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Scotland WHEN we promised in our last number to give an account of Dr. Chalmers' visit to London, we little expected to commence our present one with the announcement of his sudden and unexpected decease, which happened at his residence at Morningside, in the night between the 30th and 31st of May last. The following short but most descriptive narrative of his last hours was supplied by his family to Mr. Bruce, who preached in the Free Church of Morningside on the Sabbath after his funeral : 459 moved away, and ascended to its own place It was only on Friday evening that Dr. HIS LAST SERMONS. "On the evening of last Sabbath he went out into the garden behind the house, and sauntered round it, and then he was overheard by one of the family, near to 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 On Sabbath, May 9, Dr. Chalmers preached utterances for his own, that supper, to at the Presbyterian Church, Marylebone, to a himself and all around, was the happiest crowded audience, among whom were Lord season of a very bright and happy day. John Russell, Lord Morpeth, the Right Hon. After family prayer, he retired to rest; and Fox Maule, and other distinguished indiviit could not have been very long afterwards duals. His text was 1 John ii. 15, "Love not (not more, perhaps, than an hour) when the the world, neither the things of the world." summons came. In a season of perfect quiet He began by saying that there is a sense and compose, he had laid himself gently in which we may "love the world," as we are back upon the pillows, which were so placed also told to "use the world" in a sanctified as to elevate him nearly into a sitting posture; wise effort to do it good; but the apostle just then his heavenly Master came, and enjoins here a self-deniedness to its allurecalled, and he departed. It must have been ments, and a subordinate share of regard to wholly without a struggle. The expression its cares and pursuits. This, however, cannot of the face, as seen in the morning, that of be accomplished by preaching the heart a calm and dignified placidity, the position vacant, since it, like nature, abhors a vacuum. of the body, so easy, that the slightest "The strong man must be dispossessed by a ruffle of a conflict would have disturbed it, stronger than he;" an object of attraction the very lie of the fingers and the hands, known to each familiar eye of those around him as being that into which they naturally fell in the moments of entire reposc,-all showed that, undisturbed by even the slight est strife with the last enemy, his spirit had must be held up that will act with the expul- the heart that word which testifies of Christ. The whole process cannot be better summed up than in reading with prayerful study those three verses, the tenth, sixteenth, and nineteenth, of the fourth chapter of 1 John. In the tenth verse you are told of God's sovereignty, the blessed initiative of every purpose of grace. In the sixteenth verse you see the consequence, the sinner believes the love that God hath to him in Christ. In the nineteenth verse the result of Christ's marvellous love,we love him who first loved us. When the Holy Spirit works in the regenerated heart it becomes the busy residence of new affection, forth-going activities, pains-taking efforts and responsive feelings," old things pass away, and all things become new." On Sabbath, May 16, he preached at Hanover Presbyterian Church, Brighton. The text which he chose for his discourse was Romans viii. 32,-"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Our limits forbid us even attempting an analysis of the sermon, -a task, we believe, uncalled for by those who heard it, while no outline could convey to our readers any adequate conception of the whole. We understand that early on Monday morning a communication was sent to Dr. Chalmers, conveying the request, at which we do not wonder, that he would consent to the publication of his discourse; and, though reluctance was manifested on account of peculiar reasons, we are unwilling to relinquish the hope of having in a permanent form the rich memorial of his visit to Brighton. We should like to read in print those simple introductory sentences, scarcely audible by the more remote portion of the congregation, whereby he cleared his ground for laying the deep and solid foundations of his central propositions; or to peruse in solitude his five arguments, which moved onward and upward as in a stately procession, until, having gained the summit of his high reasoning, he paused to woo and welcome the most alienated spirit within reach of his utterance to an immediate close with the overture of mercy, and to warn the men whose hearts were whispering-Delay! to decide now, laying the stress of his appeal not on the fact that time is short, though in picturing the fleet evanescence of all that now buds and moves CHARACTER OF DR. CHALMERS. and lives on the surface of our vaulted and SOME divines have excelled Dr. Chalmers open in heaven. The first sermon Dr. Chalmers ever preached was in the English Presbyterian Church, Chapel-lane, Wigan. His last, on Sabbath, May 23, in a chapel near Thornbury, in the neighbourhood of Bristol, where Rowland Hill formerly was pastor, and where he had preached thirty years before. His text was Isaiah xxvii. 