The Project Gutenberg eBook of Life and Correspondence of David Hume, Volume II, by John Hill Burton.

Hume to Sir Gilbert Elliot.

"22d July, 1768.

"Dear Sir Gilbert,—I send you my letter enclosed to Mr. Stewart; which I hope is calculated to encourage a young man of merit. Without overstraining the compliment, it were better, however, for him, and for every body, to pursue, in preference to the idle trade of writing, some other lawful occupation, such as cheating like an attorney; quacking like a physician; canting and hypocrising like a parson, &c. &c. &c. It is for very little purpose to go out of the common track. Does he expect to make men wiser? a very pretty expectation truly!

"I fancy the ministry will remain; though surely their late remissness, or ignorance, or pusillanimity, ought to make them ashamed to show their faces, were it even at Newmarket. There are fine doings in America. O! how I long to see America and the East Indies revolted, totally and finally,—the revenue reduced to half,—public credit fully discredited by bankruptcy,—the third of London in ruins, and the rascally mob subdued! I think I am not too old to despair of being witness to all these blessings. I approve of your farming scheme, notwithstanding the expense; though your situation, as well for markets as means of improvement, is not advantageous. My brother's advice may be of use to you; but you are always to remember that he is of the sect of the médecin tant pis; had he possessed enterprise, proportioned to his industry and skill, he might have gone far in that way.[417:1]

"I continue my parasitical practices; that is, of dining at all the great tables that remain in London. We are likely to be plagued with this King of Denmark; though not so much as formerly with Canute the Great. I have some thoughts of paying a visit to France this autumn; that is, if I can collect enough of resolution to leave the present place of abode.

"When I wrote last, I did not know that Lady —— had eloped; that practice continues very fashionable here; and it is to be hoped will spread itself more and more every day!

"I thought Sir David had been the only Christian that could write English on the other side of the Tweed. I did not think of Balfour. It is very true he would fain, I see, be candid, and civil, as in his other book; if his zeal for the house of the Lord would permit him.

"Lord Bute certainly sets out this day se'ennight, and, it is said, is in a very bad state of health.

"Lord Chatham is a greater paradox than ever:—is seen at home by no human creature;—absolutely by none! rides twenty miles every day,—is seen on the road, and appears in perfect good health; but will now speak to no creature he meets. I am much persuaded, all is quackery;—he is not mad; that is, no madder than usual."[418:1]

Towards the end of the year 1768, poor Smollett, with his spirit crushed by the united calamities of a broken constitution and ruined fortunes, sought to retrieve his health, by travelling in Italy. Before commencing his journey, he wrote the following letter; in which the too apparent tone of despondency is yet insufficient to damp the kindly warmth of his feelings:—

Tobias Smollett to Hume.

London, 31st August, 1768.

Dear Sir,—Perhaps I overrate my own consequence when I presume to recommend to your acquaintance and good offices, the bearer, Captain Robert Stobo; a man whose very extraordinary services and sufferings in America, have merited, and obtained the most ample and honourable testimonials, which he will gladly submit to your perusal. I can safely say from my own knowledge, that he is not less modest and sensible in the conversation and occurrences of civil life, than enterprising and indefatigable in his military capacity. All these good qualities, united to an extensive knowledge of our American concerns, cannot fail to engage the friendship and regard of Mr. David Hume, from what quarter so ever they may come recommended.

With respect to myself, I am sorry I cannot have the pleasure of taking leave of you in person, before I go into perpetual exile. I sincerely wish you all health and happiness. In whatever part of the earth it may be my fate to reside, I shall always remember with pleasure, and recapitulate with pride, the friendly intercourse I have maintained with one of the best men, and undoubtedly the best writer of the age; if any judgment in distinguishing either character or capacity may be allowed to, dear sir, your very humble servant,

T^s Smollett.

Nos patriam fugimus: tu, Tityre, lentus in umbra,

Formosam resonare doces Amaryllida silvas.[419:1]

Hume to Tobias Smollett.

"Ragley,[419:2] September 21, 1768.

"My dear Sir,—I did not see your friend, Captain Stobo, till the day before I left Cirencester, and only for a little time; but he seemed to be a man of good sense, and has surely had the most extraordinary adventures in the world. He has promised to call on me when he comes to London, and I shall always see him with pleasure.

