FEB 10 1916 ) 
 
 ■ BX 7343 .C2 G82 
 Grafton, Thomas W. 1857- 
 1940. 
 
 Alexander Campbell 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/alexandercampbelOOgraf_0 
 
CAMPBELL 
 
 LEADER OF THE GREAT REFORMATION 
 OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 THOMAS W. GRAFTON. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 HERBERT L. WILLETT. 
 
 St Louis 
 Chbistian Publishing Compant 
 
Copyrighted, 1897, by 
 CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 All Bights Reserved 
 
TLo the ©rcat Hrms of Koung people, 
 
 WHO TOGETHER COMPOSE THE UNITED SOCIETY OP CHRISTIAN 
 ENDEAVOR, AND WHO, IN THEIR INTER-DENOMINATIONAL 
 FELLOWSHIP, ARE EXEMPLIFYING THE PRACTICABILITY 
 AND BEAUTY OP THE PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION, 
 
 Zbis \tJolume ie tnscvibett. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 The richest heritage of any people is the lives and mem- 
 ories of the good and great who have preceded them. This 
 is especially true of those who have helped to the possession 
 of new lands, or the discovery of new truths, or the estab- 
 lishment of new principles. 
 
 Such a heritage the young people of our Endeavor Socie- 
 ties have in the leaders of the religious movement which, 
 in the early part of this century, led to the establishment 
 of the Christian Church. Though the history of that move- 
 ment does not yet span a century, no religious body has a 
 richer calendar of saints than we. Many of them may 
 have been lacking in the conventional gi-aces of society, and 
 in high scholastic attainments; but in the genuinenfiss of 
 their sympathies and in their familiarity with God's two 
 great books — nature and the Bible — all were, in the highest 
 and truest sense, gentlemen and scholars. 
 
 First among these worthies must ever be placed that 
 gi-and man, to whose faith, originality and genius our relig- 
 ious movement owes its origin, Alexander Campbell, the 
 Sage of Bethany. To bi-ing the story of his life within a 
 compass that would enable busy people to become acquaint- 
 ed with him, has been the end sought in this volume. 
 With a literature so rich in material, this has been no small 
 task. The sixty volumes which grew up under the genius of 
 Ml'. Campbell, including the Christian Baptist and Millen- 
 nial Harbinger, are rich in biographical suggestion. In 
 addition to these the author is indebted to Dr. Richardson's 
 valuable "Memoirs." All he claims is to have gathered, 
 from these sources, the most important events in this gi-eat 
 life, and to have compressed them within a space that may 
 encourage every lover of truth to sit, for a season, at the 
 feet of one of its most earnest defenders. 
 
 Rock Island, III., Nov. 25. 1897. 
 
 (7) 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface v 
 
 Introduction ix 
 
 I. Early Days 17 
 
 II. University Life. ... 30 
 
 III. Emigration to Ajierica . . 43 
 
 IV Ministerial Preparation . . 58 
 
 V. Religious Discoveries ... 76 
 
 VI. Trials and Triumphs ... 90 
 
 VII. Christian Baptist .... 106 
 
 VIII. Religious Dissensions . . 118 
 
 IX. The Christian Church . . . 131 
 
 X. The Defender of the Faith . 147 
 
 XI. A Wise Master Builder . . 162 
 
 XII. The Prince of Preachers . 177 
 
 XIII. Travels at Home and Abroad . 188 
 
 XIV. The Bethany Home ... 203 
 XV. Closing Labors .... 214 
 
 XVI. His Place in History . . 226 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 'he time has not yet come when Mr. Camp- 
 
 bell can be fairly measured and assigned 
 his true place in Christian history. There are 
 those among his admirers who regard him as the 
 greatest religious teacher of the century; others, 
 animated by the antagonisms of earlier days, or 
 not especially acquainted with his work or the 
 people he rallied to the platform of Christian 
 unity, would deny him any conspicuous place 
 among the makers of modern Christian thought. 
 Somewhere between these positions the truth 
 lies, but we are yet too near the man himself to 
 secure a true perspective. It is only fair to say, 
 however, that those who knew most of Mr. 
 Campbell's life and work, and have the largest 
 admiration for him, await with confidence the 
 verdict of the future. 
 
 Meantime there is no question that he was a 
 true prophet of his time. It is the privilege of 
 some men to perceive the greatest needs of the 
 Church of Christ in their day, to give happy 
 and forceful expression to thoughts that are 
 lying unexpressed in the minds of many around 
 them, and by vigorous advocacy call the atten- 
 
 (ix) 
 
z 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 tion of scattered sections of the church to the 
 truth they have discerned. This is the function 
 of a true prophet of Christianity. It was the 
 work of Mr. Campbell. He did not create the 
 idea of Christian unity. Many minds had grap- 
 pled with it since the Eeformation caused the 
 great breach in the Church. The reformers 
 themselves felt the dangers of division and 
 sought to heal the rents in their forces. Pro- 
 testants and Romanists worked at the problem, 
 as the correspondence of Leibnitz and Bossuet 
 witnesses. The labors of Eichard Baxter in 
 England, who organized associations for the 
 cultivation of unity among Christians, and 
 wrote pamphlets to the same end, are repre- 
 sentative of what many men in different places 
 were seeking to realize. Milton's dream of a 
 simpler faith and a more united church dawned 
 upon other minds. It is a commonplace of our 
 history tliat other movements in America for 
 freedom and apostolic Christianity preceded Mr. 
 Campbell's work. He did not create the idea, 
 but he gave it the first full expi-ession and 
 adjusted it to other questions whose relation to 
 it was intimate. 
 
 Mr. Campbell was convinced, both by his own 
 observations and the experiences of his father 
 in Britain and America, that the greatest hin- 
 drance to the progress and success of the church 
 was the lack of unity. Power that should have 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xi 
 
 been employed in combating sin and bringing 
 in larger measure the Kingdom of God, was 
 wasted in sectarian strife. But the desired 
 unity among the followers of Jesus was not to 
 be secured by the mere proclamation of its 
 desirability. It must be sought by a return to 
 apostolic standards of thought, speech and con- 
 duct. It was not an attempt to reproduce the 
 faulty and partial life of the churches in Jeru- 
 salem, Corinth, Galatia or Rome to which Mr. 
 Campbell set himself and rallied his friends. 
 It Avas an appeal to Qhi-ist and to apostolic 
 standards of teaching and conduct. On such a 
 platform it was believed Christians could unite 
 in the service of the common Lord. The prin- 
 ciples accepted by all believers as essential to 
 fellowship with the Savior were regarded suffi- 
 cient as a bond of union. Convinced that peace 
 could be restored to the divided church only by 
 a restoration of the apostolic programme, Mr. 
 Campbell labored to secure a larger acquaint- 
 ance with the New Testament on the part of all 
 who would co-operate in healing the divisions of 
 the Church. The New Testament was seen to 
 be the rule of belief and conduct, and to it, as 
 the law and testimony, the appeal was evermore 
 made. This will explain the fact that Mr. 
 Campbell gave more attention to the subject of 
 Apostolic Christianity and its re-establishment 
 
xii 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 than he did to Christian Union. In his plan the 
 one was the necessary antecedent of the other. 
 
 While Mr. Campbell exhibited a high degree 
 of mental independence, and departed to a 
 startling degree from the established religious 
 customs of his time, he was a true child of his 
 period in his ways of thinking, and the forma- 
 tive influences about him in early life are dis- 
 tinctly discerned through his entire career. 
 Chief among these are to be named the sterling 
 characteristics inherited from generations of 
 sturdy Scotch and Huguenot ancestors; the 
 atmosphere of a Christian home in which the 
 highest regard for Divine things was main- 
 tained; the supx'emacy of the philosophy of John 
 Locke in the thinking of the time, with its rejec- 
 tion of Cartesianism, its appeal to fact, its 
 theory of knowledge as the result of sensation, 
 thus becoming the foundation of the Scotch 
 School of philosophy and the percursor of 
 Burkeley and Hume, Keid and Hartley, and 
 whose influence is traceable in the Enc^^clopae- 
 dists and Kant; the impress of the Covenant 
 Theology, that modification of Calvinism, 
 brought from Holland, and widely diffused 
 through Scotland after the Secession, with its 
 insistence upon a progress of revelation in the 
 Bible marked by Covenants; the principles of 
 the Independents, represented on different sides 
 by Glas, Sandeman, Walker, Hill and the Hal- 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 ziii 
 
 danes; lastly the divided condition of the 
 churches in Scotland and Ireland, where Pres- 
 byterianism was broken into a score of frag- 
 ments, not to speak of other communions; all 
 these forces wrought in Mr. Campbell's making. 
 Of some of them he was conscious, and ex- 
 pressed his indebtedness, as to Locke. Of 
 others he seems to have been unaware, or at 
 least not impressed with a sense of obligation. 
 Especially is this true of his theological views. 
 Yet no man ever made more free and independ- 
 ent use of the material at hand. It was this 
 singular combination of elements, native and 
 acquired, together with a deep earnestness in 
 seeking to be led by the Spirit of God, that 
 made him distinctively the prophet of his time. 
 
 The place of the Disciples of Christ among 
 the religious forces of the time is one of grow- 
 ing importance. Much has been done to widen 
 the influence of the propaganda in behalf of 
 Christian unity. This sentiment is one of the 
 watchwords of the hour, and without claiming 
 the entire credit for this condition, the Disci- 
 ples may fairly discern one of the causes in their 
 labors. But the work is not done. The result 
 has not yet been attained, and the plans for 
 reaching it are almost as varied as the sections 
 of the church. It ought to be in such a time as 
 this that the maturing energies of the Disciples 
 may be applied with fresh vigor to the problem. 
 
xiv 
 
 INTKODUCTION 
 
 The desirability of closer unity among God's 
 people is no longer an open question. How can 
 it be attained? It is believed that the {apostolic 
 programme furnishes a sufficient basis for fel- 
 lowship, and that in the courteous but persistent 
 advocacy of this method of unity the Disciples 
 find a sufficient and imperative sanction for 
 their message to the world. Only by such advo- 
 cacy can they be ti'ue, not alone to the memory 
 of Mr. Campbell and his associates, but to the 
 platform of New Testament Christianity, which 
 is of infinitely greater importance. 
 
 The present volume is a contribution to a 
 larger knowledge of Mr. Campbell and his 
 times. Few have leisure or opportunity to read 
 Richardson's two volumes, and, moreover, much 
 may now be added to the subject which was not 
 then accessible. This book ought to result in a 
 largely increased acquaintance with the begin- 
 nings of the movement, and help many among 
 the Disciples of Christ to vindicate afresh the 
 position which they occupy among the religious 
 forces of the time. 
 
 Herbert L. Willett. 
 
 Disciples' Divinity House, 
 Chicago. 
 
ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
ALEXANDER CAMPBELL. 
 
 I. 
 
 EARLY DAYS. 
 
 'he leader of a religious movement which, 
 
 within the space of three-quarters of a cen- 
 tury, can claim a million adherents, is deserving 
 of the consideration of all thoughtful people. 
 When that movement rises, not on the tide of 
 popular favor, but in the face of the most bitter 
 opposition, the genius that could inspire it is 
 doubly deserving of our attention. Such have 
 been the trials and triumphs of the Christian 
 Church, which, with its vast membership and 
 multiplied agencies for the regeneration of the 
 world, is to-day a monument to the faith and 
 genius of Alexander Campbell, and which 
 assures him an exalted place among the world's 
 religious leaders. 
 
 The village of Ballj^mena, nestled among the 
 hills of Northern Ireland, furnishes the starting 
 point for the life-story I am to tell. Just 
 beyond its borders was a humble cottage, sur- 
 rounded by a few acres of land, in which, more 
 than a hundred years ago, two worthy young 
 people, Thomas and Jane Campbell, began life 
 
 (17) 
 
18 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 together. Both were blessed with a noble ancea- 
 try, and brought into that home a treasure of 
 more value than wealth or title, a deep religious 
 purpose and sterling qualities of character 
 which shine with splendor wherever found. 
 
 Thomas Campbell had descended from that 
 valiant Scotch stock, the Campbells of Argyle, 
 which covered itself with glory in the days of 
 Scotland's political and religious struggles. 
 Some two or three generations prior to his birth, 
 his branch of the family had emigrated to North- 
 ern Ireland, where, though not distinguished, it 
 maintained its integrity, and gave to society 
 many valuable members. Jane Corneigle, to 
 whom Thomas Campbell was wedded in 1787, 
 was of no less worthy descent. Her ancestors 
 were Huguenots, who, in those terrible days of 
 persecution that followed the revocation of the 
 Edict of Nantes, had chosen exile from their 
 beloved France rather than surrender their 
 faith. After their settlement in Ireland her 
 people were the devoted friends of liberal edu- 
 cation, establishing and fostering schools, where 
 the Bible, along with the common branches, was 
 carefully taught. Both, thus endowed by birth, 
 were of the stuff suited to the hardships through 
 which they were destined afterward to j^ass. 
 
 At the time of the birth of their first-born, 
 Alexander, in 1788, the future offered little 
 encouragement to them. Thomas Campbell had 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 19 
 
 already dedicated himself to the work of the 
 ministry, but, in the interval of preparation for 
 that work, he was compelled to devote his enei'- 
 gies largely to school -teaching, with meager 
 compensation, combining with the duties of 
 teacher, as opportunity afforded, the work of 
 ministering to the spiritual needs of his neigh- 
 bors. He was Presbyterian in faith, having at 
 an early age identified himself with the Seceders, 
 a branch of that church. His mind from youth 
 was one of deep religious cast. There had early 
 been developed a sincere and earnest love for 
 the Scriptures. As the claims of a religious life 
 began to present themselves, he passed through 
 that intense mental agony which was then 
 thought to be indispensable in seeking accept- 
 ance with God. When at last his doubts and 
 fears wei'e dissipated, it was as if his whole 
 nature was flooded with the sunlight of God's 
 love. From that moment he felt himself 
 wholly called of God, and henceforth dedicated 
 to his work, and bent all his energies to the 
 training of mind and heart for a life of service 
 in the ministry. As was to be expected, the 
 home-life of a nature so deeply religious but 
 reflected his loyalty and devotion to the Christ. 
 
 It will be seen that the early life of Alexander 
 Campbell found its development in an intensely 
 religious atmosphere. In the family Christ was 
 something more than a name. He was an abid- 
 
20 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 ing Guest, and his Word was a treasure whose 
 aroma filled the home with fragrance. A part 
 of the home regime was the daily memorizing 
 of the Scriptures by the younger members of 
 the family. In this way young Campbell was 
 brought up to regard with profound reverence 
 the Word of God, the logical sequence of which 
 was his great life-work of seeking to restore it 
 to its rightful place. 
 
 The exalted ideal of Thomas Campbell is seen 
 in his refusal to thrust the family in the way of 
 temptation for the sake of gain. While battling 
 with adversity, he was offered the position of 
 tutor in the family of the Governor-General of 
 Ireland, with a large salary and an elegant resi- 
 dence; but the offer was promptly declined, lest 
 it should endanger the morals of his children by 
 placing before them the fascinations of worldly 
 pride and fashion. 
 
 When Alexander was about ten years of age, 
 the family, after many vicissitudes, was estab- 
 lished on a farm near the city of Armagh, in the 
 midst of the field of labor to which Thomas 
 Campbell had been called as pastor. The region 
 is described as one of the most beautiful of Ire- 
 land. Its rich farms, its lofty hills, its secluded 
 valleys, its sparkling lakes, presented a scene of 
 varied and untiring beauty. Here the boyhood 
 of Alexander was chiefly spent and the foun- 
 dation of his great learning laid. It is to 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 21 
 
 be presumed that the father and mother, de- 
 voted as they were to the highest interests of 
 their children, were his first insti-uctors. But 
 with the increasing duties of his pastorate, the 
 father found it necessary to make other pro- 
 vision for the instruction of his son. Deter- 
 mined that he should not lack opportunity for 
 gaining an education, he was sent to such 
 schools as the vicinity afforded, and later put in 
 an academy, then conducted by his uncles, Archi- 
 bald and Enos, in the town of Newry, some ten 
 miles distant. 
 
 At this period the future reformer manifested 
 none of those traits of intellectual superiority 
 that afterward distinguished him. His rather 
 over-fondness for sports seems to have inter- 
 fered seriously with his educational progress. 
 He loved the freedom of out-door life better 
 than his books. A rod and line had much more 
 attraction for him than the daily tasks of the 
 school-room. Study became a drudgery, and his 
 persistent negligence filled his father with deep 
 concern. The one anecdote related of his boy- 
 hood illustrates both his own indifference and 
 his father's impatience. The French language 
 had been added to his other studies, and on a 
 warm day he sought the shade of a tree as the 
 most suitable place to prepare his lesson in 
 "The Adventures of Telemachus." Falling 
 asleep and dropping his book in the grass, he 
 
22 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 was unconscious of the approach of a cow, until 
 the animal had seized and actually devoured it. 
 Upon reporting the loss, his father not only 
 severely punished him for his carelessness, but 
 further reprimanded him by telling him that 
 " the cow had got more French in her stomach 
 than he had in his head," a fact which he was 
 not then able to deny. As a last resort, his 
 anxious father, " to break him into his books," 
 determined to put him to work on the farm. 
 He was consequently taken from school and sent 
 to the field. The plan at first seemed destined 
 to miscarry. The change pleased Alexander. 
 He loved the farm. His heart, tender and 
 fresh, beat a responsive note to nature, and he 
 was for the time satisfied with the calling that 
 brought him near to nature's heart. The years 
 thus spent in healthful physical labor were, 
 however, not misspent. They proved to be no 
 small factor in the making of the man, and in 
 his equipment for the place he was ultimately to 
 occupy as a leader of men ; for under the invig- 
 orating influence of out-door life he gained 
 in health and vigor, laying the foundation of 
 that iron constitution that served him so well in 
 the unremitting labors of later years. 
 
 There is a critical period in every young life, 
 which, safely passed, gives promise of a career 
 of usefulness, but which, beset as it is with foes, 
 often leads to disaster. At this dividing of the 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 23 
 
 ways, Alexander Campbell, a youth of some six- 
 teen summers, had now arrived. His future 
 hung upon the course chosen. It was with 
 anxious, prayerful solicitude that his father 
 watched the result, and with justifiable pride 
 that he discovered an awakening thirst for 
 knowledge in the growing boy. His intellectual 
 nature, which he possessed in rich endowment, 
 at last began to assert its claims. The books 
 which had been thrown aside were taken up 
 with renewed interest. A desire for literary dis- 
 tinction possessed him, and he confidentially 
 declared his purpose to become " one of the best 
 scholars of the kingdom." 
 
 The pathway along which he now bent his 
 steps was not easy of pursuit. The educational 
 advantages of the community in which he lived 
 were limited, the family resources meager, and 
 a course at the university apparently beyond his 
 reach. But in this emergency the resources of 
 the father were not wanting. He supplied the 
 lack of larger opportunities by personally super- 
 intending his son's intellectual development. 
 What an encouraging example these two pre- 
 sent, father and son in loving companionship, 
 courageously surmounting all barriers, that they 
 may quaff together the sweet waters of the 
 perennial spring of truth ! But for the wisdom 
 of the father in this struggle, the world had in 
 
24 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 all probability been robbed of the splendid 
 achievements of the son. 
 
 At this fireside university the traits of mind 
 that afterwai'd were so conspicuous in the genius 
 of Alexander Campbell began to display them- 
 selves. They were intense mental activity, an 
 unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and a re- 
 markably quick and retentive memory. His 
 power to grasp and retain the results of his 
 reading has been surpassed by but few men. It 
 is related of him at this early period that, as a 
 test, he committed to memory sixty lines of 
 blank verse in fifty-two minutes, so that he 
 could repeat them without missing a word. But 
 this remarkable power, which he retained 
 through life, was not the mere accident of 
 genius. It was the result of the most pains- 
 taking effort. To develop this faculty he accus- 
 tomed himself to daily memorizing extracts 
 from the best authors, and thus, early in youth, 
 beside the mental discipline gained, his mind 
 became a storehouse of the best thought and 
 the most chaste language of English literature. 
 As a further aid to memory and thoughtful 
 reading, it was his custom to copy in his note- 
 book extracts from his reading, passages which 
 particularly pleased him. In this way he pro- 
 vided that intellectual furnishing which gave 
 beauty and power to his uttered thought. 
 
 The process by which he was now being 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 25 
 
 trained in scholarly pursuits wiis necessarily 
 slow. Such was the occupation of the father 
 that interruptions often occurred. The duty of 
 attending to the spiritual needs of the church to 
 which he faithfully ministered, besides looking 
 after and providing for a large family, left little 
 time for this labor of love. And now that the 
 family wants might be supplied, it became nec- 
 essary for the father to supplement his meager 
 salary as pastor by a return to the school-room. 
 A suitable location for an academy having been 
 found in the village of Eich Hill, two miles dis- 
 tant from the parish to which he had for several 
 years ministered, he removed his family thither, 
 and soon witnessed the growth of a flourishing 
 school. All this made heavy demands upon his 
 time; but, notwithstanding, he managed to per- 
 fect his son in the preliminary English branches, 
 and to give him such instruction in Latin and 
 Greek as would enable him, should opportunity 
 ever present itself, to enter the classes of the 
 university. 
 
 That this work might go on, it became neces- 
 sary for Alexander to come to his father's relief 
 by rendering such assistance as he could in the 
 academy. So thorough was his mastery of the 
 common branches, that at the age of seventeen 
 he proved himself a most competent teacher and 
 valuable assistant. But while occupied with the 
 daily cares of the school-room, he did not allow 
 
26 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 himself, for a moment, to swerve from his pur- 
 pose of gaining an education. He pursued with 
 unflagging energy his own special course of 
 studies, still under his father's guidance. As 
 the seed-time of life, he felt the importance of 
 every moment of sowing, and, therefore, 
 availed himself of every accessible source of 
 knowledge, as well as every fragment of time. 
 While others slept, he communed with the spirit 
 of learning. During these busy days he was ac- 
 customed to pursue his studies far into the 
 night, and usually arose at four in the morning 
 to resume them. The woi-k of self-education, 
 the only educational privilege he seemed likely 
 ever to enjoy, thus became a passion with him. 
 
 But to imagine that the old buoyancy of his 
 nature had been vanquished in this passion, is to 
 mistake the temper of the youth. Along with 
 his love of intellectual pursuits, but always, 
 hereafter, in subjection to it, he carried his 
 intense fondness for out-door sports. His 
 athletic frame made him a favorite among his 
 companions in physical contests of the times, 
 which to the young people of to-day would seem 
 rather strange forms of amusement. He was 
 famed for the size of the snow-balls he could 
 make and the force Avith which he hurled them 
 in their playful battles. Among the farmers of 
 the neighborhood he easily carried off the 
 championship in sowing grain, an exercise of 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 27 
 
 which he was fond and an art in which he was 
 expert. But along with these antiquated amuse- 
 ments, he also delighted in the use of rod and 
 gun, proving himself an Isaak Walton and 
 Nimrod, both in one. It was by these healthful 
 diversions that he was able to pursue his ardu- 
 ous labors in the school-room and the study, 
 with unimpaired physical vigor. 
 
 With the unfolding of mind came the consid- 
 eration of those serious problems which always 
 present themselves for solution where the Word 
 of God is known. From a youth, Alexander 
 had known and revered the Scriptures. As we 
 have already seen, an important part of the 
 family life was its daily study. Its message had 
 been brought home to him through the worthy 
 example of pious parents. His father, who had 
 become his inseparable companion, was " a pat- 
 tern of good works," admired and beloved by all 
 who knew him. His mother exerted a no less 
 molding influence upon his religious character. 
 Long after her death, in his declining years, he 
 paid this tribute to her memory: 
 
 " She made a nearer approximation to the 
 acknowledged beau ideal of a Christian mother 
 than any one of her sex with whom I have had 
 the pleasure of forming a special acquaintance. 
 I can but gratefully add, that to my mother, as 
 well as to my father, I am indebted for having 
 memorized in early life almost all the writings 
 
28 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 of King Solomon, his Proverbs, his Ecclesiastes. 
 and many of the Psalms of his father David. 
 They have not only been written on the tablet of 
 my memory, but incorporated with my modes of 
 thinking and speaking." ^ 
 
 In time he began to seriously meditate upon 
 his own religious obligations. As his convictions 
 deepened he became greatly concerned about his 
 own salvation. Of his religious conflicts and 
 triumphs at this period, he, many years after- 
 ward, gave the following account: 
 
 " From the time that I could read the Scrip- 
 tures, I became convinced that Jesus was the 
 Son of God. I was also fully persuaded that I 
 was a sinner and must obtain pardon through 
 the merits of Christ or be lost forever. This 
 caused me great distress of soul, and I had much 
 exercise of mind under the awakenings of a 
 guilty conscience. Finally, after many strug- 
 glings, I was enabled to put my trust in the 
 Saviour and to feel my reliance on him as the 
 only Saviour of sinnei's. From the moment I 
 was able to feel this reliance on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, I obtained and enjoyed peace of mind. 
 It never entered into my head to investigate the 
 subject of baptism or the doctrines of the 
 creed." ^ 
 
 With Alexander Campbell, this beginning of 
 Christ's service was upon a religious basis that 
 
 1 Life of Thomas Campbell. 2 Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 49. 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 29 
 
 broadened and deepened with each increasing 
 3'ear, until it became the absorbing passion of 
 his life, the flame that shot up illuminating his 
 whole nature, the theme that never ceased to 
 inspire his tongue and pen, and that to the end 
 of his life consumed all his thought and energ}-. 
 Having accepted Christ, he accepted him for 
 service, and immediately united with the Pres- 
 bj'terian Church, to which his father ministered, 
 that he might aid in its triumphs and contribute 
 to his Master's praise. 
 
II. 
 
 UNIVERSITY LIFE. 
 
 'e come now to a series of circumstances 
 
 that changed the whole current of Alex- 
 ander Campbell's life, and made possible his 
 dream of classic attainments. Misfortune after 
 misfortune overtook his father's family, which, 
 in the end, j^roved to I)e the leadings of Provi- 
 dence towards a complete preparation for the 
 great work that was to consume his energies. 
 
 In the midst of the increasing duties of church 
 and school at Eich Hill, the father's health gave 
 way, threatening a termination of his career of 
 usefulness. As a last resort, his physicians 
 recommended a sea-voyage, in consequence of 
 which his mind turned towards the new world. 
 But from such a step he naturally shrank. He 
 was a man of warm nature and strong attach- 
 ments, and the thought of severing old ties, and 
 especially of separation for a time from his fam- 
 ily, to whose welfare he was devoted, was painful 
 to him, indeed. At this point, Alexander helped 
 his father to a decision by declaring his own 
 intention of emigrating to America as soon as 
 he had attained his nuijority, and by further 
 
 (30) 
 
UNRTERSITY LIFE 
 
 31 
 
 assuring him of his readiness to continue the 
 school and look after the welfare of the family 
 during his absence. So, after much prayerful 
 consideration, and many misgivings, it was 
 finally decided that Thomas Campbell should 
 immediately embark upon the voyage across the 
 Atlantic, and that as soon as a suitable location 
 had been found in the new world, the other 
 members of the family should follow. On this 
 errand he started out, leaving his native land in 
 the early spring of 1807. After a voyage, at 
 that time reckoned as a remarkably quick one, 
 of thirty-five days, he landed in Philadelphia, 
 and imuiediately proceeded to Western Penn- 
 sylvania, whither several of his old neighbors 
 had preceded him. Here he met with a hearty 
 welcome, and found the conditions for a time 
 favorable for the reception of truths he long 
 had cherished as indispensable to the ultimate 
 triumph of Christianity. 
 
 In the meantime, the cares and support of 
 the large family fell upon the shoulders of Alex- 
 ander, who, though but an inexperienced youth 
 of nineteen, assumed the new responsibilities 
 with the wisdom and discretion of one of 
 raaturer years. Among other duties which his 
 father's departure placed upon him was the 
 management of the Academy which he assumed 
 until the close of the term. As months wore on 
 and no arrangement had as yet been made for 
 
32 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 the removal of the family, Alexander, anxious 
 to improve his time, accepted the position of 
 assistant in the school conducted by his uncle 
 Archibald, at Newry, some miles distant from 
 his home village. While thus engaged, word 
 came from his father, bringing assurance that a 
 new home had been provided, and urging the 
 family to make immediate preparation for the 
 voyage. This was in March, 1808. But before 
 the final prepat'ation was completed misfortune 
 again overtook the Campbells. The community 
 was visited by a scourge of small-pox, which 
 invaded the Campbell home and delayed their 
 departure until autumn. When all were con- 
 valescent, another attempt was made to join the 
 father, which at first promised to be successful. 
 The family were permitted to embark on one of 
 the slow sailing vessels of that time, for a long 
 voyage, with a promised reunion, in the end, in a 
 happy home in the new Avorld. 
 
 But here another calamity befell them. They 
 were scarcely out of the harbor of Lough Foyle, 
 before a terrible gale swept the vessel in which 
 they had sailed on to the rocky coast of Western 
 Scotland. After three days of alarm and uncer- 
 tainty, they were stranded upon a hidden rock, 
 and left to the mercy of wind and wave. For 
 hours the fortune of the ship was imperiled, no 
 one knowing at what moment the vessel might 
 go down. Signals of distress were given in vain, 
 
UNIVERSITY LIFE 
 
 33 
 
 and all were ia momentary expectation of death. 
 
 It was in the intense anguish of this awful 
 hour that the future of Alexander Campbell was 
 forged. Having done what he could for the 
 safety and comfort of the family, he sat on the 
 stump of a broken mast and abandoned himself 
 to reflection. In the near prospect of death he 
 awoke to an appreciation of the meaning and 
 mission of earthly existence, and to the folly of 
 earthly aim and ambition. Life came to him 
 with new meaning, and its true object appeared 
 as he had never before conceived it. Only one 
 motive seemed worthy of human effort, and that 
 the salvation and everlasting happiness of man- 
 kind. It was then that he formed the resolu- 
 tion that, if saved from the threatening peril, he 
 would give himself wholly to God and his ser- 
 vice, and spend his entire life as a minister of 
 the Word. While engaged in these solemn 
 reflections, relief was unexpectedly brought to 
 the distressed vessel. The inhabitants of a vil- 
 lage on the neighboring shore were at last made 
 aware of its peril, and by their heroic efforts 
 rescued the entire company of the ill-fated ship, 
 and gave them hospitable i-eception until pro- 
 vision could be made for the continuance of 
 the voyage. 
 
 This disaster, besides leading to the decision 
 that secured to the world the invaluable services 
 of Alexander Campbell as a preacher of the 
 
34 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 Gospel, contributed in another way to the effi- 
 ciency of his labors. After the rescue from 
 shipwreck, and before the eifects of the family 
 could be put in readiness for a renewal of the 
 voyage, the season had so far advanced as to 
 make it impracticable to brave the dangers of the 
 winter's storms. So it was decided to pass the 
 winter in Scotland. This disappointment, keen 
 as it was to the family of pilgrims, was an 
 important factor in Alexander's preparation for 
 the work to which he had recently dedicated his 
 life. It needed the touch of a trained mind to 
 perform the task for which Providence was fash- 
 ioning him. So, this seeming calamity was now 
 to prove a blessing in opening up the way to the 
 long-deferred university studies, and an impor- 
 tant event in the train of circumstances which 
 contributed to his equipment for ^the work of 
 the ministry. 
 
 As the father had seen university life at Glas- 
 gow, Alexander determined to spend the next 
 few months within the shadow of the same ven- 
 erable institution. So the family at once moved 
 to Glasgow, and were soon settled within reach 
 of the university. 
 
 Here Alexander, with his unquenchable thirst 
 for knowledge, bent all the energies of his great 
 mind in tlie mastery of such studies as would 
 best fit him to preach the "Word of Life. His 
 student life, though of short duration, was one 
 
UNR-ERSITY LIFE 
 
 35 
 
 of intense mental activity. The habits of indus- 
 try and early rising formed in jouth now served 
 him to good purpose. It was his custom to be- 
 gin his work at four o'clock, and not to lay aside 
 his books until ten at night. By an economical 
 use of time, he was enabled, not only to keep in 
 the front rank of his classes, but to do a vast 
 amount of general reading. The list of books 
 read during his one winter in Glasgow, of which 
 he kept a memorandum, and from which he 
 made copious extracts in his commonplace 
 book, included poetry, ethics, natural history, 
 philosophy, theology, in fact, seemed to cover 
 the whole range of moral and philosophical 
 investigation. Such was his capacity for work, 
 that in addition to his studies he managed to 
 largely defray his expenses by teaching private 
 classes in Latin, grammar and arithmetic. 
 
 Another marked characteristic of his student 
 life was his punctuality. He was never late at 
 class. At every roll call he was on hand to 
 respond, as the custom then >as, with ad sxim. 
 It is related that some of the students, observing 
 his habit, formed a plot to prevent him from 
 entering the class-room until after the roll was 
 called. Rushing upon him at the ringing of the 
 bell, they seized him and attempted to hold him 
 back until his name was passed. But, antici- 
 pating their purpose, with almost herculean 
 strength, he shook them off, rushed up the col- 
 
36 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 lege steps, and entered the class-room door just 
 as his name was called. 
 
 While engaged in his studies at Glasgow, 
 Alexander Avas brought under religious influ- 
 ences that were ultimately to change the whole 
 cast of his theologj', and which proved the final 
 stage in the preparation of the young man for 
 his work. 
 
 At a much earlier period his mind was awak- 
 ened to some of the evils of sectarianism. One 
 of the first subjects that attracted his attention 
 after his conversion, was the history of the 
 church. His mind, as he read, was filled with 
 wonder at the strange fortunes of Christianity; 
 and what surprised him most of all, was the 
 numerous divisions into which religious society 
 had broken. From the beginning he had been a 
 keen observer of men and things, and that 
 power he now used in the study of denomiaa- 
 tionalism. The first to claim his attention and 
 stir within him a feeling of abhorrence, was the 
 Church of Rome with its superstitions, its cere- 
 monials, its spiritual despotisms. That feeling 
 he continued to cherish through life, regax'ding 
 the Papacy as the bitterest foe of Gospel tri- 
 umph. But when he turned from the dark 
 chapter of Roman corruption and tyranny to the 
 study of Protestantism, the spectacle was fat 
 from inviting. Instead of presenting a united 
 fi'ont to its dangerous foe, it was rent into help- 
 
UNIVERSITY LIFE 
 
 37 
 
 less fragments. Party-spirit reigned supreme. 
 Denominations, almost without number, had 
 been built on the most trivial differences. Even 
 the Presbyterian Church, to one branch of which 
 he belonged, had separated into numerous divi- 
 sions, — National Church, Seceders, Burghers, 
 Anti-Burghers, Old-Lights, New-Lights, etc., — 
 thus checking the progress of truth and filling 
 the religious world with confusion. All this, 
 even at an early stage of his religious develop- 
 ment, he regarded with the greatest antipathy, a 
 feeling which was shared by his pious father. 
 
