,illustration3 ,cover    ,illustration3 
,title page                             
,,thomas                                
,,chalmers                              
,,by                                 ,w4
 ,,garden                               
,,blaikie                               
,,famous                                
,,scots                                 
,,series                                
,,published ,,by                        
,,oliphant ,,anderson                   
,,ferrier -- ,,edinburgh                
,,and ,,london                          
,the designs and ornaments of this      
volume are by ,mr4 ,joseph ,brown1      
and the printing from the press of      
,messrs4 ,t4 and ,a4 ,constable1        
,edinburgh4                             
,,preface  ,i cannot send forth this    
little sketch of the ,life of ,chalmers 
without expressing anew my admiration of
 the four-volumed biography by my late  
beloved friend1 ,dr4 ,hanna4  ,it is not
 only admirable as a portrait1 but it   

cannot be read by any sympathetic reader
 without a sense of humiliation1 and    
without a great stimulus to higher      
things4  ,it is much to be regretted    
that ,dr4 ,hanna was unable to carry out
 the purpose which it is understood that
 he cherished1 of condensing the work   
into a single volume4  ,other memorials 
of ,dr4 ,chalmers have been given to the
 world4  ,among these may be noted3--   
#a4 ,a ,biographical ,notice of the late
 ,thos4 ,chalmers1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,d4     
,read before the ,royal ,society of     
,edinburgh4  ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,e4 ,b4
 ,ramsay1 ,m4,a41 #ahej4  #b4           
,chalmeriana2 or ,colloquies with ,dr4  
,chalmers4  ,by ,joseph ,john ,gurney1  
#ahec4  #c4 ,a ,selection from the      
,correspondence of ,thos4 ,chalmers1    
,d4,d41 ,,ll4,d4 ,edited by ,rev4 ,w4   
,hanna1 ,,ll4,d41 #ahec4  #d4 ,mr4      
,isaac ,taylor's elaborate articles in  
the ,north ,british ,review1 #aheb and  
#ahef4  #e4 ,thomas ,chalmers1 a        
,biographical ,study4  ,by ,james       

,dodds1 #ahgi4  #f4 ,thomas ,chalmers4  
,his ,life and its ,lessons4  ,by ,rev4 
,norman ,l4 ,walker1 #ahhj4  #g4 ,thomas
 ,chalmers1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,d4  7,men     
,worth ,remembering74 ,by ,donald       
,fraser1 ,d4,d41 #ahha4  #h4 ,thomas    
,chalmers1 ,preacher1 ,philosopher1 and 
,statesman4 ,by ,mrs4 ,oliphant1 #ahic4 
#i4 ,recollections of ,dr4 ,chalmers by 
,professor ,david ,masson1 in ,lowe's   
and ,macmillan's ,magazines4    #aj4    
,recollections by the ,rev4 ,dr4        
,macaulay in the ,leisure ,hour4  #aa4  
,funeral ,sermons and ,lectures by ,rev4
 ,dr4 ,cunningham1 ,rev4 ,dr4 ,jas4     
,buchanan1 ,rev4 ,john ,bruce1 ,rev4 ,w4
 ,k4 ,tweedie1 ,rev4 ,john ,g4 ,lorimer1
 ,rev4 ,james ,julius ,wood1 ,rev4 ,j4  
,a4 ,wallace1 ,rev4 ,john ,gemmel1 ,rev4
 ,david ,couper1 ,rev4 ,w4 ,tasker1     
,rev4 ,a4 ,j4 ,ross1 ,rev4 ,dr4 ,w4     
,lindsay ,alexander1 ,rev4 ,dr4 ,sprague
 7,albany1 ,new ,york71 ,rev4 ,dr4      
,sharp 7,boston71 ,rev4 ,professor      
,edwards 7,andover71 ,rev4 ,dr4 ,smyth  

7,charleston71 etc4 etc4  ,among the    
greatest privileges and honours of his  
life1 the writer will ever regard his   
having been for one session a student   
under ,dr4 ,chalmers at ,edinburgh2 for 
three years a co-presbyter and cordial  
fellow-worker on his lines1 in forming  
and building up a territorial           
congregation2 and for many years the    
occupant of one of two chairs of        
theology which were constituted at the  
,disruption in ,new ,college1 in place  
of the single chair which ,dr4 ,chalmers
 had held1 and thus in a sense1 but most
 unworthily1 one of his successors4     
,,edinburgh1 ,december #ahif4           
,,contents                              
,,chapter ,i  ,,birth1 ,,school1 ,,and  
,,college1 #aghj-ahjc                   
,,chapter ,,ii  ,,kilmany1 #ahjc-ahae   
,,chapter ,,iii  ,,glasgow1 #ahae-ahbc  
,,chapter ,,iv  ,,st4 ,,andrews         
,,university1 #ahbc-ahbh                
,,chapter ,v  ,,edinburgh ,,university1 
#ahbh-ahdc                              

,,chapter ,,vi  ,,new ,,college1        
,,edinburgh1 #ahdc-ahdg                 
,,thomas ,,chalmers                     
,,chapter ,i                            
,,birth1 ,,school1 ,,and ,,college      
#aghj-ahjc   ,thomas ,chalmers was born 
at ,anstruther1 ,fifeshire1 on the #agth
 ,march #aghj1 when the flowers were    
appearing on the earth1 and the time of 
the singing of birds was come4 ,it seems
 never to have been noticed that this   
was ,st4 ,patrick's day1 and no one has 
ever instituted a comparison between the
 lives of the two illustrious ,scotsmen4
  ,but if only we had authentic         
materials for the life of ,patrick1     
whose ,scottish birth seems well        
established1 it would probably be found 
that there was no slight similarity4    
,transferring his labours to ,ireland1  
,patrick1 with the ,gospel of ,jesus    
,christ as his instrument1 laboured for 
the double object of bringing           
individuals within the ,kingdom of ,god1
 and elevating and purifying the        

condition of the country4 ,the same     
double aim was ever present to the mind 
of ,chalmers4  ,on the basis of the     
,gospel1 he could not separate the      
social from the personal1 the general   
from the particular1 the temporal from  
the spiritual4  ,he had always an       
,arcadia1 a ,utopia1 a new spring-tide  
for his country in his vista2 but a     
spring-tide to be realised in one way   
only--by the coming of the ,spirit from 
on high4  ,anstruther was not a stirring
 town1 for through the union with       
,england it had lost no little of the   
trade1 whether legal or contraband1     
which in former days1 along with the    
other little towns on the ,fife         
seaboard1 it had carried on with ,france
 and ,england4  ,but an abundant element
 of life and activity was supplied      
within his father's house1 where nine   
brothers and five sisters1 among whom   
,thomas came fifth1 must have sufficed  
to make any household lively4  ,the     
father was in fairly prosperous         

business1 and provost of the town4  ,he 
is described as 'dignified and handsome 
in appearance1 highly honourable1       
courteous1 and kind2 and of fervent but 
not ostentatious piety4'  ,the mother   
was in person short1 thick1 erect1      
devoted to her household1 sharing her   
husband's piety1 but so self-restrained 
that a smile was seldom seen on her     
face4  ,the family was connected with   
many members of the middle-class1 some  
also of the clergy1 and a sprinkling of 
the landed gentry4  ,the parish school  
of ,anstruther1 to which ,chalmers1     
persecuted by a scolding nurse1 went at 
the age of three1 was taught by a master
 never very efficient1 and in           
,chalmers's time old and nearly blind1  
who made up for other deficiencies by   
his great energy in flogging4  ,there   
was an assistant teacher who was not    
much more effective in teaching than his
 principal1 but who was as mild as the  
other was severe4  ,this gentleman1 who 
survived ,chalmers1 bore a very touching

 testimony to his kindness4 ',no man1'  
he exclaimed on one occasion1 'knows the
 amount of kindness which ,i have       
received from him4  ,he has often done  
me good both as respects my soul and my 
body2 many a pithy sentence he uttered  
when he threw himself in my way2 many a 
pound note has he given me2 and he      
always did the thing as if he were      
afraid that any person should see him4' 
,of ,chalmers as a schoolboy the        
testimony is that he was 'one of the    
idlest1 strongest1 merriest1 and most   
generous-hearted boys in ,anstruther    
school4'  ,had one chanced to come upon 
the school-children engaged in their    
various amusements 7says one of his     
biographers71 one should soon have      
distinguished 'one boy above the rest1  
seeming about ten or twelve years of    
age1 who is the leader in their         
sports--strong1 active1 merry1 and      
boisterous1 with big head1 matted dark  
hair1 large plain features1 broad       
shoulders1 well-proportioned but brawny 

limbs1 his laugh always loudest1 and his
 figure always foremost at football and 
the other games in which they are       
contending4'#a    #a ,thomas ,chalmers3 
,a ,biographical ,study4  ,by ,james    
,dodds4  ,the father and mother of ,dr4 
,chalmers1 as we have said1 were of     
strong religious character1 hearty      
followers of the ,calvinistic theology1 
and1 though too busy to bestow much     
attention on the education of their     
family1 very desirous that they should  
all accept their views4  ,much though   
,chalmers respected and honoured them1  
he did not at first fall in with their  
views of life and duty4  ,he grew up    
with a positive dislike both of the     
,calvinistic theology and the           
evangelical life4  ,it was not till     
after he had been some years in the     
ministry that1 under the acute pressure 
of personal illness and family          
bereavements1 he came to see as they    
did1 and to live as they lived4  ,the   
change to them must have been like the  

conversion of ,augustine to ,monica4    
,and yet1 in after years1 their         
intercourse was not wholly without      
friction4 ,it is touching to mark in the
 son's diary tokens of his humiliation  
on account of the crossness with which  
he sometimes spoke to them4  ,both were 
deaf1 and an aunt who lived with them   
was deafer still1 and it annoyed        
,thomas1 with his naturally impatient   
temper1 to find himself misapprehended1 
often to have to repeat his remarks1 and
 always to speak in that louder tone    
which the deaf require4  ,we may be sure
 that when he felt and confessed thus in
 secret1 he would try to make up for it 
at other times by double kindness1 for  
of all things that could vex him1 to    
inflict needless pain was about the     
worst4  ,his respect for them was alike 
sincere and affectionate2 and for his   
mother's widow hood--lonely1 but bright1
 calm1 and holy1 he had such a reverence
 that it became the very pattern of all 
that he desired most earnestly for his  

own old age4  ,thomas was not yet       
twelve1 when1 with his brother ,william1
 he was sent on to the ,university of   
,st4 ,andrews4 ,at such an age1 common  
enough then in ,scotland1 boys were     
incapable of grasping the great aims of 
a university2 and college to them was   
but an upper school4  ,but the change to
 the university had at first no effect  
in mending the idle ways of our student4
  ,he was 'volatile1 boyish1 and idle4' 
,yet1 even from the first1 he was noted 
for strict integrity and warm affection1
 and in all that he did undertake he was
 enthusiastic and persevering4  ,it was 
not till his third session that he      
became attached to any branch of        
learning4  ,the science that captivated 
him then was mathematics4  ,and so      
ardently did he devote himself to it1   
that long afterwards1 about the time    
when he left ,kilmany1 he was familiarly
 known as ',mr4 ,chalmers1 the          
mathematician4' ,he might have borne the
 designation to the very end4 ,his mind 

was fashioned on the mathematical model1
 taking its stand on realities1 the     
substantial verities of life2 striving  
to explain their relations and          
applications1 and then pressing them    
with tremendous energy on the hearts and
 consciences of his fellows4  ,for      
,professor ,brown1 his mathematical     
teacher1 he retained through life the   
warmest regard2 and when he died in     
#ahcf1 he wrote to his widow1 that of   
all his public instructors he was the   
one that impressed him most1 and to whom
 he owed most in the formation of his   
tastes and habits1 and in the guidance  
of his literary life4  ,as the          
termination of his curriculum in arts   
drew near1 it became necessary that he  
should choose a profession4 ,strange to 
say1 although he had no favour either   
for theology or religion1 he had        
declared from his boyhood for the       
ministry4  ,some of the more picturesque
 sayings of the ,bible had taken a      
remarkable hold of his mind4  ,when but 

three years old1 being missed and sought
 for1 after it had become dark1 he was  
found alone1 pacing up and down in the  
nursery1 repeating to himself the words 
of ,david1 ',o my son ,absalom1 my son  
,absalom2 ,o ,absalom1 my son1 my son6' 
,the sister of one of his schoolfellows 
used to tell of her breaking in on the  
two1 and finding him on a chair1        
preaching vigorously to his single      
hearer4  ,it was the soul of the orator 
asserting itself from the very first4   
,but when he entered on his theological 
course1 there seemed to be little or no 
development of the real spirit of the   
ministry4  ,he was1 indeed1 full of     
reverence for truth1 and so impatient of
 anything like double dealing1 that when
 his professor represented that certain 
doctrines of ,calvinism should not be   
much spoken of1 he could not but ask1   
,why not1 if they be true8  ,throughout 
his whole life he disliked men who were 
not above board with everything1 and his
 own regard for truth was transparent to

 all4  ,for a time his mind was clouded 
with scepticism4 ,the books that were   
most useful in restoring his faith were 
,butler's ,analogy and ,beattie's ,essay
 on ,truth4  ,a very remarkable effect  
was produced on him when1 some time     
after1 he became acquainted with        
,jonathan ,edwards on ,the ,freedom of  
the ,will4  ,for a time he could neither
 think nor talk of anything else4  ,what
 so impressed him was the idea of the   
whole series of events in the spiritual 
as well as the material world being     
bound together by unalterable links1 and
 thus forming one vast scheme--a        
wonderful tribute to the wisdom1 power1 
and glory of ,god4  ,the incident showed
 how his mind had expanded1 and how he  
had come to find delight in large1      
comprehensive views of things4  ,long   
after1 he spoke of the year in which    
this subject occupied him as a time of  
mental elysium1 so great was his        
delight4  ,yet at this time evangelical 
truth was positively rejected4  ,we are 

reminded of the experience of another1  
afterwards a colleague of his own in    
,new ,college1 ,edinburgh1 the late ,dr4
 ,john ,duncan1 who1 even when a student
 of divinity1 wandered for a time in the
 gloomy mazes of atheism1 but when      
brought into the light of theism--apart 
from ,christianity altogether--expressed
 his emotion in a way of his own3 ',i   
danced on the brig o' ,dee when ,i came 
to see there was a ,god4'  ,it was of   
course necessary1 when he had advanced  
somewhat in his divinity course1 that he
 should practise the art of composition4
  ,his first efforts1 we are told1 were 
poor enough4  ,the composition both of  
his letters and his college exercises   
was bald1 unrelieved by any gleam of    
fancy or sentiment4  ,but in two years  
he had learned to write with ease and   
fluency1 and he had formed that         
remarkable1 if somewhat turgid style    
which he practised ever after4  ,we know
 so little of the ,english writers who  
engaged his attention at this time that 

the natural history of his style is     
something of a puzzle4  ,it has somewhat
 of the swell and dignity of ,johnson1  
and much of the diffuseness of          
,burke--two of the most prominent       
writers in his youth4  ,but its main    
quality must have arisen from the       
burning fervour of his own mind1 and the
 natural outflow of his thoughts1       
shaping his language spontaneously1 and 
moulding it into characteristic forms of
 beauty and power4  ,when in #ahdb1 on  
the eve of the ,disruption1 ,chalmers   
met four or five hundred of his brethren
 in what was known as the ,convocation1 
and endeavoured to reconcile them to the
 prospect of an unendowed church1 the   
task was one that demanded the highest  
efforts of his eloquence4  ,it was his  
aim to rouse them to an attitude worthy 
of the occasion1 and1 with that view1 he
 concluded an appeal of transcendent    
power with a eulogy of enthusiasm which 
awakened thunders of applause4  ,never  
had he seemed more eloquent4 ,yet the   

passage that had so thrilled his        
audience was found after his death to be
 an exact transcript from one of his    
student discourses4  ',enthusiasm is a  
virtue rarely produced in a state of    
calm and unruffled repose4  ,it         
flourishes in adversity4  ,it kindles in
 the hour of danger and rises to deeds  
of renown4  ,the terrors of persecution 
only serve to awaken the energy of its  
purposes4  ,it swells in the pride of   
integrity1 and great in the purity of   
its cause1 it can scatter defiance amid 
a host of enemies4'--,already1 'fervet1 
immensusque ruit4'  ,in those days it   
was the practice of the members of the  
university to meet morning and evening  
in the public hall for worship1 the     
prayers being led by the students of    
divinity4  ,in his first theological    
session1 ,mr4 ,chalmers's prayer was an 
amplification of the ,lord's ,prayer1 so
 eloquent and original as to awaken the 
wonder of all4  ,one who remembered his 
prayers on these occasions said3 ',the  

wonderful flow of eloquent1 vivid1      
ardent description of the attributes and
 works of ,god1 and still more1 perhaps1
 the astonishingly harrowing delineation
 of the miseries1 the horrid cruelties1 
immoralities1 and abominations          
inseparable from war1 which always came 
in more or less in connection with the  
bloody warfare in which we were engaged 
with ,france1 called forth the          
wonderment of his hearers4  ,he was then
 only sixteen years of age1 yet he      
showed a taste and capacity for         
composition of the most glowing and     
eloquent kind4 ,even then his style was 
very much the same as at the period when
 he attracted so much notice1 and made  
such powerful impression in the pulpit  
and by the press4'  ,thus already1 in   
his student days1 that great outline of 
character had begun to shape itself1    
which1 modified afterwards by new and   
powerful forces1 made him the great man 
he was4  ,the intensity of his nature1  
the redundant energy that hardly knew   

fatigue1 the largeness of his view1 the 
warmth of his affection1 the            
independence of his judgment1 and the   
gushing impetuosity of his style were   
manifest from these college days4       
,whatever he may have derived from his  
parents1 or from the masters that taught
 him1 or the books he read1 a fearless1 
sturdy independence was the ruling      
feature--he was a genuine ,scot4   ,on  
finishing his theological studies he    
accepted a situation as tutor in a      
family1 under the feeling that1 as his  
knowledge of mankind had hitherto been  
limited to his own family and his       
fellow-students1 it was desirable for   
him to know a little more of the world4 
,but his experience was not happy4 ,it  
was not merely that his hours of        
teaching were so arranged as to leave   
him hardly any time for reading1 but    
that his treatment was not what he      
considered due to a gentleman4  ,of such
 treatment he was sensitive to the last 
degree1 nor was he restrained by any    

bashfulness or timidity from expressing 
his opinion of it4  ,his employer wished
 to throw the blame on himself1 and told
 him he had too much pride4  ,he could  
not deny the charge1 but showed a ready 
wit in hurling it back on his accuser4  
',sir1' was his undaunted reply1 'there 
are two kinds of pride3 there is the    
pride which lords it over inferiors1 and
 there is the pride which rejoices in   
repressing the insolence of superiors4  
,the first ,i have none of--the second  
,i glory in4'  ,this1 to say the least1 
was tolerably smart for a lad of        
eighteen4 ,but it showed not only his   
independence but his intolerance of     
opposition4  ,soon after1 he gave up the
 situation4  ,he had not completed his  
nineteenth year when he applied to his  
presbytery to be licensed as a          
probationer4  ,he was under the legal   
age1 but probably his precocity had made
 a considerable impression1 for the law 
was evaded under a traditional exception
 in favour of youths 'of pregnant       

parts1' and on the #bast ,july #agii he 
became a licentiate4  ,but he did not   
show much interest in the work of his   
new calling4 ,immediately after1 he paid
 a visit to friends in ,england1 in the 
course of which he preached his first   
sermon1 at ,wigan1 on #beth ,august     
#agii4 ,his eldest brother wrote to his 
father3 ',his mode of delivery is       
expressive1 his language beautiful1 and 
his arguments very forcible and         
strong4444  ,it is the opinion of those 
who pretend to be judges that he will   
shine in the pulpit1 but as yet he is   
rather awkward in his appearance4  ,we1 
however1 are at some pains in adjusting 
his dress1 manner1 etc41 but he does not
 seem to pay any great regard to it     
himself4 ,his mathematical studies      
appear to occupy more of his time than  
his religious4'  ,returning from        
,england1 he spent the next two winters 
at ,edinburgh attending classes at the  
university4  ,mathematics1 chemistry1   
natural and moral philosophy1 and       

political economy were the subjects that
 occupied his attention4 ,to ,dr4       
,robison1 ,professor of ,natural        
,philosophy1 he felt himself under very 
deep obligations4  ,he had been         
perplexed by the views which he found in
 the ,systeme de la ,nature1 published  
under the pseudonym of ,mirabeau1 but   
really the work of the ,baron von       
,holbach4 ,that rigid uniformity of     
natural law which it enforced seemed to 
point ominously to materialism and      
atheism4  ,under ,professor ,robison's  
instructions he was led to ponder the   
remarkable harmony between the human    
mind and the processes of nature--the   
wonderful adaptation of the one to the  
other2 and the conclusion was           
irresistible that this must be due to an
 intelligent ,divine ,being who had     
framed these adaptations4 ,in after     
years this was the theme of his         
,bridgewater treatise1 and it was one of
 the corner-stones of his ,natural      
,theology4  ,as to preaching during     

these ,edinburgh studies1 it seems to   
have been almost entirely neglected4  ,a
 new situation1 however1 opened up to   
him1 as assistant to the ,rev4 ,mr4     
,elliot1 minister of ,cavers1 in        
,roxburghshire4 ,the duties of this     
office he discharged for about a year   
with fair regularity and diligence1 but 
without hard work1 and without his      
showing any lively interest in the      
objects of the ministry4  ,in the course
 of his residence there1 he learned that
 when the parish of ,kilmany1 in ,fife1 
should fall vacant 7as it was likely to 
do1 but not just immediately1 by the    
appointment of the incumbent to a       
chair71 he would get the presentation   
from the ,university of ,st4 ,andrews4  
,but what interested him much more was  
his appointment as assistant1 for the   
ensuing session1 to the professor of    
mathematics there4  ,all that concerned 
the ministry excited but a languid      
interest1 but his literary and          
scientific ambition was irrepressible4  

,already it had begun to look towards a 
mathematical chair4  ,as ,mrs4 ,oliphant
 remarks1 ',the life and energy of a    
robust young man1 full of ambition1     
eager for achievement1 was in all his   
veins4'  ,as a teacher he kindled the   
enthusiasm of his students for          
mathematical science4  ,to himself the  
demonstrations of geometry were alike   
complete and beautiful4  ,but he had    
also a way of associating mathematics   
with other pursuits1 of bringing all    
manner of side-lights to bear on the    
study1 of finding analogies in this     
quarter and in that1 that greatly       
increased his popularity as a teacher4  
,as one of his students remarked        
afterwards1 ',under his extraordinary   
management the study of mathematics was 
felt to be hardly less a play of the    
fancy than a labour of the              
intellect--the lessons of the day being 
continually interspersed with           
applications and illustrations of the   
most lively nature1 so that he secured  

in a singular manner the confidence and 
attachment of his pupils4'  ,but such   
popularity among the students was apt to
 beget a different feeling among the    
professors2 it especially roused ,mr4   
,vilant1 the gentleman as whose         
substitute ,chalmers had been acting4   
,mr4 ,vilant1 it appeared1 had been     
granting certificates without           
communication with his assistant--a     
grievous offence in his eyes4           
,accordingly1 at the public examination 
of his classes at the end of the        
session1 ,chalmers broke out into a     
severe invective against him1 and       
delivered a long1 sarcastic speech in   
condemnation of his conduct4  ,the      
professors knew not how to look1 but at 
last the ,principal brought the speech  
of ,chalmers to an end1 and he proceeded
 with his examination as if nothing had 
happened4  ,his capacity of combining   
strong feeling in one direction with    
perfect self-control in every other was 
very remarkable4 ,many years afterwards1

 when expressing his views with         
extraordinary energy in the ,general    
,assembly on the question that led to   
the ,disruption1 he was interrupted by a
 layman1 who remarked that they were all
 pleased to hear him1 excited though he 
was1 but that there were limits1 etc41  
etc4 ',excited6' exclaimed ,chalmers1 in
 great astonishment2 'does the gentleman
 say that ,i am excited8  ,i am as cool 
as an algebraic problem4' ,his head was 
in no degree disturbed by the vehemence 
of his heart4  ,a short time had to     
elapse between the close of the session 
and his ordination as minister of       
,kilmany1 which ,mr4 ,chalmers devoted  
to a visit to ,edinburgh4  ,his father  
was disappointed and mortified that on  
the eve of entering on so solemn a      
profession1 he did not put the interval 
to use at home in the way of earnest    
meditation and prayer4  ,for that1      
however1 the son did not see the        
slightest necessity4  ,he deemed himself
 already sufficiently prepared for his  

duties1 with the nature of which he was 
well acquainted4  ,in this strain he    
wrote to his father1 adhering to his    
plan4  ,a few years later he would have 
felt most differently1 and1 ashamed of  
his carelessness1 he would have most    
cordially fallen in with all that his   
father had written4                     
,,chapter ,,ii                          
,,kilmany                               
#ahjc-ahae   ,on the #abth day of ,may  
#ahjc1 ,mr4 ,chalmers was ordained by   
the ,presbytery of ,cupar to the        
ministry of ,kilmany4 ,never did the    
settlement of a young man of            
twenty-three create less interest in the
 mind of the person principally         
concerned4  ,there is no evidence either
 of that elation of feeling which a     
young man naturally has in taking       
possession of a church and manse1 and   
filling an important place in a         
community2 or of that overwhelming sense
 of responsibility which so solemn a    
charge excites in a serious mind4 ,it   

was not the ministry but mathematics    
that held the first place in his heart4 
,notwithstanding his settlement as      
minister of ,kilmany1 he was bent on    
being re-appointed to the mathematical  
assistantship during the ensuing winter4
 ,his predecessor in that office had    
been minister of a parish for six out of
 the eleven years when he had held it2  
what reasonable objection could there be
 to his holding it for a single session8
  ,after what had happened at the end of
 last session1 it was no great wonder   
that his employer should inform him that
 his services were no longer needed4    
,this could hardly have been a surprise1
 though it was a disappointment2 but    
when it was indicated that inefficiency 
was the cause of his dismissal1 it was  
viewed as an intolerable insult4        
,inefficiency1 forsooth6  ,if he should 
submit to that1 it would be a deathblow 
to all his hopes of literary and        
scientific advancement1 and it would    
shut him out for ever from all hope of a

 university chair4  ,unabashed by the   
treatment of the professors1 he resolved
 to defy them1 and to open classes on   
his own account during the ensuing      
session4  ,he was too self-confident and
 self-reliant to care what might be said
 of him1 either by the professors or the
 public2 but there was one quarter in   
which he was desirous to conciliate     
approval1 or at least to prevent        
condemnation4  ,he found it necessary to
 give reasons to his father for not     
confining himself to the duties of his  
ministerial charge4  ,the chief reason  
was1 that1 apart from preaching1 the    
duties were slight and easy1 and it was 
his intention1 while spending the week  
in ,st4 ,andrews1 to return to ,kilmany 
on ,saturdays for ,sunday duties1 while 
two of his neighbours were willing to   
attend to any urgent week-day matters   
that might arise4  ,the truth is1 he had
 by a kind of unconscious instinct      
accepted the views of the               
',moderates1'--a school1 in the language

 of ,mr4 ,dodds1 'which was neither true
 ,christian nor good pagan2 had neither 
the unction of ,knox nor the yearning   
desire for truth and goodness of an     
,epictetus or a ,cicero4'  ,when he     
began his classes at ,st4 ,andrews1 he  
of course had to encounter many hard    
sayings and much opposition4 ,but he was
 confident of his integrity in thus     
repelling practically an injurious      
charge2 and with no little dignity and  
force maintained that he was bound to   
take this step in order to uphold his   
reputation as a teacher4  ,and such was 
his simplicity and geniality of manner  
that he felt no embarrassment in going  
about among the very professors and     
others who had condemned him most4      
,after a few weeks1 in addition to his  
three classes of mathematics1 he        
announced his intention of opening a    
class of chemistry4 ,this created a     
fresh storm of opposition4  ,but the    
class prospered1 it was conducted with  
the greatest enthusiasm1 and the very   

fact of so young a man braving the      
opposition of the whole university in   
order to defend his reputation gave a   
chivalrous aspect to the proceeding1    
which toned down the current of         
opposition4  ,by the end of the session 
he and the professors were all on good  
terms4  ,it was a marvellous proof of   
his energy alike of mind and body that  
he was able to do all his academic work1
 and at the same time write sermons and 
deliver them at ,kilmany1 without       
breaking down1 without even the         
appearance of exhaustion4  ,on the #adth
 ,march1 after five months of this      
labour1 he wrote to his father1 ',my    
hands are full of business4  ,i am      
living just now the life ,i seem to be  
formed for--a life of constant and      
unremitting activity4'  ,of the whole   
forty-three years that formed the       
remainder of his life1 nearly the same  
thing might have been said4  ,the       
mathematical classes were not repeated  
in the following session1 but the       

chemical lectures were resumed1 and     
carried on twice a week with increased  
enthusiasm4  ,the lectures were         
subsequently repeated at ,kilmany and at
 ,cupar4 ,once1 when at a loss for means
 to assist a friend at ,kirkcaldy1 who  
had been associated with him in the     
volunteer service1 the chemical lectures
 were trotted out to the rescue4 ,it was
 necessary1 when he went to a town1 to  
carry materials for experimenting with  
him1 and ,dr4 ,hanna tells how on one   
occasion one of the bottles that hung   
from his saddlebag having been broken1  
the contents were discharged on the     
flank of his horse1 where they left a   
discoloured belt to tell the tale4  ,of 
this accident the present writer        
remembers to have heard a more detailed 
version1 according to which the accident
 to the bottle1 which contained         
sulphuric acid1 was not discovered till 
he was in the class-room4  ,the moment  
it was perceived1 ,chalmers1 in great   
excitement1 exclaimed1 ',oh1 my poor    

beast6' and rushed from the lecture-room
 to the stable to do whatever was       
possible to relieve the sufferings of   
the unfortunate animal4  ,it did not    
escape the notice of the ,presbytery    
that the minister of ,kilmany was so    
much occupied with work outside his     
parish4  ,but the standard of           
ministerial activity was low1 and       
,chalmers had not much difficulty in    
defending himself4  ,in a very short    
time his thoughts were again turned to  
the university1 but in another          
connection4  ,the chair of natural      
philosophy became vacant1 and he entered
 the lists as a candidate4  ,but as the 
election was in the hands of the        
professors1 he could not have seriously 
dreamt of success4  ,nor was he much    
concerned for his failure4 ',my         
contempt1' he wrote1 'for the low1      
shuffling artifices of college politics 
supports and elevates my mind against   
the vexation of regret4'  ,a few weeks  
later1 in ,january #ahje1 the           

,university of ,edinburgh lost one of   
its most eminent professors--,dr4       
,robison1 of whom mention has already   
been made4  ,professor ,playfair        
obtained his chair1 leaving that of     
mathematics1 which he had held before1  
to be filled up4  ,chalmers was again in
 the field1 but no qualifications that  
he could appeal to were a match for     
those of the successful candidate--,mr4 
7afterwards ,sir ,john7 ,leslie4  ,in   
the course of the contest he came for   
the first time before the public as an  
author4  ,among the candidates was the  
,rev4 ,dr4 ,macknight1 one of the       
ministers of ,edinburgh1 in opposition  
to whom ,professor ,playfair had written
 to the patrons1 remonstrating against  
such a conjunction of offices4  ,mr4    
,chalmers's pamphlet 7which was         
anonymous7 was entitled1 ,observations  
on a passage in ,mr4 ,playfair's ,letter
 to the ,lord ,provost of ,edinburgh1   
relative to the ,mathematical           
,pretensions of the ,scottish ,clergy4  

