Chapter XI: 1760-1762. Æt. 49-51 (1)

Alterations of the History in the direction of Despotic
Principles--Specimens--Alterations in Style--Specimens--His
Elaboration--Ossian's Poems--Labours at the early part of the
History--Ferguson's "Sister Peg"--Acquaintance with Madame de
Boufflers--Account of that lady--First intercourse with
Rousseau--Rousseau's position--The exiled Earl Marishal--
Campbell and his Dissertation on Miracles.

We have seen, from various indications in Hume's letters to his friends, that he employed himself occasionally in corrections and alterations of the published volumes of his History. In these revisals, and especially in that of the "History of the Stuarts," his alterations were not limited to the style. He tells us, with a sort of scornful candour, in his "own life," "Though I had been taught by experience that the Whig party were in possession of bestowing all places, both in the state and in literature, I was so little inclined to yield to their senseless clamour, that in above a hundred alterations which farther study, reading, or reflection engaged me to make in the reigns of the two first Stuarts, I have made all of them invariably to the Tory side. It is ridiculous to consider the English constitution, before that period, as a regular plan of liberty."

It was part of his nature, when popular clamour called for the adoption of a particular course, to turn his steps for that reason the more distinctly in the opposite direction. He has not exaggerated the extent or character of his alterations; for an inspection of the various editions of his History which came under his own revision, shows him, by turns of expression, structure of narrative, and other gentle alterations, approaching closer and closer to despotic principles. The democratic opinions contained in his early essays, have already been alluded to; and their suppression in subsequent editions, harmonizes with these variations of the opinions expressed in his History.[74:1]

There are, however, a very few alterations in an opposite spirit. Thus, in the following sentence relative to the proceedings of the House of Commons regarding the militia, the part in italics is suppressed in the later editions. "He [the king] issued proclamations against this manifest usurpation; _the most precipitant and most enormous of which there is any instance in the English history_."

On one incident of some importance in history, he was obliged materially to change his ground of argument, yet would not alter his original opinion. During the fervour of the civil wars in 1646, Lord Glamorgan had in the name of Charles I. concluded a treaty with the confederated Irish Catholics, by which, on the condition of their aiding the king, besides other concessions, the Roman Catholic religion was to be restored to its old supremacy through a great part of Ireland. Ormond, the lord lieutenant, charged Glamorgan with high treason: but he produced two commissions from the king. The king disowned the commissions: but the parliament believed in their genuineness.--It was in this shape that the matter appeared in the first instance before Hume. In his first edition he accordingly maintained that the commissions were forgeries; and a long note, explanatory of the grounds of this belief, is a remarkable instance of a plausible fabric of historical reasoning, doomed afterwards to fall to pieces by the removal of its foundation. Before he published his second edition, he received a letter from the Rev. John Douglas, afterwards Bishop of Carlisle,[78:1] who was intrusted with the editing of the Clarendon Papers. In this communication, the reverend gentleman regrets that he cannot send to Hume a letter written by Glamorgan, describing the method in which the commissions were actually prepared, and its object; but he gives an account of the contents of the letter.[78:2] Hume could no longer hold that the commissions were not genuine: but he still maintained Charles to be guiltless; and though they were unknown to the lord lieutenant, and bore no attestation of having passed through the proper offices, he still argued that Glamorgan, in treating with the Irish, though he was within the letter of his very wide powers, must have exceeded his instructions; and ingeniously pointed to his work, "The century of Inventions," in connexion with which Lord Glamorgan is better known, by his subsequent title of Marquis of Worcester, as the production of a man who never could have been trusted with powers so extensive as those which he arrogated.

Besides the variations in political opinion, there were in the subsequent editions of Hume's History other alterations suggested by other influences. His opinions were self-formed, and he jealously protected them in their formation from the influence of other minds; but in the cultivation of his style he sought assistance with avidity from all who could afford it. Hence he appears to have earnestly solicited the aid of Lyttelton, Mallet, and others, whose experience of English composition might enable them to detect Scotticisms.

REIGN OF HENRY II. PUBLISHED IN 1762.]