"But what is this you tell me of your perpetual exile, and of your never returning to this country? I hope that as this idea arose from the bad state of your health, it will vanish on your recovery; which, from your past experience, you may expect from those happier climates to which you are retiring; after which the desire of revisiting your native country will probably return upon you, unless the superior cheapness of foreign countries prove an obstacle, and detain you there. I could wish that means had been fallen on to remove this objection; and that at least it might be equal to you to live any where, except where the consideration of your health gave the preference to one climate above another. But the indifference of ministers towards literature, which has been long, and indeed always, the case in England, gives little prospect of any alteration in this particular.

"I am sensible of your great partiality, in the good opinion you express towards me; but it gives me no less pleasure than if it were founded on the greatest truth, for I accept it as a pledge of your good will and friendship. I wish an opportunity of showing my sense of it may present itself during your absence. I assure you I should embrace it with great alacrity, and you need have no scruple, on every occasion, of having recourse to me. I am, my dear sir, with great esteem and sincerity, your most obedient, and most humble servant," &c.[420:1]

Of the following remarkable letter, the first paragraph, relating to the success of John Home's new play, has already been published.[420:2] The remainder will probably be as surprising to the reader as it is new. It is very evident that Hume exercised towards the great Chatham, Dr. Johnson's virtue of honest hatred. There was indeed little love lost between these great contemporaries; for Chatham fiercely attacked the constitutional doctrines of the History of England, and Hume looked upon the national idol as an unprincipled demagogue. The words with which the observations on the Douglas cause conclude, are evidence of the contempt which, amidst all his Tory prepossessions, Hume preserved for merely hereditary rank, and indeed for all nominal and outward marks of distinction, which were not allied to intellectual superiority.

Hume to Dr. Blair.

"Park Place, London, 28th March, 1769.

"Dear Doctor,—'The Fatal Discovery' succeeded, and deserved it. It has feeling, though not equal to 'Douglas,' in my opinion. The versification of it is not enough finished. Our friend escaped by lying concealed; but the success of all plays in this age is very feeble; and people now heed the theatre almost as little as the pulpit.[421:1] History now is the favourite reading, and our other friend [421:2] the favourite historian. Nothing can be more successful than his last production; nor more deservedly. I agree with you, it is beyond his first performance, as was indeed natural to be expected. I hope, for a certain reason, which I keep to myself, that he does not intend, in his third work, to go beyond his second, though I am damnably afraid he will, for the subject is much more interesting. Neither the character of Charles V., nor the incidents of his life, are very interesting; and, were it not for the first volume, the success of this work, though perfectly well writ, would not have been so shining.

"This madness about Wilkes excited first indignation, then apprehension; but has gone to such a height that all other sentiments with me are buried in ridicule. This exceeds the absurdity of Titus Gates and the Popish plot: and is so much more disgraceful to the nation, as the former folly, being derived from religion, flowed from a source which has from uniform prescription acquired a right to impose nonsense on all nations and all ages. But the present extravagance is peculiar to ourselves, and quite risible. However, I am afraid my mirth will soon be spoilt, and affairs become quite serious; for I am well assured that Lord Chatham will, after the holidays, creep out from his retreat and appear on the scene.

Depositis novus exuviis, nitidusque juventâ,

Volvitur ad solem et linguis micat ore trisulcis.

"I know not if I cite Virgil exactly,[422:1] but I am sure I apply him right. This villain is to thunder against the violation of the Bill of Rights in not allowing the county of Middlesex the choice of its member! Think of the impudence of that fellow,[423:1] and his quackery—and his cunning—and his audaciousness: and judge of the influence he will have over such a deluded multitude.

"I was struck with a very sensible indignation at the decision of the Douglas cause,[423:2] though I foresaw it for some time. It was abominable with regard to poor Andrew Stuart, who had conducted that cause with singular ability and integrity; and was at last exposed to reproach, which unfortunately never can be wiped off. For the cause, though not in the least intricate, is so complicated, that it never will be reviewed by the public, who are besides perfectly pleased with the sentence; being swayed by compassion and a few popular topics. To one who understands the cause as I do, nothing could appear more scandalous than the pleadings of the two law lords. Such gross misrepresentation, such impudent assertions, such groundless imputations, never came from that place. But all was good enough for their audience; who, bating their quality, are most of them little better than their brethren the Wilkites in the streets.

