BOOKS.

HANNA'S LIRE AND WRITINGS OF DR. CHALMERS.* PERHAPS of all the divines who were connected with an establish- ment or who observed the decorum of a settled church, Dr. Chalmers was the most widely popular. The great divines of the Anglican Church, and some of the great Nonconformists, were as well known, if not more influential; but their celebrity and their influence originated partly in politics, lay or ecclesiastical. They lived in troubled times ; they were persecuted themselves, or it may be, were occasionally engaged in perse- cuting others ; and in fact were essentially party leaders in periods of violence. Wesley and Whitefield, like many Romanist saints, were not only missionaries but mob orators, who though belonging to the Esta- blished Church set its decorums at defiance. The name of Chalmers, too, was popular beyond his own country ; and though it had not in England the same weight that it possessed in Scotland, he was regarded religiously by large numbers in the Church, as well as by most members of the dif- ferent denominations. Robertson's name was as widely known, but his repute was literary. And we exclude from our estimate the party use the Tories made of Chalmers about the time of the Reform fever, when they ostentatiously patronized his lectures in favour of church establishments.

One source of Dr. Chalmers's reputation is to be found in his style, which had all the force and popularity of the platform, without its obvious mechanism, its tiresome mannerism, its laboured efforts, and its " damnable iteration." Perhaps, indeed, he was the founder of the mo- dern school of platform oratory ; but, in addition to the genius and cha- racter of an original, he had strength and fertility of thought, great flu- ency, and a natural earnestness of feeling. His peculiarities were not professional affectations, but odd habits. The manner of Scottish and Dissenting pulpit oratory is so different from that of the Anglican Church, that the introduction of science into Christian discourses by Chalmers had to Nonconformists all the effect of novelty. And had the junction been snore common even with Anglican divines, they of necessity wanted the new and living science—the chemistry, the botany, the geology— with which Chalmers varied, illustrated, and enforced his discourses. hese features, however, were material or formal—such things as could find n imitated hy_othera-wl2ea-lite ptern was given them. The rs hold upon mankind was in bisi own genial nature ; 'So which Dryden's lines might be applied- " I have a soul that, like an ample shield,

Can take in all, and verge enough for more."

This, which approaches rhodomontade as a general proposition, had much reality as regarded Chalmers. Full as he might be, he was always ready to learn, or to do, something beyond. And he brought to his arguments, his actions, or his views, an earnestness and a vividness, which were always spirited and forceful, if they sometimes passed into angry invective in earlier life, and at all times had a tendency to wander into exuberance. There was, too, a childlike simplicity about him, that won by its contrast with his massy force. The life of this great patriarch of the Scottish Church is brought down in the volume before us to the call of Mr. Chalmers to Glasgow, the first seat of his national popularity; the book closing with his farewell sermon at his first parish, Kaman); in the thirty-fifth year of his age. Future volumes and coming years may introduce the reader to greater works than Chal- mers had hitherto attained, and present him much more prominently be- fore the world's eye; but they can hardly be so important as regards the formation of his character, or contain matter of more biographical in- terest. That the child is father of the man was especially true of Chal- iners. A family feeling, where perhaps religion and ambition pretty equally mingled, early designed him for the pulpit; but Nature had "formed his genius in the natal hour" for that vocation. Long before he could have formed any idea of the ministerial duties, or comprehended the simplest doctrines of Christianity, he had entered upon his future calling. " The sister of one of his schoolfellows at Anstruther still remembers break- ing in upon her brother and him in a room to which they had retired together, and finding the future great pulpit orator (then a very little boy) standing upon a chair and preaching most vigorously to his single auditor below. He had not only resolved to be a minister—he had used upon his first text,—' Let brotherly love continue.'" To show how this early bias was trained and fashioned, is one of the chief and most interesting features of Dr. Hanna's volume. Many bio- graphical and family circumstances, and many sketches of Scottish life, are intermingled with it; but the picture of Chalmers's mind, from his childish school days, through a boyhood careless of learning, a youth sceptical of revealed religion altogether, and an early manhood in which scholastic and scientific ambition overpowered a cold and formal belief in the logic of Christianity, forms the principal figure of the piece, round which all other topics are grouped in subordinate though often consider- able interest. Luckily, the journals and correspondence of Chalmers allowed his mental life to be more fully displayed than is often the case even with religious men of his eminence and activity ; whilefamily papers, and the reminiscences of relations, friends, admirers, and the publicly recorded actions of Chalmers himself, furnisg ample materials for the out- ward life.

