ously designated in different sections, as "Baptists," "Reformed Baptists," "Reformers," or "Campbellites," had its origin in an effort made, a few years since, to effect a union of the pious of all parties, by the ties of a common Christianity.

This was at first proposed by Thomas Campbell, who had long been a minister of high standing in the "Secession" branch of the Presbyterian Church, in the north of Ireland, and who had been at all times characterized by his love for the Bible, and for godly men of all parties, without respect to sectarian differences. Having visited the United States, as well for the recovery of his health, which had become much impaired, as with a view to a permanent location, he employed his time for nearly three years in supplying with ministerial labor, the destitute churches of the Seceder connexion in Western Pennsylvania. During this period, he experienced much opposition and persecution from some of the ministers of his own party, in consequence of the liberality of his religious views, and was, at one time, formally arraigned before the ecclesiastical tribunal, under a charge of favoring a communion with other parties, which was regarded as a laxity in regard to the Testimony of this particular sect. Shortly after these controversies, Mr. Campbell's family set out from Ireland, under the charge of his eldest son Alexander, then a young man, and arrived in Washington County, Pennsylvania, where they all took up their abode, and where Thomas Campbell continued his ministerial labors.

Continually deploring, however, the divided and distracted condition of the religious community at large, and deeply convinced that its divisions were unnecessary, unscriptural, and most injurious to the interests of religion and of society: he at length formed the resolution to make a public effort for the restoration of the original unity of the church. Being joined in this resolution by his son Alexander, whose views of religion had been much liberalized and extended by an intimacy with Greville Ewing and the Independents of Glasgow, in Scotland, during his studies, which he had just completed at the university in that city; and whose talents, learning, and energy have, since this

period, so widely disseminated the principles of union then adopted: an attempt was made, in the first instance, to obtain the co-operation of the people and ministers with whom he stood associated.

The great fundamental point urged at this juncture was, that in order to Christian union, and the full influence of the gospel, it was absolutely necessary that the Bible alone should be taken as the authorized bond of union, and the infallible rule of faith and practice; in other words, that the revelations of God should be made to displace from their position all human creeds, confessions of faith, and formularies of doctrine and church government, as being not only unnecessary, but really a means of perpetuating, division. Containing, indeed, much truth, and embracing, for the most part, the great leading facts and doctrines of Christianity, each one, it was argued, superadded unfortunately its own peculiar theory of religion, and blended with the Christianity common to all, speculative opinions respecting matters not revealed, which, nevertheless, were, in these theological systems, exalted to an equal authority with the undoubted facts of the gospel. These conflicting opinions, uncertain for want of clear scriptural evidence, were, whether true or false, unimportant in themselves, as contrasted with the great and plainly revealed truths of Holy Writ; and, as derived from human reason, and being the offspring of human weakness, were regarded as constituting essentially human religions, and as being therefore wholly devoid of any regenerating or saving efficacy. It was conceived to have been a small matter, that the Lutheran Reformation should have freed the church from the religion of the priest, if she persisted in substituting for it the religion of men, rather than the religion of God, as God himself had given it. For, while it was admitted that the various formularies of religion contained the great and leading points of Christianity, and the pleasing reflection could be indulged that almost all parties were agreed in those, as, instance, briefly summed up in the Nicene, or Apostles' Creed: it was urged, that the various systems of human opinions, commingled with these truths, had so diluted,

for

weakened, and even perverted them, as to have deprived them in a great measure of their power in the salvation of the world; so that the gospel, in the hands of Protestanism, had become a vague, contradictory, incomprehensible religion, quite unable to effect the conversion of the world, or accomplish the grand, extensive, and blessed results, for the attainment of which, the religion of Christ, in its concentrated purity, was so admirably fitted. It was therefore proposed, that all human creeds, as being incomplete if they contained any thing less than the Bible-unworthy of credit, if they contained any thing more upon the subject of religion, and in either case, as highly injurious for the reasons above given, should be indiscriminately repudiated by the churches, and that the Bible itself, and more especially the New Testament, as containing the clear development of the religion of Christ, should be, as was undeniably the case in primitive ages, the creed, the confession, and the guide of all.

