James Mackintosh: Difference between revisions

Sir James Mackintosh
Sir James Mackintosh
	Sir James Mackintosh; —by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Born	24 October 1765; Aldourie, Inverness-shire, Scotland
Died	30 May 1832 (aged 66)
Citizenship	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Education	University of Aberdeen; University of Edinburgh
Occupation(s)	Political philosopher and politician
Political party	Whig

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Sir James Mackintosh FRS FRSE (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish jurist, Whig politician and Whig 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.

Early life

Mackintosh was born at Aldourie, 7 miles from Inverness, the son of Captain John Mackintosh of Kellachie (Kyllachy, near Tomatin, Inverness-shire).^[1] His mother was Marjory MacGillivray, a daughter of Alexander MacGillivray and his wife Anne Fraser, who was a sister to Brigadier-General Simon Fraser of Balnain.^[2] Both his parents were from old Highland families. His mother died while he was a child, and his father was frequently abroad, mainly due to the Seven Years War – being wounded in 1761 at the Battle of Villinghausen.^[3]

James was raised by his grandmother, and schooled at Fortrose Seminary academy. At age thirteen he proclaimed himself a Whig, and during playtime he persuaded his friends to join him in debates modelled on those of the House of Commons.^[4]

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 University of Edinburgh. He participated to the full in the intellectual ferment, became friendly with Benjamin Constant, but did not quite neglect his medical studies, and took his degree in 1787.^[5]

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. He was also a founder member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (later the RSPCA).^[6]

French Revolution

Mackintosh was soon absorbed in the question of the time, the French Revolution. In April 1791, after long meditation, he published his Vindiciae Gallicae: A Defence of the French Revolution and its English Admirers, a reply to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. 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. 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.

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. Mackintosh was the first to see Burke's Reflections as "the manifesto of a counter revolution".^[7]

Charles James Fox singled out Mackintosh's book as that which did most justice to the French Revolution, and he preferred it over Burke and Thomas Paine.^[8] After Paine's Rights of Man, Mackintosh's book was the most successful reply to Burke and Burke's biographer F. P. Lock considers it "one of the best of the replies to Burke, in some respects superior to Rights of Man".^[9]^[10]

The poet Thomas Campbell claimed that had it not been for Mackintosh's book, Burke's anti-revolutionary opinions would have become universal amongst the educated classes and that he ensured that he became "the apostle of liberalism".^[11]

Mackintosh wrote to Burke on 22 December 1796, saying that "From the earliest moments of reflexion your writings were my chief study and delight...The enthusiasm with which I then embraced them is now ripened into solid Conviction by the experience and meditation of more mature age. For a time indeed seduced by the love of what I thought liberty I ventured to oppose your Opinions without ever ceasing to venerate your character...I cannot say...that I can even now assent to all your opinions on the present politics of Europe. But I can with truth affirm that I subscribe to your general Principles; that I consider them as the only solid foundation both of political Science and of political prudence".^[12] Burke replied that "As it is on all hands allowed that you were the most able advocate for the cause which you supported, your sacrifice to truth and mature reflexion, adds much to your glory".^[13] However, in private Burke was sceptical of what he considered Mackintosh's "supposed conversion".^[14] Burke invited Mackintosh to spend Christmas with him at his home in Beaconsfield, where he was struck by Burke's "astonishing effusions of his mind in conversation. Perfectly free from all taint of affectation...Minutely and accurately informed, to a wonderful exactness, with respect to every fact relative to the French Revolution".^[15]

When Mackintosh visited Paris in 1802 during the Peace of Amiens, he responded to compliments from French admirers of his defence of their revolution by saying: "Messieurs, vous m’avez si bien refuté".^[16]

Lawyer

As a lawyer 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 a time when Britain and France were at peace. In front of an audience of ambassadors, it took only one minute for the jury to convict Jean-Gabriel, but the sentence was never applied as it was decidedly a political trial. J-G Peltier was no more satisfied with the judgment than Napoleon.

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. In 1803, he was knighted.

