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with great and lasting advantages. He had now access to books and literary society, and met with opportunities of making friends, who were soon serviceable to him beyond his warmest expectations. On the death of Dr Duncan, professor of Natural Philosophy, Beattie, to his own infinite surprise, was, through the interest of Mr Arbuthnot, late secretary to the Board of Trustees, appointed to succeed him; and he soon after obtained, in the chair of Moral Philosophy, a situation more suited to his genius and inclination. To the duties of this important of. fice he proceeded from that time to apply himself in a manner the most conscientious and indefatigable.

Soon after this, Dr Beattie became member of a philosophical society, celebrated by the number of great men whom it counted among its members. Besides Beattie, it contained Reid, Gregory, and Gerard; men who, with genius and philosophy, united a sacred regard to truth, and to every thing connected with the best interests of the species. We extract the following short account of the mode of conducting it.

The members met at five o'clock in the evening (for in those days at Aberdeen, it was the custom to dine early,) when one of the members, as president, took the chair, and left it at half an hour after eight, when they partook of a slight and unexpensive collation, and at ten o'clock they separated *.

At these meetings, a part of the evening's entertainment was the reading a short essay, composed by one of the members in his turn. Besides those more formal compositions, thus read as discourses, a literary or philosophical question was proposed each night, for the subject of conversation at the subsequent meetings. And it was the duty of the proposer of the question, to open the discussion: by him also the opinions of the members who took a

* Rules of the Philosophical Society of Aberdeen, MS.

part in it were digested into the form.
of an essay, which was ingrossed in the
album of the society.
P. 37.

Dr Beattie had not hitherto pub.
lished any poems, except one or two
which appeared in the Scots maga
zine; but about this time he publish-
ed a small volume, which, besides
those usually appended to the Min-
strel, contained a Translation of the
ten pastorals of Virgil, and one or two.
from Horace and Anacreon. It con-
tained also the Ode to Peace, and the
Triumph of Melancholy, which have
been omitted in some later editions.
This omission Sir William justly con-
siders as unmerited, and, that they
may not be lost altogether, has placed
in the appendix. For our part, we
cannot help thinking this rather a
strange place, and would have prefer-
ed seeing them, along with the other
poems in the projected general edition
of our author's works. Dr Beattie's
judgement, in estimating his own pro
ductions, has not been very conspicu
ous; for, while he rejected these, he has
retained a fable, entitled 'The Hares',
which possesses very little merit.-
This is probably owing not so much
to its being a fable, as to its being a
humourous fable; for tho' Dr B. seems
to have .aken great delight in w
writing
humorous poetry, it was a talent
which nature had completely denied
him. Sir William proposes therefore
to reject it in the edition of his works;
a step with regard to the propriety
of which we are rather doubtful; for
the collection of an author's works
ought probably to contain all those
which he acknowledged, and not a
mere selection. We are left in the
dark as to the fate of the translations
from Virgil: though from a criticism,
full of taste and discrimination, writ
ten by Lord Woodhouselee, they ap
pear to be possessed of considerable
merit.

These poems were favourably re. ceived, and procured Dr Beattie a considerable degree of reputation. A

year

year or two after, he seems to have formed the first design of his "Essay on Truth." He thus mentions it in a letter to Sir William Forbes.

