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Title: Life of Charles T. Walker, D.D.
       ("The Black Spurgeon") Pastor Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, New
       York City

Author: Silas Xavier Floyd

Commentator: Robert Stuart MacArthur

Release Date: April 13, 2021 [eBook #65081]

Language: English

Character set encoding: UTF-8

Produced by: hekula03, Mike Stember and the Online Distributed
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF CHARLES T. WALKER,
D.D. ***




  LIFE
  OF
  CHARLES T. WALKER, D. D.,
  (“THE BLACK SPURGEON.”)
  PASTOR MT. OLIVET BAPTIST CHURCH, NEW YORK CITY.


  BY
  SILAS XAVIER FLOYD, A. M.

  WITH AN
  INTRODUCTION
  BY
  ROBERT STUART MacARTHUR, D. D.

  NASHVILLE, TENN.:
  NATIONAL BAPTIST PUBLISHING BOARD.
  1902.

  Copyrighted 1902,
  By Silas Xavier Floyd, A. M.

[Illustration: DR. CHARLES T. WALKER, 44 YEARS OF AGE.]




  INTRODUCTION.


There is no species of literary composition more difficult than the
writing of a good biography. Biographers are under a great temptation
at times to create, or at least to magnify, the virtues of their
subjects; and the temptation is not less on other occasions to deny, or
greatly to minify, their vices. The biographies of Holy Scripture are
models of biographical literary production. Inspired writers neither
extenuate the defects nor magnify the excellencies of their subjects;
extenuating nothing on the one hand, they do not, on the other, set
down aught in malice. The excellence of the inspired writings in this
regard differentiates them from the uninspired writings of any country
or century.

But while to biographize is a confessedly difficult task, it is at
the same time universally admitted to be a form of literary production
of great value, when properly executed. A biography is generally
understood to be the history of the life, actions and character of a
particular person; it is that form of history proper whose subject
is described in the facts and events of his individual experience.
Carlyle, in his “Sartor Resartus,” says: “Biography is by nature the
most universally profitable, universally pleasant of all things.” He
also elsewhere says: “There is no heroic poem in the world but is at
bottom a biography, the life of a man.” He has frequently expressed the
idea that history is biography; that the history of any nation is the
story of the lives of its great men. In a profound sense this statement
is literally true. We thus see that peculiar ability is required
accurately to write the life of any representative man. His forbears
for many generations ought to be accurately known; his environment, in
all its essential characteristics, ought to be thoroughly mastered.
The times partly make men, and men partly make their time; each acts
and reacts upon the other. Neither can be exhaustively described
independent of the other.

The difficulty of writing good biographies is so great that
comparatively few great biographies have been written. All the world
is familiar with the unique biography of Johnson by Boswell. It has
excited hearty laughter, while it has imparted valuable information.
Lockhart’s Life of Scott and Lady Holland’s Life of Sydney Smith, fill
almost a unique place in biographical literature. G. Otto Trevelyan’s
Life of Lord Macaulay and Hallam Tennyson’s Life of his father are
among the more recent and valuable illustrations of the biographical
literature of modern times.

The word biography comes from two Greek words, _bios_, life, and
_graphein_, to write. In order that there should be a good biography,
it is necessary, therefore, that there should be a life nobly lived,
and a writer competent to describe it in fitting terms. In the
biography of Rev. Charles T. Walker, D. D., by Rev. Silas X. Floyd, D.
D., both these conditions are excellently met. By his careful literary
training, his wide experience as a writer, and his intimate knowledge
of the history of Dr. Walker, Dr. Floyd is eminently fitted to write a
readable account of Dr. Walker’s life and work. He has been associated
in newspaper, pastoral and evangelistic work with Dr. Walker for the
past twenty years. When Dr. Walker was business manager of the Augusta
Sentinel, Dr. Floyd was its editor; and when Dr. Walker resigned the
pastorate of the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga., Dr. Floyd
became his successor. He thus has had unusual opportunities to study
Dr. Walker’s public and private life day by day for nearly a quarter of
a century. Dr. Floyd is a graduate of Atlanta University, Georgia, from
which institution he received the degree of A. M., three years after
his graduation. For three years he was employed by the International
Sunday School Convention as one of its Field Workers in the South. He
is at present in the employ of the American Baptist Publication Society
as a Missionary for Georgia and Alabama. The degree of “Doctor of
Divinity” was conferred upon him by Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Ga.,
June 4, 1902.

There is probably no other Negro in the United States, and perhaps
no other in the world, who is a better subject for a biography than
Charles T. Walker. Many will affirm that Booker T. Washington is the
most prominent representative of his race in America; doubtless, in his
special department of effort for his people, he is the representative
Negro. But all intelligent men, black or white, familiar with the
facts, will say that Dr. Walker is the ablest Negro preacher and pastor
in the United States. His racial characteristics are so strongly
emphasized that the most bitter opponent of his race cannot attribute
his acknowledged ability as thinker, writer and preacher to any
interfusion of white blood in his veins. He is a Negro in every drop
of his blood. Dr. Walker had careful training as a preparation for
the work of the gospel ministry. Too many men, both white and black,
rush into the ministry with quite inadequate preparation. The time has
come when the apostolic injunction, “Lay hands suddenly on no man,”
must be literally obeyed. This injunction is especially important in
its relation to preachers and pastors of Negro churches. They are the
natural and powerful leaders of their people. This is a transition
period for the millions of the Negro race in America. Tremendously
important racial problems are now demanding solution. Whites and
blacks, both North and South, must have great patience with one another
in the presence of these pulsing problems. Right solutions will
eventually come; and all men must remember that no question is settled
truly until it is settled rightly.

Dr. Walker has been an earnest student ever since his school days. He
has traveled widely, read extensively and thought profoundly. In all
these respects he has set a good example to all preachers and pastors.
There is no standing still in professional life. If a man does not
advance, he must retrograde; if he does not grow up, he must grow down.
Every preacher is like a man on a bicycle--he must go on constantly or
go off speedily.

Dr. Walker’s ministry in New York has been remarkable for pulpit power
and for practical results. His ministry in this city is a distinct
accession to the pulpit force of the entire church, irrespective of
denominational divisions and creedal distinctions. Perhaps in the
entire history of the city no pastor of any church ever had so many
accessions to the membership of his church in the same length of time
as Dr. Walker has had.

A great future still awaits his ministerial labors. Marvellous
possibilities are before his race in America. Booker Washington, Dr.
Walker, and a few great Negroes, are wisely training their people
for a noble future; they are teaching their people that the time for
pitying them, and coddling them, as well as for abusing, not to say
lynching, them has passed, never to return. They must take their place
as men and women among the men and women of the hour. They are to be
neither babied nor bullied; neither petted nor pampered; they ought
only to expect and demand simple justice; on their behalf these great
leaders demand nothing more, and they will be satisfied with nothing
less. To deny them simple justice would be an unspeakable reproach to
the dominant race in America. Dr. Walker’s greatest days as preacher
and pastor are still in the future. That he and his race may worthily
perform their whole duty, and grandly attain their high destiny is the
sincere desire of every true man, earnest patriot, and devout Christian.

This volume ought to be widely circulated and generally studied. It
will give genuine inspiration to all men, white or black, who are
struggling for higher and better things for time and eternity. Its
general circulation will greatly help the Negro toward the realization
of his laudable ambitions as a man, a citizen and a churchman.

                           Robert Stuart MacArthur.

  Study, Cavalry Baptist Church, New York.




  DEDICATION.


  To
  THE YOUNG MEN OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA
  This Volume Is Respectfully Dedicated by
  THE AUTHOR.




  PREFACE.


For the combination of shrewd common sense, fine executive ability,
ready speech, genial acceptance of conditions, optimistic faith in the
future of his race and self-sacrificing zeal in their behalf, Booker
T. Washington stands easily first among the nine million Negroes of
America. The greatest claim that has yet been made by the Negro in
English Literature, according to the most competent critics, has been
made by Paul Laurence Dunbar, who, for the first time in our language,
has given literary interpretation of a very artistic completeness to
what passes in the hearts and minds of a lowly people. The greatest
claim that has been made by the Negro in the field of scholarship has
been made by W. E. Burghardt DuBois, Ph. D., the eminent sociologist.
But not more certain is it that Washington stands first in the list
of Negro educators, and Dunbar first in the list of Negro poets and
literary men, and DuBois first among scholars, than that the Rev.
Charles T. Walker, D. D., who is popularly called “The Black Spurgeon,”
stands first among eminent and successful Negro preachers.

Dr. Walker’s father died the day before Dr. Walker was born. His
mother died when he was only eight years old. The first seven years
of his life he was a slave. Becoming an orphan one year after
emancipation, the years of his youth and young manhood were years of
great hardship and privation. In this respect, his early life resembled
that of other distinguished men of humble origin who have been a power
in the world, and whose names have an honorable place on the pages of
history. The prophetic reference to Christ, “Though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto
me that is to be ruler in Israel,” has been paralleled in human lives
by a host of men whose names and deeds are recorded in history, sacred
and profane. From the anointing of the Bethlehemite shepherd boy as
King of Israel to the present time, history has furnished innumerable
illustrations of the providential selection of men from obscure
localities and unpretentious surroundings for great responsibilities
and important fields of influence. Again and again, in the history of
our own country, we have had memorable examples of men who have left
an undying influence, whose early life was without friends, and whose
heritage was void of patrimony. Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield,
Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, George W. Childs, Henry Wilson,
Stephen Girard, Horace Greeley, and a host of others were such men.

One of the most profitable uses of history is the narrative of such
lives. Having this in mind, it is safe to say that there is no species
of writing of more value than biography. It inspires the young to
nobler purposes, develops higher resolves, and proves an incentive to
the laudable imitation of men who in prominent positions have proved
true to principle and duty. It is in this spirit and with this thought
in mind, that I undertake to write the story of the life of Dr. Walker.
I confess to a great degree of admiration for the man; I glory in
his career; I thought that the story of his life ought to be told; I
believe that the telling of his life story will do much to encourage,
inspire and incite to new endeavor thousands of young colored men all
over the land, who need to be encouraged and inspired, and who, because
of the peculiar environments of American civilization, find so little
to incite them to high resolves, honest endeavors and upright lives.
If, therefore, the story of Dr. Walker’s life as told by me shall
encourage, inspire or incite one single human being, I shall have my
reward.

                                         Silas Xavier Floyd.
  Augusta, Ga., February 1, 1902.

[Illustration: THE HOUSE IN WHICH CHARLES T. WALKER WAS BORN. STILL
STANDING NEAR HEPHZIBAH, GA.]




  CONTENTS


  CHAPTER I.

  PARENTAGE AND BIRTH                                                19

  Ancestry--Character of Dr. Walker’s Father--Dr. Walker’s
  Uncles--Dr. Walker’s Birth--Character of Dr. Walker’s
  Mother--W. A. Clark’s Tribute--A Generation of
  Preachers--Dr. Walker the Greatest of Them All.


  CHAPTER II.

  EARLY CHILDHOOD                                                    25

  Richmond County During the Slave Period--The Hardships of
  Slavery--The Evils of Slavery--Dr. Walker Becomes an
  Orphan--His Strange Conversion--Joins Franklin Covenant Baptist
  Church.


  CHAPTER III.

  THE STUDENT PERIOD                                                 29

  First Taught by His Mother--Yankee Teachers--Enters the Augusta
  Institute--Dr. Joseph T. Robert--Dr. Walker’s Struggles--Ready
  to Leave School--Students Come to Rescue--Others Interested--Mr.
  Bierce’s Narrative--Dr. Walker’s Failure to Graduate--His
  Ordination.


  CHAPTER IV.

  EARLY PASTORATES                                                   35

  The Call to Franklin Covenant Baptist Church--Other
  Calls--Strange Custom of Negro Preachers--Dr. Walker Teaches
  School--Some of His Early Pupils--His Marriage--The Work at
  LaGrange.


  CHAPTER V.

  THE WORK AT AUGUSTA                                                39

  The Call to Central Baptist Church--The Unholy Wrangle Prior to
  His Call--His First Sermon--New Life for a Time--The
  Troubles Renewed--Central Baptist Church Sold--Tabernacle
  Baptist Church Organized--New Church Dedicated--Wonderful
  Record--The Pastor Goes North--Justin Dewey Fulton’s
  Commendation--Dr. Walker’s Report on His Return.


  CHAPTER VI.

  OTHER WORK AT AUGUSTA                                              47

  Business Manager of the Augusta Sentinel--Founder of the Walker
  Baptist Institute--A Dream for the Future--Director-General
  of the Negro Exposition--The Exposition--Lends a Helping Hand
  to Many.


  CHAPTER VII.

  INFLUENCE IN GEORGIA                                               55

  Offices Held--Public Addresses--Interest in Public
  Affairs--As an Evangelist--Securing Competent Leaders for
  Churches and Schools--Dr. Walker’s Unselfishness.


  CHAPTER VIII.

  THE VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND                                         59

  Provision for the Trip--Traveling Companions--Itinerary--Preaches
  at Mount Olivet Baptist Church on His Way--His Return--His
  Account of the Journey--On the Lecture Platform.


  CHAPTER IX.

  A COLORED MAN ABROAD                                               69

  Extracts From Dr. Walker’s Writings--Tribute to the Sea--First
  Sabbath at Sea--Spurgeon’s Tabernacle--A Storm on the
  Mediterranean--Manners and Customs of the East--The Testimony
  of the Mountain--Drifting on Life’s Ocean--Anarchy--Warning.


  CHAPTER X.

  AS A NATIONAL FIGURE                                               77

  First National Baptist Convention--Dr. Walker one of the
  Founders--His Reply to Rev. H. C. Bailey--Resolutions
  Adopted--A National Leader--At Indianapolis--“A Strong Man in a
  Crisis”--Receives His Degree--Offices Held in National Baptist
  Convention--Chaplain U. S. V.--Vice President International
  Sunday School Convention--Calls to Other Churches.


  CHAPTER XI.

  CHAPLAIN U. S. V.                                                  83

  At San Luis, Cuba--Great Crowds Hear Account of
  Experiences--Resolutions Passed.


  CHAPTER XII.

  AS AN EVANGELIST                                                   88

  Sphere Limited--Powers as an Evangelist--The New York
  Campaign--At Atlanta--In Kansas City.


  CHAPTER XIII.

  LEAVES AUGUSTA--GOES TO NEW YORK                                   98

  Resignation of Augusta Church--Efforts to Retain Him--Last
  Sunday Night in Augusta--Mt. Olivet Church--His
  Success--Officers of Mt. Olivet Church.


  CHAPTER XIV.

  COLORED MEN’S BRANCH Y. M. C. A.                                  108

  Movement Started--Adopted by City Association--Secretary
  Coles--Obituary--Board of Management--Mr. Dugas--Miss
  Connelly--A Perpetual Monument to the Founder.


  CHAPTER XV.

  CALLED TO AUGUSTA AGAIN                                           115

  The Recall--Mass Meeting in New York--Letter of Dr.
  Bitting--Speech of Col. Powell--Mass Meeting at
  Augusta--Dr. Walker’s Decision.


  CHAPTER XVI.

  EXTRACTS FROM SERMONS                                             125

  What Hath God Wrought--Go Forward--Infallible
  Proofs of the Resurrection.


  CHAPTER XVII.

  EXTRACTS FROM ORATIONS AND ADDRESSES                              138

  Eulogy on President McKinley--Reply to Hannibal Thomas--The
  Golden Rule as an Individual Motto--An Appeal to Cæsar--Colored
  Men for the Twentieth Century.


  CHAPTER XVIII.

  EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS                                          155

  The Examiner--Sun--World--Journal--Tribune--Times--Augusta
  (Ga.) Chronicle--Fall River (Mass.) Evening News--Georgia
  Baptist--Augusta Chronicle--Georgia Baptist.


  CHAPTER XIX.

  ANECDOTES                                                         171

  “The Black Sturgeon”--Reading and Counting for Negroes--Praying
  for Money--Praying for Converts--About Jay Birds--Early
  Religious Impressions--Electing a Church Treasurer--Dr.
  Walker’s Complexion--The Negro a Novelty.


  CHAPTER XX.

  APPEARANCE, MANNERS, HABITS                                       178

  Description--Still a Rustic--Democratic--Remarkable
  Memory--Shy--His Sermons--The Bible and the Newspaper--Hunting
  and Fishing--Love for Little Children.


  CHAPTER XXI.

  TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS                                        184

  Patience--Motto of Dr. Walker’s Life--The Faithful Minister and
  His Trials--Humility--Gratitude--Other Characteristics--Not
  a Perfect Man.


  CHAPTER XXII.

  CONCLUSION                                                        191

  God’s Best Gift to Man--The Magnetism of Goodness--Scope of
  Influence--Goodness is Communicable--The Real Forces of Life.




  LIFE OF
  CHARLES T. WALKER, D. D.




  CHAPTER I.

  PARENTAGE AND BIRTH.

It has long been a mooted question as to which State in the Union
produces the best class of Negroes. Though there are no scientific
data from which to draw definite conclusions, it is very generally
agreed that the best Negroes--the most intellectual, most industrious,
wealthiest, and the best behaved Negroes--come either from Virginia
or Georgia. If that be true, then, if one is so fortunate as to be a
native Georgian with Virginia ancestors, or _vice versa_, he ought to
be considered a Negro of superior birth, to say the least. Viewed in
this light, Charles Thomas Walker was born to superiority. In 1773, a
family of Negroes was brought from Virginia to Burke County, Georgia,
by the grandfather of the late Col. A. C. Walker, who was a prominent
Georgia planter and politician and who for many years was a member of
the Georgia legislature. In 1880, Col. Walker, writing of the Negro
Walkers who had descended from the family brought to Georgia by his
grandfather, said: “As slaves, they were noted for their admirable
qualities, and as freedmen they have sustained their reputation.”

Charles Thomas Walker was the fourth in descent from this family. His
father was a man of the name of Thomas Walker, and was one of three
brothers. Thomas Walker was his master’s coachman--a position which
only the best and most trustworthy slaves were allowed to hold, and
a position which the slaves themselves always considered as a place
of honor. The fact, also, that he was a deacon in the church of which
he was a member attests the esteem in which he was held by the other
slaves. Two of Charles T. Walker’s uncles, Joseph T. Walker and Nathan
Walker, were both Baptist ministers. The Franklin Covenant Baptist
Church, about five miles from Hephzibah, Ga., and only a short distance
from the Burke County line, was organized for the colored people in
1848. In 1852 or 1853, this church, though its membership was made up
of slaves, raised the necessary amount and purchased the freedom of
the Rev. Joseph T. Walker, at that time their pastor, in order that he
might devote himself entirely to his church work and to the preaching
of the gospel in the counties of Richmond, Jefferson and Burke. In this
work, Rev. Joseph T. Walker continued until the close of the war. The
Rev. Nathan Walker, though a licensed preacher before the war, was not
ordained to the ministry until 1866, when he succeeded his brother as
pastor of the Franklin Covenant Baptist Church.

In 1848, Thomas Walker was married to a young woman of the name of
Hannah Walker. To them eleven children were born--six females and five
males. On the 5th day of February, 1858, near Hephzibah, Richmond
County, Ga., about sixteen miles southwest of Augusta, their youngest
child--Charles Thomas Walker--was born. Thomas Walker, the father, was
buried the day before Charles was born, having died of pneumonia. Mrs.
Hannah Walker survived her husband eight years, dying in Augusta, Ga.,
in 1866. It is related of her that she was a woman of unusual piety and
strength of character, being a devout member of the Franklin Covenant
Baptist Church, of which her husband was a deacon. She had high hopes
and fond expectations for her youngest child, and longed to live to see
him make a great and good man of himself, and especially so, because
of the sad death of his father which occurred only two days before the
child was born. God willed otherwise, and took her home to be with him
and to watch from the “high and uplifted” battlements of glory the
career of her son.

The following tribute to Mrs. Hannah Walker is taken from “Under the
Stars and Bars; or Memories of Four Years’ Service with the Confederate
Army.” This book was written by Mr. Walter A. Clark, Treasurer
of Richmond County, Ga. Mr. Clark was a prominent officer in the
Confederate Army; he is a graduate of Emory College (Georgia), and a
literary man of great merit; he is a nephew of the late Col. Walker,
already quoted in this book, was reared along with the black Walkers
and knows whereof he speaks. His tribute to Mrs. Walker is no less a
credit to the memory of the deceased than it is a testimony of the
goodness of heart and magnificent manhood of the writer.

 “My heart prompts me to pay its earnest tribute to one whose memory
 the sketch above recalls--dear old Aunt Hannah. How her name brings
 back to my heart and life to-day the glamour of the old, old days that
 will never come again--days when to me a barefoot boy, life seemed
 a long and happy holiday! I can see her now, her head crowned with a
 checkered handkerchief, her arms bare to the elbows, her spectacles
 set primly on her nose, while from her kindly eyes there shone the
 light of a pure white soul within! She was only an humble slave, and
 yet her love for me was scarcely less than that my father and mother
 bore me; and when, on a summer’s day in 1861, my brother and myself
 left the old homestead to take our humble places under a new born
 flag, there was not a dry eye on the whole plantation, old Aunt Hannah
 wept in grief as pure and deep as if the clods were falling on an own
 child.

 “Long years have come and gone since she was laid away in the narrow
 house appointed for all the living. No marble headstone marks the
 spot, yet I am sure the humble mound that lies above her sleeping dust
 covers a heart as honest and as faithful, as patient and as gentle, as
 kindly and as true, as any that rests beneath the proudest monument
 that art could fashion or affection buy. She reared a large family
 of children, the Rev. Charles T. Walker, ‘The Black Spurgeon,’ among
 them, and transmitted to them all a character for honesty and virtue
 marked even in those, the better days of the Republic.

 “Wisely or otherwisely, in the order of Providence, or in the order of
 Napoleon’s ‘heavier battalions,’ we have in this good year of our Lord
 (1900) not only a New South, but a new type of Aunt Hannah. The old
 is, I fear, a lost Pleiad, whose light will shine no more on land or
 sea or sky.”

The Walker family produced a number of able and successful
preachers--some say more, some say less. As already shown, two of Dr.
Walker’s uncles--Joseph T. Walker and Nathan Walker--were ministers.
The latter is still living, venerated and honored, at the good old age
of 85. He was one of the founders of the Walker Baptist Association,
and was for more than twenty years its moderator, retiring about ten
years ago on account of the infirmities of old age. The Association
was named in honor of the Rev. Joseph T. Walker. The Walker Baptist
Institute at Augusta, named also for the Rev. Joseph T. Walker, was
founded by this Association and has been for many years supported
by it. In all respects the Walker Baptist Association is to-day the
leading Association in Georgia. An older brother of Dr. Walker, the
Rev. Peter Walker, now retired on account of age, was, in his day, a
man of great force and power in the pulpit. A nephew of Dr. Walker, the
Rev. Prof. Joseph A. Walker, son of Rev. Peter Walker, was up to the
time of his death, about eight years ago, the honored and successful
Principal of Walker Baptist Institute. Besides these, there are two
first cousins of Dr. Walker who are among Georgia’s most distinguished
clergymen--the Rev. W. G. Johnson, D. D., Pastor of the First Baptist
Church, Macon, Ga., who is Secretary of the Walker Baptist Association,
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Walker Baptist Institute, and
a member of the Board of Trustees of the Atlanta Baptist College; and
the Rev. R. J. Johnson, Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Millen,
Ga., and Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the Walker Baptist
Institute. Other cousins in the ministry are the Rev. Samuel C. Walker,
Augusta, Ga., Rev. A. J. Walker, Millen, Ga., Rev. T. W. Walker,
Wrightsville, Ga., Rev. Solomon Walker, Savannah, Ga., Rev. Matthew
Walker, Savannah, Ga., an elder in the C. M. E. Church, and Rev.
Nathan Wilkerson, Waynesboro, Ga. In addition to these, there are many
of this family who were once in the ministry of earth, but who have
long since gone to join the ministry on high.

Descended from a generation of preachers, Dr. Walker towers above
them all like Saul among his brethren. So great is his fame and so
celebrated has he made the name of Walker that the other members of the
family find it a passport in many places for them to make it known that
they belong to the generation of Walkers.




  CHAPTER II.

  EARLY CHILDHOOD.


The first seven years of young Walker’s life were spent under the hard
tuition of slavery, though, of course, he cannot have any very vivid
recollections of the hardships of those days. It is fair, nevertheless
to assume that his lot was not different from that of thousands and
thousands of other black children in different parts Of the South.
Richmond County, one of the large “Black Belt” counties of Georgia,
which had then, and which has to this day, a larger black than white
population, was in no respect different in its slave customs and
regulations from other slave communities, excepting possibly the
religious privileges enjoyed by the slaves. They had their own churches
and enjoyed for the most part the ministrations of colored preachers,
such as they were. They had their own houses of worship, their own
church officials, and held regular and stated religious meetings.
This was true in only a very limited number of places in the South
during the slave period. In this respect, Richmond County was somewhat
in advance of other localities. But only in this respect. In other
matters, it was the same in Richmond County as elsewhere. The slaves
received regular rations or allowances. The monthly ration consisted
of eight pounds of pickled pork or its equivalent in fish. The pork
was often tainted and the fish of the poorest quality. With this,
they had one bushel of unbolted Indian meal, of which quite fifteen
per cent. was fit only for pigs, and one pint of salt. This was the
entire monthly allowance for a full grown slave. The children had no
regular allowance, and often were compelled to dispute with dogs and
cats and pigs over the scraps thrown into the yard or into the swill
tub. Children not large enough to work in the field had neither shoes,
stockings, jackets nor trousers given them. Their clothing consisted
of two coarse tow linen shirts per year, and when these were worn out,
they were literally naked until the next allowance day. Flocks of
children from five to ten years old might be seen on the plantations as
destitute of clothing as any little heathen in Africa, and this even
in the cold and dreary months of winter. These children had no school
advantages--certainly not. It was made a misdemeanor by law to teach
a colored person to read or write. These children had no home life.
The night for the slave--male and female--was shortened at both ends.
The slaves worked as long as they could see, and were usually up late
cooking and mending for the coming day, and at the first gray streak
of the morning were summoned to the fields by the driver’s horn. Young
mothers working in the field were allowed to go home about ten o’clock
in the morning to nurse their children. Sometimes they were compelled
to take their children with them and leave them in the corners of the
fences in order to prevent loss of time. John Wesley, the founder of
Methodism, who got his knowledge of slavery while sojourning in the
colony of Georgia, did not err when he denounced slavery as “the sum of
all villainies.”

In such a school as this, Charles Thomas Walker received his early
training. How different from the early training of such men as Henry
Wilson, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, James A. Garfield, Daniel
Webster, Henry Clay, and other white men who were born to poverty.
Though these men were born in humble circumstances, yet they were
born to freedom. Charles Thomas Walker was born poor, and--what was
worse--he was born a slave. These men owned at least themselves;
they were free to go wherever they desired or to pursue any course of
study or line of work that they wished. Charles Thomas Walker owned
nothing--not even himself--and was compelled to go wherever his
master ordered and do whatever his master commanded.

As to this slave system, the ancient question might well be asked, “Can
any good thing come out of Nazareth?” And the reply is,

    “Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
    The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
    Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
    And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”

And how we thank God that we can write of this dreadful system of
iniquity in the past tense. It did crush and cower so much of genius
and intellectual strength and moral grandeur, and did send to their
graves without opportunity and without chance thousands and thousands
who, under any just and equitable scheme of civilization, might have
proved God’s noblest friends and humanity’s strongest helpers!

By the exigency of war and the interposition of Jehovah, slavery in
America was brought to an end in 1865. One year later young Walker’s
mother died. From this time on young Charles was left to his own
resources. Moving about as best he could from one relative to another,
finally, in 1873, he went to work as a farm hand for his uncle, the
Rev. Nathan Walker. This uncle had by this time come to be a large
planter in his own right, and was renting hundreds of acres of land
from his former masters.

Wednesday before the first Sunday in June, 1873, while young Walker
was hoeing cotton, he decided to seek the Lord. When he reached the
end of the row, without saying a word to anybody, he jumped over the
fence and went into the woods. Without eating or drinking, and without
seeing any one, he remained in the woods until the following Saturday
afternoon, when he was happily converted. He had remained in the woods
three days and three nights. How like the blessed Christ, who laid in
the grave three days and three nights and then rose triumphant over
death, hell and the grave! This strange way of seeking the Lord, this
strange conversion, as it might be called, was all the more remarkable
when it is understood that there was no great wave of religious revival
sweeping over Richmond County. A short time before this there had been
special prayer services in which there had been numbers of conversions;
but young Walker’s conversion was the result of quiet and serious
meditation on his own part and an earnest desire to be a meek and lowly
follower of the Lamb.

