Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/157

Rh console him in his disappointments, and finally to rejoin him in a happier world than that he had left, after a brief separation. This was Miss Grace Pratt, second daughter of Captain Pratt, of the 1st Royal Veteran Battalion. Mr. Chalmers, indeed, on account of the smallness of his stipend, had previously resolved never to marry; but when this amiable lady appeared for a short time in his neighbourhood, the resolution was somehow lost sight of, and when she was about to remove to her own home, he felt that there was no further leisure for delay. He was accepted, and they were married on the 4th August, 1812. The following picture of the state of life into which he had entered, forms the beau ideal of a happy country manse, and its newly-married inmates. Writing to his sister, he says, "I have got a small library for her; and a public reading in the afternoon, when we take our turns for an hour or so, is looked upon as one of the most essential parts of our family management. It gives me the greatest pleasure to inform you, that in my new connection, I have found a coadjutor who holds up her face for all the proprieties of a clergyman's family, and even pleads for their extension beyond what I had originally proposed. We have now family worship twice a-day; and though you are the only being on earth to whom I would unveil the most secret arrangements of our family, I cannot resist the pleasure of telling you, because I know that it will give you the truest pleasure to understand, that in those still more private and united acts of devotion which are so beautifully described in the 'Cottar's Saturday Night,' I feel a comfort, an elevation, and a peace of mind of which I was never before conscious."

Allusion has already been made to the connection of Mr. Chalmers with the "Edinburgh Encyclopædia," and the earnest desire he had expressed, so early as the year 1809, to have the article "Christianity" intrusted to his management. This request was complied with, and early in 1813, his treatise under that title appeared in the 6th volume of the work. It consisted, as is well known, of the evidences of the divine origin of Christianity, based, not upon the internal excellence of its character, or the proofs of its heaven-derived origin, as exhibited in the divine nature of its teaching, but simply upon the historical proofs of its authenticity. No fact in the whole range of history could be more certain than that Christ and his apostles had lived at the period assigned to them, and that they had acted and taught precisely according to the record which revelation has handed down to us. This being satisfactorily ascertained, all cavil must be silenced, and all hesitation abandoned: that teaching has been shown to be from God, and nothing more remains for man but implicitly to receive, and humbly to obey it. This was his line of argument, and it had been so early matured in his mind, that he had developed the idea in one of his chemical lectures delivered at St. Andrews. "The truth of Christianity," he said, "is neither more nor less than the truth of certain facts that have been handed down to us by the testimony of reporters." The originality of his arguments, the force of his conclusions, and the eloquent, clear, and vigorous style in which they were expressed, arrested the public attention, and secured for the article such a favourable reception, that for the purpose of diffusing its benefits more widely, the proprietors of the "Encyclopædia" caused it to be published as a separate work. Still, however, there were not a few who complained that the base of Christian evidence had been unnecessarily lessened by such an exclusive mode of reasoning; and he was addressed on the subject, not only with private remonstrance, but also with sharp criticisms through the press. The effect of all this was, V.