Before they went to press, his compositions underwent a minute and rigorous correction. His manuscripts, as the small fac-simile engraved for these volumes shows, were subjected to a painful revisal. We sometimes find him, after he has adopted a form of expression, scoring it out and substituting another; but again, on a comparison of their mutual merits, restoring the rejected form, and perhaps again discarding it when he has lighted on a happier collocation of words.[79:1] It is worthy of remark, that his most brilliant passages are those which bear the least appearance of being amended. It is not thence to be inferred that these passages sprang from his mind in their full symmetry and beauty: but rather that they had been elaborated, and made ready for insertion in their proper place, before they were put in writing.

We now resume the correspondence; which will be found to have reference, among other topics, to the preparation of the History anterior to the accession of the Tudors.

HUME _to_ ANDREW MILLAR.

"_Edinburgh, 22d March, 1760._

"DEAR SIR,--You gave me a very sensible pleasure in informing me so early of the success of 'The Siege of Aquileia'[81:1] on its first representation. I hope it sustained its reputation after it came into print. I showed Mr. Kincaid your letter; and he has published an edition here, of a thousand, which go off very well. As he had published a pamphlet, this winter, which he got from you, I told him that I fancied you would be satisfied with the same terms, which he then agreed to.

"I am very busy, and am making some progress; but find that this part of English History is a work of infinite labour and study; which, however, I do not grudge; for I have nothing better nor more agreeable to employ me. I have sent you a short catalogue of books, which either are not in the Advocates' Library, or are not to be found at present. I must beg of you to procure them for me, and to send them down with the first ship. Send me also the prices; for I shall be able to engage the curators of the library to take from me such as they want at the price.

"Dr. Birch, (to whom make my compliments,) will be so good as to give you his advice about buying these books; and will tell you if several of them are collected in volumes, as is often the case with the old English historians.

"I hope Lord Lyttelton and Mr. Mallet are as busy as I; if so, we may expect to see their history soon. Please to inform me what you hear of them. We are informed that Lord Lyttelton is soon to appear. I wish very much to have the benefit of his work before I go to the press. Donaldson told me, that Strahan has, at last, finished the small edition of my Essays, and that you have shipped his and Kincaid's number. They are resolved, I find, to dispose of them all in this place. I hope you have not forgot to send me half a dozen of copies in sheets, the number which we agreed to on any new edition.

"Your press, in London, has been somewhat barren this winter. We have had nothing from you but a good pamphlet or two, and have, I think, paid the same in kind. Our militia pamphlet was certainly wrote with spirit; and has been twice reprinted, as I hear, in London.[83:1] I beg to be remembered to Mrs. Millar; and please tell her that I am very sorry we shall not have the pleasure of seeing her here this summer. I could wish her just as much sickness as to make her sensible that travelling is good for her. My compliments to Dr. Douglas and Strahan, and to Friend Cummin, who, I hope, sees now a better prospect of overcoming all his difficulties. I am," &c.

The following letter, though it must be already familiar to many readers, is so clear an exposition of the writer's views on some branches of historical and biographical literature, that it ought not to be omitted.

HUME _to_ DR. ROBERTSON.

I have frequently thought, and talked with our common friends
upon the subject of your letter. There always occurred to us
several difficulties with regard to every subject we could
propose. The ancient Greek history has several
recommendations, particularly the good authors from which it
must be drawn: but this same circumstance becomes an
objection, when more narrowly considered; for what can you do
in most places with these authors but transcribe and translate
them? no letters or state papers from which you could correct
their errors, or authenticate their narration, or supply
their defects. Besides, Rollin is so well wrote with respect
to style, that with superficial people it passes for
sufficient. There is one Dr. Lelland, who has lately wrote the
life of Philip of Macedon, which is one of the best periods.
The book, they tell me, is perfectly well wrote; yet it has
had such small sale, and has so little excited the attention
of the public, that the author has reason to think his labour
thrown away. I have not read the book; but by the size, I
should judge it to be too particular. It is a pretty large
quarto. I think a book of that size sufficient for the whole
History of Greece till the death of Philip: and I doubt not
but such a work would be successful, notwithstanding all these
discouraging circumstances. The subject is noble, and Rollin
is by no means equal to it.

