James Mackintosh
Encyclopedia
Sir James Mackintosh was a Scottish
jurist, politician and historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor
and barrister
, and worked also as a journalist
, judge
, administrator, professor
, philosopher and politician
.
, 7 miles from Inverness
. Both his parents were from old Highland families. His mother died while he was a child, and his father was frequently abroad, so he was brought up by his grandmother, and then schooled at Fortrose Seminary academy. He went in 1780 to King's College
, University of Aberdeen
, where he made a lifelong friend of Robert Hall, later a famous preacher. In 1784 he began to study medicine
at Edinburgh University
. He participated to the full in the intellectual ferment, but did not quite neglect his medical studies, and took his degree in 1787.
In 1788 Mackintosh moved to London
, then agitated by the trial of Warren Hastings
and the first lapse into insanity of George III
. He was much more interested in these and other political events than in his professional prospects; and specially interested in the events and tendencies which caused or preceded the Revolution in France
.
. His wife's prudence counteracted Mackintosh's own unpractical temperament, and his efforts in journalism
became fairly profitable. They had a son, who died in infancy, and three daughters:
In 1797 his wife died, and next year he married Catherine Allen (died 6 May 1830), sister-in-law of Josiah II
and John Wedgwood
, through whom he introduced Coleridge
to the Morning Post. They had two sons, one of whom died in infancy, and two daughters:
's Reflections on the French Revolution. It was the only worthy answer to Burke that appeared in Burke's estimation. It placed the author in the front rank of European publicists, and won him the friendship of some of the most distinguished men of the time, including Burke himself. The success of the Vindiciae finally decided him to give up the medical for the legal profession. He was called to the bar in 1795 and gained a considerable reputation there as well as a tolerable practice.
His Vindiciae Gallicae was the verdict of a philosophic Liberal
on the development of the French Revolution
up to the spring of 1791. The excesses of the revolutionaries compelled him a few years later to oppose them and agree with Burke
, but his earlier defence of the rights of man
is a valuable statement of the cultured Whig's point of view at the time.
The width of his intellectual sympathies, joined to a constitutional indecision and vis inertiae, prevented him from doing more enduring work. His History of the Revolution in England, breaking off at the point where William of Orange
is preparing to intervene in the affairs of England, is chiefly interesting because of Macaulay's admiring essay on it and its author.
his greatest public efforts were his lectures (1799) at Lincoln's Inn
on the law of nature and nations, of which the introductory discourse was published and ran to several editions; the resulting fame helped open doors for him later in life. Mackintosh was also famed for his speech in 1803 defending Jean Gabriel Peltier, a French refugee, against a libel suit instigated by Napoleon
- then First Consul (military dictator) of France
. Peltier had argued that Napoleon should be killed at time when Britain and France were at peace. The speech was widely published in English and also across Europe in a French translation by Madame de Staël
, who became a friend of Mackintosh's. In 1803 he was knighted.
, where he became ill, was disappointed by his literary progress with the mooted History of England, and he was glad to leave for England in November, 1811.
to resume political life under the auspices of the dominant Tory party, though tempting prospects of office in connection with India were opened up. He entered Parliament
in July 1813 as a Whig
. He was the member for Nairn until 1818, and afterwards for Knaresborough
, till his death. In London society, and in Paris
during his occasional visits, he was a recognized favourite for his genial wisdom and his great conversational power. On Mme de Staël's visit to London he was the only Englishman capable of representing his country in talk with her. Another close friend esteemed by Mackintosh was Richard Sharp MP
also known as Conversation Sharp and both men belonged to the famous Whig conversation club, the King of Clubs
. Mackintosh's parliamentary career was marked by the same wide and candid liberalism as his private life. He opposed the reactionary measures of the Tory government, supported and afterwards succeeded Samuel Romilly
in his efforts for reforming the criminal code, and took a leading part both in Catholic emancipation and in the Reform Bill
. But he was too little of a partisan, too widely sympathetic and candid, as well as too elaborate, to be a telling speaker in parliament, and was surpassed there by more practical men whose powers were incomparably inferior.
at Haileybury. While there, on 12 August 1823, Mackintosh wrote a two-sheet letter from Cadogan Place, London
(England) to James Savage
asking for source material for Savage's edition of The History of Taunton by Joshua Toulmin
.
In the midst of the attractions of London society and of his parliamentary avocations Mackintosh felt that the real work of his life was being neglected. His great ambition was to write a history of England; he also cherished the idea of making some worthy contribution to philosophy. It was not till 1828 that he set about the first task of his literary ambition. This was his Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy, prefixed to the seventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
. The dissertation, written mostly in ill-health and in snatches of time taken from his parliamentary engagements, was published in 1831. It was severely attacked in 1835 by James Mill
in his Fragment on Mackintosh. About the same time he wrote for the Cabinet Cyclopaedia a History of England from the Earliest Times to the Final Establishment of the Reformation. His more elaborate History of the Revolution, for which he had made great researches and collections, was not published till after his death. A privy councillor
since 1828, Mackintosh was appointed Commissioner for the affairs of India under the Whig administration of 1830.
came into the possession of Thomas Macaulay
, who used them for his own History of the Revolution. Mackintosh's notes stopped in the year of 1701, where Macaulay's History also ends.
Sir James Mackintosh (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish
jurist, politician and historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor
and barrister
, and worked also as a journalist
, judge
, administrator, professor
, philosopher and politician
.
, 7 miles from Inverness
. Both his parents were from old Highland families. His mother died while he was a child, and his father was frequently abroad, so he was brought up by his grandmother, and then schooled at Fortrose Seminary academy. He went in 1780 to King's College
, University of Aberdeen
, where he made a lifelong friend of Robert Hall, later a famous preacher. In 1784 he began to study medicine
at Edinburgh University
. He participated to the full in the intellectual ferment, but did not quite neglect his medical studies, and took his degree in 1787.
In 1788 Mackintosh moved to London
, then agitated by the trial of Warren Hastings
and the first lapse into insanity of George III
. He was much more interested in these and other political events than in his professional prospects; and specially interested in the events and tendencies which caused or preceded the Revolution in France
.
