254 HUME. 



" This Theory, I own, replyd Cleanthes, has never before 

 occurd to me, tho' a pretty natural one; and I cannot 



readily -deliver any opinion abcut-it upon so short an exami- 



deliver any opinion wilh regard to it 

 nation & reflection A . You are very scrupulous indeed, said 



Were examine 



Philo : and wore I to start objections and difficulties- to- any 



system of yours, I should not have acted with half that 



in starting objections & difficulties to it 

 caution and reserve A . However, if any thing occur to you, 



will 

 youH- oblige us by proposing it. 



between 

 " I allow of your comparison be twist the Stoics & Sceptics, 



may 

 -ac just) replyd Philo. But you anus*- observe, at the same 



time, that the mind cannot in Stoicism, support the highest 

 Flights of Philosophy, yet even when it sinks lower, it 



still retains somewhat of its former Disposition; & the 



The Stoics -tbt Stoica- 



-fais-Thc Stoic hifi will his 



effects of -its- * Reasoning A appear in A 4ts- conduct in common 

 thro' his 



Life, and ^ the whole Tenor of 4t* actions. The Antient 



that of 

 A schools, particularly that of A Zeno, produced examples of 



Virtue & Constancy which seem astonishing to present 

 times." 



It is necessary to correct a very gross misstatement into 

 which some idle or ill-intentioned person has betrayed an in- 

 genious and learned critic respecting the papers of Mr. Hume 

 still remaining and in Edinburgh. " Those who have exa- 

 mined the Hume papers, which we know only from report, 

 speak highly of their interest, but add that they furnish pain- 

 ful disclosures concerning the opinions then prevailing among 

 the clergy of the northern metropolis ; distinguished ministers 

 of the Gospel encouraging the scoffs of their familiar friend, 

 the author of the ' Essay on Miracles,' and echoing the blas- 

 phemies of their associate the author of the ' Essay on Sui- 

 cide.' ' These Edinburgh clergymen are then called " be- 



