A great man fallen : a sermon preached on the occasion of the death of the Rev. Orange Scott

^^ A GREAT MAN FALLEN.

A SERMON

Preached on the occasion of the death of the Rev. Orange Scott.
BY LUTHER LEE.

2 Sam. iii." 38. Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen
this diy in Israel ?

Man at his best estate is said to be "altogether vanity." He
gTOweth up like a flower and fades as soon ; in the morning he
flourishes ; at noon he is cut down ; at evening we seek him and
he is not ! Life is short even when it is extended to its utmost
limits ; three score and ten years are soon accomplished, and when
from that most distant point of observation we look back upon the
distance over which we have journeyed, the whole is contracted
into the narrowness of a span, and life looks like a gone by day or a
faded hour.

Very few, however, fill up the full measure of life, and depart at
the end of many years ; many are cut off"in the bud of existence ; and
many more in the strength of manhood, and from the heights of am-
bition and positions of the greatest usefulnes, descend quickly into
the silence and darkness of the grave. Nothing can exempt us
from the shafts of death. Youth, beauty, manly strength, intellec-
tual greatness, high rank, worldly honor and glory, all these com-
bined are no security against the assaults of death, but only render
us the more marked objects of his envenomed sting. The young
and the old, the rich and the poor, the great and the small, must
alike fall at the touch of death and mingle their dust together.

In the light of what has been said, it must be obvious that no
man is positively great. Yet some men are comparatively great ;
when one man is compared with men in general, he may appear
comparatively great. Such an one was Abnerthe son of Ner, cap-
tain general of Saul's army, over whose death David lamented, and
said, "know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this •
day in Israel!" These words are equally applicable to' our fallen
brother, whose funeral oration I have arisen to pronounce. In the

(ew remarks I have to offer, I shall attempt simply to exhibit
Some of the most prominent traits in his character which

PROVE HIM to have BEEN A GREAT MAN.

1. Orange ScoTT was a self-made man: he had not a distin-
guished ancestry to give him rank. His parents were poor and not
known out of their own neighborhood, though respectable, for poverty
is no disgrace. He had not the advantages of a common school to im-
prove his mind and devolope his powers. His childhood and early
youth were spent in obscurity ; schools never made him; he ascended
not to distinction through college walks ; what he was, was simple
nature cultivated by her own hand, set at work and guided by the
grace of God stirring and animating the heart.

The greatness of some men appears artificial, a made greatness
by a process of forced culture ; it was otherwise with his ; it was
a natural greatness ; it was that greatness which cultivates itself,
sets up its ow^n way-marks, travels in its own strength, and shines in
its own light. The minds of those who are artificially great may
be compared to a feeble taper which has to be tenderly nurtured to
preserve its flame, and is increased by the application of the fuel of
scolastic lore, until it shines with an artificial light that is kindled
around it. But the greatness of the subject of these remarlcs was
more like the volcanic fires of the mountain that burn unaided and
unseen, until by their own power they burst their rocky confines,
shocking all around them, and streaming out their light athwart the
startled gloom.

2. He was an able, successful, and popular minister of the Gos-
pel. His conversion took place at a camp-meeting in Vermont, in
the summer of 1820 ; it was clear and sound ; from the very day
of his conversion he began to study and improve his mind. His call
to the ministry was marked and decisive, and his progress very rap-
id; he became very popular and successful : we way say his popu-
larity was unequalled by any of his class. It may be said of him,
that no charge which he served ever complained ; all would have
been glad to have retained him longer, or to have obtained him '
again. He who for more than twenty years fills his appointments
so as not to be objected to by a single charge, among Methodist min-
isters, must be a great man.

He has, under God, been made the instrument of the conversion
of hundreds of souls, many of whom got to heaven before him, and

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[3]

if spirits recognise each other in the future world, they have doubt-
less before this beckoned him through heavens portals to their socie-
ty and everlasting rest.

3. He was a man of the greatest possible degree of moral cour-
age ; he possessed a fearless, open-hearted, out-spoken honesty,
that dared to do right in the face of opposition, alike regardless of
incensed dig-nitaries frowning from their seats of power, or a corrupt
populace hissing and howling around his feet. What he thought
he said, and what he said he did ; few men cared less for popular favor
or clamor than did he. He liked, to enjoy the good opinions of
others, but it was only as a means, and he was sure not to retain
the friendship of others longer than it could be done consistently
with his views of right and duty.