. His wife's prudence counteracted Mackintosh's own unpractical temperament, and his efforts in journalism
became fairly profitable. They had a son, who died in infancy, and three daughters:
In 1797 his wife died, and next year he married Catherine Allen (died 6 May 1830), sister-in-law of Josiah II
and John Wedgwood
, through whom he introduced Coleridge
to the Morning Post. They had two sons, one of whom died in infancy, and two daughters:
's Reflections on the French Revolution. It was the only worthy answer to Burke that appeared in Burke's estimation. It placed the author in the front rank of European publicists, and won him the friendship of some of the most distinguished men of the time, including Burke himself. The success of the Vindiciae finally decided him to give up the medical for the legal profession. He was called to the bar in 1795 and gained a considerable reputation there as well as a tolerable practice.
His Vindiciae Gallicae was the verdict of a philosophic Liberal
on the development of the French Revolution
up to the spring of 1791. The excesses of the revolutionaries compelled him a few years later to oppose them and agree with Burke
, but his earlier defence of the rights of man
is a valuable statement of the cultured Whig's point of view at the time.
The width of his intellectual sympathies, joined to a constitutional indecision and vis inertiae, prevented him from doing more enduring work. His History of the Revolution in England, breaking off at the point where William of Orange
is preparing to intervene in the affairs of England, is chiefly interesting because of Macaulay's admiring essay on it and its author.
his greatest public efforts were his lectures (1799) at Lincoln's Inn
on the law of nature and nations, of which the introductory discourse was published and ran to several editions; the resulting fame helped open doors for him later in life. Mackintosh was also famed for his speech in 1803 defending Jean Gabriel Peltier, a French refugee, against a libel suit instigated by Napoleon
- then First Consul (military dictator) of France
. Peltier had argued that Napoleon should be killed at time when Britain and France were at peace. The speech was widely published in English and also across Europe in a French translation by Madame de Staël
, who became a friend of Mackintosh's. In 1803 he was knighted.
, where he became ill, was disappointed by his literary progress with the mooted History of England, and he was glad to leave for England in November, 1811.
to resume political life under the auspices of the dominant Tory party, though tempting prospects of office in connection with India were opened up. He entered Parliament
in July 1813 as a Whig
. He was the member for Nairn until 1818, and afterwards for Knaresborough
, till his death. In London society, and in Paris
during his occasional visits, he was a recognized favourite for his genial wisdom and his great conversational power. On Mme de Staël's visit to London he was the only Englishman capable of representing his country in talk with her. Another close friend esteemed by Mackintosh was Richard Sharp MP
also known as Conversation Sharp and both men belonged to the famous Whig conversation club, the King of Clubs
. Mackintosh's parliamentary career was marked by the same wide and candid liberalism as his private life. He opposed the reactionary measures of the Tory government, supported and afterwards succeeded Samuel Romilly
in his efforts for reforming the criminal code, and took a leading part both in Catholic emancipation and in the Reform Bill
. But he was too little of a partisan, too widely sympathetic and candid, as well as too elaborate, to be a telling speaker in parliament, and was surpassed there by more practical men whose powers were incomparably inferior.
at Haileybury. While there, on 12 August 1823, Mackintosh wrote a two-sheet letter from Cadogan Place, London
(England) to James Savage
asking for source material for Savage's edition of The History of Taunton by Joshua Toulmin
.
In the midst of the attractions of London society and of his parliamentary avocations Mackintosh felt that the real work of his life was being neglected. His great ambition was to write a history of England; he also cherished the idea of making some worthy contribution to philosophy. It was not till 1828 that he set about the first task of his literary ambition. This was his Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy, prefixed to the seventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
. The dissertation, written mostly in ill-health and in snatches of time taken from his parliamentary engagements, was published in 1831. It was severely attacked in 1835 by James Mill
in his Fragment on Mackintosh. About the same time he wrote for the Cabinet Cyclopaedia a History of England from the Earliest Times to the Final Establishment of the Reformation. His more elaborate History of the Revolution, for which he had made great researches and collections, was not published till after his death. A privy councillor
since 1828, Mackintosh was appointed Commissioner for the affairs of India under the Whig administration of 1830.
came into the possession of Thomas Macaulay
, who used them for his own History of the Revolution. Mackintosh's notes stopped in the year of 1701, where Macaulay's History also ends.
Sir James Mackintosh (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish
jurist, politician and historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor
and barrister
, and worked also as a journalist
, judge
, administrator, professor
, philosopher and politician
.
, 7 miles from Inverness
. Both his parents were from old Highland families. His mother died while he was a child, and his father was frequently abroad, so he was brought up by his grandmother, and then schooled at Fortrose Seminary academy. He went in 1780 to King's College
, University of Aberdeen
, where he made a lifelong friend of Robert Hall, later a famous preacher. In 1784 he began to study medicine
at Edinburgh University
. He participated to the full in the intellectual ferment, but did not quite neglect his medical studies, and took his degree in 1787.
In 1788 Mackintosh moved to London
, then agitated by the trial of Warren Hastings
and the first lapse into insanity of George III
. He was much more interested in these and other political events than in his professional prospects; and specially interested in the events and tendencies which caused or preceded the Revolution in France
.
. His wife's prudence counteracted Mackintosh's own unpractical temperament, and his efforts in journalism
became fairly profitable. They had a son, who died in infancy, and three daughters:
In 1797 his wife died, and next year he married Catherine Allen (died 6 May 1830), sister-in-law of Josiah II
and John Wedgwood
, through whom he introduced Coleridge
to the Morning Post. They had two sons, one of whom died in infancy, and two daughters:
's Reflections on the French Revolution. It was the only worthy answer to Burke that appeared in Burke's estimation. It placed the author in the front rank of European publicists, and won him the friendship of some of the most distinguished men of the time, including Burke himself. The success of the Vindiciae finally decided him to give up the medical for the legal profession. He was called to the bar in 1795 and gained a considerable reputation there as well as a tolerable practice.
