(David, Esq.) a North-Briton, was tutor to the duke of Montrose, and to his brother lord George Graham; and became secretary to the late prince of Wales. He married a lady of very considerable fortune, and was made keeper of the book of entries for ships in the port of London. He died in 1765.

He was the editor of a new and complete edition of lord Bacon's works, to which he prefixed a life of that great man; and published the philosophical works of the late lord Bolinbroke, agreeable to his lordship's last will and testament. His dramatic pieces are, 1. Eurydice, a tragedy. 2. Mustapha, a tragedy. 3. Alfred, a masque; written in conjunction with Mr James Thomson, author of the Seasons. Britannia, a masque, 1775. 4. Elvira, a tragedy, altered from La Motte; who founded this play on the famous story of Agnes de Castro, which Camoens has so beautifully introduced in his Lusiad.—Mr Mallet's tragedy was acted with moderate applause at Drury-Lane playhouse in January 1763. The indifferent success it met with may, in part, be ascribed to the unlucky juncture in which it appeared; at a time when party-prejudice ran high against the Scottish nation, on account of the unpopular administration of the earl of Bute, to whom Elvira was dedicated.

Mr Mallet's other works are collected in 3 vols 12mo; among which the most considerable are, 1. That sweet ballad intitled Williams and Margaret. 2. The Exsultation, a poem in two cantos. 3. Amyntor and Theodora, or the Hermit.—This last piece was originally intended for the stage, but the author chose afterwards to alter his plan. There was likewise an additional collection of poems by the author, published in 1762, in a thin volume octavo, consisting of small pieces on several occasions.