[331:1] A scientific gentleman, whose writings on medical jurisprudence are of high authority, and who had read the Hume and Rousseau controversy, observed to me, that Rousseau's case should have been treated as one of monomania.
[332:1] Whoever would notice the practical sagacity of Rousseau's genius, may compare the early part of "Émile," with "Combe on the Management of Infancy," and observe in how many things the theorist and the scientific inquirer coincide.
[333:1] "We have had," says Burke, in his Reflections on the French Revolution, "the great professor and founder of the philosophy of vanity in England. As I had good opportunities of knowing his proceedings, almost from day to day, he left no doubt on my mind that he entertained no principle, either to influence his heart or guide his understanding, but vanity: with this vice he was possessed to a degree little short of madness."
[333:2] D'Alembert writes to Hume, on 4th August:
"Il y a dans la drôle de lettre de ce joli petit homme, comme vous l'appelliez autrefois, une phrase sacramentelle ou sacramentale, à laquelle vous n'avez peut-être pas fait autant d'attention qu'elle le mérite; c'est que le public, qui d'abord avoit eté fort amoureux de lui, commença bientôt après à le négliger. Voilà ce qui le fâche véritablement, et il s'en prend à qui il peut. Vous vous êtes chargé de montrer l'ours à la foire; sa loge qui d'abord etoit pleine, est bientôt restée vuide, et il vous en rend responsable. Il est d'ailleurs três certain, et je le sçais de Duclos son ami, à qui il l'a dit, ainsi qu'à bien d'autres, qu'il ne peut pas souffrir toutes les personnes à qui il a obligation: et sur ce pied là, vous avez bien des droits à sa haine." MS. R.S.E.
[334:1] During his sojourn in England, he was in dread of being kidnapped. The late Professor Walker remembered being asked by Lord Bute to accompany Rousseau on a botanizing excursion on the banks of the Thames, and that he was just explaining something about marine plants being acrid, when a Cockney pic-nic party of youths, dressed as sailors, landed. Rousseau instantly took to his heels! The professor being responsible for his safe restoration, followed, and, after a considerable chase, succeeded in running him down. Rousseau, seeing that there were no other pursuers, passed the matter off by the observation that marine men were acrid. After his return from England, an account for nine francs, which it appears he was not due, was presented against him by a tradesman. He called on all Europe to witness this conspiracy to destroy his character, and raised such an outcry as must have effectually frightened sober tradesmen from overcharging interesting solitaries.
[335:1] Even his trusted friend, Du Peyrou, writing to Hume on 13th February, after many eulogiums on his kindness to the unfortunate, says:—
"C'est sous votre couvert qu' M. Rousseau m'a marqué, Monsieur, que je devois lui écrire: voudriez vous donc avoir la complaisance de lui faire parvenir l'incluse à son adresse." MS. R.S.E.
[337:1] MS. R.S.E.
[337:2] He was a cordial hater of all uncandidness in others, whatever he might be in his own case. Morellet tells a laughable anecdote of Rousseau's presence on an occasion when some of the wicked wits of Paris were what is commonly called "trotting out" a vain poet, and making him say ridiculous things of his own genius. Rousseau, after walking restlessly about the room, burst into a rage, told the poet that he was a poor paltry idiot, and the company were only encouraging him to make game of him.
[338:1] An incident had just happened to make the name of the "quack Tronchin," peculiarly offensive. This distinguished physician had received public honours at Parma. After strenuous popular opposition, he had been permitted to practise the new precautionary remedy of inoculation on the young prince Ferdinand. The experiment had been successful; all Parma, excited by loyal joy, petitioned the Grand-duke to admit the physician to the rank of citizen. A tablet, commemorating the triumph of science, was erected in the town hall, and a medal with suitable devices was struck in honour of the operator. He was a relation of Tronchin the Procureur Général of Geneva, author of Lettres écrites de la Campagne , which Rousseau answered in Lettres de la Montagne . See him mentioned above, p. 186.
[339:1] Morellet questions if he could have done so, i. 106.
[340:1] The following jeu-d'esprit, which was printed in some of the periodicals of the day, is really a pretty accurate abridgment of Rousseau's paper. It has the appearance of having been written by a Scottish lawyer:—
Heads of an Indictment laid by J. J. Rousseau, philosopher, against D. Hume, Esq.
