“ In 1751 he published his Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion (Ger. trans., Leipzig, 1772) , in which he endeavoured to maintain the doctrine of innate ideas, but conceded to man an apparent but only apparent freedom of the will. ”

“ Lord Kames took a special interest in agricultural and commercial affairs. In 1755 he was appointed a member of the board of trustees for encouragement of the fisheries, arts and manufactures of Scotland, and about the same time he was named one of the commissioners for the management of the forfeited estates annexed to the Crown. ”

“ In 1765 he published a small pamphlet On the Flax Husbandry of Scotland; and, besides availing himself of his extensive acquaintance with the proprietors of Scotland to recommend the introduction of manufactures, he took a prominent part in furthering the project of the Forth and Clyde Canal. He was also one of the founders of the Physical and Literary Society, afterwards the Royal Society of Edinburgh. It is, however, as a writer on philosophy that Lord Kames is best known. ”