LABORS OF E. B. MANN--N. WADSWORTH--OWNER OF A HORSE--PREACH IN
INDIANA AND KENTUCKY--A PROFANE LIFE--GENERAL CLARKE--ATHEISM--THE
EYELESS FISH--A PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER’S WISDOM--NO HELL, NO
HEAVEN--TRAVEL IN OHIO--ANOTHER PREACHER REPLIES--LABORS IN
DAYTON--D. R. BIDDLECOM--GEORGE MESSENGER--R. SMITH’S SOMERSAULT--J.
A. GURLEY--GEORGE ROGERS--START FOR INDIANA--BATTLE IN
HARRISON--UNIVERSALISM AN OLD DOCTRINE, AND OF GOD--PARTIALISM AN
OLD DOCTRINE, BUT OF SATAN--GROVE MEETING--FATHER ST. JOHN--BADLY
TREATED--JOHN O’KANE ON HIS CREED--IN INDIANAPOLIS--A. LONGLEY--A
HORSE--QUESTIONED BY A METHODIST--IN TERRE HAUTE--VERY UNPOPULAR.
Partially recovering, I resumed my former work of traveling and
preaching. E. B. Mann resided near Leavenworth, and labored in the
counties in Indiana and Kentucky, bordering on the Ohio river. He also
distributed a large number of denominational books. His circuit, which
was about two hundred miles round, he traveled on horseback, once a
month. He was not graced by education or refinement, yet his labors
were blessed with a good degree of success. He is now dead, and his
mortal remains repose near Leavenworth, the center of his labors for
many years.
I lectured in L. and vicinity three weeks, and then proceeded to
Louisville, Ky. N. Wadsworth was then residing there, and publishing
a paper called _The Berean_; and at his earnest solicitation, I spent
three months in obtaining subscribers for it. Mr. W. was formerly
a Methodist minister, but then cherished a more liberal faith. His
talent was above mediocrity, his acquirements fair, was a good man, and
devoted to the cause he espoused, and the profession of his choice. He
was small in stature, and feeble in health--too small and feeble for
his large and active mind. A year after, he moved to Troy, Mo., his
periodical was discontinued, and he died of consumption, after laboring
there with excellent success, about one year. His widow resides there
still, and although she has changed her name, the home of brother and
sister Sydnor is ever a welcome retreat for our ministers. It has been
my privilege to spend many pleasant hours in their company. The humble
grave of my early friend is in the Troy cemetery; and I have read the
brief monumental inscription on the cold marble at its head, through
tearful eyes.
I bought a horse of Mr. Wadsworth, and agreed to pay him in obtaining
subscribers for his paper. It was the first horse I ever owned, and I
felt quite rich, and very independent. I preached in most of the towns
within fifty miles of Louisville, in Kentucky and Indiana. In Salem,
Ind., I delivered a series of sermons. A merchant there told me that
his counting-room was his chapel, his ledger his Bible, and money his
religion. He was then doing a large and lucrative business. A few
years after, he had no counting-room, no ledger, no money, and died
a miserable death--the natural result of so profane a life. General
Clarke, an old Indian warrior, resided near Salem. He attended my
meetings, and I was often at his house. He said he had helped steal
Kentucky and Indiana from the Indians. He was an intelligent man,
but a zealous Atheist. He admitted that faith in a God of goodness,
wisdom and justice, and in the immortal blessedness of mankind, was
more satisfactory, and yielded more happiness than Atheism; and if
such exalted and benevolent sentiments had received his attention ere
his present views had become permanently established, he might have
embraced them, but now he was too old to learn. I used to rejoin,
that his admission was fatal to his creed. If a belief in God and
immortality confers more happiness than the denial of a God, and a
hereafter, that was the best evidence that Atheism was false, and
religion truth, for truth always confers more happiness than error.
Virtue is truth and vice is falsehood, because the former is adapted
to our nature, and makes us happy, while the latter is a violation of
our nature, and darkens and deforms the mind. For the same reason your
theory, I would add, must be false, and mine correct. Not “too old
to learn,” General. Your body is frail--it has been dying these many
years, but your mind is vigorous. Why stop learning? If religion is
true, death, that is fast destroying your body, will not invade your
mind--that will live to learn forever.
