HARRIS, JAMES, Esq. an English gentleman of very uncommon parts and learning, was the son of James Harris, Esq. by a sister of Lord Shaftesbury author of The Characteristics. He was born in the Close at Salisbury 1709; and educated at the grammar-school there. In 1726, he was removed to Wadham-college in Oxford, but took no degree. He cultivated letters, however, most attentively; and also music, in the theory and practice of which he is said to have had few equals. He was member for Christchurch, Hants, which he represented in several successive parliaments. In 1763, he was appointed one of the lords-commissioners of the admiralty, and soon after removed to the board of treasury. In 1774 he was made secretary and comptroller to the queen, which post he held until his death. He died Dec. 21. 1780, in his 72d year, after a long illness, which he bore with calmness and resignation.—He is the author of some valuable works. 1. Three Treatises, concerning Art, Music, Painting, and Poetry; and Happiness, 1745, 8vo. 2. Hermes; or, A Philosophical Enquiry concerning Universal Grammar. 3. Philosophical Arrangements. 4. Philological Inquiries, 1782, 2 vols. 8vo, finished just before his death, and published since. These Inquiries show much ingenuity and learning; but being the amusement of his old age rather than an exertion of genius, they have not the philosophic tone of his former productions.