66

I am a member of a club in this town who style themselves the Philosophical Society. We have meetings every fortnight, and deliver discourses in our turn. I hope you will not think the worse of this Society, when I tell you, that to it the world is indebted for A comparative view of the Faculties of Man," and an Enquiry into Human Nature, on the Principles of Common Sense." Criticism is the field in which I have hitherto (chiefly at least) chosen to expatiate; but an accidental question lately furnished me with an hint, which I made the subject of a two hours discourse at our last meeting. I have for some time wished for an opportunity of publishing something relating to the business of my own profession, and I think I have now found an opportunity; for the doctrine of my last discourse seems to be of importance, and I have already finish. ed two-thirds of my plan. My doctrine is this: that as we know nothing of the eternal relations of things, that to us is and must be truth, which we feel that we must believe; and that to us is falsehood, which we feel that we must disbelieve. I have shown, that all genuine reasoning does ultimately terminate in certain principles, which it is impossible to disbelieve, and as impossible to prove that therefore the ultimate standard of truth to us is common sense, or that instinctive conviction into which all true reasoning does resolve itself: that therefore what contradicts common sense is in itself absurd, however subtle. the arguments which support it for such is the ambiguity and insufficiency of language, that it is easy to argue on either side of any question with acuteness sufficient to confound one who is not expert in the art of reasoning. My principles, in the main, are not essentially different from Dr Reid's; but they seem to offer a more compendious method of destroying scepticism. I intend to show (and have already in part shown,) that all sophistical reasoning is marked with certain characters which distinguish it from true investigation and thus I flatter myself I shall be able to discover a method of detecting sophistry, even when one is not able to give

a logical confutation of its arguments I intend farther to inquire into the na

ture of that modification of intellect which qualifies a man for being a sceptic; and I think I am able to prove However, it will be summer before I that it is not genius, but the want of it. can finish my project. I own it is not without indignation that I see sceptics and their writings (which are the bane not only of science, but also of virtue so much in vogue in the present age." P. 79.

Some years after, in a letter to Dr Blacklock, when the work was now nearly completed, he explains more fully his views on the subject.

In my younger days I read chiefly for the sake of amusement, and I found myself best amused with the classics, and what we call the belles lettres. Metaphysics I disliked; mathematics pleased me better; but I found my mind neither improved nor gratified by that study. When Providence allotted me my present station, it became incumbent on me to read what had been written on the subject of morals and human nature the works of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume, were celebrated as masterpieces in this way; to them therefore I had recourse. But as I began to study them with great prejudices in their favour, you will readily conceive how strangely I was surprised to find them, as I thought, replete with absurdities. I pondered these absurdities; I weighed the arguments, with which I was sometimes not a little confounded; and the result was, that I began at last to suspect my own understanding, and to think that I had not capacity for. such a study. For I could not conceive it possible that the absurdities of these authors were so great as they seemed to me to be; otherwise, thought I, the world would never admire them so much. About this time some excellent antisceptical works made their appear. ance, particularly Reid's " Inquiry in. to the Human Mind.". Then it was that I began to have a little more confidence in my own judgement, when I found it confirmed by those of whose abilities I did not entertain the least distrust. I reviewed my authors again, with a very different temper of mind. A very little truth will sometimes en

lighten

I

lighten a vast extent of Science. found that the sceptical philosophy was not what the world imagined it to be, nor what I, following the opinion of the world, had hitherto imagined it to be; but a frivolous, though dangerous, sys. tem of verbal subtilty, which it required neither genius, nor learning, nor taste, nor knowledge of mankind, to be able to put together; but only a captious temper, an irreligious spirit, a moderate command of words,an extraordinary degree of vanity and presumption. You will easily perceive that I am speaking of this philosophy only in its most extravagant state, that is, as it appears in the works of Mr Hume. The more I study it, the more am I confirmed in this o pinion. But while I applauded and admired the sagacity of those who had led me into, or at least encouraged me to proceed in, this train of thinking, I was not altogether satisfied with them in another respect. I could not approve that extraordinary adulation which some of them paid to their arch-adversary.-I could not conceive the propriety of paying compliments to a man's heart at the very time one is proving that his aim is to subvert the principles of truth, virtue, and religion; nor to his under. standing, when we are charging him with publishing the grossest and most contemptible nonsense. I thought I then foresaw, what I have since found to happen, that this controversy would be looked upon rather as a trial of skill between two logicians, than as a disquisition in which the best interests of mankind were concerned: and that the world, especially the fashionable part of it, would still be disposed to pay the greatest deference to the opinions of him who, even by the acknowledgement of his antagonists, was confessed to be the best philosopher and the soundest reasoner. All this has happened and more. Some, to my certain knowledge, have said, that Mr Hume and his adversaries did really act in concert, in order mutually to promote the sale of one another's works; as a proof of which, they mention not only the extravagant compliments that pass between them, but also the circumstance of Dr R. * and Dr C. sending their manuscripts to be perused and corrected by Mr Hume before they gave them to the press. I,

