music was plaintive, even to the depth of melancholy; their instrumental, either lively for brisk dances, or martial for the battle. Some of their tunes contained the great but natural idea of a history described in music:-the joys of a marriage, the noise of a quarrel, the sounding to arms, the rage of a battle, the broken disorder of a flight; the whole concluding with a solemn dirge and lamentation for the slain. By the loudness and artificial jarring of their war-instrument, the bag-pipe, which played continually during the action, their spirits were exerted to a frenzy of courage in battle." From the above quotation, which must be allowed to afford a specimen of the manners of the ancient rather than of the modern Highlanders, it will be readily perceived that they were but little acquainted with arts and manufactures, addicted to war and the chace, unused to the luxuries of polished societies, and totally divested of literary attainments (poetry; perhaps, excepted), which in general can only be acquired and cultivated in a high state of civilization and refinement. Hence have some vaguely inferred, that because the inhabitants of the Alpine regions of North Britain had not distinguished themselves by works of fancy and erudition, they were destitute of genius; while others, with still greater absurdity, have maintained that this peculiar race of men were incapable of attaining any high degree of excellence, in respect to mental endowments. That this theory is unsupported by facts, the life of the subject of this memoir, and the writings of a multitude of his countrymen, within these last twenty years, will sufficiently testify. James Mackintosh was born in the obscure parish of Dorish, in the shire of Inverness, a district which, both in respect to situation and language, has always been considered as constituting part of the northern highlands of Scotland, on the 24th of October, 1765. The Mackintoshes, or rather McKintoshes, of which his family constituted a branch, was one of the most ancient, although not of the most powerful clans in the north. They could at one time, however, bring five or six hundred fighting men into the field; but their chieftain was at length eclipsed by more potent neighbours, and they themselves were obliged to recur to policy, in order to preserve their political and civil existence. In the rebellion of 1715, we believe they were unanimous, but in 1745 they temporised, one portion having joined the Pretender under the banners of a high-minded female,* while the remainder prudently kept aloof from the con test. The father of the subject of this memoir, like most, if not all his progenitors, was bred to arms, and having obtained a commission in the British troops, spent some years in the service; during which period he was stationed with his regiment for a considerable time in the garrison of Gibraltar. It was in consequence perhaps of this circumstance, that the care of his eldest sont was entrusted to a grandmother. To the inspection of this old lady, James was confided, until he had attained that age when Lady Mackintosh. + Captain Mackintosh had three children, two sons and a daughter. boys boys are usually rescued from the seeming thraldom of female tuition. 'On this occasion, instead of being sent to the town of Inverness, now famous for its schools, he was removed to the village of Fortrose, where some of his near relations happened to reside. After having obtained a knowledge of the Latin grammar, and read Corderius, Ovid, Virgil, and Horace, Mr. Stalker, who had witnessed the early superiority of young Mackintosh's talents, advised his friends to send him to a neighbouring university. Mr. Mackintosh accordingly repaired to King's College, Old Aberdeen, where he acquired a knowledge of the Greek, under Mr. Leslie, who was then deemed emienently qualified for teaching what is there called the Bejant, or initiatory class. From the late James Dunbar, LL.D. Professor of Moral Philosophy, he received instructions also in his department, which includes mathematics, &c. The author of this article has heard him speak with great respect of his pupil. On the other hand, he has also most heartily acquiesced in the praises bestowed by Mr. Mackintosh on Mr. William Ogilvie,† Professor of Humanity, whose elegant Latin prelections have been generally admired. It now became necessary for our young student to fix definitively on some profession, by means of which he could make his way through life. He al * Author of two works: 1, De Primariis Civitatum Oratio; and 2, Essays on the History of Mankind. + Author of a work on the Descent of Landed Property. ready ready delighted to rove like the bee, from flower to flower, and taste in a desultory manner without being cloyed with the honey of science. Indeed, had it wholly depended upon himself, it is not unlikely but that a regular occupation would have been still to seek. That of medicine was at length pitched upon, and Edinburgh having of late years attained an unrivalled celebrity in this branch of science, he accordingly repaired thither. As his father, we believe, was then on half pay, and his situation was not very affluent, the expences were cheerfully borne by an aunt, a worthy lady, who possessed a small estate in the neighbourhood of the place of his nativity, and treated him with all the affection of a parent. He had now an opportunity to hear the lectures of Dr. William Cullen, at that time Professor of Practical Medicine, and author of the First Lines of Physic, as well as a work on the Materia Medica, &c. The well-known celebrity of this able physician attracted a crowd of students to the capital of Scotland, from its remotest provinces, and Mr. Mackintosh, as is too often the case with young men of a sprightly turn, and sanguine temperament, participated alike in the instruction and dissipation of that city. Much has been said, and justly, against the temptations afforded to the students at our two English universities; but it will, perhaps, appear to not a few who have resided there, that the vortex into which some young men are drawn in the Caledonian metropolis tropolis is to the full as dangerous as the excesses of Oxford and Cambridge. Be this at it may, the gay, young, and volatile Highlander, now let loose from restraint, opened his eyes with delight on the scene around him. Hitherto accustomed only to the simple scenes and manners of his native "heath-covered mountains," he became suddenly initiated in the delights of a capital; and his appetite for sensual pleasures bore an exact proportion, perhaps, to his former abstinence from them. The great Roman historian, while speaking of a remote tribe, conveys a similar idea with his usual conciseness: "Quanto ferocius ante se egerint, tanto cupidius insolitas voluptates hausisse."* At this period Mr. Mackintosh, as we have been given to understand, was accustomed, in the language of the celebrated lyric poet, "Cessare, et ludere," but we believe 66-- et ungi" cannot be added, as he has never been accused of spending either his time or money on dress or per fumes. It appeared to some, that his aberrations were too systematical to be easily reduced to order, as he was accustomed to study the profoundest questions in ethics amidst the hilarity of the festive board, and give dissertations on morals, while the Circean cup, en * Tacitus. |