LASGOW, in which the Campbell family were now to reside for a time, is the chief city of Scotland as regards wealth, commerce and population. It then contained about one hundred and fourteen thousand inhabitants, and was noted for its extensive manufactures, for which it possessed great facilities, being placed in the midst of a coal deposit averaging fifteen feet in thickness and extending over one hundred and ten square miles. It is adorned with many public buildings and churches, and its venerable cathedral, the only one that escaped the iconoclastic rage of Knox and his adherents, is regarded as the finest specimen of Gothic architecture in Scotland. The college extends along the High street more than three hundred feet, and occupies an area of more than two acres. In an elegant building is contained the Hunterian Museum,¹ a very valuable collection of specimens in natural history, anatomical preparations and medals. The Town Hall is another fine building, much admired for its magnificent front. South-east of the city, on the banks of the river Clyde, [129] the "winding Clutha" of Ossian, there is a fine park of about one hundred and eight acres, adorned with trees, and with more than three miles of graveled walks for the recreation of the citizens. Many interesting personal and historical associations cluster around this ancient city, which is supposed to have existed for more than twelve centuries.

      Through the courtesy of Mr. Ewing, Alexander was introduced to the different professors of the University, and on the 8th of November, immediately after the "town sacrament," the time at which the course commenced, he entered his classes. He had but fairly begun, however, when Mr. Ewing, who seems to have taken a special interest in the family, ascertaining that their place of lodging was incommodious, sought out, of his own accord, a more eligible situation in Youngsland, Broad street, Hutchinsontown, to which they all removed in the latter part of November. Here they remained during their "stay in Glasgow, spending the time very agreeably, forming a very pleasant acquaintance with many persons of respectability, and experiencing the kindest attentions from a number of choice friends. One of Alexander's first cares, after the family were fairly settled, was to look to the preservation of the books which had been damaged in the shipwreck. A great many of them he found it necessary to have re-bound; and, from the list which he made out of them, it appears that they were volumes of the Greek and Latin classics and English literature, but chiefly works on theology.

      As the University was attended by a large class, often numbering fifteen hundred students, many of whom were from Ireland, Alexander, who was of an eminently social disposition, formed a very extensive [130] acquaintance among them, and some warm friendships. Of those with whom he was specially intimate may be mentioned Mr. Moffit, Mr. McFarlane, Mr. Beard, Mr. Dymock, Mr. Cuthbertson, of Scotland; Mr. Whinning and Mr. Gourley, of Ireland; and Mr. Crisp, Mr. Redford, Mr. Cluney, Mr. Grive, Mr. Burder and Mr. Hooper, of England, who were among his classmates.

      The classes he had entered were those of Professor Young, both public and private, in Greek; those of Professor Jardine, public and private, in Logic and Belles Lettres, and Dr. Ure's class in Experimental Philosophy. The necessary preparation for these classes, and the various exercises required, kept him extremely busy, and he devoted himself with uncommon zeal and indefatigable industry to his studies during the session. In addition to the above regular classes, he resumed the study of the French, and gave considerable time to English reading and composition. Retiring to bed at ten o'clock P. M., he rose regularly at four in the morning. At six, he attended his class in French; from seven to eight, a class in the Greek Testament; and from eight to ten, his Latin classes, returning to bathe and breakfast at ten. In the afternoon he recited in a more advanced Greek class and in Logic, attending also several lectures per week delivered by Dr. Ure, and accompanied with experiments in natural science, in which he was very much interested. Professors Young and Jardine had been his father's teachers upward of twenty-five years before, and had been also favorite professors with the poet Campbell, who had finished his course at Glasgow, his native city, in May, 1796, and who speaks of Jardine in his letters, as the "amiable," the "benign," the "philosophic Jardine." Professor Young, too, the profound grammarian and [131] master of elocution, had taken great interest in the youthful poet, and used to read to his class, with enthusiasm, the elegant metrical versions of the Greek poets presented by his pupil, which constantly received the highest prizes. With these and other renowned professors Alexander was greatly pleased, and the devoted attention which he gave to their instructions is amply attested by the large number of closely-written volumes which he filled during the session with copious notes of their lectures, and with his own translations from the Iliad of Homer, the Œdipus Tyrannus of Sophocles, etc., together with numerous essays and exercises in prose and verse, handed in to the professors in his various classes as regular exercises.

