xt7mgq6qzr78 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7mgq6qzr78/data/mets.xml Eaton, T. T. (Thomas Treadwell), 1845-1907. 1904  books b92-83-27375985 English Baptist Book Concern, : Louisville, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Pendleton, J. M. (James Madison) 1811-1891. First annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Historical Society was held in Campbellsville, Kentucky, 8 P.M., June 14th, 1904  : so much of the exercises of the evening as pertain to the life of Rev. James Madison Pendleton are here preserved .ed ... / by Mr. and Mrs. B.F. Proctor. text First annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Historical Society was held in Campbellsville, Kentucky, 8 P.M., June 14th, 1904  : so much of the exercises of the evening as pertain to the life of Rev. James Madison Pendleton are here preserved .ed ... / by Mr. and Mrs. B.F. Proctor. 1904 2002 true xt7mgq6qzr78 section xt7mgq6qzr78 











James Madison Pendleton, D.D.


 































































REV. JAM1ES MADISON PENDLETON, D. D.

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 









     THE FIRST ANNUAL MEETING

                 OF THE

KENTUCKY BAPTIST HISTORICAL SOCETY

     Was Held in Campbellsville, Kentucky

           8 P. M., June 14th, 1904







    So Much of the Exercises of the Evening

           as Pertain to the Life of

REV. JAMES MADISON PENDLETON, D.D.




            Are Here Preserved

    In Tender and Loving Remembrance by

       Mr. and Mrs. B. F. PROCTER









              LOUISVILLE, KY.
          BAPTIST BOOK CONCERN
                  1904



L

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 

























INTPLODUCTORN

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 


















INTRODUCTORY



  The sixty-seventh annual meeting of the Bap-
tist General Association of Kentucky convened
with the Campbellsville Baptist Church June
15th, 1904.
  Preliminary to this meeting, and by courtesy
of the Baptist Ministers' Conference conven-
ing at that time, the choice hour of 8 p. m.,
June 14th, was given to the exercises of the
first annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist
Historical Society. The church was thronged
by a large and representative gathering of the
Baptists of Kentucky. The faces of the fath-
ers, full of sober recollections of the heroic
past, and the countenances of young men eager
to catch inspiration for future service, were
gathered together in sympathy with the pur-
poses of the new organization, and in the spirit
of this special occasion. The occasion would
be memorable not only for the reading of a
special paper upon the life and labors of Dr.
                                         7

 







Introductory.



J. M. Pendleton, but also for the unveiling, as
the property of the Society, of a superb oil
portrait of this man, whose life is so linked with
Kentucky Baptists. Accompanying the por-
trait there is also the gift to the Society of a
handsome set of Dr. Pendleton's Works. These
generous gifts are testimonials of love from
Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Procter, of Bowling Green,
Ky.
  When the Secretary of the Society, Rev.. J.
P. Jenkins, announced the absence of the Pres-
ident, Dr. W. J. McGlothlin, it formed a happy
incident that B. F. Procter, of Bowling Green,
whose personal interest in the occasion was
so close and tender, was unanimously called to
preside. This position he accepted with a few
appropriate words. The old hymn, "How firm
a foundation, ye saints of the Lord," was sung,
and Dr. J. S. Dill, the Bowling Green pastor,
being called upon to lead in prayer, invoked
the blessing of God upon the exercises, and
prayed that it might prove an inspiration to
future labors and toils in the upbuilding of the
Kingdom.
  Dr. T. T. Eaton, pastor of the Walnut Street
Baptist Church, then was introduced and read
his admirable paper on the Life and Charae
ter of Dr. Pendleton. From boyhood days Dr.



8

 






               Introductory.             9




Eaton had known Dr. Pendleton, had been
among his most intimate personal friends, and
had been called to take part in his funeral ob-
sequies. It was especially fitting that he should
speak from the fullness of his personal knowl-
edge.

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 
























PAPER. BY T. T. EATON, D.D., LL.D..

 
This page in the original text is blank.


 

















JAMES MADISON PENDLETON, D.D.
   [This paper was read by Rev. T. T. Eaton, D.D.,
      LL.D., before the Kentucky Baptist
         Historical Society, at Campbells-
            ville, June 14th, 1904.]


