MOOR, James, an eminent Grecian, was born at Glasgow on the 22d of June 1712, being the son of James Moor and of his wife Margaret Park. His father, a teacher of mathematics in that city, is commemorated as a lover of learning: when he did not think himself rich enough to purchase a copy of Newton’s Principia, then sold at a very high price, he transcribed the entire book with his own hand. He died before his son attained the age of manhood. He also left a widow and two daughters. One of these, named Elizabeth, became the wife of Robert Foulis, printer to the university, by whom she had five daughters; but the other, whose name was Jane, died unmarried, after she had for some time continued to live with her brother. Dr Moor traced his descent from the family which produced Elizabeth Moor, the consort of Robert the Second, and he was duly provided with a genealogical table of his ancestry, but whether it was constructed by himself, we are not distinctly informed. It may however have been as correct as the genealogical tables of some more illustrious families, which occasionally exhibit a tree with some very frail and suspicious branches. He was small in stature, and the measles deprived him of the sight of one eye. From an early age, he discovered an eager thirst of knowledge; and his acquaintance with Andrew Stalker the bookseller, who allowed him the privilege of reading in his shop, seems to have had its effect in encreasing this love of books.

In the month of November 1725 he became a student in the university. The Greek professor of that period was Alexander Dunlop, who was regarded as a zealous and successful teacher. According to a contemporary record, “his thorough knowledge and fine taste in that language, with his masterly and engaging method of teaching it, raised the study thereof, which had been long neglected, unto general esteem and reputation.” According to another, and apparently a better, authority, Dr Hutcheson, who became a professor of philosophy in 17^9, “had remarkable success in reviving the study of ancient literature, particularly the Greek, which had been much neglected before his time: he spread such an ardour for knowledge, and such a spirit of enquiry every where around him, that the conversation of the students at their social walks and visits turned with great keenness upon subjects of learning and taste, and contributed greatly to animate and carry them forward in the most valuable pursuits.”^[1. Leechman’s Life of Hutcheson (p. xxvii.), prefixed to his System of Moral Philosophy. Glasgow, 1755, 2 vols. 4to. The influence of Hutcheson’s lectures and writings is very clearly stated by Denina, Discorso sopra le Vicende della Letteratura, p. 224. ] Dunlop published a Greek grammar, which at one time was extensively used in this part of the kingdom. The professor of mathematics was Dr Simson, a man eminently distinguished in his own department of science.^[2. Dr Simson regarded him as one of the most promising of his pupils, and has repeatedly mentioned him in his writings. In a letter addressed to Earl Stanhope on the 22d of March 1751, having mentioned the subject of applying the method of the°ancients to modern inventions, he proceeds to remark, “My scholars, Mr Moor, ZMr Williamson, and particularly Mr Stewart of Edinburgh, may I hope be able to do something this way; and I shall not fail to recommend it to them, and direct them as far as I can.” (Trail’s Life of Simson, p. 112.) In the preface to one of his publications, he speaks of Moor in these terms: “Quae sequuntur Graeca ex praefatione Pappi Alexandrini ad lib. 7. Collect. Mathem. quam Apollonii duobus de Sectione Rationis libris praefixit cia-riss· Halleius, cum duobus MSS. in Bibliotheca Regia Parisiens! accurate contulit Dominus Jacobus Moor, tum in mathesi, tum in literis Graecis, quas in hac academia profitetur, multum et feliciter versatus.” (Apollonii Pergaci Locorum Planorum libri ii. restituti a Roberto Siinson, Μ. D. Matheseos in Academia Glasguensi Professore. Glasguae, 1749, 4to.) In the notes to his English edition of Euclid, the subsequent passage occurs: “The learned Mr Moor, Professor of Greek in the University of Glasgow, observed to me that it plainly appears from Archimedes Epistle to Dositheus prefixed to his books of the Sphaere and Cylinder, which Epistle he has restored from ancient manuscripts, that Eudoxus was the author of the chief propositions in this book,” namely, the twelfth. (Elements of Euclid, p. 425. Glasgow, 1756, 4to.) Dr Williamson, who is mentioned in one of these extracts, became chaplain to the British factory at Lisbon, where he died at an early period of life. Dr Stewart, professor of mathematics at Edinburgh, was the father of Dugald Stewart. “The two greatest mathematicians,” says Dr Smith, “that I ever had the honour to be known to, and I believe the two greatest that have lived in my time, Dr Robert Simson of Glasgow, and Dr Matthew Stewart of Edinburgh, never seemed to feel even the slightest uneasiness from the neglect with which the ignorance of the public received some of their most valuable works.” (Theory of Moral Sentiments, p. 213.) ] Moor imbibed the same ardent love of the ancient geometry, and attained to no mean proficiency in this and other kindred studies. To the study of natural philosophy he applied himself with an equal degree of relish; and, as a proof of his successful exertions, it has been stated that the professor, Dr Dick, “after demonstrating a proposition once to the students, used to make him go over it the second time, instead of doing it himself.” On taking the degree of A. Μ. his early proficiency in science was honourably marked by the testimonial of his having made, not, according to the usual terms, “progressus haud spernendos,” but “progressus egregios.” About this period he betook himself so eagerly to the study of mathematics, that he left himself no leisure for classical pursuits; and when he resumed the study of the Greek language, he found his knowledge of it so much impaired as to require a laborious renewal. From his own experience he was accustomed to deduce a practical advice, which well deserves to be inculcated; namely, that those who, being chiefly occupied with other pursuits, still wish to retain their classical learning, ought to devote a portion, however small, of every day to classical reading.

