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 242 OUR HYMNS :

MICHAEL BEUCE.

17461767.

THE life of this poet was almost a counterpart of that of Henry Kirke White, who nourished a generation later. In both instances the light of genius shone forth for a time, and then it was all too suddenly put out.

Born of pious Scotch parents at Kinneswood, Kinross- shire, Michael Bruce enjoyed the advantages of a religious education, first at home, then at Kinross, and afterwards in Edinburgh. Two discerning friends, David Arnot and David Pearson, whose names should be held in honour, recognizing the taste and talent of the youth, supplied him with the works of the great poets, and encouraged him in his literary pursuits. On coming to Edinburgh, where he spent four sessions in the University, he made the acquaintance of the poet Logan, who became his com panion, and, after his death, the editor and eulogist of his works, which, however, lost more by his plagiarisms than they gained by his patronage.

The educational advantages Bruce enjoyed were given to him by his father, an operative weaver, in the expectation that his son would thus be prepared to be a minister of the Gospel. He was a youth of piety and promise, and, when but a child, would sometimes lead the family devotion. But as the parents means were limited, the son had to contend with poverty ; and in order to maintain himself he kept a school during the summer, first at Gairney Bridge, and afterwards at Forrest Mill, near Alloa. This was too much for his frail constitution. Hard fare and mental effort, combined with the severity of the climate, at length brought on a rapid decline ; and in 1766 he returned to his native village to die. He had previously spent a session in the Theological Hall, under Professor Swanston, of Kinross, a minister of the Associate Synod, to whose church he belonged. In the spring of 1767, as he approached his end, he gave

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