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for ffe /i<{ml&% of a. CotUgt. in^Mf Celotiy"

Bought with the income
of the
John T. Norton Fund

THE CHARACTER

OF THE LATE

THOMAS CHALMERS, D. D., LL. D.

AND THE

LESSONS OF HIS LIFE,

FROM

PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS.

BY THE

REV. THOMAS SMYTH, D. D.

CHARLESTON, S.-C.
riUNTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE SOOTHERN CHKISTUN ADVOCATE, 100 HATHE-!
1848.

N. B. The Substance of this discourse waa delivered in several places,
and the whole was prepared for the Southern Presbyterian Review,
from which it is now extracted.

^IhJir

0 3^-3/
o yvi5

THE LATE DR. CHALMERS.

Startlinjr is the cry which*" the walling blast bears along :
"Watchman, what of the night ?"' And portentous rhust be our
response, as we announce that one star after, another 'has disap-.
peared from the moral firmament, while thick darkness shrouds
the midnight sky. Fuller and Hall, Watson, Clarke and Waugh,
Foster and Gurney, Welsh and Abercrombie, Brown and Mc
Cheyne — stars which burned brightly, and shed around them a
transforming radiance — have, one by one, flickered and faded,
and become extinct, like those constellations which hav^ from
time to time disappeared from the heavens. And how we hear
that Chalmers-^'' the divine Chalmers — Chalmers the object of
Scotland's love — Chalmers the benefactor of all nations through
all time,"* — that star of the first magnitude — that centre of suqh
powerful attractions, by which so many planetary orbs were kept
in motion, and by whose diifusive light so many were illumined —
has also sunk in darkness; and that the kindred spirit ofthere»
nowned Wardlaw is waxing dim, and giving token of an approach
ing extinction. . " The. .greater lights" have thus, one by one,
vanished, and ^e are left to those " lesser lights," which still
skirt the horizon, or beain upon us from on high.
Thus genius fades away.
Power, talent, influence thus decay,
And leave us dark, and in dismay.
Shall we then fold our arms and go asleep ? Shall we sit
down and take our ease ? Shall we excuse our stumbling because
there is no light ? "Shall the righteoiis perish and no man lay it
to heart ; and merciful mpn be taken away, none dbnsidering
that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come ? He
shall enter into peace ; th^ey shall rest . in their beds, each one
walking in uprightness." No ! rather let us cry unto God in
our trouble ; rather let us take unto ourselves his own words
of earnest and encouraging prayer. " Help Lord, for the godly
man ceaseth, for the faithful fail among the children of men."
Thus let us plead with God that he may stir up the gifts and
graces of his servants still preserved to us ; that he may en
lighten them abundantly with all heavenly wisdom, and cause
them to give light to those that are sitting in darkness ; and that
by his- creating energy, he may bring forth other lights to " rule"
•Dr. Cainiibell.

and irradiate our night season. Let us, too, remember that God
who is to be "blessed" for having " given these heaven-enlightened
minds," is also to be blessed in their removal. God'sglory is to be
proclaimed by a grateful remembrance of these gifts of his hand,
and an admiring contemplation of the wisdom, power and grace
illustrated in their character and lives.
Dr. Chalmers was in every way a remarkable man, and will
be found, like the ^un, to have been greater in his setting, than
in his noon-day splendor ; and to have exerted a greater and
wider influence by his posthumous, than even by his livjng in
fluence. He was one of those starg which are visible in both
hemispheres, and which set in one, only to rise upon the other with
continuedor increasing lustr.e.
A watchman on his lofty tower.
His thrilling trump still warned the church.
When fraud or danger was at hand.
By him, as by a beaten light,
Her pilots still kept course aright ;
As some proud column, he "alone
Had strength to prop her tottering caus£.
Now is the stately column broke.
The beacon light is quenched in smoke.
The trumpet's silver sound is still,
And heard no more o'er dale or hill.
Oh, think how to this latest day,
When death, JTist hovering, claimed his prey.
With Palinure's unaltered mood,
Firm ai his laboring post he stood ;
Each call for needful rest repelled,
With dying hand the rudder held,
Till in his fall with fateful sway,
The steerage of the church gave way.
The public events, of Dr. Chalmers' life are few and easily
told. Born at Anstruther, in Fife, March 17th, 1780, he was
educated at the University of St. Andrews. At this period he
was devoted, with intense ardour, to the cultivatign and practical
pursuit of the physical and mathematical sciences, including
Botany, Conchology, Chemistry, and Astronomy, &c.,* for which,
and especially for the latter, " as the queen of the sciences,"
he ever retained a fond partiality.
His first ministry was at Cavers, where — according to the
judicious custom of the Scottish church — he labored as a helper
to the aged minister of that parish. Here, like his senior,
Chalmers poiiTed forth the streams of earthly wisdom ; but as
neither of them knew more ol the Gospel than as a system of
refined morality, the stream, of necessity, could rise no higher
than the fountain, nor partake of more renovating qualities.
In 1803, he was removed to the country parish of Kilmany,
Andrews' ^"^ ^^"l^""™* ** Kilmany, he gave lectures on Chemistry, at S».

in Fifeshire, where he continued to think, to feel, and to
preach, as he had done at Cavers; and devoted himself to his
favorite pursuits — " wandering all day long, hammer in hand,
and botanical box on his shoulders, chipping the rocks and ran
sacking- the glens, and cultivating a kindly acquaintance with
the outlandish peasantry."
From Kilmany Dr, Chalmers was translated to the Tron
Church, in Glasgow, in 1815 ; — from thence to the chair of Moral
Philosophy, in the University of St Andrews ; — ''and from thence
to the Professorship of Theology, in the College of Edinburgh,
" the top of the pyramid — the highest post which Presbyterian
Scotland knew — and, like Newton to the Mathematical Chair in
Cambridge, his preeminent fitness bore Chalmers into the
Edinburgh Chair of Divrnity.'.' It was from this central focus,
he sent forth his blazing thoughts to kindle ud beacon fires on
every hill and on every hearth in Scotland. "From this high
station, which- he continued to adorn, with increasing honor.
Dr. Chalmers voluntarily retired, when he abandoned the
establishment of Scotland and led the van of that glorious
army of evangelical ministers, who have since constituted the
Free Church of Scotland. As the acknowledged head, leader,
and champion of that church, he shone more and more, uiitil
"he was taken up out of their sight."
It is not our purpose to enter into a more extended bio
graphical notice of Dr. Chalmers ; or into a philosophical analysis
of his character and talents. This will be done msre satisfactorily
by others. It will be our object to present some .general con
siderations, suggested by his character, and life, and our own
partial acquaintance with him, which may afford us, at this
distance from the scene of his labors, instruction and profit.
And, in the first place, may we not behold, in Dr. Chalmers,
the infinite resourcesof Divine wisdom and power, in the formation
of human minds and hearts.
In the works of nature, variety is a prominent characteristic,
and one chief source of pleasure and of admiration. Not only are
the species of rocks and earths, fossils and minerals, plants and
trees, insects and animals, birds and fishes, — numerous and diver
sified : but every specimen of every species, is distinct and indi
vidual. So is it with the human race. The features and limbs,
the voice, the manners, and the 'disposition of every individual,
are unlike. So that, while the prominent features of man are
few, no two men are exactly similar. This wonderful varie
ty is manifested in the mental "constitution of different men. With
faculties few in their number, and substahtially alike in all men,
we find, ih allj the same individual distinctions, and the satfie
" uniform variety.'*
Dr. Chalmers was not only an illustration of this characteristic
[leculiiu'ity of mind, — he was an eminent exemplification of the in-