His Vindiciae Gallicae was the verdict of a philosophic Liberal
on the development of the French Revolution
up to the spring of 1791. The excesses of the revolutionaries compelled him a few years later to oppose them and agree with Burke
, but his earlier defence of the rights of man
is a valuable statement of the cultured Whig's point of view at the time.
The width of his intellectual sympathies, joined to a constitutional indecision and vis inertiae, prevented him from doing more enduring work. His History of the Revolution in England, breaking off at the point where William of Orange
is preparing to intervene in the affairs of England, is chiefly interesting because of Macaulay's admiring essay on it and its author.
his greatest public efforts were his lectures (1799) at Lincoln's Inn
on the law of nature and nations, of which the introductory discourse was published and ran to several editions; the resulting fame helped open doors for him later in life. Mackintosh was also famed for his speech in 1803 defending Jean Gabriel Peltier, a French refugee, against a libel suit instigated by Napoleon
- then First Consul (military dictator) of France
. Peltier had argued that Napoleon should be killed at time when Britain and France were at peace. The speech was widely published in English and also across Europe in a French translation by Madame de Staël
, who became a friend of Mackintosh's. In 1803 he was knighted.
, where he became ill, was disappointed by his literary progress with the mooted History of England, and he was glad to leave for England in November, 1811.
to resume political life under the auspices of the dominant Tory party, though tempting prospects of office in connection with India were opened up. He entered Parliament
in July 1813 as a Whig
. He was the member for Nairn until 1818, and afterwards for Knaresborough
, till his death. In London society, and in Paris
during his occasional visits, he was a recognized favourite for his genial wisdom and his great conversational power. On Mme de Staël's visit to London he was the only Englishman capable of representing his country in talk with her. Another close friend esteemed by Mackintosh was Richard Sharp MP
also known as Conversation Sharp and both men belonged to the famous Whig conversation club, the King of Clubs
. Mackintosh's parliamentary career was marked by the same wide and candid liberalism as his private life. He opposed the reactionary measures of the Tory government, supported and afterwards succeeded Samuel Romilly
in his efforts for reforming the criminal code, and took a leading part both in Catholic emancipation and in the Reform Bill
. But he was too little of a partisan, too widely sympathetic and candid, as well as too elaborate, to be a telling speaker in parliament, and was surpassed there by more practical men whose powers were incomparably inferior.
at Haileybury. While there, on 12 August 1823, Mackintosh wrote a two-sheet letter from Cadogan Place, London
(England) to James Savage
asking for source material for Savage's edition of The History of Taunton by Joshua Toulmin
.
In the midst of the attractions of London society and of his parliamentary avocations Mackintosh felt that the real work of his life was being neglected. His great ambition was to write a history of England; he also cherished the idea of making some worthy contribution to philosophy. It was not till 1828 that he set about the first task of his literary ambition. This was his Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy, prefixed to the seventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
. The dissertation, written mostly in ill-health and in snatches of time taken from his parliamentary engagements, was published in 1831. It was severely attacked in 1835 by James Mill
in his Fragment on Mackintosh. About the same time he wrote for the Cabinet Cyclopaedia a History of England from the Earliest Times to the Final Establishment of the Reformation. His more elaborate History of the Revolution, for which he had made great researches and collections, was not published till after his death. A privy councillor
since 1828, Mackintosh was appointed Commissioner for the affairs of India under the Whig administration of 1830.
came into the possession of Thomas Macaulay
, who used them for his own History of the Revolution. Mackintosh's notes stopped in the year of 1701, where Macaulay's History also ends.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
jurist, politician and historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, and worked also as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, administrator, professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, philosopher and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Early life
Mackintosh was born at AldourieAldourie
Aldourie is a small crofting village, on the east shore of Loch Ness and is within the council of Highland, Scotland. Aldourie Castle, seat of the Laird on Dunbar, is close to the village of Aldourie....
, 7 miles from Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
. Both his parents were from old Highland families. His mother died while he was a child, and his father was frequently abroad, so he was brought up by his grandmother, and then schooled at Fortrose Seminary academy. He went in 1780 to King's College
King's College, Aberdeen
King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and an integral part of the University of Aberdeen...
, University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, where he made a lifelong friend of Robert Hall, later a famous preacher. In 1784 he began to study medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at Edinburgh University
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
. He participated to the full in the intellectual ferment, but did not quite neglect his medical studies, and took his degree in 1787.
In 1788 Mackintosh moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, then agitated by the trial of Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings PC was the first Governor-General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.-Early life:...
and the first lapse into insanity of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
. He was much more interested in these and other political events than in his professional prospects; and specially interested in the events and tendencies which caused or preceded the Revolution in France
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
Marriages and children
In 1789 he married Catherine Stuart, whose brother Daniel later edited the Morning PostMorning Post
The Morning Post, as the paper was named on its masthead, was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by The Daily Telegraph.- History :...
. His wife's prudence counteracted Mackintosh's own unpractical temperament, and his efforts in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
became fairly profitable. They had a son, who died in infancy, and three daughters:
- Mary Mackintosh (1789-1876) married Claudius James RichClaudius James RichClaudius James Rich , British business agent, traveller and antiquarian scholar,-Biography:Rich was born near Dijon....
- Maitland Mackintosh (1792-1861), married William Erskine
- Catherine Mackintosh (1795-18??) married William Saltonstall Wiseman, 7th Baronet (1794-1845), was the mother of William Saltonstall Wiseman, 8th Baronet, the Naval officer.
In 1797 his wife died, and next year he married Catherine Allen (died 6 May 1830), sister-in-law of Josiah II
Josiah Wedgwood II
Josiah Wedgwood II , the son of the English potter Josiah Wedgwood, continued his father's firm and was Member of Parliament for Stoke-upon-Trent from 1832 to 1835...
and John Wedgwood
John Wedgwood (1766–1844)
John Wedgwood , the eldest son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood, was a partner in the Wedgwood pottery firm from 1790-1793, and again 1800-1812....