* Dr Reid. † Dr Campbell.

who knew both the men, am very sensible of the gross falsehood of these reports. As to the affair of the manuscripts, it was, I am convinced, candour and modesty that induced them to it. But the world knows no such thing: and therefore may be excused for mistaking the meaning of actions that have really an equivocal appearance. I know likewise that they are sincere, not only in the detestation they express for Hume's. irreligious tenets, but also in the compliments they have made to his talents; for they both look upon him as an extraordinary genius, a point in which I cannot agree with them. But while I thus vindicate them from imputations which the world from its ignorance of circumstances has laid to their charge, I cannot approve them in every thing. I wish they had carried their researches a little farther, andexpressed themselves with a little more firmness and spirit. For well I know that their works, for want of this, will never produce that effect which (if all mankind were cool metaphysical reasoners) might be expected from them. There is another thing in which my judgement differs considerably from that of the gentlemen just mentioned. They have great metaphysical abilities; and they love the metaphysical sciences. I do not. I am convinced that this metaphysical spirit is the bane of true learning, true taste, and true science; that to it we owe all this modern scepticism and atheism; that it has a bad effect upon the human faculties, and tends not a little to sour the temper, to subvert good principles, and to disqualify men for the business of life. P.130.

The publication of this work, how. ever, had nearly heen stopt; as the bookseller, alarmed by the abstruseness of the subject, was unwilling to purchase it. This difficulty was removed by the friendly interference of Sir William and Mr Arbuthnot, in the following manner :

In this dilemma, it occurred to me, that we might, without much artifice, bring the business to an easy conclusion by our own interposition. We therefore resolved, that we ourselves should be the purchasers, at a sum with which we knew Dr Beattie would be well sa.. tisfied

tisfied, as the price of the first edition. But it was absolutely necessary that the business should be glossed over as much ás possible; otherwise, we had reason to fear he would not give his consent to our taking on us a risk, which he him-, self had refused to run.

I therefore wrote to him (nothing surely but the truth, although, I confess, not the whole truth,) that the manuscript was sold for fifty guineas, which I remitted to him by bank-bill; and I added, that we had stipulated with the bookseller who was to print the book, that we should be partners in the publication. On such trivial causes do things of considerable moment often depend; for had it not been for this interference of ours in this somewhat ambiguous manner, perhaps the "Essay on Truth," on which all Dr Beattie's future fortunes hinged, might never have seen the light. P. 147. Dr Beattie now seriously began the task of preparing his manuscript for the press. Several friends, to whom he shewed it, strongly advised him to correct some asperities to which he had given way, and he complied with this advice to a certain extent, though he might probably, with advantage, have gone somewhat farther. However, all things being at last arranged, in the month of May 1770, the Essay on Truth" made its appearance.

The time of its publication was favourable. The pernicious tendency of the sceptical tenets which were then afloat, and the extensive circulation for which they were indebted to the talents of some of their supporters, and particularly of Mr Hume, had produced, in all serious and religious persons, a general disposition to welcome any attempt which might be made to refute them. Beattie, when compared to Reid and Campbell, was indeed rather superficial, and the degree of temper and candour with which they carried on the controversy (and of which he expresses such unmerited disapprobation) gave them another point of superiority. Yet was his

work in some respects, more suited to the wants of the bulk of readers. It is easily understood; written in a conversation style, and with a variety of familiar and agreeable illustrations. And even with regard to that degree of asperity which pervades it, and to the contempt, sometimes rather ill founded, which he expresses for the talents of his opponents, these certainly are not to be generally approv ed of in philosophical composition; yet, as upon the bulk of readers they produce a more powerful impression than mere reasoning, and as the opposite party do not appear to have abstained from them, something may be said in favour of their occasional use.

