366 
your candour, and moft fatisfactory alfo 
to the reader, to publith all the anfwers to 
all the Jetters you write, though fome of 
thefe anfwers fhould make fomewhat 
againft your own opinion in this affair.— 
We fhall always be the more affured, that 
no arguments are ftrained beyond their 
proper force, and no contrary arguments 
fuppreficd, where fuch an entire communi- 
cation is made to us. 
Becket joins me heartily in this appli- 
cation ; and he owns to me, that the be- 
lievers in the authenticity of thefe Poems 
diminifh every day among the men of 
fenfe and -refleStion. Nothing lefs than 
what I propofe, can throw the balance on 
the other fide. I depart from hence in 
about three weeks, and fhould be glad to 
hear your refolution before that time. 
This journey to Paris will certainly 
contribute much to my entertainment, and 
“will certainly tend much to improve my 
fortune; fo that I have no reafon to re- 
pent that I allowed myfelf to be dragged 
from my retreat. I fhall henceforth con- 
verfe with authors, but fhall not, proba- 
bly, for fome time, have much Jeifure to 
perufe them ; which is not, perhaps, the 
way of knowing them moft to their advan- 
tage. I carry only four books along 
with me—a Virgil, a Horace, a Taffo, and 
a Tacitus. I could have withed alfo to 
carry my Homer ; but I found him too 
bulky. I own that, in common decency, 
Eought to have left my Horace behind 
me, and that I ought to be afhamed to 
Jook him in the face: for Iam fenfible, 
that, at my years, no temptation could 
have feduced him from his retreat ; nor 
would he ever have been induced to enter 
fo late in the path of ambition.—But I 
deny that I enter into the path of ambi- 
tion; I only walk in the green fields of 
amufement : and I affirm, that external 
amufement becomes more and more necef- 
fary as one advances in yeais, and can 
find lefs fupply from his own pafiions or 
imagination. I am, dear Sir, 
Your’s mott fincere!y, 
(Signed) Davip HuMgE, 
Lifle-frreet, Leicefter-fields, 
Sept. 19, 1765. 
LETTER If, 
MY DEAR SIR, 
I AM very giad you have undertaken 
the tafk which I ufed the freedom to re- 
commend to you. Nothing lefs than what 
you propofe, will ferve the purpofe. You 
need expect no affiftance from Macpher- 
fon, who flew into a paffioa when I told 
him of the letter I had wrote toyou: but 
2 
From the Port-folio of a Man of Letters. 
[May t, 
you muft not mind fo ftrange and heteros 
clite a mortal, than whom I have fearce 
ever known a man more perverfe and una- 
miable. He will probably depart for Flo. 
rida with Governor Johnftone ; and & 
would advife him to travel among the 
Chickafaws and Cherokees, in order to 
tame him and civilize him. 
I fhould be much pleafed to hear of the 
fuccefs of your labours, Your method of 
directing to me, is, under cover, to the 
Earl! of Hertford, Northumberland-houfe, 
London. Any letters that come to me 
under that direétion, will be fent over to 
me at Paris. I beg my compliments to 
Robertfon and Jardine. I am forry to 
hear of the ftate of Fergufon’s healthi— 
John Hume went to the country yelterday . 
with Lord Bute. _ I was introduced the 
other day to that noble Lord, at his de- 
fire. I believe him to be a very good, 
man—a better man thana politician. 
Since I wrote the above, I have been in 
company with Mrs. Montague, a lady of 
great diltintion in this place, and a zea. 
lous partifan of Offian. I told her of 
ycur intentions, and even ufed the free- 
dom to read your letter toher. She was 
extremely pleafed with your project ; and 
the rather, as the Duke de Nivernois, fhe 
faid, had talked much to her on that fub- 
ject lat winter ; and defired, if poflible, to 
get collected fome proofs of the authenti- 
city of thefe Poems, wh'ch he propofed to 
lay before the Académie des Belles Lettres 
at Paris. You fee, then, that you are 
upon a great ftage in this inquiry, and 
that many people have their eyes upon 
you. ‘This is a new motive for rendering 
your. prcofs as complete as poffible. I 
cannot conceive any objeétion a man, 
even of the graveft character, could have 
to the publication of his letters, which 
will only atteft a plain faé& known tohim. 
Such fcruples, as they occur, you mutt en-. 
deavour to remove. For on this trial of 
your’s will the the judgment of the public . 
finally depend. Lord Bath, who was in 
the company, agreed with me, that fuch 
dccumen:s of authenticity are ‘entirely 
neceflary and indi{penfable. . 
Pleafe to write to me as foon as you 
makeany advances, that I may have fome~ 
thing to fay on the fubje& to the literati 
of Paris. I beg my compliments to all 
thefe who may bear that name at Edin- 
burgh : I cannot but look upon all of 
them as my friends. 
Iam your’s fincerely, 
(Signed) Davin HuME. 
P. S, I depart agnce in eight days. 
