AN ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN ACTION
Hazlitt had made the ‘discovery’ set forth in this essay and had begun to write the essay itself as early as 1798, when he had his memorable meeting with Coleridge. See the essay ‘My First Acquaintance with Poets.’ He did not, however, succeed in making himself understood by the poet, and when the book came to be published, its sale was slow and small, though Mr. W. C. Hazlitt (Memoirs, I. 112) relates that according to a tradition in the family it won the admiration of Mr. Scarlett, afterwards Lord Abinger. Hazlitt himself was proud of the essay, and continually refers to it in his later writings. See especially A Letter to William Gifford, vol. I. pp. 403 et seq., where he explains the nature of the argument. Cf. also the essay on ‘Self-Love’ and the fragments of lectures on English Philosophy first published in Literary Remains. The variations made in the second edition from marginal notes in the author’s copy (see Bibliographical Note) are few and trifling.
[395]. An airy, notional good. Cf.
‘——fugitive theme
Of my pursuing verse, ideal shade,
Notional good, by fancy only made.’
Prior, Solomon, or the Vanity of the World, I. 15–7.
[398]. Note. Usher. James Usher’s (1720–1772) An Introduction to the Theory of the Human Mind, was published in 1771.
[409]. Note. ‘Eros, thou yet behold’st me,’ etc. Antony and Cleopatra, Act IV. Scene 14.
[410]. Note. Rousseau ... not a Frenchman. Rousseau was born at Geneva, whither his ancestors had removed from Paris as far back as 1529.
[415]. Note. Berkeley’s Essay towards a New Theory of Vision, published in 1709.
[427]. Junius has remarked, etc. In his letter to George III. (Dec. 19, 1769).
[429]. ‘Short-lived pleasure,’ etc. Cf.
‘——O fleeting joys
Of Paradise, dear bought with lasting woes.’
Paradise Lost, X. 741–2.
Note. See Preface to The Lyrical Ballads (2nd edition, 1801), reprinted with variations in the succeeding editions of the poet’s works. (Poetical Works, ed. T. Hutchinson, p. 940.)
[430]. To add, etc. This sentence, which seems obscure, should perhaps begin ‘I may add that,’ etc.
The Essay on the Inequality of Mankind. Rousseau’s Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes, 1755.
‘Faithful remembrancer.’ Cowper, On the Receipt of My Mother’s Picture, 11.
‘His high endeavour,’ etc. Cowper, The Task, V. 901.
The System of Nature. Hazlitt wrongly attributes to Jean Baptiste de Mirabaud (1675–1760) the Système de la Nature of Baron d’Holbach (1723–1789), published in 1770.