Library of
Emory University
THE
real Iran TOftI (likmittett;
OB,
ITS FALSE SPOKES EXTRACTED,
AN EXHIBITION OF ELDER GRAVES, ITS BUILDER.
IN A SERIES OP CHAPTERS.
BT
WILLIAM 0. BROWNLOW,
editor of brownlow's knoxvillr whjg.
" To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is
because there is no light in them."—isaiah viii. 20.
" For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not
be known."—christ.
NASHVILLE, TENN.:
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR.
1856.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
"WILLIAM G. BROWNLOW,
In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
gtbuatiflii.
TO
Every honest and impartial reader,
■who loves Truth and despises Falsehood,
whether perpetrated by a Priest or a Levite,
for the sake of Fame, or money - making:
To every Protestant Christian, who, to whatever
sect or denomination he may be attached, is unwilling
to see a sister Church pulled down by a collection of tales,
fabrications, and blackguard insinuations, which a decent mdn
should be ashamed to listen to, and utterly too disgraceful for a
Minister of the Gospel to repeat and publish, this work is confidently
DEDICATED BY ITS AUTHOR:
Who here, most respectfully, as a Local Preacher of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, apologizes to the Christian public
for the seeming severity of this work, in some parts, on
the ground that he has performed the painful task
of refuting a series of the most scurrilous
falsehoods, and a collection of the lowest
abuse of the age I
(iii)
CONTENTS.
Dedication iii
Preface xi
CHAPTER I.
Graves seeking notoriety—Desires a controversy "with Dr. M'Ferrin—
Has the impudence to address Forty Epistles to Bishop Soule—Edits
the Tennessee Baptist—The nature and character of the man to be
fully disclosed in the sequel 19
CHAPTER II.
Elder Graves misrepresents Mr. Wesley's views — These slanders
endorsed by the North Carolina Publishing Society—Mr. Wesley's
difficulties in Savannah—Indicted by a jury for repelling a lady
from the holy communion—Twelve of the jurors defend him—His
return to England—Some beautiful incidents in the life of Elder
Graves! 27
CHAPTER III.
Mr. Wesley's early training—Character of his mother—His ordina¬
tions—His intercourse with the Moravians—Preaches in the open
fields with great power and effect—The organization of the first
Conference—Introduction of Methodism into America—Preachers
sent over to America—First Conference held in Philadelphia—Ap-
(T)
ri
CONTENTS.
peal to the "North Carolina Publishing Society of the Baptist
Church"—Fruits of Methodism—Statistics—Comparative strength
of Methodists and Baptists in Georgia—Closing scenes of Mr. Weft-
ley's life—His triumphant death—Inscription on his tomb—De¬
scription of his person
CHAPTER IV.
Opposition to Methodism—Methodism " an accident, and of human
invention"—Methodism not the work of design, but of Providence
—Mr. Wesley the author of Episcopacy—Ordination of Dr. Coke—
Deacons, elders, and bishops, considered as orders in the ministry
—Testimony of Clarke, Watson, Emory, Stillingfleet, and Dr. Miller,
in reference to Episcopacy—The Baptist the only Church of Christ
on earth I 71
CHAPTER V.
Coke and Asbury not qualified to found a Church of Christ—Holliman
and Williams were!—Baptists in a regular line of succession from
John the Baptist—The Church in Mesopotamia—Benedict's History
of the Baptists—Holliman baptizing Williams—Peculiarities of
Roger Williams—Baptist members all Christians—Rare specimens
of Baptist conversions! 90
CHAPTER YI.
Elder Graves copies largely from F. A. Ross, of the Presbyterian
Church—An address delivered in Virginia, a reply to Ross—Corre¬
spondence between Ross and the author of this work—Ross opposes
the Methodist doctrine of the Direct Witness—Distinguished Pres¬
byterians advocate it—Ross charges Methodists with being Tories
—Himself proven to be a free negro, and the son of an old Scotch
Tory of the Revolution—The Methodist common masses destitute
of moral honesty and integrity of character—Methodists fanatical
—Presbyterians more so, as shown by the conduct of three of the
editors of the Calvinistic Magazine—Witchcraft and conjurors—
The congregation complimenting the address—Reply by the au¬
thor,..., 101
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
State of human society calls for controversy—The Methodist creed
not Calvinistic, as falsely alleged by Graves—Methodist Articles of
Religion—What Calvinism is, and with whom it originated—Ameri¬
can Baptists are generally Calvinistic—Testimony of Elder Howell
—The Philadelphia Baptist Confession of Faith—Thomas Jefferson
and the Five Points of Calvinism—Testimony of Buck and Watson
to the effect that Baptists are Calvinists—Further proof from the
"Baptist Watchman"—Ranting about Baptism—Abusive spirit of
Calvinism—A sound system of theology offered to the Baptists! 163
CHAPTER VIII.
Close Communion considered—Baptists more unscripturally close than
others—Derivation of the term Sacrament—Proselyting practice of
Baptists—Robert Hall, a distinguished Baptist preacher, opposed
to Close Communion—A case of outrageous bigotry and Close Com¬
munion—Elders Graves, Buck, and Howell, for Close Communion—
Baptism essential to salvation, both with Baptists and Roman Ca¬
tholics—Close Communion leads to treason against God—Christ's
kingdom eternal—John's kingdom temporary—Terms of Methodist
communion reasonable and scriptural—They exclude no orthodox
Christians in good standing in their own Churches 176
CHAPTER IX.
False assertions by Elder Graves—Nature and use of Baptism—The
Abrahamic covenant considered—Baptism in lieu of circumcision—
The rights of infants secured in both cases—Scriptural evidence of
the soundness of these positions—Baptism the door into the Church
—Baptists enter the Church backwards!—Dunkers practice trine
immersion, but go it face foremost!—Methodists, Presbyterians,
Episcopalians, and others, enter the Church of God faces foremost,
conscious of rectitude of intention, and of being engaged in acts
they are not ashamed of! 188
viii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
Elder Graves against the Methodist views of Baptism—John's baptism
considered, both as to its nature and design, its origin and mode-
John's was not the Christian baptism—He did not practice immer¬
sion—Christ's baptism considered—The design that of complying
with the requirements of the law of Moses—The mode not that ot
immersion—Indecent exhibition of females when immersed!... 20-4
CHAPTER XI.
The Sacraments of Baptism and the Supper not duly administered by
Methodists—The Methodist not a Christian or Gospel Church—
Ought not so to be recognized by Baptists—Methodists baptize
infants and unbelievers—Two dreams by two preachers—Seekers
and infants entitled to baptism, as shown from Scripture and
reason 216
CHAPTER XII.
dlder Graves's position, no baptism without going into the water—
Criticism on the word baptizo—Greek particles considered—Figura¬
tive language considered—The scriptural argument for immersion—
The river Jordan a bold and dashing stream—Testimony of Stevens
and Brown—Immersion utterly impracticable in such a stream! 224
CHAPTER XIII.
No serving of God without immersion, according to Elder Graves—
None but immersed believers can constitute a Church—Eight scrip¬
tural examples of Christian baptism—Inhabitants of the Polar
regions of the earth excluded from the service of God, if immersion
be the true and only mode of baptism—Indecent personal exhibi¬
tion, growing out of immersion—Summary of the whole 233
CHAPTER XIY.
Elder Graves perpetrates twenty-five falsehoods in on© chapter of
twelve pages, being over two lies to a page—Espouses the cause
CONTENTS.
of local preachers, at the expense of the travelling ministry —
"Plays off the demagogue, and misrepresents the laws of the Method¬
ist Church—Proves himself unworthy of the confidence of honest
men of all denominations! 243
CHAPTER XV.
Three specimens of deliberate lying—A vulgar, false, and slanderous
caricature of a Methodist revival—The challenge by the North
Carolina Publishing Society of the Baptist Church—Replies of
Doctors Lee and Deems—Graves publicly caned for slander—The
Baptist "Western Recorder" against Graves, alluding to his Church
troubles in Nashville—His abuse at Bowling-Green—Damages ob¬
tained against Graves in Tennessee, for libel, to the extent of
$7,500—Mortgages all his property away, under peculiar circum¬
stances! 254
CHAPTER XVI.
Graves's reckless slander of Rev. F. A. Owen—Falsehood in reference
to a debate with Chapman—Cornered in both cases and made to
square out—" Christian Magazine" vs. Graves—The Baptist "West¬
ern Recorder" vs. Graves—A Correspondent of the "South-western
Baptist" vs. Graves—" New Orleans Weekly Baptist Chronicle"
vs. Graves—Professor Duncan, pastor of the New Orleans Bap¬
tist Church, vs. Graves—"Knoxville Baptist Watchman" vs. Graves
—Scriptural advice to Graves and his understrikers! 269
CHAPTER XVII.
Methodism "Republicanism Backwards"—Graves's pictorial repre¬
sentations of the oppressions of Methodism—Methodism "death to
all the institutions for which Washington fought and freemen died"
—Washington taught the contrary in his letter to Bishops Asbury
and Coke—The Baptist Churches pure democracies—Robert Hall
thought otherwise—Hall's opinion of Wesley—Wesley's Address to
the American Methodists—Strength of religious parties in this
country—Churches dividing upon the slavery question—Elder
Graves a Northern man, and strongly suspected of Abolitionism! 278
1*
X
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Graves for and against Rnow-Nothingism—A two-faced and insincere
man—The "State Line Baptist Association" endorsing Graves's
paper and book—Criticisms upon that endorsement, and the char¬
acters of the members of the Association—Their endorsement of
Orchard's History of Foreign Baptists—New Version Baptists—
Their fraudulent demagogueism, and ulterior objects! 287
CHAPTER XIX.
The consideration of certain miscellaneous items bearing upon the
merits of this controversy—The "Biblical Recorder" charges that
Methodism is a human invention—Defends Graves against Method •
ist slanders—Methodists shrink from investigation—Speech of Rev.
Dr. Slambangus in Raleigh—Powell's Valley Association—The
renegade Jewett, of Ohio—North Carolina Baptists vs. Missionary,
Bible, Tract, Sunday-school, and Temperance Societies—Methodists
falsely accused of rebaptizing—Absurd position of Close Com¬
munion Baptists—Guilty of treason against God! 297
CHAPTER XX.
Elder Graves and slavery—Separation of the Methodist Church on
account of slavery — Slaveholders admitted into the apostolic
Churches—Primitive Christians held slaves—Proof from the Scrip¬
tures that slavery existed in the earliest days of the Christian
Church—Views of Drs. Neander and Clarke—According to the
Scriptures, slavery will exist to the end of time—Concluding
remarks... 312
To the Methodists .
322
The aatfiior of this work does not feel it incumbent upon him
tc offer an apology for writing this defence of the personal in¬
tegrity and respectability of Methodist preachers, and of the
polity and doctrines of Methodism. He has prepared this work
for publication because he believed it called for, as a set-off to
the "star papers" of unmitigated abuse and calumny, osten¬
tatiously paraded in a book of five hundred and seventy pages,
by the notorious J. B. Graves, editor of the " Tennessee Baptist,"
at Nashville, and which are now receiving the praises of the
irreligious, vindictive, and more indiscreet partisans of that re¬
spectable and numerous denomination of Christians. There are
few men in this country who, in a small way, have gained so
much notoriety, or prostituted a larger stock of ordinary talents
to baser purposes, than this man Graves! While eagerly seeking
for notoriety, and not knowing how to obtain it, on account
of the unwillingness of various dignified Christian ministers
to come in contact with him—not dreading his talents, but
his irreligious spirit, his proneness to prevaricate, his low and
scurrilous abuse, and the fact of his general course of con¬
duct not meeting with the approval of the more intelligent and
highminded members of his own denomination—his last effort,
perhaps the culminating point of Ms glory, has been to throw all
(xi)
xii
PREFACE.
the slang of his ill-spent life together in one volume, and adorn
its vulgar pages with pictures, and by its novelty make some
money 1
At the close of the fifth volume of bound books, as original,
upon subjects of controversy, which the author of this work has
put forth from time to time, immersed in the cares, anxieties,
and arduous duties of the editorial profession, as he is, he had
hoped that no event in the exciting religious controversies of the
day would impose on him the task of furnishing the world with
a sixth volume. Besides, wanting the time for much careful read¬
ing and patient investigation, he has felt the more reluctant to
reply to this series of blackguard assaults on Methodism. Mean¬
time, his attention has been called to the unscrupulous character
of Graves's " Iron Wheel," and of the wide circulation given it in
the South and South-west, and of the dangerous tendency of its
slanders among the really uninformed; and solicitations have
come from almost every quarter requesting him to reply.
Prompted by these considerations, the work commenced. The
design was to meet and refute the most glaring and absurd of
these slanders—to exhibit to the world who this man Graves
was—to present, without entering largely into the argument, the
number of palpable falsehoods this " accuser of the brethren"
had -perpetrated in one single chapter. It was thought that a
few brief chapters, setting forth the most palpable slanders,
would accomplish this purpose; but as the writer proceeded, the
magnitude of the work increased. He found, from a number of
respectable periodicals which came into his hands as the work
progressed—both Methodist and Baptist journals—that Graves
had laid himself liable to exposures on all hands, and had actu¬
ally been held up in different States as a general disturber of the
religious peace, guilty of numerous misrepresentations. Hence,
he has been led, not only to quote a number of authors, but also
PREFACE.
to multiply quotations from the same authors and editors. This
imposed a necessity of going more extensively into an expos6 of
this arrogant and mischievous m^i than was at first designed.
Thus the chapters will be found to be numerous, and some of
them are quite long.
The " Iron Wheel" by Graves does not possess even the merit
of originality, being a re-hash of, and an enlargement upon, a
similar work, by Frederick Augustus Ross, D.D., a more talented
man than Graves, but a man of color, and a broken-down minister
of the New School Presbyterian Church, who, having retreated
from the field of his operations in East Tennessee, has taken up
quarters in Huntsville, Alabama. This circumstance, in addi¬
tion to the fact that Graves has quoted largely from Ross, and
filched from him in other instances without the proper credit—
not observing the old adage, that there should be " honor among
thieves"—has led the author of this work to occupy several pages
in detailing the particulars and also the points in the Ross con¬
troversy—a controversy in which he acted rather a conspicuous
part.
While the writer cannot but hope that the work will be of ser¬
vice to the cause of Truth, or Methodism, or Christianity, he
entertains no doubt that, in the press of business, some points
have not been fully elaborated, and that it contains imperfections;
but he hopes that the importance of the issues will divert atten¬
tion from whatever defects may appear. The writer does not
think an apology is necessary for his entering the arena of re¬
ligious controversy—not at all! He is not one of those whose
superabundant charity would induce him to stand quietly by
while a clerical gladiator, wholly unscrupulous, reviles the living
and the dead, rather than buckle on the harness in their defence;
nor is he one of those who profess an exemption from sectarian-
ism, which they fail to exemplify. He 'believes that had it not
xiv
PREFACE.
been for controversy, Romish priests would now be feeding us all
with Latin masses and with their wafer gods !
Not the least weighty, however, among the several reasons
which induced the writer to undertake this work, were the
numerous and urgent solicitations from ministers and laymen of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, known to the writer as
men of mature judgments, and of influence and character. He,
therefore, concludes this preface with a few only of the many
calls made upon him in 1855 to furnish such a production. A
gentleman writing from Danville, Kentucky, thus concludes his
letter:—
The friends of Methodism in this part of Kentucky, or at least a
portion of them, are anxious that you should review the "Iron Wheel"
by J. R. Graves, a man who has figured in this State in years gone
by, but under circumstances by no means creditable to him. His
vile and slanderous work is being extensively circulated, and needs
just such a reply as we believe you are capable of producing. Either
take him up in your widely - circulated paper, or in book form—the
latter, I should say. In the first place, demonstrate, and this will
not be hard to do, that whatever of talents Mr. Graves may possess,
God never intended he should specially and solemnly devote them to
the interests of the Church of Christ, else he would have accompanied
them with a moderate revelation of grace! You should next demon¬
strate that he has forgotten the age and country in which he lives by
three hundred years, or he would feel comfortable while others think
for themselves. Men in this age do not expect to share the fate of
Servetus, though they should differ from Mr. Graves. I will not say
what men ought to expect when they are so fortunate as not to differ
with him!
A gentleman writing on other business from Somerville, Tenn.,
thus concludes:—
Brownlow, can't you find time to overhaul the "Iron Wheel" of the
notorious Graves? I have heard the wish expressed here and at
Memphis that you would take him in hand and discuss his merits,
PREFACE.
XV
cither in pamphlet form or through the columns of your excellent
paper. I have long believed him to be a very bad man, and his book
displays the very -worst features of his character. The intelligent
and pious portion of the Baptist Church are truly sick of the man,
and put up no defence of him or his writings. To be brief, and at
the same time candid, you must take him in hand, though I am aware
that you have but little leisure.
A gentleman of intelligence and great weight of character thus
introduces a letter from Wilmington, N. C.:—
Mr. Brownlow :—Though I have no personal acquaintance with
you, I know you well, and have known you for years, agreeing with
you both in religious and political belief. I write you now, hurriedly,
in reference to a book being circulated here, known as the "Iron
Wheel," and as the production of a certain Mr. Graves of your State.
It contains an immense amount of false and slanderous matter con¬
cerning the ministry, the polity and doctrines of the Methodist Epis¬
copal Church. With the understanding we have as to the unreliable
character of the author, we should feel inclined to let it pass; but
the "Publishing Society of the Baptist Church" in North Carolina
have adopted the work, and are extensively circulating it, thereby
making its lies and calumnies their own. For their sakes, we desire it
answered; and you are the man for the work. Enough of such a
work as you could produce can be sold in this State alone to defray
the expenses of publishing a large edition. What say you ? Graves's
work is nothing more nor less than an enlargement upon the slanders
and abuse of F. A. Ross, whom you put to silence, and, as we under¬
stand here, have actually driven out of your State.
One in whose judgment the author of this work places great
reliance thus addresses him from Buckingham Co., Virginia
My dear Sir:—You doubtless receive in exchange the "Richmond
Christian Advocate," and if so, you have perused the articles written
by our old and distinguished friend, Rev. Peter Doub, in reply to
some of the thousand and one unblushing falsehoods contained in the
" Iron Wheel" of J. R. Graves, of Nashville. But for the fact of its
official adoption by the "Publishing Society of the Baptist Church^
xvi
PREFACE.
in North Carolina, its very gross slanders and vulgar abuse, both of
the living and the dead, entitle it to no more notice at the hands of
the leading men of our Church than a comic almanac, that may havo
gone out of date, with the death of Davy Crockett! As, however, this
really filthy book is recognized as a standard work on Methodism, by
the pious and peace-promoting "Publishing Society of the Baptist
Church" in the old North State, it is due to them that they should see
how many revolting falsehoods they have endorsed, and what sort of
a man they have selected to edit religious works for them! You must,
then, undertake a defence of Methodism, and an exposure of Graves
and his endorsers. It is agreed on all hands that you are the man for
this "work of faith and labor of love"—a castigation these accusers
of the brethren have so richly merited.
Among tlie several letters received from different States, none
has had more influence in determining the author to prepare this
work than one from Albany in Georgia, from which an extract
only is given:—
Reverend Sir:—Your friends and the friends of Methodism in
Georgia very generally desire you to show up Graves and his "Iron
Wheel," either through your journal or in a separate publication.
J. L. Baker, the pastor of the Baptist church here, is publishing
eulogies of this miserable volume of lies through the " Tennessee
Baptist," and representing to Graves that his book "has given to
Methodism a terrible shock in these parts." I quote from memory.
Others are saying that the "'Wheel" is unanswerable, and that the
Methodist ministers are not able to answer it; and, if tlTey are, that
they are afraid to undertake Graves! I tell all such that you will yet
undertake the work, and that when you do, they will see their man
Graves in quite a different light. A book written in your best and
severest style—for he deserves no child's play—will sell rapidly and
extensively in Georgia. Indeed, an entire edition can bo sold in
Georgia! Such a work by you, thrown into this market by next
spring, would destroy the religious comforts of that class of Baptists
who delight in retailing the slanders of such men as Graves. We look
anxiously for the work!
The author could multiply similar extracts from letters re*
PREFACE. XVli
ceived from gentlemen in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and
even Texas, to an almost indefinite extent; but the foregoing will
be deemed amply sufficient. He repeats, that in presenting this
work to his fellow-countrymen of the South and South-west, he
does it not with a cold indifference, but with his most ardent
wishes for their enlightenment and prosperity, and for the con¬
tinued increase of the piety, learning, and the social, political,
moral and religious elevation of the several Protestant denomina¬
tions of Christians in our country.
&t)e &ml)crr.
Rnoxville, March, 1856.
THE
" GREAT IRON WHEEL" EXAMINER.
CHAPTER I.
Graves seeking notoriety—Desires a controversy with Dr. M'Ferrin—
Has the impudence to address Forty Epistles to Bishop Soule—Edits
the Tennessee Baptist—The nature and character of the man to he
fully disclosed in the sequel.
Who has not heard the name, and read more or less about
the discussions, abuse, and bigoted intolerance of the notorious
and self-conceited J. R. Graves, editor of the "Tennessee
Baptist \" Entering upon the career of his public life some
twelve or fifteen years ago, figuring now in Kentucky and then
in Tennessee, at a time of religious excitement and of deep
interest among partisans—taking an active part in and most
generally conducting the abusive and more ungentlemanly
parts of the controversies which from time to time have
agitated the Churches—possessing talents of only an ordinary
grade, and these overrated in consequence of his bold, daring,
insolent, and really irreligious temperament and demeanor—
having a heart, as I honestly believe, unrenewed by grace,
and deeply imbued with the hatred, malice, and ambition of
a man seeking to rally to his standard a host of sectarian bigots
—a nature inclining him to battle and skirmish among sects for
the sake of glory—this man Graves, I say, has occupied an
(19)
20 the great iron wheel examined.
unenviable position in society, and made a conspicuous figure
among a class of men wbo, like himself, have fomented brawls
wherever they have figured; and likewise done much toward
increasing the hatred and zeal of ignorant Baptists and bad
men toward Methodism, and impeding the progress of the
pure gospel of Jesus Christ.
J. R.. Graves edits the " Tennessee Baptist" at Nashville, a
paper published at Nashville, having quite a large circulation,
and being now in the twelfth year of its existence. His paper
is a low, dirty, scurrilous sheet, and is so regarded by many
of the intelligent Baptists of the country, who refuse to
patronize it. And why? Because, as they say, it is con¬
ducted by a man who cannot elevate himself above the level
of a common blackguard—a man who habitually indulges in
language toward other Christian denominations which would
hardly be tolerated within the precincts of Billingsgate, or
the lowest fish-market in London ! No epithet is too low, too
degrading, or disgraceful, to be applied to the bishops, minis¬
ters, and usages of the Methodist Church. The contempora¬
ries of the " Baptist" usually shun coming into contact with
it as they would avoid a night-cart, or other vehicle of filth;
and decent men of the Baptist persuasion have been known
to throw the slanderous sheet from their doors with shovel or
tongs, disdaining to touch it with their hands. As some fish
are said to thrive only in muddy water, so the paper of which
I am speaking would not exist one year out of the atmosphere
of slang and vituperation. It administers to the very worst
appetites of mankind; and whether speaking of the most
eminent bishop or minister, the purest of the sainted dead,
the venerable Founder of Methodism, or the excellent insti¬
tutions of said Church, it pursues the same strain of vulgar
and disgusting abuse. It is enough for a man, woman, or
child to have been baptized by a Methodist minister, or by
one received into their Church, to insure the ill-will and
the great iron wheel examined. 21
contemptuous denunciations of the editor of that vehicle of
falsehood and defamation; whilst, on the other hand, he can
see no demerit in one who has been immersed by a Baptist
preacher, and he can take into his fellowship a prostitute,
and hug to his bosom a burglar, if they have been baptized
by immersion! With him, the Baptist Church is the only
kingdom of God on earth, and to find fault with any of its
doctrines, ordinances, or abusive preachers, is to sin against
the Holy Ghost! With him, no virtue, no honor, no truth,
exists anywhere but in the breasts of partisans of his own
"faith and order," and novice or immorality is found but
with the members of other Churches. He would surrender
his religion (if he ever had any!) and deny his God, if it
would bring him in money, or build him up a faction of which
he could remain the acknowledged head. Whilst such men
continue in the control of a public newspaper, passing as a
Church organ, ministers and members of other Churches can
have no justice at their hands, and the courtesies of life and
the principles of honor will continue to be violated. Believ¬
ing this, the more intelligent and pious portion of the Baptist
membership in Nashville seriously contemplate setting on foot
a decent religious paper. From this or some other cause, the
intelligent and high-toned portion of the Baptists of East
Tennessee have started, at Knoxville, the "Baptist Watch¬
man," which is being edited by the Bey. Mr. Hillsman;
while other leading Baptist journals, in different States, as I
shall hereafter show, openly denounce this man Graves as the
false accuser of his brethren, and hold up his paper as a
malignant vehicle through which its editor sends out his
illogical conclusions, loosely prepared misstatements, elabo¬
rated perversions, and atrocious falsehoods. Several leading
Baptist journals have come out and avowed that for Graves
they have no sympathy, and no feelings but those of scorn
and contempt!
22 the great iron wheel examined.
With a view to gain as much notoriety as possible, the
noted Graves has challenged first one minister and then
another, of different denominations, to meet him in public
discussions touching the mode and subjects of Christian
Baptism, and the several forms of Church government under
which they are associated; and in these squabbles, generally,
he has violated the courtesies of debate, zigzagged through a
mass of contradictions and inconsistencies: in his wayward¬
ness and vanity, he has grown from bad to worse, fomenting
neighborhood brawls wherever he has met a competitor, until
he has become a sort of Hindoo leader of the warlike wing
of his Church. In almost every public discussion he ever
had, he came off second best, though, in his account of his
several engagements, he was victorious, storming the " Sebas-
topol" of the enemy, and placing hors du combat all the
staff officers and superior officers who dared to lead their
troops to the attack! He has, in the course of his career,
avoided being driven back at the point of the bayonet, on
more occasions than one, by deserting his "advanced trenches,"
and by " scaling the parapet and penetrating into the interior
of the redoubt." Indeed, his bump of caution has led him
to dodge sundry " engagements," on the ground that
" He that fights and runs away
Will live to fight another day."
From the time he first came to Nashville, and undertook the
editorial management of his " Tennessee Baptist," until now,
he has sought, by coaxing, by attacks, and by unblushing false¬
hoods, to draw Dr. John B. M'Ferrin, the able, gentlemanly,
truly Christian editor of the "Advocate," one of the official
organs of the Methodist Church, South, into a controversy
with him. Dr. M'Ferrin has never gone through the for¬
malities of an introduction to the man—never, I believe, even
spoken to him. It is, however, very evident that the cour-
the great iron wheel examined.
23
teous editor of the "Advocate" has experienced no incon¬
siderable solicitude in his endeavors to avoid a personal
controversy with such a man. Time after time he passed by
the malignant attacks of Graves with the most extraordinary
forbearance, considering the skill and acknowledged ability
of the Doctor to overturn the illogical conclusions of Graves,
his bungling falsehoods, elaborated perversions of truth, and
the smallness of his calibre. Not observing the tone of
moderation and truth in the conduct of his paper, the editor
of the "Advocate" does not, I presume, exchange with him, or
read his paper. The policy which has been followed by the
conductor of the organ of the General Conference, at Nash¬
ville, of treating such assaults with the contempt they deserve,
and leaving the' shafts of malice to rebound upon the assailant,
I feel confident has been the proper course, and, I am now
convinced, has met with the approval of the Church, but
especially with the Methodist community in and around Nash¬
ville, who know Graves!
The whole tenor of Graves's course, editorially, has been
that of a vagabond politician who expected to live only by
excitement—making ruffian-like attacks upon private charac¬
ter, committing all manner of excesses, standing preeminent
in selecting themes for lying, and the lowest and most scurri¬
lous abuse of Methodist preachers. He has made repeated
attacks upon me, through his paper, with a view to engage me
in a controversy upon points of doctrine and Church polity.
I was engaged in defence of one of the political parties of the
country, and in promoting the internal improvement schemes
of our State, and did not choose to occupy my columns in a
controversy of this kind with a humiliating spectacle of vice
and depravity literally crawling in the dust of contention!
This unwillingness of mine to bandy epithets with an inflated
gasometer, whose brain I believed to be a mass of living, creep¬
ing, crawling, writhing, twisting, turning, loathsome vermin, he
24
the great iron wheel examined.
politely construed into a want of courage on my part to
encounter the caitiff of the " Tennessee Baptist." I confess
to a want of moral courage to meet one who eats carrion like
the buzzard, and then vomits the mass of corruption upon
decent human beings!
There is a point, however, at which even such assaults
become harmful, and deserve rebuke. The appropriate
quarter from which such rebuke should emanate would seem
to be a member of the Church this bad man has sought
to vilify, and a member of the editorial fraternity. Under
this conviction, I have taken him in hand j and by the time
I am through with the task, I flatter myself that I will be
able to satisfy the candid and impartial of every sect, that
the aforesaid editor of the " Tennessee Baptist," and author
of the " Great Iron Wheel," has no reverence whatever for
truth, and that his warped and biased soul has been steeped
in infamous falsehoods and vile calumnies during the greater
part of his inglorious career!
Through the columns of the " Tennessee Baptist" this man
addressed a series of FOBTY Letters to "Joshua Soule,
Senior Bishop op the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South j" and, at the earnest solicitations of " thousands who
read many of them" in his paper, he places them before the
world in book form, constituting a volume of 570 pages.
These "star papers," then, any thing but creditable to the
character of a clergyman, have been ostentatiously paraded in
a book, interspersed with pictures ridiculing and misrepre¬
senting every feature of Methodism, which, of course, receive
the praises of such sectarians as envy a moral excellence they
cannot imitate. This last effort, perhaps the culminating
point of his glory, has even met with the sanction of the
"Baptist Publishing Society of North Carolina."
The venerable " Senior Bishop," though residing in the
vicinity of Nashville, it is within my certain knowledge, up
the great irun wheel examined. 26
to this good hour never has perused one of these FORTY
epistles, or any portion of one of them. What a rebuke !
And I put the question, in all candor, to men of reflection,
Ought Bishop Soule to have done otherwise than treat with
the most unmitigated contempt any thing and every thing
coming from the pen of j. r. graves? Bishop Soule entei
into a controversy with a man daily in the practice of dis¬
carding the ordinary restraints of society! Bishop Soule,
the scholar and Christian divine, of dignified ministerial
bearing, and of unblemished personal and ministerial charac¬
ter, the venerable and venerated Superintendent of a great
and popular Church, who has ministered at her altars for
more than half a century, condescend to controvert great
questions with a clerical blackguard, whose grovelling pas¬
sions assume full sway on all occasions, and whose innumera¬
ble moral delinquencies are enveloped in. clouds of moral
prostitution—lost to every truly Christian restraint, degraded
in his taste, immoral in some of his practices, villainous in
his nature, corrupt in his principles, sold to the enemy of
God and man, and displaying, in all his hideous deformity,
how pitiful, how sordid, how little, and how wretched is this
apology for a Christian minister !
Think of a tom-tit challenging to mortal combat a hawk!—
of a monkey encountering an elephant!—or of a miserable owl
threatening to demolish the soaring eagle, the "proud Bird
of Liberty," who, soaring above the mountains and leaving
the clouds beneath her shadow, and basking still higher in the
full blaze of the sun, and, while thus employed, scarcely
remembers the dust she shook from her feet! Think of an
astronomer, when engaged looking at the moon and stars,
almost forgetting this little globe: his great mind nearly
absorbed, and his imagination carrying him beyond those
bright regions to the great Author of the universe, whose
glory fills the heavens, and whose eyes see all things, from
2
26 the great iron wheel examined.
the tallest seraph to the least reptile or insect in his vast
dominions—think of such a one condescending to controvert
astronomical truths with an uneducated mill-boy ! Think of
these contrasts, gentle reader, and then with me turn your
eyes to one still more striking—that of Bishop Soule contro¬
verting points of religious faith and practice with J. R. Graves!
After this introductory chapter, I shall proceed to notice
the contents of the "Iron Wheel j" and in th^ conclusion of
the work, I will deal upon my adversary blows undoubtedly
warranted by his assaults, and clearly within the range
justified by strict defence. The Carthaginian general was
of opinion that it was a legitimate defence of Carthage to
carry the war into the territories and to the gates of Borne;
and had he been duly sustained, Borne would have been razed
instead of Carthage, and from the pens of Carthaginian his¬
torians, Romana fides might have been handed down for the
execration of posterity, in the place of Punica fides. I saj
to this war-horse, in the language of Hamlet:
Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damned,
Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell,
Be thy intents wicked, or charitable,
Thou com'st in such a questionable shape,
That I will speak to thee.
Take J. R. Graves in his length and breadth, in his height
and depth, in his convexity and concavity, in his manners and
in his propensities, and he is a very little man ; but in that
littleness there is combined all that is offensive and disagree¬
able among Christian gentlemen. For several years past, in
portions of several States, with an unearthly din, this man
has been barking, neighing, bleating, braying, mewing, puff¬
ing, swaggering, strutting; and in every situation, an offen¬
sive smell, to gentlemen of refined tastes and Christian habits,
has gone out from him! And believing the homely old
adage, that " he who lies down with dogs must rise up with
fleas/' he has been permitted to pass unwhipped by justice.
the great iron wheel examined.
27
CHAPTER II.
Elder Graves misrepresents Mr. Wesley's views — These slanders
endorsed by the North Carolina Publishing Society—Mr. Wesley's
difficulties in Savannah—Indicted by a jury for repelling a lady
from the holy communion—Twelve of the jurors defend him—His
return to England—Some beautiful incidents in the life of Elder
Graves!
On page 102 of the "Wheel," under the caption of
"Methodism in G-eorgia in 1736," Elder Graves, as he is
called by the "North Carolina Publishing Society of the
Baptist Church," attacks, in a coarse, vulgar, and ungentle-
manly manner, the private and ministerial character of John
Wesley; and after making him out a very bad man, says
that he can bear testimony that his people in America are
like him—thus reflecting upon the personal integrity and
Christian character of all who identify themselves with the
Church which, under God, was founded by this great and
good man ! As this clerical calumniator makes war upon the
now sainted founder of Methodism, charging him to have
been a corrupt man, and arguing therefrom a want of virtue
and integrity on the part of his numerous followers in Europe
and America, I have deemed it proper to consider this issue
in the early part of this work—not considering his numerous
falsehoods in the consecutive order in which they appear.
If I shall succeed in satisfying the candid and impartial
reader that John Wesley was a great and good man, whose
labors were Owned and blessed of God in a preeminent
28
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
degree, and that lie was not that vile hypocrite and adulterous
sinner he is represented to have been by this man Graves, why
then his charges against the members of the Methodist Church
generally, fall harmless at their feet!
The sentences from Mr. Wesley's Journal, as quoted by
Elder Graves, are not exactly nonsensical; but wicked injustice
is done to a deceased author, by interpolations and by omis¬
sions. This fact alone presents, though imperfectly, the
disingenuousness of the quotations, and the character of the
man. He knew that not'one in ten of his readers would ever
see Mr. Wesley's Journal, and that not one-third of his
readers would likely ever see any reply that might come from
the pen of a Methodist preacher. His villainy, of which I
complain, and for which he deserves to be driven from decent
society, consists in separating the sentences he frequently
quotes, from that portion of the chain of thought and argu¬
ment with which they were connected; in other words, in
garbling them—an operation which, according to lexicogra¬
phers, is " to pick out what may suit a purpose." This ope¬
ration renders nearly all his quotations false, and many of
them every way false—false by suppression, false by denial,
and false by misrepresentation. Though not a lawyer, I
nevertheless possess enough of legal knowledge to warrant the
assertion, that it is a principle in municipal law that the
suppression of truth is equivalent to the expression of false¬
hood; or, as the law-books express it, "the former is more
artful knavery." In Palcy's System of Moral and Political
Philosophy, the same sentiment is corroborated in strong and
unmistakable language; and in the Bible, upon which Elder
Graves professes to build his hopes of eternal life, we find
the same idea perfected.
Now, I have seen with regret a card in the "Biblical
Recorder," a partisan paper published at Raleigh, N. C., in
which a Committee, on behalf of the "Baptist Publication
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
29
Society of North Carolina/' acting, as they say, under the
appointment of that Society, and doing what the Society
directed—I say I have seen in this card, or "challenge," a
full endorsement of the flimsy, slanderous, and disingenuous
production on which I am commenting. Nay, this Co'mmittee
commends to public favor the " Iron Wheel," and challenges
Methodist ministers to defend themselves and their Church
against its assaults! This endorsement, I will demonstrate
before I close this volume, is any thing but creditable to the
Christian patriotism and gentlemanly bearing of these pious
lovers of truth, charged with this " work of faith, and labor of
love," by the "Baptist Publication Society of North Carolina."
In this connection, and lest the idea escape my mind, I
will submit two questions only to the members of this Com¬
mittee. Are there not, in the world, false doctrines and
wicked practices enough to employ the time and talents of
their reforming brethren of the "Publishing Society," without
wasting their strength on the "polity and doctrines of
Methodism," even admitting that they may not be all they
could desire ? And can it be a commendable work of Chris¬
tian piety, for such cause, or in retaliation for supposed wrongs,
to endeavor to spread and foment disaffection among those
who at present may be peaceful as neighbors, and satisfied
with their Church relations? If human passion be consulted,
which I think in all likelihood governed the "Publishing
Society," I know the answer. If, on the contrary, we consult
conscience and the Divine word, with an eye to eternity, the
answer will be different.
Now, all this abuse of Mr. Wesley's private and ministerial
character, this misrepresentation of Methodist polity, and this
array of pictures, caricaturing Methodist itinerancy, in which
it3 beauties are concealed, and its blemishes are exaggerated,
—this, I say, may all be very amusing to my gracious brethren
of the Baptist Church. They may laugh in their sleeves at
30 the great iron wheel examined.
the depravity that can suggest such ideas ; the meaning smile
may light up their countenances, and they may even rejoice
with the same assurance with which the untutored savage
exults, while he sings his favorite triumph of death around
the bonfire he has enkindled for his dying captive; but is
there illustrated in it the spirit of Christ Jesus, the charity
"that hopeth all things," or that "thinketh no evil? Is
there displayed in all this the manly, ingenuous feeling of
brotherly love and Christian probity ?
But our champion of the "Wheel" I am endeavoring to
take the spokes out of, commences the chapter under conside¬
ration with this heading, in part:—"Trouble with a lady—
Mr. Wesley a rejected lover—His revenge—Is apprehended,
tried, and condemned—Flees from justice, and leaves Sa¬
vannah by night—Seeks the sea-coast, and sails for England."
Further on in the chapter, he adds, "We can testify that
like pounder, like people;" and continues, "It was so
with their father John, whether in England or Georgia!"
This blackguard allusion is made in reference to the difficulty
with the lady, namely, that she "swore to and signed an affi¬
davit, intimating much more than it asserted"—italicising
just as I have done !
The only remaining quotations I need give from this
chapter, are these two :
Mr. Wesley is tried by a grand jury of forty-four, upon an indict¬
ment of ten specifications, and the jury was charged to beware of
spiritual tyranny, and to oppose the new illegal authority ichich was
usurped over their consciences. Mr. Wesley was naturally tyrannical.
The jury found a true bill against John, the founder of Methodism,
for his conduct towards Mrs. Williamson, and nine other charges.
Poor man, he was surrounded by difficulties—unconverted, unmarried,
a woman prosecuting him for his conduct towards her, far from home,
and his own people thoroughly disgusted with his conduct, and out¬
raged by his arrogance and imperial dictation ! !
What does the great Wesley think of running away from America,
and away from a court trial, for the ill treatment of a woman, and
unwarrantable spiritual dictation, and a public nuisance ? !!
the great iron wheel examined.
81
111 the profusion of vilification heaped upon the venerable
founder of Methodism by Elder Graves, I might be expected
to quote more largely; hut as the extracts I have given set
forth the points to which I will be expected to reply, candid
and sensible men will not expect me to quote more largely
from the vituperation, and most wanton personal attacks, of
this last and filthiest of assailants. True, from first to last,
he embodies most of the slang against Mr. Wesley, of
Southey, Smollet, Nightingale, Lord John Russel, and even
F. A. Ross; and in many instances without giving these, his
" illustrious predecessors," the proper credit.
I must ask the indulgence of the reader, for extending this
chapter to a length I would gladly have avoided. It treats
of the most important event in the life of Mr. Wesley—his
residence of near two years in Georgia, his difficulties while
there, and certain legal proceedings instituted against him—
every particular of which is misrepresented by this man
Graves, and none of which, when properly understood, reflects
the least dishonor upon Mr. Wesley.
I premise further, that I gather all my facts from the Life
of the Rev. John Wesley, by Rev. John Whitehead,
M. D., the author of the discourse delivered at Mr. Wesley's
funeral, by appointment of a Committee, his brother in the
ministry, and a physician who stood by his bedside when he
breathed his last. I have before me the London edition,
printed by Stephen Conchman, MDCCXCIII. When the
Methodist Conference assembled in London, in August, 1792,
after the death of Mr. Wesley, the Committee met and
resolved in favor of Dr. Whitehead executing this work, and
which was not at variance with the following extract from Mr.
Wesley's last will and testament:
"I give all my manuscripts to Thomas Coke, Doctor
Whitehead, and Henry Moore, to be burnt or published,
as they see good." (See Arminian Magazine for January,
32
the great iron wheel examined.
1792, page 29.) I am the more particular in stating that 1
resort to Dr. Whitehead's Life of Wesley, because some of
the friends of Mr. Wesley, and of Methodism, both in Europe
and America, have objected to the work, on the ground that
it gives both the good and the bad, in reference to his life
and labors—if I may he allowed the use of such terms in
reference to such a man.
The settlement of a colony between the rivers Savannah
and Alatamaha, was meditated in England in 1732, for the
accommodation of poor people in Great Britain and Ireland,
and for the further security of Carolina. Humane and wealthy
men suggested a plan of transporting a number of poor
families to this part of America, free of expense. For this
purpose they applied to the king, George II., and obtained
from him letters patent, hearing date June 9th, 1732, for
legally carrying into execution their project. They called the
new province Georgia, in honor of the king, who favored the
scheme. A corporation of 21 persons was constituted by the
name of "The Trustees for establishing the Colony of
Georgia." In November, 1732, 116 settlers embarked for
Georgia, conveyed thither free of expense, and furnished with
every thing requisite for building, and cultivating the soil.
James Oglethorpe, one of the Trustees, and an active pro¬
moter of the enterprise, embarked as the head of these
settlers, and they arrived at Charlesfowm, as Charleston was
then called, early in the next year. It was on the 6th of
February, 1736, Mr. Wesley first set foot on American ground,
on a small uninhabited island over against Tybee, and thence
took a boat for Savannah. He entered on his ministry at
Savannah, Sunday, March 7th, 1736. In December, 1738,
he took leave of America for England, having preached the
gospel at Savannah one year and nine months. He
arrived there, it will be seen, 120 years ago, as a missionary,
and a minister of the Established Church of England. He
the great iron wheel examined.
33
came over on board tbe Simmons, commanded by Mr. Ogle¬
thorpe—all wbicb is set forth in his Journal.
Feeling a deep interest in every event connected with the
history of Mr. Wesley, and being a great admirer of the man,
when in Savannah, several years ago, I visited the wharf, in
the business portion of that city, where he first landed, and
viewed the spot. I have also been in the large livery stable,
on the corner of President and Whitalcer streets, where Mr.
Wesley's chapel stood—where he regularly preached and
administered the sacraments) and the very spot on which he
gave offence to an aristocratic family, by repelling a Mrs.
Williamson from the holy communion, the particulars and
facts of which will hereafter appear. The old Fort Frederica,
five miles below, one of Mr. Wesley's regular preaching-
places, is still standing—the identical house—and is a venera¬
ble specimen of British architecture. Close by, among the
cypress swamps, is Thunderbolt, another of his preaching-
places, to both of which he was accustomed to walk, for
bodily exercise. In that vicinity stands a portion of the
"Whitefield Orphan Home," which, but a few years ago,
was used as a kitchen, and was the property of a Methodist
preacher. When I was last in Savannah, Be v. Mr. Godfrey,
a worthy Methodist minister, presented me with a walking-
stick, made of a portion of the English cherry bedstead on
which Mr. Whitefield slept, and which he brought over from
England!
The descendants of Mr. Wesley's persecutors are still living
in Savannah—the Williamsons and Caustons—clever, intelli¬
gent, and respectable people, connected in part with the
Presbyterian and Methodist Churches. He publicly refused
to administer the sacrament to Mrs. Williamson, a niece of
Mr. Causton, an influential and respectable gentleman, out
of which grew the fierce persecution so basely misrepresented
by Elder Graves. For repelling this lady from the holy
2*
34
the great iron wheel examined.
communion, in his little chapel, a presentment was made to
the Grand Jury, containing ten specifications or counts,
charging him with "breaking the laws of the realm, contrary
to the peace of the sovereign lord, the King, his crown and
dignity." These specifications were—
1. By speaking and writing to Mrs. Williamson, (relative to her
improprieties,) against her husband's consent.
2. By repelling her from the holy communion.
3. By not declaring his adherence to the Church of England.
4. By dividing the morning service on Sunday.
5. By refusing to baptize Mr. Parker's child, otherwise than by
dipping, except the parents would certify it was weak, and not able
to bear it.
G. By repelling Wm. Gouch from the holy communion.
7. By refusing to read the burial service over the body of Nathaniel
Polhill.
8. By calling himself Ordinary of Savannah!
9. By refusing to receive Wm. Agliondy, not a communicant, as a
godfather.
10. By refusing Jacob Mathews for the same reason, etc., etc.
Among tbe enemies of Mr. "Wesley at Savannah, there were
some desperate persons, evidently as ill-minded as Graves is;
and their hatred, like that of Graves, rose to a degree hardly
credible. Every species of defamation likely to prejudice the
people against him was propagated with diligence. The
worst constructions which malignity itself could invent were
put upon his actions, and reported as facts: it even seems
that the giving away his own private income in acts of charity,
was construed into the embezzlement of the Society's
money!
And now, I will let Dr. Whitehead be heard in further
defence of Mr. Wesley, and in reply to the calumnies of Elder
Graves. I quote from page 306 to page 314, inclusive; and
ask all who may have read the quotations from Graves, to
"read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest," the eight pages I
copy.
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
35
Mr. Causton, the chief magistrate of Savannah, seems to have been
of a -warm and rather violent temper: impatient of contradiction,
overbearing; and fickle in his attachments. He had hitherto not only
shown a decent civility towards Mr. Wesley, but even a friendly
regard for him. . This regard seemed increased during a fever he had
in the end of June, in which Mr. Wesley attended him every day. On
the third of July, Mr. Wesley reproved Mrs. Williamson for some
things which he thought wrong in her conduct. The reproof was
resented by the lady, who said she did not expect such usage from him.
This was the beginning of strife, which, as the wise man tells us, "is
as when one letteth out water." The next day Mrs. Causton called,
and apologizing for the behavior of her niece, desired Mr. Wesley to
inform Mrs. Williamson in writing what he had to object against her
conduct. He accordingly wrote to her on the 5th, and here the matter
rested for a few weeks. In the meantime, however, Mrs. Williamson
miscarried, and Mrs. Causton reported that the miscarriage was occa¬
sioned by Mr. Wesley's reproof, and the letter he had sent; but Mrs.
Williamson frankly acknowledged that, her husband having been sick,
it was occasioned by the hurry and anxiety his sickness had produced.
During this time Mr. Causton showed the same friendly attention to
Mr. Wesley as if nothing had happened. On this occasion Mr.
Wesley writes in his private journal: "July 23.—The strange esteem
which Mr. Causton seemed to show for us, by which meafis we had
nothing without but ease and plenty, occasioned my expressing my¬
self thus in a letter to a friend—'How to attain the being crucified
with Christ, I find not; being in a condition which I neither desired
nor expected in America: in ease, and honor, and abundance. A
strange school for him who has but one business, Tvpvu^sov aeavrbv
repbe evas^eiav.'' "*
In the beginning of August, he joined with the Germans in one of
their love-feasts. This, I believe, was the first time he ever saw a
love-feast. He speaks thus of it: "It was begun and ended with
thanksgiving and prayer, and celebrated in so decent and solemn a
manner, as a Christian of the apostolic age would have allowed to be
worthy of Christ." He afterwards adopted love-feasts into the economy
of Methodism. <,
August 7.—Mr. Wesley repelled Mrs. Williamson from the holy
communion, for the reasons specified in his letter of the 5th of July,
as well as for not giving him notice of her design to communicate,
after having discontinued it for some time. On the 9th, a warrant
having been issued and served upon him, he was carried before the
Recorder and magistrates. Mr. Williamson's charge was: 1. That
Mr. Wesley had defamed his wife: 2. That he had causelessly repelled
her from the holy communion. The first charge Mr. Wesley denied;
and the second, being purely ecclesiastical, he would not acknowledge
the magistrate's power to interrogate him concerning it. He was told
that'he must, however, appear at the next court holden for Savannah.
* To exercise himself unto godliness
36
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
In the mean time Mr. Causton, having become Mr. Wesley's bitter
enemy, required him to assign his reasons in writing for repelling his
niece. This he accordingly did, in the following letter to Mrs. Wil¬
liamson: "At Mr. Causton's request, I write once more. The rules
whereby I proceed are these: so many as intend to partake of the
holy communion, shall signify their names to the curate at least
some time the day before. This you did not do.
"And if any of these—have done any wrong to his neighbor by word
or deed, so that the congregation be thereby offended, the curate shall
advertise him, that in any wise he presume not to come to the Lord's
table, until he hath openly declared himself to have truly repented.
"If you offer yourself at the Lord's table on Sunday, I will adver¬
tise you, as I have done more than once, wherein you have done wrong;
and when you have openly declared yourself to have truly repented,
I will administer to you the mysteries of God."
On the 12th of August, and the following days, Mr. Causton read
to as many as he conveniently could, all the letters Mr. Wesley had
written to himself, or Miss Sophy, from the beginning of their ac¬
quaintance; not, indeed, throughout, but selecting certain passages,
which might, being detached from the rest, and aided by a comment
which he supplied, make an impression to Mr. Wesley's disadvantage.
Such methods as these of oppressing an individual, are detestable;
and yet they have too often been practiced, even by persons profess¬
ing religion; but they always afford sure evidence of a bad cause.
While Mr. Causton was thus employed, the rest of the family were
assiduous in their endeavors to convince all to whom they spake, that
Mr. Wesley had repelled Mrs. Williamson from the communion out of
revenge, because she had refused to marry him. "I sat still at
home," Says Mr. Wesley, "and I thank God, easy, having committed
my cause to him; and remembering his word, ' Blessed is the man
that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the
crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.'
I was at first afraid that those who were weak in the faith would be
turned out of the way, at least so far as to neglect the public worship,
by attending which they were likely to suffer in their temporal con¬
cerns. But I feared where no fear was: God took care of this like¬
wise; insomuch that on Sunday the 14th, more were present at the
morning prayers than had been for some months before. Many of them
observed those words in the first lesson, 'Set Naboth on high among
the people; and set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear wit¬
ness against him.' No less remarkable were those in the evening
lesson: 'I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good concerning me,
but evil.' 0, may I ever be able to say with Micaiah, 'What the Lord
saith unto me, that will I speak; and that, though I too should be put
into prison, and fed there, with bread of affliction, and with water of
affliction.'"
August 16. At the request of several of the communicants, he drew
up a short relation of the case, and read it after the evening prayers,
in the open congregation. And this evening, as Mr. Wesley supposed
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
37
Mrs. Williamson was prevailed upon to swear to and sign a paper
containing many assertions and insinuations injurious to his charac¬
ter. During the whole of this, week, Mr. Causton was employed in
preparing those who were to form the grand-jury at the next court-
day. He was talking with some or other of them day and night: his
table was free to all: old misunderstandings were forgot, and nothing
was too much to he done for them, or promised to them. Monday,
the twenty-second, the court was formed, and forty-four jurors were
sworn in, instead of fifteen, to be a grand-jury to find the bills. This
was done by Mr. Causton, who hereby showed his skill in the manage¬
ment of a controversy like this. He knew well that numbers would
add weight to every thing they transacted, and induce them to take
bolder steps than a few would venture upon. To this grand-jury he
gave a long and earnest charge, "to beware of spiritual tyranny, and
to oppose the new illegal authority which was usurped over their
consciences." Mrs. Williamson's affidavit was read; and he then
delivered to them a paper, entitled a List of Grievances, presented by
the grand-jury for Savannah, this day of August, 1737. In the
afternoon Mrs. Williamson was examined, who acknowledged that she
had no objections to make against Mr. Wesley's conduct before her
marriage. The next day Mr. and Mrs. Causton were also examined,
when she confessed that it was by her request Mr. Wesley had
written to Mrs. Williamson on the 5th of July; and Mr. Causton
declared, that if Mr. Wesley had asked his consent to have mar¬
ried his niece, he should not have refused it !! The grand-jury
continued to examine these ecclesiastical grievances, which occasioned
warm debates, till Thursday; when Mr. Causton being informed they
were entered on matters beyond his instructions, went to them, and
behaved in such a manner, that he turned forty-two out of the forty-
four into a fixed resolution to inquire into his whole behavior. They
immediately entered on that business, and continued examining wit¬
nesses all day on Friday. On Saturday, Mr. Causton finding all his
efforts to stop them ineffectual, he adjourned the court till Thursday,
the first of September, and spared no pains, in the mean time, to
bring them to another mind. September 1. He so far prevailed, that
the majority of the grand-jury returned the List of Grievances to the
court, in some particulars altered, under the form of two present¬
ments, containing ten bills, only two of which related to the affair of
Mrs. Williamson; and only one of these was cognizable by that court,
the rest being merely ecclesiastical. September 2, Mr. Wesley
addressed the court to this effect: "As to nine of the ten indictments
against me, I know this court can take no cognizance of them; they
being matters of an ecclesiastical nature, and this not an ecclesiasti¬
cal court. But the tenth, concerning my speaking and writing to Mrs.
Williamson, is of a secular nature; and this therefore I desire may be
tried here, where the facts complained of were committed." Little
answer was made, and that purely evasive.
In the afternoon he moved the court again for an immediate trial
at Savannah; adding, "That those who are offended may clearly see
38
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
whether I have done any wrong to any one; or whether I have not
rather deserved the thanks of Mrs. Williamson, Mr. Causton, and of
the whole family." Mr. Causton's answer was full of civility and
respect. He observed: "Perhaps things would not have been carried
so far, had you not said, you believed if Mr. Causton appeared the
people would tear him in pieces: not so much out of love to you, as
out of hatred to him for his abominable practices." If Mr. Wesley
really spake these words, he was certainly very imprudent, consider¬
ing the circumstances in which he was placed. But we too often find,
in disputes, that the constructions of others on what has been said
are reported as the very words we have spoken; which I suspect to
have been the case here. Mr. Causton, however, has sufficiently
discovered the motives that influenced his conduct in this business.
TWELVE of the grand-jurors now drew up a protest against the
proceedings of the majority, to be immediately sent to the trustees in
England. In this paper they gave such clear and satisfactory reasons,
under every bill, for their dissent from the majority, as effectually did
away all just ground of complaint against Mr. Wesley, on the subjects
of the prosecution. As Mr. and Mrs. Williamson intended to go for
England in the first ship that should sail, some of Mr. Wesley's friends
thought he ought to go likevjise; chiefly to remove the bad impressions
which misrepresentation and ill-natured report might make on the
trustees, and others interested in the welfare of the colony. But
September 10 he observes: "I laid aside the thoughts of going to
England; thinking it more suitable to my calling still to commit my
cause to God, and not to be in haste to justify myself: only to be
always ready to give to any that should ask me, a reason of the hope
that is in me."
Immoderate zeal is always to be suspected; especially when it
appears in pursuing such measures as tend to injure or ruin an
individual. A bad cause, which originated from hatred or malice, will
almost always be carried on with more intemperate zeal and bolder
measures, than a consciousness of acting right will ever produce.
The pursuit of any end in view, when governed by the passions, is
always more violent than when directed by reason and truth. On
this principle we may account for the proceedings of the magistrates
of Savannah. They sent the affidavit they had procured, and the
two presentments of the grand-jury, to be inserted in the newspapers
in different parts of America. The only purpose this could answer,
was to injure Mr. Wesley in the opinion of a large body of people,
who could not easily come at a true knowledge of the case. That
these advertisements might make a deeper impression on the minds
of the multitude, the pomp of legal form was preserved; the following
words being added at the end of each bill—"Contrary to the peace
of our Sovereign Lord the King, his Crown and Dignity." Per¬
sons of discernment saw through the artifice; and in the end of Sep¬
tember, Mr. Wesley received a letter from a gentleman of considerable
abilities and learning in Charlestown, in which are the following
observations: "I am much concerned at some reports and papers
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
39
concerning you from Georgia. The papers contain some affidavits
made against you by one Mrs. Williamson; and a parcel of stuff called,
presentments of you by the grand-jury, for matters chiefly of your mere
office as a clergyman. Has our sovereign lord the king given the
temporal courts in Georgia ecclesiastical jurisdiction? If he has not,
then sure I am, that ■whatever your failings in your office may be, a
grand-jury's presentment of them, being repugnant to the fundamen¬
tal laws and constitution of England, is a plain ' breach of his peace?
and an open insult on 'his crown and dignity;' for which they them¬
selves ought to be presented, if they have not incurred a premunire.*
The presentments, a sad pack of nonsense, I have seen; but not the
affidavits. They were both designed to have been published in our
Gazette, but our friends here have hitherto prevented it. I shall be
glad to have some light from yourself into these matters, and where¬
with to oppose the reports industriously spread here to your disad¬
vantage ; meantime, I remain your most obedient humble servant,
"S. Garden."
Mr. AYesley received some consolatory letters from those of his
friends to whom he had represented his situation. -A letter of this
kind from Dr. Cutler, a clergyman of Boston, contains some thoughts
so just, and not very commonly to be met with, that I think it worthy
of a place here. It is dated the twenty-second of October. "I am
sorry, sir," says he, "for the clouds hanging over your mind, respect¬
ing your undertaking and situation; but hope God will give a happy
increase to that good seed you have planted and watered, according
to his will. The best of men, in all ages, have failed in the success
of their labor; and there will ever be found too many enemies to the
cross of Christ; for earth will not be heaven. This reminds us of that
happy place, where we shall not see and be grieved for transgressors;
and where, for our well-meant labors, our judgment is with the Lord,
and our reward with our God. And you well know, sir, that under
the saddest appearances, we may have some share in the consolations
which God gave Elijah; and may trust in him that there is some
wickedness we repress or prevent; some goodness by our means, weak
and unworthy as we are, beginning and increasing in the hearts of
men, at present; perhaps like a grain of mustard-seed, that in God's
time may put forth, and spread and flourish; and that, if the world
seems not the better for us, it might be worse without us. Our low
opinion of ourselves is a preparative to these successes; and so the
modest and great Apostle found it.
"No doubt, sir, you have temptations where you are, nor is there
any retreat from them: they hint to us the care we must take, and
the promises we must apply to; and blessed is the man that endureth
temptation.
"I rejoice in the good character you give, which I believe you well
bestow, of Mr. AVhitefield, who is coming to you; but I question not
but his labors will be better joined with than supersede yours; and
even his and all our sufficiency and efficiency is of God.
* To incur a premunire, is to be liable to imprisonment and loss of goads.
40
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
"It is the least we cap. do to pray for one another; and if God wik
hear me, a great sinner, it will strengthen your interest in him. I
recommend myself to a share in your prayers, for his pardon, accept¬
ance and assistance; and beg that my family—may not be forgotten
by you."
Mr. Wesley, in the midst of this storm kept up by the arts of his
avowed enemies, without a shilling in his pocket, and three thousand
miles from home, possessed his soul in peace, and pursued his labors
with the same unremitting diligence, as if he had enjoyed the greatest
tranquillity and ease. October 30. He gives us an account of his
labors on the Lord's-day. " The English service lasted from five till
half an hour past six. The Italian (with a few Yaudois) began at
nine. The second service for the English, including the sermon and
the holy communion, continued from half an hour past ten till about
half an hour past twelve. The French service began at one. At two
I catechised the children. About three began the English service.
After this was ended, I joined with as many as my large room would
hold, in reading, prayer, and singing. And about six the service of
the Germans began; at which I was glad to be present, not as a
teacher, but as a learner."
November 1. He received a temporary relief from his pressing
wants. "Col. Stephens," says he, "arrived, by whom I received a
benefaction of ten pounds sterling;* after having been for several
months without one shilling in the house, but not without peace,
health, and contentment."
November. 3. He attended the court holden on that day; and again
at the court held on the twenty-third; urging an immediate hearing
of his case, that he might have an opportunity of answering the alle¬
gations alleged against him. But this the magistrates refused, and at
the same time countenanced every report to his disadvantage: whether
it was a mere invention, or founded on a malicious construction of
any thing he did or said. Mr. Wesley perceiving that he had not the
most distant prospect of obtaining justice, that he was in a place
where those in power were combined together to oppress him, and
could any day procure evidence (as experience had shown) of words
he had never spoken, and of actions he had never done; being disap¬
pointed, too, in the primary object of his mission, preaching to the
Indians, he consulted his friends what he ought to do; who were of
opinion with him, that, by these circumstances, Providence did now
call him to leave Savannah. The next day he called on Mr. Causton,
and told him he designed to set out for England immediately. No¬
vember 24, he put up the following advertisement in the great square,
and quietly prepared for his journey:
"Whereas John Wesley designs shortly to set out for England, This
is to desire those who have borrowed any books of him, to return
them as soon as they conveniently can, to
John Wesley."
November 30. He went once more to Mr. Causton, to desire money
* I suppose the ten pounds mentioned in Dr. Burton's letter the 15th of June.
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
41
to defray his expenses to England, intending to set out on Friday, the
second of December. It appears to me that this was an event which
the magistrates most ardently wished to take place, and to which all
their proceedings had been solely directed. It is no objection to this
opinion, that they published an order to prohibit him from leaving the
province. It is manifest that they had no intention of bringing the
matter to a fair hearing before them, and of giving it a legal decision.
They knew well that the evidence was so strong in Mr. Wesley's favor,
that they could not even invent a plausible pretence for giving the
cause against him. But to give it in his favor would have been cause
of rejoicing to him and his friends, and would have covered his ene¬
mies with shame; and the-y had no way of preventing this but by
delaying the trial as long as possible. On the other hand, they easily
foresaw that if, by cutting off all prospect of terminating the affair,
and multiplying false and injurious reports concerning him every dhy,
they could weary out his patience, and induce him to quit the province
of his own accord, the triumph would be left to his enemies; and he
leaving the province pending a prosecution against him, and in oppo¬
sition to a prohibition of the magistrates, would bring a censure upon
him, and make his conduct and character suspected among all those
who did not know the circumstances of the case. Finding him now
determined to go for England, they had a fine opportunity of giving
their plan its full effect. Mr. Wesley intended to set out about noon,
the tide then serving; but about ten o'clock the magistrates sent for
him, and told him he should not go out of the province till he had
entered into recognizance to appear at the court, and answer the alle¬
gations laid against him. Mr. Wesley replied, that he had appeared
at six courts successively, and had openly desired a trial, but was
refused it. They said that he must, however, give security to appear
again. He asked, what security? After a long consultation together,
they agreed upon a kind of bond, that he should appear at Savannah,
when required, under a penalty of fifty pounds. But the Recorder
added, You must likewise give bail to answer Mr. Williamson's action
of one thousand pounds' damages. " I then began," says Mr. Wesley,
"to see into their design of spinning out time and doing nothing; and
so told him plainly, Sir, I will sign neither one bond nor the other: you
know your business, and I know mine."
The magistrates finding him quite resolved to go for England, saw
their plan was secure, and that they might carry on the farce, to keep
up appearances in their own favor, without danger of disappointment.
In the afternoon, therefore, they published an order requiring all
officers to prevent his going out of the province, and forbidding any
person to assist him so to do. The day was now far spent: after
evening prayers, therefore, the tide again serving, Mr. Wesley left
Savannah, in company with three other persons, no one attempt¬
ing to hinder him. Indeed, I have no doubt but the magistrates were
heartily glad to get rid of a man whose whole manner of life was a
constant reproof of their licentiousness, and whose words were as
arrows sticking fast in them.
42
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
If we candidly review all the circumstances of this affair, we shall
perhaps be led to conclude that Mr. Wesley might have acted with
more caution, and more regard to his own ease and character, than
he did when he first saw the storm gathering, and likely to burst with
violence upon him. But his constant rule was, to ascertain, to the
satisfaction of his own mind, that particular line of conduct which
duty required him to pursue, as a Christian and a minister of the
gospel, and then steadily to walk in it, regardless of consequences. And
there is every evidence which the case will admit, that he acted in
this conscientious manner towards Mrs. Williamson. It does not
appear that any one ever charged him with repelling her from the
holy communion out of revenge because she would not marry him, except
hee relations, who now thought it necessary to injure his reputation
as much as possible, to cover themselves from reproach. But this
charge not only wants positive proof: it is even destitute of probabi¬
lity. It was about five months after her marriage when this circum¬
stance happened; during the former part of which time he had fre¬
quently administered the sacrament to her, without showing any symptoms
of revenge; and about three months after her marriage, he saw such
things in her conduct as, in his private Journal, which was never
printed, induced him to bless Ood for his deliverance in not marrying her.
Now let me ask any candid man, if it is probable that Mr. Wesley
could be actuated by a spirit of revenge for a disappointment at the
end of- five months, which had no influence on his conduct at the end
of three months; and even after he had been convinced that the dis¬
appointment itself was a mercy, for which he secretly thanked God ?
I think no man will say it is probable: I apprehend it is impossible
this should be the case. In his pastoral character, Mr. Wesley acted
by one rule towards all the communicants. If any one had discon¬
tinued his attendance at the Lord's table, he required him to signify
his name some time the day before he intended to communicate again;
and if any one had done wrong to his neighbor, so that the congrega¬
tion was thereby offended, he required him openly to declare that he
had repented. This rule the order of the Church of England required
him to observe, and he acted by it invariably in all cases, whether the
persons were rich or poor, friends or enemies. Mrs. Williamson did
not conform to this established order, which must have been well
known to all the communicants in so small a place. Mr. Wesley was
therefore reduced to this alternative, either to break an order he held
sacred, in her favor, and thereby incur the censure of a blamable
partiality for her, after being married to another; or to repel her
from the holy communion, and incur the censure of having done it
out of revenge, because she would not marry him. Censure was
inevitable, whichever way he had acted; and having well considered
the matter, he determined to follow the rule he had always observed,
and leave the consequences to God.
1 have elsewhere omitted to state, that the substance of
Graves's abuse of Mr. Wesley, on account of this affair at
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
Savannah, is taken from Lemprih'ds Universal Geography.
Lempriere was at heart an infidel, an enemy to Mr. Wesley;
and he speaks as contemptuously of Whitefield as of Wesley:
resolving his ardent piety and flaming zeal in the cause of
God, into enthusiasm and a spirit of proselytism!
Even Mr. Southey, in his Life of Wesley, on this subject
has done himself honor and Mr. Wesley justice. Graves
quotes Southey in other matters, hut in this Savannah affair
he passes him by, because Southey vindicates Mr. Wesley's
character against this vilest of all other slanders !
It is very certain, says Mr. Southey, that the .magistrates designed
nothing more than to make him withdraw; hut in order to keep
up appearances, and to stigmatize his departure.as if it were a flight
from justice, they published an order that afternoon, requiring all the
officers and sentinels to prevent him from leaving the colony, and for¬
bidding any person to assist him to do so. This order was not meant
to be obeyed. Indeed, Mr. Wesley had still zealous friends in the
colony. Even among the jurors, (fifty were summoned,) though every
means was taken to select men who were likely to prove his accusers,
and no means of prepossessing them against him were spared, twelve
persons were found (a sufficient jury) who, in a paper addressed to the
trustees, protested against the indictment as a scheme for gratifying
personal malice by blackening Mr. Wesley's character.
Now, there are a few points I wish the candid reader to
bear in mind:
1. This slanderer alleges that Mr. Wesley " flees from jus¬
tice and leaves Savannah by night." The proof is that he
left late in" the afternoon, having waited for the rising of the
tide, in company with " three other persons," but not without
having previously put up a bold and manly advertisement on
the GREAT SQUARE, to the effect that he would leave for
England, and asking the return of all the books persons had
borrowed of him ! He left openly and above-board, accord'
ing to a previous notice, but not until he had " appeared at
SIX COURTS SUCCESSIVELY, and had openly desired a
trialand besides, not ntil he had called on Mr. Causton in
41 tiie great iron wheel examined.
person, and " told him that he designed to set out for Eng
land immediately." He went to Mr. Causton, last of all, and
applied for money to defray his expenses to England, tell¬
ing him the day on which he would set out !
2. Elder Graves says that " his own people were thoroughly
disgusted with his conduct." In Roberts's Narrative of the
Life of George Wiiitefield, who arrived at Savannah the
following May, and entered upon his ministry, at page 56,
we learn that Mr. Whitefield " found many serious persons,
the fruits of Mr. Wesley's ministry, glad to receive him, and
regretting the return of the former to England"—that "he
had now an opportunity of inquiring, upon the spot, into the
circumstances of the late disputes,'and bears witness to the
ill-usage Mr. Wesley had received." And to this good day,
to my own certain knowledge, the citizens of Savannah have
great veneration for the name and memory of John Wesley;
and the influence of his example and teachings are yet to be
seen in the liberality of the people, both in supporting the
gospel and contributing to other benevolent objects. The
Methodists have several fine houses of worship there, and as
many large and respectable societies, who thank God most
sincerely that ever a Wesley labored in that city!
3. Elder Graves says, " The jury found a true bill against
John, the founder of Methodism," etc. The proof is, that
the jury were coaxed, lectured, feasted, and their meetings
were adjourned over from day to day, until, worried by the
importunities of Mr. Causton, a wealthy, talented, vindictive
man, they returned a bill against him, but with great reluc¬
tance ! Mr. Wesley defended himself, or "appeared at six
courts successively," but could get no hearing, because
neither Mr. Causton nor the magistrates ever intended lie
should have a trial! A minority of the jurors defended him
successfully, and their defence was transmitted to the trustees
in England, which document appears in his Journal. Did I
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
45
not feel that his defence is complete, I would copy that docu¬
ment !
4. Elder Graves says that Mrs. Williamson "swore to and
signed an affidavit, intending much more than it asserted!"
The connection in which this language is used, and the
manner in which it is italicised, leave no doubt that a
most villainous insinuation is intended ! The proof is, that
the chastity of Mr. Wesley never was called in question :
Mrs. Williamson testified upon oath that she had no objection
to the conduct of Mr. Wesley toward her before her mar¬
riage : Mrs. Causton made oath that it was at her request
Mr. Wesley wrote the letter to her niece that gave them of¬
fence; and Mr. Causton testified on oath that if Mr. Wesley
had asked his consent to marry his niece, he would have given
it! The virtue of Mrs. Williamson, formerly Miss Sophy
Causton, never was doubted; and if Mr. Wesley had ever
made an ungentlemanly or dishonorable proposition to her,
would she have continued, both before and after her marriage,
and through a period of more than eighteen months, to have
received, at regular and stated periods, and according to the
usages of the Church of England, the holy communion at
his hands ? Certainly not!
5. Mr. Wesley, though "prosecuted" by a woman and her
friends, for enforcing the rigid rules of the Church of Eng¬
land, of which he was a minister, never kept house in Nash¬
ville—employed an unmarried woman to live with his wife,
who turned out to be "possessed"—not only of a devil, but
also of a most loathsome disease—all which came before his
Church—was rehearsed from beginning to ending, until " his
own people became thoroughly disgusted with his conduct!"
I repeat that Mr. Wesley never was in a scrape of this kind;
but J. R. Graves cannot say, and tell the truth, that such an
affair never came off in his family and Church !
6. Mr. Wesley, though presented to the Grand Jury, by
46 the great iron wheel examined.
an ill-natured and irreligious family, for refusing to adminis¬
ter the holy communion to a woman who refused to comply
with the rules and regulations of the Church, never was in¬
dicted for a gross libel upon a respectable gentleman (through
the columns of the filthy "Tennessee Baptist") at Lexington,
Tennessee—convicted and punished to the tune of seven
thousand five hundred dollars and costs ; never ap¬
pealed to the Supreme Court of Tennessee at Jackson—there
had the decision of the Court below affirmed, and mortgaged
all his effects away, to avoid the payment of this fine and
costs. But all this has happened with J. R. Graves, during
the last twelve or eighteen months, as the records at Lexing¬
ton, Jackson, and Nashville will show !
7. Mr. Wesley was indicted more than one hundred years
ago, in the Province of Georgia, for refusing to administer
the holy communion to a lady, in violation of the rules and
usages of his Church; but he never was publicly cudgelled on
the streets of Nashville, by an ex-member of Congress, for
wanton abuse and insults of female character, through the
columns of that great receptacle of filth, the "Tennessee
Baptist." But this merited castigation was inflicted upon the
reckless and notorious J. R. Graves! And no sympathy was
felt for him in that community, nor could any redress be had
at law. He had unfrocked himself as a clergyman—he had
dragged female character before the public, and done that
which derogated from the dignity of his high calling—and
the brother-in-law of the lady taught him the gracious lesson
of moderation, bj publicly mauling him unth a stick! This
i^ the man, however, who has been endorsed by the " North
Carolina Publishing Society of the Baptist Church"—an en¬
dorsement their consciences may trouble them for in the
future, unless they find consolation in the truthful words of
the poet:
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
47
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublimo;
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of Time!
Intending in the nest chapter a further consideration of
the character and labors of Mr. Wesley, I shall not extend
my remarks in this. The reader must have discovered ere
this the blind impetuosity and cherished hostility of " Elder
Graves," as his North Carolina associates style him, to the
doctrines, polity, and interests of Methodism. Even truth,
when he utters it, is couched in such language, and written
under the influence of such a spirit, as scarcely to entitle it
to credit. How lost to all that is virtuous, to all that is dig¬
nified or interesting in the character of man, that state of feel¬
ing must be which can feast with pleasure upon the supposed
foibles or even wickedness of human nature, I need not pause
to tell; and I should tremble to relate the destiny of him
who cherishes it! How truly it may be said of the indul¬
gence of such feelings, when seen in one passing for a grave
"Elder" in the ministry, who arrogates to himself distin¬
guished powers of mind and the advantages of an education,
that learning loses its dignity, religion its sanctity, and talents
their merited respect!
48
the great iron wheel examined.
CHAPTER III.
Mi'. Wesley's early training—Character of his mother—His ordina¬
tions—His intercourse "with the Moravians—Preaches in the open
fields "with great power and effect—The organization of the first
Conference—Introduction of Methodism into America—Preachers
sent over to America—First Conference held in Philadelphia—Ap¬
peal to the "North Carolina Publishing Society of the Baptist
Church"—Fruits of Methodism—Statistics—Comparative strength
of Methodists and Baptists in Georgia—Closing scenes of Mr. Wes¬
ley's life—His triumphant death—Inscription on his tomb—De¬
scription of his person.
"Methodism," says Mr. "Watson, in Ms Observations on
Southey's Life of Wesley, "bas been usually assailed by a
violence so blind and illiberal, tbat those writers who have
attempted to confute its principles, or to exhibit it alternately
as an object of ridicule and alarm, have, in most cases, suffi¬
ciently answered themselves, and controversy has been ren¬
dered unnecessary. A few and only a few defences of Mr.
Wesley and his opinions have, therefore, been published.
The time of those best qualified for such a task has been
better employed in works of active piety and benevolence.
They have held 011 their way ' through good report and evil
report,' thinking it enough that, by the writings of their
founder and other subsequent publications, the candid might
acquaint themselves with their views of Christianity; and
that a people spread through the land presented points of
observation sufficiently numerous to enable unprejudiced per¬
sons to form an accurate estimate of their character and in¬
fluence."
Now, what I have to say touching these judicious observa-
the great iron wheel examined.
49
ttons of that very eloquent and excellent divine is, that they
are as forcibly applicable in America as ever they were in
England. A high sense of the merits of Mr. "Watson is en¬
tertained in this country, as well as his own, both of his
talents and his virtues, and of the distinguished services
which, as well by his pulpit eloquence as by his various works
from the press, he has rendered, not to " Methodism" only,
but to Christianity and to the world. And to all those who
think proper to assail "Methodism" or "Wesley," through
such mediums as F. A. Ross and J. R. Graves, I beg leave
respectfully to recommend a perusal of Mr. Watson's review
of the Life of Wesley by Southey. It will be found an ample
antidote; and will convince any Christian gentleman, I think,
that Southey's work, as well as the more vulgar productions
of Ross and Graves, made up in part by quotations from the
former, are as direct a stab at all evangelical and vital godli¬
ness as at "Methodism" or "Wesley."
The representations of "facts" given by Elder Graves,
which go to make up his proofs of charges, are not correct,
nor are they consistent with the authors he professes to rely
upon; and among these there are those of the very worst
character, because of the most decided hostility both to Mr.
Wesley and to Methodism. Of these authorities, it is suffi¬
cient barely to mention the names of Southey, Toplady, and
Ross !
In this chapter, I desire to continue my defence of Mr.
Wesley, and to supply some important omissions, which were
allowed, rather than increase the length of the former chapter
to an extent that might tend to weary the patience of the
reader.
The Rev. John Wesley was the second son of Samuel
and Susannah Wesley, and was born at Epworth, in Lincoln¬
shire, England, June IT, 1703, (Old Style.) He received
his first lessons of instructions from his mother, one of the
3
50
the great iron wheel examined.
first women of the last century, and a woman admirably
qualified for the proper education and training of her children.
Truly did Bonaparte say, " The future destiny of the child is
the work of the mother." His father was a learned and
pious minister of the Established Church of England; and
his mother was not less strenuously attached than his father
to the doctrines, usages, and formularies of that Church.
The Wesley family were all resolute and determined. In
these principles John Wesley was educated, and the im¬
pressions made, upon his mind, under the skilful management
and pious teachings of one of the noblest mothers of that
century, and the guidance and examples of such a father,
were not only never erased, but became the guiding principles
of his subsequent life.
To give the reader an idea of the moral courage of
Samuel Wesley, I give the following incident, strictly true :
The Rev. Samuel Wesley, father of the celebrated John Wesley,
being strongly importuned by the friends of James II. to support the
measures of the court in favor of Popery, with promises of prefer¬
ment, absolutely refused even to read the King's declaration; and
though surrounded with courtiers, soldiers, and informers, he preached
a "bold and pointed discourse against it from these words: "If it be
so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us out of thine hand, 0
King. But if not, be it known unto thee, 0 King, that we will not
serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."
At the age of sixteen years, John Wesley entered college
at Oxford, and by his rapid progress soon gave evidence of his
superior powers of intellect, and sternness of virtue, which so
distinguished him in after life. In 1725 he was ordained a
deacon, and in 1726 he was elected Fellow of Lincoln College.
He took his degree in 1727, and in 1728 was ordained a
presbyter iii the Church of England.
Passing over the events of his life which occurred during
the remainder of the brief period he spent at Oxford, and
which were characterized, by his devotion to the Church, lovo
the great iron wheel examined.
51
of literature, wise and prudent counsels, and his constant
charity to the poor, I come down to his missionary voyage tc
America; and which has been, in connection with his brief
sojourn in Savannah, the subject of such abuse, slander, and
wicked insinuations, as never were heaped upon any man since
that period. As set forth in the preceding pages, I repeat,
that Mr. Wesley was baffled in his pious designs of preaching
the gospel to the North American Indians, misrepresented and
persecuted by those who ought to have been his friends and
defenders; and seeing but a dull prospect of succeeding in
his main design, he took leave of the Georgians under the
circumstances herein before detailed, and arrived in London
in February, 1738, having spent two years in America.
On his passage to America, Mr. Wesley made the acquaint¬
ance of some pious Moravians on board the same ship. He
had frequent opportunities of conversing with them—gave
into their sound and scriptural views of the doctrine of justi¬
fication through faith in Jesus Christ, and the necessity and
privilege of the direct witness, and the fruits of the Holy
Spirit. On his return to England, he renewed his acquaint¬
ance with some of the Moravian ministers, and held frequent
and profitable conversations with them. To these interviews,
and the prayerful reading of Luther's Preface to the Epistle
to the Romans, he attributes his being made a partaker of
greater spiritual blessings than he had ever before enjoyed.
With a view to strengthen himself in the faith of the Mora¬
vian Church, by whose conversations and prayers he had been
much edified, and even signally blessed, he performed a
journey to their principal settlement in Germany, attended
their meetings, and had free and full conversations with their
most eminent men on the subject of experimental and practi¬
cal godliness, by which his mind was much enlightened, and
his heart entirely established in the great doctrine of justifi¬
cation by faith, and of the direct witness and ertjit of the
52
the great iron wheel examined.
Holy Spirit. After thus holding communion with these pious
and orthodox Christians for some time, he returned to London
in the fall of 1738; and from that day to the day of his
death, which was in the spring of 1791, a period of fifty-three
years, no other plan of operations ever entered his head,
than simply to get and communicate all the good in his power.
He ever, after that, preached with power and effect the great
and soul-saving doctrine of justification by faith in Christ, and
the witness and fruit of the Holy Spirit. So pointed were
his appeals, and earnest his exhortations to repentance, that
he soon learned what was meant in the Scriptures by the
" offence of the cross," for he was refused the use of this,
and of that, and then of another church, to preach in! Then
it was that, like the eloquent and pious Whitefield, he
went into the open fields, Kensington Commons, and other
places, and preached the glorious doctrines of faith in Christ,
which set all England in a blaze! Success crowned his efforts
wherever he labored. Those who were awakened under his
preaching—and their names were Legion—came to him for
advice; and as the number of these rapidly increased, he
found it necessary to form them into a society; and in 1743
he drew up those rules of his societies, which have continued
to be the general rules of the Methodist societies, both in
England and America, to this day, with scarcely an exception.
This was the first regular organization of societies by Mr.
Wesley, and the formation of classes followed soon after this.
Among those who were converted under his ministry, and
joined his societies, were some talented and educated young
men, and others with but limited education, but "full of
faith and of the Holy Ghost," whom, notwithstanding his
devotion to the established order of things, he started out to
preach. Hence originated his employment of lay-preachers,
an irregularity for which, though he suffered much persecu¬
tion, thousands had cause to be thankful in Europe. As tJie
the great iron wheel examined.
53
work increased under the labors of Jobn and Charles Wesley,
and the preachers in their employ, it became necessary, in
order to avoid confusion, to reduce their operations to system,
and to have a more digested plan. This led to the calling of
all the preachers together for a Conference, the first of which
was held in London in June, 1744, or one hundred and twelve
years ago; although Elder Graves says—u Methodism cannot
be called a Church of Christ, because too young—it being
only sixty-eight years oldI"
After the organization of a Conference, the work went on
more rapidly than ever, and soon spread over different parts
of England and Wales. In his evangelical labors, Mr. Wesley
was assisted by several pious and learned clergymen of the
Established Church, not the least efficient of whom were his
brother Charles and Mr. Fletcher. The work spread over
Ireland and Scotland; but it is by no means necessary in this
sketch to enter into further details as to the rise and progress
of Methodism in Great Britain.
In 1766, Providence opened the way for the introduction
of Methodism into America; and the first Methodist society
was established in the city of New York in that year. The
first preacher of the Methodists who labored in New York
was Philip Embury, a local preacher who emigrated from
Ireland. But Elder Graves asserts, time and again, that
Methodism is " only sixty-eight years old," and is therefore
too young to be called a Church of Christ! The proof is that
its first appearance in New York was eighty-eight years ago,
showing a mistake on the part of Elder Graves of twenty
years, dating its origin only back to its introduction into the
United States ! This blunder was not a slip of the pen, for
the writer dwells upon it, occupies several pages upon this
assumed fact, and drives to various conclusions. He has
taken this position either through ignorance or a love of lying
— the reader may decide which.
54
the great iron wheel examined.
At the Conference at Leeds, in 1768, Mr. Wesley sent over
to the aid of the cause in America two additional preachers,
Richard Boardman and Joseph Fillmore; and about that time,
Robert Strawbridge, a local preacher from Ireland, came over
and settled in Frederick county, in Maryland. In 1771,
Francis Asbury and Richard Wright were sent over to the
work in America. At page 109, vol. iii., of Mr. Asbury's
Journal, in 1773, he speaks of the numbers in their societies
where he had labored—not having any report from Mr. Straw-
bridge in Maryland, and others—after this wise: "About three
hundred in New York, two hundred and fifty in Philadelphia,
and a few in New Jersey."
Mr. Asbury was constituted " general assistant" by Mr.
Wesley, in 1772, and began to hold quarterly meetings, and
hear reports from his brethren in the ministry. This desig¬
nation is better understood when it is remembered that Mr.
Wesley being, under God, the founder of the societies, was
considered the head of the whole body, both in Europe and
America; and all having charge of circuits under him were
styled his "assistants," and those under these assistants were
styled " helpers." In appointing Mr. Asbury a general assist¬
ant, he constituted him the head of all the preachers and
societies in America, with power to station the preachers; but
under the general direction of Mr. Wesley himself, to whom
he made his regular reports.
The first regular Conference ever held in America con¬
vened in Philadelphia, July 4th, 1773, eighty-three years ago,
notwithstanding Elder Graves asserts that Methodism is " only
68 years old," and the "North Carolina Publishing Society"
endorses his assertion ! The numbers in society, as reported
in the general minutes, were eleven hundred and sixty-
six, and the preachers in the work were ten, laboring in New
York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia.
These conferences were held every year, sometimes in one
the great iron wheel examined.
65
State and sometimes in another—the membership and minis¬
try increasing rapidly, until the arrival of a very important
period in the history of Methodism in this country, the
organization of the Methodist Episcopal Churcii, which
was in 1784. Dr. Coke, Bichard Whatcoat, and Mr; Yasey,
arrived in America in this year, and proceeded to New Jersey,
where they met with Mr. Asbury and others, and announced
to them their intention to organize the Methodists of this
country into an independent Episcopal Church; and it was
at once agreed to call a General Conference at Baltimore the
ensuing Christmas. In conformity with this arrangement,
December 25th, 1784, SIXTY out of the EIGHTY-THEEE
travelling preachers then in the connection assembled in the
city of Baltimore, where Dr. Coke presided, assisted by Mr.
Asbury; and the first act of thjs General Conference was to
elect Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury, by a unanimous vote, Gene¬
ral Superintendents. Though Mr. Asbury had been appointed
to that office by Mr. Wesley, he was too much devoted to the
mutual rights of ministers and of republican principles, to
act any longer in that capacity independently of the suffrages
of his brethren over whom he must preside. He did so
willingly when there was a necessity for it, but no longer
than was indicated by the providence of God. The validity of
Mr. Asbury's ordination by Thomas Coke, Doctor of Civil
Law, Presbyter of the Church of-England, and Superinten¬
dent of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America, as well
as the Methodist form of Church government, all of which
are ridiculed and misrepresented by Elder Graves, will form
the subject-matter of a future chapter in this work.
I again resume the consideration of the character and
labors of Mr. Wesley, than whom no man, since the days of
the apostles, ever was clothed with such a panoply as that
with which he was armed. Bigoted Calvinistic Baptists,
however, will no more pardon Mr. Wesley for the wounds he
56
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
inflicted on their favorite theory, than the Roman Catholics
wdll forgive Calvin and Luther for striking such a death-blow
at the sale of indulgences and other mummeries sanctioned
by that corrupt Church. But despite the malicious slanders
of such men as Elder Graves, the name of John Wesley will
ever be associated in the minds of the good and great, who
best know his worth, with all the excellences which adorn
and beautify the human character, when sanctified by grace,
as well as those qualifications which originate from profound
learning, an acute and penetrating mind, and a heart deeply
imbued with the grace of God, and also a life unweariedly
devoted to the best of all causes. That he was encompassed
with those infirmities which are inseparable from humanity,
his friends and admirers never denied; and this detracts
nothing from his character, any more than the offensive
epithets applied to him, and vulgar charges preferred against
him, by the miserable calumniator of the " Tennessee Bap¬
tist ;" which can never lessen him in the estimation of those
who impartially estimate worth.
I do not ask Elder Graves to contemplate the glorious
achievements of Methodism, under the direction of John
Wesley, but I call upon the "North Carolina Publishing
Society of the Baptist Church" to look calmly at its rise and
progress! I ask the members of that Society to go with me,
as one of the admirers of Mr. Wesley, to the humble dwell¬
ings of the miners of Cornwall, to the homely tents of the
colliers of Kingswood and Newcastle, and to the equally
humble workshops of the manufacturers of Yorkshire, in
England, who are still rejoicing in God their Saviour that a
Wesley was ever born into this sin-stricken world, and ask
them if they believe he lived and died an unconverted man ?
Go with me, gentlemen of the " Publishing Society," among
the backwoodsmen of North America, and examine them in
their lonely tents; go among the honest settlers on our
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
57
western frontiers, and amid the interminable forests of our
far-off western wilds, where multiplied thousands reside who
were brought into the fold of Christ through the instrumen¬
tality of Wesleyan ministers, and ask them if they think
the founder of their Church, under God, was a hypocrite ?
Go with me to' the rich pastures and luxuriant harvest-fields
of your own native Carolina; enter the neat cottages and
stately mansions of the glorious Old North State, and ask
the intelligent and educated females who are rejoicing in God,
to this very day, in hope of future and eternal life, through
the instrumentality of the sermons and prayers of Wesleyan
ministers, if they believe the venerable founder of their
Church was a wicked adulterer? Go with me to the distant
islands of different seas, to the burning sands of Africa, to
Ceylon, and other pagan countries, and ask the benighted
converts from heathenism, through the instrumentality of
Wesleyan ministers, if they believe the venerable founder of
the Church of which they are now happy members was a man
of God, or an ambitious candidate for fame ? Enter the dwell¬
ings of the rich and fashionable planters of our own " sunny
South ;" ride through and around their extensive sugar and
cotton plantations, among the sable sons and daughters of
Africa, and witness the blessed fruits of the orthodox teach¬
ings, pious life, Christian integrity, and triumphant death of
the great and good Wesley! .Meet me, gentlemen, half way
between Knoxville and Raleigh, our respective places of
abode, and together let us enter the log-cabins of the virtuous,
pious, happy peasantry of the "hill-country" of Western
Carolina, and ask them whether they believe the facts set
forth in Mr. Wesley's Journal, or the misrepresentations of
Elder Graves! Ask any one of them upon a dying-bed,
whether they desire one of Wesley's sermons read to them,
or a chapter from the "Iron Wheel" you have so graciously
condescended to endorse!
3*
58
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
Whether we send the religion and Church government which
God has handed down to us through a Wesley, an Asbury, a
Coke, and others, among the neat cottages and stately mansions
of New England, or among the wilds of Missouri, Arkansas, or
Texas, the wilderness and solitary places are made glad for
them, and the desert is made to rejoice and blossom as the
rose ! Methodism weathered the storm of persecution brought
upon it by Southey, Smollet, Toplady, Nightingale, and even
Lord John Russell, of the British Parliament; and most
assuredly it is not to be demolished west of our Alleghany
range of mountains by j. r. graves, a vindictive little Baptist
preacher, of exceedingly doubtful piety, as well as of ques¬
tionable veracity, and without that force of character requisite
to build up or pull down any sect! Let Baptist malice, with
its grim concomitants, envy and hatred, tremble as it plots the
ruin of Methodism, and seeks to build up its own perfidious
and exclusive system; and, above all, let this bread-and-
butter patriot of the nineteenth century, J. R. Graves,
remember that his day for fasting and humiliation is close at
hand!
The Reformation dawned with Luther in Germany, but the
sun of its glory rose with Methodism in England: the first
streak!? of Protestant light were seen on the horizon of the
sixteenth century, but the meridian sun of the Reformation
shone in all its brightness on the Wesleys and Whitefield!
But the United States, or more properly North America, has
been the land of its triumph and its glory; and in America
God has shown the world what Methodism can suffer un¬
harmed, and what Methodism can accomplish. Yes, here, in
the glorious nineteenth century, after slander and persecution
have done their vilest work, and have tried in vain to crush
Methodism beneath the "Iron Wheels" of the chariot of
perdition, she is still "going forth conquering and to con¬
quer," as the right arm of the Lord, when his enemies bow
the great iron wheel examined.
59
before him, and the kingdoms of this world become the
kingdoms of God and of his Christ:
"0! 'tis a flower that cannot fade,
That no rude blast can chill:
It blossoms in the sheltered shade,
And on the bleakest hill;
And every changing form of time
Moves on, and sees it in its prime!"
That what I have said may not appear as "vain boasting,"
I will give the facts and figures, as these will deceive no
one. The self-styled prophet, J. R. Graves, has put on record
the prediction that Methodism must ere long die out. He has
discovered, in a dream by night, signs of a decreasing mem¬
bership, ominous of death. I am able to show, and to prove,
that the increase of Methodism, for half a century past, has
been steady and onward! This can be easily shown; and the
able editor of Zion's Herald does the work effectually in
his issue of the 24th of October, 1855. He says:
The following tabic covers over half a. century. We are governed
in our selection of the starting-points of our decades by the dates of
the national census. Our numbers for each decade are for the year
immediately following that on which each census was taken:
Increase of the Methodist Episcopal Church, by decades, from 1791 to 1854.
In 1791, Memb. M. E. Church, 63,269, An increase in 10 years of
72,874, 9,605, or 1514 per cent.
184,567, 111,693, or 153k "
281,146, 96,579, or 52JX
513,114, 331,968, or 82)4
859,811, 346,697, or 67V|
1,251,198, 391,388, or 45k
1,386,661, 135,463 for the last 3 years.
The next table shows how the per centage of our increase compares
with that of the entire population of the country:
1801,
" 1811, " "
" 1821, " «
" 1831, « "
" 1841, " "
" 1851, (North & South,)
" 1854, (North & South,)
The population increased from
Methodism
The population
Methodism
The population
Methodism ■
The population
Methodism
The population
Methodism
The population
Meth ^dism
1790 to 1800
35.02 per cent.
1791 to 1801
15.20 "
1800 to 1810
36.45 "
1801 to 1811
153.50 "
1810 to 1820
33.13 "
1811 to 1821
52.33 "
1820 to 1830
33.49 "
1821 to 1831
82.50 «
1830 to 1840
32.67 «
1831 to 1841
67.50 "
1840 to 1850
25.87 "
1841 to 1851
45.50 "
60
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
Thus it appears that the per centage of our increase has been deci¬
dedly greater than that of the aggregate population of the country.
A comparison of our numbers with the whole population will show
a rapidly increasing ratio. Thus, beginning with 1791, seven years
after the organization of our Church, we have the following results:
In 1791 one Methodist to about every of the whole population.
" 1801 « " " «
These ratios, which do not include the members of various seceding
Methodist bodies, but only the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, show, that in the sixty years
previous to 1852, our ratio to the entire population has increased from
one in sixty-two and a half, to one in eighteen and a half; or, including
the various branches of Methodism not embraced in the above table,
but numbering over one hundred and thirteen thousand communi¬
cants, our ratio has advanced from one in sixty-two and a half to one
in seventeen; which exhibits a very gratifying increase on the popu¬
lation of the country.
But Elder Graves tells the world, boastingly, on page 109
of his "Iron Wheel," that Mr. Wesley's own people in Geor¬
gia were "thoroughly disgusted with his conduct, and out¬
raged by his arrogance and imperial dictation." He informs
the public, in a note to be found on page 108, that a certain
Judge Warren, of Albany, Georgia, informed Mm that the bill
of indictment found against Mr. Wesley, at the instance of Mr.
Causton, "is still preserved in the Court House at Savannah,
where it can be seen!" Wonderful preservation this! And for
the information of Judge Warren, we can say that the bill of
indictment upon which J. It. Graves was convicted and fined
$7,500 and costs, is still preserved in the Court House at
Lexington, Henderson county, Tennessee, "where it can be
seen" likewise! A further record of the fact can be found
in the office of the Supreme Court at Jackson, Tennessee,
where the decision of the court at Lexington was affirmed;
and to evade the payment of this fine and these costs, J. R.
Graves mortgaged his property to some Baptist friends at
" 1801
" 1811
" 1821
" 1831
" 1841
" 1851
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
61
Nashville, where the record is still preserved, and "can be
seen." What a country ours is for preserving bills of indict¬
ment and records of fraudulent mortgages!
But Elder G-raves tells us that "Methodism is only sixty-
eight years old," and is therefore too young to be a Church
of Christ; while the Baptist Church is an old and venerable
Church, as old as the hills, and therefore is the Church of
Christ! Let us compare the strength of the two denomina¬
tions in Georgia, where the founder of one is in such bad
odor!
I have procured the published Minutes of the late Baptist
Convention of Georgia, and also the Minutes of the Georgia
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for
the same year, (1855,) and I presume them both to be correct,
as they are the official reports of these grave bodies of men.
According to these statistics, the Missionary Baptists, who
hold their connection with the Convention—and with this
wing of the numerous Baptist family Elder Graves is asso¬
ciated—these number in Georgia 35,130 whites, and 19,510
colored, after deducting 2000 whites and colored of an asso¬
ciation within the bounds of the State of Florida, who are
likewise connected with said Convention. These Minutes
next set forth that there are 11,968 "Primitive Baptists,"
whites and colored—commonly called Hard Shells or Iron
Jackets—a race of men who "play upon a harp of a thousand
strings, spirits of just men made perfect!" Next in order
these minutes report 3,964 Baptists, white and colored, who
hold no connection with either of the former, but set up " on
their own hook." These numbers include all in the State of
Georgia who hold to the exclusive mode of baptism by
immersion !
Now, let us turn to the Minutes of the Georgia Conference,
and see what the strength of the Methodists is. They set
down the numbers as follows:—50,213 whites; 21,857 col-
62 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
ored; 552 local preachers—making in all, whites and colored,
within the hounds of the Conference, 72,622. Add to this
6000, the number in sixteen counties in Georgia, included in
the Florida Conference, and not reported in these Minutes,
we have the number of 78,622. There are 11,000 Protes¬
tant Methodists in Georgia, who may he numbered with the
Episcopal Methodists, as the 11,968 Hard Shells are with the
Missionary Baptists. Adding, then, this 11,000 to the former,
we have the number of 89,622 Methodists in Georgia. But
include the 552 local preachers and 200 travelling preachers,
who are as legitimately members of the Church as the Baptist
clergy are, and we have 90,374 Methodists in Georgia!
