We have thus far sketched the life of Sir James Mack- intosh somewhat more in detail than the limited space of our Cyclopedia really warrants, in order to enable
MACKLAURIN
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our readers fully to appreciate the valualile services of this master-mind in the department of philosophy, not only so far as they were exerted directly, but also indirectly. It is not without reason that his distin- guished friend Robert Hall said '• that if Sir James Mackintosh had enjoyed leisure, and had exerted him- self, he would have completely outdone Jeffrey and Stewart, and all the metaphysical writers of our time" QVorJcs [Gregory's edition, New York, 1833, 3 vols.Svo], iii. 80). Neither can we afford to pass hastily by the man whom so eminent an authority as JNIorell {Bist. <ind Crit. View of the Speculative Philosophy of Europe in the 19th Century [N. Y. 1849, 8vo], p. 405) points out as one of the most eminent moralists of our day. " The ardor, the depth, and the learning," says Morell, " with which he combated the selfish systems, and pleaded for the authority and sanctity of the moral faculty in man, contributed perliaps more than any single cause, not of a relii^ious nature, to oppose the bold advances of utili- tarianism, and infuse a healthier tone into the moral principles of the country. "Without signifj-ing our ad- herence to his peculiar theory respecting conscience [viz. " that conscience, or the moral facultj-, is not an original part of our constitution, but a ' secondary for- mation,' created at a later period of life by the effect of the association f)f ideas out of a variety of elements ex- isting in the mind" (comp. iV. A . Eer. xxxv, 451 ; also IM'Cosh, Intuitions of the Mind, p. 253)], we still regard his thoughts and speculations as taking eminently the right direction, and had he obtained leisure to mature his views, and give them to the world in his own forci- ble and glowing style, it is the opinion of some best able to judge upon the subject (e. g. Robert Hall and Dr. Chalmers) that he would have placed the whole theory of morals upon a higher and more commanding position than it had ever occupied before in this country [Eng- land]." Besides this work on Ethical Philosophy (re- published Philad. 1834, 8vo), Mackintosh's ctiief met- aphysical writings were published in the Edinhnrrjli Re- rietr, to which he frequently contributed (for a list of them, see xVlliljone). His Miscellaneous Woils, includ- ing the contributions to the Edinhurffh Revieu\yveTe pub- lished in 1846, 3 vols. 8vo, and also in a single volume sq. crown 8vo. See Memoirs of the Life of the Right Hon. Sir James Mackintosh, edited by his son, Robert James Mackintosh, Esq. (1835, 2 vols. 8vo) ; Edinh. Rev. 1835 (Oct.) ; Brit. Quart. Rev. 184G (Nov.) ; North Am. Rev. 1832 (Oct.) ; and especially the very elaborate and able article in Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and Am. Authoi's, ii. 1179-1188. (.J.H.W.)
Macklaurin, John, an eminent Scotch divine, was burn in October, 1693, at Glendaruel, Argyleshire, where his father was then pastor. .John was unfortu- nately early made an orphan, and he was taken in care by his uncle, the Rev. David JMagklaurin, who educated .lohn for the ministry, first at Glasgow, and later at Ley- den, Holland. In 1717 he was licensed by the Presby- tery of Dumbarton, and two years after was appointed minister at Luss. on the west bank of Loch Lomond. In 1723 he was promoted to a more responsible charge, the north-west parish of Glasgow. Here he died, Sept. 8, 1754, "deeply regretted by a numerous and attached congregation, as well as by the general community of Christians in Britain." His sermons and essays, many of which have been pubUshed, have received the high- est commendations, and are even in our day in general favor with the clergy of Great Britain. Tlic most val- uable are An Essay on the Prophecies relating to the Messiah, and three Sermons (Edinb. 1773, 8vo), said to have been the germ of the large and valuable work of bishop Hurd On Prophecy ; Prejudices against the Gos- pel; and his sermons On the Sins of Men not chargeable to God, and Glorying in the Ci-oss of Christ, all contained in his Sermons and Essays, published by the Rev. John Gillies (2d ed. London, 1772, 12mo), where may also be found an account of the life of John ^Macklaurin. See Jamieson, Cyclopadia of Religious Biography, s, v.;
Brown, Introductory Essay in Works of Macklaurin
(1824).
Macklin, Alexander, D.D., a Presbyterian divine, was born in Lambeg Parish, Down County, Ireland. Jan. 15, 1808. After receiving a good academical train- ing, he graduated at Belfast College, Ireland ; studied theology in Hill Hall School, Belfast, under Dr. .John Edgar; was licensed by Belfast Presbytery in 1830, and ordained in 1831. During this same year he emigrated to America, and in 1832 was installed pastor of the Pres- byterian Church in Clinton, N. J. ; in 1835 he accepted a call to the Scotch Presbyterian Church, Philadeliihia, where he laboired with great success until near his death, July 6, 1859. Dr. Macklin was a man of quick appre- hension and sound judgment, and of noble and generous impulses. He wrote a Tribute to the Memory of Archi- bald Robertson, Esq., a ruling elder, which was publishetl in a pamphlet in 1859. See Wilson, Presb. Hist. A Inia- «ffc, 1861,p. 90. (.LL. S.)