,he had ceased to have any personal     
interest in the case1 and his whole     
object was to show that a ,scottish     
clergyman might be abundantly qualified 
for the duties of a chair in addition to
 those of a parish4 ',the author of this
 pamphlet1' he said1 'can assert from   
what to him is the highest of all       
authority1 the authority of his own     
experience1 that after the satisfactory 
discharge of his parish duties1 a       
minister may enjoy five days in the week
 of uninterrupted leisure for the       
prosecution of any science in which his 
taste may dispose him to engage4'  ,when
 the religious views of ,mr4 ,chalmers  
underwent the great change which will be
 described afterwards1 he was much      
distressed for this publication1 and did
 his utmost to withdraw it from         
circulation4  ,in a discussion on       
pluralities in the ,general ,assembly   
some years afterwards1 he argued        
vehemently against both the principle   
and practice of pluralities2 and1 being 

twitted with having at one time         
pronounced in their favour1 he candidly 
admitted that he had done so1 but it was
 in the days of his spiritual blindness4
  ,the chair involved was a chair of    
mathematics4  ',what1 sir1' he asked1   
'are the objects of mathematical        
science8  ,magnitude and the relations  
of magnitude4  ,but then1 sir1 ,i had   
forgot two magnitudes3 ,i thought not of
 the littleness of time2 ,i recklessly  
thought not of the greatness of         
eternity6'  ,however imperfectly he     
might have been discharging the duties  
of his ,kilmany charge1 ,mr4 ,chalmers  
was exceedingly kind and exemplary to   
the members of his own family1 one of   
whom1 his sister ,jane1 for whom through
 life he had the warmest affection1 kept
 house for him1 while various others    
were more or less resident in his manse4
  ,one brother1 ,george1 a favourite of 
the family1 spent some months at        
,kilmany in the autumn of #ahjf1 in very
 touching circumstances4 ,he was a      

sailor by profession1 and at the age of 
twenty-three commanded a merchant ship1 
which being attacked by a ,french       
privateer1 gallantly drove off the      
enemy2 but the skipper1 lying down on   
deck1 exhausted after the fight1 caught 
the seeds of consumption1 which         
gradually prevailed against him4 ,his   
mother1 three of his sisters1 and two of
 his brothers were all around him at    
,kilmany1 but no material improvement   
took place4 ,returning to ,anstruther1  
,george calmly awaited his coming end1  
with a firm trust in the merit of his   
,saviour4  ,every evening one of        
,newton's 7of ,olney7 sermons was read  
at his bedside by one of the family in  
rotation4  ,it was one of the books     
which his brother had lately denounced  
from the pulpit of ,kilmany1 as drawing 
men away from the wholesome teaching of 
the gospels4  ,yet to his dying brother 
it brought heavenly comfort4  ,and      
evidently that brother enjoyed a secret 
something which he had not4  ,could he  

be wrong8  ,must there not be reality in
 the experience that took away all fear 
of death1 and made the youth of         
twenty-three so willing to die8  ',the  
deep impression made by ,george's       
death1' says ,dr4 ,hanna1 the chief     
biographer of ,chalmers1 'was the first 
step towards his own conversion4'  ,less
 than two years after1 his sister       
,barbara1 who was five years older than 
himself1 sickened and died4  ,the same  
fell disease which had cut off ,george  
proved fatal to her4  ,but her father   
could write of her that she showed a    
cheerful submission to the will of ,god1
 and a humble confidence in the         
satisfaction of her great ,redeemer4    
,here was another case of one very near 
and dear to him deriving all her support
 and comfort in the hour of death from a
 source which he had been accustomed to 
associate with superstition and         
fanaticism4  ,again the question could  
not but force itself upon him1 ,must    
there not be something real in it1 after

 all8  ,as to the ordinary management of
 his household1 being under the control 
of his sister1 it proceeded in the      
ordinary fashion without much           
interference from him4  ,he was easy1   
and easily pleased1 but he was not an   
absent-minded dreamer4  ,at an early    
period his chemical studies had led him 
to believe that the time would come when
 coal-vapour would be purified and used 
for illuminating houses2 and when he got
 a new manse1 he had pipes laid in it1  
in anticipation of this domestic use4   
,when coffee was introduced as a        
beverage1 he believed that in burnt rye 
he had found a rival to it1 and used to 
have it produced for his friends4 ,once 
when it was proposed to subject the two 
substances to a sort of competitive     
trial1 and a select company assembled to
 pass a verdict upon them1 a cup of     
genuine ,mocha was first handed round   
and much approved of2 then a second cup 
was presented1 and being tasted was     
pronounced to be much inferior2         

whereupon ,mr4 ,chalmers burst into     
laughter and exclaimed1 ',it's your own 
,mocha coffee1 the second cup is just   
the same article as the first6'  ,at    
another time1 when some friends were to 
be at dinner1 it turned out that the    
whole resources of the larder could     
produce nothing but two kinds of dried  
fish4  ,nothing daunted1 ,mr4 ,chalmers 
had both of them properly served2 and   
the covers being removed1 called on his 
guests to make their choice4  ',this1   
gentlemen1 is salt fish from ,st4       
,andrews2 and that is salt fish from    
,dundee4'  ,of course he had to be often
 on horseback2 but as a horseman he did 
not excel4  ',what most provoked him was
 the frequency with which his horse     
threw him4  ,at first he was much       
interested in noting the intervals      
between each fall4 ,taking the average  
length1 and calculating how far a dozen 
falls would carry him1 he resolved to   
keep the horse till the twelfth fall was
 accomplished4  ,extremely fond of such 

numerical adjustments 7a singular result
 of the mathematical structure of his   
mind71 he was most faithful in counting 
them4  ,in this instance1 however1 the  
tenth fall was so bad that his          
resolution gave way1 and he told his    
servant to take the horse to the next   
market and sell him forthwith4  ',but   
remember1' he said1 'you must conceal   
none of its faults2 you must tell that  
it has thrown its master ten times4'    
',but who1' asked the man1 'will think  
of buying the horse if ,i tell him all  
that beforehand8'  ',i cannot help      
that1' said ,mr4 ,chalmers2 ',i will    
have no deception practised1 and if     
nobody will buy the horse1 you must just
 bring him back again4'  ,nobody did buy
 the horse2 ultimately in return for a  
book he was transferred to his          
neighbour1 ,mr4 ,thomson of ,balmerino1 
whom the animal served quietly and      
faithfully for many a year1 without     
showing any vicious tendency2 whence it 
came to be surmised 'that the           

peculiarities of the case were not in   
the animal but the restless and         
energetic horsemanship of the rider6'   
,his patriotism was intense1 and not    
only did he fulminate against ,bonaparte
 in the pulpit1 but he joined the       
volunteers1 and held commissions both as
 chaplain and lieutenant4  ,the early   
years at ,kilmany passed with little    
change except a visit to ,england in the
 beginning of #ahjg4  ,these ,english   
visits1 rare in those days1 enlarged his
 horizon1 and showed him much that he   
did not find at home4  ,at ,liverpool he
 preached for a ,mr4 ,kilpatrick1 and we
 may gather the character of his        
ordinary pulpit lessons from his two    
subjects--in the forenoon on the        
comforts of religion2 in the afternoon  
on drunkenness4  ,his impression of     
,woodstock showed that intense          
admiration of nature which remained to  
the last3 ',i spent two hours in the    
garden4 ,never spot more lovely--never  
scenes so fair and captivating4  ,i lost

 myself in an elysium of delight1 and   
wept with perfect rapture4'  ,at ,oxford
 there was kindled a reverence for      
,english academical life and learning   
which never left him4  ',i was delighted
 with the academic air and costume of   
the place2 and amid the grossness of a  
mercantile age1 it is the delight of my 
spirit to recur to the quiet scenes of  
philosophy1 and contemplate what our    
ancestors have done for learning1 and   
the respect that they once paid to it4' 
,three weeks were spent among the sights
 of ,london4 ,he had a lively interest  
in all he saw1 especially in all that   
concerned science and the mechanical    
arts4  ,among his old friends and       
neighbours were two sons of ,fifeshire  
manses1 rising to that high distinction 
which he coveted in his own             
department1--,john ,campbell1 afterwards
 ,lord ,campbell1 and ,mr4 7afterwards  
,sir ,david7 ,wilkie4  ,he was greatly  
interested in all he saw of royalty3    
,windsor1 with all its glories2 the     

chapel-royal there1 where the ,king and 
,queen and ,princess ,elizabeth seemed  
so simple1 frank1 and devout2 and he    
noted especially a view he had of these 
royal personages at ,st4 ,james's1 when 
her majesty returned his salutation with
 a 'condescending notice4'  ,not in the 
vulgar sense1 but as useful and         
ornamental elements in the social       
fabric1 he had a high regard for royalty
 and the nobility4  ',i am charmed with 
the cordial and affectionate loyalty of 
the people4  ,i saw a glow of reverence 
and satisfaction on every countenance1  
and my heart warmed within me4'         
,sheridan was the great orator of the   
day1 and oftener than once he heard him 
speak4  ,he used to give two instances  
of ,sheridan's readiness of repartee    
when standing the fire of the hustings  
at ,westminster4 ,one elector complained
 that he was not satisfied with his     
treatment of the ,carnatic4  ',my dear  
sir1' he said1 with a significant bow1  
'the affairs of the ,carnatic are in    

much abler hands4'  ,another elector1   
with a very ugly face1 raised on the    
shoulder of the mob1 said1 ',if you do  
not alter your ways1 ,i will withdraw my
 countenance from you4'  ',i am         
delighted to hear it1' said ,sheridan1  
'for it is the ugliest countenance ,i   
ever beheld4'  ,cambridge attracted him 
even more than ,oxford3 ',it smells of  
learning all over1 and ,i breathe a     
fragrancy most congenial to me4'  ,as if
 he had foreseen ,girton and ,newnham1  
he said1 ',the very women have an air of
 academic mildness and simplicity4'  ,he
 preferred it to ,oxford1 apparently    
because its objects of interest were not
 so concentrated1 but really1 in all    
probability1 because it was the great   
sanctuary of mathematical study4  ',in  
,cambridge1 everything wears a          
simplicity and chasteness allied to the 
character of philosophy1 and the        
venerable name of ,newton gives it an   
interest that can never die4'  ,the     
glories of ,york ,minster entranced him4

  ,wherever he went he made careful     
observation alike of all that was       
beautiful and all that was instructive4 
,he returned to ,kilmany in ,july       
7#ahjg71 after an absence of nearly     
three months4  ,immediately after his   
return1 ,mr4 ,chalmers set himself to   
prepare for the press a work of         
considerable size and research1 entitled
 an ,inquiry into the ,extent and       
,stability of ,national ,resources4     
,political economy had always attracted 
him4  ,at the time of this publication1 
much fear was expressed that the        
continued war with ,bonaparte1 implying 
the shutting against ,britain of all the
 ports of the countries to which his    
influence extended1 and the confiscation
 of all cargoes of ,british goods1 would
 exhaust the resources of the country   
and ruin its foreign traders4 ,mr4      
,chalmers held strongly an opposite     
opinion4  ,whether he succeeded in      
proving his contention may be a         
question2 certainly his position was    

paradoxical4  ,but his sagacity1 as the 
result has proved1 came out in more than
 one indirect form4  ,with reference to 
the income-tax1 he contended strongly   
that it ought not to be charged on the  
whole of a man's income1 but only on the
 part that remained after providing for 
the necessaries of life4  ,it was only a
 few years ago that effect was given to 
this view in the case of small incomes4 
,another matter for which he contended  
strongly was our obligation to provide a
 better living for our soldiers4  ,he   
denounced the compulsory system of      
enlistment--it ought to be a voluntary  
service4  ,and it ought to be a service 
of limited duration2 the nation had no  
right to make an exception against      
soldiers and sailors when all other     
servants were engaged for a limited     
number of months or years4  ',let it no 
longer be a slavery for life1 and let   
the burning ignominy of corporal        
punishment be done away4'  ,it was many 
years before these suggestions were     

acted on2 ,chalmers lived to see his    
proposal of limited enlistment carried  
out1 when a friend of his own 7,lord    
,panmure1 afterwards ,earl of           
,dalhousie7 was ,secretary at ,war4  ,in
 this and in later writings on political
 economy it has been well remarked that 
'he bent the whole energies of his      
thought1 not so much on its abstruser   
theories1 as on those practical and     
vital problems which tend to meet the   
difficulties and ameliorate the         
condition of the working classes4'  ',he
 was the first political economist1'    
says ,mr4 ,dodds1 'who seized with a    
forethought and philanthropy equally    
before his time upon the                
condition-of-the-people question1 as the
 paramount1 the coming question of the  
age4'  ,his opinion as to the dynamic by
 which the desired change was to come   
underwent a great change when his       
religious views changed2 at the present 
stage he hoped that the forces of reason
 would gradually effect the desired     

improvement2 afterwards he saw that     
these forces would be of little avail   
without the power of the ,gospel4  ,but 
a more important publication had now    
come into his horizon4  ,one of his     
friends1 ,dr4 7afterwards ,sir ,david7  
,brewster1 was at this time engaged in  
editing a voluminous work1 the          
,edinburgh ,encyclopaedia4 ,chalmers was
 engaged to contribute several articles1
 chiefly on mathematical subjects4      
,after the death of his sister ,barbara 
7in #ahjh7 he wrote to the editor       
requesting that the article on          
',christianity' should be assigned to   
him4  ,probably he felt1 after what he  
had seen at the two deathbeds in his    
family1 that he needed to make this     
great subject a matter of more careful  
study4  ,his own belief in the divine   
origin of ,christianity had been firmly 
established long before--the historical 
evidence1 as presented by ,paley1 and   
the analogical confirmation of it by    
,butler appearing to him irresistible4  

,as it turned out1 his article in the   
,encyclopaedia bore mainly on the       
evidences2 and the historical evidence  
received by far the most prominent      
place4  ,indeed1 he was disposed to lay 
little stress on what was known as the  
internal evidence4 ,this arose out of   
the fear he entertained lest men would  
substitute their own impressions of     
,christianity for the clear1            
authoritative declarations of ,god4     
,since ,god had uttered ,his voice1 the 
sole and simple duty of men was to      
ascertain what ,he had spoken1 and give 
it their profound and absolute          
acceptance4  ,if they began to discuss  
the quality of ,his message1 even though
 its supreme excellence should be the   
point insisted on1 they would be        
bringing their own judgment into the    
case1 and that might prove a very       
dangerous element4  ,it needs hardly to 
be pointed out that in this position    
,chalmers placed himself in antagonism  
to the current view of the friends of   

,christianity4  ,in point of fact1 the  
internal evidence is that which carries 
conviction to the great mass of         
believers4  ,at the present day1 the    
character of ,jesus ,christ stands far  
the highest and most impressive of all  
the evidences4  ,chalmers was           
influenced1 by a mental tendency which  
clung to him more or less all his life1 
to dwell on one side of a truth1 which1 
to be fully set forth1 needed to be     
viewed in a variety of lights4 ,but     
after a time he came to see that the    
internal evidence deserved a higher     
place than he had assigned to it4 ,when 
his article was expanded into his       
treatise on the ,evidences of           
,christianity1 the internal branch was  
duly acknowledged4  ,but before the     
article was finished1 ,chalmers1 who was
 then in his thirtieth year1 passed     
through the ordeal of a very severe     
illness1 which confined him to his room 
for four months1 prevented him from     
entering his pulpit for six months1 and 

affected him more or less for a whole   
year4 ,he believed that he was about to 
die4  ,the whole subject of religion    
assumed a new aspect of importance in   
his eyes4 ,he came to see that he had   
been living without ,god1 and the       
discovery appalled him4 ,the will of    
,god now became an imperative rule to   
him1 and every energy was bent towards  
bringing his own heart and life into    
conformity to it4 ,in such a man as     
,pascal the sublime transition had been 
made from the highest walks of          
mathematical science to the still higher
 walk of faith4 ,might not he be able to
 realise what ,pascal had achieved8     
,for a whole year ,chalmers laboured to 
effect this change4  ,his friends could 
not fail to mark the difference4  ,brief
 but solemn allusions such as they had  
never heard before would drop from his  
lips4  ,but in many respects he was     
still the same4  ',there were the same  
cordial greetings1 the same kindly      
questionings about themselves and all   

their friends1 and the same hearty laugh
 at the racy anecdote or stroke of quiet
 humour2 for1 great as was the change   
effected1 neither at the first nor ever 
afterwards did it damp or narrow that   
genial and most social spirit which     
carried him into varied intercourse with
 all classes of his fellow-men1 and made
 the joy of that intercourse to be a    
very cordial to his heart4'  ,but1      
deeply solemnised though he was1 he had 
not attained the peace that passeth     
understanding1 nor had he learned the   
precious act of free and loving         
fellowship with his ,father in heaven4  
,during all this time he was ever       
keeping a most vigilant eye on his      
habits and life1 and in a diary now     
begun we find him pulling himself up for
 every little fault1 every loss of      
temper1 every bitter word1 every        
conceited feeling4  ,and he is          
constantly praying for forgiveness and  
for strength4  ,he is making progress in
 theological knowledge1 finding1 for    

example1 a far higher place in his      
regard for the atonement of ,jesus      
,christ4  ,a very strong mark of his    
earnestness is seen in his determination
 finally to give up his mathematical    
reading1 and devote himself to theology4
  ,his views came to a point after the  
reading of a book then in               
vogue--,wilberforce's ,practical ,view4 
,fifteen years after1 he described the  
effect which that book had upon him in a
 letter to a younger brother4  ',when ,i
 meet with an inquirer1 who1 under the  
impulse of a new feeling1 has set       
himself in good earnest to the business 
of his eternity1 ,i have been very much 
in the habit of recommending            
,wilberforce4  ,this perhaps is owing to
 the circumstance that ,i myself        
experienced a very great transition of  
sentiment in consequence of reading his 
work4  ,the deep views he gives of the  
depravity of our nature1 of our need of 
an atonement1 of the great doctrine of  
acceptance through that atonement1 of   

the sanctifying influences of the       
,spirit--these all give a new aspect to 
a man's religion4444  ,but there are    
other books which might be as           
effectually instrumental in working the 
desired change2 and in defect of them   
all there is the ,bible1 whose doctrines
 ,i well remember ,i then saw in an     
altogether new light1 and could feel a  
power and a preciousness in passages    
which ,i formerly read with             
heedlessness1 and even with disgust4'   
,we cannot dwell at more length on this 
most interesting struggle2 enough to say
 that he emerged from it into the joy   
and peace of believing2 he laid hold of 
,jesus ,christ as his only ,saviour2    
entered into conscious reconciliation   
with ,god2 looked habitually to the     
,holy ,spirit for all sanctifying grace2
 and counted it his highest honour and  
delight to be a fellow-worker with ,god1
 especially in all that concerned the   
welfare of his fellow-men4  ,yet it was 
always observed of him that while       

cordially agreeing with evangelical     
divines in the great essentials of the  
faith1 he would accept of no position   
which did not commend itself to his own 
mind as according to ,scripture4  ,for a
 class of men who insisted on very      
minute orthodoxies1 and even questioned 
his own soundness because he might not  
agree with them1 he used to speak with  
little patience and less respect4  ,the 
change became very apparent in his      
ministerial work4 ,he threw new ardour  
into the visitation of his flock and the
 instruction of the young4  ,his        
preaching passed into those evangelical 
lines which formerly he had treated with
 contempt4  ,family worship1 morning and
 evening1 was regularly conducted in the
 manse1 although sometimes it was a     
great trial to introduce that much      
contemned practice when a guest was     
present who had little sympathy with the
 evangelical life4  ,a ,bible ,society  
was established in the parish1 and all  
the people were exhorted to join it4    

,strangers flocked to his church1 not   
merely as of old to enjoy his eloquent  
and impassioned delivery1 but for       
guidance and aid in the service of ,god4
  ,converts to living ,christianity     
gladdened his heart and aided him in his
 work4  ',sandy ,paterson1' his first   
convert1 became a great and earnest     
worker among his neighbours1 and        
afterwards1 as a city missionary1 in the
 ,canongate of ,edinburgh1 successfully 
laboured in the slums4  ,with a young   
gentleman in ,dundee1 ,mr4 ,james       
,anderson1 ,chalmers formed a remarkable
 friendship on the basis of their mutual
 interest in religion1 and in his great 
humility corresponded with him more like
 a fellow-student or brother than a     
spiritual father4  ,and ,chalmers       
himself became an earnest and laborious 
student of the ,bible2 and1 in order to 
keep up the glow of his spiritual life1 
instituted for himself a monthly        
exercise1 in which he reviewed before   
,god the work of the month1 and with    

much confession and thanksgiving1       
implored the blessing of ,god on all his
 work and on all his people4  ,no man   
was more sensible than himself of the   
great difference between his earlier and
 later ministry4  ,he told his people   
that earnest though he had been at first
 in pressing honour1 truth1 and         
integrity upon them1 he never once heard
 of any resulting reformation2 all his  
vehemence had not the weight of a       
feather on their moral habits4  ,it was 
only after he became acquainted with the
 true way of approach to ,god1 and the  
real fountain of divine strength in     
,christ1 that those minor reformations  
showed themselves as the result of that 
deeper and more vital process by which  
the heart was changed4  ,it was his     
delight to hear masters testifying to   
the scrupulous honesty and conscientious
 fidelity of their servants1 after they 
had come under the power of the ,gospel4
  ,he prayed that such servants1 while  
thus adorning the doctrine of ,god their

 ,saviour1 humble though they were1     
might reclaim the great ones of the land
 to the acknowledgment of the faith4    
,though not much addicted to church     
courts1 ,chalmers1 during his ,kilmany  
ministry1 made a few memorable          
appearances in them4  ,his maiden speech
 in the ,general ,assembly was delivered
 in #ahji4  ,the subject was not an     
inspiring one2 it related to a recent   
act of the legislature on the           
augmentation of stipends4  ,but his     
speech was a most logical and brilliant 
performance4  ,the house was taken by   
storm4  ',who is he8' was the question  
on every lip2 'he must be a most        
extraordinary person4' ,later1 in #ahad1
 he spoke on a kindred subject--the     
repairs and alterations of manses4  ,a  
better chance for his powers occurred in
 the ,assembly of that year in          
connection with a plurality case1 where 
the 'wonderful display of his talents'  
contributed much to the passing of an   
enactment that no professorship in a    

university should be held in connection 
with a country charge4  ,during the     
latter part of his ,kilmany ministry he 
became a contributor to the ,edinburgh  
,christian ,instructor1 under the       
distinguished editorship of ,dr4 ,andrew
 ,thomson4 ,one of his papers dealt with
 the new-born science of geology1 and   
greatly soothed the anxieties of many   
good men1 by pointing out that the first
 chapter of ,genesis does not fix the   
antiquity of the globe1 but only that of
 the human race4 ,to the ,eclectic      
,review he contributed an able paper on 
,moravian missions1 in opposition to an 
ignorant and scandalous misstatement on 
that subject that had appeared in the   
,edinburgh ,review4  ,an eloquent       
pamphlet1 likewise in refutation of     
injurious statements1 vindicated ,bible 
,societies from the charge of hurting   
the poor4  ,it was at this time1 and in 
connection with this defence of ,bible  
,societies1 that he first published     
those views of pauperism which he       

maintained so constantly all his life4  
,at ,kilmany there was no assessment for
 the poor1 and very little pauperism4   
,it seemed to him far better to foster a
 spirit of independence1 thrift1 and    
industry on the part of the poor1 and a 
spirit of brotherly consideration on the
 part of the rich1 than to confer a     
legal claim on the one1 and impose a    
legal obligation on the other4 ',what1  
after all1' asks the author of the      
pamphlet on ,bible ,societies1 'is the  
best method of providing for the secular
 necessities of the poor8 ,is it by     
labouring to meet the necessity after it
 has occurred1 or by labouring to       
establish a principle and a habit which 
would go far to prevent its existence8  
444 ,if you wish to extinguish poverty1 
combat with it in its first elements4444
 ,the education and religious principle 
of ,scotland have not annihilated       
pauperism1 but they have restrained it  
to a degree that is almost incredible to
 our neighbours of the south4 ,the      

writer of this paper knows of a parish  
in ,fife1 the average maintenance of    
whose poor is defrayed by ,l#bd sterling
 a year1 and of a parish of the same    
population in ,somersetshire where the  
annual assessment amounts to ,l#acjj    
sterling4'  ,but the most interesting   
feature in the pastoral development of  
,chalmers during the latter part of his 
,kilmany ministry was the new direction 
given to his power as a pulpit orator4  
,we have seen that1 from the beginning1 
his more careful discourses were marked 
by great force of argument and beauty of
 expression1 and that there was such a  
fervour in his manner of delivery as    
approached to wild uncouthness4         
,certain it is that from first to last  
his pronunciation was very broad and his
 accent intensely provincial4  ,but when
 he struck into a vein of thought that  
was full of interest to his own mind and
 soul1 he was wonderfully arrestive and 
impressive4  ,in his earlier years he   
evidently took but little trouble with  

his ordinary discourses2 writing        
shorthand1 he could easily throw off a  
sermon in two or three hours4  ,yet even
 then he was at times singularly        
felicitous2 and1 for sheer eloquence1 no
 sermon he ever preached was more       
remarkable than one delivered on        
occasion of the national fast1 on #hth  
,february #ahji1 when1 after a five-mile
 plodding on foot through a heavy fall  
of snow1 he convened the handful of     
people who had reached the church in a  
room in the damp1 uninhabited manse4    
,after his change of views1 his         
preparation for the pulpit received much
 more attention1 and a distinction of   
longhand and shorthand sermons indicated
 that on some he bestowed peculiar      
pains4  ,the late ,andrew ,fuller1      
attracted by his fame1 having paid him a
 visit1 tried to persuade him to give up
 reading his sermons1 believing that a  
more free delivery would add infinitely 
to the impression4  ,chalmers made      
various attempts to carry out the       

extemporaneous method1 but1 instead of  
his acquiring more freedom1 the effect  
was the reverse4  ,at last he gave up   
all attempts at the extemporaneous1 both
 in his sermons and speeches1 except in 
the way of parenthetical remarks        
designed to elucidate some point that   
had not been made sufficiently clear4   
,but we must not close the record of his
 ,kilmany life without adverting to an  
important domestic event which took     
place about two years before he left the
 place4  ,till near that time he had1   
like ,dr4 ,livingstone in ,africa at a  
later period1 determined to lead the    
life of a bachelor4  ,a recent          
disappointment in connection with an    
application for augmentation of stipend1
 confirmed him in that resolve4 ,but    
neither ,chalmers nor ,livingstone had  
taken into reckoning a mysterious       
influence which can make sport of the   
firmest resolutions1 and prostrate      
strong men at the feet of ,hymen4       
,chalmers had fallen in love with ,miss 

,grace ,pratt1 daughter of ,captain     
,pratt of the ,first ,royal ,veteran    
,battalion1 who had been living for some
 time with her uncle1 ,mr4 ,simson1 at  
,starbank1 in the parish of ,kilmany4   
,the marriage took place on #dth ,august
 #ahab1 and the union lasted for        
thirty-five years of unbroken domestic  
happiness4 ,his sister ,jane1 his       
housekeeper1 had been married shortly   
before to ,mr4 ,morton1 a gentleman in  
,gloucestershire1 and in communicating  
to her what was probably a very         
unexpected piece of intelligence1 he    
veiled the news under an allegorical    
form which it may have taken her a      
little trouble to elucidate4  ,referring
 to a recent but somewhat unsuccessful  
process of his before the ,court of     
,tiends for augmentation of stipend1 he 
said he had been involved in another    
process before another court4  ,he had  
been defeated in the one1 but he was    
glad to say he had been triumphant in   
the other4  ,in the latter case he had  

had to do the whole business himself4   
,he had had to frame the summons and to 
conduct the pleadings4 ,there had been  
replies and duplies1 and many a personal
 appearance at court before the process 
was settled4  ,at last a decision had   
been given in his favour4  ,but the law 
required the decision to be followed by 
a proclamation--not a single            
proclamation at the cross1 but two      
proclamations1 that had to be made      
within a quarter of a mile of his own   
house4  ,the letter concluded3 ',i ken1 
,jane1 you always thought me an         
ill-pratted 7mischievous7 chiel2 but1 ,i
 can issure you1 of all the pratts ,i   
ever played1 none was ever carried on1  
or even ended more grace-fully4'  ,and  
,mrs4 ,morton congratulated him on his  
victory4  ,his fame as a pulpit orator  
had now travelled from ,maidenkirk to   
,john o' ,groats1 and it could not be   
expected that he should be left in a    
secluded country parish4  ,in ,glasgow1 
the ,tron parish church had become      

vacant1 and ,chalmers was suggested as  
successor to ,dr4 ,macgill4 ,it was easy
 for the anti-evangelical party to      
ridicule the idea of bringing a madman  
to such a place2 but a deputation from  
the ,town ,council1 who were patrons of 
the church1 went to hear him preach4    
,on the ,sunday in question he preached1
 at ,bendochy1 a funeral sermon on ,mr4 
,honey1 a young minister whose fatal    
illness had been brought on by his      
exertions in saving from shipwreck seven
 exhausted sailors1 whom1 one by one1 he
 bore from their stranded vessel to the 
shore4  ,the impression of that sermon  
was overpowering4  ,in spite of the     
opposition of the ,duke of ,montrose1   
,sir ,islay ,campbell1 the ,lord        
,provost1 and the ,college1 ,chalmers   
received from the ,town ,council a      
presentation to the ,tron1 and1 after   
considerable hesitation1 accepted it4   
,it was a great wrench to tear himself  
from ,kilmany1 which he loved and       
admired so greatly1 and from the people 

that were dear to him as his own        
children4  ,all his life1 ,fife1 and    
especially ,kilmany1 continued thus     
dear4  ,on his way to ,glasgow he had   
occasion to climb the ,calton ,hill in  
,edinburgh1 and the sight of ,norman    
,law1 which was visible from the windows
 of the manse of ,kilmany1 quite        
overcame him4 ',oh6 with what vivid     
remembrance can ,i wander in thought    
over all its farms and all its families1
 and dwell on the kind and simple       
affection of its people1 till the       
contemplation becomes too bitter for my 
endurance4'  ,it was no less a trial to 
leave the work which was now advancing  
so hopefully in the parish4  ,but he    
could not be insensible to the claims of
 such a city as ,glasgow1 and the       
boundless field for usefulness it       
afforded4  ,and so1 in great humility1  
and in great fear lest he should be     
giving an undue preference to intellect 
and culture over poverty and obscurity1 
he accepted the call4  ,he preached a   

most impressive farewell sermon on #ith 
,july #ahae1 which concluded with these 
words3 ',be assured1 my brethren1 that  
after the dear and the much-loved       
scenery of this peaceful vale has       
disappeared from my eye1 the people who 
live in it shall retain a warm and an   
ever-enduring place in my memory2 and   
this mortal body must be stretched on   
the bed of death ere the heart that now 
animates it can resign its exercise of  
longing after you1 and praying for you  
that you may so receive ,christ ,jesus1 
and so walk in ,him1 and so hold fast   
the things you have gotten1 and so prove
 that the labour ,i have had among you  
has not been in vain1 that when the     
sound of the last trumpet awakens us1   
these eyes which are now bathed in tears
 may open upon a scene of eternal       
blessedness1 and we1 my brethren1 whom  
the providence of ,god has withdrawn for
 a little time from each other1 may on  
that day be found side by side at the   
right hand of the everlasting throne4'  

,when we compare ,chalmers as he came to
 ,kilmany and as he left it1 we find    
much that remains the same1 and much    
that has been changed or modified4      
,remaining the same1 we find his        
singularly energetic1 forceful nature2  
his high integrity and kindliness of    
heart1 as it constantly streamed out    
towards his family1 his friends1 and his
 flock2 his eager desire for the welfare
 of his people1 for their advancement   
and elevation in all that he counted    
good1 pure1 and noble2 his indomitable  
energy of purpose and fearless          
contending for right and truth2 his     
passionate intensity of conviction1     
rolling itself out in whirlwinds and    
tempests of eloquence1 that swept all   
before it4  ,the great change which he  
has undergone has not destroyed these   
fundamental elements of character4      
,nevertheless1 all things have become   
new4  ,he has learned that true life1 in
 its every department1 must be lived in 
fellowship with ,god4  ,he has learned  

the way to ,god1 to ,god reconciled1 a  
loving ,father1 a considerate ,master1 a
 gracious ,friend and ,guide4  ,he has  
seen the reality of ,christ's atonement1
 and of the work of the ,holy ,spirit1  
and found a new value in prayer1 and a  
new use of the sacred ,scriptures4  ,he 
has got new light on the true welfare of
 the people1 and especially on the need 
for every one of personal contact with  
,christ2 new light1 also1 on the true   
dignity of every individual man and     
woman in view of the capacities of their
 souls and the immortality that is      
before them4  ,he has found a nobler    
theme and a higher inspiration for that 
eloquence which has moulded his labours 
in the pulpit4  ,he is not less desirous
 to see the people prosperous and happy1
 but he has been convinced that their   
true welfare is dependent on heavenly   
grace1 and1 in the case of the poor1    
that there is nothing like ,christian   
influence whether for preventing or     
alleviating the evils of poverty1 or1   

where there are poor1 raising them above
 the depressing conditions of their lot4
  ,and this is just the germ of that    
more comprehensive view of the          
conditions of social welfare to which he
 will be drawn when he finds himself    
side by side with the teeming thousands 
of ,glasgow4 ,he looks forward more     
ardently than ever to the full          
development of the parochial system4    
,nor has his enthusiasm for science     
abated4  ,he has seen that1 much though 
he loves it1 it is not his part to      
devote to it the time needed for his    
more immediate duties4  ,but now that he
 sees it more clearly than ever a       
department of that great kingdom of ,god
 in which all interests are combined in 
a wonderful unity1 his respect for it is
 greater rather than less4  ,and1 as a  
handmaid to the ,gospel1 he will soon   
find a noble use for it in those        
astronomical discourses which are soon  
to arrest the attention of the          
intellectual world4  ,thus equipped1 and

 with these aims1 ,chalmers proceeds to 
,glasgow4  ,he is inducted into his new 
charge1 #bcrd ,july #ahae4  ,his        
incumbency there is to be shorter even  
than at ,kilmany2 but the eight years   
that are now before him are to witness  
the commencement of a work and the      
advocacy of a cause which will not only 
bring out the greatness of his          
character1 but tell on the welfare of   
the whole ,church and country for       
generations to come4                    
,,chapter ,,iii                         
,,glasgow                               
#ahae-ahbc   ,it cannot be said that    
,chalmers took very kindly to ,glasgow4 
,he missed the wide expanse1 the fresh  
air1 the ,arcadian simplicity of his    
much-loved ,kilmany2 also1 the intimate 
acquaintance he had with every          
individual1 and the comparative leisure 
of a country life4  ,he found himself   
'cribbed1 cabined1 and confined' by     
streets and lanes and 'lands1' and flung
 upon dense masses of population that   

baffled every attempt at individual     
acquaintance and interest4  ,no doubt   
the people were most kind and           
hospitable1 and if dinners and other    
entertainments could have satisfied him1
 he might have had them to his heart's  
content4 ,but1 bent as he was on his    
especial work1 and eager to launch new  
plans of usefulness1 it was irksome     
beyond endurance to have to devote whole
 afternoons and evenings to eating and  
drinking1 considering the very trifling 
amount of good that could be expected to
 come of such protracted engagements4   
,and another thing that worried him was 
the trifling matters of purely secular  
interest to which1 as a director of     
societies1 or a member of public boards1
 he was expected to give attention4     
,fancy an hour spent in debating whether
 a certain ditch was to be covered over 
or not2 fancy himself and his           
brother-directors engaged in a long     
controversy whether pork soup or ox-tail
 soup should be served to the inmates of

 an institution1 and finally resorting  
to a practical test--a portion of each  
kind being brought to each director to  
taste6  ,then there was an expectation  
that much of his time should be devoted 
to certain attentions that people liked 
to be paid to them4 ,why1 a funeral was 
hardly counted respectable unless there 
were four clergymen in attendance6      
,much nervous energy was consumed in    
resisting these unreasonable            
expectations1 and if ,chalmers had not  
come to be a great man1 and possessed of
 a fame which overbore everything1 he   
would certainly have suffered not a     
little in reputation from the necessity 
of so often applying a snub where       
kindness was meant1 and becoming a      
transgressor where tradition had        
established its law4  ,during the eight 
years of his ,glasgow incumbency many   
things happened1 worthy to be noticed   
even in a short biography like this4    
,first of all1 his fame as a pulpit     
orator reached its climax2 a climax     

never surpassed and seldom equalled in  
the whole annals of the pulpit4  ,in the
 next place1 his ideas of the advantages
 of the parochial system1 brought from  
,kilmany1 were matured1 expanded1 and   
practically applied1 with results that  
demonstrated in a wonderful way their   
,christian wisdom and excellence4       
,further1 as an author1 he rose to a    
higher platform2 his astronomical and   
commercial discourses1 when published1  
spread his fame far and wide2 and a     
quarterly publication which he issued on
 the ,civic and ,christian ,economy of  
,large ,towns showed the zeal and wisdom
 with which he grappled with his        
parochial obligations4  ,meanwhile1 in  
his closet1 he was intensely occupied   
with the great problem of his personal  
spiritual life2 ever and anon placing   
himself in the immediate presence of    
,god1 detecting and deploring his       
infirmities and deficiencies1 striving  
to walk with ,god in every undertaking1 
duty1 and recreation2 trying hard to    

resist the subtle influence of human    
applause2 and longing much for that     
absolute consecration which would efface
 self1 and make ,god all in all4  ,still
 further1 he was most assiduous in      
affectionate duty to his friends and    
family2 correspondence with father1     
mother1 wife1 children1 and friends went
 on without ceasing1 even in the busiest
 periods of public life1 and always with
 an eager desire to promote their       
highest good4  ,and many an important   
call to other spheres of labour arose   
from time to time to distract his       
attention2 now he was offered this      
important charge1 now that2 at one time 
he was entreated to become a candidate  
for the natural philosophy chair at     
,edinburgh1 and at another for that of  
moral philosophy2 now he was called to  
,london to preach a missionary sermon1  
and at another time he found it         
necessary to make a long tour through   
,england to acquire information about   
the working of the poor-law system4     

