John Stuart Blackie, Professor of Greek in the University of Edinburgh,
was born at Glasgow in the year 1809. His father, who had originally
come from Kelso, removed from Glasgow to Aberdeen, as agent for the
Commercial Bank in that city, while his son was still very young. At the
grammar school of Aberdeen, then under the rectorship of Dr Melvin, the
boy began his classical education, and subsequently, according to the
ridiculous Scottish custom, the folly of which he has done his best to
expose, he became, in his twelfth year, a student in Marischal College.
He was a student of arts for five years in Aberdeen and Edinburgh--and
then he attended theological classes for three years. In 1829 he
proceeded to the Continent, and studied at Gottingen and Berlin, where
he mastered the German language, and dived deep into the treasures of
German literature. From Germany he went to Rome, where he spent fifteen
months, devoting himself to the Italian language and literature, and to
the study of archaeology. His first publication testifies to his success
in both studies. It is entitled, "Osservazioni sopra un antico
sarcophago." It was written in Italian, and published in the _Annali del
Instituto Archaeologico, Roma_, 1831.
Mr Blackie had given up the idea of entering the Church, and on his
return to Scotland he studied law, and passed advocate in 1834. The
study of law was never very congenial to him, and the practice of the
profession was still less so. Accordingly, at this period he occupied
himself with literary work, principally writing for Reviews. It was at
this time that his translation of "Faust" appeared. It is entitled,
"Faust: a Tragedy, by J. W. Goethe. Translated into English Verse, with
Notes, and Preliminary Remarks, by John S. Blackie, Fellow of the
Society for Archaeological Correspondence, Rome." Mr Blackie had taken
upon him a very difficult task in attempting to translate the great work
of the great German, and we need not wonder that he did not succeed
entirely. We believe, with Mr Lewes, that the perfect accomplishment of
this task is impossible, and that Goethe's work is fully intelligible
only to the German scholar. But, at the same time, Mr Blackie fully
succeeded in the aim which he set before him. He says in the preface,
"The great principle on which the excellence of a poetical translation
depends, seems to be, that it should not be a mere _transposing_, but a
_re-casting_, of the original. On this principle, it has been my first
and chief endeavour to make my translation spirited--to seize, if
possible, the very soul and living power of the German, rather than to
give a careful and anxious transcription of every individual line, or
every minute expression." If this is what a translator should do, there
can be no question that the "Faust" of Blackie is all that can be
desired--full of spirit and life, harmonious from beginning to end, and
reading exactly like an original. The best proof of its success is that
Mr Lewes, in his biography of Goethe, prefers it, as a whole, to any of
the other poetical translations of Goethe. The preliminary remarks are
very characteristic, written with that intense enthusiasm which still
animates all his writings. The notes at the end are full of curious
information regarding the witchcraft and astrology of the Middle Ages,
gathered with assiduous labour from the stores of the Advocates'
Library.
The translation of "Faust" established Mr Blackie's reputation as a
German scholar; and, for some time after this, he was chiefly occupied
in reviewing German books for the _Foreign Quarterly Review_. He was
also a contributor to _Blackwood_, _Tait_, and the _Westminster Review_.
The subjects on which he principally wrote were poetry, history or
religion; and among his articles may be mentioned a genial one on
Uhland, a deeply earnest article on Jung Stillung, whose life he seems
to have studied very thoroughly, and several on the later campaigns of
Napoleon. To this last subject he then gave very great attention, as
almost every German and English book on the subject that appeared is
reviewed by him; and the article which describes Napoleon's Leipzig
campaign is one of the clearest military monographs that has been
written. During this time, Mr Blackie was still pursuing his Latin and
Greek studies; and one article, on a classical subject, deserves
especial notice. It is a thorough criticism of all the dramas of
Euripides, in which he takes a view of the dramatist exactly the reverse
of that maintained by Walter Savage Landor--asserting that he was a
bungler in the tragic art, and far too much addicted to foisting his
stupid moralisings into his plays. Another article in the _Westminster_,
on the Prussian Constitution, is worthy of remark for its thoroughness.
The whole machinery of the Prussian bureaucracy is explained in a way
very satisfactory to an English reader.
In 1841, Mr Blackie was appointed Professor of Humanity in Marischal
College, Aberdeen--a post which he held for eleven years. To this new
labour he gave himself with all his heart, and was eminently
successful. The Aberdeen students were remarkable for their accurate
knowledge of the grammatical forms and syntax of Latin, acquired under
the careful training of Dr Melvin; but their reading, both classical and
general, was restricted, and they were wanting in literary impulses.
