"We were detained a day in the city for want of a boat,
but now the steamers lay panting along the shore, like so
many racers, each eager to make the first descent to Louisville,
Natchez, or New Orleans. We boarded the 'Planter,'
a steamer of the lowest rate in point of size, but possessing
the best accommodations for deck and cabin passengers.
After a momentary hesitation I entered my name for
Wellsburgh, berth No. 12. My indecision rose from a sudden
but transient recollection of my late long debility, during
which I had contracted the most invincible love of home.
Bro. Bryant rallied me a little, and I yielded to what I was
ashamed to resist.
"Next day the bell rang the signal for departure, and
the deck and cabin were crowded instanter. In the cabin
the passengers walked stately, or talked importantly, while
some hung on the back of their chairs; and, like birds, when
boys approach their haunts, couched their heads, and cast
frequent and speculative glances at their fellows, hoping to
descry in their faces, dresses, walk, or talk, indications of
their natural, social, or religious importance and character.
"There are many charms, and sometimes much excellent
fellowship, in a good supper. The captain of the 'Planter'
served us with one of the very best; and soon exalted all
minds to the conversational pitch. If silence or gloom had
hitherto pervaded the cabin, it might have been owing to a
fact of which I was not then aware, namely, that there were
actually no fewer than five ministers
present! all alike strangers
to each other, and to the rest of the company generally.
I, like others, perhaps, thought myself unknown except by
Bro. Bryant; but in this I was mistaken; I was recognized
immediately, and spoken to by all as if I had previously
enjoyed the honor of their acquaintance. Some were citizens
of Cincinnati, some relations to brethren in the West, and
some were actually of the brethren.
"One of the ministers was a Presbyterian, who, as he
afterward informed me, had been a physician, but had become
a teacher of religion, from sentiments of high regard
for the interests of Christianity; his name was Mr. Gridly,
at that time an agent of the Tract Society. Mr. Gridly was
too sincerely inspired with the importance of religion in [132]
general, and of his own mission in particular, not to let his high
calling be speedily understood.
"Another of our ministers was a Mr. Smeed, an Episcopalian,
an assistant to the Rector of Christ's Church, New
York. Possessed of the most pleasing exterior, Mr. Smeed
discovered the greatest candor and ingenuousness of mind,
speaking freely of every thing which related to the truth
of revealed religion, and doing the greatest honor to every
argument of those whose views led them to differ from him
in any matter in Christianity. Dr. M-----e of L-----n had,
during his visit to that city, convinced him that immersion
alone was baptism; and before he left the 'Planter' his
ingenuousness and love of truth led him to afford me ample
opportunity of laying before him the doctrine of Scripture,
concerning the Holy Spirit. He admitted the adequacy of
the divine testimony alone to produce faith in all who read
the Scriptures with proper motives; and said, he thought he
never would again direct sinners to wait upon special operations
so long as he lived. I earnestly entreated him to
announce the gospel in the style and language of the apostles,
and to administer it to believers accordingly.
"Mr. Ross had been a Universalist, and was, as he jocularly
expressed it, a sprig of the college. He had in his
youth been thoroughly drilled in the elements of the learned
languages, but his talents were allowed to languish, and his
education was incomplete. He heard my discourses and reasoning
on the ancient gospel with unfeigned pleasure, and,
in the presence of all the passengers, expressed his gratitude
to God for being permitted that day to hear announced and
defended a thing of which he had been told so many wonderful
but erroneous stories. Mr. Ross finally admitted the
views of the Reformers, and declared he never could forget
the things which had, during the voyage up the river, been
submitted to his consideration.
"Our fourth minister belonged to the Dutch Reformed.
He was a German by birth, and had not been more than
one year in the United States. He was certainly a pious
man, but he spoke English very indifferently; for want of
words, he could not express himself in such a manner as to
render his conversation agreeable either to himself or others. [133]
He parted with the company in tears, and wished us individually
the divine blessing.
"Here we were then, five of us cooped up with nearly
thirty more, all as impatient and undoubting on the subject
of religion, perhaps, as ourselves! What was to be
done? What was to be expected? Any thing but war!
Nothing but war. Being somewhat indisposed I had hoped
my debilitated and sunken frame would have been permitted
to indulge in ease during our three or four days journey up
the river, but no, 'war in the wigwam;' there is no rest here.