Now, gentle reader, the comparative numerical strength of
these contending denominations in the State of Georgia is as
90,374 to 70,572; or, deduct the 70,572 Baptists from the
90,374 Methodists, and the young Church exhibits a majority
of 19,802 over the old Church, and emphatically the Church,
to the exclusion of all others ! I will add that the people of
Georgia place a different estimate upon the doctrines and
polity of Methodism from that given in the vile production
of this man Graves. It will not be contended that the "lower
classes" constitute the Methodist forces in Georgia. I know,
of my own knowledge and from actual personal observation, that
there is as much of wealth, talents, respectability, and in¬
fluence in the Methodist Church in Georgia as any Church
can boast of, and, if the reader please, a little more, because
their numbers are greater than those of any other Church.
Many more particulars of Mr. Wesley's life, both of a
public and private nature, might have been detailed; but it
will be remembered that I am not writing out his life, but
defending certain of his acts; and, I hope, in such a manner
as to enable the intelligent reader, by this time, to form a
correct opinion of his character. Let us remember that some
particular circumstances, or a few occasional acts in a man's
the great iron wheel examined.
63
life, do not form his character, but the general tenor of his
conduct j because this shows some fixed principle that uni¬
formly operates upon him, which, with a correspondent prac¬
tice, forms his character. (I am aware that Elder Graves will
object to this rule, because, in his case, it would expel him
from any tolerably civilized Church in America !) And when
a long, virtuous, and useful life is crowned with an end suit¬
able to it, as was the case with John Wesley, death puts a
stamp upon his virtues, which shows us they were not spurious
coin, but genuine. If the candid reader will judge of Mr.
Wesley by this rule, he will agree with me that, whatever
failings as a man he may have had, he possessed a degree of
excellence, and acted it out, to which few men have attained
in this life.
But, to complete the picture which I have intended to
draw, it is necessary, now, only to contemplate him as he de¬
livered up his commission into the hands of his great Master.
Passing over a variety of thrilling incidents, I give the copy
of a letter he addressed to the Lord Bishop of London, some
of whose clergy had forbid Mr. Wesley's preachers occupying
their pulpits:—
My Lord,—I am a dying man, having already one foot in the grave.
Humanly speaking, I cannot long creep upon the earth, being now
nearer ninety than eighty years of age. But I cannot die in peace
before I have discharged this offiee of Christian love to your Lord¬
ship. I write without ceremony, as neither hoping nor fearing any
thing from your Lordship, or from any man living. And I ask, in
the name and in the presence of Him to whom both you and I are
shortly to give an account, why do you trouble those that are quiet
in the land?—those that fear God and work righteousness? Does
your Lordship know what the Methodists are ? that many thousands
of them are zealous members of the Church of England ? and strongly
attached, not only to his Majesty, but to his present ministry? Why
should your Lordship, setting religion out of the question, throw
away such a body of respectable friends? Is it for their religious
sentiments ? Alas, my Lord, is this a time to persecute any man for
conscience' sake ? I beseech you, my Lord, do as you would be done
to. You are a man of sense, you are a man of learning; nay, I verily
64 the great iron wheel examined.
believe (what is of infinitely more value) you are a man of piety.
Then think, and let think. I pray God to bless you with the choicest
of his blessings.—I am, my Lord, etc., John Wesley.
After this, Dr. Whitehead, on page 540 of his Life of
Wesley, makes these remarks:—
Mr. Wesley began now to feel the infirmities of .age increase fast
upon him, though he continued his usual labors without complaint.
But in January, 1790, he observes, "I am now an old man, decayed
from head to foot. My eyes are dim: my right hand shakes much:
my mouth is hot and dry every morning: I have a lingering fever al¬
most every day; and my motion is weak and slow. However, blessed
be God, I do not slack my labor. I can preach and write still." And
on June 28, his birthday, he further observes, " This day I enter into
my eighty-eighth year. For above eighty-six years, I found none of
the infirmities of old age: my eyes did not wax dim, neither was my
natural strength abated. But last August, I found almost a sudden
change: my eyes were so dim that no glasses would help me; my
strength likewise quite forsook me, and probably will not return in
this world. But I feel no pain from head to foot, only it seems nature
is exhausted, and, humanly speaking, will sink more and more, till
"' The weary springs of life stand still at last.'"
After this he began to sink—was confined to his own room
and his bed; and I will let Dr. Whitehead finish the melan¬
choly narrative, which terminates, however, in the triumphant
Christian death of John Wesley :—
He asked what the words were from which he had preached a little
before at Hampstead. Being told they were these: "For ye
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might
be rich," he replied, " That is the foundation, the only foundation,
and there is no other."—This day I desired he might be asked if he
would have any other physician called in to attend him; but this he
absolutely refused. It is remarkable that he suffered so little pain,
never complaining of any during his illness, but once of a pain in his
breast. This was a restless night.—Tuesday morning, he sang two
verses of a hymn: then lying still, as if to recover strength, he called
for pen and ink; but when it was brought he could not write. A
person said, " Let me write for you, sir: tell me what you would say."
He replied, "Nothing, but that God is with us." In the forenoon he
said, "I will get up." While they were preparing his clothes, he
broke out, in a manner that astonished all who were about him, in
singing,
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
65
I'll praise my Maker while I've breath,
And when my voice is lost in death
Praise shall employ my nobler powers:
My days of praise shall ne'er be past
While life, and thought, and being last,
Or immortality endures!
Havitig got him into his chair, they observed him change for death
But he, regardless of his dying body, said with a weak voice, "Lord,
thou givest strength to those who can speak, and to those who cannot.
Speak, Lord, to all our hearts, and let them know that thou loosest
tongues." He then sang,
To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Who sweetly all agree—
Here his voice failed. After gasping for breath, he said, "Now we
have done all." He was then laid on the bed, from whence he rose
no more. After resting a little, he called to those who were with him
"to pray and praise." Soon after he said, "Let me be buried in
nothing but what is woollen, and let my corpse be carried in my
coffin into the chapel." And again called upon them to "pray
and praise;" and taking each by the hand, and affectionately
saluting them, bade them farewell. Attempting afterwards to say
something which they could not understand, he paused a little, and
then, with all the remaining strength he had, said, " The best of all
is, God is with us." And again; lifting his hand, he repeated the
same words in a holy triumph, " The best of all is, God is with us."
Something being given him to moisten his lips, he said, " It will not
do: we must take the consequence. Never mind the poor carcase."
Being told that his brother's widow was come, he said, "He giveth
his servants rest;" thanked her as she pressed his hand, and affec¬
tionately endeavored to kiss her. His lips being again wet, he re¬
peated his usual grace after a meal: "We thank thee, 0 Lord, for
these and all thy mercies: bless the Church and King, grant us truth
and peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord." After some pause, he
said, "The clouds drop fatness. The Lord is with us: the God of
Jacob is our refuge." He again called them to prayer, and appeared
fervently to join in their petitions.
Most of the following night he often attempted to repeat the psalm
before mentioned, but could only get out, "I'll praise! I'll praise!"
On Wednesday morning his end drew near. Mr. Bradford, his old
and faithful friend, who, with the affection of a son, had attended him
for many years, now prayed with him; and the last word he was
heard to articulate was, " Farewell!" A few minutes before ten, on
the second day of March, while a number of friends were kneeling
around his bed, died Mr. John Wesley, without a groan. He was in
the eighty-eighth year of his age, had been sixty-five years in the
ministry; and the preceding pages will be a lasting memorial of his
uncommon zeal, diligence, and usefulness in his Master's work for
more than half a century. His death was an admirable close of so
laborious and useful a life.
66
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED,
March the 9th was the day appointed for his interment. The
preachers then in London, to my utter astonishment, insisted that 1
should deliver the funeral discourse; and the executors afterwards
approved of the appointment. The intention was to carry the corpse
into the chapel, and place it in a raised situation before the pulpit
during the service. But the crowds which came to see the body while
it lay in the coffin, both in the private house, and especially in the
chapel the day before the funeral, were so great that his friends were
apprehensive of a tumult if they should proceed on the plan first in¬
tended. It was therefore resolved, the evening before, to bury him
between five and six in the morning. Though the time of notice to
his friends was short, and the design itself was spoken of with great
caution, yet a considerable number of persons attended at that early
hour. The late Rev. Mr. Richardson, who now lies with him in the
same vault, read the funeral service, in a manner that made it pecu¬
liarly affecting. The discourse, which was afterwards printed, was
delivered in the chapel, at the hour appointed in the forenoon, to an
astonishing multitude of people, among whom were many ministers
of the gospel, both of the Establishment and the Dissenters. The
audience was still and solemn as night; and all seemed to carry away
with them enlarged views of Mr. Wesley's character, and serious im¬
pressions of the importance of religion and the utility of Methodism.
The death of Mr. Wesley attracted the public notice beyond any
former example, perhaps, of a clergyman, however dignified. It
being generally known that he died as he had lived, and evinced in
death the uprightness and integrity of his life, the impression on the
public mind in favor of his character and of Methodism was almost
universal; so that some persons said Mr. Wesley will do more good
by his death than he did in his whole life. This, however, is certain,
that a door of usefulness was now opened to the Methodist preachers
unknown at any former period.
The following inscription, though in my judgment not worthy of
Mr. Wesley, has since his interment been put on his tomb:—
To the Memory of
The Venerable John Wesley, A. M.,
Late Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford.
This Great Light arose
(By the singular Providence of God)
To enlighten these Nations,
And to revive, enforce, and defend
The Pure, Apostolical Doctrines and Practices of
The PRIMITIVE CHURCH:
Which he continued to do, by his Writings and his
Labors,
For more than Half a Century:
And, to his inexpressible Joy,
Not only beheld their Influence extending,
And their Efficacy witnessed,
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
67
In the hearts and Lives of Many Thousands,
As well in the Western World, as in these
Kingdoms:
But also, far above all human Power or Expectation,
Lived to see Provision made, by the singular Grace
of God,
For their Continuance and Establishment,
To the Joy of future Generations !
Reader, if thou art constrained to bless the Instrument,
Give God the Glory !
After having languished a few days, He at length finished
his Course and his Life together: gloriously
triumphing over Death, March 2, An.
Bom. 1791, in the eighty-eighth Year
of his Age.
The following is the inscription on the marble tablet erected
to his memory in the chapel where he labored so long and so
successfully, City Road, London :—
JSamh to pernors
Of the Rev. JOHN WESLEY, M. A.,
Sometime Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford :
A Man in Learning and sincere Piety
Scarcely inferior to any:
In Zeal, Ministerial Labors, and extensive Usefulness,
Superior, perhaps, to all Men,
Since the days of St. Paul.
Regardless of Fatigue, personal Danger, and Disgrace,
He went out into the highways and hedges,
Calling Sinners to Repentance,
And Publishing the Gospel of Peace.
He was the Founder of the Methodist Societies,
And the chief Promoter and Patron
Of the Plan of Itinerant Preaching,
Which he extended through Great Britain and Ireland,
The West Indies,* and America,
With unexampled Success.
He was born the 17th of June, 1703 ;
And died the 2d of March, 1791,
In sure and certain hope of Eternal Life,
Through the Atonement and Mediation of a Crucified Saviour
He was sixty-five Years in the Ministry,
And fifty-two an Itinerant Preacher:
68 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
He lived to see, in these Kingdoms only,
About three hundred Itinerant,
And one thousand Local Preachers,
Raised up from the midst of his own People;
And eighty thousand Persons in the Societies under his care.
His Name will be ever had in grateful Remembrance
By all who rejoice in the universal Spread
Of the Gospel of Christ.
Soli Deo Gloria.
[Glory to God alone.]
INSCRIPTION ON HIS COFFIN :
JOHANNES WESLEY, A. M.,
Olim Soc. Coll. Lin. Oxon.
Ob. 2 do. die Martii, 1791.
An. 88.*
It would be superfluous, in closing ttis account of a man
at once so extraordinary and so great, to attempt any further
delineation of bis character, since this has been done so ably
by Messrs. Whitehead, Moore, and Watson, that nothing can
easily be added with good effect. I have enlarged to the ex¬
tent herein found, because this work will fall into many hands,
and be read by many persons, who otherwise might never see
the facts, and still be annoyed by quotations from the vile,
not to say infamous and slanderous production of J. R.
Graves! The injustice done to Mr. Wesley's memory by
the work I am replying to, is calculated to prepossess many a
youthful mind with strong and early prejudices against one
of the most devoted and the most honored ambassadors of
Christ that have ever graced any age or nation since the days
of the holy apostles. The influence of such prejudices can
only be met by a cheap work of this kind, extensively cir¬
culated, as I have reason to believe this will be. Moreover,
* "Jobn Wesley, Master of Arts, formerly Fellow of Lincoln College,
Oxford, died on the second day of March, 1791, in the eighty-eighth
year of his age."
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
69
in order to counteract the influence of such prejudices, even
against the Christian denomination of which that eminent
man was, under God, the founder, it has been of the utmost
importance that I should show who J. R. Graves is, and to
what degree of credit his assertions are entitled. This is at
once my apology and justification for the seeming severity and
manifest personalities I use.
The following description of Mr. Wesley's person, which is
taken from his life by Dr. Whitehead, will be full of interest
to most readers of the preceding pages; and certainly will be
more agreeable to those who are members of the great reli¬
gious family of which he was, under God, the father:—
The figure of Mr. Wesley was remarkable. His stature was low:
his habit of body, in every period of life, the reverse of corpulent,
and expressive of strict temperance and continual exercise; and not¬
withstanding his small size, his step was firm, and his appearance,
till within a few years of his death, vigorous and muscular. His
face, for an old man, was one of the/ finest we have seen. A clear,
smooth forehead, an aquiline nose, an eye the brightest and most
piercing that can be conceived, and a freshness of complexion scarcely
•tver to be found at his years, and impressive of the most perfect
health, conspired to render him a venerable and interesting figure.
Few have seen him without being struck with his appearance; and
many, who had been greatly prejudiced against him, have been known
to change their opinion the moment they were introduced into his
presence. In his countenance and demeanor, there was a cheerfulness
mingled with gravity; a sprightliness, which was the natural result
of an unusual flow of spirits, and yet was accompanied with every
mark of the most serene tranquillity. His aspect, particularly in
profile, had a strong character of astuteness and penetration.
In dress, he was a pattern of neatness and simplicity. A narrow
plaited stock, a coat with a small upright collar, no buckles at his
knees, no silk or velvet in any part of his apparel, and a head as
white as snow, gave an idea of something primitive and apostolic:
while an air of neatness and cleanliness was diffused over his whole
person.
But one eonclusive evidence of the greatness and good¬
ness of the deceased Wesley is, that, though dead and gone to
his reward in heaven, he is still the object of the most ma¬
lignant, wicked, and ungentlemanly abuse from sectarian
70
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
bigots of all Churches, and especially the pig-pen orators and
whisky-shop saints of the Baptist denomination! Go on, ye
insignificant revilers ! spit your venom at his fair fame, spew
your slime upon the escutcheon of his character, empty your
polluted stomachs of all the pent-up spleen that is in you, for
you carmot harm the illustrious dead. An enlightened public
know his history, his principles, his ability, and his unex¬
ampled usefulness; and the tongues and pens of slander can¬
not detract from either I
the great iron wheel examined.
71
CHAPTER IY.
Opposition to Methodism—Methodism "an accident, and of human
invention"—Methodism not the -work of design, but of Providence
—Mr. Wesley the author of Episcopacy—Ordination of Dr. Coke—
Deacons, elders, and bishops, considered as orders in the ministry
—Testimony of Clarke, Watson, Emory, Stillingfleet, and Dr. Miller,
in reference to Episcopacy—The Baptist the only Church of Christ
on earth!
The gross misstatements of Lord John Russell, both in the
British Parliament and through the press, and of other
designing politicians and wicked men, show that Methodism
has been a prominent object of attack by the enemies of
Christianity, as well in Europe as in America. Sectarian
bigotry, too, and ambitious and corrupt clergymen, have never
ceased their warfare against Methodism, as may be seen by a
reference to the coarse and bitter attacks of such men as
J. R. Graves. In America, as also in Europe, her doctrines
were first assailed, and then her polity. But on both conti¬
nents, and in each case, she has maintained her ground; and
the struggle has both added to her strength and increased her
glory.
That objections and anathemas should be gravely thrown
out against the ecclesiastical economy of Methodism, by Epis¬
copalians and Presbyterians, and other sects having themselves
forms of Church government, might reasonably enough be
expected; but for Baptists, whose government is "without
72 the great iron wheel examined
form and void," as was our eartli before tbe Creator restored
it to order, to be lecturing against tbe government of tbe
Metbodist Cburcb, is certainly ridiculous 1
The loud and often-reiterated clamor of heresy in doctrines,
bad scarcely died upon tbe ear of Methodism, until she was
able to discover, from pretty clear and unequivocal indications,
that it bad only yielded to a different mode of attack; and
that, while opposition was thus changing its character, it was
abating nothing, either of its rancor or its activity. As
Methodists, we can boast, with the Reformers of the sixteenth
cehtury, that the popular voice is with us in doctrines; and
a knowledge of this fact on the part of other denominations
has forced them to take our doctrines kindly by the hand,
and bid them God-speed ! No sooner did this suspension of
hostilities against our doctrines take place, than an open attack
upon our Church government was brought about.
I am within bounds, I think, when I affirm, as I now do,
that 800 out of the 570 pages of Elder Graves's book, are
abuse and misrepresentation of the government of the Method¬
ist Episcopal Church; and as much of this is a repetition of
the same slang, some original, some from other authors, both
with and without credit, I need only take up the main points,
and in answering these, I answer the whole work.
On page 66, Elder Graves charges — "Methodism is an
accident—Mr. "Wesley was opposed to Episcopacy—did not
believe in three orders—the system of Methodism is purely
of human invention."
And on page 73, in continuing the subject, he says: "We
understand by Episcopacy, three separate and distinct
orders in the ministry, and that of Bishops as the third
order, possessing a divine right to overrule all."
1. The evidence is before the world, that the distinguished
founder of Methodism was fully qualified for and regularly
called to his work a work which has proved to be eminently
the great iron wheel examined.
78
the work of God; and whether by "accident" or design,
matters not.
2. The measures and means adopted by Mr. "Wesley for
carrying on this work were sanctioned of G-od, for the spirit¬
ual good of mankind, to an extent that no other man's labors
have been since the days of the apostles. But Mr. Wesley
Was led into this work without any previously digested plan
of his own, and was conducted forward, not by "accident,"
Out by the indications of Divine providence and grace.
3. Mr. Wesley was so far from setting out in his career, as
charged by this man Graves, with a view of putting himself
at the head of a sect, that his sole object was to do good—to
revive primitive Christianity in the Established Church, of
which he was a minister, in conformity to the letter and spirit
of its own articles of faith and formularies of devotion, which
had been shamefully departed from and neglected for years.
And for this work he was fiercely opposed, and bitterly perse¬
cuted, by the corrupt, dissipated, and carnal clergy of his own
Established Church, as well as by the Dissenters and papists,
who were still more corrupt, and with whose loose code of
morals Mr. Wesley's teachings were at war, as they still are
with the manner of life led by J. R. Graves ! Here a crisis
arose in Mr. Wesley's affairs, which forced him either to act
contrary to the teachings of God's word and Spirit, and relin¬
quish his good-begun work, or to become the leader of a new
and a distinct sect. He chose the latter, as I think,
wisely; for which bad men and designing hypocrites will long
continue to abuse him, and for which good men and true will
as long admire him in this life, and multiplied thousands will
bless God for it in eternity! Well may I exclaim, in the
delightfully poetic language of Charles Wesley—
When he first the work begun,
Small and feeble was his day:
Now the word doth swiftly run,
Now it wins its widening way.
4
74
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
4. Nor is Methodism, though, "an accident," indebted for
any part of this success to any unworthy compromise with
either the follies, the errors, or the vices of the age. In a
steady, firm, and uncompromising opposition to them all, and in
zealous and persevering efforts for the recovery of those who
have been unhappily lured into their destructive paths, she
yields to no other Church in Europe or America. She has
interposed her instructions, her exhortations, her prayers and
her tears, between the impious offenders of God's laws, and
the dreadful catastrophe with which they were threatened;
and without regard to rank, character, wealth, or circum¬
stances, she has pursued the vicious into all their retreats.
Into the most degraded abodes of human wretchedness she
has found her way, and has been made the honored instru¬
ment of diffusing, with distinguished and unequalled success,
the blessings of the gospel of peace j to which blessings, in all
probability, they would have remained entire strangers, but
for the existence of " an accident!"
5. From among the miners and colliers of Europe, and the
poor of America, and the poor everywhere, for whose souls
none seemed to care, she has succeeded in rescuing thousands
from the dominion of destructive habits, and from the very
confines of a dreadful ruin j and if to be the instrument of
converting multitudes from the error of their ways, and of
turning them from Satan to God, be desirable and praise¬
worthy, in this honor a Church, the creature of "an accident,"
has participated more largely than any other in the land.
Indeed, some of her brightest ornaments are those wbo,
through her instrumentality, have been rescued from igno¬
rance, obscurity, and vice. And there are, at this day, thou¬
sands in the communion of the Baptist Church who arc
indebted, under God, to the influence of Methodism, not only
for their awakening and conversion, but for the essential im¬
provement of their morals; though the "accident" of immer•
the great iron wheel examined. 75
si on, as introduced into tlie United States by old Zehe Holli-
man, in Rhode Island, induced them to go in search of " a
more excellent way"—the route by water! This ends my
"chapter of accidents," at least for the^resent.
I shall now proceed to speak of the providential origin of
all the peculiar institutions of Methodism, and indeed of her
whole ecclesiastical superstructure. Boldly as the opposite
has been asserted, and often as that assertion bas been reite¬
rated, I hesitate not to say that the Church does not exist, in
the institutions and government of which there is to be found
less of human contrivance and worldly policy, than in the
Methodist Episcopal Church. It is so far from being true
that we are indebted to any previous calculation and manage¬
ment of Mr. "Wesley, such as Mr. Graves styles "human
invention," for our excellent and scriptural institutions, that
he never for one moment contemplated the organization of a
separate Church, or even the formation of societies, as shown
in the opening of this chapter. Mr. Wesley set out influenced
by the single and engrossing purpose of doing good. And so
ardent was his zeal, that neither a parish nor a realm could
set limits to it: the world was his field of labor. And
while he was steadily pursuing his toilsome way, a providence,
evidently to himself as extraordinary as unlooked for, gave
birth, in regular succession, to that variety of most excellent
institutions by which Methodism has been always so greatly
distinguished: to the organization of societies, lay preachers,
a regular itinerancy, class-meetings, band-meetings, love-
feasts, watch-nights, etc.) until he, no less than others, was
astonished to behold a system unfolding itself, which, for cor¬
rectness of symmetry and beauty of proportion, was unequalled
by any thing that had preceded it. Nor was it, as already
stated, the result of previous theoretical speculations, or of
conversational deliberations. Each arrangement grew up out
of the necessities of the case, and was adopted from a prac-
76
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
tical demonstration of its utility; and the providence by which
many of them were introduced, had even the prejudices of
Mr. Wesley himself to overcome in their establishment. Even
our "Episcopacy" had the weighty argument of necessity to
recommend it, and was adopted as the best alternative—the
wisest expedient—that in an urgent and important case could
be thought of. Nor did Mr. Wesley claim any other merit in
relation to any of the institutions of Methodism, than that
of rightly interpreting the indications, and embracing and
following up the openings, of the special providence by which
the whole business was evidently superintended.
Not a great many years after the separate organization in
America took place, a third branch of the same family was
organized in Canada. The local circumstances of the three
branches of the Wesleyan family rendered it necessary for
each to control its own concerns, for the furtherance of the
general work ; but this never implied any difference in matters
of faith and doctrine—only in government and internal regu¬
lations. When the American Episcopal organization took
place, in 1784, Mr. Wesley endorsed it, and said of the
societies : " They are now at full liberty simply to follow the
Scriptures and the primitive Church; and we judge it best
that they should stand fast in the liberty wherewith God has
so strangely set them free."*
The intelligent reader will perceive that it is not at all
necessary for me to examine the whole of the regulations
which Mr. Wesley framed and recommended to the Methodist
societies in America, but to notice the prominent feature
assailed by this man Graves, to wit, the episcopal office. It
is, in effect, stoutly denied by Graves that Mr. Wesley ever
established that ofi&ce in the Methodist Church in America;
and he asserts, in so many words, that our episcopal form of
* London edition of Moore's Life of Wesley, vol. ii. p. 327.
the great iron wheel examined.
77
government is a surreptitious addition to tlie rules and regu¬
lations of Mr. Wesley. Tlie facts connected with what is
called Methodist Episcopacy I will set forth in the words of
English Wesleyan writers themselves, whose testimony no
sane man will call in question. The Rev. Mr. Drew, editor
of the Imperial Magazine, states the whole case thus:
Mr. Wesley was now far advanced in years, and having made provi¬
sion for the government of the societies in England after his decease,
he thought this a providential call for something of a similar nature
to he done for America. Having therefore weighed with much deli¬
beration the various circumstances in which his transatlantic followers
were placed, he was perfectly satisfied that the form of government
which he had provided for England was by no means adapted for
America. And, finally, it was obvious to him that no form of govern¬
ment could be acceptable unless it included a satisfactory authority,
vested in the preachers, to administer baptism and the Lord's supper.
And nothing of this kind could possibly be permanent unless some
general superintendent should be appointed: in the first instance from
hence to transmit that authority to posterity, by what name soever
he might be distinguished.
To accomplish these purposes, after revolving all the possible forms
of Church government in his mind, he could find none so well adapted
to the exigencies of their condition as that which is episcopal. On
this, therefore, he finally fixed his eye; and proceeded to take mea¬
sures for executing his resolution. This resolution was, however, not
the result of a momentary impulse. More than a year had elapsed
since he had begun to revolve it in his mind; during which time he
had communicated his thoughts to several persons. But how formi¬
dable soever the objections were which any one could raise, he found
none equal in magnitude to the evil that his plan was designed to
remedy; and he could learn from none a better form than that which
he was about to adopt.
The zeal, the activity, and the piety which Dr. Coke had for several
years manifested, both in England and Ireland, in conjunction with
his being a regularly ordained minister of the Church of England, all
combined to point him out to Mr. Wesley as the most suitable person
in the connection to engage in this arduous work, and to assume that
character with which he was about to invest him. Accordingly, in
the month of February, 1784, he called Dr. Coke into his private
chamber, and, after some preparatory observations, introduced the
important subject to him in nearly the following manner:
"That as the revolution in America had separated the United States
from the mother country for ever, and the Episcopal Establishment
was utterly abolished, the societies had been represented to him as in
a most deplorable condition. That an appeal had also been made to
him through Mr. Asbury, in which he was requested to provide for
78
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
them some mode of Church government suited to their exigencies;
and that, having long and seriously revolved the subject in his
thoughts, he intended to adopt the plan 'which he was now about to
unfold. That as he had invariably endeavored, in every step he had
taken, to keep as closely to the Bible as possible, so on the present
occasion he hoped he was not about to deviate from it. That, keep¬
ing his eye upon the conduct of the primitive Churches in the ages
of unadulterated Christianity, he had much admired the mode of
ordaining bishops which the Church of Alexandria had practiced.
That, to preserve its purity, that Church would never suffer the
interference of a foreign bishop in any of their ordinations; but that
the presbyters of that venerable apostolic Church, on the death of a
bishop, exercised the right of ordaining another from their own body,
by the laying on of their own hands; and that this practice continued
among them for two hundred years, till the days of Dionysius. And,
finally, that being himself a presbyter, he wished Dr. Coke to accept
ordination from his hands, and to proceed in that character to the
continent of America, to superintend the societies in the United
States."
Dr. Coke was at first startled at a measure so unprecedented in
modern days; and he expressed some doubts as to the validity of Mr.
Wesley's authority to constitute so important an appointment. But
the arguments of Lord King, which had proselyted Mr. Wesley, were
recommended to his attention; and time was allowed him to delibe¬
rate on the result. Two months, however, had scarcely elapsed, before
he wrote to Mr. Wesley, informing him that his objections were
silenced, and that he was ready to cooperate with him in any way
that was calculated to promote the glory of God and the good of
souls.
At the ensuing Conference, which was held in Leeds, 1784, Mr.
Wesley stated his intention to the preachers present; and from that
period he considered the appointment as actually made, although the
ratification did not take place until a few days afterward. At this
Conference Mr. Whatcoat and Mr. Yasey offered their services to
accompany Dr. Coke in the character of missionaries; and being
accepted, they became his companions in his first voyage to America.
When the Conference in Leeds in 1784 ended, Mr. Wesley repaired
to Bristol, and Dr. Coke to London, to make arrangements for his
departure. He had not, however, been long in London before he
received a letter from Mr. Wesley, requesting him to repair immedi¬
ately to Bristol, to receive fuller powers; and to bring with him the
Rev. Mr. Creighton, a regularly ordained minister, who had long
officiated in Mr. Wesley's chapels in London, and assisted him in
various branches of his ministerial duties. "The Doctor and Mr.
Creighton accordingly met him in Bristol, when, with their assistance,
he ordained Mr. Richard Whatcoat and Mr. Thomas Vasey presbyters
for America; and, being peculiarly attached to every rite of the Church
of England, did afterward ordain Dr. Coke a superintendent, giving
him letters of ordination under his hand and seal." Of these letters
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
79
of ordination the following is a faithful copy, carefully transcribed
from the original in Mr. Wesley's own handwriting, preserved among
the papers of the late Dr. Coke:
"To all to whom these presents shall come, John Wesley, late
Fellow of Lincoln College in Oxford, Presbyter of the Church of
England, sendeth greeting.
"Whereas, many of the people in the southern provinces of North
America, who desire to continue under my care, and still adhere to
the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, are greatly'
distressed for want of ministers to administer the sacraments of
baptism and the Lord's supper, according to the usage of the same
Church; and whereas, there does not appear to be any other way of
supplying them with ministers—
"Know all men that I, John Wesley, think myself to be providen¬
tially called at this time to set apart some persons for the work of the
ministry in America. And therefore, under the protection of Almighty
God, and with a single eye to his glory, I have this day set apart as a
Superintendent, by the imposition of my hands and prayer, (being
assisted by other ordained ministers,) Thomas Coke, Doctor of Civil
Law, a Presbyter of the Church of England, and a man whom I
judge to be well qualified for that great work. And I do hereby
recommend him to all whom it may concern, as a fit person to preside
over the flock of Christ. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this second day of September, in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four.
"John Wesley."
Thus far Mr. Drew has gone. On the foregoing I beg
leave to offer the following remarks, and ask the candid
reader to consider them :
1. It clearly appears that the ordination which Mr. Wesley
requested Dr. Coke to accept at his hands, and which he did
accept, was the ordination of a bishop, and was the same
with that which was performed by the presbyters of the
Church of Alexandria for more than two hundred years.
2. This same ordination Mr. Wesley calls the 11 ordaining
of bishops;" and although he chose to distinguish those
whom he set apart by the imposition of hands, being assisted
by other presbyters, by the title of superintendents for the
government of the societies in America, he considered them
officers of the Church precisely similar to those whom he eall3
bishops in the Church of Alexandria!
80
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
3. Dr. Coke was already a regularly ordained presbyter or
elder, wbicb is substantially tbe same, of tbe Cburcb of Eng¬
land : it would, therefore, have been nothing but solemn
xtfockery for Mr. Wesley to have ordained the Doctor a pres¬
byter a second time, had he not intended to set apart Dr.
Coke to an office of a higher grade, or, to say the least of it,
one altogether distinct from an ordinary presbyter or elder.
Besides, Dr. Coke believing his ordination as a presbyter of
the Church of England to be scriptural and valid, he would
not have submitted to a second ordination at the hands of any
man, no, not even the Lord Bishop of London.
4. It is as clear as a noonday's sun that the office with
which Mr. Wesley invested Dr. Coke was quite different from
that to which he appointed Messrs. Whatcoat and Yasey; and
these he calls at different times "presbyters," or "elders."
Dr. Coke's office, then, was the episcopal office, and he him¬
self was a bishop ever after this last ordination, though Mr.
Wesley styled him a General Superintendent of the societies
in America.
5. Mr. Wesley, as I have more than once asserted, was
peculiarly attached to every rite of the Church of England,
and wished to conform the government of the societies in
America, as nearly as possible, to the rites of that Cburcb,
without entangling them with the national establishment,
and hence he called Dr. Coke superintendent. With a view
to this he ordained him. And if Dr. Coke's office were
not designed to answer to the episcopal office in the Church
of England, Mr. Wesley was not able to employ words
expressive of his meaning!
6. Mr. Wesley felt perfectly satisfied, from the practice of
the Church of Alexandria, and that of the apostolic Churches,
that the right of ordination was possessed by the presbyters,
or elders; that they had a right jointly to invest any one of
their own number with the episcopal office; that the person
the great iron wheel examined.
81
bo ordained was not advanced to a degree of spiritual autho¬
rity which he did not possess before, but was only set apart
to a more extensive ecclesiastical jurisdiction, for the general
good of the Church, by the solemn ordinance of the imposi¬
tion of hands and prayer.
7. All these circumstances taken together will, I feel
confident, satisfy the candid and intelligent reader—and I
address myself to no other class of persons—that the episcopal
office in the Methodist Church is of Mr. Wesley's own ap¬
pointment, and that all statements to the contrary are founded
in gross error or a love of lying !
8. Mr. Wesley abridged the form of Common Prayer for
the use of the " Methodists in North America," had the work
printed in 1784, by his own press in London, and sent it over
by Dr. Coke. In this work he also gives the forms for
ordaining ministers, which Dr. Coke, Mr. Asbury, and others
used. The jirst ministerial office named is entitled, "The
form and manner of making of Deacons." The second office
is, "The form and manner of ordaining of Elders." The
third is, "The form and manner of ordaining a Superin¬
tendent."
9. To these facts and arguments I will now add the testi¬
mony of the English Wesleyan Magazine for 1825, page 183 :
Mr. Wesley, in point of fact, did ordain bishops for the American
societies, though he intended them to be called superintendents.
Whether the name (bishop) had or had not the sanction of Mr. Wes¬
ley, is now of the least possible consequence, as the Episcopacy itself
teas of his own creating. Mr. Wesley's intimate friend and biographer
says: "Mr. Wesley gave to the episcopoi (bishops) whom he ordained
the modest but highly expressive title of superintendents, and desired
that no other might be used. That God has greatly blessed this boon
(Episcopacy) to the American societies, is evident by their great and
continued increase. The numbers in the various societies, when Dr.
Coke went over, were about fifteen thousand. Six years after they had
increased to nearly seventy thousand; and in the year 1820 they were
two hundred and eighty thousand!" They are now nearly four hundred
thousand.
"About this period," (1784,) says the Rev. Jonathan Crowther, in
4*
82 the great iron wheel examined.
(lis New and Complete Portraiture of Methodism, "Mr. Wesley, assisted
by other ministers, set apart Dr. Coke, and by him Mr. Asbury, to be
bishops or superintendents of what was henceforth termed the Method¬
ist Episcopal Church in America: as also Thomas Yasey and Richard
Whatcoat to act as elders among them;" and in the second English
edition of this work, p. 413, Mr. Crowther observes: "Dr. Coke was
ordained bishop, and brothers Whatcoat and Yasey presbyters.'"
10. If tlie setting apart of superintendents, as such, were
not intended by Mr. Wesley to establish the ordination of
such an order of ministers among us, neither was the setting
apart of deacons and elders intended to establish those orders.
Similar forms and solemnities were recommended for the
former as for the latter. Any sensible man-who will examine
this Prayer Book will say, either that Mr. Wesley intended
to establish the ordination of an order of superintendents, to
act as hishops in fact, though with the title of usuperintend¬
ents," or that he did not intend to establish the ordination
of any orders of ministers at all; and that Bishops Coke and
Asbury, and their successors in the Episcopacy, utterly mis¬
took the whole matter!
11. The late lamented Bishop Emory records the follow¬
ing, of his own knowledge :
At the British Conference held in Liverpool, in 1820, we heard the
profoundly learned Dr. Adam Clarke, and Rev. Richard Watson,
that most amiable and eloquent divine, express themselves publicly
before the Conference, in relation to our Episcopact/, as a true, actual,
scriptural Episcopacy, of the most genuine and apostolic kind.
Finally, other authorities might be added to the same effect,
and I have them at command; but it is presumed that the
above are quite sufficient to satisfy all candid minds that Mr.
Wesley did ordain Dr. Coke bishop. And if Elder Graves
had had any regard for truth, or his own moral character, he
would never have published that Mr. Wesley did not estab¬
lish Episcopacy among the Methodists in America.
As to the terms bishop and superintendent, the one is
derived from the Greek, the other from the Latin tongue;
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
83
but tbey signify precisely the same thing in the original, as
well as in the English. I need not extend this chapter to
adduce authorities on this point. If the reader si. ould wish
to pursue it further, he is referred to any common English
lexicon, especially Johnson's Quarto Dictionary, where he
will find the meaning of these words illustrated by several
examples; to Bishop Emory's "Defence of our Fathers," page
66; to Parkhurst's Greek Lexicon, on the word episcopos;
to Dr. Adam Clarke's Commentary on 1 Tim. chap. iii. v. 2;
and to the Critica Biblica, vol. iii. page 209, London edition.
Bishop Emory says: "When the title bishop was introduced
into the minutes, in 1788, it was sanctioned by the Conference,
as meaning precisely the same thing with superintendent."
See Emory's Defence, page 49.
Mr. Wesley disapproved of the term bishop, not because
he was opposed to the office—for he considered it, to use his
own words, " well agreeing with the writings and practice of
the apostles," and, as I have shown in the preceding pages,
appointed it for the furtherance of the work of God in Ame¬
rica—not because such a title was inapplicable or unscrip-
tural, for it is both appropriate and scriptural, and it is used
by Presbyterians at the present day. In Dr. Samuel Miller's
Letters, etc., page 9, this paragraph will be found :—" In the
form of government of the Presbyterian Church, the pastors
of the churches are expressly styled bishops, and this title is
recommended to be retained, as both scriptural and appro¬
priate." See also the Presbyterian "Digest-Book of Dis¬
cipline," on the regulations to be observed in the " translation
of a bishop from one church to another."
It is not true, as stated by Mr. Graves, that the Methodists
teach that "bishops are a third order, possessing a divine
right to overrule all." Methodists acknowledge two orders
only of ministers, deacons and elders, and a superior minister
denominated a bishop, possessing a delegated jurisdiction,
84
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
chiefly of an executive character. When the Methodists or¬
dain a bishop, they only intend to confer upon him fuller
powers, fo"/ the government of the Church, than they do upon
those whom they denominate deacons and elders. And if the
word order is applied to bishops as above defined, they are
willing to have it understood that they acknowledge three
orders of ministers—deacons, elders, and bishops. For in the
use of the term order, the Methodists mean nothing more, in
this connection, than that bishops are invested by consent of
the eldership with a power to preside over the flock of Christ,
and to discharge other duties not so convenient for the elders
or presbyters to discharge. They believe, moreover, that the
primitive Church, in the age immediately succeeding the
apostles, recognized an order of ministers denominated evan¬
gelists ; that these were really itinerating superintendents,
having a general oversight of the whole Church; and that
these differed but little, if any, from the bishops of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States!
The Irenicum of Dr. Stillingfleet, subsequently Bishop
Stilling fleet, will be admitted to rank and distinction in
America equal in celebrity, as an ecclesiastical work, to the
"Iron Wheel" of a second-rate Baptist preacher, both of
limited acquirements and doubtful veracity. The object of
Stillingfleet in this work, as he avows, was to discuss and
examine the divine right of the different forms of Church
government—contrasting them with the positive laws of God,
the practice of the apostles and the primitive Church, citing
all the best authorities then extant. For ability, excellence
of temper, and sound scriptural views, his work certainly has
no equal in Protestant Christendom.
I assert (says Dr. Stillingfleet) any particular form of government
agreed on by the governors of the Church, consonant to the general
rules of Scripture, to be by divine right; that is, God, by his own
laws, hath given men a power and liberty to determine the particular
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
85
form of Churcli government among them. And hence it may appear
that though one form of government he agreeable to the word, it
doth not follow that another is not, or because one is lawful, another
is unlawful; but one form may be more agreeable, to some parts,
places, people, and times, than others are. In which case, that form
of government is to be settled which is most agreeable to the present
state of a place, and is most advantageously conducible to the pro¬
moting the ends of Church government in that place or nation.—
Irenicum, pp. 9, 10. 2d edit. Lond., 1662.
Matters of fact, and mere apostolical practice, may, I freely grant,
receive much light from the records of succeeding ages; but they can
never give a man's understanding sufficient ground to infer any divine
law arising from those facts attested to by the practice or records of
succeeding ages.—Ibid, p. 151.
In relation to arguments drawn from the testimony of antiquity,
before their authority can be admitted in this controversy, Dr. Stil-
lingfleet affirms : These things must be manifested,—that such things
were unquestionably the practice of those ages and persons; that their
practice was the same as the apostles; that what they did was not from
any prudential motives, but by virtue of a- law which did bind them to
that practice. "Which things are easily passed over by the most eager
disputers of the controversy about Church government; but how ne¬
cessary they are to be proved, before any form of government be
asserted—so necessary, that without it there can be no true Church—■
any weak understanding may discern.—Ibid, p. 152.
The reason of apostolical practice binds still, though not the indivi¬
dual action: that as they regulated churches for the best conveniency
of governing them, so should the pastors of churches now.—Ibid, p. 181.
Any one particular form of government in the Church is neither
expressed in any direct terms by Christ, nor can be deduced by just
consequence; therefore, no such form of government is instituted by
Christ.—Ibid, p. 182.
The extending of any ministerial power is not the appointing of any
new office; because every minister of the gospel hath a relation in
actuprimo [primarily] to the whole Church of God—the restraint and
enlargement of which power is subject to positive determinations of
prudence and conveniency; and therefore if the Church see it fit for
some men to have this power enlarged, for better government in
some, and restrained in others, that enlargement is the appointing no
new office, but the making use of a power already enjoyed for the
benefit of the Church of God. This being a foundation tending so
fully to clear the lawfulness of that government in the Church* which
implies a superiority and subordination of the officers of the Church
to one another, and the Church, using her prudence in ordering the
bounds of her officers, I shall do these two ' things: First, Show that
the power of every minister of the gospel doth primarily and habit¬
ually respect the Church in common; secondly, That the Church may,
in a peculiar manner, single out some of its officers for the due ad¬
ministration of ecclesiastical power.—Ibid, p. 195.
86
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
The officers of the Church may, in a peculiar manner, attribute a
larger and more extensive power to some particular persons, for the
more convenient exercise of their common power—grant to some the
executive part of that power, which is originally and fundamentally
common to them all. For our better understanding of this, we must
consider a twofold power belonging to church officers—a power of
order and a power of jurisdiction.—Ibid, p. 197.
Under this distinction, he shows that though every presbyter, prima¬
rily and inherently, as to order, possesses a capacity for the highest
ministerial acts, yet some further authority is necessary in a church
constituted [or organized] besides the power of order; and when this
power, either by consent of the pastors of the church, or by the ap¬
pointment of a Christian magistrate, or both, is devolved to some
particular persons, though quoad aptitudinem [as to the capacity or
fitness] the power remain in every presbyter, yet quoad executionem
[as to the actual discharge or execution of it] it belongs to those who
are so appointed. And therefore Camero determines that ordination
doth not belong to the power of order, but to the power of jurisdic¬
tion, and therefore is subject to positive restraints, by prudential de¬
terminations. By this we may understand how lawful the exercise
of an episcopal power may be in the Church of God, supposing an
equality in all church officers as to the power of order; and how in¬
congruously they speak who, supposing an equality in the presbyters
of churches at first, do cry out that the Church takes upon her the
office of Christ, if she delegates any to a more peculiar exercise of the
power of jurisdiction.—Ibid, pp. 197—8.
When the apostles were taken out of the way, who kept the main
power in their own hands of ruling the several presbyteries, or dele¬
gated some to do it, (who had a main hand in planting churches with
the apostles, and thence are called in Scripture sometimes fellow-
laborers in the Lord, and sometimes evangelists, and by Theodoret
apostles, but of a second order)—after, I say, these were deceased, and
the main power left in the presbyteries, the several presbyters enjoy¬
ing an equal power among themselves, the wiser and graver sort con¬
sidered the abuses following the promiscuous use of this power of
ordination; and withal, having in their minds the excellent frame of
the government of the Church under the apostles and their deputies,
and for preventing of future schisms and divisions among themselves,
they unanimously agreed to choose one out of their number who was
best qualified for the management of so great a trust, and to devolve
the exercise of the power of ordination and jurisdiction to him; yet so
as that he act nothing of importance without the consent and concurrence
of the presbyters, who were still to be as the common council to the
bishop. This I take to be the true and just account of the original
of episcopacy in the primitive Church, according to Jerome: which
model of government, thus contrived and framed, sets forth to us a
most lively character of that great wisdom and moderation which then
ruled the heads and hearts of the primitive Christians, and which,
when men have studied and searched all other ways, (the abuses incident
the great iron wheel examined.
87
to this government through the corruptions of men and times being
retrenched,) will be found the most agreeable to the primitive form, both
as asserting the due interest of the presbyteries, and allowing the due
honor of episcopacy; and, by the great harmony of both, carrying on
the affairs of the Church with the greatest unity, concord, and
peace. Which form of government, I cannot see how any possible reason
can be produced by either party why they may not with cheerfulness em¬
brace it.—Ibid, pp. 281-2.
Thus we have once more cleared Jerome and the truth together.
I only wish that all that are of his judgment for the practice of the
primitive Church were of his temper for the practice of their own;
and while they own not episcopacy as necessary by a divine right, yet
(being duly moderated, and joined with presbyteries) they may em¬
brace it, as not only a lawful, but very useful constitution in the
Church of God. By which we may see what an excellent temper may
be found out most fully consonant to the primitive Church for the
management of ordinations and church power; namely, by the presi¬
dency op the bishop and the concurrence op the presbytery.
Ibid, p. 283.
Dr. Samuel Miller, a divine of acknowledged talents
and learning, and a writer on whose researches all parties
may rely, informs us that among those who espouse the epis¬
copal side upon the question of Church government, there
are two classes who make themselves prominent. Here is
what he says of these classes :—
The first consists of those who believe that neither Christ nor his
apostles laid down any particular form of ecclesiastical government to
which the Church is bound to adhere in all ages—that every Church
is free, consistently with the Divine will, to frame her constitution
agreeably to her own views, to the state of society, and to the exi¬
gencies of particular times. These prefer the episcopal government,
and some of them believe that it was the primitive form; but they
consider it as resting on the ground of human expediency alone, and
not of Divine appointment. This is well known to have been the
opinion of Archbishops Cranmer, Grindal, and Whitgift; of Bishop
Leighton, of Bishop Jewel, of Dr. Whitaker, of Bishop Reynolds, of
Archbishop Tillotson, of Bishop Burnet, of Bishop Croft, of Dr. Stil-
lingfleet, and of a long list of the most learned and pious divines of the
Church of England, from the Reformation down to the present day.
Another class of Episcopalians go farther. They suppose that the
government of the Church by bishops, as a superior order to presby¬
ters, was sanctioned by apostolic example, and that it is the duty of
all churches to imitate this example. But while they consider Epis¬
copacy as necessary to the perfection of the Church, they grant that
88
TOE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
it is by no means necessary to her existence; and accordingly, without
hesitation, acknowledge as true Churches of Christ many in which the
Episcopal doctrine is rejected, and Presbyterian principles made the
basis of ecclesiastical government. The advocates of this opinion,
also, have been numerous and respectable, both among the clerical
and lay members of the Episcopal churches in England and the
United States. In this list appear the venerable names of Bishop
Hall, Bishop Downham, Bishop Bancroft, Bishop Andrews, Archbishop
Usher, bishop Forbes, the learned Chillingworth, Archbishop Wake,
Bishop Iloadly, and many more.
A third class—not of Episcopalians, hut of sectarian bigots,
commonly called Baptists—go beyond either of the former.
While, they grant that God has left men at liberty to modify
every other kind of government according to circumstances,
they contend that one form of government for the Church is
unalterably fixed by Divine appointment; that this form is
the loose congregational form adopted l>y the Baptists ; that
it is absolutely essential to the existence of a Church; that,
of course, wherever it is wanting, as among Methodists, Pres¬
byterians, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and others, there is no
Church, no regular ministry, (^baptism by immersion included !)
no valid ordinances; and that all who are united with reli¬
gious societies not conforming to their views of hajytism, close
communion, and a sort of Indian council-ground form of
government, are " aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers to the covenant of promise"—strangers to
Christ, "out of the appointed way to heaven," and have no
hope but in the " uncovenauted mercies of God!"
Now, it is confidently believed that the two former classes,
taken together, embrace at least nineteen parts out of twenty
of all the Episcopalians in Great Britain and the United
States; while, so far as my observation goes—and I have had
some experience in the world—two-thirds of all the Baptists
in the United States hold the extravagant opUion I have as¬
signed to them ! And that I may not seem to he making
bold assertions on this point, I submit one single paragraph
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED- 89
from the book of Elder Howell, a standard work with the
Baptist Publishing Societies throughout the South. He says,
on page 275 of this rather notorious book :—
We are not Protestants, nor Dissenters, Lutherans, Calvinists, Armi
nians, nor Reformers, but what we have been in all ages, the church
of our lord jesus christ! !
With this, and similar declarations by Mr. Graves, with
which his book abounds, before me, to contend for the validity
of Methodist ordinations is to contend for our existence as a
Church of Christ, and not for ours only, hut also for that of
all other Churches, except the Baptist Church. A principle,
then, which involves such important conclusions, should be
supported by the most indubitable evidence—by evidence far
more indubitable than the Baptists are able to bring forward.
And whether the sentiments of the Baptists on this subject,
as expressed by Graves and Howell, be thus supported or not,
will he the subject-matter of the next chapter.
90
the great iron wheel examined.
CHAPTER V.
Coke and Asbury not qualified to found a Church of Christ—Holliman
and Williams were!—Baptists in a regular line of succession from
John the Baptist—The Church in Mesopotamia—Benedict's History
of the Baptists—Holliman baptizing Williams—Peculiarities of
Roger Williams—Baptist members all Christians—Rare specimens
of Baptist conversions!
The great " Bombastes Burioso" Graves, of tbe " Tennes¬
see Baptist," and author of Forty Letters to "J. Soule,
Senior Bishop of tlie M. E. Church, South," informs the
public, on page 138 of his booh, that "it is clear as noonday
that Methodist Episcopacy is spurious; and the palming of it
off upon the world is a fraudulent operation, performed by
an ambitious, aspiring, and power-loving clergy."
On page 112 he concludes Letter No. 12 with this remark¬
able revelation : " I close this letter with the conviction that
such men as Coke and Asbury were not qualified to found a
Church of Christ, and 1 cannot recognize Methodism as
such!"
The reader will bear in mind that these extracts are from
the pen of a minister belonging to a^denomination that admits
three distinct orders of church officers: messengers or minis¬
ters, elders, and deacons! And before I close this chapter, I
will endeavor to show that Coke and Asbury were as well
qualified to found a Church of Christ as old Zclce Holliman
and Mr, Williams were, of the State of Rhode Island, the
founders of the Baptist Church in America! I will therefore
proceed to examine the divine right of the Baptist ministry,
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
91
and the validity of their claim to a regular succession from
John the Baptist. It is said by many of the Baptist minis¬
ters that their Church and its customs have regularly de¬
scended from John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles; and
as these bold assertions and extravagant pretensions have had
great influence over the minds of those who have read but
little history, and have, been chiefly confined to the ministry
of Baptists, I deem it in point here to give a brief sketch of
the facts as they are.
As to the claim, then, of being the regular descendants of
John the Baptist, it is not only without proof to sustain it,
but it is directly contrary to the records of history. The
Baptists, though Mr. Graves boasts of their ancient origin,
can be traced back but a few centuries, and certainly no
nigher to "John in Jordan" than the fifteenth century. The
Baptists constituted, in England, one of "the three denomi¬
nations of Protestant Dissenters." No traces of a Baptist
church can be found in Scotland, excepting a small one
formed out of a part of Cromwell's army, previous to 1765.
Still this sect claims to have descended regularly from the
Old Baptist whose "raiment" was of "camel's hair," whose
" meat was locusts and wild honey," and who preached re¬
pentance in the wilderness of Judea! They are not alone,
however, in setting up these arrogant claims. The Church in
Mesopotamia, an extensive province of Asia, situated between
the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, in Scripture called Aram,
tenaciously claims to have descended from John the Baptist;
and yet this Church baptizes children at thirty days old, and
her mode of baptism is sprinTding. Who is in the right—■
our American Baptists, or the Church in Mesopotamia? I
should say the latter, as they are a more ancient sect, lived
more nearly to the age in which John the Baptist figured,
and were therefore better posted in reference to the customs
of that day. The Greek name of Mesopotamia signifies
9?.
the great iron wheel examined.
"between the rivers:" a territory extending as far as the
bend formed by the Euphrates near Cnnaxa. Mesopota¬
mia is supposed to have been the seat of the earthly paradise;
and all geographers agree that here the descendants of Noah
settled immediately after the flood. No country or climate on
earth was ever more favorable to baptism by immersion than
this; but this Church of Mesopotamia, though claiming to
have descended from John the Baptist in a regular line of
succession, practiced sprinkling !
But this man Graves asserts—and Baptists generally take
the same high and untenable ground—that none are legal
administrators of the ordinance of baptism, or expounders of
the word of God, but those who have been immersed; and,
to make their baptism valid, they must have been immersed
by an immersionist, who has himself been plunged! Now
I wish to try them by this their own rule. In the first
settling of this country, the Baptists were without any admin¬
istrator at all. For the truth of this declaration, I refer all
interested to their own historian, Rev. David Benedict.
On page 473, vol. i., of Benedict's History of the Baptist
Church, an account of the origin of the Baptist Church in
the United States is given in the words and figures following,
to wit:
We shall now give a brief account of some of the Baptist churches
which have arisen in this State, (Rhode Island,) and beginning with
the First Church in Providence. This Church, which is the oldest
of the Baptist denomination in America, according to Gov. Win-
throp, was planted in the year 1639.
On page 475, and in the same volume, Mr. Benedict gives
an account of the formation of the "First Church"—of the
difficulty they found in trying to organize—their want of an
administrator. It was in the city of Providence, Rhode
Island. I have been on the very spot, and have a distinct
recollection 'of the locality. On this point Benedict says :
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
93
To obtain a suitable administrator was a matter of consequence: at
length, the candidates for communion nominated or appointed Mr.
Ezekiel Holliman, a man of gifts and piety, to baptize [immerse] Mr.
Williams, and who, in return, [acting upon the principle that one good
turn deserves another!] baptized Mr. Holliman and the other ten.'!!
Now L am aware tliat some of the Baptists deny that this
history contains any such statements. If such will bring me
the first volume of the first edition of this work, published
by Lincoln & Edmunds, Boston, 1813, I will point out these
two extracts. I copy from the book itself, and not from a
newspaper. David Benedict was the pastor of the Baptist
church in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where he certainly had
all the means of knowing the facts in the cases he reports.
He completed his history but a short time before its publica¬
tion in Boston. And I know very well that the Baptist
Church in this country has all along recognized it as a correct
history of their sect.
Candid reader, is it not as plain as the nose on a man's
face, from their own history, that the Baptists should be the
last denomination in America to unchurch others, or to anni¬
hilate the clerical character of other ministers for the want
of validity of ordination? Mr. Graves is an ordained elder
in the Baptist Church, in a regular line of succession—not
from John the Baptist—but from old ZeJce Holliman and his
"true yoke-fellow," Mr. Williams! And, pray, were they
better qualified to found a Church of Christ than "such men
as Coke and Asbury?" Who authorized Mr. Holliman to
immerse Mr. Williams in the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost? And whence did Mr. Williams derive autho¬
rity to immerse "the other ten?" True, "the other ten"
were immersed by a man who had himself been immersed,
but he was immersed by old Zeke, who had never been
immersed until this same man Williams immersed him, so as
to make a starting-point for this "first church" in America,
and in the regxdar line of succession ! This affair constituted
94 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
Williams and Holliman the regular successors of the old
preacher of repentance, "whose meat was locusts and wild
honey/' though he flourished sixteen hundred years before
them!
The State of Rhode Island was first settled in 1636, only
three years before the founding of this "first church" by
Holliman, Williams, and "the other ten." Roger Williams
and his followers fled from the persecutions of Massachusetts,
and settled at Providence; and Williams gave the place this
name, as being expressive of their escape and deliverance.
From Providence, since 1636, two hundred and twenty years
ago, the Baptists, according to their own showing, have been
extending their operations, until they have spread over the
South and West, and have taken that stand they now occupy.
They have descended, then, in a regular line in the United
States, not from John the Baptist, or the apostles, or Christ,
but from one Ezehiel Holliman—a clever old man, I have no
doubt, and, if the reader please, even a pious man, but an
old gentleman who had no sort of authority to baptize in the
name of the Holy Trinity. If, then, the facts and argu¬
ments given upon this point are true and legitimate, am I not
warranted in saying that the American Baptists, who de¬
scended from Holliman and Williams, are all out of order?
Or, to use the language of G-raves, "such men were not
qualified to found a Church of Christ."
This proscriptive spirit of Baptists generally, and of Mr.
Graves in particular, seems to have come down to them from
Roger Williams. While he was pastor of a Baptist church,
he declared his intention to separate, from his congregation,
if they would not separate from the " antichristian churches
in the bay," meaning all who opposed his views of baptism!
He rebelled against the civil authorities, and because his
congregation would not sustain him in this violation of the
command of God, he separated from his congregation. His
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
95
wife still adhered to the congregation; for which he refused
to let her join him in any acts of worship! A warrant was
issued for Williams, for his rebellious course, and Capt. Un¬
derbill was dispatched with fourteen men to execute it; but
Williams fled from the province, and found refuge with
Massasoit, the head chief of the Wampanoag Indians. From
this chief he obtained a small grant of land on the east side
of Narraganset river, where water was abundant for purposes
of baptism! He used to say that he " could' not endure the
Lord's bishops," and that he liked the "Lord's brethren"
just as little—meaning tHe members of other Churches, Puri¬
tans, Quakers, etc. /This hatred for bishops seems to be cha¬
racteristic of the sect of which Williams was the founder in
America. For proof of the foregoing statements, I refer to
pages 227 and 280, vol. i. of Hildreth's History of the
United States.
I am aware that Roger Williams is. often complimented as
the advocate of freedom of opinion, and of religious tolera¬
tion ; but it is known to all impartial readers of history that'
he was a religious bigot, and full of that fanaticism so pecu¬
liar to Baptists. Even Hildreth, who compliments him as a
"zealous minister," states that he "exercised by way of PRO¬
PHECY," to the "acceptance and edification of his Church."
He laid claims to inspiration, and actually went about pro¬
phesying, and blending his predictions with the great idea of
what he called "soul-liberty."
It is recorded of Roger Williams, elsewhere, that he got a
second great idea into his head, to wit: That as men and
women came into this world naked, so they ought to come
into the Church through the water without clothes on! Was
such a man, though he may have been pious, qualified to
found a Church of Christ?
Elder G-raves, like most other Baptist writers and preachers,
complains that Methodists receive into their communion and
06
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
fellowship irreligious persons, mere seekers of religion, while
Baptists receive none hut genuine Christians, who, like the
apostles in the days of Christ, are always ready "to give a
reason of the hope that is in them!" Methodists take in
seekers, say they, and take even these upon a trial of six
monthsI But Baptists receive members alone upon 11 an ex¬
perience of grace," the congregation judging of that experi¬
ence, and voting accordingly. And when a person is con¬
verted, and baptized by immersion, they say of him that he
can never fall from grace. And yet they have among them
some men and women of the very worst morals ; and not a
few are to be found in their communion and fellowship who
are notorious drunkards. To say the least of it, they have
as many bad men and hypocrites in their churches, according
to numbers, as are to be found in any of the other orthodox
denominations of the country. But once in a while they
bring to trial and actually expel from their communion in¬
dividuals : thus rejecting persons who, according to their
creed, God has not rejected! Is there no insincerity in all
this ?
But Mr. Graves's Church will receive no one into its fellow¬
ship who is not a believing adult; and still, one-third, if not
one-half of all the persons they do receive, give no other
evidence of a genuine conversion to God than that of a dream,
the hearing of a voice, the sight of a ghost, or the visitation
of an angel, or of God himself! I could give the names,
residences, and loud professions of many of these "bright
and shining lights;" but I will content myself with a few
cases only, the truth of which I vouch for, and which will
serve as specimens of Baptist conversions.
CASE NUMBER ONE.
I was present in December, 1841, in the Presbyterian
church in Jonesborough, during a celebrated Baptist revival,
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
97
when a colored woman was received into tliat Church, as a
portion of the fruits of said revival—the Baptists having been
kindly tendered the use of the house by the Presbyterians.
Among many other foolish things which she mentioned as a
part of her religious experience, she stated that " Christ first
appeared to her while she was in bed with a man!" I
remarked to two Presbyterians, with whom I was seated, that
I thought the Saviour had selected a singular time and place
to impart his grace to that woman! They bowed assent.
The next day, this woman was immersed in Green's Mill-
pond, in the west end of the town, upon this identical
experience !
CASE NUMBER TWO.
A lady in the neighborhood of Fall Branch, some fifteen
miles north of Jonesborough, a short time previous to that
Jonesborough occurrence, gave to the Baptist Church, as her
experience, that she had attended the preaching of Elder
Biggs, on a certain occasion, and was taken sick at the
stomach—said she soon learned it was conviction for sin—
engaged earnestly in prayer to God—soon after vomited copi¬
ously—thereupon obtained immediate relief, and felt her load
of sin removed! Upon this experience, she was received into
the Church, and immersed in the name of the Trinity!
This is changing the seat of human depravity, which has
hitherto been regarded as the heart. I would like to have
seen the discharge! I would likewise be gratified to know
whether or not sins of omission and commission, after one's
conversion, can be got rid of, either by vomiting or purging !
It would greatly relieve the anxieties of-the mind, as well as
save the labor of much prayer and religious exercise !
CASE NUMBER THREE.
A lady in Carter county, who had been baptized by a
Methodist—who left that Church and was immersed by Mr, T.,
5
98
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
a Campbellite minister—in the spring of 1842, left that
Church, and was reimmersed by Elder Edens, of the regular
Baptist Church. In her experience, upon being received into
the Baptist Church, she stated that she had, but a short time
previous to that, walked out into the woods, where she met
Christ and the apostles, in open daylight, under a large tree,
singing a Baptist song! She stated that she united with
them in singing—that Christ pardoned her sins—that she
could not be mistaken, for she saw the blood running out of
both of his sides, where he had been pierced! Upon this
"experience of grace," she was received into the Church,
pronounced a Christian, and immersed, notwithstanding the
Saviour was really pierced in but one side !
CASE NUMBER EOUR.
During court week in the town of Jonesborough, in the
spring of 1841,1 heard Elder Bowers preach in the Methodist
church, at night; and among the rare disclosures he made,
he related his religious experience, and gave the audience
what he styled the "evidence of his conversion." He said
that he went to bed at night, a distressed and wicked sinner
■—that when he awoke in the morning, to his utter astonish¬
ment, he found his wife and child to be the most handsome
human beings he had ever beheld with his eyes; and, conti¬
nued he, "by this I knew I had passed from death unto life!"
Now, here is an instance in which religion made a false
impression, because it rendered to the natural eye of the
convert, individuals handsome, whom Grod, in his providence,
had actually created otherwise! We know the parties, and
they are any thing but handsome !
CASE NUMBER FIVE.
In Lee county, Virginia, but a few years since, a certain
man of lawful age appeared before a Baptist church, and
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
99
asked to he received into fellowship, on the ground that God,
for Christ's sake, had pardoned his sins. The pastor of the
church, Elder G , told him to proceed and tell the breth¬
ren what the Lord had done for his soul. He stated substan¬
tially—"I went last summer for to see a Christian git baptized,
and ever since I have been a-wandering, and wandering, and
wandering: I have been company for nobody, and nobody
has been company for me !" Here he came to a dead halt,
and all hands looked blank! Elder G relieved the
audience by requesting the brother to proceed and tell what
the Lord had done for his soul. Looking the pastor full in
the face, the new convert repeated, word for word, what I
have just given above, and halted as before ! Elder G
feelingly inquired, "And do you think, brother, the Lord has
converted your soul ?" With a countenance beaming with
the hopes and expectations of one about to be received into
full fellowship with the only Scriptural Church on earth, he
exclaimed, "Now, old hoss, you are a chattin'!" Upon this
faith and profession, he was unanimously received, immersed
the next day, and admitted to the Lord's table, as spread by
that denomination!
CASE NUMBER SIX.
In Bradley county, Tennessee, not long since, there lived a
man by the name of P , close to a Baptist church; and
near to which lived Elder B , who was anxious that P
should ujine the Church." Accordingly, at a protracted
meeting, several of the "hreethring" surrounded him, and
asked him to relate his experience. He held forth after this
style: "The first bad feelins I ever had on the subject of
religion, was when I went with Brother B to meetin', at
Hurricane Creek. After meetin', several breethren went
home with an old brother to stay all night, and they axed me
to go too. They sat around the fire talking about religion,,
100 THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
until I felt so bad 'coze I bad none, I went rigbt to bed, and
went fast to sleep. I waked up in tbe nigbt, and I found
tbat good man, Brother B , in bed with me; and I never
felt as bappy before 1" Tbis was pronounced a sound conver¬
sion. Mr. P was received into full fellowship, and forth¬
with immersed in the name of the Trinity!
Need I multiply cases? Let these suffice, as they are only
in keeping with hundreds dispersed throughout the country, a
portion of which every reader can call to mind in his own
range. Meanwhile, let it not be said that such eases are those
of clear conversion, while those evidences upon which other
Churches have received members, pronouncing them Chris¬
tians, are deceptive. I would as soon credit the juggling
pretences of witchcraft, as to believe these ludicrous accounts
of conversions! And a Church had better by far give
countenance to the foolish, superstitions and absurd practices
of fortune-tellers, diviners, charmers, spirit-rappers, and such
like, than to encourage any human soul to believe that these
vain conceits are religion.
Those who may be disposed to regard these cases of Baptist
conversions as severe in their application to that Church, are
here reminded that they are designed to offset Mr. Graves's
"Revival and Camp-meeting Excitements," in his Thirty-
ninth Letter, where he gives specimens, and ridicules
Methodist conversion! I claim in this, as in every thing
connected with this controversy, to be acting on the defensive;
and if I chance to use a degree of severity unusual in religious
controversy, the mantle of enlightened public opinion will
shield me from blame!
the great iron wheel examined.
101
CHAPTER VI.
Elder Graves copies largely from F. A. Ross, of the Presbyterian
Church—An address delivered in Virginia, a reply to Ross—Corre¬
spondence between Ross and the author of this work—Ross opposes
the Methodist doctrine of the Direct Witness—Distinguished Pres¬
byterians advocate it—Ross charges Methodists with being Tories
—Himself proven to be a free negro, and the son of an old Scotch
Tory of the Revolution—The Methodist common masses destitute
of moral honesty and integrity of character—Methodists fanatical
—Presbyterians more so, as shown by the conduct of three of the
editors of the Calvinistic Magazine—Witchcraft and conjurors—
The congregation complimenting the address—Reply by the author.
The Thirty-ninth Letter of Mr. Graves, commencing on
page 352 of his famous compilation of slanders long since
refuted, is made up of an article from the " Calvinistic Maga¬
zine," of which the celebrated F. A. Ross, a New School
Presbyterian, was the ostensible editor.
His Thirty-second Letter, commencing on page 384, is
nearly all taken from the pen of this man Ross, from whom
he gathered his idea of the revolutions of the Iron Wheel.
The last fifteen pages of this letter are from the " Calvinistic
Magazine," abusive of Methodist class and band meetings,
comparing them to the Romish confessional, and calling in
question the virtue and integrity of the Methodist member¬
ship, as well as that of the clergy!
His Thirty-third Letter, commencing on page 403, is abu¬
sive of all the peculiar institutions of Methodism, and winds
up with showing "how Presbyterians regard it," thus drawing
upon the same sources.
102
the great iron wheel examined.
Now, to all this abuse of Mr. Ross, copied and approved
by Mr. Graves, I replied in an Address which occupied four
hours in its delivery, kept up through a period of two years,
in East Tennessee and Western Yirginia. This Address I
delivered one hundred times, speaking in all four hun¬
dred hours—equal to thirty-three entire days—often in the
open air, and to five, ten, and fifteen hundred persons, gene¬
rally, on each occasion! In the winter season, I was confined
to churches; and the crowds were not so large as in the
spring, summer, and fall, when I spoke in the open air. My
reply to Mr. Ross I deem a sufficient reply to the same slan¬
ders, when copied and endorsed by Mr. Graves; and as the
latter has given them an extensive circulation and a permanent
form, I deem it proper to end this chapter by copying my
Address entire. This document originally appeared in the
Jonesborough Monthly Review, of which I was the
editor and proprietor—a work which had a circulation of about
three thousand, and was got up avowedly to meet the " Cal-
vinistic Magazinewhich was then published in Abingdon,
Yirginia. The slanders of Ross and Graves, now in book
form, will be preserved in hundreds of families unkind in
their feelings towards Methodism. It is therefore proper that
this Address should be incorporated into this work, and placed
before the public in a form that will be preserved. The
Address explains itself, taking in connection therewith the
brief correspondence that precedes it.
[From Brownlow's Monthly Review.]
to the public.
The following correspondence will show the motives which
prompt the editor of this periodical to submit to the world, in
pamphlet form, an address recently delivered near Marionj
Virginia, upon the subject of the controversy between the
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 103
Methodists and Presbyterians, forced upon the former by the
abuse, misrepresentations, and slander of that PRINCE of
calumniators, Frederick Augustus Ross:—
Marion, Virginia, July 11, 1848.
Rev. W. G. Brownlow :
Dear Sir:—The undersigned, members of the Methodist Church,
would respectfully suggest to you the propriety of publishing, in
your Review, the address which you delivered on the 9th instant at
the camp-ground near this place, together with the documents which
you introduced upon that occasion;—even upon the charitable sup¬
position that wilful perversions of what you there said will not be at¬
tempted ; however, human memory is so frail, that honest difference
of opinion, after the lapse of a few days or weeks, will probably arise
about it. Indeed, we already feel the necessity of having the docu¬
mentary evidence which you then laid before us, embodied in some
form to which we may conveniently refer; for we cannot recollect
your authorities with sufficient distinctness to make them available to
us in ordinary and casual conversations upon the subject. Besides,
Sir, we incline to the belief that the subject-matter of that day's ad¬
dress, inclusive of documents, would be as acceptable to the patrons
of your Review as any thing else which you could lay before them.
Very respectfully yours, etc.,
John W. Schoolfield,
Francis Newman,
James Brumfield,
James M. Pruner, ^
John T. Thurman,
Benjamin L. Wilbern,
William Snavely,
James C. Daily,
• John Kjllinger,
William W. Pruner,
Joseph Atkins.
Smythe County, Va., July 15, 1848.
To Messrs. J. W. Schoolfield, F. Newman,
James Brumfield, and others:
Gentlemen:—Your communication of the 11th instant, requesting
me to publish the address I delivered last Sabbath at your camp¬
ground, together with the documents, was handed to me on yesterday,
and I hasten to reply.
I will comply with your request, and publish the address at my
earliest convenience. The matter for the Review, now in course of
printing, has been furnished, and will be out soon after my return to
Tennessee. In the next issue, I will give the address you call for,
verbatim et literatim et punctuatim, so as to silence those who, I learn,
104
the great iron wheel examined.
arc already misrepresenting me in various particulars. The address
I delivered at your camp-ground on last Sabbath, which occupied four
and a half hours, is the same in substance which I have been deliver¬
ing in Tennessee and Virginia for two years past, and which I am safe
in saying I have delivered in the hearing of fifty thousand persons.
I find that very great excitement prevails in your county upon the
subject of this controversy, and especially in your town and vicinity.
I cannot say that I regret it: I believe good will grow out of the con¬
troversy. Let the members and friends of the Methodist Church
stand firm, and resist, at all hazards personal to themselves, the
slanders of F. A. Ross & Co., and their efforts to demolish our be¬
loved Methodism. If fall we must, let us fall with our faces to the
foe: let us fall in defence of the "moral honesty and integrity of
character" of our "common masses," and in defence of the private
characters of our wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, and other female
relations, who are held up to public gaze, through the polluted pages
of the "Calvinistic Magazine," as a generation of prostitutes.
They say that I have "raised the Devil" by my visit to this country.
This is a mistake: the Devil was here before I came to the State, and
I have only enraged his Satanic Majesty, and caused him to show his
hand. He was "raised" at the time the authorities of the Presby¬
terian church in Marion invited him there, in the person of F. A.
Ross, to dedicate their new church; and also when the sainted pastor
of their church, Mr. Palmer, and every preacher and elder in the in¬
famous Athens Synod, "with absolute unanimity," endorsed the slan¬
ders, blackguardism, and abuse of the "Tract" and "Magazine,"
declaring them all to be true, according to the Scriptures !
I am, gentlemen, respectfully, etc.,
W. G. BROWNLOW.
ADDRESS.
Ladies and Gentlemen :—There is nothing more com¬
mon in this age of polemic warfare than for every combatant
who assails the doctrines, motives, or, if you please, the
character of another, to claim the right to do so, because (as
he says) he acts on the defensive. The reason of this must
be obvious to every reflecting mind. He who acts in the de¬
fensive is entitled to the sympathies of the public, because he
is supposed to have been unjustly assailed; and these sym¬
pathies will justify the defender, while the aggressor would
justly deserve the opprobrium of the intelligent, and the
frowns of the candid. But, as both your humble speaker and
the great iron wheel examined. 105
F. A. Ross, of the New School Presbyterian Church, and the
respective friends of each, claim this ground, it is of the ut¬
most importance that this controversy should be settled, and
that the public should he at once enabled to decide to whom
this high claim belongs. It seldom occurs, in a family or
neighborhood quarrel, that both of the parties to the dispute
are acting on the defensive. Some one commenced the war •
some one is the aggressor; some one is to blame more than
another for the existence of said quarrel. So it is in the
present controversy which divides, distracts, and agitates all
East Tennessee and Western Virginia. Who is it? It is my
purpose, before I leave this stand, to show you who is guilty
in this case.
To defend one's self, presupposes an unwarranted attack
from another—not merely an attack, hut one for which there
was no just cause. I may attack an enemy of mine—-a sworn
and uncompromising foe—with all the violence of which my
nature is capable, and still I may act on the defensive, if the
previous conduct and threats of violence were such as to
make my assault necessary to my future safety. You, gentle¬
men, any of you, may attack an enemy in like manner, and
still act on the defensive, if the previous threats of that
enemy were such, in the eyes of the law, as to make that at¬
tack necessary to your future safety. Nay, it is a principle
in common law, both here and in England, that if an evil-
disposed person threaten your life upon sight, you are justi¬
fied in shooting him down upon sight. This was the prin¬
ciple the gallant Putnam acted upon when he assailed the
wolf in his den. He made the attack, but it was in self-
defence. The howlings and prowlings of the "varmintV
in the neighborhood, to say nothing of his depredations among
the live-stock of the farmer, could no longer he tolerated.
The vile "wolf in sheep's clothing," upon whom I am visit¬
ing a righteous retribution, has " howled" about the borders
5*
106 the great iron wheel examined.
of Methodism long enough! But how was it when the
United States declared war against Great Britain ? In the
language of the Declaration of Independence, she "kept
among us, in time of peace, standing armies, without the
consent of our Legislatures," etc., etc.
But, ladies and gentlemen, how stands the case as between
Mr. Ross and your humble speaker, or any other Methodist
preacher who may have engaged in this controversy ? "Who
commenced this " war of words and fight of quills ?" In the
language of the time-honored instrument just quoted, "let
'facts be submitted to a candid world." Frederick Augus¬
tus Ross, of the New School Presbyterian Church, com¬
menced this war; nor can he deny it, with any degree of
countenance. He began the war, moreover, without any
provocation, and at a time that peace reigned in all the
Churches, and when God was very powerfully reviving his
work in most of the Churches. Yes, at this time it was that
the Devil granted this vile miscreant the commission of
Lieutenant-General, to put a stop to the work, and to disturb
the peace of soeiety!
Mr. Ross, as is his custom, composed an able, argumenta¬
tive, and slanderous discourse, about four years ago, familiarly
known as his "Turnpike Sermon," in which he ridiculed,
misrepresented, and vilified the whole Methodist Church.
This discourse he delivered all round his extensive circuit of
East Tennessee and Western Virginia, as bitterly as he seems
to be opposed to circuit-riding. When this sermon was worn
threadbare, he prepared another on Church government, in
which he stated that Methodism is worse than Romanism.
Next in order came his memorable discourse upon the
"Direct Witness." To all this, extending through an entire
year, the Methodists made no reply. Their silence was con¬
strued into cowardice, and our members were everywhere
told that our ministers were afraid to meet Mr. Ross. The
the great iron wheel examined. 107
vain and wicked man gave in to the same delusion himself, and
made a publication in which he held up the Methodist clergy,
one and all, as a pack of white-livered cowards, who would go
among the caves and mountains and misrepresent Presby-
terianism, but who, when they came into Abingdon, Jones-
borough, Rogersville, Greenville, Knc&ville, etc., took care to
tread lightly in flannel socks ! Hush! Take care! You are
in Abingdon now! you are in Knoxville, forsooth, among
people of respectability—take care how you put your feet
down! Well, I am not here to-day for the purpose of repre¬
senting Methodist preachers in a bullying capacity. I will,
however, speak of one who neither fears F. A. Ross nor all
the multitudes that go with him; and for the self-same reason,
too, that Hezekiah and his captains of war declared they were
not afraid of the King of Assyria nor all the multitudes that
were with him ; namely, that with them there is but an arm
of flesh, while they had the Lord our God to help the'm, and
to fight their battles!
Again, Mr. Ross held up this fundamental doctrine of the
Methodist Church—I mean the witness of the Spirit—as
" unscriptural, false, fanatical, and of mischievous tendency."
On this issue, he challenged the whole Methodist ministry to
meet him, from our bishops down to our local brethren. His
challenge was accepted by William H. Rogers, one of the
itinerant preachers in this Conference in Sullivan county, and
a discussion ensued, which occupied a whole day, at which
not less than two thousand persons were in attendance. I was
there, a silent spectator; and while I have the highest pos¬
sible regard for my friend Rogers, it is due to candor to state
that he, like every other Methodist preacher I have heard in
reply to Ross, labored under the false notion that enlightened
public opinion required him to treat his opponent as a dig¬
nified Christian minister, and to extend to him all the cour¬
tesies of the sacred desk. The result was, that he contradicted
108 the great iron wheel examined.
Rogers, interrupted him, and rudely sought to embarrass him
every fifteen or twenty minutes. I spit upon such vitiated
public taste as this: I bid defiance to any such false concep¬
tions of courtesy as this. I take the slanderer by the throat,
and drag him forth from his hiding-place, and shake him naked
over hell, in all his deformity! This I intend to do on this
occasion.
Did all this public speaking against Methodism satisfy the
slanderous appetit.e of Mr. Ross ? No. He followed this up
with the publication at the North of the bantling I hold in
my hand—a "Tract" against Wesley and the Methodists, of
one hundred and eight dreadful pages. The vile and slan¬
derous character of this publication, since endorsed by the
Synod of Tennessee, and recommended by the ministers of
that Church, I shall show up before I leave this stand. Not
content with this publication, Mr. Ross, and his associates in
blackguardism and lying, commenced the publication in Ab¬
ingdon of the "Calvinistic Magazine," the very first
number of which contained an open declaration of war, and
announced the determination of its reverend editors, Isaac
Anderson, Fred. A. Ross, James King, and James Mc-
Chain, to wage a war of extermination against the entire
Methodist Church. And just here, in the presence of this
large assembly, and in the fear of God, I proclaim from this
sacred stand that, for low Billingsgate slang, obscene vulgar¬
ity, and wholesale abuse of public and private character, this
magazine is without a parallel among all the dirty, rabid, and
disgraceful publications of the age. And still this is the vul¬
gar, lying, and dirty publication which Mr. Ross boasts can
be found on the centre-tables in all the parlors of Presbyterian
families in Marion and elsewhere. Quite a compliment this
to the taste of Presbyterian ladies in Marion !
I repeat, and I pray you not to forget it, that I do not re¬
strict the responsibility for the contents of this magazine to
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 109
the four ministers named as its editors. I herewith read to
you from the editorial address given in the first number:
In October, 1845, they (your editors) laid the subject before the
Synod of Tennessee; and meeting "with their cordial approbation
and co-operation, began the publication of the present series of the
magazine in 1846.
Since then, ladies and gentlemen, the Synod has approved
of the course of the magazine in its session at Athens, Ten¬
nessee, and earnestly recommended it to all their churches.
In this vote of endorsement, Mr. Ross boasts, in an editorial,
that every preacher and elder in the Synod voted by formal
resolution. He says, to use his own words, that the Synod
adopted both his tract and magazine "with absolute una¬
nimity"—that is to say, without a dissenting voice ! But
more about this endorsement before I have done.
Now, when an enemy wages an unprovoked war against
me, or the Church of my choice, which is the same, I am cer¬
tainly acting in the defensive when I attempt to repel the in¬
vasion. And when my character, and the private and personal
character of every female relative I have on earth is assailed
with bitterness and malice—not by this degraded free man
of color only, but by the whole Synod of Tennessee—I have
a right to defend; and at the risk of my life, I will defend.
Nay, I am here to-day for that purpose, prepared to meet any
consequences. Some of the lying partisans of Mr. Ross have
the audacity to say that the Methodists commenced this war,
and that he is defending. I have given you this history of the
controversy expressly with a view to correct this slander.
From the facts which I have submitted—and facts they are—
you can determine who is the aggressor. Mr. Ross com¬
menced the war) but the Synod of Tennessee—like the Ame¬
rican Congress in the case of the Mexican war—adopted it,
and has made it the war of the Presbyterian Church. For
110 the great iron wheel examined.
two dreadful years, Mr. Ross carried 011 this war of " con«
quest" without any opposition. But, with God's help, he
shall have opposition from this out, until he prays for a treaty
of peace—opposition as untiring and vigorous as he has been
vindictive and malevolent.
The captains and lieutenants under this great guerilla
chief of the Presbyterian Ohurch, now tell you that the
magazine was set on foot to meet the " Episcopalian," a
Methodist paper published at Knoxville. This is false;
because that paper was started, in part, to meet the antici¬
pated slanders of the magazine. The Episcopalian was first
agreed upon at the Athens Conference, and I published the
prospectus for the Conference. Previous to that, the pros¬
pectus for the magazine had been published in the Abingdon
papers, in one of the Jonesborough papers, and, I believe, in
the Knoxville papers: these itinerant ministers in the stand
behind me will attest the truth of these statements.
The friends of F. A. Ross everywhere find it necessary, in
order to sustain him, to show that his speeches and publica¬
tions were not an attach upon Methodism, but that they were
provoked. In many places they apologize for him by de¬
claring that I-—yes, I, a common disturber of the peace, and
a man who will let no one escape—first got up the war.
Even the Rev. A. Converse, the editor of the Christian
Observer, the organ of Presbyterianism, published in Phila¬
delphia, gravely asserts in his paper that Mr. Ross has said
certain hard things about Methodism, "in answer to what
the Rev. Mr. Brownlow had published against him." This is
a falsehood as absurd as ever sickened the imagination of a
fool. Here, even in this town, you know it is boasted that
Mr. Ross has never noticed any thing I have said, and that
he does not attend my appointments because he regards me
as being beneath his notice!
Ladies and gentlemen! This war had progressed for two
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. Ill
long and dreadful years, on the part of Mr. Ross, with his
indiscreet friends boasting that the Methodist preachers were
afraid to meet him, before I opened my mouth in public, or
even wrote a paragraph upon the subject. And when I did
engage, 1 did it reluctantly, because I knew that it would
injure me in a pecuniary point of view, as it has done; but I
acted from a sense of duty. I knew that others were engaging,
more competent to debate the points at issue than myself) but
even they were treating him with too much courtesy. And
without incurring the imputation of vanity, I hope you will
allow me to say, that he never did receive justice at the hands
of a Methodist preacher until I took him up. True, he
recently caught it at Glade Spring, at the hands of the able
and accomplished President of Emory and Henry College.
Yes, President Collins, as I am informed, though he did not
violate any of the rules of courtesy in debate, nevertheless
showed the defects of Ross to be as numerous as were the
ingredients which the witches of the dark cave threw into the
boiling cauldron. He showed Mr. Ross to have, as I will do
to-day, an
"Eye of newt, toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing."
All that now remains to be presented, by way of prelimi¬
nary, is contained in the following correspondence between
myself and Mr. Ross. This correspondence is full of inte¬
rest, and will amuse you no little. Such diplomacy you have
not witnessed since Webster and Ashburton concluded their
treaty of peace! Mr. Ross outdoes me in expressions of high
regard for me, and opinions of my integrity) but this is
because he entertained higher opinions of me than I did of
him ! As a conscientious man, I could not give him a better
112
THE' GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
character in a private letter than I was willing to give him in
a public discussion:
Jonesborough, December 14, 1846.
Dev. F. A. Ross :
Dear Sir:—The first of six appointments I have published to
reply to your "Tract" against Mr. Wesley and the Methodists, is on
Sabbath next, at Blountville, at which time and place I shall be glad
to see you, as well, also, as at the remaining five. I propose to give
you hour about, on each occasion. Should you not deem it worth the
while to attend, I shall of course proceed to fill my engagements.
For a knowledge of the propositions I shall assume, on these occa¬
sions, I refer you to the Jonesborough Whig of the 9th inst., a copy
of which is herewith forwarded to your address.
Respectfully, etc.,
W. G. BROWNLOW.
The positions I took, and which I published in the news¬
paper referred to, were the following, and covered the ground
of the controversy laid down in the " Tract," except so much
of that work as was personal, and assailed the characters of
our ministers and members:
I. The doctrine of the Direct Witness op the Spirit, as taught
by John Wesley, is the doctrine of the Bible, held by all orthodox
Christians in Europe and America; and, with the Presbyterian Church,
has long been a clearly defined article of religious belief.
II. That Frederick Augustus Ross solemnly swore, before God
and the Presbytery at which he was made a minister, that he would
preach and defend the doctrine of the Direct Witness of the Spirit;
that he did so from the pulpit and press, for several years thereafter,
and in a printed sermon, in 1828, before he abandoned Presbyterian-
ism, he declared that such as deny this doctrine have no religion!
III. That "witchcraft and ghost stories" were universally believed
in Europe till the 16th century, and maintained their ground with
firmness till the middle of the 17th century; that the Presbyterian
Church entered extensively into the belief, even before the days of
Wesley; that in New England, in North America, in the years 1691-2,
there were almost as many imprisonments and executions, on account
of witchcraft, as there have been Mexicans slain by our army in the
present war; and that some of the Presbyterian clergy refused to pray
for persons condemned to die on charges of witchcraft, till said per
sons would acknowledge themselves to be witches and wizards!
To this brief epistle and tbese printed items, I received
the following answer:
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 113
Rotherwood, December 21, 1846.
Rev. W. G. Brownlow:
Dear Sir:—Your polite communication of the 14th was received
Saturday last, on my return from Rogersville.
I have no doubt the discussion to which you invite me would be, on
your part, as fair and honorable [and of course as gentlemanly!]
as you propose or I could desire; and there might be occasions when
it would be proper for me to accept an invitation. But I decline the
meetings you propose, in the same courtesy which you have been pleased
to exhibit toward me, simply upon the ground that I deem such a meet¬
ing uncalled for on my part, for the following reasons:
The question of the Direct Witness of the Spirit, as taught by Mr.
Wesley, is a "great question, now abroad in the land, and it is now to
be settled by the press. Oral debate now, anywhere, and especially
within the circle of appointments you propose, would, I think, have
little influence in satisfying the public mind. The debate eighteen
months ago, invited by me, had the desired result of arousing attention.
The publications on both sides, and notices from the pulpits, have
given the subject deep lodgment in the general mind. I am myself
perfectly satisfied with the progressive tendency of things, as to Mr.
Wesley's views of the Direct Witness of the Spirit.
In reference to my own views of this point of doctrine, you are
mistaken, and do me injustice, in supposing that I differ from the
Presbyterian Confession of Faith and Catechisms. I believe the doc¬
trine exactly as there expressed. Moreover, I hold with Henry,
Doddridge, Scott, Stuart, Barnes, Chalmers, etc., precisely, and just
because I deem these writers correct exponents of the Confession of
Faith, and, as such, holding views the opposite of that advanced by
Mr. Wesley. As decisive of this fact, I quoted the Confession of
Richard Watson, whom you will acknowledge to be your ablest theo¬
logian. He confesses that Mr. Wesley " differed from a great part
of the evangelical clergy of the day," and gives Scott [and the very
passage quoted by me in my book] as expressing the view of the
"great part of the evangelical clergy" against Mr. Wesley. [See
Watson's Institutes, vol. ii. pp. 272 and 284.]
So, then, the fact stands thus: Richard Watson, the ablest of Me¬
thodist writers, admits that "a great part of the evangelical clergy
of the day" differ from Mr. Wesley, and that Scott is a fair sample of
this body who differ from Mr. Wesley—that is to say, such writers as
Henry, Doddridge, Chalmers, etc., etc. If so, then, do these writers
fairly exhibit the views of the Confession of Faith of the Presbyte¬
rian Church? If they do, then they and the Confession are against
Mr. Wesley, by the concession of Mr. Watson. Very well: I am [if
I understand myself and them] with those writers and the Confes¬
sion of Faith, and am against Mr. Wesley as far as, and no farther,
precisely, than Watson admits the great part of the evangelical clergy
to be.
I have written this, Mr. Brownlow, for your own private eye and
consideration alone. If, after this, you think" proper to proceed to
114 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
attempt to show, from the pulpit, that I am violating my ordination
vows, [and of course you must mean knowingly and wilfully, or in
criminal ignorance,] I have nothing more to say.
Yours, very respectfully,
FRED. A. ROSS.
Ladies and gentlemen ! As tedious as I have been in my
exordium, you must indulge me while I offer a few brief
comments upon this extraordinary letter :
1. And, first, the time for oral debate had passed away
when this invitation was given to Mr. Ross to meet me, and
through the press alone were these disputed questions to be
settled. Still, the infatuated man has gone on ever since, in
every direction, to discuss these points!
2. Nothing could be effected within the circle I had pro¬
posed. I was unfortunate in selecting my points for action.
But where were these six appointments to which he was
invited? They were in Blountville, Kingsport, Elizabethton,
Bheatown, Jonesborough, and the vicinity of Washington
College. I supposed these were all important points, and he
seems to have thought so since, as he has gone to some of
them and opened a brisk fire, "solitary and alone." Indeed,
it is perfectly in order to debate these points in dispute any¬
where, when he can go in a gang by himself; but when he is
to have some one with him who has the moral and physical
courage to expose his forgeries, falsehoods, and slanders, the
time for oral debate has ceased, and the press alone is the
medium through which these controverted points are to be
settled!
3. He quotes Richard Watson, whom I frankly and thus
publicly acknowledge to be one of our ablest theologians.
And he gives chapter and verse where he says Watson ac¬
knowledges that Mr. Wesley taught a different doctrine, upon
the subject of the Direct Witness, from that taught by the
"great part of the evangelical clergy of the day" in which
Wesley lived. He cites, as you will perceive, Watson's
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 115
Theological Institutes, vol. ii. pages 272 and 284. And will
you believe me when I say that those pages prove no such
thing ? Strange as it may seem to you, those pages prove no
such thing! He deliberately lies. He cites the page, sup¬
posing that I will take his word for it. Here is the volume of
the Institutes, and here are the pages cited. Richard Watson
proves the doctrine of the Direct Witness• to be scriptural;
and to show that himself and Mr. Wesley were not singular
in the belief, he quotes Hill's Lectures, Bishop Bull, Scott's
Commentary, and Bishop Ilorsley. On page 284, Watson
lets down upon Calvinism, and declares that controversy, by
Calvinists, has always been conducted with great intempe¬
rance. On page 275 of this same volume, Mr. Watson de¬
clares his belief in the doctrine of the Direct Witness, and
controverts the Ross view of it, as described by Bishop Bull
in an extract he gives, and in another extract he takes from
Scott. After stating the views of Bull and Scott, Mr. Wat¬
son adds:
To this statement of the doctrine we object that it makes the testi¬
mony of the Holy Spirit, in point of fact, but the testimony of our
own spirit; and, by holding but one witness, contradicts St. Paul, who,
as we have seen, holds two. For the testimony is that of our own
consciousness of certain moral changes which have taken place—no
other is admitted, and therefore it is but one testimony.
4. Mr. Watson does confess, in his Life of Wesley, that
Mr. Wesley differed from the greater part of the evangelical
clergy of his time, in his plans for evangelizing the world.
This no Methodist denies. Rather, we glory in its truth—
we boast that his plans of yearly and quarterly conferences,
circuit-riding, class-meetings, and love-feasts, were unlike the
operation of other Churches.
5. This is a confidential letter—strictly so—intended for
my eye and consideration alone! Do you hear that, Master
Brooks ? I have read you the letter, but I enjoin it upon
116
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
you, one and all, not to speak of its contents! Especially do
I charge you, ladies, not to name it; for they say you are
more apt to tell what you hear, than are the gentlemen !
But do you wish to know the secret of this injunction of
secresy f I will tell you. Mr. Ross's friends everywhere
take the ground that he will not condescend to meet me in
debate; (Heaven save the mark!) and he favors the same
view in his private conversations with them. Well, in this
letter to me, he places his refusal upon different grounds : he
says the time is passed, and the press is the medium! He
does not object because I am beneath his notice—no, not he.
He declares here, over his proper signature, that I am a
Christian minister—a courteous and a fair debater—an honor¬
able man and a gentleman. But, says he, this is for your own
private eye, Mr. Brownlow: do not say any thing about it,
because I don't want my friends to know that I talk one way
about you behind your hack, and then write the very reverse
of that to you, in a private letter!
I repeat, that I am here endorsed as a gentleman and a
Christian, who cannot and will not do any man injustice.
Indeed, more character is given me than I ever had the vanity
to claim. When I firs^ perused this love-letter, I was tempted
to bite my finger, to see if it were me. But I am sorry that
the endorsement is not from a more respectable source. Nay,
I shall convince you, before I leave this stand, as heavily as it
may bear upon me, that this my eulogist is unworthy of con¬
fidence, and that he will not tell the truth when a lie is more
convenient!
Ladies and gentlemen! You have listened to the strong
and vivid pictures of Mr. Ross and myself, drawn by his
friends and my enemies, in this vicinity. They have set
before you, in bold relief, his eminent abilities, his attainments
in literature, and his thorough accomplishments in all things
pertaining to the ministry. You have heard of his charity,
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
117
his meekness, his manliness, his piety, his frankness, his
gentlemanly bearing, his independence and bravery, his dis¬
regard of popular clamor—making no conflicting statements,
concealing no opinions! This picture is presented in contrast
with that of the humble individual who now addresses you—
who is utterly ignorant, having no education, no information:
having no character—a common liar—a mere epistolary driv¬
eller : having flooded the country with blackguardism and
slander—rude and unpolished in manners !
Now, ladies, look on this picture, and then on that. The
first is the Presbyterian Hyperion; the latter, the Methodist
Satyr. Now, my first observation is, that when I shall have
exhibited the real picture of Mr. Ross to this assembly—which
I intend to do, for I am a skilful artist—these Virginia ad¬
mirers of his will not know their kind, affectionate, and
dearly beloved pastor!
But what will become of your speaker ? Shall I present a
portrait of him? No, ladies; no, gentlemen, no. His address
here to-day must speak for itself. Let him pass for a low,
vulgar ragamuffin, whose true picture has been given by the
artistic skill of the accomplished Rossites of Marion ! To be
serious, ladies and gentlemen, this studied disparagement of
your humble servant need not, and ought not, to excite a
feeling of indignation. These are the ravings of despair;
and as such, are objects of commiseration. They can do no
harm. The wives and sisters of certain gentlemen have taken
Mr. Ross by the arms, and marched with him to and from the
church, and have sat with him at table; and it is necessary
that he should now be sustained as a gentleman. The people,
of this country have sense—they have sagacity—they have
judgment. With their judgment of men and worth of men
I for one will be satisfied.
Ladies and gentlemen! I will next proceed to read you
the extracts from Mr. Wesley's celebrated Tenth and Eleventh
118
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
Sermons, out of which this controversy has grown, and upon
which Mr. Ross founds the charge of falsehood, fanaticism,
etc.
Mr. Wesley preaches two sermons on one text, Romans
viii. 16: " The Spirit itself heareth witness with our spirits
that we are the children of God."
In his Tenth Sermon, on this text, Mr. Wesley says:
Let us first consider what is tlie witness, or testimony of our
spirit. But I cannot here but desire all who are for swallowing up
the testimony of the Spirit of God in the rational testimony of our
own spirit, to observe, that in this text the apostle is so far from
speaking of the testimony of our own spirit only, that it may be
questioned whether he speaks of it at all,—whether he does not speak
only of the testimony of God's Spirit. It does not appear but the
original text may be fairly understood thus. But I contend not,
seeing so many other texts, with the experience of all real Christians,
sufficiently evince that there is in every believer both the testimony
of God's Spirit, and the testimony of his own spirit, that he is the
child of God. — Vol. I., Serm. X., head I. section 1, p. 85.
Again, after speaking at length concerning the witness of
" our spirit," he says :
7. But what is that testimony of God's Spirit, which is superadded
to and conjoined with this? How does he "bear witness with our
spirit that we are the children of God?" It is hard to find words in
the language of men to explain "the deep things of God." Indeed,
there are none that will adequately express what the children of God
experience. But perhaps one might say (desiring any who are taught
of God to correct, to soften, or strengthen the expression) the testi¬
mony of the Spirit is an inward impression on the soul, whereby the
Spirit of God directly witnesses to my spirit that I am a child of God;
that Jesus Christ hath loved me, and hath given himself for me; and
that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to God.
