Logan, John

Logan, John a noted Scottish divine, was born at Fala, in the county of Edinburgh, in 1748. Though the son of a farmer, he was early destined to the clerical profession, and was educated in the University of Edinburgh. Upon graduation he became tutor to Sir John Sinclair. In 1773 he was licensed as a preacher in the Established Church of Scotland, and was shortly after appointed minister at Leith, where he remained until 1785, when he removed to London, retaining by agreement a part of his clerical income, for the purpose of devoting himself altogether to literary labors. He had established quite a reputation as a sacred poet. Logan, if not a learned divine or a very profound thinker, was a man. of much eloquence, and a highly popular preacher. But his poetical endowments, strongly lyrical in their tendency, were the highest he possessed; and, unfortunately, he was tempted to apply these in a path where he was ill calculated to shine, and the adoption of which proved fatal not only to his professional usefulness, but to his happiness. In 1783 he printed and caused to be acted in Edinburgh a tragedy called Runnamede, which had been rehearsed at Covent Garden, but refused a license by the lord chamberlain. This publication brought on him the anger of his Presbyterian associates; and these and other annoyances, aggravated by a hereditary tendency to hypochondria, drove him to intoxication for relief. He died in London December 28, 1788. His friends, Doctors Blair, Robertson, and Hardy, published a volume of his sermons in 1790, and a second in 1791. These sermons long enjoyed very great popularity, and have been several times reprinted. They are among the most eloquent that the Scottish Church has produced. A third edition of his poems, with an account of his life, appeared in 1805; and the poems are included in Dr. Anderson's collection. Some of his hymns are annexed to the psalmody of the Scottish Church.