T  HACKERY says that it takes three genera-
      tions to make a gentleman.    So we
      begin with Henry Pendleton, grand-
father of the subject of our sketch. We find
him on July 7, 1774, presiding over a meeting
in Culpepper, Va., called "to consider the most
effective method to preserve the rights and
liberties of America." Of course he became
a soldier in the War of the Revolution, and
his letters home, which have been preserved,
prove him to have been a man of piety. One
of these letters from the army to his wife says:
"I hope the Lord has heard your prayers for
me."
  Henry Pendleton had four children-Mary,
Benjamin, Henry and John. The last was the
father of James Madison Pendleton, and his
record shows he was worthy of his father. John
                                       13

 




1Jamee8 Madi8on Pendeton.



Pendleton studied under Andrew Broaddus, of
Caroline county, Va., and at the close of his
course taught school. In 1806 he married Miss
Frances J. Thompson, an aunt of the Hon.
Richard J. Thompson, Secretary of the U. S.
Navy, under President Hayes. After his mar-
riage John Pendleton engaged in mercantile
pursuits, renting "Twyman's Store," in Spot-
sylvania county, and carrying on a general
trade. He, too, was an earnest Christian man.
  Of such lineage James Madison Pendleton
was born in Spotsylvania county, Va., Novem-
ber 20, 1811. He was named after the then
President Madison as a token of the regard
cherished for him by the Pendleton family.
James had two sisters, Mary and Frances, old-
er than himself. In 1812 the family moved to
Kentucky and settled on a 300-acre farm in
Christian county. There the boy grew up. At
nine years of age he started to school, and was
initiated into the mysteries of Webster's Spell-
ing Book and Murray's Grammar. EHis father
waas the teacher. He said of himself: "My tem-
per was bad in my boyhood, and when mad the
appearance of my face, as I once happened to
see it in a glass, was frightful. It was some-
times necessary for my father to whip me,
though I believe he never did so in school,"



14

 





James Madison Pendleton.



adding with characteristic modesty, "I richly
deserved every whipping I got."
  His childhood was spent in a little section
three by six miles, in which Jefferson Davis and
Roger Q. Mills grew up. He was not a very
strong boy, having frequently to take doses of
"nauseous medicine," but he was fond of play
and fun, and was a leader of the boys in their
sports. While the subject of many serious im-
pressions, especially under his mother's pray-
ers, he did not make profession of faith in
Christ till he was seventeen years of age. He
had a striking experience of grace, being con-
verted, after a season of deep penitence, while
praying in the forest under a tree. He was
baptized April 14, 1829, by Elder John S. Will-
son. In February following, to his surprise,
the church licensed him to preach, though he
did not preach a regular sermon for a year and
a half. Next year he took charge of a neigh-
borhood school, which he soon gave up because
some of the patrons were displeased that he
taught only six or seven hours a day.
  His first sermon was at West Union church,
ten miles west of Hopkinsville, on the fourth
Sunday in September, 1831, the text being "God
commandeth all men everywhere to repent."
Not long after he preached his second sermon,



15

 





James Madison Pendleton.



taking for his text "So Great Salvation." Writ-
ing of this years afterwards, he says: "I had
exhausted my scanty store of theology and
could think of no other subject on which I
could say anything." He studied with Robert
T. Anderson at Russellville, and presently
taught at a salary of 15 a month. In 1833 he
became pastor of Bethel and Hopkinsville
churches, giving two Sundays a month to each.
His salary was 100 a year from each church,
though Bethel soon made her salary 150 a
year. He now lived in Hopkinsville and
studied with Prof. J. D. Rumsey.
  On the 1st of January, 1837, he entered on
his pastorate at Bowling Green, where he be-
came eminent, and where he received the un-
heard-of salary of 400 a year. In October he
went to Louisville to aid in organizing the Gen-
eral Association of the Baptists of Kentucky,
which body he served for five years as clerk.
When the jubilee meeting of the Association
was held in Walnut Street Church, Louisville,
October, 1887, Dr. Pendleton was one of the
six survivors of the original body. These have
now all gone home. He made one of the jubilee
addresses, telling of the condition of the de-
nomination in Kentucky in 1837.
  It was in August, 1837, that a new coloring