4, 5, " Fury is not in me," &c. 66 THE FUNERAL. ON Friday, the 4th of June, the remains of brought to him the message from the Captain | grass withereth, and the flower thereof teries is nothing, and the tongues of men and this truly great man were committed to the his spirit had ever sat on earth with all the clothed in the attire of woe, while the funeral grave, in the lately opened Cemetery at Grange, near Edinburgh, according to a wish lately expressed by himself. The concourse of spectators along the whole line of the solemn procession was vast, and the whole city wore an air of mourning. The funeral was attended by the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, by clergymen of all denominations, by the authorities of the city, and private individuals of all ranks in Edinburgh, in Glasgow, and other places, who had come to give this last token of the love and veneration in which they held the deceased. When the head of the procession had reached the grave, the rear had done little more than enter the grounds. The ranks of the procession then formed themselves into two lines, between which the coffin was borne along, followed by the son of Dr. Hanna as chief mourner; the relatives of the deceased, the magistrates of the city in their robes; the members of Assembly; the Professors; the Presbytery of Edinburgh, &c. "There was," says our contemporary, the "Witness," "a moral sublimity in the spectacle. It spoke more emphatically than by words of the dignity of intrinsic excellence, and of the height to which a true man may attain. It was the dust of a Presbyterian minister which the coffin contained, and yet they were burying him amidst the tears of a nation, and with more than kingly honours." This was indeed one of the noblest features BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. teachableness and humility of a little child. Honour be to his name and memory! and glory be to God for having given to his Church so illustrious a living epistle for our instruction and guidance! May we have grace to be followers of him, as he was of Christ! FUNERAL SERMONS. 66 from By appointment of the General Assembly of the Free Church, the Moderator, Dr. Sieveright, preached on Sabbath forenoon in Tanfield Hall. Dr. Gordon preached there in the afternoon on the same melancholy subject. The Moderator's text was Joshua i. 2, first clause, Moses my servant is dead," from which he preached a very affecting sermon before an overflowing company of hearers. Dr. Gordon took Not since over the grave of JOHN KNOX his text from Deuteronomy xxxiv. 7, "Moses was pronounced the short but emphatic epi- was an hundred and twenty years old taph," There lies he who never feared the when he died, his eye was not dim, nor face of man,"-has Scotland witnessed a his natural force abated." In the afternoon scene so sublimely solemn as the funeral of Tanfield Hall, which is capable of holding THOMAS CHALMERS. There were tens of greater numbers than perhaps any hall or thousands assembled then, and tens of thou- church in Edinburgh, was completely sands were assembled now,-sorrowing, yet crowded at twenty minutes before two, rejoicing. Sorrowing men were, because they and after that time nearly 3,000 persons should see that beloved and honoured face applied for admission. In consequence of no more; because the poor had lost their the multitudes remaining outside the hall, best friend, the young their wisest counsellor, the Rev. Mr. Bonar, of Aberdeen, preached the Church her brightest ornament, the on the same sorrowful theme in the open air, country her noblest patriot. Yet there was to a congregation of not fewer than 2,000 chastened joy mingled with that sorrow, as people. At Morningside Free Church, of there was at the grave of the great Scottish which Dr. Chalmers was an elder, the congreReformer, when men remembered all thegration were addressed in the forenoon by glorious works that the grace of God had Mr. Melville, of Logie, a youthful associate done in and by his departed servant. And the of that eminent man, and who, being a few way of his death was so remarkable. not, for God took him," naturally suggested itself as the text for his funeral sermon. It 66 He was was more like a translation than a common death. Having spent all his life in the ⠀⠀ active service of his Master, a mighty champion in the cause of Christ, death found the veteran still girt with his armour, and years his senior, had ordained him to his first Scotland. 6 course of lectures on chemistry at - St. born spiritual life. From that time forward the world was again to see, as in earlier and better days, how great and lovely a thing is genius of the loftiest order, hallowed by the love of God, and consecrated to his glory." The conversion of so great a man is an event of such importance as to deserve fuller notice, and we therefore give the reference to it by the Rev. Mr. Bruce, in his funeral sermon : "Of all the eventful incidents that befell him in his singularly eventful life, happily none is better known, as none was so momentous to himself and the world, as his having become the subject of decidedly converting grace, some time subsequent to his calling into the ministry. And I have often conceived, from the testimonies borne concerning him by the loved companions of his youth, that his conversion was deferred so much beyond its common period in ordinary men, not merely to accomplish him all the better for his peculiarly mighty standing as a minister of Christ, but even to give mightier and more awakening impression to this say ing of the Son of God, to whom the Father hath given power over all flesh, and who, therefore, quickeneth whomsoever he will, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' "So richly gifted was his nature, and so manifestly was it framed of heaven's best earthly mould, that to describe at all adequately the grandeur and the loveliness of his merely natural mind in those earlier days, one had need to have a