of ^iteday. 
 
 oenes of Character 
 Sketchesof Promi nent 
 Men among the 
 Disciples of Christ. 
 ^ Thos.W. Grafton. + 
 
BX 7341 .G72 1899 
 Grafton, Thomas William, 
 
 1857-1940. 
 Men of yesterday 
 
Men of Yesterday 
 
 FEB 10 1 
 
 A SERIES OF CHARACTER SKETCHES 
 PROMINENT MEN AMONG THE 
 DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 
 
 By THOMAS \V. GRAFTON 
 
 Author of "Life of Alexander Campbell." 
 
 WITH 
 
 AX IXTRODrCTION 
 
 By BEN'JAMIX L. .SMITH 
 
 Secretary of the American Christian Missionary Society. 
 
 ST. LOUIS 
 
 Christian Publishing Company 
 1899 
 
COPYRIGHTED, 1899, BY 
 
 CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
To 
 
 AXXA BELLE GRAFTON, 
 
 THE COMPAXIOX AND INSPIRATION' 
 OF JIV lU SV LIFE, 
 THIS VOLUME OF SKETCHES IS A FFECTIOXATELY 
 INSCRIBED. 
 
Digitized by 
 
 tlie Internet Arcliive 
 
 
 
 in 2014 
 
 
 
 https://archive.org/details/menofyesterdayseOOgraf 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 There is no more interesting or profitable 
 theme for study than the life of a true man. 
 When that life combines, with courage and en- 
 durance, the elements of moral greatness and 
 spiritual sublimity, it becomes an inspiration to 
 noblest endeavor. 
 
 The sketches which are here offered to the 
 public deal with a class of men, who, in making 
 a great cause triumphant, are deserving of the 
 gratitude of thousands who have been blessed 
 by their labors. When we think of the opposi- 
 tion encountered, the unpopularity incurred, the 
 sacrifices made, the hardships endured, the 
 results achieved, it is doubtful if a modern in- 
 stance can be found that will parallel the brave, 
 noble, consecrated service of the men who fol- 
 lowed Alexander Campbell in his search for the 
 scriptural ideal and in his efforts to reproduce 
 it amidst the political, social and religious envi- 
 ronments of the Nineteenth Century. 
 
 The names appearing in this volume by no 
 means exhaust the list, but they are, I believe, 
 fairly representative. The first three, Scott, 
 Stone and Smith, wrought by the side of the 
 great leader of the reformation and contributed 
 in no small measure to the successful establish- 
 ment of the cause of primitive Christianity. 
 
 The latter, Errett, Johnson and Burgess, took 
 (5) 
 
6 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 up the cause at a critical period, rescued it from 
 ultra-conservative tendencies, and made possible 
 these days of enlargement. 
 
 It was the privilege of the author to know 
 well the latter group, some upon terms of warm- 
 est friendship, and to hear them often as they 
 stood before the public in the defense of the 
 faith delivered once for all to the saints. For his 
 knowledge of the earlier group, he has .been 
 dependent wdiolly upon the literature which has 
 pi'eserved a record of their achievements. In 
 this connection, he begs leave to acknowledge 
 his indebtedness to the earlier writers who have 
 told the story of the lives of those who pioneered 
 the way: Baxter's "Life of Walter Scott," 
 Stone's Autobiography, Williams' "Life of 
 Elder John Smith," Lamar's "Memoirs of Isaac 
 Errett," each of which is deserving of the study 
 of evei'y disciple. He desires further to ac- 
 knowledge the helpful service rendered by Mrs. 
 B. W. Johnson and Mrs. O. A. Burgess, each of 
 whom has supplemented his own recollection 
 of their revered husbands, with facts and inci- 
 dents that are worthy of remembrance. 
 
 In offering this volume to the public, it is the 
 author's sincere hope that the perusal of these 
 worthy lives may quicken the devotion of every 
 reader for the cause which they served with such 
 heroic zeal. 
 
 Rode Maud, Feb. 15, 1809. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction ^ <) 
 
 I. AV ALTER SCOTT. 
 
 I. Early Life 19 
 
 IT. Training ix a New Religious School . 24 
 
 III. Finding a Field 32 
 
 IV. Gospel Tru'mpus ix Maxt Places 30 
 V. Peculiarities and J'owek .... 4~ 
 
 VI. The Cocrs^ Finish ED .53 
 
 II. BARTON \V. STONE. 
 
 I. Early Stkuggles Go 
 
 II. Conversion and Call ... .71 
 
 HI. TuE Great Revival at Caneridge . 77 
 
 IV. A New Declaration of Independence 85 
 V. The Progress OP THE Reform MovEMEXT . 90 
 
 VI. A Golden Sunset 9G 
 
 1/ 
 
 III. JOHN SMITH. 
 
 I. A Child of the Backwoods . . 107 
 
 II. Seeking Assurance of Salvatiox . 114 
 
 III. Wrestling With Doctrinal Difficulties . 124 
 
 IV. The Triumph of THE Refor-Mation . 132 
 
 V. TuE^Cjx)siXG Labor of the Reformer . 142 
 
 IV. ISAAC ERRETT. 
 
 1. Early Training for Work ... 153 
 
 II. A WOKK.MAN that NeEDETII NOT TO BE 
 
 Ashamed 1G2 
 
 III. Faithful Service ix a New Field . . 174 
 
 IV. 'I'he Progressive Leader .... 184 
 
 V. The Last Years 193 
 
 (T) 
 
8 CONTENTS 
 
 y 
 
 V. BARTON AV. .JOHNSON. 
 
 I. Yol TIlFUL TjAIKiKS ami Am!!ITU)XS . 201 
 
 II. FoiiM.vTn i; 1 \ i' i.i i: X( i;^ \ n i> Kpfuh i's . 'Jl)~ 
 
 III. FiiriT^ OK Tin; KvKi.v lUuvr^x 218 
 
 IV. In- L.\i!cii:s M,,hI'; Ahi nd.vnt . . 227 
 y. HoMH .\Mi Hk.vven- 288 
 
 ■/ 
 
 Vi. OTIS A. BURGESS. 
 
 I. Yol TlI .\N1) K.VKLY L.\.B01tS .... 251 
 
 II. Ni-w Life .vnd Laboks 2.>S 
 
 III. I'll I! Ki;.iKi.E.ss Defexdek OF THE Faith . 27'1 
 
 IV. Tin: Closing Years of a Busy Life . 281 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 'he final analysis of any movement is the men 
 
 that are behind it. Any good plan will 
 work if you put the right man back of it to 
 work it; no plan, no movement reaches large 
 results iznless back of it can be found men with 
 large plans and large ideas. 
 
 The movement for the Restoration of Apos- 
 tolic Christianity is an exemplification of this 
 law. It had a glorious plea, — the union of all 
 God's people; it had a strong platform, — "the 
 Bible alone as the rule of faith and practice;" 
 it had a divine creed, — "Jesus is the Christ, the 
 Son of the living God:" and under and behind 
 it all, it had God-gifted men to advocate this 
 plea and to win for it success. 
 
 No truth has much power if it is only held 
 abstractly; it must be embodied in a man and be 
 made flesh and blood and dwell among us; then 
 it becomes effective, and the larger the man who 
 embodies the truth, the more effective it is. 
 
 The love of God was a great truth, written by 
 God's creative fingers in earth and sea and cloud, 
 manifested in food and shelter, emphasized in 
 seed-time and harvest, and repeated in provi- 
 dences innumerable; but it was not a control- 
 
 (9) 
 
10 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 ling truth until it was incarnated. When "God 
 so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth on him niigiit not 
 perish, but have everlasting life," then the truth 
 had power, and is to-day the most potent truth 
 in the universe. 
 
 So with our movement: it had great truths 
 and principles, and these principles became 
 effective through the great men who gave the 
 cause their adherence and their service. 
 
 God's tiuth flows through human channels, 
 and as we contemplate these lives we appreciate 
 the more his love. There is no more interesting 
 study to us who are satisfied to be simply Chris- 
 tian, and who take God's word alone as the rule 
 of faith and practice, than the study of God's 
 hand in our history, and the manifest leadings of 
 providence to bring our feet into a "larger 
 place," and to give us the glorious liberty where- 
 with Christ hath nuide us free. 
 
 Wycliffe, Huss, Jerome, Luther, Calvin, Knox 
 and Wesley did God's work in their day and 
 generation. No man has improved upon the 
 special plea made by Luther for Justification by 
 Faith; no man has pleaded more strongly for 
 Divine Sovereignty than did Calvin of Geneva; 
 no man has manifested more consecration than 
 Wesley; no man has excelled Knox in courage 
 in his struggle to save Scotland from a return of 
 Popery. We should never forget the little monk 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 11 
 
 of Wittenburg as he stands alone before the Diet 
 of Worms, and is commanded by the representa- 
 tive of the Pope of Eonie to retract his so-called 
 heresies. He folds his hands across his heart, 
 and after a moment of silent prayer he utters 
 his immortal sentence, "Here I stand, I cannot 
 do otherwise; God help me!" "We should never 
 forget Wesley's great heart-cry, "The world is 
 niy parish I" nor Knox's agonized soul-cry, "O 
 God! give me Scotland, or I die!" 
 
 While we rejoice in their lives and their work 
 we should not forget that their work is not yet 
 complete. They tried to reform the church, but 
 after a generation the movements they inaugu- 
 rated towai'd reform crystallized into creeds and 
 sects, M'hich in turn need reforming. 
 
 In the early years of this century there was 
 marked unrest in the life of the people. The 
 help of the French people in our Revolutionary 
 struggle was a great help politically and a great 
 harm morally and religiously, for a flood of 
 French infidelity swept over the country, and 
 following it a tidal wave of immorality that 
 swept God and religion and morals out of the 
 thought and lives of many, too many, people. 
 
 There were some souls that had not soiled 
 themselves, — earnest souls that cried to God: 
 then the Spirit of God led men in various parts 
 of the United States, unknown to each other, to 
 pray and plan for a new reformation, which 
 
12 
 
 MEN OF YKSTERDAY 
 
 should be not merely a roformation in the 
 church, but indeed a restoration of the Church 
 of the New Testament. 
 
 Tills spirit of reformation manifested itself in 
 Jam(>s O'Kellv, Abner Jones and Barton W. 
 Stone, even before it found adequate expression 
 in tlie movement of the Campbells. And no 
 sooner had the latter come to see the "heavenly 
 vision," — the vision-of the union of all God's 
 people on the ])asis of God's word as the only 
 rule of faith and i)ractice, than other noble 
 spirits were enabled, by their leadership, to look 
 throu<ih the fogs raised by theological discus- 
 sion, through the mists and mysticism of human 
 creeds and tlie traditions of men, and to see, 
 even though at first dimly, the splendid vision of 
 the Chui-ch of God, freed from man-made creeds 
 and discipline, and standing forth in her primi- 
 tive simplicity and beauty. 
 
 Of some of these heroic men we are told in 
 the following pages. T. W. Grafton is espe- 
 cially fitted to tell us the story of the lives of 
 these worthies. Most of them he knew person- 
 ally; of tlie others, he has had access to the 
 innermost sources of information concerning 
 them. 
 
 One matter is worthy of note, — the intense 
 opposition of the sectarians of early days to the 
 plea for Cliiistinn Union as our fathers made it, 
 and another, — the change from that time to this. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 13 
 
 Christian Union is now a popular theme; the 
 brightest minds in all religious communions have 
 their faces set toward the east upon this great 
 subject, toward the east whence they expect the 
 dawning of the better day. But when the fath- 
 ers wrought, it was a very unpopular theme ; it 
 was declared impracticable, undesirable, and im- 
 possible; its advocates were regarded as here- 
 tics, and as such cast out of the synagogue of 
 the orthodox. Not only was the teaching of 
 Christian Union counted heresy, but almost every 
 step of the way toward it was heresy. Did the 
 fathers jjlead for a revision of the translation of 
 the Scriptures, that the mind of the Spirit might 
 be move plainly made known to the men of this 
 century, it was accounted heresy, and when Alex- 
 ander Campbell published a revised version it 
 was widely heralded that Mr. Campbell had 
 made a Bible to suit himself. 
 
 When the fathers pleaded for a return to the 
 Scriptures as the rule of life, it was called 
 heresy of the deepest dye. "I would as soon 
 depend upon an old almanac for conversion as 
 upon the Scriptures, unless miraculously accom- 
 panied by the Holy Ghost," was a common saj-- 
 ing in those elder days. In the case "Our Ortho- 
 doxy in the Civil Coui'ts," a bona -fide trial in 
 Indiana, a minister on the witness-stand 
 said that while he would not pronounce Peter a 
 
14 
 
 MEN OP YESTERDAY 
 
 heretic, yet his words in Acts 2:38, capa- 
 ble of an heretical interpretation.''' 
 
 But the heresy of the fathers has become the 
 guiding light of the chikh-en. Revised transla- 
 tions are cver3'where, human creeds have lai'gely 
 retired from sight and influence; no longer are 
 they taken into the pulpit and become the text- 
 book for sermons; no longer are the teachings of 
 the pulpits measured by the creed rather than 
 by the Word of God; now not many members of 
 sectarian cliurches know tlie creed under which 
 their churches are working; the creeds are kept 
 in reserve and are only used occasionally by 
 which to try ministers. The Christ is coming to 
 his own; the personal Savior as the object of 
 the soul's supreme faith is being realized ; the 
 scene on Transfiguration is being repeated, "And 
 lifting up their eyes they saw no man save Jesus 
 only." Thus have we and our religious neigh- 
 bors entered into the labors of the fathers; thus 
 are we indel)ted to them for much that sweetens 
 and invigorates our religious lives; thus are we 
 debtors to them for their work and labor of 
 love. 
 
 As you read these pages note some things 
 well, and note to imitate: the sublime faith of 
 these men in the Christ of God, in the Gospel 
 of the New Testament, and in the promises of 
 God. By it they wrought wonders, removed 
 mountains of difficulties, subdued kingdoms, 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 15 
 
 wrought righteousness, out of weakness were 
 made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and turned 
 to flight the armies of the aliens- 
 Note the sacrifices of the fathers : few of them 
 were men of property, yet they stopped not to 
 count the cost. It meant poverty, it meant re- 
 ligious and social ostracism, it meant necessary 
 absence from home, it meant alienation of 
 friends; but they went out not knowing whither 
 they went, save only that the heavenly vision 
 beckoned them onward. 
 
 They had something they called the "Cause." 
 When they met they asked, "How is the 'Cause' 
 prospering where you have been?" They planned 
 and prayed for the advancement of the "Cause;" 
 any disgrace was dreaded on account of its in- 
 jury to the "Cause;" — the Cause of causes to 
 them was the Restoration of Apostolic Chris- 
 tianity as the basis and method of the union of 
 all God's people, and in poverty and in tears 
 they sowed the seed of the Kingdom; in the 
 morning they sowed the seed, in the evening 
 they withheld not the hand, and God prospered 
 it as it jileased him. 
 
 Note for hopefulness, the fruitful ness of these 
 lives; they won souls by the hundred. God gave 
 them abundant harvests and blessed their labors, 
 and when their sacrificing labors were ended 
 God kissed them and they rested, and over them 
 we can repeat the Divine Word, "These all died 
 
16 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 in faith, not having received the promises, but 
 having seen them afar off, and were persuaded 
 of them, and .embraced them, and confessed 
 that they were strangers and pilgrims on the 
 earth. 
 
 But the Announcer must not longer keep the 
 bidden guests from the Banquet; enter and feast 
 yourselves on the rich food the author has so 
 carefully prepared. Benjamin L. Smith. 
 
 Cincinnati, 0. 
 
WALTER SCOTT. 
 
I. 
 
 WALTER SCOTT. 
 
The greatest man in the world is he who is most like the 
 Savior of men; who lays all his honors, gifts and attain- 
 ments at the feet of Jesus, and gives him all the glory. It is 
 he who abounds in all goodness, purity and godly fear. It is 
 he whose soul is moved at the wretchedness of mankind, 
 and is only concerned to see men redeemed and God glorified 
 through Jesus Christ. It is he who has the least taste, and 
 is least attracted by the things admired and pursued by the 
 giddy, gay. ungodly world of mankind, while he glories in 
 the l^ord.— Walter Scott. 
 18 
 
WALTER SCOTT. 
 
 /. EARLY LIFE. 
 
 'he name of Walter Scott is inseparably link- 
 
 ed with that of Alexander Campbell in the 
 cause of religious reformation. Near the be- 
 ginning of the movement which led to the 
 organization of the Christian Church, these 
 choice spirits formed a congenial fellowship, 
 which w^as only broken by death. Campbell and 
 Scott bore a somewhat similar relation to the 
 Nineteenth Century Reformation, that Luther 
 and Melanchthon did to that of the sixteenth 
 century. Or, if we may be allowed to liken the 
 former to Paul in this new school of apostles, 
 the latter was the counterpart of John, the apos- 
 tle of love. Like the "disciple whom Jesus 
 loved," Walter Scott's mind dwelt much upon 
 the divine glory of the Master and the super- 
 natural claims of his Messiahship. 
 
 It is a strange coincidence that these two 
 leaders of the new religious thought in America, 
 should each have descended from distinguished 
 Scotch ancestry, and both have stepped out of 
 the bosom of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 (19) 
 
20 
 
 MEN OP YESTERDAY 
 
 Waltei' Scott, the preacher and reformer, was 
 of the same stock as the illustrious poet and 
 novelist, Sir Walter Scott. Both could claim 
 relationship to heroes celebrated in the annals 
 of Scottish history. Preacher and poet alike 
 inherited, besides the sterner qualities of their 
 countrymen, keen perception, vivid imagination, 
 deep emotion and great tenderness of heart. 
 
 It was the inestimable privilege of Walter 
 Scott to be well born. His father, John Scott, 
 was a man of liberal culture and refinement of 
 manners, and possessed of rare musical talent, 
 a gift which he used in the support of a large 
 family, as an instructor of music. His mother, 
 Mary Inues Scott, is described as a person of 
 beautiful life and earnest religious devotion. 
 She had a gentle nature, keenly sensitive to suf- 
 fering and sorrow. An illustration of the depth 
 and delicacy of her affection is presented in her 
 untimely death. Her husband was taken ill, 
 while away from home, and suddenly died. So 
 deeply was she affected by the intelligence of his 
 demise, that she immediately fell dead of a 
 broken heart, and both were buried in the same 
 grave. 
 
 Walter, the sixth child of this devoted couple, 
 was born October 31, 1796, in Moffat, Dum- 
 friesshire, Scotland. As the Scott family were 
 all strict members of the Kirk of Scotland, 
 Walter's religious training was not neglected. 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 21 
 
 Under the kindly, sympathetic care of a devoted 
 mother, his receptive nature unfolded its beau- 
 tiful traits like the blossoms of springtime under 
 the warm rays of tjie sun. His amiable disposi- 
 tion and warm sympathy soon made him 
 beloved of all who knew him. 
 
 At a very early age he gave evidence of a 
 decided talent. Though the resources of the 
 family were only moderate, his watchful parents 
 determined to give him every educational ad- 
 vantage, the mother the while praying that the 
 kirk might enjoy the service of his rare gift of 
 heart and mind, a purpose which Walter himself 
 seems to have cherished from childhood. The 
 Scotch family of the old school sought no 
 greater honor than to have a son at the univer- 
 sity. Though a collegiate education, at that 
 time, was regarded within the reach of the sons 
 of the wealthy only, in this devoted family the 
 slender resources were so husbanded as to enable 
 Walter, after a preparatory course at the acad- 
 emy, to enter the University of Edinburgh. 
 Here he pursued his studies with a zeal and 
 success that fully justified the labors and sacri- 
 fices of his parents. Perhaps the consciousness 
 that every hour of privilege was purchased for 
 him at a great sacrifice, helped him to avoid the 
 follies and dissipations then prevalent among 
 his fellow-students. Certain it is that his young 
 life was unblemished, and that a foundation of 
 
22 
 
 MEN OF YEvSTERDAY 
 
 character was laid wliich enabled him to with- 
 stand all the subsequent storms that swept 
 across his pathway. 
 
 While a student at the university, an incident 
 occurred that finely illustrates the unselfish de- 
 votion of his whole after life. He had a fine 
 voice, carefully trained, and possessing a sympa- 
 thetic strain, which few were ever able to hear 
 unmoved. On a pleasant evening he walked out 
 in the city, and not returning at the expected 
 hour, the family became alarmed at his absence. 
 His brother James was sent out to search for 
 him, and at niidnio,ht found him in the midst of 
 a crowd, singing popular Scottish airs and stip- 
 ulating, as the price of each song, that a collec- 
 tion be taken for a poor blind beggar, whose af- 
 fliction had touched his lieart. This was alwaj's 
 characteristic of the man. His whole life was a 
 song of sympathy for those in suffering about 
 him. 
 
 After completing his university course, while 
 casting about for a place to plant his feet and 
 enter the service of his race, an unexpected 
 turn of affairs changed the channels of his life. 
 His mother's brother, George Innes, had some 
 years before emigrated to America, and hy faith- 
 fulness and integrity advanced himself to a place 
 of responsibility in the government service in 
 New York City. Anxious to assist his relatives 
 still in Scotland, he had written his sister to send 
 
WALTER vSCOTT 
 
 23 
 
 one of her boys, promising what assistance he 
 could render in his advancement. Walter, as 
 best fitted by education for the opportunities of 
 a new country, was the one selected to go; and 
 as the plan was in perfect harmony with his own 
 wishes, he at once left home, arriving in New 
 York, on July 7, 1818. He soon obtained em- 
 ployment in an academy as Latin tutor, a posi- 
 tion for which he was eminently qualified. But 
 in this position he did not long remain. He was 
 a young man of adventurous spirit. A new 
 world spread out before him, and he determined 
 to press on toward the West, of which he had 
 heard glowing reports from his acquaintances in 
 the city of New York. Having resolved to see 
 for himself the country of which he had heard 
 so much, he set out on foot, with a young man 
 about his own age, to explore the regions which 
 were beyond. Over the same route traversed by 
 the family of Thomas Campbell, some eight or 
 ten years previous, young Scott now l)ent his 
 steps, little dreaming that he was following in 
 the pathway of one whose fortunes would be so 
 strangely blended with his own. 
 
 After a long journey on foot over the Alle- 
 ghany Mountains, a journey that to him, with 
 his keen sympathy with nature and overflowing 
 mirthfulness, was filled with delightful experi- 
 ences, he reached Pittsburg in the early spring 
 of 1819. As his purse was as light as his heart. 
 
24 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 his first concern was to seek some employment. 
 This was not, then, difficult for a young man of 
 his attainments. Men of scholarship were rai'e 
 among the hardy settlers of Western Pennsyl- 
 vania and their services were in demand, so he 
 was not long in securing a position as assistant 
 in an academy conducted by George Fori^ester, a 
 fellow-countryman, and a man of high Christian 
 principle. This meeting with Mr. Forrester 
 marked a turning-point in Walter Scott's relig- 
 ious life, and secured his services to the cause of 
 primitive Christianity, then just beginning to 
 claim attention outside of the obscure church in 
 which it had been cradled. 
 
 //. TRAININO IN A NEW RELIGIOUS SCHOOL. 
 
 The young scholar, as we have seen, received 
 his classical education at Edinburgh. It was un- 
 derstood that he should enter the Presbyterian 
 ministry, when the unexpected turn in fortune 
 landed him in America. Without relinquishing 
 his purpose, he entered the school-room as a 
 stepping-stone to his ultimate life-work. The 
 school at Pittsburg, which he entered as an 
 assistant, now became his theological seminary, 
 its text-book the Bible, and its instructor, that 
 pious man of God with whom he had the good 
 fortune to be associated, George Forrester. 
 Under the guidance and inspiration of such a 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 25 
 
 teacher, Walter Scott soon became a proficient 
 scholar in the Book wliicli was later to become 
 his effective weapon in the dissemination of new 
 religious ideas. 
 
 Mr. Forrester hud been trained under the 
 Haldanes ^ of Scotland before coming to Amer- 
 ica, and had, in connection with his school 
 duties, built up a small congregation of believ- 
 ers who shared his views. Young Scott was not 
 long in discovering that his employer, though a 
 deeply religious man, differed widely from the 
 traditional doctrines in which he had been 
 reared; and Forrester was not slow in impress- 
 ing his intelligent assistant with the superiority 
 of his position over that of the Presbyterian and 
 kindred schools of religious thought. 
 
 Better soil for the planting was not to be 
 found than that presented in the heart of Walter 
 Scott. He was a sincere truth-seeker. He loved 
 the Bible. He was ready to accept whatever 
 could be clearly proven by its authority. No 
 sooner, therefore, did he learn of this new relig- 
 ious movement than he set about diligently to 
 test the correctness of his employer's views. 
 Together they made an earnest, prayerful search, 
 into the teachings of the Scriptures. The hours 
 
 1 Robert and James Haldaue liad, in 1798, inaugurated a 
 movement for tbe reformation of religious societ}^ in Scot- 
 land; somewhat similar to tlial afieruard advocated by Alex- 
 ander Campbell in America. 
 
26 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 after school were spent over the Bible. Mid- 
 night often found Scott turning its sacred pages, 
 or on his knees seeking for light and guidance. 
 
 Tlie result of this painstaking search was, that 
 in a few weeks he turned his back upon his past 
 religious training, convinced that human stand- 
 ards of belief were without the sanction of 
 God's Word. This conclusion, we may be sure, 
 was not reached without much anguish of spirit. 
 He further discovered that though he had ad- 
 hered, in all strictness, to the church traditions, 
 he had neglected obedience to some of the im- 
 portant commands of the Bible. Like Mr. 
 Campbell, among his first discoveries, in this 
 conscientious search for truth, was the absence 
 of scriptural authority for infant baptism, and 
 his need of personal obedience to a command so 
 repeatedly enforced as that of baptism into 
 Christ. With him to see tlie way of duty was 
 to unhesitatingly pursue it. He, therefore, an- 
 nounced his purpose to reject all autliority but 
 Christ, and in ()I)edience to the Divine command 
 he was immersed by Mr. Forrester and united 
 with the small company of Ijelievers to whom 
 he ministered. 
 
 Walter Scott at once proved himself a valu- 
 able addition to this struggling congregation. 
 Although he did not at once take a public part 
 in their services, his genial presence, zealous de- 
 votion and Christian culture were the inspira- 
 
WALTER vSCOTT 
 
 27 
 
 tion of the brotherhood. He humbly accepted 
 the position of learner, continued his diligent 
 search of the Scriptures and rejoiced in his new- 
 found faith. 
 
 In the meantime, Mr. Forrester, desiring to 
 devote himself exclusively to religious work, 
 turned over the management of the school to his 
 talented assistant, a position for which the latter 
 was well qualified. Mr. Scott's original meth- 
 ods of instruction, his pleasing manner, his fault- 
 less character, won for his school a wide patron- 
 age. Had success in this line been the goal of 
 his ambition, his situation would have proved 
 eminently satisfactory. But this was not his 
 ambition. The more he studied his Bible, the 
 more he felt drawn toward the ministry of the 
 Word. A new world of religious truth was 
 gradually unfolding before him. He soon found 
 that even his teachers in this new i-eligious 
 school but partially apprehended the Divine pur- 
 pose and method in the world's salvation. From 
 his study of the Bible, especially the Acts of the 
 Apostles, which now enlisted his attention, the 
 plan of redemption began to take form in his 
 mind. Conversion had always been a perplex- 
 ing subject to him, but in the light of this book 
 all mystery fled. He now discovered that all 
 who heard, believed and obeyed the glad mes- 
 sage of salvation, were filled with peace and joy 
 in believing. 
 
28 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 While pursuing this line of investigation a 
 small tract, sent out hy an obscure congregation 
 in the City of New Yoi-k, fell into Mr. Scott's 
 hands. The views expressed in it so perfectly 
 coincided with those which he now held, that he 
 determined to get acquainted Avith its authors, 
 feeling that such an association would add 
 greatly to his Christian knowledge. He, there- 
 fore, at once severed his connection with the 
 school and set out in his search for more light 
 upon the great religious problems that now con- 
 sumed his thought. The visit proved a keen 
 disappointment. He found the i^ractice of the 
 church much different from what he had been 
 led to expect from their publication. So, after a 
 short sojourn in the city, with a heavy heart he 
 continued his journey, visiting Baltimore and 
 Washington, in each of which he had learned of 
 small congregations of independent believers. 
 But these visits only added to his disappoint- 
 ment. These early attempts at religious refor- 
 ;iiation were not always successful and often re- 
 sulted in a caricature of the thing attempted. 
 "I went thither," he says, describing his fruit- 
 less journey, "and having searched them up, I 
 discovered them to be so sunken in the mire of 
 Calvinism, that they refused to reform; and so, 
 finding no pleasure in them, I left them. I then 
 went to the Capitol, and climbing up to the top 
 of its lofty dome, I sat myself down, filled with 
 
WALTER vSCOTT 
 
 29 
 
 sorrow at the miserable desolation of the church 
 of God." 
 
 His drooping spirits were cheered by his re- 
 turn to Pittsburg, after a journey on foot of 
 three hundred miles. He received a warm wel- 
 come from those who had learned his true 
 worth, and, a suitable successor in the school- 
 room not having been found, a handsome salary 
 was pledged to secure his services. Broken in 
 spirit and in purse, he accepted the position and 
 continued in the management of the school for 
 several years with remarkable success. But his 
 chief delight now was to minister to the little 
 flock, which, robbed of a pastor by the sudden 
 death of George Forrester, looked to him for 
 leadership. 
 
 This period marks the growth of Walter Scott 
 in scriptural things. His reverence for Christ 
 and his Word led to the constant study of the 
 Bible. His chief delight after school hours was 
 the Holy Scriptures. It was in these hours of 
 communion with the Spirit of truth that he 
 made his final dedication of himself to God, 
 promising that if "He would grant him just and 
 comprehensive views of his religion, his life 
 !>lioul(l be spent in proclaiming it to the world." 
 
 It was while thus engaged single-handed in 
 working out the problem of human redemption 
 that the pathway of a recognized champion of 
 reformation crossed his and led him to his tinal 
 
30 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 stand in the defense of primitive Christianity. 
 That man was Alexander Campbell, and his first 
 meeting with Walter Scott tookplace in Pittsburg 
 in 1822, and led to the formation of a friendship 
 and copartnership in the work of reform which 
 continued unbroken till death. They possessed 
 many elements in common, had been reared in 
 the same school of religious thought, had been 
 driven by the same burning thirst for truth to 
 the Bible, and through its message were led to 
 pursue similar paths in their search for accept- 
 ance with God. The following, from the pen of 
 Eobert Richardson, beautifully presents the pre- 
 dominating characteristics in contrast at the 
 time of their first meeting: 
 
 "The different hues in the characters of these 
 two eminent men were such as to be, so to 
 speak, complementary to each other, and to 
 form, by their harmonious blending, a complete- 
 ness and a brilliancy which rendered their 
 society peculiarly delightful to each other. 
 Thus while Mr. Campbell was fearless, self- 
 reliant and firm, Mr. Scott was naturally timid, 
 difiident and yielding; and, while the former 
 was calm, steady and prudent, the latter was ex- 
 citable, variable and precipitate. The one, like 
 the north star, was ever in position, unaffected 
 by terrestrial influences; the other, like the 
 magnetic needle, was often disturbed and trem- 
 bling on its center, yet ever returning, or seek- 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 31 
 
 ing to return, to its true direction. Both were 
 nobly endowed with the powers of higher reason, 
 a delicate self-consciousness, a decided will and 
 a clear perception of truth. But as it regards 
 the other departments of the inner nature, in 
 Mr. Campbell the understanding predominated, 
 in Mr. Scott the feelings; and if the former ex- 
 celled in imagination, the latter was superior in 
 brilliancy of fancy. . . In a word, in almost 
 all those qualities of mind and character which 
 might be regarded differential and distinctive, 
 they were singularly fitted to supply each other's 
 wants and to form a rare and delightful com- 
 panionship." ^ 
 
 They at once recognized in each other kindred 
 spirits and joined hands, and with Thomas 
 Campbell formed a trio of unsurpassed genius, 
 eloquence and devotion to the truth. Twenty 
 years later, Alexander Campbell, referring to this 
 meeting in a letter to Scott, wrote: "We were 
 associated in the days of weakness, infancy and 
 imbecility, and tried in the vale of adversity, 
 while as yet there was but a handful. My father, 
 yourself and myself, were the only three spirits 
 that could co-operate in a great work or enter- 
 prise. The Lord greatly blessed our very im- 
 perfect and feeble beginnings, and this is one 
 reason worth a million that we ought always to 
 cherish the kindest feelings, esteem, admiration, 
 
 1 Memoirs of Campbell, Vol. 1, p. 510. 
 
32 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 love." From the day of his meeting with 
 Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Walter Scott 
 occupied a recognized position as an advocate of 
 religious reformation, and was one of the 
 brightest stars in the galaxy of reformers. 
 
 HI. FIXDTXd A FIKLD. 
 
 Having now unreservedly dedicated himself 
 to the service of the Lord and the cause of 
 primitive Christianity, Walter Scott awaited the 
 opening of a field suited to his peculiar talent. 
 In the meantime he kept himself busy with the 
 work nearest at hand. He possessed splendid 
 qualifications for teaching, so he continued to 
 teach. But all the while his heart was burning 
 within him to get out and help wage a crusade 
 against sin and sectarianism. He had come to 
 regard the sect si^irit, then so bitter, as the 
 most serious barrier to the triumph of the Cross. 
 
 The little church in Pittsburg, formerly min- 
 istered to by George Forrester, looked to him as 
 the spiritual successor of their lamented teacher ; 
 so he continued to break to them the bread of 
 life at their weekly assemblies, without remitting 
 in the least his labors in the school-room. But 
 this did not satisfy him. He longed for a wider 
 field. He felt himself possessed of a message 
 which would speedily correct the religious errors 
 and apathy of the times, and he craved a suitable 
 opportunity to deliver it. 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 33 
 
 His meeting with Alexander Campbell, already 
 noted, was a providential circumstance, contrib- 
 uting to the enlargement of his field. At that 
 time Mr. Campbell was planning the publication 
 of a monthly journal, which should become the 
 exponent of the movement which he and his 
 father had inaugurated. He had recognized in 
 Walter Scott a man of more than ordinary abil- 
 ity, and at once took him into his confidence, 
 and urged him to address a wider field through 
 the columns of the proposed journal. To this 
 Mr. Scott readily acceded, and it was at his sug- 
 gestion that the name "Christian Baptist" was 
 adopted as the most suitable title. This begin- 
 ning of labors was destined to continue unin- 
 terrupted to the end. Scarcely a number of the 
 "Christian Baptist," through its seven years' ex- 
 istence, was issued without something from the 
 pen of Walter Scott, and each article breathed 
 a message that had burned itself deep into his 
 conviction. It was the modern watch-word, 
 "Back to Christ," stated in its primitive form, — 
 "Jesus is the Christ." This truth was the rock 
 upon which he had planted his feet, the center 
 and circumference of his religious system. 
 
 "Shut your eyes to it," he wrote in his Essay 
 on Teaching Christianity, "and Christianity is a 
 most dark and perplexing scheme. Once behold 
 it, and you behold the most certain and substan- 
 tial argument for love to God and men. This 
 3 
 
34 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 same Holy One died for sin, and if the knowl- 
 edge of it fails to influence our hope, and love, 
 and joy, it may safely be said that the Scriptures 
 have nothing of equal weight to propose for this 
 purpose. That man is, or is not a Christian, 
 who is, or is not constrained by this grand truth 
 to abandon sin and live unto God, and this is all 
 the Scriptures mean by the word Gospel, in the 
 noblest sense of that term. This is the grace 
 and ])hilanthropy of God, which, having ap- 
 peared unto all men, teaches us to deny all 
 ungodliness and to live soberly, righteously and 
 godly in the present evil world." ^ 
 
 "In my humble judgment," wrote Isaac Errett 
 more than fifty years later, " the most thor- 
 oughly revolutionary element in Walter Scott's 
 advocacy of reformation, and that which has 
 proved most far-reaching in its influence, is just 
 this concerning the central truth of Christianity. 
 It not only shaped all his preaching, but it 
 shaped the preaching and practice of the re- 
 formers generally, and called the attention of the 
 religious world at large to the fact that a person, 
 and not a system of doctrines, is the proper 
 object of faith, and that faith in Jesus, love for 
 Jesus, and obedience to Jesus is the grand dis- 
 tinction of Christianity." 
 
 The numerous contributions from his pen at 
 this period proved their author to be a man of 
 
 1 The Christian Baptist, p. 37. 2 Addresses, p. 320. 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 35 
 
 vast knowledge and deep discernment of spirit- 
 ual things, and speedily gained him a reputation 
 scarcely inferior to that of the editor himself. 
 
 While thus engaged in the triple service of 
 teaching, preaching and writing, Walter Scott 
 found time for courtship, which resulted in his 
 marriage to Miss Sarah Whitsett. This pious 
 young woman, though at the time a member of 
 the religious body known as the Covenanters, was 
 soon won to her husband's views, and shared 
 without a murmur her husband's toils and pri- 
 vations. Of his appearance at this period, one 
 of his admiring pupils has preserved us this 
 picture : 
 
 "He was at this time about twenty-six years of 
 age, about the medium height; slender and 
 rather spare in person, and possessed of little 
 muscular strength. His aspect was abstracted, 
 meditative, and sometimes had even an air of 
 sadness. His nose was straight, his lips rather 
 full, but delicately chiseled; his eye dark and 
 lustrous, full of intelligence and tenderness; 
 and his hair, clustering above his fine ample 
 forehead, was black as the raven's wing." 
 
 Some time in 1826, Mr. Scott, still dissatisfied 
 with the work in which he was engaged, closed 
 his school in Pittsburg, and having secured a 
 successor as pastor of the church, removed his 
 family to Steubenville, Ohio. Failing yet to 
 find a field which could assure him sujiport in 
 
36 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 the ministry of the Word, and being wholly de- 
 pendent on his own resources, he again entered 
 the school-room. Though the change was at 
 first attended with disapjjointment, there was 
 something almost providential in his removal 
 within the borders of Ohio at that time. His 
 new situation brought him within the limits 
 of the Mahoning Association of the Baptist 
 churches, where the leaven of new truth, im- 
 planted by the debate between Campbell and 
 "Walker and through the monthly visits of the 
 "Christian Baptist," was « already beginning to 
 work. In the autumn of this year,he attended 
 the annual meeting of the Association, and, 
 though not a member, was invited to deliver one 
 of the principal addresses. While his presenta- 
 tion of the Gospel message was with an origin- 
 ality and power that fixed him in the memory of 
 the occasion, nothing came of it at the time in 
 the way of enlarged opportunity; and he re- 
 turned to his school-room in Steubenville so dis- 
 couraged as to abandon, for a time, further 
 thought of securing a footing in the ministry. 
 
 If God could not use him in the pulpit, he now 
 determined to try and render him service in an- 
 other way. The success of his contributions in 
 the "Christian Baptist" led him to conceive the 
 publication of the "Millennial Herald," a paper 
 to be devoted to the defense of the Gospel, and to 
 the advocacy of views of the millennium, in which 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 37 
 
 he bad become much interested. While Walter 
 Scott was preparing to embark in this editorial 
 enterprise, Alexander Campbell, on his way to 
 the Association of 1827, visited him, and, after 
 much persuasion, prevailed upon him to attend 
 the meeting to be held in New Lisbon. 
 
 That visit became the turning point in Scott's 
 life, giving him to the reformation as its most 
 accomplished evangelist and committing the 
 Baptist churches of the Western Reserve to the 
 cause in which he was enlisted. The Baptist 
 churches embraced within the Mahoning Asso- 
 ciation were, at that time, with few exceptions, 
 in a languishing condition. Conversions were 
 few and indifference wide-spread. A few zeal- 
 ous spirits, grieved at the prevailing indifference, 
 urged, as a means of putting new life into the 
 work, the employment of an evangelist, who 
 should be sent among the churches. Walter 
 Scott, though not a member of the association, 
 was chosen for this important work. Distrust- 
 ing his own abilities, and having, on account of 
 many discouragements, planned for himself an- 
 other career, it was with difficulty and only after 
 prayerful, tearful consideration, that his consent 
 was secured and the plans of his life changed. 
 But yielding at last to the entreaty of his breth- 
 ren, he accepted with all his heart, and dismiss- 
 ing his school, giving up his paper, and taking 
 leave of his family, he at once began the work 
 
38 
 
 MEN OF YEvSTERDAY 
 
 in which he was ultimately to distinguish him- 
 self. 
 
 At first his efforts were unsuccessful. He 
 had studied the Word of God long and prayer- 
 fully. Its message and method had smitten his 
 heart, and he resolved to try the experiment of 
 preaching the Gospel according to the New Tes- 
 tament model; but after his earnest appeals no- 
 body responded. It was so different from the 
 revival methods in vogue, that men were dis- 
 posed to question rather than obey. Instead of 
 giving way to traditional prejudice, he said to 
 himself, "This is the way of God, and ought to 
 succeed, and with his help it shall." 
 
 After two or three unsuccessful efforts, he 
 began at New Lisbon. Here he was soon to wit- 
 ness the removal of the barriers and the triumph 
 of the cause that was near his heart. On the 
 first Sunday after his arrival, an eager throng 
 filled the meeting-house where he was to speak. 
 He preached a discourse of great power, unfold- 
 ing the procedure ))y which men were made 
 Christians in tlie primitive church, and uiiiing 
 men to accept Christ upon the terms offered by 
 Peter'onthe day of Pentecost. As his discourse 
 drew to a close, an intelligent man was seen to 
 enter the door, and, at the invitation, having 
 heard but the closing sentences of the sermon, 
 he pressed through the crowd to accept Christ 
 upon the conditions which Mr. Scott had quoted. 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 39 
 
 That man, William Amend, had long been wait- 
 ing for such an opportunity to obey Christ, and 
 now became the first fruits of a mighty revival, 
 which not only continued to attend Mr. Scott's 
 ministry from that moment, but which spread 
 with its Pentecostal blessing wherever the new 
 way was proclaimed. The man, endowed, 
 equipped, consecrated, had found his proper 
 field, and from that day the name of A^'alter 
 Scott became a household word to thousands of 
 disciples whose lives were touched by his 
 blessed ministry. 
 
 IV. GOSPEL TRIUMPHS IX .l/.4.Yr PLACES. 
 
 The work which opened so auspiciously at 
 New Lisbon, under the preaching of Walter 
 Scott, marked the beginning of a new revival 
 era, which, in its far-reaching results, is second 
 only to that of Pentecost. It was not charac- 
 terized by the deep feeling that attended the 
 revival of religion under Jonathan Edwards 
 at Northampton, beginning in 1740. Nor was 
 it the scene of wild excitement and strange 
 bodily exercises, like those which followed 
 the preaching of George Whitfield and the 
 early ministry of Barton W. Stone. It was 
 marked by a quiet thoughtfulness, an un- 
 wonted searching of the Scriptures "whether 
 those things were so," and a final decision to 
 obey the personal Christ, expressed in public 
 
40 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 confession and scriptural baptism. Based upon 
 an intelligent acceptance of the Gospel, it was 
 saved from the peril of reaction which must 
 follow a season of overwrought feeling, and as 
 a revival of inexhaustible power, continues to 
 the present time its season of refreshing, 
 wherever the simple terms of the Gospel are 
 faithfully presented. 
 
 The conversion of William Amend confirmed 
 Mr. Scott in his conviction that the old way, 
 announced by God's inspired messengers at 
 Pentecost, was the right way. So the invitation 
 was given from night to night, and large num- 
 bers became obedient to the faith. 
 
 Strange as it may seem, the reformers had 
 none of them, up to this time, thought of mak- 
 ing such a practical use of their discoveries. 
 Thomas Campbell, it is true, had many years 
 before announced as his platform, "Where the 
 Scriptures speak, Ave speak; where the Scrip- 
 tures are silent, we are silent." Alexander 
 Campbell, in his debate with McCalla in 1823, 
 had unfolded the design of baptism in terms 
 almost identical with those now used by Walter 
 Scott, and, in the "Christian Baptist," had can- 
 vassed the whole ground of practical obedience 
 to God. But what had been held by them as a 
 theory, was for the first time used as a method 
 of inducting men into the kingdom, as Walter 
 Scott called upon his convicted hearers to 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 41 
 
 *'repent and be baptized in tiie name of Jesus 
 Christ for the remission of sins." 
 
