Background
Burns was born in 1817 at the manse of Dun in Forfarshire, where his father (afterwards translated to Kilsyth, near Glasgow) was minister.
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Islay Burns
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Studying for the ministry, he was ordained in 1843 to the charge of Saint Peter"s Free church, Dundee, in succession to Robert Murray M"Cheyne, a man of eminent spirituality and power. In 1863 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Aberdeen, and in 1864 was chosen to a professor"s chair in the theological college of the Free church, Glasgow. In this office he remained during the rest of his life.
Burns was remarkable for a combination of evangelical fervour with width of culture and sympathy, a strong æsthetic faculty and a highly charitable spirit.
To the diligent and successful discharge of his duties, first as a minister of the gospel and then as a professor, he added considerable literary activity. A posthumous volume of Select Remains was published in 1874.
