Broadside entitled 'People of Scotland Beware!'

Commentary

This public notice begins: 'Mr. A. CAMPBELL, and his colleague Mr. J. HENSHALL, from Virginia, U.S., are at present lecturing throughout Scotland on Christian Union'. The sheet was published by J. Jeffers Wilson on the 17th August 1847.

The Christian Union was a loose organisation of Christian faiths, who shared the core values of conviction, vision and strategy. Today, the organisation is vast and covers all sections of society. Campbell and Henshall completed a tour of Scotland trying to promote the fellowship. Their tour, however, was dogged by Anti-Slavery campaigners and, as a result, the whole affair caused quite a stir. They are mentioned in many contemporary letters between high-ranking society members of the time.

This style of text, with its implicit political propaganda, would not only have made for compelling entertainment, but would also perhaps have stimulated political thought, reasoning and debate.

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