ult) in his tendencies,
he is yet deeply skilled in the form of sound doctrine, and his style is
terse, vigorous, and polished. There is, perhaps, what not a few would
be disposed to term a want of animation in his pulpit utterances.
Habitually grave and dignified, he seldom indulges in anything like an
ebullition of fancy or of mirth. His sentences are cut, polished, and
beautified like a piece of Parian marble. People are so much accustomed
now-a-days to hear orators whose hearts (like Coriolanus) are upon their
lips, that they have little sympathy with scholarly and erudite
prelections, pure and simple, come from whatsoever quarter they may. But
it does not therefore follow that calm, dispassionate, logical
reasoning, of which Dr. Buchanan is both a master and exponent, is
without its merits and admirers. On the contrary, it is impossible to
sit under the minister of the Free College Church without being "built
up" in all the Christian graces. He is an uncompromising foe to the
Scarlet Lady, to the materialistic tendencies of the present day, to
looseness and infidelity, of every kind, in religious matters; and some
would perhaps object that his sermons are too strongly impregnated with
the Confession of Faith, the Deed of Demission, and the Shorter
Catechism. But he is on this account all the more entitled to rank as a
living embodiment of the principles and practice of the Free Church of
Scotland; and when questions on which a little margin of difference may
be allowed are brought under consideration, Dr. Buchanan will be found
to be tolerant and even liberal in his views. With a presence so
commanding and dignified as to be almost leonine, a deep, melodious
voice, and a head of snowy whiteness, Dr. Buchanan's appearance, as he
ascends to the pulpit, conveys the impression of conscious power. He
enters upon the services of the sanctuary with an evident sense of their
solemnity and importance. No glimpse of humour, no _outre_ illustration,
no divergence from the beaten track is attempted; the heavy and
portentous gravity of his manner and matter is unrelieved by a single
touch of light--all is sombre, deep, profound. One can fancy that Dr.
Buchanan is inclined to think, with Dr. Johnson, that a punster is as bad
as a pickpocket.

But it would be unfair to estimate Dr. Buchanan from his pulpit
appearances only. Listening to his discourses from the pew, one can form
but a faint conception of the greatest merits--the s