16

 





James Madison Pendleton.



was given to his life. In company with John
L. Waller, he started to an Association. They
stopped in Glasgow and spent the night with
Richard Garnett, Esq., whose daughter Cath-
erine, then for the first time met our hero.
He says he was not favorably impressed at
first. How she was impressed is not on record.
Next day Miss Catherine, her brother, and
these two preachers rode thirty miles to the
Association, and that ride completed her con-
quest. It was not till October, however, that
the young preacher declared his love, and in
response she "said nothing." Near the close
of the year she consented, and in March, 1838,
Miss Catherine Stockton Garnett became Mrs.
James Madison Pendleton. A more happily
mated pair it has not been my good fortune to
know.
  Their bridal tour was taken after they had
visited friends in Bowling Green and relatives
in Christian county. The said bridal tour was
on horseback to Louisville and return, an in-
teresting account of which he gives in his Rem-
iniscences. Recollections of this bridal tour
were ever fresh in his mind, and he often took
pleasure in relating incidents connected with it.
  In 1844 he took a trip to Philadelphia to at-
tend the Triennial Convention. Of this trip he
kept a diary, which I wish to reproduce in the



17

 





James Madison Pendleton.



Western Recorder, and so it can be passed over
here. It is thoroughly characteristic of the
man. His impressions and his estimates of the
then leading men in the denomination are of
great interest.
  He remained pastor of Bowling Green till
1849, when he was persuaded to accept the call
to Russellville, where he had a hand in found-
ing Bethel College. He returned to Bowling
Green, however, after a year's absence. Here
he remained till the close of 1856, when he re-
moved to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to become pas-
tor of the Baptist church and Professor of The-
ology in Union University, of which my father
was President.  I remember my father's great
anxiety and his vigorous efforts to bring Dr.
Pendleton to Murfeesboro, as well as his great
joy in securing him. At my father's death,
January 12, 1859-whose funeral sermon he
preached from Acts 7:59, "Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit"-Dr. Pendleton became chairman
of the faculty and was acting President. He
also became associate editor of The Tennessee
Baptist and the Southwestern Baptist Review.
All this time he cultivated a farm adjoining
town.
  When the war came on, Dr. Pendleton, who
had all along favored the gradual emancipa-



18

 





James Madison Pendleton.



tion of the Negroes, took a decided stand for the
Union. And though the community almost
unanimously favored secession and the excite
ment was intense, such was the respect he com-
inanded that no insult was offered him. He was
never in personal danger, although he appre-
hended that he was so, all unconscious of the
profound regard everybody had for him.
  He continued as pastor and in cultivating
his farm, though the University was broken
up, until 1862, when he turned his face north-
ward, and made his way to Ohio, stopping to
visit friends in Kentucky on the way and nar-
rowly missed seeing his oldest son, who was in
Bragg's army, then on its Kentucky campaign.
This son's death in the battle of Perryville
was a great sorrow to the whole family. John
M. Pendleton was his name, and his body lies
in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville. He was a
noble man.
  Dr. Pendleton settled first in Hamilton, Ohio,
whence he removed in 1865 to Upland, Pennsyl-
vania, where he had a most happy pastorate
of eighteen years, and where he laid down pas-
toral work forever. He became one of the active
managers of the American Baptist Publica-
tion Society, and aided in founding Crozer
Theological Seminary. On the completion of



19

 





James Madison Pendleton.



fifty years in the ministry, he presented a pa-
per on the subject to the Baptist Ministers'
Conference in Philadelphia, that awakened very
great interest and called forth many compli-
ments.
  In 1883 he laid down his pastoral work. Un-
der his ministry the church at Upland greatly
prospered and sent forth two flourishing col-
onies. It cost him a severe pang to lay down
work he so loved, and with people who so loved
him; but he felt the time had come for him to
retire from the active ministry, though he re-
mained useful to the last, dying as was said
of Plato, with his pen in his hand.
  After resigning at Upland, he and Mrs. Pen-
dleton divided their time between their four
children-Mrs. Waters, at Murfreesboro; Mrs.
Waggener, at Austin, Texas; Mrs. Procter, at
Bowling Green, and Garnett Pendleton, Esq.,
in Philadelphia-children in every way worthy
of their parentage.
  On March 13, 1888, was celebrated their gold-
en wedding in the church at Bowling Green,
and in the home of the Hon. and Mrs. B. F.
Procter. It was a tenderly interesting occa-
sion. It was my privilege to be present and to
take part. The proceedings were broken up in
a most unique way, of which I will speak later.



