506 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE LATE REV. DR CHALMERS. 



of £175 not being required. This command of money in the hands of the kirk- 

 session Dr Chalmers considered to be a snare and a danger ; accordingly, as he 

 expressed it with considerable nuivete, he sought to provide " a safe and salutary 

 absorbent" to take oft' this plethora of pecuniary oppression, and this he did by 

 expending it all in the permanent endowment of a school. Thus the system 

 worked, and the only disturbing force seems to have been the occasional indis- 

 creet and injudicious introduction of charitable contributions/rowi without : And 

 certainly here is a marvellous result, — the poor of a parish absolutely managed 

 with a success varying inversely as the pecuniary resources at the command of 

 the managers. But neither the principal mover of this scheme, nor his colleagues 

 in the work, seemed to consider it a mystery or a miracle ; their solution of the 

 problem was ; \st, that former applicants who were conscious that they did not 

 require or deserve support withdrew, and the idea of legal right ceasing, no cases 

 but those of absolute necessity were left ; but, 2d, and chiefly, that the sym- 

 pathies of the poor themselves were thus called forth, and no one allowed his 

 neighbour to starve so long as he could spare a morsel, and when he knew that 

 neighbour was deprived of other resources on which he could depend. The 

 poor, in short, helped each other through their difficulties when no one else would. 

 The artificial channels of charity being closed, a more copious and more permanent 

 supply flowed through the natural channels of relationship and vicinage. Such 

 was the theory ; the results were indisputable. The world was still sceptical, and 

 two solutions were offered to account for the success of a scheme which would 

 support poor people without poor-laws. It was said, in the first place, that the 

 system was so hard upon the people that the poor were driven out of St John's 

 parish, and took refuge in other parishes, where more money was expended. It was 

 said, in the second place, that the success was the consequence of Dr Chalmers' per- 

 sonal influence and powers. That what he accomplished in St John's, another man 

 c<mld not accomplish in St Luke's ; and that, with the man, the scheme would die 

 out. To both of these objections an answer was ready. To the first objection it 

 was declared, that the balance of migratory pauper population was fully in favour 

 of St John's ; and, to come to greater exactness, it was stated that a correct ac- 

 count was kept of poor Icavmj St John's, and poor coming in to St John's : the 

 result was the (j^ports exceeded the exports by fourteen souls. The exchange, in 

 fact, was against them, and this they considered a conclusive answer to the charge 

 of harsh treatment of paupers. To the second objection it was replied, that the 

 system worked for many years after Dr Chalmers' departure from Glasgow, and 

 succeeded also in other manufacturing parishes of Scotland where it was tried — 

 the Gorbals of Glasgow and Langholm being cited as favourable examples. How 

 it was that, in the face of an experiment apparently so successful, detailed by 

 himself in evidence before a parliamentary Committee, a more stringent enactment 

 of poor-laws for Scotland should have been made, and the system be adopted for 