Judge of Bombay

Upon being knighted, he was appointed Recorder (chief judge) of Bombay, taking up the post in 1804. Within a few months he had established the Bombay Literary Society at his home, where a circle of intellectuals and friends would meet to discuss the history, geography, zoology and botany of the sub-continent as well as its peoples and languages, customs and religions. The group would later evolve into the Asiatic Society of Mumbai.

He was however not at home in India, where he became ill, was disappointed by his literary progress with the mooted History of England, and was glad to leave for England in November 1811.

Member of Parliament

Mackintosh declined the offer of Spencer Perceval to resume political life under the wing of the dominant Tory party, despite prospects of office. 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. On Madame de Staël's visit to London he was able to keep up in talk with her. A close friend was Richard Sharp MP, known as "Conversation Sharp".^[17] and both men belonged to the Whig social group, the King of Clubs.

Mackintosh's parliamentary career was marked by his liberalism: he opposed reactionary measures of the Tory government; he supported and later succeeded Samuel Romilly in his efforts to reform the criminal code; and took a leading part both in Catholic emancipation and in the Reform Bill. His liberalism was, however, firmly Whiggish in orientation - alongside reformers like Thomas Babington Macaulay, Mackintosh was disdainful of the Utilitarian approach to reform, launching an attack on Jeremy Bentham's 'Plan of Parliamentary Reform' (1817) in the Edinburgh Review in 1818, and criticising the philosophy of human nature which underpinned the ideas of Bentham, James Mill, and other leading Utilitarians.^[18]

Professor

From 1818-24, he was professor of law and general politics in the East India Company's College at Haileybury. While there, on 12 August 1823, Mackintosh wrote a two-sheet letter from Cadogan Place, London to James Savage asking for source material for Savage's edition of The History of Taunton by Joshua Toulmin.^[19]

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.

A privy councillor 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

His history of the Glorious Revolution, for which he had done considerable research and collected a large amount of material, was not published till after his death. Mackintosh only completed it to the time of James II's abdication. However his voluminous notes on the Glorious Revolution came into the possession of Thomas Babington 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.^[5]

Mackintosh's work was published in 1834 and in his review of it, Macaulay said that he had "no hesitation" in proclaiming the book as "decidedly the best history now extant of the reign of James the Second" but lamented that "there is perhaps too much disquisition and too little narrative". He went on to praise Mackintosh: "We find in it the diligence, the accuracy, and the judgment of Hallam, united to the vivacity and the colouring of Southey. A history of England, written throughout in this manner, would be the most fascinating book in the language. It would be more in request at the circulating libraries than the last novel".^[20]

Freemasonry

He was Initiated into Scottish Freemasonry in Lodge Holyrood House (St. Luke's), No.44, (Edinburgh) on 28 November 1785.^[21]

Death

Sir James Mackintosh died at home, 15 Langham Place, London at the age of 66. A chicken bone became stuck in his throat, causing a traumatic choking episode. The bone was removed, but he died a month later on 30 May 1832. He was buried in Hampstead on 4 June.^[22]

Legacy

A Life, by his son Robert James 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.

The Mackintosh River in Tasmania was named in his honour, by Henry Hellyer in November 1828.^[23]

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; Introductory to a Course of Lectures on That Science Commenced in Lincoln's Inn Hall on Wednesday, February 13, 1799; In Pursuance to An Order of the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn (2nd ed.). London: T.Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies in the Strand... 1799. hdl:2027/osu.32435002314656.
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, online (archive.org))
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.: Vol. I, Vol. II)
Inaugural Address (edited by J. B. Hay, 1839).
Speeches, 1787–1831 (1840).

Family

In 1789 Mackintosh married Catherine Stuart, whose brother Daniel later edited the Morning Post. 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:

Mary Mackintosh (1789–1876) married Claudius James Rich
Maitland Mackintosh (1792–1861), married William Erskine
Catherine Mackintosh (1795-18??) married Sir William Wiseman, 7th Baronet (1794–1845), and was the mother of Sir William Wiseman, 8th Baronet.

In 1797 Catherine died, and next year Mackintosh married Catherine Allen (died 6 May 1830), sister-in-law of Josiah II and John Wedgwood, through whom he introduced Samuel Taylor Coleridge 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 Wedgwood.
Robert Mackintosh (1803), died in infancy.
Bessy Mackintosh (1804–1823)
Robert James Mackintosh (1806–1864), colonial governor.

