On the Use and Abuse of Literary and Ecclesiastical Endowments

Scottish minister and social reformer Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) is famous as the leader of the group of 470 ministers who left the Church of Scotland in 1843 to found the Free Church of Scotland, and as the author (in 1834) of the first Bridgewater Treatise (also reissued in this collection). Along with his theological interests, Chalmers was deeply concerned with educational reform in schools and universities. In 1827 he published this paper on university endowments, asserting that it was the state's responsibility to support religious and educational institutions, because churches, schools, and universities maintained the nation's Christian principles and character. Chalmers argued that only endowed national establishments were capable of ensuring the religious and moral well-being of the individual. In addition to his appeal for university endowments, he also advocated (unusually for his time) the extension of full civil rights to dissenters and Catholics.