Young Walker joined the Franklin Covenant Baptist Church, near
Hephzibah, and was baptized into the fellowship of that church the
first Sunday in July, 1873. The ceremony was performed by his uncle,
the Rev. Nathan Walker, the pastor of the church and the man by whom he
was at that time employed. This was the same church of which another
uncle, the Rev. Joseph T. Walker, had been pastor during the days of
slavery, and of which young Walker’s father was once a deacon. At the
time of his baptism, young Walker was fifteen years old.

[Illustration: HOME OF PETER WALKER, NEAR HEPHZIBAH, GA., WHERE
CHARLES T. WALKER LIVED DURING THE FIRST EIGHT YEARS OF HIS LIFE.]




  CHAPTER III.

  THE STUDENT PERIOD.


From the time of his conversion, young Walker was an active and
zealous Christian, and at once became prominently identified with every
branch of church work--the prayer meeting, the Sunday school and the
preaching service. He had not been long converted before he was deeply
impressed with the thought that he was called of God to preach the
gospel. He felt, nevertheless, that he must restrain this desire until
he had acquired some education. He had been taught his A, B, C’s by his
mother. She had also taught him to read the fourteenth chapter of John.
He has preserved to this day the old Bible from which his mother taught
him to read. It is needless to say that his mother’s Bible is to him a
priceless treasure. Subsequently his entire schooling had been confined
to two terms of five months each in the schools conducted in Augusta,
Ga., by the Freedman’s Bureau. His first teachers were two Northern
young ladies, Miss Hattie Dow and Miss Hattie Foote. In order to secure
better school advantages, and in order to fit himself for his life
work, he came to Augusta in 1874 and entered the Augusta Institute,
a school which was specially designed for colored preachers. This
school was presided over by the late Rev. Joseph T. Robert, LL. D. Dr.
Robert was a native of South Carolina and had been a slaveholder. After
emancipation, he felt moved of God to take up the work of training
Negro young men for the Christian ministry. He wrought well in his day
and generation; he made the Augusta Institute a great school; no man,
before or since his time, has left a deeper impress upon the history
of the Negro Baptists of Georgia; and there is no man whose name is
more honored and revered among them. He was a polished and scholarly
gentleman of the old school; he possessed a great degree of what is
called personal magnetism; and, by his upright living and Christian
fervor, he had the power of inspiring his pupils to higher and nobler
things. In the autumn of 1879, Augusta Institute was moved to Atlanta,
and the name was changed to Atlanta Baptist Seminary. More recently
the name has been changed to Atlanta Baptist College. It is still the
largest and most influential school for young men in Georgia, and is
regarded as the headquarters of the Negro Baptist ministers in the
State.

In school young Walker was soon celebrated for his thoroughness,
his exemplary deportment, and for his native talent. He had only six
dollars in money when he entered school. With this he rented a room in
a private family, for which he paid two dollars per month. In this room
he lived during his first year in the Augusta Institute. He did his
own washing and cooking--cooking only twice a week, on Wednesdays and
Saturdays. He did this in order to save time for study and to keep down
expenses. He had only one suit of clothes, which he used on Sundays as
well as on week days. When he had exhausted his six dollars, he picked
up his little bundle, and was on the verge of leaving school, having
decided to walk back to the country and find work to enable him to
re-enter school at the opening of the next school year. Some of his
friends among the students, finding out the reason for his proposed
departure, remonstrated with him and, presenting him a small sum of
money, urged him to be patient a day or two longer. One of his fellow
students, the late Rev. E. K. Love, D. D., of Savannah, Ga., went so
far as to agree to provide for Mr. Walker until other arrangements
could be made. In the course of time this same Dr. Love came to
be, all things considered, one of the brainiest and most brilliant
Negro preachers in America, and as an organizer of men in religion,
education, politics or business, he was probably unequaled by any of
his contemporaries. For fourteen years he pastored the largest Negro
church in the world--the First African Baptist Church, Savannah, Ga. At
the time of his death in 1900, Dr. Walker, who came all the way from
New York to Georgia to speak at his funeral, referred with much feeling
and tenderness to the strong ties of personal friendship which had so
closely bound them for years, and spoke with gratitude of Dr. Love’s
ready assistance to him during his student days.

Through some of the students, Dr. Robert, the President of the
Augusta Institute, was informed of young Walker’s sad plight, and,
through Dr. Robert, three gentlemen in Dayton, Ohio--Mr. G. N. Bierce,
Mr. A. B. Solomon, and Mr. E. B. Crawford--became interested in him,
and, through the kindness of these three men, he was enabled to
prosecute his studies at the Augusta Institute for five years. Two of
these three gentlemen--Mr. Bierce and Mr. Solomon--are still living.
Both are still very wealthy, and are among Ohio’s most successful
business men. In November, 1901, Mr. Bierce went to New York to attend
the Jubilee Dinner of the International Y. M. C. A. While in New York,
he visited Dr. Walker at his home, went with him to the church which
he serves as pastor, and also to the Colored Branch of the Y. M. C. A.,
132 W. 53rd St., which was founded by Dr. Walker. In his speech at
the Colored Men’s Branch, Mr. Bierce, among other things, said that he
had made many investments in his life, but he believed that the money
he had invested in Dr. Walker’s education had yielded the largest and
best returns of any investment that he had ever made. He also told
how he came to be interested in the elevation of the colored race.
He said that during the late Civil War he was a soldier in the Union
Army, and had drifted with his regiment into Kentucky. While there he
was seriously wounded and left for dead on the battlefield. After many
hours he managed to make his way to the house of a white Southerner,
and asked for shelter and food. Seeing that Mr. Bierce was a Union
soldier, the white Southerner denied him both, but called one of his
colored servants and told him that he might take charge of the man and
care for him, if he desired to do so. The colored man took charge of
Mr. Bierce, and, in their lonely cabin, the colored man and his wife
carefully watched and nursed the wounded soldier, and in a few weeks
brought him back to health and strength. After the war, Mr. Bierce made
many efforts to find these faithful Good Samaritans and reward them
for their kindness. Failing in this, he decided that, as he owed his
life to the attention and care of two members of the Negro race, he
would let no opportunity pass to help any of the race who might need
assistance. And true to his pledge, Mr. Bierce has been the steady
and consistent friend of the colored people from that day to this.
Dr. Walker is only one of many beneficiaries of his kindness, and Dr.
Walker is a conspicuous example of what a little money, wisely placed
in the education of one colored man, can do toward the elevation of an
entire race.

Though Dr. Walker finished the prescribed course at the Augusta
Institute, he was not graduated from that institution. No graduates
were sent out from that school until long after it had been moved
to Atlanta, the first class being regularly graduated in 1884.
Subsequently, by vote of the trustees, it was decided that the names of
nearly fifty young men who had finished the prescribed course prior to
1884, should be placed in the catalogue and marked “entitled to rank as
graduates.” Dr. Walker’s name is in this number. But whether graduated
or not, Dr. Walker easily excels any man who was graduated there, and
no man, living or dead, has ever heard him express any regret that he
does not hold a diploma.

In September, 1876, after two years in the Augusta Institute, and in
the eighteenth year of his age, young Walker was licensed to preach.
The first Sunday in May, 1877, he was ordained to the sacred office of
the Gospel ministry.




  CHAPTER IV.

  EARLY PASTORATES.


The Rev. Mr. Walker soon became noted as a preacher in and around
Augusta. Possessing a fair knowledge of the Bible, and at all times
an earnest and enthusiastic speaker, the people literally crowded to
hear the “boy preacher,” as the Rev. C. T. Walker, on account of his
age and youthful appearance, was called for a good many years after he
entered the ministry. October 1st, 1877, he was called to the pastorate
of the Franklin Covenant Baptist Church, near Hephzibah, and assumed
the duties of the office on the first day of January, 1878. This was
the church of which he was a member, of which his father had been a
deacon, and of which, before him, two of his uncles had been pastors.
Calls to other churches followed in rapid succession, and by the time
he reached his twenty-first birthday, February, 1879, he was pastor of
the four following churches: Franklin Covenant Baptist Church, near
Hephzibah, Ga.; Thankful Baptist Church, Waynesboro, Ga.; McKinnie’s
Branch Baptist Church, Burke County, Ga., and Mount Olive Baptist
Church, in the suburbs of Augusta, Ga. If it seem strange that one man
should be the pastor of so many churches, it may be stated that it is
customary in the country districts of the South for one preacher to be
in charge of several churches. He will give about one Sunday in every
month to each church. Sometimes the churches served by one pastor are
all in the same county. Sometimes they are separated by many miles. Of
course, no real pastoral work can be done in this way. Of necessity the
people suffer; no continuous, well-organized spiritual training can be
kept up. But, as a rule, the country churches are unable to properly
pay their pastors, and but for this system which allows one minister to
pastor several churches, there are many churches which would be without
any pastor. Even under the present system it is very difficult for the
majority of pastors to secure anything like proper remuneration.

The Rev. Mr. Walker, nevertheless, was not to be doomed to the drudgery
of pastoring several churches at one and the same time. After a little
more than one year’s service, he resigned all of his other churches
to become pastor of the First Baptist Church at LaGrange, Ga., in the
early part of 1880.

It was with very great regret that the churches which he had been
serving consented to his withdrawal. Two of them voted to increase his
salary if he would decide to continue to serve them. He had done good
service, and these struggling churches felt that it would be difficult
to find any one who would be able to serve as well, as faithfully, and
as acceptably as he had done. Hence, they objected to his removal.
Especially was it hard for him to withstand the entreaties of his
home church. The members of the Franklin Covenant Baptist Church held
a mass meeting protesting against the withdrawal of their pastor and
urging him to remain with his own people. When he announced to them his
final decision, to the effect that he felt that the Lord was calling
him to the new field of labor and that he would obey what he believed
to be the call of the Holy Spirit, the whole congregation broke down
in tears. It was a sad and trying experience in the life of the young
preacher.

During the summer months of 1876, 1877, 1878 and 1879, the Rev. Mr.
Walker taught school in the Franklin Covenant Baptist Church building.
That is another thing that is peculiar to the rural districts of the
South. In many places, perhaps in the majority of places, the public
schools are conducted in church edifices, the States having no funds
for buildings for schools and the people, as a rule, the white people
as well as the colored people, being too poor to erect separate
school buildings, find it convenient to use the church building for
school purposes. As a school-teacher he was successful, so far as the
conditions of the time and his own attainments warranted. It must be
confessed, none the less, that he taught school as a means of support
and to help him in paying his own expenses while attending the Augusta
Institute.

June 19th, 1879, Rev. Mr. Walker was married to Miss Violet Q.
Franklin, of Hephzibah, Ga. To them four children were born. Three
children are dead. One son is still living--Master Jonathan Walker, a
lad yet in his teens. One daughter, Mrs. Alberta Walker Hughes, left
a daughter at her death, and this grandchild is pet of Dr. Walker and
wife.

Dr. Walker remained in LaGrange for nearly three years. While there
he was a busy, active, energetic, influential and successful pastor.
It was while there that he gave promise of his future eminence as a
soul-stirring, soul-saving evangelist. He conducted two of the most
eventful revivals ever held in Western Georgia. More than four hundred
souls were savingly converted, and more than three hundred were added
to the church which he pastored. After these meetings, he received
many invitations to conduct series of meetings in the leading Georgia
cities, and accepted as many as he could well afford to accept without
injury to his own work at LaGrange. At LaGrange he also established
a school for Baptists, and was instrumental in having a large frame
building erected for this purpose. The school finally grew into the
LaGrange Academy, a large and influential Baptist High School. It was
at LaGrange, also, that he read law for nearly two years under Judge
Walker, one of the ablest members of the Georgia bar, and, though he
was never admitted to the bar, it is evident that his legal learning
has stood him in good stead in the exposition of many a Scripture
passage, and, though the law may have lost a brilliant expounder, it
is certain that a great leader and teacher was saved to the church and
religion.




  CHAPTER V.

  THE WORK AT AUGUSTA.


The Rev. Charles T. Walker was called to the pastorate of the Central
Baptist Church at Augusta, Ga., in 1883, and resigned the First Baptist
Church at LaGrange to enter upon the work at Augusta. Central Baptist
Church is one of the oldest churches in Augusta, and was the first
colored church in the city to erect a brick building. The edifice was
very large and was a credit to the city. But for nearly twelve months
before the Rev. Mr. Walker was elected pastor, the church had been
engaged in a very unfortunate wrangle. The Rev. Henry Jackson was the
predecessor of Rev. Walker, and he had been the pastor of the church
almost from its organization in 1858. A daughter of Rev. Jackson was
the organist of the church, and it seems that the pastor wanted her
salary increased. The majority of the deacons and trustees did not
agree with the pastor; but the pastor called a business meeting of the
church, and, by high-handed methods, so it was claimed, succeeded in
having a vote passed favoring the proposed increase in the organist’s
pay. From that day the wrangle started in good earnest. There were
charges and counter-charges. There were plots and counter-plots.
The faction favoring the pastor was called “Jacksonites,” and the
opposing faction was called “Ramrackers.” The deacons were divided; the
trustees were divided; the membership was divided. There was scarcely
a meeting held at the church for any purpose but that there were harsh
words passed on both sides, and sometimes there were fisticuffs. Many
police trials resulted from these disgraceful occurrences. Once the
lights were put out during a meeting. In the darkness, some miscreant
sent a pistol ball crashing through one of the windows. Pandemonium
reigned within. The church was locked up several times by injunctions
sued out before the courts--sometimes by one side, sometimes by the
other. Finally, the trouble became so acute that it was positively
unsafe for any one to attend the church. There came a temporary lull
in the warfare of the saints (?) when the Rev. Henry Jackson resigned
and left the city. For a time the factions seemed to have settled
their differences. The church came together and extended a unanimous
call to the Rev. C. T. Walker to take up the pastorate. After much
deliberation and prayer, the Rev. Mr. Walker accepted the call. He was
twenty-five years old at the time, but looked to be much younger. From
the beginning he made a favorable impression. His first sermon was
preached the fourth Sunday in August, 1883, from these words: “For I
am determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and
him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Those who were present on the occasion of
this introductory sermon remember vividly the preacher’s sermon and
his appearance. A youngish looking man of medium height and rather
slim, with frank, open features; face very dark; quiet of demeanor and
graceful in movement; with a sweet, clear, orotund voice, enunciating
every word distinctly. With the man and the sermon, the church and
congregation were alike delighted and encouraged; and never did they
seem to sing before with such thrilling effect and such depths of
meaning, “Blest be the tie that binds.”

[Illustration: FRANKLIN COVENANT BAPTIST CHURCH.

THE FIRST CHURCH PASTORED BY REV. C. T. WALKER. THE PRESENT EDIFICE WAS
ERECTED UNDER HIS ADMINISTRATION.]

But church wars never end. Whatever may have been the outward
appearances, those on the inside knew that, though all said that they
had buried the hatchet, some of them at least had left the hatchet’s
handle sticking a good way out of the ground. None knew this better
than the new young pastor, and none grieved more because of it. “The
Jacksonites” wanted to direct the policy of the new minister, and so
did the “Ramrackers.” Each side was jealous of the other, and, although
siding with neither, the new pastor found himself at every stem of his
journey between two fires. Consequently, though earnestly desiring
to do the Lord’s work and praying daily to learn God’s will, he was
an unhappy man. The troubles continued. By and by the church reached
the point where it felt that to discipline a few of the recalcitrant
officers might help matters some. The action of the church not suiting
the “Jacksonites,” the church was again closed by injunction, and
the whole affair was dragged again into the courts. By the advice
of lawyers on both sides, since it seemed impossible to harmonize
the differences, it was agreed that the church should be sold and
the proceeds equally divided between the representatives of the two
factions. Accordingly, the church was sold at public outcry. It was
bid in by the “Jacksonites.” The “Ramrackers,” so-called, received
something over $2,000 for the sale. The “Jacksonites” took charge
of the old church, reorganized and called the Rev. Henry Jackson as
pastor. The other side, under the leadership of the Rev. Mr. Walker,
worshipped temporarily in the hall of the Union Waiters’ Society on
Ellis Street, the hall being generously donated by the Society for
that purpose. Friday night, August 21st, 1885, this body was formally
organized at the Union Baptist Church, under the name of Beulah Baptist
Church. The enrolled membership at the time of organization was
310--115 males and 195 females. At a special business meeting at the
close of the service Sunday night, August 23, 1885, at the suggestion
of the pastor, the name of the church was changed from Beulah Baptist
Church to Tabernacle Baptist Church. Plans were at once set on foot for
the erection of a house of worship. Proper committees were appointed.
A lot was secured on Ellis Street, above 10th Street, and work was
commenced on the new building September 1st, 1885. September 10th, the
corner stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies, the address being
delivered by the late Rev. E. K. Love, D. D., of Savannah, Ga. The
building was opened for worship and formally dedicated to the Lord the
second Sunday in December, being the 13th day, 1885. The dedicatory
sermon was preached at the morning service by the Rev. E. R. Carter, D.
D., of Atlanta, Ga., from this text: “But will God indeed dwell on the
earth? Behold the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how
much less this house that I have builded?” (1 Kings 8:27.) The afternoon
sermon was delivered by the Rev. Lansing Burrows, D. D., the well known
Secretary of the Southern (white) Baptist Convention and for a long
time editor of the American Baptist Year Book. The sermon at night was
delivered by the late Rev. Dr. E. K. Love.

The Tabernacle Baptist Church edifice is built of brick, two stories
high. The basement is used for the prayer meetings, the Sunday School,
the pastor’s study, and closets. The auditorium upstairs is used for
the preaching services and for lectures. It will seat comfortably about
800 persons. It cost (for ground and building) $13,500. Dedicated
within three months after it was commenced and paid for within less
than two years after it was completed, including a new pipe organ
costing $1,500, is a record which has probably not been surpassed by
any colored congregation in the South, and speaks well for the ability
and zeal of the leader. With a new church building and with a sterling
and brilliant young pastor, Tabernacle Baptist Church soon became
the leading colored church in Augusta, a city noted for its splendid
churches and its able pastors. It was while he was with this church
that the Rev. C. T. Walker made his reputation as a pulpit orator, a
sound theologian, a soul-winning evangelist, and a resourceful pastor.
At the close of fourteen years of hard labor, Oct. 1st, 1899, it was
found from the records of the church clerk that more than 2,000 souls
had been converted during his ministry, and that more than 1,400 had
been baptized by him into the fellowship of the Tabernacle Baptist
Church.

It was in connection with the work at Tabernacle Church that the
pastor made his first extended tour throughout New York and New
England. The members of the church had by their own efforts paid nearly
$10,000 of the $13,500, which was the total cost of their ground and
building. In the autumn of 1886, the pastor, armed with numerous
testimonials and letters of introduction, went North to solicit funds
to assist in completing the payments on the church property. He found
ready acceptance and willing ears everywhere he went. It was at this
time that he preached for the first time in Mt. Olivet Baptist Church,
161 W. 53rd Street, New York city, of which years afterwards he became
pastor. Of his visit to the Centennial Baptist Church, Brooklyn, the
pastor, the late Rev. Dr. Justin Dewey Fulton, wrote: “My people who
heard him pronounce him a preacher of more than ordinary ability.
His voice is good, his bearing modest and impressive, his language
excellent, and the aim of his preaching is to glorify Christ.” In
other churches and in other cities, the Rev. Mr. Walker found similar
warm friends, who listened eagerly to his exposition of God’s word or
to his appeals for aid in his work at the South. He returned to his
work in Georgia, satisfied with the financial results of his trip, but
more gratified with the moral support and encouragement he received.
In reporting his labors to his members on his return, the Rev. Mr.
Walker said, among other things: “The Lord went with me, and opened
up for me many places which were considered very hard, and enabled
me to approach some persons who were at first apparently not at all
friendly toward the colored people. When I got on the grounds and
learned the true situation, I was not at all disposed to criticise the
people of the North for being cautious about distributing their money
to irresponsible persons. I found out that numbers of colored people
go up North every year begging for money for churches and schools and
orphan homes and the like, which have no existence at all, except in
the imaginations of their impostors or on paper. When members of my
own race will do such things they make it hard for a worthy person
soliciting for a worthy and legitimate enterprise and you cannot blame
people for being careful about giving their money when they know that
there are many little schemes being worked by colored men to rob
them. ‘A burnt child dreads the fire,’ and the good have to suffer on
account of the conduct of those who are dishonest and speculative.
But God was with me and directed me, and I secured a hearing and
received contributions in some places where others were denied. We
should all be thankful for this, as much as any thing else. It pays to
be honest, sincere and straightforward, and I have no patience with
those hypocrites who are systematically robbing the good people of the
North, who are very willing to give of their means for the uplift of my
downtrodden race.”

[Illustration: REV. CHARLES T. WALKER AT TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE.]




  CHAPTER VI.

  OTHER WORK AT AUGUSTA.


Not only was the Rev. Mr. Walker notably successful as a pastor while
he lived in Augusta, but he was also a very active citizen, taking a
prominent part in all enterprises looking to the betterment of the
people along educational, religious and business lines. It may be said
with truth that his public spirit, his generous concern for the welfare
of all the people, was one of the things that gave point and power to
his preaching and caused “the common people” to hear him gladly.

In 1884, the Augusta Sentinel, a weekly paper, was established by
Prof. R. R. Wright, A. M. (afterwards Major R. R. Wright, LL. D.), who
was at that time Principal of the Ware High School. The Rev. Mr. Walker
was one of its largest stockholders and was elected Business Manager.
In 1891, Prof. Wright left the editorship of the paper to become the
first President of the Georgia State Industrial College, near Savannah,
Ga., a position which he still holds. Major Wright was and is one
of Georgia’s leading educators and most representative citizens. He
has represented his State four or five times in Republican National
Conventions, and was appointed a “Major and Additional Paymaster” in
the U. S. V. by the late President McKinley during the Spanish-American
war. When Prof. Wright left the editorial chair, he was succeeded by
the late Rev. E. K. Love, D. D., of Savannah, Ga. Dr. Love retired
in 1892, and was succeeded by Prof. Silas X. Floyd. But, through all
these changes, the Rev. Dr. Walker remained in charge of the business
department of the paper until it died a natural death in 1896. In 1891,
while Dr. Walker was traveling in Europe and the Holy Land, he sent a
weekly letter to the Sentinel, and these letters did much in adding to
the popularity of the paper. On his return, these letters were compiled
and published in a volume of 148 pp. 16mo. under the name and title of
“A Colored Man Abroad.” The book had a wide sale and found many readers.

The Walker Baptist Association in 1880 passed a resolution to
establish a high and normal school for colored children. Dr. Walker
was the author of that resolution. The school was at first located at
Waynesboro, Ga., where it remained for about three years. Dr. Walker
became convinced that the school would thrive better if it was moved
to Augusta, and he was specially anxious to have the school removed
to that place, because he desired to see a good school conducted by
Baptists in Augusta, a city of Baptists, and in which the Methodists
and Presbyterians were already conducting creditable normal schools.
It was mainly through Dr. Walker’s efforts that the school was finally
moved to Augusta in 1891, and even the most doubtful have been led
by subsequent events to appreciate the wisdom of his suggestion.
The school is now a large and flourishing institution, occupying a
commanding site, the chapel, class rooms, dormitory and grounds being
valued at something over $5,000. The school is unencumbered, owned and
controlled by the colored Baptists, assisted to a very limited extent
by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. From the beginning, Dr.
Walker has been the Financial Agent of the school, which position he
still holds. He has succeeded in bringing to its support a large number
of friends, both white and black, North and South. It is one of his
fond dreams for the future to establish in connection with this school
a large Industrial School and Business College. His friends believe
that it will not be difficult for him to accomplish this, because the
work already done by the colored people themselves in connection with
this school, the excellent showing they have made in the direction of
self-help, will commend itself to a generous public wherever it is told.

[Illustration: THE WALKER BAPTIST INSTITUTE, AUGUSTA, GA., FOUNDED BY
DR. CHARLES T. WALKER.]

In 1893, the colored people of Augusta organized an exposition
company. This company held an exposition that year, commencing
December 18 and running through one week. The officers of the company
were Bishop R. S. Williams, of the C. M. E. Church, President; Prof.
Silas X. Floyd, Editor Augusta Sentinel, Secretary; Mr. Charles J.
Floyd, Assistant Secretary; Mr. George J. Scott, a grocer, Treasurer,
and Dr. C. T. Walker, Director-General. Exhibits were on hand from
colored undertakers, colored cabinet makers, colored harness makers,
shoemakers, contractors, carpenters and brick masons, printers,
wheelwrights, carriage and wagon makers, farmers, who exhibited farm
products, cattle, swine, poultry and the like, dressmakers, needle
and fancy work by colored girls and young women, colored artists, who
exhibited oil paintings, landscape paintings and sketches in charcoal
and crayon, colored bakers, tailors, electricians, school-teachers,
and the like. In his address to the public, Director-General Walker
said: “Primarily, the basic principle upon which the Negro Exposition
is founded is a desire to show to the world the advancement and
progress made by the American Negro, especially the Southern Negro,
and most especially the Georgia Negro, within the past thirty years.
But no such exposition can be held in Augusta without also resulting
in a general advantage to the interests of the city.” Evidently, the
city council of Augusta, composed entirely of white Southern men,
took the view held by the Director-General, for, upon request for aid
from the Directors of the Negro Exposition Company, the city council
appropriated $200 from the city treasury for the promotion of the
enterprise, and gave six policemen and all fire protection free. The
exposition was a creditable display of the Negro’s progress, and
did much to illustrate the purposes for which it was organized. The
Director-General was present every day and had charge of the program.
The welcome address was delivered by the mayor of the city, Major J. H.
Alexander, to nearly 5,000 colored people and many hundreds of white
people on the opening day, Monday, December 18, 1893. At the conclusion
of the address of welcome, the formal opening address was delivered by
the Rev. E. R. Carter, D. D., of Atlanta, Ga., one of the most popular
Southern Negro orators. Tuesday, December 19, was Educational Day. All
the public and private schools of the city had a general holiday in
honor of the event. More than 2,000 school children marched early in
the morning of that day behind brass bands to the Exposition Grounds,
where appropriate exercises were held. Speeches were delivered by
Prof. Lawton B. Evans, Superintendent of Schools, Augusta, Ga., and
Prof. R. R. Wright, A. M. Music was furnished by a trained choir of
500 voices of public school children under the direction of Prof. A.
R. Johnson. Wednesday, December 20, was Military Day. The address
of the day was delivered by Congressman George W. Murray, of South
Carolina, after which there was a spirited prize drill by the various
companies. Thursday, December 21, was Firemen’s Day. A mammoth street
parade of twelve fire companies took place in the forenoon, and, in the
afternoon, there were reel races, foot races, bicycle races, and a base
ball game. Friday was Vaudeville Day. Mason and Johnson’s Ethiopian
Minstrels gave performances afternoon and evening. Saturday afternoon
the exhibition closed with a grand industrial parade on the Exposition
Grounds. The like had never been seen before in this country, and
probably has not been seen since. To no one was more credit due
for the success of the entire affair than to the indefatigable
Director-General, the Rev. Dr. Walker. He gave himself to the work both
night and day without receiving one cent of pay.

       *       *       *       *       *

In these public ways and in others, Dr. Walker made his presence in
Augusta known and felt. But not alone for his public spirit is he
known, honored and loved by the people of Augusta, as is no other man
who has labored there, but also for the rendering of many private acts
of sympathy and help and encouragement, which the world does not know
about, and which the world cannot know about. The number of those
whom he has been instrumental in saving from the jails, chain gangs
and penitentiary; those he has had released from imprisonment, whose
fines he has paid out of his own pocket; the number whose house rent
he has paid, and furnished food, and clothing, and fuel; the number of
unhappy husbands he has reconciled to unhappy wives, thereby making
both happy again; the young people he has sent to school and has helped
to educate; the men and women for whom he has secured employment; those
he has brought to Christ by private ministrations; the number he has
encouraged and cheered by a kind act or a “word fitly spoken;” the
number he has helped and inspired in one way and another, will reach
far into the thousands. The number cannot be known

    “Until the sun grows cold,
    And the stars are old,
    And the leaves of the Judgment Book unfold.”

