BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 341
and Francis for years puzzled his brains in vain to find out the cause of his
extraordinary ill luck in the piscatorial exploits of that eventful day.
He was married, but had no
family. He resided in a house at the Calton Hill, where he died in 1818, his
widow surviving him only a few years. The most of his property was bequeathed
in various sums to the different charities of the city.
Mr. Ronaldson w&s a native of Edinburgh
No. CXXXIX.
REV. ROBERT WALKER,
ONE OF THE MINISTERS OF THE HIGH CHURCH, EDINBURGH.
THIS much esteemed clergyman was for upwards of twenty years a colleague of
the celebrated Dr. Blair, whose memoir has already been given.
MR. WALKERw as born in the Canongate of Edinburgh in 1716, his father
being minister of that parish.' He studied at the University of Edinburgh, and
in 1737 was licensed by the Presbytery of Kirkcudbright. In 1738 he received
a unanimous call to the parish of Straiton, situated within the bounds of the
Presbytery of Ayr, to which he was ordained; and for nearly eight years
continued zealously to discharge the duties of the pastoral office among the
parishioners, by whom he was much beloved and respected. He has been
frequently heard to declare in after life, that he looked back upon the years
passed at Straiton as the most satisfactory period of his life.
From Straiton, in 1746, he was called to the second charge in South Leith.
Being then in the prime of life he appeared in the pulpit to great advantage,
and became very popular. Here he remained till 1754, when he was appointed
to one of the, collegiate charges in the High Church, where he continued during
the remainder of his life.
Mr. Walker maintained a high character, both as a man and as a preacher.
He published two volumes of Sermons,2 which long retained their popularity,
and are yet so much admired by preachers, that, with a few alterations, they
are frequently adopted by some in the pulpit as their own ! With his colleague
Dr. Elair, notwithstanding a difference of opinion on some minor points, he
lived on terms of the closest friendship and intimacy; and although he did not
aspire to the literary fame of that divine, his eloquence as a preacher was not
He was uncle of the late Robert Walker of Canongate.
A new edition, accompanied by a third volume, with an account of his life by h. Blair, wae
published after his death.
348 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
less commanding, nor his local popularity inferior. The celebrity of the one
existed principally among the higher classes in the city ; while the more evangelical
discourses of the other endeared him to the less opulent, yet equally, if
not more, devout portion of the community.
The congregations of the two incumbents were thus very dissimilar in
character. Dr. Blair's was less numerous than that of Mr. Walker, but the
church-door collections of the former were much greater. Hence the elders
were wont to remark, that it took tumty-four of Mr. Walker's hearers to equal
one of Dr. Blair's.
In private life, Mr. Walker was certainly more generdly esteemed than his
colleague. This probably arose from a familiarity on the part of the one which
was in some measure foreign to the character and manners of the other ; and
there was at least one virtue-liberality in money matters-which he possessed
to a greater extent than his literary colleague. One day during the repairs of
the High Church, while the two ministers were looking on, the workmen
importuned Mr. Walker for some money to drink their healths. To this Mr.
Walker jocularly replied-" Apply to my colleague," whom they knew to be not
remarkably generoueat the same time quietly giving them five shillings.
Mr. Walker was highly Calvinistic in his religious views ; and, where he
conceived it to be his duty, no man could be more firm in denouncing any
derelictions of a public or private nature. He was an enemy to many public
amusements. During the early part of his incumbency in the High Church
the celebrated case of Home, the author of Douglas, called in an especial manner
the attention of the clergy to the stage, and brought down their severest
denouncements. On reading the admonition of the Presbytery of Edinburgh
from the pulpit, on the 30th of January 1757, he entered warmly and fearlessly
upon the subject of theatrical representations. On another occasion, which
caused no inconsiderable degree of excitement in the city, some thirteen years
afterwards, he spoke out with equal boldness ; and, although at the present day
there may not be many who will coincide to the full in his opinions with respect
to the stage, all must admire the manly tone of his sentiments, and the eloquence
with which they were expressed. The circumstance to which we allude occurred
in 1770, when the comedy of the Minor, under the management of Mr. Foote,l
was performed on the Saturday evening. The occurrence gave rise to severe
remarks in the periodical works of the time ; and called forth a sermon from
the Rev. Mr. Baine (whose Portrait will be found in a subsequent part of this
work), which he published and dedicated to Mr. Foote, The following account
of the affair is from one of the London journals-the article having been forwarded
from Edioburgh :-
Mr. Ross, Mr. Foote is manager of the Edinburgh Theatre this winter.
of the Theatres in London.
the winter with the Com?niam?y-a comedy written by Mr. Foote.
splendid, and the performance highly relished.
Wednesday, and Saturday."-Theatrical Notice, Nov. 1770.
t
" By an agreement between Mr. Foote, patentee of the Theatre in the Haymarket, London, and
Mr. Ross is returned to one
On Saturday, November 17th, the Edinburgh Theatre was opened for
The audience was numerous and
The playa are regularly continued every Monday,
