CHALMERS, Thomas, Scottish theolo gian: b. Anstruther Easter, Fifeshire, 17 March 1780; d. Edinburgh, 30 At the age of 12 he was sent to the 'University of Saint Andrews, for the purpose of studying for the Church, and after passing through a curriculum there seven years, was licensed as a preacher in July 1799, the rule of the Scottish Church re quiring that a licentiate shall have reached the age of 21 being dispensed with in his case, in virtue of the exceptional clause in favor of those possessing "rare and singular qualities." In May 1803 he was presented to the parish of Kilmany, in the northeast of Fifeshire, and opened classes his own for teaching mathe matics in the town of Saint Andrews. These were so successful that he commenced a class in chemistry also, his lectures on and demon strations in which created quite a sensation. About this time his views as to the obligations of a Christian pastor were very different from what he was subsequently led to entertain, and he deemed it a sufficient fulfilment of these to return to Kilmany on the Saturday evenings, and from thence back to Saint Andrews on the Monday mornings, devoting the bulk of his time to scientific pursuits. In 1808 he pub lished an 'Inquiry into the Extent and Stability of National Resources,' the object of which was to show that the Berlin decree would not touch the real foundations of the prosperity of Great Britain. Illness and bereavement among other causes led in 1810 to a spiritual revitalizing of his own life, and from this time may be dated his extraordinary hold on the moral and religious life of Scotland.
In 1813 his article on Christianity appeared in the Edinburgh 'Encyclopaedia,' and shortly afterward his review of Cuvier's 'Essay on the Theory of the Earth,> in the Christian In structor. Irt this last he propounded the inter pretation of the first verses of Genesis, after ward adopted by Dr. Buckland, with a view to make the truths of revelation and the discov eries of geological science harmonize. His fame as a preacher had by this time extended itself throughout Scotland, and a vacancy hav ing occurred in the Tron Church of Glasgow, he was elected to the charge by the town coun cil, and inducted on 21 July 1815. In the month
of November following he commenced his series of astronomical discourses, in accord ance with a custom observed in Glasgow, of the city ministers delivering in rotation a course of sermons in the Tron Church on Thursdays. These created a sensation such as no sermons had ever before produced in Glas gow. It is related, that when the hour of de livering them arrived, merchants and men of business would regularly leave their desks and proceed to the Tron Church, while the more liberal among them would, in addition, grant a similar indulgence to their clerks and assistants. In the commencement of 1817 these discourses were published, and attained a sale of nearly 20,000 copies by the end of the year. They raised their author to the position of the first preacher of the day, and in a visit which he shortly afterward paid to London, the most distinguished literati and statesmen crowded to listen to the wondrous oratory of the Scot tish divine, The main object which engaged Chalmers on his arrival in Glasgow was the reorganiza tion of the parochial system, so as to provide a machinery by which the destitute and outcast might be visited and reclaimed,.and the young instructed in the lessons and duties of religion. Especial efforts were directed toward the es tablishment of Sabbath-schools. Great exer tions were also made by him to get new churches erected throughout Glasgow, the poor church accommodation providing for scarcely a third of the inhabitants. In this he ultimately succeeded, and in addition, a new parish and church (Saint John's) were erected and endowed expressly for himself by the town council of Glasgow. To this he was in 1819 transferred from the Tron. In this charge he had as his assistant for two years Edward Irving (q.v.). The fatigues, however, which unremitting attention to parochial affairs in volved were becoming too much for his health, and on the vacant chair of moral philosophy, in the University of Saint Andrews, being offered to him, he accepted it (1823).