Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-28
How Chalmers Worked Miracles.

DIR. Chalmers was much more than a
preacher. No sooner had he entered ON
that great city parish lin Glasgow, in which
he had undertaken to be Gods minister,
than its terrible state touched him very
deeply IL included in II much of the worst
part Of the old town, and the ignorance aud
immortality which he found were Just APP
palling. He determined to go through it
himself and know all about it. With one
of his elders accompanying him, he went
from house TO house throughout the whole
dense parish. At first, rather TO his sur
prise, he was very cordially received, but he
soon found that it was because he was con-
nected with 80 many city charities, and as
soon as the people had got him in their
houses they began to appeal for help. This,
he felt, would not do; it would utterly spoil
his religious work so he at once gave up
his connection with every charity, and let it
be known that he had nothing to give. For
the moment this led to somewhat cooler
reception, but, as the people got to know the
man, they loved him for himself and for his
religious work among them. Then he di-
vided the parish into districts, got a num-
Der of visitors to help him, and established
a considerable number of small Sabbath
schools Inspiring his helpers with his own
enthusiasm, he accomplished one of the
noblest missionary works of modern times.
In order to be able to grapple thoroughly
with the problem of pauperism, he got a
new parish carved out for him, with pop
ulation of ten thousand, and arranged with
the authorities that this parish, St. Johns,
should be entirely left, for the care of its
poor, to him and to his church. He was de.
termined TO revive the old Scottish plan of
| hos, lonLaJ aft lNv ;a;t
| from his church, and their relief met by the
offerings in the poor's boxes at the church
doors. For the time he succeeded wonder.
fully. Breaking up the parish into small
districts, he got every household visited and
known; the children were sent to school
the people were taught to help each other
non-attendants at church were drawn in To
worship; and the relief expenditure, which
when he undertook the parish had been
81, 400 year, in four years was reduced to
$3.50. He chose out one of the
worst districts in Edinburgh, the Westport
as it was called,-a nest of narrow, squalid
wynds and courts clustering about one main
street, which was only rather more public in
| its wretchedness and vice. The district
which he mapped out contained about fouI
hundred families, some two thousand people
| in all, of whom half were either beggars OF
thieves, and not above fourth connected
with any church whatever. He divided thi:
neighborhood into twenty districts, each
containing about twenty families. Ovel
each of these districts a visitor was ap
pointed-some were men, some were wo
men--whose duty it was to visit each fam
lily once each week. At their first goins
round, a slip of paper was left with eact
family explaining the object of the visiting
and then, by leaving tracts, by conversation
sometimes by reading the Bible or engaging
in prayer, the visitors endeavored to becom,
friends to the people, and to lead them t,
send their children to school and take an in
terest in religion. He laid especial stress ol
avoiding almsgiving as far as possible; an,
even when he opened school in the mids
of the district, he insisted that it should no
be gratuitous. Every Saturday evening al
the visitors met together-Dr Chalmer
meeting with them when his failing healtl
permitted-to talk over their work, and h
keep up the interest and spirit of it. Moth
ing could well be simpler than this work
aud yet in the end it changed the Who'll
character of the district, and won it froI
squalor, ignorance, and vice, to decency
morality aud Christianity. After time
became sort OF missionary parish. On Eel
ruary 10, 1917, little "Westport church
was opened for worship, and DIR. Chalmer
administered the communion to one hur
dred and thirty-two communicates, of whor
no fewer than one hundred were from thi
poor district. He wrote of that as the mos
joyful event of his life" 1t was almost tn
last public event of his life, too. Oae Sa
urday night, only three months later,
was happily among his household, thoug
in failing health. When the Sabbath morl
ing came, they found him dead. He ha
passed quietly away in the night
HeJord's Story Of Religion in England"