Near Salem was a cave, containing water, in which were fish without
eyes. God creates no superfluities. The fish of every sea, lake, river,
have eyes, because there is light in those waters, but the beams of the
sun had never penetrated that cavern, therefore eyes were useless, and
hence the denizens of that eternal dungeon, have no visional organ.
Nothing is created in vain; every thing answers some useful purpose in
the economy of the Creator. Here is a solid foundation on which to rest.
In Bedford, Ind., a Presbyterian minister abruptly attacked me at
the close of a discourse. “If the pains of the damned will cease,”
said he, “so will the joys of the saved; for the words that express
the misery of the one, express the happiness of the other.” Never, I
replied, was a man more mistaken. The Bible speaks of endless life,
but not a word about endless death. The terms, “endless death,”
“endless misery,” “endless woe,” “endless damnation,” “endless hell,”
found in the creeds of men, do not once occur in the Bible. Read all
that Moses and the prophets, Jesus and the apostles, said or wrote,
and you will not find those terms once, not even once, in the Old
or New Testaments. “Endless” life is a Bible term, but those other
_endlesses_ are wretched fictions. The Bible says, “O _hell_, I will be
thy _destruction_;” but where does it say, “O _heaven_, I will be thy
destruction?!”
Finding but few persons of the liberal faith in the vicinity of
Louisville, I concluded to go to Ohio. Preached in Cincinnati, Mount
Healthy, Hamilton, Oxford and Middletown. In the latter place a
clergyman attended my meetings, and at the close of every sermon
entered his solemn protest against what had been said. He was a German,
and in one of his harangues said, “This fellow believes the fire will
be _squenched_, and I believe the fire will not be _squenched_.” But he
became so interested, that he proposed traveling with me a few weeks,
but not caring about his company, I did not accept of his proposition.
Proceeded to Dayton; and having reference to no one, I called on the
sheriff, and engaged the Court-house for the next day--Sunday. Wrote
some notices of the proposed meeting, and while putting them up in
different parts of the town, a gentleman introduced himself, who
proved to be the mayor of the city. He kindly informed me of a man of
my faith, on whom I called, and was received with a hearty welcome. I
delivered two discourses on Sunday, and on Monday morning was preparing
to leave town, when several friends called on me, and urged me to
remain, at least, a few months. The town, they said, had just been
scourged by a crazy revival, and if I should tarry there awhile, they
were sure a good society would be established. I told them I could not
remain, as I was under obligation to travel to extend the circulation
of _The Berean_, and must soon have, at least, seventy subscribers, to
discharge my obligation to its publisher. “If that number should be
obtained in this town, will you tarry with us?” queried the gentlemen.
I replied, that I would. Notice was given that there would be a
meeting that evening. I delivered a discourse, and at the close of
it, a friend informed the congregation, that I had consented to remain
three months, if seventy subscribers should be obtained in town for
_The Berean_; and in a few minutes the required number were secured.
We soon organized a society, a choir, and our meetings were well
attended during my sojourn in that pleasant town. I wrote two sermons
every week, and committed them to memory--did not take the manuscript
into the desk with me. The society paid me one hundred dollars for my
services. My health not being good, I declined remaining after the
three months had expired I stipulated to remain. The society, after I
left, built a meeting-house, and prospered for several years. I am not
informed of its present condition.
While residing in Dayton, I visited Springfield, Centerville, and many
other places within twenty or thirty miles of the city, in all of
which I delivered my message. In the former place, George Messenger,
a minister of the Common Salvation, was residing, and the society was
building a meeting-house. D. R. Biddlecom, well known in the West as
a minister of the Restitution, visited me while I resided in Dayton.
He was then traveling and scattering the good seed broadcast over the
land. He now lives in Dayton, and is still engaged in the good work.
Taking leave of my dear friends in Dayton, I proceeded to Cincinnati.
Stopped in Mason, and delivered four sermons. Here I met Robert Smith,
a singular kind of a man, but of considerable ability. He deemed it
wrong to pray in public, baptize, or partake of the eucharist. Some of
his views being offensive to our people, he was often coldly treated.