After completing his academical course, he kept a schooi in Glasgow, and, among other branches, taught navigation. When in school, and not actually employed in teaching, we are informed that he was accustomed to read the classics; and from this circumstance we may reasonably infer that the scholars were not numerous, or that they did not sufficiently occupy the master’s attention. It however appears, that he speedily relinquished this avocation for that of a private tutor: he was successively connected with the families of the earl of Kilmarnock and the earl of Selkirk,^[3. Dunbar Hamilton, the son of Basil Hamilton of Baldoon, succeeded to the Selkirk peerage in the year 1744, on the death of John earl of Selkirk and Rutherglen, when he resumed the family name of Douglas. “His lordship’s studious disposition induced him to remain several years at the university of Glasgow, where he cultivated the friendship of the celebrated Dr Hutcheson, of whose philosophical opinions he retained through life a warm admiration.” (Wood’s Peerage of Scotland, vol· ii. p. 489.) He was born in 1722, and died in 1799. ]
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and he accompanied his pupils to the continent. Of this early portion of his history, some notices have been preserved by his son. “While with the earl of Kilmarnock, he had already made a collection of books which he valued much. It happened, while the earl was from home, that the family-seat was burned. On being informed of it, he said he was chiefly sorry on account of the grief that Mr Moor would feel from the loss of his books. The earl’s son was a good scholar; which Mr Moor observing, entered him privately in the Greek without acquainting his father, who for some time knew nothing of his son’s new acquisition; until one day that, by his tutor’s desire, he read before him an ode of Anacreon, to the great surprise and joy of the earl. While in these noblemen’s families, he used to study much, and that chiefly at night, after the others were gone to bed, sitting up late, and keeping himself from being drowsy by drinking strong tea. But by this he hurt his health greatly, and had at times some severe fevers. He was diligent and attentive to his pupils. During the summer, when in the country with one of them at Lochlomond, on going out to walk, he would after a while make him sit down, and taking a classic out of his pocket, make him read to him.” As an indication of the opinion entertained of his talents and address, it maybe mentioned, that in the year 1746, when the earl of Kilmarnock was attainted of high treason, Moor, who was very far from participating in his political opinions, was despatched to London for the purpose of lending his aid in those solicitations of mercy which were ineffectually addressed to the ministers of the crown. The unfortunate nobleman was beheaded on Towerhill, and his hereditary honours were forfeited; but his eldest son, a man distinguished by the amiableness of his character, as well as the elegance of his person and manners, succeeded to the title and estate of his maternal grandfather the earl of Errol.

Moor’s first preferment was that of librarian to the university. At that period the office was only tenable for four years, and the nomination alternately belonged to the university and the town-council. On the 11th of November 1742 he was appointed by the university; and in the ensuing month of May he received from the council a similar appointment, which was to take effect at the expiration of his first period of four years. The earliest work in which he is known to have had any participation appeared under the following title: “The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, newly translated from the Greek; with notes, and an account of his life.” Glasg. 1742, !2mo. A second edition was printed in 1749, and a third in 1764, each consisting of two volumes. One of the early projects of Dr Robertson was a version of the same author; but finding himself thus anticipated, he did not persist in his design.^[4. Stewart’s Life of Robertson, p. 8. ] The first two books were translated by Dr Moor, and the other ten by Dr Hutcheson, but the work was published without their names.^[5. This translation was, after an interval of two years, followed by an edition of the original work. “Marci Antonini Imperatoris eorum quae ad scipsum libri xii. post Gatakerum ceterosque recogniti; et notis illustrati, a doctissimo viro R. I. üxoniensi.” Glasguae, I744, 8vo. It is inscribed, in the name of R. Foulis, to Dunbar Hamilton, “ob praeclarum ejus studium, in literis antiquis, in philosophia, et in omnibus bonis artibus, sive ad vitam et mores, sive ad rempublicam spectent, excolendis.” The edition was probably superintended by Dr Moor. The notes are reprinted from the Oxford edition of 1704. At the end of the translation of Antoninus, the following advertisement occurs: “The Printer gives this public notice, that the Translation of Antoninus will be followed by another, of the Dissertations of Epictetus preserved by Arrian, and not yet in English. A considerable part of it is already finished; and the whole will ere long be published.” We are not aware that this version ever made its appearance. ] Gataker, one of the most learned of modern critics, had illustrated the original text with great depth of erudition. “The golden Boke of Marcus Aurelius Emperour and eloquent Oratour” was “translated out of Frenche into Englishe by John Bourchier, Knighte, Lorde Barners,” and in this form passed through several editions. It was translated from the Greek by Meric Casaubon, the learned son of a more learned father. It was afterwards translated, in a style singularly quaint and ludicrous, by Jeremy Collier. A new version was published in 1747 by James Thomson, and another in 1792 by Richard Graves.