1. That the said David Hume, to the great scandal of philosophy, and not having the fitness of things before his eyes, did concert a plan with Mess. Tronchin, Voltaire, and D'Alembert, to ruin the said J. J. Rousseau for ever, by bringing him over to England, and there settling him to his heart's content.
2. That the said David Hume did, with a malicious and traitorous intent, procure, or cause to be procured, by himself, or somebody else, one pension of the yearly value of £100 or thereabouts, to be paid to the said J. J. Rousseau, on account of his being a philosopher, either privately or publicly, as to him the said J. J. Rousseau should seem meet.
3. That the said David Hume did, one night after he left Paris, put the said J. J. Rousseau in bodily fear, by talking in his sleep; although the said J. J. Rousseau doth not know whether the said David Hume was really asleep, or whether he shammed Abraham, or what he meant.
4. That, at another time, as the said David Hume and the said J. J. Rousseau were sitting opposite each other by the fireside in London, he, the said David Hume, did look at him, the said J. J. Rousseau, in a manner of which it is difficult to give any idea: That he, the said J. J. Rousseau, to get rid of the embarrassment he was under, endeavoured to look full at him, the said David Hume, in return, to try if he could not stare him out of countenance; but in fixing his eyes against his, the said David Hume's, he felt the most inexpressible terror, and was obliged to turn them away, insomuch that the said J. J. Rousseau doth in his heart think and believe, as much as he believes any thing, that he, the said David Hume, is a certain composition of a white-witch and a rattlesnake.
5. That the said David Hume on the same evening, after politely returning the embraces of him, the said J. J. Rousseau, and gently tapping him on the back, did repeat several times, in a good-natured easy tone, the words, "Why, what, my dear sir! Nay, my dear sir! Oh, my dear sir!" From whence the said J. J. Rousseau doth conclude, as he thinks upon solid and sufficient grounds, that he the said David Hume is a traitor; albeit he, the said J. J. Rousseau, doth acknowledge, that the physiognomy of the good David is that of an honest man, all but those terrible eyes of his, which he must have borrowed; but he the said J. J. Rousseau vows to God he cannot conceive from whom or what.
6. That the said David Hume hath more inquisitiveness about him than becometh a philosopher, and did never let slip an opportunity of being alone with the governante of him the said J. J. Rousseau.
7. That the said David Hume did most atrociously and flagitiously put him, the said J. J. Rousseau, philosopher, into a passion; as knowing that then he would be guilty of a number of absurdities.
8. That the said David Hume must have published Mr. Walpole's letter in the newspapers, because, at that time, there was neither man, woman, nor child, in the island of Great Britain, but the said David Hume, the said J. J. Rousseau, and the printers of the several newspapers aforesaid.
9. That somebody in a certain magazine, and somebody else in a certain newspaper, said something against him, the said John James Rousseau, which he, the said J. J. Rousseau, is persuaded, for the reason abovementioned, could be nobody but the said David Hume.
10. That the said J. J. Rousseau knows, that he, the said David Hume, did open and peruse the letters of him, the said J. J. Rousseau, because he one day saw the said David Hume go out of the room, after his own servant, who had, at that time, a letter of the said J. J. Rousseau's in his hands; which must have been in order to take it from the servant, open it, and read the contents.
11. That the said David Hume did, at the instigation of the devil, in a most wicked and unnatural manner, send, or cause to be sent, to the lodgings of him, the said J. J. Rousseau, one dish of beefsteaks, thereby meaning to insinuate, that he, the said J. J. Rousseau, was a beggar, and came over to England to ask alms: whereas be it known to all men by these presents, that he, the said John James Rousseau, brought with him the means of subsistence, and did not come with an empty purse; as he doubts not but he can live upon his labours—with the assistance of his friends; and in short can do better without the said David Hume than with him.
12. That besides all these facts put together, the said J. J. Rousseau did not like a certain appearance of things on the whole.
[343:1] "That of the 22d of March, which is full of cordiality, and proves that M. Rousseau had never, to that moment, entertained any of those black suspicions of perfidy which he publishes at present. There is only in that letter a peevish passage about the affair of his chaise."—Hume.
[344:1] Documents of the controversy.
[344:2] Such was his first impulse. He evidently, after viewing the matter more coolly, was disinclined to publish, but he was finally prevailed on to do so.