 There had been widespread lethiirgy among 
 the churches before the advent of Walter Scott. 
 The Mahoning Association, though made up of 
 God-fearing men, was no exception. Religious 
 life was stagnant. Conversions were rare. The 
 enemies of truth were defiant. For the year 
 1825, the seventeen churches which comprised 
 the association reported only sixteen converts to 
 Christ. The success of Scott in arousing the 
 churches and winning converts soon opened 
 before him a wide field. The tidal wave of 
 revival once set in motion continued to rise. 
 Appeals came to him from every side for assist- 
 ance. 
 
 For the work which now consumed his 
 strength he was eminently qualified. He had a 
 voice of matchless sweetness and persuasiveness. 
 His mind was well stored with truth and gar- 
 nished with scriptural imagery. He was en- 
 dowed with a rare gift of language by which the 
 old story was clothed in most beautiful form. 
 His heart was bursting with love for his match- 
 less Savior and sympathy for his feliowmen. 
 All his rare powers he had dedicated unre- 
 servedly to the Master's use. With an original- 
 ity bordering on the eccentric, and a courage 
 that did not hesitate to speak the truth, however 
 unpopular, he succeeded in drawing together 
 
42 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 multitudes of earnest listeners wherever he 
 went, nor did he fail in convincing the most 
 intelligent and bringing them to the acceptance 
 of the truth he preached. 
 
 As might be expected, a character so unique 
 and a message so antagonistic to the prevailing 
 instruction of the times, would soon encounter 
 opposition and misrepresentation. The members 
 of the Baptist Church, for the most part, received 
 the Word gladly and welcomed the evangelist; 
 but leaders of the other denominations became 
 bitter in their opposition. Preachers warned 
 their flocks against him, and charged him with 
 preaching water salvation and ignoring the need 
 of a change of heart. At last word was brought 
 Alexander Campbell that Mr. Scott had become 
 the author of rank heresy, and, fearing lest the 
 young preacher, in his zeal and enthusiasm, had 
 been carried beyond the bounds of prudence, he 
 sent his venerable father to learn the exact state 
 of the case. After a visit to the scone of 
 Scott's labors and a careful ol).servuti()n of the 
 course he was pursuing, Thonuis Campbell wrote 
 his son: 
 
 "We have long known the tlieory, and have 
 spoken and published many things correctly con- 
 cerning the ancient Gospel, its simplicity and 
 perfect adaptation to the present state of man- 
 kind, for the benign and gracious purpose of his 
 immediate relief and complete salvation; but I 
 
WALTER SCOTT. 
 
 43 
 
 must confess that, in respect to the direct exhi- 
 bition and application of it, for that blessed pur- 
 pose, I am at present, for the first time, upon 
 the ground whei-e the thing has appeared to be 
 practically exhibited to the proper purpose."^ 
 
 Notwithstanding the boldness of Mr. Scott's 
 preaching and his independence of traditional 
 forms, he was well received by the Baptist 
 churches forming the association for which he 
 labored. Wherever he went among them they 
 speedily fell in with his way of thinking, and 
 most of them, abandoning their creeds and cove- 
 nants, determined, henceforth, to be governed 
 by the Scriptures alone. 
 
 It was a period of tireless effort. "With his 
 faithful horse, he traveled miles between ap- 
 pointments, preaching and teaching the people 
 wherever he went. An eye-witness has thus de- 
 scribed the scenes that were transpiring contin- 
 ually under his ministry: 
 
 "It was not uncommon for him to occupy the 
 court-house or school-house in the morning at 
 the county-seat, address a large assenil)ly in some 
 great grove in the afternoon, and have the i)ri- 
 vate dwelling which gave him shelter crowded 
 at night to hear him before he sought his needed 
 rest. Sometimes the interest would continue 
 until midnight; and in those stirring times it 
 was not unusual for those who, on such occa- 
 
 1 Life of Elder Walter Scott, p. 15S. 
 
44 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 sions, felt the power of truth, to be baptized 
 before the morning dawned. The beautiful 
 Mahoning became a second Jordan, and Scott 
 another John calling on the people to prepare 
 the way of the Lord. Everywhere among the 
 new converts arose men, earnest and bold as the 
 Galilean fishermen, telling, too, the same story, 
 calling their neighbors to repentance and bap- 
 tizing them in its clear waters." ^ 
 
 It is said that throughout that region at that 
 time nearly every convert became a preacher, 
 either in public or private; and the New Testa- 
 ment became the daily companion of every be- 
 liever. By the close of Mr. Scott's first year in 
 the evangelistic field he was able to report a 
 thousand converts, languishing churches re- 
 vived, and many new congregations planted. 
 So remarkable had been his success, that he was 
 unanimously chosen to continue the work, and 
 consented, stipulating only that he be given "his 
 Bible, his head and William Hayden," a zealous 
 young preacher, as an assistant, promising with 
 such an equipment to convert the world. 
 
 Shortly after entering upon his second year of 
 evangelistic labors, a call came to Mr. Scott to a 
 field where victory was not to be so easily won, 
 and where he was to experience the bitterness of 
 the sectarian hate which was shortly to set all 
 
 1 Life of Walter Scott, p. 148. 
 
WALTER vSCOTT- 
 
 45 
 
 those who sympathized with Mr. Caiiiphell 
 adrift. 
 
 The Baptist Church at Sharon, Pa., had heard 
 of his earnest and successful hibors among the 
 churches of Ohio, and invited him to come to 
 their aid. As soon as opportunity afforded he 
 responded to their call. His clear, forcible, 
 scriptural presentation of the truth soon led 
 many to accept the Gospel. Upon a simple pro- 
 fession of their faith in Jesus as the Son of God, 
 they were baptized in the river near by. This 
 was a new and unprecedented course for that 
 place and time. No sooner had the evangelist 
 left than the church discovered that his- converts 
 had failed to conform to Baptist usages. They 
 had not given an experience before a church 
 meeting. Their fitness for the kingdom had not 
 been determined by the accepted tests. It was, 
 consequently, decided that they could not be 
 admitted into the membership of the church. A 
 serious trouble soon arose. Not satisfied with 
 keeping out new converts, the conservative por- 
 tion of the congregation determined that all who 
 sympathized with the new converts and shared 
 in Mr. Scott's Avay of thinking, should be ex- 
 cluded from the fellowship of the church. The 
 result was the withdrawal of many of the lead- 
 ing members of the church, who, together with 
 those who had accepted Christ under Mr. Scott's 
 
46 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 preaching, formed a new organization upon 
 broad New Testament principles. 
 
 This was but the beginning of a bitter con- 
 flict which became widespread and which re- 
 sulted in the complete separation of Baptists 
 and those who accepted the principles of the 
 reformation. When the Mahoning Association 
 met in the autumn of 1830, such had been the 
 leavening influence of Walter Scott's evangelism 
 that it disbanded, and so ceased connection with 
 the Baptist Church, which had already, as a de- 
 nomination, repudiated all who were tinctui'ed 
 with the principles advocated by Alexander 
 Campbell and his co-laborers. 
 
 It was at this point that Walter Scott, in the 
 estimation of all friends of religious co-opera- 
 tion, "made the mistake of his noble, grand 
 life" by leading in the overthrow of organized 
 religious co-operation. Regarding the Associa- 
 tion as "an ecclesiastical tribunal," he labored 
 to accomplish its dissolution in opposition to the 
 more practical judgment of Alexander Campbell; 
 and men like William Hayden never ceased to 
 deplore it. "It was at a juncture," wrote Isaac 
 Errett fifty years later, "when the condition of 
 numerous infant churches, and the widening 
 fields for mission work required more than ever 
 the combined wisdom and resources of the 
 churches. But in a moment of rashness this 
 system of co-operation was dissolved. The in- 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 47 
 
 fant churches were left to struggle through 
 the perils of infancy, or to die. The inviting 
 tields of labor that opened on every hand were 
 neglected or irregularly occupied by any preacher 
 that could spare the time and labor, and the 
 work that had gone so gloriously forward under 
 the Association suffered seriously. We have 
 been trying now for over thirty years to recover 
 lost ground; and to this day we reap the un- 
 happy consequences of what I cannot help regard 
 as the folly of that hour." ^ 
 
 But whatever the blame attached to Walter 
 Scott in this matter, it was shared by a majoi-ity 
 of his brethren, and was the legitimate result of 
 the relentless war which was being waged against 
 ecclesiastic domination by all the reformers. 
 
 r. PECULLilUTlHS AXD POITER. 
 
 The i)oint at which we have now arrived in 
 the career of Walter Scott marks the zenith of 
 his fruitful life and affords us a good outlook 
 from which to survey those qualities of heart 
 and mind which endeared him to the people. 
 
 He was yet comparatively a young man, — 
 thirty-one ; but he had risen to a position second 
 only to that of Alexander Campbell in the 
 esteem of the brethren. Never before had he 
 shown himself possessed of such irresistible 
 
 1 Linsey-Woolsey and other Addresses, p. 335. 
 
48 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 power as a preachev; and seldom again did 
 he rise to the height of impassioned eloquence 
 which characterized his three years' evangelism 
 among the churches of the Western Reserve. 
 His whole nature, always intensely fervid, was 
 aroused. The vast multitudes that gathered to 
 hear him, and the constant success that attended 
 his preaching, called forth the best there was in 
 him. He felt that upon the adoption of the 
 principles which he advocated rested the victory 
 of truth. It was not the narrow zeal of a bigot, 
 but the broadening spirit of Christian liberty 
 and human sympathy, that fired his souL He 
 saw Christ, and Christ only, and saw in him, 
 rather than in the prevailing systems of theol- 
 ogy, the hope of the world's redemption. What- 
 ever was peculiar in the preaching of this man of 
 God, was born of intense loyalty to Christ. 
 
 These were great years in his life, — I feel 
 almost justified in saying that they embrace all 
 that is essential and enduring in his life-work. 
 At a critical period in the history of the refor- 
 mation, the churches among a most intelligent 
 people were won to the cause of primitive Chris- 
 tianity. Furthermore, in them, he set a pace in 
 revival work, and whatever there is of good or 
 evil in the present-day methods of revivalism 
 among the Disciples of Christ, may be traced to 
 him. 
 
 In his method of winning attention, Mr. Scott 
 
WALTER vSCOTT 
 
 49 
 
 was often regarded as eccentric; though, in fact, 
 his eccentricities consisted, for the most part, of 
 a deeper sense of the importance of Divine truth 
 than that jjossessed b.v most men of his time. 
 He felt himself anointed of (irod to lead hi< cliil- 
 dren into the larger liberties f)f the (lospel. In 
 his zeal as the messenger of the Most High, his 
 complete self-forgetf ulness sometinu'> made him 
 api^ear peculiar to cold and undemonstrative 
 natures. 
 
 His novel, original methods were sometimes 
 quite surprising, but always succes-^ful. In the 
 absence of the daily paper and regularly ap- 
 pointed services, he would often resort to meth- 
 ods of his own in announcing his presence and 
 mission in the community. On one occasion, 
 meeting a group of children on the road home 
 from school in the village where he tlesired to 
 preach, in a kindly way, with good humor beam- 
 ing from his face, he gathered them about him. 
 Gaining their attention, he requested them to 
 hold up their hands, while on their lingers, be- 
 ginning with the thumb, he marked off the Gos- 
 pel terms in the order in which he had formu- 
 lated them, — faith, repentance, baptism, the 
 remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. 
 Then he had the children repeat with him, 
 "Faith, repentance, baptism, the remission of 
 sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.'' Then he 
 
 had them say it over again faster, until thev 
 
 4 
 
50 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 could all repeat it in concert. "Now," said he, 
 "run home and tell your parents that a man will 
 preach the Gospel to-night at the school-house, 
 as you have it on the five fingers of your hand." 
 The children ran away in great glee with their 
 message, and at the appointed hour the house 
 was thronged. They came out of curiosity, but 
 were soon led to heights of spiritual vision of 
 which they had never dreamed. 
 
 On another occasion, when his announcement 
 brought out only a few and they were character- 
 ized by the most stolid indifference, instead of 
 going on with the service, he asked all who were 
 on the Lord's side to arise. No one stood up. 
 He then asked all who were in favor of the 
 devil to stand. Still there was no response. 
 After a thoughtful survey of the house, he re- 
 marked that he had never seen such an audi- 
 ence before, — that if they had stood up either 
 for God or the devil, he would have known what 
 to do, but that he would have to study their case 
 and try and meet it, and that on the next even- 
 ing he would gi.ve them the result of his reflec- 
 tions. He then took his departure, leaving them 
 in amazement; but the next evening the house 
 was not large enough to hold the people who 
 came, and in the end a great victory was 
 achieved. 
 
 Another characteristic that made him greatly 
 beloved by the people, was his intense sympathy 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 51 
 
 with human need and his generosity in contribu- 
 ting to human relief, always far beyond his 
 means. He never thought of his own necessi- 
 ties, and, I fear, sometimes forgot those of his 
 family, when others seemed in greater need. He 
 was always ready to share,- though himself often 
 reduced to the extremest poverty. He would 
 sometimes go to the market for food and return 
 with an empty basket, having given away the 
 money with which the purchase was to be made, 
 either to friend or stranger, whose real need 
 seemed to be more pressing than his own. 
 
 The largest property he seems to have owned 
 was two cows, and this possession he did not 
 long enjoy; for, finding a neighbor who did not 
 have any, they were soon on an equality, each 
 having one, the only diiference being that the 
 neighbor had the best cow. One intimately 
 associated with him at that period writes : 
 
 "These Avere pioneer days — days of great trials 
 and triumphs. Bro. Scott enjoyed the triumphs 
 with a keen relish, and felt the crushing weight 
 of pioneer privations and trials, as only such 
 natures as his could feel. He had embarked his 
 all in his plea for the primitive Gospel, and at 
 that time there was no earthly compensation for 
 such labors. He was poor, very poor; while I 
 lived in his family it was not at all uncommon 
 for them to be almost destitute of the common 
 necessaries of life. He was a great believer in 
 
52 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 prayer, and just at the point of greatest need 
 help always came." 
 
 But, whatever his earthly lot, Walter Scott 
 had an unfailing fountain in which his soul daily 
 delighted. It was the Word of God, no mere 
 ornament in his home, but his companion by 
 day and the subject of his meditation in the 
 night watches. He loved the Bible, and he 
 would at times burst forth in an apostrophe like 
 this : 
 
 "Oh, book of God! thou sacred temple ! thou 
 holy place! thou golden incense altar! thou 
 heavenly shew-bread! thou cherubim-embroid- 
 ered vail! thou mercy-seat of beaten gold! thou 
 Shekinah in which the Divinity is enshrined! 
 thou ark of the covenant! thou new creation! 
 thou tree of life, whose sacred leaves heal the 
 nations! thou river of life, whose waters cleanse 
 and refresh the world! thou New Jerusalem, re- 
 splendent with gems and gold! thou paradise of 
 God, wherein walks the second Adam! thou 
 throne of God and t.he Lamb! thou peace-promis- 
 ing bow, encircling that throne unsullied and un- 
 fallen! Image of God and his Son who sit there- 
 on, what a futurity of dignity, kingly majesty and 
 eternal glory is hidden in thee! thou art my com- 
 fort in the house of my pilgrimage ! Let the kings 
 and counselors of the earth and princes who have 
 got gold and silver, build for themselves sepul- 
 chers in solitary places; but mine, oh, be it 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 53 
 
 mine, to die in the Lord! Then earth to earth 
 and dust to dust, but the great mausoleum, the 
 Word of God, be the shrine of my soul!" ^ 
 
 Vl. TlIK COURSE FINISHED. 
 
 The story of the remaining years of Walter 
 Scott's life must be briefly told. They were 
 busy years, not unfruitful of results, but the 
 great victory of his life had alread}' been won. 
 Henceforth his energies were spent in his Mas- 
 ter's service, over a wide field, in many use- 
 ful labors; but never again was he confronted 
 by such a problem as that presented in Eastern 
 Ohio, in the early years of his ministry, and 
 never again ditl ho witness such heart-cheering 
 results. 
 
 Although still in the prime of life, his severe 
 and unromittin<i' toil had told sadly on his health. 
 Afllicted with (lys|)epsia and depressed in spirit, 
 he ceased for a time from evangelistic lal)ors, 
 and, in the autumn of 1831, removed to the 
 vicinity of Cincinnati, leaving behind him thous- 
 ands whose entrance into the kingdom of light 
 and life and joy was secured by his logical, scrip- 
 tural, warm-hcaitcd presentation of the claims 
 of divine truth. 
 
 On his removal to Cincinnati, he attempted to 
 follow the revered James Challen as pastor of 
 
 1 Lifo of Walter Scott, p. 292. 
 
54 
 
 MEN OP YESTERDAY 
 
 the church. His fame had preceded him and 
 much was expected. But both pastor and peo- 
 ple were disappointed in the result. Missing 
 the inspiration of great audiences and hundreds 
 of converts, he fell below the expectation of his 
 hearers. At last in despair he wrote Mr. Chal- 
 len: "The flock are sighing and pining for their 
 former shepherd; you must come back, you 
 alone can satisfy them. I cannot and will not 
 consent to remain with them, as long as there is 
 any hope or prospect of your return." 
 
 Not long afterward Mr. Scott removed to Car- 
 thage, a village in the vicinity of the city. He 
 found here a community without church or re- 
 ligious privileges other than a Sunday-school, 
 and given over to all forms of vice and dissipa- 
 tion. It was such a place as appealed to the 
 sympathies of his warm nature. They were as 
 sheep without a shepherd, and he set about at 
 once gathering them into the school-house and 
 instructing them in the principles of the king- 
 dom. He was again in his proper sphere. With 
 a heart bursting with love for humanity, he wept 
 and prayed and talked, until he had those who 
 had known only sin, w^eeping and praying. In a 
 short time the entire character of the commu- 
 nity was changed. Temperance and piety took 
 the place of drunkenness and disorder. A 
 church was established which has continued to 
 the present day as a power for good. Here he 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 55 
 
 continued to reside for thirteen j-ears, not as 
 pastor, for much of his time was devoted to 
 evangelistic work abroad; but the little church 
 during all these years was the object of his fos- 
 tering care, and enjoyed his labors and fellow- 
 ship whenever other duties permitted. 
 
 Hitherto Mr. Scott's labors had been confined 
 to Ohio and Pennsylvania, but now a wider field 
 claimed his service. In Kentucky, where the 
 cause of reformation had made rapid progress, 
 he was much in demand, and wherever he went 
 his presence was a benediction. 
 
 At last, wearied with the hardships and priva- 
 tions of an evangelist's lot, he determined to 
 devote himself to the quieter sphere of journal- 
 ism. Returning with his family to Pittsburg, 
 the scene of his early labors, he began the publi- 
 cation of a weekly paper, called the "Protestant 
 Unionist," advocating the principles of the 
 reformation, but especially urging the union of 
 God's people. In his intellectual equipment he 
 was well qualified for the position he now occu- 
 pied. A man of native genius and liberal educa- 
 tion, none were better fitted than he to set forth 
 the claims of the cause to which he had given 
 his heart. But here, as at every turn in his path 
 through life, the gaunt figure of poverty arose 
 before him. Unable to meet his bills and pro- 
 vide for his family, he was compelled, after a 
 time, to suspend the publication of the paper. 
 
56 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 Recognizing as he did the impoi'tance of the 
 Bible and the value of its companionship in the 
 home, he now did service as a colporteur. In 
 this way seeking to bring the truth of God into 
 the homes, he went from house to house with a 
 basket of Bibles, selling or giving them away as 
 circumstances demanded. He still continued to 
 preach as he had opportunity, and the friend- 
 ships and fellowship which he now enjoyed 
 afforded him great pleasure. The few years 
 spent at Pittsburg in this golden autumn were 
 possibly the happiest. of his life. 
 
 But here, in 1849, a great sorrow cast its 
 shadow over his life in the death of the heroic 
 woman who, since 1823, had shared his labors 
 and uncomplainingly endured the privations 
 which fell to the lot of the pioneer preacher. 
 This loss, together with the death of others very 
 near to him, led him again to seek a new home, 
 going this time to Kentucky, first to Covington 
 and later to Mayslick, where his earthly pilgrim- 
 age was to reach its end. He closed his life- 
 work as he began it, in the school-room. In no 
 place was he more at home and for no work was 
 he better qualified. He was a born teacher of 
 men. It was in recognition of his splendid 
 ability as an educator that he was invited to 
 address the College of Teachers which held its 
 annual meetings in Cincinnati, and which em- 
 
WALTER vSCOTT 
 
 57 
 
 braced among its members some of the ablest 
 men of that period. 
 
 As the shadows of his life lengthened, he 
 sought to put his life-thought into permanent 
 form, in the preparation and publication of a 
 volume entitled "The INIessiahship, or the Great 
 Demonstration." Who l)etter tlian he could un- 
 fold in its matchless splendor the work of the 
 world's lledeemer? All his life long he had 
 lived in an atmosphere of faith and adoration. 
 Christ had been his theme, his hope, his joy. 
 The preparation of this volume, revealing deep 
 lessons of human experience and divine truth, 
 was the fitting close of his literary labors. With 
 the weight of more than I luce score years resting 
 upon him, he now relinquished the work that 
 had consumed most of his active ministry. 
 
 His last days were spent amid the excitement 
 and anguish of the beginning of the great rebel- 
 lion, to which his own sensitive nature responded 
 with deep concern. He was a patriot whose love 
 for country was only less intense than his love 
 for Christ — the forerunner of the Christian-citi- 
 zenship movement of to-day. Though a for- 
 eigner by birth, the nation had few more loyal 
 sons than he. 
 
 "I remember distinctly," he once said, "the 
 moment I became an American citizen at heart; 
 it was not when I went through the forms of the 
 laws of naturalization, but on the occasion of my 
 
58 
 
 MEN OP YESTERDAY 
 
 meeting with a procession headed by a band 
 playing national airs and bearing a national ban- 
 ner. Inspired by the strain, as I looked on the 
 national emblem, I felt that under that flag and 
 for it, if need be, I could die, and I felt at that 
 moment that I was in feeling as well as in law an 
 American citizen; that that flag was my flag and 
 that this country was my country." 
 
 Animated by such a spirit, his heart bled over 
 the threatened disunion. At the firing on Fort 
 Sumter, only a few days before he died, he 
 wrote: "Oh, my country! my country! How I 
 love thee ! How I deplore thy present misfor- 
 tunes!" These were the last words he ever 
 penned. A few days later he fell asleep, rejoic- 
 ing in the promises of a glorified Redeemer. 
 And so passed from earth on the twenty-third of 
 April, 1861, one of its choicest spirits, whose 
 life and memory have been a benediction to 
 thousands. 
 
 Walter Scott was an important, may I not say 
 providential, factor in the work of religious 
 reformation to which his life was devoted. It 
 was no small circumstance that brought this tal- 
 ented young man to America at the opportune 
 time, as men were searching for the old paths, 
 that threw him at once into companionship with 
 such a choice spirit as George Forrester, that led 
 early to his association with the Campbells, and 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 59 
 
 that resulted in his selection us evangelist to go 
 among the scattered Baptist churches of Ohio. 
 Each step was important in the preparation of 
 the man for the splendid service he was to ren- 
 der. With a trained mind capable of a broad 
 grasp of the truth, with a sympathetic heart that 
 never failed to awaken enthusiastic response, 
 with a loyal spirit that followed unhesitatingly 
 in the steps of the Master, he was pre-eminently 
 the man for the work to which God called him. 
 None knew him better than his eminent co-la- 
 borer, Alexander Campbell, and none were capa- 
 ble of placing a fairer estimate upon his service. 
 
 "Next to my father,'' writes the Sage of Beth- 
 any, "he was my most cordial and indefatigable 
 fellow-laborer in the origin and progress of the 
 present reformation. We often took counsel to- 
 gether in our efforts to plead and advocate the 
 paramount claims of original and apostolic 
 Christianity. His whole heart was in the work. 
 He was, indeed, truly eloquent, in the whole im- 
 port of that word, in pleading the claims of the 
 Author and Founder of the Christian faith and 
 hope, and in disabusing the inquiring mind of 
 all its prejudices, misapprehensions and errors. 
 He was, too, most successful in winning souls to 
 the allegiance of the Divine Author and Founder 
 of the Christian institution, and in jjutting to 
 silence the cavilings and objections of the mod- 
 
80 
 
 MEN OF YE.STERDAY 
 
 era Pharisees and Saddiicees of sectariandom." ^ 
 As a preaelier, iu his best moments he had few 
 equals, but he was not always great. His efforts 
 were characterized by peculiar uuevenness, often 
 disappointing to his friends and crushing to his 
 own sensitive nature. This was doubtless in 
 l)art due to extravagant expectations which it 
 was impossible for any man to meet, and partly 
 from ill health and attendant depression of 
 spirits. Painfully conscious of his failure at 
 such times, he was wont to remark: "The smile 
 of the Lord was not on me to-day." But when 
 he enjoyed the "smile of the Lord," few men 
 equaled him in the power to thrill an audience. 
 Men were known, as they listened to his flights, 
 to unconsciously rise in their places and bend 
 forward, lest they should miss a word. Once in 
 a discourse of unusual power, in which he un- 
 folded the glories of redemption, Alexander 
 Campbell, though naturally' not demonstrative, 
 was so filled with rapture and admiratu)n that, 
 as the preacher reached his climax, he shouted 
 "Glory to God in the highest." In his great 
 moments Walter Scott was sublime. But 
 whether sublime or commonplace in his utter- 
 ance, he was always loyal to the truth. 
 
 I cannot better close this sketch of a noble 
 life, than with this comparison between him and 
 
 1 Millennial Harbinger, 1861, p. 296. 
 
WALTER SCOTT 
 
 61 
 
 his distinguished co-laborer, Alexander Camp- 
 bell, from the pen of William Baxter: 
 
 "In no sense were they rivals, any more than 
 Moses and Aaron, or Paul and Silas; but like 
 them, with different gifts, devoting their lives to 
 the accomplishment of the same glorious end. 
 Cann^bell was always great and self-possessed; 
 Scott subject to great depression, and, conse- 
 quently, unequal in his public efforts, but at 
 times he knew a rapture which seemed almost 
 inspiration, to which the former was a stranger. 
 Campbell never fell below the expectations of 
 his hearers ; Scott frequently did, but there were 
 times when he rose to a height of eloquence 
 which the former never equaled. If Campbell 
 at times reminded his hearers of Paul on liars' 
 Hill, commanding the attention of the assembled 
 wisdom of Athens, Scott, in his happiest mo- 
 ments, seemed more like Peter on the memora- 
 ble Pentecost, with the cloven tongue of flame 
 on his head and the inspiration of the Spirit of 
 truth in his heart, while from heart-pierced sin- 
 ners on every side rose the agonizing cry, 'Men 
 and brethren, what shall we do?' " 
 
II. 
 
 BARTON W. STONE. 
 
I BELIEVE the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the 
 world, that whosoever believeth on liini niiiiiituot jK'rish, but 
 have everlasting life. I believe that all power and authority 
 in heaven and earth are given imto him and tliat he is able to 
 save unto the uttermost all that come to God by him ; that 
 in him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; that 
 it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell, the 
 fulness of the Godhead, the fulness of the Spirit, the fulness 
 of grace and salvation. When we see him we see the Father, 
 his image, his character, his glory, and his perfection. Let 
 me lose my life, before I would detract from my Lord one ray 
 of glory. — Barton W. Stone. 
 64 
 
BARTON W. STONE. 
 
 7. EAULY STFtrdGLKS. 
 
 'HE opening years of this century were the 
 
 seed time of great moral and religious 
 forces, which have, under God, made it the 
 mightiest of all these Christian centuries. The 
 spirit of the times was conducive to the march of 
 reform and the development of new ideals in 
 society and church. 
 
 The triumph and extension of civil liberty 
 had made men restive under all forms of eccle- 
 siastical bondage. To read and think for them- 
 selves, to follow Christ in the light of his own 
 Word, were privileges which men were every- 
 where beginning to crave. It was this desire 
 that led Thomas and Alexander Campbell to in- 
 augurate a movement for the restoration of 
 primitive Christianity. But no single religious 
 body to-day can claim the honor of recognizing 
 this need or of seeking a pathway to larger lib- 
 erty. Lofty spirits from the bosom of various 
 communions and in widely separated regions, 
 towering above their fellows, first saw the morn- 
 ing light of God's new day, and became the 
 prophets of a new order of things. 
 
 5 
 
 (65) 
 
66 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 There was James O Kelly of Virginia, a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Church, who, even as early 
 as 1792, protested against the authority of 
 bishops, and was ultimately led, in his desire for 
 greater liberty, to discard the name and the 
 creed of his church, adopting, instead, the name 
 Christian, and taking the New Testament as his 
 only authority in religious faith and life. 
 
 There was Abner Jones of Vermont, a mem- 
 ber of the Baptist Church, who in 1800 gath- 
 ered a small church about him, abandoning 
 human names and creeds for the name Christian 
 and the Word of God alone. 
 
 In the same manner. Barton W. Stone of 
 Kentucky, a member of the Presbyterian 
 Church, in 1804, declared himself independent 
 of all authoi-ity in matters of religion, save the 
 authority only of the Word of God. 
 
 Each in his desire for larger liberty in 
 Christ and broader fellowship in his service, 
 had acted independently of the others. It was 
 an almost simultaneous outburst of latent feel- 
 ing, showing wide-spread dissatisfaction with 
 denominational beliefs and barriers. 
 
 Since the work of Mr. Stone culminated in his 
 acquaintance with Mr. Campbell and the adop- 
 tion of the principles which the latter advocated, 
 his name deserves a place among the distin- 
 guished pioneers of the great religious reforma- 
 tion of the nineteenth centui-y. 
 
BARTON W. STONE 
 
 67 
 
 The life of Barton Warren Stone reads like 
 I'onuince. Born in 1772, his cradle was rocked 
 by the storm which burst in revolution, and his 
 3-oung life toughened in every fiber by the adver- 
 sities and hardships of the frontier. Though a 
 village in Maryland witnessed his advent, his 
 father dying soon after, his mother took her 
 flock, which was a large one, to what was then 
 called the back-woods of Virginia. There, 
 amidst the wild woods and rugged hills of a 
 sparsely settled district, removed from the 
 touch and knowledge of the great world, his 
 early years were spent. 
 
 Now and again the quiet of this community 
 was disturbed by the raids of contending armies; 
 family circles were broken by the departure of 
 fathers and sons to the field of battle ; and often 
 the roar of artillery was heai'd, filling every 
 breast with anxiety and fear. In such times and 
 places little attention could be paid to the refin- 
 ing influences which elevate and purify our 
 human lot; and it is to be regretted that even 
 religion had little place in the thoughts of the 
 people. Vices took the place of homely virtues, 
 and evil habits, learned in the army, were 
 brought home by returning soldiers at the close 
 of the war to become the fashion of all. It was 
 in such a community that God was molding the 
 life of a youth who should one day become his 
 
68 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 most efficient servant in startling into repentance 
 transgressors of every form. 
 
 If it presented hindrances to high moral and 
 spiritual development, it at least served to fan 
 the spirit of liberty and manly independence, 
 which afterward were characteristic traits of the 
 reformer. Hei'e, too, in the midst of uniform 
 ignorance, was somehow quickened a thirst for 
 knowledge which the environments of young 
 Stone gave little promise of satisfying. It was, 
 however, his good fortune to be sent early to 
 school, or perhaps it might better be called bad 
 fortune, for he was placed under a very tyrant 
 of a teacher, who abused and flogged his young 
 pupil until, through fear, he was neither able to 
 study nor recite. Later he was put to another 
 school where a different spirit reigned. In its 
 genial atmosphere he made such progress in 
 reading, writing and arithmetic, that in a short 
 time his teacher pronounced him a finished 
 scholar, declaring his ability to teach him noth- 
 ing more; and from this time he was considered 
 a prodigy of learning in the community. 
 
 Rude and limited as were these educational 
 privileges, they had kindled a fire in the breast 
 of young Stone which could not be quenched. 
 Having learned to read, his delight, henceforth, 
 was in books, and the neighborhood was scoured 
 far and wide for its scant treasures of literature. 
 But he records his disappointment at being able 
 
BARTON W. STONE 
 
 69 
 
 to find nothing but a few novels, which, though 
 trashy, his famished soul devoured with avidity. 
 But these were poor help to a mind fired with a 
 love of letters, and he determined to explore 
 other and wider fields for the knowledge he 
 craved. 
 
 Inheriting a small sum from his father's 
 estate, at fifteen Barton Stone stipulated that it 
 should be used in securing, if possible, a liberal 
 education. His ambition, at that time, was to 
 fit himself for the practice of the law. In the 
 execution of this purpose he entered an acad- 
 emy in Guilford, North Carolina, where he 
 began the study of Latin. He resolved now, as 
 he declared, to "secure an education or die in the 
 attempt." That his slender means might carry 
 him as far as possible toward the goal of his 
 ambition, he lived on the plainest food, and 
 applied himself with indefatigable energy in the 
 prosecution of his studies. Time for sleep was 
 reduced to the minimum of six hours, and every 
 moment was sacredly appropriated to intellec- 
 tual pursuits. In this way he outstripped his 
 fellows, passing from class to class, until he had 
 completed his academic course. 
 
 While quietly pursuing his studies, an element 
 came into the life of young Stone that changed 
 the whole current of his being, robbing the law 
 of one who would have been an ornament, and 
 enriching the ministry with his rare talents. 
 
70 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 His early life had been almost without relig- 
 ious influence. The subject was rarely men- 
 tioned in his home. His only knowledge of the 
 Bible had come from its perusal as a text-book 
 in the school-room, and it did not make any im- 
 pression on his mind at that time. An occa- 
 sional Baptist or Methodist minister had visited 
 the neighborhood in which he was reared. 
 These had at first enlisted his attention, but the 
 bitterness of their attacks on each other's creeds 
 at last filled his mind with confusion and dis- 
 gust, and he turned away from both to a life of 
 thoughtless indifference. 
 
 Soon after entering the academy, the whole 
 subject was brought before him in a new light. 
 Great religious excitement prevailed. Thirty of 
 his fellow-students had become the subjects of 
 religious convictions. But it had not yet come 
 to the thought of Barton Stone that he had a 
 lasting interest in the blessings of redemption. 
 He says: "I was not a little surprised to find 
 those pious students assembled every morning 
 before the hours of recitation, and engaged in 
 singing and praying in a private room. Their 
 daily walk evinced to me their sincere piety and 
 happiness. This was a source of uneasiness to 
 my mind, and frequently brought me to serious 
 reflection. I labored to banish these serious 
 thoughts, believing that religion would impede 
 my progress in learning — would thwart the 
 
BARTON W. STONE 
 
 71 
 
 object i had in view, and expose me to the 
 frowns of my relatives and companions. I there- 
 fore associated with that part of the students 
 who made light of divine things, and joined 
 with them in their jests at the pious." ^ 
 
 Unable to stifle the voice of conviction in this 
 wa}', he resolved, like Jonah, to flee from the 
 presence of God. Packing his effects together, 
 he declared his determination to seek another 
 institution of learning, where the religion of 
 Christ would not be thrust upon iiis attention. 
 A storm, however, prevented his leaving on tlie 
 (hiy arranged, and after calmly reflecting over 
 the situation he decided to remain where he 
 was, attend to his own business ami give the 
 subject no more thought. Settling back again 
 into the old routine of his life, he was not long 
 in discovering that such resolutions were easier 
 made than kept. 
 
 IT. (■(iXVKIi>;f(lX AX!) CALL. 
 
 The young student did not find the work of 
 stifling his convictions as easy as he anticipated. 
 For a time, it is true, he settled down to 
 his books, undisturbed by that voice from with- 
 in; but in an unguarded moment he accepted an 
 invitation from his room-mate, a pious young 
 man, to accompany him a short distance in the 
 country one afternoon to attend a religious 
 
 1 Autobiography, p. 7. 
 
72 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 meeting. The preacher was a man of great 
 earnestness, and before he had finished, the 
 message had pierced Barton Stone's soul, and he 
 rushed home to his room and out into the soli- 
 tude of night to wrestle afresh with the ques- 
 tion of religion, feeling himself the creature of 
 despair, doomed to destruction. 
 
 In the fierce struggle which followed, he tried 
 to impartially weigh the subject. To accept the 
 religion of Christ meant the displeasure of his 
 relatives, the ridicule of his companions, the 
 relinquishment of worldly honors, and a final 
 adieu to all the pleasures he had coveted for 
 himself. But on the other hand his heart 
 shrank from the awful alternative, the loss of 
 heaven and eternal happiness. As the conflict 
 went on, his better nature at length asserted 
 itself, and he resolved "from that hour to seek 
 religion at the sacrifice of every earthly good." 
 
 The pathway which the young seeker now trod 
 in his search for acceptance with God was not 
 an easy one. He should have doubted the genu- 
 ineness of his conversion had it been other than 
 a painful process. According to the fashion of 
 the times — and who dared ignore fashion even 
 in the cut of his confession where creed was the 
 pattern? — due sojourn must be made at Doubting 
 Castle, where the soul, tossed with uncertainty, 
 racked with despair, enveloped in darkness, was 
 condemned to await the good pleasure of an 
 
BARTON W. STONE 
 
 73 
 
 ■offended Father, who, in his own time, would 
 visit the suffering penitent with the joy of his 
 salvation. 
 
 Anticipating some such long and painful 
 struggle, the mental anguish through which Bar- 
 ton Stone now passed was indescribable. For a 
 whole year he was tossed on the waves of uncer- 
 tainty, ••laboring," he tells us, "praying and 
 striving to obtain saving faith, sometimes de- 
 sponding and almost despairing of ever getting 
 it."' Before him rose that mighty stumbling- 
 block of total depravity; around him seemed to 
 surge the fires of hell from which he possessed 
 no power to flee. He studied his Bible; he 
 spent hours upon his knees in prayer; he went 
 from pulpit to pulpit, seeking for light that he 
 did not find; and under the strain of his anxi- 
 ety his strength failed and rest deserted him. 
 
 It was at last his good fortune to hear a young 
 Presbyterian minister preach from the text, 
 "God is love." The message came as a revela- 
 tion to his soul. It touched his sensitive heart. 
 It kindled a new hope within his breast. With 
 the message still fresh in his mind he retired to 
 the woods with his Bible. He searched the 
 Scriptures, to find a new message recorded on 
 every page. Wherever he turned, the assurance 
 it brought him was "God is love." After many 
 anxious weeks he had come at last to know the 
 true meaning of the Gospel. God loved him 
 
74 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 and would accept him now, indeed had always 
 been ready to receive him. "From that time 
 on," he declares, "till I finished my course of 
 learning, I lived devoted to God." The error 
 and the anguish of Barton Stone, like that of 
 thousands since, was in trying to fashion his 
 experience after the devices of men rather than 
 upon the simple terms of the revealed will of 
 God. 
 
 With a soul at peace with his Maker he now 
 took up his studies again with renewed zeal. 
 Branches that were formerly irksome, he now 
 pursued with pleasure, from the consideration 
 that he was engaged in them for the glory of 
 God, to whom he resolved to unreservedly de- 
 vote his all. In the fires of his devotion he 
 forged anew his plans for life. The legal pro- 
 fession, to which he once aspired, was aban- 
 doned. His great desire henceforth was to 
 preach the Gospel, but as yet he had received no 
 assurance of being called and sent. He com- 
 municated his desire and his misgivings to his 
 trusted teacher. Dr. David Caldwell, who encour- 
 aged him to offer himself to the Orange Presby- 
 tery of North Carolina as a candidate for the 
 ministry. Accordingly, in 1795, he began his 
 studies under the direction of the Presbytery. 
 He must know something of theology, the being 
 and attributes of God, the doctrine of the Trin- 
 ity and kindred speculations, and the standard 
 
BARTON W. STONE 
 
 75 
 
 works of the day, upon these great doctrines, 
 were put in his hands. The only book on the- 
 ology which he had previously studied was the 
 Bible. It had been his daily comfort and guide. 
 But as he began to explore the mystery of the 
 attributes and relationships of the Deity, as 
 taught by Witsius and others, his mind became 
 confused. Doubt again cast its shadow over his 
 pathway, and the religious exercises in which he 
 had taken such delight and found such comfort, 
 were discontinued, and for a time he thought 
 seriously of relinquishing the ministry and 
 engaging in some other business. 
 
 A treatise of Dr. Watts, falling into his hands 
 at this time, was read with pleasure by the 
 young student of theology, who again saw his 
 way through the mazes of speculation. The old 
 desire so far revived that he came before the 
 next Presbytery for examination, and was al)le 
 to make a satisfactory statement of the grounds 
 of his faith. 
 
 Again his study of "systematic divinity from 
 the Calvinistic mould" became so confusing to 
 his mind that he determined to give up the idea 
 of preaching. Gathering his all together he 
 started for the State of Georgia, to visit a 
 brother, and work out for himself a career along 
 some new line. Here, through the brother's in- 
 fluence, he secured a position as instructor of 
 languages in an academy at Washington. The 
 
76 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 atmosphere of the school, which was under the 
 auspices of the Methodists, was religious, and 
 here, agaio, a strong desire arose in the heart of 
 young Stone to preach the Gospel. Determined 
 to resume his theological studies at the end of 
 the school year, he resigned his professorship, 
 and started back to receive his license from the 
 Orange Presbytery of North Carolina. 
 
 Having received his license and an appoint- 
 ment, in company with another young minister, 
 Eobert Foster, to do evangelistic work in the 
 southern part of his State, the two set out on 
 horseback for their new field of labor. Before 
 they reached their first appointment, however, 
 Mr. Stone's companion determined not to 
 preach, declaring himself unqualified for so sol- 
 emn a work. The resolution of his companion 
 caused him to question his own fitness, and again 
 he (letormined to aI)andon the luinisiry. Mount- 
 ing his horse, he started for Florida, hoping to 
 escape from the unpleasant responsibility which 
 his license had placed upon him, by seeking a 
 home among strangers. Again Providence in- 
 terrupted the execution of his design. At his 
 first stopping-place he met a pious old lady, who 
 knew him, suspected his intention, accused him 
 of acting the part of Jonah, and in her friendly, 
 motherly way urged him to continue in the good 
 calling, and pointed him to the West for a field 
 suited to the exercise of his gifts. Heeding the 
 
BARTON W. STONE 
 
 77 
 
 advice of the good woman, who ])roved to l)e the 
 man of ^Nfacedonia in another guise, he pursued 
 his lonely journey across the mountains into 
 Tennessee, where he soon found scattered set- 
 tlements, famishing for the bread of life, and 
 there began a career which was destined under 
 the providence of God to ])ecome a mighty 
 agency in the restoration of the primitive faith. 
 
 It was thus through many fiery trials and dis- 
 couragements that Barton W. Stone found his 
 way to God, and into a field of labor where God 
 could use him. 
 
 in. THE GREAT REVIVAL AT CAXERIDGE. 
 
 After a few months' labor among the scattered 
 settlers of Tennessee, Mr. Stone determined to 
 visit Kentucky. The journey, though not a long 
 one, was in those early days attended with many 
 hardships and perils. Bands of Indians still 
 menaced the daring frontiersmen, and constantly 
 imperiled the traveler as he rode through the 
 unbroken forest from settlement to settlement. 
 Many were the dangers which the young preacher 
 encountered, and many were the deliverances 
 \\hich he devoutly ascribed to Providence. 
 
 Preaching from place to place as he found op- 
 portunity, he arrived in the early part of the 
 winter of 1796 at Caneridge, Ky. Here his min- 
 istry was so well received that he was invited to 
 become the settled i)astor of the Presbyterian 
 
78 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 Church, another church in a neighboring settle- 
 ment sharing his labors and uniting in his sup- 
 port. Endearing himself to the people by his 
 many admirable traits, and adding largely to the 
 numbers and strength of the churches to which 
 he ministered, it was decided after a year's trial 
 that he should be formally ordained and in- 
 stalled. 
 