Dr. Walker did these things as if by second nature, and, though now
and then friends remonstrated with him and told him that he ought not
to allow others to impose upon him, he went straight ahead, quietly
and unostentatiously, spending and being spent for the Master, and his
heart filled with the milk of human kindness, he lent a listening ear
and an outstretched arm to every cry for pity and every appeal for help.




  CHAPTER VII.

  INFLUENCE IN GEORGIA.


In spite of his arduous labors and duties at Augusta, Dr. Walker yet
found time to be interested in all matters which concerned the welfare
of all the people throughout the State of Georgia, and was an active
participant in many State gatherings of various kinds, aside from the
large number of evangelistic meetings he found time to conduct in many
Georgia cities. For several years he was Moderator of the Western
Union Baptist Association; for four or five years he was Chairman of
the Executive Board of the Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia;
for two years he was Vice President, and for eight years Secretary of
the same body; he was Treasurer for several years of the Sunday School
Workers’ Convention of Georgia; he was at one time Vice President of
the Georgia Interdenominational Sunday School Convention; he was for a
number of years a member of the Republican State Executive Committee;
he has been, from the beginning, a member of the Board of Trustees of
the Walker Baptist Institute, and was also a member of the Board of
Trustees of the Atlanta Baptist College. The filling of these various
offices of trust and responsibility indicate in a small way the immense
activity which he has displayed in the general welfare of the State,
and particularly the welfare of the Baptist denomination.

In addition to these things, there has not been a convention of any
kind called by the colored citizens of Georgia, as has frequently been
the case during the past twenty years, which he has not attended,
anxious always to do something to advance the Negro in the scale
of civilization. He has many times visited the annual meetings of
the State Teachers’ Association of Georgia and, by invitation, has
addressed them, trying to show what part the teachers ought to take
in solving the so-called “Race Problem.” He has been a favorite
commencement orator at many of Georgia’s schools and colleges, and
has never been able in any one year to accept all the numerous
invitations which have come to him to deliver baccalaureate sermons.
On the first day of January each year, it is customary for the colored
people throughout the South to hold public meetings, where addresses
are delivered by distinguished men, in commemoration of the issuing
of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln, Jan. 1st, 1863.
Dr. Walker’s addresses, delivered at different places in the State
on Emancipation Day, would alone make a very large and interesting
volume. Nor has he felt that his duties as a preacher have of necessity
absolved him from active participation in public affairs, or what
is more generally called politics. He was for years a member of the
Richmond County Executive Committee of the Republican Party, and also
a member of the Republican State Committee. He has believed and has
taught that it is the duty of every citizen to be interested in the
political welfare of his city, State and country, and, in his judgment,
no man is entitled to be called a good citizen who allows the vicious
and corrupt to do all the voting and all the dictating, and then sits
down and sighs for what is called “the better and purer days of the
Republic.” Of his work as an evangelist, mention will be made in a
later chapter. But let it be said now that no one man in Georgia has
held a larger number of special meetings throughout the State, nor has
had a larger number of conversions to be attributed to his preaching,
than has Dr. Walker. It is not exaggeration to say that he is the best
known Negro minister of the State of Georgia, and that more people will
go to hear him preach than will go to hear any other colored man. Not
the celebrated, plain-spoken, claw and hammer preaching of Sam Jones,
nor the Holy Ghost preaching of the pious Dwight L. Moody, of sainted
memory, drew larger crowds to the auditorium at Exposition Park,
Atlanta, Ga., than did the thunderous proclamation of the gospel by
Charles T. Walker.

Perhaps in no way has his influence been felt in Georgia more than
in the selection of competent men for Baptist pastorates and in the
appointment of competent men and women as teachers at many places
in the State. Dr. Walker’s reputation as a safe leader and wise
counsellor, his extensive travels and consequent wide acquaintance
with men and women throughout the State and nation have proved to be
very helpful to all concerned in the recommendations he has been asked
to make. No one in Georgia who knows of these things can recall a
single instance in which the recommendation of Dr. Walker, in the case
of a church or school, has been turned down. So interested has Dr.
Walker been in the welfare of others, and so eager has he been to see
competent leaders set over the people, that he has been known time and
again to go 500, 600, and sometimes 1,000 miles at his own expense to
assist those who needed and asked his opinion and advice, or to help
some person to secure a position. Not all of those whom he has helped
have been grateful; not all of them will admit their obligation; only
a few of them remember the bridge that carried them over. When told of
the ungratefulness of different ones, Dr. Walker only laughs and says:
“I do not help anybody with the expectation of being thanked. It is my
duty to do my duty toward my fellow men, whether they thank me or not.”
Thus he dismisses the subject, and goes to talking about something
else. Several times larger churches in Georgia, that could pay him more
money than Tabernacle Baptist Church, extended calls to him to occupy
their pulpits, but he always replied that Tabernacle Church was good
enough for him, and then would assist the churches in securing good
men. Such unselfishness is rare, and has helped very much to perpetuate
the hold which Dr. Walker has had on the people of Georgia for so many
years.




  CHAPTER VIII.

  THE VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND.


Tabernacle Baptist Church, Augusta, Ga., was the first colored church
in this country to send its pastor on a trip to Europe and the Holy
Land. This it did in the Spring of 1891. The church voted Dr. Walker
a vacation of three months, with full pay, and the church and friends
in Augusta, white and colored, furnished money with which to enable
him to take the memorable journey. His church was supplied during his
absence by the Rev. L. B. Goodall, at that time of Augusta, Ga., now of
Charlottesville, Va.

He left Augusta Thursday afternoon, April 9th, 1891, and sailed from
New York City on Wednesday, April 15th, at 11 o’clock, a. m., on the
steamship _City of New York_, bound for Liverpool. He was accompanied
as far as London by the Rev. E. R. Carter, D. D., of Atlanta, Ga.,
and Prof. M. J. Maddox, at that time, of Gainesville, Fla., now of
Savannah, Ga. He visited Liverpool, London, Paris, Turin, Genoa,
Pisa, Rome, Pompeii, Alexandria, Cairo, Ismailia, Port Said, Joppa,
Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jericho, Bethany, Mount of Olives,
Gethsemane, Calvary, Beirut, Cyprus, Smyrna, Ephesus, Pierus, Athens,
Corinth, Venice, Patras, Corfu, Brindisi, Basle, Heidelberg, Mayence,
Cologne, Coblenz, Brussels, Antwerp, and some few other places. Dr.
Carter accompanied him during the entire journey. He returned to New
York on Saturday, June 27th, 1891, and reached Augusta on the fourth
day of July.

Before leaving New York on his way to the Holy Land, he preached twice
on the Sabbath at the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, and, at the request of
the pastor and officers, he preached again on Monday night, April 13th.
The church gave him a liberal contribution to help him on his way, and
he departed with their best wishes and with many prayers for a safe
journey and a safe return.

The following account taken from the Augusta Evening News, of July 6th,
1891, will give some idea of Dr. Walker’s reception on his return to
Augusta:

 [Illustration: “BETHEL.”]

 “The impressions of an intelligent, zealous and popular colored
 minister about the Holy Land are well worth hearing and recording.

 “The Evening News has already announced the return of the Rev. Chas.
 T. Walker from his three months’ trip abroad, and, indeed, has kept up
 with him pretty well in his great journey in Europe, Asia and Africa.
 The paper was glad to commend him on his departure, and welcomed his
 return, and these courtesies are both deserved and appreciated. A
 man who is so highly regarded by his congregation and friends that
 he is given such a trip, and whose influence is all for good among
 his people in this community, certainly deserves consideration and
 courtesy. Hence, more space than ordinary is given to this prominent
 and popular leader among his people.

 [Illustration: FORD OF THE RIVER JORDAN.]

 “A genuine and hearty welcome was given Mr. Walker by his
 congregation, and yesterday he preached to his church for the first
 time in three months. Last night he gave an outline of his trip
 through the Holy Land, and promised half hour talks about places,
 scenes and customs for every Sunday evening.

 [Illustration: SHEEPFOLD.]

 “After reading of the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon, he took
 his text from the famous words, ‘the half has not been told,’ and
 declared that those words expressed his ideas about the Holy Land.
 He did not go into details about his journey, but with a wonderful
 power of seizing upon leading scenes and incidents and putting them
 before his audience, with their vivid illustrations and comforting
 lessons, the preacher held his vast congregation spellbound for about
 an hour. It was in itself a scene well worth witnessing, to behold
 this earnest and really eloquent man, with his deep and resonant
 voice, and genuinely magnetic manner, telling his story to breathless
 and sympathetic listeners, who crowded every inch of sitting and
 standing room in the church. This ovation was a great compliment to
 the humble man of God, who spoke in grateful terms of those who had
 sent him on his memorable journey; and every one of his people must
 have felt fully repaid when, in summing up the results of his trip
 and the analysis of his observations, he declared that, after seeing
 and investigating the Holy Land for himself, he felt more than ever
 that God’s word was true. If any one is sceptical about the Bible, its
 history and its sacred truths and traditions, said this preacher, let
 him go to Palestine, and he will be sceptical no longer.

 [Illustration: BABYLON.]

 “He also went to Egypt, which is scriptural land, where Moses, the
 greatest law-maker of the earth, was born, and where Joseph and
 Abraham, and even Jesus went, and he followed their footsteps back
 into Palestine, through Joppa, the gateway to Jerusalem, as it also
 became, through Peter’s vision, the doorway of the Gentiles to God’s
 kingdom. The preacher then described the great astronomical miracle
 performed by Joshua on the plain of Ajalon, when he commanded the sun
 and moon to stand still; he made graphic references to his journey
 along the famous highway over which the Roman Emperors and the
 Christian Crusaders traveled to the Holy City, Jerusalem, with its
 four mountains, its old walls, its eight gates, its well-remembered
 streets, was particularly dwelt upon, and the speaker declared that
 it was hard for him to realize that he was actually in the great city
 where the prophets walked, which was blessed by the Saviour’s presence
 and consecrated by his crucifixion. He went straight to Calvary, he
 said, and his description of Calvary, as the greatest battle field
 the world ever saw, was very interesting, and was one of the most
 eloquent and vividly touching portions of his discourse. The effect on
 the audience was realistic and remarkable. The people leaned forward,
 and as the preacher alluded to Calvary as the greatest battlefield
 the world ever saw and said that the cross was its eternal monument,
 murmurs and shouts of approval went up all over the house.

 [Illustration: THE POOL OF SILOAM.]

 [Illustration: AN EASTERN HARVEST SCENE.]

 “The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Tomb of the Saviour,
 Gethsemane, the Brook Kedron, and the Mount of Olives, were in turn
 dwelt upon; and the minister said that as he bowed and wept at the
 Saviour’s Tomb, he arose refreshed and wrote in his note-book: ‘Thank
 God, he is a resurrected Jesus.’

 “In describing the River Jordan, in which he bathed while he was
 there, and which he visited at the points where Joshua passed over,
 where Elijah ascended in the chariot, where Naaman was healed, and
 where Christ was baptized by John, the preacher was again inspired, as
 he described what he said was the most glorious convocation that ever
 took place on earth--when the Trinity met at the Saviour’s baptism.

 [Illustration: BAPTIZING IN THE RIVER JORDAN.]

 “In impressing the truth of the Scriptures, Mr. Walker used several
 striking illustrations. He said that the old prophecies were coming
 true, and that even the Turks, in their ignorance, were fulfilling
 prophecy. They keep the Golden Gate--the Gate Beautiful--always
 closed, the only one entering Jerusalem which is never opened, because
 the superstitious believe that if the Christians ever enter by it,
 they will retake the city; but the minister declared that the real
 reason was that it was a fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy found
 in the forty-fourth chapter of his writings. Again, Jeremiah said,
 twenty-five hundred years ago, that ‘Zion shall be ploughed like a
 field.’ The people of a then rich and powerful city came near stoning
 him for his madness, and yet the speaker declared, with his own eyes
 he had seen the fulfillment of this prophecy. Jeremiah also declared
 that Zion should be rebuilt, and on the unearthed ruins of the very
 towers indicated by Jeremiah, the rebuilding of Jerusalem had been
 begun. To-day, they are rebuilding, as the prophet said. In Jerusalem
 and all through Palestine, the record speaks in solemn, sacred and
 rock-ribbed confirmation of the blessed and everlasting truth of God’s
 word.

 [Illustration: ARAB ENCAMPMENT.]

 “The preacher concluded with a strong invocation, and declared that
 after all his journeyings over oceans and seas, there was no sailing
 like sailing with Jesus, and he had come back home with sevenfold more
 of the spirit of the Saviour to stir up the people of the city with
 the truth of the Gospel. We all need more power and less form; more of
 the power of Charles Spurgeon, whose power and influence and magnetism
 come from communing with God.

 “He paid a telling tribute to this country when he said that he would
 not exchange it for any he had seen. He contrasted the terrors and
 persecutions of heathen lands with the glorious liberty of America,
 where Christian churches raised their spires to heaven, and all men
 may worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences,
 and under their own vine and fig tree. Where there is no church there
 is no civilization, and he wanted his people to appreciate their
 advantages, and aid him by doing their duty to God and their fellow
 men.”

Besides his talks and lectures to the people of Augusta, Dr. Walker
spent much time during the summer and winter of 1891 lecturing
throughout the United States on “The Holy Land: What I Saw and Heard.”
Everywhere the lecture and the lecturer were well received and highly
spoken of--in New York, in Boston, in Philadelphia, in Indianapolis,
in Charleston, S. C., in St. Louis, in Dallas and Galveston, Tex., in
Kansas City, and in other places. Dr. Walker’s success on the lecture
platform was immediate, and, since 1891, he has managed each year to go
on a little lecture tour through different parts of America.

[Illustration: REV. CHARLES T. WALKER, ON HIS RETURN FROM HIS TRIP TO
THE HOLY LAND, AGE THIRTY THREE YEARS.]




  CHAPTER IX.

  A COLORED MAN ABROAD.


Mention has already been made of the fact that while Dr. Walker was
traveling abroad he wrote weekly letters to the Augusta Sentinel, which
were compiled on his return and published in book form, under the name
and style of “A Colored Man Abroad.” Extracts from that publication
will serve not only to show Dr. Walker’s literary style, but will also
be of interest, instruction and entertainment to the reader.

Dr. Walker’s letters from the Holy Land were written for the most part
from notes taken on the ground, somewhat as one would keep a diary or a
sailor’s log. The second day out from New York, he paid the following

 TRIBUTE TO THE SEA.

 “The sea is a revelation of the omnipotence of the Almighty! It
 carries with perfect ease upon its bosom the greatest ships that
 circumnavigate the globe. It is the home of numerous animals, small
 and great, as well as the pathway of Jehovah. It is also the tomb
 of hundreds of thousands of human beings; for the sea has wrecked
 hundreds of vessels and sailing craft, and holds entombed the bodies
 of countless shipwrecked people. As we look at the sea, we are
 reminded of the grand old words of Byron:

    ‘Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll,
    Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain;
    Man marks the earth with ruin,--his control
    Stops with the shore,--upon the watery plain
    The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain
    A shadow of man’s ravage, save his own,
    When for a moment, like a drop of rain,
    He sinks into thy depth with bubbling groan,
    Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined and unknown.’”

In the following words, Dr. Walker describes his

FIRST SABBATH AT SEA.

 “It is Sunday morning. The day is calm, and the sun is shining
 brightly. Divine services were held in the chapel at 10:30 a. m.,
 conducted by the captain, who read the Episcopal service. A Sabbath at
 sea is a sad day to those who love the house of God. No church bell
 is heard calling the people to their respective places of worship.
 No soul-inspiring anthems are sung. No heartfelt prayers are heard
 ascending like sweet incense from the altar of praise. We miss the
 pulpit ministration and the Christian greeting that come from the
 gentle throbbing of loving and affectionate hearts. We miss the Sunday
 school, where the little folks are singing their many beautiful songs,
 expressive of our dear Saviour’s life and love. In place of all this,
 we observe men drinking and carousing and engaged in all kinds of
 frivolity; we see many women and girls reading novels, but not one
 perusing the Bible. Give me no more Sabbaths in mid-ocean.”

The first Sunday in London, Dr. Walker visited Spurgeon’s church.
Following is his description of

 SPURGEON’S TABERNACLE.

 “Spurgeon’s Tabernacle is the greatest church on earth, and its
 pastor is undoubtedly the grandest preacher in the universe. Eternity
 alone can tell the good this man of God is doing. Seven thousand
 people hear him twice on each Lord’s Day. He has a Baptist College,
 perfect in its every appointment, a missionary society, a tract
 society, a place for the poor, an orphan home, a mission station
 conducted by the young men of his congregation, a printing press,
 and everything else in the line of an active, live and progressive
 church. Here the ‘rich and the poor meet together; and the Lord is
 the maker of them all.’ The doctrine of the fatherhood of God and
 the universal brotherhood of man is taught with all the earnestness
 of which this good man is capable. In this Tabernacle, you will find
 men and women who are worth thousands and ten thousands of pounds
 sterling out in the streets and alleys of London, bringing the poor,
 the wayward, the blasphemer, the halt and the blind to hear Spurgeon
 preach. We heard him on the Sabbath, occupying a seat near him. What
 a privilege! Two rows of galleries extend all round the edifice. Just
 below the pastor’s stand, there is a gallery for orphan children from
 the home and those who manage the home. The people are rushing for
 seats--thousands are already seated, having been admitted because
 they held quarterly tickets. At five minutes before eleven o’clock,
 the signal bell is tapped, announcing to all persons who have not
 secured seats to get them anywhere they can find them, as the holders
 of tickets have no claim on seats after the tap of the bell. Mr.
 Spurgeon comes in, followed by his assistant pastor and deacons who
 take seats near him. He then opens the service with a short, earnest,
 eloquent prayer that moves many to tears. No organ is used; the
 chorister stands near the pastor, and the multitude rises and sings
 a soul-inspiring hymn. The pastor then reads, with exposition, the
 Scripture lesson. He announces this morning that he will preach the
 annual missionary sermon. When he begins preaching, seven thousand
 pairs of eyes are looking steadfastly upon him. He leads the vast
 audience step by step as he unfolds to them the word of God. Every
 hearer’s heart burns within him. It is a grand sight. I wept as I
 looked on such a vast throng of people seated in breathless silence,
 catching the words as they fell from the mouth of God’s prophet.”

In the month of May, 1891, Dr. Walker spent five days on the
Mediterranean Sea en route to Alexandria. While on this sea, famous for
its storms, he encountered a storm which he said must have been similar
to the one that Paul wrote about in the 27th chapter of the Acts.
Following is Dr. Walker’s picture of

 A STORM ON THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA.

 “The sea had been turbulent all night. The fury of the sea continued
 until noon to-day, when it reached its climax. For nearly an hour
 the waves united and lashed the steamer in a fearful manner, as if
 chastening it for disobeying some sea law. We closely watched the
 treacherous water during the contest. The ship at first seemed to
 think itself invincible, and had a perfect right to move in its own
 chosen route, despite the ocean’s objection. It was then that the
 hottest part of the contest took place. The ocean gave one command,
 and, at that summons, dashing, foaming, giant waves came from every
 direction to reinforce those already at the scene of battle. When
 they had combined their forces, they struck the steamer a few times;
 she cracked, reeled, bowed, tossed herself to and fro, shook up the
 passengers, made them sick, and put some to bed. Each time the vessel
 attempted to move out of her tracks she only lifted herself up and
 came back in the same place. The man on the bridge turned the wheel,
 but the steamer shook her head. The wind blew, the tempest raged,
 the captain came from his room, ascended the bridge, took charge of
 affairs, called up the sailors, gave orders to turn the wheel and
 let her drive, but she could not go. The sea continued to assert its
 rights, and when the crew confessed that they were defeated and at the
 mercy of the waves, they cast anchor, stood still, and waited on the
 sea to obtain a permit to move forward. The Mediterranean seemed to
 recognize that the whole crew were baffled, confused and beseeching
 mercy; so she called in her waves, sent them back to their several
 stations, each bearing a spray of snowy whiteness as an emblem of the
 victory they had won. And now all is serene on the water.”

Speaking of the people of Syria and other Eastern countries, Dr. Walker
wrote the following about the present

 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE EAST.

 “The manners and customs of these people are about the same as in the
 days of Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Men work for years to pay for
 their wives; lead their flocks as David did; dwell in tents; plow oxen
 as did Elijah; water their fields; sow grain among thorns and rocks;
 wear the same kind of costumes with the old-time sandals on their
 feet; use donkeys and camels as beasts of burden--all as in the days
 of yore. The majority of the Mohammedans and Arabs have no chairs,
 tables, knives and forks, with no bedsteads in their houses. They eat
 with their fingers, stretch out on the floor or ground, sleep by the
 roadside, just as Jacob did when he had his vision. The Mohammedans
 believe that a person who goes crazy becomes holy. The Turkish
 government does not allow its subjects to embrace Christianity. To ask
 a Mohammedan to change his religion is to endanger one’s life.”

Following is Dr. Walker’s notion of

 THE TESTIMONY OF THE MOUNTAINS.

 “Having made a study of the mountains in this country, they seem to
 me to wear an air of dignity at once charming and attractive. Lofty,
 stately, queenly, they look like silent but impressive heralds,
 standing as reminiscences of the far away past and as landmarks,
 preserving and perpetuating the history of notable events. Immovable
 and unchangeable, like their Creator, they have stood while the mighty
 have fallen; they have witnessed the enthronement and dethronement of
 kings; the captivity and extermination of nations, and to-day they
 are almost the only places in Palestine that the searcher after truth
 may feel safe in pointing out the identical location of Scriptural
 occurrences. Too lofty and unchangeable for tradition, they are the
 true historians of past centuries and for ages to come Sinai, Moriah,
 Carmel, Ebal, Gerizim, Tabor, Beatitudes, Zion and the Mount of Olives
 will bear witness to the Scriptures in a manner that will be obvious
 and convincing to the most sceptical mind. Well may Jehovah liken his
 church to the mountains. And why should not the snow decorate the
 mountains; the clouds circle about them; the sun linger and play upon
 their summits; the moon and the stars gaze smilingly upon them, while
 the lightnings race and prance up and down like electricity from a
 galvanic battery? Why not the sea crowd the mountain’s base, bathe its
 feet, and perpetually sing sweet anthems to its praise? ‘How beautiful
 upon the mountains are the feet of them that publisheth peace, that
 say unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.’

Here is Dr. Walker’s idea of how some people are heedlessly

 DRIFTING ON LIFE’S OCEAN.

 “I have been thinking how humanity is drifting on life’s ocean. For
 seven days on the Atlantic, our steamer never stopped. The passengers
 ate, slept, walked, talked, got sick, some died--but we sailed on. The
 ship passed other vessels; it was often cloudy; the winds blew; the
 rains fell; storms and gales were often encountered; the ship caught
 on fire--but we sailed on. Men gambled, drank whiskey and champagne,
 cursed and spent their hours in frivolity--and so they sailed on,
 apparently little dreaming that they were rapidly sailing to that
 eternal shore from whence no traveler returns.”

In view of the recent sad assassination of President McKinley, how
like prophecy and solemn warning will the following words, which were
written ten years ago, seem. At last, the American congress, at the
dictation of President Roosevelt, is turning its attention to this
great question which ten years ago Dr. Walker declared must be given
some attention. Following is the extract:

 ANARCHY--A WARNING.

 “In the first-class saloon, there are seventy-six passengers;
 in the second, sixty; and in the steerage there are about eight
 hundred--nearly all emigrants. Some are Jews from Russia, fleeing from
 persecution; others are Belgians, Swedes, Germans, Italians, Irishmen,
 Welshmen and Scotchmen, all going to our home of freedom--America.
 Many of them are very immoral, and utterly oblivious of modesty. As
 a rule, they are a dirty lot, some actually nauseating; and hundreds
 of them have not washed either their hands or faces on this voyage,
 so far. Yet these very people come to America to supercede the
 Negro, and to boss him! These immigrants have extended to them the
 rights of citizenship in every particular, and yet these inalienable
 rights are denied the colored man who has helped to make America
 what it is. Many of these foreigners are of the very worst element
 in their own country. They are ignorant, treacherous, uncivilized,
 and many of them heathen. They have no respect for the Sabbath; they
 have no respect for the law; they have no regard for Christianity;
 they are antagonistic to the principles of liberty as laid down in
 the Declaration of Independence of the United States. Mark this
 prediction: So sure as we live, America is fast getting a Jumbo on
 her hands. She is nestling a Vesuvius in her bosom that may remain
 dormant for a long period; but when the volcanic eruption breaks
 forth, seventy times seven streams of lava will be shot out at one
 time, and the main pillars that support and uphold the whole fabric
 of our American institutions will be undermined, uprooted, and
 partially, if not wholly destroyed. Chicago and New Orleans should
 be held in remembrance by our whole people, East, West, North and
 South. The outrages perpetrated by these villains in those cities were
 comparable to the firing of the first gun on Fort Sumter. Let the
 American congress spend some time in legislating against these holy
 terrors, instead of needlessly discussing schemes to deport the poor
 unfortunate Negro.”




  CHAPTER X.

  AS A NATIONAL FIGURE.


The first National Baptist Convention of Negro Baptists ever held in
the United States convened at the Second Baptist Church, St. Louis,
Mo., August 25, 1886, at 10 a. m. It was called to order by the late
lamented Rev. William J. Simmons, D. D., President of the State
University of Kentucky, who had been chiefly instrumental in having the
Convention called. There were large delegations present from nearly
all of the Southern States and a few from the East and West. Georgia
sent only three delegates to this first meeting, while now she sends
annually about one hundred. The three delegates from Georgia who
attended the St. Louis meeting were the late Rev. E. K. Love, D. D.,
of Savannah, and the Revs. G. H. Dwelle and C. T. Walker, of Augusta.
The Rev. Mr. Walker took a prominent part in the deliberations of the
Convention, and served on the Committee on Permanent Organization. It
was because of a wise, conservative and, considering the make-up of the
Convention, bold stand that he took at this meeting, that he leaped,
so to say, at one bound into national prominence as a fearless leader.
It happened this way. On the second day of the meeting, one Rev. H.
C. Bailey, of Florida, spoke on “Southern Ostracism.” After abusing
Southern white people for their treatment of the colored people, the
Rev. Mr. Bailey said, among other things, that the Southern white
Baptists were figureheads. Biding his time, the next day the Rev.
Mr. Walker arose and addressing the chairman, said that he thought
the statement made by the Rev. Mr. Bailey concerning the Southern
white Baptists did them great injustice and ought not to be allowed
to go unchallenged. Immediately every eye was turned toward the young
champion from Georgia and there followed from him the most impassioned
address of the entire meeting. He concluded by offering the following
resolution, which, though vigorously opposed by many members of the
Convention, was adopted by a good majority:

 “Whereas, In the speech of H. C. Bailey, of Florida, yesterday, before
 this body, the statement was made that, as a whole, the Southern white
 Baptists were figureheads who do not follow Baptist teachings and who
 believe that there are separate heavens for white and colored people;
 and

 “Whereas, Such an assertion does great injustice to the white Baptists
 of the South from the fact that they have many colored missionaries in
 the South paid by them to labor among our people; and

 “Whereas, The Southern Baptist Convention at its meeting in January,
 1886, in the city of Montgomery, Ala., passed a resolution to raise
 $10,000 to expend in mission work among the colored Baptists of the
 South; and

 “Whereas, Such a statement as that referred to is likely to prove
 detrimental to the 800,000 colored Baptists of the South; therefore,
 be it

 “_Resolved_, _First_, That this Convention does not endorse the
 statement of the brother referred to.

 “_Resolved_, _Second_, That this Convention hears with the greatest
 gratification of the efforts now being made by the Southern Baptist
 Convention to expend $10,000 for missionary work among the colored
 people.”

This resolution was published in many of the Southern newspapers and in
all denominational organs; there was nothing but praise for the author.
The Rev. Mr. Walker left home practically unknown outside of his own
State; he returned one of the acknowledged leaders of the Baptist
brotherhood of the country. The advertising he received from this
incident doubtless in no small measure paved the way for his success in
the East, whither he went a month later to solicit funds to assist him
in his church work at Augusta.

Again, in 1889, at Indianapolis, while attending the National Baptist
Convention, he added to his already growing reputation. Then, as in
1886, the Southern question was up for discussion. Many speakers
indulged in wholesale abuse of the South: the white people of the South
were pictured as heathen; they were vilified and maligned; race feeling
ran high; there was great excitement. The Rev. Mr. Walker gained the
floor and made an able speech counselling wisdom and moderation, and
stating that he believed that the best element of white people in
the South was trying to create such a public sentiment as would make
lynching impossible. At any rate, he stated that the best thing for
the colored people to do was to make the friendship of and seek the
protection of the people among whom they lived. His speech acted like
magic. Oil was poured on the troubled waters. Reason returned, and the
resolutions under consideration were defeated. Again his name got into
the newspapers; his speech was published North and South; his name was
on every tongue; some of the papers referred to him as “a strong man in
a crisis.”

