15^
^1'/Tf5f^"*^^ ?^;^^
Ex Ubris
C. K. OGDEN
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
* .K
ACCOUNT
OF THE
LIFE AND WRITINGS
OP
JAMES BEATTIE, LL.D.
Printed by James Uallantyne and C<k
AN
ACCOUNT
OF THE
LIFE AND WRITINGS
OF
JAMES BEATTIE, LL. D.
LATE PUOFESSOR OP MORAL PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC IN
THE MARISCHAL COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY .
^ OF ABERDEEN.
INCLUDING MANY OF' HIS ORIGINAL LETTERS.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
BY
SIR WILLIAM FORBES
' OF PITSLIGO, BART.
ONE OF THE EXECUTORS OF DR BEATTIE.
SECOND EDITION.
VOL. II.
Mihi quidem quanquam est erepttis, vivit tamen, semperque vivet,
Virtutem enim amavi illiiis viri, quee extincta non est. Nee mihi soli
versatur ante oculos, qui illam semper in manibus habui, sed etiam pos-
teris erit clara et insignis. Cic. Leel. De Amic. cap, 27.
EDINBURGH !
PRINTED FOR ARCH. CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH;
/
LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES,
AND JOHN MURRAY, LONDON.
1807.
PR
V.2.
ThE
LIFE OF JAMES BEATTIE, LL.D.
SECTION III. CONTINUED.
In the month of October, 1773, the chair of
professor of natural and experimental philosophy,
in the university of Edinburgh, became vacant,
by the death of Dr James Russel, by whom it
had been long ably filled. As that event had
been for sometime foreseen, several gentlemen
had turned their thoughts towards it as candi-
dates. But the magistrates, who are the elec-
tors, very properly resolved to be in no hurry in
filling up the vacancy, in order that there might
be time and opportunity to dispose of the chair
in such a manner, as might best support the re-
VOL. J I. A
f <0> ^ -' ^ '""' '
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
putation of the university. As the winter ses-
sion was soon to open, however, Dr Fergusson,
professor of moral philosophy, agreed, in the
mean time, to deliver lectures also in natural phi-
losophy, which he had formerly taught.
A few days after the death of Dr llussel, I re-
ceived a visit from one of the magistrates, who
was of my particular acquaintance, and who
knew my intimacy with Dr Beattie. He came
to inform me. he said, that several of the mem-
bers of the town-council kept themselves disen-
gaged, until they should know whether Dr Beat-
tie meant to become a candidate for the vacant
chair. They were aware, he added, that Dr Beat-
ties eminence lay in another branch of science;
but he said, he believed Dr Fergusson, who had
formerly taught the class of natural philosophy,
would be M' ell-pleased to resume it, and thereby
leave the chair of moral philosophy open for Dr
Beattie, which, he made no doubt, his high re-
putation would readily secure for him. I thank-
ed the gentleman for this warm expression of his
esteem of Dr Beattie, on which I set the higher
value, from being absolutely certain that they
were strangers to each other ; and that he inte-
rested himself, therefore, for Dr Beattie, merely
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. $
from the consideration of his singular merit, and
from a regard for the prosperity and reputation
of the university of Edinburgh. For although a
set of civil magistrates, very little, if at all ac*
quainted with science, or the merits of scientifici
men, may seem but indifferently qualified for the
choice of professors of a university ; yet it is a
fact, which reflects no little credit on the magi-
strates of Edinburgh, that, in the election of
professors, they have very seldom allowed them-
selves to be swayed by political interests; but
have generally elected those, who have beeia
deemed best qualified to fill the vacant chairs ;
justly considering the reputation and prosperity
of the university to be of the greatest importance
to the welfare of the city.
I lost no time in communicating this intelli-
gence to Dr Beattie. I well recollected, indeed,
the aversion he had shown, from becoming a
member of the university of Edinburgh, on a
former occasion, when a vacancy of the chair of
moral philosophy was likely to take place ; but I
knew not whether he might still be of the same
mind, or whether the same reasons still subsist-
ed, which had weighed with him at that period ;
and therefore, I left it for himself to decide, what
4 LIFE OF DR BEATTIR.
he should judge to be most conducive to his in-
terest, or most consistent with his wishes. He
well knew the earnest desire I had, that he should
think of removing to Edinburgh, because I judged
he might have it in his power to do more good
here, than where he then was, by his talents ha-
ving a wider range, and greater scope, for the
exertion of their influence. Perhaps, too, I will
not deny, I may have been somewhat actuated
by the selfish motive of his being brought nearer
to his friends in Edinburgh; and our enjoying
still more the happiness of his society.
The following letter is the answer I received
to the communication I made to him on the sub-
ject.
LETTER LXXIV.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 22d October, 1773.
" The late arrival of the post yesterday, put it
out of my power to answer your most obliging
letter in course. I shall not, at present, attempt
to tell you (indeed I could not) how much my
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 5
heart is touched, by the many kind and generous
expressions of friendship, contained in your ex-
cellent letter: to be honoured with so great a
share of the esteem and affections of such per-
sons as you, is surely of all earthly blessings the
greatest. But I shall proceed to business, with-
out further preamble.
" Some years ago, I should have thought my-
self a very great gainer, by exchanging my pre-
sent office with a professorship in the university
of Edinbnrgli- Such an event would have doubled
my income, without subjecting me to one half of
the labour which I now undergo. But those were
only secondary considerations. My attachment
to Edinburgh arose, chiefly, from my liking to
the people ; and surely it was natural enough for
me to love a place, in which I had, and still
have, some of the dearest and best friends that
ever man was blessed with. Nor had I then any
reason to fear, that either my principles, or the
general tenor of my conduct, could ever raise me
enemies in any Christian society ; it having been,
ever since I had any thing to do in the world,
my constant purpose to do my duty, and pro-
mote peace ; and my singular good fortune, to
obtain from all who knew me, a share of esteem
b LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
and regard, equal to my wishes, and greater than
my deservings. Nor, at this time, are my affec-
tions to Edinburgh at all diminished. I am still
known to some members of that university, whose
talents, and whose virtues, 1 hold in the highest
estimation, and with whom I should account it
my honour to be more nearly connected; and
the favours I have received from very many per-
sons of distinction in the place, demand my most
hearty acknowledgments, and shall ever be che-
rished in my remembrance, with every sentiment
that the warmest gratitude can inspire.
" And yet, my dear friend, there are reasons,
and those of no small moment, which determine
me to give up all thoughts of appearing as a can-
didate on the present occasion ; and which would
determine me to this, even though I were abso-
lutely certain of being elected. Nay, though my
fortune were as narrow now, as it lately was, I
should still incline rather to remain in quiet
where I am, than, by becoming a member of the
university of Edinburgh, to place myself within
the reach of those (few as they are) who have
been pleased to let the world know that they do
not wish me well ; not that I have any reason to
mind tiieir enmity, or to dread its consequences.
LIFE OF DR BFATTIE. ^
They must not flatter themselves, that they have
ever been able as yet to give me a moment's un-
easiness, notwithstanding the zeal with which
they have spoken against me. My cause is so
good, that he, who espouses it, can never have
occasion to be afraid of any man. I know my
own talents, and I am not ignorant of theirs ; I
do not (God knows) think highly of the former,
indeed I have no reason ; but I am under no sort
of apprehension in regard to the latter ; and as
to the esteem of others, I have no fear of losing
it, so long as I do nothing to render me unwor-
thy of it. But I am so great a lover of peace,
and so willing to think well of all my neighbours,
that I do not wish to be connected even with
one person who dislikes me.
" Had I ever injured the persons whom I al-
lude to, I might have hoped to regain their fa-
vour by submission, (which, in that case, would
have become me,) and by a change of conduct.
But, as they are singular enough to hate me for
having done my duty, and for what, I trust,
(with God's help) I shall never cease to do, (I
mean, for endeavouring to vindicate the cause of
truth, with that zeal which so important a cause
requires,) I could never hope that they would
8 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
live with me on those agreeable terms, on whicli
I desire to Uve with all good men, and on which,
by the blessing of Providence, I have the honour
and the happiness to live with so great a num-
ber of the most respectable persons of this age.
" 1 must therefore, my dear friend, make it
my request to you, that you would, in better
terms than any I can suggest, in terms of the
most ardent gratitude, and mos;t zealous attach-
ment, return my best thanks to the gentlemen
of your council, for the very great honour they
have been pleased to confer upon me ; and tell
them, that the city and university of Edinburgh
shall ever have my sincerest good wishes, and
that it will be the study of my life, to act such a
part, as may, in some measure, justify their good
opinion ; but that I must, for several weighty
reasons, decline appearing as a candidate for tlic
present vacant professorship."
In consequence of this reply from Dr Beattic,
which, of course, I communicated to the gentle-
LIFE OF DR BEATTlfi. Q
man who had addressed himself to me on the
subject, I laid aside all thoughts of the matter.
Some months afterwards, Dr Beattie informed
me, that some person, no doubt with a friendly
intention, without his knowledge, had told Lord
Dartmouth, that he was a candidate for the pro-
fessorship; on which his Lordship had written to
Sir Adolphus Oughton, offering his services to
promote Dr Beattie's views. In consequence of
this communication, he wrote to me, expressing
his regret that his friends should havT had so
much trouble on his account; that he had in
part communicated to Sir Adolphus his reasons
for declining to be a candidate, but had referred
him to me for further particulars, and desired me
to shew to Sir Adolphus Oughton his letter to
me of the 22d October, which I accordingly did.
When Sir Adolphus sent it back to me, he ac-
companied it with the following note : " Re-
" turns to him Dr Beattie's very judicious letter.
*' Sir A. imagines it was a view of serving the
" worthy Doctor, and rendering him more dif-
" fusively useful to his fellow subjects, not any
" sohcitations from hence, that induced his Ma-
"jesty's confidential servants to wish he might
*' fill the moral philosophy-chair at Edinburgh,"
10 LIFE OF DR BEATTI.
When I sent him this communication from
our mutual friend, I wrote to him at the same
time, to the following effect : " Since that time,
" I have had occasion to hear the sentiments of
** many of our warmest friends, as well as of
" many persons of respectable character, who,
" like numberless others, have attached them-
" selves to you, without a personal acquaintance,
** and all join, with one voice, in expressing their
*' wishes, that you could be prevailed on to think
*' more favourably of changing your present si-
" tuation. But what induces me to resume this
^' subject particularly at present, is a conversa-
" tion which 1 had yesterday at New Hailes. I
*' chanced to have your two letters in my pock-
" et, which I gave to Lord Hailes to read : *
* Sir David Dalrymple, Bart, one of the judges of the su-
preme courts of civil and criminal law of Scotland, by the title
of Lord Hailes; very eminent as a scholar, and particularly as
an antiquarian. His " Annals of Scotland" is a masterly per-
formance; in which, and in some detached pieces of historical
research, he was the first to elucidate properly the early part of
the history of our countiy ; and it is only to be regretted that
be has not brought his work down to a later period, as it stops
at a time when the history was becoming more and more inte-
resting, and his materials more copious. " The Case of the
Sutherland-peeragf," although originally a law-paper, written
.professionally when he was at the bar, at the time when thp
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 1 1
" knowing how highly he esteems you, and how
" excellent a judge he is of every point like that
*' in question. His Lordship expressed the great-
" est concern at the reluctance you show against
title of the young Countess, to the honours of her ancestors, was
called in question, is one of the most profound disquisitions on
the ancient peerages of Scotland any where to be met with.
In his other publications, which were numerous, he chiefly
appears in the character of an editor. Among these, he trans-
lated and printed some favourite passages from the Ecclesiasti-
cal History of Eusebius, and other writers, respecting the early
history of the Christian church. In those publications, he ne-
ver omitted any opportunity of exposing the mistakes and mis-
representations of Gibbon; in professed opposition to whom,
liord Hailes wrote " An Inquiry into the secondary Causes
which Mr Gibbon has assigned for the rapid growth of Christi-
anity," which is justly considered as one of the ablest replies
that have appeared in opposition to the sneers against Christia-
nity, so frequently to be met with in the works of that popular,
but artful and dangerous writer. As a proof of his attention to
every thing that concerned religion and good morals, the fol-
lowing incident should not be omitted : Two vessels, bound
from London to Leith, were cast away on the coast between
Dunbar and North Berwick, and tvvo-and-tweuty persons drown-
ed ; the wrecks having been shamefully pillaged by the coun-
try-people. Lord Hailes immediately wrote a pamphlet, with
the title of " A Sermon which might have been preached in
East Lothian upon the 25th day of October, 1761, on Acts,
xxvii. 1, 2. The barbarous people shotced us no little kindness."
This he caused to be printed, and dispersed among the country
people in the neighbourhood, where the fatal disaster had hap-
pened. It is a most affecting discourse, admirably calculated
to convince the offenders; and the efiect of it is said to have
12 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
" coming to Edinburgh, and more than once rc-
" peated, that he was not at Hberty to say all
" that he could say on that head. He was kind
" enough to request I would write to you, that
*' such were his sentiments ; and to beseech you
" to treat, with the greatest contempt, any idea
" of your meeting with any thing disagreeable
" in carrying this removal into execution. For,
** he added, what I most firmly believe to be the
" truth, that he apprehended many of what ap-
" peared unpleasant circumstances to you, would
** totally vanish, or that, in all events, you ought
" to be greatly superior to any such fears."
So anxious was Lord Hailes on this subject,
that next day he wrote to me no less than two
been such, that several parcels of the goods that had been plun-
dered, were brought privately to the church, and deposited
there, after the perusal of the sermon. He published, likewise,
a Collection of Sacred Poems, consisting of translations and pa-
raphrases from the Holy Scriptures, which do equal credit to
Tiis piety and his poetical taste. As a proof, however, that he
did not entirely confine his studies to subjects of a grave and
dignified cast, he was also the editor of a Collection of Ancient
Scottish Poems, from the " Bannatyne Manuscript," in the Ad-
vocates' Library at Edinburgh ; and he contributed some papers
to the two periodical publications, " The World," published at
London, and " The Mirror," at Edinburgh, which contain no
inconsiderable portion of humour. He died 29th November,
1792.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 13
letters which I failed not to transmit, by the
first post, to Dr Beattie.
LETTER LXXV.
LORD HAILES TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
New Hailes, 15th April, 1774.
" I am sorry to understand that Dr Beattie
expresses a great unwillingness at being proposed
to fill the chair of moral philosophy at Edin-
burgh, which, in all probability, will soon be va-
cant.
" If the Doctor thinks he can be as generally
useful where he is, he cannot be blamed for wish-
ing to continue where he is. But if he is per-
suaded that his sphere of usefulness may be en-
larged, by his removal to Edinburgh, I do not
see how he can, in consistency with his known
principles, decline that station. Where he will be
more known, and have a more ample field of be-
nefitting the rising generation.
" The magistrates of Edinburgh have shown a
zeal almost without example, of supplying all the
vacant professorships with the persons held to be
J4 JLIWE OF DR BEATTIE.
the best qualified. In this, they have renounced
every party view, every private connection.
Should Dr Beattie obstinately decline their soli-
citations, it is more than an equal chance that
the difficulty which they find in perfecting their
noble plan, may lead them insensibl}' to accept
of the most powerful recommendations, and thus
suffer things to go on in the easiest way : thus
things will turn into a corrupted channel. Should
a man of mean abihties, or of dubious principles,
fill the chair which Dr Beattie might have filled,
who must answer for the good which such a per-
son does not, or for the ill which he may do?
" I wish that Dr Beattie could be brought to
see this in the strong hght in which I see it.
Tliere are many things which might be said, and
which are not fit for a letter ; many things which,
at present, cannot be spoken. It may be sup-
posed, that Dr Beattie imagines that his works
have procured him enemies, and that those ene-
mies will be more formidable in Edinburgh than
in Aberdeen. But surely he will not find those
enemies among the members of the university. I
could insure him ag-dinstthat for a very moderate
premium. If they that are against him are more
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. IS
than they that are for him, I have no more to
say.
" He knows, that he and I differed as to some
particulars, and that I thought something might
have been taken from the edge of his style, yet
so as to leave it the power of cutting deep enough.
But that is a matter of taste and opinion. They,
who have felt the sharpness of his weapon, will
not provoke it.
" If he is aifected with obloquy, I wish he
were a judge for six months, and then he would
find, that unless a man can have patience to con-
temn the gainsayers, he will have little comfort
in the plain path of duty."
LETTER LXXVI.
LORD HAILES TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
New Hailes, 1 6th April, 1774.
" Since I had the pleasure of seeing you, I
liave a letter from London, mentioning Lord
Mansfield's zeal for Dr Beattie. I do not consi-
der myself at liberty to mention who my corre-
spondent is ; he is a man not much given to ap-
\6 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
plaud indiscriminately, and one who thinks high-
ly of Dr Beattie.
" The more that I think of this affair, the
more I am persuaded that Dr Beattie's terrors are
panic. I impute them to bad health and a vege-
table diet. My poor old friend, Dr M'Kenzie of
Drumsheugh, imputed the errors of the later Pla-
tonists to that ascetic diet.
" If Dr Beattie would consider, that in his lec-
tures he is to unfold a system of truth, and that
he may confute all the nonsense and irreligion
that has ap})eared since the days of Cain even
unto our days, without ever mentioning the
name of any theorist or sceptic, he will not con-
sider the intended station as so formidable.
" Should he dislike his office, he may leave it ;
he will always find a decent retirement into some
sequestered recess of literature.
" I am not sure that it is a very Christian sen-
timent, yet I must say, that a rebuff at this time
will be very discouraging, especially when we
ourselves have the ball at our foot. If the friends
of religion, and they who consider the value of
religious education, are to have no aid where that
might be expected, what is to come next.^ If
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 17
Dr Beattie shrinks, will not every man of ability
shrink too ?"
To these communications from Lord Hailes,
which I expected would have produced some ef-
fect in making him yield to the solicitation of
his friends, I had the mortification, however, of
receiving the following copious reply.
LETTER LXXVIL
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 19th April, 1774.
" I have just received your two letters of the
l6th current, inclosing two from Lord Hailes to
you, which, according to your desire, I return
under this cover. I cannot sufficiently thank
you, or his lordship, for your zealous good wish-
es, and for the very favourable opinion you and
he are pleased to entertain of me. As I desire
nothing more earnestly, than to secure the con-
VOL. II. B
|8 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
tinuance of that favourable opinion, I must beg
leave to be somewhat particular in answering
two accusations, which, from two passages of his
lordship's letter, I have reason to fear are likely
to be brought against me, even by my friends.
It is insinuated, that my disinclination to resign
my present employment, may be the effect of o^
itinacy^ or oi fear.
" Now, I humbly think, that when a man's
conduct, and the reasons of it, are approved by a
very great majority of those who are acquainted
with both, it would be rather hard to charge him
with obstinacy, for adhering to such conduct.
And most certain it is, that, by all my English
friends to whom I have had occasion to explain
the affair in question, and by many respectable
friends in Scotland, this conduct of mine, and the
reasons of it, have been highly approved. Ano-
ther thing, too, on this head, deserves attention.
A man should not be accused of obstinacy, till
he have told all his reasons, and till it appear
that they are all unsatisfactory. I have never
told all my reasons : I have told those only
which are of a less private nature : other reasons
I could specify ; but they are of such a sort, that
7
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 1^
I should think it petulance to obtrude them on
the pubhc.
" To the second accusation, I know not whe-
ther I can decently reply. When I see a man so-
licitous to prove that he is sober, I generally take
it for granted, that he is drunk ; and when one
is at pains to convince me that he is brave, I am
apt to set him down for a coward. Whether I
deserve to be considered as a timorous asserter of
good principles, I leave the world to judge, from
what I have written, and from what I have done
and said on occasions innumerable. Many hun-
dreds in Great Britain, and some too elsewhere,
think, that no Scottish writer, in my time, has
attacked the enemies of truth with less reserve,
and confuted them more zealously, than I have
done. I have declared, in a printed book, which
bears my name, that I detest their principles, and
despise their talents; and that very book is, in
the opinion of > many, a proof that I have no rea-
son to retract the declaration. What I have
avowed, I am still ready to avow, in the face of
any man upon earth, or of any number of men ;
and I shall never cease to avow, in plain language,
and without concealment or subterfuge, so long
as the Deity is pleased to continue with me the
20 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
use of my faculties. I cannot think that my
friends will treat me so hardly, as to give out,
that I fear every thing which I dislike. I dislike
the croaking of frogs, and the barking of curs ;
but I fear neither. I dislike the conversation of
infidels ; but I know not in what sense I can be
said to fear it. I should dislike very much to
live in a society with crafty persons, who would
think it for their interest to give me as much
trouble as possible, unless I had reason to think,
that they had conscience and honour sufficient to
restrain them from aspersing the innocent ; yet,
if my duty were to call me thither, I should not
be in the least afraid to live in such a society ;
for I know, that, while an honest man does his
duty, the world seldom fails to do him justice.
As to obloquy, I have had a share of it, as large as
any private man I know; and I think I have
borne it, and can bear it, with a degree of forti-
tude, of which T should not need to be ashamed,
even if my station were as public, and as impor-
tant, as that of a JLidge. Every honest man,
whether his station be public or private, will do
his duty without minding obloquy, which, in
fact, was never more harmless than at present, be-
cause it never was more common. Convince me
tlJ-E OP DR BEATTIE. 21
that it is my duty to remove from hence to Edin-
burgh, and you shall see me set out immediately,
as regardless of the snarling of my enemies there,
as of that of the curs, who might snap at my
heels by the way. So very little ground is there
for suspecting me of an inclination to shrink from
my principles, that one chief reason which deter-
mines my present choice is, that I may have the
more leisure to apply myself to those studies,
which may tend to the further confutation of er-
ror, and illustration of truth: so that, if they
think I have any talents in this way, and if they
know what my present resolutions are, my adver-
saries would wish me rather in Edinburgh, where
I should have but little leisure, than at Aberdeen,
where I have a great deal. On this account, as
well as on others, I am morally Certain, that I
shall have it in my power to do more good to so-
ciety by remaining where I am, than by moving
to Edinburgh.
" That I am entirely useless in my present pro-
fession, is not the opinion of those in this country,
who have access to know how I employ myself.
My lectures are not confined to my own class.
I do what no other professor here ever did, and
what no professor in any other part of Great Bri-
SM LIFE OF D BEATTIE.
tain can do ; I admit, together with my own stu-
dents in moral philosophy, all the divinity stu-
dents of two universities, who are willing to at-
tend me ; and I have often a very, crowded audi-
tory ; and I receive fees from nobody, but from
such of my own private class as are able to pay
them. Nobody ever asked me to do this, and
nobody thanks me for it, except the young men
themselves ; and yet, in all this there is so little
merit, it being as easy for me to lecture to a hun-
dred as to thirty, that I should not have thought
it worth mentioning, except with a view to ob-
viate an objection, that seems to be implied in
some things, that have been thrown out at this
time.
" So much for my duties to the public, to
which, I would fain hope, it will be found, that
I am not quite insensible. But, according to my
notions of morality, there are also duties which a
man owes to his family, and to himself: nor is it,
in my opinion, incumbent on any man to over-
look the latter, merely because it is possible, that,
by so doing, he might discharge the former more
effectually. I do not think it the duty of any
particular Christian, of you, for instance, or Mr
Arbuthnot, or myself, to relinquish his family.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. SIS'
friends, and country, and to attempt the conver-
sion of the Indians ; and yet, it is not absolutely
impossible, but that, by so doing, he might per-
form a great deal of good. My health and quiet
may be of little consequence to the public, but
they are of very considerable consequence to me,
and to those who depend upon me ; and I am
certain, that I shall have a much better chance
of securing both, by staying where I am, than
by removing to Edinburgh. I)r Gregory was of
this opinion : I can show his hand-writing for it ;
and this is the opinion of many others. I have
more reasons than the world knows of, to wish
ta pass the latter part of my days in quiet ; and
the more quiet, and the more health I enjoy, the
more I shall have it in my power to exert myself
in the service of the public.
" To Avhat Lord Hailes adds, in the conclusion
of his letter, about my leaving the office in ques-
tion, if I found it disagreeable, in the hopes of
finding some decent retirement elsewhere, I make
no reply : I only say, that I wonder at it. I
wish there were more foundation for his humour-
ous conjecture about my food : If I could eat ve-
getables, I should think myself a great man; but,
94 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE*
alas ! the state of my health is such, that I dare
not indulge myself in that wholesome diet^
" I hope his lordship will now be convinced,
that I am neither whimsical nor timorous in this
affair. The reasons I have specified, have been
admitted as valid by many persons, whose judge-
ment in other matters he would allow to be
good, if I were to name them ; which I would
do, without scruple, if I thought it necessary.
"I shall only add, what you, my dear friend,
know to be a truth, and what I can bring the
fullest evidence to prove, that my present disin-
clination to an Edinburgh professorship is not
the consequence of any late favourable change in
my circumstances. The very same disinclination
I shewed, and the same reasons I urged, more
than two years ago, when I had no prospect of
such a favourable change.
*' To conclude ; every principle of public and
private duty forbids me to comply with this kind
solicitation of my friends; and I will add, that
nothing but a regard to duty could have deter-
mined me to resist so kind a solicitation. I am
certain, the city of Edinburgh can find no diffi-
culty in procuring an abler professor than I am.
I heartily wish it may ever flourish in learning,
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. t5
and in every useful and honourable art ; and I
shall ever retain a most grateful sense of the ho-
nour which so many of its inhabitants have done
me, on this occasion.
" 1 ask pardon for not answering your letter
sooner. My health is just now in such a state,
(the confinement, occasioned by my broken arm,
having brought back many of my old complaints,)
that I am not able to write more than a few sen-
tences at a time, without suffering for it.
" I have not said a word on the subject of in-
terest. It is evident to me, and I think I could
prove to your satisfaction, that the change, now
proposed, would be detrimental in that respect.
But this consideration should not deter me from
making the change, if my duty required me to
make it. And yet, even if I were to pay some
attention to interest in an affair of this kind, I
do not believe that the world in general would
blame me, considering that I have others to pro-
vide for, besides myself It may be said, indeed,
that, having already gotten as much as might
support me independently on my office, which is
more than I deserve, I have no right to extend
my views to interest any further. I admit the
fact; but I deny the inference, in which I will
26 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
not believe any man to be serious, till he show
me, by his own conduct, that he thinks it va-
lid.
" The reasons I have here specified, I wish to
be as generally known, in and about Edinburgh,
as you may think necessary, for the vindication
of my character."
This letter was inclosed in the following.
LETTER LXXVIII.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 23d April, 1774.
" The long letter, inclosed, you are to consider
as an answer, not to yours, but to those of Lord
Hailes to you. I know, not only the goodness,
but the generosity and gentleness of your heart ;
and, I am sure, you would never wish me to do
a thing disagreeable to me, if I could, with a
clear conscience, avoid it. Our learned and wor-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 27
thy friend seems to think, that my interest and
gratification ought to be entirely out of the ques-
tion ; in this, I know, you will differ from him,
as well as in some insinuations touching my cha-
racter, which, I confess, pique me a little. But
this entre nous. 1 have the greatest regard for
him, notwithstanding, on account of his learning
and worth ; and I am pretty certain he has a re-
gard for me ; but I thought it was best to speak
plain, and put an end to the affair at once. Be
assured, that I did not form my present resolu-
tion without very good reason."
It was obviously Dr Beattie's intention, that I
should transmit this letter to Lord Hailes, as con-
taining a full statement of our friend's determina-
tion, and of his reasons for it. But I confess, the
letter did not altogether please me. I thought
it written in a tone somewhat too peremptory,
in reply to so well-meant a communication. On
consulting with two of our most intimate friends,
28 LIFE OF Dll BEATTIE.
who entirely agreed with me in my opinion of the
letter, I resolved not to send it to Lord Hailes,
but rather to copy out some paragraphs from it,
which I transmitted to him. At the same time,
I thought it right to send to Dr Beattie an exact
copy of what I had thus written. The following
letters, which I received in reply, closed the cor-
respondence on the subject.
LETTER LXXIX.
LORD HAILES TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
New Hailes, 29th April, 1774.
'' I am sorry to see that Dr Beattie is so resol-
ved : I do not see that more can be said ; he
seems to be dissatisfied with something that you
and I have said, I am sure without reason. Who
the people are, whose judgment I would think
good in other matters, and who have confirmed
him in his resolutions, I know not, nor can I ven-
ture to guess : I possibly suspect one, of whose
sound head, and distinguished abilities, I have a
just sense ; but he and I do not always think in
LIFE OF DR BKATTIE. fQ
the same way. I could mention men, well known
in the literary world, dead and alive, who thought
and think very difterently from some of the Doc-
tor's friends, but I have my reasons for being si-
lent as to names. Since this affair has taken so
unfortunate a turn, you and I have done what
we thought right, Dr Beattie has done what he
thought right, and there is no more to be said ;
I hope, that all will be for the best.
" When you write to Dr Beattie, please as-
sure him, in the warmest manner, of my good
wishes and regard."
LETTER LXXX.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 8th May, 1774.
" I have this moment received your packet,
which I shall answer, at some length, hereafter.
In the meantime, I take the opportunity to tell
you, by the return of the post, that your conduct,
in the whole of this business, is prudent, benevo-
lent, and friendly. I beg, therefore, you may
so LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
make your mind perfectly easy on that head.
Show this letter to Mr Arbuthnot." *
Asl wished to show at once the whole of the
correspondence respecting the Edinburgh profes-
sorship, in order that what passed on that occa-
sion may be the more distinctly known, I delay-
ed to insert the following letters, which were
written in the interval, between the two periods
of that correspondence.
* In this letter, which was ostensible, I found inclosed a slip
of paper, on which he had written to me the following most af-
fectionate note :
" I cannot help telling you on this scrap, that I could have
wished you had been entirely determined by your own judge-
ment, in the affair of the letter. Not that there was any harm
in consulting those two friends, whom nobody on earth can ho-
nour more than I do; but because I wish you to believe, that
your opinion alone is at any time sufficient authority with me,
for the propriety of any measure you may be pleased to re-
commend. There is not a thought of my heart, which I wish
to conceal from you ; and I have been long accustomed to lay
my mind open to you, with less reserve, than to any body else;
indeed, without any sort of reserve at all. It may, therefore,
sometimes happen, that I shall write to you, what I would not
wish any body else to read."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. SI
LETTER LXXXI.
Dll BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Aberdeen, 18th December, 1773.
" My studies proceed so slowly, that I can
hardly be said to study at all ; which, after what
I have told you, will not appear surprising. I
have, however, added largely to my discourse on
classical learning, and have been looking out for
materials towards the finishing of my other little
essays. If the subscription-affair succeed, I hope
I shall have everything in readiness in due time.
I understand, by a letter from Mr Gregory to
one of his friends here, that he has been obliged
to lay aside the scheme of publishing his father's
works in one volume ; two of the treatises being
(it seems) the property of Dodsley the book-
seller : this has made me postpone, to a time of
more leisure, what I intended to write on the
subject of the doctor's character. I knew that
Mr Gregory* would please you: he is, indeed,
* Dr James Gregory, (eldest son of the late Dr John Gregory,)
a physician of the first eminence, at present, in Edinburgh, and
52 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
an excellent young man ; I know not whether I
ever have met with one of his years, whose heart
was so good, or \\'hose understanding was so tho-
roughly improved.
" I had the honour of a letter, lately, from the
Duchess of Portland, which I will answer soon.
Mrs Delany's misfortune gave great concern to
Mrs Beattie and me; but as you mention no-
thing of it, we are satisfied that the danger is
now over.
" It gives me pleasure to hear, that your ne-
phew finds Edinburgh so much to his mind. Mr
Arbuthnot will do every thing in his power to
make it agreeable to him. To the soundest prin-
ciples, and to the best heart, to a very extensive
knowledge both of men and books, and to great
who fills the chair of Professor of the rraciice of Physic in that
university, with such distinguished ability. From a youth, he
enjoyed the friendship of Dr Beattie, as it were by hereditary
right : and at all times endeavoured, by his medical skill, to
contribute to the restoration of the health of one who had been
so dear to his father, and whom he himself so highly esteemed
and respected. The elegant and classical inscription, for Dr
Beattie's monument at Aberdeen, which will be found hereafter,
is of Dr Gregory's composition. I have already mentioned f
the intimate friendship with which the late Dr (Gregory honour-
ed me, and I am proud to boast of its continuance with his son.
+ Vol. I. p. 41.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 33
delicacy and correctness of taste, Mr Arbuthnot
joins a vein of pleasantry and good humour, pe-
culiar to himself, which renders his conversation
equally agreeable and instructive. His character,
in many particulars, resembles that of his name-
sake and near relation, the famous Dr John Ar-
buthnot ; but my friend has none of those singu-
larities of manner, which sometimes rendered his
great kinsman somewhat ridiculous. I am convin-
ced that your nephew and he will be mutually
agreeable to each other ; and as Mr Arbuthnot is
well acquainted with every body in Edinburgh, he
is one of the properest persons there to give ad-
vice to the other, in regard to his company. I
shall write to Mr Arbuthnot in a few days, and
tell him what you say of him, which, I know,
will make him very happy.*
" I know not, whether, in a former letter, I
did not give you some account of an oifer I late-
ly had, from some of the town-council of Edin-
burgh, of their interest of bringing me into that
university, in which, at present, there is a pro-
fessorship vacant. I thanked them in the hesl;
* Vol. ] . p. 34.
VOL. ir. c
34 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
manner I could; but, for several reasons, some
of which I specified to them, and with all of
which you are well acquainted, I begged leave
to decline the offer.
" Yesterday's post brought me a letter from
the Archbishop of York : It is more than friend-
ly, it is an affectionate letter. His Grace had
written to me soon after my return to Scotland,
to congratulate me on my late success ; and, by
a very delicate hint, he gave me an opportunity
of explaining, whether I would now confine my
future views to this country, or make any further
efforts to rise higher in the world. My answer
to that part of his Grace's letter was to the fol-
lowing purpose :
" That my late success was greater than I had
any reason either to expect or wish for ; that I
considered myself as rewarded beyond my de-
servings ; that the provision, now made for me,
was sufficient to procure for me, at Aberdeen,
every convenience of life which I had any right
to aspire after; that I had neither spirits nor bo-
dily health to qualify me for a life of bustle and
anxiety; and that I might, perhaps, be as useful
in my present station as in any other; that, there-
fore, to give my friends any farther trouble in se-
1
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. $5
Gonding my views, would, in my judgment, be
to presume too far upon their generosity, and my
own merit. The Archbishop approves highly of
these sentiments. " Your resolution (says he)
" to employ your time and endeavours to pro-
" mote the cause of truth, and your content to
" remain in Scotland with your present provi-
" sions, is worthy of you ; * * * and though your
" entry into our church would have been a hap-
" py acquisition to it, yet I cannot but applaud
" your determination."
At the time when Dr Beattie went to London,
in the year 1773, and when it was very uncer-
tain whether he might ever receive any substan-
tial mark of his Majesty's royal approbation, his
friends in London, seeing how much he and his
family stood in need of some farther emolument,
than what merely arose from his professorship,
projected a scheme of publishing there, by sub-
scription, an edition of his " Essay on Truth," by
which, it was hoped, a considerable sum might
be raised. It was by no means intended to ad-
36 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
vertise it publicly ; but merely to conduct it pri-
vately, by means of a few of his particular friends,
Lady Mayne, Mrs Montagu, Dr Porteus, and a
few others, whose extensive circle of acquain-
tance might give them an opportunity of procu-
ring a large number of subscriptions. A mode
this, which, it was thought, could neither be
construed into indelicacy towards him, nor the
public. The book did not make its appearance
until the year 1776, as I shall have occasion to
mention hereafter. But as the matter of the
subscription became pretty generally known, and
had been differently thought of by some of his
friends, the inclosed letter to Lady Mayne* sets
the matter in its proper point of view.
^ The Honourable Frances Allen, daughter and co-hejress of
Joshua Lord Viscount Allen, Lady of Sir William Mayne, Bart,
afterwards created Lord Newhaven, from both of whom Dr
Beattie experienced the strongest marks of friendly and polite
attention.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 37
Letter lxxxii.
DR BEATTIE TO LADY MAYNE.
Aberdeen, 2d January, 177 4<
" Of my worthy and generous friend, Dr Ma-
jendie, I know not what to say. I must leave it
to your Ladyship to tell him, for no words of
mine have energy enough, with what gratitude,
affection, and esteem, I do, and ever shall, re-
member him. The sentiments which his royal
mistress * has been pleased to express, in regard
to my affairs, do me the greatest honour; and I
should be unworthy of them, if they did not give
me the greatest pleasure. It is peculiarly fortu-
nate, that her M y should honour the sub-
scription with her approbation. This may ex-
clude, from a certain quarter, those misrepresenta-
tions of this affair, which, 1 have reason to think,
are already circulating, very much to the preju-
dice of my character. I was, indeed, somewhat
apprehensive, from the beginning, that my ene-
* Vol. I. p. a37.
38 LIFE OF DIl BEATTIE.
mies might tax me with avarice and impudence.
But your Ladyship and Mrs Montagu concerted
the scheme in such a manner, that, if it is right-
ly understood, it must redound, even in the judge-
ment of my enemies themselves, still more to my
honour, than it can to my interest. And of this
I lately endeavoured to satisfy a friend of mine
in England, a gentleman eminent in the literary
world, who, on hearing some imperfect account
of a subscription, wrote me a letter, urging me,
in the most earnest manner, as I valued my cha-
racter, to put a stop to it. I gave him, in re-
turn, as plain an account as, without naming
names, could be given, of the rise and progress
of the affair. I told him, " that it was a thing
" of a private nature entirely; projected, not by
" me, but by some of my friends, who had con-
" descended to charge themselves with the whole
" trouble of it; that it was never meant to be
" made public, nor put into the hands of book-
" sellers, nor carried on by solicitation, but was
" to be considered as a voluntary mark of the ap-
" probation of some persons of rank and fortune,
" who wished it to be known, that they patron-
" ized me on account of what I had written in
" defence of truth ; and that I was so far from
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 39
' desiring to put ihe patience or generosity of
' my friends to any further trial, that I had re-
' peatedly protested, and did still protest, that
' I was fully satisfied with the provision which,
' by his Majesty's bounty, I now enjoy, which
' was equal to my wishes, and far superior, in
' my opinion, to my deservings." I told him,
further, " that, considering the nature of this
' subscription, and the high character of the per-
sons who had proposed it, I could not have re-
' fused my consent, without giving myself airs,
' which would have very ill become me :" and I
added, " that while the subscription, by remain-
' ing in suspense, was liable to be misunder-
' stood, I trusted to my friends for the vindica-
' tion of my conduct; but that, if ever the in-
' tended volume came to be published, I should
' take care to do justice, in a preface, both to
' them and to myself, by stating the matter fair-
' ly to the public." This information will, I hope,
satisfy the gentleman, that the subscription is
not, as he was made to believe, disgraceful to yny
character, (these are his words,) but, on the con-
traiy, highly creditable to it, and honourable.
However, that it may never be in the power,
even of malice itself, to lay any thing to my charge
40 LIFE OF DR BE ATT IE.
on this score, I would humbly propose, that no
entreaty should be used to draw in subscribers,
and that they, who make objections, should ne-
ver be addressed a second time on the subject."
LETTER LXXXIII.
DR BEATtlE TO ROBERT AllBUTHNOT, ESQ.
^ Aberdeen, 8th January, 1774.
** Since I left London, Mr Hume's friends have
been contriving a new method to blacken my
character. I have been written to upon the sub-
ject, and desired, to vindicate myself; as the ut-
most industry is used, even by some people of
name, to circulate the malicious report.
" The charge against me, as stated in my cor-
respondent's letter, is Avord for word as follows :
I am accused of rancour and ingratitude to Mr
Hume; " for (say they) Mr Hume was very in-
" strumental in procuring for me the professor-
" ship I now hold at Aberdeen, and kept up a
" friendly correspondence with me for some time;
" till at length I sent him a poem of mine (which
"was never printed:) but Mr Hume not liking
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 41
*' it, and being frank in his nature, sent me word,
" it was as insipid as milk and water ; upon which,
" bent on revenge, I immediately set about my
*' Essay on Truth, which is full of virulence and
*' misquotation."
" You may believe, that an accusation of this
sort, in which, you know, I can prove there is not
one single word of truth, cannot give me much
pain. But I should be glad, that Mr Hume, for
his own sake, would disavow it ; and indeed I
cannot suppose, that he is so destitute of can-
dour, as to give countenance to a report, which he
himself certainly knows to be altogether false."
LETTER LXXXIV.
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS TO DR BEATTIE.
London, 22d February, 1774.
*' I sit down to relieve my mind from great
anxiety and uneasiness, and I am very serious
when I say, that this proceeds from not answer-
ing your letter sooner. This seems very strange,
you will say, since the cause may be so easily re-
moved ; but the truth of the matter is, I waited
42 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
to be able to inform you that your picture was
finished, which, however, I cannot now do. I
must confess to you, that when I sat down, I did
intend to tell a sort of a white lie, that it was fi-
nished : but, on recollecting that I was writing
to the author of truth, about a picture of truth,
I ought to say nothing but truth. The truth
then is, that the picture probably will be finish-
ed before you receive this letter; for there is not
above a day's work remaining to be done. Mr
Hume has heard from somebody, that he is intro-
duced in the picture, not much to his credit;
there is only a figure, covering his face with his
hands, which they may call Hume, or any body
else ; it is true it has a tolerable broad back. As
for Voltaire, I intended he should be one of the
group.
" I intended to write more, but I hear the
postman's bell. Dr Johnson, who is with me
now, desires his compliments."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 43
LETTER LXXXV.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Aberdeen, 13th March, 1774.
" The second book of the ' Minstrel,' (which
Mr Fred. Montagu permits me to send under his
cover,) will be delivered to you, along with this ;
and I must give you the trouble to keep it till
Mr Dilly call for it. You were very indulgent
to that part of it which you read last summer, in
which I have made no very material alterations.
I am impatient to know your opinion of the other
part, and particularly of the conclusion, which I
do not like the better for its being on a new plan,
but to which I cannot help being partial, for the
sake of the subject. You will see that the blank
is to be filled up with the name of Gregory; a
name which I forbear to write at length, till I
see whether the public opinion will be so favour-
able, as to justify my taking that liberty with so
dear and so respectable a friend. The lines relating
to him were written (as I think I told you be-
fore) immediately after I received the melancholy
44 Lift 6^ i)R BEATtie.
news of his death ; when my mind was oppressed
with a weight of sorrow, which I did not, and
which I needed not, attempt to exaggerate in the
description. His friendship was for many years'
a never-faihng source of consolation to me, in alt
my distresses; and he was taken from me at a
time when my health was very bad, and my spi-
rits in a most dejected condition. I had a letter
from Mr Gregory, a few days ago, inclosing a
copy of ' The Father's Legacy.' I read it several
years ago, in manuscript, and I then told the
Doctor, that I looked upon it as the most elegant
of all his compositions.
" You are right in conjecture, in regard to
Dr . He had, it seems, heard some account
of a subscription, and wrote of it to Mr
of , whose letter to me was in these words :
" I take the liberty to trouble you with this line,
" merely to mention a thing, which my friend,
'' Dr , out of pure good Will to you, advises
" me to mention. He writes me word, that he
" hears, on good authority, a subscription has
" been set on foot, and is soliciting, for your
" ' Minstrel,' (as well the new, as the old part.)
" This way of publishing it, he thinks (and I
" heartily concur with him) will be thought un-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 45
** worthy of your cliai-acter, and will certainly
" disgust your best friends. I take it for grant-
*' ed, if the story is true, you have acquiesced in
*' the thing, at the instance of some friend, who
" did not fed that this method of publishing has
" so mean an appearance, as it really at present
" has. I would, therefore, advise you, by all
" means, to stop the progress of the aifair, as
" soon as possible ; for I really think, it will be
*' highly disgraceful to a person of your confest
*' abilities, if it proceeds," &c. I returned Mr
an answer in course, and told him, that Dr
had been misinformed in regard to the ' Minstrel,'
but that there actually was on foot a subscription
of another sort, of which I gave him that account,
which I afterwards sent to Lady Mayne, in that
letter which you read. This happened about
three months ago ; and I have not heard from
Mr since ; from which I know not wdiether
to draw a favourable, or an unfavourable infe-
rence.
" Pray, madam, be so good as to favour mc
with some account of the Bishop of Carlisle, Dr
Law, if he happens to be of your acquaintance.
His Lordship (in a book lately published) has
46 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
been pleased to attack me in a strange manner, *
though in few words, and very superciliously
seems to condemn my whole book ; " because I
" believe in the identity of the human soul, and
" that there are innate powers, and implanted in-
" stincts in our nature." He hints, too, at my
being a native of Scotland, and imputes my un-
natuf^al way of reasoning, (for so he characterises
it,) to my ignorance of what has been written on
the other side of the question, by some late au-
thors. It would be a very easy matter for me to
return such an answer to his Lordship, as would
satisfy the world, that he has been rather hasty
in signing my condemnation ; but perhaps it will
be better to take no notice of it: I shall be de-
termined by your advice. His doctrine is, that
the human soul forfeited its immortality by the
fall, but regained it in consequence of the merits
of Jesus Christ, and that it cannot exist without
the body; and must, therefore, in the interval
between death and the resurrection, remain in a
state of non-existence. The theory is not a new
one; but his Lordship seems to be one of the
* Considerations on the Theory of Religion, by Edmund,
Lord Bishop of Carlisle, p. 43 1 .
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 47
most sanguine of its adherents. Some of the ob-
jections, drawn from the scripture, he gets the
better of by a mode of criticism, which, I humbly
think, would not be admitted in a commentary
upon any other book.
" I must now beg leave to put you in mind,
that I have a claim on you, for an essay to my
quarto volume; for I wish to have in it some-
thing new, that is really worth the money to be
paid for it. I ground my claim upon a promise,
which, I think, you were pleased to make me at
Sandleford. Such a contribution will give you
no trouble ; and to me, considering how poorly
provided I am for furnishing out a whole quarto,
it will be an act of the greatest charity. The
hope of it will be a spur to my industry; for
though it is impossible for me to provide for it
suitable accommodation, I shall, however, bestir
myself in decking and garnishing the rest of the
volume for its reception. Since I have been in
this state of confinement, I have amused myself
in collecting materials for finishing an * Essay on
Laughter,' which I sketched out about ten years
ago. I intend that it shall be one of my addi-
tional essays : it is a grave philosophical enquiry
into the nature of those objects that provoke
48 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
laughter, with critical remarks on the clifFerent
sorts of ludicrous composition, and an attempt to
account for the superiority of the moderns over
the ancients, in the articles of wit and humour.
I have written fifty pages, and shall have nearly
as many more to write. When I have finished
the first draught, I will have it transcribed, and
sent to you."
LETTER LXXXVI.,
LA'uY MAYNE to DR BEATTIE.
St James's Square, London, April 18th, 1774.
" I believe it is unnecessary to say, how much
pleasure I iiave received, in reading over and
over the second part of your delightful poem,
which, I find, meets with the universal approba-
tion it deserves ; and all those, to whom you
was so obliging as to send copies, through me,
join with Sir William and me, in a great many
thanks, for so agreeable a present.
" Mr John Pitt,* of Arlington-street, has de-
* The same gentleman who so kindly acconmiodated Dr
Beattie with the use of his post-chaise at Oxford. Vol. I. p. 34-5.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 49
sired me to make a proposal to you, which, whe-
ther it be agreeable to you or not, will be, I am
sure, considered by you as a real proof of his
friendship and esteem. It is, that in case you
should have resolved to follow the advice of some
of your friends, with regard to taking orders in
our church, he has a living in his neighbourhood
in Dorsetshire, likely to be very soon vacant,
which he will not dispose of till he knows your
mind. I believe Sir William and I know it pretty
well ; but, as it did not become me to answer for
you, I have only undertaken to obtain your own,
which he begs may be as soon as possible, because
he has a number of applications for it, though the
yearly value is only a hundred and fifty pounds.
