death approaching; and he met it with such composure and pious resignation, as may no doubt he equalled, but cannot be surpassed.
" * * * My chief comfort arises from reflecting upon the particulars of his life; which was one uninterrupted exercise of piety, benevolence, filial affection, and indeed every virtue which it was in his power to practise, I shall not, with respect to him, adopt a mode of speech which has become too common, and call him my poor son, for I must believe that he is infinitely happy, and will be so for ever."
Dr Beattie bore the loss of his son with an appearance of fortitude and resignation. Yet, although his grief was not loud, it was deep. He said, in a subsequent letter, alluding to a monument which he had erected for his son: "I often dream of the grave that is under it: I saw, with some satisfaction, on a late occasion, that it is very deep, and capable of holding my coffin laid on that which is already in it;" words that speak more eloquently of the grief which this event had fixed in the heart of the writer, than a volume could have done. The following is a copy of the epitaph which he composed for his amiable and accomplished child:—
JACOBO HAY BEATTIE. JACOBI, F.
Philos. in Acad. Marischal Professori.
Adolescent!.
Ea. Modestia.
Eu. suavitati. niorum.
Ea. benevolentia. erga. omnes.
Erga. Deum. pietate.
Ut. Humanum. nihil. supra.
In. bonis literis.
In. theologia.
In. omni. Philosophio.
Exercitissimo.
Poetse. insuper.
Uebus. in. levioribus. faceto.
In. grandioribus. sublimi.
Qui. Placidam. Animam. efgavit.
xix. Novemb. MDCCXC.
Anuos. liabens. xxii. diesque. xiii.
Pater Moebens. H. M. P.
Another exemplification of the rooted sorrow which this event planted in the mind of Beattie, occurs in a letter written during a visit in England, in the subsequent summer. Speaking of the commemoration music, which was performed in Westminster Abbey, "by the greatest band of musicians that ever were brought together in this country," he tells that the state of his health could not permit him to be present Then recollecting his son's accomplishment as a player on the organ, he adds, "Perhaps this was no loss to me. Even the organ of Durham cathedral was too much for my feelings; for it brought too powerfully to my remembrance another organ, much smaller indeed, but more interesting, which I can never hear any more."
In 1790, Dr Beattie published the first volume of his "Elements of Moral Science," the second volume of which did not make its appearance till 1793. He had, in 1776, published a series of Essays on poetry and music, on laughable and ludicrous composition, and on the utility of classical learning. In 1783, had appeared "Dissertations, Moral and Critical," and, in 1786, a small tract entitled "The Evidences of the Christian Religion, briefly and plainly stated." All of those minor productions originally formed part of the course of prelections which he read from his chair in the university; his aim in their publication be-