sympathy, and an elevation, and an eloquence, like his own. But one thing he still wanted, to make him even at all the spiritual man he was, and I shall state it in his own words, when, referring to his engrossing preference for his peculiarly favourite science, he felt himself impelled, for the vindication of truth, to make publicly this confession:-'I have now no reserve in saying, Strangely blinded that I was! What is the object of mathematical science? Magnitude, and the proportions of magnitude. But then I had forgotten two magnitudes. I thought not of the littleness of time; I recklessly thought not of the greatness of eternity!? "Let it not be supposed from this that even then he had no feeling or conviction respecting God or his immortality; for I know from the testimony of one of his very nearest kindred, to whom he told it, that there was a time long before, when he had habitually such a sense upon him of a presiding and ever-present Deity, as mingled even involuntarily with all his thoughts, so that, even if he would, he could not bid it away. But yet, with all this natural sense of God, and of natural goodness together, he, by his own confession, was not supremely devoted to Him. He was living for time, he said, and not living for eternity. Ere ever he could so live, even that man, so wondrously gifted by his first birth of the flesh, must be born again of the Word and Spirit, which endureth for ever. The strength of mightiest intellect, and of instinctive discernment, most comprehensive, clear, and penetrating, and the impulse of conceptions as lofty and realizing as ever animated a human breast, could not practically carry him higher than the pursuits of time and its perishable vanities. And even he, as certainly as all other men, had to receive the truth as it is in Jesus in demonstration of the Spirit, ere ever it told upon him in demonstration and with power." One of the most signal results of the great change which had taken place in the mind of Dr. Chalmers, by which both his genius and his love of science had been thoroughly The great events of the disruption, and the The sufferings of the poor, caused partly by their own vice, and partly by the unwise misarrangements of society, drew forth the energetic endeavours of his wise mind and compassionate heart, in devising and executing remedial measures. Few public men, we fear, have yet learned thoroughly to understand and appreciate his important work "On the Christian and Civic Economy of Large Towns ;" and yet we fully believe, that until the principles, not merely enunciated, but demonstrated, in that invaluable portion of his productions, are made to regulate all public efforts to ameliorate the condition of our poorer city population, their recovery will be found impracticable. In 1823 Dr. Chalmers was appointed to the Moral Philosophy Chair, in the University of St. Andrew's. But he had not yet reached his highest point of eminence and usefulness. This was attained when he was appointed in 1828 to the Theological Chair in the University of Edinburgh. No sooner had he entered on that new sphere of duty, than it was felt by all that a new era had begun in the study of that highest of all sciences, so far as Scotland was concerned; not that he displayed minute acquaintance with all the subtleties of dogmatic theology, but that his genius communicated vitality to the young minds with which it came into contact. Under Dr. Chalmers it was impossible to dream over the college session, as had been too long the case. Every student felt the irresistible influence of combined genius and piety taking possession of both head and heart, and, while he could not but study vigorously, study became itself an ever-fresh and ever-increasing source of delight. Before this auspicious event, the writings of Dr. M'Crie, and the public labours of Dr. Andrew Thomson, had made a profound impression on the mind of the Scottish community, preparatory for the great change about to take place. And when to these powerful influences were added the impulse and the direction given to the minds of divinity students by Dr. Chalmers, it did not require prophetic foresight to enable any thoughtful mind to anticipate the rapidly increasing growth of a profound and earnest Evangelical Christianity in the Church of Scotland. That growth developed itself even more rapidly than the most sanguine could have hoped. Within the short period of four or five years, the Church of Scotland enjoyed an evangelical majority; in other words, the Church of Scotland resumed its true position, re-asserted its true principles, and became, in fact as well as in creed, a truly Evangelical Church. The closing labours of Dr. Chalmers were at once the renewal of his youth, and the summing up of his vigorous age. From the hour in which Evangelical Christianity gave to his own soul spiritual liberty, his most constant and strenuous endeavour was to secure to the Church of Scotland the full possession of her rightful heritage-spiritual independence; that she might be free to serve Christ, and Christ alone, in all matters pertaining to His kingdom. And his eye closed not till he had seen the Free Church of Scotland in the recognised possession of that spiritual freedom, and firmly rooted in the hearts of the Scottish people. Long and powerfully had he defended the noble cause of religious liberty, and the rights of conscience; and his last public testimony in behalf of these great principles was nobly borne in the presence of the rulers of the land and the British public, in his evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons. The ignorance, the vices, and the misery of the lower