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Life and Times of D. M. Stuart, D.D.

Chapter XXXIII. — Preacher

page 235

Chapter XXXIII.
Preacher.

The Doctor's tall and massive figure made an imposing appearance in the pulpit: his face faithfully reflected the play of emotions that swept his heart, while his voice, which had a broad suggestion of his early Gaelic training in it, rang out in clear and impressive tones to the remotest corner of his great Church His manner was perfectly natural, without any affectation in it, the only gesture he employed being a sort of emphasising movement of the right hand. But, while he preached, every fibre and muscle and member of his body, as he used to say, vibrated with the nervous excitation which the action produced.

His pulpit preparations were made usually in the early morning, when his mind was fresh and clear, and buoyant for duty, but frequently they were the outgrowth of steady application to work at odd half-hours, as he could snatch time for them amid the pressure of interruptions from persons calling, and of manifold public engagements. There was little attempt made to elaborate his sermons, or to put any literary embellishment into them. The time at his disposal did not admit of that. But they were nearly always marked in their delivery by a rugged eloquence, which often flashed with gems of thought or bright poetic fancies, or broke into homely page 236and quaintly humorous phrase, which hardly ever failed to captivate his hearers' hearts.

There were a few who laid claims to culture who used to say that the Doctor was no great preacher—that it was little short of intellectual crucifixion to sit at his feet. But the best practical refutation of that was the spectacle, rare enough—if parallelled at all in these Australasian Colonies—of 1000 to 1300 people sitting devoutly under his ministry every Sabbath day, and of upwards of 750 guests attending the Church's holy quarterly festival of Communion.

Many of the congregation experienced the benefit which was quaintly expressed by one of the members when describing the effects of the Doctor's preaching upon him: "It gave him," he said, "a shove on in the Christian life which carried him well on through the week."

And how much his ministrations were valued by the humble poor was testified by the anxious inquiry which the lowly worshipper used to make of the office-bearers who stood at the door, as she prepared to enter the sacred building. "Is it himsel' the day?" she used to ask; and when assured that the Doctor himself was to preach, her face beamed with the light of the joy that filled her heart.

He spoke from the pulpit lovingly, and with a glowing earnestness and decisiveness of utterance, with a simplicity of style, and to such practical effect that the attention of the people was arrested, and their hearts impressed with the conviction that there, at least, in that noble temple of God, the glorious truths of salvation were presented to them in such a page 237form that they were made to touch and glorify the commonest duties of the humblest life.

He had boundless faith in the power of the Gospel to save from sin and woe, and to deliver the soul from even the lowest deeps of despair; and his most frequent theme was "Christ and Him crucified." The mere profession of the lips he regarded as of little account, and insisted very emphatically on the need of a fruitful Christian life as the evidential outcome of a living faith. He never required to resort to the modern ministerial stratagem so often fallen upon to resuscitate a moribund interest in the Divine message to man, and to draw the Athenian element in the populace to fill his pews with itching ears to hear some new thing. His Church, excepting in wet and tempestuous weather, was usually well filled without the aid of sensational announcements in the columns of the public press.

His reading of Scripture was deliberate, reverent, and impressive, and his expositions of the Bible lessons read at the Sabbath services were enriched with racy, quaint, and practical sayings which greatly instructed and delighted the people, and often laid a firm grip on heart and conscience. He had a large store of illustrative anecdotes, and a happy faculty of relating them effectively, which gave a special interest and popularity to these expository exercises.

Mr Thomas Denniston, of Invercargill, a wise and keen observer of men, and one well qualified to form a sound judgment on the subject treated, says: *"For his primary work as a minister of the Gospel

* Southland Times.page 238he was eminently qualified, and if he did not uniformly make the figure as a preacher that some others have made, this was simply because at times the enormous pressure of pastoral and other calls upon his time, left him less than the leisure that high pulpit preparation demands. On occasion there were preached by the pastor of Knox Church sermons that would have graced any pulpit in the world. His commentaries on Scripture, delivered in a manner that was all his own, were without exception, marked by a raciness, robustness, and fervour that will make them memorable to all his hearers. But another cause than pre-occupation with active duty operated to overshadow in some measure the high intellectual gifts of which Dr Stuart was undoubtedly possessed. He was so great on the emotional side, his heart was so large, his affections were so keen and all-embracing, the sway of his benignant personality was so powerful that he became distinguished principally by these features of his character, to the obscuring of powers of intellect, which in a colder nature would have stood out with more impressive brightness."

Both in his sermons and in his expositions of the lessons, the Doctor felt himself under none of the restraints that fetter ordinary men. A Methodist visitor to Dunedin from Christchurch, on his return to his own city, reported to his friends that Dr Stuart's congregation was an ideal one. He had been very much struck with the appearance of the pews and the families in them. The singing, he said, was a service itself, and the pastor was like a father among his page 239children—he could just say what he pleased, and he did say what he pleased.

