452 
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H U M E. 
his firft publication, which excited not the fmalleft no¬ 
tice. He was not, however, difcouraged, but proceeded 
in his courfe of ftudies, and in 174.2 printed at Edin¬ 
burgh, Effays, moral, political, and literary. The more 
popular and familiar form of this work, with the elegance 
of its ftyle, caufed it to be favourably received, and made 
him amends for his former difappointment. In 1745 lie 
received an invitation from the marquis of Annandale to 
come and live,with him in England. The family of that 
nobleman were alfo defirous that he fhould be put under 
Mr. Hume’s direction, and the connection lafted for a 
twelvemonth. At the end of that time he ftood candi¬ 
date for the profeiforfhip of moral philofophy in the uni- 
verfity of Edinburgh, and was powerfully fupported by 
the interell of fome perfons of rank. The prefbytery, 
however, exercifed their authority againft him, as one 
whole principles they thought inimical to the eftablifhed 
religion. 
In 1746, general St. Clair nominated him his fecretary 
in an expedition defigned for Canada, but which ended 
in an attack only upon the French coaft. In 1747 he at¬ 
tended the general, in the fame ftation, upon a military 
embaffy to the courts of Vienna and Turin. Thefe two 
years palled away agreeably, and increafed his knowledge 
of the world, as well as his little Itock of fortunec On 
his return he went into Scotland, and lived two years 
with his brother in the country, occupied in preparing 
new matter for the prefs. But, finding a metropolis the 
fcene for a proper man of letters, he removed in 1751 
from his brother’s houle to Edinburgh; and there, in 1752, 
publilhed his Political Difcourfes, which were received 
with approbation. In the fame year his Enquiry con¬ 
cerning the Principles of Morals was publilhed in Lon¬ 
don, a work which he has pronounced to be, in his own 
opinion, of all his writings of every kind “incomparably 
the beft.” It had, however, the fate of molt ingenious 
fpeculations which do not point to practical utility; it 
met with little notice. He obtained, in 1752, the agree¬ 
able appointment of librarian to the faculty of advocates 
in Edinburgh, a place of little pecuniary emolument, but 
affording the command of a large and curious collection 
of books. It was this circumltance which feems firlt to 
have infpired him with the idea of becoming an hiltorical 
writer, as it was probably his local fituation which fug- 
gelted as his firlt fubjeft the “Hiftory of England under 
the Houfe of Stuart.” A quarto volume of this work, 
containing the reigns of James I. and Charles I. appeared 
in 1754 ; and, contrary to his fanghine expectations, was 
aflaiied by all parties with one “ cry of reproach, difap- 
probation, and even deteltation.” The real'on that he af- 
ligns for this reception, that “ he had prefumed to Ihea a 
generous tear for the fate of Charles I. and the earl of 
Strafford,” could not have operated upon all the dalles of 
Ins cenfurers ; but his undifguifed contempt for all reli¬ 
gion, of which he recognifes but two fpecies, fuperltition 
and enthufiafm, together with that impartiality which 
made him freely expofe the faults of all parties, would 
naturally unite againft him perfons of the moll oppoiite 
principles. His constitutional tranquillity, however, re¬ 
turned, and he proceeded in his talk. In the interval, he 
publilhed his Natural Hiftory of Religion, with fome other 
pieces, which did not excite the attention he feems to have 
expected. 
The fecond volume of his Hiftory of England, com¬ 
piling the period from the death of Charles I. to the re¬ 
volution, appeared in 1756, and was better received than 
the firft had been. He was now encouraged to take a 
wider range of Englilh hiftory, and in 1759 he publilhed 
his Hiftory of the Houfe of Tudor. This, he fays, ex¬ 
cited a clamour againft him almoft equal to that attend¬ 
ing the firft volume. His reputation as an hiftorian, how¬ 
ever, continued to gain ground ; lo that he was induced 
to go back to the earlier periods, and write down to the 
point of time at which his laft work had commenced. 
