Daily Baptist Encyclopedia Battle, Rev. Archibald J., D.D.,

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Admin  · 3h  · Daily Baptist EncyclopediaBattle, Rev. Archibald J., D.D., president of Mercer University, Macon, Ga., was born at Pow- elton, Hancock Co., Ga., Sept. 10, 1826. When ten years of age he moved to Alabama with his father, Dr. Cullen Battle, where he was baptized in 1839, and where he graduated at the University of Ala- bama in 1846, under the administration of Dr. Basil Manly, Sr. In 1847 he was appointed tutor of Ancient Languages in the University of Ala- bama. He entered on a professorship in East Ala- bama Female College in the year 1852, and the following year he was ordained to the ministry by the Tuskegee Baptist church, continuing still to occupy his chair in the Female College. In 1855 he assumed the pastorate of the Tuscaloosa Baptist church; subsequently he became Professor of Greek in the University of Alabama, president of the Alabama Central Female College, and president of the Judson Female Institute at Marion, Ala., which position he retained until 1872, when he accepted the presidency of Mercer University, at Macon, Ga. Dr. Battle grew up amid the best social and re- ligious influences, and he comes from one of the first families of Georgia. He is a highly cultivated Christian gentleman, of refined manners, and su- perior social qualities, and with a character that commands universal esteem. His pastorates have been signally blessed by revivals, which brought large and valuable accessions to the church. One of the results of a revival in the Tuscaloosa church, when he was its pastor, was the establishment of the Alabama Central Female College, an institution of learning which reflects the highest honor upon its founders, the first conception of which is due to Dr. Battle. He is a cultivated and polished preacher, and a favorite with all denominations, owing to his excellent spirit and sound evangelical views. While his sermons, which are usually written, are models of composition, they are elevated in thought, earnest in spirit, and chaste in expression. Had his life been devoted to the pastorate, he would have attained a success rarely granted to ministers ; for while his preaching is pointed, clear, evangelical in doctrine, and practical in teaching, his pervasive piety, affectionate and sympathetic nature and re- fined delicacy, indicate the existence in him of the highest and best attributes of a pastor. He is a scholar worthy to stand at the head of a noble in-’ stitution of learning; and he possesses adminis- trative ability which fits him admirably for the position. To great courtesy of manner he unites firmness of purpose, excellence of judgment, and aptness for teaching and governing young men. In person he is six feet high. In 1869, during the interim between the call of Dr. Warren and the retirement of Dr. Skinner, he was invited to the pastorate of the Macon church, and filled the posi- tion most acceptably and successfully. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by three institutions,—by Howard College, Ala., and Columbian College, Washington City, in 1872, and by the University of Georgia in 1873. He is the author of a work on the human will, which has elicited distinguished commendation, as manifest- ing, in a high degree, the attributes of an acute ?? ; while, as a ??? scholar, (electronic text garbled) he has long been recognized as ranking among the foremost.From the Baptist Encyclopedia by William Cathcart

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