I own, I like still less your project of the age of Charles
the Fifth. That subject is disjointed; and your hero, who is
the sole connexion, is not very interesting. A competent
knowledge at least is required of the state and constitution
of the empire; of the several kingdoms of Spain, of Italy, of
the Low Countries, which it would be the work of half a life
to acquire; and, though some parts of the story may be
entertaining, there would be many dry and barren; and the
whole seems not to have any great charms.

But I would not willingly start objections to these schemes,
unless I had something to propose, which would be plausible;
and I shall mention to you an idea which has sometimes pleased
me, and which I had once entertained thoughts of
attempting.[84:1] You may observe that, among modern readers,
Plutarch is, in every translation, the chief favourite of the
ancients. Numberless translations and numberless editions have
been made of him in all languages; and no translation has been
so ill done as not to be successful. Though those who read the
originals never put him in comparison either with Thucydides
or Xenophon, he always attaches more the reader in the
translation; a proof that the idea and execution of his work
is, in the main, happy. Now, I would have you think of writing
modern lives, somewhat after that manner: not to enter into a
detail of the actions, but to mark the manners of the great
personages, by domestic stories, by remarkable sayings, and by
a general sketch of their lives and adventures. You see that
in Plutarch the life of Cæsar may be read in half an hour.
Were you to write the life of Henry the Fourth of France after
that model, you might pillage all the pretty stories in Sully,
and speak more of his mistresses than of his battles. In
short, you might gather the flower of all modern history in
this manner: the remarkable Popes, the Kings of Sweden, the
great discoverers and conquerors of the New World; even the
eminent men of letters, might furnish you with matter, and the
quick despatch of every different work would encourage you to
begin a new one. If one volume were successful, you might
compose another at your leisure, and the field is
inexhaustible. There are persons whom you might meet with in
the corners of history, so to speak, who would be a subject of
entertainment quite unexpected; and as long as you live, you
might give and receive amusement by such a work; even your
son, if he had a talent for history, would succeed to the
subject, and his son to him. I shall insist no farther on this
idea; because, if it strikes your fancy, you will easily
perceive all its advantages, and, by farther thought, all its
difficulties.[85:1]

In 1760, Macpherson published those "Fragments of Ancient Poetry, collected in the Highlands of Scotland, and translated from the Gaelic or Erse language," which, afterwards enlarged, became the celebrated "Ossian's Poems." Hume took an early interest in this professed resuscitation of early national literature. He at first doubted the truth of assertions so unprecedented in literary history, as those by which the genuineness of the poems was maintained. But there was nothing to which his heart would have responded with a warmer enthusiasm than the discovery, that his ancestors, generally reputed to be but late accessions to civilization, could look back upon a literature as rich and great as that which had crowned Greece with the literary supremacy of the world. Hence, he seems to have, after some time, willingly yielded to a belief in the genuineness of these poems. His good sense and sceptical spirit, however, resumed the supremacy, and he afterwards wrote a very searching though short "Essay on the Authenticity of Ossian's Poems." It is printed in the Appendix; and thither the whole correspondence on the subject is transferred, that the reader may peruse the various pieces in a series. It is probable that the sole reason why Hume never published this detection, was a kindly feeling to his friend Dr. Blair, against whom he might not wish to appear in a controversy, where the critical powers of the latter would be so severely tested. And yet they stood on perfectly fair ground. Neither Hume nor Blair had any knowledge of the archæological merits of the question. Each of them discussed the probable genuineness of the poems on grounds as purely critical as if they had been brought from Central Africa, instead of being the alleged literature of a people who are supposed to have at one time occupied the ground on which Edinburgh is built; and at the time of that controversy, as at the present day, might be visited on a journey of fifty miles. In such a state of knowledge, it required great freedom and decision in criticism to pronounce the poems forgeries. Then, as now, every genuine Celt protested that he had heard them over and over again in Gaelic with his own ears; and with this only difference from the translation, that there were peculiar delicate beauties in the native Gaelic, which neither Macpherson, nor any other man, was capable of expressing in English. In such an unequal controversy, between the internal evidence of criticism, and the external evidence of broad assertion, it is singular that no one should have attempted to solve the question through the faint light which the chronicles of the surrounding tribes throw on the history of the Celts in Scotland. That knowledge has now been pretty widely extended; and hence "Ossian's Poems" have been estimated at their true value, as an embossment of poetical language and imagery, on the surface of such barren metrical narratives as all uncivilized and warlike people possess; it has been found that the structure of the narratives, the characteristic names, the events of history, and the manners of the times, have been treated with no more deference, when an alteration was found to suit the purpose of the "translator."[87:1]

