Having now, by unwearied application, laid in a ntock of sermons sufficient to relieve him from the weekly drudgery of preparation for the pulpit, he began to think seriously of teaching to others that art which had contributed so materially to the ad vancement of his own reputation. With this view he prepared a course of lectures on composition, and being encouraged by his friends, he, with the appro. bation of the university, began to read them in the college, on 11th December 1759. To this under taking he brought all the qualifications requisite for executing it well ; and, along with them, a weight of reputation which could not fail to give effect to the lessons he should teach. Accordingly his first course of lectures was received with great applause ; and in the following summer, on the application of the pa. trons of the university, his majesty erected and en. dowed a professorship of rhetoric and belles lettres, and appointed Dr Blair, " in consideration of his ap proved qualifications, regius professor thereof, with a salary of .e 70." These lectures, which were pub. lished when declining health induced him to retire from the labours of the office, do honour to the taste and judgment of the author.
About this period, Mr MTherson, by the persua sion and snider the patronage of Dr Blair and Mr John Home, undertook a tour through the High lands, and collected the materials of those admirable poems which bear the name of Ossian. On the pub lication of this literary phenomenon, the opinion of the public was much divided, both with regard to its intrinsic merit and its authenticity. Dr Blair enter. tamed for it thee partiality of a protector and guar "din ; and being in possession of information sufficient to convince him that it -.ryas rio imposture, he deter.• mined to give to it all the sanctity of his authority. With this view, he published a dissertation on these poems, which, in beauty of language, elegance of taste, and accuracy of critical discrimination, is not unworthy of his high reputation.
Dr Blair now began to. take a warm and decided, though not very public, part in the politics of the church. In this department of his clerical duty, he espoused the cause of that party to which the emi nent abilities and popular eloquence of Dr Robertson had given consistency and strength, and which was distinguished at that not less by the charac. ter than the name of moderation. The leading prin. ciple which directed all the measures of Dr Robert son and his friends, was to preserve the church, on the one side, from a slavish, corrupting dependance on the civil power ; and, on the other, from a great. er infusion of democratical influence than is compa tible with good order, and the established constitu tion of the country. The Church of Scotland still -smarted under the wounds inflicted upon it by the persecuting spirit of the last of the Stuart race, and, on this account, a majority of the lower orders, and many of the clergy, still cherished the spirit of their forefathers, though no longer required by the exi gency of the times, and entertained an inordinate jea.
lousy of persons in power. Against these prejudices this profound politician successfully exerted his ta lents, and in this laudable undertaking he was cor dially supported by his colleague Dr Blair ; but these excellent men do not seem to have been suffi ciently aware of the insinuating nature of civil autho rity, and in their zeal to repress faction and turbu lence, perhaps with too rash and Indiscreet a hand, put the weight into the opposite scale. From diffi dence,and probably from a certain inaptitude for ex tempore which is not unfrcquently the at tendant of a refined taste, Blair did not venture often to take a public part in the discussions of the church courts ; and; from the same causes, he never would consent to become moderator of the general assem bly of the church of Scotland. But his influence among his brethren was extensive ; his opinion had always been held in high repute by the friends with whom he acted, and, for many of the last years of his life, was received by them almost as a law.
Dr Blair's fame us a preacher had hitherto rested entirely on his appearances in the pulpit ; but in the year 1777, his friends prevailed on him to favour the world with a volume of sermons. These were re ceived with such flattering marks of public favour, that he was encouraged to proceed ; and, at different intervals, three other volumes were published, which not only established the reputation of their author in his native island, but, being translated into foreign languages, spread his fame through every quarter of the civilized world. The eminent service thus ren dered by Dr Blair to the cause of religion and mora lity, was judged worthy of a public reward ; and, in 1780, a pension of aE 200 per annum was, by royal mandate, conferred on him, which he enjoyed till his death.
From this time, his bodily constitution, which had never been very robust, began gradually to feel the influence of age. In 1783, he found it expedient to decline the public duties of his situation as professor of rhetoric, and, some years afterwardi, felt himself unequal to the fatigue of weekly appearances in the pulpit. The symptoms of decay, however, made no violent approaches ; his mind remained strong and vi gorous, and he continued to the last in the discharge or all the other duties of his situation. In the year 1793, on the death of his friend and colleague Dr Robertson, he was universally looked up to as the only person in every respect worthy to succeed that eminent man as principal of the university of Edin burgh. He himself considered that appointment as a tribute due to his fame, which it would have been honourable in the patrons of the university to be stow, but degrading in him to solicit ; and when the election fell on another, he felt a severe mortification, which he did not affect to conceal.