HE year 1829 was very fruitful in results; wherever Scott and Hayden went large crowds assembled, and hundreds yielded to the truth and were gathered into the fold. Among the places visited were Palmyra, Deerfield, Windham, Mantua, Braceville, Bazetta, and, indeed, nearly every place of importance on the Reserve. During this, the first year of the joint labors of himself and William Hayden, an incident of great interest to Bro. Scott, and one deeply and intimately associated with the interests and success of the work in which he was engaged, occurred.

      The reader will, doubtless, recall a favorite pupil of Mr. Scott's, while engaged in teaching in Pittsburg many years before, named Richardson, under the roof of whose father the teacher found a home. This pupil had now become a man, and was fulfilling the promise of his early youth; in addition to fine literary training, he added a course of medical study, and was now engaged in the practice of medicine near Pittsburg. He was, moreover, a deeply religious man, a member of the Episcopal church, and was confirmed by the Rev. William White, the venerable [211] Bishop of Pennsylvania; his pastor was the Rev. J. H. Hopkins, afterward Bishop of Vermont; and such were his attainments and piety that he was urged to enter the ministry of the church of which he was a member. It was a pleasant surprise to him when his old teacher, then living at Canfield, Ohio, who had never ceased to feel a deep interest in him, most unexpectedly paid him a visit. Mr. Scott, full of the theme which had for the last year or two fully occupied his mind, gave the doctor an account his labors on the Western Reserve, and the excitement which had been aroused and the success which had attended them; the doctor felt that he was a pupil still, and, with the deepest interest, listened to what he considered one of the most important matters that had ever engaged his attention. The following is a full account of the interview and its results, from the Memoirs of Alexander Campbell: "During the interview he related many interesting incidents connected with his labors on the Reserve, which excited much surprise on the part of the doctor, who had as yet remained quite uninformed in respect to the character of the religious movement in which Mr. Scott was now engaged, and was still a member of the Episcopal church, though at the time in communion with the Presbyterian church in his immediate neighborhood. The statement that the Christian institution was quite distinct from the Jewish, and had a definite origin on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii.), and that penitent believers were their commanded to be baptized for the remission of sins: seemed to him as a new revelation, accustomed as he had been [212] to the confused ideas of the different parties on these subjects.

      "Upon searching out the import of the word baptism, after Mr. Scott's departure, he soon found it to be immersion, and perceived that, from trusting to human teachers, he had been previously deceived in regard to it. Resolving, therefore, from thenceforth to be directed by the Bible alone, he began a careful re-examination of it. Reflecting that whatever might be urged about 'apostolic succession,' there could be no flaw in the credentials of the apostles themselves, and that they at least knew how to preach the gospel, he was convinced that had he and the whole world been present when Peter said, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins,' all would have been equally bound to obey, and that the case was in nowise different now with those to whom this word of salvation came. There could be no danger of deception or mistake in trusting to the words of one who 'spake as the Holy Spirit gave him utterance,' and he therefore felt it to be his duty to submit to the divine requirements. Setting out accordingly, he, after a three days' journey, found Mr. Scott holding a meeting at a barn in Shalersville, on the Reserve, which he reached about two o'clock on the Lord's day, just after the audience had been dismissed. Six persons had come forward, and were preparing for baptism at the farm-house, and the doctor, pressing through the crowd, greatly surprised and delighted Mr. Scott by informing him that he had come to be baptized. After the immersion the meeting was resumed, and William Hayden addressed the people, his [213] discourse being the first the doctor heard from any preacher in the Reformation; nor had he, before going down that day to the banks of the softly-flowing Cuyahoga, ever witnessed an immersion, having been led by the Word of God alone to take a solitary journey of one hundred and twenty miles in order to render the obedience which it demanded, and to find in that obedience the fulfillment of the Divine promises, and a happy relief from the illusive hopes and fears, based on frames and feelings, which for several years had constituted his religious experience."^a

      The adoption of his views by one so capable of judging of their truth, and so able to defend them was, of course, highly gratifying to Mr. Scott, and the zeal and ability of the new convert soon showed that he was a more valuable accession than even his partial friend and tutor had supposed.

      Soon after his baptism, his pastor, the Rev. Dr. Hopkins, addressed him a letter of remonstrance and regret at the course he had taken, which called forth a reply, which, in a striking manner, set forth the weakness of a religion with much of a human admixture, and the power of the simple and unadulterated truth; or the weakness of a creed in comparison with the plain teachings of the Word of God.

