PROGRESS OF SOCIETY.

BY

THE LATE ROBERT HAMILTON,

LL.D., F.R.S.

PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS IN THE MARISCHAL COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY OF

ABERDEEN;

AUTHOR OF “AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING THE NATIONAL DEBT."

LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.

MDCCCXXX.

INTRODUCTION.

THE work now offered to the favourable reception of the public, being from the pen of the late Dr. Hamilton, of Aberdeen, and evidently composed with an eyę to publication, stands in no need of a prefatory recommendation. A life extended beyond the ordinary limits, and passed chiefly in public and important situations, and in the course of which he published various valuable works, has made Dr. Hamilton well known to the greater number of those who are likely to take an interest in this volume. But as it is probable that no more of his writings will be submitted to the public, a short notice or memoir of the Author may not prove unacceptable to the community at large, and will be particularly gratifying to his friends and acquaintance.

Dr. Hamilton's grandfather was Dr. William Hamilton, well known as Professor of Divinity in the University of Edinburgh, and afterwards Principal of that seminary. He was a cadet of the family of Preston. His father was Gavin Hamilton, an eminent publisher and bookseller in Edinburgh, who was distinguished for his loyalty during the Rebellion

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