31,2 



(Jmpbell, the nature and use of verbal criticism ; and of the 

 George, different sources of evidence, which is perhaps the 

 most valuable portion of th - performance, and is cer- 

 tainly equal to any thing which has yet appeared 

 upon the subject. The style of this production, like 

 the style of all his productions, is simple, perspicuous, 

 and precise. 



During the same year he preached on the national 

 fast day, a Sermon on the nature, extent, and import- 

 ance of the duty of Allegiance. In this sermon he 

 endeavours to shew, that the Americans had no right, 

 either from reason or from scripture, to throw off 

 their allegiance to the British government. But 

 though he reasons with his usual acuteness, it is not 

 with his usual success. There are certain great 

 principles which operate irresistibly on the feelings of 

 a people suffering from oppression, and struggling for 

 liberty, though they may not very readily occur to 

 an orator in the pulpit of an established church ; 

 audit is by overlooking these, that the Doctor has so 

 easily arrived at his conclusion. It may be remarked, 

 that while he denies the right of the Americans to as- 

 sert their independence, he very plainly hints the ex- 

 pediency of having granted it to them from the very 

 beginning. Our government, labouring under a 

 strange infatuation, were neither so just as to admit 

 the claims of right, nor so wise as to yield to the dic- 

 tates of expediency ; and at length they were brought 

 under the imperious necessity of surrendering what 

 they had hitherto withheld ; nor is there any reason 

 to think that this event was delayed by Dr Campbell's 

 sermon, although, at the desire of Dean Tucker, with 

 whom the doctor carried on a correspondence, 6000 

 copies of it were published and industriously circula- 

 ted in America, to persuade the people there to re- 

 sume their political chains. 



The next sermon which Dr Campbell preached 

 and published, was of a different complexion, and 

 calculated to be far more useful. It was delivered 

 before the Society for Propagating Christian Know- 

 ledge : It is entitled, " The Success of the First 

 Publishers of the Gospel a Proof of its Truth," and 

 is certainly a very able performance illustrating, 

 with great distinctness and force, the argument that 

 Christianity derives from the unfitness of those means 

 by which it was originally propagated, taken in 

 connection with the wonderful success which attend- 

 . ed them. 



Dr Campbell's hostility to Popery had been re- 

 peatedly evinced, and on account of it he had recei- 

 ved injurious treatment from some Roman Catholics. 

 ,His hostility, however, was not blind and indiscri- 

 minating. And while he abhorred the corruptions 

 of doctrine which existed in the Church of Rome, 

 he equally abhorred that arrogant temper and per- 

 secuting spirit by which she had been long distin- 

 guished ; and abhorred them, too, for their own sake, 

 not .for the sake of that system of error and super- 

 stition to which they were more peculiarly attached. 

 In 1779, therefore, when a bill was brought into 

 Parliament for repealing the penal statutes against 

 Roman Catholics, and when there was such a gene- 

 ral and outrageous opposition to that measure main- 

 tained in this Country, he published An Address to 

 the People of Scotland upon the Alarms that had been 

 raised in regard to Popery ; and in this pamphlet, 

 ,whije he explains the natare of persecution, he de- 



monstrates its contrariety to the gospel, and incul- Campbell, 

 cates those tolerant and liberal principles which are 

 dictated alike by true religion and sound policy. 

 Such conduct, of course, exposed him to obloquy ; 

 but he had magnanimity enough to despise it, and 

 to remain firm in his attachment to the great cause 

 of toleration. It may be proper here to take notice 

 of a very strange and stupid misrepresentation of Dr 

 Campbell's sentiments v/ith respect to the Roman 

 Catholics, which appears in Mr Good's Memoirs of 

 the Life and Writings o/Dr Geddes. In that wurk, 

 Dr C. is ranked among the bigots of Scotland, who 

 opposed the repeal of those penal laws to which the 

 Catholics were subjected, and is even said to be the 

 author of a tract in which that opposition is vindi- 

 cated. The fact is, that Dr Campbell was an avowed 

 and strenuous friend to the repeal ; and the tract just 

 mentioned bears on its title-page, that it was written 

 in answer to his address to the - people of Scotland 

 in behalf of that measure ! Such a gross blunder 

 on the part of Mr Good is altogether unaccount- 

 able, except on the supposition that he wrote with- 

 out any attention to the accuracy of his statements. In 

 the same year, Dr Campbell published a sermon preach- 

 ed at the assizes at Aberdeen, on The happy Influence 

 of Religion on Civil Society. This subject, which 

 is rather a trite one, he has discussed with great pre- 

 cision, and with some originality. Indeed, the .ex- 

 cellence of this and others of his discourses which 

 have been published, makes it a matter of regret 

 that the world has not been favoured with a more 

 copious collection. 



The last work which he published was, The Four 

 Gospels, Tran Dinted from the Greek, with Prelimi- 

 nary Dissertations, and Noles Critical and Explana- 

 tory. It appeared in 1789, in 1 2 vols. 4>to. Of this 

 production it is not easy to speak in too high terms. 

 It must be considered, and is actually considered by 

 all who are capable of forming a judgment, as a most 

 important acquisition to the library of the biblical 

 student. The translation is well executed; and though 

 it unquestionably is in several respects inferior to the 

 common version, yet the more it is read and studied, 

 the more will it be admired. It is wonderfully free, 

 as might have been expected in the productions of 

 such an author, from the undue influence of system, 

 and is frequently very happy in throwing light on 

 what was formerly obscure, and in giving a meaning 

 to what was formerly unintelligible, by the simple alte- 

 ration of a word or a phrase. Dr Campbell, however, 

 intended rather to call the .attention of mankind to 

 a new translation, than to exhibit his own as fault- 

 less. The Notes are extremely valuable not so much 

 for the extent of learning, as for the judicious appli- 

 cation of that learning to the elucidation of scrip- 

 ture, which they uniformly display. Some of them 

 are master-pieces of annotation. The Preliminary 

 Dissertations contain some of the ablest critical dis- 

 cussions that are any where to be found. They are 

 marked by a thorough acquaintance with the origi- 

 nal scriptures ; by an exercise of judgment at once 

 discriminating and profound; by a perfect knowledge 

 and a sound application of the canons of criticism ; 

 and by that perspicuity of statement, and that sim- 

 plicity of style, which are necessary to give the other 

 properties their full effect. 



In 1791, Dr Campbell was seized with a violent 