Notes

^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
^ Alexander M. Mackintosh, The Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan (Printed for the Author, Edinburgh, 1903), pages 372–373
^ Plan of the Battle of Fellinghausen alias Kirch Denkern on the 15. and 16. of July 1761. Kupferstich v. anonym aus London Magazine, 1761, 18 x 23,2 Zeigt das Gebiet Hamm, Lippstadt im Norden, die Ruhr im Süden mit Mülheim im Osten. Im Mittelpunkt Werl und Soest. Accessed 8 July 2022.
^ Patrick O'Leary, Sir James Mackintosh: The Whig Cicero (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1989), p. 3.
^ ^a ^b Christopher J. Finlay, Mackintosh, Sir James, of Kyllachy (1765–1832), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, January 2010; accessed 16 September 2010.
^ Edward G. Fairholme and Wellesley Pain, A Century of Work for Animals: The History of the RSPCA, 1824–1934 (London: John Murray, 1934), pp. 54-55. Shevawn Lynam, Humanity Dick Martin 'King of Connemara' 1754–1834 (Dublin: Lilliput Press, 1989), p. 232
^ J. C. D. Clark (ed.), Reflections on the Revolution in France. A Critical Edition (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001), p. 104.
^ L. G. Mitchell, Charles James Fox (London: Penguin, 1997), p. 117, p. 184.
^ F. P. Lock, Edmund Burke. Volume II: 1784–1797 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2006), p. 292, p. 347.
^ Clive Emsley: "Burke's diatribe also brought forth a flood of responses of which Tom Paine's The Rights of Man is unquestionably the raciest and best-known, but, in comparison with, for example, James Mackintosh's Vindiciae Gallicae, it is by no means the most intellectually coherent and cogent". 'Revolution, war and the nation state: the British and French experiences 1789–1801', in Mark Philp (ed.), The French Revolution and British Popular Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 101.
^ O'Leary, p. 22.
^ R. B. McDowell and John A. Woods (eds.), The Correspondence of Edmund Burke. Volume IX: Part One May 1796 – July 1797. Part Two: Additional and Undated Letters (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970), p. 193.
^ McDowell and Woods, p. 194.
^ Burke wrote to his friend French Laurence on 25 December: "I suspect by his Letter that it does not extend beyond the interior politicks of this Island, but that, with regard to France and many other Countries He remains as franc a Jacobin as ever. This conversion is none at all, but we must nurse up these nothings and think these negative advantages as we can have them". McDowell and Woods, pp. 204–205.
^ Lock, p. 560.
^ O'Leary, p. 23.
^ For an account of Mackintosh's correspondence and relationship with Sharp, see Knapman, D. – Conversation Sharp – The Biography of a London Gentleman, Richard Sharp (1759–1835), in Letters, Prose and Verse. [Private Publication], 2004. British Library
^ "Jeremy Bentham". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. 2021.
^ Harvard College Library (2005) Hill, George Birkbeck Norman, 1835–1903. Johnsonian Miscellanies, extra-illustrated: Guide Archived 2 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine 21 October 2006.
^ Thomas Babington Macaulay, Critical and Historical Essays: Volume One (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1935), pp. 279–280.
^ A History of the Mason Lodge of Holyrood House (St.Luke's), No.44, holding of the Grand Lodge of Scotland with Roll of Members, 1734–1934, by Robert Strathern Lindsay, W.S., Edinburgh, 1935. Vol.II, p.702.
^ Finlay, Christopher J. "Mackintosh, Sir James, of Kyllachy (1765–1832)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/17620. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Peter McGillivray (article) Mackintosh in Tasmania (Journal of the Clan Chattan Association, Vol. VIII – No. 3, 1985), page 162

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mackintosh, Sir James". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 259.
Harrington, Jack (2010), Sir John Malcolm and the Creation of British India, Chs. 1 &3, New York: Palgrave Macmillan., ISBN 978-0-230-10885-1

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by Lord Jeffrey	Rector of the University of Glasgow 1822–1824	Succeeded by Baron Brougham and Vaux

[1] Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2017.