finite resources of Divine power and wisdom. He was a genius
 agenius^of a high order. But there have been many men
equally great, and no doubt su'perior, as it regards any one en
dowment. He was remarkable in possessing, in an equally
powerful development, faculties which have been hitherto deemed
antagonistic. The head and the heart have seldom been propor
tionally endowed. Judgment and fancy ; reason and imagina
tion ; abstraction and feeling ; analysis and illustration ; science
and poetry; the severity of demonstration, and the nice discrimi
nation of probabilities ; subtle distinctions made plain by profuse
and simple illustrations ; vehemence of zeal, and generosity of
feeling'; lofty ambition, and unimpeachable candour ; invincible
love of truth, and the most perfect charity for error; greatness
and goodness ; sublimity and simplicity ; angelic reach of thought,
and childlikejiumility^ visions and fancies beyond the reach of
other men, and a spl'rit exuberant with companionable emotions ;
love of family, brotherhood, and denominational distinetions,'and the
most illimitable benevolence and complacent delight in'good men
of all denominations ; a tenaoious grasj! of all the elements of
Calvinistic theology, and a heartfelt embrace of all who held to
the practical and fundamental yerities;of the evangelical system;
a capacity to rise to regions of the loftiest speculation, and an ac
tivity that was ever ready to exert itself in the execution of its
schemes, and the practice of its benevolent designs ; fitness to be
come a venerated leader, and a hearty co- worker: to guide and
to follow ; to be every thing, and to be nothing ; to speak, and
to be silent ;- to feel' at home with inlellectual giants, arid with
prattling children and fireside chat ; — these are qualities which
past experience has regarded as incompatible and inharmonious,
but which were all found combined in apparently easy and most
happy adjustment, in the wonderful mental and m'oral constitution
of Dr. Chalmers. He was great scientifically, great, morally,
great practically, great socially —
With genius high and lore profound.
And wit that loved to play, not wound ;
And all the reasoning powers divine,
To penetrate, res'dlye, combine,
And feelings keen, and fancy's gldW, —
All sleep withhim who sleeps below :
Genius, and taste, and talent gone,
Forever tombed beneath the stone.*
•Speaking of Pascal, M. Villemain in his Eloge says, " Thus • the advance
of human knowledge produced a divorce between science and literature • and
the enlargement of our understanding led to a separation in its pursuits: as an
empire growing too extensive falls necessarily into independent provinces
if we look at the individuals who have, at any time, endeavored to challenge
an exemption from this common law of human weakness and limitation, we
find our observation more confirmed. Where they have succeeded in achieving
PprfLtfnnTT'*"^^"''\"'^" ''™"S'^' *«™ to bear upon the same points
Perfection m the one object has ever been gained at the expense of another and
the same mmd has alternately exhibited mediocrity and greatness "

Dr. Chalmers impressed alike his readers, his hearers," his
visiters, his companions, and his intimate friends, with a sense
of his vast superiority. He inspired them all witK a convic
tion at once of his greatness and of Jiis goodness ; and he sent
every one away with ardent love and affection for his kindness,
urbanity and condescension, and with admiration and awe, for
his. prefimirierjt genius. There was, too, in him, a wonderful
adaptation of the outward and the inward — the body and the mind.
The power and the purpose were of equal strength ; and hence,
more than almost any other man, he lived to see accomplished
nearly all he had designed, to build all he had planned, and to
complete all he had undertaken.
This remarkable cony)rehensiveness of Dr. Chalmers, may be
illustrated in his character as a preacher, as a' writer, and a prac-
Let us view him as a preacher. When fully entered upon the
subject ¦ he had chosen, his genius kindled with the thoughts, un
til he swept along like the impetuous torrent, bearing everything
before it and scattering its foam in all directions. The spray (at
least in his earlier years,) literally issued from his moiith, too
full of words, and too. big with vehement utterance to allow the
natural functions of the throat to be fully sustained. Like the
breathless war-horse — fired with his rider's ardour, and dashing
forward in pursuit of the retreating foe, as the trumpet sounds
the loud notes' of victory, his sides covered with foam, and his
nostrils breathing forth fiery vapour, — so. did this mighty champion
of the cross rush upon his subject, and bear down his hearers with
irresistible power. At the end of every paragraph, he stood
breathless and exhausted, wiped from his brow the heavy sweat,
adjusted "his gown, changed the hand which he always kept
upon his paper, while the other was clenched and elevated, and
then, with an inflated chest, a fresh inspiration of zeal, and burning
haste, bending forward over the pulpit, he plied his freed arm like
some Cyclopean Vulcan, blew up the fire of his consuming thoughts
into a torrid blaze, and then seizing upon the one idea which
he wished to mould and fashion to his taste, he, placed it upon his
anvil, and while his hearers stood amazed at the Herculean
strokes with which he battered it into shape, and the wondrous
skill with which these accomplished the intended effect, they per
ceived the complete idea assuming shape and form before them,
until it became radiant with -sunbeams, and glistening with re
flected -light. His eloquence a stream of living thought,
Gushing firora out the fountain of the heart —
Now 'mong ^reen pastures, marking minstrelsy.
Sweet to the ear of cottage patriarch —
Now fearless, rushing from the dizzy brink.
Like mountain cataract, with thundering voice.
Bearing the breathless hearers midst the foam ; '
Then lulling into calm, midst rainbow hues.
As gently flowed from his persuasive tongue.
The promises of pleasantness and peace.

8
He was indeed a giant in force and power, physically as
well as mentally. He stormed the citadel of the most impregna
ble and prejudiced heart, and forced a lodgment for the most
unwelcome thoughts. He took his hearers captive, and led them
at his will. The power of free thought, of voluntary intellection,
and of inferential reasoning, seemed, for the time being, to be lost,
as the wrapt listener sat in silent awe, fastened by the spell of the
great enchanter. He was, indeed, a magician, and wondrous
were his feats. When he propounded some startling utterance
whicTi it was his object to illustrate, although at first it seemed
dark as Erebus, as his genius lighted up the illustration, you felt
as if gazing at- some pyrotechnic exhibition; which, as the fire
extended, revealed more and more of the hidden design, until the
letters, form, knd figure came forth in characters of fl&me.*
As a speaker. Dr. Chalmers was anything but graceful, and as
a composer he was often anything but chaste and finished, accord
ing to the rules of rhetoric and style. In any ordinary man, his
*Our description may appear exaggerated, to those who have not heard him.
But it will be found confirmed in the representation of the writer in Fraz^r's
Magazine, who was evidently a familiar : " We seem to see, and hear him
still, bending iforward, with his left hand on Ms manuscript, and his right clenched
and elevated in energetic action; while the wildest expression of the eye mingles
strangely with the solemn and almost austere determination of that large firm
upper lip, and broad knotty forehea'd ; and what lies written before him is
enunciated in a yoice husky, indeed, and tuneless, but very distinct and in the
highest degree earnest and vehement, so as to make you almost feel the words
literally smiting your ear, and fixing themselves in your flesh as if with fangs.
There was something in Chalmers' more impassioned delivery that always
reminded us of the whizzing of steel upon a rapidly revolving grindstone, with
the sparks of fire flying off in showers. .At all times there was a breadth and
depth of cordiality in his utterance, which sent it to the hearts of his hearers at
once. The gusto, that he put into it was immense. The sound is still in our
ear, of the hurricane of denunciatory fervor with which extending his arms alofi,
and with his eyes shooting their fiercest gleams, he spoke that day, of the Lord
sweeping the earth with the besom of destruction. We remember little besides
of the sermon, except that the text was— 'The kingdom of God cometh not with
observation.' Probably the -words, as was his custom, were again and again
repeated, in the progress of the discourse. We recollect too how, «vhen soon
after he had commenced, a slight disturbance -arose among some portion of the
closely-packed and struggling people,, he repressed it at once by a " Hush '"
uttered quickly as he went on, and without raising his eye fi-om the manuscript
lymg before him, in which his whole soul seemed to be absorbed— its command
ing solemnity, nevertheless, nothing could surpass. And it seems as if we
had hstened to him but yesterday, as, after the sermon, while he panted with
sxhaustion, he read these verses from the noble old Scotch metrical' version of
tue rsahns : — ' The floods, O Lord, have hfted.
They Ufted up their voice ;
The floods have lifted up their waves ;
And made a mighty noise.
'But yet the Lord that is on high,
Is more of might by far
Than noise of many waters is.
Or great sea billows are.' "