, through whom he introduced Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
to the Morning Post. They had two sons, one of whom died in infancy, and two daughters:
- Frances Emma Elizabeth Mackintosh (Fanny) (1800-1889), married Hensleigh WedgwoodHensleigh WedgwoodHensleigh Wedgwood was a British etymologist, philologist and barrister, author of A Dictionary of English Etymology. Wedgwood was the fourth son of Josiah Wedgwood II and Elizabeth Allen...
. - Robert Mackintosh (1803), died in infancy.
- Bessy Mackintosh (1804-1823)
- Robert James MackintoshRobert James MackintoshRobert James Mackintosh , son of Sir James Mackintosh and his second wife, was a British colonial governor. As Governor of Antigua, he was the viceroy in the Leeward Islands colony between 1850 and 1855....
(1806-1864), colonial governor.
French Revolution
Meanwhile, Mackintosh was soon absorbed in the question of the time; and in April 1791, after long meditation, he published his Vindiciae Gallicae, a reply to Edmund BurkeEdmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
's Reflections on the French Revolution. It was the only worthy answer to Burke that appeared in Burke's estimation. It placed the author in the front rank of European publicists, and won him the friendship of some of the most distinguished men of the time, including Burke himself. The success of the Vindiciae finally decided him to give up the medical for the legal profession. He was called to the bar in 1795 and gained a considerable reputation there as well as a tolerable practice.
His Vindiciae Gallicae was the verdict of a philosophic Liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
on the development of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
up to the spring of 1791. The excesses of the revolutionaries compelled him a few years later to oppose them and agree with Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
, but his earlier defence of the rights of man
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
is a valuable statement of the cultured Whig's point of view at the time.
The width of his intellectual sympathies, joined to a constitutional indecision and vis inertiae, prevented him from doing more enduring work. His History of the Revolution in England, breaking off at the point where William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
is preparing to intervene in the affairs of England, is chiefly interesting because of Macaulay's admiring essay on it and its author.
Lawyer
As a lawyerLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
his greatest public efforts were his lectures (1799) at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
on the law of nature and nations, of which the introductory discourse was published and ran to several editions; the resulting fame helped open doors for him later in life. Mackintosh was also famed for his speech in 1803 defending Jean Gabriel Peltier, a French refugee, against a libel suit instigated by Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
- then First Consul (military dictator) of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Peltier had argued that Napoleon should be killed at time when Britain and France were at peace. The speech was widely published in English and also across Europe in a French translation by Madame de Staël
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein , commonly known as Madame de Staël, was a French-speaking Swiss author living in Paris and abroad. She influenced literary tastes in Europe at the turn of the 19th century.- Childhood :...
, who became a friend of Mackintosh's. In 1803 he was knighted.
Judge of Bombay
He was appointed Recorder (chief judge) of Bombay, taking up the post in 1804. He was not at home in IndiaBritish Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, where he became ill, was disappointed by his literary progress with the mooted History of England, and he was glad to leave for England in November, 1811.
Member of Parliament
He courteously declined the offer of PercevalSpencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated...
to resume political life under the auspices of the dominant Tory party, though tempting prospects of office in connection with India were opened up. He entered Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
in July 1813 as a Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
. He was the member for Nairn until 1818, and afterwards for Knaresborough
Knaresborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Knaresborough was a parliamentary constituency which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868, and then one MP until its abolition in 1885.-Before the Great Reform Act:...
, till his death. In London society, and in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
during his occasional visits, he was a recognized favourite for his genial wisdom and his great conversational power. On Mme de Staël's visit to London he was the only Englishman capable of representing his country in talk with her. Another close friend esteemed by Mackintosh was Richard Sharp MP
Richard Sharp (politician)
Richard Sharp, FRS, FSA , also known as "Conversation" Sharp, was a hat-maker, banker, merchant, poet, critic, British politician, but above all - doyen of the conversationalists.-Family background:...
also known as Conversation Sharp and both men belonged to the famous Whig conversation club, the King of Clubs
King of Clubs (Whig club)
The King of Clubs club - a famous Whig conversation club, founded in 1798The King of Clubs club was perhaps the most distinguished conversation club ever to have existed and, in contrast to its mainly Tory forerunner it was a predominantly Whig fraternity of some of the most brilliant minds of the...
. Mackintosh's parliamentary career was marked by the same wide and candid liberalism as his private life. He opposed the reactionary measures of the Tory government, supported and afterwards succeeded Samuel Romilly
Samuel Romilly
Sir Samuel Romilly , was a British legal reformer.-Background and education:Romilly was born in Frith Street, Soho, London, the second son of Peter Romilly, a watchmaker and jeweller...
in his efforts for reforming the criminal code, and took a leading part both in Catholic emancipation and in the Reform Bill
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...
. But he was too little of a partisan, too widely sympathetic and candid, as well as too elaborate, to be a telling speaker in parliament, and was surpassed there by more practical men whose powers were incomparably inferior.
Professor
From 1818 to 1824 he was professor of law and general politics in the East India Company's CollegeEast India Company College
The East India College was a college in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire, England. It was founded in February 1806 as the training establishment for the British East India Company . At that time, the BEIC provided general and vocational education for young gentlemen of sixteen to eighteen years old,...
at Haileybury. While there, on 12 August 1823, Mackintosh wrote a two-sheet letter from Cadogan Place, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(England) to James Savage
James Savage (banker)
James Savage was one of the founding fathers of Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of Boston established in 1816 as the first chartered savings bank in the United States...
asking for source material for Savage's edition of The History of Taunton by Joshua Toulmin
Joshua Toulmin
Joshua Toulmin of Taunton, England was a noted theologian and a serial Dissenting minister of Presbyterian , Baptist , and then Unitarian congregations...
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
. The dissertation, written mostly in ill-health and in snatches of time taken from his parliamentary engagements, was published in 1831. It was severely attacked in 1835 by James Mill
James Mill
James Mill was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He was a founder of classical economics, together with David Ricardo, and the father of influential philosopher of classical liberalism, John Stuart Mill.-Life:Mill was born at Northwater Bridge, in the parish of...
in his Fragment on Mackintosh. About the same time he wrote for the Cabinet Cyclopaedia a History of England from the Earliest Times to the Final Establishment of the Reformation. His more elaborate History of the Revolution, for which he had made great researches and collections, was not published till after his death. A privy councillor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
since 1828, Mackintosh was appointed Commissioner for the affairs of India under the Whig administration of 1830.
