ABSTRACT
There was not a person almost in town or village who had any acquaintance with modern publications that had not heard of the ‘Enquiry Concerning Political Justice’ or was not acquainted in great or small degree with the contents of that work. I was nowhere a stranger. The doctrines of that work (though if any book ever contained the dictates of an independent mind, mine might pretend to do so) coincided in a great degree with the sentiments then prevailing in English society, and I was everywhere received with curiosity and kindness. If temporary fame ever was an object worthy to be coveted by the human mind, I certainly obtained it in a degree that has seldom been exceeded. I was happy to feel that this circumstance did not in the slightest interrupt the sobriety of my mind. 1