[345:1] MS. R.S.E.
[346:1] MS. R.S.E.
[346:2] Morellet, i. 105.
[346:3] Priv. Cor. 204.
[348:1] Voltaire et Rousseau par Henry Lord Brougham, App. No. IX. Lord Brougham twice honoured me with an intimation that he had obtained letters of David Hume, in Paris, which were too late for his own "Lives of Men of Letters," and were to be sent to me. While thankfully waiting for their arrival, I observed, on the title page of his lordship's French lives of Voltaire and Rousseau, that the book contained "Léttres entièrement inédites de Hume." Thinking it not impossible that the letters destined for my use, had thus, by some accident, been diverted from their destination, I have printed them in this book, according to their dates, in the fullest assurance of his lordship's cordial concurrence.
[349:1] MS. R.S.E.
[350:1] D'Holbach.
[351:1] MS. R.S.E.
"A Paris, le 7 Septembre, 1766.
"J'ai trouvé ici, monsieur, votre lettre de 5 Août, à mon retour d'un voyage que j'ai été faire en Normandie. D'Alembert, qui venoit alors de recevoir votre récit de l'Histoire de Rousseau avec les lettres que vous y avez insérées, me l'a communiqué. Je vous crois à présent si ennuyé de cette affaire que je ne sais si je dois encore vous en parler. M. De Montigni m'a cependant dit que vous désiriez de savoir ma façon de penser. Vous imaginez bien qu'elle ne peut pas être douteuse sur le fond de l'affaire, et je crois qu'excepté Rousseau, et peut-être Mlle. Le Vasseur, il n'y a personne dans le monde qui s'imagine, ni qui eut jamais imaginé, que vous ayez mené Rousseau en Angleterre pour le trahir, et à qui sa longue lettre et ses démonstrations ne fassent pitié. Mais je vous avoue que j'y vois toujours plus de folie que de noirceur. J'y vois des sophismes dont une imagination se sert pour empoisonner les circonstances les plus simples et les transformer au gré de la manie qui l'occupe. Mais je ne crois point que ces extravagances soient un jeu joué, et un prétexte pour secouer le poids de la reconnoissance qu'il vous doit. Il paroît sentir lui même que personne ne le croira, et qu'il se couvre d'opprobre du moins pour le moment aux yeux du public. Il avoue qu'il sacrifie et son intérêt et même sa réputation: et il est certain que cette affaire lui fait un tort irréparable, l'isole du genre humain, et lui ôte tout appui contre les persécutions auxquelles ses opinions et encore plus ces traits de sa misanthropie l'exposeront toujours. Je persiste donc à ne le croire que fou, et je suis affligé que l'impression trop vive qu'a faite sur vous sa folie vous ait mis dans le cas de la faire éclater et de la rendre irrémédiable; car le bruit qu'à fait votre lettre au Baron, est pour Rousseau une démonstration que ces conjectures étoient fondées sur la vérité même. Il a bien mandé à Madame de Boufflers qu'il ne se plaignoit pas, et que cette lettre qui vous a donné lieu de le diffamer comme le dernier des hommes n'étoit écrite qu'à vous. L'éclat que vous avez fait, lui a fait tout le mal possible, et sa lettre ne vous en a fait aucun. . . . . . . Après vous avoir dit aussi franchement mon avis, vous serez surpris peut-être de me voir presque revenu à l'avis de faire imprimer. La folie de Rousseau est telle qu'il a écrit ici différentes lettres dans lesquelles il regarde votre trahison comme si constante, et les démonstrations comme si terrassantes pour vous, qu'il vous défie de publier les pièces sans vous déshonorer, à moins que vous ne les falsifiez; ce ne sont pas ses termes mais c'en est le sens. Si cette espèce de défi devenoit public à un certain point, et faisoit plus d'impression en Angleterre qu'il n'en peut faire en France, peut-être serez-vous obligé d'imprimer. Mais en ce cas je voudrois retrancher tout réçit, toute imputation de mensonge, toutes notes excepté quelques unes nécessaires pour rétablir simplement les faits importans, comme celui de la scène qui s'est passée la veille de son départ pour Wooton. Encore voudrois-je que dans ces notes vous disiez simplement le fait, sans traiter Rousseau de menteur, sans vous abaisser à le prouver. Vous devez être cru sur ce que vous direz, et vous le serez. Je ne mettrois autre chose à la tête, si non que les discours répandus sur la querelle, &c. et l'espèce de défi que M. Rousseau vous fait d'en publier ce qui s'est passé, vous obligent à regret à publier les accusations de M. Rousseau contre vous, et que vous croyez leur publication une réponse suffisante. Voilà quel est actuellement mon penchant. Mais comme je ne vois à cela rien de pressé, je crois que vous ferez bien de vous donner tout le tems d'y réfléchir. Plus vous mettez dans cette affaire de modération et même d'indifférence, plus le tort de Rousseau deviendra évident."—MS. R.S.E.