      It was a happy circumstance that Mr. Richardson was so soon called upon to defend his faith, as it opened the way to a career of great usefulness; for, since that time his pen has been almost constantly engaged upon many of the most important religious questions of the day; and among all the writers who have used their pens in the advocacy of the "Reformation" he is not only the most voluminous, but the [214] most polished and graceful. He has been more closely identified with the movement set on foot by the joint labors of Campbell and Scott than any other man in our ranks, and will go down to posterity as the historian of one of the greatest religious movements of modern times. His whole life has been spent in literary, religious, and scientific research. For eighteen years he was Professor of Chemistry in Bethany College, and at the same time co-editor of the "Millennial Harbinger," one of the ablest exponents of modern religious thought. The doctor also aided in the organization of the University of Kentucky from 1859 to 1863, and now, in the retirement of Bethphage, over-looking Bethany, he is still actively and usefully employed, ever and anon giving to the religious world, through the press, his best thoughts on the best of themes. May he be spared yet many years, and may his sun come to a golden setting.

      The report of Scott and Hayden to the Association of their labors during the year was highly encouraging; and, as the work was constantly growing, and demands for preaching far above their ability to meet, Adamson Bentley and Marcus Bosworth were appointed to aid in the work. The latter had been led into the truth by hearing Scott at Braceville in 1827 or 1828, and proved to be a very successful preacher. He was a man of true piety and deep feeling; the condition of lost sinners and the love of the Savior were themes that he could seldom touch without weeping, and, as a natural consequence, his unaffected tenderness would move his audience to tears. Of Elder Bentley we have already spoken at length [215] as a pure man and an able minister, and certainly, in modern times, no four men ever produced such a revolution in public sentiment as did these in the field of their labors.

      The year passed by and the Association met, as it proved, for the last time as an ecclesiastical body, at Austintown. Over one thousand converts were reported; a wide-spread and earnest religious interest had been awakened; many of the new converts, full of love and zeal, were present, and all were full of joy and hope. Several Associations, especially those of Redstone and Beaver, had pursued a very arbitrary course, with regard to churches and individuals who could not accept fully all that was required by the Creed and Articles of Faith; and the members of the Mahoning Association, fearing that such bodies might work much evil, brought up the question as to the scripturality of such organizations. Mr. Campbell thought such meetings under proper limitations might be useful, although opposed to them as church tribunals, and as the churches of which the Mahoning Association was composed had been enlightened so far as to lay aside all human standards of faith and practice, he thought they were in no such danger as those who still retained them. A large majority, however, were opposed to the continuance of the Association; so much tyranny had been exercised recently by bodies bearing that name, that it was felt necessary to have some decisive action on the matter. John Henry, who had been among the first to enter the ranks of reform, and was already quite influential, moved "that the Mahoning Association, as an advisory council, or an ecclesiastical tribunal, should [216] cease to exist." This was in accordance with the general feeling, but Mr. Campbell thinking the course proposed too precipitate, was on the point of rising to oppose the motion, when Walter Scott, seeing the strong current in favor of it, went up to him, and, placing a hand on each of his shoulders, begged him not to oppose the motion. He yielded; the motion passed unanimously; and it was then determined that, in the place of the Association, there should be an annual meeting for praise and worship, and to hear reports from laborers in the field of the progress of the good work. The first of these meetings was held at New Lisbon in the following year, and proved to be both pleasant and profitable, and they still continue with a like result.

      The action taken at Austintown may be regarded as the formal separation from the Baptists; up to this time the Association was a Baptist body, and the members of it Baptists, although many of their peculiarities had been abandoned in consequence of a better understanding of the Scriptures. Those Baptists who had embraced the new views, together with the new converts made, were called Campbellites, and by many Scottites; but after the dissolution of the Association which was really brought about by the efforts of Scott, they were called Disciples.

      The wisdom of the course pursued in this has been questioned by some since then; who thought, no doubt, that it would have been better to have remained with the Baptists, and leavened that body with their views; but Scott ever regarded it as the wisest course, and assumed whatever responsibility there might be in the matter, claiming that it was at [217] his instance that John Henry introduced the motion, and that his own personal appeal to Alexander Campbell, prevented him from using his influence in opposition to the action, which really made those who had accepted the primitive gospel a new and distinct people.