We may find an illustration of what has been said above, in his
espousal and advocacy of the cause of the oppressed. He was at
the time flush with honors, at the height of his popularity, having
everything to lose and nothing to gain. He was one of the first
to open his mouth for the dumb in the M. E. Church, and he did it
in defiance of the most determined opposition. At the general con-
ference in Cincinnati in 1836, he stood up against the overwhelming
numbers and voices ofthe whole conference, and did noble battle for
the truth and the oppressed. It is true there were on a test question
fourteen votes, thirteen voting with him, yet we believe he was
the only speaker on the side of anti-slavery in that great body of
two hundred members. And to his praise be it spoken now he is
dead, he is the only man who has ever, to any extent, urged the
inherent sinfulness of slavery on the floor ofthe General Conference
ofthe M. E. Church. He maintained his anti-slavery views at all
times and under all circumstances, fearlessly, and with a power
that made him the particular object of attack by all the advocates of
slavery, and all the haters and opposers of abolition. He was re-
moved from the office of presiding elder by the bishop, because he
would not promise to desist from the agitation ofthe slave question.
He was several times put upon his trial before the conference,
twice was he charged by the bishop himself, who came down from
his episcopal seat and placed himself before the conference with all
his talent and official influence as the accuser of Brother Scott,
Men of less courage might have faultered under such circumstances,
but he did not ; he grappled in the seemingly unequal contest, and

[4]

turned aside the episcopal shafts that were designed to lay him low.
He had to contend against the first order of talent, official dignity
and great personal influence. It should be known that this bishop
was at home in New England ; it was his native conference ; he grew
up and became a father among them, was taken from among them
to be made bishop, and had more influence in that conference than any
other bishop ev^er had, and yet, Brother Scott comparatively a young-
man, proved himself more than his equal; he rolled back the epis-
copal storm and come unscathed from the thickest of the bishops
thunders.

It is, of course, claimed by all the opposers of Bro. Scott that he
was wrong in the warfare he maintained with the bishop, but in
this they do honor to his talent. If he could take the wrong side of
a question, and prove himself more than a match for a bishop, where
that bishop was best known, in the face of all New England, he must
liave been an extraordinary man.

4. He was no less remarkable for his perseverance than for his
moral courage. I have known and observed the movements of
many men, and have been long and intimately associated with Or-
ange Scott, and never have I known a man of more unyielding pur-
pose and undying perseverance, than he. Amid all the severe trials
and dark hours we passed through together, I never once knew him
discouraged. When he had formed his purpose, and laid his plan,
he directed all his energies to its accomplishment, and in the effort
he never tired, or wavered in his purpose so long as he believed the
object right, and saw the least hope of its attainment. He could
be defeated, but he could not be conquered.

An illustration of his perseverance is found in" the manner in
which he prosecuted the anti-slavery cause, and especially within
the pale of the M. E. Church. He set out to purge the M. E.
Church from slavery, and he pursued this object with an unwaver-
ing purpose so long as there was, in his opinion, the least hope of
success. He was defeated but not subdued, he saw and felt his de-
feat, but it was only to rally and renew the conflict in another form.
This defeat began to be felt in 1840, after the General Conference
of that year ; it was felt in the desertion of friends, who, worn out
by the constant and severe war the authorities of the church waged
upon the abolitionists, or having learned that anti-slavery was not the
way to popular favor in the M. E. Church, went over to the other

[5J

side. His spirit was grieved, when he saw those who had stood
by him through many conflicts, retiring from the field, or openly
going over to the opposeis of abolition, under the pretence of a more
sober and rational view of anti-slavery. This state of things was
more fully exhibited in the last trial of Mr. Sunderland, at the New
England Conference of that year, and from the conclusion of that
trial, I know our departed brother had but little sympathy in com-
mon with the M. E. Church. The next marked event W'as the
difficulty which arose between the Bishop and the Lowell churches
The churches petitioned for particular preachers, and were re-
fused. One of them, called St. Paul's Church, then requested the
Bishop not to send them any preacher, but to return them on the
minutes " to be supplied," as is often done, that they might secure
the services of such a man as fliey desired. This the Bishop refu-
sed, and sent them a man they did not want. The people refused
to receive the Bishop's preacher, and a severe controversy arose.
The preacher had one majority in the board of Trustees, but an
overwhelming majority oi? the society was against him. A legal
meeting of the society was called and those trustees favorable to the
preacher removed, and others put in their place, by which the
preacher was prevented from getting possession of the pulpit. To
do this, it was necessary that the society should elect a pastor, the
act of incorporation giving the right of nomination to the pastor.
• The society elected Bro. Scott, and he accepted and came from
Vermont to attend the meeting. The acceptance of Bro. Scott was
not with a view of serving them, as he had left the station the year
before, and retired to Vermont on account of ill health. He having
thus answered the emergency of the case, returned to his residence
in Vermont, leaving the brethren to supply their pulpit temporarily
until matters should assume a more settled form. When the Bish-
op's preacher w^as fully excluded from the pulpit, he retired to an
old house a little out of the city, and summoned the church there to
hear him preach, and because they did not obey, he, by a published
document, declared them all out of the church en inasse. This was
a critical moment in the history of our departed brother. Foresee-
ing the storm, he and Thad made a solemn pledge to each other to
stand, or fall together with the Lowell churches, and if the bishop
succeeded in crushing them, we would leave the church together,
raise an independent banner, and gather as many as possible around

