THE late Rev. Dr. Wardlaw, when a
young man, was fair to look upon; and like the early fathers of the
Congregational denomination, he now and again went on a tour through the
country to preach the Gospel. In the summer of 1811, the young preacher,
Mr. Wardlaw, visited Banff on a tour through the North of Scotland, and
was by no means strictly clerical in his costume, but wore topped boots
and other articles of dress corresponding to the necessities of a journey
on horseback.
This circumstance, added to the
remarkably elegant appearance of the preacher, rather stumbled the faith
of a lady, one of the old school. She looked wonders as she saw the young
minister ascend the pulpit stairs; but as he entered on his subject she
was seen to become most grave and attentive. When he had finished his
discourse she looked round to auother lady—a person of an exceedingly
different cast of mind—and exclaimed:
"Oh, woman! was na’ that a great
sermon for sic a young man? But oh, he’s o’er braw and bonny!"
"O’er braw !" replied the lady
addressed; "fat signifies a man’s claes, if there be plenty o’ furniture
in’s mind? And to find faut with the dear, young man because he’s bonny is
something like a reflection on the Creator Himself,"—a rebuke both
reverent and sensible.