"I am very much obliged to you for giving me the acquaintance of your cousin, Mr. Blair,[423:3] who seems, indeed, to me, a very accomplished young man. The death of your brother-in-law is a great loss to you, and even to us all. I comprehend myself; for I intend to visit you soon, and for good and all. Indeed, I know not what detains me here, except that it is so much a matter of indifference where I live; and I am amused with looking on the scene, which really begins to be interesting. I had taken one of Allan Ramsay's houses;[424:1] but gave it up again, on the representation of some of my friends in Edinburgh, who said that a house, on the north side of a high hill, in the 56th degree of latitude, could not be healthful. But I now repent it, though I have my old house to retreat to till I get a better. I am glad you like my nephew. He is, indeed, clever, though, I am afraid, a little giddy.[424:2]"

Andrew Stuart, who is noticed in the preceding letter, and has frequently been referred to in Hume's correspondence, was a man of great talent. His letters to Lord Mansfield, on the Douglas cause, remarkable for their solemn asperity, belong to a species of literature, of which the English language scarcely boasts of any other instance,—a systematic and serious arraignment of the conduct of a Judge in the highest court in the realm, by the law agent of a litigant! Stuart conducted the investigations in France, on which the evidence that the children said to be born to Lady Jane Douglas were spurious, was founded; and from the strange circumstances brought forward in the evidence, we can imagine that, if Stuart had left a diary of his adventures and inquiries, few works of fiction could be more interesting. His arraignment of the judge was accompanied by an act almost equally anomalous: his challenging the counsel on the other side—who was Mr. Wedderburn, afterwards Lord Loughborough—on account of the manner in which his conduct had been spoken of in the appeal case. The challenge was accepted; but neither party was wounded. From occasional allusions, in Hume's correspondence, he and Stuart appear to have been early friends; and many of the letters, which he preserved, within a few years of his death, are from Stuart, who, occasionally, appears to write in acknowledgment of pecuniary advances. Among Hume's papers, there is a letter, of which the address has not been preserved, but in which there is a note, in Baron Hume's handwriting, that it was, "respecting his friend Stuart—Andrew, I suppose." The letter has a sufficient interest in itself. It is as follows:—

Hume received a letter from the Abbé Morellet, dated 15th May 1769,[426:1] requesting him to accept of a copy of his forthcoming "Prospectus d'un Nouveau Dictionnaire de Commerce;" and to distribute some others among a list of names, including those of Adam Smith and Benjamin Franklin. The comprehensive work of which the Abbé thus developed what he considered the proper principles, was never written by him. He was too much occupied with fugitive literature, and the absorbing politics of the time, to be able seriously to pursue a project involving so much steady industry. Hume answered as follows:—

Hume to the Abbé Morellet.

London, 10th July, 1769.

That part of your prospectus, in which you endeavour to prove that there enters nothing of human convention in the establishment of money, is certainly very curious, and very elaborately composed; and yet I cannot forbear thinking that the common opinion has some foundation. It is true, money must always be made of some materials, which have intrinsic value, otherwise it would be multiplied without end, and would sink to nothing. But, when I take a shilling, I consider it not as a useful metal, but as something which another will take from me; and the person who shall convert it into metal is, probably, several millions of removes distant. You know that all states have made it criminal to melt their coin; and, though this is a law which cannot well be executed, it is not to be supposed that, if it could, it would entirely destroy the value of the money, according to your hypothesis. You have a base coin, called billon, in France, composed of silver and copper, which has a ready currency, though the separation of the two metals, and the reduction of them to their primitive state, would, I am told, be both expensive and troublesome. Our shillings and sixpences, which are almost our only silver coin, are so much worn by use, that they are twenty, thirty, or forty per cent. below their original value; yet they pass currently; which can arise only from a tacit convention. Our colonies in America, for want of specie, used to coin a paper currency; which were not bank notes, because there was no place appointed to give money in exchange: yet this paper currency passed in all payments, by convention; and might have gone on, had it not been abused by the several assemblies, who issued paper without end, and thereby discredited the currency.

You mention several kinds of money, sheep, oxen, fish, employed as measures of exchange, or as money, in different parts of the world. You have overlooked that, in our colony of Pennsylvania, the land itself, which is the chief commodity, is coined, and passes in circulation. The manner of conducting this affair is as follows:—A planter, immediately after he purchases any land, can go to a public office and receive notes to the amount of half the value of his land; which notes he employs in all payments, and they circulate through the whole colony, by convention. To prevent the public from being overwhelmed by this fictitious money, there are two means employed—first, the notes issued to any one planter, must not exceed a certain sum, whatever may be the value of his land: secondly, every planter is obliged to pay back into the public office every year one-tenth part of his notes; the whole, of course, is annihilated in ten years; after which, it is again allowed him to take out new notes to half the value of his land. An account of this curious operation would enrich your dictionary; and you may have a more particular detail of it, if you please, from Dr. Franklin, who will be in Paris about this time, and will be glad to see you. I conveyed to him your prospectus, and he expressed to me a great esteem of it.