"It is singular to contemplate how much the prejudices
of thousands have been touched and stirred up by the restoration
of the Baptism of Remission, and the Scripture account
of the Holy Spirit. Here was a whole cabin full of
men, ignorant, entirely ignorant, of the character of the
Reformers who plead for the original gospel, and of every
circumstance relative to its re-appearance in society; yet,
perhaps, there was not a single individual among them wholly
unacquainted with the points of dispute between us, and all
other parties on the field.
"We were soon invited to hostilities; Mr. Gridly was
neither ashamed of his religion, nor aware of the indefensibility
of some of his sentiments, as a minister of the Presbyterian
body. Baptism, therefore, baptism, that bone of
contention, between those who immerse and those who do
any thing else was soon upon the carpet. But Professor
Stuart has settled this question in regard to Presbyterians;
Mr. Gridly, therefore, was unable to stand a single minute
before his learned brother's criticism, the Andover Professor.
Indeed, Mr. Gridly did not seem aware of the mischief
which Mr. Stuart had done to the sprinkling cause,
but he was made to feel it severely; for a regular Baptist,
who made one of our number, urged upon him, with much
gravity, both the truth and potency of the Professor's criticism.
One of the Plinys says, that true glory consists in
doing things worthy of being written, of writing things
worthy of being read, and leaving the world (ourselves)
the better of having lived in it.a The skirmish which took
place this evening, however, seemed only to whet up the
courage of those engaged in it for more and better defined [134]
contention. Whether we, this night, dreamed of victory and
triumph, I know not; but sure it is that a more eager discussion
of religious matters than was lighted up aboard the
'Planter' next morning I never witnessed. It is pleasing
to add, however, that never were religious men better pleased
with each other, or apparently more solicitous to honor the
sentiments and sincerity of each other, than the passengers
aboard the 'Planter.'
"Mr. Gridly is a very accomplished man, and, as he informed
us, is at present engaged as an agent of the Tract
Society; I told him that on condition he would admit
certain
premises, I felt perfectly willing to take the opposite
of a proposition which he had asserted and assumed in his
conversation with a gentlemen who sat by us. I continued
to observe, that he had intimated, that 'faith came by a
special internal operation of the Holy Spirit.' Now, this
was precisely what I denied, and I should be very happy to
hear him on the affirmative, on condition that we should
first define the subject of the proposition, namely, faith;
and, secondly, that the Holy Scriptures should be taken as
all authority, and as the only authority, in the case. Mr.
Gridly agreed to these two preliminaries, and the word was
submitted for definition. Being requested to speak first,
I supplied, of course, the apostolical exposition of faith,
found in the
11th
of the Hebrews,
accompanied with a sufficient
number of suitable illustrations drawn from the same
chapter. Mr. Gridly then proceeded, and after an incomprehensible
definition of faith, not in the words of Scripture,
but in his own words, unaccompanied by one single illustration.
I replied, and appealed to the numerous auditors,
whether Mr. Gridly had not departed wholly from the premises,
'that the Scriptures should be exclusive authority in the
case?' I went for the very words of Scripture in the matter
of definition, and, agreeably, had submitted the apostle's
account of faith in the words of the apostle. The question
now was, whether this definition could be received as unexceptionable.
Mr. Gridly assented to it as unexceptionable,
and the proposition in form came forthwith upon the carpet;
the several ministers seemed to draw nearer and closer, and
Mr. Gridly stated the proposition to be discussed, namely, [135]
'That special operations of the Holy Spirit are necessary to
faith.'
"Mr. Gridly then adduced as argument for the affirmative,
the words of the Lord Jesus, namely, 'When he, the Holy
Spirit, is come, he will convince the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment.' This was conceived to be in
point. But in answer, it was replied, that although the
Spirit was to convince the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment, it was not asserted in
the verse
that
he should convince them of faith, or that he should give
them faith. On the contrary, be was to convince them of
sin, because they had no faith. He shall convince them
of sin, 'because,' said the Lord, 'they believe not on me.'
Moreover, if the Holy Spirit is to give us faith, and convince
us of sin because we have it not, then religion is
founded in cruelty and absurdity; for, how could he convince
me of sin in having no faith if it were his own indefeasible
office by internal uncontrollable operations to bestow
upon me this grace? As well might he assume to
convince a man of sin, in not seeing when he was born
blind! Neither reason nor the Scripture adduced favored
the affirmation that special operations are necessary to faith.
