family. He has departed visibly from the noble and mighty band of brethren with which he was so long and so delightfully associated; though, perhaps, he still hovers over those whom he so much loved. "The earthly house" has been "dissolved." "The golden bowl" has been "broken." His majestic spirit, with unspeakably swifter and bolder flight than the eagle's pinion, has winged its course to paradise. He has "slept in Jesus." He shall be "ever with the Lord."

We grieve, and deeply grieve, when we recur to his decease. The stroke is heavy, and to many it was almost stunning. Still, we do not complain. We dare not wish him back. We had long been expecting his departure from us. His age, verging towards seventy, compelled us to anticipate the event; yet the anticipation was mournful to usmost mournful! Sometimes we could scarcely endure the thought. We had lost our Hall-our Watson-our Foster -and we wanted, if possible, to retain our Chalmers a few years longer; but the summons had gone forth from the Lord, "Come up hither!" "The appointed time" for his removal had arrived; the warfare in which he had to struggle had been achieved; the work given him to do had been executed; and he was to leave us, and go and take possession of "the kingdom which cannot be moved"—of the palm of immortal victory-of the crown of unwithering glory.

66 Happy soul! thy days are ended;
All thy mourning days below;—
Go, by angel bands attended;

To the sight of Jesus, go."

who revered, who loved him, and especially to those closely connected with him, were all the incidents associated with the final scene!

Let us just recur to them again, though they are vividly before the mind. That he might have a night of quiet and undisturbed repose after his journey from London, not feeling himself well, his lady, whose health is delicate, proposed that he should go to his chamber by himself, as though she had been directed by Divine Providence to make this arrangement, to which he consented, requesting to be called at six o'clock in the morning; but long before the period specified, his spirit was to wake up in the presence of his God, his Saviour, his eternal all, His family however, kindly wishing him. to have refreshing and continuous sleep, did not call him until eight o'clock; when she, who was deputed to do this, finding no response to her calls, became alarmed, and on entering found the ever-to-beremembered Chalmers sitting, or reclining on the front of his bed, all that was mortal cold as clay, and his eyes fixed and glazed. An affecting circumstance is mentioned, that he had one foot resting on the ankle of the other, and his right arm extended in the direction of a washhand basin, which stood on a table near the bed. A physician, specially summoned, considered, from all the appearances presented, that he had been dead some hours; and it is ascertained that disease of the heart had suddenly called him away.

Were not these, dear readers, solemn, affecting, almost overpowering circumstances? The lamented Chalmers retired to his chamber alone, not at all expecting the final change; but during the night the call arrived, the change oc

Master came suddenly and introduced him to eternity when none were present; when no member of his beloved family was near to succour him. Aid might have been proffered, still it would have been unavailing aid; none, however, knew of his extremity. Feeling suddenly ill" amid the night-watches," he

had proceeded so far as he was able, when death came, stopped the pulsation, and translated his spirit to its Father and God. Had the dearest wife been present, had the fondest daughter been in the chamber, the help administered would have been useless. In a moment, in "the twinkling of an eye," probably, the great change occurred. In an instant the body became lifeless, and the spirit, like a liberated bird, escaped from its prison, to expand amid the glories, the wonders, and the boundlessness of immortality!

We have no dying expressions of this honoured man to record; we have no golden sentiments uttered in his final moments to treasure up in the memory, and to hold in our "heart of hearts," as we do some of the dying sayings of Richard Watson, or Robert Hall, or Dr. Waugh. We have not even one rich thought on which to dwell that he might have expressed, had any attendant or dear friend been with him, during the last night of his existence below, full of Christian simplicity, beauty, and grandeur. We should like to know what were his thoughts, and what were his feelings, in the immediate prospect of eternity; we should like to have known, whether he could rejoice in hope of entering into the glory and kingdom of God. Like the immortal Whitfield, Chalmers, for the benefit of survivors and for the advantage of multitudes of Christians and ministers of the gospel, had no dying testimony to bear; he was not permitted to have an opportunity for leaving any behind him, Still all is well; God is wiser than we are. Perhaps we all feel his death more powerfully just as it occurred, without a single circumstance being altered. We are more impressed; we are more awestruck; we are more pungently affected.