I see that, in your prospectus, you take care not to disoblige your economists, by any declaration of your sentiments; in which I commend your prudence. But I hope that in your work you will thunder them, and crush them, and pound them, and reduce them to dust and ashes! They are, indeed, the set of men the most chimerical and most arrogant that now exist, since the annihilation of the Sorbonne. I ask your pardon for saying so, as I know you belong to that venerable body. I wonder what could engage our friend, M. Turgot, to herd among them; I mean, among the economists; though I believe he was also a Sorbonnist.

I sent your prospectus to Dr. Tucker, but have not heard from him since. I shall myself deliver copies to Dr. Robertson and Mr. Smith, as I go to Scotland this autumn.

And now, my dear Abbé, what remains to me but to wish you success in your judicious labours? to embrace you, and through you, to embrace all our common friends, D'Alembert, Helvétius, Buffon, Baron d'Holbach, Suard, Mlle. L'Espinasse? Poor Abbé Le Bon is dead, I hear. The Abbé Galliani goes to Naples: he does well to leave Paris before I come thither; for I should certainly put him to death for all the ill he has spoken of England. But it has happened, as was foretold by his friend, Caraccioli; who said that the Abbé would remain two months in this country, would speak all himself, would not allow an Englishman to utter a syllable; and after returning would give the character of the nation during the rest of his life, as if he were perfectly well acquainted with them.

Pray make my compliments to M. Maletête. Tell him, that Prince Masserane says, that he has saved much effusion of blood to this country. It is certain that M. Maletête had a great curiosity to see a riot here, and yet was resolved to keep his person in safety. For this purpose, he hired a window; and proposed to be present at one of the mad elections of Wilkes, and to divert himself with the fray. Somebody got a hint of it, and put it into the newspapers; asking the freeholders if they were so degenerate as to make themselves a laughing stock, even to the French, their enemies, whom they despised. Prince Masserane alleges that this incident made that election so remarkably peaceable!

Are you acquainted with Crébillon? I am ashamed to mention his name. He sent me over his last work, with a very obliging letter: but as I must write to him in French, I have never answered him. If all the English were as impertinent as I am, the Abbé Galliani would have reason to abuse us.—I am, dear Abbé, after asking your blessing, yours sincerely.[428:1]

"I returned to Edinburgh in 1769," says Hume in his "own Life," "very opulent, (for I possessed a revenue of £1000 a-year) healthy, and though somewhat stricken in years, with the prospect of enjoying long my ease, and of seeing the increase of my reputation." He had thus finally triumphed over the temptations which assailed him abroad, and resolved to spend the remainder of his days among the friends of his youth. He had received very strong solicitations from Madame de Boufflers and others, to take up his abode at Paris. In one letter she informs him that there is a house prepared for him in the Temple, and another with a large garden near the Bois de Boulogne.[429:1] To these pressing offers he seems not to have trusted himself with rendering a direct answer, leaving his projects undefined, until, by returning to Edinburgh, he rendered the acceptance of such invitations impracticable. Fairly re-established in his old house in James's Court, and enjoying its magnificent prospect, we find him thus writing to Smith:—

Hume to Adam Smith.

"James's Court, 20th August, 1769.

"Dear Smith,—I am glad to have come within sight of you, and to have a view of Kirkaldy from my windows: but as I wish also to be within speaking terms of you, I wish we could concert measures for that purpose. I am mortally sick at sea, and regard with horror, and a kind of hydrophobia, the great gulf [429:2] that lies between us. I am also tired of travelling; as much as you ought naturally to be of staying at home. I therefore propose to you to come hither, and pass some days with me in this solitude. I want to know what you have been doing; and propose to exact a rigorous account of the method in which you have employed yourself during your retreat. I am positive you are in the wrong in many of your speculations, especially where you have the misfortune to differ from me. All these are reasons for our meeting, and I wish you would make me some reasonable proposal for that purpose. There is no habitation on the island of Inchkeith, otherwise I should challenge you to meet me on that spot, and neither of us ever to leave the place, till we were fully agreed on all points of controversy. I expect General Conway here to morrow, whom I shall attend to Roseneath, and I shall remain there a few days. On my return, I expect to find a letter from you, containing a bold acceptance of this defiance. I am, dear Smith, yours sincerely."[430:1]

The letters addressed to Hume at this time, show that he had made inquiries with the view of continuing the education of his nephews at one of the English universities. The following letter explains the reason why this plan was not adopted.

