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Walter Chalmers Smith

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Rev. Walter Chalmers Smith (5 December 1824 - 19 September 1908), was a Scottish poet, hymnist, and minister, chiefly remembered for his hymn, "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise".

Walter-chalmiers-smith

Walter Chalmers Smith (1824-1908). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Life[]

Overview[]

Smith, born in Aberdeen and educated there and at Edinburgh, was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland at Orwell, Glasgow, and Edinburgh successively, a distinguished preacher and a man of kindly nature and catholic sympathies. He attained considerable reputation as a poet. Among his works are The Bishop's Walk (1861), Olrig Grange (1872), Hilda among the Broken Gods (1878), Raban (1880), Kildrostan (1884), and A Heretic (1890). Some of these were written under the names of "Orwell" and "Hermann Kunst." He received the degrees of D.D. and LL.D.[1]

Youth and education[]

Smith was born in Aberdeen, the son of Walter Smith, builder, by his wife Barbara (Milne).[2]

He was educated at the grammar school, Aberdeen, and at Marischal College, which he entered at the age of 13, graduating with an M.A. in 1841.[2]

His original intention was to adopt law as his profession, but under the influence of Dr. Chalmers he entered the New College, Edinburgh, to study for the ministry of the Free Church of Scotland.[2]

Career[]

In 1850 Smith was ordained pastor of the Free (Scottish) Church in Chadwell Street, Pentonville, London. The small congregation did not become larger under his ministry. In 1853 he resigned and was appointed to Milnathort, in the parish of Orwell, Kinrossshire; and in 1857 he moved to Roxburgh Free Church, Edinburgh. In 1862 he was chosen to succeed the Free Church leader, Dr. Robert Buchanan (1802–1875), in the Free Tron Church, Glasgow.[2]

Smith was a thoughtful preacher, catholic in his sympathies, and of rather advanced opinions for the Free Church of his time, though in the end his influence was felt in broadening its outlook. 2 Discourses that he published in 1866, advocating more liberal views in regard to Sunday observance than those then prevailing in Scotland, came under the ban of his Presbytery, and he was "affectionately admonished" by the General Assembly in June 1867.[2]

In 1876 he was translated to the Free High Church, Edinburgh. During the prosecution of Professor Robertson Smith his strong sympathy with the professor gave some offence to the orthodox church leaders; but in 1893 he had so won the confidence of the church that he was chosen moderator of the general assembly. The following year he retired from his charge.[2]

He died on 20 September 1908. He married Agnes Monteith and left a son and three daughters.[2]

Writing[]

Under the pseudonym of "Orwell," Smith published, in 1861, a book of poems with the title The Bishop's Walk; and in 1872, under the pseudonym of "Hermann Knott," Olrig Grange, which reached in 1888 a 4th edition. His other volumes of verse are: 1. ‘Borland Hall,’ 1874. 2. ‘Hilda amongst the Broken Gods,’ 1878. 3. ‘Raban or Life Splinters,’ 1880. 4. ‘North Country Folk,’ 1883. 5. ‘Kildrostan, a dramatic Poem,’ 1884. 6. ‘Thoughts and Fancies for Sunday Evening,’ 1887. 7. ‘A Heretic,’ 1890. A selection of his poems appeared in 1890, and a complete edition in 1902; a volume of sermons was published posthumously in 1909.[2]

Smith's verse is smooth and pleasant, touched with humour and full of sympathy, simple and unpretending in style. Several of his pieces are merely tales or character sketches in verse, shrewdly humorous, but rather too colloquial in manner to be termed poetry.[2]

Critical introduction[]

by William Garrett Horder

Dr. Smith’s poetry is full of living interest, due to the fact that the problems discussed are those which reach down to the depths of our nature — in which therefore all who think must be interested. These are handled with ample knowledge, and in the main with great fairness, even to ideas with which the writer does not agree. There is not the deep psychological insight, nor the power of flashing light on obscure problems which arrest the reader of Robert Browning’s poetry; but there is some of that power of looking at things out of the eyes of others, which is probably the most wonderful characteristic of Robert Browning’s mind. But if Dr. Smith moves along lower levels, and does not tackle such subtle questions as Browning did, for the ordinary reader he has this great advantage, that all is written with absolute clearness. Browning’s name stands for hard thinking, Dr. Smith’s for pleasant reading, which leaves the reader with a deeper sympathy for, and better understanding of, the troubles and perplexities of men and women.