Professor Dunlop, who had filled the Greek chair for upwards of forty years, was at length induced to resign it; and on the 27th of June 1746 Moor “was unanimously elected to the office which he had vacated. He was inducted on the 9th of July, when, as a probationary exercise, he read a critical disquisition on the tenth chapter of Longinus. Dunlop, as emeritus professor, retained his house and salary; and he moreover received from his successor the sum of six hundred pounds, which was advanced by the earl of Selkirk.^[6. This statement rests on the authority of some manuscript notices of Dr Moor, written by his son', the late Air James Moor, master of Irvine school. They were procured by the kindness of an amiable and accomplished man, who has likewise quitted this transitory scene, Lockhart Muirhead, LL. D. Professor of Natural History, and Principal Librarian of the University of Glasgow. Dr Muirhead supplied most of the notices relative to Moor’s academical history. ] Such a transaction suited the commercial spirit of the place, nor is this supposed to have been the most recent bargain of a similar denomination. Dunlop did not survive beyond the ensuing month of April; and in the course of the same year, 1747, the new professor resigned his office of librarian. The summer of 1748 he spent in France, but not for the purpose of mere relaxation. He still continued to blend the study of classical literature with the study of the mathematical sciences; and at this period he was occupied with preparations for an edition of the Greek text of Pappus, whose Mathematical Collections, as Dr Trail has stated, are “the chief repository of information respecting the geometry of the ancients, and especially respecting their analysis, which has been the subject of much discussion among the moderns. This most interesting work contains some curious mathematical history of former times, but is more particularly valuable by the account, contained in the preface to the seventh book, of the treatises of the analytical geometry of the ancients, which together obtained the name of τοτrος αναkcομενος. In this preface there is, first, a general exposition of the analysis employed by the ancients, both in the solution of problems and in the demonstration of theorems; then follows a particular description of the nature and contents of a certain number of these treatises, which we may presume were considered by Pappus as the most important; and an enumeration of the whole is added, consisting of thirty-three books. The seventh book of Pappus itself consists of a number of lemmata, or subsidiary propositions, not contained in Euclid, but assumed or employed in the several treatises which are so fully described in the preface.”^[7. Trail’s Account of the Life and Writings of Robert Simson, Μ. D. late Professor of Mathematics in the University of Glasgow, p. 11. Bath, 1812, 4to. In his appendix, Dr Trail has given a detailed account of the Mathematical Collections of Pappus. ] In his researches at Paris, Moor appears to have received some assistance from Capperonnier, the royal professor of Greek.^[8. Capperonnier, in a letter addressed to Professor Stoeber of Strasburg, and dated at Paris on the 8th of November 1748, speaks of Moor in very favourable terms. “Nous avons vû ces jours derniers à Paris un professeur en langue Grecque de Glasgow en Ecosse, qui travaille sur les mathématiciens Grecs, et, entre autres, qui prépare one édition du Pappus d’Alexandrie, auteur, comme vous sçavés, qui n’a jamais été imprimé. 11 lui manque le septième livre, qui fait seul un grand tiers de l’ouvrage. Je me suis chargé à sa considération de le lui copier, et je vous assure que cela me donne bien de la peine. Ce professeur s’appelle Μ. Moor: il est très instruit, et me paroit un fort honnête et fort galant homme.” (Classical Journal, vol. v. p. 392.) From Μ. de Mairan, of the Academy of Sciences, he purchased a beautiful folio MS. of Pappus, containing the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth books. According to the statement of its former possessor, it had once belonged to Bullialdus; and in Dr Simson’s papers it is”repeatedly described as Codex Bullialdi. (Trail’s Life of Simson, p. 177. It is now deposited in the Advocates Library; but of Capperonnier’s transcript of the seventh book no trace is to be found. ] It is however to be regretted that he did not persist in this undertaking; nor is it improbable that his [7:15:445]attention was diverted by his participation in the more magnificent project of a complete and splendid edition of the works of Plato. Such a project was first entertained by the university printers about the year 1746. In 1751 Robert Foulis repaired to the continent, furnished with letters of recommendation from Moor to Capperonnier and Sallier, who both belonged to the establishment of the Royal Library at Paris. He first proceeded to Holland, where he endeavoured to secure the assistance ofHemster-husius and Alberti;^[9. “Edenburgensibus novam editionem molientibus ante viginti annos, eumque rogantibus ut operam ipsis suam addiceret, ita responderat, ut se ab eorum instituto non alienum ostenderet.” (Wyttenbachii Vita Ruhnkenii: Opuscula, tom. i. p. G98. Lugd. Bat. 1821, 2 tom. 8vo.) For Edenburgensibus, we must apparently read Glasguensibus. ] and before his return home, he had seen many manuscripts of Plato, or had ascertained where they were to be found, and had devised means for obtaining collations of those preserved in the Royal Library and in the Vatican. Of the proposals issued for this edition, we subjoin a copy, which cannot fail to excite some degree of interest in the classical reader.

“Glasgow, January 7, 1751.—Robert and Andrew Foulis, Printers to the University, propose to print by subscription the Works of Plato, on a new Type, the largest of the Louvre sizes, just now cut by Alexander Wilson, Μ. A. Type-founder to the University: in quarto and in folio. I. In IX. volumes in quarto, of which the Greek in 6 volumes, and the Latin translation, with the notes, in 3: the price to subscribers, one penny sterling per sheet. The whole will be contained in about 500 sheets; so the price will be about 21. Is. 8d. in quires, on a fair paper. A number will be printed on a fine large paper, at twopence sterling per sheet. II. In VI. volumes in folio, with the translation on the same page, below; likewise at one penny per sheet; and in about 740 sheets; which will amount to about 31. Is. 8d. A number also on the finest writing paper (the same on which we printed Cicero), at three half-pence per sheet; which will amount to about 41. 12s. 6d. The Greek shall be accurately printed from the edition of H. Stephens. The various readings, and his own conjectures, printed on the margin of his edition, shall be printed at the bottom of each page. Any other readings we can procure, or conjectural emendations, shall also be printed at the bottom of each page, or at the end of the work, with proper distinctions. The notes of H. Stephens, relating to the Greek text, which are printed at the end of his edition, shall also be printed at the end of this. Also all other notes of any merit, published since his edition, and all which we can procure besides.^[10. Their collections were at length purchased by the late Mr Laing, an eminent bookseller of Edinburgh, in whose Catalogue of i792 they are mentioned in detail. It is stated in more general terms that “they consist of corrections upon the Latin version, critical and philological remarks, illustrations of the philosophy, collations of printed editions, scholia not hitherto published, and collations of all the ancient MSS. extant of that author, procured from the continent, for establishing the text, with much labour and at a very great expence.” Of the Basel edition of Plato, 1534, it is said that “the principal value of this copy arises from the labours of Dr Moor. lor many years his attention was principally directed to this work. The margins have, in his hand-writing, collations with other printed editions, corrections upon the text, philological and critical remarks, &c. Much labour appears also to have been bestowed on the commentary of Proclus.” The entire collection was ultimately purchased for the Bodleian Library at Oxford. ] The translation will be that of Ficinus; but with several corrections published since, and all others which we can procure.