9. Then, and not till then—when the Spirit of God beareth that
witness to our spirit, "God hath loved thee, and given his own Son to
be the propitiation for thy sins; the Son of God hath loved thee, and
hath washed thee from thy sins in his blood"—"we love God, because
he first loved us;" and for his sake, we love our brother also. And
of this we cannot but be conscious to ourselves: we "know the things
that are freely given to us of God." We know that we love God and
keep his commandments; and "hereby also we know that we are of
God."—Serm. X.,p. 87.
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 119
Again:
But what is the witness of the Spirit? The original word, /laprvpla,
inay he rendered either (as it is in several places) the witness, or ambi¬
guously, the testimony, or the record: so it is rendered in our transla¬
tion, 1 John v. 11, "This is the record," [the testimony, the sum of
what God testifies in all the inspired writings,] "that God hath giv'en to
us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." The testimony now under
consideration is given by the Spirit of God, to and with our spirit:
he is the person testifying. What he testifies to us is, " that we are
the children of God."
4. Meantime, let it be observed, I do not mean hereby that the
Spirit of God testifies this by any outward voice: no, nor always by an
inward voice, although he may do this sometimes. Neither do I sup¬
pose that he always applies to the heart (though he often may) one
or more texts of Scripture. But he so works upon the soul by his
immediate influence, and by a strong though inexplicable operation,
that the stormy wind and troubled waves subside, and there is a sweet
calm; the heart resting as in the arms of Jesus, and the sinner being
clearly satisfied that God is reconciled—that all his "iniquities are
forgiven, and his sins covered."—Serm. X., head II., sections 1 and 4,
p. 91.
My next and last quotation is from the Eleventh Sermon,
fifth head, first section, and ending on page 95. It is in these
significant words:
1. The sum of all is this: the testimony of the Spirit is an inward
impression on the souls of believers, whereby the Spirit of God directly
testifies to their spirit, that they are children of God. And it is not
questioned whether there is a testimony of the Spirit, but whether
there is any direct testimony—whether there is any other than that
which arises from a consciousness of the fruit of the Spirit? We
believe there is; because this is the plain, natural meaning of the
text, illustrated both by the preceding words, and by the parallel
passage in the Epistle to the Galatians; because, in the nature of
things, the testimony must precede the fruit which springs from it;
and because this plain meaning of the word of God is confirmed by
the experience of innumerable children of God; yea, and by the
experience of all who are convinced of sin, who can never rest till'
they have a direct witness; and even of the children of the world,
who, not having the witness in themselves, one and all declare none
can know his sins forgiven.
2. And whereas it is objected, that experience is not sufficient to
prove a doctrine unsupported by Scripture; that madmen and enthu¬
siasts of every kind have imagined such a witness; that the design
of that witness is to prove our profession genuine, which design it
does not answer; that the Scripture says, "The tree is known by its
120
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
fruit;" "examine yourselves; prove your ownselves;" and, mean¬
time, the direct witness is never referred to in all the book of God;
that it does not secure us from the greatest delusions; and lastly,
that the change wrought in us is a sufficient testimony, unless in such
trials as Christ alone suffered: we answer, 1. Experience is sufficient
to confirm a doctrine which is grounded on Scripture. 2. Though
many fancy they experience what they do not, this is no prejudice to
real experience. 3. The design of that witness is, to assure us we
are children of God; and this design it does answer. 4. The true
witness of the Spirit is known by its fruit, "love, peace, joy"—not
indeed preceding, but following it. 5. It cannot be proved that the
direct, as well as the indirect witness, is not referred to in that very
text—"Know ye not your ownselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?"
6. The Spirit of God, witnessing with our spirit, does secure us from
all delusion. And lastly, we are all liable to trials, wherein the testi¬
mony of our own spirit is not sufficient; wherein nothing less than the
direct testimony of God's Spirit can assure us that we are his children.
These are the extracts quoted by Mr. Ross, and of which
he says, on page 8 of his immaculate production—
I hold the common faith, as to the witness of the Spirit, as it stands
in the Presbyterian Confession, and as it ever has been held by Pres¬
byterians in all their branches, by Episcopalians in England and
America—as it has been taught by evangelical Congregational, by
orthodox Baptist and Lutheran Churches.
It is the settled faith of these denominations which I express when
I affirm, as I now do, that the doctrine of the Direct Witness of the
Spirit, as taught by Mr. Wesley, is unscriptural, false, fanatical,
and of mischievous tendency.
Again, on page 35 of this same Tract, Mr. Ross thus speaks
of the doctrine advanced by Mr. Wesley—a doctrine to which
every Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, etc., in this
assembly or elsewhere, who has any religious experience, most
heartily subscribes:
I have never seen Mr. Wesley's doctrine of the Direct Witness affirmed
by any commentator on Romans or Galatians, or anywhere else in the
writings of evangelical men, save in the works of Mr. Wesley, and the
teachers who follow him—or in the books of other admitted mystics.
Now, in this connection, I beg leave to read you the reso¬
lution of the notorious Athens Synod, adopted in October,
1846, as Mr. Ross boastingly asserts, with "absolute una-
the great iron wheel examined.
121
ntmity"—that is to say, without one dissenting voice. I read
from the Calvinistic Magazine. The resolution is in these
words:
Resolved, that in the estimation of Synod, a Tract lately published
by F. A. Ross, entitled, "The Doctrine of the Direct Witness of the
Spirit, as taught by Rev. John Wesley, shown to be false, unscriptural,
fanatical, and of mischievous tendency," is an able production, setting
forth that important subject in its true scriptural light, and is ear¬
nestly recommended to the perusal of all the members of our Church.
We now have the case fairly before us; and I shall proceed
to convict both Mr. Ross and the members of this Synod,
either of wilful falsehood or criminal ignorance, or both.
Now, since Mr. Ross and his Synod profess to give the
views of the several denominations mentioned, let us examine
into the correctness of their pretensions. And first, as to the
Congregationalists. They are so called from the fact that
they reject all church government, except that of a single
congregation, under the direction of one pastor, with their
elders," assistants, or managers—each congregation enacting
its own laws and regulations. They are*Calvinists, and they
are a denomination of Protestants who are principally confined
to the New England States. If I were so disposed, I could
adduce various authorities to prove that Mr. Ross and his
Synod have grossly misrepresented the Congregationalists
upon this important doctrine. I will, however, content myself
with giving you a few brief quotations from a small work I
hold in my hand, written by the Rev. Thomas C. Upham,
Professor of Moral and Mental Science in Bowdoin College,
in the State of Maine. Professor Upham is an acceptable
minister of the Congregational Church, extensively known as
the author of works on "The Intellect/-' "The Sensibilities/'
"The Will," "The Life of Faith," "Interior Life," and the
work I hold in my hand, entitled, "Religious Experience."
This last work sets forth the views of the Congregationalists
G
122
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
upon the doctrine of the Direct Witness. Most of his other
productions are now adopted as text-books in many colleges
and universities, especially those under the control of his
denomination. On page 7, Professor Upham says :
If I know any thing, I know certainly that the true resting-place of
my soul is and must be in the Infinite Mind; that it is not and cannot
be anywhere else. Perhaps no part of the Scriptures, during the
more recent periods of my experience, has affected me more than the
prayer of our Saviour for his disciples, " That they all may be one, as
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one
in us."
On page 8, the Professor says, in speaking of the necessity
of a change of heart, and of a knowledge of that change on
our part:—
What is proof of the attainment ?—1. The direct witness of the
Spirit. " The Spirit itself Heareth witness with our spirit that we are
the children of God." "He that abideth in me hath the witness in him-
self."
2. The witness of our own spirit that our tempers and acts are such
as the word of God requires.
But, says this Kingsport gladiator, I speak the common
faith of all orthodox Congregationalists when I say, as I now
do, that this doctrine is "false, unscriptural," etc. And
again, he declares, as cited from page 85, that he never has
seen this doctrine taught by any evangelical writer, or any
commentator on Romans or G-alatians, save in the writings of
John Wesley and the teachers who follow him! You are
right, brother Fred., exclaims every elder and preacher in the
Athens Synod: you are right! for we have never seen or
heard tell of this thing in all the course of our eventful lives!
II. As to the Episcopalians, they hold the doctrine of the
Direct Witness in the same sense in which it is held by Mi.
Wesley and the Methodists. This fact no intelligent man
can be ignorant of, and this no man will deny, unless he is as
unscrupulous a liar as is F A. Ross, or the members of the
the great iron wheel examined.
123
Athens Synod! Hear the following extract from page 363
of Buck's Theological Dictionary, under the caption of "Me¬
thodist Tenetsand hear in mind that Buck is a Calvinist,
and not a follower of Wesley. He says:—
Tiie doctrines of the Wesleyan Methodists ake the same as the
Church of England, (the Episcopalian Church,) as set forth in her
liturgy, articles, and homilies.
What will this audience think when I tell them, as I now
do, that the twenty-five Articles of Religion set forth in
the Methodist Discipline, by Mr. Wesley, were taken from the
Creed of the English Episcopalians, and abridged for our
convenience ? What will you think when I tell you, as I now
do, that Mr. Wesley was a minister of the English Episcopal
Church, and that he never separated therefrom to the day of
his death! Don't be surprised, for these are the facts in the,
case, and no man knew them better than the anointed slan¬
derer to whom I am this day replying. The members of the
Synod may not have known these facts, for they seem to
have never read any thing but the productions of Ross's
pen!
But here is a short extract from a volume of sermons writ¬
ten and published by the Rev. John Hurrion in 1729, an
able minister of the Episcopal Church:—
The malignant opposition made to him (the Holy Spirit) by some,
and the vile contempt cast upon him by others, are things which have
quenched and grieved him, and caused him to depart to that degree as
hereby almost all vital religion is lost out of our world. Hence it is
that the glory of God in Christ, the faith, joy, and zeal of Christians,
are under such a cloud at this day. Is it not, then, high time to
speak ?—Sermon on the Holy Spirit.
I repeat, the Methodists and Episcopalians do not differ in
doctrine: they never have. We differ upon the subject of
Church government, the subject of Episcopacy, that of Ordi¬
nation, the authority of Presbyters, the Succession, etc., etc.
124
the great iron "wheel examined.
But I have 110 time to dwell upon these topics, or to consume
time in fruitless efforts to show that the order of bishops and
presbyters is one and the same. I leave such men as Doctors
Stillingfleet, Miller, and Whitaker, and Archbishops Cranmer,
Grrindal, and Tillotson, to settle these controverted points.
III. As to the Lutherans, for the very reverse of what Mr.
Boss has asserted, and the members of the Athens Synod have
sworn to, I refer this assembly to Mosheim's Ecclesiastical
History, and to Martin Luther's Commentary on Galatians,
a work, by the way, which Mr. Boss and his synodical under¬
strappers declared they never heard of!
Forty-one propositions, extracted out of Luther's works,
by order of Pope Leo, were condemned as heretical, scan¬
dalous, and offensive to pious ears j and all persons were for¬
bidden to read his writings upon pain of death. One of these
propositions was that asserting the direct influence of God's
Spirit in converting the soul, a doctrine to which the Church
of Borne never did subscribe. These facts are known to every
reading and intelligent man and woman in this assembly.
But especially are they known to the members of the Luthe¬
ran Church, several of whom I have the pleasure to address
on this occasion.
In further proof of what I assert, I could quote the Life
of Luther, Hawies' Church History, and the second volume
of the History of Charles Y. When I see to what extreme
meanness this man Boss and his synodical associates have re¬
sorted to injure the Methodist Church, I can scarcely avoid
an excess of acrimony and vehemence in the delivery of this
address.
IY. As it relates to the Baptists, they are, of all the de¬
nominations named, the farthest from denying the truth of the
doctrine of the Direct Witness. Are there any Baptists in
this assembly ? I am answered, yes; and I am glad to hear
the response. I hope you will listen to me—not that I wish
the great iron wheel examined. 125
to enlist you on our side of this controversy, but because I
wish you to see bow you are misrepresented, ay, even slan-
dered. You may resent, or you may submit: we Methodists
can fight our own battles, and we intend to do it.
The Baptists teach that no man is a Christian, entitled to
membership in their Church, or a fit subject for immersion,
until he has the direct witness of God's Spirit in the work
of regeneration. To prove this, I have the authorities ji
" Rippon's Baptist Register," " Evans's Sketch of Religious
Denominations," and "Adams's Yiew of Religions." But I
lay all these aside, and appeal to the sense of this assembly.
Does not every one here know that the Baptists carry this
matter farther than even the Methodists do ? They will not
receive a member into their Church until he has this direct
witness—until he can tell where, when, and how God, for
Christ's sake, pardoned his sins ! And as to plunging one of
you into this river here on my back, a Baptist preacher would
not touch you with a ten-foot pole, unless you testify your
belief in the doctrine. And yet Ross and the Synod say
they teach the common faith of all orthodox Baptists when
they say the doctrine is " false, fanatical, unscriptural, and of
devilish tendency!"
Y. But I proceed now to examine the faith of the Presby¬
terians on this important but controverted point. And now
for it, ladies ! now for it, gentlemen ! I hope to have your
undivided attention, as I have had thus far, for I propose to
make out a stronger case against Mr. Ross and his Synod in
this case than I have done in any of the denominational
cases just disposed of; and I shall rely alone upon Presbyte¬
rian authorities—1 nay say, upon the very authors cited by
Mr. Ross in his love-letter to me, and in whom he says he
believes, and by whom he says he swears !
The Rev. Matthew Poole, of England, an eminent Pres
byterian minister, more than one hundred years ago, wrote
126
the great iron wheel examined.
and published a Commentary on the Scriptures} and in ex¬
planation of this same text in Romans says
The Spirit of adoption doth not only excite us to call upon God as
our Father, hut it doth ascertain and assure us (as before) that we
are his children; and this it doth not by an outward voice, as God the
Father to Jesus Christ, nor by an angel, as to. Daniel and the Virgin
Mary, but by an inward and secret suggestion, whereby he raiseth
our hearts to this persuasion, that God is our Father and we are his
children. This is not the testimony of the graces and operations of the
>Spirit, but of the Spirit itself.
The Rev. John Brown, a Presbyterian divine of Scotland,
published a body of divinity just one hundred years ago, and
among other works a Dictionary of the Bible, in which, undfer
the head "Spirit," he says :—
The third person in the Godhead is particularly called Holy Spirit
or Holy Ghost, to express the mode of his relation to the Father and
Son, and because he, by spiritual methods, works spiritual qualities
and affections in us. He is the Spirit of adoption, that brings us into
the family of God, dwells in every one of God's children, and renders
them conformable to his image. (Rom. viii. 15.) He is said to be
sent, because authorized by the Father and Son—(John xvi. 7)—to be
given, because freely bestowed in his person, gifts, and graces—(John
vii. 39)—and poured out, because carefully and plentifully bestowed.
They that are joined to the Lord are one spirit, Christ and they have
the same Holy Ghost dwelling in them, and they are conformed to him
in the gracious temper of their soul.
Rev. John Flavel, of England, a distinguished Presby¬
terian minister, on page 167 of bis Whole Works has a ser¬
mon on the text, "And you hath Tie quickened, who were dead
in trespasses and sins " in which he says :—
Then do we begin to live when we begin to have union with Christ,
the fountain of life, by his Spirit communicated "o us.
The Spirit of the Lord is poured out upon us o quicken us with the
new spiritual life : it gives us an ease supernal ..ral, a new supernatural
being, which is therefore called a new creature.
The Spirit, who is God by nature, dwells in and actuates the soul
whom he regenerates, and, by sanctifying, causes it to live a divine
life.
None can make another by any words to understand what that
the great iron wheel examined.
127
pleasure is which the renewed soul/eeZs diffused through all its faculties
and affections in its communion with the Lord, and in the sealings and
witnessings of his Spirit.
President Edwards, the head and front of Presbyterian-
ism in his day, speaking of the great revival in New England
in the year 1734, and in defence of the enthusiasm of the
subjects of that revival, says :—
Such extraordinary external effects of inward impressions have not
only been found in here and there a single person, but there have also
been times wherein many have been thus affected. So it was in the
year 1625, in the west of Scotland, in a time of a great outpouring
of the Spirit of God. It was a frequent thing for many to be so ex¬
traordinarily seized with terror in hearing of the word, by the Spirit
of God convincing them of sin, that they fell down and were carried
out of the church, who afterwards proved most solid and lively Christ¬
ians. There have been instances of persons crying out in transports
of divine joy in New England. There has, before now, been both
crying out and falling down in this town, (Northampton,) under
awakenings of conscience, and in the pangs of the new birth, and also
in some of the neighboring towns. In one of them, more than seven
years ago, was a great number together that cried put and fell down
under convictions, in most of which, by good information, was a hope¬
ful and abiding issue.—Edwards on Revivals, p. 126, and onward.
Dr. Scott, an Episcopalian, approved by Presbyterians, in
commenting upon this very text of Mr. Wesley, says :—
The Holy Spirit, by producing in believers the affections which duti¬
ful children bear to a wise and good father, attests their adoption into
his family: while they are examining themselves concerning the re¬
ality of their conversion, and find scriptural evidence of it, the Holy
Spirit shines on his own work, excites their holy affections, and thus
puts the matter beyond doubt. This witness is borne along with that
(witness) of our own consciences, not without it, nor against it.
Rev. Matthew Henry, a Presbyterian minister of dis¬
tinction, referred to by Mr. Ross, in a sermon on this text,
says:—
They that are sanctified have God's Spirit, witnessing with their spirits
that they are the children of God; and in this they cannot as they ought
ifOT to be deceived.
128
the great iron wheel examined.
Dr. Doddridge, one of Mr. Ross's favorites, says, in a
sermon on this same text in Romans :—
So he, the Spirit himself, by bis internal and gracious operations,
bearelh witness with the answer op our spirits, that we are the child-
Ren op god.
And still Mr. Ross affirms that he never saw any such say¬
ings as the foregoing in the writings of any commentator on
Romans or Galatians, or anywhere else in the writings of
any evangelical men, save those of Wesley and the leaders
who follow him. The Synod at Athens, "with absolute una¬
nimity," say that they are as ignorant as Ross is—that they
never read the standard authors of their own Church !
But, ladies and gentlemen, I will trouble you with two
other authorities upon this point, before I dismiss the sub¬
ject; and this I do more for the purpose of showing up the
ridiculous position of Ross and his synod, than with a view
to instruct or edify you. These two authorities are also
Presbyterian, and they are "evangelical" to all intents and
purposes. The first is the Presbyterian Confession of Faith
—alias, the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments" — an old-
fashioned work, truly abounding with all the extravagance
of Eastern hyperbole! Here it is, the old Saybrook platform
—a real old Calvinian 74-pounder! Face up, witness, to Ross
and his synod, who in your eyes must be worse than infidels,
for they have denied the faith!
On page 77 of the Confession, chap, xviii., treating of
" The Assurance of Grace and Salvation," this venerable old
platform says :
Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive
themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the
favor of God and estate of salvation, which hope of theirs shall
perish, yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in
sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may,
in this life, he certainly assured that they are in a state of grace, and may
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 129
rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make
them ashamed.
II. This certainty is not a hare conjectural and probable persuasion,
grounded upon a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith, founded
upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evi¬
dence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the tes¬
timony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the
children of God, which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby
we are sealecf to the day of redemption.
Here it will be seen tbat tbe Confession, in urging this
doctrine of the Direct Witness, says that "hypocrites and
other unregenerate men"—such as Ross and the members of
the Athens synod—may vainly deceive themselves with false
hopes, but declares that their hopes shall perish! And in
quoting Scripture to prove its position upon the Direct Wit¬
ness, it is remarkable that the Confession cites Mr. Wesley's
text: " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits, that
we are the children of God !"
The next authority we offer is from the second volume of
the Calvinistic Magazine, published in Rogersville, in 1828. It
is from a printed sermon on " The Proofs of our Religion,"
in which it is declared and proven that a man denying this
doctrine of the Direct Witness is a hypocrite, or has no
religion. Who "do you suppose delivered this sermon, and
superintended its publication? Frederick Augustus Ross!
Yes, Mr. Ross thus preached twenty years ago. I will only
trouble you with the following extract, found on page 360 of
the volume I hold in my hand:
And the doctrine of the Trinity [or Direct Witness] is wonderfully
adapted to affect the heart'; for in the Scriptures it is never mentioned
as a mere fact, in which our affections are not concerned, but is always
brought before us in connection with the glorious work of redemption.
There we are told of the Father's unspeakable love in the gift of his
Son; of the Son's obedience even unto the death of the cross; of the
Holy Spirit, coming in love, sent by the Father and the Son, to regenerate
the sinner, and to purify, to enlighten, to give peace and joy to the believer.
There is, therefore, a moral meaning in the Trinity. A man then
must feel his heart overflowing with love to God the Father for the
6*
130
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
gift of his Son. He must feel that the Holt Ghost is present,
applying these truths to his heart, before he can know the mean¬
ing of the Trinity, [or Direct Witness.] No man ever did believe in
the meaning of this doctrine who was a stranger to the feelings I have
described, and no man ever denied the doctrine whose soul was
filled with these affections.
This was the doctrine Mr. Ross preached twenty years ago.
And why ? Because he solemnly swore, when he was
ordained a minister, that he would preach and defend this,
and every other doctrine taught in the Confession. And
these ministers seated behind me know, and will tell you,
that they regard the ordination vow of a clergyman as more
solomn, and even more binding, than any oath administered
by a justice of the peace. Twenty years ago, then, Mr. Ross
swore that he believed this doctrine of the Direct Witness,
and would preach and defend it. But two years ago, in this
same town ^of Rogersville, on the Lord's day, before a large
assembly, in a sermon against this doctrine,-he held up his
right hand, and bringing it down to the board, swore, " This
doctrine of the Direct Witness is false, fanatical, unscriptu-
ral, and of mischievous tendency, SO HELP ME GOD!"
And in October of the same year he induced an entire synod
to swear the same false oath, and to perjure themselves in the
sight of high Heaven!
Ladies and gentlemen! You now begin to see, even if it
be "through a glass, darkly," why it is that Mr. Ross has not
met me at this place to-day, as was expected, and even desired,
by his friends, if they were sincere in their professions. Be¬
fore I am through I intend you to see—if not "face to face,"
which cannot be in his absence—but I intend you to see as
clear as a sunbeam, the reason of his non-appearance. It is
not because I am beneath his notice—no, he tells me other¬
wise in this beautiful letter of his, just read in your hearing.
Besides, he knows, and his friends know, that I stand fair in
my own Churchy that I am recognized by the Church to
the great iron wheel examined. 131
which I belong as a local elder in good standing. He knows,
and so do his friends, that although 1 commenced my review
of the man and his writings upon my own hook, still my
Church recognizes me as a true exponent of her principles in
a controversy with Mr. Ross. And you all know that if the
Methodist Church is worthy of being put down, she ought to
be demolished through her acknowledged organs, and in no
other way can she be demolished.
I am, no doubt, safe in saying that President1 Collins never
would have condescended to meet F. A. Ross in discussion,
but for the fact that he was, and still is, the acknowledged
organ of the New School Presbyterian Church in all this
country. Mr. Ross, of himself, is a low-bred, false-hearted,
adulterous, and unprincipled free negro, unworthy of the
notice of the high standing and literary rank of the Presi¬
dent of Emory and Henry College; but on account of the
Church which puts him forth, and backs him, he is entitled
to notice.
Now, in the very worst aspect of the case,-1 am not more
degraded than is the sable leader of the Presbyterian Church;
and on account of my relation to the Methodist Church, I too
am entitled to notice. So yoti all think, by nodding your
assent. Why, then, is your champion not here? Because
he dared not attend. He would stick his head in the fire
before he would meet me in the presence of such a crowd as
this, and have me brand him with falsehood, forgery, slander,
and adultery, as I would do, and make him submit to it!
Yes, if he were in this stand behind me, I would turn upon
him, as Nathan did upon David, and staring him full in the
face, I would tell him, Sir, thou art the man!
The depravity op the man!—Under this head, ladies
and gentlemen, I propose, in a very brief manner, to exhibit
some proofs of the deep, dark, and damning depravity of
132
the great iron wheel examined.
this man Ross. The following passage against the doctrine
of the Direct Witness occurs in the writings of Dr. Chal¬
mers, one of the most pious, eloquent, and celebrated Pres¬
byterian divines of Scotland—a gentleman who departed this
life twelve months ago, at the advanced age of 70 years. In
this passage, Dr. Chalmers presents the argument of the
infidel objector to this doctrine, and so states the case himself,
but Ross has neither the manliness nor the moral honesty to
tell this. Chalmers says :
Does not this doctrine of a revelation of the Spirit, it may be asked,
additional to the revelation of the Word, open a door to the most un¬
bridled variety ? May it not give a sanction to any conceptions of any
visionary pretenders, and clothe in all the authority of inspiration a
set of doctrines not to be found within the compass of the written
record ? Does it not set aside the usefulness of the Bible, and break
in upon the unity and consistency of revealed truth, by letting loose
upon the world a succession of fancies as endless and as variable as are
the caprices of the human imagination?
In reply, Dr. Chalmers says:
All very true, did we pretend that the office of the Spirit was to
reveal any thing additional to the information, whether in the way of
doctrine or of duty, which the Bible sets before us. But his office, as
defined by the Bible itself, is not to make known to us any truths which
are not contained in the Bible, but to make clear to our understandings
the truths which are contained in it. He opens our understandings to
understand the Scriptures. The word of God is called the Sword of
the Spirit. It is the instrument by which the Spirit worketh. lie
does not tell us any thing that is out of the record, but all that is
within it he sends home with clearness and effect upon the mind.—Chal¬
mers's Works, p. 126.
Again :
It is surely not necessary that the Spirit add any thing to the truth
of God's omniscience, as it is put down in the written record. It will
be enough that he gives to the mind upon which he operates a steady
and enduring impression of this truth.—Ibid, p. 127.
Again, speaking of an unregenerate man, be says:
Only grant us the undeniable truth, that he may understand how
he cannot discern the things of the Spirit unless the Spirit reveal them
to him; and yet with this understanding, he may not be one of those
in behalf of whom the Spirit hath actually interposed with his pecu¬
liar office of revelation.—Ibid/ p. 125.
the great iron wheel examined. 133
In these last repeated extracts, Dr. Chalmers goes on to
teach and vindicate the Direct Witness—not only so, but he
overturns the arguments of these infidel objectors. All this
Ross understood perfectly. But the fraud, nay, the forgery
he perpetrates with malice aforethought, and, as I believe,
being instigated by the Devil, and not having the fear of God
before his eyes!
My audience! the man who would do this thing is not too
good to forge a note of hand upon his neighbor for $100, one
day after date! He is not too good to utter a lie, too! He
is prepared for "treason, stratagem, and spoils;"—and that
man is F. A. Ross, the leader and champion of New School
Presbyterianism!
Mr. Wesley, in his Works, declares that at the time he
began to raise up his societies in London, " vital religion was
well-nigh lost and forgotten." This statement Mr. Ross
declares to be one of boasting and lying, and in saying that,
the Synod of East Tennessee affirms that he told the truth,
according to the Scriptures!
Here is what Dr. Watts says in his "Preface to An Humble
Attempt to revive Vital Religionin 1735:
Among the papers published last year, there hath been some inquiry
made whether there be any decay in the "dissenting" interest, and
what may have been supposed to have been the occasion of it. So
far as I have searched into that matter, I have been informed that
whatsoever decrease may have appeared in some places, there have
been sensible advances in others. And without entering into any
debate about the particular reason of its declension in any town
whatsoever, I am well satisfied that the great and general reason is
THE DECAY OF VITAL RELIGION IN THE HEARTS AND LIVES OF MEN; and
the little success which the ministrations of the gospel have had of
late for the conversion of sinners to holiness, and the recovery of
them from the state of corrupt nature and the course of this world,
to the life of God by Jesus Christ.—Nor is the complaint of the de¬
clension of virtue and piety made only by the Protestant dissenters.
It is a general matter of mournful observation among all that lay the
cause of God to heart, and therefore it cannot be thought amiss for
every one to use all just and proper efforts for the recovery of dying
religion in the world.
134 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
From Buck's Theological Dictionary, page 369, under the
head "Methodists," I take the following:
At the time this society was formed, it was said that the whole
kingdom of England was tending fast to infidelity. "It is come,"
says Bishop Butler, "I know not how, to be taken for granted by
many persons, that Christianity is not so much as a subject of inquiry,
but that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious; and accord¬
ingly they treat it as if, in the present age, this were an agreement
among all people of discernment, and nothing remained but to set it
up as a principal subject of mirth and ridicule, as it were, by way of
reprisal for its having so long interrupted the pleasures of the world."
There is every reason to believe that the Methodists were the instru¬
ments in stemming this torrent. The sick and the poor also tasted
the fruits of their labors and benevolence: Mr. Wesley abridged him¬
self of all his superfluities, and proposed a fund for the relief of the
indigent; and so prosperous was the scheme, that they quickly
increased their fund to eighty pounds per annum. '
In Watson's Life of Wesley, an author quoted by Mr. Boss,
page 62, I find the following:
A more striking instance of the rapid deterioration of religious light
and influence in a country scarcely occurs, than in our own, from the
Restoration till the rise of Methodism. It affected not only the Church,
but the dissenting sects, in no ordinary degree. The Presbyterians
had commenced their course through Arianism down to Socinianism;
and those who held the doctrines of Calvin had, in too many instances,
by a course of hot-house planting, luxuriated them into the fatal and,
disgusting errors of Antinomianism, There were, indeed, many happy
exceptions; but this was the general state of religion and morals
in the country, when the Wesleys, Whitefield, and a few kindred
spirits came forth, ready to sacrifice ease, reputation, and even life
itself, to produce a reformation.
And now, my audience, in further proof of what Mr. Wes¬
ley has said about the morals of Europe, and by way of cer¬
tificate for the morality of Presbyterianism, 1 beg leave to
cite the testimony—not of a Methodist, or a Baptist, or a
Lutheran, or an Episcopalian, but of the whole Presbyterian
Church of Scotland, met in General Assembly. Let not this
audience, and the few spies sent here to take notes of what
I say, charge that I am slandering the Presbyterians of
Scotland — the witnesses are the united ^Fathers of their
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
135
Church. In the preamble to an act of their Assembly, passed
in the year 1578, it is openly set forth that
The General Assembly of the Kirk finding universal corruption of
the whole estates of the body of the realm, the great coldness and
slackness in religion in the greatest part of the professors of the same,
with the daily increase of all kind of fearful sins and enormities, as
incests, adulteries, murders, (committed in Edinburgh and Stirling,)
cursed sacrilege, ungodly sedition and division within the bowels of
the realm, with all manner of disordered and ungodly living, etc. etc.
In 1648, just two hundred years ago, and coming down
more nearly to Mr. Wesley's time, the General Assembly
again testifies to the state of Presbyterian morality in Scot¬
land. I read from " Breckenridge and Hughes's Discussion/'
page 397. The Assembly says :
Ignorance of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ, prevailed exceed¬
ingly in the land: that it were impossible to reckon up all the abomi¬
nations that were in the land; and that the blaspheming of the name
of God, swearing by the creatures, profanation of the Lord's day,'
uncleanliness, excess and rioting, vanity of apparel, lying and deceit,
railing and cursing, arbitrary and uncontrolled oppression, and grind¬
ing the faces of the poor by landlords, and others in places of power,
were become ordinary and common sins.
The testimony of the Associate Synod of Scotland, as late
as the year 1778, and coming down to Mr. Wesley's time, is
of the following import:
A general unbelief of revealed religion (prevails) among the higher
orders of our countrymen, which hath, by a necessary consequence,
produced, in vast numbers, an absolute indifference as to what they
believe, either concerning truth or duty, any further than it may
comport with their worldly views.
But the question under consideration here is not whether
Presbyterians were, or were not, in those days, less moral
than other denominations, which seems to have been the fact,
themselves being witnesses—but is whether or not Mr. Wesley
lied, as charged by Boss and the Athens synod, when he said, as
he did, that " vital religion" was becoming extinct in the
whole kingdom of England, when he began to raise up his
136 the great iron wheel examined.
societies. I have shown, by testimony that no court or jury
can reject, that Mr. Ross is the liar, and that his synodical.
associates are the slanderers. Among these is your pastor,
Mr. Palmer, as painful as it may be to some pf you to have
his name used in this connection. The only apology I can
offer for the synod is, that its sayings and doings were eter¬
nally, omnipotently, and immutably "foreordained."
Mr. Ross and his synod, by partisan blaspheming, and by
their malignant abuse, have compelled me to enter into this
oral disputation, as well as the one we are carrying on through
the medium of the press. I have already taught them a few
facts respecting their religion, as well as mine, with which
they seem to have been unacquainted before. And before I
am done with these shameless tradueers, I will make them
ashamed of themselves, if their foreheads are not petrified,
and impervious to a blush!
On page 87 of.Mr. Ross'i slanderous "Tract," you will
find the extract I now read you, commencing after a full stop,
and winding up with a period. I wish you to listen to it
attentively, and recollect its charge and sentiment, as upon
this paragraph I found the charge of wilful lying and malig¬
nant slander, both against Mr. Ross and the synod. Listen
to the base and infamous libel :
I beg, in this connection, to say that all my Swedenborgian quota¬
tions are from Mr. Wesley's "Thoughts on the Writings of Baron
Swedenborg." (Vol. vii. p. 426, etc.) And that it is remarkable Mr.
Wesley nowhere challenges Swedenborg's claim to vision, bet
rather seems to admit it!!
Now, ladies — you too, gentlemen — hear the testimony
which shall convict these reverend LIARS! They give
chapter, and verse, and volume of Wesley's Works—the very
book I hold in my hand! And well they may; because this
book contains the only tract or article by Mr. Wesley, in
existence, against the writings of Baron Swedenborg, as every
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 137
intelligent Methodist knows. Here it is, headed as Mr. Ross
says, covering eight leaves or sixteen pages in this book, vol.
vii. of Wesley's Works, pages 426—440. Mr. Wesley
says:
Many years ago the Baron came over to England, and lodged at one
Mr. Brockmer's, who informed me, and the same information was
given me by Mr. Mathesius, a very serious Swedish clergyman, (both
of whom were alive when I left London, and, I suppose, are so still,)
that while he was in his house he had a violent fever; in thelieight
of which, being totally delirious, he broke from Mr. Brockmer, ran
into the street stark naked, proclaimed himself the Messiah, and rolled
himself into the mire. I suppose he dates from this time his admis¬
sion into the society of angels. From this time we are undoubtedly
to date that peculiar species of insanity which attended him, with
scarce any intermission, to the day of his death.
In all history I find but one instance of an insanity parallel to this.
I mean that related by the Roman poet of the gentleman at Argos, in
other respects a sensible man.
I make no scruples to affirm this is as arrant nonsense as was ever
pronounced by any man in Bedlam.
Be this a specimen of the Baron's skill in expounding the Scriptures.
Come we now to his memorable visions and revelations.
Any serious man may observe that many of these are silly and
childish to the last degree; that many others are amazingly odd and
whimsical; many palpably absurd, contrary to all sound reason; and
many more contrary, not only to particular texts, but to the whole
tenor of Scripture.
Who illuminated either Jacob Behmen or Baron Swedenborg flatly
to contradict these things? It could not be the God of the holy
prophets, for he is always consistent with himself. Certainly it was
the spirit of darkness. And indeed "the light which was in them
was darkness," while they labor to kill the never-dying worm, and to
put out the unquenchable fire! And with what face can any profess¬
ing to believe in the Bible give any countenance to these dreamers?—
that filthy dreamer in particular, who takes care to provide harlots,
instead of fire and brimstone, for the devils and damned spirits in
hell! 0 my brethren! let none of you that fear God recommend such
a writer any more! much less labor to make the deadly poison palata¬
ble, by sweetening it with all care! All his folly and nonsense we
may excuse, but not his making God a liar—not his contradicting, in
so flagrant a manner, the whole oracles of God! True, his tales are
often exceedingly lively, and as entertaining as the tales of the fairies,
but I dare not give up my Bible for them; and I must give up one or
the other. If the preceding extracts are from God, then the Bible is
only a fable; but if "all Scriptures are given by inspiration of God,"
then let these dreamers sink into the pit from whence they came.
Wakefield, May 9, 1782. John Wesley.
138
the great iron wheel examined.
The slanders complained op.—Ladies and gentlemen:
under this head 1 propose to present you other and different
views of this controversy from those upon which I have dwelt
thus far. Having said a good deal to-day of a severe charac¬
ter against Mr. Ross and the Athens synod, and intending,
before I leave this stand, to say a good deal more, I will
briefly present our ground of complaint, as Methodists, in
justification of my course, and of my abuse. In other words,
I will, for the information of such in this large assembly as
have not had access to the " Calvinistic Magazine," in which,
under various heads, within the last three years, this man
Ross, and the pliant tools of the synod—who go at his bid¬
ding and come at his call—have taken occasion to express
themselves most freely as to the ignorance, degradation,
hypocrisy, corruption, and even infamy, of the membership
and ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the
United States. They talk about abuse! The disciples of
Ross, Palmer, Morrison & Co., are the last people on earth
who should complain of my abuse, or the abuse of any Me¬
thodist who attempts a refutation of the slanders of Ross.
That vile man and his associates have attempted to immolate
the whole Methodist Church upon the brazen altar of personal
abuse ! The language of bitter reproach and burning invec¬
tive has been exhausted upon our members, ministers, doc¬
trines, and discipline, by this anointed band of calumniators.
And as to Ross himself, St. Giles has been put to the blush
in the filthiness of the epithets which he has bestowed upon
the living and the dead of our Church! And yet, as if in
mockery of all human sincerity, as if intending to add insult
to injury, the vile advocates of this man, and the dirty little
whippers-in, cry out that we substitute abuse for argument I
I will bring together, in this part of my address, a feu
only of the published opinions of these slanderers, and of the
hard speeches which these ungodly sinners have uttered
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 139
against our Church. I beseech every lady and gentleman
.under the sound of my voice to hear these sayings patiently
and impartially. I will read to you from the Magazines them¬
selves, giving chapter and verse; and invite any gentleman
present, who may feel free to do so, to stand at my side and
see that I read correctly.
In the Magazine for August, 1846, the Rev. Slanderer says:
But the broad fact remains, after all concessions, that Methodism
is a debauched pietism, in which the imagination has run wild, and
passion, bodily sympathy, and mysticism are supreme, while true
moral character is subordinate and degraded. We speak out and
challenge examination. We speak out and say that rottenness is in
the very bones of the moral system created by Methodism, to an
awful extent.
In the Magazine for November, 1846> he says:
It is sometimes asked, with great greenness, what business have
we, the editors of the Calvinistic Magazine, with the Methodist sys¬
tem? We answer—-just the same business we would have if a man
living in the same house with us had a barrel of gunpowder in his
room. We think we should have the right to try to get that powder
out of the house. So we have the right to expose popery, and pre¬
lacy, and Methodism, as dangerous to the civil and religious liberty
of our country.
We said in the outset that this article is No. 1. We have materials
for at least twelve numbers of the Great Iron Wheel, in which, if
spared, we will show the beginnings of Romanism in as many par¬
ticulars in the Methodist Episcopal Church. And as proof of what
is to come, we feel sure no candid man will rise from the reading of
this number without saying, with a long breath, "Well, Methodism is
worse than I thought it was."
In the Magazine for April, 1847, in the second number of
his "Iron Wheel," he says :
We have often remarked a peculiar insensibility, as a characteristic
of the Methodist common mass, a peculiar insensibility to moral honor
and integrity of character. We have not dropped this sentence in hasty
writing. We say deliberately it is so—it is so—wide and deep.
Upon this last extract indulge me in offering a word .of
comment. He says the Methodist common masses are insen¬
sible to moral honor and integrity of character—that is to
140
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
say, they are destitute of both I Has it then come to
this, that a Christian people will sustain a minister who
openly comes out and charges that the common masses of one
of the most numerous sects in this country, a highly respect¬
able and evangelical denomination, are destitute of moral
honesty and integrity of character ? What constitutes a
gentleman and a Christian, in this community? I answer,
moral honesty and integrity of character. This is all any
man possesses that renders him worthy of the esteem of his
fellow-men. He who has neither is a mockery of a man—a
burlesque of our noble species—a beast in human form!
But who are our common masses ? On my right, they are
those young men, sons of honest farmers and mechanics, who
eat bread by the sweat of their brows ! On my left, they are
those Methodist mothers and daughters, the wives and chil¬
dren of the farmers and mechanics of this country—the better
part of society—who wash their own clothes, sweep their own
houses, spin and weave their own garments, and cook their
own victuals ! You—yes, you, young ladies and young gen¬
tlemen whom I address—are charged, by this vile slanderer
and dirty blackguard, with being destitute of moral honesty
and integrity of character) and the Athens Synod, to a man,
swore upon their oaths that he told the truth when he made
the charge. Yes, this big, two-fisted ditch-digger and grass-
cutter, the Rev. Mr. Palmer, who sometimes preaches to you
in this village, declared by his vote in this Synod, that you,
his neighbors, were just this degraded set of poor wretches that
Boss has charged!
Again: on page 135 of the same number, he says:
- It hardens the conscience to moral obligations. It prostrates body
and soul under the feet of an irresponsible ministry. It injures the
piety of the good man. It encourages hypocrisy. It must, if fully
developed, demoralize society.
Once more he says, in his article styled " Iron Wheel
the great iron wheel examined. 141
It is astounding that any set of men, after the American Revolution,
should have dared to fabricate, and set in motion, this great Iron
Wheel of the Itinerancy! Just look at it, and you see it is a perfect
system of passive obedience and non-resistance.
The thing is a naked despotism—imperial power, in an ecclesiastical
aristocracy, unblushingly avowed and gloried in.
The system is dangerous to our liberties, civil and religious. It
ought to be understood and done away, by public opinion, enlightened
by the spirit of the Bible; and the movement to do it away cannot
be too soon.
The Methodist system is death to all the institutions for which
Washington fought and freemen died!
Besides these, in the Magazine for April, 1847, he intro¬
duces certain Latin Questions and Answers, liable to be asked
of " married women and single girls " in our band and class-
meetings, which he asserts they "are bound to answer," and
which bring these females " under priestly control"—charg¬
ing, in substance and in fact, that Methodist females who
frequent these meetings are STRUMPETS, and that our
ministers are a set of FORNICATORS ! We will not inter¬
pret or add the Latin in question, because of its revolting
obscenity.
During the sitting of the Supreme Court in Knoxville, in
September last, a distinguished lawyer, an elder in Mr. Ross's
church, wrote him frankly, that the Methodists regarded him
as charging the Methodist females as aforesaid, and requested
him to disavow such charges or intention, in his next Maga¬
zine. To this he replied with great warmth, on page 382 of
the October number:
Is it all pure and proper to tell in Latin what Rome does ? But is
it all filthy, if we tell in the same Latin what Methodism would do
"if the class confessional was enforced as Mr. Wesley planned it, and
as it is in the discipline?" Obscenity! Why, every thinking man
knows that this cry of modesty is hypocritical cant, to hide the class
and band. Obscenity! We have nothing to recall. Rather the
more earnestly we desire that Methodist mothers may read that very
page in the Calvinistic Magazine. Respectfully we urge her to read
it alone with her husband, and to ask him the English of the Latin.
Then let her remember that the priest has a right to ask of ladies
these questions. After this, will she compare the Latin questions to
142 the great iron wheel examined.
be put by the priests, ■with the questions required to be asked in the
band at every meeting ? Then may she pray God to shield her and
her daughters from the horrid consummation of the class confessional,
"if enforced as Mr. Wesley planned it, and as it is in the discipline."
Thus, it will be seen be takes nothing back. Rather, he
says, let the Methodist mother " pray God to shield her and
her daughter from the horrid consummation of the class
confessional!" Consummation Webster defines thus: "the
most intimate union of the sexes /"
Now, in reference to this Magazine, and all its slanders, the
Athens Synod, on the 12th of October, 1846, without a
dissenting voice, as Mr. Ross boasts, adopted the following
resolution, and published it in the Magazine for November of
that year:
Resolved, That synod recommend the Calvinistic Magazine, pub¬
lished under the editorial care of Rev. Isaac Anderson, D. D., F. A.
Ross, James King, and James McChain,* AS A MOST EXCELLENT
PERIODICAL!!!
To show this audience that I do not err in saying that all
this slander of the "Tract" and "Magazine" is but the lan¬
guage of the Synod—of the Church—I herewith read what
Mr. Blackburn,f a Presbyterian preacher of Maryville, said
in the Knoxville Register of the 5th of January, 1848.
This reverend gentleman, reflecting the sentiments of Dr.
Anderson, the senior editor of the Magazine, and of the Synod
of which he is a member, or liable to be in turn, says:
Mr. Ross has, in association with three other ministers and coeditors,
enunciated our views on Methodist Church government. The Calvin¬
istic Magazine is our regularly constituted organ ; and until its teachings
are disavoived, is properly taken as our true exponent. We subscribe to
"The Great Iron Wheel" our cordial assent. We are to be held ac¬
countable as a Church, because the Magazine was called into existence,
* It is proper to say, that while the other gentlemen were associate
editors, Mr. Ross wrote all these violent articles.
f Mr. Blackburn is now the editor of the "Presbyterian Witness,"
at Knoxville, 1856.
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 143
and the editors appointed by solemn vote of our synod.—To the Caesar
of public judgment shall we go. Many have been the tirades pub¬
lished against the Magazine: they fall on us. We have, however,
never complained; and, by the grace of God, never shall. We believe
there are errors in Arminianism—corruption and tyranny in Method¬
ist Church government; and this belief we will proclaim to the world,
though we were assured that the powers of earth, and all the foreign
aid they could get, were combined against us."
Here is a frank and open confession, in one of the political
journals of East Tennessee, by a Presbyterian preacher, that
Mr. Eoss is the great boa-constrictor of the New School
Church, and the shark of the Athens Synod, (whose life is a
perfect romance of calumny!) who has used the names of the
members of the Synod as saddle-hags, in which to deposit his
slanders ! Here is a confession to the effect that the members
of the Synod were the pilot-fishes to this great shark; but
neither Mr. Blackburn, nor naturalists, have informed us what
portion of the spoils the pilot-fish is entitled to !
In addition to what is said in the Magazine, we subjoin a
few extracts from a book published by Mr. Eoss, entitled,
" The Direct Witness," etc. On page 92, he says:
The doctrine of the direct witness of the Spirit, as taught by Mr.
Wesley, is mischievous in its tendency. Mischief to the soul of man
is upon its very face; and mischief has followed its propagation, and
that continually, everywhere!
On page 97, he concludes a chapter in these words:
I appeal, wherever this address may go, whether mischief is not
upon the face of Mr. Wesley's doctrine, and mischief has not followed
its propagation, and that continually, in every place : whether it
is not everywhere the ALCOHOL of pretended religious experience,
producing nothing better than fanatical intoxication.
Again, on page 106, Mr. Eoss thus denounces the whole
Methodist ministry as a pack of lying, slanderous hypocrites,
who go about the dirty work of the Devil, and making the
naturally depraved hearts of sinners worse than they are wont
to be :
144
the great iron wheel examined.
Go among the inhabitants of the obscurest dell, or highest peak, or
farthest limit of prairie, visited by the Methodist itinerant, and there
you find the Presbyterian has been already misrepresented. Whose
hands have scattered these arrows 1 Methodist preachers. Whose lips
have taught these wild or simple people to hate God's sovereignty,
his electing love, and preserving grace, with a hatred beyond that of
the natural heart? Methodist preachers.
On page 108, after denouncing Methodists as " novices,
deceivers, hypocrites, fools, and fanatics," Mr. Ross proceeds
to inquire—
May I not show Methodism to be Methodism ? May I not show its
government and discipline to be planted with the germs of Romanism?
May I not show that Methodism, having these degrading elements, is
utterly feeble to exert high moral power on man ?
In reference to the "Tract" containing all this slander, and
even more and worse, this same Synod, with a recklessness
and malice not even excelled hy the "New York Empire
Club," adopted the following resolution "with absolute
unanimity"—that is to say, without one dissenting
voice !
Resolved, That in the estimation of synod, a Tract lately published
by F. A. Ross, entitled, " The Doctrine of the Direct Witness of the
Spirit, as taught by Rev. John Wesley, shown to b& false, unscriptural,
fanatical, and of mischievous tendency," is an able production, setting
forth that important subject in its true scriptural light, and is ear¬
nestly recommended to the perusal of all the members of our Church.
To all this we add the following from Mr. Ross's Glade
Spring discourse:
No. 2.—It is a degradation to any one to join the Methodist Church,
unless he set his face as a flint to reform it.
In conclusion, these are some of the slanders the Methodists
complain of. And when gentlemen speak of abuse heaped
upon Mr. Ross, let them consider what it is we are replying
to—not merely this degraded and slanderous blackguard—
this illegitimate son of an old negro wench—this adulterous
the great iron wheel examined.
145
descendant of an old Scotch Tory—but-all the ruling elders
and ministers oe the late synod oe tennessee !
And what Mr. Blackburn has here said of the cooperation
of the Synod with Mr. Ross, in this great work of detraction,
I can with safety say of nine-tenths of their membership in
East Tennessee. It is a mistaken notion into which many of
the Methodists have fallen, that Mr. Ross's course is not
approved by his members. A eew individuals desire him to
cease his abuse of the Methodists, and half of these few
desire peace because they dread the final result of the contro¬
versy. The great mass of the New School party, steeped to
the nose and chin in devotion to the writings of Ross, drink
down what he says, with most disgusting complacency.
Hence, any pretension of friendship and esteem is but adding
insult to injury. They pretend to invite Methodist preachers
to their pulpits, to their sacramental boards, and to their
houses, while they are hurling all this scorn at them through
their highest ecclesiastical courts, and in this dogmatic spirit!
The controversy with them, is held, not for truth, but for
victory. These are the Scylla and Charybdis with the Ross-
ites; while they are making the Church a mere thoroughfare
to Rome or Geneva!
There are many kind-hearted Methodists in the country
who are opposed to all this angry controversy, and who oppose
it from correct motives. Their kindness feeds on reflection
rather than impulse: they know that Christians cannot add
to their graces by this busy, bustling spirit of controversy—
this struggle to be seen and heard. They recollect that Elijah
found not the Lord in the tempest, but in the quiet and calm
—uBe still, and know that I am God." Many hypocritical
Rossites take advantage of this goodness of heart, and con¬
demn, in no measured terms, the controversy, when in the
company of such persons. Nay, more—they speak feelingly
of union, and profess great friendship for their Methodist
7
146
the great iron wheel examined.
brethren. Beware of all such! Like the fabled bat of
Madagascar, they will suck all the blood out of your veins,
while .they fan you to sleep with their wide-spreading wings
of union!
But who is it that makes this powerful appeal to the Revo¬
lutionary sires, in this country, to rise up in their might and
put down the monster Methodism, before it destroys our civil
and religious liberties ? Is it the son of George Washington,
who served his country so faithfully? No. Is it the son of
Andrew Jackson, who led our armies to victory upon the
plains of New Orleans? No. Is it the son of Zach. Taylor,
or Winfield Scott, who, at the head of the American army,
recently triumphed on so many fields in Mexico? No: these
distinguished generals had no sons; or if they had, they have
expressed no such fears of the ruinous tendency of Method¬
ism. Who is it, then ? Echo answers, who ? I reply, it is
the adulterous, slanderous, unprincipled, and degraded son
of an old Virginia negro wench—the illegitimate son of an old
Scotch Tory of the war of the Revolution, who did all that
lay in his power to destroy those liberties " for which Wash¬
ington fought and freemen died." In other words, it is
Frederick Augustus Ross—the last man living that ought to
open his mouth about opposition to civil and religious liberties,
or even hint at the war of the Revolution !
I will read you an extract or two from the "Journal op
the Convention of Virginia, for June, 1776," a venera¬
ble old document, giving the proceedings of a patriotic band
of men one month prior to the Declaration of American In¬
dependence. On page 66, June 27, we find the following
intelligence :—
Mr. Cary, from the committee appointed, presented to the Conven¬
tion, according to order, an ordinance to enable the present magis¬
trates and officers to continue the administration of justice, and for
settling the general mode of proceedings in criminal and other oases
the great iron wheel examined. 147
till the same can be more amply provided for; which was read the
first time, and ordered to be read a second time.
Resolved, That this Convention will to-mgrrow again resolve itself
into the said committee.
Among the criminals arraigned at the bar of the Conven¬
tion, under arrest for " giving aid and comfort to the enemy
was DA YID R OSS, the father of the ostensible editor of
the Calvinistic Magazine, a Scotchman by birth, a foreigner in
feeling, and a Tory in practice. On page 78 of the Journal,
under date of "Friday, June 28, 1776," this authentic old
document proceeds:—
Mr. Archibald Cary, from the Committee of Privileges and Elec¬
tions, reported that the committee had, according to order, had under
their consideration the information respecting David Ross, and had
come to the following resolution thereupon, which he read in his
place, and afterwards delivered in at the clerk's table, where the
same was again read and agreed to:
Resolved, That the information against the said David Ross be heard
before this committee on the second Monday after the meeting of the
next Convention or Assembly; and that the said Buss be discharged
out of custody, on giving bond and security in the sum of £5,000 to ap¬
pear at the next meeting of Convention or Assembly, to answer the
said information on the day fixed for hearing the same; and that he
doth not in the meantime give intelligence to or in any manner aid or assist
the enemy.
Upon the laying over of Eoss's case to a future day, his
accomplices in Toryism petitioned the Assembly to let them
leave the country for England; whereupon the following reso¬
lution was adopted, and is found on page 77 of, said Journal:
Resolved, That the said petition is reasonable, and that the peti¬
tioners have leave to depart this country after taking an oath not to
bear arms against America, nor give intelligence to the enemy during the
present war.
The most important item in the history of this old Tory will
be found on page 35 of said Journal, dated June 6, 1776,
where the Convention had David Eoss before them as a pris-
148
the great iron wheel examined.
oner, on a charge of having delivered a Colonel's commission
to a certain person to bring the Indians against this country
to cooperate with the British, and they were in motion accord¬
ingly ; and for that he was publicly tried, and of the crime
convicted, and came within one of being put to death!
Surely F. A. Ross is the last man in Tennessee who ought
to speak of " illustrious predecessors," or the " liberties for
which Washington fought and freemen died!" His old father
was a most recreant Tory, the partner of old Hook, furnishing
the British army with the very beef and meal they were em¬
ployed to furnish the American army, and then, in turn, in¬
forming the British officers of the movements of the Ameri¬
can army!
Bid ever John Wesley, Francis Asbury, or any other Me¬
thodist preacher, go this length against the war of the Revo¬
lution ? No, no, NO ! But the Rev. Mr. Bile, of Boston,
a distinguished Presbyterian preacher, a native of New Jer¬
sey, did openly take sides with the British in that memorable
struggle, and was dismissed from his congregation, and fled to
England to save his neck from the halter!
Since Ross and his Synod have arraigned the Methodists
upon their opposition to " civil and religious liberties," I wish
to show what ground they occupy themselves. Thomas Jef¬
ferson, the father of American democracy, understood the
genius of Presbyterianism, not in its theological deformity,
but as a statesman, in its bearing upon the "liberties for
which Washington fought and freemen died." In volume
fourth, page 358, of his works, Mr. Jefferson says:—
The atmosphere of our country is unquestionably charged with a
threatening cloud of fanaticism, lighter in some parts, denser in
others, but too heavy in all. I had no idea, however, that in Penn¬
sylvania, the cradle of toleration and freedom of religion, it could
have risen to the height you describe. This must be owing ta the
growth of Presbyterianism. Here, Episcopalian and Presbyterian,
Methodist and Baptist, join together in hymning their Maker, listen
the great iron wheel examined. 149
•with attention and devotion to each other's preachers, and all mix in
society with perfect harmony. It is not so in the districts where
Presbyterianism prevails undividedly. Their ambition and tyranny
would tolerate no rival, if they had power. Systematical at grasping
at an ascendency over all other sects, they aim at engrossing the edu¬
cation of the country; are hostile to every institution they do not
direct; are jealous at seeing others begin to attend at all to that
object.
On the same subject, he says, in his letter to William
Short, page 322 :—
The Presbyterian clergy are the loudest, the most intolerant of all
sects—the most tyrannical and ambitious: ready at the word of the
lawgiver, if such a word could now be obtained, to put the torch to
the pile, and to rekindle in this virgin hemisphere the flames in which
their oracle, Calvin, consumed the poor Servetus, because he could
not subscribe the proposition of Calvin, that magistrates have a right
to exterminate all heretics to the Calvinistic creed. They pant to re¬
establish by law that holy inquisition which they can now only infuse
into public opinion.
And to show that Mr. Jefferson wrote even prophecy > listen
to Dr. Ely, the great expounder of American Presbyterian¬
ism, in a Fourth of July sermon delivered in Philadelphia in
1827 .—
We have assembled, fellow-citizens, on the anniversary of our na¬
tion's birthday, in a rational and religious manner, to celebrate
our independence of all foreign dominion, and the goodness of God
in making us a free people. Pn what subject can I, on the present
occasion, insist with more propriety than on the duty of all the rulers
and citizens of these United States, in the exercise and enjoyment of
all their political rights, to honor the Lord Jesus Christ ? Let it, then,
be distinctly stated and fearlessly maintained, in the first place, that
evert member of this christian nation, from the highest to the
lowest, ought to serve the Lord with fear, and yield his sincere
homage to the Son of God. Every ruler should be an avowed and
sincere friend of Christianity. He should know and believe the doc¬
trines of our holy religion, and act in conformity with its precepts.
This he ought to do; because as a man he is required to serve the
Lord, and as a public ruler he is called upon by Divine authority to
"kiss the Son." The commandment contained in Proverbs iii. 6, "in
all thy ways acknowledge him," including public as well as private ways,
and political no less than domestic ways!
150
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
Let all, then, admit that our civil rulers ought to act a religious
part in all the relations they sustain.
If a ruler is not a Christian, he ought to be one, in this land of
evangelical light, without delay, and he ought, being a follower of
Jesus, to honor him even as he honors the Father. In this land
of religious freedom, what should hinder a civil magistrate from be¬
lieving the gospel and professing faith in Christ any more than any
other man ? If the chief magistrate of a nation may be an irreligious
man with impunity, who may not ?
Our rulers, like any other members of the community who are
under law to God as rational beings, and under law to Christ, since
they have the light of Divine revelation, ought to search the Scrip¬
tures, assent to the truth, profess faith in Christ, keep the Sabbath
holy to God, pray in private and in the domestic circle, attend on the
public ministry of the word, be baptized, and celebrate the Lord's
supper. None of our rulers have the consent of their Maker that
they should be Pagans, Socinians, Mussulmen, Deists, the opponents
of Christianity; and a religious people should never think of giving
them permission as public officers to be and do what they might not
lawfully be and do as private individuals.
ggg?" In other words, our presidents, secretaries of the govern¬
ment, senators, and other representatives in Congress, governors of
States, judges, State legislators, justices of the peace, and city ma¬
gistrates, are just as much bound as any other persons in the United
States to be orthodox in their faith, and virtuous and religious in their
whole deportment.
Since it is the duty of all our rulers to serve the Lord and kiss the
Son of God, it must be most manifestly the duty of all Christian fellow-
citizens to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, and promote Christianity, by
electing and supporting as public officers the friends of our blessed
Saviour.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, is a maxim which should dwell in
a Christian's mind on the day of a public election as much as on the
Sabbath, and which should govern him when conspiring with others
to honor Christ, either at the Lord's table or in the election of chief
magistrate.
If the wise, the prudent, the temperate, the friends of God and of
their country, do not endeavor to control our elections, they will be con¬
trolled by others; and if one good man may, without any reasonable
excuse, absent himself, then all may.
If all the truly religious men of our nation would be punctual and
persevering in their endeavors to have good men chosen to fill all our
national and State offices of honor, power and trust, their weight would
soon be felt by politicians, and those who care little for the religion
of the Bible would, for their own interest, consult the reasonable wishes
of the great mass of Christians throughout the land.
I could wish to see every professing Christian in attendance on elec¬
tions ; but rather let him never give a vote than receive a treat for his
suffrage. 1 propose, fellow-citizens, a new sort of union, or, if
the great iron wheel examined. 151
you please, A CHRISTIAN PARTY IN POLITICS, which I am ex¬
ceedingly desirous all good men in our country should join.
All who profess to be Christians of any denomination ought to
agree that they will support no man as a candidate for any office who
is not professedly friendly to Christianity, and a believer in Divine
revelation.
The Presbyterians alone could bring half a million of
electors into field.
Let a man be of good moral character, and let him profess to be¬
lieve in and advocate the Christian religion, and we can all support
him!!! At one time he will be a Baptist, at another an Episcopalian,
at another a Methodist, at another a Presbyterian of the American,
Scotch, Irish, Dutch, or German stamp, and always a friend to our
common Christianity.
I am free to avow that, other things being equal, I would prefer for
my chief magistrate, and judge, and ruler, A SOUND PRESBY¬
TERIAN ; and every candid religionist will make the same declaration
concerning his own persuasion.
witches and wizards—ghosts and ghost-seers I
Ladies and Gentlemen :—I will conclude this address,
already extended beyond what I could desire, by giving you a
touch upon witchcraft I Mr. Ross and his Synod attribute to
Mr. Wesley and the Methodists the honor of having led off
in the belief of witchcraft and sorcery, and they charge that
this doctrine of the Direct Witness led them into this delusion !
If I can get your attention for thirty-five or forty minutes, I
will convince you that the Presbyterians are the last people
on this continent who should object to any one believing in
the reality of witchcraft, or even practicing sorcery I
But as I wish to assert nothing but what I have proof for,
I will read you the following short extract from Mr. Ross's
"Tract," page 73 :—
The doctrine of the Direct Witness is FANATICAL, because, ac¬
cording to it, we may claim that there is now CONNECTION WITH
THE DEVIL IN WITCHCRAFT; AND THIS MR. WESLEY BE¬
LIEVED.
Now, I could multiply extracts of this kind to an indefinite
152
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
extent from the recent writings of this Rev. Slanderer, en
dorsed by the slanderous Synod at Athens, but I forbear.
By witchcraft is generally understood a supernatural power,
of which persons are supposed to obtain the possession by enter¬
ing into a compact with the Devil. They give themselves up
to Satan, body and soul, and he engages that they shall
want for nothing, and that he will avenge them upon all their
enemies. As soon as this bargain is concluded, the Devil
delivers to the witch an imp, or familiar spirit, which, like
the imp of Sin, in Milton, "yelps all around," ready at a
call to do whatever is directed! By the assistance of this
imp and.of the Devil together, the witch, who is almost al¬
ways an old woman, (ladies, keep a look-out!) is enabled to
transport herself through the air on a broomstick to distant
places, to attend the regular meetings of the witches !*
To show that I am correct in my definition of this art, I
read the following extract from Buck's Theological Dictionary,
a Calvinistic work :—*■
Witchcraft, a supernatural power which persons were formerly
s ipposed to obtain the possession of by entering into a compact with
the Devil. Witchcraft was universally believed in Europe till the six¬
teenth century, and even maintained its ground with tolerable firm¬
ness till the middle of the seventeenth. The latest witchcraft frenzy
was in New England in 1692, when the execution of witches became
a calamity more dreadful than the sword or the pestilence. Some
have denied the existence of witchcraft altogether. That such per¬
sons have been found among men seems, however, evident from tho
Scriptures.
* At this moment, the eyes of the audience were turned up to the
inner comb of the roof of the shed. I looked up, and discovered a
huge scorpion creeping from board to board, and told them it was a
Rossite, and that as they were most imbittered against our zvomen, the
Methodist females in the assembly had better keep an eye on the im¬
postor ! Instantly the reptile let all holds go, and landed in the lap
of a young lady, but it was not long until, among hands, they had it
under foot! Ross himself is fast getting beneath the feet of an in¬
dignant and insulted community!
the great iron wheel examined. 158
According to this definition of witchcraft, there never were
but two regular-built wizards in all this country—the one
is A7. A. Ross, and the other James Gallagher, both Presbyte¬
rian clergymen. These men published to the world, in the
Calvinistic Magazine, (old series,) which I hold in my hand,
that they entered into a compact with devils, great and small
—little devils and big devils, horned devils and muly devils
—in a cave in Bay's Mountain, in East Tennessee, in Septem¬
ber, 1829. There they held their first synod, and adopted
their first resolutions against Methodism — resolving that
Bishop Asbury was a tory, and hid himself in a garret-loft in
New York during the war of the Revolution! There they
learned, in person, from devils, (good authority!) that Me¬
thodist preachers are tyrants in religion, and tyrants in poli¬
tics ! And there, too, they learned that " Methodism is death
to all the liberties for which Washington fought and freemen
died!" Here it is, in the Book of the Chronicles of Hell,
in which are registered the memorable exploits of these rev.
subalterns of his Satanic Majesty, one of whom " pealed
the banner-cry of nell" in this village, not long since, and was
cheered with reiterated shouts of applause and enthusiastic
admiration! The other son of Belial, Gallagher, is now lying,
swindling, and preaching in the West, having left this coun¬
try with several thousand dollars, which he lied and begged
the public out of, as some of you know, by going with his
knees and elbows out, and living on cold potatoes and butter¬
milk when strangers visited him! When his Tartarian
Highness adjourned this synod in the cave, it was to meet
again in Athens, on "Mars' Hill!"
The Rev. John Brown, a Presbyterian divine, already
quoted, says, in his Dictionary of the Bible, under the head
"Witchcraft"—a work, by the way, to be found in almost
every Presbyterian family in the country :
7*
154
TEE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
Witch is a -woman, and wizard is a man, that has dealings with
Satan, if not actually entered into compact with him._ That such per¬
sons are among men, is abundantly plain from Scripture, and that
they ought to be put to death.—Great caution is necessary in the de¬
tection of the guilty, and in punishing them, lest the innocent suffer,
as many instances in New England and other placed show.
To attempt a serious refutation of the doctrines of witch¬
craft is no part of my business. That there ever were
witches, that is, persons endowed with such powers as are
usually ascribed to them, is what I do not believe for one
moment. The whole matter is absurd and impossible. To
suppose an ignorant old woman (or indeed any human
being) capable of transforming herself into a cat, or an old
field hare, is to suppose her capable of counteracting the laws
of nature, which is competent to none but Glod alone. Yet,
absurd as the doctrine of witchcraft is, it is a notorious fact
that the Presbyterian Church, both in our own country and
other lands, is still annoyed with it, and is likely to be for a
century to come.
I hold in my hand a " History of the Salem Witchcraft,"
compiled by a Presbyterian, as the writer says, "from the best
authorities"—in which it is declared that "so many are the
cases of persons convicted of witchcraft in New England, in
the years sixteen hundred and ninety-one and two, that it
would require a larger volume than this to record them all j"
and this contains, as you may see, 365 pages!
Hear the following extract, found on page 15:
Mr. Parris had an Indian servant in his house. This man, with his
wife, set about discovering the authors of these evils. With this in¬
tent, they made a rye-cake, which they compounded with the urine of
the persons afflicted, and gave it to a dog to eat. By this proceeding
they hoped to clear the eyes of the bewitched of the gross films of
mortality, and enable them to see their invisible tormentors. The
incantation took effect, and the first person accused by the sufferers
was the Indian woman herself. She was committed to prison imme¬
diately, and persecuted with blows and otherwise, in order to extort
confession, and to compel her to criminate other witches, her supposed
the great iron wheel examined. 155
accomplices. Under this discipline it is not wonderful that the poor
squaw acknowledged an intercourse with the Devil; after which she
was publicly sold for her prison fees.
This Mr. Parris was a resident Presbyterian clergyman of
Salem; in whose family these witchcrafts seem to have origi¬
nated. And this "rye-cake" was a regularly built Presbyte¬
rian johnny-cake!
Here, on page 21, is a plate representing poor Proctor
pulling hemp without a foothold, and the Rev. Mr. Noyes, a
Presbyterian clergyman, refusing to pray for him, though
requested, because Proctor would not own himself a wizard,
and then go out of the world with a lie in his mouth!
Here is, also, another work, entitled "Wonders of the
Invisible World," written by Robert Calef, a Presbyterian
merchant of Boston, and printed in 1828-^just at the time
this man Ross began to figure in the ministry! This is a
work of 383 pages. On page 4 it is said, in reference to
these New England witchcrafts :
Were it, as we are told in Wonders of the Invisible World, "that
devils were walking about our streets with lengthened chains, making
a dreadful noise in our ears, and brimstone (even without a metaphor)
was making a horrid and a hellish stench in our nostrils;" and "that
the Devil, exhibiting himself ordinarily as a black man, had decoyed
a fearful knot of proud, froward, ignorant, envious, and malicious
creatures to enlist themselves in his horrid service, by entering their
names in a book tendered unto them, and that they have had their
meetings and sacraments, and associated themselves to destroy the kingdom
of our Lord Jesus Christ, in these parts of the world."
What a remarkable coincidence is here brought to light!
When the Devil came into New England, near two centuries
ago, to try and destroy the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ,
he came in the person of a "blahk man." When he revived
the work in Tennessee and Virginia, in 1846, he came in the
person of a 11 nigger" again.
I now hold in my hands the second of two sermons delivered
in Cincinnati in March, 1846, in the First Presbyterian
156 the great iron wheel examined.
Church, by Joseph L. Wilson, D.D., the head and front of
the Old School party in the United States, up to the day of
his recent death. This is the second sermon, and Dr. Wilson
says, in the opening paragraph;
Having before proved the reality of witchcraft, and given examples
of its practical effects as an art, among pagans, infidels, and several
sorts of nominal Christians, I shall now attempt to show more fully
the operation of this art in the fulfilment of the prophecy expressed in
our text.
And as a part of this Presbyterian game of sorcery, necro¬
mancy, etc., I will introduce the case of Doctor Ashbel
Green, a distinguished Presbyterian clergyman who recently
departed this life in Philadelphia, and, I hope, has gone to
heaven, notwithstanding his familiarity with evil spirits in
this life! Dr. Green was once the editor of the organ of his
Church, in Philadelphia; at another time he was the Presi¬
dent of the Princeton Theological Seminary; and he has been
the Moderator of the General Assembly. He reflected upon
the subject of necromancy and sorcery until he finally con¬
cluded that he was a veritable teapot, and so declared himself
from the pulpit. He would place one hand on his hip, so as
to form the handle—the other arm he would elevate to an
angle of 45 degrees, and declare it to be the spout. The
opposite leg from the spout he would give a tilt, and make an
effort to pour out the tea!
But let us come still nearer home. Who are the editors
of the Calvinistic Magazine? Here are the names—Isaac
Anderson, Fred. A. Ross, James King, and James
M'Ciiain. Listen to me while I take them up, one by
one, and show how they stand related to witchcraft, sorcery,
necromancy, and other "peculiarities" of Presbyterian-
ism!
And, first, as to Doctor Anderson: he is known to be the
mastev-conjuror in East Tennessee, excepting always old Geo
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
157
Wright, of Mossy Creak. I hold in my hands two of the
Doctor's letters to old George, in his own handwriting, in
which he presses him to visit Maryville, and take with him
his favorite divining-rod—a peach-tree rod—and assist him
in finding some stolen money, taken from the house of a Mr.
Thompson, of that place, whilst at church on Sabbath! He
urges old George, because he says he is known to be ua
master-hand in the art," and because it is a part of their
creed of sorceries, that if the money be removed from where
it was first deposited after it was stolen, it would be impossi¬
ble to find it! .These letters bear date May 26th, 1847, and
Ju»ne 7th, 1847. They have both been published in my
" Review," and their genuineness not denied. Here they are
—any gentleman is welcome to inspect them! In addition to
these letters, the Doctor wrote to Anderson Mathes, a Presby¬
terian clergyman who died in Rogersville, of consumption,
and sent to heaven, by the dying man, a whole batch of
local news relative to Blount county—as if the inhabitants of
heaven cared more about Blount than any other county in
the Lord's moral vineyard! And yet Ross and his party talk
about Wesley's not doubting Swedenborg's claim to visions,
and intercourse with departed spirits!
This same Dr. Anderson undertook to find a stolen horse at
a Presbyterian camp-meeting, a few years ago, by divining
with his peach-tree rod, asking the rod the direction which
the thief went, and whether he was black or white—the rod
meantime giving affirmative or negative answers! About the
same time he visited the house of an old sorcerer in Knox
county, and took with him the plot of some land he owned
in the Chilhowee mountains, to get the rod-diviner to tell
him where he might dig on that land for gold or silver—the
land being at least thirty miles distant! And when I was in
Maryville last winter, the old Doctor had commenced trying
to mesmerize! How far he has progressed in that art, I am
158 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
not able to say. These are the facts; and I dare a denial of
them, in a public way, by a responsible man.
The next editor in order is F. A. Ross. But do you intend
to charge that he is a sorcerer? exclaim you. Yes,I do—or
that he believes in witchcraft and necromancy. He has long
been a mesmerizer ; and Louisa Dickinson and Eliza Real,
not to say Polly Guthery, of Scott county, in this State, could
tell of his faith and works upon this subject. But last
Wednesday, I believe it was, Miss Coghill, a beautiful Pres¬
byterian girl of Kingsport, and a pious member of Ross's
congregation, had an heir, which was murdered, and attempted
to be buried in one corner of a smoke-house. When I left
Tennessee, a coroner's jury was sitting on the case. All I
have to say about it now is, that this young lady visited Ross's
house a great deal, and rode in his carriage. I will add, how¬
ever—and let Mr. Ross deny the fact if he dare—that NINE
MONTHS before this child was born, Miss Coghill lay at
Ross's home, pretending to be sick!!!
But the Presbyterians of Jonesborough had a fair or a
supper, or whatever you please to call it, the proceeds of
which were to be applied to improvements then contemplated
on their house of worship". The supper was one dollar per
man and lady. I saw Frederick in the procession, marching
into the town-hall with a lady swinging to each arm. They
all paid their money. Next to the supper, the arrival of a
mail was announced, and letters were handed out, and postage
demanded. Then came a fortune-teller, in the person of a
dead doll—a large eastern doll of wax—placed upon a stand,
telling gentlemen and ladies fortunes for FIETY CENTS, cash
in hand. I was told that Frederick planked up an eagle half
dollar, and had his fortune told by a dead doll, holding his
ear down to receive the news! 1 have tried hard to learn
what this little glass-eyed sister told him, but he refuses to
tell. I believe she whispered these words in his ear: "Fred-
the great iron wheel examined. 159
erick Augustus ! in 1847 and '48, Brownlow is to get after
you with a sharp stick, and such another time you never had
in this life !"
But is James King a sorcerer, or does lie work with, a
diviner's rod ? He does ! I know Mr. King, and know Mm
to be a clever man personally. The meanest act I ever knew
Mm guilty of, was to be associated with an unprincipled free
negro in the editorial management of the dirty Magazine I
hold in my hand !
Mr. King once found a silver mine, near where he lives, by
working a peach-tree rod; and sold an interest in it to a Mr.
Preston, of Abingdon, and another to Colonel White, of the
same place; and although his silver turned out to be iron, he
demanded his pay, and, as I am informed, received about two
thousand dollars for his discoveries. made with a diviner's
rod! This is more than all the Methodists on earth ever
made by sorcery ! Now, are they not a pretty pack to talk
about Mr. Wesley believing in witchcraft?
To conclude, what shall I say of James McChain? I
confess to you frankly, that I know nothing about the man,
only that he is a weak brother, having scarcely sense enough
to practice the enchanted frauds of the marvellous believers in
witchcraft. That he too, is a believer, I have no doubt, or he
could not be a sound Presbyterian. I don't suppose he serves
as an editor, but is thrown in to make up the number ; and is
required to sneeze every time Mr. Ross takes snuff!
I have now concluded my Address; and although my voice
has held up, as it usually does, yet I am greatly exhausted, as
you perceive. The heat has been oppressive"; and the labor
of speaking in the open air so long and so loud, very severe.
But the cause is a good one, worthy suffering in; and I make
no complaint. I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, one and
all, for the patient and attentive hearing you have given me
on this occasion.
ICO THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
J5hg" At'the close of this Address, the following resolutions
were offered for adoption by J. W. Schoolfield; and being
seconded, Rev. Gr. K. Snapp took the vote of the audience:
Resolved, That the thanks of the Methodists, and the friends of
Methodism, now assembled at this camp-ground, be and they are
hereby tendered to Rev.. W. G. Brownlow, for his able defence of our
much-loved doctrines, and of the venerated memory of our sainted
founder, and of our yet more cherished and highly-prized characters,
against the vile and ribald aspersions of Frederick A. Ross, and his
endorsers—the members of the East Tennessee Synod—who have
willingly become the tools or partners in the slanders of their more
sable, yet still more able and accomplished leader, in sophistry, false¬
hood, and detraction.
Resolved, That the editors of the Methodist Episcopalian, the Jones-
borough Whig, and Jonesborough Review, be requested to give the
foregoing resolution an insertion in their respective publications.
Staley's Creek C. G., Smythe co., Ya., July 9th, 1848.
REPLY.
I thank the gentlemen who have moved and seconded the
adoption of the resolution just read, and for the compliment
paid me therein—all of which has been without agency of
mine, or previous knowledge of such an intention. But I
thank this large assemblage of ladies and gentlemen still more
sincerely, for the unanimity and alacrity with which they have
adopted them. Their adoption has been like that of the
endorsement of what I have this day made war upon, by the
Athens Synod—it has been u with absolute unanimity!" I
will not disguise the fact, although I am not a very vain man,
that this compliment is acceptable to me; and the more grati¬
fying, coming, as it does, from so many ladies and gentlemen
of the first respectability in our county.
I beg, however, to state to the members and friends of the
Methodist Church present, that they are under no sort of
obligations to me for any services they may have supposed me
to render the Church, here or elsewhere. I have done nothing
more than my duty—nothing more than I am prepared to do
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. lfil
at all times, in all places, and at all hazards, under like cir¬
cumstances of offence, and against any combination of wicked
men and devils ! What I have said and done, it is the duty
of every Methodist preacher to do—a duty they owe to the
ashes of the venerable dead—a Wesley, an Asbury, and a
host of others—whose souls are at peace with God, while their
reputations are assailed by these hell-hounds of sectarian
malice! Were I to sit quietly by my fireside, at home, or
look tamely on at all this abuse of my female relatives and.
acquaintances, I should be ashamed to look one of them in the
face when I might chance to meet with them!
The speech you have just responded to, is substantially the
same which I have been delivering for the last two years, to so
many thousand persons, in Tennessee and Virginia. And I
remark, with gratitude to God, that during all that time I
have been but once interrupted, by rain, (at Greenville, Tenn.,)
and never have had so much as a bad cold to prevent my
speaking.
You have alluded, classically enough, to the " sable leader"
of the Athens Synod, in this work of falsehood and detraction.
The fact of the copper color, the woolly head, and other
similar appendages of the negro, which cling to this Rev.
Malungeon, notwithstanding his Caucasian features, in the
general, should be kept prominently before the proud, spirited,
and high-minded Virginian. Let the distinction of color be
kept up, and let our identity as a race of white men be pre¬
served. Let the Presbyterians of Marion trample upon mar¬
riage relations, despise the distinction between white and
colored people, and bid defiance to the powers of enlightened
society, if they choose; but let us, my friends, have more
self-respect than to imitate their example.
Peace is desirable; and if our Presbyterian friends want it,
let them choke off, and choke down, this " sable leader" of
theirs, and cease to uphold him in his outrageous course
162 the great iron wheel examined.
Then, and not till then, can they have peace, unless they
conquer a peace, which they can never do! You will hear
much said about my abuse on this occasion. I have been
severe, and I intended to be severe; because I have been
replying to publications which teem with the most vulgar and
abusive language, and with the vilest and meanest insinuations
against our entire ministry and membership. I have been
replying to a slanderer, who delights in fishing up from the
sewers of all the corrupt writers against Methodism, every
vile slander and false insinuation that they have set afloat.
This is the natural aliment on which Ross lives. His lan¬
guage is that of a peculiar dialect, used by the bar-room bully
and street loafer. He is the embodied personification of all
my conceptions of a villain. He is the living picture of
moral death—a travelling monument of the wrath of an
offended God, and a fearful witness to the truth of the words
of inspiration, which assert that the heart of man is despe¬
rately wicked I Yes! his heart, like his complexion, is
bronzed and burnt to blackness by crime; and can now be
seen in his wild and fierce black eye, glowing with a fire
approaching to ferocity! His voice, everywhere raised to a
pitch of deadly passion, is constantly heard, like the hoarse
croaking of some bird of ill-omen !
the great iron wheel examined.
163
CHAPTER VII.
State of human society calls for controversy—The Methodist creed
not Calvinistic, as falsely alleged by Graves—Methodist Articles of
Religion—What Calvinism is, and with whom it originated—Ameri¬
can Baptists are generally Calvinistic—Testimony of Elder Howell
—The Philadelphia Baptist Confession of Faith—Thomas Jefferson
and the Five Points of Calvinism—Testimony of Buck and Watson
to the effect that Baptists are Calvinists—Further proof from the
" Baptist Watchman"—Ranting about Baptism—Abusive spirit of
Calvinism—A sound system of theology offered to the Baptists!
Were the state of human society such as to unite all hearts
in one common bond of love—that Divine love which creates
an entire union of sentiment, affection, and design—religious
disputes would be at an end, and those halcyon days so long
predicted, and so earnestly desired, would be realized; hut so
long as error and bigotry,vsin and its attendant miseries, are
in the world, and so long as such violent, ill-tempered men as
Graves are put forward as leaders of sects, so long will there
be a call for controversy; and moreover, he who conducts it
in accordance with truth and righteousness, renders an im¬
portant service to the Church and to the world.
I am not among those, however, who consider all religious
controversy, in the present state of society, detrimental to the
cause of Christ. In addition to its eliciting truth by the
exposure of error, it has a tendency to exercise the human
faculties—to make mankind think deeply and accurately, and
to dive cautiously and understandingly into the great sea of
theological truth. No one can read the Sacred Scriptures with
164 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
care, and fail to perceive tliat tlie inspired writers carried on
a perpetual warfare against such abettors of error as this man
Graves : that they were commissioned especially to denounce
all false gods, false doctrines and systems of religion, and bad
men, who were going about "teaching the doctrines of devils."
Nor was Jesus Christ himself, the adorable author of Chris¬
tianity, less engaged in controverting the erroneous systems
of religion adopted by the Pharisees and Sadducees, and other
heretical sects which had sprung up among the Jews; and
never were blended together more wisdom and meekness than
were exemplified in the sharp controversies which He carried
on with such vile adversaries as this man Graves ! Moreover,
his chosen instrument, St. Paul, the apostle extraordinary to
the Gentiles, imbued with the spirit of his Divine Master,
...carried on a deeply argumentative and strenuous controversy
with both Jews and Gentiles. Nor were the immediate' suc¬
cessors of the apostles less assiduous in defending the truth
against the malevolent attacks of Jewish and Pagan adver¬
saries. Look next at the memorable era of the Reformation!
The greater proportion of the writings of Luther and Calvin
are not only strictly controversial, but absolutely severe. Nor
was there a less urgent call for wielding the sword of contro¬
versy in the days of John Wesley, than there was in the days
of Martin Luther. The temple of error and superstition was
rebuilt in England in Wesley's day, and with his controversial
arm he demolished it. And now, in America, in the glori¬
ous nineteenth century, the doctrine of justification by the
atoning blood, the Direct Witness of the Spirit, and holiness
of heart and life, are openly and violently assailed by such
un regenerate adversaries as Graves, Ross, and others, who are
pouring forth floods of calumny against Wesley, and all who
dare to lift their warning voices in favor of these great cardi¬
nal doctrines of the Bible.
But recalling myself from this, digression, which has been
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
165
by way of preliminary, I will notice tbe attack of Mr. Graves
upon tbe doctrines of tbe Methodist Cburch. Tbe beading
of bis twenty-sixth chapter, found on page 327, sufficiently
indicates its contents. It is in tbese words: " The peculiar
doctrines and usages of Methodism—a Calvinistic creed, a
Popish liturgy, and an Arminian clergy \" Not content with
this slanderous representation of Metbodist doctrines, be
renews tbe assault, and multiplies bis misrepresentations, in
bis thirty-ninth chapter, commencing on page 500. To show
bis points, and convict him of gross falsehoods, it is only
necessary, with tbe intelligent reader, to give tbe beading of
this chapter, which is as follows:
THE « CALVINISM" OF THE CREED AND THE ARMINIAN1SM
OF THE CLERGY.
The "Articles of Religion" Calvinistic—They preclude the idea of the
ultimate apostasy of the believer—The ground of Justification
examined—The scriptural argument—The Methodist clergy preach
against their own creed as well as the teachings of Holy Scripture
—Revival and camp-meeting excitements—The doctrine of apostasy
made necessary—The tendency of such teaching and doctrine is to
make infidels.
Now, it is remarkable that any man should rise up, at this
late day, and charge directly upon tbe Methodist Church that
she teaches a Calvinistic creed; that her Articles of Religion
are Calvinistic; and that the tendency of her doctrines is to
make infidels! I say this is strange, because it is known to
every intelligent man in the nation, that every Protestant
denomination in Europe and America has, to a greater or less
extent, made war upon Methodism because Methodism is
directly at war with all the distinctive features of Calvinism !
All well-informed men know that the doctrines of the Wes-
leyan Methodists are the same as the Church of England, as
set forth in her liturgy, articles, and homilies, and that these
are all at war with Calvinism proper.
The title-page of every Methodist Discipline in America
166 THE GREAT IRON •WHEEL EXAMINED.
runs thus : " The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist
Episcopal Church." And after a very brief account of the
origin of the Church, the first section, covering ten pages,
sets forth, in unmistakable terms, her "Articles of Religion,"
numbering twenty-five articles. They are there to be seen
and consulted by all who desire to know what her faith is.
Not a few of these "Articles" make war, either directly or
indirectly, upon some peculiarity of Calvinism. And for the
information of such as may not be able, for the moment, to
lay their hands on this little book of Discipline, I will state
the heading of each Article, as laid down in the book:
1. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity.
2. Of the Word, or Son of God, who was made very Man.
3. Of the Resurrection of Christ.
4. Of the Holy Ghost.
5. Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation.
6. Of the Old Testament.
7. Of Original or Birth Sin.
8. Of Free Will.
9. Of the Justification of Man.
10. Of Good Works.
11. Of Works of Supererogation.
12. Of Sin after Justification.
13. Of the Church.
14. Of Purgatory.
15. Of speaking in the Congregation in such a Tongue as the People
understand.
16. Of the Sacraments.
17. Of Baptism—(not acceptable to Baptists, by any means!)
18. Of the Lord's Supper.
19. Of Both Kinds.
20. Of the one Oblation of Christ, finished upon the Cross.
21. Of the Marriage of Ministers.
22. Of the Rites and Ceremonies of Churches.
23. Of the Rulers of the United States of America.
24. Of Christian Men's Goods.
25. Of a Christian Man's Oath.
Reader, procure this book of Discipline, as published by
the General Conference, either North or South; examine
these "Articles of Religion," and see if they, or any one of
them, in the remotest degree favors, much less teaches Cal-
the great iron "wheel examined. 167
yinism. Examine our standard works, such as "Wesley's
Sermons, Notes on .the New Testament, and other miscella¬
neous works, Watson's Theological Institutes, Benson's Ser¬
mons, Fletcher's Checks, Clarke's Commentary on the Bible,
and see if they do not all war upon Calyinism, showing the
system up as unscriptural, absurd, and iniquitous!
Methodism a Calvinistic creed! Does Elder Craves know
what constitutes a man a Calvinist ? The name of Calv'inisls
was first given to those who embraced the doctrines established
at Geneva by John Calvin, the celebrated reformer of the
sixteenth century. More especially, since the meeting of the
Synod of Dort, the name has been applied to all who embrace
Calvin's leading views of the gospel.
Calvinists belonging to different sects complain much of
being misunderstood and misrepresented, and, strange to say,
they generally seek to conceal their real sentiments! How¬
ever, it is not to be wondered at that those who resolve all
the wicked motives and conduct of both men and devils into
the efficient decrees of Cod, should labor to conceal their
sentiments, or hide the deformities of such a system. Now,
as John Calvin will be allowed by all to be a competent
teacher of Calvinism, I shall contend that his exposition of
the doctrines which take his name may be consulted as the
most satisfactory. Therefore I shall commence with an ex¬
tract or two from his own Institutes. He teaches Calvinism
after the following most approved style :
Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which he hath
determined in himself what he would have to become of every indivi¬
dual of mankind. For they are not created with a similar destiny; but
eternal life is ordained for some, and eternal damnation for others.—
Calvin's Institutes, vol. ii. page 420.
We affirm that this counsel, as far as concerns the elect, is founded
on his gratuitous mercy, totally irrespective of human merit; but that,
to those whom he devotes to condemnation, the gate of life is closed
by a just and irreprehensible, but incomprehensible, judgment. In
the elect, we consider calling as an evidence of election, and justifies-
168 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
tion as another token of its manifestation, till they arrive in glory,
which constitutes its completion. As God seals the elect by vocation
and justification, so, by excluding the reprobate from the knowledge
of his name and the sanctification of his Spirit, he affords an indica¬
tion of the judgment that awaits them.—Page 425.
When the human mind hears these things, its petulance breaks all
restraint, and it discovers as serious and violent agitation as if alarmed
by the sound of a martial trumpet. Many, indeed—as if they wished
to avert odium from God—admit election in such a way as to deny
that any one is reprobated. But this is puerile and absurd; because
election itself could not exist without being opposed to reprobation.
God is said to separate those whom he adopts to salvation. To say
that others obtain by chance, or acquire by their own efforts, that
which election alone confers on a few, will be worse than absurd.
Whom God passes by, therefore, he reprobates, and from no other
cause than his determination to exclude them from the inheritance
which he predestines for his children.—Page 442.
Observe: all things being at God's disposal, and the decision of
salvation or death belonging to him, he orders all things by his coun¬
sel or decree in such a manner, that some men are bom devoted from
the womb to certain death, that his name may be glorified in their
destruction.—Page 449.
The perplexity and hesitation discovered at trifles by these pious
defenders of the justice of God, and their facility in overcoming great
difficulties, are truly absurd. I inquire again how it came to pass
that the fall of Adam, independent of any remedy, should involve so
many nations, with their infant children, in eternal death, but because
such was the will of God ?—Page 450.
Now it will be seen, from the foregoing extracts, that what¬
ever has or shall come to pass in this world, whether it he
good or bad, proceeds from the Divine will entirely, and is
irrevocably fixed from all eternity: God having secretly pre¬
determined, not only the adverse and prosperous fortune of
every person in the world, but also his faith and infidelity,
his obedience and disobedience, and, consequently, his ever¬
lasting happiness or misery after death; which fate or predes¬
tination it is not possible, by any foresight or wisdom, to
avoid! Methodism recognizes no such God as this, believes
in none such, and, consequently, teaches no such doctrines.
But Elder Graves wishes to impress the minds of his nume¬
rous readers with a belief that the Baptist Church does not favor
the doctrine of Calvinia.n reprobation. I had a controversy
the great iron wheel examined. 169
with the Baptists of East Tennessee in 1841, in which
Elders Howell and Buck took part. Mr. Howell used these
words in that controversy:
Every man who knows any thing at all about our Church is fully
apprised that the Baptists, old or young, never did believe in the doc¬
trine of Calvinian reprobation.
In that controversy I well recollect to have thrown Elder
Howell, a Baptist minister of some celebrity, and at that time
the " illustrious predecessor" of Mr. Graves at Nashville, into
spasms of ill-humor, ay, paroxysms of rage, by the authori¬
ties I adduced to prove that the Baptist churches in England
and America held occasional fellowship with Calvinism. The
first authority I adduced was Dr. Waller, writing in the same
"Baptist Banner" at Louisville, only three weeks before
Elder Howell's denial, given above. Dr. Waller is a Baptist
minister of celebrity, and one who, I shall show before this
work is completed, has been at war with Elder Graves! Dr.
Waller employed this language :
The Baptists have only to adhere to their true sentiments, as drawn
up from the Bible, as set forth in the Philadelphia Baptist Confession
of Faith, and they will be invulnerable.
Dr. Waller says that the "true sentiments" of the Baptist
denomination are "set forth in the Philadelphia Confession
of Faith," and that, in order to become "invulnerable" as a
denomination, they have only to "adhere' to those senti¬
ments! This Confession of Faith I haTe examined with
much care, and from beginning to ending I find it to be
Calvinistic. It is an ancient book. It was first adopted in
London, by a convention of ministers and messengers, in the
year 1689. It was readopted by the Philadelphia Associa¬
tion in 1742, more than one hundred years ago, and took the
name of the Philadelphia Baptist Confession of Faith. So
late as 1829-30, new editions of it were issued, and the work
reendorsed. I could give copious extracts from this work,
8
170
the great iron wheel examined.
but the following will be as much as the admirers of Mr.
Graves's book will care to see :
„ of god's decree.
By the decree of God for the manifestation of his glory, some men
and angels are predestinated or foreordained to eternal life through
Jesus Christ, to the praise of his glorious grace; others being left to
act in their sin to their condemnation, to the praise of his glorious
justice.
These angels and men thus predestinated and foreordained are par¬
ticularly and unchangeably designed; and their number so certain and
definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished.
As obnoxious in its nature, and ruinous in its tendency, as
is tbis doctrine of tbe Baptist Confession of Faith, it is tbe
standard of Faitb in tbat Church; and, as a doctrinal system,
it has yet to be abandoned by tbat Church. I have never
met with an avowal mure decidedly Calvinistic than tbe one
just quoted. It is strange, therefore, tbat Baptists, believing
tbe number of tbe elect is "so certain and definite tbat it
cannot be either increased or diminished," should want to
send missionaries among tbe heathen, or elsewhere! What
good can missionaries do, if tbis doctrine be correct ? They
cannot increase tbe number of tbe elect, nor can they
diminish tbe number of tbe reprobates ! Of what service
can even tbe labors of ministers be, either in preaching, bap¬
tizing, or administering tbe Lord's Supper, if tbe destinies
of all men are all eady unchangeably fixed in heaven or bell ?
See what Mr. J efperson says about tbis Baptist doctrine!
In a letter to the elder Adams, dated April 11th, 1823, he
writes as follows:
The wish expressed in your last favor, that I may continue in life
and health until I become a Calvinist, at least in his exclamation of
liMon Dieu! jusqu'd, quand!" [My God! how long! is the French
signification] would make me immortal. I can never join Calvin in
addressing his god. He was indeed an atheist, which I can never be;
or, rather, his religion was dcemonism. If ever man worshipped a
false god, he did. The being described in his five points is not the
God whom you and I acknowledge and adore, the Creator and benevo-
the great iron wheel examined. 171
lent governor of the world, hut a daemon of malignant spirit. It
would be more pardonable to believe in no God at all, than to blas¬
pheme him by the atrocious attributes of Calvin.
Some of my readers may not know what Mr. Jefferson
means by the " Five Points of Calvinism." I will state them;
hut before doing so, I will premise that they are all five taught
in the Baptist Confession of Faith, already quoted from. The
following are the five points :
1. Unconditional election and reprobation.
2. Christ died only for a part, viz., the elect.
3. Total depravity of man.
4. Irresistible grace to bring in the elect.
6. The impossibility of falling from grace.
Lest, however, Mr. Graves and his belligerent associates
may assert that I misrepresent them, I will bring forth fur¬
ther authority to prove this Church Calvinistic. I submit
the following extract from Buck's Theological Dictionary;
and Buck, like Jefferson, was any thing rather than a Me¬
thodist :
The Baptists subsist under two denominations, viz., the Calvmisti-
cal and the Arminian. The Baptists in America, and East and West
Indies, are chiefly Calvinists, and hold occasional fellowship with the
Particular Baptist churches in England.
My next authority is Watson's Theological Dictionary, an
author quoted by Mr. Graves in his crusade against Method¬
ism. It is a settled principle in the legal practice of the
country, that a client cannot avoid the force of the testimony
of his own witness. Mr. Watson says :
The Baptists in England form one of the three denominations of
Protestant dissenters. The Baptists subsist chiefly under two deno¬
minations—the Particular, or Calvinistical, and the General, or
.Arminian. The former is by far the most numerous. The Baptists
in America, and in the East and West Indies, are chiefly Calvinists.
My closing authority is of more modern date: it is from
172
the great iron wheel examined.
the "Baptist Watchman/' of Knoxville, Tennessee, for
December, 1855, edited by the Rev. Mr. Hillsman, a Bap¬
tist minister of more celebrity than any one in East Tennes¬
see. He publishes in the "Watchman," with approbation,
the communications of a Calvinistic Baptist writer, who
laments over the apostasy of many of his Baptist brethren in
the ministry, in departing from the good old doctrine of
election, as taught by the Philadelphia Confession of Eaith.
This writer says:
I hold—and I think I have irrefutably sustained my positions—to
the doctrine of unconditional, personal, and eternal election.—There are
many or our brethren this day who, as seriously as myself, deplore
the Arminian tendency of many of our preachers and churches. Well
do they remember the former temple in the days of a Mulkey and his
faithful coadjutors; and when they compare the present milk-and-cider
theology with theirs, they are like the ancient Jews at the remembrance
of their former temple—weep bitterly. Alas! alas! how has the fine
gold become dim in many places of our hill-country! so that it is
difficult to tell when a Baptist minister preaches, except he gets to
ranting about Baptism. I say this with no disrespect to Baptism: it
is a doctrine of the Bible, and ought to be preached; but we should
not forget, at the same time, that our people need indoctrinating upon
more subjects than baptism.
Yes^ my Baptist brother, your people need "indoctrinating"
upon the beauties of unconditional election and reprobation,
as set forth in your Philadelphia Confession of Faith—your
standard of doctrines! I have no Soubt that a hit at Graves
was here intended, for his dishonesty in seeking to dodge the
Calvinism of his creed, and even denying the faith! I would
that all Baptist preachers were honest like this writer, who is
himself understood to be a preacher, and would state their
odious doctrine as they hold it! He even charges them with
hypocrisy, in holding one creed and preaching another. He
gives them as a specimen of blunt, honest Calvinistic preaching,
the discourses of old Jonathan Mulkey and his "faithful
coadjutors" in the work of preaching and defending uunron-
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
17a
ditional, personal, and eternal election /" I knew Mr. Mul-
key, and many of his "faithful coadjutors," and I will bear
them witness that they did stand square up to this "fine
gold," and warred like men against the " milk-and-cider
theology" of those who offered Christ to all, and held that
men were accountable for their base acts of crime, such as
stealing, lying, drunkenness, perjury, and murder!