The plea that human creeds and discipline were necessary to preserve purity of doctrine and government in the church, was totally rejected, as disproved by the well known fact that they had failed to do this, and also as an imputation upon the divine goodness and wisdom, implying that God was unwilling to give a sufficient revelation, and left something for men to supply; or that men could express the truths revealed, in better words, and in expressions less liable to misconstruction, than those selected by the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, it was insisted, that the Scriptures, interpreted in conformity with the fixed laws of language, could convey but the same ideas to all unbiassed minds respecting every thing necessary to salvation; and that if, perchance, difference of sentiment should arise, respecting minor and incidental matters, these inferences or opinions were to be distinguished from faith, and were neither to be made a term of communion, nor imposed by one Christian upon another. Or, to express the whole in the language employed by Thos. Campbell," Nothing was to be received as a matter of faith or duty, for which there could not be produced a Thus saith the Lord, either in

express terms, or by approved scripture precedent.

This overture for a religious reformation being rejected by the seceders as a body, but embraced by some members : an application was made to the pious of all the parties in the vicinity, and a "declaration and address" drawn up and printed, in which all were invited to form a union upon the principles above stated. A considerable number of individuals responded to this appeal, and a congregation was immediately organized upon Brush Run, in Washington county, on the 7th of September, 1810,* where a house of worship was erected, and where ministerial duties were performed conjointly by T. Campbell and his son Alexander, who had been duly ordained pastors of the church.

It is proper to remark here, that the members of this congregation were not associated together in a loose and informal manner, at its formation. On the contrary, it was deemed absolutely necessary that every one, in being admitted, should give some proof that he understood the nature of the relation he assumed, and the true scriptural ground of salvation. Each applicant, therefore, was required to give a satisfactory answer to the question: "What is the meritorious cause of the sinner's acceptance with God?" Upon expressing an entire reliance upon the merits of Christ alone for justification, and evincing a conduct becoming the Christian profession, he was received into fellowship.† Such was the humble origin of a reformation, now widely extended, which did not, as is often the case, proceed from the fire of enthusiasm, but was the offspring of calm and long continued deliberation, frequent consultation, and patient, laborious, and prayerful investigation of the Holy Scriptures; and which had never for its object to add a new sect to those already existing, but was designed, from its very inception, to put an end to all partisan controversies, and, far from narrowing the basis of Christian fellowship, to furnish abundant room for all be

See Supplement to this article.

For want of these proofs, two persons were rejected at the first meeting.

ed Baptists, however, Mr. Campbell's views gradually prevailed; and so high became the confidence of the Baptist community, in general, in his talents and knowledge of the scriptures, that he was selected, after some time, to debate the question of Christian baptism with Mr. J. Walker, a minister of the secession church. This debate, held at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, in June, 1820, being afterwards published, greatly contributed to extend Mr. Campbell's celebrity, as well as to diffuse abroad among the Baptists his views of the Christian institution. The same result followed a second debate upon the same subject, which grew out of the first one, and which he held, in 1823, at Washington, in the State of Kentucky, with Mr. McCalla of the Presbyterian church, so that the views of Mr. Campbell became generally diffused among the Baptist churches of the western country. Meanwhile, a jealousy on the part of some leading members of the Redstone Association, of his increasing popularity and commanding talents, led them to inveigh against his principles as innovating and disorganizing; and finally created so much dissension in that body, and so much animosity towards the church of Brush Run, that the latter, in order to avoid its effects, dismissed about thirty members, including Alexander Campbell, to Wellsburg, Virginia, where they were constituted as a new church, and, upon application, were admitted into the Mahoning Association of Ohio, with some of whose members they had already formed a favorable intimacy. This body proved much more liberal in its views; and after the bickerings and dissensions of nearly ten years at Redstone, the reformers were pleased to find in it not only liberality of feeling, but a disposition to follow implicitly the dictates of the scriptures. Various meetings of preachers were held to consider and investigate the ancient and apostolic order of things; and at length nearly the whole association came by degrees into the views presented; so that, in the year 1828, it rejected finally all human formularies of religion, and relinquished all claim to jurisdiction over the churches; resolving itself into a simple annual meeting for the purpose of receiving reports of the progress of the churches; for worship,

and mutual co-operation in the spread of the gospel.