You will, I dare say, judge it proper to write to
him yourself upon the occasion.
" He is a man of most uncommon goodness of
heart; he and his charming wife are well-deser-
ving of each other. They both, in the beginning
of this winter, proposed a plan, for a society of
well disposed persons, to raise a fund by volun-
tary subscription, for the relief of distressed and
deserving objects. The society soon became very
nuoierous, as well as rich, and consists of several
f the highest rank, and most eminent virtue,
VOL. II. D
50 LIFE OF DIt BEATTIE.
besides others who wish to imitate such good
examples.
" Some very honest judicious people are kept
in pay, to enquire and examine strictly into the
true state of all such objects as send in petitions,
alid a committee of thirty meet every Saturday
morning, to consider the reports of these enquirers,
and to order suitable relief; besides which, the
whole body of subscribers, to the amount of five
guineas and upwards, have a general meeting
every Wednesday evening, to form general rules
and regulations, and consult upon any extraordi-
nary cases that may offer. Besides this commit-
tee, there is another chosen, consisting of six
ladies, and a seventh called the treasurer, whose
department it is to employ poor women in work,
who are industrious, but deprived of employment.
I dare say it will immediately strike you, that
such an unlimited plan must soon become im-
practicable, in such a town as this is, from the
infinity of business that would multiply daily :
and so it has proved. We therefore, about a
month ago, found ourselves obliged to confine
ourselves to the residents in five parishes; St
James's, St George's, St Ann's, St Martin's, and
Marvbone. This eave a little relief for some
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 61
time ; but now, as might well be expected, the
poor are all esitablishiug themselves within these
limits, so that, I greatly fear, this most excellent
scheme cannot hold out long, at least upon its
present footing. However, the zeal that the
greatest number of the subscribers manifest, and
the indefatigable pains, as well as time, that they
employ this way, in spite of all the allurements
of pleasure and dissipation that surround them,
make me hope, that experience will open the
way to some effectual and durable method of
doing all the good they wish, both in the way of
relief and detection. Lady Charlotte Finch, and
her two daughters, her sister, Lady Juliana Penn,
Lady Spencer, Lady Erskine, Lord and I^dy
Dartree, Lady Dartmouth, your friend Mr Haw-
kins Browne, the Duchess of Northumberland,
Lord and Lady Willoughby, Miss Cowper, Miss
Proby, Mrs Eliz. Carter, and a very great num-
ber besides, give up the greatest part of their
time and thoughts to this business, to such a de-
gree, that some have suffered in their health by
it.
" Who would have expected, some time ago,
to be so edified m the year 5 774, in contemplat-
ing the occupations of one of the first and most
52 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
numerous societies in the environs of St James's?
I know this will give double satisfaction to you,
as it tends to confirm your system of imiate good-
ness ; for I am sure the greatest part of this so-
ciety did not acquire theirs, either by prejudices
of education, or by the London habits, in which
they were early initiated. I dare say it would
give you the greatest satisfaction to attend at
any of these weekly meetings, where you would
see so many amiable people, attentive, for seve-
ral hours together, to the sole purpose of trying
to alleviate the distresses of their fellow-crea-
tures."
LETTER LXXXVIL
DR BEATTIE TO LADY MAYNE.
Aberdeen, 20th May/ 1774.
" I have enclosed an answer to Mr John Pitt's
very kind offer, which you will be so good as to
forward. I thank him for his generosity, of
which, indeed, 1 have a very affecting sense :
but 1 tell Inm, that, by the advice of my best
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 53
friends, I have given up all thoughts of entering
into the church, many months ago.
" I am much obHged to you, madam, for your
agreeable account of the charitable society, lately
established in the neighbourhood of St James's.
It is, as you observe, an honour to my theory of
virtue : but, what gives me much more pleasure,
(theorist as I am,) it does honour also to the vir-
tue and good sense of the age, it does honour to
human nature. I do not know any thing more
desirable, nor more difficult, than to lay down,
and carry into execution, a proper plan for the
relief of the poor, which, without encouraging
idleness or vice, shall administer real comfort to
the helpless and the needy. The provision, estab-
lished by your poors rate in England, is indeed
very ample, nay, in some places so exorbitant,
that I should think nothing could flourish in
those places, but poverty. I have heard of eight,
ten, nay, even fourteen shillings in the pound,
paid, in some parishes, to the poor's rate, which,
added to the land-tax, would seem to make the
land-holder the poorest man in the district. There
must be some grievous mismanagement, both in
the exaction and application of such sums ; and
it were most devoutly to be wished, that the le-
64- LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
gislature would endeavour to provide a remedy
for so enormous an evil. Till this be done, all
that individuals can in prudence do, is to enquire
into, and relieve the necessities of those poor,
who live in their neighbourhood, and with whose
circumstances they are well accjuainted, either
from personal knowledge, or undoubted informa-
tion. Were this done in all parts of the kingdom,
the poor would be better supplied than by any
legal provision, how great soever ; and begging,
as a trade, would be at an end ; and nothing can
be more praise- worthy, than for persons of rank
and fortune to set the example of so benevolent
an institution.
" A Prince of Liege, in order to cancel all at
once the wrong side of his spiritual account, be-
queathed, on his death-bed, his whole fortune,
whicii was very large, to the poor, appointing the
Magistrates of Liege his administrators. The con-
sequence is, that of all the beggars and vagabonds
in the Netherlands, Liege is now the common re-
ceptacle. It is no uncommon thing for an army of
five or six thousand of these people to invest the
house of the chief magistrate, and threaten to
extirpate him, and all his generation, with fire
and sword, if he does not instantly make a pecu-
LIFE OF DK BEATTIE. 55
niary distribution. The gentleman from whom
I have this account, and who is a person of sense
ai^d veracity, resided some time in Liege, and, to
give an idea of the multitude of beggars that
swarm in the streets of that town, told me fur-
ther, that one day, in walking half a mile, he
gave away, to professed beggars, not less than
fifty-eight pieces of money. I need not tell your
Ladyship what inferences are to be drawn from
this story."
LETTER LXXXVUL*
MRS MONTAGU TO DR 35ATT1?.
Sandleford, 21st June, 1773.
" My health is greatly improved since I came
hither, and I shall be able to enjoy the pleasure
of the Duchess of Portland's conversation, and
the charms of Bullstrode. I had the honour and
happiness of passing many of my youthful days
in that society, and that place ; so that I feel a
* The following seven letters ought to have'been inserted
at their proper dates. I prefer giving them in this manner to
the reader, rather than withhold them altogether.
56 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
more tender and sincere jo}'^ when I return to it,
than I find any where else. The Duchess does
honour to her sex, and to her rank ; peculiar pu-
rity and dignity have distinguished her through
every stage of life. Her example, as a daughter,
a wife, a mother, have not heen excelled by any
one; as a lady of the highest birth, rank, and
fortune, it has not been equalled. Her humility,
benevolence, and generosity, give an amiableness
to her whole conduct, and make every one round
her happy.
" I long to see you here. I had yesterday
thirty-six hay-makers, and their children, at din-
ner, in a grove in the garden. When they work
in my sight, I love to see that they eat as well
as labour, and often send them a treat, to which
they bring an appetite that gives a better relish
than the Madeira wine, and Cayenne pepper, in
which the alderman stews his turtle. You would
have enjoyed the sight of this feast ; to which
temperance was steward, frugality cook, and
hunger the guest."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. ^7
1
If
LETTER LXXXIX.
MRS MONTAGU TO DR BEATTIE.
August 23d, 1773.
" While my imagination was delighting itself,
in painting you in all the florid colours, and ut-
most glow of prosperity and joy, you were, in
fact, languishing on a sick bed ! What a poor
"limitary cherub"* is our " divine Alma!"' igno-
rant of all things that do not pass in her presence,
and often deceived in those that do ! I flatter
myself, that the fresh air, and tranquillity of this
place, will soon restore your strength and spirits.
" I am delighted with Sir Joshua Reynolds'
plan, and do not doubt but he will make a very
noble picture of it. I class Sir Joshua with the
greatest genius's that have ever appeared in the
art of painting ; and I wish he was employed by
the public, in some great work, that would do
honour to our country in future ages. lie has
the spirit of a Grecian artist. The Athenians
* Milton.
5ft LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
did not employ such men in painting portraits to
place over a chimney, or the door of a private
cabinet. I long to sec the picture he is now
designing ; virtue and truth are subjects worthy
of the artist and the man. He has an excellent
moral character, and is most pleasing and amia-
ble in society ; and, vt^ith great talents, has un-
common humility and gentleness."
LETTER XC.
REV. DR MAJENDIE TO DR BEATTIE.
Kew-Green, October 19th, 1773.
" As soon as your favour of the 10th Sep-
tember last, and the copies attending it, reached
me here, I failed not immediately to make use of
the whole, as it had been agreed upon between
us. The two copies of your ' Minstrel ' were most
graciously received by their Majesties, and your
letter of the above date read through by both
with apparent satisfaclicm : and no wonder, as a
vein of propriety, good sense, and manly grati-
tude, is so conspicuous in every part of it. INIay
you, good Sir, long enjoy the pleasure arising
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 5^
from such feeliags, and ever have the additional
one, of disseminating them all around you. This
I know to be your fixed purpose ; a nobler one
you cannot have in view. May every circum-
stance in life concur to crown it with success.
" Your ' Minstrel ' (for a very neat copy of
which I have now to thank you) I have read
with much satisfaction. As far as I am able to
judge of this kind of composition, it seems ade-
quate to the subject; the verse flowing easily,
and unaffectedly; the sentiments of the young
hero of the piece, such as unvitiated nature sug-
gests; and your descriptions, in many places,
truly poetical and sublime. Your stanzas XL,
and XLI, are happily brought in, well executed.
So deserved a stricture upon the grovelling Pyr-
rhonians. and Epicureans, is worthy of the author
of the ' Essay on rruth.' Pray go on with a
subject you have so successfully begun. Let us
soon see the good, the innocent, the guiltless
Edwin (no more your own, since the time you
have been pleased to show him to the public)
proceeding through life as he has commenced it.
Nothing can be a bar to his merits and happiness
in the world, provided, QuaUs ah incepto processe-
rit, et sib'i consfet. You, Sir, have fostered him
60 * LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
into the world. How can he miscarn^, under so
able a Mentor ?"
LETTER XCI.
MRS MONTAGU TO DR BEATTIE.
J
Sandlefonl, 31st October, 1773.
'* I have just begun a posthumous work of the
famous Helvetius, (who wrote a book called
* L'Esprit,' some years ago). It is astonishing to
see how the understandings and language of the
French are corrupted, since the time of Louis
XIV. I am particularly provoked at one prac-
tice of theirs, which is, whenever they repeat an
old, and long acknowledged truth, they endea-
vour to put it off as their own observation and
discovery ; and every novel fallacy, the offspring
of their own brain, they introduce as a known
and demonstrated argument, verified by experi-
ence. What a cheat should we account a shop-
keeper, who put the sterling mark on his pewter,
and having in his Warehouse only three or four
silver spoons and salts, omitted to mark them
with the true indication of their value, and how
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 61
surprised would the customer be when he found
he had prized most highly the baser metal !''
LETTER XCII.
MRS MONTAGU TO I)R BEATTIE.
London, 4th April, 1774.
" I have for six different mornings intended
writing to you, and as often have been disap-
pointed, by persons, who, with very polite inten-
tions of making me civil visits, robbed me of the
hours I had destined to a more pleasing purpose.
With great satisfaction I consigned your charm-
ing ' Minstrel' to Mr Dilly ; it will soon come
abroad, and, I have no doubt, meet with the
highest approbation. You have added many fine
stanzas since I saw it, and I like much the con-
elusion, though it does not belong to the subject.
However, it is the sweetest office of the Minstrel,
to sing the praise of a dear departed friend. A
prose panegyric, like the cypress tree, does but
with luguhre state shade the tomb ; the Parnas-
sian Bay adorns it, and gives it a sanctity, and
throws the lustre of immortality around it. I
62 LIFE OP DR BEATTIE.
read with new pleasure, and new wonder, (and
wonder is rarely repeated,) the felicity M'ith which
you have given the sweetest graces of poetry to
the severest and gravest subjects. It does not
surprise me to see garlands of roses bloom on the
brow of youth, beauty, and pleasure ; but to see
them so gracefully adorn the hoary head of the
legislator, and the pensive brow of the philoso-
pher, shows the consummate address of the ar-
tist."
LETFER XCIII.
MRS MONTAGU TO DR BEATTIE.
April 30th, 1774.
*' I am ashamed that T have not conveyed to
you the fame of your ' Minstrel,' which comes in
the sweetest and the loudest notes to my ear
every day. Indeed, it is surprising to find Edwin
preserve his simplicity, his harmony, and his poe-
tical imagination, in the school of philosophy,
and in the din of society. I'he stanzas, dedicated
to the memory of your friend, have drawn tears
and sighs from all who have lost a friend, or have
LTFE OF DR BEATTIE. 63
one to lose ; it is on insensibility alone that it
does not make deep impression.
" I have not time to enter into any discussion
of Dr Bryant's ' Analysis of Ancient Mythology,'
Mr Warton's ' History of Poetry,' and Lord
Chesterfield's ' Letters,' all which I have been
reading. I must tell you, that Samuel Johnson
says of Lord Chesterfield's ' Instructions to his
Son,' that they are to teach the manners of a
dancing-master, with the morals of a prostitute.
The sentence is too severe, to be peifectly just ;
and the character too short, to be perfectly de-
scriptive ; but there is something too near truth,
and too like description. One grieves that Lord
Chesterfield's judgment and talents should have
been misapplied in the important matter of form-
ing a sons character; but more of this at our
better leisure. Your portrait is in the exhibition;
it is very like, and the piece worthy the pencil of
Sir Joshua."
64 LIFE OP DR BEATTIE.
LETIER XCIV.
AEV. DR MAJENDIE TO DR BEATTIE.
Windsor, 26th April, 1774.
" It is with much pleasure, that 1 come now,
though later than I could have wished, to give
you an account of the reception your second
book of the ' Minstrel' has met with. Dilly ha-
ving given me notice that it was printed, and
would be shortly published, I desired that he
would use the utmost dispatch, that very day,
which was last Tuesday, to get me two copies, as
elegantly bound as so short a notice would per-
mit, that I might be able to present them to their
Majesties early next morning ; as else the oppor-
tunity would be lost, I being obliged to be ab^
sent for three weeks. This request was accord-
ingly complied with, and the books were present-
ed to their Majesties, at a time they were both
together. To a heart like yours, my dear sir, it
must be no small satisfaction to be informed, that
they were received with that same goodness, and
affable condescension, which you experienced last
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 65
Summer. Some observations were made upon
your character and writings, that shewed how
well they are able to appreciate men and things ;
and I was particularly ordered by the Queen, to
let you know, that she truly values you.
" Having thus given you an account of my
commission, I should be wanting both to you
and myself, if I omit returning you thanks for
your kind attention, in ordering me a copy of
your second book of the ' Minstrel,' which I have
read with the greatest satisfaction, and lent it to
others here, who entertain the same notion of its
moral and poetical merit as I do. May you long
continue to be an ornament, a blessing to human
nature, and to the age you live in !
" Transferred from a Prebend of Worcester to
a Canonry here, by his Majesty's great goodness,
I am now keeping my strict residence. I have
brought down with me the last edition of your
* Essay,' &c. and given it a second reading. The
whole pleases me more and more. I have been
particularly delighted with the second chapter of
Part III. The critical account you there give of
Aristotle's Works, &c. ; the fate of metaphysic
from his time down to ours ; the crafty and un-
fair method of our late sceptics handling the sub-
VOL. II. E
66 LIFE OF DE BEATTIE.
jects they undertake to write upon, which you
have so fairly laid open ; and the manly warmth
with which you refute them; form together a
masterpiece, by itself. It is such a one, in my
humble opinion, as deserves the thanks, not only
of the literati, but of all honest and good men. I
am glad to hear, that the subscription to the
quarto edition is likely to turn to account. I
have not been wanting, on my part, to promote
it, as far as my little power and influence could
reach. To Lady Mayne, and IVIrs IVIontagu,
you are greatly obliged on this occasion, there is
no doubt of it. However, to your merit, as a
champion in the cause of truth, is chiefly owing
the success it met with ; which gives me so
much the more pleasure, as it affords a proof, that
the age we live in, though bad, hath sense
enough to know, where rewards and encourage-
ments are due, and readiness to bestow them ac-
cordingly."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 67
LETTER XCV.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Aberdeen, 3d May, 1774.
" I am greatly obliged and honoured by what
the hierarchy have done, and are doing for me.
Of Dr Law's attack I shall take no further no-
tice. *
" I received a letter, two days ago, from Dr
Hurd. t It is a very kind letter, and much in
praise of the ' Minstrel.' Lord Chestei*field's
' Letters,' he says, are well calculated for the pur-
pose of teaching " manners without morals" to
our young people of quality. This opinion I had
indeed begun to form concerning them, from
some short extracts in the newspapers. In one
of these extracts I was greatly surprised to see
such a pompous encomium on Bolingbroke's
Patriot King; which has always appeared to
me a mere vox et prcEterea nihil. Plato was one
of the first who introduced the fashion of giving
* See p. 45.
t Now Lord Bishop of Worcester.
68 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
US fine words instead of good sense; in this, as
in his other faults, he has been successfully imi-
tated by Shaftesbury ; but I know not whether
he, or any other author, has ever put together so
many words, with so little meaning, as Boling-
broke, in his papers on Patriotism.
" Lord Monboddo's second volume has been
'published some time. It is, I think, much better
than the first, and contains much learning, and
not a little ingenuity ; but can never be very in-
teresting, except to those who aim at a gramma-
tical and critical knowled2:e of the Greek tonsrue.
Lord Kaimes's * Sketches' I have seen. They are
not much diiferent from what I expected. A
man, who reads thirty years, with a view to col-
lect facts, in support of two or three whimsical
theories, may, no doubt, collect a great number
of facts, and make a very large book. The
world will wonder when they hear of a modem
philosopher, who seriously denies the existence
of such a principle as universal benevolence ; a
point, of which no good man can entertain a
doubt for a single moment.
" I am sorry for poor Goldsmith. There were
some things in his temper which I did not like ;
but I liked many things in his genius ; and I was
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 69
sorry to find, last summer, that he looked upon
me as a person who seemed to stand between
him and his interest. However, when next we
meet, all this will be forgotten ; and the jealousy
of authors, which, Dr Gregory used to say, was
next in rancour to that of physicians, will be no
more.
" I am glad that you are pleased with the ad-
ditional stanzas of the second canto of the ' Min-
strel;' but I fear you are too indulgent. How it
will be relished by the public, I cannot even
guess. I know all its faults ; but I cannot reme-
dy them, for they are faults in the first concoc-
tion; they result from the imperfection of the
plan. I am much obliged to you, madam, for
advising that two copies should be presented to
their Majesties, which, Dilly writes me word, has
been done by my good friend Dr Majendie. This
honour I meant to have solicited when the se-
cond edition came out, which will be soon. My
reason for this delay was, that the first edition
having been put to the press, and some sheets of
it printed off before I knew, I had it not in my
power to order any copies on fine paper. But it
is better as it is : the paper of the copy I have^
is not at all amiss.
70 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
" My ' Essay on Laughter' advances but slow-
ly. I have all my materials at hand ; but my
health obliges me to labour very moderately in
reducing them into order. I am very unwilling
to relinquish the hope of receiving from you,
madam, some assistance in completing my vo-
lume. I beg you will think of it. Perhaps you
may find more leisure when you come into the
north.
"" Mr Mason has never answered the letter I
wrote to him, concerning the subscription. I
guessed, from the tenor of his letters, that he is
(as you say) out of humour with the world. Mr
Dilly writes me word, that he says he is tempted
to throw his Life of Mr Gray (which is now
finished, or nearly so,) into the fire, so much is
he dissatisfied with the late decision on literary
property. By the way, I heartily wish the legis-
lature may, by a new law, set this matter on a
proper footing. Literature must sufl^er, if this
decision remains unobviated."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. * 71
LETTER XCVI.
DR BEATTIE TO DR BLACKLOCK.
Aberdeen, 23(1 May, 1774.
" If the second part of the ' Minstrel' has con-
tributed for one half hour to your amusement, it
has in some measure answered the end for which
it was written. It was much more laborious than
the first part in the composing ; but I question
whether it will be so popular. The public taste
requires, and justly too, more fable than my plan
will allow me to put into it ; for fable is to poe-
try, what bones are to the human bod}', or tim-
bers and rafters to a building. But my purpose,
from the beo-innins:, was to make a didactic or
philosophical, rather than a narrative poem ; and
the title unluckily gives the reader reason to ex-
pect more story, than I can, without the greatest
inconveniency, aiford. However, I hope the piece
will receive the encouragement which it may
really deserve : as yet, I have no reason to com-
plain; for a second edition of the second part
72 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
was called for, within a week after the publica-
tion."
LETTER XCVir.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Aberdeen, 27th May, 1774.
" I am much diverted by Johnson s character
of Lord Chesterfield's Letters. Dr I Jurd and Mr
Mason (for I have heard from them both, since
the second part of ' The Minstrel' came out)
give nearly the same account of them.
" Mr Mason seems now to be tolerably recon-
ciled to the subscription, but he has found a new
subject of concern, in this allegorical picture, by
Sir Joshua Reynolds, which, he thinks, can hard-
ly fail to hurt my character in good earnest. I
know not certainly in what light Mr Mason con-
siders this picture; but, so far as 1 have yet
heard, he is singular in his opinion. If Mr Gray
had done me the honour to address an ode to
me, and speak in high terms of my attack on the
sceptics, my enemies might have blamed him for
his partiality, and the world might have thought
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 73
that he had employed his muse in too mean an
office; but would any body have blamed me?
If Sir Joshua Reynolds thinks more favourably
of me than I deserve, (which he certainly does,)
and if he entertains the same favourable senti-
ments of my cause, which I wish him and all
the world to entertain ; I should be glad to know
from Mr Mason, what there is in all this to fix
any blame on my character? Indeed, if / had
planned this picture, and urged Sir Joshua to
paint it, and paid him for his trouble, and then
had solicited admittance for it into the Exhibi-
tion, the world would have had good reason to
exclaim against me as a vain coxcomb ; but I am
persuaded, that nobody will ever suspect me of
this : for nobody can do so, without first suppo-
sing that I am a fool.
" About three weeks ago, I received a very
short letter fjom Dr Priestley, of which the fol-
lowing is a copy : " Reverend Sir Thinking it
^' right that every person should be apprised of
" any publication in which his writings are ani-
" madverted upon, I take the liberty to send you
" a copy of a sheet, that will soon be published,
" in which I announce my intention to remark
*' upon the principles of your ' Essay on Truth.'
74 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
" I am, reverend Sir, your very humble servant,
" J. Priestley." This sheet contains a preface to
a third vol. of ' Institutes of Religion.' That
you. Madam, may be the better enabled to judge
between liim and me, I send it to you in a sepa-
rate packet, which will be delivered along with
this.
" I never saW Dr Priestley ; I greatly esteem
his talents as a natural philosopher, particularly
as a chemist : whether his talents in moral philo-
sophy be as distinguished, I have no opportuni-
ty of knowing. His excessive admiration of Mr
Hartley's book, (see the preface, page 2 1 . ) I have
heard mentioned as one of the learned Doctors
hobbv-horses. I am not ignorant of his connec-
tions in the way of party ; but I hope, in this at-
tack upon my book, he is determined by nothing
but a love of truth. I need not tell you, that he
is the oracle of the Socinians and Dissenters ; and
the pubHc will no doubt expect that I should
answer his preface. This will not be a difficult
matter. The Doctor must certainly have read
my book, since he declares, in print, his disap-
probation of it; but that he has read it atten-
tively, and without prejudice, is not clear. Cer-
tain it is, that every one of his remarks on me,
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 75
as they appear in this preface, is founded in a
gross misapprehension of my doctrine. I have
written him a letter, which I enclose in this pack-
et for your perusal ; if you approve of it, please
to cause it be forwarded to him ; if not, you may
suppress it.
" One would think, from reading Dr Priest-
ley's preface, that Dr Reid, Dr Oswald, and I,-
wrote in concert, and with a view to enforce the
very same hypothesis. But the truth is, that I
write in concert with nobody : Dr Oswald's book
I never read, till after my own was published ;
and Dr Reid (to whom I have made all due ac-
knowledgments for the instruction I have re-
ceived from his work) never saw mine, till it was
in the hands of the public. The controversial
part of Dr Reid's book regards the existence of
matter chiefly ; Dr Oswald's system (though there
are many good things in his book) I never dis-
tinctly understood. The former of these authors
differs in many things from me ; and the latter
(if I am rightly informed) has actually attacked a '
fundamental principle of mine, in a second vo-
lume, lately published, which I have not yet got
leisure to read.
76 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
I have already observed, that, among various
plans suggested by Dr Beattie's friends in Eng-
land, for the advancement of his fortune, that of
his taking orders in the Church of England had
been mentioned to him.* It has been seen, by
the preceding correspondence with Lady Mayne
and Mr John Pitt, that he had entirely abandon-
ed tliat idea. The zeal of his friends, however,
was not abated, and he received another very flat-
termg proposition, to the same purpose, through
the hands of Dr Porteus.
* See Vol. I. p. 333.
LIFE OF Dlt BEATTIE. 77
LETTER XCVIII.
THE REV. DR PORTEUS TO DR BEATTIE.
Hunton, near Maidstone, Kent, July 24th, l??*.
" I am desired, by one of the Episcopal bench,
whose name I am not yet at Hberty to mention,
to ask you, whether you have any objections to
taking orders in the Church of England. If you
have not, there is a hving, now vacant, in his gift,
worth near five hundred pounds a-year, which
will be at your service.
" Be pleased to send me your answer to this,
as soon as possible, and direct it to me at Peter-
borough, in Northamptonshire, where I shall pro-
bably be before your letter can reach me. 1 feel,
myself happy in being the instrument of com-
municating to you so honourable and advanta-
geous a proof of that esteem, which your literary
labours have secured to you, amongst all ranks
of people."
78 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
To this proposition, so very flattering, as well
as advantageous, Dr Beattie gave the following
admirable reply, which does the highest credit to
the purity of his principles, and the integrity of
his mind.
LETTER XCIX.
DR BEATTIE TO THE REV. DR PORTEUS.
Peterhead, 4th August, 1774.
" I have made many efforts to express, in some-
thing like adequate language, my grateful sense
of the honour done me by the Right Reverend
Prelate, who makes the offer conveyed to me in
your most friendly letter of the 24th July. But
every new effort serves only to convince me,
more and more, how unequal I am to the task.
" When I consider the extraordinary recep-
tion which my weak endeavours in the cause of
truth have met with, and compare the greatness
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 79
of my success, with the insignificance of my me-
rit, what reasons have I not to be thankful and
humble ! to be ashamed that I have done so
little public service, and to regret that so little
is in my power! to rouse every power of my na-
ture to purposes of benevolent tendency, in order
to justify, by my intentions at least, the unex-
ampled generosity of my benefactors !
" My religious opinions would, no doubt, if I
were to declare them, sufficiently account for,
and vindicate, my becoming a member of the
Church of England: and I flatter myself, that
my studies, way of life, and habits of thinking,
have always been such, as would not disqualify
me for an ecclesiastical profession. If I were to
become a clergyman, the Church of England
would certainly be my choice ; as I think, that,
in regard to church-government and church-ser-
vice, it has many great and peculiar advantages.
And I am so far from having any natural disin-
clination to holy orders, that I have several times,
at different periods of my life, been disposed to
enter into them, and have directed my studies
accordingly. Various accidents, however, pre-
vented me; some of them pretty remarkable,
and such as I think I might, without presump-
80 LJFE OF DR BEATTIE, .
tion, ascribe to a particular interposition of Pra-
vidence.
" The offer, now made me, is great and gene-
rous beyond all expectation. I am well aware
of all the advantages and honours that would at-
tend my accepting, and yet, I find myself obli-
ged, in conscience, to decline it ; as I lately did
another of the same kind (though not so consi^
derable) that was made me, on the part of an-
other English gentleman.* The reasons which
did then, and do now determine me, I beg leave.
Sir, briefly to lay before you.
" I wrote the ' Essay on Truth,' with the
certain prospect of raising many enemies, with
very faint hopes of attracting the public atten-
tion, and without any views of advancing my for-
tune. I published it, however, because I thought
it might probably do a little good, by bringing
to nought, or at least lessening the reputation of
that wretched system of sceptical philosophy,
which had made a most alarming progress, and
done incredible mischief to this country. My
enemies have been at great pains to represent my
views, in that publication, as very different : and
* See his letter to LadyMayne, p. 48.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 31
that my principal, or only motive, was to make
a book, and, if possible, to raise myself higher in
the world. So that, if I were now to accept pre-
ferment in the church, I should be apprehensive
that I might strengthen the hands of the gain-
sayer, and give the world some ground to be-
lieve that my love of truth was not quite so ar-
dent, or so pure, as I had pretended.
" Besides, might it not have the appearance of
levity and insincerity, and, by some, be construed
into a want of principle, if I were at these years,
(for I am now thirty-eight) to make such an im-
portant change in my way of life, and to quit,
with no other apparent motive than that of bet-
tering my circumstances, that church of which I
have hitherto been a member? If my book has
any tendency to do good, as T flatter myself it
has, I would not, for the wealth of the Indies,
do any thing to counteract that tendency ; and
I am afraid that tendency might, in some mea-
sure, be counteracted, (at least in this country,)
if I were to give the adversary the least ground
to charge me with inconsistency. It is true, that
the force of my reasonings cannot be really af-
fected by my character ; truth is truth, wb.oever
be the speaker: but even truth itselt becomes
VOL. II. F
82 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
less respectable, when spoken, or supposed to be
spoken, by insincere lips.
" It has also been hinted to me, by several per-
sons of very sound judgment, that what I have
written, or may hereafter write, in favour of reli-
gion, has a chance of being more attended to, if
I continue a layman, than if I were to become a
clergyman. Nor am I without apprehensions,
(though some of my friends think them ill-found-
ed,) that, from entering so late in life, and from
so remote a province, into the Church of Eng-
land, some degree of ungracefulness, particularly
in pronunciation, might adhere to my perform-
ances in public, sufficient to render them less
pleasing, and consequently less useful.
" Most of these reasons were repeatedly urged
upon me, during my stay in England last sum-
mer; and I freely own, that, the more I consider
them, the more weight they seem to have. And
from the peculiar manner in which the King has
been graciously pleased to distinguish me, and
from other circumstances, I have some ground
to presume, that it is his Majesty's pleasure that
I should continue where I am, and employ my
leisure hours in prosecuting the studies I have
begun. This I can find time to do more effec-
5
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 83
tually in Scotland than in England, and in Aber-
deen than in Edinburgh ; which, by the bye, was
one of my chief reasons for declining the Edin-
burgh professorship. The business of my profes-
sorship here is indeed toilsome ; but I have, by
fourteen years practice, made myself so much
master of it, that it now requires little mental la-
bour ; and our long summer vacation, of seven
months, leaves me at my own disposal, for the
greatest and best part of the year : a situation fa-
vourable to literary projects, and now become
necessary to my health.
" Soon after my return home, in autumn last,
I had occasion to write to the Archbishop of "^'ork
on this subject. I specified my reasons for giving
up all thoughts of church-preferment; and his
Grace was pleased to approve of them ; nay, he
condescended so far as to say, they did me ho-
nour. 1 told his Grace, moreover, that I had al-
ready given a great deal of trouble to my noble
and generous patrons in England, and could not
think of being any longer a burden to them, now
that his Majesty had so graciously and so gene-
rously made for me a provision equal to my wishes,
and such as puts it in my power to obtain, in Scot-
84 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
land, every convenience of life, to which I have
any title, or any inclination, to aspire.
" I must, therefore, make it my request to you,
that you would present my humble respects, and
most thankful acknowledgments, to the eminent
person, at whose desire you wrote your last let-
ter, (whose name, I hope, you will not be under
the necessity of concealing from me,) and assure
him, that, though I have taken the liberty to de-
cline his generous offer, I shall, to the last hour
of my life, preserve a most grateful remembrance
of the honour he has condescended to confer up-
on me; and, to prove myself not altogether un-
worthy of his goodness, shall employ that health
and leisure which Providence may hereafter af-
ford me, in opposing infidelity, heresy, and error,
and in promoting sound literature, and Christian
truth, to the utmost of my power."
Although secrecy was thus enjoined, at the
period \vhen the correspondence respecting the
livinc; took place, yet it is right that the name
of the itight Reverend Prelate, who made this
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 85
most generous offer to Dr Beattie, should not be
lono-er concealed, now that both are dead. Dr
Thomas, at that time Bishop of Winchester, was
the person, whose letter to Dr Porteus I now
subjoin.
LETTER C.
THE RIGHT REV. THE LORD BISHOP OF WINCHES*
TER TO THE REV\ DR PORTEUS.
Fariiham-Castle, 24th July, 1774-.
" It is now, I think, three weeks ago since I
wrote to you. I then suggested a conversation
that passed between us at Chelsea, relating to
Dr Beattie, and my disposition to shew him some
mark of my esteem and good-will.
" I have a living now vacant, of five hundred
pounds a-year, in Hants, and I wish that you
would sound him, with secrecy, upon the sub-
ject, and let me have a line from you as soon as
you can. The living has been vacant a month;
and I shall have no rest till 1 can disposeof it."
96 LIFE OP DR BEATTIE.
The transactions which I have here related, re-
specting the Edinburgh professorship, and the
church-prefeiTnent offered to him in England,
form a somewhat remarkable peiiod in the hfe
of Dr Beattie, as they evinced the fixed resolu-
tion he had taken, and from which he did not
deviate, of continuing, during the remainder of
his days, at Aberdeen. We find him, indeed,
paying occasional visits to Edinburgh and Lon-
don, during the summer months of the College-
vacation. But these visits seem to have had no
other object than his amusement, and the enjoy-
ing, occasionally, the society of his numerous
friends at both places. He was likewise constant
in his visits every summer to Peterhead,* a place
* Peterhead, a small town in the county of Aberdeen, situa-
ted on the most easterly promontory of Scotland ; famous for a
Chalybeate spring of the nature of the waters of Tunbridge-
wells, and for salt-water baths of admirable construction, which
draw thither a considerable resort of fashionable company du-
ring the summer season, some in search of health, and others
of amusement. But it is chiefly to the industry, the sobriety,
and prudence of the inhabitants, that Peterhead, from being
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 8?
to which he was strongly attached, and in which,
as well as in the society of some friends there, he
much delighted. He thought the air of the place
particularly healthy, and useful to his constitu-
tion; " and I have often," says a friend, who
gave me this information, " seen him stand for a
" long time, on the adjoining promontory, inha-
" ling, in a fine day, the pure air from the ocean,
" and enjoying the majestic prospect, expressing
" great delight in both." He had great confi-
dence, too, in the tonic powers of the mineral
spring, and of the salt-water baths ; and his hope
of being able to go through his professional du-
ties with comfort, during the winter, was in ex-
act proportion to the length of time he had been
able to spend at Peterhead the preceding sum-
mer.
merel}' an insignificant fishing-town, owes its rapid encrease in
commerce, manufactures, and consequent population ; so that,
from two thousand four hundred and twenty souls, to which
number only the inhabitants amounted, so lately as the year
1764, the town is said to have contained no fewer than four
thousand one hundred in the year ITQ*, and is daily increa-
sing, t
t Statistical Account of Scotland, Parish of Peterhead, Vol. XVI. p. '
and p. 563.
88 LIFE OF DR BEATTIF-.
Nor was it on account of the waters, the baths,
and the healthful air alone, that he was so great-
ly attached to Peterliead. He loved the people,
and they loved and respected him; and there
were several of the venerable old inhabitants of
the place, for whose integrity and simplicity of
character he entertained, and was often heard to
express, a high regard. Although he by no means
shunned the society of the numerous strangers,
who flock to Peterhead in the course of the sea-
son, and sometimes dined with them at their
connnon table, yet he spent much of his time
alone, in study, or in the society of a few select
friends. During the fine weather, he dedicated
many hours to his favourite and healthful amuse-
ment, of walking in the fields, or along the sea-
shore ; and he used pleasantly to say, that there
was not a road, nor a foot-path, not a rock, nor
any remarkable stone, in tlie neighbourhood of
Peterhead, with which he was not personally ac-
quainted.
One of the chief employments, and indeed
amusements, of his leisure hours, at this period,
was tile conducting, and superintending the edu-
cation of his eldest son, whom he placed, first, at
the usual public schools at Aberdeen, and after-
LIFE OF t)R BEATTIE. 8^
wards at the Marischal-College in that city.
There the youth's proficiency, in the various
branches of classical learning and philosophy,
was uncommonly great, fie inherited, no doubt,
by nature, an acute genius, which he cultivated
by incessant and laborious apphcation. But it
cannot be questioned, that much of the uncom-
mon progress which he made in the various
branches of science, to which he applied himself,
must have been owing to the incalculable advan-
tages which he derived from the taste, the learn-
ing, and the unremitting attention of so able a
preceptor as his father. Of young Beattie, 1 shall
have ample occasion to speak hereafter.
In Dr Beattie's letters to Mrs Montagu, 27th
May, 1774, he had mentioned his having recei-
ved a letter from Dr Priestley, intimating his
intention of animadverting on the ' Essay on
Truth.' In the following letter, Dr Beattie takes
farther notice of this subject.
90 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CI.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Peterhead, 5th August, 1774.
*' Dr Priestley's Preface is come out, without
any acknowledgment of the information convey-
ed to him in my letter. But he has written to
me on the occasion, and says, he will publish my
letter in that book which he is preparing, in op-
position to the ' Essay on Truth,' as he thinks
such a letter will do me honour. He praises the
candour and generosity which, he says, appear in
my letter, and seems to be satisfied that I wrote
my book with a good intention; which is the
only merit he allows me, at least he mentions no
other. He blames me exceedingly for my want
of moderation, and for speaking, as I have done,
of the moral influence of opinions. He owns, that
his notions, on some of the points in which he
differs from me, are exceedingly unpopular, and
likely to continue so ; and says, that, perhaps, no
two persons professing Christianity ever thought
more differently than he and I do. It is a loss
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 91
to me, he seems to think, that I have never been
acquainted with such persons as himself and his
friends in England : to this he is inclined to im-
pute the improper style I have made use of on
some subjects ; but, he hopes, a little reflection,
and a candid examination of what he is to write
against me, will bring me to a better way of
thinking and speaking. His motive for entering
the lists M'ith me, is no other, he says, than " a
" sincere and pretty strong, though, perhaps, a
"mistaken regard to truth." This is the sub-
stance of his letter, as I understand it. There
are, indeed, some things in it, which I do not
distinctly understand ; and therefore, I believe, I
shall not at present make any reply. He does
not tell me, what the points of difference between
us are : but I find, from some reports that have
penetrated even to this remote corner, that he
has taken some pains to let it be known, that he
is writing an answer to my book. A volume of
his ' Institutes of Religion' lately fell into my
hand, which is the first of his theological works
I have seen; and, I must confess, it does not
give me any high opinion of him. His notions
of Christianity are indeed din erent from mine ; so
very different, that 1 know not whether I should
9f LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
think it necessary Or proper to assume the title
of a Christian, if I were to think and write as he
does. When one proceeds so far, as to admit
some parts of the Gospel History, and reject
others; as to suppose, that some of the facts, re-
corded by the evangehsts of our Saviour, may
reasonably be disbeUeved, and others doubted ;
when one, I say, has proceeded thus far, we may,
without breach of charity, conchide, that he has
within him a spirit of paradox and presumption,
which may prompt him to proceed much further.
Dr Priestley's doctrines seem to me to strike at the
very vitals of Christianity. His success in some
of the branches of natural knowledge seems to
have intoxicated him, and led him to fancy that
he was master of every subject, and had a right
to be a dictator in all : for, in this book of his,
there is often a boldness of assertion, followed
by a weakness of argument, which no man of
parts would adventure upon, who did not think
that his word would be taken for a law. I am
impatient tor the appearance of his book against
me, as I cannot prepare matters for a new edi-
tion of the ' J'lssay on Truth,' till I see what he
has to say against it.
" I have not seen l)r Gerard's ' Essay on Ge-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. ^5
nius.' I know the author very well, for I studied
philosophy under him ; he is a man of great
worth, learning, and good sense. His ' Essay on
Taste' (which you have probably seen) was well
received ; and, I am confident, there will be ma-
ny good things in this new work, notwithstand-
ing the unpromising and hackneyed title."
In the course of the year 1774, Dr Priestley
published his promised work, by the title of "An
" Examination of Dr Reid's Inquiry into theHu-
" man Mind, on the Principles of Common Sense;
*' of Dr Beattie's Essay on the Nature and Im-
" mutability of Truth ; and of Dr Oswald's Ap-
" peal to Common Sense, in behalf of Religion;"
in which he has violently attacked the doctrines
of these philosophers.
To each of them Dr Priestley had sent a let-
ter, containing a sheet of his introduction, and
announcing his intention of animadverting on
their works. To that letter, as has been seen,
Dr Beattie had written an answer, in which he
94 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
had stated certain positions, which, if Dr Priest-
ley attributed to him, Dr Beattie insisted were
no whereto be found, either expressed or impHed,
in any part of his works. This letter, Dr Priest-
ley has very candidly inserted, in an appendix to
his ' Examination.'
Although Dr Priestley treats these three emi-
nent authors with great contempt, yet he speaks
of Dr Beattie with most moderation. He be-
lieves, he says, that Dr Beattie wrote his ' Essay
on the Nature and Immutabi-lity of Truth,' with
the very best intention in the world. And that
it was nothing but his zeal in the most excellent
cause, that of religion, which betrayed him into
rash censures, and into a mode of reasoning,
which Dr Priestley cannot help thinking to be
very prejudicial to the cause of that very truth
which he means to support, and favouring that
very scepticism which he imagined he was over-
throwing.
I believe farther, continues Dr Priestley, and
I most sincerely rejoice in it, that Dr Beattie's
* Treatise' has done a great deal of good to the
cause of religion ; and I hope it will still continue
to do so, with a great majority of those who are
most in danger of being seduced by the sophis-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 95
try of Mr Hume, and other modem unbelievers ;
I mean with superficial thinkers, who are satisfied
with seeing superficial objections answered, in a
lively, though a superficial manner.
But there is danger, he adds, lest other persons,
of greater penetration, finding, that Dr Beattie
argues on fallacious unphilosophical principles,
should reject at once, and without farther exami-
nation, all that he has built upon them. With
respect to such persons, it may be of importance
to show, Dr Priestley continues, that religion,
though assailed from so many quarters as it has
been of late, is under no necessity of taking re-
fuge in such untenable fortresses, as Dr Reid, Dr
Beattie, and Dr Oswald, have provided for her ;
but that she may safely face the enemy on his
own ground, opposing argument to argument,
and silencing sophistry by rational discussion.
And as he believes Dr Beattie, he says, to be a
man of candour, he doubts not, but he will him-
self take in good part his free animadversions.
If tjiith be really our object, continues Dr Priest-
ley, as it is in the titles of our books, and we be
free from any improper bias, we shall rejoice in
the detection of error, though it should appear to
have sheltered itself under our own roofs. I am
g6 LIFE OP DR BEATTIE.
very serious, he goes on, when I add, that such
a degree of candour and impartiality may be
more especially expected of Christians, and, more
especially still, of those who stand forth as cham-
pions in the cause of Christianity, which is at the
same time the cause of the most important truth,
and of the most generous and distinguished vir-
tue. *
The declaration with which Dr Priestley pre-
faces his ' Examination of the Essay on Truth,'
has, no doubt, an appearance of candour and mo-
deration, which, however, does not very well
agree with the manner in which he has conduct-
ed his attack. Indeed, no two writers were ever
more opposite to each other in their modes of
thinking on the most interesting subjects. Dr
Priestley was an avowed Socinian ; a staunch be-
liever in the doctrine of necessity ; and, though
he admitted the great pillar of CInistianity, the
resurrection of the dead, yet he subscribed to the
doctrine of materialism, f In all tliis, and in
many other particulars, the principles of Dr Beat-
tie were the very reverse. Tiie attack of Dr
* Priestley's Remarks on Dr Bcattie's Essay, p. 115.
t Preface to " Disquisitions relating to Matter and Spirit,"
p. xiii.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 97
Priestley, however, gave him no concern. He
appears, indeed, by his correspondence with his
friends, to have formed, at first, the resolution of
replying to it ; and he speaks as if he had alrea-
dy prepared his materials, and of being altogether
in such a state of forwardness, as to be fully rea-
dy for the task. On farther consideration, how-
ever, he abandoned the idea, and he no doubt
judged wisely. For, while Dr Priestley's ' Exa-
mination' is now never heard of, the ' Essay on
Truth' remains a classical work, of the highest
reputation and authority.
In the following letter to one of his young
friends, Dr Beattie speaks of the style of Addi-
son, a topic on which he delighted to enlarge.
Of the prose of that inimitable writer, he could
not, indeed, speak too highly ; but of his poetry,
Dr Beattie's judgment seems to be too severe.
While, on the other hand, most readers, I believe,
will think his praise of the comedy of * The
Drummer' not a little extravagant.
VOL. ir. G
98 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
In this letter, Dr Beattie mentions the story,
which Pope and his friends certainly believed,
that the first book of the * Iliad' was either tran-
slated by Addison himself in opposition to Pope,
or, if by Tickell, under Addison's direction. But
of this no clear proof has ever been produced, nor
any thing else than some slight and vague suspi-
cions, of no authority. The learned Dr Hurd,
the present Bishop of Worcester, in his ' Life of
Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester,' has given an
acute and ingenious dissertation on the subject,
in which he strongly vindicates Addison from
the charge brought against him by Pope and his
friends, and shows, with every appearance of pro-
bability, that the translation was Tickell's own,
and most likely begun by him before he knew
any thing of Pope's undertaking. Dr Hurd adds
some curious conjectures as to the cause of Pope's
entertaining the suspicion, respecting this trans-
lation by Tickell, of which his lordship has in
his library a printed copy, wherein are entered
many criticisms and remarks in Pope's own hand ;
and from two of these, compared together, the
Bishop thinks the true ground of Pope's suspicion
may, with great plausibility, be collected. He
farther says, that on mentioning these circum-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 99
stances to the Bishop of Gloucester, that pre-
late owned himself so much satisfied, that he de-
clared, if he lived to publish a new edition of the
works of Pope, he should omit the charge against
Addison. *
In this letter to Mr Cameron, Dr Beattie, who
could know nothing of this dissertation of the
Bishop of Worcester's, because it was not printed
till long afterwards, agrees exactly in opinion
with the learned prelate, as to the versification
of that first book of the ' Iliad' being unworthy
of Addison ; and if Dr Beattie ever saw the dis-
sertation, he must have rejoiced to find the me-
mory of his favourite author so successfully vin-
dicated, against this malignant reproach. The
unfortunate quarrel between Pope and Addison,
which gave occasion to one of the severest and
most eloquent satires in the whole range of Eng-
lish poetry, f is well known.
* Life of Bishop Warburton, prefixed to the edition of his
works in quarto, p. 56 63.
t Pope's Works, Vol. IV. p. 17. Prologue to the Satires,
1. 193.
100 LIFE Of DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CII.
DR BEATTIE TO THE REV. MR WILLIAM CAMERON.*
Aberdeen, 22d September, 1774.
" Your judgment of Addison is quite right.
