[53]"Account of the Life and Writings of Thomas Reid," by Dugald Stewart; "The Works of Thomas Reid," by Sir William Hamilton; MS. letters in possession of the late Alexander Thomson of Banchory (used by Hamilton); Papers of Dr. Reid in possession of Francis Edmond of Aberdeen.
[54]One version is, that Tillotson had preached from Clarke, and that, in conse. quence, one of Clarke's sermons had been published among Tillotson's sermons, and that Reid had taken the sermon from Clirke, while the lady had read it in Tillotson. I have not found any confirmation of this.
[55]In possession of Francis Edmond.
[56]MS. notes furnished me by Thomson of Banchory.
[57]MS. letters possessed by Thomson of Banchory.
[58]MS. papers of Dr. Reid, in possession of Francis Edmond, Esq.
[59]Life of Dr. McKinlay of Kilmarnock, prefixed to a volume of his " Sermons."[60]MS. papers in possession of Francis Edmond.
[61]"An Examination of Dr. Reid's 'Inquiry into the Human Mind, on the Principles of Common Sense,' Dr. Beattie's `Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth,' and Dr.
Oswald's `Appeal to Common Sense in Behalf of Religion,"' by Joseph Priestley, 1774. Reid's work appears to him "an ingenious piece of sophistry." He wonders that none of the Scottish writers (except Beattie) refer to Hartley. "Something was done in this field by Descartes, very much by Mr. Locke, but most of all by Dr. Hartley, who has thrown more useful light on the theory of the mind than Newton did upon the theory of the natural world." " The evidence that any two properties are necessarily united is the constant observation of their union." Propositions and reasoning "are in fact nothing more than cases of association of ideas." "There are many opinions which we know to be acquired, and even founded on prejudice and mistake, which, however, the fullest correction that they are void of all real foundation cannot erase from the mind; the groundless belief and expectation founded upon it being so closely connected with the idea of certain circumstances, that no mental power of which we are possessed can separate them:
"and he gives, as an example, our fear of ghosts. We see the commencement of the feud which culminated in John Stuart Mill's "Examination of Hamilton's Philosophy." But Priestley, like Mill, is obliged, unconsciously and surreptitiously, to call in first truths. " No man ever denied that there are self-evident truths, and that these must be assumed as the foundation of all our reasoning." " Inever met with any person who did not acknowledge this." It is curious to find him saying that they "recommend particular positions as axioms, not as being founded on the perception of the agreement or disagreement of any ideas, which is the great doctrine of Mr. Locke, and which makes truth depend upon the necessary nature of things, to be <absolutely unchangeable and everlasting>; but merely some unaccountable instinctive persuasions depending on the arbitrary constitution of our natures."[62]The translator of Buffier (1780) charges Reid with plagiarism. Dugald Stewart defends him (" Elements," vol.
ii., pp. 63, 64); as does also Hamilton (Reid's "Collected Works," P-- 789), who shows that Reid "only became acquainted with the treatise of Buffier after the publication of his own `Inquiry; ' for in his 'Account of Aristotle's Logic,' written and published some ten years subsequently to that work, he says, 'I have lately met with a very judicious treatise, written by Father Buffier.' "[63]In " Scot's Magazine," February, 1847, was advertised "The Impartial Philosopher, or the Philosophy of Common Sense," by the Marquis d'Argens, in two volumes, 6s.
[64]In possession of Francis Edmond [65]Original minutes of the Society, kindly lent me by Francis Edmond; " Biographical Sketch of David Skene, M.D,"by Alexander Thomson of Banchory.
[66]"An Account of the Life and Writings of Dr. Beattie," by Sir William Forbes.
[67]This portrait was lately in possession of the Misses Glennie, his grandnieces, in Aberdeen. A print of it is to be found in a few copies of Forbes' "Life of Beattie. "[68]The father published "Miscellanies," by James Hay Beattie, A.M.. in two volumes, 1799. There are some verses worth preserving:
"And how Milton has glands in his brain That secreted the 'Paradise lost."'
[69]Life, by Rev. Dr. Keith. MS. Papers in possession of Andrew Farquharson of Whitehouse, kindly lent me.
[70]This may be the most appropriate place for referring to Ogilvie's " Philosophical and Critical Observations on the Nature, Character, and Various Species of Composition,"1774. The author was born 1737, became minister of Midmar in Aberdeenshire, and died in 1814. He was a miscellaneous writer in poetry and prose. In " The Theology of Plato compared with the Principles of Oriental and Grecian Philosophy," he treats of topics not usually discussed by the Scottish metaphysicians.
[71]Article, James Burnett, in the "Edinburgh Encyclopedia."[72]This letter is in possession of the family at Monboddo.
[73]Biographical Sketch of Adam Ferguson, LLD., F.R.S.E., Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, by John Small, M.A., Librarian to the university.
Read before the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, April 18, 1864.
[74]Life, by Lord Woodhouselee, prefixed to his " Works " in four volumes; " Literary and Characteristical Lives," by William Smellie.