012 Prince Edward Island

and financially, until it became the model congrega- tion of the Presbytery, and not a few are of the opinion that it holds that enviable position up to the present time. In the year 1846 Dr. Keir was by the Synod of the Presbyterian church of Nova . Scotia appointed to the honorable and responsible position of Professor of Theology, a position which, for many years, had been ably filled by the late Rev. Thomas McCulloch, D. D. This appointment neces— sarily added greatly to the labors of the doctor, whose powers for many years had been taxed to nearly their utmost capacity. His theological lec- tures were carefully written and were the result of much reading and of close study. The course of lectures extended over four years of two months each year. During the theological sessions his pulpit was supplied by the members of the Presby— tery. Dr. Keir’s jubilee took place in the month of June, 1857, and the large gathering from all parts of the province and from neighboring provinces gave evidence of the high esteem in which the ven- erable doctor was held by the church generally. In the following year, 1858, while attending a meeting of the Synod in Truro, Nova Scotia, he died sud- denly, in the seventy-ninth year of his age and in the fifty—first of his ministry in Princetown. As a man, as a Christian, as a minister of Jesus Christ, as Professor of Theology, as President of the Board of Foreign Missions, and in all the various relations of life, Dr. Keir deservedly stood high in the esti- mation of his brethren and of the whole church.

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