misrepresented by his enemies, and very imperfectly appreciated by
many of his friends.
  The reader of the following memoirs may rest assured that the
utmost pains have been taken to assure the authenticity and the
accuracy of the facts detailed, and that nothing has been allowed to
form a part of the narrative for which there did not appear to be
clear and sufficient evidence. It has been the aim of the author to
allow Mr. Campbell, as far as practicable, to speak for himself by his
actions and his writings, and to gather from private papers, and the
cherished remembrances of personal intimacy, such additional gleams
of light as might serve to furnish a view of the inner man, and
reveal the struggles of a mighty soul amidst the conflicts of life.
Should he be charged with giving, in any case, too much space to
natural description,.he must plead, as an apology, his desire to place
the reader, as much as possible, amidst the very scenes and circum-
stances by which Mr. Campbell was himself surrounded, so that he
may be enabled to form his own estimate as to how far the forms of
external nature and the associations of youth exerted their admitted
formative power. In regard to the religious influences which sur-
rounded Mr. Campbell in his early life, it has been thought necessary
to go into considerable detail, as their effects were marked and
permanent.
  It seemed, indeed, impossible to place the views and labors of
Mr. Campbell in their true light without giving a pretty full account
of the state of religious society around him. In endeavoring to do
this, the author has preferred to speak of particular religious move-
ments and parties when, in the course of the narrative, Mr. Camp-
bell comes into contact with them, rather than in the form, usually
adopted, of a general historical introduction prefixed to the work-a
plan which has, doubtless, its advantages, but which, in the present
case, seemed less eligible than the one adopted, for reasons which it
is unnecessary to specify. It is hoped, therefore, that the sketches
given of the state of religious society at different periods will not
only supply the facts necessary to a correct judgment, but, at the
same time, afford interesting information. For many of the details
connected with the Secession Church the author would acknowledge
his indebtedness to McKerrow's valuable history, and for those



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