“The Publishers propose to demand no money at subscription; only beg leave to reserve it in their own choice, to call for, at delivery of the volume first printed, which will contain the Laws and Epinomis, one guinea of the whole price, upon their note to deliver the rest of the work according to the above terms. N. B. The Laws and Epinomis make about a fifth part of the whole of Plato’s works.—Gentlemen who chuse to favour this undertaking, and are at a distance, will very much oblige the Printers if they take the trouble themselves of transmitting their names to Glasgow, and as quickly as possible; or if, at least, they give notice to the Printers, of the person with whom they have subscribed. By either of these means, but especially by the former, the undertakers will both have the satisfaction of knowing their encouragers, and of having it in their power to prevent gentlemen from being disappointed of their copies, or in the size or paper they had chosen.

“As the undertakers are to do their utmost to render this edition the most extensively useful, they take this occasion of inviting gentlemen of learning every where to communicate what helps they can, either for establishing the text, correcting the version, or illustrating the philosophy. Whatever of this kind is received shall be gratefully acknowledged, printed with the author’s name, if not forbid, and his labour suitably rewarded.”

Dr Moor, after some hesitation, undertook the formidable task of editor; and it is certainly to be regretted that the publishers did not persevere in a scheme which presented so fair a promise of honour and emolument. Among those by whom it was zealously encouraged we find two individuals who at least resembled each other in their love of ancient literature, namely, Bishop Berkeley and John Wilkes.^[11. Bishop Berkeley, writing to his friend Thomas Prior on the 30th of March 1751, mentions their scheme in the following terms: “They are going to print at Glasgow two editions at once, in quarto and in folio, of all Plato’s works, in most magnificent types. This work should be encouraged: it would be right to mention it, as you have opportunitv.” See Bishop Stock’s Memoirs of George Berkeley, D. D., late Bishop of Cloyne in Ireland, p. 155. 2d. edit. Lond. 1784, 8vo. Ön the same subject, a letter from Wilkes to R. Foulis, dated at London on the 3d of December 1748, has lately been printed in Air Duncan’s Noticesand Documents illustrative of the Literary History of Glasgow, during the greater part of last Century, p. 54. Glasg. 1831, 4to. “I have since mentioned this,” he remarks, “to Air Professor Ward of Gresham College, and to several other friends, who are very willing to encourage so useful a design; and I am desired to write to you, to beg you would send us printed proposals. We may venture to assure you of one hundred subscriptions from the circle of our own acquaintance.” ] This scheme was not finally abandoned till the year 1759, when the printers found themselves too deeply involved in an abortive and ruinous project of an academy or institution for the fine arts. In the mean time, the professor was occupied with a variety of pursuits closely connected with the duties of his office. Of his grammar of the Greek language, the earliest fragment, consisting of only 72 pages, was published with the following[7:15:446] title: “De Analogia Contractionum Linguae Grae· cae Regulae generales. Praemissae sunt Nominum Declinationes; et adjectae Regulae de Temporibus formandis. In usum Tironum Juniorum Classis Graecae in Academia Glasguensi.” Glasguae, 1755, 8vo. An edition of his Grammar was printed in 1766; and after an interval of four years, the work appeared with its final improvements: “Elementa Linguae Graecae; novis plerumque Regulis tradita, brevitate sua memoriae facilibus. Pars prima, complectens Partes Orationis declinabiles, et Analogiam duas in unam Syllabas contrahendi, ex ipsa Vocalium Natura deductam, et Regulis universalibus traditam. In usum Tyronum, &c. Editio nova, prioribus auction et emendation. Studio Jacobi Moor, LL.D, in eadem Acad. Litt. Grace. Prof.” Glasg. 1770, 8vo. This grammar, as the title indicates, is still incomplete: it not only omits the particles, or indeclinable parts of speech, but likewise syntax, prosody, and accentuation; but, so far as it extends, it is a work of very uncommon merit. The author’s familiarity with the Greek geometry was perhaps of some advantage to him as a grammarian. To the discussion of grammatical subjects he has applied no inconsiderable degree of philosophic acumen; and here we sometimes meet with instances of a beautiful analysis, especially in that portion of his work which relates to the contraction of nouns. Of Moor’s grammar, the subsequent editions are very numerous. Some editors have illustrated his book with annotations, and some authors have without much scruple availed themselves of his labours. During his own lifetime, a charge of this kind was preferred against Lord Monboddo, by an anonymous writer in a periodical work edited by Dr Stuart. “We have formerly remarked this author’s obligations to Mr Harris; and the charge of having borrowed liberally from Professor Moor, without a proper acknowledgement, has been urged very generally against him. The curious reader may see p. 506. 507. 517.^[12. See Lord Monboddo’s Origin and Progress of Language, vol. ii. ] and may then consult Elem. Ling. Grace. studio Jac. Moor, p. 121. 160. But it is not only of what this acute grammarian has published, that he, in all probability, has availed himself. It is well known to those who have heard Dr Moor’s lectures in the university of Glasgow, that the whole of what is laid down in the book before us, upon the derivation and composition of the Greek language, was repeatedly inculcated by him to his pupils; and it is to be hoped that some of these, out of gratitude to their ancient and languishing master, will undertake the task of doing him compleat justice, and of wielding, in his defence, that lance which his feeble arm can no longer sustain.”^[13. Edinburgh Magazine and Review, vol. i. p. 370. ]