This offended him, and he subsequently joined the Reformers, prayed
in public, eat bread and drank wine every Sabbath, and taught that
immersion in water is a condition of salvation. When I returned to
Cincinnati, J. A. Gurley was publishing the _Star in the West_ in that
city. He was an active and enterprising man, possessed respectable
talent, and was a forcible speaker. He was a popular preacher in
the West, as long as he continued in the ministry. He made himself
a beautiful home near Cincinnati, and lived under his own vine and
fig-tree. Having made two or three hundred thousand dollars--on
paper--by Chicago town-lots, he abandoned the _Star_ and the ministry,
and jumped into the muddy pool of politics. He was a member of Congress
two terms, and when he died, was governor of Arizona. Here I met for
the first time, George Rogers, a well known minister of our faith, and
the author of several acceptable books. During his brief ministry, he
traveled extensively in the South and West, publishing the glad tidings
of life and immortality. He was a little man physically, but a great
man intellectually and morally; his voice was feeble, but his words
were weighty. He broke down a good constitution by hard labor, and died
in the prime of life.
Mr. Rogers had recently traveled in the interior and western portions
of Indiana, and advised me to spend a few months in those sections of
that state. In a few days I was on the road, bound for Indiana. It was
then the middle of May, 1838, and I did not expect to return till the
latter part of autumn. Mounting my faithful horse, I rode to Harrison,
where I preached in the evening. As soon as I had said amen, George
Campbell, a Reformer, expressed a desire to reply. He was told he
would be heard with attention. Among other things he remarked, “That
Universalism is a _new doctrine_, and therefore cannot be the gospel,
for that is _old_--most eighteen hundred years old.” I replied, that
it was as old as revelation; and that several of its distinguishing
features were revealed to our first parents by the Creator. To them
he said, “In the day you sin you shall surely die.” They did sin,
and they died the death threatened. St. Paul calls it a “death in
trespasses and in sins;” “to be carnally minded,” he says, “is death,”
and he terms this death the wages of sin. This is the death--a moral
death--that God threatened the primitive pair; and if we sin we die
the same death--no mistake about that. Mark also the important fact,
that they were to suffer this punishment in THE DAY they sinned. It
was not to be deferred till the next day, next year, or next world,
but in the day, when and where they sinned, they were to begin to
suffer the penalty of transgression. It is as true now as it was six
thousand years ago, that in _the day_ we sin we are punished; it is
as true in this town as it was in the Garden of Eden, that in _the
day_ we sin we are punished; it is as true of us as it was of Adam and
Eve, that in _the day_ we sin we are punished. Truth is eternal; the
laws of God are unchangable, the same yesterday, to-day and forever.
As sin and its penalty were chained together in the beginning, it
is thus now, and ever will be thus. Here then, in the beginning, we
are taught the _certainty_ of punishment--“in the day you sin you
_shall_ be punished;” and here also we are taught, that punishment is
_immediate_--in the day they sinned the penalty was to overtake them.
These ancient truths we believe and preach--they are portions of the
gospel. But my friend, Mr. Campbell, denies all this. He contends that
punishment is _not certain_, is _not immediate_; that a person may sin
three-score years and ten, without being punished, for remember, he
denied that God judges in the earth; he said, that was a new doctrine,
one of our heresies, it was not taught in the Bible. He also teaches,
that a man, after spending seventy years in crime of the blackest dye,
can, by complying with certain conditions, escape all punishment in
eternity, and occupy as high a seat in heaven as St. Paul or St. John.
In a word, Mr. C. denies squarely and fully the everlasting truth of
the ancient record, that “in _the day_ you sin you _shall_ be punished.”
But the gentleman is not the _first_ to make that denial, and this is
not the first _place_ where this _truth_ has been called a _lie_. He
has an ancient precedent, he is following an old leader, has taken
lessons from an old master. The serpent preached in Eden’s garden just
what the gentleman has been preaching here to-night, with so much zeal.
“_Ye shall not surely die_,” said his snakeship; God will not _surely_
punish you; there is a way to escape. Besides, don’t believe a word of
it, that you will be punished in _the day_ you sin. Mr. C. has taken
the serpent’s text this evening, and I give him credit for sticking
to the text of the father of lies. Our doctrine, then, relative
to punishment, is not _new_, neither is Mr. Campbell’s doctrine,
concerning punishment, _new_. But ours and his came from different
sources; one is of God, who is the author of truth, the other is of the
serpent, the father of lies. They are both ancient doctrines, but judge
ye which is true.