Dr. Smith and Dr. George MacDonald — both Aberdonians — have much in common in thought and feeling; but their manner of apprehending and of setting forth truth differs greatly. Dr. MacDonald’s way is that of the mystic — a quality of which I find none in Dr. Smith. His poems are “marked by richness of thought, creative imagination and lyrical charm, although unequal and not seldom careless in construction.” His longer poems would be more effective if the characters did not take so long in their self-revelations of thought and feeling. He sets forth vividly and often pathetically the inner struggles which form the real tragedies of these modern days. In the lyrics which are scattered over his longer poems there is the true poetic note.

Although Dr. Smith’s work has a claim to a place among that of the general poets, there is a certain fitness in his being placed among the sacred poets, since the strongest force in his poetry is the religious one, so that, even in what may be called his secular poetry, the most vital parts grow out of his theologic thought or religious feeling. In this respect he is like the other poet of Aberdeenshire, George MacDonald, who says himself, that he would not care either to write poetry or tell stories if he could not preach in them—but then there is preaching and preaching; and if all preaching were of the living sort we get from these 2 Aberdonians, the name would carry a higher meaning than it usually does.

Dr. Smith sees clearly enough that the springs of life lie in the religious part of man’s nature, so that even in “Kildrostan,” which is a crofter’s story, and deals with questions that are social, the most powerful passages are concerned with religion. In “Olrig Grange,” which is a love story, there is no more effective portion than the picture of the mother, orthodox in doctrine, but utterly worldly at heart.

In “Hilda; among the Broken Gods” religion is presented as it is seen out of many eyes — by Claud Maxwell, poet; Hilda, saint wife; Winifred Urquhart, materialist; Luke Spratt, evangelist; Rev. Elphinstone Bell, priest; just as in “The Ring and the Book,” by Robert Browning, the same tragedy is set forth as it appeared to all who were in any way connected with it. “A Heretic,” which, as its name implies, is concerned with the new movement of thought on religious questions so characteristic of our age, tells the story of one cast out from the Kirk for heresy, but whose beautiful Christian character demonstrated the vitality of his religion.

The following lines from this poem are at once an illustration of the truth they set forth and of the poet’s method:—

         But one man like a tree shall stand,
  Leafing and fruiting year by year,
And cling to his little patch of land,
  And cast a shade for the lazy steer,
With no more change than the parsing breeze
  Makes when it tosses the creaking bough;
And prosperous, plentiful, full of ease,
  To-morrow he shall be the same as now.
Another shall flow like a freshening stream,
  Flashing there where the sunbeam flies,
Eddying here in a brooding dream,
  And all its life in its movement lies;
This the law of his being strange,
Ever he grows by flux and change.
What would you? Nature will have her way;
Will mend by night what you mar by day,
And laugh at the man who would say her Nay.
Tree cannot pluck up its roots and go,
Restless stream cannot cease to flow,
Each must obey the high Law given
To the things of earth by the Lord of Heaven.

In “North Country Folk,” one of the least known, but in our judgment one of the best pieces of work from his pen, there are 3 pictures of “Parish Pastors” belonging to different schools of Presbyterianism in Scotland. These are drawn with a masterly hand, and show how under the same creed and within the same ecclesiastical forms individual character and preference will assert themselves. We know not where to look for fresher or more delightful pictures in verse of Scottish life than in this volume.

Readers of Dr. Smith’s works may not find the high ethereal spirit of the great Masters of Song, but they will find touching stories of life—“metrical novelettes,” as Edmund Clarence Stedman calls them—and descriptions of many types of character given with much of the insight of the poet.[3]

Recognition[]

On his retirement, Smith was presented with his portrait painted by Sir George Reid.[2]

He received the degrees of D.D. from the University of Glasgow (1869), and LL.D. from the universities of Aberdeen (1876) and Edinburgh (1893).[2]

Publications[]

Poetry[]

Non-fiction[]

  • The modern Sadducee: A sermon. Glasgow: James Maclehose, 1874.
  • Thomas Chalmers. London: 1884.
  • Progress in Theology: An address delivered to the students of the Lancashire College. Manchester, UK: J.E. Cornish / Brook & Chrystal 1886.
  • Sermons. Glasgow: James Maclehose, 1909.


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[4]

Immortal,_invisible,_God_only_wise

Immortal, invisible, God only wise

See also[]

References[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ John William Cousin, "Smith, Walter Chalmers," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910, 347. Wikisource, Web, Mar. 2, 2018.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Henderson, 350.
  3. ↑ from William Garrett Horder, "Critical and Biographical Essay: Walter Chalmers Smith (1824–1908), The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century, London: Routledge / New York: Dutton, 1907. Bartleby.com, Web, Mar. 3, 2017.
  4. ↑ Search results = au:Walter Chalmers Smith, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 3, 2017.

External links[]

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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Dictionary of National Biography, 2nd supplement​ (edited by Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1912. Original article is at: Smith, Walter Chalmers

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