 Tliis was the beginning of new, or rather the 
 revival of old, troubles. His mind had never 
 been able to reconcile itself to some of the doc- 
 trines of the Westminster Confession. Knowing 
 that he would be expected to subscribe to this 
 historic standard, he determined to re-examine 
 the whole ground of theology as taught by the 
 ci'eed of his church. As the result of his re- 
 search, he says, "I stumbled at the doctrine of 
 Trinity as taught in the Confession. I labored 
 to believe it, but could not conscientiously sub- 
 scribe to it. Doubts, too, arose in my mind on 
 the doctrines of election, reprol)atioii and pre- 
 destination as then taught." 
 
 In this state of mind he appeared before the 
 Presbytery, but so serious were his difficulties 
 that he asked to have the ordination deferred, 
 candidly declaring his dissent from some of the 
 doctrines taught l)y the Confession, but at the 
 same time indicating his willingness to receive 
 the Confession so far as he saw it consistent with 
 
• BARTON W. .STONE 
 
 79 
 
 the Word of God. Upon this qualilied assent 
 he was ordained. 
 
 The reception of his ordination papers neither 
 ended his own intellectual misgivings, nor his 
 difficulties with his strictly orthodox ministerial 
 associates in the Presb3'tery, as we shall here- 
 after discover. 
 
 His mind, from this time until he finally broke 
 the fetters of religious bondage, was "contin- 
 ually tossed on the waves of speculative divin- 
 ity." "I, at that time," he says, "believed and 
 taught that mankind wei*e so totally depraved 
 that they could do nothing acceptable to God, 
 till his Spirit, by some pbj-sical, almighty and 
 my.sterious power had quickened, enlightened 
 and regenerated the heart, and thus prepared 
 the sinner to believe in Jesus for salvation." 
 But he soon discovered that this cheerless doc- 
 trine was inseparably linked with unconditional 
 election and reprobation, from which his mind 
 had revolted. The inconsistency of his position 
 in calling upon listening multitudes to repent 
 and believe the Gospel, at the same time declar- 
 ing their helplessness to do anything, because of 
 the total depravity of their state, well-nigh 
 silenced his voice. 
 
 It was long afterward that the subject of 
 human depravity resolved itself in his mind in 
 harmony with man's ability to accept and obey 
 the truth, after this fashion: "That mankind 
 
80 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 are depraved is a lamentable truth, absolutely 
 attested by the Word of God and conliruied l)y 
 universal experience and observation. To quote 
 the many passages of Scripture which prove this 
 point would be to transcribe a great part of the 
 Bible. . . . Yet, though man be thus alien- 
 ated from God, and prone to evil, he possesses 
 rational faculties, capable of knowing and enjoy- 
 ing God. If not, ho has ceased to be a moral 
 agent, and consequently is no longer a fit subject 
 of moral government. He is a machine, incapa- 
 ble of rational happiness. But this we believe 
 none will assert." 
 
 In his perplexity, as he began his ministry at 
 Caneridge, he again made the Bible his constant 
 companion, and devoted his time to a prayerful 
 examination of its pages. But it was only after 
 days of struggle, in which the mind of the unfor- 
 tunate preacher lingered on the border land of 
 skepticism and despair, that belief and reason 
 and hope were restored, and the sensitive spirit 
 of Barton Stone again found peace and comfoi't 
 in the greatness of God's love. He at last came 
 to the conviction, the doctrine of his creed to 
 the contrary notwithstanding, that God did love 
 the whole world, and that the only barrier to the 
 salvation of every creature was their unbelief. 
 From that moment of new light and joy, he began 
 to part company with Calvinism, declaring it to 
 be the heaviest clog on Christianity in the world, 
 
BARTON W. STONE 
 
 81 
 
 a dark mountain between heaven and earth, 
 shutting out the love of God from the sinner's 
 heart. 
 
 In the joy of his new-found liberty, Mr. Stone 
 received a baptism of power that made him one 
 of God's choicest instruments in awakening 
 religious society out of its apathy, and in prepar- 
 ing the way for the great revival with which this 
 century was ushered in. Born with his new con- 
 viction of God's all abounding love, was an in- 
 tense yearning to bring his fellowmeu to the joy 
 of such a salvation. While the fire was kindling 
 in his soul, he heai'd of a great work of grace 
 already begun in Southern Kentucky under the 
 labors of James McGready. It was a sudden 
 outburst after a season of religious apathy. This 
 was in the spring of 1801. He was anxious to 
 see for himself and learn the secret of this new 
 revival movement. Hastening to join the throngs 
 that were now being drawn together in a great 
 encampment about this new John the Baptist in 
 the wilderness, he witnessed a spectacle that 
 baffled description. 
 
 "Many, very many," he writes in his account 
 of this remarkable revival, "fell down, as men 
 slain in battle, and continued for hours together 
 in an apparently breathless and motionless state ; 
 sometimes for a few moments reviving and ex- 
 hibiting symptoms of life by a deep groan or 
 piercing shriek, or by a prayer for mercy most 
 
82 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 fervently uttered. After lying thus for hours, 
 they obtained deliverance. The gloomy cloud 
 which had covered their faces, seemed gradually 
 and visibly to disappear, and hope in smiles 
 brightened into joy; they would rise shouting 
 delivei-ance, and then would address the sur- 
 rounding multitude iu language truly eloquent."^ 
 Returning from these strange scenes, Mr. 
 Stone entered his pulpit at Caneridge with heart 
 aglow with spiritual fervor. No longer shackled 
 by the doctrines of election and reprobation, he 
 took for his text the inspiring message of the 
 great commission, " Go ye into all the world 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature. He 
 that belie veth and is baptized shall be saved, 
 and he that believeth not shall be damned." 
 Old as was the text, it came like a new evangel 
 to this people, who had known nothing but the 
 hard terms of a Calvinistic creed. The audience 
 was visibly affected, and he left them, promising 
 to return in a few days. This was the beginning 
 of one of the greatest revivals in history. On 
 his return a vast multitude awaited him, and he 
 had scarcely begun to picture before them the 
 great salvation when scores fell to the ground as 
 if smitten by some unseen hand. We shall allow 
 Mr. Stone to describe the scene iu his own lan- 
 guage: "Some attempted to fly from the scene 
 panic-stricken, but they either fell or returned 
 
 1 Autobiography, p. 34. 
 
BARTON W. STOXE 
 
 83 
 
 immediate!}- to the crowd, as unable to get away. 
 Ill the midst of this exercise an intelligent deist 
 in the neighborhood stepped up to me and said, 
 'Mr. Stone, I always thought before that you 
 were an honest man, but now I am convinced 
 that you are deceiving the people.' I viewed 
 him with pity and mildly spoke a few words to 
 him ; immediately he fell as a dead man, and 
 rose no more until he had confessed the 
 Savior." 
 
 The report of this remarkable meeting soon 
 spread through the surrounding country, and a 
 vast multitude, estimated at from twenty to 
 thirty thousand, crowded the roads with wagons, 
 carriages, horsemen and footmen, all moving 
 toward this solemn camp. Ail denominations 
 joined in the conduct of the meeting. Party 
 spirit for the time had disappeared, and all 
 united in the great work of grace. It was a 
 veritable Pentecost. Multitudes abandoned sin 
 and entered the profession and practice of re- 
 ligion. The meeting continued for si.x or seven 
 days and nights, and would have continued 
 longer, but food for the multitudes could not be 
 found. 
 
 There is an element of the mysterious in this 
 great revival, of which B. W. Stone was the cen- 
 tral figure, which may test our credulity. That 
 these strange happenings occurred, we cannot 
 doubt. '*I have been an eye witness of them," 
 
.84 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 wrote Mr. Stone, near the close of his life, 
 "from the beginning, and am now over three 
 score and ten years of age, on the brink of eter- 
 nity." How much was due to the fanaticism of 
 man and how much to the hand of God, we 
 shall never know. 
 
 That it was more than a momentary outburst 
 of wrought-up feeling seems evident from some 
 of its practical fruits. The revival had taken a 
 deep hold on the community and was accom- 
 panied by a moral transformation of society. 
 Awakened himself to new conceptions of right- 
 eousness, Mr. Stone emancipated his slaves, 
 "choosing poverty with a good conscience," and 
 many others followed his example. The eyes 
 of many were opened to just and proper views 
 of the Gospel, and the growing religious inter- 
 est gave promise of widespread triumph for 
 Christianity, when it met with an untimely 
 check in the return of the old spirit of denom- 
 inational jealousy. 
 
 Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists, in 
 their desire to see the lost saved, had for a time 
 forgotten their differences. But, as the work 
 grew in power and influence, each began to sus- 
 picion the other of unfair methods in winning 
 to their chui'ch standards the new converts, and 
 to fear that the cherished doctrines of their 
 confessions were in danger. The result of the 
 strife which followed is vividly described by Mr. 
 
BARTON W. STOXE 
 
 85 
 
 Stone: "It revived the dying spirit of party- 
 ism, and gave life and strength to trembling in- 
 fidels and lifeless professors. The sects were 
 aroused. Methodists and Baptists, who had so 
 long lived in peace and harmony with the Pres- 
 byterians and with one another, now girded on 
 their armor and marched into the deathly field 
 of controversy and war. These were times of 
 distress. The spirit of partyism soon expelled 
 the spirit of love and union — peace fled before 
 discord and strife, and religion was stifled and 
 banished in the unhallowed struggle for pre- 
 eminence." 
 
 Zr. A XE^r DECLARATIOX OF IXDEPEXDENCE. 
 
 The Caneridge revival, whatever may be 
 thought of its manifestations, had brought 
 Barton W. Stone to another great crisis in his 
 religious history. During its continuance he and 
 a few of his co-laborers so far forgot the rigid 
 standard of their church as to desire the salva- 
 tion of the whole world, and to turn tht-ir 
 preaching to the accomplishment of this sub- 
 lime purpose. In their zeal for the conversion 
 of mankind they had ceased to preach the dead- 
 ening dogmas of Calvinism, its unyielding de- 
 crees, its hopeless depravity, its limited election 
 and its withering fatalism. They had ventured 
 to teach that God loved the world, the whole 
 world, and sent his Son to save them on condi- 
 
86 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 tion that tlie.y believed in him; that the Gospel 
 was the means of salvation, but that this means 
 would never be effectual to this end until be- 
 lieved and obeyed by us; that God required us 
 to believe in his Son, and had given us suflBcient 
 evidence in his Word to produce faith in us, if 
 attended to by us; that sinners were capable of 
 understanding and believing this testimony, and 
 of acting upon it by coming to the Savior and 
 obeying him, and from him obtaining salvation 
 and the Holy Spirit; that God was as willing to 
 save sinners now as he ever was or ever would 
 be; that no previous qualification Avas required 
 or necessary in order to believe in Jesus; that if 
 they were sinners this was their Divine warrant 
 to believe in him and to come to him for sal- 
 vation. 
 
 The effect of such preaching upon the people 
 was to awaken them, as it were, out of the sleep 
 of ages and cause them to feel their own respon- 
 sibility. Those who had previously felt them- 
 selves hopelessly beyond the pale of divine 
 grace, were encouraged to accept the promises 
 of the Gospel and I'ejoiced in their new-found 
 jDrivileges. But its effect upon the leaders of 
 Presbyterian society was far different. It served 
 to arouse their suspicion and awaken a spirit of 
 hostility toward the offending preachers. 
 
 For their heretical utterances, B. W. Stone 
 and four of his co-laborers, Richard McNemar, 
 
BARTON W. STONE 
 
 87 
 
 John Thompson, John Dunlavy and Robert Mar- 
 shall, were speedily brought to account by the 
 Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Kentucky. 
 Forseeing their fate before that body, they drew 
 up a protest, declaring their independence and 
 withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the Synod. 
 As yet they had no thought of ceasing to hold to 
 the Presl)yterian faith, and that they might con- 
 tinue in the service of the church organized 
 themselves into an independent Presbytery. But 
 soon finding this position an impossible one, and 
 the whole system of doctrine out of harmony 
 with their views, these young men now took an- 
 other step in their work of reform. Renouncing 
 their allegiance to all authority but that of their 
 Divine Master, they resolved to be governed by 
 his word alone. Rejecting the party name which 
 they had so long worn, they called themselves 
 Christians. From the curious document in 
 which they announce the death of the Presbytery 
 and their independence of all human authority 
 in matters of religion, we quote a few items: 
 
 "We will, that this body die, be dissolved, and 
 sink into union with the body of Christ at large; 
 for there is but one body and one Spirit even as 
 we are called in one hope of our calling. 
 
 "We will, that our name of distinction, with 
 its Reverend title, be forgotten, that there be 
 but one Lord over God's heritage, and his name 
 one. 
 
88 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 "We will, that our power of making laws for 
 the government of the church and executing 
 them by delegated authority, forever cease ; that 
 the people may have free course to the Bible, 
 and adopt the law of the spirit of life in Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 "We will, that candidates for the Gospel min- 
 istry henceforth study the Holy Scriptures with 
 fervent prayer, and obtain license from God to 
 preach the simple Gospel with the Holy Ghost 
 sent down from heaven, without any mixture of 
 philosophy, vain deceit, traditions of men or the 
 rudiments of the world. 
 
 "We will, that each particular church as a 
 body, actuated by the same spirit, choose her 
 own preacher, and support him by a free-will 
 .offering, without a written call or subscription, 
 admit members, remove offenses, and never 
 henceforth delegate the right of government to 
 any man or set of men whatever. 
 
 "We will, henceforth that the people take the 
 Bible as their only sure guide to heaven ; and as 
 many as are offended with other books which 
 stand in competition with it, may cast them into 
 the fire if they choose; for it is better to enter 
 into life having one book than having many to 
 be cast into hell. 
 
 "We will, that preachers and people cultivate 
 a spirit of mutual forbearance; pray more and 
 dispute less; and while they behold the signs of 
 
BARTON \V. STONE 
 
 89 
 
 the times, look up, and confidently expect that 
 redemption draweth nigh." ^ 
 
 In this act of dissent, B. W. Stone laid him- 
 self upon the altai* of sacrifice. Having with- 
 drawn from the Presbyterian Church, he could 
 no longer consistently labor for the churches 
 which he had served with great acceptance for 
 six years. Calling his people together, in tears 
 he announced his new position, absolved them 
 from further obligation to contribute to his sup- 
 port, and without salary went out to serve his 
 Master as he might find opportunity. To pro- 
 vide for the wife, whom he had recently mar- 
 ried, he turned his attention to the cultivation of 
 a little farm. In this new role, he says: "I 
 relaxed not in my ministerial labors, preaching 
 almost every night, and often in the daytime, to 
 the people around. I had no money to hire 
 laborers, and often on my return home I found 
 the weeds were getting ahead of my corn. I had 
 often to labor at night while others were asleep 
 to redeem my lost time." 
 
 The ground which this new religious society, 
 calling themselves Christians, had taken in re- 
 gard to the Bible, soon drove them to modify 
 their practices in many particulars. Among the 
 first changes was the abandonment of infant 
 baptism as unscriptural. This was soon fol- 
 lowed by dissatisfaction with their own baptism, 
 
 1 Autobiograpliy. p. 51. 
 
90 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 all having been sprinkled in infancy. To con- 
 sider the question, a conference was called, and 
 after friendly investigation and discussion it was 
 decided that each member should act in accord- 
 ance with his own conviction. As none among 
 them had been immersed, it was a question 
 whether anyone was qualified to administer bap- 
 tism, which was finally settled upon the ground 
 that authority to preach carried with it authority 
 to baptize. In the performance of this newly 
 discovered duty, the ministers first baptized each 
 other and then their congregations. 
 
 All this transpired in 1804, five years before 
 Thoauis Campbell formulated his famous declar- 
 ation, and eight years prior to his baptism and 
 that of his illustrious son in the waters of the 
 Buffalo. It marks the beginning of a reforma- 
 tion whose swelling current contributed, in no 
 small measure, to the flood-tide which the move- 
 ment inaugurated by Mr. Campbell a few years 
 later, in another section of the country, has since 
 reached. 
 
 V. THE PROGRESS OF TITE REFORM MOVEMENT. 
 
 The labors of B. W. Stone were greatly in- 
 creased by the independent stand he had taken 
 on the Bible alone. Kindred spirits speedily 
 rallied to his support. Churches quickly sprang 
 up over a wide region, rejecting all standards but 
 the Bible and refusing to wear any name but 
 
BARTON W. STONE 
 
 91 
 
 that of Christian. To niinister to these scat- 
 tered churches, Mr. Stone and his co-hiborers 
 now devoted themselves. 
 
 Scarcely had the work been inaugurated, how- 
 ever, before the very life of the churches was 
 threatened by the appearance of a strange delu- 
 sion. A semi-religious, socialistic movement, 
 known as Shakerism, had some years before 
 established several communities in the State of 
 New York. Its leaders, hearing of the revolt 
 against Calvinism led by Barton W. Stone, sent 
 their missionaries to Kentucky, who soon made 
 sad havoc in the newly planted churches. Many 
 wei-e carried off by this wild fanaticism, among 
 the number two of the preachers who had gone 
 out of the Presbyterian Church along with Mr. 
 Stone. It was only by redoubled effort of Mr. 
 Stone that the churches were saved from this 
 vortex of ruin. "I labored," says he in de- 
 scribing his conflict with this delusive error, 
 "night and day, far and near, among the churches 
 where , the Shakers went. By this means their 
 influence was happily checked in many places;" 
 and soon the cause began again to make rapid 
 increase in numbers. 
 
 A little later the two remaining ministers, who 
 with Mr. Stone had thrown off the yoke of Pres- 
 byterianism, abandoned the movement, reaffirm- 
 ing their faith in the Westminster Confession, 
 and returned to the Presbyterian fold. "Of the 
 
92 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 five of us," wrote Mr. Stone, at a later period, 
 "that left the Presbyterians, I only was left, and 
 they sought my life." Conscious of the integ- 
 rity of his purpose, and convinced of the script- 
 uralness of his position, Mr. Stone continued to 
 preach to the churches far and near, to any who 
 would listen to him, rendering his services gra- 
 tuitously, and earning as best he could the sup- 
 port of his family out of his little farm. There 
 was not then, nor at any time during liis long life 
 of service, anything mercenary in his work for 
 the Master. His was purely a service of love, 
 and his evangelistic labors at this period were 
 wonderfully blest. Preaching the Gospel as he 
 now understood it, multitudes flocked to his 
 standard, and many flourishing churches were 
 founded by him in Western Ohio, Kentucky and 
 Tennessee. 
 
 As an evangelist among the pioneer population 
 of newly settled States, Mr. Stone was without a 
 rival. His large, generous nature quickly won 
 the confidence of the hardy frontiersmen. His 
 zeal and originality awakened their interest and 
 fixed their attention. His warm sympathies and 
 strong emotions melted them to repentance and 
 led them to obedience. Seldom did he preach a 
 sermon that did not result in conversions, some- 
 times scores coming forward to make public con- 
 fession at the close of a single address. At 
 other times the wayside cabin with its lonely 
 
BARTON \V. STONE 
 
 93 
 
 occupant i-eceived with gladness his message of 
 hope. Here is a scene as described by himself: 
 "One day as I was riding slowly along a small 
 track to an appointment at night, I was passing 
 by a small hut, when a woman ran out and called 
 to me. I stopped my horse. She told me she 
 had heard me preach on yesterday; and with a 
 heavenly countenance she thanked God for it; 
 'for,' said she, 'the Lord has blessed my soul. 
 Will you baptize me?' 'Yes,' said I, 'gladly will 
 I do it.' I dismounted and walked into the cot- 
 tage. 'O,' said she, 'will you wait till I send for 
 my sister, a short distance off. She was with 
 me yesterday and the Lord has blessed her too. 
 She wants also to be baptized.' " There, in the 
 depths of the forest, in a stream that flowed a 
 short distance from the house, was witnessed a 
 scene, as the two went down into the water in 
 obedience to Christ, that rivals in picturesque- 
 ness and simple beauty any recorded in the Word 
 of God. 
 
 On another occasion, as he was returning from 
 one of his appointments he w^as overtaken by a 
 gentleman returning from the same meeting, and 
 the two continued the journey together. "I in- 
 troduced the subject of religion," says Mr. 
 Stone, "which I found not to be disagreeable to 
 him, though he was not a professor. I urged 
 him by many arguments to a speedy return to 
 the Lord. His mind, I saw, was troubled and 
 
94 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 vacilating as to his choice of life or death. At 
 length we came to a clear running stream; he 
 said, 'See, here is water, what doth hinder nie to 
 be baptized?' I instantly replied in Philip's 
 language, 'If thou believest with all thine heart, 
 thou maj'est.' He said, 'I believe that Jesus 
 Christ is the Son of God, and am determined 
 hereafter to be his servant.' Without anything 
 more we alighted and I baptized him." 
 
 The labors of this faithful evangelist were 
 accompanied by many trials and hardships. 
 Affliction overtook him in 1809 in the loss of his 
 only son, and a little later in the death of his 
 companion. He now sold his little farm, ex- 
 pecting to remove to Tennessee, but the breth- 
 ren in Kentuck}' were loth to give him up. 
 They promised to supply his family with every 
 necessity if he would remain. He was finally 
 induced to locate in Lexington, and as his 
 brethren soon forgot their promise, he was com- 
 pelled to enter the school-room for suppoi't. 
 For this work he was eminently qualified and 
 remarkably successful. After a time he opened 
 an academy in Georgetown, which was equally 
 prosperous. But while engaged in these duties 
 he did not forget his higher calling, and contin- 
 ued to preach with power and acceptance in all 
 the regions round about. "The remembrance of 
 these days," writes Mr. Stone in his autobiog- 
 raphy, "and of the great and good works which 
 
BARTON \V. STONE 
 
 95 
 
 were effected by my humble labors, will cause 
 many to shout the praises of God to eternity." 
 
 While engaged in his great work in Kentucky, 
 Mr. Stone's pathway was crossed by another in 
 whose breast was cherished the spirit of reform. 
 That man was Alexander. Campbell. The two 
 first met in the autumn of 1824, and were not 
 slow in recognizing each other's worth. Both 
 had grasped the importance of a return to the 
 primitive faith. Mr. Stone had been the first to 
 take this ground, but Mr. Campbell possessed 
 elements of leadership signally lacking in Mr. 
 Stone, and it is doubtless due to this that to 
 him is assigned the first place and to Mr. Stone 
 the second in the great work to which their 
 lives were devoted. 
 
 This meeting of the two reformers led to a 
 friendly interest in each other's work. At first 
 there seemed to be irreconcilable differences 
 between them. Mr. Campbell suspected Mr. 
 Stone of cherishing unsound views respecting 
 the claims of Christ. Mr. Stone suspected Mr. 
 Campbell of error in his conception of the work 
 of the Holy Spirit. But when these two men 
 sat down at the fireside and talked over their 
 differences, they found themselves so near to- 
 gether as to throw the veil of charity over each 
 other's imperfections and joined hands in the 
 embrace of lasting fellowship. 
 
 The generous spirit of Mr. Stone, in this 
 
96 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 union of two great natures, finds expression in 
 the following declaration: "I will not say there 
 are no faults in Bro. Campbell, but that there 
 are fewer, perhaps, in him than any man I know 
 on earth; and over these few my love would 
 throw a veil and hide them forever from view. 
 I am constrained, and willingly constrained, to 
 acknowledge him the greatest promoter of this 
 reformation of any living man." 
 
 That this esteem was reciprocated by the 
 great leader of the Reformation, we may gather 
 from his words written at the time of Mr. 
 Stone's death: "He was the honored instru- 
 ment of bringing many out of the ranks of 
 human tradition and putting into their hands 
 the Book of Books, as their only confession of 
 faith and rule of life, and will, no doubt, on this 
 account, as well as others, long continue to be a 
 blessing to those who, by his instrumentality, 
 have already been, or may hereafter be, trans- 
 lated into the fulness of the blessings of the 
 Gospel of Christ." 
 
 In 1832 the followers of these two religious 
 leaders flowed together throughout Kentucky 
 into a harmonious and lasting union. "This 
 union, irrespective of reproach," says Mr. 
 Stone, "I view as the noblest act of my life." 
 
 ri. A GOLDEN SUNSET. 
 
 "No man," said Solon, the Grecian sage,, 
 
BARTON \V. STONE 
 
 97 
 
 "can be counted fully happy till a happy death 
 has closed a happy life." Upon this basis the 
 career of Barton W. Stone was an enviable one 
 from first to last. Always genial and sunny iu 
 nature, his closing j'ears, as they reflected the 
 joy that awaited him, resembled a golden sunset 
 at the close of a summer day. 
 
 His had been a dispensation of love from the 
 beginning. The element of selfishness was as 
 nearly eliminated from his character as that of 
 any man that every lived. From the beginning 
 of his ministry he had been engaged in a work of 
 unselfish service. His love of sinners led him to 
 preach the Gospel of salvation without remuner- 
 ation, even at the cost of many privations and 
 sacrifices. His love for a race of bondsmen led 
 him to emancipate his slaves, and put his own 
 hands to the plow in their stead. His love for 
 his brethren made his whole life one ceaseless 
 effort to bring them to the joys of everlasting 
 salvation. "The goodness of his heart, the 
 sweetness of his manners, his cheerfulness, his 
 quiet, peaceable and obliging deportment great- 
 ly endeared him to those among whom he lived." 
 As he advanced in years these characteristics 
 became more pi'ominent, and his hold upon the 
 affections of his people wherever he labored 
 increased to the end. "Everybody loves Mr. 
 Stone," said a fellow-laborer in the Gospel, 
 
 "and Mr. Stone loves everybody." 
 7 
 
98 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 After many years of service in Kentucky, Mr. 
 Stone felt constrained in 1834 to change his field 
 of labor. For several years he had edited and 
 published a monthly religious journal called the 
 "Christian Messenger," and he now sought a 
 suitable place to continue its publication and at 
 the same time to proclaim the unsearchable 
 riches of Christ. With this object in view he 
 located in Jacksonville, 111., which furnished 
 him a home during his remaining years. Here, 
 as elsewhere, his supreme motive was to secure 
 the union of God's children upon the one foun- 
 dation. Finding two churches in Jacksonville, 
 the Christians and Discii^les, or as nicknamed 
 by their enemies, "New Lights" and "Camp- 
 bellites," he refused to unite with either until 
 they had become one body in Christ's service. 
 
 In 184i Mr. Stone suffered from a paralytic 
 stroke, which left him a cripple for the re- 
 mainder of his life, and which with the accom- 
 panying infirmities of age brought his active 
 ministry to a close. He so far recovered, how- 
 ever, as often to speak to the edification and 
 delight of his brethren, his mind retaining its 
 accustomed vigor and good cheer. 
 
 As the old veteran of the cross stood facing 
 the setting sun, the desire possessed him to visit 
 once more the scenes of his early conflicts and 
 victories, and to look into the faces of old com- 
 rades, scattered throughout Indiana, Ohio and 
 
BARTON' W. vSTOXE 
 
 99 
 
 Kentucky-, whom he had not seen for years. To 
 gratify this desire the old pilgrim started on his 
 last pilgrimage, a preaching tour throughout 
 these States. The experiences of this journey 
 were among the most touching of his life. It 
 was like the triumphal procession in honor of 
 some old Roman hero. Everywhere he was 
 received with open arms. Multitudes, among 
 whom his memory was sacred, would flock to 
 hear him. Old men who had shared with him 
 the hardships of the early pioneer days, as he 
 entered their assemblies, would fall upon his 
 neck in true patriarchal fashion, in tears, sor- 
 rowing most of all that they would never again 
 see his face. These meetings revived afresh 
 their memories of conflicts, persecutions, sacri- 
 fices, of joys and triumphs in the cause of truth, 
 and as they clasped hands again they wept and 
 rejoiced, they sang and prayed together, and 
 then after the parting hand the aged pilgrim, 
 leaning upon his staff, passed on to some other 
 scene of happy memories. 
 
 In this way he continued his journey, at last 
 reaching Caneridge, the scene of his early labors 
 in the ministry. Here was witnessed a scene, as 
 the venerable Stone again entered the pulpit of 
 the old Caneridge Church, that baflles descrip- 
 tion. Nearly fifty years before, in the bloom of 
 youth and radiant with hope, he had entered 
 upon his ministry in Kentucky at this point. 
 
100 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 Here viist multitudes, souietimes numbering 
 thousands, were held by his iible presentation of 
 the Gospel, and melted to tears and repentance 
 by his earnest appeals. Now he stood before 
 them, his form bent under the weight of years, 
 his hair l)lanched by the storms of more than 
 seventy winters, his eyes dimmed and his brow 
 furrowed with many cares. Grey-haired veter- 
 ans for miles around, forgetful of denomina- 
 tional differences, had assembled to hear Mr. 
 Stone preach his farewell sermon upon the spot 
 that will ever be inseparably associated with his 
 memory. The scene was most affecting. As he 
 arose to speak "the silence of death pervaded 
 the vast assembly, all leaning forward with 
 intense interest to catch every word of the part- 
 ing instruction of their father in the Gospel." 
 
 Taking for his text the farewell address of 
 Paul to the elders of Ephesus, he read and 
 talked in turn with deep emotion. Tears 
 started from his eyes and flowed down his 
 cheeks as he dwelt upon the experiences of the 
 past, and his emotion soon found reflection in 
 his sympathetic audience. All wept as they 
 recalled the scenes of other days, tears of joy 
 over the great victories that had been won, and 
 of sorrow over the sad havoc time had made 
 among the ranks of that valiant army of re- 
 formers. 
 
 As the venerable preacher read, "And now, 
 
BARTON \V. STOXE 
 
 101 
 
 beloved, I know that ye all, among whom I have 
 gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see 
 my face no more," the effect was electrical. 
 The whole audience was convulsed with tears, 
 and it was with great difficulty that Mr. Stone 
 was enabled to close his discourse. As a parting 
 hymn was being sung, he descended from the 
 pulpit, grasped his friends who gathered round 
 him by the hand, and as the song ended he 
 kneeled down and prayed with a fervor and 
 power that only those who are in sight of the 
 promised land can pray. Thus ended one of the 
 most remarkable gatherings in Christian history. 
 As the old preacher passed out, supported by 
 friends, he paused for a moment, looked about 
 him at the old meeting-house, the marble slabs 
 that mai-ked the sleeping place of many of his 
 friends, and then passed on, remarking with 
 emotion, "I shall see this place no more." 
 
 His anticipation of the final victory was short- 
 ly realized. Only a few months later, after a 
 sermon preached with something of the old 
 evangelistic fervor, he was stricken down with 
 fatal illness. Faith, hope and patience were 
 never more beautifully exemplified than in his 
 closing hours. When asked what he now 
 thought of the doctrines he had preached, he 
 replied, "1 may indeed have held some erroneous 
 opinions on minor points, but in the main I con- 
 scientiously believe I have taught the truth, and 
 
102 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 have tried to live what I have preached to 
 others. But it is not by works of righteous- 
 ness that I have done, but according to His 
 mercy, He saved me by the washing of regener- 
 ation and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 
 which he shed on me abundantly through Jesus 
 Christ. It is of grace, it is all of grace." Thus 
 he died, in the autumn of 1844, none more be- 
 loved than he. He may at times have held 
 errors in doctrine, but he was always sound in 
 heart and correct in life, and left behind him a 
 memory which should be cherished by all who 
 love the cause to which his life was devoted. 
 
 Barton W. Stone was not a great man. Intel- 
 lectually he was not to be compared with his 
 great co-laborer, Alexander Campbell. He 
 lacked the depth of thought and power of dis- 
 crimination that characterized the latter; and 
 failing to take a comprehensive view of the 
 great scheme of redemption, was often led into 
 fruitless speculation and erroneous conclusions. 
 He had failed to see what Mr. Campbell had dis- 
 covered in the beginning of his dissent from 
 authoritative creeds, — that it was a waste of 
 thought and time to attempt to be wise above 
 what was written. 
 
 It thus happened that all his life long he was 
 troubled over specuhitive questions, the doc- 
 trine of the trinity, the nature of the atonement. 
 
BARTON \V. STONE 
 
 103 
 
 etc. In his efforts at their solution he not only 
 failed to satisfy his own mind, but often brought 
 upon himself and his cause the grave charge of 
 heterodoxy. That at heart he was a true fol- 
 lower of the Son of God, whatever the foolish 
 ideas that at times filled his head, these words 
 written but a short while before his death, 
 amply prove : 
 
 "I believe the Father sent the Son to be the 
 Savior of the world, that whosoever believeth on 
 him might not perish but have everlasting life. 
 I believe that all power and authority in heaven 
 and earth are given unto him, and that he is able 
 to save unto the uttermost all that come to God 
 by him; that in him are all the treasures of wis- 
 dom and knowledge ; that it pleased the Father 
 that in him should all fulness dwell, the fulness 
 of the godhead, the fulness of the Spirit, the 
 fulness of grace and salvation. When we see 
 him we see the Father, his image, his character, 
 his glory and his perfection. Let me lose my 
 life before I would detract from my Lord one 
 ray of his glory." ^ 
 
 But if not great, he was good. His life was 
 without a blemish. His nature was perhaps too 
 gentle for the stern times in which he lived, and 
 for the severe conflicts through which he passed. 
 Being reviled, he reviled not again. But, while 
 beal'ing the enemy's reproach without resent- 
 
 1 Millennial Harbinger, 1845. 
 
104 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 ment, he never swerved from the course which 
 he believed to be right. Even his enemies in 
 doctrine acknowledged that whatever the faults 
 of his creed, his life was one of unrivaled beaut}'. 
 
 It thus happened, that, without any special 
 qualification for leadership, without being either 
 a great preacher or profound thinker, he never- 
 theless left his impress upon a generation of 
 plain-living, hard-thinking pioneers, and con- 
 tributed in no small measure to the triumph of 
 a great cause in three States. He was great, 
 enduringly great, in his goodness. 
 
jiUlN SMiril 
 
in. 
 
For several years past, I have stood pledged to meet the 
 religious world, or any pai't of it, on the ancient Gospel and 
 order of things, as presented in the words of the Book. 
 This is the foundation on which Christians once stood, and 
 on it they can, and ought to, stand again. From this 1 can 
 not depart to meet any man, or set of men, in the wide world. 
 While, for the sake of peace and Christian union, I have long 
 since waived the public maintenance of any speculation I may 
 hold, yet not one Gospel fact, command, or promise, will I 
 surrender for the world. — John Smith. 
 106 
 
JOHN SMITH. 
 
 I. A CHILD OF THE BACKWOODS. 
 
 'rontier life a century ago produced many 
 
 unique characters, "diamonds in the rough," 
 which only needed the polish of education and 
 culture to have shone with unrivaled splendor. 
 
 To this class of gems belongs John Smith, a 
 faithful preacher of the reformation in Ken- 
 tucky, familiarly known as "Raccoon" John 
 Smith. How he came by this distinguishing pre- 
 fix is not quite clear; but it seems to have 
 attached itself to him after a characteristic 
 sermon in his earh' ministry, which he prefaced 
 by saying: 
 
 "I am John Smith from Stockton Valley. In 
 more recent years I have lived in Wayne, among 
 the rocks and hills of the Cumberland. Down 
 there saltpeter caves abound and raccoons make 
 their homes. On that wild frontier we never 
 had good schools, nor many books; conse- 
 quently I stand before you to-day a man without 
 an education. But, my brethren, even in that 
 ill-favored region, the Lord, in good time, found 
 me. He showed me his wondrous grace and 
 
 (107) 
 
108 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 Cillk'd me to preach tlie everlasting Gospel of 
 his Son." 
 
 Whether then or not until later, it is sure that 
 at an early period he came to l)e known as "Rac- 
 coon" John Smith, a name which is associated 
 with the most stirring experiences of the refor- 
 mation inaugurated by Alexander Campbell. 
 
 John Smith begaii his life in this world of 
 ours, October 15, 1784, in a log cabin among the 
 woods and hills of East Tennessee, whither his 
 parents had moved a short time before his birth. 
 The circumstances that drove them from Virginia 
 to the wilds beyond the Alleghany Mountains, 
 show something of the strength of conviction and 
 character to which this child of the backwoods 
 was heir. His father and mother had espoused 
 the Baptist faith. But as Virginia, at that time, 
 had an established form of religion, the Episco- 
 pal, Baptists were a despised, hunted, perse- 
 cuted people. They were described by their 
 persecutors as "schismatical persons, so averse 
 to the established religion, and so filled with the 
 new-fangled conceits of their heretical inven- 
 tions, as to refuse to have their children bap- 
 tized." It was in defense of some of these 
 people who were arraigned for "preaching the 
 Gospel contrary to law," that the celebrated 
 Pati'ick Henry once arose and exclaimed with 
 electrical effect: "May it please your worships, 
 what did I hear read? Did I hear an expression 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 109 
 
 that these men whom your worships are about to 
 try for misdemeanor are charged with preaching 
 the Gospel of the Son of God?''' 
 
 To escape from this galling oppression and to 
 secure religious privileges which were so dear to 
 him, George Smith took his little flock into the 
 wilderness, seeking mercy at the hands of savage 
 tribes of the forest, which was not accorded him 
 by the savage spirit of religious intolerance. In 
 his new home he was at least free to work out 
 the great problem of his own destiny in har- 
 mony with the dictates of conscience and the 
 leadings of Providence. He was a Calvinist, at 
 a period when Calvinism presented all those ele- 
 ments of severity and unloveliness that make us 
 shudder still at the word. '"To labor for their 
 daily bread and to wait with humbleness of heart 
 for the Holy Ghost, were the two great com- 
 mandments on which hung all his precepts and 
 admonitions." 
 
 The home in which John Smith spent his 
 childhood, though rude in fashion and humble 
 in dimensions, was "as comfortable and well 
 appointed as any in all the country around." 
 The house is described as a "double cabin, built 
 of logs, scalped within and without and daubed 
 with clay. The floor was laid with puncheons, 
 smoothly dubbed with an adze ; a carpet or a rug 
 was a thing unknown. A broad hearth was laid 
 at each end of the house, and from the arches 
 
110 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 above the low chiinnej's were carried with stick.s 
 and clay. A ladder led from a corner of one of 
 the rooms below to the loft above. Shelves 
 rested on wooden pins driven into the walls, on 
 which were j)laced the nicely scoured trenchers 
 and a row of shining pewter plates." 
 
 As was to be expected, in this home, sur- 
 rounded by the uncleared forest, there was no 
 room for idlers. To each child in such a house- 
 hold some work was assigned almost as soon as 
 they were out of the cradle. There was so much 
 to do. A home in the backwoods, in addition to 
 its domestic relations and duties, was a minia- 
 ture manufacturing plant, where various indus- 
 tries were carried on. The corn which supplied 
 the daily bread had to be ground into meal by 
 hand. The linen for summer wear was made 
 from the raw material, and the warm winter 
 garments were made from wool that was carded, 
 spun and woven under the family roof-tree. 
 
 These varied industries gave plenty of work 
 for all, and though eight brothers and sisters had 
 preceded him in the family circle, there were still 
 tasks for John's tender hands. At six or seven 
 years , of age his "term of service began, and 
 from that period of his life he knew no idle 
 days. He gathered chips and fagots in the 
 forest and piled them on the hearth; he hunted 
 the shelly bark on the hills and stored it away 
 for the evening blaze; he pulled the purple 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 111 
 
 crab-grass from the j'oung corn, and plied his 
 hoe among the garden vines. Through the hot 
 summer days it was .his task to run again and 
 again down the long, grassy hill to the spring 
 and bring back the dripping piggin for lips that 
 were sure to chide him for the least' delay. No 
 day except the Sabbath, no season, whether of 
 heat or cold, found him unemployed. Economy 
 provided work even for stormy days." 
 
 In a household so busily engaged in the strug- 
 gle for material necessities but little attention 
 could be paid to the intellectual wants. The 
 schoolmaster was not yet abroad in the land, and 
 it was only by the rarest chance that the aspiring 
 youth found his way through the simplest rudi- 
 ments of an education. In the Smith family 
 this lack was partly met by the. busy mother, 
 who gathered her little ones about the winter's 
 fire and recalled, for their in.<truction, the read- 
 ings of her girlish days, and delighted them with 
 stories of the past. Herself of Irish birth, and 
 learned in "all the wild and beautiful legends of 
 her native land, the stories and ballads that had 
 touched her own heart when a child, became 
 now, in the absence of books, the literature of 
 her cabin — her children's poetry and faith." 
 
 When John was about ten years of age, the 
 first teacher appeared in the quiet valley where 
 the family lived, and he was permitted to lay 
 aside his work for a season, that he might make 
 
112 
 
 MEN OF YEvSTERDAY 
 
 good use of the opportunity for a schooling. So 
 well did he improve the four months' term of 
 this, his first, and for years his only school, as 
 to master the art of reading and open the way 
 to self-education. "Beginning with the first 
 letter of the alphabet, he passed through the 
 spelling-book, and at the end of the quarter was 
 a tolerable reader of the New Testament." The 
 Bible, the Confession of Faith, and a hymn- 
 book — the entire family library — were now un- 
 locked to his inquisitive mind, and were read 
 and, though he found but little time for study, 
 committed to memory. Thus in the heart of the 
 wilderness was God fashioning the mind of one 
 of the most interesting preachers of the Reform- 
 ation. 
 
 When young Smith was in his twelfth year, 
 the migratory spirit again seized the head of 
 the family. Though George Smith shared in the 
 prosperity of the valley of the Holston, which 
 began to "smile everywhere with pleasant 
 homes and cultivated fields," he determined to 
 plunge into the wilderness once more, with a 
 view to securing cheap lands and providing for 
 the future of his growing family. 
 
 Having sold his Tennessee farm, he set out, in 
 the autumn of 1795, accompanied by John and 
 an elder brother, on the trail that led across the 
 Cumberland Mountains into the then unsettled 
 territory of Kentucky, in search of a "goodly 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 113 
 
 spot where he might build a cabin, phint a patch 
 of corn, and prepare as well as he could for the 
 family" that was to join him in the coming suni- 
 Mior. Here- in a beautiful region, known as 
 Stockton's Valley, the painful and laborious task 
 of making a home in the forest was begun. 
 Here, undaunted by the cold of winter or the 
 perils of the wilderness, the ax of the 'pioneer 
 prepared the materials for the house, and 
 cleared a few acres of land. In order to pro- 
 cure corn for the planting it was necessary to 
 send a hundred miles through almost trackless 
 forests. This task naturally fell upon John, as 
 least capable of rendering service in the clear- 
 ing. AVith a stout heart he accepted the respon- 
 sibility, and ill-clad, through wintry weather, 
 without a guide, he made the journey with a 
 pack-horse, and returned with the needed sup- 
 plies. It was during this winter of hardship that 
 John began and completed his study of '"modern 
 languages," — with his ready memory pickiiiii' up 
 the uncouth tongue of Indian hunters, w ho built 
 their camp-fires near the cabin. This, his only 
 linguistic attainment b(>yond his vigorous mother 
 tongue, he never forgot. 
 
 In the new home, the life of the boy contin- 
 ued its development along such lines as its rude 
 surroundings stimulated. Of work there was 
 plenty, and from his daily tasks he never shrank. 
 
 Of opportunitv for intellectual development 
 8 
 
114 
 
 MEN OK YESTERDAY 
 
 there was none, and the thirst of the ambitious 
 youth remained unquenched. Once a drunken 
 vagabond, assuming the role of teacher, entered 
 the vaUey and began a school, of 'which John 
 became a ho[)eful i)upil, but the incompetence 
 of the inaster turned his ambition into disgust, 
 and his naliirul humor 1(k1 him to pranks which 
 drove the teaciier from the community in dis- 
 grace. 
 
 II. ^EF.Kiyc, AssruAXi-i: oh' s.ma'atiox. 
 
 At this period, John Smith's spiritual nature 
 gave promise of })eing as untamed as the forest 
 that surrounded his home. Unhallowed sports 
 crei)t into the backwoods. Sunday horse-races 
 and cards became the pastime of young men. 
 For the latter John had a fondness, and would 
 creep away on Sundays to spend the da}' with 
 idle companions in his favorite game ; but tlie 
 grief and ))atience of the father at last touched 
 his heart, and he threw away his cards, saying, 
 "It is wrong to distress so good a father as ours; 
 it is a sin and a shame." 
 