9
manner would be grotesque, as of some rude ploughman in the
character of a senatorial orator ; and in any ordinary man, his
style vi^ould be condemned and scouted as bombastic and uncouth.
But he was all his own. There were none like him — none to
be compared with him. His physical and mental powers were
mutually adapted to each other — the sword was fitted to the
sheath, and both fitted to the giant hand of tljis spiritual Guy
of Warwick. In his style and thoughts, other men seemed like
David in Goliah's armour.
We first heard Dr. Chalmers when he came some eighteen or
twenty years ago, to open the new and elegant Presbyterian Church
in Fisherwick place, Belfast, Ireland. The audiencp were ad
mitted by tickets. That Sabbath was a proud day for Belfast.
The streets leading -to thfe Church, from his temporary residence,
were lined with spectators eager to see — though they could not
hear — the greatest living preacher. We were seated among the
dense throng in the gallery near th.e pulpit. At the proper hour
the speaker entered the Church, amid the suppressed whispers and
eager looks of the vast multitude. He was medium in height ;
thick in proportion ; with large head, broad features, wrinkled
brow, grey eyes, large and half closed eyelids, thin, scattered
andwhite hair, and wore the Genevan gown and bands. His ut
terance was 'thick and not very distinct — his tongue seeming to
be of undue size, and this with his broad Scottish accerit, and
the simplicity of his words, gave to his reading of the Psalm and
the Scriptures, and to the prayers, no promise of his coming elo
quence. We were prepared in College fashion (vi'hich was then
our norma Vivendi) with our note book and pencil to make our
selves master of the sermon, and we did commence with his
commencement. But before he had proceeded far, we found
ourselves spell-bound — the pencil dropt from our hands — and the
note book from its hold — our eyes were fivptted upon the sJDeaker
— our feplings were roused with hi-s into tumult of emotion-^and
we found ourselves as when we have stood upon the margin of
Niagfa's boiling rapids, impelled as by an irresistible power to
throw oarselves headlong — sb mastered were we by the magic of
his eloquence. During the delivery of 'a paragraph the con
gregation seemed not even to breathe^ and when finished there
was a universal murmur as every hearer prepared himself for
another effort of attention. The late Dr. Young, Professor of
Moral 'Philosophy, and who was remarkable for his strict de
corum and his attention to rule and etiquette, was among the
hearers, and at the end of each paragraph he turned round to a
friend behind him, and \*ith irresistible ardour exclaimed, "did
you ever hear the like of that." As we left the church we felt
exhausted and depressed as when "the voicaof one that playeth
well upon an instrument" is hushed, and we wandered home in
silence and in sadness.

10
We have heard an anecdote of a celebrated Scottish divine
who had not heard Dr. Chalmers. Learning that he was to. preach
a public discourse some miles distant on a Sabbath evening, he
repaired there after his own labours, and pressed his way into
the crowded church. When he saw the preacher enter and as
cend the pulpit, and heard him, as he proceeded with the service —
judging from what we have mentioned and particularly from the
heavy, glazed eye, only brilliant when lighted up by the fire of
his genius — he felt assuredly disappointed, and being confident
that he was some substitute, would have been glad to have
escaped. But when the preacher made some progress in his
discourse all doubts vanished, and he felt that it was indeed . the
man. When Dr. Chalmers closed, as he thought, with unwonted
brevity, (although the discourse had occupied above an hour,) he
found himself unable to erect his frame, and then discovered, for
the first time, that he had been unconsciously leaning forward
upon the opposite seat on his elbow, while a braWny Scotchman
had been resting his elbow in the hollow of his back.
Such was the eloquence which forced even from Francis
Jeffrey, after hearing one of his speeches in the General Assem
bly, the enthusiastic declaration that he would valk twenty miles
any day for such another feast of eloquence. " His mind," says ,
Mr. Turnbull, " was on fire with his subject, and transferred itself
all glowing to the rpinds of his hearers. For the time being, all
were fused into one great whole by the resistless might of his burn
ing eloquence. In this respect Chalmers has been thought to ap
proach nearer than any other man of modern times, the style and
tone of Demosthenes* His manner had a torrent vehem'ence, a
sea-iike swell and sweep, a bannered tramp as of armies rushing
to deadly conflict. He thundered out his gigantic periods, as if
winged with volleyed lightning. The hearers were astonished,
awed, carried away, liftSd up as if on the wings of the wind, ^.nd
borne withersoever the master listeth."
The last time we heard Dr." Chalmers was in Edinburgh, in
July, 1846, when we learned that he was to hold forth to his new
Missionary congregation at the West Port. This is the name of one
of the most destitute and outcast parts of Edinburgh, \vhere a con-
siderable portion of the 50,000 inhabitants, who are said never to
attend public worship, reside. Here Dr. Chalmers made the last
application of his " territorial principle." He limited himself to
this single district which he split up into sub-districts, having each a
Christian agent attached to it, so that not a lane or family might' be
left without frequent and habitual visitation. By this "busy inter
nal Missionary process" he had succeeded in collecting into a day
school about 300 childreri under male and, female teachers,— in
forming a Sabbath congregation with nearly 100 members having
the usual apparatus of Sabbath Schools and prayer meetings
And for the erection of an elegant building, including church and

11
school rooms, he had succeeded in securing ample subscriptions.
In the mean time, however, he occupied a part of the very build
ing in whhjh the infamous murderer Burke had carried on his
infernal operations. It was with great difficulty we found our way
through narrow and most filthy passages to an- upper room, with
low ceilings and dingy Walls, filled with a most attentive auditory
gathered from the humblest classes of society. Never did the
preacher seem more wonderful than as he stood before that assem
bly, and with all his powerful eloquence dealt out to them, in such
a form of statement and illustration as. made them perfectly intel
ligible and deeply inteTesting, the great fundamental truths of the
gospel. And never was t.he mighty efficacy of hisgeYiius and pi
ety more clearly manifested 'than in the silent, subdued, earnest
and intellige^ appearance of his delighted congregation. ' The
minister whom he had associated with him in this labor of love
was present, and united with Dr. Chalmers in insisting upon one of
the two divines from these -Southern States, who were present,
occupying the pulpit in the evening, which was readily done by
the Rev. Dr. Scott of New Orleans. '
As a "WRITER, Dr. Chalmers was equally remarkable. He is
like no other writer. .Hie style, his manner, his words, bis
plan 'are his own. He had, unquestionably, many defects, and
cannot be selected as a perfect model. His ideas absorb and
fill -his soul, and the only end aimed at in his language, is the
communication of these ideas to other minds, in a manner so clear
and effective, as not only to secu^e their l-odgment, but to, impart
to them an assimilating and creating power. This, to our minds,
is the chief chai-aeteristic of Chalmers as a writer'. Whatever
may be his views,' he is sure to make them plain and impressive
to his reader, who is like a besieged castle surrounded by enemies
and rn"cessaritly battered with the missiles of the assailants. The
readers of Dr. Chalmers cannot escape from his fire — they must
frpnt his onset until compelled to yield a glad and willing sur
render to his overpowering argument and his irresistible illus
trations. If one attack fails to unman or subdue, apother is
forthwith made/rom some new and unlocked for quarter. , If one
demonstration is insufficient to produce conviction, another fol
lows it. And- if the wind and tempest of his long-sounding ar
guments, do not uncover the prejudiced and cloakgd reader, the
sunshine of his radiant illustrations, will gradually melt him
down. To most readers there is in the style of Dr. Chalmers,
especially in "his more energetic passages, a redundancy of
words, of illustrations,- and of argument, but all receive the full,
clear, and perfect comprehension of some new, or .forgotten, or
misjudged truth. Other writers of genius seem like pearl-divers,
as in the depth of ocean-thought they obscurely and with pant
ing breath, seek their gems and present them still covered with
hard and slimy incrustations. Chalmers, whoever, gives the gem

12
itself, separated and polished, and appropriately set in some suit-
able adornment. Other writers of genius appear like cloud-
capt mountains wrapt in fog, and sublime in their dim and half
discerned obscurity ; but Chalmers claims our admiration and
our awe by the simple majesty of his Alpine heights. The
strength of genius is best displayed in its suggestive power over
other minds ; and for ourselves, we must confess that no other
writer — prose or poetical — has had the same power as Chalme^rs,
to stir up the waters of our soul and cause therh to flow out in
full and easy streams. From no ojher writer have we risen so
disencumbered of the stylp and manner of his thoughts; — so pre
pared according to our ability to enter upon a work, of intellectual
effort. The want of such a stimulant to awaken the-sensibilities
of a dormant or fatigued spirit every one must have felt, and
to those who have not made the experiment, we would recom
mend a preparatory reading, (and if aloud, the better^) of sonie
pregnant and glowing page of Br. Chalmers' works.
Nor is Dr. Chalmers less wonderful when regarded as a
FEACTiTioNER. He was not only a great commander, but also
a great warrior. He was not only a statesman, bpt also a most
energetic functionary. He was not qnly a noble Captain^ but
himself able on occasion, to take the helm or stand by the ropes,,
or even mount the topmost heights amid the fiercest sweep of
the hurricane. The moral influence of Dr. Chalmers, can never
be measured by the scan of human observation. To appreciate
it, we should first have, a clear perception ofthe condition of the
established church in Scotland when he etitered it and when h?
left it; — the tone and spirit he imparted to the pulpit in every part
of the United Kingdom ; and the onward swell of a pure, a
simple, a living and a warm-hearted ministry to which he gave the
impulse ;* the shame, compunction, and repentance enkindled by
his appeals in the hearts of many a worldly patron; the gradual
increase, of an evangelical minority which he found small, faint,
and buffeted, until it became the overwhelming majority in ev.ery
* See an article in the London Evangehoal Magazine ori "The Chahneri&n
Era in .Theology." "It is unquestionable that in the end he gave to a large
portion of the rising talent of his native country a Theological direction "
JVo^* Magazine. His entrance among the cold formahsm' of moderate
Theobgyin the University of St. Andrews, when appointed professor, is thus
described by the -same writer. The right of appointmenf w^ with the r^
maimngprofessoreofthe United CoUege, eight in number; and their election of
Chahners,.was certamly the most dashing and eccentric movement S had
been ventured upon by the Senaius Academicus since it has had an extetence
We behave that people, when they heard of it, were g^eralirinctoed^ con"
jecture that the thing must have been gone into when the' learn^iwr
hardly in their sober senses ; but too much learninrperhaMlZt i»v *^^"!
on. way as they coufd, U^l^S'i^Z:ri:l'i^1^X^,:^e