His prose is most elegant, and deserves to be care-
fully studied for the style, as well as for the mat-
ter. But his poetry is in general cold, and pro-
saic, and inharmonious. Yet his tragedy of ' Cato'
has great merit ; and his comedy of ' The Drum-
mer is, in my opinion, one of the best dramatic
pieces in our language. He attempted a transla-
tion of Homer, and actually published the first
book of it, under Tickell's name, in opposition to
Pope's ; but the performance is altogether un-
* Minister of the parish of Kirk-Newton, in the county of
West Lothian. Having studied at Marischal College, Aberdeen,
he had been a pupil of Dr Beattie's, who ever after entertained
for him much esteem, as Mr Cameron, in return, regarded Dr
Beattie with sentiments of the warmest enthusiasm. Mr Came-
ron had early discovered a considerable degree of poetical ge-
nius, of which he has given no unfavourable specimen, in a
small collection of poems, printed some years ago. The in-
structions to young students, in this letter, are excellent.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 101
worthy of Addison, and totally destitute of the
fire, and energy, and harmony of Homer.
" Your studies are in an excellent train. Read
the classics day and night, till you make yourself
master of them. Exercise yourself in frequent
compositions in English prose. Write your
thoughts on every subject, and carefully keep
what you write. Attend to the phraseology of
the best English writers, with a view to correct
and improve your English style. We Scotsmen
find it a very difficult matter to get rid of the
barbarisms of our native dialect."
LETTER cm.
MRS MONTAGU TO DR BEATTIE.
Hill^Street, January the 17 th, 1775.
" I approve greatly of what you have said of
Lord Chesterfield's ' Letters ;' truth, so elegant-
ly and concisely expressed, will make an impres-
sion on the head and heart, and efface the false
principles those letters had introduced into the
minds of the unwary.
102 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
" Lord Chesterfield was an example of the jus-
tice of your assertion, that if men believed one
another to be knaves and hypocrites, politeness
of language and attitude, instead of being grace-
ful, would appear as lidiculous as the chattering
of a parrot, or the grinning of a monkey. For
the moment we are pleased with the imitation
of sounds and gesture in the parrot or the ape,
(but that pleasure not arising from apprehension
of some sentiment, expressed by voice or action,)
though we admire the art which effects the imi-
tation, sympathies and affections are quite out of
the question. Thus, all the world admired the
politeness of Lord Chesterfield, and acknowled-
ged the elegance of his civilities ; they felt, at
the time, a soothing sweetness in his conversa-
tion ; but all this was perfectly void of any mu-
tual endearment, and they parted on the same
terms as the audience and a musician; the first
admiring the art which for a moment excited
sentiment, unfelt by the artist ; the other pleased
with the impression he had made by the energies
of his pecuhar skill.
" I perfectly agree with you, that Dr Hawkes-
worth said many rash things in his works. I be-
lieve he was a good Christian, but not having
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 103
had a literary education, he was not systematical ;
the human mind is liable to strange starts, if it
has not been in early and good training. If
voyages were well written, they would admirably
evince the regular government and superinten-
dence of Providence; but ignorance, rashness,
and a love of novelty, and the marvellous, makes
them operate in a different direction.
" I am sure you will rejoice to hear the Du-
chess of Portland is now well. It has pleased
God to preserve still to us an example to the
great, and a protector of the unfortunate, and the
most amiable and valuable of friends. I had the
happiness of passing yesterday evening with her,
in her private dressing-room, in which I passed
many of those youthful hours, which dance away
with down upon their feet ; but never did their
smoothest pace, and gayest measure, give me
such heart- felt delight, as last night's reflection
on the many mercies that had led us both such a
series of years, through a period of innocence, to
the present time, so that we can look back with
pleasure, and forward with hope, and while we
remain here, by mercies past, may indulge a wish
to chear each other through the declining path
of life."
104 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CIV.
DR BEATTIE TO THE REV. DR PORTEUS.
Aberdeen, 4th March, 1775.
" I have just finished a hasty perusal of Dr
Johnson's journey. It contains many things
worthy of the author, and is, on the whole, very
entertaining. His account of the isles is, I dare
say, very just : I never was there, and therefore
can say nothing of them, from my own know-
ledge. His accounts of some facts, relating to
other parts of Scotland, are not unexceptionahle.
Either he must have been misinformed, or he
must have misunderstood his informer, in regard
to several of his remarks on the improvement of
the country. I am surprised at one of his mis-
takes, which leads him once or twice into per-
plexity, and false conjecture: he seems not to
have known, that, in the common language of
Scotland, Irish and Earse are both used to denote
the speech of the Scots Highlanders; and are as
much synonimous (at least in many parts of the
kingdom) as Scotch and Scottish. Irish is gene-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 105
rally thought the genteeler appellation, and Earse
the vulgar and colloquial. His remarks on the
trees of Scotland, must greatly surprise a native.
In some of our provinces, trees cannot be reared
by any method of cultivation we have yet disco-
vered; in some, where trees flourish extremely
well, they are not much cultivated, because they
are not necessary : but in others, we have store
of wood, and forests of great extent, and of great
antiquity. I am sorry to see in Johnson some
asperities, that seem to be the effect of national
prejudice. If he thinks himself thoroughly ac-
quainted with the character of the Scots as a na-
tion, he is greatly mistaken. The Scots have vir-
tues, and the Scots have faults, of which he seems
to have had no particular information. I am one
of those who wish to see the English spirit and
English manners prevail over the whole island ;
for I think the English have a generosity and
openness of nature, which many of us want.
But we are not all, without exception, a nation
of cheats and liars, as Johnson seems willing to
believe, and to represent us. Of the better sort
of our people, the character is just the reverse. I
admire Johnson s genius ; I esteem him for his
virtues ; I shall ever cherish a grateful remeni-
105 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
brance of the civilities I have received from him :
I have often, in this country, exerted myself in
defence both of his character and writings ; but
there are in this book several things which I can-
not defend. His unbelief, in regard to Ossian, I
am not surprised at ; but I wonder greatly at his
credulity in regard to the second-sight. I cannot
imagine on what grounds he could say, that, in
the universities of Scotland, every master of arts
may be a doctor when he pleases. I never heard
of such a thing, and I have been connected with
our universities ever since I was a boy. Our me-
thod of giving doctor's degrees I do not approve
of; but we proceed on a principle quite different
from what Dr Johnson mentions."
LETTER CV.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Gatton-Park, near Ryegate, 27th June, 1775.
" I would have written to you long ago, if I
had had time to write a long letter; but, for six
or seven weeks after I came to town, I was so
constantly engaged with company, that I had no
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 10/
leisure at all. The greatest part of that time, I
lodged with my friend Dr Porteus, at Lambeth,
who did every thing in his power to amuse and
entertain me. His conversation is cheerful, and
occasionally even sportive : He is warm and zea-
lous as a friend; kind, gentle, and polite, as a
companion. He is now gone to reside at one of
his livings in the country, whither he earnestly
wished us to follow him ; but I am afraid we shall
see him no more this summer. We are now with
Sir William Mayne, at one of the finest places I
have ever seen ; a place adorned with every charm
that hill and dale, lawn and grove, wood and wa-
ter, can bestow, and which wants nothing but
cataracts, precipices, barren mountains, and a
view of the sea, to make it supereminent in every
rural beauty. But, though we have not the sea,
we have a boundless prospect of a rich country,
extending upwards of thirty miles. Here I have
made it my business to be as idle as possible, in
order to indemnity myself for the fatigue and
bustle of London ; and, since I came hither, my
health has improved greatly. Mrs Beattie is also
much better. But we must soon think of return-
ing lo the north, as we wish to be in Aberdeen
108 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
early in August, and have many visits to make
by the way.
" During my stay in London, I visited most
of my old friends, and made several new acquisi-
tions, particularly among the bishops and clergy,
who all showed me a degree of attention, far su-
perior to my deservings. I have been at court/
too, where the King (who knew me at first sigiit)
was pleased to speak to me very graciously, ask-
ing me several questions about my studies, and
observing, that I looked much better than when
he saw me last.
" You will no doubt be curious to hear some-
thing of Priestley. 1 have not yet met with, nor
heard ofj one single person, who does not blame
his book against Dr Reid and me. Even those
of his admirers, who think favourably of his ar-
guments, condenni the spirit of that performance.
But the book has attracted very little notice, and
would seem at present to be in a fair way of be-
ing speedily forgotten, notwithstanding tlie pains
taken by its author to puff it away in newspapers.
My inclination was (as I told you) to publish a
pamphlet in direct answer to it. But 1 now be-
gin to think, that will be unnecessary, and will
only give scope to further controversy, Dr Priest-
LIFE OF Dli BEATTIE. 109
ley having already declared, that he will answer
whatever I may publish in my own vindication ;
and being a man who loves bustle and book-
making, he wishes above all things that I should
give him a pretext for continuing the dispute.
To silence him by force of argument, is, I know,
impossible. He would still fall upon new modes
of misrepresentation, and would still find it an
easy matter to make a book, which should seem
plausible to his implicit admirers, or to those who
had entered but slightly into the subject. All
my friends here have been urging me not to an-
swer him ; and have told me, what I know is
true, that his work cannot possibly do me any
harm ; that it has been little read, and will soon
be forgotten ; that he is a man of that sort, that
it is even creditable (on moral and religious sub-
jects at least) to have him for an adversary ; and
that I cannot gratify him more, than by writing
against him. All this, I say, I know to be true ;
yet I am not entirely of their opinion, who think
that 1 ought to neglect him altogether. I there-
fore propose to take a middle course : and, with-
out making any formal answer to Dr Priestley,
to write something by way of genei^al answer to
those objections to my doctrine that have appeared
110 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
hitherto in pamphlets or newspapers ; observing,
at the same time, that I do not think it worth
while to reply to the abuse that has been thrown
out against me, or to those viis represent at iojis of
my meaning, which some authors, particularly Dr
Priestley, have thought proper to obtrude upon
the world."
LETTER CVI.
DR BEATTIE TO THE REV. DR PORTEUS.
St James's Square, July 9th, 1775.
" Dr Majendie has just returned to me the let-
ter I wrote, declining the offer of the Church-
living. I send it to you enclosed. He gave it
to the Queen, who condescended to read it over
from beginning to end, and A\as then pleased to
say, " That it was a very sensible letter, and did
" me much honour." I was anxious, that my
reasons for chusing to continue a layman should
be known at court ; as a report has been circula-
ting, that I declined church-preferment in Eng-
land, because I could not reconcile myself to the
doctrines and discipline of the Church: a re-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. HI
port -v^hich those who know me best, know to be
ill-founded. I admire the Church of England,
on many accounts. 1 think I could, with a clear
conscience, live and die a member, or even a mi-
nister of it. Its doctrines seem to me to be those
of Christianity ; its rites and ceremonies I great-
ly approve of; and the constitution of its hierar-
chy is equally favourable to the interests of reli-
gion, and the civil government of this country.**
LETTER CVII.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
. Aberdeen, 17th August, 1775.
*' After passing a few days with our friends at
Edinburgh, we proceeded northwards, and arri-
ved here in safety about ten days ago. The last
stage of our journey was distinguished by an ac-
cident, which, if Providence had not interposed,
would have made it the last stage of our life.
The iron axle of the chaise snapt suddenly in
two, and the carriage was thrown upon its side,
within two feet of the brink of a precipice, thir-
ty yards deep. Here we lay for a few moments,
1 12 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
with the horses flouncing about us, till at last,
partly by the harness giving way, and partly by
the activity of the postilion, they were disenga-
ged from the carriage, and went off at full speed.
An English gentleman, on horseback, was then
in sight, behind us, who immediately galloped
up, and, in the most humane manner, enquired,
whether he could be of any service ; and, having
seen us fairly rescued from our shattered vehicle,
remounted his horse, galloped back to the inn,
and soon returned with another chaise.
" I have begun my transcribing, which, even
if I had nothing to do in the way of correction,
would take up some hours of every day for
months to come. I have made many attempts
at a preface to my quarto volume ; but have not,
as yet, been able to please myself It seems to
me, that the best way to obviate all objections,
and to prevent mistakes, in regard to this publi-
cation, is to give a short and honest account of
the plain matter of fact. This I have endea-
voured to do in the enclosed paper, with which,
if you approve of it, I intend to begin my pre-
face. The sequel will contain some account of
the additional essays, and of the improvements
in this edition of the ' Essay on Truth.'
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 1 13
" To make some amends for the terrifying in-
cident, recorded in the first part of this letter, I
shall now mention a pleasing one, which was
told me by a gentleman of this country, a friend
of mine, who lately went to Stratford upon Avon,
to pay his duty at the shrine of the man oj JVar-
wickshire. You certainly know, that Garrick
erected a statue of Shakespeare, in a niche in the
wall of the town-house, facing the street. As
my friend was contemplating this statue, he saw,
perched on one of the hands, a dove, which, at
first, he took for an emblem, as the creature was
quite motionless; but which, in a Httle time, be-
gan to move, and scramble upwards, till it reach-
ed the bosom of the statue, in which, as in its
home, it nestled, with great appearance of satis-
faction. Charles Boyd, Lord ErroUs brother, has,
I hear, composed a little poem on the subject, of
which I shall send you a copy, as soon as I have
seen the author. If Mr Garrick comes in your
way, before you leave England, I am sure he will
be pleased with this little narrative.
" The day after I returned home, I visited the
little man, whose magnanimity you are pleased
to reward in so generous a manner. I found him
in great want of clothes, and very infirm ; for he
VOL. II. H
114 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
is now of a great age. I told him, that a lady
in England had desired me to give him some
money. This very interesting news he received
with much composure, but implored, with great
fervour, the blessing of Heaven upon his bene-
factress. I have not seen him since that time.
Since the days of chivalry, I do not suppose that
any lady has had so complete a dwarf, as you,
madam, have now at your service; for 1 cannot
think that he is full three feet high."
LETTER CVIII.
MRS MONTAGU TO DR BEATTIE.
Tunbridge-wells, September 3d, 1775.
" It was not without trembling and horror, 1
read the account of your overturn, and the dan-
gerous circumstances with which it was attend^
ed. The traveller, who is obliged to traverse a
pathless wilderness, or in a frail boat to cross the
angry ocean, devoutly prays to the Omnipotent
to assist and preserve liim ; the occasion awakens
his fears, and animates his devotion : but it is
only from experience and rttiection we are taught
LIFE OF DR BKAtTIE. 115
to consider every day, which passes in safety, and
closes in peace, as a mercy. If I had known
when you had set out from Denton, how near to
a precipice you would have been thrown, I should
more earnestly have prayed for your preservation
through the journey ; but the incident at once
makes me sensible, that our safety depends, not
on the road, but the hand that upholds and guides
us.
" I left Denton the first day of August. On
the second, by noon, I reached the episcopal pa-
lace of our friend, the Archbishop of York, * at
Bishop's Thorpe. I had before visited him at his
family-seat at Brodsworth. The man who has a
character of his own, is little changed by vary-
ing his situation ; I can only say, that, at his fa-
mily-seat, I found him the most of a prelate of
any gentleman, and, at his palace, the most of a
gentleman I had ever seen. Native dignity is
the best ground-work of assumed and special
dignity. We talked a great deal of you; the
subject was copious and pleasant. We consider-
ed you, as a poet, with admiration ; as a philoso-
* Honourable Mr Hay Drummond, at that time Archbishop
of York.
\16 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
pher, with respect ; as a Christian, with venera-
tion ; and as a friend, with affection. His Grace's
health is not quite what we could wish. I could
indulge myself in no longer than one day's delay
at Bishop's Thorpe. I then made the hest of my
way to London, and, after a very short stay there,
came toTunbridge. I have the happiness of ha-
ving Mrs Carter in my house, and Mrs Vesey is
not at a quarter of a mile's distance ; thus, though
I live secluded from the general world, I have
the society of those I love best. I propose to
stay here about three weeks, then I return to
London, to prepare for my expedition to the south
of France. I have written to a gentleman at
Montauban, to endeavour to get for me a large
house in any part of that town. I am assured
that the climate of Montauban is very delight-
ful ; the air is dry, but not piercing, as at Mont-
pelier. There is but little society; but there are
some provincial noblesse, amongst whom I hope
to find some who are more in the ton of Louis
XIV's court, than I should at Versailles. It is
long before the polished manners of a court ar-
rive at the flistant regions of a great country ;
but, when there, they acquire a permanent esta-
blishment. At Paris, the minister, or the favou-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 117
rite of the day, is taken for the model, and there
is a perpetual change of manners. I think, with
some pleasure, of escaping the gloom of our win-
ter, and the bustle of London, and passing my
time in the blessings of cheerful tranquillity and
soft sunshine ; at the same time, there is some-
thing painful in removing so far from one's dear-
est friends.
" I wish much to see the verses on the pretty
incident of the dove's alighting on Shakespeare's
statue. Of whatever nature and disposition the
animal had been, he might have been presented
as a symbol of Shakespeare. The gravity and
deep thought of the bird of wisdom ; the sublime
flight of the eagle to the starry regions, and the
throne of Jove ; the pensive song of the nightin-
gale, when she shuns the noise of folly, and
sooths the midnight visionary ; the pert jack-
daw, that faithfully repeats the chit-chat of the
market or the shop ; the sky-lark, that, soaring,
seems to sing to the denizens of the air, and set
her music to the tone of beings of another re-
gion, would all assort with the genius of uni-
versal Shakespeare."
118 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CIX.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Aberdeen, 17th September, 1775.
" Your reflections on the little disaster, with
which our journey concluded, exactly coincide
with mine. I agree with Hawkesworth, that the
peril and the deliverance are equally providen-
tial ; and I wonder he did not see, that both the
one and the other may be productive of the very
best effects. These little accidents and trials are
necessary to put us in mind of that superintend-
ing goodness, to which we are indebted for every
breath we draw, and of which, in the hour of
tranquillity, many of us are too apt to be forget-
ful. But you, Madam, forget nothing which a
Christian ought to remember ; and, therefore, I
hope and pray, that Providence may defend you
from every alarm. By the way, there are several
things, besides that preface to which I just now
referred, in the writings of Hawkesworth, that
shew an unaccountable perplexity of mind in re-
gard to some of the principles of natural religion.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 119
I observed, in his conversation, that he took a
pleasure in ruminating upon riddles, and puz-
zling questions, and calculations ; and he seems
to have carried something of the same temper
into his moral and theological researches. His
* Almoran and Hamet' is a strange confused nar-
rative, and leaves upon the mind of the reader
some disagreeable impressions, in regard to the
ways of Providence ; and from the theory of
pity, which he has given us somewhere in ' The
Adventurer,' one would suspect that he was no
enemy to the philosophy of Hobbes. However,
I am disposed to impute all this rather to a vague
way of thinking, than to any perversity of heart
or understandmg. ( )nly, 1 wish, that, in his last
work, he had been more ambitious to tell the
plain truth, than to deliver to the world a won-
derful story. I confess, that, from the first, I
was inclined to consider his vile portrait of the
manners of Otaheite as in part fictitious ; and I
am now assured, upon the very best authority,
that Dr Solander disavows some of those narra-
tions, or at least declares them to be grossly mis-
represented. There is, in almost all the late
books of travels I have seen, a disposition on the
part of the author to recommend licentious theo-
120 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
ries. I would not object to the truth of any fact
that is warranted by the testimony of competent
witnesses. But how few of our travellers are
competent judges of the facts they relate ! How
few of them know any thing accurately of the
language of those nations, whose laws, religion,
and moral sentiments, they pretend to describe !
And how few of them are free from that inordi-
nate love of the marvellous, which stimulates
equally the vanity of the writer, and the curiosi^
ty of the reader ! Suppose a Japanese crew to ar-
rive in England, take in wood and water, ex-
change a few commodities ; and, after a stay of
three months, to set sail for their own country,
and there set forth a history of the English go-
vernment, religion, and manners : it is, I think,
highly probable, that, for one truth, they would
deliver a score of falsehoods. But Europeans, it
will be said, have more sagacity, and know more
of mankmd. Be it so : but this advantage is not
without inconveniences, sufficient, perhaps, to
counterbalance it. When a European arrives in
any icmote part of the globe, the natives, if they
know any thing of his country, will be apt to
form no favouiable opinion of his intentions,
with regiud to their libeities; if they know no-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 121
thing of him, they will yet keep aloof, on ax;-
eount of his strange language, complexion, and
accoutrements. In either case, he has little
chance of understanding their laws, manners,
and principles of action, except by a long resi-
dence in the country, which would not suit the
views of one traveller in five thousand. He,
therefore, picks up a few strange plants and ani-
mals, which he may do with little trouble or dan-
ger ; and, at his return to Europe, is welcomed
by the literati as a philosophic traveller of most
accurate observation, and unquestionable veraci-
ty. He describes, perhaps, with tolerable exact-
ness, the soils, plants, and other irrational curio-
sities of the new country, which procures credit
to what he has to say of the people ; though his
accuracy in describing the material phenomena
is no proof of his capacity to explain the moral.
One can easily dig to the root of a plant, but it
is not so easy to penetrate the motive of an ac-
tion ; and, till the motive of an action be known,
we are no competent judges of its morality, and
in many cases the motive of an action is not to
be known without a most intimate knowledge of
the language and manners of the agent. Our
traveller then delivers a few facts of the moral
122 LIFE O? Dll BEATTIK.
kind, which, perhaps, he does not understand,
and from them draws some inferences suitable to
tlie taste of the times, or to a favourite hypothe-
sis. He tells us of a Californian, who sold his
bed in a morning, and came with tears in his
eyes to beg it back at night; whence, he very
wisely infers, that the poor Californians are hard-
ly one degree above the brutes in understanding,
for that they have neither foresight nor memory
sufficient to direct their conduct on the most
common occasions of life. In a word, they are
quite a different species of animal from the Eu-
ropean ; and it is a gross mistake to think, that
all mankind are descended from the same first
parents. But one needs not go so far as to Cali-
fornia, in quest of men who sacrifice a future
good to a present gratification. In the metropo-
lis of Great Britain, one may meet with many re-
puted Christians, who would act the same part,
for the pleasure of carousing half a day in a gin-
shop. Again, to illustrate the same important
truth, that man is a beast, or very little better,
we are told of another nation, on the banks of
the Orellana, so wonderfully stupid, that they can-
not reckon beyond the number three, but point
to the hair of their head, whenever they would
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 123
signify a greater number; as if four, and four
thousand, were to them equally inconceivable.
But, whence it comes to pass, that these people
are capable of speech, or of reckoning at all, even
so far as to three, is a difficulty of which our his-
torian attempts not the solution. But till he
shall solve it, I must beg leave to tell him, that
the one half of his tale contradicts the other as
effectually, as if he had told us of a people who
were so weak as to be incapable of bodily exer-
tion, and yet, that he had seen one of them lift
a stone of a hundred weight. I beg your par-
xJon, Madam, for running into this subject. The
truth is, I was lately thinking to write upon it;
but I shall not have leisure these many months.
" Take no farther concern about your dwarf.
The person whom you honour with your notice,
I shall always think it my duty to care for. I
have let it be known in the town what you have
done for him; which, I hope, will be a spur to
the generosity of others, lie has paid me but
one visit as yet. His wants are few; and he
seems to be modest as well as magnanimous.
Both virtues certainly entitle him to considera-
tion.
" I have not yet seen the verses on Shakespeare
124 LIFE OF DIl BEATTIE.
and the dove. One thing I am certain of, which
is, that they will contain nothing so much to the
purpose, or so elegant, as what you have said on
the occasion, in prose. You justly remark, that
any bird of character, from the eagle to the sky-
lark, from the owl to the mock-bird, might sym-
bolise with one or other of the attributes of that
universal genius. But do not you think, that his
dove-like qualities arc among those on which he
ncnv reflects with peculiar complacency ? And I
think it could be shown, from many things in
his writings, that he resembled the dove as much
as the eagle. There are no surly fellows among
his favourite characters ; and he seems to excel
himself in the delineation of a good-natured one.
Witness his Brutus, who is indeed finished con
amort; and who, in gentleness of nature, exceeds
even the Brutus of the good-natured Plutarch,
as this last exceeded, by many degrees, (if we
are to believe some creditable historians,) the
true original Brutus, who fell at Philippi. There
are, besides, in the writings of Shakespeare, in-
numerable passages that bespeak a mind pecu-
liarly attentive to the rights of humanity, and to
the feelings of animal nature. Lear, when his
distress is at the highest, sympathises with those,
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 135
who, amidst the pinchings of want and naked-
ness, are exposed to the tempestuous elements. I
need not put you in mind of the poor sequestered
stag in ' As you hke it :' nor need I say more on
a subject, with which you are much better ac-
quainted than I am."
LETTER ex.
THE REV. DR PORTEUS TO DR BEATTIE.
Lambeth, January 11th, 1776.
*' T should have thanked you much sooner for
your last letter, of the 17th of October, if I had
not waited for a second from you, which you
gave me reason to expect in a short time af-
ter the first. This, I now conclude, has slipped
your memory, or has been rendered impracticable,
by your many important avocations, which, at
this time of the year, I know, are very numerous.
I am afraid, too, bad health has had some share
in suspending your correspondence with your
friends.
" I congratulate you, most cordially, on the
many dangers you have escaped, since we saw
126 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
you, both in your own persons, and that of your
little boy's. Your escape from the precipice,
where your chaise was overturned, was really
next to miraculous. At least, I am sure, it af-
fords a strong argument in favour of a particular
Providence, and might very well be opposed to
all the profound reasonings of Dr Hawkesworth
against it. Though, I suppose, the Doctor would
have said in your case, as he did of that of the
Endeavour on the rock, that, instead of interpo-
sing to deliver you out of that danger, it should
have taken care to preserve you from ever coming
into it. But where, then, would have been that
strong sense of God's favour and protection, that
gratitude and thankfulness for so visible a mark
of it, that entire trust and acquiescence in it for
the future, which, I am sure, so singular an ac-
cident produces in your mind, and must have
produced in every mind, not totally devoid of all
religious principles and devout sentiments."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 1Q7
LETTER CXI.
>
DR BEATTIE TO THE REV. MR JOHN LUNDIE.
Aberdeen, 17 th September, 1775.
" I am much obliged to you for the Latin trans-
lation of ' Christ's Kirk on the Green.' It is, as
you observe, vastly inferior to Vincent Bourne.
I have not had time to read it very critically;
but I should imagine, from what 1 have seen,
that the translator has not always hit his au-
thor's meaning. I know not on what authority
we ascribe this old poem to our King James L
If it be his, which I very much doubt, it is sur-
prising, that he, a king, aad who had his educa-
tion in England, should be so well acquainted
with the manners of the common people of Scot-
land, t
* Minister of the parish of Lonmay in Aberdeenshire, one
of the very few remaining of Dr Beattie's earhest friends. My
own intimate acquaintance with this venerable and respectable
clergyman has subsisted, without interruption, for upwards of
half a century.
+ In the biographical account of our friend Mr Tytler, I have
LIFE OF DH liEATTIE.
LETTER CXII.
Dft BEATTIE TO THE HONOURAl^LE MR BAUON GOR-
DON. *
Aberdeen, 6th February, 1776.
"I have been very much employed in preparing
some httle things of mine for the press; other-
assigned some reasons for believing^: King James I. of Scotland
to have been the author of ' Christ's Kirk on the Green.' lu
reply to Dr Beattie's surprise, how that prince, who had his edu-
cation in England, could be so well acquainted with the manners
of the common people of Scotland, it may be observed, that
James was eleven years of age before he left Scotland. He
had therefore ample opportunity of being familiarly conversant
with the characteristic sports and genius of the people among
whom he had been brought up. And as what we see and hear,
at that early period, makes the deepest and most lasting impres-
sion on the mind, even a captivity orf nineteen years in Eng-
land could not obliterate the ideas he had received in early
youth, when he returned and took possession of his kingdom, in
which he reigned thirteen years, before he was cut off by a foul
assassination.
* Cosmo Gordon of Cluny, in Aberdeenshire, one of the
Barons of his Majesty's Court of Exchequer in Scotland. Pos-
sessed of an ample paternal fortune, which, by (I'conomy, he
had himself considerably improved, he lived with splendkl hos-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 129
wise I should sooner have acknowledged the fa-
vour of your most obliging letter.
" The last time I read Virgil, I took it into my
head, that the tenth and eleventh books of the
jEneid were not so highly finished as the rest.
Every body knows, that the last six books are
less perfect than the first six ; and I fancied that
some of the last six came nearer to perfection
than others. I cannot now recollect my reasons
for this conceit ; but I propose to read the ^neid
again, as soon as I have got rid of this publica-
tion ; and I hope I shall then be in a condition
to give something of a reasonable answer to any
question you may do me the honour to propose
in regard to that matter.
pitality, and very successfully cultivated letters, and courted
the society of men of learning. Having the advantage himself
of a correct taste, and much classical learning, particularly in
the best Roman authors, with whom he was familiarly acquaint-
ed, Mr Baron Gordon was a most entertaining companion, as
well as excellent correspondent. He was much attached to Dv
Beattie, who frequently spent some days with him, atr his seat
of Cluny, not far from Aberdeen : and to him, jointly with
Major Mercer, Mr Arbuthnot, and myself, Dr Beattie dedi-
cated the volume of his son's miscellanies, and the account of
his life, which was printed soon after his death. I enjoyed the
benefit of Mr Baron Gordon's intimate acquaintance, from a
very early period of life. He died in Edinburgh, 19th Novem-
ber, 1800.
VOL. II. I
ISO LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
" I do not mean, that tlie tenth or eleventh
books are at all imperfect; I only mean, that
they fall short of Virgilian perfection. And many
passages there are in both, which Virgil himself
could not, in my opinion, have made better.
Such are the story of Mezentius and Lausus, in
the end of the tenth book ; and that passage in
the eleventh, where old Evander meets the dead
body of his son. Mezentius is a character of
Virgil's own contrivance, and it is extremely well-
drawn: an old tyrant, hated by his people, on
account of his impiety and cruelty, yet graced
with one amiable virtue, which is sometimes
found in very rugged minds, a tender affection
for a most deserving son. Filial affection is one
of those virtues which Virgil dwells upon with
peculiar pleasure; he never omits any opportu-
nity of bringing it in, and he always paints it in
the most lovely colours, ^neas, Ascanius, Eu-
ryalus, Lausus, are all eminent for this virtue ;
and Turnus, when he asks his life, asks it only
for the sake of his poor old father. Let a young
man read the iEneid with taste and attention,
and then be an undutiful child if he can. I
think there is nothing very distinguishing in Ca-
milla. Perhaps it is not easy to imagine more
LIFE OF Dll BEATTIE. 131
than one form of that character. The adven-
tures of her early youth are, however, highly in-
teresting, and wildly romantic. The circumstance
of her being, when an infant, thrown across a
river, tied to a javeHn, is so very singular, that I
should suppose Virgil had found it in some his-
tory; and, if I mistake not, Plutarch has told
such a story of King Pyrrhus. The battle of the
horse, in the end of the eleventh book, is well
conducted, considering that Virgil was there left
to his shifts, and had not Homer to assist him.
The speeches of Drances and Turnus are highly
animated ; and nothing could be better contrived
to raise our idea of ^neas, than the answer which
Diomede gives to the ambassadors from the Ita-
lian army.
" I ought to ask pardon for troubling you with
these superficial remarks. But a desire to ap-
prove myself worthy of being honoured with your
commands, has led me into a subject, for which
I am not at present prepared. When I have the
pleasure to pay my respects to you at Cluny,
which, I hope, will be early in the summer, I
shall be glad to talk over these matters, and to
correct my opinions by yours.'"
132 LIFE OF Dll BEATTIE.
LETTER CXIII.
DR BEATTIE TO THE REV. MR CAMERON.
Aberdeen, 22d February, 1776.
" The objections to the ' Essay on Truth,' which
you hint at, have been often urged by the Edin-
burgh critics. The reasons, it is not difficult to
discover, which make them particularly severe on
that performance ; but I have met with more
candour and less prejudice elsewhere. Even in
Edinburgh, there are many worthy and learned
persons, who have done me the honour to ap-
prove what I did, with a sincere purpose to ad-
vance the cause of truth, and do good to society.
" Your good principles, and your good heart,
will secure you against the sneers and sophistries
of persons, who dislike religion out of prejudice,
and are dissatisfied with the evidence of it, which
they do not understand, because they have never
examined it. Bear always in mind this truth,
which admits of the most satisfactory proof: No
person of a good heart understands Christianity
without wishing it to be true ; and no person of a
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 133
good judgment ever studied its evidence, impar-
tially, and with a sincere wish that it might be
true, who did not really find it so."
In the course of the year 1776, the new edi-
tion, in quarto, of his ' Essay on Truth,' so long
expected, made its appearance. Of this publica-
tion, by subscription, as the nature and original
intention of it had been somewhat misunderstood,
he had given an explanation, in a letter to Lady
Mayne,* written soon after the subscription was
set on foot. Various causes, chiefly his own bad
health, had retarded the publication till now. But
when at last the book did appear, it amply re-
warded the subscribers, and the public, for the
delay. To the ' Essay on Truth ' he gave a pre-
face, (dated 3()th April, 177^,) in which he says,
that " This new edition will, it is hoped, be found
"less faulty than any of the former. Several in-
" accuracies are removed, unnecessary words and
" sentences expunged, a few erroneous passages
* See p. 37.
134 LIFE OF 1)R BEATTIE.
" either cancelled or rectified, and some new-mo-
" delled in the style, which before seemed too
" harshly, or too strongly expressed." " But, in
" regard to the reasons and general principles of
" this Essay, he had not," he says, " seen cause
" to alter his opinion ; though he had carefully
" attended to what had been urged against them
" by several ingenious authors. Some objec-
" tions," he adds, " will perhaps be found obvi-
" ated by occasional remarks and amendments,
" interspersed in this edition." He closes his
preface, by mentioning an advertisement, pre-
fixed by Mr Hume to a new edition of his ' Es-
says,' in which that writer seems to disown his
Treatise of Human Nature, and desires that those
" Esays, as then published, may be considered as
" containing his philosophical sentiments and prin-
" ciples."
In reply to this advertisement, Dr Beattie, af-
ter giving an account of the reasons which had
at first induced him to publish the ' Essay on
Truth,' goes on to say, " Our author certainly
" merits praise for thus publicly disowning, though
" late, his Treatise of' Human Nature ; though I
" am sorry to observe, from the tenor of his de-
" claration, that he still seems inclined to adhere
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. )35
" to ' most of the reasonings and principles con-
" tained in that treatise.' But if he has now at
" last renounced any one of his errors, I con-
" gratulate him upon it, with all my heart. He
" has many good, as well as great qualities ; and
" I rejoice in the hope, that he may yet be pre-
" vailed on to relinquish, totally, a system, which,
" I should think, would be as uncomfortable to
" him, as it is unsatisfactory to others. In conse-
" quence of his advertisement, I thought it right
" to mitigate, in this edition, some of the cen-
" sures that more especially refer to the Treatise
^' of Human Nature: but as that treatise is still
" extant, and will probably be read as long at
" le^st as any thing I write, I did not think it
" expedient to make any material change in the
" reasoning, or in the plan of this performance."*
Besides the ' Essay on Truth,' the volume con-
tains three other essays ; ' On Poetry and Music,
as they affect the Mind.' ' On Laughter and Lu-
dicrous Composition.' ' On the utility of Classical
Learning.' Subjects in themselves extremely in-
teresting to every reader of taste, and all of which
* Preface to the editioa in 4to of Dr Beattie's Essays, pub-
lished in 1776, p. ix. xiv.
136 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
he has treated in a very masterly manner. * And
to the whole there is prefixed a Hst of nearly five
hundred subscribers, containing the names of
many of the most distinguished characters for
rank and learning, both in the church and state ;
an honourable testimony to the merit of Dr Beat-
tie, and highly creditable to the period in which
he lived.
LETTER CXIV.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 2d August, 1776.
" Your manuscript is perfectly safe. I have
read it through, and have written a few remarks
(very slight ones indeed) on the first part of it.
You have treated of some subjects that are highly
important, and withal very difficult. That of
-Providence I have chiefly in my eye. You treat
it with great accuracy and clearness; but you
seem to me rather too anxious to get to the bot-
* For some farther account of these Essays, see Appendix,
LIF^ OF DR BEAtTIE. 13/
torn of it, and explain it in such a way as shall leave
few or no difficulties unsolved. Now, I presume,
this is not necessary. The mysteries of ^Provi-
dence are perhaps unsearchable, in some degree,
to all created beings. We are not obliged in
these matters to be wise above what is zvritien ;
and I know not whether a habit of thinking too
deeply on certain points, may not rather tend to
darken, than to illuminate the understanding. It
certainly produces a facility of devising objec-
tions, which, though we see they are frivolous,
may give us a great deal of trouble. I wish my
son to believe what the Scripture declares con-
cerning Providence ; but I would not wish him
to enter so far into the subject, as ever to be
puzzled in his attempts to reconcile Divine de-
crees with contingency, or the Divine prescience
with human liberty. This, however, is only mt/
opinion; I would not urge it upon you, and per-
haps, if I shall ever regain my former health and
spirits, I may have less disinclination to these
subjects, than 1 have at present. But I will en-
deavour to explain myself on this point more in-
telligibly hereafter."
138 LIFE OF DK BEATTIE.
In the following letter to Mr Cameron, Dr
Be^ttie speaks of a plan, at that time in agitatipn,
of a new and improved poetical version of the
Psalms, for the use of the Church of Scotland, of
which more will be said hereafter.
LETTER CXV.
Dll BEATTIE TO THE REV. MR CAMERON.
Aberdeen, 4th August, 1776.
" I approve greatly of your design of versify-
ing some passages of Scripture, for the enlarge-
ment of our Psalmody. You cannot employ
your muse in a way more honourable to yourself
or more useful to your country. The specimen
you sent to me, I think extremely good. I re-
turned it, as you desired, to the gentleman, after
marking, with a pencil, a few criticisms which
then occurred to me. You judge very rightly in
LIFE OF DIl BEATTIE. 139
regard to the style that is most proper in these
compositions. It should be perfectly simple and
perspicuous, without any quaintness, and free
from all superfluous epithets. At the same time,
it should be harmonious and elegant, and equally
remote from rusticity and affectation. In a word,
it should have dignity to please the best judges,
and a plainness adapted to the meanest capa-
city.
" I received a letter some time ago, from the
Secretary of the Committee for the enlargement
of the Psalmody, to which I meant to have re-
turned an answer, but have hitherto been pre-
vented by bad health, and an unusual hurry of
business. The business is now almost over, but,
unhappily, I have not recovered my health : and
therefore, I fear, it will be a considerable time
before I be in a condition to write that answer,
which will be a pretty long one, and contain some
remarks on the several English versions of the
Psalms, with a proposal for a new version to be
made, by collecting, all the best passages of the
other versions.
' ' The ground- work of this new version, ought
(I think) to be that which we now use in the
Church of Scotland, and which, according to my
140 LIFE OF J)R BEATTIE.
notions in these matters, is the best that has yet
appeared in Enghsh ; though it is neither so ele-
gant in the language, nor so perspicuous in the
meaning, as it might easily be made. Tate and
Brady are too quaint, and where the Psalmist
rises to sublimity, (which is very often the case,)
are apt to sink into bombast ; yet Tate and Brady
have many good passages, especially in those
psalms that contain simple enunciations of moral
truth. Sternhold and Hopkins are in general bad,
but have given us a few stanzas that are wonder-
fully fine, and which ought to be adopted in this
new version. Watts, though often elegant, and
in many respects valuable, is too paraphrastical :
from him, I would propose, that a good deal
should be taken ; but I would not follow him
implicitly. King James's version, which is the
basis of that which we use in Scotland, is, consi-
dering the age and the author, surprisingly good ;
and in many places has the advantage of ours,
notwithstanding that this was intended as an
improvement upon it. Now my scheme is, to
take the best passages of these versions, and out
of them to make a new version. You say, it
would be a motley piece of work, if so many au-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 141
thors were concerned in it. I answer, no ; if
the collection were judiciously made. Besides,
the Psalms themselves are the work of several
authors, David, Asaph, Moses, &c. -Where then
is the absurdity of translating them in the man-
ner I hint at ? The version I speak of, I mean
only to propose, and give some hints for con-
ducting it ; I am not at all qualified for such a
work. My ignorance of the Hebrew tongue is
alone sufficient disqualification.
" I had no hand in the collection of Para-
phrases of some passages of Scripture, published
about twenty or thirty years ago, and sometimes
printed in the end of our Psalm-books. That
collection appeared long before I was of age to
attempt any sort of composition, either in verse
or prose."
On the 15th August, 1776, Mr Hume died in
Edinburgh, after having been afilicted for more
than a twelvemonth with a complaint which he
142 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
himself believed would prove fatal. His death,
therefore, he had foreseen for some considerable
time ; yet his cheerfulness, and composure of
mind, remained unabated, and he even exerted,
at times, a playful humour, not altogether deco-
rous in so solemn a situation.*
The world was naturally not unsolicitous to
see, whether Mr Hume, in his dying moments,
would express any sentiments different from those
which he had published in his philosophical wri-
tings. But although he retained the full posses-
sion of his faculties to the last, he preserved a
most cautious silence on that subject, and never
uttered a word that could indicate whether, any
change had taken place in his opinions, or not.
There is every reason to believe, however, that
his sentiments remained still the same; for he
left for publication, a treatise, entitled, ' Dialogues
on Natural Religion,' of a similar strain with those
which had been printed during his lifetime.
* Dr Adam Smith's Letter to Mr Strahan, p. xxi.
LIFE OF DR EEATTIE. 143
The following letter was written on occasion
of the death of the Reverend Mr Carr, the wor-
thy clergyman of the Episcopal Chapel in Edin-
burgh, which I attend. The congregation having
determined to erect a monument to the memory
of their deceased pastor, committed the execu-
tion of it to Mr Arbuthnot and me. Being an-
xious to avail ourselves of Dr Beattie's aid, we
sent him an inscription, which seemed to be such
as was wished for ; but of which we requested
the favour of his correction.
LETTER CXVII.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES-
Peterhead, 10th September, 1776.
*' I am no stranger to Mr Carr's character,
whose death, though I had not the honour of his
144 XIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
acquaintance, was a real affliction to me ; for 1
have long considered him as one of the most va-
luable men of the age. I have heard him preach,
and admired his gentle and pathetic eloquence.
But to his merits as a preacher, great as they
were, the lustre of his private character was still
superior. The death of such a man is a real loss
to society. I sympathise particularly with you,
my dear Sir, on this occasion ; as I have often
heard you speak of Mr Carr with such warmth
of affection, as showed you to be deeply interest-
ed in his welfare.
" I have carefully read over the two inscrip-
tions, * which, with a few trifling remarks of my
own, I return enclosed, lest you should not have
kept a copy. I think them both excellent ; and
I believe it would puzzle a better critic than I
am, to assign any good reason for preferring the
* The one written by Mr Arbuthnot, the other by me.
From tliese two, by the help of Dr Beattie's criticisms, we pre-
pared the inscription, which is engraved on a marble tablet, at
the south door of our chapel, and of which the following is a
copy. It does no more than justice to his character, f
i For some further account of this excellent person, see Appendix,
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 145
one to the other. The elders of your congrega-
tion are the only persons who ought to determine
Near this Place are deposited
The Remains
of
THE REVEREND GEORGE CARR,
Senior Clergyman of this Chapel;
In whom
Meekness and Moderation,
Unaffected Piety,
and
Universal benevolence.
Were equally and eminently conspicuous.
After having faithfully discharged the Duties
His Sacred Function,
During Thirty-nine Years,
He died.
On the 1 8th August, 1776,
In the list Year of his Age,
beloved. Honoured, Lamented!
His Congregation,
Deeply sensible of the Loss they have sustained
By the Death of this excellent Person,
By ivhose ?nild yet pathetic Eloquence,
By whose exemplaiy yet engaging Manners,
They have been so long instructed in the Duties,
and
Animated to the Practice,
of
Pure Religion,
Have erected this Monument,
To record
TJie Virtues of the Dead,
and
Gratitude of the Living.
VOL. II, K
14^ LIFE OF DIl BEATTIE.
this matter ; for they are best acquainted with
the merits of the deceased, and they best know
what sort of inscription they would wish to see
on the walls of their church. For me to attempt
to make any material improvement on either,
would be great folly, as well as presumption. I
am in doubt whether it be necessary to mention
the suddenness of Mr Carr's death. * To so good
a man, it is of no importance whether he expire
by degrees, or at once. In the common opinion,
sudden death is an evil ; and as such it is consider-
ed in the litany of the church; and such it would
be, no doubt, to the greater part of mankind;
but to Mr Carr, it was rather a good than an evil.
But my notions in this respect may perhaps be
whimsical, and therefore I will not trouble 3'ou
with them.
" You judge very rightly of Dr Campbell's
book : f it is indeed a most ingenious perform-
ance, and contains more curious matter, on cer-
tain topics of criticism, than any other book I
am acquainted with.
* Mr Carr's death was instantaneous; as he was preparing to
officiate on a Sunday morning, as usual.
+ Philosophy of Rhetoric.
s
\
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 147
" Lord Monboddo's third volume * I have not
yet seen. It will certainly be full of learning
and ingenuity ; but perhaps the author's exces-
sive admiration of the Greek writers may lead
him into some paradoxes, and make him too in-
sensible to the merits of modern literature. I
have a great respect for Lord Monboddo; I
know him to be a learned and a worthy man ;
and I am greatly concerned to see him adopt
some opinions, which, I fear, are not very salu-
tary.
" But I know nobody that has less occasion
than yourself to study these authors, with a view
to the formation of a good style. I beg your
partiality to me may not so blind you to the
faults of mine, as ever to make you think of stu-
dying it for a pattern. You are pleased to pay
me compliments on this head, which I do not by
any means deserve. The style of my letters,
whatever you and Mr Arbuthnot may say, is not
a good style ; it has nothing of that accuracy,
that ease, or that simplicity, which it ought to
have. Nay, in the prose I have printed, my ex-
* Origin and Progress of Language. See Vol. I. p. 30.
J 48 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
pression, after all the pains I have taken about it,
is not what I wish it to be : it is too pompous,
and, I fear, too visibly elaborate ; and there is of-
ten a harshness and a stiffness in it, which I
would fain avoid, but cannot. Even provincial
improprieties, I know, I am not proof against,
though few people have been more careful to keep
clear of them. The longer I study English, the
more I am satisfied that Addison's prose is the
best model ; and if I were to give advice to a
young man on the subject of English style, I
would desire him to read that author day and
night. I know not what may be the opinion of
others ; but, in my own judgment, that part of
my writings, which in the article of style has the
least demerit, is An Essay on Laughter, which is
now in the press ; yet perhaps my partiality to it
may be owing to this circumstance, that it is the
last thing I corrected."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 149
The following letter to me was written after
my recovery from a dangerous illness. It con-
tains some important observations on a very so-
lemn subject.
LETTER CXVIII.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 22d January, 1777.
" I shall not attempt, my dear Sir, to tell you,
what a transition from grief to happiness I lately
experienced, on occasion of your illness and re-
covery. Your own heart will teach you to con-
ceive it, but I have no words to express it.
" The account you give me of your thoughts
and feelings, when your disorder was at the height,
is very interesting. That insensibility which you
complain of, and blame yourself for, is, I believe,
common in all similar cases ; and a merciful ap-
150 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
pointment of Providence it is. By deadening
those affections, to which life is indebted for its
principal charm, it greatly alleviates the pangs of
dissolution. In fact, the pains of death to a man
in health appear much more formidable than to a
dying man. This at least is my opinion ; and I
have been led into it by what has been observed,
of some people's displaying a fortitude, or com-
posure, at the hour of death, who had all their
lives been remarkably timorous and weak-minded.