As to all this " ranting about Baptism," it is certainly un¬
called for, even if Arminianism be true; but in the event that
Calvinism be true, it is ridiculous to baptize at all, either by
immersion or any other mode. If men are " unconditionally,
personally, and eternally elected," they will be saved if they
never see water, and die drunk in the bargain! If uncondi¬
tionally elected—eternally elected—personally and individu¬
ally elected, the baptism of old Zehe Holliman was just as
valid as that of the old preacher in the wilderness whose meat
was locusts and wild honey! On the other hand, if " uncon¬
ditionally, personally, and eternally" reprobated, to immerse
a man seventy times seven in the veritable Jordan would be
of no avail.
Alas! how much more manly and Christian-like it would
have been for Elder Graves to have stated, with the' candor
of this writer in the "Watchman," that some of his brethren
had become ashamed of the doctrine of "unconditional, per¬
sonal, and eternal election," and that they wished to repudiate
their Philadelphia Confession of Faith—that he had himself
renounced the doctrine, if such had been the fact, than
falsely to accuse the Methodists of holding it, when, as he
knew, of all men living, Methodist preachers, from Wesley
down, are the most zealous opposers of the doctrine! The
only interruption of years of Christian love and fellowship
between Wesley and Whitefield was on account of Calvinism—
the former opposing, and the latter advocating the abominable
doctrine! That Mr. Graves is at heart a Calvinist is evident
174
the great iron wheel examined.
from the spirit diffused throughout all that he says or writes.
Hear what Mr. Jefferson says on this point, in a letter to
Dr. Cooper, hearing date November 2, 1822 :—
The blasphemy and absurdity of the five points of Calvin, and the
impossibility of defending them, render their advocates impatient of
reasoning, irritable, and prone to denunciation of character.
But if Mr. Graves and his pious coadjutors, who are en¬
gaged in circulating this slander of Methodism, will not re¬
gard it as arrogant in me, I will give them, in a nutshell,
what Methodists do hold and teach; and in so doing, I will
give them a system of theology which they may rely upon as
scriptural, and which they may venture to preach on all oc¬
casions, as it will secure to them, one and all, " a conscience
void of offence toward God and toward man."
First, then, " go teach all nations," without any sort of dis¬
guise or concealment, that God the Father loved all men—■
that the Son atoned for all men—that the Holy Ghost en¬
lightens, quickens, and strives with all—and that all who will
may be saved. In other words, teach the people that the
moving cause of the salvation of men, in all ages and coun¬
tries, is the love of God—that the meritorious cause of their
salvation is the atonement ef our Lord Jesus Christ—that
the instrumental cause is the Spirit and providence of God,
with the appointed means of grace, such as water baptism,
the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, prayer, etc.; and, finally,
that the conditional cause is—not immersion, but their obe¬
dience to the prescribed rules of faith and practice which
God has given them to walk by, and which are laid down in
the Scriptures, in the Methodist Discipline, and the standard
works of Methodism. This is a brief but orthodox system of
theology, and it is one in the maintenance of which God will
bless the laborer and prosper the cause in his hands. And it
is alone under the preaching of these doctrines—summarily
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
m
contained and comprehensively expressed in the foregoing
sentences—that God does revive his work. God never com¬
missioned any man to preach a limited atonement—he never
sanctioned the doctrine by a revival of his work—he never
taught the doctrine, nor did any one of his inspired apostles;
and, finally, no young convert ever believed the doctrine !
the great iron wheel examined.
CHAPTER VIII.
Close Communion considered—Baptists more unscripturally close than
others—Derivation of the term Sacrament—Proselyting practice of
Baptists—Robert Hall, a distinguished Baptist preacher, opposed
to Close Communion—A case of outrageous bigotry and Close Com¬
munion—Elders Graves, Buck, and Howell, for Close Communion—
Baptism essential to salvation, both with Baptists and Roman Ca¬
tholics—Close Communion leads to treason against God—Christ's
kingdom eternal—John's kingdom temporary—Terms of Methodist
communion reasonable and scriptural—They exclude no orthodox
Christians in good standing in their own Churches.
In this chapter I propose to say all that I deem necessary
to be said on the subject of Close Communion, and the prac¬
tice of both the Baptist and Methodist Churches in America.
No preachers of any denomination are so clamorous upon the
subject of " communion" as those of the Baptist denomina¬
tion. On all occasions, during their communion seasons, pub¬
licly and privately, with a view to creating an impression
favorable to their illiberal and bigoted practice, they regret, in
one breath, that they cannot invite their brethren of other
denominations to the Lord's table, " because they have never
obeyed the commandand, in the next breath, they justify
their niggardly proscription of better men than themselves
by quoting that scripture which teaches that " it is not meet
to take the children's bread and give it to dogs /"
On page 470 of the "Iron Wheel," Mr. Graves heads his
thirty-eighth chapter, which covers thirty pages of his work,
in part, with these remarkable words—remarkable, as I shall
hereafter show, because utterly false, and uttered with a per-
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 177
feet knowledge of their having no foundation in truth, be¬
cause he has seen the Discipline, where the lie is given direct
to his assertions :—
The Methodists' terms of communion—None so close, or so unscripturally
close—They invert the ordinances and violate the Divine order—The Dis¬
cipline forbids Methodist preachers to invite members of other denomina¬
tions—All who commune with Methodists must not only believe, but dress
cike them.
This chapter Mr. Graves concludes after this fashion, on
page 496;—
In conclusion, let me ask, in all earnestness, why will Methodist
preachers continue to give general invitations to all professed Christ¬
ians, and sinners too, and especially urge Baptists to come to their
tables, and when they respectfully decline, charge them with an un¬
christian spirit, and bigotry; and when Baptists do not invite them,
abuse them for uncharitableness and want of liberality ? Methodist
ministers have their rules and directions, as we have seen, and they
are bound to their strict observance by all the sanctities of oaths and
promises; and why do they not keep them touching the administra¬
tion of the Supper, as they are known to do in other matters ?
Do they not invite Baptists to their table with the intent to insult
us, to outrage our feelings, and to prejudice our views and practice
in the eyes of the world ? For me to ask and urge a man or woman
to do that—to participate in some act which I well knew his or her
principles of honor or virtue would not allow, and which I well knew
that man or woman considered criminal, would I not be offering a
gross insult to that person ? And suppose I had been repelled and re¬
buked again and again, in what light must my third and fifth and
twentieth invitation be regarded!! Do not Methodist preachers know
full well that Baptists can no more go to their tables, or commune
with them, without a surrender of all their principles and a violation
of the word of God, etc.
Tbe word sacrament is derived from the Latin word sacra-
mentum, which signifies an obligation or oath. The word was
adopted by the writers of the Latin Chureh to denote those
ordinances of religion by which Christians come under an ob¬
ligation of obedience to God, and which obligation, they sup¬
posed, was equally sacred with that of an oath. It was also
applied by the early writers of the Western Church to'any
ceremony of our holy religion, especially if it were figurative
8*
178 the great iron wheel examined.
or mystical. But a more definite signification of this word
by degrees prevailed, and by divines of modern times it is
used in a strict sense.
Of sacraments, in a strict sense of the word, Protestant
Churches admit of but two; and a greater number cannot
well be made out from Scripture. These are Baptism and
the Lord's Supper. This latter, it is admitted by all de¬
nominations of Christians, with the exception of one, is of
perpetual obligation, and that it was designed by its Pounder
to be one of the visible expressions of our faith in his blood,
and of our fraternal love to his followers. Do Baptists—I
mean Close Communion Baptists—regard it in this light?
Does Elder Graves so regard it, who, by his writings and oral
instructions, seeks to widen the breach between Baptists and
others ? Let his illiberal writings, and his bigotry and abuse
of all who are not of his "faith and order," answer these
searching interrogatories!
When the table is spread, by any one denomination, and
the bread and wine placed thereon, it is emphatically the table
of the Lord, and not the table of that particular denomina¬
tion. The duty of the administrator is to invite all orthodox
Christians who are in good standing in their respective
Churches—as the Methodists invariably do—to join in the
commemoration of the death and sufferings of Christ; and he
is not at liberty to withhold the sacred elements from such,
or to order them to stand aside, as the Baptists do on all
occasions. If a Baptist commune with the members of any
one of our evangelical denominations, acknowledged by Bap¬
tists themselves to be orthodox upon all questions of faith,
(excepting only immersion,') he is arraigned before his Church
upon a charge of immorality; and if he refuse to acknow¬
ledge publicly that he has sinned against God and his brethren,
promising to do so no more, he is publicly expelled, his name
is at once erased from the Church book, and he is told that
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
179
he is no longer a member, entitled to the privileges of God's
people! And why? Because he had communed with—say,
Methodist, Presbyterian, or Lutheran Christians ! Nor would
this be done in an isolated case, but thousands would be ex¬
pelled, if thousands dared thus to commune, and refused to
make these humiliating confessions—acknowledging really,
to appease the wrath of a bigoted membership, what they
neither felt nor believed!
Mr. Graves speaks frequently of " the proselyting features
of Methodism," and denounces such a spirit, as though his
own Church is not more deeply imbued with this hateful spirit
than that of any other denomination in the United States!
In East Tennessee, it is within my own certain knowledge
that men have joined th'e Baptist Church with an express
stipulation that they were to be allowed the privilege of com¬
muning with other Christian denominations, and afterwards,
when the flimsy arguments of their pastors failed to convince
them that such acts of fellowship were sinful, for doing so
they have been turned out, publicly expelled, by the very
congregations who thus received them ! The truth is, that
the Baptists in East Tennessee, where I am best acquainted,
frequently hold out inducements of this kind to get persons
of liberal and charitable views to join them, believing that
they can strengthen them in the faith of their narrow-mind¬
edness ; and when some have proved refractory, and contended
for " open communion," as stated before, they have dismissed
them from their ranks !
Let me, just at this point, ask the advocates of a restricted
communion, including the "North Carolina Publishing So¬
ciety of the Baptist Church," a few plain questions, demand¬
ing of them categorical answers. What real difference is
there between attending this communion-service with Pedo-
baptists, and other exercises of devotion, such as preaching,
singing, and prayer ? What difference is there between at-
180
the geeat ieon wheel examined.
tending at the Lord's table with a respectable and pious Me«
thodist or Presbyterian, and uniting with him in a prayer-
meeting, or at a throne of grace, in a revival, in behalf of a few
penitent seekers of religion ? Why preach, exhort, sing, pray,
shout, shake hands, and rejoice with Methodists and Presby¬
terians, at one of their protracted meetings, and then utterly
refuse to commune with them, or let them commune with
you ? I leave the Rev. Robert Hall, an educated and
pious gentleman, and evidently the most talented minister the
Baptist Church ever laid claim to, to answer these questions;
for it is plain to be seen that our Tennessee Baptists will not
condescend to answer them. And let every Baptist "read,
mark, learn, and inwardly digest" .the following sensible, ay,
and liberal Christian views of Mr. Hall:—
I must beg leave to notice a striking inconsistence in the advocates
of strict communion. Nothing is more certain than that the com¬
munion of saints is by no means confined to one particular occasion,
or limited to one transaction, such as that of assembling around the
Lord's table: it extends to all the modes by which believers recognize
each other as the members of a common Head. Every expression of
fraternal regard, every participation in the enjoyments of social wor¬
ship, every instance of the unity of the Spirit exerted in prayer and
supplication, or in acts of Christian sympathy and friendship, as truly
belongs to the communion of saints as the celebration of the eucha-
rist. In truth, if we. are strangers to communion With our fellow-
Christians on other occasions, it is impossible for Us to enjoy it there;
for the mind is not a piece of mechanism which can be set agoing at
pleasure, whose movements are obedient to the call of time and place.
Nothing short of an habitual sympathy of spirit, springing from the
cultivation of benevolent feeling and the interchange of kind offices,
will secure that reciprocal delight, that social pleasure, which is the
soul of Christian communion. Its richest fruits are frequently re¬
served for private conference, like that in which the two disciples
were engaged in their way to Emmaus, when their hearts burned
within them, while the Lord opened to them the Scriptures. When
they take sweet counsel together as they go to the house of God in
company, when they bear each other's burdens, weep with those that
weep, and rejoice with them that rejoice, say, have Christians no mu¬
tual fellowship ? Is it not surprising that, losing sight of such ob¬
vious facts, our opponents always reason on the subject of communion
as though it related merely to the sacrament ? In every other par¬
ticular they act just as we do.
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
181
However our opponents may deviate from Scripture, let them at
least be consistent with themselves, and either follow out their own
principles to their just consequence, by withholding from the mem¬
bers of other denominations every token of fraternal regard, or freely
admit them to the Lord's table. As the case stands at present, their
mode of proceeding is utterly untenable. In a variety of instances,
they indulge themselves in those acts of communion with Pedo-
baptists which are peculiar to Christians: they frequently make them
their mouth in addressing the Deity: they exchange pulpits, and
even engage their assistance in exercises intended as a preparation
for the eucharist; and after lighting the flame of devotion at their
torch, they most preposterously turn round to inform them that they
are not worthy to participate. It would be difficult to convince a
stranger to our practice that it were possible to be guilty of such an
absurdity. Is the observance of an external rite, let me ask, a more
solemn part of religion than addressing the Majesty of heaven and
earth? And shall we depute him to present our prayers at his foot¬
stool who would defile a sacrament by his presence ? Suppose them
to relax from their rigor, and to admit pious Pedobaptists to their
fellowship : to what would it amount ? To nothing more than a pub¬
lic acknowledgment of their union to Christ, and their interests in his
benefits; and as they fully acknowledge both, why scruple to do it at
the table of their common Lord ? Why select an ordinance designed
for the commemoration of the dying love of the Redeemer as the sig¬
nal for displaying the banners of party; and, by reviving the remem¬
brance of differences elsewhere consigned to oblivion, give the utmost
publicity to dissensions which are the reproach of ftie Church and
the triumph of the world ?
I have* charged the Baptists of this country with selfish¬
ness, bigotry, intolerance, and a shameful want of Christian
liberality; but I am regarded as an enemy, and hence full
credit is not given to what I say. To satisfy others
that Baptists are chargeable with bigotry, I will give one
more quotation from the illustrious author before mentioned,
Mr. Hall :*
* By consulting Parke Godwin's Universal Biography, the reader
will see that Mr. Hall was not only an. eminent Baptist preacher and
distinguished theological writer, but his father before him was a Bap¬
tist preacher. Robert was educated in a Baptist college at Bristol.
He was once a Professor in King's College at Aberdeen, where he took
the degree of Master of Arts. He was pastor of the Baptist congre¬
gation at Leicester for twenty years. In 1826 he became the Presi¬
dent of Bristol Academy, and the pastor of Broadmead Chapel. He
carried his congregations with him in favor of open or free commu¬
nion. He died in 1831, aged 67. (See page 474 of Godwin.)
182
the great iron wheel examined.
The very appellation of Baptist, together with the tenets by which
it is designated, become associated with the idea of bigotry. With
mingled surprise and indignation others behold us making pretensions
which no other denomination of Protestants assumes—placing our¬
selves in an attitude of hostility towards the whole Christian world,
and virtually claiming to be the only Church of Christ upon earth. For¬
tified as it is by its claims to antiquity and universality, and combining
in its exterior whatever is adapted to dazzle the imagination and cap¬
tivate the senses, there is yet nothing in the Church of Rome that has
excited more indignation and disgust than this very pretension. What
then must be the sensation produced when, in the absence of all these
advantages, a sect comparatively small and insignificant erects itself
on a solitary eminence, from whence it repels the approach of all
other Christians!
I will here give an instance of the combined bigotry and
despotism of Baptists, which occurred within eight miles of
where I was then living, and which will serve to illustrate
their feelings and practice throughout the South and West,
moderated in their outward appearances in proportion to the
refined state of society, and the strength ,and influence of
other denominations. At a Baptist protracted meeting at
Sinking Creek church, in Carter county, and only about eight
miles west of Elizabethton, the Methodists and Presbyterians
were invited to attend, from the village of Elizabethton,
which they did, and aided in the labors of the meeting.
Towards the close of the meeting the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper was administered, and the pastor of the church,
Elder Bayless, after detailing the reasons why they could
not suffer others to commune with them, determined to con¬
vince them that they were not wanting either in Christian
love or affectionate regards for them. Accordingly, he notified
the congregation that u all who were in good standing in their
own Churches might occupy the front seats, and see the Lord's
people partake of his shed blood and broken body!" What
amazing condescension! What a display of Christian charity!
How calmly resplendent must have been the glory of this
scene—this ebullition of a haughty dogmatism! Ye murky
clouds of superstition from the Scandinavian forests, do
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 183
permit yourselves to be eclipsed by tbe smoke of- tbe bigotry
displayed on this occasion! Stand fast, ye inhabitants of
earth and heaven, and see the light of Christian charity, in its
full-orbed glory, burst at once upon the congregation of saints
at Sinking Creek, while "all who are in good standing" in
other Churches are permitted to occupy seats near to the
throne, and witness the glorious sight! Look on, ye unpo¬
lished barbarians of the Methodist order, and ye unbaptized
heathens of the Presbyterian persuasion, totally ignorant of
the fashionable etiquette of Christian courtesy, and learn
what religion is!
But, to be serious, those who were "in good standing in
their own Churches" had no right to complain at this treat¬
ment, for they were, at that time, living in the neglect of a
known duty. And they must have known, nay, did know,
from what Elder Bayless taught them, that they could no
more get to heaven without being immersed by a Baptist
preacher, than they could arrest the sun in his course, or
check the impetuous cataract of Niagara in its onward and
terrible progress!
Messrs. Graves and Bayless are by no means alone in their
exclusive views upon these points. In an editorial headed
"Invalid Baptism," in the Louisville Baptist "Banner and
Pioneer" of February 24, 1842, a paper I have been careful
to preserve—an article from the pen of Elder Buck, the then
resident editor, an erudite Gothamite indeed, only excelled
by the jack daw Istrut of his co-laborer, the immortal Howell—
I find the same proscriptive spirit displayed. I give the
article verbatim, et literatim, et punctuatim, et spellatim:
We regard nothing as gospel baptism but tbe immersion in water,
of a believer, in tbe name of tbe Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
How frequently do Baptist ministers, if but a band or a part of tbe
subject be uncovered in tbe water, immerse again? And whoever
thought that this was Anibaptism 9 And yet we risk nothing in saying,
that it is as decidedly re-baptism, as it would be to re-immerse an
184
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
individual who had been immersed by a Pedo-baptist. minister, [a
Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.,] OB ANY OTHER UNAUTHORIZED
ADMINISTRATOR!
A second extract from the same article is in these words:
Now we take the ground that no baptism is valid, whatever be its
conformity to the New Testament model in other respects, unless ad¬
ministered by a scripturally authorized administrator. Again:
we take the ground that no body or community of men, can confer
this authority or right, upon an individual, to administer the ordi¬
nances of the gospel, but the church of Jesus Christ alone, [i. e.
the Baptist Church!] Once more: we take the ground, that the
church of Jesus Christ is a body of baptized believers, {of immersed
Baptists!) duly organized and embodied upon the principles of the
gospel; AND THAT NO OTHER IS THE CHURCH OF JESUS
CHRIST!!
I want the reader to bear in mind this fact, that this mam¬
moth sheet, published weekly, is the organ of the Baptist
Church in the South and West, edited at that date by jive
preachers of that denomination, the ablest they could muster.
But Elder Howell has published a work of 300 pages upon
this and other subjects. He was appointed to write this
work by the Baptist State Convention held in Nashville in
1840) and, true to the trust confided in him, he dedicated
his book to "The Baptist Convention of the State of Ten¬
nessee I" Here is a specimen of the insulting pretensions of
this Church, as laid down by Mr. Howell:
These facts and considerations demonstrate that the Baptist is the
only Church which can claim the apostolic origin, and that in its organi¬
zation and objects it is conformed in all respects to the word of God;
THAT THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH WAS BAPTIST, and that through
several channels* it may be readily and surely traced, in a state of compa¬
rative purity, down to our own times.—P. 286.
Ours is the only denomination who place this ordinance (baptism)
in its true position, where it was left by Christ and his apostles: who
refuse, on the one hand, to despoil it of its solemn and appropriate
forms, and who do not, on the other, unduly exalt its importance and
efficacy.—P. 204.
# One of these "channels," and a most important one, too, is that of Zeke Hollir
man, at Providence, immersing Williams, and Williams in return plunging Holliman
"■and the other ten!" That was a "channel" with a vengeance! Ay, and that was
claiming "apostolic origin" for you!
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 185
We cannot commune with Pedobaptists, because, not having been
immersed, they are not baptized.—P. 185.
We cannot unite with Pedobaptists in sacramental communion
without an actual abandonment or practical falsification of
all our principles, ON BOTH BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUP¬
PER.—P. 134. ^
In regard, however, to the object especially before us, I shall sus¬
tain the proposition that baptism (immersion) has ever been regarded
as an essential preparation for the Lord's Supper, by component proof.
—P. 65.
And as IN BAPTISM we profess to have received SPIRITUAL
LIFE, so, in communicating at the Lord's table, we have the emblems
of that heavenly food by which we grow, and in virtue of which we
hope to live for ever, And as we are born of God but once, so we are
baptized but once, etc.—P. 59.
Now, Mr. Graves takes occasion, throughout his work, to
compare Methodists, who sprinkle and pour water in baptism,
to Roman Catholics. For his benefit, I propose to show that
himself, Buck, Howell, and all who endorse their views, are
not unlike the Catholics, by any means. The Catholic Cate¬
chism, and the Canons of the Council of Trent, teach pre¬
cisely this language:
If any one shall say that baptism is not-essential to salvation,
let him be accursed. Sin, whether contracted by birth from our first
parents, or committed ourselves, is, by the admirable virtue of this
sacrament, remitted and pardoned!
Verily, if Catholics go to any greater lengths on the
subject of baptism than Graves, Buck, and Howell have
gone, I have not the capacity to make the discovery. I
have given the doctrines of both in their own words, referring
to chapter and verse. The hypothesis of these close-commu¬
nion Baptists nullifies the Abrahamic covenant, dispenses
really with the sacred office of the gospel ministry, and the
important relations of Church membership. In further con¬
sideration of these points, I have some four or five reflections
to offer:
1. The Close Baptists lay such a stress upon baptism by
immersion, as to make it the sole condition of admittance to
186 the great iron wheel examined.
the Lord's table—a table which they say can only be spread
by ministers who have been immersed—no others being
invested with ministerial functions—none others being even
members of the Church of Christ!
2. The Close Baptists hold and teach that there is no
Church militant but theirs, and that there is no ministry
but such as is constituted by churches of their " faith and
order;" but they will call on Pedobaptists, at their revivals,
to pray for their seekers, and to preach the word—thus
making them their "mouth in addressing the Deity," as
Mr. Hall expresses it, to ask God's blessings to be poured
upon them, or to declare His will concerning them, which is
vastly more important and sacred than to prepare and offer
the bread and wine !
3. The Close Baptists believe and teach that immersion is
the only door into the Church; but they will not reeeive into
their communion persons who have been regularly immersed
by others, unless they repudiate their baptism, and the minis¬
terial functions of all other ministers—therefore, the repudia¬
tion of the ministerial functions of all other ministers is the
door into the Baptist Church!
4. The Close Baptists are influenced by a spirit which is
opposed to the kingdom of Christ—a spirit which would set
up another kingdom in opposition, and nullify the covenant
of God, and at the same time wear the name of Christian!
God has never had but one spiritual kingdom in" the world.
This kingdom was set up in the family of Abraham. It was
with God's people in the wilderness, and was planted with
them in the land of promise. In this kingdom Christ was
born. Over this kingdom Christ reigns.
5. And, finally, the Close Baptists have set up a kingdom
in opposition to Christ; therefore, the Close Baptists are
guilty of TREASON AGAINST GOD !
In the outset of this chapter I quoted from Mr. Graves the
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 187
broad assertion, that no denomination laid down terms of
communion "so close, or so unscripturally close" as those of
the Methodists, with the additional and more monstrous
assertion, that "the Discipline forbids Methodist preachers
to invite members of other denominations." Doth assertions
are false; and all who have ever witnessed the administration
of the Lord's Supper among Methodists, know that the
preachers distinctly say : " This is not the table of the Method¬
ists, hut of the Lord, and we invite all orthodox Christians
who are in good standing in their own Churches to commune
with us."
As to the closeness of the terms, these are laid down in the
Discipline, and invariably stated by the administrator at the
table, being a part of the ceremony required on the occasion.
They ought not to be made looser by any denomination, and
such as do not come up to this standard should not approach
the table. They are found under the head of " Sacramental
Services," etc., and are in these words :
Ye that do truly and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love
and charity with your neighbors, and intend to lead a new life, fol¬
lowing the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in
his holy ways, draw near with faith, and take this holy sacrament to
your comfort; and make your humble confession to Almighty God,
meekly kneeling upon your knees.
188
the great iron wheel examined.
CHAPTER IX.
False assertions by Elder Graves—Nature and use of baptism—The
Abrahamic covenant considered—Baptism in lieu of circumcision-—
The rights of infants secured in both cases—Scriptural evidence of
the soundness of these positions—Baptism the door into the Church
—Baptists enter the Church backwards!—Dunkers practice trine
immersion, but go it face foremost!—Methodists, Presbyterians,
Episcopalians, and others, enter the Church of God faces foremost;
conscious of rectitude of intention, and of being engaged in acts
they are not ashamed of!
On page 415, Mr. G-raves properly commences his tirade
upon Baptism, and continues it through four entire chapters
of his work. In addition to his misrepresenting every feature
of Methodism, as connected with the ordinance of baptism,
he teaches heresies as abominable, throughout, as those con¬
tended for by the corrupt Church of Rome. He takes the
ground that baptism by immersion is the only true and scrip¬
tural mode; and that a Baptist preacher is the only divinely
authorized expounder of God's word, and the only legal
administrator of the ordinances and sacraments of his Church!
These broad and unqualified assertions, uttered by Mr.
Graves and by ultra Baptists almost daily, both in word and
deed, are utterly unauthorized and unfounded—do utterly
disfranchise the entire ministry of several large and respectable
denominations, indeed, of nearly the whole Christian world, and
annihilate the clerical character of almost every evangelical
minister belonging to those denominations, as well also as the
the great iron wheel examined. 189
validity of every ceremony performed by tbem. It is no vin¬
dication to say that the Baptists do not intend to go thus far
—it is sufficient for the public to know that they do go thus
far. I have already shown, in the preceding chapter, that
with the Baptists, qualifications for admission—not to the
Lord's table, but to the table of the Baptists, with bread and
wine spread thereon—are, that the communicants must have
been baptized by immersion, and that baptism must have
been performed by a Baptist preacher, who was himself im¬
mersed by a man of the same " faith and order." Because,
with the Baptist denomination, a man is made a minister of
the gospel, not by the Holy Ghost, but by immersion ! Why
do I say this ? I say it because a Baptist is not a minister of
Christ until he is immersed, either in his own estimation or in
the estimation of his Church.
The Pharisees, and others, did not oppose the truths uttered
by our Lord and his disciples with more vehemence, than do
the Baptists oppose all other modes of baptism save the one
practiced by themselves. The Sadducees did not advocate
the doctrine that there is neither angel nor spirit with more
zeal, than do the Baptists that their forms and ceremonies are
right, and that those of all other sects are wrong.
I intend this chapter shall be devoted to the nature and use
of baptism, and other points connected therewith; but as
my custom is, before entering upon the argument, I will
submit a few of Mr. Graves's assertions and positions, which
shall serve for me as a text. He heads his thirty-fourth
chapter, commencing on page 415, with these words—
clearly indicating the course of the argument throughout
this chapter:
Methodists have two distinct "baptisms," one for infants and one for
adults—A distinct and different office for each—A distinct and alto¬
gether different design for each—The regeneration of infants in
baptism in all cases, plainly taught in the Discipline and standard
works of the Book Concern
190
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
He conducts tlie argument, on page 419, after this truly
convincing style:
Does not the infant of a day differ as much from an adult of twenty-
two or fifty, as non-intelligence from intelligence—as irrationality from
rationality ? and, so far as being the subject of gospel address and
gospel motives, as a bell differs from a believer ? Then certainly the
command to baptize a believer in Christ—and we have a command to
baptize no other character—can no more be construed by Methodists
into the liberty to baptize unconscious infants and non-believing chil¬
dren of a dozen years, than it can by the Papists into a. permission to
baptize bells, asses, and locomotives—which they do.
His next, and by far most unanswerable argument, conti¬
nued on the same page, is this :
1. Are not words put into the mouth of the Saviour that he never
used, in order to teach the doctrine that no infant or unbaptized person
can be saved ?! "Born anew of water and of the Holy Ghost," Christ
never said; but, "Except one be born of water and wind he cannot
enter into the kingdom of heaven," he did say. This is what he said
—these were the identical words he used.
I pause only to remark, that this substitution of wind for
Spirit, I take to be according to the new version Graves and
others are so zealous to have adopted! That such men should
be anxious to substitute wind for the Holy Ghost, is quite
natural. Indeed, I have no doubt Graves himself was "born
of water and wind" exclusively! Of course this change of
wind for Spirit is intended to run through the whole transla¬
tion; and in many respects such changes are peculiarly
adapted to Baptists of Mr. Graves's character and sentiments.
But let us see how it will work.
" The wind itself beareth witness with our wind, that we
are the children of God." Again: "God is wind," ay,
and such as " worship him must worship him in wind and in
truth." And again, in 2 Corinthians iii. 17: "Now the
Lord is that wind', and where the wind of the Lord is,
there is liberty."
This last verse, thus translated and changed, is peculiarly
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 191
adapted to most of the Baptist preachers in this country, who
oppose the use of any and all books except the Bible—pub¬
licly boast that they have no " edecation" or "human larnin"
—claim to be inspired—and only announce to an audience
such 'texts of Scripture as God reveals to them for special
purposes and occasions, either after their arrival at the place
of worship, or on their way thither! These men usually pro¬
fess to open their mouths, and to speak as the Lord fills them,
or, to use their precise language, as He "shall give light and
liberty." Truly the Lord fills them with air, which, when
put in motion by the stentorian lungs of a Baptist preacher,
is "wind;" and then, if a congregation will take words for
ideas, and sound for sense, they will have "another gospel
as "the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither
it goeth: so is every one that is born of the wind I"
"Blow rock and mountain rampart round,
Till glory echoes back the sound!"
His thirty-fifth chapter, commencing on page 428, has this
heading, indicating the points both discussed and misrepre¬
sented :
Adult baptism distinct from infant—Its design, with the exception—
No faith required of the adult, save that required by the Romish
Church—And no profession of regeneration as a condition of bap¬
tism—Regeneration ordinarily the same with baptism.
And this chapter he concludes in these words:
In consideration of these teachings, can Baptists, with any kind of
reason, be called upon to recognize the Methodist Episcopal society
as a Christian or gospel Church ? Is it a congregation of believers,
according to the definition of the Discipline, in which the word of God
is faithfully preached, and the ordinances duly administered ?
The pastor of the Baptist church in Nashville has been
employed in publishing an essay on "the Church," the posi¬
tions of which are thus summed up by Elder Graves, in an
192 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
editorial notice in the "Tennessee Baptist/' which I find in
that paper for December 22, 1855.
He takes the true position that Pedobaptist societies are not gospel
Churches in any true sense, and that Pedobaptist preachers are not
members of gospel Churches, and consequently not baptized or ordained,
and therefore not ministers of Christian Churches. Why then should
Baptists recognize them as such by associating with them as such—
recognizing them as official ministers by inviting them into our pulpits,
or to seats in our deliberative bodies? We do not believe that Baptist
churches generally will always act inconsistently.
This is not all Mr. Graves has said recently in his paper,
hearing upon this subject. He has boasted that these senti¬
ments, of which his paper is the strenuous advocate, are
rapidly gaining ground among the Baptists of the South-west,
which I have no doubt is the fact, seeing their endorsement
by the " North Carolina Baptist Publishing Society." Re¬
volting as such conclusions must be to liberal minds and truly
pious hearts, I do not see how those who hold that baptism is
the door into the Church, and that nothing but immersion is
baptism, can hold back from the same conclusions. They are
the plain, logical, and unavoidable sequences of such premises,
if I have not forgotten what logic is. The only way for pious
and charitable Baptists—of whom there are many—to avoid
such conclusions, is to retrace their steps, and give up their
favorite dogma, that immersion alone is baptism, which is the
logical thunderbolt, in their chain of reasoning, which drives
them to this revolting conclusion !
Now, what is baptism ? It is a sacrament which has occa¬
sioned endless controversies during the last two or three hun¬
dred years, the obligation of which, it is affirmed, rests upon
the example of our Lord, who—not in person, but by his
disciples—baptized such as, by his discourses and miracles,
were brought to a knowledge of the truth. Does the obliga¬
tion of baptism rest upon any thing else ? It further rests
upon the solemn command of Christ to his apostles, after his
the great iron wheel examined. 193
resurrection—" Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost;" (not of the "wind" as Graves would have it!) and
upon the practice of the apostles, who went forth and did as
they were commanded.
But is any thing further to be understood by baptism ? I
answer, it is a rite or ceremony by which individuals are
initiated into the profession of the Christian religion; or, if
the reader please, it is the appointed mode by which an
individual assumes the profession of Christianity; or, to
be still more explicit, it is the door by which persons
enter the Church op God on earth, and are admitted to
a participation of the privileges belonging to the followers of
Christ. In other words, it is by the ordinance of baptism that
those who believe the gospel, or profess faith in Christ, are to
be separated from the wicked, and joined to the visible
Church; and the application of water, or the rite accompany¬
ing it, is, as it ever has been, intended to represent the wash¬
ing away, or openly renouncing, the impurities of our natural
state—our numerous and grievous offences; and, consequently,
it must be understood that at least a profession of repentance
must always accompany a profession of faith in Christ Jesus.
However, as I shall have occasion to speak of baptism as the
door into the Church, it is proper here that I qualify this
expression. Baptism is properly a sacrament of the gospel—
was instituted by Christ himself as the initiating rite into the
Church; and in this sense I claim to be understood when I
speak of it as the door. In a strict sense, Christ is himself
the door into his Church; but water baptism entitles the
person to the privileges of the Church on earth, while the
baptism of the Holy Ghost is that which qualifies the indi¬
vidual for the Church triumphant. Water baptism alone does
not qualify a person for admission into Christ's holy Church;
but baptism by " water and the Holy Ghost" will qualify one
9
194
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
for the Church on earth and in heaven. And while the
former is .not essential to salvation itself, of itself, the latter
is: and the two united must not be neglected. For the Word
says, " Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of G-od."
This is the view that Methodists take of this subject, and
it is a view in which almost every evangelical denomination
concurs. The Baptists, like the Boman Catholics, carry their
opinions far beyond this view of the subjbct. The Romanists,
in their opinions as to the efficacy of this sacrament, consider
baptism, administered by a priest, as of itself applying the
merits of Christ to the individual baptized. The Baptists and
Romanists differ as to the mode and subjects of baptism, but
not as it regards the efficacy of the sacrament of baptism,
According to the Romanists, baptism is absolutely necessary
to salvation; and they therefore admit its validity when
administered to a dying child by any person present, should
there be no priest at hand! In this they are much more
liberal than our Baptist brethren. The Baptists hold that
baptism by immersion is absolutely necessary to salvation, but
deny its validity when administered by any one but a Baptist
preacher, who has himself been immersed by some one who
was immersed before him, and believed in that as the only
true and scriptural mode of baptism. They also deny that
children have any right to the ordinance.
But I have something more to say respecting the nature
and use of baptism. That baptism is a sacrament of the
gospel, that it is an ordinance of ^reat importance, and that
it was designed by Christ to be perpetuated in his Church, are
propositions which may be sustained by such evidence as will
satisfy every honest inquirer after truth, and which nothing
but an unreasonable prejudice, spiced with something of the
stubbornness of the mule, will induce any man to reject.
I shall not stop to inquire in this chapter what is the philo*
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
195
logical sense of the term baptizo, but what is the theological
import of the sacrament of Christian baptism. In my ar¬
rangement of the examination of this subject, this does not
belong to this chapter, though it is necessary to be considered
in order to a proper development of the whole subject, and
will be brought forward in the course of my argument on the
mode of baptism.
First, then, in a general sense, Christian baptism confers
the mark upon the person baptized of religious distinction.
All baptized persons are, by that mark of distinction, sepa¬
rated from the common masses of irreligious persons—from the
numerous citizens of a wicked world, sometimes known as
" the Big Survey." It is the external and visible badge of
Christianity. Baptism is a pledge of Divine grace which
Christ has given to us, to assure us that all the benefits of
salvation shall be secured to us on the conditions of the gos¬
pel. A mark of discrimination, then, is hereby applied to
the Christian, and he is known as being devoted to Christ,
just as a Jew by circumcision was distinguished from a Gen¬
tile, and was known to be devoted to the law of Moses.
Baptism is, therefore, a seal which Christ puts upon us as his
own pledge of our salvation, on the condition of our fulfilling
our covenant obligations to him. See Mark xvi. 16, where
the promise of salvation is secured to baptized believers:
" He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Also,
Acts ii. 38 : " Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for
the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost." This is further evident from 1 Peter iii. 21. The
apostle in this passage, after noticing the preservation of
Noah and his family in the ark, observes : "The like figure
whereunto even baptism doth also now save us." But then
he says that it is " not the putting away of the filth of
the flesh," that is, not merely the outward ceremony of bap-
196
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
tism, u but the answer of a good conscience toward God"—
tie fulfilling of tbe covenant obligations wbicb we take upon
ourselves by baptism.
Touching upon tbe mark of discrimination made known by
tbe rite of baptism, some Baptist writers, holding to immer¬
sion as tbe only mode—as does Elder Graves throughout his
entire book—have indulged in an amusing degree of fancy.
In Robinson's History of Baptism, page 17, it is said :—
Baptize is a dyer's word, and signifies to dip so as to color. The
word, then, conveys two ideas—the one literal, dipping, the other fig¬
urative, coloring: a figure, however, expressive of a real fact—mean¬
ing that John, by bathing persons in the river Jordan, conferred a
character, a moral hue, as dyers, by dipping into a dyeing-vat, set a
tinct or color.
I think it likely that Elder Graves subscribes to this view
of the subject, from various passages in his book ! I do not
believe one word of it, and for this reason—the theory is not
founded in evidence. If baptism, by any mode, confer a
moral hue, it is essential to salvation, because it is a regene¬
rating rite. This kind of spiritual baptism the Mormons
believe in, who also immerse, and at the time of immersing
they profess to baptize with the Holy Ghost. This is a re¬
vival of the exploded theory of old Simon Magus! That the
Baptist ministry claim to have had such a prerogative dele¬
gated to them, I will not now undertake to say; but, from
the importance they attach to immersion at their own hands,
as well as from the strange feelings of many subjects at the
time of their immersion, as expressed by them afterwards, I
am certainly authorized to infer such a thing.
But in considering the nature and use of Christian bap¬
tism, we are not only to regard it as one of the sacraments
of the Church, and as a sign of spiritual blessings, but we
are likewise to regard it as the seal of the new covenant. It
i$ God's mark, if the reader please, or signature, affixed to
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 197
the volume of inspiration, containing rules for human con¬
duct, promises of eternal life to the faithful, and declarations
concerning the future happiness and misery of men.
Just here, I will insert several pages of a small work I
published in 1842, which I compiled from the most approved
authorities of the age in which I wrote:—
la regard to the use of seals in general, it will not be irrelevant to
premise that it is a custom of immemorial usage, resorted to as a
convenient mode of attesting the genuineness or authenticity of the
sealed. Anciently, and when the art of writing was unknown, the
practice of sealing contracts was extensively adopted. Every man had
his own seal, or mark, which he affixed to an instrument instead of
signing his own proper name, which he could not do. The practice
originated in necessity, at a time when men could not write; but hav¬
ing once obtained as a general custom, it continued long after the
necessity which gave it birth had ceased to exist. The Bible abounds
with allusions to this custom of sealing contracts, covenants, agree¬
ments, etc., which need not here be noticed.
Suffice it to say, that God has always affixed his seal, or mark, or
signature—whatever we may please to call it—to his several dispensa¬
tions ; and in doing this, he has accommodated the simplicity of the
sign to the circumstances of man. Of this nature was the tree of life
in the garden of Eden. It was to Adam a token or pledge of the life
which was promised him in case of obedience. Besides, when God
covenanted with Noah, after the catastrophe of the flood, promising
"not to smite any more every living thing," he "set his bow in the
cloud;" and "God said, this is the token of the covenant which I
make between me and you and every living creature. And it shall
come to pass, that when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow
shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember my covenant which
is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh," etc.—
See Genesis ix. 2, etc.
We then remark that the token or sign thus exhibited was to be as
a remembrance of the obligation, and a perpetual pledge of the fidelity
of the Almighty in the performance of the covenant with Noah.
Well, now, circumcision was the seal of the Abrahamic covenant
under the Mosaic law. When it was instituted, Abraham was in¬
formed that it should "be a token of the covenant" between God and
him.—Genesis xvii. 2. In further proof of this, Paul, in the Epistle
to the Romans, iv. 2, says, "And he [Abraham] received the sign of
circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of faith which he had," etc.
Circumcision, therefore, among the lineal descendants of Abraham,
was the visible mark which God annexed to his covenant—ay, it was
the impress of God's seal, whereby he attested the validity and bind¬
ing nature of the covenant, and offered assurance to the Jews of his
own faithfulness; just as a man would bind himself in a contract by
198 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
affixing his signature to an article of agreement. In like manner,
the Jews assumed the obligations that circumcision devolved on them,
by voluntarily becoming a party in the covenant.
It is not necessary to multiply quotations from the Scriptures t«
prove the position we have assumed; namely, that circumcision was
the sign and seal of the covenant made with Abraham, of that the
covenant between Jehovah and Abraham, thus sealed and attested,
was the evangelical covenant. But we will give one or two other pas¬
sages, in order to establish, beyond the possibility of cavil, one other
important point. It is this: that God instituted a visible Church in
the family of Abraham, and that this Church was composed of adults
and infants, though denied by all regular Baptists, because its denial
is necessary to the support of their own theory. This Church was
founded on the evangelical covenant, and was the same as the Church
which now exists under the gospel dispensation. In proof of these
.propositions, we direct the reader's attention to the passages hereto¬
fore quoted, and to the following from Genesis xvii. 19, 20: "And
God said, Sarah shall bear thee a son indeed, and thou shalt call his
name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him for an ever¬
lasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I
have heard thee; but my covenant will I establish with Isaac."
From these passages we learn that God took Abraham and his fa¬
mily, including both adults and infants, into a visible covenant-relation
to himself, by circumcision; and that this covenant was confirmed
unto Isaac and his descendants. This covenant is so repeatedly de¬
clared to be an everlasting covenant, that we have reason to think, from
the very face of the texts themselves, without looking for further evi¬
dence, that it was designed to be of endless duration. The terms of
this covenant do also show that it was designed to extend to other na¬
tions beside those who should be the natural descendants of Abraham.
And this view of the Subject is fully confirmed by collating these pas¬
sages with those in the book of Genesis, in which God declares to
Abraham that all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him or
in his seed. Now the covenant thus explained directs us necessarily
to Christ as that seed of Abraham in whom all the families of the
earth were to be blessed; and confirms the foregoing propositions—
namely, that God instituted a visible Church in the family of Abra¬
ham which was composed of adults and infants, and that this Church
was founded on the evangelical covenant, and the same as the Church
now existing under the gospel dispensation. These propositions are
clearly established by the scriptures we have quoted, and by nume¬
rous others, and cannot be overthrown by any antipedobaptist in the
country.
We now proceed to the consideration of a most important point—a
point upon which "hang all the law and the prophets." We proceed
to show baptism stands in the place of circumcision, and seals the same
blessings now that once were sealed with blood. If we can sustain
this proposition, by Scripture and argument, we have gained all we
desire, so far as the nature and use of baptism is concerned, and shall
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 199
have left our Baptist friends the hag to hold, "with both ends open.
This proposition will appear from the following considerations:
1st. Circumcision designates a member of the visible Church, for
this was to Abraham and his descendants the seal of the righteousness
of faith, and none could enjoy the privileges of the Church among the
Jews without being circumcised. In proof we offer the following
scriptures:—
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be
blessed.—Galatians iii. 8.
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith
which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them
that believe, though they be not circumcised: that righteousness might be imputed
to them also.—Romans iv. 11.
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram,
and said unto him, I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be thou perfect.
And the uncircumcised man-child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised,
that soul shall be cut off from his people: he hath broken my covenant.—Genesis,
xvii. 1,14.
And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the
Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and
he shall be as one that is born in the land; for no uncircumcised person shall
eat thereof.—Exodus xii. 48.
And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the
Lord; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner
thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and
for him that was born in the land.—Numbers ix. 14.
Baptism now recognizes a member of the visible Church of Christ,
and none are entitled to its privileges under the Christian dispensa¬
tion without being baptized. In proof of this we offer the following
scriptures:—
Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Eather,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.—Matthew xxviii. 19.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature.
He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not,
shall be damned.—Mark xvi. 15,16.
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost:
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call.—Acts ii. 38, 39.
2d. Circumcision was the visible seal of the covenant of grace, and
of the righteousness of faith. For the proof of this, see the forego¬
ing passages from Genesis, Romans, and Galatians.
Baptism is now the outward seal of the covenant of grace and of
the righteousness of faith. In proof of this, we give, beside the
passages already quoted, the following:—
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.—John iii. 5.
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he an¬
swered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
And he commanded the chariot to stand still; and they went down both into the
water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.—Acts viii. 37, 38.
200
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
3d. Circumcision was a sign of the grace of regeneration, or the
renewing of the soul in righteousness. In proof of this position, we
give the following scriptures:—
But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart,
in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.—Kom.
ii. 29.
For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in
Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.—Philippians iii. 3.
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in
putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.—Colos-
SIAKS ii. 11.
Baptism by water is now a sign of the grace of regeneration, or the
renewing of the soul in righteousness. The evidence of this we find
in the following passages:—
And now, why tarriest thou? arise, and he baptized, and wash away thy sins, call-
ing on the name of the Lord.—Acts xxii. 16.
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.—
Titus iii. 5.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave him¬
self for it;
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.—
Ephesians v. 25, 26.
Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.—
Hebrews x. 22.
4th. Circumcision was an ordinance that constantly attended the
gospel under the former dispensation. See the following scriptures
in proof of this, as well as others already quoted:—
And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his
name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived
in the womb.
And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were ac¬
complished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord:
(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall
be called holy to the Lord;)
And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord,
A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.—Luke ii. 21-24.
Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; not because it is of Moses, but of
the fathers; and ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man.—John vii. 22.
Baptism by water is an ordinance that constantly attends the gos¬
pel under the present dispensation. In proof of this, we might ad¬
duce many passages, but will only quote the following:—
Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo,
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.—Matthew xxviii.
19, 20.
From the foregoing facts, circumstances, and considerations, the
conclusion is inevitable that baptism is to the Church now what cir¬
cumcision was under the former dispensation; namely, the outward
seal of the covenant, and of the righteousness of faith. In other
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
201
words, of whatever nature was circumcision under the Old Testament
dispensation, of this same nature is baptism under the New Testament
dispensation. As the former was the seal which God graciously en¬
tered into with man, so also is the latter. And the gospel is nothing
more than the complete development of the Abrahamic covenant.
This covenant stretches through all time, and comprehends all nations,
sexes, colors, and sizes of human beings in its liberal provisions. It
was in days of yore a covenant of grace and mercy; of pardon and
eternal life, conditionally, to universal man. It is now what it was
then; and as such, it is not merely of secular good to a few. Hence,
says Paul, "If ye he Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise." The gospel was preached to Abraham
when the promise was made. And the blessings of that covenant were
partially revealed and bestowed under the law of Moses. At that
time it bore the mark or seal of circumcision. But in these gospel
days, God has appointed baptism as the sign or seal.
The right of infants to this seal with all its blessings has once been
secured to them by Divine authority: the law securing this right has
never been repealed—of necessity, therefore, the right still remains.
And it is the bounden duty of all believers in Christ to imitate the
illustrious father of the faithful, by stamping upon their infant off¬
spring the seal of the covenant of their God. True, the outward sign
and seal of the gospel doctrine and privileges has been changed so as
to suit the genius of the present dispensation; but the right of infant
children to all the privileges of God's gracious covenant has never
been affected thereby—it remains the very same; and he who asserts
otherwise, proves to all who are at all acquainted with the theology
of the Bible that he is ignorant of the doctrines of that book, and de¬
serves himself to be instructed in the science of salvation.
I am aware that immersionists object to the idea of baptism coming
in. place of circumcision, from the circumstance of its not being ap¬
plied to females. This objection is not valid. For, first, nature has
rendered it impracticable; and, next, woman, especially under the
Patriarchal and Jewish dispensations, was identified with, and in
every thing represented by man. Hence, as believers are said by St.
Paul to be circumcised by the circumcision of Christ, so were women
circumcised by the circumcision of man. That this was the case is
evident, because none were admitted to eat the Jewish passover ex¬
cept the circumcised; and yet females were entitled to eat the pass-
over, and did so.—See Exodus xii. 48.
But the passover was in the Jewish Church what the Lord's supper
is among Christians.—See 1 Cor. v. 7, 8. Will any Baptist deny
women the right to the Lord's supper ? The Scriptures allow them
the right, although there is just as little plain and direct Scripture to
prove that females should now partake of the Lord's supper. But
circumcision was necessary in all who partook of the passover, as
baptism is now necessary in all who partake of the Lord's supper.
The conclusion then is irresistible, that the right of females to the
privileges of the Church under the former dispensation was secured
9*
202
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
to them by the relation they sustained to the male part of Abraham's
descendants,-who bore in their flesh the external seal of God's gracious
covenant. Hence it is that they are now admitted to the Lord's sup¬
per, without any positive precept showing their right thereto.
One other idea, and I close this chapter. I have proven
beyond the reach of cavil that baptism stands in lieu of cir¬
cumcision, sealing the same blessing now that once was sealed
with blood. I have also shown that baptism, no matter how
administered, or by whom, under the Christian dispensation,
is the door into the Church. That it is the door by which
persons enter the Church, even Baptists admit, provided we
agree to immersion as the mode. For their sakes, and for
the sake of the argument, I will allow that baptism by im¬
mersion is the door into the Church. What a ridiculous light
this admission places the Baptists of this country in before a
refined and civilized world ! How do they enter the Church
of God ? They come in backwards, or, if the reader please,
wrong end foremost I They back into the Church, as a goat
retreats from his adversary, which, if not an insult to God, is
not in accordance with good-breeding. Suppose you knock
at my door or ring my door-bell for entrance : I appear, open
my door, and politely invite you to a seat in my parlor. You
bow, but wheel about, and back into my house: have I not
cause to feel insulted ? God sends forth his ministers to in¬
vite men into his Church: they accept the invitation, and,
with their consent, suffer Baptist preachers to push them in
backwards, as though they feel that they are doing something
so mean, that they are unwilling to face up to the act! What
must the Almighty think of such an approach to his Ma¬
jesty?
Now, the Bunkers, a denomination founded by a German
in 1724, are immersionists: they, too, hold that baptism is
the door into the Church, and they act consistently by plunging
their subj ects faces foremost. They are trine immersionists, and
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 203
plunge their subjects three times, faces foremost, with laying
on the hands and prayer—thus entering the Church of God
like men conscious of rectitude of purpose, and engage in
taking upon themselves obligations of which they are not
ashamed! When Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians,
and others, baptize either infants or adults, they introduce
their subjects faces foremost! Our Baptist brethren are al¬
most alone in their vulgarity in backing into the Church of
God I
204
the great iron wheel examined.
CHAPTER X.
Elder Graves against the Methodist views of Baptism—John's baptism
considered, both as to its nature and design, its origin and mode—
John's was not the Christian baptism—He did not practice immer¬
sion—Christ's baptism considered—The design that of complying
with the requirements of the law of Moses—The mode not that of
immersion—Indecent exhibition of females when immersed!
On page 366 Elder Graves commences his thirtieth chap¬
ter; and with his misrepresentations of Methodism, and his
ultra, not to say dogmatical views upon the subject of Baptism,
he covers twelve pages. That the reader may see the drift
of his arguments, which are more after the order of bold
assertions than of logical reasonings, and that too much of
my space may not be occupied with his slang, I will give only
the heading of his chapter. This heading indicates not only
what he has said in this chapter, but is an index to most of
what follows, in several other chapters, upon the subject of
Baptism. It is as follows:
Inconsistencies—Admitting acknowledged sinners into the Church, and
debarring for six months an acknowledged Christian from entering!—
Giving baptism by force to non-believing children and unconscious
infants, and refusing baptism to the professed Christian for six months!
I will here premise that, throughout Mr. Graves's book,
he mixes up the subject of Baptism with what he says about
Church government, doctrines, and discipline; and John's
baptism—the mode and subjects thereof; Christ's baptism—
its mode and subjects, and its design, all come in for a share
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 205
of his attention. I will notice these somewhat in detail; and,
in doing so, place before the numerous readers of this work
such facts and arguments, and scriptural quotations, as I de¬
sire them to read and reflect upon.
A variety of views are entertained in relation both to the
nature and mode of John's baptism. Mr. Graves and his
ultra Baptist associates regard it as identical with Christian
baptism; while others, myself among the number, believe that
John's was not the Christian baptism. It is not at all to be
wondered that the advocates of exclusive immersion should
take the ground that John's baptism was the Christian bap¬
tism, but it is truly unaccountable that liberal-minded men of
intelligence, who have attentively perused and studied the
Bible, should, in any instance, have come to such an erro¬
neous conclusion. I have no Mea that John's was the
Christian baptism; and, therefore, let fhe mode have been
what it may, it can have no sort of tendency to fix the evan¬
gelical mode of Christian baptism. But I intend to take the
bold ground that John did not immerse, and I defy any im-
mersionist to prove that he did. My. first object, however,
shall be to show that John's was not the Christian baptism.
And in order to demonstrate this fact, I remark, first, that the
immediate institutor of John's baptism was God the Father.
Here I will again introduce copious extracts from a small work
I published upon Baptism, in 1842, when I had access to all
the best authorities extant; and although I have now had'
fourteen years for reflection, my views upon the points dis¬
cussed have undergone no change:
"He that sent me to baptize, the same said unto me, Upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same
is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."—John i. 23. Here God
the Father commissioned John to administer baptism, and pointed out
to him Christ, not as the institutor, but as a subject of his baptism—
Christ the Son of God the Father. "Go ye, therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
206
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever
I have commanded you."—Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Here, we say, Christ
institutes a baptism, and points to his disciples, the inhabitants of
"all nations," as his subjects. In this case Christ is the institutor, but
not the subject—in the former case he was a subject, but not the insti¬
tutor. Can any thing be more plain? Certainly not. How then can
these two baptisms be the same? They are no more the same than
are the Mosaic and Christian dispensations the same. They are no
more the same than are the Old and New Testaments one and the
same.
2d. John's baptism was strictly confined to the Jews, but the
Christian baptism was directed to be administered to all nations.
John's baptism was, to all intents and purposes, a Jewish ordinance.
For that is a Jewish ordinance which is confined to the Jews. John's
baptism was confined to the Jewish Church; therefore, it was a Jewish
ordinance.
3d. John's baptism was the concluding scene of the legal dispensa¬
tion, and one of those divers washings in use among the Jews, men¬
tioned in Hebrews: "Which stood only in meats and drinks, and
divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them (the Jews)
until the time of reformation."—Heb. ix. 10.
4th. John's baptism introduced persons into the Jewish Church
without any attempt to alter Jewish forms of worship; nor is there
any account in the New Testament that his disciples ceased to he
members of the Jewish Church, during his lifetime, on account of
their baptism. They continued subject to all those ordinances; but
the subjects of Christ's baptism are not subject to Jewish ordinances.
5th. John's baptism was unto repentance, and taught its subjects
to believe in a Saviour to come, while it was without any regular form:
the Christian baptism is different, and is in the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost.
6th. John's baptism was not only a token of penitence, but it sealed
the faith of its subjects in a Messiah to come, and to suffer for the
sins of the world; but the baptism instituted by Christ could not seal
such a faith without sealing a lie, because Christ has come, suffered,
and died, aUd entered into the place of his glory, angels and princi¬
palities being subject unto him.
7th. John's baptism commenced being administered six months
before the establishment of Christianity itself, or before our Lord
entered upon his public ministry! And according to the doctrine of
the Baptists on this subject, Christ did not institute Christian baptism
unless he instituted it before he entered upon his public ministry;
which no man in his proper mind will affirm.
8th. John's baptism was distinctive in its name. It was justly
called "John's baptism." And this distinctive appellation is given to
it, in part, to distinguish it from the baptism of Christ, or of the Holy
Ghost. Why was it never called any thing in the Bible but John's
baptism? The Bible calls things by their proper names. The bap¬
tism which Christ instituted could not be called John's baptism, for
the great iron wheel examined.
207
this would be as egregious a nickname as it would be to call it Peter''a
baptism, the baptism of Paul, Timothy, or Philip—as these men bap¬
tized—and so on, ad infinitum.
9th. John's baptism was not regarded by the apostles, and hence
they rebaptized his disciples. Twelve of them were baptized over
again by St. Paul, at Ephesus. See Acts xix. 1-7. These persons
were Hellenist Jews, who had heard John preach in Judea twenty-six
years before they were taken into the Christian Church by St. Paul.
They had heard John's doctrine and embraced it, and had received his
baptism; but, after returning to their own country, they heard that
this evangelical dispensation of the Holy Ghost had taken place, re¬
ceived their first intelligence of the fact from St. Paul, and, upon a
profession of their faith in Christ, were baptized into that faith. This
rebaptism these persons never would have submitted to, if they had
believed the dogma that John's was the Christian baptism—much less
would the holy apostles have profaned the ordinance by rebaptizing.
10th. John's baptism could not have been the Christian baptism;
for, if it were, then most unquestionably his disciples were christian¬
ized. If so, then the greater part of the Jewish nation were Christ¬
ians at the very point of time in which Christ opened his ministry,
and established Christianity! John baptized, in all, three millions of
persons. If this mighty nation were christianized before Christ
entered upon his ministry, they afterwards backslid; for it is notorious
that they became the most imbittered and malignant foes of the
Christian name. And our Baptist friends would be as unwilling to
admit their apostasy, as they are to allow that John's was not the
Christian baptism!
I will now proceed to speak of John's mode of baptism.
I have regularly read the Bible through fifteen times during
the last twenty years, and the New Testament twenty times,
besides the commentaries, sermons, and other theological
works of many distinguished divines, both in Europe and
America, and, hitherto, I have been wholly unable, as I still
am, to make the discovery that John practiced immersion.
And in attempting to show that he did not immerse, I shall
not extend my remarks in this chapter, as the subject will
again come up under the general head of the mode op
Christian baptism. My argument on this point, for the
time being, at least, will be rather novel than otherwise, as I
propose to found it on the population of Palestine, the pro¬
bable proportion of that population baptized by John, and the
length of time he was employed in his public ministry. Here,
20*8
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
again, I introduce my arguments of 1842, which, outside
of my own views, are an epitome, summary, or abstract, of
the views of Hibbard and other distinguished authors on
Christian Baptism:
1. The population of the country in which John's labors were per¬
formed. Many of our readers will be surprised to learn that at the
commencement of the Christian era the population of Palestine was
much greater, in proportion to its extent of territory, than that of
the mining districts in England, or any section of the United States.
Various circumstances contributed to the formation of a dense mass
of inhabitants, a few only of which are necessary to be noticed.
Among these few were the religious predilection of the Jews for their
own native soil, and their great aversion to the manners and customs
of all other nations. Besides, their religion was national, and pecu¬
liarly their own—a circumstance which at once cut off all intercourse
with other nations. These three considerations alone prevented emi¬
gration, and confined the Jews within their own narrow limits—their
own territory. Hence, the Jews never thought of planting themselves
on heathen soil till the disastrous results of the Assyrian and Baby¬
lonian invasions had routed them from the land of their nativity, and
the graves of their fathers. Hence, also, we are not astonished to
find, in the days of King David, a million and a half of "valiant men
that drew the sword," exclusive of the tribes of Levi and Benjamin.
And in this census was not reckoned any persons under twenty years
of age, nor yet any females. Now, if we reckon five persons to every
warrior—which, including the young, the aged, the infirm, and tho
females, to say nothing of the tribes of Levi and Benjamin, is not an
extravagant estimate—we shall make the entire population of Pales¬
tine at that day to amount to seven millions and a hale.*
Whoever, therefore, considers the foregoing reasons why the num¬
ber of Jews should be so great in the days of David, their great aver¬
sion to other nations, their own love of country, their universal
passion for a numerous offspring, their remaining strictly within the
limits of Palestine, and the immense population of even other ancient
nations, will not deem the estimate of Josephus an exaggerated one.
Josephus says that one million one hundred thousand Jews even perished
in the siege of Jerusalem, A. D. 70!
2. We are next to inquire what proportion of the vast population
of Palestine attended John's ministry, and were baptized by him. On
this subject a lengthy detail of arithmetical calculation is not called
for. A few general facts, founded on certain express declarations of
Scripture, is all that a man of sense will require; and a fool we have
no disposition to contend with.
John was not commissioned to go to any sect or party, but to the
* For the correctness of this statement, see Josephus's account of the population
of Palestine, A.D, 66.
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 209
entire Jewish nation resident in Palestine, to "prepare the way of the
Lord." He was unanimously received by the Jewish nation; there being
no division of sentiment in regard to him, as prevailed in reference to
Christ. Even the Pharisees and Sadducees submitted to his baptism.
So popular was the sentiment that John was a divine prophet, that the
whole Jewish nation was ambitious of the distinction conferred by his
baptism. These facts alone prove most conclusively that the greater
part of "the Jewish people were baptized by John. In the first
chapter of Mark, and at the 5th verse, we find these remarkable
words, corroborating our statement: "And there went out unto him
(John) all the land op Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were ALL
baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins." Mat¬
thew and Luke say the same thing, in substance. Josephus, the great
and approved Jewish historian, confirms the same statement.
The land of Judea comprehended more than half of the entire
territory of Palestine, west of the river Jordan. By "the region
round about" we are to understand the great and fertile valley of the
Jordan, lying between the mountains of Israel on the west, and those
of Hermon, Gilead, and Abarim on the east, embracing the entire ter¬
ritories of Samaria, Perea, and Galilee.
Now, to make the most liberal calculation in favor of our Baptist
opponents, let us suppose that John baptized but one-half of the entire
population of Palestine—the presumption then would be that he bap¬
tized, in all, upwards of three and a half millions of persons. Now,
mark, it was the duty of the Jews to submit to John's baptism. Well,
there must have been time allowed for the process—otherwise, it was
not the duty of the multitudes to submit. But a natural impossibi¬
lity precluded such an act of submission, if immersion were the mode
of baptism. The time allotted to the continuance of John's ministry
—his physical strength—the manner and circumstances essentially
connected with a valid administration of baptism—all, we say, taken
into the account, prove most conclusively that immersion was not
John's mode of baptizing.
3. The foregoing observations bring us, as a matter of course, to
speak of the duration of John's public ministry The evangelist Luke
informs us that John opened his ministry in the fifteenth year of the
reign of Tiberius Caesar, which, according to our most approved
chronology, answers to the thirtieth year of John's life. Chronolo-
gers, with but few exceptions, agree that our Saviour was born De¬
cember the 25th, A. M. 4000. John the Baptist was born the 24th of
June previous, and consequently was six months older than Christ.
For the scriptural evidence of these two positions, see the first and
third chapters of Luke.
The last account we have of John, previously to his arrest and
imprisonment, states positively that he was "baptizing at Enon near
Salim." This was immediately after our Lord had attended his first
Passover, which, according to the manner in which the Jews reckoned
their years, i. e., by lunar months, was celebrated on the 14th day of
March. The inevitable conclusion, therefore, is, that John was
210
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
arrested during his stay at Enon; and Christ, in view of the commo¬
tion excited in Judea by that event, and of the controversy between
the Baptists on the one hand, and the Christians on the other, as to
who was the greater man of the two, prudently withdrew for a season
into the remoter parts of Galilee.
Thus we have briefly followed John, in his public ministry, during
the space of nine months, and till, by the by, he had introduced
Christ to the Jews; and having thus fulfilled the object of his mission,
he retired, by a singular providence, from the field of his labor in the
month of April, A. D. 27. That John continued his ministry longer
than nine months, cannot be proven from the Bible, by all the Baptist
preachers and writers in existence; and the utmost limit to which
his labors can be extended, with any shadow of evidence, is ten
months.
With the remarks now submitted, the whole chain of facts runs
thus:
1st. John must have preached several days, or even weeks, before
he began to baptize, as the people were not likely to submit to his
baptism before they formed some tolerably correct acquaintance with
his character and the purport of his mission.
2d. John's nine months of public labor included the winter season,
and though the climate in Palestine is much milder than ours, still,
those who are acquainted with the history of that climate know that
the inhabitants never fail to experience storms in the winter, and
severe rainy seasons, at which times there is no travelling about.
These facts will require a second deduction of lost time.
3d. Forty Sabbaths of lost time, which is more than one month, are
to be deducted, wherein, according to the Jewish observance of those
days, it was unlawful for John to baptize. This will leave, in all,
about 220 days in which we may reasonably suppose John exercised
the functions of his ministry.
4th. Our estimate is, that the whole number of hours in which
John was employed in the act of baptizing amounted to about one
thousand three hundred, supposing him to have devoted six hours of
each day to the work of baptizing, which is a liberal allowance. If
he immersed according to the modern mode, he could not have stood
it longer, for 220 days in such rapid succession. John was unsus-
tained by miracles—made no pretensions to them—and we must cal¬
culate his labors just as we would those of a common preacher in our
day, allowing him a medium ratio of bodily strength. The conclusion
then is, that no mortal man—nor even a beast—could have stood in
three feet water six hours in the day, for 220 days, with only an occa¬
sional rest day, caused by storms, or rain, or the intervention of a
Sabbath. With these remarks we proceed to the concluding argument,
and hope that wc may be patiently heard.
First, John baptized, in all, just three millions of human beings.
Next, the time in which John was engaged in the act of baptizing,
did not exceed one thousand and three hundred hours. This gives him
a fraction over two thousand to the hour, thirty to each minute, or one
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
211
to every two seconds! This, then, is baptizing with too great speed.
No mere human that ever lived could do this. No sort of ceremony
could be said in this rapid work. No man on earth could pass along
a row of mortals, and pat one on the shoulders for every two seconds,
much less plunge him under water and raise him up again.
The conclusion, then, of the whole matter is, that it is wholly im¬
practicable for John to have immersed the multitudes he is said to
have baptized. But we are asked the question, in what way could he
have baptized these multitudes, in the length of time we allow him to
have been engaged in baptizing ? We answer, the Jews had a mode
of purifying the people by dipping a branch of hyssop* into water, and
sprinkling it upon them. It is said of Moses, in Heb. ix. 19, that he
took the blood of calves and of goats, and with hyssop sprinkled all
the people. It is not reasonable to suppose that John, in purifying
with water, departed from the usage of Moses. For had he introduced
any new and external rite, the Jews would beyond all doubt have
disputed his authority. But we have no account of such dispute.
Moreover, John was not sent, as he himself confessed, to abolish the
Jewish rites, but to observe them, and to give a new impetus to the
Mosaic religion by urging upon the Jews the necessity of repentance
and baptism.
I shall here consider Christ's baptism; and although 1
intend brevity, I shall assign to the baptism of our Saviour
special importance. Having concluded my remarks on John's
baptism, something special should be said of the baptism of
Christ; and the present stage of the general argument is the
appropriate place for such remarks. It cannot be charged that
I am wandering from the issues made by Elder Graves, be¬
cause he, and all immersionists, rely upon the baptism of our
Saviour as affording unquestionable authority for their mode,
and that, too, to the exclusion of all other modes. I quote
again from my work on Baptism :—
As to the mode of the Saviour's baptism, the Scriptures do not say
whether it was by pouring, sprinkling, or immersion; but as the great
probability is that John did not immerse, we may reasonably infer
that Christ was not immersed. At all events, the only information
afforded in the New Testament as to the mode, is what we gather
from the import of the word baptize. This word is derived from the
Greek word baptizo, and more remotely from bapto, and properly
signifies a washing; and the learned agree that whether the sub-
* Hyssop is an lierb generally known, and often mentioned in Scripture. The
hyssop commonly used in purification as a sprinkler was a sort of reed or cane, like
a sponge at the end, which was imbued with the blood, etc.
2.12 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
stance washed, cleansed, or purified, be partially or wholly immersed
in the liquid, or the liquid be applied to the substance, it is alike
baptism. Brown says, in his Encyclopedia, that to apply the liquid
or element by pouring, running, rubbing, dropping, sprinkling, or
effusion, is baptism to all intents and purposes. But as we intend to
enlarge on this topic in another place, we say no more at present.
The character of Christ's baptism is a question of far greater im¬
portance, and is more immediately connected with the subject-matter
in dispute, than that of the mode can be. Our Baptist brethren have
assumed that the Saviour received a Christian baptism. We take the
negative side of this question. Hence, the whole task which devolves
upon us is to disprove the correctness of their assumption. There¬
fore, let the end, the nature, origin, object, or design of the Saviour's
baptism have been what it may, one thing is certain—it did not partake
of the nature of Christian baptism. Stick a pin down here, 0 ye im-
mersionists! blow the dust of prejudice out of your eyes, and look at
the scriptural truths which we now present.
1st. John baptized his subjects "unto repentance," and in testimony
of the fact that they had repented. Therefore, if our Lord's baptism
partook of the nature of John's, inasmuch as the latter witnessed to
the repentance of the candidate, the Saviour must have previously
repented of sin 2 Will any one endorse this blasphemous sentiment ?
2d. But the proper import of John's baptism could not apply to the
Saviour in any form. The ultimate design of John's baptism was to
"prepare the way of the Lord." This was the great aim of all his
labors. Was our Saviour baptized with this intent? But it is idle to
extend these arguments. If a man is so stupid, or so ignorant and
uninformed, as to support the hypothesis we are opposing, it is doubt¬
less trifling with time and with reason to oppose him.
3d. But John required of the candidate for baptism, faith in a
Messiah to come. If, therefore, Christ was baptized in the faith of
John's baptism, he must have believed in a Messiah to come, and to
this faith John must have exhorted him. Need we dwell upon the
absurdity of such a doctrine ? Certainly not.
4th. The baptism of the Saviour, known as the Christian baptism,
was not instituted till after the resurrection of our Saviour. See
Matt, xxviii. 18, 19. See also other parallel passages, which show
that the Christian baptism was never administered until the day of
Pentecost. The conclusion, then, is inevitable, that if Christ received
Christian baptism at the hands of John, it was three years before the
actual institution of that ordinance, which is as blasphemous as it is
absurd.
5th. Christian baptism, to be such, must be performed in the name
of "the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." But is
there not an inconceivable absurdity in the idea of Christ's being
baptized in his own name, and as an evidence of his devotedness to hit
own cause and person? Yet this we must believe, if we suppose that
Christ received Christian baptism at the hands of John.
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
213
the design op christ's baptism.
Having shown that the baptism of our Saviour did not partake of
the nature of John's baptism, it devolves upon us to show what was
the real design of Christ's baptism, and wherein lay the necessity of
his being baptized at all.
The Baptists allege that our Saviour was baptized in order to fur¬
nish his followers an example. At the same time, they allege that he
was baptized by immersion. Hence, they exhort all to go forth and be
plunged, thus following the example of Christ! The effect which
this mode of reasoning has upon many minds is truly powerful,
although it is founded in falsehood. In the whole range of the con¬
troversy between immersionists on the one hand, and Pedobaptists on
the other, the former have never wielded a more successful argument
(iad captandum valgus) than this appeal to the example of Christ. But
we demand the proof of this assumption. Is it to be found in the
Bible ? No. But is it deducible from the Bible by any correct rules
of criticism? By no means. Where then is the proof ? There is no
proof of such doctrine, save in the fruitful imaginations of Baptists.
On the other hand, that our Saviour was not baptized with a view
to furnish his followers an example, may be deduced from the sacred
text by the strictest rules of criticism.
1.- The example would be essentially defective in one of its most
prominent features. Christ was thirty years old when he was
baptized. Our Baptist friends, therefore, should put off baptism till
they are of this age. But would this be walking in the commandments
of God, blameless? We should think not. Then, if Christ set this
example of procrastination, he set a bad example. But Luke says,
chapter iii. verse 21, that "all the people were baptized" before Christ
submitted to the ordinance. Why did he wait till all the people went
before ? Why did he not lead the way ?
2. The example, if it be such, is unreasonable, because partial. If
Christ submitted to Christian baptism for the sake of furnishing an
example, he ought to have done the same thing in the case of the
Lord's Supper. Example was as loudly called for in one case as in the
other. But when he handed the cup to his disciples, he said, "Drink
ye all of it," etc.
3. But does the Bible furnish us with any reason why baptism was
necessary in the case of the Saviour ? Yes, Christ himself gives the;
true reason in the following words, in reply to John's scruples—"for
thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." This answer, let its
real import be what it may, perfectly satisfied John of the propriety
of baptizing Christ; and all the reason that ever subsisted, rendering
the baptism of Christ necessary, is couched in the above words of the
Saviour. The only point to be established, therefore, is the real
import of the phrase, " to fulfil all righteousness." Well, the import
of the phrase may be rendered thus, and then we have its real mean¬
ing : " For thus it becometh us to fulfil every institution of the
law of Moses, so as finally to answer its typical intention, and not
214
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
arbitrarily to dissolve all obligations to its observance, before it has thus
received its accomplishment in me."
Then, Christ's obligation to baptism grew out of his assumed rela¬
tion to the law as our Vicar, it being a function of his priestly char¬
acter to accomplish the intent of the Mosaic ritual. But what law
was there in vogue which required the Saviour to be baptized ? We
answer, it was the law enjoining and regulating priestly consecration,
as will be seen by examining the code of Moses, recorded in Exodus
xxix. and Levit. viii.; and that our Saviour's baptism was a priestly
consecration, is corroborated by all the accompanying circumstances
recorded in the New Testament. And when Christ exercised the office
of a priest in purging the temple, and when the chief priests and
elders demanded of him, on that occasion, by what authority he did
these things, he appealed to John's baptism in vindication of the
authority he exercised. See Matt. xxi. 12-27.
Enough has now been said to rescue the baptism of Christ from the
erroneous construction of immersionists. If our remarks are founded
in reason and Scripture, they cannot be set aside; if not, the advo¬
cates of immersion will overthrow them.
Certain it is that Christ, if he intended persons should
be immersed, never intended females should submit to the
ordinance in that public way, and after that notoriously vulgar
fashion of the Baptist denomination, at their baptisms outside
of large cities, where they have pools and preparations for
changing their garments. The usual custom throughout the
South and West is to bandage the forehead of a delicate and
beautiful female, and tie a handkerchief round her waist, as a
sort of handle for an awkward Baptist preacher to fasten
upon; and thus she is led into the water, step by step, in the
presence of a mixed multitude, who are making their vulgar
remarks and criticising her steps as she fights down her clothes,
which rise to the top of the water, and float round her deli¬
cate and exposed limbs ! She is taken by the preacher, who
fastens one hand in her belt, and the other on the back of her
head j and after planting his big feet firm upon the bottom of
the stream, and squaring himself as though he were about to
knock a beef in the head, he plunges her into the water! If,
in her struggle to guard against strangling, her forehead or
face should not go under, he takes his hand full of water, and
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 215
wets the parts, as though such wetting were essential to her
salvation! Take, for instance, the following extract from a
leading editorial in the "Baptist Banner and Pioneer," of
February 24, 1842—a mammoth sheet, edited by jive Baptist
preachers:
We regard nothing as gospel baptism but the immersion in water
of a believer, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
How frequently do Baptist ministers, if but a hand or a part of the
subject be uncovered in the water, immerse again. And whoever
thought that this was Anabaptism. And yet, we risk nothing in say¬
ing that it is as decidedly re-baptism, as it would be to reimmerse an
individual who had been immersed by a Pedobaptist minister, [a
Methodist, fresbyterian, etc.,] OR ANY OTHER UNAUTHORIZED
ADMINISTRATOR!
^ On different occasions I have witnessed these indecent per¬
sonal exhibitions, of respectable females coming out of the
water with their thin garments sticking close to their skin, and
exhibiting their muscles and make in so revolting a manner,
that ladies present have felt constrained to surround them, so
as to hide their persons from the gaze of the vulgar throng.
I witnessed this disgusting sight several times in the spring
of 1842, at the edge of Green's Mill-pond, in Jonesborough.
216
the great iron wheel examined.
CHAPTEE XI.
The Sacraments of Baptism and the Supper not duly administered by
Methodists—The Methodist not a Christian or Gospal Church—
Ought not so to be recognized by Baptists—Methodists baptize
infants and unbelievers—Two dreams by two preachers—Seekers
and infants entitled to baptism, as shown from Scripture and
reason.
On page 445 of the "Wheel," Elder Graves thus rebukes
Methodist preachers for administering the Lord's supper to
seekers, and baptism to the same class :—
But who will say that the sacrament of baptism is duly adminis¬
tered, when administered according to the teachings of your Disci¬
pline, explained by Mr. Wesley, and the standard works published by
your Book Concern ? And what intelligent Christian man will say
that the Supper is duly administered in your Church, when it is
administered to unregenerated and unba.jptized seekers?
I repeat what I have before said, that, according to the above
article, your societies are not visible churches of Christ, and ought not
to be so recognized.
On page 435, he concludes a bitter harangue upon bap¬
tism in these remarkable words:—
In consideration of these teachings, can Baptists, with any kind of
reason, be called upon to recognize the Methodist Episcopal Society
as a Christian or Gospel Church? Is it a congregation of believers,
according to the definition of the Discipline, in which the word of
God is faithfully preached, and the ordinances duly administered ?
If the practice of Methodists is not always according to the Disci¬
pline, it is only because the preachers and members violate their
solemn oaths and promises to observe it in "every point, great and
small;" and who can tell what it would be were it not for the counter¬
acting influence of Baptist doctrines and practice in this country?
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 217
What rigid sectarian proscription characterizes the course
of Baptists generally, in all the South and West! I am hero
reminded of two dreams by two preachers, the one a Baptist,
the other a Methodist. They had been holding a protracted
meeting together, which lasted for days, and which resulted
in the conversion of a number of souls to God. The two
preachers now agreed to open the doors of their respective
churches, and gather in the fruits of their labors. It was
agreed that the Baptist brother should lead the way. He
stated to t^e audience generally, and to the young converts in
particular, that he had had a remarkable dream, in which he
had died and gone to hell 1 His Satanic Majesty received
him very politely, and proposed to escort him through all the
apartments of the infernal regions before assigning to him his
position. He travelled extensively through the dark do¬
minions, and met with quite number of Methodists, Episco¬
palians, Presbyterians, and Catholics, but did not see one
Baptist in all the infernal regions—their compliance with the
ordinance of baptism having carried them all safe to God's
habitation!
The Methodist minister followed. He too had dreamed a
remarkable but similar dream! He had died and gone to
hell, as he stated to the audience; and, like his Baptist
brother, the Devil had conducted him through all his dark
dominions. He saw "lots and squares'! of Methodists, Pres¬
byterians, Episcopalians, and Catholics, but not a single Bap¬
tist. He inquired of the Devil, with anxious solicitude, if
there were no Baptists there? His Satanic Majesty seized
liirn by the arm, turned him suddenly around, and said,
" Come out here!" The Devil raised a large trap-door and
pointed to a multitude, grappling in "a lower deep," and
exclaimed, "These, sir, are all Baptists holding close com¬
munion!1' The result was, that two to one of the new con
10
'£18 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
verts joined the Methodists, as they did not wish to share the
tate of the close communionists !
I have premised thus much, with a view to enlist the
reader's attention while I demonstrate that believers are not
the only proper subjects of Christian baptism—that all other
denominations beside Baptists are not Antichristian—and
last, but not least, while I give Christian examples of bap¬
tizing unconverted adults, and show that they are proper
subjects of Christian baptism. I again quote from my book
on Baptism:—
Who are proper subjects of Christian baptism ? The proper an¬
swer to this question is one of great importance to the Christian
Church ; for, if the sentiments of the Baptists be correct, the visible
Church of Christ on earth is reduced to a mere handful of professing
Christians—a mere "corporal's guard," as is sometimes said of a
certain political clique at Washington. The true point at issue,
therefore, is this: Is the Baptist Church, so called, the only visible
Church of Christ on earth, as alleged by Mr. Howell, [Graves, and
others of their "faith and order;"] or do other professing Christians,
of other denominations, belong to the visible body of Christ? If
none are proper subjects of Christian baptism except believing
adults, then the Baptist Church is the only Church of Christ on
earth, and all the rest are Churches of Antichrist; inasmuch as the
majority of all the members of all other denominations are baptized
in their infancy. This is a horrid conclusion, we allow; but des¬
perate as it is, it is unavoidable, provided the premises of the Bap¬
tists, from which it is drawn, be correct. Let us, then, throw the
Baptist argument into a syllogistic form. The Church of Christ, say
they, is composed of baptized believers only, immersed by regular
Baptist preachers. No mode is baptism but immersion, and none
are baptized but such as are members of the Church of Christ on
earth—such as have been immersed, by regular Baptist preachers,
after they became believers. This is the argument. And if this con¬
clusion be correct, it will follow that none are Churches of Christ but
those whose members were immersed after they became believers,
upon a profession of their faith, and that, too, by Baptist preachers.
But a large majority of the professing world are Methodists, Luther¬
ans, Presbyterians, and members of the Church of England, and were
baptized before they were capable of making any profession of their
faith, and that, too, by sprinkling; therefore the Methodists, Luther¬
ans, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians, are not members of the Church
of Christ. This conclusion is inevitable likewise. And this is just
what the Baptists contend for. For, says Mr. Howell, on page 276
of his notorious book:
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
219
We are not Protestants, nor Dissenters, Lutherans, Calvinists, Arminians, nor Re-
formers, but what we have been in all ages, THE CHURCH OF OUR LORD JE¬
SUS CHRIST 11
With these declarations before us, and under this view of the sub¬
ject, to contend for the validity of infant baptism, as Methodists, is
to contend for our existence as a Church of Christ; and not for oura
only, but also for that of all other Churches except the Baptists. A
principle, then, which involves such important conclusions should be
supported by the most indubitable evidence—by evidence far more
indubitable than the Baptists are able to bring forward. And
whether the sentiments of the Baptists on this subject be thus
supported or not, the reader will see before we have done with this
question.
The Methodists baptize three classes of persons, to wit: converted
believers, unconverted believers, and infants. And for doing this they
have Christian examples and scriptural commands. That believers
in Christ, not previously baptized, are proper subjects of Christian
baptism, is not denied by any one. On this point, therefore, there
can be no controversy. And by a believer we understand the Baptists,
and all others on this subject, to mean one who is a believer in
the full sense of the word; that is to say, one who is justified
freely, and renewed by the grace of God. That such believers
are proper subjects of baptism is not doubted. But that these
are the only proper adult subjects of Christian baptism is explicitly
denied.
In proof of this position just assumed, let us consider a few of the
cases recorded in the New Testament, which go to prove, most con¬
clusively, that baptism was received without the justification or
regeneration of the subject at the time of its administration. The
first case of this description is the well-known case of the Samari¬
tans, as recorded in th? 8th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. In
this chapter we have an account of a mission of Philip to Samaria, a
city of whose inhabitants it is said, "And the people with one accord
gave heed unto those things which Philip preached, hearing and see¬
ing the miracles which he did." The sorcery of Simon, and its effects
upon the people of that place, having been introduced by the evan¬
gelist, he thus continues the account of the Samaritans: " But when
they believed Philip, preaching the things concerning the kingdom of
God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and
women." We have here, in a very concise manner, the religious
character and history of the Samaritans, up to the time of their bap¬
tism. They had been aliens from the true God, and outcasts from
Israel; as such, Philip preached to them; under his ministry they
were convinced of the truth and divinity of Christianity; and upon a
faith which assented to the truths which he advanced they were bap¬
tized. Let any one interested turn to the history, and it will be seen
that not one word is said about the remission of sins, or about these
Samaritans having received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The nearest
220
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
they approached to a Christian character was, they were baptized pa t-
itents, who exercised honestly and conscientiously what theologians
call a historical faith. It is not said in the inspired word that they
believed in Christ, or on Christ Jesus, to the saving of their souls;
but it is simply, though distinctly stated, that "They believed the
things concerning the name of Jesus. This view of the case is fully
sustained by the following statements, found in this same chapter,
and at the 14th including the 16th verse:
Now, when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had re¬
ceived the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were
come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost, (/or as yet he
had fallen on none of them; only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
A clearer case than the foregoing, of persons receiving Christian
baptism without regeneration, or without an "experience of grace,"
as the Baptists term it, could not be presented. It speaks its own
language. It proves that genuine penitents are as proper subjects of
this ordinance as are justified believers.
But if further proof were wanting to establish this point, we mean
that a person who has not the faith of a justified child of God may
nevertheless be a proper subject of Christian baptism, we have it in
the case of Simon Magus. Speaking of this case, the inspired histo¬
rian says: "Then Simon himself believed also; and when he was
baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered."—Acts viii. 13.
Here it is expressly said Simon believed and was baptized. And yet,
Peter said to him after this : " Thou hast neither part nor lot in this
matter; for thy heart is not right in the sight of God." And again,
" Thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity."
Therefore, that Simon was neither a justified believer nor a true peni¬
tent is certain. What, then, was his state ? Either he never was
converted, or he had fallen from grace. We leave the Baptists to
determine this question for themselves. To say that he never had
that degree and kind of faith which would entitle him to Christian
baptism^- or render him a proper subject of it, would be to censure
the administrator Philip, and flatly to contradict the testimony of the
inspired historian, who says—not that Simon professed to believe, but
that he did believe, and was baptized. What, then, was Simon's true
state ? Why, he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as the true Mes¬
siah, and had some undefined desires to be saved through his grace,
while he was destitute of the faith of a Christian believer. And yet,
Simon was a proper subject of Christian baptism, or Philip, the in¬
spired administrator, was guilty of profaning the ordinance. From
the foregoing considerations, we consider that a person may be a
proper subject of Christian baptism who has never obtained the
forgiveness of his sins, or rather the regenerating grace of God. And
by a proper subject of Christian baptism, we mean one who is not tc
be rebaptiztd.
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
221
INFANT CHILDREN PROPER SUBJECTS OF CHRISTIAN
BAPTISM.
That the infant children of baptized parents are as proper subjects
of Christian baptism as are adult believers, is maintained by Method¬
ists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and others, but denied
by Baptists. Here, therefore, these denominations and the Baptists
are plainly at issue. Let us, then, hear the grounds on which "the
only- Church of our Lord Jesus Christ" rests its objections to the bap¬
tism of infants.
1st. They (the Baptists) object that there is no explicit warrant for
baptizing infants in the New Testament—there is no " Thus saith the
Lord," authorizing the baptism of infants; and hence they conclude
•that infants should not be baptized. That there is no such explicit
warrant for the baptism of infants, we have the candor freely to ac¬
knowledge. But an explicit warrant is altogether unnecessary, when
the right of infants to Christian baptism can be proved by other
legitimate scriptural evidence. Those who complain that we have no
"Thus saith the Lord" for baptizing infants, in effect dictate to the
infinitely wise God in what manner he shall reveal his will to us. Our
duty is humbly, thankfully, and reverently to receive his revelation
as he has been pleased to communicate it to the world. The Baptists,
therefore, should not say there is no explicit warrant for infant bap¬
tism, and that in consequence thereof they should not be baptized.
But if they object at all, they should take the ground, that there is no
scriptural authority for infant baptism, and therefore they should
not be baptized. But they will not take this ground, because they
know that those denominations who practice infant baptism can easily
make the contrary appear. As it is, we have to consider the objec¬
tion which is founded on the want of a " Thus saith the Lord." But
it is wholly unnecessary to spend time in refuting this objection, as
the Baptists themselves do not believe a " Thus saith the Lord" ne¬
cessary in a perfectly parallel case—we mean that of female com¬
munion. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper and the ordinance of
baptism rest on the same authority, and are of equal dignity, import¬
ance, and obligation. If, then, a "Thus saith the Lord" be necessary
to determine the proper subjects of Christian baptism, the same ex¬
plicit warrant is equally necessary to determine the proper subjects
of the Lord's Supper. This conclusion cannot be avoided. Why,
then, do the Baptists admit women to the Lord's table ? Perhaps
they may take the ground that theirs is not the Lord's table, but an
exclusive feast, which amounts to a Baptist table! This, indeed, is the
only score on which we can excuse them for administering the sacra¬
ment to females, seeing that there is no explicit warrant for such an
act. Recollect, we take the bold stand, that there is not a solitary
passage in the Bible which teaches either that females should or that
they did communicate.
2d. But it is objected, that none are to be baptized until they be¬
lieve ; and that infants are incapable of believing, and therefore must
not be baptized. This objection proves entirely too much, for the
222
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
purpose of a Baptist, for if it prove that infants ought not to be bap¬
tized, it equally proves that none "who die in infancy can be Baved.
Hear the text relied upon: "He that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned." The Baptists
hold that faith is required of all as a prerequisite to baptism: that in¬
fants are incapable of faith; and, therefore, they ought not to be
baptized. They must also maintain that faith is required of
all as a prerequisite to salvation; that infants are incapable of
faith; and therefore infants cannot be saved, but must be
damned. For faith is made in this text as necessary to salva¬
tion as to baptism. If, therefore, infants are excluded from bap¬
tism by this text, they are by it equally excluded from heaven. This
is a horrible conclusion indeed! And yet it is as legitimately drawn
from the text, as that infants are not. to be baptized because they
cannot believe. For our own part, we believe most firmly that all
who die in infancy are saved. And if they are saved in heaven, their
salvation, though of grace, must be without faith. But the Baptists,
for aught we know, may believe that infants are incapable of being
made holy even by Divine influence, or of being saved. And in order
consistently to reject infants, this should be their faith. Because if
infants may be saved without faith, they may be baptized without
faith, for any thing that is said in the foregoing text, or any other
passage in the Bible, to the contrary. The conclusion of the whole
matter, then, is, that the argument contained in the objection we
have been considering is a perfect sophism.
3d. Having given the sum of the arguments of the Baptists against
infant baptism: having shown, too, that they do not disprove it, we
would, in this connection, attend to the arguments on the other side
of this question, but for having anticipated them in the preceding
pages. Let the reader turn to page 147, where we have considered
the covenant entered into with Abraham, the subject of circumcision,
etc., and it will be there seen that we have shown most conclusively
that it is scriptural and right to baptize infants. And for further
scriptural authority for baptizing infants, as well as the fathers
favoring the baptism of infants, we refer the reader to two chapters
of this work, commencing the first on page 42, and the other on
page 46.
4th A few brief remarks just here, touching the relation which
baptized infants sustain to those Churches within whose pales they
receive baptism, and we have done with this branch of the subject. In
the first part of this work we took occasion to state that "Elder
Cate," of the Baptist Church, at a protracted meeting in this town,
in December last, gave as one reason why his denomination would
not commune with certain other denominations, that they " received
infants into their Churches and made them intellectual members." We
then rose up, and on behalf of the Methodists and Presbyterians
denied the truth of what the gentleman had said, provided he alluded
to either or both of these denominations. The result was, that he
denied having any allusion to either, although every candid man in
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
228
the congregation believed he alluded to them, and to no other people.
The substance of what we then said is herewith repeated:
Baptism, administered by a proper person, and in the name of the
holy Trinity, introduces a person into the catholic Church of Christ.
But baptism alone does not constitute him a member of any particu¬
lar Church. To become a member of the Methodist Church, or of
the Presbyterian Church, something more is required besides being
baptized. Therefore, when an infant is baptized he is introduced by
baptism into the Church of Christ—he is not thereby constituted a
member of any particular branch of Christ's Church; and if the
baptism be performed by a Methodist or Presbyterian minister, ho
does not baptize him by virtue of his being a Methodist or Presby¬
terian minister, but by virtue of his office as a minister of Christ.
224 the great iron wheel examined.
CHAPTER XII.
Elder Graves's position, no baptism without going into the water
—Criticism on the word baptizo—Greek particles considered—Figu¬
rative language considered—The scriptural argument for immersion
—The river Jordan a bold and dashing stream—Testimony of Stevens
and Brown—Immersion utterly impracticable in such a stream!
Elder Graves quotes Mr. Wesley's approval of the
Catechism of the Church of England, explaining the mean¬
ing of the sacrament of Baptism, and then adds, on page 437:
All this is sound doctrine. I most heartily accept of this definition
of the sacrament of baptism, even to its action; for it evidently teaches
that the subject must be put into the water. It reads: "Water,
wherein the person is to be baptized." But if this definition be cor¬
rect, is the baptism, of an infant a sacrament?—and if not, is it baptism
at all, in any sense ?
I make the above extract my text, and the foundation for
such criticisms on the word baptizo, and of Greek particles,
as may come up in this chapter. And here, again, I fall back
upon my arguments of 1842, as applicable to the present con¬
troversy, and fair and legitimate answers to all Mr. Graves has
said upon the subject of baptism :
Much that categorically belongs to this chapter will hereafter be
brought forward in the course of the general argument on the mode
of baptism. This will become necessary to the complete development
of that subject, and we shall not anticipate our remarks and argu¬
ments in this place. As derivative words branch off from their roots,
they lose much of their primitive force, and assume new shades of
meaning. Hence, whenever we would attain an accurate knowledge
of the meaning of derivative words, we trace their "pedigree;" and,
as we follow them back to the parent word, we find their sense more
restricted and definite. It is lawful, therefore, to presume, antcce-
THE GREAT IRON "WHEEL EXAMINED.
225
dently to all investigation, that, in the case under consideration, bap-
tizo may lose some of the force and regtrictedness of meaning that
belongs to its primitive bapto.
We are now entering upon an important point of this controversy
—a point upon which the whole must hang; and, therefore, we beg
the reader's patient attention to a candid consideration of what we are
about to say. Every thing depends upon correct and intelligent views
of the subject now under consideration; and we need scarcely
advertise the reader that, if he start with wrong notions or form
wrong premises, he never can expect to arrive at a safe conclusion.
Many—from mistaken notions of the proper point of inquiry here,
and of the proper field of argumentation—have undertaken to show
what is the primary meaning of the original word, and have gone to
the classic Greek for arguments and illustrations in support of their
views. From these sources they have argued the point, setting forth
the New Testament meaning of the word, and its proper use in a reli¬
gious sense. But they might as well have applied to Homer and
Aristotle to sustain and uphold the doctrines of the great apostle to
the Gentiles.
The real issue, and the only question here to be settled, is: What
is the meaning of the term baftizo, in the New Testament, when used in a
religious, or ritual sense ? The proper answer to this anxious interro¬
gatory must for ever put this controversy at rest with candid and
intelligent minds. Scripture usage must be the criterion for judging
of Scripture terms.
Before we proceed further, then, we must be permitted to apprise
the reader of the difference between classic Greek on the one hand,
and Hebraistic Greek on the other. Classic Greek is the writings of
those Greek authors who were educated in the philosophy and doc¬
trines of heathenism; and Hebraistic Greek is to be found in those
books written by Jews who had been educated" in the doctrines of the
Bible: though they spoke in the Greek language, yet they thought as
Jews or Christians. Homer and Aristotle would naturally express
only the ideas of heathens, in Greek words; but the apostles, or St.
John and St. Paul, when called upon to write in that language, would
as naturally express in Greek the ideas peculiar to Jews converted to
Christianity. Hebraistic Greek is, therefore, nothing more nor less
than Hebrew ideas expressed in Greek words. And where converted
Hebrews have written the history and doctrines of Christ in the Greek
language, it is evident that their words have not, at all times, been
used in strict accordance with the classic Greek, as defined by us in
the preceding remarks. Not only so, but many Greek words have
been entirely changed in their meaning by being transformed from a
native Greek to a Hebrew, and then to a Christian. Indeed, the
doctrines of Christianity could never have been expressed in Greek,
as they have been, without altering the meaning of many words. The
reason of this is obvious. The Greeks never had any conception of
many of the doctrines of Christianity, and, consequently, they had
no words in their language primarily adapted to express them, pliant
i 10*
226
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
as was their language. These statements will not be denied by any
man, unless his ignorance and party spirit outweigh all appreciation
of truth and justice, as is unfortunately the case with too many men
in the Baptist Church, called preachers.
Furthermore, we wish to premise that whatever the meaning of
baptizo may be, when used in a ritual sense in the New Testament, in
any one place, it must be uniform in its meaning throughout, in all
similar connections. If it describe an external act, or the manner of
performing an external rite, in one place, then also must it have the
same restricted sense in all other places. But if it have a generic
sense, (comprehending a genus,) if it signify the effect of some out¬
ward mode of using water, as, for instance, purify or cleanse, then
also must it be uniform in this sense, in all similar places. If it mean
to sprinkle, it cannot mean to immerse, and vice versa. And if it mean
either sprinkle or immerse, pour or plunge, it cannot mean purify,
and vice verst.
Baptism, to proceed, is a word whose meaning, or rather usage in
the sacred writings, has given rise to a vast amount of disputation.
The word baptism is derived from the Greek words baptisma and bap¬
tizo, and more remotely from bapto, and properly signifies a washing,
whether the substance washed be immersed in the liquid, or the liquid
be applied to the substance by running, pouring, rubbing, dropping,
or sprinkling. So there were "divers washings" or baptisms enjoined
under the former dispensation, (Heb. ix. 10,) some of which were
performed by immersion, others by bathing, but more by affusion.
The apostle having there mentioned these "divers baptisms,'" goes on,
in the following verses of the same chapter, to speak expressly of
"divers sprinklings," which shows satisfactorily that they were
included.
This, then, is the primary meaning of the terms baptisma and bap¬
tizo, as used in the wide range of classic and Hebrew Greek; nor will
any man, not grossly ignorant and uninformed, dispute the correct¬
ness of our views. But we are to show, not what are the "divers"
meanings of these terms, in the wide range alluded to, nor yet what
is their general use in Scripture, but what is their meaning when used
in a ritual sense in the New Testament; and we take the ground that
they mean, in all such connections, to purify or cleanse, without any
allusion whatever to the mode of cleansing.
But suppose we understand the Greek word baptizo as the Baptists
do, in the sense of immerse, and take the ground that the Saviour
used it thus, and that, therefore, the command to baptize is a com¬
mand to immerse. This is the point contended for by the regular
Baptists. But is this satisfactory? Is it definite? Is it at all intel¬
ligible? But suppose the Saviour had commanded the disciples sim¬
ply to immerse, that is, to put the converts under water: would the
command have had any definite meaning whatever? As immersion is
performed for various purposes, why should they immerse the converts?