A few years after the first appearance of his grammar, he published a neat little volume entitled “Essays, read to a Literary Society, at their weekly Meetings within the College of Glasgow. I. On the Influence of Philosophy upon the Fine Arts. II. On the Composition of the Picture described in the Dialogue of Cebes. III. On Historical Composition.” Glasg. 1759, 8vo. He has prefixed a dedication ,of this tenor: “To the Right Honourable James Earl of Errol, Lord High-Constable of Scotland, these Essays, on the taste of some of the chiefGreek writers, whose works his Lordship has the pleasure of admiring in the original, having at a very early time of life made in that language a very uncommon progress; are, with every sentiment of respect, duty, and gratitude, inscribed by Ja. Moor.” The second of his essays, which is perhaps the most valuable, exhibits a successful attempt to explain the propriety and consistency of the picture delineated by the Socratic philosopher with so much beauty of moral colouring. Of this ancient relique he entertained a fervent admiration; and in the year 1747 he had published an edition of Cebes, with some brief annotations.^[14. KíßnTōs ∏M∙ Accedit interpretatio Latina, ex editione Jacobi Gronovii. Glasguae, 1747, 12mo. 1757, 8vo. 1771, 8vo. Moor was probably the editor of Aristotle’s Poetics. Giasg. 1745, 8vo. ] He afterwards prepared for the press “Spartan Lessons; or, the Praise of Valour, in the Verses of Tyrtaeus, an ancient Athenian Poet, adopted by the Republic of Lacedaemon, and employed to inspire their Youth with Warlike Sentiments.” Glasg. 1759, 4to. To this publication, which does not bear his name, he prefixed a characteristic inscription. “These Remains of ancient Panegyric on martial Spirit and personal Valour, of old the daily lessons of the Spartan youth, are with propriety inscribed to the young Gentlemen lately bred at the University of Glasgow, at present serving their country as Officers of the Highland Battalions now in America.” To the same military gentlemen be has addressed his account of Tyrtaeus, which extends to twenty-four pages. Besides the Greek text, with the Latin version of Stephanus, he has given eight pages of “Observations on the Greek Text, which occurred while the preface was at the press.” This maybe considered as rather a perfunctory method of performing such a task, which would have required some degree of research and deliberation; and indeed the preliminary account of Tyrtaeus is not written with an adequate portion of critical care and precision. It is observable that he does not even mention the name of Callinus the Ephesian, to whom Stobaeus ascribes the second fragment. Of this very ancient Greek poet, the history has lately been investigated by Franck with great erudition and acuteness. He arrives at the conclusion that Callinus, author of the fragment in question, flourished long before the age of Tyrtaeus, that he even preceded the age of Hesiod; and that he was the earliest writer of elegiac verse of whom we can discover any reliques, or of whom the ancients themselves have preserved any record.^[15. Jo. Valentini Franckii, Philos. D. Callinus; sive, Quaestionis de Origine Carminis Elegiaci Tractatio Critica. Accedunt Tyrtaei Reliquiae, cum prooemio et critica annotatione. Altonae et Lipsiae, 1816, 8vo. ]