      A number of juvenile poems, some of which he had composed in Ireland, also appear in one of these volumes, having been written, as he states, "for his own improvement, and that he might be enabled to judge of the poetic compositions of others." These, however, do not possess sufficient merit for publication, nor did he himself ever esteem them worthy of it. They are deficient in rhythm and expression, and "want fire," as was said of some of the early verses of the author of the "Pleasures of Hope" by his elder brother Daniel, to whom he had submitted them for criticism: and who, suiting the action to the word, twisted up the manuscript and thrust it between the bars of the grate! There is scarcely any one, of even ordinary taste and education, who does not, in the ardent period of youth, experience something of the "afflatus poeticus." With most, this is, however, but a transient influence, springing from the exuberance of youthful feeling; and though it may have its use in refining that feeling and creating a love for poetry, it usually subsides amidst the sober pursuits [132] of life. To what measure of success Alexander Campbell might have attained in this species of composition, had he devoted himself to it, it is not easy to say; but, though some subsequent attempts at versification seem more promising, it is not likely he would have excelled in it, as the natural tendency of his mind was to wide and general views, rather than to that delicate analysis and minute descriptive detail so necessary in poetry; and his conscientious reverence for truth and fact, prohibited any lofty flights of fancy or of bold invention. For fiction, indeed, he had no taste whatever; and though he conceded, in this respect, a certain license to the distinguished poets, he used in after years often to express his wonder that any one could take an interest in works of mere invention, such as romances, when they knew, perfectly well, that not one of the things related had ever happened.

      That he himself possessed a good degree of the imaginative faculty is unquestionable; but in him the understanding and the judgment largely predominated, and his imagination displayed itself, not in poetic creations, but in the far-reaching grasp by which, as an orator, he seized upon principles, facts, illustrations and analogies, and so modified and combined them as to render them all tributary to his main design. It was in the choice of arguments, in unexpected applications of familiar facts, in comprehensive generalizations, widening the horizon of human thought and revealing new and striking relations, that this faculty manifested itself; subservient always, however, to the proof of some logical proposition or to the development of some important truth. His deficiency in the musical faculty, as well as the preponderance of the reasoning powers and of the practical understanding, would, doubtless, [133] have inhibited the attainment of any poetic distinction. It is true, indeed, that a man of even ordinary talents, sensibility and reading, may, by application and labor, produce works dignified by the name of poems; but it is little else than a mechanical process, where the ear arranges words, and the fancy selects imagery to exhibit and to adorn prosaic thoughts in a poetic dress. The true poet must possess, by nature, the most delicate perceptions of beauty and of harmony, and that vivid imagination to which these are allied, and which not only creates, but gives unity and life and action to its productions, so as to make "things that are not" seem "things that are." It is by no means to be regretted, however, that Alexander Campbell did not devote himself to poetry. He chose the more congenial pursuit of truth, and a nobler and far more important field of labor, where success was to be rewarded not by mere human applause or the fading garland of the poet, but by the praise of God and the crown of immortality.

      Since he became afterward distinguished as a prose writer, it may not be uninteresting to the reader to place before him one of his prose essays, written during his stay in Glasgow, that a proper comparison may be made in regard to his style at different periods. The following essay is selected from among those required by Professor Jardine in Belles Lettres, as it is brief. In a note prefixed to the manuscript volume in which they are contained, it is said that the reason for writing them out thus was to preserve them "for retrospection, that at any future period the author may look back at former states of mind and habits of composition, and may, from thence, judge of improvement, etc." Criticism is also strongly deprecated, if the book should happen to fall into the hands of a critic, who is [134] reminded that these essays are the imperfect attempts of a mere student, and that the critic himself was once similarly inexperienced, and should not look with scorn on such efforts for improvement; and the note closes with the remark "that perhaps in circling months, the day may come that the author will bid defiance to him who should demean himself to criticise the attempts of youth." From this last sentence he seems to have been conscious of the possession of that undeveloped power which became afterward so conspicuous, and to have anticipated the high distinction to which he would one day attain:

"ON THE PURPOSES SERVED IN OUR CONSTITUTION BY
THE REFLEX SENSE OF BEAUTY.