,that he was able to sustain life under 
the prodigious pressure of all these    
varied engagements cannot but surprise  
us1 and cannot but excite our admiration
 of the remarkable physical and mental  
energy that was able to endure it4  ,but
 it had its effects2 and one of these   
was1 that feeling himself unable to     
sustain the pressure of such an         
accumulation of burdens1 and desirous to
 prosecute more vigorously his work as  
an author1 he accepted1 in #ahbc1 the   
unanimous offer made to him of the chair
 of moral philosophy at ,st4 ,andrews1  
though the sphere in itself was         
absolutely insignificant1 and the salary
 not more than ,l#cjj a year4  ,the     
first sermon he preached in ,glasgow1 a 
few months before his settlement as     
minister of the ,tron parish1 was on    
behalf of the ,society for the ,sons and
 ,daughters of the ,clergy4  ,the more  
intellectual part was an exposition of  
the principles of ,christian charity and
 his views of pauperism1 and the more   

eloquent part was a touching picture of 
the family of a deceased clergyman1     
called to tear themselves from all the  
beauties of their home1 when their      
hearts were overborne with the far      
darker melancholy of a father torn from 
their embrace4  ,dean ,ramsay1 who heard
 this sermon1 remarked1 in his          
biographical notice of ,chalmers to the 
,royal ,society of ,edinburgh1 that the 
tears of the father and preacher fell   
like raindrops on the manuscript1 and   
from many another eye the like tokens of
 sensibility were seen to flow4  ,it is 
of his appearance on this occasion that 
an elaborate description was given by   
,mr4 ,j4 ,g4 ,lockhart in his           
pseudonymous publication1 ,peter's      
,letters to his ,kinsfolk4  ,it has been
 reproduced in almost every biography1  
but the picture is too striking to be   
wholly left out here4  ,after describing
 other features of the face1 he         
remarks3--   ',the eyes are light in    
colour1 and have a strange1 dreamy      

heaviness that conveys any idea rather  
than that of dulness1 but which         
contrasts in a wonderful manner with the
 dazzling1 watery glare they exhibit    
when expanded in their sockets1 and     
illuminated into all their flame and    
fervour in some moment of high entranced
 enthusiasm4  ,but the shape of the     
forehead is perhaps the most singular   
part of the whole visage2 444 it is     
without exception the most mathematical 
forehead ,i ever met with1 being far    
wider across the eyebrows than either   
,mr4 ,playfair's or ,mr4 ,leslie's4444  
,immediately above the extraordinary    
breadth of this region1 in the forehead1
 there is an arch of imagination        
carrying out the summit boldly and      
roundly1 in a style to which the heads  
of very few poets present anything      
comparable1 and over this region again  
there is a grand apex of high and solemn
 veneration and love4444  ,never perhaps
 did the world possess an orator whose  
minutest peculiarities of gesture and   

voice have more power in increasing the 
effect of what he says4'  ,the writer   
then dilates on his defects in gesture  
and pronunciation1 and the              
disappointment caused by his first      
utterances4  ',but then1 with what      
tenfold richness does this dim1         
preliminary curtain make the glories of 
his eloquence to shine forth1 when the  
heated spirit at length flings from it  
its chill1 confining fetters1 and bursts
 out elate and rejoicing in the full    
splendour of its disimprisoned wings4444
 ,i have heard many men deliver sermons 
far better arranged in regard to        
argument1 and have heard very many      
deliver sermons far more uniform in     
elegance both of conception and of      
style2 but most unquestionably ,i have  
never heard1 whether in ,england or in  
,scotland1 or in any other country1 any 
preacher whose eloquence is capable of  
producing an effect so strong and       
irresistible as his4'   ,it was soon    
after1 that on hearing a speech of      

,chalmers's ,lord ,jeffrey remarked1 ',i
 know not what it is1 but there is      
something altogether remarkable about   
that man4  ,it reminds me more of what  
one reads of as the effect of the       
eloquence of ,demosthenes than anything 
,i ever heard4'  ,an extraordinary      
impression was produced by a sermon     
preached before the ,lord ,high         
,commissioner1 during the proceedings of
 the ,assembly1 from the text1 ',when ,i
 consider ,thy heavens1 the work of ,thy
 fingers1 the moon and the stars1 which 
,thou hast ordained2 what is man1 that  
,thou art mindful of him8 and the son of
 man1 that ,thou visitest him8'  ,there 
was a reference to the infidel argument 
that modern astronomy1 through the      
revelation by the telescope of the      
boundless multitude of worlds existing  
in the heavens1 had shown the earth to  
be too insignificant a section of ,god's
 universe to justify the incarnation and
 sacrifice of the ,son of ,god4  ,to    
refute this objection1 ,chalmers brought

 forward the not less wonderful         
discoveries by the microscope of the    
minuteness of ,god's works1 and the     
conclusion was irresistibly established 
that there is 'not one portion of the   
universe of ,god too minute for ,his    
notice1 nor too humble for the          
visitations of ,his care4'  ,this sermon
 was one of a series which ,chalmers1 on
 whom the degree of ,d4,d4 had been     
conferred by the ,university of ,glasgow
 7#bast ,february #ahaf71 was now       
delivering there4  ,it had been an old  
practice of the ministers of ,glasgow1  
of whom there were then eight1 to preach
 in turn on ,thursdays in the ,tron     
,church1 and ,dr4 ,chalmers1 deeming it 
fitting that week-day sermons should    
have a character of their own1 selected 
the discoveries of modern astronomy as  
the basis of his course4  ,the interest 
and novelty of the subject1 as well as  
the fame of the preacher1 drew          
extraordinary crowds to the church4  ,in
 ,january #ahag1 the series being       

completed1 the sermons were published in
 a volume4  ,the demand was marvellous4 
,nine editions were called for within a 
year1 and nearly #bj1jjj copies were    
circulated4  ,and1 beyond the ordinary  
circle of sermon readers1 men like      
,hazlitt and ,canning were arrested and 
impressed4  ,the sermons necessarily    
bore the marks of a hasty1 and in some  
respects a juvenile production2 this    
,chalmers himself afterwards            
acknowledged1 and his own preference was
 given to another series--the           
',commercial ,discourses1' which bore   
',on the ,application of ,christianity  
to the ,commercial and ,ordinary        
,affairs of ,life1' and were published  
in #ahbj4  ,the ,astronomicals had been 
reviewed1 not quite favourably1 by ,john
 ,foster1 whose acquaintance ,chalmers  
made about this time4  ,but1 so far from
 showing any chagrin at the freedom of  
his comments1 ,chalmers at once took    
,foster to his heart2 and there was no  
public writer of the day of whom he     

thought more highly1 or whom he more    
warmly commended in after days to his   
students4  ,some of the ,reviews treated
 the sermons severely2 but from         
,christopher ,north1 in ,blackwood1 they
 received hearty commendation4  ,his    
popularity in ,glasgow was almost       
surpassed by that which he found in     
,london4  ,in ,may #ahag he preached in 
,surrey ,chapel for the ,london         
,missionary ,society4  ,his publisher1  
,mr4 ,smith1 who accompanied him1 wrote 
home1 ',all my expectations were        
overwhelmed in the triumph4 ,nothing    
from the ,tron pulpit ever excelled it1 
nor did he ever more arrest and         
wonder-work his audience4  ,i had a full
 view of the whole place4  ,the carrying
 forward of minds was never so visible  
to me2 a constant assent of the head    
from the whole people accompanied all   
his paragraphs2 and the breathlessness  
of expectation permitted not the beating
 of a heart to agitate the stillness4'  
,preaching for the ,hibernian ,society1 

he had a beautiful passage on ,irish    
character1 which affected ,mr4 ,canning 
to tears4  ',the tartan1' he said1      
'beats us all4'  ,mr4 ,wilberforce had  
brought ,canning1 along with ,huskisson 
and ,lord ,binning to the chapel1 where 
they found ,lord ,elgin1 ,lord          
,harrowby1 and many others4  ,in another
 chapel1 on the same day1 the crowd that
 had gathered in the street was so vast 
that even the preacher himself had great
 difficulty in getting admission4  ,we  
know what a compliment it is1 laudari a 
laudatis4  ,it was about this time that 
he formed the acquaintance of the       
greatest pulpit orator of ,england1     
,robert ,hall1 who wrote thus to him1   
',it would be difficult not to          
congratulate you on the unrivalled and  
unbounded popularity which attended you 
in the metropolis4444  ,the attention   
which your sermons have excited is      
probably unequalled in modern           
literature4'  ,one might fill a whole   
volume with notices of his popularity1  

and of the remarkable triumphs of his   
eloquence4 ,to many1 the wonder was     
increased when they learned the         
circumstances in which his sermons were 
sometimes composed4  ,on one occasion1  
while enjoying his holiday1 word was    
brought to him of the sudden death of   
the ,princess ,charlotte1 and of his    
being looked for in ,glasgow to preach  
on the day of her funeral4  ,this letter
 reached him on a ,sunday1 while he was 
preaching at ,kilmany2 posting on       
,monday from ,kirkcaldy to ,queensferry1
 he got a seat on the mail to           
,edinburgh2 he arrived in ,glasgow1     
after a night journey1 between five and 
six on ,tuesday morning1 and next       
forenoon preached one of his most       
brilliant discourses4 ,wherever the     
coach stopped to change horses1 he      
rushed into the inn1 wrote a few        
sentences1 then rushed out to continue  
his journey4  ,and the sermon was not a 
mere appeal to feelings4  ,a large part 
of it consisted of an elaborate plea for

 a larger provision for the spiritual   
necessities of great cities1--being the 
germ of that plan of church extension   
and parochial cultivation which was to  
form the great business of his life4    
,twice every ,sunday he usually filled  
his pulpit in the ,tron ,church2 and    
when latterly1 in ,st4 ,john's1 he had  
the ,rev4 ,edward ,irving as his        
assistant1 the two supplied two         
pulpits--the parish church and a chapel 
of ease--while other engagements were   
often undertaken in various parts of the
 country4  ,but the work of the pulpit  
could hardly be reckoned as the chief of
 ,dr4 ,chalmers's labours4  ,his regard 
for the old parochial economy of the    
,kirk of ,scotland was a supreme        
feeling2 he looked on every minister as 
having charge of the people of the      
parish1 and held that it was his duty to
 watch over their spiritual condition4  
,it was his sense of the infinite       
importance of this1 if ,christianity was
 to retain any hold on the people of our

 cities1 that had made him such an enemy
 of pluralities1 and that roused his    
intense opposition to the settlement of 
,dr4 ,duncan ,macfarlane as minister of 
the ,high ,church of ,glasgow1 while he 
retained the office of ,principal of the
 ,university4 ,he knew for certain that 
the result would be the almost total    
neglect of a parish of upwards of ten   
thousand souls4  ,the population of the 
,tron parish was between eleven and     
twelve thousand4  ,dr4 ,chalmers never  
devoted himself to the regular          
visitation of the extra-parochial       
families that formed1 to a large extent1
 his ordinary congregation2 where there 
was sickness or death1 he would visit   
them1 but not in ordinary circumstances4
  ,his concern was with the people of   
the parish4  ,his first object was to   
ascertain their general condition1 and  
for this purpose he determined on a     
house-to-house visitation4  ,it was a   
,herculean task4  ,he could but spend a 
few minutes in each house1 give a kindly

 greeting1 put a few questions1 perhaps 
utter an earnest word of ,christian     
counsel1 and then invite the inmates to 
the place where an evening service would
 be held for the benefit of all4  ,and  
on the whole it was a depressing task2  
for he found that a great proportion of 
the people had no seats in any place of 
worship1 and were in deep ignorance on  
the high matters of faith and eternity4 
,he had his plans of reformation in     
readiness1 but these involved the       
enlistment and training of a large body 
of helpers4  ,as a first step in this   
direction1 on1 #bjth ,december #ahaf1 he
 ordained a few younger men to the      
office of the eldership1 calling on them
 very earnestly to eschew the example   
set by many elders around them1 who     
attended only to things temporal1 and to
 devote themselves1 by household        
visitation and other means1 to the      
superintendence of the spiritual        
interests of their districts4  ,so      
earnestly was he devoted to the welfare 

of his parish1 that sometimes1 when his 
family were in the country1 he would    
live in a humble room1 at a rent of six 
shillings a week1 in order to be near   
his work2 at other times he would dine  
in the little vestry-room attached to   
his church4  ,next1 to meet the alarming
 ignorance of spiritual truth1 he       
instituted a ,sabbath ,evening ,school  
,society1 and got a few members of his  
congregation to work it4  ,at the end of
 two years1 upwards of two thousand     
children were under instruction by this 
means4  ',our meetings1' says one of the
 members1 'were very delightful4  ,i    
never saw any set of men who were so    
animated by one spirit1 and whose zeal  
was so steadily sustained4  ,the ,doctor
 was the life of the whole4 ,he was ever
 most ready to receive a hint or        
suggestion from the youngest or most    
inexperienced member2 and if any useful 
hint came from such a one1 he was       
careful to give him the full merit of   
it1 generally by his name4  ,although we

 had no set forms of teaching1 we       
consulted over all the modes1 that we   
might find the best4'  ,the outstanding 
peculiarity of these schools was that   
they were territorial4  ,they were1 in  
the first instance1 at least1 for the   
children of the parish1 and for these   
alone4  ,the children were gathered     
through the visitation of the ,doctor's 
agents1 the result being that1 in this  
way1 an immensely larger number got the 
benefit of ,sabbath-school instruction  
than when a general system of schools   
prevailed1 to which any one might go or 
not go as he was inclined4  ,at a later 
period1 he entered on a more costly     
educational undertaking4 ,in his ,sunday
 schools1 he found many children that   
could read in a way1 but with such      
hesitation and difficulty as showed that
 reading was no pleasure to them1 and   
that it was sure not to be practised as 
an ordinary habit4 ,glasgow was then    
very deficient in day schools4  ,when he
 went to ,st4 ,john's1 he determined to 

remedy this defect1 in so far as that   
parish was concerned4  ,setting the     
example himself by a ,l#ajj             
contribution1 he soon obtained the      
necessary funds4  ',within two years    
from the commencement of his ministry1  
four efficient teachers1 each endowed to
 the extent of ,l#be per annum1 were    
educating #dai scholars2 and1 when he   
left ,glasgow in #ahbc1 other school    
buildings were in process of erection1  
capable of accommodating #cgd additional
 pupils2 so that the fruit of four      
years' labour was the leaving behind him
 the means and facilities for giving1 at
 a very moderate rate1 a superior       
education to no less than #fic children1
 out of a population of ten thousand    
souls4'  ,the management of the poor    
was1 as we have seen1 a subject which1  
even before he came to ,glasgow1 had    
begun to occupy his very earnest        
thoughts1 and on which he had formed    
decided views4  ,to some prevalent      
notions on the subject1 especially in   

,england1 he entertained very strong    
objections1 for he held that their      
tendency was to increase pauperism1 so  
that the more money that was spent1 the 
greater did the evil become4  ,there    
were two beneficial influences in       
particular that a system of compulsory  
poor-rates was fitted to impair--the    
spirit of independence1 and the         
readiness of friends and relatives to   
assist the poor4 ,when it came to be    
understood that the poor had a legal    
claim to be supported from the rates1   
they would cease to make any exertion to
 be thrifty and independent1 and their  
friends and relatives would cease to    
charge themselves with their            
maintenance4  ,dr4 ,chalmers was        
persuaded that1 so long as these two    
beneficial influences remained in active
 operation1 the poor might be maintained
 at a far less cost than would be       
possible under a scheme of compulsory   
rates4 ,his plan was to fall back on the
 ,new ,testament method--to have a body 

of deacons specially charged with the   
care of the poor2 to assign to each     
deacon a certain limited proportion of  
the parish1 instruct him to make very   
full inquiries into the case of every   
one applying for help1 endeavour in     
every case where destitution was caused 
by want of work1 to find work for the   
applicant2 or where there were friends  
or relatives able to help1 to draw on   
their resources before application      
should be made to the public fund4  ,so 
long as he was minister of the ,tron    
parish1 there were insurmountable       
difficulties to carrying this plan into 
execution4  ,but the creation of the new
 parish of ,st4 ,john's altered the     
case4 ,dr4 ,chalmers was determined not 
to accept the appointment to that parish
 unless he should be allowed full       
liberty to carry out his plans for the  
maintenance of the poor4  ,after a      
considerable amount of fighting1 he at  
length got all the liberty he asked4    
,the turmoil and worries to which he was

 exposed in contending with old         
opinions1 old practices and prejudices  
of all sorts1 were like to prostrate    
him4  ,but as soon as this battle was   
over1 another remained to be fought4 ,he
 must prove1 by practical demonstration1
 not only that his scheme was workable1 
but that in its effects it would be a   
great improvement on the other4  ,he    
must undertake the management of all the
 poor in a parish of ten thousand       
souls--the poorest parish in the city4  
,with this great undertaking he now     
proceeded to grapple4  ,what he         
undertook was1 to relinquish all claim  
to the fund raised by assessment1 and   
provide for the poor of ,st4 ,john's    
parish through the church-door          
collections alone4 ,it was arranged that
 the then actual inmates of the town's  
poorhouse1 connected with the parish1   
would be maintained as before1 but that 
no new cases would be sent there2 all   
the new outdoor cases1 and all the other
 cases of pauperism1 were to be defrayed

 from the congregational fund4          
,hitherto the cost of the poor in the   
parish had been at the rate of ,l#adjj  
per annum1 whereas the collections      
amounted to only ,l#dhj4 ,thus1 though  
not at first1 yet ultimately1 ,st4      
,john's ,church would be responsible for
 an amount of pauperism that had        
hitherto cost ,l#adjj4  ,the unwearied  
visitation of the deacons produced      
highly beneficial results4  ,sometimes  
very appalling cases of distress were   
found to be wholly fabulous4  ,a poor   
woman applied to a deacon to bury a     
grown-up daughter who had died that day4
  ,he refused until he had made a       
personal visit4  ,this he did1 but no   
such person could be found4 ,next day   
the woman renewed her application3 a    
young man was sent by the deacon to     
verify the woman's statement2 but she   
disappeared in the crowd4  ,when the    
matter was stated to another deacon1 he 
wondered whether the woman's husband1   
whom he had helped to bury six months   

before1 were still alive4 ,the two went 
in quest of the family1 and found the   
buried husband and the dead daughter    
performing all the functions of life4   
,in other cases1 relatives were induced 
to take charge of destitute children1 or
 older children to take charge of       
younger4  ,in one case1 the father and  
mother of a family composed of six      
children both died2 three of the six    
were earning wages1 and three were      
unable to work4  ,the three elder       
applied to have the three younger       
admitted to the poorhouse4  ,it was     
pointed out to them by ,dr4 ,chalmers's 
agents that this would be a great slur  
on the family2 and a small quarterly    
allowance was promised if they should   
keep together4  ,the advice was taken1  
and the quarterly allowance was but     
twice required4  ,the family lived      
together1 gaining a character for       
independence and brotherliness that in  
itself must have been a considerable    
help to their success in life4  ,and    

many other such cases occurred4  ,the   
result of these operations1 during the  
three years and nine months when ,dr4   
,chalmers personally presided over them1
 was instructive and striking4  ,the    
whole number of new cases admitted on   
the roll was twenty1 and the annual cost
 of these was ,l#ff4  ,the number of    
cases originally committed to ,dr4      
,chalmers was ninety-eight1 of whom     
twenty-eight had died1 and thirteen had 
been displaced in consequence of a      
scrutiny1 leaving 7with the twenty new  
cases7 seventy-seven on the roll1 the   
cost of whose yearly maintenance was    
,l#aij4  ,in the second year of their   
operations the church was able to take  
the whole of the poorhouse inmates      
connected with the parish off that      
institution1 at an expense to themselves
 of ,l#ij a year4  ,in this way the     
pauperism that had cost the town ,l#adjj
 was now managed at an expenditure of   
,l#bhj4  ,and the pauperism itself      
became a decreasing quantity4  ',the    

,st4 ,john's deacons1 mingling as they  
did familiarly with all the families1   
and proving themselves by word and deed 
the true but enlightened friends of all1
 did far more to prevent pauperism than 
to provide for it4'  ,it cannot be said 
that his theory of pauperism was a hasty
 scheme1 the result of mere benevolent  
impulse1 or that ,chalmers did not take 
sufficient means to acquaint himself    
with the subject in all its aspects4    
,he had already given expression to his 
ideas in the ,edinburgh ,review1 and    
shown that the matter had engaged his   
most earnest study4 ,later1 he made an  
elaborate journey through ,england in   
order to become personally acquainted   
with the places and the persons there   
most conversant with the subject4 ,this 
visit embraced ,liverpool1 ,manchester1 
,birmingham1 ,gloucester1 ,wells1       
,salisbury1 ,southampton1 ,portsmouth1  
,london1 ,bury ,st4 ,edmunds1 ,bedford1 
and ,nottingham4 ,the journey occupied  
seven weeks1 and in the course of it he 

came into contact with many of the      
public men who were interested in that  
class of subjects1 conspicuous among    
whom were ,lord ,calthorpe and ,mr4     
,fowell ,buxton4  ,the anti-slavery     
leaders1 such as ,mr4 ,z4 ,macaulay1    
,mr4 ,babington1 and ,mr4 ,clarkson1    
were generally sympathetic1 but their   
energies were too much absorbed in the  
anti-slavery movement to admit of their 
throwing them into ,dr4 ,chalmers's     
scheme4  ,indeed there were but few men 
of mark at that time interested in      
social questions4  ,in his sense of the 
urgency of these questions1 ,dr4        
,chalmers was before his age4  ,the more
 immediate object he had in view1 that  
of gathering information1 was           
sufficiently accomplished2 but there is 
no indication that he made much progress
 in indoctrinating public men with his  
views4  ,if ever he cherished the hope  
that a party would arise in ,england who
 should deal with pauperism on his      
lines1 that hope was never fulfilled4   

,nor was it the privilege of ,dr4       
,chalmers to find his experiment carried
 out thoroughly in other places1 or even
 to witness its permanence in his own   
chosen locality4 ,for several years it  
continued to prosper2 in #ahcj1 ten     
years after the commencement of the     
undertaking1 he informed a committee of 
the ,house of ,commons that the whole   
annual expense of ,st4 ,john's pauperism
 for the preceding year had been ,l#chd2
 and in #ahcc1 ,mr4 ,tufnell1 an        
,english ,poor-,law ,commissioner1      
reported3 ',the system has been attended
 with the most triumphant success2 it is
 now in perfect operation1 and not a    
doubt is expressed by its managers of   
its continuing to remain so4'  ,why1    
then1 did the system not extend8        
,mainly1 we believe1 because ,chalmers  
stood alone in that unrivalled energy   
which could not only conceive and plan  
the scheme and fight down its opponents1
 but likewise find competent agents1 and
 inspire them with his own spirit in    

order to carry it into effect4  ,it was 
a scheme that demanded a strong magnetic
 power on the part of its head to       
overcome the vis inertiae of ordinary   
men1 and send them into the field1 and  
keep them in the field1 vigilant1 alert1
 unwearied1 and hopeful4  ,no doubt his 
principles were acted on to a certain   
extent in many parishes where there was 
no pressure of poverty2#b but we are not
 aware of any instance in which his plan
 was boldly made to do duty in the heart
 of a large city parish4    #b ,e4g4    
,dirleton1 under ,rev4 ,mr4 ,stark4     
,see ,hanna's ,life1 iii4       #aba4   
,and why did the experiment not become  
permanent8 ,because two conditions under
 which it was established were not kept4
  ,one was1 that a law of residence     
should be established between the       
parishes of the city1 so that ,st4      
,john's should not be burdened with a   
pauperism which it had done nothing to  
create4  ,the other condition was1 that 
so long as ,st4 ,john's kept its own    

poor1 it should be exempted from any    
assessment for the poor generally4      
,neither of these conditions was kept4  
,moreover1 the expense for lunatics and 
exposed children grew at a much greater 
rate than the population1 and a chapel  
of ease1 expected to be a great help1   
turned out a failure4  ,and at no time  
did the authorities of the city and the 
other parishes give the countenance that
 might have been expected to so         
successful and economical a scheme4     
,the result was that1 in #ahcg1 the     
parish of ,st4 ,john's lapsed into the  
general system of ,glasgow4  ,and later1
 after a vehement opposition from ,dr4  
,chalmers1 the present law1 supporting  
the poor by assessment1 was passed1     
which virtually put an end to the old   
paternal method of administration4  ,it 
was easy to represent the plan of ,dr4  
,chalmers as a niggardly system1 which  
doled out mere driblets of charity1 not 
sufficient to keep soul and body        
together4  ,but it was forgotten that   

one of its main objects was to keep     
those subsidiary streamlets running     
which the affection of relatives and the
 compassion of neighbours supplied1 as  
well as to encourage the independence1  
the industry1 the thrift1 and the       
sobriety which would have kept pauperism
 afar off4  ,the undeniable result of   
the compulsory system has been an       
enormous addition to the cost of        
pauperism1 and we fear1 it must be      
added1 a serious diminution of those    
good old ,scottish habits which         
discouraged and prevented its growth4   
,the increase of drinking has tended    
greatly not only to the growth1 but to  
the unmanageableness of pauperism4  ,if 
the drink-curse could be effectively    
dealt with1 there would be no need for a
 poor-assessment2 the churches of the   
country1 as in time past1 would be quite
 able1 as they would be cordially       
willing1 to support the poor4   ,in     
connection with the literary labours of 
,dr4 ,chalmers1 reference has already   

been made to the publication of the     
,astronomical ,discourses in #ahag and  
the ,commercial ,discourses in #ahbj4   
,in addition to these1 we have to note a
 volume of ,miscellaneous ,discourses   
published in #ahai4 ,while this volume  
was passing through the press1 he       
expressed his belief that it would bring
 another nest of hornets about him1 in  
the shape of angry critics and          
reviewers4  ',it has been singularly the
 fate of my publications to be torn to  
pieces in the journals1 but at the same 
time to be extensively bought and read4'
  ,an edition of seven thousand copies  
of the new volume was printed1 but the  
result was the reverse of what he       
anticipated2 the journals did not cut it
 up1 nor did the public buy it up1 with 
the same avidity as before4  ,but even  
in this our day of vast editions1 seven 
thousand copies of a volume of sermons  
would be an unprecedented undertaking4  
,a much more out-of-the-way publication1
 in the successive numbers1 was the     

,civic and ,christian ,economy of ,large
 ,towns4  ,this was most emphatically a 
,chalmerian project4 ,it originated     
about the time of his appointment to    
,st4 ,john's1 in his determination to   
set himself right against a calumnious  
charge that he was secretly aiming at a 
vacant chair in the ,university of      
,edinburgh1 and ready to leave in the   
lurch the friends who were to aid him in
 the ,st4 ,john's undertaking4  ,nothing
 could have hurt him more than a charge 
of underhand scheming4  ,a fugitive     
pamphlet might have served his purpose2 
but a wider project took hold of him1 of
 enlightening his congregation and the  
public generally from time to time on   
all that concerned the prosperous       
administration of the parish1 and of    
large towns generally4  ,the first      
number was published on #bdth ,september
 #ahai1 and the succeeding numbers      
followed quarterly in unbroken          
succession until his removal to ,st4    
,andrews4 ,we see again how far he was  

in advance of his age in the importance 
which he attached to a sound ,christian 
economy of large cities4  ,seventy-eight
 years ago1 large towns were far fewer  
than they are now1 and of course much   
smaller1 and they had scarcely begun to 
attract attention as a novel and        
difficult feature of our social         
condition4  ,yet ,chalmers was all alive
 to their importance1 and keenly        
pondered the measures necessary for     
their administration4  ,and the result  
shows how true his forecast was4  ,not  
only had he thought out the problem1 and
 arrived at its solution1 but he had set
 to work practically to carry his plan  
into execution2 and to this he now added
 the additional function of expounding  
and defending it in a quarterly         
publication4 ,and all the while he was  
carrying on his unrivalled work in the  
pulpit2 he was superintending all the   
machinery of the parish2 he was         
cultivating most conscientiously the    
vineyard of his own soul2 and he was    

interesting himself in all that         
concerned his friends1 and in a thousand
 other objects and projects that were   
continually pressing upon his attention4
   ,it is not easy to describe the      
earnest personal dealings with ,god     
which he maintained during the whole    
time of this busy ,glasgow ministry4    
,to those who can enter into this high  
phase of life1 no aspect of his         
character is more remarkable4 ,sometimes
 the intensity of his thirst after a    
high spiritual life appears in his      
letters1 but more directly in his diary4
 ,immediately after the commencement of 
his ,glasgow ministry1 he formed an     
almost romantic friendship with a young 
man of the name of ,smith1 whom he      
looked on as his first convert4         
,alongside of this youth 7as of ,mr4    
,anderson at ,kilmany7 he placed himself
 as if they were on the same            
footing--fellow-learners1               
fellow-pilgrims1 fellow-suppliants1     
equally in need of the grace and        

guidance of ,god4  ',o ,god1 do ,thou   
look propitiously on our friendship4    
,do ,thou purify it from all that is    
base1 sordid1 and earthly4 ,may it be   
altogether subordinated to the love of  
,thee4 ,may it be the instrument of     
great good to each of our souls4 ,may it
 sweeten the path of our worldly        
pilgrimage3 and after death has divided 
us for a season1 may it find its final  
blessedness and consummation at the     
right hand of ,thine everlasting        
throne4'  ,during ,mr4 ,smith's last    
illness he wrote to him at least once a 
day and saw him very often4 ,sometimes  
he would carry his manuscript to his    
room and write his sermon there4  ,it   
was during an absence of ,dr4 ,chalmers 
from ,glasgow that he died4  ',on my    
return1 ,thomas ,smith was dead4  ,i    
have been thrown into successive floods 
of tenderness4'  ,in the prayer offered 
at his funeral1 which has been          
preserved1 he expressed the warmest     
thanks for all the grace given to this  

young man1 and all the good his example 
and influence had done2 and for himself 
as well as for others he prayed most    
fervently that they might all 'retire   
from the scene with hearts bettered1    
with minds resolved to forsake all for  
,christ1 with affections weaned from    
this world and all its lying vanities4' 
,very beautiful1 too1 was the outpouring
 of his feelings towards her who had    
become the partner of his life1 his best
 beloved and most longed for on earth4  
,before she was his wife the prayer had 
risen1 ',o my ,god1 pour ,thy best      
blessings on ,g4  ,give her ardent and  
decided ,christianity2 may she be the   
blessing and the joy of all around her2 
may her light shine while she lives2 and
 when she dies1 may it be a mere step--a
 transition in her march to a joyful    
eternity4'  ,and afterwards he wrote to 
her3 ',i have to request of my dear ,g4 
that she stir herself up to lay hold of 
,god4  ,do act faith on the great truths
 of divine revelation4  ,do cry mightily

 to ,god for pardon in the name and for 
the sake of ,christ2 and1 relying on the
 power of ,his blood and of ,his        
,spirit1 commit yourself to ,him in     
well-doing as unto a faithful ,creator4'
  ,how well worthy ,mrs4 ,chalmers was  
of being the wife of such a man was best
 known to those who enjoyed the intimate
 friendship of the family4 ,the late    
,dr4 ,smith of ,st4 ,george's1 ,glasgow1
 who knew them intimately1 from having  
been ,dr4 ,chalmers's assistant1 held   
her to be 'in all respects a helpmeet   
for her distinguished husband4  ,she    
strengthened his hands and encouraged   
his heart in every labour of love4  ,as 
a wife1 a mother1 a mistress1 a friend1 
a disciple of ,him who was meek and     
lowly in spirit1 few are better entitled
 to affection's warmest tribute4'  ,but 
it was in the direct communings of his  
spirit with ,god that the depth of his  
humility and the ardour of his desires  
for a higher life were most apparent3-- 
',march #crd1 #ahah4--;,cannot say much 

of my walk with ,god4  ,do not burn with
 love to man4  #eth4--,cannot yet record
 a close walk with ,god4  ,got impatient
 with a man who called on me and with   
---- in the evening4  ,o for a humbler  
and nearer course of devotedness to the 
will of my ,saviour4 #fth4--,have not   
yet attained such a walk with ,god that 
in looking to the day that is gone ,i   
can see anything like the general       
complexion of godliness4  #gth4--,cannot
 yet speak to my walk with ,god4 ,will a
 quiet confidence in ,christ not bring  
this about8 #hth4--,not yet4 ,o my ,god1
 help me4  #ith4--,not yet4  ,trust that
 ,i am finding my way to ,christ as the 
,lord my ,strength4 ,o guard me against 
the charms of human praise6'   ,at a    
later period he is equally humble and   
equally fervent4   ',feb4 #bdth1        
#ahbb4--,was greatly impressed with     
,erskine's talk about realising ,god    
every quarter of an hour4  ,o heavenly  
,father1 let me do it1 and free me from 
the sense of guilt towards ,thyself1 and

 enable me rightly and rejoicingly to   
lift up my head1 too1 in the presence of
 mine enemies4 #beth4--,disturbed1 but  
feel great alleviation in habitual      
realisings of ,god1 which ,i have had   
all this day4  #bhth4--,o my ,saviour1  
,i can do nothing for ,thee6  ,april    
#gth4--,it is humiliating amid the busy 
externals of religion to think how      
little my soul is taking up or making   
progress therein4  #ith4--,o my ,god1   
cause me to hold thee in constant       
remembrance4  ,restore energy to me1 but
 let me never lose sight of my          
creatureship and my worthlessness4  ,may
 ,i be pure in heart1 and so see ,god4  
,loose all my bonds1 and may ,i serve   
,thee with delight and thankfulness all 
my days4'   ,it is obvious to modern    
readers1 though it was not to him1 that 
when he was most depressed1 a share of  
the depression was due to physical      
exhaustion4  ,the number1 the constancy1
 and the intensity of his labours could 
not but dull the faculties that soar    

highest of all1 and call as a remedy for
 physical rest2 while1 like so many     
others in the like circumstances1 he was
 laying all the blame on the wickedness 
or the earthliness of his heart4   ,with
 the members of his family he maintained
 the closest fellowship4 ,when he heard 
of his father having had a paralytic    
stroke1 he hurried to his bedside1 and  
was present at the end4  ,his affection 
and respect for him were unabated4  ',my
 dear father is lovely in death4  ,there
 is all the mildness of heaven upon his 
aged countenance4' ,writing on the      
following ,sunday to his much-loved     
sister ,jane 7,mrs4 ,morton71 he says3  
',it is truly affecting when the thought
 of former ,sabbaths in ,anster presents
 itself to my mind1 and ,i think of it  
as the day he loved1 and how the ringing
 of the bells was ever to him the note  
of joyful invitation to the house of    
,god2 the sight of the people going to  
and from the church--the interval--the  
everything connected with the ,sabbath1 

bring the whole of my father's habits in
 lively recollection before me1 and call
 forth a fresh excitement of            
tenderness4'  ,towards his widowed      
mother he ever acted with the most      
tender and respectful affection4  ,his  
letters to her were both frequent and   
regular1 full of concern for her        
temporal and spiritual comfort1 and     
manifesting that interest in all the    
members of the family which is so       
grateful to a mother's heart4  ,but the 
fullest outpourings of his heart1 in his
 correspondence with friends at a       
distance1 were to his sister1 ,mrs4     
,morton4  ,well could he assure 'my ever
 dearest ,jane'--'one of the purest and 
most delightful of all my feelings in   
this world of many distractions is the  
feeling of tenderness which ,i ever     
associate with you and all your         
concerns'2 nor was he less sincere in   
saying that he could think of 'no more  
delightful scene of occasional rest and 
recreation than the neighbourhood where 

