1763-1764. Æt. 52-53.
Lord Hertford's appointment to the French Embassy, and
invitation to Hume to accompany him--Correspondence on the
occasion--Residence in London, and remarks on the Political
Movements of 1763--State of his reputation in France--His
Arrival--Letters to friends at home about his flattering
reception--The young French princes--Observations on eminent
French people--His recommendations to a Clergyman--
Introductions of Fellow Countrymen.
On the conclusion of the treaty of 1763, the Marquis of Hertford was
appointed ambassador to the court of France. He invited Hume to attend
him as secretary; and there is no reason to believe that the selection
was owing to any other motive than the desire to place an able and
honest man in office. The Marquis was a man of high moral character, and
his religious opinions appear to have been considered by some of his
contemporaries as too zealous and exclusive. The intercourse thus
occasioned, was the commencement of a lasting friendship, in which the
English Marquis and the Scottish philosopher, however separated by
nominal difference of rank, had too genuine a respect for each other to
be affected by such inequalities. The intimacy extended to General
Seymour Conway, the brother of the Marquis; and Hume's intercourse with
them both, tends to confirm the impression which the portraits of the
two brothers convey to the present generation, of dispositions open,
kind, and artless. In reference to this event, Hume says, in his "own
life," "I retired to my native country of Scotland, determined never
more to set my foot out of it; and retaining the satisfaction of never
having preferred a request to one great man, or even making advances of
friendship to any of them. As I was now turned of fifty, I thought of
passing all the rest of my life in this philosophical manner, when I
received, in 1763, an invitation from the Earl of Hertford, with whom I
was not in the least acquainted, to attend him on his embassy to Paris,
with a near prospect of being appointed secretary to the embassy, and,
in the meanwhile, of performing the functions of that office. This
offer, however inviting, I at first declined, both because I was
reluctant to begin connexions with the great, and because I was afraid
that the civilities and gay company of Paris, would prove disagreeable
to a person of my age and humour: but on his lordship's repeating the
invitation, I accepted of it. I have every reason, both of pleasure and
interest, to think myself happy in my connexions with that nobleman, as
well as afterwards with his brother, General Conway."
We have, in his familiar correspondence, a fuller account of his
feelings on the occasion.
HUME _to_ ADAM SMITH.
"_Edinburgh, 9th August, 1763._
"MY DEAR FRIEND,--I have got an invitation, accompanied with great
prospects and expectations, from Lord Hertford, if I would accompany
him, though at first without any character, in his embassy to Paris. I
hesitated much on the acceptance of this offer, though in appearance
very inviting: and I thought it ridiculous at my years, to be entering
on a new scene, and to put myself in the lists as a candidate of
fortune. But I reflected that I had in a manner abjured all literary
occupations; that I resolved to give up my future life entirely to
amusements; that there could not be a better pastime than such a
journey, especially with a man of Lord Hertford's character; and that it
would be easy to prevent my acceptance from having the least appearance
of dependance. For these reasons, and by the advice of every friend whom
I consulted, I at last agreed to accompany his lordship, and I set out
to-morrow for London. I am a little hurried in my preparations; but I
could not depart without bidding you adieu, my good friend, and without
acquainting you with the reasons of so sudden a movement. I have not
great expectations of revisiting this country soon; but I hope it will
not be impossible but we may meet abroad, which will be a great
satisfaction to me. I am," &c.[158:1]
HUME _to_ BARON MURE.
"_Lisle St. 1st Sept. 1763._
"MY DEAR BARON,--As I am not sure where you are, nor whether this
direction be right, I am obliged to speak to you with reserve, both of
public affairs and of my own. Of the latter, I shall only say, that
notwithstanding of my first reluctance, I am entirely reconciled to my
present situation, and have a great prepossession, or rather, indeed, a
great esteem and affection for the person and family whom I am to
accompany to France. The prospect of my being secretary to the embassy
is neither very distant nor is it immediate; but Lord Hertford will
certainly, before our departure, obtain a settlement for me for life;
which at any events will improve my fortune, and is a great pledge of
his friendship and regard.
"I have insulted [consulted] Elliot, Sir Harry, Oswald, and all our
friends of that administration. The former said to me, that my situation
was, taking all its circumstances, the most wonderful event in the
world. I was now a person clean and white as the driven snow; and that
were I to be proposed for the see of Lambeth, no objection could
henceforth be made to me. What makes the matter more extraordinary, is,
that the idea first came into my patron's head, without the suggestion
of any one mortal.[159:1]
"You must have heard of the late most astonishing events with regard to
public affairs.[159:2] Yesterday Lord Bute had a pretty large company
dining with him, to whom he gave an account of the whole transactions,
and desired them to publish it.
"One of them, a friend of mine, as soon as he went home, took it down in
writing, of which he gave me a copy, and which I transmit to you. He is
a military man, and his style is not elegant; but I am sure, from
another certain authority, that the account is in the main just; only I
have reason to think that Lord Halifax was proscribed along with the
rest; at least he said so yesterday to a friend of mine. I wish this
high spirit of his M. may be supported. But _femme qui écoute et ville
qui parle sont bientôt rendues_. Lord Bute goes abroad very soon. Some
pretend that the present administration is more enraged against him than
is the opposition, on account of his taking this important step without
consulting them. Never in any history was there so curious a scene; nor
was there ever so formidable a demagogue as this man. Lord Sandwich, it
is said, will be secretary for some weeks; our friend Wood is so at
present. Many of the leading men in the opposition were left out on Mr.
Pitt's plan; which, it is thought, will breed dissensions among them.
"I dined yesterday with Lord Chesterfield, along with Colonel Irvine.
The Colonel made an apology for our arriving so late, on account of his
being detained at court. 'At court?' said my lord: 'I should be glad to
know what place that is.' Dear Mure, yours."[160:1]
In an earlier part of this work, we have found Hume narrating events of
contemporary military history. In the following, as in the preceding
letter, he gives his version of a celebrated ministerial revolution, of
which the public is as yet possessed of no account which is not liable
to doubt.
HUME _to_ ADAM SMITH.
"_Lisle St. 13th Sept. 1763._
"MY DEAR SMITH,--The settlement which I had made in Scotland was so much
to my mind, I had indeed struck root so heartily, that it was with the
utmost reluctance I could think of transplanting myself, and I began to
approach towards that age in which these experiments became no longer
practicable with safety. I own that, on my arrival in London, I found
every circumstance more inviting than I had reason to expect;
particularly the characters of Lord and Lady Hertford, who are allowed
to be the two persons the most unexceptionable among all the English
nobility. Even that circumstance of Lord Hertford's character, his great
piety, ought to make my connexions with him more agreeable, both because
it is not attended with any thing sour and rigid, and because I draw the
more honour from his choice, while he overlooked so many seeming
objections which lay against me on that head. My fortune also receives a
great addition during life from this connexion; besides many openings to
ambition, were I so simple as to be exposed to temptation from that
passion.
"But, notwithstanding all these considerations, shall I tell you the
truth? I repine at my loss of ease and leisure, and retirement and
independence; and it is not without a sigh I look backwards, nor without
reluctance that I cast my eye forwards. Is this sentiment an instinct
which admonishes me of the situation most proper and suitable to me? Or
is it a momentary disgust, the effect of low spirits, which company and
amusement, and a better state of health, will soon dissipate and remove?
I must wait with patience till I see the decision of this question.
"I find that one view of Lord Hertford in engaging me to go along with
him is, that he thinks I may be useful to Lord Beauchamp in his studies.
That young nobleman is generally spoke of as very amiable and very
promising; but I remember, though faintly, to have heard from you
something to the contrary, which you had heard from that severe critic,
Mr. Herbert: I should be obliged to you for informing me of it. I have
not yet seen my Lord Beauchamp, who is at this time in Paris. We shall
not leave London these three weeks.
"You have, no doubt, heard of the strange jumble among our ministers,
and of the negotiation opened with Mr. Pitt. Never story was told with
such contrary circumstances as that of his secret conference with the
king, and of the terms demanded by that popular leader. The general
outlines of the whole story seem to be these:
"Lord Bute, disgusted with the ministers, who had almost universally
conspired to neglect him, and suspecting their bottom to be too narrow,
had, before Lord Egremont's death, opened a negotiation with Mr. Pitt,
by means of Lord Shelburne, who employed Calcraft the agent. Mr. Pitt
says, that he always declared it highly improper that he should be
brought to the king, before all terms were settled on such a footing as
to render it impossible for them to separate without agreeing. He
accordingly thought they were settled. His first conference with the
king confirmed him in that opinion, and he wrote to the Duke of
Devonshire to come to town, in order to place himself at the head of the
treasury. The Duke of Newcastle said, at his table on Sunday was a
fortnight, that the ministry was settled. But when Mr. Pitt came to the
king that afternoon, he found him entirely changed, and every thing was
retracted that had been agreed on. This is his story. The other party
says, that he rose in his terms, and wanted to impose the most
exorbitant conditions on his sovereign. I suppose that the first
conference passed chiefly in generals, and that Mr. Pitt would then be
extremely humble, and submissive, and polite, and dutiful in his
expressions. But when he came to particulars, they did not seem to
correspond with these appearances. At least, this is the best account I
can devise of the matter, consistent with the honour of both parties.
"You would see the present ministry by the papers. It is pretended that
they are enraged against Lord Bute, for negotiating without their
knowledge or consent; and that the other party are no less displeased
with him for not finishing the treaty with them. That nobleman declared
his resolution of going abroad a week or two ago. Now he is determined
to pass the winter in London. Our countrymen are visibly hurt in this
justle of parties, which I believe to be far from the intentions of Lord
Bute. Lord Shelburne resigned, because he found himself obnoxious on
account of his share in the negotiation. I see you are much displeased
with that nobleman, but he always speaks of you with regard. I hear that
your pupil, Mr. Fitzmaurice, makes a very good figure at Paris.