The word immerse would never give a clue to the solution of this
question. History might determine it, but philology never could
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
227
But suppose we understand the word baptizo in the sense of purify,
and that our Saviour said to the disciples: "Go teach all nations!
purifying them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost." This would make the sense complete, and baptizo
would then denote the grand intention, or ceremonial use of water.
This is, indeed, so plain a case, that we cannot think it will be misun¬
derstood by any, nor need we dwell longer thereon. Thus, then, we
rest the philological argument from the import of the word baptizo.
Our aim has been to simplify the subject, so as to bring it within the
comprehension of all classes of readers. And if the reader has
attended to what we have said, he, we apprehend, will agree with us
that baptizo, when used in connection with the subject of Christian
baptism, in the New Testament, may be translated by purify, conse¬
crate, or even wash; that it is a generic term, in all such instances,
signifying the effect of the ceremonial use of water, without any allu¬
sion to or stress put upon the mode.
GREEK PARTiCLES CONSIDERED.
In the preceding chapter the reader has found nothing to justify
the vain-confidence with which Baptists have asserted that baptizo
necessarily signifies to immerse; but from the evidence arising from
the word itself, it has been clearly shown, we think, that its true
import is against this Baptist hypothesis. In this chapter we propose
briefly to notice the Greek prepositions employed in connection with
the history of baptism, in the New Testament. They are—in, at, by,
from, etc., etc. The frequent interchange of these particles, the va¬
rious senses in which they are used, together with the rareness of
their occurrence in connection with water baptism, all and singular
concur to render their testimony dubious to the cause of exclusive
immersionists; so that we should deem it altogether unworthy of any
formal notice, had it not assumed an importance in the estimation of
some who, from ignorance or want of investigation, seem not to have
appreciated its real merits. It is not, however, our purpose to treat
of the prepositions at large; and, in order to the greater perspicuity,
we shall treat them separately.
1st. In.—The first Sense We shall notice as belonging to this prepo¬
sition, where it stands connected with baptism, renders it synonymous
with our English preposition at. Thus — as our common English
version of the Bible has it—the people were baptized by John "in
Jordan." It is well known that the Baptists claim this passage in
their favor, alleging that if John stood in the waters of Jordan when
he baptized, it could only have been for the purpose of immersion.
BiU in this they assume the very point to be proved, and assume it,
' jO, against proof. If John stood in the water—and we will not say
that he did not—still, it is wholly gratuitous to assert that, therefore,
he immersed. As well might we maintain that because it is said a
man is in America, or in Tennessee, the preposition certainly imports
that he is under the soil of America, or under the soil of Tennessee. In
228
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
translating in at, as above, we do not intend to deny that John ever
stood in Jordan, when he baptized. We allow that he may sometimes
have stood in the water, sometimes out of the water, and sometimes
at the water's brink, when he performed the ceremony. Our only
object is to show—which is the fact—that the force of the preposition
has nothing to do with the mode of baptism. This will appear still
more evident from the following facts: Mark says John baptized "tn
the desert;" Luke says he came preaching repentanoe, and baptizing
in all the "country round about Jordan;" while John himself de¬
clared that he preached and baptized "beyond Jordan in Bethabara,"
and also "in Enon." What, then, becomes of the force of the prepo¬
sition in ? What connection has it with the doctrine of immersion ?
Now the whole story is, when told, that the evangelists merely in¬
tended to say that John stood at;, or in the vicinity of Jordan, Betha¬
bara, Enon, etc., when he baptized. Again: "On whom the tower
at (instead of in) Siloam fell." And Matthew says: "Thou shalt
love the Lord with all thy heart"—not in all thy heart! Once more:
"I indeed baptize with water"—not in water. In the book of Acts
it is said: " But ye shall be baptized by the Holy Ghost," and again,
"with the Holy Ghost." And Luke says: "The Holy Ghost sat
upon the apostles;" although the Baptists would have us believe that
the apostles were immersed in the Holy Ghost!
2d. Into, out of, from,—We have placed these prepositions together,
because it will not be convenient to treat of them separately. It is
said in Mark i. 9: "Jesus was baptized by John into the Jordan," as
it is properly rendered, though the same thing is not said anywhere
else in the New Testament. Now this is a plain case of the inter¬
change of Greek particles, where into is put for in or at. See Matt,
iii. 6, and Mark i. 5, where the preposition in is used, not with refer¬
ence to the mode, but to the means of baptism. The second and last
place where into is used in connection with baptism, in a way to affect
the question under examination, is found in Acts viii. 38: "And they
went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch," etc.
But wherein lies the stress of this passage favoring immersion ? Cer¬
tainly not in the circumstance of their going "into the water," for
that is affirmed of "both" of them. Will the Baptists contend that
Philip was baptized likewise ? If he was, who baptized him ? Did
he do it himself, or did the eunuch baptize him, after the fashion that
Williams did Holliman "and the other ten?" In Acts xxvi. 13, it
is said, speaking of Saul and his company, "And when we were all
fallen to the earth," not into the earth. In John xi. 38, it is said of
the tomb of Lazarus, "Jesus therefore cometh to the tomb," not into
the tomb. Again: "Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and
went into the sepulchre." As to the preposition into, it oftentimes
stands in contrast -with from, instead of out of. Instance the followi. ■>
passages : "from city to city"—"from Jerusalem to Jericho"—"the
way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza," etc.
We have already observed that both Matthew and Mark use from
instead of out of, when they describe the act of our Saviour in leav-
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
229
iug the water after baptism. They simply say he came from the
water, and not out of the water.
In concluding our remarks under this head, we have a passing re¬
mark or so to make touching the bpdy of water in which the eunuch
was baptized. The account says, "They came to some water." But
what is some water ? How much is some ? The pronoun (some, any)
sometimes has a diminutive sense—it sometimes means a little; and
who will say this is not its meaning here ? The eunuch exclaimed
with evident astonishment when he discovered the water, Behold
water I He does not say, behold the quantity, but was surprised to
find any water in such a place. Indeed, he knew the country, and
knew it was in that vicinity—in the Valley of Gerar, where, as every
man of information knows, the city of Gaza stood—where Abraham
and Isaac were obliged to dig wells to procure water for their flocks.
It was here, too, that "the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's
herdmen, saying, The water is ours." Would different parties have
contended fiercely for water, if it had been abundant as the Baptists
say it was in the valley ? Would Abraham and Isaac have incurred
the expense and delay of digging wells, if there had been rivers or
creeks in the vicinity large enough to immerse a'man in, after the
manner of the Baptists ? Certainly not. Whence, then, has arisen
all this fancied abundance of water sufficient for an immersion, where
herdmen would quarrel and fight for a "well" out of which to water
their flocks ? Reason and presumption are against it, else might it
have been said:
But, children, you should never let
Such angry passions rise;
Your clumsy fists were never made
To gouge each other's eyes.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE CONSIDERED.
The branch of the general argument which we now propose to no
tice very briefly, is one of much more importance than may be sup¬
posed. Men of intelligence and candor will not doubt the correctness
of this position. There is no controversy as to whether baptism be
emblematical; nor is there any dispute, to our knowledge, in regard to
the fact that outward baptism is an emblem of inward purity. And
all agree, except perhaps the Baptists and Catholics, that baptism
with water derives its entire efficacy from its emblematical character,
while none others deny that it also signifies purity of heart.
If we scan the figurative language of the Bible, we shall find that
two distinct ideas are comprehended under the general ceremonial
use of water; namely, regeneration and purification of heart.
The one is founded on the resuscitating, and the other on the purifying
qualities of water. These facts, then, clearly show the necessity of
divers forms of administration of the consecrating element, in order to
create the foundation and similitude on which the very notion of an
emblem is founded. On this point, Dr. Dick, in the second volume,
230
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
and at the 377th page of his Theology, beautifully and justly re-
marks: "It is by no means probable that God 'would speak of his
own operations in one way, and symbolically represent them in a dif¬
ferent way: that he should promise to sprinkle or pour out his Spirit
upon us, and, to confirm this promise, would command us to be plunged
into water!"
It now only remains for us to inquire into the ancient Jewish im¬
port of the ceremonial use of water. The whole history of this use
of water among the Jews speaks but one language. We shall content
ourselves, however, with a few passages, and leave the reader to ex¬
tend the line of citations ad libitum, and so on ad infinitum.
In the Psalms, we hear David pray, "Wash me thoroughly from
mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." Again: "Purge me with
hyssop, and I shall be clean : wash me, and I shall be whiter than
snow."
The Prophet Isaiah says, " Wash you and make you clean: put
away the evil of your doing." Again: " 0 Jerusalem! wash thy heart
from wickedness." And in the forty-fourth chapter of Isaiah, it is
observed, "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods
upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my
blessing upon thine offspring."
The Prophet Ezekiel says, " Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness and from
all your idols will I cleanse you." What a severe, what a merited
rebuke is here given to those Baptist preachers who have been plung¬
ing men and women in Green's muddy and stinking mill-pond, and in
the mud and filth of the Cherokee creek, south of this!
In the tenth chapter of Hosea, and at the 12th verse, the command
is recorded, " Seek the Lord till he come and rain righteousness upon
you." And in the fourteenth chapter of the same book it is said, "I
will be as the dew unto Israel." In the seventy-second Psalm it is
said, in reference to Messiah, "He shall come down like rain upon
the mown grass."
In these three citations the inspired writers most beautifully repre¬
sent the refreshing influences of the Spirit by a metaphor taken from
the falling of dew and rain. What lively—what beautiful figures!
How expressive! But not a word about immersing in all this. No
purifying—no cleansing—no washing—is here represented by a com¬
mand to plunge !!
The conclusion, then, to which we are conducted by express decla¬
rations of holy writ, and by ancient usage, and which have never
been either contradicted or impaired, is that the practice of immeus-
ing persons in baptism is an innovation upon the established and an¬
cient meaning of the emblematical use of water. This innovation we
cannot allow, first, because there is no necessary demand for it; and,
next, because it alters in many important and vital respects the sense
and aspect of the doctrines and allusions of the New Testament.
We cannot close this chapter more appropriately than to give a
paragraph touching these points from Hibbard's Christian Baptism, a
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
281
work inferior to none we have seen on this subject. This paragraph,
moreover, will enable the reader the more readily to appreciate the
entire bearing of the foregoing remarks. Hibbard very justly re¬
marks :—
If, therefore, according to the general analogy of Scripture, water be used cere¬
monially as an emblem of the purifying and regenerating operations of the Holy
Spirit; and if Crod has uniformly spoken of the latter as being poured out upon
men—as fatting upon—as sitting upon them, etc.; and has also signified it symboli¬
cally, by the falling of dew—by the descent of rain—by the pouring out of water—
by the sprinkling oftoater—by Christ's breathing upon his disciples—by the "laying
on of handsand if to this general emblematical sense of ceremonial ablutions
accord the particular teachings of the New Testament in regard to Christian bap¬
tism, it follows that, by the sanction of all Jewish usage—by the analogy of water
and spiritual baptism—and by the common law of interpretation of all symbolical
rites—the water of baptism should be applied by sprinkling or pouring.
THE RIVER JORDAN.
Jordan is the largest river in Palestine, and affords more water
than all the streams of the Holy Land united together. This cele¬
brated stream is formed by the junction of two rivulets, the Jor and
the Dan, from which it takes its name. It rises in Mount Libanus,
and runs into the Dead Sea.
Editor Howell recently quoted Stevens's Travels in Egypt, Arabia
Petrcea, and the Holy Land, to prove that this river afforded sufficient
water for John to have immersed Christ in. We now quote an item
from the same author, dated March 31, 1836, to prove a man could
not be immersed in Jordan:—
The bank of the river Jordan here (where Christ was baptized) is about ten or
twelve feet high—a clear level table of land, covered with rich grass, and large
bushes on the edge overhanging the river. Judging by the eye, the river is here
ftbout thirty paces broad; the current is very rapid, and the pilgrim, in bathing is
obliged to hold on by the bushes to avoid being carried away. Immediately below this
the river narrows to ten paces. It is (thence) a small, broken, and muddy stream,
running between banks of barren sand, without bloom or verdure.
Now, is it not strange that Mr. Howell should introduce the testi¬
mony of Mr. Stevens to prove that Jordan was so bold a stream that
a man could not wade into it without being carried away by the cur¬
rent, when the same testimony would show that no one could be im¬
mersed in it for the very same reason ? Was Christ immersed in such
a stream as this ? Or did John and Christ " hold on by the bushes to
avoid being carried away V It would seem so, for the river, just at
the point where Christ was baptized, was "very rapid." Wonder how
many females could be induced to encounter "bold Jordan" with a
Baptist preacher who acknowledges himself that he can't swim ! What
would one of these large, fleshy, overgrown women do, with her seve¬
ral garments on, in such a rapid current 1 Or, forsooth, what would
a female in a peculiar fix do in such a scrape 1
To show that Mr. Stevens is not singular in his description of th6
232
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
Jordan, -we give the following very brief extract from Brown's Ency-
clopedia, page 700:—
The current [of the Jordan] is so violent that a Greek servant, belonging to th«
author, who attempted to cross it, though strong, active, and an excellent swimmer,
found tne undertaking impracticable.
The same author says, page 701:—
The rapidity and depth of the Jordan are admitted by every traveller, although
the volume of water seems to bo much diminished from its ancient greatness.
The fact, moreover, of there being no fords or ferries on the Jordan
goes to establish its character as a bold and dangerous stream. The
regular passages over the Jordan were only four, as we are taught in
Scripture..
1st. Jacob's bridge, near to the Lake Genesareth, said to be the
place where Jacob met his brother Esau, and where he had the night's
wrestle with an angel.
2d. The second crossing-place was a bridge at a place called Cham-
math, at the issue of the Jordan from the Lake of Genesareth.
3d. There was a ferry at Bethabara, mention of which is made in
2d Samuel. Here there was an eddy, but the water was deep.
4th. Last of all, there was a bridge at Bethshan, or Scythopolis, a
city belonging to the half-tribe of Manasseh, on the west bank of
Jordan. This is the city on the wall of which the Philistines hung
the body of Saul, after the celebrated battle of Mount Gilboa.
the great iron wheel examined. 233
CHAPTER XIII.
No serving of God without immersion, according to Elder Graves—
None but immersed believers can constitute a Church—Eight scrip¬
tural examples of Christian baptism—Inhabitants of the Polar
regions of the earth excluded from the service of God, if immersion
be the true and only mode of baptism—Indecent personal exhibi¬
tion, growing out of immersion—Summary of the whole.
On page 547, under tlie Head of " Declaration of Rights/'
our author says:
We hold it to be the personal and bounden duty of every account¬
able person,
To acknowledge and serve God—believe in and obey Jesus Christ
—to be immersed upon a profession of that faith—to unite with a
Christian Church—to participate in the Lord's Supper—and to labor
for the glory of God and the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom; etc.
On the same page, under the head "Proofs," intended to
sustain his position as above given, he quotes the following
passage, which I suppose he takes from the New Baptist
Version of the Scriptures, as it is not to be found in our pre¬
sent authorized English version of the Bible :
Go ye, therefore, disciple all nations, immersing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.
And on page 552, where his "Wheel" is about to call a
halt, he gives the constitution of a true Church. The first
section of the first article is in these words:
Section 1.—A Church of Christ is a company of believers im¬
mersed upon a profession of an evangelical faith, voluntarily asso*
234
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
dated, on terms of perfect equality, in a covenant or agreement,
implied or expressed, to receive the New Testament as their only rul«
of faith and practice, and to be governed by its teachings in all things.
Making these three extracts the foundation of my remarks,
I shall conclude my argument upon baptism in this chapter.
We quote again from our little book:—
EXAMPLES OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM.
At this stage of the argument, it is proper to inquire into the prac¬
tice of the early Christians, with a view to determine the specifio
bearing of their example on the question in dispute. We therefore
proceed, and without further preliminary, to examine the Christian
baptisms recorded in the New Testament, and especially those cases
alleged to have been cases of immersion.
1. The first case we design to notice, is the baptism of three thou¬
sand persons on the day of Pentecost, as set forth in the 2d chapter
of Acts: "Then they that' gladly received his word were baptized,
and the same day were added unto them about three thousand souls."
These were all added to the Church on the day of Pentecost; but the
mode by which they were baptized is not pointed out. The Baptists
say it was by immersion. But any one acquainted with the circum¬
stances of this occasion, will readily see that the weight of evidence
is against the idea of immersion. Peter began to preach about the
third hour of the day, i. e., about nine o'clock A. M. Judging from
the nature of the occasion, and from the drift of his discourse, as
reported by Luke, he could not have delivered his sermon in less than
an hour. Luke says—"With many other words Peter testified and
exhorted," etc. Sermon being ended, the candidates for baptism must
be selected from the vast multitude, and questioned as to their "ex¬
perience of grace." If they were immersed, they must have been
provided with a change of raiment; but how could they have been
prepared to change clothes ? They came together, at first, a promis¬
cuous multitude, without any expectation of Christian baptism, or of
their conversion. These and many other things considered, we have
no idea that the apostles proceeded to baptize their converts before
one o'clock. The Jewish day closed at six P. M., and Luke says they
were baptized and added to the church the "same day." This
granted, they had but five hours left in which to baptize three thou¬
sand persons. Divide these among twelve apostles, even supposing
them to have all assisted, and each man had an average of 250; which
would be, for each man, 50 persons per hour, or 5 persons in every
6 minutes. This, we need not say, would have been impossible. The
Baptists allege that the seventy disciples aided on the occasion. This
allegation has no foundation either in the text or chapter in which
this event is recorded. Besides, there is no proof that the seventy
were commissioned to baptize. Luke is so explicit as to say—"But
Peter standing up with the eleven," etc. Why did not Luke say—
" But Peter standing up with the seventy," etc. ?
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
235
But on this occasion, the apostles had no place for the immersion of
such a multitude. The brook Kedron, "which ran along the east side of
the city, was at its maximum but a turbid stream—for ever dry in the
hot season, and it was now about June; so that, if it were not dry,
its waters must have been failing fast. Besides, soon after this stream
issued from its source, it received from a common-sewer all the blood
and ordure of the daily sacrifices, ai^d the common filth, both of the
temple and the northern section of the city. If one of the apostles
had taken a wife or daughter of ours, and plunged her into this filthy
brook, he would not have immersed another female soon again.
As to public pools, the Scriptures give an account of but two, Beth-
saida and Siloam. The latter was one mile from where the great
meeting was on the day of Pentecost. Do the Scriptures give any
account of the marching of these three thousand persons, and as
many spectators, to this pool? But if they had gone there, could
three thousand persons have been immersed in one pool, between the
hours of one and six ? Are there no difficulties attending this Baptist
hypothesis? Is it not evident that pouring or sprinkling was the mode
on the memorable occasion we have been considering ? Let the candid
reader answer.
2. The second example of baptism mentioned in the New Testa¬
ment is that of the eunuch, by Philip. Here, says the Baptist parti¬
san, they both went down into the water, and they both came up out of
the water, and this certainly makes out a case of immersion. There
is nothing in the text from which immersion can be inferred, but the
circumstance of their going down into the water, etc. If, then, this
circumstance prove the immersion of either, it will prove the immer¬
sion of both, for it existed alike with respect to both. Let us throw
the argument into a syllogistical form, and see what it proves. Going
down into the water necessarily implies immersion. Philip and the
eunuch both went down into the water. Therefore, of necessity,
they were both immersed. But many persons go down into the water,
and come up out of it, without being immersed. Of this we are
absolutely certain, both from our own experience and daily observa¬
tion. But as this question is examined on former pages of this work,
we will add nothing more in this place.
3. The third example of baptism recorded in the New Testament,
is that of the Apostle Paul at Damascus. And we unhesitatingly
affirm that there is nothing in this text which, either directly or indi¬
rectly, justifies the conclusion that Paul was immersed. Hear what
the evangelist says, Acts ix. 17, 18: "And Ananias went his way
and entered into the house, and putting his hands upon him, said,
Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the
way as thou earnest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy
sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost; and immediately there fell
from his eyes, as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith,
and arose, and was baptized." Was Paul immersed ? It is not so
written in this text. It is not so much as hinted at in this text. It is
not in the book of God. It is a mere Baptist conjecture which no
man is bound to believe, because no man can prove it true. Nay,
236
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
more—there is every reason a man of sense should require for
believing the very reverse. Paul had been three days and nights as
blind as a bat, greatly enfeebled by fasting and anguish of spirit;
and from the fact of his rising up to be baptized when Ananias came
to him, it appears that he was either sitting or lying down—certainly
in a bad condition to be led off and plunged into some pool or pond,
for there was no river or creek suitable in the neighborhood. The
text does not warrant the conclusion that Paul left the house or room
in which Ananias found him; and inasmuch as he received meat and
was strengthened, immediately after his baptism, the presumption
is that he did not.
4. The fourth example of baptism afforded us in the New Testa¬
ment, is that of Cornelius and his friends at Cesarea. See Acts x.
48: "Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these
should not be baptized who have received the Holy Ghost, as well as
we ? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of -the
Lord Jesus."
Does any part of this text say that Cornelius and his friends were
immersed in water? A person who had never heard tell of the prac¬
tice of plunging, might read this narrative a hundred times over,
and he would never think of a baptism by immersion: nay, there is
not a word or an allusion, in the text, from which such an idea could
originate; but there are several indications of baptism by pouring and
sprinkling.
Look at the mode of Peter's question, uwho shall forbid water," etc.
As if he had said, in the preceding verse, Christ has poured upon them
the promised''baptismal purifying of the Holy Ghost. Who shall
forbid us to pour on them the baptismal water which represents it ?
These considerations prove to our mind that pouring, and not immer¬
sion, was the mode of baptism on this occasion.
6. The fifth example of baptism that we meet with in the New
Testament, is that of Lydia and her household. See Acts xvi. 13-15:
And on the Sabbath, we went out of the city, by a river side, where prayer whs
wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted
thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Tky-
atira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she
attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptised,
and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to
the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.
Now we ask the Baptists, who demand explicit proof for the mode
and subjects of baptism, to show us in what part of this text they
find " Thus saith the Lord," Lydia and her household were immersed
or plunged in a river ? There is nothing resembling it in all the text.
There is nothing resembling it. The scriptural narrative of this case
of baptism is plain, unvarnished, and complete. And what does the
whole narrative amount to ? Why to this: Lydia went to the place
of prayer—heard Paul preach—the Lord opened her heart—she
believed the gospel—was baptized, and invited the apostles to abide
at her house. Does this prove that Lydia was immersed ? Not one
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
237
word is said as to the mode of her baptism. It is said she was bap¬
tized, but 110 mention is made of the how.
6. The sixth example of Christian baptism recorded in the New
Testament, is that of the Philippian jailer. See Acts xvi. 33:- "And
he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes;
and was baptized, he and all his, straightway." Now tell us, ye
advocates of immersion, did the jailer and his family put off at the
hour of midnight to a river, creek, or pond, or other collection of
water, to be plunged ? Did the Spirit of God, under whose influence
the jailer acted, direct him to leave an important and responsible
charge, both in violation of the laws of God and his country, and
upon the strict observance of which his life—to say nothing of the
happiness of his family—depended, and follow one of his prisoners
through the streets and back alleys, and over garden fences, at mid¬
night, in search of a river, or pond, or pool of water, in which he and
his family could be plunged ? An ignorant and prejudiced Baptist
may believe this, but we never can. We cannot believe it, moreover,
because it has no foundation in Scripture or fact.
But, says a blind, infatuated Baptist, there was a bath in the prison,
in which the jailer and his household were immersed. Where is this
written? Not in the Bible. But what was a bath doing there?
Were any so sharp-sighted as to know beforehand that the adminis¬
trators of Christian baptism would be committed to prison, and that
the keepers of the prison would "become obedient to the-faith," and
desire baptism ? Imbecility itself, without the aid of Baptist bigotry,
cannot exceed the weakness of such a conclusion.
7. The seventh case of Christian baptism to which we shall allude
In this connection, recorded in the New Testament, is that of the
twelve disciples at Ephesus. (See Acts xix. 1-7.)
And it came to pass, that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through
tlie upper coasts, came to Corinth; and finding certain disciples, he said unto them,
Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We
have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost And he said unto
them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto
the people that they should believe on him who should come after him, that is, on
Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on
them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about
twelve.
This text only says that the twelve disciples were baptized, without
once referring to the mode. Of course it proves nothing for or against
the practice of immersing persons. Having, however, spoken of this
case of baptism in the preceding part of this work, we shall merely
add that the idea of these disciples having been immersed has no
foundation in Scripture or fact.
8. The eighth and last example of baptism mentioned in the New
Testament which we shall bring to view, is the baptism of Crispus
and Gaius, and the household of Stephanas, by St. Paul. On these
cases we cannot enlarge, because the apostle Paul does not tell
liow, nor where, nor when, he baptized either of these persons, or this
'238 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
*
household. Therefore, nothing can be inferred therefrom concerning
the mode of baptism.
"VVe have now examined all the cases of Christian baptism recorded
in the New Testament, which took place after the new or Christian
dispensation, and upon which the Baptists rely for authority to m-
merse; and we arrive at this conclusion, that it cannot be proven from
the New Testament that the apostles ever immersed a single person.
Nay, we unhesitatingly affirm that no one ever was immersed in the
days of the apostles. And we defy every Baptist on earth to produce
explicit proof from the Scriptures of any persons ever having been
immersed in the primitive Church. On the contrary, the nature and
design of Christian baptism prove that affusion or sprinkling, rather
than immersion, was the mode.
In 1842, I had a controversy with the Baptist Banner,
published at Louisville, Kentucky; and I urged the utter
impracticability of immersion in those terrible regions of
frost and snow traversed by the sixtieth parallel of northern
latitude. My article entire, on that occasion, compiled from
the views of Hibbard and Humboldt, and TVoodbridge's Uni¬
versal Geography, was as follows:
We cannot allow, by any means, that baptism by immersion is
essential to salvation, because nature, in some portions of the world,
has interposed an insuperable barrier for nine out of every twelve
months in the year—a barrier which, to the inhabitants of those
countries, would render immersion instant death. Not less than eight
millions of human beings now inhabit the polar and frozen regions
of the earth. Many of these are to be found in the sixtieth parallel
of latitude northward, where the temperature is such for two-thirds
of the year, that wells freeze to their bottoms, and the inhabitants
can only get water to use by melting snow or ice. In the region of
the Esquimaux the lakes and streams, however deep, are frozen to
the bottom for nine months in the year. In Greenland and Lapland
even baldface and mercury freeze during the winter. The inhabitants
of these regions, during the winter, remain crowded together in small
huts. The inhabitants of Siberia, especially, stop the openings in
their houses with ice and snow, and use ice instead of glass. Every
part of the body must be covered in going out, or it is instantly
frozen. The cold often causes trees and rocks to split, and make loud
reports!
In these sections, we ask, in all candor, how could immersion be
performed? Not by melting snow or ice. Not by baths, for they
would freeza up. And yet in these cold regions dwell millions of
human beings, as good by nature as we are; and if this mode of
baptism be essential to salvation, they must be lost. It is not saying
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
23£
much for either the wisdom or goodness of God, to contend that h<
has established an ordinance of perpetual obligation which, though
adapted to the convenience of the inhabitants of the burning sands
of the south, excludes from his Church all whose misfortune it is to
reside amidst the perpetual and eternal snows of Lapland, Green¬
land, or that more frozen region, Siberia! Even with us there are
six months of the year during which immersion is performed with
great inconvenience, producing sensations we should think by no
means pleasant to the "outward man;" unless, indeed, we attach a
merit to such sensations, according to a Catholic's idea of penance,
or a Brahmin's notion of self-mortification.
This objeetion to immersion, arising from climate, has always kept
Baptist missionaries within warm latitudes. While other Protestant
sects of Europe have penetrated northward into Norway and Lapland,
ay, and Greenland, the Baptist missionaries have confined their labors
to Germany, the southern parts of Poland, and some of the states of
Austria. They have missionaries in India, Africa, and among the
aborigines of America; but no Baptist missionary ever yet attempted
to organize a society in the frozen regions of Lapland, Siberia, Lab¬
rador, or Central Russia, and for this very good reason too, that
nature has rendered the ordinance of baptism by immersion wholly
impracticable!
A single quotation from 'Woodbridge's Geography, page
145, seventh edition, will sustain me in the views here
expressed:
During the winter the inhabitants of the coldest parts remain
crowded together in small huts. The whole inside of a hut or ship
is usually lined with ice from the vapor of breath, which must be cut
away every morning. The inhabitants of Siberia stop the openings
of their houses with ice, and use it instead of glass. If the cold air
suddenly enter the house, the vapors fall in a shower of snow. Every
part of the body must be covered in going out, or it is instantly
frozen. The air, when breathed, seems to pierce and even rend the
lungs. The cup often freezes to the lips if it be touched in drinking.
The provisions must be cut with hatchets and saws. Trees and the
beams of houses are split by the frost, and rocks are rent with a
noise like that of firearms.
To this article the Rev. editor of the Banner replied,
charging me with ignorance of history and geography. To
which I, in part, replied as follows:
It has been ascertained by Humboldt and others, who have care¬
fully traced those lines of equal temperature usually called the iso¬
thermal lines, that not less than eight millions of human beings inhabit
the polar regions. To these souls the gospel must be promulgated,
and its ordinances administered. Churches must be organized in the
240
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
very centre of these most frozen regions. But the Baptists cannot
organize those churches, nor administer those ordinances, especially
that of baptism, because, nine months in the year, their mode of bap¬
tism would be more galling than the bloody rite of circumcision.
But we are boastingly asked if we "know that the Greek Church
prevails in Central Russia, and that they are all tWng-immersionists ?"
We do know that the Greek Church claims the territory of the whole
Russian empire in Europe, a great part of Siberia in Asia, the entire
country in Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Arabia, and, in
short, the whole of the old world; and, in this respect, is truly the
universal Church. But we happen to know, likewise, that the head
of the Greek Church, the patriarch of Constantinople, resides in that
famous capital, where a synod convenes monthly, for the transaction
of ecclesiastical business, the twelve bishops attending. And while
we know all this, we happen to know more: we know that this Church
has never organized churches in one-tenth part of the extent of
territory they claim the control of; and we know, too, that she
baptizes children, and admits them to the table of the Lord. Unlike
the Baptists in every respect. This editor can find an account, on
the eightieth page of his own History, (Benedict's, vol. i.,) of a Greek
priest cutting a hole in the ice, and immersing a child, when uninten¬
tionally he let it slip through into the water and drown! The holy
administrator exclaimed: "Give me another, for the Lord hath taken
that to himself! !" The parents on the bank declined, however, and
said they were not willing the Lord should receive any more in that
way. Better sprinkle, we should think. Query: Have the Baptist
missionaries kept out of "Central Russia" for fear of having to
encounter these Greek "trine" immersers of children? Verily, "when
Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war."
From the ignorance manifested by this reverend editor, it is more
than likely he labors under the impression that "Central Russia" is in
the "Canadas, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and other British pos¬
sessions in North America!" On this point it may be well enough to
enlighten the gentleman. Russia proper is a very large empire,
partly in Asia and partly in Europe: bounded on the north by the
Frozen ocean; on the south by Great Tartary, the Caspian sea, and
Persia; on the east by the sea of Japan; and on the west by Sweden,
Poland, and the Black sea. The greatest part of this empire lies in
the temperate zone, within which limits the Greek Church ope¬
rates, baptizing children by "trine" immersion, and administering to
them the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. "Central Russia" is in
and beyond the sixty-sixth degree of latitude, lies in the frigid zone,
where there are neither Greeks nor Baptists, for reasons heretofore
named. Does the editor consider himself instructed ?
RUSSIAN BAPTISM.
It is always performed by immersion. In the rich houses, two
tables are laid out in the drawing-room by the priest: one is covered
with holy images, and on the other is placed an enormous silver
ELVER B. CHANGING CLOTHES BEFORE THE LADIES, AFTER IMMERSING. Set ctiap. Xlii.
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 211
basin filled with water, surrounded by small wax tapers. The chief
priest begins by consecrating the font, and plunging a silver cross
repeatedly in the water: he then takes the child, and, after reciting
certain prayers, undresses it completely. The process of immersion
takes place twice, and so rigorously that the head must disappear
under the water: the infant is then restored to its nurse, and the
sacrament is finally administered. In former times, when a child had
the misfortune to be born in winter, it was plunged without pity
under the ice, or into water of the same temperature. In the present
day that rigor has been relaxed by permission of the Church, and
warm water is substituted for the other; but the common people still
adhere scrupulously to the ancient practice, in all seasons. On these
occasions numbers of children are baptized at the same time on the
ice, and the cold often proves fatal to them. It sometimes happens,
also, that a child slips through the hands of a priest, and is lost; in
which case he only exclaims: "God has been pleased to take this
infant to himself: hand me anotherand the poor people submit to
their loss without a murmur, as the dispensation of Heaven.
AN INDECENT PERSONAL EXHIBITION.
During the cold spring of 1842, on two different occasions, at Che¬
rokee Church, in Washington County, Tennessee, the Baptist pastor,
Elder B., after immersing several persons, came out of the water and
changed his clothes in the presence of the multitude, as indicated by
this engraving, and all in the presence of males and females! He
was a very tall man, knockkneed and rawboned—any thing but hand¬
some when dressed!
At one time he stripped himself to his shirt, on the plain, around
a fire, and in the presence of a crowd of females, some of whom
actually ran! At another time he changed his clothes in the pulpit,
before the congregation, preparatory to administering the Baptist,
not the Lord's Supper.
Now, for this contempt of the decencies of life, the reverend gen¬
tleman ought to have been indicted for an indecent exhibition of his
person. It is a shame and a disgrace to any Church, and to the entire
Church, and calculated to bring religion into contempt. And for this,
as well as other reasons, we denounce such practices. Let the people
of every order frown down such vulgarities. And let all females who
have not a taste for such sights, stay away from such places until
better order be observed.
SUMMARY OF THE WHOLE.
We have now said what we desired to say in this work, and what
we deemed necessary to be said; and from what has been said we
may learn:
1. That baptism is a sacrament of the gospel, which was instituted
by our Saviour for very important purposes; that he designed it to be
perpetuated in his Church, in every clime, to the end of time; that it
11
242 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
is the duty of all Christian people to attend to it, and no less the
duty of all authorized ministers to administer it in all proper cases,
■who, by the way, can alone lawfully administer this sacrament, but
who have no authority to rebaptize.
. 2. That penitent adults, adult believers, and the infant children of
all baptized parents,* together with the servants of such persons, pro¬
vided they are charged with their education or training, are proper
subjects of Christian baptism, and, as such, should not be kept from
the ordinance.
3. That no one mode of baptism is laid down in the Scriptures, to
the exclusion of all others; that it may be validly administered either
by sprinkling, or pouring, or by immersion; but that, nevertheless, the
Scriptures do afford more evidence in favor of sprinkling and pouring
than of immersion.
4. That too many persons substitute an attention to this outward
ordinance that ought to be paid to inward piety and an upright life;
that, instead of using baptism as a means of grace, they abuse it to
their own destruction; that, instead of laboring to become holy here,
and of being fitted for the inheritance of saints in light, they seek
after a mere shadow, in the vain hope that it will lead them to the
uninterrupted enjoyment of that eternal and enduring Substance
which baptism is designed to represent.
• We of course hold the doetrine that all infant children, whether of believing
parents or not, are entitled to baptism on account of their cmm relation to Christ
and to his kingdom, and not of that of their parents—" for of such is the kingdom
of God."
the great iron wheel examined. 243
CHAPTER XIY.
Elder Graves perpetrates twenty-five falsehoods in one chapter of
twelve pages, being over two lies to a page—Espouses the cause
of local preachers, at the expense of the travelling ministry —
Plays off the demagogue, and misrepresents the laws of the Method¬
ist Church—Proves himself unworthy of the confidence of honest
men of all denominations !
J. R. Graves, of Nashville, and " Editor of the Tennes¬
see Baptist," claims to be one of the clerical successors of
the apostles; and by virtue of his lineal descent from John
the Baptist, claims, in connection with the ministers of his
own " faith and order," the exclusive right of administering
the ordinances of the Church, exclusive qualifications to in¬
struct mankind in the important doctrines of salvation, and,
as a matter of course, to reform the manners and customs of
the several spurious sects of the country. I propose to show
that this man Graves and his associates are not the only au¬
thorized expounders of God's word—the only authorized
administrators of the ordinances of the Church—and that
they have by no means been set for the general reforma¬
tion of men and manners by the Head of the Church! I
propose to show, in other words, that if the arrogant claims
sot up by these bigoted sectarians are even well founded,
neither the temper, nor morality, nor example set by Graves,
qualifies him for the position he has assumed!
I propose to show that Graves has perpetrated TWENTY-
FIVE FALSEHOODS in one chapter of his book, a short
chapter at that, composed of only ticelve pages, making more
244 the great iron wheel examined.
than two lies to a page. Not so bad for one of the successors
of the apostles, in a direct lineal descent from John the Bap¬
tist! The chapter I allude to is Chapter 20th, commencing
on page 225; and I declare, upon the honor of one who
expects to give an account in the future to the Judge of all
men, that this is but a fair specimen of the other thirty-nine
chapters of his book !
An able article from the pen of Rev. Wesley Smith ap¬
pears in the Texas Christian Advocate of September, 1855,
taking the same view of this subject; but as it is written
more in detail than answers my purpose, I will present an
abridged view of the subject. Graves is really so ignorant
of the economy of Methodism, that he takes the absurd
ground that all local preachers in our Church were once itine¬
rant preachers; whereas, a great majority of them never
were members of our Annual Conference, and never even
desired to be. And when ministers of our Church locate,
they do it voluntarily. When local preachers join a Confer¬
ence, they are received or rejected by a majority vote of the
Conference, just as young men are when they first enter the
travelling ministry, according to their merits or demerits,
talents or want of talents. I was ten years an itinerant
preacher, and in that time a member of the General Confer¬
ence. I have been twenty years a local preacher—I know
what are the rights and privileges of local preachers—and I
am pleased with the government of my Church as it is. The
dedication, then, of this lying chapter to local preachers, in
its conclusion, is a species of demagogueism that all high-
minded and well-informed local preachers will treat with
scorn and contempt! But I will turn my attention to the
celebrated chapter alluded to.
FALSEHOOD NO. 1.
A travelling preacher is evidently considered the most useful to
your society, and indeed the only legitimate preacher.
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 245
This is a palpable falsehood, inasmuch as a local preacher
receives the same kind of license that an itinerant does:
takes upon him the same ordination vows : holds the same
order of credentials : administers the sacraments : solemnizes
the rites of matrimony; and attends to the burial of the dead.
The only difference between them is, that the one is the pastor
of the church, while the other preaches when and where,
in his own judgment, there seems to be a demand for his
services.
FALSEHOOD NO. 2.
Consequently, the strongest possible influences are brought to bear
upon the preachers to keep them in the saddle.
To my own knowledge, the above statement is false. No
influences are ever brought to bear upon itinerant preachers
to keep them in the regular work, when their pecuniary
necessities and the increasing demands of their families re¬
quire them to locate. Every man in the work can locate at
his Annual Conference, if he is in good standing, and take
with him a certificate of his location and good character.
Both a man's connection with and retirement from the work
are voluntary. It is a matter of regret, at all Conferences,
that some useful men are forced to retire, from a want of that
support necessary for their families.
FALSEHOOD NO. 3.
And every obstacle thrown in the way to deter them from locating
or becoming pastors.
When our preachers locate, instead of becoming pastors,
they really cease to be pastors. Here, then, are three bare
falsehoods found in one short sentence!
FALSEHOOD NO. 4.
The office of pastor, the most common office of the Christian minis¬
ter, in the days of the apostles, is wholly ignored by you, and that
of evangelist substituted in its place.
246 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
This is false, inasmuch as we have a regular pastorate,
though the Discipline requires the pastor to be changed every
two years. The Baptist, and other congregational churches,
have a great deal of trouble at times in ridding themselves of
men who do more harm than good. The Baptist Church in
Nashville refused, last October, to endorse J. B. Graves's
Christian character, after a severe struggle on his part. He
had lived among them too long, and they knew him too well!
FALSEHOOD NO. 5.
They (the people) are not even allowed the right to petition for his
(the preacher's) return.
This is a more deliberate falsehood than either of the fore¬
going, inasmuch as our people regularly petition for preach¬
ers, and are as regularly granted their requests. We local
preachers are regularly consulted by the Bishops and Presid¬
ing Elders, as to who will best serve the interests of the
Church on our circuits and stations. In our Quarterly, An¬
nual, and General Conferences, the right of our people to
petition is conceded, and their petitions are always treated
with the utmost respect.
FALSEHOOD NO. 6.
Speaking of a meagre fund provided by our Church for
the support of worn-out preachers, and the widows and or¬
phans of deceased preachers, Graves says :
Who doubts that multitudes of Methodist preachers become such
through the influence of this strong consolation held out to them by
the elders ?
That Methodist preachers enter the itinerancy for the sake
of an annual dividend of fifty or sixty dollars per annum,
after they are broken down, or a dividend of fifteen to twenty
for each of several children, after the death of the father,
carries the lie upon its very face. Every candid and sensible
man knows that many join our ranks with means—travel and
the great iron wheel examined.
247
preach until they exhaust their means, and then locate be¬
cause their support is inadequate.
FALSEHOOD NO. 7.
And who doubts that multitudes continue their connection with the
Methodists through the influence of this fund for superannuated
preachers ?
No man having any acquaintance with Methodism supposes
any such a thing. Graves, and such understrikers as the
"North Carolina Publishing Society of the Baptist Church,"
may suppose such a thing. Honest, candid, and well-informed
men know it is a lie !
FALSEHOOD NO. 8.
But he (the preacher who locates) is degraded at once in the eyes
of the whole travelling connection, in the eyes of his Bishop, of
the world; for they (the travelling preachers) take care that it shall
be so.
This discovery never was made by any local or travelling
preacher ! Dr. Bond, editor of the New York Christian
Advocate, 0. B. Boss, late of Kentucky, Judge Longstreet,
of Mississippi, United States Senator Colquitt, of Georgia,
and ex-Representatives in Congress, Senter and Taylor, of
East Tennessee, were local preachers. These men were never
degraded in the eyes of their brethren, or of the world.
And these are only a few of the dead and living evidences of
the falsehood of Graves's statement.
FALSEHOOD NO. 9.
He (the preacher who locates) is degraded from the rank he held
with them (the travelling preachers.)
This is notoriously false; for if he were a deacon or elder,
he is still the same, retaining his credentials, and carrying
with "him an additional certificate of his honorable withdrawal
from the Annual Conference !
248
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
FALSEHOOD NO. 10.
His name is carried down and put upon a class paper, and some
smooth-chinned and brainless boy of a class-leader now has jurisdic¬
tion over the aged veteran, in conjunction with some equally endowed
circuit-rider. What a fall! How humiliating to a man possessed of
self-respect 1
Every word of the foregoing is false, in the connection in
which it stands. The Quarterly Conference, and not the
class-leader, has jurisdiction over all the local preachers in the
circuit or station. This Conference is composed of all the
preachers, exhorters, leaders, and stewards in the circuit or
station. The local preacher, moreover, has the right of appeal
to the Annual Conference. (See Discipline.')
FALSEHOOD NO. 11.
He (the local preacher) is subjected to the most rigid and oppres¬
sive espionage on the part of those Whose love of rule is gratified in
subjecting their former sovereign to their wills, if they have no old
scores to settle with him.
This entire statement, in every particular, is false. I have
been a local preacher for twenty years—I never heard of this
" oppressive espionage"—I never felt it—I have enjoyed the
largest liberty—so do all local preachers—it has no existence
in the Methodist Church !
FALSEHOOD NO. 12.
They (the class-leader and preacher in charge) cannot exclude him
(the local preacher) without a hearing, but they can arraign him as
often as they please before the quarterly court, the majority of it
being class-leaders and preachers in charge, and he being nothing but a
local minister; and can be represented as troublesome, disposed to ex¬
ercise too much authority and influence, and greatly in the way; the
class-leader and circuit-riders can easily come to the conclusion that,
upon the whole, he had better be divested of his ministerial office.
This statement is false by suppression, false by denial, and
false by misrepresentation. No local deacon or elder ever
was deprived of his ministerial functions by the arbitrary
conduct of class-leaders and preachers in charge. He can
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 249
only be suspended from bis ministerial office by a "ommittee
of local preacbers. His court of trial is tbe Quarterly Con¬
ference—if dissatisfied witb its decision, be can appeal to tbe
Annual Conference, wbose decision is final. See our Dis¬
cipline, under tbe bead " Local Preacbers/' and see how it
puts this villainous slanderer to tbe blush!
FALSEHOOD NO. 13.
By simply removing to a distant neighborhood, he (the local
preacher) does it at the forfeiture of his ministerial office, for the
law empowers the presiding elder or preacher in charge to give or
withhold a certificate of his official standing as they please.
This is an inexcusable and a most malicious falsehood.
Every local preacher's character is examined once a year in
his Quarterly Meeting Conference, and if nothing appear
against him, tbe minutes must show that fact. And when¬
ever be desires to remove from one circuit to another, or from
one State to another, tbe presiding elder or preacher in
charge is bound to grant him a certificate of removal, setting
forth that be is in good standing. This is tbe law of our
Church, and I know it to be tbe usage, from Maine to Cali¬
fornia, as well as in Grreat Britain and Ireland !
FALSEHOOD NO. 14.
Local preachers are generally a persecuted class.
This is false, unless Graves intends to say they are perse¬
cuted by Baptist preacbers, bigoted sectarians under their
influence, and by wicked men and devils !
FALSEHOOD NO. 15.
A local preacher thus expostulates with Mr. McFerrin, the editor
of the Methodist Advocate in this city, (Nashville,) who, living at
home on a fat salary, can even write disrespectfully of local
preachers.
It is false that Dr. McFerrin ever wrote or spoke " disre-
11*
250 • THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
spectfully of local preachers." On the contrary, he has
spoken and written of them in terms of high regard. He
may have denounced some one or more cases, but this has no
more to do with local preachers, as a class of men, than my
denunciations of G-raves's falsehoods has to do with pious
and gentlemanly Baptist preachers, to whom I make no al¬
lusions !
FALSEHOOD NO. 16.
If the preacher locates with a very extensive and powerful influ¬
ence, he becomes obnoxious at once to the preacher in charge.
The very reverse of this is the truth! The practical work¬
ings of Methodism show, that the more popular the local
preacher, and the greater the influence he exerts, the more
apt the preacher in charge is to he on terms of intimacy with
him • and for two reasons—first, because of his supposed
merits, and next, because of the service he can render the
travelling preacher in building up his church, and in procur¬
ing his support.
FALSEHOOD NO. 17.
Suppose he (the local preacher) is a far superior preacher, and the
people far more desirous of hearing him, and his opinion far more
influential in the town or community: the circuit-rider is not long
discovering it, nor long in putting on foot a course of treatment to
remedy the evil.
Graves measures other men's corn by his own half bushel.
These unworthy motives governed him in his war upon
Professor Duncan, of New Orleans, and those Baptist
preachers of Louisville, as well as his opposition to Hillsman's
Baptist paper in Knoxville. Methodist preachers, as a body
of men, both local and travelling, are on terms of as much
kindness and confidence as any equal number of men on
earth-
the great iron wheel examined. 251
falsehood no. 18.
It is bruited about that he wont or don't observe the rules—very
good, but not pious—not much of a Methodist in his feelings, for he
don't attend class.
This is false, for no such stuff is "bruited about/' only among
Baptist opposers of Methodism. And the insinuation that
local preachers don't attend to rule is maliciously false.
falsehood no. 19.
It is distasteful telling his experience over fifty-two times a year.
The falsehood of this short sentence consists in the insinu¬
ation that local preachers are opposed to class-meetings, as
distasteful meetings. Local preachers are expected to circu¬
late as widely as they can, and preach, and are not therefore
required to attend class-meetings every week.
falsehood no. 20.
The preacher may reprehend him on a bare report that the local
preacher has used improper words, and the preacher is the judge
what words are improper in a local preacher; or is reported to be
guilty of improper tempers, and the preacher is the judge; or im¬
proper actions, and his reverence, the preacher in charge, is the
Judge!
Now, the difference between Graves and our Discipline on
this point, is just the difference between truth and false¬
hood; and falsehood has the advantage, as set forth by
Graves. Here is what the Discipline says
Question 1.—What shall be done when a local elder, deacon, or
preacher is reported to be guilty of improper tempers, words, or
actions ?
Answek.—The person so offending shall be reprehended by the
preacher having charge. Should a second transgression -take place,
one, two, or three faithful friends are to be taken as witnesses. If
he be not then cured, he shall be tried at the next Quarterly Confer¬
ence, and if found guilty and impenitent, he shall be expelled from
. ni. i
252 the great iron wheel examined.
FALSEHOOD NO. 21.
Where is there a local preacher who ever left the circuit with a
commanding character and controlling influence, who was ever able
to keep it five years ?
The lie here perpetrated consists in the charging, by way
of interrogatory, that no Methodist preacher ever located with
character and influence, who did not forfeit both in five years!
The slander needs only to he stated.
FALSEHOOD NO. 22.
More: lives there a local preacher who enjoys to-day one-tenth the
influence and reputation he did when a member of the preacher's
church?
Yes, hundreds are to be found. I know many local
preachers who wield more influence than the presiding elder
and all the circuit preachers of their district!
FALSEHOOD NO. 23.
He is a degraded man.
Poor fellow!! I should be sorry for him if the charge
came from a source entitled to credit.
FALSEHOOD NO. 24.
He is snubbed about and domineered over by beardless class-
leaders and circuit-riders until he loses his self-respect.
This statement carries the lie upon its face; and if it did
not, its utter want of foundation in truth has been demon¬
strated in my preceding remarks, and quotations from the
Discipline.
FALSEHOOD NO. 25.
What chapters of the lives and wrongs of local preachers might be
written! The iron has pierced through the soul of hundreds; and
they who have been the faithful servants of their society through the
vigor of youth and strength of manhood, are going down to their
graves dishonored and oppressed by its unfeeling, unkindness, and
tyranny
the great iron wheel examined. 253
Now, I have only to say to Graves, his "North Carolina
Publishing Society," and other understrikers, that there is
not a single local preacher in the Methodist Church, South,
out of the thousands in good standing, who will not unhesi¬
tatingly pronounce the foregoing false in every particular.
After thirty years of close and intimate fellowship with local
preachers, in different States, I pronounce the foregoing quo¬
tation from Graves's book an unmitigated slander. The whole
book is a falsehood, and the man himself is a lie !
254
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
CHAPTER XV.
Three specimens of deliberate lying—A vulgar, false, and slanderous
caricature of a Methodist revival—The challenge by the North
Carolina Publishing Society of the Baptist Church—Replies of
Doctors Lee and Deems—Graves publicly caned for slander—The
Baptist "Western Recorder" against Graves, alluding to his Church
troubles'in Nashville—His abuse at Bowling-Green—Damages ob¬
tained against Graves in Tennessee, for libel, to the extent of
$7,500—Mortgages all his property away, under peculiar circum¬
stances !
Whenever Graves has told a truth in his strictures upon
and exposure of Methodism, he has told it in such a way, and
so worded his expressions, as to make a false impression;
which is not only equivalent to, hut is the very worst species
of lying. And as this chapter will be occupied with the
challenge of the " North Carolina Baptist Publishing Society"
to Doctors Smith, Lee, and Deems, to meet Graves in the
city of Raleigh, and discuss the issues made in the " Iron
Wheel" of the latter, I will give three specimens of Graves's
mode of lying, when he even seems to be telling the truth,
that this Baptist committee may have no room for escape. I
could give many others equally palpable, but these three will
suffice as specimens:
1st. The bishops have every press in all Methodism under their
control, as much as Pio Nino or any absolute monarch in Europe.
They appoint the editors, and change them at pleasure.—P. 192.
Now look at the Discipline:
"All of whom (the editors) shall be elected by the General Confe¬
rence," etc. (Dis., ed, 1846, p. 191.)
2d. He must obtain the privilege from his society or class-meeting
to exhort. This is of easy accomplishment. And, mark it, this is
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 255
the only instance in the life of a Methodist preacher when his name
comes before the laity.—P. 208.
Now look at the Discipline :
" Provided, that no person shall be licensed to preach without the
recommendation of the society of which he is a member, or of a leaders'
meeting." (Dis., p. 34.) A leaders' meeting is composed of the laity.
3d. The objection I have to the Methodist confessional above the
tomish, is this: In the former I am required to confess all my sins
>f deed or thought as particularly and rigidly as Rome requires, to a
preacher, etc.—P. 386.
Now look at the Discipline :
"The design of our (band) meetings is to obey that command of
$od: 'Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another,
that ye may be healed.'—James v. 16." (Dis., ed. 1846, p. 81.)
Here are three plain and palpable falsehoods, not to say
wilful and malicious, that no man can deny, and no man
could perpetrate in ignorance, with the Methodist Discipline
in his possession; and G-raves had it, for he pretends to give
it as his authority! Now, will the " Baptist Publishing So¬
ciety of North Carolina" admit that they are "involved in a
great sin" in circulating this false, foul, and slanderous work,
and "take speedy steps to free themselves from the guilt," as
they propose in their challenge ? We shall see.
If the "North Carolina Publishing Society" will take the
trouble to turn to pages 531-2-3 of Graves's book, they will
find a specimen of low, vulgar, and slanderous ribaldry, at
which Tom Paine or the most wicked of infidel persecutors
of religion would blush! It is a caricature of a Methodist
revival which a friend to Christianity should blush to counte¬
nance, much less to perpetrate! He represents one preacher
as calling upon the Lord "to make these sisters shouting
happy right now;" another, with a voice trumpet-toned over
all, cries, "Fire! fire! send down fi-re!" a third calls out
"Power! po-wer! come in po-wer!" Then follows "forty
or fifty crying, screaming, and praying, in a sanctified row."
And, to cap the climax : " See there, how those ministers are
beating them upon their backs, as though religion was a
wedge to be driven in between the shoulder-blades !"
256 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
After his caricature of a Methodist revival, he ought to
have introduced the Baptist preacbet into the same vicinity,
some two weeks after the close of this meeting, preaching to
the young converts, crying, Water ! water ! ! water ! ! ! shak¬
ing hands and singing:
"Go read the third of Matthew—
Go. read that chapter through:
It is a guide to Christians,
And tells them what to do!"
He ought to have represented this stupid, ignorant, and
uneducated man, awkward and uncouth, attempting to advo¬
cate the cause of Christianity, but doing it so badly as to
bring it into disrepute. After winning over some by this
water gospel, he tells them that they are now on the rock,
Christ; that all their future sins are to be imputed to Christ,
while his righteousness is to be imputed to them. Thus, they
may lie, cheat, steal, and get drunk, and do any other wicked¬
ness, without falling from grace! Once in the Baptist
Church, and under the water, they are beyond the reach even
of temptation I
But to the challenging committee of the North Carolina
Publishing Society. I copy the challenge from the "Biblical
Recorder" of August 9th, 1855, published at Raleigh :
A CHALLENGE.
"The*Great Iron Wheel" and "Orchard's History of the Baptists,"
recently published by Elder J. It. Graves, having been adopted for cir¬
culation by the Baptist Publication Society of North Carolina, and it
having come to the knowledge of said Society that the Iron Wheel
has been pronounced by certain Methodist ministers, through tho
columns of the Richmond Christian Advocate, a false, foul, and slan¬
derous book—the members of said Society, feeling that they are
charged with circulating falsehoods and foul slanders against the
Methodist Episcopal Church, have made an arrangement with Elder
Graves to defend his book and the North Carolina Baptist Publication
Society against the charge specified, and appointed the undersigned a
committee to submit the following proposition first to Rev. Leroy M.
Lee, D.D., editor of the Richmond Christian Advocate, and, in case
of his declination, to 'others hereafter to be named.
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 257
We propose that Elder Graves will meet Dr. Lee in the city of Ra¬
leigh, at any time that may be agreed upon by the parties concerned,
when and where all or any of the positions discussed in " The Great
Iron Wheel" will be defended and substantiated in their consecutive
order, or in any number of propositions so framed as to embrace the
substance of the same.
On behalf of the Society, we express our earnest desire that such a
discussion shall take place as early as practicable. For, if we are
lending our aid in the circulation of a book which is both false and
slanderous, we are certainly involved in great sin, and wish to be
convinced of it, that we may take speedy steps to free ourselves from
guilt; and if such is not the character of "The Great Iron Wheel,"
we have a right to demand that we be no longer held up to public
scorn as the endorsers and circulators of falsehood and slander.
We hope Dr. Lee will favor us with an early reply, in order that all
necessary arrangements for a discussion may be made, if he accepts
the proposition, or that its provisions may be extended should he see
proper to decline.
JAMES M'DANIEL, I
A. M'DOWELL, >■ Committee.
G. W. JOHNSTON, J
June 18, 1855.
In reply to this challenge, Leroy M. Lee, editor of the
Richmond Christian Advocate, responded:
We copy the above from the Biblical Recorder of Raleigh, N.C. It
contains a challenge, not to mortal combat, "resisting unto blood,"
but to a public discussion of the truth or falsity of "all or any of
the positions discussed in the 4 The Great Iron Wheel'" book. Before
responding to this challenge, we have a few words to say to the com¬
mittee whose names figure at the foot of it. We know nothing of
them personally. They have volunteered to address us publicly, and
cannot object to a reply in the same way.
1. These gentlemen act "on behalf" of the "Baptist Publication
Society of North Carolina." They belong to that Society; and, in
challenging us, they are acting under its direction and by its autho¬
rity.
2. We learn from their missive that The Great Iron Wheel, written
and published by Elder J. R. Graves, has "been adopted for circula¬
tion by the Baptist Publication Society of North Carolinathat the
book has "been pronounced by certain Methodist ministers a false,
foul, and slanderous book;" and that "the members of said Society"
are a little restive under, what they will excuse us for thinking, the
justly merited charge of "circulating falsehoods and foul slanders
against the Methodist Episcopal Church."
3. That, in order to justify themselves, quiet their consciences, and
increase the circulation of the book, they "have made an arrange¬
ment with Elder Graves to defend his book and the North Carolina
258
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
Baptist Publication Society against the charge specifiedand hence
the desire to have and the challenge to a public discussion, addressed
first to us, and, if we decline it, to be tendered "to others hereafter
to be named," In this matter every one must follow his own'tastes.
We speak for ourself: the "others" can do the same.
We beg the attention of the gentlemen of the committee, and
through them of the Baptist Publication Society they represent in
the matter, to the following, as our reply to their challenge:
1. We respectfully submit that a Society, representing a large and
influential body of Christians, engaged in publishing and circulating
books for the ostensible purposes of increasing knowledge and doing
good, ought, as a first duty to themselves, and the cause of truth and
true religion, in adopting a book for circulation, to be well assured
of its character, and, at least, of the probable fruits of its circulation.
This is a dictate of Christian prudence and propriety which your So¬
ciety seems, singularly enough, entirely to have overlooked. The
anxiety to have the book defended by its author betrays a sense of
indecent haste in its adoption. If you examined the book, and
adopted it because you were satisfied of its truthfulness, and believed
that its circulation would be a good work, and do good in North
Carolina, you ought to be satisfied with your determination, and the
reasons on which it rests. If you did not examine it, or if you are now
doubtful of its character and utility, you are involved in the censure
of having acted unwisely for the Society, or wickedly against the
good character and Christian usefulness of your brethren in Christ.
In either case, it is a questionable course to meet such "a case of
conscience" by arranging with the author to defend it. His interest
in the sales, no less than in the infamy to which a righteous popular
opinion will sooner or later consign his false and mischievous produc¬
tion, renders him too partial an advocate; and, at least, subjects to
the suspicion that, in conducting a discussion on his own truthfulness,
he would proceed on the old adage, that "a falsehood well stuck to,
is better than a truth badly told."
There is nothing in the character of the book, in our judgment, to
relieve its author of the suspicion that this adage was the governing
motive and guiding principle in its composition.
2. Besides, without deciding positively, we incline to the opinion
that the ostensible reason put forth for this challenge is not the real or
the true one. The haste of the Society in adopting the book, the
zeal for its circulation, and a desire to augment the sale, both for the
pecuniary profit of the author and the Society, and with the hope
that any injury it may do to Methodism will inure to the benefit of
the Church whose "Publication Society" so industriously circulates
it, mingle, it is at least probable, with the motives superinducing the
desire for a public debate on its character and merits. Whatever
might be the result of such a discussion, even if an intelligent jury
of moderators decided the work to be false and slanderous, the.pub-
licity of the discussion would enhance its sale, and what seems to us
to be the prime cause of seeking it would be secured. We can sym-
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 259
pathize with you as Christian gentlemen when you say: "If we are
lending our aid in the circulation of a hook which is both false and
slanderous, we are certainly involved in great sin, and wish to be
convinced of it, that we may take speedy steps to free ourselves from
guilt;" but we doubt the propriety of the mode by which you seek
"to be convinced of it." We could suggest "a more excellent way
but we are neither "lords of your faith," nor "keepers of your con¬
science." "One is your Master, even Christ." By His judgment
you are to stand or fall. Whether you sought His glory, and to
please Him, by adopting this vicious diatribe against Methodism, you
can determine for yourselves. We doubt whether it entered into your
thoughts: it was abusive of Methodism, that was enough for you: it
will pay, that was enough for the Society and the author. As an
opinion of ours—only an opinion—you "are certainly involved in
great sin," and should "free yourselves from the guilt" with all
speed.
3. If "Elder J. R. Graves," or either one or all of you, gentlemen,
were to publish and circulate the most atrocious falsehoods and
calumnies against our personal character and reputation, it would
never enter into our thoughts to meet you in a public discussion on
the truth of your statements. A proposition on your part for such a
discussion would be justly regarded, by all right-minded men, as the
superaddition of a deliberate insult to a gross outrage and injury.
Now, "Elder J. R. Graves," and yourselves, gentlemen, and "The
Baptist Publication Society of North Carolina," as his "aiders and
abettors," have assailed our character and reputation as a Methodist,
by publishing and circulating a series of false and slanderous state¬
ments, deliberately made by the one party, and voluntarily circulated
by the other. That you and your Society feel the indelicacies and
difficulties of your position, as abettors in a false and slanderous
attack on Methodism, its ministers and members, is not surprising;
and is, indeed, gratifying, as a proof that your religious sensibilities
are superior to your official sagacity, and not yet hardened by the
desire of gain from the workings of your ponderous Iron Wheel.
But to interpose for your relief, in the way you suggest, is asking too
much of our self-respect and good sense. We wish you an honorable
escape from your embarrassing position. But, in the way you pro¬
pose, we would not lend the strength of our little finger to aid your
efforts.
4. As the occasion serves, we desire your attention to a few remarks
on the subject of popular discussions of the kind to which you chal¬
lenge us. We have no affinities for such modes of settling questions
involving religious truth; and confess to a very considerable repug¬
nance to "such doings." How we should get along in one, we know
not, as we have never "tried our hand." Our maiden sword, if we
have a sword, is yet unfleshed. It is likely to remain so. We can
perceive no propriety in these public discussions; and believe very
little for truth or godliness is ever accomplished by them. As feats
of intellectual gladiatorship, they attract a gaping crowd of those
260
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
who admire the pugnacious combatants, or who care nothing for them
or the subject they are to fight about, and who are only a little less
interested than they would be in "seeing the elephant" and "stirring
up the monkeys" in a menagerie. More are attracted by the fuss or
the fun of the thing, than by regard for the principles discussed, or the
real religious interests involved. Besides, they settle nothing; per¬
haps never induce any one to change an opinion; and almost invaria¬
bly engender strifes and debates. We look on them as about equally
disastrous to religion and discreditable to the parties. If others
choose to make such spectacles of themselves, they must follow their
own bent. Our tastes lead us in another direction. But if any "set
of circumstances" could seduce us into such an arena, we can con¬
ceive of no possible circumstances that can induce us to accept a
challenge to meet the Great Iron Wheel man! We care to say very
little of its author. We only know him in his book: that we regard
as a tissue of deliberate falsehood and malicious calumny, written
with a cold, callous, calculating selfishness of purpose to make money
by defaming a community of Christian people. Discuss that book
with its author! Pardon us, gentlemen, if we suggest that your zeal
for "The Baptist Publication Society of North Carolina" has blinded
you to the instincts which always govern upright and honorablo
minds.
The " Publishing Society" replied to Dr. Lee, and charged
him with baching out from the proposed discussion. Dr. Lee
replied:
There was no backing in the case: we turned right round and
walked away—just as we would if we were to find a skunk confront¬
ing us in walking through a forest. This is the plain truth, and we
shall offer no apology to the committee for stating it; besides, we
leave them to determine, between themselves and their champion, as.
to the subject of the figure and its appropriateness. A celebrated
editress of Washington City, returning from one of her trips to the
South, passed through Charlotte county, Ya. The stage was filled
with passengers; and while stopping at a roadside trough to water
the horses, John Randolph, of Roanoke, rode up, with the same
kindly object for his own steed. The female in the stage recognizing
him, addressed him with, "How do you do, Mr. Randolph? I ain
very glad, indeed, to meet with you." " I do not know you, madam,"
was the shrill and chilling reply of the cynic. "Not know me! Why,
I'm Mrs. , of Washington!" Looking earnestly at her for one
brief moment, gathering his reins shortly up, he cried, "phumph!"
and, lashing his horse, galloped away, elongating and elevating his
voice above the clatter of his abrupt departure. We walked right off
from the challenge with sensations of disgust quite as intense, if not
as strongly expressed. We do not care, now, to say more concerning
the challenge, or the strictures of the committee on our reply to it.
the great iron wheel examined.
261
Rev. Dr. Deems, of the North Carolina Conference, comes
next in order. Here is his reply :
Greensboro', N. C., July 21, 1855.
Rev. Messrs. M'Daniel, McDowell, and Johnston:
Gentlemen :—
The Biblical Recorder of July 12 has just been placed in my hands,
and I have read with astonishment the degrading proposition you
make me. I profoundly regret any act of my life which may have
led you to believe that you could induce me to become YOUR sca¬
venger.
Yours, etc.,
CHAS. F. DEEMS.
Rev. Dr. Smith, President of Randolph Macon College,
seems to have treated the challenge with silent contempt, as
he did not reply to the challenging committee. He left them
alone in their glory, or shame, to u pick the dunghill's spoil
for bread," or fame, whichever they are seeking to turn up,
by delving in the feculent pages of Graves's infamous hook.
These three ministers rank among the most distinguished of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South: literary gentlemen,
able in debate. But they all three seem to have acted upon
the principle—by the way, a very correct one—that persons
who undertake dirty work from the love of it, ought not to
ask decent men to help them !
One of the members of this committee, Mr. M'Dowell, I
understand, at the time of his displaying this eager zeal to
defame the Methodist Church, its members and ministers, had
a flaming school in Raleigh. The other Churches who pa¬
tronized it withdrew, and my information is, he was compelled
to wind it up ! So much for his officiousness in adopting and
circulating a foul, false, and slanderous production. Such
conduct ought to have placed him beyond the pale of Method¬
ist patronage or courtesy. But if the gentleman choose to
act as a hod-carrier for Elder Graves, let him carry on—it is
only a matter ©f tasU !
262
the great iron wheel examined.
The truth is, however, that not one of the distinguished
gentlemen named in this challenge could, with propriety, have
gone into a discussion with the licentious editor of the "Ten¬
nessee Baptist"—a scurvy editor, and a blotch upon the
Christian community in which he lives. He has tried, time
and again, to obtain an endorsement of himself and his paper
by his own denomination in Middle Tennessee, where he re¬
sides and is best known. He attempted it in Murfreesboro',
and failed! He attempted it in Winchester, at a General As¬
sociation, and failed. Not only so, but he was there told, to
his face, on the floor of the Association, by Dr. William P.
Jones, a practising physician of Nashville, and a highly re¬
spectable member of the Baptist Church, that he was not a
man of truth, and that he, (the Doctor,) who had been a close
observer of his conduct, had never seen him acting out a
Christian spirit, or promoting the cause of God by his
course!
The subject of endorsing his Christian character had been
under consideration some time last fall, at Nashville; and in
October, while I was in the city, the final action was had, and
that Church, with which he worships, and where he has re¬
sided for years, refused to endorse him, and this action is now
a matter of record in that city ! What a commentary upon
his twelve years of toil, of warfare, preaching, prayer, and
praise ! Certainly the private life and domestic relations of
this man Graves are a sealed book to the "North Carolina
Publishing Society;" otherwise, they are no better than he
is, and have justly subjected themselves to the censure of
the poet Cowper:
The man that dares traduce, because he can
With safety to himself, is not a man.
From week to week, and for years, his dirty paper has
teemed with defamation and lying slanders, of the quick and
AN EX-CONGRESSMAN CANING GRAVES FOR S I. A N D E R !—See chill.. X V.
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
263'
dead, male and female. It was in the month of September,
1853, just before the meeting of the Legislature, that an ex-
member of Congress and an able lawyer followed him round
the Square, until he found him at a drug-store occupied by a
member of the Baptist Church, and there and then did chas¬
tise and publicly cane the aforesaid J. It. Graves—a scene
which the reader will herewith find represented by an appro¬
priate engraving! This was for slandering a female of re¬
putable standing, through the editorial columns of his vile
paper, to the detriment of good morals, and in violation of
the decencies of private life! This caning of the scavenger
met with the approbation of an outraged and insulted com¬
munity; and when the Grand Jury convened, they refused to
find a bill against the honorable gentleman who thrashed
him—saying, thereby, that he served him right! And this
day, every good citizen of Nashville, without reference to any
artificial distinction of party, "condemns the course of Graves
in this matter, and believes that it was right to make him
sensible of the obloquy he incurred, by " apostolic blows and
knocks/' well laid on upon that memorable occasion ! This
is the man who boasts of his arduous labors in the cause of
God, and of his toils and sufferings for the gospel's sake!
His professed consciousness of a well-spent life is in fact a
living lie I Look at his deeds !
In the "Western Recorder" for October 3, 1855, a leading
Baptist journal, I find this statement in reference to Graves's
Church troubles in Nashville, which will not be without in¬
terest to those who are .aware of his troubles there, and his
former controversies at Bowling-Green in Kentucky:—
As to Brother Graves and his Church troubles, all we know of them
is the mere statement of others, that there were charges against him in
his Church at Nashville. We have never published any thing about
him or these charges, nor have we, that we recollect, ever even men¬
tioned his name in a private letter to any one at Nashville during our
264
the great iron wheel examinep.
lives; nor do we know nor have we ever inquired what became of the
prosecution against him. Had we been as vigilant in collating and
publishing all the Baptist incidents of Nashville and Bowling-Green as
the " Tennessee Baptist" has those of Louisville, we no doubt might
have recited quite as many interesting little episodes!
This Bowling- Green allusion is a hard hit by the "Recorder!"
Graves visited Bowling-Green a few years ago, and held a
meeting in the Baptist church, and his abuse of other sects
was so low, and his conduct so degrading, that a Baptist lady
remarked that if any one would hold him, she would cowhide
him! Rev. J. S. Scobee, of the Methodist Church, took
him up and exposed his conduct, through a public journal,
most effectually. Among other things, he set forth some of
the many blasphemous sayings of Graves; such as—" Of all
the damnable heresies in the black catalogue which has be¬
fouled the fame of Christianity, infant baptism is the most
damnable. If other heresies have damned their thousands,
this has damned its tens of thousands."
Again, he said at the baptizing: " That the mark of the
beast, as mentioned in Revelation, which brought the curse
of God on some, was the baptism of the Pedobaptists, received
by pouring."
But to return to the "Western Recorder's" charge of dif¬
ficulties in Nashville! The "Tennessee Baptist," of which
Graves is editor, thus replies on the 20th of October:—
But this committee denies that they are in league with a disaffected
brother or brethren in this latitude, through whom they gather in¬
cidents to publish. We very respectfully and seriously ask them from
whom they learned that we were under charges in our Church ?! Bid
the committee visit the Southern Convention, or did they learn it from
some who did go ? Will these gentlemen inform us ? We demand the
names: we have a right to them. Can we get them ?
The reference to a ''prosecution against him" was an in¬
dictment for libel in Henderson county, Tennessee, tried in
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
265
the Circuit Court at Lexington, where damages were obtained
against him to the amount of $7500. It was for a charge
of stealing made against a respectable Methodist preacher,
and the clerk of the Circuit Court for that county.
In his paper for October 20, 1855, Mr. Graves tells his
Baptist brethren of the corps editorial, Messrs. Caldwell,
Taylor, Brannin, and Buck—some of whom had published his
being indicted in this case, and others had spoken of it in no
very complimentary terms to Graves—that explanations of
the affair had repeatedly been given in his paper; and that
he was not the writer of the slanderous article ! True, he has
repeatedly told this story in his paper, but he has failed to
tell that he tried to justify the villainous publication, by de¬
fending the suit in court, thereby aggravating the case ! And
when convicted in the Circuit Court, he appealed to the Su¬
preme Court of the State, held in Jackson in the spring of
1855, and there had the $7500 of damages fastened upon
him ! What followed next? We shall see.
In May, 1855, just after the Supreme Court had decided
against him, he goes to the Begister's office of Davidson^
county, and mortgages all his effects away; whether to avoid
this $7500 damages and large costs, the reader can judge for
himself. I have examined the record, and find his convey¬
ances registered in Book xxii., and on pages 58, 59, and 62.
His first mortgage is to his mother, Louisa Graves, the joint
work of himself and partner, Maries. The next conveyance
is Graves & Marks to A. B. Shankland, page 59. Then fol¬
low two cases, J. K. Graves to W. P. Marks, pages 59 and
62. That the reader may at once see the design of this "hot
haste" in getting rid of all his effects, I will be somewhat
explicit in stating them.
First case, May, 1855. Sells valuable land in the vicinity
of Nashville, to his aged mother, Louisa Graves !
12
266 the great iron wheel examined.
Second. Mortgages to B. Furguson a power-press, with
all the fixtures connected therewith : one steam-engine, used
in the office of the " Tennessee Baptist:" also, all the type,
cases, stands, etc., and all the accounts due to said office.
This mortgage includes the following publications likewise:
" The Great Iron Wheel," " Orchard's History of Foreign
Baptists," and "Stewart on Baptism;" also, a one-horse ba¬
rouche and harness! This conveyance is dated May 26,1855,
which was just after the Supreme Court had decided against
him at Jackson!
Third. The third case is dated May 28, 1855, and is a
mortgage, by Graves & Marks to Shankland, of the same ar¬
ticles mentioned in the second case, excepting only the publica¬
tions named. He seemed to have thought that one convey¬
ance would do to bind a set of vile publications not in demand
among those to whom fines and costs were due; but a power-
press, a steam-engine, and a barouche and harness, it was
deemed necessary to " rebajptize" in the office of the register,
as they could be used profitably by all parties and sects!
Fourth. This case is one of singular interest, being a mort¬
gage from J. R. Graves, to W. P. Marks, of his private li¬
brary, amounting to 500 volumes, and the one-horse barouche
and harness once more. This is dated May 28, 1855, the
same day and date of its conveyance—I mean the barouche,
to Shankland, and two days after its conveyance to B. Fur¬
guson !
Fifth. This is a case of bargain and sale, and is so re¬
corded. J. It. Graves sells to W. P. Marks his half of three
lots in Edgefield, for which said Marks executes his note to
Graves for one thousand dollars, three years after date,
and retains no lien. This is the more remarkable, as Edge¬
field, just across the Wire Suspension Bridge, is a new
town growing up on the Kentucky Railroad, where real estate
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 267
is increasing every day in value, and must still increase!
Why sell such property upon such terms, and at so low a
rate ? Why, that unfeeling clerk of the Henderson County
Court might make an execution upon the property. Ah, yes,
circumstances alter cases!
Sixth. I will close my account of his financial operations
with a still more palpable case of design, the proof of which
is to be had in the Register's office. It is the case of a note
of hand, payable to W. P. Marks, " for the use and benefit of
Louisa Graves," his mother, bearing date March 23, 1854.
Circumstances prove that he had redeemed the note, although
provided for in the mortgage. He had out a bundle of papers
in the Register's office, and accidentally let this note fall
under the edge of the table, without intending to exhibit it!
The Register afterwards found it—kept it two or three months
before he met with Graves, when he handed it to him ! Does
any one suppose for a moment that he owed his helpless old
mother any thing, who was living with him, and for whom he
was providing, as was his duty ? How came he to hold the
note, and not Marks ? The case is too palpable for further
comments 1
Now, is not this man Graves a pretty disciple to set him¬
self up for the general reformation of men and manners! He
write whole chapters of abuse against Mr. Wesley, for having
been indicted at Savannah by an ill-natured family, when
Wesley demanded a trial at " six successive courts !" Wesley
gave to the Church and the poor all he made, and died a poor
man. Not so with Graves : he does not give away, but hides
behind the records of the Register's ofiice all he possesses.
Like the lurking, midnight resurrectionist, he haunts the
charnel-house, and drags forth the mutilated memory of de¬
parted worth, to mock and slander ! Mean wretch! not only
is his sordid soul hardened against the humanizing sentiment of
268 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
speaking no evil of the pious dead, but, hyena-like, he defiles
the sanctuary he has profaned, by his huge financial exploits!
Verily his licentious career, his malicious and false publica¬
tions, are doomed to receive the retribution he has so stoutly
defied!
the great iron wheel examined.
269
CHAPTER XVI.
Graves's reckless slander of Rev. F. A. Owen—Falsehood in reference
to a debate with Chapman—Cornered in both cases and made to
square out—" Christian Magazine" vs. Graves—The Baptist "West¬
ern Recorder" vs. Graves—A Correspondent of the "South-western
Baptist" vs. Graves—" New . Orleans Weekly Baptist Chronicle"
vs. Graves—Professor Duncan, pastor of the New Orleans Bap¬
tist Church, vs. Graves—"Knoxville Baptist Watchman" vs. Graves
—Scriptural advice to Graves and his understrikers!
The conduct of Graves for years past has been characterized
by a degree of recklessness, slander, and falsehood, which shows,
clear as demonstration, that he does not care whether he
speaks the truth or its opposite. What an example he is of
ministerial propriety! What a stab his conduct is to our holy
religion!
To illustrate the character of the man more completely, I
will show what he has been guilty of on different occasions.
'Rev. Francis A. Owen, at present one of the Book Agents
for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, residing in the
vicinity of Nashville, was, in 1852, the editor of the Mem¬
phis and Arkansas Christian Advocate. Mr. Owen is
a native of Virginia, and I have known him intimately for a
quarter of a century; and a more honorable, high-minded
Christian gentleman I never knew. His character never
had a stain upon it, nor were his piety and integrity ever
called in question among those who knew him. While he
conducted the "Advocate" at Memphis, he passed unnoticed
the frequently repeated attacks of the vile editor of the
"Tennessee Baptist," both personal and otherwise. His
270 the great iron wheel examined.
friends understood well the cause of his silence: he did
not regard Graves as a gentleman, and would not stoop to a
controversy with him. Graves, knowing the reason of liis
declining any war with him, and that he viewed him as a re¬
probate to the editorial profession, determined in his malice
to assail Owen; and, accordingly, in the " Tennessee Baptist"
of April 24th of that year, assailed him in this false, slan¬
derous, and cowardly language :—
We say to Mr. Owen, and every other editor or enemy, we are will¬
ing for our character to be investigated any day; and we challenge
him or any other man to stain it with one foul blot—to darken it with
a shade.
We never drew the will of dying men or women, in which we were
made guardian, the money to remain in our hands for ten or twenty
years without interest!
We have heard of an Owen that did I
Now, the application of this foul and slanderous insinuation
to Rev. F. A. Owen, of the " Memphis Advocate," and now
of the Methodist Publishing House at Nashville, involved a
wilful slander; and when he came to meet it, Graves hacked
square out of it. It was false in every particular, from be¬
ginning to end, and no word or syllable of it ever was true,
Owen having written no will—having been no such guardian—
having had no such moneys in his hands, at any period of bis
life. He drove the lying editor of the " Tennessee Baptist"
to the wall; and, to avoid a prosecution, he abandoned the
slanderous charge, and, as I have already said, hacked square
out of his daring lie I
And still another case ! In 1852, after Graves had
discussed the subject of baptism with Rev. James L. Chap¬
man, of the Methodist Church, at Lexington, in Henderson
county, Tennessee, Graves published in his paper, in sub¬
stance, that Mr. Chapman, in that debate, admitted that our
Saviour was baptized by immersion in Jordan, by John the
the great iron wheel examined.
271
Baptist. This falsehood led to the publication of the follow¬
ing certificates in the " Memphis Christian Advocate —
We, the undersigned, do hereby certify that we were in attendance,
some of us all, and some part, of the time during the debate between
Rev. J. L. Chapman and J. R. Graves, at Lexington, in the summer
of 1851, and that we distinctly understood Mr. C. as emphatically de¬
nying the immersion of Jesus Christ; nor did he use any expression,
by a fair and just construction, that could be made to favor the idea
of his immersion; for this was one of the points against which he
directed his arguments.
Mr. Graves, closing the debate, did taunt Mr. C. with the admis¬
sion, to which Mr. C. made no reply, not becavflle of the truth of
Mr. G.'s remarks, but because the truth was so manifest to the
audience that it needed none.
J. B. Wadley, D. 0. N. Wadley,
James Story, F. M. Story,
G. H. Buck, Thomas Fesmire,
J. G. Warren, Ransom Cunningham,
Rev. R. S. Reeves, A. T. Johnson,
Clinton Brigance, Alfred Middleton,
R. B. Jones, Jarrett Taylor,
John Brooks, John T. Cavness.
H. McClamrock,
I was present all the time, and heard every word of the above
debate. Mr. C. said, for the sake of "argument," he would admit
that Christ waded into the water up to his waist, "yea, he might
have gone in up to his arm-pits;" but [even then he was baptized
"with," etc., emphasizing the word. Mr. C. made no admission of
"immersion" in the case. J. W. G. Jones.
Lexington, May, 1852.
I was not present at the close of the debate between Mr. Chapman
and Mr. Graves; but during the time I attended, I did not hear any
remark of Mr. Chapman's calculated to leave an impression upon any
of the audience that Christ was baptized by immersion.
Wm. A. Warren.
Lexington, May 26, 1852.
And yet another document ! The following article is
from the "Christian Magazine/' of 1852—a religious
periodical published and edited by a Campbellite preacher at
Nashville. It shows in what light the editor of the Tennessee
Baptist is viewed at home—not by Pedobaptists, but by an
advocate of immersion, and one who is utterly opposed to
272
the great iron wheel examined.
infant baptism. Hear what this editor says of the low per
sonal abuse and unchristian spirit of Graves :
The Tennessee Baptist.—We publish tlie article below with regret,
and would not consent to it but that good brethren, upon the ground
that persons unacquainted with Mr. Graves, and the reckless char¬
acter of his assertions and editorials, may be misled by our silence.
We have for years been constrained, reluctantly, to look upon the
" Tennessee Baptist" as a reproach to the editorial profession, and
never felt ourselves warranted in noticing any thing that might appear
in its columns. Nothing that can appear in it, as it is now conducted,
Could excite our resentment. There is not a sheet in the land, either
political or religions, that we do not regard as being under the con¬
trol of higher, more decorous and honorable principles than those
which seem to dictate many of its editorials and communications.
To the article to which Brother Howard replies below, did we feel
called upon to notice it at all, we could only say of it that it is inde¬
cent and slanderous ; but yielding to the judgment of others, we admit
it and the reply. The Tennessee Baptist has been reckless enough to
state that our marriages were illegal; that the property of our meet¬
ing-house was fraudulently obtained, and has made sundry similar
unfounded declarations. With a paper that could unblushingly pub¬
lish such statements, we can have no controversy.
For Mr. G. and his brethren we do not entertain an unkind feeling.
For his course as an editor of a religious journal we can have no
fellowship; and common decency forbids that we should notice the
often-corrected and now stolid slanders he chooses to publish against
the community we have the honor to be associated with. To his
frequent and violent provocations, we consider it more noble to oppose
forbearance than contest—preferring rather to endure all the injury
he can inflict, than to contend with a wrong-doer so apparently desti¬
tute of common candor and decency. He is at perfect liberty, as we
stated years since, to say any thing of us he may please; and our
only hope for him is that he may yet see the error of his way, seek
the change of his heart, from what it has appeared for many months,
to the love and approbation of truth, decency, and we would say
charity, but we fear it is too great a virtue to command his efforts for
many years to come. J. B. F.
One more oe the same sort! The Louisville "Western
Recorder," a Baptist journal now before me, dated September
28, 1855, published and edited by a committee of Baptist
clergymen, to wit—"Associate Editors : S. W. Lynd, A. W
LaRue, A. D. Sears, Wm. M. Pratt, L. Fletcher"—thus
takes off Graves, for his unmanly assault upon one of the
former editors of that paper:
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
273
"Cool and indicative."—Under this caption the Tennessee Bap¬
tist, in speaking of Brother Ford's name being withdrawn from the
list of editors in the Recorder, says: " Did Prof. Farnam's letter take
effect upon Brother Ford? We think the decapitation and the silence
indicative." We have intentionally passed in silence the many false
insinuations made in the Tennessee Baptist against us, a committee
conducting the Recorder; but are unwilling that a brother should be
assailed through us. There was no decapitation in the case. Brother
Ford having purchased and become the sole proprietor of the Reposi¬
tory, voluntarily withdrew his name from the list of editors to the
Recorder, with perfect good-will on both sides; and will, we hope,
convince his Baptist readers that he is not "decapitated," and cannot
be, even by the little garroting machine at Nashville. The editor's
caption to such editorials should read, Cool and Vindictive. Then all
will understand him.
Graves published, in his paper, that the " Recorder" had
been influenced by Campbellite money in its course ! To this
charge of bribery and corruption, the "Recorder" of October
3, 1855, replies :
IIow these things come we cannot tell, but we fear brothers Pendle¬
ton and Graves permit our enemies to poison their minds against us
unwarrantably; for every reader of the Tennessee Baptist has seen
how familiar its editors and correspondents profess to be with the
affairs of the Louisville Baptists at large, and the Recorder and its
Committee in particular. Do such things look like sustaining the
friendly relations of the papers ? Do they not rather look as though
they were on terms of intimate confidence with secret spies and false
friends of the Recorder? Will not such a course necessarily excite
suspicion that there is a secret plan of espionage carried on by the
Tennessee Baptist for the sole purpose of injuring the Recorder?
How else do they obtain those distorted and perverted accounts of
our acts and doings? We appeal to brothers Pendleton and Graves:
will they not be convinced, yea, do they not know these things are
hurtful to the Church, and must ultimately injure tbem in common
with us and the cause ? Will they not learn that those who are suffi¬
ciently depraved and vicious to retail to them the private affairs of
their brethren for publication, would not scruple to misstate, misre¬
present, and slander? We again repeat, we must believe brethren
Pendleton and Graves are imposed upon by designing tattlers, in
this way alone can we account for the strange infatuation which seems
to have taken possession of them—that there were those connected
with the Recorder who were in a conspiracy with brethren in Nash¬
ville to kill off J. R. Graves, and, as they have it in Bowling-Green,
if necessary brother P. must fall too, and he even intimates how hard
he will die. At first we treated this matter seriously, and assured
12*
274 the great iron wheel examined.
brother P. and his friends that we had no such wish, the whole mat¬
ter was a fabrication; but the idea of being a martyr in the cause of
J. R. Graves seems to possess him as an infatuation; his every aci
and thought seems colored with the fancy, until the ridiculous so far
exceeds the serious that really in spite of ourselves we can but be
amused.
And yet another witness ! The " South-western
Baptist" of June 7th, 1855, published at Tuskegee, Ala¬
bama, and edited by Elder Samuel Henderson, contains a
communication of four columns, in which we find the follow¬
ing remarkable language:
I think it due the public to state that I find a large part of the
article from the "Western Watchman, ' in the Great Iron Wheel, a
work written by a Baptist—the Rev. Mr. Graves; a portion of the
piece is without quotation marks. See pages 291, 292, 295, 296, 299,
800. A few precious extracts will show the spirit of the author. Mr.
Graves charitably classes "ruling elders of the Presbyterian Church,
and Methodist Conferences, with Pio Nino, and styles them big and
little Popes." Page 45 Iron Wheel. " We see bishops and ruling
elders lording it over God's children." Page 50. " Any Pedobaptist
Society is a huge clerical despotism itself." Page 50. On pages 254, etc.,
he calls "all Protestant sects harlots and abominations of the earth,"
and the communing together of Methodists and Presbyterians " a
blasphemous farce, prostituting the holy emblems to the propagation
of a falsehood." On page 265 he says, "Protestant ministers have
usurped Christ's place, and exercise his authority over his Church."
You may imagine my surprise, then, on discovering that the piece,
ascribed in the "Watchman" to some profound philosopher uncon¬
nected with any Church, was surely an effusion of the tender mercies
of the lovely Mr. Graves, whose charity is so strikingly displayed in
the foregoing extracts. What meant this concealment of the author ?
For charity of this description, however, I never gave you credit, and
therefore did not look for you to endorse the beautiful sayings of
such a writer.
Worse and worse! I bave before me the "New Or¬
leans Weekly Baptist Chronicle" for November, 1854,
edited by Wm. C. Duncan, in which Professor Duncan is
defended against the slanderous assaults of Graves. Professor
Duncan is one of the most intelligent and able of Southern
Baptist ministers. He is a professor in the University of
Louisiana, and pastor of the Baptist church in New Orleans.
the great iron wheel examined.
275
The article in the "Chronicle" occupies eighteen columns,
and is headed, "Defence against False Charges and Misre¬
presentations of Rev, J. R. Graves." I quote only the two
following paragraphs, and they will serve as fair specimens of
the whole:
There is much dependent upon the decision which the denomina¬
tion may render respecting these libels of the Tennessee Baptist on
Professor D.'s History of John the Baptist. Mr. Graves, while he
affects wonderful zeal for the Baptist denomination, aims a stab at
one of its cardinal principles, freedom of opinion, and a right to differ
from any or all in the denomination on points of doctrine not essential
to Christianity. Mr. D. does not agree with many Baptists touching
the baptism and ministry of the Forerunner. Is he on that account
to be injured in his character for orthodoxy, to be frowned down in
his publication enterprises, and to be opposed in all his undertakings
for the advancement of the Baptist cause ? And, above all, is this
to be done by a man who, possessing power, abuses it most shame¬
fully ; a man noted alike for his vanity, his ignorance, and his hot¬
headed folly; and who has not one worthy qualification for acting the
part of leader and adviser of the denomination? These are, just
now, momentous questions, which are to be decided by the Baptists
of the South-west.
In what we have written, we deliberately arraign J. It. Graves,
Baptist editor, of Tennessee, before the denomination, on the charge
of repeated falsehood and misrepresentation. Our proofs have been ad¬
duced. Judge between us, ye that are interested. Acquit him of
falsehood if you can, acquit him of misrepresentation if you can.
One thing, however, do. Say now, whether a man so careless of
truth, so hasty, so fell in his hostility, so incapable of discussing any
subject with candor and fairness, so unjust to his opponents, is fit to
lead (nay, to govern, for govern is what he is clearly trying to do)
the denomination in the South-west. Decide now, Baptists that are
free, whether the despotism of this man is to stand or fall. His com¬
mitted partisans, no doubt, will uphold him, be he false or be he true.
But will the intelligent, the thinking, the freedom-loving among our
Baptists, defend and sustain him in his high-handed course of injus-
tice^ and iniquity ? We have done, we trust, with this 'unpleasant
subject for ever.
L. Alex. Duncan & Co.
William C. Duncan.
New Orleans, Nov. 1, 1854.
And still they come ! I have before me a pamphlet of
fourteen pages, from this same Baptist office in New Orleans,
in reply to the H false charges and misrepresentations" of
276
the great iron wheel examined.
Graves against Professor Duncan; and on the fourteen pages
are enumerated FIFTY-THREE FALSEHOODS by Graves!
I will trouble the reader with but two short extracts :
Mr. Graves has endeavored in three ways to injure the standing of
the Chronicle : in all three modes by misrepresentation. 1. By studi¬
ously creating a false impression as to the sentiments advocated by
the Chronicle. 2. By not truly stating the views held by Professor
D., or advocated by Yon Rohden, in the work "John the Baptist."
3. By misrepresenting Mr. D.'s acts and opinions in other particulars.
4. Mr. G. asserts, with only the above Notice, then before him, as
his authority, that the Index "has unqualifiedly pronounced all its
Sthe book's] doctrines sound, and of course sound Baptist doctrines."
•ne wonders that his hand did not wither as he penned these un¬
truthful words. Ought such a man to be credited on any point ?
Tbe long and tbe sbort of tbe matter is, tbat Graves seeks
to put down, and otherwise override all other Baptist papers.
He attempted to prevent the starting of the " Baptist Watch¬
man" in Knoxville; and John L. Moses, I think it was, an
intelligent and respectable member of that Church in Knox-
ville, took him off through the columns of the "Watchman!"
I am unable to lay my hands upon the paper, or I would
quote from it at length.
This is an outline, gentle reader, of the character of Elder
J. R. Graves. Strange to say, some of the prominent min¬
isters and members of that Church in Tennessee, Georgia,
Alabama, and the Carolinas, are circulating and defending his
book, with all its false and slanderous affirmations! This is
giving his falsehoods currency to a very great extent, and will
in the end bring a crash upon the Baptist Church in the
South and West, as it will involve her ministers and members,
in the estimation of the public, in the guilt of bearing "false
witness against their neighbor." This will necessarily close
against them the door of usefulness with thousands to whom
they might otherwise be profitable. It has already injured
the "North Carolina Baptist Publishing Society." The Me¬
thodists have outlived, and lived down, greater opposition
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
277
than this; and will certainly come out of this unhurt. But
the Baptist Church is to suffer by it—mark what I say!
In concluding this chapter, allow me to call the attention
of Mr. Graves and his endorsers, especially at Raleigh, to one
or two passages of Scripture, and earnestly entreat both him
and them to reflect seriously upon their solemn import, before
it is too late ! The first is found in Revelation xxi. 8 :
And all liars shall have their part in. the lake which burnetii with
fire and brimstone.
The second passage is found in 1 Tim. iv. 1, 2, and reads
as follows:
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doc¬
trines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience-
seared with a hot iron.
278
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
CHAPTER XVII.
Methodism "Republicanism Backwards"—Graves's pictorial repre¬
sentations of the oppressions of Methodism—Methodism "death to
all the institutions for which Washington fought and freemen died"
—Washington taught the contrary in his letter to Bishops Asbury
and Coke—The Baptist Churches pure democracies—Robert Hall
thought otherwise—Hall's opinion of Wesley—Wesley's Address to
the American Methodists—Strength of religious parties in this
country—Churches dividing upon the slavery question—Elder
Graves a Northern man, and strongly suspected of Abolitionism 1
Elder Graves is peculiarly unfortunate in his pictorial
representation of the Methodist Wheels, on page 161 of his
book, which he classically styles " Republicanism Back¬
wards I" He has the Bishops on the outside, holding the
handles and keeping the machinery in motion. It would
have been much more appropriate to have had the u Wheels"
propelled by a steam-engine, (such as he mortgaged to a
Baptist friend, to avoid paying for his slanders in Henderson
County !) while the Bishops act as chief engineers. For as
tyrannical, oppressive, and arbitrary as the powers of the
bishops, presiding elders, circuit-riders, and stationed preach¬
ers may be in the eyes of their traducers, they are dependent
upon the voluntary contributions of the people for their sup¬
port. Amongst the Methodist laity are Senators and Repre¬
sentatives in Congress, Governors of States, Judges of the
Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme, Chancery,
and Circuit Courts of States, presidents and professors of
the great iron wheel examined.
279
colleges, doctors and lawyers, merchants and capitalists of
every grade, and as learned, intelligent, and patriotic citizens
as can be found in any other Church on the American Conti¬
nent, and more of them ! How, then, can any one suppose
that such men would quietly crouch under a huge platform,
beneath the oppressive weight of a pyramid of itinerant
preachers, such as is represented on page 306 of his book,
where he represents Methodism as a religion of " Preachers
on the People's Backs?" To say the least of it, the idea is
superlatively ridiculous!
But Graves tells the world in his book, that
The Methodist system is death to all the institutions for which
Washington fought and freemen died.
It seems that George Washington thought differently.
He says, in a letter addressed to the Bishops of the Method¬
ist Church, about the time of the close of the Revolutionary
War:—
I must assure you in particular, that I take in the kindest part the
promise you make of presenting your prayers at a throne of grace
for me, and that I likewise implore the Divine benediction on your¬
selves and your religious community.
Now, would George Washington have given " aid and
comfort" to a despotic organization—to a set of anti-republi¬
cans, whose religious " system is death to all the institutions
for which he, Washington, fought and freemen died ?" Surely
not! But Washington did give "aid and comfort" to the
Methodist Church, and prayed the Divine benediction upon
its bishops, ministers and members! The Methodist Church
is now what she was when Washington patronized her, and
prayed the " Divine benediction" upon her clergy and mem¬
bership ; and he who charges that she is " despotic and anti-
republican," is guilty of knowingly slandering the " Father
of his Country"—the immortal Washington! Verily, the
prayer of that matchless patriot, offered to God for his bless-
280 the great iron wheel examined.
ings to rest upon the Methodist bishops, and the Methodist
community, is a lasting shield to their patriotism, which the
poisoned darts of Graves's malignity, backed as they are by
the " North Carolina Publishing Society," can never pene¬
trate ! The proof that will establish the anti-republicanism
of Methodist episcopacy, will also convict the great and good
Washington of being a traitor to the cause of republicanism!
On page 311 of his book, Graves makes this assertion :
The Baptist Churches are pure democracies—are the only form of
purely democratic government in the world.
Robert Hall, the great apostle of the Baptist Church,
thought otherwise, and really vindicated the Baptists against
the foul charge of being republicans ! Hall thus repels the
charge of republicanism from all Dissenters, Baptists, and
others:—
Dissenters are reproached with the appellation of republicans, but
the truth of this charge has neither appeared from facts, nor been
supported by any reasonable evidence.—Works, vol. ii., p. 82.
As proof of Elder Hall's position in regard to his Church,
he could refer to the licentious madness of the German Bap¬
tists, or Anabaptists, as they were termed, who utterly de¬
tested the principles of republicanism, and considered it un¬
just to charge them with the sin of democracy I
Graves tells us that John Wesley was a loyal subject of an
English king; therefore our Methodist episcopacy, to which
he tells us Wesley was hostile, is anti-republican! Five
out of six Methodist preachers who were Englishmen returned
to their native country when the war of the Revolution broke
out j and, therefore, the SIXTY American preachers who, in
1784, organized the Methodist Episcopal Church, some years
afterwards, were anti-republicans, and their Church is hostile
to our free institutions—to all "the institutions for which
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 281
Washington fought and freemen died." Admirable logic,
Mr. Graves!
