doubtful step that we can arrive at the right conclusion how to proceed. I consider it a fortunate circumstance that this subject was started; it is dreadful to think that indulgence in this single amusement might have been the origin of sins which would lead to utter condemnation, and that in this uncommon manner I have been diverted from it. I am, my dear sir, yours very affectionately, THOMAS SMITH. No. XXVII.-DR. CHALMERS TO MR. THOMAS SMITH. CHARLOTTE STREET, 16th February, 1816. MY VERY DEAR SIR-I will not disguise the satisfaction I felt on receiving the information conveyed by your note—a satisfaction which you have kindly cleared of every alloy by your subsequent assurance that the resolution stated is the unmingled effect of conviction, and that so far from having been led to it by a respect for human authority, the suspicion of such an influence had suspended and kept back your resolution longer than it would otherwise have been. And in return for this most gratifying intimation, I have to assure you that the joy with which I rejoice over the friend of my bosom is not founded on the mere act of his abstaining from assemblies, but on the evidence which this act affords of a mind fearlessly resolved to take the line of principle, and to follow wherever conscience and revelation shall lead the way. Your intimation leaves me at entire liberty, in taking up the subject of example, to announce my sentiments not more strongly than I would have done for sorry should I be did even a respect for your feelings influence me to the suppression of truth-but more strongly than I would have been inclined to do. The delightful spirit which breathes through your last note saves all my delicacy on this point; and let me express myself as strongly as I may, I rejoice to find that I speak in full harmony with the sentences which have already flowed from your pen. Suppose, then, a man anxious for his own Christianity to go to an assembly; to be aware of the exposures which were to be met within the four corners of the room where it was held; to wrap himself up in all the defenses of that caution and vigilance which are prescribed to him; to keep studiously aloof from every questionable association; nay, so far to command his spirit as to put it into trains of pious contemplation, and, after having acted his part so nobly and so well, to retire with all the triumph of conscious satisfaction, because his conduct had sustained no injury and his principles had suffered no pollution. Combine all this gratification at the safety of self with an inconsiderateness and unconcern about the others who had not acted their part as he did, and who have therefore suffered more by their attendance than they would have done had they kept within the inclosure of the family mansion; and with all the semblance of a Christian does this man exhibit the very essence of selfishness—not confining a trifle to himself which he withholds from others, but satisfied that he alone, of all the people there who have the capacities of an immortal duration as well as he, should bear away his chance for immortality as good and as entire as he brought it, and making it no subject of care or of concern at all, though the people with whom he is surrounded should, by the history of that evening, have made themselves more the children of hell than before, should have drunk in more of the poisonous spirit of the world, should have strengthened the barrier which lies across the path of their return to God, and thrown themselves at a wider distance from the offers of pardon and the calls of repentance than ever. This is not considered by many, but I tremble to think of the awful responsibility which inconsideration brings along with it. The people who did not consider were the people whom God pours an exclamation on and denounces anger against, “Ah! sinful nation"-and note the clause-" children that are corrupters." These corrupters did not consider. They did not think of the mischief they were doing. They felt not the awful weight of criminality and of condemnation they were bringing upon themselves; but they did not escape for all this; and let it never be forgotten that the frequenters of assemblies are just such inconsiderate corrupters, and that their power of corruption is just so much the greater as their character and credit stand before the world for the degree of Christianity they have attained. The more an example is looked up to, the more responsible is he who shows it for every flaw and every deficiency which may be found in it.* I am, my dearest sir, yours with much affection, THOMAS CHALMERS. [FREE CHURCH MANSE, HAWICK, 20th April, 1849.