_Glasgow, Friday, April 11, 1817._
At the hour of dinner we went to 'North wood-side,' a delightful
country residence about two miles from Glasgow, the property of an
opulent merchant. It is situated upon the Kelvin, a tributary stream
of the Clyde, and together with its grounds, exhibits striking
evidences of the elegant but costly taste of its proprietor. The
gentleman has been in America, and was not a little attached to its
form of government,--a partiality which naturally extended itself to
the individuals concerned in its administration; and, accordingly
we were gratified with beholding the portraits of several of our
most distinguished countrymen adorning the walls of his apartments.
The afternoon passed highly to our satisfaction; and we would gladly
have accepted an invitation, which was given with a sincerity which
could not be mistaken, to protract our visit beyond the day, but for
engagements which required our return to Glasgow. After coffee we
left North Wood-side, and reached the city in season to sup at the
Rev. Dr. Chalmers'.
It had been my good fortune to meet and become partially acquainted
with this extraordinary man in Edinburgh. He has politely invited
me to visit him in Glasgow, and this morning I called at his house,
and passed half an hour with him. I found him then much engaged
in completing some preparations for a journey to London which he
is to commence on Monday. He desired my company at supper in the
evening, and extended the invitation to my companion. We found a
few friends at his house, among whom were several ladies. Mrs. C.
possesses a pleasing person, and engaging manners, and performed
the honours of the table with great propriety. Dr. C. had finished
the necessary arrangements for his journey, and entered freely into
an animated and instructive conversation. His colloquial powers are
of a high order. Even in familiar conversation, he is impressive
and striking;--although he seems not to be ambitious of display
or the distinction of taking a lead.--He is at home on most of
the popular topics of the day. In discussing any of interest, he
engages '_totus in illis_.' His thoughts in that case are rapid, and
his remarks,--assuming the complexion of his fervid mind,--abound
in glowing but easy illustrations. He spoke very feelingly upon
the subject of the English poor laws, and the alarming increase
of mendicity in Scotland. As in instance of the unnatural state
of things in Glasgow itself, he referred to the sum of 14,000_l._
sterling, which in less than a month had been raised by subscription
in this single city, for the relief of the poorer classes. To the
honour, however, of the wealthy population of Glasgow, it should be
added, that the moneys thus contributed, have been more than enough,
with other private benefactions, to supply the present need; and
the surplus has been funded to meet some future, and I hope, very
distant exigency.
Conversation at table turned upon that dark and malignant spirit of
infidelity, which under various forms, seems insidiously stealing
like a pestilence throughout society. Dr. C's. remarks upon this
subject were very eloquent, both in commenting upon the different
masks which it assumes, and the coverts wherein it lurks, and in
suggesting some seemingly effectual checks to the prevalence of this
tremendous evil. The inquiries of Dr. C. relative to America, as
well now as during a former interview, indicated no small degree of
attention which he has paid to its civil and religious institutions.
He spoke in terms of great commendation of the writings of the
late Jonathan Edwards, and pronounced them to be among the ablest
in English theology. In metaphysics he considers Edwards to have
equalled the deepest thinkers of his age.
The supper at Dr. C's. was liberally and tastfully provided.
Immediately after its removal, and before the wine was placed upon
the table, the service of evening devotion was introduced. It was
simple but engaging; consisting of a portion of scripture, which
was read with great solemnity, and a prayer, during which all the
company kneeled, as is usual to family devotions throughout this
country. The servants were present. It was nearly twelve o'clock
when we took leave of Dr. C. A very friendly request which he made
that I would visit him hereafter in Glasgow, I fear that I shall
never have it in my power to comply with.
_Glasgow, 14th April._--Yesterday I had the satisfaction to hear
Dr. Chalmers preach once more. It was generally understood that it
would be the last time that he would officiate in Glasgow for two
or three months, and the crowds which assembled to hear him were
very great. He was absent from his own pulpit, by exchange, in the
morning, which did not prevent, however many from following him
to the church where he preached. The Tron, in the afternoon, was
overflowing some time before the hour of service, and the rush of
people to the doors was as great as I have seen at Covent Garden,
when John Kemble was to play. I repaired early to the church with
some ladies, and we were fortunate in procuring excellent seats.