      "Doubtless the wise Author of our nature has not endowed us with any faculties of mind or body that are not useful to us, and conferred on us for good and wise ends, that we might be capable of admiring the works of creation, and therein behold the wisdom, power, and goodness of the Author; that we might be enabled to observe the grandness, sublimity and beauty of all his works, and receive pleasure in contemplating his goodness in thus preparing an habitation for us. He has endowed us with powers of receiving pleasures from the beauties of nature and art: these powers are called natural. Each particular sense differs from another in itself, in the qualities of external objects that make an impression on it, in the emotions produced in the mind, and in the final cause; but as we are to confine ourselves to the purposes served in our constitution by the external sense of beauty, we shall proceed to point them out.

      "That as man is destined for the enjoyment of perfect beauty hereafter, it was wise and kind in the wise Author of nature to give him a taste for it and a sense to feel it.

      "The objects that man in his future state of happiness is destined to behold are represented to us in divine revelation [135] as perfectly beautiful both in color, proportion and variety: not only the objects man has to behold, but the sounds which he is to hear, are to be harmonious and beautiful to the ear. Were he then entirely unacquainted with what is beautiful in sight or sound, had he no sense to feel it, nor taste for it, all those descriptions would be of no avail, no inducement to him to excite to virtuous actions, that he might enjoy this happiness for ever; but that we might be excited by these representations to seek for this happiness, our present constitution is so organized as to receive pleasure from the various qualities called the beautiful in external objects, insomuch that the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear with hearing. No qualities in objects make such an impression upon the mind, nor excite such a desire for the possession, as the beautiful.

      "It tends to make this present state more pleasing. From none of the internal senses do we receive so much pleasure as from beauty; no qualities in objects interest us so much as the beautiful. The very variety of beautiful qualities in the works of creation and of art have given rise to the definition of taste, that it is the power of receiving pleasure from the beauties of nature and of art.

      "It produces the most refined pleasure. To prove this let us suppose man to have no sensation of beauty, and then where is his pleasure? If he have any, it must be of the most gross kind, sensual, and only pleasing as good or evil. Where would be the beauties of the rising and setting sun, of the radiance of risen day, and all the variety of color in the speckled clouds that stand proportionate on the face of the vast concave of heaven? Where would be the pleasing trains of imagination that would naturally be associated with such a beautiful scene? Not possessed of a sense of beauty, we must behold this otherwise beautiful scene with as much coldness and indifference as we would the dark night or the irregular motions of some ill-shapen object. Not the harmony of human voices nor the warbling melody of the grove would excite one more pleasing emotion than the most ungrateful [136] sounds or the solemn silence of the moonless night. It proves an incentive to the study of nature, when, delighted with the exterior appearances of the works of nature, we are incited to study the causes and to trace the effects of this beauty; and in our studies we are lightened by the beauties interspersed, and our mind is everywhere relieved by the occurrence of what is beautiful, and filled with the most pleasing sensations.

      "The desire for beauty is not lessened by new gratifications: in short, without it all the beauties of spring and of the blooming year, with all the variegated beauties of nature and art, would excite in us no more pleasing emotions than were all nature a mere jargon of discordances and a chaos of confusion. Whereas, on the other hand, we find more refined pleasure in the contemplation of the color, proportion and harmony of all the works of creation and the beauties of art than in any other power or capacity with which we are endowed."