13
Presbytery and Synod, and in the General Assembly itself ; the
zeal for home and foreign Missionary labor, he set agoing and
fanned into an undying and ever brightening fiame ; the two
hundred additional churches for the poor and neglected, which,
by dint of personal journeys and laborious toil, preaching and
begging, he himself erected ;_ the glorious struggle maintained
under his guidance by the "unprotected chilrch, against prin
cipalities and powers in high places, and against a hireling
minority, , within the church itself ; and the still more glorious
triumph of a free and disfranchised church, when in the face of
all apparent inconsistency and of all earthly endurance, com
bining in his person the separate characters of Moses and of
Joshua, he led f9rth 500 ministers with their elders and people
from' an JEgyptian.bondage and planted them in their own free and
fruitful Canaan.* J^nd wlien we shall have traced out all the
way by which that church has been led 'from step to step, in its
Dnwar^ march until we now see it with its 72.5 churches' either
built or in progress,! i'^ huiidreds of manses and school-houses
and teachers;- its splendid College buildings, apparatus ' and
library;- its suStentation fund supplying a moderate income and
support to every pastor ;^ its extensive! missions ; its churches
whieb, in the midst of every other burden, failed not one of
them during -the past year, to contribute to the missionary enter
prises ; when we-' have fully appreciated these moral miracles
which he achieved — then may we .estimate the Herculean powers
by which all this was aoHieved, and by which unity,,energy, and
vitality were communicated to every -partijer in the, mighty un
dertaking, so that, .guided by his wisdom, and impelled by his
energy, they have " performed both tgoral and monetary
wonders to whitrfi modern 'history supplies no pa/allel."
Such was Dr. Chalmers. His breaiith of mind was cofhraensu-
rate to his unequal breadth of forehead. He was, in the orig
inal and literal sense of the word, magnanimous. Grea-tness
OP Soul was perhaps more.truly than any other trait, the distin
guishing characteristic of this prince of divines.
Of this characteristic we caimot forbear alluding^ to one' or two
exemplifications ; and the first is his- universal charity and good \
will. « He was the most loveable of all living men," because
he wap-the most loving. He was what Carlyle calls " a true n^an"
» "Wherever Dr. Chalmers is, tljere,'"' said Sir George Bincl^ir, "is the
Cljurch of Scotland."
t^ee Minutes of Evidence before Parliajnent, p. 136. c ¦ uv r>.
t The Sustentation b\aid was established and presided over at first by Dr.
Chalnfers, with what success every one knows. And we have no doubt but that
tbrou^the divine blessing, it will fully realize his expectations, and be the
til^ns of maintaining and spreading a preached gospel in the land. The
Sustentation Fund is one of Dr. Chahners' great legacies to his country, and
it betooves ub, as we would fulfil our duty as a Chi^rch, and do honor to hi»
memory, vigorously tq support and cherish ii.— See Monthly Statement for
Jfuiy, 1847.

14
_" a man of great soul as well as of great mind." " Wondrous
goodness has therefore been termed the prime feature of his pic
ture," and it was in " his mighty heart he most surpassed all his
fellows." Good will to man "wa's the inscription on his serene and
benignant countenance. " Like him who best knew what " was
in man, but wag so bent on making him better, that the kindness
of his errand count'eracted the keenpess of his intuition, and filled
his mouth with gracious words--there was so jnucJh inherent
warmth in his temperament, and so much' of heaven-imparted
kindliness in his Christianity, that love to man was his vital air,
I and good offices to man hts daily bread." " With magnetic alert-
' ness all that was Christijin in himself darted fofth to all that
; was Christian in anothei*." He had reduced the gospel to. its
system, and that system to its elements, and where ' he coiild
find these he was at once prepared to recognize the valid . title to
the Christian character and to the Christian's love. He had ac
curately di^stingui&hed the fundamentals of Theology as a system
OF grace and as an evei'lasting covenant, and the fundamentals
'of thatstJheme as a plan of "practical and person-al salva
tion. He had walked about Zion, and marked well those " buU'
warks" which guard the outpests of organized Christianity, •arwl
the principles which constitute true church-raanship, as well.ae.
those which enter into the essence of a living, active and devoted
piety, Without limiting, or in any degree curtailing, the plat
form of sound and orthodox Calvinism, -he had extended to its ut-
. most limits the platform of 'Christian evangelism and of Chris-
i tian brotherhood. Tenacious' of aW truth, he was equally tena
cious of all peace. The champion of controverted and condemned
dogmas, he was also the mightiest defender of evangelical union,
intercqmmunion and co-operation. Love to Christians of every
evangelical denomination was with him as much a passion as a
principle. It was the easy, natural, ahd invariable 'outgoing of his
soul. It was developed in kind actions as well as in kind words.
What in other Christians is the dictate of conviction and the re
sult of a deep sense of obligation, was in him the instinct of his
spirittual nature ; what others feel that they ought to do and
must do in consistency with 'the principles they confers, he cher
ished from the intuitive impulse of a Catholic spirit. And he
has left behind him living monunients* of this true- philanthropic
spirit, in the enlarged liberality of the free church of Scotland ; in
the North British Review quorum magna pars fuit and which is
based upon the platform of evangelic Christian 'literatnire ; and
in the very last paper he drew up containing.a plan for na'tional
education which inight harmonize all religious parties.
But to our minds a more striking exemplification of Dr. Chal-
mer's breadth of soul and comprehensiveness of spirit is given
in his noble vindication of "this country, and especially of its
Southern States, against the furious fanaticism of popular and

15
ecclesiastical abolition outcry. In its investigation of truth, the
human mind is easily warped by self interest and prejudice, and
by a superficial, and partial exhibition of the real facts in the
case. This is, in an especial man-manner, true where the sub
ject of investigation is one remote from the immediate interest
of the inquirer ; still more where it is associated with a people
towards whom there may exist feelings of national jealousy ;
— and still more when one view of the subject has, for these and
other reasons, become the watch- word of popular excitement.
Now just such to a British mind is the subject of American
Slavery. It is enveloped in the mists of ignorant prejudice
and national pride. It is confounded with British Colonial Sla
very, from which, however, in all its essential relations, it is en
tirely and manifestly difierent. Its real character is unknown.
No distinction is made between the civil condition of slaveryin itself
considered, and every existing law, custom and liabit which may
h9,ve grown up under it, and every case of cruelty and hardship
which may occur in connection with it. To have a legal right%
to the life-services of men; — who are of. Course to be used and
employed as men,i — is confounded with an absolute right claimed
and enforced to the body, soul, and spirit of every slave, to
have and to" use them for the mere convenience and interest
of the "owner." And the guilt which ought, properly to attach to
an unchristian abuse of -this _ right of service is most wrongfully
and sinfully attributed to thg legal plaim and to the social condition
by which such service is held.
The difiiculties, therefore, in the way of a British mind in form
ing a correct judgment on the subject of American Slavery are
ahnost insurmountable. Andhence we find that the most pure and
loftyspiritsarefoundincapajjleoftesistingth'e pressure of opinion,
and are willing to sustain their influence at home by joining in
the outcry against their brethren abroad. Tn their position noth
ing is easier than with the help of false maxims and one-sided
representations, and a reference to their own civil polity, to frame
an argument against their American brethren apparently irresis
tible, and thus to gjve conscience the opportunity of throwing its
sacred influence arourid the otherwise unpardonable and rude
severityof their hard and ungodly speeches ; and to be able to
make any allowance's for this state of things, and to regard with any
charity the opinions entertained and expressed, concerning Chris
tian men and Christian churches in America, by the generality
even of British Christians, one must have been himself immersed
in the same mist of prejudice.
It was, however, through all this fog and smoke the lofty
mind of Chalmers was enabled to send its penetrating glance,
and to form, to a great extent, a correct Christian, and philosophi
cal estimate of this grave question.
With all his economic objections to slavery, as a system of

