The register. (Monroe, La.) 185?-1861, 1859-12-29
su n day Column n /.
(From the Eagle of the south.)
The Late DR.. Newton.

a name emhal,ned i'll the memory of thousands
now living; a lame which will live so long as
men arc disposed to place proper estimate
upon combination OF superior mental abili-
ties, fine acquired attalrmnnts, and true moral
excellence. Never was the, declaration, "a
greet man has fallen i'll IeraGl n more fully ex-
emplifed than in The death OF the Rev. ALEX
AMBER NEWTON, D. D., late Of this city,.
Having been his intimate and warm personal
friend and for twenty years, co-presl,yter
having upon several occasions seen him tested,
under circumstances which demanded The ct'
forts of giant intellect, and having always
found him equal to the emergency, know the
ground occupy, in assigning to him this posi-
lion in the annals Of the past.
DE-. rEwToN was q native Of North Carolina
-lurn Oh the 18th of December, 1903, and
died November 9th, 1859. He was the son
Of The Rev. George Newton, who settled in
Bedford county, Tennessee, in 1908, when
Alexander was but five years old.
Here Or. Newton was educated and indicted
into the Gospel ministry, in The 2lst year of
, his age by The Preslyery Of Shiloh.
He was proud upon all proper occasions to
announce himsalia Presbyterian in the strict
sense of u1e term, anil to claim the same for Lis
ancestors lor several rast generations. III his
own strong language, found in a work but re-
Gently from lis mastery pen, he speaks thus
for himself upon this point: .....
II am Of the pure American Presbyterian
stock. un,nixel with any foreign ingredient Of
! Scottish lIards or Independent Softs. l was
| born and baptizad i'll tile church. My vancra-
| ted tt'lar-loncrel and blest fnrever he the
precious remembrance Oh his nalne!-liye,l and
lalured and died in the Presbyterian pulpit.
Two Of his six Lrothcrs, my uncles, did the
same. The seven brothers, my father being
the youngest, my grandfather, aud my mater
NIL unc.cs, wer, NIL patriot soldiers Of the
svoluiiun, AMI Presbyterian soldiers of the
love the churcl, Of my fathers. love the
rounlncss ni her doctrine, the purity and sim
pliciy vi her modes vi worship, her inimitablc
Constitution, and the admirable guards and
guarantee; III her discipline upon tht privilege
Of private judgment aud The rights and liner
tics Of her members love the church, as she
was in her original simplicity al"l purity, and
as she is in her duly authorized standards
know. and lave studied we'll her history"
III. nlnTrl To this State in 1929, and settled
first in Madison county. near Livingston, while
HE country was rs yet but lhiy inhabited
Here he lived aml lalnre,l as an instructor of
youth and II minister Of the Gospel for six
years. Since then, up to the time Of his death,
his lahors have leen given to the church in the
counties of Carroll, Warren and Kinds. He
WAS one Of the pioneers in the cause Of right |
eousncss in our beloved State; and but speak
a fact fully attested by Tie personal knowledge
oi his intimate friends. when say he expended
his noble liein the service of the Church, with
scarcely any compensation from the recipients
Of his labors.
| He WAS a man Of too much modesty and too
much pride Of heart. to press his just claims,
and hence his active agency in the good of
others, went unrew0rded
In view Of past services, rendered almost
Grauitously. each one acquainted with the
History Ut The man, is ready to admit that the
world in which he lived, owes his bereaved
wife and children, q debt which will not be
soon paid. He lived and died poor man. but
rich and abundant all the while in works of
love for others.
The same amount of mental ability, mental
discipline anl mental development, which
marked him in his lninstrations Of the Gospel
expended in The profession Of law or medicine.
would have made tributary, to his wants and
The wunts OF his surviving family, the prllcely
furluuc amused by some of his mel nhbrrs, who
can count their wealth by hundreds Of thou
sands.
DR.. Newton was what may he strictly termed
a pol.l aud Independent thinker. III his own
peculiar phrascology, he WAS sin the habit of
doing his own MiaAing.' lie scarnel the idea
Vi having thoughts and arguments manufac-
'urel for him by other men. lie a;m'l as
nmcl, as any man | ever heard, in The pulpit,
at originality, and in his logical and forcible
and affect the thinking mind. In the enunci-
alton of his propositions, those not acquainted
with his peculiar style Of reasoning wcre often
startled, aud pelhaps at first glance. would con-
cl'le that his premis was untona'lc, but be-
fore The argument WAS ended. the whole subject
bscama It's clear rs the sunbeam.
lie was prc-eminently n belle man in his
pulpit exhibitions. He claimed that the God
of the Bible was the God Of reason, and though
some of the teachings of The book Of rcvel,-
ton rose above ard went beyond reason, still
they never contradicted reason Claiming the
inspired word as the only inrlllible guide to
the faith and practice Of fallen men, he dwclt
much upon the beauty, simplicity and power
of truth as the moral lever by which the heart
of man must be moved to action-as the wcap-
on hy which the fliniy heart must be broken
in pieces.
Even now, in Imagination, fancy Iscc him
standing before a thoughtful assembly, carried
captive by his force of reason and logical de-
auctions, with the Book or Books casped in
his hand, holding it up in view of the congre-
CATION. and with proud consciousness Of the
rcctilula of his position, saying: This is the
dictionary which our God made and sent u.s."
This is the confession of faith to which owe
my first allegiance. hold to no doctrine,
ard by the grace Of God intend to hold to
none, but what find plainly inscribed upon
these sacred pages"
1t was his strict and close adherence to the
Billie as a plain, Ineligible and only safe
guide coupled with his logical powers, that
made him successful as debater and convin-
cling as q writer The evidences of his success
in oral debate and his power in written argu-
ngnl are still fresh in the minds of hundreds
wholave heard him and read his productions.
Some years ago. he edited in this city pcriodi-
cal, styled ''Tllu TRUE BAPTIST" which, is
claimed by his friends and acknowledged by
those dissenting from his views to lie one
among the cleurest and abiest works cytant
upon the subjects discussed In it the discus
sion is Drought down to the comprehension of
the mass of the community, and even the oh
joctor rises from its pcrusal with profound ad-
miration of the master mind who conducted
the argument
His more recent work, just published in PAM
phlet form, entitled, 1.-THE position of the Old
School Presbyterian Assembly on the subject of
Slavery" is another proof Of the greatness of
his mind, as well as the moral courage of the
man.
1t was settled conviction in his mind for
many years before his death, that all ecclesias-
ticle action upon the institution of slavery as
it existed i'll the United States, was radically
wrong, and could only be productive of por-
tcntous evils. both in Church and State Act
Ing under this belief and with desire to place
the Church oi his own choice upon scriptu-
raj basis in conunciiuu with this vowed snhirct