      During his studies he still found time to indulge his love of reading. He was constantly adding to his store of books as circumstances permitted, and devoting spare moments to perusing them and writing down from them in his commonplace book such passages as he desired particularly to remember. Thus there is a memorandum that from May 1, 1809, he read Dr. Beattie's "Minstrel," "Life and Poems of James Hay Beattie." A work of Stuart's, MacKenzie's "Man of Feeling," Buffon's "Natural History," Johnson's "Lives of the Poets," four volumes, Dr. Beattie's "Ethics," and one volume of Goldsmith's "Animated Nature." Many extracts appear from Johnson's "Lives of the Poets," and still more from Dr. Beattie's "Ethics." Among these, we have much upon the principles of Law and Civil Government, Right, Obligation, Justice, etc., also upon Reasoning and Evidence, and style of composition, [137] historical, rhetorical, etc. Under the latter head he particular to record the following qualifications, "as necessary to attain excellence in the composing pronouncing of sermons:"

      "1. The preacher must be a man of piety, 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 performances and general behavior 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 Scripture 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 regularity 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.

      "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."

      These rules are here inserted, because he seems to have been impressed by their justness, and to have modeled himself by them in his future course as a preacher.

      In addition to his various classes and literary exercises, he seems also to have been engaged in teaching [138] some private classes, as the poet Campbell had done, and as was the usual resort of those who were not otherwise able to defray their expenses. He had a class in Latin, one in English grammar and reading, and one in writing and arithmetic, composed of youths from several families in the city, as those of Mr. Monteith, Wardlaw, Burns, etc. While thus diligently engaged, however, in literary pursuits, he by no means neglected his religious interests. On the contrary, he seems to have been unusually attentive to the state of his own religious convictions and feelings. He was strict in his daily devotions and readings of the Scripture; and seems, from various records, to have cherished constantly a devotional frame of mind and a habit of self-examination. On the last evening of December, as he sat in his apartment, he resolved to occupy himself in writing and reflecting upon religious subjects until the old year should be closed. When the New Year (1809) had come in, he then determined that he would keep a religious diary or record of the results of daily self-examination.

      This sort of religious discipline had formerly been practised by his father, and was at this time very common with religious persons. Wesley began to keep a diary while at Oxford, but his private diary was not so much a record of self-examination as of the events of the day, and of his own reflections upon men and things, interspersed with views of his own religious condition and changes at different periods. This work, which has been published, is perhaps the best and most valuable autobiography extant, containing, in addition, valuable material for history. The diary, however, which he commenced in connection with Hervey, Morgan, Whitefield and other members of the [139] so-called "Godly Club" at Oxford, was really a record of self-examinations of the most searching character, extending to thoughts, words, motives and actions, in reference both to God and man, and, in the elaborate scheme drawn out by Mr. Wesley himself, endeavoring to bring under scrutiny every thought and imagination of the human heart. Other members of the "Godly Club" continued the practice after they left college; and Hervey, who became a very popular writer, earnestly recommended religious persons, each for himself, thus to "compile a secret history of his heart and conduct."

      That such a practice may be useful to certain minds and in particular circumstances is probable, but it may well be doubted whether its evils would not, in a majority of cases, outweigh its advantages. That the power of self-superintendence and self-examination ought to be daily exercised by all is unquestionable, but so minute a scrutiny into the workings of the human soul, and so elaborate a record of the suggestions, vain and frivolous thoughts and imaginations which flit across the mind, is likely to induce an utter despair of human nature with some, and, with others of a different temperament, to foster the pride of self-knowledge, or a presumptuous confidence in man's power of self-renovation. It does not seem designed, nor is it enjoined by the Creator, that man should thus, as it were, apply the microscope to certain parts of his moral nature, and distort these into such unnatural disproportion as would, upon a similar scale of magnitude, convert even the most beautiful physical form into a monster. As there is a certain distance at which a portrait must be viewed in order to have a true conception of it, so is it with human character, where causes must be considered [140] along with their results; motives with actions and the general tenor of life, rather than special moods and casual caprices, which often spring from a physical rather than a moral source. Man can never know himself aright until he shall be enabled to comprehend the delicate relations which God has established between the various parts of his own nature, as well as between him, and exterior things; and, in default of this knowledge, he must be content to remain ignorant of much that lies beyond the field of ordinary observation, just as men breathe the life-giving air and conceive it to be pure, forgetful that in the sunbeam they saw it filled with an infinite number of motes and particles, of whose nature or use they could form no conception. In fact, those minute inquisitions to which reference is made are at all possible only to a few, and therefore can never constitute an imperative religious duty, which must of necessity be of universal obligation.