 It was, however, the cherished desire of 
 Thomas Campbell that his son should become a 
 minister in the branch of the Seceder Church to 
 which he belonged. And as yet Alexander had 
 no thought of pursuing any other course. 
 Brought up in the most rigid Calvinistic school, 
 it was no easy task to abandon all that he had 
 learned, for what he ultimately came to believe 
 to be the teaching of the Word of God. So, 
 while pained at the bitterness of the religious 
 strife about him, he had entered the Univer- 
 sity of Glasgow with no other purpose than the 
 newly-formed one of preparing himself for the 
 ministry of the Presbyterian Church. But the 
 religious atmosphere of Glasgow began at once 
 to exert a modifying influence upon his views, 
 and was destined to work an entire revolution in 
 his convictions and feelings with respect to exist- 
 
38 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 ing denominations. In aftei* years, in explain- 
 ing his course, he declai-ed that he had " imbibed 
 disgust at the popular schemes, chiefly while a 
 student at Glasgow." 
 
 Among the circumstances which contributed 
 to this change was his meeting with Greville 
 Ewing, pastor of an Independent Church in 
 Glasgow, to whom he brought a letter of intro- 
 duction. This meeting was a fortunate one for 
 the young student. An acquaintance sprang up 
 between them which ripened into intimacy, and 
 which brought Alexander into touch with a 
 group of earnest men, who were at that time 
 making themselves felt as a religious power, not 
 only in Glasgow, but throughout Scotland. Tak- 
 ing a deep interest in young Campbell, Mr. 
 Ewing often invited him to tea at his home. On 
 these pleasant occasions he frequently met Rob- 
 ert and James Haldane, two brothers of wealth 
 and influence, who were devoting their fortunes 
 to the establishment of a better religious condi- 
 tion in Scotland. 
 
 In their zeal for the revival of the Lord's 
 work, these brothers began to search the Word 
 of God for a remedy for the religious deadness 
 of the times. They soon discovered a wide dis- 
 crepancy between the religious practices of the 
 churches of their acquaintance and that author- 
 ized by the Scriptures. Believing this to be the 
 chief cause of religious dearth, they became the 
 
UNRTRSITY LIFE 
 
 39 
 
 heralds of a return to the Gospel requirements. 
 The deep earnestness of their purpose is seen in 
 the surrender which they made of their worldly 
 ambition and fortune. The elder, Robert, arose 
 from the study of his Bible declaring, " Chris- 
 tianity is everything or nothing. If it be true, it 
 warrants and commands every sacrifice to pro- 
 mote its influence." From that time he, to- 
 gether with his brother, became the leader of a 
 movement to reform the church and quicken a 
 new religious interest in society. As evidence of 
 acceptance with God, they preached the neces- 
 sity of faith in his Son, rather than dependence 
 on emotions, which men were taught to regard 
 as assurances of salvation. Everywhere this 
 movement, which for a time spread x'apidly, was 
 characterized by renewed devotion to the Script- 
 ures; and many changes were made from exist- 
 ing practices in order to bring their obedience 
 into closer conformity to the New Testament 
 model. For example, while the Scottish Chui'ch 
 celebrated the Lord's Supper only twice a year, 
 Mr. Ewing was the first to introduce the custom 
 of celebrating it every Lord's day, as more in 
 harmony with the Scriptures. Later still, this 
 movement led its adherents to abandon infant 
 baptism as unscriptural, and finally to submit to 
 immersion as the only authorized form of bap- 
 tism. 
 
 While Alexander was in the midst of his stud- 
 
40 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 ies, this agitation was at its height; and his 
 warm friendship for its chief promoters caused 
 him the more earnestly to investigate the truth 
 of their claims. Cherishing as he did the feel- 
 ing of religious unrest, he listened the more 
 readily to men, who, like himself, were longing 
 for some better way than the old beaten paths of 
 tradition. Though not as yet accepting their 
 peculiar views, a profound impression was made 
 upon his mind, and the defense of the principles 
 which they advocated, in a modified form, was 
 destined to become the ruling passion of his life 
 and ministry. 
 
 At last his doubts led him to question his right 
 to continue in the fellowship of the Seceder 
 Church. The crucial hour came at the semi- 
 annual communion service, near the close of his 
 sojourn in Glasgow. It was the custom to sup- 
 ply all who, according to the rules of the church, 
 were entitled to a place at the Lord's Supper, 
 with a metallic token, thus shutting out those 
 deemed unworthy of this solemn privilege. 
 Though filled with conscientious misgivings 
 about sanctioning a religious system which he 
 no longer approved, he finally decided to apply 
 for a token. As he had no letter of recommend- 
 ation from his home church in Ireland, it was 
 necessary for him to pass an examination on the 
 previous Saturday before the elders. This he 
 did to the satisfaction of all. But when the 
 
uni\t;rsity life 
 
 41 
 
 hour for the celebration of the Lord's Supper 
 arrived, his scruples overcame him, and instead 
 of taking his place among the communicants, he 
 cast his token into the plate that was passed 
 around, and declined to partake with the rest. 
 The ring of that token, as it fell from his hands, 
 like the ring of Martin Luther's hammer on the 
 door of the Wittenberg cathedral, announced 
 his renunciation of the old church ties, and 
 marks the moment at which he forever ceased to 
 recognize the claims or authority of a human 
 creed to bind upon men the conditions of their 
 acceptance with God. Henceforth, he resolved, 
 with the help of God, to stand for the defense 
 of " the faith which was once delivered unto the 
 saints." 
 
 While this evolution was going on in the heart 
 of Alexander Campbell, the university session 
 closed, and with it his college career. Though 
 his course at the university was a short one, cov- 
 ering less than a year, he left it with a well- 
 stored mind, and with powers trained for that 
 keen logical discrimination which in later years 
 contributed to his fame as a reasoner and 
 debater. 
 
 Spring was now well advanced, but as there 
 was no prospect of obtaining a suitable vessel 
 for America for some time, he accepted the 
 position of tutor to the young people of a num- 
 ber of families, who were spending the summer 
 
42 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 at a watering-place near Glasgow. Here, " freed 
 from the routine and coatineinent of the college 
 course, he spent some time very delightfully, in 
 the midst of a highly cultivated and refined 
 society," regretting only that the social and 
 other duties of his position left iiim little time 
 for reading and study. 
 
III. 
 
 EMIGRATION TO AMERICA. 
 
 'wo YEARS and more had passed since the 
 
 departure of Thomas Campbell for Ameri- 
 ca, when the other members of the family were, 
 on August 3, 1809, at last permitted to embark 
 on the voyage which was to bring them together. 
 We have seen how those years were spent by 
 Alexander in diligent preparation for his future 
 life-work. Leaving him to pursue the long and 
 trying ocean voyage, let us see what the father 
 had been doing in that time. 
 
 While Alexander Campbell's religious convic- 
 tions were being remodeled by the influences at 
 work at Glasgow, events were shaping them- 
 selves, under his father's ministry, for the exer- 
 cise of his great gifts. New ideas demanded 
 new soil. The fixed and conservative conditions 
 of old-world society were inhospitable to new 
 truths. The movement of the Haldanes and 
 Ewings, which, as we have seen, led Alexander 
 into new ways of thinking, ultimately failed of 
 results, save as it imparted vitality to the exist- 
 ing religious order. 
 A new field awaited this fearless young chani- 
 
 (43; 
 
44 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 pion of truth across the sea,. Amidst the unset- 
 tled social conditions of America a soil was 
 being prepared for the planting. Thomas Camp- 
 bell, on his arrival in Western Pennsylvania in 
 1807, at once found a promising field of labor 
 among the hardy pioneers who had preceded 
 him, and was soon recognized as a man of extra- 
 ordinary power of heart and mind. But he was 
 not long in discovering that, though he breathed 
 the air of political freedom, the old spirit of 
 religious intolerance and sectarian bigotry from 
 which he fled, prevailed even here. He was 
 pained to find the party spirit of Christian 
 society even more hostile and bitter than it had 
 been in the neighborhood of his early ministry. 
 In his zeal for Christian triumph he, felt it to be 
 his mission to attempt the correction of this dis- 
 order by infusing into the church to which he 
 now ministered his own broad spirit of philan- 
 thropy and Christian fellowship. 
 
 Notwithstanding the sparsely settled condition 
 of Western Pennsylvania at that time, Thomas 
 Campbell found the representatives of various 
 religious bodies striving to keep up their sepa- 
 rate organizations, each drawing the lines of fel- 
 lowship closely about them, shutting out from 
 the sex'vice and communion of Christ all who 
 were not able to pronounce their party shib- 
 boleths. He was especially grieved to find that 
 this was true of his own Presbyterian brethren. 
 
EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 
 
 45 
 
 The old contention between Burgher and Anti- 
 Burgher, even on soil where the cause of their 
 contention was removed/ continued to engender 
 bitterness, each party denj ing to the other the 
 ordinary privileges of Christian society. Other 
 religious parties Avere not more charitable. In 
 this way many an isolated family in the newly 
 and thinl}' settled country, though deeply earn- 
 est in their Christian devotion, were deprived of 
 Christian fellowship and even of the precious 
 privilege of remembering their Lord's death in 
 his memorial supper. 
 
 So generous were bis own Christian sympa- 
 thies, that Thomas Campbell determined to do 
 what he could to remedy these evils, and bring 
 what consolation was in his power to the lonely 
 pioneers, who felt their greatest sacrifice to be 
 the loss of religious privileges which had been 
 theirs in the old home-church elsewhere. 
 
 An opportunity soon presented itself for a 
 practical application of his cherished views on 
 the unity of Christ's followers. He was sent to 
 minister to a few scattered brethren who were 
 living some distance up the Alleghany, and to 
 hold among them a communion service. Drawn 
 together by his preaching were several families 
 who had been members of other branches of 
 
 iTliis division arose over the question whether certain 
 oaths required by the burgesses of towns in Scotland were 
 not unlawful, those favoring the oath being called Burgh- 
 ers, the opposing party Anti-Burghers. 
 
46 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 the Presbyterian Church. His great heart was 
 aroused with sympathy for these who were *' as 
 sheep without a shepherd." Many of them had 
 not enjoyed the privilege of the Lord's Supper 
 for a long time. In his preparation sermon he 
 lamented the existing divisions of the church, 
 and, feeling it his duty to exercise as broad a 
 charity as he preached, he closed by inviting all 
 his pious hearers who were so disposed, irre- 
 spective of pai-ty differences, to join in the 
 enjoyment of the communion season near at 
 hand. For this act of liberality Mr. Campbell 
 was speedily called to account. A young minis- 
 ter who had witnessed his unprecedented pro- 
 cedui'e, hastened to prefer charges against him 
 at the next meeting of the Presbytery, on the 
 ground that he had failed to adhere to the 
 standards and usages of the church. After an 
 investigation, which called from him a most 
 earnest plea in behalf of Christian liberty and 
 fraternity, he was found deserving of censure. 
 In Vain did Mr. Campbell protest against the 
 treatment he had received at the hands of his 
 brethren. In vain did he appeal from Presby- 
 tery to Synod. Party spirit was unyielding. He 
 had expressed sentiments, it insisted, which 
 were " very different from sentiments held and 
 professed by the church." This, it held, was an 
 altogether sufficient ground of censure. From 
 that time many of his fellow ministers became 
 
EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 
 
 47 
 
 inimical to him, and were disposed to inflict on 
 him at every opportunity their petty persecu- 
 tions. Speaking to his son afterward of these 
 trials, and of the jealousy and animosity that 
 were now continually manifested toward him, he 
 expressed it as his sincere conviction that 
 " nothing but the law of the land had kept his 
 head upon his shoulders." 
 
 At first Thomas Campl)ell, moved by a sense 
 of loyalty to the church, submitted to the decis- 
 ion of his brethren, though insisting that his 
 submission must not be I'egarded as a change of 
 sentiment on his part, but merely an act of 
 deference. After this concession he hoped that 
 he would be permitted to continue his labors in 
 peace. But, much to his regret, the hostility of 
 bis opponents continued. Misrepresentation, 
 calumny, anything that would detract from his 
 influence, were employed against him. Spies 
 were employed to attend his meetings, that, if 
 possible, they might find fresh ground of accu- 
 sation in his utterances. At last, worn out with 
 these efforts, and having satisfied himself that 
 corruption, bigotry and tyranny were inherent 
 in existing clerical organizations, he decided to 
 sever his connection with the religious body to 
 which he had given life-long support, renouncing 
 the authority of the Presbytery and Synod, and 
 announcing his abandonment of all these organ- 
 izations. 
 
48 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 By a strange coincident, not long after this 
 withdrawal of Thomas Campbell from the fel- 
 lowship of the Seceder Church in Western Penn- 
 sj'lvania, his son, Alexander, without knowledge 
 of his father's course, read himself out of the 
 Presbyterian Church at Glasgow, by casting his 
 metallic token in the plate, refusing by this act 
 to sanction a system which he felt to be antag- 
 onistic to the spirit of Christ's prayer for the 
 unity of his followers. Thus father and son, 
 though separated by thousands of miles, had 
 apparently acted in spiritual unison, and now 
 found themselves in the anomalous attitude of 
 servants of Christ without a church in which to 
 serve him. But in withdrawing from the Seced- 
 ers, it was no more a part of Thomas Campbell's 
 plan to cease preaching the Word, than it was 
 that of his son to abandon the work to which he 
 had recently dedicated his life. 
 
 These painful experiences of Thomas Camp- 
 bell soon led to important consequences. By his 
 forced withdrawal from the Presbytery of the 
 Seceders, he found himself without church affil- 
 iations. But that did not prevent him from 
 continuing to preach Christ, or from seeking the 
 extension of his kingdom. It only quickened 
 his zeal in the cause that had always been near 
 his heart, the union of Christ's followers in the 
 bonds of a great fellowship and the end of the 
 
EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 
 
 49 
 
 unseemly strife that had caused him constant 
 pain. 
 
 He at once called together a company of 
 friends, who, through his great personal influ- 
 ence, had become devotedly attached to him, and 
 continued to preach to them the Word of Life. 
 As the doors of the churches in which he for- 
 merly ministered were now closed against him, 
 he was compelled to accept such accommoda- 
 tions as presented themselves. When the 
 weather permitted he would gather his audi- 
 ences beneath the shelter of a grove ; but gener- 
 ally the houses of his old Irish neighbors were 
 selected as the meeting-place of those who were 
 drawn together by the foi'ce of his plea for 
 Christian liberality and Christian union. In 
 these labors it was no part of his plan to organ- 
 ize a separate religious party. Such parties were 
 already too numerous. At first he seems to have 
 had no definite plan of action. He had simply 
 determined to use his strength in such ways as 
 Providence should open to him, in putting an 
 end to party ism, by inducing the different de- 
 nominations to unite together on the Bible. In 
 this purpose many of his neighbors heartily 
 sympathized with him, though as yet shrinking 
 from the conclusions to which they were being 
 irresistibly di'iven. 
 
 At last the times seemed ripe for some for- 
 ward movement. Thomas Campbell proposed a 
 
50 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 special meeting, in which some formal state- 
 ment of the princi[)!e.-! lie had been advocating 
 might be made, and the movement given a wider 
 consideration. A day was consequently named, 
 and at the appointed time a large company as- 
 sembled in an old farm-house in the neighbor- 
 hood. The company was composed of thought- 
 ful men, deeply conscious of the importance of 
 the occasion. They did not bear credentials of 
 great religious establishments to legislate for the 
 church, or to invent tests of orthodoxy. And 
 yet it may be doubted whether our country has 
 witnessed a more important religious gathering. 
 They were plain, hard-working pioneers, but 
 they were men of faith, whose hearts were 
 pained at the divided state of the church. 
 Though belonging to different religious parties, 
 they had met to seek a pathway to closer fellow- 
 ship. 
 
 A feeling of deep solemnity pervaded the en- 
 tire assembly, when, at length, Thomas Camp- 
 bell arose to address them. The theme of the 
 occasion had grown to be the burden of his 
 heart. It was, therefore, with unusual force 
 that he dwelt upon the manifold evils of a 
 divided Christendom, and claimed for the Bible 
 the right of determining the basis of Christian 
 union. He closed this remarkal)le addi'css with 
 that famous dcchii-alion, which has since l^ecome 
 the watchword o£ the Disciples of Christ: 
 
EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 
 
 51 
 
 " Where the /Scriptures speak, loe speak; xohere 
 the Scriptures are silent, loe are silent.'^ 
 
 It is said that upon the declaration of this 
 principle a solemn silence followed. Then a 
 Scotch Seceder, Andrew Munro, arose and said: 
 " If we adopt that as a basis, then there is an 
 end of infant baptism." Another became so 
 affected by the consequences involved, that he 
 burst into tears, after uttering a protest, and 
 left the house. All felt that they had reached 
 a crisis in their religious history. The assembly 
 dispersed without any decisive action, but it had 
 witnessed the birth-hour of an important move- 
 ment. From this moment must be dated the 
 ''formal and actual commencement of the re- 
 formation," which has since been carried for- 
 ward with so large a measure of success. 
 
 This important meeting was followed by an- 
 other, on August 17, 1809, at which an organiza- 
 tion was formed for the purpose of more effect- 
 ually carrying out the principles to which its 
 members had now become devoted. They called 
 themselves "The Christian Association of Wash- 
 ington," and selected a committee of twenty- 
 one to confer together with reference to some 
 definite plan of action. To Thomas Campbell 
 was intrusted the work of drawing up articles of 
 agreement. These he was able to present at a 
 meeting of his brethren, Sept. 7, under the title 
 of "A Declaration and Address." This docu- 
 
52 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 ment bears so important a relation to the work 
 inaugurated by Thomas Campbell and his illus- 
 trious son, that it deserves careful study. 
 Omitting the greater portion of the preamble, 
 the Declaration, submitted for the approval of 
 those pioneer reformers, was as follows: 
 
 " Our desire for ourselves and our brethren 
 would be, that, rejecting human opinions and 
 the inventions of men as of any authority, or as 
 having any place in the church of God, we 
 might forever cease from further contentions 
 about such things; returning to and holding fast 
 by the original standard; taking the Divine 
 Word alone for 'our rule; the Holy Spirit for 
 our teacher and guide, to lead us into all truth; 
 and Christ alone, as exhibited in the word, for 
 our salvation; that by so doing, we may be at 
 peace among ourselves, follow' peace with all 
 men, and holiness, without which no man shall 
 see the Lord. Impressed with these sentiments 
 we have resolved as follows : 
 
 " 1. That we form ourselves into a religious 
 association under the denomination of the Chris- 
 tian Association of Washington, for the sole 
 purpose of pi-omoting simple evangelical Chris- 
 tianity, free from all mixture of human opinions 
 and inventions of men. 
 
 " 2. That each member, according to ability, 
 cheerfully and liberally subscribe a certain 
 specified sum to be paid half-yearly, for the pur- 
 
EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 
 
 53 
 
 pose of raising a fund to support a pure Gospel 
 ministry, that shall reduce to practice that whole 
 form of doctrine, worship, discipline and gov- 
 ernment, expressly revealed and enjoined in the 
 Word of God; and also for supplying the poor 
 with the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 " 3. That this society considers it a duty and 
 shall use all proper means in its power, to en- 
 coui'age the formation of similar associations; 
 and shall for this purpose hold itself in readi- 
 ness, upon application, to correspond with, and 
 render all possible assistance to, such as may 
 desire to associate for the same desirable and 
 important purposes. 
 
 "4. That this society by no means considers 
 itself a church, nor does at all assume to itself 
 the powers peculiar to such a society ; nor do 
 the members, as such, consider themselves as 
 standing connected in that relation, nor as at all 
 associated for the peculiar purposes of church 
 association, but merely as voluntary advocates 
 for church reformation; and as possessing the 
 powers common to all individuals, who may 
 please to associate in a peaceable, orderly man- 
 ner, for any lawful purpose, namely, the dis- 
 posal of their time, counsel and propei'ty, as 
 they may see cause. 
 
 " 5. That this society, formed for the sole 
 purpose of promoting simple, evangelical Chris- 
 tianity, shall, to the utmost of its power, coun- 
 
54 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 tenance and support such ministers, and such 
 only, as exhibit a manifest conformity to the orig- 
 inal standard in conversation and doctrine, in zeal 
 and diligence ; only such as reduce to practice 
 that simple, original form of Christianity, ex- 
 pressly exhibited upon the sacred page ; without 
 attempting to inculcate anything of human 
 authority, of private opinion, or inventions of 
 men, as having any place in the constitution, 
 faith, or worship of the Christian Church, or 
 any thing as of Christian faith or duty, for 
 which there can not be expressly produced a 
 •Thus saith the Lord,' either in express terms, 
 or by approved precedent."^ 
 
 Other resolutions, regulating the organization 
 and fixing the time of the association meetings 
 were added. This declaration was followed by 
 a lengthy address in which were more fully stated 
 and developed the principles of the movement, 
 the whole, when put in type, filling fifty-four 
 closely printed pages. This important docu- 
 ment was at once adopted as the constitution of 
 the association, and became the Magna Charta 
 of the new religious movement now in its in- 
 fancy. When we take into consideration the 
 slavish subjection to customs and traditions 
 which characterized the times, this is, in many 
 respects, one of the most remarkable unin- 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 243. 
 
EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 
 
 55 
 
 spired statements that religious history has 
 produced. 
 
 While these events, of deep religious impor- 
 tance, were transpiring in Western Pennsyl- 
 vania, word was brought Thomas Campbell that 
 his family had landed in New York. Putting a 
 copy of the newly-adopted address in liis pocket, 
 he hastened overland to meet them in their tedi- 
 ous journey by wagon across the country. It 
 was his deep concern that his son be made 
 acquainted with, and share in, the woi'k that 
 now engaged his attention; but he was some- 
 what anxious lest his new attitude should dis- 
 turb the pei-fect sympathy which had hitherto 
 characterized their relationship. 
 
 In the meantime, Alexander, as he pursued his 
 slow journey over the mountains, most of the 
 way on foot, was not a little disturbed at the 
 possible consequences of the meeting. He had 
 not had the courage to write his father of his 
 withdrawal from the old church, and now feared 
 lest his changed course would bring him pain. 
 In this attitude of mind the meeting between 
 father and family occurred on the highway, some 
 three or four days' journey from the new home. 
 It was natural that, after the first fond greet- 
 ings, two such spirits as Thomas Campbell and 
 his son would find opportunity to consider 
 those weightier matters which pertained to 
 their spiritual welfare. Happy was the surprise 
 
56 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 of both, when each learned that the other no 
 longer adhered to the old religious party in 
 which they had been reared. Alexander, who 
 was ever conscious of the guiding hand of a 
 higher Power, could not but admire the ways of 
 Providence, which had, through bitter experi- 
 ences, delivered each from the shackles of creed, 
 so that instead of painful differences, they found 
 themselves in perfect sympathy and accord. 
 
 It is fitting in this connection, after having 
 observed the inauguration of the movement 
 toward Christian union in Western Pennsylvania, 
 to note, briefly, other conditions which greeted 
 Alexander Campbell on his arrival in America, 
 and contributed to the f ruitfulness of the soil he 
 was to cultivate. 
 
 The opening years of the century witnessed a 
 great revival, which, notwithstanding the hin- 
 drances presented by sectarian bitterness, swept 
 over the entire country. The country had sud- 
 denly awakened from the deadening influence of 
 skepticism which followed the French Revolu- 
 tion, and men were everywhere seeking for the 
 old faith, which, in their mad delusion, they had 
 abandoned. In this frame of mind they were 
 ready to investigate whatever promised to bring 
 them into closer fellowship with God. About 
 the same time the Total Abstinence Society be- 
 gan its work, greatly adding to the moral power 
 of the church, by cleansing it of tlie blighting 
 
EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 
 
 57 
 
 curse of drunkenness, and laying the foundation 
 of an era of temperance reform, which has since 
 proved the most useful handmaiden of the 
 church in the work of human redemption. Dur- 
 ing the very month that Alexander Campbell 
 landed at New York, four young men of 
 Williams and Andover met together to dedicate 
 themselves to the work of foreign missions, in- 
 augurating the new missionary era, and becom- 
 ing the forerunners of an army of Christian 
 heroes, who have since planted the cross of 
 Chi'ist in every pagan land. 
 
 On this new and rising wave of religious feel- 
 ing came this young prophet of God, commis- 
 sioned to speak burning words against the bitter 
 hatred of sectarianism, and to call men's atten- 
 tion to the old landmarks which had been hid- 
 den beneath the theological rubbish of centuries. 
 The field was ripe, and the laborer, equal to the 
 task of the reaping, was at hand. 
 
IV. 
 
 MINISTERIAL PEEPARATION. 
 'homas Campbell had provided a home, such 
 
 as the newlj'-settled country afforded, in 
 the village of Washington, where the family 
 circle was now happily reunited. Here a new 
 world opened before the vision of Alexander. 
 Western Pennsylvania was at that time the 
 West, and its life and society were fashioned 
 largely after the type of its wild and unculti- 
 vated surroundings; for those sturdy pioneers 
 had little time or disposition to consider or cul- 
 tivate the amenities of life. The study of these 
 new conditions afforded for his inquisitive mind 
 an agreeable occupation, and the spirit of liberty 
 which was manifest on every hand accorded 
 with his own independence of chai'acter. 
 
 These observations and studies were, however, 
 not allowed to interfere with the more serious 
 work of completing his preparation for the min- 
 istry. His studies, thus far, had been of those 
 subjects which were intended to contribute to 
 his mental discipline, without special reference 
 to his life work. He had known the Scriptures 
 from his youth, but ho felt the need of a more 
 thorough acquaintance with the Word- of God, 
 
 (58) 
 
MINISTERIAL PREPARATION 
 
 59 
 
 which he had now determined should be his only 
 rule of life. So the first year in the new home 
 was devoted to a most conscientious study of 
 the Scriptures, with the view of efficiently pre- 
 senting them to his fellowmen. These studies, 
 as those of earlier years, were under the direc- ^ 
 tion of his father, who, in lieu of a theological 
 course, advised his son to "divest himself of all 
 earthly concern, to retire to his -chamber, to 
 take up the Divine Book, and to make it the 
 subject of his study for at least six months." 
 In response to this wise counsel we discover him 
 zealously pursuing his studies, broadening and 
 deepening his knowledge of the truth, which 
 was henceforth to furnish him the weapon of his 
 warfare. The elder Campbell was now so occu- 
 pied with his endeavors to promote the cause of 
 union among the people, that he was necessarily 
 absent from home much of the time, and Alex- 
 ander was consequently thrown back upon his 
 own resources. Long disciplined,Iiowever, in the 
 school of self-education, he had no difficulty in 
 meeting the situation before him; and in drink- 
 ing from the stream that flowed pure and fresh 
 from the fountain of Divine wisdom, gained, 
 what the best theological course of the times 
 could not have given him, an unbiased acquaint- 
 ance with the Christian Scriptures. 
 
 Every moment of time, now, as at Glasgow, 
 was earnestly devoted to self-improvement. He 
 
60 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 had just entered upon his twenty-second year, 
 strong, resolute and purposeful, and felt that 
 the Master's business demanded haste. That he 
 might better account for his time, he arranged 
 for himself a plan of studies for the winter of 
 1810, to which he religiously adhered. This pro- 
 gram, which may help some of our young read- 
 ers to the better employment of neglected 
 moments, we give just as he wrote it for his own 
 guidance : 
 
 " One hour to read Greek — from 8 to 9 in the 
 morning. 
 
 " One hour to read Latin — from 11 to 12 in 
 the morning. 
 
 "One half hour to Hebrew — between 12 and 
 1 p. M. 
 
 " Commit ten verses of the Scripture to mem- 
 ory each day, and read the same in the original 
 languages with Henry and Scott's notes and prac- 
 tical^ observations. For this exercise I shall allow 
 two hours. These exercises being intended for 
 every day, will not be dispensed with. Other 
 reading and studies as occasion may serve. 
 These studies in all require four and a half 
 hours. Church history and divers other studies 
 are intended to constitute the principal part of 
 my literary pursuits. 
 
 " May God in his great mercy aiiord me time, 
 ability and inclination to attend to these inten- 
 tions, and to his name may all the glory and 
 
MINISTEKTAL PREPARATION 
 
 61 
 
 honor redound, through Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 Alexander Campbell, Sunday, Dec. 31, 1809. 
 
 In addition to these arduous, self-imposed 
 tasks, he assumed the responsibility, during the 
 hours unappropriated by study, of directing the 
 education of the .younger members of the fami- 
 ly, and in assisting Abraham Altars, a promising 
 member of the Association, in his studies pre- 
 paratory to the work of the ministry. 
 
 The coming of this remarkable young man into 
 the community was not unobserved. That Alex- 
 ander was possessed of extraordinary powers 
 was soon discovered, and inviting fields of labor 
 were repeatedly offered him. A lawyer from 
 Pittsburg, having formed his acquaintance, was 
 so favorably impressed with his attainments and 
 ability, that he urged him to take charge of an 
 academy, of which he was trustee, offering 
 $1,000 a year for his services, at that time a 
 most tempting salary. Alexander did not hesi- 
 tate to decline this flattering offer, giving as his 
 reason, unswerving loyalty to the principles ad- 
 vocated by his father, and his determination to 
 use all his energies in promoting the proposed 
 reformation. Inducements were also offered, as 
 soon as it was known that he was preparing him- 
 self for the ministry, to have him identify him- 
 self with some particular branch of the church, 
 which would assure him jiopularity and a liberal 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 278. 
 
62 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 support. The lofty impulses of his nature were 
 never better illustrated than by the rejection of 
 all these overtures, to become the champion of 
 a cause which he knew would, in all probability, 
 provoke the hostility of religious parties and 
 which promised him nothing of earthly recom- 
 pense. 
 
 In the interval of preparation for his work he 
 was, as we have noted, a keen observer of the 
 new conditions of society which surrounded him, 
 and he was far f ronr being pleased with the re- 
 sults of his observations. Coming from one of 
 the most intelligent portions of Ireland, accus- 
 tomed to educated and refined society, he was 
 often shocked at the rudeness and unwonted 
 freedom of young people in their social inter- 
 course, and especially at their want of education 
 and culture. While the enex-gy of the pioneer 
 was so largely consumed in clearing away the 
 forests, and subduing the wilderness, and pro- 
 viding for the bare necessities of life, Alexander 
 felt that there were, nevertheless, possibilities 
 within the reach of these hardy, well-meaning 
 settlers, which were being neglected. A born 
 reformer, he became convinced that the com- 
 munity needed social, as well as religious reform- 
 ation, and determined to do what was in his 
 power to correct the social follies of his new 
 surroundings. An opportunity presented itself 
 in an invitation to contribute to the columns of 
 
MINISTERIAL PREPARATIOX 
 
 63 
 
 the Reporter, a weekly paper published in the 
 village of Washington. A series of original 
 essays followed from his pen, in which he sought 
 to infuse his own lofty ideals into the hearts of 
 the young people of the community. These ap- 
 peared over the nom de plume "Clarinda," 
 and though written in a somewhat plaj-ful, yet 
 satirical vein, illustrate the deeply serious pur- 
 pose of the young man, and that command of 
 strong, effective words which made him an oppo- 
 nent to be feared in any conflict in which princi- 
 ple was involved. 
 
 A little later he undertook, through the col- 
 umns of the same journal, the more serious task 
 of educational reform. The town boasted of a 
 small, struggling institution of learning. But to 
 this student of the old world university, with its 
 stately and time-honored customs, the western 
 college seemed to smack too much of the coarse, 
 I'ude conditions of the frontier, to achieve its 
 end in the training of young men for a sphere of 
 culture and refinement. He, therefore, sought 
 by his fearless pen to awaken its faculty and 
 students to a higher conception of the aims and 
 purposes of true education. His attacks stirred 
 up a fierce controversy, which ran through many 
 numbers of the Reporter; but he enjoyed the 
 satisfaction in the end of having vanquished all 
 his opponents, and in later years received the 
 thanks of the very men whom he then transfixed 
 
64 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 on his intellectual lance. In these exercises the 
 young reformer was whetting his blade for 
 future conflicts in which he was to engage, and 
 was given a foretaste of future triumphs that 
 awaited his voice and pen, when he should fully 
 enter upon his great work. 
 
 Though Alexander Campbell's life had thus 
 far been spent in the training of mind and heart 
 for the great work of winning men to Christ, as 
 yet his powers of public address had been un- 
 tried. It was not a young people's age, and little 
 inducement or encouragement was offered them 
 in the exercise of spiritual gifts. It was their 
 place to sit at the feet of their elders in silence, 
 unless God should in some unmistakable manner 
 assure them of a call to the ministry. 
 
 Thus, at twenty-two Alexander seems never to 
 have taken even a humble part in the public 
 worship of God's house. Youthfulness, dis- 
 trust of his untried powers, and, perhaps most 
 of all, his high ideals of the ministerial office, 
 caused him to hesitate about entering the pulpit. 
 His conceptions of the necessary qualifications 
 of a minister, written in his journal while yet a 
 student at Glasgow, show that from the begin- 
 ning he had set before him a high standard. He 
 then adopted these rules, by which he seems to 
 have modeled himself in his future course as a 
 preacher : 
 
 "1. The preacher must be a man of piety, 
 
MINISTERIAL PREPARATION 
 
 65 
 
 and one who has the instruction and salvation 
 of mankind sincerely at heart. 
 
 "2. A man of modest and simple manners, 
 and ^in his public performance and general be- 
 havior must conduct himself so as to make his 
 people sensible that he has their temporal and 
 eternal welfare more at heart than anything else. 
 
 " 3. He must be well instructed in morality 
 and religion, and in the original tongues in 
 which the Scriptures are written, for without 
 them he can hardly be qualified to explain Scrip- 
 ture or to teach religion and morality. 
 
 " 4. He must be such a proficient in his own 
 language, as to be able to express every doctrine 
 and precept with the utmost simplicity, and 
 without anything in his diction either finical on 
 the one hand, or vulgar on the other. 
 