"It was then proposed, as a second authority, that
Stephen said to those who condemned him, 'Ye do always
resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye.' This,
it was conceived, very much countenanced special operations.
"In reply: It is to be admitted that they and their
fathers were guilty of the same sin; that is, they both
resisted the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit spoke to their
fathers by the prophets, and to them by the apostles; they
and their fathers, then, had resisted him. But where was
he when they resisted him? Was he in them and their
fathers, or in the apostles and prophets? In the apostles
and prophets without doubt! The spirit of the devil was
in them and their fathers, and led them to offer despite to
the Spirit of God who wrought before them, for their salvation,
all mighty signs, and wonders, and powers, and miracles,
and glorious works!
"Before the examination of this part of Mr. Gridly's
argument was finished, Mr. Smeed, the Episcopalian clergyman,
a gentleman alike distinguished for personal beauty [136]
and ingenuousness of mind, supplied Mr. Gridly with another
Scripture, viz.: 'No man can say that Jesus is the
Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.'
"In reply: It was asked, whether the operations, by
which we were enabled to believe in Jesus and say he is
the Lord, were internal or external? I asserted they were
external in signs, and miracles; and adduced, as proof, the
case of John the Baptist, who said he knew him not; but
received the external sign of the Spirit's descent as that
by which he should know him. 'And I saw and bare witness,'
said John, 'that this is the Son of God.' The case
of the twelve apostles, the people on Pentecost, the Samaritans,
and others, were then brought forward as instances of
the same nature, and to the same point.
"Here dinner was announced, and, everyone starting to
his feet, the Universalist clergyman, Mr. Ross, a person
of great respectability, and known to several gentleman in
the cabin, availed himself of the occasion and publicly
thanked God he had been favored with an opportunity of
hearing stated and defended the sentiments for which I
pleaded namely, that 'faith cometh by hearing and not by
special operations of the Spirit.' The above gentleman was
finally convinced of the truth of the ancient gospel, and
expressed a serious regret that our present accidental, but
interesting, interview, was to suffer interruption by an unavoidable
separation.
"Mr. Gridly confessed that his opponent had managed
the argument with great coolness, but could not help thinking
that his course owed more to his ingenuity and subtlety
of reason than the Holy Scriptures.
"His opponent admired Mr. Gridly's manner of escaping
from the horns of the dilemma, between which he had
been thrown. Much had been adduced to show that faith
came by hearing, but nothing satisfactory that it came in the
manner asserted by Mr. Gridly.
"Mr. Ross, the Universalist minister, is a gentleman
of great urbanity, and has received a good education. He
listened to an explication of our sentiments with great apparent
satisfaction, and seemed much to admire the ancient
gospel. [137]
"For the entertainment of the company during the afternoon,
it was agreed to by the ministers, that each of them
should speak for fifteen minutes on some select subject, but
not in the way of replication to any thing that had been
spoken before, or that might be said in the course of the
entertainment.
"Mr. Smeed, the Episcopalian, being requested to commence,
declined, as being the youngest; and Mr. Ross to
a like solicitation, replied in the negative, and apologized
as being the oldest; being neither so young as Mr. Smeed,
nor so old as Mr. Ross, I was left without excuse, and, at
the earnest request of the company, opened the entertainment
by a discourse on the 'Unity and variety of the Gospel;'
Mr. Gridly followed on 'True Repentance;' Mr. Smeed
selected for a theme, 'The Nature of Genuine and Scriptural
Liberality;' and Mr. Ross concluded on 'The Necessity of
Immediately Preparing for that State which is to succeed the
Present.'
"Next night it was agreed that each should speak for an
indefinite time on any subject he pleased to select. Mr. Gridly
spoke first, and chose for a topic, 'Regeneration.' I spoke
next, and selected for a theme, 'The Literal and Figurative
Representations which are given of the Gospel in the New
Testament.'