Dr. Thomas Chalmers was born in 1780, the sixth son of a family of fourteen. His father was a shipowner and general merchant of Ans- truther, a small seaport on the Eastern coast of Fife. The family was of a very religious turn ; and the light and lax idea Thomas at first enter- tained of the duties of the ministry, and his postponement of them to schemes of scientific and literary distinction, were in after years a source of uneasiness to his father, as well as a cause of remonstrance. At a very early age Thomas went off to school, to escape the cruelties of a nurse; and afentoirs of the Life and Writings of Thomas Chalmers, D.D., LL.D. By hfs Bon- in-law, the Reverend William Hanna, LL.D. Volume I. Published (for Mr. Con- stable) by Sutherland and Knox, Edinburgh; Hamilton and Adams, London.

remained there till he became a student of St. Andrews University, when only in his twelfth year. At school he had been more conspicuous for a gleesome aptness for play, and the power of doing his tasks if he chose, than for any real acquisitions. The lax system of admission in the Scottish Universities allowed Master Thomas to become a student when English spelling and grammar were yet to seek, and his Latin was what Ben Jonson describes Shakspere's, " small"; nor for the first two years did he apply much, or, to speak properly, he was not made to apply much, to study. This sketch of the doings at St. Andrews, by a class-fellow, ex_ hibits a neglect and laxity that may more than vie with Gibbon's pic- ture of Oxford forty years earlier.

"In November 1791, whilst not yet twelve years of age, accompanied by his elder brother William, he enrolled himself as a student m the United College of Si, Andrews. He had but one contemporary there who had entered college at an earlier age, John, Lord Campbell; and the two youngest students became each in future life, the most distinguished in his separate sphere. However it may have been in Lord Campbell's case, in Dr. Chalmers extreme youth was not com- pensated by any prematureness or superiority of preparation. A letter written to his eldest brother, James, during the summer which succeeded his first session at college, is still preserved—the earliest extant specimen of his writing. It abounds in errors both in orthography and grammar, and abundantly proves that the work of learning to write his own tongue with ordinary correctness had still to be begun. His knowledge of the Latin language was equally defective ; =- fitting him during his first two sessions to profit as he might otherwise have done from the prelections of that distinguished philosophical grammarian Dr. John Hunter, who was then the chief ornament of St. Andrews University. ' My first acquaintance with Dr. Chalmers,' writes the Reverend Mr. Miller,' was in No- vember 1791; when we entered the University of St. Andrews together, He was at that time very young, and volatile, and boyish, and idle in his habits, and, like the rest of us in those days, but ill prepared by previous education for reaping the full benefit of a college course. I think that during the first two sessions a great part of his time must have been occupied (as mine was) in boyish amuse- ments, such as golf, foot-ball, and particularly hand-ball; in which latter he was remarkably expert, owing to his being left-handed.'" Something he must have picked up from the common exercises of the place ; but it was not till his third session-1793—'94—that his " intellectual birth-time" took its date. And the first science to which he applied himself was mathematics. Soon afterwards, ethics and polities engaged his attention ; and the family faith, political and religious, received a considerable shock in the person of its sixth child, from Godwin's Political Justice. To the Toryism of his father he soon returned, scared probably by the atrocities of the French Revolution. His religious scepticism was of longer duration, and was strengthened some years afterwards by the perusal of the Systeme de la Nature. Yet his scepticism was not of the cold and abstract character of his masters ; he fiaa Itela '7C the bigoted prejudices which rendered some of the infidels of that time as violent as fanatins. The genial nature of Chalmers came to his aid : had he not been converted, first to an historical and logical Christianity, next to Evangelisnithe might have anticipated by half a cen- tury the kindly philosophy and spiritual Theism that have of late years arisen. Even while at St. Andrews in his seventeenth year, with un- settled opinions, the student's prayers he offered up in public excited the attention of the "town."