      This was one of the marked eras in Elder Scott's career. His first step was to fix upon the divinity of Christ as the central and controlling thought of the New Testament, and which he afterwards demonstrated and illustrated with a strength and felicity that has never been surpassed. Next, he arranged the elements of the gospel in the simple and natural order of Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Remission of Sins, and Gift of the Holy Spirit; then made Baptism the practical acceptance of the gospel on the part of the penitent believer, as well as the pledge or assurance of pardon on the part of its author; and, in the course pursued at the last meeting of the Association at Austintown, freed the Disciples from the last vestige of human authority, and placed them under Christ, with his Word for their guide. In this we see one of the most remarkable traits of Elder Scott's character, namely, his inflexibility of purpose. In minor matters affecting only some passing interest he often seemed wavering and weak of purpose, but in matters involving the truth of God, the salvation of the sinner, or the perfection of the saint, he knew not what it was to yield his convictions, but pressed on to his purpose with a determination and perseverance that has seldom been equaled. One who knew him well--the amiable Challen--thus notices this peculiarity, to which the attention of the reader has [218] been directed: "In some things he was a perfect child, and again there was a loftiness and grandeur about him that struck the beholder with awe. He had, with a high-strung nervous temperament, as much moral courage as any man I have ever known; and, therefore, he often did what other men would not dare to do, and was rarely defeated or successfully baffled in his purposes. He had in him the spirit of the ancient prophets, and felt as if he had some great work to do in these latter times." The assaults of Luther upon the errors and corruptions of Rome were not more startling and bold than those of Scott upon the errors and evils of modern sectarianism; the opposition aroused was as wide-spread in the latter case as the former, and a few centuries earlier would have exposed him to no less danger than that which threatened the German monk. As it was, there was much with which he had to contend, the most unscrupulous misrepresentation and distortion both of his preaching and character. Communities were warned against him by ministers of all denominations, as if he were spreading the most destructive heresies, or madly endeavoring to destroy all faith in God and his Word, while really he was making Christ and him crucified his theme, and presenting to dying men not a dry, mouldy, and unsatisfying theology, but the bread of life as offered to men in the very terms used by those whom the Savior commissioned to bear his glad gospel to the world. This opposition, however, awakened no anger in his breast; it only served to increase his zeal and influence, and fire his tongue with a warmer and diviner eloquence. He remembered how the Master had [219] suffered at the hands of those whom he came to enlighten and bless, and he felt sorrow and shed tears over those who were treating the servant as others had treated his Lord.

      Never was man more thoroughly absorbed in his work than he at this period of his history; stimulated alike by wonderful success as well as by bitter and unrelenting opposition, he at times seemed almost transported to the heaven to which he was pointing his hearers. Not long since, the writer met an able and useful preacher, and asked him if he had ever seen and heard Walter Scott; with a shade of sadness in his manner, he said, "Yes." "What did you think of him?" I pursued. "Ah," said he, "for one hour and a half, I was nearer heaven than ever before or since."

      R. R. Sloan, who was present at the time, relates the following: "Walter Scott, about 1829 or 1830, paid a visit to Western Virginia, and on one occasion preached in the woods between Wellsburg and Wheeling; the audience was large, the preacher more than usually animated by his theme; near him sat Alexander Campbell, usually calm and self-contained, but in this case more fully under the influence of the preacher's eloquence than he had ever been of mortal man before; his eye flashed and his face glowed as he heard him unfold the glories of redemption, the dignity and compassion of its author, and the honors that awaited those who would submit to his reign, until so filled with rapture and an admiration, not of the speaker, but of him who was his theme, that he cried out, 'Glory to God in the highest,' as the only way to relieve the intensity of his joy." Mr. [220] Campbell was naturally not very demonstrative, and this was perhaps the only case in which his feelings so completely carried him away.

      Early in the next year, 1831, Elder Scott returned to Pittsburg, and, soon after his arrival there, death, for the first time, entered into his family and bore one of the little flock--now five in number--away. This was his fourth child, and second daughter, Sarah Jane, then in her fourth year; her loss was a great grief to her father, who was passionately fond of his children; but he was consoled by the thought that she was in the keeping of him who, when on earth, loved and blessed little children, and, though now seated on his throne of glory, loves them still.

