“You forget,” said my opponent, in his last speech on the above passage, “that those who committed the sin against the Holy Ghost, were in danger of eternal damnation.”
No, sir, I have not forgotten that; neither have I forgotten, that if the sin named is absolutely never to be forgiven, the sinner who commits it is not in danger of suffering damnation, but is sure of suffering it, just as sure as he has sinned. There is no remedy, his doom is sealed. These words, then, clearly imply, that the punishment named may be arrested. This is an important consideration. Again, the word, eternal is from the same Greek term that world is, and Dr. Clarke, as we have seen, says it means age, and learned men of all denominations admit it signifies age, time, life-time. I have now noticed every point the gentleman made on this noted passage, and it is evident that it affords the dogma of immortal wretchedness no support.
I delivered several lectures at the Tippecanoe battle ground, and became acquainted with many persons, who have ever since been steadfast friends. This place is six miles north of Lafayette. There is a marsh on one side, and a small stream, with a narrow bottom, covered with thick woods, on the other. The distance from the swamp to the stream is about three hundred yards, and on this narrow belt of ground General Harrison’s army was encamped, and the battle fought. No military man, I suppose, would deem that a safe camping-ground in an enemy’s country. But Harrison did not expect the Indians would fight, but rather treat for peace; but he should have been more cautious. He repelled the attack, with heavy loss to his army, but if he had been defeated, his force would have suffered sorely, for the Wabash river was in his rear, only one mile distant, and that without bridge or boats.
I also preached in Monticello, and was replied to by a Methodist minister. My text was, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.” The gospel, I said, comprises the theological and moral doctrines that Jesus taught. He told men, that God was the Father of the spirits of all flesh; that the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant, the black and the white, the slave and his master, were alike the children of God, and belong to and compose one family; that the physical, intellectual, and moral bounties of God’s store-house were accessible to all, and that the Master of the feast invites all to partake freely and live. He had doomed none, and never would doom any, to eternal starvation. “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and ye that have no money, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” If we are wise and partake of this feast of fat things, we live, are blessed with salvation, and the kingdom of God, which is righteousness, joy and peace in the holy spirit, reigns in the soul. But if we shun the rich provisions of the Father’s board, walk on the other side, choose darkness, error and sin, rather than light, truth and virtue, woe be to us. Every heavenly principle, every law of God condemns us, till we set our faces heavenward, and turn our steps upward.
“There was not,” said the preacher, “one particle of gospel in that sermon. Mankind were lost and ruined by the fall of Adam; the seal of eternal damnation was burnt deep into the hearts of all, by Adam’s apostasy, and God became incarnate to make it possible for man to be saved. Those who believe in the incarnate God are saved from hell, from the wrath of God, and the curse of the fall; but those who reject the crucified Jesus, are lost beyond redemption, and the seal of damnation will burn deeper and deeper into their immortal souls; they will be abandoned by God, Christ, angels, and all the saints will say, amen.”
He was one of the most orthodox preachers I ever heard. When in the pulpit, he was always harping on the mysterious jargons of Orthodoxy, with his face elongated, and a countenance bordering on despair; but out of the pulpit he was a boy, and a foolish boy too. When preaching in Logansport, shortly after General Tipton died, a noted citizen of that place, he cried, “There, General Tipton, that old sinner, is dead and gone to hell.” A son of Mr. Tipton, soon after, met the preacher on a long bridge at Logansport, and with a whip gave him a pretty hard thrashing. He begged for mercy, and promised not to talk in that style any more.
During the first two years I resided in Lafayette, I seldom met a minister of my faith. There were only two others in Indiana at that time, and they were in remote parts of the state, and being aged men did not preach much, but after that time I had more ministerial associates. D. Vines, of Frankfort, spoke some in public, and received Letter of Fellowship. His intentions were good, but his qualifications meager. He subsequently became a Swedenborgian, or a Spiritualist, and I have lost sight of him. Samuel Oyler, of Jefferson, also entered the ministry. He preached three or four years in the south part of the state, and then came out a lawyer, and, I understand, he succeeds well in that profession. I. M. Westfall, of Thornton, left the Methodist church, of which he was a lay-member, and commenced preaching without any preparation, save strong faith and ardent zeal. He possessed a good mind, and soon became a popular speaker. He remained in Indiana about one year, and then moved to Iowa City, Iowa. He continued in the ministry till recently. At the present time he resides in Minnesota, and is practising medicine. At Perrysville, where I had preached monthly for two years, a meeting-house was erected, and a society organized. Being in Oxford, Ohio, I met with B. F. Foster, a young man, who had just commenced preaching, and prevailed on him to move to Perrysville, and take charge of the society in that place. He, however, soon left P. and located in Terre Haute, where our friends were building a fine meeting-house. He has resided in Indiana ever since, and is a popular and useful minister. He has been for many years pastor of the society in Indianapolis, and at the present time he is State Librarian.
An Association, embracing the country from Terre Haute to Lafayette, called the Wabash Valley Association, was organized. The meeting that organized it was held in Perrysville, and it was an enthusiastic gathering. Seven or eight societies were represented, all recently formed. Many went on horseback, in wagons and carriages, thirty, forty, and fifty miles. Our friends were alive with zeal, and did not mind traveling fifty miles to a good meeting.
The United Brethren held a noisy meeting in Warren county, and the following lines were very popular with the Brethren, and they often sung them:
The devil is mad,