[354:1] The original of this letter is in the MSS. R.S.E. It is printed in Priv. Cor. p. 187.
[354:2] MS. R.S.E.
[354:3] "Le hasard a voulu que la plus part de vos amis, et surtout ceux à qui vous me conseillez de lire votre lettre, se soient trouvés rassemblés chez Mlle. de L'Espinasse presque au moment que je l'ai reçue; Mr. Turgot, Mr. L'Abbé Morellet, Mr. Roux, Mr. Saurin, Mr. Marmontel, Mr. Duclos. Tous unanimement, ainsi que Mlle. de L'Espinasse et moi sommes d'avis, que vous devez donner cette histoire au public, avec toutes ses circumstances. Voici ce que nous vous conseillons—je dis nous, car je parle ici au nom de tous. Vous commencerez d'abord par dire que vous savez que Rousseau travaille à ses mémoires, qu'il fera sans doute mention de sa querelle avec vous, qui a fait trop de bruit pour qu'il ne cherche pas à la tourner à son avantage, que les mémoires pourront paroître ou après votre mort ou aprés la sienne: que dans le 1er cas, comme vous l'observez vous-même, personne ne pourra vous justifier; que dans le second, votre défense seroit sans force; que vous avez donc cru devoir donner vous même toute cette histoire au public, afin que Mr. Rousseau réponde s'il le peut. Ensuite vous entrerez dans le détail, et dans le plus grand détail, mais surtout, et c'est une chose absolument essentielle et que nous vous recommendons tous—vous vous bornerez aux faits, exprimés simplement et nettement, sans aigreur, sans la moindre injure, sans même de réflexions sur le caractère de Rousseau et sur ses écrits; vous rapporterez vos lettres et les siennes; celle qu'il vous a écrite le 23 juin suffiroit seule pour le faire condamner, vous ne direz point, du moins trop souvent, que vous êtes son bienfaiteur—tout le monde le sait assez. Enfin mon cher ami, nous vous recommendons, et nous vous conjurons de mettre dans cette brochure la plus grande modération mais en même temps la plus grande clarté."—MS. R.S.E.
[355:1] Walpole's "Narrative."
[357:1] "Vous devez être bien étonné, Monsieur, de n'avoir encore reçu aucune lettre sur la publication de votre mémoire, et il y a en cela beaucoup de ma faute. J'avois dit à M. D'Alembert que j'aurois l'honneur de vous écrire. Il a compté sur moi. Le Baron D'Holbach a compté sur nous deux, et moi j'ai compté aussi sur eux; voilà ce qui fait qu'il n'y a rien que d'avoir plusieurs domestiques pour être mal servi."
Stating, that he has sent a copy of the collection by post, he proceeds:
"Vous avez désiré que je fusse votre traducteur, et je n'avois pas besoin de tous les sentimens qui m'attachent à vous, pour me charger de ce travail, avec plaisir. Votre cause me paroisoit celle des honnêtes gens et surtout celle des amis de la philosophie. Il y a long-tems que je regardois Rousseau comme un profond et dangereux charlatan, qui avoit passé sa vie à recevoir des bienfaits de tout le monde, et à faire tout le mal qu'il avoit pu à ceux qui lui avaient fait le plus de bien. . . Vous trouverez sans doute, Monsieur, qu'on a pris bien des libertés avec votre texte: il y a beaucoup de passages altérés, et suprimés: mais il n'y a aucun changement qui n'ait été fait par M. D'Alembert ou de son consentement, et toujours pour des raisons que vous aprouverez vraisemblement."
[358:1] New Monthly Magazine, (original series,) No. 72.