The proximate cause of this, I take to be that
same stupor which gradually steals upon our
senses, as our dissolution draws near. And that
the approach of death should produce this stupor,
needs not surprise us, when we consider, that the
approach even of sleep has something of the same
effect ; and that the keenness of our passions and
feelings, in general, depends very much, even
when we are in tolerable health, upon our bodily
habit. If sleep is found to disorder our reason,
and give a peculiar wildness to our fancy ; if me-
mory may be hurt, as it certainly has been, by a
blow on the head ; if a superabundance of certain
bodily humours give rise to certain passions in
the mind; if drunkenness divest a man, for a
time, of his character, and even of many of his
LIFE OF DIl BEATTIE. 151
favourite opinions (for I have known a stawnch
Presbyterian, who was always a Roman Catholic
in his liquor) ; if even a full meal gives a languor
to the mind, and impairs a little our faculties of
invention and judgment ; we have good reason
to think, that the connection between our soul
and body is very intimate; and may therefore
admit the probability of what I now advance,
namely, that when the powers and energies of
the human body are disordered by the near ap-
proach of death, it is scarcely possible that the
soul should perceive or feel with its wonted acute-
ness. The stupor, therefore, you mention, was
something in which your will had no part, but
the natural and necessary effect of a cause pure-
ly material. I ask pardon for all this philosophy;
which, however, I cannot conclude, without one
remark more; which is, that this doctrine, if true,
ought to be matter of comfort to a good man, as
well as an alarm to such as are not of that cha-
racter. To the former, it promises an easy disso-
lution ; and it ought to teach the latter, that, of
all places on earth, a death-bed is the most im-
proper for devotion or repentance.
" You smile, perhaps, at the seriousness of
these remarks ; but I am led into them by read-
152 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
ing your letter, and considering the occasion of
it. I must repeat, that you are a very severe
judge of yourself. You are conscious, you say,
of many faults, which the world does not see in
you. But you ought to remember, that every
man is frail and faUible ; and the virtue even of
the best man must, in order to appear meritorious
at the great tribunal, have something added to it,
which man cannot bestow.
" I must put a stop, however, to these grave
remarks ; and, to descend at once from a very
important to a most trifling subject, I shall now
speak a word or two concerning my own works.
" It is very kind in you to speak so favourably
of these ' Essays.'* You will see I have not
laid claim to much originality in these perform-
ances. My principal purpose was to make my
subject plain and entertaining, and, as often as I
could, the vehicle of moral instruction; a pur-
pose to which every part of the philosophy of
the human mind, and indeed of science in gene-
* On Poetry and Music, as they affect the Mind.
On Laughter and Ludicrous Composition.
On the Utility of Classical Learning. Printed in 1776,
See Appendix, [AA.]
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 153
ral, may, and ought, in my opinion, to be made
in some degree subservient. I was very much
on my guard against paradoxes ; yet I expect
that many of my opinions, those especially that
relate to music and classical learning, will meet
with opposition. Mr Tytler writes me word,
that he cannot admit all my doctrine on the sub-
ject of music ; but, if I rightly understand what
he has said very briefly on that subject, I should
imagine, that, if he would favour that part of my
book with a second perusal, he would find that
his notions and mine are not very different. To
me, indeed, they do not seem to differ at all. I
should be sorry if they did; as I believe he
knows more of that, as well as of other matters,
than I do. I am already sensible of several inac-
curacies and defects in my book; for I was in a
most miserable state of health when I sent it to
the press : and I know not how it is, that I can
never judge rightly of my own style, till I see it
in print. If the book comes to a second edition,
and if I have health to make any alterations,
there are many things which must be corrected.
I should be glad to hear how it takes with your
people in general.
154 LIFE OP DR BEATTIE.
** You may believe Dr Porteus's advancement*
gives me great pleasure. It was what I did ex-
pect, though I am sure he did not. He says in
his last letter, " I have reason to believe, that I
" owe this advancement principally to the good-
" ness of their Majesties, who have been graci-
" ously pleased to think me deserving of much
" higher honours than I had ever the presump-
" tion to look up to." When I was in England
in 1775, the Doctor told me, that he was not
particularly known to the King at that time;
but I told him, I had good reason to believe, that
his Majesty esteemed him very highly. Indeed,
I know no man that better deserves to wear the
mitre. He is not older than I am ; and I think
he looks much younger : but he is exemplary in
the discharge of his duty as a clergyman, a
cheerful pleasant companion, and of the gentlest
manners; he is, withal, an excellent scholar, a
most elegant writer, and a man of business. He,
and Dr Hurd, Bishop of Litchfield, f are, I think,
the best preachers I ever heard. Indeed, before
I heard them, I cannot say that I distinctly
* To the Bishoprick of Chester.
t Now Bishops of London and Worcester,
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 155
knew what true pulpit-eloquence was. The King
seems determined to promote to the Episcopal
bench such clergymen only as are most distin-
guished for piety and learning. Dr Markham,
now Archbishop of York, and the present Bishops
of Chester and Litchfield, had not originally any
other influence than what their own merit gave
them. Dr Hurd was never at Court till he went
to kiss the King's hand, on being nominated to
the see of Litchfield."
LETTER CXVIIL
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 19th February, 1777.
** I have now, my dear Sir, read over your pa-
pers* with all the attention I am capable of, and
have made a few, a very few, slight remarks in
the margin. The perusal has given me very great
pleasure, and I beg you will send me the rest as
* " Letters on the Religious Belief and Practical Duties of a
Christian," written by the author of these Memoirs for the in-
struction of his children, still in MS.
156 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
soon as you conveniently can. Every thing you
say in regard to the evidence of rehgion has my
most hearty concurrence ; one or two sentences
or phrases excepted, which are not at all mate-
rial. What these are, you will see when I re-
turn the papers. I am clearly of opinion, that
these papers will make a most valuable addition
to the book. Mr Jenyns's late treatise, I ob-
serve, is a favourite of yours. There is, indeed,
a great deal in it of very solid and ingenious re-
mark; and, I am convinced, it will do much
good. It were, perhaps, to be wished, that the
author had made fewer concessions to the adver-
sBTy, and spoken with more respect of the exter-
nal evidences. But when one takes up a favour-
ite hypothesis, or argument, it is hardly possible
to avoid carrying it rather too far ; such is the
weakness of human nature. I mean not to ob-
ject to Mr Jenyns's favourite argument ; it is
surely most satisfactory to every candid mind;
and he has done it more justice than any other
author I am acquainted with. I only wish his
plan would have allowed him to touch upon the
external evidences, which ought never to be
overlooked by those who would acquit them-
selves as the champions of Christianity. I began
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 157
a little treatise, some years ago, on the evidences
of our religion, but have never finished it; and
indeed Mr J.'s treatise has in part superseded
mine. My meaning was, to make the subject
plain and entertaining, and suited to all capaci-
ties, especially to those of young people. Like
Mr Jenyns, I intended only a little book : but it
must have been larger than his, because I would
have considered both tlie external and the internal
evidence." *
LETTER CXIX.
DR BEATTIE TO DR PORTEUS, BISHOP OF CHESTER.
2d October, 1777.
" I am much obliged to your Lordship for
your entertaining account of the ancient city of
Chester and its neighbourhood. It must certain-
ly be, as you observe, well-worthy the traveller's
attention; and if it is ever my fortune to revisit
the west of England, I shall be inexcusable if I
* This he afterwards most admirably accomplished in his
" Evidences of the Christian Religion," published in 1786.
158 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
do not direct my course to a place, which I ana
now, on many accounts, ambitious to be acquaint-
ed with.
,~ , " Of literary matters I can say nothing. The
Doctor commanded me, on pain of death, to ab-
stain wholly from writing, and to read nothing
but novels, or such books as require no atten-
tion. I have followed the prescription most
punctually; and, since my fever in the spring,
have not written half a dozen pages, (letters in-
cluded,) nor read any thing but * Don Quixote,'
Spenser's ' Fairy Queen,' and ' Horace,' which
last I have read over three times. As I have not
read Dr Robertson's last work, I cannot form any
opinion about it. Lord Kaimes has published a
book of agriculture, which, they say, is the best
of all his works. Dr Campbell lately printed an-
other excellent sermon, preached at Edinburgh
before the ' Society for propagating Christian
* Knowledge.' The subject is, ' The success of
' the first preaching of the gospel, a proof of its
* truth.' I shall have the honour to send your
Lordship a copy of this sermon as soon as I re-
turn to Aberdeen. I have read Captain Cooke's
preface, which gives me a very high opinion of
the author : I wish for an opportunity to read
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 159
the whole book. When a man of sense and spi-
rit publishes the history of his own affairs, the
world is a thousand times better instructed than
by the most elaborate compositions of the mere
book-maker."
LETTER CXX.
THE BISHOP OF CHESTER TO DR BEATTIE.
Hunton, November 28th, 1777.
*' During our stay here, Dr Robertson's * His-
tory of America' has been part of our evening's
amusement. He is, without dispute, a very ju-
dicious compiler, and very elegant writer, and
seems to have taken great pains in this work to
collect all the information that could possibly be
obtained from books and manuscripts, of which
he has consulted a considerable number. Of
these, some of the most curious were communi-
cated to him by my friend, Lord Grantham,* am-
* The editor has lately been informed, from good authority,
that the manuscript in question was procured, not by Lord Grant-
ham, but by his chaplain, Mr Waddilove, (now Dean of Ri-
160 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
bassador at Madrid, and his chaplain, Mr Waddi-
love. But still the grand source of original in-
formation was not opened to him ; I mean the
letters and papers written to the Spanish court
by the first conquerors of America, and all the
authentic documents relative to that transaction,
which were collected by Philip the Second, and
deposited amongst the archives of the Spanish
monarchy, at a place called Simanca, near Valla-
dolid, above a hundred miles from Madrid. To
these he could obtain no access ; and till these
are produced to the world, I shall never suppose
that we have any history of South America that
can be absolutely relied upon. x\s far, however,
as Dr Robertson's materials go, he has set them
off to the best advantage, and has enlivened
them by many ingenious and useful observations
on the natural and moral history of the Abori-
gines of that country. He has, however, I think,
missed some opportunities, which this part of his
work threw in his way, of drawing a comparison
between the state of the savage and of the Chris-
pon,) aided by the friendship of Don Francesco Peres Bayer;
and that the collation was not only made under the direction of
Mr Waddilove, but that two books of it were actually collated
by himself.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. l6l
tiaii world. He attributes the difference between
them solely to the improvements of civil society.
I am of opinion, that the gospel has had a large
share in this happy change ; and it would have
been of infinite service to religion, to have had
all its beneficial consequences set forth by so fine
a pen as Dr Robertson's. Such incidental argu-
ments in favour of religion, interspersed occa-
sionally in works of acknowledged merit and re-
putation, are, perhaps, of more general use than
professed defences of it. The enemies of Chris-
tianity have long taken this method of under-
mining it, and its friends therefore should not
be backward in taking the same means to re-
commend it. Mr Gibbon, and the Abb6 Raynal,
have, more especially, distinguished themselves
by this species of hostility ; for which reason I am
sorry that Dr Robertson has paid them both such
high compliments as he has done.
" I hear of nothing new and important in the
literary world that is likely to make its appear-
ance this winter, except a new translation of
Isaiah, by Bishop Lowth ; of which the public
has raised its expectations very high, from the
known abilities and learning of the author. This,
I believe, is in very great forwardness. There is
VOL. II. L
162 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
also an edition of ' Strabo,' by Mr Falkner, a
gentleman of Chester, every way equal to the un-
dertaking, which is pretty far advanced. Arch-
bishop Markham shewed me, the other day, a
collation tor liim, of a manuscript in the Escu-
rial, made under the direction of Canonico Bayer,
and procured by the assistance of Lord Grant-
ham."
LETTER CXXL
DR BEATTIE TO SYLVESTER DOUGLAS, ESQ. NOW
LOUD GLENBERVIE. *
Aberdeen, 5th January, 1778.
" I am much entertained with your plan of
writing upon the Scottish barbarisms, accent, &c.
It is a very extensive one ; and, in your hands,
will be very entertaining and useful. Most of the
* Between whom and Dr Beattie an intimacy, contracted in
early life, subsisted mutually, and without interruption, for a
long course of years. 1 also claim the distinction of ranking
Lord Glenbervie among the number of those who have honour-
ed me with their regard; and he and 1 are now two of the very
few surviving associates of Dr Beattie's early friendship.
5
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. l63
topics you mention, have occasionally engrossed
my attention. I have written many sheets upon
Scotticism, and the structure and rules of our
verse, and how far the English tongue is attain-
able by a native of Scotland, and in what respects
it is not attainable, (I mean, a person who does
not go to live in England till he is grown up.)
I once intended to publish something on English
prosody and versification, but, I believe, my li-
terary pursuits are all over.
Vos, qidhus integri evi-
Me si cxlicolce voluissent
The greatest difficulty in acquiring the art of
writing English, is one which I have seldom
heard our countrymen complain of, and which I
was never sensible of till I had spent some years
in labouring to acquire that art. It is, to give a
^vernacular cast to the English we write. I must
explain myself. We who live in Scotland are
obliged to study English from books, like a dead
language. Accordingly, when we write, we write
it like a dead language, which we understand, but
cannot speak ; avoiding, perhaps, all ungramma-
tical expressions, and even the barbarisms of our
164 XIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
country, but, at the same time, without com-
municating that neatness, ease, and softness of
phrase, which appears so conspicuously in Addi-
son, Lord Lyttelton, and other elegant English
authors. Our style is stately and unwieldy, and
clogs the tongue in pronunciation, and smells of
the lamp. We are slaves to the language we
write, and are continually afraid of committing
grosfi blunders ; and, when an easy, familiar, idio-
matical phrase occurs, dare not adopt it, if we re-
collect no authority, for fear of Scotticisms. In
a word, we handle English, as a person who can-
not fence handles a sword ; continually afraid of
hurting ourselves with it, or letting it fall, or
making some awkward motion that shall betray
our ignorance. An English author of learning is
the master, not the slave, of his language, and
wields it gracefully, because he wields it with
ease, and with full assurance that he has the
command of it.
" In order to get over this difficulty, which I
fear is, in some respects, insuperable after all, I
have been continually ])oring upon Addison, the
best parts of Swift, Lord Lyttelton, &c. The ear
is of great service in these matters ; and I am
convinced the greater part of Scottish authors
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. iSS
hurt their style by admiring and imitating one
another. At Edinburgh, it is currently said by
your critical people, that Hume, Robertson, &c.
write English better than the English them-
selves ; than which, in my judgment, there can-
not be a greater absurdity. I would as soon be-
lieve that Thuanus wrote better Latin than Cice-
ro or Caesar, and that Buchanan was a more ele-
gant poet than Virgil or Horace. In my rheto-
rical lectures, and whenever I have occasion to
speak on this subject to those who pay any re-
gard to my opinion, I always maintain a contra-
ry doctrine, and advise those to study English au-
thors, who would acquire a good English style.
*' I agree with you, that many of the vulgar
words used in Scotland may be traced to the
Saxon, German, Dutch, &c. The French too,
and the Erse, come in for their share, especially
the former. French etymologies abound most in
the counties to the south of Aberdeen, in Mearns,
Angus, &c. where, you know, the natives, in their
pronunciation, have the sound of the French U.
I know of no etymological dictionary of this dia-
lect; but a great d^al of the knowledge to be
expected in such a dictionary may- be found in
Ray's ' Collection of English Proverbs,' but espe->
166 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
cially in Ruddiman's ' Glossary to Bishop Dou-
glas s Virgil.' This last is a most learned piece
of lexicography. You will see it in that edition
of ' Gavin Douglas,' which is printed at Edin-
burgh, in folio, in 1710. I need not tell you,
that the Scottish dialect is different in almost
every province. The common people of Aber-
deen speak a language that would scarce be un-
derstood in Fife; and how much the Buchan
dialect differs from that of Lothian, may be seen
by comparing Ramsay's * Gentle Shepherd' with
' Ajax's Speech to the Grecian Knabbs,' which
you will no doubt remember to have seen in your
youth. I have attended so much to this matter,
that I think I could know by his speech, a na-
tive of Banffshire, Buchan, Aberdeen, Dee-side,
Mearns, Angus, Lothian, and Fife, as well as of
RosS-shire and Inverness.
" I am inclined to think, that Erse was once
the universal language of Scotland ; for you find,
all over the Lowlands, that the names of the old
places are almost all derived from that language.
It is remarkable, that on the northern side of
that great hollow, or strath, which we call the
Hgxv oj the Mcai'iis, the names of places are ge-
nerally Erse, and on the south side English or
LITE OF DR BEATTIE. 1^
Saxon. This seems to prove, that the former dis-
trict was first inhabited, which is indeed probable
from other circumstances ; for it fronts the sun,
and is sheltered from the north wind by the
Grampian mountains."
As an introduction to the following letter, it
may be proper to mention, that, not long after
Garrick's celebration of the jubilee at Stratford-
upon-Avon, in honour of Shakespeare, in the
year J 769, some gentlemen at Edinburgh propo-
sed also to celebrate a jubilee in honour of our
countryman, Thomson. But there not appear-
ing a sufficient number of persons of any note to
give respectability to such a meeting, the idea was
laid aside. A few years afterwards, Mr Craig, an ar-
chitect of some merit, who designed the plan of
the New Town of Edinburgh, and the hall of the
College of Physicians there, a nephew of Thom-
son's, formed the design of erecting a monument
to his memory, at the village of Ednam, on tne
banks of the Tweed, the place of Thomson's
169 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
birth, and Dr Beattie was requested to write aii
inscription. The site of the proposed monument
was the summit of Ednam hill. This eminence
slopes regularly and beautifully to the surround-
ing valley, and commands. a most extensive pros-
pect; so that the intended monument would
have been seen for many miles in every direc-
tion. But this intention was frustrated by Craig's
death. In order, however, that the memory of
the poet might not remain altogether unhonour-
ed, several gentlemen, who reside in the neigh-
bourhood of Ednam, have formed themselves
into a society, which, for some years past, has
met there annually on the birth-day of Thom^
son.
The following letter of Dr Beattie's, besides the
inscription, contains some excellent remarks on
;that species of composition.
tIFE OF DR BEATTIE. l6^
LETTER CXXII.
DR BEATTIE TO ROBERT ARBUTHNOT, ESQ.
*
Aberdeen, 22d July, 177S.
" Mr Craig does me too much honour. I am
proud to be thought of so favourably by so inge-
nious an artist; and by the nephew of a man who
was an honour to his country and to mankind;
and to whose writings I am under very particu-
lar obligations : for if I have any true relish for
the beauties of nature, I may say with truth, that
it was from Virgil and from Thomson that I
caught it. The memory of this amiable poet can-
not be dearer to any person than it is to me ; and
I should be heartily sorry, if the monument, to
be erected for him, were not such, in every re-
spect, as he himself would have approved. Mr
Craig will, I am sure, make it such in the archi-
tecture; and, if he follow his own ideas, in the
inscription too. But, since he does me the ho-
nour to desire to have my opinion, I shall give
it with the greatest sincerity. I think, then,
that all public inscriptions, whether intended for
170 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
tombs, or cenotaphs, or bridges, or any other
pubhc building, are made with a view to catch
the eye of the traveller, and convey to him,
not the wit of the composer, but some authentic
information in regard to the object that draws
his attention, and is supposed to raise his curiosi-
ty. On this principle, all such writings ought
to be perfectly simple, and true, and as concise
as the subject and language will admit. This is
the character of the Greek and Roman inscrip-
tions, which it is a pity the moderns have so
rarely imitated : for, in my mind, nothing is more
barbarous than those mixtures of verse and prose,
of Latin and English, of narration and common-
place morality, which appear in our churches and
church-yards, and other public places. A Go-
thic arch, supported by Corinthian pillars, or a
statue with painted cheeks and a hat and wig,
is not a greater absurdity. To set up a pillar,
with a Latin inscription, for the inform.ation of
those who understand no language but English,
is not less absurd. I never heard of a Greek in-
scription at Rome, nor of a Latin one at Athens.
Latin is perhaps a more durable language than
English, and may therefore be used in those in-
scriptions that are put on the foundation-stones
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 171
of bridges, and hid under ground ; for these, it
may be presumed, will not be read till a thou-
sand years hence, when all our modern languages
will probably be unintelligible. But I cannot but
think, that an English inscription, exposed to
wind and weather in this climate, will be under-
stood as long as it can be read. I would, there-
fore, humbly propose, that what is intended for
Thomson's monument should be in English, the
tongue which he spoke, and to which his wri-
tings do so much honour, and the tongue which
all travellers who visit Ednam may be supposed
to understand : that il should be simple and con-
cise, not in verse, (for this appears more like
ostentation of wit than an authentic record,) but
in prose, well modulated, totally free from all
quaintness, superfluous words, and flowery orna-
ments, something to the same purpose with the
following, and in a similar style. But observe,
that as I do not mean to enter the lists with ei-
ther of the two great writers,* who have already
prepared inscriptions for this work, I offer the
following rather as a hint towards one, than as a
finished performance. And let me remark, by
* Who these were, does not appear.
17S LIFE OP DR BEATTIE.
the way, that I have been more devoted to this
simplicity of style in public inscriptions, ever
since I read a verbose and flowery one in Latin,
near the banks of Loch Lomond, to the memory
of Dr Smollett.
JAMES THOMSON,
Author of The Seasons, and other excellent Poenis,
Which promote
Pielj/, Patriotism, Benevolence, and the Love of Nature,
Wherever the English Tongue is understood.
Was boi-n in this Village, 1 \th SqHemher, 1700,
Died 21th August, 1748,
And is buried in the Church of Richmond in Surrey.
To do honour to the Place of his Birth,
And as a Testimony of veneration
For so amiable a Poet,
Afid so illustrious a Kinsman,
This Monument* is erected
By his Nephew, James Craig, Architect,
" I would have no quotations or verses on the
monument ; and I beg leave to say, that the four
which you have taken from the epilogue, are not
so very elegant in the expression as might be
wished, though the meaning is good, and per-
fectly true.
" J beg. my best respects to Sir William For^
* Or pillar.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 173
bes, to whom I Avill write soon, but cannot at
present ; as he will see this letter, I consider my-
self as writing to you both. I am much obliged
to you for giving me so candidly your opinion
of my two psalms. It has determined me to lay
aside all thoughts of a project, which, though
my health forbade me to undertake it, had been
too much in my head of late. For I see now,
that my plan, even though executed to my mind,
would not please those wliom 1 most wished to
please, who best deserved to be pleased, and who,
from their partiality to me, would not be easily
displeased with any work of mine. 1 am not
sure whether I shall ever publish the letter to
Dr Blair, unless I were to make some additions
to it, to justify the preference which I give to
the Assembly's metre psalms ; * I mean to their
plan, for the execution has all the faults that Sir
William Forbes mentions. In England, they
commonly make use of a corrected edition of
Sternhold and Hopkins ; and I confess I must
agree with them so far, as to think that rude-
ness, which is the effect of simplicity, more
* That version authorised by the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland.
174 LIFE OF Dli BEATTIE.
pardonable than those finical embelHshments that
are owing to affectation. But I cannot at pre-
sent enter upon the reasons that would deter-
mine me to reject all paraph rastical additions and
flowery ornaments in a version of the Psalms,
and adhere to that manly (I ought to have said
divine) and most expressive simplicity, which
characterise the original."*
LETTER CXXIII.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 22d November, 1778.
" During this long confinement, I have often
been forced to have recourse to my pen and ink,
in order to forget my anxiety for a itw minutes.
But though I could transcribe and correct a little,
I was in a very bad state for composition. How-
ever, since March last, I have written, in a fair
hand, about 370 pages. In this collection, there
are (besides other matters) three essays, on ' Me-
* See what he himself has said on this subject, in Letter II-
p. G3. Vol. I.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 175
mory,' on * Imagination,' and on * Dreaming,' on
which I set some value. I sha,ll read them to my
class very soon ; they will make ahout ten lec-
tures, of an hour each. In treating of Memory
and Imagination, I have endeavoured, not only
to ascertain their phenomena and laws, but also
to propose rules for improving the former facul-
ty, and for regulating the latter. The view I
have taken of Dreaming is new, so far as I know.
I have attempted to trace up some of the appear-
ances of that mysterious mode of perception to
their proximate causes ; and to prove, that it is,
in many respects, useful to the human constitu-
tion. On all subjects of this nature, I have con-
stantly received more information from my own
experience than from books.
*' One of the next faculties that come in my
way, is Conscience, or the moral faculty; on
which 1 have, in writing, a great number of un-
finished observations. If I live to finish what I
intend on this subject, I shall probably attempt
a confutation of several erroneous principles that
have been adopted by modern writers of morals,
but without naming any names ; and it is not
unlikely, that I may interweave the substance of
what I wrote long ago, at greater length, on the
176 LIFE OP DR BEATTIE.
Unchangeableness of Moral Truth. But winter
will be over before I can seriously set about it;
and perhaps the state of my health may oblige
tne to drop the scheme altogether. However, I
do not repent what I have hitherto done, in
transcribing and correcting my lectures; for I
have been careful to make it an amusement ra-
ther than a task ; whence I have reason to think,
that my health has not been injured by it.
" I have been reading lately a most extraordi-
nary work, which I did read once before, but (I
know not how) had totally forgotten. The ' His-
tory of Benvenuto Cellini,' a Florentine gold-
smith and designer, translated from the Italian,
by Thomas Nugent. There is something in it so
singularly characteristical. that it is impossible to
reject the whole as fabulous, and yet it is equally
impossible not to reject a great part of it as such.
To reconcile this, I would suppose, that the work
itself strongly evinces, that the author must have
been an ingenious, hot-headed, vain, audacious
man ; and that the violence of his passions, the
strength of his superstition, and the disasters in-
to which he plunged himself, made him mad in
the end. Me know, that the Italians, of the six-
teenth century, were very ingenious in every
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 177
thing that relates to drawing and designing ; but
it cannot be beheved, that popes, emperors, and
kings, were so totally engrossed with those mat-
ters as Signior Cellini represents them. If you
have never seen the book, I would recommend
it as a curiosity, from which I promise that you
will receive amusement. Nay, in regard to the
manners of those times, there is even some in-
struction in it."
LETTER CXXIV.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHI^SS OF GORDON.*
Aberdeen, 10th January, 1779.
" Major Mercer made me very happy with the
news he brought from Gordon-Castle, particular-
* Jane, Duchess of Gordon, daughter of Sir William Max-
well of Monreith, Bart, in the county of Wigton, in Scotland.
Her Grace, the honour of whose intimate acquaintance I have
long had the happiness to enjoy, distinguished Dr Beattie, du-
ring many years, by her friendship and correspondence, which
were returned, on his part, by every respectful sentiment of
esteem and admiration. While he was charmed by her beauty,
the brilliancy of her wit, and her cultivated understanding, the
Duchess of Gordon well knew how to appretiate the talents and
VOL. II. M
178 LIFE OF Dll BEATTIE.
ly when he assured me that your Grace was. in
perfect health. He told me too, that your soU-
tude was at an end for some time ; which, I con-
fess, I was not sorry to hear. Seasons of recol-
lection may be useful ; but when one begins to
find pleasure in sighing over Young's ' Night
Thoughts' in a corner, it is time to shut the book,
and return to the company. I grant, that, while
the mind is in a certain state, those gloomy ideas
give exquisite delight ; but their eft'ect resembles
that of intoxication upon the body ; they may
produce a temporary fit* of feverish exultation,
but qualms, and weakened nerves, and depres-
sion of spirits, are the consequence. I have great
respect for Dr Young, both as a man and as a
poet; I used to devour his * Night Thoughts'
with a satisfaction not unlike that which, in my
the virtues of Dr Beattie; and these letters, selected from a
great number, during a long epistolary intercourse, strongly
evince the warmth of his gratitude for her unremitting kindness
and attention on every occasion. Indeed, so teuderly solicitous
was the Duchess of Gordon at all times to sooth his sorrows,
and dissipate those gloomy ideas that preyed upon his mind,
that he found consolation and relief in the free interchange of
thoughts, with which her good nature delighted to indulge him :
And he has often been heard to say, that he was never more
iiappy ttian in the society he found at Gordon-Castle.
7
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 179
younger years, I have found in walking alone in
a church-yard, or in a wild mountain, by the
light of the moon, at midnight. Such things
may help to soften a rugged mind ; and I believe
I might have been the better for them. But
your Grace's heart is already ' too feelingly alive
to each fine impulse;' and, therefore, to you I
would recommend gay thoughts, cheerful books,
and sprightly company : I might have said com-
pany without any limitation, for wherever you
are, the company must be sprightly. Excuse
this obtrusion of advice. We are all physicians
who have arrived at forty ; and, as I have been
studying the anatomy of the human mind these
fifteen years and upwards, I think I ought to be
something of a soul-doctor by this time.
" When I first read Young, my heart was bro-
ken to think of the poor man's afflictions. Af-
terwards, I took it in my head, that where there
was so much lamentation, there could not be ex-
cessive suffering ; and I could not help applying
to him sometimes those lines of a song,
" Believe me, the shepherd but feigns ;
" He's wretched, to show he has wit."
180 LIFE OP DR BEATTIE*
On talking with some of Dr Young's particular
friends in England, I have since found that my
conjecture was right; for that, while he was
composing the ' Night Thoughts,' he was really
as cheerful as any other man.
" I well know the effect of what your Grace
expresses so properly, of a cold i/es returned to a
warm sentiment. One meets with it often in
company ; and, in most companies, with nothing
else. And yet it is perhaps no great loss, upon
the whole, that one's enthusiasm does not always
meet with an adequate return. A disappoint-
ment of this sort, now and then, may have, upon
the mind, an effect something like that of the
cold bath upon the body ; it gives a temporary
shock, but is followed by a very delightful glow
as soon as one gets into a society of the right
temperature. They resemble too in another re-
spect. A cool companion may be disagreeable
at first, but in a little time he becomes less so ;
and at our first plunge we are impatient to get
out of the bath, but if we stay in it a minute or
tAvo, we lose the sense of its extreme coldness.
Would not your Grace think, from what I am
saying, or rather preaching, that I was the most
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 181
social man upon earth ? And yet I am become al-
most an hermit: I have not made four visits these
four months. Not that I am running away, or
have any design to run away, from the world. It
is, I rather think, the world that is running away
from me.
" No character was ever more fully, or more
concisely drawn, than that of Major Mercer * by
your Grace. I was certain you would like him
the more, the longer you knew him. With more
learning than any other man of my acquaintance,
he has all the playfulness of a school-boy; and
unites the wit and the wisdom of Montesquieu
with the sensibility of Rousseau, and the generosi-
ty of Tom Jones. Your Grace has, likewise, a very
just idea of Mrs Mercer, f She is most amiable,
and well accomplished ; and, in goodness and ge-
nerosity of nature, is not inferior even to the jNIa-
jor himself. I met her the other day, and was
happy to find her in better health than I think
she has been for some years. This will be most
* See p. 35. Vol. I. and Appendix [BB.] He was at that
tipne major of the Duke of Gordon's regiment.
t Mrs Mercer was sister of Lord Glenbervie. She died Ja-
nuary, 1802. See Appendix [R.]
182 LJFE OF DR BEATTIE.
welcome news lo the Major. Pray, does your
Grace think that he blames me for not writing
to him this great while ? The true reason is, that
I have not had this great while anyncAvs to send
him, but what I knew would give him pain ; and
therefore 1 thought it better not to write, espe-
cially as we have been in daily expectation of
seeing him here these several weeks. Will your
Grace take the trouble to tell him this? There is
no man to whom I have been so much obliged ;
and, with one or two exceptions, there is no man
or woman whom I love so well."
LETTER CXXV.
DR EEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES. ^
Aberdeen, 18th January, 1779.
'^ You are right in your conjecture, that a me-
trical version of the Psalms, formed upon that
plan of severe simplicity which I recommend,
would be a very difficult work. There is a great
deal of cant in the style of poetry, especially of
modern poetiy : A set of epithets, and figures,
and phrases, which a certain set of versifiers bring
XIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 183
in Upon all occasions, in order to make out their
verses, and prepare their rhymes. If a poet has
got a good stock of these, and a knack of apply-
ing them, and is not very solicitous about energy,
consistency, or truth of sentiment, he may write
verses with great ease and rapidity; but such
verses are not read above once or twice, and are
seldom or never remembered. Their tawdry and
unnecessary ornaments make them as unwieldy
to the memory, as a herald's coat is to the body.
Besides, where language is much ornamented,
there is always a deficiency in clearness, as ^yell
as in force ; and, though it may please at its first
appearance, it rarely continues long in fashion.
The favourite authors in every language are the
simplest. They have nothing but what is neces-
sary or useful; and such things arc always in re-
quest. My reasons, therefore, for recommending
a very simple metrical version of the Psalms, are
chiefly these: 1st, Such a version will approach
more nearly than an ornamental one to the style
of the original ; M'hich, I think, will be allowed
to be an advantage. 2d, It will be better under-
stood b}' the common people; for, when poetical
language is set off with many ornaments, it must
be in a great measure unintelligible to unlearned
184 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
readers. Sd, It will continue intelligible and in
fashion for a much longer time ; for such is the
natural and necessar^^ eftect of elegant plainness.
4th, It will take a taster hold of the memory.
One of my reasons for tolerating a metrical ver-
sion of the Psalms is, that it makes them more
easily remembered : And Horace, when speaking
on a subject not unlike this, has very well ob-
served,
" Onine supervacuum plaio de pectore manat "
Superfluities of style perish from the memory like
water poured into a vessel that is already full.
5th, The simplicity I contend for requires a con-
cise expression, and consequently conveys much
meaning in few words; and this is particularly
necessary in words intended to be sung with un-
derstanding. For singing is of necessity (or at
least ought to be) slower than speaking ; and,
therefore, if the matter is not very close, it will
happen sometimes that the singer shall be sound-
ing notes to which his mind annexes no definite
idea. One of my objections to Merrick's Psalms
would be, if they are all like the specimen you
favoured me with, their unnecessary and para-
phrastical diffuseness. His first psalm consists of
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 185
thirty-four lines ; and yet I am certain, that the
whole meaning of that psalm might, with equal
harmony, with equal elegance, and with superior
clearness, be expressed in twenty-four. Tate and
Brady's second psalm consists of forty-eight lines,
and my version of that psalm of thirty-six : If
the two versions be in all other respects orily eqiial^
I believe that which has fewest words would be
thought the better. The last reason 1 shall assign
is, that the modish tricks and ornaments of verse
appear to me not very graceful in serious poetry
of any sort ; but in sacred poetry I consider them
as worse than ungraceful, as even indece^it. A
high-priest of the Jews, officiating at the altar in
ruffles and a laced waistcoat, or a clergyman in
the pulpit, with the airs and dress of a player,
are incongruities of the same kind with these,
which, in a poetical version of the Psalms, ought
to be avoided. Is it right, think you, for a Chris-
tian on Sunday, in the church, to sing,
" His rains from heaven parched hills recruit,
" That soon transmit the liquid store ;
" Till earth is burthened with her fruit,
" And Nature's lap can hold no more ?"
The harshness of the firs^t line, and the half non-
186 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
sense of the first couplet, might be excused ; but
what shall we say to the Pagan allusion in the
last line ?
" After what you know of my mind on this
subject, I am sure I need not say, that it is far
from my purpose to recommend a rude or clown-
ish simplicity, whereof I confess that there are in-
numerable instances in the version that is in most
common* use in Scotland ; and yet, in the present
case, rusticity is better than finicalness. I would
rather see in the pulpit a sun-burnt face, than a
painted one ; and a coat out at elbows, than one
overlaid with embroidery. The middle way, you
will say, is best ; and I allow it : And, between
ourselves, I think it peculiarly honourable to the
church of England, that, while she keeps at a
distance from the pageantries of the Romish
church, she also avoids that ritual, which might
do very well with pure spirits, but which is too
apt to produce listlessness and coldness in crea-
tures weighed down with flesh and blood. I
would have every thing neat and plain, and as
elegant as is consistent with plainness, in the
public services and in the language of religion :
or, if now and then I were to introduce a little
pomp, which I believe I should often be inclined
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 187
to do, I would still make it simple and plain;
which, if I jTiistake not, would heighten its mag-
nificence, and give permanency to its effects.
Elegant and pure simplicity is the characteristic
of the true pulpit-style, as it is now established
by the best models, both ancient and modern ;
the same thing holds true of the prayers of the
church of England ; only these have (wliat they
ought to have) something of a more elaborate
and more dignified composition, than becomes
the sermon.
" 1 know not M-hether there be any thing new
in my papers on the ' Origin of Evil,' and the
' Evidences of Christianity.' It will be a consi-
derable time before I get forward to those sub-
jects. At present I confine myself to such as are
most amusing, and, withal, least connected with,
those topics which formerly engrossed me to a
degree that ruined my health. How much my
mind has been injured by certain speculations,
you will partly guess, when I tell you a fact, that
is now unknown to all the world, that, since
the ' Essay on Truth' was printed in quarto, in
the summer of 1776, I have never dared to read
it over. I durst not even read the sheets, to see
whether there were any errors in the print, and
188 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
was obliged to get a friend to do that office for
me. Not that I am in the least dissatisfied with
the sentiments : Every word of my own doctrine
I do seriously believe ; nor have I ever seen any
objections to it which I could not easily answer.
But the habit of anticipating and obviating argu-
ments, upon an abstruse and interesting subject,
came in time to have dreadful effects upon my
nervous system ; and I cannot read what I then
wrote without some degree of horror, because it
recals to my mind the horrors that I have some-
times felt, after passing a long evening in those
severe studies. You will perhaps understand me
better, when I have told you a short story. One
who was on board the Centurion, in Lord An-
son's voyage, having got some money in that ex-
pedition, purchased a small estate, about three
miles from this town. I have had several con-
versations with him on the subject of the voyage^
and once asked him, whether he had ever read
the history of it ? He told me, he had read all the
history, except the description of their sufferings
during the run from Cape Horn to Juaii Fenian-
dez, which he said were so great, that he durst
not recollect or think of them."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE, 189
LETTER CXXVI.
DE BEATTIE TO THE REV. DR LAIN.
Aberdeen, 31st January, 1779.
** I lately met with what I consider as a great
curiosity in the musical way. Take the history
as follows : Mary, the consort of King William,
was a great admirer of a certain Scots tune, which
in England they call Cold and Raw, but which
in Scotland is better known by the name of Up
in the Morning early. One day at her private
concert, where Purcel presided, the Queen inter-
rupted the music, by desiring one Mrs Hunt,
who was present, to sing the ballad of Cold and
Raw. The lady sung it; and it is said, that Pur-
cel was a little piqued at being obliged to sit idle
at his harpsichord, and having his own composi-
tions interrupted for the sake of such a trifle.
The Queen's birth-day was soon after, when Pur-
cel, who composed the court music for that so-
lemnity, in order either to please the Queen, or
to surprise her, or merely to indulge his own hu-
mour, made Cold and Raw the bass of one of the
190 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
songs. This anecdote I met with some months
ago ; and my author added, that this individual
song was printed in Purcel's Orpheus Britannicus,
I had a great desire to see this song, that I might
know how such a genius would acquit himself
when confined in such trammels. I confess, for
all my high opinion of Purcel, I did not expect
that a song composed on such a plan could be a
good one ; but 1 am agreeably disappointed. The
song, or hymn, (for it is in the church style,) is,
in my opinion, excellent. I enclose a copy of it,
that you may judge for yourself. It will not
perhaps strike you at first ; but, when you have
gone over it five or six times, you will like it
much. There is something of a very original
cast in the composition."
LIFE OP DR BEATTIE. 19 1
LETTER CXXVII.
JDR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Aberdeen, 1st February, 177D.
" I sincerely sympathise with you on the death
of Mr Garrick. * I know not how his friends in
London will be able to bear the loss of him, for
he was the most delightful companion in the
world. On the stage nobody could admire him
more than I did ; and yet I am not sure whether
I did not admire him still more in private compa-
ny. What a splendid career he has run ! idolised
as he has been by the public, as well as by his
friends, for almost half a century; happy in his
fortune, and in his family jf superior to envy,
invulnerable by detraction ; and yet nobody, who
knew him, will say, that his good fortune was
greater than his merit.
" I have just received the Notes on Potters
* For some farther account of this great actor, see the Ap-
pendix, [CC]
t Mr Garrick was married, but never had any children
192 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
' iEschylus,' by which I am happy to find, that
my opinion of that translation is ratified by your's.
I did not think it possible to do justice to the old
Grecian in any modern tongue ; but IVIr Potter
has satisfied me, that I was mistaken. It seems
to me, that this is indisputably the best transla-
tion that ever appeared in English of any Greek
poet. I beg, Madam, you will exert all your in-
fluence with the author, to make him go on with
* Euripides."
LETTER CXXVIII.
MRS MONTAGU TO DK BEATTIE.
Hill Street, 10th Febraary, 1779.
" I admire your perseverance in your college
duties and literary labours, in the midst of so
many discouragements as want of health and do-
mestic anxiety bring with them. I rejoice in that
perseverance, which will give to the world and
me the means of so much instruction and plea-
sure. You do well in collecting and fitting for
publication what you have already written. INIy
learned and excellent friend Mr Stillingflcet, by
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 193
daily enlarging his lucubrations, and not putting
the finishing hand to any, condemned to the
flames, at his death, (which did not happen till
he was near seventy,) many valuable manu-
scripts.
" Yod would read, with melancholy pleasure,
the honours done to Mr Garrick's remains, and the
tender regret expressed for his loss. He seemed
to quit the theatre of the world as he did that at
Drury-Lane, before any of the energy, any of the
graces, with which he was wont to enspirit or
adorn the part he was to act, were enfeebled or
faded. In full possession of our admiration, in
perfect dominion of our affections, and command
of our sympathies, he quitted us : No wonder we
wept at the catastrophe! As he grew disengaged
from the theatrical character, he grew more abso-
lute and excellent in the charms of the private.
He gave the highest spirit to conversation ; the
highest joy and mirth at the convivial board.
The literary men considered him as one, who, by
a kind of intuition, possessed all they valued in
themselves, and had a closer intellectual corre-
spondence with them than any other man. So
universal an actor must be considered rather as a
general connoisseur of the human mind in all si-
VOL. II. N
194" tlFE OF DR B5ATTIE.
tuations, than as one hy profession a mimic of
it
" Mr Garriek, in his o\yn character, was high-
ly respectable. His friends liave a great loss, the
distressed and poor have a great loss, his wife the
greatest: I think I never saw such perfect affec-
tion and harmony as subsisted between them.
No words can paint her woe ; and it would be
difficult to do justice to the piety, resignation,
and dignity of her behaviour on this sad occa-
sion.
" I was much pleased with your pamphlet on
' Psalmody,' and I cannot think it possible it
should give offence. I think psalms, written
with great and noble simplicity, and sung in the
same manner, friendly to devotion ; and it is al-
most an offence to call in the aid of insensible
and inanimate things to praise the Giver of life
and reason. A psalm, decently sung by the con-
gregation, always excites my devotion more than
the organ. I would employ musical instruments
in a Pagan temple, but only the voice of man in
a Christian church.
' I am very glad you are so pleased with Mr
Potter's ' ^Eschylus.' I shall communicate to him
what you have said ; and praise like yours will
LIFE OF Dll BEATTIE. l^S
excite him to proceed with his translation of
^ Euripides.' Poor man, he has lately met with
great domestic afflictions ! it seems to me, that
he is a man of great genius and learning.
" My lettere from Paris tell me, that, since the
death of Voltaire, freethinking seems less fashion-
able. At Paris, every thing is governed- by fashion ;
I wish it may be a-la-mode to endeavour to go to
heaven,"
LETTER CXXIX.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON".
Aberdeen, 22d February, 1779.
" My friends in England are all in tears for
poor Garrick. In his own sphere he was certain-
ly the greatest man of his time ; and since 1 knew
him, I have always thought, that in private com-
pany his talents were not less admirable than up-
on the stage. There was a playfulness in his hu-
mour, and a solidity in his judgment, which made
him at once a most delighful and most instruc-
tive associate. After passing part of two days
with him at his house at Hampton, I once intend-
IQG life of dr beattie.
ed to have addressed to him a copy of verses, in
which I had actually made some progress; but
something interposed to prevent me. The thought,
as I remember, was to this purpose : That in him
the soul of Shakespeare had revived, after under-
going, in the other world, a purification of one
hundred years ; for that was the exact space of
time between the death of Shakespeare and the
birth of Garrick. Kindred spirits they certainly
were. Shakespeare was never thoroughly under-
stood till Garrick explained him. Both were
equally great in tragedy and in comedy ; and yet
for comedy both had evidently a predilection."
LETTER CXXX.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 1 0th April, 1779.
" I have at last made good my promise, in re-
gard to the Scotticisms ; and send you inclosed
a little book, containing about two hundred,
'with a praxis at the end, which will perhaps
amuse you. I printed it for no other purpose but
to give away to the young men who attend my
4
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 197
lectures. This collection I hav been making,
from time to time, for some years past. I con-
sulted Mr Hume's list, and took a few from it.
Mr Elphinston's book I also looked into, (that
book, I mean, which he wrote either for or against
Lord Kaimes,) and it supplied me with three or
four : But Elphinston is mistaken in many things,
and his own style is not free from Scotticism;
which, however, is one of his least faults ; for so
affected and enigmatical is his phraseology, that
he cannot be said to have a style at all. Dr
Campbell gave me about a dozen. The rest are
the result of my own observation. I shall in
time, I believe, collect as many more as will be a
supplement to this pamphlet ; for they are end-
Jess. Even since these came from the press, I
have recollected a few others, which you will find
in the postscript. I am not positive that every
one of my remarks are right ; but I intend to
send them to a learned friend in England, who
will correct what is amiss. If any material amend-
ment is made, I shall inform you of it.
" Your opinion of Bishop Lowth's ' Isaiah' coin-
cides exactly with mine. It is equal to my high-
est expectations, and does honour to our age and
nation. I wish the learned prelate may proceed
198 LIFE OF DR BEATTIii
in his pious undertaking, and give us as many of
the other books of Scripture as his other duties
will leave him at leisure to revise. I made two
or three trifling remarks on the language of his
translation, in which there are some peculiarities
that I cannot account for. To hist, (meaning
to call with a whistle) is a word which 1 never
before met with either in print or in conversa-
tion, and which indeed I should not have under-
stood, if the author had not explained it in his
notes; 1 suspect it may be provincial. Ilej;, too,
and cyon, are a sort of technical words, the one
belonging to botany, the other to gardening;
and, as such, ought not, I think, to have a place
in a popular translation of Scripture. It is a
striking beauty in our English Bible, that, though
the language is always elegant and nervous, and
for the most part very harmonious, the words are
all plain and common ; no affectation of learned
terms, or of words of Greek or Latin etymology.
I have sometimes amused myself with the sim-
plicity and harmony of particular passages. No-
thing can be more melodious than the following,
wliich yet seems to be the effect of accident ra-
ther than of art : " jVJan that is born of a woman
" is of iew days, and full of trouble. He cometh
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. l^^
** forth as a flower, and is cut clown ; he fleeth
*' also as a shadow, and continueth not/' Virgil
himself would not versify the following passage,
for fear of hurting its harmotiy ; arid yet every
woi-d is common, and there is not the least ap-
pearance of art in the composition : " My beloved
*' spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my
" fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter
*' is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers
" appear on the earth, the time of the singing of
*' birds is come; and the voice of the turtle is
" heard in our land. The fig-tree putteth forth
** her green figs, and the vines with the tender
" grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my
" fair one, and come away." Our critics have
often afhrmed, tliat the English tongue derives a
great deal of its harshness from the multitude of
its monosyllables : this passage may serve for a
proof of the contrary ; for here (if I reckon right)
are eighty words, whereof sixty-eight are mono-
syllables ; and yet I will venture to say, that the
Italian language itself is not suscej)tible of great-
er sweetness. Some of our words of one syllable
are certainly harsh, as which, such, scratch, Sec. ;
>
but even these lose a great part of tlieir disagree-
200 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
able sound, when the words that come before apd
after them are properly modulated.
" You would hear, no doubt, of the death of
Mr Riddoch, one of the ministers of our English
chapel. As I think I have heard you say, thati
you liked those few sermons which he published
some years ago, * I shall take the liberty to in-
form you, that his widow, whom he has left in
very poor circumstances, intends to pubhsh two
volumes of his sermons by subscription, and has
asked that Dr Campbell and I would revise the
manuscripts ; which, considering her distress, and
his merit, both as a man and as a preacher, we
did not decline."
