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.