Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Dove, Patrick Edward
DOVE, PATRICK EDWARD (1815–1873), philosophic writer, son of Lieutenant Henry Dove, R.N., by his wife, Christiana Paterson, was born at Lasswade, near Edinburgh, 31 July 1815. His family, originally of Surrey, had been connected for many generations with the navy. An ancestor was William, son of Thomas Dove, bishop of Peterborough [q. v.] They had been settled in Devonshire since 1716, when Francis Dove, Commodore R.N. (for whom see Charnock, Biog. Navalis, iii. 12), was appointed ‘commissioner of the navy’ at Plymouth. Henry Dove had retired from active service upon the peace of 1815, and held an appointment at Deal connected with the Cinque ports. Edward had a desultory education in England and France, till he had to leave school for heading a rebellion against the master. His father would not allow him to follow his own ardent desire for naval service. He was sent in 1830 to learn farming in Scotland. He afterwards spent some time in Paris, in Spain, and finally in London, where he became intimate with Mr. Seymour Haden, who was impressed by his ‘enormous energy, physical and moral.’ In 1841 he took the estate of the ‘Craig,’ near Ballantrae, Ayrshire, where he lived as a quiet country gentleman. He was a first-rate horseman, a splendid shot with gun and rifle, an expert fly-fisher, a skilful sailor, and an excellent mechanic, as appears from his article upon gunmaking in the 8th edition of the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica.’ He was the agricultural adviser of the neighbouring farmers, and, objecting on principle to the game laws, refused to employ a gamekeeper. In the potato famine he exerted himself energetically to provide work for his starving neighbours.
In 1848 he lost most of his fortune by an unlucky investment. In 1849 he married Anne, daughter of George Forrester, an Edinburgh solicitor. He spent the next year at Darmstadt, pursuing the philosophical studies to which he had long been devoted. The first result was a book published while he was still in Germany, ‘The Theory of Human Progression, and Natural Probability of a Reign of Justice’ (1850), the first part of a projected treatise on the ‘Science of Politics.’ It was praised by Sir William Hamilton and Carlyle; Charles Sumner had it stereotyped in America, and at Sumner's request Dove wrote an article upon slavery called ‘The Elder and Younger Brother,’ which appeared in the ‘Boston Commonwealth,’ 21 Sept. 1853. The main principle of the book is that all progress is conditioned by the development of true knowledge; it maintains the doctrines of liberty and equality, and argues that rent ought to belong to the nation. It thus anticipates Mr. George, who praised it at a public meeting at Glasgow (British Daily Mail, 19 Dec. 1884), though Dove was a strong individualist, and opposed to socialism. After leaving Germany Dove settled in Edinburgh. He lectured at the Philosophical Institution in 1853 on ‘Heroes of the Commonwealth,’ in 1854 on ‘The Wild Sports of Scotland,’ and in 1855 on ‘The Crusades.’ He took a special interest in volunteering. In April 1853 he was captain of the Midlothian Rifle Club. For six months in 1854 he edited the ‘Witness’ during the illness of his friend, Hugh Miller, and in the same year published the second part of his work on politics, called ‘Elements of Political Science.’ It included ‘An Account of Andrew Yarranton, the founder of English Political Economy’ (also published separately). In 1855 he published ‘Romanism, Rationalism, and Protestant;’ a defence of orthodox protestantism. The third and concluding part was written, but never published, and the manuscript was lost. In 1856 Dove stood unsuccessfully for the chair vacated by the death of Sir William Hamilton, but he impressed his successful rival with ‘his powerful individuality in a union of fervid practical aim with uncommon speculative grasp and insight.’ In the same year he published ‘The Logic of the Christian Faith.’ In 1858 he published a small book on ‘The Revolver,’ with hints on rifle clubs and on the defence of the country, lamenting the depopulation of the highlands. In 1858 Dove moved to Glasgow, where he edited the ‘Commonwealth’ newspaper, and was ‘general editor’ of the ‘Imperial Dictionary of Biography’ during the first twenty numbers. He also edited with Professor Macquorn Rankine the ‘Imperial Journal of the Arts and Sciences,’ and wrote the article ‘Government’ for the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica.’ He had now perfected a rifled cannon with ‘ratchet grooves.’ It was tested by the eminent shipbuilder, J. R. Napier, and shown to have great range and accuracy. The ordnance committee before whom it was brought declined to take any further steps for testing its capacities, unless the inventor would pay the expenses, which he could not at the time afford.
In 1859 Dove accepted the command of the 91st Lanarkshire rifle volunteers, then newly raised, and in 1860 he took part in the first meeting of the National Rifle Association at Wimbledon, and won several prizes. He soon afterwards had a stroke of paralysis. He went to Natal in May 1862 for change of climate, but returned in April 1863. He died of softening of the brain 28 April 1873. Dove was a man of great physical power, with a noble head. Professor J. S. Blackie, who knew him well, wrote of him that he ‘combined in a remarkable degree the manly directness of the man of action with the fine speculation of the man of thought. Altogether Mr. Dove dwells in my mind as one of the most perfect types of the manly thinker whom I have met in the course of a long life.’ The only good portrait is a sketch by his friend, Mr. Seymour Haden. He left a widow, a son, and two daughters.
[Information from P. E. Dove, son of the above; Glasgow Herald, 2 May 1873; Scotsman, 1 May 1873; People's Journal, 1 March and 3 May 1884.]