HOURS OF THOUGHT. BY WILLIAM M'COMBIE, Author of "THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO Second Edition, WITH CORRECTIONS AND LARGE ADDITIONS. 1830. LONDON: THOMAS WARD AND CO. PATERNOSTER-ROW. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. In presenting to the public this Second Edition of "Hours of Thought," it seems proper to indicate wherein it differs from the first. The whole of the papers have been subjected to a very careful and searching revision, and many corrections and alterations, which the author would hope will be found improvements, have been made. Several new paragraphs have been introduced into the first essay, chiefly on the characteristics and infelicities of genius. In the third paper, some observations have been ventured in this edition, on the comparative mental and moral influence of poetry and novels. An attempt has been made to guard the essay on luxury against those misconceptions to which it has been found open, by some additional remarks chiefly on the |