16
state policy, and social life ; with his deep; convictions that it ex
posed its subjects to greater evils than other systems ; and with
his most sanguine expectations of its ultimate annihilation ; —
while we say — as was to be expected from his position — Dr. Chal
mers cherished these views — he, nevertheless, saw clearly the
fundamental erroi's on ivHich abolitionism is based. That slavery
in itself considered, is a necessary and heinous sin— rthat it ought
therefore, to exclude those who live under its system, and sustain
the relation of master, from the communion of other churches, and
from all claim to the character of Christians and Christian
churches themselves ; and that this System, being essentially
sinful, ought at once, and at all hazards, to be done away ; these
positions, which are the axiomatic data of the abolitionists,-^-
were the subjects of most unqualified condemnation by Df.
Chalmers. With the holders gf them — as he energetically assured
us — he had no sympathy, and in their proceeding? he had no
confidence. Their principles he regarded as fanatical and visiona
ry, 'and their condiict as' foolish, suicidal, and .disg,strous. Sin
was contracted, in his opinion, not by holding the civil rela
tion of a slave-holder, but by abusing that relation to the commis
sion of sin or the omission of duty. And " the business of Christi
anity," he regarded as having to do, not with civil or. political
'. institutions, (as slavery unquestionably is,) but with persons
and with ecclesiastical institutions, and that the object of these laSt
is to operate directly and proximately with the most wholesome
effect upon the conscienbes and character of persons. At our
own request, he p'ut these sentimemts in writing, and sent them
to us,' to be made use o/ as we desired, in the following letter,
which we give entire ; "¦Edin, 25th Sept., 1844.
" My Dear Sir — I do not need to assure you how little I sym
pathize with those who — because slavery happens to. prevail in
the Southern States of America — would unchristianize that whole
region ; and who even carry their extravagance so far as to affirm
that, so long as it subsists, no fellowship or interchEtnge of
good offices should take place with its churcAies, or its ministers.
."As a friend to the universal Virtue and liberty .of marjkind, I
rejoice in the prospect of those days when slavery shall be ban
ished from the face of the earth ; but most assuredly the whole
sale style of excommunication, contended for by some, is not the
way to h^ten forward this blissful consummation.
"Few things would ailord me greater satisfaction than to hear
of a commencement in your country, ofthat process by which the
labor of freemen might be substituted for that of slaves. As I
mentioned to you, I was exceedingly struck, ho far back as twen
ty-five years' ago, by the description of such a process in Hum-
bolt's Travels through Spanish South America. This was
long anterior to the abolition of slavery in the British Colonies •

17
and such was the confidence I then felt in its efficacy, that 1 ven
tured to draw out a sketch of the Spanish plan which, if adopted
at- the time-, might have en5u;-cd a far safer and even earlier eman
cipation than took place after wirJs. You will find ray account of
it in the twelfth volume of my works, from p-.ig,i 39.j and onwards.
_ "I have not been able.to cnga^;o in any sort of public business
since I had the pleasure of meetin.;]; with you, but I observe that
in our Assembly's Commission, a ta-,v v/ec'ln back, the subjectof
American slavery was entertaiael. I do liope that the Resolu-
tio,:s which they have adopted will prove .s.uijfactory.
"I fell it-a great acquisition that I have made your acquain
tance, We owe you much,_ and I trujt tha ministers of the Free
Church of Scotland will eve'r entertain a grateful* sense of your
able and disinterested services. *
"Do believe me, my dear sir,
"Yours most respectfully and truly,
"Thomas Chalmers.
"To Rav.  —  »
"N. B. — I shall be happy at all times to hear from you."
The publication ofthis letter led to a demand made upon Dr.
Chalmers by the Anti-Slavery Society of Edinburgh, for a dis
claimer of the letter or a fuller expres-jion of opinion. This he
gave in a letter on American slave-holding, of which a copy lies
before us issued by the Belfast Anti-Slavery Committee, with
their ' violent comments upon it. From thi;^ corre'soondence also
arose that fierce onset made upon the Free Church by the com
bined abolition fanaticism of Scotland ; and against which Dr.
Cunningham has so nobly presented the irresistible shield of chris
tian truth and charity.
In this second letter Dr.' Chalmer.s, repeating the sentiments
already quoted, says, " Our und.?.-.5;andinij 'of Christianity is, that
it deals not with civil or political institutions, but .that it. deals
with persons and with ecclesiastical institutions, and that the object
of these last is to operate directly and proximately with the most
wholesome effect on the consciences and the character of persons.
In conformity with this view, a purely and rightly administered
church will exclude from' the ordinaces -not ant man, as a
slave-holder, but every man, whether slave-holder or not, as
licentious, as intemperate, as' dishonest. Slavery, like war, is a
great evil— ^but as it does not follow ..that a soldier cannot be
a Christian, neither does it follow that there may not be a Christian
slave-holder." * * * "It holds experiin.?'iially true -that within
its limits." * * * "the most exalted specumess op ptiirif and
W.ORTH ARE to BE FOUND."* * * " Neither war nqrslavery is iiieoai.
patible with the personal Christianity of iiioso who have actually
and personally to 'do \vith them. I)i. Unction ought to "be made
between the character of a system aiJ-tbe character of the poi
sons whom circumstances have im;:Lu!tat' t.herewith. We hope

18
that our free church will never deviate to the right or the left
from the path of undoubted principles But we hope, on the other
hand, that she will not be frightened from her propriety, or forced
by clamor of any sort to outrun her own conviction, so as to adopt,
at the bidding of other parties, a new and factitious principle
of administration, for which she can see no authority in Scripture,
and of which she <5an gather no trace in the history or practice of
the churches in Apostolic times. But I must repeat my convic
tion, that slavery will be not at all shaken, — it will be strength
ened AND stand its ground, if assailed through the medium of
that most questionable and ambiguous principle which the aboli
tionists are now laboring to force upon our a.cceptance, even that
slave-holding is in itself a ground of exclOsion from the Christian
Sacraments. . . . Not only' is there a wrong principle involved
in the demands which these abolitionists now make on the Free
Church of Scotland, it is hurtful in effect. Should we concede
to their demands, then, speaking in the terms of our opinion, we
incur the discredit (and in proportion to that discredit we. damage
our usefulness as a church,) of having given in, — and at the bid
ding of another partj — to A factitious AND new principle, which
NOT ONLY WANTS, BUT WHICH C0NTRA\-ENES THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIP
TURE AND OF APOSTOLIC EXAMPLE, AND INDEED HAS . ONLY BEEN
HEARD OF IN Christendom within these few years, as if gotten
UP for an occasion, instead of being drawn from the repos
itories of that truth which is immutable and eternal — even
the principle that no slave-holder -should be admitted to a
participation in the Christian sacraments."
And in concluding this letter. Dr. Chalmers says,* — "We ad
mire the practical wisdom ofthe American Board ih the deliver
ance which they have come to, and in which they state, 'that the
Board was established and incorporated for the express purpose
of propagating the gospel in heathen lands, by supporting mis
sionaries and diffusing the knowledge of the scriptures ; — that the
Board had ¦confined themselves to this one great object ;  and
that a regard to our sacred trust requires us to pursue this object
with undiminished zeal, and not to turn aside from it or mix any
other concerns with it. And we still think that the Lord of mis
sions and the Saviour of the world will approve of this deliberate
purpose of ours and this course of action, and would frown upon
us if we depart from it.' "
Such were the views of Dr. Chalmers on this most delicate and
difficult question ; and greatly do we rejcice that the man who was
regarded by the united voice of the Free Church as mo^t com
petent to fill the Chair of Dr. Chalmers and to wield its mighty
influence, has adopted both the principles and the spirit of his
great predecessor on this subject, and that with his mantle of
•Se« similar language in his pamphlet on the EvangeUcal Alliance.

