H U M 
H U M 
greateli depth of thought, and-a capacity in'every re Ip eft 
the molt comprehenlive. Upon the. whole, I have always 
confidered him, both in his life-time and lince his death, 
as approaching as nearly to the idea of a perfectly wile 
and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of human frailty 
' will permit.” 
After his death, in 1779, were publilhed his Dialogues 
concerning Natural Religion, 8vo. a performance at lealt 
equal in elegance, acutenefs, and ingenuity, to any of his 
preceding works. Its general tendency is to favour fcep- 
ticifm, though an apparent preponderance is given to the 
arguments for pure theifin. In 1783 appeared Eflays on 
Suicide, in his name, which contain fome of his molt ob¬ 
noxious principles in the groffeft form. 
Of his Hiltory of England, w,e have the following ge¬ 
nuine character, given by th,e author of “ Hints for a 
youngPrincels,”publilliedin 1805. “Hume’s finely-paii t- 
ed characters of Alfred and Elizabeth Ihould be engraved 
on the heart of every fovereign. His political prejudices 
do not ltrikingly appear till the elfablilhment of the 
houfe of Stuart, nor his religious antipathies till about 
the diltant dawn of the reformation under Henry V. From 
that period to its full eftablifhment, he is perhaps more 
dangerous, becaufe lels oltenlibly daring, than fome other 
infidel hiftorians. It is a ferpent under a bed of rofes. 
He does not (in his Hijlory at lealt) fo much ridicule reli¬ 
gion liimfelf, as invite others to ridicule it. There is a 
fedatenefs in his manner which impofes ; a Hy gravity in 
liis fcepticifm, which puts the reader more oft his guard, 
than the vehemence of cenfure, or the levity of wit; for 
we are always ]els_difpofed to lufpeft a man who is too 
wife to appear angry. That lame wifdom makes him too 
correct to invent calumnies, but it does not prelerve him 
from doing what is fcarcely lels dilingenuous. He im¬ 
plicitly adopts thfc injurious relations of thofe annalifts 
who were molt hoftile to the reformed faith ; though he 
mult have known their accounts to be aggravated and 
difcoloured, if not abfolutely invented. He thus makes 
others refponfible for the worft things he alferts, and 
fpreads the mifehief, without avowing the malignity. 
When he fpeaks from liimfelf, the fneer is fo cool, the 
irony fo fober, the contempt fo dilcreet, the moderation 
fo infidious, the difference between Popilh bigotiy and 
Proteftant firmnefs, between the fury of the perfecutor 
and the rel'olution of the martyr, fo little marked; the 
diftinftions between intolerant phrenfy and heroic zeal 
fo melted into each other, that, though he contrives to 
make the reader feel fome indignation at the tyrant, he 
never leads him to feel any reverence for the lufFerer. He 
aferibes fuch a llender 1’uperiority to one religious lyltem 
above another, that the young reader, who does not come 
to the perufal with his principles formed, will be in dan¬ 
ger of thinking that the reformation was really not worth 
contending for. But, in nothing is the Ikill of this ac- 
complilhed fophilt more apparent than in the artful way 
in which he piques his readers into a conformity with his 
own views concerning religion. Human pride, he knew, 
naturally likes to range itfelf on the fide of ability. He, 
therefore, lkilfully works on this palfion, by treating with 
a fort of contemptuous fuperiority, as weak and credulous, 
men, all whom he reprelents as being under the religious 
delulion.” 
HUME, a town of the American States, in the Hate of 
South Carolina : twelve miles foutli-fouth-wdl of George 
Town. 
To HUMECT', or Humect'ate, v. a. [ humeBo , Lat. 
from humeficr, Fr.] To wet; to moiften.—-The Nile and 
Niger do not only moiften and contemperate the air by 
their, exhalations, but refrelh and humekale the earth by ' 
their annual inundations. Brown. 
HUMECTAN'TICS, J. [from humeBo, to make moift.] 
Medicines which foften and make moift the folids of the 
body. 
HU M E C T A T IO N, f [ huyrieBatim, Fr. from humec¬ 
tate .] The aft of wetting; moiltening.—That which is 
Voe.X. No. 675. . 
