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. We 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. Lamcertain 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 
difference 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. OR 
