seldom accepted his amendments in the form suggested, he nearly always admitted the force of his objections, and in deference to them frequently made important alterations. Indeed, it is to the criticism of Ballantyne that we owe some of Scott's most vivid epithets and most graphic descriptive touches. (For examples, see Lockhart's Life of Scott, chap. xxxv.) Love of ease and a propensity to indulgence at table were the principal faults of Ballantyne. On account of the grave pomposity of his manner Scott used to name him 'Aldiborontiphoscophornio,' his more mercurial brother being dubbed 'Rigdumfunnidos.' In 1816, Ballantyne married Miss Hogarth, sister of George Hogarth, the author of the 'History of Music.' He lived in a roomy but old-fashioned house in St. John Street, Canongate, not far from his printing establishment. There, on the eve of a new novel by the Great Unknown, he was accustomed to give a 'gorgeous' feast to his more intimate friends, when, after Scott and the more staid personages had withdrawn, and the 'claret and olives had made way for broiled bones and a mighty bowl of punch,' the proof sheets were at length produced, and 'James, with many a prefatory hem, read aloud what he considered as the most striking dialogue they contained.'
The responsibility of Ballantyne for the pecuniary difficulties of Sir Walter Scott has been strongly insisted on by Lockhart, but this was not the opinion of Scott himself, who wrote: 'I have been far from suffering from James Ballantyne. I owe it to him to say that his difficulties as well as his advantages are owing to me.' Doubtless the printing-press, with more careful superintendence, would have yielded a larger profit, but the embarrassments of Scott originated in his connection with the publishing firm, and were due chiefly to schemes propounded by himself and undertaken frequently in opposition to the advice of Ballantyne. In 1826 the film of James Ballantyne & Co. became involved in the bankruptcy of Constable & Co., publishers. After his bankruptcy Ballantyne was employed at a moderate salary by the creditors' trustees in the editing of the 'Weekly Journal' and the literary management of the printing-house, so that his literary relations with Scott's works remained unaltered. He died 17 Jan. 1833, about four months after the death of Scott.
[Lockhart's Life of Scott; Refutation of the Misstatements and Calumnies contained in Mr. Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott respecting the Messrs. Ballantyne, 1835; The Ballantyne Humbug handled by the author of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, 1839; Reply to Mr. Lockhart's pamphlet, entitled 'The Ballantyne Humbug handled,' 1839; Archibald Constable and his Literary Correspondents, 1873.]
BALLANTYNE, JAMES ROBERT (d. 1864), orientalist, after being connected with the Scottish Naval and Military Academy, was sent out to India in 1845, on the recommendation of Professor H. H. Wilson, to superintend the reorganisation of the government Sanskrit college at Benares. The intimate relations he here established with native teachers and students, and the high opinion he formed of the philosophical systems of India, led him to undertake a comprehensive series of works with the design of rendering the valuable elements in Hindu thought more accessible and familiar to European students than they had hitherto been. This was the aim of his translations of the Sanskrit aphorisms of the Sânkhya and many of those of the Nyâya school, with tracts bearing upon these and also upon the Vedânta system. The converse process—the communication of European ideas to the Brahmins—is exhibited in his 'Synopsis of Science, in Sanskrit and English, reconciled with the truth to be found in the Nyâya Philosophy,' and most of his works are filled with the design of establishing more intelligent relations between Indian and European thought. Dr. Ballantyne had an original bent of mind, and his method of dealing with philosophical systems was often suggestive.
The list of his works is as follows:
- ‘A Grammar of the Hindustani Language,’ Edinburgh, 1838, with a second edition.
- ‘Elements of Hindi and Braj Bhākhā Grammar,’ London and Edinburgh, 1839.
- ‘A Grammar of the Mahratta Language,’ Edinburgh, lithographed, 1839.
- ‘Principles of Persian Caligraphy, illustrated by lithographic plates of the Naskh-Ta'lik character,’ Lonon and Edinburgh, 1839.
- ‘Hindustani Selections in the Naskhi and Devanaguri character,’ Edinburgh, 1840; 2nd edition, 1845.
- ‘Hindustani Letters, lithographed in the Nuskh-Tu'leek and Shikustu-Amez character, with translations,’ London and Edinburgh, 1840.
- ‘The Practical Oriental Interpreter, or Hints on the art of Translating readily from English into Hindustani and Persian,’ London and Edinburgh, 1843.
- ‘Catechism of Persian Grammar,’ London and Edinburgh, 1843.
- ‘Pocket Guide to Hindoostani Conversation,’ London and Edinburgh. (The preceding books were published before Dr. Ballantyne went to India.)
- ‘Catechism of Sanskrit Grammar,’ 2nd edition, London and Edinburgh,