It was at this meeting that he preached the Conventional sermon. It
aroused and stirred all who heard it. At its conclusion, the late
Rev. Dr. Simmons, the President of the Convention, walked over to the
preacher, shook his hand, and said: “You have won your ‘D. D.,’ and
I’ll see that you get it.” The following summer, true to his word, he
had the trustees of the State University of Kentucky, of which he was
President, to confer upon the Rev. Mr. Walker the honorary degree of
“Doctor of Divinity,” which he has worthily worn ever since.

From the beginning, Dr. Walker was one of the leading figures of the
National Baptist Convention, and he is such to-day. For three years
he was its Treasurer, and for many years was Vice President for
Georgia. He is now Vice President for New York. He has attended every
annual meeting since the beginning, without missing a single one. Not
a partisan, not a factionist, not a stirrer up of strife among the
brethren, not a division-maker, a man of peace, probably no man has a
larger and more loyal following among the Negro Baptists of America
than he has.

In June, 1898, he was appointed a Chaplain with the rank of Captain
in the U. S. V., and assigned to duty with the Ninth Immunes. The
appointment was made by the late President McKinley out of a list
of more than 500 applicants. He secured a leave of absence from his
Augusta church, and joined his regiment at San Luis, Cuba, about
thirty miles inland from Santiago, in November, 1898. The regiment
was only doing garrison duty at the time, the leading events in the
Spanish-American War having already been long since concluded. During
his absence, his church at Augusta was supplied by the Rev. Silas X.
Floyd, at that time one of the Field Workers of the International
Sunday School Convention.

The International Sunday School Convention is the largest and most
important Sunday School organization in the world. It embraces in its
membership the United States, the Dominion of Canada and South America,
with corresponding representatives from Europe. It has a constituency
of more than 23,000,000. It is sponsor for the International Lesson
Series, which was inaugurated in 1872 by Mr. B. F. Jacobs, of Chicago,
for many years past the able and honorable and venerable Chairman of
the Executive Committee of the International Sunday School Convention.
Closely associated with Mr. Jacobs in this great work have been, for
many years, Dr. Geo. W. Bailey, of Philadelphia, the Treasurer and
Chairman of the Finance Committee; Mr. John R. Pepper, of Memphis,
Chairman of the Committee on Work Among the Colored People; Mr. John
Wanamaker, of Philadelphia, and Mr. W. K. Crosby, of Wilmington, Del.
The International Convention meets once every three years. At its last
meeting, in 1899, in Atlanta, Ga., the Hon. Hoke Smith, Secretary of
the Interior under Cleveland’s second administration, was elected
President, and Dr. Walker was elected one of the five Vice Presidents.
He was unanimously presented for this place by the colored delegates
present at the meeting, and these delegates represented many different
denominations. It is an honor not lightly to be esteemed for a Negro to
hold an office in such an important religious body.

During the past fifteen years, Dr. Walker has received calls from the
following churches: First Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn.; the First
Baptist Church, St. Louis; and the Second Baptist Church, Indianapolis.
No one of these calls was accepted by the distinguished pastor. He
preferred to remain with the people of Augusta.




  CHAPTER XI.

  CHAPLAIN U. S. V.


Dr. Walker joined his regiment, the Ninth Immunes, at San Luis, Cuba,
the middle of November, 1898, and remained in the service for nearly
two months. He did not find the service with the army very congenial,
and resigned his commission to return to civil life. He remained with
the army long enough, however, to get some notion of what army life
means. He also learned much of Cuba, its climate and its peoples, and
was able on his return to give a very interesting account of his trip.
The following report is taken from the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, Jan. 5,
1899:

 “Notwithstanding the rainy weather and the overcast night, it is
 probable that never before in its history was Tabernacle Baptist
 Church so overcrowded with people as on last night. It had been
 announced the day before that the pastor, Rev. C. T. Walker, D. D.,
 recently with the Ninth Immune Infantry in Cuba, was to lecture on
 last night of his experience in that island.

 “This notice was sufficient to pack the edifice up to the point of
 almost complete suffocation. Standing room was at a premium. Several
 hundred were turned away, and more than a hundred lingered in the yard
 on the stairways until the lecture closed. Possibly more than 1,200
 persons heard the speaker.

 “Dr. Walker, as is his custom, caught the audience from the
 beginning. He referred to the pleasure it gave him to be greeted by
 such a large gathering; he said it reminded him of the throng which
 welcomed him on his return from the Holy Land seven years ago. He
 said that there was great interest being manifested all over this
 country in Cuba and its people, especially because the Spanish yoke
 of oppression had been lifted from Cuba’s neck, and the American flag
 now floated over that land, and the Cubans, so long oppressed, so long
 cruelly treated, were now free. He said he was glad it was so, because
 wherever the Stars and Stripes waved there the Gospel flag could not
 long be kept furled.

 “He gave a brief account of his appointment last June by President
 McKinley, and, also, a short narrative of his journey to Santiago.
 His description of his entrance into the harbor of Santiago, passing
 Morro Castle, the sunken Mercedes, and the sunken Merrimac, was truly
 eloquent and brought down the house.

 “‘Santiago,’ he said, ‘is one of the oldest cities in North
 America--older even than St. Augustine, Fla., having been founded in
 1542. The streets are very narrow; the sidewalks are so narrow that
 two people cannot walk abreast; the city is extremely dirty; the water
 is unfit to drink, unless it is boiled; there are about 50,000 people
 in the city--15,000 of them white Cubans, and 35,000 of them black
 Cubans. Some of the people are intelligent, and some few engaged in
 business; but the vast majority of them are woefully ignorant and
 shiftless. Most of them at present are completely on the charity of
 the United States government. There are about 7,000 white soldiers
 in and around Santiago under General Leonard Wood, and about 3,000
 colored soldiers out at San Luis, about 35 miles away--the Eighth
 Illinois, the Twenty-third Kansas and the Ninth Immune Infantry. The
 first two of these regiments have all colored officers from colonel
 down; my own regiment had all white officers excepting the lieutenants.’

 “He was particularly interested in San Juan Hill where, as he
 said, the battle was fought which decided the fate of Spain. He
 was particularly interested in it, because in that battle, the
 Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantries, and the Ninth and Tenth
 Cavalries, all colored soldiers, led the charge, cut the barbed wire
 fence, captured the block-house, saved the Rough Riders, and added
 glory to the American nation and Negro race. He said he had stood
 on Bunker Hill, he had walked over the famous field of Waterloo,
 had crossed the valley of Ajalon where Joshua whipped five kings of
 the Amorites, and the Valley of Rephaim, where David conquered the
 Philistines, but he never was so inspired as he was when he stood on
 San Juan Hill, because there his own race was gallantly represented.
 At this the house thundered with applause.

 “He said Cuba was a most beautiful country--more beautiful than even
 Germany or Switzerland. The soil is rich and fertile. Potatoes grow
 there as long as walking canes, and vegetation flourishes throughout
 the entire year. The weather he found to be extremely warm. December
 was like our June or July. No overcoats needed there. He thought the
 country was very unhealthy. The fever there is worse than Spanish
 bullets, and no one is ‘immune’ from it, not even the natives. The
 people are in a very low state of civilization, considered as a whole.
 In the rural districts, they do not live in houses, but ‘shacks.’
 He had seen living in one little room, a husband and wife and five
 children, and a sow and six pigs. It is common for the people to live
 in the same room with horses, cows and hogs.

 “He positively affirmed that, in his judgment, the Cubans were
 incapable of self-government. He found them to be very treacherous.
 They hate American soldiers, white and black. They thought America
 ought to have freed them and immediately given them their island to
 run to suit themselves. It was dangerous for any American to go alone
 at night; he would be killed by the Cuban machete.

 “He mentioned the following as imperative needs of Cuba: churches,
 good schools, improved farming methods, and business enterprises. He
 thought that one thing that would greatly retard progress in Cuba
 was American prejudice, many examples of which he had observed while
 there. He said the American carried his prejudice wherever he went,
 and if American proscription along race lines was carried to Cuba,
 where such a thing had never been known, it would be an unhappy day
 for the island.

 “In closing, he spoke of his success as chaplain. He had more than
 100 converts, and had a baptism for three successive Sundays. His
 concluding words were a pathetic description of a scene which took
 place at one of his baptisms when one of the soldiers marched down to
 the water, singing:

    ‘Ho, my comrades, don’t you want to go?
    Let’s go down to Jordan, hallelu.’

 “At the close he showed many interesting relics, which he brought
 home with him. He had four Spanish rifles, a large supply of Mauser
 bullets, one machete, some cocoa, some coffee, some walking sticks
 made of iron wood, a Cuban pitcher, etc.”

The same night the above address was delivered, resolutions were
unanimously adopted thanking the speaker for his interesting address
and expressing the pleasure of the people at his safe return. Thanks
were also tendered the late President McKinley for appointing Dr.
Walker as chaplain with the rank of captain in the U. S. V.




  CHAPTER XII.

  AS AN EVANGELIST.


Mention has been made in a preceding chapter of the fact that Dr.
Walker has been very successful in the field of evangelistic work. In
speaking of his work as an evangelist, let it be understood at the
outset that the only limitation that has been put upon his efforts
in evangelism has been due to the fact that all along he has been a
stated pastor and has only given such time to evangelistic campaigns
as he could spare from an unusually busy pastorate. Yet even with this
limitation he has been very successful in evangelistic work, though
he has not been able, for the reason stated, to accept scores of
invitations from great cities to serve the Lord by conducting revival
services.

He has the calling, the spirit, the gift, the courage, the directness,
the sympathy, the faith, the fervor, and the flexibility of the
true evangelist. What gives him his greatest preaching power is the
enthusiastic warmth and impulsiveness of his speech both in matter and
manner. Another thing that adds to the attractiveness of his meetings
is the singing. Unlike most of the world’s greatest preachers, he is
a great singer. It has been often said of him that he can out-preach
any man, and then, without stopping, put in and out-sing any man. It
is beyond the power of man to describe an audience of four or five
thousand colored people engaged in a service of song. In addition to
the Gospel Hymns and Revival Songs, the colored people always use the
old time Negro Spirituals, sometimes called Plantation Songs, and in
the rendition of these last the colored people are inimitable. With
Dr. Walker leading the singing in stentorian notes and the multitude
joining in, its worth a day’s journey of any man’s life to witness the
sight. To be understood, to be appreciated, it must be seen and heard.

At sometime or other, during the past twenty years, revival services
have been held by Dr. Walker in every important city in Georgia without
exception. It will be unnecessary to speak of each meeting. The first
“big meetings” that gave him anything like a national standing as a
recognized leading revivalist were held in Kansas City, Mo. The papers
gave large space daily to the accounts of his meetings. This was in
1892, soon after his return from the Holy Land. During the progress
of these meetings, invitations came to him to go to St. Louis, San
Francisco, and Chicago to continue the good work. As much as he desired
to do so, he was compelled to return to his church at Augusta, after
five weeks of hard work, in which many hundreds were saved. In 1894,
Dr. Walker was invited to New York City to take part in the great
religious campaign inaugurated there during that year. The meetings
were held during March and April. He remained for three weeks. He
spoke at the Antioch Baptist Church, 352 W. 35th Street; St. Mark’s M.
E. Church, 139 W. 48th Street; Niblo’s Garden, Broadway, near Prince
Street; the Academy of Music, Metropolitan Hall, near Macy’s, and at
other points under assignment of the Metropolitan Association. He was
associated with such men as the Rev. A. C. Dixon, the Rev. Ernest Lyon,
the Rev. Granville Hunt, Mr. Arthur Crane, Leonard Weaver, Mr. Theodore
Bjorksten, Mr. and Mrs. George C. Stebbins, the Rev. D. J. Burrell, and
others. The following is taken from the New York Tribune concerning
those meetings:

 “The most unique figure in the present evangelistic campaign is,
 without a doubt, the Rev. Dr. Walker, of Georgia, who is better known
 as the ‘Black Spurgeon.’ This preacher has been working principally
 among the members of his own race in the course of his stay in New
 York, and has made many converts of the attendants at the meetings in
 Antioch Baptist Church and in St. Mark’s M. E. Church. Dr. Walker is a
 man who would attract attention anywhere. He has strong features and
 his voice, although deep, has a remarkably winning intonation. His
 manner is eloquent, and in preaching Christ he follows closely the
 life of the Master, and illustrates his remarks by vivid descriptive
 phrases.”

The column from which this is taken is headed “The Black Spurgeon’s
Work--Many Negroes Uplifted by His Eloquent Words--Part Which
Dr. Walker is Taking in the Evangelical Services--His Attractive
Personality.”

The New York Sun said:

 “‘The Black Spurgeon’ met with great success in his work in this city.
 He is a large and powerful man, with a deep voice, but what gives him
 his greatest preaching power is the earnestness he displays in matter
 and manner. Dr. Walker aroused a religious feeling which is finding
 expression in daily meetings. In St. Mark’s, three meetings are held
 each day. The special aim of the revival has been to bring the young
 into the church, and to reclaim backsliders.”

The New York Times, the New York Press, the New York Independent and
other papers spoke of the “Black Spurgeon” and his work in New York at
this time.

The following account of one of the Metropolitan noon-day meetings is
taken from Sabbath Reading, a religious paper:

 “‘Showers of Blessing,’ was the opening hymn at a Metropolitan meeting
 a few days ago; and the reports of this and other meetings indicate
 that showers of blessing have indeed been falling. After several
 hymns had been sung, the Rev. Mr. Hunt led in prayer; Mr. Spencer
 sang touchingly the hymn, ‘My Son, Give Me Thine Heart.’ Mr. Arthur
 Crane then spoke a short while. Miss Anna Parks rendered a solo on
 a cornet, ‘When the Sea Gives up its Dead.’ Dr. Walker, of Augusta,
 Ga., who is called the ‘Black Spurgeon,’ was introduced. He spoke in
 a voice tremulous with emotion and enthusiasm, and the audience gave
 him their close attention, that not a word might be lost. Opening the
 Bible, he read the first seven verses from Luke 5. ‘There are four
 things to learn from this lesson,’ he said; ‘first, failure; second,
 faith; third, fullness; fourth, fellowship. These disciples had had a
 night of fruitless toil. Jesus was not with them. They were fishermen
 and were plying their usual vocation on the lake, but they hadn’t met
 with success. That was failure. In the morning, Jesus came along with
 a great crowd of people, and he asked Peter to lend him his ship for
 a pulpit, so that he might preach to the people. Peter did so, and to
 reward him for his courtesy, Jesus told him to launch out. Now, that
 seemed a foolish thing to do, because Peter and the others had been
 fishing all night, and hadn’t caught one fish, and Jesus knew it; but
 he wanted to teach them a lesson of faith and obedience, as well as
 to reward them. It’s just like Jesus. He always does reward us right
 away, and he is continually paying us for what we do. The disciples
 took Jesus at his word. That was faith. And you know the story, how
 they let down the nets and drew in so many that the nets broke. That
 was fullness. Jesus always honors faith, even when it is mixed with
 ignorance and superstition. Seeing their companions at a distance with
 their empty boat, the disciples called them to come and share the fish
 with them. That was fellowship. The Lord intends that each of us shall
 share our joys with others. While this mighty tidal wave of religion
 is sweeping over the country, this is a good time for you to come to
 God and bring your friends with you. Jesus blesses us so that we might
 bless others. As he is exemplified in our conduct, so shall we win
 souls. Are there none here to-day who wish this Christ to come into
 their souls to be their own, their personal Saviour?’ Several raised
 their hands for prayer, and the speaker said, ‘Thank God.’”

Since 1894, Dr. Walker has held successful meetings in Galveston,
Texas; Houston, Texas; Kansas City, St. Louis, Boston, Philadelphia,
Nashville, Louisville and Atlanta. The last great meeting in Atlanta
was held in April, 1897. The meetings commenced in Friendship Baptist
Church, W. Mitchell St., of which the Rev. E. R. Carter, D. D., is the
pastor. The interest increased so rapidly, and the number that came
was so large that the meetings had to be transferred to the auditorium
in Exposition Park, which before that had been made famous by meetings
held by Sam Jones, and later by D. L. Moody. He crowded the great hall,
with a seating capacity of nearly 8,000 souls, from the start. There
probably has never been just such a meeting on the American continent
as the one held in Atlanta at that time. It was attended by the white
people as well as by the black people. At more than one service there
were more than a thousand whites present--some of them representing
the wealth and culture and refinement of Atlanta. Ministers, lawyers,
members of the city council, the mayor and his wife, the merchants
and bankers--all came out to hear the “Black Spurgeon.” And the white
people were just as eager, and some of them just as emotional in their
worship as were the colored people. Many whites stood for prayer along
with colored people; many were bathed in tears during the preaching;
many of them testified for Jesus in the testimonial meetings; many
were helped; some were saved. At the close of each meeting, the most
prominent people would not think of leaving the building before shaking
hands with the great preacher. Speaking of this meeting, the Atlanta
Constitution said:

 “The Negroes of Atlanta are stirred up over the wonderful religious
 revival that has been going on in the Friendship Baptist Church for
 the past two weeks. The success of the meeting has been unparalleled,
 and more religious enthusiasm has been aroused in the two weeks
 that the meetings have been running than has been felt in this city
 in years. The meetings are being conducted by the Rev. Charles T.
 Walker, ‘the colored Spurgeon.’ He is assisted by Rev. E. R. Carter,
 the regular pastor. Every night, thousands are turned away from the
 church on W. Mitchell St., and the building is always crowded with
 people long before the hour of service. Rev. Walker is proving as
 great a drawing card among the colored people as Sam Jones did among
 the whites. He attracts fully as large crowds and his preaching is
 drawing fully as many people into the church as Sam Jones’ meeting--if
 not more. Dr. Walker is pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church at
 Augusta, and is regarded as one of the leading colored preachers in
 the country. He attracts large crowds by his preaching wherever he
 goes, and his meetings are always attended by wonderful outbursts of
 religious enthusiasm.”

In 1899, Dr. Walker again held meetings in Kansas City. The following
is taken from the Kansas City Star, April, 1899:

 “Many a white man would be glad to have the eloquence, the command
 of language and the power of thought that Rev. Dr. C. T. Walker, the
 ‘Black Spurgeon,’ displayed in his sermon to a great crowd of colored
 people in the Second Baptist Church, Tenth and Campbell Sts., last
 night. He is one of the best colored speakers ever heard in Kansas
 City.

 “The Rev. Walker’s home is in Augusta, Ga. He is so well thought of by
 the prominent people of his city that when the mayor died yesterday,
 he received several telegrams asking him to come and attend the
 funeral. He may return home to-day, but may decide to remain longer.

 “Every seat in the large auditorium of the new colored church was
 occupied when he ascended the pulpit steps last night, and long rows
 of black faces looked down at him from the balcony.

 “Dr. Walker is a man of perhaps forty or more. He is of medium size;
 although his face is as black as a stove pipe, he says he never drinks
 coffee because it is deleterious to the complexion. His features are
 prominent, he has a sharp mustache and a short head. His voice is not
 exceedingly strong, but clear and well modulated.

 “His sermons are sententious and epigrammatic. They abound in original
 and striking observations, and his gestures, though not graceful, are
 spontaneous.

 “‘Men talk a great deal of the perplexing problems that confront
 humanity to-day,’ he said. ‘But if men would put the Bible into
 practice, there will be no problems. That book is statesmanship as
 well as religion, and it not only teaches the fatherhood of God, but
 the universal brotherhood of man.’

 “The subject of his sermon was ‘Christ the supreme object of worship.’
 In referring to God’s plan of salvation, he said: ‘So many say they
 failed to understand the plan and sometimes wondered why the Almighty
 did not take man into his confidence just a little bit in arranging
 it. But it wouldn’t have done. In this day, when there are so many
 trusts and combines, salvation would have been bought up and cornered
 and monopolized until only the rich could get at it, if man had had
 anything to do with it. As some rhymester has said:

    “‘If religion was a thing that money could buy,
    The rich would live and the poor would die.’”

 “One of the characteristics of ‘the Black Spurgeon’s’ style is his
 fund of illustrative anecdotes. He used one of these to show that man
 cannot read the Bible without feeling instinctively that Christ was
 divine, relating a conversation supposed to have taken place between
 Napoleon and Gen. Bertrand on the Island of St. Helena. When the
 latter expressed his opinion that Christ was only a man, Napoleon
 stopped him, and said: ‘No, General Bertrand, I know men. But I never
 knew one like Christ. He had that in Him that no man ever had. He was
 divine. His army--soldiers of the cross--are now marching on through
 ages to victory. But who, general, think you, is marshalling any
 forces for me? In a year or two I shall die and be no more, and my
 name will be forgotten. But his name will live forever.’

 “‘Col. Ingersoll and Gen. Lew Wallace were once taking a ride
 together,’ the speaker said, ‘when Wallace informed his companion that
 he intended to write a book tearing the mask from the face of Christ
 and showing Him to have been but human. Ingersoll told him that he was
 the very man to write such a book and commended the idea.’ ‘When Gen.
 Wallace prepared to write the book,’ said the preacher, ‘he first set
 about reading the New Testament carefully as a prerequisite. Before he
 had finished it, he convinced himself of his own error and wrote Ben
 Hur instead.’

 “‘Over and over again,’ continued the speaker, ‘I have read of the
 Pharisee who, after recounting his virtues, thanked God that he was
 not like other men. And I have often wondered who this Pharisee was
 like. He was not like God, and he was not like the publican--he must
 have been like the devil.’

 “Dr. Walker dealt sanctification a blow in declaring that such a
 thing as perfection was impossible to man. Man was intended to grow
 unceasingly into Christian strength.

 “‘The Lord’s our judge,’ he said, ‘the Lord is our King; the Lord is
 our law-giver--the judicial, the executive and legislative combined in
 one.’

 “But it is his pictures of the hereafter, of the hosts of saints
 marching up to glory, that the Black Spurgeon excels. Then it is that
 his voice is raised and his body sways back and forth as he adds
 stroke after stroke to the grand scene, and marshals phalanx after
 phalanx of moral heroes in Miltonic array, moving on with steady
 tread, glittering, triumphant, to the gates of heaven. In the course
 of a bit of description of this kind, near the close of his sermon,
 shouts went up from every quarter of the church and the audience was
 worked up to a high pitch of religious frenzy and exaltation.

 “‘I hear the tread of the feet of the great host,’ he said, ‘tramp,
 tramp, tramp, they come. Like the angel whose wings John, in his
 vision saw released, they are not retarded by polar snows nor
 equatorial heat.’

 “‘On they come--tramp, tramp, tramp, shoulder to shoulder, wheel to
 wheel, charger to charger; onward they march--company after company,
 cavalcade after cavalcade, thousands upon thousands and millions
 upon millions, marching, marching, marching, on through the ages and
 forever. The church of God is going home to Zion. Ah! friends many
 are waiting there for you! That mother that lies buried beneath the
 sod, that little son or daughter, that sister, that brother--they are
 waiting and calling for you. Be of good courage, they say. They are
 not far away; they see your struggles; they know your temptations.’

 “Then when the emotion of the audience began to find vent in shouts,
 the speaker lowered his voice and shifted to another line of attack,
 gradually working upon the feelings of his hearers again until he was
 again compelled to let up.”

It is not necessary to prolong this chapter. The record of service
done in the Master’s Vineyard by Dr. Walker is one to be proud of. He
has led more than 8,000 persons to Christ, has baptized and received
into the membership of the church more than 3,500, and has not missed
preaching the glorious Gospel of the blessed Christ but four Sundays in
twenty-four years--twice on account of sickness, and twice on account
of being at sea.




  CHAPTER XIII.

  LEAVES AUGUSTA--GOES TO NEW YORK.


In the month of June, 1899, a unanimous call was extended to Dr.
Walker to become Pastor of the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, 161 W. 53d
St., New York City. Soon after, by invitation, he visited New York to
confer with the officers of the church with regard to the work. The
meeting between the pastor-elect and the officers was satisfactory in
every way, and the former signified his intention of accepting the
call. Returning to Augusta, he presented his resignation as pastor of
Tabernacle Baptist Church, to take effect on the 1st day of October,
1899, on which date he proposed to enter upon work in New York City.

It is putting the matter mildly to say that the members of the
Tabernacle Church and the people of Augusta were in a frenzy. Mass
meetings were held, protest after protest was filed by various civic
and benevolent organizations, the newspapers rebelled, the Tabernacle
Baptist Church voted to add $50.00 per month to his salary, the whole
city was literally stirred in an effort to get him to reconsider his
acceptance of the New York invitation and withdraw the resignation
he had tendered as Pastor of Tabernacle Church. These efforts were
unavailing, because Dr. Walker said that he felt moved of the Spirit to
go to New York. As a compliment to the pastor, the Tabernacle Baptist
Church refused to accept his resignation, and passed resolutions to
the effect that he be left free to go to New York if he desired, but
stipulating expressly that he could return at any date to the pastorate
of the Tabernacle Church, which he had founded, and of which he had
been the able, successful and beloved leader for 14 years. With this
understanding, the Rev. Silas X. Floyd was unanimously elected as
Pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, and installed as Pastor on
Tuesday night, Sept. 26, 1899.

[Illustration: TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH, AUGUSTA, FOUNDED BY DR.
CHARLES T. WALKER.]

The following account of Dr. Walker’s last Sunday night with his
Augusta church is taken from the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle of Sept. 25,
1899:

 “Last night Dr. C. T. Walker preached his farewell sermon at
 Tabernacle Baptist Church. The church was packed to overflowing. A
 Chronicle reporter called soon after the service commenced, and found
 great crowds going away, unable to gain admission.

 “The service commenced by singing, ‘Come, ye disconsolate,’ the
 hymn being read by the Rev. Silas X. Floyd, A. M., pastor-elect of
 Tabernacle Church. Prayer was offered by Bishop R. S. Williams, of
 the C. M. E. Church.

 “Dr. Walker used for a text Acts 20:32, ‘And now, brethren, I commend
 you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build
 you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are
 sanctified.”

 “In his opening remarks, the speaker referred to the fact that
 in the 20th chapter of Acts the apostle Paul was delivering his
 farewell message to the elders of Ephesus. Concerning himself, the
 apostle had been desirous all along of two things. One was that he
 might be faithful, and the other was that he might finish well. The
 apostle commended the Ephesians to God--to God’s providence, to God’s
 protection, to God’s word. He commended them in this way for their
 edification and for their glorification.

 “Then leaving the text, he delivered some very pathetic and helpful
 parting words to his congregation. Among other things he urged them
 to be a united people: he plead with them to stand together and to
 uphold the hands of the young man who had been called to succeed
 him; he urged them to be industrious, progressive, self-respecting
 and self-reliant; with much eloquence he called upon them to be
 interested in all the affairs of their race--he appealed to them to
 be law-abiding and to make themselves a credit to the race and to the
 city of Augusta and not a disgrace.

 “Parting words were also spoken to the officers of the church.
 Parting thanks were expressed to the church, to the sinners, to
 the citizens, white and colored, who had stood by him and made his
 success possible.

 “In closing he gave a brief summary of his 14 years work in this
 city. During that time he has baptized at his church over 1,400
 people, erected a handsome brick church, bought an ‘Old Folks’ Home,’
 the church and home valued at over $20,000, and done many other
 things of which he did not speak. Many of the congregation were
 shedding tears at the close of the service. The parting hymn was ‘God
 be with you till we meet again.’”

[Illustration: THE TABERNACLE OLD FOLKS’ HOME, AUGUSTA, GA., FOUNDED
BY DR. CHARLES T. WALKER.]

The Mount Olivet Baptist Church was organized March 10, 1878. Rev.
Daniel W. Wisher was its first pastor. The church had its place of
worship in West 26th St., until 1885. In that year, by the help of
generous white Baptist friends and the Baptist City Mission Society,
they were enabled to purchase the splendid edifice in W. 53rd St.,
valued then at $130,000, in which they still worship. During the
pastorate of Rev. D. W. Wisher, or from 1878 to 1899, the church
paid on its debt, $39,000, of this $18,000 were given by Mr. John D.
Rockefeller, Mr. W. M. Isaacs, Mr. James Pyle, Mr. W. A. Caldwell, Mr.
Samuel S. Constant, Mrs. Nathan Bishop, Mr. J. A. Bostick, Mr. J. F.
Comey, Mr. B. F. Judson, Mr. R. Parker and others through the Baptist
City Mission Society.

