198 HUME- 



kind. It was to attend, as private secretary, General 

 St. Clair (uncle of Lord Loughborough, and great- 

 uncle of the late Lord Rosslyn), whose family has 

 always been honourably distinguished by their love of 

 literary society. The General was appointed to com- 

 mand an expedition, at first destined for the conquest 

 of Canada, but afterwards very unwisely, and with no 

 result any more than any rational design, diverted to 

 the folly of making an incursion on the coast of 

 France. The following year, 1747, he accompanied 

 the General on his embassy to the courts of Vienna 

 and Turin. This mission was of a military nature, 

 and the philosopher tells us that he was not only 

 Secretary, but Aide-de-camp, with two military men 

 Captain, afterwards General, Grant, and Sir Henry 

 Erskine, afterwards a General officer also, and who mar- 

 ried the Ambassador's sister. These two years, 1 746 

 and 1747, formed the only interruption ever given to 

 his studies ; but they appear to have satisfied him in 

 one important particular ; for, "not only," he says, " I 

 passed this period of^ time agreeably and in good com- 

 pany, but my appointments with frugality had made 

 me reach a fortune which I called independent, though 

 most of my friends were incited to smile when I said 

 so ; in short, I was now master of near a thousand 

 pounds." 



While he was at Turin, his ' Inquiry concerning the 

 Human Understanding' was published in London. It 

 was the ' Treatise on Human Nature' presented in a new 

 form, and was not much more successful than its pre- 

 decessor ; but he nevertheless began to perceive symp- 

 toms of his books coming into notice ; " for," says he, 