The influence of so large a number of churches, embracing a considerable portion of the Western Reserve, with several able preachers, necessarily gave great extension to the principles advocated by Mr. Campbell. It was but a short time, however, until the abandonment of usages long cherished by the Baptists, and the introduction of views and practices not commonly received by them, gave rise to so much umbrage and opposition on the part of the adjoining churches, composing the Beaver Association: that this body were induced, being not a little influenced also by the persevering hostility of that of Redstone, to denounce as heretical, and exclude from their fellowship, all those churches which favored the views of the reformers. The schism, thus produced, was soon extended to Kentucky, to eastern Virginia, and in short to all those Baptist churches and associations into which the views of Mr. Campbell had been introduced by his debates and writings; the Baptists, in all cases, separating from their communion all who favored the sentiments of the Disciples, being unwilling to concede even permission to believe the plain dictates of the scriptures to those who freely granted to them, without a breach of followship, unrestricted libert of opinion.

The Disciples, thus suddenly cut off from their connexion with the Baptists, formed themselves every where into distinct churches, independent of each other's control, but holding the same sentiments, having the same fellowship, and continuing to carry out the great principles originally professed, exhorting all men to return to the Bible alone, as the only rule of faith, and, in the language of Thomas Campbell, to co-operate together for "the restoration of pure primitive apostolic Christianity, in letter and spirit; in principle and practice."

The proscriptive measures of the Baptist clergy, and the persecuting spirit by which they had been often guided, proved, as has ever been the case, favorable to the cause they labored to overthrow. No sooner had a separation been effected, than prejudices began to subside, and misap

prehensions to be corrected, as the excited feelings which produced them gradually died away. Many intelligent Baptists came over, from time to time, to the ranks of the Disciples, and many others were admitted to fellowship with the latter, without being excluded from communion with their Baptist brethren. Indeed, many of the Baptist clergy, as the objects of the Disciples became better understood, came to approve them; and even to a certain extent to adopt their sentiments. So great has been the approximation, that the most friendly feelings now almost every where exist between the Disciples and the Baptists; and those very points, as, for instance, the rejection of creeds, and baptism for remission of sins, which were at first regarded as most objectionable, are at length adopted and publicly maintained by certain of the most talented Baptist ministers and editors in the Union.

Meanwhile the Disciples have rapidly increased in number, not by these accessions from the Baptists so much, as by a general diffusion of their principles amongst all parties, and especially by an almost unprecedented success in the conversion of those who had not as yet embraced any of the religious systems of the day. Many have come over from the Presbyterians; some from the Episcopalians and from the Lutherians; among the latter, two welleducated ministers; but more, both of preachers and people, from the Methodists. A few Universalists have united with them, renouncing their own distinguishing tenets; some Roman Catholics also; some Tunkers; English and Scotch Baptists, and Independents. Indeed, some from almost every party have renounced their conflicting opinions, and adopted the faith and doctrine of the primitive church. It is also to be noted, that a great many sceptics and infidels have been converted through the labors of Mr. A. Campbell, and especially by his able defence of Christianity against Mr. Owen, in a public debate held in the city of Cincinnati, in the year 1829, which was published and extensively circulated in this country, and republished in England. Many of the writings of Mr. Campbell and his fellow-laborers have been republished in England, where the Disciples are becoming numerous. Their churches

are found also in Wales and in Ireland. In the United States, they are most numerous in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Virginia. There are a few churches in the British provinces. The whole number of communicants in the United States, so far as has been ascertained, is believed to fall but little short of 200,000.

It will not be necessary to say much of the faith or practice of this society, after the above history of its origin and progress. From this it will appear evident that it is founded upon the two great distinguishing principles of the Lutheran Reformation, to wit: "the taking of the Bible alone as the rule of faith, to the entire exclusion of tradition; and the relying only upon that justification that is obtained through faith in Jesus Christ." Through all the various phases imposed upon this new effort at reformation, by its relative position to different points of Christian doctrine, or to sectarian parties, its real position has never changed: it has preserved its identity, and reflected more or less upon the whole community the light of divine truth. The controversies which have attended its progress, have been neither few nor unimportant; but their object has ever been the exhibition and defence of truth; and, though it were too much to say that imperfect views, and inconsiderate expressions have not, at times, proceeded from even the most prudent of its advocates, giving rise to various misconceptions and misrepresentations on the part of its opposers: it may safely be asserted, that there has been, from the beginning, an unwavering devotion to the cause of primitive Christianity, of Christian union, and of an entire conformity of the church to the requirements of the sacred volume.

One circumstance peculiar to the society deserves notice here. It is this: that its knowledge of the Christian institution, and its conformity to its requirements have been progressive. Unlike the various sects which are founded upon human creeds and confessions, and which are, by virtue of their very constitution, forbidden ever to get beyond the imperfect know. ledge, or to differ from the ignorance of the men who composed their formularies :