"It is generally thought that Mr. Pitt has gained credit and force by
this negotiation. It turns the eyes of the public towards him. It shows
that the king can overlook personal resentment against him and Lord
Temple. It gains him the confidence of his own party, who see that he
was negotiating for the whole of them; and puts people in mind of the
French rhyme,--_ville qui parle et femme qui écoute_.
"You would hear that the case of the Douglas is now made clear, even in
the eyes the most blinded and most prejudiced, which I am glad of on
account of our friends. I am," &c.[163:1]
The following notice, by one who has unfortunately left nothing behind
to show posterity the grounds on which his reputation rested, the Rev.
Dr. Carlyle, will be read with interest.
Robertson has managed with great address: he is principal,
chaplain, minister, historiographer, and historian; that is to
say, he has £50 a-year and a house, certain, besides what he
can make by his books. It was taken for granted that he was to
resign his charge on being appointed historiographer with £200
salary; but that he will do at his leisure. It is also
supposed by his patrons, that he is to write the History of
Britain in ten volumes quarto; that also, I presume, (dreadful
task,) he will execute at his leisure.
Honest David Home, [Hume,] with the heart of all others that
rejoices most at the prosperity of his friends, was certainly
a little hurt with this last honour conferred on Robertson. A
lucky accident has given him relief. The Earl of Hertford is
appointed ambassador to France: not very capable himself, they
have loaded him with an insignificant secretary, one Charles
Bunbury, who, for the sake of pleasure, more than the thousand
a-year, solicited for the office. Hertford knew David, and
some good genius prompted him to ask him to go along and
manage the business. It is an honourable character: he will
see his friends in France. If he tires, he can return when he
pleases. Bunbury will probably tire first, and then David will
become secretary.[164:1]
The following letter, without address, appears to have been written to
Dr. Carlyle.
"_Lisle Street, 15th Sept. 1763._
"DEAR DOCTOR,--The case of poor Blacklock gives me great distress; and
so much the more, as I am afraid it is not in the power of any human
being to relieve him.[165:1] His unhappiness seems to proceed from the
infirmity of his body, and the delicacy, not to say weakness, of his
mind. He has wrote to me letters full of the bitterest anguish, on
account of the treatment he meets with from his parishioners. I believe
it is not good; but it is impossible not to think it exaggerated by his
imagination: and I am of your opinion that the same persecution, partly
real, partly imaginary, would follow him in every other settlement. I
had concerted with Baron Mure a very likely scheme for his removal; but
to what purpose would this serve, if the same complaints must return in
his new situation? I agree with you, that a small pension, could it be
obtained, might bestow on him some degree of tranquillity; but how to
obtain it I profess I do not know, as I suppose you will readily
believe. That door was never very wide for men of letters; and is become
still narrower than ever."
He proceeds, in terms similar to those already recorded, to state his
satisfaction in the connexion with Lord Hertford, and continues:--
"I go to a place of the world which I have always admired the most; and
it is not easy to imagine a reception better than I have reason to
expect. What, then, can be wanting to my happiness? I hope, nothing; or
if any thing, it will only be an age and temper better adapted to vanity
and dissipation. I beg of you to embrace Mrs. Carlisle in my name, and
to assure her of my sincere respects.
"I write no politics, having now become a politician. Please address
yourself to John Hume for information on that head. Let him explain to
you his patron's situation!!!! Pray, is there any body such an idiot at
present as to be a partisan of the Douglas?"
To obtain literary distinction in France at that time, was to be
received at court. The star of Germany had not yet risen in the horizon
of literature, and the great monarch and warrior of the Teutonic tribes
treated his native tongue as the speech of boors, tried to distinguish
himself in French literature, and was ambitious of being received into
equal companionship with the popular authors of France. Britain,
notwithstanding her series of illustrious names, had not yet quite
shaken off an air of provincialism. Shakspere was a strange wild genius,
full of barbarisms and abominable galimatias: Voltaire had said it, and
it was a judgment, not an opinion. Some discontented Frerons or Arnauds,
might cavil against it: but this was rebellion, not controversy. The
greatness of our masters in science and philosophy was fully admitted;
but they were viewed as citizens of the great world of letters,
accidentally born in one of its more barren districts; and they were
scarcely more closely identified with the national literature of their
country, than Linnæus might be with that of Sweden, or Tycho Brahe with
that of Denmark. In truth, the apparent interregnum, following the
decline of the Latin as the literary language of the world, appeared
likely to end in the establishment of the French as its successor. Such
expectations gave to the literature of France a metropolitan air, with
which no other could cope; and communicated to those natives of other
places, whose name was honoured in the French circles of letters, a
corresponding elevation.[167:1] Hume would have been impervious to the
most conclusive evidence on the subject, if he had failed to know how
greatly he was honoured among all the literary circles of the continent,
and particularly in those of the metropolis of literature. Lord Elibank,
writing from Paris, on 11th May, 1763, says to him, "No author ever yet
attained to that degree of reputation in his own lifetime that you are
now in possession of at Paris;"[167:2] and the extent of his fame was
abundantly attested by others.[167:3]
Hume arrived in France on the 14th day of October, 1763. Of his
reception, his own letters will give the best account.
HUME _to_ ADAM SMITH.
"_Fontainbleau, 26th Oct. 1763._
"MY DEAR SMITH,--I have been three days at Paris, and two at
Fontainbleau, and have every where met with the most extraordinary
honours, which the most exorbitant vanity could wish or desire. The
compliments of dukes and marischals of France, and foreign ambassadors,
go for nothing with me at present: I retain a relish for no kind of
flattery but that which comes from the ladies. All the courtiers, who
stood around when I was introduced to Madame de Pompadour, assured me
that she was never heard to say so much to any man; and her brother, to
whom she introduced me,----[169:1] But I forget already, that I am to
scorn all the civilities of men. However, even Madame Pompadour's
civilities were, if possible, exceeded by those of the Duchesse de
Choiseul, the wife of the favourite and Prime Minister, and one of the
ladies of the most distinguished merit in France. Not contented with the
many obliging things she said to me on my first introduction, she sent
to call me from the other end of the room, in order to repeat them, and
to enter into a short conversation with me: and not contented with that,
she sent the Danish ambassador after me, to assure me, that what she
said was not from politeness, but that she seriously desired to be in
friendship and correspondence with me. There is not a courtier in
France, who would not have been transported with joy, to have had the
half of these obliging things said to him by either of these great
ladies; but what may appear more extraordinary, both of them, as far as
I could conjecture, have read with some care all my writings that have
been translated into French,--that is, almost all my writings. The king
said nothing particular to me, when I was introduced to him; and (can
you imagine it) I was become so silly, as to be a little mortified by
it, till they told me, that he never says any thing to any body the
first time he sees them. The Dauphin, as I am told from all hands,
declares himself on every occasion very strongly in my favour; and many
people assure me, that I have reason to be proud of his judgment, even
were he an individual. I have scarce seen any of the geniuses of Paris,
who, I think, have in general great merit, as men of letters. But every
body is forward to tell me the high panegyrics I receive from them; and
you may believe that ----[170:1] approbation which has procured me all
these civilities from the courtiers.
"I know you are ready to ask me, my dear friend, if all this does not
make me very happy: No, I feel little or no difference. As this is the
first letter I write to my friends at home, I have amused myself, (and I
hope I have amused you,) by giving you a very abridged account of these
transactions. But can I ever forget, that it is the very same species,
that would scarce show me common civilities a very few years ago at
Edinburgh, who now receive me with such applauses at Paris? I assure
you, I reap more internal satisfaction from the very amiable manners
and character of the family in which I live, (I mean Lord and Lady
Hertford, and Lord Beauchamp,) than from all these external vanities;
and it is that domestic enjoyment which must be considered as the
agreeable circumstance in my situation. During the two last days, in
particular, that I have been at Fontainbleau I have _suffered_ (the
expression is not improper) as much flattery as almost any man has ever
done in the same time. But there are few days in my life, when I have
been in good health, that I would not rather pass over again. Mr.
Neville, our minister, an honest, worthy English gentleman, who carried
me about, was astonished at the civilities I met with; and has assured
me, that on his return, he will not fail to inform the king of England
and the English ministry of all these particulars. But enough of all
these follies. You see I trust to your friendship, that you will forgive
me; and to your discretion, that you will keep my secret.
"I had almost forgot, in these effusions, shall I say of my misanthropy
or my vanity, to mention the subject which first put my pen in my hand.
The Baron d'Holbach, whom I saw at Paris, told me, that there was one
under his eye that was translating your 'Theory of Moral Sentiments;'
and desired me to inform you of it.[171:1] Mr. Fitzmaurice, your old
friend, interests himself strongly in this undertaking. Both of them
wish to know, if you propose to make any alterations on the work, and
desire you to inform me of your intentions in that particular. Please
direct to me under cover to the Earl of Hertford at Northumberland
House, London. Letters so directed will be sent to us at Paris. I desire
my compliments to all friends. I am, my dear Smith, yours
sincerely."[172:1]
HUME _to_ PROFESSOR FERGUSON.
"_Fontainbleau, 9th Nov. 1763._
"DEAR FERGUSON,--I have now passed four days at Paris, and about a
fortnight in the court at Fontainbleau, amidst a people who, from the
royal family downwards, seem to have it much at heart to persuade me, by
every expression of esteem, that they consider me as one of the greatest
geniuses in the world. I am convinced that Louis XIV. never, in any
three weeks of his life, suffered so much flattery: I say suffered, for
it really confounds and embarrasses me, and makes me look sheepish. Lord
Hertford has told them they will chase me out of France, _à coup de
complimens et de louanges_. Our friend, General Clerk, came to this
place after I had passed a week in it; and the first thing he said to me
was, that he was sure I had never passed so many days with so little
satisfaction. I asked him how he had happened to guess so well. He said,
because he knew me, and knew the French. I really wish often for the
plain roughness of the _Poker_,[172:2] and particularly the sharpness of
Dr. Jardine, to correct and qualify so much lusciousness. However, I
meet sometimes with incidents that please me, because they contain no
mixture of French complaisance or exaggeration. Yesterday I dined at the
Duc de Praslin's, the secretary of state. After we had risen from
dinner, I went into a corner to converse with somebody; when I saw
enter the room, a tall gentleman, a little elderly, with a riband and
star, who immediately called out to the Duchesse de Praslin, 'Hé, Madame
la Duchesse, que je suis content, j'ai vu Monsieur Hume à la cour
aujourd'hui.' Upon inquiry, I was told he was a man of quality, esteemed
one of the cleverest and most sensible about the court.
