50 HUME n 



maze of crowded thoroughfares, the hoarse murmur 

 of the toil of a polity of energetic men is borne 

 upon the ear. At times a man may be as solitary 

 here as in a veritable wilderness ; and may meditate 

 undisturbedly upon the epitome of nature and of 

 man the kingdoms of this world spread out 

 before him. 



Surely, there is a fitness in the choice of this 

 last resting-place by the philosopher and historian, 

 who saw so clearly that these two kingdoms form 

 but one realm, governed by uniform laws and 

 alike based on impenetrable darkness and eternal 

 silence ; and faithful to the last to that profound 

 veracity which was the secret of his philosophic 

 greatness, he ordered that the simple Roman 

 tomb which marks his grave should bear no 

 inscription but 



DAVID HUME 

 BORN 1711. DIED 1776. 



Leaving it to posterity to add the rest. 



It was by the desire and at the suggestion of 

 my friend, the Editor of this Series, 1 that I under- 

 took to attempt to help posterity in the difficult 

 business of knowing what to add to Hume's 

 epitaph ; and I might, with justice, throw upon 

 him the responsibility of my apparent presump- 

 tion in occupying a place among the men of 



1 English Men of Letters. Edited by John Morley. 



