ROBERT HAMILTON.
By H. G. B.
CHALLENGED TO DEBATE BY DR. WALTHOLL—HIS DISCOMFITURE AND DEFEAT—DR. SCOTT ATTEMPTS TO RETRIEVE THE CAMPBELLITE CAUSE, AND OFFERS ANOTHER CHALLENGE—RESORTS TO THE WHISKY BOTTLE—ELDER HAMILTON SCORES HIM FOR IT.
Charles and Robert Hamilton were brothers, born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, where, also, they both obeyed the gospel at an early period of the Church's history.
I never had the pleasure of an acquaintance with Charles, but always understood that he was one of the most able and faithful men in the Church in those early times.
Both of these brethren died previous to our exodus from Nauvoo.
Now, it is of some of the incidents that transpired while Elder Robert Hamilton and I traveled together as missionaries in the State of Virginia, in the years 1844 and 1845, that I wish to write.
While preaching at Newcastle, the present County seat of Craig Co., Virginia, we were challenged by the Rev. Dr. Waltholl, of the Campbellite church, to meet him in discussion.
We accepted the challenge. The large church in Newcastle belonging to the Campbellites, was offered for the purpose of holding the debate in. The subjects and terms were agreed upon, the moderators chosen, and the time to commence and continue the discussion to, was arranged, all of which the public was duly notified of.
During the time the debate lasted the large church was filled to overflowing, good order prevailed, and the strictest attention was given.
Elder Hamilton was the speaker on our side. He was a fluent and powerful talker, enjoying much of the Spirit of the Lord, and as the great truths of the gospel flowed from his lips the audience seemed utterly entranced and carried away with the newness, plainness and force of his arguments, "for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."
The great Campbellite champion, the Rev. Waltholl, who was both preacher and lawyer by profession, was so utterly overwhelmed and filled with confusion and terror from the first, that he never recovered from the shock during the time the debate lasted. So much was this the case with him that he could only occupy a small portion of the time allotted to him, and, on the second day, at his own request, the discussion was brought to a close, although by his own proposition at first, it was to have lasted three days.
The reason he assigned for this was, that he was entirely unprepared to meet Elder Hamilton's arguments and evidence on the subjects under discussion, which were the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, the organization of the Church, with apostles, prophets, etc., and the gifts, blessings and power of the Holy Ghost.
Not one of the hundreds that attended that discussion ever pretended that the Campbellites did not meet with a great and decisive defeat on that occasion.
The news of their disaster spread rapidly and widely throughout the land, and came to the ears of another of their great divines, by the name of Dr. Scott (doctor of divinity, not of medicine).
This man flattered himself that he was able to retrieve his cause from the terrible defeat that it had suffered at the hands of Elder Hamilton, at Newcastle. He, therefore, challenged Brother Hamilton to debate with him upon the same subjects, and with the same terms as at first, but in another church and at another place.
This challenge was also accepted by Brother Hamilton, and the discussion was held, but it proved more disastrous to the Campbellite cause than the first had done.
Dr. Scott failed so completely on every point, and so disgraced himself as well as the cause, that he never afterward attempted to preach.
While the power, gifts and blessings of the Holy Ghost were being discussed, Elder Hamilton contending for its inspiration, its gifts and blessings as formerly enjoyed by the Saints, and the doctor arguing against these gifts, and denying such inspiration in any manner or form, I occupied a seat in the stand. While watching and listening to the proceedings, I caught the doctor imbibing freely from a bottle of whisky, which he replaced in his saddle-bags when the operation of drinking was over.
I had detected the smell of whisky the day previous, while seated near the doctor, but never suspected it was from his breath. I could never have thought a preacher guilty of so flagrant an outrage. But so it was; I had caught him in the very act, and so informed Elder Hamilton.
Such a scathing as that preacher received from Brother Hamilton I never witnessed. Said he:
"He denies the inspiration and power of the Holy Ghost; but there is an inspiration that he does believe in, and that is the spirit of the whisky bottle, which he now carries in his saddle-bags, and from which he has often sought and obtained his kind of inspiration since the beginning of this discussion."
This exposure and his muddled condition rendered Dr. Scott unfit to continue the debate longer. Prior to this time he had been considered a respectable, pious and able preacher. However, that defeat and consequent exposure destroyed his influence from that time forward.
As a rule, public discussions do not result in much good, but these were exceptions, and in and around this place we soon had the names of forty persons who were applicants for baptism.
I have traveled and labored in company with many of our most worthy Elders, but never with one more faithful, contrite in spirit and child-like, and yet more determined, valiant and undeviating in defense of the truth, and in every duty devolving upon him, than was Elder Robert Hamilton; and I have written this little sketch as a feeble tribute to his memory and his sterling worth.
During the eight or ten months we traveled together, our union and love for each other resembled very much that which existed between David and Jonathan.