Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 9.djvu/334

598 was contented to succeed by gentle persuasion and slow deliberate conviction. The following sketch, from a biographical notice, will give a full and accurate idea of the nature of his preaching:—"His main strength lies in his extensive acquaintance with Scripture, his argumentative distinctness and dexterity, his refined taste, his unimpeachable good sense, and the felicity with which he connects his subject with the personal interests and responsibilities of his audience. He seldom indulges in any ornament, or in any play of fancy, beyond the occasional introduction of some select figure or comparison, for the sake of illustration. He is never dull or common-place ; but his vivacity is that of the understanding rather than of the imagination. At times, and when handling suitable themes, a burst of feeling escapes him which is felt to be perfectly genuine, and which seldom fails to communicate its contagion to the hearers; but he spends no time on mere sentimentalities, and shows no ambition whatever to provoke a tear, except as that may be the sign of his arrow having touched the heart. His chief aim seems always to be, to convey fully and clearly to the mind of his hearers the truth presented by the part of Scripture from which he is discoursing. Hence he is eminently textual as a preacher, eminently faithful as an expositor. Hence, also, the practical character of all his discourses. With all his closeness of reasoning and nicety of discrimination, he never indulges in mere abstract speculation—never verges into the regions of transcendentalism—never amuses his audience by adroit defences of fanciful hypotheses, or by gymnastic displays of dialectical subtlety. All is serious, solid, earnest, practical; and though an effort of continuous attention is required on the part of the hearer, in order fully to apprehend the train of his reasoning and illustrations, such an effort will seldom be put forth without being rewarded by a large accession of valuable and sound scriptural knowledge." This intellectual, classical, and subdued style of preaching was delivered in a sufficiently correspondent manner. The author from whom we have just quoted thus describes it:—"In the pulpit Dr. Wardlaw employs little action. An expressive elevation of the eyebrows, an easy and simple action of either hand, and an occasional motion of the body, effected by a graceful step backwards, are the only gestures he is in the habit of employing. His voice, though somewhat feeble, is of considerable compass, and is finely modulated, so that he can make himself distinctly heard by a large assemblage; and, notwithstanding the disadvantage of reading his discourses, can, by the variety of his intonations, avoid the monotony into which this practice so frequently leads. There is, indeed, a peculiar charm in the sound of his voice, which is not without its effect in sustaining the attention and engaging the interest of his hearers. This, combined with the fulness of his matter, and the piety of his whole discourse, reminds one, in listening to him, of the Jewish high-priest of old, on whose garment the sweet-toned bell and the pomegranate, symbolical of richness, betokened the combined clearness and copiousness of that revelation of which he was the herald, whilst on his forehead was inscribed 'Holiness to the Lord,' as the crown and consummation of the whole."

From the foregoing account of the nature of his sermons, the diligence of Dr. Wardlaw in his pulpit preparations may be easily surmised. It was laborious investigation, and careful well-weighed thought, expressed in apposite words and polished sentences; and when these extended, as they often did, to three discourses each Sabbath, instead of two, they constituted an amount of weekly study sufficient to establish the character of a truly painstaking divine.