John MacLaurin

The Hon John Maclaurin, Lord Dreghorn FRSE (15 December 1734 – 24 December 1796) was a Scottish advocate who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice. In 1783 he was one of the founders of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was a prolific author on both legal and literary issues.

Life

He was born on 15 December 1734 the son of Anne Stewart and the noted Scots mathematician, Colin Maclaurin. He was educated at the High School in Edinburgh 1745 to 1747 then studied law at the University of Edinburgh. He qualified as an advocate in 1756. Maclaurin lived in Dreghorn Castle near Colinton (just south of Edinburgh), acquired from the Home family.

In 1757, Maclaurin wrote The Philosopher's Opera, a ballad opera satirising the philosopher David Hume's enthusiasm for the Rev. John Home's popular play, Douglas (1756).

The Joseph Knight case heard in 1778 "Perhaps it is improper to consider, as part of the works of Mr Maclaurn,any of his professional papers ; but there are two which deserve to be remembered, the Information he wrote for Mungo Campbell , who was tried before the High Court of Justiciary for the murder of Lord Eglinton

"Quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses;" “As black as he is, so should you be white”

He died on 24 December 1796. He is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in central Edinburgh.

Publications

Apology for the Writers against the Tragedy of Douglas (1757) Hampden (1757) The Philosopher’s Opera (1757) The Keekeiad (1760) Considerations on the Right of Patronage (1766) Consideration on the Nature and Origin of Literary Property (1767) Essays in Verse (1769) Observations on some Points of Law with a System of the Judicial Law of Moses (1769) The Story of Zeyn Akasnam, Prince of Balsora (1770) Arguments and Decisions in the High Court (1774)

Family

In 1762 he married Esther Cunningham (died 1780).

In fiction John Maclaurin features as a character in James Robertson's novel, Joseph Knight (2003).