" It was then the practice et St. Andrews, that all the members of the Uni- versity assembled daily in the public hall for morning and evening prayers, which were conducted by the theological students. The hall was open to the public, but in general the invitation was not largely accepted. In his first theological session it came by rotation to be Dr. Chalmers's turn to pray. His prayer, an am- plification of the Lord's Prayer, clause by clause consecutively, was so originally and yet so eloquently worded, that universal wonder and very general admiration were excited by it. ' I remember still,' writes one who was himself an auditor, ' after the lapse of fifty-two years, the powerful impression made by his prayers in the Prayer Hall, to which the people of St. Andrews flocked when they knew that Chalmers was to pray. The wonderful flow of eloquent, vivid, ardent de- scription of the attributes and works of God, and still more, perhaps, the as- tonishingly harrowing delineation of the miseries, the horrid cruelties, immorali- ties, and abominations inseparable from war, which always came in more or less in connexion with the bloody warfare in which we were engaged with France, called forth the wonderment of the hearers. He was then only sixteen years of age, yet he showed a taste and capacity for composition of the most glowing and eloquent kind. Even then, his style was very mach the same as at the period when he attracted so much notice and made such powerful impression in the pul- pit and by the press.'

" For the cultivation of his talent for composition he was largely indebted to debating societies formed among the students. During the session 1783-'94, be had been admitted as a member of the Political Society; and on his entering the Divinity Hall in November 1795, he was enrolled in the books of the Theological Society."

Het continued at St. Andrews University till he was eighteen ; when he quitted it to take the office of a tutor, being unwilling to remain longer as a burden to his father. His age, according to Southern notions, was juvenile, though not so in Scotland ; but he bore himself with dignity, and (what was harder for him) with temper, in a difficult position. The pupils were ten in number ; the family had formed a low opinion of a tutor's office; his predecessor had succumbed to their estimate of him- self, and had also curried favour with the ladies by allowing some im- proper indulgences to the pupils, which Chalmers was not the person to do. The consequence was, a series of petty and irritating annoyances; which the youthful tutor thus sums up in a letter to his father,—a pru- dent man, who seems to have feared that his son's impetuosity was car- rying him too far.

"November 6, 1798.

" Dear Father—I am sorry to think there is anything in my last letter to make you suspect any improper reserve on my part towards the family. I can assure you their conduct towards me is universally disapproved. I never have yet men- tioned particulars to you ; but do you think I can feel agreeably from being thought unworthy oP supping in the same room with the family? My pupils often have this privilege when there is company, whilst I, regarded as interior to them, have supper in my. own room. I am sure they would consider themselves affronted if any persons in the town were to ask me along with them to their houses. I am sometimes asked by myself, but never with thefamily. Whenthere is company, I am on a very interior footing indeed. I have been frowned upon for speaking; as if I were thought unworthy of joining in the conversation. To be sure, this does not give offence in so high a degree when they are by themselves; but do you imagine that I am to take advantage of this privilege, as if I was glad of the favour, and thought myself honoured by their condescension? Thleis

what the reserve I spoke of in my last letter chiefly consists in. I would never allow myself to do or say anything rude, to give a morose and uncivil answer, or fail in any of the attentions which common discretion or common politeness re- aired. I know that there are some people who, impetuous about trifles, take re at every little thing, and make a great fuss about their dignity and their re- spect. But I would ever distinguish between such a silly, contemptible dignity, j

