ii LATER YEARS 51 



him the responsibility of my apparent presump- 

 tion in occupying a place among the men* of 

 letters, who are engaged with him, in their proper 

 function of writing about English Men of Letters. 



That to which succeeding generations have 

 made, are making, and will make, continual addi- 

 tions, however, is Hume's fame as a philosopher; 

 and, though I know that my plea will add to my 

 offence in some quarters, I must plead, in extenua- 

 tion of my audacity, that philosophy lies in the 

 province of science, and not in that of letters. 



In dealing with Hume's Life, I have en- 

 deavoured, as far as possible, to make him speak 

 for himself. If the extracts from his letters and 

 essays which I have given do not sufficiently show 

 what manner of man he was, I am sure that noth- 

 ing I could say would make the case plainer. In 

 the exposition of Hume's philosophy which fol- 

 lows, I have pursued the same plan, and I have ap- 

 plied myself to the task of selecting and arranging 

 in systematic order, the passages which appeared to 

 me to contain the clearest statements of Hume's 

 opinions. 



I should have been glad to be able to confine 

 myself to this duty, and to limit my own com- 

 ments to so much as was absolutely necessary to 

 connect my excerpts. Here and there, however, 

 it must be confessed that more is seen of my 

 thread than of Hume's beads. My excuse must 

 be an ineradicable tendency to try to make things 

 147 