"In the course of this speech it was shown that the
gospel in principle is faith; it is repentance, baptism, remission
of sins, the Holy Spirit, eternal life. These privileges
and principles, it was vouched, constituted the
gospel literally. The question was then asked, 'What is
the gospel figuratively?' In answer, it was stated that
the gospel figuratively is many a thing: it is a new birth,
a burial, a resurrection, a death, an ingrafting, a marriage;
but it is a most important fact, in relation to figures, however,
that they are not intended to add to, or diminish
from, the literal sense of the gospel; for whether metaphorized
by a birth, a marriage, or a death, the gospel, literally,
is ever the same in principle; in practice, in privilege, and
in spirit, it is still the same. A metaphor, like a ray of light,
falling on the face of a clock, and discovering the hour of
day without disturbing the index, sheds a lustre on the [138]
thing metaphorized, and gives to it a vivacity and sprightliness
not its own; but it disturbs not its parts; it interferes
not with its structure.
"Why, then, do men fail to be intelligible and perspicuous
when they discourse on the figures and metaphors
employed to give lustre and sprightliness to the gospel, and
to parts and points in the gospel?
The reason is, that figure is only to be explained by
fact, and the metaphorical by the literal; a person ignorant
of the fact must be ignorant of the figure, and no man can
explain the metaphorical who does not first understand the
literal. Why have we so many incoherent and absurd theories
of regeneration? I answer, simply because the authors
of them are ignorant of the literal gospel, and unfortunately
imagine that it is one thing in fact, and another in
figure. But, although the gospel were held up in a million
of different figures, it would literally still be the same; it
would still be faith in principle, reformation in practice, love
in sentiment, pardon, the Spirit, and life eternal.
"Mr. Smeed proposed the three following propositions,
and spoke on them with great force and beauty.
"1st. God loves all men.
"2d. He has provided salvation for all men.
"3d. He has put the means of obtaining this salvation
equally within the power of all men who have the gospel.
"Mr. Smeed possesses a fine exterior, and many personal
accomplishments, nor is he less distinguished for the amiable
and shining qualities of the mind; but I am sorry to
say, that his beautiful and forcible speech ended with the
common error that, over and above the divine testimony,
spiritual operations are necessary to belief.
"In subsequent conversation, however, this gentleman
afforded me ample opportunity of pointing out this error,
and of laying before him the ancient gospel, and particularly
that point in it which relates to the Spirit. He heard
me with much patience; understood me perfectly, that the
Spirit was promised not to sinners, but to the saints; saw
where Episcopalians and Presbyterians were one, and that
though Mr. Gridly and he had spoken on different topics, [139]
and were known by different party names, yet they came
out at the same point at last, namely, that 'the Spirit is
necessary to faith.'
"Next morning another sortie from both camps brought
Mr. Gridly and myself once more upon the carpet, and afforded
me a final opportunity of bringing the gospel before
the whole company.
"Never did I sit in company with men of greater decency
of behavior; every one seemed to strive with all the rest to
make himself agreeable. The captain of the 'Planter' is a
sensible, kind, quiet, attentive man; and when we came to
part, each took down, in his pocketbook, the names of all
the others, that he might at least remember those in whose
company he had tasted so many of those pleasing attentions
which render life agreeable.
"As we ascended the river the ice increased, and the
paddles had to be cleared from the masses of it, which now
greatly impeded our progress; this difficulty obviated, we
proceeded upward, and arrived at Wheeling a little after
dusk. The boat was unable to proceed to Pittsburg, and
of consequence, all parted, perhaps never to meet again.
"This evening, we met with the brethren in Wheeling,
who were as much surprised at our appearance as I was
delighted with their company. Next morning we took our
leave of them, and proceeded, Bro. Bryant and myself, towards
Wellsburg. Praised be the name of the Lord."b
[140]
HE social qualities of Elder Scott were of a high
order; he possessed in a remarkable degree the
power of adapting himself to any company into which
he might be thrown. Many persons need the stimulus
of an audience to call forth their best efforts; but he
was often as happy and fascinating in his presentation
of truth in the presence of a few as when before
a large and delighted auditory. His ready wit, and
flow of anecdote, his large and intimate acquaintance
with science and literature, rendered him the center of
every circle, no matter how accomplished and refined
that circle might be. His manners were those of an
accomplished gentleman, and the brilliancy of his conversation,
and the kindness of his heart, always made
him a favorite, and, in not a few instances, gained him
the lasting friendship of those who differed from him
when they met; but were very near his way of thinking
when they parted.