20

 





James Madi8on Pendleton.



  It was on the 25th of January, 1891, in the
church in Bowling Green that he preached his
last sermon. His first sermon was on repent-
ance and his last on sin. At noon on March 4,
1891, he "fell asleep" and went to his reward.
It was my fortune to do for him what he had
done for both my father and my mother, viz.:
to conduct his funeral. Of course my text was
2 Tim. 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, I
have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

"Ne'er to those mansions where the weary rest,
Since their foundation came a worthier guest;
Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed,
A fairer spirit, a more welcome shade."

  Such is a brief sketch of the life of this great
and good man. Let us now consider the man.
Some incidents in his life that show his char-
acter were not mentioned in the sketch, but
were reserved for illustrating what manner of
man Dr. Pendleton was.

           PERSONAL APPEARANCE.

  He was kot what we would call a handsome
man, but he rose higher. He had a classic head
and erect stature, with an easy grace of move-
ment. There was something regal in the flash



21

 





James Madison Pendleton.



of his eye, and the expression of his face
showed rare benevolence. He attracted all who
saw him, and there was a subtle magnetism
that held them. His countenance was open,
and one felt no risk of being repelled in ap-
proaching him, and age did not mar his appear-
ance. It brought no stoop to his shoulders and
no cloud to his brow. That he was a born and
bred gentleman was manifest to all beholders.
Of medium size, he had a commanding pres-
ence, and would have been a marked man in
earth's proudest assembly. There was no pe-
culiarity of dress or manner. He did nothing
to attract attention, and never seemed to be
self-conscious.

                HIS WISDOM.

  He had perfect self-command. In an inti-
mate acquaintance covering many years, I
never knew him to manifest excitement or to
be flurried. He seemed to be master of every
situation. And he showed wisdom in dealing
with others as well as with himself. When he
became pastor in Hamilton, Ohio, there were
two factions of long standing in the church.
Neither side would make any advances toward
the other.   Yet Dr. Pendleton effectually
brought them together and healed the breach.



22

 




James Maclhon Pendleton.



After laboring with them he announced a
church meeting, and that certain seats were
reserved for those members of either faction
who were willing to be reconciled. Their tak-
ing these seats meant that they retracted every-
thing they had said offensive to others and
asked forgiveness. When the meeting opened
these seats were all filled with those who had
been at variance, and the breach was healed
without anybody's saying a word about it.
That was a master stroke. Well did the Bap-
tist Ministers' Conference of Philadelphia, in
formal resolution, declare that Dr. Pendleton
had "wisdom, ripened experience and good
taste."
  Another mark of his wisdom was that he
grew old sweetly and gracefully. He did not
resent the present in his recollections of the
past. The Persian proverb was not fulfilled
in his case-"The tendency of age is to sharp-
en the thorns and wither the flowers of life."
He was mellowed by age without being soured
or withered. His only regret at getting old
was that his power for usefulness was dimin-
ished. When in his last illness the doctors told
him he could not live, he replied: "Well, gentle-
men, you may be right, but I do not feel like
a dying man." What Coleridge said of Chan-



23

 




James Madison Pendlton.



ning was true of Dr. Pendleton, "He had the
love of wisdom and the wisdom of love."

                HIS MODESTY.