[358:2] The letter is dated Ferney, 24th Oct. 1766. Oeuvres de Voltaire, ed. 1789, lxiv. 495. Probably Hume never received this letter. It is not in the MSS. R.S.E., and Voltaire was known to be in the habit of writing to people through the press. Hume, however, states, in a note to the narrative of his controversy, that he had had a letter from Voltaire about three years before. There is no trace of it among his papers.
[360:1] MS. R.S.E.
[360:2] MS. R.S.E.
[360:3] Among those who were eager to peruse these documents, Hume says, writing to Madame de Barbantane, "The King and Queen of England expressed a strong desire to see these papers, and I was obliged to put them into their hands. They read them with avidity, and entertain the same sentiments that must strike every one. The king's opinion confirms me in the resolution not to give them to the public, unless I be forced to it by some attack on the side of my adversary, which it will therefore be wisdom in him to avoid." Private Correspondence , p. 210.
[361:1] He says, in a subsequent letter,—"What are become of all the controversies since the days of Scaliger and Scioppius, of Billingsgate memory? Why, they sleep in oblivion, till some Bayle drags them out of their dust, and takes mighty pains to ascertain the date of each author's death, which is of no more consequence to the world than the day of his birth. Many a country squire quarrels with his neighbour about game and manors, yet they never print their wrangles, though as much abuse passes between them, as if they could quote all the Philippics of the learned." We have an instance of what he considered a really important dispute, when he was baffled in his attempt to get his nephew, Lord Orford, married to Miss Nicol, "the vast fortune." "Thus," he says, "had I placed him in a greater situation than even his grandfather hoped to bequeath to him,—had retrieved all the oversights of my family,—had saved Houghton, and all our glory." "I have been forced," he says, writing to Horace Mann, "to write a narrative of the whole transaction; and was with difficulty kept from publishing it."—Letters , ii. 401.
[362:1] He did not lose the opportunity afforded by the publication of his pamphlet, for again expressing his contempt of men whose sole claim to notice rested on the greatness of their genius: "For Monsieur D'Alembert," he says, "I said that I was mighty indifferent about seeing him. That it was not my custom to seek authors, who are a conceited troublesome set of people." And hearing that Fréron, the same who was so sharp a thorn in Voltaire's side, had made some remarks on him, which displeased the Duchesse de Choiseul, he says, "I immediately wrote to Paris, to beg the duchess would suffer Fréron and D'Alembert, or any of the tribe, to write what they pleased, to get what money they could by abusing me."
[365:1] This is repeated in a letter to Robertson, of 19th March, and is followed by the statement, "The King, when applied to, said, that since the pension had once been promised, it should be granted, notwithstanding all that had passed in the interval. And thus the affair is happily finished, unless some new extravagance come across the philosopher, and urge him to reject what he has anew applied for."—Stewart's Life of Robertson.
[365:2] MS. R.S.E.
[366:1] The letter is in the usual editions of Rousseau's works, dated 30th April.
[366:2] The pamphlets produced in England on this subject, were not nearly so numerous as those published in France. Fuseli, whose mind was well suited for such a paradoxical championship, wrote "A defence of M. Rousseau, against the Aspersions of Mr. Hume, Monsieur Voltaire, and their associates." The other pamphlet alluded to in the letter, was, perhaps, "A letter to the Honourable Horace Walpole, concerning the dispute between Mr. Hume and M. Rousseau," by the Rev. Ralph Heathcote, D.D. Hume says, in a letter to Madame de Boufflers, "Agreeably to the licence of this country, there has been a great deal of raillery on the incident, thrown out in the public papers, but all against that unhappy man. There is even a print engraved of it: M. Rousseau is represented as a Yahoo, newly caught in the woods; I am represented as a farmer, who caresses him and offers him some oats to eat, which he refuses in a rage; Voltaire and D'Alembert are whipping him up behind; and Horace Walpole making him horns of papier mâché. The idea is not altogether absurd."—Private Correspondence , p. 234.
[367:1] MS. R.S.E.
[370:1] Walpole, whose capacity for acquiring information on such matters was unrivalled, seems to have at least made a near approach to the discovery of this point. He says in his narration, "The chief cause of his disgust has been a long quarrel between his housekeeper and Mr. Davenport's cook-maid, who, as Rousseau affirmed, had always dressed their dinner very ill, and at last had sprinkled ashes on their victuals."