* Six occasional Sermons on important subjects, by James
Riddoch, A. M. one of the ministers of St Paul's chapel, Aber-
deen, published in 1762. The two first, preached on New-
year's day, are peculiarly excellent. Those alluded to here,
which Dr Beattie and Dr Campbell had the goodness to revise
previous to their publication, were printed in the year 1782.
They are plain, pious, practical, and useful discourses, which
may be perused with advantage. As his manner in the pulpi^
was extremely energetic, they were listened to by his congrega-
tion with much delight.
^IFE OF DR BEATTIE. 201
BETTER CXXXI.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
Aberdeen, 27th May, 1779.
" I rejoice in the good weather, in the belief
that it extends to Glenfiddich ; * where I pray
that your Grace may enjoy all the health and
happiness that good air, goats' whey, romantic
solitude, and the society of the loveliest children
in the world, can bestow. May your days be
clear sunshine, and may a gentle rain give balm
to your nights, that the flowers and birch-trees
may salute you in the morning with all their fra-
grance ! May the kids frisk and play tricks be-
fore you, with unusual sprightliness ; and may
the song of birds, the hum of bees, and the dis-
tant waterfall, with no\y and then the shepherd's
hpm resounding from the mquntains, entertain
yoii with a full chorus of Highland music !
* A hunting-seat of the Duke of Gordon's, in the heart of the
Grampian mountains ; a wild, but beautiful, sequestered spot, of
which Dr Beattie was peculiarly fond.
t02 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
" My imagination had parcelled out the lovely
glen into a thousand little paradises ; in the hope
of being thel^, and seeing every day, in that sa-
litude, what is
" Fairer than famed of old, or fabled since,
" Of fairy damsels, met in forest wide
" By errant knights."
But the information you received at Cluny gave
a check to my fancy, and was indeed a great dis-
appointment to Mrs Beattie and me ; not on ac-
count of the goats' whey, but because it keeps us
80 long at such a distance from your Grace.'*
LETTER CXXXII.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 12th June, 177^.
" You are extremely welcome to as many co-
pies of the Scotticisms as you please ; I shall send
a parcel by the first opportunity. But I would
not wish the pamphlet to be exposed to the
censure of critics, who know not the peculiar
circumstances of the persons for whose use it
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 203
was intended. I printed it for the improvement
of those young men only who attend my lec-
tures ; who are generally of the north country,
and many of whom have had no opportunity of
learning English from the company they kept.
To have confined myself, therefore, to such idioms
as may actually be found in printed books, or to
such as are current to the south as well as the
north of Scotland, would not have answered my
purpose. There are in the hst, as you justly ob-
serve, some phrases, which are not often heard
among the better sort of our people; but, in this
country, they are, in fact, used by many above
the rank of the vulgar, and are sometimes mista-
ken for English, because they may be seen in
English books, though in a different sense : such
is, misguide for sully, ill to guide for ill to inanagCf
&c. fVrongous and iniquous are very common
among Scottish lawyers. In a word, I might, no
doubt, have omitted several of those that are in-
serted ; and would probably have done so, if I
had not known by experience, that phrase-books,
vocabularies, and dictionaries, are oftener faulty
from defect than from redundancy.
" Negatives are hard to prove, especially in
language. A good phrase is established by a quo-
204 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
tation from a good author : but to say of a phrase,
that it is a Scottish idiom, is to say, that, though
used in Scotland, it occurs not in any EngUsh
writer of classical authority ; a point which, in
many cases, it will be no easy matter to evince.
There may be errors, therefore, in my pamphlet ;
it would be strange indeed if there were none ;
but it may have its use for all that. Old Dr
******* used to tell me, that he formerlvbe-
longed to a club in Edinburgh where nothing but
Latin was spoken ; and that when appeals were
made to Mr Ruddiman,f (who was a sort of oracle
among them,) he would give his opinion very
readily and decisively, when he thought the La-
tin good; but was slow to pronounce concerning
any phrases which had the appearance of Latin,
that they were bad. And I remember, that Wal-
ker, in his excellent * Treatise on English Parti-
cles,' makes a remark to the same purpose, and
gives a list of Latin phrases from the best au-
thors, which one, who was not well read in the
classics, would, without hesitation, pronounce tq
be Anglicisms."
t The celebrated grammarian.
LltE OF DR BEATTIE. 9,03
LETTER CXXXIIL
>
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 17 th June, 1779.
" I have been reading Johnson's prefaces to the
EngUsh edition of the poets, which poor Dilly
sent me in exchange for the Edinburgh edition.
There are many excellent things in the prefaces,
pai;ticularly in the lives of Milton, Dryden, and
Waller. He is more civil to Milton than I ex-
pected, though he hates him for his blank verse
and his politics. To the forced and unnatural
conceits of Cowley, I think he is too favourable ;
and I heartily wish, that, instead of the poems
of this poet, which are printed at full length, and
fill two large volumes, he had given us ' The
Fairy Queen' of Spenser, which is left out, very
absurdly, I think. He has brought his lives no
further down than to Hughes ; but I hear he in-
tends to give the remainder as soon as he can.''
206 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CXXXIV.
t)li BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
Aberdeen, 22d June, 1779.
" I congratulate your Grace, with all my heart,
on the safe arrival of one of the best and most
beautiful boys that ever was born. * It gave me
the most sincere pleasure to see him so well, so
mindful of all his old friends, and so impatient
to get forward to the Glen.!
" And here your Grace will pardon me for ex-
pressing a wish, that the Marquis were attended
by a man of learning, in quality of tutor, as well
as by MrS******'*, who is, to be sure, in every re-
spect but one, the best man in the world for his
purpose. Many an English clergyman would,
with transport, resign bis cure, in order to un-
dertake so pleasing an employment : And I think
the tutor ought by all means to be an English-
man, regularly educated ; and to be recommend-
" The Marquis of Huntley,
t Glenfiddich. See p. 201.
LIFE Of DR BEATTIE. 20/
ed either by the Archbishop of York, or by I>r
Barnard, provost of Eton, whom I look upon as
the best judges now in the world of the qualifi-
cations requisite in a teacher. I beg your Grace
will think of this.
" I will not attempt to describe what I suffer-
ed from the cruel necessity which compelled me
to decline your Grace's invitation. My regret
was such, and the cause of that regret is so great
a weight on my spirits, that 1 believe even Adam
Smith himself, * if he were to know it, would al-
most pity me. Mrs Beattie has been a little bet-
ter for this week past; and bids me say, that
though she is obliged to give up all thoughts of
the Glen for this season, she still hopes to be hap-
py in Gordon- Castle before the end of autumn.
She now goes out once a day in a chaise ; but if
the airing exceed two miles, she is fatigued with
it. I would fain hope^ that, when she is a little
accustomed to this exercise, she may be able to
undertake a little journey, which I am siire would
be of infinite service to her.
" I have made several visits of late to the Den
* In allusron to Dr Smith's doctrine of St/mpathy.
S08 LIFE OF DR B!A.TTIE.
*
of Rubislaw,* and find a charm in it which I waj^
never sensible of before. One evening it appear-
ed in dreadful majesty ; for it was so thick a fog,
that I could hardly see the tops of the trees, or
even of the cliffs ; and so I \vas at libfcrty to fan-
cy them as high and as wild as I pleased. But
the more I indulge myself in that solitude, the
ifiore I regret my distance from another, 'f which
I hear is admirable for the beauties of still life,
and of which I know how much it excels all
other solitudes for every other species of beauty.
I still flatter myself with the hope of assisting,
bne time or other, at some of your Grace's morn-
ing lectures. Pray remember your promise of
sending me the history of a day.
*' I have a little story to tell your Grace, and
a favour to ask; which will give you the trouble
of another letter in a post or two."
* A romantic woody spot, in th6 near neighbourhood of Aber-
deen ; to which Dr Beattie delighted to retire, in order to indulge
in silent meditation.
A I>en, in the vernacular language of Scotland, as used in the
sense here meant, is synonymous with what in England is called
a Dingle.
t Glenfiddich.
tiFE OF DR BEATTIE. 20^
LETTER CXXXV.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Aberdeen, 25th June, 1779.
" An extraordinary book has just now appear^
cd in this country ; but, before I say any thing
of it, I must trouble you with a short narrative.
" During the last years of Mr Hume's Hfe, his
friends gave out, that he regretted his having
dealt so much in metaphysics, and that he never
would write any more. He was at pains to dis-
avow his ' Treatise of Human Nature,' in an ad-
vertisement which he published about half a year
before his death. All this, with what 1 then
heard of his bad health, made my heart relent
towards him; as you would no doubt perceive
by the concluding part of the preface to my
quarto book. But, immediately after his death,
I heard, that he had left behind him two manu-
scripts, with strict charge, that they should be
published by his executors one, ' The History
of his Life,' and the other, ' Dialogues on Natu-
ral Religion.' This last was said to be more scep-
VOL. II, o
210 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
tical than any of his other writings. Yet he had
employed the latter part of his life in preparing
it. The copy which I have, was sent me two
days ago by my friend and neighbour Dr Camp-
bell; than whom no person better understands
the tendency and the futility of Mr Hume's phi-
losophy, and who accompanied it with a note, in
the following words : " You have probably not
" yet seen this posthumous performance of Da-
" vid Hume. As the publisher, with whom I am
" not acquainted, has favoured me with a copy,
" I have sent it to you for your perusal ; and
" shall be glad to have your opinion of it, after
" you have read it. For my part, I think it too
" dry, and too metaphysical, to do much hurt;
" neither do I discover any thing new or curious
" in it. It serves but as a sort of commentary to
" the ' Dialogues on Natural Religion and Pro-
" vidence,' published in his lifetime. What most
" astonishes me, is, the zeal which this publica-
" tion shows for disseminatmg those sceptical
" principles." *
* Dr Campbell's prediction, as to the fate of this posthumous
work of Mr Hume's, seems to have been completely verified;
for the " Dialogues concerning Natural Religion" are now never
heard of.
5
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 211
In my answer to Dr Campbell's note, I told
him, " that I was happy to find, from his account,
" that the book was not likely to do much harm ;
" that I would acquiesce in his judgment of it,
" which I was persuaded was just ; but that at
" present my circumstances, in regard to health
" and spirits, would not permit me to enter up-
" on the study of it."
" Are you not surprised, Madam, that any man
should conclude his life (for Mr Hume knew he
was dying) with preparing such a work for the
press? Yet Mr Hume must have known, that, in
the opinion of a great majority of his readers, his
reasonings, in regard to God and Providence,
were most pernicious, as well as most absurd.
Nay, he himself seemed to think them danger-
ous. This appears from the following fact, which
I had from Dr Gregory. Mr Hume was boast-
ing to the Doctor, that, among his disciples in
Edinburgh, he had the honour to reckon many of
the fair sex. " Now, tell me," said the Doctor,
" whether, if you had a wife or a daughter, you
" would wish them to be your disciples? Think
" well before you answer me ; for I assure you,
*' that, whatever your answer is, I will not con-
" ceal it." Mr Hume, with a smile, and some
S12 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
hesitation, made this reply: " No; I believe
*' scepticism may be too sturdy a virtue for a
" woman." Miss Gregory * will certainly re-
member, that she has heard her father tell this
story. How different is Doctor Gregory's * Lega-
cy' t to Mr Hume's !
" Do me the favour, Madam, to let me know
that you are well ; that your nephew is just such
as I wish him to be ; and that the Duchess-dowa-
ger of Portland, Mrs Delany, Mrs Carter, Sir Jo-
shua Reynolds, and our other friends, are all in
good health. I never pass a day, nor (I believe)
an hour of the day, without thinking of them, and
wishing them all imaginable happiness. Some-
times I flatter myself with the hope of seeing you
all once more before I die ; it is a pleasing thought ;
but,
" Shadows, clouds, and darkness, rest upon it."
* Daughter of the late Dr John Gregory,! who, at the date
6f this letter, was on a visit at Mrs Montagu's. Miss Gregory
is now the wife of my respected friend, the Reverend Mr Ali-
son.
t Dr Gregory's elegant little posthumous work, " A Father's
Legacy to his Daughters."
i See Vol. I. p. 41.
S Ibid. p. 250.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 213
** How shall I thank you, Madam, for all your
goodness ! your refusal to accept of any indem-
nification for the expence of my advertisements,
is a new instance. I am ashamed, and know not
what to say : Dii tibi et mens sibi conscia rectij
prcemia dignaferant"
The following little artless tale, referred to in
a former letter, is M^ell told, and does credit to
the goodness of Dr Beattie's heart ; although, un-
fortunately, his endeavours to serve his old friend,
I believe, proved unsuccessful.
LETTER CXXXVI.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
Aberdeen, 5th July, 1779.
" I now sit down to make good the threaten-
ing denounced in the conclusion of a letter, which
I had the honour Xo write to your Grace about
ten days ago. The request I am going to make
214 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
I should preface with many apologies, if I did
not know, that the personage to whom I address
myself is too well acquainted with all the good
emotions of the human heart, to blame the warmth
of a school-boy attachment, and too generous to
think the worse of me for wishing to assist an
unfortunate friend.
" Three weeks ago, as I was scribbling in my
garret, a man entered, whom at first I did not
know ; but, on his desiring me to look him in
the face, I soon recollected an old friend, whom
I had not seen, and scarcely heard of, these twen-
ty years. He and I lodged in the same house,
when we attended the school of Laurencekirk, in
the year 1 747- I was then about ten years old,
and he about fifteen. As he took a great liking
to me, he had many opportunities of obliging me;
having much more knowledge of the world, as
well as more bodily strength, than I. He was,
besides, an ingenious mechanic, and made for me
many little things : and it must not be forgotten,
that he first put a violin in my hands, and gave
me the only lessons in music 1 ever received.
Four years after this period, I went to college,
and he engaged in farming. But our acquain-
tance was renewed about five years after, when
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 215
I remembered he made me the confident of a
passion he had for the greatest beauty in that
part of the country, whom he soon after mar-
ried.
" I was very glad to see my old friend so un-
expectedly; and we talked over many old sto-
ries, which, though interesting to us, would have
given little pleasure to any body else. But my
satisfaction was soon changed to regret, when,
upon inquiring into the particulars of his fortune
during these twenty years, I found he had been
very unsuccessful. His farming projects had mis-
carried ; and, happening to give some offence to
a young woman, who was called the housekeeper
of a gentleman on whom he depended, she swore
she would be revenged, to his ruin ; and was as
good as her word. He satisfied his creditors, by
giving them all his substance ; and, retiring to a
small house in Johnshaven,* made a shift to sup-
port his family by working as a joiner : a trade
which, when a boy, he had picked up for his
amusement. But a consumptive complaint over-
took him ; and though he got the better of it, he
has never since been able to do any thing that
* A small fishing-town in the county of Kincardine.
2l6 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
requires labour, and can now only make fiddlesj
and some such little matters, for Avhich there is
no great demand in the place where he lives. He
told me, he had come to Aberdeen on purpose to
put me in mind of our old acquaintance, and see
whether I could do any thing for him. I asked,
in what respect he wished me to serve him. He
would do any thing, he said, for his family, that
was not dishonourable : and, on pressing him a
little further, I found, that the height of his am-
bition was to be a tide-waiter, a land-waiter, or
an officer of excise. I told him, it was particu-
larly unlucky that I had not the least influence,
or even acquaintance, with any one commission-
er, either of the excise or customs : but, as I did
not care to discourage him, I promised to think
of his case, and to do what I could. I have since
seen a clergyman, who knows my friend very
well, and describes his condition as still more
forlorn than he had represented it.
" It is in behalf of this poor man, that I now
venture to imploie your Grace's advice and as-
sistance. I am well aware, that, though his case
is very interesting to me, there is nothing extra*
ordinary in it; and that your Grace must often
be solicited for others in like circumstances. It
LIFE OF DR B'EATTIE. 217
is, therefore, with the utmost reluctance, that I
have taken this liberty. If your Grace thinks,
that an application from me to ]\Ir Baron Gor-
don might be sufficient to procure one of the of-
fices in question for my friend, I would not wish
you to have any trouble ; but if my application
were entbrced by yours, it would have a better
chance to succeed. Ihis, however, I do not re-
quest, if it is not so easy to your Grace, as to be
almost a matter of indifference.
" By the first convenient opportunity I hope
to send your Grace a sort of curiosity, four ele-
gant Pastorals, by a Quaker; not one of our
Quakers of Scotland, but a true English Quaker,
who says thee and thou, and comes into a room,
and sits down in company, without taking off
his hat. For all this, he is a very worthy man,
an elegant scholar, a cheerful companion, and a
particular friend of mine. His name is John
Scott, of Am well, near Ware, Hertfordshire, where
he lives in an elegant retirement, (for his fortune
is very good;) and has dug, in a chalk-hill near
his house, one of the most curious grottos I have
ever seen. As it is only twenty miles from Lon-
don, I would recommend it to your -Grace, when
^ou are there, as worth going to visit. Youf
218 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
Grace will be pleased with his Pastorals, net on-
ly on account of their morality and sweet versi-
fication, but also for their images and descrip-
tions, which are a ' very exact picture of the
groves, woods, waters, and windmills, of that
part of England where he resides."
LETTER CXXXVII.
MRS MONTAGU TO DR BEATTIE.
Sandleford, 20th July, 1779.
" I always consider your letters as a favour;
and when they brought a good account of your
and Mrs Beattie's health, they gave me the high-
est pleasure. I can only say, that with your last
I felt the most sincere and tender sympathy, and
daily pour forth the warmest wishes for her speedy
recovery.
" I will now give you some account of myself;
I went to Bath the middle of April, and, with
great benefit to my health, drank the waters
above six weeks. A winter season in London,
and a spring season at Bath, bring on a weariness
of the bustle of society ; and I was glad to pass
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 219
the month of June in the sober, cheerful tran-
quillity of Sandleford. But in this working-day-
world one can have but few holidays : the house
I am building, and an estate 1 am purchasing,
created many occasions for my going to London;
to the busy world, therefore, business brought
me back, and from thence I am but just returned
to peace and sunshine, and the rural joys of
July. The animated scene of hay-making is
very delightful to me ; and I passed my morn-
ings in the grove, to contemplate the gay la-
bour of the hay-makers, who, to the number of
forty, of different ages and sexes, were all busy
in the field below me. The men were gay, the
women chattering, and the boys and girls sport-
ing and playing amidst their work; so that la-
bour seemed rather a brisk exertion than a pain-
ful task. The reaper's employment is more se-
rious and more laborious, as if, the nearer the
approach to wealth, the less gay the condition ;
their wages are greater than those of the hay-
makers, but the occupation is not so delightful,
nor performed with such careless ease ; and is it
not the same in the business of civil life? At
this juncture, particularly, I think the highest
220 LIFE OF r>R BEATTTE.
offices in our state must be the most laborious,
and full of seriousness and care. Public danger
used to beget public union ; but I am sorry to
say, that our leaders of faction have not seemed
to forget their private objects for the general in-
terest. This summer will probably bring very
important events to England. Daily rumours of
invasion, in some part or other of our country,
seem very alarming to ears, unaccustomed to
such reports ; but if the chastisements of Heaven
will restore those virtues, which prosperity seems
to have impaired, such corrections must be reck-
oned amongst the favours of Providence. Re-
signation to Divine Wisdom and Omnipotence
becomes creatures, not only weak, but blind ;
so I endeavour to keep my mind in tranquil-
lity,
'^ I am very glad you were pleased with Mr
Potter s ' Jischylus.' I think he has made a great
addition to the English literature. At my re-
quest he has since added some notes, which I
will send you if you have not got them. He is
very cautious in explaining ancient mythology :
I wished he had given his conjectures on the
allegory of Prometheus. Mr Potter is now tran-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE* 221
slating * Euripides ;' and, if he succeed as well as
in the other translation, the world will owe him
a great deal ; and 1 heartily wish, that, in some
shape, it would pay him part of the debt ; he is
a man of great merits small preferment, and large
family. I hear of few new works to come forth ;
in the din of arms, not only the laws, but the
muses are silent*
*' I cannot conclude my letter, without exhort-
ing you to collect together those things you have
written for the young people who attend your
lectures. I am convinced they would be useful
to the world, and much approved by it, if you
would publish them. In all your essays there is
much to be learnt ; observations and deductions
perfectly new, and at the same time just. With
such conditions, I account essays to be pleasant
and profitable ; but most essay-writers give mere
common-place observations, and a great deal of
trite matter."
222 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CXXXVIII.
Ull BEATTIE TO MAJOR MERCER.
Aberdeen, 1st October, 1779.
*' I betook myself to the reading of Cassar
when I was at Peterhead, for I happened to have
no other book. I had forgot a great deal of him ;
and scarce remembered any thing more than the
opinion which I formed of his style, about twenty-
iive years ago. But when I began, I found it
almost impossible to leave off. There is nothing
in the historical style more perfect ; and his
transactions are a complete contrast to the mili-
tary affairs of these times. I know not which of
his talents I should most admire : his indefatiga-
ble activity and perseverance ; his intrepidity and
presence of mind, which never fail him even for
a moment; his address as a politician ; his ability
as a commander, in which he seems tome to have
no equal ; or the beauty, brevity, clearness, and
modesty, of his narrative. I understand all his
battles as well as if I had seen them : and, in
half a sentence, he explains to me the grounds
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 223
and occasions of a war, more fully than a modem
historian could do in fifty pages of narrative, and
as many more of dissertation. In a word, as the
world at that time stood in need of an absolute
sovereign, I am clearly of opinion, that he should
have been the person. Pompey was a vain cox-
comb, who, because a wrong-headed faction had
given him the title of Magnus, foolishly thought
himself the greatest of men ; Cassius was a male-
content, and a mere demagogue ; and Brutus was
the dupe of a surly philosophy, operating upon
an easy temper. I ask pardon for troubling you
with this, which you understand so much better
than I do : but I am quite full of Csesar at pre-
sent ; and you know, ' what is nearest the heart
' is nearest the mouth."
LETTER CXXXIX.
BR BEATTIE TO DR PORTEUS, BISHOP OF CHESTER.
Aberdeen, nth December, 1779.
" About three months ago, a lady, who is a
great admirer of Bishop Butler, put into my hands
a manuscript-charge of that excellent prelate to
224 LIFE or DR BEATTIE.
the clergy of the diocese of Durham. If it is
not in his printed works, I doubt whether it was
ever pubhshed ; but no person, who is acquainted
with Butler's manner, could read half a page with-
out being satisfied that it is genuine. I was so
well pleased with it, that I had thoughts of print-
ing it in a small pamphlet; but domestic troubles
have so disconcerted me, that I am hardly capa-
ble of any thing. If your Lordship is curious to
see it, I believe I could easily procure a MS. copy.
Let me again make it my request, that you would
collect all your printed pieces, and give them to
the world in one publication.
" I think I told your Lordship in my last, that,
in order to keep my mind from preying upon it-
self, and to give it a sufficiency of such employ-
ment as would amuse the fancy, without affect-
ing the heart, I had resolved to finish a gramma-
tical treatise, which 1 began some considerable
time ago. It is now fmished, and makes one of
my largest treatises. It consists of two parts;
the first, ' On the Origin and general Nature of
Speech ;' the second, ' On Universal Grammar.'
I have drawn a good deal of information from
Mr Harris's ' Hermes,' and Lord Monboddo on
' Language;' but my plan and my sentiments
tTFE OF DR BEATTIE. 225
differ in many particulars from both. Monbod-
do's partiality to the Epicurean hypothesis of the
origin of language and society,
" Cum prorepserunt primis animalia terris" ^x.
I thought it incumbent upon me to animadvert
upon; and I hope I have shown that it is ill
founded.
"I have never seen Lord Monboddo's 'An-
cient Metaphysics.' He and I have long been
particularly acquainted. Formerly we used to
disagree a little on the subject of religion ; but I
hear he has become more cautious on that head.
He carries his admiration of Aristotle, and the
abstruser parts of the Greek philosophy, to a de-
gree of extravagance that is hardly credible. He-
rodotus is his favourite historian; and so far is
he from thinkinsr, with the rest of the world,
that he is credulous, that he seems to think him
infallible in all matters, which he says he had an
opportunity of inquiring into. He believes in
the existence of satyrs, and men with the heads
of dogs, and other Egyptian monsters : and he
and I have had many a controversy concerning
men with tails, whom he firmly believes to exist,
not only in the islands of Nicobar in the Gulf of
VOL. II. p
225 LIFE OF DE BEATTIE.
Bengal, but even in this country. He holds, that
men are naturally cannibals ; from which he in-
fers, that man is not by nature a social animal.
The Lacedemonian government and discipline he
admires beyond that of all other nations. Whe-
ther he justifies their conduct towards the He-
lots, I do not remember; but I have heard him
seriously maintain, that slavery is the state that
is most proper for peasants, and that they and the
cattle ought to be annexed to the soil, and bought
and sold along with it. He considers Horace as
a philosopher, and Virgil as a good poet : but his
opinion of Latin literature is but low at best;
for I have heard him say, that, if we except the
Roman law, there is hardly any thing in the
Latin tongue that merits preservation.
*' Notwithstanding these strange peculiarities
of opinion, some of which are the objects of
laughter rather than censure, Lord Monboddo is
an honest, worthy, and friendly man, indulgent
to his servants, and kind to his tenants ; an ele-
gant speaker, agreeable and jocose in conversa-
tion, and perfectly well bred. Mr Harris's ' Her-
mes ' first set him upon studying the Greek; and
it unluckily directed him to the most insignifi-
cant part of ancient learning, ' The Analytics
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 227
and Metaphysics ' of Aristotle ; which he has
studied so long, that I believe he is now seriously
of opinion, that nothing else deserves to be stu-
died."
There is something extremely affecting in the
tender solicitude which, in the following letter,
Dr Beattie expresses concerning the education
and future fortunes of his sons, at a time when
he apprehended that he had not long to live.
Little did he then suspect that he would have
the misfortune to survive them both.
LETTER CXL.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 18th January, 1780.
" In my present condition, it is natural for me
to think what is likely to befal my family when
I leave it. The affairs I have to settle are not
228 LIFE OF DR BKATTIE.
extensive or complex : I have taken the hberty
to give you some concern in thenu
" About a month ago, I executed a deed, with
all the necessary formalities ; in which I named
you, my dear Sir, with some other friends, tutors
and curators for my two boys. I ought, no
doubt, to have informed you of this sooner; but
I know you will excuse me. This deed I consi-
der as the most, and indeed as the only, material
part of my settlements. It is scarce necessary
for one to make a will, who wishes his children
to be on an equal footing, in regard to inheri-
tance ; and whose property consists chiefly in a
little money and some moveables. I hope I shall
leave them what may keep them from being a
burden on any body, and what, with strict eco-
nomy, may afford them the means of an educa-
tion somewhat better than I received myself.
Friends may be necessary to help them forward
a little in the world ; and I trust in Providence,
that those will not be wanting. Will you indulge
me in the freedom of saying a word or two more
on this subject.
" My first wish, in regard to my two boys, is,
that they may be good Christians, and, in one
way or another, useful in society. Of the younger
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 229
1 can say nothing, as I know not his character.
The elder is much addicted to learning, of a good
temper, and excellent capacity ; but his consti-
tution is delicate, and I do not think him made
fbr the bustle of life. I have, therefore, had
thoughts of getting him appointed, when he
comes to be of age, my assistant and successor;
provided he himself should then have no objec-
tion to that way of life: and, from my expe-
rience in teaching, the care I meant to take of
his education, and the farrago of papers which
I have got together on moral subjects, I flattered
myself, that I might make him enter upon that
employment in a way creditable to himself, and
not unprofitable to society : But this plan could
not be brought to bear these eight or nine years;
and I cannot hope for so long a life. Besides, I
have observed, that plans laid so early for children
are seldom or never made effectual. The church
is a scene of business still more tranquil than mine;
and that, I presume, would not be disagreeable
to him. But this is mere conjecture.
" Be assured, that it would do me great good,
if I could flatter myself with the hope of visiting
Edinburgh in the spring, and giving you the
charge of my person and papers ; not to mention
230 LIFi OF DR BEAtTlE.
the pleasure I should take in seeing my friends
(of which I need not give them any assurances).
I am sensible, that I have already lived too long
in solitude ; too long, I mean, for one who loves
society and cheerfulness, as I do, and always have
done. No hermit lives more constant to his cave
than I have done to my house for these eighteen
months. The smallness of my house, and the
delicacy of Mrs B.'s nerves, which cannot bear
the least noise, will not allow me to have any
company with me ; and the consequence is, that
there are only two houses in the town to which
I am ever invited. In fact, I have not dined
abroad more than twice these three months.
Now that I am able to go to the college again,
my business there gives me some amusement
through the day ; but all the long evening I sit
alone, trying sometimes to read, and sometimes
to write, except now and then when I give my
son a lesson in Virgil. This must in the end
have very bad effects upon my health and spirits;
and, therefore, it is no wonder that I long to be
from home, and to sojourn for some little time in
a land of friendship, tranquillity, and cheerful-
ness. My first excursion (if I ever make any)
must be to Gordon-castle.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 231
" The * Grammatical Treatise,' which I told
you of, is finished. It is one of the longest, and
not one of the worst, of my dissertations. I
have also written, since you were here, ' Remarks
on Sublimity, being a sort of counterpart to those
on * Laughter:' but I am not quite pleased with
this, nor has it received my last hand. I believe
I shall next set about finishing what I formerly
threw together on 'Romance-writing and Chi-
valry ;' not because it is important, but because
it is amusing, and will require no deep study. It
is pretty long too ; and, in my dull jog-trot way,
will be an object to me for at least two months.
In a word, my posthumous works (for posthumous
I believe I may call them) will soon be as vo-
luminous as those I have printed. I must be
transcribing one or other of my old scrawls ;
and when one transcribes, one enlarges and cor-
rects insensibly. For I cannot think ; I am too
much agitated and distrait (as Lord Chesterfield
would say) to read any thing that is not very
desultory ; I cannot play at cards, I could never
learn to smoke, and my musical days are over.
" It gives me great pain to hear of the fate of
poor Cook. I lately read his voyage for the se-
232 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
cond time; and considered him ijol only as an
excellent wiiter, an able philosopher, and the
most consummate navigator that ever lived, but
also as a person of the greatest magnanimity,
modesty, and humanity. He was indeed one of
my greatest favourites ; and I look upon his
death as an irreparable loss to his country and to
mankind."
LETTER CXLI.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
!
Aberdeen, 31st January, 1780.
" With this you will receive a packet contain-
ing two ' Mirrors,'* which are just come to hand,
and which I send separate from the rest, (whereof
I have now a considerable parcel,) because your
Grace will probably guess the author. I had no
ambition to view myself in any of these folio
* A periodical paper with that title, published at Edinburgh
at this time. For some account of which, and of the ' Lounger,*
see the Appendix, [DD.]
LIFE OF DIl BEATTIE, 233
looking-glasses ; but, as the publisher had sent
me a set from the beginning, and told me that
he would have no returns but in kind, and, as I
had never refused the terms, I thought myself
bound in a sort of debt of honour, which I en-
deavoured to pay with some detached thoughts
* On Dreaming.' It is a subject which I ought
to understand as well as other people ; for I be-
lieve I have dreamed as much, both sleeping and
waking, as most men of my age. Your Grace
will observe, that the subject is not concluded,
as I have not yet got time to transcribe the last
part. The foolish gasconade at the top of the
first, is an addition by the printer. I shall be
happy if you find any thing tolerable in these
two papers, to indemnify you for the dulness of
this, which indeed I write under very unfavour-
able circumstances, rheumatism, east- wind, shi-
vering, a confused head, an aching heart, &c."
'I!)i:
S34 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CXLII.
1)R BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GOUDOI^.
Aberdeen, 19th March, 1780.
'* As I sincerely sympathised with your Grace on
the occasion of your late uneasiness, it is with the
greatest pleasure I now send my congratulations on
the good news from Rodney ; by which you will
see, that your brother's laurels, instead of being,
as you apprehended, stained with blood, are de-
corated with gold. For the sake of your Grace, as
well as of his country, I pray, that the same success
may attend him wherever he goes ; and that your
tenderness and anxiety may soon receive their full
reward in his safe return. When I consider the
life that those lead who are engaged in the ser-
vice of their country, the busy and meriy faces
with which they are continually surrounded, and
those tumultuous hopes, and that bustle of em-
ployment, which keep their minds and bodies in
constant exercise, I cannot but think their state
much more enviable, than that of the affectionate
friend, whom they leave behind them at full lei-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 235
sure to magnify and multiply all their real dan-
gers, and to imagine a thousand others that will
never have any reality.
" I am greatly obliged to your Grace for the
little novel with the great name. At the first
reading I did not thoroughly understand it ; but
at the second I liked it well : and I agree with
your Grace, that the author shows a capacity
for much better things. There is something
waggish enough, as well as uncommon, in the
moral. But, in the preface, there are some thoughts
and expressions not quite so feminine as I could
have wished. " Read my book, or go hang your-
" self^' is not like the language of a fair lady ;
any more than what she says about being drench-
ed in Mr Walpole's champaign : But perhaps
she wished it to be thought a masculine per-
formance. *
" I am happy that your Grace approves of my
treatise ' On Dreaming.' The publisher has never
expressed any desire to have the sequel, and
therefore I have not sent it. I suspect he may
* 1 presume the novel, Dr Beattie here alludes to, is one
which, though published anonymously, was understood to be
written by Lady Craven, now Margravine of Anspach.
9,36 - LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
think it too serious for his paper. Your Grace
seems to think, that I should avow more faith in
dreams, if I thought it for the good of mankind
that they should be beHeved. I confess there is
something in this : and, as a proof, I beg leave
to transcribe the concluding paragraph :
" To conclude : Providence certainly superin-
" tends the affairs of men ; and often, we know
" not how often, interposes for our preservation*
" It would therefore be presumptuous to affirm,
" that supernatural cautions, in regard to futu-
** rity, are never communicated in dreams. The
" design of t])is discourse is, not to contradict
" any authentic experience, or historical fact, but
" only to show, that dreams may proceed from a
*' variety of causes which have nothing super-
" natural ; that our waking thoughts are often
*' equally unaccountable ; that, therefore, a sur
* perstitious attention to the former is not less
" absurd, than a like attention to the latter would
' be ; and that, though we are not much ac-
" quainted with the nature of this wonderful
" mode of i)erception, we know enough of it to
" see, that it is not useless or superfluous ; but
'* may, on the contrary, answer some purposes of
LITE OP DR BEATTIE. 237
" great importance to our M^lfare, both in soul
^' and body."*
" In the course of my walks, I straggled the
other day into the Den of Rubislaw : But, whe-
ther it was owing to the stormy weather, or to
the gloom of my own thoughts, 1 soon found it
was not a fit place for me at that time. Instead
of sighing and murmuring, the naked trees seemed
to roar in the Avind, and the black stream to rum-
ble and growl through the rocks ; and therefore,
as I did not wish to detain even the idea of your
Grace in so dreary a wilderness, I made haste to
leave it. Two months hence it will be more
pleasing, and, it is possible, I may then be more
capable of being pleased,"
* What Dr Beattie intended as a third number of a ' Mirror*
on 'Dreaming/ was not printed when that paper was published
in single numbers. But it was added as a sequel to the seventy-
fourth paper, when the ' Mirror ' was afterwards reprinted in
volumes. They who wish to see more on this mysterious, and,
may I be permitted to add, unintelligible faculty of dreaming,
may consult Professor Dugald Stewart's very ingenious disser-
tation on the subject, in his ' Elements of the Philosophy of the
Human Mind.'f
+ Chap. V, sect. v. p. 320.
233 ilFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CXLIII.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 1 1th April, 1780.
" I am glad that you approve of my criticism
on the inscription for the burying-ground. It
would still, as you say, be more classical, if it
were shorter; but, ' in spe beatce i^esurrectionis
per Christum,' ought not to be expunged. Clas-
sical writings are good ; but the Christian faith
is much better : and (to adopt the words of Ad-
dison, a little varied) ' I should be sorry to sacri-
fice my catechism to my latinity.' The epitaph
on Franklin I had seen before: it is not at all
amiss.
" I have, since the college broke up, been hard
at work upon Mr Riddoch's manuscript sermons;
but I have only got through five of them, and
there are still five-and-twenty before me. Never
did I engage in a more troublesome business.
There is not a sentence, there is hardly a line,
that does not need correction. This is owing
partly to the extreme inaccuracy of the writing,
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 239
but chiefly to the pecuHarity of the style; an
endless string of climaxes ; the involution of
clauses within clauses; the unmeasuiable length
of the sentences ; and such a profusion of super-
fluous words, as I have never before seen in any
composition. To cure all these diseases is impos-
sible. I must be satisfied with alleviating some
of the worst symptoms : yet, to do my old friend
justice, I must confess, that the sermons have, in
many places, great energy, and even eloquence,
and abound in shrewd remarks, and striking sen-
timents.* They are gloomy indeed; and will
suggest to those who never saw the author, what
is really true, that, in preaching, he always had
a frown on his countenance. He seldom seeks
to draw with the cords of love, or with the bands
of a man : his motto should be, " Knowing the
terrors of the Lord, we persuade men." Both
methods are good in their season ; but the for-
mer is, if I mistake not, most consonant to the
practice of our Saviour and his apostles, as well
as to that of the English divines, who, I think,
are the best of all modern preachers.
" This puts me in mind of a passage in my
* 3ee p. 200.
S40 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
friend the Bishop of Chester's last letter, which,
I know, you will be glad to see : " I am glad to
" find (says he) we are to have another volume
** of sermons from Dr Blair. For although they
" may be thought by some severe judges a little
" too florid and rhetorical, yet they certainly
" abound with good sense and useful observa-
'* tions, and just sentiments of religion, convey-
*' ed in livelv and elegant lansaiaffe : better cal-
*' culated, perhaps, to engage the attention, and
" touch the hearts of the generality of readers,
" than that correct simplicity, and chastity of
" diction, which nicer ears require. There is,
*' however, another volume of sermons expected,
" with which every class of readers will, I con-
" ceive, be abundantly satisfied ; I mean one
*' from Bishop Hurd. When such talents, and
" taste, and learning, as his, are applied to the
" illustration of practical subjects, and the re-
" commendation of common religious duties, we
** may expect every eifect from them that human
" abilities are capable of producing. Such publi-
" cations as these will, I hope, in some degree,
^ counteract the principles that will probably be
" diffused over the kingdom by a veiy different
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 241
" sort of composition a second volume of ' The
" Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."
** I am much obliged to you, my dear Sir, for
your kind concern in my welfare, and for the
many good advices contained in your last. I am
deeply sensible of their importance, and will do
what I can to follow them : But in my case there
are some peculiar difficulties, which I do not well
know how it will be possible for me to get over."
LETTER CXLIV.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 23d May, 1780.
" Dr Blair's second volume I also saw at Gor-
don-Castle. The Duke and Duchess read it en
famille on Sunday evening ; and I glanced over a
good part of it. I did not think it quite equal to
the first ; but perhaps I may be mistaken. Dr
Gerard's ' Sermons,' in one volume 8vo, are just
now sent me ; but I have not had time to read a
single page. I am sure they will be sensible and
instructive. The author was my master, and I
have the greatest regard for him. He was more
VOL. II. Q
249 LIFE OF DR BEATTIX.
than my master, he was my particular friend,
at a time when I had very few friends.
" The death of Sir Adolphus Oughton must be
a great affliction to all his friends: I feel for
them, and for myself. In him, the world has
ost one of the best men it had to boast of. He
has lost nothing, but gained ever}' thing ; and
therefore there is something selfish in our lameu-
tactions."
LETTER CXLV.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON,
Aberdeen, 23cl May, 178a
" To say that my departure from Gordon-Castlc
cost me some sighs and tears, is not saying much ;
as I am apt, of late, when alone, to be rather ex-
Densive in that way. I left you with a weight
upon my mind, which would have been hardly
supportable, if it had not been alleviated, in some
degree, by the hope of soon meeting the Duke
Glasgow, and of seeing your Grace once more
* See Vol. I. p. 305.
J,IFE OF DR BEATTIE. 243
before the end of summer. By the bye, I hope
Mr Nicols will not intermeddle in the arrange-
ment of the dressing-room library ; I flatter my-
selfi that honour will be reserved for me.
** I have sent a small print, which my book-
seller, in the abundance of his wisdom, and con-
trary to my advice, is determined to prefix to a
new edition of my ' Essays on Poetry, Music,'
&c. The figure, designed by Angelica, is certain-
ly very noble, much more so than I expected ;
and is intended to represent Socrates in prison,
^nd under sentence of death, composing a hymn
jn honour of Apollo. But I am afraid, that the
readers will neither guess at the meaning, nor see
any connection between it and the book: in
which case, they will no doubt suppose, that
the author has prefixed his own image. How-
ever, the outline is good and graceful, and the
attitude expressive. If it were not rather too
melancholy, I would say, that it is very like
Socrates. Your Grace knows, that the old phi^
losopher was one of the merriest men of his
time.
" I should write a treatise, instead of a letter,
if I were to be particular in my acknowledgments
244 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
of gratitude, for what I have experienced of your
Grace's and the Duke's goodness. I shall only-
say, (for I know you would not read me to an
end, if I were, on this subject, to use many
words) that I am perfectly sensible of your kind
attention to the peculiarities of my case. I saw,
by many instances every day, how solicitous you
were to withdraw my view from every thing that
could create or revive painful thoughts. My gra-
titude and admiration (which are two very pleas-
ing and healthy emotions) were not wholly ina-
dequate; and the consequences are visible to
every body. Since my return, I have been com-
plimented on my improved looks ; though I have
felt but little of that pleasure which the sight of
home used formerly to produce in me. In fact,
home is not good for me at present, and I shall
leave it as soon as ever I can."
tIFE OF DR BEATTIE, 245
LETTER CXLVL
DR BEATTIE TO THE REV. DR LAING.
Aberdeen, 25th May, 1780.
" We often spoke of you at Gordon-Castle,
and with very great regard. The Duke is still
more and more astronomical. He had Mr Cop-
land * with him for a fortnight while I was there :
and they two were, from morning to night, hard
at work in calculation and observation. The
Duke and Duchess are both, I think, in better
health than ever I knew them to be.
" The manuscript-sermon of Bishop Butler I
sent to the Bishop of Chester. You will like to
see what he says of it. " It abounds with that
" strong sense and sound reasoning which so
" eminently distinguished him; and I cannot see
" in it the smallest foundation for that accusa-
*' tion which it brought upon him, of being fa-
" vourable to Popery,'' This, it seems, was the
case at the time the sermon was preached ; and
* Professor of Mathematics in Marischal College.
@46 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
it was perhaps for this reason that he never pub-
hshed it in his works.
" 1 send you inclosed a small piece of music,
which I think you will like. I got the air at
Gordon-Castle, and I set to it the second part
and bass. If it were sung with three voices, it
would, I should imagine, have a very good ef-
fect.
" I lately heard two anecdotes, which deserve
to be put in writing, and which you will be glad
to hear. When Handel's * Messiali' was first per-
formed, the audience were exceedingly struck
and affected by the music in general ; but when
that chorus struck up, ' For the Lord God Om-
nipotent reigneth,' they were so transported, that
they all, togetlier with the King, (who happened
to be present,) started up, and remained standing
till the chorus ended : And hence it became the
fashion in England for the audience to stand
while that part of the music is performing. Some
days after the first exhibition of the same divine
oratorio, Mr Handel came to pay his respects to
Lord Kinnoul, with whom he was particularly
acquainted. His Lordship, as was natural, paid
him some compliments on the noble entertain-
ment which he had lately given the town. " My
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 24f
** Lord," said Handel, "I should be sorry if I on-
** ly entertained them, I wish to make them bet-
** ter." These two anecdotes I had from Lord
Kinnoul himself. You will agree with me, that
the first does great honour to Handel, to music,
and to the English nation : The second tends to
confirm my theory, and Sir John Hawkins testi*
mony, that Handel, in spite of all that has been
said to the contrary, must have been a pious
man,'*
LETTER CXLVIL
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
Aberdeen, 2dJune, 1780.
" I had the honour to write to your Grace on
my return to Aberdeen, and to send a parcel of
* Mirrors.' This will accompany the two last pa-
pers that we are to have under that title.
" I sympathise with you in your present soli-
tude : For, though nobody knows so well as your
Grace how to improve retirement, yet I do not
think it is good for any of us to be quite alone.
248 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
If you go to the Glen,* I would earnestly recom-
mend it to your Grace, to leave it to the moon
and stars to adorn the night, and to be satisfied
with sleeping under a canopy somewhat less su-
blime than that of heaven. For though, in the
Eden of Gordon-Castle there is no serpent, I
will not answer for the little paradise of Glenfid-
dich ; and though walks at midnight, and slum-
bers in the open air, might be had last summer
without harm, we have no reason to expect that
the present season will be equally indulgent. I
grant, that a lonely walk by moonlight is pleas-
ing, like other intoxications; but, like them too,
it is hurtful to the nerves ; and I know not, whe-
ther the cold bath in the morning be a sufficient
antidote. I need not inform your Grace, and I
hope you will never forget, that in the evening
it is particularly dangerous to walk among trees,
on account of the damps. It was this that brought
all his rheumatisms upon Major Mercer, though
he was then in one of the best and driest climates
in the world the south of France.
" The Duke's summons was unexpectedly sud-
den :^ I hope his return will be equally so. He
* GlcRfiddich.
LIFE OF t>R BEATTIE. 24^
was SO good, in passing through this town, as to
call on me, notwithstanding his hurry, and to
desire me to go with him to Edinburgh ; an in-
vitation so very agreeable, that nothing would
have hindered me from accepting it but my son's
bad health. The boy was at that time very ill ;
and I apprehended a consumption: But he is
now much better ; Dr Livingston having order-
ed for him a preparation of bark and the vitriolic
acid, which, with a strict regimen in the article
of diet, has, in a few days, had the happiest ef-
fects. So that, if nothing unexpected occur, I
have thoughts of going southward next week
in which case, it will not be long before your
Grace hear of me from Glasgow. You will pro-
bably hear from me too, if I meet with any ad-
venture. I shall remember the commission in
regard to Addison ; and, if you will honour me
with any other, please to direct to me at Sir Wil-
liam Forbes's, St Andrew's Street, Edinburgh.
" I had lately a tHe-h-tete of several hours with
Lord Kaimes and Mrs Drummond. There was
no company ; and we had much conversation on
a great variety of subjects your Grace and the
Duke, Lord and Lady F., Mrs Montagu, David
Hume, religion, episcopacy and presbyterianismy
S50 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
manufactures, music, Scotch tunes, with the me-
thod of playing them, &c. ; and I flatter myself,
that his Lordship and I parted with some reluc-
tance on both sides. He assured me, that he hated
Mr Hume's tenets as much as I did, or could do ;
and he spoke of religion with great reverence.
In a word, I found, from his conversation, that
he is just what your Grace had described him to
me, and that all the other accounts I had heard
of him were wide of the truth* I would thank
you. Madam, for undeceiving me in this parti-
cular, and establishing peace, and I hope amity,
between us ; but I have so many things to thank
you for, that, if I were to enter upon that mat-
ter in detail, I should not know where to begin,
and my letter would never have an end.
"Thus far I had written on Friday, when I
had the honour to receive your Grace s letter of
last Wednesday ; which is so very flattering to
me, that I cannot answer a word. I certainly
left Gordon Castle with great reluctance; and
my heart and my fancy did, both of them, and
still do, cast
" Many a longing, lingering look behind."
The society was most agreeable ; but, I flatter
LIFE or Dft BEATTIfi. 25 1
myself, you will do me the justice to believe, it
was not the parting with the guests that touched
me so nearly,' though, I am sure, I love and es-
teem them all as much as they themselves would
wish me to do.
