October 8th. A gentleman and lady took me in a buggy to Rochester, sixteen miles, where I spoke to a large congregation, but found only a few who sympathized with me.
October 9th. A kind friend conveyed me to my next appointment, in Maysville, twenty-five miles eastward. He took his three boys with him, he said, that they might see the country for they were all recently from Ohio. Men and boys were delighted with the country we passed over, as well they might be, for it is a lovely land—high, rolling, rich prairie. A large number attended the meeting. Probably not a dozen present had before heard a discourse on the Restitution. I hope some good seed was sown, and, that it will germinate, bud, blossom, and yield a rich harvest.
October 10th. Rode twenty-five miles to-day, and preached at night, and the next day. These were the first sermons on our faith ever heard in Gallatin. A Congregationalist minister gave notice that he should reply to them, two days subsequently. In a conversation with him he remarked, that his denomination were the “liberals of the evangelical school.” They may be in the West, but they certainly are not in the East. Their creed is cold, cruel, intolerant, Calvinism. There is not a particle of liberality or generosity in it. It is as rigid as iron bars, and cold as icebergs.
October 12th. Rode horseback sixteen miles, to Bancroft, and lectured. Although our liberal faith had not before been publicly taught here, I found many friends. A large family by the name of Hendricks, all formerly Dunkards, reside here, and they are devoted believers in the Restitution. Most of that denomination, I have met with, agree with us in the final redemption of humanity, and they are generally truly christian people. Elhanan Winchester once said, “If God has a people on earth, it is the Dunkards.”
October 13th. A friend took me to Trenton, eighteen miles, where I delivered three sermons. They were the first of the kind in the town, or county, and large numbers attended. A preacher did his best to keep the people away, but he was nearly deserted, for the people were bound to hear the “new doctrine.” I here met a man by the name of John Murray, who said he was a distant relative of the sainted Rev. John Murray. When I was in Iowa City recently, I found a man by the name of Winchester, who is a relative of Rev. Elhanan Winchester, of blessed memory. They have good blood in their veins.
October 15th. Conveyed to Lindville, fifteen miles, and preached at night. The people here had not before heard one of our faith. Some believed, and some disbelieved.
October 16th. Rode fourteen miles on horseback, and walked six miles. Came to a stream where there was no bridge, and pulling off boots and socks, waded through, and passed on to fill my appointments. Lectured twice in this place, Milan, to full houses.
October 18th. Went to Greencastle, fifteen miles, and lectured twice. There is a small society in this village, and two brother preachers are residing near by—W. Brise and G. S. Ayers. It is to be hoped they will hereafter devote more of their time to the ministry.
October 20th. Lectured in Unionville twice, and once in the neighborhood; and the next day was conveyed by a friend to Lancaster, twenty miles still farther onward, where I also spoke twice. The next day, rode to Memphis, or rather rode and walked, twenty-five miles, where I spoke twice, and once in the country. From thence was conveyed by a friend to Bentonsport, Iowa, where I took the cars and went home.
I recently heard a discourse by one of our ministers, and he gave Orthodoxy an awful cudgeling. I do not like that kind of preaching. It is too much of the meat-axe order. The christian minister should preach the gospel in all its fulness—present it in its doctrinal, moral, and spiritual aspect. But cutting, slashing, and banging, at this creed, and that creed, at this sect and that sect, is not exactly preaching the gospel. It may be the minister’s duty, now and then, under peculiar circumstances, to handle other creeds without gloves; but let him remember and do his duty in this respect in a loving spirit. But there should be but little of this kind of controversial sermonizing. Telling people of the beauty and glory of truth and virtue, and urging a practical knowledge of the same, is far better than to be fighting Orthodoxy. It must be admitted, that some of the fathers of our denomination, in this respect, have set a bad example. They had too much of the Ishmaelite spirit, and many of us have imbibed of it copiously. True, they were assailed by slander and falsehood, in private and in public, at home and abroad, when they went in, and when they went out; and it required a copious infusion of the Divine Spirit to be perfect lambs under such circumstances. And our people in the West and South, especially the ministers, are still pursued with the same maliciousness, injustice and cruelty, and it requires remarkable good nature to be thus treated without striking back. But some of us have rather overdone this matter of “using up” Orthodoxy. Not, it is to be hoped, that we have been actuated by the fiendish spirit of some of our enemies, but we spend too much precious time, and waste too much material, on their creeds. Better present the truth in its native beauty and grace, and the world will soon fall in love with it, and take it to it’s heart.