19
honor. Dr. Cunningham has received from above many of his
gifts and graces. We rejoice that there is a Cunningham ready
to stand m the place and maintain the principles ofthe illustrious
Chalmers, and to confront eloquence, ribaldry, and popularity, in
sustaining right against might, mercy against acripiony, truth
against misrepresentation, and the cause of the stranger and de.
fenceless against their slanderous and unjust judges. Sure
we are that in the plaudits of an approving conscience, the admi
ration ofthe candid and impartial, and the love and gratitude of
the whole American Zion, he will be amply remunerated for the
loss of that flattery which might have echoed round him, as it
does round others, had he sacrificed to the interests of party what
he owed to the interests of mankind and to the gtery of God.
But we proceed to remark, that in Dr. Chalmers we have an
illustrious exemplification of the sovereignty and transform
ing EFFICACY OF DIVINE GRACE, and a triumphant demonstration of
the truth .that the Gospel is the power of God,
Just think of a planetary orb rushing forward in its course at
the rate of thousands of miles per second, and at the same time
while propelled by the irresistible law of motion, held fast in its
course by the equal powers of ^centrifugal and centripetal at
traction — suppose, we say, this immense body all at once, and
without any convulsive movement, turned round in its orbit, an-
wheeling with even accelerated speed in a directly opposite direc
tion. "When you4iave conceived this, then you will be pi'epared to
appreciate the nature and extent of that change which took place in
Dr. Chalmers, when, by the grace of God, silently but irresistibly
workiitg in his heart, he was brought to a! pause in the race of
ambition and self-indulgent speculation, and led to consecrate to
the service and glory of that divine Redeemer of whom he had
previously such lifeless and inadequate conceptions, his body,-soul,
and spirit as a living, a reasonable, and a most willing sacrifice.
His path was as a comet in the heavens ;
He through the fields of science swept along,
His orbit all his owri, till far beyond
The gaze of common men led by the power
Of Heaven's attractiveness, his smitten heart —
Smitten with dying love — received new stores
Of truth and joy, and holiness and peace.
We cannot realise the change in Dr. Chalmers, better than
by perusing the following extract from his first publication, — long
since out of print — in which he repelled the opinion of Pro
fessor Playfair, that clergymen had not. time to become adepts in
science." It is plain from the whole tone and bearing of this
•For this information see Fraser's Magazine. The same facts are attributed to
the Rev. J. McKenzie, in the Visitor or Monthly Instructor, published by the Lon
don Tract Society, for October, 1847, p. 364-5. Mr. McKenzie sayi that en

20

first pamphlet, that when it was written and published Dr.
Chalmers had no notion that any distinction he might attain to in
the world would ever be derived from, or connected with his
clerical character. He insists, almost in so many words, upon
his profession being considered as a mere accident, or at any rate
as a circumstance of no more importance than the cohur-of his
coat. " Clergymen," he goes on to contend, " are not acountable
for being clergymen: the choice of their profession often de
pends on the most accidental circumstances, a whim of infancy or
the mqst capricious destination of parents." He therefore
speaks of his being a clergyman as misfortune, indignantly depre
cating and protesting .against the cruelty of people looking down
upon him for what he cannot help. His estimate of the work
and diity ofthe ministry at that period \yi\\ be evident from the
following quotation :
"'The aiithor ofthis panfphlet,' — Dr. Chalmers here writes
with the honesty and intrepidity which were part of his being,
¦— ' the author of this pamphlet can assert from what to him
is the highest of all authority, the authority of his own ex'peri-
ence, that, after the satisfactory discharge of his parish duties,
a minister may enjoy five days in the week of uninterrupted leis
ure, for the prosecution of any science in which his taste may dis
pose him to engage. In as far, th'en, as the command of time is
concerned, it will be difficult to find a situation in the country
more favorable to the free and uninterrupted exercises of the
understanding. Mr, Playfair may smile -contempt when I say
that a clergyman is more favorably situated for the suceessful
prosecution of the niathemafics than a mathematical professor.
For one half ofthe year the professor has three different classes
to attend to, ^nd we apprehend that the fatigues and the prepa
rations of teaching will be found to leave little tjrne and less
energy for those higher exercises of his mind which are to add to
the stock of his information, and to raise him above the level
of his present acquirements. A minister has five days in the
week for his own free and indepen4ent .exertions.'
" And then he expatiates for a couple of pages more upon the
'almost no consumption of intellectual effort' which there is in
the peculiar employments of a parish minister."
Subsequently to this period Dr. Chalmers was so far smitten
with the warlike spirit that prevailed as to enrol in a volunteer
corps, and a very curious anecdote is told ofthe astonishment
created on one occasion, by his rapid transition from his clerical
to his military character on a Sabbath day.
Su6h was Dr, Chalmers in his. spiritual character at the ase of
twenty five, and as the minister of Kilmany.
theabpveoccMonDr. Chalmers was himself the candidate fo> the Chair of
.Mathmatics in the Univfersity of Edinburab and (hit uJ .i"" '--nau ot
liimPlayfeirmadehisrepresenltionsmhetordProv^tofE^^^^^^^

ai
Twenty years after this, when at the height of his influence
as an evangelical leader, he was twitted in the General Assem-
bly with a reference to his former views and habits. " It vyas,"
«ays Mr. Mackenzie, " in a debate on the question of pluralities,
or unions of a pastoral charge with an academical cbair, in
the General Assembly of May 1825, in which Dr. Chalmers
warmly espoused the negative side, that a clergyman of the op
posite party, in order to convict him of inconsistency, charged him
with the authorship ofthis ptimphlet, and quoted the above," along
with other sentences from it. Every eye in. the crowded house
and overflowing gallery was fixed upon Dr. Chalmers, who sat
unmoved till his assailant had •concluded Ijis harangue. As soon
as he had ended, he arose and for a few moments the silence of in
tense expectation suspended the gazing audience; In his reply,
which was instant andoverwhelming, Dr. Chalmers acknowledged
that it was his. own production; and after e'xplaining the cir
cumstances which had called it forth, he said in reference to the ^
sentiment tbe rein expressed, "Alas! sir,, so I thought in rrty igno- "
ranee and pride. I have now no reserve in declaring that the sen
timent was wrong, and that in giving utterance to It I penned
what was most outrageously wrong. Strangely blinded that I was !
What sir is the object of mathematical science ? Magnitude,
and the proportions of magnitude. But, then, sir, I had forgotten
two magnitudes. I thought not ofthe littleness of time, I reckless
ly thought not of the greatness of eternity !"
" It was," says the writer in Fraser's Magazine, " humbly yet
proudly spoke«, for the speaker felt, while the words fell from
his lips that he was acquitting Himself nobly, and lifting himself to
an immeasurable height, even while thu-s assuming the tone and
attitude of sorrow and self-condemnation, above his humiliated as
sailant. We never witnessed any effect of eloquence like that
produced by those few solemn sentences, thus firmly and dignified-
ly - pronounced, in circumstances that would have covered most
i^enwith abashment and confusion. They were followed by an
universal storm of applause, in the midst of which the ashamed
and mortified bluhderer, whose vulgar abuse had been so man
fully encountered ahd so splendidly repelled, endeavored in vam
to make himself heard even in apology for his luckless onset.
His voice, repeatedly raised, was as often drowned in an outcry
-of aversion and disgust." •' , „
Surely therefore when we "' look on this picture and on that,
 when we contemplate -Dr. Chalmers as he was and aS he be
came — we are not extravagant in saying that it is only in the
Apostle Paul we find a case perfectly analogous. Both in their
unconverted state were exemplary in their personal morality—m
their attention to all the outward services of religion— and in
their laborious and zealous discharge of the duties ofthe naimstry,

32
so far as it bears upon tbe moralities of life — and both were, by
an act of free, sovereign, and omnipotent grace, led to the spir
itual comprehension of saving truth apd to tbe. adoring worship of
" the Lord their Righteousness."*
The circumstances connected with his conversion are thus
given by Mr, Mackenzie ; " About the year 1809 he was engaged
in writing the article, 'Christianity,' for Brewster's -Edinburgh
Encyclopaedia,' and it was in the course of his studies connect
ed with that work, his perusal of the lives of the primitive Chris
tians, but more especially of Wilberforce's ' Practical view,' that
he began to perceive that the religion of Christ was something
very different from what he had hitherto imagined. When in
this .transition state, he fell into a severe illness which, under
God, was the means, along with the counsels of a pious dissenting
minister who visited him on his sick-bed, of consummaiingthe
blessed change ; and great was the surprise aad joy of many,
when on re-appearing in his pulpit, he boldly avowed his previous
ignorance, -and preached the doctrine he had once despised."
When thus experimentally acquainted with this " great salva
tion" it became to him, what it di^ to the Apostle Paul, his
theme, his triumph, and his joy. His previous glory he count
ed but shame, his attainments dross, and his knowledge vanity.
He now knew " nothing among men but Jesus Christ and him cru
cified." He " gloried only in the cross," and " this one thing he
did" — " he lived not unto himself but unto Him who died for
him," and who had " called, him by liis grace,"
The transformation thuseffected was as conspicuous to others, as
it was clear and undoubted to himself. He became a new
creature, and both in his doctrine, conversation, and conduct
gave manifest proof to all around him that he testified to the
things which he had both seen and felt. His own reference to
this change is one ofthe most striking passages of his works, em
inently illustrative of his boljd and tearless spirit, and a noble
testimony to the efficacy ot the gospel as the only efficient moral
regenerator of society. This will be found in his " B'arewell Ad
dress to the inhabitants of Kilmany," which contains a beautiful
summary of his future pulpit ministrations. " And here, says
he, I cannot but record the effect of an actual though undesigned
experiment, which I prosecuted upwards of twelve years amongst
you. For the greater part of that time, I could expatiate on the
meaness of dishonesty, on the villainy of falsehood, on the des
picable arts of calumny— in a word, on all those deformities of
character, which awaken the natural indignation of the human
r'aJ'^^ analogy has, I since find, presented itself to the Rev. Mr. Lothian
of St. Andrews, m his sketch of t)r. Chalmers' life. See the Christian
Witness London, August 1847. "There was," says he, and bespeaks frLm
much personal knowledge, "a.striking similarity between the characters otZ
ApoBtlePaul and the late Dr, Chalmers." ^":rs oi me

