Abstract
The question of the origin of the "Scottish Renaissance"-that
remarkable efflorescence of the mid-eighteenth century, with its
roll call of great names: Hume, Smith, Robertson, Kames, and
Ferguson- is one of those historical problems which have hitherto stubbornly resisted a definite solution. This may be due to its very nature; for, as the greatest of recent historians of Scotland has remarked, "We recognize as inadequate all attempts to explain the appearance of galaxies of genius at particular epochs in different countries."' This is not to imply that attempted explanations have failed to be forthcoming...