objects. In the pulpit they were somewhat alike, and
yet they were different. Dawson was more graceful, Mallary was more profound;
Dawson was more impassioned, Mallary was more thoughtful. Perhaps Dawson had
more genius; Mallary had more discipline and culture; Dawsou was more moving;
Mallary was more convincing; Dawson understood the nice cords of human nature
something better, and how to strike them; Mallary was more thoroughly acquainted
with great truths in their relations and harmony; Dawson's preaching was more
popular and immediately effective; Mallary's was better adapted to be put in
print and read at the fireside. It is instructive to reflect how little the
settlement of the question, "Who was the greater preacher?" concerns them as
they mingle in those associations where all the disputes and ambitions and
rivalries of earth seem so mean.

  Few men of his generation have been equally active and useful with Dr. Mallary
in promoting those great enterprises of benevolence which form so marked a
characteristic of our age. He was an early, zealous and persevering advocate of
the temperance cause. The claims of ministerial and general education found in
him a devoted and self-sacrificing friend and champion. Sabbath-school
instruction enlisted his warmest sympathy, and evoked some of the best
productions of his tongue and pen. The missionary work, whether foreign or
domestic, had not, perhaps, in the State of Georgia, another such toiling,
believing, praying friend. His was eminently a missionary spirit. He was
emphatically a working Christian, combining, in an extraordinary degree, the
active and contemplative elements of religious character. No danger that he
would rust out. As a useful man, who faithfully served his generation, he had in
his day few equals. Even should his name be forgotten, his influence will live
in the endless succession of gracious causes and effects, striking onward and
downward "to the last syllable of recorded time."

  It has been said of some eminent man, that nothing in his life so little
became him as his manner of leaving it. It was not so with Mallary. His death
was perfectly congruous with his life—just such as could have been desired, and
would have been expected. Without extraordinary pangs of physical suffering, in
full possession of all his mental faculties, soothed by the affectionate
ministries of his children, he sank to his rest as gently as a wave dies along
the shore when the storm has ceased. In the language of the finest epitaph of
pagan antiquity, "his death was the close of a beautiful day." At the earnest
solicitation of his friends, he had repaired to Magnolia springs, Sumter county,
Georgia, several weeks previous to his death. As his end drew near, he lay
completely passive in the divine hands. He said, "I am afraid to live, but not
afraid to die;" and yet he was resigned to remain or depart. All day long, and
most of the night, he discoursed concerning the Saviour and that heaven which
was so near. At times he became so intensely interested in these glorious
themes, that he would raise himself and sit erect in bed—a thing which
ordinarily he was unable to do without assistance—and deliver exhortations so
solemn and touching as to melt the most callous of his attendants to tears. When
admonished that such exertions would injure him, he replied, “It does not harm
me to talk of Jesus." He spoke much of his old friends, living and dead,
alluding particularly to Mercer, Sanders, Dawson and others who had gone before
and with whom he expected soon, to renew his intercourse. He thanked God for his
sufferings, as well as for his ease; and when asked, "Are you suffering much?'
replied, " Yes, some, but Jesus is in the room; the room is full of ministering
spirits!" His last words were, "SWEET" (clapping his hands,) "HOME!"

  His end was not so much a death as a transition and transfiguration—not so
much an unclothing, as a being clothed upon with the shining vestments of
immortality. In contemplating such a termination of life as this, such a perfect
euthanasy, we may well exclaim:

      Is there a deathbed, where a christian lies?
      Yes, but not his: 't is death himself that dies.

  This brief review of the life and labors of this great and good man would be
incomplete and unsatisfactory to his friends, and unjust to his character and
memory, if no notice were taken of the position he occupied in regard to the
great struggle for Southern independence, which was going on during the last
four years of his life, and was still undecided at the time of his death.   
"The lost cause" was, of all earthly concerns, the nearest and dearest to his
heart. Though he never took any part in politics—having rarely voted during a
period of forty years—yet few men better understood the structure and history of
the government, and no man was more devotedly attached to the Constitution and
the Union. He watched with intense interest the great political movements which,
from time to time, agitated the country, and mourned over the folly and
fanaticism of the people and rulers. For some years previous to the war, he
indulged the hope that our sectional difficulties might be settled, and that a
terrible struggle might be averted. But soon after the "John Brown Raid" in
Virginia, he went on a visit to his friends and relatives in his native State,
(Vermont,) and was convinced from what he saw and heard that war was inevitable.
In a letter to his oldest son he says: "I have no hope of the country. Nothing
but the power of a merciful God can save us from war and ruin. I fear that in
his wrath he will punish the wickedness of the people. The North seems blind to
its own interests, and determined to destroy us. The Constitution is no longer
respected, and the higher law doctrine is embraced by all classes. Infidelity is
on the increase, and religion in all the churches is sadly declining." His views
of the condition of affairs remained unchanged, and after his return to his home
he expressed the opinion that the union of the States would be severed, and
separate governments established, or that a great military government would
succeed, in which the South would be powerless.

  When the secession of the Southern States took place and they declared their
independence, he approved most heartily of their action and sanctioned it by his
vote. Though doubtful of our success, he never doubted the justice of our cause.
After the conflict of arms began, his heart and soul was in it. In addition to
the morning and evening family devotions, he spent half an hour of every
afternoon in prayer for the Confederacy. Not only did he pray for the cause, but
he contributed liberally of his means towards its support, believing that the
principles of both civil and religious liberty were involved in the issue. Of
African slavery, as it existed in the South, he was a zealous advocate, firmly
believing it was sanctioned by divine authority. He looked upon it as the means
appointed by providence for the civilization and evangelization of the African
race. The violation of the provisions of the Constitution he considered a great
sin; but the violation of God's providence by the abolition of slavery, he
considered a greater sin. He expressed the opinion that abolition would result
in the extermination of the negro race in America. In the last days of his life,
his interest in the great cause seemed to increase. He heard that Atlanta had
fallen: "Who knows, said he, but what I may be captured before I am called
away?" And when asked how he would feel about it, answered, "Well, I will say to
them, I am. a poor old rebel—do with me as you like."


Additional Comments:
From:

GEORGIA BAPTISTS: HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
BY
J. H. CAMPBELL,
PERRY, GEORGIA.


MACON, GA.: J. W. BURKE & COMPANY. 1874.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
J. H. CAMPBELL,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.


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