History of the Revolution in England in 1688
Mackintosh only completed to James II's abdication. However his voluminous notes on the Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
came into the possession of Thomas Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay PC was a British poet, historian and Whig politician. He wrote extensively as an essayist and reviewer, and on British history...
, who used them for his own History of the Revolution. Mackintosh's notes stopped in the year of 1701, where Macaulay's History also ends.
Death
The premature death of Sir James Mackintosh at the age of sixty-six was attributed to a chicken bone becoming stuck in his throat, causing a traumatic choking episode. Although the bone was eventually removed, his suffering continued until he died a month later on 30 May 1832 and he was buried in Hampstead churchyard, having lived for much of his later life in London at 15 Langham Place.Legacy
A Life, by his son R. J. Mackintosh, was published in 1836. An edition of his works, in three volumes, (apart from the History of England) was published in 1846, containing his ethical and historical dissertations, a number of essays on political and literary topics, reviews, and other contributions to periodical publications, and speeches on a variety of subjects delivered at the bar and in parliament.Works
- Arguments Concerning the Constitutional right of Parliament to Appoint a Regent (1788).
- Vindiciæ Gallicæ: A Defence of the French Revolution and its English admirers against the accusations of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, including some strictures on the late production of Mons de Calonne (1791).
- A Letter to the Right Honourable William Pitt (1792).
- A Letter from Earl Moira to Colonel McMahon (1798).
- A Discourse on the Study of the Law of Nature and Nations (1799).
- The Trial of Jean Peltier for Libel against Napoleon Buonaparte (1803).
- Proceedings at a General Meeting of the Loyal North Britons (1803).
- Plan of a Comparative Vocabulary of Indian Languages (1806).
- Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy (1830).
- The Life of Sir Thomas More (1830).
- The History of England (1830-1832, 3 vols.).
- History of the Revolution in England in 1688, prefaced by a notice of the Life, Writings and Speeches of Sir James Mackintosh (1834).
- Memoirs (edited by Robert James Mackintosh, 1835, 2 vols.).
- Inaugural Address (edited by J. B. Hay, 1839).
- Speeches, 1787-1831 (1840).
Sir James Mackintosh (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
jurist, politician and historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, and worked also as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, administrator, professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, philosopher and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Early life
Mackintosh was born at AldourieAldourie
Aldourie is a small crofting village, on the east shore of Loch Ness and is within the council of Highland, Scotland. Aldourie Castle, seat of the Laird on Dunbar, is close to the village of Aldourie....
, 7 miles from Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
. Both his parents were from old Highland families. His mother died while he was a child, and his father was frequently abroad, so he was brought up by his grandmother, and then schooled at Fortrose Seminary academy. He went in 1780 to King's College
King's College, Aberdeen
King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and an integral part of the University of Aberdeen...
, University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, where he made a lifelong friend of Robert Hall, later a famous preacher. In 1784 he began to study medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at Edinburgh University
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
. He participated to the full in the intellectual ferment, but did not quite neglect his medical studies, and took his degree in 1787.
In 1788 Mackintosh moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, then agitated by the trial of Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings PC was the first Governor-General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.-Early life:...
and the first lapse into insanity of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
. He was much more interested in these and other political events than in his professional prospects; and specially interested in the events and tendencies which caused or preceded the Revolution in France
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
Marriages and children
In 1789 he married Catherine Stuart, whose brother Daniel later edited the Morning PostMorning Post
The Morning Post, as the paper was named on its masthead, was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by The Daily Telegraph.- History :...
. His wife's prudence counteracted Mackintosh's own unpractical temperament, and his efforts in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
became fairly profitable. They had a son, who died in infancy, and three daughters:
- Mary Mackintosh (1789-1876) married Claudius James RichClaudius James RichClaudius James Rich , British business agent, traveller and antiquarian scholar,-Biography:Rich was born near Dijon....
- Maitland Mackintosh (1792-1861), married William Erskine
- Catherine Mackintosh (1795-18??) married William Saltonstall Wiseman, 7th Baronet (1794-1845), was the mother of William Saltonstall Wiseman, 8th Baronet, the Naval officer.
In 1797 his wife died, and next year he married Catherine Allen (died 6 May 1830), sister-in-law of Josiah II
Josiah Wedgwood II
Josiah Wedgwood II , the son of the English potter Josiah Wedgwood, continued his father's firm and was Member of Parliament for Stoke-upon-Trent from 1832 to 1835...
and John Wedgwood
John Wedgwood (1766–1844)
John Wedgwood , the eldest son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood, was a partner in the Wedgwood pottery firm from 1790-1793, and again 1800-1812....
, through whom he introduced Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
to the Morning Post. They had two sons, one of whom died in infancy, and two daughters:
- Frances Emma Elizabeth Mackintosh (Fanny) (1800-1889), married Hensleigh WedgwoodHensleigh WedgwoodHensleigh Wedgwood was a British etymologist, philologist and barrister, author of A Dictionary of English Etymology. Wedgwood was the fourth son of Josiah Wedgwood II and Elizabeth Allen...
. - Robert Mackintosh (1803), died in infancy.
- Bessy Mackintosh (1804-1823)
- Robert James MackintoshRobert James MackintoshRobert James Mackintosh , son of Sir James Mackintosh and his second wife, was a British colonial governor. As Governor of Antigua, he was the viceroy in the Leeward Islands colony between 1850 and 1855....
(1806-1864), colonial governor.
French Revolution
Meanwhile, Mackintosh was soon absorbed in the question of the time; and in April 1791, after long meditation, he published his Vindiciae Gallicae, a reply to Edmund BurkeEdmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
's Reflections on the French Revolution. It was the only worthy answer to Burke that appeared in Burke's estimation. It placed the author in the front rank of European publicists, and won him the friendship of some of the most distinguished men of the time, including Burke himself. The success of the Vindiciae finally decided him to give up the medical for the legal profession. He was called to the bar in 1795 and gained a considerable reputation there as well as a tolerable practice.