 This proved to be the turning-point in the 
 young man's career, and with it came the ques- 
 tion of religion demanding his consideration. 
 Indeed, the subject in some form had been kept 
 before him since his earliest recollection. But 
 the doctrine taught, at that time, was not very 
 attractive to young hearts. Calvinism in its 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 115 
 
 severest tj'pe was prevalent. It taught a "hell 
 of the most appalling type, into which even lit- 
 tle children might be cast; an unalterable des- 
 tiny for every one, regardless of his conduct or 
 his creed, as God might have chosen him for 
 heaven or doomed him to hell before he was 
 boi-n; a dread uncertainty that rested on his 
 fate; his utter inability to understand the Scrip- 
 tures, to believe or repent, to love God or to 
 obey him, until endued with power from on 
 high; the necessity of some supernatural sign or 
 sensation, some miraculous voice or vision, as an 
 evidence of pardon and acceptance with God." 
 
 It was natural that John should imbibe the 
 temper of his father's creed, and for him to 
 expect, should he be among the elect, that some 
 visible or audible manifestation of Divine ap- 
 proval should be given him. The great revival 
 which swept the country in the beginning years 
 of this century was at its height as he l)egan 
 seriously to think upon the subject of religion. 
 It was the theme he heard discussed on every 
 hand, and he determined to investigate it as far 
 at his limited resources would permit. Failing 
 to find the way to assured salvation, he at last 
 appealed to a good old Baptist preacher, Isaac 
 Denton, a friend of the family, for light upon 
 the subject which was beginning to agitate his 
 mind. 
 
 According to the prevailing notion, conversion 
 
116 
 
 MEN OP" YESTERDAY 
 
 was a change of a mysterious nature wrought 
 out in the soul by supernatural agency. This 
 change John now sincerely desired to experfence. 
 
 "W"hat must I do," he inquired of the faith- 
 ful minister, "in order to have this change of 
 which you speak?" 
 
 "Nothing, John," was the reply. "God's 
 grace is sovereign and unconditional. If you 
 are his sheep you will be called, and you will 
 hear his voice and follow him." 
 
 "But when, Mr. Denton, will the Lord call?" 
 
 "In his own good time, John. He has worked 
 out your whole life, and determined your destiny 
 according to his own wise, but hidden and 
 eternal, purpose." 
 
 "IIow, then, may I know," continued the 
 anxious youth, "whether I am one of his sheep 
 or not?" 
 
 "You will know it by your change when it 
 comes; till then you can only wait on the Lord 
 and hope." 
 
 It is not strange that a young man with the 
 keen intellect of John Smith should have 
 turned from such instruction, saying, "Since my 
 destiny is fixed and I cannot change it, I need 
 not, then, give myself any concern. I have 
 nothing to do." 
 
 But his heart was not to be stifled by the for- 
 liidding theology of his time. While stoutly, 
 for a season, maintaining his unbelief, his posi- 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 117 
 
 tion was not satisfactory to himself, and be 
 resolved at last to examine the subject in the 
 light of the Scriptures. Though failing to find 
 proof of the doctrines taught, he became con- 
 vinced of his dut}' to be a Christian ; and know- 
 ing no way of approach to Christ, he began 
 earnestly and persistently to seek religion after 
 the manner of the times. The illness and death 
 of his venerable father, in the spring of 1804, 
 deepened his interest in personal salvation, and 
 from that time through many weary months, 
 he sought for assurance of saving grace. In his 
 fruitless search his agony was indescribable. 
 
 He was taught that an indispensable step to 
 salvation was to feel himself the greatest of sin- 
 ners. This he tried to do, and then despaired of 
 salvation, simply lieeause he could not feel that 
 he was "too wicked to be saved." A gloomy 
 cloud overshadowed his sunny temper. His 
 nights were sleepless and his days filled with 
 torment. In vain he pi'ostrated himself alone 
 in the forest and pi-ayed for the blessed assur- 
 ance of his pardon. Finally, after a night spent 
 in agonizing prayer, his heart seemed to throw 
 off its burden, and he was happy. Returning 
 home and relating his experiences to his brother 
 William, the latter replied with joy, "You are 
 converted, John, at last." He went to the 
 house of God, expecting to offer himself for 
 membership, but the weird experiences of others 
 
118 
 
 MEN OF yp:sterday 
 
 sent him away in sorrow and disgust. His mind 
 was again beclouded by doubts and despair, and 
 he prayed the Lord to keep his poor heart from 
 error and to lead him by the right way into the 
 e V e r 1 a s t i n g k i n gd o m . 
 
 Religious friends who had watched with solic- 
 itude the long and painfid struggle of the young 
 man, believed that a work of grace had already 
 been wrought in his heart, and urged him to 
 relate the facts before the congregation. This 
 he did on the 26th of December, 1804, giving a 
 plain statement of his religious struggles, and 
 thougli his experience was lacking in the mar- 
 velous element which characterized the conver- 
 sions of that time, the congregation unanimously 
 voted him the subject of a work of grace. The 
 next day he was baiitized, and at once entered 
 into the active service of his Master to find in 
 doing the peace he had failed to receive in 
 seeking. 
 
 No sooner had John Smith become an obe- 
 dient disci[)lc of Christ, than he was possessed 
 with a desire to preach the unsearchable riches 
 of his Word. But two obsta(-les rose before 
 him, either of which seemed an insurmountable 
 barrier to the realization of such a purpose. 
 
 One was his ignorance. In his single brief 
 term of schooling, he had ])arely learned to 
 read, and his surroundings and occupation had 
 left him without further means of self-improve- 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 119 
 
 raent. As he looked with yearning heart toward 
 the ministry, he "wept at the thought that he 
 was now a man without an education." 
 
 No less serious was the hindrance which the 
 popular notion of the time threw across his 
 pathway. It was regarded as an almost unpar- 
 donable act of presumption to stand before the 
 peoi)le as an expounder of the Scriptures with- 
 out a supernatural call, and as yet he was with- 
 out evidence of such a call to preach the Gos- 
 pel. No voice spoke to his listening ear. No 
 answer came to his earnest prayer. No sign met 
 his expectant vision. 
 
 In the face of these obstacles the way seemed 
 completely blocked, so nothing remained for him 
 to do but to continue in his labors on the farm. 
 Going out further into the wilderness, he pur- 
 chased a tract of land, and began the laborious 
 task of clearing away the forest. But one day 
 the young man dropped his ax, abandoned his 
 farm and went back home. A teacher had 
 moved into the valley, and John Smith deter- 
 mined to take advantage of this opportunity for 
 enlarging his horizon and quenching his thirst. 
 For a few weeks he drank with delight from the 
 fountain of learning. Then the teacher, a wheel- 
 wright by trade, found that making wheels was 
 more profitable than training pupils, and dis- 
 missed his school. Undaunted by this turn of 
 affairs, and still fixed in his determination to get 
 
120 
 
 MEN Ol' YESTERDAY 
 
 an education, John arranged to assist his teacher 
 in the shop for his board and the privilege of 
 using his books at night. Thus he toiled during 
 the day, and at night, by the blaze of the pine- 
 knot fire, he sat down to his lessons, often wrest- 
 ling with a difficult problem until the night itself 
 was gone. 
 
 At last circumstances compelled him to leave 
 this improvised college and to return to his 
 abandoned farm. It was then that the way be- 
 gan gradually to open toward the larger service 
 of Christ. His widely scattered neighbors were 
 pious people, and, in the absence of churches 
 and ministers, often gathered at night, after a 
 day of toil, in each other's cabins, to sing and 
 pray, and talk about their religious interests. 
 At these meetings John Smith was present, when 
 circumstances would permit, and his native tal- 
 ent and education, in which he now sm-passed 
 his neighbors, gave him a kind of pre-eminence 
 among them. As they met from house to house, 
 they often constrained him to lead in prayer. 
 In these religious exercises his confidence in- 
 creased, his heart warmed, and he longed to 
 enter into more active service. But still he 
 waited for some audible call, some sign like the 
 burning bush, which should assure him of the 
 Lord's will. 
 
 His brethren argued that if the Lord had given 
 a man talent it should be used, and that if he 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 121 
 
 could not conscientiously preach, he might at 
 least, without fear of Divine displeasure, speak 
 words of exhortation in their humble meetings. 
 This he at last consented to do. The appoint- 
 ment was made. The cabin was crowded. The 
 service of song and prayer was inspiring. At 
 the proper time, John arose to speak, but as he 
 looked .into the upturned faces of his neighbors 
 "a strange, bewildering torrent of feeling rushed 
 into his heart. His mind was suddenly dark- 
 ened. The thoughts v;^hich he had meditated 
 for the occasion left him. He tried to I'ecall 
 th(Mn, but he could not. His lips quivered and 
 he was speechless. Turning from the stand, he 
 rushed from the house into the darkness with- 
 out. He fled across the yard like one affrighted, 
 intending to quit a place where the Lord had 
 thus re])uked him." In his precipitate flight he 
 stumbled over some unseen object and fell to the 
 ground. As he arose his mind cleared, his 
 thoughts came back to him, and, feeling that he 
 now had i)ower to deliver his message, he de- 
 teimined to return to the house, where his 
 l)rethren still sat in mute amazement. Standing 
 again in their midst, he spoke with a fervor and 
 fluency that thrilled his listeners; and from that 
 time he continued in his humble way to lead 
 those who were as sheep without a shepherd. 
 
 But if as .yet he listened in vain for a call 
 from heaven to preach, he heard a voice in these 
 
122 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 neighborhood meetings that strangely impressed 
 him. It Avas the voice of a maiden in song, and 
 the impression made upon the mind of the 
 young exhorter, now in his twenty-second year, 
 was destined to be histing. He sought her out 
 in her home, and without needless preliminary 
 arranged that Anna Townsend should become 
 his wife; and on a stormy December day in 
 1806, he took her to his cabin in the forest to 
 share his severe lot of privation and toil. 
 
 As he now labored for the comfort and happi- 
 ness of his home, he continued to exercise his 
 gift of exhortation, with increasing desii'e to 
 devote his life to the work of saving his fellow- 
 men. In deference to the judgment of his 
 brethren, who urged him to lay aside all scruples 
 and become their preacher, he at last consented 
 to be ordained, and entered at once upon the 
 duties of his new calling, while continuing to 
 provide for his family l)y his labors on the farm. 
 He now preached every Sunday, riding often 
 many miles to his appointments, and gathering 
 the people together "in their scattered meeting- 
 houses, in their own log-cabins, in tlieir still 
 humbler school-houses, or in the dark, unbroken 
 woods." 
 
 Nature had marvelonsly endowed him for the 
 work of a pioneer preacher. "His well-toned 
 voice and earne.st manner, his fine common sense 
 and unaffected piety, rendered him pre-eminent- 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 123 
 
 ly popular as a speaker; his genial luiinor, too, 
 threw its sunny influence on all around him, and 
 made him the delight of every fireside." As 
 his reputation spread, flattering offers came to 
 him from the more favored portions of Ken- 
 tucky, through which he was induced to travel 
 on a preaching tour. Wealthy congregations, 
 pleased with his originality and genius, offered 
 him what was then regarded as a handsome 
 salary to come and labor among them. But con- 
 scious of his lack of education and culture, he 
 declined these offers, while his soul, for the time 
 lifted up with pride, planned aml)itiously for 
 the future. 
 
 To John Smith, who had known only poverty 
 and hardship, now came a dream of wealth. 
 The South at that time presented a most prom- 
 ising field. Large tracts of fertile land were 
 thrown open to settlers in Alabama. By the 
 sale of his farm and stock he could realize the 
 sum of fifteen hundred dollars. With this sum 
 he could enter ten thousand acres of land, 
 which, with advance in prices, was sure to make 
 him a wealthy man. Gathering his possessions 
 together, he set out with his family for Ala- 
 bama in the autumn of 1814. Reaching his des- 
 tination, he established his family in a cabin, 
 while he went out to explore the surrounding 
 country, with a view to selecting and purchasing 
 lands. During his al)sence, in one awful night, 
 
124 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 his hopes and happiness were dashed to the 
 ground. The cabin which contained his pos- 
 sessions and his loved ones was burned to the 
 ground, and two of his children and the money 
 with which he had phmned to purchase a plan- 
 tation were consumed in the flames. The poor 
 wife escaped only to die of a broken heart and 
 be l)nried with the ashes of her children. 
 Broken in spirit, John Smith himself, though a 
 man of strong will and iron nerve, was at last 
 stricken down with fever, and for weeks life 
 seemed to hang in the balance, when the change 
 came and he recovered sufficiently to retrace his 
 sorrowful steps, empty-handed and alone, to the 
 valley among the hills of Kentucky, from which 
 he had moved a few months before, with wife 
 and children and substance, proudly expectant 
 of earthly fortune. 
 
 in. WRKSTLIMl U'[Tn DDi'TiaXAI. DIFFlcrLTIKS. 
 
 The severe trials through which John Smith 
 had passed soon began to exert a modifying in- 
 fluence on his religious views. As he reflected 
 over his recent experiences, his aching heart re- 
 volted from the unyielding and unfeeling articles 
 of his Calvinistic creed, especially that portion 
 embodying the doctrine of unconditional election 
 and reprobation. "My children," he argued, 
 speaking of the little ones who had been sud- 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 125 
 
 denly snatched from his bosom, "are happy, for 
 they were innocent." 
 
 Immediately after his return to Kentucky he 
 began preaching again; hut he was from that 
 time harassed by doctrinal difficulties which gave 
 him no rest until he turned from his creed to the 
 New Testament, and discovered and accepted 
 the Gospel in its primitive simplicity. But not- 
 withstanding the (l()ul)ts that clouded his mind, 
 and the sorrow that overshadowed his life, his 
 preaching, for a time, was with a power that won 
 all hearts. His personal appearance at this time 
 was in no sense suggestive of the wonderful 
 charm of his evangel. 
 
 His appearance, as he joined his brethren in 
 the meeting of the Baptist Association at Crab 
 Orcliaid. -liortly after his return, is thus de- 
 scribed: "He wore a pair of home-spun cotton 
 pantaloons, stripcil with coi)peras, loose enough, 
 but far too short for him, and a cotton coat, 
 once checked with blue and white but now of 
 undistinguishable colors. His shapeless hat was 
 streaked with sweat and dust. His socks, too 
 large for his shrunken ankles, hung down upon 
 his foxy shoes. His shirt was coarse and dirty 
 and unbottoned at the neck." But if the ex- 
 terior of this chosen vessel of God was not invit- 
 ing, within it was garnished and adorned with all 
 the graces of truth. As on the occasion above 
 described he arose on an improvised stand under 
 
126 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 the trees to speak upon the theme of redemp- 
 tion, which was always near his heart, he gave 
 utterance to a message whose beauty and power 
 tilled liis hearers with amazement. As the vast 
 assembly drew near that they might catch his 
 words, "many who could not tind seats or places 
 to stand climbed the trees close by, and the very 
 saplings swayed with people eager to see and 
 hear. When the speaker reached the third and 
 last division of his subject and began to paint 
 the final glory of God's elect, the multitude 
 arose and stood on their feet; and when he 
 closed his impassionate exhortation every eye 
 was weeping and every heart and lip blessed the 
 man without an education." 
 
 In the course of time John Smith again mar.- 
 ried, choosing as a companion a sensil)le and 
 consecrated woman wlio lived in the neighbor- 
 hood where he ministered, and who cheerfully 
 joined him in all his plans for the reformation of 
 hunum society. 
 
 Though as yet preaching the doctrines of his 
 creed, he now found himself ill at ease. The 
 strange inconsistency of his position embarrassed 
 him. , Why urge sinners to repent and believe 
 the Gospel, when if elected they were already 
 safe, and if among the non-elect they could not 
 repent. As the situation flashed upon his mind 
 in the midst of an impassioned exhortation, he 
 immediately closed his remarks and sat down, 
 
JOHN vSMlTH 
 
 127 
 
 saying: "BretlirtMi, something is wrong. I ;un 
 in the dark. We arc all in the dark; but how to 
 lead you to the light or tind the way myself, be- 
 fore God I know not." Retiring to his humble 
 home, he went to God for guidance, pledging 
 himself on his knees in prayer that he would 
 take the Scriptures as his only guide, and study 
 God's Holy Word until the way was made ])lain. 
 
 In the keeping of this pledge he began anew 
 the study of the Bible. When his day's work in 
 the field was done, he would sit by his candle 
 with his Testament upon Iiis knee, and often 
 spend the whole night in solemn meditation in 
 his seai-ch for the light. 
 
 It was while in this state of mind that the 
 prospectus of a new religious journal, to be 
 called "The Christian Baptist," was placed in 
 his hand. The bold and independent course 
 proposed by its editor, Alexander Campbell, 
 struck a sympathetic chord in the heart of this 
 storm-tossed truth-seeker, and he determined to 
 -find out what this, then unknown, reformer had 
 to say upon the questions that were disturbing 
 his peace. Subscribing for the "Christian Bap- 
 tist," the first numbers were read with great in- 
 terest, and through them light began to break 
 along his darkened pathway. Mr. Smith read 
 each succeeding number with great care to dis- 
 cover to which of the contending religious par- 
 ties its editor belonged, and soon found himself 
 
128 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 in a realm of truth entirely beyond the range of 
 the popular systems. 
 
 "We have no system of our own," wrote the 
 editor of the "Christian Baptist," "nor of oth- 
 ers to substitute in lieu of the reigning systems. 
 We only aim at substituting the New Testament 
 in lieu of every creed in existence; whether Mo- 
 hammedan, Pagan, Jewish or Presbyterian, We 
 wish to call Christians to consider that Jesus 
 Christ has made them kings and priests to God. 
 We neither advocate Calvinism, Arminianism, 
 Arianism, Trinitarianism, Unitarianism, Deism 
 or Sectarianism, but -Neiv Testamentism. We 
 wish, we cordially wish, to take the New Testa- 
 ment out of the abuses of the clergy, and put it 
 into the hands of the people." 
 
 So thoroughly did these views accord with 
 John Smith's notions that lie determined at the 
 first opportunity to meet with Alexander Camp- 
 bell and learn from him direct more of the new 
 order which he was inaugurating. In the spring 
 of 1824 the opportunity presented itself. Mr. 
 Campbell, on one of his tours through Kentucky, 
 was to speak in a neighboring county, and Mr. 
 Smith , rode twenty miles on horseback that he 
 might see and hear him. Of this meeting with 
 Mr. Campbell, he afterwards said, "I then felt 
 as if I wanted to sit down and look at him for 
 one hour, without hearing a word from any one. 
 I wanted to scan him who had been so much 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 129 
 
 talked of, and who had in the 'Christian Baptist' 
 and in his debates, introduced so many new 
 thoughts." 
 
 For several days John Smith followed Mr. 
 Campbell from appointment to appointment, an 
 inwrapped listener to his public discourses, and 
 earnestly engaging him in conversation as they 
 traveled along the way or sat under some hos- 
 pitable roof. At last his mind cast off its fet- 
 ters. The way, hitherto so clouded, became 
 plain, and he left the company of the great re- 
 former, resolved henceforth to devote his life to 
 preaching the simple Gospel of the New Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 The step was, as he had anticipated, attended 
 with great sacrifices. Old friends forsook him. 
 He had always stood high among his ministerial 
 brethren, but now he was regarded with undis- 
 guised suspicion. Soon the storm gathered 
 wrathfully about him. At the annual meeting 
 of the association in w^hich he held membership 
 charges were preferred against him, among the 
 most serious of which was that, instead of the 
 King James translation of the Scriptures, "he 
 had on two or three occasions in public, and 
 often privately in his family, read from Alexan- 
 der Campbell's translation." Without being 
 given an opportunity to defend himself, he was 
 placed under censure, and given a year in which 
 
 to correct his views and change his ways. 
 9 
 
130 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 Returning to lii.s home, the way for a time 
 seemed to clo^^e l)efore him. The little farm was 
 covered with a heavy mortgage. The churches 
 that had obligated themselves to pay his debt in 
 compensation of his services, now refused to 
 make further payment. Nothing apparently re- 
 mained hut for him to cultivate his farm with his 
 own hands, and for a time to abandon the work 
 of the ministiy. Taking his ax he went into the 
 woods with, the heroic purpose first to free him- 
 self from debt, and then to return to the defense 
 of the faith which he now felt to be the teaching 
 of the Word of God. But one day, reflecting 
 upon the construction that would be put on his 
 silence by his enemies, he dropped his ax, went 
 to the house, and threw down his coarse apron 
 at the feet of his wife, exclaiming: "Nancy, I 
 shall work no more! Set whom you please to 
 cai'ry on the farm, but do not call on me! In all 
 the land, there is not one soul to open his mouth 
 in defense of the best cause under the sun! I 
 am determined from this time forth to preach 
 the Gospel and leave the consequences with 
 God." 
 
 With the courage of his convictions, John 
 Smith immediately began to preach the truth as 
 he now saw it and felt it. No personal consid- 
 eration was allowed to interfere with the pro- 
 gram he had marked out for himself. His heroic 
 wife readily caught his spirit, and agreed to 
 
' JOHN SMITH 131 
 
 cariT on the farm that he might devote himself 
 wholly to the preaching of the Word. 
 
 But from a course so radical and perilous his 
 friends earnestly sought to dissuade him. "Your 
 more influential brethren," they argued, "will 
 abandon you; yon will get nothing for your 
 preaching; your debts will press you to the 
 earth, and your farm and home must eventually 
 be given up." Their appeal was in vain. They 
 had under-estimated the faith and courage of the 
 man. 
 
 "Conscience," Smith replied, "is an article 
 that I have never yet brought into market; but 
 if I should offer it for sale, Montgomery County, 
 with all its lands and houses, would not be 
 enough to buy it, much less that farm of one 
 hundred acres." 
 
 As John Smith now went from house to house, 
 and neighborhood to neighborhood, to plead the 
 cause of Christ and the "Ancient Gospel," his 
 zeal knew no bounds. His heart was all aglow 
 with his new-born knowledge of the truth, and 
 with tireless effort he sought to win men to 
 respect and obey the simple claims of the in- 
 spired Word. So intense was his desire that he 
 scarcely allowed himself time for food and sleep. 
 After a busy day, he would often spend a greater 
 part of the night in answering questions or meet- 
 ing objections which his public discourses had 
 provoked; or in helping some half-persuaded 
 
132 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 inquirer to a full acceptance of the Gospel; 
 often going the same hour of the night to some 
 neighboring stream to administer baptism, when 
 a surrender had been made. Or if at home, the 
 burden that was upon his heart and his thirst for 
 the knowlege of the Scriptures would often in- 
 terfere with his sleep, and he would arise and 
 light his candle at midnight "to examine some 
 word or text not yet understood," and which 
 perhaps had confused him in his dreams. 
 
 IV. THE TRIUMPH OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 The preaching of Jolm Smith, so different 
 from that of the times, so fur removed from con-" 
 ventional forms, and so new and strange in doc- 
 trine, at once awakened new interest in languish- 
 ing churches. Calls now came to him from so 
 manj- quarters that he seldom had an opportu- 
 nity to enjoy the fellowship of the family to 
 which he was warmly attached. He endeavored, 
 if possible, to look in upon the home once a 
 week; but this purpose he was not always able 
 to carry out. "He would tarry at some distant 
 place, preaching and baptizing till the week Avas 
 nearly gone, and then, dismissing the people at a 
 late hour, ride hurriedly thi-ough darkness, some- 
 times through mud and cold and tempest, in 
 order to keep his promise with his wife. At 
 other times, when going from one part of the 
 district to another, he would pass along by his 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 133 
 
 own house, but too much hurried to stop and 
 rest, would linger awhile at the gate, and gather- 
 ing strength from her words of cheer, press on 
 to his distant appointment." 
 
 It is I'elated that on one occasion, as he thus 
 hurried from one appointment to another, he 
 stopped at home just long enough to change his 
 soiled linen for clean. As he was about to leave, 
 his wife remarked, with a gentle rebuke in her 
 tone, "Mr. Smith, is it not time you were having 
 your washing done somewhere else? We have 
 attended to it for you a long time." 
 
 The patient heroism of faith finds few better 
 illustrations than in the wife of this tireless pio- 
 neer. Upon Nancy Smith rested the burden of 
 the family and the farm. When help could not 
 be secured, she would go forth herself into the 
 busy field to tend the growing crops, or to super- 
 intend the gathering of the harvest, that her 
 faithful husband might devote all his energies to 
 the cause which they both loved so much. His 
 preaching brought no material recompense to 
 relieve their pinching povei'ty. Though he 
 labored incessantly for the salvation of his fel- 
 lowmen, nobody ever thought of contributing to 
 his support, or if they felt inclined to minister 
 to him in temporal things, were probably too 
 poor. During the five years, from 1825 to 1830, 
 in which he laid the foundation of the cause of 
 the Eeforination in Kentucky, he never received 
 
134 
 
 MEN OF yestf:rday 
 
 a dollar for his services, or compensation of any 
 kind, save the remittance of his debt ton friendly 
 merchant in a neighboring town for a small bill 
 of goods. 
 
 The result of such zeal, such labor, such sacri- 
 fice, brought its reward to this devoted messen- 
 ger of truth in a richer blessing than any that 
 material prosperity had to offer. His message 
 was gladly received. Multitudes gathered to 
 hear him, and many received with gladness the 
 simple Gospel which he now felt himself com- 
 missioned to preach. A revival of religious in- 
 terest began to follow the track of his itineracy, 
 and he had the satisfaction of seeing hundreds, 
 who had held aloof from the religious systems of 
 the day, now turn to the Lord. As he returned 
 from such fields of victory he was sometimes 
 lifted above earthly concerns, and would walk 
 the floor of his humble home and sing with 
 strange enthusiasm : 
 
 "O, tell me no more of this world's vain store; 
 The time for such trifles with me now is o'er." 
 
 So fruitful were his labors that within a period 
 of six months he was able to report seven hun- 
 dred conversions and five new churches organ- 
 ized. But more still, he had established a great 
 cause in the hearts of the people. 
 
 A course so out of the usual order, so original 
 in message and method, was sure to offend the 
 accepted leaders of religious society, and these, 
 
JOHN S:\IITH 
 
 135 
 
 without respect of party affiliation, were soon 
 arrayed against him. 
 
 Although he had renounced the Calvinistic 
 theory of conversion, and had laid aside its un- 
 yielding creed for the New Testament, he still 
 considered himself a Baptist, and lived in fellow- 
 ship with those who "stood resolutely by the old 
 church covenants," hoping that his brethren 
 would one day accept the ancient Gospel. But 
 his genial, fraternal spirit was far from being 
 reciprocated by the Baptist ministers with whom 
 he associated. 
 
 Once, meeting an old acquaintance. Smith said 
 to him kindly, "Good morning, my brother;" 
 to which the other scornfully replied, "Don't 
 call me brother, sir! I would rather claim kin- 
 ship with the devil himself." "Go, then," said 
 Smith, "and honor thy father." 
 
 But the bitterness of opposition did not always 
 end in harmless railery. It too frequently re- 
 sorted to misrepresentation and other unchris- 
 tian means to check his growing popularity and 
 influence. Churches were closed against him, 
 compelling him to take his audience to some 
 neighboring house, or hall, or, in fair weather, to 
 some friendly grove. But, whatever the dis- 
 couragement or hindrance, he continued to 
 preach. Usually he laid off his "discourses, 
 which were two or three hours long, into three 
 divisions, according to the objects he had in 
 
136 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 view: in the i\v>t he corrected misrepresenta- 
 tions; in the second he exposed pop uhir errors ; 
 and in the third he presented the simple Gospel 
 to the people." Having taken his stand upon 
 the Bible, he felt himself secure. The truth 
 made him fearless, and his courage at last won 
 respect for the unpopular position to which he 
 held. 
 
 The years 1829 and 1830 were great years in 
 the ministry of John Smith. In them was wit- 
 nessed the fruition of years of self-sacrificing 
 labor, and tlie triumph of the ancient Gospel on 
 the soil of Kentucky. 
 
 Few have been the heroes of the cross in mod- 
 ern times whose lives were more completely 
 given to the cause of human redemption. He 
 forgot everything in his passion for souls and a 
 pure Gospel. He literally sowed in tears, and 
 what wonder that his heart was filled with re- 
 joicing as he witnessed the maturing of a har- 
 vest that far surpassed his fondest hopes. 
 
 Only once, as the storm of religious conflict 
 thickened about him, did he seem to waver. It 
 was near the close of 1829, and just before the 
 final crisis which set the reformers adrift as an 
 independent communion. He had grown weary 
 of the continual strife about him, and still 
 groaned under the burden of debt that rested 
 upon his little home. His ministry had been 
 without money and without price, and the com- 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 137 
 
 munities in which he labored had l)een willing to 
 accept his services on his own terms. But he 
 now determined to do something for the greater 
 comfort of his family, and went home that he 
 might devote the ensuing year to the cultivation 
 of his farm. His heroic wife heard his plans, 
 but refused to accede to them. She assured him 
 of her willingness to continue the management 
 of the farm, while he continued to cultivate the 
 field in which the Lord was so wonderfully bless- 
 ing his labors. At the s;:me time his chief cred- 
 itor came to him and said, "Go on and preach 
 as you have been doing, and never mind that 
 note." 
 
 These encouragements fixed his purpose. He 
 would continue in his tireless defense of the 
 cause of the Reformation until it was firmly 
 established throughout Kentucky. He saw be- 
 fore him a tierce conflict, and now aroused him- 
 self anew to the work of wresting the association 
 in which he had previously labored from the 
 dominion of sectarian teachers. 
 
 The spirit of sectarian zeal and hate was never 
 more bitterly manifested than during these two 
 years. The visits of the "Christian Baptist" 
 and the fearless preaching of John Smith had 
 already created a profound impression through- 
 out Kentucky. Many there were who hailed 
 with delight the new order of things. The ranks 
 of its advocates were strengthened by some of 
 
138 
 
 MEN OF YEvSTERDAY 
 
 the most able preachers of Kentucky, among 
 whom were Jacob Creath, Sr., and Jacob Creath, 
 Jr., scarcely second to John Smith in ability and 
 influence. 
 
 But the success of tliis new evangel only in- 
 tensified the hate of the opposition. ISIo longer 
 satisfied with misrepresentation, and with clos- 
 ing the doors of their churches against him, the 
 leaders of Baptist society began to formulate 
 measures for the forcible expulsion of all who 
 gave heed to Mr. Smith's plea for a restored 
 church. As this purpose of the opposition 
 spread from church to church and association to 
 association, the fearless champion of reform 
 threw himself into the breach, and with his rug- 
 ged eloquence sought to stay any attempt at dis- 
 ruption, and to preserve the peace and order of 
 religious society. 
 
 As the heat of this controversy grew intense, 
 the genial spirit and good-fellowship of John 
 Smith were only the more manifest. In the 
 excitement of the times he alone was calm. 
 Amidst the cloud of angry faces that often de- 
 nied him a hearing, his countenance alone was 
 lit up with a friendly smile. When the church 
 doors were locked against him by some un- 
 friendly hand, he would speak to those who 
 gathered to hear him on such occasions in the 
 woods, refusing to sanction any act of violence 
 by which admittance might be gained. 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 139 
 
 Though from this time iti the thickest of the 
 fight, he was a man of peace: and while others 
 "gnashed on him with their teeth," lie only 
 replied in pleasantries. 
 
 The principles for which he now contended 
 were the right of free speech and private judg- 
 ment. As railing accusations were brought 
 against him and those who shared his views, he 
 would usually seek the opportunity of replying, 
 but was invariably refused the simple privilege 
 claimed. The following scene is a characteristic 
 one : 
 
 At a council of the Baptist churches at Goshen 
 he arose to correct a brother who had attempted 
 to report his views on a certain subject, but he 
 was no sooner on his feet than "they cried out 
 from one end of the house to the other, "Don't 
 let him speak, Brother Moderator!' 'Put him 
 down! Put him down!' lie turned and looked 
 on them for some time, Avith a face that calmly 
 brightened as their frowns grew dark. "When 
 their noisy protestations were over he said, 'Will 
 you not let me tell the brother what I said?' 
 
 "'Put him down!' was everywhere repeated, 
 and their cries became louder each moment, for 
 he stood there and patiently smiled at their 
 clamor. The ^Moderator for awhile utterly failed 
 in his attempts to enforce decorum, but a happy 
 expedient at last occurred to him, and he made 
 one more attempt to quiet the tumult. Calling 
 
140 
 
 MEN OF vp:steri)av 
 
 the boisterous messengers to order in a loud 
 voice, he said : 
 
 " "I decide that Brother Smith ought to be 
 aUowed to explain himself, but he must do so in 
 a whisper to the brother, who will then report it 
 to the council.' " 
 
 Accepting the privilege now granted to him, 
 Mr. Smith whispered his explanation so loud 
 that not only the brother for whom it was in- 
 tended, but the entire congregation distinctly 
 heard, much to the discomfiture of the hostile 
 leaders. 
 
 For the right of private judgment he con- 
 tended with equal earnestness. With character- 
 istic magnanimity, he was willing that others 
 should enjoy the privilege that he claimed for 
 himself. He saw in the extreme Calvinism of 
 some of his brethren no reason why he should 
 cease to affiliate with them. He was willing to 
 live in communion with all who were willing to 
 accept and obey the Savior, even though they 
 differed widely in matters of opinion. His lan- 
 guage to them was, ."Although we cannot con- 
 sent to be bound by customs which the Word of 
 God does not enjoin, yet we desire to live with 
 those who differ from us, provided they will 
 allow us the privilege which we accord them, of 
 thinking and acting for ourselves." But upon 
 this ground he was not permitted to live in the 
 enjoyment of the peace he craved, for the "zeal- 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 141 
 
 ous intolerance of the clergj- regarded every dis- 
 senting view as heretical, condemned reform as 
 innovation, and stigmatized freedom of thought 
 and action as downright heresy." 
 
 The effort of John Smith, therefore, to main- 
 tain the unity of the Baptist Church on the broad 
 platform which he had framed for himself, was 
 soon found unavailing. The unyielding policy of 
 those who were antagonistic to the principles of 
 the Reformation, was to deny fellowship to those 
 who joined in the search for a more excellent 
 way. "Seek first to reclaim these reformers 
 from their erroi's," was the method now sug- 
 gested. "If your efforts should fail, invite them 
 to leave you, and to practice their reformation to 
 theme-elves. If they will not go at your request, 
 separate them from you in the best way you 
 can." 
 
 The fire thus kindled spread from association 
 to association. The first to yield to the schis- 
 matic spirit was the North District Association, 
 where the principles advocated by Mr. Smith 
 were all but universal. The remnant of eight 
 churches out of the twenty-six comprising the 
 association withdrew, organized themselves into 
 the Baptist Association and excluded tiie other 
 eighteen. The other associations of the Bap- 
 tists resorted to the same expediency, and so 
 complete had been the work that by the autumn 
 of 1830 there were two distinct religious com- 
 
142 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 munioiis where there had formerly been one. 
 But .such liad been the eflBciency of John Smith's 
 labors that the Christian Church emerged from 
 the smoke of religious strife a strong and influ- 
 ential body. 
 
 V. THE CLOSING LABORS OF THE REFORMER. 
 
 We have now traced the career of John Smith 
 to the point of its greatest victory. From this 
 point onward to the close of his more than four- 
 score years, he was not less ardently attached to 
 the cause for which he had so earnestly con- 
 tended, but his lot fell in more pleasant places 
 and more peaceful labors. 
 
 The separation of Baptists and Disciples found 
 him the recognized leader of the new religious 
 society in Kentucky. Henceforth his whole 
 energy and strength were consumed in setting in 
 order the things lacking and strengthening the 
 faith of the brethren. At this time the Reform- 
 ers were about eight thousand strong in the State 
 and represented l)y an intelligent, pious member- 
 ship. During the winter and spring Qf 1831 he 
 gave himself unreservedly to the rejected churches 
 of the old Noi th District Association, organizing 
 them after the New Testament model, and press- 
 ing the claims of the primitive Gospel to larger 
 conquest. 
 
 While thus engaged, a yearning seized his heart 
 to go back to his childhood home, which he had 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 143 
 
 not seen in man\- years, and to preach to his 
 relatives and old neighbors the things which he 
 had come to regard essential to the larger vic- 
 tory of the Gospel. The home-coming proved a 
 painful one. A rumor that he had renounced 
 the old faith and become the victim of "a ruin- 
 ous delusion" had preceded him. Instead of the 
 friendly greetings he anticipated, he was met by 
 those whom he had once regarded as friends 
 with coldness and aversion. As he continued his 
 painful journey, he now dreaded most the meet- 
 ing with his aged mother, who still clung to the 
 old, hard Calvinism of her early creed. "I felt," 
 said he, "that I would rather meet in fierce de- 
 bate a ten-acre field of men than that dear old 
 motber, whose heart I had so deeply distressed 
 by a course that she could not be made to under- 
 stand or excuse." But sad as that meeting was, 
 the mother-heart was able to overlook what oth- 
 ers could not forgive, and he left her comforted, 
 but secure in her old faith. 
 
 The most conspicuous and happy service of 
 John Smith in the years which followed was that 
 which culminated in the union of the followers 
 of Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone, or 
 as they were then called. Reformers and Chris- 
 tians. Up to the time of the expulsion of the 
 former from Baptist fellowship these two reform 
 movements had looked upon each other with 
 anything but friendly regard. While each had 
 
144 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 set out toward the same goal, prompted by the 
 .same motives, and professing allegiance to the 
 same standard, they at first failed to recognize 
 the integrity of each other's efforts. The differ- 
 ence between them was thus stated by their re- 
 spective leaders. Mr. Stone presented tLe 
 "Bible as the only ciccd, and Christian as the 
 only name" upon wiiicli united Ciiristendom 
 could stand. ^Ir. Caui[il)ell urged "belief with 
 all tiie heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of 
 God, and obedience to his authority in the ordi- 
 nance of bai)tism" as the only Scriptural })re- 
 requisites to mendjership in any Christian con- 
 gregation. 
 
 xVfter much friendly discussion between the 
 great leaders of the two movements, it was 
 decided to call a meeting of the rei)resentative 
 men of the two brotherhoods at Georgetown, 
 Kentucky, to seek a way, in the providence of 
 God, to unity. It was decided to hold a four 
 days' union meeting, embracing Christmas day 
 of 1831, and, on New Year's day following, a 
 similar meeting was to be held at Lexington, 
 lu the preparation for these important efforts, 
 John Smith resolved to devote wliat time he 
 could spare from the needs of his family to the 
 labor of conciliation and union. 
 
 At the time appointed for the final conference 
 at Lexington, Smith and Stone were selected 
 to address the assembly and set forth the Scrip- 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 145 
 
 tural ground of union among Christ's people. 
 On this occasion John Smith gave voice to the 
 conviction of the mingling brotherhoods, as he 
 closed his discourse with these words: "For 
 several years past I have stood jjledged to meet 
 the religious world, or any part of it, on the 
 ancient Gospel and order of things, as presented 
 in the words of the Book. This is the founda- 
 tion on which Christians once stood, and on it 
 they can, and ought to, stand again. From this 
 I can not depart to meet any man, or set of men, 
 in the wide world. While for the sake of peace 
 and Christian union, I have long since waived 
 the public maintenance of any speculation I may 
 hold, yet not one Gospel fact, commandment or 
 promise, will I surrender for the world." 
 
 In much the same spirit Barton W. Stone fol- 
 lowed with an address on the importance of giv- 
 ing to the world a demonstration of the union 
 which would follow the abandonment of creeds, 
 as instruments of division, and in conclusion 
 offered his hand to Mr. Smith, who grasped it 
 in a rapturous spirit of brotherly love, and the 
 union was virtually accomplished. Together 
 they novv^ broke the commemorative loaf, and 
 with a pledge to brotherly love the assembly dis- 
 persed. 
 
 The part which Mr. Smith had taken in pro- 
 moting the cause of union soon brought him 
 
 into conflict with the illiberal spirit still to be 
 10 
 
146 
 
 MEN OF V1<:.STKRDAY 
 
 found here and there among those who had pro- 
 fessed to cast aside their creeds. He was ac- 
 cused of surrendering the essential elements of 
 faith for which they had so heroically contended 
 in the past, and of having "injured, if not 
 ruined, the cause, and wounded, beyond expres- 
 sion, the brethren that so much loved him." It 
 was with a heavy heart that he now set out to 
 meet these objections, traveling, as he had forr 
 merly done, far and wide, and by his broad 
 Christian spirit and his irresistible power of 
 address leading the churches, as he went, cor- 
 dially with him into the union. 
 
 From this time on, Mr. Smith's energies wei*e 
 consumed in enlarging the borders of Zion. 
 Few men among us have surpassed him in the 
 work of winning souls. Wherever he went 
 multitudes thronged to hear him, and large num- 
 bers became obedient to the faith. But if the 
 friends of the simple Gospel message rejoiced 
 in its spiritual triumphs, the enemies of the 
 truth, as he saw it, had reason to dread him. As 
 in the early days he attacked the strongholds of 
 sectarianism, so now, with his keen wit and 
 homely logic, he put to flight the champions of 
 Universalism, Spiritualism and other modern 
 phases of unbelief, in repeated encounters, at 
 the same time greatly strengthening the faith 
 of the churches. 
 
 As age came on and his children went out 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 147 
 
 from home, John Smith and his Nancy, who had 
 borne her full share of the privations which fall 
 to the lot of the pioneer preacher, left the 
 farm, and purchasing a home in Mt. Sterling, 
 designed to spend their declining years in quiet 
 among the friends to whom he had ministered 
 for a quarter of a century. But trouble arising 
 in the church over an unworthy successor, 
 robbed him of the beautiful hope that he would 
 live out his patriarchal days among a people 
 whom he loved as his children. He now turned 
 away with a heavy heart, and securing a home 
 in Georgetown, settled down beside John T. 
 Johnson and other hei-oes of pioneer fame. 
 Here the quiet shades of evening gathered round 
 and his great soul rejoiced in the near prospect 
 of its reward. As he waited and watched, the 
 promises of the Gospel he had tried faithfully to 
 preach cheered* each declining day. "What a 
 great failure, after all," he remarked, "would 
 my long and checkered life have been, but for 
 this glorious hope of a hereafter." Thus on 
 Feb. 28, 1868, while on a visit to his daughter in 
 Missouri, he fell asleep. "True, genial and 
 pious; the good loved, and all respected him." 
 
 John Smith was a typical pioneer. What 
 Daniel Boone and David Crockett were to the 
 early social and political life of Kentucky and 
 Tennessee, John Smith was to religious society 
 
148 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 of that period. The lonely backwoodsmen, 
 hewing out their homes in the unbroken forest, 
 constituted his first parish. The log-cabin fur- 
 nished him a home and frequently a meeting- 
 place for those drawn together by his rugged 
 eloquence. The poverty, the hardship, the peril 
 of that sturdy generation of empire-builders, 
 were all familiar to him. Like the people to 
 whom he ministered, he knew little of the great 
 Avorld that laj' beyond, and but for his familiar- 
 ity with the Word of God would have been ac- 
 counted an ignorant man. 
 
 But in the knowledge of divine things as re- 
 vealed in the Scriptures he had few equals, and 
 was an antagonist to be dreaded in any theolog- 
 ical combat. To that generation of simple- 
 minded, hard-working pioneers, he was a 
 prophet of unrivaled power; a teacher whose 
 message, clothed in the rugged imagery of the 
 frontier, smote their hearts; a leader whose fear- 
 less steps they did not hesitate to follow. His 
 uncouth ajipearance, his homely phrases, his 
 rude manners, were the product of the times 
 and not the essential characteristics of the man. 
 For within was a heart as tender as a woman's, 
 a chivalrous spirit that would have done credit 
 to an age of knight-errantry, and a moral pur- 
 pose that reflected the noblest ideals of Chris- 
 ti'an faith. 
 
 Of his peculiar characteristics and power as a 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 149 
 
 preacher, Walter Scott, his devoted friend and 
 co-hiborer, has left us this vivid picture: 
 
 "Quulitj- of voice — guttural, dr\' and husky; 
 articulation — measured, slow, perfect; emphasis 
 — natural, striking; tone — drawling; action — 
 nervous, indicating, Doiomvith the enemy; lan- 
 guage — always sifting out the sense; logic — sure, 
 sharp, killing; rhetoric — borrowed from all 
 sources, in nature, from the sun down to the 
 spark of the firefly; in society, from the king to 
 the beggar; in art, from the sublimest to the 
 meanest of human fabrications, and in I'eligion, 
 everything; eloquence — sparkling, shrewd, and 
 bordering sometimes on the indescribable. But 
 let a man take care how he resigns himself to 
 Smith's wit. It is used, as some dangerous 
 animals use their feelers, simply to ascertain 
 Avhere the prey lies; when that is done, the wit 
 is ended, and then woe betide the man that 
 smiled." 
 