*' I delivered your message to Dr Livingston,
with whom I dined the other day, in company
with three sensible and cheerful Quakers. I spoke
to them of my friend, and their brother, Mr Scott,
(the author of the ' Eclogues,' which your Grace
liked so much,) whom the Londoner very well
knew ; and I diverted them with the history of
a dinner, with which I was once entertained by
ten or twelve of their fraternity, on the King's
birth-day, at one o'clock, near the confluence of
the Thames and Fleet-ditch, the very spot where
Pope makes his Dunces jump into the mud, in
the second book of the ' Dunciad.' These Qua-
kers were all men of learning and sense; and
their manners, polite though peculiar, were to me
a very entertaining novelty. Indeed, the affec-
tion they showed me, deserved, on my part, the
warmest returns of gratitude.
" I have put up in a parcel for your Grace,
* Count Fathom,' ' The Tale of a Tub,' and ' Gau-
dentio di Lucca;' which, with the Italian * Prayer
252 LIFE or DR BEATTIE.
Book,' I have committed to a faithful hand.
* Gaudentio' (if you have never seen it) will
amuse you, though there are tedious passages in
it. The whole description of passing the desarts
of Africa is particularly excellent. The author
is no less a person than the famous Bishop Berke-
ley. As to the whisky, I cannot trust it in the
rude hands of a carrier, and must therefore keep
it till a more favourable opportunity offer : But,
that it may remain sacred, I have sealed the cork
of the bottle with the impression of three ladies *
whom I take to be your Graces near relations, as
they have the honour, not only to bear one of
your titles, but also to resemble you exceedingly
in form, feature, and manner. If you had lived
three thousand years ago, which I am very glad
you did not, there would have been four of them,
and you the fust. May all happiness ever attend
your Grace."
* The seal he commonly used, had an impression of the
three Graces.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 253
The following letter, from Dr Johnson to Dr
Beattie, is equally creditable to both : It is the
unsolicited and unbiassed testimony of one who
was no flatterer; and strongly marks the high
degree of estimation in which he held Dr Beat-
tie, who returned his kindness with reciprocal re-
gard. *
LETTER CXLVIII.
DR SAMUEL JOHNSON TO DR BEATTIE.
Bolt-Court, Fleet-Street, 21st August, 1780.
" More years than I have any delight to reck-
on have past since you and I saw one another.
Of this, however, there is no reason for making
any reprehensory complaint, sic fata ferunt : But,
methinks, there might pass some small inter-
* See Vol. I. p. 27+.
254 X.IFE OF DR ^EATTII,
change of regard between us. If you say, that I
ought to have written, I now write ; and I write
to tell you, that I have much kindness for you
and Mrs Beattie, and that I Tvish your health
better, and your life long. Try change of air,
and come a few degrees southward ; a softer cli-
mate may do you both good. Winter is coming
on, and London will be warmer, and gayer, and
busier, and more fertile of amusement than Aber-
deen^
" My health is better; but that will be little
in the balance, when I tell you, that Mrs Monta-
gu has been very ill, and is, I doubt, now but
weakly. Mr Thrale has been very dangerously
disordered, but is much better, and I hope will
totally recover. He has withdrawn himself fron^
business the whole summer. Sir Joshua and his
sister are well ; and Mr Davis has had great suc-
cess as an author, generated by the corniption of
a bookseller. More news I have not to tell you ;
and, therefore, you must be contented to hear,
that I am," &c.
;.IPE OF PR BEATTIE. %5^.
When I mentioned * the commencement of my
acquaintance and epistolary intercourse with Dr
Beattie, I did not conceal my apprehensions, that
J might be accused of vanity, in publishing tq
the world those warm expressions of affection,
and gratitude towards me, which occur in almost
every letter I received from him ; and of which,
for that reason, I have suppressed by far the
greatest part. But I should deem myself, not
only unworthy of the friendship of Dr Beattie,
but destitute of the best feelings of our nature,
were I insensible to what he says in the follow^
ing letter, written a short time after he had pass-
ed some weeks in our house at Edinburgh. In
deed, his partiality to every one of my family
was very remarkable ; and his esteem and admi-
ration of that best part of it, in particular, of
whom it has since pleased Heaven to deprive me,
but the memory of whose talents and virtues will
* Vol. I. p. 92.
256 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
never be erased from my heart, could not but be
very grateful to me.
I trust, therefore, that the reader will pardon
me, if I dwell with no common fondness on what
he wrote on a subject, then so interesting to me,
and to which the hand of time has now given an
interest still more affecting.
LETTER CXLIX.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES. '
Aberdeen, 6th November, 1780.
" Your letter, my dear Sir, from Oxford, which
I received a few days ago, gave me great plea-
sure, on account of the agreeable information it
brought me of Lady Forbes's health and yours,
and of your amusing journey. I know, from
Pennant's * Welsh Tour,' that there are many
things in that country worthy of the traveller's
attention ; many wild and many soothing scenes,
and many noble monuments of war, and of super-
stitious and feudal magnificence. Such things,
to a mind turned like yours, would have a charm
inexpressible; and would be highly amusing to
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 257
Lady Forbes, whose mind is, if I mistake not, as
bpen to the impressions of romantic art and na-
ture, as either yours or mine ; which, I will ven-
ture to say, is a bold ^vord. Accept of my hear-
ty welcome to your own house and home, which
I hope you have reached before this time ; for, in
this season of tempest and immature winter, I
should be sorry to think that you and your ami-
able associate were struggling with the incon-
veniences of deep roads, cold inns, and short days.
I hope you got WiUiam settled to your mind
during your absence; and that, at your return,
you found him, and my friend Miss Forbes, and
my sworn brother John, and my acquaintance
James, and the other young gentleman, who, I
hope, will one day be my acquaintance, in perfect
health, and as flourishing as I wish them to be.
" The many kind attentions I received from
my friends in Edinburgh and its neighbourhood,
particularly fiom Lady Forbes and you, and Mr
Arbuthnot, did me the greatest service; and I
returned home a new man. But then I instant-
ly found myself plunged into such a chaos of per-
plexity, as at once swallowed up all the little
health I had been collecting from so many quar-
ters ; and, after a few days ineffectual wrangling,
VOL. II. R
258 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
I was necessitated (I will not say to go, but) to
run away to Peterhead, taking my son along with
me ; and there I remained seven weeks. To un-
fold the causes of this perplexity, would, I think,
require two volumes as large as the ' Sorrows of
Werter :' * I will not therefore attempt it at pre-
sent. I shall only say, that it did not arise from
a certain circumstance which lies nearest my
heart, (for in that there is not the least variation,)
but from the unreasonableness of some persons
with whom I am connected, and who, having not
much sensibility themselves, can hardly make al-
lowance for that of other people. However, mat-
ters are now a little softened, and seem to pro-
mise tranquillity, at least for a short time ; and
a very small abatement of trouble is a sort of
tranquillity to one, who, like me, has been so long
buffeted, on all sides, by more storms than are
commonly found to assail a person so insignifi-
cant as I am. Dr Livingston knows every cir-
cumstance of what I allude to.f I have in every
* A German novel, much in fashion at that time.
f Dr Thomas Livingston, a physician at Aberdeen, of the
first eminence, between whom and Dr Beattie there long sub-
sisted the most intimate friendship. He died the 9th March,
1785. 7
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 259
thing been governed by his advice ; for I begin
to distrust my own faculties, as I feel them sen-
sibly impaired. At any rate, I am sure I will do
well in doing what he recommended ; as I have
always found him a most intelligent, prudent,
and affectionate friend, as well as one of the
ablest of his profession. I shall some time here-
after explain myself to you on this subject very
particularly. At present, I wish rather to decline
troubling you in regard to it.
" I am glad you met with the Bishop of Ban-
gor. I knew him formerly when he was Dean
of Canterbury ; * and I once passed a morning
in company with his lady Mrs Moore, at Dr
Markham's, then Bishop of Chester, now Arch-
bishop of York. Your account of Dr INIoore is
very just ; he is really a most worthy man. By
the bye, I think the English bench of Bishops
was never more respectable, than at present, for
learning and piety."
* Afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury.
260 LIFE OF DR BEATTlfi.
LETTER CL.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
Whitehall, 16th May, 1781.
*' I have seen most of the fashionable curiosi-
ties; but will not trouble your Grace with any
particular account of them. The exhibition of
pictures at the Royal Academy is the best of the
kind I have seen. The best pieces, in my opi-
nion, are, Thais (with a torch in her hand) ; the
Death of Dido ; and a Boy, supposed to be listen-
ing to a wonderful story ; these three by Sir Jo-
shua Reynolds : a Shepherd-boy, by Gainsbo^
rough : some Landscapes, by Barrett. Christ
healing the Sick, by West, is a prodigious great
work, and has in it great variety of expression ;
but there is a glare and a hardness in the colour-
ing, which makes it look more like a picture than
like nature. Gainsborough's picture of the King
is the strongest likeness I have ever seen ; his
Queen too is very well : but he has not given
them attitudes becoming their rank; the King^
LIFE OF DR BEATTIi:. 26l
has his hat in his hand, and the Queen looks as
if she were going to curtsey in the beginning of
a minuet. Others may think differently : I give
my own opinion.
" There is nothing at either playhouse that is
in the least captivating ; nor, I think, one player,
Mrs Abington excepted, whom one would wish
to see a second time. I was shocked at Leoni,
in
" Had I a heart for falsehood framed," &c.
A man singing with a woman's voice, sounds as
unnatural to me, as a woman singing with a
man's. Either may do in a private company,
where it is enough if people are diverted ; but, on
a stage, where nature ought to be imitated, both
are in my opinion intolerable.
" Johnson's new ' Lives' are published. He is,
as your Grace heard he would be, very severe on
my poor friend, Gray. His life of Pope is excel-
lent; and in all his lives there is merit, as they
contain a great variety of sound criticism and
pleasing information. He iias not done justice
to Lord Lyttelton. He has found means to pay
me a very great compliment, for which I am
2^2 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
much obliged to him, in speaking of Mr Gray's
journey into Scotland in 1 765. *
" Copley's picture of Lord Chatham's Death is
an exhibition of itself. It is a vast collection of
portraits, some of them very like: but, except-
ing three or four of the personages present, few
of this vast assembly seem to be much aftected
with the great event; which divests the picture
of its unity, and will in the next age make it
cease to be interesting."
LETTER CLL
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Middle Scotland-yard, Whitehall, 1st June, 1781.
" If you will not allow eating and drinking,
and walking and visiting, to be work, I must
confess I have for these five weeks been very idle.
Yet in such a perpetual hurry have I been kept
by this sort of idleness, that I had no time to
* Speaking of that journey, Dr Johnson says, " He (Mr Gray)
" naturally contracted a friendship with Dr Beattie, whom he
" found a poet, a philosopher, and a good man." Johnson's
Lives, \o\. IV. p. 471.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 26$
write, to read, or even to think. For the amuse-
ment of my young fellow-traveller, * and in or-
der also to drive away painful ideas from myself,
I have run through a complete Encydopedie of
shows, and monsters, and other curiosities, from
* Douglas' at Drury-Lane, to the puppet-show at
Astley's riding-school ; from the wonderful heifer
with two heads, to Dr Graham and his celestial
brilliancy ; from the great lion in the Tower, and
the stuffed elephant's skin at Sir Ashton Lever's,
to the little Welch woman in Holborn, who,
though twenty-three years of age, weighs only
eighteen pounds.
" But, what you will readily believe to have
been much more beneficial to my health and spi-
rits, I have been visiting all my friends again and
again, and found them as affectionate and atten-
tive as ever. Death has indeed deprived me of
some since I was last here, of Garrick, and Arm-
strong, and poor Harry Smith ; but I have still
many left; some of whom are higher in the
world, and in better health, than they were in
1 775, and all as well and as flourishing as I had
any reason to expect.
* His sou.
264 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
" I have seen Mr Langtoh several times, and I
gave him your memorandum relating to M. Trem-
bley. He goes to Chatham in a few days with
his family, in quaHty of engineer ; and I intend
to make him a visit there, having some curiosity
to see the shipping and the fortifications. You
certainly know that Mr Langton is an officer of
militia. He loves the military life, and has been
indefatigable in acquiring the knowledge that is
necessary to it. He is allowed to be a most ex-^
cellent engineer. Indeed, he is excellent in eve-
ry thing. *
* Bennet Langton, Esq. of Langton, in the county of Lin-
coln, LL. D. a gentleman no less eminent for his virtues, than
for his ardent love of literature. Inheriting a paternal fortune,
that rendered him independent of any profession^ he devoted
himself to the study of letters, which he cultivated with uncom-
mon assiduity, first at the granmiar-schools of Kensington,
Reading, and Beverly, afterwards at Trinity-College, Oxford.
His favourite study was Greek, in which he became very learn-
ed ; he was an excellent Latin scholar, and had even acquired
a knowledge of the Hebrew. He had a thorough acquaintance
with the French language, and read also the Italian, Spanish,
and Portuguese.
But his successful and extraordinary acquirements in litera-
ture, were by no means the most remarkable parts of Mr Lang-
ton's character. His exemplary piety, his singular humility,
and his unwearied endeavours in the exercise of the great du-
ties of charity and benevolence, were his brightest ornaments.
It was the emphatic testimony of Dr Johnson in his favour, *' I
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 265
" Johnson grows in grace as he grows in years.
He not only has better health and a fresher com-f
" know not who will go to Heaven if Langton does not : Sir, I
" could almost say. Sit anima mea cum Langtono ;" \\ and whfen
Mr Boswel!, to whom the Doctor made the remark, mentioned
a very eminent friend of theirs as a virtuous man, Johnson's re-
ply was, " Yes, Sir, but he has not the evangelical virtue of
" Langton." On another occasion he said to Mr Boswell, with
a vehemence of aftectionate regard, " The earth does not bear
" a worthier man than Bennet Langton."
His acquaintance with Dr Johnson commenced in a manner
somewhat singular. When Mr Langton was no more than six-
teen years of age, and before he went to the university, having
read, with a high degree of admiration, Dr Johnson's celebrated
* Rambler,' which was first published about that period, he tra-
velled to London chiefly with a view of becoming acquainted
with its author. In this he succeeded ; and Johnson, being
struck with his great piety, love of learning, and suavity of
manners, conceived a warm affection for him ; while he, on the
other hand, was charmed with Dr Johnson, whose ideas and
sentiments hp found congenial with those he had early imbibed
at home. From that period, notwithstanding a considerable
disparity of years, a most intimate friendship took place be-
tween them, which lasted, without the slightest interruption, as
long as Johnson lived. When the death of his inestimable
friend drew near, Mr Langton attended him constantly, and
soothed some of his last hours with the most pleasing and affec-
tionate assiduity. Once, when Mr Langton was sitting by his
bedside, Dr Johnson is said to have seized his hand, and to have
exclaimed^ with great emphasis, " Te tmenm moriens deficiente
" mami."
II Boswells Life of Johnson, 3d Edit. Vol. IV. p. 294.
Ibid, Vol. III. p. 175.
S.66 XIFE OF DR BEATTIE,
plexiofl than ever he had before, (at least since I
knew him,) but he has contracted a gentleness
Nor did this amiable person, with all his attachment to litera-
ture, shut himself up in his library, or pass his time in literary
indolence. Having engaged in that constitutional defence of
his country, the militia, he laid aside his classical studies for a
time, and resolved to make himself thoroughly master of mili-
tary tactics. In this pursuit he employed himself with such as-
siduity, that in no long period he became an excellent officer.
He acquired the esteem and admiration of his brother-officers,
not only by his worth and learning, but by his elegant manners,
and an inexhaustible fund of entertaining conversation; while
he procured the love of the soldiers, by his mildness and huma-
nity, which were so great, that he was never, in a single in-
stance, betrayed into passion, nor ever heard to utter an oath.
So high stood his reputation for integrity and knowledge, that
many years after he had left Beverly, where he had received a part
of his education, a considerable number of the most respectable vo-
ters of that borough came to him, and invited him to ofter himself
a candidate at the ensuing election, promising him their sup-
port; to which they were induced without any personal ac-
quaintance, merely from the high opinion they entertained of
his character. An offer, however, which, from motives of con-
science, he thought proper to decline.
Mr Langton was a member of the Literary Club ; || and, at
the time of his death, was the only original member remaining.
It consisted of some of the most eminent persons of the age ;
and among them Mr Langton had the happiness to number
among his intimate friends, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr Johnson,
Mr Burke, Mr Beauclerk, Mr Garrick, Dr Goldsmith, Dr War-
ton, Mr Chamier, Mr Boswell ; all of whom paid the debt of
|{ For an j^ccount of this elegant literary society, see Boswells Life
f Johnson, Vol. I. p. 433.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE, Q67
of manners which pleases every body.* Some
ascribe this to the good company to which he
has of late been more accustomed than in the
early part of his life. There may be something
in this ; but I am apt to think the good health
he has enjoyed for a long time is the chief cause.
Mr Thrale appointed him one of his executors,
and left him two hundred pounds : every body
says he should have left him two hundred a-year ;
which, from a fortune like his, would have been
a very inconsiderable deduction."
nature before him. In January 1785, his Majesty, thinking
him the fittest person to succeed Dr Johnson, did Mr Langtoa
the honour to appoint him Professor of Ancient Literature in
the Royal Academy.
He married the Countess-dowager of Rothes, by whom he
had a numerous family, and died on the 10th December, 1801,
in the 65 th year of his age.
It is with peculiar delight, that I contemplate the character
of this pious and worthy man, whose virtues 1 revere, and whose
example I could wish to imitate. I was happy in his friendship
and unreserved epistolary intercourse, during the long period of
nearly thirty years.
* See p. 253.
21^8 LIFE OF DR BEATTi:g^.
LETTER CLII.
Dll BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
London, 3d June; 1781,
*' Your Grace's letter gave me more pleasure
than ^yords can express. I see from it, you are
in good health and spirits, and that you do me
the honour sometimes to think of me. I meet
with the greatest civilities here every day, from
persons for whom I have the highest esteem;
yet so far am I from entertaining any idea of re-
maining among them, that I begin to look forr
ward with some impatience to that day on which
1 am again to set my face northwards, and which
I think is not above three weeks distant : and I
hope, that, in three or four weeks more, I shall
have the honour to present you with as many
pens* at Peterhead, as will convey to all your
friends the most pleasing intelligence,
*' The thunder is roaring while I write this ;
and a most welcome sound it is to me, as it will
* Dr Beattic alludes here to the following epigram, written
LIFE OP DR BEATTIE. S,6
bring rain and coolness, of which the country
stands, and I stand, very much in need. For
some days past the heat has been intolerable ; the
mercury in the thermometer being at 80, or, as
some say, 83, which is five degrees higher, at
least, than ever I knew it in Scotland. Persons
who have been in the West Indies say, that the
Jamaica heat is much more tolerable. In this si-
tuation, it is no wonder that I should often think
of the shades of the holly-bank at Gordon- castle,
and the sea-breezes of Peterhead.
*' The Persees, or Gentoos, or (as some call
them) the Persian ambassadors, are at present one
of the great curiosities of the town. They are
charged with some embassy from their own coun-
try; but what that is nobody knows. Lord
William Gordon did me the honour to make me
one of a large party, whom he lately invited to
Green-park Lodge to see them. By means of a
at Peterhead, when there in company with the Duchess of Gor-
don the autumn preceding :
Extempore with a Pen, sent to her Grace the Duchess of Gordon.
Go, and be guided by the brightest eyes.
And to the softest hand thine aid impart.
To trace the fair ideas, as they rise
Warm, from the purest, gentlest, noblest heart.
270 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
gentletiiaii, who acted as their interpreter, I asked
them several questions, to which they returned
pertinent answers. They are dressed in the man-
ner of their country, in long robes of a whitish-
coloured stuff resembling Indian silk, with tur-
bans on their heads, differing however from the
Turkish turbans. Their complexion is a yellow-
ish black, resembling the mulatto colour, with
mustachios or whiskers of the deepest black, as
are also their eyes. Their features are regular,
and of the European cast: the younger of the
two may be called handsome ; and the elder,
who is his father, has a most expressive, sensible
countenance. Though many people of great rank
were present, particularly the Duke of Glouces-
ter, Lord and Lady Pembroke, Lady Frances
Scot, Lady Irvine and all her daughters, the
three Lady Waldegraves, Lord Herbert, &c. the
strangers behaved with great ease, as well as with
great courtesy. Lord William presented me to
the Duke of Gloucester, with whom I had the
honour of a short conversation, and who made
me very happy in saying, that he had heard your
Grace speak of me."
LIFE OF DR BEATTTE. g/l
LETTER CLIII.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
London, 28th June, 1781.
*' I have seen Bishop Hurd* once and again;
and last Sunday at Canewood passed a truly clas-
sical day with Lord Mansfield and him. I never
saw Lord Mansfield better. He is in perfect
health and good spirits, and looks no older than
fifty-five. He walked with me three miles and
a half, without the least appearance of fatigue, f
" The Bishop of Chester has been gone spme
time, and several others of my friends have left
* Bishop of Worcester ; between whom and Dr Beattie there
existed a mutual respect and esteem. This venerable Prelate
is the well-known author of ' An Introduction to the study of
the Prophecies concerning the Christian Church :' ' A Com-
mentary and Notes on Horace's Art of Poetry :' ' Moral and
Political Dialogues :' ' Sermons preached at Lincoln's-inn,' and
'A Moral Dissertation of the Truth of the Christian Religion.'
Dr Beattie has elsewhere said, that he thought the Bishop of
London and Bishop of Worcester the two best preachers he
ever heard, j
t See Vol. L p. 296.
J Page 154.
272 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
the town ; so that as my business is finished, or
nearly so, I have nothing to keep me longer here.
I hope we shall meet in little more than a fort-
night.
'* Mrs Montagu, on going to her country-seat
in Berkshire, about a month ago, was seized with
a violent illness. The physicians sent her in-
stantly to Bath, where she has been ever since.
I had the pleasure to learn last night, by a letter
from her own hand, that she is now quite well.
" I went lately to Rochester, on a visit to Mr
Langton and Lady Rothes; who desire to be re-
membered to Lady Forbes and you. Mr Langton
has sent me Trembley's book, which I shall take
proper care of. At Chatham I saw that wonder-
ful sight, a ninety-gun ship on the stocks : but,
from the top of Shooters-hill, on my return, I
saw a sight still more magnificent, a complete
view of this huge metropolis from Chelsea to
Blackwall, the back-ground embellished with a
violent storm of thunder and lightning, which
roared and flashed without intermission.
" I thought it my duty to appear at the levee
before I left London ; and accordingly the week
before last I went to court. The King had not
seen me for six years, and yet, to my surprise,
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. ^JS
knew me at first sight. He spoke to me with
his wonted condescension and affability ; and paid
me a very polite compHment on the subject of
my writings."
LETTER CLIV.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
Aberdeen, 21st November, 1781.
" In calling your Grace's attention to an ' Es-
say on Beauty,' I am afraid I shall incur the same
censure with a brother-professor of mine, who
had the assurance to deliver, in the hearing of
the greatest commander on earth, a dissertation
on the art of war. " Many a fool have I seen in
" my time," said Hannibal, " but this old block-
" head exceeds them all."
" However, one must keep one's word ; and,
as your Grace desired to see this Essay, and I
promised to send it, (as soon as I could get it
transcribed,) I send it accordingly. I should not
give you the trouble to return it, if I had not
promised a reading of it to Sir Joshua Reynolds.
As it is only an extract from * A Discourse on
VOL. II. s
274 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
Memory and Imagination,' (which your Grace
could not find time to look into at Peterhead,
and which it is impossible for me to send at
present, as I am correcting it for the press,) I am
afraid you will find some obscurity in it, espe-
cially towards the beginning.
" If the last letter had not miscarried, which
I had the honour to write to your Grace, you
would have known, that I am now very busy in
revising and transcribing papers ; as I am to put
a quarto volume to press in little more than a
month ; and a quarto not much smaller tHan my
last. Your Grace has seen a good deal of it, but
not the whole."
LETTER CLV.
DR BEATTIE TO THE REV. MR WILLIAMSON.
Aberdeen, 5th December, 1781.
" If Dr Horne * be returned to Oxford, I beg
* Afterwards Bishop of Norwich, author of ' A Letter to
Adam Smith, LL. D. on the Life, Death, and Philosophy of his
friend David Hume, Esq. by one of the People called Chuis-
TiANs.' Printed at Oxford in the year 1777.
1
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 275
you will take the first opportunity to present my
best respects to him, and assure him, that I shall
ever retain a most grateful sense of the honour
he has done me in his elegant letter to Adam
Smith. This acknowledgment comes rather late;
but it is not on that account the less sincere.
Why it has been so long delayed, I now beg
leave to explain.
" The first notice I received of Dr Home's ex^
cellent pamphlet, was in a short letter from you,
which came at a time when my health was in so
bad a way, that most of my friends here thought
I had not many weeks to live. These sufferings,
I must acknowledge, drove all literary matters
out of my head : your letter was lost ; and of Dr
Home's pamphlet I heard nothing more, till this
last summer, when Lord Mansfield asked me,
whether I had seen it, speaking of it, at the same
time, in terms of the highest approbation. I was
forced to confess I had not seen it, and never
heard of it but once ; and, to account for this, I
told his Lordship what I have now told you. At
Oxford, you will probably remember, that I found
it in the beginning of July last, and then it was,
that I knew for the first time the extent of my
obligations to Dr Home. I wished immediately,
276 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE;
as you know, to pay my respects to him, but he
was gone out of town. Since my return from
England, I find the pamphlet has given universal
satisfaction ; and some of my friends have wished,
that a small and cheap edition of it could be print-
ed, and circulated all over the country, as they
think it might counterwork the unwearied efforts
which Mr Hume's friends have long been making
to extol his character, and depress mine."
LETTER CLVI.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON,
Aberdeen, 18th August, 1782.
" I had the honour to receive your Grace's let-
ter, and the noble present inclosed in it, * just as
I was setting out for Edinburgh. After many
attempts to thank you for it, and to tell you how
much I glory in it, I find I must at last confine
my gratitude and my exultations to my own
breast; having no words that can in any degree
do them justice. It is indeed a most charming
* A portrait of the Duchess of Gordon,
3L1FE OF DR BEATTIE. 277
picture, and an exact copy of Sir Joshua's ; and
I am envied the possession of it by every one
who sees it. Mr Smith has outdone himself on
the occasion ; I am exceedingly obliged to him.
" Your Grace will perhaps remember, that at
Gordon-castle there was some conversation about
Petrarch. Knowing that it was the custom of
his age to write gallant verses ; and conjecturing,
from other circumstances, that his passion for
Laura was not so serious a business as his French
biographer pretends, I happened to say, that there
was some reason to think, that he wrote his Ita-
lian sonnets as much to display his wit as to de-
clare his passion. I have since made some disco-
veries in regard to this matter, which amount to
what follows :
" That Petrarch's passion for the lady was so
far sincere, as to give him uneasiness, appears
from an account of his life and character, written
by himself in Latin prose, and prefixed to a folio
edition of his works, of which I have a copy,
printed in the year 1554. But that his love was
of that permanent and overwhelming nature,
which some writers suppose, or that it continued
to the end of his life, (as a late writer affirms,)
there is good reason to doubt, upon the same au-
S78 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
thority. Nay, there is presumptive, and even
positive evidence of the contrary ; and that he
was less subject, than most men can pretend to
be, to the tyranny of the * Winged Boy.'
" The presumptive evidence is founded on the
very laborious life which he must have led in the
pursuits of literature. His youth was employed
in study, at a time when study was extremely
difficult, on account of the scarcity of books and
of teachers. He became the most learned man
of his time ; and to his labour in transcribing se-
veral ancient authors, with his own hand, we are
indebted for their preservation. His works, in
my edition of them, fill 1455 folio pages, closely
printed; of which the Italian Sonnets are not
morte than a twentieth part : the rest being Latin
Essays, Dialogues, &c. and an epic poem in Latin
verse, called 'Africa,' as long as 'Paradise Lost.
His retirement at Vaucluse, (which in Latin he
calls Clausa,) was by no means devoted to love
and Laura. " There," says he, in the account of
his life above mentioned, " almost all the works
" I ever published were completed, or begun, or
" planned ; and they were so many," these are
his words, " that even to these years they employ
" and fatigue me." In a word, Petrarch wrote
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. Q79
more than I could transcribe in twenty years;
and more than I think he could have composed,
though he had studied without intermission, in
forty. Can it be believed, that a man of ex-
treme sensibility, pining, from twenty-five to the
end of his life, in hopeless love, could be so zea-
lous a student, and so voluminous a writer ?
" But more direct evidence we have from him-
self, in his own account above mentioned of his
life, conversation, and character. I must not
translate the passage literally, on account of an
indelicate word or two ; but I shall give the sense
of it : " In my youth I was violently in love ;
" but it was only once ; and the passion was ho-
*' nourable, or virtuous ; and would have conti-
" nued longer, if the flame, already decaying^ had
" not been extinguished by a death, which was
" bitter indeed, but useful."' And a little after,
he says : " Before I was forty years of age, I had
" banished from my mind every idea of love, as
*' effectually as if I had never seen a woman."
He adds some things, in a strain of bitterness,
execrating the belle passion, as what he had al-
ways hated as a vile and a disgraceful servi-
tude.
280 LIFE OF DE BEATTIE.
" In the above passage, your Grace will ob-
serve, that Petrarch does not name his mistress.
This, if we consider the manners of that age, and
the piety and good sense of Petrarch, may make
us doubt whether Laura was really the object of
his passion. I had this doubt for a little while :
but Hieronymo Squarzafichi, a writer of that age,
and the author of another Latin Life of Petrarch,
prefixed to the same edition of his works, posi-
tively says, that the name of the lady whom
the poet loved was Lauretta, which her admirer
changed to Laura. The name, thus changed,
supplies him with numberless allusions to the
laurel, and to the story of Apollo and Daphne.
Might not Petrarch, in many of his sonnets, have
had an allegorical reference to the poetical laurel^
which was offered him at one and the same time
by deputies from France and from Italy; and
with which, to his great satisfaction, he was ac-
tually crowned at Rome with the customary so-
lemnities ? In this view, his love of fame and of
poetry would happily coincide with his tenderness
for Laura, and give peculiar enthusiasm to such
of his thoughts as might relate to any one of the
three passions.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 281
*' But how, you will say, is all this to be recon-
ciled to the account given by the French author
of that Life of Petrarch, which Mrs Dobson has
abridged in English ?
" I answer : First, That Petrarch's own account
of his life, in serious prose, is not to be called in
question : and. Secondly, That to a French bio-
grapher, in a matter of this kind, no degree of
credit is due. I have seen pretended lives, in
French, of Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, &c. in
which there was hardly one word of truth ; the
greatest part being fable, and that sort of de-
clamation which some people ca\\ sentiment. And
your Grace knows, that no other character be-
longs to the ' Belisarius ' and ' Incas of Peru '
by Marmontel. The French Life of Petrarch I
consider in the same light ; and that what is said
of his manuscript letters and memoirs, is no bet-
ter than a job contrived by the bookseller, and
executed by the author."
82 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CLVII.
JOHN SCOTT* TO DR BEATTIE.
RatclifF-ci-oss, London, 10th May, 1782.
" Accept my best thanks for thy very kind and
acceptable letter. I am now happy enough to be
* John Scott, of Amwell, near Ware, in Hertfordshire, was,
as this letter indicates, one of the people called Quakers ; a poet
of no mean' genius, as his Eclogues, Elegies, Odes, and other
pieces, which have been collected and published, amply testi-
fy. His two longest works are, " Amwell," a descriptive poem,
and " An Essay on Painting." He was not less distinguished
by the blameless simplicity of his manners, than by the warmth
of his friendship, and the activity of his benevolence. Though
bred to no profession, he was far from leading a life of idleness
or inactivity; but while he amused himself with poetry and gar-
dening, of which he was uncommonly fond, he employed much
of his time in works of public utility in the vicinity of his resi-
dence. He published a pamphlet, full of good sense and phi-
lanthropy, entitled, " Observations on the Present State of the
Parochial and Vagrant Poor." He frequently interfered in their
distresses, and was ever ready to stand foiTvard as the arbitrator
of dillerences among his neighbours. In general, he seems to
have imitated the philanthropy of that well-known character,
" The Man of Ross." Dr Beattie, with whom, among other li-
terary persons, he had become acquainted, and between whom
a similarity of taste had produced an intimate friendship, alludes.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
able to say, that I have finished my volume of
* Poems.' I shall wait, with, some anxiety, for
my friend's opinion of some of the contents, par-
ticularly the ' Oriental Eclogues,' the ' Mexican
Prophecy,' and the ' Essay on Painting ;' for on
these, as far as 1 can trust my own judgment, I
think must much depend the rank I may be al-
lowed to hold as a poet. I should like also to
know which of the smaller odes most obtained^
my friend's approbation. The ' Essay on Paint-
in one of his letters, f to this part of lyir Scott's character : " I
" am astonished," says Dr Beattie, " at the activity of your
" mind, and the versatility of your genius. It is really amazing,
" that one and the same person should, in one and the same
" year, publish the most elegant poems, and ' A Digest of Laws
" relating to the Highways.' Go on. Sir, in your laudable re-
" solution of delighting and instructing mankind, of patronising
" the poor, and promoting the public weal."
This amiable man died of a putrid fever at London, the 12th
December, J 783, in the fifty-fourth year of his age.
See a well-written life, and critical remarks on his works, by
Dr Anderson, prefixed to his poems in " The British Poets," Vol.
XL p. 7 17.
+ In 1778, with a friendly zeal, lie undertook the defence of his friend
Dr Beattie, from an anonymous attack in " The Gentleman's Magazine,"
for January, in a letter in the same Magazine for March following, to
which he signed his name, and received Dr Beattie "s acknowledgments on
the occasion.
284 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
ing' was an after- thought ; it was begun when
the previous part of the book was printed, and
finished in about five weeks ; it was therefore a
hasty, though, I hope, not an incorrect, perform-
ance. I had designed (as I mention in the intro-
duction) something of this kind long before Hay-
ley's ' Epistle to Romney' appeared, but had laid
it aside. Happening to write a few lines on the
subject, with an intent to introduce them into
another poem, where I afterwards found them
not easily introducible, and thinking them too
good to be lost, I determined on the work in
question, where I knew they would appear with
propriety. Thus, from very small, and indeed
unforeseen circumstances, things of some impor-
tance often arise. I endeavoured, as much as
possible, to avoid the same ground that Hayley
had trodden. On Landscape he had said little ;
I had therefore room to expatiate. On Portrait
he had said much; and I was necessitated to say
something ; but even there I wished not to imi-
tate, but rather to rival, my predecessor. Hay-
ley's piece has great merit, but is tedious from
its length and inequality. That kind of rhyming
prose, used by Dryden in his earlier works, seems
coming much into fashion; but I am clear it
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 285
must be a vicious taste that gives it encourage*
ment. For the couplet versification, we can have
no better model than that of Pope ; or if that can
be at all improved, it must be by a sparing use of
Dry den's manner in what (notwithstanding I
have the authority of Johnson against me) I do
not hesitate to call the best poetry he ever wrote,
his ' Tales' and ' Fables.' Another vicious mode
of composition seems also to be gaining ground,
which, if adopted, will almost absolutely destroy
the distinction between two species of writing,
which should be ever kept separate rhyme and
blank verse : I mean, breaking the lines of coup-
lets ; or, in other words, running the sense too
much from one line to another. This is counte-
nanced by one very good poet, Meikle, translator
of The Lusiad,' who, in a fine poem, entitled,
* Almada-hill,' has practised it to an excess, and
by that means injured his poetry. I am told. Ma-
son is about a translation of Fresnoy's ' Poem
on Painting.' The original, as far as I can judge,
reads flat and dry. Dry den's prose version does
not mend it. What charms Mason's poetical
powers may bestow upon it, I do not pretend to
determine. There is more in expression than we
often are aware of The same thought in dif-
28() LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
ferent language will disgust or delight us. , So
just is the axiom of Pope, :
" True wit,* is nature to advantage dressed ;
" What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed/
" I believe I mentioned in a former letter, that
I had seen Bryant on the ' Rowleyan Controver-
sy,' and that Dean Milles had published a pom-
pous quarto edition of the author. Both these
gentlemen have been completely answered, in a
very good and decisive pamphlet, by Mr Thomas
Warton ; and Milles has been most severely ridi-
culed in an archaiological epistle. This is an ex-
cellent performance of the serio-humorous kind :
it is pretty boldly attributed to Mason ; but I
scarcely think it is his. Mason has given us no-
thing avowedly his own, but of the sublime or
pathetic, as far as I can recollect. I should ra-
ther fix this new production on the yet undisco-
vered author of the famous * Heroic Epistle ;"
they certainly breathe the same spirit of poetry
and politics.
* I should rather have said true poetry ; or indeed good com-
position of any species.
LIFE OF BR BEATTIE. 387
** Did I ever mention Dr Johnson's prefaces ?
My friend has doubtless seen that fund of enter-
tainment and infoi-mation ; of striking observa-
tions, and useful reflections ; of good sense, and
of ilhberal prejudices ; of just and of unjust criti-
cism. That a mind, so enlarged as Johnson's, in
some respects, should be so confined in others, is
amazing. The titled scribblers of the last centu-
ry; the prosaic Denham, the inane and quaint
Yalden, and even the Grub-street Pomfret, meet
with all possible favour. Every man who ex-
presses sentiments of religious or political liber-
ty; every man who writes in blank verse, or
writes pastoral ; and every man contemporary
with himself is sure to meet with no mercy.
To Blackmore, I think, he has done but justice.
Blackmore, with all his absurdities, was a poet;
his poem on ' The Creation,' (tedious as it is)
sufficiently proves it. Pope, and his brother wits,
were too hard upon Blackmore : it was very M-ell
to point out his faults, but ungenerous to stig-
matise him as an absolute dunce. Dr Johnson
has very properly estimated the merits of Prior,
whose poetical powers were too highly rated by
the readers of his own time ; though it nmst be
allowed, that much of his ' Solomon,' and some
288 ' LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
of his ' Henry and Emma,' is real poetry. Dyer,
Shenstone, Collins, Akenside, and Gray, are the
authors whom I most regret as sufferers by John-
son s unjust censure : and what must one think
of the critic's taste, who could prefer Dryden's
wretched, conceited * Ode on Mrs Killigrew,' to
the ' British Bard' of our English Pindar?
*' As soon as thy health and avocations will
permit, I shall be glad of a few lines from a
friend, whose correspondence is always highly
acceptable."
LETTER CLVIIL
-DE BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 25th October, 1782.
*' Elphinston's * Martial' is just come to hand.
It is truly an unique. The specimens formerly
published did very well to laugh at ; but a whole
quarto of nonsense and gibberish, is too much.
It is strange that a man, not wholly illiterate,
should have lived so long in England, without
iearning the language.
" I have lately been very much entertained
\
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 289
and instructed with a work of a different nature,
which will do honour to this country, and be a
blessing to mankind Dr Campbelfs ' Transla-
tion of the Four Gospels,' with explanatory and
critical annotations. I have revised the first eigh-
teen chapters of Matthew ; and am really asto-
nished at the learning and accuracy of the au-
thor. He had before given the world sufficient
proofs of both ; but this will be his greatest work.
It will be accompanied with preliminary disser-
tations, for explaining what could not be conve-
niently illustrated in the notes. I have read the
titles of the Dissertations, and shall soon have
them in my hands. The whole will make, as I
guess, two quarto volumes. I have several times
studied the Gospels in the original ; but had no
idea, till now, that the common translation stood
so much in need of a revisal."
VOL. II.
290 LIFE OF DR BEATTII.
LETTER CLIX.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Aberdeen, 30th January;, 1783.
*' I lately liad the hap])iness to receive from the
Bishop of Chester the most agreeable accounts
of your health ; which no perplexities of my own
can ever make me cease, even for a single hour,
to be interested in.
" Your little godson, who was all last summer
in the country, returned home in October, and
since that time has been under my own inspec-
tion ; which, till now, the peculiar circumstances
of my family did not permit him to be. I found
him wild, and not very tractable; though not
destitute either of affection or of geneiosity. He
had been committed to tlie care of people, who,
it seems, thought it too soon to inure him to mo-
ral discipline. But as that part of education can-
not, in my opinion, begin too early, I have been
combating his evil habits witli all the caution and
steadiness I am master of; and my success has
been not inconsiderable. 1 have taught him to
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 291
fear my anger above every thing, (for he is too
young to be impressed with any fear of a higher
kind;) and I find, that the more he fears, the
more he loves me. His brother co-operates with
me in this good work ; and I hope we shall in
time make him a very good boy. He is stout
and healthy, and the picture of good humour
and good cheer, and a very great favourite in the
neighbourhood. Bodily correction I have never
used as yet ; considering it as a dangerous reme-
dy, which ought not to be had recourse to, till
all others have been tried and found ineffectual.
My other boy is busy at his French and Greek.
I thought him too young to go into the higher
classes, and have made him study the elements
of Greek a second time. He is not, I think, very
lucky in a French master. The man speaks the
language well enough, but does not seem to be
an exact grammarian : however, my boy knows
grammar pretty well, and has always been ac-
customed to study with accuracy ; so that I hope
he is in no dansier of o-ettinq; into habits of su-
perficial reading.
" We have been here, and still are, in great ap-
prehensions of famine. Last summer was cold
and tempestuous beyond imagination ; and in
29^ LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
many parts of the country there was little or no
harvest. Oatmeal, without which our common
people have no notion of supporting life, sells just
now at double its usual pnce ; and the common
people are murmuring; and anonymous letters,
in a threatening style, have been sent to many
persons. In no other part of Scotland is the
scarcity so great as in this town and neighbour-
hood ; and I believe it is the fear of the military
alone that prevents insurrection.
*' I am just now informed, that preliminaries
of peace with France and Spain are signed, and
that a cessation of hostilities is agreed on with
the Dutch. The news is certainly very agree-
able, if the conditions be but moderately good.
Whether our separation from America will be
beneficial or hurtful, either to this country or to
that, is. 1 think, doubtful: but such a separation
must have happened soon; and I wish it had
happened forty years sooner. Though our em-
pire is diminished in extent, our national honour
is not impaired ; and our enemies, notwithstand-
ing what they have gained, and we have lost,
have no cause of triumph.
" My new book has been in the press for some
time; and 1 have now received sixteen sheets of
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 293
it, which is about one-fiftli of the whole. It is a
quarto, of the same size nearly with my last ; and,
what I have seen, is very correctly printed. The
proprietor, Mr Strahan, thinks it will be ready
for publication in the spring. I am afraid the
plainness and simplicity of the style will ilot hit
the taste of the present race of orators and cri-
tics; who seem to think, that the old English
tongue, and the old English constitution, stand
equally in need of change. Their reasonings,
however, have not yet satisfied me, that our fore-
fathers were at all inferior to us in the arts either
of MTiting, or of government. My models of
English are Addison, and those who write like
Addison, particularly yourself, Madam, and Lord
Lyttelton. We may be allowed to imitate what
we cannot hope to equal ; nay, I think we are,
in every laudable pursuit, commanded by all the
great teachers of mankind to do so.
" The literary labours of Lord Kaimes have
come to an end at last. He was certainly an ex-
traordinary man : and, though he cannot be vin-
dicated in every thing, his enemies must allow,
that his mind was uncommonly active, and his
industry indefatigable. He was six-and-fifty years
n author ; for to a Collection of DecisionSj dated
294 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
in 1726, I have seen a preface of his writing. He
retained his good humour to the last. He and I
misunderstood one another for several years ; but
we were thoroughly reconciled long before his
death, and he acknowledged that he had utterly
mistaken my character.
" I am very happy to find, that my notions, in
regard to the origin of language, coincide so ex-
actly with yours. I have, I think, confuted Mon-
boddo's theory ; which I look upon as equally ab-
surd and dangerous. He and Lord Kaimes passed
a few days last autumn together at Gordon- Castle,
and gave no little entertainment to the compa-
ny ; for they two were in every thing direct op-
posites ; and they mutually despised and detest-
ed each other. Kaimes confessed that he under-
stood no Greek ; and Monboddo told him, that
no man who was ignorant of Greek could pre-
tend to write a page of good English. Monbod-
do has many good qualities : but on the subject
of Greek and of Aristotle, he is as absurd and as
pedantic as Don Quixote was on that of chival-
ry. The last time I saw him, I incensed him to
the highest degree, by calling the great circum-
navigator Cook an ingenious philosopher. It was
to no purpose that I explained the sense in which
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 295
I used the word, and told him, that by philosophyj
1 meant the knowledge of nature applied to practi*
cat and useful purposes : he seemed to think that
I had offered an insult to science, by calling a
man a philosopher, whose only merit, he said, was
" that of being a good seaman, ev^en as one may
*' be an expert shoemaker or tailor, and who, be-
" sides, was of an obscure origin : for I hold,'*
said he, " that in men, as well as in horses, no-
*' thing can be great but what is noble.' It was,
indeed, in opposition to this notable aphorism,
that I had mentioned the name of Cook with
that encomium which provoked the wrath of
Monboddo."
LETTER CLX.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBEiS.
Aberdeen, 2d March, 1783.
" I have been more idle, and more in compa-
ny this winter than I used to be ; which the doc-
tor tells me is good for my health. But 1 have
not been quite idle. I have revised, with all the
attention I am master of, Dr Campbeifs new
$96 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
translation of Matthew and Mark, with the notes
upon it, and ten or twelve of his preliminary dis-
sertations ; and that this revisal has been the work
of some time, you will readily believe, when I tell
you, that I have written, of critical remarks, not
less than seventy or eighty quarto pages. Many
of these, indeed, I thought of little moment;
but as lovers before marriage are advised to be
as quick-sighted, and after marriage as blind as
possible, to one another's faults, so I consider it
as my duty to be as captious as possible in the
revisal of a friend's work before publication, and
when it is published to be captious no longer.
The Principal, however, is pleased to think more
favourably than I do of my strictures, and tells
me he has adopted nine-tenths of them. Of the
translation of Luke and John, and the notes up-
on it, and of four or five more preliminary disser-
tations, he has the materials almost ready ; but
they are not yet put together. The whole will
amount to two large quartos at least; and will,
in my opinion, be one of the most important
publications that has appeared in our time. It
is really a treasure of theological learning, exact
criticism, and sound divinity; and has given me
more information, in regard to what may be
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 297
called scriptural knowledge, than all the other
books I ever read. His translation conveys the
meaning of the original very correctly, and, so
far as I could observe, neither acids nor takes
away a single idea; but I have told him, that I
wish it had been more strictly literal, and more
conformable to the Greek (or rather to the He-
brew) idiom, which is in many things congenial
to the English. His love of conciseness makes
him sometimes less simple, though perhaps not
less expressive, than the original, and sometimes
less harmonious than the common version* But
I believe most of the passages of this sort, that
I objected to, will be mended."
LETTER CLXI.
BR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON*
Aberdeen, 16th March, 1'783.
" I do not wonder that your Grace should be
greatly affected Math Lord Kaimes's kind remem-
brance in the hour of death. Friendship, that
can stand such a test, must be very sincere in-
deed. But you have other friends, who are ca-
298 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
pable of all this, though perhaps it may not be
in their power to show it. Recollection and com-
posure are not granted to all in those awful mo-
ments. On his own account, his death is not to
be regretted; but Mrs Drunimond* is much to
be pitied. No man ever enjoyed life more than
he; and, when we consider how little time he
passed in sleep, we cannot suppose his age to be
less than one hundred and twenty. All his wishes,
with respect to this world, were gratified; and
there is no reason to think, that his life could
have been prolonged without a prolongation of
pain. I hope he employed a good hand to draw
the picture. A good portrait of a dear friend is
inestimable ; but an indifferent one is a daily and
an hourly grievance. As I wish to die satisfied
with every body, it gives me great pleasure to
think, that, before his death, he became satisfied
with me ; this, and many other good things, I
owe to your Grace.
" I need not attempt to express what I feel, in
consequence of that kind invitation which your
* The wife of Lord Kaimes. She assumed the name of Drum-
mond, on succeeding to her family-estate, on the death of her
nephew.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 299
Grace and the Duke have honoured me with. I
have been long accustomed to his Grace's good-
ness and your's in this particular ; but I trust my
gratitude is as lively as it was at the first. If my
health would permit, and if I could get my fami-
ly properly settled, nothing would hinder me
from setting out for Gordon-Castle the first or
second week of April."