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it. But such was not the result ; at this point the bishop came in
person and a compromise was effected, by which the spoils of battle
were divided ; the brethren rescinded their anti-episcopal resolu-
tions, the preacher recalled his proclamation and took them back
en masse, and the bishop gave them the preacher they first desired.
This put an end to the controversy and dissolved the pledge by
which Bro. Scott had agreed to secede from the church, in the
event that the churches were subdued by the episcopal power. It
was soon seen, however, that nothing had been gained to the cause
of christian liberty, for the act of the preacher in expelling the whole
church without trial, by public proclamation, was carried up to
conference and sustained b}' the presiding bishop as Methodistically
lawful. At this point there was a pause in the life of our departed
Brother, for the first and only time in his life, he appeared to hesitate
and waver in his purpose. It was, however, but for a short time ;
reflection soon convinced him that his work was done in the M. E.
Church, and in November 1842, he issued the first number of the
"True Wesleyan," in which he declared his connection with the
church of his early choice forever dissolved. The paper was issued
in anticipation of its date, which was January 7th, 1843.

From this moment he was regarded, by friends and foes, as the
originator and leader of a new religious community. He was pres-
ident of the Convention held at Utica, New York, May 1843, at
which the Wesleyan connection was organized. He was also elec-
ted president of the first General Conference, which assembled in
Cleveland, Ohio, October 1844, but declined the honor, on the
ground that he had been president of the convention for the organi-
zation, and he thought it belonged to some other brother, and another
was elected in his stead.

At this conference the paper, which he had started upon his own
responsibility, and the nucleuses of a book concern which he had
collected, were made over to the connection, and Bro. Scott was
unanimously elected the publishing agent. In this position he exer-
ted himself to the utmost of his strength, until he was driven from
his post by the premonitions of death.

These remarks have been made, and this little outline of history
given to illustrate his perseverance, the trait of character with which
we commenced this division of our discourse. He commenced his
battle against slavery in the M. E. Church, and when he could no Ion-

ger oppose it to advantage tliere, he left her communion, and renew-
ed the battle without, throwing around him the bulwarks of a reli-
gious anti-slavery organization, whence he could bring the engines of
truth to bear more effectually upon the bastile walls of slavery.

5. To conclude, that Orange Scott was an extraordinary man,
a mere glance at his life must prove, if we only observe where he
started aad what he accomplished. We have seen that he lit his
way from obscurity by his own light, and that he rose to a rank of
distinction by his own energy. During his sunny days in the M.
E. Church, few were more popular, and none led on the embattled
hosts of Methodism against their common foes with a bolder front,
and to more certain victory than did Orange Scott. Some had
more scholastic polish, and some blew more silver toned instruments,
but his was the trump of God sounding the notes of uncompromising
truth, and at the well known sound, more were rallied from the
valleys and hills and rocky cliffs of New England, than by the notes
of any other trumpeter that ever yet passed that M'a}^.

The following was written of him in 1843, by one of the most
popular ministers in the New England Conference, Rev. Charles
Adams : —

" While I write, affecting recollections are pressing upon me. It
was but half a score of years since, that I bade adieu to the classic
bowers of old Bowdoin, and was permitted to enroll myself among
the ministry of the Methodist E. Church. In those days, and
moving amid the ranks of the New England itinerancy, one might
be seen who was distinguished among many. — Dedicated to Christ
and the eternal weal of the souls of men, he passed along these hills
and vales in the true spirit of a Methodist missionary. It was a
beauteous trump with which he sounded forth the gospel of salva-
tion. And when it was announced that he would speak, multitudes
might be seen gathering to the place of assembly. And when he
was seen approaching in the distance, it was as if from that com-
pany some celestial song arose, singing, " How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings — that
bringeth good tidings of good, that publishes salvation." He spoke,
and thousands listened with delight. And as along the street or
through the winding footpaths, they sought again their rural homes,
it was to remember — long remember the sacred instruction they
had heard, and him whose lips had uttered it.