and that dignity which is never offended but when it has just grounds of offence; and though .I have a strong feeling of snob a distinction, yet I don't feel that it is incumbent on me to speak, when by so doing I am exposed to careless, neglectful answers, and would show that I gladly catch at the honour of their conversation. My present treatment has given me a disgust at the situation of a tutor. I can assure you that my place at present is not nearly so eligible or respectable as the schoolmaster's at Anster. I know that I could be in that situation; but I know likewise that it would hurt you and my other friends, and I shall be far removed from you before I enter into such a situation. "I am yours affectionately, THOMAS CH*TArvars." After trying in vain to brook the indignities to which he was subjected, Thomas Chalmers resigned his post, towards the end of the year-1798. In the early part of 1799 he returned to St. Andrews, and obtained a licence to preach the gospel as a probationer.

" Some difficulties were raised against its being received. He had completed his nineteenth year, whereas presbyteries were not wont to take students upon pro- oationary trials till they bad attained the age of twenty-one. It happily occurred that one of his friends in the Presbytery fell upon the old statute of the Church which ordains 'that none be admitted to the Ministry before they be twenty- five years of age, except such as for rare and singular qualities shall be judged by the General and Provincial Assembly to be meet and worthy thereof.' Under cover of the last clause of this statute, and translating its more dignified phrase- ology into terms of commoner use, his friend pleaded for Mr. Chalmers's reception as a lad o' pregnant pairts.' The plea was admitted; and, after the usual formalities, he was licensed as a preacher of the gospel, on the 31st July 1799. It was one of the tales of his earlier life which he was in the habit in later years of playfully repeating, that such a title had been so early given to him, and such a dispensation as to age had been granted."

For some time the young candidate for the ministry did little in the way of preaching. He went to Liverpool on a visit to one of his bro- thers, who was in business at that place ; and there, or rather at Wigan on an incidental excursion, preached his first sermon. After some two years of mixed excursion and study, he became, in 1801, assistant-minister in the parish of Lavers. He went through the duty properly and satis- factorily; so much so, indeed, that in the year following he was ap- pointed minister of the parish of Kilmany. But his heart was not alto- gether in his work : he panted after literary fame and academic dis- tinction. In addition to his office in the church, he became assistant to the Professor of Mathematics at St. Andrews,—rather with the mis- givings of his father ; but for some years it was a maxim with Thomas that the parish duty of a minister could be discharged in two days of each week. In his mathematical teaching he was as origi- nal as in everything else. He sought to stimulate the attention of his pupils by enforcing the utility of mathematics, and the certainty of their attainment by diligence, in a style so rich and copious as to alarm the Professor. That facundia, coupled with a misunderstanding on a public day, in which the copia vcrborum of Chalmers was used in something like defiance of the authorities, caused his dismissal. This looked like tyranny to the pastor of Kilmany,—a thing he could never away with : he also thought it an attempt to monopolize education ; and he determined to beard the lions in their dens, by starting a rival coarse of mathematical lectures. The authorities, and the townsmen who de- pended on the authorities, were aghast at such audacity ; but some few patronized the opposition lecturer, and had he persisted he might have done the anticipated mischief : but the dispute involved him in troubles and brawls, one of which he thus records in his journal. "' I have certain information of Dr. R. giving the impression that I broke faith with him.

!" Wednesday, Nov. 9.—Wrote yesterday to Dr. R., respecting an impression he had given to my prejudice. No answer today. Thursday, Nov. 10.—Received an evasive answer from Dr. R. My reply sent back in an insulting manner, without an answer, though opened, and with a message that he wished no more lines from me. "'Friday, Nov. 11.—Went to Dr. B. on the street between ten and eleven n.m., and said to him, that I was sorry, from the proceedings of last night, to be under the necessity of pronouncing him the author of a false and impudent calumny. Called W. V. to witness, and repeated before him the same words. W. V. said that I ought to be:prosecuted. Dr. R. left me in great agitation, saying, I will prosecute him.'

