Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 9.djvu/331

Rh having one side and all its angles given, and also for constructing two similar triangles on two given straight lines, having the angles given.

In 1836 he contributed a paper to the "Transactions" of the Royal Astronomical Society, entitled, "Two Elementary Solutions of Kepler's Problem by the Angular Calculus." He also contributed another, under the title of "Geometrical Theorems and Formulae, particularly applicable to some Geodetical Problems," to the Cambridge Philosophical Society, which was published in the sixth volume of their "Transactions."

In 1838, when laid aside by sickness, he also composed a work upon the same subject, which he dedicated to his friend, Colonel Colby.

In 1839 Professor Wallace gave his last contribution to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, under the title of "Solution of a Functional Equation, with its Application to the Parallelogram of Forces, and the Curve of Equilibrium," which was published in the fourteenth volume of their "Transactions."

WARDLAW, D.D., .—This able controversialist, eloquent preacher, and graceful popular writer, who, for more than half-a-century, continued to rivet the public attention and secure its esteem, could have been no man of ordinary, or even of merely second-rate attainments. When to this, however, we add that he was the uncompromising champion of a church which was totally opposed to the Presbyterianism of Scotland; that, mainly by his able superintendence and universally recognized worth, he raised it to an eminence as high, perhaps, as it is capable of reaching in the land of Solemn Leagues and Covenants; and that, notwithstanding the many hard debates which he waged, in order to clear the space around him, and make his footing good, he still continued to retain the esteem of those parties upon whom his blows had fallen the heaviest in such a case, our certainty of his surpassing worth is confirmed beyond doubt or cavil. After this brief explanation, we may the less regret that the long life of Dr. Wardlaw presents so few incidents for the purposes of popular biography. So regular was the round of his duties, and with such undeviating diligence were they performed, that the narrative of a year or two in his career would be a fair and sufficient specimen of his life-long history.

Ralph Wardlaw was born in the small, but ancient and historical town of Dalkeith, on the 22d of December, 1779. It is not known whether his parents had been settled residenters in that locality at the period of his birth, or merely temporary sojourners. Six months after that event they removed to Glasgow, and there his father was long known and honoured, not only as a prosperous merchant and civic magistrate, but an amiable, upright, consistent Christian. By his mother, Ralph possessed a quartering in his escutcheon of which he was justly proud, for she was a descendant of Ebenezer Erskine, the father of the Scottish Secession Church. This ancestry, independently of his own personal worth and reputation, greatly endeared Dr. Wardlaw to the clergy and laity of that denomination. When he had nearly reached his eighth year, Dr. Wardlaw was sent to the grammar or high school of Glasgow, where he continued for four years. On finishing this preliminary course of scholarship, he entered the university of Glasgow; and though not yet twelve years of age, he seems to have soon attracted the observant eye, and secured the esteem of Mr. Richardson, the professor of humanity, himself an accurate as well as a refined accomplished scholar. In after years, indeed, the professor was wont to declare, that there were two of his pupils of whom he had always formed