In 1897 during the heated political campaign in New York City, the Rev.
D. W. Wisher saw fit to side with Tammany Hall in the city election,
and, it is said, went so far as to preach a sermon in which he
advocated Tammany’s claims and advised his members to vote the Tammany
ticket. As a result of this new departure, great opposition to the Rev.
Mr. Wisher sprang up in the church, and for nearly two years there was
an unseemly church wrangle by which the church was finally divided into
two factions, known as the “Wisherites” and the “Anti-Wisherites.”

It would be offensive to go into details. After a series of court
trials the “Anti-Wisherites” triumphed. The Rev. Mr. Wisher was deposed
in 1899, and his followers left the church.

It was then that the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church commenced to look for
a new leader. The Rev. Chas. S. Morris, D. D., of Boston, Mass., was
called to lead the church temporarily. After prayer and deliberation,
the church looked to Georgia, its eye fell on the “Black Spurgeon,” and
he was invited to become pastor of the church. As already stated, after
conference with those in authority, Dr. Walker decided to accept the
new charge. At first his friends throughout the nation felt that he was
making a mistake, the church already divided, the people who had kept
up with the “church war” (so far as they could keep up with it from the
newspaper reports) felt that it would be impossible for any human being
to reunite the membership. But Dr. Walker undertook the task, trusting
in the Lord. He succeeded from the day he took charge, the first
Sunday in October, 1899. From that day to this there has not been the
slightest friction in the church, and the membership has increased from
about 430 to more than 1,800 in the short space of two years and four
months. Besides, it is said by those competent to give correct opinions
in the matter that from the beginning he has preached to the largest
regular congregations of any man in New York City, white or black.

The second Sunday in March, 1900, he baptized 184 converts at one
time, which is the record for New York City, and perhaps for the
country. It was such an unusual spectacle that all the New York
newspapers gave large space to a report of the baptism and the
Associated Press sent a long account of it throughout the length and
breadth of the country. At the night service the pastor gave the hand
of fellowship to 408 members.

The second Sunday in March, 1901, he had another large baptism, in
which 95 were baptized, and the second Sunday in February, 1902, more
than 100 were baptized into the fellowship of the Mt. Olivet Baptist
Church. In all there have been more than 1,400 added to the church
under his administration, 700 by baptism and about 700 by letters and
Christian experiences. These last are usually called backsliders. They
are persons who were at one time members of Baptist churches in other
places, but who have been in New York, some ten, some fifteen and some
twenty years, without connecting themselves with any churches, while
at the same time they lost their identity with the churches where they
formerly were members. Dr. Walker has reclaimed hundreds of these, and
they are making good church members.

Financially his success with the church has been remarkable. In round
numbers, he has raised for all purposes, $25,000. He has kept up the
interest on the church debt and paid $2,500 on the principal. He has
raised $3,000 for the Colored Men’s Branch Y. M. C. A.; $2,500 for Home
and Foreign Missions, and more than $2,000 for various charities. Among
the regular contributors to the church at the present time are Mrs.
Geo. Lewis, Mr. W. R. A. Martin, and Mr. James W. Talcott.

The Mt. Olivet Baptist Church is a commodious structure, three stories
high with a beautiful granite front. The first floor contains the
trustees’ room, library room, the deacons’ room, one large dressing
room, kitchen and Sunday School room and the lecture room--the library
room and trustees’ room, by means of folding doors, can be thrown into
the lecture room. The second floor contains the main auditorium and
the choir gallery with two large swinging galleries. The third floor
contains the pastor’s study and room for committees, choir practice,
etc. Following is the list of present officers of Mt. Olivet Baptist
Church:

[Illustration: MT. OLIVET BAPTIST CHURCH, WEST FIFTY THIRD STREET, NEW
YORK CITY, N. Y.]

DEACONS OF MT. OLIVET BAPTIST CHURCH.

Wm. Moore, Chairman. Born in Hertford County, N. C., in 1855. Joined
Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in 1881. Made deacon in 1882. Served for
several years on the Advisory Board.

Fleming W. Jackson, Vice Chairman. Born in New Kent County, Va., in
1836. Joined Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in 1879 by letter from Second
Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. Licensed to preach by Joy Street Baptist
Church, Boston, Mass., and also by the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church.
Served for five years on the Advisory Board of the Mt. Olivet Baptist
Church and for the past four years has been a deacon.

J. A. Gardener, born in Shirley, near Richmond, Va., in 1846. Joined
Mt. Olivet Baptist Church when it was organized in 1878. Has been a
member of the board of deacons 22 years.

G. P. Webb. Born in Orange County, Va., Oct. 7, 1850. Joined Mt. Olivet
Baptist Church in 1878. Been a member of the Board of deacons since
1885. Deacon Webb is also Vice President Board of Trustees.

Robert H. Jones. Born in 1850 in Petersburg, Va. Joined Mt. Olivet
Baptist Church in 1885. Became deacon in 1898.

Herbert S. Royal. Born in Nottoway County, Va., Oct. 31, 1858. Joined
Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in 1884. Served as an usher for three years;
member of the Advisory Board for two years, and made a deacon in 1894.

David Grant. Born in 1848, in Marengo County, Ala. Joined Mt. Olivet
Baptist Church in 1882; made a deacon in 1900.

John L. Walters. Born April 3, 1862, in Accomac County, Va. Joined Mt.
Olivet Baptist Church in 1885. Served on Advisory Board for several
years. Made a deacon in 1898. Deacon Walters is, also, Assistant
Superintendent of the Sunday School.

General Grant Stephens. Born in Newbern, N. C., March 15, 1870. Joined
Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in 1895. Made a deacon in 1900.

A. J. Campbell, Born in Nottoway County, Va., April 20. 1857. Joined
Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in 1887. Made a deacon in 1900.

W. H. Holloway.

Samuel Swann.

TRUSTEE BOARD.

W. H. Jones, President; Henry Darnell, Treasurer; Cyrus Henry Trent,
Secretary; James Wells, Assistant Secretary; Deacon G. P. Webb,
Vice President; J. E. Taylor; Frank Youngblood; P. F. Comey (white);
W. H. J. Innis (white).

OTHER OFFICERS.

J. E. Decker, Church Clerk; Prof. J. S. Brown, Assistant Clerk;
J. F. Comey (white), Treasurer; Wesley Norman, Superintendent
of Sunday School; Deacon J. L. Walters, Assistant Superintendent
of Sunday School; B. H. Green, President B. Y. P. U.; Samuel Tabb,
President Young People’s Literary Society; Mrs. Charity Jones,
President of the C. T. Walker Volunteer Club; Mrs. Clarence Robinson,
President of the United Tribes (auxiliary to the Y. M. C. A.);
Deacon F. W. Jackson, President of the Co-workers; Prof. A. C. Fletcher,
Chorister; Madam V. E. Hunt Scott, Organist; John Collie, Sexton;
Robert Washington, Assistant Sexton.




  CHAPTER XIV.

  COLORED MEN’S BRANCH Y. M. C. A.


Dr. Walker had not been a resident of New York six months before he
turned his attention to the organization of a Young Men’s Christian
Association for colored young men. He had looked around and had found
no place for hundreds and hundreds of colored young men to spend
their evenings and Sundays, except in saloons, dives and brothels.
Without consulting anybody, though he was at the headquarters of the
International Y. M. C. A., he called a public meeting at Mt. Olivet
Baptist Church, and organized a Y. M. C. A. Nearly every colored
pastor in the city, regardless of denomination, became interested in
the movement, and gave Dr. Walker almost undivided support. Money was
raised, a building at 132 West 53rd Street was leased for one year,
temporary officers were elected, and Dec. 18, 1900, application was
made to the Y. M. C. A. of New York City for membership as one of the
regular branches. The application was received and acted on favorably,
and since then the Colored Men’s Branch has been one of the regular
branches of the City Association. In January, 1901, Mr. Walter C.
Coles, of Aiken, S. C., was appointed Secretary of the Colored Men’s
Branch and immediately took charge of the work. He served only one
year, having been summoned to report to God, Saturday, Jan. 4th, 1902.
The following obituary notice is taken from the Presbyterian Herald, of
New York City:

[Illustration: REV. WALTER C. COLES, DECEASED EX-SECRETARY OF COLORED
Y. M. C A., NEW YORK CITY, N. Y.]

 “Rev. Walter C. Coles died suddenly of typhoid fever, at his home,
 331 West 59th Street, Saturday, January 4th, 1902. Mr. Coles was the
 oldest son of the Rev. William R. and Mrs. Coles, of Aiken, S. C. He
 was a graduate both of the College and Theological Departments of
 Biddle University, N. C.

 “It was in the Biddle University where Mr. Coles developed his great
 power as a ‘Fisher of Men.’ He organized the University men, whom he
 held together by his shrewd method of dealing and his heart of love.

 “He engaged in regular pastoral work at Nimrod, N. C. and Aiken, S. C.

 “The Rev. Chas. T. Walker, D. D., came to New York as pastor of the
 Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in 1899.

 “He at once began work among the men, organized a Colored Men’s Branch
 of the Y. M. C. A. Within a year this organization had grown to be a
 great power for good. A secretary was needed. Walter Coles was the
 man. He was appointed Secretary of the Colored Men’s Branch of the Y.
 M. C. A., 132 West 53rd Street, January 1901. He therefore served only
 one year.

 “In September, 1901, he was ordained by the Presbytery of McClelland,
 in South Carolina, and was married to Miss Mattie Belk, of Greenville,
 in the same month, and the happy couple came to New York to engage in
 their life work. But alas! How soon was he cut down. He had lived a
 full life. His work was done. His task ended.

 “A memorial service was held in Mount Olivet Baptist Church, Sunday
 afternoon. The Colored Branch and the Ladies’ Auxiliary were present
 in a body. Among the speakers were Chairman Walker, the Rev. Dr.
 William H. Brooks, Pastor of St. Mark’s Methodist Episcopal Church;
 the Rev. Hutchins C. Bishop, Pastor of St. Philip’s Protestant
 Episcopal Church; Vice Chairman G. W. Allen, Messrs. A. S. Newman,
 representing the Board of Directors; E. W. Booth, General Secretary;
 B. M. Lewis, of the East Side Branch, and Mr. Bannister of the Harlem
 Branch. The chancel was filled with a large number of handsome floral
 pieces. Sunday evening the remains were carried to Aiken, accompanied
 by Mr. Coles’s wife, mother and H. C. Dugas.’”

The death of Mr. Coles was a serious blow to the work, but the work
is still being carried on in the name of the Lord. Rev. Thomas J.
Bell, of Altamaha, Ga., a graduate of Atlanta University and Hartford
Theological Seminary, has been appointed to succeed the late Mr. Coles,
and will enter upon his duties April 1, 1902. The Association has now
$2,000 on hand for a building fund and more than $500 in the treasury
for current expenses. Too much cannot be said in praise of the efforts
of the United Tribes in raising money for the Y. M. C. A. The Tribes
are a company of women of the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, which serves
as an auxiliary to the Y. M. C. A. Deacon Fleming Jackson is President
of the United Tribes. By means of fairs, the tribes have raised for the
work of the Colored Men’s Branch more than $3,000. Dr. Walker has found
them an invaluable auxiliary.

[Illustration: REV. T. J. BELL,

SECRETARY COLORED Y. M C. A., NEW YORK CITY.]

The present officers are the following Board of Managers:

Rev. C. T. Walker, D. D., Chairman; Geo. W. Allen, Vice Chairman;
John A. Robinson, Secretary; J. F. Comey, Treasurer; Rev. P. Butler
Thompkins, Rev. W. H. Brooks, Rev. W. D. Cook, Rev. H. C. Bishop,
Mr. Henry Darnell, John S. Brown, Jr., E. P. Roberts, Walter Handy,
Anderson Ferrall, Jr., A. S. Newman, Edmund W. Booth, A. B. Cooper,
Rev. W. L. Hubbard.

Special mention should be made of a life-size oil painting of Dr.
Walker, the founder and Chairman of the Branch, given to the Colored
Men’s Branch by the Ladies’ Auxiliary Society of Mt. Olivet Baptist
Church. This painting adorns the walls of the Colored Men’s Branch.

Special mention, also, should be made of the invaluable services
rendered Dr. Walker by his private Secretary, Mr. Henry C. Dugas, of
Augusta, Ga. Mr. Dugas went to New York with Dr. Walker, in 1899, and
continued his right-hand man until October, 1901. At that time, Dr.
Walker was thinking about going South again to live, and, with his
characteristic large-heartedness, he looked about to place Mr. Dugas in
some good position. Through friends he was able to place Mr. Dugas as
one of the Secretaries of Mr. George Foster Peabody, the millionaire
banker, philanthropist and publicist. Mr. Dugas has given prefect
satisfaction in his new station. He is a graduate of the Oberlin
Business College, is an accomplished stenographer and typewriter,
steady in his habits, modest and unassuming in his general deportment,
and indefatigable in the performance of his duties. Since Mr. Dugas
left Dr. Walker, the duties of private Secretary have been ably and
successfully performed by Miss Annie L. Connelly, of New York City.

[Illustration: HENRY C. DUGAS,

FORMER SECRETARY OF DR. WALKER, NOW PERSONAL SECRETARY FOR GEORGE
FOSTER PEABODY.]

The most significant fact in connection with the Colored Y. M. C. A.
is that all efforts to organize an association among the colored men of
New York failed until Dr. Walker came to the city and applied his heart
and mind and energy to the task. The instant success of the movement
attracted wide-spread attention, and long after he is dead, Dr. Walker
will be known in history as the founder of the first Colored Y. M. C. A.
in New York City. The work is bound to grow and increase with the
years that are to come. It is confidently predicted that within a year,
the Colored Men’s Branch will have a finely located building that will
cost upwards of $50,000.




  CHAPTER XV.

  CALLED TO AUGUSTA AGAIN.


Rev. Silas X. Floyd resigned the pastorate of Tabernacle Church,
Augusta, Ga., Nov. 15, 1900. The resignation was not accepted by the
church, but Rev. Mr. Floyd decided to leave the pastorate and took his
departure Jan. 1, 1901. The Tabernacle Church, being now without a
leader, looked to its founder and first pastor for aid and comfort. In
June, 1901, a unanimous call was tendered to Dr. Walker to return to
his old work. Dr. Walker greatly loved the people of his old church,
and felt grateful toward them for standing by him so loyally in his
earlier years when he was not so prominent, and felt it to be his duty
to return to them. He notified the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church of his
intention to leave New York, Oct. 1, 1901, and take up again his old
work at Augusta. There was a spontaneous protest from the whole church
and from the entire city, as may be easily seen from the files of the
newspapers of the metropolis. The city was up in arms; the church
passed resolutions, imploring Dr. Walker to remain in New York, and
many other organizations did likewise.

The strong protest against his leaving New York culminated in a mass
meeting, held in Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, New York City, Wednesday
night, Nov. 6, 1901. The following circular, sent out by the church and
citizens, will illustrate the vigorous effort made to keep Dr. Walker
in New York City:

 “Mass meeting of the officers, members and the congregation of Mt.
 Olivet Baptist Church, Rev. Dr. Charles T. Walker, Pastor, to be held
 in the church, West 53rd St., on Wednesday evening, Nov. 6, 1901, at 8
 o’clock.

 “The purpose of this meeting is to give expression to our great love,
 respect, affection and regard for Rev. Dr. Charles T. Walker, and to
 show him how strong our desire is to have him remain among us as our
 spiritual comforter, friend and adviser.

 “We not only desire him to remain with us, but we also desire to show
 him the sincerity and strength of this desire.

 “We desire to show him how much we appreciate his Christian character,
 his polished sermons, his matchless eloquence, his bright and
 versatile intelligence, his noble manhood, his genial and kindly
 spirit, his undying loyalty to his people, and all those good
 qualities which have so endeared him to our hearts, and which go to
 make the very highest and best of the Christian ministry.

 “We want his people in Augusta, Ga., to learn from us how dear he is
 to us, and that we cannot and will not allow him to depart from among
 us, and to persuade them to give up all thoughts of inducing him to
 leave a field of usefulness to us as a race, which cannot well be
 filled by others (let them be who they may).

 “Rev. Dr. Robert S. MacArthur, pastor Calvary Baptist Church, West
 57th Street, will preside. Addresses will be made by Right Rev.
 William B. Derrick, Bishop of the A. M. E. Church; Dr. Cook, pastor
 Bethel A. M. E. Church; Dr. William H. Brooks, pastor of St. Mark’s M.
 E. Church, F. R. Morse, assistant pastor Calvary Baptist Church, West
 57th Street; Pierce B. Thompkins, pastor of St. James Church, West
 32nd Street; Hutchins Bishop, pastor of St. Philip’s Church: Dr. W. T.
 Dixon, Pastor Concord Baptist Church, Brooklyn; John D. Rockefeller,
 Jr., James Alex. Williams, Consulting Physician and Inspector
 Department of Health, N. Y. City; E. V. C. Cato, Superintendent of
 the A. M. E. Church Sabbath School, and W. G. M. F., and A. M. S.
 of New York; W. R. Davis, Alexander Powell, Assistant Inspector
 Department of New York, G. A. R., and Past Commander Post 234; R.
 H. Hutchless, P. E. G. C. K. of T.; Winfield Jackson, President of
 Saloon Men’s Protective Association, No. 1, of New York City; Alfred
 Christian, President of Bronx Republican Club, New York City; T. T.
 Fortune, Editor of New York Age; Wm. H. Randolph, Commander Post
 234, Department of N. Y., G. A. R.; David Prime, James Mann, John
 R. Bradford, A. L. Askew, John H. Chase, Robert Franklin, Jeremiah
 Stewart, Robert P. Gilmore, Theodore Warren.

 “Music under the direction of Albert C. Fletcher, Choirmaster of the
 church; Mme. V. E. Hunt Scott, Organist.”

The meeting referred to in the above circular was carried out almost to
the letter, and was said to have been the largest church meeting ever
held in New York City. The following letter sent to the meeting by Rev.
W. C. Bitting, pastor of one of the largest white churches in New York,
is so very full and explicit that we give it space in this book.

 “I would be sorry to see Mr. Walker leave our city. Our colored
 brethren have suffered horribly from incompetent and uneducated
 leaders in this city, and are suffering in the same way now, in many
 churches. What a well prepared man can do has been demonstrated by
 the pastorate of Mr. Walker. I wish that he could see his way to
 remain with us, and that the example of Mt. Olivet Church in calling
 and keeping an educated pastor would be followed by all the other
 churches. We would have a different story to tell about our work if
 our colored brethren would not take up with pious and illiterate
 tramps. This will show you my feeling about Mr. Walker’s work and
 continuance among us.

 “It is a matter which I suppose he will settle between the Lord and
 himself, and I also honor him enough to believe that he does not need
 begging to keep him here if he sees it to be his duty to stay, and I
 also honor him enough to believe that he will go if he believes it
 to be his duty to go. I have not much heart to meddle with what must
 by nature be a matter between God and Mr. Walker. Nevertheless, I
 earnestly hope he may see it to be his duty to stay and help not only
 Mt. Olivet, but all the other churches, and his race and the city
 by the continuance of what has been in many respects a remarkable
 ministry. Such a man ought to be allowed to have his own way.

                           “Yours sincerely,
                                          “W. C. Bitting.”

[Illustration: Robert Stuart MacArthur, D. D.,

PASTOR CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH, NEW YORK.]

One speech made at the mass meeting is deserving of more than passing
notice; it was delivered by Col. Alexander Powell, Past Commander Post
234, G. A. R. It reflected the opinion of all present. Extracts follow:

 “I state my conviction to you and to my comrades of the Grand Army
 of the Republic, who are members of this church, by saying that
 Dr. Walker owes a duty to the members of this church which has so
 wonderfully prospered under him, that should be as sacred as the one
 he seeks to discharge in that far distant city of Augusta, Georgia.
 He has instilled into the hearts of all who have been so fortunate as
 to hear him preach, a clearer understanding of Christ crucified and
 the forgiveness of those who trespass against us; the work he bravely
 and uncomplainingly has done in the building up of the Young Men’s
 Christian Association, together with his undying loyalty to us as a
 race, has not only touched the hearts of those who know him best, but
 has been felt far and wide. I know, too, something of the injustice he
 has suffered while doing the bidding of our Heavenly Father, but with
 a Christian spirit he has forgiven those who would spitefully use him,
 and prayed for those who wronged him.

 “The gathering memories of olden days always gather about me as I
 cross the threshold of this church, and to-night more so than ever.
 The traveler standing in the beautiful Valley of Chamonix, at the
 base of Mont Blanc, fails to realize the stupendous height of that
 snow-capped peak, but when miles distant he turns back and beholds it
 towering far above its compeers, he recognizes its claim to be called
 the Monarch of Mountains.

 “It is so with Dr. Walker. Now that his resignation has been placed
 in your hands, your judgments have matured and you realize the
 difficulties he has overcome, the Christian works he has accomplished,
 and the blessings he has brought to the people, his retention becomes
 precious and priceless to you.

 “He is the beau ideal of a minister. His Christianity is the natural
 growth of his life. His fame as a preacher has come to him unsought,
 his administration of the finances of your church has been successful
 because it has been based on honesty. His achievements since he has
 been a resident of this imperial city compel admiration; they touch
 the finer chords of our nature. They inspire feelings akin to those
 we experience in listening to the grand strains of an oratorio. His
 success is not the success that makes fools admired and villains
 honest. It is not the success of accident, which bursts forth like
 a meteor and as suddenly disappears; it is not that acquired by
 selfishness, that is tinctured with envy, jealousy, hypocrisy, or
 refuses to lend a helping hand, but it has been a success that was
 established upon morals, worth, courage, justice and honor.

 “Rev. Dr. Walker, I give you my hand, and I want you to understand,
 Sir, that when I give you my hand as Assistant Inspector of the
 Department of New York, Grand Army of the Republic, 78,599 of the boys
 who wore the blue in that memorable crisis are taking you by the hand
 and urging you to remain among us.

 “The G. A. R. bids you remain. We wish that your life may be spared
 many years; that abundance, prosperity, and happiness may attend you
 and this church. This, I am sure, is not only the hearty wish of every
 one present, but also that of every colored man, woman and child from
 the Battery to the Spuyten Duyvil.”

It is not to be doubted that the great interest shown by all classes in
having Dr. Walker remain in New York had much to do with his subsequent
decision.

Meanwhile the people of Augusta were not sleeping; they had a mass
meeting, also, as the following circular will show:

 “A mass meeting of the officers, members, friends and well-wishers
 of Tabernacle Baptist Church will be held in the church on Monday
 evening, November 18, 1901, at 8 o’clock. Ministers of all the
 denominations (white and colored), professional and business men,
 the presidents and prominent men of the fraternal and benevolent
 organizations, together with the political and prominent educational
 leaders of the city of Augusta, will be present to join in the urgent
 request to Dr. Charles Thomas Walker not to alter his determination to
 resume his pastorate at Augusta, Ga.

 “All citizens of Augusta and vicinity are invited to attend a mass
 meeting to be held at Tabernacle Baptist Church on Monday night,
 November 18, 1901.

 “The object of this meeting is to give expression to our feelings
 regarding the return of Dr. C. T. Walker to the pastorate in this
 city, and to demonstrate the regard in which we hold him and the real
 need we feel for his presence.

 “We desire to show the country the supreme regard in which we hold
 this man whose labors for the betterment of no race or clan, but of
 all humanity have made him a worthy servant of his Master and an able
 leader of the people.

 “We want our brethren in New York City to feel that we desire not to
 take from them that which is theirs, but merely to claim our own.
 Under sufferance we have remained silent until this time, when we are
 forced by absolute necessity to call upon our metropolitan friends to
 return our Joseph to his brethren and our Moses to his people.

 “Bishop R. S. Williams, of the C. M. E. Church, will preside.

 “Addresses will be made by Rev. W. J. White, D. D., pastor Harmony
 Baptist Church; Rev. H. Seb. Doyle, M. A., pastor of Trinity C.
 M. E. Church; Rev. C. S. Wilkins, D. D., pastor Thankful Baptist
 Church; Rev. W. C. Gaines, pastor Bethel A. M. E. Church; Rev. D.
 S. Klugh, pastor Union Baptist Church; Rev. F. M. Hyder, pastor
 Christ Presbyterian Church; Rev. D. J. Flynn, pastor Congregational
 Church; Rev. S. X. Floyd, A. M., District Missionary American Baptist
 Publication Society; Rev. J. W. Whitehead, pastor of Mt. Moriah
 Baptist Church; Rev G. W. Harrison, pastor Macedonia Baptist Church;
 Rev. R. J. Johnson; Rev. A. W. Wilson, pastor Hosanna Baptist Church;
 Rev. F. M. Hauser, pastor Woodlawn Baptist Church: Rev. Thomas Walker,
 Dr. George N. Stoney, Dr. W. T. Prichett, Dr. G. S. Burruss, Dr. N.
 A. Mixson, Dr. A. N. Gordon, Dr. R. C. Williams, P. H. Craig, Esq.,
 Principal Nellieville School; A. W. Wimberly, Esq., Collector Internal
 Revenue; G. J. Scott, Esq., President Union Relief Association;
 Prof. N. W. Curtright, Principal Walker Baptist Institute; Rev. G.
 H. Dwelle, pastor Springfield Baptist Church; Prof. A. R. Johnson,
 Principal Mauge Street School; Prof. I. Blocker, Principal Second Ward
 School; Dr. Geo. W. Walker, President Paine College; W. J. White, Jr.,
 Associate Editor Georgia Baptist; L. E. Moseley, President Morning
 Stars of Benevolence; H. B. Sweet, President Brothers and Sisters of
 Love; John G. Williams, merchant; H. C. Young, merchant; F. M. Dugas,
 undertaker; A. J. Winter, President Painters’ Union; R. R. Battey,
 wheelwright; H. D. Paschal, shoemaker; T. B. Newsome, tailor, and
 other citizens, white and colored. Music under the direction of Wesley
 Warren, Choirmaster, and Prof. W. H. E. Carter, Organist.

Thus, two churches, separated by more than 800 miles, were claiming
and clamoring for the same man to serve them as pastor. The battle
waged for many weeks, or until Dec. 1, 1901, when Dr. Walker decided to
continue the pastorate of Mt. Olivet Church with an assistant pastor,
keeping his headquarters in New York City, but, in obedience to the
wishes of the Augusta church, he agreed to become the nominal pastor of
Tabernacle Baptist Church. Under this arrangement, he is to visit the
Southern church two or three times a year, and, in his absence, he is
to supply the pulpit. This arrangement pleased all concerned, and, for
the present, seems to be working well.




  CHAPTER XVI.

  EXTRACTS FROM SERMONS.


Wednesday, June 6, 1888, by appointment of the Missionary Baptist State
Convention of Georgia, the Rev. Mr. Walker preached the opening sermon
in honor of the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Negro
Baptist Church in Georgia. The centennial exercises were conducted
on a grand scale, running through ten days, and the fact that he was
selected to preach the opening sermon shows the esteem in which he
was held by his brethren. Following are some extracts from the sermon
preached by the great leader and preacher at that time:

 WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT.

 “‘According to this time it shall be said, What hath God
 wrought.’--Numbers 23:23.

 “We stand to-day upon an eminence from which we may take a
 retrospective view of a one hundred years’ journey. This is a glorious
 day. We have come to celebrate the progress and triumphs of a century.
 We are here to speak of the vicissitudes through which we have passed,
 the conflicts we have encountered, the obstacles we have overcome,
 the success already attained, and the victories yet to be achieved.
 We are here to pass up and down the line of march from 1788 to 1888.
 Old fathers, worn and weary with burdens and cares of long and useful
 lives, their heads whitened by the frosts of many winters, infirm and
 superannuated, have come up to shake hands with the century, to bid
 God-speed to their brethren, and, like Simeon of old, to exclaim,
 ‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes
 have seen thy salvation.’ Young men have come to get inspiration from
 a review of the work of the fathers and to return to their various
 fields stimulated, electrified and encouraged.