"In two or three days we return to Paris, where I hope to live more at
my ease, and shall pass my time with really great men; for there are
such at present amongst the literati of France. Certainly there is
something perverse, either in the structure of our mind, or in the
incidents of life. My present situation ought naturally to appear an
object of envy; for besides those circumstances of an universal good
reception from all ranks of people, nothing can be more amiable than the
character of the family with whom I live, and nothing can be more
friendly than their behaviour to me. My fortune has already received a
considerable increase by a pension procured me by Lord Hertford, and
settled as they tell me for life. Mr. Bunbury has been told that he must
not go to Paris, which my lord considers as a sure prelude to my being
soon secretary to the embassy; an office which will expose me to little
expense, and bring me a thousand a-year increase of revenue, and puts me
in the road to all the great foreign employments. Yet I am sensible that
I set out too late, and that I am misplaced; and I wish, twice or thrice
a-day, for my easy chair and my retreat in James's Court! Never think,
dear Ferguson, that as long as you are master of your own fireside and
your own time, you can be unhappy, or that any other circumstance can
make an addition to your enjoyment.
"When I think of my own house, you may believe I often reflect on
Josey, who I am afraid will be more a loser by my absence, than ever I
shall be a gainer by it; I mean in point of his education. I beg of you
to have some inspection over him, and as often as my sister shall send
to you to ask your advice, that you will be sure to give it. I am afraid
that there occurs a difficulty at present about entering him to the
Greek. He is too far advanced by his learning for the class in the High
School to which he is put, and yet he is too young to go to the college:
for this reason I thought that he might learn something of the Greek
before he finished his Latin course, as is the practice in England; and,
accordingly, Murray in Musselburgh gave him some lessons in that
language. I propose that he should continue on the same footing in
Edinburgh; but I am at a loss how it may be done. A master to himself
alone, would not give him any emulation; and were he put to any other
school for this purpose, the hours would interfere with those of the
High School. Be so good as speak to Mathison, and then give your opinion
to my sister.
"Please remember me to Mr. and Mrs. Adams.[174:1] I saw Willie a moment
at Fontainbleau: he had arrived a quarter of an hour after Jemmy left
it, whom I did not see. These two brothers have been hunting one another
in vain through all France; but I hope they have met at last in Paris.
"When you favour me with a letter, put it under cover to the Earl of
Hertford, and direct it to him at Northumberland House, in the Strand;
letters so directed come to us with the greatest safety. Make my
compliments to Baron Mure, and Mrs. Mure, and all that family. I shall
write to the Baron soon. Tell Dr. Blair that I have conversed here twice
or thrice with the Duchesse D'Aiguillon, who has been amusing herself
with translating passages of Ossian; and I have assured her that the
authenticity of those poems is to be proved soon beyond all
contradiction. Andrew Stuart is here at present: I meet with nobody here
that doubts of the justice of his cause. I hope your fine judges will at
last be ashamed of their scandalous partiality. I should be glad to hear
of all friends. I am, dear Ferguson, with great sincerity and without
flattery, your affectionate friend and servant.
"P.S.--I beg you to keep the follies of the above letter to yourself. I
had a letter from Lord Marischal to-day, who tells me that he is to pass
the winter at Edinburgh. Wait often on him; you will like him extremely:
carry all our friends to him, and endeavour to make him pass his time as
agreeably as possible."[175:1]
We shall have farther opportunities of observing the affectionate
anxiety with which Hume watched over the education of his nephews. Adam
Ferguson appears to have undertaken the task of noticing the progress of
Joseph, the elder nephew, during Hume's absence, to whom he writes, in
answer to the above:--
_Edinburgh, 26th Nov. 1763._
At present his journal, as he tells me, begins with getting up
at eight, taking his breakfast and going to school, where he
remains to eleven. Then to the High School Yard to play at
Englishman and Scotsman, or the hare and the dogs; of which I
take the merit, as I saved him from the writing-school at that
hour. He returns to school at twelve, and continues till two:
goes to writing between three and four; and spends his
evenings, as he tells me, in getting his school tasks, or in
reading amusing books,--such as his uncle's history. In short,
he is a very amiable boy, with quick parts, in my opinion as
well as yours; and there is no doubt but he will do well. I am
very glad of every thing that gives you pleasure,--even of
some things that give you pain. From all accounts, both before
and since you went to Paris, it might be foreseen that your
reception, even from sincere as well as affected admirers,
would amount to a degree of teasing. But all for the best, as
my fellow philosopher, Pangloss, says. I don't care if you are
"chassé de France à coups de complimens, et accablé en
Angleterre à coups de richesse," so as not to find any rest to
the soles of your feet out of Scotland. I would fain consider
every accession to your fortune as so many dishes added to the
future dinners in James's Court; and your eclat in France, as
the forerunner of much variety of chosen and excellent wines
from every quarter of that great kingdom. Meantime, though I
like to lounge at firesides in practice, I have not, in
speculation, that opinion you mention. I know nothing that is
necessary to happiness but cordiality and the talent of
finding diversion in all places. I remember, somewhere, a
man's being told that he was too nice, because he could not
dine on a ragout, and must have cold mutton. But I should not,
perhaps, contradict you so flatly, nor rub so hard,
considering how tender your sensibility will be grown after so
many lenient applications.[176:1]
HUME _to_ DR. ROBERTSON.
_Paris, Dec. 1, 1763._
DEAR ROBERTSON,--Among other agreeable circumstances which
attend me at Paris, I must mention that of having a lady for a
translator; a woman of merit, the widow of an advocate.[176:2]
She was, before, very poor, and known but to few; but this
work has got her reputation, and procured her a pension from
the court, which sets her at ease. She tells me that she has
got a habit of industry; and would continue, if I could point
out to her any other English book she could undertake, without
running the risk of being anticipated by any other translator.
Your "History of Scotland" is translated, and is in the press;
but I recommended to her your "History of Charles V.," and
promised to write to you, in order to know when it would be
printed, and to desire you to send over the sheets from
London, as they come from the press; I should put them into
her hands, and she would, by that means, have the start of
every other translator.[177:1] My two volumes last published,
are, at present, in the press. She has a very easy natural
style: sometimes she mistakes the sense; but I now correct her
manuscript, and should be happy to render you the same
service, if my leisure permit me, as I hope it will.
Do you ask me about my course of life? I can only say, that I
eat nothing but ambrosia, drink nothing but nectar, breathe
nothing but incense, and tread on nothing but flowers! Every
man I meet, and, still more, every lady, would think they were
wanting in the most indispensable duty, if they did not make a
long and elaborate harangue in my praise. What happened last
week, when I had the honour of being presented to the D----n's
children, at Versailles, is one of the most curious scenes I
have yet passed through. The Duc de B., the eldest, a boy of
ten years old, stepped forth, and told me how many friends
and admirers I had in this country, and that he reckoned
himself in the number, from the pleasure he had received from
the reading of many passages in my works. When he had
finished, his brother, the Count de P., who is two years
younger, began his discourse, and informed me, that I had been
long and impatiently expected in France; and that he himself
expected soon to have great satisfaction from the reading of
my fine History. But what is more curious; when I was carried
thence to the Count D'A., who is but four years of age, I
heard him mumble something which, though he had forgot in the
way, I conjectured, from some scattered words, to have been
also a panegyric dictated to him. Nothing could more surprise
my friends, the Parisian philosophers, than this incident.
* * * * *
It is conjectured that this honour was paid me by express
order from the D.[178:1], who, indeed, is not on any occasion
sparing in my praise.
All this attention and panegyric was at first oppressive to
me; but now it sits more easy. I have recovered, in some
measure, the use of the language, and am falling into
friendships which are very agreeable; much more so than silly,
distant admiration. They now begin to banter me, and tell
droll stories of me, which they have either observed
themselves, or have heard from others; so that you see I am
beginning to be at home. It is probable that this place will
be long my home. I feel little inclination to the factious
barbarians of London; and have ever desired to remain in the
place where I am planted. How much more so, when it is the
best place in the world? I could here live in great abundance
on the half of my income; for there is no place where money is
so little requisite to a man who is distinguished, either by
his birth or by personal qualities. I could run out, you see,
in a panegyric on the people; but you would suspect that this
was a mutual convention between us. However, I cannot forbear
observing on what a different footing learning and the learned
are here, from what they are among the factious barbarians
abovementioned.
I have here met with a prodigious historical curiosity, the
"Memoirs of King James II." in fourteen volumes, all wrote
with his own hand, and kept in the Scots College. I have
looked into it; and have made great discoveries.[179:1] It
will be all communicated to me: and I have had an offer of
access to the Secretary of State's office, if I want to know
the despatches of any French minister that resided in London.
But these matters are much out of my head. I beg of you to
visit Lord Marischal, who will be pleased with your company. I
have little paper remaining, and less time; and therefore
conclude abruptly by assuring you that I am, dear Doctor,
yours sincerely, &c.[179:2]
HUME _to_ ANDREW MILLAR.
_Paris, 1st Dec. 1763._
DEAR SIR,--I have here fallen upon a great treasure, as I
believe, of historical knowledge; which is, fifteen volumes of
the late King James's Memoirs, wrote all with his own hand. I
shall be able to make use of them for improving and
correcting many passages of my History, in case of a new
edition; which, however, I fancy will not be soon. I am glad
to see public affairs likely to settle in favour of
government. Nobody ever led a more dissipated life than I do
here. Please send to Mr. Stewart, in Buckingham Street, six
copies of the new edition of my History; and two of the last
large paper quarto, all in sheets. Make them carefully up in a
parcel: he is to send them to me. I shall be your debtor for
the quartos. I should be glad to hear from you. My direction
is at the English ambassador's. Excuse my hurry. I beg my
compliments to Mrs. Millar. I am, very sincerely, dear sir,
your most humble servant.