At the close of the war, Mr. Wesley addressed the Ameri¬
can Methodists, and in part in the following noble strains:
As our American brethren are totally disentangled, both from the
State and from the English hierarchy, we dare not entangle them
again, either with the one or the other; they are now at full liberty,
simply to follow the Scriptures and the primitive Church. And wo
judge it best that they should stand fast in that liberty wherewith God
has so strangely set them free.
Thus nobly spoke John Wesley. Could he be hostile to
our institutions, when he believed God had set these colonies
free ? See Bangs's History of the Methodist Church.
Even the great and good Baptist, Robert Hall, believed
and taught that John Wesley was one of the greatest, purest,
and most useful men, since the days of the apostles—in rela¬
tion to whom Mr. Hall said,—
Whitefield and Wesley will be hailed by posterity as the second
Reformers of England.
As the Baptist Church has been under way in the United
States at least one hundred years longer than the Methodist,
one would suppose that it is much the most numerous de¬
nomination. But no: the Methodists outnumber them two
to one ! But the " Methodist system is death to all the in¬
stitutions for which Washington fought and freemen died,"
and it is presumed that all native-born Americans and true
patriots would scorn to unite with such a despotic organiza¬
tion 1 But no : there are two to one of the best patriots and
most talented statesmen in the country connected with the
Methodist Church, preferring it to that of the Baptist com¬
munion. There is no accounting for men's tastes in these
days of railroads, steamboats, and progress 1
In this connection, I will introduce a chapter from the work
I published in 1842, as peculiarly applicable here :
282
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
STRENGTH OF PARTIES.
On page 290 of Mr. Howell's work, the eighteenth and last chapter
commences, and is headed—"Firm adherence to original principles
—our ultimate triumph!"
This chapter contains a labored argument against free communion
—calls close communion " original principles "—boasts that Baptists,
by adhering to this selfishness, will finally take the world! The con¬
cluding remarks of the chapter are, " Light is spreading—darkness
is receding.—Our triumph is not distant! "
In order to show how far Mr. Howell has missed the mark in his
confident boastings, we need only to submit a few historical facts
relative to dates, accompanied with an aggregate of each religious
denomination. According to Charles Buck, it appears that the
Baptist denomination was first formed into a sect of stability in 1526
—316 years ago. This was first formed in Europe. Well, accord¬
ing to Benedict, their own historian, the first Baptist church in
America was organized in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1639—203
years ago.
The rise of the Methodist Society in Europe, under John Wesley,
was in 1739—only 103 years ago. And in 1749 Mr. Wesley drew up
the "General Rules" contained in our Discipline, which have con¬
tinued to be the general rules of the societies, both in Europe and
America, to this day. The first Methodist preacher who ever held
forth in America was Philip Embuey, who commenced preaching in
the city of New York in the year 1766—only 76 years ago! And in
1768, the first Methodist house of worship was erected in John street,
in the city of New York—only 74 years ago. For the correctness of
these statements, we refer to Bangs's History of the Methodist Epis¬
copal Church, Vol. i. p. 46.
Now, the number of Baptists in the United States is 492,496, while
the Methodists number 850,000—nearly two for one! Thus it will be
seen that, although the Baptists commenced operations in the United
States 127 years before the Methodists did, the latter have nearly
doubled them. Whose " ultimate triumph" would seem to be near at
hand, according to this rule of figuring ? Before whom does it seem
that " darkness is receding ?" In whose hands is the sword of truth
used, so as to "take hold on the hearts of men?" Or, rather, whose
tardy movements, for the last two hundred years, in the language of
Milton, have seemed to "beam darkness visible?" Let Mr. Howell
answer.
But it may be said that we take sinners into the Church, and that
in this way we have swelled our numbers. Indeed, this is said. Not
only so, but many other invidious remarks are made, by way of com¬
parison, evidently intended to lower the standard of personal and
religious character in our Church. We have only to say, that the
members of the Methodist Church will bear an honorable comparison
with those of the Baptist Church, in any and every respect; and that
the great iron wheel examined.
283
there are as few thieves, liars, drunkards, Sabbath-breakers, swearers,
and loafers, among the Methodists, as there are among the Baptists.
For the sake of establishing the truth of our calculations, and for
the further information of the general reader, we copy the following
aggregate of each religious denomination, from Brown's Reference
Book of 1841, page 29 :
PRINCIPAL RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
Baptists
Methodists*
Protestant Methodists..
Congregationalists
Catholics, population.
Episcopalians, do
Universalists, do
Lutherans
Dutch Reformed
492,496
850,000
50,000
358,083
160,000
L,300,000
600,000
600,000
63.000
22,550
Christians 150,000
German Reformed 30,000
Unitarians 180,000
Mennonites 30,000
Friends 100,000
Jews 15,000
Moravians 5,800
Mormonists 65,000
Shakers 6,000
New Jerusalem 11,000
Making, together, 4,859,030 professors of religion, and allowing
three or four among the family or friends of each, and the number so
ascertained will include very nearly the entire population of the
United States as professors, friends, or believers in the eternal truths
of Divine revelation.
Graves ridicules the Methodist Church for the separation
which took place in 1844, and attributes the cause to the
government of the Church, and the ambition of a corrupt and
designing ministry! That was a glorious act on the part of
the Methodist Church, and a proud day in her history. It
was the Abolitionists of the North who rent in twain the
Methodist Church, in 1844. I will let Mr. Calhoun state
the case, as he did in his dying speech in the United States
Senate, on the 4th of March, 1850. He was posted on the
slavery question, in all its bearings. Speaking of the effect
of the Abolition agitation upon the religious cords which
assisted in holding the Union together, he said :
The first of these cords which snapped under its explosive force
(Abolitionism) was that of the powerful Methodist Episcopal Church.
The numerous and strong ties which held it together are all broke,
and its unity gone.
* The above calculation was made from the Methodist Minutes of 1841, since which
time the increaso of our societies has been unprecedented. We now number 900,000,
andupwardsl What the increase of other Churches has been, we have no means
of ascertaining. [We number now—1856—over a million and a quarter.]
284
the great iron wheel examined.
The next cord that snapped was that of the Baptist, one of the
largest and most respectable of the denominations. That of the
Presbyterian is not entirely snapped, but some of its strands have
given way.
It1 is in evidence, then, that the Methodist and Baptist
Churches have divided upon the slavery question. The
Dutch Reformed Church has since followed suit; and
during the sitting of the synod of this Church or denomina¬
tion, in New York, in October last, there was a warm discus¬
sion on the subject of fellowship with slaveholders, and an
anti-slavery position was taken ! The question of admitting
the Classis of North Carolina into the Synod was decided in
the negative, in a resolution offered by the Rev. Dr. Bethune,
of Brooklyn, by a vote of 55 to 84—showing the Aboli¬
tionists to have a majority of twenty-one in the Synod ! The
cause of exclusion was slavery, which is now agitating and
dividing the country, as it has done the Churches. The same
agitation is embracing the Presbyterian and Episcopal Churches,
and I believe they, too, will be rent in twain by it, as they
ought to be, unless the Northern fanatics cease their aggres¬
sions.
I have not intended to say, nor did Mr. Calhoun, that
any organic bond ever united the Baptist Church. The loose
and confused nature of their Church government is such, that
every Baptist congregation is a separate and independent
organization. They never had a General Assembly, a General
Conference, or a General Convention. Nothing over, under,
around, or through, ever formed them into one body! Outside
of the Church, certain voluntary societies were formed several
years ago, consisting of individuals of the Baptist persuasion,
whose objects were the publication of books, and the sending
of missionaries into foreign fields of labor. To these socie¬
ties, churches of that " faith and order" sent their money, or
withheld it—purchased books from them, or got them else-
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
285
where, just as they pleased. Even in this there was no orga¬
nic bond of union, and no obligation acknowledged! In
process of time, certain Northern Abolition Baptists raised
an outcry against sending slaveholders abroad as missionaries,
upon the funds of said society! The North and the South
agreed to separate amicably, and partition out the missionary
ground. This took place in 1845; and this is what Mr. Cal¬
houn meant by the division of the Baptist Church, because it
was occasioned by means of the Abolition agitation ! Since
that period, a Southern Baptist Publication Society has been
organized, which has widened the breach between the North
and South!
And now, people of the South, why is it that Elder Graves
can publish a book of 570 pages, north of Mason and Dixon's
Line, WHERE HE WAS BORN, and. discuss so many
different subjects, some of them growing directly out of the
slavery agitation, and never say one word AGAINST ABO¬
LITIONISM, or one word in favor of SOUTHERN SLA¬
VERY ? After leaving New England, it is said that he took
up his abode in the "Western Reserve," in Ohio, and in
Indiana, the great theatre of Free-Soilism! It has, moreover,
been said of him, that he was an Abolitionist before he came
here to reside! One thing is certain—he keeps very dark
upon this grave question, and ought to be made to come out
explicitly, if he concludes to take up his permanent abode in
the South!
We are on the eve of unconjecturable events, and every
Southern man ought to show his hand. Look at the conduct
of Congress! A struggle of unequalled fury is swiftly
approaching us; and if the ties of our cherished Union come
out of it unrent, they are made of sterner stuff than the
history of the past would seem to warrant! The bonds of the
Union have resisted political agitation, but can they withstand
religious fury ? Abolitionism has travelled from political
286 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
dominion to religious conviction, and has infected the whole
mind and heart of the North. Under its palsying touch,
some of the strongest cords that held the Union together
have snapped: others are now assailed, and I fear will give
way ! Elder Graves is suspected of unsoundness upon this
question; and if these suspicions be well-grounded, as I have
reason to fear they are, he is a dangerous man to be operating
in the South!
GRAVES HAS ONE FACE FOR ASP ONE AOAINST KNOV'-NOTIIINOISM.—S06 Chap, xii
the great iron wheel examined. 287
CHAPTER XVtil.
Graves for and against Know-Nothingism—A two-faced and insincere
man—The "State Line Baptist Association" endorsing Graves's
paper and book—Criticisms upon that endorsement, and the char¬
acters of the members of the Association—Their endorsement of
Orchard's History of Foreign Baptists—New Version Baptists—
Their fraudulent demagogueism, and ulterior objects!
Being identified with one of the great political parties ot"
the country, and being the editor of a political journal, it has
been my constant aim, in the preparation of this work, to
avoid any collision with an opposing political party, or the
introduction of any matter into this work that would arouse
the prejudices of political parties. My design has been, and
still is, in this work, to preserve the mind free from all im¬
proper bias, and to discuss the great issues involved in the
slanders of Elder Graves against the Church of which I have
had the honor to be a member and a minister, for thSse thirty
years past.
But to show up the inconsistencies of Elder Graves, and
his two-faced course even in politics, which is but faintly
shadowed forth by the engraving attached to this chapter, I
will present him as THE KNOW-NOTHING CHAMPION
of 1854, and again as the REV. ANTI-KNOW-NOTHING
of 1855 ! This expos£—not intended to have any bearing in
politics, either pro or con—will aid in illustrating the char¬
acter of the man, as the dirty ear-wig of Baptist exclusive-
288
THE GliEAT IKON WHEEL EXAMINED.
ness—the geographical location of whose moral and political
principles is nowhere, and the tenants of whose heaven are
the haggard phantoms of an overheated imagination — a
mockery of a man not entitled to the confidence of Southern
men, coming, as he has done, from an Abolition State, and
being suspected of orthodoxy upon the great and exciting
topic of slavery! For by the same rule and in the same
manner that he would be a Know-Nothing in 1854, and an
Anti in 1855, he might still harbor all the Free-Soil preju¬
dices of his native State and raising. Ay, his code of morals,
and his mode of reasoning, enable him to assume the position
of an "illustrious predecessor," of whom the poet says:
He'd prove a buzzard is no fowl,
And that a lord may be an owl:
A calf an alderman, a goose a justice,
And rooks committee-men and trustees.
In 1854, when Know-Nothingism was sweeping every
thing before it—at least as was supposed—Elder Graves came
out with the following editorial, in the "Tennessee Baptist"
of August 26:
KNOW-NOTHINGS.
If we can read the "signs of the times," the Know-Nothings are
organizing in great strength in this city, and the order will spread
with great rapidity throughout the State, and without doubt will
carry the next elections triumphantly over all parties.
Nothing is more evident than that our political parties have become
sadly, deplorably corrupt. Our politicians, like so many wolves,
wrangle and fight for the spoils of party. Congress has become a
most shameful and disgraceful scene of drunkenness, riot, and cau-
cussing for the Presidency, and the minor offices of the government.
The foreign element is increasing in fearful ratio. Nearly one million
per annum of foreign Catholics, German infidels—who, though
opposed in all else, are agreed in the subversion of our free institu¬
tions—are pouring in upon us, and the tide is increasing. These
foreigners have already commenced their warfare upon the use of the
Bible in our public schools—against our free school system—against
our Sabbath—against our laws. They boldly threaten to overthrow
our Constitution, through the profligacy of our politicians; and we
see our candidates for political preferment pandering more and more
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
289
to the Catholic and foreign influence. We see from the last census
that the majority of the civil and municipal offices of this government
are to-day in the hands of Catholics and foreigners: an overwhelming
majority of our army and navy are foreign Catholics. They hear the
editors of Catholic papers, who are endorsed by their Archbishops,
threatening in these words:
If the Catholics ever gain—which tlicy surely will do, though at a distant day
■ -au immense numerical majority, religious freedom in this country is at an end.
So say our enemies. So we believe.
"The Rambler," an organ of Popery in England, says:
Religious liberty, in the sense of a liberty possessed by every man to choose bis
own religion, is one of the most wicked delusions ever foisted upon this ape by the father
of all deceit. The very name of liberty, except in the sense of a permission to dc
certain definite acts, ought to be banished from the domain of religion. It is neither
more nor less than a falsehood. No man has a right to choose his religion.
Thousands and hundreds of thousands of American citizens and
Christians, who love their country better than party, and who nobly
prefer to struggle and sacrifice even blood if it shall need it, to per¬
petuate this glorious legacy of our hero-fathers and martyrs of the
Revolution, rather than to wrangle and prostitute their principles for
the spoils of party, are banding themselves together, determined to
Know Nothing but the safety and best good of their country, and of
their whole country. The following are said to be the leading prin¬
ciples of the Know-Nothings:
1. Repeal of the Naturalization Laws.
2. None hut NATIVE AMERICANS for office.
3. A pure American Common School System.
4. Opposition, first and last, to the formation of military companies
composed of foreigners.
5. War to the hilt on Romanism.
6. The advocacy of a sound, healthy, and safe Nationality.
7. Hostility to all Papal influences, in whatever form and under
whatever name.
8. American institutions and American sentiments. '
9. More stringent and' cffective Emigration Laws.
10. The amplest protection of Protestant interests.
11. The doctrines of the revered WASHINGTON, and his com¬
patriots.
12. The sending back of all foreign paupers and convicts landed
cn our shores.
13. The formation of societies to protect American interests.
14. Eternal enmity to all who attempt to carry out the principles
of a foreign Church or State.
15. Our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country.
10. And finally, American laws, American legislation, and death to
all foreign influences, whether in high places or low !
If we could be allowed to add one or two more, we would Know
Nothing in politics save these principles. We have for years clearly
13
290
the great iron wheel examined.
seen, and so preached and so 'written, that within a few years there
would be but two great parties in this Bepublic—the American Pro¬
testant party, and the Foreign Catholic and infidel party; and every
true patriot and Christian will be compelled to take sides, or be
branded as a traitor. Then it will be the duty of the minister, as well
as the member, to become a politician; and the politics of that day
will needs be preached from the pulpit and prayed around the family
altars, and enter into and affect all the interests and relations of life.
When the crisis comes, we expect to be found in the field; and upon
the stump, if we shall possess an influence that is needed. We hail
the omens of this day: this society, or party, or whatever it is, is the
budding of great hopes. It bids fair to revolutionize and obliterate
the existing political parties; and if it does nothing more, it will
have done a good and saving work.
We commend the above principles, and a few more, to the serious
and favorable attention of Christians and patriots.
Now, in October, 1855, wben tbe current of public opinion
seemed, at least, to have set in against tbese principles—
principles wbicb tbe reverend elder so mucb cberisbed, and
in defence of wbicb be was ready to take the stump—be
came out and denied any approval of said principles, or
sympathy for tbem; and published such an article as drew
from Judge Longstreet, a Methodist preacher of Missis¬
sippi, the following card, which I copy from the Memphis
Appeal for October, 1855 :
THE BEY. J. B. GBAVES, OF TENNESSEE.
Through the kindness of a Baptist friend and brother, I have just
been favored with a perusal of the following from the pen of the Rev.
J. B. Graves:
"Judge Longstreet.—We understand that this gentleman is charg¬
ing us with being a Know-Nothing, and the Great Iron Wheel is a
Know-Nothing work. We pronounce both statements false. The
work was written years before Know-Nothingism was born, and we
have never been a Know-Nothing."
In answer to the foregoing, I have to say that there is not one word,
syllable, or letter of truth in the information which Mr. Graves has
received. I do not think that I ever uttered his name five times in
my life, and I am confident that I never uttered it since the rise of
Know-Nothingism in this country. Nor did it ever pass my lips in
any unkind, uncharitable, or unbrotherly connection whatever. I
never saw the "Great Iron Wheel," and, of course, never read a lino
of it in my life. No Methodist has ever been upon better terms with
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 291
his Baptist brethren than I have always been ; and never was I upon
better terms with them than I am just at this time. I respectfully
inquire of Mr. Graves, whether he has gained any thing by forcing
this correspondence before the public? Would it not have been as
well for him, and, perchance, far better for me, that it should have
been conducted privately ? But, as I have said, for the kindness of a
member of his Church, I should never have seen his publication; and
then, after waiting a reasonable time for a reply, he might have pro¬
claimed me to the public as neither a "Christian," a "gentleman,"
nor an "honest man." He will, of course, give my reply a place in
his paper. I will thank him for the number in which he inserts it.
A. B. Longstreet.
The honest truth is, Graves had never heard that Longstreet
had charged him with being a " Know-Nothing." He fabri¬
cated the charge for the sole purpose of having a chance to
deny that he was one. He had been talking, writing, and
even preaching, in favor of the new political party. He sup¬
posed that they would carry every State by storm; and if his
expectations had been realized, he would have continued their
advocate. But at the time of writing the editorial from which
Longstreet copies, the elections had generally gone against the
Know-Nothings. Besides, at the time of Graves's denial,
there were strong prejudices getting up against many Method¬
ist preachers in Tennessee, who were either justly or unjustly
charged with favoring the principles and aims of the new
party! So far as Graves honestly entertained any political
principles, they were doubtless in accordance with those of
the Know-Nothings, as published by him; but his determi¬
nation was to be on the strong side, and hence he was hesi¬
tating, doubting, hoping, and expecting—while his motto
was, and still is—
Some said, Graves, go it; others said, not so.
Some said, it might do good; others said, no.
At last I thought, since you are so divided,
I '11 mount Sam not; and so the case decided.
It is this disposition to "become all things to all men," for
the sake of gain, or rather the sale of his book at the North,
292
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
"where he was brought up, that he has waded through 570 pages,
without defining his position upon the slavery question! Nay,
when the question came up as connected with the division of
the Methodist Church South, from that of the Church North,
which was alone on account of slavery, he seems not to know
it, and accounts for the separation on the ground of the defects
in our system!
I now have before me a pamphlet copy of the " Minutes
of the Ninth Annual Meeting of the State Line Baptist
Association, held with the Antioch Baptist Church, Bradley
County, Tennessee, October 20th, 1855, and days following."
I copy from this remarkable publication the following "Re¬
port," signed by "B. Williams, Chairman
Report on Publications.—We recommend the Bible, the book of all
books, the source of all knowledge, the pilgrim's way-bill from earth
to heaven. Also, the Library, the Encyclopedia of Religious Know¬
ledge, and Orchard's History of Foreign Baptists; and as periodicals,
the Home and Foreign Journal, the Tennessee Baptist, in particular,
inasmuch as it is a fearless and bold advocate of the PRINCIPLES
OF OUR HOLY RELIGION; also, the IRON WHEEL!!!
Now, this " State Line Association" I know to be a one-
horse association, composed of a body of ministers who, to
say the least of it, if called of God to preach and expound
his word, are not equal to the task, for the want of sense,
education, and other acquirements! Let any one of them
attempt the discussion of an important passage of Scripture
—one which has been, and still is, the subject of theological
disputations—and the mind of an intelligent man passes suc¬
cessively through the stages of regret, pity, disgust, and
finally contempt, for one who, instead of proving himself "a
Greek indeed," sinks at once into a deformed, wrangling
bigot, whose claims upon public respect, even for his office's
sake, vanish at the first touch of analysis! Some of them
are distinguished about the "State Line," among their people]
the great iron wheel examined.
293
but they have risen to distinction, however, upon the principle
that a dwarf will tower when surrounded by pigmies !
Without intending to call in question the piety of these
men, we are warranted in saying that in their discussions,
nine times out of ten, nothing can be found worthy of the
name of an argument. Logic, eloquence, wit, sarcasm, gram¬
mar, illustration, argument, taste, unction—all and singular,
are utterly wanting. Their sermons (if it be lawful to dub
their incoherent ravings thus) are at best but the undigested
outbreaks of those who have more partisan zeal than scriptural
knowledge, conveyed in language which the revision of a
competent reporter can scarcely make grammatical, and
adorned with vulgar comparisons, exceptionable interjections,
stale quotations, hackneyed phrases, and "halt and blind"
metaphors! And yet, these men alone have a right to exe¬
cute the ministerial office—they alone have received a Divine
commission; and the exclusive right of granting this com¬
mission ie vested in them, as successors of the apostles!
Bishop Soele, of the Methodist Church, or Dr. Ely, of the
Presbyterian denomination, may each baptize a person, and
baptize by immersion, too; but neither of these distinguished
divines being in the regular line of succession from the first
immersionist down—a requisite without which a valid Chris¬
tian ministry cannot exist—should these persons conclude to
attach themselves to the Baptist Church, they must be rebap-
tized by a Baptist preacher, because, forsooth, he alone has
the authority to baptize, and he alone possesses the power of
ordaining and commissioning ministers to feed the flock of
Christ!
This ignorant Association, it will be seen, has styled Graves's
book of 570 pages a "periodical," and classed it with the
"Home and Foreign Journal," and "Tennessee Baptist."
One might think they had never seen the work, and labored
under the mistaken idea of its being a weekly or monthly
294
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
magazine ! Or, forsooth, they may have heard that the Olym¬
piads among the Greeks, and the Jubilees of the Jews, were
periodical! But this could not he, for the whole Association
could not tell that Olympiad took its name from Olympus, a
mountain of Macedonia; or that the period of four years,
reckoned from one celebration of the Olympic games to ano¬
ther, constitutes an important epoch in history and chronology!
The first Olympiad commenced 776 years before the birth of
Christ, and 23 years before the foundation of Home. But
that Association would not admit these facts, lest they might
invalidate John's baptism !
u Orchard's History of Foreign Baptists" is a very absurd
and contradictory, not to say ridiculous work, published by
Graves for the two-fold purpose of making money out of the
sales, and of bolstering up his favorite theory of immersion,
and of a regular succession from John the Baptist on the part
of Baptist preachers! It was well enough "for the " State
Line Baptist Association" to endorse that work, although it
is questionable whether any one of the body had ever criti¬
cally examined it.
In their endorsement of the " Tennessee Baptist," I sup¬
pose they intended to approve its abuse and slander generally,
and with it to go for and against Know-Nothingism. This is
well enough !
In reference to the " Iron Wheel," I presume they act
under standingly, as it is now in very general circulation
among their people. A reference to what I have brought to
light, in the preceding pages of this work, will show what
this Association have approved !
In their recommendation of the " Bible as the book of all
books, the source of all knowledge, the pilgrim's way-bill from
earth to heaven," much depends upon what edition or version
of the Bible they are for! If they go for the present author¬
ised version of the Holy Scriptures, known as King James's
the great iron wheel examined. 295
translation of the Bible, I am with them, and agree with them
that it is all they have represented it to be, and even more !
But if they go for the new Baptist version of the Bible, in¬
tended to teach that immersion is exclusively baptism, thus
perverting the word of God, I receive no such "pilgrim's
way-bill from earth to heaven;" for when I leave for that
" immortal clime," I desire to go the " overland route," and
not by water !
I have with me the united opinion of Protestant Europe
and America that there exists no necessity for a new transla¬
tion of the Bible. Those who believe otherwise are a set of
men whose hopeless lapse into bigotry Would prevent their
belief of the truth "though one rose from the dead" and tes¬
tified thereto ! Discreet, learned, arid thinking men, in the
South and West, are tired of listening to the prating of a
little, ignorant, plebeian dynasty, in this State, and another in
that, about " the new version, the pure word of God"—a set
of ignorant pretenders, who have scarcely mastered the spel¬
ling-booh I
Just in this connection, I deem it proper to call the atten¬
tion of the reader to a hypocritical fraud which is being used
by Revision Baptists, both in the pulpit and through the
press, to gull and deceive the masses upon this subject.
They are pleading, in justification of a new version, that " the
American Bible Society had found twenty-four thousand
errors in our present English Bible." In the spirit of
demagogueism, these "new version" Baptist preachers appeal to
the people, asking them, "Who would plead for a Bible that
has twenty-four thousand mistakes in it ?" These vile sect¬
arians, these specious deceivers, never tell the masses the
nature of those errors—that they are unimportant, consisting
of errors in orthography, punctuation, italic words, etc., etc.,
such as in no way affect the sense of the reading I I close
my remarks upon this point by quoting a few paragraphs from
296
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
the pen of one who is well posted in all that relates to the
subject under consideration :—
The only thing that can be pleaded from the action of the American
Bible Society is that our present English Bible has these errors, which
have multiplied in process of time to this enormous extent, and which
they have already corrected, as their report shows, and the edition
thus corrected is now for sale in various parts of the country. The
American Bible Society reported the necessity of correcting the mis¬
takes, not the necessity of a new version.
The American Bible Society, after a rigid scrutiny of our English
Bible, pronounce it "inimitable:" the Baptists denounce it as "im¬
pure !"
How ridiculous to meet in Memphis in April, 1852, and plead that
the American Bible Society has found twenty-four thousand errors,
and, therefore, we must have a new version, when every member of
this convention might have brought the Bible, corrected by the So¬
ciety, with him to Memphis for sale. The American Bible Society
desired our English Bible corrected: the Baptists desire a new transla¬
tion, which will translate bapto, baptizo, and their cognates, by terms
which signify to immerse.
How, then, can any man plead the action of the American Bible
Society as favoring the project of a new version ? while it is clear the
former condemns the action of the latter, and absolutely reports that
there exists no necessity for such version.
We may call the attention of the reader to another subject inti¬
mately connected with the above. It is this: That our brethren who
believe in ultra-immersion will not agree to be governed by the origi¬
nal copy published by the King, and denominated in the parlance of
the historian the standard Bible. Nor is it likely they will agree to
make the Bible translated by Archbishop Cranmer the basis of any
subsequent version.
The whole class of ultra-immersionists most manifestly design to
condemn and bring into disrepute the present received version, and
by this manoeuvre pave the way for the reception of such a version
as will teach clearly and irrevocably their particular views on the
mode of baptism.
the great iron wheel examined.
297
CHAPTER XIX.
The consideration of certain miscellaneous items bearing upon the
merits of this controversy—The " Biblical Recorder" charges that
Methodism is a human invention—Defends Graves against Method¬
ist slanders—Methodists shrink from investigation—Speech of Rev
Dr. Slambangus in Raleigh—Powell's Valley Association—Th«
renegade Jewett, of Ohio—North Carolina Baptists vs. Missionary,
Bible, Tract, Sunday-school, and Temperance Societies—Methodists
falsely accused of rebaptizing—Absurd position of Close Com¬
munion Baptists—Guilty of treason against God!
Time and space — those potent and universal influences—
compelled me to conclude some of the preceding chapters of
this work more rapidly than I should otherwise desire, and
consequently to omit a notice of divers small points and
issues raised by Elder Graves and his ghostly conscience-
keepers, especially of the "North Carolina Publishing So¬
ciety" of the Baptist Church ! It is my purpose now, how¬
ever, to dwell somewhat at length upon the beneficial results
accruing to the religious world from the learned criticisms of
the organ of that society at Raleigh—which is proving, by
the clearest demonstrations, that upon Baptist journalists, of
the Graves school, devolves the duty of propagating refined
and general intelligence, critical and correct ideas of litera¬
ture and art, and a true taste for exalted and enlightened
Christian charity!
To be serious, there is no other power in the United States
which has within its immediate reach the means of doing so
much public good as the Press. Compared with it, the
13*
298
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
school-house, the bar, the pulpit, sink into insignificance.
I confine this sweeping declaration to the United States.
The productions of the periodical press of this country
are the morning and evening companions of the Ameri¬
can citizen; and, like the eyes of Argus, its admonitions, for
good or for evil, are seen and felt everywhere in the land.
Unfortunately for the character of the religious portion of the
press, there are to be found such sheets as the " Tennessee
Baptist," now published at Nashville—a most delectable,
sweet-perfumed nosegay for such of our Baptist brethren to
smell at as conduct the " Biblical Recorder," a Baptist jour¬
nal published in Raleigh, a truly spiritual mustard-pot, every
issue of which will make the soul of a Baptist sneeze with de¬
votion to the cause of immersion ! That print arrogates to
itself, like the " Canon of the Covenant," published at Nash¬
ville, the right to pronounce judgment upon all matters of
public or private import—religious, social, or political; and
this right seems confirmed by general Baptist acquiescence!
Some unknown friend has sent me a number of the "Bibli¬
cal Recorder" of recent date, in which I find a correspondent,
endorsed by the editor, referring to Graves's publication, in
which the Methodists as a denomination, and Methodism as a
system, are caricatured, traduced, vilified, and blackguarded
after a style derogatory to the heads of Billingsgate fish-
women, and to the spirit which governed the /Spanish Inquisi¬
tion I This correspondent, a welcome contributor to the
" Recorder's" chaste columns, gives these crumbs of comfort
for the chickens of the Baptist covenant:
If Methodism is a work of God, will it not bear the closest scrutiny
and the strictest examination ? What will the opponents of Methodism
think, when they behold its advocates shrinking from the light, and
endeavoring to overwhelm with calumny and slander a man who has
dared to investigate the subject, and to express the decided convic¬
tions of his judgment? Human workmanship will not bear close
scrutiny.
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 299
There is a falsehood involved in this declaration against
which I enter my protest. The Methodists fear the " closest
scrutiny and the strictest examination !" When did Method¬
ists shun the " closest scrutiny and the strictest examination"
into their entire system, whether of doctrines or polity ? They
never did—they never will I This is a vile misrepresentation
of the whole of the eventful career of Methodism, both in
Europe and America. Methodism has been assailed on both
sides of the Atlantic by men of much more force of character
and brilliancy of intellect than the reverend blackguard of
the u Tennessee Baptist" could bring to bear against it, and
it not only stood firm, but faced the foe, and battled success¬
fully for its principles. Wesley, Fletcher, Clarke, and Wat¬
son, investigated all the peculiarities of Methodism against a
host of learned and profound enemies beyond the Atlantic,
overturning their flimsy arguments, driving them to call for
quarters, and actually conquering a peace! In America,
Doctors Bangs, Fisk, Bond, Emory, and others, investigated
the charges against Methodism, and scrutinized, the slanders
of her enemies, until some of them were ashamed to avow
themselves the authors of what they had written, and others
retired upon their dignity, leaving their own cherished Rab-
'binical legends and Brahminical vagaries to vanish before the
light of truth! Glo back to the assaults of 1825, '30, and
'32, upon Methodist doctrines and polity, and it will be seen
that the holy fathers and friars of the infernal Inquisition
were not more vindictive and implacable than were those ene¬
mies against whom Drs. Bangs and Emory contended. Their
horribly intolerant, bigoted, and persecuting spirit, came in
thunders and anathemas from their desks; in cants, whispers,
and innuendoes, among the throng : it came larded with much
holy grimace, and many sanctimonious sighs for the credu¬
lous and pious; with much logical jargon and " biblical"
criticism for smatterers, such as admire the style of the " Re-
300
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
cordcr;" with spleen and gall enough, when the company
had sufficient pride and malice to bear it; and with fire¬
brands for all the young foxes they could catch!
Methodists shrink from investigation—shun close scrutiny
—dodge strict examination! The history of Methodism in
every State in this Union gives the lie direct to the insinua¬
tion. Methodists invite discussion, and challenge investiga¬
tion into all they have ever said or done, or the founder and
fathers of their Church before them. And by the time the
"Biblical Recorder" and its blustering correspondent wade
through the pages of this work, they will conclude that some
of the Methodists are looking into matters wholly without the
precincts of their own territory! But the cry is raised in
advance that this is a case in which Methodists are " shrink¬
ing from the light, and are endeavoring to overwhelm with
calumny and slander." The "Recorder" had no doubt
learned, or if it had not its correspondent had, that a reply
to the "man who has dared to investigate the subject" of
Methodist polity would be forthcoming in due time, and that
this war-horse of " Iron Wheel" notoriety would be made to
look less like a successor of the apostles than they could de¬
sire ! Cry slander, if you choose—it will not protect your man
Graves : the atrocity of his slanders shall stand forth without
a rival and beyond comparison. A pretty set to speak of a
resort to slander! Who is more prone to denunciation and
slander than the author of the " Iron Wheel ?" When he has
exhausted his topics of argument, and that he can soon do,
without a miracle, he resorts to a low species of sarcasm and
ridicule, and to downright and outright lying, and here his
talents arc wonderful: Hercules comes in " head and shoul¬
ders." The conductors of the "Biblical Recorder" and the
editor of the " Tennessee Baptist" have contrived a reciprocity
of interest and obligation, and they advance upon each other
with the proper overture, ((Titilla me et titillaho te;" and
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
301
then they meet without the fear of a repulse. But the man
of the " Recorder" and his sapient correspondent would do
well to pause and reflect, and see that they are not led astray
by Graves, and swayed by prejudice and malice, at the ex¬
pense of truth—a tool for others to work with, till they find
themselves in a condition to use such tools as they themselves
once were—sectarians, bigots, false accusers of the brethren;
any thing which the pliant qualities of Proteus can be wrought
into, and every thing which their sectarian jealousy and un-
sanctified ambition may dictate. I fear their blustering as¬
saults upon Methodism arise from too high an opinion of their
own importance, and of the overshadowing greatness of their
Church. Men may become very extravagant on these points.
It is recorded of two Roman emperors—I believe Diocletian
and Galerius—that they once, in conversation, expressed them¬
selves in the following manner:
Diocl. When I am dead and in my urn,
May earth and fire together burn,
And all the world to cinders turn!
Gal. Nay, while I live I would desire
To set the universe on fire!
To give force and grandeur to the language of passion,
rage, and falsehood, in connection with Methodism, seems to
be the chief aim of Graves, whose striking characteristics are
restless pride without gratification; ostentation without motive
or reward; professions without sincerity; ceremony without
comfort; laughter without joy; smiles with concealed rancor;
approbation alloyed with envy; and vociferous praises dying
away into the whispers of calumny !
The reader will bear in mind that this " Recorder" is the
home organ of the grave " Publishing Society" whose learned
and conscientious members challenged Drs. Smith, Deems,
and Lee, to meet their idol Graves, in the city of Raleigh,
" in mortal combat," upon the issues made in his book. Let
302 the great iron wheel examined.
us fancy to ourselves that the battle is to come off, and, fur
ther, that we see some oracle of ecclesiastical jurisprudence,,
who had been regularly immersed, rising slowly from his seat.
Ah! 'tis he : it is the Rev. Dr. Slambangus, correspondent
of the " Recorder," whose endorsement of Graves's slanders
has well-nigh got him out of temporal employ! While he
lays.back his foretop, and raises and waves his hand, to put
the humeri extensores in tune for harmonious action; while
the ophthalmic muscles, with awful convergence, point the
visual ray level, beneath a superciliary nexus of majesty and
thought, as when the sun from the eastern horizon shows
half its orb beneath a line of darkness, an attention spreads
that would almost render thoughts audible, and give an echo
to silence itself. He speaks, the chair being filled by an ad¬
mirer of Graves, who has " gone down into and come up out
of the water!"
Mr. Moderator :—
When I consider the dignity of the chair you fill, the dig¬
nity of the occasion upon which we have convened, which
dignity is all derived from the dignity of HIM who fills the
chair, and of HIM who wrote the book which has caused this
discussion, who is promoted by the dignitaries of the Church
to be the chief dignitary of all the dignitaries of this EC¬
CLESIASTICAL COURT, I feel MYSELF dignified while
I dignify YOU, Sir, who are dignified by those whom all men
dignify! Sir, I rise to move you, that there shall, at the
close of this debate, be established a seminary of Ecclesiasti¬
cal or Canon Law, in which there shall be three professor¬
ships, all to be filled by Baptist preachers: the first, to form
into a body of reports the decisions of all judicatories, drawn
from their records and judgment-rolls, every Baptist congre¬
gation being a judicatory; the second, from these reports, and
from our standards, "Orchard's History of Foreign Baptists,"
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
303
and "The Great Iron Wheel/' to form regular digests, pan¬
dects, or codices legum ecclesiasticorum ; the third, to arrange
and complete a lexicon of legal terms and phrases, adapted to
the "New Version," to be entitled, Lexicon Verborum Theo-
logiorum Ecclesiasticorumque; and furthermore, that the
theological course of every candidate for the ministry in our
said Baptist Church shall be the study of the "Iron Wheel,"
without prayers, and of "Orchard's History of Foreign Bap¬
tists," with a mixture of corn whisky, which I presume every
one will see to be of vital importance to the ministerial char¬
acter ! Sir, this would be a shot aimed at the Devil's head¬
quarters of Methodism ! It' would be baking our biscuits in
the big Dutch oven of Charity, carefully conserved with the
spirit of the Reverend Rooster of the " Tennessee Baptist,"
leavened with the leaven of Free-soilism from the "Western
Reserve," and perfumed with the honeysuckles of the slander
suit in Henderson county !
But Methodism is " human workmanship, and will not bear
close scrutiny." Indeed! Were we living in the days of
the inspired apostles, we might pause to argue this question
of a " Divine right" to preach the word and to administer the
ordinances of the Church. Or did this charge come from
an inspired prophet or apostle, we should pause to look into
its merits; but coming from a Church having no regular and
uniform system of government, every separate congregation
doing just as it may choose, and undoing to-day what a neigh¬
boring congregation may have done on yesterday; a Church
professing one faith in one county or State, and another and a
different faith in an adjoining county or State; a Church mak¬
ing war upon Bible, Tract, Sabbath-school, Temperance, and
Missionary Societies here, and advocating each and all of
those yonder, as the intelligence of the community may seem
to call for it; a Church commissioning and sending forth a
set of young and old, ignorant, uneducated, and uncouth men
804
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
to preach God's word, who have not sense enough to tell
whether the United States are in North or South America-
all held together by the cohesive power and attraction of
water—to talk about " human workmanship" in other branches
of the Church is preposterous ! But if it be true that the
Methodist system is even a well-regulated human invention,
it has greatly the advantage of the Baptist organization, for
that is a botched affair in every respect.
Methodism is "human workmanship, and will not bear
close scrutiny," writes the " Recorder," and so writes Elder
Graves before that print, and in divers places ! The design
of this figure is to convey the false idea to the mind that the
doctrines and discipline of the Methodist Church have no
foundation in Scripture, and are only the works of man.
Judge Blackstone somewhere remarks, that a man ignorant
of human laws, who falls into transgression, may, through
the imperfection of human administration, be holden to the
legal penalty, but, nevertheless, cannot be, in the eyes of so¬
ciety, or even of the law itself, impeached of moral or politi¬
cal turpitude, unless the transgression be of a nature which
the universal laws of society forbid; which qualification sup¬
poses that he might have known better I In this case, I can¬
not enter the plea of ignorance for the "Recorder" and
Graves : they both knew better. They have wilfully and in¬
tentionally lied, and have thereby committed an offence which
the universal laws of society forbid, to say nothing of the
express law of God. The shameless and strenuous vindica¬
tion of error and selfishness, so prominent in all the writing,
conversation, preaching of Graves, and, I am sorry to add, in
the conduct of his understrikers dispersed throughout tho
South and West—for they are all of a piece—the virulence
with which they attack all idea of disinterestedness, even in
the great concerns of religion, justify the conclusion that th«
pursuit of self-interest is their supreme object.
The great iron wheel examined. 305
All that i.s charged in this Baptist journal is repeated, and
even more and worse, in Graves's slanderous book, which goes
out to the world with the endorsement of the "North Caro¬
lina Publishing Society" of the Baptist Church. What is
charged? Why, that the Methodists, far and wide, are a
generation of sectarian dupes, or of pious knaves. Their
whole system of doctrines and polity is the wicked contrivance
of men—it is the result of "human workmanship." If
human, of course it is not Divine: if of man, it cannot be
of God, and ought not to be sanctioned in Protestant Christ¬
endom. The Methodist common masses are all ignorant
dolts; their leaders are all wicked deceivers; their doctrines
are all unscriptural; the whole Church is a mass of corrup¬
tion and moral putrefaction ! This is substantially the charge,
and it is endorsed by the " North Carolina Publishing Society"
of the Baptist Church!
As the Baptist denomination is superhuman, and its
acts are all by Divine authority, let us look into some of them,
and see how they will compare with the " human workman¬
ship" of Methodism. The "Powell's Yalley Association," in
East Tennessee, consisting of nineteen churches, reported its
proceedings in the " Louisville Banner," for the year 1842,
the organ then of the denomination in the South-west,^.s it
still is to a very great extent, though the name of the paper
is changed. Prom this report and this paper I make the fol¬
lowing extract, which, though coming from a Church claim¬
ing to be in a regular line of succession from John the Bap¬
tist, and even Christ himself, I must say, argues a dark-
minded Christianity:
Powell's Yalley Association.—This is a new test association, and
carrios the matter somewhat further than most of their brethren.
They do not recognize as valid the baptism of any one who has re¬
ceived that ordinance from a Baptist minister who is friendly to mis¬
sions, or from a Baptist minister who is friendly to any minister who is
friendly to missions I All such persons, if they join them, must be re-
306
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
baptized. We have some " out and out" brethren in Tennessee. Tha
Powell's Valley excommunicated at their last session three other as¬
sociations and all who correspond with them.
Here were THREE ASSOCIATIONS EXCOMMUNI¬
CATED—the bull of the true Church hurled at them, because
they were friendly to the cause of Christian missions! Will
it be said these were Hard-shells ? They were immersionists,
holding to the loose form of Church government adhered
to by the hundred and one factions into which immersionists
are divided, some contending for one peculiarity, and some
another ; but all agreeing harmoniously that there is no salva¬
tion out of their fold !
A certain Mr. Jewett, a renegade from the Presbyterian min¬
istry, one whose order of talents did not secure to him a com¬
fortable support in that Church, went over to the Graves and
Howell wing of the Baptist denomination a few years ago; and
at Marietta, Ohio, published a book in favor of his new asso¬
ciates, and against all others not of that " faith and order."
On page 110 of this work, Mr. Jewett thus boasts of the ab
sence of all system, order, and government in the Baptist
Church—unimportant items, which had given him some un¬
easiness while a Presbyterian:
Without creed or catechism, without General Assemblies, or other
high judicatories of the Church, without Archbishops or Bishops,
Baptists have walked together harmoniously, uniting with each other
in efforts to extend Christ's kingdom, till they embrace in their
churches a larger body of- believers than any other denomination in
the United States.
"A larger body of believers I" Believers in what? Why,
in baptism by immersion, as the only scriptural mode, and the
only possible road to heaven ! Well, I grant it; and God for¬
bid that "any other denomination in the United States"
should ever equal them in numbers of this faith !
A few years ago, the Baptists of North Carolina published
a pamphlet, officially setting forth their views of missions,
tiie great iron wheel examined.
307
Bible, tract, Sunday-school, and temperance societies, as of
"human workmanship," and not entitled to the esteem and
confidence of true believers in Christ! This infidel produc¬
tion was republished, with approbation, at Jonesborough, by
Elder Bayless, the bell-wether of the Graves wing of that
Church in Upper East Tennessee, and extensively circulated.
From this singular production, commencing on page 11th, I
give such extracts as follow:
The fourth religion I shall notice as having been established in the
world, is the missionary establishment; and will examine that for the
marks of craft. It is abundantly harped upon that Jesus Christ and
his apostles were all missionaries: that is agreed to, as to words or
office, but here lies the great matter in dispute: were they craft men?
did they make gain by godliness? did they make a craft of their
religion, like modern missionaries ? I hope to show presently, from
the New Testament, they did not. The first moneyed missionary
society that ever was established in the world, as I can find on the
pages of history, was established in the year 1622, by Pope Gregory
XV.,— for the New Testament knows nothing of money-established
religion,—and then called the Congregation for Propagation of the
Faith. It had, like our modern missions, an incredible number of
donors, rich, and emulous to excel in the greatest gifts, as well as
being greatly enriched by Urban VIII. And, by this Congregation's
money, a vast number of missionaries were sent to the remotest parts
of the world, among the most barbarous nations, and in India, China,
and Japan.
The sect of Christians called Moravians founded the second mis¬
sion, about one hundred years ago. The third missionary establish¬
ment was formed about twenty or thirty years ago, in London, called
the Evangelical Society. The fourth, called the Baptist Missionary
Society, in England. And, lastly, the Baptist Missionary Society in
America, with others of like occupation. All of which are founded
on beggars and money, like that of Pope Gregory's. These are all
important establishments of the craft kind,—for their like cannot be
found in the New Testament—the basis of which are money, honor,
'and titles.
But, as I am limited to a mere sketch, I shall begin with the Bap¬
tist Missionary Society founded in England. In the year 1784, at an
Association held at Nottingham, England, it was agreed to set apart
an hour of prayer the first Monday evening of every month, for a
revival of religion, and the extension of Christ's kingdom in the
world: so far plausible. Now, who were at the head, plan, or seem
to have had the chief management of this society? Why, John Ry-
land, Reynold Hogg, William Carey, John Sutcliff, and Andrew Fuller.
Were they priests? Surely; for do you not know that the priests
308
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
were, are, and must be at the head of all the schemes of the day ?
And Mr. Carey was one of the committee, and helped form the plan that
has got him along, according to the best accounts I can get, to $6,000
a-year—a good business indeed for a preacher: neither the prophets,
John the Baptist, nor Christ, nor his apostles, ever shared such a loaf
as this. Mr. Robertson and wife were allowed $8-10 per year, and
Mr. Chater and wife and two children were allowed $960 a-year for
missionary services. Now, my hearers, say whether you think either
of these men would have left the British shore, if it had so turned
out there had been no money. I think not.
Much is said about the Temperance Society, but, if I am rightly
informed, those who join are not to drink one drop: if so, it has a
wrong name, for it ought to be called the Abstaining Society. Does
such a society agree with Scripture ? " Drink no longer water," says
Paul to Timothy, "but use a little wine;" and of deacons he says:
"Not given to much wine;" and the Saviour drank wine. And be¬
cause some men make a storehouse of their belly, I must eat none;
and because some men have burned up their kettles, I must not hang
mine on the fire; and because some men have been killed by medi¬
cine, I must not use it prudently. What sophistry of priests!
And as it regards tract societies and Sunday-school unions, they
are about the worst of the whole gang; for they are also the inven¬
tions of the priests, and contain craft for printers, and they should
cry out, as well as the priests: " Our craft is in danger; for you know
by this, our printing tracts, we have our wealth;" and the writers
should cry out, since premiums are offered for the best tract on such
a subject; and the traders in tracts also may cry out; but the worst
of all the effects, is the sectarian principles infused in the minds of
youths; for it is but reasonable to suppose that the writers will squint
an eye to their party, and give that turn to them that will mostly
establish and enhance their sect.
These infidel doctrines, set forth by the North Carolina
Baptists, and afterwards republished by the same Church in
Tennessee, show most conclusively the opposition of that sect
to all human and Divine workmanship! And I would like
to know how many members of the present " Publishing So¬
ciety" of the North Carolina Baptists were connected with
this manifesto, and took their stand upon it at the time, as a
platform of principles!
The disposition among Baptist preachers and writers to
misrepresent Methodism is too general, and has been ever
since we have known them, now upwards of thirty dreadful
years ! I have before me a volume of " The True Light and
the great iron wheel examined.
309
Baptist Monthly Visitor/' published in Joneshorough, by
Mason It. Lyon, a Baptist preacher, in 1836, and edited by
"Elder Itees Bayless, with associated brethren." No. 10 of
this paper contains many misrepresentations, both of Method¬
ists and Presbyterians, upon the subjects of communion and
baptism. I will give the following as a sample, found on
page 15-4:
The Methodists will BAPTIZE BY IMMERSION those who
have been ONCE SPRINKLED, and by that means tacitly and
yietually DENY THE AUTHENTICITY AND VALIDITY OF
SPRINKLING!
Now, this is not part of an editorial, for which one man
would be responsible, but it is part of a letter on Close Com¬
munion, from an association, published by authority, and by
a vote of the members endorsing it, and sending it out to
the world. It is an association of Baptist ministers saying to
the world that the Methodists will and do rebaptize those
whom they knoio to have been once baptized! There is not
one word of truth in the whole statement. . It is a downright
slander. It is neither the faith nor the practice of the Me¬
thodists. But, on the contrary, they hold it to be a profana¬
tion of sacred things, and so teach, on all occasions, to re-
baptize any one, old or young, man or child, who has once
been baptized, whether the ordinance have been admin¬
istered by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling. The Method¬
ists hold baptism, as practiced by all orthodox denominations
who acknowledge the essential divinity of Christ, to be valid.
Therefore, they will not rebaptize any one, though he come
from another branch of the great Christian family well
recommended, and ardently desiring baptism and Church
membership among them.
But this same association, in this same letter, on page 155
of the " True Light and Visitor," thus shows its hand fur-
310
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
fcher, upon the great questions of baptism and close commu¬
nion :
There is a small denomination of Baptists in this country who call
themselves Christians. Though they have given themselves a very
good name, yet the united Baptists cannot fellowship with them, and
consequently cannot invite them to the Lord's table. They agree with
us respecting the ordinance of baptism, but they will invite Pedobap-
tists to commune ivith them; and it remains with them to show their
authority for communing with those persons whom they believe to be
TJNBAPTIZED !
What comment is necessary upon the foregoing ? I deem
it proper to repeat what I have said, in substance, in the
general argument upon baptism, and the hypothesis of Close
-Communion Baptists, who seek to nullify the Abrahamic
covenant, and, what is worse, to dispense with the sacred
office of the gospel ministry!
1. The Close Baptists lay such a stress upon baptism by immersion,
as to make it the sole condition of admittance to the Lord's table—a
table which, they say, can only be spread by ministers who have been
immersed, no others being invested with ministerial functions, or even
members of the Church of Christ. And yet, of late, they will tolerate
such of their members as commune with the Methodists! For proof,
in this county and Greene, we refer to late occurrences at Chero¬
kee, at Urbana, and at Milburnton!
2. The Close Baptists hold and teach that there is no Church mili¬
tant but theirs, and that there is no ministry but such as is consti¬
tuted by churches of their "faith and orderbut they will call on a
Methodist or Presbyterian minister, at their revivals, to address the
throne of grace, or to preach in their pulpits—thus making such a one
their mouth or organ, either to ask God's blessings to be poured upon
them, or to declare his will concerning them, which is vastly more
sacred and important than to prepare and offer the bread and wine!
3. The Close Baptists believe and teach that immersion is the only
door into the Church; but they will not receive into their communion
candidates who have been regularly and properly immersed, except
they repudiate their baptism, and the ministerial functions of all other
ministers : therefore, the repudiation of the ministerial functions of
all other clergymen is the door into the regular Baptist Church.
4. The Close Baptists are influenced by a spirit which is opposed
to the kingdom of Christ—a spirit which would set up another kingdom
in opposition, and nullify the covenant of God, and at the same time
wear the name of Christian! God has never had but one spiritual
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 311
kingdom in the world. This kingdom was set up in the family of
Abraham. It was with God's people in the wilderness, and was
planted with them in the land of promise. In this kingdom Christ
was born. Over this kingdom Christ reigns. The Close Baptists
have set up a kingdom in opposition to Christ: therefore the Close
Baptists are guilty of HIGH TREASON AGAINST GOD! I
312
the great iron wheel examined.
CHAPTER XX.
Elder Graves and slavery—Separation of the Methodist Church on
account of slavery — Slaveholders admitted into the apostolic
Churches—Primitive Christians held slaves—Proof from the Scrip¬
tures that slavery existed in the earliest days of the Christian
Church—Views of Drs. Neander and Clarke—According to the
Scriptures, slavery will exist to the end of time—Concluding
remarks.
Allusion has already been made to the doubtful position
of Elder Graves upon tbe great and exciting question of
slavery, in a former chapter of this work. Tbe secret of bis
"armed neutrality" upon this great issue, and in this stirring
period of tbe world, is two-fold: first, as a Northern man by
birth and education, be is anti-slavery at heart, or, to use the
language of a distinguished politician, he is "pro-North and
anti-South;" and next, his slanderous book, now going
through a second or third edition, was written and published
with a view to make money; and to adapt it to the tastes of
his sectarian friends on both sides of Mason and Dixon's line,
he has passed the subject by with silent contempt, although
he has ridiculed the separation of the Methodist Church,
South, from the Methodist Church, North, which separation
was caused alone by the slavery agitation of Northern Free-
soil Methodists in the General Conference of 1844, in New
York, which everybody outside of a madhouse or leading-
strings is presumed to know. The Southern portion of
the Methodist Church had no other alternative left them
but to separate from their Ercesoil brethren of the North;
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 313
and, as a Southern man, I endorse their act of separation
most heartily. They sought to ostracize one of the Southern
bishops, an able and experienced officer of the Church, emi¬
nent for public services and extensive usefulness, because, in
a second marriage, he had selected a lady who owned a few
slaves I The marriage was admitted to he a prudent one : the
lady, now in her grave, was every way fitted for the wife of a
bishop; but then a former marriage had left her in possession
of a half-dozen slaves. Here was the occasion which aboli¬
tionism sought, at the North, to direct its shafts against the
fortress of slavery; and they sought to carry it by their
strong and powerful cannonading. The imprudence of the
anti-slavery party in that General Conference did more to rouse
the South to resistance, than all the belligerent attitudes
assumed by the hotheaded politicians of the country—sending
a thrill through the Southern States, and awakening senti¬
ments of heroism and moral daring alike creditable to the
Church and honorable to the country.
This is no time for frank and patriotic men to remain
neutral upon a subject alike affecting the interests of the
Church and the country. I volunteer to show my hand upon
this great question, not caring one dime whether it array the
entire North against me or not. And the people of the South
should require this adopted citizen, Elder Graves, to state, in
unmistakable terms, whether or not he now entertains the
same feelings and views, touching the great slavery question,
that he did while a citizen of the "Western Reserve/' in
Ohio, where abolitionism is a trade with nine-tenths of the
inhabitants. Let Mr. Graves be interrogated, and forced to
define his position at once, or leave the South in hot haste 1
Let him be driven at once out of the stagnant pool of aboli¬
tionism, that his whispers and insinuations may no longer
send forth malaria and death among the institutions of the
South! Politioal disquiet and oommotion are daily giving
14
314 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED
birth and sustenance to new and loftier schemes of agitation
and disunion among the vile abolitionists; to bold and hazard¬
ous enterprises in the States and Territories, and even in
Congress; to insurrection and revolution throughout the
entire country! Among political men, without distinction of
party, the common virtues of honesty and truth have become
superannuated and obsolete! The slavery agitation, that had
been buried by the Compromise Acts of 1850, is anew lifting
its head, and, under the piratical flag of " Black Republican¬
ism," asserting the rights of "human libertyher infernal
altars smoke with fresh incense, and, enlisted in her defence,
are scores of designing men in the South—some filling pul¬
pits, some occupying high positions in colleges and academies,
and who, though among us, are "not of us," our Southern
friends may rest assured!
I am not, and never have been, interested in the slave-
traffic, or immersed in the cares, advantages, or disadvantages
of the institution of slavery, and therefore I claim to be a
disinterested looker-on. A native of "Virginia, I have lived
half a century in the South, and seen the workings of the
institution of slavery, in its best and worst forms, and in all
the Southern States. I have gone among the free negroes at
the North, and, in every instance, I have found them more
miserable and destitute, as a whole, than the slave population
of the South. In our Southern States, where negroes have
been set at liberty, in nine cases out of ten, their conditions
have been made worse; while the most wretched, lazy, and
dishonest class of persons to be found in the Southern States,
are free persons of color. I therefore go against the eman¬
cipation of slaves altogether, unless they can be sent to Libe¬
ria at once. I take my stand with the friends of the institu¬
tion of slavery in the South, and, in defence of the rights of
the South, connected with this question, I will go as far as
the next man—even dying in the last ditch!
the great iron wheel examined.
815
It is a well-known historical fact, that slaveholders were
admitted into the apostolic Churches; nor would this
assumed position of the advocates of slavery be at all denied
by any intelligent and well-read men at the North, but for
the fact that they think such an admission would decide the
question against abolitionists. I have given much attention
to this subject within ten years past, and I feel no sort of
delicacy in expressing my views and convictions, as revolting
as they may be to Northern men and Freesoilers, even among
us. I believe that the primitive Christians held slaves in
bondage, and that the apostles favored slavery, by admitting
slaveholders into the Church, and by promoting them to offi¬
cial stations in the Church. And why do I believe all this ?
Because I am sustained in these positions by uninterrupted
historical testimony! I have seen similar views, only not
quite so strong, urged by gentlemen who even go against
slavery, as it exists in the South—among whom I name the
Bey. Dr. Durbin, a gentleman of great learning, exten¬
sive research, and of undoubted piety. He boldly affirms
that slaveholders were admitted into the apostolic Churches,
in an elaborate paper which appeared in the New York
Christian Advocate and Journal, in December, 1855.
I took the same ground in a newspaper controversy with an
Ohio abolitionist, even three years ago! The coincidence
establishes only these facts: first, that candid men of reading
must make the same historical discoveries; and next, if we
all go to historic premises, the conclusions are easy and clear.
Well, for the information of Elder Graves, and other anti-
slavery men dispersed throughout the South, I assume that
the fact of the apostles admitting into Church fellowship
slaveholders, and promoting them to positions of honor and
trust, shows that the simple relation of master and slave was
no bar to Church membership. Masters and slaves, in tho
days of the apostles, were admitted into the Church as breth
316
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
ren; they partook in common of the benefits of the Church ;
they held to the same religious principles; they squared their
lives by the same rule of conduct; acknowledged the same
obligations one to another; and worshipped at the same altar.
This was true of the first and succeeding centuries, when the
relations of master and slave, and the practice of the Church
in reference thereto, were very much like they are in the
Southern States of our Union at present. But to the proof
that slaveholders were admitted into the apostolic Churches.
1. Historians all agree that slavery existed, and was gene¬
ral throughout the Boman empire, at the time the apostolic
Churches were instituted. I have at my command the autho¬
rities to prove this, but to quote from them would swell this
chapter beyond what I have intended. I will cite the autho¬
rities only; and anti-slavery men who deny my position can
examine my authorities. See Gibbon's "Decline and Fall
of the Boman Empire," vol. i. See " Inquiry into Boman
Slavery, by Wm. Blair," Edinburgh edition of 1833. See
vol. iv. of "Lardner's Works," page 213. See vol. i. of
"Dr. Bobertson's Works," London edition. Other authori¬
ties might be given, but these are sufficient, as they show
that slavery was a civil institution of the State; that the
Boman laws regarded slaves as propertjjf, at the disposal of
their masters; that these slaves, whether white or colored,
had no civil existence or rights, and contended for none; and
that there were three slaves to one citizen—showing something
of a similarity between the Boman empire and our Southern
States ! Gibbon says that slavery existed in "every province
and every family," and that they were bought and sold
according to their capacities for usefulness, and the demand
for laborers—selling at hundreds of dollars, and from that
down to the price of a beast of burden ! Now, it is notorious
that the gospel made considerable progress among the citizens
of the Boman empire; and, as nearly every family owned
the great iron wheel examined.
317
slaves, it is certain that slaveholders were converted and
admitted into the Church. It will not do to say that the
poor, including the slaves, were alone converted to Grod, be¬
cause the apostles make frequent allusions to the receiving
into the Church of intelligent, learned, and opulent persons.
The learned Dr. Mosheim, in his Church History, vol. i.,
relating to the first three centuries, settles this question most
effectually. He says:
The apostles, in their writings, prescribe rules for the conduct of
the rich as well as the poor, for masters as well as servants—a con¬
vincing proof that among the members of the Church planted by them
were to be found persons of opulence, and masters of families. St.
Paul and St. Peter admonished Christian women not to study the
adorning of themselves with pearls, with gold and silver, or costly
array. 1 Tim. ii. 9: 1 Peter iii. 3. It is, therefore, plain that there
must have been women possessed of wealth adequate to the purchase
of bodily ornaments of great price. From 1 Tim. vi. 20, and Col. ii.
8, it is manifest that among the first converts to Christianity there
were men of learning and philosophers; for, if the wise and the
learned had unanimously rejected the Christian religion, what occa¬
sion could there have been for this caution ? 1 Cor. i. 26, unques¬
tionably carries with it the plainest intimation that persons of rank
or power were not wholly wanting in that assembly. Indeed, lists of
the names of various illustrious persons who embraced Christianity,
in its weak and infantile state, are given by Blondel, p. 235 de Epis-
copis et Presbyteris: also by Wetstein, in his Preface to Origen's Dia.
Con. Mar., p. 13.
2. I come next to show, from scriptural evidence, that
slavery existed in the earliest days of the Christian Church,
and that both masters and slaves were members of the Church.
I assert, without the fear of contradiction, that the apostles
did not denounce slavery as an evil, after the fashion of New
England preachers) nor did the apostles require that persons
held in bondage should be emancipated, after the manner of
Theodore Parker, and others of Elder Graves's New England
brethren! Slavery was an institution of the State, in the
Roman empire, as it is in certain States in this Union, and the
apostles did not feel at liberty to denounce it, if indeed they
318
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED
felt the least opposition to it, which I deny. Hear the apos¬
tles on this subject:
Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
Art thou called being a servant? Care not for it; but if thou mayest
be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being
a servant, is the Lord's freeman; likewise also he that is called, being
free, is Christ's servant.—1 Cor. vii. 20-22.
Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the
flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto
Christ. Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants
of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good-will
doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatso¬
ever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord,
whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things
unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also
is in heaven: neither is there respect of persons with him.—Eph. vi.
5-9.
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not
with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing
God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not
unto men: knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of
the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ. —Col. iii. 22-25.
Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal:
knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.—Col. iv. 1.
Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters
worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not
blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not de¬
spise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service,
because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These
things teach and exhort.—1 Tim. vi. 1, 2.
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please
them well in all things, not answering again; not purloining, but
showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God
our Saviour in all things.—Titus ii. 9, 10.
Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the
good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if
a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
—1 Peter ii. 18, 19.
I have but a single word of comment to offer upon these
passages of Scripture. The original words used by the
Greek writers, both sacred and profane, to express slave; the
most abject condition of slavery; to express the absolute
owner of a slave, and the absolute control of a slave, are the
strongest that the language affords, and are used in the pas-
the great iron wheel examined.
319
sages here quoted. If the apostles understood the common
use of words, and desired to convey these ideas, and to re¬
cognize the relations of master and servant, they would,
naturally enough, employ the very words used. To say that
they did not know the primary meaning and usus loquendi
of the original words, is paying them a compliment I wish
not to participate in ! And to show that I am not singular
in my views of the meaning expressed in the passages quoted,
showing that they express in the one case slaves, and in the
other masters or owners, actually holding them as property,
under the sanction of the laws of the State, I quote from tho
following authorities:
That great commentator, Dr. Adam Clarke, on 1 Cor.
vii. 21, says:
Art thou converted to Christ while thou art a slave—the property
of another person, and bought with his money ? Care not for it.
The learned Dr. Neander, in his work entitled "Planting
and Training of the Church," in referring to Onesimus,
mentioned in the epistle to Philemon, says of him :
It does not appear to be surprising that a runaway slave should
betake himself at once to Rome.
To the foregoing might be added other authorities of equal
weight and importance, but I will not burden this chapter
with extended quotations. Nor will I weary the patience of
the reader with passages from profane history, in the centu¬
ries immediately following the apostolic, as I could do if I
deemed it at all necessary. And, from the foregoing facts
and authorities, I will make such brief observations as, to my
mind, seem warranted, and then conclude this chapter.
First.—There is not a single passage in the New Testament,
nor a single act in the records of the Church, during her
early history, for even centuries, containing any direct, pro¬
fessed, or intended denunciation of slavery. But the apostles
320
l'HE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
found the institution existing, under the authority and sanc¬
tion of law; and, in their labors among the people, masters
and slaves bowed at the same altar, communed at the same
table, and were taken into the Church together; while they
exhorted the one to treat the other as became the gospel, and
the other to obedience and honesty, that their religious pro¬
fessions might not be evil spoken of!
Secondly.—The early Church not only admitted the exist¬
ence of slavery, but in various ways, by her teachings and
discipline, expressed her approbation of it, enforcing the
observance of certain Fugitive Slave Laws which had been
enacted by the State. And, in the various acts of the Church,
from the times of the apostles downward through several
centuries, she enacted laws and adopted regulations touching
the duties of masters and slaves, as such. This, in my hum¬
ble judgment, amounts to a justification and defence of the
institution of slavery.
Thirdly.—My investigations of this subject have led me
regularly, gradually, certainly, to the conclusion that God
intended the relation of master and slave to exist. Hence,
when God opened the way for the organization of the Church,
the apostles and first teachers of Christianity found slavery
incorporated with every department of society; and, in the
adoption of rules for the government of the members of the
Church, they provided for the rights of owners, and the
wants of slaves.
Fourthly.—Slavery, in the age of the apostles, had so
penetrated society, and was so intimately interwoven with it,
that a religion preaching freedom to the slave would have
arrayed against it the civil authorities, armed against itself
the whole power of the State, and destroyed the usefulness
of its preachers. St. Paul knew this, and did not assail the
institution of slavery, but labored to get both masters and
slaves to heaven, as all ministers should do in our day.
the great iron wheel examined. 321
Fifthly. — Slavery having existed ever since the first
organization of the Church, the Scriptures clearly teach that
it will exist even to the end of time. Kev. vi. 12-17 points
to " The Day of Judgment," " The Last Day," " The Gireat
Day," and the condition of the human race at that time, as
well as the classes of persons to be judged, rewarded, and
punished! A portion of this text reads, "And the kings of
the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every BONDMAN, and
every ereeman," etc., will be there; evidently implying that
slavery will exist, and that the relations of master and slave
will be recognized to the end of time !
In conclusion, the Methodist Church, South, occupies true
scriptural ground upon the subject of slavery, and is now
exercising proper Christian authority over her slaveholding
members, enforcing the duties which grow out of the relation
of a Christian master to his dependent slave, whether the
latter be religious or irreligious, and out of the relations of
both to the Church.
14*
'j „ w
the great iron wheel examined.
TO THE METHODISTS.
Our heading indicates that this is a kind of address'to the
members of the Methodist Connection. I do not claim to
have a peculiar license to deal out general and extraordinary
epistles to the Church throughout the South. It is a liberty
which ought to be taken by but few men, and they should be
men whose age, experience, and long periods of effective ser¬
vice, give them claims to be heard. If, however, any remark¬
able events have rendered it necessary that a distinct and an
immediate appeal should he made, I will be tolerated in this,
as I will be in the preparation of this work, notwithstanding
more suitable persons could have been found to execute the
task in any one of the Conferences belonging to the Southern
division of the Church.
A century and a quarter have now passed away since the
establishment of Wesleyan Methodism, and the experience
of that extended period has shown that the fabric is not com¬
posed of those unsubstantial materials which its violent but
mistaken enemies surmised. Assailants have arisen at differ¬
ent periods, in Europe and America; and in the earlier stages
of its existence, on both continents, persecutions, " fierce as
ten furies," were ever and anon let loose, followed up by the
blows of men of tenfold more intellect and force of character
than the miserable calumniator of the " Tennessee Baptist"
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
323
can bring to bear in bis feeble crusade. A half a century
ago, in this country, often came " the world's dread laugh,
which scarce the firm philosopher sustains to this, in most of
the cities, towns, and refined circles, was added, proud dis¬
dain. But in the midst of this elemental strife, which has
been a war both of principle and practice, the peculiar insti¬
tutions of Methodism remained unshaken: the outworks
have been pressed, but no breach was ever made. The more
violent the assaults made, the stronger the defences raised up,
while more advanced positions have been taken. The whole
structure of Methodism, both in doctrines and discipline, in¬
dicates durability. Many who once opposed the system are
now its open advocates and admirers. Others have moderated
in their attacks; and those who are now openly in the field,
as opposers, are men of rather small calibre, seeking to hide
the defects in their own characters by a war upon a great
system. The whole has resulted in this: it has demonstrated
that while the members of the Methodist Church are faithful
to themselves and to the professions they have assumed, no
injury can be inflicted. The lucubrations of bad men like
Graves may excite occasional notice, and their numerous un¬
mitigated slanders may produce occasional apprehension; but,
like ripples on the distant wave, they are formed but to dis¬
appear; and, as time has shown, they can have no effect on
the course of the mighty stream to which they are indebted
for momentary appearance!
It is no new discovery now that the founder of Method¬
ism was a man endowed with the first order of intellect;
but this one thing I can say, namely, that his ambition was
not to astonish mankind by the display of talent, natural
or acquired. He lived for others; and it is now history that
he kindled a light, not to dazzle but to benefit his fellow-
creatures. In disposition, John Wesley was kind, placable,
and affectionate. He practiced a strict economy, not from
324 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
any sordid motives, but for the purpose of administering ex-
tensively to the wants of the poor. His integrity was unim¬
peachable j and money would have been of no value in his
estimation, but that it afforded him the means of increasing
his utility. When a young man at Oxford, his income was
thirty pounds per annum, and he gave two of that away.
When his income was increased to sixty, two years after that,
he still lived on twenty-eight, and gave away thirty-two. The
next year he received one hundred and twenty; still he lived
on as before, and gave away ninety-two. In the height
of his power, the Commissioners of the Excise, supposing
that he had silver-plate which, in order to avoid the duty, he
had not returned, wrote to him on the subject. Mr. Wesley
replied: " I have two silver spoons in London, and one in
Bristol: this is all the plate that I have at present, and I shall
not buy any more while so many around me want bread!''
He even studied for the benefit of others. If his learning
became prominent, its exhibition was incidental rather than
designed. It came to his relief and aid only when called for;
and among the many excellences for which his works are re¬
markable, the simplicity of his style, to the exclusion of
verbiage and vain display, is by no means the least remark¬
able. To his mind, naturally powerful and comprehensive,
was added a correctness of perception which, at the com¬
mencement of his public life, enabled him not only to prepare
the most judicious rules for the government of his then in¬
fant societies, but to examine and compare their agreement
with each other, their bearing upon the general system, and
to choose the most proper agents in reducing the whole to
practical purposes. The consequence is, as every intelligent
Methodist knows, that where this system exists in healthful
exercise, as it now does in our Southern States, each part is
brought sufficiently forward, and no portion is overlooked:
there is a place for every man, whether rich or poor, in high
TEE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED. 325
position or of low degree, and every man ought to he in his
place !
Another main advantage included in the entire plan of
Methodism, as organized by Wesley, is that it offers suitable
employment to every member. Varied as is the capacity of
the human mind in different persons, such are the general
duties connected with works of mercy and benevolence, which
have gradually arisen within the pale of Methodism, that no
man need " stand all the day," or any part of the day, "idle."
As an initiatory step, and an exercise of humility, he might
enter a Sabbath-school, and begin a course of good works,
by teaching some poor child to read his vernacular
tongue, as well as the first lessons of salvation. Engagements
more extensive may follow, and will, as one progresses in
works of goodness—more honorable they cannot be. The
ignorant are not only to be instructed, but the sick are to be
consoled, and the suffering are to be relieved. Contributions
which we can all well spare, will go far to enlighten and con¬
vert our slave population, by sending among them reliable
ministers, to labor exclusively for their benefit, as domestic
missionaries; and as their benefactors, we cannot fail to feel
ourselves amended. Religion without practice, like water
without motion, is certain to stagnate. The founder of Me¬
thodism knew this fact, and acted upon this principle; and
therefore it is that, next to an unblamable life, the best evi¬
dence that a man can give of the genuineness of his religion
is to be found attempting to communicate it to others, and
discharging those duties and obligations which true religion
enjoins. The whole tendency of Methodism is to this kind
of activity, and the natural tendency of Christianity in the
heart is to the same activity. " Up and he doing" is the
motto of Methodism, and it is the essence of Christianity.
To an inactive life Methodism is constantly opposed; because,
as in the grave there will be enough of leisure, now is the
326 THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED
time, and " while it is called to-day," for improvement and
usefulness.
This is, in part at least, what is meant by the apostle when
he exhorts us to work out our salvation with fear and
trembling. The work of salvation is no lazy man's business;
but it is a work of great difficulty, which requires close appli¬
cation and constant labor. Are all the nobler faculties of the
mind and the efforts of life devoted to the attainment of the
goods and honors of this world ? and shall we expect to ob¬
tain heaven by mere accident? Certainly not. He who
made us without our aid, never intends to save us unless we
first save ourselves from this untoward generation. He will
not save us unless we ourselves fight the good fight of faith,
unless we agonize to enter in at the strait gate. The most
laborious servitude is rendered tolerable by an assurance
that we shall receive its entire and ample product. In the
work of salvation we secure our own peace and happiness,
both in this life and in that which is to come; and unless wc
work out our salvation, in the sense in which both Paul and
Wesley enforced the doctrine, we plunge our souls into guilt
and fear in this life, and into eternal despair in the next.
Solemn thought! Hence, says the apostle, " Work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling."
Consider the difficulty of the work and the danger of mis¬
carriage, according to our theory, and it is founded upon the
word of God. No outward forms, such as immersion, can
make us clean, or save us from apostasy. We have moun¬
tains of difficulty to pass over; we have many difficult duties
to perform; we have many open enemies, as well as foes in
ambush, to contend with—exposed as we are to the attacks
of the Devil, our common enemy, and to a host of bad men,
who, like this unregenerate preacher, Elder Graves, seek to
aggravate, and drive us from the path of duty. These pirates
of hell, who watch to make cruel depredation on all the ocean
THE GREAT IRON WHEEL EXAMINED.
327
of life, are the more dangerous as they sail under the false
flag of Christianity. At one point, they exhibit the pre¬
sumptuous rock of the apostolic succession, to drive us from
the channel of self-denial, faith, hope, and charity; at an¬
other, they invite us to the sand-banks of immersion, on
which thousands have been eternally shipwrecked. To avoid
all these dangers, we have only to consult the map of our
voyage frequently, the word of God, obey the orders of our
Captain, Jesus Christ, and follow the directions of our pilot,
John Wesley, and pray much for the Holy Spirit—observing
the progress we make, and keeping an exact journal of our
voyage!
Finally, upon this point, let us be sure that our hearts are
changed, and that the love of God dwells in us: let us con¬
tinue to worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus,
instead of our denominational peculiarities, and see that we
have no confidence in baptism, save as an outward ordinance.
Then, when clouds of opposition shall thicken around us, the
storms of sectarian malice arise, and the furious waves of
calumny dash against each other, our minds shall be calm,
and our souls shall rest secure in the arms of Safety; and
with our anchor of hope cast in the port of heaven, and we
working our passage with all diligence, we cannot fail, ac¬
cording to the doctrines of Methodism, which are taken from
the Bible, to land in that happy country where all is peace
and joy for ever !
One thing is clear : While the Methodist Church preserves
her primitive simplicity, prosperity will follow; and it is a
remarkable fact, that although attempts have been made, the
tendency of which is to undermine her security, they have
uniformly failed, both in Europe and America. Another fact,
not much less singular, is that, so far as the parties are known,
almost every attempt of the kind may be traced to men of
whose minds the canker of personal corruption, or of immoral
828 the great iron wheel examined.
practices, has eaten up the better part. In two instances in
Tennessee, the one in East and the other in Middle Tennes¬
see, condensed malice, which seemed to gather strength by
confinement in corrupt bosoms, has suddenly exploded, and
slanders of all dimensions have been let loose, as if the fatal box
had just been opened. In this warfare, pious men of any
denomination have never joined; and it is scarcely needful
to add that they never will. A desultory warfare, to which
the daring and vulgar assaults of Ross and Graves have led,
has been carried on in Tennessee, Georgia, and North Caro¬
lina, but the little havoc they have made has been about what
might be expected from men meddling with things beyond
their reach. The few clerical bull-dogs in East Tennessee,
who espouse the cause in which Graves has signally failed,
are not likely to excite respectable opposition. These men
have done their worst, and there has been no extraordinary
shock in the kingdom either of nature or grace. The sun
rises as usual. Men go forth to their ordinary occupations.
Methodist chapels are still being built, sermons preached,
circuits travelled, societies formed, classes met, children
sprinkled, and souls saved! Even Ross and Graves may
rest assured that theirs are not the Atlantean shoulders on
which are reposed the interests of the religious world! These
considerations are humbling; but as they are true, they must
needs be salutary, to some extent, as they bear upon men
who are in danger of thinking of themselves more highly
than the occasion requires!
The observation is trite that " facts are stubborn things
and apart/rom mere assertion and averment, the present pa¬
cific and united condition of the Methodist forces, in all the
Southern States of this Union, is a fact palpable as the light
of day, and encouraging as palpable. The discipline as well
as the doctrine of Wesley will roll onward for many a year to
come—yes, when the writer of this address, and the readers
the great iron wheel examined. 329
thereof, of the nineteenth century, lie silent in their graves.
And still Methodism will be assailed, as long as bad men re¬
main on earth, or the Devil finds his kingdom opposed by the
spread of Methodist doctrines ! From open violence the Me¬
thodists have nothing to fear. Truth, in one form or other,
will force its way; nor can Methodism be frowned from the
world. Graves is the last one of the " enemies of all righte¬
ousness" who has tried his hand, and he is by no means among
the most successful. He professes to describe Methodism,
but has not hit a single feature, nor succeeded in the outline.
His is neither a cabinet painting nor a whole-length portrait.
His " Iron Wheel" is a broad, palpable, and iniquitous cari¬
cature. The beauties of the original are vilely dropped;
supposed deformities are embodied and distorted; new ones
are invented and superadded. And the only method by which
slanders of this character can be met is that every inquirer
after truth resolve to see things as they really are, and to ex¬
amine with his own eyes rather than depend on those of pre¬
judiced men; not to take Methodism, or any thing connected
with it, upon trust, nor pin his faith to a bad man's sleeve.
Correct notions of Methodism can only be obtained by an ex¬
amination of its standard writings and existing records.
There is no need of argument, I should say, to convince
our members, and the intelligent friends of our cause, that it
is important to our interests, and to the cause of Christian
morality in our bounds, that there be a more extended circu¬
lation of our books and periodicals. Messrs. Stevenson &
Owen, our Book Agents at Nashville, two indefatigable and
excellent men, are doing good work, aided, as they are, by
Drs. Summers, the efficient, able, and untiring General
Editor, and Hamilton, at the head of the Tract operations,
who is also doing his work well, and giving satisfaction to our
friends, who are looking on with interest at the progress of
our new Publishing House, and the various branches of bush
830 the great iron wheel examined.
ness connected therewith. Dr. Sehon, a man of ability, and
capable of much labor, gives all his time, and devotes all his
energies, to the management of our missionary operations,
and deserves the thanks of the Church for his self-sacrificing
devotion to her interests. I have been frequently about the
Publishing House during the past fall and winter, and I take
a pleasure in testifying that the Agents are doing a good
work, having a great variety of useful, interesting, and cheap
books, handsomely printed. They are having the buildings,
which are neat and substantial, made sufficiently spacious for
enlarged operations, so as to meet the growing demand of our
Church, South. Let our friends in the Southern division of
our Church patronize our Agents in all their purchases of re¬
ligious books, and thus sustain and build up a concern which
is to be of vast service to the Church in all time to come.
Our book depositories at Richmond, Charleston, and New
Orleans, are only branches of the Book Concern at Nash¬
ville, keeping on hand full supplies of our books and pub¬
lications, which are sold on the same terms as those at the
Publishing House in Nashville. The Book Agents do
not publish books at these depositories. I have been thus
particular in stating the relation which thesg depositories
bear to the Publishing House in Nashville, because some
of our friends have erroneously supposed that they are
rival establishments, and that their interests conflict. Not
so : to patronize these, is to patronize the Book Concern at
Nashville, they having been established to afford facilities to
those Conferences bordering on the Atlantic and in the far-
off West.
By all means, let our people, and the friends of our reli¬
gious interests, patronize our periodicals. These are the
Richmond, Charleston, St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans,
Texas, and Nashville Christian Advocates. In procuring sub¬
scribers for these excellent and most useful weeJclies, our friends
the great iron wheel examined. 331
should not neglect the Southern Methodist Quarterly
Review, edited by Dr. Doggett, an able man; the Home
Circle, edited by that excellent man and chaste writer, Dr.
Huston; and the Sunday-School Visitor, a publication
which needs no eulogy from me.
Methodists throughout our bounds should subscribe for one
or another of these Advocates, the great officials of the Church,
as they are set for the defence of the doctrines and discipline
of our Church, and all have at their heads men able to per¬
form the task. Another reason why these papers should be
sustained is that they devote their energies to the cause of
holiness, and aid the ministry in the great work of " spread¬
ing holiness over these lands." Last, but not least, they will
keep our families up with the general intelligence of the day;
they will give them the latest foreign and domestic news;
and they will furnish the last and most reliable market re¬
ports—in a word, any one of the . "Advocate family" of
papers will be found interesting and instructing to the general
reader.
the end.
THE
"LITTLE IRON WHEEL" ENLARGED.
THE
"LITTLE IRON WHEEL" ENLARGED;
OR,
ELDER GRAVES, ITS BUILDER, DAGUERREOTYPED,
BY WAY OF
AN APPENDIX.
TO WHICH ARB ADDED
SOME PERSONAL EXPLANATIONS.
BY WILLIAM Gr. BROWNLOW,
EDITOR OF THE KNOXVILLE WHIO,
"These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
a proud look, a lying! tongue, [or pen!] and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart
that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be-swift in running to mischief, a false
witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."—Scripture.
Nasfjbtlle, Iran.:
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR.
1857.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
WILLIAM G. BROWNLOW,
In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Contents.
INTRODUCTION
GRAVES ON BASCOM
GRAVES ON M'FERRIN AND OTHERS
THE ENDORSEMENT OF OUR BOOK
OPEN COMMUNION WITH FEMALES
PERSONAL VINDICATION FROM BAPTIST SLANDERS — THE LIBEL
SUIT WITH H. POSEY OUR SIDE OF THE QUESTION....
"MURDER AND ASSASSINATION"
"IS BAPTISM BY SPRINKLING LAWFUL OR PROPER?"
F. A. ROSS — ONE OF J. R. GRAVES'S WITNESSES AGAINST METHOD¬
ISM—IS HE OF PORTUGUESE OR AFRICAN BLOOD?—THE TES¬
TIMONY !
THE ANTIQUITY OF LANDMARKISM
COMMISSION FOR J. R. GRAVES AND OTHERS
A SERMON ON SLAVERY
CO
fnhtdnuihn.
I am again before tbe public, in vindication of Method¬
ism, and ber dead and living ministers, from tbe foul asper¬
sions east upon tbem by tbat prince of hypocrites, wholesale
calumniators, and retail prevaricators, J. R. Graves, " Editor
of the Tennessee Baptist," and author of a small book of
three hundred pages, entitled, "The Little Iron Wheel."
The first two hundred and forty-three pages of the work
abound in unmitigated slanders of the deceased Bishop
Bascom ; in scraps of heterogeneous matter, relating to the
organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church; in foul
aspersions upon the government and discipline of said
Church; and in senseless ravings and malicious falsehoods
connected with the "Reform" attempted by the so-called
"Protestant Methodists," in 1827—a self-sacrificing and
patriotic set of men, " desiring the office of a bishop," who
fought the first great battle, and encountered the first great
defeat, in defence of " Mutual Rights," and the liberty of
conscience ! The remaining sixty pages of the work, calcu¬
lated in themselves to apply the seal df infamy to the name
of Graves, consist of scurrilous statements, blackguard epi¬
thets, and slanderous insinuations against me, and against
Rev. Drs. McFerrin and Hamilton, of Nashville. He
(7)
8
introduction.
winds up tlais mock defence of himself, and a life of sin and
iniquity lie has lived, by arraying a great variety of resolu¬
tions adopted by different Baptist associations, and extracts
from papers of his denomination, endorsing his " Iron
Wheel" and his newspaper—not forgetting to tell the pub¬
lic that he is a " down-easter," was born in Windsor county,
Vermont, and has. it from hearsay that his father descended
either from the Huguenots or from Adam and Eve J (See
Publishers' note on page 256.)
A distinguished writer remarks, that
" Had Milton never written his glorious Hymn on the Morning of
Christ's Nativity, or Comus, or L'Allegro and II Fenseroso, or Sampson
Agonistes, or Paradise Lost, his Akeopagitica would have made him
worthy of a tomb for which kings would wish to die."
And after this definite account of his origin and blood, of
which I shall have more to say hereafter, Graves is certainly
worthy of a tomb for which a foreign jpauper would wish to
die!
Where this man Graves is personally known, as is the
case in Nashville, his baseless charges against Methodism
and individuals would fall harmless to the ground. Where
he is personally unknown, and his reckless aspersions are
uncontradicted, the unsuspecting may be made " to believe
a lie," as would be the case if they were to credit any thing
he says upon his own authority ! It has never been my lot
to witness as many falsehoods and unjust and base sus¬
picions and reflections couched in the same space, as I find
in the three hundred pages of his "Little Wheel." The
whole face of truth is so distorted in the discussion of every
INTRODUCTION. 9
subject lie undertakes, that her best friend could not recog¬
nize her. His picture is so mere a daubing, that but for a
line here and there, (quotations at that!) a candid reader
would be at a loss to know what he is attempting to portray.
And what else could be expected of the man ? He has been
every thing mean by turns, and nothing long. He has been
a Know-Nothing and an Anti-Know-Nothing; for and
against slavery, to the death; deadly hostile to morality, and
the advocate of Christian morals; the friend and the enemy
of most of the leading Baptist ministers and men of his ac¬
quaintance, and an admirer and reviler of female character;
a philosopher, a moralist, and a learned teacher of political
economy and Christian charity; a bankrupt and a swindler;
a would-be gentleman, a bogus scholar, a mountebank, a
scandal-monger, a humbug, and a disgraced and publicly-
cudgelled slanderer!
For years now past, this J. R- Graves has been the editor
of the " Tennessee Baptist " a paper which, under his con¬
trol, is a libel upon the name of a religions newspaper; out¬
raging public morality, and defying public execration. His
paper, in his hands, has existed only like those excrescences
in nature which transform healthful currents into sustenance
for their own poison. For low, contemptible, and miserable
slang, that paper has never had a parallel, nor even an ap¬
proximation, among the most filthy of blackguard papers.
His befouled saliva and hyena-like pursuits taint the very
atmosphere in which he lives. Dirty in the beginning,
his paper has weekly grown dirtier, in proportion to the
progress of his own insolence. Commenced in the lowest
1*
10 introduction.
depths of sectarian irreligion, his paper has plunged with
each succeeding number a lower deep, until its constant
readers have graduated in the vocabulary of " Billingsgate,"
and the style of writing exclusively revered among black¬
guards ! His career in Nashville has shown him to be emi¬
nent for a willingness to lie without stint, and a capacity to
scandalize without compunction. Common decency, during
the eleven years he has edited the " Tennessee Baptist," has
not glimpsed her face in his editorial sanctum, but the re¬
verse has been the reigning spirit of the dark scene, at once
the inspiration and solace of his editorial labors. Decent
men and Christian ministers have received such vile por¬
traitures in the columns of his paper, that the community
were forced to believe that Graves himself sat for the pic¬
ture his pen delineated. Yirtue has so constantly been
painted by him in all the deformities of vice, and truth so
often sacrificed to falsehood, that any set of men crediting
his editorials, and the blackguard productions of one class
of his correspondents, have supposed them annihilated!
Honesty has been so zealously repudiated, and Justice so
systematically excommunicated, that his more corrupt and
profligate admirers regard them as traditionary attributes
long since exiled from human affairs.
The man, an outline of whose character I am giving,
wears the countenance of a " border-ruffian," and actually
was one, while he lived in the Western Reserve of Ohio,
favoring the schemes of Free-Soilers and Abolitionists. He
looks as though he is better qualified to use the dagger of
an assassin than the pen of a religious editor. His praise
INTRODUCTION. 11
is degradation where he is known, and to his deluded friendsj
his advocacy of the doctrines of his own Church is an
insult to decent and educated men of the same " faith and
order •" while his defence of men and principles is a sure
evidence of the duplicity of the one and the rottenness of
the other. Whatever he lauds is soiled; whatever he de¬
fends wears the complexion of guilt. To appear in his pol¬
luted columns in any other attitude than that of a ruffian,
would entitle a man in Middle Tennessee to the ban of good
society. His eulogies of a minister or member of any
denomination of Christians ought to be taken as a warrant
for arrest and confinement in some county jail or State
prison. His bread and clothing, like those of harlots, are
coined from the demoralization of principle; and his heart
and countenance, far worse than the former, know neither
sorrow, nor shame, nor repentance, nor remorse! Nothing
is lovely in his eyes but mendacity; nothing is respected by
him but bigotry; nothing is reverential to him but slander
and abuse; nothing is worthy of his imitation but what is
mean, cowardly, or morally deformed !
For a number of years past, he has been mustering up all
the fallacies of reason which he could master in order to
explain away the high tone of the Scriptures, and to com¬
pare such texts as speak of the indispensable necessity of
regeneration, with those which serve merely to inculcate
water baptism. Thus he has reasoned himself out of the
necessity of repentance and amendment of life, and thus he
has deceived his soul for years past! Hypocrisy, whose
fruitful womb, impregnated by the fell demon of hell, with-
12 introduction.
out any abortion, has given birth to a progeny as odious and
numerous as the schools of mean fishes that inhabit the
waters of Egypt, has produced that croaking fry who con¬
duct the " Tennessee Baptist," at Nashville 1 And no off¬
spring of hypocrisy in all the ranks of this hellish prude,
who ever attempted to disguise itself with a veil, bears so
near a resemblance to its mother, false piety, as this unmiti¬
gated impostor, Graves! The groaning ghosts of many
better men than he ever was, now fill all hell, with wailings!
My description of this man is not complete—though accu¬
rate as far as it extends—without the following finishing
touch from the words of inspiration. The characteristics
which Deity has associated with a hypocrite and an impos¬
tor, cannot be separated from the person and deeds of
Graves. They are to this effect: "A naughty person, a
wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. He winketh
with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with
his fingers; frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief
continually; he soweth discord. Therefore shall his calamity
come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an
abomination unto him : a proud look, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devis¬
eth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in run¬
ning to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies,
and he that soweth discord among brethren."
Knoxville, August, 1857.
THE AUTHOR.
THE
"LITTLE IRON WHEEL" ENLARGED.
GEAVES ON BASCOM.
" Methodism," says Mr. "Watson, " has been usually
assailed by a violence so blind and illiberal, that those
writers who have attempted to confute its principles, or to
exhibit it alternately as an object of ridicule and alarm,
have, in most cases, sufficiently answered themselves, and
controversy has been rendered unnecessary."
This judicious observation of that very eloquent and ex¬
cellent divine is forcibly applicable in the case of Graves's
" Despotism of Episcopal Methodism," as connected with a
"Declaration of Christian Rights," by the late lamented
Bishop Bascom. Out of the three hundred pages of cease¬
less and bitter calumny heaped upon the doctrines, discip¬
line, ministry, and religious character of the Methodist
Church, in the " Little Wheel," more than two hundred of
those pages are exaggerated statements, malicious fabrica¬
tions, and garbled extracts, doing the most flagrant and
wicked injustice to Dr. Bascom and his Church. Indeed,
the entire work, styled the "Little Wheel," is as cool a
specimen of arrogant insolence, of deliberate lying, of
pompous conceit, and dogmatic denunciations, as the vanity
(13)
14
the little iron wheel enlarged.
and malignity of a man void of grace could inspire. With
a gravity unsurpassable in its unblushing career, this " wolf
in sheep's clothing" manages to create an impassable gulf
between truth and every round assertion he makes !
Of all the distempers with which poor mortals are afflicted
in the great infirmary of this world, an intemperate spirit
of party seems to be not the most infrequent, or the least
contagious or inveterate. Indeed, when it has once attained
a certain height, it defies the healing art, and mocks both
the bonds of reason and religion, which are severed before
it as a thread at the touch of fire. A perverted imagination
feeds the disorder, and deludes the angry disputant with
her hideous phantoms; and on these he spends his rage,
Graves-lihe, as if they were real, substantial foes. Such
seem to me to be the circumstances in which the violence
and injustice of this Baptist assailant compel me to defend
my Church and her departed ministers in the present con¬
troversy ; in which happy is he who is chiefly concerned to
reform himself, and to subdue his own passions; and thrice
happy he who comes off superior. For, in any controversy,
and especially in Church controversies, ".better is he that
ruleth his own spirit, than he that taketh a city."
I do not propose to occupy more space in replying to
Graves's two hundred pages relative to Bascom and the
Declaration of Bights than will cover a half-dozen pages of
this work; but in that brief space I propose to show that
Graves is as weak as he is vicious; that there is but little
probity or common honesty discoverable in the man; that
he is incapable of appreciating real merit; that his blasphe¬
mous productions are horror to the soul, and torture to the
ear; and that his "Little Wheel" is the offspring of the
wicked one—the insolent brat of hell!
All the leading points in the history of the " Declaration
of Bights," by Dr. Bascom, and which Graves makes his
the little iron wheel enlarged. 15
text for the ((Little Wheel/' and the Doctor's connection
with the Reform movement, the reader will find recorded in
Henkle's Life of Bascom, pages 361-383, published by
Stevenson & Owen, at Nashville, Tennessee. I would
give this chapter entire, but it would swell my Appendix be¬
yond the limits I have prescribed. Those interested will
turn to the chapter cited in the_Life of Bascom, and examine
for themselves.
X will cite a few particulars which appear to me note¬
worthy in the 11 Little Wheel." I will conceal nothing: I
will speak out openly, plainly, and in unmistakable terms.
I commenced my career as a Methodist preacher in the days
of this Reform, and I claim to be familiar with its history
and mystery. I was a subscriber to " The Itinerant and
Wesleyan Methodist Visitor," published in Baltimore,
in 1828, edited by the sainted Melville B. Cox, whose
bones now bleach upon the western coast of Africa; where,
as our first missionary to that benighted land, he " died at
his post," exchanging the cross for a crown. This was the
organ of our Church in her long and protracted war with
these self-styled Reformers. I have the first two volumes of
this work before me, bound in one. I have also on my
table the "Defence of our Fathers," by Rev. John
Emory, whom I assisted in promoting to the office of bishop
in the General Conference of 1832, of which I had the
honor to be a member. I have before me the "Appeal to
Methodists," by the venerable Dr. Bond, then a prac¬
ticing physician and a distinguished local preacher of Balti¬
more, the productions of whose pen the Reformers have
never forgotten. On the other hand, I have the " Mutual
Rights," the organ of the Reformers, whose editors and
contributors were, Rev. Alexander McCaine, Rev. Nicho¬
las Snethen, Rev. Asa Shinn, Dennis B. Dorsey, and
others, who headed the opposition. I repeat, I am familiar
16 the littte iron wheel enlarged.
with the rise and progress of this controversy: I have lived
through it all. And to me, and to posterity, now that the
spirit of the clattering partisan has died away—now, when
cool reflection has taken the place of madness and zeal—it
looks like depravity depraved, when associated with the pro¬
fession of Christianity. And it was the hitter invective of
the Reformers, and their cruel charges against the dead and
the living, and the regions of darkness to which they were
manifestly driving, that led the youthful Bascom to abandon
them and their wicked schemes.
There are three good and sufficient reasons why Graves
should not he allowed to use Dr. Bascom as authority, as he
does in this controversy: 1. Bascom was sore from oppress¬
ive treatment on the part of individuals in authority in the
Methodist Episcopal Church; but not the bishops, for they
came to his rescue in all his greatest difficulties. 2. When
he entered on the controversy, though a man of brilliant
talents, he was a mere youth, and had entered but limitedly
into the study of Church polity. 3. The manner in which
Graves speaks of Bascom should estop him from quoting
him as authority. Judge Blackstone tells us, in his Com¬
mentaries on the laws of England—"A man shall always be
estopped by his own deed, or not permitted to aver or prove
any thing in contradiction to what he has once solemnly
avowed." In law, then, I impede or bar Graves by his own
act; for example, " Henry B. Bascom among the number
faithless found." Page 3. Dr. Bascom's continuance in
the Methodist Episcopal Church, Graves alleges on page 4,
" does militate against his Christian principles and moral
courage as a man and a minister." He says in round terms
that Bascom ii was bought up by the promise of preferment"
—that " those he so shamefully deserted were inclined to be¬
lieve he was so bought upand even mentions the Doctorate,
and the Presidency of Transylvania University, and, last, the
the little iron wheel enlarged.
17
Episcopacy, as the bribe. Page 4. He says Bascom is a
11 striking illustration of the evils of such an organization as
Episcopal Methodism, which can be used for purposes of
seduction and bribery." Page 5. Now, he could be no such
" striking illustration" of the evils of " seduction and bri¬
bery" unless he were himself both seduced and bribed.
Again, at page 106, he reiterates the charge of being " se¬
duced by honors and preferments," but does not say particu¬
larly that he was, but says " those whom he cowardly de¬
serted and betrayed in the hour of trial are disposed to think
so." And then, again, he insinuates the bribe as before,
with the addition of a "professorship." But it happens
that Bascom was President of Madison College as early as
1827, three years previous to the " Declaration of Rights,"
at the time the controversy was at its height, and five years
before his appointment to the Augusta professorship, which
Graves, in his ignorance or malice, now parades as the bribe
that bought him! In 1829, Bascom resigned the presi¬
dency of a respectable college, and when I met him in the
General Conference o£_ 1832, he had taken a subordinate
place as the price of his integrity! Bah at you, Graves !