,providence had ordained her habitation1
 so rich in the beauties of nature1 and 
still richer in the pieties and         
charities of the excellent people that  
lived in it4'  ,to her he writes freely 
of all the events of his life1 and still
 more of the vicissitudes of his        
,christian experience1 and of the ever  
open refuge alike from domestic sorrows 
and spiritual infirmities which we have 
in the grace of our ,saviour and in the 
love of our ,father4  ,all the more     
tenderly did he write when the deep     
shadow of bereavement fell upon her     
home2 when a heart full of humility and 
somewhat disposed to despondency was    
liable to be swallowed up with over much
 sorrow1 and to forget 7as he reminded  
her7 that even when the day is overcast 
and lowering1 the sun is shining with   
undiminished lustre4  ,his eldest       
brother1 ,james1 who lived in ,london1  
was a hard subject to deal with4  ,he   
seemed to shut himself up from all his  
family1 and to stand in awe lest they   

should come to visit him4  ,he had      
resolutely abstained from hearing his   
brother preach after he became famous4  
,hardly any case could have more        
convincingly verified the remark1 how   
unlike brothers may be to each other4   
,james had a kind of mania for balancing
 his personal accounts to the minutest  
fraction1 and on one occasion worried   
himself for months in the endeavour to  
account for a penny1 till a year after1 
when about to cross a toll-bridge1 he   
remembered that he had crossed it a     
twelvemonth before1 and forgot to enter 
the penny in his accounts4  ,yet ,thomas
 bore with him patiently1 and dealt with
 him affectionately but faithfully1     
evidently in the hope that he might     
change4  ,and before the end he did     
become more amiable4  ,in announcing his
 father's death1 ,thomas pathetically1  
and with an obvious practical design1   
remarked that if their beloved parent   
looked down upon them1 'nothing could   
afford his spirit a more delightful     

spectacle than that of his children     
seeking the ,gospel which they had      
aforetime despised1 praying for grace1  
and not ceasing to pray1 till they had  
obtained4'  ,his own children were      
hardly old enough1 while in ,glasgow1   
for more than the ordinary fondness of a
 father4 ,yet we find him1 in his       
absences from home1 and when driven     
hither and thither by manifold          
engagements1 writing1 in imitation of   
print1 those elaborate letters to his   
little daughter ,anne1 of which her     
future husband1 ,dr4 ,hanna1 has given  
us a sample in the second volume of the 
,life 7p4 #daj74  ,one cannot but admire
 the extreme neatness and clearness of  
the printing1 a memorable contrast to   
the hieroglyphics he used to dash off on
 ordinary occasions1 which were so      
illegible that1 in his early days1 when 
a letter came from him1 his father      
suggested that it had better be kept    
till he should himself arrive to read it
 for them4 ,once1 in the absence of     

,mrs4 ,chalmers1 when he had been       
constituted head nurse1 an elder and a  
deacon1 on calling in the evening1 found
 him squatting on the floor and playing 
at marbles with the children4  ,and     
nothing would serve him but that they   
should join in the game4  ,the ever-warm
 affection of ,dr4 ,chalmers for all the
 members of his family was the more     
remarkable that he was so rapidly       
extending the circle of his friends1    
receiving so much notice from the most  
distinguished men and women of the      
country1 and carrying on so voluminous a
 correspondence with many of them4      
,among those whose acquaintance he made 
in his ,glasgow period we may note a    
few4  ,there was ,james ,montgomery1    
,moravian and poet1 whom he saw at      
,sheffield2 whom he greatly perplexed   
when he told him that when at the       
,moravian settlement of ,fulneck1 near  
,leeds1 he had invited the ,scotch lads 
to the inn1 and found there were no     
fewer than 'saxtain or savantain of     

them'2 but whom he charmed no less by   
the admiration he expressed for the     
,moravian missions1 and by his          
undertaking--what he more than          
fulfilled--to raise ,l#ejj for them in  
the course of the year4  ,another new   
friend was ,mr4 ,wilberforce1 for whose 
character1 talents1 and work he had     
unbounded respect1 but who amazed him by
 the singularity of his movements--'he  
positively danced and whisked about like
 a squirrel4'  ,he had an important     
correspondence with him1 beseeching him 
to support the repeal of the ,corn      
,bill1 which he held to be the great    
danger to the country4 ,there was the   
,gladstone family at ,liverpool1 with   
whom he was greatly taken--,william     
could then have been but a boy of six   
7,a4,d4 #ahag74  ,legh ,richmond visited
 him at ,glasgow1 and ,chalmers says1   
',i had most congenial talk with him1   
and am greatly humbled by the very      
superior attainments of other           
,christians4'  ,when ,edward ,irving1 in

 hopeless disappointment1 was about to  
leave the country1 it was ,chalmers that
 arrested him1 having formed such an    
opinion of his pulpit gifts and noble   
character that he engaged him as his    
assistant4  ,we have already noticed    
some of the friends he met when engaged 
in his poor-law inquiry2 to these we may
 add ,robert ,hall1 the cleverest man in
 conversation he ever knew1 but         
surpassed by ,john ,foster in the depth 
and grandeur of his thoughts4  ,with    
,mr4 ,malthus1 too1 he had much         
congenial converse4  ,about this time he
 found a close ally in ,mr4 ,douglas1   
the proprietor of ,cavers1 where he had 
been assistant in his youth1 who became 
so well known as a thoughtful ,christian
 writer1 and who placed more than one   
,l#ejj in his hands to assist him in his
 schemes for ,st4 ,john's4  ,among other
 things that ,mr4 ,douglas owed to      
,chalmers's example and influence was   
the habit of systematic working4  ,mr4  
,erskine of ,linlathen was another      

,scottish layman for whom he had        
remarkable regard1 his spirituality of  
mind being to ,dr4 ,chalmers most       
impressive and stimulating4  ,mr4       
,erskine's work on the ,freeness of the 
,gospel1 though looked on suspiciously  
by some very orthodox persons1 was to   
,dr4 ,chalmers very delightful4         
,afterwards ,mr4 ,erskine adopted some  
views with which he could not           
sympathise4  ,with ,lord and ,lady      
,elgin he appears to have been on terms 
of most intimate friendship4 ,mr4       
,colquhoun of ,kellermont may be added  
to the list of distinguished ,scottish  
friends2 and1 besides these1 there were 
his coadjutors in the ,st4 ,john's      
undertaking1 the members of his         
congregation1 and nearly all the men of 
mark and ,christian worth in the        
community of ,glasgow4  ,his manner of  
life in ,glasgow was as simple and      
regular as was possible for one so full 
of occupation and so eagerly sought     
after by all sorts of people4  ,as a    

rule1 the forenoon was set apart for    
reading and composition1 and no one was 
allowed to intrude on him then4  ,but   
sometimes two or three rooms would be   
filled with persons waiting for him1 and
 it was remarked that1 however          
overwhelmed1 he had a kindly smile and  
greeting for all4  ,the afternoon was   
devoted to pastoral work2 then1 if      
possible1 he had a walk in the ,botanic 
,gardens or elsewhere2 dinner was at    
half-past four1 and very often he had   
some public engagement in the evening4  
,in the course of this busy day he found
 time to read aloud to his wife         
,milner's ,church ,history or some other
 such book4  ,his hospitality was       
boundless4 ,breakfast1 dinner1 tea1 and 
supper1 almost every day but ,sunday1   
brought a succession of guests2 for1    
apart from his own large circle1 hardly 
a stranger visited ,glasgow who did not 
bring an introduction1 and whom he did  
not invite to his house4  ,his          
conversation generally was singularly   

genial1 racy1 and lively2 whoever was in
 his society was charmed4 ,formal       
dinner-parties he held in great         
abhorrence as a waste of time and worse1
 and very seldom did he join them4 ,for 
occasional recreation1 his favourite    
resort was his native ,fifeshire2 but in
 the suburbs of ,glasgow and other parts
 of the country he had dear friends with
 whom he delighted to spend an          
occasional day or more4  ,and1 though no
 man had more respect for the poor1 or  
more pleasure in his intercourse with   
them1 he had an especial delight in the 
society of families of the highest rank1
 when refinement was blended with       
,christian worth1 and the obligations of
 high station were conscientiously and  
gracefully fulfilled4   ,most memorable 
in the history of ,glasgow and in the   
history of ,scottish ,christianity were 
the eight years of labour spent by ,dr4 
,chalmers in that city4  ,of individual 
cases of conversion the number was      
beyond reckoning2 beginning with his    

dear friend1 ,thomas ,smith1 and ending 
with a ,camlachie weaver--a reckless    
infidel till ,dr4 ,chalmers came across 
him1 but won by the simplicity and      
earnest sympathy which he showed in     
weekly visits during the months when he 
was dying of consumption4  ,and the     
circumstances of his various converts   
were very different4 ,the thoughtless   
young officer1 who entered his church   
with the crowd as he would have entered 
the theatre2 the fashionable lady1 whose
 curiosity led her to hear the great    
popular orator2 the busy merchant1 with 
no thought nor desire beyond material   
things2 the aspiring student1 bent only 
on literary distinction--each person1   
arrested and brought to ,christ by the  
force of his appeals1 represented the   
many classes from among which1 as ,dr4  
,hanna tells us1 it was the privilege of
 ,chalmers to gather recruits for the   
,kingdom of ,heaven4  ,but more than    
that3 under ,chalmers the tide of public
 sentiment turned decisively to         

evangelical religion4  ,before he came1 
evangelical preaching had been looked on
 as a combination of sour fanaticism and
 weak sentimentalism2 under his         
preaching it attained its true rank and 
glory as the very essence of the ,gospel
 message4  ,before his time1 as the     
population of the city grew from year to
 year1 thousands had been quietly       
allowed to fall away from all ,christian
 observances1 and to form a community of
 paganism1 leavening the city with      
carelessness and corruption4  ,it was   
his powerful voice that roused attention
 to the evil and the danger1 and        
organised the machinery best fitted to  
grapple with it4 ,previous to his time1 
even the most earnest of the ministers  
in their week-day ministrations had     
seldom gone beyond their own            
congregations1 or thought much of the   
careless and godless families around    
them2 it was ,chalmers that1 by the     
emphasis he laid on the territorial     
method1 brought into operation that     

system of aggression which affords the  
only hope of arresting and reclaiming   
the outcast mass4 ,before his time      
infidelity was doing its deadly work    
among the more intellectual and         
cultivated classes1 and the spirit of   
indifference was widely spread even     
where a formal profession of religion   
continued2 it was in a large measure the
 influence of ,chalmers that restored a 
living faith in ,christ and in          
redemption1 and aroused concern in that 
class of society for the life to come4  
,still more remarkably1 perhaps1 had    
,dr4 ,chalmers succeeded in inspiring   
men and women in ,glasgow1 young men    
very emphatically1 with the spirit of   
,christian service4 ,his 'agency1' as he
 called it1 resembled the followers of  
,saul1 'a band of men whose hearts ,god 
had touched4'  ,in after years they     
formed the very elite of the earnest    
,christian laymen of the ,west2 and to  
this day1 though all of them have passed
 away1 their fervour and devotedness are

 still found in some of their children  
and children's children4  ,nor had he   
failed to secure the esteem and         
affection of the great community of     
,glasgow4  ,they honoured him           
personally1 and they were proud of his  
greatness and fame4 ,they were ready    
with their purses to support whatever   
scheme he deemed it necessary to set on 
foot4  ,a more attached or warm-hearted 
company could not have been found       
anywhere than the three hundred and     
forty friends who1 ere he left1 sat down
 together at the largest dinner-party   
that had ever assembled in the city in  
honour of a single individual4  ,why1   
then1 did he abandon the field where his
 labours had been so eminently          
successful8  ,simply because these      
labours had grown to such multiplicity  
and variety as to demand an expenditure 
of bodily and mental energy that could  
not be continued4  ,his incumbency had  
lasted during eight years of his        
prime--from thirty-five to forty-three4 

,happily he had not been prostrated by  
any severe illness1 and the systematic  
regularity of his life1 with the        
attention he had given to diet1 sleep1  
and exercise1 had kept him from breaking
 down4 ,but who that thinks of all he   
was doing1 the problems with which he   
was grappling1 the schemes he was       
working1 the constant demands of the    
pulpit1 the incessant labours of the    
parish1 the use he was making of the    
press1 the toil of his correspondence1  
amounting on an average to fifty letters
 a week1 the perpetual turmoil in which 
he was living1 amid crowds of visitors1 
and all the other fruits of unrivalled  
popularity1 as well as the demands of an
 increasing and growing family1 and his 
desire to keep up friendly intercourse  
with his brothers and sisters--can fail 
to see that the indefinite continuance  
of such a mode of life was more than    
could be thought of8  ,had it continued 
much longer1 a breakdown was inevitable4
  ,very pathetically he wrote to one of 

his most intimate friends1 ,mrs4        
,coutts1 of the constant feeling of     
exhaustion which at times was like to   
overbear him altogether4  ,besides1     
,chalmers was coming to see that through
 the press there opened to him a way of 
spreading his views and extending his   
usefulness which was as full of promise 
as it was agreeable to himself4  ,but as
 a minister of ,glasgow he could not do 
through the press what1 with a little   
more leisure1 he could fairly expect to 
accomplish4  ,and then the prospect of  
an academic chair was very congenial4   
,it had been his earliest dream while   
the world was all before him1 and it had
 not yet lost its charm4  ,the tenacity 
of his affections was very remarkable4  
,towards the close of his life we shall 
have occasion to note the long-continued
 vitality of a strong but unavowed      
attachment which had sprung up in his   
boyhood1 and it is no wonder that to    
such a nature the early vision of an    
academic chair continued to retain its  

brightness and its fascination4  ,once  
and again he had set it aside when it   
seemed to be within his grasp1 because  
his ,glasgow experiments and            
arrangements were not ripe enough for   
the change4  ,now1 when the ,glasgow    
work was fairly consolidated2 when the  
bustle and pressure of ,glasgow life had
 become almost unbearable2 when1 through
 the press1 the prospect had opened of  
impregnating not ,glasgow only1 but the 
whole empire with his views2 and when   
his own ,alma ,mater had sent him a     
unanimous invitation to fill a chair    
which formed a connecting-link between  
philosophy and religion1--it is not     
wonderful that he made up his mind to   
the wrench that was to sever him from   
his ,glasgow friends1 and resolved to   
accept a chair in the university with   
which his earliest memories were        
connected1 and in which he could look   
forward to a career of peace and comfort
 to himself1 and great usefulness to his
 church and country4                    

,,chapter ,,iv                          
,,st4 ,,andrews ,,university            
#ahbc-ahbh   ,on the #ith ,november     
#ahbc ,dr4 ,chalmers preached his       
farewell sermon at ,glasgow1 and on     
,friday the #adth he delivered his      
introductory lecture at ,st4 ,andrews4  
,he had not a single day of rest between
 the toils of the office he laid down   
and those of the office he took up4     
,four of his most esteemed ,glasgow     
friends had accompanied him to ,st4     
,andrews in token of gratitude for the  
past and good-will for the future4  ,at 
first ,dr4 ,chalmers was alone1 and for 
a time he was the guest of his old      
friend1 ,professor ,duncan4 ,it was not 
till the beginning of #ahbd that ,mrs4  
,chalmers and his children joined him4  
,st4 ,andrews had been familiar to him  
from his boyhood1 and its historical    
associations had dawned on him          
gradually1 but with a firm hold1 as such
 things usually impress boys4  ,its     
traditions went back to a remote        

antiquity4 ,fordun's legend of the      
,greek saint1 ,regulus1 being ordered by
 the ,lord to carry the bones of ,st4   
,andrew into the 'north-west corner of  
the earth1' was too obviously the       
offspring of superstition to be much    
regarded2 yet it seemed to indicate that
 the ',east ,nook' was one of the       
earliest seats of ,christianity in      
,scotland4 ,in pre-,reformation times   
,st4 ,andrews had been the headquarters 
of the ,roman ,church1 and1 under       
successive archbishops1 ,patrick        
,hamilton and ,george ,wishart had been 
burnt at the stake for their noble      
testimony to the ,gospel of ,jesus      
,christ4  ,before their day1 ,peter     
,craw1 a ,bohemian1 and thus of the same
 stock as the ,moravian ,church for     
which ,dr4 ,chalmers always had a very  
special regard1 and other witnesses for 
the truth had perished in the flames4   
,it was here that ,john ,knox first     
opened his mouth as a preacher2 hither1 
too1 he retired for a time at the close 

of his life1 and preached in the church 
when danger threatened him in the       
metropolis4 ,here1 also1 ,andrew and    
,james ,melville1 ,robert ,rollok1      
,robert ,bruce1 ,robert ,blair1 ,samuel 
,rutherford1 ,thomas ,halyburton1 and   
many other familiar names in the history
 of the country1 had gathered wisdom as 
students1 or imparted it as professors1 
or as ministers of the ,gospel4  ,the   
first university in ,scotland had been  
set up at ,st4 ,andrews1 and men like   
,buchanan and ,melville had made it     
illustrious by their learning4  ,nor was
 it very long since ,chalmers himself   
had found the powers of his intellect   
awakened as he sat in its mathematical  
class-room4  ,it must have been with no 
ordinary feelings that he returned as a 
professor to his ,alma ,mater1 and      
girded himself for the duty of          
influencing its students2 not1 however1 
in the spirit or with the aims of his   
early years1 but under the influence of 
those intense evangelical convictions   

that1 twelve years before1 had          
revolutionised his soul4  ,during the   
first session1 in preparing his         
lectures1 he was truly from hand to     
mouth2 to be but a few days in advance  
of the time for their delivery was all  
that he could achieve4 ,his second      
session1 #ahbd-be1 was regarded as the  
most brilliant in his academic career4  
,the number of students was more than   
double what it had ever been in former  
years1 and the enthusiasm was intense4  
,chalmers was well aware of the fear    
entertained in some quarters that1 amid 
the blaze of his popular eloquence1 he  
would not be able to attain to an       
academic level in the more solid        
qualities of thinking and exposition of 
thought1 appropriate to a university4   
,but in point of fact there was more    
than enough of solid thought and        
ingenious speculation in his lectures to
 do away with any such impression4      
,eloquent they often were1 nor did he   
scorn the aid of imagination and        

illustration in handling the topics of  
his course2 but his main object was to  
exercise the minds of his students1 and 
to set them thinking upon his themes4   
,at the very outset1 he disabused his   
class of the idea that moral philosophy 
was the same as mental philosophy4      
,moral philosophy was the science of    
ethics1 the science of duty1 and1 in his
 view1 it ought to embrace duty in all  
its relations1 and to make use of all   
the light that could be brought to bear 
on that high theme4  ,in particular--and
 here was the peculiar feature of his   
course--he desired to make the fullest  
use of what had been communicated on    
this subject by supernatural revelation4
  ,he justified this method of          
proceeding by an illustration4 ,if      
natural philosophy were divided into two
 courses1 and if one of them should     
relate to terrestrial objects and such  
parts of astronomy as might be          
prosecuted without the telescope1 it    
would be strange indeed were the        

professor to make no allusion to that   
instrument1 and to ignore1 or even      
repudiate1 all the light which it threw 
on the general scheme of things4  ,so   
also1 in investigating the science of   
ethics1 it would be an extraordinary    
thing if no use were made of the        
,christian ,revelation1 supposing that  
its authenticity could be established as
 a revelation from heaven4  ,natural    
theology would form an important branch 
of his subject2 but1 in its very nature1
 natural theology was an incomplete and 
inadequate science4  ,following the     
light of nature1 it proved the          
insufficiency of that light2 it created 
the thirst and the longing for more     
light than it could itself supply4      
,this further light revelation brought  
in4  ,he held moral philosophy to be the
 study that ought immediately to precede
 that of theology2 without theology it  
was incomplete4  ,it would be no part of
 his course to set forth at full length 
the evidences for the ,christian        

,revelation1 but he would give a general
 view of them2 he would show at least   
that there was a prima facie presumption
 in favour of the divine origin of      
,christianity2 and1 therefore1 that it  
was consistent with the principles of   
the ,baconian philosophy to make use of 
its light in dealing with the great     
questions of moral obligation4  ,in     
fact1 ,chalmers in this matter took     
ground precisely opposite to that more  
recently taken by one of his            
countrymen--the munificent founder of   
the ,gifford ,lectures4 ,according to   
,gifford1 it becomes us to investigate  
the whole subject of natural theology   
and moral obligation without the        
slightest reference to any alleged      
supernatural revelation4 ,this he held  
to be the sound1 impartial1 unprejudiced
 course of true philosophy1 and the best
 way of attaining to simple1 absolute   
truth4  ,in the view of others1 this is 
like the act of a man blindfolding      
himself before entering on a difficult  

investigation2 or of a man walking in   
sparks of his own kindling1 while1 if he
 chose1 he might be at work under the   
bright influence of electric light4     
,one might have thought that1 after     
finishing his first course at ,st4      
,andrews1 ,chalmers would have held     
himself entitled to a long rest4  ,but  
as soon as the session was ended1 he set
 himself1 during the fortnight that     
intervened1 to prepare for the ,general 
,assembly4  ,the question of            
pluralities1 the question of pauperism1 
and the question of the amount of time  
to be spent by students in theological  
study were to be before the house1 and  
,chalmers was interested in all4  ,on   
one of these occasions he came into     
collision with ,dr4 ,inglis1 the leader 
of the ,assembly2 but1 even on a point  
of order1 ,chalmers was equal to him1   
and in a division1 he carried his       
motion4  ,at the close of the ,assembly1
 on the invitation of ,mr4 ,leonard     
,horner1 he took part in a meeting in   

,edinburgh on behalf of a then infant   
institution--the ,school of ,arts4 ,the 
motion which he made on that occasion   
was seconded by ,sir ,walter ,scott4    
,this was the only occasion on which    
these two eminent men appeared on the   
same platform and were associated in the
 same work4  ,the ,assembly is past1 but
 the time of rest has not yet come4     
,dr4 ,chalmers hurries back to ,glasgow4
  ,now that he has got breathing-time1  
his heart returns to the great          
experiment which he had begun there1 and
 an unrestrainable eagerness takes      
possession of him to help it on4  ,the  
next six weeks are spent in incessant   
labour in the old field4  ,in looking   
back on this period he remarked in his  
peculiar phraseology1 ',i think that ,i 
never spent a season of more crowded    
occupancy4'  ,on his way to ,glasgow he 
took ,perth1 where he preached a        
missionary sermon on a week-day1 the    
collection amounting to ,l#ha1 #hs4  ,in
 ,glasgow he preached steadily in the   

chapel of ease1 and he had the great    
satisfaction1 though of course it was   
but a temporary one1 of adding four     
hundred to the sittings let1 no doubt to
 accommodate the many persons who were  
bent on hearing him during the few weeks
 of his stay4  ,during these six weeks  
he preached ten times in the chapel1    
writing all the lectures1 and apparently
 the sermons too--seven of his texts    
being from the ,epistle to the ,romans1 
part of the exposition afterwards       
published4  ,apart from spiritual       
impulse and spiritual fruit1 his six    
weeks in ,glasgow benefited the chapel  
to the tune of ,l#bjj4  ,in the midst of
 his incessant public work he contrived 
to write to his wife a full journal of  
all his proceedings1 and he gave her    
most explicit instructions to give the  
children a feast of strawberries on the 
arrival of each letter1 and to let them 
know that they were from him4  ,with all
 his greatness and eloquence1 it is     
amusing to find him showing that        

nervousness in the prospect of a speech 
at a public dinner which but few men    
have been able to overcome4  ',it kept  
me anxious all day4'  ,one is reminded  
of ,sir ,robert ,peel1 who could hardly 
eat anything at public dinners when a   
speech was forthcoming1 but sat in      
misery1 crumbling his bread4  ',one     
touch of nature makes the whole world   
kin4'  ,a source of greater trouble and 
annoyance arose after his ,glasgow visit
 in connection with a promise to deliver
 a missionary sermon at ,stockton1 near 
,manchester4  ,after his arrival1 he    
found that an advertisement had been    
issued from which it appeared that the  
sermon would come in as a sort of       
interlude in a vast musical             
entertainment1 in which an orchestra of 
at least a hundred persons1 supported by
 drums1 trumpets1 bassoon1 organ1       
serpents1 violins without number1       
violoncellos1 bass viols1 flutes1 and   
hautboys would take part4  ,chalmers was
 most indignant4  ,he felt it an affront

 to himself1 to be stuck up like a      
mountebank1 as if he had come to help in
 the entertainment of a pleasure-seeking
 audience4 ,but not less did he feel it 
a prostitution of his office1 as if the 
,ambassador of ,heaven1 dealing with men
 on their state before ,god and their   
need of reconciliation1 were to be mixed
 up with such a clatter4 ,he was on the 
verge of refusing to preach at all4     
,but remembering his promise1 he        
compromised the matter by refusing to   
appear except at the time when his      
sermon was delivered4 ',i stopped in the
 minister's room till it was all over4  
,went to the pulpit1 prayed1 preached1  
retired during the time of the          
collection1 and again prayed4  ,before  
,i left my own private room1 they fell  
too again1 with most tremendous fury1   
and the likest thing to it which ,i     
recollect is a great military band on   
the ,castle ,hill of ,edinburgh4'  ,in  
spite of all1 the collection exceeded   
,l#djj4  ,in telling the story1 as he   

often did to his friends1 he said that  
they hardly let him alone even while he 
was preaching2 'the fellows were tuning 
their trombones in my very ear4'        
,november #ahbe found him again at his  
work in ,st4 ,andrews1 with a better    
prepared course1 and a very numerous    
class4  ,notwithstanding the labours of 
the recess1 no symptom of exhaustion    
appeared2 on the contrary1 he seemed to 
thirst for further labour1 and whereas  
the subject of political economy had    
been considered to fall to the professor
 of moral philosophy1 he intimated that 
in the following session he would make  
political economy the subject of a      
separate course4  ,a numerous class was 
enrolled1 but instead of teaching the   
subject by lectures1 he treated it by   
means of a text-book4  ,the text-book   
was ,dr4 ,adam ,smith's ,wealth of      
,nations1 on portions of which the      
students were examined1 the professor   
occasionally adding explanations or     
little dissertations of his own1 or     

referring to more modern books which    
gave the latest aspects of the subject4 
,it should be added that ,dr4 ,chalmers 
always opened his class with prayer4    
,this was an innovation in a class of   
philosophy4  ,the prayers were short and
 pithy1 often bearing on the subject of 
the preceding lecture1 and the language 
was often felicitous1 and even sublime4 
,of the like quality were the prayers he
 offered when he became a professor of  
divinity4 ,many of these will be found  
in the ,institutes of ,theology4  ,but  
at ,st4 ,andrews he was very far from   
confining himself to academic labours4  
,he could not look round him without    
feeling that1 small though the town was1
 it was not less in need than crowded   
,glasgow of efforts to dispel its       
spiritual darkness1 and awaken young and
 old to the things of eternity4 ,the    
place had fallen from its high estate2  
it was no longer like the ,st4 ,andrews 
of those days when1 fragrant with martyr
 memories1 it formed one of the chief   

centres of evangelical influence in     
,scotland4 ,the first form of pastoral  
activity to which ,dr4 ,chalmers betook 
himself was that of a ,sabbath-school   
teacher4  ,as soon as he had leisure    
after the first session1 he marked out  
for himself a district of the town in   
the neighbourhood of his house1 visited 
the families1 and invited the children  
to attend a class of his own on the     
,sunday evenings4  ,for that class he   
made as careful1 though not as          
elaborate1 preparations as for his      
students in the university4  ,by and by 
it increased to rather burdensome size4 
,meanwhile1 another class of young      
persons engaged his attention1 and the  
,sabbath school was handed over to      
others4 ,it had been suggested to him   
that great good would result from a     
students' class1 from gathering         
together1 on ,tuesday evenings1 such    
students as desired to receive from him 
religious instruction of the same kind  
as they had been accustomed to receive  

in their fathers' houses before they    
came to college4  ,the first winter of  
this meeting1 five students came for the
 purpose4 ,chalmers instructed them and 
dealt with them1 gave them books for    
,sabbath reading1 examining them as to  
their contents1 and at the same time    
taking a book of his own1 ,scripture    
,references1 as a kind of doctrinal     
text-book of his expositions and        
examinations4  ,next year1 the number   
was about a dozen4  ,in the third year1 
the number became so great that his     
dining-room was crowded with students4  
,one of them remarked afterwards that   
they learned more of ,christian ethics  
at these meetings than from all his     
class-room lectures on moral philosophy4
  ,in some instances1 the fruit of these
 meetings was very remarkable4          
,according to the testimony of ,dr4     
,duff1 who was one of ,chalmers's young 
men1 the students of ,st4 ,andrews1     
previous to his coming1 were a godless  
lot4  ,to make a profession of piety was

 to incur universal derision4 ,nor were 
the divinity students much better2 some 
of them1 indeed1 were more notorious    
than other students for impiety1        
immorality1 and riotous revellings4     
,dr4 ,chalmers was the instrument of a  
great revival4  ,in #ahbc-bd1 some of   
the students formed themselves into a   
missionary society1 which held meetings 
next session in the room of a remarkable
 man1 ,john ,urquhart1 one of those     
saintly youths whose early death puts an
 end to the boundless promise of their  
student careers4  ,dr4 ,chalmers had    
already become president of a missionary
 society1 embracing different           
denominations4 ,at the monthly meetings 
of this society1 which became so large  
that they had soon to be held in the    
,town ,hall1 he gave addresses on       
missionary topics1 not only             
communicating information1 but also     
pressing the motives and encouragements 
to missionary effort1 answering         
objections1 and gathering from the      

reports on the state of the heathen     
confirmations of ,scripture1 and        
evidences of the divine origin of       
,christianity4  ,a university missionary
 society had now become possible1 and   
its career began in #ahbe-bf under more 
favourable conditions than could have   
been looked for4  ,the blessing of ,god 
rested on it1 for it furnished some of  
the first and noblest missionaries that 
the ,church of ,scotland sent into the  
foreign field4  ,the first was the ,rev4
 ,robert ,nesbit1 who spent many        
laborious and effective years at        
,bombay4  ,before ,dr4 ,chalmers left   
,st4 ,andrews1 another of his students1 
,mr4 ,adams1 had begun his missionary   
career4  ,in #ahbi1 ,chalmers presided  
at the ordination of ,alexander ,duff1  
now one of the brightest names in the   
record of missions4  ,the ,rev4 ,a4     
,mackay and the ,rev4 ,david ,ewart     
followed1 and ,john ,urquhart was       
preparing to go when illness and death  
arrested his career4  ,a more beautiful 

or promising springtime of missionary   
activity could hardly be imagined4  ,and
 the same course that had thus been     
begun at ,st4 ,andrews was also being   
followed in ,edinburgh4 ,on #bgth       
,december #ahbe1 the ,edinburgh         
,university ,missionary ,association was
 founded1 chiefly through the influence 
of ,john ,wilson1 afterwards so well    
known as ,dr4 ,wilson of ,bombay4       
,chalmers has sometimes been called a   
man of one idea1 and in some minds the  
notion got hold that all his interest   
was in home missions1 and that he looked
 with comparative indifference on       
foreign4  ,it would be more correct to  
say that he was a man of all manner of  
ideas1 but that he worked out only one  
idea at a time4  ,in that large heart   
there was room not only for the welfare 
of ,scotland1 but of the whole world    
too4  ,his identification of himself    
with the missionary cause1 at a time    
when many derided it1 was an act of high
 moral courage4  ,so was another act1   

his taking sittings for his family in   
the dissenting chapels1 that they might 
be nourished with evangelical food1 not 
then to be obtained in the ,established 
,church4 ,occasionally he would attend  
these chapels himself1 both on ,sundays 
and week-days2 not disdaining the       
devotional services of a pious mechanic 
at the prayer-meeting1 and deriving far 
more help therefrom than from the dreary
 ministrations either of the town church
 or that of the college4  ,in one       
respect ,dr4 ,chalmers's course did not 
run smoothly at ,st4 ,andrews4  ,he got 
into loggerheads with his colleagues on 
the subject of college finance4  ,in    
dealing with the funds of the college1  
it had been the practice of the ,senatus
 to lay aside a certain amount for      
general expenses1 and to divide the     
balance as a supplemental salary among  
the different professors4  ,chalmers was
 not clear that this was a legitimate   
course1 and for some years he refused to
 receive his share of the supplemental  

fund1 which accordingly accumulated     
until it amounted to some ,l#gjj4       
,reflecting as this refusal did1 or was 
supposed to do1 on the honesty of his   
colleagues1 it gave him more pain than  
any other public duty he was ever called
 to perform4  ,after he had left ,st4   
,andrews1 the university commissioners  
having looked into the matter1 recorded 
it as their judgment that there was no  
good reason why he should not accept of 
the sum standing at his credit2 and as  
,dr4 ,chalmers had desired only that the
 matter should be settled by competent  
authority1 he accepted the money4  ,but 
nothing could exceed his surprise and   
indignation when he found1 in the       
published report of the commissioners in
 #ahca1 a statement that 'the principal 
and professors appear to have made these
 appropriations without any authority4' 
,in a letter addressed to the           
commissioners1 and published in #ahcb1  
after quoting their judgment in his own 
case1 he said he could not divine what  

they really thought of these            
appropriations--whether they were honest
 or fraudulent4  ',if you think them    
wrong1 how is it that to me you have    
called the evil good8  ,if right1 how is
 it that to your ,sovereign you have    
called the good evil8'  ,during his five
 years' incumbency in ,st4 ,andrews1 he 
issued two volumes from the press4  ,the
 first was the third and concluding     
volume of ,the ,christian and ,civic    
,economy of ,large ,towns4  ,among the  
topics embraced in this volume were the 
,poor-,laws and the ,combination-,laws4 
,the particular aspect of the           
,poor-,laws with which he dealt1 and    
which he most thoroughly condemned1 was 
the application of the poor-rates1 as in
 ,england1 to supplement the wages of   
ill-paid labourers4  ,though kindly     
meant1 this arrangement1 he held1 was an
 invasion of the relation between master
 and men so ruinous1 and involved a     
bounty to the masters so unjust1 that no
 toleration ought to be found for it4   

