ALEXANDER, eldest son of the reverend Gilbert Gerard, minister of Chapel-Garioch, in the county of Aberdeen, was born at that place on the 22d of February 1728. He received the rudiments of his education at the parish school of Foveran, where he made rapid progress; but his father having died when he was only ten years of age, his mother soon afterwards removed with her family to Aberdeen, and young Gerard was sent to the grammar-school of that city, where he attended for two years. At the end of this period, being deemed fit for the university, he was entered as a student in Marischal College, where he also distinguished himself by assiduity and proficiency in his studies; and, after passing through the usual academical course of four years, comprehending the study of Latin, Greek, mathematics, and philosophy, he was admitted to the degree of master of arts. He then commenced the study of theology, which he prosecuted in the universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh; and in 1748, when he had little more than completed his twentieth year, he became a licensed preacher in the church of Scotland. In 1750 he was chosen assistant to Mr David Fordyce, professor of philosophy in Marischal College; and two years afterwards, upon the death of Mr Fordyce, who had been drowned on the coast of Holland, Gerard was appointed to succeed him. At this period it was the practice in Marischal College, as it continued to be in King's College, for the same professor to carry forward a class of students, during three successive years, through all the branches of philosophy which were then taught in the college, namely, logic, ontology, pneumatics, morals, politics, and natural philosophy; and, in point of fact, Mr Gerard conducted one class through this extensive course, the mathematics and the Greek being taught by separate professors. But about the year 1754 this system, which differed but little from that of tutors in the English universities, was abandoned, and, in Marischal College, each professor was restricted to one department of science. In vindication of the new plan of academical study, Gerard wrote an able pamphlet, which was printed by appointment of the college, and appears to have satisfied every one as to the propriety of the change which had been introduced. The department assigned to Gerard, in consequence of this distribution, was that of moral philosophy and logic, the duties of which he discharged with unwearied assiduity and distinguished success. He also became a member of a literary society at Aberdeen, consisting of Doctors Blackwell, Gregory, Reid, Campbell, Beattie, and other persons less known to the world as authors, which met regularly every fortnight during the winter, when the members communicated their sentiments with the utmost freedom and received mutual improvement from the interchange of ideas in their literary discussions. From the stimulus thus given may be said to have originated Reid's Inquiry into the Human Mind, Gregory's Comparative View, Gerard's Essay on Genius, Beattie's Essay on Truth, and Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric.

In September 1759, Gerard was ordained a minister of the church of Scotland; the following year he was appointed professor of divinity in Marischal College, and minister of the Greyfriars' church in Aberdeen; and, about the same time, he was created doctor in divinity. He continued to perform the duties attached to these offices till the year 1771, when he resigned his professorship in Marischal College, as well as his church living, and was removed to the theological chair in King's College, which he held till the period of his death, in the beginning of 1795. This event happened on his birthday, the 22d of February, when, having suffered much from a schirrous tumor, he expired without a groan, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. Dr Gerard's attainments were solid rather than brilliant; the effect of close and almost incessant study aided by a sound judgment, rather than the inspirations of strong and original genius. In all the relations of life he was alike estimable and exemplary. As a clergyman, his conduct was marked by prudence, propriety, and diligence in the discharge of his ministerial duties; as a professor, his principal aim was to avoid imposing on his pupils any favourite system of opinions, and, instead of encouraging dogmatism, the parent of intolerance, to impress them with a sense of the importance of the ministerial office, to teach them the proper manner of discharging its various duties, and to enable them, by a knowledge of the Scriptures, and an acquaintance with the principles of sound biblical criticism, to form a just and impartial judgment respecting controverted subjects. Possessing large stores of theological learning, he was not more judicious in selecting his topics than successful in his manner of treating them; and he had the merit of introducing a new, and, in many respects, better plan of theological education than that which had been previously followed. As a writer, he does not rank very high. He is clear, sensible, judicious, and well informed; almost never striking, forcible, eloquent, or original. His Essay on Genius is more valuable for its facts than its opinions, and seldom evinces that nice, delicate, and refined discrimination without which it is impossible for any writer, whatever his talents or judgment may otherwise be, to distinguish and render perceptible to others the various shades and gradations of genius. In domestic life Dr Gerard was amiable and exemplary; steady and disinterested in his friendships; hospitable, benevolent, and unassuming in the intercourse of society; uniting with the sobriety of the Christian pastor the good breeding of the gentleman, and the cheerfulness, affability, and ease of the agreeable companion. Dr Gerard's works are, 1. An Essay on Taste, to which the gold medal was, in 1756, adjudged by the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh; 2. Dissertations on the Genius and Evidences of Christianity, 1766; 3. An Essay on Genius, 1774; 4. Two volumes of Sermons, 1780, 1782; 5. A part of his theological course, entitled The Pastoral Care, published in 1799, by his son Dr Gilbert Gerard, who succeeded him as professor of divinity in King's College.