Current Essential Baptist Principles article

Elder Potter's second speech, Wednesday morning.
BRETHREN MODERATORS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: -- Before I proceed further, I will finish my remarks concerning the chapter I read from the Missionary Baptist History, in my last speech. The fourth remark I wish to make, concerning the article, is this: The birthplace of the first Protestant Mission Society was in the back parlor of Mr. Beebe Wallis. It was born in a more noble place than our Savior Was, for he was born in a stable, but modern Missionism was born in a parlor, not in the land of Palestine but in England, not in Jerusalem but in Kettering, not of Divine parentage but of human. Mr. Carey originated it "in order to raise money for the passage of these first missionaries." Who had been Baptist missionaries before this? Do you think that the Baptists had always had missionaries? And yet, these were the first. If you do you can beat me believing by a considerable odds. If my friend believes these were the first, and yet the Baptists had always had missionaries out, let him tell us how he believes it.

Sixth. "Mr. Fuller went among the wealthy Baptists of London, to raise contributions, and met with such cold reception, and was so often refused, etc. " What, a people who had always been missionaries refuse to help to support a Missionary Society! I should think such a course, rather unnatural. Tell us how that was in your next speech.

Seventh. "Many of the pastors did not understand the great commission and a great part of Mr. Fuller's work was to convert them to right views." They were missionaries all the time, and yet they had to be converted to right views. If they had any views at all before Mr. Fuller converted them, they must have had wrong views. Now, is it not clear to all, that the Baptists, prior to the dates given in this chapter, were not what is now called "missionaries?" They stood somewhere. Where did they stand prior to the origin of missionism by Mr. Carey? They stood where we stand today, and there is no getting around it. My friend is aware of that fact. His own historians are against him in this debate, and he has a fearful uphill task to make even an appearance of argument before this audience. But I wish to notice another feature in this matter before I dismiss it. Those great sermons of Carey and Fuller are but living evidences of a new departure. For hundreds of sermons as ably gotten up as they were, and perhaps fully as well said, have been delivered since, even by missionaries, of which no particular notice has ever been taken whatever. Now, what do you suppose gave such fame to those remarkable sermons? I will tell you. They were full of Arminianism - the very doctrine that calls for Missionary Societies --and they were new among the Baptists, as I have already shown you, in this debate. The circumstances under which they were delivered, gave them great notoriety. Our historian tells us that Mr. Fuller had to convert many of his brethren to right views. The Baptists stood opposed to such movements as Carey and Fuller originated, or else they would not have been [a need]to convert. As an evidence of that fact, I will give another text from this same historian, on page 312, as follows: --

"But what is most surprising is that Mr. Carey at first found so little sympathy among. his own brethren in the ministry. It is related, that at a meeting of ministers held at Northampton shire, Mr. Carey proposed as a topic for discussion ' The_duty of Christians to attempt the spread of gospel among heathen nations.' When the venerable J.C. Ryland sprang to his feet to denounce the proposition, 'Young man,' said he, 'sit down, when God pleases to convert the heathen he will do it without your aid or mine. Even Mr. Fuller Was at first startled by the novelty and magnitude of the proposal, and described his feelings. resembling those of the infidel courtier who said, 'If the Lord should make windows in heaven might such a thing be."

Let us just notice the language of Mr. Ryland to Mr. Carey - Where do you think a man of his sentiments would properly belong to-day, in this country? Would the people here take him to be a Missionary Baptist, or would they style him as the missionaries do us, "Hardshell? " I ask the missionaries, was that man Ryland a Missionary Baptist? Were those men that opposed Fuller in his enterprise missionaries? Let my opponent tell. Were they missionaries?
They did not' favor the work, still they groaned under it for years, from 1792, in England, and from l803 in this country. Yet they never did like it, they always opposed it. Missionary witnesses themselves being judges. The ﬁnal division was caused by the introduction of these new things.

I wish now to pay some respects to the quotation from Elder Trott. Elder Trott has been introduced and he was first made known to the Missionary Baptists of this country by Mr. Ray, who wrote a book called "Baptist Succession." Mr. Ray in that book wrote a whole chapter on their claims to their antiquity. He quotes Elder Trott. I wish to examine the quotation, the fact that Mr. Ray does not do him justice. I was in Evansville a few weeks ago and in the library of the Young Men's Christian Association, I came across the article from which he quotes, and copied the whole article. Perhaps it does not contain more than one page of the whole book. The book is not here. Now let us see. Remember that my friend this morning (I do not know whether it was original or whether he learned it from Mr. Ray) claimed that Elder Trott agrees that we separated, and took a stand as a distinct people, as though we had never had any stand as a distinct people before. He says this is an admission from Mr. Trott that we. never had; also we took a new name. -Hear what Elder Trott says. I will quote what Mr. Ray quotes: -- "This brought brethren, churches and associations that have been groaning under the burdens of human inventions" --that don't sound much like they had been having fellowship for it all the time, does it? This groaning under it! They had been bearing with it; but there is a time when forbearance ceases to be a virtue. Our brethren did not know to what extremities these measures would be carried on, and they groaned under these burdens all that time. The missionaries began their enterprises while they were yet with us, and never had distinct existence until after the introduction of these things.

"This_brought brethren, churches and associations that had been groaning under the burdens of human inventions to separate themselves; some sooner, some later." From his speech you would have thought that the separation took place all in a single day, the division was not completed in so short a time. Different localities were different in time. "From the whole mass of popular religion and religionists, to take a stand as a distinct people upon the old Baptist standard." The old Baptist standard was to have nothing to do with any of these new things. They had been among us for a number of years, but we proposed to dismiss them, and take a stand without any of these new inventions. That is what he intends to say. "The holding of the Scriptures as the only and a perfect rule of faith and practice, and Christ as the foundation, the head and the life of the church, the only source and medium of salvation. This separation occasioned the splitting of several associations and many churches. We took as a distinguishing appellation the name, 'Old School Baptists.' "
Elder Potter's speech goes on for several more pages but will stop here for the purposes of this article. Editor