312 



HUME. 



Hume. 



fended the Christian world, by treating religious sys- 

 tems too lightly, and even the advantages which this 

 characteristic might at first seem to promise to the spi- 

 rit of toleration were found to be coldly withheld. His 

 displeasure is chiefly directed against the complaints, 

 and even the non-conformity of the people ; and he pal- 

 liates in the conduct of princes all deviations from pa- 

 triotism and law, as well as that offensive arrogance 

 which set at nought the object of general satisfaction. 

 He construes the slightest incongruity in the com plaints 

 of the nation, which was capable of being turned to ri- 

 dicule, into a vindication of the most arbitrary and in- 

 tolerant conduct on the part of the sovereign. The 

 party questions relating to the rights which king or peo- 

 ple respectively derived from precedent and law, were 

 of much less moment than the spirit in which the con- 

 tending parties maintained their point. Appeals to the 

 original and universal rights of man are reckoned dan- 

 gerous, as being subject to the widest differences of opi- 

 nion, and therefore precedents in favour of liberty had 

 been chiefly appealed to by the Whigs. Precedents, 

 however, were to be found on both sides ; and Mr 

 Hume points out the shallowness of any pretence to 

 make the ultimate decision of great and general ques- 

 tions in politics depend on them. It is with the de- 

 gree of correctness and generosity of the spirit in 

 which the king and the people approached to one ano- 

 ther for the adjustment of their differences, that an 

 unbiassed historian is chit-fly concerned in measu- 

 ring to each party his share of approbation and of cen- 

 sure. Tin's was certainly so offensive and unconciliating 

 on the part of the Stuarts, as to amount to a forfeiture 

 of all submission, and even of all sympathy from the 

 party which they laboured to crush. That the dissen- 

 sions of the times rendered the duties of a sovereign ar- 

 duous must be acknowledged, and strong measures 

 might have bee^ on ?ome occasions necessary. But the 

 measures of these princes had neither the merit of 

 strength, nor the inoft'ensiveness of total inactivity. 

 They were both irritating in their tendency, and desti- 

 tute of efficiency. The exertion of a despotic authori- 

 ty, if evidently directed to ends substantially good, 

 might have saved the country, and preserved the dy- 

 nasty. But the Stuarts made their right of power a 

 matter of ostentation rather than an instrument of good 

 government, and thus insulted the nation instead of 

 ruling it. There were errors on all sides. The peo- 

 ple were often fanatical, and their complaints were 

 sometimes inconsistent. All these facts should come 

 alike under the scrutiny of the historian. But the plau- 

 sible coolness of Hume degenerates into a cavalierly 

 insensibility : his sarcasms are directed only against the 

 great mass of the nation, while his sympathetic feeling 

 andindulgence are reserved for kings and their ministers. 

 Dr Herring and Dr Stone, the one primate of Eng- 

 land and the other of Ireland, were the only persons 

 from whom the author heard favourable sen;iments of 

 his work. Both of these gentlemen wrote to him not 

 to be discouraged. The impression made on his mind 

 by the unfavourable reception of his work was however 

 very deep. Although on looking to the periodical pub- 

 lications of that day, we find the due tribute repeatedly 

 and even liberally given to his merits as a writer, he 

 seems not to have been at all prepared to meet with 

 any opposition or neglect. He shewed on this occasion 

 the overweening importance which authors are dispo- 

 sed to attach to their own powers, and how little they 

 calculate on the difficulty of making any impression 

 in opposition to the general sentiments of the public. 



He confesses that his mortification would have now Hum*, 

 determined him to retire to a corner of France, to """ST"""" ' 

 change his name, and never more revisit his native 

 country, had not a war breaking out between the two 

 nations prevented the execution of any such scheme. 



He next published his Natural Hixtory of Religion, 

 which was attacked with considerable acrimony by Dr 

 Hurd, and, though otherwise not much attended to at 

 the time, produced at a subsequent period no slight 

 sensation in the religious world, as tending to reduce 

 the general principles of religion to an uncertain and 

 even a frivolous origin in the human mind. 



A second volume of the History of England, which 

 brought it down to the revolution, was published in 

 1756. This, containing fewer obnoxious sentiments, 

 was better received than the first, and even served to 

 impart to it a degree of adventitious character. 



In 1 759, he published his Hi.\tory of t/ie House of 

 Tudor. In this publication he displayed considerable 

 address in supporting his Tory principles. While he 

 details facts which demonstrate the duplicity of the 

 character of Elizabeth, he gives her a character far high- 

 er than these facts c.ui warrant. At the same time he 

 describes her conduct, as well as that of her predecessors 

 of the same family, as so offensively harsh, that the max- 

 ims of the Stuarts, reckoned by many tyrannical, must 

 on the contrast appear mild and liberal. He neglects 

 to give the due weight to the beneficial tendency and 

 the magnanimous justice which marked some of her 

 most arbitrary acts, and the activity which she display- 

 ed in managing the vital interests of the state. These 

 characteristics were widely different from the vexatious 

 and idle exaction of reluctant homage which the Stu- 

 arts delighted to make from their subjects. Habit had 

 now rendered Mr Hume callous to the impressions of 

 pubhc opinion, which he affected to despise; yet he owed 

 his equanimity in some measure to the increased for- 

 bearance of his opponents, and the tribute of admira- 

 tion which some of his qualities as a writer extorted 

 from all. In 1761, he published the two volumes 

 which contain the earlier part of the Ensrlis:! history. 

 The copy money given to him by the booksellers much 

 exceeded any thi g of the 'kind formerly known in 

 England, and his circumstances were in consequence 

 rendered opulent. 



At this time a storm of ecclesiastical censure was pre- 

 paring by some members of the church of Scotland, di- 

 rected against Mr Hume, and intended to include Lord 

 Kames, and various other writers, who, though differ, 

 ing in their opinions, agreed in treating religious sub- 

 jects with coolness, and subjecting them to metaphysi- 

 cal analysis. A motion was made in the committee (if 

 overtures of the General Assembly, in which Mr Hume 

 was named as the most obnoxious author. It was pro- 

 posed to call him before that court, to answer a list of 

 accusations, on the tendency ot the principles which he 

 had published. This, however, was after .vards abandon- 

 ed, as it was supposed that the influence of such dis- 

 cussions was limited to a narrow circle, and that there 

 could be no propriety in extending them to the common 

 mass of readers, who might, from the sympathy natu- 

 rally felt for a man subjected to violent opposition, be 

 led to an undue bias in favour of his opinions. 



In 1763, he attended the Earl of Hertford on his em- 

 bassy to Paris, where he was lolled with great civili- 

 ties. He expresses himself highly pleased with the po- 

 liteness and information which characterised the socie- 

 ty of that metropolis. 



In 1766 he returned to England, and then to Edin 