Hume to Sir Gilbert Elliot.

"Edinburgh, 16th October, 1769.

"Dear Sir Gilbert,—I am very much obliged to you for the pains you have taken to give me an account of your sons' expenses and management at Oxford. I found my brother undetermined, or rather averse, to the project. He thinks his son rather inclines to be dissipated and idle; and believes that a year or two at Oxford would confirm him thoroughly in that habit, without any other advantage than the acquiring of a little better pronunciation; for this reason he seems rather inclined to try him a year in the Law College here, before he makes him so much his own master.

"I have been settled here two months, and am here body and soul, without casting the least thought of regret to London, or even to Paris. I think it improbable that I shall ever in my life cross the Tweed, except perhaps a jaunt to the north of England, for health or amusement. I live still, and must for a twelvemonth, in my old house in James's Court, which is very cheerful, and even elegant, but too small to display my great talent for cookery, the science to which I intend to addict the remaining years of my life! I have just now lying on the table before me, a receipt for making soupe à la reine, copied with my own hand: for beef and cabbage, (a charming dish,) and old mutton, and old claret, nobody excels me. I make also sheep-head broth, in a manner that Mr. Keith speaks of it for eight days after; and the Duc de Nivernois would bind himself apprentice to my lass to learn it. I have already sent a challenge to David Moncreif: you will see that in a twelvemonth he will take to the writing of history, the field I have deserted; for as to the giving of dinners, he can now have no further pretensions. I should have made a very bad use of my abode in Paris, if I could not get the better of a mere provincial like him. All my friends encourage me in this ambition; as thinking it will redound very much to my honour.

"I am delighted to see the daily and hourly progress of madness, and folly, and wickedness in England. The consummation of these qualities are the true ingredients for making a fine narrative in history, especially if followed by some signal and ruinous convulsion,—as I hope will soon be the case with that pernicious people! He must be a very bad cook indeed, who cannot make a palatable dish from the whole. You see in my reflexions and allusions, I shall mix my old and new professions together. I am, dear Sir Gilbert, your most obedient humble servant," &c.[432:1]

Hume to Sir Gilbert Elliot.

"Edinburgh, 5th February, 1770.

"Dear Sir Gilbert,—I do not know whether you be good for any thing, or at all worth the applying to; I rather suspect not: but in case you are, I make you the following application in favour of Christopher Tate, probationer, who was tutor to my nephews. You know I resigned my pretensions on the presentation of Humbie to your nephew's tutor; but under promise, that you would assist me in a like case. This kirk is a king's presentation; it is within your county, and I very earnestly desire success in this application, and trust much to your friendship in it.

"The last unexpected incident strikes us mute with astonishment; either the Duke of Grafton is much to blame for leaving us so abruptly in so very critical a time, or a greater than he, if he got any just cause for it. I carry my view to very dismal consequences, especially as I suspect the last to be the case. I fancy we shall have curious scenes, worthy the pen of the greatest historian. I am tired and disgusted with conjecture. My compliments to Lady Elliot. Believe me to be very sincerely, your affectionate humble servant," &c.[432:2]

To Smith, whose "Wealth of Nations" was now supposed to be nearly ready for the press, we find the following letter:—

This refers to the Duke of Grafton's resignation, of which he proceeds to quote an account from "a very good hand," prophesying tranquillity and the restoration of confidence.

"So far my friend—whose prophecy I hope will be fulfilled; though, for my part, I am rather inclined to give myself up to despair. Nothing but a rebellion and bloodshed will open the eyes of that deluded people; though, were they alone concerned, I think it is no matter what becomes of them."[433:1]

In the following letter, we have a farther, and a very strong instance of Hume's dislike of the English as a people. We find him again busy in sifting his History of all remains of popular principles; and there is a tone throughout the letter, as if it were satisfactory to him to be able to overturn the objects of popular idolatry, which a people he so heartily disliked had endeavoured to set up, in the alleged antiquity of their constitution.

Hume to Sir Gilbert Elliot.

"Edinburgh, 21st February, 1770.

