ESSAY, ^c.
CHAPTER h
On the fVritiiigs of Mr. Hume, Sir James Steuart, and
Dr, Adam Smith.
IJEFORE I undertake to investigate the principles of cir- chapter
culation and commerce, it is necessary to explain the
progress, which has been hitherto made in their illustra¬
tion. The three principal authors who have attempted
to elucidate them are, Mr. Hume, Sir James Steuart, and
Dr. Adam Smith.
The Political Discourses of Mr. Hume were published
in 1752; and, like every other production of that in¬
estimable writer*, display the powers of a comprehensive
and enlightened intellect; but as it was not his intention
to give to the world an elementary work, he forbore to
enter into the detail and proof, which an elaborate treatise
B
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