bereavements and a severe illness then turned his thoughts in another
direction. At his own request the article on Christianity was assigned
to him in Dr Brewster's _Edinburgh Encyclopaedia_, and in studying the
credentials of Christianity he received a new impression of its
contents. His journal and letters show how he was led from a sustained
effort to attain the morality of the Gospel to a profound spiritual
revolution. After this his ministry was marked by a zeal which made it
famous. The separate publication of his article in the _Edinburgh
Encyclopaedia_, and contributions to the _Edinburgh Christian
Instructor_ and the _Eclectic Review_, enhanced his reputation as an
author. In 1815 he became minister of the Tron Church, Glasgow, in spite
of determined opposition to him in the town council on the ground of his
evangelical teaching. From Glasgow his repute as a preacher spread
throughout the United Kingdom. A series of sermons on the relation
between the discoveries of astronomy and the Christian revelation was
published in January 1817, and within a year nine editions and 20,000
copies were in circulation. When he visited London Wilberforce wrote,
"all the world is wild about Dr Chalmers."

In Glasgow Chalmers made one of his greatest contributions to the life
of his own time by his experiments in parochial organization. His parish
contained about 11,000 persons, and of these about one-third were
unconnected with any church. He diagnosed this evil as being due to the
absence of personal influence, spiritual oversight, and the want of
parochial organizations which had not kept pace in the city, as they had
done in rural parishes, with the growing population. He declared that
twenty new churches, with parishes, should be erected in Glasgow, and he
set to work to revivify, remodel and extend the old parochial economy of
Scotland. The town council consented to build one new church, attaching
to it a parish of 10,000 persons, mostly weavers, labourers and factory
workers, and this church was offered to Dr Chalmers that he might have a
fair opportunity of testing his system.

In September 1819 he became minister of the church and parish of St
John, where of 2000 families more than 800 had no connexion with any
Christian church. He first addressed himself to providing schools for
the children. Two school-houses with four endowed teachers were
established, where 700 children were taught at the moderate fees of 2s.
and 3