,this was also the general opinion2 and 
the practice was discontinued by law4   
,according to ,dr4 ,chalmers's          
biographer1 his exposure of the practice
 formed a powerful contribution towards 
its removal4  ,in regard to the         
,combination-,laws1 which imposed severe
 and stringent penalties on any united  
movements of workmen for increasing     
their wages1 a bill for repealing them  
had been introduced and carried by ,mr4 
,huskisson1 whose efforts to free       
industry from the fetters of ,protection
 were hailed by ,dr4 ,chalmers with     
great delight4  ,unfortunately1 the     
carrying of this measure into law was   
accompanied by certain deplorable       
excesses on the part of some classes of 
workmen1 who did not understand how to  
use their new-found liberty4  ,dr4      
,chalmers strongly upheld the           
righteousness of the repeal of the old  
laws1 mainly on the ground that we ought
 not to manufacture crime out of acts   
7such as workmen's combinations7 which  

the natural conscience does not condemn4
  ,but with equal firmness he denounced 
any interference with the freedom of    
labour1 especially when men on strike   
coerced and persecuted those that might 
be willing to work4  ,the experience of 
seventy years has not materially changed
 the position4  ',strike1 if you        
please1' is the voice of reason and     
justice to workmen2 'but leave those who
 do not concur with you at perfect      
freedom to do as they please4'  ,the    
other publication of this period was a  
book on ,literary and ,ecclesiastical   
,endowments4  ,it was devoted chiefly to
 the case of the ,scottish universities4
  ,among the reforms which he advocated1
 a foremost place was given to the      
raising of the standard of scholarship  
for those joining the university4       
,though apparently disregarded at the   
time1 it was seen1 whenever serious     
attention began to be given to the state
 of our universities1 that this was     
indeed the most important change to     

begin with4  ,what ,dr4 ,chalmers       
proposed was1 that an entrance          
examination should be instituted1 and   
that a gymnasium1 or1 as we now call it1
 a secondary school1 should be attached 
to each of the universities1 for        
instruction that would qualify for the  
entrance examination4 ,modern opinion   
has so far transcended the modest       
proposal of ,chalmers1 that instead of a
 preparatory school in each university  
seat1 the demand is now for adequate    
secondary schools scattered over all the
 land4  ,it was a very congenial thing  
for ,chalmers to advocate in this way   
the elevation and ample equipment of our
 universities4  ,his old love of science
 and general culture had never died in  
him1 although he had learned to give    
them a secondary place1 and to feel     
profoundly that the first duty and the  
chief interest of man concerned his     
relation to the great ,god1 without whom
 nothing could be great1 nothing strong4
  ,but the spirit of ,chalmers was      

stirred within him as often as he       
thought of the great leaders of science1
 and their splendid achievements in     
astronomy and in other departments4     
,the very name of ,newton sent a thrill 
through every fibre of his being1 and   
roused the desire to follow in his      
steps1 as well as to see every youth    
around him inspired by his spirit1 and  
by all that was noble in his example4   
,speaking of the universities of        
,england1 which were more successful    
than the ,scottish in cultivating       
particular branches1 but gave less      
complete attention to learning as a     
whole1 he said1 ',we cannot conclude    
this passing notice of the universities 
of ,england without the mention of how  
much they are ennobled by those great   
master spirits--those men of might and  
high achievement--the ,newtons1 and the 
,miltons1 and the ,drydens1 and the     
,barrows1 and the ,addisons1 and the    
,butlers1 and the ,clarkes1 and the     
,stillingfleets1 and the ,ushers1 and   

the ,foxes1 and the ,pitts and          
,johnsons1 who within their attic       
retreats received that first awakening  
which afterwards expanded into the      
aspirations and triumphs of loftiest    
genius4  ,this is the true heraldry of  
colleges4  ,their family honour is built
 on the prowess of sons1 not the        
greatness of ancestors4'   ,it remains  
for us to take a glance at some of the  
more miscellaneous engagements of       
,chalmers during this period1 including 
his journeys1 his speeches in public1   
the new friendships he formed1 his      
spiritual progress1 and his letters to  
his family and friends4  ,in the autumn 
of #ahbf1 after his hard work in        
,glasgow1 ,dr4 ,chalmers treated himself
 to the rare luxury of a ramble in the  
south of ,scotland4 ,the character of   
the man was singularly shown in the     
objects that attracted him as he        
proceeded from place to place4  ,in the 
neighbourhood of ,kelso1 he stopped his 
gig opposite ,roxburgh ,castle1 and     

running up to it1 feasted his eyes1 even
 in the midst of rain1 on an            
old-remembered scene--'one of the most  
glorious panoramas ,i ever beheld1 where
 the blended beauties of ,teviot and    
,tweed were concentred upon the environs
 of ,kelso and the ,palace of ,fleurs1  
with the seats and plantations of other 
grandees4'  ,but it was places with an  
historical association that charmed him 
most4  ,the church of ,anwoth1 ,samuel  
,rutherford's early home1 greatly       
delighted him4 ,the church1 which was   
like that of ,kilmany1 but smaller1     
still remained1 but a new one was in    
course of erection2 the manse had just  
been pulled down4  ,sir ,walter ,scott  
could not have more emphatically        
denounced such ,gothicism1 and the soul 
of ,chalmers sympathised deeply with    
some of the masons that had refused to  
perpetrate the barbaric act1 and had    
been dismissed from their occupation in 
consequence4 ,to see ,rutherford's      
'witnesses1' he went up among the hills 

and inspected the stones which he once  
called to witness against some of his   
parishioners who were indulging in      
amusement on the ,sunday4  ,not less    
enthusiastic was he at ,kirkmabreck1    
where ,dr4 ,thomas ,brown1 the son of   
the minister1 was buried4  ,at ,dumfries
 he visited ,mrs4 ,burns1 the widow of  
the poet1 with whom he had a pleasant   
conversation1 and whom he was pleased to
 see so comfortable4 ,among the         
gentlemen whose acquaintance he made was
 ,mr4 ,cunninghame of ,lainshaw1 a      
well-known writer on prophecy1 and ,mr4 
,buchan of ,kelloe1 in ,berwickshire1   
whose house was 'just delicious4'  ,when
 the panorama of ,berwickshire suddenly 
burst on him1 he was overwhelmed4       
,perhaps what strikes one most in his   
account of this and other journeys is   
his readiness to be pleased1 his power  
of finding enjoyment in everything4     
,there is not a single cynical remark in
 all his narrative1 not a flout1 nor a  
grumble1 nor a bitter word2 he is always

 happy4  ,in ,may #ahbg he went to      
,london to open the new church of ,mr4  
,irving in ,regent ,square4  ,this took 
place on a ,friday2 the prayer which    
,mr4 ,irving offered was forty minutes  
in length1 and it was an hour and a half
 ere ,chalmers was allowed to begin4    
,he preached again on the ,sunday1 the  
crowd comprising ,mr4 ,peel1 ,lord      
,bexley1 ,lord ,farnham1 ,lord          
,mandeville1 ,mr4 ,coleridge1 and many  
other notables4  ,at this time he made  
the acquaintance of ,mr4 ,coleridge1    
with whom he spent three hours at the   
,gillmans' house in ,highgate2 but while
 he marvelled at the flow of            
conversation1 he said he could only     
catch occasional glimpses of what he    
would be at4  ,he had a pleasant talk in
 the ,house of ,commons with ,mr4 ,peel1
 who showed a great interest in his     
views on pauperism1 the college         
commission1 and likewise in his sermons1
 all of which he said he had read4  ,he 
had some intercourse with ,macaulay1 and

 heard ,brougham2 saw also ,sir ,francis
 ,burdett 7father of ,lady              
,burdett-,coutts71 a conspicuous radical
 politician of the day4  ,among home    
friends1 ,chalmers remained as simple1  
unsophisticated1 and kindly as before4  
',of all men1' said ,mrs4 ,grant of     
,laggan at this time1 'he is the most   
modest1 and speaks with undisguised     
gentleness and liberality of those who  
differ from him in opinion4  ,every word
 he says has the stamp of genius2 yet   
the calmness1 ease1 and simplicity of   
his conversation is such1 that to       
ordinary minds he might appear an       
ordinary man4444  ,he is always         
powerful1 always gentle1 and always     
seemed quite unconscious of his own     
superiority4'  ,about the same time1    
,mrs4 ,grant received a visit from her  
friend1 ,sir ,walter ,scott1 and it is  
interesting to observe the resemblance  
she saw between the two men4 ',his      
good-nature1 good-humour1 and simplicity
 are truly charming4  ,you never once   

think of his superiority1 because it is 
evident he does not think of it himself4
  ,he1 too1 confirmed the maxim that    
true genius is ever modest and          
careless4'  ,in the autumn of the same  
year he paid his first visit to         
,ireland4  ,he had been asked to preach1
 and crowds as usual thronged to hear   
him4  ,he was greatly interested in the 
,giant's ,causeway and the surrounding  
scenery1 and seems to have relished the 
new aspect of character which ,ireland  
furnished4  ,but the place which had the
 deepest interest for him was           
,gracehill1 a ,moravian settlement1     
where his wife had been educated1 and in
 the cemetery of which was the tomb of  
her mother4  ,to be on the spot where   
his mother-in-law1 whom he had never    
seen1 departed this life2 to converse   
with the physician that had attended her
 in her last hours2 and to walk through 
the school-house where his wife had     
received her education1 thrilled his    
susceptible nature2 it was with         

reluctance that he tore himself from    
these 'bowers of sacredness4'  ,we can  
hardly conceive a warmer or more        
delicate tribute to his wife1 or a      
clearer evidence of his affection for   
her and her family4   ,we have already  
adverted to some of his appearances in  
the ,general ,assembly1 but to these we 
must now add a remarkable pleading1 in  
#ahbh1 in favour of the repeal of the   
,test and ,corporation ,acts4  ,the     
royal assent had just been given to a   
bill repealing these ,acts1 but so vital
 did the matter appear to ,dr4          
,chalmers1 that he proposed that the    
,assembly should present a humble       
,address to his ,majesty1 expressing its
 satisfaction that it was no longer     
requisite to take the sacrament as a    
qualification for civil office4  ,in his
 speech he compared the old law1 viewed 
as a buttress to the ,established       
,church1 to those wooden props which one
 sometimes sees leaning obliquely       
against the walls of a house1--creating 

the impression that when a house needs  
such props1 it is one of the craziest in
 the street4  ,yet he was careful to    
affirm his high regard for an           
established church in itself1 apart from
 such miserable buttresses4  ,his motion
 was lost by #abc votes to #gg1 but in  
spirit the ,assembly agreed with him4   
,as he was making his speech1 his eye   
met that of ,edward ,irving1 who was    
sitting opposite him1 and who was wild  
on the opposite side4  ,irving was then 
delivering lectures on prophecy in      
,edinburgh to enormous audiences4       
,already he was manifesting symptoms of 
that disordered judgment which          
ultimately carried him so far astray1   
and ,chalmers was sorely troubled4  ,as 
to his dealings with his own family1 the
 same warmth of heart continued to show 
itself toward them which his earlier    
years had manifested4  ,when his sister 
,isobel1 next younger to himself1 was   
dying1 in the middle of his first       
session at ,st4 ,andrews 7,january      

#ahbd71 he charged himself with her case
 as if it were his chief interest1 and  
for a twelve-month wrote letter after   
letter to her1 pressing on her with     
equal tenderness and earnestness all    
that bore on her spiritual welfare4 ,he 
was greatly cheered to learn that she   
was full of peace and joy in believing1 
and able to sustain with cheerful       
patience the sore pains that accompanied
 her illness4  ,her life closed with the
 closing year1 and with her declaration 
that ,jesus was fulfilling to her ,his  
latest promise1 for ,he was now coming  
to receive her to ,himself4  ,very      
beautiful1 too1 was his spirit to his   
mother4  ,now that he lived at ,st4     
,andrews1 he could see her often4  ,in  
#ahbf her last remaining daughter was   
married1 and she was left alone4  ,deaf 
and lame1 she was cut off1 to a large   
extent1 from intercourse with others4   
,yet her son could write3 ',what a      
season of delight and of ripening for   
heaven has my mother's old age turned   

out to her1 who1 in the absence of all  
foreign resources1 enjoys a perpetual   
feast in the happy repose of her spirit 
on that ,saviour whom she trusts--that  
,god whom she feels to be reconciled to 
her6'  ,the dear old woman wrote of     
herself to her eldest son1 ,james1 in   
her seventy-seventh year3 ',since ,i    
last wrote to you ,i have had several   
severe complaints4  ,i am very frail and
 very infirm2 but what a blessing it is 
that my memory and the faculties of my  
mind are as active as if ,i were twenty6
  ,i bless ,god that it is so4  ,i feel 
a pleasant contentment and peace of mind
 that the world cannot give nor take    
away4 ,i amuse myself with working and  
reading4  ,god is very good to me1 who  
gives me a contented and happy frame of 
mind2 and ,i trust my ,god will never   
leave nor forsake me1 that when death   
comes1 ,he will also be with me1 and    
give me good hopes through ,jesus       
,christ our ,lord4'  ,it was her son's  
privilege to be much with her during her

 last illness4 ',my mother's has been to
 me by far the most impressive deathbed 
,i ever attended4  ,the predominant     
feature of it has been the deep and     
immovable trust of her spirit upon the  
,saviour4  ,this has been growing apace 
for some years1 and it shed a singular  
and beautiful light on the evening of   
her days4'  ,it could not have been said
 of ,dr4 ,chalmers that they made him   
the keeper of the vineyards1 but his own
 vineyard he had not kept4  ,how like   
the ,apostle he was in being jealous    
over himself with a godly jealousy will 
appear from such extracts from his      
journal as this3 ',i live as if in exile
 from ,god1 in a dry and thirsty land   
where no water is4 ,erred in levity with
 ,mr4 ,duncan in our reading-room2 more 
kind and hospitable to ,mr4 ,dwight than
 formerly on a similar occasion2        
marvelling little of ,god when moving   
through ,his delicious air upon our     
ride1 and in the midst of ,his          
unnumbered beauties4  ,oh that ,i could 

associate with everything the first     
great ,cause of all things6  ,absolutely
 nothing of the serious or sacred in me 
when sitting among eighteen immortals in
 the evening4  ,what an exclusion of    
religion from the world's companies6    
,give me wisdom and principle1 ,o ,god4 
,oh6 let me redeem the time1 and give   
myself to the work of an entire and     
spiritual ,christianity6'  ,sometimes we
 find an entry in his journal3 ',fasted 
somewhat this day1'--so eager was he to 
leave no means of spiritual quickening  
unused4 ,but still we find severe       
judgment against himself4  ',old things 
are not wholly passed away3 the love of 
literature for itself1 and the love of  
literary distinction1 have not passed   
away4  ,let me love literature as one of
 those creatures of ,god which is not to
 be refused1 but received with          
thanksgiving4  ,let me desire literary  
distinction1 but let my desire for it be
 altogether that ,i may add to my       
,christian usefulness1 and promote the  

glory of ,god2 then1 even without these1
 ,i would be a new creature4 ,the       
impression of my defects is not such as 
to overwhelm me1 but stimulate me4'     
,during his ,st4 ,andrews incumbency1   
,dr4 ,chalmers had been offered various 
offices1 notably that of professor of   
moral philosophy in the ,university of  
,london4  ,to none of these offers did  
he accede2 but when1 on #cast ,october  
#ahbg1 the ,magistrates and ,town       
,council of ,edinburgh unanimously      
elected him to fill the chair of        
theology in the university there1 he    
gladly accepted the office1 the more    
especially that it had been arranged    
that he was not to enter on his new     
duties till ,november #ahbh4 ,it was a  
trial to him to part with the calm and  
quiet he had enjoyed at ,st4 ,andrews1  
and again plunge into a vast and        
bustling community like that from which 
he had escaped five years before1 and   
which had left little more than 'the    
dazzling recollection of a feverish and 

troubled dream4'  ,but theology was a   
higher department than moral philosophy1
 and ,edinburgh was a centre of wider   
influence than ,st4 ,andrews4  ,his     
course was clear2 nevertheless1 in his  
closing lectures1 he assured his        
students that nothing in what was before
 him was fitted to displace them from   
his recollections2 but1 on the contrary1
 from his individual acquaintance with  
them all1 he would ever regard his      
connection with them as a more tender   
relationship than he could hope to enjoy
 with the students of ,edinburgh4       
,,chapter ,v                            
,,edinburgh ,,university                
#ahbh-ahdc   ,it was but natural for    
,chalmers1 in entering on his new duties
 as professor of divinity in the        
,university of ,edinburgh1 to rally all 
his energies for a task so important--to
 be performed1 too1 in so commanding a  
sphere4  ,the course of theology through
 which he had to conduct his students   
occupied three sessions1 and for each   

consecutive winter it was necessary for 
him to produce a fresh set of lectures4 
,happily the subjects discussed in his  
first session were already familiar to  
him--natural theology and the evidences 
of ,christianity4  ,what was necessary  
for him in this session1 was to expand1 
complete1 and combine materials that1 in
 a very limited measure1 he had already 
used at ,st4 ,andrews4  ,a greater      
contrast can hardly be imagined than the
 divinity class-room under his          
predecessor and under himself4 ,the last
 professor was a striking illustration  
of what the essential dulness and       
lifelessness of ,moderatism could       
produce when matured and crowned by old 
age and infirmity4 ,two years before the
 appointment of ,chalmers1 a deputation 
of students1 including the late         
,principal ,cunningham and ,dr4 ,wilson 
of ,bombay1 had waited on the professor1
 requesting him 7but in vain7 to provide
 a substitute1 as his voice could not be
 heard4  ,naturally the attendance had  

fallen to a fraction1 and utter         
lifelessness prevailed4 ,with the       
appointment of ,chalmers1 an enthusiasm 
sprang up unprecedented in the history  
of the university4  ',the introductory  
lecture1' says ,dr4 ,hanna1 'was        
delivered amid rapturous applause1 and1 
with scarcely any sensible abatement1   
the excitement of that first meeting was
 sustained throughout the whole of the  
succeeding session4'  ,besides the      
regular students of the church1 a very  
large body of amateurs attended the     
course4  ,from these the professor      
exacted no fee2 but at the end of the   
session1 through the ,rev4 ,robert      
,morehead1 an episcopalian clergyman1   
they asked his acceptance of a sum of   
money1 and1 in an elaborate address1    
expressed the delight and benefit with  
which they had listened to the course4  
,in subsequent years1 ,dr4 ,chalmers    
re-wrote his divinity lectures1 and     
after his death these were published in 
two volumes1 entitled1 ,institutes of   

,theology4  ,besides delivering his own 
lectures1 it was his practice to comment
 on his textbooks1--,butler's ,analogy1 
,paley's ,evidences1 and ,hill's        
,lectures in ,divinity1 his notes on    
these now forming a separate volume of  
his ,posthumous ,works4  ,most          
,calvinistic treatises on systematic    
theology start from the divine point of 
view1 setting forth the nature of ,god2 
and1 on the basis of ,his ,sovereignty1 
explaining his relation to man4         
,chalmers preferred to start with the   
actual condition of man1 the diseased   
and disorganised state into which he had
 fallen1 and to rise from that to the   
provision which ,god had made for his   
recovery through ,jesus ,christ4  ,it is
 not difficult to see what led him to   
prefer this order4  ,in his course of   
moral philosophy1 he had come to an     
abrupt and impassable barrier4 ,natural 
ethics gave abundant proof that man's   
moral nature was disordered1 and that he
 had lost fellowship with ,god2 but it  

threw no light on the awfully important 
questions how that nature was to be     
healed1 and how that fellowship was to  
be restored4  ,the answer to these      
questions1 as ,chalmers often insisted1 
must come from a higher source4 ,it was 
tantalising to a teacher of moral       
philosophy to have to leave man in this 
predicament1 and to be restrained from  
dwelling on the response of revealed    
theology to his eager questionings4     
,and hence1 when revealed theology      
became his theme1 ,chalmers was eager to
 set forth at once the point of junction
 between the two theologies1 to show how
 the revealed took man up at the point  
where nature left him2 in a word1 to    
bring the remedy of revelation into     
connection with the disease of nature4  
,if1 in general1 this order is more     
acceptable to ,arminian than            
,calvinistic divines1 this was not      
,chalmers's reason for preferring it4   
,we have seen that the sovereignty1 the 
all-sufficiency and universal operation 

of ,god1 was the first theological truth
 that took a powerful hold of his mind1 
even before he became reconciled to     
evangelical doctrine4  ,that hold it    
retained ever after4  ,the root of      
,calvinism1 or1 we should rather say1 of
 ,paulinism and ,augustinianism1 was    
planted at the beginning in the very    
heart of his being4  ,but1 from the     
eminently practical character of his    
mind1 it was not his habit to put the   
higher doctrines of ,calvinism in the   
forefront of his preaching1 or even of  
his theology4 ,man must be dealt with as
 a responsible being2 his responsibility
 must ever have its place beside ,god's 
sovereignty4  ,it would be ruinous to   
handle either of these doctrines in such
 a manner as to destroy or even impair  
the force of the other4  ,the           
combination of the two was one of the   
great objects of his theological        
teaching4  ,chalmers's style of         
theological discussion was very unlike  
the common4 ,it was not fashioned on the

 anvil of the schoolmen4  ,there was a  
remarkable combination in it of the     
philosophical and the popular4  ,his    
mind was deeply philosophical1          
delighting in first principles1 and     
eager to concatenate truth1 to establish
 comprehensive laws1 to reconcile       
apparently conflicting doctrines1 and to
 bring what seemed unreasonable into    
harmony with reason4  ,but his style was
 so diffuse and flowing that he appeared
 to want the exactness and correctness  
of a philosophic mind4 ,moreover1 he    
could not confine himself to the        
strictly intellectual aspects of        
theology2 he could not but include its  
moral and practical aspects4  ,in       
bringing out the practical bearings of  
doctrines1 he was liable to become      
somewhat declamatory4  ,another         
peculiarity was his fondness of         
illustration1 the product1 as it seemed1
 of the poetical rather than the        
philosophic faculty4  ,the result was   
that1 as a philosophic theologian1      

,chalmers hardly got justice4  ,and     
since his day philosophic theology has  
passed into a quite different groove4   
,he was just beginning to know something
 of ,german philosophy when he died4    
,he was greatly interested in it1 and   
had he survived1 he would in all        
likelihood have given much of his       
attention to it4  ,but he could only    
have known it at second hand1 and any   
discussion of it in these circumstances 
must have been of but secondary weight4 
,and now that the ,german standpoint has
 become so common1 the theology of ,dr4 
,chalmers1 as well as that of his       
successor1 ,principal ,cunningham1 has  
fallen into the background4  ,but it    
would not be easy to say how much is    
missed by even philosophical students   
when they give the go-by to his         
writings4  ,the academical and other    
honours conferred on him had more       
respect to his position as a preacher   
and a philanthropist than a professor of
 theology4  ,in #ahcj he was appointed  

one of her ,majesty's chaplains for     
,scotland1 the letter from ,sir ,robert 
,peel in which the announcement was made
 to him saying emphatically that the    
honour was conferred in consideration of
 his high character and eminent         
acquirements and services4  ,at the     
,disruption1 when he ceased to be a     
minister of the ,established ,church1 he
 resigned this appointment4  ,it was but
 the other day that it transpired that  
her ,majesty wished him to continue to  
hold it4  ,but such was his             
conscientiousness that1 though the      
salary was placed at his credit by the  
,queen's ,remembrancer till his death in
 #ahdg1 no part of the salary was ever  
drawn either by him or his family4  ,in 
#ahcd he was elected a corresponding    
member of the ,royal ,institute of      
,france1 and in the following year he   
received the degree of ,d4,c4,l4 from   
the ,university of ,oxford4  ,such      
honours as these last were without a    
parallel in the case of any             

,presbyterian minister4 ,about the same 
time he was elected a ,fellow1 and      
thereafter a vice-president1 of the     
,royal ,society of ,edinburgh4  ,among  
other honours1 he was asked by the      
,bridgewater ,trustees to write one of  
their eight treatises on natural        
theology1 the subject assigned to him   
being ',the ,adaptation of ,external    
,nature to the ,moral and ,intellectual 
,constitution of ,man4'  ,this essay was
 afterwards merged in his work on       
,natural ,theology4  ,in his visits to  
,oxford and ,cambridge he received      
almost unbounded attention from the most
 distinguished men in both universities1
 and in his intercourse with them he had
 much enjoyment4  ,at ,cambridge he     
could not restrain his delight at being 
entertained in the college of ,newton--a
 name which held an extraordinary place 
in his regard4  ,in recognition of his  
appointment as a corresponding member of
 the ,french ,institute1 he visited     
,france in #ahch1 and read a paper to   

the ,institute on the ',distinction1    
both in ,principle and ,effect1 between 
a ,legal ,charity for the ,relief of    
,indigence and a ,legal ,charity for the
 ,relief of ,disease4'  ,the right      
treatment of pauperism continued to     
exercise his mind and to draw forth his 
testimony on every available occasion4  
,in #ahbi he was summoned to ,london to 
give evidence before a ,parliamentary   
,committee on the ,irish ,poor-,law4    
,his view was ever the same4  ,a        
compulsory rate created a spirit of     
dependence1 and thereby tended to the   
increase of pauperism and the           
degradation rather than the elevation of
 the people4 ,it was often said that    
comfort tended to the improvement of    
character4 ,his belief was the very     
opposite2 it was character that tended  
to the increase of comfort4  ,his       
success in ,glasgow led him to believe  
that the same system would succeed in   
,ireland4  ,he had sought to stimulate  
friendship and kindliness among all     

classes1 so as to induce them to help   
one another in times of need2 nothing   
had had a greater effect in diminishing 
pauperism4  ,this was far too valuable  
and efficient a weapon to be carelessly 
thrown away4  ,but to all his schemes   
for remedying pauperism there came a    
death-blow in #ahdd4  ,in #ahdj1 ,dr4   
,pultney ,alison of ,edinburgh1 a       
medical practitioner of great eminence  
and not less benevolence1 published a   
pamphlet in which he drew a painful     
picture of the miserable condition of   
the poor1 especially in many parts of   
,glasgow and ,edinburgh1 and strongly   
urged the necessity of an ampler        
provision for them1 secured by law1     
though one result of this would be the  
increase of the cost of ,scottish       
pauperism from ,l#aej1jjj to ,l#hjj1jjj 
per annum4  ,chalmers did what he could 
to counterwork ,dr4 ,alison4  ,when the 
,british ,association met in ,glasgow in
 #ahdj1 he contributed a paper on the   
subject1 and the public interest was so 

great that the meeting where it was     
discussed had to be adjourned to a      
church4 ,he delivered several lectures  
to his students1 which were afterwards  
collected and published in a volume4    
,but the absorbing interest which had   
arisen in the ,church question that was 
now under vehement discussion1 and other
 causes1 chilled the interest of the    
public in pauperism2 and in #ahdd a     
measure was enacted by ,parliament1 in  
opposition to the views of ,chalmers4   
,to him it seemed that even though an   
immediate improvement in the condition  
of the poor might be thus obtained1 it  
must be at the sacrifice of many of the 
virtues that went to elevate them4  ,in 
the political world two great questions 
were agitating the community about the  
time when ,chalmers came to             
,edinburgh--,catholic ,emancipation and 
the ,reform ,bill4  ,chalmers was a     
strenuous advocate of ,catholic         
,emancipation4 ,it did not seem to him  
just1 as a general principle1 to exclude

 any body of the people from a share in 
the government of their country on      
account of their religious opinions4    
,not only so1 but he had a strong       
conviction that the effect of such      
exclusion was to create a prejudice     
against the religion of their opponents 
and prevent them from giving an         
impartial consideration to the arguments
 in its favour4  ,in urging his views at
 a public meeting in ,edinburgh1 he rose
 to a height of eloquence that carried  
his audience by storm4  ,as long as the 
,roman ,catholics were excluded from    
political privileges they would not     
listen to any arguments against their   
faith4  ,but let this injustice be      
removed1 let them be admitted to the    
same platform as the rest of the        
community1 and he looked for a change4  
,and what might they not expect if the  
,bible were to become a familiar book to
 their ,catholic brethren1 and they were
 to receive its lessons with open and   
candid minds8  ,the very thought seemed 

to open a most interesting and hopeful  
vista1 well adapted to be expanded and  
enforced by his gorgeous eloquence4     
,but even had he known that expectations
 of this sort were groundless1 he would 
still have advocated emancipation simply
 as a matter of justice4  ,on the       
question of the ,reform ,bill he did not
 take the popular side4 ,his opposition 
to it comes on us as a surprise4 ,we    
should have expected that a man whose   
motto was ',honour all men1' who had    
already befriended ,catholic            
,emancipation and the repeal of the     
,corporation ,test ,acts1 and who was   
afterwards an advocate of the repeal of 
the ,corn-,laws1 would have approved of 
the very moderate degree of political   
privilege implied in the ten-pound      
suffrage4  ,in a speech in the          
,presbytery of ,edinburgh1 ,dr4         
,chalmers once said3 ',i have already   
professed myself1 and will profess      
myself again1 an out and out and1 ,i    
maintain it1 the only consistent        

,radical4  ,the dearest object of my    
earthly existence is the elevation of   
the common people1 humanised by         
,christianity and raised by the strength
 of their moral habits to a higher      
platform of human nature1 and by which  
they may attain and enjoy the rank and  
consideration due to enlightened and    
companionable men4'  ,but1 though he    
offered no active opposition to the     
measure1 he did not approve of it4  ,in 
this he seems to have been actuated by  
various motives4  ,in the first place1  
he did not think that this was the true 
way to elevate the people4  ,he had     
always maintained that it was mainly by 
a moral and ,christian education1 by the
 cultivation of right principles and    
habits1 that their true welfare was to  
be secured1 and he dreaded anything that
 might lead them to value material or   
political benefits more than this4      
,further1 he had a dread that any       
loosening of the old foundations of     
society might encourage a spirit of     

anarchy and recklessness which would    
ultimately bring the country to ruin4   
,he knew that such a spirit slumbered1  
and more than slumbered1 in many        
breasts1 and he was opposed to any      
measure that would give it the slightest
 encouragement4 ,he did not reckon on   
any abatement of discontent from the    
extension of the suffrage1 and did not  
believe that the political appetite     
would be satisfied with anything short  
of a social revolution4  ,so great were 
his fears1 that on one occasion he      
expressed his apprehension that if the  
government then in office were to be    
removed1 anarchy would immediately take 
possession4 ,nothing would have         
surprised or alarmed him more than to be
 told that by and by a ,conservative    
,government would bring down the        
suffrage to a much lower point than the 
then ,reform ,bill proposed4  ,but still
 more would he have wondered had he     
learned that fifty years after his      
death1 and under all these radical      

changes1 so far from the country being  
abandoned to anarchy1 the law-abiding   
habit of the people would be as strong  
as ever1 and the foundations of society 
as firm4  ,when the great question of   
the ,corn-,laws came up at a later      
period1 ,chalmers was in favour of the  
repeal2 not chiefly for any important   
economical results that he expected from
 that step1 but because it would1 as he 
used to say1 'sweeten the breath of     
society4'  ,he would have been surprised
 at the remarkable commercial results   
which the abolition of the ,corn-,laws1 
and the institution of the system of    
,free ,trade have produced on the       
resources of the country4  ,in addition 
to these considerations1 another ground 
of his opposition to the ,reform ,bill  
was his respect for an aristocracy and  
the influence of an aristocracy1 as     
contributing important elements to the  
welfare of a country4  ,he held that 'in
 every land of law and liberty1 with an 
order of men possessing large and       

independent affluence1 there is better  
security for the general comfort and    
virtue of the whole than when society   
presents an aspect of almost            
unalleviated plebeianism4'  ,but1 'it is
 not for the sake of its ornaments and  
its chivalry alone that we want the high
 rank of our aristocracy to be          
upholden4'  ,it was for the spirit that 
they circulated through all ranks--a    
more noble spirit1 he thought1 than     
either ,france with its ',citizen       
,king1' or the ,united ,states with     
their universal social equality1 could  
inspire4  ,in his intercourse with the  
aristocracy1 it was the best and most   
congenial of them that admitted him to  
their society1 and nothing charmed him  
more than to find a combination of rank 
and wealth with ,christian principle and
 philanthropic activity1 along with the 
charm of refined and gentle but         
unassuming manners4  ,such movements as 
the ,reform ,bill he deemed hurtful to  
the influence of the aristocracy1 and   

therefore disadvantageous to the welfare
 of the country4  ,it was a different   
set of aristocrats1 and a different kind
 of policy he had to criticise when1 on 
occasion of his last visit to ,london1  
he gave evidence to a ,parliamentary    
,committee in connection with the       
hardships suffered by congregations of  
the ,free ,church from the refusal of   
sites by aristocratic landowners4       
,undoubtedly the main activity of       
,chalmers during his ,edinburgh life was
 connected with the work of the church4 
,but before proceeding to this1 it may  
be well to advert to his literary       
activity1 which1 amid all his other     
occupations1 was very remarkable4  ,we  
have already noticed his ,bridgewater   
treatise1 afterwards reconstructed in   
his ,natural ,theology4  ,we have also  
noticed his volume on the subject of the
 ,poor-,laws4  ,it was during this      
period that he completed and published  
in four volumes his ,lectures on the    
,epistle to the ,romans1 which had been 

begun but not finished as pulpit        
discourses in ,glasgow2 regarding which 
the late ,mr4 ,isaac ,taylor gave his   
judgment that they would probably be the
 most enduring of his writings4  ,in    
this period likewise he collected and   
edited his whole works1 amounting to the
 goodly number of twenty-five volumes4  
,of a large number of his pamphlets1    
introductory essays1 articles in        
reviews1 and other miscellaneous        
writings1 our space allows us to say    
nothing4  ,but the work of this period  
which ,chalmers himself thought most of 
was1 his treatise in two volumes on     
,political ,economy4  ,the subject had  
an attraction for him ever since his    
attendance on certain classes in the    
,university of ,edinburgh in #agii-ahja4
 ,his first published volume had been on
 one of its topics4 ,in the ,university 
of ,st4 ,andrews he had given a course  
of lectures upon it4 ,it may seem       
strange that1 after his change of views 
and intense consecration to spiritual   

work1 he should still have felt so      
lively an interest in a subject usually 
considered the driest and most secular  
in the whole round of the sciences4     
,but1 as he remarked in his preface1    
there were two ways of presenting       
political economy4  ,one was merely to  
expound its doctrines2 the other1 along 
with this1 to consider its applications4
  ,it was with this latter object in    
view that ,dr4 ,chalmers bestowed so    
earnest attention on the subject4  ,on  
the doctrines of political economy1     
indeed1 he held and expounded many      
original views1--views which were       
treated with undeserved contempt by the 
,quarterly ,review1 but of which so high
 an authority as ,mr4 ,stuart ,mill     
wrote in a very different spirit4       
,accepting it as the great aim of       
political economy to make the most of a 
country's material resources1 and       
advance to the utmost the comfort and   
prosperity of its people1 ,dr4 ,chalmers
 urged with great earnestness that all  

its methods were in themselves          
incompetent to secure this end4         
,without due provision for the moral and
 spiritual nature1 the true welfare and 
the true comfort of men could never be  
achieved4 ,besides this1 he held that   
society was ever tending to a condition 
which could not but defeat the very ends
 which political economy had in view4   
,it was the constant tendency of        
population to increase1 and thus outgrow
 production--outgrow the provision for  
the supply of its material wants4       
,however much production might be       
increased1 it could not be increased in 
the ratio of population1 so that at     
length a time must come when1 in spite  
of every expedient1 destitution must set
 in4  ,the only safeguard against this  
was to raise the intelligence and the   
moral habits of the people1 to inspire  
them with a desire for a more civilised 
kind of life1 to give them a taste for  
higher enjoyments1 and induce them to   
cultivate the industry1 the skill1 and  

the self-control by which these might be
 attained4  ,but how would this check   
population8  ,dr4 ,chalmers was in this 
respect in sympathy with ,malthus2 he   
wished to check early and improvident   
marriages1 and the best means of doing  
this was to elevate the standard of     
living1 so that marriage should be      
delayed until the means of reaching this
 standard were realised4  ,it must be   
owned1 we think1 that this was a        
one-sided view4  ,there are undoubted   
moral risks of a very serious kind      
involved in the delay of marriage until 
an age when the passions have somewhat  
cooled down4  ,it was the habit of      
,chalmers to let his mind dwell at one  
time on but one aspect of a subject1 and
 not give full weight to                
counterbalancing considerations4  ,most 
readers will agree thoroughly with him  
in his view that improved taste and     
enlarged views must bring in their wake 
increased comfort and a higher social   
standing2 but the system of political   

economy that rested on the ,malthusian  
principle is not entitled to be placed  
much higher than other systems2 and the 
only security for moral improvement lies
 in that ,christian education and       
,christian influence on which ,chalmers 
laid so much stress1 and which came not 
from political economy1 but from the    
,gospel of ,jesus ,christ4  ,whatever we
 may think of his outlet from the       
insoluble problem of political economy1 
we must recognise with admiration his   
overwhelming sense of the value of this 
,christian education and training with a
 view to the highest welfare of mankind4
  ,this indeed was the reigning idea of 
,chalmers1 pursued steadily throughout  
his whole life1 alike in his sermons1   
his books1 his scientific researches1   
his practical schemes1 his intercourse  
with his fellows1 and1 we may add1 his  
communion with his ,god4  ,if ever a    
life had unity1 it was that of          
,chalmers4  ,to get men impregnated with
 the spirit of ,christ1 and alive to the

 lessons of ,his ,gospel was1 one way or
 other1 his continual aim4  ,not only   
did he strive to bring individual men   
into contact with ,christ1 so that they 
should receive salvation1 and partake of
 spiritual life1 but he desired that all
 the influences that played on society  
should be such as to encourage the      
,christian spirit and ,christian habits4
  ,national education without           
,christianity was a blunder not to be   
thought of4 ,the rulers of the state    
ought to encourage the church as the    
highest instrument of good to the       
people4  ,the division of the country   
into parishes and districts was         
important as securing a more efficient  
ministration of ,christianity to every  
section of the community4  ,a           
rate-supported system of relief to the  
poor was atrocious1 because it hindered 
the exercise of ,christian habits1 it   
deadened the very charity which it      
professed to promote4 ,interference with
 the spiritual function of the          