HUME _to_ DR. BLAIR.[180:1]
DEAR DOCTOR,--I write every thing in haste, except on public
affairs, which are the only serious matters I have leisure to
mind: so, excuse this letter, if it prove a scrawl. I approve
very much of your plan for ascertaining the authenticity of
Ossian's Poems; and I doubt not of your success. I do not
think you can publish all the letters you receive, which
nobody would read: a summary of them will do better; but
endeavour to be as particular as you can with regard to names
of persons and passages: for the force of your argument will
be there. I have met here with enthusiasts for Ossian's
poetry; but there are also several critics who are of my
opinion, that, though great beauties, they are also great
curiosities, and that they are a little tedious by reason of
their uniformity.
You desire to know the particulars of my reception here, and
my course of life. I own I write little upon this subject, and
always with some degree of secrecy, both because I wish to
have such intelligence conveyed by others rather than myself,
and because I am somewhat indifferent whether it be conveyed
or not. However, I wrote some circumstances to Robertson,
which I allow him to communicate to you. I suppose this, like
all other violent modes, will pass; and, in the meanwhile, the
hurry and dissipation attending it, gives me more pain than
pleasure. Never was there a stronger instance of the vanity
of human wishes. But this embarrassment proceeds chiefly from
my own fault, and from a vain anxiety to give no offence nor
displeasure to any body.
The men of letters here are really very agreeable: all of them
men of the world, living in entire, or almost entire harmony
among themselves, and quite irreproachable in their morals. It
would give you, and Jardine, and Robertson, great satisfaction
to find that there is not a single deist among them. Those
whose persons and conversation I like best, are D'Alembert,
Buffon, Marmontel, Diderot, Duclos, Helvetius, and old
President Henault, who, though now decaying, retains that
amiable character which made him once the delight of all
France. He had always the best cook and the best company in
Paris. But though I know you will laugh at me, as they do, I
must confess that I am more carried away from their society
than I should be, by the great ladies, with whom I became
acquainted at my first introduction to court, and whom my
connexions with the English ambassador will not allow me
entirely to drop.
Nothing can be more easy and agreeable than my situation with
Lord Hertford, who is a man of strict honour, an amiable
temper, a good understanding, and an elegant person and
behaviour. He takes very much in this place. He has got an
opinion very well founded, that the more acquaintance I make,
and the greater intimacies I form with the French, the more I
am enabled to be of service to him: so he exacts no attendance
from me; and is well pleased to find me carried into all kinds
of company. He tells me, that if he did not meet me by chance
in third places, we should go out of acquaintance. Thus you
see my present plan of life sketched out; but it is unsuitable
to my age and temper; and I am determined to retrench and to
abandon the fine folks, before they abandon me.[181:1]
During his absence, Hume's house was let to Blair. In this letter he
gives pretty minute instructions as to the most advantageous
distribution of the occupation of the apartments, which incidentally
illustrate his own domestic habits. Thus--
Never put a fire in the south room with the red paper. It is
so warm of itself, that all last winter, which was a very
severe one, I lay with a single blanket; and frequently upon
coming in at midnight, starving with cold, have sat down and
read for an hour, as if I had had a stove in the room.
You think it inconvenient to take the house only for an
interval. Alas! my prospects of being home are very distant
and very uncertain: I am afraid I might say worse. My
connexions with Lord Hertford must probably last for some
years; after which, I shall be rich enough to live in Paris or
London as I please, or to retire to a provincial town in
France, or to Bath, or God knows whither. I like to keep my
house in case of accidents, and therefore neither choose to
sell it, nor let a lease of it; but there is no great chance
of your being disturbed in it for some time. I am, &c.
P.S.--Pray, do you not all pay court to the Lord
Marischal?[182:1] Do you imagine that you ever saw so
excellent a man? or that you have any chance for seeing his
equal if he were gone?
HUME _to_ COLONEL EDMONDSTOUNE.
_Paris, 9th January, 1764._
DEAR EDMONDSTOUNE,--I was fully settled, and, as I thought,
for life at Edinburgh; had bought a very pretty little house,
which I had repaired and furnished to my fancy; had purchased
a chaise, and fixed every thing about my family on such a
footing as to continue there the rest of my days. But while I
was in this situation, which was far from disagreeable, I
received a letter from my friend Mr. Wood, wrote by directions
from Lord Hertford, by which I was invited to attend his
lordship in his embassy to Paris, and to perform the
functions of secretary to the embassy. I had never seen Lord
Hertford, though I had heard an excellent character of him;
but as I thought myself too old to enter on a new scene of
life, and found myself settled to my mind, I at first refused
the invitation; but on its being urged more home to me, I came
up to London, where I found that Mr. Bunbury, a gentleman of
considerable fortune, and married to the Duke of Richmond's
sister, had already been appointed secretary; but was so
disagreeable to the ambassador, that he was resolved never to
see, or do business with his secretary, and therefore desired
I should attend him, in order to perform the functions. He
also thought himself certain that Bunbury could not possibly
continue in the situation; but in order to make me more
secure, he procured me a pension of £200 a-year for life, from
the king. As I became every day better acquainted with my
lord, I liked him every day better; and I do not believe there
is in the world a man of more probity or humanity, endowed
with a very good understanding, and adorned with very elegant
manners and behaviour. My lady is also a person of great
merit; and nothing can be more amiable than my Lord Beauchamp:
so that you see I have every domestic means of happiness; and
the good reception I have met with at Paris, particularly, as
you observe, by the ladies, renders my present course of life,
though somewhat too hurried and dissipated, as amusing as I
could wish. My lord appears zealously my friend, and has urged
the matter so home, in my favour, to the king and the
ministers, that he has obtained a promise, that I shall soon
have the appointments and commission of secretary to the
embassy, which is about £1000 a-year, added to what I already
possess: so that you see, dear Edmondstoune, I am in the high
road to riches; and as there is no instance of a secretary to
the embassy at Paris, that has not been advanced to the most
considerable employments, I am at the same time in the high
road to dignities. You must know, that Lord Hertford has so
high a character for piety, that his taking me by the hand is
a kind of regeneration to me, and all past offences are now
wiped off. But all these views are trifling to one of my age
and temper. The material point is (if any thing can be
material,) that I keep my health and humour as entire as I
possessed them at five and-twenty. I am sorry to hear, dear
Edmondstoune, that the case is not the same with you, at least
with regard to the former; and perhaps somewhat with regard to
the latter. Your situation is no doubt tiresome, and somewhat
disagreeable. What is the fancy of sending one of the first
noblemen in the kingdom to pass years in a country
town?[184:1] why do you not go forward to Italy, or back to
Paris? When I arrived here, all M. Voltaire's friends told me
of the regard he always expressed for me; that some advances
on my part were due to his age, and would be well taken. I
accordingly wrote him a letter, in which I expressed the
esteem which are[184:2] undoubtedly due to his talents; and
among other things I said, that if I were not confined to
Paris by public business, I should have a great ambition to
pay him a visit at Geneva. This is the foundation of the
report you mention; but I am absolutely confined to Paris and
the court, and cannot on any account leave them so much as for
three days.
Some advice, given at this time by Hume to a young man who, though in
holy orders, had a tendency to scepticism, has already been before the
public, and has been severely criticised. His view, that there are
certain secrets which may be circulated among the learned in published
books, without any risk that the vulgar, to whom a knowledge of them
would be dangerous, should ever become acquainted with them, is one of
the most incomprehensible features of his character.[184:3] The
application of his own ethical system to the circumstances, might have
taught him that no good thing can connect itself with a lie; and that,
independently of all more sacred considerations, nothing can be more
desolating to human morality, than the discovery, that those who are
professing to teach solemn truths, do not themselves believe in the
opinions they promulgate. If, on the other hand, his counsel be a
legitimate deduction from his ethical principles, it is right that the
world should possess this test of their nature.
The following is the correspondence on both sides. For obvious reasons
the name of the young clergyman is suppressed. It may be observed, that
Hume's letter has been made a ground for attributing infidel opinions to
the ministers of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. But justice
requires it to be kept in view, that it appears from the immediately
ensuing letter, that this individual belonged to the Church of
_England_.
COLONEL EDMONDSTOUNE _to_ HUME.
_Geneva, 26th March._
MY DEAR SECRETARY,--I have delayed for some time answering
your letter, in expectation of being able to tell you what is
to become of me; whether I am to return home, or remain abroad
some years longer. Though I believe the latter will happen, I
cannot speak of it with certainty, as I left it to Lord B. to
determine for me; and he has not, as yet, given me any answer.
I write to you at present to consult you about an acquaintance
of yours, Mr. V----, who is here with Lord Abingdon, and who
thinks of returning to England, May next. You'll be so good as
to determine for him what character he is to assume on his
arrival, whether that of a clergyman or a layman. I suppose
you know he is in orders, but he is very very low church. To
speak plain language, I believe him to be a sort of disciple
of your own; and, though he does not carry matters quite so
far as you, yet you have given him notions not very consistent
with his priestly character; so that you see you are somewhat
bound to give him your best advice. V---- is a very
good-natured, sensible, honest follow, without any fortune. My
young man has a great liking for him, and has all the
inclination in the world to serve him; but he neither knows
what to ask for him, and is not sure if his father would ask
any thing at present. We are as much in the dark as to what
passes in England, as if we lived in Siberia. As you know
probably something of the matter, without entering into
politics, you may give us some hints to direct us in what
manner to act, and whether we may not be of more use to our
friend in acting as auxiliaries than principals. You'll
determine whether a man of probity can accept of a living, a
bishoprick, that does not believe all the Thirty-nine
Articles; for you only can fix him: he has been hitherto
irresolute. If [I am not] mistaken, he seems rather inclined
not to be a clergyman; but you know as well, and better than I
do, how difficult it is to get any tolerable civil employment.