His Vindiciae Gallicae was the verdict of a philosophic Liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
on the development of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
up to the spring of 1791. The excesses of the revolutionaries compelled him a few years later to oppose them and agree with Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
, but his earlier defence of the rights of man
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
is a valuable statement of the cultured Whig's point of view at the time.
The width of his intellectual sympathies, joined to a constitutional indecision and vis inertiae, prevented him from doing more enduring work. His History of the Revolution in England, breaking off at the point where William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
is preparing to intervene in the affairs of England, is chiefly interesting because of Macaulay's admiring essay on it and its author.
Lawyer
As a lawyerLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
his greatest public efforts were his lectures (1799) at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
on the law of nature and nations, of which the introductory discourse was published and ran to several editions; the resulting fame helped open doors for him later in life. Mackintosh was also famed for his speech in 1803 defending Jean Gabriel Peltier, a French refugee, against a libel suit instigated by Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
- then First Consul (military dictator) of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Peltier had argued that Napoleon should be killed at time when Britain and France were at peace. The speech was widely published in English and also across Europe in a French translation by Madame de Staël
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein , commonly known as Madame de Staël, was a French-speaking Swiss author living in Paris and abroad. She influenced literary tastes in Europe at the turn of the 19th century.- Childhood :...
, who became a friend of Mackintosh's. In 1803 he was knighted.
Judge of Bombay
He was appointed Recorder (chief judge) of Bombay, taking up the post in 1804. He was not at home in IndiaBritish Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, where he became ill, was disappointed by his literary progress with the mooted History of England, and he was glad to leave for England in November, 1811.
Member of Parliament
He courteously declined the offer of PercevalSpencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated...
to resume political life under the auspices of the dominant Tory party, though tempting prospects of office in connection with India were opened up. He entered Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
in July 1813 as a Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
. He was the member for Nairn until 1818, and afterwards for Knaresborough
Knaresborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Knaresborough was a parliamentary constituency which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868, and then one MP until its abolition in 1885.-Before the Great Reform Act:...
, till his death. In London society, and in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
during his occasional visits, he was a recognized favourite for his genial wisdom and his great conversational power. On Mme de Staël's visit to London he was the only Englishman capable of representing his country in talk with her. Another close friend esteemed by Mackintosh was Richard Sharp MP
Richard Sharp (politician)
Richard Sharp, FRS, FSA , also known as "Conversation" Sharp, was a hat-maker, banker, merchant, poet, critic, British politician, but above all - doyen of the conversationalists.-Family background:...
also known as Conversation Sharp and both men belonged to the famous Whig conversation club, the King of Clubs
King of Clubs (Whig club)
The King of Clubs club - a famous Whig conversation club, founded in 1798The King of Clubs club was perhaps the most distinguished conversation club ever to have existed and, in contrast to its mainly Tory forerunner it was a predominantly Whig fraternity of some of the most brilliant minds of the...
. Mackintosh's parliamentary career was marked by the same wide and candid liberalism as his private life. He opposed the reactionary measures of the Tory government, supported and afterwards succeeded Samuel Romilly
Samuel Romilly
Sir Samuel Romilly , was a British legal reformer.-Background and education:Romilly was born in Frith Street, Soho, London, the second son of Peter Romilly, a watchmaker and jeweller...
in his efforts for reforming the criminal code, and took a leading part both in Catholic emancipation and in the Reform Bill
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...
. But he was too little of a partisan, too widely sympathetic and candid, as well as too elaborate, to be a telling speaker in parliament, and was surpassed there by more practical men whose powers were incomparably inferior.
Professor
From 1818 to 1824 he was professor of law and general politics in the East India Company's CollegeEast India Company College
The East India College was a college in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire, England. It was founded in February 1806 as the training establishment for the British East India Company . At that time, the BEIC provided general and vocational education for young gentlemen of sixteen to eighteen years old,...
at Haileybury. While there, on 12 August 1823, Mackintosh wrote a two-sheet letter from Cadogan Place, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(England) to James Savage
James Savage (banker)
James Savage was one of the founding fathers of Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of Boston established in 1816 as the first chartered savings bank in the United States...
asking for source material for Savage's edition of The History of Taunton by Joshua Toulmin
Joshua Toulmin
Joshua Toulmin of Taunton, England was a noted theologian and a serial Dissenting minister of Presbyterian , Baptist , and then Unitarian congregations...
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
. The dissertation, written mostly in ill-health and in snatches of time taken from his parliamentary engagements, was published in 1831. It was severely attacked in 1835 by James Mill
James Mill
James Mill was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He was a founder of classical economics, together with David Ricardo, and the father of influential philosopher of classical liberalism, John Stuart Mill.-Life:Mill was born at Northwater Bridge, in the parish of...
in his Fragment on Mackintosh. About the same time he wrote for the Cabinet Cyclopaedia a History of England from the Earliest Times to the Final Establishment of the Reformation. His more elaborate History of the Revolution, for which he had made great researches and collections, was not published till after his death. A privy councillor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
since 1828, Mackintosh was appointed Commissioner for the affairs of India under the Whig administration of 1830.
History of the Revolution in England in 1688
Mackintosh only completed to James II's abdication. However his voluminous notes on the Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
came into the possession of Thomas Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay PC was a British poet, historian and Whig politician. He wrote extensively as an essayist and reviewer, and on British history...
, who used them for his own History of the Revolution. Mackintosh's notes stopped in the year of 1701, where Macaulay's History also ends.
Death
The premature death of Sir James Mackintosh at the age of sixty-six was attributed to a chicken bone becoming stuck in his throat, causing a traumatic choking episode. Although the bone was eventually removed, his suffering continued until he died a month later on 30 May 1832 and he was buried in Hampstead churchyard, having lived for much of his later life in London at 15 Langham Place.Legacy
A Life, by his son R. J. Mackintosh, was published in 1836. An edition of his works, in three volumes, (apart from the History of England) was published in 1846, containing his ethical and historical dissertations, a number of essays on political and literary topics, reviews, and other contributions to periodical publications, and speeches on a variety of subjects delivered at the bar and in parliament.Works
- Arguments Concerning the Constitutional right of Parliament to Appoint a Regent (1788).
