LOGAN, JOHN, was born at Ma, in the county of Edinburgh, in 1748. Ile was tho son of a small farmer, and, being destined to the clerical profession, was educated in the University of Edinburgh ; after which he became tutor to Sir John Sinclair. In 1773, almost immediately ou being licensed as a preacher in the Established Church of Scotland, he was appointed to be one of the ministers of the town of Leith. In 1770 be had edited the posthumous poems of his friend Michael Bruce, incorporating with them some pieces which he claimed (and probably justly) as his own, and among which was the well known ' Ode to the Cuckoo.' His poetical talents were further shown by several pieces of sacred poetry, some of which are inserted in the collection of hymns and paraphrases of Scripture annexed to the psalmody of the Scottish Church. In 1779, patronised by Blair, Robertson, and other literary men, he delivered in Edinburgh a course of lectures on the Philosophy of History ;' the reputation of which justified him next year in aspiring, though unimecessfully, to the pro fessorship of Universal History in the university. Outlines of a part of his lectures were published under the title of ' Elements of the Philosophy of History, Part I.,' 1781. In the same year appeared his ' Dissertation on the Government, Manners, and Spirit of Asia ;' and a volume of poems, which reached a second edition before the year was closed.
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, tut refused a licence by the Lord Chamberlain. This publi cation brought on him the anger of his Presbyterian associates; and these and other annoyances, aggravated by an hereditary tendency to hypochondria, drove him to intoxication for relief. In 1785 he quitted hie parochial charge, and repaired to London. There, retaining by agreement a part of his clerical income, be eked out his livelihood by literary labour, writing papers for the 'English Review,' and publishing in 1788 two works. The one was 'A Review of the principal Charges against Mr. Hastings,' which brought on Mr. Stockdale, the publisher, a prosecution for breach of privilege; the other was a useful summary entitled A View of Ancient History,' including 'The Progress of Literature and the Fine Arta, by William Rutherford, D.D., Master of tho Academy at Uxbridge,' 2 vols. 8vo. He died in Loudon ou the 23th of December, 1758. His friends, Drs. 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.