[371:1] MS. R.S.E.
[372:1] These incidents are also narrated in a letter to Madame de Boufflers.—Priv. Cor. p. 241. And some of them in a French letter to a person unknown, ib. p. 220.
[373:1] See the letter following that of 30th April to Mr. Davenport, in the ordinary editions of Rousseau's works. The only material divergence in the passage cited above is in the last clause, and the words "quelques indiscrettes plaintes qui lui sont quelquefois echappées dans le fort de ses peines," to which the corresponding clause in Rousseau's Works, is "les plaintes indiscrettes, qui dans le fort de ses peines, lui sont quelquefois échappées." These discrepancies were probably between Rousseau's preserved copy, and the letter sent. That this letter was printed from a copy preserved by Rousseau, is shown by the editors of his Works not knowing to whom it was addressed. Hume repeats his own version of the passage in a French letter already referred to. See Private Correspondence , p. 222.
[374:1] MS. R.S.E.
[378:1] Literary Gazette , 1822, p. 649. Corrected from original MS. R.S.E.
[379:1] He assumed the name of Renou.
[380:1] MS. R.S.E.
[381:1] On 1st June, 1767, Turgot writes, in answer to a letter from Hume: "Je me hâte d'y répondre par ce courier, quoique je n'aie encore fait aucune démarche pour le malheureux homme auquel, il est si digne de vous de prendre encore intérêt. Le degré de folie qu'il montre aujourdhui est en vérité préférable à une folie moins exaltée, qui le laissoit chargé de tout l'odieux d'un excès d'ingratitude envers vous et M. Davenport. Une pareille ingratitude réfléchie et méditée ne peut me paroître dans la nature. . . . Je vous remercie de m'avoir choisi parmi vos amis de ce pays-ci pour m'associer à la bonne action que vous voulez faire en lui rendant service. J'y mettrai certainement tout le zèle dont je suis capable et à cause de son infortune, et à cause de l'intérêt que vous y prenez." He continues to say, that to get him a safe passage may be easy: to find him a permanent asylum in France, would be a more difficult matter. "La chose est possible hors du ressort du Parlement de Paris, mais il faut que le Roi y consente. Il n'y a que l'intérêt même que vous prenez, et la singularité de cette circonstance qui puisse peut-être adoucir le Roi sur le compte de Rousseau en faisant demander la chose en votre nom par M. de Choiseul."
CHAPTER XVI.
1766-1770. Æt. 55-59.
Hume Under Secretary of State—Church Politics—Official abilities—Conduct as to Ferguson's book—Quarrel with Oswald—Baron Mure's sons—Project of continuing the History—Ministerial convulsions—Hume's conduct to his Family—His Brother—His Nephews—Baron Hume—Blacklock—Smollett—Church Patronage—Gibbon—Robertson—Elliot—Gilbert Stuart—The Douglas Cause—Andrew Stewart—Morellet—Return to Scotland.
The quarrel with Rousseau seems to have so fully occupied the attention of Hume, during its continuance, that he scarcely alluded to any other subject in his correspondence; and thus, though the preceding chapter is devoted entirely to that event, a very slight retrospect from the point of time reached at its conclusion, will suffice for whatever else, worthy of notice in his life or correspondence, has been preserved.
In the summer of 1766, he made a short visit to Scotland. "I returned," he says, in his "own life," "to that place, not richer, but with much more money, and a much larger income, by means of Lord Hertford's friendship, than I left it; and I was desirous of trying what superfluity could produce, as I had formerly made an experiment of a competency. But, in 1767, I received, from Mr. Conway, an invitation to be under-secretary; and this invitation, both the character of the person, and my connexions with Lord Hertford, prevented me from declining."
He was thus solicited to undertake the very responsible duties of this office, by one who had good opportunities of knowing his capacity for public business; and the simple fact of the appointment is a testimony to the ability with which he had performed the analogous functions of his office in France. He was indeed at all times a man of punctual habits, and his unwearied industry had not yet begun to slacken. He had a mind of that clear systematic order which was well fitted for the composition of official documents; and his triumphs in philosophical and historical literature never inflated him with the ambition of considering any business which he consented to undertake too insignificant to deserve his full attention. Some official documents, connected with the successive offices which he held, have been preserved, by collectors, as autographs of so celebrated a man: and they generally arrest the attention of every one who examines them, by the clearness and precision of the language, and not a little by the neatness of the handwriting.
