登陆注册
15299900000090

第90章

" Treatise on the Will." In the pamphlet published in defence of Home, it is urged that, " among the list of subscribers to Edwards' book are many members of this church; and it was dispersed last year in this city by the most zealous friends to religion and true Calvinism." It is clear that Home and his friends wished to shelter themselves under the Calvinism of the Church of Scotland; and the pamphlet quotes Calvin, Turretin, and Pictet.It might have been urged in reply that Calvin stands up for an essential freedom of the will, possessed by all responsible beings;and that the reformers generally, in holding by a slavery of the will, meant a slavery produced by the fall of man and by sin.As to Edwards' doctrine, it is a metaphysical one not before the mind of the reformers; and it is so explained and illustrated by the author as to make it have a very different aspect and practical tendency from that propounded by the Scottish necessarians.

The " Essays on Morality" was the work of Home that produced the greatest sensation.It was followed by other philosophical works.In 1761, he published his "Introduction to the Art of Thinking," in which shrewd metaphysics and practical remarks are grafted on the old logic.For several years be had meditated an extensive work on the principles of criticism, which would inquire into the causes of that pleasure which is derived from the production of poetry, painting, sculpture, music, and architecture.The work appeared in I 762, under the title of " Elements of Criticism." It is gracefully {181} written: it treats of all the subjects usually discussed in books of rhetoric, and shows an extensive reading in the great classical writers of ancient and modern times.He professes to found the whole upon a philosophic basis.But his analysis of the mental principles involved does not seem to me to be very searching or profound.What is the use of telling us, What is now said about the production of emotion or passion resolves into a very simple proposition, that we love what is agreeable and hate what is disagreeable"? He does not follow the Scottish metaphysicians in resolving beauty into association of ideas.He discovers a beauty that is intrinsic as well as a relative beauty.

For years he was collecting materials for a work on man, which appeared in 1774 under the title of " Sketches of the History of Man." This work is meant to describe the progress made by man, in respect of language, food, commerce, the arts, science, government, morality, and religion.He is inclined to think that, as there are different climates, so there are different species of men fitted for these climates, and argues that we cannot account for the differences of mankind by climate or by external agencies.He would believe that there must have been an original difference of languages; but, yielding to the Scriptures, he accounts for the diversities by the confusion of tongues at Babel.He is fond of discovering every where a final cause on the part of God, and a progress on the part of man.He has collected what seems a wide induction of facts; but there is a great want of what Bacon insists on as a necessary part of all legitimate induction, -- " the necessary rejections and exclusions."He was married to Miss Drummond, by whom he became possessed of one of the most beautiful places in Scotland, Blair Drummond, -- on the banks of the Teith, half way between hill and dale, -- in the south of Perthshire.Home was one of the earliest of those agricultural improvers who became very numerous, from this time onward, for an age or two among those lawyers of Edinburgh who possessed landed estates.He took a lead first at Kames, and then at Blair Drummond, in summer-fallow, and in raising green crops and sown grass.His great agricultural work, which made him famous all over Scotland, consisted in clearing the moss of Kincardine, which {182} extended four miles in length and one or two miles in breadth, and was covered with turf, eight or nine feet in thickness, and underneath which was a rich soil.He effected this by giving the land for a time to moss-planters, who floated away the turf by means of ditches which he dug.He was a leading member of the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of the Fisheries, Arts, and Manufactures of Scotland, and of the Commission for the Management of Forfeited Estates, the rents of which were to be applied to the improvement of the highlands and islands of Scotland.By means of these boards he did much to stimulate the industry of Scotland.It is asserted that he did more than any man in his time in encouraging the introduction of " new modes and instruments of industry, the enclosure and culture of wastes and moors, the rearing of forest timber, the draining and cultivation of moss lands, the raising and spinning of flax, the growth and storing of winter fodder for cattle, the improvement of the breed of sheep, and the manufacture of coarse woollen stuffs."In his old age he published " Loose Hints on Education." He thought that religion should form a main branch of education even in the earliest period of infancy, and that the parents or preceptor should acquaint the child with the fundamental doctrines of revealed religion.The common opinion of him was, that he must be a man devoid of all religion.But a clergyman writes " I have heard him mention the light of immortality as an excellence peculiar to the doctrine of Christ.He gave unqualified praise to Butler's `Analogy,' which is a defence of revealed as well as of natural religion.He was regular in his attendance upon public worship; and during my abode with him he had divine worship in his family every evening." It is interesting to notice that he defends the Scottish view of the Sabbath." This consideration leads me necessarily to condemn a practice authorized among Christians, with very few exceptions; that of abandoning to diversion and merriment what remains of Sunday after public worship, parties of pleasure, dancing, gaming, any thing that trifles away the time without a serious thought; as if the purpose were to cancel every virtuous impression made at public worship." (" Sketches of the History of Man," B.III.) {183}