Intensely occupied with his History anterior to the accession of the Tudors, we thus find Hume writing to Millar on 27th October:--

"I have been very busy ever since I came down; and if I keep my health, shall be able to publish the winter after the next, or at farthest in the subsequent spring; which I fancy will serve your purpose well enough. At any rate, this is not a matter which I can hurry on faster than I am able to satisfy myself in the execution.

"I am very much pleased with what you tell me, that the Clarendon Papers have fallen into Dr. Douglas's hands, especially as Dr. Robertson tells me he intends to publish them. What my sentiments are on the question you mention, you may learn from my letter to the Doctor, which I have sent you open, and which I beg you to take the trouble of sending; for I do not know how to direct it."

Hume wished to amuse himself with mystifying his friends about the pamphlet above alluded to, called Sister Peg. The circumstance which suggested to him the following letter, is said to have been his being kept in ignorance that his friend Ferguson was the author of the piece.

HUME _to_ DR. CARLYLE.

"_Edinburgh, 3d February, 1761._

"DEAR SIR,--I am informed that you have received a letter from London, by which you learn that the manuscript of Sister Peg has been traced to the printer's, and has been found to be, in many places, interlined and corrected in my handwriting. I could have wished that you had not published this piece of intelligence before you told me of it. The truth is, after I had composed that trifling performance, and thought I had made it as correct as I could, I gave it to a sure hand to be transcribed, that in case any of the London printers had known my hand, they might not be able to discover me. But as it lay by me some weeks afterwards, I could not forbear reviewing it; and not having my amanuensis at hand, I was obliged in several places to correct it myself, rather than allow it to go to the press with inaccuracies of which I was sensible. I little dreamed that this small want of precaution would have betrayed me so soon; but as you know that I am very indifferent about princes or presidents, ministers of the gospel or ministers of state, kings or keysars, and set at defiance all powers, human or infernal, I had no other reason for concealing myself, but in order to try the taste of the public; whom, though I also set in some degree at defiance, I cannot sometimes forbear paying a little regard to. I find that frivolous composition has been better received than I had any reason to expect, and therefore cannot much complain of the injury you have done me by revealing my secret, and obliging me to acknowledge it more early than I intended. The only reason of my writing to you is, to know the printer's name, who has so far broke his engagements as to show the manuscript; for the bookseller assured my friend to whom I intrusted it, that we might depend upon an absolute secrecy. I beg my compliments to Mrs. Carlyle, and am, dear sir," &c.[89:1]

We see by the date of the following letter, that Hume varied his city life with an occasional residence with his brother in Berwickshire.

HUME _to_ ADAM SMITH.

"_Ninewells, 29th June, 1761._

"DEAR SMITH,--As your professorship of Hebrew is vacant, I have been applied to in behalf of young Mr. Cummin; and you are the person with whom I am supposed to have some interest. But as I imagine you will not put this election on the footing of interest, I shall say nothing on that head; but shall speak much more to the purpose by informing you, that I have known Mr. Cummin for some time, and have esteemed him a young man of exceeding good capacity, and of a turn towards literature. He tells me that he has made the oriental tongues, and particularly the Hebrew, a part of his study, and has made some proficiency in them. But of this fact, craving his pardon, I must be allowed to entertain some doubt; for if Hebrew roots, as Cowley says, thrive best in barren soil,[90:1] he has a small chance of producing any great crop of them. But as you commonly regard the professorship of Hebrew as a step towards other professorships, in which a good capacity can better display itself, you will permit me to give it as my opinion, that you will find it difficult to pitch on a young man, who is more likely to be a credit to your college, by his knowledge and industry.