 " 5. A sermon should be composed with reg- 
 ularity and unity of design, so that all its parts 
 may have a mutual and natural connection, and 
 it should not consist of many heads, neither 
 should it be very long. 
 
 "6. A sermon ought to be pronounced with 
 gravity, modesty and meekness, and so as to be 
 distinctly heard by all the audience. 
 
 7. Let the preacher, therefore, accustom 
 himself to articulate slowly and deliver the 
 words with a distinct voice, and without artificial 
 attitudes or motions or any other affectation."^ 
 
 5 X Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 138, 
 
66 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 He had scarcely accomplished his six months 
 of retirement and studj', before his father began 
 to urge upon him the importance of entering at 
 once upon the active duties of the ministry. 
 The harvest was great; the laborers were few. 
 Almost alone the voice of Thomas Campbell 
 sounded a return to the Gospel standard, but 
 everywhere it found a responsive echo in hearts 
 that were longing to see a new and better dispen- 
 sation of things. Calls were coming faster than 
 ho could respond, and he foresaw the need of 
 just such talents as he believed his son to pos- 
 sess. 
 
 At length, with many misgivings, Alexander 
 consented to assist his father at one of his ap- 
 pointments. This was in the early spring of 
 1810. The place of meeting was a private house. 
 It was arranged that the father should deliver 
 the principal address, and that after a short in- 
 termission Alexander should speak. At the ap- 
 pointed time, he arose and spoke briefly, but 
 with an ease and power that inspired him with 
 confidence. This first effort could scarcely be 
 called a sermon. It was simply an earnest ex- 
 hortation, yet it so pleased the anxious father 
 that he was heard to say, half aloud, at the close 
 of his son's remarks, " Very well." 
 
 Encouraged by his first humble effort, and at 
 the urgent request of those who heard him, 
 Alexander now consented to prepare and deliver 
 
MINISTERIAL PREPARATION 
 
 67 
 
 a public discourse. An appointment was conse- 
 quently made for him to address a meeting on 
 July 15, at a grove a few miles distant from 
 Washington. His neighbors, who had already 
 discovered his promising abilities, gathered in 
 large numbers to hear the first discourse of the 
 youthful preacher. It was a trying hour. Many 
 a young preacher, who in the end has achieved 
 success, has gone down at the first trial, and re- 
 tired in shame, only to come forth to renewed 
 and successful effort, after days of excruciating 
 agony. But Alexander Campbell was no ordi- 
 nary young man. Like Minerva, who stepped 
 full-grown from the brain of Jove, he stepped 
 upon the platform an accomplished speaker, a 
 master of assemblies, already possessed with the 
 power to sway men's hearts. As he arose to 
 speak, his commanding figure, coupled with the 
 bloom of youthfulness which colored his cheek, 
 arrested the attention of his audience, and his 
 clear, ringing voice and quiet earnestness held 
 their interest to the end. 
 
 The text for the occasion was taken from the 
 closing verses of the Sermon on the Mount, 
 •'Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of 
 mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise 
 man, who built his house upon a rock." His 
 purpose that da^' was in perfect accord with the 
 message of the text. He had himself been sit- 
 ting, in profound and wrapt attention, at the 
 
68 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 feet of the Master, and it had become his unal- 
 terable determination to hear the sayings of 
 Christ and do them. Without pausing to con- 
 sider in detail this sermon, an outline of which 
 is preserved in his Memoirs, it is sufficient to 
 note the impression made by it upon both the 
 audience and the speaker. 
 
 The sermon had been prepared with great 
 pains, as were all his early efforts, written in full 
 and committed to memory, not a difficult task 
 for one of his grasp of mind. It embodied the 
 speaker's own deeper convictions of the truth. 
 " There was something in the reverential bearing 
 of the speaker, in the unaffected simplicity of 
 his manner, in the appropriateness of his ex- 
 pressions, and in the eax-nest, distinct intonations 
 of his clear, commanding voice, that seemed to 
 rivet the attention of all upon the thought and 
 the pictures he presented." Without attempt- 
 ing to play the orator, he had struck the key- 
 note of persuasive art. As the young preacher 
 closed his discourse, but one opinion prevailed. 
 It was the universal judgment that he could 
 preach better than his father, which, in view of 
 the reputation of Thomas Campbell as a speak- 
 er, was the highest compliment they could 
 bestow. 
 
 The effect of the discourse upon the speaker 
 himself was not less marked than its impression 
 upon the people. lie had established his repu- 
 
MINISTERIAL PREPARATION 
 
 69 
 
 tation among the members of the Association to 
 which he belonged. He had done more. He had 
 discovered Alexander Campbell to himself. To 
 his great joy he realized that he had not mis- 
 taken his calling when he dedicated his life to 
 the ministry of the Word, and it was his delight, 
 henceforth, to exercise his gifts continually for 
 the elevation of his fellowmen. 
 
 That he might escape the imputation of mer- 
 cenary motives, and that he might be actuated 
 in his course only by unselfish love for Christ, 
 he had already decided to serve his Master with- 
 out earthly reward, save that which comes from 
 a consciousness of doing good. Announcing 
 this determination to his father, the latter re- 
 plied, "Upon these principles, my son, I fear 
 you will have to wear many a ragged coat." He 
 nevertheless strictly adhered to his purpose, re- 
 fusing, during his entire ministry, to accept any 
 remuneration for the preaching of the Gospel, 
 and often, like Paul, laboring "with his own 
 hands," to provide the temporal necessities. 
 
 Having demonstrated his power as a preacher, 
 the services of Alexander Campbell were fi'om 
 this time in constant demand. The field, it is 
 true, would not be regarded as an inviting one 
 by the young preacher of to-day. No city con- 
 gregations extended calls to him. No great 
 chui-ches opened their doors that he might enter. 
 No metropolitan dailies opened their columns to 
 
70 
 
 ALEXANDER CAAIPBELL 
 
 reports of his sermons. His fame was as yet 
 confined to the scattered pioneers of his own 
 vicinity, and he gladly responded to their calls, 
 content that a door of usefulness had opened to 
 him. These early labors were carried on in the 
 neighboring villages, in the farm-house, the spa- 
 cious barn, or, when weather permitted, under 
 the shade of some inviting grove. Wherever an 
 opportunity presented itself, he went, and since 
 he had ruled the matter of compensation out of 
 the question, a congregation of poor farmers 
 afforded him as pi'omising a field as would a 
 metropolitan temple with its capital and culture. 
 Thus during the first year he preached more 
 than one hundred sermons, in all these early 
 efforts maintaining the standard he had set for 
 himself, and adding to his local reputation as a 
 preacher of extraordinary power. 
 
 A great help to the young preacher at this 
 period was the kindly criticism of his father. 
 Thomas Campbell had been ti-ained after the 
 strict rules of the Scotch Seceder clergy, in the 
 composition and arrangement of his sermons. 
 Each effort was a model of homiletic exactness. 
 These rules he was now disposed to apply for 
 the improvement of his son. It was his invari- 
 able custom, after hearing his son preach in these 
 early efforts, to test the sermon upon his return 
 home by the established rules, or when the fath- 
 er preached the son was encouraged to do the 
 
MINISTERIAL PREPARATION 
 
 71 
 
 same. The special point of this friendly criti- 
 cism was that the division of the subject ex- 
 hausted it, and that its doctrines were strictly 
 those of the text. With such a mentor, Alexan- 
 der was saved from the homiletic blunders into 
 which young ministers so often fall. 
 
 Another event in the life of Alexander Camp- 
 bell, which, while perhaps not strictly a part of 
 ministerial preparation as prescribed by the 
 Seminaries, had such a vital bearing upon his 
 life-work, that it very properly presents itself 
 for consideration in this connection. He had now 
 aiTived at an age when his thoughts turned upon 
 another subject of vital importance to human 
 welfare and happiness. He believed with the 
 Scriptures that it was not good for man to be 
 alone. Along with his great intellectual power, 
 he had a warm domestic nature, that sought and 
 found its keenest enjoyment in the home circle. 
 But, if up to this period he had seriously con- 
 templated a matrimonial alliance, his biographer 
 has not mentioned it. Indeed, from his letters 
 published in the Weekly Reporter, to which 
 allusion has already been made, he seems to 
 have taken unromantic views of the question, 
 frowning upon the unusual liberties exercised by 
 the young people of his community, and con- 
 demning with all the earnestness of his nature 
 the matrimonial yoke too carelessly assumed. 
 
 To him life was full of great problems, and 
 
72 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 the choosing of a wife who was to share in their 
 solution was not the least serious business before 
 him. His character was altogether too well- 
 balanced for his heart to run away with his head, 
 or to be led into any alliance which would not 
 further him in the great mission of his life. 
 
 The circumstances which led to his mai'riage 
 are unromantic in the extreme. His father, in 
 his ministry to the scattered saints, had formed 
 the acquaintance of John Brown, an intelligent 
 and prosperous farmer across the State line, in 
 what is now West Virginia. As Thomas Camp- 
 bell's labors frequently brought him into the 
 neighborhood, this acquaintance ripened into a 
 warm friendship. They were akin in their deep 
 interest in religious themes and in their literary 
 tastes. During one of his visits, Thomas Camp- 
 bell promised Mr. Brown some favorite books, 
 and upon his return to Washington sent them 
 down by his son Alexander. This errand was 
 destined to be an important one in his career. 
 In the family of Mr. Brown was an only daugh- 
 ter, Margaret, then some eighteen years of age, 
 whom he now for the first time met. She is 
 described as tall, slender and graceful, with a 
 sweet, benignant countenance and most engaging 
 manners. Nor was she deficient in those graces 
 of mind and heart which give to beauty its real 
 charm. She was noted in the neighborhood for 
 her piety and industry; and had enjoyed the best 
 
MINISTERIAL PREPARATION 
 
 73 
 
 educational privileges at that time provided for 
 young women. On the whole, her warm, gentle 
 nature was suited to the strong, rugged intellect 
 of the young preacher, and he was not long in 
 discovering it. He found it easy to invent or 
 discover excuses for repeating his visits. His 
 talents and acquirements soon won for him a 
 hearty welcome in the family circle, and his 
 sprightly and agreeable conversational powers 
 made him a most enjoyable companion. The 
 intimacy thus established between Alexander 
 Campbell and the Brown family led to warmer 
 feelings between the daughter and himself, which 
 ended in a proposal of marriage, and their union 
 on March 12, 1811. 
 
 Following his marriage, Mr. Campbell went to 
 live with his father-in-law; and while continuing 
 to preach at different points within the reach of 
 his new home, his delight in active exercise led 
 him at once to engage in assisting Mr. Brown in 
 the management of the farm. Having acquired 
 a practical knowledge of farming in boyhood, he 
 entered upon his new duties with the ability and 
 zeal that chai-acterized all his undertakings. 
 
 Here he also displayed his extraordinary capac- 
 ity for achievement, combining with bis daily** 
 labors on the farm an uninterrupted study of the 
 great questions that concerned him as a minister 
 of the Gospel. Physical exercise seemed only 
 to whet his mind to a keener edge; and his 
 
74 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 enjoyment of out-door life was not allowed to 
 interfere with the regular course of study which 
 he continued to prescribe for himself. As an 
 illustration of his method of study, we give the 
 following instance: "When his horses, weary 
 with the plow, were resting for a little while in 
 the shade, he would take from his pocket the 
 New Testament he always carried, and spend the 
 time in committing a portion of it to memory, or 
 in tracing out the order and method of a dis- 
 course upon some important theme." ^ He con- 
 tinued to observe the old habit, formed during 
 his student life, of early rising, and thus gained 
 many a quiet hour for study while others slept. 
 The noon-hour, too, while resting from labor, 
 was similarly occupied. He thus spent every 
 moment, disengaged from labor,either in study or 
 in conversing about the great subjects amidst 
 which he continually dwelt. In a carefully pre- 
 served catalogue he kept a list of all the books 
 he read, and a summary of all the important 
 truths they contained; and during the first year 
 of his married life he read, according to his own 
 estimate, thirty-five volumes, containing an 
 aggregate of 8,354 pages. Nor were these read 
 in a superficial manner, but with the greatest 
 care, making extensive extracts of such portions 
 as he desired to remember. 
 Thus in an obscure corner of the earth, and in 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 441. 
 
MINISTERIAL PREPARATION 
 
 75 
 
 humble occupations, Providence was fashioning 
 the mind and heart of a religious leader, who was 
 shortly, like John the Baptist in the wilderness 
 of Judea, to unmask the pharisaism of his time, 
 and to call a world of erring ecclesiasts to true 
 repentance. 
 
V. 
 
 EELIGIOUS DISCOVEEIES. 
 
 BOUT the time of Alexander Campbell's mar- 
 
 riage, a crisis came to the affairs of the 
 Christian Association. The nucleus of friends 
 who gathered about him and his venerable 
 father, began insensibly to assume the position 
 of a distinct religious body. This awakened the 
 deep concern of the elder Campbell. It had 
 never been his intention to add to the confusion 
 of the religious world by founding or encourag- 
 ing a separate religious society. Fi'om the first 
 he had insisted that the Association was in no 
 sense to be regarded as a church. It was merely 
 to be an organization of men, working through 
 the various churches to which they belonged, for 
 the union of God's children. 
 
 It had been a matter of continuous regret to 
 Thomas Campbell, that he had been compelled 
 to withdraw for a season from the church that 
 nurtured him; and now he shrank from the 
 responsibility of creating a new religious party, 
 and was disposed to the adoption of any meas- 
 ure by which such a result could be avoided. 
 Foreseeing the danger, he was led, some months 
 
 (76; 
 
RELIGIOUS DISCO^'ERIES 
 
 77 
 
 previous, through the suggestion of friends in 
 the Presbyterian Church, to consider favor- 
 ably an ecclesiastical union with that body. 
 Why should he not? His own forgiving nature 
 had refused to cherish resentment for the treat- 
 ment accorded him by his brethren. As yet he 
 and most of his followers held, in the main, to 
 the doctrines of the Westminster Confession of 
 Faith. The only alternative was the organiza- 
 tion of an independent church. Influenced by a 
 strong desire to conserve the peace of religious 
 society, he finally concluded to apply for mem- 
 bership in the Presbyterian Synod, soon to meet 
 in Washington. His son, with keener foresight, 
 did not anticipate any favorable result, but 
 acceded to his father's plans. 
 
 Accordingly Thomas Campbell appeared be- 
 fore the Synod, explaining the principles of the 
 Association to which he belonged, and asking 
 admission for himself and his brethren. His 
 friendly overtures were rejected, and his recep- 
 tion into "ministerial and Christian commun- 
 ion" denied on the vague claim that there were 
 "important reasons" for this decision. Stung 
 by this denial, and its implied reflection upon his 
 own ministerial standing, he demanded to know 
 what the "important reasons" were. He was 
 informed that the most serious were his attitude 
 of indifference toward infant baptism, his oppo- 
 sition to creeds and confessions, and the encour- 
 
78 
 
 ALEXAI^DER CAMPBELL 
 
 agement which he had given his son to preach 
 the Gospel without any regular authority. These 
 were the grounds of his offending, and not any 
 irregularity of life or conduct on his part. No 
 concessions which he could conscientiously make 
 would remove these barriers, though he humbly 
 promised to be obedient to the Synod in every 
 thing, if only he were permitted to advocate 
 "Christian union upon Christian principles." 
 This privilege he could not and would not sur- 
 render, and the Presbyterian fold was not then 
 large enough to admit him on such a platform. 
 
 Upon the failure of this well-meant effort, 
 nothing remained for the members of the Asso- 
 ciation, in their desire for church-fellowship, 
 but to resolve themselves into an independent 
 church. Thomas Campbell, with great reluc- 
 tance, finally gave his consent that steps should 
 be taken to effect such an organization, and a 
 meeting for this purpose was appointed for 
 May 4, 1811. At this meeting it was proposed 
 that admission to membership should be granted 
 to those who gave satisfactory answer to the 
 question, " What is the meritorious cause of a 
 sinner's acceptance with God?" To this test 
 question, which was never again propounded, 
 thirty gave satisfactory answers, and were 
 enrolled as the members of the new church. 
 Thomas Campbell, the originator and leader of 
 the movement, was selected as the elder, four 
 
RELIGIOUS DISCO\'ERIES 
 
 79 
 
 deacons were chosen, and Alexander Campbell, 
 whose great talents were now recognized, was 
 licensed to preach the Gospel. 
 
 Thus was formally organized a distinct relig- 
 ious communion, known as the Brush Run 
 Church, a veritable church in the wilderness. 
 These thirty valiant names, banded together in 
 the search for, and in the common pursuit of, a 
 more excellent way of Christian conquest than 
 that presented by the strife and bitterness of 
 sectarianism, formed a new band of Pilgrim 
 Fathers, before whom was an unbeaten path and 
 many perils. But right heroically did they pur- 
 sue their way in the face of obstacles that to us 
 seem almost insurmountable. 
 
 In many essential i*espects this pioneer church 
 differed from the thousands of churches which 
 have sprung from its foundation; but it had 
 already caught tbe underlying truths which cul- 
 minated in the principles to-day advocated by a 
 great Christian brotherhood. Two vital princi- 
 ples constituted its platform. The first was the 
 sole authority of tlie Bible as the basis of faith 
 and fellowship. Thomas Campbell's famous 
 declaration, "Where the Scriptures speak we 
 speak; where the Scriptures are silent we are 
 silent," made further statement of belief or 
 terms of fellowship than those given in the 
 Bible impossible. The second principle was 
 that which had consumed the life of Thomas 
 
80 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 Campbell, the exaltation of the standard of 
 union in Christ. The new church was to be a 
 beacon-light calling the attention of the world to 
 the prayer of the Master that " they all may be 
 one." Farther than this it did not, at this time, 
 seem prepared to go. Its members had not even 
 stopped to consider the logical conclusions to 
 which their own principles would lead them. 
 The plan of salvation, the form and meaning of 
 baptism, and many other questions that were 
 dividing the religious world, had not as yet 
 claimed their serious attention. But the leaven 
 had been planted, and would in time work out 
 the fullness of the Master's purpose. 
 
 That the views of Alexander Campbell were in 
 perfect accord with the main object of this newly 
 organized church, we have evidence in his own 
 utterances. "I dare not be a party man," said 
 he, " for these reasons: 
 
 " 1. Because Christ has forbidden me. He 
 has commanded us to keep the ' unity of the 
 Spii'it;' to be 'of one mind and of one judg- 
 ment;' to 'love each other with a pure heart fer- 
 vently,' and to ' call no man master' on earth. 
 
 "2. Because no party will receive into com- 
 munion all whom God would receive into 
 heaven. God loves his children more than 
 creeds, and man was not made for the Bible, but 
 the Bible for man. But if I am asked by a par- 
 
RELIGIOUS DISCOVERIES 
 
 81 
 
 tisan, Could you not join us and let these things 
 alone? I answer, no, because — 
 
 "3. The man that promotes the interest of a 
 party stands next in guilt to the man that made 
 it. The man that puts a second stone on a build- 
 ing is as instrumental in its erection as the man 
 that laid the first. He that supports a party bids 
 the party God speed ; and he that bids them God 
 speed is a partaker of their evil deeds. 
 
 "4. Because all parties oppose reformation. 
 They all pray for it; but they will not work for 
 it. None of them dare return to the original 
 standard. I speak not against any denomination 
 in particular, but against all. I speak not 
 against any system of truth, but against all ex- 
 cept the Bible. ' Hold fast the form of sound 
 words ' condemns them all. It is a doleful truth, 
 that the very persons who ought to have advo- 
 cated reformation, always opposed it."^ 
 
 The first need of the new church was a meet- 
 ing-place. Thus far the meetings had been 
 held wherever opportunity afforded, generally in 
 the houses of its devoted members. But the 
 steps recently taken made a fixed meeting-place 
 indispensable to the permanence and success of 
 the movement. The members, therefore, set to 
 work diligently in the construction of a rude 
 building at Brush Run, and so rapidly was the 
 work prosecuted by these willing hands, that by 
 
 6 1 Memoirs, vol. 1, p. 353. 
 
82 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 June in, Alexander Campbell was able to preach 
 the first fsernion in the new meeting-house. So 
 poor were most of the members that they were 
 unable to finish the intei-ior of this modest frame 
 building, and assembled in it for worship even 
 during the inclemency of winter without stoves 
 or other appointments of comfort. But the chill 
 and cheerlessness of their surroundings found 
 compensation in the ardor of their devotion and 
 the warmth of their affection which had been 
 elevated above the love of party by the love of 
 Christ. 
 
 An episode occurred at this first meeting which 
 soon led to important changes in the practice of 
 this infant church. It was resolved that the 
 Lord's Supper should be celebrated weekly, in 
 conformity with the example of the primitive 
 church; but at the first communion service it 
 was observed that several who were regarded as 
 members did not partake of the emblems. On 
 inquiry, it was discovered that they did not con- 
 sider themselves scriptural subjects, as they had 
 not been l)aplized. Upon further inquiry, it 
 was learned that they would be satisfied with 
 nothing but immersion as scriptural baptism. 
 Though Thoinas Campbell had himself been 
 sprinkled in infancy, and did not as yet question 
 the validity of his baptism, he did not scruple to 
 accede to the demands of these members, since 
 they had never been baptized. So they were 
 
RELIGIOUS DISCOVERIES 
 
 83 
 
 taken to a pool in Buffalo Creek, and with clue 
 ceremony immersed. It is curious to observe 
 the manner of this first immersion in the new 
 church, which would now scarcely be regarded as 
 befitting the solemnity of the occasion. He 
 requested the candidates to wade out into the 
 pool, to the depth of their shoulders, while he 
 climbed out on an overhanging root, and bent 
 their heads beneath the water, repeating as he 
 did so the baptismal formula. But whatever 
 may have been thought of the manner in which 
 the baptism was administered, it was significant 
 that Thomas Campbell, the leader of this 
 reformatory movement, should be the first to 
 introduce immersion, a practice which has since 
 become one of the distinguishing features of the 
 Christian Church. 
 
 The early years following the organization of 
 the Brush Run Church were eventful years in 
 the history of the new movement. Its promo- 
 ters had launched upon an untried sea, and had 
 not yet learned their bearings. But they had an 
 unfailing compass on board in the Word of God. 
 Following its direction, they were being continu- 
 ally led toward the desired haven of Truth; but 
 not without encountering many a storm of bitter 
 opposition, and many perilous experiences. 
 
 Alexander Campbell, having cut loose from 
 his old religious moorings, was now confronted 
 by many difficult problems. The way seems so 
 
84 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 plain to us that wc can scarcely conceive of the 
 trials of those pioneer days. His early religious 
 training, and the accepted customs of religious 
 society, were bai'riers that intercepted the full 
 flash of truth. But having now resolved to 
 accept nothing upon the traditions of the fath- 
 ers, he determined that each step before him 
 should be taken under scriptural guidance, and 
 not until he was clearly convinced that he was 
 following in the footsteps of the Master. This 
 accounts for the gradual unfolding of the prin- 
 ciples of the new reformation, covering a period 
 of some sixteen years, from 1811 to 1827. 
 
 Having first convinced himself of the scriptur- 
 alness of his position, he was ordained to the 
 ministry upon the recommendation of the Brush 
 Run Church on the first day of the new year 
 1812. He had already, as Ave have seen, been 
 doing acceptable work as a preacher, but he felt 
 that the time had come that his life must be 
 irrevocably dedicated to religious work. He did 
 not regai'd the ceremony of ordination as confer- 
 ring any authority which he did not already pos- 
 sess, but as a public testimony that the person 
 ordained possessed the necessary authority. 
 
 As the result of a searching self-examination 
 at this time, he has left us the following heart- 
 picture of himself, in which he enumerates the 
 Providential circumstances that made the hum- 
 
RELIGIOUS DISCOVERIES 
 
 85 
 
 ble oflfice of the ministry his tinal and unalter- 
 able choice: 
 
 "Special instances of Divine power, which I 
 consider to bind me under obligations to be 
 specially devoted to Him, with my whole mind, 
 soul and body: 1. In being born of religious 
 parents, and of course religiously educated. 
 2. In receiving an education, in some respects, 
 to qualify me for that office, and this education 
 providential in the following respects: (1) In 
 my grand desire at first being not to preach the 
 Gospel, but to shine in literary honors and afflu- 
 ence. (2) In my design being frustrated, and 
 my mind turned to desire that office. (3) In my 
 being introduced, quite contrary to expectation, 
 to the University of Glasgow, and the literary 
 advantages there. 3. In resolving, when in 
 imminent danger at sea, to serve God in this 
 way, on two occasions of extraordinary deliver- 
 ance. 4. In my situation being such upon my 
 arrival in this country, that I could not prepare 
 mj'self for any other office. 5. In the particu- 
 lar persecutions that befell my father, which shut 
 up any prospects of support in the exercise of 
 that office, yet in my giving it the preference. 
 6. In my favorable and easy circumstances for 
 that purpose. 7. In giving me a choice com- 
 panion, congenial to my inclination of serving 
 Him. 8. In giving me some desire after his 
 salvation. 9. In giving me some desire after 
 
80 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 the salvation and reformation of mankind. 
 10. In giving me tolerably good talents for edi- 
 fying others. 11. In giving me a call from the 
 church to px-each the Gospel. 12. In my desire 
 to suffer hardships and reproach in that good 
 work." ^ 
 
 It was natural that one actuated by such high 
 and disinterested motives should shrink from 
 no step urged by the dictates of conscience and 
 duty. In this we find the true spirit of a re- 
 former, and many were the changes that it soon 
 led him to make. 
 
 The question of scriptural baptism, to which 
 he had hitherto given little attention, now came 
 before him in new light. The arrival of a 
 daughter in the new home made the question of 
 infant baptism one of " immediate, practical 
 interest." From his early education, he had 
 come to look upon it as a religious act not to be 
 neglected, but he now discovered to his satisfac- 
 tion that it was without divine authority. But ^ 
 a more startling thought came to his mind while 
 engaged in this investigation. If infant baptism 
 was unscriptural, had he ever himself been bap- 
 tized? Previously he had put the question aside 
 by saying, " As I am sure it is unscriptural to 
 make this matter a term of communion, I let it 
 slip. I wish to think and let think on those 
 matters." But that answer no longer satisfied 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 381. 
 
RELIGIOUS DISCOVKKIES 
 
 87 
 
 his conscience. He must know the mind of the 
 Master. A careful study of the whole subject 
 followed. Abandoning all uninspired authori- 
 ties, he applied himself afresh to the study of 
 the Bible. 
 
 At the conclusion of this investigation, he 
 discovered that not only the baptism of infants, 
 but its administration by sprinkling, was un- 
 authorized, and that he was an unbaptized per- 
 son. In this conclusion his wife heartily con- 
 curred, and both resolved to obey the command 
 of Christ in the light of his Word. With him, to 
 resolve was to act. Wishing to proceed without 
 delay, he made application to Matthias Luce, a 
 Baptist minister of his acquaintance, to perform 
 the rite. Out of respect to his father, bethought 
 best to acquaint him with his purpose. In the 
 interview, Thomas Campbell was reticent, but 
 offered no particular objection ; and on the day 
 appointed for baptism, to the surprise of all, 
 appeared in readiness to yield similar obedience, 
 along with wife and oldest daughter. The occa- 
 sion was a memorable one. A large company of 
 friends had assembled on the banks of the Buf- 
 falo , for, having become convinced of his duty, 
 Alexander determined that the people to whom 
 he preached should have the opportunity of wit- 
 nessing this public profession of his former 
 error. 
 
 At this point, Alexander Campbell took an- 
 
88 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 other step toward the restoration of the New 
 ^ Testament pattern. Hitherto believer's baptism 
 had only been administered upon certain ac- 
 cepted tests of the spiritual fitness of the candi- 
 date, called a religious experience. Believing 
 that the only divinely-authorized prerequisite to 
 baptism was an acknowledgment of t^ie Messiah- 
 ship of Jesus, Mr. Campbell stipulated that he 
 was to receive baptism on the simple confession 
 that " Jesus is the Son of God," declaring, " I 
 have set out to follow the apostles of Christ and 
 their Master, and I will be baptized only into 
 the primitive Christian faith." 
 
 This step taken by the leaders of the new 
 movement, soon led to important changes that 
 became far-reaching in their results. 
 
 The first was the change of position which 
 Thomas and Alexander Campbell henceforth 
 sustained to the movement. Up to this point 
 Thomas Campbell had been the recognized and 
 trusted leader. It was his voice that first 
 sounded the call to God's wrangling children to 
 cease from their unseemly strife. It was his pen 
 that marked out a pathway to a broader and 
 holier fellowship. But " from the moment 
 Thomas Campbell concluded to follow the exam- 
 ple of his son in relation to baptism," the man- 
 tle of leadership passed to the latter. Without 
 rivalry or jealousy, and in the same perfect con- 
 fidence and loving companionship, they contin- 
 
RELIGIOUS DISCOVERIES 
 
 89 
 
 ued to share the hibors of the cause the}' had 
 espoused, but it was Alexander who, henceforth, 
 stood in the forefront, strong, resolute, aggres- 
 sive, the recognized leader of the Reformation, 
 intensely hated by his enemies, ardently admired 
 and loved by his friends. 
 
 The course of Alexander Campbell and his 
 father, relative to the question of baptism, was 
 soon followed by a majority of the congregation, 
 and in the end immersion was unanimously rec- 
 ognized as the only scriptural baptism. 
 
VI. 
 
 TKIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 
 
 s WAS to be expected, the attitude of the 
 
 Brush Run Chui'ch in becoming ii body of 
 immersed believers, awakened a storm of oppo- 
 sition from the Pedo-baptist ranks, and its mem- 
 bers became the subjects of no little persecu- 
 tion. Misrepresentations of all kinds were 
 freely circulated among the people. Family and 
 friendship ties were broken, and the common 
 civilities of society were denied to this new order 
 of heretics. It is i-elated that Alexander Camp- 
 bell, returning after nightfall from one of his 
 appointments about this time, was overtaken by 
 a violent storm. Calling at the home of a 
 Seceder lady, he sought shelter. Before grant- 
 ing his request she desired to know his name. 
 Being informed that it was Alexander Campbell 
 who sought her hospitality, she promptly refused 
 him admittance, giving as a reason her hostility 
 to his religious views; so he was obliged to con- 
 tinue his journey in the face of a furious tem- 
 pest, through an almost trackless forest, until he 
 reached home. 
 
 These trials, so far from discouraging this 
 
 (90; 
 
TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS 
 
 91 
 
 feeble band of reformers, served rather to 
 strengtheu their faith and purpose. Convinced 
 of the correctness of their course, they were 
 drawn more closely to each other by the petty 
 persecutions which they were now called to suf- 
 fer. " They often visited each other's houses, 
 often spending a considerable portion of the 
 night in social prayer, in searching the Scrip- 
 tures, asking and answering]questions, and sing- 
 ing hymns of praise." Thus was laid, in ob- 
 scurity and adversity, the foundation of a great 
 religious movement. 
 
 A new situation now confronted Mr. Campbell 
 and his followers. The course which brought 
 them into disfavor with Pedo-baptists secured 
 their acceptance with Baptists. Since they had 
 become iminersionists, the latter began to man- 
 ifest a friendly interest in them, and urged them 
 to become members of the Redstone Association, 
 which embraced all the Baptist churches of that 
 region. The matter was laid before the mem- 
 bers of the Brush Run Church in the autumn of 
 1813. After much hesitation and prayerful con- 
 sideration, ;it was decided to enter the Associa- 
 tion, on condition that its members should be 
 independent of all human creeds, and should 
 enjoy the privilege of preaching whatever they 
 learned from the Holy Scriptures, "regardless 
 of any creed or formula in Christendom." Up- 
 on these terms they were received, and a union 
 
92 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 was formed which for several years furnished a 
 home for this iufaut church. 
 
 Speaking of his religious views at this period, 
 Mr. Campbell said: "lam now an Independ- 
 ent in church government and a Baptist in so 
 far as respects baptism." While differing in 
 many things from the views held by the Baptist 
 ministers with whom he was associated, he was 
 ready to grant that liberty of opinion which, had 
 it been granted him in turn, might have led to a 
 permanent and happy union in Christ's service. 
 
 In the meantime Mr. Campbell continued to 
 preach in connection with his labors on the 
 farm, but without making any decided impres- 
 sion on the community. Occasionally individu- 
 als presented themselves for baptism, but the 
 loss by removals equaled the gains by accession, 
 and the church was scarcely able to preserve its 
 original number. Discouraged over the meager 
 results of his labors, he favorably entertained a 
 movement, now set on foot by some of his friends, 
 to plant a religious colony in some unsettled por- 
 tion of Ohio. It was urged that with a member- 
 ship so scattered, nothing could be accomplished 
 in the face of the opposition encountered, and 
 that in a newer section of the country they could 
 improve their condition and increase their use- 
 fulness. Mr. Campbell was invited to join the 
 company, and was made a member of the com- 
 mittee sent out to select a suitable location. 
 
TRIALS AND TRIUJIPHS 
 
 93 
 
 After visiting different portions of the State, the 
 vicinity of Zanesville was selected as the most 
 suitable location for carrying out the purposes 
 of the society, and it was decided that removal 
 should take place as soon as they could individ- 
 ually make arrangements to do so. 
 
 In this new field it was felt that greater 
 progress could be made in advocating the princi- 
 ples of the Christian Association. But this was 
 not to be God's method in the promotion of his 
 cause. When Mr. Campbell, on his return, ac- 
 quainted his father-in-law with his intentions, 
 Mr. Brown seriously opposed the project, object- 
 ing to the removal of his only daughter and his 
 son-in-law, whom he regarded with great esteem, 
 to so great a distance. As an inducement to 
 keep them near him, he offered to present Mr. 
 Campbell with the fine farm on which he lived. 
 This generous offer Mr. Campbell gratefully 
 accepted, abandoning the colonization scheme, 
 which now fell through, and entering with new 
 zeal upon his combined labors as farmer and 
 preacher. By this gift he was providentially 
 provided with the means which enabled him to 
 devote his energies unreservedly and without 
 remuneration to the spread of reformatory prin- 
 ciples. His management of the farm which thus 
 came into his possession, was with an industry 
 and ability that did not fail to commend him to 
 the neighboring farmers ; but he never allowed 
 
94 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 these labors to interfere with his regular ap- 
 pointments for preaching, or to interrupt his 
 communion with the great spirit of Truth. 
 
