TO 



DAVID HUME, ESQ. 



ADVOCATE, PROFESSOR OF SCOTCH LAW IN THE 

 UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, &C. 



MY DEAR FRIEND, 



When you requested some months ago, 

 that I would proceed no farther in the letter, which I 

 had informed you I was writing to the Chief Justice of 

 the Court of King's Bench, it appeared to me that you 

 had, in a great measure, mistaken its object. I therefore 

 considered myself entitled to continue my undertaking, 

 and have accordingly now brought it to a conclusion. I 

 readily admit, that, in one point of view, I may have been 

 imprudent ; 



fe <rrsra.i f nfi$ ?' aur^a-iv dtyeoc, 



But I trust that, as far as the more important parts of 

 moral character are concerned, you will find nothing in 

 what I have done unworthy of the friendship between 

 us, which, from its commencement, now nearly thirty 

 years ago, when our boyish fancies gilded every prospect 

 before us, has been ever my pride, and often, in the storms 

 of life, the chief anchor of my hope. 



As a piece of composition, my letter will no doubt be 

 deemed faulty by you in many respects. You will per- 

 ceive, for instance, a considerable want of unity in the 

 execution, should indeed the great rules of criticism be 