"I am so far on my road to London, where I hope to see you this season. I shall lodge in Miss Elliot's, Lisle Street, Leicester Fields; and I beg it of you to let me hear from you the moment of your arrival."[90:2]

In 1761, commenced Hume's acquaintance with Madame de Boufflers. It afterwards ripened into a friendship, of which we cannot fully estimate the nature, without looking not only at the character and position of the parties, but at some conventional notions of morality, to which Hume had been, previously, a stranger. Hyppolyte de Saujon, Comtesse de Boufflers-Rouvel, is not to be confounded with her contemporary the Marquise de Boufflers-Rémencourt, mother of the witty Chevalier de Boufflers. The prominent difference between them is but too startlingly characteristic of the moral atmosphere in which they both lived--that the former was mistress of the Prince of Conti, while the latter is supposed to have held the same relation to Prince Stanislaus Augustus of Poland, of whose court she was the great ornament and attraction. A friendship between a respectable Scotsman of letters and a person in Madame de Boufflers' position, is apt to excite a smile or a frown, according to the habits or temper of the reader. Hume himself was not likely to take the most austere view of the matter; and must have felt, at any rate, that the scandal and even the blame of such connexions must be greatly affected by the countenance they receive from the society to which the parties belong. On the vileness of this code of organized immorality, it would be superfluous, at this hour, to enlarge; but there is a great difference between those who act up to the standard of a low social system and those who do the same acts in breach of a higher code. A Mahomedan who keeps a harem in Constantinople is inferior in his tone of morality to an English gentleman, of good domestic conduct; but he is infinitely superior to an Englishman with a harem in Piccadilly.

The lady in question undoubtedly held a very high station in the best society of Paris; and at that time, and in that country, it is certain that such attachments, if permanent and decorous, and in a very high class of society, acquired a more than tolerated respectability. In 1769, Madame de Boufflers speaks of her attachment as one of twenty years' duration. Early in life, and soon after her marriage, she had been placed at the court of the Duchess of Orleans: but quarrelling with that princess, she came under the protection of the Prince of Conti. Of course, her correspondence bears no mark of her having been subjected to slights, or of her dreading them; or indeed of any suspicion that there was any thing in her position to prevent her from being rigid in her ideas of virtue, and a teacher of social duties. On her visit to England, she was well received by the British aristocracy, and was even honoured by a laudatory growl from Johnson. We find her exchanging visits with the Marchioness of Hertford, the wife of the English ambassador, one of the purest of that portion of the English female aristocracy which had not suffered taint. In one of her letters to Hume, she describes the death-bed of the prince's mother; speaks of her displaying the heroism of a grand-daughter of the great Condé; and talks with tearful gratitude of the early kindness of that princess to herself, and of her attempts to pay the debt by solacing her old age, and performing to her the last duties which the living receive from each other. It is in all its spirit the letter of a daughter-in-law.

The prince, though a generous and kind-hearted man, could not be prevailed on to make her his wife on her husband's death; but when he died in 1776, he had raised no princess over her head. We shall find that she made Hume the confidant in her griefs and disappointments, and the adviser in her difficulties. There is a great air of earnestness and solicitude in these appeals; and though we cannot help presuming, that a woman so full in her disclosures to a foreigner, living among a people of totally different habits and morals, must have distributed a still larger portion of her confidential revelations nearer home; yet it is evident that she had much reliance on Hume's counsel, and perhaps he was not ill fitted for a father-confessor to such a penitent.