"Monday, Nov. 14.—Heard James Hunter say that Dr. R. met him at twelve on Friday much agitated. He said that I had called him a notorious liar, both to himself and in W. V.'s hearing. Hear of advice having been sent for to Edin- burgh on the subject of me and Dr. R. in consequence of his having consulted the Society" When Chalmers had done enough for honour, the versatility of his genius carried him to other studies. He gave a course of lectures on chemistry, which excited so much attention and attained so much po- pularity that they were repeated in several places : he entered upon geology, and at that early stage defended the science from the charge of infidelity brought against it,—broadly laying down the rule, that "the writings of Moses do not fix the antiquity of the globe ; if they fix any- thing at all, it is only the antiquity of the species." Chemistry and geology were followed by the study of botany and political economy. He was also involved in a practical and theoretical controversy. Some of the clergy of his Presbytery determined to proceed against him for non-residence. The effort failed, and Chalmers was victorious; having in the course of the dispute published a pamphlet, which after his con- version, and he felt it his duty to treat others as he had been treated, he tried to suppress. His literary as well as his clerical reputation gradually extended. He was engaged in one or two reviews ; he published a volume on political economy; and he wrote the article " Christianity " for Dr. Brewster's Encyclopredia. For eight or nine years, however, his activity was out of religion. Deaths in his family, and a severe illness which brought himself and death face to face, induced more serious thoughts. On his recovery he took new views of the sinfulness of man's nature and the necessity of justification i • but he onl7 emerged into the meridian light of Evangelism after a mental struggle (in the beginning of

which be thought grace might be dispensed with) that endured from November 1809 to December 1810. Henceforth, literary and scientific) fame were subordinate to his efforts as a minister of the gospel. The idea of eternity was ever present to his mind, as a motive principle of action; not gloomily, but ardently and according to his genial tempera- ment. The energy which had hitherto diffused itself into many currents now flowed in the channel of pulpit and practical devotion, becoming deeper and stronger for the concentration. But "even in our ashes live their wonted fires,"—he thought he might retain political economy, as he somewhat naively writes in his journal.

"' August 21st.—Have conceived the idea of abandoning severe mathematics, and expending any strength upon theological studies. Eminence in two depart- ments is scarcely attainable. Let me give my main efforts to religion, and fill up my evenings with miscellaneous literature. The sacrifice is painful, but I must not harass and enfeeble my mind with too much anxiety: and let me leave my- self entire for all those discussions which are connected with the defence of Chris- tianity, the exposition of its views, and the maintenance of its interests as af- fected by the politics or philosophy of the times. The business of our Courts and the dignity of our Establishment will of course afford a most animating sub- ject for the joint exercise of speculation and activity. 0 my God, prosper me in all my laudable undertakings, and let Thy glory and the good of mankind be the uttermost concern of my heart. Political economy touches upon religious esta- blishments, and a successful or original speculation in this department may throw an éclat over my ecclesiastical labours."