-DEAR SIR-I beg to inclose for your inspection a series of letters addressed by our venerated friend, Dr. Chalmers, to different members of the family with whom he lodged in Hawick, about the commencement of his ministry, or during the short period when he officiated as assistant in the neighboring parish of Cavers. It is singularly interesting to observe the strong and enduring grasp which his warm heart had taken of a family who had shown some kindness to him in the days of his youth, but who, while moving comparatively in circumstances of humble life, were not remarkable for any of the high mental endowments by which he was himself so eminently distinguished. When his vast mind was most thoroughly engrossed with the magnificent schemes which are likely to tell on the well-being of many coming generations, he seems never to have lost sight of them. And even at the period of the Disruption, when great principles were struggling for the ascendancy, and the burden and responsibility of every onward movement were resting almost exclusively upon himself, we find him, like his Divine Master at Bethany in the days of old, turning aside from all matters of public and most engrossing concern, that he might sympathize with them in their afflictions, and send to them those brief but precious communications, which fell like the balm of the sweetest consolation over their sorrowing hearts. In this respect alone these letters are valuable memorials of our venerated father; and if there be few men in the history of this fallen world who have held a larger place than himself in the affections of his brethren of mankind, it is perhaps so far to be accounted for by the fact that the loving-kindness of his own nature was so childlike in its simplicity, and so active and untiring in all its manifestations, that it seemed scarce possible for the most callous heart to resist it. * This correspondence was interrupted by that illness of Mr. Smith which ended in his death. See Memoirs, vol. ii., p. 37–61. At These letters, moreover, are possessed of additional interest, inasmuch as they embody in themselves incontestable evidences of the great moral change which, under the teaching of the Divine Spirit, he was made personally to undergo. In the earliest of these communications there are beautiful traces of the native kindliness of his disposition. the same time, there is nothing to indicate that the love of Christ was constraining him, or that he sought for principles of action or for elements of enjoyment elsewhere than within the dark and cloudy horizon of this brief and mortal life. But ere long the light breaks upon him. The great realities of the eternal world are brought vividly before him. The well-being of the never-dying soul becomes the one thing that is needful. And the correspondence, which commences almost, if not altogether, in the spirit of a man who was living without God and without Christ in the world, exhibits him, as it advances, rising step by step in the scale of Christian attainment, till it closes at last with the clearest and most impressive discoveries of the unsearchable riches of the Savior's grace. Believe me to be, dear sir, yours very truly, Rev. Dr. Hanna.] J. A. WALLACE. No. XXVIII. ST. ANDREWS, 12th October, 1802. DEAR MRS. KEDIE*-The bearer of this is Mr. Carstairs, who means, if convenient, to live in your house about a month, or perhaps more. I have been endeavoring to prevail on him to remain till Christmas, at which time I propose being in Hawick myself. You know there was one fault I used to charge you with-too great an anxiety about giving satisfaction. I can assure you, in the case of Mr. Carstairs, such an anxiety is altogether unnecessary. I will thank you to send one of your daughters to Mr. Armstrong, bookseller, and inquire for a book, entitled “The Economy of Human Life." I intend it for them, and they will find it well worth their attentive perusal. You will deliver them the inclosed sheets,† which they can read over at their leisure. There is one foolish idea which is apt to get into the minds of young people, and which often renders one's instructions less effectual than they would otherwise be, and * See Dr. Chalmers's Memoirs, vol. i., p. 58. †The letter marked No. XXIX. that is, they sometimes imagine, when you give them advice, it is because you suspect they are worse than others, and therefore require it. With regard to your children, I give them advice, not because I think them worse than others, but really because they are better than others, and I am anxious they should remain so. We have had much stormy weather here of late. A sloop belonging to my father has been wrecked lately on the west coast of Scotland and totally lost. She had thirteen passengers, and among the rest an officer and his lady. lives, however, were saved by means of the boat. All the By some mistake, I received the letter you sent me along with the clothes only a few days ago. I got quite free of my sore throat a few days after leaving Hawick, and have continued so ever since. With best compliments to your husband, I am yours sincerely, THOMAS CHALMERS. No. XXIX. ANSTRUTHER, 11th October, 1802. MY DEAR GIRLS-You must not suppose from my long silence that I have given over thinking of you. I can assure you there is nothing in which I take greater pleasure than in young people who I have reason to believe are well disposed, and are careful to preserve themselves from the dangers and temptations of bad company. I hope, on the other hand, that you have not forgotten the many advices I gave you about the necessity of attending to your conduct, and the snares to which the young and thoughtless are exposed. I hope you have not forgotten the solemn promises you both made me that you would keep yourselves free of all vicious and improper acquaintances. I beg you would both seriously reflect on the awful effects of being led astray by wicked example. What an affliction it would be to your parents in their old age if you disgraced yourselves by folly and misconduct! You would be despised by all who know you; you |