456 



PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



Hume. 



there become enriched, and has returned to its own 

 country with increased vigour. 1 



It is. however, well to note that David Hume, the 

 other great forerunner of Adam Smith, began to publish 

 his political essays in the year 1741, seven years before 

 the appearance of Montesquieu's ' Esprit des Lois,' and 

 fifteen years before Quesnay's first articles. In these 

 he lucidly criticised some of the favourite doctrines of 

 the mercantile system, pointing to the difference be- 

 tween wealth and money, and to the advantages of free 

 trade. He has, therefore, been rightly considered as 

 the more original though less consistent enunciator of 

 the new doctrine, for which he paved the way through 

 a series of brilliant essays, though without attempting 

 any systematic treatment. The latter was left to his 

 friend and disciple Adam Smith, who was as much 

 influenced by him as by the new school of economists 

 in France. 



In three main directions Adam Smith (1723-1790) 

 made a great advance upon his predecessors, to whom 

 he ungrudgingly admits his indebtedness. First, as an 

 academic teacher he was charged with delivering lectures 

 on various branches of practical philosophy, his teach- 

 ing embracing four distinct subjects. They formed the 

 four parts of his Course. The first embraced Natural 

 Theology, the second Ethics, the third the Principles 

 of Jurisprudence, and the fourth the nature of Political 

 Institutions. The second part was published as the 

 'Theory of Moral Sentiments' in 1759, the fourth was 



1 Other important instances are 

 the theory of Descent (see supra, 

 vol. i. p. 201, vol. ii. 321 n., 426 n.), 

 and the Dynamical theory of Heat 



(vol. ii. p. 57, 73 n., 102 n.), and 

 not less also the positive philosophy 

 of Comte. 