After the resignation of the Marquis of Tweeddale, in 1746, there was no longer a principal secretary of state for Scotland; and it became usual to consult the Lord Advocate, or any other ministerial officer, locally connected with the north, as to the policy to be pursued in Scottish affairs. None of the principal members of the Grafton ministry were Scotsmen; and there can be little doubt that Hume must then have exercised a large influence in all affairs connected with his native country.[383:1] He held his office until the 20th of July 1768, when General Conway was superseded by Lord Weymouth.
The following letter contains a brief sketch of the general current of his official life.
Hume to Dr. Blair.
"1st April, 1767.
"My way of life here is very uniform, and by no means disagreeable. I pass all the forenoon in the secretary's house, from ten till three, where there arrive, from time to time, messengers, that bring me all the secrets of the kingdom, and, indeed, of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. I am seldom hurried; but have leisure, at intervals, to take up a book, or write a private letter, or converse with any friend that may call for me; and from dinner to bed-time is all my own. If you add to this, that the person with whom I have the chief, if not only transactions, is the most reasonable, equal tempered, and gentleman-like man imaginable, and Lady Aylesbury the same, you will certainly think I have no reason to complain; and I am far from complaining. I only shall not regret when my duty is over; because, to me, the situation can lead to nothing, at least in all probability; and reading, and sauntering, and lounging, and dosing, which I call thinking, is my supreme happiness. I mean my full contentment.
"I thank you for the acquaintance you offer me of Mr. Percy; but it would be impracticable for me to cultivate his friendship, as men of letters have here no place of rendezvous; and are, indeed, sunk and forgot in the general torrent of the world. If you can therefore decline, without hardship, any letter of recommendation, it would save trouble both to him and me."[385:1]
In the beginning of the year 1767, Ferguson published his "Essay on the History of Civil Society," a work which speedily acquired a wide reputation through Europe. The allusions which Hume has been found making to some work of a similar character, so early as 1759,[385:2] probably refer to a particular portion of this book. Immediately before its publication, he recommended Ferguson's friends to prevail on him to suppress the work, as likely to be injurious to its author's literary reputation: one of the few instances, if it be not the only one, in which he discouraged a fellow-countryman, desirous of casting his lot into the competition for literary distinction. He ultimately found that his advice was erroneous, as the book soon obtained a high character. But, had his own opinion of its merits coincided with the suffrages of the public, it would not have been so honourable to his memory, as the satisfaction he expressed on the discovery that the verdict of the reading world was against him. Writing to Blair on 24th February, 1767, he says:—
"I happened yesterday to visit a person three hours after a copy of Ferguson's performance was opened, for the first time, in London. It was by Lord Mansfield. I accept this omen of its future success. He was extremely pleased with it; said it was very agreeable, and perfectly well wrote; assured me that he would not stop a moment till he had finished it; and recommended it strongly to the perusal of the Archbishop of York, who was present. I have wrote the same article of intelligence to Ferguson himself; but as he is the likeliest person in the world to suppress it, I thought it safest to put it into your hands, in order to circulate it."[386:1]
Again:—
"I hear good things said of Ferguson's book every day. Lord Holderness showed me a letter from the Archbishop of York, where his Grace says, that in many things it surpasses Montesquieu. My friend, Mr. Dodwell, says that it is an admirable book, elegantly wrote, and with great purity of language. Pray, tell to Ferguson and to others all these things."[386:2]
Again, writing to the same correspondent, on 1st April, he says:—
"The success of the book, dear Doctor, which you mention, gives me great satisfaction, on account of my sincere friendship for the author; and so much the rather, as the success was to me unexpected. I have since begun to hope, and even to believe, that I was mistaken; and in this persuasion have several times taken it up and read chapters of it. But, to my great mortification and sorrow, I have not been able to change my sentiments. We shall see, by the duration of its fame, whether or not I am mistaken. Helvétius and Saurin both told me at Paris, that they had been consulted by Montesquieu about his 'Esprit des Loix.' They used the freedom to tell him, as their fixed opinion, that he ought to suppress the book; which they foresaw would very much injure his reputation. They said to me that, no doubt, I thought they had reason to be ashamed of their judgment. But still, added they, you may observe that the public are very much returned from their first admiration of that book; and we are persuaded that they will daily return still more.