classes, the labouring poor, had early attracted his attention, and drawn forth all his mental energy to devise and effect their improvement and rescue. It was on their account mainly that he advocated endowments for the Church, as the readiest method of conveying the Gospel to the poor without money and without price, yet in purity and freedom. It was for their sake that he strove to give a right direction to true Christian benevolence, in preference to a poor-law, which rather degrades and smothers than elevates and aids; it was for this that he toiled amid the dense population of Glasgow during his early manhood; and it was for this that he chose the West Port of Edinburgh, as a neglected corner of the Saviour's vineyard, which he might cultivate in the evening of his days. He had the blessed satisfaction to see some of the early fruits appearing in that hitherto neglected locality which he had rendered his own "garden plot" and to leave all its appliances complete, and under the management of hands trained and trusted by himself. His public eminence was gained as a preacher of the everlasting Gospel; and it is a remarkable circumstance, that although the multiplicity of his public duties, and the increasing weight of years, had for a considerable period rendered his appearance in the pulpit comparatively rare, yet, for the five successive Sabbaths before that which immediately preceded his decease, he had been engaged in proclaiming the truth as it is in Jesus. The many tasks which he had undertaken in behalf of his fellow-men were over, were all accomplished, and his course of grace and glory ended as it began-preaching Christ Jesus and him crucified. DR. CHALMERS' ELOQUENCE. WHEN Lord Jeffrey, the prince of modern critics, and than whom there could not be a better judge of eloquence, first heard Dr. Chalmers in the General Assembly, he said, that "there was something remarkable about that man; he could not tell what it was; but his speaking reminded him more of what he "Before entering upon this discussion, it is right for me to state that I do not stand here as the representative of any party; and that I disclaim all party fellowship with any section of this Assembly. I who first moved the Veto Law, which has now had an adverse sentence pronounced upon it by the highest civil judicatory in this realm, feel no difficulty at least in stating my own view of the course which ought in consequence to be taken." This course was, that the Church should confer with the Government of the country in order to consider how their constitutional principles might remain intact, and the harmony between Church and State be unimpaired. As Dr. Chalmers proceeded to unfold the principles and to illustrate the history of the question, the interest of the House increased, and never shall we forget the scene, when, after recounting the difficulties and enemies outside the Church, he passed to the Moderatism within: "If ever the prerogatives of the human conscience were at one time more cruelly trampled on than at another, it has been within the last century, and at the bar of this House -when the collective mind of a congregation who both knew and loved the truth as it is in Jesus, has been contemptuously set at nought; and the best, the holiest feelings of our Scottish patriarchs, by lordly oppressors sitting in State and judgment over them, were barbarously scorned. these unlettered men of a rustic congregation, In that age of violent settlements, these simple, could say no more, yet said most truly of the intruded minister, that he did not preach the Gospel, and that in the doctrine he gave there was no food for the nourishment of their souls. I cannot imagine a more painful spectacle than such men as these, the worthies of the olden time, at once the pride and the preserving salt of our Scottish commonwealth, placed under the treatment and rough handling of an able, jeering, tuous clergymen booted and spurred for riding ungodly advocate while coarse and contempCommittees, were looking on and enjoying the scene; and a loud laugh from the seats of these assembled scorners, completed the triumph but reclaim with their hearts and not with their over the religious sensibilities of men, who could voices. This was the policy of Dr. Robertson, had read of Cicero and Demosthenes than anything he had ever heard." Few who have heard him on some high theme, either in the ecclesiastical courts or in the pulpit, but will unite in placing Dr. Chalmers at the head of modern orators. And this, in spite of every outward disadvantage, voice, and accent, and manner, all against him, the fire of irrepressible genius nevertheless burst through every obstacle, and from his soul the living torrent of resistless eloquence flowed through every channel of thought and fancy and feel-recently lauded in high places-a policy which ing into the soul of each admiring hearer. Of the effects of his pulpit discourses we say nothing, because here the highest work depends not on human agency; not by might of human eloquence, nor by power of human persuasion, but by the Spirit of the Lord is spiritual work effected. But in all within the reach of human agency,-in arousing and arresting the attention, in convincing and enlightening the understanding, in stirring the deep recesses of the heart, and moving at will the affections, never was orator in ancient or modern times more successful. And in the occasional digressions from the main march of his majestic progress in his later speeches in the General Assembly, there were some bursts of impassioned eloquence to which in ancient or modern times we may look in vain for a parallel. We were present