,christian church was an evil not to be 
endured2 it was putting chains on the   
great instrument of the world's         
emancipation2 it was arresting the one  
great force through which all things    
were to be made new4  ,daily1 and almost
 hourly1 it was the prayer of ,chalmers 
that he might be guided from above in   
all his efforts to bring individuals and
 the community alike under ,christian   
influence and ,christian habits4  ,and  
it was the practice of these private    
devotions that brought to him the       
wisdom1 the strength1 and the patience  
with which he laboured at the utmost    
stretch of his powers1 and without      
intermission1 for the ,christian good of
 his country4   ,but we must now glance 
at some of his labours in connection    
with the church during the period now   
under review4  ,in #ahcb we find him    
occupying the chair of the ,general     
,assembly1 and signalising his year of  
office by bringing about1 in conjunction
 with ,lord ,belhaven1 the ,lord ,high  

,commissioner1 the abolition of a       
practice of ,sabbath dinners and        
,sabbath breakfasts that had hitherto   
prevailed4  ,next year1 as a member of  
,assembly1 he introduced the celebrated 
measure known as the ,veto1 but without 
success1 his proposal being rejected by 
a majority of twelve4 ,as the           
evangelical revival advanced1           
dissatisfaction with the law of         
patronage advanced apace4  ,when the    
,reform ,act came into operation1 it was
 felt to be but reasonable that as the  
voice of the people was now to be heard 
in the choice of their rulers1 it ought 
to be heard likewise in the choice of   
their ministers4  ,to give them this    
voice was the object of the veto law4   
,even under the law of patronage there  
was a provision by which the presentee  
must have a 'call' from the people2 but 
it had never been settled what this call
 meant1 and in practice it had          
degenerated into a mere form4  ,it was  
thought by some that it would have been 

wiser for the church to define the call2
 but the 'veto' was preferred1 because  
it was held to imply a smaller measure  
of change4  ,it made it the law of the  
church that if a majority of male heads 
of families1 being communicants1        
objected to the settlement of a         
presentee as their minister1 the        
presbytery were not to take him on trial
 for ordination4  ,it appeared to ,dr4  
,chalmers that it would have been well  
for the church before passing this law  
to have the authority of the            
,legislature in her support1 but he was 
assured by lawyers of the highest       
eminence1 including the law officers of 
the ,crown1 that there could not be a   
doubt as to the legal right of the      
church to enact this measure4 ,next year
 it was again brought forward1 the      
motion in its favour being made by the  
first ,lord ,moncreiff4  ,on this       
occasion it was carried1 and became the 
law of the church2 but events showed    
that it would have been well had the    

advice of ,chalmers been followed before
 it was enacted2 for it was on the very 
question of the competency of the       
church1 as by law established1 to enact 
it that the great conflict arose which1 
ten years after1 rent the church in two4
  ,it was impossible for ,dr4 ,chalmers 
to be long in ,edinburgh without having 
his attention turned to the religious   
wants of the people there4 ,in the      
course of a local controversy1 carried  
on with much bitterness1 regarding the  
',annuity ,tax'--an unpopular impost for
 defraying the salaries of the city     
ministers--a proposal had been made to  
abolish collegiate charges1 and thus    
reduce the number of ministers from     
eighteen to thirteen4  ,chalmers had    
strongly protested against the proposal1
 and claimed in the interest of the city
 that the ministers set free from       
collegiate charges should be intrusted  
with new parishes1 wherever additional  
churches were needed4  ,under the ,town 
,council1 things had been so managed    

that the incomes of the clergy had sunk 
to ,l#djj a year2 and the idea of new   
charges was unpopular1 because the      
,council would have had to provide      
churches2 this opposition grieved       
,chalmers1 and the only consideration   
that comforted him 7as he wrote to a    
friend7 was the increased readiness of  
the friends of the church to contribute 
for its extension4  ,for himself1 he had
 hitherto been working in the ,cowgate1 
in the hope that a new parochial charge 
would be set up for that district4  ,but
 at the time 7#ahcd71 the ,town ,council
 had refused to make the necessary      
arrangements for that purpose1 although 
a few years later1 the parish of ,st4   
,john's was erected1 and ,dr4 ,guthrie  
appointed to it4  ,meanwhile1 ,dr4      
,chalmers resolved to transfer his      
attention to another needy and neglected
 district--the suburban village of      
,dean1 or ,water of ,leith4 ,he had good
 hopes that he would be able to erect a 
parochial economy there4  ,the ,assembly

 of that year had appointed him convener
 of a committee for church              
accommodation2 and in the summer1       
besides encouraging local efforts1 he   
tried to collect a central fund1 for    
which in ,july he had made a beginning1 
having raised the sum of ,l#afgg1 #ajs4 
,he had begun1 as he said1 with the     
higher kinds of game--dukes and         
marquises1 but by and by he would come  
down to parochial associations and      
subscriptions of a penny a week4  ,he   
believed that the 'ditchers' of the     
country properly cultivated might be    
found as productive as the 'dukes4'     
,anyhow1 the moral influence would be   
greater1 because every man that gave a  
penny a week would be sure to feel a    
lively interest in the cause4  ,and this
 was the beginning of that great scheme 
of church extension which for several   
years engrossed his energies1 as it     
proved also the forerunner of his ,free 
,church ,sustentation ,fund1 which has  
proved such a monument of his financial 

sagacity and skill4  ,from ,glasgow an  
important proposal had been made by his 
friend and former coadjutor1 ,mr4       
,william ,collins1 that steps should be 
taken at once to add twenty churches to 
the ,established ,church4  ,thirteen    
years before1 ,chalmers had made the    
same proposal1 but it had been scouted  
as visionary4  ,evidently his influence 
had been telling on the community4 ,it  
was no longer a devout imagination4     
,mr4 ,collins and his friends resolved  
to take no steps in the way of building1
 till ,l#bj1jjj should be subscribed4   
,in the month of ,october that amount   
was realised4  ,the success of this     
local effort gave a great impulse to the
 general scheme4  ,the proposal under   
the general scheme was1 that the        
churches should be erected from         
voluntary contributions1 but that the   
,government should grant a small        
endowment to each congregation towards  
its annual expenses4  ,to promote this  
part of the scheme1 a deputation was    

sent to ,london1 to solicit the support 
of the ,prime ,minister and other       
influential members of the ,government4 
,at first it seemed as if ,lord         
,melbourne and his cabinet would        
cordially agree to the proposal1 but    
vehement opposition being offered to it 
by the dissenters1 a change soon came   
over the spirit of their dream4         
,unwilling to offend an important       
section of their supporters in          
,scotland1 they resolved1 as a sort of  
compromise1 to appoint a commission that
 should go over the country1 take       
evidence as to the amount of the        
existing provision for the religious    
wants of the people1 and report the     
results from time to time4 ,it was a    
great disappointment to ,dr4 ,chalmers  
that in this way a long delay would have
 to take place1 and still more that the 
personnel of the commission showed a    
tendency unfavourable to the scheme4    
,the commission buckled to their work1  
and at intervals issued reports which in

 the main bore out the contention of    
,dr4 ,chalmers4  ,then it was announced 
that a measure would be introduced2 by  
and by it was said that that measure was
 abandoned4  ,dr4 ,chalmers and his     
friends were more favourably received by
 ,sir ,robert ,peel and other leading   
,conservatives2 but as they were not in 
power at the time nothing was done4     
,the vacillating conduct of the ,whig   
,government made no favourable          
impression on ,chalmers3 among his      
friends he was ready enough to proclaim1
 in his ,fifeshire dialect1 ',i have a  
moral loathing of thae ,whugs4'  ,but if
 there was disappointment from the      
,government1 there was extraordinary    
encouragement from the people4 ,in #ahch
 he was able to announce to the ,general
 ,assembly1 as the fruit of four years' 
labour1 that there had been added to the
 ,establishment nearly two hundred      
churches1 and that upwards of ,l#bjj1jjj
 had been contributed for their         
erection4  ,it was a result wholly      

unprecedented1 and on all hands was     
regarded with amazement1 and as a most  
wonderful testimony to the eloquence and
 energy with which he had advocated the 
cause4  ,worn out1 and much in need of  
rest though he felt himself to be1 he   
was induced to remain for some time     
longer at the head of the committee1 and
 among other labours he added that of a 
tour over the whole country1 in which he
 advocated his plan with his usual      
eloquence4  ,but1 in the ,forties1 the  
shadow of the conflict between the civil
 and ecclesiastical courts had fallen on
 the ,extension ,scheme1 and it began to
 languish4  ,in the course of his       
convenership the progress of the        
undertaking had been as follows3--  ,in 
#ahce1 #fb churches1 ,l#fe1fbj   #a     
#aa-c_/d ,in #ahcf1 #bf                 
#cb1cei  #ab    #f-c_/d ,in #ahcg1 #fg  
#ei1caa   #f    #j ,in #ahch1 #cb       
#da1ahc   #a    #a-c_/d ,in #ahci1 #ad  
#eb1iei  #ad   #ad-c_/d ,in #ahdj1 #ae  
#cf1jee   #h    #h-c_/d ,in #ahda1  #f  

#ah1beb   #f    #f-        ---          
------------------ ,total1  #bbb        
,l#cje1gda  #aa    #c-a_/b   ,unhappily1
 a painful controversy arose among the  
home-churches out of the effort to      
obtain a national endowment for the new 
parishes4 ,nonconformists1 for the most 
part1 viewed the application with great 
dislike1 and opposed it tooth and nail4 
,it was bad enough1 in their view1 that 
a particular church should be maintained
 from the public funds1 and enjoy       
peculiar social privileges2 but it was  
not to be borne that it should receive a
 further grant of public money1 of      
which1 of course1 nonconformists would  
have to pay their share4  ,the right way
 to support ministers1 according to the 
,new ,testament1 was by the voluntary   
contributions of the people4  ,this1    
moreover1 was a benefit to the people   
themselves2 it led them to take a       
greater interest in their church1 and to
 attach more value to its ministrations4
 ,thus it happened that every           

church-extension meeting was more or    
less an anti-voluntary meeting1 the     
speakers who pled for the scheme        
vehemently upholding the principle of an
 establishment4  ,of the younger men who
 fought on this ground with ,chalmers1  
none was more strenuous than the late   
,dr4 ,guthrie4 ,but ,guthrie lived to   
change his view2 and in an              
autobiographical fragment he tells us1  
that even when he was denouncing the    
voluntary system1 in his secret heart he
 honoured1 and even envied1 the men     
whose living was derived solely from the
 freewill offerings of their people4    
,the great objection of ,chalmers to the
 voluntary system was that it was       
inadequate4  ,he held it incapable of   
making provision for the wants of a     
whole community1 and especially         
incapable of those aggressive efforts   
that were needed for bringing in the    
masses who had fallen from the          
profession of religion4  ,in planting   
churches1 voluntaryism acted on the     

principle of attraction1 aiming mainly  
at drawing in those who were more or    
less in sympathy with itself1 and       
disposed to accept its ministrations4   
,the theory of an established church1 on
 the other hand1 demanded a provision   
for the whole of the population1 and    
supplied a ministry whose duty was to   
look after all the people1 and ply them 
with the offers and the injunctions of  
,christianity4  ,it was to make the     
practice and theory of the church in    
some degree to correspond that he had   
undertaken and prosecuted his great     
church-extension movement4  ,for the    
nonconformists themselves he always     
cherished a profound regard1 and a      
grateful sense of the invaluable service
 they had rendered to the country when  
the ,gospel was seldom preached         
elsewhere4  ,of this he had given signal
 proof when he took sittings in a       
congregational chapel for his family at 
,st4 ,andrews4  ,nothing could have been
 further from his desire than to drive  

nonconformists into a corner1 or make   
them feel that they stood in the way of 
his more comprehensive enterprise4  ,yet
 many of them did feel1 and could hardly
 fail to feel1 that they were obstacles 
to the working of a complete territorial
 scheme4  ,they were like squatters or  
interlopers in a territory allocated and
 divided among regular settlers4        
,unconsciously ,dr4 ,chalmers stimulated
 a feeling among the ,established clergy
 that they1 and they only1 were the     
rightful spiritual guides of the people2
 a spirit of which he himself was wholly
 destitute1 but which was highly        
agreeable to human nature1 and in many  
cases rears its arrogant head at the    
present day4  ,it was a favourite       
argument of the voluntaries that an     
established church could not be a free  
church2 it was subject to the authority 
of the state1 and could not be free1 as 
the nonconformists were1 to obey its    
divine ,head in all things4  ,this      
position ,chalmers and his friends      

resolutely denied4  ,the alliance       
between church and state was an alliance
 between two independent powers1 each of
 which was supreme in its own           
department4  ,in forming a connection   
with the state1 the church did not      
surrender one particle of its           
independence2 it remained as free as    
ever to follow the guidance of its      
divine ,head in every point where ,he   
had expressed ,his will4  ,nay1 this    
freedom was expressly secured by the    
statutes of the realm4  ,it knew to its 
cost how eager the rulers of the country
 had often been to deprive it of its    
freedom1 and at every important crisis  
of its history1 when it renewed or      
revised its alliance with the state1 it 
had taken care that its freedom should  
be expressly conceded4  ,it was while   
the voluntary controversy was at its    
height that the collision between the   
civil and ecclesiastical courts became  
acute1 for this very question1 the      
independence and freedom of the church1 

was the great bone of contention4  ,when
 the decisions of the ,court of ,session
 and the ,house of ,lords were given1 it
 became only too apparent that1 in the  
judgment of the civil courts1 the church
 did not possess the independence it had
 claimed4 ,this was a dreadful1 a       
shattering blow to ,dr4 ,chalmers1 and  
when it was authoritatively declared1   
notwithstanding all his intense         
partiality for an established church1 he
 at once severed his alliance with the  
state4  ,the main ground on which he    
acted was1 that a church enthralled to  
the state could never be that beneficent
 instrument1 that powerful moral agent1 
for which he valued it1--could never be 
the means of training the people in     
those holy ways1 those high moral and   
spiritual habits1 on which their highest
 welfare depended4  ,it was partly in   
order to advance his church-extension   
scheme1 but more especially to maintain 
the true theory of a church             
establishment1 and the church's         

independence in its union with the      
state1 that he delivered in the ,hanover
 ,square ,rooms1 ,london1 in ,april and 
,may #ahch1 that series of lectures on  
the ',establishment and ,extension of   
,national ,churches' which raised his   
fame as an orator to its very highest   
pitch4 ',nothing1' wrote the late ,dr4  
,begg1 who accompanied him1 'could      
exceed the enthusiasm which prevailed in
 ,london4  ,the great city seemed       
stirred to its very depths4'  ,at the   
fourth and fifth lectures1 an ,american 
clergyman who was present wrote that he 
found the room densely packed long      
before the hour1 and evidently for the  
most part by the higher classes4        
',dukes1 marquises1 earls1 viscounts1   
barons1 baronets1 bishops1 and members  
of ,parliament were to be seen in every 
direction4 ,after considerable delay and
 impatient waiting1 the great charmer   
made his entrance1 and was welcomed with
 clappings and shouts of applause that  
grew more and more intense till the     

noise became almost deafening4' ',the   
concluding lecture1' says ,dr4 ,hanna1  
'was graced by the presence of nine     
prelates of the ,church of ,england4    
,the tide that had been rising and      
swelling each successive day now burst  
all bounds4  ,carried away by the       
impassioned utterance of the speaker1   
long ere the close of some of his finest
 passages was reached1 the voice of the 
lecturer was drowned in the applause1   
the audience rising from their seats1   
waving their hats above their heads1 and
 breaking out into tumultuous           
approbation4'  ,an event that somewhat  
disturbed the line of ,dr4 ,chalmers's  
argument for the freedom of the church  
had taken place just before he left     
,edinburgh4 ,on the #hth ,march #ahch1  
the ,court of ,session1 in giving       
judgment on the famous ,auchterarder    
case1 found the veto law of the church  
to be illegal and ultra vires1 and began
 to take steps for the reversal of all  
that the church had done in connection  

with it4  ,the judgment had not become  
final1 for it was subject to appeal to  
the ,house of ,lords1 and in his        
lectures ,dr4 ,chalmers made no         
reference to it4  ,but when1 in #ahci1  
the ,house of ,lords affirmed the       
decision of the lower court1 and when   
,lords ,brougham and ,cottenham1 in     
expressing their views1 scouted alike   
the principle of the veto and of the    
independence of the church 7although    
,lord ,brougham had at one time strongly
 commended the veto71 ,dr4 ,chalmers    
made a full statement of his views in   
the ,general ,assembly4  ,before that   
time he had been disposed to think that 
if the judgment of the ,court of        
,session should be affirmed by the      
,lords1 the best course for the church  
would be to give up the veto1 reserving 
power to judge of each case by itself1  
and act accordingly4  ,in such a case as
 that of ,auchterarder1 for example1    
where the presentee had been vetoed by  
#bhg out of #cjj male heads of families 

and called only by two1 the presbytery  
might have decided that in these        
circumstances the call was really no    
call1 and therefore the presentee could 
not be taken on trial4  ,but1 according 
to the views expressed by the judges1   
this course would have been as illegal  
as the veto itself4  ,dr4 ,chalmers     
therefore moved that1 while the         
,assembly would make no claim to the    
temporalities of ,auchterarder1 they    
would still maintain the principle that 
no minister be intruded on an opposing  
congregation1 and that a committee be   
appointed to confer with the            
,government1 in order to prevent any    
further collision between the civil and 
ecclesiastical authorities4  ,a         
magnificent speech of three hours was   
delivered in support of this motion1    
which1 after a long discussion1 was     
carried by a majority of forty-nine4    
,it has been remarked1 that never was   
the eloquence of ,chalmers more         
,demosthenic than in his orations for   

the freedom of the church4  ,and this   
intense regard for her freedom was no   
new notion of his3 so far back as #ahad1
 in a speech in the ,assembly on the    
plurality question1 he had maintained   
that 'the church had power to reject a  
presentee for any reason1 or for no     
reason at all4'  ,to ,chalmers1 the     
enforced intrusion of unacceptable      
presentees was not the only1 perhaps not
 even the chief1 interference with the  
liberty of the church4  ,when it was    
decided that the church had no power to 
erect new parishes or to give their     
ministers the usual status of her       
clergymen2 and1 likewise1 that she had  
no power to readmit into her pale any of
 those who in former years had left     
it1--cases in which no shadow of        
temporal interest was involved--it      
seemed to him that such restrictions on 
her liberty were not only intolerable1  
but that they tended completely to      
shatter her efficiency4  ,of the four   
years of long and weary negotiation that

 followed the passing of this           
resolution1 we have no space to write at
 any length4 ,alongside of negotiations 
with ,government there ran a stream of  
decisions both by the civil and church  
courts which greatly complicated the    
situation4  ,new cases of intrusion     
occurred1 pre-eminent among which was   
the case of ,marnoch1 where the         
presentee was vetoed by #bfa out of #cjj
 male heads of families1 and had the    
name of but a single parishioner        
attached to his call4  ,for insisting on
 his settlement1 the seven members of   
presbytery who took this course were    
first suspended and then deposed4  ,as  
to negotiations with ,government1 a     
considerable share of the interviews and
 correspondence fell to ,dr4 ,chalmers4 
,with ,lord ,melbourne1 the ,prime      
,minister1 he did not hit it off4  ,on a
 former occasion1 as ,chalmers himself  
told ,dr4 ,gordon1 when his lordship    
heard of a deputation from the ,scottish
 church1 he expressed a hope 'that that 

d--d fellow ,chalmers was not among     
them4'  ,unable to make anything of the 
,whigs1 ,chalmers and his friends now   
turned to the ,tories1 who at one time  
seemed friendly1 but with them1 too1    
negotiations finally broke off4 ,in     
these negotiations there was a painful  
episode between ,dr4 ,chalmers and ,lord
 ,aberdeen4  ,a bill introduced by his  
lordship did not come up to what        
,chalmers understood him to have        
promised1 and he was unable to support  
it4 ,lord ,aberdeen complained bitterly1
 and in the ,house of ,lords accused the
 ,non-intrusion ,committee of giving an 
unscrupulous report of their            
conversations with him1 and he believed 
they had behaved in the same way to the 
,government4 ,for ,dr4 ,chalmers he had 
a special gibe4  ',a reverend gentleman1
 a great leader in the ,general         
,assembly1 having brought the church    
into a state of jeopardy and peril1 had 
left it to find its way out of the      
difficulty as well as it could4'        

,evidently these were the words of a man
 who had lost his temper1 and forgot    
what was due in courtesy1 to say nothing
 of charity1 to absent men4             
,unfortunately his son and biographer1  
,sir ,arthur ,gordon1 has made the      
matter worse by a vulgar charge against 
,dr4 ,chalmers1 that he was overborne by
 the violent men in the non-intrusion   
committee1 and1 being afraid of losing  
his leadership1 succumbed to them1 and  
had not the moral courage to avow his   
change of opinion4  ,dr4 ,chalmers was  
not in the habit of succumbing to any   
one1 for no one stood more independently
 on his own judgment2 and1 as to        
trimming and shuffling1 his whole life  
showed him to be incapable of such      
conduct4  ,the event proved who was in  
the right2 ,lord ,aberdeen afterwards   
carried his bill1 which proved a        
miserable failure4  ,as ,dr4 ,donald    
,fraser has remarked1 it had to be given
 up as a nuisance4  ,and then1 under a  
,conservative ,government1 came the     

abolition of patronage6#c    #c ,sir    
,arthur ,gordon allows 7#a7 that under  
the unworthy influence of       the then
 ,dean of ,faculty 7,hope7 ,lord        
,aberdeen was induced to omit           
certain provisions he had at first      
inserted2 and 7#b7 that the then        
,lord ,advocate 7,sir ,w4 ,rae7 said in 
public that the ,government             
measure would exceed in liberality even 
the liberal measure       proposed by   
the ,duke of ,argyll4  ,in the course of
 ,sir ,arthur's       narrative we find 
the astounding statement1 that though   
,lord       ,aberdeen sat as an elder in
 the ,assembly from #ahah to #ahbh1 he  
never once received the ,sacrament in a 
,presbyterian church6  ,chalmers had now
 had experience of both the great       
political parties1 and with equally     
disappointing results4 ,his grand       
project of a church commensurate with   
the necessities of the country 7so far  
as these were not provided for by the   
nonconformists7 was nearly as far off as

 ever4 ,but his experience in raising   
money for church extension gave him hope
 in another direction4  ,when he knocked
 at the door of the ,whigs on behalf of 
church extension he was refused4  ,when 
he knocked at the door of the ,tories1  
he found that they might have endowed   
the church1 but they would have enslaved
 her4  ,they viewed the church 'as an   
engine of state1 not as an instrument of
 usefulness4'  ,he was now about to     
knock at the door of the people2 and he 
cherished no little expectation that    
through them he would yet succeed in his
 scheme of making ,scotland a spiritual 
garden4  ,dr4 ,chalmers concurred       
cordially with the measures taken by the
 church to resist1 or at least protest  
against1 the encroachments of the civil 
courts4  ,he approved of the ,claim of  
,right as affirmed by the ,assembly in  
,may #ahdb4  ,he preached the opening   
sermon at a convocation of ministers in 
,november #ahdb1 and was a leading      
counsellor at that remarkable gathering 

where from four to five hundred         
ministers pledged themselves to leave   
the ,establishment if no measure of     
relief were passed by the ,legislature4 
,his view1 as to the duty of the church1
 when no such measure of relief was     
provided1 was as clear as day4  ,amid   
the numberless perplexities that for    
years past had caused such anxious      
consultations and fears lest a wrong    
step should be taken1 he found it an    
unspeakable relief that the path of duty
 in the last and most important step of 
all was so clear4  ,and so1 on the      
famous #ahth of ,may #ahdc1 ,dr4        
,chalmers was at the side of the        
,moderator1 who happened to be his own  
colleague in the university1 ,dr4       
,welsh2 the names of both were          
subscribed to the ,protest that was laid
 on the table of the ,assembly2 and when
 ,tanfield was reached1 and a ,general  
,assembly of the ,free ,church of       
,scotland was constituted1 its first act
 was to call to its chair the man whose 

reputation throughout the ,christian    
world was by far the highest1 and whose 
influence in bringing about the         
,disruption had been by far the         
greatest4  ,regarding that ,assembly1   
,chalmers wrote to his sister1 ',never  
was there a happier ,assembly1 with a   
happier collection of faces1 than in our
 ,free ,church1 with consciences        
disburdened1 and casting themselves     
without care and with all the confidence
 of children on the ,providence of that 
,god who never forsakes the families of 
the faithful4'  ,all must see1 whatever 
their own opinion of the case1 that it  
could only have been considerations of  
extraordinary force that constrained    
,dr4 ,chalmers to forgo that connection 
with the state which he had so long held
 to be indispensable for the successful 
work of the church1 and to cast her on  
the voluntary offerings of the people4  
,from the hour when the noble ambition  
to turn ,scotland into a spiritual      
garden first filled his soul1 the aid of

 the state had appeared a sine quct1 non
 to the accomplishment of this great    
object4  ,what then induced him to part 
with it8  ,only because he was          
profoundly convinced that the subjection
 which the civil courts demanded would  
prove fatal to its spiritual life and   
power1 fatal to its spirit of enterprise
 and activity1 fatal to that largeness  
of heart and confidence of success which
 were necessary for great undertakings1 
and fatal to its own character as a     
consistent and fearless witness for the 
supremacy of the church's head4  ,if it 
should flinch in its hour of trial1 it  
deserved to be flung aside as a         
dishonoured and useless thing4  ,if the 
decisions of the ,court of ,session and 
the ,house of ,lords had been less      
extravagant1 if they had even left to   
the church a vestige of power to give   
effect to the voice of the people in the
 settlement of ministers1 and in the    
other matters involved1 ,chalmers would 
still have clung to the connection of   

church and state4  ,it was simply the   
extravagance of the claims of the civil 
courts to supreme jurisdiction that     
placed ,chalmers among the leaders of   
the ,disruption1 for he did not take the
 strong view that some of the other     
leaders took of the divine right of the 
question4 ,whether he was sanguine      
enough to hope that the ,free ,church   
disestablished would be able to do for  
,scotland all that might have been done 
by a free ,established ,church1 he      
certainly believed that1 in the         
circumstances1 the ,free ,church was by 
far the more likely body to grapple with
 the enterprise that had ever floated   
before him4  ,writing to ,sir ,george   
,sinclair in #ahda1 he said1 ',looking  
to the ,christian interests of          
,scotland1 ,i believe that more good    
could be done by the instrumentality of 
a disendowed church than by an          
established church exposed to such      
interferences as those of the ,court of 
,session during the last few years4'    

,and1 under this belief1 what remained  
of his life was devoted to the building 
up and strengthening of the ,free       
,church1 in the earnest hope that much  
of the blessing for which he had longed 
and worked and prayed so intensely would
 in this way be realised for his        
country4   ,from the heated atmosphere  
of public controversy we make a pleasant
 transition when we accompany ,chalmers 
on the visits he paid from time to time 
to ,london and other places1 and when we
 sit by him in the privacy of his home4 
,we see something of the spontaneous    
outflow of both mind and heart2 we are  
charmed with his genuine humanity1 his  
interest in life1 his humour and        
simplicity1 and1 in his devotional      
hours1 with his profound humility and   
intense aspiration after holiness4  ,he 
was not much of a traveller1 and he lost
 not a little thereby4  ,all that he    
ever saw of the ,continent was ,paris   
and its environs4 ,had it been his lot  
to gaze on the sublimities of the ,alps2

 had he looked on the city of the seven 
hills1 and wandered by the ,po and the  
,tiber2 had he pursued his way to ,egypt
 and the ,east1 and familiarised himself
 with those objects that bore1 in his   
own phrase1 so much of the 'hoar of     
antiquity'2 had he visited ,berlin1 and 
,leipsic1 and ,halle1 and ,tuebingen1   
and become familiar with the working of 
the ,german mind1 he would have         
experienced new developments of soul and
 spirit1 and cut off all ground for the 
estimate of ,carlyle that he was a man  
of narrow culture4 ,it is remarkable    
that the ,united ,states seem never to  
have come within his horizon till about 
the very end4  ,but when he did travel1 
no man could have enjoyed travelling    
more1 whether his attention was turned  
to the objects of nature or of art1 or  
whether he regaled himself with the     
society of new and interesting friends4 
,with a loyal and lively remembrance of 
his family1 he continued the habit of   
writing journal-letters to his wife and 

daughters1 giving the fullest details of
 all that he saw and heard4  ,usually   
his journeys to ,london were occasioned 
by church business1 and on these        
occasions he had little to say except of
 any interesting persons that he met4   
,but as he came in contact with not a   
few of the greatest celebrities of the  
age1 and invariably received much       
attention from them1 these brief notices
 are very interesting4 ,sometimes he    
would quite captivate an ,englishman1   
and lay the foundation of a lifelong    
intimacy and correspondence4 ,with all  
the members of the ,earlham family that 
he met 7the ,gurneys7 he was greatly    
taken2 but one of them1 ,joseph ,john   
,gurney1 became so attached to him1 and 
so delighted with his conversation and  
character1 that we might almost apply to
 him the language of ,scripture on the  
attachment of ,jonathan to ,david4  ,the
 ,chalmeriana of ,mr4 ,gurney remind us 
of ,boswell's ,life of ,johnson4        
,quaker though ,gurney was1 there was   

but one subject on which there was any  
serious difference of opinion between   
them--the desirableness of a connection 
between church and state4 ,gurney had   
given no little study to the            
'evidences1' and his views corresponded 
to those of ,chalmers4  ,of the gifts   
and mental power of ,chalmers he had the
 most exalted opinion2 all the more was 
he struck with his remarkable humility1 
his entire freedom from the airs of a   
great man4  ,another new acquaintance   
with whom he was greatly charmed was the
 ,rev4 ,charles ,bridges1 of ,old       
,newton1 ,suffolk1 the author of ,the   
,christian ,ministry and the ,exposition
 of the #aaith ,psalm4  ,of his visit to
 his house he said3 ',the breath of     
heaven is here2 without1 a scene of     
beauty that to the eye of sense is      
altogether delicious1 and within1 a     
sanctuary of love and holiness4444  ,i  
never witnessed such closeness and      
efficiency of pastoral work as he       
exemplified in his addresses to the     

mothers of families4 ,he makes a real   
business both of the ,christianity of   
his own soul and the ,christianity of   
his family and parish1 watching over the
 souls of all as one who must give an   
account4'  ,it was the very singular    
quality of ,chalmers1 that while he     
could hold kindred fellowship with so   
many kinds of men1 it was with the      
holiest and most devoted of ,god's      
servants that he found himself in       
closest sympathy4 ,he could find points 
of contact with ,sir ,james ,mackintosh 
on ethics1 with ,malthus on the law of  
population1 with ,daniel ,o',connell on 
the ,irish poor-law1 or with ,dr4       
,whewell on physics1 because he had a   
genuine interest in all their pursuits1 
and considered that they all had a      
bearing on the welfare of man4  ,but    
such pursuits were but outworks3 the    
citadel itself was under charge of men  
like ,mr4 ,bridges4 ,their specialty was
 to deal with the very essence and      
marrow of truth1 and especially that    

great redemptive scheme by which alone  
the world could be truly blessed2 they  
lived under the shadow of the tree of   
life1 whose leaves were for the healing 
of the nations4  ,it was later in life  
7#ahde7 that he made the acquaintance of
 ,professor ,tholuck of ,halle2 but1    
though both were old men1 there was all 
the warmth and joyousness of youth in   
their short fellowship4  ,dr4           
,rutherfurd ,russell1 in whose house he 
met ,tholuck1 related that 'he seated   
himself on a low chair close to the     
learned ,german1 and listened with an   
air of genuine docility to all he said1 
throwing in a characteristic observation
 now and then1 always1 however1 in the  
way of encouragement1 never of          
contradiction4444  ,tholuck turned to   
his host1 and said1 in ,german1 that he 
had never seen so beautiful an old      
man4444 ,the result of the interview was
 an amount of mutual confidence and     
esteem1 as deep and sincere as it was   
mutual4444  ,the day before ,tholuck's  

departure1 ,dr4 ,chalmers called upon   
him1 and found him at his midday repast4
  ,he sat with him only for a few       
minutes and said little1 but looked at  
him steadily1 with an expression of     
constant interest and affection4 ,he    
rose to take leave1 and1 instead of     
taking him by the hand1 he threw his    
arms round his neck and kissed him1     
while ,god bless you1 my dear friend6   
broke with apparent difficulty from his 
overcharged heart4  ,after he was gone1 
it was noticed that a tear had gathered 
in the eye of him who had received the  
apostolic benediction and seal of       
brotherhood from one he loved and       
venerated so much4 ,his only observation
 was a half-muttered1 half-spoken1 ,eben
 ein ,kuss--even a kiss4'  ,the visits  
to ,london were not always on           
controversial business4  ,on the        
accession of ,william ,,iv4 in #ahcj1 he
 formed one of a deputation from the    
,church of ,scotland appointed to       
present a congratulatory address4  ,he  

saw many public men1 and was introduced 
to a few4  ,his description of          
,talleyrand1 then ,french ambassador1 is
 graphic3 ',i gazed with much interest  
on the old shrivelled face1 and thought 
,i could see there the lines of deep    
reflection and lofty talent4  ,his moral
 physiognomy1 however1 is a downright   
blank4'  ,his letter to his family1     
giving an account of the presentation1  
is full of little touches1 showing1     
among other things1 how well he         
appreciated the incidents that are      
specially interesting to the female     
mind4  ,far from desiring to magnify his
 own importance1 he dwells in a humorous
 way on the defects of his toilet4 ',my 
,geneva gown did not lap so close as ,i 
would have liked1 so that ,i was twice  
as thick as ,i should be1 and it must   
have been palpable to every eye at the  
first glance that ,i was the biggest man
 there--and that1 though ,i took all    
care to keep my coat unbuttoned and my  
gown quite open4  ,however1 let not     