 “We shall discuss, first, what God has wrought in the permanent
 establishment of His church. The founder of the true church is Jesus
 Christ. He is the Son of Abraham, according to the flesh, and He is
 also the Son of God. Two natures and three offices mysteriously meet
 his person. He is the foundation of the true church, the chief corner
 stone, the law-giver in Zion. He has given us a kingdom which cannot
 be moved. He began in Asia to ride in the gospel chariot. He sent
 out twelve small boats at first. On the day of Pentecost, 3,000 were
 added to the number. In 1630, He sent Roger Williams to America. In
 the spirit of his Master, he planted churches in New England, and the
 stone continued to roll until it reached the sunny South. In 1788, the
 oppressed, rejected and enslaved brother in black, for the first time
 in Georgia, lifted the Baptist flag under the leadership of Andrew
 Bryan. The handful of corn was sown not on the high, wild and rocky
 mountains, but on the seaboard; but the wind carried the seed to every
 part of Georgia and the barren rocks and sandy deserts became gardens
 of the Lord. From that handful of corn have sprung more than 1,500
 churches, 500 ordained preachers, and 166,429 communicants. The little
 one has become a thousand. In the entire United States there are
 to-day more than 1,250,000 colored Baptists. I make bold to say here
 and now that the progress of the Baptists in this country has been due
 to the earnest, faithful and simple preaching of Christ crucified. The
 fathers in their preaching did not preach philosophy, nor did they
 strive to reach the people with rhetorical strains of eloquence, but
 they strove to reach the people by preaching the plain, old-fashioned,
 simple truths of the gospel. The gospel declared in its truth and
 simplicity will make Baptists.

 “Third, we shall discuss what God has wrought for our race during
 this century. For our race, this century was one of hardship,
 oppression, persecution and sore trial. We were slaves; we had no
 moral training; no intellectual advantages during the greater part
 of this century and the two preceding; we were run by bloodhounds;
 sometimes whipped to death; we were sold from the auction block,
 husbands and fathers being separated from wives and children at the
 behest of some white man; we had to get a ticket to go to church;
 we had to get permission from some white man before we could join
 the church; we were outcasts. But all that has been changed. God was
 against slavery, and in his own time and way He removed the foul blot
 from the national escutcheon. Emancipated without a dollar, without
 education, without friends and without competent leaders, like Hagar
 and Ishmael, we were turned out to die. But despite all obstacles,
 the Negro in Georgia has to-day $10,000,000 worth of property and has
 proven himself worthy of citizenship. We have thousands of children in
 our public schools. Our men will be found in the law, in the practice
 of medicine, in legislative halls, among teachers and professors,
 on the list of authors, skilled musicians, journalists, theologians
 and business men. God has wrought wonderfully among us. God is still
 opening the way for greater progress. The cry is loud and long all
 along the line for consecrated workers. The harvest truly is white but
 the laborers are few.

 “A last thing, we would urge upon you by way of application. We
 need more earnestness and simplicity in proclaiming the gospel. Our
 fathers were men of one book. They received power from on high by
 constant prayerfulness, and proclaimed earnestly and plainly what they
 understood. They felt like Paul, ‘Though I preach the gospel, I have
 nothing to glory of; necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is me if I
 preach not the gospel.’ The gospel is the intervention of Jesus Christ
 to save lost men. It is heaven’s appointed remedy for man’s malady;
 and the directions for taking the medicine must be so plain that the
 fool may take it assured of the fact that he will be healed. The
 gospel is a ship loaded with the bread of life, and must be brought so
 near the landing that the hungry can reach forth and take the bread
 of life. The gospel is the announcement of reconciliation between
 God and the sinner, a message of mercy, the history of the advent of
 Christ, His life, miracles, death, burial, resurrection, ascension
 and intercession. The gospel is the Messiah’s conquering, triumphal
 car. There is power and magnetism about it. It is the power of God
 unto salvation to every one that believeth. It must be preached in its
 purity, in its simplicity, and with blood-earnestness. Man has been
 honored of God in being chosen to carry this holy message. Beginning
 a new century in the history of our denomination, let us carry this
 message with the same earnestness as did our fathers. Discourage
 inactivity, coldness, indifference, formalism in our preaching, and
 denounce spasmodic religion among our hearers. Contend earnestly for
 those principles which have been the very life of Baptists. The gospel
 must go, like the sun shining in his strength, scattering all clouds
 from the face of the world, until the moon and the stars shall be lost
 in its effulgence.”

GO FORWARD.

The following extract is from a sermon preached by Dr. Walker before
the Walker Baptist Association at Summerville, near Augusta, Ga., in
September, 1899. Following the sermon, he raised a cash collection of
$342.00 for the Walker Baptist Institute from poor country farmers.

[Illustration: DR. CHARLES T. WALKER AT THIRTY YEARS OF AGE.]

 “‘And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak
 unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.’--Exodus 14:15.

 “For more than 400 years the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt.
 God’s time for deliverance had come. Moses, his servant, is sent as
 ambassador to the court of Egypt with divine credentials to represent
 the court of heaven. Pharaoh refuses to obey the mandates of the
 mighty God, and ten or more plagues are sent upon the land. The cruel
 ruler decides to let Israel go. The mighty host, about three million
 strong, began their march. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar
 of fire by night led them; they start out on the wilderness route, a
 distance of over four hundred miles. They rallied at Rameses, and
 marched out in wide columns.

 “The Israelites were on foot. They were pursued by Pharaoh with 600
 chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over
 each of them. The very flower of the Egyptian army hotly pursued the
 people of God; and, as Israel came to the Red Sea, at a point where it
 was probably ten miles wide, they saw mountains on either side, the
 sea in front of them, and the Egyptian army behind them. Many of the
 Israelites became faint-hearted and murmured against Moses. He said
 unto them: ‘Stand still, see the salvation of God, for the Egyptians
 you have seen to-day you will see no more forever.’ Moses seemed to
 have been praying to God secretly, for there is no record of his
 public prayer. Yet the Lord said unto him, ‘Wherefore criest thou unto
 me? Speak unto the children that they go forward.’ Man’s extremity
 is God’s opportunity. The last of man is the first of God--God takes
 up where man leaves off. Prayer, diligence and effort go together.
 There is a time to pray, and then a time to act, to move. God seemed
 to say, ‘You have prayed--now obey orders. Go forward.’ The leaders
 moved off to the edge of the sea; the mighty waters divided--the
 Eternal God cut a pathway for the moving caravan. It was in the
 morning watch, or between 2 o’clock in the morning and sunrise. The
 king of day soon dispelled the darkness, and all day long the tramp,
 tramp of the footsteps of the Israelites was heard passing between
 the giant mountains of water. The angel, who had guarded them and
 led them, changed his position from front to rear, and got between
 the Israelites and the Egyptians. The Eternal God fully protects his
 people. As the last column of Israel passed, the Egyptian host came
 in. They traveled for a while as safely as did the Israelites, until
 the last chariot had left the bank, and when they were all out in
 the sea, and all Israel on the other side, Moses stretched out his
 rod over the sea, the waters came together and deluged the Egyptian
 army, while the Israelites saw the dead bodies of the Egyptians washed
 against the banks.

 “I would have you notice that

 “(1) Diligence and action must accompany prayer. Jesus taught
 his disciples to watch and pray. We are to pray for guidance, for
 direction, for strength, for conformity to God’s will, for clean
 hearts, for the renewal of the Spirit, for the coming and extension
 of God’s kingdom, and then watch and seize the opportunities for work
 under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Joshua prayed, and then rallied
 his men while the sun stood still on Gibeon and the moon stood in
 the valley of Ajalon. God stopped the sun and moon; Israel did the
 fighting. A Quaker going along the Valley Forge road, heard some one
 in the thick brush praying. He turned aside to see who it was; he
 found a man in deep supplication, face suffused with tears, calling
 upon God for help. It was General Washington, praying for the success
 of the American army. He prayed for it, and then rose up and fought
 for it, and was victorious.

 “(2) In order to go there must be reconciliation with God. The Lord
 is pledged to those who have become reconciled to him through Christ.
 Elijah built an altar, filled up the trenches, put the sacrifice
 upon the altar, got everything ready, and then prayed for fire. He
 was heard, for he was reconciled to God. Abraham was called from
 Mesopotamia to wander along the banks of the Euphrates; he left all
 he possessed for what was promised. He was reconciled to God. The
 language of the Christian is:

    ‘My God is reconciled;
    I hear his pardoning voice;
    I can no longer fear;
    With confidence I now draw near,
    And Abba, Father, Abba, cry.’

 “(3) They were not ordered to the right hand nor to the left, but to
 go forward. The road to victory is often through seas, through the
 fire, over mountains, through floods and through flames. We must go
 through the world’s wild forest of tribulation, through the den of
 lions, over the mountains of leopards, through the fiery furnace, but
 we must go.

 “(4) The guarding angel went from front to rear and stood between
 Israel and the Egyptian army--so did the cloud. They passed over
 and saw their enemies destroyed. When you obey God, he secures and
 protects you. The angels encamp around to deliver. Cæsar said to his
 boatmen: ‘You can’t sink, for you carry great Cæsar.’ But the child of
 God can sing with boldness and assurance:

    ‘How can I die while Jesus lives
    As my Eternal God?
    Who holds the earth’s huge pillars up
    And spreads the heavens abroad.

    ‘How can I sink with such a prop
    Who rose and left the dead?
    Pardon and peace my soul receives
    From my exalted head.’”


THE RESURRECTION.

The following is an extract from an Easter Sermon delivered by Dr.
Walker at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, April 7, 1901. The sermon was
published in pamphlet form at the request of the church:

 “‘To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many
 infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the
 things pertaining to the kingdom of God.’--Acts 1:3.

 “The presence of the two angels in shining white from the glory
 world, and the empty grave were evidences of Christ’s resurrection,
 but not infallible proofs. Technically speaking, they would be
 considered circumstantial evidence, but our text declares there were
 many infallible proofs of his resurrection.

 “The infallible proofs of his resurrection are to be found in his
 appearances at different times in various places, to different people.

 “First he appeared to Mary Magdalene. She recognized his voice, and
 said, ‘Rabboni,’ which means, ‘My Master, my Teacher.’ She recognized
 his loving voice and turned to grasp his hands, but he said, ‘Touch me
 not, for I have not yet ascended to my God, and to your God; but tell
 Peter and my disciples I have gone before them into Galilee; there
 shall they see me.’ Then he appeared to two disciples on the way to
 Emmaus, 7½ miles from Jerusalem, talking sadly, as they journeyed,
 on the crucifixion, and of their disappointment. Then Jesus, as he
 journeyed with them, began to speak of the fulfilment of the prophecy,
 and to rebuke them for their unbelief of the Scriptures; when their
 eyes became open, they found it was their Lord. The same evening he
 appeared to ten of them shut up in a room for fear of the Jews. Thomas
 being absent. Eight days after that time he appeared to eleven, Thomas
 being present. Paul states that he was seen of Peter. He met the
 disciples at the Sea of Tiberius. And then he was seen of the twelve,
 as he gave the marching order from Olivet’s brow. He was seen of five
 hundred of the brethren at once. He was seen of James. Then Paul says,
 last of all, ‘He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.’

 “Christ’s resurrection occurred at the time of year when nature was
 being revived from the effects of bleak winter; spring had burst
 forth in greenness and beauty, the birds were singing their cheerful
 lays--nature was vocal with His praise; earth was putting on her
 spring costume, representing a resurrection of all nature from the
 death and grave of the winter. So our Lord chose that season of the
 year to come out from the tomb when all nature was teaching the lesson
 of the resurrection.

 “Christ’s resurrection proved several things. It proved that he was
 the real Christ, the Holy One. They had said he was a deceiver. He
 had said that he would lay down his life and take it up again. Real
 divinity, which had never died, resurrected humanity. Here the Godhead
 sustained manhood and revived humanity. They killed his manhood,
 but divinity was untouched; and on the third day Divinity restored
 humanity to life.

 “It settled the atonement, made it efficacious and gave power to the
 gospel. If Christ had remained in the grave the claims of justice
 would have been unsatisfied; reconciliation between God and the sinner
 would not have been effected; heaven and earth could not have been
 united. Paul says: ‘If Christ be not risen, our faith is vain; we are
 yet in our sins, and we are found false witnesses.’ God sealed him as
 the world’s Redeemer in his resurrection.

 “It is a greater attestation of heaven’s approval than the voice at
 his baptism, transfiguration, and prayer for special glorification.
 He proved his right to leadership. He dignified and exalted humanity.
 He reinstated man to favor with God. He founded his kingdom on the
 impregnable rock of truth, and the kingdoms of this world must become
 the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ.

 “His resurrection was necessary for our justification. For if he had
 not risen, man could not be justified with God, for our faith must
 rest upon a crucified, buried and risen Redeemer.

 “His resurrection was necessary for the payment of the price of our
 redemption. It was to be a victory over sin, for he was to put away
 sin in the flesh and establish the reign of righteousness. It was
 to be a victory over the world; he was to have power in heaven and
 in earth, and hence must conquer the earth and subdue it; and his
 resurrection proved his power over nature, over disease, over death
 and over the grave.

 “It was also a victory over Satan, for Satan was styled the prince of
 this world. The earth he claimed as his territory. He said to Jesus on
 the Mount of Temptation, that the world with all of its glory belonged
 to him, and he promised it to Christ if Christ would fall down and
 worship him. Christ chose to win the world by entering into conflict
 with Satan and overcoming him by his divine power.

 “Ten years ago I stood on holy ground at the sepulchre where it is
 believed that our Lord was laid. And it seemed on that morning that
 I could hear again the message of the angels, ‘He is not here, he is
 risen as he said; come, see the place where the Lord lay.’ I bowed
 down on my knees and said, ‘Thank God this is an empty tomb; the Lord
 is risen indeed.’

 “His resurrection was not only the stupendous manifestation of his
 power, but it was the exceeding greatness of his power. The Scripture
 gives us many exhibitions of the greatness of Christ’s power. We
 have an exhibition of it in his first miracle, wrought at Cana of
 Galilee, when he turned the water into wine; there was a wonderful
 demonstration of power in stilling the tempest on the Sea of Galilee,
 when nature heard him and obeyed--the raging, surging billows calmed
 down at the voice of him who said, ‘Peace, be still.’ His giving sight
 to the blind, casting out devils, healing diseases, raising Lazarus,
 the widow’s son of Nain, and the ruler’s daughter, all were wonderful
 demonstrations of the power of the incarnate Christ. But the exceeding
 greatness of his power was not even seen in his causing darkness at
 high noon, while on Calvary, but it was the resurrecting of himself
 from the grave. O, thou living Christ, thou resurrected Jesus, live on
 to die no more! The exceeding greatness of thy power was seen in the
 resurrection of thyself from the dead!”




  CHAPTER XVII.

  EXTRACTS FROM ORATIONS AND ADDRESSES.


In this chapter will be found some extracts from orations and addresses
delivered at different times and in different places by Dr. Walker.
It has not been thought advisable to publish these addresses in full
in this volume. For one thing, it would make the book too large for
present purposes, and for another thing, it is proposed to issue later
on a separate volume of his speeches and addresses, and also a volume
of his sermons. These extracts will, nevertheless, serve to illustrate
the lucid style of Dr. Walker and give some idea of the scope of the
subjects treated by him from time to time.

Tuesday evening, Oct. 8, 1901, public memorial services were held in
Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, New York City, by the Saloonmen’s Protective
Union No. 1, a benevolent association, in honor of the late President
McKinley. Dr. Walker accepted the invitation to deliver the principal
address. More than 2,000 people were present at the exercises. He
delivered the following:

EULOGY ON PRESIDENT MCKINLEY.

 “It was said of Franklin when he died that the genius that had freed
 America and poured a flood of light over Europe had returned to the
 bosom of divinity. We are here this evening to honor the memory of
 our late President, who reunited the American nation, was the advance
 agent of protection and prosperity, universally beloved and deservedly
 popular. It is highly appropriate that the colored citizens of the
 metropolis of America should, in common with all other American
 citizens, pay honor to the noble-hearted, high-minded, Christian chief
 executive of the nation, who so recently passed to the great beyond.

 “President McKinley came from the common people, and was always in
 sympathy with the masses. It was often said that he kept his ear close
 to the ground, listening for the voice of the people. It may be as
 truly said that he kept his ear open to hear the command of his Maker,
 for he had triumphant Christian faith.

       *       *       *       *       *

 “Mr. McKinley came to the executive chair at a crucial period of the
 nation’s existence. Hard times, strikes, unrest, scarcity of money,
 were problems with which he was confronted. The war with Spain was
 soon waged; grave problems had to be faced and solved, and all these
 he disposed of in a statesmanlike manner.

       *       *       *       *       *

 “It has been claimed by many colored people that Mr. McKinley was
 not specially friendly to the Negro, and that colored men did not
 receive much recognition under his administration. Such a statement is
 made either because of ignorance of the truth or from misconception.
 I am one of those who believe the colored man should not stop to
 worry about position and office under any administration. That is a
 secondary consideration. Equal rights before the law, protection to
 life and property, the right to exist, the right to vote, the right to
 earn a living, the right to be a man, the right to be a _freedman_ and
 a _freeman_, the right to expect equal and exact justice irrespective
 of creed, color or condition, is a greater privilege than being an
 officeholder. And yet, Mr. McKinley was the representative of a party
 which had enacted every piece of constructive legislation that we
 know anything about for the advancement of the colored people. Under
 his administration practical recognition was given to more colored
 citizens than under any other president. He appointed twelve men in
 the diplomatic and consular service. A colored man was appointed as
 Register of the Treasury, a colored man was appointed as Recorder
 of Deeds for the District of Columbia, a colored man was appointed
 United States Stamp Agent; colored men were appointed collectors of
 internal revenue in several States; collectors of ports, postmasters,
 collectors of census returns, land office registers, receivers of
 public moneys, and scores of minor Federal appointments throughout
 the country were given to colored men. Two distinguished colored men
 were appointed paymasters in the U. S. V. during the Spanish-American
 War. In that same war, there were 260 colored commissioned officers
 and 15,000 enlisted men. In the 48th and 49th regiments, the President
 appointed 24 Negro captains, 50 Negro first lieutenants, 48 second
 lieutenants, with 2,688 enlisted men. It is estimated that, under Mr.
 McKinley’s administration, colored men drew $8,477,000.

 “Not only did the President show his interest in the race by these
 and other appointments, but by his visits to several of our Southern
 schools, such as Tuskegee, the Georgia State Industrial College, and
 the Prairie View Normal School in Texas. At each of these schools he
 made excellent speeches, in which he spoke handsomely of the military
 prowess and patriotism of ‘the brave black boys,’ as well as of the
 industrial and educational progress of the Negro.

       *       *       *       *       *

 “There is uneasiness in some sections concerning the attitude of
 Mr. McKinley’s successor toward our race. We have no cause to fear
 President Roosevelt. His past record entitles him to the confidence,
 love and respect of this American nation. He has a public record in
 times of peace and war of which this American nation should be proud.
 I have but to refer to him as Police Commissioner of New York City, as
 Assistant Secretary of the Navy, as Civil Service Commissioner, where
 he made it possible for a larger number of intelligent and worthy
 colored men to hold permanent positions than has been made possible
 by any other man in the nation. His administration as Governor of the
 Empire State was one of fairness and impartiality. He will always be
 remembered as leading the Rough Riders up San Juan Heights, through
 the high grass, cutting the barb-wire fences, repulsing the Spanish
 soldiers, capturing the block house, planting Old Glory on the
 ramparts of Santiago, hastening the surrender of General Toral to
 General Shafter, and thereby freeing oppressed, suffering, bleeding
 Cuba.

       *       *       *       *       *

 “While Mr. McKinley made a great record as a soldier, statesman and
 president, he stands out conspicuously in the galaxy of presidents for
 his triumphant Christian faith. He said on one occasion, ‘A religious
 spirit helps every man. It is at once a comfort and an inspiration,
 and makes one stronger, wiser and better in every relation of life.
 There is no substitute for it. It may be assailed by its enemies, as
 it has been, but they offer nothing in its place. It has stood the
 test of centuries, and has never failed to bless mankind.’ He was shot
 by a ruthless assassin, Sept. 6, 1901. The conduct of the president
 at that tragic moment was like that of the Lord. In the shadow of
 death, as he had done in the executive mansion, he protested against
 mob violence, and said, referring to the murderer, ‘Let no harm be
 done him.’ Our dear dead President was again like our Christ when he
 said, just before yielding up the ghost. ‘Good bye; all, good bye; it
 is God’s way; let his will be done, not ours.’ His last prayer was one
 of submission and resignation to the will of the great God in whom
 he had so long trusted. And then, while standing on the interlacing
 margin of eternity, he repeated the Lord’s prayer and chanted ‘Nearer,
 my God, to thee, nearer to thee.’ And lifting up his eyes on the land
 afar off, he beheld the King in his beauty, and fell on that long and
 tranquil sleep, hanging up his garments in the wardrobe of nations to
 rest until the archangel’s trump shall disturb the long disordered
 creation, and soul and body shall be reunited.

       *       *       *       *       *

 “The race of which we are members feels proud of the part played by
 James B. Parker in preventing the assassin from firing the third shot,
 though prejudice has prevented his receiving his due meed of praise.
 But let us not despair. Mr. McKinley is not dead to this American
 nation. He is still joined to us by the past, and by the still more
 glorious anticipations of the future. Heaven has discussed the sins of
 America as Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley, our martyred Presidents,
 have walked the golden streets, arm in arm. Too long have we winked at
 crime, lawlessness and anarchy. And we must yet learn that the highest
 citizen is not safe so long as the life of the lowest citizen is not
 protected.”

From Dr. Walker’s celebrated “Reply to Hannibal Thomas,” which he has
delivered in many American cities, next will be given two or three
short extracts. The lecture, lengthened somewhat by additional facts
and tables, has been published in pamphlet form. The pamphlet contains
about 31 pages, and is well worth reading.

REPLY TO HANNIBAL THOMAS.

 “Allow me to state that the author of ‘The American Negro’ has given
 us a book that will pass as a well-written, and in some respects,
 scholarly production. He has given important and interesting
 historical information and some advice that no sensible Negro will
 object to. On the other hand, he has made such sweeping charges
 against his own race--false charges, slanderous charges, malicious
 charges--as to entitle him to pass alongside of Judas Iscariot,
 Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr, the trinity of traitors.

       *       *       *       *       *

 “In his chapter on ‘Characteristic Traits,’ Mr. Thomas charges that
 the Negro represents an illiterate race, in which cowardice, ignorance
 and idleness are rife. In reply, I ask that Mr. Thomas read the
 history of the wars of this country from colonial times to the present
 days. Let him acquaint himself with the 54th Massachusetts regiment in
 the late Civil War; let him inform himself of the deportment of Negro
 soldiers at Cold Harbor, Fort Pillow, Fort Donelson, Fort Wagner,
 Port Royal, Port Hudson, Petersburg and Palmetto Ranch. Let him
 learn something about San Juan Hill and El Caney. Then ask him about
 this charge. It will fall of its own weight. As to ignorance among
 the colored race, it may be stated that they have decreased their
 illiteracy by nearly one-half since emancipation; they have given
 $13,000,000 towards their own education; they have 17,000 graduates;
 500 doctors; 400 lawyers; 1,000 authors; 5 banks; 6 magazines, and
 500 newspapers. At the close of the war, there were not more than 75
 Negro teachers in the United States. To-day, we have more than 30,000
 men and women of the race engaged in teaching school. There are yet
 many ignorant Negroes, just as there are still many ignorant whites,
 and the whites had a start on us of 250 years. As to idleness, there
 is a great deal of idleness among colored people--that is true; but
 you will find a smaller number of idlers, loafers, beggars and tramps
 among colored people in proportion to their numbers than among any
 other race. His criticism on Northern teachers who entered the South
 immediately after the war to lift up the recently emancipated Negro
 is unwarranted, as well as is the slap at Northern philanthropists
 for making contributions out of their princely munificence toward
 removing illiteracy among Southern Negroes. Their money was wisely
 spent, as can be clearly seen in the thousands of men and women who
 have been trained at these mission schools. The great men and women
 who went from the North to teach the despised Negro did the best work
 of their lives. Hampton Institute would have done good for the race
 if it had not educated any other man except Booker T. Washington; for
 he has inspired his entire race, and is to-day doing for the race
 what a thousand Hannibal Thomases could not do. Hannibal Thomas is
 pessimistic; Booker T. Washington is optimistic. Hannibal Thomas is
 grumbling; Booker Washington is working.

 “With regard to Negro men seeking to marry white women, it is untrue
 of the masses. Nearly all of our men are satisfied to marry the women
 of the race to which they belong. We have women as good and as pure
 and as beautiful as any other race; and, as to variety, we excel them.

 “I state it as my opinion that the solution of the so-called
 Negro Problem does not depend upon emigration, amalgamation nor
 colonization. The Negro must learn that character, industry, education
 and money are the essential prerequisites for intelligent citizenship.
 Let the American white man decide to lend a helping hand to his
 struggling black brother on life’s highway; give him justice, equal
 and exact justice, North and South, East and West.”

At the famous Golden Rule Meeting held at Calvary Baptist Church,
West 57th Street, New York City, March 26, 1901, Dr. Walker represented
the Negro race. The object of the Golden Rule Society is to do away
with race prejudice and religious intolerance as far as possible. Jews,
the followers of Confucius, and Protestants took part in the meeting.
Rabbi Schulman and Rabbi Silverman represented the Jews, Wu Ting-fang,
the Chinese minister to this country, represented Confucianism, and
Dr. R. S. MacArthur, the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, and one
of the very ablest pulpit orators and lecturers in the world, Gen.
T. L. James, Dr. R. Heber Newton, Edwin Markham, the poet, and Dr.
Walker were among the prominent Protestants on the program. Dr. Walker
was the only colored speaker and was next to the last on the list
of participants. More than three thousand people were packed into
Calvary’s great auditorium. The audience had already been kept for
nearly two hours when it came his time to speak, many hundreds having
been compelled to stand during that long time. There was some interest,
at least the interest of curiosity, to see and hear the colored man,
and it was thought by a few that there was some misgiving on the part
of the promoters of the meeting, because no one knew just what he
would say or just what course he would take. An ill-timed word, an
ill-considered expression on his part, might have cast a dampness over
the meeting--might, in fact, have destroyed the very purpose for which
the meeting was called. But he discussed his subject, “The Golden
Rule as an Individual Motto,” without one single mention of the Race
Question in an offensive and undignified way. He made his mark, and won
a great place for Negro leaders on that memorable night. Of the ten
or twelve speeches made that night, the metropolitan press the next
morning united in saying that the honors of the evening were carried
off by Mr. Wu Ting-fang and Dr. Walker. As Wu Ting-fang was the honored
guest of the occasion, it seemed courteous to couple his name with that
of the man who made the best speech of the evening and won the greatest
applause. Dr. Walker caught the crowd at the outset by announcing that
if any one doubted the sincerity of the promoters of the Golden Rule
Meeting, their doubts would be dispelled so soon as they saw him on the
platform to make an address; for, said he, so far as he knew, his race
identity had never been questioned. This sally provoked great laughter
and applause, because Mr. Walker is a very dark-skinned Negro, and the
audience saw at once the wit and humor of his statement and appreciated
it.


THE GOLDEN RULE AS AN INDIVIDUAL MOTTO.

 “All men are the workmanship of the same Almighty Father. God made
 of one blood all nations to dwell on the face of the earth. All are
 alike subjected to sin and infirmity; all are responsible beings, and
 all alike are hastening to an eternity of righteous retribution. All
 men are members of the same social family. No man, therefore, can
 injure his fellowman without injuring himself. We build up ourselves
 and increase our happiness in proportion as we labor for the welfare
 of others. With the Golden Rule as an individual motto, will come the
 recognition of the Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of
 man; and when this doctrine of the unity of the human family shall be
 believed and accepted by each individual, then man’s inhumanity to
 man will cease; there will no longer be that monstrous indifference,
 when the question is asked, ‘Where is Abel thy brother?’ that replies,
 ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ Yes, we are our brother’s keeper, and
 this motto will not only connect man with his Creator, but will also
 connect man with man.

 “This motto will include justice and fair play. Many of the courts
 of our land known as temples of justice are misnamed; they are but
 temples of injustice. Justice should hold an even balance. Justice
 should make no inquiry as to racial identity. Justice should have no
 kin people. With this motto adopted by every individual, each man will
 have an equal chance in the race of life; equal and exact justice will
 be given to all; a healthy public sentiment will be created in favor
 of law and order; law itself is weak and helpless unless upheld and
 supported by public sentiment.

