JAMES BEATTIE

James Beattie (1735-1803) was a Scottish poet and thinker who grew up in the Mearns and graduated in 1753 from the Marischal College (Aberdeen) where he was appointed as Professor of moral philosophy in 1760. His main volumes of poems are The judgment of Paris (1765) and The minstrel (1771/ 1774). His main philosophical works are An essay on the nature and immutability of truth (1770), and Elements of moral science. He was also an amateur cellist and published a treatise on music entitled On poetry and music (1770). He was a co-founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783.

The fragments:

The fragment selected here is taken from the essay ‘On fable and romance’ included in the collection Dissertations moral and critical (1783). The essay contains a description and history of prose genres from ancient to modern times. Special attention is given to the Eastern fables and the Thousand and one nights. Beattie is not very positive about the work. He wonders if it is an authentic translation, because it is so ‘French’ in style, but then the French are known for ‘seasoning’ their translations. In the work there is no ‘elegance’, ‘nothing that elevates the mind, or touches the heart’. ‘All is wonderful and incredible; and the astonishment of the reader is more aimed at, than his improvement either in morality, or in the knowledge of nature.’ (p. 155) The only merits are that the stories give a good impression of government and customs in the East, and that some stories are rather comical. Beattie’s comments fit into a certain strand of criticism, which frowned upon (French) indulgence in the imagination and favoured more realistic literature (see also Reeve, Edgeworth, Aikin).

Dissertations moral and critical, W. Strahan, T. Cadell, W. Creech, Edinburgh 1785. (electronic reprint, Lightning Source, Milton Keyes UK) - ‘On fable and romance,’ pp. 153-59.