Sermons ;and, in the course of it, he exhibited a vigour of understanding and capacity of exertion equal to that of his best days. He began the winter, pleased with himself on account of the completion of this work; and his friends were flattered with the hope that he might live to enjoy the accession of emolument and fame which he expected it would bring. But the seeds of a mortal disease were lurking unperceived within him. On the 24th of December 1800, he complained of a pain in his bowels, which, during that and the following day, gave him but little uneasiness; and he received as usual the visits of his friends. On the afternoon of the 26th, the symptoms became violent and alarming: - he felt that he was approaching the end of his appointed course; and retaining to the last moment the full possession of his mental faculties, he expired on the morning of the 27th, with the composure and hope which become a Christian pastor.

It

The lamentation for his death was universal and deep through the city which he had so long instructed and adorned. Its Magistrates, participating in the general grief, appointed his church to be put in mourning; and his colleague in it, the writer of this Narrative, who had often experienced the inestimable value of his counsel and friendship, delivered on the Sabbath after his funeral a discourse to his congregation, with an extract from which this account shall be closed. is inserted here at the particular request of that very respectable body of men who composed his Kirk Session, and who, by their public approbation of this tribute to his memory, are desirous of transmitting, with his Sermons, to posterity a memorial of the veneration and esteem with which his conduct had inspired them. After exhorting to contemplate and follow the patriarchs and saints of former ages, who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises, the Preacher thus proceeded :

"In this competition for virtuous attainment, it may be ❝often useful to bring down your eye, from contemplating "the departed worthies of distant times and countries, to"wards patterns of imitation that are endeared to you by "more tender ties. If, in the relations of life, you have

"had a connection,

if, in the circle of your own family, 66 you have had a father, a husband, or a brother, who dis"charged with exemplary fidelity the duties of his station, "whom every tongue blessed as the friend of God and man, "and who died as he lived, full of faith and hope, place him "before you as the model of your conduct conceive him "bending from his seat in the skies, pleased with your at"tachment, deeply interested in your success, and cheering "you in your labours of love. His image will be as a guardian "angel to admonish you when dangers approach, to rouse "within you every principle of virtuous exertion, and to "inspire you with strength to overcome.

"Our hearts, Christians, have been deeply pierced with "the loss of a most valuable connection, of a venerable "pastor, who watched long for our souls, and with the most "unwearied fidelity pointed out to us the path of happiness. "To you, and to the general interests of pure religion, he "was attached by many powerful obligations. A native of "this city, and descended from a family, which, in former "times, had given several bright ornaments to the Church "of Scotland, he felt the warmest tendencies of nature co"operating with the principles of duty, to call forth all his 66 powers in the sacred service to which he was devoted. And "by the blessing of God on his industry, he rose to an eminence in professional merit, which has reflected distin"guished honour on the city, on the church, and on the "country which produced him.

"It was the fortune of Dr. Blair to appear at a period "when the literature of his country was just beginning to "receive polish and an useful direction; and when it was "emulously cultivated by a bright constellation of young men "who are destined to carry it to high perfection. In concert "with them he applied himself with diligence and assiduity "to all those branches of study which could contribute to "form him for the eloquence of the pulpit. This was the "department in which he chose to excel; to which all th "force of his genius was directed; and in which he soon felt "that his efforts were to be successful. For from the very

"commencement of his theological studies, he gave presages "of his future attainments; and, in the societies of his youth"ful companions, laid the foundations of that splendid re"putation, which, through a long life of meritorious service, ❝continued to increase; and which has procured for him, as a religious instructor, access to the understandings and the "hearts of all the most cultivated inhabitants of the Christian "world.

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"To you, my brethren, who have long enjoyed the in"estimable blessing of his immediate instruction, it will not "be necessary to describe the qualities of that luminous, fas"cinating eloquence with which he was accustomed to warm, ❝and ravish, and amend your hearts. You may have heard "others who equalled, or even excelled him in some of the

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requisites of pulpit oratory, in occasional profoundness of 66 thought, in vivid flashes of imagination, or in pathetic "addresses to the heart. But there never was a public "teacher in whom all these requisites were combined in juster "proportions, placed under the direction of a more exquisite "sense of propriety, and employed with more uniform suc❝cess to convey useful and practical instruction. Standing

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on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, he ex"hibited the doctrines of Christ in their genuine purity, se"parated from the dross of superstition, and traced with ❝ inimitable elegance, through all their beneficial influence "on the consolation, on the order, and on the virtue of both "public and private life. Hence his discourses, uniting in "the most perfect form the attractions of utility and beauty, gave a new and better tone to the style of instruction from "the pulpit; and contributed, in a remarkable degree, to "correct and refine the religious, the moral, and the literary "taste of the times in which he lived.

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"The universal admiration which attended his ministerial "labours, was some recompence to him for the exertions they had cost. But his chief recompence arose from the ❝ consciousness of having contributed so eminently to edify "the Church of Christ, and from the improving influence "which his labours had shed on his own heart. For he was

"at home and in himself, the perfect image of that meekness, "simplicity, gentleness, and contentment, which his writings "recommend. He was long happy in his domestic relations; " and though doomed at last to feel, through their loss in "succession, the heaviest strokes of affliction, yet his mind, "fortified by religious habits, and buoyed up by his native "tendency to contentment, sustained itself on God, and "enabled him to persevere to the end in the active and "cheerful discharge of the duties of his station; preparing "for the world the blessings of elegant instruction; tender

ing to the mourner the lessons of divine consolation; guid❝ing the young by his counsels; aiding the meritorious with "his influence, and supporting by his voice and by his con"duct the civil and ecclesiastical institutions of his country.

"With such dispositions and habits it was natural that he "should enjoy a distinguished portion of felicity. And per"haps there never was a man who experienced more com"pletely that the ways of wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and "that all her paths are peace. His Country was proud of "his merits, and at different times conferred on him, through "the hands of the Sovereign, the most honourable and sub"stantial proofs of her approbation: foreign lands learned " from him the way of salvation: he saw marks of deference "and respect wherever he appeared: and he felt within him"self the gratulations of a good conscience, and the hope of "immortality. It was peculiarly delightful to see him in the "latest period of his life, at the venerable age of eighty-two, looking back on almost three-score years spent in the public "service of his God, pleased with the recollections which it gave, possessing a mind still vigorous and clear, the delight "of his friends, sensible to the attentions which they paid to ❝him, burning with zeal for the good of the Church, and, "with all the ardour of youthful ambition, preparing the "materials of a new claim to the gratitude and admiration of 66 posterity. In this active state of preparation, with the ❝ lamp of life still clear and bright, he was found by the "Great Lord of All when he came to say, it is enough;'

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"and, after a single night of pain, to call him gently to his ❝rest.

"He has gone to give an account of his stewardship. – "The Church mourns in him the loss of her brightest orna"ment. Let us submit to the stroke with resignation and "reverence; and as the most acceptable proof of respect to "his memory, let us learn to practise the lessons which he ❝ taught."

J. FINLAYSON.

EDINBURGH, March 13th, 1801.