 In him God's grace found a channel through 
 which its blessings flowed to thousands, and a 
 new and untried cause a champion whose fear- 
 less defense made truth victorious in the face of 
 every foe. 
 
IV. 
 
 ISAAC ERRETT. 
 
We talk of the wonders of the world, but to me the sub- 
 limest of wonders is a genuine man or woman, successfully 
 battling against the witcheries of sin and sense, and overcom- 
 ing all earthly gravitations in a determined ascent to the 
 mountain-top of truth and rigliteousness. Anxiously, trem- 
 blingly, he touches the keys until he is sure he has struck the 
 true key-note of existence. Carefully, prayerfully, sleeplessly 
 he surveys the heavens until he detects the pole star of his 
 hopes. Through a thousand fears and strifes and experi- 
 ments, he succeeds in rigging and trimming his vessel, and 
 obtaining charts and compasses that he can trust, and then 
 committing himself to the God, who ruleth the winds and 
 stayeth the raging of the seas, he ventures bravely out on the 
 voyage of life.— Isaac Errett. 
 152 
 
ISAAC ERRETT. 
 
 /. EARLY TRAINING FOR WORK. 
 
 MOXG the molders of the hiter history of the 
 
 Disciples of Christ, none occupy a more 
 prominent place than Isaac Errett, the subject of 
 this sketch. He belongs to that second gener- 
 ation of nineteenth century reformers who en- 
 tered into the labors of Alexander Campbell 
 and the early pioneers, and who by a broad- 
 spirited leadership made the splendid triumphs 
 of the last half century possible. 
 
 Ilis father, Henry P^rrett, came from the north 
 of Ireland, the birthplace of so many of our 
 sturdy pioneers. Landing in the city of New 
 York about the time the Campbells began their 
 work in Western Pennsylvania, he early became 
 a champion of the cause they advocated. Mr. 
 Errett, upon his arrival in America, found em- 
 ployment in a large mercantile establishment, 
 where his integrity and talent soon won for him 
 the position of confidential clerk. But what- 
 ever the demands of business, he did not suffer 
 his daily cares to check his ardor or lessen his 
 labors in the Master's work. In the da^'s of 
 
 (153) 
 
154 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 small things, he did not hesitate to take his 
 stand with an unpopular cause, and was soon 
 the recognized leader of the religious society to 
 which he belonged. 
 
 Amidst the hurry and din of the American 
 metropolis, Isaac Errett was born on January 2, 
 1820, the fifth son in a family of seven. His 
 life, from earliest childhood, was that of a typ- 
 ical American boy, and his early struggles and 
 final achievements present those admirable ele- 
 ments of pluck and endurance, which have char- 
 acterized so many men of note in our history. 
 
 It was the misfortune of this boy at the early 
 age of five to be left fatherless, and his greater 
 misfortune, a short time after, to have come 
 under the care of an unsympathetic step-father. 
 The only contribution of the latter to the suc- 
 cess of the growing lad, was the cultivation of a 
 self-reliant nature, by withholding the assistance 
 and encouragement which should have been 
 given. Many privations and hardships fell to 
 the lot of Isaac, along with the other children, 
 which, but for his genial nature, might have 
 embittered his whole life. That the stc|)-father, 
 a Scotchman, was unnecessarily harsh, we may 
 gather from the old man's confession, years 
 afterward, when the boys, in spite of his neglect, 
 had grown up to be useful men. "To think," 
 said he, "what gran' men they are, and I did na 
 help them on their way up! They were a' good 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 155 
 
 boys and very bright ; and to think I did na see 
 it. I canna forget, I cauna forgie mysel' that I 
 was na a father to 'eni." 
 
 It is iinpossiI)le, in this formative period of 
 Isaac Errett's career, to discover the secret of 
 the after-life of influence and power. Of edu- 
 cational advantages there were none to speak of; 
 but during the residence of the family in the 
 city of New York, Isaac enjoyed an occasional 
 term in the public school, his only school priv- 
 ilege, and somehow, between the ages of five and 
 ten, contrived to secure the rudiments of an 
 education. 
 
 His early religious training, however, was 
 looked after with greater care. The pious 
 mother esteemed it her duty, whatever the bur- 
 dens of her busy life, to see that her children 
 were brought up in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord. The home was made a sanctuary. 
 The Bible was the text-book of the fireside. 
 Those who assembled there breathed an atmos- 
 phere of faith. It is doubtless due to these 
 early influences, that Isaac was saved from ship- 
 wreck in those years of hardship and repression 
 that followed. 
 
 A short time after the advent of the step- 
 father, the exigencies of the family led to their 
 removal to a farm in New Jersey, while the head 
 of the family continued to work at his trade in 
 the city. Here the boys were put to work, in a 
 
156 
 
 :\IEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 large measure earning their own support. In 
 this hand-to-mouth struggle for existence in the 
 free open country they became toughened in 
 evei'y fibre. There was little encouragement, no 
 opportunities, abundance of work, the plainest 
 of living — altogether affording a school that is 
 not to be despised in the training for heroic 
 service. 
 
 When Isaac was about twelve years of age, 
 the migratory spirit of the step-father led to tiie 
 removal of the family to Pittsburg, then scarcely 
 more than a frontier town. Here were repeated 
 the hardships with which he had become familiar 
 in New Jersey. The step-father had purchased a 
 small farm and an interest in a mill, and he, 
 along with his older brothers, was kept busy at 
 one place or the other, as occasion demanded. 
 Burdens were put upon his young shoulders that 
 were heavy beyond his years. Winter and sum- 
 mer brought its continuous round of work. The 
 awakening thirst of the boy, as he began now to 
 dream of a larger life, was met by repression. 
 His way seemed hedged in. 
 
 It was while struggling under this load and in 
 the face of these discouragements, that Isaac 
 began to think seriously of the claims of his 
 Master upon his heart and his service. Though 
 every other avenue seemed closed to him, he 
 could at least surrender himself to the authority 
 of Christ and trust him for guidance. 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 157 
 
 Having resolved upon this step, like Andrew, 
 he lirst went to find his older brother, Russel, to 
 urge him to like obedience, and together they 
 obeyed Christ and entered the church. The be- 
 ginning of a religious life at the age of fourteen, 
 soon grew to be an absorbing passion. Almost 
 at once, and that, too, at a time when young peo- 
 ple were not encouraged to active service, he be- 
 gan in a humble way to exercise his talents, and, 
 as opportunity afforded, would deliver a brief 
 exhortation or lead in public prayer. 
 
 While he took great comfort in Christian serv- 
 ice, the burdens of his daily life were not less- 
 ened. Hard work and severe treatment contin- 
 ued to fall to his lot; and his shabby clothes, 
 ill-fitting, usually those cast off by his older 
 brothers, became a heavy cross to him, especially 
 when he appeared in iJublic. At last, he resolved 
 to break away from the tyranny of the step- 
 father, which had become intolerable, and 
 through the aid of his solicitous mother secured 
 a position in a book-store. It was a providence 
 in the life of this youth that brought him into 
 companionship with books, even if it was in the 
 humble capacity of an errand-boy. He ambi- 
 tiously grasped the opportunity and made it a 
 stepping-stone to usefulness. The duties of his 
 position were not heavy. His employer was a 
 kind-hearted man, who allowed him the privilege 
 of reading during his leisure moments. This 
 
158 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 privilege he eiigeily embraced. His years of in- 
 tellectual denial had whetted his ai)[)etitc. His 
 mind, though undeveloped, was keen in its grasp 
 and only needed the touch of the great thoughts 
 of some great thinker to stimulate it into activ- 
 ity. The store now became his college. The 
 volumes, which made up the small collection 
 upon the shelves, were his teachers. Day by day 
 his horizon widened. A new world opened be- 
 fore him and he began to dream of larger achieve- 
 ments, and to look about him for a tield in Avhich 
 he could best serve his race. Although he re- 
 mained but a year in the book-store, that year 
 had enkindled his soul with a purpose, which, 
 like a guiding-star, led liim through all his busy 
 years. 
 
 What to do next, was the question that now 
 confronted Isaac, as he left the book-store. It 
 is a great moment in the life of a young man 
 when he finds himself happily at work in the 
 place for which nature and Providence have fit- 
 ted him, but it is not always easy to find. With 
 many it is an achievement that comes only after 
 many futile efforts, many unwise beginnings, 
 often many misspent years. 
 
 In the case of young Errett, the way God in- 
 tended him to go did not at once appear. As he 
 started out to do for himself in the world the 
 future was veiled. Poverty had thus far been 
 his only heritage. Every door to culture and 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 159 
 
 preferment had not only been closed but locked 
 against him. Even now, as his horizon began to 
 expand a little, as a result of companionship 
 with the books which he had dusted and read in 
 the store, the distance between his ignorant self 
 and the culture for which he thirsted seemed 
 immeasurable. But he was not without encour- 
 agement that his dream might some day be real- 
 ized. Had not others overcome difficulties as 
 great? 
 
 Among the books on the shelf of the store, 
 where he served in the humble capacity as errand- 
 boy, was the autobiography of Benjamin Frank- 
 lin. As he followed the career of the poor 
 printer, through many struggles, to the position 
 of eminence and learning which he ultimately 
 attained, this hero became his ideal. What had 
 been done he would at least attempt. Fired 
 with this ambition, Isaac sought and gained ad- 
 mission to a printing-office, determined to use it 
 as a stepping-stone to some field of larger use- 
 fulness. In the execution of his purpose, he 
 bound himself as a printer's apprentice and at 
 once entered into his new duties, resolved "to 
 master the whole art and mystery of it." 
 Though but in his seventeenth year he brought 
 to his task the seriousness and thoughtf ulness of 
 one of mature years. He was not long in dis- 
 covering his deficiencies, and soon found that to 
 .attain the highest success as a printer, he must 
 
160 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 increase his stock of knowledge. To do this 
 required a heroic effort. That he might have 
 books, he determined to practice the mo!?t rigid 
 economy, and by preparing his own food actu- 
 ally succeeded in living on a dollar a week. 
 Purchasing a grammar and other books with his 
 meagre savings, he began in earnest the work of 
 self-education with a view to making a complete 
 success of his undertaking. All his s[)aie time 
 was now employed in study, and by diligence he 
 soon became a successful conjpositor. 
 
 But wliile he souglit intellectual development, 
 he did not neglect tlie culture of his heart. He 
 was first of all a Christian, and would not allow 
 his worldly ambition to interfere with his relig- 
 ious growth. It was at this period of self-de- 
 privation and tireless effort that he adopted as 
 one of the rules of conduct the following: "I 
 will, with the help of God, rise at four o'clock 
 and spend until six in reading the Bible and 
 prayer." Unconsciously, in these quiet morning 
 hours, he was preparing himself for the place he 
 was destined to occupy as a public servant of 
 Christ. 
 
 Like many another ambitious youth, he was 
 not content with the mere mechanical work of 
 his trade. He had begun to think, and his 
 thoughts were struggling for utterance. In the 
 office where he served was published a weekly 
 journal, "The Intelligencer." To this journal 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 161 
 
 he offered occa&ionai contributions from his own 
 pen. These early productions were well re- 
 ceived by the public, and while lacking the 
 charm of his later writings, at once marked him 
 out as a young man of talent and promise. After 
 a time Isaac Errett was asked by his employer to 
 become the editor of the journal to which he had 
 contributed from time to time, and was intro- 
 duced to the public, which from this time on he 
 was destined to serve in some conspicuous capa- 
 city, as a "young gentleman of good talents, 
 sound morals, and an exemplary citizen." 
 
 While he had found the place in v/hich he was 
 later to distinguish himself, he was not then 
 aware of it, and after a short experience in edi- 
 torial labors, turned his attention to another 
 field. 
 
 Still seeking for his proper place in the world, 
 he was now induced to leave the printing busi- 
 ness, and decided to turn his attention to teach- 
 ing. A district school was offered him, which, 
 with some misgivings, he accepted. In view of 
 the deficiencies of his early education this was 
 rather a hazardous undertaking, and had he been 
 less resolute and gifted, might have resulted in 
 ignominious failure. But whatever he lacked in 
 acquaintance with the text-books he made up 
 in determination. "I had frequently," he sa3-s, 
 "to sit up late at night to keep ahead of my 
 
 scholars in some branches that I undertook to 
 11 
 
162 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 teiicli, and succeeded beyond my expectation in 
 advancing the scholars and giving satisfaction." 
 Had he been contented with the vocation of 
 teacher, he had now found a place where he was 
 .sur(> to succeed. A larger school was now offered 
 him, and with a salary of five hundred dollars he 
 felt himself, for the first time, beyond pinching 
 poverty. Accustomed, as he had been during his 
 apprenticeship, to small wages and scant living, 
 his salary was to him a princely sum. He could 
 now buy books and gratify, as never before, his 
 thirst for knowledge. Indeed, in spite of the 
 neglect of hi-; early years he was fast becoming a 
 well-educated man. The book-store and print- 
 ing-ofiice had l)oth been important factors in his 
 education, but it is safe to say that the best 
 school he ever attended was the one taught by 
 himself, in which he was at once teacher and 
 pupil. 
 
 A mjRKMAN TlfA T y Kill lE Til NOT TO UK 
 ASIIAMKI). 
 
 While in the school-room, the way opened to 
 another field of service, to which Mr. Errett's 
 life, from this time to the end, may be said to 
 have belonged. It was a call to the ministry of 
 the Gospel. 
 
 A devout and earnest disciple, a reverent stu- 
 dent of the Word, and a faithful servant of 
 Christ, it had as yet never occurred to him that 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 163 
 
 he was able to preach. Indeed, the ministry 
 among the Disciples of Christ at that period pre- 
 sented few iiiduceiuents from a worldly point of 
 view. The churches were few in number, small 
 in membership and poor in purse. In this con- 
 dition they depended, for the most part, upon 
 mutual edification, using such talent as the 
 church possessed. It thus happened that young 
 Errett was often called upon to assist in con- 
 ducting the worship, and in a humble way made 
 use of his talent in the Lord's day service. It 
 was with no intention of becoming a preacher, 
 but rather in fulfilling what he felt to be his duty 
 as a private member, that he was learning how to 
 preach. His remarks were usually brief and un- 
 pretentious, but it was observed that they were 
 always to the point. There was a freshness, a 
 warmth, a helpfulness in his utterances which 
 pleased his hearers, and brought him into promi- 
 nence in the church. 
 
 In the meantime he was working and strug- 
 gling to make his way in the world, devoting 
 much of his time to writing and speaking; "the 
 latter," he says, "not so much because I wanted 
 to, as because circumstances combined to force 
 me into it." 
 
 At length an appeal was made to him to pre- 
 pare and preach a regular sermon. The church 
 was failing to reach and save the lost. Those 
 Avho knew him best felt that he possessed the 
 
164 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 talent which would supply their need. The young 
 teacher reluctantly gave his consent, and at the 
 appointed time appeared before the congrega- 
 tion. As he arose in the pulpit to preach his 
 first sermon, he is described as a "tall, slender, 
 smooth-faced, pale young man. He had the 
 student cast of countenance, and looked like he 
 had long been burning midnight oil." His utter- 
 ances pleased and charmed his hearers. He had 
 made a happy beginning in a new field of service. 
 His effort was received with enthusiasm, and 
 from that time it was understood that Isaac 
 Errett was to be a preacher of the reformation, 
 and all predicted that in him the cause had found 
 an able champion. He had at last found his 
 place and his work in the world. 
 
 Mr. Errett had but entered upon his twentieth 
 year, when he essayed to preach his first dis- 
 course. For a youth, without college education 
 or theological training, he was possessed of rare 
 talent as a public speaker. Nature had made 
 him a preacher, and endowed hiiu with all the 
 requisite qualifications, — commanding presence, 
 persuasive voice, spiritual earnestness and intel- 
 lectual- keenness. His neighbors discovered in 
 him the elements of success, and l)egan to urge 
 him to enter the ministry. 
 
 Frecpient demands were now made upon him 
 for sermons; and while he heartily responded to 
 these calls, he shrank from committing himself 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 165 
 
 to a work for which he felt so poorly qualified. 
 So, for several months, he continued in the 
 school-room, preaching an occasional discourse 
 on Sunday, and demonstrating with each new 
 effort his fitness for the work. Finally, yielding 
 to the solicitation of friends, he resigned his 
 place as teacher, that he might devote himself 
 exclusively to the pastoral care of a mission that 
 had been planted in another part of the city. 
 
 If anyone imagines him actuated by mercenary 
 motives, in entering the ministry, he need only 
 compare the figures representing the salary sur- 
 rendered with that received. Measured from a 
 financial standpoint, he, at that time, made a 
 great sacrifice when he left the school-room for 
 the pulpit. In the former position, he had an 
 assured salary, which, though modest, provided 
 for his necessities ; in the latter, he was largely 
 recompensed in promises that were forgotten 
 and assurances that did not materialize. But 
 the young preacher had entered the field for 
 spiritual conquest, not for worldly gain. Like 
 Paul, he knew both how to be abased and how to 
 abound; and to one who, in the days of his 
 apprenticeship, had lived on one dollar a week, 
 the question of compensation was not a very 
 serious one after all. 
 
 In the new field Isaac Errett felt the need of 
 companionship in his work, of one closer than a 
 friend, "to stimulate and uphold him." He 
 
166 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 was not long in finding a member of his flock 
 entire!}' to his liking, who was ready to share 
 with him the honor and the poverty of his posi- 
 tion. The increase in his responsibility and ex- 
 penses which a wife brought, caused his admir- 
 ing people to come forward with the munificent 
 salary of three hundred dollars promised in hard 
 cash, but which, we have reason to believe, was 
 materially diminished before it found its way 
 into tiie ministerial ])urse. 
 
 But whatever the load of anxiety laid upon 
 the heart of the young pastor and husband, in 
 keeping his accounts straight and the wolf of 
 hunger from the door, we know that he was suc- 
 cessful in the work to which he gave his heart 
 and hand. Struggling through discouragements, 
 growing in power and reputation, he continued 
 through four years, when at last necessity led 
 him to change. 
 
 His reputation as a preacher of promise had 
 reached across the line into Ohio, and a call now 
 came to him from New Lisbon. This church 
 was one of historic interest in the movement of 
 the Disciples. Here the Baptist Association had 
 met which employed Walter Scott to labor 
 among the churches of the Western Reserve. 
 Here that prince of evangelists had won his 
 first great victory in his new evangelism. This 
 church had been one of the first in the State to 
 adopt the principles of the Reformation. It 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 167 
 
 was no small honor that the young preachei* 
 should receive a call to such a church. But 
 much of the early glory had departed when 
 Isaac Errett came among them. Dissensions 
 had arisen, and many hindrances were in the 
 way. Such, however, was the energy and ability 
 of the young man, that he soon gained the re- 
 spectful hearing of all parties and witnessed the 
 rapid growth of the church in numbei's, zeal and 
 good works. 
 
 It was while engaged in this work that Isaac 
 Errett dedicated himself irrevocably to the min- 
 istry of the Word. Many years later, when 
 called back to the scenes of his t a; ly labors, he 
 wrote: "In the weakness and treiiihling anxiety 
 of that time, the church at New Lisbon extended 
 a cordial sympathy and a hearty co-opcMat ion, 
 and the leading men of the community txaw us a 
 generous confidence and approval, and the (|ues- 
 tion of our calling for life was settled here."' 
 
 Here again was expei'ienced that struggle with 
 pinching poverty which had been Mr. Errett's 
 unfailing companion since first he had entered 
 the ministry. He had been promised a salary of 
 five hundred dollars. The first year it was with 
 a hard struggle that the church had raised half 
 that amount. The second year his salary was 
 reduced to two hundred and fifty dollars, allow- 
 ing the preacher one-half of his time to devote 
 to evangelistic labors. The third year he was 
 
168 
 
 IVirCN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 compelled to raise his entire salary in the field. 
 But still he labored on with heroic self-abnega- 
 tion, winning in reputation and in spiritual fruits 
 what he failed to gain in purse and store. He 
 was beginning to be recognized as one of the 
 ablest preachers of the Reformation. Often 
 driven out from the home church by sheer want, 
 he was enlarging his acquaintance with the 
 brotherhood and preparing himself for the man- 
 tle of leadcrshi}^ that was ultimately to fall upon 
 his shoulders. 
 
 The cry of necessity must at times be heard. 
 One cannot always live on the good wishes and 
 praise of friends. Much as Mr. Errett loved and 
 was beloved by the New Lisbon church, he could 
 not ignore his obligation to his growing family. 
 He found it impossible to keep them in the most 
 humble way, and keep even with the world ; so 
 he determined, after five years of faithful ser- 
 vice, in the face of the protest of every member 
 of his church, to accept a new field. .North 
 Blooinfield, at that time, presenting a more 
 promising outlook, he removed, in 1849, to that 
 point. While the field was small and compara- 
 tively unimportant, it contributed an important 
 element in the fashioning of the leader, since it 
 afforded him time for study, and also time to 
 extend his acquaintance with the brotherhood, 
 and to turn his mind to larger interests. He 
 then became one of the movers in the establish- 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 169 
 
 ment of the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, 
 now Hiram College, and a leader in the organ- 
 ization of the churches of Ohio for missionary 
 effort. 
 
 One incident at this period is deserving of 
 remembrance. At one of his appointments, 
 through some misunderstanding, but one auditor 
 was present. Mr. Errett resolved to improve 
 the opportunity, went through the service much 
 in the usual order, with singing, the reading of 
 the Scripture and pi-ayer, preached a sermon 
 with his wonted zeal, gave an invitation to 
 which his solitary listener responded. The con- 
 vert of that occasion was Edwin Wakefield, 
 afterward a preacher of the Reformation, who 
 has been instrumental in winning thousands to 
 Christ. 
 
 A more important field now claimed Mr. 
 Errett's service, where the climax of this period 
 of his life was reached. The church at Warren 
 had enjoyed an occasional visit from him, and in 
 1851 prevailed upon him to become the pastor. 
 The five j^ears spent with this promising church 
 were perhaps the happiest and most useful in 
 his early ministry. Here he noC only built up a 
 strong congregation at home, but he went out 
 into the regions about, holding meetings, organ- 
 izing churches, encouraging the Aveak, and infus- 
 ing his own earnest spirit into the struggling 
 missionary enterprises of the brotherhood. As 
 
170 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 pastor, evangelist and missionary secretary, he 
 was kept busy, but he still found time for other 
 service, championing the cause of Christianity 
 against Spiritualism in public debate, and ad- 
 dressing the American Bible Union on the needs 
 of a revision of the Sacred Scriptures. But 
 fruitful as his ministry had been, in 1856 he was 
 constrained to leave this promising field on a 
 pilgrimage that for a time threatened to rob the 
 brotherhood of his talent. 
 
 There are but few, perhaps, who have not, at 
 some period of life, had thrown about them the 
 glamour of anticipated fortune. The way to 
 easy riches has seemed about to open. An 
 atmosphere of enchantment enveloped them, 
 and air-built castles beckoned their entrance. 
 The preacher has not always been deaf to the 
 voice of the enchantress. The way to earthly 
 riches may not seem to be exactly in line with 
 his calling, but conscience easily soothes itself 
 with the promise of the righteous use of the 
 wealth which seems to be within reach. 
 
 Mr. Errett, though a man of strong conviction 
 and sti'ong character, was no exception. The 
 hard lines of his life as a pastor, the continual 
 battle with necessity, led him now to listen to 
 such a voice. He would not make merchandise 
 of his ministry. That had never entered his 
 mind. With heroic self-denial he had refused 
 again and again tempting calls to larger fields 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 171 
 
 with ample salaries. But while engaged in his 
 labors at Warren, the temptation came to him in 
 a new guise. A company of brethren had been 
 organized for the purpose of establishing a mill- 
 ing business in the lumber regions of Michigan. 
 Mr. Errett was invited to go with them, become 
 a partner in the business and general manager, 
 and at the same time a preacher of the Reform- 
 ation in the regions round about. It was repre- 
 sented to him that he would ver}' soon become 
 independent from a worldlj- point of view. The 
 business was legitimate and safe. By the most 
 conservative figures of the l)u<ine<s men who 
 were to become Mr. Erretfs associates, the 
 profits would lift them all into atfluence. 
 
 The prospect had its advantages. A vision of 
 long-desired opportunities of study and travel 
 arose before him. His children, too, should 
 have the educational privileges he desired. 
 Moreover, he would be free from the embarrass- 
 ments of an empty purse and dependence upon 
 an ungenerous public. He could then throw 
 himself unreservedly into the Lord's work. "It 
 would be an untrammeled life; he would be his 
 own master, and could work when and where 
 and how it might seem good to him." Alto- 
 gether, it was a rose-colored prospect, and it 
 fascinated him. 
 
 Every inducement was presented by his Ohio 
 friends to dissuade him from going. Splendid 
 
172 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 fields invited liim. Leading pulpits were at his 
 command. Ample salaries were offered him. 
 Prominent brethren joined in the effort to 
 change him from his purpose. His removal to 
 the sparsely-settled frontier of Michigan seemed 
 to them a needless burial. His talents were 
 needed among the churches of the Western 
 Reserve, which were rapidly growing in numbers 
 and influence. The backwoodsmen, to whom 
 he proposed to devote his ministry, would not 
 appreciate his splendid genius. 
 
 But all their efforts were unavailing. His 
 bonanza was hidden in the far-away forests of 
 Michigan, and there he would go. So in the 
 spring of 1856, he left the old scenes and asso- 
 ciations behind, on his w^ay to supposed fortune, 
 but in reality on his way to misfortune and dis- 
 appointments. He had scarcely reached his des- 
 tination when the enchantment was dissolved, 
 and a cheerless prospect confronted him. The 
 milling business did not bring its anticipated 
 returns, and was in time abandoned. The fami- 
 ly were almost continuously prostrated with the 
 fevers of a malarious region. Hardships un- 
 numbered gathered around this isolated home. 
 
 But in the face of misfortune, sickness and 
 discouragement, Mr. Errett did not forget his 
 calling as a minister, nor did he neglect to im- 
 prove every opportunity which his bai-e sur- 
 roundings afforded. Scattered among the pine- 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 173 
 
 woods were pioneer families. They were like 
 sheep without a shepherd. Man3', like himself, 
 had come from circles of refinement and were 
 struggling heroically with hardships and discour- 
 agements. To these 'Mv. Errett bore a message 
 of hope. In the absence of churches and relig- 
 ious society, he went to the school-houses and 
 town-halls, and was soon preaching two or three 
 sermons every Sunday to delighted audiences. 
 Then as winter came on and his daily labors 
 were lightened, he began a series of revival 
 meetings in the surrounding neighborhoods, 
 which were wonderfully blessed. "While the 
 fortune he had dreamed of never materialized, 
 and he was destined to return to Ohio after a 
 few years as poor as when he came, Providence 
 made use of this misfortune to disseminate the 
 plea for primitive Christianity over a wide 
 region. It was at this period that the churches 
 at Ionia and Muir, which have since become cen- 
 ters of influence in Michigan, were planted. 
 "As the result of the Divine blessing upon his 
 faithful labors," writes Mr. Lamar, his biogra- 
 pher, "about five hundred persons in the county 
 and about one thousand in that part of the State 
 were brought to the feet of the great Teacher 
 and organized into a number of strong and influ- 
 ential churches." 
 
174 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 III. FAITHFUL SERVICE IN A NEW FIELD. 
 
 The gloom of the backwoods was not able to 
 obscure the light of one of Mr. Errett's genius. 
 Though he had retired for a season into the wil- 
 derness, lie was not unmindful of the interests 
 of the growing brotherhood to which he had 
 pledged his service. He anxiously watched the 
 drift of this movement, and again and again, 
 during this period, his voice rang out from the 
 woods, warning his brethren of dangers, and 
 encouraging them to increased activity in the 
 work of evangelization. His pen was also busy. 
 He had ol)served with deep solicitude the nar- 
 rowing, sectarian tendency of some of the later 
 leaders of the Reformation. He felt this to be 
 the death-blow of the work inaugurated by the 
 splendid genius of Alexander Campbell, if not 
 speedily checked. Into the work of enlarge- 
 ment he, therefore, threw his great energies. It 
 was amid the difficulties and discouragements of 
 this period that he wrote "Walks About Jerusa- 
 lem," seeking through its pages to emancipate 
 the brothei'liood from the loveless legalism of 
 ul t r a-co n se r V a t i V e 1 e a d e r s . 
 
 As was to be expected, an appj'eciative broth- 
 erhood would not suffer hiui to remain long in 
 retirement. His services were needed in a 
 larger field. In 1857 he received an urgent call 
 to become the corresponding secretary of the 
 American Christian Missionary Society. While 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 175 
 
 continuing his residence in Michigan, he accepted 
 the appointment, and set about at once seeking 
 to infuse new life into the missionaiy enterprises 
 of the brotherhood, at that time strongly anti- 
 missionary in sentiment. This position he held 
 for three years. These were busy years, beset 
 with hindrances, but fruitful of results. In the 
 summer he traveled far and wide, seeking to 
 enkindle a missionary interest. His winters were 
 devoted to evangelistic labors among the 
 churches of Michigan. 
 
 The slavery question, too, was now uppermost. 
 The pro-slavery and anti-slaVery lines were 
 closely drawn. In the churches of the Reforma- 
 tion both elements were strongly represented. 
 Other religious bodies were being rent asunder 
 upon this rock. Though himself an anti-slavery 
 man, Mr. Errett now strove to prevent the 
 churches from yielding to extremists. It seemed 
 for a time that his efforts were to prove futile. 
 In 1858 steps were taken to organize an anti- 
 slavery missionary society by those who re- 
 garded Mr. Errett's moderation as a surrender 
 to the slave-power. A small company assem- 
 bled in Indianapolis and the new missionary 
 society was formed; but calmer judgment, in 
 time, prevailed, and the churches, while differ- 
 ing widely and sending contingents to each of 
 the contending armies, remained a united broth- 
 erhood. As the war-cloud gathered and passion 
 
176 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 ran liigli, Mr. Errett, perhaps, did more than 
 any other man to keep the good ship Zion from 
 stranding and going to pieces. 
 
 The years through which Isaac Errett was now 
 passing were busy, trying, fruitful years. He 
 had accepted the pastorate of the church in 
 Detroit, but continued to manifest a deep inter- 
 est in everything that concerned the welfare of 
 the brotherhood at huge. It was an epoch- 
 making period in our history. Old things were 
 passing away, all things were becoming new. la 
 the heat of civil war the social, political, indus- 
 trial life of the nation was being recast. The 
 church was not to escape the molding influences 
 at work. It was, also, beginning to feel the 
 throb of the new life that was everywhere mani- 
 fest. 
 
 Mr, Errett at once caught the spirit of this 
 new dispensation, and was among the first to 
 recognize the need of putting the religious 
 forces abreast the times. A new era of con- 
 quest demanded new methods. These he now 
 urged with voice and pen, at every opportunity. 
 But his progressive spirit was regarded with 
 alarm .by many of his l)rethren. They had failed 
 to distinguish between matters of expediency 
 and Jerusalem Gospel. They regarded his pro- 
 gressive notions as a surrender of the great plea 
 for the restoration of primitive Christianity. 
 
 Thus it happened that while engaged in the 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 177 
 
 quiet duties of his pii.storate iu Detroit he be- 
 cauic the target of much unkind criticism. Tlie 
 conscrviitive element of the church was gather- 
 ing under the leadership of Benjamin Franklin 
 and the "American Christian Keview," and was 
 then a somewhat formidable force. It regarded 
 itself called of God to resist the liberalizing 
 influence of this liberal loader. Every act of 
 his was passed upon by this tribunal of sound- 
 ness. A plain statement from iiis pen on the 
 position of the Disciples, was denounced as a 
 creed; and his friendly attitude toward other 
 religious bodies was construed into an unholy 
 ambition for popularity. 
 
 It became evident to the friends of the cause 
 to which Alexander Campbell had given his 
 grand life, that, if the movement was not to 
 degenei'ate into a narrow, illiberal sect, a new 
 agency must be employed to leaven the jiublic 
 mind. Nothing, they felt, could render more 
 efficient service than a religious journal, dcvotcul 
 to the cause of a broad, undenominational 
 Christianity. The "Millennial Harbinger," it 
 is true, was still a representative of the best 
 thought of the inovemcnt. But it was only a 
 monthly, and in its character partook more of 
 a magazine than a newspaper, and was not 
 adapted to the new conditions that confronted 
 society as the war-cloud cleared away. 
 
 In this situation came a demand for a weekly 
 12 
 
178 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 paper that would properly represent our posi- 
 tion, and which, while "true to the letter of the 
 Gospel, would also be true to the Gospel spirit." 
 "There had been for years," writes the editor of 
 the "Christian Standard," many years later, "a 
 growing desire among the Disciples for a weekly 
 religious paper of broader range, more generous 
 spirit and a higher order of literary skill and 
 taste, than any that had yet appeared under their 
 patronage." 
 
 As this desire began to find expression among 
 a growing constituency of lilieral-ininded lead- 
 ers, all eyes were turned toward Mr. Errett as 
 the man best qualified to inaugurate such an 
 enterpi ise. He had now reached a position of 
 influence which placed him clearly in tlie leader- 
 ship of the aggressive portion of the church. 
 While the lines of his life had mostly been cast 
 in the channels of pastoral and evangelistic 
 labors, he was not unacquainted with the use of 
 the pen, or the responsibilities of an editor. 
 
 As a printer's apprentice he had not only 
 learned to set type, but to express his ideas in an 
 attractive literary style. During the years in- 
 tervening he had written much for the press. 
 Addresses, tracts, and books had revealed his 
 power as a writer. In addition to his pastoral 
 labor, at this period, he was serving as contribu- 
 ting editor to the pages of the "Millennial Har- 
 binger," and his terse, practical essays were 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 179 
 
 attracting general attention, and preparing the 
 way for the reception of the message that was to 
 consume his afterthought. 
 
 In deference to this general desire, Mr. Errett, 
 while yet pastor in Detroit, planned the publica- 
 tion of a weekly religious paper, such as the 
 times called for. But before he was able to put 
 his plans into execution, an unhappy circum- 
 stance, such as too often falls to the preacher's 
 lot, led to the severance of his relation as pastor, 
 and his return to Muir, and consequently the 
 abandonment, for a time, of the project. 
 
 In the meantime, his friends, unwilling that 
 the enterprise from which they had expected so 
 much should fail, were vigorously at work, and 
 on December 26, 1865, succeeded in organizing a 
 Christian Publishing Association which was to 
 furnish the capital needed in the publication of 
 a religious weekly. Mr. Errett was invited to 
 become editor-in-chief. The paper was to be 
 called the "Christian Standard." Cleveland was 
 designated as the most suitable place for its pub- 
 lication. Accepting the trust imposed in him, 
 Mr. Errett went vigorously to wOrk. Plans were 
 formulated, offices secured, the details arranged. 
 So speedily was the matter pushed that on April 
 7, 1866, the first number of the "Christian Stand- 
 ard" appeared. The high standard which the 
 editor set for himself appears in the initial 
 number. "Our enterprise," he writes, "is un- 
 
180 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 deitaken from a deep conviction of the necessity 
 of an increase of spiritual forces for the regen- 
 eration of society. There is a tliree-fold object 
 before us, which every enlightened Christian 
 must and will approve: 1. The turning of the 
 world to Christ. 2. The union of believers in 
 the fellowship of the Gospel. 3. The education 
 of Christians into a nobler spiritual life." 
 
 By a straiiuo coincidence the career of Alexan- 
 der Caiiipl)ell closed, as that of Isaac Errett, as 
 editor, began. The news of the death of this 
 grand old man reached the editor as he was pi*e- 
 paring the first issue of his pajier, and the first 
 page was devoted to his memory. The mantle 
 of Elijah had fallen upon the shoulders of 
 Elisha. 
 
 The appearance of the "Christian Standard" 
 marked a new era for the Disciples of Christ. A 
 turning-point had l)een reached, and it was 
 largely through the influence of the "Standard" 
 and its supporters that new spiritual forces were 
 then set in motion, which have since contributed 
 to the unprecedented growth of the brother- 
 hood. 
 
 In the founding and development of a relig- 
 ious weekly, Mr. Errett also found his pro[)er 
 sphere. Like Horace Greeley, he seemed to 
 possess an innate genius for editorship, a sixth 
 sense by which he discerned the people's needs. 
 It was through this great channel that, for the 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 181 
 
 rest of his life, Mr. Errett "poured forth the 
 fullness of his vast intellectual and spiritual re- 
 sources, gladdening and blessing hundreds of 
 thousands wherever the English language is 
 spoken." 
 
 But the management of such an enterprise 
 as that which now engaged the editor, was not 
 without its peculiar perils. He succeeded, if 
 not in coming up to his ideal, at least in making 
 a good paper. Its pages breathed a sweet spirit 
 of Christian charity. Its ^readers were pleased. 
 Its influence was sure to result in the enlarge- 
 ment and strengthening of the churcli. But as 
 a financial venture it was not a success. Sub- 
 scriptions came in slowly. At the close of its 
 second year it had not begun to pay expenses. 
 The stockholders became discouraged, and at 
 last abandoned the enterprise, turning the paper 
 and its debts over to Mr. Errett, to woi-k himself 
 out of the trying situation as best he could. 
 Unlooked for and weighty responsibilities now 
 rested upon him. It was a critical time. He 
 resolved, if possible, for the sake of interests 
 that were dear to him, to continue the publi- 
 cation. 
 
 The great energy of Isaac Errett was now 
 taxed to the utmost to keep the business side of 
 the "Christian Standard" from bankruptcy. 
 Almost certain ruin stared him in the face; and 
 y^et he struggled on hoping against hope. He 
 
182 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 believed in the power of the press. He was pro- 
 foundly confident that the "Standard" had a 
 mission. He had studied carefully the situation 
 that confronted the Disciples of Christ, and 
 foresaw, the utter defeat of a great cause, unless 
 the course of opinion could be changed, and the 
 rank and file of the church saved from the nar- 
 row, sectarian trend of some of its self-appointed 
 leaders. To lead his people back to their primi- 
 tive liberty, was now his editorial ambition, and 
 he was ready to catch at any straw that would 
 keep his paper afloat a little longer in the accom- 
 plishment of this mission. 
 
 It was while clouds of despair were thickening 
 about him that a way to success seemed to pre- 
 sent itself. A new college enterprise was then 
 being set on foot, at Alliance, Ohio. A great 
 educational institution was to be planted, over 
 which Mr. Errett was asked to preside. It was 
 represented to him that, in addition to the splen- 
 did buildings being constructed, a large endow- 
 ment fund had been raised, and that it was sure, 
 in the future, to be the great religious center of 
 the Disciples. An ample salary was assured 
 him, and as his new duties were not to interfere 
 with his connection with the "Standard," he 
 eagerly accepted it and moved to the new scene 
 of labors. 
 
 The scheme proved to be a bubble, and in 
 three years Alliance College had added another 
 
■ ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 183 
 
 chapter to the unfoitiinalc (■ducational record of 
 the Disciples. Before the bubble burst, how- 
 ever, Mr. Errett had severed his connection with 
 the institution, finding it impossible to bear the 
 responsibilit}' of two struggling enterprises. His 
 heart was in the "Standard." He could not see 
 it die, nor was he willing that it sliould pass into 
 less tender hands. But the crisis was now at 
 hand. The support he had hoped for was not 
 received. He could go no further. He made a 
 last call for help from his brethren, in vain. 
 Many appreciated his efforts and enjoyed his 
 paper, but were not ready to share in his sacri- 
 fices. But one course remained. That was to 
 abandon the enterpi-ise and surrender the cause. 
 It seemed to be the inevitable, and Mr. Errett 
 resolved to meet it with a brave heart. 
 
 "I see before me," he said to a friend, "a 
 heavy loss, but this is nothing compared with my 
 sorrow that the paper must stop; nevertheless 
 we must have courage to meet defeat, if defeat 
 must come, and I shall try to accept the whole 
 situation Avith calmness and act as becometh a 
 man." 
 
 In this darkest hour, the Gethsemane of God's 
 servant, help unexpectedly came. A business 
 man of Cincinnati and an experienced publisher, 
 K. W. Carroll, offered to assume the responsi- 
 bility of publishing the "Christian Standard,"' if 
 it were removed to that city. Tlie offer was 
 
184 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 accepted, and the paper and its editor entered 
 upon a new career of service. 
 
 IV. THE PROGRESSIVE LEADER. 
 
 The church was now at its hour of greatest 
 peril, and needed the help of a strong hand. As 
 yet it had not been able to adapt itself to the 
 new conditions, the new spirit of progress which 
 had followed the war. With many, whatever 
 had prevailed among the practices of the fathers 
 during the tifty years previous, had all the weight 
 of Divine authority. Every change iu method 
 or expediency was denounced as apostasy. In- 
 stead of going back to Jerusalem, men stopped 
 at Bethany, and that which Campbell had taught 
 in bringing order out of the chaos of 1830, was 
 regarded as equally essential in adjusting the 
 church to its environment in 1870. 
 
 At this critical and important period, Isaac 
 Errett, now freed from the embarrassment of an 
 unprofitable enterprise, threw himself with his 
 great strength into the cause of Christian liberty. 
 He was, by his invaluable service, to become the 
 second emancipator of the Church. Campbell 
 had led the Church out of the bondage to writ- 
 ten creeds which had fostered sectarianism ; but 
 Errett was now to render no less important serv- 
 ice by leading it out of bondage to the unwritten 
 traditions of the elders, which was scarcely less 
 sectarian in its tendency. By his clear, forcible. 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 185 
 
 logical presentation of the truth, he enabled his 
 readers to distinguish between matters essen- 
 tial — Scriptural, permanent, and matters of ex- 
 pediency, — temporal, changing. 
 
 While men of narrow mind and short vision 
 were caviling about a settled ministry, mission- 
 ary co-operation, friendly recognition, Sunday- 
 schools, church music, etc., Mr. Errett was un- 
 furling the banner of liberty in Christ, declaring 
 in reply to those who accused him of apostasy, 
 that "any attempt to introduce or enforce any- 
 thing as a matter of faith or duty which the 
 apostles did not enforce in the name of our Lord, 
 would be a stop in apostasy. And any attempt 
 to compel uniformity in thinking or in practice, 
 where the apostles have left us free, was virtual 
 apostasy." 
 
 Upon this platform Mr. Errett defended the 
 principles, which have now come to be recog- 
 nized as the very essence and strength of our 
 movement, in its message to the religious world 
 and its plea for a united church. 
 
 At no point in this controversy was the !)attle 
 more fierce than over the question of church 
 music. It is easy for us to-day to see how all 
 this came about. 
 
 Previously, life had been too hard a struggle 
 with most people, to allow them to give atten- 
 tion to the cultivation and gratification of refined 
 tastes. The bare necessities made up the equip- 
 
186 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 ment of home and life. Having never enjoyed 
 in their homes, they did not miss in the house of 
 worship, that which contributed to their comfort 
 or pleasure. But after the war came a season of 
 unwonted prosperity. The old cheerless cabin 
 gave place to the home of comfort. The bare 
 floors were hidden by cheerful carpets. The 
 hard-bottom chair Avas cast aside and rich up- 
 holstery installed in its place. The children 
 were sent to seminary and college, and came back 
 with awakened minds and cultivated tastes. In- 
 struments of music added to the cheer of the 
 home. Everything had suddenly changed — 
 everything but the old square, unpainted meet- 
 ing-house, with its cheerless walls, uncomfort- 
 able seats, and uninviting service. An unpro- 
 gressive, unobserving leadership had accepted 
 these as essential, and regarded them almost as 
 indispensable to soundness of faith as belief in 
 the Son of God, or obedience to his express 
 commands. 
 
 Mr. Errett saw clearly the hand of God in this 
 new march of civilization and sought to bring 
 the church into harmony with these new condi- 
 tions. .He saw in the building of new, attractive 
 houses of worship and the use of instruments to 
 aid the singing and all other accessories of a 
 well-ordered service, not the result of pride, or 
 vanity, or worldliness, but the inevitable conse- 
 quence of growth and culture. "The change 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 1S7 
 
 was indeed wonderful, but it was normal, and 
 most blessed — the sign of a true life and the nec- 
 essary precursor of abundant fruitage." 
 
