ON RHETORIC AND BELLES LETTRES. BY HUGH BLAIR, D.D. AND F.R.S. EDIN. ONE OF THE MINISTERS OF THE HIGH CHURCH, AND PRINTED FOR J. CRANWELL; J. CARLISLE; T. FISHER; W. LOWE; AND G. WALKER. 1817. THE LIFE OF DR. HUGH BLAIR. DR. HUGH BLAIR was descended from the ancient and respectable family of BLAIR of Blair in Ayrshire. Mr. Robert Blair, our author's great-grandfather, was minister of St. Andrew's, and chaplain to Charles I. and distinguished for his firm attachment to the cause of freedom, and his zealous support of the Presbyterian form of church government, in the time of the civil wars. The descendants of this worthy clergyman were destined to become the most illustrious ernaments of that Church which he so zealously laboured to establish. Of the two sons who survived him, David, the eldest, was one of the ministers of the Old Church in Edinburgh, and father of Mr. Robert Blair, minister of Athelstaneford, and of Mr. Archibald Blair, minister of Garvald, both in East Lothian. The former was the author of the celebrated poem, entitled "The GRAVE," and grandfather of the late Lord President Blair, who was distinguished for his powerful eloquence, his profound knowledge of law, his ardent love of justice, and his extensive literary attain ments. a Hugh, the younger brother of David, left one son, Mr. John Blair, who was a respectable merchant, and one of the Magistrates of Edinburgh. Having engaged, however, in the South Sea scheme, he lost the greater part of his fortune, and retiring from mercantile business, obtained an office in the Excise. He married Martha Ogston; and their first child was Hugh, the subject of this narrative, who was born on the 7th of April 1718. Emulous of the fame which his ancestors and relatives had acquired in the church, he engaged with uncommon ardour in the studies necessary to qualify him for the clerical profession. After going through the usual course at the High School, he became a student in the University of Edinburgh, in October 1730, and spent eleven years at that celebrated seminary, in the study of literature, philosophy, and divinity. In all the classes he was distinguished among his fellow-students, both for diligence and proficiency, and obtained from the Professors several flattering testimonies of approbation. In the Logic class he particularly distinguished himself, by an Essay #epi toũ xahoũ, On the Beautiful, a subject prescribed by the Professor, in the usual course of academical exercises. No subject could have been more congenial to the elegant mind of young Blair. His essay attracted the particular notice of the Professor, who appointed it to be publicly read at the close of the Session, and applauded it as an exercise, alike creditable to himself and honourable to his pupil. On a young mind burning with the desire of fame, such a mark of distinction could not fail to make a deep impression. To this essay Dr. Blair himself used to ascribe the bent of his mind towards polite literature; and he preserved it, till his death, with partial affection, as the first pledge of his future renown. At this time, he adopted a plan of study which contributed much to the accuracy and extent of his knowledge. From all the works of importance which he read, he made. copious extracts, and these he digested according to the train of his own thoughts. History, in particular, he resolved to study in this manner, and constructed a very comprehensive scheme of chronological tables for receiving into its proper place every important fact that should occur. The value of this scheme was sufficiently evinced by the use afterwards made of it by his learned friend, Dr. John Blair, Prebendary of Westminster, who gave it to the public in an improved form, in his "Chronology and History of the World," a work held in high estimation. In 1739, he took his degree of Master of Arts; and on that occasion, he printed and defended a thesis, De Fundamentis et Obligatione Legis Natura; Concerning the Foundations and Obligation of the Law of Nature; which exhibits an outline of the moral principles by which the world was afterwards to profit in his Sermons. Having finished his academical course, he was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Edinburgh, on the 21st of October 1741. The brilliancy of his academical career had excited no common expectations of his abilities and success as a preacher. His first appearances in the pulpit fully justified the expectations of his friends, and the fame of his eloquence procured for him a presentation to the church of Colessie, in Fifeshire, where he was ordained to the office of the sacred ministry, on the 23d of September 1742. Dr. Blair was not permitted to remain long in the obscurity of a country parish. A vacancy having occurred in the second charge of the Canongate of Edinburgh, which was to be supplied by popular election, his friends were enabled to recal him to a station more suited to his talents. Though his competitor, Mr. Robert Walker, was a popular and eloquent preacher, he obtained a considerable majority of votes, and was admitted on the 14th of July 1743. In this |