[2] Alexander M. Mackintosh, The Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan (Printed for the Author, Edinburgh, 1903), pages 372–373

[3] Plan of the Battle of Fellinghausen alias Kirch Denkern on the 15. and 16. of July 1761. Kupferstich v. anonym aus London Magazine, 1761, 18 x 23,2 Zeigt das Gebiet Hamm, Lippstadt im Norden, die Ruhr im Süden mit Mülheim im Osten. Im Mittelpunkt Werl und Soest. Accessed 8 July 2022.

[4] Patrick O'Leary, Sir James Mackintosh: The Whig Cicero (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1989), p. 3.

[ODNB-5] Christopher J. Finlay, Mackintosh, Sir James, of Kyllachy (1765–1832), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, January 2010; accessed 16 September 2010.

[6] Edward G. Fairholme and Wellesley Pain, A Century of Work for Animals: The History of the RSPCA, 1824–1934 (London: John Murray, 1934), pp. 54-55. Shevawn Lynam, Humanity Dick Martin 'King of Connemara' 1754–1834 (Dublin: Lilliput Press, 1989), p. 232

[7] J. C. D. Clark (ed.), Reflections on the Revolution in France. A Critical Edition (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001), p. 104.

[8] L. G. Mitchell, Charles James Fox (London: Penguin, 1997), p. 117, p. 184.

[9] F. P. Lock, Edmund Burke. Volume II: 1784–1797 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2006), p. 292, p. 347.

[10] Clive Emsley: "Burke's diatribe also brought forth a flood of responses of which Tom Paine's The Rights of Man is unquestionably the raciest and best-known, but, in comparison with, for example, James Mackintosh's Vindiciae Gallicae, it is by no means the most intellectually coherent and cogent". 'Revolution, war and the nation state: the British and French experiences 1789–1801', in Mark Philp (ed.), The French Revolution and British Popular Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 101.

[11] O'Leary, p. 22.

[12] R. B. McDowell and John A. Woods (eds.), The Correspondence of Edmund Burke. Volume IX: Part One May 1796 – July 1797. Part Two: Additional and Undated Letters (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970), p. 193.

[13] McDowell and Woods, p. 194.

[14] Burke wrote to his friend French Laurence on 25 December: "I suspect by his Letter that it does not extend beyond the interior politicks of this Island, but that, with regard to France and many other Countries He remains as franc a Jacobin as ever. This conversion is none at all, but we must nurse up these nothings and think these negative advantages as we can have them". McDowell and Woods, pp. 204–205.

[15] Lock, p. 560.

[16] O'Leary, p. 23.

[17] For an account of Mackintosh's correspondence and relationship with Sharp, see Knapman, D. – Conversation Sharp – The Biography of a London Gentleman, Richard Sharp (1759–1835), in Letters, Prose and Verse. [Private Publication], 2004. British Library

[18] "Jeremy Bentham". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. 2021.

[19] Harvard College Library (2005) Hill, George Birkbeck Norman, 1835–1903. Johnsonian Miscellanies, extra-illustrated: Guide Archived 2 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine 21 October 2006.

[20] Thomas Babington Macaulay, Critical and Historical Essays: Volume One (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1935), pp. 279–280.

[21] A History of the Mason Lodge of Holyrood House (St.Luke's), No.44, holding of the Grand Lodge of Scotland with Roll of Members, 1734–1934, by Robert Strathern Lindsay, W.S., Edinburgh, 1935. Vol.II, p.702.

