63* 



Retrospect of Domestic Literature — Biography. 



fc'Aion carries us lIiioiiLih a (liortf^r, hut 

 a more cntms^iiit; period : froin his cftii- 

 bliflinieiit at Aberflccii to the (julilicatioii 

 of liij. I'.ll'ay on 'J ruth in 1770. The 

 cvtnt of his clci.tioii to he. one of tlie 

 uAcrs of tiir grduimar-fcliool at Aber- 

 deen, hunilile aa tho appointment wa.--, 

 rvmovcii hiin from ohfcurity ; and in two 

 years \vc find iiini raifet!, on Dr. Dim- 

 can'* death, to tlio profcllbr/liip of n;i- 

 tural philofophy in the univcifit)-, a litii- 

 jitioi\ of inucli refpeflahihty, where he 

 cotikl i^ivc full fcope to hi-s talents, and 

 indnl;;e his favonrite propeniitv of com- 

 municating knowled^ie of the moft im- 

 portant natm-e, and thu-i promoting the 

 bed interelU of mankind. The courfe 

 <»f lefturcs vhiili, in this capacity, he 

 firtf delivered to his pu[)ils, he contiinied 

 gradually to improve by repeated ftudy, 

 till he brought them to that ftate of per- 

 feCiion of wliich fome idea may be form- 

 ed from tlie publication of his work, 

 entitled " Elenients of iMoral .Siienee." 

 Ua\ing obfervcd that it was not riicly to 

 ethics, mctaphylics, and lopic, that Dr. 

 Bcattic had devoted his time and atten- 

 tion at tliis ])criod, ^ir William Forbes 

 introduces his fn-ft letter, adilreired to 

 Dr. Ogilvic, containing an exrellent cri- 

 tique on JJiohardfon's " Claiillii," fol- 

 lowed by an account of the firft publi- 

 cation of Dr. Beattit:'s Pocnjs ; whence, 

 to the end of the fcction, the pa^es are 

 principally occupied by Dr. lieattie's li- 

 terary corrcli'ondence. The molt \ahi- 

 able of the K tt<'rs, it is (irobablc, are 

 thole on Italian literature, on Kouflean's 

 Wifcellanies, the Ilcuriade, and tJie £f- 

 fay on Truth ; with Dr. Grocory's letter 

 (i\\ (he idarnuug progrefs of infideliiv. 

 In the third iecrion of the Life, which 

 carries ns on to the death (jf Dr. ljeattic!s 

 fon in 17(10, we tind a Itiil greater vari- 

 ety of entertainment ; and the Letters, 

 during the remainder of tlx> work, alFord 

 fome of the uioft valuable niatciiaU that 

 could ha»c been obtained lor the literary 

 •Jiiftory of the lad ( entury. The criti- 

 cifms which iMr. day coimnunicated to 

 Dr. Beattie on the firfl canto of the 

 " Minlbel," only lead u> to regret that 

 fo valuable a friend (liould have died be- 

 fore the publication of the fccond. The 

 relation of Dr. Bcattie's interview with 

 the King, in 177ri, we lliould have quot- 

 ed, had it not already appeared in one 

 or t«o Reviews. Anoiher important 

 portion of this part of the work, relates 

 to the propotiiion which was made liim 

 to become a meuiber of the chinch of 

 lingluiid, u propofition not only ilultcr- 



jng but advantageous ; tlie admirable 

 reply to wiiicli did the highcfl, credit, as 

 well to the purity of Dr. Beattie's prin- 

 ciples, as to the integrity of his iiinid. 

 Thisrcfufal, with that of the Edinburgh 

 proftliorlhip of moral philofophy, foruicd 

 a remarkable period in his life. The 

 misfortune which Dr. Beattie had long 

 dreaded, the iofs of one lij dear to hiin 

 as his eldcll fon, was now faft advanc- 

 ing. In his leltei-s to his friends, for 

 fe\eral months jireceding, he had given 

 a nielaiicholy preliige of what was about 

 to faai)|x-u : and the piety and refigiiation 

 with which he viewed its approach., were 

 truly editying. The letter to the Dnchefs 

 of Gonlon, ^^hich gives an account of 

 the event having actually taken place, 

 was worthy of himfelf, and cannot be 

 pernfed without a deep feiife of t\hathc 

 mull ha\e fullered on the occafion. The 

 fuccelllve loffes of his filler, his mother, 

 and, in 1706, of his only furviving fon, 

 Ibcm completely to lia\e unhinged his 

 mind. The latter of thefe ioiVes was 

 followed by u teuijjorary, though totyl, 

 want of memory in regard of all tlmt 

 related to his child. " JMany times (fays 

 Sir William Forbes) he couUl not recol- 

 lect what had become of him ; and after 

 fearching in every room of the houfe, he 

 would fay to his niece, Mr.'. Glennie, 

 ' You may think it ftrange, but I inu(|; 

 aOi you if [ lia\e a fon, and where he 

 is Y .^he then fell, lierlelf under the pain- 

 ful neccllity of bringing to his recollec- 

 tion his foil Montagu's fnlferiiigs, which 

 always refiored him to reafon. Aiul he 

 would often, with many tears, exprefs 

 his thankfulnels that he had no child, 

 faying, ' How could I have borne to fee 

 their elegant minds maii;:.Ied with niad- 

 nefs?*' When he looked for the laft 

 time on the dead body of his fon, he faid, 

 ' I have now done with the world :* and 

 he ever after feenied to aCt as if he 

 thought fi>; for he never applied hinilelf 

 to any fort of Itiidy, and anfwered but 

 few of the letters he received from the 

 iiicnds whom he molt valued. Yet the 

 receiving a letter from an old friend never 

 failed to put him in fpirits for the reft 

 of the day. Wulic, which had been his 

 great delight, he could not endure, after 

 the death of his eldcll {on, to hear from 

 others ; and he dilliked his own favou- 

 rite violoncello. A few months before 

 Montagu's death, he did begin to play 

 a little by way of accompaniment when 



* Alluding, no doubt, to their mother's 

 n^elaacholy fituation. 



LIoQtaga 



