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. It 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, towards pat "terns 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, you have had a father,

a husband, or a brother, who discharged 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

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"bending from his seat in the skies, pleased with your attachment, 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

"Our hearts, Christians, have been deeply "pierced with the loss of a most valuable con"nection, of a venerable pastor, who watched "long for our souls, and, with the most un"wearied 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 ornaL6 ments to the Church of Scotland, he felt the "warmest tendencies of nature co-operating with "the principles of duty, to call forth all his 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 distinguished 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.

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"useful direction; and when it was emulously "cultivated by a bright constellation of young men who were destined to carry it to high

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perfection. In concert with them he applied "himself with diligence and assiduity to all "those branches of study which could con

tribute to form him for the eloquence of the "pulpit. This was the department in which he "chose to excel; to which all the force of his ce genius was directed; and in which he soon "felt that his efforts were to be successful. For "from the very commencement of his theolo

gical studies, he gave presages of his future "attainments; and, in the societies of his youth"ful companions, laid the foundations of that "splendid reputation, 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.

"To you, my brethren, who have long enjoyed the inestimable blessing of his immediate "instruction, it will not be necessary to describe

the qualities of that luminous, fascinating elo* quence, with which he was accustomed to "warm, and ravish, and amend your hearts. "You may have heard others who equal"led, or even excelled him in some of the requisites of pulpit oratory, in occasional pro

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"foundness of 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 di"rection of a more exquisite sense of propriety, "and employed with more uniform success to "convey useful and practical instruction. Stand"ing on the foundation of the Apostles and "Prophets, he exhibited the doctrines of Christ "in their genuine purity, separated 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 both of 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.

"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 con"sciousness 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, sus"tained itself on God, and enabled him to 66 persevere to the end in the active and cheer"ful discharge of the duties of his station; pre

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paring for the world the blessings of elegant "instruction; tendering to the mourner the "lessons of divine consolation; guiding the young "by his counsels; aiding the meritorious with his “influence; and supporting by his voice and by ❝his conduct, the civil and ecclesiastical institutionsTM "of his Country.

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"With such dispositions and habits it was "natural that he should enjoy a distinguished portion of felicity. And perhaps there never was a man who experienced more completely "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 substan"tial proofs of her approbation foreign lands "learned from him the way of salvation: he saw marks of deference and respect wherever

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"he