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The circumstances which gave rise to his principal works, and the eras of their composition, are unknown. The fragments found among his remaining papers, seem chiefly to have been rapid effusions on temporary subjects, or juvenile paraphrases of passages of Scripture with which he had been struck. Among the latter may be enumerated, Translations of Buchanan's 104th Psalm, of the Song of Moses, Exodus XV., the Song of Habbakuk, Habbakuk III., and a Poetical Version of the Apologue of the Prodigal Son, the versification of which is executed in a correct and accurate manner. The reputation of his poetical versions of Scripture, induced a member of the committee appointed by the General Assembly in 1775, for preparing a collection of Scriptural