The letters of Hume to the countess, have already been for some time before the English reader.[92:1] On the present occasion some characteristic extracts will be interwoven with the letters which form the other side of the correspondence. It is difficult for a native of this country, with the fullest allowance for the redundancy of the French laudatory and amicable vocabulary, to estimate at its true value the ardour of these letters, or to adjust the amount of solid truth and friendliness represented by such a blaze of ardent expressions. The correspondence was of the lady's seeking and pursuing. Frequently, when there is a pause, an impassioned letter from her rouses up the philosopher; who starts into a sort of artificial excitement, and, when it is over, sinks into lethargy again. Yet it must be admitted that Hume acted his part pretty well, and that the fat philosopher was not far behind the vivacious Frenchwoman. But with him it is visibly all acting; and there is a total absence of the playful ease which adorns those letters to his own chosen friends, with whom he was in heart and habits at ease. In some instances, perhaps, he studied a formal and measured style, as being more intelligible to a foreigner; and occasionally we find him offering his correspondent facilities by the adoption of idioms more French than English; as where he says, "I am truly ashamed, dear madam, of your having _prevented_ me in breaking our long silence; but you have _prevented_ me only a few days."[93:1]

The letter with which the countess opens the correspondence, seems to have been forwarded to Hume by Lord Elibank's brother, Alexander Murray, who was then mixing with the Jacobites abroad, and who appears to have enjoyed a very wide and much varied circle of acquaintance in France. He says, in a letter of the 18th May, 1761:--

"MY DEAR SIR,--It would appear great presumption in me to make you any compliments upon your History of England, after having read the enclosed; which with infinite pleasure I send you, as it procures you a correspondence with the most amiable and accomplished lady of this kingdom, or indeed any other. If after the peace you take a trip to this polite and elegant country, you are sure, by the means of your new female correspondent, of being made acquainted in a very short time with all the wits in this part of the world. It is true your most incomparable productions justly entitle you to that distinction. However, being took by the hand by Madame de Boufflers, won't diminish your intrinsic value, even among the most profound philosophers. In case I can't return to England, and you take the resolution of coming here . . . . . . I beg leave to assure you that I am, with as much esteem and veneration as human creature can be, my dear sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, and avowed friend,

"A. MURRAY.

"When you answer the enclosed, I beg it may be in English, as the lady is quite mistress of that language."[94:1]

The letter forwarded to Hume was as follows:

MADAME DE BOUFFLERS _to_ HUME.

(_Translation._)

For a long time, sir, I have struggled with conflicting
sentiments. The admiration which your sublime work has
awakened in me, and the esteem with which it has inspired me
for your person, your talents, and your virtue, have often
aroused the desire of writing to you, that I might express
those sentiments towards you with which I am so deeply
penetrated.

On the other hand, keeping in view the little value you can
have for my opinion, your want of personal acquaintance with
me, and the reserve and privacy, even, which are suitable to
my sex, I fear being accused of presumption, and of making
myself be known, to my own disadvantage, by a man whose good
opinion I shall always regard as the most flattering, and the
most precious of benefits. Nevertheless, although the
reflections I have made on this subject appeared to have much
force, an irresistible inclination rendered them unavailing;
and I come to add one to the thousand other instances, to
justify the truth of that remark which I have read in your
"History of the House of Stuart,"--"Men's views of things are
the result of their understanding alone: their conduct is
regulated by their understanding, their temper, and their
passions." Thus, when my reason tells me I ought to be silent,
my enthusiasm prevents me from regarding its voice.

Although a woman, and of no very advanced age, despite the
dissipation attendant on the life one leads in this country,
having always loved reading, there are few good books in any
language, or of any kind, that I have not read, either in the
original, or in translations; and I can assure you, sir, with
a sincerity which cannot be questioned, that I have found none
which, to my judgment, unites so many perfections as your own.
I know no terms capable of expressing what I felt in reading
this work. I was moved, transported: and the emotion which it
caused me is, in some measure, painful by its continuance. It
elevates the soul; it fills the heart with sentiments of
humanity and benevolence; it enlightens the intellect, by
showing that true happiness is closely connected with virtue;
and discovers, by the same light, what is the end, and the
sole end, of every reasonable being. In the midst of the
calamities which, on all sides, surrounded Charles the First,
we see peace and security shining in their brightness, and
accompanying him to the scaffold; whilst trouble and remorse,
the inseparable companions of crime, follow the steps of
Cromwell, even to the throne.