[22] Finlay, Christopher J. "Mackintosh, Sir James, of Kyllachy (1765–1832)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/17620. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[23] Peter McGillivray (article) Mackintosh in Tasmania (Journal of the Clan Chattan Association, Vol. VIII – No. 3, 1985), page 162

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+{{Short description|Scottish jurist, Whig politician and Whig historian}}
 {{For|the New Zealand politician|James Mackintosh (politician)}}
-{{distinguish|James McIntosh (disambiguation)|Jamie Mackintosh|Robert James Mackintosh}}
+{{distinguish|James McIntosh (disambiguation){{!}}James McIntosh|Jamie Mackintosh|Robert James Mackintosh}}
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-| birth_place        = [[Aldourie]], [[Inverness-shire]]
+| birth_place        = [[Aldourie]], [[Inverness-shire]], Scotland
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-| residence          =
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 | occupation         = Political philosopher and politician
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 ==Early life==
-Mackintosh was born at [[Aldourie]], 7 miles from [[Inverness]], the son of Captain John Mackintosh of [[Kellachie]] (Kyllachy, near [[Tomatin]] in [[Inverness-shire]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf}}</ref> His mother was Marjory MacGillivray, a daughter of Alexander MacGillivray and his wife Anne Fraser, who was a sister to Brigadier-General [[Simon Fraser of Balnain]].<ref>Alexander M. Mackintosh, ''The Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan'' (Printed for the Author, Edinburgh, 1903), pages 372–373</ref> Both his parents were from old Highland families. His mother died while he was a child, and his father was frequently abroad, mainly due to the [[Seven_Years%27_War|Seven Years War]] – being wounded in 1761 at the [[Battle of Villinghausen]].<ref>[https://www.abebooks.com/art-prints/Plan-Battle-Fellinghausen-alias-Kirch-Denkern/30509450079/bd Plan of the Battle of Fellinghausen alias Kirch Denkern on the 15. and 16. of July 1761]. Kupferstich v. anonym aus London Magazine, 1761, 18 x 23,2 Zeigt das Gebiet Hamm, Lippstadt im Norden, die Ruhr im Süden mit Mülheim im Osten. Im Mittelpunkt Werl und Soest. Accessed 8 July 2022.</ref> So James was raised by his grandmother, and then schooled at Fortrose Seminary academy. At age thirteen he proclaimed himself a Whig, and during playtime he persuaded his friends to join him in debates modelled on those of the House of Commons.<ref>Patrick O'Leary, ''Sir James Mackintosh: The Whig Cicero'' (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1989), p. 3.</ref>
+Mackintosh was born at [[Aldourie]], 7 miles from [[Inverness]], the son of Captain John Mackintosh of Kellachie (Kyllachy, near [[Tomatin]], [[Inverness-shire]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|access-date=19 July 2017|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> His mother was Marjory MacGillivray, a daughter of Alexander MacGillivray and his wife Anne Fraser, who was a sister to Brigadier-General [[Simon Fraser of Balnain]].<ref>Alexander M. Mackintosh, ''The Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan'' (Printed for the Author, Edinburgh, 1903), pages 372–373</ref> Both his parents were from old Highland families. His mother died while he was a child, and his father was frequently abroad, mainly due to the [[Seven Years' War|Seven Years War]] – being wounded in 1761 at the [[Battle of Villinghausen]].<ref>[https://www.abebooks.com/art-prints/Plan-Battle-Fellinghausen-alias-Kirch-Denkern/30509450079/bd Plan of the Battle of Fellinghausen alias Kirch Denkern on the 15. and 16. of July 1761]. Kupferstich v. anonym aus London Magazine, 1761, 18 x 23,2 Zeigt das Gebiet Hamm, Lippstadt im Norden, die Ruhr im Süden mit Mülheim im Osten. Im Mittelpunkt Werl und Soest. Accessed 8 July 2022.</ref>
+James was raised by his grandmother, and schooled at Fortrose Seminary academy. At age thirteen he proclaimed himself a Whig, and during playtime he persuaded his friends to join him in debates modelled on those of the House of Commons.<ref>Patrick O'Leary, ''Sir James Mackintosh: The Whig Cicero'' (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1989), p. 3.</ref>
-He went in 1780 to [[King's College, Aberdeen|King's College]], [[University of Aberdeen]], where he made a lifelong friend of [[Robert Hall (minister)|Robert Hall]], later a famous preacher. In 1784 he began to study [[medicine]] at [[University of Edinburgh]]. He participated to the full in the intellectual ferment, became friendly with [[Benjamin Constant]], but did not quite neglect his medical studies, and took his degree in 1787.