 “We should adopt the Golden Rule as an individual motto, for it will
 produce an era of peace and good-will among men; it will become the
 prophetic music of the ages. The Golden Rule will cause us to see
 humanity not only as it is, but humanity as it shall be. Not Lazarus,
 the beggar at the rich man’s gate, full of sores--a mass of corruption
 and putrifying sores; but Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom; humanity
 redeemed; humanity regenerated, reorganized, reanimated, reconstructed
 and relighted with heavenly glory. This motto will prepare us for the
 grand reunion of the human family in the last day. The sons of Noah
 who separated in the Plain of Shinar will one day hold a reunion. I
 believe in the theory of the unity of the human family, and that it
 is the order of divine Providence that these long separated brethren
 must meet again. Shem went into Asia, Japhet into Europe, and Ham into
 Africa. At the reunion, Shem will be represented in the person of the
 despised Chinaman and Japanese; Japhet in the person of the proud and
 cultured Caucasian, and Ham in the person of the despised, rejected
 and oppressed Negro. And I promise you that the sons of Ham will make
 a creditable showing when the reunion takes place.”

At Carnegie Hall, New York City, on Sunday evening, May 27th, 1900,
Dr. Walker shook the country by an able and patriotic address on the
so-called Race Question. The hall was packed from pit to dome by an
audience of fully 8,000 souls, white and black. The speech, which he
called “An Appeal to Cæsar,” was a review of the Conference on the
Race Question held a short time before that at Montgomery, Ala., and
in which such men as Bourke Cochran, John Temple Graves, Dr. H. B.
Frissell, Governor MacCorkel and others participated, and was also a
reply to some strictures heaped upon the race in Carnegie Lyceum the
Sunday before by A. Rev. Henry Frank. The newspapers in the metropolis
and throughout the country published extracts from Dr. Walker’s
address, and the speech won the orator much fame, as well as the title,
“the defender of his race.” Following are extracts from


AN APPEAL TO CÆSAR.

 “It is my desire to speak to you on this occasion concerning a race
 of people greatly misrepresented, despised, oppressed and hated; a
 race peculiarly situated and everywhere spoken against. I appear in
 behalf of a people born in tribulation and disciplined in the hard
 school of slavery; opposed and persecuted, as it has been, by some of
 the brightest minds that ever spoke or wielded a pen, and yet defended
 by some of the ablest, purest and noblest men and women the earth has
 ever known; among the latter may be mentioned Charles Sumner, Horace
 Greeley, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Henry Ward Beecher,
 Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Dr. Nathan Bishop, Mrs. Benedict and a
 host of others.

 “From this great hall on last Sunday the news went out to the world
 that one Henry Frank, in preaching the gospel of the Lowly Nazarene,
 stated in the prelude to his discourse that the Negro should again be
 reduced to the slavery of ante-bellum days.

       *       *       *       *       *

 “I have now given you a hasty survey of Mr. Frank’s utterances
 and also some of the unfavorable criticisms of the gentlemen who
 were among the participants at the recent Montgomery Conference.
 Now let me give you the colored man’s side. First, the Negro is an
 American citizen; he is a member of the body politic; he has been in
 this country almost as long as anybody else. The amendment to the
 constitution did not make us men. God made us men before man made
 us citizens. The amendment was only a recognition of the God-given
 rights of the colored man. Second, the emancipation of the colored
 race was the overruling providence of God. Slavery was wrong, and the
 time had come in the Providence of the mighty God that the battalions
 of the righteous army of God should march against the giant walls of
 slavery, and slavery fell like Dagon before the ark. Although Mr.
 Lincoln wrote the immortal proclamation liberating 4,000,000 human
 beings, which was the central act of his administration and the most
 glorious event of the nineteenth century, yet the hand that wrote
 the proclamation was guided by the bruised and pierced hand of the
 incarnate Christ. The 15th amendment to the Constitution of the United
 States, under which the colored man acquired the right to vote, was
 placed there after the nation had been baptized in blood, and it will
 require a second baptism of blood to remove it. Third, the colored
 man’s right to citizenship cannot be denied on any ground--human or
 divine. Citizenship is due the Negro as a reward for his meritorious
 service on the battlefield. As early as 1770, Crispus Attucks,
 during the Boston massacre, led in the bloody drama which opened up
 a new and thrilling chapter in American history. He attacked the
 main guard of the ministerial army and went down in his own blood
 before the terrible fire, the first man to give his life for American
 independence. He is known in history as a soldier, patriot and martyr.
 And from that day down to the records of yesterday, the Negro has
 fought, bled and died for this country, and his bones have been left
 to bleach on a thousand battlefields. What has the Negro done to be
 maligned, maliciously assailed and inhumanly persecuted as he is?

       *       *       *       *       *

 “The Negro only asks for simple justice--that is all. He would have an
 equal chance in the race of life. He wants better opportunities. He
 wants to be admitted to the industrial and mechanical trades. He wants
 a chance to earn a living. He is striving to be honest, industrious,
 intelligent, economical and self-reliant. He wants his manhood
 recognized and encouraged rather than choked and stifled. He wants his
 white brother to dethrone prejudice and enthrone reason; remove hatred
 and place love in its stead.”

The following extract is from a lecture by Dr. Walker delivered in many
cities during the past year. The subject of the lecture was:


THE COLORED MEN FOR THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

 “True education is the development of power; its mission is to
 prepare men and women for the duties of life. There should be round,
 full, symmetrical development. A cultured brain and a corrupt heart
 frequently produces a demon, while a good heart without an enlightened
 brain may produce a sentimentalist. That education which isolates and
 walls off from the masses is a curse. We are blessed to be a blessing;
 nature receives to impart.

 “We must be mechanics, skilled in industrial arts, a noble band of
 professional men, of business men. Men must prepare for the pulpit.
 We demand skill and ability in our professional men, and our churches
 must demand moral and intellectual strength on the part of those who
 fill the pulpit. An ignorant man in the pulpit is more dangerous than
 a quack doctor in a family. The man who preaches the gospel deals with
 immortal souls, and it is highly important that he be ‘a workman that
 needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.’

 “I do not believe in special education for the colored man. He
 needs the same kind of education as other people. He has proven his
 susceptibility to the highest intellectual attainment, and, while he
 needs industrial training, he should strive to secure the highest
 possible development along all lines. Every mind was made for growth
 and development and its nature is sinned against when it is doomed to
 ignorance. It is better to have a dead body hung to one than a dead
 mind.

 “Our spiritual development must be commensurate with our intellectual
 advancement. There will be a series of conflicts between wickedness
 and righteousness, between virtue and vice, between truth and error;
 if we would join the crusade of virtue against vice, the army of
 righteousness against wickedness, there must be spiritual progress.

 “The colored man is a bona fide American citizen; he is no
 Afro-American; he is a full-fledged American citizen; this country
 is his home, and the American flag is his flag. He is a part of
 the history of this great nation; a part of the body politic--bone
 of her bone, flesh of her flesh--her near kinsman, the brother of
 Shem and Japheth. Our forefathers felled the timbers, cleared the
 forests, bedewed the soil with their sweat, tears and blood, built
 up the country and perpetuated its history. They fought in all the
 wars from the Revolutionary struggle until this time, and even now
 are represented in the Philippines by our brave soldier boys. It is
 high time that we were claiming this as our home. Most that has been
 said and written concerning emigration has been written by foreigners
 who came to this country to find a home, and now, guilty of base
 ingratitude, they are talking of emigration or colonization for others.

 “The twentieth century will demand that class of young men who will
 support the dignity of their nature. Men who will use aright their
 powers and capacities; men who will respect the women of their race,
 who will feel proud of them and their accomplishments.

 “The new century is coming laden with treasuries, new gifts of
 heaven, hopes, aspirations, golden purposes, rings and bracelets
 for the adornment of personal character. The twentieth century is
 coming with new trials, new joys, new opportunities and increased
 responsibilities. The new century is coming as the bearer of glad
 tidings, ambassador of peace--herald of the great king.

 “Let the men of the twentieth century arise, prepare to face the
 problems of life, to play the men for their people and for the cities
 of our God.

    ‘We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
    In feelings, not figures on a dial;
    We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives
    Who thinks most, feels noblest, acts the best.’”




  CHAPTER XVIII.

  EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS.


Following extracts from various newspapers will indicate how extensive
Dr. Walker’s work has been, and how highly it has been appreciated by
the people, white and black, North and South:

From the Examiner, New York City’s Baptist newspaper, Feb. 22nd, 1900:

 “President A. B. Sears was in the chair at the meeting of the City
 Ministers’ Conference. Rev. C. N. Mitchell, of Toronto, who was on his
 way to his new mission field in Bolivia, and Rev. James T. McGovern,
 who has been preaching at the Emmanuel Church, and was recently
 appointed missionary to Spain, were introduced. Mr. W. Henry Grant,
 Assistant General Secretary of the Ecumenical Conference on Foreign
 Missions, presented the financial needs of the Conference, and spoke
 of the great good which will result in missionary stimulus from the
 meetings to be held in Carnegie Hall, April 21 to May 1. The paper of
 the morning was presented by Rev. Dr. Charles T. Walker, Pastor of
 the Mount Olivet Church. He discussed his topic, ‘Truth from Another
 Angle on the Negro Problem,’ with so much freshness and power that the
 conference requested it for publication and voted money to cover the
 cost. The distinguishing feature of the paper was the fact that Dr.
 Walker ascribed the prejudice against the Negro race to racial rather
 than sectional antipathies. He gave an outline of Negro advancement
 along religious, educational and financial lines, pleaded for simple
 justice for the Negro, and urged that all avenues of progress should
 be open to him on the simple qualification of manhood and character.”

From the New York Sun, Nov. 1899:

 “The Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, African, which was but a few months
 ago torn by the dissensions between the Rev. Daniel W. Wisher, who was
 then its pastor, and the majority of his congregation, demonstrated
 yesterday that its troubles have not affected the vigor of the church,
 but have rather awakened it to new strength. Since the new pastor,
 the Rev. Dr. Charles T. Walker, was installed there have been revival
 meetings seven nights a week, and new converts have been made to the
 number of 110. Of these, the seventy-six who seemed to the pastor and
 deacons most worthy were baptized at the morning service yesterday.

 “The news of so great a baptism had spread about among other Baptist
 congregations among the colored people of the city, and had been
 almost enviously commented upon in Methodist circles. At half past
 ten o’clock yesterday morning half an hour before the service was to
 begin, every seat was filled and the tact of the ushers had to be
 exercised to the utmost to dispose properly of the streams of people
 that came pouring down to the big gray church from the east and west
 under the shadow of the elevated railroad tracks. At a quarter before
 10 o’clock the outside doors of the church were locked and after
 that only those who were related to the candidates to be baptized
 were admitted. The candidates themselves had taken the precaution to
 come very early. For an hour after the church doors were closed a
 constantly increasing crowd of the disappointed stood on the steps and
 on the sidewalk and bewailed their lack of foresight in not coming
 earlier.

 “The volume of sound with which the great congregation rolled out the
 full strains of the opening hymn, ‘Blow, ye, the trumpet blow,’ was
 enough to have raised a less emotional congregation to a high state of
 religious exaltation. It was some time after the ‘Amen’ that closed
 the song before the undertone of joyful exultation quite subsided. The
 Rev. Dr. Walker preached on ‘Christ, the Living Rock.’ His text was:
 ‘And did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that
 spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.’

 “Fifty women were immersed in just twenty-five minutes. It took
 twenty-six minutes to baptize the twenty-six men. After the closing
 hymn, ‘Rock of Ages,’ had been sung in a mighty chorus that made the
 great church seem to sway with the harmony, the Rev. Dr. Walker,
 with his wet garments still upon him, dismissed the congregation
 with a prayer. Few left the church until they had congratulated the
 newly-baptized members most heartily.”

From the New York World, March 12, 1900:

 “What is believed to be the largest number of persons ever baptized
 at one time within a building were submerged yesterday morning at the
 Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, on Fifty-third Street near Seventh Avenue,
 by the Rev. C. T. Walker, who is known among those of his race as the
 ‘Black John the Baptist.’

 “Five weeks ago a revival was begun. As a result the membership of
 the church has increased 483. Two hundred and thirty-four of the new
 members had never been baptized. Yesterday it was arranged that 184 of
 them should be submerged.

 “Long before 11 o’clock, the hour set for the opening of the services,
 the big church was packed to its utmost capacity, and those who could
 not get inside the doors were lined along Fifty-third Street. At 10:30
 o’clock the street was completely blocked, and a squad of policemen
 from the West Forty-seventh Street Station had to be called to clear
 the way.

 “The pool, which is of marble, is in the rear of the rostrum, with
 steps leading to it from either side. The water was between three and
 four feet deep. The Rev. Mr. Walker and Deacon G. H. Webb stood in the
 centre of it. Three men stood on the steps on each side to assist the
 candidates.

 “The first person to be led up was Octavia Adams, who had been cook in
 the family of Robert Ingersoll for ten years. While on the steps of
 the pool she said that as long as she had known Col. Ingersoll she had
 been a firm believer in all of his doctrines, but she now realized the
 power and the goodness of God. She was full of enthusiasm, and after
 she had been taken out and dressed, she went back to the church and
 encouraged those who were to follow her.

 “First of the men to be led up was the old blind man who is such a
 familiar sight at the Fifty-ninth Street Park entrance. He is nearly
 eighty years old and had to be carried to the edge of the pool.

 “The congregation was greatly excited. Women in all parts of the
 church tore their hats from their heads and shouted wildly. During the
 last half hour of the service six of them fainted.”

From the New York Journal, March 12, 1900:

 “Yesterday was a day of jubilee and joy in the Mt. Olivet Baptist
 Church. The fruits of the five weeks of the soul-stirring revival were
 gathered. Converts to the number of 184 men, women, children, boys
 and girls, were baptized by immersion amid such scenes of praises as
 are not likely to be forgotten by the hundreds present. To take the
 figures of the happy elders, it was a record breaking event in New
 York for 408 recent converts to gather in fellowship in a meeting last
 night; this result was especially gratifying because of the recent
 dissensions in Mt. Olivet Church. For a time there was the trouble
 and then came a rallying cry and with it a new leader--the Rev. C.
 T. Walker, of the Tabernacle Baptist Church of Augusta, a preacher
 of forcible ability and intense religious zeal, sometimes called the
 colored ‘John the Baptist.’ Under the pastorate of Mr. Walker, Mt.
 Olivet has thrived. The baptismal services yesterday morning attracted
 a tremendous congregation. Long before the doors opened the crowd was
 pressing at the doors of the pretty church, 53rd Street and Broadway.
 The morning sermon was preached by Rev. Silas X. Floyd, the successor
 of Mr. Walker in Augusta. The subject was, ‘Pleasing God.’

 “The baptismal services followed. The marble baptismal tank sunk
 in the pulpit platform was opened. The candidates for baptism, 144
 women in white flannel baptismal robes, and 40 men in black, met in
 the Sunday school rooms in the basement which was divided into two
 sections.

 “For three hours, Mr. Walker and his assistant, Deacon Webb, stood
 waist deep in the tank and conducted the baptismal services.

 “The religious enthusiasm of the congregation was intense. Three
 women and two men fainted after leaving the tank. Converts and
 members became hoarse, with their cries for blessing and approval; an
 hysterical cry from a newly baptized convert dripping with water on
 leaving the tank was followed by choruses of glad cries. The baptism
 of a little blind girl was followed by a tumult of enthusiasm.

 “‘Indeed, this reminds me of a day in the old South,’ said Mr. Floyd,
 his eyes glowing with religious emotion.

 “With but brief intervals, hymns were sung with striking fervor.
 A brother who sat on the platform led a series of old-fashioned,
 Southern camp-meeting hymns. One was:

    I have a little book I carry with me,
    It tells me all about heaven and Galilee,
      Bye and bye.
    When the storm of life is over.
    We’ll anchor in the harbor,
    We will praise God forever,
      Bye and bye.’

 “Such hymns were sung with the intonation peculiar to the singing of
 colored congregations in the South. Men and women arose, and as the
 singing progressed, their bodies rocked and their feel kept time to
 the swing of the melodies.

 “The greatest single victory over sin in the minds of those present
 was the conversion and baptism of Mrs. Octavia Adams, of No. 117 E.
 21st St., the city home of the late Col. Robert G. Ingersoll. Mrs.
 Adams had been a cook in the family for years.”

From New York Tribune, March 12, 1900:

 “One hundred and eighty-four persons were baptized by immersion at Mt.
 Olivet Baptist Church, Fifty Third Street, near Broadway yesterday
 morning. Of this number 89 were women. In all 408 persons were
 received into the church. It was originally intended that 233 persons
 should be received in the church by baptism, but of that number 49 did
 not present themselves. The remainder were received into the church on
 profession of faith. The baptismal ceremonies were conducted by Rev.
 C. T. Walker, the pastor of the church, and Deacon Webb.

 “During the baptism ceremonies religious fervor was worked up to such
 a state that several women and two men fainted. Three women fainted
 while being immersed. All, however, were revived.

 “For five weeks, the Rev. Mr. Walker has been conducting revival
 services in the church, and yesterday’s ceremonies were the result of
 the work of conversion.

 “Anticipating the crush that would be at the church, and fearful that
 there might be trouble in handling it, Capt. Donohue, of the West
 47th Street Station, detailed five patrolmen from his command to
 remain at the church during the services. Several times the patrolmen
 were forced to resort to rather rough tactics in order to keep the
 big crowd in check. Finally at the request of the church officials,
 the police cleared the big corridors of the church and drove several
 hundred persons who were late in arriving into the street.

 “The jam about the church was terrific. Every conceivable vantage
 point was taken inside the big auditorium long before the services
 were begun.

 “People were jammed in the church like sardines. They filled the
 aisles and stood about three or four deep about the pulpit. Some time
 before the service began, the church was filled and the police were
 instructed not to allow more to enter. Then began a wild scramble.
 In a few minutes there were fully 1,000 persons struggling in the
 vestibule and on the pavement outside the church.

 “The candidates for baptism were seated in the center of the church,
 the women on one side of the aisles, while the men, black-robed and in
 their stocking feet, were on the other side.

 “The women were all clad in loose fitting white flannel gowns. The
 majority of them had white ribbons in their hair. The regular sermon
 was preached by Rev. S. X. Floyd of Augusta, Ga.

 “The women were baptized first, the children and men last. The first
 to be immersed was a little blind girl; as she was brought up dripping
 from the big tank she cried, ‘Thank God, I am saved.’ The child’s cry
 was taken up by the big congregation.

 “While the men were being baptized somebody in the congregation began
 singing, ‘Bye-and-bye’; the song was quickly taken up by the entire
 congregation and the religious enthusiasm was increased. Men and
 women arose in their seats, and while they sang they waved books and
 handkerchiefs.

 “It was announced by the Rev. Mr. Walker that on the list of converts
 were men and women from every clime. There were several blind, deaf
 and dumb. Mr. Walker said that among those who received baptism was a
 colored woman who for many years had been employed in the household of
 the late Robert G. Ingersoll, the agnostic.”

From the New York Times, May 7, 1900:

 “Mount Olivet Baptist Church celebrated yesterday its 22nd anniversary
 with afternoon and evening meetings. The exercises were held in
 Carnegie Hall which was crowded not only with the members of the
 congregation, but with colored Odd Fellows and other societies and
 colored residents of the different boroughs.

 “The meeting was more or less a congratulatory one to the Rev. Dr.
 C. T. Walker, whose pastorate began seven months ago, when he came
 here from Augusta Ga. The Trustees’ report showed that the church had
 had the most prosperous year in its existence, and although covert
 references were made by the speakers to the troubles of the Rev. Mr.
 Wisher, the old sores have been healed and everybody was in harmony.

 “In April of last year the church was in debt exclusive of a mortgage
 of $19,500, in the sum of $1,400 with $100.80 in the treasury. Since
 then there have been paid for running expenses $6,168.88, and there is
 now a balance on hand of $899.71. Within Dr. Walker’s pastorate, over
 800 members have been added.

 “The collection yesterday morning brought in $1,269.16. At the evening
 services this sum was swelled to $1,634.46. To this will be added
 $1,000 taken in at recent collections. The announcement was made that
 John D. and William Rockefeller were among the contributors in the
 past and that the City Mission had borne the ‘white man’s burden’ in
 helping to raise the big church debt to the amount of $9,000.

 “The Rev. Dr. R. S. MacArthur, of Calvary Baptist Church, spoke in
 complimentary terms of the work of Dr. Walker.

 “‘I consider him the most valuable acquisition to the ministry of
 this great city,’ he said. ‘If you can spare him for some service I
 want him to come and speak in Calvary. My people want good preaching,
 and he is a good preacher. And if you will put up with me, I’ll come
 to you for one service.’ (Laughter and applause followed this remark.)

 “Dr. MacArthur then made a plea for general education among the
 colored people, and said: ‘It has made me boil with indignation when I
 have seen the door shut in the face of black men and opened to white
 men with black hearts.’”

From the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, March 20, 1900:

 “Rev. C. T. Walker, the ‘Black Spurgeon,’ who has lately acquired the
 sub-name of the ‘Black John the Baptist’ by the big results of the
 recently held revival in New York, delivered a strong lecture at his
 former church, Tabernacle Baptist, on Ellis Street, last night to a
 crowded house.

 “The subject used by Rev. Walker was ‘The Negro for the Twentieth
 Century.’” He took as a special theme the necessity of the Negro race
 patronizing their own enterprises and learning to have confidence in
 themselves that the white race has in itself. He bore heavily upon the
 importance to his race of an industrial education.

 “He said that the Negro must put aside the ante-bellum belief of
 their absolute dependence upon the whites and stand solely upon
 their own efforts. He said that prejudice was very general against
 the colored man and it rested entirely with him whether in the days
 to come the race will attain that place which it should attain.
 He especially advised his hearers to spread the necessity of
 character-building among their people that this end might be reached.
 They should all think more of upholding themselves individually and
 collectively; they must all have more respect for their women, since
 in them, to a great degree, lives what the leaders of the race are
 working for. The parents should be especially particular to see that
 their boys and girls were educated in the trades, that they may be
 taught the hurtfulness of idleness and the profit of being always
 employed at something which would be beneficial.

 “At the conclusion of his address, to make this point more forceful,
 he asked all of the professional and business men present to stand up.
 A large number responded, and he pointed them out as an example for
 the idle to follow.”

From the Fall River, Mass., Evening News:

 “The people who turned out to hear Rev. C. T. Walker, D. D., speak
 at the Royal Arcanum Hall, on Bank Street, on Thursday night, were
 abundantly rewarded for ignoring the rain. Dr. Walker is one of
 the best known colored men in this country. He ranks with Booker
 T. Washington in prominence, and has won this prominence through
 intelligence and ability. He is now Pastor of Mount Olivet Baptist
 Church in New York City, one of the largest and strongest churches
 among the colored people of the North. His reputation as a more than
 local man of note was won while he was pastor of the Tabernacle
 Baptist Church of Augusta, Ga. He secured the funds to erect the
 building, and made the church one of the biggest among his people in
 the South.

 “Dr. Walker is a remarkable man, one whom it would repay anybody to
 meet. He was born a slave in 1858. Left an orphan when only eight
 years of age, he worked as a field hand until he was fifteen years
 old, when he began to study for the ministry. Largely through his own
 efforts he has become a man of notably large and broad education. He
 has traveled extensively, and has a great fund of material for use
 both in the pulpit and in talks and lectures. When one has heard him
 talk the main element of his notable success in life becomes apparent.
 He is a born orator. His gift has been cultivated to fine advantage.
 He has that quality of voice which makes speaking to large assemblies
 of people no difficult task. There is no suggestion of the shouting
 preacher in his method, but his voice carries naturally and easily. It
 was apparent that he was accustomed to speaking in much larger halls
 than the one in which he was heard last night. His voice was rather
 crowded there when he was specially earnest. He is very eloquent and
 may well be called ‘The Black Spurgeon of America.’ His fund of humor
 is inexhaustible. This humor took well with his audience. Many of
 those present were old acquaintances.”

From the Georgia Baptist (Augusta, Ga.), July 20, 1899:

 “It has been known for some weeks that the Mount Olivet Baptist
 Church, of New York City, with fifteen hundred present, had extended
 a unanimous call to Dr. C. T. Walker, of our city, to accept its
 pastorate.

 “The universal hope of our community has been that Dr. Walker would
 decline this call as flattering as it is and remain in Augusta. No man
 in Augusta has a deeper hold upon the whole community than Dr. Walker.
 His success as a pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in this city
 for the past fourteen years has been phenomenal and humanly speaking
 it does not appear that a man can be found to take his place at this
 church. Aside from Tabernacle Church, all the people of Augusta, white
 and colored, are anxious that Dr. Walker remain in Augusta. Should he
 decide to accept the call to New York, Dr. Walker will leave behind
 him thousands of loving hearts whose prayers will follow him wherever
 his lot may be cast.”

From the Augusta (Ga.), Chronicle, March 27, 1901:

 “Will D. Upshaw, of Mercer University, who spent Sunday and part of
 yesterday in Augusta, left for Macon at 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon.
 He is returning from a stay of several months in New York, where he
 has been in the interest of a loan fund at Mercer, and where, as press
 reports and his subscription list indicate, he did some excellent and
 successful work for the great Georgia College.

 “Speaking of preachers in New York, Mr. Upshaw said, ‘Many people
 in Augusta will be gratified to learn that your city recently sent
 to the metropolis a man who is preaching to the largest crowds of
 any man in New York, either white or colored. I refer to none other
 than Charles T. Walker, ‘The Black Spurgeon,’ so long and favorably
 known in Augusta. I confess that as a Georgian, I felt a great deal
 of pride and congratulation for my own State, to see with my own eyes
 the remarkable work he is doing and hear on all sides many expressions
 of commendation concerning him. I had the pleasure of speaking in
 his church several times. On the Sunday night on which I spoke,
 1,500 people packed the house, and on another occasion, in company
 with Dr. Frank Rogers Morse, the accomplished associate pastor of
 Calvary Church, I attended the services and heard the pastor preach
 to an overflowing audience that crowded floor and galleries, and it
 is no disparagement to the white brethren to say that his sermon was
 one of the most forceful I heard in the metropolis. Dr. Walker’s
 congregations are growing until he has to hold overflow meetings in
 the lecture room. You will find many Negroes of fine education and
 genuine culture while there is a refreshing sprinkling--I use the word
 ‘refreshing’ advisedly--of the old-fashioned ‘Georgia darkey,’ whom
 Alex Bealer describes so strikingly, who keeps the speaker in good
 spirits by the occasional lusty ‘Amen.’

 “When Dr. Walker took hold of the church, it had been somewhat divided
 by the political sermons of his predecessor; but the present pastor
 has had the good sense to steer clear of such breakers. Now the large
 church is united and harmonious, and much genuine good is being done.
 Dr. Morse, who often acts as an advisory friend of the colored church,
 in speaking to me of the new pastor, said, ‘Mr. Walker is a true man,
 really a remarkable man, and the work he is doing is marvelous.’

 “In speaking of the contribution which Rev. Charles T. Walker is
 making to the solution of the race problem by his presence and work in
 the North, Mr. Upshaw said:

 “‘I have heard Rev. Walker deliver an address by special request of
 the New York Baptist ministers’ conference, which, while true to his
 race, as all honest men wanted him to be, was so fair and sensible
 that he deserves the commendation of all white men, and especially all
 Southern men. In that Northern atmosphere, where many of his hearers
 not only expected but possibly wished this distinguished Southern
 Negro to flay his former neighbors, Charlie Walker had the common
 sense not to make one single sectional allusion. He never used the
 words “North” or “South,” throughout his entire address. He discussed
 the sad fact of undue race prejudice, not from a sectional but a
 racial standpoint, and plead with an eloquence that was as touching as
 it was thrilling, that his race be admitted to progress everywhere on
 the credentials of worth and justice.

 “‘Dr. C. O. Pope, so well known in Augusta, and now President of
 Simmons’ College, in Texas, was in the audience, and when Dr. Walker
 sat down amid many cheers, and maybe, some tears, Dr. Pope arose and
 told the people that he was raised in the community with Charles
 Walker’s father, and having known from boyhood the man who had
 addressed them, he wished to bear testimony to the worth of the man,
 and the truth and fairness of what he had said.

 “‘It was my own pleasure to supplement Dr. Pope’s words along the same
 line and by an emphasis of what I had told the ministers’ conference
 in a speech before Dr. Walker’s coming--that if there were more
 Charles T. Walkers and Booker T. Washingtons, there would be less race
 problems in the South.’

 “When the Chronicle reporter smiled and suggested that he was giving
 the former Augusta pastor very high praise, Mr. Upshaw smiled
 pleasantly in turn and said:

 “‘Yes, I know I am, but I am doing it deliberately and unreservedly.’