Your book also teaches how the best of things are liable to
abuse; and the reflections which are made on this subject
ought to augment our caution and distrust of ourselves. It
animates with a noble emulation; it inspires love of liberty;
and teaches, at the same time, submission to the government
under which we are obliged to live. In a word, it is a _terra
fecunda_ of morals and instruction, presented in colours so
bright, that we believe we see them for the first time.

The clearness, the majesty, the touching simplicity of your
style delight me. Its beauties are so striking, that,
notwithstanding my ignorance of the English language, they
cannot escape me. You are, sir, an admirable painter: your
pictures have a grace, a nature, an energy, which surpass even
what the imagination can portray.

But how shall I be able to express the effect produced upon me
by your divine impartiality? I would that I had, on this
occasion, your own eloquence in which to express my thought!
In truth, I believed I had before my eyes the work of some
celestial being, free from the passions of humanity, who, for
the benefit of the human race, has deigned to write the events
of these latter times.

I dare only add, that in all which issues from your pen, you
show yourself a perfect philosopher, a statesman, a historian
full of genius, an enlightened politician, a genuine patriot.
All these sublime qualities are so far above the understanding
of a woman, that it is fitting I should say little on the
subject; and I have already great need of your indulgence for
the faults I have committed against discretion and decorum, by
the excess of my veneration for your merit. I entreat this of
you, sir, and, at the same time, the greatest secrecy. The
step I have taken is rather extraordinary. I fear it may
attract blame: and I would be grieved if the sentiment which
has constrained me to it should be misunderstood.

I have the honour to be, sir, your very humble and very
obedient servant,

HYPPOLYTE DE SAUJON, COMTESSE DE BOUFFLERS.

They tell me, sir, you have some idea of coming to France--to
Paris. I earnestly wish you would execute this resolution,
and that I may be able to assist in rendering your sojourn
agreeable.

PARIS, _15th March, 1761_.[97:1]

Hume must have been the more than mortal being which his new friend describes, if he had resisted such an appeal; and he thus wrote in answer:--

HUME _to the_ COMTESSE DE BOUFFLERS.

_Edinburgh, 15th May, 1761._

MADAM,--It is not easy for your ladyship to imagine the
pleasure I received from the letter, with which you have so
unexpectedly honoured me, nor the agreeable visions of vanity,
in which, upon that occasion, I indulged myself. I concluded,
and, as I fancied, with certainty, that a person, who could
write so well herself, must certainly be a good judge of
writing in others; and that an author, who could please a lady
of your distinction, educated in the court of France, and
familiarized with every thing elegant and polite, might
reasonably pretend to some degree of merit, and might presume
to take his rank above the middling historians. But, madam, it
is but fair, that I, who have pretended, in so long a work, to
do justice to all parties and persons, should also do some to
myself; and should not feed my vanity with chimeras, which, I
am sensible, in my cooler moments, can have no foundation in
reason. When I had the pleasure of passing some time in
France, I had the agreeable experience of the polite
hospitality, by which your nation is distinguished; and I now
find, that the same favourable indulgence has appeared in your
ladyship's judgment of my writings. And, perhaps, your esteem
for the entire impartiality which I aim at, and which, to tell
the truth, is so unusual in English historians, has made your
ladyship overlook many defects, into which the want of art or
genius has betrayed me.

In this particular, madam, I must own, that I am inclined to
take your civilities in their full latitude, and to hope that
I have not fallen much short of my intentions. The spirit of
faction, which prevails in this country, and which is a
natural attendant on civil liberty, carries every thing to
extremes on the one side, as well as on the other; and I have
the satisfaction to find, that my performance has alternately
given displeasure to both parties. I could not reasonably hope
to please both: such success is impossible from the nature of
things; and next to your ladyship's approbation, who, as a
foreigner, must necessarily be a candid judge, I shall always
regard the anger of both as the surest warrant of my
impartiality.

As I find that you are pleased to employ your leisure hours in
the perusal of history, I shall presume to recommend to your
ladyship a late work of this kind, wrote by my friend and
countryman, Dr. Robertson, which has met with the highest
approbation from all good judges.

