The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-05-26
A TRIBUTE TO DIR. pRIrcHARD.
DR.. Hufnam Reviews Life and Work of
of the Great Baptist Divine.

eSbeTQdN lBoliliiiS III bliS dpbiSA
church DR. Huffman did not preach a
sermon, but occupied the hour with
a beautiful and loving sketch of the
life and services of DR.. Pritchard, who
died Saturday morning in New York.
This town was saddened by the news
of his death. but THE saddest of all was
DR.. Huffman himself, the venerable old
soldier in his Masters service, who
was a schoolmate of DR. Pritchard and
knew and loved him from his boy
hood.
In the most feeling manner pos
sible DR.. Huffman said: This is a
sad day with our brethren in Char
lotte. At o'clock this afternoon they
will lay DR.. Pritchard, pastor of Tryon
Street church TO his final rest in the
city cemetery. Death found him i'll
New York yesterday morning. He had
been carried from his home near Will
mington, Friday morning in a sort of
forlorn hope that the skilled physi-
clans of the metropolis might stay the
hand of death, but soon after he reach
ed lthe city he passed from labor and
suffering to rest and refreshment. The
request of his flock, on hearing of his
DEATH that he might be buried among
them. illustrates the tenderness of
their love and the depth of their sor-
row: nor are they alone. The great
law of brotherhood binds Baptists to-
gether: their joys, their sorrows, their
prosperity, their adversely are held in
common, and so the grief of our
| brethren in Charlotte is our grief, the
grief also of the Baptists all over the
State. All knew him and all loved
| him; and outside sthe ranks of the de-
| nomination there will be mourning
| for him. His largeness of heart, his
| catholicity of spirit, his gentle courte-
| sizes, his devotion to North Carolina,
| had endeared him to all the people,
and his death is loss To the people
of the whole State"
| The speaker gave a sketch of his
| life, his connection with the Orphan
| age, the State University, Southern
| Baptist Theological Seminary at Louis
Vile, the Southern Baptist Convention
| and his presidency of Wake Forest
| college.
| Probably his most brilliant sue
cess was in the first six years of his
1 passionate in Raleigh. The annals of
the denomination in theaState furnish
few parallels to that period of his his
tory. / gather from the reports which
| reach me that he was doing grandly
| in Charlotte when death took him
away.
lie was a large-hearted and many
sided man; in touch with our denomi-
national work at every point, and
with sympathy in all it's needs and as
pirations. Few men of his time had
a larger acquaintance with the people
of the State. and multitudes who
grieye that they shall see his face no
more in the flesh will long remember
the charm of his personal presence,
and the uplifting influence of his noble
pleadings from the pulpit and the plat
form. Two years | sat under his min
istry and it has never been my privilege
to listen to a more delightful preach
er. He was a child Of the city, and
to the last day of his life he loved the
bustling activeness, the living throng,
the culture and the social and intel
lectual life of the city. He belongs to
the heroic age of the North Carolina
Baptists. The period of his active life
| 1852-1S96, will be forever memorable
in our history. 1t is marked by the
endowment of our college and its re-
endow ment; the permanent establish
ment of the Biblical Recorder; The re-
organization and enlargement of our
mission work, at home and abroad
the building of our Orphanage, and
the laying of plans for female educa.
| ton. In all this work he had large
fpart.
Death came to him unexpectedly
He thought he would live to old age
He had left over much work for the
years that seemed to be ahead of him;
but he is gone, and we sorrow for our
brother taken from us, the cultured
gentleman. the charming companion
the eloquent preacher, the pleasing
writer, the brave champion of THE
truth, the successful pastor, and the
faithful man of God. Our sympa.
thies and our prayers are with his
family and his church"