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JOHN LOGAN (1748-1788)

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 866 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JOHN See also:LOGAN (1748-1788)  , Scottish poet, was See also:born at Soutra, Midlothian, in 1748 . His See also:father, See also:George See also:Logan, was a See also:farmer and a member of the Burgher See also:sect of the See also:Secession See also:church . See also:John Logan was sent to See also:Musselburgh See also:grammar school, and in 1762 to the university of See also:Edinburgh . In 1768-'769 he was See also:tutor to John, afterwards See also:Sir John, See also:Sinclair, at Ulbster, See also:Caithness, and in 1770, having See also:left the Secession church, he was licensed as a preacher by the See also:presbytery of See also:Haddington . In 1771 he was presented to the See also:charge of See also:South See also:Leith, but was not ordained till two years later . On the See also:death of See also:Michael See also:Bruce (q.v.) he obtained that poet's See also:MSS. with a view to publication . In 1770 he published Poems on Several Occasions, by Michael Bruce with a See also:preface, in which, after eulogizing Bruce, who had been a See also:fellow student of his, he remarked that " to make up a See also:miscellany some poems wrote by different authors are inserted, all of them originals, and none of them destitute of merit . The reader of See also:taste will easily distinguish them from those of Mr Bruce, without their being particularized by any See also:mark." Logan was an active member of the See also:committee of the See also:General See also:Assembly of the Church of See also:Scotland which worked from 1775 to 1781 at revising the " See also:Translations and Paraphrases " for public See also:worship, in which many of his See also:hymns are printed . In 1779-1781 he delivered a course of lectures on the See also:philosophy of See also:history at St See also:Mary's See also:Chapel, Edinburgh . An See also:analysis of these lectures, Elements of the Philosophy of History (1781), bears striking resemblance to A View of See also:Ancient History (1787), printed as the See also:work of Dr W . See also:Rutherford, but thought by Logan's See also:friends to be his . In 1781 he published his own Poems, including the " See also:Ode to the See also:Cuckoo " and some other poems which had appeared in his See also:volume of Michael Bruce's poems, and also his own contributions to the Paraphrases .

His other publications were An See also:

Essay on the See also:Manners and Governments of See also:Asia (1782), Runnamede, a tragedy (1783), and A See also:Review of the See also:Principal Charges against See also:Warren See also:Hastings (1788) . His connexion with the See also:theatre gave offence to his See also:congregation at South Leith; he was intemperate in his habits, and there was some See also:local See also:scandal attached to his name . He resigned his charge in 1786, retaining See also:part of his See also:stipend, and proceeded to See also:London, where he became a writer for the See also:English Review . He died on the 28th of See also:December 1788 . Two See also:posthumous volumes of sermons appeared in 1790 and 1791 . They were very popular, and were reprinted in 181o . His Poetical See also:Works were printed in Dr See also:Robert See also:Anderson's See also:British Poets (vol. xi., 1795), with a See also:life of the author . They were reprinted in similar collections, and separately in 1805 . Logan was accused of having appropriated in his Poems (1781) verses written by Michael Bruce . The statements of John See also:Birrell and See also:David See also:Pearson on behalf of Bruce were included in Dr Anderson's Life of Logan . The charge of See also:plagiarism has been revived from See also:time to time, notably by Dr W . Mackelvie (1837) and Mr See also:James See also:Mackenzie (1905) .

The whole controversy has been marked by strong partisanship . The See also:

chief points against Logan are the suppression of the See also:major portion of Bruce's MSS. and some proved cases of plagiarism in his sermons and hymns . Even in the beautiful " Braes of See also:Yarrow " one of the verses is borrowed See also:direct from an old border ballad . The traditional See also:evidence in favour of Bruce's authorship of the " Ode to the Cuckoo" can hardly be set aside, but Dr See also:Robertson of Dalmeny, who was Logan's See also:literary executor, stated that he had gone over the MSS. procured at Kinnesswood with Logan . Logan's authorship of the poems in dispute is defended by David See also:Laing, Ode to the Cuckoo with remarks on its authorship, in a See also:letter to J . C . See also:Shairp, LL.D . (1873) ; by John Small in the British and See also:Foreign Evangelical Review (See also:July, 1877, See also:April and See also:October, 1879); and by R . Small in two papers (ibid., 1878) . See also BauCE, MICHAEL .

End of Article: JOHN LOGAN (1748-1788)
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