Students of the freedom philosophy are indebted to Liberty Fund. From that body comes Liberty Classics, a superbly produced series of works of inestimable value to any person desirous of making the acquaintance of the great thinkers of history who defended political and economic liberty.

The latest addition to that series is David Hume’s Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary. The volume’s edi tor, Eugene F. Miller, has contributed a foreword, notes, and glossary of interest to any reader but invaluable to students of Hume’s writings. Included also is a brief autobiographical outline of Hume’s life and a moving letter penned by Hume’s admiring and fond friend, Adam Smith. Then come no less than forty-nine: essays, graced by the subtlety of insight and clarity of expression typical of Hume.

It would be unfortunate if readers of The Freeman who peruse this volume merely study Hume’s essays dealing with explicitly economic issues (those on trade, interest, and money, for example). Hume’s comments on the “Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature,” on “National Characters,” on “Civil Liberty,” on “Passive Obedience,” and on the “Study of History” merit thoughtful consideration.

All students of Hume’s works will be delighted to find in this volume the full and accurate text of two of Hume’s most controversial essays: “On Suicide” and “On the Immortality of the Soul.”