in that venerable court during the debate on the night of the 22d of May, 1839, on the Auchterarder case, when the hostile decision of the House of Lords was first made known to the Assembly. Dr. Cook, the leader of the old Moderate party, had moved, that as the Veto Act had been declared by the supreme civil tribunals of the country to infringe on civil and patrimonial rights, the Church should proceed forthwith in the settlement of pastors according to the practice which prevailed previously to the passing of that Act. Dr. Muir, the spokesman of the weak wavering middle party, had proposed some time-serving useless resolution. Dr. Chalmers rose, and amidst the breathless ailence of the crowded House, began thus: has dissevered our population from our Church, and shed most withering influences over the religion of the families of Scotland. Re-enact this policy National Establishment, on the brink of its sure if you will, and you place your Church, as a annihilation. Have a care, ye professing friends of order and loyalty, have a care lest by a departure from the line of resolute and unswerving principle, you strip the Church of all moral weight in the eyes of the community. Think of the deadly enemies by whom we are encompassed, and have a care, lest by one hair-breadth of deviation from the path of integrity and honour, you cause the hearts of these Philistines to rejoice." Seldom have we witnessed such effects from eloquence as the scene at this moment presented in the House. The greater part of the audience, and of the members on their feet, having risen one by one involunDr. Chalmers' side of the House, were on tarily as the tide of noble passion bore onward; along the line of the Moderate benches every head was bent down, and every face hid in shame and confusion, while the tempest of indignant invective was sweeping over them; while in the galleries there was ever and anon an ill repressed murmur of feeling, ready at the first pause to break forth into enthusiastic approbation of the champion of the rights and liberties of the Christian people. A STATUE OF DR. CHALMERS. IT is suggested that one of the most suitable memorials of Dr. Chalmers would be a marble statue, by which not only would honour be done to his name, but the features and appearance of the man would be represented and handed down to posterity. In order that all may share in the pleasure of having contributed to such an object, we further suggest that a penny subscription be entered on, which we have no doubt would be responded to in a way that would testify the extent to which veneration and love for the departed had pervaded the people of Scotland. Nor would England and other parts of the world fail to contribute their portion. The surplus contribution, after accomplishing this object, might fitly be set apart for carrying out some of those schemes of Christian benevolence in which he was engaged. We deprecate the idea of any "idle monument;" but such a statue in Edinburgh, besides its value as an historical memorial, would show that true benevolence and Christian patriotism can sometimes be appreciated, as well as the fame of the warrior or the eminence of the statesman or politician. The centre of the first quadrangle of the new college at Edinburgh would be a fitting site. Statues of Dr. Welsh, and also of John Knox, Melville, Henderson, and other leading names of the Kirk of Scotland, would be suitable ornaments of the college buildings. PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF THE ENGLISH PRESBYTERIANS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY AS TO TOLERATION. THE defence by the Rev. Thomas M'Crie of the Presbyterians of the seventeenth century from the charge of intolerance, to which reference was made in our last number, p. 436, is now given; and further vindication will be found in the Sketches of Scottish Church History, chapter ix. From a note in that work, we append some remarks as to the practice of the Presbyterians in the matter of toleration. We must not give up our Presbyterian fathers to the vague charge of intolerance, without making any distinction. The theory of intolerance they may have held in common with others, but they were not intolerant either at heart or in practice. Let us hear the theory, in the words of good Peter Martyr, (I quote from his "Commentary on the Book of Judges") ::—“ Wherefore, forasmuch as they are kings, they are admonished to use the power given to them by God, to defend the verity of the true faith, and to put down the ungodly, that the Catholic truth and Church of the Son of God, as far as their dominions extend, be not assaulted. Wherefore it is not lawful for princes to grant unto the ungodly impure worshippings; yea, it is their part to urge sound doctrine, ceremonies, and rites which agree with the Word of God." should be left in the circumstantials of reliAnd then, after conceding that some liberty gious worship, he adds, "For the end of civil rule is, that the citizens should live both virtuously and happily. And who seeth not but that godliness and the worshipping of God is the chief of all the virtues?" seeth it not indeed! How plain and straightforward our old divines were, after all! No puzzling distinctions, no balancing of parties, no compunctious visitings about "the rights of conscience." And how coolly do they waive aside all objections! "Peradventure, some will say, if a prince should compel those unto the right use of the sacraments, who are not yet persuaded of the truth, he should drive them headlong into sin ?" Can't help, that is substantially the reply of Peter Martyr: the prince must do his duty, and if men will be Who |