то M. PREVOST, PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE ACADEMY OF GENEVA; FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETIES OF LONDON AND OF EDINBURGH; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF BERLIN ; CORRESPONDENT OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, &c. &c. In the interrupted state of our correspondence at present, you will pardon the liberty I take, in prefixing your name to this Volume. The honor you have lately done me, by your French translation of my book on the Human Mind, and the warm interest you have always taken in the success of that work, since the period of its first appearance, I feel as the most flattering marks of approbation which it has ever received; and they might perhaps have tempted me to indulge, more than becomes me, the vanity of an author, had it not been repressed by the still more pleasing idea, that I am indebted for them chiefly to the partiality of your friend. ship. Permit me, Sir, to inscribe to you the following Essays, in testimony of my respect and attachment; and as a slight but sincere acknowledgment of the obligations you have laid me under by your long-continued kindness, as well as of the instruction and pleasure I have derived from your philosophical writings. June, 1810. DUGALD STEWART. ADVERTISEMENT. THE state of my health having interrupted, for many months past, the continuation of my work on the Human Mind, I was induced to attempt, in the mean time, the easier task of preparing for the press a volume of Essays. I have not, however, abandoned the design which I ventured to announce eighteen years ago; and in the execution of which I have already made considerable progress. After thirty-eight years devoted to the various pursuits connected with my different academical situations, I now indulge the hope of enjoying, in a more retired scene, a short period of private study; and feel myself sufficiently warned by the approaching infirmities of age, not to delay any longer my best exertions for the accomplishment of an undertaking, which I have hitherto prosecuted only at accidental and often distant intervals; but which I have always fondly imagined (whether justly or not, others must determine) might, if carried into complete effect, be of some utility to the public. Kinneil-House, 15th June, 1810. CHAPTER I.--Introductory Observations CHAPTER II.--Inconsistency of our Conclusions in the fore- going Chapter, with Locke's Account of the Origin of CHAPTER III.-Influence of Locke's Account of the Origin of our Knowledge on the Speculations of various emi- SECTION I.-On the Foundation of our Belief of the Ex- istence of the material World, according to the State- ment of Reid.--Strictures on that Statement SECTION II.-Continuation of the Subject.-Indistinctness of the Line drawn by Reid, as well as by Descartes and Locke, between the primary and the secondary Quali- |