He says that Bascom was " a proof of the corrupting influ¬
ence exerted by the prospect of clerical rank and power."
Page 107. That is, he was corrupted by the prospect of
clerical rank and power, and so became a proof of the exist¬
ence of such a corrupting influence in the organization !
Graves comes before the world and says, " I charge Epis¬
copal Methodism with oppression, tyranny, and gross anti-
republicanism," page 103; and I shall establish the charge
by a " most masterly document," produced by Mr. Bascom,
who was a " professor, a president of a university, a D.D.,
and a Methodist bishop."
Defendant's Counsel. "We object to the testimony of a
young man, may it please the honorable Court, whose own
18 THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
chafed feelings prompted him to speak strongly—too strongly;
and especially we object to taking his testimony with the
prestige of office and rank conferred many years after, and
when his better-matured mind, his " sober second thought,"
received different impressions, and led him to entertain
different opinions.
Graves. " Bishop Bascom was the author of every senti¬
ment in these articles; and never, to his dying day, retracted
one solitary declaration they contain. They have his living
and dying sanction." Page 107.
Defence. Dr. Bascom says differently, may it please the
Court. He asserts an entire abandonment of his former
views, such as he held when he penned the " Declaration of
Bights," under the influence of new light.
The Court. Mr. Brownlow, as you are counsel for the
defendant, " Episcopal Methodism," and as there is a direct
issue of veracity between you and the prosecutor, Mr. Graves,
the Court will trouble you for your authorities, both as to
chapter and verse ! The law cited by you from Blackstone
is correct; the Court only desires the evidence.
Defence. The defence, may it please the Court, relies
upon Dr. Henkle's Life of Bascom, published by the Meth¬
odist Episcopal Church, South, which I hold in my hand. I
refer your Honor to pages 374, 375. In a letter addressed
to his biographer, in March, 1850, Dr. Bascom speaks of the
errors into which he had fallen " some twenty years since,"
on the subject of Episcopacy, and alleges that he had been
led into those errors by "unsafe guides," meaning certain
Methodist writers on Episcopacy, and which views came
near causing him to leave the communion of the Church.
On page 375, however, "some twenty years" after entertain¬
ing those erroneous views, he says :
" But so soon as I became satisfied that ours is a legitimate presby-
terial episcopacy, instituted and created as a separate, distinct order,
the little iron wheel enlarges. 19
by conventional consent, and the laying on of the hands of the presby¬
tery; and that, in order to its validity, it was not necessary to invoke
the miserable humbug of regular episcopal succession, as independent of
the rights and powers of the body of presbyters, I was content to
await the results of time and inquiry, and each succeeding year
has but tended to confirm me in the correctness of my views !"
Dr. Bascom adds, on the same page, in the same letter,
of the same date:
"We assume that, in the matter of mere organic form, as it regards
government, the Scriptures have left the Church to its own judgment; and
that, according to the Scriptures, ecclesiastical history, and the practice
of the best Churches of antiquity and of modern times, IT IS COMPE¬
TENT FOR A CHURCH TO ORIGINATE AN ORGANIC LAW,
LIKE THAT GIVING BIRTH TO METHODIST EPISCOPACY,
WITHOUT ANY DEPARTURE FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT
OR ECCLESIASTICAL USAGE!"
Graves. If even that he true, and the Court credit the
authorities brought forward, Bascom said, in the articles I
have submitted, what he knew to be true, and his change of
mind could not change those truths. And " Bascom clearly
says Episcopal Methodism degrades its membership: the
people are manifestly deprived of the exercise of thought,
conscience, and responsibility in matters concerning the
Church; all must be surrendered to the .preachers." Page
84. Does he not say of the prosecutors of Reformers, " I
want no higher praise than the censure of men who are
capable of approving such unmanly and unholy persecu¬
tion?" Page 113.
Defence. We deny that Bascom says the first—Graves
says it for him. It is a deliberate falsehood, and a vile for¬
gery. The latter quotation is correct. Bascom uttered it,
but of whom ? " Earnest, Rogers, Toy, Harden, Yearly, and
Israel." Page 110. And who were they ? Bishops, or per¬
secuting presiding elders, as Graves would have us believe ?
No, not even preachers; but all poor down-trodden lay¬
men, who durst not think or act in Church matters, who
20
the little iron wheel enlarged.
had prosecuted other laymen and preachers! So that it
comes to pass, unfortunately for Graves, that Bascom is here
denouncing the tyranny of a clique of laymen who had un¬
dertaken to prosecute the " Reformers."
Graves. But Bascom speaks of "my Lord of Canter¬
bury, and of the principal officers of his star-chamber court j"
these, at least, must be the highest dignitaries of the Church
—bishops!
Defence. Not at all. The men designated as riding on
the whirlwind, directing the storm, controlling the court of
star-chamber, and blasting his hopes at will, were, the one
a mere pastor, and the other a practicing physician.
Graves. Well, Bascom denounced the whole Baltimore
Conference as infamous tyrants; for it was so published.
Defence. Yet that did not make it true. Bascom says,
the statement of the committee—"Thus I have charged
the members of the Baltimore Conference as infamous
tyrants"—is far from being either logical or just. "Did
the Evangelists intend to characterize Peter as a profane
swearer and common liar when they narrate that, under
severe temptation, he cursed and swore that he knew not the
man ?"
Graves. Does not Bascom charge the authorities of the
Church broadly with " malice and misrepresentation ?" Page
117.
Defence. He makes such a charge, virtually at least,
against " Wilkins & Co.;" but Wilkins happens to be the lay
chairman of a large meeting of laymen, who had denounced
the article of " Vindex."
The Court interferes. Mr. Graves, as you propose to tell
us who and what your witness is, (page 103,) suppose you
give us that information. As all seems to depend on him,
his credibility may be an important item in the case.
Graves. " Henry Bidleman Bascom was born in 1796.
the little iron wheel enlarged. 21
At an early age lie entered the Methodist ministry, and by
taking the oath (vows) of a deacon, became the servant of
man as absolutely as ever did a Roman Catholic priest/'
He was " faithless found." He " shamefully deserted" his
friends, and by them was believed to be " bought up by the
promise of preferment." His conduct " militated against
his Christian principles and moral courage." He is a
"striking instance of seduction and bribery." His friends
" he cowardly deserted and betrayed in the hour of trial."
Court. It must be confessed, Mr. G-raves, that you give
no very flattering representation of the purity of your wit¬
ness, much as you rely on him. But what of this great
" Declaration" upon which you so much rely ? Mr. Clerk,
read the first clause in Bascom's Declaration.
Clerk. " Cod, as the common Father of mankind, has
created all men free and equal." Page 7.
Court. Is this not the doctrine you taught in lectures and
written essays, as an Abolitionist, and while " principal of an
academy in Ohio ?" Page 258. Bascom here asserts the
natural equality and freedom of all,: what use do you pro¬
pose to make of it ?
Craves. I deny the doctrine in toto. I am not in Ohio
now, nor in Vermont, where I was born. I am in Tennessee,
and I must hold with the South: " It is not true that all
men are created free and equal." Page 8.
Defence. We think, may it please the Court, that it is
not worth the while to follow up the case any further. The
prosecutor calls in but one witness, and that witness he pro¬
nounces corrupt, seduced, bribed, a coward, and almost every
thing else to discredit him j and he now pronounces the first
sentence of the boasted "Declaration" false. I see no
ground that he can occupy, and therefore move that the
case be dismissed at the plaintiff's cost.
The Court. [Ordering silence and dispersing the excited
22 the little iron wheel enlarged.
crowd.] After examining the " Declaration/' I find this
article to be a regularly built up argument, the whole resting
upon the opening averment as its base. This being removed,
the whole must fall; for this first axiom is its only support.
Now, as the plaintiff impeaches his own and his only wit¬
ness, as to good character, and flatly denies the primary
maxim of his theory, I can see nothing left on which to
base an action. If the foundation axiom is, as the plaintiff
avers, false, what rests on it cannot be sound : if witness be
corrupt in all the points specified by the plaintiff, his testi¬
mony could not be received but in open violation of all the
rules of evidence in the courts of England and America.
The case is dismissed at the cost of J. R. Graves, the plain¬
tiff, and the clerk will so make his entry, and require secu¬
rity of the plaintiff before he is discharged from custody!
Graves. It is unusual, if the honorable Court please, to
hold a client to bail when he has been non-suited by the
decision of the court. Besides, it is a reflection upon my
ministerial character to require security, and to suppose
that I will not promptly pay the costs in this suit, at least as
soon as I can realize funds from the sale of " The Little Wheel"
The Court. I was aware that the plaintiff in this case is
a " minister of the gospel, having the care of soulsbut
he has figured so badly on this trial as to destroy the confi¬
dence of the Court in his •personal integrity. Besides, it is
within the knowledge of the Court that this plaintiff, to
avoid the costs of a former suit, had various fraudulent
mortgages entered of record in the office of the Register of
Davidson county, putting his property out of his hands, and
conveying it to his mother, to Shankland, Marks, and others,
who were willing to aid him in his concealments!
Marks, Shankland & Co. entered into bonds to see
the costs paid in this case) and upon J. R. Graves making
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
23
oath, in open court, that he did not believe he could get
justice in any court of law or chancery in Tennessee, he was
allowed an appeal to "BIG- HATCHIE ASSOCIATION"
—" the largest and most influential Association in Tennessee:
membership, nearly 5000; ministers, 65."—Little Wheel, p.
299
24
the little iron wheel enlarged.
GRAVES ON M'FERRIN AND OTHERS.
Napoleon, who commanded the five campaigns, gained
the pitched battles of Lodi, Marengo, etc., destroyed many
armies, and made more than two hundred thousand men
prisoners. More than this, he captured an Austrian army
of eighty thousand men, without fighting a regular pitched
battle. Greater works than these did he do—he conquered
Italy, overran Egypt, and made haughty England think, at
one time, that her East India possessions were gone. The
Napoleon of the Baptist Church has projected a revolution,
which, in his vanity, even in the absence of miracles, is to
sweep Methodism from the face of the earth 1 But to cal¬
culate the ages which must, in all probability, elapse ere a
man of the mental calibre and moral character of Graves
can demolish the system of Methodism, must form an amus¬
ing problem. The Hindoo chronology, which assigns to its
fabulous dynasties millions and millions of years, might
furnish a specimen of the scale on which such a calculation
should proceed.
The remaining fifty pages of the "Little Iron Wheel"
abound with coarse abuse, round assertions, misrepresenta¬
tions, slanders, insinuations, and invective against "J. B.
M'Ferrin, Editor of the Nashville Methodist Advocate, and
the notorious and scurrilous Brownlow," with a slight brush
at Drs. Hamilton and Chapman. He charges that Dr.
M'Ferrin failed to endorse my review of his "Iron Wheel."
the little iron "wheel enlarged.
25
What does the man mean by an endorsement ? Dr. M'Ferrin
let various writers have the free use of his columns to extol
the hook, to enlarge upon its merits, calling public atten¬
tion to it, and urging all to procure the work, as a trium¬
phant vindication of Methodism, and a most withering ex¬
posure of the hypocrisy, falsehoods, and depravity of Graves.
Besides this, M'Ferrin called attention to the work editorially,
and notified his twenty thousand subscribers that such a
work was for sale at the Methodist Publishing House, in
Nashville, and that orders for it would be promptly filled by
Steyenson & Owen, Methodist Book Agents. What other
endorsement could he want ? I, as the publisher, and own¬
ing the copyright, desired no other endorsement. And
Graves has edited a paper twelve years to but little purpose,
if he has yet to learn that when he publishes high-wrought
eulogies of a book without dissenting from the praise of the
writers, he is not actually endorsing the same work! His
miserable pretence that my book has not been endorsed is all
stuff!
He tries to injure Dr. M'Ferrin's reputation, by an appeal
to the tll-natured remarks of Dr. Howell, a Baptist preacher,
whom M'Ferrin had occasion to lash, some years ago, in a
newspaper controversy. He says :
" Tliat mail is to be pitied, and especially that Baptist, acquainted
with Mr. M'Ferrin's treatment of Brother Howell, and of many others
since, who will regard any thing he may say against Baptist editors
or ministers as in the least disparaging to them." Page 254.
And what was the "treatment" he gave Howell? Why,
Howell and M'Ferrin had a protracted controversy, some
years ago, growing out of a communication the latter pub¬
lished from the pen of Rev. F. E. Pitts. Speaking of some
Baptist preachers, Pitts called them Calvinistic. Howell
denied that any Baptists, new or old, ever held or propa¬
gated Calvinistic doctrines. This was the beginning of the
2
2G THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
controversy; and I say, for I read the controversy at the
time, and the friends of M'Ferrin say, that he worsted
Howell very much. Howell got into a fit of anger, made a
personal matter of the alfair, and thus called off the minds
of his readers from the real points at issue. . He said hard
things of M'Ferrin, hut Mac kept in a good-humor, and
applied the lash to him in a manner he will never forget.
Howell became very sick of the fight; and, although he
embarked in it with the vigor of a causeway bully, he retired
with the mildness of a lamb ! After the heat of the battle
was over, Howell and M'Ferrin met, and ever, until the
former left for Richmond, Virginia, treated each other
courteously. It was a warm editorial contest, that ended
without, to a great extent, interrupting their private rela¬
tions. And if Dr. Howell were interrogated at this late day,
I have no doubt he would respond in verse to this effect:
"When death's dark stream I ferry o'er—
A time that surely shall come—
In heaven itself I ask no more
Than just M'Ferrin's welcome!"
Rut it is a fact well known to the Baptists, and other de¬
nominations at Nashville, that Graves is not friendly to Dr.
Howell. Graves can't tolerate a rival, and Howell is the
big gun of the Baptist Church. Howell is an "Anti-Land¬
mark man," and Graves tolerates no man who opposes his
notions on any subject. Howell has made his arrangements
to return to Nashville, and serve the First Baptist Church
as its pastor. It is known in the private circles at Nashville
that Graves is opposed to his return. Speaking of the invi¬
tation of Howell to return, by the church at Nashville, in a
recent number of Graves's paper, he shows, in unmistakable
terms, that he is opposed to such a change. Besides, it is
that large and more reputable class of Baptists in Nashville,
opposed to Graves, who urge the return of Howell. Here
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
27
is the notice, in part, Graves takes of this contemplated
change:
"Brother H. has been re-invited by the church to resume his old
field of labor, but whether he will think of leaving Richmond, break¬
ing up, and recrossing the mountains with a large family, at this time of
life, is exceedingly questionable, and it is questionable if the friends of
Brother H. should advise him, to do so ! ! !
" Brother H. is a man of universal acquaintance, and by all classes
highly respected and beloved as a Christian minister, McFerrin and
the Methodists only excepted."
Any one who has a file of the " Tennessee Baptist" for
the spring of 1857, and will turn to it, will see in an edi¬
torial by Graves, that when Rev. Mr. Hillsman, of Knox-
ville, and Br. McFerrin had a few questions up for dis¬
cussion, Graves concedes that McFerrin got the advantage
of Howell in the controversy I allude to. Graves pitched
in, and wanted to take a part in the discussion between
Hillsman and McFerrin; and offered as a reason that the
latter had foiled Howell years ago !
Graves refers in his "Little Wheel" to Dr. Jones, of
Nashville, a leading member of the Baptist Church, a prac¬
ticing physician, and the editor of the " Parlor Visitor," to
show the good opinion the Doctor entertains of him! If
Graves has a more decided opponent now on earth than Dr.
Jones, or one that has less respect for him and less confi¬
dence in him, I am unable to find the man, even in the
ranks of Methodism ! There are, within my certain know¬
ledge, other prominent and respectable Baptists in Nashville
who hesitate not to say in the private circle that they do not
regard Graves either as a Christian or a gentleman, and that
they have no confidence in the man ! On the other hand,
it is within my knowledge that Dr. McFerrin is on kind and
Christian terms with many of the most prominent members
of the Baptist Church in Nashville; such as Drs. Winston
and Jones, Messrs. Scott, Nelson, and others. And if there
28 the little iron wheel enlarged.
is a Baptist in Nashville beside Graves who is unfriendly to
McFerrin, the latter knows it not.
Graves states that he would not suffer any one to introduce
either me, McFerrin, Chapman, or Hamilton to him! On
this subjeet, he says, page 254 :
Learning this to be the character of the man, we have never
sought his acquaintance, nor would we to-day allow any man to intro¬
duce him to us. This may seem uncharitable, but we must be allowed
some self-respect. A personal acquaintance with Brownlow, Chap¬
man, McFerrin, and we may add a certain James Hamilton, author of
a certain anonymous communication to the Richmond Advocate, signed
H. J., we beg leave emphatically to decline.
Ye "gods and little fishes !" Dr. McFerrin told some of
Graves's brethren years ago, upon witnessing his slanderous
course, and learning the particulars of his reckless character
—and they communicated the same to him—that he had
never spoken to him to his knowledge and belief; that he
would not allow Graves to speak to him; nor would he suffer
an introduction to him at any time. McFerrin proposed
long ago, through the Christian Advocate, that if Graves
could get any two respectable ministers in Nashville, out of
his own Church, to say he was entitled to respect, he would
controvert with him, as he desired. It is, therefore, too late
in the day for Graves to decline an introduction to John B.
McFerrin, D. D., who long since sang thi3 doxology to him :
"Farewell, farewell, is a mournful sound,
And wakes a painful sigh ;
But give to us that better word,
That comes from the heart, good-bye!"
As it regards the Bev. Dr. Hamilton, the head of the
Tract operations of the Methodist Church, South, at Nash¬
ville, and a distinguished member of the Alabama Confer¬
ence, he has never seen the day, during his many years of
ministerial life, that he would stoop to a " personal acquaint¬
ance" with J. R. Graves. The letter Dr. Hamilton wrote
the little iron wheel enlarged. 29
to the editor of the Richmond Christian Advocate was a very
brief one, apprising the editor of the fact that Graves was a
man of unreliable character, and, perhaps, advising the edi¬
tor not to dignify him with a controversy, or with further
notices! Graves demanded the name of the Nashville cor¬
respondent, and was furnished by the editor with the name
of the Rev. Jefferson Hamilton, of Nashville. Graves
employed two lawyers to bring a suit for damages, but " begged
leave emphatically to decline" a suit! He either did not
want a " personal acquaintance" with Dr. Hamilton, or he
did not want the records of the Court for Davidson county
to have a " personal acquaintance" with his notorious cha¬
racter !
In reference to the Rev. James L. Chapman, a travelling
minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, there
is a reason why Graves should not desire to make his ac¬
quaintance. He is one of the ablest debaters in the South,
and met and demolished Graves years ago, at various points
in Middle and West Tennessee! To say now that he would
not suffer an introduction to Chapman, is a precious declara¬
tion ! Chapman exhibited him, on all occasions, where they
met, as an intellectual pigmy j as the smallest and dirtiest
material in the controversial world; as the undercurrent of
sectarianism, rising up and floating on the surface; a mere
street-scavenger; a soidisant debater, exalted to a post of
trust in the Baptist Church neither honorable to the Church
nor the Christian ministry. Chapman demonstrated that
obscure and insignificant men were at a premium, rascals
were in demand, and sensible, honest, and honorable men
in but poor request, where Graves was called on to head a
party!
So far as I am concerned, Graves sought an introduction
to me through a very worthy member of the Baptist Church,
then a citizen of Nashville, but now a resident of Knoxville.
30
the little iron wheel enlarged.
He sent the gentleman to me as often as two different times,
requesting an interview, and I declined, for the reason, as
I afterwards expressed myself to Methodist friends in Nash¬
ville, that I had no confidence in Graves, that his friendship
was not desirable, and that he had just been publicly thrashed
in the streets of Nashville, by a high-minded lawyer and an
ex-member of Congress, for his vile slander of female cha¬
racter. And for the proof of what I say, I submit the fol¬
lowing correspondence to those interested:
Knoxville, June 30, 1857.
Mr. John H. Nelson:—I am compelled to call on you for an
answer to two questions, winch I hope you will respond to by the
bearer:
Did you not come to me in Nashville, after the difficulty between
Messrs. Graves and Ewing, and say to me that Rev. Mr. Graves
desired to make my acquaintance, and to have an interview with me
at his room ?
Did you not, in a day or two thereafter, repeat his desire to make
my acquaintance, and propose that I meet him at the bookstore of
Toon & Nelson, of which you were one of the proprietors ?
Respectfully, etc.,
W. G. BROWNLOW.
Knoxville, 30th June, 1857.
Dr. Brownlow:—I do not now remember precisely what J. R.
Graves said, or how I approached you, not having given the subject
any thought since. But I do know that Mr. Graves expressed anxiety
to see you. I think he requested to see you at his office, and after¬
wards at the bookstore. Truly yours,
J. H. NELSON.
It is humiliating to have to hold up a professed servant of
Christ and a minister of the gospel as a deliberate and
intentional liar, and then to prove him such by a repu¬
table member of his own Church ! But what other course
is left me ? Graves has turned loose a storm of lies upon
the Methodist Church and her most estimable ministers,
alike disregarding the age and experience of the living, and
the sanctity of the grave, where repose the ashes of others!
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED. 31
1 exhibit extracts from his " Little Wheel," as specimens of
mighty tall lying! He wields a pen dipped in a pool of
venom! His little book is filled to overflowing with false¬
hoods and malignity in every line : it is one of those exhi¬
bitions of passion and malice which must be of service in the
end to those it was intended to injure ! The " Little Wheel,"
like the " Tennessee Baptist," edited by G-raves, is the very
essence of low-down scoundrelism and cowardice. Its pages
are most indelicate, ungentlemanly, and unchristian. Their
falsehoods could only have been conceived by a heart steeped
in dishonor, and they could only have b'een penned by a
coward's hand. The Big Wheel, the Little Wheel, and the
"Tennessee Baptist," its editor and the builder of the
Wheels, are worthy of each other. All these would have
been abated as a nuisance long ago, had not the grand inquest
of public sentiment deemed a sectarian cesspool a necessity
among a portion of our population!
But I should have stated before this, that Graves talks
about the countenance of John B. McFerrin! Dr. McFer-
rin, like all good men who have incurred the displeasure of
Graves, has received such a portraiture at his hands that all
who know the artist are forced to believe that he sat for the
very picture his pen delineated ! J. R. Graves's appearance,
I being judge, is by no means prepossessing, and to a physi¬
ognomist his face would afford considerable latitude for analy¬
sis. As far as I am able to judge, he appears to be about
five feet six or eight inches in height, and the rise of forty
years of age. His forehead is not good; his eyes, though
full enough, are rather sunken in their sockets, and resemble
small port-holes in a fort. His nose inclines a little to the
" pug" order, the lower extremity showing an inclination to
draw its inspirations from a stratum lower dozen than that
breathed by decent men! He wears a pair of ruffian-like
whiskers, which are medium dark; his eyebrows are rather
32 THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
heavy. At first blush, he has a hang-dog countenance, and
after recovering from the shock of a first glance, he expe¬
riences difficulty in looking one in the face ; when compelled
to do so, his eyes and adjacent muscles undergo a nervous
twitching. He wears his hair cropped short, as a general
thing, with the roach of a fop in front. He wears a citizen's
dress, and his manner is wonderfully dignified ! Determina¬
tion does not seem to be a leading trait in his character,
judging from his countenance; but there is, nevertheless, a
strong look of illicit amor about him. When I saw him in
the legislative hall in Nashville, he appeared agitated and
uncomfortable, as it was about the time of his being publicly
thrashed for his villainous abuse of private character. His
countenance is a fair index to his heart, beyond all doubt;
and when his God stamped him with the face he has, it was
to prevent all sensible persons in all coming time from mis¬
taking him for an honest man, a man of truth, or'a virtuous
man!
So far as Bishop Bascom, Drs. McFerrin, Hamilton, and
others are concerned, who have been blackguarded and
abused by Graves, they may take comfort: it is only fruit-
trees, bearing good fruit, at which thieves throw stones ! No
one ever heard of a thief throwing stones at an elm, maple,
birch, or gum tree. The more fruit a tree bears, and the
richer it is, the more it is likely to attract the attention of
thieves and land-pirates.
No man who tries to do his duty to his fellows or his par¬
ticular sect, and endeavors so to live as to bear the fruits of
true religion in his daily conduct as a citizen or as a minis¬
ter, can for one moment suppose that he will pass along
through life without being slandered by all such selfish, low-
flung, aspiring hypocrites as this man Graves. Such a man
will, of necessity, array against him as enemies all that class
of bigots; and these impostors will try to injure him in
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
38
every way ) and as sectarians, influenced by corrupt motives,
they will stir up the polluted and polluting waters of defama¬
tion and slander, just as Graves is doing and has been doing
all the days of his ill-spent life.
But a talented and industrious minister, living within the
range of Graves's bow, who is not slandered by him, is justly
subjected to censure on the part of honest and upright men.
A minister not of the Baptist Church must beam ilk-and-
water man, if he does not make Graves his enemy. I would
not give a fig for such a man. He who is any thing—who
makes his mark in the world, who has talents and fame,
who does good and is respected by others—must have the
ill-will and opposition of all such envious slanderers as
Graves!
2*
34 the little iron wheel enlarged.
THE ENDORSEMENT OF OUR BOOK
Graves says that he never read our hook, and would not
do so without an endorsement of its contents and its author
hy the Church authorities. That the assertion that he never
read the work is false, no one will doubt who has perused my
book and will then look at the points to which he replies;
and if he had not made " shipwreck of his faith and a good
conscience," he would not have ventured on so absurd a
denial. Suppose it to be true that he never perused the
work, how ridiculous he must appear in the eyes of all re¬
flecting men for attempting a rejoinder to a work he has not
perused ! Can he know what he is replying to ? Certainly
not! But the truth is, he evades the grave charges preferred
against him, involving his honor, veracity, virtue, and per¬
sonal honesty, by assuming that he has not read the work—a
false assumption, as certainly as he is a man ! He has passed
over in silence the very charges the public have expected
him to reply to; and that his friends may justify him in his
silence, they will take the ground, upon his authority, that
he would not stoop to read the work ! Why reply to any
thing in it, if not to the grave and serious portions of it ?
Why say any thing in reference to a man whose Church will
not endorse him, and whose want of character is so palpable,
as Graves charges in my case ? This pretence will not satisfy
an inquiring public mind; nor will it be deemed a sufficient
reply to my charges !
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED. 35
I clip the following article from the " Tennessee Baptist"
of May IT, 1856, and with it alone can convict Graves of
wilful lying before a jury of twelve honest men:
WILL MR. McFERRIN ANSWER ?
Mr. McFerrin, Editor of the Conference paper published in this
city, has been and is again most respectfully asked to state -whether
he, as Editor of the " Nashville Christian Advocate," endorses a book
published by or printed in the Methodist Book Concern, written by
Mr. Brownlow, and purporting to be an answer to the "Great Iron
Wheel?"
eirst question.
Will Mr. McFerrin endorse the charges made in that book touching
the character of the editor of this paper ? If those charges are true,
Mr. McFerrin knows them to be so: if they are slanderous, Mr. Mc¬
Ferrin knows them to be so. We appeal to his gentlemanly honor
and Christian principles to say if he endorses them. He notices the
book in his paper; he allows others to commend it, and he republishes
the endorsement of Mr. Lee, of the Richmond Advocate; he gives
the full influence of his paper, saving his own unqualified endorse¬
ment ; and now we call upon him, as an act of common justice, to
say if he endorses the charges in the work personal to ourself ?
The source from which the work emanates does not entitle it to the
notice of any man of self-respect; unfortunately, would degrade any
man who had character to lose, to consider it worthy of notice. If
Mr. McFerrin, Editor of the Methodist Advocate, a resident of this
city, and a neighbor of the party whose character is attacked, and
who has the opportunity of knowing, if any Methodist in this State
has, if the personal charges be true—we say, if Mr. McFerrin will
not presume to endorse them, the world may know that they are in¬
famously false and libellous. We challenge any responsible Method¬
ist in this city to endorse the slanders of that work. That man
will be found as infamous and reckless of truth, as Brownlow is so
well known to be. Will Mr. McFerrin endorse the work ? If the
work is too vile for Mr. McFerrin to endorse, it is certainly beneath
our notice.
Now, twelve months after the issue of this editorial,
in which Graves characterizes the charges made against him
in my book as " slanderous," and all who would endorse
them " as infamous and reckless of truth as Brownlow him¬
self," he comes out in a book of three hundred pages, a
portion of which is in reply to my book, asserting in these
round and unequivocal terms :
I have not read this book : I never expect to do so, until a
36
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
Methodist bishop, or some responsible Methodist in this city, who
knows or who can know the truth or falsity of the charges in it, will
endorse it.—Little Wheel, p. 248.
Dr. McFerrin pursued tlie proper course in this whole
matter. Graves sought to evade the force of my hook by
making an issue with the editor of one of the official organs
of the General Conference. He foiled Graves in this attempt,
but did just what Graves could have made an issue upon, if
he had not been disposed to dodge the whole question: he
loaned his columns to others who endorsed the work, sounded
its praises abroad, urged the public to procure it, and aided
greatly in its circulation !
The Nashville Christian Advocate copied the following
from the Pittsburg Christian Advocate, thereby endorsing
the notice:
The Great Iron Wheel Examined ; or its false spokes extracted, and
an exhibition of Elder Graves, its builder. By William G. Brown-
low. Nashville, Tenn. 1856.
The author of this reply to the scurrilous and slanderous produc¬
tion entitled " The Great Iron Wheel," is editor of Brownlow's Knox-
ville Whig, and a local preacher in the M. E. Church, South. With
the character of "The Great Iron Wheel," our readers have become
somewhat acquainted through our able correspondent, Rev. Wesley
Smith. The book before us is a review of the same vile production.
The author is a sharp, racy writer. Mr. Graves's poison has been
extensively diffused, and we should be glad Mr. Brownlow's antidote
might be equally so. We hope the work may be extensively circu¬
lated.
And the Nashville Christian Advocate, for 1856, takes the
following notice from the New Orleans Christian Advocate,
another official organ of the General Conference :
Armageddon and Brownlow.—A Louisiana correspondent of the
New Orleans Christian Advocate says, in reference to the town from
which he writes:
"Armageddon is creating a good deal of interest in the prophecies.
It appears to be in general favor. At any rate, the opinion is, that
if his interpretations are correct, his arguments are hard to refute.
Brownlow is at woi'k, and, with his tremendous sledge, is smashing
away at that 'Wheel.' In our town, where the 'Iron Wheel' was
the little iron wheel enlarged.
37
extensively circulated, a proposition has been made to withdraw them
all from the public, if the Methodists will but agree to lock up
Brownlow."
The Nashville Christian Advocate, for 1856, gives the
public this notice:
Brownlow's Book.—The North Carolina Christian Advocate thus
speaks of this work:
"We recommend this book as an antidote to a poison. For the
necessity of such a book, the Baptists alone are responsible. Its
circulation is afflicting them terribly. If Mr. James, a Baptist editor,
will inform us how many copies of the ' Great Iron Wheel' have been
sold in North Carolina, we will sell just that number of Brownlow's
book, and no more; and then, if he will, in his paper, repudiate
Graves's book, and the endorsement of it by his Church, we shall, in
turn, advise our readers to let Brownlow alone. But until this is
done, we fear our Baptist brethren will have to submit to Brownlow's
excoriation of Graves with the best grace they can.
"By the way, the edition now on hand to fill future orders has a
likeness of Brownlow. He looks, in the picture, as if he felt a voca¬
tion to the work in which he has engaged, and seems to be saying,
'Take care, Graves; such a time as you are having now, you never
had in all your life before. Brownlow is after you!'
"Graves's book used to be announced as 'The Great Iron Wheel.'
Now it is advertised in the Recorder simply as the ' Iron Wheel.' Its
greatness is rapidly vanishing."
And tlie Nashville Christian Advocate, edited by Dr.
M'Ferrin, for the same year and month, gave the following
notice of endorsement, by a North Carolina Methodist paper;
Brownlow's Book.—Belofv we give a notice of Brownlow's Review
of the Iron Wheel. We copy from the Herald of Truth. The book
has reached its sixth edition. After giving the title, the Herald says:
"The above is the title of a rare book of 331 pages, which has
quite recently issued from the press, but has already reached its
fourth edition. We are indebted to the author for a copy of the said
work, who will please accept our thanks for the same. We have
known all the time that Elder Graves's book, called ' The Great Iron
Wheel,' stood almost unrivalled in the Christian world for caricature
and misrepresentation; and now feel that it has met with nothing
but what it richly deserved, in the exposure thereof, involving its
author in utter confusion, by the only man we wot of, in all the land,
who ought to have written a reply. Elder Graves inflicted a great
evil upon the Christian public when he wrote his book: those who
have endorsed it have given the evil power to injure to a considerable
extent. It was to be expected that the tide would be turned. Let
38
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
the perpetrators of the evil blame themselves for the castigation of
Graves, as contained in Brownlow's book. We, with thousands,
regret that the necessity existed for such a work as Brownlow felt it
his duty to write; but, as the necessity existed, we recommend the
book now under consideration, on the same principle that we would
recommend ratsbane for killing rats."
The Nashville Christian Advocate inserted the following
notice, by a correspondent—all in the same year of our Lord,
1856: .
"The Great Iron Wheel Examined," by Rev. Wm. G. Brown-
low.—We have received, read, and inwardly digested this remarkable
book; and, while we regret the absolute necessity and lamentable
facts calling into existence such a work, we can but feel gratified, as
every lover of truth must, and -especially all who have proper views
of the high calling and sacredness of the ministerial office and cha¬
racter, that the duty performed so well fell to the lot of Mr. Brown-
low. We can say of a truth, as all who have and will read this work,
(and their name will be legion,) and are at all acquainted with the
unchristian bearing and character of Pigmy Graves, will bear us wit¬
ness, that Brownlow has faithfully redeemed his pledge, when he said
he intended to give Graves what he had never had, and that was
justice.
Mr. Brownlow performed the operation with apron on, and sleeves
up, and gloves o£F; and, by his boldness and simpleness, has demon¬
strated to the world that he is a surgeon of the Cross school; and,
considering the character of his subject, his dreadful disease, which
was from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, inside and out,
it was well he took the above precaution. The book is written in a
bold, veracious, and terse style. The author deals in facts, many of
which are astounding. Every subject treated is made clear and con¬
vincing ; and Ross, Graves, and those who bow at the altar of blind
and reckless bigotry, where the smoke of falsehood ascends up con¬
tinually, are placed in
"A strong dilemma in a desperate case—
To act with infamy, or quit the place."
The book will go like fire in the mountains. The first edition of
five thousand copies was consumed in a few days. The second edition
is now going through the press, and will soon be ready for distribu¬
tion. Let all who love truth and justice secure the work, read, and
circulate it; for " truth is mighty, and must prevail."
Brother Lee's book—Immersionists against the Bible—is before us.
It will greatly confound the " Babel-builders," and produce a wonder¬
ful sensation among the inhabitants of the muddy waters. But of its
excellences we shall speak hereafter. J. S. S.
Cave Mill Retreat.
the little iron wheel enlarged.
39
The excuse of G-raves for not noticing me or my book,
that neither has been endorsed, is not satisfactory to the
public. He has been long enough a newspaper editor to
know that a more thorough endorsement of a book and its
author has seldom been exhibited than the Nashville
Christian Advocate has afforded to me and my book in
the foregoing publications. I could give others, but do not
wish to occupy more space upon this subject. I will, how¬
ever, trouble the reader with one other notice, the production
of Dr. Jenkins. This notice appears in the Nashville Ad¬
vocate of May 22, 1856, and, is introduced by Dr. M'Ferrin
with the remarks preceding it, showing that the article so
fully met his views that he gave it to his numerous readers,
though not written for publication.
Brownlow's Review.—The following letter to a friend we insert
without the consent of the author. The writer is a gentleman of
fine attainments, and his judgment in literary matters is entitled to
much respect.—En.
Thankful Relief, April 28,1856.
Reverend and Dear Friend :—I thank you heartily for a copy of
Brownlow's Review of Graves's "Iron Wheel." I repeat, I thank you
for the book. Politically, I do not admire Dr. Brownlow's sentiments,
nor his style of maintaining them against antagonistic views; but
whatever may be the objections which I, or any one, might entertain
to him or his political tactics, two things must be confessed: the
first, that Brownlow is an honest and bold advocate of his own mental
decisions; and, secondly, that his order of talent is greatly above me¬
diocrity, in the first degree of classification.
As to the controversy that has been agitating the Christian mind
and Christian character for several years recently, touching the mode
of Christian baptism, I have felt but little and taken less interest, as
those who know me are apprised; but when the issue assumes the
complexion of carnal hostility of one Christian denomination toward
that of another, or any number of others, to an extent and aim of
utter demolishment of the objective sect, and, by consequence, the
precious jewel of Christian consistency, then I have no patience with
the offensive party, whatever the plausibility and demand may seem to
be for such conduct. The truth is, the Bible of Christianity, as well
as charity, tolerates a diversity of minor notions, while the periphery
of his essential divergence from a vital centre is so marked and defi¬
nitely circumscribed, "that the wayfaring man, though a fool, need
not err therein." It was that uncatholic spirit that caused Mr.
40 THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
Jefferson (not an infidel, as some have asserted) to write many bitter
things against theological dogmatism, and it is that fell spirit, toe
common in all Churches, that weighs like an incubus of death upon
every effort of the truly pious minister to foster and extend the benign
influences of the gospel, that tends to a degeneration in doctrine and
demoralization in practice throughout Christendom, that secularizes
our priesthood, and magnifies a tithe into a fat and lazy sinecure.
Yes, I say it is this selfsame uncircumcised Philistine that diverts
the necessity of the gospel into a mere popular expediency; that
manufactures " Sharpe Rifles," instead of " sharp two-edged swords,"
to conquer the world. Such, I believe, is the spirit that has unfor¬
tunately victimized Mr. Graves, and all who cooperate with or follow
his example of vilifying sister branches of one common Christian
interest.
In the "Iron Wheel" there is not one word of designed truth—a
tissue of hyperbolical misrepresentations from Alpha to Omega, upon
meagre quotations and partial constructions of text without context.
On the other hand, Brownlow's Review not only states the facts
themselves, as they really exist in the premises, but the adverse, or,
if you prefer, the converse declaration, is so ingeniously and yet so
ingenuously filed in the court of matter-of-fact-and-common-sense
appeals, of which an honest and impartial reading public are the
rightful peers, that one feels relief, as if waking from nightmare, in
the completeness of the defence; and when he travels along with his
friend beyond the limits of Sodom to complete exculpation, he then,
with Brownlow in his hands, amuses himself with the book itself, its
originality, its variety, its literature, its anima per se, its materia om¬
nium et omnibus. Shakspeare and Solomon, the world's most re¬
nowned apothegmists. In a word, Brownlow was the man, and his
work is the book, and whoever reads the "Iron Wheel," and then
refuses or neglects to read the antidote, is either a coward or a servile
dupe to his unregenerated prejudices. I understand not exceeding
six thousand copies were produced in the first issue. Why, my dear
sir, if a hundred and sixty thousand copies supply the demand, it will
be more than I calculate upon. Brownlow will be read by the world,
as well as by the religious sectary; by the statesman and politician,
as well as by the steady and sturdy democratic yeomanry; by the
superficial pleasure-seeking, as well as by the meditative and thought¬
ful philosopher. A man whose blue-stocking superstitions would in¬
terdict a serious perusal of Brownlow on the Sabbath, or before his
Church council, would stealthily ruminate the forbidden bait, and feel
himself the wiser and better for the pious trespass. It will relieve
the hypochondriac and hysterical, cure hydrophobia, put fat upon the
ribs of the splenetic, and drive hypocrisy and devilism from the pul¬
pit. Thank you for the present, and may success attend you and
Brownlow's " Iron Wheel Review." W. L. Jenkins.
With this array of evidence in favor of my book, I might
safely close this chapter; but as Graves and his associates
the little iron wheel enlarged.
41
and understrappers take great pains to show that I am not
endorsed by my Church, I will not now stop until I spike
this gun, and drive them, in their mad frenzy, to some other
"refuge of lies." I take the following notices from the
Richmond Christian Adyocate, for 1856, another organ
of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, edited by Rev. Leroy M. Lee, D.D.:
Brownlow on Graves.—The mail last week brought us a volume
bearing the following title:
" The Great Iron Wheel Examined; or, its false spokes extracted,
and an exhibition of Elder Graves, its builder, in a series of chapters.
By William G. Brownlow, Editor of Brownlow's Knoxville Whig.
Nashville, Tennessee: Published for the Author."
The rashness of Elder Graves in his offensive attack on Methodism
has brought upon himself and his book, and upon the bigoted zealots
who hailed its appearance as a religious triumph, and circulated it
with an instinctive denominational unfriendliness to Methodism, a re¬
buke and an exposure, not only severe, but well merited and just.
Parson Brownlow has met Mr. Graves in the field of his own selection,
and with the weapons of his own choice; and he belabors him and
his book with a remorseless energy of words and pictures! The ne¬
cessity for such a book is deplorable. But it is fortunate that one
able and willing to expose meanness and corruption such as fill the
pages of the Great Iron Wheel is at hand to do the work. The Bap¬
tists of North Carolina, and elsewhere, who endorsed Elder Graves
and his book, will rue the day they provoked the pen of Mr. Brown¬
low to examine the Wheel and " its builder." We hope a copy of this
volume will go wherever the Iron Wheel has gone. We will in a short
time be ready to supply the orders of all who may wish to see Brown¬
low on Graves.
Send your orders. Price $1.
The "Great Iron Wheel" Examined.—This is a rare book.
Graves has given the author an ample field from which to cull his
unique bouquet. This field the author has traversed: seen and noticed
every thing of importance to the reviewer, and has given evidence, in
his unanswerable arguments, withering satire, and complete exposure
of Graves, that no other than Rev. William G. Brownlow, LL.D., has
passed that way, and conducted the examination.
The necessity for such a book is founded on the character of Graves's
productions generally, which, as have been shown, are false and ma¬
licious, and the studied effort of such a class of bigots and zealots as
Graves represents, to disparage Methodism, and dignify the Baptist
Church into an importance that no other professedly evangelical de¬
nomination, not even the most fanatical and exclusive, would dare lay
claim to
the little iron wheel enlarged.
Graves's book, we have been repeatedly informed, does not receive
the sympathy and support of the pious and intelligent of his own
Church; yet it is thought that no other book of their issues is so
sought after and so zealously disseminated. This work of distribu¬
tion is generally carried on by the ministers in the localities where
congregations are supplied; (some of whom we know;) but where they
do not engage in such an unsanctified business, and where -there is a
fear of the repulse of public sentiment, agents are encouraged to
do it.
At one point in this State, this office is filled by an employee at a
railroad d^pot, and who is represented as doing a thriving business in
rather an under-grounded way.
The "North Carolina Publishing Society of the Baptist Church,"
it seems, has taken this redoubtable author, Elder j. r. Graves, under
its fostering wings, and arraying itself in his same plumage, and with
like "fuss," helps him in his crow of defiance to all that differ with
him. Indeed, the first material prominence the man enjoyed in the
East was through the challenges sent out by this Society to ministers
whose self-respect and position in society would not suffer them to no¬
tice the man in that way.
We have recently heard of a Baptist association in this State that
approves of Graves's book, and formally recommended it to the atten¬
tion of their people.
In view, then, of the support above noticed, besides the unseen and
powerful agencies in its distribution, the work of Dr. Brownlow is ne¬
cessary, and he has done a good service to the cause of truth, though
done in his own way, as will be generally appreciated by those to
whom the man or his history is known.
I will close my notices by Metbodist newspapers with the
following brief sketch from the pen of Dr. McAnally, the
editor of the St. Louis Christian Advocate, another offi¬
cial organ of the General Conference :
" The Great Iron Wheel Examined ; or, its false spokes ex¬
tracted, and an exhibition of Elder Graves, its builder, in a series of
chapters. By W. G. Brownlow, Editor of Brownlow's Knoxville
Whig. Nashville, Tenn., 1856. Published for the Author."
More than once or twice during the two years last past, wo have
felt called upon by circumstances not originated or controlled by us,
to allude to a very undignified, unchristian-like, and low production
called " The Great Iron Wheel, etc.," by a Baptist minister in Ten¬
nessee by the name of Graves. To this book we say we have alluded
—but only alluded—not caring to have any thing more to do with it
than duty seemed to require. We do not know that we have ever
been regarded as particularly wanting in that which men call courage,
and in former days were really looked upon as altogether too venture¬
some. In one of those youthful freaks, which older, wiser, and better
people sometimes designated as "foolhardy," we once attacked a
the little iron wheel enlarged.
48
whole nest of skunks, and though we succeeded in killing six out of
seven, we confess we had no cause to boast of the odor accompanying
the victory. Being older, we are now more cautious, and hence it is
we have touched the aforesaid book very lightly. We have already
told our readers that it was for the most part a mere rehash of what
had often been previously said, and as often refuted; that its stale
calumnies and scurrilous libels upon Methodist economy and usage, in
passing from one to another until they reached the level of Elder
Graves, had changed only from bad to worse. The very title, " Iron
Wheel," seems to have been borrowed from the heading of a series of
articles Rev. F. A. Ross published some years since in the Calvinistic
Magazine.
When Elder Graves determined to send forth this book, one would
suppose he was laboring under a strange defection, or wonderful obli¬
quity of memory, that caused Mm to forget there was such a man in
Tennessee as W. G. Brownlow, and, as any one at all acquainted with
the parties might have easily foretold, this forgetfulness was most un¬
fortunate, and " cost him dear." Brownlow gets after him, in his own
peculiar style, and it almost makes one's bones ache to witness the
merciless castigation he gives him.
To the foregoing I may he permitted to add that the Me¬
thodist Book Depositories at Richmond, Charleston,
New Orleans, and St. Louis, have, from the time my hook
appeared, as they still do, kept it for sale, and aid in its
circulation. The Methodist Publishing House at Nashville,
under a contract with me, has printed THIRTY THOU¬
SAND COPIES of the work, and aided in their circulation,
until of that number not more than three thousand copies
remain unsold. The Methodist travelling preachers, both
presiding elders and circuit preachers, in the several Annual
Conferences, South, have ordered this work, and aided in its
circulation, and many of them continue to do so still, and
will, wherever they deem it called for, to offset the slanders
of Graves and his numerous satellites, in the shape of Bap¬
tist preachers, book-pedlers, and bigoted colporteurs ! They
look upon my examination of Graves's Iron Wheel as an
appropriate knot with which to tie up that string of jewels,
for suspension on the necks of the pious craftsmen who cir¬
culate it. Methodist preachers and people, in circulating my
44
the little iron wheel enlarged.
book, especially where Graves's Iron Wheel has gone, feel
that they can say with the poet:
Truth crushed to earth shall rise again:
The eternal years of God are hers;
But error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies amid her worshippers.
Now, if this does not amount to an endorsement by the
Methodist Church, I confess that I have misapprehended the
import of the term. Webster tells us that the endorsement
of a man or his production is "sanction or support
given." But it may be urged that no Annual or General
Conference has officially " sanctioned" me or my book. I re¬
ply that I am not a member of such a body, and, under the
government of our Church, they have nothing to do with me
or my productions. I am a local preacher, a member of
the Quarterly Meeting Conference for East Knoxville Sta¬
tion, and that body has endorsed me since the publication of
my book!
the little iron wheel enlarged.
45
OPEN COMMUNION WITH FEMALES.
Grates, though an advocate of close or restricted com¬
munion, so far as gentlemen are concerned, is decidedly in
favor of " open communion" when a sister is concerned!
And he by no means elevates the standard of morality in his
Church, or encourages those to do so who are influenced by
him. In his weekly paper for May 30, 1857, under the cap¬
tion, " Editorial Telegrams," he thus responds to the inter¬
rogatory of a correspondent in Florida:
Brother C. Smith, Florida.—Should the Church interfere, and di¬
rect a member to leave an adulterous husband? We, with present
light, say No. First, there is no Scripture authorizing the act. Se¬
cond, it would separate thousands of our most pious sisters from their
husbands and children, or exclude them from the Church. We think it
beyond the cognizance of the church.
Graves has a horrible opinion of the virtue and morality
of the husbands of Baptist ladies! He finds no Scripture
authorizing a separation of wife and husband for the mode¬
rate and very common offence of adultery I He perhaps only
reads the "New Translation," as he is a "Revisionist." Or,
possibly, he may wish to excuse some of his clerical " true
yoke-fellows" who have recently been " overtaken" in this
fault. It is said of Elder Graves, at Nashville, that on a
memorable occasion, when he received a certain prostitute
into his Church, who afterwards made his house her home,
he stood forth in the sanctuary, and publicly thanked God
u for this Christmas-gift I"
46 THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
But as he deems this question of adultery one " beyond
the cognizance of the Church/' I will submit for his con¬
sideration a few passages from the old Scriptures, commonly
called King James's translation :
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not
commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a
woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in
his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast
it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members
should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee:
for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,
and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a
writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put
away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to
commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced
committeth adultery.
There is in the State of Mississippi, in a town which I
will not now mention for obvious reasons, a Baptist preacher
who holds and practices, according to the public journals,
this same doctrine so sacredly held by Graves. This man
has been at some trouble to circulate Graves's Iron Wheel,
and at much more trouble to abuse me and to vilify my
book. He was this spring in the Baptist Convention at
Louisville—no doubt roomed while there with Graves ; and
if he had not imbibed the doctrine before, "worked himself
up," under the teachings of Graves, to believe that this thing
known as adultery is but a trifling affair ! See the following
from an exchange paper :
An Amorous Preacher.—The Evansville Journal relates an inci¬
dent which occurred on the steamer Northerner, on her last trip but
one from Louisville to Memphis. A Baptist minister, whose name
and,residence are omitted for obvious reasons, got on board the boat
at Louisville, and upon being introduced to Mr. Archer, by a distin¬
guished clergyman, was ticketed through to his destination free of
charge. During the evening the reverend gentleman was discovered
to be under the influence of the "ardent." He however retired at
the usual hour, and the passengers supposed that the morning would
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED. 47
find him sober and penitent. About midnight the clerk and captain
were awakened by the chambermaid, who informed them that a man
was attempting to enter a lady's state-room. Hurrying to the spot,
they found their ministerial passenger had alarmed the boat in his en¬
deavors to force a state-room occupied by two ladies from a neighbor¬
ing town. The clergyman was lodged in his room and locked up for
safe-keeping. The next morning the boat landed at Owensboro, and
the minister was put ashore. He pleaded with tears for mercy, but Mr.
Archer told him that a change of boats would be beneficial to him,
and he was accordingly left on the wharf-boat to get home as best he
might. The clergyman had been attending the Baptist Conference in
Louisville, and is said to be a man of high influence and standing in
the State where he lived.—Rep. Banner.
To throw further light upon this subject, I subjoin the
following note from a citizen of the town in which this pious
rascal resides:
, Mississippi, June 15, 1857.
Mr. Brownlow : Dear Sir:—In the last issue of our town paper,
" The Conservative," I find the enclosed article, headed "An Amorous
Preacher," taken, as you will see, from an exchange paper. The man
referred to in it is the Rev. S. S. L., one of the largest " guns" in the
Baptist denomination in "all these parts of the earth." He has
charge of the Baptist church in this place, and is continually throw¬
ing firebrands among us. Since his short stay here he has had a pro¬
tracted controversy with the pastor of the Presbyterian church, and
was proven to have wilfully lied in his statements. Not content with
his disgrace in that controversy, he has used his utmost endeavors to
involve the Methodist minister in a fight with him ; but I am glad to
have it in my power to say that his threats and misrepresentations,
his ridicule and calumny, have all been treated as they deserved,
with silent contempt.
"The Conservative" issued on Saturday, as is usual, and in his
eleven o'clock sermon, on Sunday, he tried to exculpate himself from
the charge in the paper—acknowledged all the circumstances of the
case, but said that he could prove his innocence by one of our citi¬
zens, who avers, however, that he knows nothing of the circumstances
of the case, as he was not on the boat with him! By handing him
round, it is the opinion of this community, if I may judge from the
remarks on the street, you will be serving the cause of morality, if
not of Christianity.
With much respect, your obedient servant, An Observer.
This prince of hypocrites—nay, this peach-orchard hoar
and "true yoke-fellow" of J. R. Graves, is a pretty disciple
to undertake to teach men the way to heaven and to correct
48
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
the. errors of Methodism! Disguise his drunkenness and
adultery as he may with the veil of false piety, the groan¬
ing ghosts of even better men at this moment fill all hell with
wailings! But no cloak of false piety which he can throw
around him will appease the tumult of his mind or silence
the clamors of his guilty conscience. The course of this
man in life has been like that of Graves—he has spared
nobody: he regards himself, Graves-like, as deputed from
heaven for the general reformation of Churches and of men
and manners; he has arraigned all mankind at his bar!
The one has gone abroad with a flame enkindled on his
tongue—the other on his pen—that sets on fire the whole
course of nature, and is set on fire of hell!
Both this Mississippi liquor-drinker and his Nashville
associate ought to emigrate to Salt Lake, and take "holy
orders" upon themselves, under the imposition of the hands
of Brigham Young. They will there meet with such inter¬
pretations of the Scriptures as will sustain their libidinous
faith. Elder Hyde, of the Mormon faith, advances plausible
arguments in favor of polygamy, and enunciates Divine
precedent for a plurality of wives. I believe that neither
this hero of the steamer "Northerner," nor the redoubtable
editor of the " Tennessee 'Baptist," can, in their libidinous
career and corrupt condition, comprehend the true nature of
an incarnate God; and hence, with Elder Hyde, they would
easily conclude that the adorable Saviour, in suffering women
to comb his hair, to anoint him with precious ointment, to
wash his feet with tears and to wipe them with their hair,
must have unbecoming and improper motives !
Graves and his Mississippi associate in the ministry, if un¬
willing to emigrate to Salt Lake, ought to dissolve their con¬
nection with the Baptist Church, as at present organized, and
form a new ecclesiastical association, to be known as the Nico-
laitane Baptist Association. We learn in the Book of Reve-
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
49
lation that there was a certain sect in Pergamos, said to he
founded by one Nicolas, who reckoned adultery and fornica¬
tion, and the use of things offered to idols, indifferent things,
" beyond the cognizance of the Church." They imputed
their wickedness to Gfod as the cause, and held to close com¬
munion with men, as outside barbarians, and to open com¬
munion with females, as the common inheritance of man!
These doctrines obtained in Pergamos, and rooted out the
stringent doctrines of the early Christians ! Our Mississippi
priest represents the Nicolaitanes, and our Nashville editor
the Gnostics—the one advocating the lawfulness of fornica-
tion, the other the expediency of lying I And both are
imitating the virtues of old Jezebel, the concubine of Simon
Magus!
3
50
the little iron wheel enlarged.
PERSONAL VINDICATION FROM BAPTIST SLAN-
DERS—THE LIBEL SUIT WITH H. POSEY—
OUR SIDE OF THE QUESTION!
In 1832-3, I had a controversy with one Humphrey
Posey, a bigoted and vindictive old Baptist preacher in
Western Carolina, out of which grew a lawsuit, the said
Posey, and an array of malicious sectarians acting with him,
indicting me for a libel upon his character. Posey, the
judge, attorney-general, and several of the jurors, as well as
some of the active participants in this crusade, being in their
graves, I would not feel at liberty to parade their names
before the world in a bound volume, and to cast upon some
of them the just but severe censure and reproach I now pro¬
ceed to do, but for the use made of the affair, and the mis¬
representations of the whole case, made by two clerical vili-
fters of the Baptist Church in two different books, to say
nothing of the thousand and one slanderers dispersed through¬
out the South and West, who are driving a retail business
in the department of slander !
The but-cut of Baptist bigotry and venom, in Newnan,
Ga., in the person of one Robert Fleming, a self-con¬
ceited and arrogant preacher of that " faith and order," in
1852 published a small sketch of the Life of Elder Posey,
and on page 95 of that work pays me this compliment:
He (Posey) was once attacked by a poltroon, who was on a circuit,
bearing the name of a preacher, in which case a suit was brought,
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
51
when the character of Posey came through unscathed, while the
name of the other stands on the records of the court branded with
falsehood!
The " Christian Index and Baptist Miscellany/' edited hy
one Jesse Mercer, of Washington, da., occupied two columns
in reference to this lawsuit. The "Tennessee Baptist/'
published at Nashville, edited by the notorious J. R. Graves,
has paraded the same ease before the public. Last, but not
least, G-raves has just issued a small book he styles " The
Little Iron Wheel," occupying page 247 with the following
document in reference to the suit in Macon County, North
Carolina:
} Libel { Charged and pleads
(No. 21.) March Term, 1833.
State
W. G. Brownlow. J \ no*
The following sworn and charged, (Jury,) to-wit:
1. David Rogers, 7. James Whitecar, Jr.,
2. Samuel Wikle, 8. Spencer Shearer,
3. John Wyke, 9. Francis Poindexter,
4. George Penland, 10. Jesse Pendegrass,
5. Bartlet Wilson, 11. John Davis,
6. Michael Wikle, 12. Gray Crow:
Who find the defendant, William G. Brownlow, guilty of the libel
as charged in the bill of indictment. Whereupon the Court adjudged
that the defendant pay a fine of five dollars. The parties having
become mutually reconciled, the defendant Brownlow acknowledged
in open court he was mistaken in the facts which he supposed were
true when writing the libel.
I certify that the above is a correct copy of the above record as
filed in this office.
W. N. Amman, Clerk,
Sup. Court, Macon, N. C.
January 23, 1857.
I have now stated the whole case, and I will give my side
of it, and cheerfully abide the verdict of the public. My
numerous friends and the friends of Methodism have a right
to all the facts in the case, that they may meet the many
lying tongues and pens engaged in misrepresenting it. As
already intimated, a singular providence has followed the
52
the little iron wheel enlarged.
parties arrayed against me, and rid the world of tliem all,
long since ! Grief is sacred, and the grave is more so; and
while I would gladly have been spared the unpleasant task
of disinterring the putrefied carcasses and characters of my
deceased, corrupt, and unrelenting enemies, the respon¬
sibility of the work does not rest with me ! The living have
rights as well as the dead, and the whole truth shall now be
told, " at all hazards and to the last extremity."
In the fall of 183], I was appointed to the Franklin Cir¬
cuit, in Western Carolina, where I found, as others had done
who preceded me, a perpetual alliance of sectarian
bigotry, persecution, and malevolence, headed by an old
gray-haired preacher, made up of falsehood, duplicity, and
hypocrisy. A man less depraved by means of pecuniary
exploits, ministerial trickery, or less hardened by ardent
aspirations for money, popularity, and position, I have nevei
encountered in an active public career of thirty years !
This man Posey had been engaged the greater part of his
life in some paltry peculation or other, and in persecuting
and basely slandering Methodist preachers, from Wesley and
Asbury down to the humble local preacher—including their
doctrines, discipline, government, usages, etc. In 1830,
previous to my going to that country, he was appointed to
act as a distributing agent for the American Bible Society,
to cooperate with Rev. D. B. Cumming, of the Methodist
Church, both of whom were instructed to supply the poor
and destitute gratuitously. Mr. Cumming, like an honest
man, moved forward in the discharge of his duty, to the
entire satisfaction of the Board; but Posey, as usual in all
such enterprises, commenced speculating by selling Bibles
for grain, for the making of rails on his farm, and for spin¬
ning thread, and such like articles; and he even went so
far, in his inordinate thirst for gain, as to make a contract
with one of the most destitute and poverty-stricken old
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
58
cripples in that county, to-wit; John Ritch, to furnish him
with a Bible for two shuck collars, then in vogue in that
country! For this the Board brought Posey to an account,
and after reprimanding him, let him off, with instructions to
give to the destitute, and to avoid a traffic in Bibles, as it
was calculated to injure the Bible cause!
Posey published a pamphlet defending himself, as best he
could, and in that vulgar and abusive production he slan¬
dered a number of Methodist preachers by name, promi¬
nent members, and all indeed who had taken the liberty to
disapprove his pious financiering. Nor did he confiRe him¬
self to a defence, or to the bill of indictment preferred against
him before the Board, but he launched out in abusive slander
of the Methodist Church generally, her doctrines, govern¬
ment, and usages. This publication was followed up by a
still more dirty and slanderous one, in the name of James
Whitaker, a deacon, and the stated clerk in Posey's church.
This was the joint production of Posey and Whitaker, the
latter being the bigoted tool of the former, and an unmiti¬
gated sectarian. In this Whitaker " bantlin," John S.
Henley, the circuit preacher, was violently assailed; and a
drive was made at the presiding elder, and the Church and
preachers generally. To this and to other assaults Mr.
Henley replied in pamphlet form. Then came Posey with
a pamphlet, in which he let fly at the world of Methodism,
and the rest of mankind I
Upon the heels of this controversy, as it were, I was sent
to that circuit, and the next day after my arrival, before I
had either seen Posey or mentioned his name, he started a
report prejudicial to me, associating with him in its circula¬
tion a little Calvinistic quack doctor, to wit, John D. Came.
After several weeks had passed, and the understrappers of
Posey had added to his slander, I was advised by some clever
and discreet men to clear up the charge. I accordingly
54
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
addressed Posej a polite note, asking him if he liad circu¬
lated thus and so to my prejudice, and, if lie had, to be so
good as to give me his authority for doing so. Pie wrote me
an evasive answer. I wrote him again in a mild but firm
spirit. He then replied in a sort of joint epistle with Carne,
giving as their authority a negro slave belonging to Carne,
whose name was "Bacchus"—a coal-blacJc slave, of very bad
moral character, with whom I had no acquaintance ! I then
replied at some length and with becoming severity, accom¬
panying my reply with the certificates of four reputable
gentlemen, proving them and their Ethiopian associate liars.
These certificates and this correspondence were all published
by me in pamphlet form, and extensively circulated in that
country, after I was indicted, and after the suit was deter¬
mined. They are too lengthy to be republished here.
In the bill of indictment there were three counts, but only
one was relied upon, and to this one I was required to plead.
It was in these words:
But, sir, I am constrained to believe that you are so destitute of
feeling, so blind to the beauties of religion, so hackneyed in crime, and so
lost to all sense of honor and shame, that notwithstanding your facul¬
ties still enable you to continue your sordid pursuits, they will not
permit you to feel any remorse, or acknowledge your errors.
On the grand jury, Posey was the only witness against
me, acting on behalf of the State. It was with difficulty
that a bill passed, and had not Posey sworn corruptly and
falsely, the jury would not have found a true bill. I had two
friends on the jury who were posted in reference to the
matter, and while Posey was giving his evidence, those por¬
tions of my letter relating to the correspondence between us
were pointed out to him, and he was asked directly if he
had had such a correspondence, and if he had given as his
authority Carne's negro. He denied it all upon oath ! I
afterwards published the correspondence, and with it the
following certificate:
the little iron wheel enlarged.
55
We certify, that when Mr. Brownlow was presented to the grand
jury, of which we were members, for a letter he wrote to Mr. Posey,
that Mr. Posey, as a witness on behalf of the State, denied having cir¬
culated a report on Mr. Brownlow, which should have come from a negro;
and when a juror pointed out that part of Mr. Brownlow's letter, he
said it was not so. We also certify that we told Mr. Brownlow of this
the week after court, and, as members of the jury, we gave our votes to
find a bill upon the strength of Mr. Posey's oath, and the judge's charge.
(Signed) T. W. P. Poindextek.
John Angel.
August 18, 1833.
It was by swearing a base and wilful lie, in tbe presence
of Almighty God, and twelve jurors under a lock and key,
by this sordid, old, gray-haired calumniator, a true bill was
found against me. The poor old man thought that he was
deposing this falsehood in secret—that the jurors dared not
divulge it—and- that no ear would ever hear it! He little
thought that the dark deeds of that hour would ever be
proclaimed to the world in pamphlet form, as they after¬
wards were, together with the very correspondence he denied
on oath! The eye of an omniscient God was upon him,
'and on the 28th day of December, 1846, fourteen years
thereafter, he closed his eyes on all that is mortal, at New-
nan, in Georgia, and, in the sixty-sixth year of his age, went
to meet " the Avenger of falsehoods V'
But at the March term, 1838, I came to trial, and with
the expectation of not having fair play. Judge Seawell,
though a man of ability, was a drunken Baptist, and scarcely
ever drew a sober breath. He avowed at Waynesville, the
week before my trial, in a circle of several gentlemen, that
he intended to put it to me the coming week ! He repeated
the same threat at Franklin the week of the trial; and on
the last day of the court, mine being the last cause, carried
out his drunken threats! He was drunk from Monday
morning until the last night of the court, when he closed
his disgraceful career by an arbitrary and high-handed course
of tyranny, insulting my lawyers and all who were supposed
66 the little iron wheel enlarged.
to be friendly to me. "When my counsel applied for the suit
to be brought on, the drunken judge replied, in the presence
of a crowded court-room, " Methodist preachers, libellers,
and hog-thieves may afford to wait until other matters are
settled!"
On the trial, I had the Rev. Messrs. McDowell and
Turner and Esquire Pace present, to prove Posey a liar
and slanderer in three different cases !
I had Mark Coleman present, to prove that Posey was
a swindler, and had attempted to palm a big-shouldered
horse on him for a sound horse !
I had Isaac Mooney present, to prove that Posey had
defrauded him in selling and measuring out corn to him!
I had George N. Hughes present, to prove previous
to an arbitration between them, because of Posey's mill-pond
overflowing Hughes's land, he caught Posey bursting off
the upper planks on the dam, sinking the water, and thus
fraudulently preparing to get a decision in his favor !
I had T. W. P. Poindexter present, to prove that he
had once proven Posey a liar and slanderer in two different
cases, and by two reputable witnesses !
I had Esquire Wilson present, by whom I intended to
prove Posey guilty of personal dishonesty in relation to some
land and negroes in Buncombe County!
By George Swain, a brother to the Governor, I intended
to prove Posey a most miserable defrauder. And by Rev.
J. W. Pharr, I intended to prove Posey a wilful liar!
Now, the rigid rules governing an indictment for libel in
North Carolina, added to the still more rigid rules governing
a court at the head of which sat a drunken, prejudiced, and
vindictive Baptist judge, excluded all the testimony I could
offer, and nothing was heard on my side, or recognized by
the court as legal testimony ! My witnesses were required
to swear to Posey's heart—to swear that he was dead in sins
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED. 57
and trespasses, as I had charged! I had witnesses of the
first respectability to prove him a liar, slanderer, and de-
frauder, and I had jurors there to prove that he swore a lie
in order to procure my indictment; and after doing this, I
intended, through counsel, to infer, in a legitimate course
of argument, that he was all I had charged him with, in
point of depravity and villainy. But my testimony being
all rejected, I of course,had no defence to make. The law
was severe enough upon me, but the judge was ten-fold more
so. In that State, the British doctrine of libels is incorpo¬
rated in the constitution; and the statutes enacted in Old
England were, for the most part, intended for the protection
of the king, and when interpreted, amount to this—the
greater the truth, the greater the libel. So that had the once-
intended scheme of the Parliament of Great Britain, to pass
a law denying to persons accused in criminal cases the privi¬
lege of defending themselves by the help of counsel, been
here carried out, I could not have been wronged more. For,
under the regulations which governed this indictment, and
the authority usurped by a drunken judge, making partial
and invidious distinctions, utterly in violation of his oath of
office, the legal knowledge of a Blackstone or a Mans¬
field, combining the eloquence of Bolingbroke and
Fox, could have been of no service to me. Under the laws
which governed that indictment, with Judge Seawell pre¬
siding, I could convict David and Solomon of the charge
of having libelled the whole human race ! David has said,
"All men are liars ;" and Solomon has said, " There are none
good." Now, deprive the former of the testimony of an in¬
spired prophet, who, in speaking of the human family, as
soon as they are born, says, 11 They go astray, speaking lies,"
and he could not sustain the charge. Well, deprive the
latter of the scriptural proofs of general depravity, such as
Paul's declaration to the Romans, to the effect that " as by
3*
68 the little iron wheel enlarged.
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and
so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," and
Solomon would make a failure likewise !
There never was a greater farce played off under the pre¬
tence of a trial in a court of justice, than this of mine. The
trial of William Penn, before the court of Old Bailey, in
England, for preaching to the Quakers in the streets of Lon¬
don, was not equal to it! The trial of John Wesley, at
Savannah, in 1737, was a great farce, but it was conducted
according to the forms of law, and he was allowed the privi¬
lege of defending himself! The nearest approach to mine
was the trial of Lorenzo Dow, in Charleston, S. C. He
was indicted for a libel, and although he pleaded the truth of
the allegations in justification, and rested his defence solely
upon this plea, he was nevertheless convicted, and the sen¬
tence of the law was fine and imprisonment!
And here I will remark for your information, reader, that
if ever you are disposed to select a legal remedy in a case of
this kind, and your general character is bad, indict for libel;
do not sue for slander, because, if you do, your competitor
will be allowed to investigate your character from your youth
up. And, if you should ever conclude to sue for your char¬
acter, and it is no better than was that of this reverend old
hypocrite, sue for a new one, and not for the one you have I
But as G-raves produces the " B,ecords of the Court," and
much is said about that record, I will here insert a letter
from the clerk of that court, in answer to one I wrote him
at the time—a letter that I published in two editions of a
pamphlet:
Franklin, 27th June, 1834.
Dear Sir:—This day, our friend, J. R. Siler, handed me a few
lines from you, directed to him, containing a message to myself, the
import of which was that I should write you an answer to some in¬
terrogatories, which I shall comply with promptly and in detail as by
you stated. Question 1. " What was the entry made on the records
of that court, after the decision of my suit, before the judge came
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED. 59
back and caused them to be altered?" Answer. It stands on the
docket thus, after the usual form of stating the case: "Who find
the defendant, William G. Brownlow, guilty of the libel, as charged
in the bill of indictment. Whereupon the court adjudged that the
defendant pay a fine of five dollars." The entry stood at this until
that day's business closed. Question 2. "And what alteration did he
make ?" Answer. It was not an alteration, but an addition. It was
as follows, to wit: " The parties having become mutually reconciled,
the defendant acknowledging in open court that he was mistaken in
the facts which he supposed were true when writing the libel." Ques¬
tion 3. "Who returned with the judge?" Answer. A gentleman I
afterwards learned to be a Mr. Lincoln, and who I at that time mis¬
took for a legal character, as he appeared to acquiesce in the addition!
If I mistake not, a Mr. Dawson was also with him." Question 4.
"Had not court adjourned and the judge left the house, and then,
afterwards, did he not return and cause the alteration to be made ?"
Answer. Court had adjourned, and his Honor had quit the bench ; but
whether the house or not I cannot tell. The close of a court is a per¬
plexing time with a clerk. The first I saw of him he came up to the
table and bade me get the minute docket, and turn to the case of the
State against Brownlow—that he wished an addition to the present
entry, and to write as he gave out the words to me. I did so, or at
least tried to do so, and he and Mr. Lincoln reviewed it. Mr. Lin¬
coln observed, that would answer, or some other terms of approba¬
tion of which I have but a vague recollection. This, in connection
with his commanding appearance and intellectual cast of features,
confirmed me in the opinion that he was an attorney of some distinc¬
tion from some other State, and that the judge, in respect for his opi¬
nion, had submitted the entry ! I repeat that as to Mr. Dawson being
present, I have but a vague recollection, as the conversation was kept
up between the judge and Mr. Lincoln. So, my dear sir, you have
the whole matter related in your own plain, flat-footed style. I have
many pleasant reminiscences of the happy hours in which my domes¬
tic circle was cheered by your company and conversation, on Sugar-
town; but those seasons are but as a gleam of sunshine breaking
through a dark cloud, when I reflect that these happy hours can never
occur again. Any time when it suits your convenience I shall be
happy in the receipt of a few lines from you.
Respectfully, your friend, S. McDowell.
This man Lincoln was from Massachusetts, in some way
or other connected with the Baptist Mission in the Cherokee
Nation. Dawson was a bigoted Baptist preacher. All these,
and others of them, were in drunken fraternal conference
with Posey and the judge, all the week—engaged in a cor¬
rupt conspiracy against me. Mine was the last suit tried
60
the little iron wheel enlarged.
during tliat term, and was concluded by candle-light. The
drunken judge had actually left the court-house—the court
had adjourned, and the judge, at the instance of a half dozen
corrupt Baptist preachers, returned and' made this addition
to the entry!
Knowing that the judge had made threats as to what he
would do with me in advance of the trial, I addressed a
letter to Hen. Thomas Loye, at whose house I sometimes
stayed, by invitation, his wife being a member of our Church.
The old gentleman was at that day a citizen of Macon county,
residing close to Franklin, and was frequently a member of
the North Carolina Legislature. He afterwards removed to
West Tennessee—was elected to our State Senate—and in
1839-40 was elected Speaker of the Senate. He gave me
a statement reluctantly, and it is not as full as his verbal state¬
ment was, though substantially the same. After alluding to
a business matter of no interest to the general reader, he
says:
Rev. Mb. Browneow :—I have yours before me, asking me as to
what Judge Seawell said of your case with Rev. Mr. Posey. I make
a sorry out at writing or dictating a letter. As I stated, the judge
said out in Haywood county, on his way to the Macon court, in the
hearing of several who were talking about you, that he would put it to
one Methodist preacher next week. He stated the same at Franklin be¬
fore several persons, before the trial came off, and added some more.
I think allowance ought to be made for the judge, as he was drinking
both times. He is a very kind man when sober, and has been friendly
to me; and I would not like to have this hasty writing made public, as
it might give offence. Your friends think none the less of you, and
it is very generally believed you did not have justice. We would be
glad to see you at our house, when it is convenient.
Believe me your humble servant, Thomas Love.
The Holston Annual Conference, of which I was at that
time a member, had six of its members in attendance on my
trial, and they reported the case to the annual session that
fall, in Kingsport, Bishop Roberts presiding; and the
journals of the Conference show that I was sustained by the
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
61
Conference, without a yote of censure, or even a reproof.
And although it is now thirty years since I joined that Con¬
ference, I can say, and the records of the Church will sus¬
tain me, that no charge of immorality has ever been brought
against me in the Church. Here I might rest my defence,
and dismiss this whole subject, but I choose to go farther,
and to say more in reference to the combinations formed
against me, and of the characters of those concerned.
In both of the Baptist books I have quoted from, this
quarrelsome, slanderous, and mercenary old man Posey is
held up to the world as u the sainted Posey," and as a man
" whose praise is in all the churches." I will introduce a
few more of the certificates I published in my pamphlet in
1834, as they fully illustrate the character of the man. And
by way of preliminary, I will state that the judge, with a
view to give Posey a chance to wipe out his shuck-collar stain,
allowed him to come into court and swear it all off, although
he refused to hear any thing on the side against him. Posey
stood forth in open court, with his old gray head uncovered,
and swore that a dead man by the name of Welch con¬
tracted with Rich for the collars. He swore things on the
dead man which in his pamphlet he positively charged upon
the Rev. D. B. Cumming; things which, on his hearing be¬
fore the Board of Managers of the Bible Society, he took
upon himself and tried to explain away!
This is to certify, that Mr. Posey bargained with me to let me have
a Bible for two collars ; and agreeably to contract, I made them and
took them to meeting on the day appointed; and Mr. Posey failing to
attend, I let another man have them for fifty cents each. I certify
also, that Andrew Welch was.present, and he says he heard the bar¬
gain, and Mr. Welch and myself have talked about it since. The
above statements are true, and if needed, I will swear to them.
Attest: Joel Sawyer. John Rich.
I certify, that Mr. Posey said in my presence, that none of the citi¬
zens of his county were too poor to pay for a Bible, for that he had
contracted with John Rich, as poor a man as there was in the county,'
to let him have a Bible for two collars. D. B. Cumming.
62
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
We, the undersigned, being Methodist travelling preachers, and
being acquainted with the nature and principles of the Methodist
Bible Society, and also the discipline and government of our Church,
unhesitatingly certify, that Mr. Posey's statements in his pamphlet
relative to both are false and slanderous. James Cumming,
S. W. Earnest.
Being called on by W. G. Brownlow to give a certificate in relation
to what Mr. Posey has said of me in his late pamphlet: This is to cer¬
tify, that he has made false and slanderous statements about me.
David Flemming.
As Rev. H. Posey has published a scurrilous pamphlet in which he
has said that I made a false statement about him, and circulated it
all round the circuit; this is to certify, that I made no false state¬
ment about him at any time. I did say on that circuit, that after Mr.
Posey had professed unbounded friendship towards me, he, in giving
his reasons at a sacramental meeting for not admitting other denomi¬
nations to the table with him, said, "it was not meet to take the
children's bread and give it to dogs and many will testify that they
heard him. Therefore, his statement concerning me is a base false¬
hood and a wilful slander. John Barringer.
We certify, that we were in the congregation, and heard Mr. Posey
say, in making an apology for not admitting other denominations to
the sacrament with him, that it was not his table, but the Lord's; and
that the Scriptures said, " It was not meet to take the children's bread
and give it to the dogs." Harvey Cumming.
D. B. Cumming.
This is to certify, that the statements in Mr. Posey's pamphlet are
not a true relation of the conversation which passed between him and
Watts when I was present; and Watts has since called on me to prove
that the statements made by Mr. Posey are false.
Thos. J. Roane.
Strawberry Plains, July 7, 1833.
Brother Brownlow:—Your favor of June 3 was brought me by
this morning's mail. Some time last year, I received by mail one of
the Rev. Mr. Posey's pamphlets. As no particulars were given, and
as I considered it an uncalled-for and ungentlemanly attack upon my
character, I determined to let it pass for what it was worth. I learned
from private sources, when I was in North Carolina, that his charge
alluded to Wesley's writings and opinions concerning the true mode
and proper subjects of Christian baptism. As my remarks were
made in the hearing of some two thousand persons; and as they re¬
lated to matters of public record and theological disquisition, concern¬
ing which all persons may form opinions of their own, I leave it with
the community to judge how far it is or is not proper for either Mr.
Posey or myself to accuse each other of " falsehoodin any remarks
we might see proper to make on these subjects. If Mr. Posey thinks
THE LITTLE IRON ."WHEEL ENLARGED, 63
it proper to indulge in such a course towards me, my friends, I am
certain, will not expect me to indulge in vulgar retaliation.
I am respectfully yours, Thomas Strinheieud.
This is to certify, that the charges made against Rev. D. B. Cum-
ming, in Mr. Posey's pamphlet, to the effect that one of us sold him
brandy for a Bible, and the other made him a pair of shoe-ties for a
Bible, is without any foundation in truth; nor did we ever give him
such information. Christopher Setser.
James James.
In Fleming's Life of Elder Posey, lie boasts of the ap¬
pointment of the old swindler to be a missionary to the Cher-
okees, by the Philadelphia Board of " Baptist Foreign
Missions," in 1817. Yes, he was made a general superin¬
tendent there; and such a clamor was raised against Posey
for his speculations at Yalley Town, and his money-making
exploits among the poor Indians, that he found it necessary
to have a white-washing committee raised in the " French
Broad Association," of which he was the head, to exonerate
him ! And here is Fleming's account of this affair, and the
report of a committee of two Baptist preachers, found on
page 63 of this " very brief memoir of Elder Posey."
Fleming states in his preface that he was requested by the
"Western Baptist Association of Georgia" to prepare this
memoir; and adds, " It is especially hoped that the cause of
Indian Missions may be aided, and the general cause of be¬
nevolence subserved !"
But to Fleming's own version of this affair :
Ill-disposed persons—and there are always too many such—who know
not the value of such work, are ever ready to clamor. To put to
silence all such, the French Broad Association, at the request of
Elder Posey, appointed a committee, consisting of Elder Jeremiah
Taylor, William Kimsey, Garrett Dewees, and Adam Carn, to visit the
missionary establishment and report at the next session. Only
Dewees and Carn met. They report:
"That they had done as they were requested, and found the school in a
very flourishing condition, fully up to their highest expectations. That
notwithstanding there have been large sums of money expended for the
establishment, yet not unnecessarily; and that they, therefore, do heartily
recommend its promotion."
64 THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
This milk-and-water report is followed up with the testi¬
mony of "Rev. Mr. Jones," an associate of Posey's at Valley
Town, and one of the pious missionaries sent out by the
Baptist Board, to the effect that all was right at Valley
Town ! And who is Mr. Jones ? He was tried at this same
court upon an indictment for homicidej in causing the
death of an infant child, which a single woman, his loifr.'s
sister, was delivered of at his house. This Rev. Mr. Lincoln
was sent out by the Baptist Board to witness the trial of this
dirty hypocrite, and to report to the Board in regard to his
guilt or innocence. All the Baptist preachers in the country
were mustered there, and all the Baptist members and parti¬
sans were congregated, for the purpose of getting on the two
juries, the one to acquit Jones, and the other to convict me!
And although much appeai'ed in evidence of the imprudence
of Jones, and of his unbecoming familiarity with his sister-
in-law, whose child born at Jones's house was actually mur¬
dered, still he was acquitted. After his trial, Lincoln,
Posey, Dawson, and other lesser lights in the Baptist minis¬
try, drew up a statement for the prosecuting attorney, Mr.
Alexander, and other lawyers to sign, setting forth that
nothing had come to light on the trial derogatory to the
character of Jones as a Christian and a gentleman. They
all refused to sign the document, most indignantly, and for
the reason that its averments were untrue!
The three following certificates will throw some light upon
the missionary operations of Posey, that his white-washing
committee and self-conceited biographer overlooked :
This is to certify, that when Humphrey Posey was a missionary
among the Indians on Hiwassee, there was a great' disturbance and
complaint among the Indians because of his selling them blankets,
shoes, and boots, which had been sent them as a donation. And I
also certify, that I was in the Nation when Posey sold an Indian a
piece of Northern home-spun cloth for a pony, and split the bolt
through, so that the piece was only half its real width. I looked at
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED. 65
the cloth myself, and know this was the case; and heard the Indian
rave and complain, having found out the fraud.
Henry Gassaway.
This is to certify, that I preached during the past year at the house
of Henry Gassaway, and he told me that Mr. Brownlow had been at
his house, and that he had given him a certificate against Posey, con¬
taining certain charges which he had previously named to me; and
after said certificate was published in Mr. Brownlow's pamphlet,
Gassaway acknowledged to me that it was his certificate, and went on
to tell me a great deal about Posey's villainy from time to time.
Given under my hand, this 19th day of June, 1834.
Madison C. Hawke.
I certify, that when Humphrey Posey was a missionary among the
Indians on Hiwassee, he came to our country, (Rhea county, Tenn.,)
preached and collected money so as to get fifty barrels of flour; and
in employing me and my team to haul it, took the advantage of me—
told me lies about the road, and well-nigh broke me up, by causing
me to sink money. Not one word he told me about the road was true.
He told me I could haul twelve barrels; I went on with the first load,
and crippled two of my best horses. From that time to the present,
I have had no confidence in him either as a Christian or as a man of
truth.
I am sorry to have to make such statements about a preacher of the
gospel, but they are certainly true.
Given under my hand, etc.,
John Whaley.
Attest—Russel B. Rogers.
I repeat, a singular fatality has attended the actors in this
crusade against me ! Posey lost in public esteem—left the
State, and removed to Georgia—died long since, and has
gone to try the realities of another world! The judge,
either from the burning out of his copper, or the special
visitation of God, long since departed this life ! The prose¬
cuting attorney is in his grave! One of the grand jurors
lay out all night, and was found dead ! Another was sent to
the penitentiary of this State, from Monroe county, for steal¬
ing ! Another fled from the county of Macon, to avoid the
penalty of the criminal laws ! And others have gone down
in property and character! These were all of Baptist rais¬
ing—trained up, not in " the nurture and admonition of the
66
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
Lord," but under tbe ministry of Posey! "Like priest,
like people I"
One word to tbe general reader, and I am done. How
true the remark of an eminent writer, " He that opposeth
hell, may expect hell's rage I" The conduct of this whole
clan, from its reverend leader down to the juror in the peni¬
tentiary, savors more of that of an Algerine banditti, or of a
band of Mexican guerillas, than of a body of civilized men,
not to say Christians. And should it be my lot in future to
traverse the entire continent of America—to wander over
the barren plains of inhospitable and rotten Denmark—
through honest Sweden, and frozen Lapland, rude and
churlish Finland, unprincipled Kussia, and the wide-spread
regions of the wandering' Tartars and Arabs, I can never
encounter a more unmitigated pack of villains. "With but
two or three exceptions, the whole pack were steeped to the
very chin in corruption, living upon its wages, and pander¬
ing to its purposes. Those of them who are living, are
shrouded in the sackcloth and ashes of shame and disgrace;
and those who are dead, with the single exception of the
prosecuting attorney, are enclosed in vaults full of buried
venality. Like the fabled apples on the shore of the Dead
Sea, in life they were fair without, but ashes within. They
were a pack of men daily accustomed to low and dirty con¬
templations, and familiarized by habit to the most filthy and
mistaken views of truth. Their abominable impurities—
their enormous injustice—their profanation of holy things—
their contempt for the laws of God and man—their rancor
and animosity—their hypocritical artifices—their dark de¬
signs and insidious calumnies—if unrepented of, will seize
upon and burn them with the most inexpressible anguish,
throughout the long sweep of eternal ages!
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED. 67
"MURDER AND ASSASSINATION!"
Reader, pause a moment!—don't turn your eyes hastily
from this article; you have time enough to read it, and I
have a few pointed remarks to make, touching the heartless
ribaldry of the " Tennessee Baptist"—the ill-founded asper¬
sions of its willing, wilful, and despicable editor,. J. JR.
Graves. Ealsehood, in the hands of this man, has itself
grown sick with contradiction, and the man, crazed with a
superabundance of inconsistency and guilt, under the lash I
applied to him in my examination of his " Great Iron
Wheel," is flying to the most commonplace lying as a
remedy, and expiring from the venom of his own fangs!
Being sadly at a loss how to avenge his fancied injuries, his
powers of invention have been put upon the rack, to devise
ways and means to check the progress of the light that I
have caused to dawn upon the infamy of his character and
the villainy of his deeds. He is now venting his gall through
the noiseless columns of his paper. The recklessness of his
assertions—his denial of common occurrences, and of noto¬
rious events in the past—all show that he has passed the
Rubicon of slander, and has reached a point where conscience
never disturbs his quiet or repose ! And the raven wing of
Graves's slander, which has brooded over the urn of truth
in the South for the last twelve years, has lost its power to
obscure the light any longer. The adulterous exploits of the
68
the little iron wheel enlarged.
man—his pious frauds and personal swindles, to say nothing
of his lying and calumniating both the living and the dead
—have so palsied his arm of mischief that he can do no
more damage " while the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls
a wave."
In his paper for May 16, 1857, Graves makes a fearful
disclosure against me, furnished him, as he says, by " Brother
James Blevins, of Ash county, North Carolina" — a man
neither remarkable for his good sense, for the purity of his
private character, nor the uprightness and consistency of his
past life! So the j-eader will perceive that the kennel is
unloosed; all the pack, from the deep-mouthed blood-hound
at Nashville to the growling cur of Ash county, are baying
at me ! In the language of one similarly situated: "Tray,
Blanch, and Sweetheart, see they bark at me !"
But what is this disclosure ? Why, it is a brief certificate
given by a near relative of mine, to the effect that I, some twelve
or fifteen years ago, privately proposed to him to lie in wait
east of Joneshorough, and assassinate the editor of the Jones-
borough Sentinel, a man with whom I had carried on a fierce
political contest for years ! The fact was so well known, and
so generally known at the time, that I did not come off
second best in the controversy, that the charge was looked
upon as indeed ludicrous, while even my enemies refused to
credit the charge. But the same certifier, of his own will
and accord, unsolicited by me or my friends, went before
Esquire Atkinson, a worthy member of the Baptist
Church, and made a different statement upon oath, which
was also published, time and again, and which was very
generally believed. I have no doubt of the truth of every
word he stated ! And what did he state ? Why, that when
he was so drunk as not to know what he was doing, he was
surrounded by a gang of fellows bitterly opposed to me,
and induced to sign a certificate up stairs in the Sentinel
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
69
office, not one word of which was true, ivhen he came to look
at it with a sober eye ! ! And lie swore that he had reason
to believe they read him one thing, while he signed another
and a very different thing !
Upon this affair, I might animadvert with severity; but as
most of the men directly and indirectly concerned are in
their graves, I forbear. I will briefly state the dealings of
Providence with this entire gang, whose slanders and malice
I have outlived. The editor of the " Sentinel" was after
this expelled from the Methodist ministry, upon charges of
falsehood and slander. Old man Smith was expelled from
the same Church, upon similar charges; and, so far as I am
advised, died out of the Church. His son died of consump¬
tion. Young Chester died of consumption. The two Gif-
fords died of consumption. Young Ryland was advertised
as a deserter from the army in Mexico, and died a drunkard
in Texas. The office, being used as a place of common resort
for drinking, gambling, and other more heinous offences,
took fire one Sabbath morning, from the negligence and
dissipation of its inmates, and was burned to ashes !
How fully has the declaration that "murder will out"
been verified, in the case of this secret conclave, in the
iniquitous upper story of a vile printing-office, where villains
assembled to perpetrate their midnight deeds ! Mayhap a
bird has flown : the secret of this conspiracy long since came
to light; has been published time and again in the news¬
papers of the country; and now the stupendous and appall¬
ing affair is published in a more enduring form ! Public
opinion sealed the fate of the most guilty and active of these
offenders, before they departed this life, while I lived in
their own vicinity to see them perish amidst the execrations
of an honest community; and I have lived in this, a neigh¬
boring community, to see the winds of heaven waft the dying
70
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
shrieks of their flimsy characters from the theatre of their
ill-spent lives to the distant vaults of merited oblivion!
I have only one reflection to add, and that is, that the
"knight of the rueful countenance," who presides at the
mast-head of the "Tennessee Baptist," knew all these facts,
and had seen them in his exchange papers! But it only
suits his taste and inclinations to pour out the vials of con¬
tumely, reproach, and defamation upon those he dislikes.
It is rational to expect this from a depraved and routed com¬
petitor, whose unholy designs are now being tried, " yet so
as by fire." I have brought his pious frauds, priestly cor¬
ruptions, and villainous slanders to light; and he is now, in
his death-struggle, rolling together the clouds of blackness
and darkness, with the forlorn hope of obscuring the light
that is beaming in fearful effulgence upon the honest portion
of his Baptist brethren! But if the pious and intelligent
Baptists in Tennessee—and there are many such—will be
true to themselves—if they will throw off the yoke of this
man Graves, and reject the ghostly conscience-keeper, they
will soon be delivered from the foulest abomination that ever
soiled their Church communion, or blackened the creation
of God—a lying, slanderous, adulterous, hypocritical, and
corrupt editor and preacher !
the little iron wheel enlarged.
71
"IS BAPTISM BY SPRINKLING LAWFUL OR
PROPER ?"
The last ten pages of the "Little Iron Wheel" are occu¬
pied with endorsements of Graves and his various publica¬
tions, by certain Baptist associations and periodicals in
Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia,
and Arkansas; and with recommendations to the public of
Howell's works on Baptism, and especially "Howell's Evils
of Infant Baptism." I have, therefore, deemed it appro¬
priate to add a chapter here upon this much and long-talked-
of subject of Infant Baptism, introducing some facts of his¬
tory which do not appear in my former Examination of
the Great Wheel! A prominent Baptist minister in the
southern portion of Georgia, once challenged a Presbyterian
clergyman to meet him in debate, and to deny his assertion,
"that the Westminster Assembly were occupied many days
in discussing the question—Is baptism by sprinkling lawful
or proper?" He further challenged him to deny "that this
question was finally decided in favor of sprinkling or pour¬
ing by the casting vote of the president!" This the Baptist
clergyman affirmed to be true, and this he offered to prove
by evidence in his possession. The Baptist ministers gene¬
rally, great and small, have taken hold of this subject, and are
kicking up quite a dust in their pulpits, and certain corre¬
spondents are stirring it in their periodicals. I propose to
72
the little iron wheel enlarged.
notice it more in detail than our friends generally are doing,
and, by a recital of " thei truth of history," to spike this
gun!
Now, it may not be known to every Baptist who speaks
or writes upon this controverted question, that the Journal
of the Westminster Assembly was destroyed, and is lost to
the world, to all intents and purposes; but it is even so.
There are only three original sources of information left as
to the actual proceedings of that body, and these I will lay
before the reader.
1st. The Journal of the Proceedings of the Assembly of
Divines, from January 1, 1648, to December 31, 1644, "by
the Rev. John Lightfoot, D. D., who was a leading mem¬
ber of that body, and which forms volume thirteen of his
works, page 344.
2d. The second source is the "Letters and Journals" of
the Rev. Robert Baillie, a Scotch commissioner to that
Assembly, of talents and influence, whose works are embraced
in three large volumes.
3d. The last of these three sources of original information
is the "Notes" of the Rev. G-eorge Gillespie, on the
" Proceedings of the Assembly," taken down by him as a
member of the body, and only as recently as within fifteen
years past printed from his own manuscript at Edinburgh,
in royal octavo, double column : see page 144.
I admit that the opinions of members of the Assembly
can be ascertained from their works still extant, and all of
which are accessible, but the actual doings of the Assembly
can only be known now from the three sources I have cited.
Dr. Lightfoot, however, the master-spirit of the body, is
unusually full on the points involved in this controversy,
and I will present the reader with all that he says upon the
subject, remarking that neither Messrs. Baillie nor Gilles¬
pie differ with him as to the facts. It so happens, however,
the little iron wheel enlarged.
73
that neither Baillie nor Gillespie refers to the discus¬
sions on baptism during the period when it was the business
before the House; that is, from July 11, 1644, to August 8,
1644.* During this period the Assembly agreed upon the
whole of their chapter in the Directory concerning baptism,
which occupies four pages in the quarto edition issued that
year, and which can be had in any of the large bookstores
in our principal cities.
But turning to Lightfoot's works, pages 299 and 407,
the following highly interesting narrative is to be found,
and it is all he says on that subject—anything, I would say,
but pleasing to an ultra immersionist:
Wednesday, Aug. 7. Then fell we upon the work of the day;
which was about the "baptizing of the child, whether to dip him or
sprinkle." And this proposition, "Is it lawful and sufficient to be¬
sprinkle the child," had been canvassed before our adjourning, and
was ready now to vote ; but I spake against it, as being very unfit to
vote, that it is lawful to sprinkle, when every one grants it. Where¬
upon, it was fallen upon, sprinkling being granted, whether dipping
should be tolerated with it. And here we fell upon a large and
long discourse, whether dipping were essential, or used in the first in¬
stitution, or in the Jews' custom. Mr. Coleman went about, in a
large discourse, to prove baptizing to be dipping over head, which I
answered at large: as, 1. When Ezra, in Gen. xxxv., says, The Si-
chemites were admitted to Jacob's house by tebilah, and yet there was
no water there, but only Jacob's well. 2. Rabbi Solomon, in Exod.
xxiv., saith, that Israel was entered into covenant with sprinkling of
blood and tebilah, which Paul, Heb. ix., expounds of sprinkling of water.
3. That John the Baptist sometimes preached and baptized in places
Where he could not possibly dip the parties baptized. This was backed
by divers, and it cost a long discourse to prove it; and, in conclu¬
sion, I proposed this to the Assembly—to find in all the Old Testament
where " baptizare," when it is used " de sacris," and " actu transeunte," is
not used of sprinkling. It is said, indeed, that the priests washed
their bodies, and the unclean washed himself in water, but this was
not " actio transiens."
After a long dispute, it was at last put to the question, whether the
Directory should run thus: "The minister shall take water and
sprinkle or pour it with his hand upon the face or forehead of the
* Gillespie has "Notes" upon a subsequent discussion upon the
nature of the baptismal profession ; but none upon this period of the
Assembly's business. See page 87 of Gillespie's "Notes."
4
74 the little iron wheel enlarged.
child," and it was voted so indifferently, that we were glad to count
names twice, for so many were unwilling to have dipping excluded,
that the names and votes came to an equality within one; for the one
side was twenty-four, the other twenty-five; the twenty-four for the
reserving of dipping and the twenty-five against it; and there grew a
great heat upon it, and when we had done all, we concluded upon
nothing in it, but the business was recommitted
Thursday, Aug. 8. Then fell we upon our work about dipping in
baptism; and first it was proposed by Dr. Burgess that our question
proposed yesterday might be proposed again. And this cost some
time before we could get off this business; at last it was put to the
question, whether the question put yesterday should be more debated
before determined, and it was voted affirmatively.
And so we fell upon the business, and I first proposed that those
that stand for dipping should show some probable reason why they
hold it. Dr. Temple backed me in this, and Mr. Marshall began, and
he said that he doubted not that all the Assembly concluded that dip¬
ping was lawful. I flatly answered, that I hold it unlawful, but an
act of will-worship, and therefore desired that it might be proved.
But it was first thought fit to go to the business by degrees; and so it
was first put to the vote, and voted thus affirmatively—"That pouring
on of water, or sprinkling of it in the administration of baptism, is lawful
and sufficientBut I excepted at the word " lawful" as too poor, for
that it was as if we should put this query, whether it would be lawful
to administer the Lord's supper in bread and wine ? and I moved that
it might be expressed thus—"It is not only lawful, but sufficient," and
it was done so accordingly. But as for the dispute about dipping, it
was thought fit and most safe to let it alone and to express it thus in
our directory: "He is to baptize the child with water, which for the
manner of doing is not only lawful, but also sufficient, and most
expedient to be by pouring or sprinkling water on the face of the
child, without any other ceremony." But this cost a great deal of
time about the wording it.
Now, from tlie foregoing extract, I propose to make some
six deductions, brief, but to tbe point, and I ask every un¬
prejudiced reader to consider tbem fully, fairly, and prayer¬
fully.
1. The Assembly were at once agreed upon the sufficiency
of sprinkling or pouring, as the mode of baptism. About
this question they had no difficulty—no discussion—no con¬
flicting interchange of opinion's.
2. The question which occasioned so much debate in the
Assembly, was not whether sprinkling is sufficient, but
whether dipping is lawful and " should be tolerated as
the little iron wheel enlarged. 75
well as sprinkling !" This was the question. u That it is
lawful to sprinkle every one," says Lightfoot—speaking
of the sentiments of the whole body—" granted." " Where¬
upon, sprinkling being granted," they discussed " whether
dipping should be tolerated with it !"
