Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/76

24 sprang from a family allied to that of the celebrated Principal Robert Baillie, and likewise to that of the Baillies of Jerviswood, memorable in the history of Scotland. All these lines were derived from the ancient stem of the Baillies of Lamington. Her mother, also, was one of a race well known in Scottish heraldry, for she was descended from the Hunters of Hunterston, and was the sister of William and John Hunter, both renowned in the annals of science. The children, by the marriage of Dr. James Baillie with Miss Hunter, were Agnes; Matthew, afterwards the eminent physician; and Joanna, a twin—the other child being still-born.

The early youth of Joanna Baillie was passed among the romantic scenes of Bothwell, where every element existed to awaken the fancy of the poet; but when she had attained her sixth year, the family removed to Hamilton, to the collegiate church of which place her father had been appointed. During her childhood, Joanna Baillie was no proficient in acquirement, yet, nevertheless, showed much originality and quickness of intellect. She made verses before she could read, and soon manifested dramatic talent. She took every opportunity of arranging among her young companions theatrical performances, in which her power of sustaining characters was remarkable, and she frequently wrote the dialogue herself. She was also conspicuous for fearlessness of disposition, which in after years displayed itself in moral courage—a virtue often prominent in her conduct. Notwithstanding the decided tendency of her mind, she did not become an author till at a later period than is usual with those who are subject to the strong impulses of genius. In 1778 her father died; and in 1784, his widow, with her daughters, having lived for some years at Long Calderwood, near Hamilton, proceeded to London to reside with her son, who had there entered on his medical career, and who, upon the death of his uncle, Dr. William Hunter, had become possessed of the house in Great Windmill Street which the latter had built and inhabited.

It was in this abode that Joanna Baillie, in 1790, first resolved upon publication, and the result was a small volume of miscellaneous poems, to which she did not affix her name. These evinced considerable talent, but not the power she afterwards manifested. In 1798 she gave to the world, also anonymously, her first volume of dramas, in which the true bent of her genius was fully seen. This was entitled, "A Series of Plays, in which it is attempted to Delineate the Stronger Passions of the Mind, each Passion being the subject of a Tragedy and a Comedy," and these were accompanied by an introductory discourse of some length, in which dramatic composition was discussed, in which, also, many original views were announced, together with the peculiar system she proposed to adopt. Rich though the period was in poetry, this work made a great impression, and a new edition of it was soon required. The writer was sought for among the most gifted personages of the day, and the illustrious Scott, with others then equally appreciated, was suspected as the author. The praise bestowed upon "Basil and De Montfort" encouraged the authoress, and, in 1802, she published another volume of plays on the "Passions." Although much objection was made to the opinions she had enunciated in the preface to her first dramas, and though the criticism from an influential quarter was severe, she adhered to her purpose, and continued to write on the same plan which she had at first evolved; for, in 1812, she sent forth another volume of plays on the "Passions," and in 1836, three more volumes of plays, containing some in prosecution of her primary design, which she thus completed, and some on