Pirie, Alexander

Pirie, Alexander a Scotch divine, flourished near the opening of the present century. His ecclesiastical connection was first with the Antiburghers, then with the Relief Synod, and finally he joined the Independents. He died at Newburgh, in Fife, in 1804. His works, collected and published after his death (Edinb. 1805-6, 6 vols. 12mo), contain various treatises, relating to the Jews, to the primitive condition of man, on difficult passages of Scripture, on baptism and the covenant of Sinai, and a dissertation on Hebrew roots. On all these topics he has many fanciful and visionary speculations, and it is to be regretted that a mind so capable and a life so industrious was spent so largely on trifles, or things of a fanciful nature. His controversial pamphlets are prized because they exhibit his religious modifications.