      In May of the same year he visited Cincinnati for the first time, and remained there three months, preaching to the congregation which up to that time had enjoyed the labors of Elder James Challen, under whose ministry it had greatly prospered. Although at this time in the prime of life, Elder Scott, in consequence of his severe and unremitting labors for the previous four years, almost broke down, being greatly afflicted with dyspepsia and its attendant, great depression of spirits. His pulpit efforts during his stay were very unequal and generally far below those with which he had stirred the multitudes all over the Western Reserve; the fame of these efforts had preceded him, and he failed in a great measure to meet the expectations which had been awakened; he lacked, too, the inspiration of the presence and songs of the hundreds of converts that were often at his meetings on the Reserve, and audiences which often swelled to thousands, and more than all; the success [221] which heretofore had attended his labors. Sometimes, when but few were present, he would give a discourse of startling and overwhelming power. This would lead those who were present to use such efforts as would bring the elite of the city to hear him, but, on such occasions, greatly to the mortification of those who had exerted themselves to get such an audience together, he would disappoint expectation, or wholly fail to do justice to himself or subject. Strange, however, as it may seem, these failures did not seem greatly to affect him. On one occasion an Elder of the church said to him, "How is it, Bro. Scott, that when we don't expect any thing from you, you go beyond yourself, but when our hopes and wishes are the highest, you fall so low?" "Oh," said he, "I don't know how it happens, but I feel that if I can not get it out of me at times, it is in me nevertheless." And this perfect consciousness of power seemed to satisfy him.

      Elder Challen was then engaged in preaching in Louisiana, and up to that time had never met with his successor in the pulpit, and he was deeply affected on receiving from him an urgent and affectionate letter desiring him to return. "The flock," said he, "are sighing and pining for their former shepherd; you must come back, you alone can satisfy them. I can not and will not consent to remain with them as long as there is any hope or prospect of your return." Such courteous, Christian, and unselfish treatment won Challen back, and gained for Scott a firm and life-long friend.

      The evidences of power which he now and then gave were not without results, and in the following [222] year he removed to Cincinnati, and remained there and in its immediate neighborhood for about fourteen years, and amply confirmed all the hopes that his most ardent friends had indulged with regard to him.

      Being aware that the state of his health rendered his public ministrations quite variable, he determined to speak to the public through the medium of the press, knowing that in this way he could render permanently useful the great thoughts by which his heart was stirred, but which, when before an audience he could not always utter. Accordingly, he began the publication of his renowned monthly, the "Evangelist," in which was discussed and settled many of the religious questions of the day; many of the essays which appeared in its pages were republished, not only in this country, but also in the old world; and few writers have had the satisfaction of seeing their views so widely spread and so generally adopted as did he.

      Soon after the issue of his first number of the "Evangelist," the celebrated socialist, philosopher, and skeptic, Robert Dale Owen, visited Cincinnati, and delivered two lectures, both of which Mr. Scott attended, and though he had but a few hours in which to prepare a reply to the carefully prepared addresses of Mr. Owen; he succeeded not only in rebuking his scoffs and sneers, but in a most masterly manner turned the tables upon him by directing his own arguments against himself. Mr. Campbell, but a short time before, had met Mr. Owen, Sen., in public debate, with signal success, and Mr. Scott now met the son, not, it is true, in a long-contested battle like that to which we have alluded, but it was, [223] nevertheless, a short and brilliant passage at arms, in which the Knight of Unbelief and Unreason went down at the first onset under the well-directed lance of the Red Cross Knight.

      We give Mr. Scott's account of this meeting, which is as remarkable for the fair statement of his antagonist's views, as for the vigor of his own exposure of their fallacy. "On the evenings of the 5th and 6th of March, Robert Dale Owen read two discourses in the Court-house of this place to crowded audiences. The first on 'Free Inquiry,' the last on 'Religion.' We attended in the hope of hearing the great objects of human research, nature, society, and religion, set forth, separated, and defined after a manner suited to the title of his discourses; in this, however, we were completely disappointed. The second lecture was, in our estimation, at least, devoid of dignity, and consisted chiefly in vulgar raillery concerning those whom he styled the 'Reverend Clergy.' No line of demarkation at all was drawn between simple Christianity, as it came from the hands of its author, and the enormous corruptions to which, in the lapse of time, it has been subjected. Paul and the Pope were equally the objects of his rebuke, innuendo, and scorn. The excellent Watson, of Landaff, says, 'That a philosopher or inquirer after truth forfeits all reputation with me when he introduces railing for reason, and vulgar and illiberal sarcasm in the room of argument.' As it was the season of 'Free Inquiry,' we could not help standing up, and reading a few things relative to the logic of some points of his first discourse; we intended to give a review of the whole of it, but lacked both time and opportunity of [224] doing so, the manuscript being left but a few hours in our hands. We read as follows: Mr. Owen, I was present last evening when you spoke on 'Free Enquiry.' I had then some observations in preparation, and should, perhaps, have spoken them, but such was the bustle excited by the draft you made on the national and religious feelings of certain individuals present that I deemed it most proper to be silent; I thought I perceived, too, an unwillingness among the 'Free Inquirers' to admit of free inquiry into the merits of what had been spoken. After you had finished, I took the liberty to introduce myself, and requested the favor of your manuscript; you very politely acceded to my wishes and gave me the discourse. I have written strictures on certain portions of it, which with your liberty and that of the audience, I shall now read. 'All inquiry, whether fettered or free, must terminate ultimately on Nature, Society, and Religion; but who are the great masters here? who have inquired most freely into Nature, into Society, into Religion? who are the great fathers of the philosophy of Matter--the philosophy of Mind--the philosophy of Religion? were they men who despised Religion, who sneered at the believer? Mr. Owen would have us believe there is virtue in great names. I ask again, then, who are those that have inquired most freely into Nature, Society, and Religion? Natural science claims as her peculiar ornaments, Sir Isaac Newton, Ferguson, Bacon, Boyle; Moral Science is adorned, by the talents of Locke, Berkley, Reid, Stewart, and Brown; Religious Science chimes the homage of all these, [225] and more, too: Milton, Young, Cowper, Spencer, Johnson, Rush, Berkley, Mead, and Warburton.'