The next English work published by Dr Moor bears this title: “On the End of Tragedy, according to Aristotle; an Essay, in two parts.” Glasg. 1763, 8vo. The brief passage in the Poetics to which this essay relates, has in no small degree puzzled the modern critics.^[16. E<rτιν oυν τ∣>ccγω⅛ia μίμνισι; τζάζιω; σπουδαίας καί τιλιία;, µíydo; iχoi>σris' νl⅛v<rμivij> λίγοι, %ωςi( iκa<rτaυ των siaων lν ra7s μaξ!a∣s' Εξάντων, ×α∣ 2/ 0,παγγtλiαs ’ 2/’ Ιλίου καί φi>ζaυ τιζαίνουσα τ⅛ν των τοιούτων καρμάτων κάΰαοτιν. (Aristotelis de Poetica liber, p. 18. edit. Tyrwhitt. Oxon. i794, 8vo.) ] According to the common interpretation, we are told that tragedy, by means of pity and terror, effects the purgation of the passions. “Now,” as Dr Moor has remarked, “the difficulty which they find here is, to explain in what manner tragedy, by exciting the two passions of terror and pity, at the same time refines and purifies them; or, in what sense we are to understand that tragedy proposes to refine and purify these two passions by the very means of exciting them.” Since the days of Castelvetro and Robortelli, innumerable attempts have been made to explain the passage, so as to draw from it some consistent and forcible meaning. According to some commentators, this purgation of the passions merely arises from the moral influence of contemplating the direful effects produced by their excessive or unregulated indulgence. According to others, the process of purgation or purification is accomplished by that excitement of the passions which attends the repre [7:15:447]sentation of the tragic drama:^[17. “Quid sibi velit Aristoteles,” says Hermann, “unumquemque, qui tragoedias spectaverit, facile sensus suus docebit. Animo commotie spectaculo redimus, sed ea est haec commotio, quae ab omni humilitate, ab omni inhonesta cupiditate aliena sit. Cujus rei caussam non recte indicavit Aristoteles, qui tragoediam dicat <h sxs¢y (βoζoυ ∙% ’ iξαινoι>rccv *τzjv tmv thiovtuv tfcalrif&ÚTMv Non enim per miserationem et terrorem istiusmodi purgatio animi perficitur, sed per sublimitatem, quam quum omnium maxime in tra-goediae definitione commemorare Aristoteles deberet, omnium minime tetigit. Hac enim fit, ut et miseratione et metu majores nos esse sentiamus, nec percelli nos his animi motibus patiamur. Id vero est animi commotiones purgatas habere, tangi iis, nec vinci. Quod si, ut putat Aristoteles, per ipsas illas commotiones hoc efficeretur, etiam fabulae, quas nunc mulierculis et eviratis scribit Ifflandius, homines reddere deberent celsiores. ’ (Aristotelis de Poetica liber, cum commentariis Godofredi Hermanni, p. 115. Lipsiae, 1802, 8vo.) ] pity and terror, on being frequently excited, gradually become less violent in their influence upon the mind, as a familiarity with all objects has a tendency to diminish the intensity of their effect on the senses. Other explanations, or the different modifications of these two, it is here superfluous to mention. That he was dissatisfied with all of them, cannot perhaps excite much surprise. He contends that Aristotle nowhere calls the passions παόηματα ; that the word by which he uniformly describes them is τrα∂η ; and that the former term always denotes sufferings or calamities. The signification of the verb %α0α∕gw, and the cognate substantive κα0αξpις, he has carefully illustrated in the second part. “Thus,” he at length avers, “I hope I have pretty fully proved that %α- ia⅛ειν signifies to clear away, to remove entirely, and that this is even its proper and primary signification: consequently, κα∂αξσις must of course signify removal; and therefore η οru0ηματοjν κα6αξσις is an expression not liable, at least, to any imputation of impropriety. But I will venture to go farther, and to say that it is introduced here with a nice and beautiful propriety: for the words καΘα'ιξtiv and κα0αξσις, from that first and simplest use which I have hitherto been mentioning; I mean, to express the removal or clearing away of whatever is amiss in external things; from that they came soon to be applied to the removal of things amiss within, whether within the body or the mind; for, as every one knows, they became even voces signatae in medicine for one method of removing what is amiss in the body, or the cause of bodily disorder; and, from medicine, they came to be used for expressing the removal of what is amiss, or the cause of disorder, in the mind.” And thus, according to his hypothesis, “tragedy, by exhibiting such calamities on the stage, would propose for its end and intention, καDαlξειν, to remove such calamities out of human life; and propose to accomplish that end by exciting the pity and terror of the audience at the representation of them.” His explanation is certainly ingenious and plausible; whether it is perfectly correct, may admit of some doubt. What is stated as to Aristotle’s application of the words παθημαrα and πd,0η, is not altogether accurate: he frequently uses the latter word to denote sufferings, and sometimes the former to denote the passions. This is one material objection to the professor’s explanation; and another is to be found in a parallel passage of the author’s treatise De Pepublica, lib. viii. cap. vii. For, as Twining has remarked, “whatever be the meaning of the term καD-aνσις, or purgation, here, must also be its meaning in the treatise on poetry; since to that work Aristotle refers for a fuller explanation of it. The only difference is, that here the term is applied to the effect of imitative music; there to that of imitative poetry; of the species of it however which depended, we know, upon music for a very considerable part of its effect.”^[18. Aristotle’s Treatise on Poetry, translated, with notes on the translation, and on the original, and two Dissertations, on Poetical, and Musical, Imitation, by Thomas Twining, Μ. A. p. 23ß. Lond. 1789, 4to. ] In this parallel passage, as he subjoins, it is evidently the author’s idea that pity is to be purged by pity, terror by terror. Here it is obvious that the hypothesis which we have been considering cannot apply with any measure of propriety.

In another tract, printed three years afterwards, Dr Moor gave a new proof of the acumen with which he was accustomed to investigate subjects of grammar and philology. “On the Praepositions of the Greek Language; an Introductory Essay.” Glasg. 1766, 8vo. The general tendency of his speculations may be understood from the following quotation. “Having gone thus far with each prae-position, not without some satisfaction and encouragement to proceed, tho’ far from being fully assured that I was right, I took a careful review of them all, comparing these radical significations together. From which survey of the whole, compared also with the flexions of nouns, I imagined that I did plainly perceive the true use and design, in the Greek language, of that part of speech called pracposition; viz. that the three chief circumstances of relation, or connexion, in human life, are expressed by the flexions of nouns in the three oblique cases; and that all other circumstances of relation or connexion are expressed by the praepositions. By the three chief circumstances of relation or connexion in human life, I mean possession, interchange, and action. Possession, or the relation between the possessor and that which he possesses, by the genitive case; interchange, or mutual communication, whether of words or things, by the dative case; action, or the relation between the agent and what he acts upon, by the accusative case. All other relations were, I thought, in Greek, expressed by the praepositions. These other relations all refer to rest or motion, place or time; and are what the schoolmen would call the ‘ accidentia motus et quietis, loci et temporis.’ According to the mutual connexion between the ideas of place and time, all praepositions express place and time equally; tho’ perhaps place was the primary idea or signification in all of them. With respect to motion and rest, some praepositions express only the one of these; and then they govern only one case. Others express both; and then they govern two cases; one when they express motion, the other when they express rest.” From his speculations on this subject, the praise of acuteness and ingenuity cannot be withheld. The correctness of his theory of the Greek prepositions has however been called in question by several writers, particularly by Mr Tate, who has stated several objections that appear to be material.^[19. Tracts on the Cases, Prepositions, and Syntax of the Greek Language. By James Moor, LL. D. Professor of Greek in the University of Glasgow, and James Tate, Μ. A. Master of the Grammar School of Richmond in Yorkshire, and formerly Fellow of Sidney College, Cambridge. Richmond, 1830, 8vo. ]