+He went in 1780 to [[King's College, Aberdeen|King's College]], [[University of Aberdeen]], where he made a lifelong friend of [[Robert Hall (minister)|Robert Hall]], later a famous preacher. In 1784, he began to study [[medicine]] at [[University of Edinburgh]]. He participated to the full in the intellectual ferment, became friendly with [[Benjamin Constant]], but did not quite neglect his medical studies, and took his degree in 1787.<ref name="ODNB"/>
-In 1788 Mackintosh moved to London, then agitated by the trial of [[Warren Hastings]] and the first lapse into insanity of [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]]. He was much more interested in these and other political events than in his professional prospects. He was also a founder member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (later the [[RSPCA]]).<ref>Edward G. Fairholme and Wellesley Pain, ''A Century of Work for Animals: The History of the RSPCA, 1824–1934'' (London: John Murray, 1934), p 54-55. Shevawn Lynam, ''Humanity Dick Martin 'King of Connemara' 1754–1834'' (Dublin: Lilliput Press, 1989) p 232</ref>
+In 1788, Mackintosh moved to London, then agitated by the trial of [[Warren Hastings]] and the first lapse into insanity of [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]]. He was much more interested in these and other political events than in his professional prospects. He was also a founder member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (later the [[RSPCA]]).<ref>Edward G. Fairholme and Wellesley Pain, ''A Century of Work for Animals: The History of the RSPCA, 1824–1934'' (London: John Murray, 1934), pp. 54-55. Shevawn Lynam, ''Humanity Dick Martin 'King of Connemara' 1754–1834'' (Dublin: Lilliput Press, 1989), p. 232</ref>
 ==French Revolution==
@@ Line 67: / Line 65: @@
 ==Lawyer==
+{{Unsourced|section|date=November 2022}}
-As a [[lawyer]] 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 [[:fr:Jean-Gabriel Peltier|Jean Gabriel Peltier]], a French refugee, against a [[libel]] suit instigated by [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] – then [[French Consulate|First Consul]] (military dictator) of France. Peltier had argued that Napoleon should be killed at a time when Britain and France were at peace. In front of an audience of ambassadors, it took only one minute for the jury to convict Jean-Gabriel, but the sentence was never applied, it was decidedly a political trial. J-G Peltier was no more satisfied with the judgment than Napoleon. The newspapers of France received the defense of praising the pleading under pain of suppression ! The speech was widely published in English and also across Europe in a French translation by [[Anne Louise Germaine de Staël|Madame de Staël]], who became a friend of Mackintosh's. In 1803 he was knighted.
+As a [[lawyer]] 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 [[:fr:Jean-Gabriel Peltier|Jean Gabriel Peltier]], a French refugee, against a [[libel]] suit instigated by [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] – then [[French Consulate|First Consul]] (military dictator) of France. Peltier had argued that Napoleon should be killed at a time when Britain and France were at peace. In front of an audience of ambassadors, it took only one minute for the jury to convict Jean-Gabriel, but the sentence was never applied as it was decidedly a political trial. J-G Peltier was no more satisfied with the judgment than Napoleon.
+The speech was widely published in English and also across Europe in a French translation by [[Anne Louise Germaine de Staël|Madame de Staël]], who became a friend of Mackintosh. In 1803, he was knighted.
 ==Judge of Bombay==
+{{Unsourced|section|date=November 2022}}
-He was appointed Recorder (chief judge) of [[Bombay]], taking up the post in 1804. Within a few months he had established the Bombay Literary Society at his home, where a circle of intellectuals and friends would meet to discuss the history, geography, zoology and botany of the sub-continent as well as its peoples and languages, customs and religions. The group would later evolve into the [[Asiatic Society of Mumbai]].
+Upon being knighted, he was appointed Recorder (chief judge) of [[Bombay]], taking up the post in 1804. Within a few months he had established the Bombay Literary Society at his home, where a circle of intellectuals and friends would meet to discuss the history, geography, zoology and botany of the sub-continent as well as its peoples and languages, customs and religions. The group would later evolve into the [[Asiatic Society of Mumbai]].
 He was however not at home in [[British Raj|India]], where he became ill, was disappointed by his literary progress with the mooted ''History of England'', and was glad to leave for England in November 1811.
 ==Member of Parliament==
+{{Moresources|section|date=November 2022}}
