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[transcription of Obituary Notice in the Year Book of the Congregational Union of England & Wales for 1868, page 259, from a copy in Dr Williams's Library, London.]
CAMPBELL, John, D.D., Tabernacle, London. The following sketch has been drawn from the small volume, “In Memoriam,” containing the funeral oration by Dr Ferguson, and the funeral sermon by Dr A. Morton Brown: --
“John Campbell was a native of Scotland, having been born in Kirriemuir, in the year 1795. His father, who did not long survive the birth of his son, was a medical practitioner; and his mother, who was of English descent, undertook his early training. Such was his knowledge of letters, that at the early age of three years he could read the Christian Testament with ease and fluency. At one of the parish schools in Scotland he received the rudiments of a plain education. Early in life he had to betake himself to hard work. Fond of reading, an early riser, with a mind naturally ardent, and with amazing acquisitive powers, while pursuing his handicraft, the writings of the best poets and popular authors became familiar to him, and were constantly referred to in after years to illustrate the various subjects on which he wrote. As his intellectual faculties came into more active play, his reading was extended, and its character was of a higher order. Works of travel and on navigation fired his imagination with the desire to see the world; and leaving the forge he betook himself to sea. The romance of a life at sea soon gave place in his experience to stern reality. He broke his indentures, and made his escape. Conscious of his imperfect education, he now placed himself under private tuition to prepare for a university course. At this period he knew nothing of the life of God in the soul. But while engaged in his preparatory studies he became the subject of an inward spiritual change in which old things passed away, and all things became new. With the new life came the desire to enter the Christian ministry, which swallowed up every other consideration, and day and night this formed the subject of his deepest thoughts and his most earnest prayers. In October, 1817, at the age of twenty-two, he entered the University of St Andrew’s, successfully competed for a Bursary or Exhibition, and pursued his studies with intense interest and application.
“After spending two years in St Andrew’s, he went to Glasgow to finish his curriculum at the University in which he entered his name with the view of attending lectures in the Divinity Hall; and had the privilege of being admitted as a non-registered student to the theological Prelections of Professors Ewing and Wardlaw, and of enjoying the ministry of the far-famed Dr. Chalmers. It was in Glasgow that his zeal for God first and very fervently made itself felt. For a time he was inclined, so warmly were his services received, to attempt to raise a congregation in Glasgow. But in the providence of God he visited the large, prosperous, and finely situated town of Kilmarnock, in Ayrshire, and there he found an open door, and a ready way of entrance among the carpet-weavers and others of that district. Here he gave himself to the ministry, and began his work in earnest. There was no Congregational place of worship in the town. He soon gathered a congregation, formed a Church, and built a chapel. Through the week his itineracies were most extensive. In every town or village of any note within a radius of many miles he stood up in the streets, hired a room, or obtained a church, and preached the Gospel.
Here he laboured for some years, till in June, 1828, he came to London, both to supply the pulpit of Hoxton Academy Chapel, and to obtain some substantial aid in removing the debt upon the recently-erected church in Kilmarnock. It was during this visit to the metropolis that he was brought into personal contact with that sagacious and far-seeing man, the Rev. Matthew Wilks, who discovered in our lamented friend those qualities of mind and heart which fitted him to be his fellow-worker and co-pastor, in connection with the churches assembling in the Tabernacle and Tottenham Court Road Chapels.To this larger sphere he removed soon afterwards, in harmony with the wish of his people. In the severe and long-protracted struggle in which he was involved with the managers and trustees of these places, and which, in a court of law, was decided in his favour, never was principle more nobly vindicated, and never was justice more fairly administered.
In these ministerial and pastoral spheres his labours were truly astonishing. Not only did he take his full share of the work of preaching, both on the Sabbath and other days of the week, but he conducted concerts for prayer, organized Bible and Missionary Auxiliaries, established Bible-classes for the young, and was ever at the call of the sick and the sorrowful, the dying, and the bereaved. He was ready for every good work; and in moving along this path of sanctified activity he smiled at difficulties, and trampled on what other men deemed impossibilities.
“In 1848, from loss of voice and other causes, Dr. Campbell resigned the pulpit, while he retained the office of the pastor. This gave him the opportunity of more entirely devoting his time and energies to those literary labours, in which, for some years before, he had been occupied. His written books, as well as `The Christian Witness,’ The Christian Penny Magazine,’ and the journals which he edited, are a monument to his almost unparalleled industry, and to the extent of his reading.
“The one great event of his life was the overthrow of the Bible monopoly, which so reduced the price of `the Book of the People,’ as to place it within the reach and in the possession of the poorest of the land, and thus prepared the way for its universal circulation throughout the world. For this all Christendom owes him a debt of unspeakable gratitude; and in virtue of this, the far-off nations of the earth will the more speedily receive the Word of truth.
“As a controversialist, Dr. Campbell had few compeers. It was his deep-rooted conviction, that, as the Luther of his age, he was set for the defence of the Gospel. He was zealous of God’s truth and of God’s glory. Any attempt to disturb our repose in the Bible as a Divine revelation, he met with unsparing severity. Whenever and wherever he could discover any effort to depreciate or abandon the cardinal doctrines of our holy faith, his soul became fired with a holy indignation; and in tones of thunder he uttered not only his protest, but his most solemn denunciation. He was intolerant of error in every form; but he still distinguished between men and things. He could, in all good faith, grasp the hand of the man, while he could not endure even the name of his heresy. Impressed with the tendencies of the age, on the one hand to Negative Theology, and on the other to Ritualistic observance leading to Popery, he poured out his whole soul against the former, fearing not the face of man, even to the shipwreck of cherished friendships; nor did he spare the latter, either at Oxford or Rome, imagining that he wa saving the denomination to which he belonged, by exposing what he believed to be `another gospel;’ and doing for God, the Gospel, and Protestantism, what he considered was essential to the continuance of freedom, piety, and life, both in the Church and in the world!
“The endowments and attainments of Dr. Campbell were multiform and marvellous. He was a man of iron will, of untiring energy, of unflinching courage, and of vast information.
“Dr. Campbell having reached the confines of threescore years and ten, it occured to a few of his more intimate and attached friends that the time had come for some public expression of the high esteem in which his personal character and multifarious labours were held by all parties, and of the long and faithful service which he had rendered to every section of the Christian Church. A testimonial was therefore prepared, in which men of all ecclesiastical communions and of all shades of political opinion united, and the presentation took place rather more than two years ago, amid the highest demonstrations of sanctified feeling and friendship.
“Though the seeds of disease had long been latent in his system, they at last developed themselves with an amazing rapidity, and having no real strength to grapple with his malady, he quickly sank beneath its power. His faith never faltered; and with a calm repose in the atoning death and everlasting righteousness of his Lord and Saviour, he, in the possession of that peace which passeth all understanding, fell asleep in Christ, March 26th, 1867.
“To sum up his whole character, he was a `faithful man` -- faithful according to the light he had; faithful in all relations of life, as a husband, a father, a relative, and a friend.
A large assembly of friends was invited by the mourning widow (to whom Dr. Campbell had but recently been married) to pay their last tribute of respect to the memory of their beloved friend. The funeral services were conducted in Abney Park Chapel, in the presence of a crowded audience. The Rev. Dr. Ferguson delivered the `address,’ and the Rev. Dr. Vaughan offered prayer. The solemn proceedings were concluded in Abney Park Cemetery, and the body was left in its last home to await the resurrection of the just.
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(The Rejoice & Sing Enchiridion:edited by David Goodall; last amended 14/1/04)