I mean any patent place; while as soon as you can
conveniently, and if you should determine for his being a
clergyman, throw in something consolatory on his being obliged
to renounce white stockings the rest of his life. I wait with
impatience to hear of your being made secretary to the
embassy. Shall a descendant of Gospatrick, Earl of
Northumberland, remain in the character of under-secretary? I
hope not; though I am afraid our cursed politics at home will
occasion some delay. Lord Mount Stuart offers his compliments
to you, and thanks you for the pleasure your History gave him.
You scrub, do you think we have so little taste or curiosity
as not to have your History complete? We have two copies, one
to lend, and another for our own use; they were sent us
immediately on the publication; it is almost the only book he
takes pleasure in reading. He has read it once, and has got
through four volumes the second time. By the bye, what is this
M{c}Caulay history? I saw in the newspapers an extract of a
preface that seemed to me to be the rhapsody of a crazy head.
I hear it is in opposition to your History. We have her sister
here, who seems to be a good sort of woman, a Mrs. Buckingham.
I wish your time would allow you to come here: you have a
great many friends; among the rest a Madame Tronchin, wife to
the procureur-general, a virtuous, generous, charitable, good
woman. She has learned English since I have been here, and can
read your History with as much ease as her own language. Her
husband is a man of merit, a man of genius; but knows you only
by the translations of your works. Mallet, Professor
Bertrand, and many others, even ministers, are your friends;
even the Christians acknowledge your merit as an historian.
The Christians here are the friends of Rousseau: those that
are not, have been his persecutors; but it was not for his
religious principles. They were afraid of his breeding
disturbance in their state. I wish you could do something for
Rousseau without his knowing it. Print his works in England
for his benefit. You did not, I suppose, receive my letter on
that subject. I never received that from you, which you say
you enclosed to Sir Harry Erskine. Adieu, yours,
J. E.[187:1]
HUME _to_ COLONEL EDMONDSTOUNE.
"DEAR EDMONDSTOUNE,--I was just projecting to write a long letter to
you, and another to Mr. V----, when your last obliging epistle came to
hand. I immediately put pen to paper, to assure you that the report is
entirely groundless, and that I have not lost, nor ever could have lost,
a shilling by Fairholm's bankruptcy. Poor John Adams is very deeply
engaged with him; but I had a letter last post from Dr. Blair, which
informs me that he will yet be able to save fifteen or sixteen thousand
pounds. I am glad to give you also this piece of intelligence.
"What! do you know that Lord Bute is again all-powerful, or rather that
he was always so, but is now acknowledged for such by all the world? Let
this be a new motive for Mr. V---- to adhere to the ecclesiastical
profession, in which he may have so good a patron; for civil employments
for men of letters can scarcely be found: all is occupied by men of
business, or by parliamentary interest.[187:2]
"It is putting too great a respect on the vulgar, and on their
superstitions, to pique one's self on sincerity with regard to them.
Did ever one make it a point of honour to speak truth to children or
madmen. If the thing were worthy being treated gravely, I should tell
him, that the Pythian oracle, with the approbation of Xenophon, advised
every one to worship the gods--νομω πολεως. I wish it were still in my
power to be a hypocrite in this particular. The common duties of society
usually require it; and the ecclesiastical profession only adds a little
more to an innocent dissimulation, or rather simulation, without which
it is impossible to pass through the world. Am I a liar, because I order
my servant to say, I am not at home, when I do not desire to see
company?
"How could you imagine that I was under-secretary to Lord Hertford, or
that I could ever be prevailed on to accept of such a character? I am
not secretary at all, but do the business of secretary to the embassy
without any character. Bunbury has the commission and appointments: a
young man of three or four and twenty, somewhat vain and ignorant, whom
Lord Hertford refused to accept of, as thinking he would be of no use to
him. The king gave me a pension of £200 a-year for life, to engage me to
attend his lordship. My lord is very impatient to have me secretary to
the embassy; and writes very earnest letters to that purpose to the
ministers, and, among the rest, to Lord Bute. He engaged me, somewhat
against my will, to write also to such of my friends as had credit with
that favourite, Oswald, Elliot, Sir Harry, and John Hume. The king has
promised that my Lord Hertford shall soon be satisfied in this
particular; and yet, I know not how, I suspect that some obstacle will
yet interpose; though nothing can be more scandalous, than for a man to
enjoy the revenue of an office, which is exercised by another. Mr.
Bunbury has great interest, being married to a sister of the Duke of
Richmond, and sister-in-law to Lord Holland. The appointments of this
office are above £1000 a-year, and the expense attending it nothing; and
it leads to all the great employments. I wait the issue with patience,
and even with indifference. At my years, and with my fortune, a man with
a little common sense, without philosophy, may be indifferent about what
happens. I am, dear Edmondstoune, yours sincerely."[189:1]
HUME _to_ GILBERT ELLIOT _of Minto_.
"_Paris, 27th March, 1764._
"MY DEAR SIR,--I believe I need not inform you how little I have been
inclined to solicit the great, or even my own friends, for any thing
that regards my own fortune. I may venture to say, that, hitherto, I
have never once made any application of this nature: and you may wonder
that now, at my years, when the greatest part of life is past, and I may
esteem myself, in other respects, pretty much at my ease, I should
submit to prefer requests which I declined at an age when ambition ought
naturally to be stronger, and when my circumstances much more powerfully
called for assistance. But the step I take at present is at Lord
Hertford's desire; who, being determined to make it a point that I
should have the credentials and appointments of secretary to the
embassy, expressed his wish that I should apply to all my own friends on
the same subject. My obligations to him are so great, that, even were I
more reluctant, I could not have declined compliance; and surely I can
have but small reluctance to apply to you, one of my best friends, with
whom I have long lived in a course of intimacy and good correspondence.
"I remember that the last time I had the pleasure of seeing you, you
said, that I no doubt wondered how it happened, that while the prime
minister and favourite, who inclined to be a Mæcenas, and who bore me no
ill will, was surrounded by all my most particular friends, I should
never have experienced any good effects from their credit. I own that I
never was surprised; not from any diffidence in them, but from some
obvious objections. Now all these objections are removed by Lord
Hertford's friendship. Nobody, henceforth, need be afraid to patronize
me, either as a Scotchman or a Deist. This circumstance encourages me in
my present application to my friends.
"Surely it is impossible to give them a juster and more plausible cause
to support than mine. I do the functions here of secretary to the
embassy: Is it not scandalous that another should live in London and
draw the salary?
"Is it for the credit of government, that such abuses should appear to
foreign nations? Is it good policy to send an ambassador to the most
important of all foreign employments, and yet declare that he has so
little credit at home, as not to have the choice of his own secretary.
"I shall not say that the partiality I meet with here will make these
abuses more remarked, than if another person, less known, were
concerned. But surely the government puts me in a situation which ought
to render me entirely useless to my Lord Hertford, by refusing me a
character which should have appeared necessary, in order to gain me
admittance into company.
"Allow me to inform you of another circumstance, which renders my
prevailing on this point the most material step to my future fortune.
When I came to London, and found, contrary to Lord Hertford's opinion,
that Mr. Bunbury was likely to keep his appointments, I declined going
abroad, unless something certain was fixed in my favour. My lord said,
that he would obtain me, from the public, a settlement of £200 a-year
for life, or would give me as much from his private fortune. He applied
to the king, who agreed; to Mr. Grenville, who also consented, two days
before we came off. My pension was fixed on the most precarious footing
of all pensions, by a simple order from the treasury to their secretary.
Yet Mr. Grenville told my lord, that this was equivalent to a settlement
for life. My lord believes so still; though I said nothing, perhaps from
a foolish delicacy, as the time of our departure so near approached, and
it was difficult then to correct the blunder. Were I to return to
England, on my present footing, I should regard this pension as
absolutely insignificant--not worth two years' purchase; and never could
form any plan on the supposition of its duration. But had I obtained the
rank and character of secretary to the embassy, there are certain
pensions annexed, by custom, to certain employments; and I believe I
might more depend upon it.
"You see how materially my interests are concerned. I have wrote to
others of my friends, Sir Harry, Oswald, and John Hume, in the same
style, that an effort may be made, all at once, in my favour. I own
that, notwithstanding all the plausible appearances, my hopes of success
are but moderate. I have been accustomed to meet with nothing but
insults and indignities from my native country; but if it continue so,
'ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem habebis.' I am, my dear sir, yours
sincerely."[192:1]
When the fame of Hume's reception in Paris had reached Scotland, some of
his countrymen, who had not previously been very solicitous to court his
notice, discovered that an introduction to him would be a valuable
acquisition. The correspondence shows that the expectations of such
persons were very large, and that if their names connected them with the
aristocracy of Scotland, it could not fail that they should be at once
put at their ease in the midst of the brilliant circle in which Hume was
moving. The following may be taken as an instance of these attempts. On
the 6th April, 1764, Blair writes:
"This letter will be presented to you by Colonel L----, brother to the
Earl of L----; who, going on a trip to Paris, is very ambitious of being
introduced to your acquaintance. You will find him a very honourable,
good-natured, well-behaved young man, of an amiable disposition and
character. As I have been much connected with the L---- family, who were
my first patrons in the ecclesiastical way, I was very glad to have it
in my power to do them this favour at their desire; and will reckon
myself much obliged to you for any civilities you show the
Colonel."[192:2]
Blair was not the sole medium through whom this gentleman was
recommended. Wallace writes, on 3d April, with all due ceremony: "The
occasion of my writing at present this short letter, is a desire from
the friends of the family of L---- here, asking me to write you by this
night's post, and acquaint you that the Honourable Alexander L----,
Esquire, son to the late Earl of L----, lieutenant-colonel of Colonel
Carey's regiment of foot, is going to Paris, and will probably be in it
before this reaches you, and wishes you may be acquainted, before he
comes, who he is." Taking the effect of these imposing denominations for
granted, Mr. Wallace continues:--"I dare say you will introduce him to
the good company where you are, and will be ready to put him on the best
methods of enjoying and improving himself at Paris."