LETTER CLXII.
DR BF.ATTIE TO THE HON. MR BARON GORDON.
Aberdeen, 30th March, 1783.
*' I really do not know what to say, or what
to think, of the times. They seem to exhibit
scenes of confusion, which are too extensive for
my poor head either to arrange or to compre-
hend. We had much need of peace ; but I know
not whether we have reason to rejoice in the
peace we have made. Yet Lord Shelburne spoke
plausibly for it ; but Lord Loughborough was as
plausible on the other side. When a controver-
sy turns upon a fact, in regard to which the two
contending parties are likely never to agree, a
300 IIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
decision is not to be expected ; and people m^f
continue to wrangle, and to make speeches, till
death; like the president of the Robin- Hood,
knock them down with his hammer, without
coming one inch nearer the truth than they were
at first. This seems to be the present ease. If
we were as much exhausted, and our enemies as
powerful, as one party affirms, we had nothing
for it but to surrender at discretion, and any
peace was good enough for us : but if we were as
little exhausted, and our enemies as little power-
ful as the other party says, we might have made
a struggle or two more before we called out for
merc}^
" To the present confusion in our councils I
can foresee no end, till the rage of party subside,
or till the executive power regain some part of
that influence, which it has been gradually losing
ever since I was capable of attending to public
affairs. The encroachments that have lately been
made on the power of the crown are so great, as
to threaten, in my opinion, the subversion of the
monarchy. Our government is too democrati-
cal ; and what we want, in order to secure its
permanence, is not more liberty, for we have too
much, but the operation of a despotical principle,
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 301
^o take place in cases of great public danger. If
it had not been for this, the consular state of
Rome would not have existed tM'o hundred years.
I hate despotism, and love liberty, as much as
any man ; but because medicine has sometimes
killed as well as cured, I would not for that rea-
son make a vow never to swallow a drug as long
as I lived. The despotical principle 1 speak of,
might be a little violent in its operation, like
James's powders and laudanum ; but if it could
allay paroxysms and fevers in the body-politic,
(which, by judicious management, it certainly
might do,) it would be a valuable addition to the
materia medica of government."
LETTER CLXIII.
JOHN SCOTT TO DR BEATTIE.
Amwell, 29th August, 178S.
*^ I know not what apology to make, for not
doing what ought to have been done many weeks
ago. I can only say, what I am sure my friend
will readily believe, that whatever were the causes
f my so long delaying to answer his kind and
50J LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
acceptable letter, want of regard for him was not
among the number.
" I have read much of the ' Dissertations ;' *
and with much pleasure. I cannot wish any part
of them suppressed, because I do not find them
tedious. All, whom I have heard speak of them,
have spoken highly of their merit; and I believe
they will stand high in the opinion of all good
judges. For my own part, I have read them with
an almost uninterrupted correspondence of senti-
ment on every occasion. This was very far from
being the case during my perusal of Dr Johnson's
* Lives;' I pursued his narrative with avidity, and
sometimes profited by his remarks; but, in ge-
neral, -I found a forcible repulsion to his political
and literary opinions, but more to the illiberal
manner in which they are expressed. It is strange
so good a writer, both in prose and verse, should
be so ill a critic; and that a man, whose private
cliaracter is so benevolent, should, as an author,
indulge such contemptuous acrimony.
" Thy countryman, Dr Blair, has published a
critical work ; I have not read it, a few detached
* Dr Beattie's Dissertations, moral and critical, on Memory
and Imagination, &c. published this year.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 303
passages excepted, which I met with in the re-
views, and as I gave the volumes a cursory in-
spection as they lay ni a bookseller's shop. I saw
enough of them, however, to determine me to
purchase them, as soon as I have leisure for read-
ing. At present 1 am much engaged with my
own intended publication, which is in the press.
I believe I mentioned the nature of this critical
w^ork of mine in a former letter. It will consist
of a series of essays on several celebrated poems,
by an investigation of whose beauties and de-
fects I have exemplified the difference between
good and bad composition. * My criterion of
merit is classical simplicity; that is to say, the
manner of Homer, the Greek tragic poets, Virgil,
Milton, Pope, in contradistinction to every spe-
cies of false ornament. There never was a time
when it was more necessary to counteract the
public taste, which is now running Avild after
this fashionable clinquant^ as I think it is termed
by Addison. The poems I have criticised are,
Denham's ' Cooper's-Hill,' of which 1 have no-
thing to praise, and all to censure ; Milton's
' Lycidas,' and Dyer's ' Ruins of Rome,* which I
* These Critical Essays were published in 1785,
304 I-IFE OF DR BEATTIE.
have vindicated from the censure of Dr Johnson,
and given the praise they merit ; Pope's ' Wind-
sor Forest,' ColHns's ' Oriental Eclogues,' Gray's
* Elegy,' Goldsmith's * Deserted Village,' and
Thomson's 'Seasons;' in all which I have much
to applaud, and something to blame.
" The Monthly Reviewers say, that criticism
is fashionable ; I hope then I shall have the luck
to be for once in the fashion. I might often
have been in fashion, but for a restive kind of
disposition, that liked to write and print what
pleased my own fancy, rather than what I had
reason to think would please the readers of the
day. I never could flatter the Bath- Eas ton esta-
blishment, nor be a candidate for their laureat
sprig of myrtle ; nor can I now praise the flimsy,
flowery, inane productions of the Hayleyian school.
I love good poetry, but I cannot admire bad, how
much soever it may be the ton to admire it.
" My worthy friend, Mr Potter, in a letter I
received from him some time ago, requested me
to mention when I wrote, that he had ordered
Dodbley to send thee a copy of his 'Observations
on Gray,' with two or three proofs of the head,
which I expect are before now safely arrived.
J know, by experience, how difticult it is to get
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 305
a good likeness of any person in an engraving ;
I am sure mine, prefixed to my poems, is not a
good one. Mr Hoole's, prefixed to his * Ariosto,'
is a very good one, and cost much less than mine.
I did not know Gray, but somehow or other,
from my own ideas of what such a man should
have been, I am wholly of thy opinion, that
Mason's print could not be quite like the ori-
ginal.
" As I seldom have leisure to keep copies of
my letters, I am apt to forget, from time to time,
what I have written; I do not now recollect,
whether I mentioned in my former letter two
recent publications, in the poetical way, of con-
siderable merit. The one is called ' Aurelia, or
the Contest,' a mock epic, in censure of the ladies
for painting their faces, and other fashionable fe-
male foibles. This is written by the younger
Hoole, son of the translator of 'Ariosto,' who
published a pretty imitation of the ' Bath Guide,'
entitled, ' Modern Manners.' Pie is a young man,
and I think a rising genius ; his last poem has
not many faults, it is indeed rather too long.
The other publication is called ' The Village,' a
very classical composition, but also too long ; and
very unnecessarily, and I think absurdly, divided
VOL. ir. u
306 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
into two books. It seems designed as a contrast
to Goldsmith's * Deserted Village,' in one point
of view; that is, so far as Goldsmith expatiates
on the felicities and innocencies of rural life. The
author of ' The Village ' takes the dark side of
the question ; he paints all with a sombre pencil ;
too justly perhaps, but to me, at least, unpleas-
ingly. We know there is no unmixed happiness
in any state of life, but one does not wish to be
perpetually told so. The author of the above is
a Mr Crabbe, who published a poem, called 'The
Library,' about two years ago. I am told he was
an apprentice to a surgeon in Suflblk, but, on
the display of his poetical talents, met with friends,
who advised him to take orders, and gave him a
living. Literary merit, in this age, rarely meets
such encouragement.
" I am sorry, my dear friend, to hear so ill an
account of thy health. I hope the sea air and
bathing may by this time have had their desired
salutary eflect. When health and leisure will
permit, I shall hope to be favoured with a line.
Thy correspondence is always highly acceptable."
tIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 307
LETTER CLXIV.
DR BEATTIE TO THE BISHOP OF WORCESTER.
Peterhead, 18th September, 1783.
" Your Lordship's very kind letter, which I
had the honour to receive about six weeks ago,
demands my most grateful acknowledgments. I
wished to have made them sooner, but was pre-
vented by a tedious indisposition; from which,
after long perseverance in the use of the sea-bath
at this place, I am now recovered so far as to be
able to attend a little to the duties of life.
" I know not how to thank your Lordship for
honouring my book with a perusal ; nor have I
words to express the pleasure which your appro-
bation of it has afforded me. Some professed cri-
tics have been pleased to find much fault with it,
and with me; but your favourable opinion, my
Lord, is more than a sufficient counterbalance to
all they have done, or can do, and satisfies me, that
my endeavours to do a little good, and give a little
harmless amusement, have not been wholly un-
successful. Indeed I have the happiness to findj
308 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
that most of those who approve my principles,
are as friendly to this periormance as I could de-
sire,
" I have not yet met with Dr Blair's ' Lec-
tures,' but I hear they have been very well re-
ceived. With respect to his ' Sermons,' I am
entirely of your opinion. Great merit they un-
doubtedly have ; but I cannot discover in them
that sublime simplicity of manner and style,
which I have long thought essential to such com-
positions, and have seen so nobly exemplified in
those of your Lordship.
" Whether it will be in my power to prepare
any more of my papers for the press, I know
not ; but I shall keep the thing in view ; and, if
Providence grant me a moderate share of health
and spirits, shall consider it as my indispensable
duty, as far as I am able, to promote the love of
truth, and to oppose the licentious doctrines that
many authors of this age are labouring so indus-
triously to establish. Though my last publica-
tion does not bear a controversial form, a great
part of it was really intended, as your Lordship
observes, " to correct some mistakes, and obviate
" some abuses, of other writers."
" I would have availed myself, with the great-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 30^^
est pleasure, of your Lordship's most obliging
invitation to Worcestershire; but I am not yet
so well as to undertake a journey, and the busi-
ness of my profession will soon call me to Aber-
deen, and confine me to the college. Next sum-
mer I hope I shall be in a condition to revisit
England, and pay my respects to your Lordship
once more."
LETTER CLXV.
GEORGE COLMAN, ESQ.* TO DR BEATTIE.
Margate, 13th October, 1783.
" T am highly flattered by your approbation of
my explanation and version of ' Horace's Epistle,'
and more especially by your exact coincidence of
opinion concerning the drift and intention of the
poet ; whose purpose has long appeared to me
so very obvious, that I have only wondered at its
having been so strangely misconceived and mis-
* The translator of Horace's 'Art of Poetry,' of 'Terence'
into familiar blank verse ; and author of some excellent come-
dies, 'The Jealous Wife,' 'The Clandestine Marriage,' 'The
English Merchant/ 'The Deuce is in Him,' and several others.
310 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
taken. Still, however, I was inclined to doubt
and suspect the treacherous self-complacency of
my own feelings, till I found my sentiments con-
firmed by men of learning and discernment like
yourself. 1 ought, however, in some measure, to
regret the having innocently deprived the world
of your intended essay on the subject, though
that very circumstance inspires me with the most
agreeable confidence in the propriety of my own
undertaking."
LETTER CLXVI.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
Aberdeen, 19th January, 1784',
" Your Grace will do me the justice to believe,
that nothing in which }ou are interested can be
indifferent to me. I am very much concerned
to find, from the general strain of the letter,
which 1 had the honour to receive a few days
ago, that your present situation is not quite agree-
able to you. You will no doubt be anxious and
solitary ; but nobody is so well prepared for soli-
tude as you are. The resources you have in your
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 311
own mind, and the pleasure you take in superin-
tending and instructing your charming young
friends, will make the lonely hours glide imper-
ceptibly away.
" I have got one companion for your Grace,
and shall send him by the first opportunity. It is
Hoole's translation of ' Ariosto,' which I have just
received, and which your Grace commissioned
me to order for you. It fills five large octavo
volumes; the type very good and comfortable;
the prints only so so. I know not how you will
relish it ; but I own it is rather too extravagant
for me. Spenser is not less extravagant; but
the harmony of his numbers, and the beauty and
variety of his descriptions and of his language,
intoxicate me into an utter forgetfulness of all
the faults of his fable. Hoole is a smooth versi-
fier ; but he is rather a feeble one. His harmony
is without variety ; for he knows not how to
adapt it to the subject ; or rather his ear is not
delicate in perceiving the effects that words may
produce by their sound, as well as by their signi-
fication. This deficiency, however, is not pecu-
liar to Hoole ; he has it in common with Waller,
Lansdowne, Roscommon, and several other poets
of no inconsiderable name. I formerly attempted
312 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. '
to read ' Ariosto ' in his own Italian ; but found
him -tedious, and could not endure the incohe-
rence of the fable. I have conversed with Ita-
lians, and read critics on the subject, but never
could see the reason of that preference which his
countrymen give him to the correct, the classical,
the delightful Tasso/'*
* On this question, regarding the respective poetical merits of
Ariosto and Tasso, see Baretti's ' History of the Italian Tongue/
prefixed to his 'Italian Library.' f A friend has informed me,
(for I have not been able to meet with the book in this country,)
that the finest piece of criticism, any where to be met with, on
this subject, is in a prose letter of Metastasio's, at the end of one
of his two posthumous volumes. He concurs in opinion with
Dr Beattie ; and, with all due respect for the critical abilities of
Mr Baretti, Metastasio must be allowed to be a great authority.
This letter of Metastasio's, which is addressed to Ch. Sig. Don
Dominico Diodati, a Neapolitan lawyer, is mentioned by Tira-
boschi in his ' Storia della Poesia Italiana,' X an abstract of
which has been lately published in London by Mr Mathias, to
which those may refer who wish to see this controversy handled
with much critical accuracy. Tiraboschi, in highly praising
the various merits of those two great poets, finds the ' Gieru-
salemme ' of Tasso, and the ' Orlando Furioso ' of Ariosto, so
totally difterent in their nature, design, and execution, as not to
admit, of being brought into comparison with each other. In
various points, however, such as, fertility of invention, powerful
descriptit)n, and felicity of expression, his opinion seems rather
to lean in favour of Ariosto.
+ P. Hii. + Vol, III. part i. p. 254.
/tIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 313
LETTER CLXVII.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Aberdeen, 2d February, 1784.
" Mr Dilly having informed me, that a new
edition is wanted of the ' Minstrel,' and the other
Httle poems subjoined to it, I am now revising
and correcting them for the last time. Will yon
permit me, Madam, to inscribe them to you ?
The inscription shall be short and simple; and,
if you please, in the following terms:
To
MRS MONTAGU,
These little Poems,
Noiv revised and corrected
For the last time,
Are,
With eveiy Sentiment of
Esteem and Gratitude,
Most respectfully inscribed
By the Author.
" I have another favour to ask, which is, that,
as T have mentioned the name of our lamented
friend, Dr Gregory, in the concluding stanza of
314 LIFE OF DR BEATTlE*^
the second book of the ' Minstrel,' you will not
forbid me to insert yours in the last stanza of the
first. I had not the honour to be known to you
when I published that first book ; and, intending
to put the name of a friend in the last stanza,
but being then undetennined with respect to the
person, I left in one of the lines a blank space,
which has been continued in all the editions.
That blank, with your permission, shall now be
filled up ; and then the stanza will run thus :
Here pause, my Gothic lyre, a little while ;
The leisure hour is all that thou canst claim :
But on this verse if Montagu should smile.
New lays ere long shall animate thy frame :
And her applause to me is more than fame.
For still with truth accords her taste refined.
At lucre or renown let others aim ;
I only wish to please the gentle mind.
Whom nature's charms inspire, and love of humankind.
" It would give me no little pleasure to see in
the same poem the names of Mrs Montagu and
Dr Gregory; two persons so dear to me, and
who had so sincere a friendship for one another.
Besides, Madam, I beg leave to put you in mind,
that the first book of the poem was published at
liis desire, and the second at yours. So that I
LIFE OF DIl BEATTIE. 315
have more reasons than one for making this re-
quest. When this affair is settled, and the vo-
lume revised once more, I bid adieu to poetry
for ever. I wish I could say of my voice what
Milton said of his ; that it is
Unchanged
To hoarse or mute, though fallen on evil days.
On evil days though fallen.
But, alas ! I am in the condition of Virgil's for-
lorn shepherd, to whom indeed it better becomes
me to compare myself;
Omnia fert (etas, animtim quoque. Scspe ego longos
Caniando puerum niemini me condere soles
Nunc ohlita mihi tot carmina : vox quoque Moerim
Jam fugit ipsa.
By the bye, I have a good mind to make this a
motto to my little poetical volume."
5l6 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CLXVIII.
DR BEATTIE TO THE HON. MK BARON GORDON.
Aberdeen, 7th March, 1784.
" I oiiglit to have acknowledged long ago the
ieceipt of your most obliging favour of February
12th; but so many cross accidents have come in
n)y way of late, that 1 had no time to settle to
any thing. This has been a most dreary winter
to me, and has, I believe, run away with several
years of my life ; but I will not at present trou-
ble you with my lamentations.
" Let me rather congratulate you on the length-
ening day, the dissolution of the frost, the ap-
proach of spring, and that hope of a long tract of
good weather, which the late season of tempest
may encourage us to entertain. The snow dis-
appears apace ; and all this day it has rained
without intermission. You will now get on horse-
back, with HlnEtus, Pholus, Hyl^eus, and the rest
of your biethren; and Virgil's idea will again be
realised :
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 317
Venice montis ah alto
Descendant Centauri, Omolen Othrynque nivalem
Linquentes cursu rapido : dut euntibus ingens
Sylva locum, et viagno cedunt virgulta fragore :
while we, two-legged and featherless animals,
must be satisfied with the " Sccretum iter et jal-
*' kntis semita tittE.'"
*' I wish I could also congratulate you on a
political thaw, and the renovation of life and
fluidity in our channels of public business : but
there all circulation seems to be at an end. Sure-
ly we never expected to see such times as these.
The constitution, I am afraid, will receive a
shock ; the precise nature of which, however, it
is impossible to foresee. I admire the form of
our government as much as any body ; but I
have long thought the democratical principle ra-
ther too predominant ; and if it continue to ga-
ther strength, as it has done for these twenty
years past, the independence of the two other
branches of the legislature will be nothing but a
name. Several of our ancient statesmen were of
opinion, that England could never be ruined but
by a parliament ; and Montesquieu says, that this
will happen, whenever the legislative power shall
318 LIFE OF DR BKATTIE.
become more corrupt than the executive. From
the executive, at present, I think we have no-
thing to fear ; and I am persuaded, that tlie ma-
jority of the nation is of the same opinion.
" I hope Lord Monboddo will hve till his me-
taphysical quartos equal in number the nine
Muses, and the books of his friend Herodotus. I
am told he is angry at my last book, and says I
know nothing of the origin of language. If that
be the case, it must be in a great measure his
fault, as well as my misfortune; for I have read
all that he has published on that subject; and I
have the same access to Lucretius that he had.
'' With all the terrors of singula de nobis anni
pradantur before my eyes, I have not been able
to apply to any sort of study this winter, I had
neither time nor tranquillity for such employ-
ment,
" The Principal's work * proceeds apace ; and
a great work it will be : the greatest indeed, at
least the most important, of any I have ever seen
in that way. 1 have read three-fourths of it with
vast pleasure, and I hope no little benefit.'*
* Campbell's ' Translation of the Four Gospels.'
I,TFE OF DR BEATTIE. 31^
The two following letters of Cowper's were
given me, when unpublished, by Mr Hayley,
with permission to make any use of them I
pleased. He has since printed them himself in
the third volume of the ' Life of Cowper.' But
such delicate, yet emphatic praise, of Dr Beattie,
from such a writer as Cowper, is too grateful to
me to be passed over here.
LETTER CLXIX.
WILLIAM COWPER, ESQ. TO THE REV. WILLIAM
UNWIN. *
5th April, 1784.
" I thanked you in my last for Johnson ; I
now thank you, with more emphasis, for Beat^
tie, the most agreeable and amiable writer I
^ Hayley's ' Life of Cowper,| Vol. HI. p. 247.
320 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE,
ever met with ; the only author I have seen,
whose critical and philosophical researches are di-
versified and embellished by a poetical imagina-
tion, that makes even the driest subject and the
leanest, a feast for an epicure in books. He is so
much at his ease, too, that his own character ap-
pears in every page ; and, which is very rare, we
see not only the writer, but the man ; and that
man so gentle, so well-tempered, so happy in his
religion, and so humane in his philosophy, that
it is necessary to love him, if one has any sense
of what is lovely. If you have not his poem,
called ' The Minstrel,' and cannot borrow it, I
must beg you to buy it for me; for, though I
cannot afford to deal largely in so expensive a
con^.modity as books, I must afford to purchase
at least the poetical works of Beattie."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 321
LETTER CLXX.
WILLIAM COWPER, ESQ. TO THE REV. JOHN
NEWTON. *
26th April, 1784.
" I have been lately employed in reading Beat*^
tie and Blair's ' Lectures.' The latter I have not
yet finished. I find the former the most agree-
able of the two ; indeed the most entertaining
writer upon dry subjects that I ever met with.
His imagination is highly poetical, his language
easy and elegant, and his manner so familiar, that
we seem to be conversing with an old friend, on
terms of the most social intercourse, while we
read him. In Blair we find a scholar, in Beattie
both a scholar and an amiable man ; indeed so
amiable, that I have wished for his acquaintance
ever since I read his book."
* Hayley's ' Life of Cowper/ Vol. III. p. 255.
VOL. II. X
^2
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CLXXI.
DIl BEATTIE TO MISS VALENTINE. *
Edinburgh, 28th May, 1784.
" Many interesting matters have happened
since I have been here; and if I had time, I
could write a wondrous long letter of news. The
election of Scotch Peers ; the meeting of Parlia-
ment; the state of parties ; the old and the new
ministry ; Pitt and Fox ; the General Assembly
all these things are now forgotten ; and nothing
here is spoken or thought of but Mrs Siddons. I
have seen this wonderful person, not only on the
stage, but in private company ; for I passed two
days with her at the Earl of Buchan's. iler
powers in tragedy are beyond comparison great.
" Miss Margaret Valentine, daugliter of Mr John Valentine,
in Montrose, by Jean Beaitie, sister of Dr Beattie, and now the
wife of Mr Professor Glennie ; || to whose afiectionate care, du-
ring several years, while she had the superintenda.ice of his fa-
mily, Dr Beattie was so highly indebted, and wluch he so grate-
fully remembered in his will.
Vol. I. p. 40.
o
LIFE OF DR BEATTlEi 323
I thought my old friend Garrick fell little or no-
thing short of theatrical perfection ; and I have
seen him in his prime, and in his highest charac-
ters : but Garrick never affected me half so much
as Mrs Siddons has done. Indeed the heart that
she cannot subdue must be made of other mate-
rials than flesh and blood. In the ' Caledonian
Mercury' you will see, from time to time, some
critical observations on her action, v^hich are very
well written. The encomiums are high ; but I
assure you they are not above her merit. James,
too, has seen her, and is transported. He never
till now, he says, knew what acting was. It
was very difficult to procure places ; but by the
kind attentions of the Duchess of Gordon, and
Lord and Lady Buchan, I was nobly accommo-
dated, and in the very best seats in the house.
In private company, ]\Irs Siddons is a modest,
unassuming, sensible woman ; of the gentlest
and most elegant manners. Her moral character
is not only unblemished, but exemplary. She is
above the middle size, and I suppose about thirty-
four years of age. Her countenance is the most
interesting that can be ; and, excepting the
Duchess of Gordon's, the most beautiful I have
ever seen. Her eyes and eye-brows are of the
524 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
deepest black. She loves music, and is fond of
the Scotch tunes; many of which I played to
her on the violoncello. One of them (" She rose
and let me in," which you know is a favourite of
mine,) made the tears start from her eyes. " Go
" on," said she to me, '' and you will soon have
" your revenge ;'' meaning, that I would draw as
many tears from her as she had drawn from me.
She sung " Queen Mary's Complaint" to admira-
tion; and I had the honour to accompany her on
the bass."
LETTER CLXXII.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
London, 1st July, 17 84-.
" Our friend Sir Joshua Reynolds is in perfect
health and spirits. I dined with him the day af-
ter I came to town, and on Sunday last, when
General Paoli, Dr Johnson, IVIr Boswell, and se-
veral others were there. Sir Joshua's picture of
Mrs Siddons is one of the greatest efforts of the
pencil. He agrees with me, that she resembles
Gairick in her countenance. Old jNlr Sheridan,
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 35
who piques himself not a little on having been
instrumental in bringing forward that incompara-
ble actress, assured me the other day, that in eve-
ry comic character, from Lady Townly to Nell
the cobler's wife, she is as great and as original
as in tragedy. I asked Tom Davies, (the author
of ' Garrick's Life,') whether he could account
for Garrick's neglect, or rather discouragement,
of her. He imputed it to jealousy. " How is it
" possible," said I, " that Garrick could be jealous
" of a woman ?" " He would have been jealous
" of a child," answered he, '* if that child had
" been a favourite of the public : to my c'^rtain
" knowledge he would." Johnson has got the
better of his late illness ; but has the look of de-
cline. Wine, I think, would do him good, but
he cannot be prevailed on to drink it. He has,
however, a voracious appetite for food. I verily
believe, that on Sunday last he ate as much to
dinner, as I have done in all for these ten (iays
past. I sat an hour with Johnson the other day,
and he spoke of you with great kindness; * and
* Dr Johnson's acquaintance and mine first began when he
came to Edinbuiifh in ihe year 177 3, nn his tt>m i lii*- He-
brides As he lived lu liie h' use * t my iriend Air Boswell,
with whom 1 was exireiuely liituuate, 1 v\as very much with
3Q6 life of dr beattie.
sympathised with my situation, in a manner that
did honour to his feelings."
LETTER CLXXIII.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES,
Hunton, near Maidstone, Kent, 14th July, ns*.
" I am now, my dear Sir, arrived at a place,
where external nature wears a face of the most
profound tranquillity ; and sit down to thank
you for your two last letters, which came to hand
the day before I left the town. It is so far for-
tunate, that Mrs B's removal to Musselburgh was
attended with so little inconvenience. My con-
fidence in your friendship and goodness entirely
satisfies me, that you will soon put matters on a
Dr Johnson at that time ; and ever after, when I had occasion
to go to London, I uniformly experienced from him the utmost
kindness and attention. Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr Langton, Mr
Boswell, Dr Beattie, being our common friends, formed a sort
of bond of union between Dr Johnson and me ; to which cir-
cumstance I attributed much of the notice with which he ho-
noured me. It is unnecessary for me to say here how highly I
resi;ected the talents and the virtues of that truly eminent and
good man.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 327
right footing. I lament, indeed, that your atten-
tion to me and mine should give you so much
trouble ; but the consciousness of doing good to
the unfortunate and forlorn will in part reward
you ; and no mind ever possessed that conscious-
ness m a more exquisite degree than yours has
reason to do.
" The hot weather made London so disagree-
able, that I was obliged to leave it before I had
seen all my friends : I must make a longer stay
when I return thither. I wish I had time and
capacity to give you a description of this parson-
age. It is delightfully situated about half-way
down a hill fronting the south, about a mile from
Coxheath. My windows command a prospect,
extending southward about twelve miles, and
from east to west not less, I suppose, than forty.
In this whole space I do not see a single speck
of ground that is not in the highest degree culti-
vated ; for Coxheath is not in sight. The lawns
in the neighbourhood, the hop-grounds, the rich
verdure of the trees, and their endless variety,
form a scenery so picturesque and so luxuriant,
that it is not easy to fancy any thing finer. Add
to this, the cottages, churches, and villages, rising
here and there among the trees, and scattered
328 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
over the whole country ; clumps of oaks, and
other lofty trees, disposed in ten thousand differ-
ent forms, and some of them visible in the hori-
zon at the distance of more than ten miles ; and
you will have some idea of the beauty of Hunton.
The only thing wanting is the murmur of run-
ning water; but we have some ponds and clear
pools, that glitter through the trees, and have a
rery pleasing effect. With abundance of shade,
we have no damp nor fenny ground ; and though
the country looks at a distance like one continued
grove, the trees do not press upon us : indeed I
do not at present see one that I could wish re-
mov^ed. There is no road within sight, the hed-
ges that overhang the highways being very high ;
so that we see neither travellers nor carriages,
and indeed hardly any thing in motion ; which
conveys such an idea of peace and quiet, as I
think 1 never was conscious of before ; and forms
a most striking contrast with the endless noise
and restless multitudes of Piccadilly.
*' But what pleases nie most at Hunton is not
now in view ; for my friend, the Bishop of Ches-
ter, is gone out a riding. Vou are no stranger to
the character of this amiable man. Mrs Porteus
is not less amiable. Ibeir house is the mansion
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 329
of peace, piety, and cheerfulness. The Bishop
has improved his parsonage and the grounds
about it as much as they can be improved, and
made it one of the pleasantest spots in England.
The whole is bounded by a winding gravel-walk,
about half-a-mile in circumference. Close by,
lives a most agreeable lady, with whom we all
breakfasted to-day. She is the widow of Sir Ro-
ger Twisden ; and, though not more than five-*
and-twenty, lives in this elegant retirement, and
employs herself chiefly in the education of her
daughter, a fine child of four years of age, who
is mistress of her catechism, and reads wonder-
fully well. I expect soon to see our friend Mr
Langton, as the Bishop proposes to send him an
invitation, Rochester being only ten miles oif,
Tunbridge-wells is fifteen miles the other way.
330 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CLXXIV.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES,
Hunton, near Maidstone, Kent, 31st July, 1784.
" Your last letter having given me the fullest
assurance, that the unfortunate object of our at-
tention is now in circumstances as comfortable as
her condition will admit of, I have been endea-
vouring to relieve my mind, for a time at least,
fi'om that load of anxiety which has so long op-
pressed it ; and I alieady feel the happy conse-
quences of this endeavour. My health is greatly
improved ; and, if this rheumatism would let me
alone, I might almost say that I am quite well.
Certain it is, that I have not been so well any
time these four years The tranquillity and beauty,
the peace and the plenty of this charming coun-
try, are a continual feast to my imagination; and
I must be insensible, indeed, if the kindness, the
cheerfulness, the piety, and the instructive con-
versation, of my excellent friend the Bishop of
Chester and his amiable lady, did not powerfully
operate in soothing my mind, and improving my
LIFE OP DR BEATTIE. 331
heart. Those people of fashion in the neighbour-
hood, who visit the Bishop, and are visited by
him, are a small but select society, and eminent-
ly distinguished for their piety, politeness, litera-
ture, and hospitality. Among them, I have found
some old friends, whom I formerly knew in Lon-
don, and have acquired some new ones, on whom
I set a very high value. Mr Langton and Lady
Rothes have just left us, after a visit of two days.
You will readily imagine with what regret we
parted with them. Our friend Langton is conti-
nually improving in virtue, learning, and every
other thing that is good. I always admired and
loved him ; but now I love and admire him more
than ever.* We had much conversation about
you. I have given the Bishop a full account of
my family transactions, particularly for the last
twelvemonth. He highly approves of everything
that has been done; bestows great commenda-
tions on my conduct ; and has given me such ad-
vices as one would expect from his good sense
and knowledge of the world. I have not yet
fixed a day for my departure from this paradise;
but I fear it must be in the course of next week,
* Vol. IL page 264,.
532 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
My friends urge me to prolong my stay, and I
am much disposed to do so; but I must now re-
member, that the year begins to dechne, and I
have several other visits to make, and things to
do, before I leave England. Meanwhile, I shall,
from time to time, let you know where I am, and
what I am doing. Any letter you may favour me
with, you will be pleased to put under the Bishop
of Chester's cover.
" If I could give you an adequate idea of the
way in which we pass our time at Hunton, I am
sure you would be pleased with it. This is a
rainy day, and I have nothing else to do at pre-
sent : why, then, should I not make the trial ?
" Our hour of breakfast is ten. Immediately
before it, the Bishop calls his family together,
prays with them, and gives them his blessing:
the same thing is constantly done after supper,
when we part for the night. In the intervals of
breakfast, and in the evening, when there is no
company, his Lordship sometimes reads to us in
some entertaining book. After breakfast, we se-
parate, and amuse ourselves, as we think proper,
till four, the hour of (hnner. At six, when the
weather is fair, we either walk, or make a visit
to some of the clergy or gentry in the neighbour-
LIFE OF DR BEATTTE. 333
Tiood, and return about eight. We then have
music, in which I am sorry to say, that I am al-
most the only performer. I have got a violon-
cello, and play Scotch tunes, and perform Han-
del's, Jackson's, and other songs, as well as 1 can ;
and my audience is very willing to be pleased.
The Bishop and Mrs Porteus are both fond of
music. These musical parties are often honoured
with the company of the accomplished and ami-
able Lady Twisden, of whom I gave you some
account in my last. Observe, that there are in
this part of Kent no fewer than three ladies of
that name: but the one I speak of, is Lady Twis-
den of Jennings, in the parish of Hunton ; who,
in the course of one year, was a maid, a wife, a
widow, and a mother; whose husband. Sir Roger,
died about five years ago ; and who, though pos-
sessed of beauty and a large fortune, and not
more than twenty-five years of age, has ever
since lived in this retirement, employing herself
partly in study, but chiefly in acts of piety and
beneficence, and in the education of her little
daughter, who is indeed a very fine child. I
have just now before me Miss Hannah IMore's
* Sacred Dramas/ which I borrowed from Lady
Twisden, and in which I observe that she has
534 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
marked her favourite passages with a nicety of
selection, that does great honour to her heart, as
well as to her judgment. By the bye, Miss More*
is an author of very considerable merit. My cu-
riosity to see her works was excited by Johnson,
who told me, with great solemnity, that she was
" the most powerful versificatrix ' in the English
lanouao^e.
" So much for our week-days. On Sundays,
* In a fonrier part of these Memoirs, t" some mention is made
of the works of this amiable and excellent moralist, who still lives
tx) instruct the world by her writings. It is a circumstance high-
ly redounding to her praise, and well worthy of being recorded,
that, besides those admirable publications, calculated for the meri-
dian of the upper circles of life, she thought it no degradation of
her talents to employ her pen in the service of the lower classes
of the people; and at a period when the press in Britain was
teeming with the most infamous productions, purposely calcula-
ted to diffuse the principles of infidelity and sedition, she em-
ployed herself in composing short and familiar tracts, in the form
of Tales, Dialogues, Ballads, suited to the capacities of the lower
orders of society, and designed as an antidote to the poisonous
tendency of the others. Those useful little publications were print-
ed in a cheap form, in order that they might be the more wide-
ly distributed by well-disposed persons; and, it is to be hoped,
they were productive of the happiest effects. Mrs Hannah
More's latest publication, is entitled, " Hints towards forming
the Character of a young Princess."
+ Vol. I. p. 272.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 335
at eleven, we repair to church. It is a small, but
neat building, with a pretty good ring of si^
bells. The congregation are a stout, well-featu-
red set of people, clean and neat in their dress,
and most exemplary in the decorum with which
they perform the several parts of public worship.
As we walk up the area to the Bishops pew,
they all make, on each side, a profound obei-
sance ; and the same as we return. The prayers
are very well read by Mr Hill, the curale, and
the Bishop preaches. I need not tell you now,
because I think I told you before, that Bishop
Porteus is, in my opinion, the best preacher, in
respect both of composition and of delivery, I
have ever heard. In this capacity, indeed, he is
universally admired, and many of the gentry
come to hear him from the neighbouring parishes.
After evening service, during the sunm^er months,
his Lordship generally delivers from his pew a ca-
tachetical lecture, addressed to the children, who,
for this purpose, are drawn up in a line before
him along the area of the church. In these lec-
tures, he explains to them, in the simplest and
clearest manner, yet with his usual elegance, the
fundamental and essential principles of religion
and moraUty ; and concludes with an address to
336 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
the more advanced in years. This institution of
the Bishop's I greatly admire. When children
see themselves so much attended to, and so much
pains taken in instructing them, they cannot fail
to look upon religion as a matter of importance;
and, if they do so, it is not possible for them,
considering the advantages they enjoy, to be ig-
norant of it. The catachetical examinations in
the church of Scotland, such of them at least as
I have seen, are extremely ill calculated for do-
ing good ; being encumbered with metaphysical
distinctions, and expressed in a technical lan-
guage, which to children are utterly unintelli-
gible, and but little understood even by the most
sagacious of the common people. The Bishop told
me, that he chose to deliver this lecture from his
pew, and without putting on lawn sleeves, that
it might make the stronger impression upon the
children ; having observed, he said, that what
is delivered from the pulpit, and with the usual
formalities, is too apt to be considered, both by
the young and the old, as a thing of course. On
Sunday evening, he sometimes reads to his ser-
vants a brief and plain abstract of the Scripture
Jiistory, somewhat similar to that which was late-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE, 537
ly published by Mrs Trimmer, and formerly by
Lady Newhaven.
" In no other district of Great Britain, that I
have seen, is there so little the appearance of po-
verty, and such indications of competence and
satisfaction in the countenance and dress of the
common people, as in this part of Kent. In this
parish there is only one ale-house, the profits
whereof are inconsiderable. The people are fond
of cricket-matches, at which there is a great con-
course of men, women, and children, with good
store of ale and beer, cakes, ginger-bread, &c.
One of these was solemnized a few nights ago in
a field adjacent to the parish-church. It broke
up about sun-set, with much merriment, but with-
out drunkenness or riot. The contest was be-
tween the men of Hunton and the men of Peck-
ham ; and the latter were victorious."
VOL. II.
538 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CLXXV.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Hunton, near Maidstone, Kent, 6th August, 1784.
" Your remarks on Mrs B.'s condition are equal-
ly striking and just ; she is certainly not unhap-
py. And your observation, " That the days of
" human life, that are passed without sorrow and
" without sin, are neither to be lamented when
" passing, nor regretted when passed," has sug-
gested to me several comfortable reflections. I
should indeed be equally insensible, both to mo-
ral and intellectual excellence, and to the pictu-
resque beauties of nature, if the charming scenes,
and the delightful society, in which I have passed
these three weeks, had not soothed my mind in-
to a sweet forgetfulness of care, and encouraged
me to hope, that I am not in so forlorn a condi-
tion as I lately imagined. *
" The very countenances and behaviour of the
common people of this district have had their ef-
* This alludes to some family-distresses to which he had bee
subjected.
3
IIFE OF DR BEATTIE, v 539
feet in composing my mind and raising my spi-
rits. I left a country, which is at all times bar-
ren and dreary, and which, when I left it, had
not got the better of a two years scarcity, I had
almost said, famine. The peace and the plenty of
this region form the most striking contrast ima-
ginable. Here, the people are stout, and hearty,
and active ; their apparel is neat and decent ; and
their honest countenances are strongly expressive
of content and competence. When Virgil says
of his happy husbandmen, that they suffer no
pain, either from pitying the poor, or from envy-
ing the rich, I am now satisfied, that he had no
idea of either blaming or praising their Stoical
apathy ; his meaning certainly was, that the rich
cannot be envied where all have enough, and that
the poor cannot be pitied where poverty is un-
known."
LETTER CLXXVI.
1)11 BEATTIE TO DR PORTEUS, BISHOP OF CHESTER.
Sandleford, near Newbury, Berks, 18th August, 1784.
" It is but a week since I exchanged the para-
dise of Hunton for the purgatory of London;
340 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
and it seems almost a year : so much, during that
short period, have I suffered from heat, and bustle,
and bad air, and (what is vv^orst of all) from sor-
row of heart at parting with the best of friends.
The mouth which I passed at Hunton was the
happiest of my life ; and I dare not flatter myself
with the hope of such another. But I shall, as
long as I live, derive satisfaction from recalling
the persons, the conversations, and the scenery,
of it ; which now occupy so large a space (if I
may so express myself) in my imagination, that
there is hardly room for the intrusion of any other
idea.
" On Saturday and Sunday I was so over-
powered by the intolerable heat of the town, that
on Monday I was glad to make my escape a se-
cond time into the country. I passed the night
at Reading, and yesterday at three o'clock arri-
ved here ; where I found Mrs INIontagu and her
nephew in perfect health, and very anxious in
their inquiries after the health of Mrs Porteus
and your Lordship. I had not been here five mi-
nutes, when the wind on a sudden shifted, with
a violent squall, to the north-east, and the wea-
ther in an instant changed from very hot to very
cold, as it still continues to be.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 341
*' This place is much improved since I saw it
last. A great deal of brick-building and garden-
wall is cleared away, and the lawn is opening
veiy fast on every side. A little rivulet, that
used to wander, unheard and unseen, through a
venerable grove of oaks, is now collected into
two large and beautiful pieces of water, round
which the walks and grounds are laid out to very
great advantage indeed. The situation is on an
eminence, with a gentle slope of a quarter of a
mile towards the south ; and from every part of
the lawn there is a beautiful prospect, first of a
romantic village, called Newtown, and beyond
that of the Hampshire hills, some of which are
tufted with wood, and others bare, and green,
and smooth, to the top.
" At the distance of about thirty yards from
the house of Sandleford, stood formerly an old
chapel, (for the place was once a priory,) which,
for a century past, or more, had been neglected,
or used as a place for lumber. This, Mrs Mon-
tagu has transformed into a very magnificent
room, and joined to the main body of the house
by a colonnade ; which, expanding in the middle,
and rising to the height of thirty feet at least,
542 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
forms a noble drawing-room of an elliptical shape.
When the doors of these rooms are thrown open,
the walk, from end to end, is upwards of an hun-
dred feet, and the heighth and breadth propor-
tionable. The dining-room terminates in a very
large window in the Gothic style, reaching from
the floor almost to the roof, and looking into a
grove of tall oaks, which, with a happy and very
peculiar effect, retire from the eye in four rows,
and give to this spacious apartment the appear-
ance of a vast arbour. From this account, if I
have done any justice to my idea, you will con-
clude, and justly too, that there is some little re-
semblance between this room and the new room
at Hunton."
LETTER CLXXVir.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Edinburgh, 18th September, 17 $4-.
" I cannot express my regret at being obliged
to leave so soon the charming society at Sandle-
ford ; a society in which I had so many opportu-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 34S
nities of improving both my understanding and
my heart; and in which I must have been cal-
lous indeed, if I had not been every moment con-
scious of the most delightful emotions that ad-
miration and gratitude can inspire. I beg to be
remembered, in the most affectionate terms, to
your amiable and accomplished nephew, whom I
found to be just what I wished, and what I ex-
pected. He is as good as I wish him to be, and
I hope he will always be as happy.
" My journey was very pleasant. The weather
was uncommonly fine ; and the gay harvest scenes,
that everywhere surrounded me, conveyed such
ideas of vivacity and gladness, as could not fail
to have the happiest effects on my health and
spirits : and I was surprisingly recovered before I
got to Temple-Newsam, * in Yorkshire, where I
passed ten days very agreeably. I then resumed
my journey, and arrived here the day before yes-
terday. Most of my friends being gone to the
country, T can have no temptation to remain long
in Edinburgh, and am just on the eve of my de-
parture for Aberdeen and Peterhead ; from which
* The seat of Lady Viscountess Irvine,
344 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
last place I shall have the honour to write to yoiv
as soon as I have had a conversation with Mrs
Arbuthnot. I am impatient to see her, and to
" make the widow's heart sing for joy," in the
contemplation of your goodness."
In order the better to understand the follow-
ing anecdote, which does equal credit to Dr Beat-
tie and to Mrs Montagu, it is proper to mention,
that the worthy woman, to whom Mrs Montagu
thus extended her beneficence, was a Mrs Ar-
buthnot, whose maiden name was Anne Hepburn,
daughter of the Reverend Mr Alexander Hepburn,
a minister of the episcopal church of Scotland,
who had been domestic chaplain in the family of
the Earl Marischal of Scotland, and preceptor to
his sons, the late Earl IMarischal and General
Keith. She inherited from nature no inconsider-
able portion of genius, and had enjoyed the be-
nefit of a literary education. Her reading, how-?
ever, had unfortunately taken a turn very un-
usual with the female sex ; and she had imbibec^
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 54'5
a partiality for the sceptical philosophy ; but of
which she became completely cured, by the sub-
sequent perusal of books of a better tendency,
particularly Butler's ' Analogy of Natural and
Revealed Religion,' which she justly considered
as a work of pre-eminent merit, and which con-
tinued to be her favourite study, next to the
Scriptures, to her dying hour.
She was married in the year 1737, when twen-
ty-eight, to Captain Andrew Arbuthnot ; a name
of which there were at that time several families
in Peterhead, of the same kindred, distinguished
for their great integrity and simplicity of man^
ners. The celebrated Dr Arbuthnot was a branch
of the family. Her husband was master of a ves-
sel that traded from Peterhead to America ; and,
during one of his voyages, died of a fever at
Charlestown, in South Carolina, in the year 1740.
To add to this calamity, while the mate, who
brought home the vessel to Peterhead, had come
on shore, to communicate to her the melancholy
tidings of her husband's death, by some accident
the vessel was wrecked in the bay, and in her
the whole of the captain's property was lost.
Thus, in one hour, she found herself deprived of
34^ LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
an affectionate husband, and left totally desti-
tute, with the charge of a boy, a child of a year
old.
After this dire calamity, Mrs Arbuthnot strug-
gled hard to maintain herself and her son by her
labour, and the kindness of her friends, who con-
trived to assist her in a concealed manner, so as
not to hurt the delicacy of her feelings ; and she
has frequently been heard to say, she sometimes
received aid as if it had dropt from heaven, with-
out her knowing from what hand it came.
To fill up the measure of her misfortune, her
only son, whom she had used every effort to edu-
cate, by means of a small bursary at the Univer-
sity of Aberdeen,* and who, by the interest of
some of his father's relations, had obtained a com-
mission in the army, in which he served with re-
putation, died at an early age in the West Indies,
at a period when he had the prospect of future
promotion, by which he might have been enabled
to contribute to his mother's more comfortable
subsistence. Thus bereft of every consolation,
except what she derived from religion, and the
soothing tenderness of her friends, she continued
* See Vol. I. p. 20.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 547
contentedly to strive with virtuous poverty du-
ring the whole course of her long widowhood.
While Mrs Arbuthnot had resided for a short
time at Aberdeen, during the period of her son's
education, she had become known to the late Dr
John Gregory, to Dr Beattie, and several of the
eminent literary characters of that time, who
esteemed her for her taste in books, and respect-
ed her. by reason of her virtues and exemplary
piety. Dr Beattie, in particular, contracted an
intimate friendship with Mrs Arbuthnot, Avith
whom he constantly lodged during his annual
visits to Peterhead. In her house he enjoyed
tranquillity and perfect freedom ; and, when he
was disposed for conversation, he had always the
benefit of Mrs Arbuthnot's, whose cultivated un-
derstanding, and pious frame of mind, were ex-
actly suited to his taste. To her opinion he ge-
nerally submitted his literary productions before
their publication; and he used to say, that he
had seldom found her mistaken in her judgment
of their merit. On representing her situation to
Mrs Montagu, that lady was pleased to settle on
her an annuity, which raised this poor, but grate-
ful woman, from her contented poverty, to a state
of comparative affluence. Mrs Arbuthnot died
348 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
19th May, 1795, at the very advanced age of
eighty-six.
LETfEll CLXXVIII.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Peterhead, 11th October, 1784..
" I arrived at Peterhead the first of October.