Nearly at the same time, he published his “Vindication of Virgil from the Charge of a Puerility, imputed to him by Doctor Pearce, in his Notes on Longinus; an Essay.” Glasg. 1766, 8vo. Each of these three tracts bears on the title-page that it was “read to a Literary Society in Glasgow, at their weekly Meetings within the College.” This society was founded in the year 1752, and was originally constituted by only twelve members, three of whom were Moor, Smith, and Cullen. Many others were afterwards added; and among these we find Simson, Black, Reid, and Millar. All these names are so conspicuous in the literary annals of their country, that the university to which they belonged cannot be mentioned but with respect. Beside the six essays which have been enumerated, Dr Moor read several others, which were never printed. November 30, [7:15:448]1764. On the Structure of the Greek Language, and the Method of ascertaining the Meaning of the Particles of that Tongue. November 29, 1765. Remarks on Dr Warburton’s Critical Notes on Mr Pope, in the last edition of his Works. December 9, 1769. Some Observations on the Genius of English Verse.

All his original works have now been enumerated, but he is known to have lent his aid in the preparation of various editions of Greek classics which issued from the university press. The Greek typography of Glasgow was long pre-eminent for its elegance. His edition of the Arenarius of Archimedes, without preface or annotation, has been considered as valuable for the accuracy of the text.^[20. Professor Rigaud of Oxford read a paper to the Ashmolean Society on the 11th of November 1836, giving “a general account of the contents of the Arenarius, of the method invented by Archimedes for the enumeration of very large numbers, and his artifice on the principle of logarithms, for finding the value of their products. It then entered on the state in which the Greek text of this treatise is now preserved to us. The first critical edition was that which Dr Wallis published at Oxford in 1676, which is very valuable, although he had not the advantage of any manuscript to assist him, but principally depended for his authority on the imperfect text of Hervagius. Torelli, in preparing the edition of the works of Archimedes, which was published at Oxford in 1792, professes to follow Wallis, and indeed departs only in a very few places from what he had adopted. Torelli most probably was not aware that a much better text of the Arenarius had been printed in Great Britain many years previous to the completion of his own la∙ hours. The book, indeed, is very scarce, as it was never published, and only a few copies got abread. Any one acquainted with the characters of Foulis’s printing, must have immediately recognised the press at which it was executed; but it never had any regular title-page; and no particulars would probably be now known of it, if Air Barnwell had not preserved them in a note, which he has inserted in a copy belonging to the British AIuseum. From that valuable memorandum, we learn that the editor was Dr AIoor, Professor of Greek at Glasgow; and that he used a AIS. for it, which had been lent him by the Abbé Sallier, as it is said, out of the French king’s library. He appears to have sent it back in 17ð 1; but Air Barnwell, in 1828, could find no traces of it in that extensive collection at Paris; nor was any further clew discovered to an original authority for Dr Aloor’s very superior readings, till a AIS·, in 1830, was left by Mr Powell, of Balliol, to the Observatory at Oxford. In this Air Barnwell immediately observed a coincidence with the peculiar text of the Glasgow edition; but reasons were given in Professor Rigaud’s paper for doubting whether it was the identical AIS. used by Dr AIoor; and if it was, whether it had ever belonged to the Royal Library at Paris. Anderson, in his translation of the Arenarius, published in 1782, alludes to Dr Aloor’s (which he only knew as an anonymous) edition; and, from mistaken caution, rejects the decided improvements which it affords. There is an old Latin translation which Hervagius added to his publication, although it essentially differs from his Greek text. Air Anderson suspected that the Glasgow edition was altered, and accommodated to this Latin, without considering (what is now indiputably clear), that, by their agreement, the one became a confirmation of the other.” ] It is a small folio of thirty-two pages, without a Latin title, and without a date. Of the elegant and correct edition of Herodotus, published in the year 1761 in 9 vols. 8vo, he is expressly mentioned by his son as having had the inspection. He may probably have rendered a similar service to the edition of Thucydides, published in the year 1759 in 8 vols. 8vo. But of the Glasgow press at that period, the great boastand ornament is the splendid and accurate edition of Homer. The editors were Dr Moor and Mr Muirhead, professor of humanity; and the edition consists of four volumes in small folio. The two volumes containing the Iliad appeared in 1756; and the remaining two, containing the Odyssey, Hymns, and other reliques, followed in 1758. A preface to the Iliad, subscribed by both editors, but probably written by the Greek professor, gives a minute account of the method pursued in the révisa! of the text. Every sheet was read six times before it was sent to press; twice by the ordinary corrector, James Tweedie, once by Andrew Foulis, once by each of the editors separately, and finally by both conjunctly.^[21. In the Advocates Library there is a quarto volume of Aloor’s Papers, chiefly consisting of brief annotations on Greek and Latin writers. Among other scraps, it contains the following: “Erratum duplex in the Glasgow Homer, Iliad sr. 857∙ Fro αv¾oτjτα lege N. B. I do firmly believe that this is one of the mad impudences of da. Tweedie, whom 1 have caught in many pranks of this kind.” The volume contains a letter from Lord Hailes to Dr Moor, dated at Edinburgh on the 20th of August 17ð7, recommending the plan of publishing a collective edition of the fragments of the Greek lyric poets, and communicating some emendations of Alcaeus, Sappho, and Anacreon. “As I understand by our friend Air Smith,” says this learned judge, “that you have made some emendations upon Anacreon, I cannot but testify my desire that you apply your thoughts to the fragments of the Greek lyrics, which are excellent, as you know, and much corrupted. An edition of such fragments as comprehend a compleat sentiment, if published by you, would be an acceptable present to the learned world.” ]