  In early life he was diffident, and while he
overcame that largely, there was always a resi-
duum of it that added to his modesty. He was
a brave man and never shrank from responsi-
bility, but he combined with high courage true
modesty-a very rare combination. He could
talk about himself without either self-deprecia-
tion on the one hand, or boasting on the other.
He would tell of his achievements as if he were
a sympathetic observer rather than the doer of
the deeds described. Note his letter of resig-
nation to the church at Upland and his book of
Reminiscences, his last and his sweetest book,
written for his childrens' sake and not at all
for his own. As Canon Liddon said of Dean
Mansell, Dr. Pendleton was "like all really
great men, so homelike, so simple, so unpresum-
ing, so perfectly indifferent to the opinions
which might be formed about him-not through
any contempt of other men, but through a low-
ly estimate of himself-that they who saw him
only on matters of ordinary business had no
real opportunity of taking his true moral and
intellectual measure."



24

 





James Madison Pendleton.



  Depreciating remarks and bitter words
against him did not rankle in his heart. He
would look at a bitter remark made about him
as complacently as he would view a compli-
ment. There was no vanity to breed and nour-
ish resentment. As Wordsworth said of James
Watt: "Re never sought display, but was con-
tent to work in that quietness and humility in
which alone all that is truly great and good
was ever done."


                HIS ABILITY.

  As a preacher, he was clear, strong and im-
pressive. Never impassioned, he was always
logical and tender. The hearer was sure the
preacher knew what he was talking about, and
ever felt that he had great reserved power be-
hind all that he said. He was mighty in the
Scriptures, holding with unyielding grasp to
"the faith once for all delivered to the saints."
While he never dazed or dazzled a congrega-
tion, he never failed to edify and uplift them.
His preaching never wore out. It was always
fresh and nourishing. That was a great meet-
ing he held at Upland, when he did all the
preaching, and from night to night unfolded the
way of life, until there were more than two



25

 





James Madison Pendleton.



hundred additions to the church, including
twenty-seven married couples. That is preach-
ing. He did not so much impress himself as the
truth. His hearers seldom thought to ask
whether he was a great preacher or not, so com-
I letely did he hide himself behind the great
truths he held forth. He was always accurate,
yet never dry; always logical, yet never heavy;
always strong, yet never dull. Each sermon
wias complete, and so easy to remember. I can
remember now sermons I heard him preach
when I was but a child. There was an evenness
in his preaching seldom seen.  He used no
thunderbolts and no platitudes. Always in-
tensely in earnest, he cared little for ornament-
ation in speech, and never attempted to soar.
He rose with the greatness of his theme, and
never by flights of oratory. His style was sim-
ple, clear, and strong, and he made no failures.
As Nordi said of Savonarola, "He was always
equal to himself." His style was what Justin
McCarthy claimed for Dr. Barry, "at once
strong and graceful, it penetrated with ease to
the inner meaning of every question it touched,
and illumined every point by some flash of
artistic or poetic fancy."
  As a writer, he took strong hold of the read-
er. HUs style was clear and strong in writing



26

 





James Madison Pendlkton.



as in preaching. He never wrote anything a
second time, holding that this habit fostered
carelessness in the writing. He first knew what
he wished to say, and then wrote it carefully,
and let it stand.
  His first book was "Three Reasons Why I
am a Baptist," and was the outcome of sermons
he preached at Liberty church. This book has
had a wide circulation on both sides of the At-
lantic, and has been translated into Swedish.
While associate editor of the Tennessee Bap-
tist he wrote the articles which were put into
a book that has had a marked influence in
Southern Baptist history-"An Old Landmark
Reset." This book called forth many replies,
and was a factor in a famous controversy. No
one can deny the wonderful strength of the
book. After thirty years' discussion, Dr. N.
M. Crawford, of Georgia, once President of
Georgetown College, said that this book had
never been answered.
  Dr. Pendleton's first written controversy was
with Alexander Campbell, a foeman worthy of
his steel. Mr. Campbell did not always treat
opponents with marked courtesy, but he so
treated Dr. Pendleton. The question debated
was the priority of repentance to faith.



27

 





James Madison Pendleton.