[SI

Such was ORAJiGE Scott in 1833. I wiU say nothing worse of
hhn, than that, in 1843, he seems aiming, in company with his
coadjutors, to stigmatize the church which, in the former period
he loved, and of which he was then a distinguished and successful
minister."

When he felt it his duty to oppose the measures of the church
and to conflict with her authorities, none ever did it more fearlessly
and effectually. When he saw that he could accomplish no more
by opposition in the church, he as openly and fearlessly left it. No
one will be likely to dispute the assertion, that no one man ever
produced more agitation in the bosom of the M. E. Church than
Orange Scott. It is true he has not done all that has been done to
agitate the church on the slave question, by which she has been
rent asunder, between the North and South, but he has been the
leading agent, the exciting instrumentality which stirred up other
elements around him, that would otherwise have slumbered, so
that we may venture to say, that if there had been no Orange Scott,
there would have been no division of the M. E. Church on the sub-
ject of slavery. These things will appear right or wrong as we take
■ different sides of the controversy, but right or wrong, they show
the energy and power of the man, and now that he is dead, the re-
membrance of these things proclaim that a j)rince and a great man
has fallen this day in Israel. But he has gone, the mortal pang
has done its work and spent its force ; nature has ceased its strug-
gles, the wheels of life have come to a final pause ; "he sleeps his
last sleep, he has fought his last battle," and we have no doubt he
has won the final victory.

It is appropriate that a more particular application should be made
of the event which has given rise to this discourse.

1. In the death of Brother Scott, his family have lost a strong
protector, a safe counsellor, a bountiful provider, a faithful husband,
and a kind and solicitous father. Their consolation, is that their
loss is his eternal gain, and that with them is left the promise of
Him who is the father of the fatherless, and the widow's God. May
he defend them by his power, guide them by his wisdom, console
them by his spirit, and save them forever through the riches of his
grace in Christ Jesus.

2. The Wesleyan connection has lost one of its projectors, and
one of the able advocates of its principles, and brightest ornaments.

[9]

It becomes us to humble ourselves before God and seek to become
more efficient through his grace, and pray the Lord of the harvest
to send forth more laborers into his vineyard. I would not under-
value other brethren, but his death, as a vrhole, is a greater loss to
the connection than would have been the death of any other indi-
vidual.

Aside from his family, no one has greater reason to feel this
loss than myself. We have been associated together in busi-
ness, in counsel and effort from the time the first blow was struck
towards the Wesley an organization. Many and severe have been
the conflicts in which we have stood side by side, shoulder to
shoulder, hand to hand, heart to heart. I have always found him
wise in counsel and strong in battle, and I do not degrade myself,
nor do I tax my vanity, when I say that I have felt strong in battle
because I had such a man as Orange Scott to fight by my side.
But now I have to stand in the conflict without him, he was not
quite a year older than myself, and yet he has fallen, while, through
the mercy of God, I remain to prosecute the moral contest without
him, in possession of unimpaired health andundecayed energies. I
fchall enjoy one consolation as I shall hereafter renew my efforts
for the overthrow of slavery; it is this, if I may hope to win new-
trophies in the cause of the oppressed, I shall know I have the sym.
pathies of his now sainted spirit, and that he will celebrate each
successive triumph upon his golden harp. This thought shall ani-
mate me and spirit me on in the day of trial and conflict. It is to
be hoped that we shall all realize the loss we have sustained in the
death of Brother Scott, and attempt, so far as we can, to fill the
breach by increased efforts and renewed zeal in the cause of reform.
Let us as a stimulous to action frequently read over his dying testi-
mony, which is as follows :

"The thought of leaving our young but groicing Church, of
being laid aside in the midst of my years, to act no more in my
Master's Vineyard, touches me to the very quick, yet I know my
Master can do his work without the aid of such a feeble worm as
I am. Yes, he can and will carry forward the glorious work of
Salvation, whoever of his ministers may die. My confidence,
brethren, in the truthfulness of our principles, and the propriety of
our organization remains undiminished. This I am happy to pro-
claim, even with my dying breath. Let all our ministers and peo-

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pie keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of perfectness, and
there is nothing to fear.