"I hope that I shall be found a false prophet as much as these gentlemen; for though the 'Esprit des Loix,' be considerably sunk in vogue, and will probably still sink farther, it maintains a high reputation, and probably will never be totally neglected. It has considerable merit, notwithstanding the glare of its pointed wit, and notwithstanding its false refinements, and its rash and crude positions. Helvétius and Saurin assured me, that this freedom of theirs never lost them any thing of Montesquieu's friendship. I believe the like would be my case; but it is better not to put it to a trial. On that account, as well as others, I recommend to you secrecy, towards every person except Robertson."[388:1]
A letter from Adam Smith, desiring that his friend, Count Sarsfield, might be introduced to Hume's circle of acquaintance, called forth the following narrative of a very amusing incident:—
Hume to Adam Smith.
"London, 13th June, 1767.
"Dear Smith,—The Count de Sarsfield is a good acquaintance of mine, from the time I saw him at Paris; and as he is really a man of merit, I have great pleasure whenever I meet him here. My occupations keep me from cultivating his friendship as much as I should incline. I did not introduce him to Elliot, because I knew that this gentleman's reserve and indolence would make him neglect the acquaintance; and I did not introduce him to Oswald, because I fear that he and I are broke for ever; at least he does not seem inclined to take any steps towards an accommodation with me.
"I am to tell you the strangest story you ever heard of. I was dining with him, above two months ago, where, among other company, was the Bishop of Raphoe.[388:2] After dinner we were disposed to be merry. I said to the company, that I had been very ill used by Lord Hertford; for that I always expected to be made a bishop by him during his lieutenancy! but he had given away two sees from me, to my great vexation and disappointment. The right reverend, without any farther provocation, burst out into the most furious, and indecent, and orthodox rage that ever was seen: told me that I was most impertinent; that if he did not wear a gown, I durst not, no, I durst not, have used him so; that none but a coward would treat a clergyman in that manner; that henceforth he must either abstain from his brother's house, or I must; and that this was not the first time he had heard the stupid joke from my mouth. With the utmost tranquillity and temper I asked his pardon; assured him, upon my honour, that I did not mean him the least offence: if I had imagined he could possibly have been displeased, I never should have mentioned the subject; but the joke was not in the least against him, but entirely against myself, as if I were capable of such an expectation as that of being a bishop! my regard for himself, and still more for his brother, with whom I had long been more particularly connected, would certainly restrain me from either joke or earnest, which could be offensive to him; and that, if I had ever touched on the same topic before, I had entirely forgot it, and it must have been above a twelvemonth ago. He was nowise appeased; raved on in the same style for a long time. At last I got the discourse diverted, and took my leave, seemingly with great indifference and even good humour. I was nowise surprised nor concerned about his lordship; because I had, on other occasions, observed the same orthodox zeal swell within him, and it was often difficult for him to converse with temper when I was in the company.
"But what really surprised and vexed me was, that his brother kept silence all the time. I met him in the passage when I went away, and he made me no apology. He has never since called on me; and though he sees that I never come near his house, though formerly I used to be three or four times a-week with him, he never takes the least notice of it. I own this gives me vexation, because I have a sincere value and affection for him. It is only some satisfaction to me to find, that I am so palpably in the right as not to leave the least room for doubt or ambiguity. Dr. Pitcairne, who was in the company, says that he never saw such a scene in his lifetime. If I were sure, dear Smith, that you and I should not some day quarrel in some such manner, I should tell you that I am, yours very affectionately and sincerely."[390:1]
The world levies certain penalties on the enjoyment of a character for good nature and kindness, and Hume seems to have paid them to their most ample extent, in the shape of executing commissions, and performing general petty services for his friends. We have witnessed the zeal with which he attended to the education of Mr. Elliot's two sons. A teacher of languages, possessing the distinguished name of Graffigny, and professing to be in the confidence of celebrated literary people in Paris, appears to have excited the suspicion of Baron Mure, whose sons he was employed to instruct. Hume undertook to make some inquiries regarding him; and his brief reports, from time to time, have some interest from their containing a few of his opinions on education.