largely to the reviews. The following articles appeared in the Monthly Review—"Gibbon's Posthumous Works;" "Life of Lorenzo de Medici, by Roscoe;" "View of the Causes and Consequences of the War;" "Thoughts on a Regicide Peace;" and "Letter to a Noble Lord." In the last two we discover the earliest symptoms of apostasy from the political faith professed in the "Vindiciæ Gallicæ," and to which in later years the critic returned. Hitherto his practice as a barrister had not been lucrative. In 1797 he issued a prospectus of a course of lectures to be delivered by him on the Law of Nature and Nations. The benchers of Lincoln's inn at first refused the use of their hall, but on the representations of Lord Rosslyn and Sir John Scott (afterwards Lord Eldon), then attorney-general, they consented. The prospectus attracted great attention. About thirty peers, twice as many commoners, and a crowd of men distinguished in law and literature assembled in Lincoln's inn hall to hear the introductory lecture. Melville, Canning, Lord Rosslyn, Pitt, and Addington, wrote him letters of compliment. This lecture alone is preserved. The others were not of sufficient interest to keep this brilliant auditory together, and the design so happily conceived proved on the whole a failure. After this his professional business increased a little, but his practice was chiefly confined to parliamentary committees. In the seventh year after his call to the bar it is said that his income amounted to £1200 a year. Two years after the death of his wife (1797) Mackintosh married a Miss Allen of Pembrokeshire, became a shareholder in the Morning Post, and wrote political articles for that paper at a weekly salary. In 1803 Mackintosh was leading counsel for the defence in Peltier's case. It was one of those rare opportunities which fortune sometimes throws in the way of young advocates. A similar opportunity sealed the success of Erskine, and placed Pratt, after the patient waiting of thirteen years, on the high road to the peerage. Mackintosh was not equal to the chance. His speech was a laboured dissertation on European politics; ostentatiously learned without being effective. The advocate appeared to evince more anxiety for his reputation than for the acquittal of his client. However, by means of this and his literary fame, he became a marked man, and the government thought it time to give him a step. In 1803 he was appointed recorder of Bombay, and received the honour of knighthood. During his residence in India he affected to follow in the footsteps of the distinguished Sir William Jones, but either through constitutional indolence or inferiority of talent, or both, he accomplished nothing worthy of his exemplar. Taking the precedent which had been left by Sir William, Mackintosh established a literary society in Bombay, and continued president of the same till his return to Europe. At this period he commenced "A Sketch of his Life," and projected "The History of England," beginning with the Revolution. Lady Mackintosh left Bombay for England in 1809. Three years later Sir James returned on account of ill health, on a pension of £1200 a year, and received the appointment of professor of law in the East India college. The lectures delivered here are not extant. Through the influence of Lord Cawdor, he was returned in 1812 for the county of Nairn. His first speech in the house was delivered on the 16th December, 1813. His parliamentary career was neither obscure nor brilliant. One of his ablest speeches was that on the transfer of Genoa to Sardinia by the congress of Vienna. The best reported is that delivered in 1826 on presenting the petition of the merchants of London for the recognition of the independence of the South American states. The former won for him the warm approval of the whigs; the latter is replete with happy passages and varied knowledge of foreign affairs. But Mackintosh was not fitted by nature for an orator. His voice was without tune or compass; his gestures were graceless, and above all he wanted the oratorical temperament. His countenance was strongly marked with hard, inflexible lines. There was much vehemence in his sallies, but scarcely any passion. His more gentle appeals seldom rose to genuine pathos. In literary circles Mackintosh had the reputation of being a brilliant talker. Without being witty, his humour was sufficiently piquant to make people laugh. Madame de Stael, who by a translation gave European celebrity to the "Defence of Peltier," was charmed with his urbanity during her sojourn in the metropolis. But in parliament Mackintosh was always grave. There was a sincerity about his manner which made every argument tell. Every liberal measure or philanthropic scheme found in him a zealous and earnest advocate. In the annals of parliament his name is conspicuous in