Beattie, JAMES

Beattie, JAMES, poet and essayist, was born at Laurenceekirk, Kincardineshire, in 1735; studied at Marischal College, Aberdeen (1749-53); was for five years schoolmaster to Fordoun parish; in 1758 was appointed a master of Aberdeen grammar-school, and in 1760 professor of Moral Philosophy in his old college. He had published three or four volumes of verse, when in 1770 appeared his Essay on Truth, an onslaught upon Hume, which met with most extravagant success. The author himself naturally shared the popularity of his essay. He was introduced to George III.; dignitaries of the English Church solicited him to take orders, with promise of high preferment; but neglect has long since overtaken his treatise, which indeed is essentially commonplace. In 1771 appeared the first part of The Minstrel, and in 1774 the second. It overflows with a sweet poetic emotion, and is rich in picturesque descriptions, while the versification has a quiet fullness of melody. The author's gentle yet fervent spirit beats in every line. The poem describes 'the progress of a poetical genius born in a rude age, from the first dawning of fancy and reason, till that period at which he may be supposed capable of appearing in the world as a minstrel.' Beattie intended to have added a third part, but circumstances hindered him. In 1776 he published a series of essays on Poetry, Music, &c., in 1783 Dissertations Moral and Critical, in 1786 The Evidences of the Christian Religion briefly and plainly stated, and in 1790-93 The Elements of Moral Science; all of which works are written in a clear and elegant style, and with a high appreciation of the good and beautiful. He died August 18, 1803. See his Life by Sir William Forbes (1806), and the Rev. W. R. Fraser's History of Laurenceekirk (1880).