In Hume's answer to this application, we may trace some desire to
reprove any notion that he was a person so insignificant as to feel
highly honoured by an acquaintance with an Honourable, and bound as a
matter of simple etiquette to receive his proffers with grateful
eagerness.
HUME _to_ DR. BLAIR.
"_Paris, 26th April, 1764._
"MY DEAR SIR,--Before I was favoured with yours, I had seen Colonel
L----, who waited on me, as is usual with the British who come to Paris.
I returned his visit, and introduced him to the ambassador, who asked
him to dinner among seven or eight of his countrymen. You will be
surprised, perhaps, when I tell you that this is the utmost of the
civilities which it will ever be possible for me to show Mr. L----. For
as to the ridiculous idea of foreigners, that I might introduce him to
the good company of Paris, nothing can be more impracticable. I know not
one family to which I could present such a man, silent, grave, awkward,
speaking ill the language, not distinguished by any exploit, or science,
or art. Were the French houses open to such people as these, they would
be very little agreeable, considering the immense concourse of strangers
to this place. But it is quite otherwise. The people are more scrupulous
of receiving persons unknown, and I should soon lose all credit with
them, were I to prostitute my recommendations of this nature. Your
recommendations have great weight with me; but if I am not mistaken, I
have often seen Colonel L----'s face in Edinburgh. It is a little late
he has bethought himself of being _ambitious_, as you say, of being
introduced to my acquaintance. The only favour I can do him, is to
advise him, as soon as he has seen Paris, to go to a provincial town
where people are less shy of admitting new acquaintance, and are less
delicate judges of behaviour. It is almost out of the memory of man,
that any British has been here on a footing of familiarity with the good
company except my Lord Holderness, who had a good stock of acquaintance
to begin with, speaks the language like a native, has very insinuating
manners, was presented under the character of an old secretary of state,
and spent, as is said, £10,000 this winter, to obtain that object of
vanity. Him, indeed, I met every where in the best company: but as to
others--lords, earls, marquises, and dukes--they went about to plays,
operas, and ----. Nobody minded them; they kept company with one
another; and it would have been ridiculous to think of bringing them
into French company. I may add General Clarke, who was liked and
esteemed by several people of merit, which he owed to his great
cleverness and ingenuity, and to his surprising courage in introducing
himself. I enter into this detail with you, that people with whom I am
much more connected than with the L. family, may not, at any time, be
surprised that I am able to do so little for them in this way, and may
not form false ideas of the hospitality of the French nation. But I
fancy there will not arrive at Paris many people who will have great
claims of past civilities to plead with me.
"What you tell me of John Adams gives me great consolation. I had heard
of the alarming news of his connexions with Fairholm, and things were
put in the worst light. I was just ready to write to Ferguson to get
from him a just state of the case; but if he has £15,000, or £18,000
remaining, his industry will recover him, and he may go on in his usual
way of beneficence and generosity. That family is one of the few to
whose civilities I have been much beholden, and I retain a lively sense
of them.
"Our friend, I mean your friend, Lord Kames, had much provoked Voltaire,
who never forgives, and never thinks any enemy below his notice. He has
accordingly sent to the _Gazette Literaire_, an article with regard to
the 'Elements of Criticism,' which turns that book extremely into
ridicule, with a good deal of wit.[195:1] I tried to have it suppressed
before it was printed; but the authors of that Gazette told me, that
they durst neither suppress nor alter any thing that came from Voltaire.
I suppose his lordship holds that satiric wit as cheap, as he does all
the rest of the human race; and will not be in the least mortified by
his censure.
"The taste for literature is neither decayed nor depraved here, as with
the barbarians who inhabit the banks of the Thames. Some people, who had
read your dissertation, affirmed to me, that it was the finest piece of
criticism, incomparably, to be found in the English tongue. I know not
if you have read the 'Poetique de Marmontel:' it is worth your perusal.
Voltaire has published an edition of Corneille, and his notes and
dissertations contain many fine things. There is a book published in
Holland, in two volumes octavo, called 'De la Nature.' It is prolix, and
in many parts whimsical; but contains some of the boldest reasonings to
be found in print. There is a miscellany in three volumes duodecimo
published here, where there are many good pieces. It is perhaps more
amusing to me, than it will be to you; as there is scarce a poem in it
whose author I do not know, or the person to whom it is addressed.
"It is very silly to form distant schemes: but I am fixed at Paris for
some time, and, to judge by probabilities, for life. My income would
suffice me to live at ease, and a younger brother of the best family
would not think himself ill provided for, if he had such a revenue.
Lodgings, a coach, and clothes, are all I need; and though I have
entered late into this scene of life, I am almost as much at my ease, as
if I had been educated in it from my infancy. However, sickness, or the
infirmities of age, which I may soon expect, may probably make me think
of a retreat: But whether that will be better found in Paris or
elsewhere, time must determine. I forbid myself all resolution on that
head.
"I shall indulge myself in a folly, which I hope you will make a
discreet use of: it is the telling you of an incident which may appear
silly, but which gave more pleasure than perhaps any other I had ever
met with. I was carried, about six weeks ago, to a masquerade, by Lord
Hertford. We went both unmasked; and we had scarce entered the room when
a lady, in mask, came up to me and exclaimed:--'_Ha! Monsr. Hume, vous
faites bien de venir ici a visage découvert. Que vous serez bien comblé
ce soir d'honnêtetés et de politesses! Vous verrez, par des preuves peu
équivoques, jusqu'à quel point vous êtes chéri en France._' This
prologue was not a little encouraging; but, as we advanced through the
hall, it is difficult to imagine the caresses, civilities, and
panegyrics which poured on me from all sides. You would have thought
that every one had taken advantage of his mask to speak his mind with
impunity. I could observe that the ladies were rather the most liberal
on this occasion. But what gave me chief pleasure was to find that most
of the eulogiums bestowed on me, turned on my personal character, my
naïvéte, and simplicity of manners, the candour and mildness of my
disposition, &c.--_Non sunt mihi cornea fibra._ I shall not deny that my
heart felt a sensible satisfaction from this general effusion of good
will; and Lord Hertford was much pleased, and even surprised, though he
said, he thought that he had known before upon what footing I stood with
the good company of Paris.
"I allow you to communicate this story to Dr. Jardine. I hope it will
refute all his idle notions that I have no turn for gallantry and
gaiety,[197:1]--that I am on a bad footing with the ladies,--that my
turn of conversation can never be agreeable to them,--that I never can
have any pretensions to their favours, &c. &c. &c. A man in vogue will
always have something to pretend to with the fair sex.
"Do you not think it happy for me to retain such a taste for idleness
and follies at my years; especially since I have come into a country
where the follies are so much more agreeable than elsewhere? I could
only wish that some of my old friends were to participate with me of
these amusements; though I know none of them that can, on occasion, be
so thoroughly idle as myself.
"I am persuaded you will find great comfort in my house, which, in every
respect, is agreeable. I beg of you and Mrs. Blair, (to whom I desire my
compliments,) that you would sometimes pay some attention to my sister,
who is the person that suffers most by my absence. I am, dear sir, yours
very sincerely."[198:1]
Blair writes, on the 15th November, assuring Hume that he is fully
conscious of the unreasonableness of expecting him to introduce those
who are accredited to him, to the good company of Paris. He says, that
his own friend expressed himself as "very well satisfied" with Hume's
behaviour towards him; and perhaps he had a better reception than the
letter to Blair might seem to indicate. At all events, Blair seems not
to have been discouraged, for he immediately introduced the son of the
provost of Glasgow, travelling for his health, and Arthur Masson, a
teacher of languages, recommending them to such good offices as Hume
finds himself at liberty to bestow on them. It is clear, in short, that
he had not been successful in frightening his friends from requesting
him to perform offices of kindness and courtesy, or from trusting that
he would perform them. The following passage, in Blair's letter, is
evidence of the popularity of the Literary classes of the university of
Edinburgh, during the middle of last century.
My class was, last season, in such reputation that I gave a
second course in summer, at the desire of a body of the
medical students. I am just about to open for this
winter--with what success I cannot tell; for I tremble for it
every season. Against next season I intend to print a synopsis
of my lectures. In the medical school, a revolution is at a
crisis, which is important to us. Dr. Rutherford wants to
demit in favour of Frank Hume; a measure pushed by Lord
Milton, Baron Mure, and John Home; the coalition of three
formidable powers: but which we college people dread as boding
us no good; and are much more inclined to another scheme, of
placing Cullen in Rutherford's chair, and bringing Dr. Black,
from Glasgow, into the chair of chemistry, which would greatly
promote the reputation of our college, and which has all the
popularity on its side at present.
How unimportant these things seem to you now? I hear much,
from time to time, of your continuing, nay, increasing
celebrity and fame. You are just the high mode, they tell
us--the very delice of all the good company at Paris.
In a letter to Millar, chiefly in reference to some English law books,
which Hume had engaged to obtain for a French lawyer, he recurs to the
Memoirs of King James. He seems to have indolently adopted the notion
that there were few chances of his having an opportunity of making
additions to his History of the Stuarts. He did live, however, to see
more than one new edition of it: but the references in them to the
treasure he had discovered at Paris, are extremely meagre. Another
letter immediately follows, in which we find that his anticipations of
new editions are already outrun by the demands: and we find in his, as
in many other cases, where permanent fame has been reached, that the
excitement of expectant authorship has declined long before its visions
are realized; and that their fulfilment comes at last on minds sobered
down to indifference.
HUME _to_ ANDREW MILLAR.
"_Paris, 18th March, 1764._
"I have lived such a life of dissipation as not to be able to think of
any serious occupation. But I begin to tire of that course of life. I
have, however, run over King James's Memoirs, and have picked up some
curious passages, which it is needless to speak of till we have occasion
for a new edition, which I suppose is very distant."