Professor Blackie strove to supply both deficiencies. He took his
students over a great deal of ground, opening up to them the beauties of
the authors read, and laying the foundation of higher criticism. Then he
formed a class-library, delivered lectures on Roman literature in all
its stages, and introduced the study of general history. From this
period dates the incessant activity which he has displayed in
educational, and especially University reform. At the time he commenced
his work, the subject was a very disagreeable one to Scottish ears, and
he had to bear the apathy not only of his fellow-countrymen, but also of
his fellow-professors. He has never, however, bated a jot of heart, and
he is now beginning to reap his reward. Several of the reforms which he
advocated at the commencement of his agitation, and which were at first
met with something approaching to contempt, have been adopted, and he
has lived to see entrance examinations introduced into several
Universities, and the test abolished. Many of the other reforms which he
then proposed are on a fair way to accomplishment, and the subject is no
longer treated with that indifference which met his early appeals. His
principal publications on this subject are: 1. An appeal to the Scottish
people on the improvement of their scholastic and academical
institutions; 2. A plea for the liberties of the Scottish Universities;
3. University reform; with a letter to Professor Pillans.
Mr Blackie delivered public lectures on education in Edinburgh,
Glasgow, and Aberdeen, and wrote various articles on it in the
newspapers. He gave himself also to the study of the philosophy of
education. His most noteworthy contributions in this direction are, his
review of Beneche's masterly work on education, in the _Foreign
Quarterly_, and two lectures "On the Studying and Teaching of
Languages."
During the whole of this period, his main strength was devoted to Latin
and Greek philology. Some of the results of this labour were published
in the _Classical Museum_. One of the contributions to that journal was
published separately--"On the Rhythmical Declamation of the Ancients."
It is a clear exposition of the principles of accentuation, drawing
accurately the distinction between accent and quantity, and between the
accents of common talk and the musical accents that occur in poetry. It
is the best monograph on the subject, of which we know. Another article,
"On Prometheus," clears AEschylus from the charge of impiety, because he
appears to make Zeus act tyrannically towards Prometheus in the
"Prometheus Vinctus." He also gave the results of some of his classical
studies, in lectures in Edinburgh and Glasgow on Roman history and Greek
literature. The principal works on which he was engaged at this time
were translations of Horace and AEschylus. Translations of several odes
of Horace have appeared in various publications. The translation of all
the dramas of AEschylus appeared in 1850. It was dedicated to the
Chevalier Bunsen and Edward Gerhard, Royal Archaeologist, "the friends of
his youth, and the directors of his early studies." This work is now
universally admitted to be the best complete translation of AEschylus in
English.
In 1852 he was elected to the chair of Greek in Edinburgh University.
In that position he has carried on the same agitation in behalf of
educational and university reform, which characterised his stay in
Aberdeen. His last _brochure_ on the subject is a letter to the Town
Council of Edinburgh "On the Advancement of Learning in Scotland."
Having made this matter a work of his life, he takes every opportunity
to urge it, and, notwithstanding that he has got many gratuitous
rebuffs, continues on his way cheerily, now delivering a lecture or
speech on the subject, now writing letters in reply to this or that
assailant, and now giving a more complete exposition of his views in the
_North British Review_.
His first publication after his election to the Greek professorship was
"The Pronunciation of Greek; Accent and Quantity. A Philological
Inquiry:" 1852. In this work he sought to shew what authority there is
for the modern Greek pronunciation of Greek, advocating a return, in the
reading of prose, to that pronunciation of Greek which was the only one
known in Europe anterior to the time of Erasmus. This method is
consistently carried out in the Greek classes. In 1853 he travelled in
Greece, living in Athens for two months and a-half, and acquiring a
fluent use of the living Greek language. On his return, he gave the
results of his journey in various articles, especially in one in the
_North British_ on Modern Greek Literature, and in another in the
_Westminster_ on Greece. He also expressed some of them in an
introductory lecture "On the Living Language of Greece." Since that time
he has written principally in _Blackwood_ and the _North British_,
discussing subjects of general literature, and introducing any new
German book which he considers of especial interest. Among his papers
may be mentioned his reviews, in the _North British_, of his friend
Bunsen's "Signs of the Times," and of Perthos' Life. His articles more
especially relating to his own department are AEschylus and Homer, in the
_Encyclopaedia Britannica_, an article on accents in the _Cambridge
Philological_, and an essay on Plato in the "Edinburgh Essays."
In 1857 was published the work which brings him into the list of
Scottish poets--"Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece, with other Poems."
The Lays and Legends are the work of the scholar, who, believing verse
to be the proper vehicle for an exposition of these beautiful myths,
gives them that form, instead of writing learned dissertations about
them. The miscellaneous poems shew more of the inner man than any of his
other works--deep religious feeling, great simplicity, earnestness, and
manliness, confidence in the goodness of men, and delight in everything
that is pure, beautiful, and honest, with thorough detestation of all
falsehood.