B L A 



567 



B L A 



known to several persons of eminence, and numbered 

 among his literary correspondents the celebrated Dr 

 Mead and Dr Wa. burton. See Biog. Britan. (q) 



BLADHIA, a genus of plants of the class Pen- 

 tandria, and order Monogynia. See Botany. (') 



BLjERIA, a genus of plants of the class Tetran- 

 dria, and order Monogynia. See Botany, (to) 



BLAIR, Hugh, D.D. and F.R.S.E. an emi- 

 nent Scottish divine, was born in Edinburgh on the 

 7th of April 1718. Descended from the ancient fa- 

 mily of Blair in Ayrshire, which, at different periods, 

 has given to the world individuals remarkable for 

 their talents and learning, he seems to have inherited 

 from his ancestors those abilities that entitle him to 

 be ranked amongst the ornaments of his country. 

 His great grandfather, Mr Robert Blair, minister of 

 St Andrew's, and chaplain to Charles I., was a man 

 eminent in a barbarous and bigotted age for the ele- 

 gant acquirements of the scholar, and the mild and 

 dignified virtues of the Christian. His grandfather 

 and father were respectable merchants in Edinburgh, 

 and both of them had the honour to till high situa- 

 tions in the magistracy of that city. The latter of 

 these, John Blair, having, in common with many of 

 lu's countrymen, imprudently engaged in the South 

 Sea scheme, had the misfortune to suffer consider- 

 ably in his pecuniary circumstances, and, retiring 

 from mercantile business, obtained an office in the 

 excise. This event had probably a considerable in^ 

 fluence on the character, as well as the prospects of 

 young Blair. Being thus deprived of a paternal in- 

 heritance, he found it necessary to depend for his fix- 

 ture maintenance on his own personal exertions ; a 

 circumstance which would serve to stimulate his in- 

 dustry, and to give a more determined direction to 

 the efforts of his genius. Having early imbibed a 

 predilection for the clerical profession, to which the 

 fame of his ancestor Robert may perhaps have con- 

 tributed, his education was conducted with a view to 

 this object. After the usual grammatical course at 

 school, he became, at twelve years of age, a student 

 in the university of Edinburgh. At this seminary he 

 spent eleven years, employed with industry and suc- 

 cess in preparing himself for the duties of the sacred 

 office, for which he was destined. During this pe- 

 riod, the talents which were afterwards to render him 

 *o conspicuous were not wholly concealed. Whilst 

 attending the logic class, then ably taught by Dr 

 Stevenson-, he composed, as an exercise, an essay on 

 The Bevutiful, which was received by his professor 

 with the most flattering marks of approbation, and 

 appointed to be read in public at the end of the ses- 

 sion. This honourable distinction made a deep im- 

 pression on his mind, and he ever after spoke of it 

 as the circumstance which determined the bent of his 

 genius to the study of polite literature, and fixed in 

 his mind at once the laudable ambition and the hope 

 of future eminence. 



The talent for accurate arrangement, which forms 

 so conspicuous a part of Dr Blair's literary charac- 

 ter, was about this period displayed in the formation 

 of a plan of study which greatly contributed to faci- 

 litate his labours. He had felt the difficulty of fix- 

 ing in the mind the series of useful insolated facts 

 which may occur in the course of desultory reading, 



and, to assist his memory, he thought of communi- 

 cating them to paper, arranged under some distinct ' 

 and appropriate heads. This idea he afterwards di- 

 gested and improved ; and applying it particularly to 

 the study of history, he at last constructed a very 

 comprehensive scheme of chronological tables. This 

 scheme has since been given to the world in a more 

 extensive and correct form, by his learned friend Dr 

 John Blair, prebendary of Westminster, in his excel- 

 lent treatise on the Chronology and History of the 

 World. 



Whilst Dr Blair was thus, by his judicious and per- 

 severing exertions, improving the powers of his mind, 

 and laying up a store of useful knowledge, he was 

 fortunate enough to form some connections of friend- 

 ship which tended to stimulate his ambition, and to 

 call his talents into action. The university of Edin- 

 burgh contained, at that period, a bright constellation 

 of rising genius, which was soon to illuminate and 

 adorn this northern hemisphere, and to give to Scot- 

 land a distinguished place in the world of letters. 

 The acknowledged abilities, and the amiable manners 

 of the young student in theology, were sufficient to 

 gain him the esteem of his fellow students ; and 

 amongst those whom a similarity of talents and dis- 

 positions had particularly attached to him, he could 

 number many who afterwards made a conspicuous 

 figure in the civil, the ecclesiastical, and the literary 

 history of their country. The friendship of a Wed- 

 derburn, a Robertson, a Smith, and a Hume, must 

 li3ve contributed, in no common degree, to form his 

 taste, and mature his judgment. 



In 1739, two years before he had completed hi* 

 academical studies, Dr Blair took his degree of 

 A. M. The subject of his thesis on that occasion, 

 was, De fundamentis et obligatione Legis Nalura; 

 which gave him an opportunity of displaying the ex- 

 tent of his reading on this important subject, and of 

 exhibiting that virtuous sensibility of heart, and that 

 love of moral truth, which form so striking a feature 

 in his character as a man, and in his instruction as a 

 Christian teacher. 



His academical course being completed, he under- 

 went the customary trials before the presbytery of 

 Edinburgh, and was, on the 21st October 174-1, li- 

 censed by that venerable body to preach the gospel. 

 His first appearances in the pulpit, though they ex- 

 hibit some of the flowery redundances of a youthful 

 style, were so far above mediocrity as to be heard 

 by the well-educated audiences of the metropolis 

 with surprise and pleasure ; and one sermon, in par- 

 ticular, which he delivered to a crowded congrega- 

 tion in the West Church, procured him so much de- 

 served applause, that the Earl of Leven, unsolicited, 

 interested himself warmly in his favour, and procured 

 for him a presentation to the church of Colissie, in 

 Fifcshire ; of which parish he was, on the 23d of 

 September 174-2, ordained minister. In this obscure 

 situation, however, he did not remain more than ten 

 months. His eloquence in the pulpit, joined to the 

 amiable virtues of his private life, had attached to 

 him many friends in his native city, who eagerly 

 watched for an opportunity of shewing their admv 

 ration of his talents ; and a vacancy having occurred 

 in the Canongate Church of Edinburgh, which,wa 



Bla 