      "The following, in the conclusion of Mr. Owen's speech, was peculiarly emphasized: 'And be one thing remembered, when men talk of the heartlessness and demoralizing tendency of skepticism; when they cry out about the licentious influence of unbelief; when, in sweeping phrase, they denounce all heretics as profligates, mischief-makers, disorganizers, and wicked men; then, then, in the hour of assault and abuse, be it boldly said, be it faithfully remembered, that Jefferson, that Franklin, that Adams, that Monroe, that Washington, were all skeptics, heretics, infidels, whichever of the meaningless terms Orthodoxy may be pleased to select; and that when honest dissenters from popular creeds are thus denounced as the children of the Devil, Americans, the Revolutionary Fathers! her best, her bravest, her noblest, are expressly included in the denunciation!' It is a poor rule that does not work both ways. In humble imitation of the rhetoric of Mr. Owen, then, allow me, of your clemency, my fellow-countrymen, to say, Be one thing remembered, when men, as he does, talk of the heartlessness and demoralizing tendency of religion; when they cry out about the licentious influence of belief; when, in sweeping phrase, they denounce all such as profligates, mischief-makers, enemies to free inquiry, and wicked men! then, then, in the hour of assault and abuse, be it boldly said, be it faithfully remembered, that Newton, that Locke, that Boyle, that Bacon, were believers, Christians, orthodox priests, or whatever of the meaningless terms skepticism may be pleased to select; and that when honest [226] dissenters from the skeptic's creed are thus denounced as the children of the devil; that is, the skeptic's devil, Americans, the fathers of mankind, the fathers of all true light in Nature, Society, and Religion, are expressly included in the denunciation.

      "Mr. Owen observes, 'That simple argument is the means, and the only means, which one man ever ought or ever need to use, to correct the sentiments of another. Truth disclaims every support.'

      "Now, Mr. Owen's discourse is entitled 'FREE INQUIRY;' I would ask, then, what simple argument calculated to correct the sentiment of a believer who knows any thing of proof and proposition; what argument related even to his own proposition is there in his dastardly appeals from all manhood to manlessness; from the great and honorable virtues of reverence and veneration for the Maker of the heavens and earth, to a blind, bending, beggarly oblation of all reason and common sense, which he would insinuate is the indissoluble concomitant of religious belief? To be led by some one is to man perfectly natural, and skeptics know it, too; it is a part of the constitution of things under which man makes his entrance upon the stage of time. We first have fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, relatives, friends, acquaintances, fellow-citizens, and fellow-men; then come our school teachers, also, for skepticism has led some of them as far away from his works, as it has led others from his word; then come the remoter and higher relations of general government for the full-grown man; so that there is nothing in our natural and social constitution of things to render the idea of a guide or instructor abhorrent to [227] us. It never startled me to hear of instructors in Nature, Society, and Religion. Nature led me strongly to desire such aids, and I sought them greedily; but, mark me, fellow-citizens, the man who solicits my attention now; the personage to whom I shall now give my hand, or head, or heart, for tutorage, must be of grave consideration; not a boy, not a raw youth--a true man, who, by his labors in nature, society, and religion, has demonstrated to my fellow-men, and to me, that he understands himself what he affects to teach others; not one neither, who shall anticipate with a sneer my 'free inquiries' into any of these high matters; not one who shall take for granted what he ought first to prove, and follow me, like the man with the birch in his hand, brandishing over my unenlightened reason the terrors of a contemptible petitio principio.b Listen to what follows:

      "'And it [inquiry] must be fearless. The disciple of free inquiry works not out his salvation in fear and trembling, but in boldness and self possession. Fear may be the friend of orthodoxy; it is the foe of truth. Before the throne of heaven we may kneel, our eyes closed and our reason prostrated; before the throne of truth we must stand erect, our eyes open and our judgments awake. As believers, we may tremble and submit; as inquirers, we must arise and examine!'

      "What a worse than trembling, what a painful and oppressive apprehension is communicated here of that religion whose very first essay on the heart is to fill it with that love of God and man which casteth out fear! truly the interpretation is one of a thousand! And so Locke, and Bacon, and Newton, did but bow [228] to God in the absence of light, and reason, and boldness, and self-possession, and all other virtues which attach to man! The apostle censuring some of the believers for entertaining too little respect for their fellows, and for a confident and, perhaps, pharisaical feeling (for believers, like unbelievers, can be pharisaical), tells such to work out their salvation with reverence and trembling; gentlemen, ought we not to reverence the rights and characters of one another; ought we untremblingly to arrogate superiority over our fellow-men and despise them? I think not; surely you think not; and the Bible says not! and the weak and unworthy attitude which is here given to the apostle's words only demonstrate how nearly a prejudiced heart is associated with an unbelieving head.

      "Mr. Owen says: 'It boots not curiously to inquire when and how man first sprung into being, or why he is destined thus faithfully, and gradually, to emerge from the night of error and ignorance; enough that he now exists.' Enough, indeed. What means this term enough? Enough of inquiry! This is strange, 'tis passing strange to me! Does Mr. Owen recollect Mount Athos; does he recollect the anecdote of Xerxes and the Hellespont; the story of Canute, his courtiers, and the ocean? if he does, then let him also remember, that the mind is a Mount Athos, which no despot can hew down and cast into the sea, be it ever so audacious; it is a Hellespont, whose waves may be scourged, but can not be shackled or confined by chains; it is an ocean, whose tides rise irresistibly, whether the sovereign set his chair on the beach or not!' Christianity knows [229] nothing about 'enough' of inquiry. In this life man presents himself as a centre-point to all the relations of the past and future, and his very life and happiness lies in the contemplation of things that are behind and things that are before; the present is with him a mere stepping-stone from the first to the last, and from the last to the first, of these regions of thought. He likes not always to look before, he likes not always to look behind; but to both of them he will look, and to dare to cut him off from either is to do violence to human nature; it is to make a schism in the mind, and, in folly, can be equaled only by him who, by dividing and subdividing a board, would hope, finally, to obtain a rectangular figure, with one side, with one surface, What! prevent man from inquiring into the past with a reference to his origin? as well might you forbid him to look ahead to his final destiny. 'It boots not curiously to inquire when and how man first sprang into being, etc.;' be it so; but as well may Mr. Owen tell the lovers of science, 'It boots not curiously to inquire into the sources of the Nile; and with as fair prospects may he hope to see the time when men will sit down and take no care for the future, as to hope the time is at hand when men will forget to inquire, and to believe, and to rejoice, in the past as respects their own origin.'"^c

      He then carried the war into the enemy's country, by showing what skepticism had done for the world in ancient times by filling it with false gods, and pointed to its results in infidel France, when the guillotine did its fearful work, until the gutters of Paris ran red with the blood of its best citizens. He vindicated Christianity from the charge of persecution, [230] showing that the religion of Jesus taught its followers to suffer, and not inflict suffering--to be martyrs, and not to make them--and that it was free from the blood of all men.

      After the discussion, Mr. Scott addressed a letter to Mr. Owen, asking the question, "Are not the maxims of our blessed Redeemer wholly at variance with the absurdities and abuses which you rebuked in your lectures?" To which he made the manly and honest reply: "To your question regarding Jesus' approval of priestly encroachment, I answer, without hesitation, that I conceive him to be as much opposed to it as any Reformer of the present day;" in substance, admitting that it was not Christianity, but its abuses that he was attacking; and to these abuses Mr. Scott was not less hostile than himself. [231]

[LEWS 211-231]