Grievous complaints were made by Mr Hume and his friends, against the severity of this work ; but it was favourably received by the public in general; and Lord Lyttleton, Mrs Montague, Dr Porteous, Dr Johnson, with many other literary men of eminence, expressed their high approbation of it.

found this an ungrateful study, and Dr Beattie seems always to have complains even of his health being injured by it. On completing therefore the publication of his work, he returned with pleasure to his " fond and first pursuit." Some years before he had began the composition

of the Minstrel. In a letter to Dr

Blacklock, he gives the following account of its origin.

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My performance in Spenser's stanza has not advanced a single line these many months. It is called the " Min"strel." The subject was suggested by a dissertation on the old minstrels,

which is prefixed to a collection of ballads lately published by Dodsley in three volumes. I propose to give an account of the birth, education, and adventures of one of those bards; in which I shall have full scope for description, sentiment, satire,and even a certain species of humour and of pathos, which, in he opinion of my great master, are by no means inconsistent, as is evident

from

from his works. My hero is to be born in the south of Scotland; which you know was the native land of the EugJish minstrels; I mean of those minstrels who travelled into England, and supported themselves there by singing their ballads to the harp. His father is a shepherd. The son will have a natural taste for music and the beauties of nature; which, however, languishes for want of culture, till in due time be meets with a hermit, who gives him some instruction; but endeavours to check his genus for poetry and adventures, by representing the happiness of obscurity and solitude, and the bad reception which poetry has met with in almost every age. The poor swain acquiesces in this advice, andresolves to follow his father's employ. ment; when, on a sudden, the country is invaded by the Danes or English borderers, (I know not which) and be is stript of all his little fortune, and obliged by necessity to commence minstrel.This is all that that I have as yet concerted of the plan. I have written 150 lines, but my hero is not yet born, tho' now in a fair way of being so, for his parents are described and married. I know not whether I shall ever proceed any farther; however, I am not dissatis

fied with what I have written". P. 102.

Having now completed the first canto, he published it soon after the second edition of the Essay on Truth. It met with universal admiration; but the most flattering praise which it received was that contained

in the following letter from Lord Lyttleton. It was addressed to Mrs Montague, who had presented him with a copy.

"I read your Minstrel' last night, with as much rapture, as poetry, in her noblest, sweetest charms, ever raised in my soul. It seemed to me, that my once most beloved minstrel, Thomson, was come down from heaven, refined by the converse of purer spirits than those he lived with here, to let me hear him sing again the beauties of nature, and the finest feelings of virtue, not with human, but with angelic strains ! I beg you to express my gratitude to the poet for the pleasure he has given me. Your eloquence alone can do justice to my sense of his admirable genius, and

the excellent;,use he makes of it. Would it were in my power to do him any service!" P. 193.

We may easily conceive how much Dr Beattie must have been gratified by this letter. And here we cannot pass over a criticism made by several correspondents and admitted even by himself, upon the want of incident in this poem. In this there appears to us to be a great want of discernment, as to the nature of Dr Beattie's genius. His excellence consists almost wholly in the expression of that gentle and tender enthusiasm which is inspired by the solitary contemplation of the beauties of nature. Whenever he touches upon this theme, whether in poetry or prose, he is always delightful. But we have great doubts whether he be equally qualified to excel in heroic or narrative of any kind. No rule is more important for a poet than that of "Nihil invita Minerva," and we think it fortunate that Dr Beattie should have been led to confine himself to that tone of poetry which was best calculated for displaying his peculiar excellences, (To be continued.)

poetry

II. Ballads and Lyrical Pieces. By

Walter Scott, Esq. 8vo. 7s. 6d.
Constable and Co.

THESE ballads are collected out

of the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, and Mr Lewis's Tales of Wonder, where they first appeared. The extraordinary, and well-merited celebrity, which Mr Scott has acquired by his "Lay of the last Minstrel," naturally attracted the curiosity of poetical readers towards his other performances; and as these were dispersed in the above-mentioned publications, which are both of considerable magnitude and price, the present

collection of them into a small volume is likely to be generally acceptable. It contains the following: Glenfinlas, or Lord Ronald's Coronach,... The Eve of Saint John,... Cadyow Castle

...The,

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