BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE LATE REV. DR CHALMERS. .517 



there remains an impress of primeval beauty, — that there are forms unscathed by 

 the penalties of the primeval curse, and flowers as delicate and fair as those that 

 bloomed in paradise. These sentiments of intense admiration for an external 

 and material world, exercised, I think, considerable influence in modelling his 

 views, and shaping his arguments for Natural Theology. He ever delighted in 

 tracing the lineaments of God's moral character in the mirror of the material 

 world, as reflecting his attributes, and as displaying the nature of his handiwork. 

 He deprecated the notion of any essential connection between materialism and 

 sin ; and as the abode of man in innocence was a terrestrial one, so he believed 

 that in glory there would be provided a new heaven and a new earth, with visible 

 magnificence and material splendour, to be a fitting habitation, and to furnish fit- 

 ting occupations and enjoyments, for the new and glorified bodies of the redeemed. 



I have now, I think, touched upon all those points of character, and all those 

 public acts and deeds, of which I have been capable of forming a judgment, and 

 which have occurred to me as strictly coming within the province of such a paper 

 as the present. In these remarks I have endeavoured to look upon Dr Chalmers, 

 not as a private friend, but as a public character. I have sought to give a fair 

 transcript of the man as he appeared before us, with no undue partiality arising 

 from those personal feelings of regard and admiration which I am proud to ac- 

 knowledge. I am certain that those who knew him best esteemed him most. His 

 character bore investigation ; and, I think, whatever opinion, in a literary or cri- 

 tical point of view, the world may form of the posthumous volumes, on Scripture 

 Reading, which have been laid before them, it must be allowed that they furnish 

 unequivocal indications of a mind constantly and habitually occupied with sacred 

 things, — of private thoughts and of retired meditations, ever conversant with 

 God and with His holy word. 



And now. Sir, to conclude. It will hardly be supposed that I should expect 

 unanimity of opinion in all those questions by which the name of our late distin- 

 guished Vice-President has been brought before the notice of his contemporaries. 

 On every subject, indeed, where there are not positive moral precepts or mathe- 

 matical demonstration, the different tastes and habits of mankind will lead to a 

 diflFerence in their judgments. Different styles of writing, for instance, are con- 

 genial with different mental constitutions. The eloquence which affects and even 

 overpowers one man, has little charm or influence over the mind and feelings of 

 another. The early associations of individuals, — the various points of view from 

 which they contemplate the actions of public men, almost inevitably lead to dif- 

 ferences in their decisions. In great questions of national or ecclesiastical policy, 

 the conduct utterly condemned by one party, will often be extravagantly lauded 

 by another. It was impossible for any one to take so prominent a position in that 



VOL. XVI. PART V. t> K 



