MINENT as Scott was as a preacher, his ideal was far above his own best endeavors. Indeed, there were times when he felt himself to be deficient in the elements which are necessary to a successful oral exhibition of the truth; for, while others were admiring his power in the pulpit, and wishing that a portion of that power were their own, he thought so highly of what a preacher should be, and so humbly of his own efforts, as to write of himself: "I am at present in this large city, Cincinnati, and not being endowed by nature with those high gifts of reasoning and eloquence, which are so necessary to please and instruct, I have resolved, by the help of the Lord, to avail myself of the advantages afforded by the press for advocating and disseminating the principles and science of eternal life."^a

      Any thing like failures in the pulpit he dreaded; and when under the influence of that feeling would open his discourse as follows: "Brethren and fellow-citizens: In all cases of public speaking, in the forum, at the bar, or in the pulpit, what is attempted should be done with power. Weakness is nearly allied to failure which admits not of apology, for audiences do not assemble to be tortured, wearied, disappointed, but instructed, persuaded, delighted. You are present this evening to hear of Jesus and the great redemption, and I to address you on these solemn and delightful themes. Tremblingly alive to the responsibilities of the occasion, I may be pardoned if, in view of them, I exclaim with the holy apostle, 'Who is sufficient for these things?' David says, 'When I [154] called upon thee, thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.' If distrust in my own powers impels me to place a higher reliance on God, my humility shall not hurt me. Pray for me, then, dear audience, that he who faints not, neither is weary, may strengthen me with all might by his Spirit in the inner man; that I may, with all saints, comprehend the heights and depths, and length and breadth, and know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge; that I may be filled with all the fullness of God; that I may open my mouth as I ought; and to him be eternal praises."

      At other times, while earnestly desiring to profit his hearers, he would neither conceal from them, nor himself, the high standard which they should erect, and which he should aim to reach; making the ordeal most difficult by arousing a critical spirit on the part of the audience, and yet stimulating his own powers by the magnitude of the work before him, an instance of which we subjoin:

      "To meet all the conditions of a fortunate address is exceedingly difficult. The speaker must think correctly and extensively; he must employ words that precisely sift out the sense; he must reason, for a speech without reasoning is like a song without a theme; he must illustrate, and, withal, adorn; but he must not be uncharitable, nor severe, nor sophistical, nor profuse, nor gaudy in the use of the graces and charms of his rhetoric; for good taste, the maxims and usages, the manners and customs of educated society forbid it. He must, therefore, steer clear of these unsocial annoyances, unless he would incur, unnecessarily, public odium, and make himself the target of severe, but not unmerited, censure. [155]

      "The theme on which he speaks must be a worthy one, deserving the public ear; and in a manner most worthy too, must he meet it. He must clearly discriminate between his subject, as the essential, and its surroundings, which are incidental; and fully develop and fairly discuss, to the improvement and delight of his audience, its class and characteristics, its parts and relations, its uses and abuses. May he, who spake as never man spake, anoint at once with his grace and power our lips and heart; and to him shall be all the praise of a successful address."^b

      And yet the natural bent of his genius was in the direction of oratory, and in his most impassioned, and almost inspired moments, he would reach a beauty, dignity, and warmth of expression, which never visited him in his cooler efforts in his study with the pen. To the humble views, however, which he entertained of himself, we are indebted for some most admirable productions, which shall long endure, distinguished by clear analysis, felicity of expression, tenderness of sentiment, and close, vigorous thought.

      But, to return. His ideal of a preacher was, one who made Christ ever the central thought and inspiration of his discourse; one who dealt not so much with the doctrines of Christ as with Christ himself; one whose chief business was to point sinners to the Lamb of God. And yet it is doubtful, whether any uninspired man ever came nearer this model than he himself unconsciously did. Christ, his nature, offices, and work, were his chief--his almost constant themes--the alpha and omega, the all in all.

      He was as far removed as possible from what we understand by a sensational preacher; his great reliance was upon the gospel as the power of God unto [156] the salvation of every one that believed it; and to get that gospel clearly before the minds of his hearers, and Christ the great theme of that gospel, as the one altogether lovely, into their hearts, was the end and aim of every discourse. He had studied the holy Scriptures until he had made even their very language his own; the teachings of the Savior he regarded as the good seed of the kingdom, and he sought to sow that in every heart. When he rose before an audience it was to deliver the message which Christ had given in charge to his apostles; and he was careful to note how they had discharged their mission, and aimed to imitate them. Of no preacher, of modern times, could it be said with greater truth, "he preached Christ unto them." He, always, first appealed to the judgment, and when he thought enough had been said to produce conviction, he used, with great power, the motives of the gospel to induce to action; the promises, to allure; the threatenings, to alarm; and, with a pathos rising from a realizing sense of the danger of his hearers, he would, often with tears, beseech them to accept the offered grace.

