The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1823-04-04

tisirs Iii, heart must he
3" Black us the lamnine drops that tnl
From the denonncing Angels pen,
Are nIercg wipes them ont Dsain.
ron Tnr yGnGfNfaN.
IetNs render unto Caesar, The things that are
CIsBr's
have peruscd with much interest, and
entire openness to conviction, piece under
the signature of -" H." which appeared IN
the Virginisu of fhe 25th ui. written to
disproye the Justice of a panegyrie, " iHch,
In \ previous a'icle signed +" had been
bestowed On ile philosophical genius Of
David Hume.
This last pee, at the same time il ac
knowledge aod deprrs the unfortunate
error of scepticlsn, IN regard To religion,
INTO which Hume had been conducted by
hl5 metaphysical specuiaiious, unequlyocai
~ asserts Tor him, the possession Of &c
ius both splendid and lofty ; and talent
for dbstnse disq siion al once original
and profound. cslcems this one speca-
latgc error, into which he WIS betrayed 10y
| the very boldness and elevation of hi &c
| Mus, aud hi, fearless enquiries after truth,
As he only blcmish of an otherwise ella
rum ct venerable ronlen." To this view
Of Hume 'seharaeter, most cordially sub
scribe. The History Of England, by that
inimitahle hand, combines IN It's execution,
all thu various powers of mind, essential 10
the constitution Of the greatest and most
srcomp,ls led philosopher. To dispute
Ithis, would be to renouncc all reverence for
ne declared opinion of the " great rcpub-
L. = l.. al II
mistaken Oh a point OF speculation, howe
yer much TO he iamented on many ac-
counts, will net be deemed sufficient o de
| stroy his pretensious 10 the character of an
abl, and profound metaphysiclan, till the
absurd doctrine Of human iniallbllity il
more generally recognized than nj present
Plato, Aristotle, PythaGerus, LeibnItz,
Des- Carries, Berkeley, Hobbies, Male
| branche, Locke, aud even the great New
| ton himself, have all erred, and some Of
'hen, fundamentally, in relation 10 physics
OF metaphysics but | much question If
any cavller, even Of the present dcgene
rate aye, would have the hardihood TO dis.
pulc their claim To transeendant genius,
aad r glorious Immortality for thier philo-
sophicai h,burs. Power aud splendor of
intellect are rs frequently displayed in the
Nndlcai'on of error, as IN the defence OF
tra,h. When Hume wrote, the gloomy
doctrine of unlimited sceptloismo was ~
lis height: and he, yielding To the genius
of the age unwarily pushed rs maxim8 too
far, That he deduccd conclusions, not
warranted by the premises from which
they We're drawn, in hls investigation OF the
received doctrine of cause and effect ; ard
that he even, as well as Berkeley, i'll some
OF his sccptical rcasonings, proceeded on
premises (ike ancient theories ofpertepiton)
whoso lallacy hath been satisfactorily de
monstratcd by Doctor Reid, in his valuable
ESSAYS onthe in,cllectualpowers ofman y
and subsequently, by Dugald Stewart, am
free TO admit. But that some OF his posi-
tons, IN relation to important points, have
been SINCE received as orthodox by meta
1physicians that in many parts of his
pncumatologica writings,irc displayed the
talents ola subtle and ingenious SPECTATOR
and that IN Short his labors have shed
much light on she science OF the human
mind | apprehend, will hardly be denied
by persons cOnyersant with the history o
modern metaphysics Hear the testimony
LOT the great Dugald Stewart on the sub ect
+" Mr.. Hume had the merit Of shelving
clearly to philosophers, that our common
language, with respect TO cause and effect,
rs mcrtiy aHalogicai aud that il there be
any links among physic events, they
unjust forever remain invisible to u.s. The
vast Importance otthis contribution to me-
taphyslcal science may be properly apprr
GATED, by reference To the same decisive
authority, " That this language IN reta-
ton TO cGsse and eFccD is merely analogy
cal, aud that we know nohiUg of physical
events, hut the laws which regulate th,fr
succession, must, think, appear very OH
Nous to every person who takes the trou-
bile to reflect GA the subject and yet it is
certain, that il has misled the greater part
of philosophers 4; aud has had surprising
inilacncc CA the systems, which they have
ionned in very different departments af
science"
According TO Stewart, even the illustri-
Gus Bacon, with mind rs deep and ex-
pandod as the ocean Itself, did not enter
tam correct views with respect TO this doc
true, so clearly demonstrated by Hume
u kn"wled5e, says Stewart, that, fran
| the general scope Of Lord Bacon's writings,
as well as from some partcuiar express
| sions IN them, with regard To causes, | am
4 Inclined tobelleve that his metaphysical
! notions on the subject were not very accu.
rate, aud that he was led to perceive the
necessity Of recurring to observation and
experiment IN natural philosophy, not
from specul atise consideration OF our