  As associate editor of the Southorn Baptist
Review, he wrote a number of solid and schol-
arly articles. He knew the New Testament,
making it a rule to study it through in the
Greek once every year. He wielded a Damascus
blade in debate. Take an example-Dr. T. 0.
Summers, of Nashville, a famous Methodist
divine, published a book on baptism, in which
he said: "So numerous are the works on bap-
tism, so worthless are most of them, so humble
are the claims of the author of the following
treatise, that he has not been without some un-
pleasant apprehension in regard to its fate, if
committed to the press." Again: "Many of
the works on baptism which teem from the
press are utterly worthless." Dr. Pendleton,
quoting his language, says: "The worthless
books referred to are, we suppose, Pedobaptist
works, for the author certainly does not feel
under obligation to supply any vacancy in the
theological literature of Baptists." Dr. Sum-
mers argued that eis in connection with bap-
tism does not mean into. After answering this
argument, Dr. Pendleton concludes: "What a
strange word this little eis is, if what the Pedo-
baptists say of it is true. It will take a man
into a house, into a ship, into a country, into
a city, into heaven, into hell-into any place



-28

 





Jamne8 Madison Pendleton.



in the universe except the water! Poor word!
afflicted, it seems, with hydrophobia."
  In 1868 he wrote his Church Manual, which
is a recognized standard among our churches.
A little later he wrote a capital treatise on the
Atonement, and a clearer or more satisfactory
discussion of that great subject, in such short
compass, does not exist. In 1878 he wrote
"Christian Doctrines," which many regard as
the best book on the subject. In 1881 he edited
and published the "Life and Times of Reuben
Ross," by James Ross. In 1884 he published
his "Notes on the New Testament," a book of
great practical value. Then two years later came
his "Notes of Sermons," a valuable addition
to our homiletical literature, which was highly
praised by Chas. H. Spurgeon, who said, "These
'Notes' are sound, searching, savory. They in-
struct and interest, edify and stimulate." In
1890, at the urgent request of his children, he
wrote his last work, "Reminiscenses of a Long
Life." He devoted two months to this book,
which is most delightful, not only for its facts,
but for its observations and opinions as well.

                 HIS PIETY.

  Dr. Pendleton was a man of profound piety.
He had the highest sense of honor and the



29 b

 





James Madison Pendleton.



strongest sense of duty. The first thing he ever
bought was a Bible. At the age of seventeen
he had an old-fashioned Holy Spirit conversion.
With a heart broken on account of his sins, he
read Samuel Davies' sermon on 1 Cor. 1:22, 24,
and while kneeling under a tree in the forest
he found the Saviour and enlisted in Christ's
service, in which he so long showed himself a
faithful soldier. He impressed his friends with
his thorough conscientiousness, and he never
flinched in his advocacy of truth, and so
aroused antagonisms, some of them bitter and
lasting. Never did he stop to count noses be-
fore taking his stand on any question that
arose, nor did he calculate who would stand
with him and who would be arrayed against
him. He asked only-what is true and right As
was said of John Bright, "he was ever ready to
lay his popularity on the altar of duty." He
was willing to make just as many and just as
bitter enemies as faithfulness to truth required.
He was a hero of the highest type-a hero of
truth. Several times did he say to me, what
he repeated just before dying: "My grand pur-
rose has been the establishment of truth."
Well did Dr. Martin B. Anderson write of him:
"Your fidelity to your convictions, whether
moral, religious, or political, has won for you



30

 





Jazzes Madison Pandleton.



the profoundest respect wherever you are
known."

  "He had no enemies, you say!
  My friend, your boast is poor;
  He who hath mingled in the fray
  Of duty, that the brave endure,
  Must have made foes. If he has none,
  Small is the work that he has done.
  He has hit no traitor on the hip,
  He has cast no cup from tempted lip;
  He has never turned the wrong to right,
  He has been a coward in the fight."

  James Russell Lowell says: "You can never
know a man's moral genuineness until you
know what he will do for a principle." Dr.
Pendleton loved Christ and His truth above
all else, and, while his devotion to truth, as
he saw it, made him bitter enemies, he was
never bitter at them in return. He had what
John Knox called "the spunk of Godliness,"
along with tender gentleness and broad charity.
"When he was reviled, he reviled not again."
Just before dying he said with a peculiar ten-
derness: "I have never attempted to disparage
anv other brother."
  At the Anniversaries in Washington in 1888,
Dr. Pendleton was called on to lead in prayer.