- Vindiciæ Gallicæ: A Defence of the French Revolution and its English admirers against the accusations of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, including some strictures on the late production of Mons de Calonne (1791).
- A Letter to the Right Honourable William Pitt (1792).
- A Letter from Earl Moira to Colonel McMahon (1798).
- A Discourse on the Study of the Law of Nature and Nations (1799).
- The Trial of Jean Peltier for Libel against Napoleon Buonaparte (1803).
- Proceedings at a General Meeting of the Loyal North Britons (1803).
- Plan of a Comparative Vocabulary of Indian Languages (1806).
- Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy (1830).
- The Life of Sir Thomas More (1830).
- The History of England (1830-1832, 3 vols.).
- History of the Revolution in England in 1688, prefaced by a notice of the Life, Writings and Speeches of Sir James Mackintosh (1834).
- Memoirs (edited by Robert James Mackintosh, 1835, 2 vols.).
- Inaugural Address (edited by J. B. Hay, 1839).
- Speeches, 1787-1831 (1840).
Sir James Mackintosh (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
jurist, politician and historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, and worked also as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, administrator, professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, philosopher and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Early life
Mackintosh was born at AldourieAldourie
Aldourie is a small crofting village, on the east shore of Loch Ness and is within the council of Highland, Scotland. Aldourie Castle, seat of the Laird on Dunbar, is close to the village of Aldourie....
, 7 miles from Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
. Both his parents were from old Highland families. His mother died while he was a child, and his father was frequently abroad, so he was brought up by his grandmother, and then schooled at Fortrose Seminary academy. He went in 1780 to King's College
King's College, Aberdeen
King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and an integral part of the University of Aberdeen...
, University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, where he made a lifelong friend of Robert Hall, later a famous preacher. In 1784 he began to study medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at Edinburgh University
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
. He participated to the full in the intellectual ferment, but did not quite neglect his medical studies, and took his degree in 1787.
In 1788 Mackintosh moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, then agitated by the trial of Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings PC was the first Governor-General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.-Early life:...
and the first lapse into insanity of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
. He was much more interested in these and other political events than in his professional prospects; and specially interested in the events and tendencies which caused or preceded the Revolution in France
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
Marriages and children
In 1789 he married Catherine Stuart, whose brother Daniel later edited the Morning PostMorning Post
The Morning Post, as the paper was named on its masthead, was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by The Daily Telegraph.- History :...
. His wife's prudence counteracted Mackintosh's own unpractical temperament, and his efforts in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
became fairly profitable. They had a son, who died in infancy, and three daughters:
- Mary Mackintosh (1789-1876) married Claudius James RichClaudius James RichClaudius James Rich , British business agent, traveller and antiquarian scholar,-Biography:Rich was born near Dijon....
- Maitland Mackintosh (1792-1861), married William Erskine
- Catherine Mackintosh (1795-18??) married William Saltonstall Wiseman, 7th Baronet (1794-1845), was the mother of William Saltonstall Wiseman, 8th Baronet, the Naval officer.
In 1797 his wife died, and next year he married Catherine Allen (died 6 May 1830), sister-in-law of Josiah II
Josiah Wedgwood II
Josiah Wedgwood II , the son of the English potter Josiah Wedgwood, continued his father's firm and was Member of Parliament for Stoke-upon-Trent from 1832 to 1835...
and John Wedgwood
John Wedgwood (1766–1844)
John Wedgwood , the eldest son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood, was a partner in the Wedgwood pottery firm from 1790-1793, and again 1800-1812....
, through whom he introduced Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
to the Morning Post. They had two sons, one of whom died in infancy, and two daughters:
- Frances Emma Elizabeth Mackintosh (Fanny) (1800-1889), married Hensleigh WedgwoodHensleigh WedgwoodHensleigh Wedgwood was a British etymologist, philologist and barrister, author of A Dictionary of English Etymology. Wedgwood was the fourth son of Josiah Wedgwood II and Elizabeth Allen...
. - Robert Mackintosh (1803), died in infancy.
- Bessy Mackintosh (1804-1823)
- Robert James MackintoshRobert James MackintoshRobert James Mackintosh , son of Sir James Mackintosh and his second wife, was a British colonial governor. As Governor of Antigua, he was the viceroy in the Leeward Islands colony between 1850 and 1855....
(1806-1864), colonial governor.
French Revolution
Meanwhile, Mackintosh was soon absorbed in the question of the time; and in April 1791, after long meditation, he published his Vindiciae Gallicae, a reply to Edmund BurkeEdmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
's Reflections on the French Revolution. It was the only worthy answer to Burke that appeared in Burke's estimation. It placed the author in the front rank of European publicists, and won him the friendship of some of the most distinguished men of the time, including Burke himself. The success of the Vindiciae finally decided him to give up the medical for the legal profession. He was called to the bar in 1795 and gained a considerable reputation there as well as a tolerable practice.
His Vindiciae Gallicae was the verdict of a philosophic Liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
on the development of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
up to the spring of 1791. The excesses of the revolutionaries compelled him a few years later to oppose them and agree with Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
, but his earlier defence of the rights of man
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
is a valuable statement of the cultured Whig's point of view at the time.
The width of his intellectual sympathies, joined to a constitutional indecision and vis inertiae, prevented him from doing more enduring work. His History of the Revolution in England, breaking off at the point where William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
is preparing to intervene in the affairs of England, is chiefly interesting because of Macaulay's admiring essay on it and its author.
Lawyer
As a lawyerLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
his greatest public efforts were his lectures (1799) at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
on the law of nature and nations, of which the introductory discourse was published and ran to several editions; the resulting fame helped open doors for him later in life. Mackintosh was also famed for his speech in 1803 defending Jean Gabriel Peltier, a French refugee, against a libel suit instigated by Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
- then First Consul (military dictator) of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Peltier had argued that Napoleon should be killed at time when Britain and France were at peace. The speech was widely published in English and also across Europe in a French translation by Madame de Staël
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein , commonly known as Madame de Staël, was a French-speaking Swiss author living in Paris and abroad. She influenced literary tastes in Europe at the turn of the 19th century.- Childhood :...
