12 MEMORIAL TRIBUTE 



Beattie's influence, and MacGilli\Tay's affectionate 

 regard for his teacher and friendly guide, no doubt 

 mainly account for the peculiar diction and style of his 

 tributory poem. It is Beattie's " Minstrel " all through 

 — quite the style of the early years of the latter half of 

 the eighteenth century, in which human virtues and 

 vices, with capital initial letters, were personified, while 

 certain stereotyped euphonious Avords and phrases were 

 constantly repeated whatever the subject of the poem 

 might be, — all associated with strictest propriety of 

 conduct, formal respectability in morals and religion, 

 lone Philomelas in shady groves, powdered wigs, silver 

 buckled shoes, etc. etc. Still, in MacGillivray's poem 

 there is, notwithstanding the antiquated diction, which 

 had been quite abandoned bv our best poets early 

 in the nineteenth century, much real poetic feeling 

 with absolute sincerity of purpose. Fine reflective 

 thought also now and again breaks through the ancient 

 mode of expression. This is well illustrated in several 

 of those stanzas in which MacGillivray portrays the 

 character of his deceased friend, and gives free expres- 

 sion to his feelings towards him. As the poem extends 

 to forty pages it is too long for being wholly included 

 in this volume, but several of the more interesting 

 stanzas are quoted from it as affording fair specimens of 

 its general character, and as throwing light on some 

 interesting features of the growing mind of the youthful 

 writer — then only twenty-four years of age. One 

 cannot help regretting, in reading these stanzas, that a 

 young man of his early poetic promise should not have 