The employment of his varied acquirements and extraordinary energy upon one subject, gave Chalmers more fame than he might perhaps have acquired had he continued to disperse his powers. His reputation as a pulpit orator grew apace; while he had in the Bible Society, the manage- ment of the poor, and the public business of the church, enough to give stimulus to his mind, and to bring him before the public in a larger ca- pacity than that of parish minister. The consequence was, his removal to Glasgow, under circumstances of great independence on his part ; for he refused to give his friends a promise that he would accept if elected. He left the decision to "the Lord" when the time came; though, we sus- pect, with something of a foregone conclusion in favour of the great city. It was, however, a momentous decision, in which his friends and family had their say. His elder brother, James, who had settled in London and forsaken the Presbyterian for the Episcopalian Church, ad- dressed to him a manly and sensible letter; but could not see "the future in the instant"—he saw what Mr. Chalmers was, not what Dr. Chalmers was to be. "London, November 26, 1814. " Dear Thomas—I am much concerned to learn that the allurements of the perishable mammon are likely soon to have an effect upon you, and make you re- sign all your earthly comforts and domestic quiet; but I still hope that you will look before you leap, and think better of the business before you accept of any nonsense that may be offered. A situation of an additional 100/ a year may perhaps be held out to you; but you should take into the account how far that situation may expose you to expenses exceeding the addition of income which it renders—what company and connexions it may lead you into—how far it may en- croach upon the time which you have hitherto allotted for study, or devoted to the pleasures and endearments of domestic life—what effect the sudden change from a quiet country life to the din and bustle of the great city is likely to have upon you—and how far you think you can relish the formal and empty ceremo- nious fad lal of refinement when compared to the honest but humble society to which you have been accustomed at Kilmany. Besides, Kilmany is the place where you began your career. The Reverend Mr. Chalmers of Kilmany is known; his fame ie far spread, his character is respected, his reputation established, and his abilities acknowledged and admired. But the Reverend Mr. Chalmers of Glasgow is another person: he has to begin the world afresh; and there is no doubt but he will be considered in the literary as well as religious world as a very different man from his Reverence of Kilmany. Shining abilities are naturally looked for and expected to be met with at the seat of learning, and of course are not estimated so highly as when they proceed from humble life. Think of all these things, and consider also how greatly it will add to your character, that in- stance of self-denial which your refusal of the offer will not fail to impress on the minds of all who know you and have heard of you. Keep fast by what you have got, and be contented still to remain the minister of Kilmany ; and leave Glasgow to those hunters after the world and vain-glory who may be disposed to throw themselves in its way. Never you mind the call of the Lord, as it is called, but think of * * *. Excuse all I have said on the subject. I have no other view than your own happiness; for I am convinced that if you do accept of this offer, you sacrifice your comfort and happiness for ever. You will have no time for study; you will be deprived of all the comforts of a home, for you will be con- tinually carried down a current of formal visits and complimentary calls, and in- vitations, and botheration* of all sorts. Let Zechariah Boyd look somewhere else for an interpreter of his works, and not insult Kilmany with any such application. I hope to hear from you before long; and 1 trust your letter will inform me that you have declined the offer, both on year own account, and on account of the An- struther folks, who would be much hurt at your leaving the neighbourhood. I beg you to write soon; and I remain, dear Thomas, your affectionate brother,

"JAMES CLIALMERS2'

From his brother's reply, one of the letters of James on this subject appears to be missing.

" Thus far can we go along with one another; but I am afraid no further Glasgow is not a better situation in point of emolument. It is greatly more la- borious; and I will have to maintain a constant struggle with the difficulties you insist upon. Yet I think it my duty to go: but were I to unfold all the motives to you I fear, from the strain of year two last letters, that you would positively not understand me. I do not pretend any call of Providence in the shape of a vision or a voice; yet surely, if Providence overrule all events—if the appoint- ment in question is an event I had no hand in—if, during. the whole progress of the steps which led to it, I cautiously abstained from giving any encouragement to the electors—would not tell them whether I would take it or tarn from it, but left it a question quite undecided till Providence brought it to my door; then, if there is no intimation of the will of Providence here, it must follow, either that events afford no interpretation of that will, or (what, I fear, falls in with the practical Atheism of many) God has no share in the matter at all: He is deposed from His sovereignty, and the solemn assertion that not a sparrow falleth to the ground without His appointment is a nullity and a falsehood. I do not say that this argument should supersede others, but it ought.to have a place and a reality in every Christian deliberation."