Thefe two additional volumes appeared in 1761, and his 
Hiftory of England thenceforth became a ftandard book, 
read by all, at home and abroad, who wilhed to take a 
compendious and interefting view of Englilh affairs. It 
is generally allowed, that his refearches into the origin of 
the Englilh conftitution are not remarkable for depth or 
accuracy, and that he has too readily admitted the idea 
that the liberties of the country are of modern date, and 
were fo many forced concellions from the lovereigns. His 
ftyle, however, is clear, lively, eloquent, always agreeable, 
but fometimes carelefs and incorreft. The copy-money 
obtained for thefe works, joined to a confiderable penfion 
granted him by the crown as a literary man, through the 
influence of lord Bute, had now fecured him an independ¬ 
ence, with which it was his intention to live retired in 
his native country; but in 1763 he received an unex- 
pefted invitation from the earl of Hertford, to attend him 
on his embaffy to Paris, with the near pro Ip eft of the fe- 
cretaryfnip to the embaffy. This was an offer too flatter¬ 
ing to be refilled. He accompanied that nobleman, and 
received the expefted appointment at Paris. His charac¬ 
ter as a writer and a philofopher was well known in that 
capital, and procured him an excefs of attention and ci¬ 
vility, which might have turned the head of a lefs fedate 
perfon. Not only the men of letters, but men of rank, 
and efpecially ladies of quality, vied with each other 
in the compliments paid him. This fituation could not 
fail of being delightful to one who was fond of refined fo- 
ciety, and fomewhat vain of literary reputation. He re¬ 
mained as charge d'affaires after the departure oflord Hert¬ 
ford in 1765, and did not return to England till the be¬ 
ginning of 1766. 
Mr. Hume had now acquired a relilh for public lif$ and 
its advantages, that caufed him, in 1767, to accept the poll 
of under-fecretary of Hate, offered to him by general Con¬ 
way, which he held till the refignation of that minifter in 
1769. He then made a final retreat to Edinburgh, ex¬ 
pecting to enjoy a comfortable old age by means of the 
Inends, reputation, and opulence, he now polfelfed. In 
that literary metropolis he drew round himfelf a chofen 
circle of Ratable affociates, with whom he lived upon eafy 
and familiar terms, generally admired and refpefted, even 
by thole whole profeffion neceffarily occalioned a referve 
in their communication with him. In the fpring of 1775 
he was attacked with a diforder in his bowels, which at 
firft caufed no alarm, but whicli v by its continuance, at 
length declared itfelf incurable. This is the idea he him¬ 
felf gives of it in a Iketch of his life, written April, 1776 3 
and with fuch tranquillity did he furvey his approaching 
end, that his habitual gaiety was not in the leaft impaired 
by the profpeft. With little bodily pain, and no mental 
decline,- he gradually funk into a Hate of exhaullion, 
which carried him off on Auguft 25, 1776, in his fixty- 
fifth year. “He’died,” fays his phyfician, Dr. Black, “an 
fuch a happy compofure of mind, that nothing could ex¬ 
ceed it.” His intimate friend, the celebrated Dr. Adam 
Smith, thus fums up his character. Hume was one “con¬ 
cerning whofe philofophical opinions men will, no doubt, 
judge varioully, every one approving or condemning them, 
according as they happen to coincide or difagree with his 
own ; but concerning whofe charafter and conduft there 
can fcarcely be a difference of opinion. TIis temper, in¬ 
deed, feerned to be more happily balanced, if I may be 
allowed fuch an expreffion, than that perhaps of any other 
man I have ever known. Even in the loweft Hate of his 
fortune, his great and neceflary frugality never hindered 
him from exercifing, upon proper occafions, afts both of 
charity and generality. It was a frugality founded, not 
upon avarice, but upon the love of independence. His 
conllant pleafantry was the genuine effufion of good¬ 
nature and good-humour, tempered with delicacy and 
modelty, and without even the llightell tinfture of ma¬ 
lignity. That gaiety of temper, fo agreeable in Society, 
but which is fo often accompanied with frivolous and lu- 
perficial qualities, was in him certainly attended with the 
moll fevere application, the moll extenfive learning, the 
grcateft 