In his person he was tall and of a thin and slender make.His portrait shows a high, marked brow; a long nose;and a shrewd, humorous face, -- altogether a strong-marked countenance."In his manners there was a f rankness amounting to bluntness, and in his conversation a humorous playfulness." He died Dec.27, 1782, in the eighty-seventh year of his age.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 小童话大智慧

    小童话大智慧

    墨彩书坊编委会主编的这本《小童话大智慧(全彩印刷全新版式注音插图)》精选了众多经典的童话故事,带领孩子们走进一个多姿多彩、奇妙变幻的童话王国中。同时,为了让孩子们能够更有效地汲取知识,我们为每篇童话提炼总结了精辟的人生道理,将坚强、乐观、积极、正直、勇气及诚实等一切优秀的品质以一种鲜活的方式植入孩子们的心中,使他们在轻松阅读的同时,从中获得丰富的生活哲理、人生经验、处世智慧以及成功启迪。
  • 复仇三公主的幻变爱恋

    复仇三公主的幻变爱恋

    就在那天,泪雨蒙蒙,三位美若天仙的千金小姐离开了这个曾经温暖的家。从人人宠爱的小公主坠落成了人人看不起的平民,但,她们立下毒誓:十年后,她们会回来复仇,让那些看不起她们的人,坠入深渊!于是她们去了‘雪梦岛’变成了人人惧怕的黑道尊王。她们在学院里找到了爱情。他们的加入会让她们的复仇间断吗?她们会相爱吗?一切全是谜团。
  • 卿本薄凉君不知

    卿本薄凉君不知

    她冷艳,她妩媚,她又是武林中最冰清之人。她,三面佳人,诡谲天下。他说:“你我二人的恩怨,为何要牵扯到天下人?”她笑,眼眸敛尽风华:“你我二人?你我有什么干系?”“寒儿。”他这一声,疼痛,镌深,忍俊。“我再说一遍,我叫韩君若。”“寒儿。”她怎么变成了这个样子?冷极,艳极。是他把她变成了这个样子吗?她玄紫的衣袂逆着风,赤色的长发,绕着她的衣袂。“风卿尘,要么你倒在我的琴音之中,要么我死在你的长剑之下。”她的声音灌着内力,回响在平地之上。她恨他,她竟这么恨他!
  • 至尊学霸

    至尊学霸

    “张小明,你这种万年学渣,连给大爷我提鞋都不配啊!还不过来跪舔!”“口胡口胡,啰嗦,接得住我一招再吠!n阶导数方程!”“这……这竟然是大学生才能运用的高级功法——微积分公式!!!啊啊啊——我好不甘心啊!”“一个高中生居然能越级使出大学境界的高级功法,此子前途无量啊……”等级森严的学界大陆,知识才是力量永恒的源泉,看张小明如何从一个弱渣小学生开始,一步步登上强者顶峰!嗯,这是一个废柴学渣通过不懈努力成为至尊学霸,充满正能量的励志故事,请大家踊跃模仿。
  • 猪八戒纵横修真世界

    猪八戒纵横修真世界

    小人物朱七,意外穿越获得猪八戒的传承:天罡三十六变,天蓬元帅之法,神兵九齿钉耙。从此朱七天赋无双,当上修真界领袖,成为拯救世界的大英雄,迎娶仙界第一美人,走上人生巅峰。
  • 不败凡神

    不败凡神

    一个凡阶资质的家主之子,一个天赋异禀的慧心女子,他为了她,愿打破这世界的定论!拜名师,得神宠,荡尽天下不平事,杀尽天下该杀人,看我一介凡人,踏武皇,踩武尊,灭武神,登上这世界之巅!
  • 玄坛刊误论

    玄坛刊误论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 婚前以身试爱

    婚前以身试爱

    丁小错丢了工作,却捡了条叫“海盗”的狗。本以为是条普通的狗,却在某天得知她新公司的顶头大BOSS正“悬赏百万寻狗”的消息。当高冷腹黑的大BOSS领着他的宝贝犬离开她家时,顺理成章将她也捡了回去。某晚,正伺候狗祖宗的丁小错被叫去大BOSS的房间。“老板,有事找我?”大BOSS板着脸一本正经说:“海盗伺候好了,该轮到我了。”她错愕,还没来得及反应,就被覆压在床……
  • 请叫我名侦探

    请叫我名侦探

    我的朋友慕容小花去世了,他是个侦探,我在他的遗嘱下保存了他的笔记,这些笔记记录了他参与的许多件奇怪事件。二个月了,我终于从他离开的悲伤里解脱,决定整理成文,说与众人听。我不是一个聪明人,也并非文科生,若有差错,请千万见谅。
  • 都市流浪进行曲

    都市流浪进行曲

    2000年,江南某省将占教师比例百分之九十、奋战在农村教育第一线的民办教师一刀切,于是,一群多年献身山区教育事业的民办老师面临着生存的严重挑战,在迫不得已的情况下,他们流向城市,历尽沧桑,挑战生活,最终成为都市的主人,此故事曲折离奇,为生活原形,揭示了只有不屈不挠才能成为强者的人生真谛。