23
heart against the pests ahd disturbers of society. Now could I,
upon the strength of these warm expostulations, have got the thief
to give up his stealing, and the evil speaker his censoriousness,
and the liar his deviations from truth, I should have felt all the
repose of one who had gotten his ultimate object.
" It never occurred to me that all this might hav,e been done,
and yet every soul of every hearer have remained in full al
ienation from God ; and that even could I have established in the
bosom of one who stole such a principle of abhorrence at the mean
ness of dishonesty that he Was prevailed upon to steal no more, he
might still have retained a heart as completely unturned to God,
and as totally unpossessed of a principle of love to Him as be
fore. In a word, though I might have made him a more upright
and honorable man, I might have left him as destitute of the
essence of religious principle as ever. But the interesting fact
is, that during the whole of that period in which I made no at
tempt against the natural enmity of the mind of God, while I was
inattenti-ve to the way in which this enmity is dissolved even
by ^he free offer on the one hand, and the believing acceptance
on the other, of the gospel salvation ; while Christ, throusfh
whose blood the sinner, who by nature stands afar pff, is brought
near to the Heavenly Lawgiver whom he has offended, was scarce
ly ever.spoken of, or spoken of in such a way as stripped him of
all the importance of his character and offices, even at this time I
certainly did press the reformations of honour, and truth, and in
tegrity, among my people ; but- I never even heard of any such
reformations being effected amongst them. If there was anything
at all brought about in this way, it was more than I ever got
any account of I am not sensible that all the vehemence with
which I urged the virtues and the proprieties of social life had the
weight of a feather on the habits of my parishioners. And it was
not till I got impressed with the utter alienation of the heart
in its desires and affections from God, it was not till reconcilia
tion to Him became the distinct and the prominent object of my
ministerial exertions ; it was not lill I took the scriptural way
of laying the method of reconciliation before them ; it was not till
the free offer of forgiveness through the blood of Christ was
urged upon their acceptance, and the Holy Spirit given through
the channel of Christ's mediatorship to all who ask him, was set
before them as the unceasing object of their dependence and their
prayers; it was not, in one word, till the contemplations of my
people were turned to those great and essential elements in the
business of a soul providing ior its interest with God, and the con
cerns of its eternity, that I ever heard of any of those subordi
nate reformations which I albretime made the earnest and the
zealous, but I am afraid, at the same time, ultimate object of my
early ministrations."
"You," he adds, '* haye at least taught me that to preach

24
Christ is the only effective way of preaching morality in all, its
branches, and put of your humble cottages have I gathered a
lesson which I pray God I may be enabled to carry into a wider
theatre, and to bring v.ith all the powers of its subduing efficacy
upon the vices of a more crowded population. ""|" In Dr,
Chalmer.s, then we see the wonder-working influence of that
divine grace which. can "subdue all things unto itself,'' make even
the most towering and lofty intellects to "become' as 'little
children" and to "bring all their gifts" to the humble shrine of
the despised and rejected Saviour. And in him we see also that
the hearts which are thus ri'ivea to God to be transformed "by
the renewing of the Ho!y Ghost." He gives back again to their
possessors enlarged, elevated and e»obled.
Upon'the l)ill of Zion strong he stood,
And like the eagle conscious of his strength
Soared into reahiis uiil.iinw v, and so.nring, breathed
A heavenly atmosphere, wlicie keen his eye
Beheld a purer light than ere was seen
By proud aMrunou.cr, in plenitude
Of power, with ready aid of skilful lens,
Or help of new constructed telescope.
On earth a citizen of heaven, he looked
Down from the Ijatllenicnts of loity thought
Upon imprisoned minds encamped below;
Nor looked he heedlessly. Ah, no!— he felt
The weight of other souls upon his own.
Dark lanes and wretched dwellings of the poor
• 'Scaped not his keen and territorial-search.
'To those who came he -.'ave, and unto them
Who would not come he went, e'en like to Him
Whose wolds the coiiiij.on people gladly heard.
He shone, a light amidst terrestrial gloom,
Bright and jnore bright, unto the perfect day.
Time will only permit us further to contemplate 'in Dr. Chal
mers THE SUPERIORITY OF M0H.\L, OVER INTELLECTUAL, POLITICAL,
OR MILITARY GREAr:,ESL:, and to learn
That not in menial, hut in moral truth
God excellence placed, and only to the good,
To virtue, -Jiai.icd happiness alone.
It was the saying of th-; sage i.aA "natnralhf wise Cicero that
"the heart is the source ofi^iDrtJ greatness," and that, "no man
t See also his Essays „n the Effic:-t-y of Mission^ in Wks., vol 12 n
251. In the preface to that volume .-uhli.hed wilhin a few years he s'avs
spe.-.k.ngoftne moral elevation ofthe people, "For it is unnecessa;y to stat^
It as our couvict.on, that, to ca^.y this cheering anticipation into efTect, the
education, as comprehensive of uhat is taujht both in churches and in
schools, must necessarily be a Christian eduction. The present nnMv it
tempts to dissever the scholni.^lnp from the religion of oT people f not
counteracted by the friends of Chnstianity, uill lan'd only i^ he'^Zangenien
selves""'''" '"° ^°'^'^' ^^'^"''"«. ^"d Wter discomfort of the people th-em-

was ever great without a certain divine influence."* The efficient
cause of true greatness, he places in this divinely implanted
principle by which men are elevated above the world and its
mean, selfish, and dishonorable motives, and enabled, to resist
temptation, encounter and overcome difficulties, and perform
actions for the good of others not only of great magnitude but of
extreme difficulty .f How bright the anticipation of that perfect
gospel which teaches that truth is in orde-r to goodness ;-^that
goodness is greatness : — that resemblance to the moral image and
character of God is the foundation of goodness '; — aftd that "peace
on earth and good will to men" are the fruits and evidences of
goodness. Compared with this moral greatness what is "all
Greek, all Rorsan fame," and how peerlessly do its ancient repre
sentatives, Plato and Socrates, outshine the glittering show, and
all the pomp and circumstance of an Alexander, a Hannibal, or
even the fame of an Aristotle ? And when' the vain [.-ugeantry
of earth shall vanish before the splendour of eternal day, how will
the tcirch -light of all human fame be lost amid the unfading and
ever-brightening glory of true moral greatness.
And if, as Cicero also teaches, the highest and perfect glory of
a man consists of these three things ; "when the multitude love
him, when they have confidence in him, and -when "they deem
him worthy of special honour and admiration, "| how far even in
this life, does true moral, greatness draw after it the heart-
homage, love and admiration of every right minded man, beyond
either intellectual or mililary greatne.'is. Well may the tribute
paid- to the great Athenian sage and Father of Philosophy, be
ascribed to Chalmers. "He in every street . •
Dealt priceless treasure. Goodness his delight,
Wisdom his wealth, and glory his reward,
Deep through the human heart, with playful art
His simple doctrine stole, as into truth
And serious deeds he smiled the laughing race
Taught moral happy life, wtiat'er can bless,
Or grace mankind; and what he T.4fnGHTHE was."
t
"No man, in our day, was ever followed by such crowds of
admirers, or was exposed to a more severe ordeal of adulation ;
all ranks and denominations vied with each other in doing homage
to his genius, and the highest nobles of the land paid court,_both
in public and in private, to the humble presbyter of' the Scottish
church-" We .see him invited to London by memb'ers ofthe es
tablished church as the champion of their endangered Zion
*Nemo vir magnus sine aliqui divino unquam fuit.
t De officiis lib. 1, cap. 20.
+ Summa igitur et perfecta gloria constat ex tnbus his :-Si diliget multitudo
—si fidem habit— si cum admirauone quadam honore dignos putat.— i»e officiis,
lib. 11, cap.Q.