      The diary kept by Alexander, partly in short-hand, but chiefly in Latin, records the usual deficiencies in spiritual-mindedness, self-consecration and attention to duty, and the usual longings after a higher spiritual life. It seems also to have resulted in the conviction of the impossibility of maintaining or of conducting such a scrutiny to a practical or useful end, and to have led him to the appropriate inquiry of the Psalmist, "Who can understand his errors?" and to his equally appropriate prayer to God, "Cleanse thou me from secret faults"--a prayer which is entirely in harmony with the spirit of the New Testament, where the self-examination enjoined presumes not to separate the minute filaments which compose the varied web of human motives and feelings, but confines itself to faith as connected with obedience. Such a scrutiny, while [141] it must reveal to every Christian his own inability, and that he offends in many things, will lead him neither to despair of the perfection which God requires, nor to flatter himself with any assurances of self-sufficiency; but will lead him rather, by prayer, to seek assistance from Him who can "work in him both to will and to do of his own good pleasure," and whose strength is made perfect in human weakness. He will be induced to hope not in self-righteousness, but in the merits of Christ, and to look off to Him whom God has made to him wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. It was in harmony with such reflections that the minute inquiries of the earlier portions of his diary gradually gave place to broader and more elevated views, and to appropriate meditations upon certain portions of Scripture. Thus we have, under date of January 15:

      "Thoughts on these words: 'The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?' Man is composed of two parts--a body and a soul; the body visible, material, mortal, divisible; the soul invisible, immaterial, indivisible and immortal. Their union is an impenetrable arcanum. The heart of man is put here for the mind, or thoughts, as the heart is the seat of life, and is thought by some to be the seat of intellect and will. The soul of man is unfathomable. The human mind is an emanation of the Divine Mind. The soul was first made after the image of God in knowledge, righteousness and true holiness; was perfectly able, in its first state, to keep the commands of God, but is now fallen by a breach of God's command well known. That heart, once so perfect as to have communion with God, and to enjoy communion with him, is now so depraved, so awfully depraved, as to be the habitation of every unclean thought, the spring of all filthy communication, the source of every sinful action. [142]

      "The tongue is said, by a beloved apostle, to be a fire, a world of iniquity; it defiles the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire of hell. But, alas! sure 'tis the heart, 'tis by the will, the tongue is lifted up; 'tis then the heart that is the cause of this evil, this awful iniquity. But how is the heart so deceitful? how is it so unknown? It is so dreadfully deceitful as to shun all good. When we essay to do good, the heart rebels; when, with our tongue, we attempt to praise our Maker, our deceitful heart wanders off to vanity, to a thousand vanities. We cannot command it; it escapes our closest watch, our deepest ken, and deceives us.

      "It is pleased with the vanities of a present, evil world, and naturally shuns the precious truths of God. It fondly drinks in the draughts of iniquity and loathes the healthful cordials of God's word. It is fond of its bitterest enemy and hates its best friend. It is dull, it is languid to that which is good; it is lively, it is active to every evil work. It is in its element when in the service of Satan, but out of it in the service of God. This is the true state of the natural heart; it loves death and hates life; it chooses the former and rejects the latter. How unhappy, then, would this carnal heart be in the everlasting company of God, of angels and of glorified saints! Yea, heaven would be no heaven to it; it prefers the company of the damned (if it could avoid their punishment), rather than union and communion with God and the fellowship of angels and of glorified saints. Let us pray, then, to God to be merciful and change these hard and deceitful hearts."