 Mr. Errett, in view of the bitterness which the 
 music question was bringing into many of the 
 churches, wisely counseled peace, the exercise of 
 charity and forbearance. But he foresaw and 
 hailed the inevitable as a real aid to spiritual 
 worship. The argument against the organ as an 
 mnovation he met in a way that soon brought 
 most fair-minded people to his way of thinking. 
 
 "When they preach," he wrote in answer to 
 the cry of innovation, "they go into a meeting- 
 house, which is an innovation, and take up a 
 hymn-book, which is an innovation, and give out 
 a human hymn, which is an innovation, and this 
 hymn is sung to a tune, which is an innovation, 
 by a choir, which is an innovation, by the aid of 
 tune-book and tuning-fork, which are innova- 
 tions. They also read from printed Bibles, 
 which is an innovation. Yet who dreams in all 
 this of any innovation of the law of God or the 
 authority of the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 In time, the counsel of Isaac Errett and the 
 many wise men who gathered around him pre- 
 vailed; and the church, emancipated from every 
 creed, written or unwritten, but that acknowl- 
 edging the Divinity of our Lord, entered a new 
 era of conquest. In his conflict with the do- 
 nothing, the anti-evei'ything spirit of the conser- 
 
188 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 vative element of the church, he had saved the 
 day; but he did not at that time realize the com- 
 ph'tene.ss of his victory. It was, therefore, in a 
 rather gloomy frame of mind that he cast the 
 horoscope of the year 1872 in his paper. 
 
 "We grow nervous," he wrote, "about the wel- 
 fare of the church, the fulfillment of prophecies, 
 the triumpli of truth and righteousness in the 
 earth. Everything seems to be going wrong. 
 The former days were better than these. Wick- 
 edness abountls, infidelity is bold and defiant; 
 tlie [)eople are at ease in Zion and our zeal is 
 paralyzed by our unfaithfulness." 
 
 Two foes confronted him. There was a re- 
 newed attack of sectarian hate from without. 
 It had been confidently predicted by the enemies 
 of the movement that the brotherhood built up 
 under the leadership of Alexander Campbell was 
 only held together by the "force of his great 
 name and his powerful personality; so with his, 
 death they would speedily disintegrate and come 
 to naught." A half dozen years had now passed. 
 Instead of decay, the Disciples were gradually 
 coming to a position of religious importance. 
 
 To check, if possible, the progress of the 
 movement, the old method of misrepresentation 
 and calumny, so familiar to the pioneers, was 
 again employed. But in Mr. Errett they found 
 no easy antagonist. As a controversial writer he 
 was, perhaps, without an equal, — clear, incisive. 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 189 
 
 convincing. He clearly grasped the situation. 
 He was able to meet misrepresentation as no 
 other man, because he had breathed in the veiy 
 genius and spirit of our movement, and was able 
 to interpret it in a way that commanded the 
 admiration and the acceptance of the unpreju- 
 diced thinker. 
 
 A more serious obstacle to enlargement was 
 the element of dissent within the ranks. Many 
 of the churches were wasting their energies in 
 unseemly dissensions about "plans," and doing 
 nothing for the evangelization of the world be- 
 cause they could not agree as to the "Lord's 
 plan." 
 
 It had thus happened that while professing 
 loyalty to the great commission above that of 
 any other people, they had failed to respond to 
 its marching orders. While living in the midst 
 of the mightiest missionary century, in which 
 God was clearly opening the way to the conquest 
 of pagan lands, they had strangely failed to hear 
 Christ's command to go. It is true, Mr. Camp- 
 bell had discovered the purpose of God before 
 the close of his life, and had pointed to the 
 nations lying beyond as a hopeful field for the 
 spread of the Gospel; but, at his death, no 
 definite work toward this wider evangelism had 
 been begun, and men, going back to the "Chris- 
 tian Baptist," had found comfort in shutting 
 their hearts and purses to the cry for helj) from 
 
190 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 pagan lands. It was claimed that "as there was 
 no apostolic precept nor example demanding 
 missionary societies, their formation was a de- 
 parture from the fundamental principle of the 
 Disciples' plea and was manifestly unauthorized 
 and sinful." "We had," says one of our later 
 writers, "turned our backs on our own destiny 
 and were marching straight to oblivion and 
 decay." 
 
 It was at this point in his career, that Mr. 
 Errett was destined to render his most valuable 
 service to the cause of primitive Christianity as 
 the champion of missionary co-operation. To 
 use the language of another: "Underneath all 
 our mission work, State and general, lies the 
 great principle of co-operation. This is the law 
 of gravitation in our world of usefulness, and 
 Mr. Errett is our Newton. This is the center of 
 light and power in millennial astronomy, and 
 Mr. Errett is our Copernicus. To grasp strong- 
 ly and clearly that principle, to wrest it from 
 spiritual Saracens, after years of fierce battle, 
 and build about it a great people, heirs to the 
 crown of destiny, this, by all odds, is Isaac 
 Errett's greatest work." 
 
 In the earliest years of his ministry, he had 
 manifested a deep interest in the work of mis- 
 sions. Feeling the need of some agency for the 
 extension of the cause within the borders of his 
 own State, he became one of the prime movers 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 191 
 
 in the organization of the Ohio Christian Mis- 
 sionary Society, which was among the first 
 attempts at co-operative effort upon an extended 
 scale, since the dissolution of the old Mahoning 
 Association of the Western Reserve. At a later 
 period he was chosen Corresponding Secretary 
 of the American Christian Missionary Society 
 and rendered valiant service at a perilous time, 
 when many of the leading brethren were sus- 
 picious of the whole movement toward co-oper- 
 ation, fearing the re-establishment of an eccle- 
 siastical tribunal. 
 
 But it is in connection with the Foreign Chris- 
 tian Missionary Society that Mr. Errett's name 
 will always be most intimately associated. As 
 he now studied the needs of the movement from 
 his vantage ground of knowledge and experi- 
 ence, he began to feel that not only the salva- 
 tion of the pagan world, but the salvation of the 
 church itself, demanded that we, who claim to 
 be guided by the will of the Master expressed in 
 his written Word, should get in line with God 
 in his express design of world-wide evangeliza- 
 tion. He was sure that we would never take our 
 rightful place among the I'eligious forces of the 
 age, until we enlarged our plans of conquest so 
 as to embrace all the nations of the earth. We 
 must be a missionary people in the fullest, 
 broadest sense, or tear down our banner and 
 retire from the field. 
 
192 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 As eiirly as 1873, in the coliiinns of the "Chris- 
 tian Standard," he advocated the Organization 
 of a society that should turn its attention exclu- 
 sively to the foreign field. In the autumn of 
 that year he urged the matter upon his brethren 
 in their National Assembly. For some reason 
 no action was then taken. While men were 
 meditating ui)()n his suggestion, and hesitating 
 and wondering how it could be done, Mr. Errett 
 turned to the women. Here was a great, unutil- 
 ized force. Their hearts were always responsive 
 to every ap[)eal for Christian devotion and sac- 
 rifice; and he urged that they were capable of 
 great service at this critical period. Quickly re- 
 sponding, the Christian Woman's Board of Mis- 
 sions was organized, and at the General Conven- 
 tion of the churches in the autumn of 1874 
 obtained recognition as a legitimate agency "in 
 the great work of sending the Gospel into all 
 the world," and always afterward found in Mr. 
 Errett a friend and helper. 
 
 The climax of our missionary movement was 
 reached the following year when the organiza- 
 tion of the Foreign Christian Missionary Socie- 
 ty was effected. The annual convention had 
 met at Louisville, Ky. Mr. Errett, as President 
 for that year, in his annual address, had again 
 called the attention of his brethren to the sub- 
 ject that was on his heart, reminding them that 
 "no people had ever been blessed in their home 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 193 
 
 enterprises without a foreign mission arj' spirit 
 and work." Others joined in urging the for- 
 ward movement. An earnest brotherhood rep- 
 resented in the convention heartily responded. 
 The hour had come'. The Foreign ^lissiomuy 
 Society was born, and in recognition of his ser- 
 vice selected Isaac Errett as President, a posi- 
 tion which he held until his death. 
 
 It was the beginning of a new era for the Dis- 
 ciples of Christ, and marks the period from 
 which we may reckon their unprecedented 
 growth. 
 
 V. THE LAST YEARS. 
 
 The purpose for which God called Isaac Errett 
 from the ranks of the Disciples was largely 
 accomplished with the organization of the For- 
 eign Christian Missionary Society. He had "led 
 us out of the bitterness and darkness and bond- 
 age to a narrow, opinionated legalism, to the 
 sweetness and light of the liberty wherewith 
 Christ hath made us free;" and the titling 
 climax of such a career was to crj'stallize the 
 energies of the church for the prosecution of a 
 great world-embracing enterprise. 
 
 The remaining years, though fruitful, were 
 without incident that added either to the great- 
 ness or the permanence of Mr. Errett's fame. 
 He had reached the height of his splendid career, 
 
 but fortunatelv he was able to niaintain himself 
 13 
 
194 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 at that high level to the end. There was no 
 unhappy decline, no weakening of intellectual 
 ])()\vfrs, IK) departure from a lofty ideal. He 
 had no occasion to recede from the positions he 
 had taken, and no reason to lament the course 
 of events which he had helped to direct. He 
 vontiiuied to watch with unabated interest the 
 [)r()grc'ss of the movement to which were given 
 the best years of his life, and with pen and voice 
 gave such counsel as, in his mature judgment, 
 would lead to enlai-goment. 
 
 As a writer, he continued to drive a tireless 
 pen. Not only were his contributions to the edi- 
 torial columns of the "Standard" uninterrupted, 
 but he was able to add several volumes to our 
 permanent literature. It was at this period 
 that, in the (piict of the home, as the shades of 
 evening gathered abcnit, his mind turned afresh 
 to the Word of God, to meditate u[)on its mar- 
 velous beauty and profound lessons; and as he 
 meditated, to write in his ))est style, the chapters 
 of "Evenings with the Bible," enriching our lit- 
 erature with three splendid volumes. It was in 
 recognition of his Bil)lical attainments, as well 
 as a compliment to the growing importance of 
 the people whom he represented, that he was, in 
 1884, chosen a member of the International 
 Sunday-school Lesson Committee, a position 
 which he filled with credit until the close of his 
 life. 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 195 
 
 As a public speaker he was continually in 
 demand. With the removal of the "Standard" 
 to Cincinnati he had ceased to minister to a con- 
 gregation as pastor, with the exception of a 
 short period in the city of Chicago. But as the 
 servant of the brotherhood his talent was not 
 suffered to be idle. Conventions, anniversaries, 
 dedicatory services, made large drafts upon his 
 strength and energy. No meeting of his breth- 
 ren, in representative assemblies, was complete 
 without him. None were listened to with greater 
 pleasure. 
 
 What manner of man he was as he stood be- 
 fore his brethren on great occasions, where 
 much was expected of him, may be gathered 
 from the volume entitled, "Linsey-Woolsey and 
 other Addresses," published a few years after 
 his death. These addresses were selected from 
 his best efforts, and covering a wide range of 
 themes — missionary, literary, popular — they 
 make a most readable collection. The charm of 
 a great pex'sonality and the music of an attrac- 
 tive voice are lacking, but the thoughts of a 
 great thinker, clothed in his best style, are 
 there. 
 
 As he advanced in years, storm-clouds that 
 tripd the very fibre of his faith and fortitude 
 swept across his path. From the bosom of his 
 own family, those to whom he looked for the 
 realization of his highest parental hopes, were 
 
196 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 juysteriously taken. Of that stalwart group 
 that stood about him in his earlier struggles few 
 were left. The innermost circle of his earthly 
 friendships was broken by the assassination and 
 death of President Garfield. Each new afflic- 
 tion called from him some new expression of his 
 unfaltering trust in the Divine Providence; but, 
 in time, the strong physical frame was shattered 
 by these repeated blows, and friends began to 
 feel that his work was accomplished. 
 
 But notwithstanding his increasing infirmity, 
 he continued to manifest a deep interest in the 
 public enterprises of the church. As President 
 of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society, he 
 was its guiding spirit. At each annual gathering 
 his voice was heard, always urging the churches 
 to the accomplishment of larger things. What 
 changes he was permitted to witness before he 
 laid down the gavel ! The infant society, with- 
 out friends, or field, or a single trained mission- 
 ary, grew, during the few years in which he was 
 permitted to share in its counsels, into a strong 
 organization with mission stations planted in 
 many pagan lands, and scores of competent and 
 consecrated men and women sent as torch-bear- 
 ers of truth to the benighted peoples. 
 
 It was in recognition of his splendid servjce 
 in the interest of missions, that his friends, in 
 the autumn of 1886, urged their beloved Presi- 
 dent to visit the Holy Land, generously provid- 
 
ISAAC ERRETT 
 
 197 
 
 ing for the expenses of the cntiro journey. Lit- 
 tle did they dream that their well-meant kind- 
 ness was to hasten the completion of Mr. 
 Errett's career. Already sick and exhausted, 
 the old veteran summoned all his strength for 
 the journey. It was full of interest for one 
 whose mind had dwelt continuously upon the 
 scenes made sacred by the Saviour's foot-prints; 
 and he determined that nothing of interest 
 should escape his observation, no matter at what 
 cost of bodily exhaustion. He saw with the 
 freshness of vision of youth, and in his letters 
 to the "Standard" described with a vividness 
 that carried his readers with him as he traveled 
 from city to city and land to land. But the 
 overstrain of so extended and difficult a tour 
 was too great for his enfeebled body. He re- 
 turned to lay down the burden of toil and 
 calmly await the end. Only once again was he 
 l>ermitted to meet with his brethren in their 
 great National Assembly. Then, on December 
 19, 1888, the end came, and another of God's 
 prophet s had passed from earth. 
 
 Such, briefly, is the career of Isaac Errett as 
 he appeared among his brethren in the service of 
 Christ. He came at a peculiarly critical period 
 in the history of a religious movement. A peo- 
 ple had been led out of the bondage to creed 
 and were painfully finding their way through an 
 untried desert. Before they had come into the 
 
198 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 full possession of the promised land their Moses 
 had been taken from them. Isaac Errett was 
 raised up to be their Joshua to lead them over 
 Jordan, and it was through his valiant leader- 
 ship that they were not overthrown by the Phi- 
 listines. 
 
 It is not strange that one of his intense nature 
 should have made many bitter enemies as well as 
 warm friends. Some were wont to almost regard 
 him as the incarnation of evil, others as the 
 sum of all perfection. That he was a man of 
 like passions with ourselves must be conceded; 
 but in the calmer judgment of the future, I think 
 it will be discovered that he had few equals. "I 
 know of no man among us," writes the vener- 
 able President Loos in a private letter, "whose 
 influence can measure with that of Isaac Errett. 
 This influence began to become wide and strong 
 from the day he became editor of the 'Christian 
 Standard,' in 1866. It was he, distinctively 
 beyond othex-s, who gave the missionary cause — 
 first in the State of Ohio, then in the American 
 Christian Missionary Society, and finally in the 
 Foreign Christian Missionary Society — its largest 
 expansion and life," 
 
 In this judgment all who are familiar with the 
 history of the Disciples will concur. He was a 
 prince and a leader among the hosts of Israel, 
 and his memory will ever be precious to those 
 who are devoted to the triumph of undenomina- 
 tional Christianity. 
 
13. \V. JOHNSON. 
 
V. 
 
 BARTON W. JOHNSON. 
 
Christ says, "Learn of me." No man can, unless he 
 comes to the Great Teacher in a teacliable mind. It is a sac- 
 rilege to approach the Sacred Word in order to project into 
 it our theories and to make all bend before them. Only he 
 who comes with the docility of a little child will be made a 
 partaker of the secrets of Divine Wisdom. The Lord still 
 conceals great truths, from the self-opinionated, wise and 
 prudent, and reveals them unto babes. The only state of mind 
 fit for an investigation of the Holy Scriptures is that in 
 which, putting out of sight our own wisdom, we come, say- 
 ing, "Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth."— B. W. Johnson. 
 200 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON. 
 
 I. YOUTHFUL LABORS AXD AMBITIONS. 
 
 'he religious work begun by Alexander Camp- 
 
 bell and that group of choice spirits that 
 gathered around him, in the earl}' years of this 
 century, must have ultimately failed but for the 
 generation of Christian heroes that followed 
 and kept the movenient fro:n crvet'illizing into a 
 narrow, bigoted sect on the one hand, or from 
 surrendering the essential elements of Christian 
 faith on the other. 
 
 Among these disciples of Campbell and of 
 Christ, whose guiding hand is seen in the broad- 
 ening and spiritualizing of the Christian Church, 
 were none who threw themselves more unre- 
 servedly into the cause than Barton W. Johnson, 
 to whose memory this sketch is to be devoted. 
 Like most men who have left an impress for 
 good on human society, his early life was devel- 
 oped amidst suiToundings that called forth those 
 elements of strength and courage, which, tem- 
 pered by the refining influence of Christian 
 faith, give to character its sweetest charm and 
 greatest power. 
 
 (201) 
 
202 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 lu 1832, near the present town of Washing- 
 ton, Illinois, on one of those charming spots 
 where primeval forests melt into waving 
 stretches of prairie, a log-cabin reared its unpre- 
 tentious roof to shelter John and Martha John- 
 son, as worthy a pair as ever trod life's path- 
 way together. Here, in October, 1833, their 
 first born, Barton Warren Johnson, began a 
 career which was one of increasing usefulness to 
 the end. It seldom falls to the lot of a boy to 
 possess a better heritage of ancestral worth than 
 he. His parents had both been schooled in the 
 perils and hardships of frontier life from early 
 childhood. Together their families had located 
 in Kastcrn Illinois when the shelter of a block- 
 house was necessary to protect them from raid- 
 ing Indians. Though far removed from the 
 refining influences of polite society, they were 
 not strangers to that school where the highest 
 and noblest type of refinement is taught, the 
 school of Christ. The families which composed 
 this little woild, the Johnsons, tlie McCorkles, 
 the Ledgerwoods and the Palmers, were people 
 of deep religious convictions. They had, at an 
 early day, espoused the cause advocated by Bar- 
 tun W. Stone, and later follotVed their leader in 
 his union with the reformation inaugurated by 
 Alexander Campbell. 
 
 Under the fostering care of a Christian home, 
 the early character of Barton Johnson received 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 203 
 
 the stamp of nobility. From his father he in- 
 herited a generous, unselfish nature; from his 
 mother, who was a McCorkle, and in whose 
 veins was the blood of the Malcolms of Scot- 
 land, a strength of character and a determina- 
 tion which never knew the meaning of the word 
 "impossible." When within the space of a few 
 months, in the town of Washington, two new 
 church buildings had been constructed and de- 
 stroyed by fire in succession, the entire congre- 
 gation gave up in despair, with the exception of 
 Martha Johnson, who, with her unyieldiug de- 
 termination aud energy, led the way to the suc- 
 cessful construction of a third. This character- 
 istic marks the life of young Johnson froui his 
 earliest develoi^uient. 
 
 The struggles of this pioneer couple necessa- 
 rily placed heavy burdens ui)on every memljer of 
 the family. At a very tender age, Barton was 
 put to work to aid in the battle with hard neces- 
 sity. Work with him was never regarded as a 
 slavish task, but as an opportunity to share the 
 burdens of those whom he loved, which was ever 
 his delight. He had not reached his tenth sum- 
 mer before he took his place behind the plow, 
 and was ready to lend a helping hand wherever 
 it would contribute most to the family comfort 
 and the development of the farm. But as his 
 young body bent to the labor necessity had laid 
 upon him, he was not unconscious of a thirst 
 
204 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 within that craved a hirger and fuller life. He 
 seems to have been born with a hungry mind, 
 which, feed it as he would, he was never quite 
 able to satisfy. His parents, recognizing this 
 craving for knowledge, were ready to respond 
 ^ as far as their slender means an^ narrow sur- 
 roundings would permit. They became the lib- 
 eral patrons of the schools of the neighborhood, 
 and saw that Barton was permitted to attend 
 school during the few months which each winter 
 provided. Here his superior nature revealed 
 itself in the quickness with which he mastered 
 his text-books, and the spirit of subordination 
 which he manifested toward those who had a 
 rightful claim to his obedience. 
 
 It is related that, in accordance with a time- 
 honored custom, the pupils upon one occasion 
 organized themselves to reduce to subjection a 
 teacher who had refused a Christmas treat. 
 Young Johnson at tirst joined the rebellion, 
 which barricaded the door of the school-room 
 against the teacher's entrance. But no sooner 
 did that functionary appear than the old spirit 
 of obedience gained the mastery in his breast, 
 and he hastened to surrender and lay down arms, 
 to the mortification of his confederates, but to 
 the delight of his teacher. 
 
 The text-books of the district school failed to 
 satisfy his desire for knowledge. He had some- 
 how come to believe that there was a larger 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 205 
 
 world of thought. Ilis inquiring mind longed to 
 drink from the great fountain of truth which he 
 became convinced must flow somewhere. The 
 neighborhood was, consequently, scoured for 
 books, with the result that some choice volumes 
 were brought to his knowledge. These created 
 thirst for others, and as the family resources 
 would allow, books were bought. Thus, in 
 winter, the long evening hours were spent por- 
 ing over great volumes almost as large as him- 
 self. In summer, the noon hour and other mo- 
 ments of release fi"om labor, were devoted to 
 study. In this way, before he was scarcely in 
 his teens, he read and mastered such books as 
 Rollin's History, Gibbon's Rome, Hume's Eng- 
 land, Dick's Works, D'Aubigne's Reformation, 
 and Paradise Lost, laying the foundation of his 
 remarkable historical knowledge, which was, 
 through life, the wonder and admiration of all 
 who knew him. 
 
 It once happened that in the busiest part of 
 the season, young Johnson learned of a set of 
 Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman 
 Empire," which he could have the privilege 
 of borrowing, volume at a time, providing 
 each volume were returned at the end of the 
 week. Such was his industry that he was able 
 to complete each volume within the allotted 
 time until the six had been read, while at the 
 same time making a full hand in the field. 
 
206 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 While thus devoted to books, 3'oung Johnson 
 was not insensible to the world about him, nor 
 without those finer feelings and sympathies 
 which give youth its charm. No thought of 
 cruelty, even to the least of God's creatures, was 
 ever suffered to enter his heart. He was never 
 able to enter into sports that caused pain, nor 
 could he tolerate it in others. One evening as 
 he was returning from school, he saw one of his 
 schoolmates sitting on the edge of a bridge that 
 spanned a small stream, amusing himself to the 
 discomfitui-e of some frogs in the water beneath. 
 Barton watched the cruel sport for a moment, 
 then gave expression to his indignation by shov- 
 ing the boy into the water, as a deserved pun- 
 ishment for his heartless enjoyment. 
 
 As was most fitting in a nature so tender, its 
 most beautiful expression Avas seen in his love 
 for his mother. For her he gladly bore the 
 heavy burdens, almost too heavy for his tender 
 years, which circumstances had placed upon him. 
 For her be sought the development of whatever 
 talent he possessed. To her his thoughts con- 
 stantly and anxiously turned. When separated 
 from her for a season, he wrote in his diary: "I 
 have a mother who knoweth the inmost secrets 
 of my heart, and whom I love better than life; 
 a mother, who seemeth, whenever I am with 
 her, to complete the circle for which the heart 
 yearns." 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 207 
 
 It was iu this boyhood love for mother and 
 youthful ambition for knowledge, that the char- 
 acter of this friend and servant of humanity was 
 molded. 
 
 II. FORMATIVE INFLUENCES AND EFFORTS. 
 
 In the early experience of every life are two 
 important decisions — the one affecting character 
 and the other determining its sphere of achieve- 
 ment — one's attitude toward religion and the 
 choice of a vocation, 
 
 With Barton Johnson the first of these early 
 became the subject of serious thought. Sur- 
 rounded by the inlluences of a Christian home, 
 brought up to respect and honor the religion of 
 Christ, the desire to live a Christian life was 
 hardly absent from his mind from his earliest 
 consciousness. Unlike the early pioneers, he 
 was not called upon to grapple with the bewil- 
 dering conclusions of speculative theology, or 
 pass through months of conflict in gaining the 
 assurance of peace with God. The story of his 
 conversion is, consequently, easily and briefly 
 told. The church to which his parents belonged 
 demanded, as a condition of membership, the 
 acceptance of a personal Savior through faith 
 and obedience. To these demands his young 
 heart readily yielded, and at the age of sixteen 
 he determined to make the personal surrender of 
 his life to the authority and leadership of Christ. 
 
208 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 Under the preaching of Father Palmer, he 
 obeyed the Gospel and united with the Christian 
 Church, never for a moment afterward to regret 
 his decision, or to question the ground of his 
 faith. 
 
 Soon after this, young Johnson was called 
 upon to make another choice which contributed 
 largely to his future usefulness. He had ad- 
 vanced to the limit of the instruction afforded 
 in the district school, an attainment with which 
 most young men of his acquaintance were sat- 
 isfied. But through his companionship with 
 books he had been uslicred within the portals of 
 a new world which he longed to explore. When, 
 therefore, his father offered him his choice be- 
 tween an eighty-acre farm and a higher educa- 
 tion, it did not take him a moment to decide. 
 The farm without an education meant the 
 stifling of all his cravings and ambitions. He 
 felt that with the advantage of a trained mind 
 he could eai'u the farm if he desired, and enjoy 
 it the better for having brought himself into 
 communion witli the spirit of wisdom. 
 
 His choice led at once to his matriculation in 
 Walnut Grove Academy, now Eureka College. 
 Here for two years he pursued his studies, amid 
 the rural surroundings witli which he was famil- 
 iar and in the companionship of kindred spirits. 
 That he might lighten the home burdens, he 
 continued to render what assistance he could, 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 209 
 
 spending all his vacations and holidays in labor 
 on the farm. In the busy season of corn-gath- 
 ering, he often walked home the entire distance, 
 eight miles, on Saturday morning before break- 
 fast, that he might be able to join the buskers at 
 sunrise in the field, returning to his studies Mon- 
 day morning. 
 
 It was during these early days of student life 
 that the purpose of entering the ministry finally 
 took definite form. Without having declared 
 himself, he always expected that he would 
 preach. That expectation was unexpectedly 
 realized when he was in his nineteenth year. 
 During one of his summer vacations, the home 
 church was without a pastor, and one of the 
 elders, without consulting the young man, an- 
 nounced that on the following Sunday Barton 
 Johnson would preach. It was not in him to 
 run from duty, so the responsibility thus thrust 
 upon him was accepted. That first sermon was 
 a marvel both in its length and fidelity to the 
 Scriptures. The theme selected was "Prayer." 
 Taking the Bible concordance, he gathered to- 
 gether all the passages of Scriptui'e to be found 
 relating to the subject in hand, committed them 
 to memory, and for nearly an hour and a half 
 spoke in the words "which the Holy Ghost 
 teacheth," without any admixture of human 
 opinion or suggestion. The sermon was not a 
 
 thrilling one, but the audience of farmers and 
 14 
 
210 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 neighbors listened i)atiently to the end ; and the 
 young preacher had at least made a beginning 
 and had not lacked for material. From that 
 time his ambition was to become an effective, 
 acceptable preacher of the Gospel, and all his 
 energies were employed in preparing himself for 
 this work. 
 
 As the course in the academy was limited, it 
 was decided in family council, in the fall of 
 1854, that he should enjoy the larger advantage 
 of a college education. Bethany was at that 
 time the Mecca of the Disci])les. Its sage was 
 then in the fullness of his power and reputation. 
 To sit at the feet of Alexander Campbell was 
 thought by his humble followers to be the great- 
 est privilege that a young man could enjoy. 
 There was another motive which led to the 
 choice of Bethany College in this family council. 
 It was that young Johnson might have a wider 
 sphere of observation and acquaintance than 
 the academy in the woods afforded. While he 
 was well advanced in the knowledge of books, 
 his knowledge of the world of fact was very 
 limited. The town had not invaded the country, 
 as now; and the country seldom went to town. 
 He had never traveled more than a few miles 
 from the place of his birth. Rusticity marked 
 his dress, his manner, his bearing. Conscious of 
 lack in these particulars, he was extremely diffi- 
 dent. But, if the horizon was narrow, the intel- 
 
BARTON \V. JOHNSON 
 
 211 
 
 lectual vision was nevertheless clear. If his 
 appearance was awkward, it could not conceal 
 the generous sympathies which he cherished, for 
 within his homespun coat beat a noble heart. 
 
 It was, therefore, no small trial, much as he 
 thirsted for knowledge, to tear himself away 
 from those whom he knew and trusted, for a 
 journey so far from home, and to become the 
 associate of men whom he regarded with almost 
 reverential awe. 
 
 At Bethany, he at once took a front rank 
 among the students. Entering the Junior year, 
 he was able to complete his course with distinc- 
 tion, dividing first honors with a classmate in a 
 class of twenty-seven. But it was not so much 
 his success in the class-room as other distin- 
 guishing traits that mark his college career. 
 His conscientiousness and tenderness of heart 
 soon won him the friendship of all. Especially 
 the friendless among the students found in him 
 a sympathizer and helper. He could never stand 
 by and see the weak imposed upon. Though a 
 member of the advanced classes, he always had 
 regard for the lower class men, and these 
 looked to him for aid and protection in all their 
 troubles. At a time when the representatives 
 of the slave aristocracy, even in a place like 
 Bethany, were asserting their claims to social 
 superiority, he was not ashamed to espouse the 
 cause, and rise in defense of, the poor boys who 
 
212 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 were struggling against odds to secure an educa- 
 tion. He was never a patrician. He then, and 
 ever after, counted himself one of the common 
 peeple and found in them his warmest friends. 
 
 But along with his m.odest, retiring manner, 
 Barton W. Johnson was not unconscious of his 
 own powers or without a high aim. Even as a 
 student he had placed a private estimate on him- 
 self and cherished asjiirations which, had he 
 made them public, would have smacked of 
 egotism. 
 
 "My field is the world," he writes in his diary, 
 "and did it not savor of egotism I would record 
 the fond aspiration that the world will be the 
 better off for my existence. But bear in mind, 
 reader, if ever a stranger's eye looks upon this 
 thought-record, that it is intended for me alone. 
 If I am egotistical, it is private egotism." 
 
 This was true of him through life. Conscious 
 of his own mental strength and resources, ani- 
 mated by a desire to save his race, he was, how- 
 ever, never heard to speak in his own praise or 
 known to thrust himself into prominence. He 
 literally took the lowest seat in the assemblies 
 of his brethren. When the call came to him to 
 render some public service, he never shrank 
 from the responsibility, but he never sought dis- 
 tinction. 
 
 Following his graduation at Bethany, in 1856, 
 the first thought of the student was to find a 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 213 
 
 footliold ill tlic world he was to serve. He had 
 already fully deteniiiiu'd upon the ministry as 
 his ultimate field of labor. But the pulpit did 
 not then provide for the support of the preacher 
 as now; nor was the young and inexperienced 
 candidate for the ministry the special favorite of 
 churches that had been built up by the veterans 
 of the reformatory movement. Forty years ago 
 but few churches among the Discijiles in the 
 West were able to support the man who min- 
 istered to them in spiritual things. Most 
 preachers were compelled to supplement their 
 meager salaries by labor in other fields. Many, 
 like Paul, labored with their own hands to sup- 
 ply their necessities, which in those days of 
 "plain living and high thinking" were never 
 great. Those who had enjoyed sufficient educa- 
 tional advantages found easy access to the 
 school-room, where they taught during the week, 
 while ministering to some needy congregation on 
 Sunday. 
 
 It thus happened that Barton Johnson, while 
 unwavering in his determination to preach the 
 Word, sought, upon leaving college, a situation 
 as teacher, as a means of earning his support 
 while he preached the Gospel to those who were 
 either too poor, or too indifferent, to sustain a 
 settled pastor. A promising opening for a pri- 
 vate school having been found in Bloomington, 
 Illinois, he determined to make his start in life 
 
214 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 in that place, and in the fall of 1856, having re- 
 ceived assurances of a liberal patronage, he 
 entered the school-room. 
 
 A glance at the young man who then stood on 
 the threshold of his career, will reveal the 
 secret of his later success. He had just com- 
 pleted his twenty-third year. By dint of hard 
 study and untiring application, he had made 
 himself the master, not only of the subjects 
 taught in college, but of a wide range of knowl- 
 edge. To this fullness of knowledge, he added 
 a deep seriousness of purpose, which character- 
 ized all his undertakings. This element of iiis 
 nature, the predominating one through life, is 
 continually portrayed in the thought-pictures 
 which he has left of himself at this period. He 
 lived in continuous touch with the Infinite, and 
 found help in Him when all else failed. 
 
 After a day of trial and discouragement in 
 the school-room, he writes in his journal: "The 
 gloom has been dispelled by the rays of light 
 and enjoyment concentrated on my mind, by an 
 evening's study of the Scripture." Then as he 
 felt oppressed by the sin and folly of society, 
 his mind would turn toward the golden dawn of 
 the world's better day, and he would write: 
 "God grant that ere long sin and sorrow may 
 cease, and Jesus and joy unalloyed may come. 
 May I live to see the day! Savior, hasten thine 
 appearing. The hoUowncss, the sinfulness, the 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 215 
 
 sadness of earth make me grow heart-sick and 
 sigh for the joyous period when all will be pure 
 and holy and happy. Let me, let all mine, keep 
 their lamps trimmed and burning, for we know 
 not what hour the Bridegroom cometh." 
 
 At all times he cherished the laudable ambi- 
 tion of making himself worthy of the calling he 
 had chosen. Feeling the need of stricter self- 
 discipline he drew up these rules for his guid- 
 ance: "Whereas I wish, to elevate m3'self intel- 
 lectually, morally, spiritually, since I am not 
 satisfied with my effort or my advancement, 
 Kesolved, 1st. That I will rise every morning 
 before five o'clock. 2d. That I will refrain from 
 all reading, the object of which is present pleas- 
 ure. 3d. That I will devote my time to three 
 departments of study — history, connected with 
 the Bible, nature and revelation. 4th. That I 
 will often ask the assistance and direction of 
 God, from whom I must derive all my strength." 
 
 Most beautiful, too, was his devotion to his 
 mother. "What a blessing to me," he writes 
 among his thought-pictures, "is and has been my 
 mother. I should not repine, but thank God 
 that he has thus blessed me." Again, "I have 
 felt a little homesick and would go home to- 
 morrow, if I could. Would that I could always 
 have my mother with me. May God long pre- 
 serve her." 
 
 It was at this early period, while the soul was 
 
216 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 working out its first .serious problems, that an 
 invitation came to Mr. Johnson to embark upon 
 an enterprise that was ultimately to become his 
 life-work. He was offered the editorship of the 
 "Evangelist," a little monthly devoted to the de- 
 fense of primitive Christianity, then struggling 
 for existence. While a boy on the farm he had 
 frequently contributed to the columns of the 
 county paper, and had shown decided talent as a 
 writer, but he felt that the time was not yet, and 
 declined editorial honors. 
 
 Meanwhile, his work in the school-room and 
 in the pulpits of neighboring churches, where he 
 preached on Sundays, engaged all his energies. 
 His education and talent soon l)rought him as many 
 pupils as he could look after. While many were 
 serious young people, seeking to fit themselves for 
 usefulness, a few were incorrigibles frona the pub- 
 lic schools, who, under his power as a disciplina- 
 rian, were soon reduced to subjection and proved 
 in the end some of his brightest scholars. Of 
 the young men who came under the touch of 
 his master-mind in that school, several afterward 
 attained distinction, two became members of 
 Congress, and one Vice-President of the United 
 States. 
 
 The most important result of that winter's 
 school, so far as his own future was concerned, 
 was the choice of one who should share his 
 labors and sacrifices. He soon discerned, among- 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 217 
 
 that company of bright young men and women, 
 one more interesting than the rest. The attach- 
 ment in time became stronger than that of 
 teacher and pupil, and ended in his marriage, in 
 the summer of 1858, to Sarah Allen, to whom he 
 always generously ascribed much of his success 
 in the service of Christ. 
 
 It required no prophetic vision to predict for 
 the young teacher a successful career as an in- 
 structor, had he chosen the school as his field. 
 So remarkable was the success of his educa- 
 tional venture that he was offered the superin- 
 tendency of the schools of the city, if he would 
 remain. But the young man had other plans. 
 "It seems to me," he wrote in his journal, "that 
 my mission cannot be fulfilled in this contracted 
 sphere." Feeling that his life should be more 
 thoroughly devoted to the brotherhood with 
 which he had early cast his lot, deeply interested 
 in the triumph of the cause that was dear to his 
 heart, he turned his back upon the flattering 
 offers made him for a professorship in Eureka 
 College, where he received in compensation for 
 his first year's service a salary of two hundred 
 and fifty dollars. But the decision and the sac- 
 rifices attending it he never regretted, since it 
 enabled him to throw his strength unreservedly 
 into the work of human redemption, both as a 
 preacher and an instructor of preachers, in which 
 
218 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 positions he was eminently successful, accom- 
 plishing an inestimable amount of good. 
 
 III. FRUITS OF THE EARLY HARVEST. 
 
 Dui'ing Mr. Johnson's early prime, his ener- 
 gies were divided between teaching and preach- 
 ing. It would have been difficult to have deter- 
 mined to which department of labor he belonged, 
 so unreservedly was he devoted to each, always 
 carrying on the work of two men, and almost 
 from the beginning bearing his burden upon 
 shoulders that were weakened by ill health. Ex- 
 cessive study while in college and excessive labor 
 afterward, early left him the victim of disease, 
 and nothing but an indomitable energy kept him 
 at work. 
 
 Having accepted the chair of mathematics in 
 Eureka College, Mr. Johnson at once demon- 
 strated his fitness for the position by the thor- 
 oughness of his instruction and by the enthusiasm 
 he created in the minds of his students. He had 
 the faculty of inspiring those who came under 
 his influence with his own pure and lofty ambi- 
 tion, and quickening in them an aspiration to 
 be of service to the race. Many who have since 
 become leaders in various lines of human bene- 
 faction, generously acknowledge their indebted- 
 ness to him for the first impulses to this larger 
 service. Says one who sat in his class-room at 
 this early period: "In the early da3's of Eurek i 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 219 
 
 College, B. W. Johnson was my teacher, and his 
 home for a considerable time was in my father's 
 house. I knew him well, and his life and influ- 
 ence were every way helpful. His robust faith 
 and reverent piety, his lofty aim and earnest 
 endeavor, his pure and noble life, abide as a 
 delightful aroma of these fast-receding days." 
 
 Another of his students, who has since attained 
 national distinction, writes: "He was my teacher 
 from 1859 to 1861. He was a good teacher. 
 After leaving Eureka College, not being able to 
 complete the course, he spoke words to me of 
 wisdom, tenderness and good cheer, which have 
 gone with me all these j'ears. I am greatly in 
 debt to B. W. Johnson." Such was the recog- 
 nized ability of the young educator, that after a 
 few sessions he was promoted to the presidency 
 of the institution, to succeed Chas. Louis Loos, 
 upon the resignation of the latter. To this new 
 position of responsibility his splendid executive 
 ability had especially fitted him, and under his 
 wise management, until the storm of civil war 
 made havoc of all peaceful enterprises, the insti- 
 tution flourished. 
 
 But if his influence was a benediction in the 
 school-room, it was not less so in his relation to 
 the church. During most of the period of his 
 residence at Eureka, he preached for the church 
 at that place, sharing the labors and responsi- 
 bility of tlie pastorate, much of the time, with 
 
220 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 other meiiibers of the faculty. In the pulpit he 
 was looked upon as a nuin of more than ordinary 
 talent. As a preacher, he possessed a power 
 which was peculiar to himself. He was never an 
 orator, and was lacking in many of the graces we 
 have come to couple with pulpit eloquence. In 
 manner and gesture there was an element of 
 awkwardness which he was never able to master. 
 In his delivery he paid little regard to elocution- 
 ary effect. But there was a genuineness in his 
 v^hole bearing, and a peculiar magnetic power in 
 his expressive eyes as they swept a congregation, 
 that riveted and held the attention of all. 
 
 It was when he spoke, however, that his power 
 over an audience became irresistible. He never 
 talked commonplace. He always had something 
 to say wortli listening to. He was a reader, and 
 always came to his task with a full mind. He 
 was an observer, and was able so to mingle the 
 fruit of his observation with the treasures of his 
 library as never to seem bookish. He was a 
 thinker, and every sentence that fell from his 
 lips was molded in a brain whose ideas flowed as 
 clear as crystal. Thus his sermons, while rich in 
 scrii)tural and historical truths and illustrations, 
 were always fresh, practical and helpful. His 
 great literary attainment, his quick perception, 
 his practical wisdom, his deep earnestness, his 
 painstaking preparation, his unquestioning faith, 
 and his unwavering loyalty to the ^^^)rd, soon 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 221 
 
 won him a recognized place as a strong Gospel 
 preacher. 
 
 It was at this busy, trying period that Mr. 
 Johnson demonstrated his ability as a man of 
 affairs, laying the foundation of the competence 
 which he ever afterward enjoyed. Notwith- 
 standing the meagerness of his salary and the 
 throes of a financial panic that swept the coun- 
 try, by dint of industry and economy, in which 
 his young wife became an equal partner, he man- 
 aged to build and pay for a comfortable home, 
 which became the nucleus of later acquisitions 
 and enabled him to dispense with a liberal hand 
 to every worthy enterprise. 
 
 In the summer of 1863, Mr. Johnson, after a 
 half dozen years of faithful service as instructor, 
 determined to change his field of labor. That 
 year presents one of the darkest points in our 
 moral history. The smoke of conflict covered 
 the land. The success of the Union was almost 
 despaired of. In the hour of public calamity 
 young men, who had planned for themselves a 
 career of learning, abandoned the school-room 
 for the defense of the common cause. The col- 
 lege halls were deserted. In this hour of trial 
 none suffered more than the brave, struggling 
 young college of the Disciples of Illinois. 
 
 While Mr. Johnson was pondering what course 
 to pursue, a call came to him to become the (Cor- 
 responding Secretary of the American Christian 
 
222 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 Misfeionary Society. Though questioning his fit^ 
 ness for the work, he determined to make the 
 trial. At a period when many of the leaders 
 among the Disciples were turning their faces 
 upon their destiny, and throwing obstructions in 
 the way of missionary progress, he was enthusi- 
 astic in his support of any aggressive movement 
 that would win the world speedily to Christ. 
 Throwing himself with his great energy into the 
 work in hand, he was able, during his year's 
 service, to lift the cause out of the debt into 
 which it had fallen, and to put new vigor into 
 the missionary agencies of the church. He was 
 re-elected 'Corresponding Secretary, and urged 
 to continue in the service of the Missionary Soci- 
 ety, but a call coming from his Alma Mater, he 
 resigned to accept the chair of mathematics in 
 Bethany College. Here he enjoyed fellowship 
 with the illustrious founder and president of the 
 college, now noaring the end of his eventful 
 career, and maintained his reputation as a 
 scholar and educator. 
 
 Soon after Mr. Campbell's death, in 1866, he 
 returned to the West. Having accepted the 
 pastorate of the church at Lincoln, Illinois, he 
 now, for the first time, devoted himself exclusive- 
 ly to the ministry of the Word. Here, though 
 but little past thirty, he seemed to be nearing 
 the end of his labors. Ill health crippled his 
 every endeavor. But, with inborn energy and 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 223 
 
 an abiding faith, he persevered, often preaching 
 with remarkable fervor when he had scarce!}- 
 strength enough to stand before his audience. 
 Thus, through pain and weakness, he was able, 
 during his two years' pastorate, to achieve a 
 degree of success that endeared him to all his 
 people. 
 
 Recovering in some measure his health, Mr. 
 Johnson's restive spirit was not content with the 
 circumscribed field of his pastorate. He felt 
 himself capable of greater labor and was con- 
 scious of unusual talents. When, therefore, in 
 the summer of 1869, a call came to him to the 
 presidency of Oskaloosa College and the pastor- 
 ate of the church, then one of the strongest in 
 the State of Iowa, he promptly accepted the 
 position. Here for three years he performed 
 the double labor of instructor and preacher. 
 Here success constantly attended his efforts in 
 both fields of activity. 
 