"_Paris, 18th April, 1764._
"DEAR SIR,--All the discoveries I made in King James's Memoirs, make
against himself and his brother; and he is surely a good enough witness
on that side: but I believe him also a man of veracity, and I should
have put trust in any matter of fact that he told from his own
knowledge. But this it is needless for us to talk any more about; since,
I suppose, you have got copies enough of my History, already printed, to
last for your lifetime and mine. I shall certainly never think of adding
another line to it. I am too much your friend to think of it. . . . I
beg my sincere compliments to Mrs. Millar. I saw a few days ago Mrs.
Mallet, who seems to be going upon a strange project, of living alone,
in a hermitage, in the midst of the forest of Fontainbleau. I pass my
time very agreeably here; though somewhat too much dissipated for one of
my years and humour."[201:1]
"_Paris, 23d April, 1764._
"I was very much surprised with what you tell me, that you had made a
new edition in quarto, of my History of the Tudors, and might probably
do the same with that of the Stuarts. I imagined that the octavo edition
would for a long time supersede the necessity of any quarto edition; and
I wonder that of the ancient history did not first become requisite. You
were in the wrong to make any edition without informing me; because I
left in Scotland a copy very fully corrected, with a few alterations,
which ought to have been followed. I shall write to my sister to send it
you, and I desire you may follow it in all future editions, if there be
any such. I shall send you from here the alterations, which my perusal
of King James's Memoirs has occasioned; they are not many, but some of
them, one in particular, is of importance. I have some scruple of
inserting it, on your account, till the sale of the other editions be
pretty considerably advanced. You have not yet informed me how many you
may have upon hand. I suppose a very considerable number. Father Gordon
of the Scots College, who has an exact memory of King James's Memoirs,
was so kind as to peruse anew my History during the Commonwealth, and
the reigns of the two brothers; and he marked all the passages of fact,
where they differed from the Memoirs. They were surprisingly few; which
gave me some satisfaction; because as I told you, I take that prince's
authority for a plain fact to be very good.
"I never see Mr. Wilkes here but at chapel, where he is a most regular,
and devout, and edifying, and pious attendant; I take him to be entirely
regenerate. He told me last Sunday, that you had given him a copy of my
Dissertations, with the two which I had suppressed;[202:1] and that he,
foreseeing danger, from the sale of his library, had wrote to you to
find out that copy, and to tear out the two obnoxious dissertations.
Pray how stands that fact? It was imprudent in you to intrust him with
that copy: it was very prudent in him to use that precaution. Yet I do
not naturally suspect you of imprudence, nor him of prudence. I must
hear a little farther before I pronounce."[202:2]
Millar, writing on 5th June, gives the following account of his conduct
as to the suppressed dissertations.
"I take Mr. Wilkes to be the same man he was,--acting a part.
He has forgot the story of the _two_ dissertations. The fact
is, upon importunity, I lent to him the only copy I preserved,
and for years never could recollect he had it, till his books
came to be sold; upon this I went immediately to the gentleman
that directed the sale, told him the fact, and reclaimed the
two dissertations which were my property. Mr. Coates, who was
the person, immediately delivered me the volume; and so soon
as I got home, I tore them out and burnt them, that I might
not lend them to any for the future. Two days after, Mr.
Coates sent me a note for the volume, as Mr. Wilkes had
desired it should be sent to him to Paris; I returned the
volume, but told him the two dissertations, I had torn out of
the volume and burnt, being my property. This is the truth of
the matter, and nothing but the truth. It was certainly
imprudent for me to lend them to him."
The interest taken by Hume, as by all his contemporary
fellow-countrymen, in the Douglas cause, has already been noticed. As
the inquiry which had taken place in France had not been long concluded,
and was the object of discussion in the Court of Session, the adherents
of the exiled royal house, and other Scottish families residing in
Paris, naturally took such a deep interest in the proceedings, as the
following letter explains.
HUME _to_ BARON MURE.
"_Paris, 22d June, 1764._
"MY DEAR BARON,--A few days ago I dined with the Duchess of Perth, which
was the first time I had seen that venerable old lady, who is really a
very sensible woman. Part of our conversation was upon the Douglas
affair.
"That lady, as well as all the company, as well as every body of common
sense here, shows her entire conviction of that imposture; and there was
present a gentleman, an old friend of yours, a person of very good
understanding and of undoubted honour, who laid open to us a scene of
such deliberate dishonesty on the part of her grace of Douglas and her
partisans, as was somewhat new and surprising. I suppose it is all known
to poor Andrew,[203:1] whom I heartily love and pity. 'Tis certain, that
the imposture is as well known to her grace and her friends, as to any
body; and Hay, the Pretender's old secretary, the only man of common
honesty among them, confessed to this gentleman, that he has frequently
been shocked with their practices, and has run away from them to keep
out of the way of such infamy; though he had afterwards the weakness to
yield to their solicitations. Carnegy knows the roguery as well as the
rest; though I did not hear any thing of his scruples. Lord Beauchamp
and Dr. Trail, our chaplain, passed four months last summer at Rheims,
where this affair was much the subject of conversation. Except one
curate, they did not meet with a person, that was not convinced of the
imposture. Mons. de Puysieuls,[204:1] whose country seat is in the
neighbourhood, told me the same thing. Can any thing be more scandalous
and more extraordinary than Frank Garden's behaviour?[204:2] Can any
thing be more scandalous and more ordinary than Burnet's. I am afraid,
that notwithstanding the palpable justice of your cause, it is yet
uncertain whether you will prevail.
"I continue to live here in a manner amusing enough, and which gives me
no time to be tired of any scene. What between public business, the
company of the learned and that of the great, especially of the ladies,
I find all my time filled up, and have no time to open a book, except it
be some books newly published, which may be the subject of conversation.
I am well enough pleased with this change of life, and a satiety of
study had beforehand prepared the way for it: however, time runs off in
one course of life as well as another, and all things appear so much
alike, that I am afraid of falling into total Stoicism and indifference
about every thing. For instance, I am every moment to be touching on the
time when I am to receive my credential letters of secretary to the
embassy, with a thousand a-year of appointments. The king has promised
it, all the members have promised it; Lord Hertford earnestly solicits
it; the plainest common sense and justice seem to require [it]: yet have
I been in this condition above six months; and I never trouble my head
about the matter, and have rather laid my account that there is to be no
such thing.
"Please to express my most profound respects to Mrs. Mure, and my sense
of the honour she did me. If I have leisure before the carrier goes off,
I shall write her, and give her some account of my adventures; but I
would not show her so little mark of my attention as to write her only
in a postscript. I am, dear Baron," &c.[205:1]
The correspondence with Madame de Boufflers was occasionally resumed,
when Hume or she was absent from Paris. How well the philosopher could
upon occasion accommodate himself to the taste of a French lady of the
court, the following may suffice to show.
HUME _to the_ COMTESSE DE BOUFFLERS.
_Compiegne, 6th July, 1764._
We live in a kind of solitude and retirement at Compiegne; at
least I do, who, having nothing but a few general acquaintance
at court, and not caring to make more, have given myself up
almost entirely to study and retreat. You cannot imagine,
madam, with what pleasure I return as it were to my natural
element, and what satisfaction I enjoy in reading, and musing,
and sauntering, amid the agreeable scenes that surround me.
But yes, you can easily enough imagine it; you have yourself
formed the same resolution; you are determined this summer to
tie the broken thread of your studies and literary amusements.
If you have been so happy as to execute your purpose, you are
almost in the same state as myself, and are at present
wandering along the banks of the same beautiful river, perhaps
with the same books in your hand, a Racine, I suppose, or a
Virgil, and despise all other pleasure and amusement. Alas!
why am I not so near you, that I could see you for half an
hour a day, and confer with you on these subjects?
But this ejaculation, methinks, does not lead me directly in
my purposed road, of forgetting you. It is a short digression,
which is soon over: and that I may return to the right path, I
shall give you some account of the state of the court; I mean
the exterior face of it; for I know no more; and if I did, I
am become so great a politician, that nothing should make me
reveal it. The king divides his evenings every week after the
following manner: one he gives to the public, when he sups at
the grand convent;[206:1] two he passes with his own family;
two in a society of men; and, to make himself amends, two he
passes with ladies, Madame de Grammont, usually, Madame de
Mirepoix, and Madame de Beauveau. This last princess passed
three evenings in this manner at the Hermitage immediately
before her departure, which was on Monday last. I think her
absence a great loss to that society; I am so presumptuous as
to think it one to myself. I found her as obliging and as
friendly as if she had never conversed with kings, and never
were a politician. I really doubt much of her talent for
politics. Pray what is your opinion? Is she qualified,
otherwise than by having great sense and an agreeable
conversation, to make progress in the road to favour? and are
not these qualities rather an encumbrance to her? I have met
her once or twice, with another lady, in whose favour I am
much prepossessed; she seems agreeable, well behaved,
judicious, a great reader; speaks as if she had sentiment, and
was superior to the vulgar train of amusements. I should have
been willing, notwithstanding my present love of solitude, to
have cultivated an acquaintance with her, but she did not say
any thing so obliging to me as to give me encouragement. Would
you conjecture that I mean the Countess of Tessé? I know not
whether you are acquainted with that lady. But I shall never
have done with this idle train of conversation; and therefore,
to cut things short, I kiss your hands most humbly and
devoutly, and bid you adieu.[207:1]
FOOTNOTES:
[158:1] MS. R.S.E.
[159:1] Walpole says, "The decorum and piety of Lord Hertford occasioned
men to wonder, when, in the room of Bunbury, he chose for his secretary
the celebrated freethinker, David Hume, totally unknown to him; but this
was the effect of recommendations from other Scots, who had much weight
with Lord and Lady Hertford." _Walpole's Memoirs of George III._ i. 264.
[159:2] The change of ministry on which Lord Bute ceased to be minister,
and negotiations were held with Pitt. Hume does not appear to have had
any intercourse with Lord Bute while he was in office. In a letter to
Blair, of 6th October, which will be found in the Appendix on the
"Ossian Controversy," he says, "John Hume [Home] went to the country
yesterday with Lord Bute. I was introduced the other day to that noble
lord at his desire. I believe him a very good man; a better man than a
politician."