-Mackintosh declined the offer of [[Spencer Perceval]] to resume political life under the wing of the dominant [[Tory (British political party)|Tory]] party, despite prospects of office. He entered [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in July 1813 as a Whig. He was the member for [[Nairnshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Nairn]] until 1818, and afterwards for [[Knaresborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Knaresborough]], till his death. In London society, and in Paris during his occasional visits, he was a recognized favourite. On [[Madame de Staël]]'s visit to London he was able to keep up in talk with her. A close friend was [[Richard Sharp (politician)|Richard Sharp MP]], known as "Conversation Sharp".<ref>For an account of Mackintosh's correspondence and relationship with Sharp, see Knapman, D. – ''Conversation Sharp – The Biography of a London Gentleman, Richard Sharp (1759–1835), in Letters, Prose and Verse''. [Private Publication], 2004. British Library</ref> and both men belonged to the Whig social group, the [[King of Clubs (Whig club)|King of Clubs]]. Mackintosh's parliamentary career was marked by his liberalism: he opposed reactionary measures of the Tory government; he supported and later succeeded [[Samuel Romilly]] in his efforts to reform the criminal code; and took a leading part both in [[Catholic emancipation]] and in the [[Reform Act 1832|Reform Bill]]. He was, however, too diffuse and elaborate to be a telling speaker in parliament.
+Mackintosh declined the offer of [[Spencer Perceval]] to resume political life under the wing of the dominant [[Tory (British political party)|Tory]] party, despite prospects of office. He entered [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in July 1813 as a Whig. He was the member for [[Nairnshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Nairn]] until 1818, and afterwards for [[Knaresborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Knaresborough]], till his death.
+In London society, and in Paris during his occasional visits, he was a recognized favourite. On [[Madame de Staël]]'s visit to London he was able to keep up in talk with her. A close friend was [[Richard Sharp (politician)|Richard Sharp MP]], known as "Conversation Sharp".<ref>For an account of Mackintosh's correspondence and relationship with Sharp, see Knapman, D. – ''Conversation Sharp – The Biography of a London Gentleman, Richard Sharp (1759–1835), in Letters, Prose and Verse''. [Private Publication], 2004. British Library</ref> and both men belonged to the Whig social group, the [[King of Clubs (Whig club)|King of Clubs]].
+Mackintosh's parliamentary career was marked by his liberalism: he opposed reactionary measures of the Tory government; he supported and later succeeded [[Samuel Romilly]] in his efforts to reform the criminal code; and took a leading part both in [[Catholic emancipation]] and in the [[Reform Act 1832|Reform Bill]]. His liberalism was, however, firmly Whiggish in orientation - alongside reformers like [[Thomas Babington Macaulay]], Mackintosh was disdainful of the Utilitarian approach to reform, launching an attack on [[Jeremy Bentham]]'s 'Plan of Parliamentary Reform' (1817) in the Edinburgh Review in 1818, and criticising the philosophy of human nature which underpinned the ideas of Bentham, [[James Mill]], and other leading Utilitarians.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/bentham/ | title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy | chapter=Jeremy Bentham | year=2021 | publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University }}</ref>
 ==Professor==
+{{Moresources|section|date=November 2022}}
-From 1818 to 1824 he was professor of law and general politics in the [[East India Company College|East India Company's College]] at Haileybury. While there, on 12 August 1823, Mackintosh wrote a two-sheet letter from Cadogan Place, London to [[James Savage (antiquary)|James Savage]] asking for source material for Savage's edition of ''The History of Taunton'' by [[Joshua Toulmin]].<ref>Harvard College Library (2005) [http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~hou01781 Hill, George Birkbeck Norman, 1835–1903. Johnsonian Miscellanies, extra-illustrated: Guide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902131949/http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~hou01781 |date=2 September 2006 }} 21 October 2006.</ref>
+From 1818-24, he was professor of law and general politics in the [[East India Company College|East India Company's College]] at Haileybury. While there, on 12 August 1823, Mackintosh wrote a two-sheet letter from Cadogan Place, London to [[James Savage (antiquary)|James Savage]] asking for source material for Savage's edition of ''The History of Taunton'' by [[Joshua Toulmin]].<ref>Harvard College Library (2005) [http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~hou01781 Hill, George Birkbeck Norman, 1835–1903. Johnsonian Miscellanies, extra-illustrated: Guide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902131949/http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~hou01781 |date=2 September 2006 }} 21 October 2006.</ref>
