George Beattie of Montrose. By A. S. Mt. Cyrus, M.A.
(Edinburgh : Nimmo.)—This volume contains a sketch of the life and a selection from the works of a comparatively unknown Scotch poet, who flourished in the early part of the present century. The main facts of his history may be told in very few words. He was an attorney by profession ; he was in tbe habit of making jokes and writing verses ; he was warmly attached to a young lady named Gibson ; and, being jilted by her, he blew out his brains. Ordinary people would probably be of opinion that there is nothing very remarkable or very creditable in this story. But Mr. Mt. Cyrus, who appears to be a fellow-townsman of Beattie's, and who is actuated by the sentiment of local patriotism to no common degree, thinks quite differently on this point. According to him Beattie was, perhaps, the most remarkable man that ever lived. He was a poet, a humourist, and a man of genius. While, on the one hand, his dazzling wit made him "the life of every company," so, on the other, one of his productions entitled, "The Last," is, "perhaps, the most affecting thing that over was written in any language." As regards his love affair, we are told that, though "history, in her ample page has enrolled the names of many lovers, whom poets have sung and whose story has thrilled the hearts of the youthful and the feeling, yet none of these records has the romantic interest or the fascinating power of the story of George Beattie." We much doubt whether the general public will endorse this estimate of the story of B. and Miss G.," as Mr. Mt. Cyrus economically designates the two leading personages of the tale. The whole affair was, in fact, of the most common-place kind, with the sole exception of its tragical termination, which only shows that Beattie was weak and foolish to a more than ordinary degree. Nor can we at all agree with Mr. Mt. Cyrus's estimate of the value of Beattie's writings. That "most affecting thing," "The Last," is nothing but a very ordinary lamentation over Miss Gibson's unkind behaviour. "John O'Arnha," ' the only one of Beattie's poems which appears to us to be at all worthy of special notice, is a tolerably close imitation of Bums's "Tam O'Shanter." Mr. Mt. Cyrus's admiration for Beattie is evidently sincere and generous, but we shall be surprised if the British public shows any decided inclination to ratify his judgment on this point.
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