Besides Chalmers, like Whitfield, wanted no dying expressions for the satisfaction of his friends or the church of God. His character was everything; his life was everything; his recorded sentiments, on every great subject of

Christianity in his invaluable writings, are all in all. There could be no necessity for additional expressions; the testimony borne already in so glowing a manner was most ample, commanding, and sublime.

One of the most touching circumstances connected with the decease of Dr. Chalmers, was the last letter which he penned. It appears that before retiring to rest on Sabbath night, May 30th, he wrote a letter to his sister in England, announcing his safe arrival from London, and remarking that such was now the celerity of travelling, that though he scarcely expected to have the pleasure of | seeing her, he might have the pleasure of seeing her again.

Fallacious expectation! It was the last visit. It was to be the very last epistolary communication penned by a hand which penned so many golden sentences, and dictated by a mind whose faculties are now ranging amidst the unbounded realities of eternity. How will that last letter be prized! What an anxiety will be felt by all the surviving members of the family, to obtain copies of the final and precious communication of one so dear, and written under circumstances so transcendently affecting. It will be valued just as the lock of hair is prized by us, which was formerly worn by a sainted parent, on whose character we love to dwell, and whose memory is like fragrant ointment poured forth.

The late Dr. Chalmers, however we might have dissented from some of his opinions on philosophic and economic subjects, and on points associated with the discipline and government of the church of Christ, was, unquestionably, one of our greatest men. His name to us was always connected with the revered names of Robert Hall and John Foster; and though these distinguished men differed essentially in the character of their minds and writings, yet we spontaneously recurred to the three as being three of the most gifted and renowned men in connection with the Christian Church, during the first thirty or forty years of

the nineteenth century. When we dwell on Dr. Chalmers, we do not dilate on him as being pre-eminently distinguished for his logical precision, for his close, consecutive, and powerful argumentation. We did not expect from him the most profoundly philosophical and searching analysis—a thorough dissection of great principles; in this respect Hall, and especially Foster, in our judgment at least, was greatly his superior. His mind, it has been justly remarked, was "rhetorical rather than logical." His intellect was brilliant rather than ratiocinative. Not that he was deficient in the latter quality, by no means; only it was not the characteristic, the predominant one; it was not that one which shone out with effulgent, with meridian splendour. Imagination was the master power developed by Chalmers, and it was brilliant indeed. Its richness was oriental; its splendour was gorgeous; its fertility was almost boundless. Hence he was, indubitably, more powerful in description more rich and diversified in striking illustration-in the fine creations and paintings of a poetic fancy, than in cool, masculine, demonstrative argumentation. There are unquestionably many, and sometimes glaring defects observable in his compositions; and with all our admiration of them—and we yield to none in that admiration-we are not insensible to those defects. The terms and expressions which Dr. Chalmers employs, though picturesque and exceedingly significant, are often fantastic and peculiar -fresh-coined, obsolete, or in some respect singular. The style which he adopted, with all its distinguished excellencies, cannot be recommended, especially to our younger divines, in a cordial and unqualified manner. Its beauties, we admit, are conspicuous and striking; still it appears to us to be verbose, and there is not unfrequently a strained, involved, and inflated mode of expression, by no means chaste, classical, or finished, and which Robert Hall would carefully have avoided. The style of Chalmers wants simplicity and repose.

We

There is, also, most assuredly an extended amplification of one idea, which, with all its richness and brilliance, our distinguished writers-though all are struck with it, would not approve, or wish to imitate-" a running down," almost, of a sentiment or principle. Doubtless, there are rich and copious illustrations furnished, which none but a master-spirit could produce, still we consider there is ground for the remark, that one idea is "too much hunted," and that, perhaps, two or three thoughts often constitute the basis or ground-work of an entire and elaborate sermon. are aware that this gives the discourses of Chalmers the character of uniqueness; that one subject is more finely and powerfully illustrated, and that the impression produced by the winding-up of the whole is, in many instances, much more energetic and concentrated. Dr. Chalmers, moreover, is, perhaps, in his writings, carried away a little by his fertile and almost boundless imagination-all richness, beauty, and splendour unquestionably, but probably, now and then, somewhat rank, or, at least, unrestrained in its luxuriance. These appear to the writer to be Dr. Chalmers's peculiarities; and they are scarcely deserving of mention, when his numerous sterling and prominent excellencies are contemplated.