31

 





James Madison Pendleton.



A reporter of a daily paper remarked: -That
man prays as if he was used to it." Ah! how
we need such men to-day! We can say of Pen-
dleton as Wordsworth said of Milton:

"Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart;
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the
   sea,
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free;
So didst thou travel on life's common way
To cheerful godliness, and yet thy heart
The lowliest duties on itself did lay."

              MRS. PENDLETON.

  Any account of Dr. Pendleton would be sadly
incomplete which did not tell of the noble wo-
man who for so many years was a true help-
meet for him, and who so richly blessed his
life. He ever felt his great obligation to her,
and ever treated her with the greatest respect
and the tenderest devotion. In his trials she
was his chief earthly comfort. Always cheer-
ful, she overcame in him any tendency to de-
spondency in sorrow and trial. Her ready tact
smoothed his path, and her intelligent love
strengthened him for his great work. She was
his chief earthly dependence, and she had a
large share in his achievements. He said of her:



32



 































































MRS. CATHERINE STOCKTON (ARNETT PENDI)LETON

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 





James Madison Pendleton.



"She has been more than all the world to me.
In times of prosperity and times of adversity,
in days of joy and days of sorrow, I have ever
heard her voice encouraging and blessing me."
At the Jubilee meeting in Louisville she was
present, though blind from the effects of cat-
aract, and in his address there he said: "She,
the wife of my young manhood, of my middle
age, and of my old age, is here to enjoy these
exercises. Deprived of sight, she can only hear
your voices. How glad she would be to see
your faces, especially the face of the Walnut
street pastor, whose father and mother she so
much admired and loved thirty years ago. But
it cannot be. Still, there is comfort unspeak
able in the thought that there is in reserve wh'at
the 'old theologians' called the 'beatific vision.'
The saints are to 'see His face.' They are to
behoid the Lamb in the midst of the throne."
  Never in her blindness did Mrs. Pendleton
utter the slightest complaint. With her re-
mark-able energy she continued to teach her
Sunday School class, though she could not see
them, and her happy cheerfulness brightened
all who tiame into her presence.
  At the golden wedding in the churth at
Bowling Green, Mrs, Peudleton sat in front,
beside her honored husband. After I had tried



33

 





James Madison Pendleton.



to speak according to appointment, and found
myself, in the flood of tender memories, unable
to say what I had intended, Dr. Pendleton
arose to respond. Speaking of God's blessing
upon the marriage whose fiftieth anniversary
we were there to celebrate, he spoke of his in-
debtedness to his wife, and turning to her said:
"Now, dearest one, it is fitting that I speak a
word or two to you. There is no earthly ob-
ject so dear to my heart. You are not as you
were fifty years ago to-night. Then, with elas-
tic step, you walked with me to the marriage
altar, and we pledged to each other our vows
of loyalty and love. I do not recognize that
elastic step now. Then your face was fresh
and blooming; now the freshness and the bloom
are gone, and wrinkles have taken their place,
while gray hairs adorn your head. Then, and
for forty-six years afterward, the expression
of your mild blue eyes was always a benedic-
tion; now that expression is no longer seen, for
blindness has taken the place of sight. But,
with these changes in you, my love has not
changed. Bodily affliction has not eclipsed the
intellectual and spiritual excellencies of your
character. You are the same to me, and no
kiss during half a century has been more deeply
expressive of my love than the one I now give



34

 




         James Mliadon Pendleton.      35




you." Then he stooped over and kissed her up-
turned face. They had arranged for singing,
but no one there could sing, and the meeting
closed in tears.

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 























UNVEILING OF THE PORTRAIT

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 


















UNVEILING OF PORTRAIT



W     ITH the closing sentences of this tribute
       to a noble life and character both the
       reader and the congregation were in
tears. Then by happy inspiration the male
quartette arose and sung with melting pathos
the sweet gospel hymn, "Wonderful Peace."
  The presentation of the portrait was next
in order. Dr. J. N. Prestridge was fittingly
chosen for this impressive ceremony. He was
one whose youth had caught the power and in-
spiration of intimate personal touch with the
declining years of Dr. Pen