453 
concreted by exliccations or exprelTion of humidity, wiil 
be refolved by humeBation, as earth and clay. Brown. 
HU'MERAL, adj. Jmmemt, Fr. front humerus , Eat.] 
Belonging to the llioulder.—The largeft crooked needle 
Ihould be ufed, with a ligature, in taking up the humeral 
arteries in amputation. Sharp. 
LIU'MERUS, [from u^oc, Gr. or nuN hamak, Heb. quad 
hamerus.~\ The llioulder; the part which conuefts the arm -• * 
to the body. 
HUMES, a town of France, in the department of the Up¬ 
per Marne, and chief place of a canton, in the diftrift of 
Langres : one league north of Langres.. 
HUM'FRE, a cape on the eaft coalt of the ifland, of 
Guernfey : half a mile fouth of Cornet-caftle. 
HUM'FREY, [of home, and pjta&e, Sax. peace; one 
who makes peace at home.] AChriftian name. 
HUMICUBA'TION, f. \_humi and cubo, Lat.] The aft 
of lying on the ground.—Falling and fackcloth, and allies 
and tears, and humicubations , ufed to be companions of re¬ 
pentance. Bram hall. 
HU'MID, adj. Jntmide, Fr. humidus, Lat.] Wet; moift; 
watery: 
Iris there, with humid bow, 
AVaters the odorous banks that blow 
Flowers of more mingled hue 
Than her purpled fcaif can fhow. Milton. 
IIUMID'ITY, f. \jiumidite, Fr. from humid. ] That ' 
quality which we call moilture, or the power of wetting- 
other bodies. It differs very much from fluidity, depend¬ 
ing altogether on the congruity of the component parti¬ 
cles of any liquor to the pores or furfaces of fuch parti¬ 
cular bodies as it is capable of adhering to. Thus quick- 
filver is not a moift liquor, in refpect to our hands or 
clothes, and many other things it will not (tick to; but 
it may be called fo in reference to-gold, tin, or lead, to 
whofe furfaces it will prefently adhere. And even water 
itfelf, that wets almoft every tiling, and is the great ftand- 
ard of humidity, is not capable of wetting every thing; for * 
it Hands and runs eafily off in globular drops on the leaves 
of cabbages and many other plants; and it will not wet 
the feathers of ducks, fwan-s, or other water-fowl; 
HUMIF'EROUS, adj. [from humus, Lat. the moift earth, 
and ftro, to bring.] Producing moifture. Bailey. 
HUMIF'IC, adj. \_humus, Lat. moilt ground, and facio, 
to make.] Moiftening, caufing dampnels. Scott > 
HUMILIATION, J. [French.] Delcent from great- 
nefs ; aft of humility : 
Thy humiliation (hall exalt. 
With thee thy manhood alfo to this throne. Milton. 
Mortification ; external expreffion of fin and unwortlii- 
nefs.—The doftrine John preached was humiliation and re¬ 
pentance. Brown. —Abatement of pride.—It may ferve for 
a lelTon of humiliation, to behold the habits and pafflons of 
men trampling over intereft, friendfiiip, honour, and then- 
own perfonal iafety, as well as that of their country. Swift-. 
HUMILIA'TI, a congregation of religious in the 
church of Rome, eftablilhed by fome Milanel’e on their re- 
leafe from prifon, where they had been confined under 
the emperor Conrad, or, as others lay, under Frederic I. 
in 11.62. This order, which acquired great wealth, and 
had no lefs than ninety monafteries, was abolilhed by 
pope Pius V. in 1570. 
HUMILTPY, f. [ humilitc, Fr.] Freedom from pride; 
modefty; not arrogance.—When we make prorefiion 
of our faith, we itand ; when we acknowledge our 
fins, or leek unto God for favour, we fall down; becaufe 
the geftnre of conftancy becometh us belt in the one, in 
the other the behaviour of humility. Hooker. —What the 
height of a king tempteth to revenge, the humility of a- 
Chriltian teacheth to-forgive. King Charles. 
There are fome that ufe 
Humility to ferve their pride, and feem 
Humble, upon their way, to be the prouder 
At their wifii’d journey’s end. 
5 Z 
Denham. 
Ad 
