Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 7.djvu/306

442 WEBSTER, (, an eminent divine and statistical inquirer, was born in Edinburgh about the year 1707, being the son of a clergyman of the eame name, who, after suffering persecution under the reigns of the latter Stuarts, had become minister of the Tolbooth parish in that city, in which charge he acquired considerable celebrity as a preacher of the orthodox school. The subject of this memoir studied for the church, and, after being duly licensed, was ordained minister of Culross, where he soon became noted for his eloquence in the pulpit, and the laborious zeal with which he discharged every duty of his office. The congregation of the Tolbooth church, who had lost his father in the year 1720, formed the wish to have the son set over them, and accordingly, in 1737, he received an unanimous call from them, and thus was restored to the society of his native city. Previously to this event, he had obtained the affections of Miss Mary Erskine, a young lady of fortune, and nearly related to the family of Dundonald. He had been employed to bespeak the favour of Miss Erskine for a friend, and for this purpose paid frequent visits to Valleyfield, a house within the parish of Culross, where she resided. The suit of his friend he is said to have urged with equal eloquence and sincerity, but, whether his own figure and accomplishments, which were highly elegant, had prepossessed the young lady, or she despised a suitor who could not make love on his own account, his efforts were attended with no success. At length Miss Erskine naively remarked to him that, had he spoken as well for himself, he might have succeeded better. The hint was too obvious to be overlooked, and its promise too agreeable to be neglected. Webster spoke for himself, and was readily accepted. They were married a few days after his accession to the pulpit of the Tolbooth church. Though the reverend gentleman was thus prompted by the lady, it does not appear that he was in the least degree deficient in that affection which ought always to be the motive of the nuptial connexion. On the contrary, he seems, from some verses composed by himself upon the occasion, to have been one of the most ardent of lovers, and also one of the most eloquent of amatory poets; witness the following admirable stanza:—

With the fire of a profane poet, and the manners and accomplishments of a man of the world, Webster possessed the unction and fervour of a purely evangelical divine. The awakenings which occurred at Cambuslang, in consequence of the preaching of Whitefield, he attributed in a pamphlet, to the direct influence of the Holy Spirit; while the Seceders imputed the whole to sorcery and the direct influence of the devil. In the pulpit, both his matter and his manner gave the highest satisfaction. His voice was harmonious, his figure noble; the dignity of his look, the rapture of his eye, conveyed an electric impression of the fervent devotion which engrossed his soul. In prayer and in sacramental addresses, his manner was particularly noble and august The diction of his sermons was strong and animated, rather than polished, and somewhat lowered to the capacity of his hearers, to whose situation in life he was always attentive. To the best qualities of a clergyman, he added an ardent, but enlightened zeal for the external interests of the church, a jealousy of corruption, a hatred of false politics and tyrannical