 Thus began the home to which Alexander 
 Campbell, with his great natui-e, was always 
 warmly attached, and to which, after his long 
 campaigns of later years, he returned to find 
 refreshing rest and his keenest enjoyment. For 
 the home thus providentially furnished him on 
 the "beautiful flowing Buffalo," became after a 
 time his beloved Bethany, where he engaged in 
 his intensest labors, and which deserves ever to 
 be celebrated as the cradle of the Nineteenth 
 Century Reformation. 
 
 The situation in which Mr. Campbell found 
 himself, soon after his connection with the Red- 
 stone Association of the Baptist churches, was 
 far from inviting. The originality of his method 
 ^yin dealing with the Scriptures, and his utter dis- 
 regard for customs, however time-honored, 
 which were not sanctioned by primitive precept 
 or example, awakened the suspicion of the more 
 narrow-minded of the Baptist ministers, who 
 were not slow in manifesting their disapproval. 
 His popularity among the churches of the Asso- 
 ciation, no doubt added to their displeasure, and 
 at every opportunity he was made to feel the 
 sting of their resentment. 
 
 This hostility, which at first manifested itself 
 in slights and little annoyances, at last led to 
 
TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS 
 
 95 
 
 an open attack upon his teachings. In August, 
 1816, in spite of the intrigues of his enemies, he 
 was invited to speak at the annual meeting of 
 the Association. Upon this occasion he preached 
 his memorable " Sermon on the Law," taking 
 his text from Romans 8:3: " For what the law 
 could not do, in that it was weak through the 
 flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness 
 of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in 
 the flesh." In this discourse, he made, for the 
 first time, the distinction between the law and 
 the Gospel, the old and the new dispensation, 
 which afterward afforded him an impregnable 
 position in his conflict with the religious errors 
 of his time. A sentence or two from the con- 
 clusion of the discourse, which may be found in 
 full in Mr. Campbell's published works, will 
 reveal the high spiritual tone of his uttei'ance: 
 " The Christian dispensation is called the min- 
 istration of the Spirit, and, according!}-, every- 
 thing in the salvation of the church is accom- 
 plished by the immediate energy of the Spirit. 
 Jesus Christ taught his disciples that the testi- 
 mony concerning himself was that only which 
 the Spirit would use, in converting such of the 
 human family as should l)e saved. He would 
 not speak of himself, but what he knew of 
 Christ. iSTow he was to convince the world of 
 sin, of righteousness, of judgment, not by 
 applying the law of Moses, but the facts con- 
 
96 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 cerning Christ, to the consciences of the people. 
 The Spirit accompanying the words which the 
 apostles preached, would convince the world of 
 sin ; not by the ten precepts, but because they 
 believed not in him, — of righteousness, because 
 he went to the Father, — and of judgment, because 
 the prince of the world Was judged by him. So 
 that Christ, and not law, was the Alpha and 
 Omega of their sermons, and this the Spirit 
 made effectual to the salvation of thousands." ^ 
 
 While the sermon presented nothing but the 
 plain Scripture teaching on the subject, it was 
 so bold an assault upon the theology and preach- 
 ing current among the Baptists at that time, 
 that it created a profound sensation. The lay 
 members were, for the most part, pleased with 
 its simple, natural presentation of the truth, but 
 it only added fuel to the flame of bitterness 
 which some of his fellow-pi'eachers cherished 
 toward him. "This will never do," they said, 
 
 this is not our doctrine." 
 
 Mr. Campbell, in consequence of views pre- 
 sented in this sermon, was "brought up for 
 trial and condemnation" at the next meeting 
 of the Association, which was held in the 
 autumn of 1817. At that time but few were 
 ready to accept his advanced religious con- 
 clusions, the actual advocates of the Eeforma- 
 tion, scattered among the Baptists of three 
 
 6 1 Millenial Harbinger, 1846. 
 
TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS 
 
 97 
 
 States, not numbering more than one hundred 
 and fifty persons. Notwithstanding this feeble 
 support, upon investigation he was acquitted of 
 the charges made against him, but the persecu- 
 tion and misrepresentation continued. His ene- 
 mies employed every means within their power 
 to create prejudice against him, and from that 
 time until his withdrawal from the Association, 
 charges of heresy were annually preferred. 
 
 The difficulties Mr. Campbell now encoun- 
 tered, convinced him that he had nothing to 
 hope from his brethren in the ministry, and that 
 if his efforts at religious reformation were to 
 succeed, it must be by the aid of young men 
 trained under his direction. This led him to de- 
 vote his energies for a time to the work of 
 education. 
 
 From early manhood he had manifested a deep 
 interest in everything that would contribute to 
 the intellectual development of his fellowmen. 
 At the age of seventeen he had entered the 
 schoolroom as his father's assistant. Later, in 
 his father's absence, he had assumed the man- 
 agement of the school. On his arrival in Amer- 
 ica he used his pen with effect in advocating a 
 better method of instruction than that employed 
 by the pioneer educators of "Western Pennsyl- 
 vania. As now he worked out for himself a line 
 of action in connection with the proposed relig- 
 ious reformation, he felt that its success de- 
 
 7 
 
98 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 maiulcd of its advocates the highest intellectual 
 attainments possible. So deepl}' was he con- 
 vinced of the need of an educated ministry, that 
 he resolved at once to undei'take the instruction 
 of young men, if any could be found, who should 
 aid in the cause of primitive Christianity. Early 
 ^ in 1818 he set on foot an educational enterprise 
 which he hoped would accomplish this object. 
 At the beginning of this year he announced his 
 purpose of opening a seminary in his own house, 
 chiefly for young men, thus adding to his other 
 labors the arduous one of an instructor. The 
 project in one particular was remarkably success- 
 ful ; in another it was a failure. 
 
 The standing of his father as an educator, and 
 his own reputation for energy and talent, soon 
 brought him more pupils than he could accom- 
 modate. Not only from his own neighborhood, 
 but from Pittsburg and other points more dis- 
 tant, young men came to enjoy the benefits of 
 his scholarship. Those from a distance he 
 boarded in his own family, and not only under- 
 took the direction of their studies, but also 
 sought to imbue their minds with a love for, and 
 acquaintance with, the Scriptures, and to awaken 
 a roligious interest through the morning and 
 evening devotions of his household. 
 
 It is curious to note the expense of an educa- 
 tion in this backwoods seminary. The tuition 
 for any of the branches commonly taught in 
 
TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS 
 
 99 
 
 academies, including Hebrew and French, was 
 five dollars a quarter; while board and lodging 
 were had for the modest sum of one dollar and a 
 half per week. The discipline, too, was of a 
 rather more vigorous type than that commonly 
 employed in such institutions. Many of the 
 young men were sent to him because shut out of 
 other schools on account of insubordination. 
 These, Mr. Campbell took in charge with a vig- 
 orous hand, in one instance administering a 
 severe flogging to the ring-leader, and establish- 
 ing an authority that none henceforth dared 
 question. But if he was at times severe, his 
 genial nature, his warm sympathies, his winsome 
 manner and his inexhaustible fund of informa- 
 tion, in the end, won the respect and friendship 
 of all who came under his influence. 
 
 But while he succeeded beyond his expecta- 
 tion in the work of securing and disciplining 
 young men, in one respect the school proved a 
 great disappointment to him. He greatly de- 
 sired to see some of his pupils consecrate them- 
 selves to the cause of truth, and join him in his 
 crusade against religious error. It is not strange, 
 when we consider the attitude of religious soci- 
 ety toward Mr. Campbell at that time, that his 
 desire was in no satisfactory measure realized. 
 His views were regarded with suspicion, if not 
 with bitter hostility. The acceptance of his 
 cause pz-omised nothing but reproach and perse- 
 
100 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 cution. It did not even hold out the prospect of 
 moderate pecuniary support. Only minds stirred 
 with the deepest convictions could be induced to 
 enlist in such a cause, and it is not strange, in 
 view of these conditions, that the young men 
 under his instruction shrank from identifying 
 themselves with so unpromising a movement. 
 
 The Buffalo Seminary, notwithstanding its 
 failure to win ministerial recruits, was continued 
 for several years. Finding the burdens heavy, 
 in 1819 Mr. Campbell called his father to his 
 assistance; but even then he found his strength 
 inadequate to the task of keeping up the school 
 in connection with the growing demands upon 
 his time as a preacher of the reformation. His 
 health began to suffer from confinement in the 
 schoolroom, and since the school did not sub- 
 serve the chief purpose for which it was estab- 
 lished, he concluded to discontinue it. So this 
 early educational enterprise ended its career in 
 1822. 
 
 The failure of Alexander Campbell's endeav- 
 ors, and those of his father, to secure the adop- 
 tion of reform principles within existing parties, 
 for a time limited his aim, and caused him to 
 despair of seeing any change in religious society. 
 So far from assuming the position of a public 
 reformer, he abandoned all expectation of 
 achieving more than the formation of a single 
 congregation, with which he could enjoy the 
 
TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS 
 
 101 
 
 exercise of Gospel privileges, as he conceived 
 them in the New Testament. But all this while 
 he was accomplishing more than he dreamed of. 
 The leaven was at work; and his own reputa- 
 tion, in spite of the efforts of his enemies to 
 bring him into disrepute, was growing among 
 the scattered Baptist churches of Western Penn- 
 sylvania, Virginia and Ohio, over a wide region. 
 
 An opportunity unexpectedly presented itself, 
 in a section of the country where his fame as an 
 able and logical speaker had preceded him, 
 which was destined to furnish him with one of 
 the most effective means for the advancement of 
 his views. This was an invitation to engage in 
 public debate in defense of the Baptist cause. 
 It is a mistake, however, at this or any other 
 period of his life, to regard him as a professional 
 controversialist, never happy except when en- 
 gaged in measuring lances with some theological 
 antagonist, or assailing the religious views of 
 others. Such a conception does great injustice 
 to his generous nature. To put an end to relig- 
 ious controversy had, from the beginning, been 
 one of the chief aims of the movement which he 
 advocated. His father had declared at the for- 
 mation of the "Christian Association," that 
 "though written objections to the proposed 
 movement would be thankfully I'eceived and 
 seriously considered, verbal controversy was ab- 
 solutely refused." When the mantle of leader- 
 
102 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 ship fell upon the shoulders of Alexander Camp- 
 bell, he strove to adhere to the same policy, 
 shrank from public discussion, and was only 
 drawn into it when any other course would have 
 been attributed to the weakness of his cause. 
 He was never the aggressor, though at a later 
 period he became favorably disposed to this 
 means of disseminating his views ; but when the 
 challenge came, he was the last man to shrink 
 from a manly and honorable defense of what he 
 held to be the truth. 
 
 Thus he was drawn into five celebrated public 
 discussions of questions covering a wide field of 
 investigation, from the scriptural mode and 
 meaning of Christian baptism to the defense of 
 Protestantism against the Papacy, and of Chris- 
 tianity against infidelity. In every instance he 
 proved himself an able defender of the truth as 
 he found it in the Christian Scriptures. 
 
 The first call to engage in public, oral discus- 
 sion, came to Mr. Campbell in the spring of 
 1820. The jealousy of rival religious parties in 
 an Ohio village led to a controversy between 
 two preachers, one a Seceder, the other a Bap- 
 tist. The dispute ended in a challenge by Eev. 
 John Walker, the Seceder minister, to meet any 
 Baptist minister of good standing, in the public 
 discussion of the question of baptism. The high 
 opinion entertained throughout that region of 
 Mr. Campbell's ability, led to his selection as the 
 
TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS 
 
 103 
 
 most suitable champion of such a cause. At first 
 he declined to engage in the discussion, " not 
 regarding public debate as the proper method of 
 proceeding in contending for the faith once de- 
 livered to the saints." Repeated and urgent 
 solicitation was made by his friends. Conscious 
 of his own powers, possessed of dauntless cour- 
 age, and fearing that his refusal might be inter- 
 preted as a confession of the weakness of the 
 Baptist ground, he at last yielded to the pressure 
 and accepted the challenge. 
 
 All preliminaries being arranged, the discus- 
 sion was begun on June 19, at Mt. Pleasant, 
 Ohio. The chief point of controversy was the 
 scriptural authority for infant baptism; but be- 
 fore the close of the debate it took a wider 
 range, including the whole baptismal controversy 
 as it was at that time waged between Baptist and 
 Pedo-baptist. As the discussion proceeded, all 
 recognized that the Baptist cause had found an 
 invincible defender. His whole training had fit- 
 ted him for such an arena. His liberal educa- 
 tion, his vast reading, his remarkable memory, 
 his rare powers of generalization, his splendid 
 diction, his admirable self-control, sustained as 
 they were by deep earnestness of purpose, gave 
 him at once a vantage ground which he never 
 relinquished. But such was the originality of 
 his method in handling truth, and his freedom 
 from the accepted nomenclature of the schools, 
 
104 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 that even the victory, which was universally 
 admitted to be with him, was not accepted by his 
 Baptist brethren as an unmixed blessing. The 
 effect of this discussion, however, was to add to 
 Mr. Campbell's growing reputation. His fame 
 was widely extended by the publication of the 
 debate, which was read by thousands, and began 
 soon to produce results far beyond the fondest 
 hopes of the young reformer. 
 
 Meanwhile affairs in the Redstone Association 
 were not improving. The success of his debate 
 with Walker, while enlarging his circle of admir- 
 ers, at the same time multiplied his antagonists. 
 The leaders of the opposition in the Association 
 continued their charges of heresy, and were ready 
 to resort to any means that would increase the 
 prejudice against him, and secure his excommu- 
 nication. At last, wearied by the continued hos- 
 tility of his enemies, Mr. Campbell determined 
 to place himself beyond the bounds of their 
 jurisdiction. He had received a cordial invita- 
 tion to become a member of the Mahoning Asso- 
 ciation, which embraced the Baptist churches of 
 Eastern Ohio, and as he had already been cor- 
 dially received by the preachers and churches 
 of that region, he determined to accept. In 
 order to make the change with as little 
 friction as possible, he took a letter from the 
 Brush Run Church, and with thirty others 
 organized a new church at Wellsburg, Va., 
 
TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS 
 
 105 
 
 which applied for membership, and was at 
 once received in the Mahoning Association. 
 Thus, in the month of August, 1823 , was organ- 
 ized the second church of the Eeformation, and 
 by this means Alexander Campbell escaped ex- 
 communication from the Baptist Church, which 
 would certainly have been his fate had he 
 longer remained a member of the Redstone Asso- 
 ciation. 
 
VII. 
 
 "THE CHRISTIAN BAPTIST." 
 
 Tn his early contributions to the secular news- 
 papers, already mentioned, Alexander Camp- 
 bell displayed a talent that was destined to 
 become a most efficient agency in the dissemina- 
 tion of truth. He could write in a clear, per- 
 suasive style, that carried conviction. It was 
 several years, however, before he thought of 
 using the printed page in the extension of the 
 cause he had espoused. His appreciation of the 
 power of the press seems to have dated from 
 his debate with Walker. Such was the interest 
 manifested in that discussion, that it was pub- 
 lished in a volume of some four hundred pages, 
 was widely read, running through several edi- 
 tions, and was instrumental in awakening an 
 earnest spirit of inquiry among the thoughtful 
 people of all creeds. 
 
 The success attending this published debate, 
 and the numerous inquiries it brought him con- 
 cerning his views, led Mr. Campbell, for the first 
 time, to cherish a hope that something might be 
 ^ done on a more exteaded -;c:ile to restore relig- 
 ious society to its primitive simplicity. He now 
 (106) 
 
THE CHRISTIAN BAPTIST 
 
 107 
 
 began to realize the greatness of his religious 
 discoveries, and felt himself called to a wider 
 field. Traveling up and down the country on 
 his trusted horse, he preached wherever he could 
 get men to listen, a crusade against religious 
 corruptions, with all the fire and zeal of a Peter 
 the Hermit. These early excursions took him 
 through portions of Pennsylvania, Virginia and 
 Ohio; and wherever he went his plea was for the 
 new order of things, or rather a return to the 
 faith, customs and practices of the apostolic 
 church. 
 
 The demands of so wide a field called for new 
 methods in its cultivation; so he resolved to 
 call to his assistance the printing press. He 
 now conceived of a work in monthly parts, to be 
 devoted to the interests of the reformation. 
 The design was warmly approved by his friends. 
 Only as regards the title of the work was there 
 difference of opinion. Mr. Campbell, and those 
 who shared his convictions at that time, occupied 
 a peculiar position. Though identified with the 
 Baptist Church, they were earnestly pleading 
 for a broader, undenominational fellowship. As 
 a matter of expediency the title " Christian Bap- 
 tist " was agreed upon, and, in the spring of 
 1823, a prospectus was issued announcing the 
 new monthly, the first number of which appeared 
 on July 4, of that year. Its appearance marks 
 
108 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 an era in religious history. Its like had never 
 been seen in current religious literature. 
 
 " The Christian Baptist," said its editor, 
 " shall espouse the cause of no religious sect, 
 excepting that ancient sect ' called Christians 
 first at Antioch.' Its sole object shall be the 
 eviction of truth, and the exposing of error in 
 doctrine and practice. The editor, acknowledg- 
 ing no standard of religious faith or works other 
 than the Old and New Testament, and the latter 
 as the only standard of the religion of Jesus 
 Christ, will, intentionally at least, oppose noth- 
 ing which it contains and recommend nothing 
 which it does not enjoin. Having no worldly 
 interest at stake from the adoption or reproba- 
 tion of any articles of faith or religious practice, 
 having no gift nor religious emolument to blind 
 his eyes or to pervert his judgment, he hopes to 
 manifest that he is an impartial advocate of 
 truth." 1 
 
 A glance at the subjects treated in the early 
 numbers of the " Christian Baptist" reveals its 
 independent, aggressive spirit. There are essays 
 written in the editor's trenchant style on "The 
 Chi'istian Religion," giving in comprehensive 
 outline the sublime purpose and plan of human 
 redemption; on "The Clergy," rebuking in 
 strong terms their "unwarranted presumption, 
 bigotry, sectarianism and venality; " on "Eccle- 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 50. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN BAPTIST 
 
 109 
 
 siastical Characters, Councils, Creeds and Sects," 
 unfolding the history of the apostasy of the 
 church, and the origin of its weakening divi- 
 sions; on "The Eestoration of the Ancient 
 Order of Things," portraying the customs and 
 practices of the Church of the Now Testament; 
 and on "Christian Union," pointing to the New 
 Testament basis as the only practical ground of 
 unity. 
 
 It was a veritable John the Baptist in relig- 
 ious journalism. Its continuous message was a 
 call to repentance to erring ccclesiasts. It at 
 once fearlessly attacked whatever it conceived to 
 be a corruption of, or departure from, the New 
 Testament standard; and it fell like a fire-braad 
 into hundreds of widely scattered communities, 
 and everywhere provoked a sjjirit of inquiry. 
 
 To the new duties of editor, without abating 
 in the least his labors along other lines, Mr. 
 Campbell now devoted himself with character- 
 istic energy. That he might take entire super- 
 vision of the work, he set up a printing estab- 
 lishment on his farm on the Buffalo. Purchas- 
 ing the necessary supplies, erecting a suitable 
 building, and engaging the help of practical 
 printers, he became, at once, proprietor, business 
 manager, editor, leading contributor, proof- 
 reader, mailing clerk, all in one. This involved 
 no small amount of labor, for in the first seven 
 years the little country printing-office issued of 
 
110 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 his own works more than forty thousand vol- 
 umes. To get an adequate idea of his great 
 industry at this jieriod, it must be remembered, 
 that, in addition to the hibors incident upon his 
 publishing enterprise, he continued regularly to 
 preach, attended to an extensive correspondence, 
 and gave personal attention to the improvement 
 and cultivation of a large farm. 
 
 It was in connection with the publication of 
 the " Christian Baptist " that the name Beth- 
 any was attached to the spot hallowed by the 
 memory of this great man. The earlier issues 
 of the magazine were carried to the neighboring 
 village of West Liberty, four miles distant, for 
 mailing. As its circulation increased, this was 
 found to be inconvenient, and, at the solicitation 
 of Mr. Campbell, a post-office was established in 
 his own residence, to which he gave the name 
 Bethany. He was himself appointed the fii'st 
 postmaster, and continued to hold the office for 
 thirty years, through successive administrations 
 and political changes. 
 
 During the preparation of the early numbers 
 of the "Christian Baptist," Mr. Campbell was 
 arranging the preliminaries for another public 
 discussion. Mr. McCalla, a Presbyterian preacher 
 of Kentucky, in the spring of 1823, intimated his 
 willingness to engage Mr. Campbell in a discus- 
 sion of the question of baptism, that he might 
 I'etrieve the injury which had been done his 
 
THE CHRISTIAN BAPTIST 
 
 111 
 
 cause by Mr. Walker's admitted failure. Mr. 
 Campbell, having ascertained his standing, 
 agreed to meet him, and arrangement was made 
 for the discussion to take place in October, in 
 the town of Washington, Ky. The low stage of 
 the Ohio River necessitated Mr. Campbell's 
 making the entire journey on horseback. 
 
 Here, as in his former discussion, the entire 
 bearing of the baptismal question was carefully 
 canvassed. It is not necessary, at this point, to 
 go into the details of the arguments pro and con. 
 Each conti'overted point was hotly contested in 
 the presence of a vast assemblage, which had 
 been drawn together by Mr. Campbell's reputa- 
 tion and their interest in the question at issue. 
 During this discussion, which lasted seven days, 
 in addition to his defense of ^the scriptural mode 
 and subject of baptism, Mr. Campbell gradually, 
 for the first time, unfolded its design and true 
 place in the economy of the Gospel, though it 
 was several years before any use was made of it 
 in urging obedience to Christ. 
 
 While the Baptist ministers, who were in at- 
 tendance at the debate, recognized him as their 
 strongest champion and were enthusiastic over 
 his defense of their favorite tenet, he did not 
 desire to enjoy a larger share of their good will 
 than he deserved. Consequently, during the 
 progress of the discussion, he met a company of 
 them and stated the grounds he held which 
 
112 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 might not be acceptable to them. From the first 
 three numbers of the "Christian Baptist," which 
 he cai'ried with him, he read extracts from his 
 essays, boldly setting forth his reformatory 
 views. So favorably were they received, at that 
 time, that he was invited to extend his tour 
 among the Baptist churches of Kentucky. 
 
 The untiring effort of Mr. Campbell during 
 these years, as we have seen, was for the libera- 
 tion of Christian society from the thralldom of 
 human tradition and priestly domination. He had 
 long since come to believe that the only hope of 
 uniting Christendom was through a return to the 
 primitive order, as found in the New Testament. 
 He saw only one way to the accomplishment of 
 such a result, that was to put men really and 
 fully into the possession of the Bible. Martin 
 Luther had unchained the Scriptures and given 
 them to the people in their own tongues. Chil- 
 lingworth had declared that "the Bible and the 
 Bible alone is the religion of Protestants." But 
 it was Mr. Campbell's mission to put the people 
 into actual possession of the Bible, by convinc- 
 ing them that it could be understood, and induc- 
 ing them to study it. 
 
 Through the pages of the "Christian Bap- 
 tist" he sought continually to bring the Bible 
 before the people. Instead of creeds, he held 
 aloft the Word of God, and urged men to read 
 it for themselves. He believed that if it was 
 
THE CHRISTIAN BAPTIST 
 
 113 
 
 given as a revelation from God to man, the 
 people ought to be able to understand it. He 
 taught that bj^ employing the same common- 
 sense methods in its study that were used in 
 dealing with other books, it would beam with in- 
 telligent meaning. Some hints of his are so 
 essential to a knowledge of the revealed truth of 
 the Gospel that I transcribe them from the pages 
 of the " Christian Baptists:" 
 
 "Begin with Matthew's Gospel; read the 
 whole of it at one reading or two; mark on the 
 margin every sentence you think you do not 
 understand. Turn back again, read it a second 
 time in less portions at once than in the first 
 reading; cancel such marks as you have made 
 which noted passages which on the first reading 
 appeared to you dark or difficult to understand, 
 but on the second reading opened to your view. 
 Then read Mark, Luke and John in the same 
 manner. After having read each evangelist in 
 this way, read them all in succession a third 
 time. At this time you will be able, no doubt, 
 to cancel many of your marks. Then read the 
 Acts of the Apostles, which is the key to all the 
 Epistles; then the Epistles in a similar manner. 
 Always before reading an Epistle, read every 
 thing said about the people addressed in the 
 Epistle, which you find in the Acts of the 
 Apostles. . , In pursuing this plan, we have 
 no doubt, in getting even three times through 
 
114 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 the New Testament, that you will learn much 
 more of the Christian religion than a learned 
 divine could teach you in seven years." ^ 
 
 In a coui'se so radical and so at variance with 
 accepted notions as that now advocated by Mr. 
 Campbell through the columns of the " Christian 
 Baptist," it was but natural that he should 
 awaken the l)itter opposition of the ministry. 
 The fire of his enemies resounded from every 
 quarter. In I'esponse to their attacks, he thun- 
 dered the authority of the Word of God. The 
 severity of his strictures upon the clergy at that 
 period may seem a little harsh to our ears. But 
 we must remember that religious conditions 
 differed widely from those with which we are 
 familiar, and that when he spoke in condemna- 
 tion of the clergy, he meant that class who " as- 
 sumed to be the solely authorized expositors of 
 the sacred oracles, denying to the people the 
 right or the power of comprehending or inter- 
 preting the Scripture for themselves." It was 
 against these false assumptions, which he felt to 
 be the most serious barriers to Gospel triumph, 
 that he uttered his most withering denuncia- 
 tions. 
 
 "We are convinced," he wrote, "fully con- 
 vinced that the whole head is sick and the whole 
 heart faint, of modern fashionable Christianity. " 
 Feeling that the "clerical machinery," as he 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 96. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN BAPTIST 
 
 115 
 
 called it, was responsible for the unfortunate 
 condition of religious society, Mr. Campbell 
 could scarcely find terms strong enough to ex- 
 press his disapproval of the methods by which 
 the whole system was maintained. Hence it was 
 that he attacked, as unworthy of the religion of 
 the lowly Nazarene, " costly meeting-houses and 
 organs, selling pews, missionary wheels and 
 boxes," and various other features employed as 
 adjuncts to sectarian growth. 
 
 In his opposition to sectarianism, nothing that 
 contributed to its success escaped his denuncia- 
 tion. He was even for a time led to condemn 
 Sunday-schools, missionary, educational and Bible 
 societies, because as then conducted, he thought 
 they fostered the denominational spirit. So 
 radical were his views at this time that his own 
 friends became alarmed. They feared that he 
 would defeat the noble enterprise in which he 
 was engaged by " overstepping the fixed bound- 
 aries of truth;" that in hastening out of Baby- 
 lon, he was about to run past Jerusalem. They 
 frankly told him of his error, and urged a milder 
 and more conciliatory course, a suggestion which 
 at a later period he seemed disposed to adopt. 
 
 The effect of the "Christian Baptist" was 
 almost magical. It, of course, met with the most 
 bitter denunciation from those whose authority 
 it attacked. Pastors forbade their flocks reading 
 it, and it was treated as an incarnation of evil. 
 
116 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 But it found a wide reading and ready accept- 
 ance among another class. Many there were, 
 who, wearied with the denominational strife, 
 and restiv^e under ecclesiastical denomination, 
 awaited a prophet whose aim was spiritual eman- 
 cipation, and whose strong and fearless leader- 
 ship they could trust. To such the "Christian 
 Baptist" was a welcome visitor. Copies acci- 
 dentally falling into the hands of earnest in- 
 quirers led to conviction. Thus as early as 1824, 
 James Challen, a talented young student, was led 
 to espouse the cause advocated by the "Chris- 
 tian Baptist;" and about the same time P. S. 
 Fall and D. S. Burnett, both gifted defenders of 
 the faith, joined the ranks of the reformers. 
 That first genei'ation of pioneer preachers, whose 
 names were household words with our fathers, 
 were largely led to join with Mr. Campbell in his 
 efforts to restore the primitive church through 
 the pages of the " Christian Baptist." No 
 single agency employed in the advocacy of the 
 movement was ever productive of wider or more 
 lasting results. So great was the demand for it 
 at a later period, that it was republished in an 
 abridged form, and has since run through several 
 editions. To-day no stronger or better state- 
 ment of the fundamental principles advocated 
 by the Christian Church can be found than in 
 the pages of the " Christian Baptist." 
 
 Mr. Campbell's success as an editor was far 
 
THE CHRISTIAN BAPTIST 
 
 117 
 
 beyond his expectations. While as late as 1825, 
 only three churches, those at Brush Eun, Pitts- 
 burg and Wellsburg, had accepted his restora- 
 tion ideas, the leaven had been planted over a 
 wide section, and had already begun to work. A 
 spirit of inquiry was being awakened, and many, 
 like those of Berea, were " searching the Script- 
 ures daily, whether those things wex-e so." 
 
VIII. 
 
 RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 
 
 Tt had never been the purpose of Alexander 
 Campbell to become the founder of another 
 religious society, and this denial he now repeated 
 with emphasis. " I have no idea of adding to the 
 catalogue of new sects," he wrote in the " Chris- 
 tian Baptist" of 1826. " I labor to see sectari- 
 anism abolished and all Christians of every 
 name united upon the one foundation upon 
 which the apostolic church was founded. To 
 bring Baptists and Pedo-baptists to this is my 
 supreme end." 
 
 In this great movement toward unity, he had 
 hoped to see the Baptists take the initiative. 
 Notwithstanding his experiences with the Red- 
 stone Association, he had come to hold them in 
 high esteem, and to regard them as nearer the 
 primitive pattern than any other religious de- 
 nomination. "I hope," he wrote, "I will not 
 be accused of sectarian partiality, when I avow 
 my conviction that the Baptist society have as 
 much liberality in their views, as much of the 
 ancient simplicity of the Christian Church, as 
 
 much of the spirit of Christianity about them, 
 (118; 
 
RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS 
 
 119 
 
 as are to be found among any other people." In 
 his assault upon the " clerg}' " he was careful to 
 distinguish between those whom he included in 
 his denunciation and the " ministers of the Bap- 
 tist and other independent churches." These, 
 with few exceptions, he had found to be con- 
 scientious and fair-minded men. 
 
 But he did not let his admiration for this peo- 
 ple blind bis eyes to their imperfections. He 
 was frank to declai'e: "That there is in the 
 views and practices of this large and widely-ex- 
 tended community a great need of reformation 
 and of a restoration of the ancient order of 
 things, few will contradict." That he might 
 lead them into clearer views of the Gospel now 
 consumed all his energies. With this aim he 
 felt justified in continuing his connection with 
 the Baptist Church, and through it achieving his 
 fond desire of the union of Christ's followers on 
 a broad, scriptural basis. " I do intend," he 
 said, " to continue in connection with this peo- 
 ple, so long as they will permit me to say what I 
 believe, to teach what I am assured of, and to 
 censure what is amiss in their views and prac- 
 tices." 
 
 At this period Mr. Campbell was very much 
 encouraged with the progress of reform senti- 
 ments. In his extended tours among the Baptist 
 churches of Ohio and Kentucky, he was every- 
 where well received. Large and enthusiastic 
 
120 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 audiences listened dail}' to his plea, and often to 
 a late hour at night he was beset by " crowds of 
 anxious inquirers, who sought religious informa- 
 tion and counsel." Here and there churches 
 avowed their determination henceforth to be 
 guided by the Bible alone, and many of the lead- 
 ing preachers of the denomination were earnest- 
 ly searching the Scriptures " whether these 
 things were so." As an example of the curious 
 regard in which Mr. Campbell was then held, we 
 quote from John Smith, afterward a most suc- 
 cessful advocate of the reformation in Kentucky. 
 Upon his first meeting with Mr. Campbell, 
 he said: "I then felt as if I wanted to sit down 
 and look at him for one hour, without hearing a 
 word from any one. I wanted to scan him who 
 had been so much talked of, and who had, in the 
 ' Christian Baptist ' and in his debates, intro- 
 duced so many new thoughts into my mind." 
 
 Cheered by his hearty reception by the Baptist 
 churches, and by the pi'ogress of liberal views 
 among them, Mr. Campbell was encouraged to 
 write: " In one thing they may appear, in time 
 to come, proudly singular and pre-eminently dis- 
 tinguished. Mark it well. Their historian, in 
 the year 1900, may say, We are the only people 
 who would tolerate, or ever did tolerate-, any per- 
 son to continue as a reformer or restorer among 
 us. While other sects excluded all who would 
 have enlarged their views and exalted their vir- 
 
RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS 
 
 121 
 
 tues, while every Jerusalem in Christendom 
 stoned its own prophets, and exiled its own best 
 friends, and compelled them to set up for them- 
 selves, we constitute the only exception of this 
 kind in the annals of Christianity, — nay in the 
 annals of the world." ^ 
 
 That he might hasten the progress of reform 
 and awaken a new interest in the study of the 
 Scripture, Mr. Campbell undertook the work, in 
 the winter of 1826, of preparing and publishing 
 a new version of the New Testament. To this 
 task every spare moment was devoted. While 
 the work was largely a compilation from George 
 Campbell's new version of the Gospels, Dodd- 
 ridge's translation of the Acts of the Apostles 
 and Revelation, aud MacKnight's free rendering 
 of the Epistles, he made a careful revision of 
 the whole, comparing the various renderings and 
 selecting the one which seemed more clear and 
 accurate. To these, besides a valuable introduc- 
 tion to New Testament study, he contributed 
 such hints and aids as might be conducive to a 
 correct understanding of the sacred writings, 
 and published them in a volume of five hundred 
 pages, entitled " The Living Oracles." His pur- 
 pose was to foster a spirit of inquiry, as well as 
 to aid in an understanding of the message of 
 Revelation. 
 
 As was to be expected, this version was re- 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 135. 
 
122 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 ceived with disfavor b}- Pedo-baptists generally, 
 because in translating, instead of anglicizing,the 
 word for baptism, he left no ground or excuse 
 for the prevailing practice. But it is doubtful if 
 any version of the New Testament ever con- 
 tained a clearer or more faithful revelation of 
 the teachings of Christ and his apostles. 
 
 A series of events now transpired which 
 changed the religious situation, blasted Mr. 
 Campbell's hopes of a continued i*eformation 
 within the borders of the Baptist Church, and 
 set him adrift with a large following, but with- 
 out denominational ties. 
 
 The first storm-center was the old Redstone 
 Association. Its ruling spirits had never ceased 
 to chei'ish a feeling of hostility toward Mr. 
 Campbell. The appearance of the " Christian 
 Baptist" had intensified this feeling. Some of 
 its representatives now traveled up and down 
 the country, publicly attacking him and grossly 
 misrepresenting his teachings. He was charged 
 with denying the necessity of the new birth and 
 with rejecting heart-religion. He was de- 
 nounced as a breeder of heresy and sedition, and 
 undeserving of fellowship or recognition among 
 Baptist churches. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the Association in 
 1827, the crisis came. Mr, Campbell had been 
 appointed corresponding messenger from the 
 Mahoning to the Redstone Association that year. 
 
RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS 
 
 123 
 
 As his letter of greeting made no reference to 
 the Philadelphia Confession, the accepted stand- 
 ard of the Baptist Church, it was determined 
 by his enemies that he should not be received. 
 Upon a canvass it was'found that they could rally 
 to their support but ten of the twenty-three 
 churches of the Association; but with these ten 
 they ventured the hazardous experiment of ex- 
 cluding the other thirteen, and organized them- 
 selves upon the basis of their cherished creed. 
 The thirteen churches denied admission then 
 formed a new association, declaring as the sec- 
 ond article of their constitution, "We receive 
 the Scriptures as the only rule of faith and prac- 
 tice to all the chui-ches of Christ." Thus began 
 the conflict which within the next three years re- 
 sulted in the complete separation of Baptists 
 and those who accepted the principles of the 
 reformation. 
 
 In the same year a meeting was held by the 
 Mahoning Association which was destined to 
 lead to important consequences. At that meet- 
 ing a young man, Walter Scott by name, an 
 ardent admirer of Alexander Campbell, who had 
 entered heartily into all his plans, was appointed 
 to do itinerant preaching among the churches of 
 the Western Reserve, Ohio. The Baptist 
 churches at that time, with few exceptions, were 
 in a languishing condition. Conversions were 
 few, and indifference widespread. The seven- 
 
124 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 teen churches which comprised the Association 
 reported only sixteen converts to Christ for the 
 year 1825. But the entrance of Walter Scott 
 into the evangelistic field marked a new era for 
 the churches of this section. A tidal wave of 
 revival was at once set in motion, which con- 
 tinued to attend Mr. Scott's ministry wherever 
 he went, and by the close of his first year he was 
 able to report a thousand converts. 
 
 The preaching of this young man marks a new 
 era in modern evangelism. He had studied the 
 Word of God long and prayerfully. Its message 
 and method had smitten his heart, and he re- 
 solved, at the beginning of his evangelistic 
 labors, to try the experiment of preaching the 
 Gospel accoi'ding to the New Testament model, 
 urging men to accept Christ upon the terms 
 offered by Peter on the day of Pentecost. As 
 might be expected, a message so antagonistic to 
 the prevailing instruction of the times, would 
 soon encounter opposition and misrepresenta- 
 tion. Preachers warned their congregations 
 against him. He was charged with preaching 
 water salvation, and ignoring essential spiritual 
 changes. In spite of this opposition, he was 
 well received by the Baptist churches forming 
 the Association for which he labored. Wherever 
 he went among them they speedily fell into his 
 way of thinking, and most of them abandoned 
 their creeds and customs for the simple practice 
 
RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS 
 
 125 
 
 of the New Testament, though still affiliating 
 with the Baptist Church. 
 
 The success of Walter Scott in the Western 
 Reserve secured him an invitation to the Bap- 
 tist Church at Sharon, Pa., which proved the 
 second storm-center of the religious dissensions 
 that threatened the peace of Baptist society. 
 The labors of Mr. Scott at this place were at- 
 tended with his usual success. On a simple pro- 
 fession of their faith in Jesus as the Son of God, 
 they were baptized in the river near by. But no 
 sooner had the evangelist left, than the conser- 
 vative portion of the church determined to reject 
 the new converts as having failed to conform to 
 Baptist usages, and to exclude from their fellow- 
 ship all who shared in Mr. Scott's way of think- 
 ing. These members, deprived of religious fel- 
 lowship, formed a new organization on broad, 
 New Testament principles and independent of 
 the jurisdiction of any religious association. 
 
 The feeling against Mr. Campbell's friends 
 and sympathizers now became so intense in 
 many sections that those of the old Baptist faith 
 and order refused longer to fellowship them. 
 In the spring of 1830, the Third Baptist Church 
 ot Philadelphia excluded all Mr. Campbell's fol- 
 lowers, who at once organized themselves into 
 an independent congregation. The work thus 
 begun spread rapidly. Documents denouncing 
 Mr. Campbell's writings and branding him as a 
 
126 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 heretic, were diligently circulated by partisan 
 bigotry, and every means used to destroy his 
 influence with the churches. As a result. Bap- 
 tists were led almost everywhere to separate 
 themselves from the reformers. Unable to check 
 the spirit of discord and intolerance that now 
 swept the church, Mr. Campbell calmly awaited 
 the results, at the same time disavowing any 
 responsibility for the dissensions which he 
 lamented. In reply to the attacks of his ene- 
 mies, he wrote: 
 
 "If there be a division, gentlemen, you will 
 make it, not I; and the more you oppose us with 
 the weight of your censure, like the palm tree, we 
 will grow the faster. I am for peace, for union, 
 for harmony, for co-operation with all good men. 
 But I fear you not; if you fling firebrands, 
 arrows and discords into the army of the faith, 
 you will repent it, not we. You will lose 
 influence, not we. We covet not persecution, 
 but we disregard it. We fear nothing but 
 error, and should you proceed to make divi- 
 sions, you will find that they will reach much 
 farther than you are aware, and that the time is 
 past when an anathema froni an association will 
 produce any other effect than contempt from 
 some and a smile from others." ^ 
 
 The result was as Mr. Campbell had predicted. 
 The principles of the reformation were much 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 323. 
 
RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS 
 
 127 
 
 more widely spread than his defamers had ex- 
 pected. In some instances churches were rent 
 asunder; in others entire churches were excluded 
 from fellowship with Baptist Associations; and 
 in others entire Associations ceased to call them- 
 selves Baptist. This was notably true of the 
 churches of the Western Reserve. When the 
 Mahoning Association met in the autumn of 
 1830, such had been the leavening influence of 
 Walter Scott's evangelism that it unanimously 
 resolved that it should never meet again as " an 
 advisory council;" and so ceased connection with 
 the Baptist Church, which had already, as a 
 denomination, repudiated all who were tinctured 
 with the principles advocated by Alexander 
 Campbell and his co-laborers. From this point 
 dates the separate existence of the religious 
 body known as the Disciples of Christ, of whose 
 aims and views we shall have something to say 
 in another chapter. 
 
 In the midst of the religious strife which led 
 to the separation of Baptists and Disciples, a 
 great sorrow flung its shadow across Mr. Camp- 
 bell's pathway. He had always been attached 
 to his home by the strongest ties. Though called 
 away from its enjoyment much of the time by 
 the growing demands of the cause in which he 
 labored, it was to its hallowed precinct that he 
 returned to find a haven from the storms that 
 raged about him. But in 1827, while calumny 
 
128 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 and misrepresentation were ringing on every 
 side, his ears were made deaf to all in the sor- 
 row that came into his heart in the loss of his 
 companion. After sixteen years of happiness 
 his home was left desolate. Forbidden to sor- 
 row as those who have no hope, he accepted his 
 loss with Christian resignation, but his sadness 
 found expression in the subdued spirit which for 
 the time characterized all his utterances; and it 
 continued to be a beautiful custom of his to com- 
 memoi-ate his first marriage on each i-ecurring 
 anniversary. 
 
 A figure so commanding as Mr. Campbell had 
 now become could not fail to attract attention 
 outside of religious circles. In his case public 
 recognition was not wanting. Though often 
 solicited, only once did he venture on the stormy 
 sea of politics. That was in 1829. Steps were 
 being taken toward the revision of the Consti- 
 tution of the State in which he lived. He 
 was urged by his fi-iends to become a candidate 
 for a seat in the Virginia Constitutional Conven- 
 tion. The people of West Virginia felt that 
 undue power was given to, and exerted by, the 
 slaveholders of the eastern part of the State. 
 It was desirable that the constitution be so 
 amended as to guarantee equal rights to the 
 non-slaveholders of the western portion. Mr. 
 Campbell was recognized, by those acquainted 
 with him, as one capable of faithfully and pow- 
 
RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS 
 
 129 
 
 erfully representing their interests, and at last 
 consented to become their candidate, only on 
 condition that he would not be required to take 
 the stump. 
 
 Once in the field, it was discovered that a com- 
 bination was being formed to secure his defeat. 
 In the emergency he consented to deliver a num- 
 ber of addresses. In this new role he showed a 
 capacity which, had he chosen to devote himself 
 to politics, would have secured him almost any 
 office in the gift of the people. 
 
 "His large and varied knowledge, his love of 
 all mankind, his inimitable powers of conversa- 
 tion, even sporting and playing in the most easy 
 and graceful way with subjects from the most 
 abstruse to the simplest, — these would have 
 endeared him to the great commonalty, and per- 
 petually have secured him their enthusiastic 
 support. Thus his elevation to the highest place 
 in the gift of the people would have been cer- 
 tain. And once high in power, the masterly 
 manner in which he would have handled the 
 great questions of state, would have made him 
 the idol of his own people and the admiration of 
 all civilized nations."^ 
 
 As the result of a spirited canvass he was 
 elected; and as a member of a distinguished 
 body which numbered among its representatives 
 James Madison and James Monroe, former 
 
 9 1 Lard's Quarterly, vol. 3, p. 257, 
 
130 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 Presidents of the United States, he rendered 
 valuable service. In the face of the growing 
 arrogance of the slave power, he was unable to 
 secure for his constituents the recognition they 
 demanded; but his able presentation of their 
 cause secured him wide recognition and esteem 
 at a time when his religious enemies were seek- 
 ing by means of vituperation and slander to 
 secure his downfall. 
 
 True to his position as a minister, he did not 
 allow political interests to obscure his religious 
 position. He rather endeavored to make his 
 position as a member of the convention con- 
 tribute to the furtherance of the cause of the 
 kingdom, which was dearer to him than any 
 earthly interest. In private conversation with 
 distinguished persons of the convention, and in 
 public addresses on every Lord's day during his 
 stay in Richmond, he urged the one great theme 
 of the primitive Gospel, thus contributing, 
 in large measure, to the success which soon 
 attended the movement throughout the State. 
 
IX. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 
 
 'e have now traced the career of Alexander 
 
 Campbell to a point where the largest suc- 
 cess awaited his effort. In 1830, when the doors ^ 
 of Baptist fellowship closed behind him and 
 those who shared his convictions, he was in the 
 zenith of his great powers. Whether held in 
 esteem or regarded with hatred, he was everj-- 
 where looked upon as an extraordinary man, and 
 wherever he went multitudes thronged to hear 
 him. 
 
 While yet in the prime of life, Mr. Campbell 
 was permitted to witness the fruit of his own 
 planting in the triumph of a great principle. 
 Twenty years of tireless effort had resulted in 
 widespread interest in the cause for which he 
 pleaded. Religious communions, reproducing 
 the essential characteristics of the primitive 
 church as revealed in the New Testament, 
 sprang up into independent congregations, 
 wherever his plea for the restoration of primi- 
 tive Christianity had been carried. Calls now 
 came to him from all parts of the country for 
 
 (131) 
 
132 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 instruction and guidance in the principles which 
 he advocated. Men often came hundreds of 
 miles to see him, always returning convinced of 
 the correctness of his views. These calls were 
 often answered b}' long tours, which, in the ab- 
 sence of railroads, were attended by many hard- 
 ships, but contributed largely to the success of 
 the movement. The extent of his labors as the 
 apostle of undenominational Christianity may be 
 gathered from a brief extract from one of his 
 letters : 
 
 " It has been with me a sermon of three 
 months' continuance, interrupted only by the 
 stages of a journey of some three thousand miles. 
 My public addresses have been in Virginia thirtj'- 
 four, in South Carolina twenty-three, in Georgia 
 twenty, in South Alabama ten, besides some 
 hundred fireside sermons almost as laborious as 
 those in public assemblies." 
 
 Like his venerable father, Mr. Campbell had 
 shrunk from the responsibility of any further 
 division of religious society. But now that it 
 had been effected by the exclusion of his follow- 
 ers from their old church relationship, his great 
 labor was to secure their reorganization after the 
 Divine Model, which he ever kept before him. 
 This was no'Small task. Heterogeneous elements, 
 representing the various schools of religious 
 thought and the various forms of church polity, 
 were brought together in many communities, 
 
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 133 
 
 drawn by an intense desire to effect the unity of 
 the church by a return to apostolic precedent 
 and practice. But as men caine out of their re- 
 spective folds to unite on the one foundation, 
 they were confronted by many difficult problems. 
 There were questions of expediency, matters of 
 opinion, forms of administration, to settle. 
 Should they adopt the methods of their relig- 
 ious neighbors or be totally unlike them? 
 Should they have Sunday-schools and organized 
 missionary effort, and other forms of religious 
 co-operation? Or should they class these along 
 with innovations of doctrine and practice 
 against which the whole movement was a pro- 
 test? 
 
 To the solution of these questions, Mr. Camp- 
 bell now applied himself, and, as heretofore, ap- 
 pealed, wherever appeal was possible, to the 
 only infallible guide known to him, the teachings 
 of the divinely-inspired apostles. His concep- 
 tion of the church as a divinely-authorized asso- 
 ciation of believers is thus stated: "It is a ^ 
 society of disciples professing to believe the one 
 grand fact, the Messiahshipof Jesus, voluntarily 
 submitting to his authority and guidance, having 
 all of them in their baptism expressed their 
 faith in him and their allegiance to him, and 
 statedly meeting together in one place to walk in 
 all his commandments and ordinances. This 
 society, with its bishop or bishops and its dea- 
 
134 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 con or deacons, as the case may require, is per- 
 fectly independent of any tribunal on earth 
 called ecclesiastical." ^ 
 
 Henceforth his mission was to watch and fos- 
 ter the development of such a society, not as an 
 authoritative leader, but as a friendly patron and 
 adviser. 
 
 The separation of Baptists and Disciples led 
 Mr. Campbell to discontinue the " Christian 
 Baptist," which, as the organ of the reformatory 
 movement, had since 1823 accomplished so much 
 in the spread of its principles. He now feared 
 that the name of the paper would be given to 
 the advocates of the reformation. Against all 
 divisive and party designations he had contended 
 from the beginning, and he desired to remove all 
 possibility of such result. In the final number 
 of the "Christian Baptist," issued July 5, 1830, 
 he thus states his reason for its discontinuance : 
 
 " I have commenced a new work and taken a 
 new name for it on various accounts. Hating 
 sects and sectarian names, I resolved to prevent 
 1/ the name of Christian Baptist from being fixed 
 upon us, to do which efforts were making. It is 
 true men's tongues are their own, and they may 
 use them as they please, but I am resolved to 
 give them no just occasion for nicknaming advo- 
 cates for the ancient order of things." ^ 
 
 But in seeking to secure his followers against 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 58. 2 Cbristian Baptist, p. 665. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 135 
 
 the name Christian Baptists, Mr. Campbell was 
 called to defend them against a party designation 
 in every way more obnoxious to him. Recogniz- 
 ing him as the leader of the movement which 
 was everywhere rapidly winning favor with the 
 people, his religious enemies sought to bring re- 
 proach upon the cause which he advocated by 
 branding it as Campbell ism and his followers as 
 Campbellites. He modestly disclaimed the 
 honor of being the founder of a religious denom- 
 ination, and resented, with all the earnestness of 
 his nature, the attempt to fasten his name upon 
 the growing brotherhood which shared his con- 
 victions. His answer to those guilty of this un- 
 charitable designation was : 
 
 " It is a nickname of reproach invented and 
 adopted by those whose views, feelings and de- 
 sires are all sectarian; who can not conceive of 
 Christianity in any other light than an ism. 
 These isms are now the real reproach of those 
 who adopt them, as they are the intended re- 
 proaches of those who originate and apply 
 them. He that gives them when they are dis- 
 claimed violates the express law of Christ. He 
 speaks evil against his brother, and is accounted 
 a railer and reviler, and placed along with the 
 haters of God and those who have no lot in the 
 kingdom of heaven. They who adopt them out 
 of choice, disown the Christ and insult him; for 
 they give the honor, which is due to him alone, 
 
136 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 to the creature of the devil, for all slander and 
 detraction are of the creation of the devil. If 
 Christians were wholly cast into the mold of the 
 apostles' doctrine, they would feel themselves as 
 much aggrieved and slandered in being called by 
 any man's name as they would in being called a 
 thief, a fornicator or a drunkard." ^ 
 
 Mr. Campbell always contended that script- 
 ural things should be spoken of in scriptural 
 terms. It was his conviction that denomina- 
 tional titles were more than half the cause of 
 the continuance of party spirit. To the Script- 
 ures, therefore, he went for a name for God's 
 children. It was his desire that this name, in 
 addition to being scriptural, should be compre- 
 hensive enough to include all who love the Lord. 
 He found in that ancient church, which he had 
 taken as his model, various names applied ex- 
 pressive of different relationships, but any of 
 them broad enough to include the whole brother- 
 hood of Christ. Because of their faith they were 
 called Believers; because of their consecration 
 and purity. Saints; in their relation to each 
 other, Brethren; in their relation to the Great 
 Teacher, Disciples; at Antioch, where the first 
 Gentile church was established, Christians. Mr. 
 Campbell preferred the name Disciples of Christ 
 as the more humble appellation. Walter Scott, 
 who shared in all his counsels, urged the name 
 
 1 Christian Baptist, p. 451. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 137 
 
 Christian as the more comprehensive, and better 
 than any or all othei's describing the relation of 
 the saint to the Savior. Mr. Campbell feared 
 that the adoption of the name Christian, which 
 had already been appropriated by a people 
 regarded as denying the divinity of Christ, would 
 make his brethren an object of undeserved re- 
 proach and misrepresentation among the so- 
 called orthodox churches. It was unfortunate 
 that these good men could not have come to an 
 agreement, and saved the interminable confusion 
 that has since resulted from the interchangeable 
 or local use of the names " Disciples of Christ," 
 "Christians," "Churches of Christ," etc. 
 
 These churches, meanwhile, by whatever des- 
 ignation known, wei'e multiplying with phe- 
 nomenal rapidity. The prescriptive measures 
 employed against them by the bitter partisan 
 spirit of the times, proved an aid rather than a 
 hindrance to the general diffusion of their prin- 
 ciples among all parties, and led many from the 
 various denominations to adopt the faith and 
 doctrine of the primitive church. AVhile not a 
 few of the accessions to the newly-organized 
 churches came from the ranks of other religious 
 communions, the movement was attended by an 
 almost " unprecedented success in the conversion 
 of those who had not, as yet, embraced any of 
 the religious systems of the day." These 
 churches presented to modern religious society 
 
138 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 many distinctive features which had been ob- 
 scured by the accumulated theological rubbish 
 of the centuries. Mr. Campbell had said, "I 
 believe if we would brush aside the creeds and 
 traditions, we would find a simple and sufficient 
 I'ule of faith in the New Testament." Acting on 
 this suggestion, Christian communions sprang up 
 which, without a written creed, other than that 
 inscribed by the pen of inspiration, have pre- 
 sented and preserved a marvelous unity in the 
 essential elements of Christian faith. 
 
 A brief survey of the principles for which 
 these churches contended in 1830 is here in 
 place. In their plea for the restoration of prim- 
 itive Christianity, neither Mr. Campbell nor 
 those who joined him in his search for a script- 
 ural ideal, rejected everything that their relig- 
 ious neighbors held. In many vital and essential 
 respects they were happy to find themselves 
 in pei'fect agreement with other evangelical 
 churches, not on the authority of their creeds 
 and confessions, but on the authority of the 
 Word of God. These points of agreement were 
 more numerous, in fact, than the points of differ- 
 ence, and embraced belief in the inspiration of 
 the Holy Scriptures and their all-suflSciency, the 
 divine excellency of Jesus as the Son of God, 
 the personal and perpetual mission of the Holy 
 Spirit, the sinfulness of the race and its need of 
 regeneration, the necessity of faith, repentance 
 
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 139 
 
 and a life of obedience, the perpetuity of bap- 
 tism and the Lord's Supper, the obligation to 
 fittingly observe the Lord's day, the recognition 
 of the church of Christ as a divine institution, 
 the fullness and freeness of salvation, the final 
 punishment of the ungodly, etc. But the course 
 which they had thus far pursued in their search 
 for the old paths, led them to the discovery of 
 other principles which have since constituted 
 their distinctive peculiarities as a religious body. 
 
 1. The churches thus organized were unalter- 
 ably pledged to the cause of Christian union. 
 The}' believed and taught, on the authority of 
 the Word, that divisions among the children of 
 God were sinful, that denominationalism pre- 
 sented one of the greatest barriers to the tri- 
 umph of truth, and that Christ's people must be 
 united before any achievement commensurate 
 with the greatness of his Gospel can be won. 
 Every new church, therefore, became an added 
 protest against existing division, and an added 
 petition to Christ's prayer for the unity of the 
 church. 
 
 2. They urged the acceptance of the New 
 Testament as the only authoritative standard of 
 Christian doctrine and the essential bond of 
 Christian union. Creeds as authoritative state- 
 ments of belief had, it was shown, always been 
 divisive. If Christian union were to become an 
 accomplished fact, it was absolutely necessary, 
 
140 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 they held, that the Bible should be made "to 
 displace from their position all human creeds, 
 confessions of faith and formularies of doctrine 
 and church government, as being not only unnec- 
 essary, but really a means of perpetuating divi- 
 sions." They felt assured that the New Testa- 
 ment presented a practical basis of union, and 
 that when we are satisfied "to simply believe in, 
 and implicitly obey Christ," our unseemly divi- 
 sions will disappear, or, to use the language of 
 Thomas Campbell, the accomplishment of prac- 
 tical unity in Christian fellowship awaited " the 
 restoration of pure, primitive, apostolic Chris- 
 tianity, in letter and spirit; in principle and 
 practice." 
 
 3. They recognized the simple confession of 
 faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the world's 
 Savior, as the only authorized statement of be- 
 lief necessary to acceptance with God and mem- 
 bership in the church of Christ. The New Testa- 
 ment, which they accepted as their sole guide in 
 all matters of religious duty, presented no other 
 test of the correctness of a man's faith, than 
 this simple statement of truth, sanctioned by 
 Jesus and demanded by the apostles. Its one 
 article, they contended, was "broad enough to 
 take in every lover of Jesus, and narrow enough 
 to exclude everyone who will not accept him as 
 the divine Savior and Lord." This creed, given 
 by Simon Peter in his confession of Christ and 
 
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 141 
 
 elsewhere in the New Testament, is stated in the 
 words, " 1 believe that Jesus is the Christ, the 
 Son of the living God." Upon this confession 
 of faith, when accompanied by a heartfelt desire 
 to follow and obey the Christ, candidates were 
 admitted to baptism and church membership. 
 
 4. They adopted the customs and practices of 
 the primitive church, as revealed in the inspired 
 writings, not only because apostolic, but because 
 presenting the only possible ground upon which 
 the followers of Christ could unite. Having 
 failed to find scriptural authority for the com- 
 mon practice of infant baptism, they had from 
 the first abandoned it. Unable to find authority 
 for affusion as baptism in the practice or pre- 
 cept of either Christ or his apostles, they be- 
 came immersionists, a practice recognized by all 
 evangelical Christians as valid baptism, and, 
 therefore, presenting the only possible ground 
 for the broader fellowship for which they con- 
 tended. Finding in the apostolic age that the 
 Lord's Table was spread in Christian assemblies 
 on evei'y first day of the week, they sought to 
 adhere to the apostolic practice by a similar 
 observance of this memorial feast. As respect 
 to practical Christianity they enjoined " an entire 
 conformity to the divine will, in heart as well as 
 life," knowing that " nothing avails in Christ 
 Jesus but a new creature," and that " without 
 holiness no one shall see the Lord." 
 
142 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 A better statement of the views and practices 
 of the Disciples cannot be found than in Mr. 
 Campbell's own language in defense of the Bible 
 as a sufficient standard of faith. 
 
 " We preach," said he, "in the words of that 
 book the Gospel as promulgated by the apostles 
 in Jerusalem. We use in all important matters 
 the exact words of inspiration. We command 
 all men to believe, repent, and bi'ing forth fruits 
 worthy of reformation. We enjoin the same 
 good works commanded by the Lord and by his 
 apostles. We receive men of all denominations 
 under heaven, of all sects and parties, who will 
 make the good confession on which Jesus Christ 
 builded his church. We propound that confes- 
 sion of faith in the identical words of inspira- 
 tion, so that they who avow it express a divine 
 faith and build upon a consecrated foundation, 
 a well-tried corner-stone. On a sincere confes- 
 sion of this faith we immerse all persons, and 
 then present them with God's own book as their 
 book of faith, piety and morality. This is our 
 most obnoxious offense against the partyism of 
 this age." ^ 
 
 One other characteristic of this newly-organ- 
 ized body of disciples, deserving our notice, is the 
 progressive spirit which from the very beginning 
 was cherished by the friends of the movement. 
 The moment they cast aside creeds and turned 
 
 1 Campbell and Rice Debate, p. 783. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 143 
 
 to the Bible, unrestricted by the narrow bound- 
 aries of parties and sects, the great principles 
 of the plan of redemption began to develop in 
 succession. It would say little for the depth 
 and perfection of the Bible, if, even with the 
 acknowledged learning and talent of such a 
 leader as Mr. Campbell, the whole system had 
 been comprehended at once. Many surprising 
 discoveries had been made since the little church 
 at Brush Eun had been organized on the Bible 
 alone. The truth that first struck their atten- 
 tion was the unity of the church. Next, consist- 
 ency with their own principles led them into the 
 waters of baptism; then, ten years later, to dis- 
 cover from the Word the definite object of im- 
 mersion, and later still they learned to proclaim 
 the Gospel to sinnei-s in terms which Peter and 
 Paul would have employed. That the church of 
 1830 had fathomed the depth or comprehended 
 the fullness of divine wisdom, none for a moment 
 claimed, but they rejoiced in their freedom from 
 creed-barriers, which in other religious commun- 
 ions had put a check to further progress. Thanks 
 to their liberal Christian policy, the church has 
 since been able to make rapid progress in the 
 discovery and application of religious truth. 
 
 The changed condition of the Disciples which 
 followed their separation from the Baptists, de- 
 manded a change in the character of their in- 
 struction. The mission of the " Christian Bap- 
 
144 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 tist," as we have seen, had been to awaken men 
 to the evils of sectarianism, to lead them out of 
 Egyptian bondage to ecclesiastical tradition. 
 But now that the lines had been drawn, and he 
 and his followers were denied fellowship with 
 every existing religious organization, a new bur- 
 den was laid upon Mr. Campbell and his co-la- 
 borers, that of gathering together their follow- 
 ers into organized communions and instructing 
 them in the principles of the Gospel. The time 
 had come when the keynote must be develop- 
 ment, a going on to pex'fection. So he deter- 
 mined to start a new periodical, larger in size, 
 different in character, and milder in tone. 
 
 The name of this new journal, " The Millen- 
 '"^ nial Harbinger," was expressive of Mr. Camp- 
 bell's views regarding the coming millennial 
 reign of Christ. The rapid spread of reforma- 
 tory principles, his great success in combating 
 infidelity and in correcting religious errors, led 
 him to conceive of the millennial period as near 
 at hand. This feeling was shared by Walter 
 Scott and other of the pioneer preachers of the 
 reformation. He did not at the time presume to 
 fix upon any definite date, but as he advanced 
 in years he became possessed of a conviction that 
 the year 1866 would, in some way, usher in that 
 period, and strangely enough, that was to him 
 the year of the Lord's coming. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 145 
 
 Through the columns of "The Millennial Har- 
 binger," Mr, Campbell was able to sway by the 
 power of his pen, as he had done by his persua- 
 sive eloquence, the tide of religious conviction. 
 "Without abating a jot the importance of the 
 principles advocated in his early editorial labors, 
 he now unfolded those elements essential to 
 higher development. Feeling that the success 
 of the church would be measured by its mission- 
 ary spirit, he in time became an advocate of mis- 
 sionary enterprises, and was chosen president of 
 the American Christian Missionary Society, the 
 first missionary organization among the Disci- 
 ples. 
 
 Another problem that confronted Mr. Camp- 
 bell, as new church organizations began to multi- 
 ply, was the question of hymnology. The books 
 then in use by other religious bodies contained 
 sentiments not in accordance with the teachings 
 of the New Testament. In his plea for pure 
 speech, Mr. Campbell felt that the very hymns 
 sung should breathe the spirit of New Testa- 
 ment Christianity. He therefore set about to 
 compile a hymn-book from which unscriptural 
 sentiments should be excluded, and in 1835 gave 
 to the public a volume of two hundred pages 
 filled with such selections as were true to Gospel 
 facts and Gospel terms. This work was subse- 
 quently revised and enlarged, and before his 
 
 10 
 
146 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 death transferred to the American Christian 
 Missionary Society, and is the basis of the Chris- 
 tian Hymnal still in use. To this collection Le 
 contributed several hymns himself which breatj 
 his own lofty spirit of devotion. 
 
X. 
 
 THE DEFENDER OF THE FAITH. 
 'he religious revival with which the century 
 
 had opened, was checked while at its 
 height, by the jealousies of contending religious 
 parties. A state of religious apathy followed, 
 which left the church powei'less in the face of 
 its foes. The prevailing indifference left the 
 uncultivated soil to grow up in irreligion and 
 unbelief. While churches wrangled over their 
 creeds, the unconverted forsook the sanctuary; 
 some to lament the departure of religious society 
 from the revealed pattern which they found in 
 their Bibles, and some to nurse their dissent into 
 doubt, and doubt into unbelief. 
 
 Growing out of the unseemly strife engendered 
 by denominational differences, society was threat- 
 ened by another reign of skepticism. Infidel 
 clubs were organized and flourished in almost 
 every community. Infidel lecturers carried on 
 their propaganda of unbelief with a zeal worthy 
 of a nobler cause. Everywhere, like Goliath, 
 they breathed defiance against " the army of the 
 living God," and challenged her leaders to come 
 
 (147) 
 
148 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 to the public defense of their creeds or acknowl- 
 edge their ground irrational and untenable. 
 
 Heretofore Alexander Campbell had been oc- 
 cupied in delivering Christianity from its pro- 
 fessed friends, but now that the work of restora- 
 tion was fairly inaugurated, he marshaled all his 
 resources to defend it from its open enemies. 
 Few men were better fitted than he for such a 
 task. Abandoning the outer defenses of theol- 
 ogy, he established himself behind the impreg- 
 nable fortress of revealed truth. He had no 
 creed to defend but that ancient one which had 
 withstood the onslaught of skepticism for eigh- 
 teen hundred years. He acknowledged no 
 authority but the Holy Scriptures and its incar- 
 nate Lord. 
 
 But his was the courage, not only of one who 
 feels himself on safe ground, but of one who has 
 thoroughly trained himself for the conflict. 
 " Infidelity was one of those subjects which he 
 had thoroughly investigated. His complete mas- 
 tery of all possible trains of skeptical thought, 
 and the comprehensiveness and penetrating 
 power of his mind, unequaled in logical acumen, 
 in ability to detect false arguments and discover 
 true ones, and which could perceive in an instant 
 the relations of proposition and proof, gave him 
 an extraordinary power in such discussions which 
 naturally sought every suitable opportunity to 
 exert itself." He, accordingly, took peculiar 
 
THE DEFEXDER OF THE FAITH 149 
 
 pleasure in meeting the champions of unbelief, 
 and never failed to win the admiration of be- 
 lievers of all creeds by his able defense of the 
 common Faith. 
 
 The beginning of Mr. Campbell's defense of 
 Christianity against the skepticism of the day 
 was through the columns of the "Christian Bap- 
 tist." He at once made his magazine a forum, 
 upon which men might freely present their diffi- 
 culties and express their views, with a guarantee 
 of fair and candid treatment from its editor. In 
 this he won a favorable hearing from a large 
 class who had not been able to accept the con- 
 clusions of current theology, or to choose be- 
 tween the creeds of contending parties, and 
 was often able to remove the supposed obstacles 
 to belief. 
 
 In 1828, Mr. Campbell was confronted by an 
 antagonist worthy of his steel, in the person of 
 Robert Owen, the acknowledged champion of 
 infidelity, both in this country and Great Britain. 
 Mr. Owen was a Scotch freethinker of wealth ^ 
 and scholarship. In 1824, he purchased a 
 tract of land and established a community in 
 Indiana, called New Harmony, for the applica- 
 tion and development of his social views. A 
 peculiar feature of this community was that all 
 forms of religion should be rigidly excluded. 
 Not content with building up an infidel com- 
 munity, he went forth as the apostle of free- 
 
150 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 thought, preaching a crusade against Chris- 
 tianity, During a series of lectures in New 
 Orleans, early in 1828, Mr. Owen took occasion 
 to challenge the clergy of that city to discuss 
 with him the claims of the Christian religion. 
 
 "I propose," he said, "to prove, as I have 
 already attempted to do in my lectures, that all 
 the religions of the world have been founded on 
 the ignorance of mankind; that they are directly 
 opposed to the never-changing laws of our 
 nature; that they have been and are the real 
 source of vice, disunion and misery of every de- 
 scription; that they are now the only real bar to 
 the formation of a society of virtue, of intelli- 
 gence, of charity in its most extended sense, and 
 of sincerity and kindness among the whole 
 human family; and that they can no longer 
 be maintained except through the ignorance of 
 the mass of the people, and the tyranny of the 
 few over that mass." ^ 
 
 As no response came from those addressed, 
 Mr. Owen was about to embark for the Old 
 World, boasting that no man in America dared 
 to debate with him. But as soon as the news of 
 this defiant attitude of the great champion of 
 infidelity reached Mr. Campbell, he published 
 the challenge in the "Christian Baptist," and 
 announced his readiness to accept it. "I have 
 long wondered," he wrote, "why none of the 
 
 1 Christian Baptist, p. 443. 
 
THE DEFENDER OF THE FAITH 151 
 
 public teachers of Christianity has appeared in 
 defense of the last, best hope of mortal man. 
 If none but Christian philosophers composed 
 this society, it might be well enough to let Mr. 
 Owen and his scheme of things find their own 
 level. But while a few of the seniors disdain to 
 notice, or affect to disdain, his scheme of things, 
 it ought not to be forgotten that thousands are 
 carried away as chaff before the wind by the 
 apparently triumphant manner in which Mr. 
 Owen moves along . . . Relying on the 
 Author, the reasonableness and the excellency 
 of the Christian religion, I will engage to meet 
 Mr. Owen any time within one year from this 
 date, at any place equidistant from New Har- 
 mony and Bethany, such as Cincinnati, Ohio, or 
 Lexington, Ky., and will then and there under- 
 take to show that Mr. Owen is utterly incompe- 
 tent to prove the positions he has assumed, in a 
 public debate." ^ 
 
 Mr. Campbell was now recognized as the 
 ablest representative of the Christian faith, and 
 when his acceptance of Mr. Owen's challenge 
 was made known, all felt that the Goliath of 
 infidelity was now to meet his David. 
 