, who became a friend of Mackintosh's. In 1803 he was knighted.
Judge of Bombay
He was appointed Recorder (chief judge) of Bombay, taking up the post in 1804. He was not at home in IndiaBritish Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, where he became ill, was disappointed by his literary progress with the mooted History of England, and he was glad to leave for England in November, 1811.
Member of Parliament
He courteously declined the offer of PercevalSpencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated...
to resume political life under the auspices of the dominant Tory party, though tempting prospects of office in connection with India were opened up. He entered Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
in July 1813 as a Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
. He was the member for Nairn until 1818, and afterwards for Knaresborough
Knaresborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Knaresborough was a parliamentary constituency which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868, and then one MP until its abolition in 1885.-Before the Great Reform Act:...
, till his death. In London society, and in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
during his occasional visits, he was a recognized favourite for his genial wisdom and his great conversational power. On Mme de Staël's visit to London he was the only Englishman capable of representing his country in talk with her. Another close friend esteemed by Mackintosh was Richard Sharp MP
Richard Sharp (politician)
Richard Sharp, FRS, FSA , also known as "Conversation" Sharp, was a hat-maker, banker, merchant, poet, critic, British politician, but above all - doyen of the conversationalists.-Family background:...
also known as Conversation Sharp and both men belonged to the famous Whig conversation club, the King of Clubs
King of Clubs (Whig club)
The King of Clubs club - a famous Whig conversation club, founded in 1798The King of Clubs club was perhaps the most distinguished conversation club ever to have existed and, in contrast to its mainly Tory forerunner it was a predominantly Whig fraternity of some of the most brilliant minds of the...
. Mackintosh's parliamentary career was marked by the same wide and candid liberalism as his private life. He opposed the reactionary measures of the Tory government, supported and afterwards succeeded Samuel Romilly
Samuel Romilly
Sir Samuel Romilly , was a British legal reformer.-Background and education:Romilly was born in Frith Street, Soho, London, the second son of Peter Romilly, a watchmaker and jeweller...
in his efforts for reforming the criminal code, and took a leading part both in Catholic emancipation and in the Reform Bill
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...
. But he was too little of a partisan, too widely sympathetic and candid, as well as too elaborate, to be a telling speaker in parliament, and was surpassed there by more practical men whose powers were incomparably inferior.
Professor
From 1818 to 1824 he was professor of law and general politics in the East India Company's CollegeEast India Company College
The East India College was a college in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire, England. It was founded in February 1806 as the training establishment for the British East India Company . At that time, the BEIC provided general and vocational education for young gentlemen of sixteen to eighteen years old,...
at Haileybury. While there, on 12 August 1823, Mackintosh wrote a two-sheet letter from Cadogan Place, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(England) to James Savage
James Savage (banker)
James Savage was one of the founding fathers of Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of Boston established in 1816 as the first chartered savings bank in the United States...
asking for source material for Savage's edition of The History of Taunton by Joshua Toulmin
Joshua Toulmin
Joshua Toulmin of Taunton, England was a noted theologian and a serial Dissenting minister of Presbyterian , Baptist , and then Unitarian congregations...
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
. The dissertation, written mostly in ill-health and in snatches of time taken from his parliamentary engagements, was published in 1831. It was severely attacked in 1835 by James Mill
James Mill
James Mill was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He was a founder of classical economics, together with David Ricardo, and the father of influential philosopher of classical liberalism, John Stuart Mill.-Life:Mill was born at Northwater Bridge, in the parish of...
in his Fragment on Mackintosh. About the same time he wrote for the Cabinet Cyclopaedia a History of England from the Earliest Times to the Final Establishment of the Reformation. His more elaborate History of the Revolution, for which he had made great researches and collections, was not published till after his death. A privy councillor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
since 1828, Mackintosh was appointed Commissioner for the affairs of India under the Whig administration of 1830.
History of the Revolution in England in 1688
Mackintosh only completed to James II's abdication. However his voluminous notes on the Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
came into the possession of Thomas Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay PC was a British poet, historian and Whig politician. He wrote extensively as an essayist and reviewer, and on British history...
, who used them for his own History of the Revolution. Mackintosh's notes stopped in the year of 1701, where Macaulay's History also ends.
Death
The premature death of Sir James Mackintosh at the age of sixty-six was attributed to a chicken bone becoming stuck in his throat, causing a traumatic choking episode. Although the bone was eventually removed, his suffering continued until he died a month later on 30 May 1832 and he was buried in Hampstead churchyard, having lived for much of his later life in London at 15 Langham Place.Legacy
A Life, by his son R. J. Mackintosh, was published in 1836. An edition of his works, in three volumes, (apart from the History of England) was published in 1846, containing his ethical and historical dissertations, a number of essays on political and literary topics, reviews, and other contributions to periodical publications, and speeches on a variety of subjects delivered at the bar and in parliament.Works
- Arguments Concerning the Constitutional right of Parliament to Appoint a Regent (1788).
- Vindiciæ Gallicæ: A Defence of the French Revolution and its English admirers against the accusations of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, including some strictures on the late production of Mons de Calonne (1791).
- A Letter to the Right Honourable William Pitt (1792).
- A Letter from Earl Moira to Colonel McMahon (1798).
- A Discourse on the Study of the Law of Nature and Nations (1799).
- The Trial of Jean Peltier for Libel against Napoleon Buonaparte (1803).
- Proceedings at a General Meeting of the Loyal North Britons (1803).
- Plan of a Comparative Vocabulary of Indian Languages (1806).
- Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy (1830).
- The Life of Sir Thomas More (1830).
- The History of England (1830-1832, 3 vols.).
- History of the Revolution in England in 1688, prefaced by a notice of the Life, Writings and Speeches of Sir James Mackintosh (1834).
- Memoirs (edited by Robert James Mackintosh, 1835, 2 vols.).
- Inaugural Address (edited by J. B. Hay, 1839).
- Speeches, 1787-1831 (1840).