Such is the outline—and a very slender outline—of the career of Thomas Chalmers up to his thirty-fifth year. But even if the events of his life could have been narrated more fully in our space, it is not so much in them that the interest of the work before us and the merits of the biographer consist. It is in the fill exhibition of a very remarkable character—the exhibition, very often, of the minutest working of his

mind—that forms the primary interest of the biography. A secondary, though probably undesigned attraction, is in the picture of Scottish cha- racter and society for nearly a quarter, of a century, when Scottish so- ciety was in a transition state. His various studies and pursuits, his lec- tures both in and out of the pulpit, made Chalmers a sort of centre, round which friends and opponents gathered. We have thus something like a mixed comedy, alternately grave and ludicrous, in which many characters and many kinds of life pass before the reader. The style of Dr. Hanna's narrative is terse and manly; and he effectively indicates the pith of his story, whether humorous or serious. But his great merit lies in the mastery of his subject and the management of his materials. The mode in which he handles complex subjects so as to place them plainly before the reader, and the way in which he suspends chronology to bring remarkable circumstances effectively together, is akin to the art that produces the episode and retrospection of epic poetry.

In his youth Dr. Chalmers was several times in England, but not much further South than Liverpool. In his twenty-seventh year he visited London, :and the elaborate journal he kept of his tour is very interesting. It vividly conveys the impression which the full-dress style of English scenery and English mansions left upon his mind; and it brings up things which the present generation only know by report. Blenheim was the first seat that greatly struck him ; and it inspired a passage that may be quoted as a fine specimen of his composition.

"' The pleasure I felt was heightened by a variety of circumstances which sup- plied associations of grandeur. In addition to the stateliness of actual display, I had the recollection of its origin, the immortality of its first owner, the proud monument of national glory, the prospect not of a house, or scene, or a neigh- bourhood, but the memorial of those events which had figured on the high theatre of war and of politics, and given a turn to the history of the world. The statue of Louis XIV. placednpon the South front, and taken from the walls of Tourney, gives an air of magnificence far beyond the mere power of form or of magnitude. It is great not as a visible object, but great as a trophy, great as it serves to illus- trate the glory of England, and the prowess of the first of warriors. I spent two hours in the garden. Never spot more lovely—never scenes so fair and captivat- ing. I lost myself in an elysium of delight, and wept with perfect rapture. My favourite view was down the river, from the ground above the fountain. The setting sun gleamed on the gilded orbs of Blenheim ; through the dark verdure of trees were seen peeps of water and spots of grassy sunshine; the murmurs of the waterfall beneath soothed every anxiety within me; the bell of the village-clock sent its music across the lake on my left. I sat motionless, and my mind slum- bered in a reverie of enchantment.'

In London he exhibited the same activity as everywhere else : but we will pass theatres, elections, and sights, for his Sunday trip to Windsor. A year or two later, such a jaunt would not have been indulged in, nor would the indulgence of others have passed without grave remark.

"'Saturday, May 16th.—I arrived at Windsor at seven; ran up to the Castle; got admittance b' the porter (is.); and was shown by the chambermaid (.1s. W.) through the public rooms. The paintings I did not see to advantage, from the lateness of the hour; but was particularly struck with the magnificence of St. George's Hall, and the finished elegance of the King's audience-chamber. In one of the rooms, I was pointed out the Duke of Marlborough's annual quit-rent for Blenheim, a small flag highly decorated. I went down to the terrace ; and as I walked along the North of the Castle, I swore in the gladness of my heart that there was never scene so sweet or fair. You have an exquisite view below the eminence, of the Castle, the windings of the Thames, Eton College and Chapel. The vivid green seen in patches through the fringe of luxuriant branches—the extensive lawns below, on which the peaceful cattle were grazing—the hum of the village—the grand association of Majesty—his piety and amiable character— his selection of this quiet retirement as a refuge from the cares and the splendour of royalty—threw me into a train of emotions, soothing, tranquil, and elevating. I returned to the Hero Inn, where I got a snug room, a substantial supper, and a comfortable bed.