 [[Image:SirJamesMackintosh2.jpg|thumb|right|Sir James Mackintosh in later life.]]
-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.''
+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''.
 A [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|privy councillor]] 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''==
-His history of the [[Glorious Revolution]], for which he had done considerable research and collected a large amount of material, was not published till after his death.  Mackintosh only completed it to the time of [[James II of England|James II]]'s abdication. However his voluminous notes on the Glorious Revolution came into the possession of [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Thomas Babington Macaulay]], who used them for his own ''[[The History of England from the Accession of James the Second|History]]'' of the Revolution. Mackintosh's notes stopped in the year of 1701, where Macaulay's ''History'' also ends.<ref name="ODNB">Christopher J. Finlay, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17620 Mackintosh, Sir James, of Kyllachy  (1765–1832)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2010, accessed 16 September 2010.</ref>
+His history of the [[Glorious Revolution]], for which he had done considerable research and collected a large amount of material, was not published till after his death.  Mackintosh only completed it to the time of [[James II of England|James II]]'s abdication. However his voluminous notes on the Glorious Revolution came into the possession of [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Thomas Babington Macaulay]], who used them for his own ''[[The History of England from the Accession of James the Second|History]]'' of the Revolution. Mackintosh's notes stopped in the year of 1701, where Macaulay's ''History'' also ends.<ref name="ODNB">Christopher J. Finlay, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17620 Mackintosh, Sir James, of Kyllachy  (1765–1832)], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, January 2010; accessed 16 September 2010.</ref>
 Mackintosh's work was published in 1834 and in his review of it, Macaulay said that he had "no hesitation" in proclaiming the book as "decidedly the best history now extant of the reign of James the Second" but lamented that "there is perhaps too much disquisition and too little narrative". He went on to praise Mackintosh: "We find in it the diligence, the accuracy, and the judgment of [[Henry Hallam|Hallam]], united to the vivacity and the colouring of [[Robert Southey|Southey]]. A history of England, written throughout in this manner, would be the most fascinating book in the language. It would be more in request at the circulating libraries than the last novel".<ref>Thomas Babington Macaulay, ''Critical and Historical Essays: Volume One'' (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1935), pp. 279–280.</ref>
@@ Line 96: / Line 106: @@
 ==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.
+A ''Life'', by his son [[Robert James 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.
 The [[Mackintosh River]] in [[Tasmania]] was named in his honour, by Henry Hellyer in November 1828.<ref>Peter McGillivray (article) ''Mackintosh in Tasmania'' (Journal of [https://clanchattan.org.uk/ the Clan Chattan Association], Vol. VIII – No. 3, 1985), page 162</ref>
@@ Line 148: / Line 158: @@
 ==External links==
-* {{Gutenberg author | id=Mackintosh,+James,+Sir | name=James Mackintosh}}
+* {{Gutenberg author | id=33880| name=James Mackintosh}}
 * {{Internet Archive author |sname=James Mackintosh}}
 * [https://www.grandlodgescotland.com/ Grand Lodge of Scotland]
@@ Line 167: / Line 177: @@
 [[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
 [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
+[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
 [[Category:Rectors of the University of Glasgow]]
+[[Category:RSPCA workers]]
 [[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
 [[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies]]
@@ Line 179: / Line 191: @@
 [[Category:UK MPs 1830–1831]]
 [[Category:UK MPs 1831–1832]]
-[[Category:Scottish people of the British Empire]]
+[[Category:Scottish colonial officials]]
 [[Category:People from Nairnshire]]
 [[Category:Whig history]]
 [[Category:Deaths from choking]]
+[[Category:Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge]]

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