[160:1] Copy R.S.E. The original is in possession of Colonel Mure.
[163:1] MS. R.S.E.
[164:1] Extract of a letter from Dr. Carlyle to the Rev. Thomas Hepburn,
dated 5th September, 1763, in Thorpe's Catalogue of Autographs, for
1833. It would be vain to inquire whither the original has now found its
way.
[165:1] In 1762, Blacklock had received a presentation, as minister to
the parish of Kirkcudbright. His induction was opposed on the ground of
his blindness; and a bitter litigation ensued in the church courts,
while the parishioners, having taken up the matter as vital in a
religious view, persecuted him with all the savage and relentless
cruelty of fanaticism. "No liberal and cultivated mind," he says, in
reference to this dispute, "can entertain the least hesitation in
concluding that there is nothing, either in the nature of things, or
even in the positive institutions of genuine religion, repugnant to the
idea of a blind clergyman. But the novelty of the phenomenon, while it
astonishes vulgar and contracted understandings, inflames their zeal to
rage and madness."
[167:1] Blair, writing to Hume on 29th September, says, "Horace need not
make you at all blush in your present expedition. If I mistake him not
very much, he paid more court to Mæcenas than ever you would have done
to any great man. His _principibus placuisse viris_ was a favourite
passion. Besides that, Horace understood human life too well to refuse
such an opening into high amusement as is now before you: and most
certainly, as you well observe, the farther we advance in life, we need
more to have the scene varied."--(MS. R.S.E.)
[167:2] MS. R.S.E.
[167:3] As a specimen of the flattering testimonials which Hume
occasionally received from France, the following letter from M. Trudaine
de Montigny, a young Frenchman who attained to considerable distinction,
is given:
(_Translation._)
"_Paris, 16th May, 1759._
"I pass my time, both in town and country, in a circle of
gentlemen, of whom some are acquainted with English, others
not. They had been highly pleased with some portions of your
works, which had been translated; and among others with your
'Political Discourses,' where they found the practical views
of a citizen, united with the profound reflections of a
politician, and the perspicacity of a philosopher. To put the
whole circle in a position to judge for themselves of the
merit of these works, I undertook, in the course of a country
jaunt which we took all together, to translate your 'Natural
History of Religion.' I chose this piece because it appeared
to me to contain a complete exposition of philosophy on this
subject. I was well rewarded for my pains, by the pleasure I
found I gave to all the world. Madame Dupré de St. Maur, who
has honoured me with the kindest friendship from my infancy,
told me she wished much that you were made acquainted with
this feeble effort. M. Steward, whom I met with M. Helvetius,
and who wished much to hear the perusal, promised to send it
to you."
Madame Dupré de St. Maur writes, on 16th May, 1759, that Montigny had
received Hume's acknowledgment, which produced more effect on him than
any piece of good fortune he had hitherto experienced. "I partook," she
says, "of his joy the more sensibly, as I had in a great measure
inspired him with confidence to send you his translation, in the
persuasion that great men are the most indulgent."--MS. R.S.E.
We find the tone of this letter frequently responded to in the
correspondence of Grimm with his German patrons, though the Baron does
not always coincide in the praises he has to record. Andrew Stuart,
known by his letters to Lord Mansfield, who before 1763 was much
employed in France in connexion with the Douglas cause, and appears to
have been admitted into the best company there, writes to Sir William
Johnstone on 16th December, 1762: "When you have occasion to see our
friend, David Hume, tell him that he is so much worshipped here, that he
must be void of all passions, if he does not immediately take post for
Paris. In most houses where I am acquainted here, one of the first
questions is, Do you know Mons{r}. Hume, whom we all admire so much?
I dined yesterday at Helvetius's, where this same Mons{r}. Hume
interrupted our conversation very much."--(MS. R.S.E.)
* * * * *
The following note, from the impetuous Alexander Murray, responds to the
same strain:--
"MY DEAR HUME,--The great desire that several French gentlemen
of my acquaintance have of being known to you, which happiness
I have promised to procure them, makes me ardently beg the
favour of you to do me the honour to dine with me any day next
week (Monday excepted,) that you please to appoint. Your
rencounters with the men, my dear friend, give me no sort of
pain; but I freely own to you I am under some uneasiness how
you will acquit yourself with the fair sex, whose impatience
of knowing you is not to be expressed. The day you dine with
me you will meet some folks who admire your productions as
much as any of your own countrymen, and perhaps comprehend
your sublime ideas as well as they do. I beg leave to assure
you that no body loves and admires you more than your most
sincere friend and humble servant."--(MS. R.S.E.)
"_Saturday Morning._"
[169:1] Some words obliterated.
[170:1] A word or two obliterated.
[171:1] A translation was published in 1764, by M. A. Eidous; there was
another in 1774, by Blavet.
[172:1] _Literary Gazette_, 1822, p. 648. Corrected from the original
MS. R.S.E.
[172:2] The Poker Club, which had then existed for some time, and was
continued for some years after Hume's death. Its name is supposed to
have been bestowed on it, on account of its services in stirring the
intellectual energies of the members.
[174:1] The name Adam used to be thus altered in the Scottish
vernacular. The person here alluded to is evidently John Adam the
architect, and the "Willie," his son William, who became Lord Chief
Commissioner of the Jury Court in Scotland, and died in 1839.
[175:1] _Literary Gazette_, 1828, p. 683.
[176:1] MS. R.S.E.
[176:2] Madame Belot, whose translation of the "History of the House of
Tudor," was published in 1763, as "Histoire de la Maison de Tudor, &c.
par Madam B * * *." She published a translation of the earlier period of
the History, in 1765. Grimm charges Madame Belot with preposterous
blunders as a translator; and gives, as an instance, her rendering
Hume's allusion to the _Polish aristocracy_, by the words, _une
aristocratie polie_. Of this lady, a curious periodical work, called
"Mémoires Secrets, pour servir a l'Histoire de la République des lettres
en France," says, of date 26th May, 1764, that, after having lived a
life of wretched poverty, scantily supported by the produce of her
translations from the English, she was then living with the President
Mesnieres, whose taste is considered singular as "cette dame est peu
jeune: elle est laide, seche et d'un esprit triste et mélancolique."
Such were then the rewards of female authorship in France!
[177:1] This hint was not adopted. Robertson's work was translated by
Suard.
[178:1] There can have been no reason for this abbreviation of the title
of the Dauphin and his children, but the circumstance that the letter
was liable to be seen in France, and a full statement might be
considered disrespectful. The first-named was the Duc de Berri,
afterwards Louis XVI.; he was then nine years old. The Count de P. was
the Comte de Provence, afterwards Louis XVIII., born in 1755. The Count
D'A, was the Comte d'Artois, afterwards Charles X., who died in 1836.
Hume has underrated his age, which was six; he was born in 1757. Thus
were these children, who made their little speeches to the historian of
Charles I., all destined to be, successively, kings of France, and to
experience a too intimate acquaintance with such scenes as they found
depicted in his "fine history!"
[179:1] These volumes were lost during the French Revolution. It is said
that an attempt was made to convey them to St. Omers; but having to be
committed, for some time, to the care of a Frenchman, his wife became
alarmed lest the regal emblems on the binding might expose the family to
danger from the Terrorists. The narrative proceeds to say, that she
first cut off the binding and buried the manuscripts, but that being
still haunted by fears, she exhumed and burned them. See the
introduction by Dr. Staniers Clarke, to "The Life of James II." believed
to be an abridgment of these manuscripts. Hume is not consistent as to
the number of volumes.
[179:2] Stewart's Life of Robertson.
[180:1] This letter is not dated.
[181:1] MS. R.S.E.
[182:1] Lord Marischal's attainder having been reversed, he had visited
Scotland, for the purpose of purchasing one of his estates. He thus
communicates the result to Hume in a letter of 23d February.
"I thank you for forwarding my cousin's letter. I wish, now that I am
Laird of Inverury, that he were my son, and of my name. I bought my
estate farthest north. There was no bidder against any one; and great
applause of the spectators." MS. R.S.E.
[184:1] Edmondstoune appears to have been residing at Geneva, as
guardian to Lord Mount-Stuart, Lord Bute's son.
[184:2] Sic in MS.
[184:3] See it noticed in vol. i. p. 405, in connexion with the right of
resistance.
[187:1] MS. R.S.E.
[187:2] Sic in MS.
[189:1] Original in possession of the Cambusmore family.
[192:1] Minto MSS.
[192:2] The letter proceeds to say, "Our little society here continues
much on the footing you left it; only that we find frequent occasions of
regretting the blank you make amongst us. In our college we are making a
great improvement. In consequence of a bargain made with J. Russel,
Bruce, the Professor of the Law of Nature and Nations, goes out; Balfour
of Pilrig moves into his place; Ferguson into the chair of Moral
Philosophy; and Russel into that of Natural. Is not this clever?" He
then states, that "The taste for French literature grows more and more
amongst us," and hopes he will send any new publication which has merit.
He concludes with mentioning the bankruptcy of the Fairholms, and the
circumstance of Mr. Adam's involvement in it.
[195:1] See Tytler's Life of Kames, vol. ii. p. 148.
[197:1] See Vol. I. p. 232.
[198:1] MS. R.S.E. The latter part of the letter is printed in the
_Literary Gazette_ for 1822, p. 712.
[201:1] MS. R.S.E.
[202:1] See above, p. 14.
[202:2] MS. R.S.E.
[203:1] Andrew Stuart, see above, p. 168.
[204:1] Puisieux?
[204:2] Francis Garden, afterwards a judge of the Court of Session, with
the title of Lord Gardenstone. He was senior, and James Burnet,
afterwards Lord Monboddo, was junior Scottish counsel for Mr. Douglas in
the Tournelle process in France.
[205:1] Copy in R.S.E. The original is in possession of Colonel Mure.
[206:1] Perhaps an error in transcribing _au grand couvert_?
[207:1] Private Correspondence, p. 83-85.