 The young college over which he presided, 
 reached the climax of its prosperity during his 
 administration. Hundreds of students were 
 drawn together by his influence and reputation. 
 His class-room was always crowded. He pos- 
 sessed the rare faculty of creating an enthusiasm 
 for knowledge, and the power of so imparting 
 instruction as to forever fix the truth in the 
 mind of the learner. 
 
 His pulpit, too, was made to reflect the best 
 
222 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 Missionary Society. Though questioning his fit- 
 ness for the work, he determined to make the 
 trial. At a period when many of the leaders 
 among the Disciples were turning their faces 
 upon their destiny, and throwing obstructions in 
 the way of missionary progress, he was enthusi- 
 astic in his support of any aggressive movement 
 that would win the world speedily to Christ. 
 Throwing himself with his great energy into the 
 work in hand, he was able, during his year's 
 service, to lift the cause out of the debt into 
 which it had fallen, and to put new vigor into 
 the missionary agencies of the church. He was 
 re-elected 'Corresponding Secretary, and urged 
 to continue in the service of the Missionary Soci- 
 ety, but a call coming from his Alma Mater, he 
 resigned to accept the chair of mathematics in 
 Bethany College. Here he enjoyed fellowship 
 with the illustrious founder and president of the 
 college, now nearing the end of his eventful 
 career, and maintained his reputation as a 
 scholar and educator. 
 
 Soon after Mr. Campbell's death, in 1866, he 
 returned to the West. Having accepted the 
 pastorate of the church at Lincoln, Illinois, he 
 now, for the first time, devoted himself exclusive- 
 ly to the ministry of the Word. Here, though 
 but little past thirty, he seemed to be nearing 
 the end of his labors. Ill health crippled his 
 every endeavor. But, with inborn energy and 
 
BARTON \V. JOHNSON 
 
 223 
 
 an abiding fiiith, he persevered, often preachiug 
 with remarkable fervor when he had scarcel}' 
 strength enough to stand before his audience. 
 Thus, through pain and weakness, he was able, 
 during his two years' pastorate, to achieve a 
 degree of success that endeared him to all his 
 people. 
 
 Recovering in some measure his health, Mr. 
 Johnson's restive spirit was not content with the 
 circumscribed field of his pastorate. He felt 
 himself capable of greater labor and was con- 
 scious of unusual talents. When, therefore, in 
 the summer of 1869, a call came to him to the 
 presidency of Oskaloosa College and the pastor- 
 ate of the church, then one of the strongest in 
 the State of Iowa, he promptly accepted the 
 position. Here for three years he performed 
 the double labor of instructor and preacher. 
 Here success constantly attended his efforts in 
 both fields of activity. 
 
 The young college over which he presided, 
 reached the climax of its prosperity during his 
 administration. Hundreds of students were 
 drawn together by his influence and reputation. 
 His class-room was always crowded. He pos- 
 sessed the rare faculty of creating an enthusiasm 
 for knowledge, and the power of so imparting 
 instruction as to forever fix the truth in the 
 mind of the learner. 
 
 His i)ulpit, too, was made to reflect the best 
 
224 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 thought of his time; and here he was able to 
 accomplish, what is within the power of but few 
 ministers of the Gospel to-day, the building up 
 of a prosperous, spiritual church by the mo- 
 mentum of his pulpit effort, unaided by house 
 to house labor. 
 
 But the intellectual and physical strain of 
 such aa effort, — preaching two sermons each 
 week that were replete with thought and wis- 
 dom, and throwing his energy into the work 
 of the class-room five of the remaining days, 
 besides attending to the multiplied concerns of 
 college and church, — were too much for his deli- 
 cate organism, and he was compelled to surren- 
 der the one or the other of his positions, or 
 abandon the field altogether. Finding, as he 
 ever did, his keenest delight in preaching the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ, he turned to the 
 pulpit and continued for several years as pastor 
 of the church. This closed forever his career as 
 teacher in the class-room, though he never 
 ceased to be the teacher of a many times larger 
 constituency that looked to him for instruction. 
 Throughout his life he continued to manifest a 
 deep interest in young people and their intellec- 
 tual aspirations. 
 
 It was about this time the writer first formed 
 the acquaintance of Mr. Johnson, which, 
 through his deep interest in young men, was 
 cemented into lasting friendship. I shall never 
 
BARTON \V. JOHNSON 
 
 225 
 
 forget how as a student, then startlingly ignor- 
 ant of the great world of letters, and j-et hun- 
 grily gazing at the crowded shelves of an enter- 
 prising bookseller's shop, he came in and paused 
 before the trembling youth to inquire of his in- 
 tellectual desires, and to offer a few helpful 
 suggestions as regarded the course of reading to 
 pursue, and then passed on. In that brief inter- 
 view he touched a chord that never ceased to 
 respond to his kindly interest. 
 
 This interest he was constantly manifesting 
 toward all. He had an instinct for the discov- 
 ery of a young man or woman with an aspira- 
 tion, as true and unerring as the scent of a 
 trained fox-hound; and having found the object 
 of his search, he was always able to fire with 
 hope and fan into zeal a high and holy passion 
 for achievement. In this way, as pastor, he was 
 able to gain a strong hold upon the young mem- 
 bers of his flock. It was not the result of any 
 affected cordiality, or sentimental friendship, 
 but of an unfeigned interest in their plans and 
 purposes, their aims and ambitions. 
 
 In this work, the center of power and influ- 
 ence, next to the pulpit, was his study, where, 
 surrounded by his books, he was always most at 
 home, and greatest because freed from the em- 
 barrassments which he always keenly felt in 
 assemblies. He was never so happy as when 
 
 thus surrounded, helping to solve some intricate 
 15 
 
226 
 
 MEX OP VESTERDAY 
 
 prol)lem for another, or ^iointing the way out of 
 t^ome difficult situation, or unbosoming himself 
 of the rich treasures of his own mind for the 
 instruction of his friends, or in aiding in the 
 selection of some book that would especially fit 
 the need of the young mind and satisfy its 
 thirsting. 
 
 As pastor, in the modern sense, lie might, 
 during those busy days, have been regarded as 
 a failure by some. The figures representing the 
 number of calls upon his parishioners would not 
 have looked well in an annual report. He had 
 a very meager stock of small talk and was not 
 much disposed to run from house to house to 
 pass the time of day. But somehow he gradual- 
 ly knit the heart-strings of his people into the 
 fabric of his achievement, and his own hearth- 
 stone became the center of the religious life of 
 the church. If he made few calls, many were 
 the calls he received from those seeking help or 
 counsel, and hearty was the welcome always 
 accorded them, and strong and lasting were the 
 friendships thus cemented. One needed to know 
 him to discover the warmth and tenderness of 
 his nature. To the casual acquaintance he may 
 have seemed stern and unsocial, but when once 
 the barrier of his diffidence was melted away by 
 closer fellowship, never was nature more cordial 
 than his. Nor was his friendship restricted by 
 artificial social lines. His own retiring manner 
 
BARTON \V. JOHNSON 
 
 227 
 
 seemed to inspire a confidence which encour- 
 aged the lowliest of Christ's disciples to come 
 to him as a friend. While scholarship and cul- 
 ture loved and admired him, and he appreciated 
 nothing so much as the fellowship of these con- 
 genial spirits, the ignorant and poor were drawn 
 to him, and he never felt himself too wise, or 
 found himself too busy, to bestow upon them 
 the best of thought and resources at his com- 
 mand. 
 
 I have dwelt somewhat minutely upon this 
 characteristic of his ministry, during his pastor- 
 ate in Oskaloosa, because it reveals the charac- 
 ter of the man in all his life-work. At first he 
 was admired because of his scholarship, then 
 loved because of his unselfish interest in the 
 welfare of his people; and he never labored in 
 a field where his removal was not regretted, and 
 where he would not gladly have been welcomed 
 back at any time. Thus at Oskaloosa, De Soto, 
 Iowa, Chicago and St. Louis, where he labored 
 at different times and under varying circum- 
 stances, he left congregations that revered and 
 loved him as a father, and that are still disposed 
 to associate their happiest experiences with his 
 memory. 
 
 IV. IN LABORS MURK ABUNDAXT. 
 
 We have now traced the career of Mr. John- 
 son through what, in view of his later achieve- 
 
228 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 ments, might be termed its preparatory stages. 
 Hitherto his labors had been limited, circum- 
 scribed. The class-room, the congregation 
 marked the boundaries of his field. He was 
 considerably past forty, when, in 1877, a new 
 field of service opened to hitn, in a call to be- 
 come the editor of "The Evangelist," then pub- 
 lished in Oskaloosa. In accepting the position 
 of editor, he was compelled to relinquish a suc- 
 cessful pastorate in DeSoto, Iowa, where he had 
 endeared himself to the people, and passed from 
 the service of a congregation to the service of 
 the brotherhood. 
 
 To this new field of lalior he brought the ele- 
 ments of success. These were his untiring 
 energy, his unlimited capacity for work, his 
 unfaltering faith, his indomitable courage, his 
 wealth of learning, his clearness of vision, his 
 practical common sense. But perhaps his most 
 conspicuous characteristic was a happy combina- 
 tion of conservatism and progressiveness which 
 kept him, like the skillful old mariners, when 
 sailing between Scylla and Charybdis, from 
 danger in either direction. 
 
 The beginning of his editorial career marks 
 one of those epochs in the history of the church, 
 when everything depended upon the wisdom of 
 the men at the helm. It was the period when 
 the conflict over the organ, Sunday-schools, mis- 
 sionary measures and kindred questions of 
 
BARTON \V. JOHNSON 
 
 229 
 
 expedieiu'v was still troubling the churches. 
 Isaac Errett, in the "Christian Standard," had 
 thrown himself with his great strength into the 
 cause of a more liberal, progressive movement, 
 while Benjamin Franklin, in the "American 
 Christian Review," became the apostle of con- 
 servatism, branding as an unscriptural innova- 
 tion every expediency which had not been in use 
 among the early Christians. Mr. Johnson, 
 while pleading through the columns of "The 
 Evangelist" for the broader liberty in matters 
 of expediency, at the same time was so true to 
 the express commands of the Word and so clear 
 in his presentation of the essential elements of 
 Christian faith and practice as taught by tlie 
 fathers, that he was always held in esteem, as 
 one "sound in the faith," even by those who 
 differed with him upon questions of church 
 polity and measures of church progress. 
 
 "The Evangelist," at once, became the ex- 
 ponent of truth as applied to the daily lives of 
 Christ's followers. It sought to become a family 
 companion rather than an ecclesiastical measur- 
 ing-machine. In realizing this ideal, Mr. John- 
 son was among the fir>t to attompt to interpret 
 the events of the day in the light of their moral 
 and religious bearing, and to denounce with all 
 the fervor of a prophet examples of unright- 
 eousness, whether in social, political or religious 
 life. His "Current Events," in which he pro- 
 
230 
 
 MEN OP YESTERDAY 
 
 nounced his judgment on living issues, was con- 
 sulted as a moral barometer by thousands of his 
 readers. 
 
 As the influence and scope of "The Evangel- 
 ist" widened, Mr. Johnson and his co-laborers 
 determined upon the hazardous experiment of 
 transplanting it in some center where better 
 facilities might be enjoyed and a larger field 
 made tributary to its support. Chicago was 
 selected as presenting the greatest number of 
 advantages, and from that city, in the autumn of 
 1879, the paper greeted its readers. The change 
 proved a profitable one to pul)lishers and editor; 
 but the great strain of such an undertaking and 
 the anxieties connected with the work again 
 proved too much for Mr. Johnson's strength. 
 His health gave way and he was compelled for a 
 few months to relinquish his labors; but a win- 
 ter spent among the orange groves and beneath 
 the sunny skies of Florida, enabled hmito return 
 to his work with renewed energy. 
 
 It was during his early experiences as editor 
 that he first ventured to put the result of his 
 study in book form. For years he had been at- 
 tracted by the wonderful charm of the Book of 
 Revelation. His diligent study of the Scripture 
 and his rich historical knowledge enabled him 
 to work out the meaning of the weird symbolism 
 of the book, and to trace its fulfillment in the 
 great world-movements which had passed into 
 
BARTON \V. JOHNSON 
 
 231 
 
 history. The product of these studies was tirst 
 given as a series of lectures, afterward publisiied 
 in the columns of "The Evangelist," and finally 
 gathered together in a volume entitled "A 
 Vision of the Ages." Whatever may be thought 
 of some of the conclusions of the author, it is 
 doubtful if any work treating on this fruitful 
 field of investigation has ever presented sueli an 
 array of historical facts to sustain its theories, 
 or given a more hopeful and comforting view of 
 the progress of Christian truth through the ages, 
 and of its ultimate triumph among the nations 
 of the earth. 
 
 Exacting as were the duties of his otfice at this 
 period, Mr. Johnson found time to look after 
 the local interests of the churches struggling for 
 existence in a great city. Casting his lot with a 
 handful of brethren known as the West Side 
 Christian Church, then meeting under every dis- 
 couragement, he preached without compensa- 
 tion and gave liberally of his means for the sup- 
 port of the work, until he witnessed the growth 
 of a flourishing, self-supporting church. 
 
 The growth of the Christian Church at this 
 period was unprecedented. A liberal, progres- 
 sive leadership, the organization of the Foreign 
 Christian Missionary Society, the elevation of 
 James A. Garfield to the presidency of the 
 nation, all contributed to the rapid numerical 
 increase of a people who had hitherto urged 
 
232 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 their plea in comparative obscurity and with 
 varying success. Feeling the need of a sti-ong, 
 united effort in permeating the rapidly growing 
 church with lofty Christian ideals, the publish- 
 ers of "The Evangelist" of Chicago and of 
 "The Christian" of St. Louis, in 1882, decided 
 to consolidate the interests of the two houses, 
 and "The Christian-Evangelist," with B. W. 
 Johnson and J. H. Garrison as its editors, was 
 the product, and in this position Mr. Johnson 
 continued until called from his labors. 
 
 For this larger held Mr. Johnson had long 
 been in training. A hard student from youth, he 
 brought to his task a ripe scholarship. Con- 
 nected as he had been with the various public 
 interests of the cii'urch, he became a safe and 
 helpful counsellor. Endowed with a capacity 
 for intense application, he was able to accom- 
 plish an amount of work that was always the 
 surprise of those who knew him. Wiiether at 
 home or abroad, in health or out of health, no 
 week was allowed to pass without the prepara- 
 tion of the allotted amount of copy. 
 
 His editorials were replete with wisdom, and 
 never failed to instruct, nor to point the march- 
 ing host of God to victory. In nothing was he 
 more fearless than in his defense of the Word of 
 God against all its enemies. He held firmly to 
 the view that the Bible in its entirety was the 
 Word of God, and felt that God had given him 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 233 
 
 as a mission its defense against the attacks of 
 higher ci'iticism and so-called advanced thought. 
 He had no sj-mpath}- with the spirit of liberalism 
 that questioned the authorship of the Penta- 
 teuch or the integrity of the prophets. He felt 
 that along this line a great battle was being 
 fought and that the future triumph of Christian- 
 ity demanded that the integrity of the Bible as a 
 whole should be preserved. As he was com- 
 pelled [to lay down his pen, his only regret was 
 that he could not have continued ten years longer 
 to array his brethren in defense of the Word of 
 God. 
 
 As he continued to study and write, several vol- 
 umes v,'hich have greatly enriched our literature 
 grew up under his pen. Having undertaken, in 
 connection with his editoi'ial labors, the prepa- 
 ration of a lesson annual for teachers and ad- 
 vanced scholars in the Sunday-school, he devoted 
 himself afresh to the study of the Word, and in 
 addition to the ten volumes of the Christian Les- 
 son Commentary, he prepared a commentary on 
 John's Gospel, and the two large volumes of the 
 People's New Testament. The latter was pre- 
 pared with great pains as an encouragement and 
 an aid to Bible study for busy people, was re- 
 garded by himself as his best contribution to the 
 literature of the brotherhood, and remains a 
 monument of his prodigious industry. 
 
 In the midst of these busy years, 'Slv. Johnson 
 
234 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 occasionally found opportunity to look about him. 
 He was constitutionally a traveler. He had the 
 traveler's instinct, the traveler's endurance, the 
 traveler's enthusiasm. Outside of his books, his 
 work and his home, nothing gave him such in- 
 tense enjoyment as a journey through regions 
 where nature was prodigal of her resources, or 
 where antiquity had buried her mysteries. At 
 such times his frail body forgot its limitations 
 and he seemed as one possessed of the vigor and 
 enthusiasm of youth, t'atigue left him, and he 
 could walk faster, climb higher, endure more of 
 the hardshij)s and discomforts of travel than 
 most stronger men. Had he not been a very 
 busy man he would have traveled widely, and 
 few men would have surpassed him in the inter- 
 pretation of what he saw. As it was, travel was 
 made his recreation, the only recreation he ever 
 knew. Even then he did not cease to work, for 
 the railroad train, the mountain, the sea-shore, 
 became, for a time, his editorial sanctum, and he 
 continued to write in his accustomed vein of 
 what he heard and saw. 
 
 Few men possessed keener powers of observa- 
 tion than he. He did not merely look at a 
 thing— he looked through it. This was true of 
 him not only in dealing with problems of relig- 
 ious moment, but in his study of men and move- 
 ments about him. If he took up a book, he mas- 
 tered it. If he turned his attention to a problem, 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 235 
 
 he solved it. If he walked abroad, he became 
 what Emevson would call "a transparent eye- 
 ball;" seeing everything, not only that which lay 
 upon the surface, but the underlying beauty and 
 spiritual significance. It was this characteristic 
 that gave vividness and interest to his editorial 
 correspondence when away from home, whether 
 his journey took him across continents or only to 
 some obscure village with its band of struggling 
 disciples, that he might lend a helping hand in 
 opening a new church, or raising a debt, or cheer- 
 ing the faint-hearted. 
 
 In the summer of 1889 he was able to gratify a 
 long-cherished desire of visiting the Holy Land. 
 With chai'acteristic thoroughness, before start- 
 ing upon this journey, he spent weeks in his 
 library in painstaking research. Though already 
 possessed of a wonderful fund of historical in- 
 formation he now examined encyclopedias, read 
 travels, studied history, familiarizing himself 
 with the places he expected to visit in his trav- 
 els, refreshing his mind in old world happenings, 
 and jotting down in his commonplace book a 
 fund of information that few are able to bring 
 back after months of observation and study in 
 foreign lands. 
 
 Thus equipped, in company with a number of 
 friends, he sailed from New York, August 21, 
 and continued his journey from place to place, 
 and land to land, until he had compassed a dis- 
 
236 
 
 MEN OF YEvSTERDAV 
 
 tancc of more than twenty thousand miles. The 
 entire journey was enjoyed with all the relish of 
 youth. The more so, since every place, though 
 strange, introduced to him scenes and incidents 
 witli which his studies had made him familiar. 
 It was not merely a passage through countries 
 and cities whose location he had learned from 
 geography, but countries and cities which his 
 imagination peopled with heroes and martyrs, 
 patriots and l^enefactors, who had lived and 
 passed with their deeds into history. From 
 Luceinc, Switzerland, he writes: 
 
 "Our march has been a joy from the time we 
 landed at Liverpool. What I have seen far sur- 
 passes my expectation. The four days in Paris 
 are indescribable. The palace at Versailles, 
 costing $200,000,000, surpasses in splendor any- 
 thing I ever exi)ected to see, perhaps anything 
 on earth. Switzerland is a gem, and Lucerne is 
 beautiful." 
 
 Continuing his journey, Florence, Rome, Na- 
 ples, Athens, each furnished stopping-places 
 where the soul of the scholar was filled with 
 delight. Ancient ruins, galleries crowded with 
 treasures of art, modern palaces and temples — 
 these were but the background of scenes upon 
 which his mind rested. In Florence he seemed 
 to walk the streets in company with Savonarola 
 and to hear once more in St. Marks the thunder 
 of that voice which shook Italy. In Rome, Vir- 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 237 
 
 gil and Cicero and the Ci\3Siirs were more real to 
 Iiini than Leo and Humbert. In Athens the 
 echo of Paul's voice declaring the Unknown God 
 on Mars' Hill, seemed to linger among the ruins 
 that were crumbling about him. From this in- 
 teresting spot he writes in his characteristic 
 vein : 
 
 "I climbed up to the top of the Parthenon 
 and from its apex looked around upon the pano- 
 rama that opens to the view. Every hill, rivu- 
 let, shore and ruin that we see is famous. A 
 short distance west is the rocky elevation so 
 sacred in Christian story as Mars' Hill, or the 
 Areopagus, where Paul addressed the Athenian 
 philosophers on the claims of Christ. Its sum- 
 mit is forty or fifty feet above the plain, and was 
 reached by a sei'ies of steps, cut in the rock, 
 which still remain. The amphitheater where 
 Paul's audience sat can still be traced. A few 
 of us had delightful worship, on Lord's day, on 
 the very spot. No monument stands here to 
 mark the place where the greatest man of his 
 age delivered his remarkable oration; but he 
 needs none, for Gentile Christianity is his imper- 
 ishable monument. His voice is silent, but ad- 
 miring millions on every continent read and 
 admire the wox'ds that he once spoke in the 
 midst of these monuments of Grecian great- 
 ness." 
 
 The climax of interest and enthusiasm was 
 
238 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 reached as the traveler looked down from Oli- 
 vet upon the City of the Great King. To one 
 who had lived in constant fellowship with the 
 Son of God no scene could be more enchanting. 
 "As we stand in silence," he writes of the scene 
 that burst upon him from the Mount of Olives, 
 "too full for speech, and look upon mountains, 
 valleys, homes and shrines, lit up by the splendor 
 of the evening sun, what scenes come rising before 
 our memories! What wonderful history could 
 these silent mountains tell if God had given 
 them tongues! Here in this narrow circle has 
 been wrought out the most momentous history 
 of the race." 
 
 Retracing his steps, he returned home, having 
 completed what was tiie most memorable and 
 joyous experience of his life. Growing out of 
 this joui-iiey was a unique volume which shortly 
 appeared from his pen, entitled "Young Folks 
 in Bible Lands." Representing himself the 
 youth that he always felt himself to be when 
 traveling, and his companions as boys, he has 
 managed, through dialogue and description, to so 
 interweave experience and history as to present 
 an interesting and instructive book for young 
 readers. 
 
 r. HOME Ayi) IlKAVKN. 
 
 The few remaining years which B. W. Johnson 
 was permitted to enjoy among us were quietly 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 239 
 
 spent at his post of duty, and though unevent- 
 ful, they were, nevertheless, years of intense 
 mental activity, when the fires of his inner 
 nature burned with unwonted glow. 
 
 It uiight have been said of him, as it was said 
 of Doctor Lyman Beecher: "Had he husbanded 
 his energies and turned them in a single chan- 
 nel, the mental fire might have burned steadily 
 on till long after three score and ten. But this 
 was an impossibility. Circumstances and his 
 own constitutional temperament united to spur 
 him on, and for more than twenty of his best 
 years he worked under a high pressure, to use 
 his favorite expression, to the ne plt(s, that is, 
 to the ultitnate limit of physical and moral 
 endurance." 
 
 Mr. Johnson did not know how to rest. In 
 only one way did he yield to the cry of his over- 
 taxed strength, that was in changing the scene of 
 his labors, without remitting in the least the 
 number or measure of the tasks he had assigned 
 himself. Feeling the need of refreshing country 
 air, he was induced in 1887 to abandon the city 
 for a time, and took up his residence in De Soto, 
 Iowa, where he had endeared himself to the peo- 
 ple in a former pastorate, and where he was 
 held in great admiration and revered as a father. 
 These may be counted among the happiest years 
 of his experience. Here he Avrote with almost 
 ceaseless energy, and here he preached with great 
 
240 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 acceptance. Here he refreshed his mind by 
 companionship with the volumes that filled his 
 library, and his body by exercise in his garden, 
 or by social intercourse with farmers and neigh- 
 bors with whom he lived on terms of intimacy. 
 He loved the country. He loved the simple 
 manners of country life, in which his early years 
 were spent. He was a child of nature, and 
 would gladly have spent his remaining days 
 where the fragrance of field and the song of 
 bird could be enjoyed, but the inexorable de- 
 mands of business again called him to the city 
 and to an untimely close of his useful life. 
 
 It was during these quiet, busy days that the 
 strongest and most beautiful traits of his char- 
 acter were to be observed. To know him at his 
 best, one must know him at the fireside, sur- 
 rounded by family and a few friends. Others 
 might admire him for his wisdom and scholar- 
 ship, but only those who entered into this inner 
 circle of his acquaintanceship could ever fully 
 ixndei'stand him. Here there was a freedom and 
 a cordiality in his manner seldom manifest in the 
 presence of strangers. The glow of his own tire- 
 side seemed to melt down that element of 
 reserve which was always more or less manifest 
 in his association with the world outside. Here 
 one caught glimpses of the depth and beauty of 
 his conceptions, which his pen failed to trans- 
 cribe and his voice was unable to utter in public 
 
BARTON W. JOHXSOX 
 
 241 
 
 address. His couversations were replete with 
 wisdom, and an evening in his companionship 
 would give one a better conception of the histor- 
 ical bearing of a subject than could be gained 
 from a week's reading. 
 
 In the home he was loyal to every demand 
 made upon him. He lived in the bosom of his 
 family, and was never so happy as when wife 
 and children were about him. As a father, he 
 was strongly attached to his children. His ideas 
 of paternal authority may have been a little 
 more strict than those of most fathers, but it 
 was always exercised with a kindness and pru- 
 dence and wisdom that won their admiration and 
 affection, and made it their chief delight to do 
 what pleased him. Even after they were grown 
 and had gone to homes of their own, they never 
 ceased to be his little girls, always receiving and 
 heeding his counsel. 
 
 His devotion and loyalty as a husband were 
 always beautiful. Few men, of lives so busy and 
 labors so ardent, have shared so largely in the 
 companionship of wife. He always wanted her 
 near him. When duty took him away he was 
 always restless to return. He took her into his 
 counsels. No decision was ever made without 
 first submitting the matter to her for considera- 
 tion, and no step was ever taken without her 
 approval. By this course he was saved many a 
 
 hastv. ill-considered decision, and much that, in 
 ' 16 
 
242 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 a nature like his, would otherwise have been a 
 source of incouvenieiice and mortification to 
 him, was repressed. 
 
 His study was in a large sense the center of 
 his life, but it was never his castle. Here, 
 through many years, had grown up a large, well- 
 selected library, which was largely a reflection of 
 his intellectual tastes. As was to be expected, 
 history predominated. A few well-selected poets 
 filled a niclie, tliough he was never devoted to 
 the nuise. For fiction he had little time, and, if 
 feeling the need of mental recreation, usually 
 road over and over his few favorites. "Pick- 
 wick Papers" was with him an annual, and was 
 read each time with increasing delight. In the- 
 ology his library was always supplied with the 
 latest. Advanced thought and coaservatism, 
 higher critic and traditionalist, found places side 
 by side on his lil)rary shelves. 
 
 Thus surrounded, his time was largely spent 
 with his books; but he never sought their com- 
 panionship with barred doors. He could always 
 be approached by his family or a friend, and 
 never became so absorbed in study but that he 
 was able to pause for a moment's conversation, 
 or give some needed counsel. Indeed, he was 
 never so happy at his work as when his wife was 
 quietly seated in his library near him. Often 
 when she was engaged in her household duties, 
 he would go in quest of her, and insist on her 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 243 
 
 bringing her work into the study by his side, say- 
 ing he could work better if she were near. And 
 when his task was done it was always submitted 
 to her before it was given to the public. If it 
 was an article for the paper, he would read it 
 aloud to her. If a sermon for the pulpit, he 
 would preach it before her with all the fervor 
 and elaborateness with which it was afterward 
 delivered before the congregation. 
 
 Though a man of letters and an acknowledged 
 leader of religious thought among the Disciples, 
 he shrank from literary or ecclesiastical titles, 
 and refused to accept or wear them when con- 
 ferred upon him. To him it was enough that he 
 was a servant of Christ, and in this service it 
 was his unfailing ambition to please his Master, 
 satisfied if in the end he should hear words of 
 approval spoken by Divine lips. 
 
 We have traced the career of Barton W. John- 
 son almost to its close. But one scene remains. 
 That is the conflict that ended in final victory. 
 Across his pathway for a time was cast a shadow; 
 but it was soon dispelled, and the sun burst with 
 undying splendor upon the brow of another of 
 God's servants. 
 
 In the autumn of 1893, the already frail body 
 was again prostrated by disease. Rallying from 
 the first severe attack, Mr. Johnson once more 
 sought health in the sunny climate of Florida, 
 
244 
 
 MEN OF YEvSTERDAY 
 
 where a few years Ix'fore lie had been enabled to 
 recuperate his exhausted energies. Ilis life-lon<? 
 friend and co-laborer, Francis M. Call, accom- 
 panied him, relieving him from all the cares and 
 details of tlie journe}", and loving hands minis- 
 tered to him from day to day. Here he made a 
 brave fight for life. He felt that his work for 
 the Master was not done. He saw about him 
 foes of righteousness which he longed yet to at- 
 tack with his faithful pen. For a time, as week 
 after week he felt his strength declining, his soul 
 was enveloped in gloom. Sunny skies and spark- 
 ling seas and fragrant groves lost their charm. 
 The old home feeling grew stronger, and he 
 pined for his own fireside. Here, once again 
 surrounded by family and friends, his faith grew 
 stronger and hope brighter; and as he caught 
 glimpses of the far-away shore, he spoke to those 
 who gathered around his bedside of the holy 
 ambition that had burned within his soul, of his 
 desire to have continued ten years longer on 
 earth in the service of the cause he loved, but of 
 his resignation to the Father's will. "I have 
 tried," said he, as the pen fell for the last time 
 from his grasp, "I have tried to be a faithful 
 worker." 
 
 At last the end came. In the early morning 
 hours of May 24, 1894, as if there had already 
 burst upon his soul the morning sun of eternity, 
 he said, "Reduce the light," and then fell asleep. 
 
BARTON W. JOHNSON 
 
 245 
 
 These were his hist words. The morning light 
 had broken, such a morning as can only fall to 
 the lot of earth's redeemed children, as they bid 
 farewell to its sorrows. "What must have been 
 the vision of that closing hour! While his hand 
 was yet strong he had painted this picture of 
 heaven, which embodied his conception of the 
 fut^ire life: 
 
 "No place can lie heaven to any being ivho does 
 not faJ>e Jieaven to it in liis i^oul. Heaven is a 
 state as well as a place. No mau can be happy 
 unless he has the elements of happiness within. 
 Some carry hell with them wherever they go. 
 Heaven was a hell to Milton's Satan; heaven 
 would be hell to the sinner steeped in sin, hating 
 God and righteousness. In order to have an 
 eternal heaven, we nmst have the love of heaven, 
 of God and heavenly things, planted in our souls 
 while below. 
 
 "In the second place, we gain some idea of 
 the bliss of heaven l)y the eternal absence of 
 the things that distress us here. These frail 
 bodies of ours are often bundles of pain so 
 severe that we sigh for release. There arc 
 those who are upon the rack day and night, and 
 life is a long-drawn agony. How sweet the 
 thought to these tired and weary ones, to all 
 whose bodies are aching, whether it be from the 
 burdens of toil or disease, to think of a home 
 near at hand, where there is no pain any more, 
 
246 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 where crying and tears arc unheard and unseen 
 for ever! These aching bodies of flesli and 
 blood and nerve shall be exchanged for spiritual, 
 incorruptible, undying bodies, which will never 
 get out of repair, and hence will never suffer 
 pain. And this fact also excludes another of 
 the dark shadows which cloud our earthly life. 
 With such bodies there will be no death in the 
 eternal home, no funerals, no broken circles, no 
 bereaved hearts, no mourners, none of that great 
 sorrow that cometh sooner or later into every 
 earthly household, and the dread of whose com- 
 ing always casts a gloom. 
 
 "Then again, the curse of this present world 
 is sin. Sin unsheathes the sword, devasta.tcs a 
 country with war, burns cities, turns brutal sol- 
 diery upon wives and daughters, opens the 
 saloon, the gand)ling den, and the brothel, beg- 
 gars millions of our race, poisons with slander, 
 cheats, robs, murders, and indeed perpetuates 
 ever}' wrong that tills this world with wretciied- 
 ness. Wl:o hath not felt its bitter sting! Who 
 hath not known the sorrow of unmerited wrong! 
 "Who hath not traced his greatest misery to the 
 presence of sin in this world! In view of this 
 sad experience of our race there is no statement 
 concerning the heavenly city which contains 
 sweeter comfort than the assurance that 'there 
 shall no sin enter there.' 'There shall in no 
 wise enter into it anything that detileth, neither 
 
BARTON \V. JOHN.SOX 
 
 247 
 
 wolketh aboininutiou ov iiiaketli a lie, but they 
 which are written in tlie Lamb's book of life.' 
 Not in the holy city, but 'without, arc dogs, aiul 
 sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers 
 and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and nuiketh 
 a lie.' Never in that blessed abode shall the 
 righteous soul be grieved by the sight of impurity 
 or wrong; never shall the saint endure the sting 
 of an angry, s[)iteful or slanderous tongue. 
 There shall no shadow fall upon tlie spirit, no 
 penalty for broken law, nor shall there 'he any 
 more curse,' because the defiling touch of sin 
 shall never stain that pure and holy home of the 
 redeemed. There will be no discord in heaven, 
 but union and peace foreverniore. 
 
 "I shall not draw upon my imagination for the 
 employments of the happy dwellers. They will 
 not be idle, nor will their employments be use- 
 less. They have on earth worked the work of 
 God, and they will work it still; their earthly 
 life has been a continual growth in Divine knowl- 
 edge, and heaven will not bring tliat growth to 
 its end. If there be work forever for the angels, 
 surely there will be work for God's redeemed 
 children. But one of the most delightful pros- 
 pects of heaven is the blessed company that 
 shall gather in the holy, happy land. Socrates 
 in the Phaedo is made to speak of the worthies 
 beyond, whom he expects to see when he passes 
 through the gates of which the hendock was to 
 
248 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 be the key. And what :i holy and hiippy reun- 
 ion be ours on the ceU'l)i-:ited shore! Not 
 only oiir own sainted dead, the h)ved ones whom 
 regretful memory still keeps near us, but the 
 grand heroes of whom the world was not worthy, 
 or who have laid themselves upon the altar of 
 humanity. In that heavenly society we ahall 
 meet Judson, and Luther, and Savonarola, and 
 the mighty hosts of sufferers, male and female, 
 who loved not their own lives; the ever-glorious 
 Paul, and the other ineml)ers of that immortal 
 band of apostles, evangelists and martyrs who 
 put in motion the new forces that changed the 
 world : the sweet and blessed women who told 
 the first news of the risen Lord; and there, too, 
 will 'gather many from the east and the west 
 ■who will sit down in the kingdom with Abraham, 
 and Isaac, and Jacol),' and tlic rest of the men 
 of God of the infant world. 
 
 'There tin- saints of all aiivs in lianiioiiy meet, 
 Tlu'ir Savior ami l.ivlliivn t ra a>-i h .I't . I t,, -reel; 
 While the autlieiiis ..f rapture iinreasiiiul y roll, 
 And the smile of the Lord is the feast of tlie soul.' " 
 
 Beautiful and impressive as this picture is to 
 us, how colorless it must now apjjear to him be- 
 fore whose vision have unfolded the glorious 
 realities of the heavenly abiding-place! 
 
(>, A. miRGESs. 
 
VI. 
 
 OTIS A. BURGESS. 
 
If nnytliiiiEr is fnlsc, absolutely false, it does not take a 
 man very loiii^- to find it out. especially if that falseliood elial- 
 leni;-(>s all men everywhere in the open lia-ht of day. Christ's 
 system has done that very thing. It has not remained in a 
 e(u-ner; it has m)t sought the cover of darkness; it lias not 
 made its ai)peal merely to the unlearned and su|icrsiitiniis. 
 But stepping boldly into open day, it lias ehallenL^rd the at- 
 tention of mankind, and ccnirtcd the severest tests to which 
 advanced learning and wisdom have been able to subject it. 
 It has stood tlie tests and proved its divine character thereby. 
 — O. A. Burucss. 
 250 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS. 
 
 I. YOUTH AND EARLY LABORS. 
 
 'iiis century of achievement has produced 
 
 nothing so great as the men and women 
 who have directed its energies. Its inventions, 
 discoveries and reforms, must ever give place to 
 its inventors, discoverers and reformers. It has 
 been pre-eminentl}' a centur}' of splendid man- 
 hood and womanhood. We pause in admiration 
 of its great characters, and to know them is to 
 be irresistibly drawn by them to a higher and 
 holier purpose. 
 
 In the midst of these splendid examples in the 
 realm of religion, philanthropy, literature, art, 
 commerce and iiulustry, I have contined my 
 attention in this series of sketches to those 
 whose lives and iniluence were emplo3-ed in tlie 
 establishment and defense of ii simple, apostolic 
 Christianity. Among these, O. A. Burgess may 
 well take rank as a leader. "While he occupied 
 a place somewhat different from others whose 
 achievements I have considered, in his own 
 chosen sphere of labor he has rendered invalu- 
 able service, and towers like a giant among the 
 defenders of the Christian faith. 
 
 (251) 
 
252 
 
 MEN OF YEvSTERDAY 
 
 To know him was to feel the impress of a 
 strong personality, to tind one's self stretching 
 to reach a loftier ideal, or aspiring to render 
 worthier service. It was iny privilege to know 
 him at that inipressi()nal)le age wlien great men 
 make their deepest and most lasting impress; 
 and I liere chcerfullj' record m\' debt to him as a 
 teaeher and a friend. He was one of the few 
 men who have personally helped me to see 
 further and deeper into the mysteries of this 
 surrounding world, and whose life and memory 
 have l)een a continual inspiration. Asa friend 
 his sympathies were unbounded; as a teacher of 
 youth he was a whole college in himself; as a 
 friend and teacher in one, he possessed rare 
 power as a character-builder. 
 
 Mr. Burgess was fortunate in his parentage. 
 He was a member of a house whose corner- 
 stone was Plymouth Rock. His ancestors, both 
 paternal and maternal, weie meml)ers of the Pil- 
 grim Colony of 1637. They were of the stern 
 Puritan type, rather too stern, perhaps, for the 
 highest spiritual development; but they were 
 successful in imparting to their descendants a 
 strength and decision of character, of which O. 
 A. Burgess had his full share. They were en- 
 dowed with the energy and independence which 
 their untamed surroundings demanded, and 
 when their liberties and privileges were endan- 
 gered, they were said, on the morning of the 
 
OTIS A. BURGEESS 
 
 253 
 
 Revolutionary ()utl)ieak. "to have been up 
 before the sun." 
 
 In a Puritan home in Thompson, Connecticut, 
 Otis Asa Burgess was l)orn August 26, 1829. 
 That his own childhood partook largely of his 
 New England surroundings, and that from the 
 same source he came into possession of a "large 
 vital force, and affectionate and respectful 
 obedience, and an early life of tasks and indus- 
 try," is evident as we study the character and 
 temper of the man. The home was one of re- 
 ligious influence, but of a rigid type of i-eligion 
 that, in a boy of his independence of spirit, in 
 time, came near making permanent shipwreck of 
 his faith. A pious, devoted mother, whose 
 beautiful character and gentle ways were always 
 among his tenderost memories, sought to bring 
 him up in the stern elements of her unsympa- 
 thetic creed. But religion was so dismal a 
 matter in those days, and the occasion of so 
 many discomforts and hardships, repulsive to 
 youthful spirits, that it was quite difficult for an 
 inquisitive child to reconcile it with his simple 
 ideas of Divine goodness. Indeed, comfort in 
 worship was regarded as almost iri'everent. 
 Even in the rigid winters of a New England cli- 
 mate, meeting-houses were unheated, and I have 
 heard him tell how he would sit shivering by his 
 mother, half-frozen, through the long, dry ser- 
 vice, wondering at the inconsistency of a God 
 
254 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 who allowed people to build fires in their homes, 
 but for])id it in the ehurche.s. Those trying 
 winter si i \ iees and the rigid home discipline, for 
 his father was of that stern type, almost tyi'an- 
 nical, made the religion of his childhood any- 
 thing but a pleasant memory; and almost before 
 he had learned the meaning of it all, he had 
 begun to doubt. 
 
 When he was still a small boy, the family for- 
 tunes led to their I'emoval to Norwich, New 
 York. This was in 1837, and the next ten years 
 were spent, as best his surroundings would afford, 
 in fitting himself for a place. This was no easy 
 task. It was a period of privation. Opportun- 
 ities were rare, and the privileges of a boy few. 
 Most of this period he went to "that school of 
 discipline from which so many great men have 
 graduated — a farmer boy's life.'' With an occa- 
 sional term in the district school, and plenty of 
 opportunity amcnig "the rocks and stumps" for 
 physical exercise, he rapidly grew to manhood, 
 strong, resolute and fearless. 
 
 While still taught in the doctrines of strictest 
 Calvinism, he passed through experiences before 
 he had reached his fifteenth year that sent him, 
 for a time, to the ranks of infidelity. His moth- 
 er's death, which occurred about this time, left 
 a deep impression upon his mind. The rebellion 
 which had sprung up in his youthful heart 
 seemed to give way at the touch of atfliction. 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 255 
 
 The meraoiy of her faithful teaching, and the 
 keen sense of his loss at her death, seemed about 
 to accomplish her prajer for the salvation of 
 her hoy. He resolved, if possible, to share 
 her faith, and began to seek earnestly after God. 
 He resorted to the accustomed means of grace. 
 It was an occasion of revival in the commu- 
 nity. The mourners' bench was pointed out as 
 the pathway to religious joy, and thither he went 
 for peace. With prayer and tears he sought the 
 assurance of pardon. But all his efforts seemed 
 unavailing, and he finally turned his back, not 
 only upon his early religious training, but on 
 religion itself, concluding that either he was 
 "predestined to be lost, and was given over to 
 hardness of heart," or that Christianity itself 
 was a baseless superstition. It was a critical 
 moment, and the wonder is, not that his heart 
 rebelled, but that he was ultimately snatched 
 from the ruin of infidelity to become one of the 
 mightiest champions of the Christian faith, and 
 the most fearless antagonist of modern skep- 
 ticism. 
 
 Whether at this time he had formed any defin- 
 ite plan of life-work, can not be stated. If so, 
 his plans were shattered, as later he bowed at 
 the feet of Jesus, and pledged himself to his 
 service. He, at least, very early cherished an 
 ambition to deserve the respect of his fellow- 
 men and win for himself a place of influence in 
 
256 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 the world, and he now felt that the only hope of 
 its realization was to s( t about the task of get- 
 ting the best education his circumstances would 
 allow. He had reached his seventeenth year, 
 and while left upon his own resources, he deter- 
 mined to commence a course of study. For 
 this purpose he entered Norwich Academy, a 
 flourishing institution in the neighborhood. 
 Such was his ability, industry and progress, that 
 within a few weeks he was able to teach success- 
 fully in the common schools. Carefully hus-- 
 banding his small earnings, after a time he 
 accumulated sufficient funds to enable him to 
 re-enter the academy, where he pursued his 
 studies for a term of fourteen weeks, and fin- 
 ished the entire course, except the classics. 
 
 The young man now began to look about him 
 for a place. His surroundings offered him little 
 encouragement. The newly settled West, then 
 as since, was a land of promise for ambitious 
 young men. Half a century ago it presented a 
 field of unbounded resources and opportunities 
 to intelligence and enterprise. If a man turned 
 his attention to agriculture, vast unoccupied ter- 
 ritoiy stretched out before him. If he deter- 
 mined upon a professional career, there was 
 plenty of elbow room anywhere. If he did not 
 rise, it was largely his own fault. No matter 
 how poor in purse, socially he found himself in 
 the best society if he possessed any element of 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 257 
 
 worth. Cordial friendship) uiul warm sympathy 
 welcomed every iiew-comur who was in any sense 
 worthy of respect. 
 