I went instantly to Mrs Arbuthnot, whom I found
in tolerable health, sitting solitary by her little
fire, and amusing herself, as usual, with a book
and her work ; both of which she has the art of
attending to at the same time. She was the
more pleased to see me, as my arrival was unex-
pected ; for she had not heard that I was return-
ed to Scotland. After she had asked all the cus-
tomary questions, I told her, without betraying
any emotion, or seeming to have any thing in
view but her amusement, that if she was at lei-
sure, I would tell her a story. I accordingly be-
gan ; and, agreeably to the commission with
which you honoured me, made a very long and
circumstantial story of it, recapitulating, as far
as my memory would enable me, every thing that
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 349
passed in that conversation at Sandleford, of which
she and her aunt, Mrs Cockburn,* were the sub-
ject. I saw she was greatly affected with the
idea of your thinking so favourably of her aunt,
and with your condescension in inquiring so mi-
nutely into her own story and character ; but I
did not throw out a single hint that could lead
her to anticipate what was to follow. At last,
when I found that her heart was thoroughly
warmed, and recollected youx observation, that
the human heart in that state becomes malleable,
I hastened to the conclusion, which I expressed
in the simplest and fewest words possible; so
that the whole struck her at one and the same
instant. She attempted an exclamation, but it
was inarticulate, and almost resembled a scream ;
the tears ran down her furrowed cheeks ; and she
could only say, " O dear, I cannot speak one
" word !" and seemed almost exhausted with the
effort that had produced that short sentence. I
desired her not to attempt to speak, but to hear
me a little further; and then told her, Madam,
* A lady of considerable genius and learning, widow of the
Reverend Mr Cockburn, one of the ministers of the episcopal
chapel at Aberdeen, of whose writings two volumes were pub-
lished, many years ago, now almost entirely forgotten.
S50 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
that such acts of beneficence were familiar things
to you ; * and mentioned some instances that had
come to my knowledge, particularly that of Mrs
Williams. She held up her eyes and hands, some-
times in silent adoration of Providence, and some-
times with the most passionate expressions of gra-
titude to her noble benefactress. In a word,
Madam, she accepted your bounty in a way that
did honour both to her understanding and to her
feelings; and I left her to compose herself by
* On this subject of Mrs Montagu's charitable distributions,
it were injustice to her to omit inserting the following paragraph
of a letter of her's to Dr Beattie, now lying before me. It al-
ludes to the person mentioned in a letter of Dr Beattie's to her,
p. 113.
" The Duchess-dowager of Beaufort gave me a guinea for the
" little man with the great soul, whom the vulgar at Aberdeen
" call a dwarf : be so good as to give him a guinea, and charge
" it to my account; and if at any time he is sick or distressed,
" remember that one, who is weary of seeing little minds in
" great men, will gladly relieve one where this unseemly cir-
" cumstance is nobly reversed. Consider me always in the best
" light in which you can put me, as the banker of the distress-
*' ed ; and at any time call on me for such objects ; and, in all
" senses of the word, / will honour your bill. Vulgar wretched-
" ness one relieves, because it is one's duty to do so; and one
" has a certain degree of pleasure in it : but to assist merit in
" distress, is an Epicurean feast ; and indulge this luxury of
" taste in me, when any remarkable object shall oiler itself to
" your acquaintance."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. $51
silent meditation. Indeed I made haste to get
away after I had executed my commission ; for
the scene was so delightfully affecting, that I
could stand it no longer.
" When the news was known next day in the
town, it diffused a very general joy ; and many
an honest heart invoked the blessing of heaven
upon your head : for Mrs Arbuthnot's character
is exceedingly respected by all who know her;
and her narrow circumstances have long been
matter of general regret; as the delicacy of her
mind was well known, which no doubt discou-
raged some persons from making a direct offer
of their services, though indirectly, I believe,
that some little matters have been done for her
benefit. Yet, since her husband's death, which
happened four-and-forty years ago, I know not
whether she was at any time worth ten pounds
a-year. With this small appointment she has
constantly maintained the appearance of a gen-
tlewoman, and has received the visits of the best
people in the town and neighbourhood, whom
she was always happy to entertain with a dish of
tea : and among her visitors can reckon the (pre-
sent) Duchess of Gordon, the Countess of Errol,
Lord Saltouns family. Sir William Forbes, and
352 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
many others of the best fashion. What is yet
more strange, with this small appointment, she
has always found means to be charitable to the
poor ; and when I have seen her dealing out her
alms, which was commonly a handful of oatmeal
to each person, I know not how often she has
put me in mind of the widow in the Gospel.
" There are several persons of her name in this
town ; and therefore it may be proper to inform
you, that her distinguishing name is Mrs Andrew
Arbuthnot. The name Arbuthnot is frequent in
the neighbourhood. The great Dr John Arbuth-
not, so eminent for his virtue, his learning, and
his wit, was the grandson of a gentleman-farmer,
who lived at a place called Scots-mill, three miles
from this town ; and Dr Arbuthnot and Captain
Andrew Arbuthnot were second-cousins.
" I am afraid Mrs Arbuthnot will not long
stand in need of your bounty ; for she is seventy-
six years of age, and suffers much from a cough
and asthma. I was introduced to her about
twenty years ago, by her nephew, Mr Arbuthnot
of Edinburgh, and have since been as attentive
to her as I could; of which she is so sensible,
that sometimes, in the extravagance of her grati-
tude, she has called me her good genius. She
LIFE OP DR BEATTIE. 353
actually gave me that appellation in the first
draught of that letter which she wrote to you
about a week ago, and which I hope, Madam,
you have received ; but I prevailed with her to
change the phrase.
" Since I came hither I have been seven or
eight times in the sea ; and I think I am already
the better for it. Only, for three or four hours
after every plunge, I am a little disconcerted by
a confusion in the head, and a tremor in the
hands ; of which I am afraid you will see too
many proofs in this letter : but that symptom will
probably disappear, when I am a little more ac-
customed to salt-water. I shall remain here a
fortnight longer; and then the business of the
college will fix me in Aberdeen for the winter.
" Permit me now. Madam, to thank you for
your most obliging letter of the 2lOth of Septem-
ber, which, after wandering long from place to
place, has overtaken me at last. The harvest-
scenes, which interest you so nmch, were also
very interesting to me in the course of my jour-
ney through England ; for the weather was the
finest that could be, and every scythe and sickle,
and the waggons, and the gleaners, were all in
motion. With peculiar satisfaction I took no-
voL. ir. z
354 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
tice of that laudable English custom, of permit-
ting the poor and the infinn to glean the fields.
*' How shall I thank you, Madam, and my
amiable friend, Mr Montagu, for the kind invi-
tation you gave my son and me to pass some part
of the ensuing spring at Sandleford ! Be assured,
it will be a grievous disappointment to us both,
if we cannot get that matter accomplished. If
my domestic affairs continue quiet, as I thank
God they are at present, I hope we shall find no
difficulty in it"
LETTER CLXXIX.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
Peterhead, 17th October, 1784..
" It flatters me very much to hear, that I am
just now in favour with Lord Monboddo ; for I
lately heard a very different account. I am like-
wise happy to understand, from his comparing
your Grace to Helen of Troy, that there is at
least one Modern to whom he is willing to do
justice : for, in that comparison, he certainly in-
tends a very great compliment, though I cannot
4
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 355
think there is a great one. I hope he will no
longer insist on it, that Helen was seven feet
high ; and that he will devise some expedient, to
vindicate that lady's character from the aspersion
of having been at least fourscore when Paris ran
away with her : a paradox, which, for the honour
of my friend Homer, I wish I were able to con-
fute ; though I cannot think of any other way of
doing it, than by supposing, that there were two
fair ladies of that name, one of whom came to
Troy, and the other eloped with Theseus about
sixty years before."
LETTER CLXXX.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Aberdeen, 31st January, 1785.
" The sea-bath was of considerable service to
me ; and as this has been the most quiet winter
I have passed these seven years, I am rather in
better health than usual, and have of late been
making some progress in a little work, of which
you saw a sketch at Sandleford, and which you
did me the honour to read and approve of. It
356 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE,
was your approbation, and that of the Bishop of
Chester and Sir William Forbes, that determined
me to revise, correct, and enlarge it, with a view
to publication. When finished, it will make two
little volumes, of the size of Mr Jenyns's book on
the ' Internal Evidence of Christianity.' My
plan is more comprehensive than his, and takes
in the external evidence of miracles and pro-
phecy, as well as the internal. That you may
see. Madam, somewhat more distinctly what I
intend, I beg leave to transcribe the following
paragraph from my introduction :
" I have met with little practical treatises,
" called. Ten ininutes advice to those who are
" about to engage in such or such an enterprize.
* These perforaiances may have their use, though
" they do not contain a full detail of the business
" alluded to. I mean to give Two hou?'s advice
" to that person, who may be in danger from
" the books, or from the company, of infidels,
" and who is candid enough to desire to be in-
*' formed, in few words, whether the evidence
" on the other side be so plausible, as to deserve
" the notice of a rational mind. If I shall sa-
" tisfy bim that it is, he will naturally lay me
" aside, and have recourse, for farther informa--^
LIFE OF DE BEATTIE. 357
" tion, to those great authors, who have gone
" through the whole subject, and illustrated and
^^ proved many things, which the narrowness, of
" my plan permits me only to affirm, or perhaps
" only to hint at. And (which is far the most
" important part of the whole procedure) he will
" at the same time reverently consult those sa-
*' cred oracles, which contain the history of di-
" vine revelation ; and which he will find more
" frequently, perhaps, and more fully, than he is
" aware of, to carry their own evidence along
" with them. And when he has done all this,
" in the spirit of candour, with an humble and
" docile mind, and with a sincere desire to know
" the truth and his duty, I may venture to assure
*' him, that he will not regret the time he has
" employed in the study ; and that, from the
*' writings or conversation of unbelievers, his
" faith will never be in danger any more."
" Your sentiments of Dr Arbuthnot agree en-
tirely with mine. He had, I think, more wit
and humour, and he certainly had much more
virtue and learning, than either Pope or Swift.
The eloquence and ostentation of Bolingbroke
could never impose on Arbuthnot : he told his
son, (whom I once had the honour to converse
358 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
with at Richmond) that he knew Bolingbrokc
was an infidel, and a worthless vain man. The
Doctor was the son of a clergyman of this coun-
try, and was educated at the Marischal College.
His grandfather lived at a place called Scots-
mill, in a romantic situation on the brink of a
river, about three miles from Peterhead ; a place
which I often visit as classic ground, as being
probably the place where the Doctor, when a
school-boy, might often pass his holidays. I am
informed, that the late Dr Hunter bequeathed
an original picture of Arbuthnot to that univer-
sity ; at which it should appear that he had been
educated. If this be true, it is the property of
the Marischal College. If I knew any thing
of Dr Hunter's executors, I would write to
them on the subject; as the picture has never
appeared."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 359
LETTER CLXXXI.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 7th February, 1785.
" The quiet which I have enjoyed this winter,
especially since I received your letter, has not
only given me better health than usual, but has
also left my mind at leisure to resume that little
work on the ' Evidence of Christianity,' of which
you saw a sketch last summer. All the intro-
ductory part is now written, and the part you
saw is extended to double its former size. One
entire section is added on the evidence arising
from prophecy; and, in evincing the usefulness
of revelation, I have had occasion to make some
additional remarks on the insufficiency of the an-
cient philosophy, and the characters of the phi-
losophers. Whether this work shall ever be of
use to others, I know not ; but this I know, that
it has been of considerable benefit to myself.
For though, when I entered upon it, I under-
stood my subject well enough to entertain no
doubt of the goodness of my cause, yet I find, as
360 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
I advance, new light continually breaking in up-
on me.
" My list of Scotticisms is also very much en-
larged. I believe I shall print it here for the
convenience of correcting the press, which, in
the present state of the post-office, cannot be
done by a person at a distance. If you see Mr
Creech, please to ask what number of copies I
shall send to him. It will be a pretty large
pamphlet, and the price shall not exceed a shil-
ling.
" Dr Campbell's preliminary dissertations are
all finished : they alone will make a large quarto.
I have read them all with great pleasure. They
are a treasury of theological learning ; and writ-
ten with a degree of candour, as well as precision,
of which, in matters of this kind, the world has
seen very few examples."
LIFE OF Dll BEATTIE. 36 1
LETTER CLXXXII.
DR BEATTIE TO THE REV- DR LAING.
Aberdeen, 1 3th February, 1785.
" You may believe, that your accounts of Mrs
Arbuthnot's recovery, so far exceeding what I
expected, gave me the greatest pleasure. I see
now, she will soon be what she was before; which
I heartily pray may be the case. I was rather in
low spirits about her, when I wrote last to Mrs
Montagu.
" In that lady's last letter to me, dated 21st
November, there are some sentences, which I
shall set down here, as I know they will give
Mrs Arbuthnot pleasure.
" My mind is so much engaged by Mrs Ar-
" buthnot, I cannot think of any thing else.
" Sometimes I think I am wicked, in not being
" thankful enough, that I am at last admitted to
" her friendship. I fret and repine, that I had not
" that happiness many years sooner. Alas ! what
" presumption is it in me to repine at this! As
" if I deserved the heartfelt-delight of being in
362 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
" any degree serviceable to one of the best of
" human beings. What pleasure should I have
" had in her correspondence ! While I read your
" account of her noble and delicate manner of
" receiving the friendship of one, who had a high
** veneration for her and her aunt, I lived abng
" the line, and every word excited a sensation.
" I am pleased to find, that by her husband she
*' is so nearly allied to my first favourite of all
*' the beaia- esprits, Dr Arbuthnot. He had none
*' of the peevish jealousies of Mr Pope, nor the
" harshness and pride of Dr Swift. Conscious
" of more noble endowments, he was not anxious
" to obtain the character of a wit. There is such
" ease, and so natural an air in his writings, as
" prove him to have been witty without eifort or
" contrivance. I have heard my old friend. Lord
" Bath, speak of him with great affection, as a
" most worthy and amiable man, and as a com-
" panion more pleasant and entertaining than ei-
" ther Pope or Swift. When I find much to admire
" in an author, I always wish to hear he has qua-
" lities for which I may esteem and love him ; and
*' I have listened with great pleasure to Lord Bath's
" and the late Lady Hervey's praises of Dr Ar-
" buthnot. With what delight must our friend at
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. S63
" Peterhead read the works of so amiable a rela-
" tion ! But the only real and sincere happiness
" which remains for her"'
" What follows is a compliment to me, which,
as I do not at all deserve, I shall not transcribe.
" In my answer you will suppose that I did
not fail to express my approbation of her senti-
ments of Dr Arbuthnot, which coincide exactly
with my own. I have told her of Scots-mill,
and of my making pilgrimages to it as classic
ground ; and I have told her every thing I know
of Dr Arbuthnot's history, so far as relates to
this country. I believe, however, I omitted to
tell her, that he and I are of the same county,
and that I had the honour to be bom within four
miles of the place of his birth."
LETTER CLXXXIII.
DR BEATTIE TO THE HON. MR BARON GORDON.
Aberdeen, 28th February, 1785.
" The Duchess of Gordon must, I think, have
been mistaken, when she wrote to me some time
ago that I was then in favour with Lord Mon-
364 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
boddo. He never has pardoned me for calling
Captain Cook a philosopher; and I am afraid
never will. Besides, I think he did not use me
quite well in the preface to his ' Metaphysic ;'
and when a man uses you ill, he seldom fails to
liate you for it. However, I have not retorted.
In my last book, when I combat his opinions, I
seldom mention his name, and I never mention
him without paying him a compliment. The
third volume of ' Metaphysic ' I have not seen ;
but Principal Campbell gave me the other day such
an account of it, as satisfies me, that it must be
the most extraordinary perfomiance that ever
was written, and that he is determined to believe
every thing that is incredible. I wonder whe-
ther he has ever read ' The Voyages of Sinbad
the Sailor.' * His hatred of Johnson was singu-
lar; he would not allow him to know any thing
but Latin grammar, and that, says he, / k7i(nv as
well as he does. I never heard Johnson say any
thing severe of him ; though, when he mentioned
his name, he generally
" Grinned horribly a ghastly smile."
Johnson was a good man, and did much good ;
* In the ' Arabian Nights Entertainment.*
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 36S
and every one who knew him, or his works, must
allow that he possessed extraordinary abiUties. I
long to see Mr Boswell's ' Johnsoniana.'
LETTER CLXXXIV.
DR BEATTIE TO DR PORTEUS, BISHOP OF CHESTER.
Aberdeen, 2 1st October, 1785.
" I read lately Sheridan's ' Life of Swift.' It
is panegyric from beginning to end. Swift had
many good as well as great qualities; but his
character was surely, upon the whole, very ex-
ceptionable. Mr Sheridan, however, will not
admit that he had any fault. Even his brutality
to Stella on her death-bed, which undoubtedly
hastened her dissolution, his biographer endea-
vours to apologise for ; and he has a great deal
of very unsatisfactory reasoning on the subject
of the Yahoos. The question is not, whether that
man is not a very odious animal, who finds his
own likeness in those filthy beings ; but whether
Swift did not intend his account of them as a sa-
tire on human nature, and an oblique censure of
Providence itself in the formation of the human
366 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
body and soul. That this was Swift's meaning,
is to me as evident, as that he wrote the book :
and yet I do not find my own hkeness in the
Yahoos : I only know, for I think I could prove,
that Swift wished it to be understood, as his opi-
nion, that the human species and the Yahoo are
equally detestable. Mr Sheridan, too, is not, I
think, over-candid in what he says of Lord Or-
rery ; whose book, though not free from faults,
contains some good criticism, and shows no little
tenderness for the character of his hero.
" I long to see Dr Johnson's ' Prayers and Me-
ditations,' and Mr Boswell's ' Journey to the He-
brides ;' but it will be a great while before they
find their way to this remote corner.
" Has your Lordship read Dr Reid's ' Essays on
the Intellectual Faculties of Man r' Those readers,
who have been conversant in the modem philo-
sophy of the mind, as it appears in the writings
of Des Cartes, JNIalebranche, Locke, Berkeley,
and Hume, will be much entertained with this
work, which does great honour to the sagacity
and patience of the author. It contains the prin-
ciples of his former book laid down on a larger
scale, and applied to a greater variety of sub-
jects. Ever since Plato, or rather Pythagoras,
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 367
took it into his head, that the soul perceives only
what is contiguous to, or inclosed in, its own sub-
stance, and consequently perceives not outward
things themselves, but only ideas of them, this
ideal system has been increasing in bulk and ab-
surdity ; and it is astonishing to see, that so many
men of parts could be the dupes of it. All this
rubbish is now cleared away, and a happy rid-
dance it is. Dr Reid treats his opponents, and
their tenets, with a respect and a solemnity, that
sometimes tempt me to smile. His style is clear
and simple ; and his aversion to the word idea so
great, that I think he never once uses it in deli-
vering his own opinions. That little word has
indeed been a source of much perplexity to me-
taphysicians ; but it is easy to use it without am-
biguity ; and it has now established itself in the
language so effectually, that we cannot well do
without it. It was not without reason, that the
learned Stillingfleet took the alarm at Locke's in-
discreet use of that word. It was indeed an ignis
fatuus to poor Mr Locke, and decoyed him, in
spite of his excellent understanding, into a thou-
sand pits and quagmires. Berkeley it bewildered
still more; and it reduced David Hume to the
368 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
condition of a certain old gentleman, of whom
we read, that,
' " Fluttering his pinions vain.
Plumb down he dropped ten thousand fathom deep.'
LETTER CLXXXV.
DR BEATTIE TO MRS MONTAGU.
Aberdeen, 15th November, 1785.
" Please to accept. Madam; of my best thanks
for the elegant copy of the last edition of your
work, which was forwarded to me by Mr Dilly.
I am glad to see you have now claimed the pro-
perty of the three beautiful Dialogues ; but it
gives me concern to observe, that you have paid
too much attention to my foolish remarks.
" The death of the Duchess-dowager of Port-
land * affected me most sensibly. I was no stran-
ger to her virtues ; I was under great obligations
to them ; and, from the tranquillity of her life,
the cheerfulness of her temper, and the amusing
nature of her favourite studies, I had flattered
* Vol. I. p. 335.
LIFE OF t)R BEATTIE* 369
myself, that great ornament of her sex and coun-
try would live many years. Poor Mrs Delany ! *
I pitied her from my soul ; but had I known all
the truth, I should have been much more in pain
for her. Having heard that she brought Dr De-
lany ten thousand pounds, which was a great
fortune sixty years ago, I presumed that her cir-
cumstances were at least independent, if not opu-
lent. I must blame her extraordinary request of
being omitted in the Duchess's will ; and I won-
der her Grace would comply with it. What a
charming account you give me of their Majesties'
generosity to Mrs Delany ! f There was more in
it than generosity : there was an affectionate sym-
pathy, and a goodness and tenderness of heart,,
which does them more honour than even that
high station, to which their pre-eminence in vir-
tue, as well as the laws of their country, gives
them so just a title. When the rage of party
subsides, and misrepresentations are forgotten,
how great, and how amiable, will those distin-
guished characters appear !
" Among the many curiosities which the Du-
chess of Portland had collected, there was a vo-
* Vol.1, p. 364. t Ibid.
VOL, II. 2 A
370 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
lume, which you have no doubt seen, containing
some prose-treatises in manuscript of the poet
Prior. Her Grace was so good as to permit me to
read them, and I read them with great pleasure.
One of them, a dialogue between Locke and Mon-
taigne, is an admirable piece of ridicule on the
subject of Locke's philosophy; and seemed to
me, when I read it, to be, in wit and humour,
not inferior even to the 'Alma' itself I took
the liberty to say to the Duchess, that it was
pity they were not given to the world; but I
found her rather averse to the publication. She
said, she could not bear to see her old friend cri-
ticised and censured by such people as the Critical
Reviewers, &c. I hope the work will no longer
be suppressed.
" Mr Boswell has published what I am in-
formed is an extraordinary book, of the ' Sayings
of Dr Johnson.' Johnson, no doubt, said many
good things : but his want of temper, and vio-
lent prejudices, often divested him of his candour,
and made him say what was not only improper,
but in a very high degree censurable. I hope
Mr Boswell has made the due distinction between
what deserves to be known, and what ought to
be forgotten."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 371
The following letter from Dr Beattie to Mr
Arbuthnot, gives, I think, a very just criticism
on Mr Boswell's ' Toui* to the Hebrides.'
LETTER CLXXXVI.
DR BEATTIE TO ROBERT ARBUTHNOT, ESQ.
Aberdeen, 26th November, 1785.
" Mr Boswell's book is arrived at last, and I
have just gone through it. He is very good to
me, as Dr Johnson always was; and I am very
grateful to both. But I cannot approve the plan
of such a work. To publish a man's letters, or
his conversation, without his consent, is not, in
my opinion, quite fair : for how many things, in
the hour of relaxation, or in friendly correspon-
dence, does a man throw out, which he would
never wish to hear of again ; and what a restraint
would it be on all social intercourse, if one were
to suppose that every word one utters would be
entered in a register 1 Mr Boswell indeed says.
372 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
that there are few men who need be under any
apprehension of that sort. This is true ; and the
argument he founds on it would be good, if he
had published nothing but what Dr Johnson and
he said and did: for Johnson, it seems, knew,
that the publication would be made, and did not
object to it; but Mr B. has published the saying*
and doings of other people, who never consented
to any such thing ; and who little thought, when
they were doing their best to entertain and
amuse the two travellers, that a story would be
made of it, and laid before the public. I approve
of the Greek proverb, that says, " I hate a bottle-
'' companion with a memory." If my friend, af-
ter eating a bit of mutton with me, should go to
the coffee-house, and there give an account of
every thing that had passed, I believe I should
not take it well.
" Of Dr Johnson himself, as well as of others,
many things are told which ought to have been
suppressed ; such, I mean, as are not in any re-
spect remarkable, and such as seem to betray ra-
ther infirmity or captiousness, than genius or vir-
tue. Johnson said of ' The Man of the World,*
that he found little or nothing in it. Why should
this be recorded ? Is there any wit in it ; or is it
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 373
likely to be of any use ? The greatest dunce on
earth is capable of saying as good a thing. Of a
very promising young gentleman, to whom Dr
Johnson was under the highest obligations, (for
he had risqued his life in Johnson's service,) and
who, to the great grief of all who knew him, un-
fortunately perished at sea about ten years ago,
Dr Johnson said, that it was pity he was not
more intellectual. Why should this be recorded ?
I will allow, that one friend might, without
blame, say this to another in confidence ; but to
publish it to the world, when it cannot possibly
give pleasure to any person, and will probably
give pain to some, is, in my judgment, neither
wit nor gratitude : and I am sure Mr Bosivell,
who is a very good-natured man, would have seen
it in this light, if he had given himself time to
think of it. At Aberdeen the two travellers were
most hospitably entertained, as they themselves
acknowledge ; and when they left it, they said
to one another, that they had heard at Aberdeen
nothing which deserved attention. There was
nothing in saying this : but why is it recorded ?
For no reason that I can imagine, unless it be in
order to return evil for good. I found so many
passages of this nature in the book, that, upon
374 lilFE OF DR BEATTIE.
the whole, it left rather a disagreeable impression
upon my mind ; though I readily own there are
many things in it which pleased me.
" The Bishop of Chester's thoughts on this
subject are so pertinent and so well expressed,
that I am sure you will like to see them : " You
" will," says his Lordship in a letter which I receiv-
ed yesterday, " be entertained with Mr Bos well's
" book, and edified with some of Johnson's pray-
" ers ; but you will wish that many things in
" both those publications had been omitted : and,
" perhaps, if they had not existed at all, it would
" have been better still. Johnson s friends will
" absolutely kill him with kindness. His own
" cjjaracter, if left to itself, would naturally raise
" him very high in the estimation of mankind ;
" but by loading it with panegyric, anecdotes,
" lives, journals, &c. and by hanging round it
" even all his little foibles and infirmities, they
" will sink it lower in the opinion of the best
" judges of merit. I saw lately a letter from Mrs
" Piozzi, (late Mrs Thrale,) in which she an-
" nounces her ' Anecdotes of Dr Johnson' to be
" published this winter ; and after that are to
" follow his Letters to her, &c. Mr Boswell also
" is to give us his Life ; and Sir John Hawkins
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 375
" is writing another, to be prefixed to a complete
" edition of his works. Our modest and worthy
" friend, IMr Langton, is the only one who ob-
" serves a profound silence on this occasion ; and
*' yet no one could speak to better purpose, if he
" pleased, and if he thought it would answer any
" good end."
" Johnson's harsh and foolish censure of Mrs
Montagu's book does not surprise me ; for I have
heard him speak contemptuously of it. It is, for
all that, one of the best, most original, and most
elegant, pieces of criticism in our language, or
any other. Johnson had many of the talents of
a critic ; but his want of temper, his violent pre-
judices, and something, I am afraid, of an en-
vious turn of mind, made him often a very un-
fair one. Mrs Montagu was very kind to him ;
but Mrs Montagu has more wit than any body ;
and Johnson could not bear that any person
should be thought to have wit but himself. Even
Lord Chesterfield, and, what is more strange,
even Mr Burke, he would not allow to have wit.
He preferred Smollett to Fielding. He would
not grant that Armstrong's poem on * Health,' or
the tragedy of ' Douglas,' had any merit. He
told me, that he never read Milton through, till
376 LIFE or DR BEATTIfi.
he was obliged to do it, in order to gather words
for his Dictionary. He spoke very peevishly of
the masque of Comus ; and when I urged that
there was a great deal of exquisite poetry in it ;
" Yes," said he, " but it is like gold hid under a
** rock ;" to which I made no reply ; for indeed
I did not well understand it. Pray, did you ever
see Mr Potter's * Remarks on Johnson s Lives of
* the Poets ?' It is very well worth reading.
*^ By a Latin letter which I lately received
from Holland, I am informed, that Dutch trans-
lations of the first part of my last book, and of
my * Remarks on Laughter,' have been published,
the one at Haerlem, the other at Dort. I am
greatly obliged to the Dutch. The ' Essay on
* Truth,' they translated twelve years ago ; and I
have a copy of the version, which I am told, by
those ^y^ho understand the language, is very ex-
act,
" I become every day more and more doubt-
ful of the propriety of publishing the Scotticisms.
Our language (I mean the English) is degenera^
ting very fast ; and many phrases, which I know
to be Scottish idioms, have got into it of late
years : so that many of my strictures are liable
to be opposed by authorities which the world ac-
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 377
counts unexceptionable. However, I sliall send
you the manuscript, since you desire it, and let
you dispose of it as you please."
On this subject of Mr Boswell's ' Tour to the
* Hebrides,' I likewise received a letter, some
time thereafter from Dr Beattie, which I shall
insert here. But as it refers to one of mine, to
which it is in answer ; and as that letter contains
some information respecting the publication of
that work of Mr Boswell's which I am not ill
pleased should be known, I shall venture, for the
first and only time, to insert in this work a letter
of my own. I found it among some hundreds,
which Dr Beattie had preserved: for he seems
seldom or never to have destroyed the letters he
received from his friends,
578 LIFE OP DR BEATTIt.
LETTER CLXXXVII.
SIR WILLIAM FORBES TO DR BEATTIE.
Edinburgh, 9th January, 1786.
" Bos well's * book, which I dare say you have
seen before now, contains many things that might,
and several that ought to have been omitted. In
regard to those of the first description, Mr Boswell
seems to have adopted the idea of the writers on
* Mr Boswell's acquaintance and mine began at a very ear-
ly period of life, and an intimate correspondence continued be-
tween us ever after. It scarcely requires to be mentioned here,
that he was the chosen friend of General Paoli and of Dr John-
son. The circle of his acquaintance among the learned, the
witty, and indeed among men of all ranks and professions, was
extremely extensive, as his talents were considerable, and his
convivial powers made his company much in request. His
warmth of heart towards his friends, was very great; and I have
known few men who possessed a stronger sense of piety, or more
fervent devotion, (tinctured, no doubt, with some little share of
superstition, which had probably been in some degree fostered
by his habits of intimacy with Dr Johnson,) perhaps not always
sufficient to regulate his imagination or direct his conduct, yet
still genuine, and founded both in his understanding and his
lieart. His ' Life' of that extraordinary man, with all the faults
with which it has been charged, must be allowed to be one of
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. S70
glass, SO well described by Lord Hailes in one of
his papers in the ' World,' who think a fact
ought to be recorded merely because it is a fact:
for surely he has retained a great deal of conver-
sation neither instructive nor entertaining ; al-
though other parts again are highly so. As to
the offensive passages, I really do not believe that
he considered them in that light when he gave
them to the press : for I do believe him to have
been sincere in his declaration, that it was not
his intention to hurt any mortal; and my memo-
ry serves me to recollect many passages of the
original MS. which he has omitted for that very
reason ; and in his second edition, which is now
printed, he tells me he has omitted a good deal
of the first. I have been accused of being his
adviser to print the book, from a letter of mine
towards the conclusion ; which, by the bye, he
inserted without my knowledge or permission:
but that letter merely related to a perusal of the
MS., at a time when I had not the most distant
the most characteristic and entertaining biographical works in
the English language. For Mr Boswell I entertained a sincere
regard, which he returned by the strongest proof in his power
to confer, by leaving me the guardian of his children. He died
in London, 19th May, 1795, in the fifty-fifth year of his age.
380 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
idea of his printing his Journal. I have also been
accused of having written that complimentary
letter, because of the eulogium with which he
has been pleased to honour me in his book : but
that passage, in which I am mentioned in so flat-
tering a manner, was not in the original MS.
which I saw. * As his ' Life of Dr Johnson will
probably be a work of a similar nature, I have
taken the liberty of strongly enjoining him to be
more careful what he inserts, so as not to make
to himself enemies, or give pain to any person
whom he may have occasion to mention : and I
hope he will do so, as he seems sorry for some
parts of the other.
" I have been much pleased with Dr Johnson's
* Prayers and Meditations :' they show him to
have been a man of sincere and fervent piety :
but I think Mr Strahan has been much to blame
in printing the MS. "cerbatim. I do not think
an editor is at liberty to add a single iota to the
work of his author ; but surely there could have
been no crime in Mr Strahan's retrenching occa-
sionally a few things, which throw, in some de-
gree, an air of ridicule on a work of so serious a
* He has mentioned this in his second edition, p. 524.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 381
nature ; and which, by giving cause for scoffing,
will perhaps diminish the good effects the book
might otherwise be expected to produce : had he
likcAvise substituted Ehzabeth, (which Boswell
tells me was Mrs Johnson's real name,) in the
place of such a ridiculous appellation as Tetty,
surely no man could have found fault with the
change. It is somewhat extraordinary to see a
mind so vigorous as his was, distressing itself
with terrors on subjects apparently of no great
importance, while the whole tenor of his life had
been so irreproachable and useful to the world by
his writings; which, one should think, are of
sufficient magnitude to render unnecessary his
self-accusation of idleness.
" It would give you pleasure, I am sure, to
hear of Mr William Gregory's* having got a
living. He is a most excellent young man ; and
has well supported Dr Reid's character of him,
when, in a letter to me while he was at Glasgow
college, the Doctor called him one of the incorrup-
tibles. The living is worth about L. 1 60, and it is
a good thing to have such a patron as the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury."
* Son of the late Dr John Gregory. He is since dead,
382 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETfER CLXXXVIIL
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 1 2th February, 17 8tJ.
" It is with much concern, and with the most
cordial sympathy, that I condole with Lady For-
bes and you on your late afflictions. I pray God
they may be sanctified to you ; that you may be
strengthened to bear them wit^ut injury to
your health ; and that the dear survivors may be
spared for a comfort to their parents, a blessing
to one another, and an ornament to society.
Those, whom a wise Providence has been pleased
to takeaway, have been soon released from their
warfare, and have now an eternity of happiness
before them, without the possibility of change.
This consideration will sooth your melancholy,
and will shortly, I trust, enable you to overcome
it.
" What you say of Mr Boswell coincides with
my sentiments exactly. I am convinced he meant
no harm ; but many things in his book are inju-
dicious, and must create him enemies, and are
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 383
really injurious to the memory of Dr Johnson,
Johnson's faults were balanced by many and great
virtues ; and when that is the case, the virtues
only should be remembered, and the faults entire-
ly forgotten. But in this book, Johnson's want
of temper, want of candour, obstinacy in dispute,
and rage of contradiction, (for most of his speech-
es began with No, Sir,) are minutely recorded
and exemplified. I cannot but take notice of a
very illiberal saying of Johnson with respect to
the late Mr Strahan, (Mr Boswell has politely
concealed the name,) who was a man to whom
Johnson had been much obliged, and whom, on
account of his abilities and virtues, as w^ell as
rank in life, every one who knew him (and John-
son as well as others) acknowledged to be a most
respectable character. See page 94. * I have seen
the letter mentioned by Dr Gerard, and I have
* After so severe a reproof from Dr Beattie, it is proper, for
his sake, to insert here the paragraph from Mr Boswell's ' Jour-
nal* which occasioned it.
" Dr Gerard told us, that an eminent printer was very inti-
" mate with Warburton." Johnson. " Why, Sir, he has printed
" some of his works, and, perhaps, bought the property of some
" of them. The intimacy is such as one of the Professors here
" may have with one of the carpenters, who is repairing the col-
" lege," &c. &c.
384 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
seen many other letters from Bishop Warburton
to Mr Strahan. They were very particularly ac-
quainted ; and Mr Strahans merit entitled him
to be on a footing of intimacy with any Bishop,
or any British subject. He was eminently skilled
in composition, and the English language; ex-
celled in the epistolary style ; had corrected (as
he told me himself) the phraseology of both IVIr
Hume and Dr Robertson ; he was a faithful
friend, and his great knowledge of the world,
and of business, made him a very useful one.
His friendship for Mr Hume did not prevent his
being a very warm friend of mine. He told me
some curious anecdotes of Mr Hume, which I
took down in writing at the time, and which, if
you please, I shall send you.
" Johnson's book of Prayers is, as Macbeth
says, " a sorry sight." In themselves the prayers
have merit; but the best passages are taken from
the ' Book of Common Prayer,' which is indeed
a rich and inexhaustible fund. To compose forms
of devotion is a most improving exercise; and
to publish them may be beneficial : but to pub-
lish a history of one's own devotions and alms, is
something so like " praying in the comers of the
" streets," that 1 cannot think Johnson would
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 385
have consented to it till want of health had im-
paired his faculties. Some of the memorandums
are such as cannot be read without pain and pity.
Others are of a different character. To set down
in a devotional diary, " N. B. I dined to-day on
'* herring and potatoes," is a most extraordinary
incongruity."
LETTER CLXXXIX.
DR BEATTIE TO THE BISHOP OF WORCESTER.
Aberdeen, 21st July, 1786.
*' Had not my right-hand been disabled by a
bruise, of which I have not entirely got the bet-
ter, I should have sooner returned my grateful
acknowledgments to your Lordship, for your
most obliging letter. Your approbation of my
little book* does me the greatest honour; and
* " Evidences of the Christian Religion, briefly and plainly
stated;" in which Dr Beattie has given, if not a regular de-
duction, a concise and most useful summary, of the most strik-
ing and popular arguments, in elegant and perspicuous lan-
guage, in support of the divine origin of the Gospel. It virill
VOL. II. 2 B
386 JLIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
will have much influence in rendering it success
ful. Lord Hailes, with whom I passed a day not
long ago, is also well pleased with it; and, in
general, it seems likely to meet with a reception
far more favourable than I had reason to expect.
It is indeed a very brief summary; but my friends
are pleased to think it has on that account a bet-
ter chance, in these days, to be read, than if it
had been of a greater size.
" Before I put it to the press, I was veiy an-
xious to see your Lordship's * Sermons,* (preach-
ed at Lincoln's-inn,) of which I had heard such
an account as greatly raised my curiosity. But
even the best books find their way slowly into
this remote corner. I have read the book once
and again with great delight ; and it will be my
own fault if I am not the better for it as long as
I live. My approbation can add nothing to its
fame ; yet I must beg leave to say, that I parti-
cularly admire your happy talent in expounding
difficult texts, and the perspicuity, conciseness,
be difficult, perhaps, to find any other book on the subject that
contains more valuable matter, so well arranged, in so small a
compass, as this little treatise of Dr Beattie's; which, although
meant chietly for those who are just finishing their academical
course, will be perused at any age, by the serious and devoutj
^ith equal profit and delight.
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 38/
and elegance, of your style ; which I look upon
as the perfection of pulpit-eloquence; being
equally captivating to the learned, and intelligi-
ble to the simple.
" Though my health will not now permit me
to attempt a long journey, yet I still flatter my-
self with the hope, that I shall one day avail my-
self of your kind invitation, and pay my duty to
your Lordship at Hartlebury. The last time I
was in England I did seriously intend it, but was
prevented by illness."
In the year 1786 there were published at Aber-
deen, " Outlines of a Plan for uniting the King's
" and Marischal Colleges of Old and New Aber-
" deen, with a view of rendering the System of
" Education there more complete."
A similar idea of an union had been started in
the year 1747, in 17.54', and in 1770; but on
each of those occasions, such opposition had
arisen to it from one quarter or another, that it
had always fallen to the ground. It was now
thought that it might be revived with better
388 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
hopes of success ; either from the measure being
better understood, or from the conditions on
wliich it was proposed to be carried into effect
being rendered less exceptionable than they had
formerly been. It is proper to mention, that
those two universities, although situated within
a mile of each other, are two perfectly distinct
and separate establishments, as much so as the
universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, each
having her own professors, separate revenues,
and separate jurisdictions. As neither the one
nor the other contained a system of education so
perfect, nor advantages so considerable when se-
parate, as it was thought they might be made to
embrace, if united, and one common seminary of
learning were formed out of the two, many per-
sons were of opinion, that such an union, if it
could be brought about upon fair and equitable
principles, would tend greatly to the benefit of
both. It was thought, for example, that one
professor for each branch of science would be
fully equal to teach, when united, the small num--
ber of students attendant on each separate class ;
and that the classes, by containing a larger num-
ber, though not too great a body of students,
would probably draw into one class a greatej
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 389
proportion of young men of superior abilities,
whereby a greater emulation would be excited ;
while the professors, whose incomes depend
chiefly on their class-fees, would find them aug-
mented by their increased number of students,
whom it would be their object and endeavour to
render as numerous as in their power, by their
industry and attention. Nor would this be all
the advantage which this newly-modelled semi-
nary of learning would derive from such an uni-
on ; for, by means of the double salaries paid at
present to the professors of the same branch, one
of each of which it was proposed to abolish, a$
the present incumbents should die out, new pro-
fessorships might be established in the united
universities, which do not at present exist in
either. Thus, a school of medicine, and another
of law, might be introduced at Aberdeen, as well
as at Glasgow and Edinburgh, to the very great
advantage of the northern part of the kingdom.
Professorships of astronomy, agriculture, and
other branches not taught there at present, might
also be established ; a botanic garden might be
created ; the libraries, as well as the museum and
philosophical apparatus, augmented by additional
purchases: and thus students, from the remoter
390 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
parts of the country, might have the advantage
of finding a more complete system of education
open to them nearer home, without being put to
the trouble and ex pence of going to look for it
in a southern part of the country.
Such were the plausible arguments urged in
favour of the union, by the Principal and Profes-
sors of Marischal College, by whom the plan was
at this time revived. They were joined, how-
ever, by no more than two of the Professors of
the neighbouring university ; the Principal and
all the others declaring themselves strenuously
adverse to the measuie, as tending to a complete
overthrow of the constitution of their university,
of which the}^ said the revenues and the patron-
age were by much the most considerable; and
therefore the advantages to be derived from such
an union would be all on the side of Marischal
College.
Whether these were the real motives on the
part of the Professors of King's College, or
whether, from the omission of any ceremonious
punctilios on the part of the Professors of Maris-
chal College towards their brethren of King's, in
the manner of first opening the business, the op-
position is to be attributed, it is not easy now to
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 3^1
say. But that Dr Beattie thought favourably of
the measure, there can be no question ; as he ap-
pears to have taken considerable pains to bring
it about : and that he must have believed it pos-
sible to accomplish such an union, without en-
croaching on the rights and privileges of either
party, his known love of justice will not allow us
to doubt. As it was obvious, however, that no
union could possibly take place between two se-
parate and independent societies, without the
hearty concurrence of at least a majority of each,
after some farther fruitless attempts, which
served only to widen the difference between the
two, the measure was finally abandoned as hope-
less ; and has never since been revived. Whether
such an union be really practicable, or whether,
if to be attained, it would be for the benefit of
science in general, are points foreign from the
present memoir. It ought not to be omitted,
however, that as such an union could not be set
on foot without even the attempt being produc-
tive of some bad humour among the members of
both colleges, as soon as the question was fairly
laid to rest, Dr Beattie exerted himself strenu-
ously, and not unsuccessfully, in allaying any
heat that had arisen. Having an annual custom
392 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
of dining together, at the first return of their
yearly meeting, Dr Beattie laboured, that all
that had past on the subject should be buried in
oblivion, artd nothing prevail but harmony and
good humour.*
LETTER CXC.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
Peterhead, 28th July, 1786.
" I have the pleasure to inform your Grace,
though you have no doubt heard by other means,
that the scheme for the union of our two col-
leges goes on wonderfully well, and that the
greater part of the nobility and gentiy in this
part of the kingdom seem very much inclined to
* In the course of this business, a variety of papers, me-
moirs, cases, plans, (but none of them written by Dr Beattie,)
were printed and circulated by both universities, where the ar-
guments on each side are detailed. Of these I have in my
possession a large collection. But I am surprised so little is
preserved on the subject in the " Scots Magazine," although
professedly a repository of intelligence regarding Scottish trans-
actions.
LIFE OP DR BEATTIE. 393
promote it. The petition to the King is sub-
scribed by the whole Marischal College, (the
rector and dean of faculty included,) and by two
of the other college. 1 wrote the other day to
solicit Lord Kinnoulfs approbation and advice,
which I am confident will not be with-held. We
can never be sufficiently thankful to the Duke of
Gordon and your Grace for the honour you have
done us in entering so warmly into our views ;
and I rejoice in the hope, that we shall, in a little
time, under the influence of so high a patronage,
succeed in a measure, which most of us have had
at heart these many years, and which every
friend to literature, and the north of Scotland,
unless blinded by prejudice and self-interest,
must see to be so very desirable.
" I have deferred sending my little book* to
the library of Gordon-castle, till a new and more
correct edition should come out ; which will pro-
bably be soon, as it has been a great while at the
press. The first edition was all sold in about
live weeks, and has met with a reception much
more favourable than I could have expected."
* *' Evidences of the Christian Religion/'
394 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
LETTER CXCI.
DR BENJAMIN RUSH TO DR BEATTIE.
Philadelphia, 1st August, 1786.
" The American revolution, which divided the
British empire, made no breach in the repubhc
of letters. As a proof of this, a stranger to your
person, and a citizen of a country lately hostile
to yours, has expressed his obligations to you for
the knowledge and pleasure he has derived from
your excellent writings, by procuring your ad-
mission into the American Philosophical Society;
a certificate of which, subscribed by our illustri^
ous president, Dr Franklin, and the other officers
of the Society, you will receive by the next ves-
sel that sails to any port in North-Britain from
this city.
" The stranger, alluded to, finished his studies
in medicine in Edinburgh in the year 17 69, and
has ever since taught chemistry and medicine in
the college of Philadelphia. His name (with the
greatest respect for yours) is,
" Benjamin Rush."
LIFE OF DR BEATTIE. 39S
LETTER CXCII.
DR BEATTIE TO THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.
Aberdeen, 10th September, 1786.
*' Permit me now to return my most grateful
acknowledgments to your Grace and the Duke,
for your goodness in interesting yourselves so
much in my recovery. When I saw the letter to
Dr Livingston, your kind attention drew tears
from my eyes. I have had a pretty severe illness.
The fever came on about six weeks ago ; and I
am still so weak, that it fatigues me to walk up
or down stairs, and exhausts me to write the
shortest letter upon the most ordinary business.
" I know not what others are, but I begin to
be low-spirited on the subject of the union.
Mr ****=* *'s last letter seems, as Milton says, to
cast
" Ominous conjecture on the whole success."
Lord ****** too appears to have some unfavour-
able prepossessions. Lord **** is very old and
infirm ; and I much doubt, whether we can with
396 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
propriety give him the trouble of taking an ac-
tive part in the affair. I am very wiUing to be-
lieve, that the present state of my nerves may
incline me more to despondence than there is
any good reason for; and I heartily wish this
may be the case. Whatever may be the result,
the Marischal College have no reason to be
ashamed of what they have done. The very ge-
neral approbation which their conduct has receiv-
ed from the most respectable part of the com-
munity, does them the greatest honour, and will,
I trust, prepare matters for bringing forward an
union one time or other, and probably at a period
not very remote. That is now clearly ascertain-
ed, which was never so well known before, that
the voice of the public declares for an union in
the most explicit terms."
LETTER CXCIII.
DR BEATTIE TO SIR WILLIAM FORBES.
Aberdeen, 14th September, 1786.
" I am indebted to you for two very affection-
ate and entertaining letters, and will endeavour
LIFE OF Dll BEATTIE. SQT
to answer them as soon as my head and hand
are a little better settled. At present I can hard-
ly hold a pen.
" I am very happy to hear of your visit to
Hunton. I often wished the Bishop of Chester
and you acquainted. He wrote me word of his
having met with Lady Forbes and you, and of
the great satisfaction he had in the hopes of a
visit from you. You would like Mrs Porteus
greatly. Her cheerfulness, good sense, and good-
ness of heart, make her a most excellent com--
panion for the Bishop, and exceedingly beloved
hy all who know her. As you were but a day at
Hunton, you would see but little of Lady Twis-
den, who is as remarkable for modesty as for
every other virtue ; but if you had been with her
for some days, you would have found her most
worthy of that character which I think I former-
ly gave you of her.
" We have had much talk about uniting our
two colleges. I was desired to write to you about
it long ago ; but would not then trouble you, as
Lady Forbes was indisposed ; and of late I have
not been able to write. The union is much ap-
proved of by the country in general ; but it is
398 LIFE OF DR BEATTIE.
Opposed by the Principal and six of the Profes-
sors of King's College. I shall tell you more
about it very soon, and send you some memorials
and other papers,"
END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
EDINBtTRGH :
Printed bj James Ballantjne & Co.
^^1
ll.ll.li..J_^
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angdes
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
Form L9-50m-9,'60(B361064)444
PR
3316^ For bes -
B5^25T Account of the
1807
life and
writings of
James Beattl^
SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY ^^^^^^^
A A 000 057 891 4
PR
3316
B38Z5f
i807
V.2