The astronomical discourses of this great man have been universally admired for their richness and splendour, and have obtained European fame; and though, as pieces of argument, there is much that is baseless and shadowy, yet we read them again and again with ever fresh interest and delight.

His commercial discourses are very fine, embodying some of the most powerful and eloquent passages which he ever penned.

His sermons, however, delivered at the Tron Church, and St. John's, Glasgow, are those to which we delight to recur. They are, we consider, the most valuable, useful, and important of his publications; and on them, to a great extent, his fame will rest. Our admiration of them, as eloquent and

"The folly of men measuring themselves by themselves;" "The necessity of a mediator between God and man;" "The power of the gospel to dissolve the enmity of the human heart;" "The new heavens and the new earth;" and "The expulsive force of the new affection," are five of the most brilliant, evangelical, and powerful discourses in the English language. They are discourses which no contemporary could have penned, and for beautiful description, the exhibition of character, and impressive appeal, are unrivalled.

We have always much prized his little compositions, prefixed to the select writings of our most esteemed and valuable authors, Ambrose Serle, Owen, Scougal, Flavel, Romaine, and others. These little prefatory pieces are full of simplicity, tenderness, and beauty, and some of them are remarkably striking.

As a preacher Chalmers was one of a thousand, indeed, one of a million. We have heard Hall, Richard Watson, Mason, of New York, Foster, Jay, James, Parsons, but we have never heard one like him. He was

"A star which shone apart." There were many defects and peculiarities. His appearance and manner, at first, did not gain on you, but his genius, his sincerity, his elevation, his fervour soon triumphed over all. When he commenced his discourse the hearer was at once struck, and somewhat repelled, if an Englishman, with the very perceptible northern accent of the preacher, and there was, also, in his pronunciation some degree of harshness and difficulty. To many persons, especially when first listening to Dr. Chalmers, this singularity was unpleasing; but very soon the attention was riveted and the mind was enchained. As the preacher advanced with his subject, and grasped that subject with iron hand, evincing also how deeply he felt its transcendent importance, every emotion was absorbed

did talent which unfolded and enforced the claims of Christianity, diffusing around the truths of the gospel all the charms of sincerity and fervour, and all the glow and fascination of original eloquence. As we have often listened to him, we have found in the body of his discourse sentence following sentence in quick and brilliant succession; the argument pursued has become closer and more convincing at every period, forming on many occasions the most beautiful and finished specimen of clear and evangelical thought to which we have ever attended; his language has increased in elegance and richness; descriptions have been given with the power and vividness of painting, which rendered them all but present to the eye; the voice uttered, the action indulged, increased in volume and energy, until the preacher, after having poured forth a full gush of truth and eloquence, was compelled to rest from exhaustion, and the audience were left in a state which they could not describe. They felt as they had rarely felt before. They suppressed-but it was often difficult to suppress-their admiration, after some of the extraordinary displays of the ability of the great Scottish preacher; and the beauty of all was, that they had "Christ and him crucified"-Christ and him glorified-presented before them.

We heard Dr. Chalmers in his palmy days, when he was wont to visit London, for the eloquent but "ill-starred" Edward Irving, and never can we forget many of his discourses at the Caledonian Church, Hatton-garden, and the Scotch Church, Regent-square. Many of these discourses seemed to us bursts of inspiration. Never can we forget the audiences which he drew. We saw on one occasion, among his auditors, four or five bishops, thirty or forty of the cream of the nobility, a prince of the blood, and among them the uncoroneted but renowned George Canning, besides many peeresses; and the charm to us was, that they had the truth of God, in all its sim