Charles Neaves

Charles Neaves, Lord Neaves FRSE (14 October 1800 – 23 December 1876) was a Scottish poet, advocate, and judge.

Charles Neaves (1800-1876) as a judge. Courtesy Wikipedia.

Life

Overview

Neaves, born and educated in Edinburgh, was called to the bar, and became a judge. He was a frequent contributor to Blackwood's Magazine. His verses, witty and satirical, were coll. as Songs and Verses: Social and xcientific. He wrote also on philology, and published a book on the Greek Anthology. He served as Solicitor General for Scotland, 1852; as a judge of the Court of Session (the supreme court of Scotland), 1854; and as rector of the University of St Andrews, 1872. Neaves was known as an early analyst of the history of evolution, and is often quoted regarding the subjects of evolution and women's rights.

Family

His father, also Charles Neaves, a solicitor of Forfar and afterwards clerk of the justiciary court at Edinburgh, belonged to an old Forfarshire family long settled in the town of Forfar. The original name of Neave was altered to Neaves by the father.

Youth and education

The younger Charles was born in Edinburgh on 14 October 1800.

He was educated at the high school and university there, and after a brilliant academical career was called to the bar in 1822.

Career

Neaves soon gained an extensive practice, and even in his early years was engaged in many difficult and important cases. At that time legal pleadings before the court were written, and the literary ability of Neaves speedily declared itself.

In 1841 he was appointed advocate-deputy when Sir William Rae was lord-advocate, and he retained this position for 4 years. From 1845 till 1852 he was sheriff of Orkney and Shetland. On the resignation of Lord President David Boyle in May 1852 Neaves was appointed solicitor-general for Scotland in Lord Derby's administration. He held office till Derby's resignation in January 1853.

In April 1854 he was made a judge in the court of session, taking the title of Lord Neaves, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Cockburn. 5 years afterwards he was appointed a lord of justiciary, and he filled this office until his death.

In his profession Neaves was regarded as among the greatest "case lawyers" of his day. His tenacious memory enabled him to quote apposite decisions with unfailing accuracy, and he was one of the foremost authorities on criminal law in Scotland.

His reputation as a literary man was almost equally great. For more than 40 years he was a regular contributor of prose and verse to Blackwood's Magazine, though only a few of his poetical contributions have been republished. One of his favorite studies was philology, and his articles in Blackwood on Grimm's philological works are still quoted as authoritative.

As a humorist Neaves enjoyed a wide reputation. Many of his most brilliant satires have been published in the volume entitled Songs and Verses: Social and scientific (Edinburgh, 1868, 2nd edit. 1872). His wide knowledge of the classics was shown in his volume on the Greek Anthology, 1870 (in Blackwood's ‘Ancient Classics’), which contains many graceful translations and elaborate notes.

For more than 50 years he was a prominent figure at all the public literary functions in Edinburgh. He was present at the Theatrical Fund banquet in 1827, when Scott acknowledged the authorship of the ‘Waverley Novels;’ at the banquet given in honour of Dickens in 1841; at the similar function in recognition of Thackeray in 1857; and he presided at the Leyden centenary celebration in 1875.

Neaves died on 23 December 1876. He is buried in the family plot in Warriston Cemetery in Edinburgh. His widow, who survived him, was a daughter of Coll Macdonald of Dalness, writer to the signet; and a daughters of his was married to John Millar, lord Craighill, a judge of the court of session.

Writing

Not only did Neaves produce poetry but he was a prolific critic, often in venues such as Blackwood's Magazine. A common thematic element in his writing was virtue, which naturally tied to his theological roots. He also conducted critiques of others' poetry based upon how their attitudes deviated from virtue and a common theme of under-recognition of women, as in the scalding criticism of the poet Thomas Carew.

As a judge of the Court of Session, Neaves was familiar with a predecessor, James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, to whom he credited the origination of the concepts of the theory of evolution. In 1875, Neaves published a poem within a book of verse to establish this point:

Though Darwin now proclaims the law
And spreads it far abroad, O!
The man that first the secret saw
Was honest old Monboddo.
The architect precedence takes
Of him that bears the hod, O!
So up and at them, Land of Cakes,
We'll vindicate Monboddo

In another instance he elaborates on Monboddo's writings again in Blackwood's Magazine, indicating the clarity with which Monboddo foresaw evolutionary theory:

The rise of every man he loved to trace,
Up to the very pod O!
And, in baboons, our parent race
Was found by old Monboddo.

Their A, B, C, he made them speak,
And learn their qui, quae, quod, O!
Till Hebrew, Latin, Welsh, and Greek
They knew as well's Monboddo!}}

Neaves's principal works besides those noticed are: 1. ‘On Fiction as a Means of Popular Teaching,’ Edinburgh, 1869. 2. ‘A Glance at some of the Principles of Comparative Philology,’ Edinburgh, 1870. 3. ‘Lecture on Cheap and Accessible Pleasures,’ Edinburgh, 1872. 4. ‘Inaugural Address as Lord Rector of the University of St. Andrews,’ Edinburgh, 1873.

Quotations

In Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (Quote number 6171), as published originally in Darwin's The Origin of Species, he quipped on the subject of evolution:

“

Pouter, tumbler and fantail are from the same source; The racer and hack may be traced to one horse; So men were developed from monkeys of course, Which nobody can deny.

”

This quote became so famous in that early era that the authorship of the quotation became a matter of public dispute. Although Bartlett and Darwin clearly attributed the quotation to Neaves, Zachary Macaulay argued that he had made this statement 3 years earlier.

Lord Neaves may have also been an early thinker on the issue of women's rights with the following quote, that would have bordered on heresy in his era:

“

So I wonder a woman, the Mistress of Hearts, Should assent to aspire to be Master of Arts; A Ministering Angel in Woman we see, And an Angel need cover no other Degree. — O why should a Woman not get a Degree?

”

Recognition

Neaves received the degree of LL.D. from Edinburgh University in 1860.

He was elected lord rector of St. Andrews University in 1872.

Publications

Poetry

• Songs and Verses: Social and scientific. Edinburgh & London: Blackwood, 1869, 1875.

Non-fiction

• Some Helps to the study of Scoto-Celtic Philology. Edinburgh: 1872,
• A Lecture on the Character and Writings of W. Paley, etc. Edinburgh: 1873.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of British poets

References

•  Millar, Alexander Hastie (1894) "Neaves, Charles" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 40 London: Smith, Elder, p. 152  . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 16, 2018.

External links

Poems

• "Let Us All be Unhappy on Sunday" at the Scottish Poetry Library

Books

• Charles Neaves at Amazon.com

About

• Lord Charles Neaves at Electric Scotland

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Neaves, Charles