The following apt illustration of the point we take from a paper which the Doctor himself addressed to us. It is an abstract of a sermon which was preached some two or three years ago, and rescued from oblivion by the graceful pen of Mr Thomas Denniston. " … Dr Stuart was lecturing from some verses in Proverbs on the subject of 'Instruction,' and was leading up to a cunning but benevolent appeal on behalf of the Free Library contemplated for Dunedin. The family, he told his audience, was the first school, and he described this root institution with those glowing and happy touches which his sense of its supreme value inspired. Next to the family came the common school, and the parish school of Scotland as the best type of all good schools, with its earnest and learned teachers, who were the real builders up of the Scotsmen who had gone forth and conquered in every country under the sun.

"And now the Doctor's foot was on the heather, and there rose up before him, as the third great factor in the national character, the ancient parish kirk of his country. Seldom has a more vivid picture been drawn of the gathering on Sabbath mornings round the venerable building, from all corners of the parish, and the friendly converse in which old and young indulged. The spirit of the past had been conjured up, and every word of the preacher was with eloquence and power. A Presbyterian communion service was passed in review, in its severe simplicity—by far the most imposing rite in page 240the whole circle of ceremonial of the universal Church. The Marquis of Breadalbane, an elder on one side of the communion table, and his servant, an elder on the other, testified to the grand democracy of the Presbyterian order. A listener might have heard the tread of the dispensers of "the elements," and the plaintive, if rude, melody that always preceded this celebration.

"But another burst was to come. Another great educator was in the Doctor's eye as it roamed again over the Perthshire hills, and dwelt upon the uplands and valleys. The life of the herd, led by so many Scotsmen in their youth, was appealed to, as opening up avenues of instruction denied to the dwellers in town, but inestimable as furnishing a lad with ideas nobler and more inspiring than he could catch from books. The whole realm of Nature was before him, with its numerous inhabitants inviting his scrutiny. The cows once warned from the growing corn, and browsing on the hills, the young custodian had leisure to throw himself on Nature, and penetrate all her secrets. The tree, the shrub, the flower, the nest of the lintie, and the byke of the bee, the haunt of everything that walked or flew or swam, were his to discover and enjoy. And the berries that grew all around him, were there to stay at least the hunger that the keen air engendered, and that only the boy can know. The taste for and knowledge of natural history which these opportunities afforded were greater than school or university could give. The whole episode, so rapidly constructed, made up a perfect Scottish idyll, and if off the line of page 241ordinary pulpit exhortation, we are sure went to the heart of the great assemblage that listened, and struck no chord out of keeping with reverence and devotion. It is not for every preacher to wander into these paths, and in not many cases might the deviation be appreciated or condoned, but it would be both hard and unwise to deny such a privilege to the few whose genius enables them to use it aright."

Under date, 22nd June, 1885, he wrote to Mrs Ferguson: "… The subject of the 'Catechetical' was, 'What the Bible reveals about heaven.' What think you? While showing that Christians should speak to each other about the home above, I recited the 'Land o' the Leal.' This is one of my harmless innovations which the people allow me. It is a great thing to have the opportunity of talking to many souls on the things that vitally concerns their well-being now and ever. May God give me grace to fulfil the ministry of the Word with efficiency!.."

In conducting anniversary services at Ashburton, in September, 1891, he read Burns' graphic description of the scene of family worship in "The Cottar's Saturday Night," and closed with a stirring appeal to parents to erect the family altar, and to cherish it as a priceless ordinance through which blessings unspeakable may flow into every heart.

Dr Stuart's close relation with his people, joined to his disregard of conventionality, led him occasionally to make remarks from the pulpit which sent a flash of amused wonder through, the Church. This happened sometimes in the course of his exposition of the chapter read, but more frequently it occurred page 242in connection with the administration of the ordinance of Baptism.

We select the following instance, out of a large number whith have been recently put in circulation, as it illustrates a trait of character which specially distinguished him, namely, his tender Christian courtesy in respecting the feelings of others. The wife of a German in humble circumstances, and who had served his time in the army in his own country, brought her child to the Church for baptism. The father did not, at the entrance of the mother and child, move up as usual to the platform, but stood up in his seat in the middle of the Church with his hand at the salute. There was a pause, during which the Doctor looked around, and seeing the father saluting, remarked to the congregation, "Our friend is a foreigner, and not familiar with our customs. Come away up here, Mr——."

His prayers were usually characterised by remarkable unction and appropriateness, and embraced petitions for blessings not only on the Church and all its schemes, but also on all philanthropic and educational institutions which conduced to the well-being and enlightenment of the people.