BEATTIE (Janus, LL.D.), a distinguish mo ralist and poet, was born on the 25th October 1785, at Laurencekirk, then an obscure hamlet, in the county of Kincardine in Scotland; near which place his father rented a small farm. He received his early education at the common school of' the parish ; of which it is recorded, that Ruddiman had been teacher in it about forty years before. His ac quirements are said to have been interrupted at this time by want of books ; a difficulty which has excited commiseration in more instances than that of Beattie, but which is so little able to control natural genius, that it seems almost an incitement to its exertions ; As " all impediments in fancy's course are motives to more fancy." He first became acquainted with English versification through Ogil by's translation of Virgil.
By their father's death he had been thrown, while yet of tender age, on the care of his elder brother, David Beattie ; who, observing his natural endow ments, afforded him, notwithstanding his own limited means, every aid in his power towards a liberal edu cation ; and in the year 1749, placed him at Ma rischal College, Aberdeen ; where he soon after wards obtained a bursary, or exhibition. Here he had the advantage of pursuing his studies under Dr Thomas Blackwell, author of the Life of Ho mer, Dr Gerard, and other eminent men. In ad dition to his academical course, he began at this time to instruct himself in the Italian language ; and appears to have had a strong predilection for Metastasio.
In 1753, he was appointed schoolmaster of Fordun, a small village at the foot of the Grampian moun tains, where he likewise performed the duty of pre centor, or parish clerk, usually attached to that of fice in Scotland. Here he indulged the propensities of the youthful poet, and frequently wandered during a whole night in the fields, chewing " the food of sweet and bitter fancy ;" and it was from a height in this neighbourhood that his eye first caught a glimpse of the ocean. from the scenery of this secluded spot, he appears to have derived, as might be expected, many of those images which he after wards transferred into his poetical compositions ; and, certainly, no exertion of the inventive powers can furnish representations equal to these immediate copies from nature. Such is that picture in the
small poem, which he calls Retirement.
Such also, among many others in the Minstrel, are those beautiful pictures contained in the 20th and 21st stanzas of the first canto.
In this recluse place, Beattie was discovered and noticed by Mr Garden, afterwards Lord Gardens town, then Sheriff of the county, and by Lord Mon boddo. In 1757, he became a candidate for the si tuation of usher in the Grammar-school of Aber,. deen. He was at this time foiled in the competi tion; but, next year, on occasion of a new vacancy, be was requested to accept the office. Lastly, be was removed, in 1760, to the Professorship of Moral Philosophy and Logic in the Marischal College. Here he passed the remainder of his life, occupied in the zealous discharge of his professional duties, and in literary pursuits. Here, too, he possessed all the ad vantages of a congenial society, in the company of Dr George Campbell, Dr Reid, Dr Gerard, and other men of genius and learning, who then adorned the university of Aberdeen.
His first publication was a small collection, entitled Original Poems and which was printed in 1760 or 1761. Of many of the pieces contained in this little volume he was afterwards ashamed ; and not only omitted them in the subsequent selections which be published, but endeavoured, as far as pos sible, to obliterate all traces and recollection of them. Of these lesser pieces, The Hermit is best known ; and, though it cannot be considered as a finished composition, is full of pathos and beauty. In The Battle of the Pigmies and Cranes, translated from the Latin of Addison, he has displayed a greater com mand of terse and happy expression than in most of his original pieces.