Vindiciae Gallicae and Other Writings on the French Revolution (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics)

Vindiciae Gallicae was James Mackintosh’s first major publication, a contribution to the debate begun by Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France (published by Liberty Fund in 1999). The success of Mackintosh’s defense of the French Revolution propelled him into the heart of London Whig circles. The turn of events in France following the September 1792 Massacres caused Mackintosh, along with other moderate Whigs, to revise his opinions and to move closer to Burke’s position. A Discourse on the Law of Nature and Nations was the introduction to a popular course of public lectures at Lincoln’s Inn in 1799 and 1800. These lectures provided Mackintosh with an opportunity to complete the evolution of his political thought by expounding the principles of a Scottish version of the science of natural jurisprudence dealing with “the rights and duties of men and of states,” to announce his withdrawal of support for the French Revolution, and to criticize former allies on the radical wing of the reform movement. The Liberty Fund edition also includes Mackintosh’s Letter to William Pitt, an attack on the prime minister, Pitt the Younger, for going back on his own record as a parliamentary reformer; and On the State of France in 1815, his reflections on the nature and causes of the French Revolution. James Mackintosh (1765–1832) was a prominent Scottish Whig politician, a moral philosopher, and a historian of England. He belonged to the group of students that surrounded Dugald Stewart, professor of moral philosophy in Edinburgh, during the last decades of the eighteenth century and the first decade of the nineteenth century. He was a regular writer for the publishing enterprises this group founded and edited, notably the Edinburgh Review and the Encyclopaedia Britannica; he contributed to the latter his “Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy, Chiefly During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,” thereby completing a project begun by Dugald Stewart. Donald Winch is Research Professor in the School of Humanities at the University of Sussex and a Fellow of the British Academy. Knud Haakonssen is Professor of Intellectual History and Director of the Centre for Intellectual History at the University of Sussex, England. Front matter......Page 1 Title page......Page 5 Contents, p. vii......Page 7 Introduction ix......Page 9 Note on the Texts Used in This Edition xix......Page 19 Acknowledgments xxi......Page 21 Title page......Page 23 Advertisement, p. 2......Page 24 Advertisement to the Third Edition, p. 3......Page 25 Introduction, p. 5......Page 27 Section I. The General Expediency and Necessity of a Revolution in France. 11......Page 33 Section II. Of the Composition and Character of the National Assembly. 57......Page 79 Section III. Popular Excesses which attended the Revolution. 73......Page 95 Section IV. New Constitution of France. 91......Page 113 Section V. English Admirers vindicated. 128......Page 150 Section VI. Speculations on the probable Consequences of the French Revolution in Europe. 155......Page 177 A Letter to the Right Honourable William Pitt on His Apostacy from the Cause of Parliamentary Reform (London, 1792) 167......Page 189 Appendix to A Letter to the Right Honourable William Pitt 190......Page 212 A Discourse on the Law of Nature and Nations 203......Page 225 Appendix to the Discourse: Extracts from the Lectures 250......Page 272 “On the State of France in 1815,” Edinburgh Review, no. 48, February 1815 259......Page 281 Appendix to “On the State of France in 1815” 274......Page 296 Chronology of James Mackintosh’s Life 279......Page 301 Selective Chronology of Events Relating to the French Revolution and Parliamentary Reform in Britain 283......Page 305 Dramatis Personae 289......Page 311 Index 301......Page 323 Vindiciae Gallicae was James Mackintosh's first major publication, a contribution to the debate begun by Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. The success of Mackintosh's defense of the French Revolution propelled him into the heart of London Whig circles. Following the September 1792 massacres Mackintosh, along with other moderate Whigs, revised his opinions and moved closer to Burke's position. The Liberty Fund edition also includes Mackintosh's Discourse on the Law of Nature and Nations, Letter to William Pitt, and On the State of France in 1815. James Mackintosh (1765–1832) was a prominent Scottish Whig. Donald Winch is Research Professor in the School of Humanities at the University of Sussex and a Fellow of the British Academy. Please note: This title is available as an ebook for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes. Publisher Provided Annotation Vindiciae Gallicae was James Mackintosh's first major publication, a contribution to the debate begun by Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France (published by Liberty Fund in 1999). The success of Mackintosh's defense of the French Revolution propelled him into the heart of London Whig circles. The turn of events in France following the September 1792 Massacres caused Mackintosh, along with other moderate Whigs, to revise his opinions and to move closer to Burke's position. The Liberty Fund edition also includes Mackintosh's Letter to William Pitt, an attack on the prime minister, Pitt the Younger, for going back on his own record as a parliamentary reformer; and On the State of France in 1815, his reflections on the nature and causes of the French Revolution "Vindiciae Gallicae and Other Writings on the French Revolution presents the first modern and fully annotated edition of James Mackintosh's most famous work, Vindiciae Gallicae, together with related writings on the French Revolution. The writings span the years 1791 to 1815 and trace the transformation of Mackintosh's thinking on the Revolution, beginning with his enthusiastic support of the cause, his later disillusionment with its violence and tyranny, and finally an increasing desire to distance himself from his earlier advocacy."--Jacket

vindiciae Gallicae And Other Writings On The French Revolution Presents The First Modern And Fully Annotated Edition Of James Mackintosh's Most Famous Work, Vindiciae Gallicae, Together With Related Writings On The French Revolution. The Writings Span The Years 1791 To 1815 And Trace The Transformation Of Mackintosh's Thinking On The Revolution, Beginning With His Enthusiastic Support Of The Cause, His Later Disillusionment With Its Violence And Tyranny, And Finally An Increasing Desire To Distance Himself From His Earlier Advocacy.