      Again, on the 29th of January: "'All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.'   *     *     *     *  

      "The word of God, which is contained in the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. 'The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the [143] simple.   *     *     *     *   Moreover, by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward.' Psalm xix. Here is sufficient proof of the authority of the Scriptures, so that, from their holiness and superlative dignified majesty, they are the powerful words that can convert the soul that lies in iniquity; they can convince the most obstinate sinner; they can humble the most haughty and high-minded, and turn those far from righteousness from the power of Satan to the living God.

      "In them we have the blessing of Christ bequeathed unto us fully, freely, earnestly, and particularly to all and every individual sinful man. See 2 Peter i. 4: 'Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.' And again, Luke xxii. 29: 'And I appoint unto you a kingdom as my Father appointed unto me.' These are the inestimable purchases and legacies of our new covenant head; such purchases as all creation could not produce or such a gift; all this, and freely without money and without price. From all this we may learn that the Scripture is the true and only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.

      "But that the Scriptures may have the desired effect, we are to read them for this end and in this manner. For this end, that, by the blessing of God and the influence of the Holy Spirit, we may be rendered thereby holy, humble and wise unto salvation; that we may know of the grand concerns of an eternal scene, and be put in the way to escape eternal wrath and to gain eternal happiness. And in this manner are we to read them: First, to understand them by a diligent comparing of them, one with another, observing the regularity, strength and consistency of each part; and, second, to receive any benefit from them, we must earnestly pray for the Spirit to apply them and to explain them to our hearts. Acts xvii. 11: 'They searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so;' and John v. 37: 'Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and these are they which [144] testify of me.' Hence the Word of God, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy God here and hereafter."

      So full, indeed, was he of religious thought that he could not forbear giving expression to it, even in those manuscript volumes which he had reserved for merely literary purposes. Thus, in one consisting of extracts, juvenile poems, etc., we have, under date of March 13, first, a sentence from Luther: "Three things make a minister--faith, meditation and temptation." Then follows this comparison, which was a favorite one with his father: "A man may enter a garden for three purposes: First, to learn the art of gardening; second, for pleasure; third, to gather fruit. So may a man read the Bible for three things: First, to learn to read it or dispute about it; second, read the historical parts for pleasure; third, to gather fruit; this last is the true way." After these, he writes down the following reflections:

      "Whatever our conduct may have been, if, convinced by his word of our sad misconduct, we, returning to him, confess our sin, sincerely supplicating mercy through the priesthood of Jesus, heartily adopting his word as the rule of our practice, and constantly calling upon him, by prayer, to enable us by his Holy Spirit, to fulfill it in all things, he will surely pardon all our past sins, give us his Holy Spirit, and graciously forgive our daily shortcomings. Whilst we thus go on in a daily and diligent study of his holy word, endeavoring to do better and better every day, not at all making our own endeavors the ground of our confidence, but merely and only the mercy of God, through the mediation of Jesus Christ, constantly looking for pardon and acceptance only through his blood; this is true religion, this is true Christianity; anything otherwise, anything less or more than this, is delusion."

      In reference to family religion, he notes elsewhere: [145]

      "Do you think that religion is a mere way of talking or educational art, received by tradition from our forefathers? God forbid! It is a substantial thing, solid as the adamant, lasting as eternity, bright and glorious as the Divine Author and object of it. It is the social knowledge of God, the social love of Jesus, social holiness, meekness, humility, charity, patience, submission, delight in God, that is only worthy to be wished for in a family."

      These cherished sentiments, private meditations and personal details of daily life, show how deeply his heart and mind had been impressed by religion, and how his naturally strong and independent judgment began to assert its power to guide his thoughts and determine his convictions. In this latter respect, however, the circumstances around him had so marked an influence, and contributed so largely to modify his religious views and decide his future course, that they well deserve particular consideration. [146]

[MAC1 129-146]