 It was arranged that the debate should take 
 place in Cincinnati in April, 1829. The occa- 
 sion was a great one. The reputation of the 
 disputants had created widespread interest. 
 
 1 Christian Baptist, p. 443. 
 
152 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 Those who sympathized with Mr. Owen predicted 
 a speedy overthrow of the Bible. Those who 
 had heard Mr. Campbell felt that the cause of 
 the Christian religion had fallen into good hands. 
 The debate which followed brought out the 
 strongest arguments of either side. Having at 
 length exhausted his resources, Mr. Owen sat 
 down, and Mr. Campbell was left to continue his 
 argument without an opponent to reply, which 
 he did in an address of twelve hours length upon 
 the evidences of Christianity as a supernatural 
 religion. It was at the close of this masterful 
 defense of the Christian faith, that one not in 
 sympathy with Mr. Campbell religiously, re- 
 marked: "I have been listening to a man who 
 seems as one who had lived in all ages." Mr. 
 Owen had hitherto exerted a poisonous influence 
 in society unchecked, but in this discussion he 
 was completely routed, and not long afterward 
 abandoned his infidel schemes and returned to 
 Scotland. 
 
 It was while arranging the preliminaries of 
 this debate, that Mr. Owen visited Mr. Campbell 
 at the Bethany mansion. During one of their 
 excursions about the farm together, they came 
 to the family burying-ground. Pausing for a 
 moment among its tombs, Mr. Owen remarked: 
 
 "There is one advantage I have over the 
 Christian, — I am not afraid to die. Most Chris- 
 tians have fear in death, but if some few items 
 
THE DEFENDER OF THE FAITH 
 
 153 
 
 of my business were settled, I should be perfect- 
 ly willing to die at any moment." 
 
 ""Well," Mr. Campbell replied, "you say you 
 have no fear in death; have you any hope in 
 death?" 
 
 "No," said Mr. Owen, after a solemn pause. 
 
 "Then," rejoined Mr. Campbell, pointing to 
 an ox standing near by, "you are on a level with 
 that brute. He has fed till he is satisfied, and 
 stands in the shade whisking off the flies, and 
 has neither hope nor fear in death." 
 
 It is related that after the debate Mr. Owen 
 again accepted of the hospitality of his invinci- 
 ble antagonist, was treated by him with great 
 kindness, and urged to abandon infidelity and 
 accept Christ as a Savior. The appeal melted 
 Mr. Owen to tears; he buried his face in his 
 hands, but still clung to that which he could not 
 sustain. 
 
 In this discussion Mr. Campbell did most 
 valiant service for the cause of Christianity, and 
 commanded the respect and admiration of the 
 entire religious community, irrespective of party 
 affiliation. For a time denominational differ- 
 ences were forgotten, and all were disposed to 
 recognize in him a defender of the common 
 faith. An effective check was put to the threat- 
 ened spread of unbelief, and the debate, which 
 was published, remained one of the strongest 
 documents on Christian evidences, and is possi- 
 
154 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 bly the best i-eflection of the versatile mind of 
 the great advocate of primitive Christianity in 
 the zenith of his power. 
 
 His manly, courteous treatment of those who 
 were skeptical, won the respect even of the pro- 
 fessed enemies of Christianity. They flocked to 
 hear him, were brought under conviction by his 
 fair-minded, unsectarian presentation of the 
 claims of revealed religion, and many of them 
 became obedient to the Gospel. As an evidence 
 of the appreciation with which he was regai'ded 
 by this class, he was invited by the skeptics of 
 New York to address them on two successive 
 evenings in their own Tammany Hall, and met 
 them with such suavity and power, as " to draw 
 praise from every lip and secure a vote of thanks 
 from the very men whose air-built castle he de- 
 molished." 
 
 Mr. Campbell had hardly finished correcting 
 the proofs of his debate with Robert Owen, when 
 he was called upon to encounter an enemy 
 nearer home. Near the close of the 3'ear 1830, 
 the Mormon delusion began its course in north- 
 ern Ohio, and among its promoters was one of 
 Mr. Campbell's lieutenants, Sydney Rigdon. 
 Together with Joseph Smith he perpetrated the 
 fraud of " The Lost Manuscript Found," which 
 was published as the "Book of Mormon," and 
 gathering a few credulous followers, organized 
 them, on the basis of its teachings, into the 
 
THE DEFENDER OP THE FAITH 
 
 155 
 
 " Church of the Latter Day Saints." Taking 
 advantage of his former connection with the re- 
 formatory work fostered by Mr. Campbell, 
 Rigdon sought to lead away the churches of the 
 vicinity in which he began his operations, and 
 succeeded in making shipwreck of the cause in 
 Kirtland, when Alexander Campbell paid a visit 
 to that section of Ohio, exposed the shameless u 
 imposition, and put a stop to its progress, and 
 soon had the satisfaction of witnessing the de- 
 parture of Joseph Smith and his deluded follow- 
 ers to the regions beyond. 
 
 In the meantime, Mr. Campbell's energies were 
 largely consumed in enlarging the borders and 
 strengthening the defenses of the work now so 
 auspiciously begun. At least six months of the 
 year were spent away from home in extended 
 tours, lecturing, prcachin'g, organizing, and in 
 endeavoring to supply that which was lacking in 
 a newly-formed religious society. New churches 
 were constantly being established. The plea for 
 apostolic Christianity was springing up in unex- 
 pected quarters. Misrepresentation and bitter 
 prejudice were to be met, errors to be corrected, 
 order restored. In meeting the varied demands 
 made upon him, he could say with Paul, "Be- 
 sides those things that are without, that which 
 Cometh upon me daily, the care of all the 
 churches," 
 
 Enlargement to the forces and influence of the 
 
156 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 Christian Church came, at this period, from 
 another source. Earlier in his labors Mr. Camp- 
 bell had come in touch with the leaders of a 
 kindred movement, which had spread widely 
 through the south. Its leading spirit was Barton 
 W. Stone, formerly a Presbyterian minister. 
 Like Mr. Campbell, he had turned from the 
 Westminster Confession to the Bible, and had 
 determined to accept, as his only guide in matters 
 of religion, the Holy Scriptures. Like Mr. Camp- 
 bell, he was led by its guidance to accept immer- 
 sion as scriptural baptism, and to reject all 
 human designations for the church, content with 
 the simple name of Christian. 
 
 In 1824, during one of Mr. Campbell's tours 
 in Kentucky, these two refoi'mers met for the 
 first time. Two such spirits could not but be 
 interested in each other. Their aims were one, 
 though they differed slightly in some of their 
 conclusions and methods. A cordial, friendly 
 investigation of their views was begun. At first, 
 like Luther and Zvvingli, they seemed to be sep- 
 arated by irreconcilable differences, but upon a 
 closer inquii'y these disappeared. The ultimate 
 result we have in Mr. Stone's own words: "We 
 plainly saw that we were on the same founda- 
 tion, in the same spirit, and preached the same 
 Gospel." Accordingly, in the early part of 
 1832, the two bodies united throughout Ken- 
 tucky, thus materially strengthening the forces 
 
THE DEFENDER OF THE FAITH 157 
 
 and influence of primitive Christianity in that 
 State, and exemplifying their plea for the union 
 of God's children. 
 
 In the autumn of 1836, Mr. Campbell was 
 brought face to face with a religious antagonist 
 from an entirely different quarter. In October 
 of that year he had been invited to deliver an 
 address before the College of Teachers of Cin- 
 cinnati. As the public mind was already some- 
 what exei'cised by the attempt of the Catholic 
 Church to exclude the Bible from the public 
 schools, he chose for his subject " Moral Cul- 
 ture," ascribing the rapid march of modern civ- 
 ilization to the spirit of inquiry awakened by 
 the Protestant Reformation. Bishop Purcell, a 
 Roman Catholic prelate, took strong exceptions 
 to Mr. Campbell's lecture, declaring that the 
 " Protestant Reformation had been the cause of 
 all the contention and infidelity in the world." 
 Mr. Campbell was not the man to allow such a 
 misstatement of facts to pass unchallenged; so 
 he informed the bishop that he was prepared to 
 defend the cause of Protestantism against such 
 misi-epresentation in public discussion. As the 
 bishop failed to signify his acceptance of this 
 proposition, Mr. Campbell delivered another 
 address, presenting six propositions, which he 
 declared himself able at any time to sustain. 
 
 So wrought up was the community over the 
 attack of the Catholic Church upon American 
 
158 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 institutions, that its representative men did not 
 feel disposed to let the matter end in that way. 
 An appeal, signed by many of the prominent 
 citizens of Cincinnati, was, therefore, presented 
 to Mr. Campbell, urging him to a public expos- 
 ure of the absurd claims and usages of the 
 Roman Catholic Church, and to establish before 
 the community the six propositions announced 
 in his lecture. In reply, Mr. Campbell consented 
 to sustain his position against Bishop Purcell, or 
 any of the Catholic priesthood, providing only 
 that time be allowed him to fulfill existing en- 
 gagements. 
 
 It was finally arranged that a seven days' joint 
 discussion should take place between Mr. Camp- 
 bell and Bishop Purcell in Cincinnati, beginning 
 on January 13, 1837. In this discussion, one of 
 the most important in which he ever engaged, 
 Mr. Campbell took the aggressive side in the 
 seven propositions considered, maintaining that, 
 
 " 1. The Roman Catholic institution, some- 
 times called the Holy Apostolic Church, is not 
 now nor was she ever catholic, apostolic or holy, 
 but is a sect in the fair import of that Avord, 
 older than any other sect now existing; not the 
 mother and mistress of all churches, but an 
 apostasy from the only true, apostolic and cath- 
 olic Church of Christ. 
 
 "2. Her notion of apostolic succession is 
 without any foundation in the Bible, in reason 
 
THE DEFENDER OF THE FAITH 
 
 159 
 
 or in fact; an imposition of the most injurious 
 consequences, built upon unscriptural and anti- 
 scriptural traditions, resting wholly upon the 
 opinions of interested and fallible men. 
 
 "3. She is not uniform in her faith or united 
 in her members, but mutable and fallible as any 
 other sect of philosophy or religion, — Jewish, 
 Turkish, or Christian, — a confederation of sects 
 under a politico-ecclesiastic head. 
 
 "4. She is the Babylon of John, the Man of 
 Sin of Paul, and the Empire of the Youngest 
 Horn of Daniel's sea-monster. 
 
 " 5. Her notions of purgatory, indulgences, 
 auricular confession, remission of sins, transub- 
 stantiation, supererogation, etc., essential ele- 
 ments of her system, are immoral in their ten- 
 dency and injurious to the well-being of society, 
 religious and political. 
 
 " 6. Notwithstanding her pretensions to have 
 given us the Bible and faith in it, we are perfect- 
 ly independent of her for our knowledge of that 
 book and its evidences of a divine original. 
 
 " 7. The Roman Catholic religion, if infalli- 
 ble and unsusceptible of reformation, as alleged, 
 is essentially anti-American, being opposed to the 
 genius of all free institution, and positively sub- 
 versive of them, opposing the general reading of 
 the Scriptures and the diffusion of useful 
 knowledge among the whole community, so es- 
 
160 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 sential to liberty and the permanency of good 
 government." ^ 
 
 To this discussion Mr. Campbell brought his 
 wonderful researches and extensive acquaintance 
 with the history of the church, ancient and mod- 
 ern. His early observations in priest-ridden 
 Ireland, his inborn hatred of priestly arrogance, 
 his high ground of observation, which enabled 
 him to look beyond creed and party lines to a 
 universal and untramraeled brotherhood in 
 Christ, fitted him, as no other man of his day, to 
 become the champion of Protestantism. A sen- 
 tence or two in his opening address, reveal the 
 grandeur of his purpose: "I appear before 
 you at this time, in the good providence of our 
 Heavenly Father, in defense of the truth, and in 
 explanation of the great redeeming, regenerat- 
 ing, ennobling principles of Protestantism, as 
 opposed to the claims and pretensions of the 
 Roman Catholic Church. I come not here to 
 advocate the particular tenets of any sect, but 
 to defend the great cardinal principles of Prot- 
 estantism." '' 
 
 In the discussion which followed, Mr. Camp- 
 bell sustained his reputation and his cause to 
 the satisfaction of the friends of Protestantism 
 of whatever creed, and won the warmest com- 
 mendation of all foes of Catholic arrogance. A 
 public meeting was called to voice the sentiment 
 
 1 Campbell and Purccll Debate, p. 7. 2 Ibid, p. 8. 
 
THE DEFENDER OF THE FAITH 
 
 161 
 
 of the community. A series of resolutions was 
 unanimously passed, complimenting in the high- 
 est terms Mr. Campbell's services, and declaring 
 "that it is the unanimous opinion of this 
 meeting that the cause of Protestantism has 
 been fully sustained throughout the discussion." 
 
 So deep and lasting was the impression of Mr. 
 Campbell's defense of Protestantism and of an 
 open and untrammeled Bible as the safeguard of 
 the Republic, that at the next meeting of the 
 College of Teachers at Cincinnati, a resolution 
 was passed to the effect, " That,in the judgment 
 of the College, the Bible should be inti'oduced 
 into every school, from the lowest to the highest, 
 as a text-book." 
 
 The debate was published, had an extensive 
 sale, and presents, perhaps, the ablest defense 
 of Protestantism in the English language. Him- 
 self the last great j5?'otestant against religious 
 error, it was fitting that upon him should fall 
 the responsibility of defending a cause that had 
 been purchased by the best blood of modern 
 civilization. 
 
XI. 
 
 A WISE MASTEK-BUILDER. 
 
 'e have witnessed, in these pages, the laying 
 
 of the foundation of a religious move- 
 ment deep and strong in the imperishable Word. 
 Mr. Campbell had, from the beginning, insisted 
 that every principle used in its construction 
 should have the stamp of divine approval ; and 
 now it was jhis daily concern that the super- 
 structure should, in ever particular, be worthy 
 of the foundation. In securing results commen- 
 surate with his great undertaking, his energies 
 were taxed to their utmost. 
 
 From 1836 to 1840 he traveled extensively, 
 looking after the progress of the work over a 
 wide field. During the summer of 1836 he made 
 an extended tour through the East, where the 
 principles of the reformation were as yet imper- 
 fectly understood, and where he was confronted 
 by a spirit of conservatism that gave but feeble 
 response to a plea, which, in the hospitable 
 South and the enterprising West, was becoming 
 a potent factor in religious society. From a 
 flourishing town in New York he writes: 
 
 " I have never been more busily engaged in 
 
 (162; 
 
A WISE MASTER-BUILDER 
 
 163 
 
 all my life than on the present tour. I am like 
 one settling in a new country, where everything 
 is to do. 1 have labored incessantly since I 
 came into this State, disabusing the public mind, 
 and teaching the disciples. There is a powerful 
 opposition consolidated against the truth. . . . 
 I am really very tired and willing to seek repose, 
 and could wish that my journey and my furlough 
 were completed, but I must patiently bear the 
 toil and endure the pain in hope of the reward. 
 I have the great pleasure of enlightening many, 
 of relieving the distressed and broken in spirit, 
 and of making some rich in the faith and hope 
 of Christ. I have left a good odor for Chi'ist in 
 every place." ^ 
 
 After bearing testimony to the truth in many 
 cities of the East, he returned to his home 
 among the hills of Virginia, having, during an 
 absence of ninety-four days, traveled two thous- 
 and miles and delivered ninety-three discourses. 
 
 Having explored and discovered little promise 
 for the cause of reformation in the eastern 
 States, he turned his attention to the South. 
 Already the cause had made remarkable progress 
 in Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Beyond 
 the borders of these States but feeble and inef- 
 fectual attempts had been made to establish re- 
 formatory principles. During a few months' 
 tour, he visited the leading cities of the South, 
 
 1 Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 415. 
 
164 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 everywhere pleading with his accustomed power 
 for the restoratior; of primitive Christianity. 
 Of the reception of his plea he writes : 
 
 "My present tour reminds me of those in 
 1823-25, when I was widely scattering the seeds 
 of reformation in the West. The first princi- 
 ples of things — the objections of the captious, 
 the scruples of the conscientious, the problems 
 of the curious, and the ambushes of the enemies — 
 all require and receive a degree of attention. 
 We have to dispossess demons, and exorcise un- 
 clean spirits, as well as to proclaim the acceptable 
 year of the Lord. The chief priests, the scribes 
 and the rulers of the people are generally in league 
 against us. But there are some more noble than 
 in Thessalonica who hear the word with teach- 
 ableness." ^ 
 
 When, after many weary months of trial and 
 labor, he again turned his steps homeward, it 
 was in no spirit of optimism that he penned his 
 conclusions. Sectarianism was strongly in- 
 trenched in many quarters, and moral degener- 
 acy pervaded religious society. " There is," he 
 wrote, " everywhere more of a readiness to re- 
 form the creed than the heart, to rectify the 
 understanding rather than the affections, and to 
 exhibit sound tenets rather than godly lives; 
 good works are much more wanting than good 
 notions. . . Millions are consumed upon the 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 452. 
 
A WISE MASTER-BUILDER 
 
 165 
 
 lusts of men for thousands that are laid up on 
 deposit in the Bank of Heaven." ^ 
 
 While these tours, involving great labor and 
 sacrifice on the part of Mr. Campbell, failed of 
 large results, they were connected with an im- 
 portant enterprise that now consumed the 
 thought and energy of the great leader. They 
 had revealed to him the weakness of the cause 
 of reformation. It was lack of men competent 
 to carry forward the work. In the great conflict 
 which fired his heart and brain, he had been com- 
 pelled to use such material as presented itself to 
 aid in the spread of the Gospel. Those who 
 came to his support, were, many of them, un- 
 trained men from the farms and shops, who had 
 entered the ministry of the Word without prep- 
 aration, other than a study of the New Testa- 
 ment; and by their narrow and superficial con- 
 ception of Christianity, often hindered rather 
 than aided the progress of truth. Though 
 always the friend of education, he became con- 
 vinced, as at no former period of his life, that 
 if his cause were to continue to prosper and 
 commend itself to thinking people, it must be 
 supported by an educated ministry. He, there- 
 fore, began seriously to consider the establish- 
 ment of an institution where young men could 
 secure training which would make them efficient 
 advocates of the cause of primitive Christianity, 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 462. 
 
166 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 now so widely spread ; and whose talent, culture 
 and acquaintance with the "Word would com- 
 mand the respect, attention and acceptance of 
 the world. 
 
 In the consideration of this problem, as in 
 every other subject that came within the grasp 
 of his intellect, Mr. Campbell took grounds that 
 were far in advance of his times. He regarded 
 it as a serious defect of a college training that 
 so much time was devoted to the pagan classics, 
 to the exclusion of the physical sciences and the 
 study of the Christian Scriptures. He con- 
 ceived an educational institution in which the 
 physical, intellectual, moral and religious con- 
 stitution of man would each receive training. 
 His system embraced, 1st, A family institution 
 under the control of Christian people, where 
 lads under fourteen could be brought togethei-, 
 and carefully instructed in the facts, precepts 
 and promises of the Bible, and trained up in the 
 paths of morality and religion. 2nd. A school 
 embracing a complete course of preparation for 
 college, in which the " formation of moral char- 
 acter and the culture of the heart was to be 
 made the supreme end." 3rd. The college for 
 which he proposed a liberal course of studies, 
 in which the physical sciences should have prom- 
 inence. But he argued the importance of such 
 instruction, even in classic halls, as would secure 
 the development of the moral faculties as iudis- 
 
A WISE MASTER-BUILDER 
 
 167 
 
 pensable to correct views of life and society. 
 Therefore, the Bible should, he insisted, be made 
 one of the regular text-books, no student to be 
 entitled to honors without being thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with the Sacred Oracles. 4th. The 
 church with which the institution was to be con- 
 nected, presenting to the young men under its in- 
 struction, and to the world, a practical exhibition 
 of the truth and excellency of the Gospel of 
 Christ. By the employment of such a scheme, 
 Mr. Campbell hoped to remedy the errors he had 
 witnessed, and build upon the one foundation an 
 enduring superstructure of moral and intellect- 
 ual excellence. 
 
 In announcing his purpose he said: " Having 
 now completed fifty years and on my way to six- 
 ty, the greater part of which time I have been 
 engaged in literary labors and pursuits, and im- 
 agining that I possess some views and attain- 
 ments which I can in this way render perma- 
 nently useful to this community and posterity, I 
 feel in duty bound to offer this project to the 
 consideration of all the friends of literature, 
 morality and unsectarian Bible Christianity." ^ 
 
 Mr. Campbell's scheme of education being 
 heartily approved, not only by his own brethren, 
 but by eminent educators of various creeds, 
 steps were at once taken to carry out its pro- 
 visions. Thei'e was but one spot where such 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 469. 
 
168 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 an experiment could be put in successful opera- 
 tion, and that was near the mansion of the sage 
 whose wisdom and fame would assure it pre-emi- 
 nence. A charter was consequently obtained for 
 Bethany College during the winter of 1840, and 
 a board of trustees selected, who at once chose 
 Mr. Campbell president of the institution. 
 With his characteristic energy, he immediately 
 proceeded to secure buildings and funds, declar- 
 ing his readiness to render his services without 
 compensation and to invest a few thousand dol- 
 lars besides, pi'oviding others would take hold 
 and assist in building up an institution which 
 should be made " a lasting and comprehensive 
 blessing." So rapidly was the work prosecuted, 
 that by October 21, 1841, the doors of Bethany 
 College were opened for students. Mr. Camp- 
 bell at once addressed himself to the work of 
 training young men in the great principles of 
 Divine truth. The sacred volume was made the 
 text-book for the whole college, and every morn- 
 ing he proceeded to develop before all the stu- 
 dents the great facts which it presented. At a 
 later period, he was able to say: "From the 
 origin of Bethany College till this day, a period 
 of over sixteen years, there has been a Bible 
 study and a Bible lecture for every college day 
 in the college year. The Bible is read as it was 
 written, in chronological order, and a lecture on 
 every reading is delivered exegetical of its facts 
 
A WISE MASTER-BUILDER 
 
 169 
 
 and documents — historical, chronological, geo- 
 graphical — whether they be natural, moral or 
 religious, in reference to the past, the present, 
 the future of man." ^ 
 
 No feature of the institution over which he 
 presided gave Mr. Campbell more satisfaction 
 than this study of the Bible as one of the 
 branches of a liberal education. "A college or 
 school," said he, " adapted to the genius of 
 human nature — to man as he is and as he must 
 hereafter be — cannot be found in Christendom, 
 in the absence of a moral education founded 
 upon the Bible, and the Bible alone, without the 
 admixture of human speculation, or of science 
 falsely so-called." But strange as it may seem, 
 of the one hundred and more colleges in the 
 United States in 1841, Bethany alone had a chair 
 of Sacred and Biblical Literature. 
 
 The first half of each college session was 
 devoted to the study of the Pentateuch, and the 
 last half to the four Gospels and the Acts of the 
 Apostles. Mr. Campbell's morning lectures on 
 the Pentateuch before the students of Bethany 
 College revealed him at his best. Under his 
 magic treatment the pages of Holy Writ beamed 
 with new meaning, and a new and widespread 
 interest was awakened in its study. The great 
 motive which prompted him to superadd to his 
 already oppressive labors the additional respon- 
 
 1 Home Life, p. 61. 
 
170 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 sibility of Bethauy College, was to " magnify the 
 value of this book of books, — to enforce its 
 claims to authority over the heart and con- 
 sciences of men, — to expound its great and eter- 
 nal principles of righteousness and truth — and 
 to make men feel that it is the word of the liv- 
 ing God, the Divine standard of truth in religion 
 and of virtue in morality." 
 
 The influence of Bethany College, from the 
 very beginning of its histoi*y, proved the wisdom 
 of its founder. It was soon able to send out 
 talented and educated preachers, who gave new 
 impetus to the cause of the Reformation, and at 
 a critical period in the history of the movement 
 saved it from the narrow,sectarian channels into 
 which well-meaning but ignorant men would 
 have drifted it. Other institutions of learning, 
 dominated by the same supreme regard for the 
 Word of God, sprang up under the influence of 
 the educational spirit which Mr. Campbell's 
 wisdom and foresight had created, and already 
 the foundation has been laid for the Disciples of 
 Christ to take their place in the front rank of 
 the world's educators. 
 
 In one respect Mr. Campbell's comprehensive 
 ^ scheme of education proved a disappointment. 
 It was a cherished notion of his that the best 
 results in college education could be attained by 
 gathering the youth from their homes, and put- 
 ting them under early moral training and 
 
A WISE MASTER-BUILDER 
 
 171 
 
 instruction, preparatory to a college coarse. To 
 carry out his design he erected, at his own 
 expense, a large building near the college, where 
 the family school could be put in operation. It 
 was soon discovered, however, that young boys, 
 away from the influence of home and parental 
 guardianship, were peculiarly exposed, and fail- 
 ing to find persons suitably qualified for the 
 management of such a charge, it was reluctantly 
 abandoned; though Mr. Campbell still cherished 
 the belief that under proper direction his high- 
 est hopes might have been attained. 
 
 While immersed in the cares and labors 
 attendant upon the inauguration of his great 
 educational enterpi-ise, Mr. Campbell was again 
 called upon to defend the ground which he had 
 taken in another public discussion. 
 
 Already he had proved himself the ablest 
 champion of revealed religion in America. 
 When Robert Owen challenged the clergy of the 
 world, and posted his defiance on the walls of 
 our cities, ^Ir. Campbell met him in a public 
 debate, which put a check to his infidel schemes 
 in this country. In his debate with Bishop Pur- 
 cell, he successfully attacked the arrogant and 
 hollow pretensions of Roman Catholicism. In 
 this last encounter he was called upon to defend 
 "the religion of the New Testament against the 
 traditions and other baseless tenets of Protest- 
 antism. 
 
172 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 In the fall of 1842, while on a visit to Ken- 
 tucky, Mr. Campbell had received an intimation 
 that the Presbyterians of that state were ready 
 to furnish a champion in the public discussion 
 of the points of difference between them and 
 the Disciples of Christ. Mr. Campbell promptly 
 declared his readiness to defend his views 
 against any of their representative men. Dr. E. 
 J. Breckenridge, a man of fine attainments and 
 excellent Christian spirit, was looked upon as 
 the best representative of the Presbyterian 
 cause; but when solicited to engage Mr. Camp- 
 bell in debate, he answered: "No sir, I will 
 never be Alexander Campbell's opponent. A 
 man who has done what he has to defend Chris- 
 tianity against infidelity, and to defend Pro- 
 testantism against the delusions aud usurpations 
 of Catholicism, I will never oppose in public 
 debate. I esteem him too highly."^ At length 
 Rev. N. L. Rice was chosen by the Presbyter- 
 ians, and after a lengthy correspondence the 
 propositions and terms of discussion were 
 agreed upon. The ground of debate on this 
 occasion had somewhat shifted from that of Mr. 
 Campbell's earlier encounters with the Presby- 
 terian clergy. It was no longer a contest 
 between Baptists and Pedo-baptists, but 
 between Reformers, then, as now, called Chris- 
 tians or Disciples of Christ, aud the religious 
 
 1 Millennial Harbinger, 1866, p. 200. 
 
A WISE MASTER-BUILDER 
 
 173 
 
 world. The subjects under discussion covered 
 the whole range of truth for which the Disciples 
 contended. The following propositions were 
 finally agreed upon : 
 
 " 1. The immersion in water of a proper sub- 
 ject, into the name of the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Spirit, is the one, only apostolic or 
 Christian baptism. Mr. Campbell affirms. 
 
 *' 2. The infant of a believing parent is a 
 scriptural subject of baptism. Mr. Rice affirms. 
 
 "3. Christian baptism is for the remission of 
 past sins. Mr. Campbell affirms. 
 
 "4. Baptism is to be administered only by a 
 bishop or ordained presbyter. Mr. Rice affirms. 
 
 "5. In conversion and sanctification, the 
 Spirit of God operates on persons only through 
 the word of truth. Mr. Campbell affirms. 
 
 " 6. Human creeds, as bonds of union and 
 communion, are necessai'ily heretical and schis- 
 matical. Mr. Campbell afiirms."^ 
 
 In every instance, Mr. Campbell advocated 
 and defended the simple requirements of the 
 Gospel as he found them in the New Testament, 
 against ecclesiastical theories and practices as 
 presented by creeds and confessions of faith. 
 Lexington was selected as the place of discus- 
 sion, and Henry Clay, the great Kentucky orator 
 and statesman, was chosen to preside; and here 
 for a period of eighteen days, beginning Novem- 
 
 1 Campbell and Rico Debate, p. 47, 
 
174 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 ber 15, 1843, was waged one of the greatest 
 intellectual battles of religious history. 
 
 In some respects this was Mr. Campbell's 
 most unsatisfactory effort, in some respects his 
 greatest. The difference between the disput- 
 ants was marked, both as to their mental char- 
 acteristics and modes of warfare. Mr. Camp- 
 bell's mind was of that comprehensive type, 
 broad in its generalizations, capable of grasping 
 at the fundamental principles of the subject 
 under consideration, and carrying his point by 
 an intellectual momentum that was irresistible 
 when launched at his antagonist. Mr. Rice, on 
 the other hand, though lacking in Mr. Camp- 
 bell's power of thought, possessed an intellect- 
 ual agility that was able to parry the thrusts of 
 his opponent by grasping at the exceptions and 
 hurling them back with effect. As viewed from 
 the standpoint of one of Mr. Rice's sympa- 
 thizers, "Mr. Campbell was like a heavy, Dutch- 
 built man-of-war, carrying many guns of large 
 calibre; while Mr. Rice resembled a daring and 
 active Yankee privateer, who contrived, by the 
 liveliness of his movements and the ease with 
 which he could take up his position for a raking 
 fire, to leave his more cumbrous adversary in a 
 very crippled condition at the close of the fight." 
 Great abilities were displayed by both parties in 
 this discussion. While Mr. Rice claimed com- 
 plete victory for his side, the ultimate effect of 
 
A WISE MASTER-BUILDER 175 
 
 the debate upon religious society did not justify 
 the claim. A copyright of the printed debate, 
 which filled more than nine hundi-ed closely 
 printed pages, was purchased by a member of 
 the Presbyterian Church, and the volume was 
 circulated for a time as a defense of their views. 
 But it was soon discovered that its effect upon 
 the public mind was quite different from what 
 its publisher expected, and that it was making 
 many converts to Mr. Campbell's views, and 
 none to Mr. Eice's. Consequently the copyright 
 was disposed of to a member of the Christian 
 Church, under whose auspices it was widely cir- 
 culated, and with good effect, in disseminating 
 their views. 
 
 Whatever may be said against this mode of 
 presenting and defending the truth to-day, it 
 was made in Mr. Campbell's hands, and under 
 the conditions of society prevailing at that time, 
 a powerful instrument in stirring up the spirit 
 of eai'nest investigation. In his attack and 
 defeat of the foes of Christianity, he has con- 
 tributed in no small measure to the growth of 
 respect for the Bible and its institutions. In 
 his championship of the cause of Protestantism, 
 he presented a much needed check to Catholic 
 presumption; while in his advocacy of the 
 Bible against creeds and confessions, he has 
 rendered invaluable aid to the triumph of the 
 simple claims of the Gospel. Thus did he seek 
 
176 
 
 ALEXANDER CAJMPBELL 
 
 to enlarge the Church of Christ into harmonious 
 proportion with the Divine foundation upon 
 which it was established ; and, as a wise master- 
 builder, to rear a Temple of Faith, whose 
 strength and grandeur should be unsurpassed, 
 and whose beauty should be enduring. 
 
xn. 
 
 THE PRINCE OF PREACHERS. 
 'hile much of Mr. Campbell's strength and 
 
 energy was consumed in educational and 
 editorial labors, he was first and last and all 
 the time a preacher of the Gospel. From the 
 moment, when, sitting on the stump of a broken 
 mast of a shipwrecked vessel, he dedicated his 
 life to the ministry of the Word, to the time 
 when he stepped down from the Bethany pulpit 
 never to return, on account of the infirmities of 
 age, he did not once swerve from his calling. 
 
 Perhaps no point in his career will furnish us 
 a better eminence from which to study the char- 
 acter and secret of his great power as a preacher, 
 than that at which we have now arrived, — his 
 fame world-wide, his powers unabated by the 
 decay of age. 
 
 Able as a writer, painstaking and inspiring as 
 a teacher, he was seen at his best in the pulpit. 
 Here as he developed the great themes of Christ 
 and Redemption, he never failed to surprise and 
 delight all who came under the sound of his 
 voice. Here his power was irresistible. Men 
 
 12 
 
 (177) 
 
178 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 who came to criticise, returned to praise. Even 
 those most bitterly opposed to his views were 
 compelled to bear testimony to his extraordinary 
 power as a speaker. Ministers exhorted their 
 flocks to refuse him hearing, lest they should be 
 swept from their religious moorings by his irre- 
 sistible logic. It is not strange, therefore, that 
 his friends regarded him with unmixed admira- 
 tion, and cherished it as the supreme moment of 
 their lives when permitted to sit under the 
 charmed influence of his persuasive voice. 
 
 It is impossible to convey to the printed page 
 any adequate conception of Mr. Campbell as a 
 preacher. He was not a sermon writer, and 
 nothing but the barest outlines of a few of his 
 sermons have been preserved. But even if we 
 now possessed his discourses in full, they would 
 fail to reveal the secret of the spell the great 
 preacher was able to throw about his auditors. 
 There is an element in the public address which, 
 like the fragrance of the flower, cannot be pre- 
 served. The thoughts remain, but the person- 
 ality of the thinker is gone. Our knowledge of 
 one whose voice has long been silenced must 
 come from those who have felt the power of his 
 eloquence; and in Mr. Campbell's case even his 
 hearers are removed a generation from us, only 
 here and there some veteran remaining who can 
 tell us how he preached in the greatness of his 
 prime. 
 