 “‘I believe that when a worthy Negro like Charles T. Walker, with
 faith in God and love for man, a humanity that cannot be spoiled by
 praise, breaks through conditions and tendencies that keep so many of
 his race below honor and progress, it is only just and right that his
 more fortunate white neighbor should give him the credit due, take him
 by the hand and say: “God bless you. If you are honestly trying to
 lift up yourself and your people, I will honestly help you to be true
 to yourself, to your people and to God.”

From the Georgia Baptist, Nov. 15, 1901:

 “No man, white or colored, has gone from the South to New York, the
 great commercial metropolis of this country, and made for himself in
 so short a time a reputation and friends that our Dr. Walker has.

 “As highly regarded as he has been for years in Augusta, his real
 worth to the denomination, the country and the race has not been fully
 understood until he entered the pastorate in New York City. Mt. Olivet
 Baptist Church, of which he is pastor in New York, is no more anxious
 that he continue his labors with them than are the thousands of his
 friends outside of his church. The mass meeting, called at Mt. Olivet
 Church, Nov. 6, at which hundreds gathered to give expression to the
 great desire that Dr. Walker continue his work in that city, was
 presided over by the distinguished Dr. MacArthur, one of the leading
 white ministers of the country. Bishop W. B. Derrick led the speakers
 in eulogizing the work of Dr. Walker, and urging him to withdraw his
 resignation tendered to Mt. Olivet Church. The speakers on the program
 were men of note of all denominations and leading politicians who, as
 a rule, take no interest in religion.

 “Dr. Walker’s friends in Augusta, white and colored, can but feel
 gratified at his success in the North and the high regard which he has
 won from all classes. The Baptists of Georgia are ardently attached to
 Dr. Walker, and if he decides to return to his old charge, they will
 receive him back with open arms.”

Testimonials similar to the above could be multiplied by the score.
North, South, East and West, Dr. Walker is a man well spoken of by
white and black, publican and sinner.




  CHAPTER XIX.

  ANECDOTES.


It is one of the unwritten laws of American civilization that the
public has a right to get off jokes on leading public servants, whether
they are clergymen, statesmen, business men or what not. Very often
this habit of caricaturing our ablest men by cartoons and jokes is
carried to extremes; but within proper limits, if it is possible to
define what is proper in such a matter, there seems to be no objection
to it among those who may be the victims. It is true that sometimes a
joke, if founded on facts, will go further in illustrating a man’s real
disposition than perhaps anything else. At any rate, it is customary to
include in every biography a chapter giving the anecdotal side of the
subject’s life. That rule will not be departed from in this case.


“THE BLACK STURGEON.”

On one occasion Dr. Walker was preaching before the Walker Baptist
Association down in Georgia. In the middle of his discourse, and at the
close of one of his most thrilling flights of eloquence, an old colored
man, in a frenzy of excitement, rose to his feet and exclaimed: “My
Gawd! No wonder dey call him de Black Sturgeon!”

The old man evidently had mistaken the word “Spurgeon” for the word
“Sturgeon.” In speaking of the matter afterwards, Dr. Walker said, with
a good-natured laugh, “Well, I’m glad he did not class me with the
small fish.”


READING AND COUNTING FOR NEGROES.

Once a Georgia Negro carried a letter to Dr. Walker and asked him to
read it for him. Dr. Walker complied with his request. Two or three
days later, the same man came back and said:

 “Doc, you sho did read my letter all right. I took it to two white men
 since, and dey read the same things dat you did.”

Somewhat later, another colored man came to Dr. Walker and asked him
how much was 9 x 70. Dr. Walker told him 630. A few days later the
colored man returned and said:

 “Doc, you know de uddah day, I axt you how much was 9 x 70, an’ you
 told me 630. Well, I axt Capt. Jones (a white man) about it and he
 told me de same thing. I tell you, Doc, you sho knows how to count.”

In telling these stories, Dr. Walker always makes the point that it is
very difficult to get the average Negro to believe another Negro unless
some white man will endorse what the colored man says. It seems to be
an old and foolish way Negroes were taught during slavery.


PRAYING FOR MONEY.

Dr. Walker believes in praying for everything. In 1886, when in Boston
trying to raise money to assist him with his church work at Augusta,
he was rooming with Mr. Charles A. Dryscoll, who was at that time a
student in the New England Conservatory of Music. One Saturday night
Mr. Dryscoll noticed that several times during the night Dr. Walker got
out of the bed. He asked him if he was sick. Dr. Walker replied, “No.”
Once, while Mr. Dryscoll watched to see what called him from the bed
so often, he found him kneeling by a chair in prayer. He spent nearly
the whole night in prayer. The next morning (Sunday morning) he went to
the First Baptist Church, of which Dr. P. S. Moxom was then pastor, and
made an appeal to the congregation for help. He secured $109.00 in cash
and many pledges. Dr. Walker always referred to that contribution as
prayer money.


PRAYING FOR CONVERTS.

Once at Augusta he commenced his revival services by making a request
of the people that they would pray that the Lord would give them 200
converts during the meeting. At the close of six weeks’ work the number
of converts was found to be 325. But in a short while a large number of
these converts proved such miserable failures as Christians, Dr. Walker
said, if God would forgive him, he never would pray again for 200
converts, and he said that he did not want anybody else to pray that
prayer in Tabernacle Church. He thought that the best thing to do was
to pray for souls, and leave the number with God.


ABOUT JAY BIRDS.

Dr. Walker relates with great pleasure that, when he was a boy, he
made it his business to kill every jay bird he saw. He said that the
old folks had told him that he would never see any jay birds around on
Fridays, because on Fridays all the jay birds went to carry sand to
hell. So he made up his mind to kill every one he could, in order that
the number of jay birds engaged in the sand-carrying business would be
decreased. He was a man nearly grown before he found out that his ardor
in attempting to kill off all the jay birds was prompted by an “old
wife’s fable,” a myth, one of the many hundred superstitious notions
that prevailed among the old-time colored people.

[Illustration: REV. CHARLES T. WALKER AT FORTY YEARS OF AGE.]


EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS.

Dr. Walker’s first recollection of any religious emotions run back to
the period of his early childhood. He remembers how every Sunday night
all the servants would gather in the hall of the “Big House,” and hold
a prayer-meeting with the “old master,” a Dr. Samuel Clark, leading the
service. He used to go with his mother to these meetings. The first
hymn he ever heard “lined” and sung, _i. e._, the first hymn that he
remembers, was the good, old-fashioned hymn beginning,

  “When I can read my title clear.”

He remembers well the edition then used had these words:

  “And hellish darts be hurled,”

Instead of the present rendition, which has these words:

  “And fiery darts be hurled.”


ELECTING A CHURCH TREASURER.

Dr. Walker and the late Rev. T. J. Hornsby were once invited by
a country church in Burke County, Ga., to conduct an election of
officers. Bro. Hornsby acted as moderator. The custom of the church,
as was true of many others, had been to elect two members to see after
the money. One man carried the key, and the other man kept the box.
As a rule, the money was counted and the box locked in the presence
of the deacons. As a further precaution, the man with the box was not
allowed to carry the key. When the time came to elect the treasurer,
Dr. Walker explained to the church that it would be best to elect one
man as treasurer and make him responsible for both box and key. He told
them that the time had passed for them to continue the old custom of
electing two men. Some at first were not inclined to favor this new
departure. One or two members made speeches against it and said that it
would never do, but the majority of those present voted to adopt the
suggestion, and accordingly one man was elected treasurer.

Rev. Hornsby, when he declared the election, thinking to add a humorous
touch to the situation, said:

 “Now, Brother Jenkins is your treasurer. He will have both the box and
 the key. He can open the box whenever he wants to, and take out what
 he pleases.”

Quick as a flash, an old brother, one of the opposers, rose to his feet
and exclaimed: “Dar now; you hear dat! I knowed when we sont fer Brer
Hornsby and Dr. Walker dat dere was gwineter be de devil to play here
to-day! Dog my cat, I tol’ you so, and you wouldn’t listen at me, and
now hit’s too late!”


DR. WALKER’S COMPLEXION.

While in London, on his way to the Holy Land, Dr. Walker, in company
with Prof. M. J. Maddox, one of his traveling companions, went to a
barber shop to get a shave. Evidently the barber had never seen Negroes
before, and was very much astonished. He noticed that Mr. Maddox was
several shades lighter as to his color than Dr. Walker. Speaking to the
latter about this, the barber asked, “Why is it that you’ve got so much
more complexion than your friend?” He wanted to know, of course, why
Dr. Walker was so much darker than Mr. Maddox, and that is the way he
put it.

When the barber had nearly finished his work, he said to Dr. Walker,
“I’d like to shave you all the time, your hair is so curly.” Americans
would speak of Dr. Walker’s hair as woolly.


THE NEGRO A NOVELTY.

In Heidelberg, Mayence, Cologne and other places, Dr. Walker and Dr.
Carter were the observed of all observers. Hundreds of people would
gather about them and inspect their clothing and feel their skin.

In Brussels, in a few minutes after they left the station and reached
the streets, a crowd of nearly 500 people gathered around and plied
them with all sorts of questions. They were asked what was the cause
of their blackness; they were asked whether the devil made them black;
one man wanted to know if everybody where they came from was black;
some wanted to know if their color would wash off; another asked why
the palms of their hands were so much lighter than the backs of their
hands; and so on almost without limit. When they started down the
street, hundreds of children followed them the same as if they were
following a circus. The children gladly carried the traveling bags,
bundles, and walking canes, umbrellas, etc.--anything to keep up with
the strange men. Writing about this to his newspaper at Augusta, Ga.,
Dr. Walker said:

 “In America the Negro is a problem; in Europe he is a novelty.”




  CHAPTER XX.

  APPEARANCE, MANNERS, HABITS.


The Rev. Dr. Walker stands five feet seven inches in his stockings.
He weighs 160 pounds. He has a peculiar stoop in his shoulders, not
from age, but from a constitutional pliancy of his back-bone, aided by
his early habit of incessant reading. In walking, he has a peculiar
swaying or swinging gait. Seen from behind, he looks, as he walks with
head depressed, bended back, and swaying gait, like an old man. But
the expression of his face is singularly and engagingly youthful. A
smile plays ever on his countenance. The pleasant, youngish looking
face is in marked contrast with his head, which is prematurely gray.
Sometimes in referring to his gray hairs, Dr. Walker says that they
cannot be signs of hard work or trouble, because he was told by his
mother that he had a number of gray hairs in his head in his infancy.
His skin is very dark, but there are many very much darker men among
the colored people. He never would be taken for a great man, judging
from his appearance. Not a large man in stature, without a commanding
appearance, he never would be looked at for the second time when
one passes him on the street and never would be taken for one of
the world’s most famous preachers in any large gathering with other
distinguished men. It is when he begins to speak that the latent powers
of the man are at once apparent to the close student of human nature
and the practiced observer of men. When seated, he is like a sea at
rest, calm and undisturbed; when on his feet, he is like the sea in
action, or like some dictator suddenly sent from another world to
correct the faults and foibles of this world.

In manner he is still, to some extent, a rustic. His world-wide
travel, his acquaintance with some of the greatest and best of earth
and his life in the metropolis of America, have not been able to make
much impression upon him. He is an unassimilated man. Great, indeed,
are the assimilating powers of the large cities. A youth will go to New
York or Boston, awkward, ill-dressed, bashful, and capable of being
surprised. After only a few years’ absence, he returns to his country
home a changed being; his clothes, his accent, his affectations, and
his manners are “City-made.” His friends do not recognize him at first
sight. They do not quite understand his language when he speaks. All
his ways are changed. He is another man. It is so with most, but
not with all. Some men there are--very few, yet some--who resist
effectually or, one might say, unconsciously, and to the last, the
assimilating influence of the large cities. They are the oddities, the
stared-at, the men of whom anecdotes are told. There is one thing,
though, which can be said of them which cannot be said of the other
class; there is no affection about them--they do not put on. Everywhere
and all the time, Dr. Walker keeps to his Southern training and his
Southern style. “I am not a society man,” he often says, “and you
cannot expect me to be up on etiquette and decorum, and all those fool
things.” When asked to do the honors at some wedding feast, or sit down
and enjoy a sumptuous repast in courses, he has been heard to say, “I
am not used to that kind of thing, and I cannot get above my raising.”
But it must not be thought that because it is admitted that he is
still a rustic in some things that he is at all boorish, unmannered or
impolite. No man enjoys the society of people, the intercourse of men,
the mutual exchange and interchange of ideas and opinions more than he
does, and he would not be likely to mistake finger-bowl for drinking
purposes. But his politeness is the politeness of tact and good common
sense rather than the politeness of the books and of so-called high
society.

       *       *       *       *       *

In some respects he is exceedingly frank: in others, no man is more
reserved. He likes company and likes to talk about the things which
interest him most, and there are thousands of living mortals who will
testify that they have never found any man in general conversation more
interesting or more entertaining than he. In Georgia, where people
are always very democratic in their ways, for hours and hours great
crowds of men, old and young, have considered it a privilege and an
honor to be permitted to stand in some barber shop or drug store or
grocery store and listen to Dr. Walker talk. It is very difficult for
him to go one square in his home town without being stopped by somebody
who really has no other motive than just to hear him talk. When one
succeeds in detaining him for a little while, that is usually the
signal for others to join the number, and by this process it is not
long before Dr. Walker has been intercepted and made to talk. Such a
thing would disturb and annoy an ordinary man. But when he is asked if
it does not tire him to be worried out by people who merely want to
take up his time in talking, he says: “It pleases them, and it doesn’t
hurt me.” He loves a joke--not likes, but loves--and tells a comic
story with great glee. His cheerfulness is habitual, and probably he
never knew two consecutive hours of melancholy in his life.

He possesses one of the most remarkable memories for names and faces
that God has ever given to any man. At one time his membership in
Augusta consisted of more than 1,200 persons, and he knew them all by
name, and could call their names as soon as he saw them anywhere and at
anytime. In Augusta, with a population of 15,000 colored people, more
or less, he knows more than half of them by name. The same is true of
the people in the country districts in and around Augusta where he has
been. He knows the leading men and women in religious, political, and
educational circles throughout the state and nation, and can call their
names without a moment’s hesitation, tell where they are, and what
they are doing; in many instances, he knows about their past, about
their family connections, about any difficulties they may have had. Of
course, this wonderful power of memory must of necessity stand him in
good stead in his sermon preparation, in his delivery of sermons, and
in his literary work; but it is little short of wonderful how one man
could, in the first place, know so much about so many people, and, in
the second place, how, if he did know, he could remember it all, even
to the smallest detail.

Though humble, meek, modest almost to the point of shyness, there
is nothing of obsequiousness about him. It is not his way to bow and
scrape and cater to any man, while at the same time he has a becoming
respect for the deeds of men and never fails to praise a fellow-mortal
for the good that he does. But he hates hypocrisy, he hates cringing.
He has never found it necessary to go out of the way to speak with
any of the great men of the world with whom he has come in contact or
who have attended his meetings in various places from time to time.
Sometimes, when he has been told that Mr. So-and-So (a person of some
influence) is in the audience, he has replied, “Give him my number,
please: if he desires to call, I shall be glad to see him.”

He is not what may be called a bookish preacher--that is to say, his
sermons do not smell of the lamb. His sermons are, nevertheless, always
carefully prepared beforehand, but it is a preparation of prayer, Bible
reading and meditation. He goes to the pulpit from his knees, and has
often been heard to say, “I know what I am going to say before I come
into the pulpit; I know the hymns I am going to sing, the chapter
that I am going to read, and I know where the text is to be found.”
His favorite source of information outside of the Bible is the daily
newspaper. He always reads with an eye single to the use he can make
of the news in his preaching or in his public addresses. In this
way, he keeps abreast of the times, and frequently has well-matured
opinions on important matters, and many times has spoken of them in
public before some other ministers have heard of them. When he enters
the pulpit, free from the narrowness that must come to the man who
uses only his Bible commentary, he seems to feel himself under divine
compulsion to deliver a message of transcendent importance to dying
men; there is an air about him of a soldier who has a divine commission
to fight a great battle for humanity. He speaks directly to the heart,
in language all hearts can understand. Humor and pathos, pleading and
scorn, impassioned exhortation and cutting sarcasm, all are used in his
discourses with tremendous effect.

That he is a man of unpretentious habits and winning manners is
evidenced by the great love manifested toward him by the children in
the city of Augusta, where he lived so long. Even the children know him
and call him by name, and it is an honor without dissimulation, and a
tribute without sinister motives that the little children pay when they
run in great crowds at sight of the affable preacher, crying as they
run, “Howdy, Brer Walker?” “Howdy, Brer Walker?” Many times Dr. Walker
will stop and talk with them, ask after their mothers and fathers, and
also about their schooling; often he will tell them a little story, and
then invite them to church and Sunday school the following Sunday.




  CHAPTER XXI.

  TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS.


One of the leading characteristics that may be mentioned in speaking
of Dr. Walker’s traits is this: He is accustomed to bear injuries and
insults with great patience and forbearance. All the great men of
earth from the time of Christ to the present day have been subjected
to calumny, abuse, contumely, and misrepresentation in some form or
other. George Washington, during his second administration, was called
a traitor, because he would not go to war with England. Epithets were
applied to him which would hardly have been applied to a Nero, a
notorious defaulter, or a common pickpocket. Abraham Lincoln was called
a poltroon, a hypocrite, because he was deliberate, painstaking and
cautious about issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. Horace Greeley,
who, with his paper, the New York Tribune, did more than any other
individual in America to bring about the abolition of slavery, was
most bitterly denounced by the American people, because he dared to go
on the bond of Jefferson Davis, the animosity and vituperation having
reached their climax in his campaign against Grant for the presidency.
Henry Ward Beecher, who was without a peer in the American pulpit, was
hounded down by the venomous tongue of slander and dragged into court
on an infamous charge. Dwight L. Moody had his bitter with his sweet.
On his first evangelistic campaign in Europe the papers boldly asserted
that he was in the employ of P. T. Barnum, the great show man, and that
he was making thousands for his own use out of a credulous public. His
issuing of the “Moody and Sankey Hymn Book” was declared to be a huge
money-making venture, and people were advised not to purchase it. The
great and good William McKinley, the patient, praying President, was
most bitterly assailed, his motives most bitterly impugned, and he was
called “the puppet president,” “the tool,” “the manakin.” President
Roosevelt has said that the man who has not made mistakes is the man
who has not done anything. It might be said with equal truth that
the man who has not been assailed and opposed is the man who has not
done anything. How could Dr. Walker escape? A man’s character is not
evinced by the manner in which he is slandered and abused and traduced,
nevertheless; but a man’s character is shown by the manner in which he
accepts misrepresentation and abuse and slander. Dr. Walker has the
courage which faces difficulties, braves rebuke and contumely, is not
afraid of harsh names and ugly epithets; the courage that can look
danger and persecution in the face and not shrink before them, brave
before ridicule not less than before threatening; the rare courage
which in the discharge of duty is not afraid of what men shall say.
Though he likes popularity--and who does not?--yet no consideration
of public favor can frighten him from speaking his mind, from saying
what he believes to be true, from saying what he believes that the
people ought to hear. Such courage is of a higher order than an animal
instinct, more difficult to maintain, and more trying to a sensitive
soul. The bravery that bears misunderstanding is more radical than
the bravery that returns blows or fights battles. He has repeatedly
said that he has tried to make these words the motto of his life: “I
am determined never to be guilty of ingratitude; never to desert a
friend; never to strike back at an enemy.” I have known Dr. Walker
intimately for more than twenty years. I have eaten with him, slept
with him, traveled with him, prayed with him, worked with him, played
with him; I have known some of the indignities, which have been heaped
upon him, and some of the hard things, which he has been called upon
to bear; and I truly believe that, in his dealings with those who have
wronged him, as well as in his dealings with humanity in general, he
is the most Christlike man I ever knew. He comes nearer fulfilling in
his own life and person the divine injunction, “Love your enemies; do
good to them that despitefully use you,” than any man of my extended
acquaintance. Perhaps the following admonition and advice sent to me by
him in a letter at a time of great trial in my own life, will better
show his character on this point than anything I could say. Here is
what he said: “You must expect that some will misrepresent both your
conduct and your motives. You must expect that your best efforts will
be thwarted by the folly or wickedness of those whom you propose to
serve. Be it so. Spend no time or strength in unavailing regrets. Spend
no time or strength in repelling the attempted injury. Go forward in
the way of duty. Let your uniform good conduct be your defence. Time
is the great corrector. Your conduct will one day be seen in its true
light. If not, God always sees it in its true light, and will reward
every man according to his works.” These were noble words from a noble
soul. God does not call his ministers to seats of ease, nor yet to the
enjoyment of undisturbed comforts. Their duties are of such a nature
and their environment is so peculiar that such a call in this life is
impossible. Indeed, it often happens that the more faithful a minister
is to his divine vocation, the more bitter will be the cup he is called
upon to drain. Had it been otherwise, the name of many a noble man of
God, enshrined in the hearts of millions of the race, would never have
been heard beyond his parish boundaries. In every church, even those
conducted on sound principles, there are a few polyphagous members whom
no gospel preacher can supply. They are ever restive, ever seeking
after novelties, ever grumbling, ever finding fault. Dr. Walker has met
people of this class in his pastoral work, and he has won them by love
and kindness. He has proved in this way that the word of the Master
is true, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and
persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in
heaven.”

Humility is also a distinguishing trait in the character of Dr.
Walker. The beauty of humility is delightfully displayed in him, and
its influence is extensively felt and acknowledged. Hence, arise the
love and respect so generally entertained for him. It has been remarked
that scarcely any person could be in his presence for an hour without
loving him. There has always been about him a beautiful unmindfulness
of himself while engaged in his life-work. In this respect he is
different from many, for self-consciousness and solicitous guardianship
over their own rights and honors characterize mankind in general.
At the recent meeting in Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, held to protest
against his returning to labor with his old church at Augusta, one
of the most prominent young men of the church spoke in substance as
follows: “I want to confess something here that I have never before
told anybody, not even Dr. Walker. Dr. Walker has done more to take
false pride out of me than any man living. The other day I was going
down Broadway, and I passed Dr. Walker. I stopped and shook his hand,
and being somewhat in a hurry, kept on down the street. Shortly after
I had passed him I met a young man whom I knew well, but he wasn’t
well dressed--in fact, he was dressed very shabbily--and I didn’t
want to speak to him. I turned my head away from him, so as to keep
from speaking. I looked back to see if Dr. Walker would speak to him.
Dr. Walker stopped and shook that young man’s hand and stood up in
Broadway, with all the people going by, to talk with him, and Dr.
Walker seemed just as glad to see him as he had been to see me. I
learned a lesson from that scene that I will never forget.”

Dr. Walker, also, has a responsive feeling of gratitude for mercies
and favors received. This spirit is always associated with true
humility; for in proportion to the Christian’s sense of his own
unworthiness, is his thankfulness for those supplies which he forfeited
by his rebellion. Dr. Walker views every blessing, both temporal and
spiritual, as coming to him immediately from the hand of God through
the mediation of Jesus Christ.

Christian charity pre-eminently adorns the character of Dr. Walker.
The love which glows in Dr. Walker’s heart was evidently enkindled by
the Holy Ghost and has produced a cordial feeling of good-will toward
all men, of whatever grade or country, of whatever party or sect. While
he is an ardent and uncompromising Baptist, his treatment of other
Christian denominations is fraternal and appreciative; his spirit is
broad and catholic; there is nothing ultra-sectarian in his make-up.
Those who love him because of this are found in the Methodist church,
the Congregational church, the Presbyterian church, the Episcopalian
church, the Baptist church, and in all churches and in no churches.
He has a tender fellow-feeling for the poor and afflicted, and has
many times denied himself lawful gratifications for their sake. He has
cheerfully submitted to any service, and thought nothing too low or too
mean, in which to engage, if thereby he could benefit either the souls
or bodies of men.

There are other features which ought to be mentioned. Clearness of
vision, capacity for hard work and quick decisions, executive force,
the ability to guide the thoughts and energies of other men into the
same channel as his own, and thus unite their force with his, and his
mastery of details, are conspicuous elements in his character.

Charles T. Walker has his faults, like other men. These are not to be
overlooked, and I mention this fact, in closing this chapter, in order
to say that Charles T. Walker is not a perfect man. A perfect man has
not trod this planet since Christ left it. It is said of Charles Lamb,
that he liked his friends, not in spite of their faults, but faults
and all. And Charles Lamb was no less right than kind. The errors of
a true man are not discreditable to him, for his errors spring from
the same source as his excellencies. Moreover, it is very difficult to
judge character. Generally speaking, those who are familiar with a man
are blind to his faults, and those who are not intimate are blind to
his virtues. Still, in summing up the traits and characteristics of Dr.
Walker, it may be truthfully said that he is no ordinary man, and that
one would be compelled to search among sinful mortals many and many a
day before he would find one man who, in all respects, possesses more
of the traits of genuine honor, manhood and sterling worth than does
the present pastor of the Mount Olivet Baptist Church, New York City.




  CHAPTER XXII.

  CONCLUSION.

Of the countless gifts which God bestows upon man, the rarest, the most
divine, is an ability to take supreme interest in human welfare. If
any pious soul will accurately ascertain what it is in the character
of the Man Christ Jesus, the contemplation of which fills his heart
with rapture and his eyes with tears, that pious soul will know what
is here meant by the expression “supreme interest in human welfare.”
Most of us, alarmed at the dangers which beset our lives, distracted
with cares, blinded with desires to secure our own safety, are absorbed
in schemes of personal advantage. Only a few men go apart, ascend
the heights, survey the scene with serene, unselfish eye, and make
discoveries which those engaged in their own selfish pursuits could
never arrive at. But for such, the race of mankind would long ago have
extirpated itself in its mad, blind strife. But for such, it never
would have been discovered that no individual can be safe in welfare
while any other individual is not.

In summing up the life story of Dr. Walker, I ask myself what it is
that has given this man of God such a place in the affection, regard
and sincere esteem of those who know and love and honor him. Is it
mere intellectual ability? Great as is his intellectual strength,
there are many men in his same calling of greater intellect but they
are not known and loved as he is. Is it official station? He holds no
office except that of an humble minister of the gospel. Is it wealth?
Dr. Walker is a poor man. In his case, I believe that the secret lies
in active Christian charity, or what might be called the magnetism of
simple goodness. I need not say that Dr. Walker’s heart is as large
as his brain--that love for humanity is an inwrought element of his
nature. It is manifested in a kindness and regard that keep a silent
record in many hearts; in a hand ever open and ready to help; in one of
the kindest faces ever worn by man, the expression of which is

 “A meeting of gentle lights without a name.”

How wide, how manifold is the circle of interests which he has touched!
How many, many minds has he instructed with practical wisdom! How
many lives has he stimulated to wholesome energy! How many young men
gratefully acknowledge him as their teacher and guide! How many aged
people, how many orphans have looked up to him for succor! How many
precious souls have been saved for truth, for righteousness, for
God! His pen never idle, his lips never still, his feet never weary,
what a blessing he has been to his day and generation! In his eyes,
the noblest career is that which is given up to others’ wants. The
successful life is that which is worn out in conflict with wrong and
woe. The only ambition worth following is the ambition to alleviate
human misery and leave the world better--a little better for one’s
having lived in it.

And this, verily, is the greatness which the world at last
acknowledges, confesses, honors--the greatness of goodness. Those
who read this story of Dr. Walker’s life ought, therefore, to be
encouraged, not discouraged, because the greatness of goodness is a
communicable power for the goodness of mankind and, unlike intellectual
power, unlike official station, unlike wealth, may be attained by all.
Let the reader, then, drink from this story inspiration for his best
endeavors, while he thanks God that the achievement in Dr. Walker’s
case has been so large and so effective. The real forces of the world
are not those which science chiefly delights to celebrate, but those
other inward spiritual forces, such as righteousness, justice and
truth, which lie behind the more visible energies, giving them all
the real power that they possess, and guiding them, not blindly, but
intelligently, to rational and beneficent ends.




Transcriber’s Notes:


Archaic spellings have been retained.

Mismatched ending quotes for nested quotes have not been changed.

A number of typographical errors have been corrected silently.

La Grange and LaGrange were normalized to LaGrange.

Normalize old fashioned to old-fashioned.

A notable change involving two characters was made:

  Before: “the judicial. The executive”.

  After: “the judicial, the executive”.

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