B L A 



B L A 



pfalmody of the church ; and a few articles in a periodical 

 publication intitled the " Edinburoh Review." See Jour- 

 nal. From this time he enjoyed greater leifiire for direct- 

 ing liis views to other important literary oljjects, befides 

 his weekly preparations for the piilpjt ; and, accordingly, 

 he commenced, Dec. ii, 1799, with the approbation of 

 the univerilty, a leiics of lectures on compolition. Of his 

 quaUfications for an office of this kind, none could enter- 

 tain the leaft doubt ; they had been in fomt meafiire Sanc- 

 tioned by the univerfity of St. Andrews, which, in Jt^-.e 

 1757, had conferred on him the degree of doflor in divinity, 

 then very rarely bellowed ; and the fuccefs th^t atterded 

 his firll courle, afforded ample evidence of the able manner 

 in which it had been condufttd. The patrons of the uni- 

 verfity determined in the following fnmmer to inilitute a 

 rhetorical clafs, under the direction of D- . Blair, as a perma- 

 nent part of their ecclefiaftieal eftablifhmer.t ; anc on the 

 7th of April 1762, his majelly was gracioufly pleafed " to 

 creCt and endow a profefiorlhip of rhetoric and belles lettres 

 in the univerfity of Edinburgh, and to appoirt Dr. Blair, 

 in confideration of his approved qualifications, regius pio- 

 feflbr thereof, with a falary of 70I." The lectures which he 

 delivered on this occafion, were publi'^'ed in 17^3, under the 

 title of " Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres," vj two 

 volumes, 410. ; and they have heen iioce fr'.a'.ientlv rt picb- 

 liftied in 3 vols. 8vo. Of thefe leSurts it will be fufRcient 

 to obfer\e, that the general voice of the publ'C, not only in 

 our own country, but in other nations on the continent into 

 whofe languages they have been tranditcd, has proroiinced 

 them to be a moil judicious, el;gant, and ccppreheafive 

 fyftem of rules for forming the llyle, and cukiv t'pcr the 

 tafte of youth. By a happy and fingular union of talte and 

 philofop! V, the author has fupplied a great defcCt in the 

 fcienci" of cnticiim, and has made a valuable addition to the 

 polite liteiature of the prcfent age. In the courfe of this 

 Dictionary we ihall have frequent oceafions for re fcrring totlus 

 excellent work, and availing ourfelves of its nit relting ai d 

 ufeful contents. In 1763, Dr. Blair publifhed " A Critical 

 Diflertatiof on the poems of Offian," which tor beauty of lan- 

 guage, dc'ieacy of talle, and acutenefs of cr.tical invp(ti;^ation, 

 has few parallels. As it was partly by hio loiicitation, that 

 Mr. Macpherfon was induced to publilh his " Fragments of 

 Ancient Poetry," it is no wonder, th.it, independently of 

 the tell of critcifm, he Ihould be a zealous advocate in fa- 

 vour of their autnenticity and antiquity ; but, notwithftand- 

 ing his able defence, a degree of fcepticifm has prevailed on 

 this fubject. 



Dr. Blair's reputation as a preacher, or rather as a com- 

 pofer of fcr-Tions, had been for a long time acknowledged 

 by thofe who had the plealure of attending on his miniftrv ; 