"Dear Sir Gilbert,—I am glad of your victories; though I look upon them all as temporary and imperfect, like the fallacious recoveries of a hectic person, who is hastening to his dissolution. Our government has become a chimera, and is too perfect, in point of liberty, for so rude a beast as an Englishman; who is a man, a bad animal too, corrupted by above a century of licentiousness. The misfortune is, that this liberty can scarcely be retrenched without danger of being entirely lost; at least the fatal effects of licentiousness must first be made palpable, by some extreme mischief resulting from it. I may wish that the catastrophe should rather fall on our posterity; but it hastens on with such large strides, as leave little room for this hope.

"I am running over again the last edition of my History, in order to correct it still further. I either soften or expunge many villanous, seditious Whig strokes, which had crept into it. I wish that my indignation at the present madness, encouraged by lies, calumnies, imposture, and every infamous act usual among popular leaders, may not throw me into the opposite extreme. I am, however, sensible that the first editions were too full of those foolish English prejudices, which all nations and all ages disavow.

"The present firm conduct of the king, and his manly resentment, afford some glimpse of hope. We, at a distance, are not acquainted with these matters; and few even at London; but there still appears something mysterious in the Duke of Grafton's resignation. I hope it proceeded only from his discontents with Bedford House.

"But I detain you too long. I shall only conclude, that, though I reckon myself among the sepoliti, I cannot forbear expressing my hearty good wishes to your cause and you. I am, very sincerely, dear Sir Gilbert, your obliged humble servant."[435:1]

"Edinburgh, 5th April, 1770.

"I am sorry to inform you, that all we statesmen in this town condemn loudly the conduct of you statesmen in London, especially in allowing those insolent rascals, the mayor and sheriffs, to escape with impunity. We were much disappointed not to find them impeached, and a bill of pains and penalties passed upon them. The tumults which might have ensued in London, we thought rather an advantage; as it would give government an opportunity of chastising that abominable rabble. But you have thought otherwise; and it is pretended that these lenient maxims are succeeding; that faction abates, the tide turns, and the heroes of opposition are in despair. I am heartily glad of it: but this is a new experiment to reconcile such extreme license with government; and if, in a case where popular complaints had not the smallest shadow of pretence, the king and parliament have prevailed, after a long struggle, and with much difficulty, what must it be, where there is some plausible appearance, and perhaps some real ground of complaint, such as it is natural to expect in all governments? However, I repeat it, I am glad of the present appearance of tranquillity; and, indeed, distant dangers are not to be too anxiously provided against. I am," &c.

Hume seems to have now commenced the building of the house, in the New Town of Edinburgh, in which he died. It was the commencement of the street leading southward from St. Andrew's Square, now called St. David Street.[436:1]

[383:1] In the conclusion of Hume's letter to Dr. Blair, of 27th May, 1767, cited above, there is the following paragraph:—

"Pray, how has the General Assembly passed? I have had a long letter from Mass David Dickson, complaining of your injustice. Has John Home any thoughts of coming up? Tell Robertson that the compliment, at the end of General Conway's letter to him, was of my composing, without any orders from him. He smiled when he read it, but said it was very proper, and signed it. These are not bad puffs from ministers of state, as the silly world goes." I inferred from this that the letter in question was the King's letter to the General Assembly of 1767; but I find no allusion to Robertson in that document, and am not aware of any letter, generally known at the period, which answers the above description. It is clear that Hume refers to some official communication from the secretary of state. The letter from Dickson is a long complaint about the conduct of some judicatories as to a forgotten church dispute. It begins with the statement;—"I am informed that His Majesty's letter to the General Assembly, of this year, is issued from the secretary's office, under your direction." As it is pretty generally believed that the policy of the Home-office, in its communications with the Church of Scotland, was directed by Hume, during the period when he was under secretary, the following extract from the King's letter to the General Assembly, in 1767, is given, that the reader may judge for himself whether the style and matter are characteristic of Hume's pen:—

"Convinced, as we are, of your prudence and firm resolution to concur in whatever may promote the happiness of our subjects, it is unnecessary for us to recommend to you to avoid contentious and unedifying debates; as well as to avoid every thing that may tend to disturb that harmony and tranquillity which is so essential in councils solely calculated for the suppression of every species of licentiousness, irreligion, and vice. And, as we have the firmest reliance on your zeal in the support of the Christian faith, as well as in the wisdom and prudence of your councils, we are thoroughly assured that they will be directed to such purposes as may best tend to enforce a conscientious observance of all those duties which the true religion, and laws of this kingdom require, and on which the felicity of every individual so essentially depends."[383:A]