510 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE LATE REV. DR CHALMERS. 



be uuheai-d of. Men will do that on principle which now they must do by legal 

 enactment. Such a state of things would follow the universal prevalence of 

 Christian charity in men's hearts, and is not therefore to be considered a mere 

 chimera. Should this triumjjh of principle and of love ever be achieved amongst 

 mankind, what will be said and thought in those, days of the mind that, amidst 

 scepticism and ridicule, had resolutely maintained the principle, nay, which had 

 in its own sphere of action practically worked out its successful application ? 



Thirdly, And now, Sir, we have to consider Dr Chalmers as an orator. He was 

 distinguished as a preacher, as a speaker at public meetings, and as a member of 

 ecclesiastical courts. We attribute to him in all these positions, especially in the 

 pulpit, the quality of a high and a peculiar eloquence, and we have the utmost con- 

 fidence in the correctness of this estimate ; for if Chalmerh were not eloquent, 

 where, we may ask, is eloquence to be found ? Judge by the effects upon men's 

 minds, and say, is not that eloquence which captivates and enchains the hearers ? 

 Is not that eloquence which delights all classes of mankind, all ages, all situations 

 of life .'' Is not that eloquence which ensures an interest and admiration unbroken, 

 and which to the last attend every appearance of the speaker in public ? Nor was 

 this attraction the result of art, or the merely artificial embellishments of oratory. 

 It was not in graceful and studied action. It was not in musical and practised 

 intonation. It was not in the purity and beauty of the accent. All these were 

 plain, homely, to some hearers quite unusual ; and yet how extraordinary were 

 the effects of his eloquence I Such effects, then, being the result, not of artificial 

 embellishments or natural grace of manner, tones of voice or skilful action, are 

 attributable to the power and energy of the preacher's own spirit, to the vivid 

 pictiures which he brought before his hearers, the fervid oratory with which he 

 took captive the lieart and understanding. One important element of his success 

 as a preacher, I think, was the impression of earnest truth and sincere conviction 

 existing in his own mind. As to the mode of arguing and the style of composi- 

 tion, the remai'ks already made upon Dr Chalmers as an author, apply to him 

 as a preacher. Indeed, all his writings seem as if composed for spol-ev. communi- 

 cation, and the method is favourable to producing one vivid and powerful effect 

 upon the mind. No one indeed, who has not heard Dr Chalmers in his day of 

 vigour, can form a correct idea of his power as a pulpit orator. It is now thirty 

 years since his Astronomical Sermons were delivered, and though I suppose no 

 discourses ever produced a greater effect, the nature of that effect must be little 

 known to the younger members of the present generation. The fame of a preacher 

 mainly depends (like the fame of an actor or singer) upon traditionary descrip- 

 tion. In many cases, the jierusal of written discourses gives little notion of the 

 effect in delivery ; in some cases, as of Whitfield, Dean Kirwan, and other emi- 

 nent preachers, Avho, in their day, produced mai-vellous sensations, they give no 