THE PRINCE OF PREACHERS 179 
 
 In the very beginning of his ministry he re- 
 vealed a rare power of thought and utterance 
 which was prophetic of the commanding posi- 
 tion which he speedily attained. He was blessed 
 by nature with an attractive personality. Before 
 he uttered a word all eyes were fixed upon him 
 with an expectation that was never disappointed. 
 He was endowed with a mind of extraordinary 
 keenness and grasp, whose furnishing had not 
 been neglected, and whose power of memory, 
 observation and generalization had been culti- 
 vated to a high degree of perfection by long and 
 painstaking effort. He had mastered the one 
 book which was to furnish the material and in- 
 spiration of his preaching. Like Timothy, he 
 had known the Holy Scriptures from his youth; 
 and like that young disciple, he made it his con- 
 stant study to show himself approved unto God, 
 rightly dividing the Word. The charm of his 
 discourse was multiplied by a rich endowment of 
 voice, whose low, musical tones were in keeping 
 with the sublime message which fell from the 
 lips of the speaker. Back of it all was an in- 
 tense earnestness of purpose, which is ever indis- 
 pensable to a powerful presentation of the 
 Gospel message. He loved the Bible with an 
 intense, passionate love. "This," he would say, 
 pointing to the Word of God, "is perfect, and I 
 fall a martyr ere the profane finger of mortal 
 shall smut it or change it." He could say with 
 
180 
 
 ALEXANDER CAIIPBELL 
 
 Paul, " We also believe, therefore we speak." 
 
 His method of presenting the truth was alto- 
 gether novel and original. " He thought as no 
 other man ever thought, spoke as no other man 
 ever spoke, wrote as no other man ever wrote." 
 As multitudes dispersed after listening for the 
 first time to his presentation of the Gospel 
 claims, they wei*e constrained to remark, "We 
 never heard it in this like before." 
 
 With his peculiar capacity for generalization, 
 he was able to grasp and present the essential 
 and vital principles of revelation in wide and 
 expanded views. But if the view was sublime in 
 its breadth and grandeur, it was nevertheless 
 clear and simple in its detail. At a time when 
 the authorized clergy were claiming that the 
 Scriptures were beyond the power of the ordi- 
 nary understanding, Mr. Campbell was demon- 
 strating that the simplicity of the Gospel brought 
 its truths within the reach of all. At his bidding 
 doctrines that had long been obscured by the 
 mists of tradition, suddenly emerged from the 
 enveloping clouds, like the landscape from 
 the morning mists which the rising sun has 
 scattered. 
 
 The burden of his discourses was to show 
 what the Divine Word says and why it is said. 
 Instead of confining himself to the development 
 of a single passage, he would sweep the horizon 
 of Revelation in his survey, unfolding in its 
 
THE PRINCE OF PREACHERS 
 
 181 
 
 light tne lesson of a chapter, a book, or a dis- 
 pensation, its meaning illumined and enforced 
 by a wealth of scriptural illustration and author- 
 ity. After listening for more than two hours to 
 one of his discourses on the Epistle to the Gala- 
 tians, a Baptist minister, who regarded Mr. 
 Campbell with suspicion, was heard to remark, 
 " I know nothing about him, but be he devil or 
 saint, he has thrown more light on that epistle 
 and the whole Scriptures than I have heard in 
 all the sermons I ever listened to before." 
 James Madison, ex-President of the United 
 States, after bearing testimony as to Alexander 
 Campbell's ability and services in the constitu- 
 tional convention of his State, continued: "But 
 it is as a theologian that Mr. Campbell must be 
 known. It was my privilege to hear him very 
 often as a preacher of the Gospel, and I regard 
 him as the ablest and most original expounder of 
 the Word I have ever heard." 
 
 In manner Mr. Campbell used none of the 
 artificial accessories of oratory. '* Of the arti- 
 ficial," says one intimately acquainted him, " he 
 had not one vestige in him. He had it neither 
 in his look nor in his talk, in his writing nor 
 in anything else. Never was man freer from the 
 influence of mere conventionalities." As one 
 remarked of him, he had no time to study ges- 
 ture and cultivate himself in the graces of ora- 
 tory. Life rushed on too fast; so he passed 
 
182 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 these by and addressed himself to the under- 
 standing of his hearers, in the best, most forci- 
 ble English he could command. 
 
 Trusting in the power of great truths clearly 
 and earnestly presented to produce convic- 
 tions, he usually delivered his address without 
 movement, or attempt at eloquence. He 
 seemed rather to despise oratory as an art, 
 always relying on the inherent attractiveness of 
 the truths he uttered. His utterances were 
 rapid, sometimes too rapid for the listener to 
 keep pace with the torrent of ideas that flowed 
 on in an endless stream. He usually talked i^ 
 conversational style, with scarcely a gesture 
 from the beginning to the end of his discourse. 
 But there was a dignity of bearing, a charm of 
 manner, a clearness of statement, a force of 
 reasoning, a purity of diction, a wealth of learn- 
 ing and an earnestness of purpose, which 
 " clothed his pulpit efforts with a high degree of 
 oratorical excellence." 
 
 He always spoke without notes, but not with- 
 out preparation. In his earlier efforts this con- 
 sisted in carefully writing and memorizing his 
 entire address, but when once he felt confident 
 of his powers, he trusted to the fertile resources 
 of his great intellect to marshal at his command 
 fact and argument and illustration, with which 
 to bring the truth home with conviction to the 
 hearts of his hearers. When asked how he 
 
THE PRINCE OF PHEACHERS 
 
 183 
 
 possessed himself of such a vast store-house of 
 information with which he illumined his dis- 
 course, he replied, ' ' By studying sixteen hours 
 per day." Indeed, his mind seemed never to 
 have been released from the great theme to 
 which he had devoted his life. ^Yhether in the 
 study, or behind the plow, or on his way to some 
 distant appointment, or within the charmed cir- 
 cle about his own fireside, his mind dwelt upon 
 the mysteries of redeeming love. " Many a 
 piece of a day he spent wandering beside his 
 winding Buffalo, or clambering over its neigh- 
 boring woody slopes. Here often seated on a 
 log, or perched like a wild mountain bird on 
 some lone rock, he would pass unconscious 
 hours deep wrapped in thought, or searching 
 the meaning of some dark text in his Greek 
 Testament." Thus was forged and polished 
 the weapon which he wielded with terrible effect 
 against the enemies of his Lord. 
 
 As a preacher, he rose above environment in 
 his enthusiasm for the truth. He seemed un- 
 touched by those circumstances which inspire 
 other speakers to their loftiest flights. Thei-e 
 were no great occasions in his life, because all 
 occasions were to him equally great. It did not 
 matter whether he spoke to a dozy congregation 
 of half a hundred in the backwoods, or ad- 
 dressed an assembly of orators and statesmen in 
 the halls of legislation, he was sure to rise to a 
 
184 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 height that was the wonder and the admiration 
 of all who heard. In either case it was not the 
 praise of men that he sought, but the approval 
 of Him whose servant he was. 
 
 At a period when the ministers of religion 
 were distinguished by clerical airs, clerical voice, 
 clerical manners, clerical dress, Mr. Campbell 
 appeared in refreshing contrast, which doubtless 
 gave an added charm to his address. There was 
 nothing of the clergyman about him. "Nature 
 had not made him one, and he could never as- 
 sume the character. It is but just to add that 
 he never tried. His religion was a religion of 
 principle, of conviction. In it was nothing con- 
 ventional. Hence he never impressed the world 
 as trying to seem clerical. He had neither cleri- 
 cal airs, nor a clerical gait. He neither walked 
 like one, nor talked like one, and as he never 
 seemed to be one, few people, not knowing him, 
 ever suspected him for one." ^ 
 
 His place and power as a preacher has been 
 assigned with discrimination by D. S. Burnett, in 
 an address delivered before the students of 
 Bethany College shortly after the close of Mr. 
 Campbell's career. He says: 
 
 " Mr. Campbell was a remarkable preacher. 
 Not an orator, such as Whitfield, Summerfield, 
 or the Irish Kirwan. He had not the voice, 
 gesture or pathos of either of them. He could 
 
 1 Lard's Quarterly, Vol. 3, p. 257. 
 
THE PRINCE OF PREACHERS 185 
 
 not, like them, raise a stoi-m and quell it at 
 will; and yet he would draw a large congrega- 
 tion, hold them longer, and leave them furn- 
 ished with much more comprehensive views of 
 truth and duty. He spoke more sensibly, more 
 rhetorically, and more scripturally than either 
 of them, and his woi'k on earth will abide 
 longer. We can imagine few more pleasure- 
 able sights than this grand preacher, delivering 
 an extempore discourse, while supporting him- 
 self, enfeebled by dyspepsia, on his cane, in the 
 midst of the largest and most intellectual audi- 
 ences our country could affoi'd. Thus he stood, 
 like Paul on Mars' Hill, among the orators and 
 statesmen of Kentucky, at an early day, in the 
 largest hall of Lexington ; thus he entranced the 
 elite of Richmond in 1830, and of Nashville 
 shortly after; thus, shortly before that, he held 
 spell-bound for two hours the Legislature of 
 Ohio, before breakfast ready to depart; it was 
 thus, in 1833, he addressed, with great power, 
 the skeptics of New York, two successive even- 
 ings, in their own Tammany Hall, with such 
 suavity as to draw praise from every lip and 
 secure a vote of thanks from the men whose air- 
 built castle he demolished. These speeches 
 flowed from his lips like the water from the rock 
 smitten by the prophet, and the people felt, like 
 famished Israel as they drank the cooling 
 draught, that a hand of power had relieved their 
 
186 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 thirst. All were charmed with the man and 
 impressed with the majesty of the Scriptures."^ 
 To this should be added the following testi- 
 mony^ of Dr. Richardson, his life-long friend and 
 biographer: 
 
 "For the first few moments, indeed, the 
 hearer might contemplate his commanding form, 
 his perfect self-possession, and quiet dignity of 
 manner, or admire the clear and silvery tones of 
 his voice, but those emphatic tones soon filled 
 his mind with other thoughts. New revelations 
 of truth ; themes the most familiar invested with 
 a strange importance, as unexpected and yet 
 obvious relations were developed in a few sim- 
 ple sentences; unthought of combinations; un- 
 foreseen conclusions; a range of vision that 
 seemed to embrace the universe, and to glance at 
 pleasure into all its varied departments, — were 
 as by some magic power presented to the hearer, 
 and so as to wholly engross his perception and 
 his undei-standing. While that voice was heard 
 nothing could dissolve the charm. "'^ 
 
 Like the preacher described in Dryden's lines, 
 
 " With eloquence innate his tongue was arm'd, 
 Thougli harsli tlie precept, yet the preacher charm'd ; 
 For letting down the golden chain from high, 
 He drew his audience upward to the sky. 
 He bore his great commission in his look. 
 And sweetly temper'd awe, and soften'd all he spoke." 
 
 1 Millennial Harbinger, 1806, p. 317. 
 3 Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 583. 
 
THE PRINCE OF PREACHERS 187 
 
 It will thus be obsei'ved that Mr. Campbell 
 jjossessed a power all his own. If it lacked in 
 some of the graces of oratory, it was, neverthe- 
 less, adapted to the times and place he was 
 providentially called to fill. Vast audiences 
 were chained by it for hours, forgetful of evevy- 
 thing but the message. So wrapt was the atten- 
 tion that at the close of an address of two or 
 three hours' length, his congregations were 
 often surprised and disappointed when he an- 
 nounced his conclusion, thinking that he had 
 only spoken a few minutes. Men who once 
 heard him never forgot the peculiar exaltation 
 experienced while under the spell of his elo- 
 quence. Said one who in his youth had listened 
 to a discourse delivered by Mr. Campbell on the 
 Hebrew letter: " It has been forty years since I 
 heard that discourse, but it is as vivid in my 
 memory, I think, as when I first heard it." In 
 listening to him, all not only felt that they were 
 in the presence of a great man, but that the 
 message which he was delivering bore an indis- 
 pensable relation to their well-being. 
 
XIII. 
 
 TRAVELS AT HOME AND ABROAD. 
 7iTH the weight of increasing years and of 
 
 increasing cares, Mr. Campbell had hoped 
 to find release from the pain of protracted ab- 
 sence from home. He longed to spend his 
 remaining years within the quiet of his own 
 beloved Bethany, and in the development of the 
 college which he looked upon as the crowning 
 work of his life. 
 
 This fond dream was not to be realized. The 
 burden of securing buildings, equipments and 
 endowment for the new college rested upon him. 
 "While friends were ready to contribute to its 
 support, so great was the desire of the public to 
 see and hear him, that they made a visit fi-om 
 Mr. Campbell the condition of their donations 
 to the funds of the college. In addition, there- 
 fore, to his labors as editor and instructor, he 
 was compelled to make extended tours that took 
 him through all sections of the country, and in 
 which he was everywhere received with open 
 arms by admiring multitudes. A great change 
 had taken place in public sentiment since those 
 early days when he stood alone as the represen- 
 
 (188) 
 
TRA\T:LS at HOilE AND ABROAD 
 
 189 
 
 tative of an unpopular cause. Papers that then 
 had sought his defamation, now treated him 
 with respect and consideration. Cities and legis- 
 lative halls received him as an honored guest, 
 and sought from him a public expression of his 
 views. Everywhere he was treated with a con- 
 sideration due his distinguished ability. In 
 these tours he did much to strengthen the hearts 
 of the brethren and set in order the things that 
 were lacking. 
 
 In the winter of 1843, Mr. Campbell visited 
 the large cities of the East in the interests of 
 the college, securing valuable contributions in 
 money and scientific apparatus. But the South, 
 in some respects, presented the most fruitful 
 field at that time. Its own lack of educational 
 facilities led it to seek for its young men the 
 advantages of Northern institutions of learning. 
 Its large fortunes, accumulated by means of 
 remunerative slave labor, were dispensed with 
 somewhat lavish hand on any educational system 
 which would not endanger its own institution of 
 slavery. It, therefore, happened that Mr. Camp- 
 bell was encouraged to make repeated visits 
 among the scattered and wealthy disciples of the 
 Southern States, in canvassing for funds to build 
 and enlarge Bethany College. 
 
 It was during these tours through the South 
 that Mr. Campbell became personally acquainted 
 with the evils of American slavery, and fonnu- 
 
190 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 lated for himself a course, which, in the light of 
 our new birth of freedom, can hardly be justi- 
 fied. "While recognizing and acknowledging the 
 evil of this system which had fastened itself on 
 a large section of our country, he was slow to 
 I'ecognize the righteousness of the cause of 
 emancipation. While an anti-slavery man him- 
 self, he felt that the Bible under certain condi- 
 tions justified slavery, and with him the author- 
 ity of the Word of God was final on any question. 
 While Wendell Philips was thundering his phil- 
 ippics against this stronghold of injustice, Mr. 
 Campbell was penning his convictions for the 
 columns of the Harbinger, declaring: " 1. That 
 the relation of master and servant is not in itself 
 sinful or immoral. 2. That, nevertheless, slav- 
 ery, as practiced in any part of the civilized 
 world, is inexpedient, because not in harmony 
 with the spirit of the age, nor the moral 
 advancement of society. ... 3. That no 
 Christian community, governed by the Bible, 
 Old Testament and New, can constitutionally 
 and rightfully make the simple relation of mas- 
 ter and slave a term of Christian fellowship."^ 
 
 Before we pronounce judgment against Mr. 
 Campbell for his apparent indifference to the 
 sufferings of four millions of bondsmen, let us 
 remember that he kept company with the great 
 thinkers and teachei-s of the Christian denomi- 
 
 1 Millennial Harbinger, 1845, p. 263. 
 
TRAMCLS Af HOME AND ABROAD 191 
 
 nations at that time. The Rev. Wilbur Fisk, 
 the leader of New England Methodism, declared 
 that " the general rule of Christianity not only 
 permits, but in supposable circumstances enjoins 
 a continuance of the master's authority." Dr. 
 Wayland, the distinguished president of Brown 
 University and leader of the Baptist hosts, 
 taught that " the people of the North are in such 
 relation to the people of the South that they 
 ought not to agitate the question of slavery, and 
 that it would be an act of bad faith for Congress 
 to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia." 
 S. Irenfeus Prime declared in the New York 
 Observer, as late as 1858, that the suppression of 
 anti-slavery sentiment in the American Tract 
 Society was " the greatest moral victory of truth 
 over eiTor achieved since the reformation of 
 Martin Luther." Thus the various parties of 
 I'eligious society " wide apart as the poles, and 
 swearing prayers at one another on other points, 
 were cordially at one on this." 
 
 It is perhaps in some respects unjust to the 
 memory of Mr. Campbell to associate his name 
 with this company. For he recognized the evils 
 of slavery and believed that it should give way 
 before the growing spirit of humanity and the 
 moral advancement of society. But his call 
 from God was not the breaking of the temporal 
 shackles of an enslaved race, but the spiritual 
 emancipation of an enslaved world. With a few 
 
192 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 passing observations, therefore, upon the ques- 
 tion which was agitating the public mind, he 
 turned his mind to the completion of the task 
 that for more than a quarter of a century had 
 consumed his energies, allowing that no element 
 of discord should interfere with the re-establish- 
 ment of the primitive Gospel among men. His 
 conservatism involved him, as we shall soon see, 
 in no little trouble; but it is perhaps due to his 
 course that, in those days of conflict that rent 
 asunder great ecclesiastical bodies, there was no 
 Christian Church North and Christian Church 
 South, but one Christian Church both North and 
 South. 
 
 So favorably had the cause progressed at 
 home under his wise direction, that in 1847 he 
 felt justified in gratifying the long-cherished de- 
 sire of revisiting his native land. Though nearly 
 forty years had elapsed since he had left the 
 island that gave him birth, he was by no means 
 a stranger to the English speaking people be- 
 yond the Atlantic. The "Christian Baptist" 
 and his published debates had already preceded 
 him, and had not been without recognition and 
 fruit in many sections of Great Britain. 
 Churches, reproducing the essential features of 
 the Christian churches in America, had sprung 
 up in many quarters of England and Scotland. 
 Pressing invitations, which now came to him 
 from these churches, assuring him of a cordial 
 
TRAVELS AT HOME AND ABROAD 103 
 
 reception, induced him to undertake the jour- 
 ney, which, but for an unfortunate circumstance, 
 would have marked the happiest period of his 
 life. From the day he landed at Liverpool he 
 was constantly engaged in addressing large 
 assemblies, and both in public and private ex- 
 plaining his religious tenets to interested lis- 
 teners. In Liverpool Mr. Campbell was per- 
 mitted to speak in a large hall, built by the fol- 
 lowers of his former antagonist in debate, Rob- 
 ert Owen, for the promotion of infidelity, but 
 then used for the defense and advancement of 
 the Christianity it had been built to overthrow. 
 In London he spoke frequently, once addressing 
 a gathering of skeptics on the inspiration of the 
 Christian Scriptures. Here he availed himself 
 of the courtesies shown him by Mr. Bancroft, 
 the American Minister, and other men of dis- 
 tinction, to see and hear the celebrities of the 
 metropolis, in Parliament and church, and to 
 visit her palaces and places of interest. \Yhile 
 he saw much that pleased and charmed him, his 
 heart went back to the quiet and comforts of 
 his own sequestered home. In a letter to his 
 daughter Clarinda, at the close of his London 
 visit, he Avrites: 
 
 " Meantime 1 sigh for repose, and often think 
 of the hills around Bethany, and of the enviable 
 lot of those I left behind me, compared to that 
 of the millions through wliich I am passing in 
 
194 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 tliis Old World of palaces and hovels, of princes 
 and beggars, of exuberant wealth and cheerless 
 povertj'. May the Lord in his mercy watch over 
 your native country and long jDreserve it from 
 the vices and follies which have entailed on 
 France, on England, and on Europe an inherit- 
 ance of miseries and misfortunes, from which 
 the wisdom of politicians and the benevolence 
 of Christians cannot rescue them for generations 
 to conie."^ 
 
 A hasty visit to Paris, which he viewed with 
 mingled feelings of astonishment and disgust, 
 as he witnessed unrivaled splendor on the one 
 hand, and beheld the most degrading religious 
 mummeries on the other; a brief call at Cam- 
 bridge and Oxford, those ancient and splendid 
 seats of learning, which possessed for him an 
 absorbing interest; a short sojourn at Man- 
 chester, with its mighty industries and wretched 
 operatives, — he continued his journey into Scot- 
 land without interruption or discomfort, temper- 
 ing his holiday by an almost continuous sermon, 
 in public or in private, upon the great theme of 
 human redemption. 
 
 In Scotland, as in the earlier years of his 
 labors at home, he became the victim of no little 
 annoyance and persecution. Upon his arrival at 
 Edinburgh he was involved in an unfortunate 
 controversy Avith a local anti-slavery society, 
 
 1 Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 549. 
 
tea\t;ls at home axd abroad 
 
 195 
 
 which gave a pretext to religious bigotry and led 
 to some unhappy consequences. A few minis- 
 ters, animated by dislike for his religious views, 
 and fearing to engage him in open discussion, 
 sought, as a means of weakening his influence, 
 to excite against him public odium. As it was 
 known that he was from Virginia, a slave State, 
 nothing seemed so well suited to their purpose 
 as to turn the anti-slavery sentiment of Scotland 
 against him. A committee, under the guise of 
 friendly visitors, waited upon him. To them he 
 candidly stated the views which we have already 
 discovei'ed him to have held, making no con- 
 cealment of his disapproval of the course pur- 
 sued by abolitionists in Great Britain and Amer- 
 ica. In a few hours after this visit the city was 
 billed Avith placards in large capitals, which ran 
 as follows : 
 
 "Citizens of Edinburgh — Beware! Beware! 
 The Eev. Alexander Campbell of Virginia, Uni- 
 ted States of America, has been a slaveholder 
 himself, and is still a defender of manstealers! " 
 
 Not satisfied with this attempt to check the 
 growing influence of Mr, Campbell in Scotland, 
 Rev. James Robertson, the leader of the crusade 
 which was now inaugurated against him, chal- 
 lenged him to debate his position in regard to 
 slavery. Having no time for oral debate, Mr. 
 Campbell had to content himself by refuting the 
 calumnious charges that were n.iade against him 
 
196 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 in a public address, giving in full his views on 
 the subject of American slavery, and hastened 
 on to fulfill his engagements in other cities. 
 The manner in which he was treated by the 
 Scotch Anti-Slavery Society may be gathered 
 from the following, published in the leading 
 journal of Paisley, where he was announced to 
 speak : 
 
 " "We beg to warn our readers against counte- 
 nancing a Rev. or Mr. A. Campbell, of "Virginia, 
 U. S., who has announced a course of lectures 
 in the Baptist chapel here. He is the apologist 
 of man-stealing in its worst form — the advocate 
 of all that is monstrous in that most monstrous 
 of all systems — American slavery! . . . Let 
 the liberty-loving, slavery-despising people of 
 Paisley repel from their precincts with the scowl 
 of their worst dis^jleasure, the apologist of 
 American murderers, and let them show that 
 they despise the advocate of man-stealing all the 
 more because he comes clothed in the garb of 
 sanctity."^ 
 
 Finding himself pursued by misrepresentation 
 and abuse at every turn, Mr. Campbell at last 
 addressed a letter to the "Edinburgh Journal," 
 consenting to an oral discussion of his position 
 in regard to American slavery with anyone whom 
 the Anti-Slavery. Society might appoint, agreeing 
 to meet "even Mv. Robertson himself, provided 
 
 1 Mill. Harb., 1848, p. 50. 
 
TRA\'ELS AT HOME AND ABROAD 
 
 197 
 
 only that he were not that Rev. James Robert- 
 son (there being thi'ee ministers of that name in 
 Edinbui'gh) who was publicly censured and ex- 
 cluded from the Baptist Church for violating the 
 fifth commandment, with reference to his 
 mother." 
 
 Continuing his tour through Scotland, he 
 found himself once more on the streets of Glas- 
 gow, where as a young man he had spent one of 
 the happiest years of his life. He had left the 
 University nearly forty years before, an unknown 
 student, and a radical religious dissenter, going 
 out from his religious home in the bosom of 
 Presbyterianism, and like Abraham, " not know- 
 ing whither he went." Upon his return to these 
 old scenes he was honored as the leader of a 
 great religious movement, and constant demand 
 was made upon him to hear more of the doctrine 
 which he preached. While in the midst of these 
 pleasant and profitable experiences, a warrant 
 was served upon him at the instance of Rev. 
 James Robertson, to prevent him from leaving 
 Scotland, and claiming damages to the amount 
 of five thousand pounds for alleged defamation 
 of character. Pending his trial Air. Campbell 
 was offered his liberty on furnishing security for 
 two hundred pounds. Friends rushed to his 
 relief with the desired amount, which he 
 promptly refused, choosing to go to prison until 
 his cause could be heard and his arrest proved 
 
198 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 unwarranted and illegal. "I felt myself," he 
 writes, "persecuted for righteousness' sake, and 
 I could not find in my heart to buy myself pff 
 from imprisonment by tendering the required 
 security. I thought it might be of great value 
 to the cause of my Master if I should give my- 
 self into the hands of my persecutors, and thus 
 give them an opportunity of showing their love 
 of liberty, of truth, of righteousness by the 
 treatment of m3'self in the relations I sustain to 
 mankind as a Christian and a Christian teacher." 
 
 For ten days he suffered the inconvenience 
 and hardships of imprisonment. Though cast 
 down, he was not forsaken, for friends vied with 
 each other in ministering to his comfort, and let- 
 ters poured in upon him from everywhere, ex- 
 pressing the kindliest sympathy. As soon as the 
 matter could be brought before the court he was 
 acquitted of the charge made against him, and 
 permitted to continue his tour. But his friends, 
 not satisfied to have the matter drop with his 
 release from jail, brought suit against his chief 
 persecutor for false imprisonment, and secured 
 a judgment of ten thousand dollars in Mr. Camp- 
 bell's favor, to avoid the payment of which Mr. 
 Robertson thought proper to abscond; though 
 with characteristic magnanimity Mr. Campbell 
 had declared beforehand that should damages 
 be awarded him he would not accept them. 
 
 After a tour through Ireland, shortened by 
 
TRAX'ELS AT HOME AND ABROAD 199 
 
 the delays of his iaiprisonment, Mr. Campbell 
 again turned his face homeward, arriving at Bos- 
 ton on Oct. 19, 1847. His reflections upon near- 
 ing the shore of the land of his adoption he thus 
 records: "We can desire for ourselves no bet- 
 ter political or temporal birthright or inheritance 
 than we now possess, and we can pray for no 
 greater honors or privileges of this world for any 
 living people, greater or better than those guar- 
 anteed by our institution to every American citi- 
 zen. May we act worthy of them! " 
 
 The joy which he experienced at home-coming, 
 after an absence of several months, was speedily 
 turned into sorrow by the announcement of the 
 death of his second son, Wickliffe, a promising 
 lad of ten, by drowning; but, as upon other 
 occasions, he met affliction with a resignation 
 and fortitude that attested the power of his 
 religious convictions. He reverently submitted 
 to the will of God, declaring: " He is too wise 
 to err, and too kind causelessly to afflict the 
 children of men." 
 
 His return from abroad was marked by re- 
 newal of zeal and effort in behalf of Bethany 
 College. From editorial labors and college 
 duties he frequently tore himself away, and took 
 extended tours among his friends to secure 
 funds to establish Bethany on a permanent basis. 
 These pilgrimages had, notwithstanding the 
 fatigue they occasioned, come to be numbered 
 
200 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 among the pleasant experiences of his life, for 
 everywhei-e he was meeting old friends, who had 
 shared with him the labors and odium of inaugu- 
 rating and defending an unpopular movement. 
 In the winter of 1849 he revisited Kentuckj^ 
 where he was cheered and encouraged at every 
 turn by the old veterans who had supported him 
 and the cause of reformation in the days of small 
 things. Thus the stages of his journey were 
 punctuated by pleasant eveniags with John T. 
 Johnson, John A. Gano, John Smith, John 
 Eodgers, Walter Scott, L. L. Pinkerton, and 
 others by whose talents and energy the move- 
 ment had been made popular throughout the 
 State. 
 
 In the spring of 1850, while in the vicinity of 
 Washington, D. C, he received a pressing invi- 
 tation from both Houses of Congress to deliver 
 an address in the Capitol on the second of June. 
 It is doubtful if such a scene has ever been wit- 
 nessed in our National Capitol before or since. 
 The House of Representatives was filled to over- 
 flowing. Here, after a hymn and prayer, Mr. 
 Campbell was introduced, and addressed the 
 assembly from John 3:17, "exhibiting the 
 divine philanthropy in contrast with patriotism 
 and human friendship, reasoning in a grand and 
 masterly manner from creation, providence, 
 divine legislation, and human redemption, and 
 holding the audience in the most fixed attention 
 
TRAVELS AT HOME AND ABROAD 
 
 201 
 
 dv,ring the time of the address, which occupied 
 an hour and a half." 
 
 Near the close of this busy year Mr. Campbell 
 wrote, " I have recently returned from a tour of 
 forty daj's to Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, dur- 
 ing which I traveled over sixteen hundred miles 
 and delivered some thirty-eight discourses, be- 
 sides as many long conversations. Fatigued, 
 exhausted, worn out, I feel like one that has vio- 
 lated the first commandment of human nature, — 
 self-preservation. Before this, after one v/eek's 
 stay at home, I had been to New York and East 
 twenty-four days, traveled fourteen hundred 
 miles, and made some eight discourses, — in all 
 sixty-four days, three thousand miles and forty- 
 six discoui'ses." ^ 
 
 Never was father more devoted to the child of 
 his old age, than was Mr. Campbell to the insti- 
 tution of learning which he planted and fostered 
 as the last achievement of his fruitful life. 
 "Bethany College," he wrote, " has paramount 
 claims on me and on all the friends of the cause 
 to which I have consecrated my life. To further 
 it abroad and build it up at home, in raising up 
 men for the field when I shall be absent from 
 this planet, seems to me a paramount duty. 
 We have already in the field some of its first- 
 fruits, and they are an offering most acceptable 
 to the aggregate of all who hear them. We 
 
 1 Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 591. 
 
202 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 want a thousand men in the field of the world, 
 and another thousand in the vineyard of the 
 Lord, preachers worthy of the Gospel and of 
 the age, and teachers worthy of the Bible and of 
 the church." In seeking these results he con- 
 tinued his journey. 
 
XIV. 
 
 THE BETHANY HOME. 
 STUDY of Alexander Campbell would be in- 
 
 complete which did not introduce the reader 
 to that charmed circle that gathered around the 
 fireside at the Bethany mansion, with Mr. Camp- 
 bell as its central figure; and at no period was 
 it more inviting than in the halcyon days of life's 
 autumn at which we have now arrived, and just 
 before the gloom of winter had thrown its mel- 
 ancholy over the scene. For fifty years and 
 more this home on the Buffalo, far away from 
 the great marts of trade and centers of litera- 
 ture and fashion, was the moral center of the 
 movement of which its distinguished occupant 
 was the exponent. 
 
 The inner life of all noted men will not bear 
 inspection. Magnanimous, chivalrous, generous 
 in their public capacity, wife and children have 
 found little to admire or respect or enjoy in their 
 domestic relations. The lion of the arena has 
 degenerated into the bear of the fireside, and 
 home and family have felt the withering blight 
 of an unlovely and unsympathetic nature. But 
 this was not true of the home of Alexander 
 Campbell. It reflected a warmth and a radiance 
 
 (203) 
 
204 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 that set off his religious sincerity in a charming 
 light, and revealed the tenderer side of his 
 nature. 
 
 Men who knew him only through his essays in 
 the " Christian Baptist," or the reputation given 
 him by his religious enemies, were surprised by 
 the geniality of his nature in social intercourse, 
 and prejudice and resentment melted away as 
 they met him face to face, as the winter's snows 
 before the advancing season. 
 
 Those who knew Mr. Campbell best unite in 
 their praise of the peculiar charm of his fireside 
 fellowship. His hospitality was unbounded and 
 administered with afreeness and familiarity that 
 at once put. his guests at their ease. As his field 
 of influence broadened, and his fame spread 
 through the surrounding States, his home was 
 seldom without visitors, and the family meal 
 seldom eaten alone. They came from every 
 quarter to praise or to blame, to seek the truth 
 or defend error, and all were cordially received 
 and entertained with princely grace. These oc- 
 casions were always made in some way to serve 
 the cause to which he had devoted his energies; 
 and the early advocates of the cause of reforma- 
 tion were won, not so much by his masterly dis- 
 courses, as by friendly intercourse, in which his 
 matchless conversational powers were irresisti- 
 ble. It is related that one afternoon two Bap- 
 tist ministers, who had ridden on horseback 
 
THE BETHANY HOME 
 
 205 
 
 more than a day's journey, drew up their horses 
 before his house. They had learned of him 
 through his debate with Walker, and came to 
 hear from him more of the work of reform which 
 he was inaugurating. A cordial welcome was ex- 
 tended to them, and after tea a conversation, or, 
 rather, monologue, for it was Mr. Campbell that 
 did the talking, began, which continued through 
 the entire night, and ended in winning them as 
 firm friends and efficient champions of the move- 
 ment to restore the primitive faith. 
 
 He was a gifted conversationalist, and nowhere 
 was that gift displayed to greater advantage than 
 at his own fireside. One who often sat under its 
 spell has thus written: "In conversation he 
 expended, perhaps, more true strength than in 
 the pulpit discourse. Possessed of a strong 
 social nature, and gifted with rare conversational 
 powers, his delighted visitors hung for hours on 
 the wisdom and eloquence of his lips. We do 
 not compare him with Johnson or Coleridge, who 
 as conversationalists won so great a fame. Mr. 
 Campbell conversed on different themes and to 
 a widely different circle of hearers. But we 
 doubt if any of his age excelled him in capacity 
 to charm and instruct in the social circle. Per- 
 haps more prejudice was dissipated and more 
 adherents were gained, in these daily conversa- 
 tions, than in his best pulpit efforts."^ 
 
 1 Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, p. 49. 
 
206 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 Such was the charm of his manner, and the 
 wisdom of his utterance, that on his tours about 
 the country, wherever he might sojourn for 
 the night, throngs would collect to hear him 
 talk. "Nobody wished to talk in his presence. 
 His themes were so much out of the range of 
 ordinary conversation that but few people could 
 sustain a part in their discussion. A question 
 would sometimes set him a-going, but very soon 
 his vast learning, especially in the department of 
 Biblical lore, would lead him into wide fields of 
 discourse, all familiar and easy to him, but 
 strange and unknown to his hearers; and it was 
 their pleasure '^to sit in silence and learn." No 
 matter what the theme of conversation when he 
 entered the circle, or who the company, sooner 
 or later, by the power of his superior genius, all 
 would be hushed into silence while he talked of 
 the love and mercy of God as manifested in the 
 Gospel. 
 