26
against the levelling principles of a reckless and unbelieving par
liament, and listened to for days by the highest dignitaries and
nobles ofthe realm. We see him chosen by that same church as
one of the honoured few to whom were given the emolument and
the fame of the Earl of Bridgewater's treatises. We see him
enrolled as an honorary member of the Royal Institute of
France^ — and his character and opinions deferred to by the mighty
minds of all countries, as one of "the purest, greatest and most
self-sacrificing patriots of the 19th century."
Dr. Chalmers has "rested from his labours, but his works-
follow him," They abide forever. In his writings — whith haye
become the classic eloquence of every religious denomination in
every laqd ; in his posthumous work.s, which have commanded
a greater price than those of any other author, in ancient or
modern limes, and which constitute a rich legacy to his family
and to the world ; — in the stupendous monument of a Free Church
destined, we trust, to be the model church of Europe, and of
which he was the architect, and to no small extent the builder ; in
the spontaneous outburst of national respect which was exhibited
in a funeral procession embracing one hundred thousand persons,*
of whom, besides the members ofthe Free Church Assen£ibly; then
in session, from eight to nine hundred were ministers and elders
•"The estimates taken of the numbers joining in the funeral procession
must fall very short ofthe truth — the line having been very much compressed
whilstat Morningside. Ttte Witnesssaystheie could not be fewer than] 00,000.
It is difficult to state tbe number of persons in the procession, especially as
considerable numbers fell into it by the way, and a -large body werje drawn up
on the road leading up to the cemetery. We understand that there were from
800 to 900 ministers and elders in St. George's Free Church alone, in addi
tion to the members ofthe Assembly. It would be still more difficult- to com
pute the number of spectators who, without formally joiningin theprocession,
were there, nevertheless, from respect and regard to the memory of the dead.
On all such occasions thefe are numbers of mere sight-seers ; but on this we
were struck w ith the solemn feeling that seemed to pervade the great multi
tudes that lined the streets or covered the parks, from which the procession
could be seen — and there were many evidences of the deepest concern for the
loss that had been sustained.'and seemed to be that day ratified and sealed.
The number of gentlemen in the procession at the cemetery must have
greatly exceeded a,0U0, and it was remarkable for severalreasons. It embraced
the most distinguished professional men in the Scottish metropolis, who were
there to evince their regard for a giant in intellect, in literature, and in moral
worth, whose word^ and writings were never again to be embodied in their
discussion. It consisted of ministers from aU evangelical communions, who, laying
aside over the tomti all their causes of difference, met there to express their
sense of a great apparent calamity, and carry to his grave the chief man
amongst Scottish theologians.
It was thoroughly representative. Those ministers were g»therod from
all the districts of the land— from lonely parishes in distant counties— from the
islands of the sea — from lowland straths and vales — from busy villages  from
crowded towns, and cities densely pressed with human beings  and yet they
were all thoroughly representative. They knew that through all their con
gregations, however differently situated, there was but one feeling of grief and
of sinceremourning.

27
of the Establishment whose Assembly was also in session, and ot
other religious bodies, besides the most distinguished professional
men.inthe Scotish metropolis, including the Royal Commissioner
to the Assembly of the Established Churcti, the Moderator or Pre
sident of that Assembly, several Judges of the Court of Session,
and 'he City Magistrates, in their robes of office, while tears were
seen liowing down the cheeks of men who were "all unused to the
melting mood ;" — and in the unity of that grief which was felt
from one en^ of Scotland to the other, and from one end of
Christendom to the other, when they heard that

'-his large deep heart.

Where world-wide love bore undivided part.
The master spirit of his native land —
The famed — the loved — of many a distant itrand.
Had ceased to beat i" —
in the grateful tribute ofthe Queen as an estimate of his peerless
worth, who nevertheless had mustered triumphant opposition and
defeat against the most firm and united counsels of the Brhish
parliament, and whose last work on earth was the noble testi
mony he bore against the policy of some noble Dukes ;^n the
unbounded eulogiums which are everywhere echoing to his
praise;* — and in the anxious desire with which the relics of his
greatness and his goodness, — his unpublished writings — are anti
cipated ; — in all this we see the evidences of that glory which has
been achieved by the moral greatness ofthe departed, and which
tarnishes the lustre ot the most augustof princes,— the most renown-
ed of warriors, — and the mo:^i exalted of intellectual giants.
The last end ot Dr, Chalmers was appre-priate :
"On him benignant Heaven bestows,
For honored hte, an henored close," —
It was in unison with his path of life, which had shone more and
more brightly- until it was lost in the splendour's of his perfect day,
"He rested in his bed" from the labors of hi^ toiKsorae life- "He
entered into peace." "He fell asleep m Jesus,'^ and awoke in
bliss. "The voice at midnight came,
He started up to hear ;
A mortal arrow pierced his frame:
He fell — but felt no fear.
"His spirit with abound
Left its encumbering clay ;
His tent at sunrise on tbe ground
A darkened ruin lay."
And now "he walks in his brightness."
•"It may be doubted," says Dr. Campbell, whether half so many <""<"»»
tributes throughout the pulpits of all communities, save and except the Church
•f England, wer« ever paid to any other individual.

28
"1 have only farther to add," to use the language of his friend
Mr. Bruce, "the following short but most descriptive narrative
of his last hours, supplied to me by his family : — 'On the evening
of last' Sabbath he wentout-into the garden behind the house, and
sauntered round it, and there he was overheard by one of the
family, near tn whom. he passed, in low but very earnest accents,
saying— 'Oh, Father, my heavenly Father.' It .was a season of
close and endeared communion with his God. He then supped
with his family ; and, as if he had kept the brightest and most
beaming of that day's smiles for the close, and the fondest of
his utterances for his own, that supper, to himself and all around,
was the happiest season of a very bright and happy day. After
family prayer he retired to rest ; and it .could not have been very
long afterwards, (not more, perhaps, than an.hour,) when the
summons came. In a season of perfect quiet and repose, he had
laid himselt gently back upon the pillows, which were so placed
as to elevate hinr nearly to a sitting posture ; just then his
heavenly Master came, and called, and he departed. It must
have been wholly "without a struggle. The expression,_ of the
face, as seen in the morning — that of a calm and dignified
placidity — the position of the body, so easy that the slightest rufile
of a conflict would have disturbed it — the very lie of the fingers
and the hands, known to each familiar eye ot those around him
as beinij that into which they ' naturally fell in the moments of
entire repose — all showed that, undi.sturbed by even the slightest
strife with the last enemy, bis spirit had moved away, and
ascended to its own place of blessedness and glory in the hea
vens.' " Oh ! lovely goetb down the sun at eve,
When crimson clouds their glorious garlands weave,
VV hen golden streamlets shed their pai-ting light,
Till the bright morrow of a summer night.
Thus set thy sun ; — no tempest's pow er
Darkened the brightness of thy setting hour, —
No pang, no struggle crossed thy mighty frame :
Swiftly thejchariotfor the prophet came, . ---•I
And from^thy finished work — thy goal-won race —
Bore thee to fill thy blissful blood-bought place !
And oh, our God? although we mourn that thou
Hast torn our father from" his children now,
Yet for his joy we thank thee! And for all
His glorious years of combat on the wall
Of warring 2ion— champion ofthe breach,—
Where thou thy bucklered arm to him didst reach,
And for his work in every land enshrined, —
The living labours of a deathless mind,—
We thank thee, Lord !
It was with painful interest we perused, in the volume prefixed
to our article, the evidence given by Dr. Chalmers before the

29
Parliamentary Committee.* This was his last public labour, and
the mental excitement to which it mtist have subjected him, (and
which may have operated as an accelerating cause to his
disease,) will be evident to every reader. He was like astag at
bay, surrounded by the hunters and assailed by furious blood
hounds, for it was manifestly the design of Sir James Graham
to involve him, if possible, in contradiction or inconsistency.
Foiled, however, in all his efforts, he was glad to leave the noble
foe at rest, .Yes, released from the pursuit; after having given
noble evidence of his valour and the righteousness of his cause, he
retired to his own favoured home, wherg he found that " rest
which remaineth for the people of God." ¦¦ *"
* Third Report of the Select Committee on Site's for Churches, (Scotland)
together with the Minutes of Evidence, Appendix, and Index, ordered by the
House of Commons to be printed, 5th July, 1847, Fol. p. p. 201, including the
evidence of Dr.' Chalmers, p. 121-194.

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