3. The Assembly agreed by a majority of twenty-five
to twenty-four not to TOLERATE dipping with sprink¬
ling as even lawful, and authorize only sprinkling or
pouring!
4. Dr. Lightfoot maintained that dipping is " unlaw¬
ful," and an act of " will-worship," both forbidden and
denounced by the inspired apostles !
5. Dr. Lightfoot also challenged any one of the forty-nine
members, learned as they were in the Scriptures, to give an
instance of the use of the word baptize, in all the Old Testa¬
ment, as referring to sacred matters, and to an act where it
does not mean sprinkling, and his challenge was not taken
up, but to this day remains !
6. Mr. Coleman, who proposed to allow dipping in con¬
nection with sprinkling, was a notorious Erastian, and
denied the Divine institution of all Church government,
Church officers and discipline. If he were now living, as a
Protestant, choosing one of our sects for his associates, he
would be a Baptist!
In the year 1837, the Baptists, as a denomination, with¬
drew their patronage from the American Bible Society, and
formed one of their own, assigning as the reason for that
step, the incorrectness of our present authorized version,
commonly called King James's Bible, the one published by
the American Bible Society, "without note or comment."
Since the formation of their own Bible Society, Baptist
writers, editors, and preachers have been guilty of palpable
misrepresentations of facts in their censure of King James,
who, they say, would not let the translators translate the
76
the little iron wheel enlarged.
word baptizo. They even go so far as to charge that had
the King allowed it, the word baptism would have been loft
out and that of immersion inserted in its place ! This is the
miserable pretext set up for a new version ! It happens
that the directions given by the King to the translators
were printed, and have been carefully preserved and handed
down to us in various forms. I copy them entire, from
Bishop Home's Introduction, vol. ii., for the purpose of dis¬
abusing the public mind, and of exposing such bigots and
calumniators, of whom this man Graves is chief. Here are
the instructions of King James entire, cautiously but libe¬
rally worded:
1. The ordinary Bible read in the church, commonly called the
Bishops' Bible, to be followed, and as little altered as the original will
permit.
2. The names of the prophets and the holy writers, with the other
names in the text, to be retained as near as may be, according as they
are vulgarly used.
3. The old ecclesiastical words to be kept, as, the word church not
to be translated congregation.
4. When any word hath divers significations, that to be kept which
hath been most commonly used by the most eminent fathers, being
agreeable to the propriety of the place and the analogy of faith.
5. The division of the chapters to be altered either not at all, or as
little as may be, if necessity so require.
6. No marginal notes at all to be affixed, but only for the explana¬
tion of the Hebrew or Greek words, which cannot, without some cir¬
cumlocution, so briefly and fitly be expressed in the text.
7. Such quotations of places to be marginally set down as shall
serve for the fit references of one Scripture to another.
8. Every particular man of each company to take the same chapter
or chapters, and having translated, amended them severally by him¬
self, where he thinks good, all to meet together, to confer what they
have done, and agree for their part what shall stand.
9. As any one company hath dispatched any one book in this man¬
ner, they shall send it to the rest, to be considered of seriously and
judiciously, for his Majesty is very careful in this point.
10. If any company, upon the review of the book so sent, shall
doubt or differ upon any places, to send them word thereof, to note
the places, and therewithal to send their reasons; to which if they
consent not, the difference to be compounded at the general meeting,
which is to be of the chief persons of each company, at the end of tho
work.
the little iron wheel enlarged.
77
11. When anyplace of special obscurity is doubted of, letters to be
directed by authority, to send to any learned in the land for his judg¬
ment in such a place.
12. Letters to be sent from every bishop to the rest of his clergy,
admonishing them of this translation in hand, and to move and charge
as many as, being skilful in the tongues, have taken pains in that
kind, to send their particular observations to the company, either at
Westminster, Cambridge, or Oxford, according as it was directed be¬
fore in the king's letter to the archbishop.
13. The directors in each company to be the Deans of Westminster
and Chester for Westminster, and the king's professors in Hebrew
and Greek in the two universities.
14. These translations to be used, when they agree better with the
text than the Bishop's Bible, viz.: Tindal's, Coverdale's, Matthew's,
Whitchurch's, Geneva.
15. Besides the said directors before mentioned, three or four of the
most ancient and grave divines in either of the universities, not em¬
ployed in translating, to be assigned by the vice-chancellor, upon
conference with the rest of the heads, to be overseers of the transla¬
tion, as well Hebrew as Greek, for the better observation of the 4th
rule above specified.
I wish. I could coyer with the mantle of charity this false
pretence on the part of Baptist writers and speakers for de¬
manding a new version of the Scriptures. Around the
ignorant, who are numerous, I can throw this mantle, hut
not around such designing hypocrites as Graves. The in¬
structions given by the King, and which were carried out to
the letter, not only do not prohibit the translation of baptizo,
or of any other word or peculiarity, but are as clear of any
sectarian bias as impartiality itself is capable of producing,
and much more clear of it than any similar instructions could
be if produced by a Baptist Association or General Con¬
vention.
But it is not only about the ordinance of baptism that
the Baptists are distracted and divided, but also upon the
subject of doctrines. Their great man Spurgeon, in Eng¬
land, is repudiating some of their most hateful doctrines
And here, in East Tennessee, a prominent Baptist writer,
through the columns of the Knoxville Baptist Watch¬
man, says:
78 THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
There is one thing in connection with our brethren in the eastern
portion of Nolachucky Association which I very much regret to find;
and that is their rapid tendency to the whirlpool of Arminianisin. Several
preachers, and a great many of their members, hold and preach the
doctrine of falling from grace, or apostasy.
A new version is certainly needed in East Tennessee ! I
do not think strange of their endless whining about a correct
translation, if it will only keep their preachers and members
out of the " whirlpool of Arminianism."
the little iron wheel enlarged. 79
F. A. ROSS—ONE OF J. R. GRAVES'S WITNESSES
AGAINST METHODISM—IS HE OF PORTUGUESE
OR AFRICAN BLOOD?—THE TESTIMONY!
The Philadelphia Morning Times, a rabid Black Repub¬
lican paper, for July 16,1857, is down upon me in an article
of two columns, for my war upon Graves, because be was a
Northern man and an abolitionist, while a school-teacher in
the Western Reserve of Ohio. This mock defender of Graves
and bis antislavery principles is also shocked at my object¬
ing to Ross's assaults on Methodism, on the score of bis
blood—stating that I have " attempted to excite slaveholding
prejudices and mobbing against Graves and Ross." And this
same paper characterizes the defence of slavery by the Me¬
thodist Church, South, as " Gross Methodist Doughfaceism."
The "writer of this article has seen fit to indulge in a general
tirade against Methodism, in connection with the slavery
question. The Times is a low-down, vile, and infamous
paper, unable to pay for the ink used in the office, but
for a combination of fanatical, short-sighted spiritualists,
free-thinkers, infidels, and liquor-drinkers, bigoted Ishmael-
ites, freedom-shriekers, and hypocrites, who war upon all
orthodox sects and men of character!
Some friend has sent me the Vermont Chronicle for July
14th, 1857, published at Windsor. In this paper I find
the following, and, contrary to my inclinations, I feel called
upon to notice it:
80
the little iron wheel enlarged.
REV. DR. ROSS.
The following correction of current errors, on reliable authority, is
gladly published:
Knoxville, Eaat Tennessee, July 6th, 1857.
To the Editors of the Vermont Chronicle:
Dear Sirs :—I see in a recent number of your paper, (June 16th,
perhaps,) that you publish certain statements about Dr. Ross and his
family, and since then I have observed similar statements copied into
other newspapers.
Now what I wish to say is that these stories about Dr. Ross and
family are gross perversions of the truth. I have reason to know
that the facts of his parentage are briefly these :
That his father, a man of great wealth in Virginia, when a young
man, paid the passage of a beautiful Portuguese girl on her landing
in America—that he became attached to her on account of her beauty
and intelligence, and was married to her, and she was the mother of
all his children.
Such a union of course excited prejudices at that day in Virginia;
and many and gross perversions of the truth were circulated, and
have been handed down by tradition now for about a hundred years,
for Dr. Ross is sixty years of age, and was the youngest of twelve
children.
But notwithstanding, all the sons and daughters who reached ma¬
turity married into families, North and South, of the highest respect¬
ability. Dr. Ross himself has always moved in the first society in
Virginia, and everywhere else. Nay, few men have been so courted
and admired as he has been, and is now. The incident related by
the Chronicle, and other prints, as to Dr. Ross's brother, is untrue,
without shadow of foundation. And so of the rest. Will the Chron¬
icle and other Northern papers publish, in justice to the truth of
history, this statement on my authority ? W. E. Caldwell,
Ed. Pres. Witness, Knoxville, Tenn.
On pages 146,147, and 148 of mj Examination of Graves's
Iron Wheel, I had occasion to show from the records, that
Mr. Ross's father had been arrested and tried as a Tory, be¬
fore the Convention oe Virginia, in 1776, and in the
preceding and succeeding pages, to show that his mother was
a slave of African blood. To that publication, being an ad¬
dress delivered by me, in 1848, in Marion, Virginia, I refer
the reader for details.
The letter of Mr. Caldwell, in the Vermont paper, is cal¬
culated—though not so intended, as I take it—to make the
the little iron wheel enlarged.
81
impression that my version of the affair of Mr. Eoss and his
family is untrue. My version is correct, but Mr. Caldwell
is in error. He is a young man, comparatively speaking, a
respectable Presbyterian preacher, and a very clever man •,
but he has been misinformed upon this subject. I have no
wish to annoy Mr. Eoss or the remnant of his family re¬
maining ; nor have I any desire to unite with the abolition¬
ists in their war upon him, since his vindication of Southern
slavery; but in the language of Mr. Caldwell, " in justice
to the truth of history," I must set myself right upon this
issue.
The Eev. Asa Turner, a Presbyterian minister of some
age and experience, publishes a letter in the Chicago Herald,
since the meeting of the General Assembly at Cleveland,
from which I take the following extract, biographizing the
great Dr. Eoss:
I will state an incident in the life of Dr. Ross, the great slavery
defender in the last New School General Assembly. It was related to
me by the late Dr. Nelson :
" The Doctor's mother was his father's slave. But instead of sell¬
ing his children, as many slaveholders do, he liberated the mother
and her children, and gave them his property. There were two or
more brothers. The eldest, as he came up to manhood, attended a
party one evening. A young buck asked him what gave him a posi¬
tion in the society of gentlemen. He pulled out a purse of gold, and
holding it up, said, " This gave me admittance." "No," replied the
questioner, " gold cannot give you a right to the society of gentlemen.
Your blood is not pure." This was a deadly blow. He could no
longer live under the reproaches of mortified pride. He went out,
took a pistol, and shot himself. Frederick, the younger son, made his
way into Tennessee, there became hopefully pious, and is now the
great Dr. Ross.
I am a much older man than Mr. Caldwell is, and I am
within ten or fifteen years of Dr. Eoss himself. I knew Dr.
Nelson, and have heard him preach. He married a Miss
Deadrick, of Jonesborough, East Tennessee, and assisted
Dr. Eoss in his courtship in the same town, who married a
Miss Vance, a clever woman, of a respectable family. Dr.
4*
82
the little iron wheel enlarged.
Nelson was intimate with Dr. Ross, and derived his informa¬
tion from Dr. Ross, relative to his family and blood. When
Dr. Ross was married, the marriage was objected to on the
score of his African, not his Portuguese blood; and James
Sevier, an estimable gentleman, a son of old Governor
Sevier, was then the clerk, and was threatened with a pro¬
secution for issuing the license I
Henry Ward Beecher, an eminent New School Presby¬
terian preacher, and a vile abolitionist, claims to be well
posted in reference to Dr. Ross's history, and declares his
mother to have been a negress and a slave. I find a com¬
munication from the pen of Beecher in the Toledo (Ohio)
Blade, of June 18, 1857, from which I give the following
extract:
"What is it which Dr. Ross undertakes to defend? Not Hebrew
servitude, nor Arab, nor Turkish, nor Russian, nor yet some abstract
and possible system in Utopia. He undertakes to defend the system
by which his own mother, instead of being a wife—her husband's
equal partner—was only a concubine, his father's property, with no
conjugal rights, and with no parental right in the children to whom
her agonies gave birth. He maintains the rightfulness of the system
under which he himself was born a slave, and which denied him every
human right, save only the right to live. He maintains the rightful¬
ness of the system under which, if his father (more human than most
fathers of such children) had not tried to rouse him from such inex¬
orable cruelty, he would have been a slave to-day, or would have
found a refuge only in the grave. If the system which he maintains
was unjust to his mother and to him, it is equally unjust to every
slave mother and to every slave.
It is not Dr. Ross's fault that he was "born of fornication," be¬
gotten of a quadroon concubine, by her owner. But it is his fault if
he saves himself from being driven out of Alabama as a free negro,
by vindicating, in God's name, that wicked system which puts such
dishonor on his mother, and which makes such births as his a matter
of course. H. Ward Beecher.
I can only say that Beecher was at one time a great man
in the estimation of Dr. Ross : it was when they were both
opposed to slavery. Dr. Ross was a zealous emancipationist
twenty-five years ago, and opposed the institution of slavery
in the pulpit, in Kingsport, in East Tennessee. I resided
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
83
in that town twenty years ago, a neighbor to him, and speak
by the card. Moreover, he took steps before that period to
emancipate his slaves, and did so, sending them, according
to my recollection, to Ohio. Dr. Ross has changed his views
upon that subject, and is now an able and a bold advocate
of slavery, as it exists in the South.
From the Hartford (Conn.) Religious Herald, a Presby¬
terian paper, of July 16, 1857, I take the following article:
The Negko Kink.—The Rev. Dr. Ross, of Tennessee, the redoubt¬
able champion of slavery in the New School Presbyterian Church, it
would appear from a statement in the Cleveland Leader, carries the
"negro kink" in his hair. The story is an old one that "the mother
of Dr. Ross was the slave of his father." When Dr. Ross was in Cleve¬
land, attending the late anniversary of the New School Presbyterian
Church, the Leader requested him to deny the story, if it were not
true, offering him the use of its columns for the publication of any
statement he might think fit to make. Dr. Ross was silent; thus em¬
phatically acknowledging the truth of the allegation. The editor of
the Leader personally told Dr. Ross that there was a gentleman then
in town from Tennessee, who declared that the fact of his mother
being a slave was well known there, and that if Dr. Ross denied it he
would furnish the proof. "As to there being no 'negro kink' in Dr.
Ross's hair," adds the Leader, "we have seen slaves working under
the driver's lash with hair as straight as that of Dr. Ross, and who
would no sooner be suspected of negro blood, in his situation."
Tbe father of Dr. Ross, tbougb at one time a man of
wealth, died poor, and died in tbe prison bounds at Rich¬
mond. His wife, who was the mother of Dr. Ross, was the
slave of Ex-Governor Page, of Virginia. In the days of
her youth, she is said to have been a beautiful negro girl,
and a darlc mulatto, uneducated, and brought up in the
family of Page.
In 1847, 1 published a Quarterly Review at Jonesborough,
and discussed the subject of old Davy Ross's marriage and
toryism at length, in reply to the charge of toryism brought
against the Methodist Church by this Dr. Ross, through the
columns of the " Calvinistic Magazine." A letter was ad¬
dressed to me from Western Virginia, from a very respect-
84
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
able source, bearing upon this point. I will give tbe letter
and my reply at the time, commencing on page 74 of the
Review:
, Va., June 18th, 1847.
Dear Sir :—There is an item in regard to F. A. Ross many of us
here wish to be informed about. It is this: Is he a free man ? Did
his father, old David Ross, ever execute a bill of emancipation, so as
to legally set him free? Or is he a slave in point of law, subject to
the payment, in part, of his father's numerous unpaid debts ? Let the
facts of the case be as they may, myself and many others who sub¬
scribe for your Review would like to learn through its pages.
Very respectfully, etc.,
Some of the friends of Mr. Ross say that his mother was not a ne¬
gro, but that she unfortunately had some little of the African blood
in her veins. This is all stuff. She was a negro slave; and although
she was not as black as most negroes are, she was nevertheless a ne¬
gro, of a yellowish cast, with thick lips, tangled hair, and prominent
heels. The children of old David Ross, by this woman, would have
been slaves, even now subject to the payment of his debts, but for an
artful manoeuvre of his. He was an ingenious Scotchman, and a man
of as much legal knowledge as any lawyer in Virginia in his day. He
used to manage his numerous suits himself, preparing them for court,
and only requiring his attorney to speak in each case. It is said that
Patrick Henry usually argued his causes in court.
Old Ross, as we understand the facts in the case, gave the executor
of the estate of Ex-Governor Page a certain amount of money, being
the value of this woman, and, besides this, deposited in his hands a
certain amount of money, equal to the expenses of a suit in court,
instituted by her, thereafter, for her freedom, which suit, it was un¬
derstood and agreed upon, was not to be prosecuted, only on her part.
Accordingly, she sued for her freedom—alleged that she was fraud¬
ulently in bondage, and ought of right to go free. No one filed an
answer to her declaration; the woman was declared to be free, and
the estate of Governor Page was taxed with the cost. This makes
her children free, in a legal point of view, when, in fact, they are
slaves; and this trick, no doubt, has kept the creditors of old Ross
from bringing Parson Ross under the hammer!
All candid persons who know the history of F. A. Ross, and his
embarrassed situation in society, are well aware that he never was
induced to seek the office of the holy ministry from love to God, a
zeal for the salvation of sinners, or a sincere desire to promote the
gospel of Jesus Christ. He had married a white woman, in this
town ; was raising a family of sons and daughters, who, themselves,
would want to marry after a while. His wealth was found utterly
feeble to force him upon that class of society within the circles of
which he desired to move. He took upon himself holy orders in the
Presbyterian Church, and commenced a furious defence of Presby-
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
85
terianism, and declared a war of extermination against tlie Method¬
ists. This gave him a free pass into the houses of many of the first
Presbyterian families in East Tennessee, where he continues to go
with his family. In Virginia, he is only received into a few houses,
and that for the Church's sake only. One of these families had to in¬
terfere in a courtship between one of their young men and Ross's
daughter, quite recently, and put an end to any such proposed matri¬
monial alliance ! Some other Presbyterian families, of the first re¬
spectability, never would receive him or his children, lest their
friendship might lead to this sort of connection—a consummation not
at all desired!
A brother of Dr. Doss's being reproached at a party on
account of his blood, and being notified that he must not
enter the ball-room, afterwards committed suicide. An¬
other brother, David, was shot in a personal difficulty grow¬
ing out of this same question of blood. Neither of these
men was married; and it was because they were in part of
African blood, and not " admitted into families of the first
respectability," that they found premature graves !
86
the little iron wheel enlarged.
THE ANTIQUITY OF LANDMAKKISM.
Since Graves boasts of the venerable years of " The Old
Landmark/' so peculiar to his sect, and of Baptist practice
" one and two hundred years since/' I had intended a
chapter on that subject, and had collected my authorities to
overthrow his positions, and to set aside his arrogant preten¬
sions. But meeting with an article in the " Keligious Her¬
ald," a Baptist journal, and an immersionist, published at
Richmond, Va., I substitute this article for my own; and
my readers will agree with me when I say, it is overwhelm¬
ingly against Graves's "Landmark" position, and all who
have gone olf with him in his unfounded assumptions. Here
is the article:
IS "THE OLD LANDMARK" REALLY OLD?
In the Personal Vindication appended to the "Little Iron Wheel,"
Elder J. R. Graves represents the Old Landmark practice as "the
practice of strict Baptists one and two hundred years since." Our
researches into the history of the denomination incline us to think
differently. If we be not greatly mistaken, the Landmark practice is
"something new under the" Baptistic "sun." And we propose, in
the present article, to put the reader in possession of the grounds on
which this opinion rests.
Our first witness is Ivimey, who expended the literary labors of
twenty years upon the compilation of "A History of the English Bap¬
tists." This writer was a Calvinistic, close-communion Baptist pastor
for thirty years or thereabouts, of the Church " of that faith and
order," in Eagle street, London ; and author of a work published in
1824, under the title "Baptism, the Scriptural and Indispensable
Qualification for Communion at the Lord's Table." His opinion as to
the practice of our fathers is certainly entitled to great consideration.
It is overwhelmingly against our Landmark brethren, as we shall now
proceed to show.
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED. 87
In 1644, there Was a public dispute at Coventry, on the subject of
baptism, between Richard Baxter, who appeared against us, and Ben¬
jamin Coxe, who appeared for us. In his account of that discussion,
Baxter charges Coxe with " teaching the people that the Presbyterian
ministers, being unbaptized, were indeed no ministers of Christ; and
that it was unlawful to hear them, or join with their people, though
never so godly, because they were unbaptized persons." On this ac¬
cusation Ivimey makes the significant comment:
" It is absurd to suppose that Mr. Coze should say unbaptized ministers
were not ministers of Christ; though it is highly probable he taught
that a Church composed of baptized believers should admit none to
membership but baptized persons." (Vol. ii., p. 15.)
Clearly, there could be no absurdity in this supposition, if such
views were current among Baptists two hundred years ago. Not less
clearly, the long and patient investigations of Ivimey resulted in the
conviction that these views were not current then. But his opinion is
not left to inference. He puts it on record, in explicit and pungent
style:
"A belief that baptism by immersion, on a profession of faith, was
appointed by our Lord, and practiced by the apostles as a term of
communion, was never considered as involving the question whether an
unbaptized person should be permitted to preach in our congregations. The
writer is willing to challenge investigation on this subject, and to aB-
sert and maintain till the contrary is proved from good authority that
no one instance can be produced from the whole history of the denomina¬
tion, of such folly and illiberality." (Vol. Hi., p. 315.)
This is emphatic testimony, and refers, as we would remind the
reader, to the entire body of English Baptists, "from the earliest
period to which they can be traced," to the close of the reign of
George III., in the year 1820. We regard it as absolutely decisive of
the question.
Taking leave of Ivimey for a while, let us examine the light shed
upon the Landmark question, by the controversy between Wall and
Gale, at the coming in of the eighteenth century.
In his "Defence of the History of Infant Baptism," Wall divides
our fathers of that day into three classes. He says:
" Some few of them do still continue to hold communion with the
Established Church in public prayers, and in the other sacrament;
and in this too, so far as is consistent with their opinion, i. e., when
their children are adult, and desire baptism, they advise them to re¬
ceive it in the church, at the hands of the lawful minister. ... Of
those Anti-pedobaptists that do separate, all are not of one sort. For
some, and those far the greatest number, have, even in their separation,
so much of Christianity, modesty, and charity left as to take and own
the Church of England, and other Protestant Pedobaptist Churches,
to be Christians, and not to want any essential or fundamental requisites
of a Christian Church. . . . There is another sort who do not only
separate from but rail at our Church, clergy, and people, and all other
Protestants, as being either no Christians, (as some of them do show
88
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
their real sentiment to be,) or no Church, having no bishops, no Chris¬
tian presbyters, no sacraments, etc. There are, God be thanked, but
few of them so far gone in the spirit of uncharitableness." (Vol. iv.,
pp. 471, 478, 480.)
This representation was published in 1720. Of the three classes
mentioned in it, the first may be dismissed with the single remark,
that their palpable delinquency forbids Baptists of the present times
to look to them for precedent. The opinions of the second class seem
altogether irreconcilable with the Landmark practice ; and these opi¬
nions, if the statement of Dr. Wall be correct, were embraced by the
overwhelming majority of the denomination. Even the third class,
if what is said of them rested upon "good authority," may have
failed to draw the conclusion which Ivimey believes to have been
drawn in "no instance." Some of the most logical minds among us
hold their view, without drawing that conclusion.
The opinion which appears to forbid the Landmark practice was
avowed by the Baptist authors whom Wall cites. For example: Da-
vye, in "The Baptism of Adult Believers Only Asserted and Vindi¬
cated, and that of Infants Disproved," a work bearing date 1718,
says, "We do not unchurch all other Protestant Churches: there is
scarce any thing more distant from our thoughts." (Wall, vol. iv.,
p. 489.) And Joseph Stennett, in his Answer to Russen, 1704, re¬
pels, as "a reproach cast upon Anti-pedobaptists," the statement
"that they judge none of the true Church but those of their own
way." (Ib., vol. ii., p. 552.) Dr. Gale, in the following passage,
writes in the same strain:
" I do not know what Mr. Wall's notion of a Church may be, but if
he takes it from the Thirty-Nine Articles he subscribed to at his ordi¬
nation, it will be plain, for the nineteenth article says, " The visible
Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in which the sa¬
craments be duly administered according to Christ's ordinance, in all
those things that of necessity are requisite to the same." Now, if
baptism cannot be duly performed according to Christ's ordinance,
(as we believe, and Mr. Wall supposes it true,) but by dipping be¬
lievers into the water on the profession of their faith, then that Church
which administers it otherwise, cannot be such a Church of Christ as
the article speaks of; and if so, it is hard to imagine why it should
be unlawful to decline her communion: for her baptism being wrong
becomes no baptism ; and perhaps some may carry this so far, as to
question whether such a congregation is a visible Church. For if, as I will
prove hereafter, her baptism is not true, that is, if she have no bap¬
tism,—for Tertullian's maxim will hold good, ' They who are not duly
baptized are certainly not baptized at all,'—though we do not assert
so much, yet to some it will, it may be, seem a little probable that
she may perhaps have no bishops, presbyters, etc., no lawful ordina¬
tions; and if this should be allowed, neither of the sacraments can
be duly administered." (Reflections on Wall, written 1705, published
1711, pp. 84, 85.)
Here then we have Gale, Stennett, and Davye, proclaiming in the
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
89
name of the denomination, and without specification of exceptions,
the opinion imputed by Wall to the "far greater number." That opil
nion is a repudiation of the Landmark premise. How could it sub¬
sist side by side with the Landmark practice ? The thing is incred¬
ible.
We return now to Ivimey, and will show good reason for doing so.
In the year 1677, a Confession of Faith was adopted by "the elders
and brethren of many congregations of Christians (baptized upon pro¬
fession of their faith) in London and the country." The same con¬
fession was embraced and recommended by " the General Assembly
of Divers Pastors, Messengers, and Ministering Bi-etliren of the Bap¬
tized Churches, met together in London, September 3-12, 1689, from
divers parts of England and Wales ; owning the doctrine of personal
election and final perseverance; sent from, and concerned for, more
than one hundred congregations of the same faith with themselves."
(Ivimey, vol. i., pp. 421, 480.) This confession was, except where
doctrinal differences prevented, "concurrent in phraseology with that
fixed on by" the Presbyterians and Independents; and the " address
to the judicious and impartial reader," published with it, assigns the
following reason for "making use of the very same words:"
" This we did, the more abundantly to manifest our consent with
both, in all the fundamental articles of the Christian religion, as also with
many others, whose orthodox confessions have been published to the
world, on behalf of the Protestants in divers nations and cities, here¬
by declaring before God, angels, and men, our hearty agreement with
them in that wholesome Protestant doctrine, which with so clear evidence
of Scripture they have asserted." (Ib., p. 423.)
That is not spoken as our Landmark brethren speak. And the ap¬
pendix added to the confession traces this diversity of style to its true
fountain:
" Whosoever reads and impartially considers what we have in our
foregoing confession declared, may readily perceive that we do not
only concentrate with all other true Christians on the word of God, re¬
vealed in the Scriptures of truth, as the foundation and rule of our
faith and worship, but that we have also industriously endeavored to
manifest, that in the fundamental articles of Christianity we mind the
same things, and have therefore expressed our belief in the same
words, that have on the like occasion been spoken by other societies of
Christians before us. And although we do differ from our brethren who
are Pedobaptists, in the subject and administration of baptism, and
such other circumstances as have a necessary dependence on our ob¬
servance of that ordinance, and do frequent our own assemblies for
our mutual edification, and the discharge of those duties and services
which we owe unto God, and in his fear to each other; yet we would
not be from hence misconstrued, as if the discharge of our own consciences
herein did any way disoblige or alienate our affections or conversation from
any others that fear the Lord; but that we may and do, as we have op¬
portunity, participate of the labors of those whom God hath endued with
90 THE LITTLE IRON "WHEEL ENLARGED.
abilities above ourselves, and qualified and called to the ministry of the
word, earnestly desiring to approve ourselves to be such as follow after
peace with holiness; and therefore we always keep that blessed Ire-
nicum or healing word of the apostle before our eyes, ' If in any thing
ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you ; never¬
theless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same
rule, let us mind the same thing.' Phil. iii. 15, 16."
The point is clear. These "pastors, messengers, and ministering
brethren," did not employ the Landmark style, because they did not
observe the Landmark practice. They recognized Pedobaptists who
were " true Christians," as their " brethren!" They saw among them
" those whom God had qualified and called to the ministry of the word!"
And "as they had opportunity, they participated op their la¬
bors" in that ministry! Who, then, were these anti-landmark men?
Among their names we find those of Hansard Knollys, William Kiffin,
Andrew Gifford, Robert Steed, Thomas Vauxe, Benjamin Keach, Wil¬
liam and Hercules Collins, John Harris, Henry Forty, Simon Orchard,
Richard Adams, Griffith Howell, and Paul Fruin. They were men
who, for the sake of Baptist principles, had endured the vehemence
of persecution; had confronted angry mobs and unjust judges; had
taken joyfully the spoiling of their goods ; had lain in dungeons, not
only to the sacrifice of liberty, but to the peril of life. Who will
venture to upbraid such men (as those who oppose the Landmark
practice are upbraided now) with being " milk-and-water Baptists"—•
" tender-footed Baptists"—" pseudo Baptists ?" Go, read the story
of their wrongs; the shame which they counted to themselves for
honor; the sufferings which were the darkness of their history, and
are its glory! Call up their gray and venerable presence from the
dead, as it took, before unrighteous tribunals, an aspect of heroic
firmness, as it softened, in the shadow of prisons, to an air of patient
endurance ! Then essay to utter the opprobrious epithets which come
so trippingly from your lips, when you philippize against those who
follow in their steps. Your tongue will cleave, for very shame, to the
roof of your mouth.
We have been dealing, not with the merits, but with the age of the
Landmark practice. And from the Western Recorder, which has just
come to hand, we learn with pleasure that Elder J. Newton Brown,
and Elder David Benedict, whose studies have made them peculiarly
familiar with the history of the denomination, hold opinions on this
point in full accordance with our own."
This " your tongue will cleave, for very shame, to
the roof of your mouth/' is a deadly hlow at Graves, to
come from a Baptist pen ! I must he allowed to carry
out the figure, hy applying to the author of the "Little
Iron Wheel" the expressive words of the poet:
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED
"Blush, if of honest blood a drop remains
To steal its lonely way along thy veins!
Blush, if the bronze long hardened on thy cheek,
Has left one spot where that poor drop can speak I
Blush, to be branded with the slanderer's name,
And though thou dread'st not sin, at least dread shame
92
the little iron "wheel enlarged.
COMMISSION FOR J. R. GRAVES AND OTHERS.
Many persons are curious to know by wbat rigbt Graves
and other slanderers continue to pursue, blackguard, and dog
me. For twenty years an army of these graceless but " il¬
lustrious conquerors of common sense" have been yelping at
my heels. In order to " cheer on the pack, and have the
quarry stand at bay," and to answer the numerous inquiries
on this subject, I publish below the commission under which
they all act, so that all they may say or write is legalized:
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, I have recently seen various publications, set
forth in Baptist periodicals, in Tennessee, Virginia, North
Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky, and signed with the in¬
itials of Baptist preachers and others; and as I presume they
will find a general circulation through the papers and pulpits
of that sect, notwithstanding the abusive personalities which
they contain; and as these are not the first that have found
their way into sectarian newspapers, containing ridiculous
and unfounded abuse of me :
Now, therefore, Know all men by these presents, that I,
¥m. G. Brownlow, the Editor of the " Jonesborough
Whig," of lawful age, and sound of mind, do hereby declare
to all liars whomsoever, that they are authorized to accuse,
defame, blackguard, calumniate, slander, vilify, and libel me
to an unlimited extent, m personal or private abuse, by retail
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
93
or wholesale. And I do further proclaim to whomsoever it
may concern, that they are hereby permitted and invited to
write, indite, print, publish, and circulate the same; and that
I will in no wise hold them responsible to me, in person, law,
or honor, for either the use of their quills or tongues, in a
display of their Platonic intellects, Magliabechian learning,
or Demosthenic eloquence. Nor will I have recourse to law
even in a case where I am assured that I can secure to the
sectarian culprit the dignity of a residence in the Peniten¬
tiary I And I do further proclaim that I authorize prin¬
cipals, in all cases, to skulk unseen behind a venal crew of
scribbling parasites, and direct them where to spit their bor¬
rowed venom. I will not even pledge myself to drag these
dignitaries from behind the screen where all their plots are
hatched, or expose the secrets of their laboratory. I may
apply the shafts of satire, or the lash of ridicule, so as to
enable the guilty to discover that even at a time like the
present—
"When knaves and fools combined o'er all prevail,
When Justice halts, and Right begins to fail;
E'en then the boldest start from public sneers,
Afraid of shame, unknown to other fears;
More darkly sin, by satire kept in awe,
And shrink from ridicule, though not from law."
And as some ingenuity has already been displayed in the
exhibition of specimens of slander, and others may be in¬
duced to invest a small capital in the business, from feelings
of emulation, and an itching after fame : Be it known for
the especial benefit of journeymen slanderers, in all time to
come, as well as those who have already been engaged, that
I do solemnly propose, on the 1st of January, 1860, to give
to the author of the most rejined and ingenious lie, a bound
copy of the most filthy and disreputable Baptist weekly pa¬
per that shall at that time be under way, south of the Po¬
tomac, bound in dog I
94
THE LITTLE IRON WHEEL ENLARGED.
Be it known further, that I authorize all who will enter
the ring as contestants for this prize, to go forward to the
utmost verge of slanderous imagination, and not to cease
their labors until they can say, in the language of the Mingo
Chief, " I have fully glutted my vengeance I" And all I
promise in after life is—
" Tour men in buckram shall have blows enough,
And feel they too are 'penetrable stuff:'
And though I hope not hence unscathed to go,
Who conquers me shall find a stubborn foe."
And I do further proclaim, that you are at liberty to turn
loose the pack, and let them be headed by your clerical hye¬
nas, with whom it shall be lawful to disinter the ashes of a
"Wesley, an Asbury, and others of my Church, who sleep in
their graves, and let the coward brood
" mangle as they prey,
By hellish instinct, all that cross their way,
Aged or young, the living or the dead."
Given under my hand and private seal, (having no seal of
office,) at Jonesborough, in the State of Tennessee, this 4th
of July, 1843.
W. G. BROWNLOW.
SERMON ON SLAVERY;
% iintota at gtotfytet CM, Stfuft:
HER POSITION STATED.
DELIVERED IN TEMPERANCE HALL, IN KNOXVILLE, ON SABBATH, AU¬
GUST 9th, 1857, TO THE DELEGATES AND OTHERS IN ATTEND¬
ANCE AT THE SOUTHERN COMMERCIAL CONVENTION.
(95)
€ 0 t x u $ 0 it & * n 11.
As it is customary to send out a preface with a new pub¬
lication, the Author of this discourse submits the following
correspondence as explanatory of what may follow:
Knoxvilee, Tenn., August 10th, 1857.
Rev. Wm. G. Brownlow:—
Dear Sir: Having listened with peculiar interest to the discourse
on the subject of Slavery^ delivered by you yesterday morning, and
believing the dissemination of the views therein expressed would be
promotive of good, we, citizens of Alabama, respectfully solicit a copy
of the same for publication.
Very truly your obedient servants,
WM. L. ALLEN, JOHN W. PITTS,
W. T. MINTER,
T. T. S. SANDFORD,
C. K. FAILEY, M.D.,
WM. WALKER,
33. T. SHARP,
WM. B. HARROLSON,
JOHN C. M'NAB,
THOS. J. FROW.
Knoxvxlle, Tenn., August 11th, 1857.
Dr. Wm. G. Brownlow :—
Dear Sir: We, the undersigned, Delegates to the Southern Com¬
mercial Convention, who had the pleasure of listening to your Lecture
on the 9th instant, in this city, beg to express the gratification it
afforded us, and to request of you a copy for publication, with the
5 (97)
98
CORRESPONDENCE.
view of their general distribution throughout the South. Allow us to
express the hope that, duriug the coming winter, you will repeat your
Lecture in the principal cities and towns in the Southern States.
We are, very respectfully, your obedient servants,
GOV. W. D. MOSELEY, ~) m .,
GOV. M. S. PERRY, L ^ ^lonc?a
W. W. M'CALL. J Delegation.
W. H. BUSH, 1 ...
WM. H. KETCHUM, > ~ Alabama
E. M. JOHNSON. J Delegatl0n-
M. J. CLAY, of Arkansas.
C. D. PULLEN, \ Georgia
M. H. RACHELS. / Delegation.
A. S. MERRIMAN, of North Carolina.
0. P. TEMPLE, 1 Tennessee
WM. G. M'ADOO. j Delegation.
JAMES B. M'RAE, of Mississippi.
C. W. PHILLIPS, of Louisiana.
G. L. BRUIST, 1
R. S. M'CANTS, I S. Carolina
N. C. WHETSTONE, [ Delegation.
J. C. EDWARDS. J
REPLY.
Knoxville, Tenn., August 11th, 1857.
Gentlemen:—In reply to your favors of the 10th and 11th inst., I
have to say that I comply with your request, and have handed over
my manuscript to the printers; and they authorize me to say that
they will have you two thousand copies, done up in workmanlike style,
during the Session of this Commercial Convention.
Should it be desired, I will engage to deliver throughout the South,
the coming winter, not that Lecture, but one more appropriate, and
prepared with more care. Very truly, yours, etc.,
WM. G. BROWNLOW.
tt m 0 tu
Text.—"Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their
own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doc¬
trine be not blasphemed."—1 Tim. vi. 1.
Whoever reflects upon the nature of man, will find him
to be almost entirely the creature of circumstances : his
habits and sentiments are, in a great measure, the growth of
adventitious circumstances and causes; hence the endless
variety and condition of our species. That race of men in
our country known as Abolitionists, Freesoilers, or as Black
Republicans, look upon any deviation from the constant round
in which they have been spinning out the thread of their
existence, as a departure from Nature's great system; and,
from a known principle of our nature, the first impulse of
these fanatics is to condemn. It is thus that a man born
and reared in a free State looks upon slavery as unnatural
and horrible, and in violation of every law of justice and
humanity! And it is not unusual to hear bigots of this
character, in their churches at the North, imploring the
Divine wrath to let fall the consuming fires of heaven on
that great Sodom and Gomorrah of the New World—all that
vast extent of territory south of Mason an.d Dixon's Line,
where this horrible practice prevails !
(99)
100
A sermon on slavery.
When an unprejudiced and candid mind examinca into
the past history of our race, and learns the fact which his¬
tory develops, as the inquirer will, that a majority of man¬
kind were slaves, he will be driven to the conclusion that the
world, when first peopled by God himself, was not a world
of freemen, but of slaves—the Declaration of American
Independence to the contrary notwithstanding.
Slavery was really established and sanctioned by Divine
authority, among even God's chosen people — the favored
children of Israel. Abraham, the founder of this interest¬
ing nation, and the chosen servant of the Most High, was
the owner of more slaves, at one time, than any cotton-planter
in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, or Mississippi, or any
sugar-planter in Louisiana. That magnificent shrine, the
gorgeous Temple of Solomon, commenced and completed
under the pious promptings of religion and ancient free¬
masonry, was reared alone by the hands of slaves ! Egypt's
venerable and enduring pyramids were reared by the hands
of slaves ! Involuntary servitude, reduced to a science, ex¬
isted in ancient Assyria and Babylon. The ten tribes of
Israel were carried off to Assyria by Shalmaneser, and the
two strong tribes of Judah were subsequently carried in
triumph by Nebuchadnezzar to end their days in Babylon as
slaves, and to labor to adorn the city. Ancient Phoenicia and
Carthage were literally overrun with slavery, because the slave
population outnumbered the free and the owners of slaves.
The Greeks and Trojans, at the siege of Troy, were attended
with large numbers of their slaves. Athens, and Sparta,
and Thebes—indeed, the whole Grecian and Boman worlds,
had more slaves than freemen. And in those ages which
succeeded the extinction of the Boman empire in the West,
slaves were the most numerous class. Even in the days of
civilization and Christian light which revolutionized govern¬
ments, laboring serfs and abject slaves were distributed
a sermon on slavery.
101
throughout Eastern Europe, and a portion of Western Asia;
conclusively showing that slavery existed over these hound-
less regions. In China, the worst forms of slavery have ex¬
isted since its earliest history. And when we turn to Africa,
we find slavery, in all its most horrid forms, existing through¬
out its whole extent, the slaves outnumbering the freemen
at least three to one. Looking, then, to the whole world, we
may with confidence assert that slavery in its worst forms
subdues by far the largest portion of the human race !
Now, the inquiry is, How has slavery risen and spread
over our whole earth ? We answer, By the laws of war, the
state of property, the feebleness of governments, the thirst for
bargain and sale, the increase of crime, and last, but not
least, by and with the consent and, approbation of Deity I
These remarks may suffice by way of an introduction, and
they will serve to indicate the course we intend to pursue, if
the announcement of the text has not already done that.
Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own
masters worthy of all honor, etc. The word here rendered
servants means slaves converted to the Christian faith; and
the word yoke signifies the state of slavery in which Christ
and the apostles found the world involved when the Christian
Church was first organized. By the word rendered masters
we are to understand the heathen masters of those christian¬
ized slaves. Even these, in such circumstances, and under
such domination, are commanded to treat their masters with
all honor and respect, that the name of God, by which they
were called, and the doctrine of God, to wit, Christianity,
which they had professed, might not.be blasphemed—might
not be evil spoken of in consequence of their improper con¬
duct. Civil rights are never abolished by any communica¬
tion from God's Spirit; and those fiery bigots at the North
who propose to abolish the institution of slavery in this
country, are not following the dictates of God's Spirit or law.
102
a sermon on slavery.
The civil state in which a man was before his conversion is
not altered by that conversion; nor does the grace of God
absolve him from any claims which the State, his neighbor,
or lawful owner may have had on him. All these outward
things continue unaltered; hence, if a man he under the
sentence of death for murder, and God should convert him,
he is not released from suffering the extreme penalty of the
law!
The Church of Christ, when originally constituted, claimed
no right, as an ecclesiastical organization, to interfere with
the civil government. This was the principle upon which
the Church was founded, as announced by its immortal Head.
When Christ was doomed by a cruel Roman law to its most
ignominious condemnation, he did not so much as resist it,
because it was law, nor did he complain of it as oppressive.
" Then Pilate entered into the judgment-hall again, and called
Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews ? . . . Jesus
answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of
this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be deliv¬
ered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence. ... To
this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I
should bear witness to the truth." John xviii. 33-37.
When Christ came into the world on the business of his
mission, he found the Jewish people subject to the Roman
kingdom; and in no instance did he counsel the Jews to
rebellion, or incite them to throw off the Roman yoke, as do
the vagabond philanthropists of the North in reference to
the existing laws of the United States upon the subject of
slavery. Christ was, by lineal descent, " The King oe the
Jews," but he did not assert his temporal power, but actu¬
ally refused to be crowned in that right.
Under the Roman law, human liberty was held by no more
certain tenure than the whim of the sovereign power, pro¬
tected by no definite constitution. Slavery constituted tho
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
103
most powerful and essential element of the government, and
that slavery was of the most cruel character, and gave the
masters absolute discretion over the lives of slaves. Not¬
withstanding all this, Christ did not make war upon the ex¬
isting government, nor denounce the rulers for conferring
such powers, although he looked upon cruel legislation in the
light in which the character of his mission required. And
although the Church itself was not what it should have been,
in no instance did Christ denounce that. The only denun¬
ciations the Saviour ever uttered were those against the doc¬
tors and lawyers, ministers and expounders , of the Jewish
code of ecclesiastical law. For this he was crucified. And
the Jewish gamblers who put him to death, divided out his
garments, as you recollect, casting lots for them. And from
that day to this, wherever you find a Jew, he is engaged in
the clothing business, either wholesaling or retailing "ready-
made clothing
But allow us to present the case of the Apostle Paul, as
proof more palpable and overwhelming, on this very point.
He had been falsely accused, cruelly imprisoned, and tyran¬
nically arraigned; and that, too, before a licentious governor,
an unjust and dissipated ruler, and an unprincipled infidel.
The Roman law in force at that time arrested the freedom
of speech, denied the rights of conscience, and even forbade
the free expression of opinion in all matters conflicting with
the provisions of the laws of the Roman government. In
his defence before Felix, Paul never so much as speaks of
Roman law, though well acquainted with it, but " he rea¬
soned of righteousness, and temperance, and judgment to
come." Here was a suitable occasion to condemn the re¬
gulations and to question the authority of the villainous sta¬
tutes of Rome; but instead of this, Paul pleaded his rights
under the unjust regulations of the law. He charged Felix
with official delinquency, with personal crime, and, as a man,
104
A sermon on slavery.
he held him up to public scorn, and threatened him with the
vengeance of God! He appealed to the late, and justified
himself by the law. He claimed the rights of a "Roman
citizen"—demanded the protection due to a Roman citizen—
and he scorned to find fault with the law, cruel and unjust
as he knew it to he. And the consequence was, that the
licentious infidel who ruled, " trembled."
The views we have here presented are not at all new, hut
have heen uniformly acted upon by evangelical Christians,
in all ages of the world. Since the days of St. Paul and
Simon Peter, no reformer has appeared who was more violent
than that great and good man, Martin Luther. John
Calvin possessed a revolutionary spirit—he fought every
thing he believed to he wrong—he was unmitigated in his
severity. Yet neither of these great men ever made war
upon the existing laws of their respective countries. John
Wesley was the great reformer of the past century—he
reformed the whole ecclesiastical machinery of the modern
Church of Christ; and his doctrines, and manner of con¬
ducting revivals, are leading elements of American Christi¬
anity. But Mr. Wesley never made war upon the English
government, under which he lived and died. On the other
hand, it is a matter of serious complaint among sectarians
not friendly to the spread of Methodism, that Wesley wrote
elaborately against the war of the Revolution. Mr. Wesley
believed it to be religiously his duty to sustain the govern¬
ment under the reign of George III.; and had we been
placed in his circumstances, we should have imitated his ex¬
ample. He was devoted to law and order, and he deemed it
a religious duty to oppose all resistance to existing laws. In
his troubles at Savannah, Georgia—like Paul before the li¬
centious governor—he appealed to the law, and sought by
every means in his power to be tried under the law, asking
only the privilege of being heard in his own defence ! And
A SERMok ON SLAVERY.
105
it was, in all the instances we have mentioned, " that the
name of God and his doctrine he not blasphemed," to quote
the expressive language of the text, that existing laws have
been adhered to by the propagators of gospel truth.
One word more as to Mr. Wesley : He is quoted by Abo¬
lition Methodists against the Methodists South. It is a mat¬
ter of record, that when Mr. Wesley returned from Savannah
to England, after a residence of two years, in his Report to
the Board of Missions who sent him out, he advised the pur¬
chase of more negroes for the use of the American Missions,
saying that a small experiment in that way had worked well;
that while their labor would prove valuable, the missionaries
would be serviceable to them in a spiritual point of view!
The essential principles of the great moral law delivered
to Moses by God himself, are set forth in what is called the
tenth commandment, in the twentieth chapter of Exodus:
" Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not
covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid¬
servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy
neighbor's." Now, the only true interpretation of this por¬
tion of the word of God is, that the species of property men¬
tioned are lawful, and that all men are forbidden to disturb
others in the lawful enjoyment of their property. " Man¬
servants and maid-servants" are distinctly consecrated as
property, and guaranteed to man for his exclusive benefit—
proof irresistible that slavery was thus ordained by God him¬
self. We have seen learned dissertations from the pens of
Abolitionists, saying that the term " servant," and not
"slave," is used here. To this we reply, that both the He¬
brew and Greek words translated "servant," mean also
" slave," and are more frequently used in this sense than in
the former. Besides, the Hebrew Scriptures teach us, that
God especially authorized his peculiar people to purchase
5*
106
a sermon on slavery.
" bondmen for ever/' and if to be in bondage for ever
does not constitute slavery, we yield the point.
The visionary notions of piety and philanthropy entertained
by many men at the North, lead them to resist the Fugitive
Slave Law of this government, and even to violate the tenth
commandment, by stealing our " men-servants and maid¬
servants/' and running them into what they call free territory.
Nay, the villainous piety of some leads them to contribute
Sharpe's Rifles and Holy Bibles, to send the iincirc.umciscd
Philistines of New England into Kansas and Nebraska, to
shoot down the Christian owners of. slaves, and then to per¬
form religious ceremonies over their dead bodies ! Clergy¬
men lay aside their Bibles at the North, and females, as in
the case of that model beauty, Harriet Beeeher Stowe, unsex
themselves, to carry on this horrid and slanderous warfare
against slaveholders of the South ! And English travellers,
steeped to the nose and chin in prejudices against this gov¬
ernment and our institutions, have written books upon the
subject. The Halls, Hamiltons, Trollopes, and Miss Marti-
neaus, et id omne genus, all have misrepresented us ! These
English writers all denounce slavery and eulogize Democra¬
cy ; as if an Englishman could be a Democrat in tbe modern,
vulgar sense of the term, and be a consistent man !'
But we do not propose, in this brief discourse, to enter
into any defence of the African slave trade. Although the
evils of it are greatly exaggerated, its evils and cruelties, its
barbarities, are not justified by the most ultra slaveholders
of this age. The vile traffic was abolished by the United
States, even before the British Parliament prohibited it.
All the powers in the world have subsequently prohibited
this trade—some of the more influential and powerful of
them declaring it piracy, and covering the African seas with
armed vessels to prevent it!
a sermon on slavery.
107
This trade, which seems so shocking to the feelings of man¬
kind, dates its origin as far back as the year 1442. Antony
Gonzales, a Portuguese mariner, while exploring the coast
of Africa, was the first to steal some Moors, and was subse¬
quently forced by Prince Henry of Portugal to carry them
back to Africa. In the year 1502, the Spaniards began to
steal negroes, and employ them in the mines of Hispaniola,
Cuba, and Jamaica. In 1517, the Emperor Charles Y.
granted a patent to certain privileged persons, to steal exclu¬
sively a supply of four thousand negroes annually for these
islands !
African slaves were first imported into America in 1620,
a century after their introduction into the West Indies. The
first cargo, of twenty Africans, by a Dutch vessel, was
brought up the James River, into Virginia, and sold out as
slaves. England then being the most commercial of Euro¬
pean nations, engrossed the trade; and from 1680 to 1780,
there were imported into the British Possessions alone, two
millions oe slaves—making an average annual importa¬
tion of more than twenty thousand! And the annual im¬
portation into America has transcended fifty thousand ! The
States of this Union, north of Mason and Dixon's Line,
commonly called the New England States, were never, to any
great extent, slaveholding; their virtuous and pious minds
were chiefly exercised in slave-stealing and slave-selling ! To
Old England our New England States owe their knowledge
of the art of slave-stealing; and to New England these
Southern States are wholly indebted for their slaves. They
stole the African from his native land, and sold him into
bondage for the sake of gain. They kept but a few of their
captives among themselves, because it was not profitable to
use negro labor in the cold and sterile regions of New Eng¬
land. And when they enacted laws in the New England
States abolishing slavery, they brought their negroes into
108
a sermon on slavery.
the South, and sold them before their laws could go into opera¬
tion ! This is the true history of slavery in New England.
They stole and sold property which it was not profitable to
keep, and for which they now refuse all warranty. And what
few American ships are in the trade now, at the peril of
piracy, are New England ships.
The pious and religious portion of New England Abolition¬
ists, we take it, are the better portion, and in these we have
no sort of confidence. Take, for example, the case of that
great man, and powerful pulpit orator, Stephen Olin, who
came into Georgia, and was introduced into the ministry by
Bishop Andrew and his friends, and by this means married
a lady owning a number of slaves. He sold them all for the
money, pocketed the money, and returned to his congenial
North; and when Bishop Andrew was arraigned before the
General Conference of 1844, because he had married a widow
lady owning a few slaves, this man Olin appeared on the
floor, and spoke and voted against the Bishop! Dr. Olin
had washed his hands of the sin of slavery—had his money
out at interest—and he was ready to plead for the rights of
the poor African! May we not exclaim, " Lord ! what is
man ?"
We are acquainted with many of the Abolitionists of the
North connected with the Methodist Church; and although
we suppose that they are about as good as the Abolitionists
of other denominations, we have no confidence in them.
The most of them would enter their fine churches on the
Sabbath, preach for hours against the sin of slavery, shed
their tears over the oppressions of the " servile progeny of
Ham," in these Southern States; and on the next day, in a
purely business transaction, behind a counter, or in the set¬
tlement of an account, cheat a Southern slave out of the
pewter that ornaments the head of his cane !
We have no confidence in either the politician or the
A sermon on slavery.
109
divine at the North, engaged in the villainous agitation of
the slavery question. There are good, reliable, and conser¬
vative men at the North, and in the South, who came from
the North, but they are not among these graceless agitators.
And if we find any of them in heaven, where we expect to
go after death, we shall conclude they have got in by prac¬
ticing a fraud upon the doorkeeper !
There is much in the political papers of our country cal¬
culated, if not intended, to fan a flame of intense warfare
upon the subject of slavery, which can result in no possible
good to any one. Those politicians who are exciting the
whole country, and fanning society into a livid consuming
flame, particularly at the North, have no sympathies for the
black man, and care nothing for his comfort. They only
seek their own glory. This political disquiet and commotion
is giving birth to new and loftier schemes of agitation and
disunion, among the vile Abolitionists of the country, and
to bold and hazardous enterprises in the States and Territo¬
ries. And many of our Southern altars smoke with the vile
incense of Abolitionism. We have scores of Abolitionists
in the South, in disguise—designing men—some filling our
pulpits, some occupying high positions in our colleges, some
editing political and religious papers, some selling goods,
and some following one calling and some another, who,
though among us, are not of us, Southern men may rest as¬
sured !
We endorse, without reserve, that much-abused sentiment
of a distinguished South Carolina statesman, now no more,
that " slavery is the corner-stone of our republican edifice
while we repudiate, as ridiculously absurd, that much-lauded,
but nowhere-accredited dogma of Mr. Jefferson, that " all
men are born equal." God never intended to make the
butcher a judge, nor the baker a president, but to protect
them according to their claims as butcher and baker. Pope
110
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
lias beautifully expressed tbis sentiment, where he has
said:
"Order is Heaven's first law, and this confessed,
Some are, and must be, greater than the rest."
We have gone among the free negroes at the North—we
have visited their miserable dwellings in Philadelphia, New
York, Boston, and other points; and, in every instance, we
have found them more miserable and destitute, as a whole,
than the slave population of the South. In our Southern
States, where negroes have been set at liberty, in nine cases
out of ten their conditions have been made worse; while the
most wretched, indolent, immoral, and dishonest class of per¬
sons to be found in the Southern States, are free persons of
color.
The freedom of negroes in even the Northern States, is,
in all respects, only an empty name. The citizen negro does
not vote, and takes good care not to do so. The law docs
not interdict him this privilege, but if he attempt to avail
himself of the privilege, he is apprehensive of " apostolic
blows and kicks," which the pious Abolitionists will admin¬
ister to him. All the social advantages, all the respectable
employments, all the honors, and even the pleasures of life,
are denied the free negroes of the North, by citizens full of
sympathy for the down-trodden African ! The negro cannot
get into an omnibus, cannot enter a bar-room frequented by
whites, nor a church, nor a theatre; nor can he enter the
cabin of a steamboat, in one of the Northern rivers or lakes,
or enter a first-class passenger car on one of their railroads.
They are not suffered to enter a stage-coach with whites, but
are forced upon the deck, whether it shall rain or shine—
whether it be hot or cold. Industry is closed to them, and
they are forced to live as servants in hotels, or adopt the pro¬
fession of barber, or boot-black, or open oysters in saloons,
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
Ill
or sell villainous liquors to the lower classes of German and
Irish emigrants who throng our large cities and towns. The
negroes even have their own streets, and their own low-down
kennels ; they have their hospitals, their churches, their cars,
upon which are written in large letters, " FOR COLORED
PEOPLE \" Finally, they are forced to have their own
grave-yards—the yellow remains of Northern Abolitionists,
and pious white men, refusing to mingle with the bleeching
bones of the dead negro ! While, in the South, they crowd
the galleries and back seats in our churches, travel in our
passenger cars, and even loan their money to our white men
at interest! Such is an outline of the contrast between free
negroes at the North and slaves at the South.
Let us turn again to the Holy Scriptures, and see whether
or not they sustain or condemn the institution of slavery.
The opposers of slavery profess to be governed alone by the
teachings of the Bible in their war upon this institution.
It is in vain to look to Christ or any of his apostles to justify
the blasphemous perversions of the word of God continually
paraded before the world by these graceless agitators. Al¬
though slavery in its most revolting forms was everywhere
visible around them, no visionary notions of piety or schemes
of philanthropy ever tempted either Christ or one of his
apostles to gainsay the LAW, even to mitigate the cruel se¬
verity of the slavery system then existing. On the con¬
trary, finding slavery established by law, as well as an inevi¬
table and necessary consequence growing out of the condition
of human society, their efforts were to sustain the institu¬
tion. Hence St. Paul actually apprehended a "fugitive
slave," and sent him back to his lawful owner and earthly
master!
Having already appealed to the authority of the Old Tes¬
tament Scriptures, we turn to that of the New, where we
learn that slavery existed in the earliest days of the Christian
112
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
Church, and that both masters and slaves were members of
the same Christian congregations. Slavery was an institu -
tion of the State in the Roman empire, as it is in the South¬
ern States of this confederacy, and the apostles did not feel
at liberty to denounce it, if, indeed, they felt the least oppo¬
sition to it—a thing we deny.
But before we appeal to the irresistible authority of the
New Testament, we will submit a few only of a great many
passages from the Old Testament—not having quoted as ex¬
tensively as may have been deemed necessary :
"And he said, I am Abraham's servant." Gen. xxiv. 34.
"And there was of the house of Saul a servant, whose name was
Ziba; and when they had called him unto David, the king said unto
him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he." 2 Sam. ix. 2.
" Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I
have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul, and to all
his house." Verse 9th.
" Thou, therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land
for him, and thou shall bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may
have food to eat, etc. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty seii-
vants." Verse 10th.
" I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house;
also, I had great possessions of great and small cattle, above all that
were in Jerusalem before me." Eccles. ii. 7.
"And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, Whence earnest thou? And she
said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai." Gen. xvi. 8.
"And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress,
and submit thyself under her hands." Verse 9th.
The only comments we have to offer upon these passages
are, first, one individual acknowledges himself the owner of
twenty slaves ! Another was raising slaves, and having them
born in his house! And last, but not least, the angel of
God ordered the fugitive slave to return to her lawful owner!
High authority, this, for apprehending runaway slaves.
But if we were to tell a Northern Abolitionist that the
angel of God was acting in the capacity of a United States
Marshal, and aided in arresting a fugitive slave, he would
think us crazy!
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
113
In reference to bad servants, we read in Prov. xxix.
19—
"A servant will not be corrected by words; for though he under¬
stand, he will not answer."
The Scriptures look to the correction of servants, and
really enjoin it, as they do in the case of children. We esteem
it the duty of Christian masters to feed and clothe well, and
in case of disobedience to tvhip well.
In the book of Joel iii. 8, the slave trade is recognized as
of Divine authority:
"And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the land of the
children of Judali, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to the
people far off; FOR THE LORD HATH SPOKEN IT !"
"Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
Art thou called, being a servant ? Care not for it; but if thou may-
est be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord,
being a servant, is the Lord's freeman ; likewise also he that is called,
being free, is Christ's servant." 1 Cor. vii. 20-22.
" Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to
the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto
Christ. Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants
of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will doing
service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever
good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord,
whether he be bond or free. And ye masters, do the same things unto
them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in
heaven : neither is there respect of persons with him." Eph. vi. 5-9.
" Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh : not
with eye-service, as men-pleasers ; but in singleness of heart, fearing
God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not
unto men : knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of
the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ." Col. iii. 22-25.
'■'■Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal:
knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." Col. iv. 1.
" Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own mas¬
ters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be
not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not
despise them, because they are brethren; but rather to do them ser¬
vice, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit.
These things teach and exhort." 1 Tim. vi. 1, 2.
" Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to
please them well in all things ; not answering again; not purloining,
but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of
God our Saviour in all things." Titus ii. 9, 10.
114
A sermon on slavery.
"Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear: not only to the
good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy,
if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrong¬
fully." 1 Peter ii. 18, 19.
We have but a single word of comment to offer upon tbcse
passages of Scripture. The original words used.by the Greek
writers, both sacred and profane, to express slave ; the most
abject condition of slavery; to express the absolute owner
of a slave, and the absolute control of a slave, are the strong¬
est that the language affords, and are used in the passage
here quoted. If the apostles understood the common use of
words, and desired to convey these ideas, and to recognize the
relations of master and servant, they would naturally enough
employ the very words used. To say that they did not know
the primary meaning and usus loquendi of the original words,
is paying them a compliment we wish not to participate in !
And to show we are not singular in our views of the mean¬
ing expressed in the passages quoted, showing that they ex¬
press in one case slaves, and in the other masters or owners,
actually holding them as property, under the sanction of the
laws of the State, we quote from the following authorities:
That great commentator, Dr. Adam Clarke, on 1 Cor.
vii. 21, says :
"Art thou converted to Christ while thou art a slave—the property
of another person, and bought with his money ? Care not for it."
The learned Dr. Neander, in his work entitled " Planting
and Training the Church," in referring to Oncsimus, men¬
tioned in the Epistle to Philemon, says of him :
" It does not appear to be at all surprising that a runaway slave
should betake himself at once to Rome."
To the foregoing might be added other authorities of equal
weight and importance.
It is a well-known historical fact, that slaveholders were
admitted into the Apostolic Churches; nor would this
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
115
assumed position of the advocates of slavery he at all denied
by an intelligent and well-read man at the North, but for
the fact that they think such an admission would decide the
question against Abolitionists. We have given much atten¬
tion to this subject within ten years past, and we feel no sort
of delicacy in expressing our views and convictions, as re¬
volting as they may be to Northern men and Freesoilers, even
among us. We believe the primitive Christians held slaves
in bondage, and that the apostles favored slavery, by admit¬
ting slaveholders into the Church, and by promoting them to
official stations in the Church. And why do we believe this ?
Because we are sustained in these positions by uninterrupted
historical testimony!
Well, for the information of Abolitionists and other anti-
slavery men dispersed throughout the South, we assume that
the fact of the apostles' admitting into Church-fellowship
slaveholders, and promoting them to positions of honor and
trust, shows that the simple relation of master and slave was
no bar to Church-membership. Masters and slaves, in the
days of the apostles, were admitted into the Church as breth¬
ren ; they partook in common of the benefits of the Church;
they held to the same religious principles; they squared their
lives by the same rule of conduct; acknowledged the same
obligations one to another, and worshipped at the same altar.
This was true of the first and succeeding centuries, when
the relations of master and slave, and the practice of the
Church in reference thereto, were very much like they are
in the Southern States of our Union at present. But to the
proof that slaveholders were admitted into the Apostolic
Churches:
1. Historians all agree that slavery existed, and was gen¬
eral throughout the Koman empire, at the time the Apostolic
Churches were instituted. We have at our command the
authorities to prove this, but to quote from them would swell
116
a sermon on slavery.
this discourse beyond what we haye intended. We will cite
the authorities only; and anti-slavery men who deny our po¬
sition can examine our authorities. See Gibbon's " Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire," vol. i. See " Inquiry into
Roman Slavery, by Wm. Blair," Edinburgh edition of 1833.
See vol. iv. of "Gardner's Works," page 213. See vol. i.
of " Dr. Robertson's Works," London edition. Other author¬
ities might be given, but these are sufficient, as they show
that slavery was a civil institution of the State; that the
Roman laws regarded slaves as property, at the disposal of
their masters; that these slaves, whether white or colored,
had no civil existence or rights, and contended for none;
and that there were three slaves to one citizen—showing some¬
thing of a similarity between the Roman empire and our
Southern States ! Gibbon says that slavery existed in " every
province and every family," and that slaves were bought and
sold according to their capacities for usefulness, and the de¬
mand for labor—selling at hundreds of dollars, and from
that down to the price of a beast of burden ! Now, it is no¬
torious that the gospel made considerable progress among the
citizens of the Roman empire; and, as nearly every family
owned slaves, it is certain that slaveholders were converted
and admitted into the Church. It will not do to say that
the poor, including the slaves, were alone converted to God,
because the apostles make frequent allusions to the receiv¬
ing into the Church of intelligent, learned, and opulent
persons. The learned Dr. Mosheim, in his Church History,
vol. i., relating to the first three centuries, settles this ques¬
tion most effectually. He says :
" The apostles, in their writings, prescribe rules for the conduct of
the rich as well as the poor, for masters as well as servants—a con¬
vincing proof that among the members of the Church planted by them
were to be found persons of opulence, and masters of families. St.
Paul and St. Peter admonished Christian women not to study the
adorning of themselves with pearls,with gold and silver, or costly array.
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
117
1 Tim. ii. 9: 1 Peter iii. 3. It is, therefore, plain that there must have
been women possessed of wealth adequate to the purchase of bodily
ornaments of great price. From 1 Tim. vi. 20, and Col. ii. 8, it is
manifest that among the first converts to Christianity there were men
of learning and philosophers; for, if the wise and the learned had
unanimously rejected the Christian religion, what occasion could there
have been for this caution ? 1 Cor. i. 26 unquestionably carries with
it the plainest intimation that persons of rank or power were not
wholly wanting in that assembly. Indeed, lists of the names of the
various illustrious persons who embraced Christianity, in its weak and
infantile state, are given by Blondel, p. 235 de Episcopis et Pres-
byteris; also by Wetstein, in his Preface to Origen's Dia. Con. Mar.,
p. 18."
Having considered this text in the light of truth, and
having demonstrated, most clearly, - as we think, that Grod
intended the relation of master and slave to exist, we will
avail ourselves of the advantages of this occasion to vindi¬
cate the Methodist Church, South, so far as her position on
the slavery question is concerned. "We do not pretend to have
given the precise views of the Southern Methodist Church,
touching the moral character of slavery, in this discourse.
By her separate organization in 1844, on account of the
slavery agitation—by her teaching and discipline, she has
expressed her approbation of the institution, as it exists in
the Southern States. Not only so, but, in her separate South¬
ern organization, she has enacted laws and adopted regula¬
tions, touching the duties of masters and slaves, and the
rights of the South, in connection with slavery, so as to have
been styled by the entire North, an infamous pro-slavery
Church! Slavery is intimately interwoven with the organ¬
ization of the Methodist Church, South—it has penetrated
all departments of her organization, and, in consequence
thereof, has armed against herself the whole power of the
North. Indeed, the Free-Soilers and Abolitionists of this
country, in assailing the Southern Methodist Church, consider
they are assailing the institution of slavery.
The G-eneral Assembly of the New School Presbyterian
118
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
Church, at its recent session in Cleveland, Ohio, and in con¬
sequence of the anti-slaverj sentiments of the Northern por¬
tion of their body, and their continued agitation of the vexed
question, resolved upon a separation—that is, the Southern
representatives did—and they appointed the 27th of this
month as the time, and Washington City as the place, for
organizing a Southern General Assembly. Their brethren
at Washington, not being altogether pleased with the idea of
a pro-slavery convention there, have objected; and hence
their meeting is to take place at Richmond, the capital of
the Old Dominion.
In the Presbyterian Witness for July 14, 1857, and from
the pen of the Rev. P. A. Ross, one of the leading members
from the South, who led off in this work of separation, ap¬
pears an article in glorification of this movement, greatly
disparaging other sects, and actually misrepresenting the posi¬
tion of the Methodist Church, South, which led off in this
work, thirteen years in advance of Mr. Ross's Church.
Speaking of the present position of the Southern wing of
the New School Church, he says :
"We, indeed, hold now the only defined ground, on the slavery ques¬
tion, in the United States or the world. ' Ordained of God'—for its
day of good, to master, and slave, and the State. There it is—clear,
intelligible, common sense, Bible truth.
No other body of men have given us any position at all.
The Methodists split, and gave us nothing.
The Baptists split, and gave us nothing.
The Episcopalians hold together, and give us nothing.
The Old School hold together, and give us nothing."
Mr. Ross has been invited by his friends here to deliver
his address on slavery, during the session of the " Southern
Commercial Convention," which convenes in this city to¬
morrow, and it is fair to presume he will comply with this
request. As he will in all probability make this same state¬
ment, we have deemed it proper to set him right on this vital
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
119
point of difference between us, and publicly to vindicate the
truth of history.
It is a very remarkable statement, that neither the Method¬
ists, Baptists, Episcopalians, .nor Old School Presbyterians,
" have any defined ground on the slavery question/' or have
given the South " any position at all" on this great issue!
True, these denominations have been in conflict with the
North for more than twenty years, on the moral character of
slavery, and the fiercely contested question of Southern
Rights, but none of them have been able to settle down upon
any " defined ground," until the light of the brilliant action
of twenty-six men, representing about two hundred preachers,
and still fewer congregations, dawned upon the world at
Cleveland in May last!
It will not be expected of us that we will enter into a de¬
fence of others; but as he has singled out the Methodists, we
have a right to defend them against this wilful attempt at
disparagement. " The Methodists split, and gave us no¬
thing"—that is, in the way of a " defined'ground," or of a
" position," on the great slavery issue of the nineteenth cen¬
tury ! We repeat, this is a singular statement!
Without doing the least injustice to any other body of
Southern Christians, we may say, the Methodists have not
only given a " defined ground" upon which they proudly
stand, upon the slavery question, but have entirely separated
from the North. The Methodists of the South have been in
conflict with the North for at least a quarter of a century,
and are now denounced as a pro-slavery Church, dealing in
human flesh, for the sake of gain!
In 1844, at the General Conference held in New York, a
"Plan of Separation" was agreed upon, and commissioners
were subsequently appointed to adjust and settle all matters
pertaining to the division of the Church property and funds.
And having provided for the organization of a Southern Gen-
120
a sermon on slavery.
eral Conference in tlie slayeholding States, before leaving
New York, a convention was agreed upon, to be held in Lou¬
isville, Ky., to commence the 1st of May, 1845, composed of
delegates from the several Annual Conferences, South. These
Annual Conferences were instructed, or rather their delegates,
as to the points on which they were to act, and their contem¬
plated action was to conform to the opinions and wishes of
the membership within their several Conference bounds—all
of which was rigidly carried out. The Louisville Conven¬
tion met, ably and fully attended, and resolved itself into a
" separate and distinct ecclesiastical connection,"
leaving our ministers and members, of every grade and office,
at liberty to adhere North or South.
The question of a separation was now considered as finally
settled. Not so however, with the leading Church papers of
the North. Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians set them¬
selves diligently to work to prove to the world that this South¬
ern Methodist organization was an actual secession, and a schism
of the worst sort. These Northern papers came down upon
this Southern organization, as a pro-slavery Church, the sole
object of which was to strengthen slavery in the South, and
to encourage and protect slaveholding in the ministry. Even
Dr. Boss, here in the South—not then surrounded by the
slavery influences which now surround him in Alabama—came
down upon our " defined ground," in sledge-hammer style, in
his " Calvinistic Magazine:" he denied us the credit then,
as he does now, of taking a "position" in favor of the South,
and attributed our separation to the defects in a richety sys¬
tem of Church government! Without pausing to speak of
his consistency, we may be permitted to speak of his want of
charity for a sister Church, struggling against a Grod-forsaken
combination of Free-Soilers, Black Bepublicans, and Abo¬
litionists.
We resided in the same town of Kingsport, in East Ten-
a sermon on slavery. 121
nessee, some twenty years ago, with Dr. Ross, and we per¬
sonally knew him to have been an Emancipationist at that
time. He actually set fifteen or twenty slaves free; and was
accustomed to preach against the institution of slavery! We
will not now pause to inquire why this change has " come
o'er the spirit of his dreams!" Suffice it to say, that he is
the pastor of a congregation of Alabama slaveholders, and
has no visible means of support aside from his salary!
In those days, when Dr. Ross was notoriously an Emanci¬
pationist, he wrote to Kentucky from Kingsport, and from
that letter we gather the following extract, copied into the
Yellow Springs (Ohio) Presbyterian, from the New York
Independent, in both of which journals we have seen it:
"In Kentucky you are in advance of us in preparation for meas¬
ures of emancipation. But if we were not joined politically to West
Tennessee, we of East Tennessee would be moving even before you of
Kentucky, on this subject. Our soundest politicians would at once
have their deliberations drawn to incipient measures, were they not re¬
strained by our connection with the other part of the State."
But, with characteristic hypocrisy and dishonesty, the
Northern Methodist Church repudiated the " Plan of Sepa¬
ration," and the adjustment in reference to the Church pro¬
perty and funds, and the Southern Commissioners instituted
legal proceedings against them in the United States Courts
at Cincinnati and New York, where the Church property
was located. The suit cost the Church, South, over sixteen
thousand dollars, but we recovered near a hale million
op dollars ! The lawyers who eondueted the suit on be¬
half of the South were Lord, of New York, Webster, of
Massachusetts, Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, Stansbury
and Corwin, of Ohio, and Bryant, of Tennessee.
With the property and funds recovered, bur Church has
established a Mammoth Book Concern, or Publishing House,
at Nashville, which is now in successful operation. We
6
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
have organized a "Missionary Society of the Methodist
Church, South/' which is now contributing as much money
for missionary purposes as the entire Church did before the
separation. We have our "Tract Society of the Methodist
Church, South," doing an extensive and truly good work.
We have our " Sunday - School Society of the Methodist
Church, South," with its periodical, the " Visitor," doing an
extensive and a glorious work. We have our seven " Chris¬
tian Advocates," weekly organs of the General Conference,
with their one hundred thousand subscribers, doing battle for
the interests of the South, and making their marks most
effectually. These large and telling sheets are published in
Richmond, Charleston, Nashville, New Orleans, Memphis,
St. Louis, and Texas! And still, strange to relate, "the
Methodists split, and gave the South nothing," not even a
" defined ground" on the slavery question 1
What next? We have twenty-three Annual Conferences
in our division of the Church—twenty-two hundred travelling
ministers, and six Bishops, who travel extensively and super¬
intend the entire work, from the Potomac to California. Be¬
sides these, we have four thousand seven hundred local preach¬
ers, who, though not in the regular work as pastors, preach a
great deal, and embody a great amount of talent. Within
the bounds of these twenty-three Conferences, we have a
membership of SIX HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX
THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED! Out of this num¬
ber, ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THREE THOU¬
SAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND NINETY-EIVE are col¬
ored persons, and slaves at that, with but very few exceptions.
We hazard nothing in saying that the Methodist Church,
South, is doing more, and expending more money and labor,
to improve the spiritual condition of the slaves, than all
other denominations within the same bounds. And we are
certain that our Church is doing more for the souls and
A sermon on slavery.
123
bodies of the slaves than all the Wendell Phillipses, Joshua
Giddingses, Beechers, Garrisons, Parkers, and other unprin¬
cipled freedom-shriekers and false-hearted Abolitionists, now
upon earth! And still, Dr. Ross says the Southern Method¬
ists have no " defined ground on the slavery question." It is
hoped, if he deliver an address here the incoming week, he
will explain to us what a " defined ground" is, for surely it
needs explanation!
What next ? Let us see what Dr. Ross's Church has done
for the South, and what its capacity is to do, as it evidently
now has the will. The New School Presbyterian Church in the
United States, entire, has fifteen hundred and thirty-nine
ministers, and one hundred and thirty-nine thousand
members, more than three-fourths of whom are North, leav¬
ing the remainder almost powerless for good in the South.
We are pleased to see the Southern portion of the New
School Presbyterian Church take the stand they have upon
this question—they occupy "defined ground" now, though
they have been a long time finding it—they have been thir¬
teen years in the rear of our Church. They have a right to
claim the promise of God, under that clause in the Divine
constitution which says uthe last shall be first." Until the
action of the Southern wing of this Church at Cleveland,
her ministers and members were looked upon as occupying
equivocal ground on the slavery question. Within the past
year, the Editor of the Presbyterian Witness acknowledged
that he had not been sufficiently Southern in his views
and teachings, and announced his determination to take
more "defined ground" upon the great issue between the
North and the South! More recently, the "Witness" has
urged as an objection to the New School Theological Semi¬
nary at Maryville, that too many of its graduates have gone
forth with "a warm side for Abolitionism" — charging in
substance that such sentiments were there inculcated.
124
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
When we came to this city to reside, eight years ago, we
found a Northern Abolitionist pastor of the New School
Church here. His gold spectacles, his penetrating mink-eye,
and a sharp face like an oak leaf coming at you edge-wise,
and his singular carriage on our streets, are all plain before
us yet! In Rogersville the New School Church has been
served with an avowed Abolition pastor, and a Northern
man, for the last six or eight years—a man who had been
marched out of North Carolina, to quick time, for his anti-
slavery sentiments—for having his "ground" upon the
slavery question too well defined, as we have been told by a
Presbyterian minister! He has recently had a prominent
member of his Church before his congregation for daring to
chastise a villainous runaway negro, and it has resulted in
his being removed from his pastoral charge. But it has not
stopped there. The retired pastor is showing up the member
and congregation in Northern Abolition papers, for inhuman
treatment of a slave! That Church has other men in East
Tennessee, and in other Southern States, in pulpits, at the
head of schools and academies, and in the practice of medi¬
cine, in whose friendship to the "peculiar institution of the
South" we have no more confidence than we have in the
august assemblage that nominated Fremont for the Presidency!
Yes, there are scores of designing men in the South—some
filling pulpits, some practicing medicine, and others occupy¬
ing high positions in colleges—who secretly fight under the
piratical flag of Black Republicanism, and whose infernal al¬
tars smoke with the incense of Northern fanaticism !
This anti-slavery preacher, Mr. Sawyer, has been the pas¬
tor of the New School Presbyterian Church at Rogersville,
only seventy-five miles east of here, for the last several years.
A worthy gentleman in his Church, daring to sell a villainous
negro—that negro running away, has been apprehended and
severely chastised, as he deserved to be, and the gentleman
A SERMON ON SLAVERY.
125
member of tbe Church selling him has been discussed before
the Church " Session." Since then the retired pastor has
issued a large handbill, in which he assumes :
"It is all a delusion and a lie that a man has a right to do what
he pleases with his property, regardless of the rights and feelings of
others."
And again, speaking of the chastisement of this slave, this
circular says:
" Many regarded it as an insult to the citizens of our town, to bring
Mississippi brutalities so close to our doors !"
The Yellow Springs (Ohio) Presbyterian for July 2d,
alluding to this subject, says:
" But our story is not ended. Six weeks ago this same pastor wrote
to a friend in this city, ' There is not one pro-slavery man in Holston
Presbytery. "We are all opposed to the system of slavery. But still
we do not like the interference of the Home Missionary Society
with this matter.' Now he writes, 'I have seen the dark side of
slavery. I must leave. Pind me a parish in any free State from
Maine to.Kansas.'"
Here Mr. Sawyer even represents every minister in the
Holston Presbytery as "opposed to the system of slavery!"
This startled us, but upon looking over the proceedings of
the Presbytery, held only in last month, certified to by this
retired pastor, who acted as secretary, we find, among other
propositions adopted, these:
" 1. Slavery is not necessarily sinful, or sin per se.
" 2. It is not a permanent or desirable institution, and is to be con¬
tinued no longer than the good of the master and slave requires it.
" 3. The gospel is the remedy for it, and Christians should strive
for its removal in the spirit of the gospel
And yet, strange to say, this is the Church proposing a
Southern organization! Here is a " defined ground, with
a vengeance!
126
a sermon on slavery.
In conclusion, the charge is that the Methodists have given
the South no position at all on the great slavery question.
Great men will differ. A distinguished statesman and pa¬
triot, now no more, delivered a speech in the United States
Senate on the 4th of March, 1850, and it was his dying
speech. He was posted on the slavery question in all its
bearings, and watched the movements of parties with sleep¬
less vigilance. Speaking of the effect of the Abolition agi¬
tation upon the religious cords which assisted in holding the
Union together, he said:
" The first of these cords which snapped under its explosive force
[Abolitionism] was that of the powerful Methodist Episcopal Church.
The numerous and strong ties which held it together are all broken,
and its unity gone."
These are among the dying words of that great and tow¬
ering intellect and tried patriot, John C. Calhotjn, who
literally died in Southern harness, battling for our rights.
A man of unblemished private character, and a firm believer
in the truths of the Bible, we hope he has found a calm and
welcome retreat from the cares and anxieties of political
warfare, in the Paradise of God!
THE
BEGINNING OE THE END.
From the Knoxville Whig.
THE IRON-WHEEL PARSON!
The Right Reverend J. R. Graves, of Iron-Wheel
notoriety, who has long been in bad odor among his Baptist
brethren, as well as all other good citizens in Nashville, has
now been some two weeks on trial before the First Baptist
Church of that city, on a charge of "grossly immoral and
unchristian conductThe Church has found a true bill,
and cast the offender to the moles and bats, to work out his
destruction with greediness. The ecclesiastical bill of in¬
dictment contained four counts, founded on four distinct
cases, in which the Reverend gentleman publishes "false
And malicious representations" in his infamous paper, the
Tennessee Baptist, designed to defame the characters of his
brethren in the ministry, including Dr. Howell, the pas¬
tor of the First Baptist Church in Nashville, and to breed
strife and contention in the Church generally, a work he has
been engaged in all his life long. This man Craves is a gem
of unconscious vulgarity and arrogant, self-satisfied villainy,
inspiring contempt wherever he figures among virtuous and
honorable men. He has blackguarded and vilified men of
all other sects, until he ran out of materials to operate against,
and then he turned upon the best men in his own Church.
128
tiie beginning oe the end.
These have called him to an account, and convicted him of
lying, slander, and unchristian conduct, and placed
him where the honor and the spiritual interests of the Bap¬
tist Church required that he should be placed ten years ago.
A Northern Abolitionist, he ought to have been run out of
the South years ago.
The best feature in this whole affair is, that the accusers
of Graves are men of the first standing in Nashville,
and they are all confined to his own Church. No Method¬
ist, Presbyterian, or Episcopalian has ever figured in
the affair, either as prosecutor or witness. Thoy were all
Baptists. The accusers of Graves are Rev. R. B. C. Howell,
Charles A. Fuller, Ex-Grand Master of the Masonic Frater¬
nity, J. C. Darden, Anson Nelson, City Tax Collector, and
S. M. Scott, proprietor of the City Hotel. The bill of in¬
dictment is in the words and figures following, to wit:
We, the undersigned, members of the First Baptist Church, Nash¬
ville, Tennessee, charge Rev. J. R. Graves, a member of said church,
and one of the editors of the Tennessee Baptist, with grossly immoral
and unchristian conduct, in four distinct cases, as follows:
First, in that he has sought to bring upon R. B. C. Howell, the
pastor of said church, reproach and injury, and thus to destroy his
character and influence in the South-west, by forcing him into col¬
lision with Rev. A. C. Dayton, late Corresponding Secretary of the
Bible Board, and now one of his associate editors, through the publi¬
cation in his said paper of various false and malicious representations.
Secondly, in that he has endeavored to distract and divide said
church, by means of conflict between its pastor and four of its dea¬
cons, and several others of its influential members, which he has
labored to produce by numerous inflammatory articles published in
his paper.
Thirdly, in that he has uttered and published in his paper, against
R. B. C. Howell, the pastor of said church, sundry foul and atrocious
libels.
Fourthly, in that he has, at various times, attacked, slandered, and
abused ministers and brethren of high character belonging to our
denomination throughout the country, in his said paper.
J. C. Darden,
Chas. A. Fuller.
When this bill of indictment was presented before a
THE BEGINNING OP THE END. 129
crowded house, Mr. Graves inquired whether he would he
allowed to defend himself. The Moderator told him that he
would be allowed ample time to defend, and that he might
make his defence as full as he pleased, when the proper time
arrived. Mr. Graves entered his protest against the right of
that congregation to try him • bolted from any participation
in the trial •, and now appeals to a Council, to he composed
of his partisans, dispersed throughout the surrounding States !
The congregation at Nashville, however, proceeded with the
trial, deliberately, patiently, and with fairness, and found the
accused GUILTY on all the specifications ! They deny his
right to withdraw and appeal to a Council, as it would put
an end to discipline in the Baptist Church, and give every
disorderly and corrupt member, when arraigned in the Bap¬
tist Church for crime, an excuse to plead the precedent set
in this case. They have notified Graves that there are but
three ways of getting out of the Baptist Church—to wit:
by letter to another church of the same faith and order, by
death, or expulsion; and they have got rid of him by the
last-named method!
The First Baptist Church at Nashville resolved to hold Mr.
Graves to his own doctrine as to the power of a church to
try an offender, and they quote Graves vs. Graves, after this
style:
" The Baptist Churches (says Mr. G.) are pure democracies, and the
only purely democratic government in the world. The decision of a
majority is the ultimate verdict, and since the church is independ¬
ent, there is no power above it. And consequently there is no appeal
from its decision." (See Tennessee Baptist, vol. 14, No. 3, Sept.
19, 1857.) This has been, is now, and doubtless will continue to be,
the doctrine of all order-loving Baptist brethren and churches. How
preposterous, therefore, Mr. (j.'s pretended withdrawal and appeal to
a Council!
These things Mr. Graves thought well enough for others,
when he published them, but when the <l constituted guar¬
dian" brings this £ower to bear upon Mm, he withdraws in
C*
130
the beginning op the end.
disgust, says they have rendered themselves "ridiculous,"
and he appeals to a Council I
Mr. Graves further says—not intending it to apply in his
case—"Every church is the constituted guardian of the
faith and practice of its members. Let it be considered an
axiom, that each church must have the disciplinary power
over all she is warranted to invite to partake of the Supper."
W. G. BROWNLOW.
October 20, 1858.
From the Knoxville "Whig.
THE GRAVES MEN IN COUNCIL.
The Nashville Gazette comes to us with a glowing account
of the meeting of the Baptist General Association of Middle
Tennessee and North Alabama, held at Lebanon the week
after the charges against Graves were passed upon in Nash¬
ville. The excitement was great! the discussion was bitter
and prolonged! the Nashville Delegation was excluded
because of their course toward Graves! Graves was sus¬
tained by the mad zeal of partisans, and elected Moderator
of the Association ! The Association convened on Saturday,
the 23d of October, 1858, a memorable day in the history of
that Church. The delegations from the several churches
represented were received first, and no sort of trouble seems
to have been experienced until the credentials of the First
Baptist Church at Nashville were presented. A discussion
then arose, which was not even brought to a close at the
adjournment, near midnight. The war was opened upon
Dr. Howell's church, and the faction in his congregation
who espoused the cause of Graves were declared to be the
church, at least in that congregation ! The delegation from
the beginning op the end. l^-'l
the First Baptist Church were informed that they would be
admitted to seats, provided they would withdraw the charges
against Graves, upon which they had found him guilty.
But this attempt to drive them into measures was justly
spurned •, and caucuses were held, throughout Saturday niglit
and the Sabbath, with a view to prepare work for Monday,
and to stock the cards on Howell and his church represent¬
atives.
On Sunday morning, according to an appointment of a
year's standing, Dr. Howell delivered the Annual Sermon,
which was listened to by as large a congregation as ever con¬
vened in Lebanon. A friend writes us that it was the ablest
effort of Howell's life, and was so acknowledged by even the
blind and prejudiced disciples of Graves. The caucusing
was resumed after service, by the Graves party, and kept up
most of the night. During the after part of the Sabbath
the delegates were seen in squads upon the streets, and were
engaged in most exciting conversations, some using rather
intemperate language toward the anti-Graves men, and giving
proof that they were thoroughly imbued with the spirit of
their degenerate leader.
Graves himself, to aid in getting up the whirlwind, with
a view to his riding upon the storm, also appeared upon the
streets, was loud and spirited in conversation, and was rally¬
ing his men to the charge ! His class of partisans were point¬
ing him out to strangers as a Goliath in intellect and a Demos¬
thenes in elocution ! At every corner he was greeted by
friends, who had taken their stands understandingly, and
were prepared for his reception, and for the agreeable task of
introducing him to others !
But Monday came, and the Association met according to
adjournment. After a long and angry discussion, a vote was
taken on the motion to admit the delegates from the First
Baptist Church in Nashville, which was voted down as fol-
132
THE BEGINNING OP THE END.
lows: For receiving the delegates, 27; against receiving
them, 164 ! This vote showed the strength of parties in the
Association, representing Middle Tennessee and North Ala¬
bama. True, it was not a fair test of Graves's strength
among the Baptists, as great pains had been taken, and not
without success, to pack the Association with Graves men.
But the greatest farce of all then followed. The Chair
declared the Graves party the true Bajitixt Church I The
Association then proceeded to the election of a Moderator,
whereupon J. B Graves, of ''Iron Wheel" notoriety, of
Abolition proclivities, and of slander-conviction fame, was
elected! The "Beverend" agitator took the chair, and, as
Hudibras describes him, he showed himself to be
"A creature of ambitious nature;
On land a beast, a fish in water;
That always preys on grace or sin—
A sheep without, a wolf within."
At the time of Graves's trial in Nashville, a meeting of
his friends was called, at which Bev. Mr. Kimbrough was
selected to proside, and Mr. Shankland acted as Clerk. This
meeting was composed of those who voted against entertain¬
ing the charges against Graves. At this meeting Mr. But-
land presented a paper for the consideration of the meeting,
styled "A Declaration," no doubt prepared by Graves, and
which claimed, for reasons set forth in the document, that
the persons whose names were subscribed composed the First
Baptist Church worshipping in Nashville ! It set forth the
majority, who sustained the charges against Graves, and who
were at least four to one, as out of order, acting contrary to
the rules of the New Testament, and therefore declared them
to be factionists. This "Declaration" was adopted, and
signed by nearly twenty persons, members of the First Baptist
Church. Graves then requested the body to call a Council
of Ministers to try him on the charges preferred. Thus the
the beginning of the end.
133
reader will understand the history of this great trial, and
he able to keep pace with its progress.
Thus it will appear that Graves, if punished at all for his
offences, will not stay punished, and certainly not "without
the benefit of clergy." If his brethren cannot find suffi¬
cient ground for moral execution in the misdemeanors com¬
mitted against the peace and dignity of his own Church, it
is certain that, if they will go beyond the precincts of his
own Church, and try him for capital offences committed
against other Churches and individuals, for his falsehoods
against Methodism, and his abuse of the living and the dead,
they will find proof enough to "hang him as high as Haman"
hung upon the gallows he had prepared for his brother. We
are pleased to see that many who really smiled at his vilifica¬
tion of better men than himself, and his caricature of Method¬
ism, are not now stoical enough to be quiet under his mali¬
cious asaults upon themselves and their friends. It is to be
hoped, for the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of
Israel, that before they are done with him, they will teach
him at least to write and speak the truth, to walk honestly
before God, to demean himself as a gentleman, if not as a
Christian, and in all time to come to set an example of com¬
mon decency before those who recognize him as their leader.
No longer ago than the past season, Graves attended an
Association at Jacksonville, Alabama, and lodged at the
house of Thomas R. Williams, a kind and hospitable family,
where he lived in comfort. While there he broke the sash
and glass in the window of his room. The mystery was ex¬
plained upon his leaving. He left in the stage for Cave
Spring, sixteen miles distant from Rome, in Van's Valley.
Leaving somewhat in a hurry, he left his over-coat in his
room, and an empty brandy-bottle in each pocket I The
family sent the coat after him by the next stage. The young
men in the family proposed to send the bottles too, but the
184
the beginning of the end.
Christian lady of the house, in mercy to the cause of Chris¬
tianity, refused to let them be sent. This is a case, then,
susceptible of refutation, if it he not true; but if it be true,
as we allege it is, this man Graves is a choice disciple to head
a General Association of God's people.
The Graves party charge that Dr. Howell has sold him¬
self to the Pedoes, for the consideration of fifteen hundred,
dollars, for the purpose of destroying Graves's character and
influence. It is not necessary for either Dr. Howell or other
denominations to deny a charge of this character. Pedoes
care but little whether he is out of or in the Church, so far
as his influence for evil extends. Those with whom he has
weight would receive him as cheerfully under one set of cir¬
cumstances as another. Graves has himself said that there
are but three ways of escaping from the Baptist Church—by
death, by letter, or by expulsion. He is resolved not to die;
a letter he can't get; and having been found guilty of
offences that would exclude him from the kingdom of grace
and glory, it remains to be seen whether or not he can't take
a transfer to the "Big Survey of Society," and set up on
his own hook.
W. G. BROWNLOW,
October 30, 1858. Editor of the Knozville Whig,
Prom the Knoxville "Whig.
REV. J. R. GRAVES ONCE MORE.
In our last two issues we gave the grave charges preferred
against the Reverend Editor of the Tennessee Baptist, at
Nashville, by members of his own church. He was charged
with slandering and misrepresenting good men, wilful and
wicked lying, and unchi'istian conduct generally. He was
THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
135
tried, after a long and patient investigation, adjourning from
day to day, until several days and nights were spent in the
hearing of the case. He was found guilty on all the speci¬
fications, and so declared by an overwhelming majority of
the "congregation of which he was a member. And we are
within bounds when we say, that there are few if any Bap¬
tist congregations in the South composed of more intelligent,
respectable, and high-toned persons than is the First Baptist
Church in Nashville. Before the vote was taken, however,
convicting Mr. Graves of these grave charges, he, with his
friends, a minority, withdrew, and declared theselves the
church, refusing to recognize the acts of the majority. This
was a mode of meeting the charges not anticipated, as it was
contrary to the usages of the church, and hence those who
brought them were taken somewhat by surprise. The trial
was conducted, however, according to the rules of that
church, and the Keverend gentleman regularly and, as we
believe, justly, convicted.
In addition to the specifications sustained against Mr.
Graves, he could have been convicted of intentional falsehood,
according to Paley, for the plagiarism of a book he recently
put forth as his, which was written and published by a clergy¬
man of one of the Northern States a few years ago. Mr.
Graves changed the title of the book, and published it with
his name as the author. This is a wilful deception and an
intentional fraud, unworthy of an honorable man, and is a
species of stealing unbecoming a clergyman. But his whole
course in life has been at war with good morals and fair
dealing. He has rudely assailed all other churches, the
Methodist especially; and when he could stir up strife no
longer by assaulting other Christian bodies, he has turned
upon his own. Justice lias^ at length overtaken this great
offender. It is therefore due to other sects that they be
advised of this man's trial before his own church, as well as
136
THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
the grounds on which it proceeded. By no means for per¬
sonal exultation, or for denominational vindication, but for
truth and righteousness, and the honor and interests of our
own common Christianity, we transfer the proceedings to our
columns from week to week. The condemnation of 'the
accuser of his own brethren is a vindication, so far as charac¬
ter gives credibility to accusations, of those other bodies and
individuals who have been assailed by him. Here we are
willing to let the matter rest.
In our last we apprised our readers of the action of the
General Association at Lebanon, growing out of the convic¬
tion of Mr. Graves at Nashville. Two sets of delegates
appeared at Lebanon, and the lawful and proper set were
rejected because they were opposed to this bad man Graves.
That delegation offered the following protest, which the As¬
sociation refused to have spread upon its Minutes:
We, the undersigned, members of the First Baptist Church in the
city of Nashville, regularly appointed delegates to represent her at
this session of the General Association, feel constrained by a sense of
duty on our own behalf, and on behalf of the Church we represent,
to enter this our solemn protest against the action of the General As¬
sociation in excluding us, as such representatives, from taking seats
to which we conceive ourselves rightfully entitled. We base this pro¬
test upon the following points, viz.:
1. That said decision is not in accordance with the Constitution of
the General Association, but is a direct violation of the same. See
Articles 3 and 4, which are as follows:
"Aht. III. Any Association or Church paying five dollars into the
treasury of the General Association shall be entitled to one delegate,
and an additional delegate for every additional five dollars; or any
one paying five dollars shall be entitled to sit himself in this body, or
appoint a delegate: Provided, that no one shall he eligible to member¬
ship in the General Association who is not a member in good standing
in some orthodox Baptist Church.
"Art. IY. The delegates, when so convened in General Association,
shall IN NO CASE INTERFERE WITH THE INTERNAL REGULATIONS OF THE
Associations or Churches, nor pursue any other objects than those
specified in the second Article."
2. That said decision erects the General Association into an Eccle¬
siastical Hierarchy, contrary to its Constitution; contrary to all
usages heretofore universally accepted by Baptists, and contrary to
the word of God.
the beginning oe the end.
137
3. That said decision establishes a precedent that the General As¬
sociation is a constituted appellate body, and may rightfully hear and
determine appeals from the decision of churches, in cases purely discip¬
linary in their character.
4. That said decision strikes a fatal blow at the very foundation of
Baptist Church government, and removes a landmark loved and cher¬
ished by all order-loving Baptists ; and for maintaining which martyrs
were led to the stake, and consecrated their "blood as the seed of the.
Church."
5. That said decision disfranchises a coordinate church, regularly
constituted according to the word of God, without trial or the regular
forms of trial.
6. That said decision is made without any legitimate evidence, or
upon evidence that is ex parte only.
7. That said decision perverts the General Association from the
purposes and objects for the accomplishment of which it was origi¬
nally constituted. And,
8. That the General Association has no right or power granted to
it, either in the word of God or under its constitution, to interfere
with the internal regulations of associations or churches.
These and other considerations, acting under a prayerful conviction
of the importance of the occasion, impel us, the representatives of the
First Baptist Church in the city of Nashville, to thus earnestly and
solemnly protest against said decision of the General Association.
Praying the blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ to rest upon you, as
well as ourselves, in the discharge of every duty that shall promote
His glory and the extension of His kingdom on earth, we respectfully
ask that this our protest may be entered on the Minutes.
R. B. C. Howell,
L. B. Woolfolk,
Chas. K. Winston,
Edw. Patson Walton,
Ciiakles A. Fuller,
Anson Nelson,
W. P. Jones,
S. M. Scott.
This protest we have published by a special request from
Nashville, and the remarks preceding it will serve to explain
the case to those who may not have fallen in with our last
two issues. The whole case is now before our readers, and
unless something new should come to light, we will not again
recur to the subject.
W. Gi. Brownlow,
Editor of the Knoxville Whig.
Nov. 6, 1858.