As a relaxation from severer studies, Dr Moor occasionally indulged his fancy in the composition of English, and even of Scotish verses. A collection, published so early as the year 1751, contains his “Verses sacred to the Memory of the Honourable Alexander Stuart, Master of Garlies: inscribed to the Right Honourable Lord Boyle.”^[22. Poems on AIoral and Divine Subjects, by several celebrated English Poets, p. 377- Glasgow, 1751, 8vo. ] 1his poem, which is written in blank verse, we ascribe to him on the authority of the late Professor Richardson, who must have been well acquainted with his personal and literary history. The young gentleman here commemorated was the eldest son of Alexander Lord Garlies, afterwards the sixth earl of Galloway. He died at Aix-la-Chapelle in the year 1738, and the verses were probably composed soon after that event. Another of his poems, entitled the Linnet, or Happiness at Home, was in 1775 printed in a periodical work, under the name of the author.^[23. Edinburgh AIagazine and Review, vol. iv. p. 648. ] Several short poems, ascribed to him, have been published at a more recent period.^[24. Lives of eminent Scotsmen, part v. p. 114. Lond. 1821-2, 3 vols. 12mo. The fifth part includes a miniature portrait of AIoor. “From the specimens now given,” says the anonymous author, “it will be seen that Dr Aloor’s claims to poetic rank are of no ordinary cast. The Chelsea Pensioners and the AIistake are distinguished by a dryness of humour and truth of colouring, which have not often been surpassed. They evince powers which only required to have been cultivated, to place their author on a level with the very best of our minor poets.” ] One of these is a popular song, entitled the Chelsea Pensioners, and beginning,

When war had broke in on the peace of auld men.

Such were the various accomplishments, and such the diversified pursuits of Dr Moor; who, as Mr Stewart has well remarked, “combined with a gaiety and a levity foreign to this climate, the profound attainments of a scholar and a mathematician.”^[25. Stewart’s Life of Reid, p. 47. ] This gaiety of disposition exposed him to some mischances, and did not leave the respectability of his character altogether unimpaired. He lived and died unmarried, but during a great part of his life was subjected to female influence, not of the most refined denomination.

’ Υμϊν δ' sτrαινω γλώσσαν εύφημον φεζειν, Σιγοφν 0' Sτrου δει; καί λεγειν τα κaipa.

Of his personal history, little now remains to be told. On the 16th of May 1759, he had been nominated vicerector till Dr Leechman’s state of health should permit him to reside in college. His noble pupil the earl of Errol, having been elected rector, appointed him vice-rector on [7:15:449]the 1st of September 1761. In consideration of his talents and learning, the degree of LL.D, was conferred upon him on the 26th of April 1763. On the I4th of June 1766 he was elected clerk of the university. His constitution had never been vigorous, and about this period his health was much impaired: he therefore obtained the permission of the senate to employ John Young in teaching his classes during the ensuing session. Although he afterwards found his health somewhat improved, he never recovered any considerable degree of strength. On the 5th of May 1774 he resigned his professorship, on condition of being allowed to retain his house and salary. He was succeeded by Mr Young, who was likewise a man of talents and learning, and who was long conspicuous as a zealous and efficient instructor of youth.^[26. Dr Burney mentions him in terms of high commendation: “Pro ποίσω legendum monet tτξi σου Joannes Young, Gr. Ling. Professor in Universitate Glasguae, vir doctrinae eximiae, et mihi propter varias ingenii dotes multos per annos dilectissimus.” (Tentamen de Metris ab Aeschylo in Choricis Cantibus adhibitis, Sept. c. Theb. p. 84. Cantabrigiae, 1809, 8vo.) ] The declining years of Dr Moor were less comfortable than his friends could have wished, or might have expected. His early connexion with men of rank had no tendency to train him in habits of economy, and his domestic concerns were not placed under the best management. Such were the embarrassments of his situation, that in the month of November 1767 his household furniture was distrained. Two years afterwards, he sold to the university his collection of medals for the sum of thirty-two pounds. It is more to be regretted that his library, which was of very’ considerable extent and value, was likewise sold during his own lifetime;^[27. Bibliotheca Mooriana; sive Catalogus Librorum rarissimorum, praecipue in Graecis ac Latinis Litteris, quorum optimas accurat-issimasque Editiones, maximo sumptu nec minori diligentia collegit vir doctissimus, et in his rebus apprime sagax, Jacobus Moor, LL. D. in Acad. Glasguensi Litt. Grace. Prof Emeritus. Adjectus est alter Catalogus omnium fere Librorum in Graeco, Latino, vel Anglico Sermone, jam rarissimorum, quos excudebant Rob. et And. Foulis, Acad. Glasguensis Typographi celeberrimi, nuper defuncti: et quorum elegantium Librorum summus nitor fautoribus pulchrioris typographiae per totam Europam sese tam egregie commendavit. Omnes Libri (quorum et titulos et pretia continet uterque Catalogus) venales prostant Edinburgi, apud legitimum possessorem Jacobum Spotiswood, in vicodicto Niddry’s Wynd. Venditione incipiente ab ipsis Id. Feb. A. D. 1779. 8vo. ] a circumstance which could not but be attended with deep mortification to an individual of his taste and feelings. He died on the 17th of September 1779, after having completed the sixty-seventh year of his age. (x.)