      He was accustomed to go to Christ rather than to the apostles--to draw from the Evangelists rather than the Epistles. He was, emphatically, a gospel preacher, one who entertained a very special regard for the writings of the Evangelists. He says of them: "These form the ground-work of our faith in Christianity; they contain the immediate evidence of its divine origin; they are the pillars and the gate-way of the holy temple; the bulwarks of the new institution, and citadel of the Christian religion, which have withstood the shock of the heaviest ordnance and [157] artillery from the heaviest batteries of all our enemies since the age began. Our children should be made to suck them in with their mother's milk, and our Evangelists repeat them with alphabetical correctness and facility. Most worthy are they to be studied and understood, and I am not ashamed to confess for them my special regard. I am not ashamed to acknowledge that twice a week for twenty-two months at a stretch have I discoursed on the Evangelist Matthew, alone. It is by these divine narratives the Christian religion is to spread, because by them, alone, the world can be assured that Jesus is the Christ; it is in them the proclaimer must search for the themes which win the souls of men; there it is the Lord is exhibited in proper form. His birth, his public ministry, his entrance upon the same at Jordan, his miracles, his doctrine, his defense of himself as the Messiah of God, his temptations, moral virtues, prodigious and incomprehensible wisdom, his divine nature, his trial, condemnation, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and glorification are all there; but, indeed, the enlightened Evangelist will perceive that every page, every miracle, every thing in these glorious oracles open, to the proclaimer of the gospel, an infinitely various and brilliant field for the instruction of the world. If any man would work faith in his audience, let him give his days and nights, and weeks and years, to the study of the Evangelists."^c

      That his theory with regard to the true method of preaching was correct, was frequently and fully demonstrated by the numerous conversions by which his labors were attended. For a period of over thirty years, few men had greater success as an Evangelist than he; as many as one hundred converts within a [158] month was not unusual, and, on some occasions, nearly that number in a few days; and he often baptized the converts with his own hands.

      Another meeting in Kentucky is thus noticed: "We mention this success only because it occurred in connection with the preaching of 'the appearance and kingdom' of our Lord Jesus Christ to his people. We lately labored seventeen days and nights in succession at Minerva, Mason County, Kentucky. A series of lectures on the second advent took a very sensible effect on the disciples, and seemed to have no small influence even upon the world; for when we changed our theme and substituted the cross for the crown--the things of faith for those of hope, fifty persons, first and last, believed and were immersed."^d

      He returned in a short time to the same field, and the joint labors of himself and others were crowned with great success--fifty more persons being gathered into the fold.^e

      "I am just now in Versailles. The excitement is very great. After filling an appointment at Dover, and another at Beasley's Creek, where I had a very great audience, and where the church embraces many well-tutored saints, and has an eldership of great value in Christ Jesus, I proceeded to Paris, toward Lexington; but hearing, at the former place, that a meeting was in progress at Union, I turned aside and spent the night under the hospitable roof of the beloved in Christ, Elder J. Gano. Next morning this excellent brother, with his lady, the meekest of women, were to go to Georgetown, so that I had the pleasure of journeying thither in their company. A protracted meeting had just closed at Georgetown, but on my arrival it was [159] re-opened, and Bro. James Challen, greatly beloved in the Lord, coming on at this opportune moment, nineteen accessions were made to the church there. Blessed be God. I visited Midway with the hope of spending the Lord's day in sweet enjoyment there, in company with Doctor Pinkerton, the zealous in the Lord, and the church of God in that place; but the rain was so great and continuous that the brethren could not even assemble. I returned to Lexington, and afterward addressed the brethren in that city.

      "I also filled an appointment at Union, where our people and the Baptists have worked with such diligence as to leave Evangelists almost nothing to do. This church embodies many of the excellent of the earth. Her sons are great and excellent spirits, renowned for purity and generosity. Midway and New Union are very famous for doing good.

      "A meeting was in progress at Versailles. The brethren were pleased to invite me to aid. I was forced to meet their wishes. The excitement is very great. I have preached and spoken three times a day for one week. And, thanks to our God in Christ Jesus, thirty have already made the good confession. Men are coming in from the distance of seven miles to meeting, even by night. Old impenitent sinners, who have not been seen at meeting for seven years before, have found their way into the assembly, and several, notorious for their evil doings, have been reclaimed. Even the eloquent orator, Thomas Marshall, has felt the excitement, and found out the power of the Lord. He was present last evening, and lent his devout attention to my discourse. He even came up from the remotest corner of the house, where he had ensconced himself during the preachment, and stood boldly by the side of the pulpit. He even asked to have the humble speaker pointed out to him, and, as the exhortation proceeded, advanced into the very front ranks of the lookers-on. O that the truth--the love of God to man--the blood of the cross may have touched his heart--his eloquent, but misguided heart. If he forget what he heard, he is less than a true-hearted man; but he has expressed this morning, I have been told, his admiration of the last night's development."^f [160]

      But a short time before this, nineteen were added at Georgetown, and, soon after the meeting at Versailles, between thirty and forty at Grassy Springs. At this period, 1847, it was not unusual for him to preach twice and even three times per day for weeks in succession. Within two years of the close of his life, when over sixty years of age, he wrote: "I have just returned from a galloping excursion into Garrard County; twenty accessions were made to the good cause, and I have immediately to return thither." Two weeks after this he writes: "God, the living God, is not an idol of gold, or silver, or brass, or wood, or stone, but the true God, and our everlasting King. My life has been, and by his help, shall be, devoted to the glory of his name. A few days ago, by stage and railroad, I traveled seventy miles, and ate no meat from two o'clock in the morning till five in the evening, and after supper had to address an audience waiting for me. Twelve persons have already presented themselves to the Lord. I am, thank the Lord Jesus Christ, now recovered from fatigue, and more animated in the preaching of the Word, than at any former period of my life. I know that the weakness, incident to age must overtake me, if I live, but as yet I am as strong in every respect as I ever was."^g The above, which might be indefinitely extended, may serve to indicate the extent and success of his labors, as well the chief themes of his public addresses; but his style and manner as a preacher have not yet been told. [161]

[LWSA 154-161]