Sir James Mackintosh Biography

Dromo's Den

Mackintosh, Sir James (1765-1832). An English philosopher, born at Aldourie, Inverness-shire, Oct. 24, 1765. He studied at King's College, Aberdeen, where his most intimate companion was Robert Hall (q.v.), afterward the celebrated Baptist preacher. From King's College he proceeded to Edinburgh in l784 to study medicine; and having in 1787 obtained his diploma, settled in London, where for some time he supported himself by writing for the newspapers. The first work that brought him into notice was his Vindicæ Gallicæ (1791), in reply to Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution. In many respects it was considered greatly to have surpassed the philippic against which it was directed, and was not only lauded by the Liberals, but was highly esteemed by Burke himself. Fox, Sheridan, and other leading Whigs sought the author's acquaintance; and when the association of the Friends of the People was formed, he was appointed secretary. About this time he began to turn his attention to the legal profession, and having in 1795 been called to the bar, soon attained high eminence as a forensic lawyer. In 1799 he delivered before the benchers of Lincoln's Inn a course of lectures on the law of nature and of nations which were attended by large audiences. His defense of Peltier (Feb. 21, 1803), charged with libel against Bonaparte, was translated into French by Madame de Staël and scattered broadcast over Europe. In 1806 Mackintosh was appointed a judge of the Vice Admiralty Court at Bombay, where he remained until 1811. After his return to England he entered Parliament as Whig member, first for Nairn (1813) and later for Knaresborough. He was professor of law in the College of Haileybury from 1818 to 1824, and in 1830 became a member of the board of control under the Grey ministry, when, as his last great political effort, he spoke in favor of the Reform Bill. He died May 30, 1832. He wrote A General View of the Progress of Ethical Philosophy chiefly during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (1832) and a History of the Revolution in England in 1688 (1834). Prefixed to the latter is "A Notice of the Life, Writings, and Speeches" of Mackintosh by the editor.

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XIV (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 592.