 In spite of his great labors, managing an ex- 
 tensive farm with a skill that rivaled his neigh- 
 bors; writing, editing and publishing magazines 
 and books that are still a living force in society; 
 teaching and training young men in a manner 
 that made him unrivaled as an educator, and 
 attending with regularity to his pulpit ministra- 
 tions, where he unfolded the splendors of his 
 gi-eat mind, the prince of preachers, — in spite of 
 all these and other burdensome duties, he always 
 
THE BETHAXY HOME 
 
 207 
 
 found leisure to entertain his guests. His man- 
 ner was always characterized by such an appar- 
 ent freedom from preoccupation that one would 
 have little suspected the immense business con- 
 stantly resting upon him. Visitors were wel- 
 comed with unstudied courtesy, and at once put 
 at ease with his hearty greetings and genial 
 pleasantry. But whatever the occasion of their 
 coming, none were permitted to leave his pres- 
 ence without feeling the impress of some great 
 scriptural truth which was at the time resting 
 upon his heart. 
 
 One cannot but wonder how the dispenser of 
 such hospitality could carry on the extensive 
 labors that demanded his attention. Nothing 
 but the capacity for intense application and an 
 economical distribution of time, could have made 
 it possible. From youth he had trained himself 
 in early rising. In this way he was able, in the 
 midst of the constant demands of daily inter- 
 course, to appropriate hours of time that were 
 free from interruption, and when his mind was 
 fresh and would quickly i-espoud to the task set 
 it to perform. I cannot do better than quote 
 the eminent Dr. Richardson's description of his 
 usual manner of employing his time when at 
 home: 
 
 "His habit of rising very early, usually at 
 three o'clock, gave him much valuable time well 
 suited for composition, and at the hour when the 
 
208 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 house-bell rang for morning worship, he would 
 come over from his study, having iDrepared, 
 often, enough manuscript to keep his printers 
 busy during the day. When breakfast was over, 
 after ari'anging the affairs of the morning and 
 kindly seeing off any parting visitors, he would 
 call for a horse, or set off on foot, perhaps 
 accompanied by some of his friends, to view the 
 progress of the printing or the farming opera- 
 tions and give instructions to his workmen. 
 Delighting greatly in agriculture and its collat- 
 eral pursuits, he was familiar with all their 
 details, and while ever eager to gain new 
 thoughts from others, the most skillful farmers 
 and breeders of stock often found in his com- 
 pany that they had themselves something yet to 
 learn. 
 
 "After dinner he usually spent a little time in 
 correcting proof sheets, which he often read 
 aloud if persons were present; and then he 
 would perhaps have a promised visit to pay to 
 one of the neighboring families in company with 
 his wife or some of the guests. Otherwise he 
 would often spend some hours in his study, if 
 engaged on any imporant theme, or occupy him- 
 self in his portico or parlor in reading or con- 
 versation."^ 
 
 But it was after the labors of the day had 
 ended and the hush and quiet of evening had 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 3, p. 300. 
 
THE BETHANY HOME 
 
 209 
 
 gathered round, that the Bethany home pre- 
 sented its most charming aspect. Let another 
 who often shared its rich spiritual delights de- 
 scribe the scene : "At nightfall he collected his 
 family in his homely parlor, and arranged them 
 in order around the room. Each then read a 
 verse, he reading with the rest. In this reading 
 every soul in his house was expected to take part, 
 from the Indian boy^ of the wild prairies of the 
 West, to the elegant guest of his hospitable 
 home. The chapter for the evening being read, 
 a song was usually sung, when all bowed in the 
 presence of God. His prayers were usually long, 
 inimitably reverential and chaste. At times 
 they were broad and grand. All this was re- 
 peated in the morning. In the intervals in the 
 social circle, Christ and the Gospel were the 
 never-ending themes of his conversation. On 
 these he never flagged himself, nor wearied his 
 delighted hearers. These conversations were 
 often relieved by bursts of eloquence, which 
 even his finest flights in the pulpit never sur- 
 passed. Yet his manner was as easy and nat- 
 ural as that of a child. 
 
 It will be seen from this picture that the same 
 religious atmosphere in which he had been nur- 
 tured from childhood pervaded his home. No 
 
 1 Mr. Campbell, out of sympathy for the Indian race, ob- 
 tained a boy of the Iowa tribe, and kept him several yeai's in 
 his family, giving him every advantage of secular and 
 religious instruction. 
 
 2 Lard's Quarterly, Vol. 3, p. 265. 
 
210 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 matter how busy the day or how urgent the 
 claims upon his time, he always had time for 
 morning and evening devotions with his family 
 and guests. 
 
 Nothing was more beautiful than Mr. Camp- 
 bell's devotion to his family. Whether at home 
 or abroad, wife and children were always the 
 objects of his solicitous care. Following the 
 bereavement which overtook him in 1827 in the 
 death of his companion, he was married to Miss 
 Selina Bakewell, who continued to maintain the 
 reputation of Bethany mansion, and who, after 
 a companionship of nearly forty years, lingered 
 by the fireside, hallowed by his memory, until 
 recently summoned to join him on the other 
 shore, at the extreme age of 95. Often was he 
 called to pass under the rod of affliction in the 
 loss of those whom God had given him. In 
 referring to his bereavements in the "Harbinger" 
 of 1848, Mr. Campbell writes: "How strange, 
 and yet how mournfully pleasing, the thought 
 that of the fourteen children given to me, nine 
 of them are now present with the Lord ! Three 
 of them died, never having sinned in their own 
 persons. And as by Adam the first they died, 
 by Adam the second they shall live in the Lord. 
 Six of them died in faith and rejoiced in the 
 hope of a glorious immortality. This, to us, 
 their survivors, is a sovereign balm, a blest 
 relief. Though dead to us, they live with God." 
 
THE BETHANY HOME 
 
 211 
 
 Often as these afflictions came to cast their 
 shadow across his hearthstone, they never for a 
 moment crushed out his inner joy and confidence 
 in God. 
 
 His correspondence during the long journeys 
 that often took him from home, breathe a pure 
 and exalted spirit of paternal solicitude and 
 devotion. During his tour in the State of New 
 York, in 1836, he wrote to his wife and daugh- 
 ters: 
 
 ^'■Dearly Beloved: Next to my own personal 
 and eternal salvation through my Lord and Sav- 
 iour, there is nothing on earth dearer to me than 
 your present, spiritual and eternal good. I wish 
 you to be intelligent, pure and influential on 
 earth, loviag and beloved as far as mortals like 
 you can be; be ornaments to the Kingdom of 
 Jesus Christ, respectful and respected, honor- 
 able and honored, good and happy as my wife 
 and daughters ought to be. On you all God has 
 bestowed good mental capacities, powers of 
 acquiring and communicating knowledge, fine 
 feeling and many excellencies capable of much 
 improvement and of rendering you very useful 
 in society. Now let me say to you that you are 
 thereby under great responsibilities, and let me 
 i-emind you that you all seek to be more intelli- 
 gent, more amiable and more exemplary every 
 day. I do not say this as though I did not think 
 
212 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 you as much so now as any of my wide and 
 extended acquaintances, but because I wish you 
 to be of unrivaled excellence."^ 
 
 A deep tone of religiousness, as in his conver- 
 sation, pervades his correspondence. His eye 
 was always raised above the common things of 
 earth " as seeing Him who is invisible." Tender, 
 aifectionate, congenial in his nature, he never 
 hesitated to yield the peaceful enjoyments of the 
 fireside when his Master needed his service else- 
 where. In a letter to his wife, written from 
 Saratoga, he says : 
 
 "To one who so much loves his wife and his 
 children, and the whole family circle, and de- 
 lights in making them happy, it is not an easy 
 task to forsake them all for so long a time, but 
 when I think of Him who forsook the Palace of 
 the Universe and the glory of his Father's court, 
 and condescended to be born of a woman and to 
 live in an unfriendly world, and to be treated a 
 thousand times worse than I have ever been, to 
 save us from our sins, I think but little of all I 
 have done or can do to republish his salvation 
 and to call sinners to reformation, and to build 
 up the cause of life, of ancient Christianity.""' 
 
 Later, from the far away South, comes the 
 same longing for home, chastened and subdued 
 by the certain prospect of a heavenly abiding 
 place. From New Orleans, in 1857, he writes: 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 412. 2 Ibid, Vol. 2, p. 417. 
 
THE BETHAXY HOME 
 
 213 
 
 " I atn still more attached to home the farther I 
 am from it. There is no place on earth to me 
 like it. But we have no continuing city here, 
 and should always act with that conviction. We 
 should feel that, wherever we are and whatever 
 we do, we are on our journey home. There is 
 nothing beneath the home of God that can fill 
 the human heart, and that should ever rule and 
 guide and comfort us. . . . I do not think I 
 will ever again undertake so large a journey, or 
 expose myself to so much labor and privation as 
 I am now subjected to. Still, so long as I can 
 do good at home or abroad, it is my duty to do 
 it. I miss your company more than any priva- 
 tion I have to endure. Still, where and when 
 duty calls, it is my wish to obey and deny myself. 
 That same Eye that has watched over us both, 
 and guided and guarded us through life, will, I 
 humbly trust, guard and guide us to the end of 
 life's weary journey."^ 
 
 How beautifully the grand nature of Alexan- 
 der Campbell is set off by these simple touches 
 of sympathy and affection! His was not the 
 greatness that repels, that dwells serenely on 
 the mountain-top away from his fellows, but the 
 greatness that descends into the valley to help, 
 to encourage our suffering race, and that draws 
 them to himself that he may lead them to Christ. 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 628. 
 
XV. 
 
 CLOSING LABORS. 
 
 ,UR survey of the life-work of Alexander 
 
 Campbell has brought us to an age when 
 most men crave rest and release from burden- 
 some duties; but his life was so inseparably 
 linked with the fortunes of the movement he 
 had inaugurated, that he found it impossible to 
 retire to the quiet shades of his Bethany, as he 
 longed to do. Lai'ge demand continued to be 
 made upon his time and energies, in the develop- 
 ment and encouragement of the great brother- 
 hood as, in a peculiar sense, their leader in the 
 work of religious reformation. So, notwithstand- 
 ing the weight of increasing years, he continued 
 incessantly to labor for the promotion of the 
 cause that had already consumed the best years 
 of his life. 
 
 Through the monthly numbers of the " Mil- 
 lennial Harbinger," he continued to preach to 
 increasing thousands, unfolding the great plan 
 of human redemption in all its details, with a 
 richness and power that remain unrivaled in the 
 achievements of religious journalism; but which, 
 in his own judgment, came so far short of the 
 sublime reality, that when, at length, he laid 
 
 (214) 
 
CLOSLN'G LABORS 
 
 215 
 
 down his pen, it was with the confession: 
 "There i$ a fullness of joy, a fullness of glory 
 and a fullness of blessedness, of which no living 
 man, however enlightened, however enlarged, 
 however gifted, ever found or entertained one 
 adequate conception." 
 
 As the storm of his fierce conflict with sectar- 
 ianism subsided, he turned his attention to the 
 enlargement of the vision and purposes of those 
 who looked to him for instruction and guidance. 
 
 The student who turns from the " Christian 
 Baptist " to the " Millennial Harbinger " will be ^ 
 sui'prised at Mr. Campbell's apparent change 
 of attitude respecting modern agencies employed 
 in the dissemination of truth. In the former, 
 missionary societies, Sundaj'-schools, and even 
 Bible societies, come in for his severest criticism 
 and condemnation. In the latter he becomes 
 the friend and champion of each, recognizing 
 them as most efficient and essential factors in 
 the conversion of the world. His early opposi- 
 tion to missionary and other auxiliaries of the 
 church, had never, in fact, sprung from objection 
 to method, but because he believed that the 
 methods, when employed by sectarian zeal, in- 
 creased the hold of religious error on society and 
 contributed to the confusion of mankind. " To 
 convert the heathen," says he, " to the popular 
 Christianity of these times would be an object of 
 no great consequence, as the popular Christians 
 
216 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 themselves, for the most part, require to be 
 converted to the Christianity of the New Testa- 
 ment." But as he witnessed the growth of a 
 new society pledged to the restoration of the 
 primitive faith, he at once realized that if his 
 followers were to occupy a place^of permanence 
 and power in the religious world, it would be by 
 the cultivation of a zealous missionary spirit and 
 a practical acceptance of the great commission 
 in its broadest significance. No sooner, there- 
 fore, had the work of establishing the movement 
 been fairly inaugurated, than he began to urge 
 the importance of co-operation in world-wide 
 missions. Under Mr. Campbell's fostering care, 
 in 1849, the American Christian Missionary 
 Society was organized at Cincinnati, and he was 
 at once chosen as its president, a position which 
 he held until the close of his life. With him an 
 interest in the conversion of mankind was in- 
 separably linked with a true apprehension of the 
 Gospel of Christ. 
 
 " The missionary institution," said he, "is the 
 genuine product of the philanthropy of God our 
 Savior. It is the natural offspring of Almighty 
 love shed abroad in the human heart; and, 
 therefore, in (he direct ratio of every Christianas 
 love he is i^ossessed of a missionary spii'it." 
 
 These obligations it was his constant delight 
 to enforce. The key-note of his later essays and 
 addresses is contained in the following extract 
 
CLOSING LABORS 
 
 217 
 
 from his annual address before the Christian 
 Missionary Society in 1853: 
 
 "This missionary enterprise is, by universal 
 concession, as well as by the oracles of God, the 
 grand work of the ages, the grand duty, privilege 
 and honor of the church of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury. God has by his providence opened up the 
 way for us. He has given us learning, science, 
 wealth and knowledge of the condition of the 
 living world, — of the pagan nations, their lan- 
 guages, customs, rites and usages. He has given 
 us the earth, with all its seas, lakes, rivers and 
 harbors. He has, in the arts and improvements 
 of the age, almost annihilated distance and time, 
 and by our trade and commerce we have, in his 
 providence, arrested the attention and com- 
 manded the respect of all heathen lands, of all 
 creeds and of all customs. Our national flag 
 floats in every breeze ; our nation and our lan- 
 guage command the respect, almost the homage, 
 of all the nations and peoples on earth. God 
 has opened the way for us, — a door which no 
 man or nation can shut. Have we not, then, as 
 a people, a special call, a loud call, a divine call, 
 to harness ourselves for the work, the great 
 work, — the greatest work of man, — the preach- 
 ing of the Gospel of eternal life to a world dead, 
 spiritually dead, in ti-espasses and sins? " ^ 
 
 The breadth of Mr. Campbell's sympathies in 
 
 1 Popular Addresses, p. 522. 
 
218 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 the work of evangelization he thus expresses: 
 " We are encouraged to raise an ensign, to estab- 
 lish a mission, and to invite to our Zion the 
 frozen Icelander and the sunburned Moor, the 
 Indian and the Negro, the Patagonian and the 
 nations of the isles of the ocean." 
 
 From the halls of Bethany College he con- 
 tinued, from year to year, to send out an army 
 of young men, trained and equipped to carry 
 forward the work which he had so auspiciously 
 begun. His hope of the ultimate success of the 
 reformation was, as we have seen, in an educat- 
 ed ministry. In the accomplishment of this re- 
 sult, the closing years of his life were largely 
 spent in the interests of the institution he had 
 founded, an institution devoted to the study of 
 God's Word as well as letters. We have seen 
 something of the tirelessness with which he pur- 
 sued his purpose, traveling up and down the 
 country in the heat of summer and the cold of 
 winter, — at times cheered by the hearty and 
 generous response that met his solicitation, 
 again all but cast down by the illiberality of 
 others. At last, after many years of toil and 
 travel, he felt that the goal was almost reached. 
 On a December evening he sat in that congenial 
 circle that gathered around the Bethany fireside, 
 feeling that his labors had largely been com- 
 pleted, and that there remained for him a well 
 earned repose, released from the wearing toils 
 
CLOSING LABORS 
 
 219 
 
 that had consumed his over-crowded years. But 
 in this he was destined to disappointment. An 
 unforeseen calamity befell his beloved Bethany, 
 that for a moment seemed to dash his hopes and 
 paralyze his energies. On the morning of Dec. 
 10, 1857, the college buildings were laid in 
 ashes. The achievement of many years of labor 
 was in ruins, the dream of a life-time dashed to 
 the ground. 
 
 Many men at Mr. Campbell's age would have 
 given up in despair, or turned the work of re^ 
 building over to stronger hands. But his great 
 soul soon rose above the discouraging surround- 
 ings, and regathering his courage he started out 
 again, taking up his tireless journey for funds to 
 rebuild the institution. In setting out upon this 
 mission, Mr. Campbell declared: " Nothing but 
 the absolute necessity which seems to be laid 
 upon me by the burning of our college building, 
 libraries, apparatus, etc., could induce me at 
 this season and at my time of life, with the 
 many pressing demands calling for my presence 
 at home, to undertake the arduous labors which 
 are now placed before me. If I did not feel that 
 it is the Lord's work, and that he will be my 
 helper, I would shrink from the task. I some- 
 times feel like asking to be relieved from further 
 services, but it seems I cannot hope to rest from 
 my labors till I am called also to rest with my 
 
220 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 fathers. Such as they are, or may be, therefore, 
 all my days shall be given to the Lord."^ 
 
 With a . herculean effort, and after weary 
 months of travel and solicitation, Mr. Campbell 
 was enabled to witness, in the summer of 1858, 
 the laying of the corner-stone of the present 
 beautiful structure, having secured a sufficient 
 sum to assure its completion. In his efforts to 
 increase the resources and influence of the col- 
 lege, he then continued to labor until the gath- 
 ering of the war cloud in sixty-one rendered 
 further effort for the time useless. 
 
 In the meantime his pen was always busy. 
 Awake to the dangers of society, interested in 
 whatever offered to contribute to human happi- 
 ness, his sympathy went out in every movement 
 that would bless his fellowmen and lead them 
 nearer the ci'oss. The Evangelical Alliance, 
 organized for the promotion of union and fellow- 
 ship among churches, met his hearty approval. 
 He regarded it as another step toward the reali- 
 zation of his dream of a united Christendom, 
 and hailed it as the herald of a better era. The 
 temperance cause, which had begun to absorb a 
 larger share of attention, received his sanction 
 and support. He believed in using all resources 
 in disarming this monster of iniquity, and looked 
 upon prohibition as the only effective remedy 
 for this prolific and manifold evil. 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 533 
 
CLOSING LABORS 
 
 221 
 
 The enforced retirement which age and the 
 throes of our great civil war placed upon him, 
 was spent, while strength would permit, in liter- 
 ary pursuits. At the urgent request of an 
 admiring public, he gathered together his ad- 
 dresses upon various literary, social and religious 
 topics, and published them in a large volume 
 entitled, "Popular Lectures and Addresses." 
 These had been delivered at college commence- 
 ments, before literary societies, and in lyceum 
 courses, and represent Mr. Campbell in his best 
 style. They are models of classic English, rich 
 in diction, profound in thought, and religious in 
 tone. His latest literary effort, and one that sad- 
 ly reflects the decline of his intellectual powers, 
 was a volume to the memory of his father, pub- 
 lished in 1861. The tribute which he here sought 
 to pay. to the character and worth of Thomas 
 Campbell was deserved. It was through his 
 father's fearless loyalty to a high purpose that 
 Mr. Campbell found a field prepared for the 
 exercise of his great gifts. Under Thomas 
 Campbell's tuition, the first lessons in the sub- 
 lime doctrines of Christian unity were taught, 
 which it was the province of his illustrious son 
 to apply in the organization and development of 
 a great brotherhood, whose chief aim should be 
 the effectual reunion of all Christ's followers 
 under one banner. "The Life of Thomas Camp- 
 
222 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 bell" was a grateful recognitioa of his inval- 
 uable contribution to this cause. 
 
 One by one those who stood about the reform- 
 er in the heat of his religious battles were now 
 being called from their labors. Thomas Camp- 
 bell, Barton W. Stone, John T. Johnson, 
 William Hayden and Walter Scott, staunch 
 and tried friends, had preceded him to their 
 reward. He, almost alone, survived of that 
 generation of men who had endured the toil and 
 hardship of the planting; and he, no longer the 
 physical and intellectual giant that had endured 
 the fatigue of an unpopular cause and com- 
 manded the admiration of friend and foe alike, 
 awaited the summons of the Master. Body and 
 mind were gradually giving way. Two events 
 seem to have hastened the breakdown of his 
 overtaxed powers. One was the sudden death 
 of his favorite son, Wickliffe, a blow which he 
 accepted with Christian resignation, but from 
 the effects of Avhich he never entirely rallied. 
 The other was the overtaxing labor of translat- 
 ing the Acts of the Apostles for a new version of 
 the Scriptures brought out by the American 
 Bible Union. Before the last, added to his in- 
 cessant labors along other lines, " he staggered, 
 then he fell, no more to rise to the height of his 
 former power." 
 
 One by one he was compelled to relinquish his 
 labors. Early in 1865, after having served as 
 
CLOSING LABORS 
 
 223 
 
 editor of the "Millennial Harbinger" for thirty- 
 five years, he surrendered his position to younger 
 and stronger hands. In the autumn of that 
 year he entered the pulpit for the last time, 
 preaching with unwonted unction and power, 
 electrifying his audience with the beauty of his 
 thought and the earnestness of its presentation. 
 His opening message, delivered more than half a 
 century earlier, declaring and defending the 
 claims of the Word, had been prophetic of his 
 triumphant defense of the sole authority of the 
 Scriptures. His closing message, dwelling in 
 eloquent terms upon " the spiritual blessings in 
 heavenly places in Christ," was likewise pro- 
 phetic of the change that awaited him. " Do 
 you think," said he, as he was about to step 
 down from the pulpit on this occasion, " do you 
 think, that there is any standstill point in 
 heaven? No; the soul is ever onward, thirsting 
 for the fountains of righteousness that make glad 
 the city of our God." In this hope he calmly 
 and serenely awaited the summons. 
 
 The close was befitting the character and life- 
 work of this great man. Death had no terrors 
 to him. It was a birth into the better life beyond. 
 Gradually his strength failed. When no longer 
 able to quit his room or his bed, friends gathered 
 around, cheered by the expressions of heavenly 
 trust that were constantly escaping his lips. 
 Only a week before his death, on Sunday after- 
 
224 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 noon, while many sat by his bedside, he spolce to 
 them for more than three hours in most eloquent 
 words, at times with all the grandeur and vigor 
 of his prime. A letter dated from his bed- 
 chamber by one who watched in the gathering 
 shadows which death was throwing about him, 
 reveals the greatness of his passing spirit: 
 
 " His gentleness and patience mid his suffer- 
 ing break all our hearts. Such sweetness and 
 submission to the slightest wish of others around 
 hinij — such kind consideration for every one who 
 comes into his presence, — his little expressions 
 of greeting, and his inquii'y after the welfare of 
 those who come to see him, and such putting 
 away of pei'sonal complaint or suffering, move 
 every beholder to tears. All this could never be 
 seen in a character less great and grand than his. 
 He is himself noble and good and great, as 
 nature made him, to the very last. The com- 
 manding and fascinating elements of his char- 
 acter are intact in the midst of the wreck of 
 matter. Such passages of Scripture as he has 
 recited, even in his wanderings, and such grand 
 sentences as have fallen from his lips — such 
 beautiful soliloquies upon the ' fleetness of 
 time,' and upon ' doing good while we can,' etc., 
 are wonderful, very wonderful to us all." ^ 
 
 As the end drew near, with Christian assur- 
 ance his companion said to him: "The blessed 
 
 1 Mill. Harb., 'S66, p. 207. 
 
CLOSING LABORS 
 
 225 
 
 Savior will go with you through the valley of the 
 shadow of death," Looking earnestly into her 
 face, he said with great effort, " That he will I 
 that he will." These were his last words. As 
 the hour of midnight approached, on Sunday, 
 March 4, 1866, his spirit took its flight, leaving 
 behind as his heritage to mankind a plea for the 
 reunion of Christ's people upon the principles of 
 his revealed Gospel. 
 
XVI. 
 
 HIS PLACE IN HISTORY. 
 
 T COME now to the more difficult part of my 
 task, the estimate of the man. There are 
 two standards of measurement upon which that 
 estimate may be formed, — his impress upon his 
 own times, and his influence upon future gener- 
 ations. Measured by either standard, Alexander 
 Campbell was an extraordinary man. 
 
 Few men have ever lived to witness larger 
 returns from their labors than he. While he 
 lived in advance of the religious thought of his 
 age, he was, nevertheless, able to interpret the 
 heavenly vision that burst upon his soul with 
 such simplicity, and with such cogency of rea- 
 son, that the humblest thinker, who was willing 
 to listen to his message, became convinced of 
 its correctness. In this respect his experience 
 differed from that of other men, who, like him, 
 have stood upon the mount of vision, but have 
 been suffered to end their existence in solitary 
 grandeur; uncared for and unappreciated by 
 the men to whom their message was delivered, 
 and to whose sacrifice and service future gener- 
 ations have been left to render tardy justice. 
 
 (226) 
 
HIS PLACE IN HISTORY 
 
 227 
 
 Alexander Campbell, on the other hand, was 
 happy from the very beginning in the fellowship 
 of kindred spirits; and after the first storm of 
 abuse and misrepresentation which assailed him, 
 gradually grew in favor with his own times, and 
 was permitted to enjoy a goodly degree of re- 
 spect and appreciation even from those who dif- 
 fered with him most widely. 
 
 The secret of his popularity is not diflScult to 
 discover. To an attractive personality was 
 added the charm of spiritual nobility. He bore 
 the stamp of moral and intellectual integrity, 
 which is the spring of human greatness. Men 
 who met him in social intercourse, or heard him 
 in public address, were impressed with his sin- 
 cerity and admired his frankness. His attempt 
 to deal fairly and candidly with those who dif- 
 fered with him was one of his marked charac- 
 teristics, even in the heat of public debate. 
 
 Another prominent and distinguishing trait 
 was his reverence for God and sacred things. 
 Before the majesty of the Son of God, he ever 
 bowed in deepest humility and holiest adoration. 
 "I noticed while a student at Bethany College," 
 writes one of his admirers, " that Mr. Camp- 
 bell, in time of public woi'ship, if he himself 
 was not in the pulpit conducting the services, 
 always knelt during prayer. He never stood. 
 He literally 'bowed his knees to the Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. ' He was pre-eminently 
 
228 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 a religious man, pious, spiritual and devout at 
 all times. Many, judging from his debates and 
 writings of controversial character, might sup- 
 pose that he lacked piety, spirituality and pray- 
 erfulness; but personal acquaintance with him 
 always reproved such supposition. His faith 
 made him happy. He rejoiced in — being a 
 Christian."'^ 
 
 But the most conspicuous element of great- 
 ness in Mr. Campbell, and the one which ral- 
 lied admiring multitudes about him, was the 
 greatness of his intellect. In resources of mind 
 he was unrivaled, and he looked the intellectual 
 giant that he was every inch. As he one day 
 walked the streets of London, a stranger, im- 
 pressed by his commanding presence, was heard 
 to remark: "There goes a man who has brains 
 enough to govern all Europe." The following 
 picture, from the pen of Moses E. Lard, is not 
 overdrawn : 
 
 " His head I think the finest I ever saw. It 
 was simply faultless. After the first look you 
 never criticised it; you only admired it. You 
 dwelt on it only to wonder how magnificently 
 nature sometimes works. His head never disap- 
 pointed you. No matter with reference to what 
 you studied it, it always complemented your 
 highest expectations. Was it the abode of a 
 mind of extraordinary strength? Every con- 
 
 1 Millennial Harbinger, 1866, p. 205. 
 
HIS PLACE IN HISTORY 
 
 229 
 
 formation of it answered, yes. Was it filled with 
 a soul of profound religious devotion? The 
 answer was the same. Did it betoken that its 
 occupant was marred by any dangerous or un- 
 lovely eccentricities? Not one. Every point, 
 angle and curve on it revealed that nice adjust- 
 ment of faculty to faculty which renders great- 
 ness safe, and assigns to it its true position in 
 the lead of earth's great beneficent changes. On 
 once looking on that large, finely-turned head, 
 you never feared to trust it more."^ 
 
 Thus endowed by nature and education, Mr. 
 Campbell's unselfish devotion to truth and his 
 able defense of that which he found revealed in 
 the Word of God, speedily made him the popu- 
 lar idol of that class who were longing to see the 
 restoration of Mary's Son to a throne high above 
 councils and creeds. His mission was that of a 
 truth-seeker, rather than the advocate of a doc- 
 trine. In this pursuit his religious life was 
 marked by constant change and development. 
 We have seen how even in youth his spirit 
 chafed under the creed-system, in which he had 
 been conscientiously reared; how his restless 
 nature determined upon an independent search 
 after the wisdom of God, first throwing off the 
 yoke to all humanly devised systems; how his 
 pathway, in the light of the revealed will of God, 
 gradually led him to the adoption of new prac- 
 
 1 Lard's Quarterly, Vol. 3, p. 256. 
 
230 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 tices and customs, until he found himself with- 
 out a place in any organized religious society; 
 and how, at last, the creed and practice of the 
 primitive church revealed to him the only course 
 which he could conscientiously and consistently 
 pursue. 
 
 In his protest against religious error, he was 
 not simply a reformer, he was more than a 
 reformer. Instead of trying to put a new piece 
 of cloth into the old, wornout garment of theol- 
 ogy, he cast it aside altogether for one which, 
 though ancient, was without rent, and as strong 
 and beautiful as when first wrought out by the 
 hand of God. Instead of reformation he at- 
 tempted restoration, — to replant in the fertile 
 soil of the nineteenth century the church of the 
 first century. The system to which he was thus 
 led to give his influence, was in no sense the 
 creation of his genius. The only genius he ever 
 claimed was that of discovery, and even in this 
 he made no original discoveries. "The truth 
 which he discovered had already been revealed, 
 and lay imbedded in the sacred page." 
 
 Even after the plea for the restoration of 
 primitive Christianity had fully taken possession 
 of his heart, he continued to advance along 
 many lines of Christian progress. At first he 
 seemed in danger of missing the warmth and 
 spirit of the Gospel message, and of falling into 
 a narrow, legalistic groove that would have 
 
HIS PLACE IN HISTORY 
 
 231 
 
 checked the progress of truth and defeated the 
 very object he sought to accomplish. His antag- 
 onism to Sunday schools, missionary societies, a 
 settled ministry, etc., which marked the early 
 stages of the movement, threatened for a time 
 to limit its growth. But in its later develop- 
 ment these came in for his most cordial sympa- 
 thy and support. 
 
 When the zenith of his life had been reached, 
 Mr. Campbell's attitude toward all lines of 
 moral and religious progress was such as to win 
 for him the highest praise of all who were 
 acquainted with his untiring service. I cannot 
 better summarize the impression which he made 
 upon his own times than by quoting from the 
 pen of Geo. D. Prentice, the talented editor, a 
 half century ago, of the Louisville Journal: 
 
 "Alexander Campbell is unquestionably one 
 of the most extraordinary men of our time. 
 Putting wholly out of view his tenets, with 
 which we of course have nothing to do, he 
 claims, by virtue of his intrinsic qualities as 
 manifested in his achievements, a place among 
 the very foremost spirits of the age. His en- 
 ergy, self-reliance and self-fidelity, if we may use 
 the expression, are of the stamp that belongs 
 only to the world's first leaders in thought or 
 action. His personal excellence is certainly 
 without a stain or a shadow. His intellect, it is 
 scarcely too much to say, is among the cleanest. 
 
232 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 richest, profoundest ever vouchsafed to man. 
 Indeed, it seems to us that in the faculty of 
 abstract thinking — in, so to say, the sphere of 
 pure thought — he has few if any living rivals. 
 Every cultivated person of the slightest meta- 
 physical turn, who has heard Alexander Camp- 
 bell in the pulpit or in the social circle, must 
 have been impressed by the wonderful facility 
 with which his faculties move in the highest 
 planes of thought. Ultimate facts stand forth 
 as boldly in his consciousness as sensations do in 
 that of most other men. He grasps and han- 
 dles the highest, subtlest, most comprehensive 
 principles as if they were the liveliest impressions 
 of the senses. No poet's soul is more crowded 
 with imagery than his is with the ripest forms of 
 thought. Surely the life of a man thus excel- 
 lent and gifted is a part of the common treasure 
 of society. In his essential character he belongs 
 to no sect or party, but to the world, 
 
 What will be the ultimate effect of Alexander 
 Campbell's life-work upon religious society, can 
 only be conjectured from what has already been 
 achieved. Though less than the third of a cen- 
 tury has passed since he ceased from earthly 
 labors, the permanent benefit of his gift to re- 
 ligious thought is generously conceded. The 
 little church at Brush Run, over which Mr. 
 Campbell was the presiding genius, has grown 
 
 1 Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 639. 
 
HIS PLACE IN HISTORY 
 
 233 
 
 into a great Christian brotherhood, more than a 
 million strong, with a score or more of educa- 
 tional institutions, with a current literature 
 second to none, with mission stations encircling 
 the globe. But these facts and figures, remark- 
 able as they appear, are among the least of the 
 results that have followed the labors of this 
 man. A much larger religious circle, while not 
 consenting to accept his leadership, are adopt- 
 ing many of the principles for which he so vigor- 
 ously contended, and are working out along 
 kindred lines the great problems that consumed 
 his energies. The awakening spirit of religious 
 unity, the slackening of party cords, the grow- 
 ing indifference to the claims of creeds, and the 
 increasing regard for the message of Christ and 
 his apostles, — these are but the widening circles 
 of a wave set in motion by this sturdy champion 
 of the primitive Faith. 
 
 It is yet perhaps too soon to assign Mr. Camp- 
 bell his proper place among the world's religious 
 leaders. A figure so colossal can only be rightly 
 estimated when viewed through the perspective 
 of advancing generations. Shall his name be 
 placed along with those of the other great 
 reformei's, Luther, Wickli:ffe, Calvin and Wes- 
 ley, or shall he be placed among stars of lesser 
 magnitude? Time alone will answer. But in 
 view of the achievements that have already been 
 wrought out through his influence, we believe 
 
234 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL 
 
 that when the final roll-call has been read, it 
 will be found that to Alexander Campbell has 
 been assigned no secondary place among the 
 heroes who have contributed to the world-wide 
 conquest of the race to the standard of the 
 Cross. 
 
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