admiration, and I had the honour to accompany her on the bass."—Forbes's Life of Beattie, vol. ii. p. 324, octavo ed. [W] I am informed, by the incomparable actress in question, that the quotation just given contains an utter falsehood, which, when Forbes's Life of our author first appeared, in 1806, she read with astonishment. She remembers perfectly having been introduced to Beattie at Lord Buchan's, but she is quite certain she did not sing either Queen Mary's Complaint or any other song; and she observes, that if she had sung to his accompaniment, the circumstance would have been so striking that it could not possibly have escaped her recollection. Qy. Has Beattie's letter been mutilated, the person who transcribed it for the press having by mistake omitted some lines? and do the words "she sung," in the concluding sentence, refer to some other more musical lady, and not to Mrs. Siddons? [X] He was so named after Mrs. Montagu. From one of Beattie's letters, dated 1789, it appears that she had made a handsome present of money to her godson. [X] [Y] I possess a copy of it which bears the following inscription: [Y] "To William Hayley, Esq., in testimony of the utmost respect, esteem, and gratitude, from J. Beattie. 1st January, 1796." On one of its fly-leaves the ever-ready pen of Hayley has written the subjoined sonnet: TO DOCTOR BEATTIE, IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS VERY INTERESTING PRESENT. "Bard of the North! I thank thee with my tears For this fond work of thy paternal hand: It bids the buried youth before me stand In nature's softest light, which love endears. Parents like thee, whose grief the world reveres,
Prev.
Back
Top