EDINBURGH:

Printed by James Ballantyne & Co.

AN

ACCOUNT

OF THE

LIFE AND WRITINGS

OF

JAMES BEATTIE, LL.D. ·

LATE PROFESSOR OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC IN
THE MARISCHAL COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY

OF ABERDEEN.

INCLUDING MANY OF HIS ORIGINAL LETTERS.

IN THREE VOLUMES,

SIR WILLIAM FORBES
OF PITSLIGO BART.

ONE OF THE EXECUTORS OF DR BEATTIE.

SECOND EDITION.

VOL. III.

Mihi quidem quanquam est ereptus, vivit tamen, semperque vivet.
Virtutem enim amavi illius viri, quæ extincta non est. Nec mihi soli
versatur ante oculos, qui illam semper in manibus habui, sed etiam pos-
teris erit clara et insignis.—Cic. Læl. De Amic. cap. 27.

EDINBURGH:

PRINTED FOR ARCH. CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH;

LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES,
AND JOHN MURRAY, LONDON.

THE

LIFE OF JAMES BEATTIE, LL.D.

SECTION III CONTINUED.

THE following letter relates to a plan which had been formed by some of Dr Beattie's friends here, of publishing the prose-works of Addison. in a separate collection. The admirers of that eminent moralist, and truly classical writer, had long lamented, that, in order to be gratified with a perusal of his excellent compositions, they were forced to look for them in scattered parts, and in separate volumes. There is, indeed, a magnificent edition, in quarto, by Baskerville, of the writings of Addison; but that book contains not only his prose but his poetical pieces, which are

certainly not the best of his performances; and it is likewise so expensive, as to be above the reach of many who would otherwise wish to be purchasers; and who would also be gratified by a perusal of some anecdotes of his life not generally to be met with. Such a selection, therefore, from his prose-writings only, together with a critique on his style and manner of writing, it was thought would be a most acceptable present to the admirers of Addison. Nor did we know any one so fit for the task as Dr Beattie, whose good taste; added to his enthusiastic admiration of that author, whom he had chosen as his own model in composition, qualified him highly for such an undertaking. On its being proposed to him, he most cheerfully agreed to set about it without delay; and even promised to himself much gratification in the execution.

The original intention was to have published the whole of Addison's prose-works, to which Dr Beattie proposed to prefix a biographical and critical preface, in the latter part of which he meant to insert a Critique on the style of Addison, so as to have shown its peculiar merits, as well as to have pointed out historically the changes which the English language has undergone from time