[45:2] It appears, however, from a letter to Smith, farther on, that an attempt had been made to procure a chair for Ferguson, in Edinburgh, which had failed.
[46:1] John Stevenson was appointed professor of logic and metaphysics in 1730.
[47:1] MS. R.S.E.
[47:2] Without date.
[47:3] Original in possession of Sir Henry Jardine.
[48:1] Note B.
[48:2] It is also remarkable, that there is not one letter from Robertson among the MSS. R.S.E., or in any known collection.
[52:1] Perhaps this may be a mistake for M. Mérian, the name of the author of a translation of this essay, published in 1759.
[52:2] See above, p. 408. See the letters of Helvetius in the Appendix. He does not seem to have translated any of Hume's works, his proposed reciprocity treaty not having been concluded. He appears to have had considerably more at heart the being chosen a member of the Royal Society of London, as a means of restoring his lost popularity at home.
[55:1] A translation was published in 1764, by Besset de la Chapelle.