Declaration & Address (ePub)

Thomas Campbell, the author of this pamphlet, did not come

suddenly or unnaturally to the place that must be allowed him in the

history of the nineteenth century; nor was it a painless process. He

was born in county Down, Ireland, February 1st, 1763, of Scotch

ancestry of course. Though his father had renounced Romanism

for the Church of England he long forbade his eldest son to become

a minister of the Anti-Burgher Seceder Presbyterians. His training

included complete courses in Glasgow University and Divinity Hall.

After his probation he was nine years minister at Ahorey.

More and more his heart cried out against divisions in the family

of God. In 1804 at the Synod in Belfast and in 1805 at the joint

meeting in Lurgan he led the movement for uniting the two bodies

of Seceders. In 1806 he was sent to the General Synod in Glas-

gow to plead the same cause. The reunion was effected in 1820.

In 1807 he removed to America and began preaching at once

in Western Pennsylvania, then a sparsely settled region of the

frontier. It is impossible for those living in these happier times to

realize the bitterness of the sectarian strife which he found, or the

spiritual destitution, moral decay and infidel arrogance that had grown

out of this fresh crucifixion of the Christ.

The vigor, originality, scripturalness and brotherliness of his

preaching drew many hearers. New friends constantly vied with

the steadfast affection of those who had known him in Ireland.

Suddenly, to his amazement, the Presbytery of Chartiers censured

him for admitting other Presbyterians than Seceders to a communion

service held for scattered families on the Allegheny River above

Pittsburgh. On appeal the Synod removed the censure but charged

him to beware of further offense. Under persistent persecution he

withdrew from the Synod's jurisdiction and continued to preach

independently until the events herein set forth.

He brought to the supreme task of his life--the writing of this

document--incorruptible faith, unconquerable hope and inexhaustible

love; the fulness of learning, the poise of reflection and the ripeness

of experience. With entire and unconscious effacement of self he

sought the glory of Christ and the happiness of mankind.

Thomas Campbell not only discovered the necessity and the

basis of Christian union but he possessed the spirit of it. In the

conviction that he was only a hundred years ahead of his age his

message is sent forth anew. May He who is the Truth again add

His blessing.