"Sunday, May 17th.—Went to the King's private chapel; where, at half-past eight, I was gratified with the entrance of their Majesties and the Princess Eliza- . beth. His manner is devotional and unaffected. I heard them all repeat the service most distinctly; and was much pleased with their frank, easy, and bene- volent appearance. The view of Twickenham was most charming. Pope's house was among the delightful residences that we gazed on with rapture from the op- posite side. The river was enshrined with pleasure-boats ; and the gay London parties, walking and drinking tea on both sides, gave cheerfulness and animation to the prospect. The idea, however, of vicinity to the metropolis, pollutes all our rural impressions of this fascinating scene—takes off from all that pure interest which the idea of simplicity confers, and mingles with original nature the vices, profligacy, and corruptions of civilized life. We ascended Richmond Hill; eyed with rapture the country before us; saw in the rich scene that presented itself the wealth of the first city in the world, spreading its embellishment over the neighbourhood. Took a boat to Kew when we passed Isleworth, and had a charming sail down the river. From Kew we coached it to town, and reached Walworth by eleven in the evening.' "

The journals of religious converts—of " brands snatched from the burning"—have been printed so often that little novelty in kind could be looked for ; but in the case of Chalmers there is unusual freshness and interest from the character of the man. The mass of people who write these confessions are more or less of mystics : it is the outpouring of reverie, very often of verbiage. In Chalmers there is unsparing critical analysis of his own conduct, a searching dissection of his new faith ; with one example of which we conclude our extracts.

"'May 3(1.—I gave an hoar in the forenoon to devotion; of which the following is the record. At the commencement felt my heart strongly occupied with my mis- understanding with —. Prayed against this ; that my main anxiety may be about God, and not men, and that I maybe so filled with charity and forgiveness, as to be in a state of preparation for bringing my gift before the altar. Prayed for God's blessing and presence through the whole exercise. Prayed for the correction of my defects, my want of taste for spiritual and divine objects, my distance from God, my want of those impressions of reality and importance which should ac- company the whole of my intercourse with Him. Prayed for the correction of my faults in reference to my brethren of mankind, and, in particular, for grieving the Holy Ghost, whose fruits are long-suffering and gentleness, by clamour and wrath and bitterness. Prayed for the substitution of right principles, in place of those wrong ones which obtained in the case of —; and that I may be without un- charitableness to man on the one hand, and a sinful fear of man on the other. This led me to a train of feeling and speculation about this affair which I in- dulged in, even on my knees; and the result was a plan which I think it would be advisable to adopt in reference to —, and that is, a full and explanatory letter. 0 God forgive me what is wrong in this wandering ; and as I prayed for wisdom, am I to take this plan as Thy suggestion, and to proceed upon it accordingly ? My be- ginning acquaintance with God as He lays Himself before me in the Old Testament is, I hope, putting to flight my metaphysical difficulties about sin. I am proceeding more upon first principles, and not consuming my time and strength so much in spe- culating about them. Thought of my relative duties. Prayed for a due discharge of them, and for the welfare and prosperity of those who are the objects of them. This carried in it intercession for parish, church, family, friends, and acquaint- ances. Thought of the general interests of Christianity ; prayed for its exten- sion, for the removal of the obstructions which now lie in its way, for the prospe- rity of religious societies. Concluded with a prayer for forgiveness, and for a blessing on the whole exercise. ' May 511t—This day is an epoch in my life. My dear Grace had a daughter, and I have to bless God for an answer to my prayers in giving her a safe and easy delivery. 0 my God, perfect her restoration to health, and carry her in safety through the remainder of her trials. I dedicate this child to Thee, and pray for wisdom and ability as well as zeal in the great work of bringing her up in Thy nurture and admonition. Insert the following as a memorandum, which may in- terest my daughter when she comes to understand it. " Born about five minutes before two in the afternoon ; and I was employed at the time in correcting for the press the second paragraph about the contempt in- curred by missionaries, in my sermon on Ps. xli. 1. "

Among the materials for this varied volume are the Posthumous "Works (and indeed all the works) of Dr. Chalmers; which receive new interest from their connexion with his life. Some of them, looked at singly, had only a literary or a theological value : considered with the occasion of their production, they have a homefelt interest,—like the dif- ference between a distant occurrence and family events.