 but it was not till the year 1777, tliat he could be induced 

 to favour the world with a volume of the difcourfes which 

 had fo long furnilhed inilruction and delight to his own con- 

 gregation. The MS. of this volume, it is faid, was received 

 by the bookfeller with fome hefitation ; but it was no fooner 

 publiflied, than he found it his interell to engage the author 

 to furnifh him with oth^:■r volumes. Accordingly five vo- 

 lumes, in the whole, have been publilhed at different inter- 

 vals ; and we may ventuie to affirm, thTt, liberally as the 

 author was recomptnfed, no coUeftion of fermons has ever 

 been more piofitable to the bookfeller, or more acceptable 

 to the public, than Dr. Blair's. The circulation of them 

 was rapid and extenfive. They were tranflated into feveral 

 foreign languages ; and they received a royal reward. A 

 ptnfion of 200I. a year, iffuii g out of the exchequer in Scot- 

 land, was confeired, in 178c, on the author, and it was 

 continued without any alteration till bis death. Thefe fer- 



mons, though thev poffefs various degrees of ccmiparative 

 excellence, and fome muff be allowed to be much fuperior 

 to ethers, are upon the whole models in thtir kind ; and 

 they will long remain as monuments of the piety, the genius, 

 and found ji.dgment of the author. Occupying a middle 

 place betv.-een the dry netaphyfical difcuffions or controver- 

 fiiil fpeculatiiins of one clafs of preachers, MPd the loofe in- 

 coherent dedamati'ms of another, they blmu the light of 

 argument svith the warmth of exhortation, the elegance of 

 compofition with ju.'.eious obfervations on human li.'^c, and 

 praftical knowledge wit'< impona.'.i principles of religion and 

 virtue. The laft volume was prepared for the prels by the 

 author after he had completed his eighty-fecond year, and 

 delivered to the pub'iihers about fix weeks before his death. 

 Although he left ni.iny other difcourfes in manufcript, he ex- 

 plicitly enjoined that they fliould be deftroyed, and thus wifely 

 prevented that injui-y to his reputation vihich has fometimes 

 been the rcfult of poilhumous publications. The author's 

 fame, as a preacher, depended principally, if not wholly, on 

 the intrinfic excellence of his difcourfes, with refpeA to 

 matter and compofition ; for we are informed, that his deli- 

 ve!-y though dillinft, ferious, and impreflive, was not re- 

 markably dillinguilhed by that magic charm of voice and 

 aftion, whieh captivates the fenfcs and imagination, and 

 which, in the eflimation of fuperficial hearers, conftitutes 

 the chief merit of a preacher. Dr. Blair, in the exercifc 

 of his profeflional duties, as far as they regarded the govern- 

 ment of the church, was fteadily attached to the caufe of 

 moderation. Diffident and unaccuftomed to extemporary 

 fpeaking, he declined interfering in ecclefiatlical politics, and 

 never would confent to become moderator of the general 

 affembly of the church of Scotland ; neverthelcfs, his opi- 

 nion, which was always guided by found judgment, uni- 

 formly commanded deference and refpeft. Whilil he was 

 anxious to preferve the church from a fervile corrupting de- 

 pendence on the civil power, on the one hand ; it was his 

 wilh, OB the other, to prevent a greater infufion of demo- 

 c^tical influence than he thought to be compatible wilh 

 good order, and the ellablifhed conftitution of the countrv-. 

 His reputation in public life was well fuftained by the 

 great refpeftability of his private charadler ; and he was 

 eminently difting.uilhed through life by the prudence, puri- 

 ty, and dignified propriety of h s conducl;. With a mind 

 free from envy, and yet not inienfible to the eftimation in 

 which he himfelf was held ; inflexibly upright, and yet con- 

 defcending to his friends, and difpofed to enjoy the pleafures 

 of focial intercourfe ; few men have paffed through life more 

 univerfaliy refpefted by thofe who knew him, more fincerely 

 efteemed in the circle of his acquaintance, or more tenderly 

 beloved by thofe who enjoyed the benefit of his private and 

 domcffic connexion. His wife, to whom he was married 

 in 174S, coi'tributcJ for almoll half a century to his felicity, 

 and was taken from him a few years before his death ; and 

 his two children, a fon and a daughter, died, the former in 

 infancy, and the latter in her 2 iff year. His conftitution 

 was naturally delicate and feeble ; but he enjoyed upon the 

 whole a Hate of good health ; and by habitual chearfulnefs, 

 temperance, and care, furvived the ulual teira of human 

 life. He retained his faculties to the lalt ftage ; and after a 

 (liort illnefs of three days, expired on the 27th of December 

 1800, with the compofure and hope of a Chritlian pallor ; 

 and his funeral fermon was preached by Dr. Finlayion, who 

 has annexed to the fifth volume of his Sermons a (hort ac- 

 count of the life and character of the author, from which 

 the preceding article is chiefly compiled. 



Blair, in Geography. See Athol. 



BLAIREAU, in Zoology, the common French name 

 i of 



