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, son of the preceding, was born at Edinburgh in December 1734, and educated at the grammar-school

, son of the preceding, was born at Edinburgh in December 1734, and educated at the grammar-school and university of Edinburgh. Having applied to the study of the law, he was admitted a member of the faculty of advocates at Edinburgh in 1756. In 1782, a royal aociety was established in Edinburgh, of which Mr. Maclaurin was one of the original constituent members, and at an early period of the institution he read an essay to prove that Troy was not taken by the Greeks. In 1787 he was raised from the Scottish bar, at which he had practised long and successfully, to the bench, by the title of lord Dreghorn. He died in 1796. As an author we have “An Essay on Literary Property;” “A Collection of Criminal Cases;” “An Essay on Patronage;” and some poetical pieces, with three dramas, entitled “Hampden,” “The Public,” and “The Philosopher’s Opera.” During the years 1792, 3, 4, and 5, lord Dreghorn kept a journal, or diary, in which he recorded the various events that happened in Europe during those years. From this journal he made a selection for publication: and in 1799 a selection of his lordship’s works was printed in two vols. 8vo, containing most of the pieces mentioned above. It has, however, been generally thought that these added very little to his reputation, the character of his poetry being that of mediocrity, and his prose neither very lively not profound, though he occasionally exhibits learning and acuteness, and always an ardent love of liberty."