 Thither young Burgess resolved to go. Gath- 
 ering together his small possessions, in the fall 
 of 1847, he started westward, like Abraham, 
 hardly knowing whither he went, until the in- 
 viting prairies of Illinois caused him to halt. 
 The country, then new, seemed to present an 
 ideal field in which to make a start in life, and 
 stopping at Metamora, he began at once looking 
 about him for something to do. It was a fortu- 
 nate circumstance that brought him among the 
 thrifty people of this little western village, and 
 marks a turning point in his career. 
 
 The school-room again offered him a place of 
 anchorage, and he soon made himself a reputa- 
 tion as an instructor and disciplinarian as the 
 master of a district school. He fully identified 
 himself with the new life around him, and was 
 recognized as a leader both in the sports and the 
 intellectual life of the community that enjoyed 
 his services. But as yet the bitterness of his 
 unbelief left its blight upon his nature. He 
 had turned from the Calvinism of his childhood, 
 the only phase of Christianity of which he knew 
 anything. He had never heard of anything to 
 take its place, and was consequently satisfied 
 Avith his agnosticism. But he had not been long 
 
 in his new field of labor until he heard of a pccu- 
 17 
 
258 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 liar people, calling themselves Disciples of 
 Christ, but whom society disrespectfull}' named 
 "Campbellites." It needed little to induce him 
 to join in the general ridicule of this new relig- 
 ious order, of whom he heard only misrepresent- 
 ation and censure. That he ever overcame his 
 prejudices sufficiently to give respectful consid- 
 eration to the truth as taught by this people, and 
 to become a submissive disciple of Christ, is an 
 amazing achievement of grace. 
 
 II. NEW LIFE AND LABORS. 
 
 It was some time after his removal to the px'ai- 
 ries of Illinois that he had the privilege of 
 attending a meeting conducted by a people he 
 had come to hold in light esteem, and of listen- 
 ing to their doctrine. It was more through curi- 
 osity than anything else that he finally attended 
 a service held in the neighborhood. It was his 
 good fortune, upon this occasion, to hear Henry 
 Palmer, one of the most worthy preachers of 
 pioneer fame in Illinois. Instead of confusing 
 dogmas, that had caused him to stumble and 
 turn his back upon Christ and the church, he 
 heard from this faithful preacher a simple plan 
 of redemption unfolded, of which Christ was the 
 center, and which appealed alike to his reason 
 and to his heart. The message came to Mr. 
 Burgess like a new revelation. He had, like 
 Timothy^ been trained in the Scriptures from 
 
OTIvS A. BURGESS 
 
 259 
 
 youth, but it was a new Bible Father Pahiier 
 put iuto his hands after that first discourse. He 
 went home determined to ascertain for him- 
 self the truth of the doctrine that had been pre- 
 sented. Taking up his neglected Bible, he w^as 
 surprised to find that it really contained the mes- 
 sage that had been presented, and that it was 
 not the invention of the preacher. After that it 
 required only a short period to convince him of 
 the error and folly of unbelief, and then his 
 heart bowed submissively l)efore the simple truth 
 of the Gospel, and on July 21, 1850, he was 
 immersed upon a profession of his faith. 
 
 This conquest of the Gospel gave to the world 
 a devoted and able minister of the Word, a 
 worker of recognized ability in the cause of 
 Christian education, and an influential member 
 of society. 
 
 Upon his acceptance of Christ, Mr. Bui-gess 
 began at once to recast all his plans. He had 
 enlisted for service, and was ready to devote his 
 life to his new Master in whatever sphere he 
 could make himself most useful. He had now 
 reached his twenty-first year. Thrown early 
 upon his own resources, he was self-reliant and 
 fearless. He had thus far toiled up hill all the 
 way, and now that the fountain of his religious 
 feeling was touched, he felt himself equi[)ped 
 with new power for a continued struggle. 
 
 Undaunted by the limitations which early jjov- 
 
260 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 erty had thrown about him, and with heart aglow 
 with the zeal of his new faith, he determined to 
 fit himself for the ministry of the Word. With 
 this new purpose of a consecrated life, he deter- 
 mined to tliorougiily equip himself for his chosen 
 work. Bethany College, presided over by Alex- 
 ander Campbell, then in the full glory of his 
 grand career, was at that time the educational 
 center of the Christian Church. From its hails 
 were being sent forth an army of educated 
 young men who were to be the moulders of 
 our religious histoi-y for a generation. Mr. Bur- 
 gess decided to go to Bethany. But in taking an 
 inventory of his resources, he found that after 
 paying his fare to this seat of learning he would 
 have just four dollars and a half and a carpen- 
 ter's hand-saw remaining. It was a daring tiling 
 to attempt, but in his very make-up he possessed 
 the element that was willing to take large risks 
 when the issue depended upon sacrifices, labor 
 and faith in Christ. So he started. He found 
 it a struggle to maintain himself in college, but 
 having put his hand to the plow, he would not 
 turn back. He had already counted the cost, 
 and resolved to shrink fi'om no hardships. He 
 knew how to work with his hands as well as 
 brain. All his resources were now drawn upon 
 to secure the prize of an education. He did odd 
 jobs as a carpenter on Saturdays and holidays. 
 The vacations he spent in teaching. As he be- 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 26i 
 
 gan to exercise his gifts as a preacher, he was 
 soon able to add to his slender resources by 
 preaching for some of the surrounding churches, 
 though it must be confessed that from tiiis 
 source his gains were hirgel}- in experience, rather 
 than in dolhirs and cents. Yet in after years his 
 heart always went out in gratitude to the breth- 
 ren who took hold of him, and held him firmly 
 by the hand, when it was doubtful whether the 
 scale would turn for or against him in his desire 
 and effort to become a preacher. 
 
 With a splendid physique, a richly endowed 
 mind, and his great will-]iower, he was able to 
 endure and accomplish more than most young 
 men; and while working his way through college 
 he kept up with his class, receiving from the 
 hands of Alexander Campbell, in 1854, the 
 diploma of graduation. 
 
 The next step for the young preacher was to 
 secure a field where he could contribute to the 
 advancement of the cause of Christ. This was 
 not so easy as it would now appear. Churches 
 were then looking for old preachers of rich ex- 
 perience and profound Biblical knowledge, and 
 young preachers, like young lawyers and young 
 doctors, had to begin at the bottom. Returning 
 to Illinois, Mr. Burgess first found employment 
 in connection with Walnut Grove Academy as 
 its financial agent, and helped to secure the 
 charter for its conversion into Eureka College. 
 
262 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 He then and ever afterward felt that the future 
 of the Disciples of Christ depended upon the 
 successful establishment of institutions where 
 Christian education could be given, and threw 
 his great energy into this cause as did few other 
 men. 
 
 Soon after his return from Bethany, Mr. Bur- 
 gess formed an alliance which proved every way 
 helpful to him throughout his busy life, — that 
 was his union in marriage with Miss Nannie 
 Ledgervvood, who as Mrs. O. A. Burgess, still 
 survives him to carry on the Master's work 
 which he, in the strength of his prime, was com- 
 pelled to lay down. Those who know of Mrs. 
 Burgess' devotion to the cause of Christ, and 
 of her consecrated service in leading the sister- 
 hood of the Disciples in their world-wide minis- 
 try, need not be told that one of the contributing 
 elements to the success of the young preacher 
 and educator, was the co-operation of his de- 
 voted Christian wife. 
 
 While it had been the purpose of Mr. Bur- 
 gess, from the moment of his conversion, to 
 become the messenger of the religion he once 
 had ridiculed and rejected, the way had not yet 
 opened for him to devote his whole energy to 
 the ministry of the Word. In the meantime he 
 gave his attention to the work of securing for 
 the growing West better educational advantages. 
 
 Having succeeded, as financial agent, in put- 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 263 
 
 ting Eureka College on a better financial basis, 
 he was given a place on its Faculty, in the fall of 
 1855, as "Professor of Natural Sciences, Mental 
 and Moral Philosophy, and Lecturer on Sacred 
 Literature," a range of instruction rather broad 
 and diverse for a young man but recently out of 
 college himself. But the specialist had not yet 
 made his appearance, and the public was not so 
 exacting as now; and Mr. Burgess found him- 
 self fairly equipped to instruct the young men 
 from the country who filled his class-room. He 
 was no novice in the field of education, since he 
 had had considerable experience as a public 
 school teacher, and if his scholarship was yet 
 limited, he possessed the inspirational faculty of 
 breatliing life into abstruse college studies, and 
 exciting among his students a passion for knowl- 
 edge and unbounded admiration for the gifted 
 teacher. 
 
 But he had set out to follow his Master in a 
 different field, and though his life was destined 
 to be spent largely in the training of young men 
 and women, he now had other plans. His in- 
 tense religious zeal would not be contented 
 within the limits of the class-room. He believed 
 so firmly in the plea for the restoration of Primi- 
 tive Christianity that he longed to be out in the 
 field as its aggressive champion. He belonged 
 to the church militant in the most literal sense 
 of the term. Without vanity or egotism, he felt 
 
264 
 
 MEX OF YESTERDAY 
 
 himself possessed of talent which could be made 
 to serve the cause he had espoused, in a larger 
 field. His brethren shared in this conviction, 
 and, at the close of the first year in Eureka Col- 
 lege, he was called to minister to the churches of 
 Washington and Metamora, Illinois. Here for a 
 period of five years he carried on a vigorous 
 campaign against the enemies of Christ, winning 
 converts, strengthening the churches, and mak- 
 ing for hitnself a reputation throughout the 
 brotherhood as a preacher of extraordinary- 
 power. 
 
 Once during this period of his service his 
 courage failed, and, with a fainting spirit, he 
 decided to abandon the ministry. It had been a 
 hard struggle to secure support from the weak 
 churches for which he labored. To sustain the 
 work and keep himself from debt, and hunger 
 from his door, he turned his attention to farm- 
 ing as well as preaching. At last "he decided to 
 quit and go farther West. He had a pair of 
 horses to sell, and hearing of a man about 
 twenty miles away who wanted to buy a pair, he 
 started out to see him. On his way he stopped 
 at a small town where a meeting at the time was 
 going on. He preached at night, and the next 
 day started on to complete his journey. The 
 man did not buy his horses, and on his way home 
 lie again preached and continued the meeting 
 
OTIS A. BURGEESS 
 
 265 
 
 with a large number of additions. Tliis was the 
 establishment of him in his life work." 
 
 It may be well to pause here and study the 
 man as he stood before his fellows in the early 
 years of his ministry. 
 
 Nature had fashioned him for a leader, a man 
 of mark among men. He had an air of manly 
 independence which manifested itself in his 
 look, his word, his action. There was a fear- 
 lessness in his manner and method of presenting 
 the truth that at once won the respect and con- 
 fidence of his hearers, and contributed to the 
 success of his ministry. 
 
 In stature he was tall, slightly stooped, save 
 when he drew himself up to hurl some shaft of 
 truth against the defenses of his antagonists. 
 His eye was black and piercing, and blazed with 
 the fire of his inner nature when aroused, 
 twinkled with merriment when engaged in 
 friendly intercourse, and then reposed into 
 almost melancholy when pondering upon the 
 graver problems that occupied his mind. His 
 long, flowing beard, black as night, prominent 
 nose and expansive brow, combined to form a 
 figure and features that were sure to impress a 
 waiting audience with expectations that wei'e 
 seldom disappointed. In keeping with his 
 physical and intellectual characteristics was a 
 splendid, deep, rich voice, that contributed to 
 
266 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 the feeling of niassiveness when he spoke. His 
 conceptions of things, too, were as large as his 
 personal bearing, and one never listened to him 
 without the consciousness of an enlarged hori- 
 zon, feeling himself the part of a greater world, 
 the possessor of undreamed of blessings, the 
 recipient of unbounded grace, the servant of an 
 infinite Master, the heir of inconceivable riches. 
 
 The following picture from the pen of a life- 
 long friend will be recognized by those who 
 knew him : 
 
 "No one felt the dignity and glory of his 
 calling more than he. The august, representa- 
 tive character of his office was never lost sight 
 of by him. He always had upon his heart a 
 message, and this he uttered with all the 
 thougiit, fervor and pathos of his strong nature. 
 He had an inexpressible contempt for pulpit 
 platitudes, or pulpit sensationalism. He always 
 dealt with weighty matters, and his sermons 
 were grave, strong, manly sermons, often con- 
 taining passages of unpremeditated beauty and 
 noble eloquence, that moved mind and heart to 
 clearer thought and better conduct. In manner 
 this message was sometimes with the impetuos- 
 ity and terrible energy of Elijah, and then 
 again with the love and tenderness of John. In 
 the heat of spiritual conflict he was a 'son of 
 thunder;' in the communion f)f saints he had 
 
OTIS A. J5URGESS 
 
 267 
 
 much of the simplicity and child-like love that 
 the Apostle John had for the Master." 
 
 Such was the man who stood forth young, 
 strong and resolute as the champion of Chris- 
 tianity against unbelief, and of a ratioiiul. script- 
 ural Christianity against that founded upon 
 human creed and tradition. During these early 
 labors Mr. Burgess endeared himself to a large 
 circle of friends. Beyond the borders of his 
 charge he frequently went to carry on a cam- 
 paign against sin, or to help some struggling pas- 
 tor, or to establish anew the claims of Christ 
 where infidelity had obtained a foothold. In 
 these labors he was instrumental in winning 
 many to Christ, and materially strengthening the 
 cause of truth in the great Prairie State. 
 
 The outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, with 
 its call to arms, broke into every peaceful enter- 
 prise, even that of the ministry. The patriotic 
 instincts of Mr. Burgess pushed him to the front 
 among the first, and, as a captain of volunteers, 
 he experienced all the dangers and hardships of 
 array life, often on "the perilous edge of battle," 
 and in "the imminent, deadly breach." 
 
 In this capacity he served his country until 
 after the battle of Pittsburg Landing, in ^yhich 
 he took part. Soon after his health entirely 
 broke down, and he was compelled to return to 
 moi-e peaceful pursuits. 
 
 In the fall of 1862, Mr. Burgess resumed his 
 
268 
 
 aiEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 inini>ten;il labors, accc[)tiiig a call to the Centi-ai 
 Christian Church of Indianapolis, then the fore- 
 most church of the Disciples in the West. He 
 was now in the strength of his early prime, 
 keenly alive to every interest of humanity, and 
 a recognized leader in every movement that 
 would contribute to human progress. It was a 
 peculiarly trying period. The excitement at- 
 tending the equipment of armies and the news 
 of battles, engrossed the public attention. But 
 such was the strength and genius of Mr. Bur- 
 gess' pulpit efforts that he was able to call back 
 men's minds to the great central truths of Chris- 
 tianity, and enlist them first in the service of 
 Christ, as an essential step in their preparation 
 for patriotic service. As a preacher he gave 
 forth no uncertain sound. Having planted his 
 feet upon the testimonies of the Gospel, his 
 whole energy was enlisted in its proclamation 
 and defense. He literally hid behind the Cross 
 of Christ. His sermons of this period arc 
 strong in their jiresentation of the claims of the 
 Bible and the evidences of revealed religion. 
 Having in his early experiences lingered for a 
 time in Doubting Castle, he knew how, as few 
 have been able to do, to describe its gloom and 
 to point the way out. As the recognized cham- 
 pion of the Bible he was now often called upon 
 to defend it against the attacks of skepticism in 
 many places; the foreshadowings of his splendid 
 
OTIS A. BURGEKSS 
 
 269 
 
 service in later years as the defender of the 
 faith. 
 
 During the busy years of Mr. Burgess' pastor- 
 ate in Indianapolis, his growing reputation 
 brought him into touch with the various inter- 
 ests of the community and the church. He was 
 never a man of one idea, and no single enter- 
 prise was ever able to entirely consume his 
 enei'gy. He was a many-sided man, and nothing 
 of human interest was foreign to him. It thus 
 happened that while his labors as pastor were 
 earnest and productive of large results, he found 
 time and inclination to go out into many lines of 
 service, that extended his fame and endeared 
 him to thousands. 
 
 His ability as a public speaker made large 
 draft upon his time. Anniversaries, dedications, 
 occasions of moment, political and religious, 
 brought him often upon the platform beyond the 
 confines of his parish, and called from him his 
 ablest efforts. In times of public exultation 
 over victory, or public sorrow in calamity, he 
 was again and again chosen to give ex[)ression to 
 the feelings of his townsmen, and the power 
 with which he. rose to great occasions never 
 failed to justify his choice. I venture to quote 
 the following from an address before the citizens 
 of Indianapolis shortly after the a-sassination of 
 Abraham Lincoln, not only because it illustrates 
 the line eloquence of the speaker, but also be- 
 
270 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 cause of its portrayal of the ideal statesman 
 and ruler: 
 
 "I must think that the magnitude of Mr. Lin- 
 coln's work has never been equaled in the his- 
 tory of nations. With a l)ankrupt treasury; 
 with stolon mints; with surrendered forts; with 
 empty arsenals; with treachery at home and 
 enmity abroad; with the startling revelation 
 almost every day that a high and trusted ofBcial 
 had turned a traitor; forsaken by those he 
 deenu'd friends ; abused, denounced and aban- 
 doned !)y even more in number in the North 
 than in the South — he took the helm amidst the 
 wildest waves on wliicli shi[) of State ever rode, 
 and, calm as the bosom of a placid lake, he 
 stood unmoved, beating back the surging billows 
 of scorn and hatred and treason, as the rock 
 beats back the tem))est-lashed sea. Amidst all 
 this storm of wrath and sea of treason, Abra- 
 ham Lincoln has never uttered a hast}' expres- 
 sion or made an angry speech. Neither the 
 chagrin of disappointed office-seekers, nor the 
 haste of over-zealous friends, nor the deep 
 malignity of his most implacaljle enemies, has 
 l)etrayed him into a single pul)li(5 utterance over 
 which his warmest friends may blush. ... A 
 statesman without intrigue, a patriot without 
 stain, a more than monarch without ambition, — 
 his tirst, his last, his only thought the union of 
 country and freedom for the [)eo2)lc." 
 
OTIS A. BURGESvS 
 
 271 
 
 III. THE FEARLESS DEFEyDEU OF THE FAITH. 
 
 As the storm of civil war cleared away, Mr. 
 Burgess felt the throb of a new era, and with it 
 the feeling of new responsibility. He foresaw 
 dangers as well as opportunities; and believing 
 that Christianity, and that the purest type 
 of Christianity, presented the only safeguard 
 against future calamity, he called upon his 
 brethren for new deeds of devotion in extending 
 the influence of the Reformation. So intense 
 was his feeling of the greatness of the hour that 
 he for a time abandoned his pulpit, to go out in 
 the interests of the American Christi;in Mission- 
 ary Society. Tn the summer of 1865, ho traversed 
 a wide section of ihe country in a campaign of 
 missionary education among the churches, and 
 gave his energies to raising funds for the more 
 complete evangelization of America. 
 
 After a short period of service in the interest 
 of home missions, he returned to the care of 
 his charge in Indianapolis, and continued in its 
 uninterrupted service until the summer of 1868, 
 when a call came to him to the Presidency of 
 Northwestern Christian University, now Butler 
 College. It was with no intention of abandon- 
 ing the ministry that he accepted the position 
 offered him. Indeed, he never ceased to be a 
 preacher, and during the greater part of his career 
 as an educator, upon which he now entered, he 
 continued to minister to the church which had 
 
272 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 become strongly attached to him. His energies 
 from this time on were largely consumed in the 
 interests of Christian education, and most of us 
 who knew him in that period, think of him in 
 the class-room as a teacher, rather than in the 
 pulpit as preacher. 
 
 Few men were better fitted for such a position 
 than he. His early experience as district school- 
 master, his former service in the college class- 
 room, his wide experience among men, his rich 
 acquisitions of knowledge, all contributed to his 
 endowment for the work he now had in hand. 
 There was an originality and daring in his 
 method of investigation that presented a pecu- 
 liar charm to tlu^ minds of young men. There 
 was a ruggedness and positiveness in his manner 
 of thought and styU^ of expression that inspired 
 confidence. There was a warmth aiid genialitj' 
 in his intercourse with students that won, not 
 only their admiration, but their friendship. 
 
 Here, for more than a decade, with a brief 
 interval spent in Chicago,^ Mr. Burgess devoted 
 himself to the work of quickening and directing 
 young men and women in their intellectual pui'- 
 suits, and in their moral and religious develop- 
 ment. In this capacity he might be called an 
 educational reformer. He was among the first 
 to advocate and try the experiment of the co- 
 
 1 From ISrO to 1873, Mr. Burgess served as pastor of the 
 ludiaua Avenue Christian Church of Chicago. 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 273 
 
 education of the sexes upon a single standard of 
 study and excellence. The attempts at co-edu- 
 cation, so far as tried in a few other Western 
 colleges, had hitherto prepared a double course 
 of stud}', a less thorough and difficult one for 
 feminine minds. Of course, he had to endure 
 his share of ridicule. It was claimed that young 
 men and women, if brought together in the 
 class-room, would fall in love with each other, 
 and that the standard of education would have 
 to be lowered to meet the mental capacity of the 
 weaker sex. 
 
 In defense of the ground he had taken, Mr. 
 Burgess urged that the co-educatiou of the sexes 
 had a refining and restraining infiuence on both; 
 that it establishes a social life in college which 
 is as necessary to proper and comprehensive 
 education as a knowledge of books, of literature, 
 or science; and that an education together, a 
 thorough knowledge of each other, and a pro- 
 found and sincere respect for each other, will be 
 far more likely to promote their future happi- 
 ness than ignorance and false notions. 
 
 A few years justified the wisdom of 'Sir. Bur- 
 gess' course. It has led to the opening of nearly 
 every institution in the land to young ladies 
 upon the same terms as to young men, and has 
 resulted in the honors being cari ied off repeat- 
 edly by them in competition with the brightest 
 
 college men. 
 18 
 
274 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 Witli Alexander Campbell, he believed that 
 every educational s.ysteni was faulty which did 
 not seek the syni metrical development of man's 
 entire being, body as well as mind, and spirit as 
 well as body. So the Bible was made one of the 
 corner-stones of instruction, and it was, perhaps, 
 nerer made more attractive than as studied in 
 Mr. Burgess' class-room. His ideals of educa- 
 tion, kept constantly before the young men and 
 women, find expression in his Inaugural Address 
 as President of the University, of which the fol- 
 lowing gives the key-note: 
 
 "I trust you will give yourselves, with what- 
 ever energy and ability you possess, that with so 
 much gained here, you may be able, with God 
 in your hearts and nature before your eyes, to 
 continue a course of study that will lead you to 
 the higher realization of the truly and thorough- 
 ly educated, stopping not, nor being satisfied, 
 until the life that now is shall find its comple- 
 ment in the life which is to come." 
 
 How anxiously, I might almost say agoniz- 
 ingly, he looked after the moral development of 
 his students as they passed through the tempta- 
 tions peculiar to college life, we may gather 
 from his own words: 
 
 "When I see a young man just ready to enter 
 upon the rugged duties of life, turning aside 
 from the path of virtue and truth, preferring 
 the nightly theater to the sacred home-circle, 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 275 
 
 absorbed hy the gidd}' whirl of the dance, en- 
 ticed by the promised gain of the card-table, 
 poisoned by the venom of the wine-cup; and 
 when at length I see him preferring the house of 
 revelry and shame to the house of worship and 
 praise, I bow my head and weep, while in try 
 heart I feel that he is walking in the footprints 
 of the devil. 
 
 "When I see a young lady filled with the 
 haughty spirit of pride, impatient of parental 
 restraints, watching with feverish anxiety the 
 rose that blooms but for an hour, forgetting the 
 amaranthine flower that blooms forever, and 
 always adorning the body, but never the soul, 
 my soul sickens within me as I exclaim, Alas I 
 that woman — beautiful, fragile, lovely, noble 
 woman — should also tread in the footprints of 
 the devil." 
 
 Youth — promising, ambitious, enticed youth — 
 always found in him a true friend and helper, 
 and the impress of his lofty ideals was carried 
 out into the world by thousands who came under 
 his influence. 
 
 In pursuing the career of Mr. Burgess through 
 the various lines of service which he rendered 
 Christianity, I have purposely omitted mention 
 of his repeated conflicts with the enemies of the 
 faith. From the day when he left the ranks of 
 doubt to become a follower of the Son of God, 
 until the day when he laid down the burden of 
 
276 
 
 MEN OF YKSTERDAY 
 
 earthly toil, revealed truth had no holder or 
 more invincible champion than he. 
 
 It has somehow fallen to the representatives 
 of the Christian Church in our century to meet 
 the enemies of the Bible; and it has been their 
 honor to meet them in such a way as to utterly 
 put them to flight. Having no creed to defend 
 but that contained in the Scriptures, no theolog- 
 ical system to bolster up, no apology to make 
 for denominational errors, they have occupied 
 ground more easily defcnsil)k' than that of other 
 representatives of the Christian faith. In- 
 trenched behind the Man of Galilee and his 
 Gf)spel, they have never failed to sustain the 
 claims of the New Testament Church against 
 those whose stock in trade was the imperfections 
 of modern religious society. Alexander Camp- 
 bell in his time did valiant service in meeting 
 and vanquishing the foremost champions of un- 
 belief. Mr. Burgess rendered scarcely less val- 
 uable service to a more recent generation in his 
 fearless conflict with all opposers of Christian- 
 ity who could be drawn into debate, and in his 
 courageous exposure of those who could not. 
 
 From almost the beginning of his public min- 
 istry Mr. Burgess was called upon to give ex- 
 pression to the ground of Christian faith and 
 hope, and he was perhaps more widely known as 
 a defender of the Christian religion against the 
 attacks of skepticism than in any other capacity. 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 277 
 
 It was in this field of religious service that he 
 appeared at his best. He was constitutionally a 
 debater. His keen logic, ready wit, fair schol- 
 ai'ship, close reasoning, vital magnetism and rare 
 gifts of oratory, left him with few superiors in 
 the field of polemics. As a preacher, while 
 always instructive, he was sometimes disappoint- 
 ing. But the presence of an antagonist fired his 
 mind, and in the excitement of debate he rose to 
 unwonted heights of eloquence, and never failed 
 to more than satisfy the expectations of his 
 friends. 
 
 In discussing the claims of Christianity Mr. 
 Burgess felt confident of his ground. With an 
 aching heart he had onco canvassed the whole 
 field in his search for God and peace, and at last 
 found all that he sought at the foot of the Cross 
 of Christ. With such an experience behind him, 
 he ever more made himself secure by anchoring 
 his faith to the rock-truths of revealed religion. 
 
 Skeptic, spiritualist, free-thinker, representa- 
 tives of every form of unbelief that rejected the 
 claims of his Master, encountered in him a fear- 
 less antagonist. But his most noted encounters 
 were with Mr. B. F. Underwood, the a[)ostle of 
 free-thought and infidelity. In an attitude of 
 defiance the latter went about the country, re- 
 peating his tirade against Christianity, and call- 
 ing upon its representatives to meet him in its 
 defense or acknowledge their ground untena))le. 
 
278 
 
 MEN OF YE.STERDAY 
 
 The friends of truth soon discovered in Mr. 
 Burgess one whom they could intrust with its 
 defense, and from that time until Mr, Under- 
 wood finally retired from the field he was called 
 upon again and again to meet him in public de- 
 bate. The success of Mr, Burgess' defense was 
 usually attested by a revival of religion in the 
 community where the debate was held, he him- 
 self often remaining to gather in the fruitage. 
 
 One sentence, rescued from this series of con- 
 flicts with Mr. Underwood, uttered in defense of 
 the doctrine of immortality, shows the keenness 
 of Mr. Burgess' argument: 
 
 "Can it be," said he, "that the lifeless clay of 
 my body shall return into the parent dust, and 
 that miserable clod live forever, while that which 
 controls and regulates this body — the active, liv- 
 ing, thinking, intelligent principle within me — 
 shall only cease to be?" 
 
 But he was not always successful in bringing 
 the enemies of truth to an encounter. They 
 came in time to fear him and evade him. In the 
 summer of 1872, a Mr. Denton delivered a series 
 of so-called scientific lectures in AVorcester, 
 Mass, Throughout his effort was to throw ridi- 
 cule on the Bible. At the close of the series he 
 challenged the city to gainsay his statements. 
 The challenge was taken up by the friends of 
 truth. Mr. Burgess was selected as the most 
 able and suitable man to defend the cause of 
 
OTI.S A. nURGESvS 
 
 279 
 
 Christianity, and he at once accepted the respon- 
 sibility. But, arriving on the ground, he found 
 it impossible to arrange terms with his opponent, 
 so nothing remained for him but to deliver a 
 series of lectures in defense of the claims of the 
 Bible. An eye-witness has left us this picture of 
 Mr. Burgess as he appeared before the citizens 
 of Worcester: 
 
 "I had seen and heard many preachers before, 
 but remember nothing to equal this occasion. 
 As he took his place on the stand, every move- 
 ment indicated that he was more than an ordi- 
 nary person. And when the full, deep, rich 
 tones of his voice rang out, and that eye — 
 sharper than an eagle's and piercing as the Word 
 he was about to defend — flashed over the assem- 
 bled audience, there came an almost breathless 
 stillness, which was unbroken for nearly two 
 hours. His arguments were clear, pointed, and 
 driven home with, as it were, the blows of a 
 mighty sledge-hammer. He appeai'ed a tower of 
 strength, mentally and physically. He was thor- 
 oughly at ease in mind as to the truths of the 
 Bible. His expression was free, often soaring 
 into the sublime. In fact, everything he said or 
 did was pregnant with meaning, and the very 
 ideal of eloquence." 
 
 Another defamer of Christianity whom he 
 longed for an opportunity to meet in public de- 
 bate was Mr. Ingersoll. But the wily skeptic 
 
280 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 always succeeded in evading him, feeling much 
 safer, in his tirade against the Christian faith, 
 upon a platform where the ghost of an antagon- 
 ist would not haunt him. While Mr. Burgess 
 was never able to bring the silver-tongued blas- 
 phemer to a face-to-face encounter, he was not 
 of the temper to allow his bold sophisms to pass 
 unchallenged, or the communities in which they 
 were uttered to accept them as unquestioned 
 statements of truth. So ably and logically and 
 effectively did he meet every point urged against 
 the Christian Scriptures that he was kept busy 
 following in the track of the infidel lecturer, set- 
 ting coniniunities, in widely separated parts of 
 the country, right upon these matters. 
 
 In 1879 he received the following invitation 
 from Washington, D. C, signed by many repre- 
 sentative men of both houses of Congress: 
 
 "The undersigned are desirous that a reply be 
 made to the lecture of Col. Robert G. IngersoU 
 on 'Some Mistakes of Moses,' immediately after 
 its delivery. As you have replied to it elsewhere, 
 we are well aware of your ability to address 
 yourself to the subject, and we are interested 
 that it be done in tlie service of pure religion, at 
 the City of Washington." 
 
 It is to be regretted that the addresses of Mr. 
 Burgess on this and other occasions "in the serv- 
 ice of pure I'eligion," have not been preserved. 
 Aside from a few imperfect newspaper I'eports, 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 281 
 
 and the recollectioa of those who heard this 
 grand man in the defense of their faith, nothing 
 remains of all that array of testimony by which 
 he put to flight the armies of the aliens. 
 
 To the very end he counted it his chiefest joy 
 to lead his fellowmen out into the clearer light 
 of truth respecting the authority of the Bible, 
 the divinity of Jesus, the immortality of the soul, 
 etc. "I wish it distinctly understood," he said, 
 "that neither my brethren nor the cause I repre- 
 sent shall ever be driven to the wall by infidelity, 
 if what little ability I possess can at any time 
 contribute to the defense and maintenance of 
 the truth." 
 
 He feared Grod, and because of his reverence 
 "for the Father's authority his most vigorous 
 intellectual efforts were made when his moral 
 indignation was stirred by men who challenged 
 the existence of God, the truths of revealed 
 religion or the claims of virtuous living. With 
 clearness of reasoning, with effectiveness of re- 
 sources and in the manliness of free debate, he 
 was a champion of truth and righteousness." 
 
 TV. THt: CLOSIXG YEARS OF A BUSY LIFE. 
 
 In connection with his professional duties Mr. 
 Burgess was always faithful to his obligations as 
 citizen of a great Republic. From the day when 
 he joined the ranks of his country's defenders on 
 lh(; battlefield, to the close of his eventful career. 
 
282 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 he shrank from no service which the responsibil- 
 ities of citizenship imposed. He manifested an 
 active interest in great political movements. His 
 public addresses were all patriotic in tone. This 
 was especially true of those addressed to the 
 young men and women in colleges. His ambi- 
 tion as an educator was to make good citizens; 
 and on occasions when important political inter- 
 ests were involved, he would teach the boys prac- 
 tical politics by leading them into the caucus, and 
 arraying them on the side of righteousness. 
 
 His ))atriotism was a recognized factor in the 
 State where most of his busy years were spent. 
 In recognition of his loyalty and ability, he was 
 prominently mentioned as a candidate for the 
 Governorship of Indiana in the campaign of 
 
 1880. While his friends failed to secure for him 
 the nomination, he entered the political arena 
 that year as the champion of James A. Garfield, 
 and was, without doubt, one of the important 
 factors in turning the tide in the State of Indi- 
 ana in his favor and securing his election to the 
 Presidency of the United States. 
 
 Complications which grew out of Mr. Burgess' 
 active participation in politics led him, early in 
 
 1881, to sever his connection with Butler Uni- 
 versity and return to his former pulpit in the 
 city of Chicago. He was now at what seemed 
 the very zenith of his career. He had just en- 
 tered upon that age which gave him wisdom and 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 283 
 
 influence. His energy, faith and ability had 
 secured him a position in the front rank of the 
 advocates of primitive Christianity. The work 
 upon which he now entered promised a field 
 commensurate with his ability. Our forces were 
 yet weak in the cities. But it was felt that the 
 time for planting the reformation in these 
 strongholds had come, and none were better 
 qualified to win recognition in a great center of 
 population than he. An orator of recognized 
 power, a man of profound conviction and posi- 
 tive faith, a tireless and enthusiastic worker, he 
 combined the elements which, under favorable 
 circumstances, would have won large results in 
 any city. But the situation that confronted him 
 was one of extraordinary difficulties. A check- 
 ered history of a quarter of a century, with 
 heterogeneous elements in the pews and councils 
 of the church, combined to make a condition 
 that refused to yield to the sledge-hammer blows 
 of this "son of thunder." 
 
 While heroically wrestling with these adverse 
 conditions, Mr. Burgess continued to serve his 
 brethren in a wider capacity. Almost constant 
 demand was made upon him in the lecture-held 
 in defense of the Christian faith against the at- 
 tacks of infidelity. In the councils of his breth- 
 ren. State and national, his voice was always 
 heard as one of the strongest champions of world- 
 wide missions. He was among the first to rccog- 
 
284 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 nizt' and urge the claim.s of a di.stinctively heathen 
 mission, to which his l)rethren had liitherto !>eeii 
 oblivious. Every movement that would in any 
 way contribute to the progress of truth found in 
 him a friend. But now a blow came from an- 
 other quarter that well-nigh broke his heart, and 
 without doubt hastened his untimely death. 
 
 The friendship of Mr. Burgess for Garfield 
 had become a passion. He had put his life into 
 the campaign that in 1880 had secured his elec- 
 tion to the Presidency. In this service he had 
 not 1)een actuated l)y selfish or political motives. 
 Garfield was his brother in Christ. Together 
 they had labored for the same great cause, — the 
 rot oration of Primitive Christianity. Mr. Bur- 
 gess now saw in the elevation of his friend an 
 opportunity for the advancement of the move- 
 ment with which he was identified. Since the 
 organization of the Brush Run Church by the 
 Campbells on broad, New Testament principles, 
 it had been the studied effort of sectarian lead- 
 ers to keep the cause of reformation in the back- 
 giound under the ban of unpopularity. Its ac- 
 quisitions had largely been confined to the rural 
 districts of the Mississippi Valley. The East 
 had scarcely heard of the movement, and in the 
 cities it had hardly gained a foothold. The 
 effect of th(! election of Garfield, the Disciple of 
 Christ, was, as Mr. Burgess had foreseen, to 
 awaken a widespread interest in the hitherto un- 
 
OTIS A. hurgp:ss 
 
 285 
 
 known church. What might have been the 
 result had he been permitted to complete his 
 term of office, is a matter of conjecture. As it 
 was, the bullet of the assassin that cut him 
 down, went to the heart of Mr. Burgess. At the 
 news of the tragedy he wept like a motlier for 
 her child. It seemed the blasting of all his 
 hopes, the undoing of all his plans. The sting 
 of disappointment never, from that hour, ceased 
 to atHict hini. 
 
 Gathering his strength and suppressing his 
 grief, he prepared and deliveri'd a eulogy upon 
 the lamented Garfield at a union nieniorial serv- 
 ice in Chicago. It was among his last public 
 efforts. From that time death had marked him 
 for its victim. Failing health admonished him 
 that he must surrender, at least for a time, the 
 arduous labors of tiie ministry. A change of 
 climate and scenery was advised, and he went to 
 Florida, hoping thereby to renew his strength. 
 But he soon returned home, more debilitated 
 than when he left, conscious that the end was 
 not far away. "During the last few days he re- 
 mained on earth his mind was occupied, yea, even 
 possessed, with the great themes he was wont to 
 handle when in the vigor of his strong manhood. 
 He was constantly impressing his thoughts on 
 students whom he seemed to think were listen- 
 ing to him, and a day or two before his death he 
 prctu hed a sermon to an imaginary audience that 
 
286 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 was perfect in its thought und full of the char- 
 acteristics of O. A. Burgess." 
 
 Thus he passed away from earth, March 14, 
 1882, in the fifty-third year of his life. Though 
 compassed by so brief a span, so intense had 
 been his activity of body and mind, that he had 
 .been able to achieve more than most men in the 
 allotted three score and ten. 
 
 In this brief survey of a strong character, it 
 has been my purpose to i)resent, in rugged out- 
 line, the career of O. A. Burgess, with just 
 enough of the minor detail to enable the reader 
 to form for himself a conception of the man and 
 his place among the forces that have contributed 
 to the remarkable growth of the Disciples of 
 Christ. 
 
 Our view has hitherto been confined to his 
 public labors — the teacher, conscientious and 
 painstaking; the preacher, instructive and elo- 
 quent; the debater, fearless and irresistible. In 
 these closing words, let us take a closer view of 
 the man as he appeared among his friends, and 
 a brief glance at his permanent contribution to 
 the cause that consunjed him. 
 
 The real character and worth of a man are not 
 always a[)parent in his public labors. To know 
 him one has often to meet hiin off duty, and to 
 come within heart-touch through social inter- 
 course. This was true of Mr. Burgess. There 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 287 
 
 was an air of commanding dignity in his pulilic 
 appearance that might easily be mistaken for an 
 austere and autocratic disposition. A more inti- 
 mate acquaintance was sure to correct any such 
 misapprehension. 
 
 I well remember the strange feeling of com- 
 mingled awe and fear with which I sought, for 
 the first time, admission to his home. I had 
 heard of him only as the annihilator of infidels, 
 the man before whose tliundcrings opposition 
 fled and doubt hid her face. I had prepared my- 
 self for the cold formalit ies of one who held him- 
 self aloof from my humble woi'ld. But with 
 what surprise I found myself ushered into the 
 presence of one whose cordial greeting and un- 
 disguised personal interest at once disarmed all 
 fear, and naade me feel as much at ease as though 
 he had been my father! And a father he was to 
 the boys and girls who, in the old Butler days, 
 gathered about him for instruction and advice. 
 
 There was at times a brusqueness, an impa- 
 tience in his manner, in dealing with human 
 errors. He hated cant and sham as few men are 
 capable; but withal his heart was as tender to 
 the touch of human sympathy as a child. In 
 beautiful combination were to be found force 
 and tenderness of feeling. The inherited char- 
 acteristics of his Puritan ancestry, mellowed by 
 the congenial atmosphere of Christian fellowship 
 among the Disciples, made of him an admirable 
 
288 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 companion, and a sympathetic and unchanging 
 friend. 
 
 The cliaractcr of the man is revealed in the.se 
 words, oft repeated to the young men who, under 
 his instruction, were prei)aring for the ministry: 
 "Hide yourself behind the cross, so that in con- 
 verting men and women they will be converted to 
 Christ, not to you." It was characteristic of his 
 own ministry that the cross was uppermost. 
 
 His service to the cause of Christ at a critical 
 period has contributed an abiding element to its 
 success. As a preacher and defender of the 
 truth he had few equals. The secret of his great 
 power is well expressed by Prof. Benton, his 
 life-time friend, in the following paragraphs: 
 
 "He feared God. This was a conspicuous 
 trait. It means sincerity, reverence for God's 
 authority, and a sense of the Divine presence. 
 These were never bartered away for public ap- 
 plausc; nor were his powers of thought, learn- 
 ing or eloquence sold to Satan to soften down 
 the hideousness of vice, or to argue God out of 
 existence. His most vigorous intellectual efforts 
 were made when his moral indignation was 
 stirred by men who challenged the existence of 
 God, the truths of revealed religion, or the 
 claims of virtuous living. With clearness of 
 reasoning, with effectiveness of resources, and in 
 the manliness of free del)atc, he was a champion 
 of truth and of righteousness. 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 289 
 
 "He was loyal to truth. The pressing and ever 
 present question of our brother was, What is 
 truth? This inquiry was never in the spirit of 
 Pilate's skepticism, but in a reverent spirit, that 
 believes in its reality and its value. The thought- 
 ful lines on his face read thus: What is truth? 
 His firm tread indicated that he felt beneath him 
 the solid rock of truth. Having deliberately and 
 conscientiously sought the truth, he never shrunk 
 from its consequences. He spoke it fearlessly, 
 unconcerned about its reproach. He did not 
 need to be backed by a crowd, and the fewer 
 were the approving voices the more distinct and 
 ringing was his own." 
 
 It is to be regretted that more of his contribu- 
 tion to the Christian thought of his time has not 
 been preserved. A volume of his great addresses 
 in defense of Christianity would be an invaluable 
 contribution to the apologetic literature of the 
 nineteenth century. But so intensely active was 
 his life in publicly combating error, that he had 
 little time for the quieter service with pen. The 
 few essays, contrilnxtcd to current literature, re- 
 veal the same bold independence of thought and 
 clearness of vision that characterized his mes- 
 sage from pulpit and rostrum, and the same loy- 
 alty to the Faith "once for all" delivered to 
 saints. For example, in a valuable contribution 
 on the "Drift of Modern Thought," he wrote: 
 
 "Look at the system founded bv Christ. The 
 19 
 
290 
 
 MEN OF YESTERDAY 
 
 filial attempt to improve on that resulted in an 
 apostasy from it, and filled the world with con- 
 tending factions about creeds. Late attempts to 
 lil)eralize it have tilled the world with silly prat- 
 ing or downright blasphemy; while the Christ, 
 seen through the system which in fact he found- 
 ed, stands in glorious majesty, without a rival 
 and without a peer." 
 
 But while the thoughts have largely perished 
 with the thinker, there is an abiding element in 
 Mr. Bui'gess' service to which not only his own 
 people, but a much larger religious circle are in- 
 debted. If he did not silence infidelity, he at 
 least changed its whole method of attack, and 
 drove it from its vantage ground in debate. 
 Where is now to be found the enemy of the 
 Christian faith, like Owen and Underwood, de- 
 fying its representatives to a public defense of 
 the ground of belief? Since the day when Mr. 
 Underwood retired from the field before the 
 keen logic of O. A. Burgess, no skeptic has been 
 willing to subject his sophistries to the search- 
 light of public investigation in debate. 
 
 In a narrower, but scarcely less important 
 field, the service rendered by Mr. Burgess to his 
 brotherhood is still bearing fruit. At a critical 
 period in the history of the Disciples, he stood 
 beside Isaac Errett, B. W. Johnson, and other 
 champions of Christian progress, and, by his 
 fidelity to noble ideals, helped to save the church 
 
OTIS A. BURGESS 
 
 291 
 
 from the niirrow legalism that threatened to 
 undo the work so well begun by Alexander 
 Campbell end his early co-laborers. 
 
 As the cause for which they contended grows 
 in importance, we believe the names of Walter 
 Scott, Barton W. Stone, John Smith, Isaac 
 Errett, Barton W. Johnson, Otis A. Burgess, 
 and that noble band of worthies who with them 
 have made possible the days of enlargement now 
 upon us, will shine with increased splendor. 
 
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