the debates on the emancipation of the Roman catholics, the removal of religious disabilities, the abolition of slavery, the amelioration of the criminal code, and parliamentary reform. From 13th April, 1825, to 8th June, 1827, his name does not appear in the parliamentary debates, and only once in the list of divisions—among the minority who voted for the catholic claims. Lord Grey and the whigs came into office, November, 1830, when Sir James Mackintosh, already in the privy council, was made a commissioner for the affairs of India. On the 4th July, 1831, he supported the second reading of the reform bill. It was one of the most effective speeches delivered on either side of the house The last time he ever spoke in parliament was on the 4th October, when the reform bill was in committee. As a historian Mackintosh possessed neither the luminous imagery of Gibbon, the narrative powers of Robertson, nor the philosophical spirit of Hume. Compared with the eminent lawyers of the Georgian era, the recorder of Bombay is but a feather in the balance against the weighty names of Romilly, Grant, and Mansfield. The defence of Peltier, upon which Mackintosh bestowed the greatest labour, contrasts feebly as an example of forensic eloquence with the memorable oration of Erskine upon constructive treason. Though his speeches in parliament display a richness of style, accurate information, and unquestionable sincerity, we search in vain for the close reasoning of Fox, the statesmanship of Chatham, the wit of Sheridan, the majestic diction of Pitt, the raillery of Canning, or the terse epigrammatic eloquence of Grattan. Nevertheless his career was eminently successful. In political controversy he was acknowledged a rival not unworthy of Burke. Though not a member of the cabinet, the whigs placed the highest value upon his support. The earnest advocacy of enlightened principles, combined with a rare obliviousness of self and genuineness of purpose, gave authority to his voice in parliament, and endeared him in the affections of a confiding public. He died in London on the 30th May, 1832, and was buried in the parish church of Hampstead. The following articles were contributed by Mackintosh to the Edinburgh Review, viz., "Poems by Samuel Rogers," in the October number of 1813; "Stewart's View of the Progress of Metaphysical Science," September, 1816; "Sismondi's History of the French," July, 1821. Mackintosh intended the "History of England" to be his opus magnum; but though materials to the extent of fifty manuscript volumes were compiled, the design was not carried into effect. A brief general survey of English history was contributed to Lardner's Cyclopedia, two volumes of which appeared in his lifetime; but of the third he only lived to write a part, bringing the history down to the reign of Elizabeth. As a general survey it is of much value, comprehensive, liberal, and clear. He was also the author of the following works—"Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy," chiefly during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, prefixed to the seventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica; and "The Life of Thomas Moore," which first appeared in Lardner's Cyclopedia. In 1835 the "Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable Sir James Mackintosh" were edited by his son Robert Mackintosh, Esq., and published in 2 vols. The Miscellaneous Works of Sir James Mackintosh, including his articles in the Edinburgh Review, have been published in 3 vols. A separate edition of the "Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy" was issued in 1836, with a preface by the Rev. W. Whewell. A new edition of the "History of England," revised by his son, has been published in 2 vols.—G. H. P.
MACKLIN, Charles, actor and dramatist, was born in Ireland; but the locality and date of his birth are uncertain. Dublin, Meath, Westmeath, and Ulster are assigned for the former, and 1690 for the latter, though it is probable that he was not born till some years after. He was educated in Dublin, and in 1708 he went to England; and changing his name from its Irish original Cathal O'Melaghlin, he married and acted in various companies of strolling players till in 1725 he came to London, and got an engagement in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields theatre. He played in comedy for some years, and in 1735 he had a dispute with a brother actor of the name of Hallam, whom he killed; was tried and acquitted. In 1741 Macklin attempted Shylock with so great success, that a gentleman in the pit, said to be Pope, exclaimed "This is the Jew that Shakspeare drew." From this period he obtained liberal engagements at the principal theatres, though he was never very successful in the higher walks of tragedy. In 1748 Sheridan engaged Macklin and his