" My views of the Christian Rehgion remain unchanged. The
same is true with regard to the Anti-Slavery and Wesleyan move-
ments. You have, dear brethren, my dying testimony in regard
to the holiness of the cause we have espoused. I mean the aboli-
tion of Slavery and Church reform."

3. The Slave has lost one of his early, devoted and able advocates.
The anti-slavery character of brother Scott is so notorious, so seen
and read of all men, that extended remarks are uncalled for, on
this point. He has not been permitted to live to witness the aboli-
tion of slavery in this country, but come that day must, and come
it will ; and when it comes the name of Orange Scott shall be re-
membered and mingle in the songs.

We have thus far dwelt upon the virtues of our departed broth-
er, nor would it be appropriate to enlarge upon his faults. All men
have faults, and Orange Scott was but a man, and per consequence
he had faults. We may fearlessly assert, however, that his most
prominent fautls were not the result of any corruption of heart, but
of a little excess of those mental qualities which are the highest
virtues when possessd in a more moderate degree.

Is it said that Orange Scott was ambitiousj The reply is, that
if it be true, he was ambitious only for the maintenance of truth
and right. No man can show that he ever resorted to intrigue, or
dishonesty of any kind, as a means of gratifying his ambition. If he
ever sought to gratify his ambition as an end, he sought to make
himself most distinguished in maintaining what he believed to be
right as the means.

If it be insisted that he was obstinate, the reply is, he was
obstinate only when he thought he was right, and to produce this,
required only a little excess of that firmness which constituted the
basis of his virtuous character, and which fitted him for his age
and his work. If it be insisted that he was ultra and rash, it
was because helived in advance or his age. He advocated no sen-
timents, and resorted to no measures, which are not destined,
very soon, to become the moderate sober views of the world. If
he was imprudent and careless of himself, which I regard as his
greatest fault, it was only a little misapplication of that industry,
punctuality, and energy which ever pushed him onward and made

him what he was, and enabled him to accomplish what he did. In
a word, whatever errors he had, they never led him to compromit
his integrity or his honor.

It was observable by those most intimately connected with him,
that for the last year or two, there was less power in his move-
ments, than there had been in time past. The cause is now ex-
plained; it was the result of ill health. His resolution and zeal
led him to continue his efforts long after he was unfit for business.
For the last year and a half he has been wasting, and while he
was thinking, planning, writing, toiling to promote the cause in
which he v/as engaged, consumption was gnawing at his vitals and
drinking up the springs of his life.

It is also true that during the last few years of his life, he was
not as distinguished for his devotion and religious power as he had
been in former times. This was owing to two causes, viz ; first,
his business, from its nature and pressing claims, separated him
from those religions associations and exercises which in.spire devo-
tion; and secondly, his declining health doubtless oppressed his
mind. But as he approached the borders of the spirit world, the
energies of his mind rallied as in other days ; he sav^ himself ap-
proaching the gates of death, and laid hold upon the arm of the
conqueror, who held expanded the grim monster's jaws, and rolled
back the dark and bitter waters of that hour, that his soul mio-ht
pass in peace and hope to the world of safety, light arid everlastino-
J03-. He died without a struggle ; he departed as departs the sun
when it goes down without a cloud, leaving a lingering glory upon
the hills in evidence that it has not expired or lost its light, but
is a sun still, travelling in its glory, though visible only to other
spheres. He left us as leaves the morning star when it melts a-\vay
and is lost amid the beams of the solar orb. Orange Scott, the
subject of these remarks, was born in Vermont, in the year of oUf
Lord 1800. He was converted to God in 1820. He Avas received
on trial in the New England Conference, as a Methodist travelino-
preacher in 1822. He withdrew from the church in Nov. 1842.
In 3Iay 1843 he jlssisted in the organization of the Weslej-an
Methodist Connection of America, by a Convention of which' he
was President. He died July 31, 1847, in the Forty-eighth year
of his age. He is dead, but his name shall live, and future genera-

tions will do him justice. When this nation shall be redeemed
from the sin and disgrace of slavery, when the church shall be
washed from its pollution, and when the bondman's jubilee shall
come, his name shall be heard in the swelling song. Then shall his
memory rise as incense while those who opposed him and shot the
forked tongue of slander across his path, shall be forgotten, or be
remembered only to perpetuate a recollection of the errors of the
times in which they lived. He sleeps, but he sleep? in Christ. I
will only add, peace to his memory. Amen.