mamma be alarmed1 for ,i made a most    
reputable appearance1 and was treated   
with the utmost attention4'  ,after     
being presented to the ,king1 the       
deputation paid their respects to ,queen
 ,adelaide4  ,when she ascended the     
throne1 'the most beautiful living      
sight1' says the ,doctor1 ',i ever      
beheld burst upon our delighted gaze4   
,the ,queen1 with twelve maids of       
honour1 in a perfect spangle of gold and
 diamonds1 entered the room4  ,i am     
sorry ,i cannot go over in detail the   
particulars of their dresses2 only that 
their lofty plumes upon their heads and 
their long sweeping trains upon the     
floor had a very magnificent effect4444 
,on each side the throne were maids of  
honour1 officers of state1 the ,lord    
,chancellor1 a vast number of military  
gentlemen1 and1 among the rest1 the     
,duke of ,wellington4'  ,in #ahcg1 on   
the accession of ,queen ,victoria1 he   
was intrusted with an address from the  
,university of ,edinburgh1 which1 he    

tells us1 after kissing her hand1 he    
forgot to present till he was checked by
 one of the lords-in-waiting1 when he   
turned and put it into her ,majesty's   
hand4 ,his opinion of the young ,queen  
is interesting to us1 after sixty years'
 acquaintance with our ,sovereign3 ',a  
most interesting1 girlish sensibility to
 the realities of her situation1 with   
sufficient self-command1 but1 withal1   
simple1 timid1 tremulous1 and agitated1 
that rendered her1 to me1 far more      
interesting1 and awoke a more feeling   
and fervent loyalty in my heart than    
could have been done by any other       
exhibition4'  ,in the summer of #ahcc1  
after four years of almost incessant    
labour1 he treated himself to a         
two-months' holiday1 in pursuance of an 
old ambition which he had fondly        
cherished to visit all the cathedrals of
 ,england1 and survey the country round 
them from the top of their towers4      
,there was hardly one of the cathedrals 
that did not in some way excite his     

admiration4  ,canterbury and ,ely seem  
to have come in for a special share4    
,though black and rusty with age1       
,canterbury1 with its tower between two 
hundred and three hundred feet high1 and
 a fabric studded with massy buttresses 
of high-wrought ,gothic1 was a splendid 
structure4 ',but my admiration1 though  
high1 was greatly heightened on seeing  
the interior1 which is the most         
perfectly beautiful of all ,i can       
recollect1 consisting as it does of a   
stately vista of confronting arches and 
pillars1 with an effect greatly enhanced
 by the contraction of the sides towards
 the east end1 and the dying away of the
 columnar vista into narrower and       
narrower recesses4'  ,at ,ely1 'aided by
 the printed guide1 ,i studied the whole
 of this elaborate and highly ornamental
 pile with a particularity and a feeling
 of satisfaction greater than ,i had    
ever before experienced4444 ,expatiated 
over this noble edifice for hours4444   
,dined with ,mr4 ,evans at four1 but    

made one more round of the cathedral    
before dinner4'  ,on every occasion he  
was ready for the ascent of the         
cathedral stair1 even where such a climb
 was unusual2 once1 he tells us1 after  
the guide had refused to go further1 how
 he came on some jackdaws' nests on the 
steps1 the owners being very much amazed
 at the sight of visitors4  ,nor did one
 climb in a day always suffice4  ,on    
#eth ,august he climbed the tower of    
,boston ,church in the morning1 and that
 of ,lincoln in the afternoon--the one  
#cea steps1 the other #ccf4  ,at this   
time he was an elderly and not very     
lightly-built man of fifty-three4  ,some
 gentlemen's mansions1 like ,haddon and 
,chatsworth1 were visited with much     
interest4  ,but ,chatsworth1 with all   
its wonders1 did not impress him so much
 as some other castles4  ,what he liked 
was a grand baronial residence1         
befitting the time when the owner was   
really the head of his people1 ready for
 any expedition which the public        

interest required1 and not merely a     
landlord drawing his rents4  ,places    
that had a connection with great men    
were peculiarly attractive4  ,we have   
noticed his reverence for ,trinity      
,college1 ,cambridge1 as the abode of   
,isaac ,newton4 ,kingston1 near         
,canterbury1 acquired a classic         
character1 because the rector's wife was
 great-grandniece of ,bishop ,butler1   
and showed him a snuff-box1 a           
memorandum-book1 and an annotated ,greek
 ,testament1 which had belonged to the  
author of the ,analogy4#d  ,in the      
immediate neighbourhood of ,kingston was
 the church where ,richard ,hooker      
ministered4  ,house and church were     
accordingly visited4  ,and when he came 
to ,sunderland1 its great interest was  
that ,dr4 ,paley had been its rector1   
and that he saw the study in which he   
wrote1 the room in which he died1 and   
the field around which he took          
excursions on horseback4 ,newton1       
,butler1 and ,paley were among the very 

chief of ,chalmers's instructors and    
friends4    #d ,when asked to record in 
this ,testament his opinion of ,butler1 
he       declined1 because he did not   
feel worthy of the honour1 but1 being   
pressed1 he wrote as follows3 ',butler  
is in theology what ,bacon is       in  
science4  ,the reigning principle of the
 latter is that it is       not for man 
to theorise on the works of ,god2 and of
 the former       that it is not for man
 to theorise on the ways of ,god4  ,both
       deferred alike to the certainty  
of experience1 as being paramount       
to all the possibilities of hypothesis2 
and he who attentively       studies the
 writings of these great men will find a
 marvellous       concurrence between a 
sound philosophy and a sound faith4     
,july #c1       #ahcc4'  ,not less      
characteristic of the man were the free 
and friendly relations into which he    
entered with some of the common people  
who were thrown in his way4  ,usually he
 travelled on the stage-coach1 but      

occasionally he hired a carriage1 and   
not unfrequently a gig1 with the driver 
at his side4  ,he had the feeling that  
he would enjoy his holiday all the more 
if it were mingled with a little study4 
,accordingly we find that1 when passing 
slowly in his gig over some monotonous  
part of the road1 he would pull from his
 pocket a grave book1 like ,mede's      
,latin ,lectures on ,prophecy1 and have 
a spell of theological reading4  ,but   
his eye seemed always to be open to any 
object of interest1 whether in the      
scenery or in the places he passed4     
,with his driver he entered into        
friendly relations1 although he         
sometimes found him a very dolt4  ,at   
,huddersfield he hired a gig to carry   
him through some of the remarkable      
scenes of ,derbyshire4  ,the driver was 
a grave1 silent1 and simple lad of      
twenty-two1 and he made a practice of   
taking him with him to the caverns and  
other places of interest that he        
visited4  ,at the ,peak ,cavern he had  

to change his coat and hat1 'and a worse
 coat or a worse hat ,i never saw on the
 back or head of any carter or scavenger
 in the land1 insomuch that ,i was a    
spectacle to the children of the        
village1 who shouted and laughed behind 
me1 and even the driver of the gig could
 not restrain his merriment4  ,i always 
take him to the sights along with me2   
first1 because ,i found a great         
ignorance of ,derbyshire curiosities in 
,huddersfield1 and ,i want to make him  
more enlightened and enlarged than his  
fellow-citizens2 secondly1 because ,i   
always feel a strong reflex or secondary
 enjoyment in the gratification of other
 people1 so that the sympathy of his    
enjoyment greatly enhances my own2 and  
thirdly1 because ,i get amusement from  
the remarks of his simple wonderment and
 not very sagacious observations2 and it
 has now passed into a standing joke    
with me1 when leaving any of our        
exhibitions1 that there is no such fine 
sight to be seen at ,huddersfield4'  ,at

 ,chatsworth1 the ,doctor gave the lad  
his hat and silver-headed cane to carry2
 he followed at a respectful distance1  
while his master went before with a book
 in his hand1 taking notes of whatever  
was memorable4  ,he found afterwards    
that his picturesque appearance and     
unusual employment had excited much     
speculation among other visitors as to  
who he was1 and that the conclusion to  
which they all came was that he was a   
foreign nobleman4 ,at ,matlock he parted
 with his driver1 who1 he found1 could  
hardly read2 he warned him that many    
perish of lack of knowledge1 and that he
 must learn to study his ,bible1 which  
was able to make him wise unto salvation
 through faith in ,jesus ,christ4       
,chalmers did not always show the same  
patience and consideration for his      
fellow-travellers4  ,once1 in           
,yorkshire1 waiting at the door of the  
coach-office1 he found himself beside a 
herd of swine1 whose motions and        
operations he studied with interest2 on 

the top of the coach he found a company 
much of the same order--'fat and        
unintelligent1 with only pursy and      
vesicular projections on each side of   
their chins1 and a superabundance of    
lard in their gills1 whose manners      
well-nigh overset me1 overloading our   
coach with their enormous carcasses1 and
 squeezing themselves1 as they ascended 
from various parts of the road1 between 
passengers already in a state of        
compression1 to the gross infraction of 
all law and justice1 and the imminent   
danger of our necks4'  ,it was enough1  
he said1 to make any man a ,tory4       
,naturally1 ,chalmers had much of the   
passion which bursts out in this bit of 
sarcasm2 but1 before the end of his     
letter1 he feels that he has gone too   
far1 his better nature asserts itself1  
and he gives utterance to a milder      
spirit4  ',i feel it wrong to nourish   
contempt for any human being3 ,honour   
all men1 is the precept of ,scripture4  
,we should not despise any of those for 

whom ,christ died2 and the tendency to  
do so is one of those temptations to    
which refinement and knowledge are apt  
to expose us1 and which ought to be     
resisted4'  ,the 'old ,adam' was not    
extinct2 but at the bottom of his heart 
,chalmers wished him destroyed4  ,even  
with a ,london barber he could have a   
merry time4 ,to be sure the barber began
 the fun1 for he undertook1 by clipping 
out all the white hairs and leaving only
 the black1 to make his client look     
forty years younger4  ,this greatly     
tickled the ,doctor1 and he proceeded to
 compliment the barber's profession1    
inasmuch as1 though he heard universal  
complaints of a bad hay-crop1 his       
haymaking in the metropolis went on     
pleasantly and prosperously all the year
 round4 ,on the completion of the job1  
the man assured the ,doctor that he     
looked at least thirty years younger4   
',i told him how delighted my wife would
 be with the news of this wonderful     
transformation1 and gave him half a     

crown1 observing that it was little     
enough for having turned me into a      
youthful ,adonis4  ,we parted in a roar 
of laughter1 and great mutual           
satisfaction with each other4'  ,his    
tour in ,france was undertaken in #ahch1
 on occasion of his reading his paper to
 the ,french ,institute1 and lasted     
about a month4  ,he was struck with the 
airiness and brightness of ,paris1 and  
the apparent leisureliness of the people
 as compared with ,london2 he remarked1 
too1 how inferior the equipages were to 
those of ,england4  ,among other persons
 of mark whom he met with were ,guizot1 
who told him that the combination of the
 moral and economical was wholly unknown
 in ,france2 ,mignet1 ,madame de ,stael1
 and the ,duc and ,duchesse de ,broglie1
 with all of whom1 and many of their    
friends1 he had most agreeable          
intercourse4 ,the duke had borne a      
distinguished part in political history2
 he was a sort of head of the ,liberal  
party1 but with the utmost aversion to  

noise and violence4  ,the duchess1 a    
daughter of ,madame de ,stael1 was a    
lady of many gifts and of eminent piety4
  ,the company of such persons1         
aristocratic yet simple1 cultured yet   
humble1 and deeply interested in the    
welfare of the people1 was a great      
enjoyment to ,dr4 ,chalmers4  ,but1     
vanity of vanities6 a few months after  
his visit1 the duchess was cut off by   
sudden illness1 and the bright and happy
 home of the family made desolate4  ,dr4
 ,chalmers expressed his sympathy in a  
very tender letter to the afflicted     
duke4  ,along with ,mr4 ,erskine of     
,linlathen1 whom he found at ,paris1 he 
made a short provincial tour1 embracing 
,evreux1 ,broglie1 ,alencon1 ,lemans1   
,tours1 ,orleans1 ,malesherbes1 and     
,fontainebleau4  ,the scenery pleased   
him much2 it was the kind he liked best1
 for he did not so much care for the    
sublimely picturesque as for fertile    
valleys and well-wooded uplands4 ,while 
in ,france1 he was much interested in   

the law of succession1 especially to    
landed property1 and its effects on the 
condition of the people4  ,he had       
supposed that1 by giving rise to endless
 subdivision of the land1 the law must  
bring down the people to a very low     
standard of living4  ,in point of fact1 
he found it less disadvantageous than he
 had thought4  ,on one point he was more
 convinced than ever1 that to elevate a 
country1 moral and economical forces    
must go together4   ,we must now glance 
at ,chalmers in his family and inner    
life during this busy and trying period 
of his life4  ,a man who is forming new 
acquaintances by the hundred1 and is    
constantly receiving the enthusiastic   
applause of thousands1 is in no small   
danger of two things--of letting his    
home-affections become somewhat languid1
 and of neglecting his inner life4  ,but
 in the case of ,chalmers1 we can find  
no evidence of either of these results4 
,shortly before his departure from ,st4 
,andrews1 his domestic affections had   

been profoundly stirred by the death of 
his mother2 and hardly had his first    
session in ,edinburgh closed1 when he   
was called to follow to the tomb the    
remains of ,alexander1 his youngest and 
favourite brother4  ,his journal for    
#beth ,april #ahbi has the following    
entry3 ',it was a large funeral4  ,the  
sun shone sweetly on the burying-place4 
,i was like to give way1 when1 after    
leaving the grave1 ,i passed ,mr4       
,fergus2 neither of us could speak4  ,oh
 that ,god would interpose to perpetuate
 the impressions of this day6 ,this is  
the fifth time within these few years   
that ,i have been chief mourner1 and    
carried the head of a relative to the   
grave4  ,but this has been far the      
heaviest of them all4'  ,dr4 ,chalmers  
himself had an alarming illness in      
#ahcd1 though1 happily1 it passed       
without serious results4  ,he had been  
at a meeting of the ,presbytery of      
,edinburgh1 at which he had vehemently  
opposed the proposal of the ,town       

,council to curtail the number of the   
city ministers2 and he had been greatly 
excited by the thought that the real    
welfare of the people should be         
obstructed and hindered by the very men 
who professed to be their friends4  ,it 
was on this occasion that he proclaimed 
himself a ,radical1 the only consistent 
,radical among them4  ',the dearest     
object of my earthly existence1' he then
 said1 'is the elevation of the common  
people--humanised by ,christianity1 and 
raised by the strength of their moral   
habits to a higher platform of human    
nature1 and by which they may attain and
 enjoy the rank and consideration due to
 enlightened and companionable men4  ,i 
trust the day is coming when the people 
will find out who are their best        
friends1 and when the mock patriotism of
 the present day shall be unmasked by an
 act of robbery and spoliation on the   
part of those who would deprive the poor
 of their best and highest patrimony4   
,the imperishable soul of the poor man  

is of as much value as the soul of the  
rich2 and ,i will resist1 even to the   
death1 that alienation which goes but to
 swell the luxury of the higher ranks at
 the expense of the ,christianity of the
 lower4'  ,dr4 ,chalmers was moved in   
the very depths of his soul--for the    
proposal of the ,town ,council was a    
blow at the ruling idea of his          
heart--and he delivered himself of these
 sentiments with such overwhelming      
energy that his friends at the moment   
trembled for the consequences4  ,as he  
was walking homeward after the meeting1 
on hailing a friend and taking his arm1 
he suddenly stopped short1 and said he  
felt very strangely4  ,his sensations   
were giddiness1 and a numbness on the   
right side1 as if he were going to fall4
  ,it was but too evident that he had   
sustained a slight attack of paralysis4 
,when medical aid was obtained1 it was  
seen that the muscles on the right side 
of his face were slightly paralysed1 and
 his speech somewhat affected4          

,sensation over the right side was very 
much impaired1 but the mind was wholly  
untouched4  ,rest and the ordinary      
treatment soon restored him1 and in a   
short time he was able to resume all his
 ordinary studies and avocations4  ,but 
the event in his personal history that  
touched him more than anything else     
during this period was the completion of
 his sixtieth year1 on #agth ,march     
#ahdj4  ,it was a favourite thought that
 the seventh decade of life ought to be 
turned into a kind of ,sabbath1 and     
spent sabbatically1 as if on the shore  
of the next world1 or in the outer      
courts of the heavenly tabernacle4  ,in 
the case of his mother the last years of
 her life had had something of this     
character1 and ,dr4 ,chalmers longed for
 a like experience4  ,deep in his soul  
lay the desire for direct and deliberate
 communion with ,god1 for he not only   
believed in such communion as the       
greatest privilege of the human spirit1 
but he knew that it brought to the      

worshipper an actual communication of   
divine influence1 so far as the creature
 was capable of receiving the divine4   
',oh that my heart were a fountain of   
gracious things1' he wrote in his diary 
on his sixtieth birthday1 'which might  
flow out with gracious influence on the 
heads of my acquaintances1 and more     
particularly of the members of my       
family6'  ,so far as the seventh decade 
had been looked forward to as a time of 
rest1 the hopes of ,dr4 ,chalmers were  
wholly frustrated4  ,the seven years    
that yet remained to him1 if not the    
very busiest of his life1 were years of 
peculiar tension1 anxiety1 and          
disappointment--things far more trying  
to the vital energies than work itself4 
,the ,church ,extension scheme had to be
 worked out at home under the depressing
 influence of disappointment of         
,government help2 and then came the     
crisis of the conflict with the civil   
courts1--the negotiations with          
,government1 the taunts of ,lord        

,aberdeen1 the sickness of hope         
deferred1 and1 finally1 the shattering  
of the national church4  ,though the    
,disruption brought quieter times1 it   
did not bring the rest and freedom from 
care for which ,chalmers longed2 the    
entire fabric of the ,free ,church had  
to be set up1 and especially the        
,sustentation ,fund2 his longing for    
rest was but the chase of an ignis      
fatuus that seemed always to lead him   
deeper and deeper into the fray4        
,notwithstanding all1 however1 as time  
advanced1 and his fame became more and  
more established1 no change ever took   
place in the simple and humble demeanour
 of his spirit4  ',i never saw a man1'  
said ,joseph ,gurney1 'who appeared to  
be more destitute of vanity1 or less    
alive to any wish to be brilliant4'  ,in
 one of his home letters he gives his   
reason for refusing all requests for his
 autograph3 he could not bear anything  
that might imply his desire to be       
considered a great man4  ,but1 though   

rest and leisure seemed further away    
than ever1 ,dr4 ,chalmers was determined
 that his seventh decade should not     
altogether want its sabbatic character4 
,for this end1 he resolved to make a far
 more systematic and earnest study of   
the ,scriptures4  ,in ,october #ahda he 
began two series of readings--a daily   
and a ,sabbath portion4  ,to impress the
 lessons of each passage the more on his
 mind1 he made use of his pen1 and      
carefully recorded the first1 freshest1 
and readiest thoughts that the passage  
read suggested to him2 not with any view
 to publication1 nor with any idea of   
composing a commentary1 but simply for  
his own edification4  ,the ,sabbath     
lessons1 being a chapter for each       
,sabbath day from the ,old ,testament   
and one from the ,new1 were more        
elevated and spiritual than the daily2  
and his remarks were often in the form  
of a direct address to ,god4  ,this     
practice was continued with undeviating 
regularity1 no matter where he might be1

 or however much engaged4  ,if the      
volumes in which he entered his remarks 
were not at hand1 he would write them in
 shorthand1 and carefully extend them   
afterwards4  ,in some of his meditations
 he would express in the frankest manner
 the most hidden thoughts and feelings  
of his soul4 ,it is remarkable that one 
who1 in his ordinary intercourse with   
men1 seldom unveiled his feelings1 and  
did not appear in any special degree to 
be under the influence of the unseen1   
should1 nevertheless1 in his communings 
with ,god1 have shown such frankness and
 such an intense desire for divine      
guidance1 and grace to enable him to    
follow it4  ,dr4 ,hanna well remarks1   
',behind the outer history of his life  
there lay that inner spiritual history  
which made the other what it was4  ,his 
correspondence1 his speeches1 his       
published writings1 and his published   
acts1 which furnish such ample materials
 for unfolding the one history1 are     
absolutely barren as to the other4  ,we 

know of no other individual of the same 
force and breadth of character who1 in  
all his converse1 public and private1   
with his fellow-men1 spoke so little of 
himself1 or afforded such slender means 
of information as to his own spiritual  
condition and progress2 and yet it would
 be difficult to name another of whose  
deeper religious experience we have so  
full and so trustworthy a record4'  ,it 
was the troubles of the church1 and the 
profound responsibility therewith       
connected1 that so powerfully stimulated
 his desire for fellowship and guidance 
from on high4 ,only those who lived at  
the time can realise the exceeding      
bitterness of the tone of many          
opponents1 shown both by word of mouth  
and through the press2 and their        
readiness1 if any prominent churchman   
should make a slip1 to pounce upon him  
and hold him up to the reprobation of   
the public4 ,it is a mode of treatment  
that has not yet become obsolete4 ,some 
sally of ,dr4 ,chalmers's had in this   

way brought a nest of hornets about     
him--',yet ,i am supported in a way that
 is marvellous under every visitation4' 
,under ,april #b1 #ahdj1 he writes in   
his journal3--   ',an utter prostration 
of spirit from the speech of ,lord      
,aberdeen4'--',april #c4  ,recovered my 
spirits1 but not my spirituality4 ',june
 #h4  ,sadly engrossed with the ,dean of
 ,faculty's charge against me4 ,my ,god1
 uphold me6'--',june #ba4  ,have not yet
 recovered the shock of ,lord           
,aberdeen's foul attack on me in the    
,house of ,lords4  ,may ,i live         
henceforth in the perpetual sunshine of 
,god's reconciled countenance6'--',july 
#e4  ,a letter yesterday from ,dr4      
,gordon1 enclosing one from ,lord       
,aberdeen1 which will require a         
strenuous exercise both of wisdom and   
charity4  ,my ,god1 guide and govern all
 my movements6'--',july #ag4  ,hurt by a
 report in the ,witness of ,lord        
,aberdeen's saying in the ,house that   
after having brought the church into    

jeopardy1 ,i had left them to find their
 way out of it as they could4           
,recovered from this4 ,desire to roll   
all over upon ,god4'   ,alongside of    
these appeals to ,god for grace and     
wisdom in public life1 numberless       
passages occur in which one knows not   
whether to admire more his profound     
humility or the intensity of his        
aspirations for a more heavenly         
condition3--   '#ahda1 ,may #ag4        
,cannot but remark how ,i gravitate to  
ungodliness4  ,why are my thoughts when 
alone and not studying so little        
occupied with ,god8 ,and oh that in     
company ,i might appear more for ,his   
glory6  ,assist me to do this in my     
family1 and let me watch my             
opportunities for doing ,christian      
good4444  ,let me carry about with me a 
distinct confidence in forgiveness      
through the blood of ,christ1 and with  
earnest desire of showing forth ,his    
praise and learning ,his doctrine1 let  
me try how this confidence will work in 

me4  ,the fruits of righteousness so    
produced will arise from the sense of my
 own nothingness1 and have ,christ alone
 as their origin4'--',july #aj4 ,am ,i  
not too light-hearted and too luxurious1
 and altogether too self-indulgent8     
,certain it is that in and of myself ,i 
am altogether vile and worthless1 and   
would need1 in dependence on grace      
alone1 to have more of watchfulness unto
 prayer1 more of self-denial1 and a far 
more tender sense of the evil of        
ungodliness than habitually and         
practically belong to me4'--',july #d4  
,never am ,i in a better frame than when
 dwelling in simple faith on ,christ's  
offered righteousness1 and making it the
 object of my acceptation4  ,o ,lord1 ,i
 pray for more and more of the clearness
 and enlargement of this view2 and grant
 me the spirit of adoption4  ,oh that ,i
 could attain the experience of him who 
says1 ,i have believed1 therefore have  
,i spoken6'   ,one is constantly        
reminded in reading the private journals

 of ,dr4 ,chalmers of the #aaith ,psalm1
 with its remarkable combination of     
profoundest humility and intense and    
holiest longing for conformity of heart 
and life to the will of ,god4  ,and it  
does not surprise us to learn that the  
text of ,scripture which he felt to     
describe his own case most correctly was
 the verse 7#bj71 ',my soul breaketh for
 the longing that it hath unto ,thy     
judgments at all times4'                
,,chapter ,,vi                          
,,new ,,college1 ,,edinburgh            
#ahdc-ahdg   ,gifted and mighty men     
though many of the leaders of the       
,disruption were1 ,chalmers towered high
 above them all4 ,with the multitude his
 illustrious name gave a dazzling eclat 
to the movement2 with the thoughtful the
 fact that a man of his sagacity1       
patriotism1 and caution1 and strong     
proclivity to an established church1    
should have thrown himself heart and    
soul into the non-intrusion cause1      
created the conviction that it must be  

supported by very weighty               
considerations4 ,what but the strongest 
sense of fatal injury to the church     
could have induced him1 after           
electrifying ,london with pleadings for 
a national establishment of religion1 to
 forsake his own1 and become practically
 a voluntary8  ,no man felt his         
responsibility for the ,disruption more 
deeply than ,chalmers2 and no man       
laboured more assiduously in behalf of  
the ,free4 ,church1 in the creation of  
which he had had such a share4  ,to the 
,general ,assembly of #ahdc he gave in  
the ,reports of the ,sustentation and   
,building ,committees1 both of which    
were very encouraging4  ,the months of  
,august and ,september were spent in a  
tour to the east and north of ,scotland1
 on behalf of the ,sustentation ,fund4  
,in ,october he attended an extra       
meeting of the ,general ,assembly at    
,glasgow1 opening it with a sermon from 
,nehemiah xi4 #af4  ,in ,november he had
 to enter on his duties as ,principal   

and ,professor of ,divinity in the ,free
 ,church ,theological ,institution1 now 
known as the ',new ,college4'  ,it was  
natural for him to be very much cheered 
by the numberless letters and visits of 
congratulation that came to the ,free   
,church from every quarter4  ,when even 
those who had as voluntaries been his   
most inveterate opponents in his church 
endowment effort1 came with their warm  
and most brotherly salutations1 a new   
hope of union sprang up that rekindled  
hope for the highest welfare of         
,scotland4  ,speaking to the ,general   
,assembly held at ,glasgow in the autumn
 of #ahdc1 he said3--   ',i confess to  
you that ,i was much interested by the  
arrival1 by one post after another1 of  
those addresses and resolutions from    
various churches1 of whose very         
existence ,i was not aware till ,i      
received their letters4 ,and ,i think   
that every man1 whose heart is in the   
right place1 will be delighted with such
 movements4  ,they are movements quite  

in my own favourite direction1 because  
one and all of them are movements of    
convergency2 or1 in other words1        
movements which point in the first      
instance to union1 and1 as soon as      
possible and prudent1 ,i trust their    
landing-place will be incorporation4    
,there is among them one very pleasant  
address1 signed by--,i have not had time
 to count the names1--but ,i believe    
some of the youngsters of my family     
tried a more wholesale method of        
arriving at a probable estimate of the  
amount of support thus given to the     
,free ,church2 instead of numbering1    
they measured it1 and found it about    
seventeen yards long4444  ,i have felt  
exceedingly delighted with these        
communications4  ,i must say that ,i    
consider it as infinitely more          
characteristic of the religion which we 
profess--the religion of peace and      
charity--that instead of each           
denomination sitting aloft and apart    
upon its own hill1 and frowning upon    

each other from their respective orbits1
 they should hold kindly and mutual     
converse1 and see each other eye to eye1
 while they will discern1 to their      
mutual astonishment1 if not how         
thoroughly1 at least how substantially1 
they are at one4  ,i just conclude with 
observing that now is the time to rally 
about the common standard all that is   
pure and vital in ,protestantism2 for   
now it is that we shall have to make    
head against a new form and revival of  
,antichrist1 whether in the form of     
,popery--naked ,popery1 or ,popery in   
disguise1 even that ,antichrist which   
threatens to shake a most withering     
mildew over the whole of ,christendom4' 
,the same views were expressed with     
equal emphasis at a general meeting1    
held about the same time1 in commemora  
tion of the two hundredth anniversary of
 the ,westminster ,assembly4  ,and when 
the ,evangelical ,alliance was          
projected1 he wrote a pamphlet in its   
favour1 expressing a strong desire that 

it should be called the ,protestant     
,alliance1 and that it should have for  
its double object the protection and    
promotion of the cause of               
,protestantism2 and1 in his own familiar
 and favourite line1 the work of a great
 ,home ,mission4  ,among the eminent    
strangers who visited ,scotland about   
this time none excited a livelier       
interest in ,dr4 ,chalmers's mind than  
,dr4 ,merle ,d',aubigne1 who came in    
#ahde1 when in the full flush of his    
fame as the popular historian of the    
,reformation4  ,at the ,disruption there
 was a vast amount of work to be done1  
for it would have required more than    
seven hundred churches to accommodate   
all the congregations that adhered to   
the ,free ,church4  ,there were1        
besides1 many cases of peculiar         
difficulty1 caused chiefly by the       
refusal of proprietors to grant sites   
for churches and manses on their        
properties1 a refusal which on vast     
estates like those of the ,duke of      

,sutherland or the ,duke of ,buccleuch  
would have amounted to an absolute      
extinction of the church4  ,dr4         
,chalmers1 however1 under the influence 
of his strong desire for a sabbatic     
decennium1 kept clear of the ordinary   
work of the church1 excepting the       
,sustentation ,fund and his college     
lectures4  ,as for the college itself1  
it was mainly in the hands of ,dr4      
,welsh1 until his lamented death in     
#ahde1 when ,dr4 ,chalmers felt         
constrained to become convener of the   
,college ,committee4  ,among other      
services1 ,dr4 ,welsh took in hand to   
provide for a college building1 which it
 was proposed to erect from the         
contributions of twenty subscribers of  
,l#ajjj each4  ,this was a serious      
undertaking at a time when the wealthier
 friends of the church had been         
straining all their energies for the    
,building1 ,sustentation1 and ,mission  
,funds4  ,but the whole sum was speedily
 contributed in the way proposed1 and   

though in the end the price of the site 
and the cost of the building amounted to
 more than double the sum named at the  
beginning1 the whole was ultimately     
provided4  ,such liberality for college 
purposes was due in a great degree to   
the profound regard in which ,dr4       
,chalmers was held1 and in a somewhat   
less degree to his colleague ,dr4       
,welsh4  ,it must be owned that ,dr4    
,chalmers was not satisfied with the    
success of the ,sustentation ,fund4  ,it
 had been adopted not only unanimously  
but enthusiastically by the whole       
church1 and considering all that had to 
be done for other purposes1 it was      
marvellous that in the first year it    
amounted to ,l#fh1gjj1 enough to furnish
 fully ,l#ajj to six hundred ministers4 
,that1 however1 was but two-thirds of   
the amount which ,chalmers had named as 
the minimum payment to each minister    
from this fund4  ,and1 besides1 there   
were many additional ministers to be    
provided for1 needed by the new adhering

 congregations2 and moreover1--and this 
was never absent from his               
thoughts--there was to be considered the
 vast home-mission work needed in order 
to realise his lifelong desire to       
overtake the whole spiritual destitution
 of the country4  ,it was the inadequacy
 of the ,sustentation ,fund to realise  
this further object that was the chief  
cause of his disappointment4  ,moreover1
 he found in the machinery of his scheme
 a serious leak1 which bade fair to ruin
 it4 ,every congregation was to receive 
an equal dividend for its minister from 
this fund1 whatever might be the amount 
of its own contributions4 ,in order that
 this provision might work              
satisfactorily1 it was necessary that   
congregations should make an equal      
effort for the fund4 ,but it was soon   
found that many congregations were      
steeped in selfishness1 and1 while      
drawing their equal dividend1 their     
contributions were but a fraction of    
what they should have been4  ,chalmers  

had calculated on a brotherly spirit and
 a brotherly conscience1 which he now   
found were often wanting4 ,he became    
alarmed for the future1 and proposed a  
modification of the original            
arrangement1 to the effect that no      
congregation should receive from the    
fund more than its own contribution and 
a half more4  ,but it was too late4     
,the fund had been constituted on the   
footing of an equal dividend1 and there 
was a strong opposition to the change4  
,chalmers remonstrated by word of mouth 
and by pamphlets on the ',economics of  
the ,free ,church4'  ,all that the      
,assembly would allow was that the new  
plan should be tried with new           
congregations4  ,but as the new         
congregations were generally            
comparatively poor1 the result was      
something like starvation to their      
ministers2 and1 after a short trial1 the
 plan was given up4  ,but no one could  
deny the serious nature of the evil that
 ,chalmers had pointed out1 and for many

 a long year there were perplexed       
discussions as to the remedy4  ,even    
now1 though the leak has been abundantly
 dealt with1 it has not been quite      
overcome4  ,in his remonstrances1       
,chalmers showed more vehemence than was
 perhaps reasonable1 considering that it
 was the defect of his own original     
scheme that caused the difficulty4  ,but
 his vehemence was due to the conviction
 that came home so strongly to him1 that
 the ,sustentation ,fund could not      
become the instrument of carrying out   
his dearly-cherished project1--of       
recovering the whole waste-places of    
,scotland1 and making them parts of the 
vineyard of the ,lord4  ,the thought    
saddened him1 and it led him to speak   
more disparagingly of what the ,free    
,church had accomplished1 and what the  
,sustentation ,fund had accomplished1   
than was altogether deserved4  ,after   
experiencing three disappointments--from
 the ,whigs1 and the ,tories1 and the   
,free ,church1 it might have been       

supposed that1 all eager as he was for  
rest and quiet1 he would now let the    
matter alone4  ,but no4  ,there remained
 one other step4  ,by an experimentum   
crucis1 by a demonstration of what1     
under the divine blessing1 could be done
 by his scheme in as unfavourable a     
district as could be found1 he might yet
 vindicate it in the eyes of all men2 he
 might leave behind him a monument which
 would be a perpetual rebuke of the     
languor and listlessness of the church2 
a perpetual encouragement to similar    
undertakings1 and a perpetual testimony 
to the maxim of ,john ,eliot1 the       
apostle of the ,north ,american         
,indians1 which he used often to quote1 
that 'prayer and pains can do           
everything4'  ,this was the origin of   
the ,west ,port experiment4 ,writing on 
#bfth ,july #ahdd1 just fourteen months 
after the ,disruption1 to his friend    
,mr4 ,lennox of ,new ,york1 the         
munificent founder of the ,lennox       
,library and the ,lennox ,hospital1 ,new