The doctrine of salvation--universal salvation--is not a new thing,
either, under the sun, as Mr. C. affirmed. Immediately after sin, and
its dire results, entered into the world, and while the first sinners
were yet trembling with guilt in the blissful garden, it was revealed
to them that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head.
It is generally considered that “the seed of the woman” was the future
Christ, whose advent occurred four thousand years afterwards. This
_seed_ was promised through the Jewish patriarchs--“In thee and in
thy _seed_ shall all nations of the earth be blessed.” And St. Paul
distinctly asserts, that Jesus is here intended. “Now to Abraham and
his _seed_ were the promises made. He saith not, And to _seeds_, as
of many; but as of one, And to thy _seed_, which IS CHRIST.” Gal.
iii. 16. The _seed_, then, promised to our first parents, and to the
patriarchs, was Jesus Christ. He was to bruise the serpent’s head.
Serpent, in the Bible, is a symbol of sin. As a serpent is a low,
vile and cruel reptile, so vice is low, vile and cruel. It worms its
slimy folds into our thoughts, purposes, character, and life, and is
sure to poison every thing it touches. But Jesus Christ is to bless
all nations, by bruising the serpent’s _head_. When we wish to kill a
snake, our blows are aimed at his _head_; so Jesus is to crush the head
of the serpent, that is, destroy sin, and thus _bless all nations_, as
the patriarchs were promised.
Three vitally important truths, then, were revealed to mankind in the
morning of creation. 1st. Punishment for transgressing is _certain_.
2d. It is _immediate_. 3d. Sin and its results are temporary, for it is
the purpose and promise of God that the seed of the woman shall make an
end of sin, and thus bless all the nations of the earth.
As soon as Mr. Campbell’s discourse was disposed of, a Presbyterian
minister, by the name of Thomas, spent half an hour in trying to prove
that countless millions of Adam’s race would be the victims of Almighty
wrath, world without end. I replied to him, and when we got through it
was midnight. The congregation was large, and was so deeply interested
that nearly all remained till that late hour. The next Sunday, I
delivered two discourses in the Snow Settlement, to immense assemblies.
The meetings were held in a grove, and a wagon was my pulpit. In
Brookville, I also spoke to the people. Father St. John, a venerable
man, resided there, and for many years occasionally dispensed the word
of life. His silvery locks are now in the grave, but his soul, I trust,
is with God. Spent several days in West Union, and although I told the
people that God was their Father, Friend and Benefactor, some treated
me with bitter malignity--threatened to drive me out of town, and even
to horse-whip me. Since then, a better spirit has prevailed. There is
now a society and meeting in that place. Let not the reformer despair
if his mission is rejected; every crucified truth will rise again, and
go on conquering and to conquer.
Spent a Sunday in Connersville, preached twice, and heard John O’Kane,
a noted minister among the Reformers, once. He has, since then, held
several oral debates with our ministers. Not knowing much about the
faith of his sect, I asked him the following questions, and received
the subjoined answers:
“What must we do to be saved?”
“Believe in Christ, repent of our sins, and be baptized.”
“What do you mean by baptism?”
“Immersion in water.”
“Do you mean to say, that no one can be saved without immersion?”
“There is no promise that any one can.”
“That is not answering my question. Do _you_ contend that there is no
salvation without water baptism?”
“The New Testament gives us no assurance, that a soul can be redeemed
without baptism.”
“But what is YOUR opinion?”
“No matter what my opinion may be.”
“Cannot the heathen be saved without being baptized?”
“I have nothing to do with the heathen.”
“Cannot children, dying in childhood, be saved without being baptized?”
“Yes.”
“Then you admit that _one third_ of mankind are saved without baptism.
But you just said, that baptism was a _condition_ of salvation, and
that you had no evidence a soul could be saved without complying with
that condition. Your system contradicts itself. If God can save one
third of mankind without baptism, can he not save the remaining two
thirds without baptism?”
“I have no evidence that he will.”
Since I had this conversation with Mr. O’Kane, I have often come in
contact with persons of his denomination, and they all contradict
themselves as he did. They all assert, that water baptism is a
condition of salvation, without any qualification or exception. But
after they have laid down this platform, ask them if the salvation of
children depends on being baptized, and they will say, nay. Ask them if
the heathen can be saved without baptism, and they will give an evasive
answer.
I spoke in several of the towns on the National road, between Richmond
and Indianapolis, and generally had fair congregations. In the latter
place, the capital of Indiana, I delivered several sermons in the
Court-house, but found only two families of the liberal faith--C.
