1815.] Wainewright on Education at Cambridge. 301 
text-books employed in these departments are Paley’s Principles of 
Moral and Political Philosophy, and Locke’s Essay. Mr. Waine- 
wright informs us that the writings of Reid, Beattie, and Stewart, 
especially of the last, are also frequently referred to. by the tutor, 
though their simguéar doctrine of common sense is far from being 
admitted. This singular doctrine to which our author alludes is this, 
that in the science of mind, as well as in every other, there are cer- 
tain first principles or laws of human thought which cannot be 
proved, but must be taken for granted ; otherwise the science itself 
cannot be established. One of these first principles is, that the 
external world exists. Dr. Reid, to whom alone we are indebted 
for this doctrine, gave these first principles the name of common 
sense, because they have been always admitted by the common sense 
of all mankind, while every person who rejects them is considered 
as a lunatic or madman. Say the English metaphysicians, we wilt 
not admit the existence of the external world as a first principle. 
We cannot indeed prove its existence, but we think it ought to be 
proved. If it cannot, the doctrine of Berkeley and Hume must be 
allowed to be sound. For my own part I want no evidence whatever 
of the existence of an external world, and would consider any 
attempt to prove it as silly trifling. We are so constituted that we 
must, whether we will or nor, give credit to the senses, and admit 
the information which they communicate as first principles. Such 
is the doctrine of Dr. Reid; and instead of being a singular doc- 
trine, I will venture to affirm that it has been maintained by 999 
thousandth parts of all mankind in every age. It is singular enough 
that, though I never met with any Englishman that would admit 
the truth of Dr. Reid’s principles, I never found any one who 
seemed to be acquainted with these principles, or to have perused 
the works of this acute philosopher. Mr. Wainewright shows us 
that at Cambridge this ignorance is universal ; for he says that the 
tutors refer especially to the writings of Dugald Stewart. Now Mr. 
Stewart is an elegant writer, and has illustrated the philosophy of 
Reid in a very beautiful manner; but he has made very few addi- 
tions to it. In point of arrangement he is rather deficient, which 
injures considerably his writings as a whole. ‘Tutors acquainted with 
the subject would rather refer to the original discoverer than to his 
illustrator and commentator. 
Besides the knowledge communicated by the tutors, there are 
likewise lectures on the following subjects, which I presume the 
students are all at liberty to attend: — 
On modern history. 
On the laws of England. 
On the Roman civil law. 
On experimental philosophy. 
On chemistry. 
On the application of chemistry and natural philosophy to manu+ 
factures, agriculture, and the arts. 