 ,york1 between whom and ,dr4 ,chalmers 
there had sprung up a very cordial      
friendship1 he said3 ',i have determined
 to assume a poor district of two       
thousand people1 and superintend it     
myself1 though it be a work greatly too 
much for my declining strength and      
means4  ,yet such do ,i hold to be the  
efficiency of the method with the divine
 blessing1 that perhaps1 as the         
concluding act of my public life1 ,i    
shall make the effort to exemplify what 
as yet ,i have only expounded4'  ,to    
prepare the way and interest the public 
in his scheme1 he delivered four        
lectures1 in which the methods and      
advantages of territorial schools and   
churches were set forth with his usual  
force4  ,free ,church feeling was       
running very hieh at the time1 and ,dr4 
,chalmers was at great pains to show    
that his undertaking was dictated solely
 by a regard to the good of the people4 
',who cares1' he asked1 'about the ,free
 ,church1 compared with the ,christian  

good of ,scotland8  ,who cares about any
 church but as an instrument of         
,christian good8  ,for be assured that  
the moral and religious well-being of   
the population is of infinitely higher  
importance than the advancement of any  
sect4'  ,the district selected was of   
the worst description--a fourth part of 
the whole population being paupers1 and 
another fourth street beggars1 thieves1 
and prostitutes4  ,the population       
amounted to upwards of #djj families1 of
 whom #cjj had no connection with any   
church4  ,of #daa children of school    
age1 #bij were growing up without any   
education4  ,the plan of ,dr4 ,chalmers 
was to divide the whole territory into  
twenty districts1 containing each about 
twenty families4  ,to each district a   
visitor was appointed1 whose duty was to
 visit each family once a week1 under   
directions printed by ,dr4 ,chalmers to 
show the specific object of the         
visitation4  ,a school was provided1 and
 the visitors were instructed1 in the   

first instance1 to show an active       
interest in the young1 and exhort the   
parents to send their children to the   
school4  ,a small fee was exacted1 on   
the principle that what was paid for    
would be more valued1 and that a more   
regular attendance would be secured4#e  
,the visitors were instructed to meet   
with ,dr4 ,chalmers every ,saturday     
evening1 the first meeting taking place 
on #bgth ,july #ahdd4  ,on the #fth     
,november1 ,dr4 ,chalmers held his first
 meeting with the people1 telling them  
all he would do for them1 and all that  
they were expected to do for themselves4
  ,on #aath ,november1 when the school  
was opened1 there were #fd scholars2 in 
the course of the year there were #bej4 
,on the #bbnd ,december1 public worship 
was commenced by ,dr4 ,chalmers in a    
tan-loft4 ,the attendance was not       
encouraging after all the visiting that 
had been going on--only about a dozen   
adults1 and these mostly old women4  ,in
 ,april #ahde1 the services of the ,rev4

 ,w4 ,tasker were secured as            
missionary-minister1 and before the end 
of the year the nucleus of a fair       
congregation had been formed4  ,a       
library1 a savings-bank1 a              
washing-house1 and a female industrial  
school were added to the parochial      
equipments4  ,dr4 ,chalmers preached and
 worshipped often in the loft1 met with 
the visitors1 and addressed the people  
as new features were added to the       
scheme4  ',when he was a hearer merely1'
 says ,mr4 ,dodds1 'one would see him   
near the pulpit1 in a crowd of deaf old 
women1 who were meanly clothed1 but were
 following the services with unflagging 
attention and interest4 ,his eye was    
upon every one of them1 to anticipate   
their wishes and difficulties4  ,he     
would help one old woman to find out the
 text2 he would take hold of the        
psalm-book of another1 hand to hand1 and
 join her in the song of praise4 ,any   
one looking at him could see that he was
 in a state of supreme enjoyment4'  ,and

 most earnestly did he pray for a       
blessing on the work1 and that it might 
be the forerunner of many such          
undertakings4    #e ,he used to speak   
with great delight of a poor woman1 who 
told him       that by going out at     
seven in the morning she earned enough1 
by       raking among the ashes1 to pay 
for the schooling of her eldest         
daughter1 but wished the second also to 
attend4  ,his first impulse       was to
 offer to pay for her1 but that1 he     
feared1 would hurt her                  
independence2 so he said3 ',what would  
you say to rise at six in       the     
morning and earn enough to pay for her  
too8' ,on the following       ,saturday 
she came to tell him she had done it4   
',i could have       stood before her1' 
he said1 'with cap in hand1 for in truth
 she       was above myself4'   ',we    
would give ,thee no rest1 ,o ,god1 until
 ,thou hast opened the window of heaven 
and caused righteousness to flow down   
that street like a mighty river4'  ',let

 such a memorial of ,christian          
philanthropy be set up in that place as 
to be a praise and an example both in   
the city of our habitation and in other 
cities of the land4'  ',reveal to me1 ,o
 ,god1 the right tactics1 the right way 
and method of proceeding in the         
management of the affairs of the ,west  
,port4  ,oh that ,i were enabled to pull
 down the strongholds of sin and of     
,satan which are there6'  ',o my ,god1  
give me the power of ordering matters   
aright in the ,west ,port4444  ,and more
 especially1 ,o ,god1 let me understand 
,thy will in regard to the right place  
and performances of a female agency4'   
',draw close the affections and affinity
 between ,mr4 ,tasker and the families  
of the ,west ,port4444 ,do ,thou guide  
and encourage him1 ,o ,lord4444  ,oh may
 he not only be himself saved1 but may  
he be the instrument of salvation to    
many2 and may both he and ,i be carried 
in safety1 and at length with triumph1  
to that prosperous termination for which

 we are jointly labouring6'   ,we have  
no space to dwell further on the history
 of the ,west ,port4  ,the sweep of the 
experiment was complete4 ,on #aith      
,february #ahdg a new church was opened2
 and on the #beth ,april1 one month     
before his death1 ,dr4 ,chalmers        
administered the ,lord's ,supper to the 
congregation4  ,on that occasion he said
 to ,mr4 ,tasker1 ',i have got now the  
desire of my heart2 ,god has indeed     
answered my prayer1 and ,i could now lay
 down my head in peace and die4' ,and he
 wrote to ,mr4 ,lennox1 ',i wish to     
communicate what to me is the most      
joyful event of my life4  ,i have been  
intent for thirty years on the          
completion of a territorial experiment1 
and ,i have now to bless ,god for the   
consummation of it4'  ,it may be well to
 add that under ,mr4 ,tasker and his    
successors the cause has prospered      
greatly4  ,after being enlarged twice1  
the original church still proved too    
small1 and a new and spacious building  

was erected a little way off4  ,the     
congregation now numbers upwards of     
#acjj communicants4 ,of course it is not
 wholly territorial2 people that have   
become attached to a church cannot be   
driven out of it when they leave the    
neighbourhood2 but the old building is  
still retained as a mission church1 and 
the territorial work continues4  ,in the
 ,free ,church in ,edinburgh the        
experiment was repeated many times1 new 
territorial churches in poor and needy  
districts having been erected at        
,holyrood1 ,pleasance1 ,back of         
,canongate 7,moray71 ,cowgate1 ,cowgate 
,head1 and ,fountainbridge4  ,in        
,glasgow there have been many more1 and 
several in the other large towns of     
,scotland4  ,the ,established ,church   
has striven with great success to have  
its extension churches endowed1 thereby 
carrying into effect the original idea  
of ,chalmers4  ,and yet1 in spite of all
 this1 the aim of ,chalmers is as far   
from being realised as ever4 ,with the  

increasing population1 the number of    
persons1 in our large towns especially1 
who have no connection with any church  
is larger than in ,chalmers's time4     
,and1 alas6  the wave of scepticism and 
of secularism that is passing over us   
intensifies the evil and magnifies the  
difficulty4  ,in connection with his    
public labours1 it only remains for us  
to advert to his work as professor of   
theology during the last few years of   
his life4  ,it had long been his desire 
to reduce his lectures to a form that   
would convey the fruits of his maturest 
reflections1 both on the credentials and
 contents of the ,christian revelation4 
,when he began his ,horae ,biblicae     
,quotidianae and ,sabbaticae1 he began  
at the same time to condense and        
reconstruct his lectures2 the two works 
advanced pari passu2 the devout study of
 the ,scriptures went hand in hand with 
the endeavour1 in the spirit of the     
,baconian philosophy1 to present the    
substance of their contents4  ,hence    

arose his ,institutes of ,theology--a   
work which has received far too little  
attention since ,german theology began  
to supersede our own1 but which may one 
day1 in some future age1 be valued as it
 should4  ,but the great merit of       
,chalmers as a professor lay in the     
enthusiasm with which he inspired his   
students4  ,it would have been hard     
indeed for any conscientious youth to be
 under him and not feel his soul        
quickened1 at least occasionally1 to a  
sublime ardour1 and fired with a new    
ambition4 ,so wonderful was his         
influence1 that at the ,disruption      
nine-tenths of those who passed through 
his classes stood by his side4 ,the     
present writer1 though he spent but one 
session under him before the            
,disruption1 can bear testimony1 not    
only to the intellectual and spiritual  
impulse he gave1 but to the subtle      
sympathy which drew his students to     
share his church views1 though he never 
alluded to them in the class1 and to the

 enthusiasm with which they listened to 
him in the ,general ,assembly4  ,he well
 knew that in the ,free ,church the mass
 of the ministers would be but poorly   
paid1 and that there was all the greater
 reason why they should be well equipped
 by superior scholarship1 and especially
 by superior piety1 for their office4   
,and in this he was highly successful4  
,after three sessions in the ,free      
,church ,college1 he could testify that 
the students of his last session stood  
the highest of any he had known1 not    
only in general proficiency and         
scholarship1 but also in their sense of 
divine things1 and devotedness in heart 
and spirit to the great objects of the  
,christian ministry4  ,in his later     
years1 it was his practice to invite his
 students to private interviews for     
spiritual conversation and prayer4  ,on 
#dth ,june #ahdf1 he laid the           
foundation-stone of the ,free ,church   
,college4  ,it had been considered a    
great stroke of policy that the most    

commanding site in the city had been    
secured for the building4  ,the writer  
of this sketch1 who was present on the  
occasion1 remembers his grand appearance
 after the ceremony1 when his noble head
 appeared above a confused pile of      
stones and timbers2 and1 producing a    
scrap of paper covered with shorthand   
hieroglyphics1 he apologised1 with a    
broad smile1 for taking to 'the paper1' 
seeing it was but a scrap1 whereas if he
 were to speak extempore1 his remarks   
might become an 'interminable           
rigmarole4'  ,not a little of the short 
speech was addressed to the workmen     
engaged in the building4  ,that dear    
object of his life1 to raise the working
 population to a higher level of life in
 the best sense of the word1 came back  
on him in all its strength4  ,within the
 walls to be erected1 there would be1 he
 said1 no false theories of equality    
taught or countenanced2 but there was   
one equality between man and man that   
would be strenuously enforced1--the     

essential equality of human souls2 it   
would be taught that1 in the high count 
and reckoning of eternity1 the soul of  
the poorest of nature's children1 the   
raggedest boy that ran along the        
pavement1 was of like estimation in the 
eye of ,heaven with the greatest and    
noblest of the land4  ,the young men in 
that college would ever be taught that1 
though their education might fit them   
for the company of princes and peers1 it
 would be their peculiar glory to be    
visitants of the poor man's humble      
cottage1 and to pray by the poor man's  
dying bed4  ',heaven grant that the     
platform of humble life may be raised   
immeasurably higher than at present1 and
 through the whole extent of it--that   
the mighty host who swarm upon its      
surface1 brought under the elevating    
power of the ,gospel of ,jesus ,christ1 
and so rescued from grovelling ignorance
 and loathsome dissipation1 may rise to 
a full equality with ourselves in all   
that is characteristic of humanity1 and 

take their place1 along with us1 side by
 side1 on the footing of kindred and    
companionable men4'  ,he then made a    
graceful allusion to the young queen1   
who had mercifully escaped one of those 
horrible attempts on her life that      
occurred in the earlier part of her     
reign2 prayed that she might long       
continue to adorn her exalted position1 
and concluded by calling for three      
cheers on her behalf4  ,thus the college
 of the ,free ,church was founded on a  
cordial recognition of both ends of the 
social scale3 with benevolent wishes for
 the working multitude on the one hand1 
and a cordial and loyal tribute to the  
,sovereign on the other4  ,the last of  
the public services rendered by ,dr4    
,chalmers to the ,free ,church consisted
 of a paper on the education question1  
and of his evidence before the          
,committee of the ,house of ,commons on 
the refusal of sites4  ,it was about the
 time when the question of national     
education was coming full into the arena

 of discussion2 and1 at the request of  
,mr4 ,fox ,maule1 afterwards ,earl of   
,dalhousie1 ,chalmers1 who had given    
much attention to the subject1 recorded 
his views in a short paper4  ,the       
difficulty was about the introduction of
 religion4  ,dr4 ,chalmers's view was   
substantially that which was            
subsequently acted upon3 he advised that
 there should be no legislative         
enactment on the subject of religion1   
but that the regulation of this should  
be left to the governing bodies of the  
several schools4  ,not that religion was
 unimportant1 but the very reverse2 but 
because the ,christian church was so    
divided that it could be far better seen
 to by the local managers4 ,to this he  
added a conscience clause2 the result   
being substantially the system which    
prevails in ,scotland at the present    
day4  ,he took occasion to add1 ',we    
despair of any good being done in the   
way of ,christianising our population   
but through the medium of a government  

themselves ,christian1 and endowing the 
true religion1 which ,i hold to be their
 imperative duty1 not because it is the 
religion of the many1 but because it is 
true4'  ,it was in the last month of his
 life that he set out for ,london1 to   
meet the ,site ,committee4  ,on the #ith
 ,may #ahdg he preached in ,marylebone  
,presbyterian ,church1 'with more       
comfort than ,i ever did in ,london4'   
,after replying to the questions put by 
the committee through ,mr4 ,maule1 he   
encountered an onslaught from ,sir      
,james ,graham1 who came armed with a   
bundle of papers containing speeches1   
etc41 of ,chalmers1 by means of which he
 thought to entangle him4  ,after his   
long examination before ,sir ,james     
appeared1 ,chalmers was somewhat        
exhausted1 but he roused himself1 and   
met him in the spirit of a practised    
warrior4  ,the only point of importance 
raised by ,sir ,james arose out of the  
,london lectures1 in which he had spoken
 very favourably of the ,church of      

,england4  ',i told him that ,i did not 
advocate the ,church of ,england2 that  
,i felt more hopeful of it then than    
now1 when like to be overrun by         
,puseyism2 that even then ,i denounced  
its figment of an ,apostolical          
succession1 and1 without directly       
attacking its ,erastianism1 spoke of our
 own independence1 and in terms which   
provoked the jealousy of ,english       
churchmen1' etc4  etc4  ,but a great    
part of the examination concerned the   
voting of women at the election of      
office-bearers and the like2 a paltry   
question1 as ,dr4 ,chalmers called it1  
having no sort of reasonable connection 
with the refusal of sites4  ',we        
concluded1' ,dr4 ,chalmers wrote to his 
wife1 'in a state of great exhaustion1  
yet with an erect demeanour and visage  
unabashed4'  ,we conclude with a glimpse
 of his more private life in the few    
years preceding his death4  ,unwearied  
as he ever was in his endeavour to      
cultivate the affections of his         

children1 and impress them with the most
 serious responsibilities of life1 his  
interest in them seems only to have     
deepened as they grew up4  ,he began a  
series of monthly letters to be         
addressed to each in succession1 and    
carried it on for a considerable time4  
,two of his six daughters were married1 
but they were not excluded from the     
privilege of his fatherly               
correspondence4  ,and by and by1 a      
grandson1 ,thomas ,chalmers ,hanna1 was 
old enough to receive letters fitted to 
interest him1 and draw his affections to
 so loving a grandfather4 ,it is        
strange1 indeed1 that any biographer of 
,chalmers should have represented him   
7as ,mrs4 ,oliphant has done7 as not    
showing social affection4  ',my ever    
dear ,anne1' ',my dearest ,eliza1' ',my 
dearest ,grace1' were his ordinary      
salutations1 and the spirit of the      
letters corresponded to the address4    
,very touching is his letter to his     
eldest daughter on the death of a       

beloved infant4  ,as for his grandson1  
he just revels in affection4  ',tell    
,tommy how much ,i love him1 and pray   
for his being good4'  ,on occasion of   
his last visit to ,london1 he visited   
the widow of his brother ,james1 and    
prayed with her2 a likeness of his      
brother was shown him1 and impressed him
 so much that it haunted him for days4  
,this was the brother that had held     
himself so much aloof both from him and 
all the family4  ,in his last visit to  
his native ,anstruther and its          
neighbourhood1 in #ahde1 his unchanged  
and unchangeable affection for the      
scenes and friends of his youth showed a
 marvellous freshness and tenacity4     
,many are the stories of his pleasure in
 recalling memorials of the past4  ,he  
hunted up an old schoolfellow1 a tailor1
 and told him that he had been the first
 to acquaint him with the form of the   
earth4  ,he congratulated another       
schoolfellow1 who1 like himself1 had    
suffered from smallpox1 that while other

 people's faces were 'aye getting the   
waur1 theirs were always getting the    
better o' the wear6'  ,he sought out the
 place where ,lizzie ,green's           
water-bucket used to stand1 where he and
 his heated playfellows had often been  
allowed very kindly to slake their      
thirst4 ,but most pathetic was his visit
 to the house of ,barnsmuir4  ,when he  
was some twelve or fourteen years old1  
the eldest daughter of that house had   
been in the habit of riding into        
,anstruther on a little pony1 and       
,chalmers had conceived a deep and      
tender attachment to her1 like that of  
,lord ,byron for his ,mary ,duff4  ,the 
young lady was married while he was at  
college1 and she had died many years    
before this visit4  ,at his special     
request her youngest sister met him at  
,barnsmuir4  ,in the house1 the         
remembrance of that early love came upon
 him with singular power2 he asked      
respectfully about her life and death1  
and learned with deep emotion that she  

had died in the full ,christian hope1   
and that some of his letters to her     
sister had soothed and comforted her4   
,he then asked if there were any        
portrait of her1 and being shown a      
profile1 gazed on it with great         
earnestness1 fixed his own card on the  
back of it1 and1 gazing on it again1    
gave expression to his strong affection1
 and burst into a flood of tears4  ,it  
was a touching proof1 as his biographer 
has said1 that he was as much           
distinguished for the tenderness and    
tenacity of his attachments as for the  
brilliance of his gifts4  ,dr4 ,chalmers
 was ever very simple1 and yet in some  
respects singular1 in his habits of     
life4  ,abstemious he was to a degree2  
ever watchful lest he should at any time
 be in a condition of body that would   
interfere with the activity of his      
intellectual and spiritual nature2 at   
times1 at least1 practising total       
abstinence1 and always great moderation 
in both food and drink4  ,it was his    

usual practice to spend the early part  
of the day in composition and study2 he 
so carefully excogitated his subjects   
that he was ever ready to use his pen1  
never obliged to loiter in order to form
 his plan or shape his thought1 but able
 to write rapidly as soon as the pen was
 in his hand1 and seldom or never       
correcting4  ,his handwriting was       
anything but elegant1 yet very          
characteristic2 the upright letters1 the
 firmness of each stroke1 and the       
continuity of the whole indicating      
decision1 force1 and flow4 ,so exact was
 his view1 that he could calculate for  
weeks and months beforehand the rate of 
his progress and the day when each piece
 of writing would be finished4  ,his    
remarkable calculating or counting      
faculty was brought into operation in   
what we should call fantastic ways4  ,in
 stropping his razor1 he would begin    
with two strokes1 next day three1 and so
 on till he reached a maximum number2   
then he would reverse the process and   

gradually diminish till he came back to 
two4  ,in walking he put his staff to   
the ground regularly at each fourth     
step2 counting1 if he chose1 the number 
of his steps1 and able to keep count    
even if he should meet a friend and walk
 with him in animated conversation4     
,when he lived in ,inverleith ,row he   
delighted to find new routes to the     
university1 and ascertain and record    
their several lengths4  ,one day1 as he 
told a favourite student1 he had been   
trying to find a near road between      
,comely ,bank and ,inverleith ,row1 but 
got entangled1 as he put it in his      
original way1 'in the accessories of a  
farmhouse1 where ,i was set upon by a   
mastiff1 and so obliged to turn back4'  
,we have noted his delight in ascending 
cathedral towers1 and his invariable    
habit of counting the steps4  ,at any   
famous stream he would lap the water1   
thus making the connection more intimate
 between the stream and himself4  ,his  
love of order was remarkable1 though one

 might not have supposed it from his    
general manner4 ,it was through the     
power of orderliness that he was able to
 achieve all he did within the compass  
of his life4  ,by varying his           
employments1--now writing1 now visiting 
or attending meetings1 now travelling1  
now preaching or lecturing1 now         
entertaining friends1 now reading and   
pondering1 he kept himself comparatively
 fresh1 and seemed at all times ready   
for new work4  ',nulla dies sine linea' 
might have been his motto1 had it not   
been that every day had half a dozen    
linea in place of one4  ,his reading1   
after he became a professor1 was        
considerable1 partly in theological     
books1 partly in books of practical     
religion1 and to a small extent in      
general literature4  ,so little direct  
sign of anything ,shakespearean is there
 in his writings that it rather         
surprises us to find him recording      
towards the end of his life that he had 
completed an entire perusal of the great

 dramatist1 as well as of ,milton and   
,gibbon4 ,he considered ,shakespeare 'an
 intellectual miracle1 the greatest man 
that ever lived4'  ,his favourite piece 
was ,midsummer ,night's ,dream1 showing1
 as ,dr4 ,peter ,bayne has remarked1    
'that after all the struggles and       
worries of his life1 he still walked in 
the aerial gaiety1 the many-tinted1     
summerlike beauty1 the genial though    
keen sagacity of that poem4  ,it is a   
very remarkable circumstance1 telling of
 a gentleness of nature1 a kind1        
gleesome humour1 an exuberant1          
unstrained force and freshness of       
intellect1 rarely seen among            
theologians4'  ,in the prosecution of   
his incessant labours1 he was no doubt  
considerably helped by his sense of     
humour4  ,he knew well the relaxation   
and the refreshment derived from a good 
laugh4  ,many a humorous story he used  
to tell4 ,one of his favourite stories  
referred to a boor who was getting      
married1 but was such a dolt that he    

could not give an answer to the         
questions of the minister4  ,one of the 
man's neighbours who was present1       
chagrined at such want of manners1 and  
desiring to give the fellow a needed    
lesson in etiquette1 gave him a slap on 
the back1 and said1 ',ye brute1 can you 
no' boo to the minister8'  ,and it      
mattered not if the story told against  
himself4  ,when the astronomical        
discourses were delivered1 ,dr4         
,chalmers came on an honest woman who   
had been hearing one of them1 and was   
curious to know what she could make of  
it4 ',weel1 sir1' said the woman1 ',i   
canna say that ,i understood ye         
a'thegether1 but1 ,o sir1 there was     
something unco suitable and satisfyin'  
in your psalms6'  ,during his visit to  
,london in connection with the ,site    
,committee in ,may #ahdg1 he had greatly
 enjoyed his intercourse with many      
friends--among them ,isaac ,taylor1     
,james ,hamilton1 ,baptist ,noel1 ,mr4  
,morell1 and ,thomas ,carlyle4 ,he      

described ,carlyle as 'a strong-featured
 man1 and of strong sense4  ,we were    
most cordial and coalescing1 and he very
 complimentary and pleasant2 but his    
talk was not at all ,carlylish2 much    
rather the plain and ordinary           
conversation of good1 ordinary          
common-sense1 with a deal of hearty     
laughing on both sides4'  ,chalmers     
greatly lamented the alienation which he
 saw between the churches and the body  
of literary and scientific men4  ,he    
enlarged on 'localism' and the ,west    
,port2 nothing was too hard for         
'localism4'  ,carlyle remarked          
afterwards to a friend1 ',what a        
wonderful old man ,chalmers is6  or1    
rather1 he has all the buoyancy of      
youth4  ,when so many of us are wringing
 our hands in hopeless despair over the 
vileness and wretchedness of the large  
towns1 there goes the old man1 shovel in
 hand1 down into the dirtiest puddles of
 the ,west ,port of ,edinburgh1 cleans  
them out1 and fills the sewers with     

living waters4  ,it is a beautiful      
sight4'  ,after a flying visit to       
,brighton1 where he preached for one of 
his former students1 he proceeded to    
,gloucestershire1 and spent a happy time
 with his ever dear sister ,jane4  ,on  
,sunday he preached his last sermon in  
the ,independent chapel of the ,rev4    
,mr4 ,dove1 from the text ,isaiah xxvii4
 #d1 #e4  ,a brief visit was paid at    
,darlington at the house of ,mr4 and    
,mrs4 ,backhouse1 'a most delicious     
abode4' ,he was profoundly interested in
 ,mrs4 ,backhouse's account of the      
heavenly state of mind of her father for
 some time before his death2 while ,mrs4
 ,backhouse was herself deeply struck   
with the very same spirit in him4       
,during this visit the whole of his     
journal letters had been addressed to   
his wife2 on ,thursday 7the #bgth7 he   
wrote to her1 ',this is my last sheet4  
,to-morrow evening ,i expect to see you 
by the favour of ,him whose right hand  
preserves us continually1 and for whose 

grace on us all ,i ever pray4--,i ever  
am1 my dearest ,grace1 yours most       
affectionately1 ,thomas ,chalmers4'  ,he
 arrived at his house in ,morningside on
 the ,friday evening 7#b #hth ,may71    
apparently in his usual health and      
strength4  ,on the following morning1 at
 breakfast1 his conversation was as     
lively and vigorous as ever4  ,the      
forenoon of the ,saturday was occupied  
in preparing the ,college ,report1 which
 he was to give in on ,monday to the    
,general ,assembly4  ,on the ,sabbath   
morning he conversed freely with the    
,rev4 ,mr4 ,gemmel1 who was staying at  
his house2 afterwards with ,dr4         
,cunningham2 then attended afternoon    
service in ,morningside ,free ,church1  
and on his way home called on ,mrs4     
,coutts1 an old ,fifeshire friend1 of   
high ,christian character4  ,part of the
 evening was spent in writing to his    
sister1 ,mrs4 ,morton1 and in           
conversation with ,mr4 ,gemmel4  ,his   
family never saw him more genial and    

happy4  ,after worship1 he bade his     
family remember that they must be early 
to-morrow2 then he waved his hand and   
said1 ',a general good-night4'  ,on the 
following morning he was found dead in  
bed4  ,it seemed likely1 from the state 
of the body1 that his spirit had        
departed soon after he lay down4  ,there
 was not the slightest trace of         
struggle1 either on the face or in the  
attitude of the body4  ,never did death 
give a lighter touch4  ,in a funeral    
sermon preached by the ,rev4 ,dr4       
,lindsay ,alexander1 the mode of his    
departure was beautifully idealised4    
,he recalled a passage in one of ,dr4   
,chalmers's sermons1 in which he fancies
 a man 'standing on the margin of this  
green world1' and feeling himself very  
closely bound to 'the region of sense1  
and of life1 and of society'2 but       
suddenly arrested by seeing some happy  
island of the blest floating past1 'in  
the light of its surpassing glories1 and
 its sounds of sweeter melody1 and a    

purer beauty resting on every field'3   
discerning also in its inhabitants 'a   
peace1 and a piety1 and a benevolence   
that put a moral gladness into every    
bosom1 and united the whole society in  
rejoicing sympathy with each other1 and 
with the beneficent ,father of them     
all'2 observing1 moreover1 signals of   
welcome for himself1 and an open pathway
 of communication to the island2        
insomuch that he is captivated by the   
sight2 earth becomes a wilderness1 and  
'the land of invitation' attracts him   
with irresistible power4   ',with this  
grand passage in my mind1' said ,dr4    
,lindsay ,alexander1' ,i could not but  
fancy him who uttered it1 as realising  
at the moment of his departure some of  
the features of the case here supposed4 
,i pictured to myself how1 when the     
premonitory touch of the ,destroyer     
broke his slumbers1 he might imagine for
 a moment that he had been summoned to  
his appointed work1 and how1 casting his
 eye upon the materials he had prepared1

 he might begin to turn1 with no        
reluctant emotion1 his thoughts upon the
 duties with which he was charged2 but  
in an instant another scene burst upon  
his view2 a brighter radiance than that 
of the morning sun fell upon his brow2  
sweeter voices than those of wife or    
child broke upon his ear2 a grander     
career of service than any earth could  
furnish stretched before him2 the hand  
of ,one more glorious far than any child
 of man hung out to him the signals of  
welcome2 and1 as he gazed1 he           
acknowledged the superior claims of that
 brighter world1 and laid himself meekly
 down1 and so his spirit passed         
rejoicingly away1 leaving his earthly   
tabernacle with a smile upon the lips1  
and not one shade of suffering on the   
brow4'   ,on that ,monday morning1 the  
,general ,assembly met to receive his   
,college ,report4  ,when the sad news   
came1 the shock was so overwhelming that
 it would have been impossible to look  
at business1 even if respect for his    

memory had not demanded an adjournment4 
,as men recovered somewhat from the     
first shock1 the sense of bereavement1  
of impoverishment1 of widowhood1 grew   
the greater4  ,there were many men of   
extraordinary gifts in that ,assembly1  
but who was there to be named with him8 
,an unprecedented concourse of mourners1
 much greater than had ever been seen at
 an ,edinburgh funeral1 followed his    
body to the grave4  ,and from every     
pulpit1 and from other quarters         
innumerable1 the most respectful and    
cordial tributes were paid to his       
memory4  ,it was felt that since the    
days of ,knox no such man had been known
 in the ,scottish church4  ,his         
greatness was shown alike by what he was
 and what he had done4  ,he seemed to   
combine the orator and the statesman1   
the ecclesiastic and the patriot1 the   
philosopher and the poet1 the scientist 
and the saint4 ,no man had ever been so 
run after as a pulpit orator4  ,no man  
of his day had ever conceived so great  

undertakings or done so much to realise 
them4  ,his two hundred churches        
astonished every one2 his ,sustentation 
,fund astonished still more4  ,with     
theology in the forefront1 his horizon  
included philosophy1 physical science1  
social science1 political economy1 and  
literature2 and for each and all of     
these he found a place and a use in the 
,kingdom of ,god4  ,and with all his    
greatness he was simple as a child4     
,like his ,master1 'he made himself of  
no reputation'--never sought great      
things for himself4  ,the world1 and    
even the church1 hardly knew how near he
 lived to ,god--how much he had of the  
saint4  ,he was known to be very affable
 and affectionate1 but the depth and    
tenderness of his affection1 especially 
for his own family1 were hardly         
suspected4  ,when it was announced that1
 with all his gifts and graces1 he had  
passed from among his brethren1 it      
seemed as if the brightest star in the  
firmament had ceased to shine4  ,it is  

an interesting question--if ,chalmers   
had been alive at the present day1 what 
would he have thought of the position of
 the different branches of the ,scottish
 church1 and what counsel would he have 
given to them on the subject of union8  
,to answer these questions we must bear 
two things in mind3 first1 that he held 
the recent treatment of the church by   
the civil courts1 and virtually by the  
state itself1 to be destructive of her  
liberty and her life1 insomuch that it  
had become an absolute necessity to     
abandon connection with the state2 but1 
second1 that he held the state bound to 
contribute to the support of the church1
 and the ,free ,church bound to return  
to her old connection1 provided the     
liberty should be restored and          
practically secured of which she had    
been unrighteously deprived4  ,would he1
 then1 have held that liberty to be now 
restored1 and the way to an honourable1 
safe1 and beneficial alliance reopened8 
,we doubt it4 ,he would certainly have  

seen that1 in point of fact1 the        
,established ,church now enjoys a degree
 of liberty that enables her to         
discharge the ordinary functions of a   
,christian church without obstruction1  
and in particular to continue with great
 success that very enterprise of church 
extension for which he thought that she 
would be able to do nothing4 ,but he    
could not have failed to see that this  
liberty was an indirect fruit of the    
,disruption1 and that it was quietly    
conceded to the ,established ,church in 
order that she might stand practically  
on the same platform of liberty with the
 nonconformist churches1 and especially 
her great rival the ,free ,church4  ,he 
would have found no concession of       
principle1 no acknowledgment by the     
state or by the civil courts of an      
essential difference between a          
,christian church and a civil           
corporation1 and no acknowledgment that 
the church1 as the creation of ,christ1 
enjoyed privileges from ,him independent

 of any state4  ,he would have found no 
repudiation of the dictum of the then   
,lord ,president that the ,established  
,church had no jurisdiction whatever in 
the country except what had been        
conferred by the state2 and he would    
have found no security that if a new    
collision should occur between church   
and state1 between the worldly and the  
spiritual power1 the state would        
repudiate her old principles and policy4
  ,further1 the contention of ,chalmers 
in his ,london lectures and in his      
latest deliverance 7see p4 #adh7 always 
was1 that the state ought to support    
religion1 not merely because people     
wished it1 but because the religion was 
true4  ,would he1 then1 have found in   
the members of the present ,parliament  
any such value for revealed truth1 as   
such1 as would have given him confidence
 in them as its guardians8  ,a          
,parliament that numbered ,agnostics1   
,jews1 ,roman ,catholics1 ,unitarians1  
and what not among its members--how     

could such a body be a nursing-father or
 a nursing-mother to the ,christian     
church8  ,such a ,parliament could not  
safely be intrusted with its            
guardianship4 ,it was a very different  
condition of things when the ,scottish  
church allied itself to the ,scottish   
,parliament1 all or nearly all being    
members of the church4  ,nor could he   
have found any cause for believing that 
at any future time1 within reasonable   
distance1 the nursing of the church     
could be safely committed to            
parliamentary hands4  ,but what then8   
,there were three great ,presbyterian   
churches in ,scotland1 with much of     
their resources wasted through division1
 but capable1 by reasonable             
arrangements1 of so combining their     
forces that his grand object--the       
bringing of all ,scotland under the     
influence of ,christian teaching--might 
at the least be greatly advanced4  ,we  
can hardly conceive of any other advice 
that ,chalmers would have given than    

that the vinculum of state-connection   
should be severed1 and all the three    
churches should unite1 and rouse        
themselves for one great1 sustained1    
imperial effort to turn the country into
 the garden of the ,lord4 ,but what of  
the endowments8  ,it is just as         
difficult for us to conceive that he    
would have been in favour of alienating 
them to secular purposes4  ,no1 he would
 have said1 that is not necessary1 and  
should not be2 keep them for their      
original purpose1 and place them under  
some public management1 so that every   
congregation of the united body may have
 a share of them1 if it please4  ,this  
was certainly his feeling in a somewhat 
parallel case4  ,in #ahcc1 when the     
,irish ,church ,reform ,bill was under  
discussion1 ,chalmers wrote to his      
sister1 ,mrs4 ,morton1 ',i am relieved  
by the bill1 the only flaw in it        
7although that may be one of deadly     
mischief7 being the secularisation of   
the sum which they expect from the sale 

of church lands4'#f  ,we can readily    
conceive how the great soul of ,chalmers
 would have expanded once more1 and his 
face beamed as the hope arose anew1 that
 even yet his beloved country might     
realise his magnificent ideal1 and1 by  
,god's blessing on the labours of a     
united church1 its waste and desolate   
places might yet blossom as the rose4   
#f ,correspondence of ,dr4 ,chalmers1 p4
 #baf4  ,no doubt1 ,chalmers died a     
disappointed man1 so far as his great   
scheme for the good of his country was  
concerned4 ,he failed1 and yet he did   
not fail4        ',if he strained too   
wide1     ,it was not to take honour1   
but give help2     ,the gesture was     
heroic4  ,if his hand     ,accomplished 
nothing--7well1 it is not proved7       
,that empty hand thrown impotently out  
,were sooner caught1 ,i think1 by ,one  
in heaven     ,than many a hand that    
reaped a harvest in1     ,and keeps the 
scythe glow on it4'   ,we love the man  
for his noble aims and heroic efforts2  

and our love and admiration are only    
touched with a tenderer feeling1 in     
that1 when he failed1 he did not abate  
one jot of heart or hope for his church 
and country1 but left behind him his    
,west ,port experiment as a monument of 
what was possible1 and an encouragement 
to all future generations to continue to
 cherish what had proved for him--a hope
 unfulfilled4