Dr. C. fully equalled my expectations, although I have heard him in
Edinburgh produce a superior effect. The eloquence of this great
man is very vehement and impassioned. The effect which he produces
in preaching, does not consist in approaching his point by any
artful and covert process of reasoning and illustration, but by
openly marching up and confronting it with unhesitating and manly
intrepidity. Whatever faults may be detected in Dr. C's. style by
the cool eye of fastidious criticism,--from the profusion of his
ornaments, the overstraining of his metaphors, the redundancy of
his expression,--perhaps there is no person living who, when once
seen and heard, would be pronounced more free from the petty or
laboured artifices which are generally employed to recommend and
enforce instruction. So regardless is he of the factitious aids of
composition, that his style may often be considered negligent, and
sometimes even coarse. This again may be regarded by hyper-critics
as a species of affectation; a contrary, and, I believe, a juster
inference may be drawn from the fact. Dr. C. unconsciously
overlooks, while he is thought studiously to disdain, the more
common trappings and gilding of composition. In preaching, he seems
wholly absorbed in his sublime occupation, and to be irresistibly
borne along by the grandeur of his theme. As a man, he appears to
sink under a prostrating sense of his own personal nothingness,
but as a herald of the Christian faith, he rises to the majesty
of more than mortal elevation. In discussing the great truths of
Revelation, his imagination kindles; and strange it would be if
it did not. The fire which is elicited is the natural effect of
the rapid motion of his thoughts, combined with the fervour of his
ardent piety. His single services yesterday were enough to prove
him the first preacher of his age. In each of his discourses there
are some parts which are particularly impassioned, and at such
moments he hurries onward as with the excitement of inspiration,
and produces an effect which Whitefield could not have surpassed.
At these times, too, the listening audience may be seen bending
forward, as if with breathless interest, to catch each word as it
falls from his lips; and, on his arriving at the conclusion of the
particular train of sentiment, again arousing as from the spell of a
dream to the reality of conscious existence. This is not fancy, or
if it be, it is one which I am not singular in possessing. Dr. C. at
least produces the effect of awakening susceptibilities in the most
obdurate bosoms. I was present one evening when he was preaching
in lady Glenorchy's chapel, in Edinburgh, and occupied a seat next
to Spurzheim, the celebrated craniologist. I noticed that he was
deeply engaged by the preacher. On his finishing, I inquired what he
thought of him? "It is too much, too much," said he, passing his
hand across his forehead, "my brain is on a fever by what I have
been hearing," a striking declaration from a cold and phlegmatic
German.
Dr. C. seems to act and feel as one, who, possessed of great
intellectual endowments, is conscious that he owes them all to the
service of religion. His aim apparently is, to "bring every thought
into captivity to the truth of Christ," and to "cast down each
lofty imagination," at the foot of the cross. To add to the weight
of his discourses, he is accustomed to call into requisition the
abounding stores of his various knowledge. In delivering his sermons
he usually commences in a low, but always a distinct tone of voice;
and proceeds for some time with a calm and uniform utterance. As
his subject is developed, his mind and feelings gradually expand,
and his voice is insensibly raised. His manner at first is not
prepossessing; nor indeed is his voice to an English ear, as it
has much of the Fifeshire accent. The hearer, however, soon loses
whatever is disagreeable in each; and even forgets the man while
listening to the message of the preacher. Dr. C. appears turned of
thirty-eight, in his person he is tall, and rather slender; his hair
and complexion incline to dark; his eye is a blue tending to gray,
and is distinguished at first only by a certain heaviness in its
expression. It beams however in conversation, and flashes in public
discourse.
Some facts in the history of this extraordinary man are peculiar.
For the first few years of his ministry he was settled in Kilmany,
an inconsiderable parish in the county of Fife. While there, he was
generally accounted a man of talents, but rather indifferent to the
duties of his profession, fond of social and gay company, proud of
his intellectual powers no less so of his acquirements, and careless
of the construction which the more serious part of the community
might put upon his principles and sentiments. If I am correctly
informed, he occasionly gave lectures in natural philosophy at the
university of St. Andrews, and was considered as belonging to the
moderate party in the kirk. Dr. Brewster applied to him to write
the article _Christianity_, in his Encyclopedia; and it is said,
that the train of thought into which his investigation led him,
terminated in convictions which had the effect of changing his whole
course of life and sentiments; and from that moment, entering into
the ranks of orthodoxy, he became an eminent and powerful champion
of the faith. His essay has since been published in a separate form,
and entitled the "Evidences of Christianity." Shortly after this
remarkable change, his reputation rose with astonishing rapidity;
his zeal in the service of religion became inextinguishable; and if
the excellence of a preacher is to be estimated by his popularity,
Dr. C. is decidedly the first in Great Britain. He was transferred
to Glasgow two or three years ago. His parish is very large,
consisting, as he told me, of nearly ten thousand souls. So great
a number imposes duties upon him peculiarly heavy: nor does his
constitution seem capable of sustaining his fatigues. In delivering
his discourses from the pulpit, which generally occupy an hour, it
is usual with him to stop about midway, and read a hymn of six or
eight verses, to be sung by the audience, while an opportunity is
given him to recover from the partial exhaustion occasioned by this
vehement oratory. The people in Edinburgh are desirous of erecting
a church for him, and requesting him to settle among them; but an
obstacle is found in the jealousy of the inhabitants of Glasgow,
who look with no small uneasiness upon every thing which tends to
aggrandize the reputation of Edinburgh.