28 HUME I 



the Hindoos ; and, it may be safely assumed, that 

 he would not have had recourse to the circum- 

 ambience of the " melancholy main " to account 

 for the troublous history of Ireland. He supports 

 his views by a variety of strong arguments, 

 among which, at the present conjuncture, it is 

 worth noting that the following occurs 



" Where any accident, as a difference in language or religion, 

 keeps two nations, inhabiting the same country, from mixing 

 with one another, they will preserve during several centuries 

 a distinct and even opposite set of manners. The integrity, 

 gravity, and bravery of the Turks, form an exact contrast to 

 the deceit, levity, and cowardice of the modern Greeks, "- 

 (III. 233.) 



The question of the influence of race, which 

 plays so great a part in modern political specula- 

 tions, was hardly broached in Hume's time, but he 

 had an inkling of its importance : 



"I am apt to suspect the Negroes to be naturally inferior 

 to the Whites. There scarcely ever was a civilised nation of 

 that complexion, nor even any individual, eminent either in 

 action or speculation. . . . Such a uniform and constant 

 difference [between the negroes and the whites] could not 

 happen in so many countries and ages, if nature had not made 

 an original distinction between these breeds of men. . . . 

 In Jamaica, indeed, they talk of one Negro as a man of 

 parts and learning ; but it is likely he is admired for slender 

 accomplishments, like a parrot who speaks a few words 

 plainly." (III. 236.) 



The "Essays" met with the success they deserved. 

 Hume wrote to Henry Home in June, 1742 : 