Vanhouton and A. Longley. The latter was doing business in town, and
preaching in the neighboring villages on Sundays. He still resides in
Indiana, and is still preaching the gospel. He is a worthy man, and
a sincere and devout Christian. He has been a minister of the gospel
about forty years. My horse being lame, Mr. Vanhouton furnished a colt,
that had never been rode, in its stead; but I soon broke him, and he
carried me on my mission very pleasantly. When I returned him, five
months afterwards, he jumped with delight. I love a horse, love to ride
and take care of him. He is a noble animal, and merits kind treatment
from man. But he is often savagely abused. I always want to kick the
fellow, who ill treats a horse. He has a bad heart.
I lectured in Greencastle several days. A Methodist minister, desiring
to know more about our faith, questioned me thus:
“Do you believe in the Trinity?”
“No; I believe in one God, and no more.”
“What do you think of the person of Christ?”
“He was a created, subordinate, and dependent being; the Son of God,
the Son of man.”
“For how many did he die?”
“He tasted death for _every man_,--‘Gave himself a ransom for _all_.’”
“Did he make a vicarious atonement?”
“No. He came to teach us that God is our Father, Judge and Savior; that
we are immortal beings, shall live forever, and that we should love
God, and our fellow men.”
“But did he not come to reconcile God to the world?”
“It was the mission of Jesus to reconcile man to God, by the influence
of truth, and his own noble example. God is right, man is wrong, and
Jesus preached, lived and died, to advance man in all things pure and
good--to make man Godlike, and hence it is said, that ‘God is in Christ
reconciling the world to himself.’”
“Do you believe in experimental religion?”
“Religion does no good unless we individually experience its blessings.
It is not an abstraction, a speculation, but a _reality_, something to
be known, felt, experienced; it is a _life_.”
“Do you believe in conversion?”
“Yes; conversion from error to truth, from sin to holiness, from
depravity to purity, from a disloyal to a loyal life. But this
conversion begins, progresses and is consummated in perfect harmony
with the laws of the mind. It is as natural a process as is the growth
of the body.”
“Do you believe in a hell?”
“The word hell in the Bible has several distinct signification. 1st. It
often means the grave. 2d. Temporal destruction. 3d. Moral degradation.
4th. The state of the dead. But hell in no sense is endless in
duration.”
“Do you believe in a general judgment?”
“In a _general_ and _everlasting_ judgment. All are now judged by the
eternal laws of God, and we rise or fall, are happy or miserable, as
we obey or disobey them. This judgment is also everlasting. Through
all time, and through all eternity, happiness will result from obeying
the laws of God, and misery from disobeying them. Entering the spirit
world, will not change our natures, and the laws of the Creator are the
same there as here.”
“But do you not believe in a day of judgment?”
“Yes; in a day and in days of judgment. Judgment commenced six thousand
years ago, and it is not yet closed. ‘All God’s ways are judgment,’ the
Bible teaches us. Particular calamities befalling nations and cities,
are called judgment days. The gospel dispensation is termed a judgment
day.”
“But do you not believe in a judgment day at the end of time, when the
immortal destiny of each of Adam’s race will be immutably fixed for
eternal weal or woe?”
“No, sir; I can find no reason, or philosophy, or scripture for such
a notion. The destiny of each individual will not be determined at
the end of time, but it was determined in the purpose of God from all
eternity. Man is immortal, and is destined to become more and more
Godlike, intellectually and morally, as the eternal ages roll along.”
“Are wicked men punished?”
“In the language of the Bible, I believe, that ‘He that doeth wrong
shall receive for the wrong he hath done, and there is no respect
of persons.’ ‘Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go
unpunished.’ ‘God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap. He that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap
corruption.’”
“You deny though, everlasting punishment.”
“I believe in everlasting punishment in the Bible sense of the word,
but not in the present popular sense. Punishment is as lasting as sin;
but the Bible no where teaches that sin and wrong are immortal.”
“How long do you suppose punishment will continue?”
“I know not how long. If you can inform me how long men will be
corruptible, earthy, sensual, I will tell you how long they will
suffer.”
“Do you think that in the other world all will be equally happy?”
