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 Knowledge : 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 suc cess which attended them.
Dr Campbell's hostility to Popery bad been repeat edly evinced, and on account of it he bad received in jurious treatment from some Roman Catholics. His hostility, however, was not blind and indiscriminating. And while he abhorred the corruptions of doctrine which existed in the Church of Rome, he equally abhorred that arrogant temper and persecuting spirit by which she had been long distinguished ; and abhorred them, too, for their own sake, not for the sake of that system of error and superstition to which they were more pe culiarly attached. In 1779. therefore, when a bill was brought into Parliament for repealing the penal statutes against Roman Catholic, and when there was such a general and outrageous opposition to that measure main tained in this country, he published .1n .1ddress to the People of Scotland upon the ?llarms that had been raised in regard to Popery ; and in this pamphlet, while he explains the nature of persecution, he demonstrates its contrariety to the gospel, and inculcates those tolerant and liberal principles which arc 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 attach ment to the great cause of toleration. It may be proper here to take ncticc of a very strange and stupid misre presentation of Dr Campbell's sentiments with respect to the Roman Catholics, which appears in Mr Good's Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Dr Geddes. In that work, Dr. C. is ranked among the bigots of Scot land, 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 vindicated. 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 writ ten 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 unaccountable, except on the supposition that he wrote without any attention to the accuracy of his statements. In the same year, Dr
Campbell published a sermon preached at the assizes au Aberdeen, on The happy Influence of Religion on Civil Society. This subject, which is rather a trite one, he has discussed with great precision, and with some originality. Indeed, the excellence 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, Translated from the Greek, with Preliminary Dissertations, and Xotes Critical and Explanatory. It appeared in 1789, in 2 vols. 4to. 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 unquestiona bly 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 alteration of a word or a phrase. Dr Camp bell, however, intended rather to call the attention of mankind to a new translation, than to exhibit his own as faultless. The Xotes are extremely valuable—not so much for the extent of learning, as for the judicious application of that learning to the elucidation of scrip ture, which they uniformly display. Some of them are master-pieces of annotation. The Preliminary Disser tations contain some of the ablest critical discussions that are any where to be found. They are marked by a thorough acquaintance with the original scriptures ; by an exercise of judgment at once discriminating and profound ; by a perfect knowledge and a sound applica tion of the canons of criticism ; and by that perspicuity of statement, and that simplicity of style, which are necessary to give the other properties their full effect.