Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary - Faculty of Social Sciences

. . .v1 uCONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.PART IT.ESSAYI. Of Commerce. . . . . .11. Of Refinement in the Arb . . .1lI.OfAIoney . , . . , .IV. Of 'Interest. . . . . ,V. Of the Balance of Trade . . .VI. Of the Jealousy of Trade . . ,VII. Of the Balance of Power , . ,VIII. Of Taxes . . . . .19. Of Public Credit . . . . .X. Of Some Remarlcable Customs . .XI. Of the Populousness of Ancient NationsXII. Of the Original Contract . . ,XIII. Of Passive Obedience . . . .XIV. Of the Coalition of Pmtiee . ,XV. Of the Protestant Succession . . ,XVI. Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth .MY OWN LIFE.'IT is difficult for a man to speak long of himself withoutvanity; therefore, I shall be short. It may be thought aninsta,nce of vanity that I pretend at all to write my life; butthis Narrative shall contain little more than the History ofmy Writings; as, indeed, almost all my life has been spentin literary pursuits and occupations. The first success. ofmost of my writings was not such as to be an object ofvanity.I was born the 26th of April 1711, old style, at Edinburgh.I was of a good hmily, both by father and mother: myfather's family is a branch of the Earl of Home's, or Hume's;and my ancestors had been proprietors of the estate, whichmy brother possesses, for several generations. My motherwas daughter of Sir David Falconer, President of the Collegeof Justice : the title of Lord Halkerton came by successionto her brother.My family, however, was not rich, and being myself ayounger brother, iny patrimony, according to the mode ofmy country, was of course very slender. My father, whopassed for a man of parts, died when I was an infant, leavingme, with an elder brother and a. sister, under the care of ourmother, a woman of singular merit, who, though young andhandsome, devoted herself entirely to the rearing and educatingof her children. I passed through the ordinary courseof education with success, and was seized very early wit11 apassion for literature, which has been t'he ruling pasaion olmy life, and the great source of iny enjoyments. My studious ,IFor the circuinoLtnces attending tllepublicatiori of this autobiography, see p. 80,--Ep.]