“There will, doubtless, be different degrees of purity, virtue and
happiness, on the other side of the grave. There must be a moral
connection between this life and the life to come. As we end here we
shall begin there. Character belongs to the soul, and the death of the
body will not make a wise man of a fool, or a saint of a sinner.”
“Do you believe in the resurrection of the body?”
“I believe in the resurrection of _man_, the _inner man_, that which
now lives, thinks, and acts, but not of the body, these bones and
muscles, this flesh and blood. This body connects the spirit with the
material world, but when it shall be withdrawn from this outer sphere,
and live wholly in the interior world, it will have no farther use of
this physical frame. It will be clothed there with a body adapted to
that heavenly home.”
“Where is heaven?”
“Heaven is not a _place_, but a _condition_--a condition of wisdom,
purity, holiness. Heaven reigns in that soul, which is loyal to God.
There is a difference between heaven and the spirit world. The latter
is a _place_--it may be boundless space. Men may exist in that world
without knowing much of heaven, as they do exist in this world without
much heavenly mindedness.”
“Well, you entertain curious views. I do not see how you can reconcile
them with the Bible.”
I journeyed on to Terre Haute, where I delivered several discourses.
This was then a pleasant village, but now it is a large and flourishing
town, and one of the most beautiful places in the West. Its spacious
streets, flanked on each side by trees, shrubbery, lawns, flower
gardens and elegant dwellings, give it a charming appearance. It stands
on the east bank of the Wabash river, and on the margin of a rich
and beautiful prairie. Subsequently a society was organized, and a
meeting-house built, but for various reasons, which I need not name,
our cause, for many years, has been in a feeble condition in that city.
It has recently revived under the auspices of the Northwest Conference,
and an able minister, H. Jewell, is settled in the place. I rode to
Vincennes, seventy miles down the river, and preached in several
villages and neighborhoods, in not one of which the doctrine of the
Restitution had before been proclaimed. The people generally attended
my meetings, but I found but few believers in the Great Salvation.
Returning to Terre Haute, I went up the Wabash river, and preached in
Clinton, Eugene, Perryville, Attica, and West Point, places I have
often since visited. The religious principles I advocated were new to
nearly all the inhabitants of the Wabash Valley, where I was traveling.
There was here and there a believer, but nearly all the people knew
nothing of Universalism. “Why,” said a man to me, “you do not believe
in the Bible, do you?” When I informed him that I did, he was much
astonished; and he was perfectly amazed when he was told that I found
my faith in the Good Book. “I don’t know what you preach for,” said he,
“if all will be saved; and as to praying, of course, you don’t pray.”
This man’s knowledge of our faith was the knowledge nearly all the
people of that region had of it. I was regarded as an infidel, a wolf,
a blasphemer, an emissary of Satan. Women crossed the street when they
saw me coming, as if I was a walking pestilence; children passed me
as if they were afraid, and men looked suspicious when they came in
contact with me. But it was not thus with all--far from it. Most of
those I met with, though they knew nothing of Universalism, treated me
kindly, and listened respectfully to what I had to say.
I spent one month in Lafayette and Dayton, places seven miles apart. A
Methodist clergyman, by the name of Smith, attended my first meeting
in Lafayette, and gave notice that he would reply in the evening,
and invited me to attend and reply to him if I saw proper. Each of
us spoke several times, but I was far from being satisfied with my
defense. I considered it a failure, though my friends seemed to think
I did well. Mr. Smith was a pretty sharp man, an experienced preacher,
and accustomed to speaking without preparation. He knew he had the
advantage of me, and so followed me up for several Sabbaths, and
seemed determined to drive me out of the country, or shut my mouth.
We had five distinct encounters, and in the outcome he got the worst
of it, for he spent his strength in the beginning of the contest,
while I grew stronger as the discussion progressed. Two years after I
located in Lafayette, organized a society, commenced the publication of
_The Christian Teacher_, and several years after a meeting-house was
erected. In the interim of the discussions with Mr. Smith, I preached
in Dayton. Here a school teacher tried two or three times to demolish
me, but I survived his attacks. I found some excellent friends in this
place, a society was formed, and a few years after a temple was erected.
