CHAPTER II 

 LATER TEARS: THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND 



IN 1744, Hume's friends had endeavoured to 

 procure his nomination to the Chair of " Ethics 

 and pneumatic philosophy " * in the University 

 of Edinburgh. About this matter he writes to his 

 friend William Mure: 



" The accusation of heresy, deism, scepticism, atheism, 

 &c., &c., &c., was started against me ; but never took, being 

 bore down by the contrary authority of all the good com- 

 pany in town." 



If the " good company in town " bore down the 

 first three of these charges, it is to be hoped, for 

 the sake of their veracity, that they knew their 

 candidate chiefly as the very good company that 

 he always was; and hacl paid as little attention, 

 as good company usually does, to so solid a work 

 as the " Treatise/' Hume expresses a naive 



* " Pneumatic philosophy " must not be confounded 

 with the theory of elastic fluids ; though, as Scottish chairs 

 have, before now, combined natural with civil history, the 

 mistake would be pardonable. 

 30 



