HUME. 



343 



Hum. burgh. On this occasion he brought with him the ce- 

 """Y"* 1 lebrated Rousseau, who was exposed to some trouble in 

 Switzerland unu France, ieh he had 



publisher < M ; lu contem- 



plation to take ?& situation in 



-. , -ited 



jmfort. But the morbid 

 Minted every scheme of 



ess that adopted. He conceived him- 



self to be neglected by the world, and was prone to sus- 

 pect his best friends of intending to undermine 



ridicule and scorn 

 Hume soon \ .ruublesome temper 



>h treat t 







. 



out 





me poverty, was an e:/ 



_ the interest of others. 

 Mr Hume deplored, but did not cease to do wh 

 in his power to serve him. At last Uouoeau suspected 

 Mr Hume of being the author of a very improper sar- 

 castic letter whVh was cirt ulated in the name of the 

 . ussia as addressed to Rousseau, and was the 

 work oi Mr HOT . Walpole. Suspicions of all kind, 

 accumulated in his gloomy mi:: !, till they burst forth 

 in a storm of invective in the form of a long letter to 

 Home. To thi* Hume published a reply by the ad- 

 vice of the Parisian literati, though contrary to that of 

 o thought Rousseau's letter a suf! 

 . and the whole business unworthy of 

 notice. Nothing could have rendered it nrcessary to 



> to absurd, and so evidently the off- 

 p, except the celebrity of Ilousseau, the 

 us admirers tooV !>inghedidand 



luposition ' - the oo*t far- . 



ia lion* ai the dictate* of sentiment and sa- 

 zeal hi* reproachful com* 

 : li* friend- 

 ly connection was thus inevitably dissoU ry part 

 ore testimony to the humanity, tenderness, and 

 sincere friends). .o, far from neglect- 

 ing to make due allowance*, seem* to have exceeded 

 the ordinary limits of human patience. 



In ITIiT, he was invited by Mr Conway to be under 

 secretary of state ; a situation which he accepted ami 



when he returned to Edinburgh. 

 In 1 7 7 ~>, his health began to decline. I le was attack- 

 ed with a disorder in his bowels, which gradually in- 

 creased, and which he perceived at last, at the time that 

 he drew up his short account of his life, to be mortal 

 and incurable. Hut l.e continued In* former occupa- 

 tion* and amusements, and enjoyed unabated go 

 rits both in his private studies and in roni|ny. He 

 lived in a house in James's court in Edinburgh, sur- 

 rounded by the friend* whom he mort highly valued. 

 The literary societv ' Inirgh at 

 tamed a few men of the first genius and talent, along 

 with many other person* who nuule the various objects 

 of liberal Jit. Dr Robertaon, 



principal of UK rian, was one of the 



difference 

 .me on the 



m.i-t niip<>rt.inl ulijectt, >it as all IK.JK- ,,t 'pro-i-h ti-moti 

 either side was cut off, they avoided all dispute' huh 

 tended to agitate the passions, and by mutual consent 

 enjoyed the pleasure and improvement which in other 

 respects they were fitted to impart to one another. 



The zeal of Dr Blair prevented him from being equally 

 circumspect ; and Hume found himself obliged to inti- 

 mate to that worthy clergyman the necessity of abstain- 

 ing from all topics which implied serious difference* of 

 sentiment, if they were ever to enjoy one another's so- 

 ciety. This is decidedly though de!icat< >im 

 the letter which he wrote to him, after the perusal of 

 the wor\ of Dr Campbell on Miracles, whii-h Dr Blair 

 had sent to him. Dr Joseph Black, the celebrated pro- 

 fessor of chemistry, and Dr Adam Smith, were among 

 the moat intimate of his friends. The latier, however, 



>w engaged in the composition of that work 



which has associated hi* name in an iiulelilje manner 



with ' < U of society, his Inquiry into the 



..<rs of ike h'tallfi of Nation*, and iived 



in ,t . is mother at Kirkcaldy, a 



ihe 1'rith of Forth. This 



cxatious toHunu 1 . v. !.<>. i: ineffectual* 



ii to take up his residence in Edinburgh. 



rigin of moral idea*; they 



hod embraced different opinions, and fount! it interest* 



! in them part ' . the 



subject of t! ir conversation. They were both ready 

 any subject ti- uuity of cither 



of topics was 



undoubtedly suggested by the fates, characters, and all 

 the metnorabiUa of many . whom on Ibr- 



mer occasions, and / rts <>t' the country 



anil of Europr. .wn. 1. Mr 



Ulan Ramsay the \ the Scot* 



et,) were al*6 among the mimbt* of the literati 

 who, in the days of Hume, adorned the circle of this 

 . iie manners of literary man were parti- 

 cularly easy, and they had the character of great frank- 

 ness and ready accessibility. No cause of r>> 

 miiy operated a* a source of division; di&rcnces of 



M opinion were tampered in their t-\ preJiion by 

 good manner* ; the facility of intercourse was not ob- 

 structed by affectation, or a harsh incommodious eti- 

 quette ; literary contro vet-tie* and private debates were 

 managed without occasion of xfl'ence. If any excess 



I, it seems to have been on the side of familiarity, 

 i admitted of an imlulgi-nce in a coarse specie* of 

 raillery. From this school issued the following curi- 

 ous sentiment, to be found in Lord Kames's Art of 

 Tkmkimg: " Von are a fool, yon dream, and such lik>>, 

 are expression* we may easily bear from friends. A- 

 mong free spirits I love freedom. Let the words go 

 the full length of the thought. In a manly society, 

 familiarity is agreeable, because it has nothing effemi- 

 nate or cvremoniouv" These manners may be consist- 

 ent with cumttnss* when of spontaneous origin ; but 

 when recommended and studied, they become flat and 

 unmeaning. I aniiliarity degenerates into insipidity, 

 and tho*e who have indulged it begin to envy the ce- 

 remony which, though at first stiff and forbidding, pre- 

 serves mutual rrnpect, and obviate* the cloying influ- 

 ence of extreme freedom. Men oscillate from one in- 

 convenient bias to another, and those who can do it 

 without going far into either extreme- are the most 

 happ) in general, is the literary society of 



Edinburgh. Sober convivial clubs of men of taste and 

 genius have at different times been formed, some of 

 which have been supported with much greater steadi- 

 ness than the precarious nature of such n,-t tu ions 

 renders generally practicable. They are soon broken 

 up by the admittance of unaccommodating cluiracters, 

 and on the other hand, they arc apt to lose the stamp 

 of liberality when conducted ou a principle of iiulidious 



Ilnmr 