Preaching, debating, conversation, visiting and riding, occupied nearly
all my time, and what reading I did was chiefly on horseback. If I
had five or fifty miles to ride, I improved the occasion by reading
some useful book. I would pass travelers and farm-houses unnoticed. I
recollect, after spending a day in riding and reading, I put up at a
farm-house, and told the good woman I wanted no meat, tea or coffee for
supper. “What do you want?” said she, with amazement. “A little bread
and milk, if you please, and a whole candle, as I wish to write this
evening.” The candle was furnished, a pig’s face, a cold hoe-cake, and
a bowl of sour milk. She went to the neighboring village, Martinsville,
and reported that there was a crazy man at her house.
Proceeding on my journey, with book in hand, I rode to Logansport,
where I lectured twice. Have preached there often since. We have now an
elegant meeting-house in this pleasant and flourishing town, built by a
bequest of Colonel Pollard, who for many years was a prominent merchant
of the place. He will long be remembered with gratitude for his noble
gift. Though dead he yet speaks. Men of wealth, in disposing of their
possessions, would do well to remember religious societies, benevolent
and literary institutions, and those tried and faithful men who have
grown gray in the service of humanity. Such men devote their time and
talent to the world, and old age often finds them poor in this world’s
goods. Let the rich, when dying, consider them, and the cause for which
they have given their all.
Near Plymouth were congregated six hundred Pottowattamie Indians,
preliminary to moving them to the distant West. I spent several hours
with them. Asked the chief where they were going. “I don’t know.”
“Do you wish to remain here?” “Oh yes, oh yes. I leave the bones of
my fathers here; but where will my bones, and those of my children
be laid? No matter, no matter. The Indians are doomed.” A father and
mother buried their child with their own hands. Not a word was uttered,
not a tear was shed. “Lo, the poor Indian!” In a few more years the
sun will rise on the last original owner of our national domain. Our
swords and our vices have been doing their work of death ever since
the Indians welcomed the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock, and they are rising
in judgment and condemning us. It seems to be a law of nature, that
a subjugated people must either blend with their conquerors or be
annihilated. The Indians will not unite with us, and destruction is
their doom. The weak, if they attempt to stand alone, fall. Their only
chance of salvation is in the alliance of the strong.
Lectured in Laporte and Door village, and then proceeded to Michigan
City, where I also held meetings. I also spoke in South Bend. A
Presbyterian clergyman opened his battery on me from his pulpit, which
has been called the coward’s castle. He said Universalism was false
for the following reasons: 1st, It conflicts with the justice of God;
2d, With the mercy of God; 3d, With the love of God; 4th, With reason;
5th, With sound philosophy; 6th, With the law of God; 7th, With the
gospel of Jesus Christ; 8th, With the Bible doctrine of sin; 9th, Of
punishment; 10th, Of faith; 11th, Of rewards; 12th, Of heaven; 13th, Of
hell; 14th, Because it is a new doctrine; 15th, The devil’s doctrine;
16th, A wicked doctrine; 17th, A licentious doctrine; 18th, Wicked men
and devils preach it. I replied to his long tirade. Our people now have
a society, meeting-house, and a settled minister in South Bend. There
is also a society and meeting-house four miles from there, at Mount
Pleasant.
I pursued my weary way, on horseback, to Chicago, through swamps,
over sand ridges, fighting mosquitoes, fleas, gnats and bedbugs. I
used to think in those days that the region between Michigan City and
Chicago was abandoned in disgust ere it was half finished. And the few
inhabitants on the route were on a par with the country. They lived
in a wretched manner, in log cabins on sand ridges, surrounded by
swamps and stagnant pools. Since then, railroads have improved the
country and the people. Spent three weeks in Chicago, and preached
three Sabbaths in an old court-house to large congregations. Chicago
then contained about five thousand inhabitants, and was rather a
hard looking place. There were no bridges across the river, no paved
streets, no railroads, and but little business was done, and its
citizens did not dream of the splendid career that was awaiting their
humble town. I found some zealous friends of our cause, but there was
no organization, and they had never held regular meetings. While I was
there, I visited most of the Universalist families, and was urged to
settle in Chicago, but I told my friends that it was my mission “to go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Leaving Chicago, I turned my horse towards Cincinnati, and passed
through Logansport, Lafayette, and Indianapolis. I would ride all day
and deliver a long discourse at night. Returned to Cincinnati the last
of December, after an absence of six months; and during that time I had
traveled twelve hundred miles--all on horseback--delivered one hundred
and ten discourses, and received for compensation, one hundred and
fifty dollars.