Martineau James

Martineau, James, one of the ablest of modern English thinkers, was born in 1805. Miss Martineau was his elder sister. He was educated at Norwich grammar school, and under Lant Carpenter at Bristol. Originally intended for an engineer, he soon became interested in philosophical and theological subjects, and entered the Unitarian ministry. From Liverpool he went to Manchester New College. Manchester, in 1840, as professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, and in 1848-49 attended lectures on metaphysics in Germany. In 1857 he came to London as professor and Unitarian minister, and in 1869 became principal of Manchester New College. He retired from that position in 1885. having some time before ceased his ministerial work. His candidature for the Chair of Mental Science at University College, London, was defeated (chiefly by George Grote) on the ground that he was a minister. Chief among his works are Essays Philosophical and Tlieological (1868), Hours of Thought (1876-80), Types of Ethical Theory (1885), A Study of Spinoza (1882), The Seat of Authority in Religion (1890).