

CAM 



illness, and hi* life was despaired of. On this occa 

 i testimony to Christianity, which it is 

 proper to retv.rd: lt G<1 lias been plrased," said In 1 , 

 " to give me some understanding of his promises in 

 tin Gospel of his Son Fesus Christ. These 1 have 

 communicated to others in my life. I now entertain 

 tlu- Kiith and hope of them; and thin may be con 

 fidered as the testimony of a dying man." Contrary 

 to all expectation, he was restored to the capacity of 

 engaging in his former duties and studies. After 

 i ring for four years longer, having lost his 

 wifv- whom he tenderly loved, feeling himself inade- 

 quate, from age and infirmity, to the vigorous and 

 multifarious exertions which his several offices re- 

 quired, and satisfied that he was to be succeeded by 

 a ;>>-rson who was every way qualified to fill the si- 

 tuations from which he was to retire, he resigned 

 tin-in all in the year 1795, in favour of Dr W. Lau 

 rence Brown, with whom he soon acquired habits 

 of intimacy, and with whose appointment' he fre- 

 quen:ly declared himself highly pleased. He re- 

 ceived from government a pension of 4.300 a year; 

 a mark of public respect and gratitude which gave 

 him unfeigned satisfaction, but which he did not live 

 lon;,T to enjoy. On the 31st of March 1796, he was 

 affected with a stroke of palsy, which deprived him 

 of the power of speech, and seemed to deaden all 

 his sensibilities. He languished under it for some 

 time, and died without pain, leaving behind him a 

 reputation for piety and worth, talents, learning, 

 and usefulness, of which there are not many such 

 examples in the history of the church. In private 

 life, he was sincere, affectionate, and friendly. His 

 manner, in company, was unassuming and mild : his 

 conversation lively, agreeable, and instructive. By 

 the few whom he honoured with peculiar confidence 

 and intimacy, he was remarkably beloved. All who 

 were acquainted with him, paid him the willing ho- 

 mage of esteem and veneration. In him the sterner 

 and the gentler virtues were happily united : he awed 

 by his unbending regard to integrity and truth, and 

 he delighted by his affability and condescension. He 

 belonged to what is called the moderate party in the 

 church, but he was truly moderate. No entreaty on 

 the part of his ecclesiastical friends could prevail upon 

 him to become Moderator of the General Assembly ; 

 and no consideration could ever prevent him from 

 speaking and acting in church courts, or in any other 

 place, agreeably to his own independent views. He 

 nacl too much candour to be the leader, and too 

 much elevation of mind to be the adherent, of a 

 party. 



his death, several works which he left in 



manuscript have been given to the public. These 

 are his Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, which are 

 thought by many to be latitudinarian in their views 

 of church government, and have been the subject of 

 much able and angry criticism : his Lectures on 

 Systematic Theology and Pulpit Eloquence, in which, 

 with a great deal of sound and judicious remarks, 

 there appears to be a portion of unreasonable preju- 

 dice against systems of divinity and his Lectures oil 

 the Pastoral Character, which seems to be ihe most 

 feeble and most faulty of the DOCK r's productions, 

 and might with great propriety have been suppressed 

 by the editor. (T) 

 VOL. V. PART I. 



C A M 



CAMPBELLTOWN, or as it is vulgarly writ- Campbell- 

 ten, C'nnji/K'lton, a royal burgh of A r s > lfhire t it town, 

 situated 01. the eaat coast of Kiutyre, within twelve N *"""v < 

 miles of the extremity of that long peninsula. Be- 

 fore it received its present name, about a century ago, 

 in honour of the Argyle family, its proprietors and 

 benefactors, it was called Kinloch ( Loch-end), and 

 Cau loch Chille Ciarain, in allusion to its position at 

 the extremity of Kilkerran loch. This fine bay, 

 which extends into the country above two miles, in 

 the form of a crescent, is the harbour of Campbell- 

 town. B*-ing completely sheltered on every side by 

 high grounds, it affords security in all weathers, the 

 insulated rock at the entrance effectually breaking the 

 swell. This natural harbour is two miles long and 

 nearly one in breadth, having a depth of from 6 to 

 1 1 fathoms, and the best holding ground imaginable. 

 The town itself, which is situated at the western 

 angle of the bay, presents nothing particularly strik- 

 ing to the view ; though, from the high grounds in 

 the vicinity, there is one of the grandest prospects in 

 the world On the east you have the whole Frith of 

 Clyde, covered with ships ; at the distance of 12 

 miles the island of Arran stretches out before you ; 

 a little further to the south is the stupendous rock of 

 Ailsa, rising out of the water in the form of a sugar 

 loaf; beyond, at a vast distance, are the blue moun- 

 tains of Ayr and Galloway ; and looking in the op- 

 posite direction you see the north of Ireland, some of 

 the western isles, and the immeasurable expanse of 

 the Atlantic. 



Dr Smith, in his Statistical Account, asserts, that 

 here was the first establishment of the Dalriads, those 

 Irish adventurers, who are said, in the sixth century, 

 to have re-established the Scottish monarchy ; and, 

 as a proof of this, that one of the adjacent villages is 

 still called Dalruadhain. This is not the place for 

 discussing the doctor's theory, nor inquiring whether 

 the Dalriads had any town at all. One thing, how- 

 ever, is certain, that there is not one vestige existing 

 of a Scottish capital in this place ; the most ancient 

 building remembered being a castle of the MacDonalds 

 of the Isles, which occupied the spot on which one 

 of the churches now stands. We know little more of 

 the history of Campbelltown than, that in the 17th 

 century, it was already a considerable fishing village; 

 that in 1701, it was erected into a royal burgh ; and 

 that in 1755, according to the returns made to Dr 

 Webster, the whole parish, town and country, con- 

 tained a population of 4597 souls. In 1701, the in- 

 habitants amounted to 8700 ; of whom the town con- 

 tained nearly 5000. The population of the town 

 has been rapidly increasing within these last ten year3 v 

 its present numbers (1812) being above 6000. 



The inhabitants of Campbelltown and the neigh- 

 bouring district, consist of two distinct races ; the 

 Gael and the Goil, or Highlanders and Lowlanders. 

 About 200 years ago, a colony of the latter was in- 

 vited from the opposite coast to settle here by an earl 

 of Argyle, who, at the same time that he afforded 

 a comfortable asylum to an oppressed people, obtain- 

 ed a tenantry for his arable lands, far superior to the 

 indolent natives. No Jews ever preserved their ori- 

 ginal character more distinctly among a strange peo- . 

 pie than these Lowlanders have done. Though 

 never amounting to a number equal to one third part 

 2n 



