Page:Hume - Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects - 1809 - Vol. 1.djvu/81

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE PARTIES OF GREAT BRITAIN.
73

may convince us, that soms bias still hangs upon our constitution, some extrinsic weight, which turns it from its natural course, and causes a confusion in our parties[1].

  1. Some of the opinions delivered in these Essays, with regard to the public transactions in the last century, the Author, on more examination, found reason to retract in his History of Great Britain. And as he would not enslave himself to the systems of either party, neither would he fetter his judgment by his own preconceived opinions and principles; nor is he ashamed to acknowledge his mistakes. These mistakes were indeed, at that time, almost universal in this kingdom.