all deserved endless damnation for their sins, but that God saw fit, from his infinite mercy, to save a part, and snatch them as brands from the burning, and that this did no injustice to the non-elect, for they had no greater suffering on account of the election of others, it was asked, "Is not this partial? If all were alike guilty, why make a distinction? Why did not infinite mercy save the whole? If it were not wrong to save a part who were infinitely guilty, it could not be wrong to save the remnant, who could be no more guilty; and if, under these circumstances, a part only were preordained to salvation, the Deity must be partial." The young man saw that there was no way in which he could defend the divine character from the charge of partiality. This gave him no small inquietude, for he never was able to derive satisfaction from sentiments which he could not defend. But that which contributed more than-anything else to turn his thoughts seriously towards the doctrine of Universal Salvation, was the ardent desires he had that sinners might be brought to repentance and salvation. He found it utterly impossible to bring the feelings of his kind and benevolent heart to conform to the doctrine of endless torture; and he was compelled to allow, either that such feelings were sinful, proceeding from unreconciliation to God, or else that God, in giving them to him, had imparted an evidence in favor of the salvation of all men, the force of which he could not resist.* In a letter to a correspondent, written in the year 1849, he said,

* Mr. Ballou's account of these matters we here give in his own words: "At the time I joined the Baptist church, there were in Richmond and Warwick a few individuals who called themselves Universalists,

"I was taught by the Scriptures, by my reverend father, by all my Christian acquaintances, as also by my own experience, to love all mankind. This we all know is the foundation of Universalism. There were a few in the region where I lived who believed in the doctrine of Universal Salvation, with whom I conversed. They urged, in addition to certain passages of Scripture which they thought favored the doctrine, the fact that all Christian people profess to love all mankind, and are in the constant habit of offering prayers which correspond with the love they profess. I was unable to meet this and who occasionally heard Br. Caleb Rich hold forth that doctrine. There was also an elderly gentleman by the name of Ballou, a distant relation of my father, who also occasionally preached the same doctrine. These individuals frequently attended the Baptist meetings, and, being of my acquaintance, we often conversed on the question whether all mankind would alike be made partakers of the salvation of God. In those conversations I frequently found that my Calvinistic tenets could be managed either to result in Universal Salvation, or to compel me to acknowledge the partiality of the divine favor. This gave me no small inquietude of mind, as I was always unable to derive satisfaction from sentiments which I could not defend. That which more than anything else contributed to turn my thoughts seriously towards the belief of Universal Salvation, was the ardent desires, with which I found myself exercised, that sinners might be brought to repentance and salvation. I found it utterly impossible to bring the feelings of my heart to conform to the doctrine of eternal reprobation; and I was compelled to allow, either that such feelings were sinful, or that my heavenly Father, in giving them to me, had imparted an evidence in favor of the salvation of all men, the force of which I found no means to resist. As yet I was, like young converts in general, very little acquainted with the Scriptures. But the trials which I was then undergoing led me to examine the written word, to satisfy myself on the great question which had such weight on my mind. On reading the Bible, there would now and then, here and there, a passage appear to favor the doctrine of universal and impartial grace. But all the prejudices of my early education, in these things, were arrayed against my making any advances."

argument in a way to satisfy my own mind; and was led thereby to read my Bible, and to study the great subject with intense interest." *

SECTION VIII.

HE IS THROWN INTO DOUBT.

But as yet he was like young converts in general, slightly acquainted with the Scriptures. He was led by the conversations we have named to read the Bible, as he says, with intense interest, and with special reference to the question whether it taught the final holiness and happiness of all men. It is to be supposed that he sought aid from his reverend father in these inquiries; but his mind was so capable of forming its own judgment, that, while he would pay the most respectful deference to what the parent might say, and give it a full degree of consideration, he would not believe, nor profess to believe, any alleged truth, unless the evidence satisfied himself. On reading the Bible, a passage would occasionally strike him which seemed to teach the doctrine of Universalism; and other texts, if not seeming to assert the doctrine literally, still gave such descriptions of the character of God, of his tenderness as a Father, of the freeness, extent and enduring quality of his mercy, of his knowledge of the feebleness of man, whose exposure to temptation could not but palliate human guilt in the sight of a just and holy God, such texts undoubtedly made an impression upon his mind. But all the prejudices of his early education were arrayed against his embracing the *See his letter to Rev. C. F. R. Shehane, dated Boston, Sept. 6, 1849, and published in the Investigator, at Notasulga, Ala.

despised doctrine of Universalism. Education does, in the nature of things, have a great influence upon a man. It has formed his mind; it has established his habits of thinking; it has supplied the information he possesses. Young Ballou had been educated in Calvinism, under the eye and charge of a preacher of that doctrine, to whose pulpit labors and private instructions he had always listened. He had heard the word of God explained in agreement with it. Those parts which were thought to favor it had been kept uppermost in his mind, and those which teach the doctrine of Universalism were unknown to him until now. Under these circumstances, he could not be in haste to embrace Universalism. No man with a mind like his would proceed hastily; he had much to unlearn; and he was not unlike a man walking in darkness, with false views of his position and of the objects by which he is surrounded. A beam of light breaks in upon him, shining sufficiently to lead him to suspect that objects do not exist in the precise form in which he had been accustomed to contemplate them; but still the light is indistinct, the beams are refracted by the obliquity of his thoughts; and he is not able to determine precisely where he is, nor what are the circumstances by which he is surrounded.

SECTION IX. HE TAKES A JOURNEY TO NEW YORK.

It was in this state of mind that young Mr. Ballou left his native town, and went a journey, in company with his brother Stephen, to the central part of the State of New York, -then almost an utter wilderness, -to a town called Westfield, but now bearing the name of Hartford.

Stephen had joined the Baptist church a short time after Hosea; and, from what he had seen before leaving home, or from the conversation in the course of the journey, he became quite fearful that Hosea was inclining towards the doctrine of Universalism. In the town we have named there was a Baptist congregation, under the pastoral care of a certain Elder Brown, on whose ministry the two brothers attended. Stephen made known to Hosea his fears that he was verging towards Universalism, and urged him to hold a conversation with Elder Brown, in the hope, no doubt, that by the elder's arguments the young man's mind might be diverted from the dangerous doctrine to which he seemed inclined.

SECTION X. THE INTERVIEW WITH ELDER BROWN.

He

No objection being made, a conference was appointed after divine service on the Sabbath day, that Hosea might be fully convinced Universalism was not of God. Whether the conference was private, or whether such members of the congregation as desired were present, we have not the means now of knowing; but Elder Brown and Hosea met. The elder felt the dignity of his position, and entered upon the work with no lack of confidence. called upon the young man to bring forward any passage of scripture which he thought proved the doctrine of Universalism, and the folly of applying the passage to such a purpose should be clearly pointed out. The young man knew where some of the proof-texts were to be found, and he turned at once to Romans 5: 18. He had read this chapter repeatedly with much attention, and he know