Excerpt from The Works of Orestes A. Brownson, Vol. 18: Containing the Fourth Part of the Political Writings The work now produced IS based on scientific principles, but it is an essay rather than a scientific treatise, and even good-natured critics will, no doubt, pronounce it an article or a series of articles designed for a review, rather thana book. It IS hard to overcome the habits of a life time. I have taken some pains to exchange the reviewer for the author, but am fully conscious that I have not succeeded. My work can lay claim to very little artistic merit. It is full of repetitions, the same thought 1s frequently recurring, - the result, to some extent, no doubt, of carelessness and the want of artistic skill; but to a greater extent, I fear, Of malice aforethought. In composing my work I have followed, rather than directed, the course of my thought, and, having very little confidence in the memory or in dustry of readers, I have preferred, when the completeness of the argument required it, to repeat myself to encumber ing my pages with perpetual references to what has gone before. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.