It is the "History of Scotland" during the age of the
unfortunate Queen Mary; and it is wrote in an elegant,
agreeable, and interesting manner, and far exceeding, I shall
venture to say, any performance of that kind that has appeared
in English. The failings of that princess are not covered
over; but her singular catastrophe is rendered truly
lamentable and tragical; and the reader cannot forbear
shedding tears for her fate, at the same time that he blames
her conduct. There are few historical productions, where both
the subject and execution have appeared so happy.

Some prospect is now given us, that this miserable war between
the two nations is drawing towards a period, and that the
former intercourse between them will again be renewed. If this
happy event take place, I have entertained hopes that my
affairs will permit me to take a journey to Paris; and the
obliging offer, which you are pleased to make me, of allowing
me to pay my respects to you, will prove a new and very
powerful inducement to make me hasten the execution of my
purpose.

But I give your ladyship warning, that I shall, on many
accounts, stand in need of your indulgence. I passed a few
years in France during my early youth; but I lived in a
provincial town, where I enjoyed the advantages of leisure for
study, and an opportunity of learning the language: what I had
imperfectly learned, long disuse, I am afraid, has made me
forget. I have rusted amid books and study; have been little
engaged in the active, and not much in the pleasurable scenes
of life; and am more accustomed to a select society than to
general companies.

But all these disadvantages, and much greater, will be
abundantly compensated by the honour of your ladyship's
protection; and I hope that my profound sense of your obliging
favours will render me not altogether unworthy of it.

I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, madam,
your ladyship's most obedient and most humble servant.[101:1]

In return, Madame De Boufflers reiterates her compliments, vouches for her sincerity, and if Hume should fulfil his intention of visiting France, offers him the use of apartments, saying, that if he accept the offer it will be an infinite obligation to her; if he refuse it, she will be vexed but not offended. She will introduce him to her circle of friends, and do every thing that can tend to make his visit agreeable.[101:2] In answer to this, Hume finds that the warlike aspect of affairs will preclude him, in the meantime, from enjoying the society "of a person so celebrated for her accomplishments by all who have any knowledge of the court of France."[101:3]

Mr. Murray's praise of Madame de Boufflers' knowledge of the English language was not misapplied; as the following short letter, and another of greater length, which will be found a few pages farther on, show. With a few inaccuracies, they afford a very remarkable instance of idiomatic acquaintance with our tongue.

"I have received, sir, by an unknown hand, the continuation of your admirable performance. Some little perhaps of the pride so common in my sex, but much more the desire to contract an obligation with a man of your merit, and to obtain from him so valuable a favour, have persuaded me I was indebted to you for it. 'Tis natural to bend our thoughts towards what is most advantageous for us, however elevated it may be. The wrong should be only to believe we deserve it. Then, sir, I think, that in wishing such a proof of your kindness, and confessing in the same time I have no right to pretend to it, I prove my just opinion of both. I am, sir, your humble servant.

"_Paris, May 29, 1762._"

On this, Hume, after observing with ingenious courtesy, that a fairy, a sylph, or a good genius, who knew his inmost thoughts, must have anticipated him in sending the copy of his History, continues:--"But, madam, what new wonder is this which your letter presents to me? I not only find a lady, who, in the bloom of beauty and height of reputation, can withdraw herself from the pleasures of a gay court, and find leisure to cultivate the sciences; but deigns to support a correspondence with a man of letters in a remote country, and to reward his labours by a suffrage the most agreeable of all others, to a man who has any spark of generous sentiments or taste for true glory. Besides these unusual circumstances, I find a lady, who, without any other advantages than her own talents, has made herself mistress of a language commonly esteemed very difficult to strangers, and possesses it to such a degree as might give jealousy to us who have made it the business of our lives to acquire and cultivate it.

"I cannot but congratulate my country on this incident, which marks the progress made by its literature and reputation in foreign countries."

* * * * *

Nearly contemporary with the Comtesse de Boufflers, comes on the scene a person with whom we shall hereafter have much concern, Jean Jacques Rousseau. He had been living under the protection of the Maréchal de Luxembourg, in the celebrated hermitage near the castle of Montmorency, when he published his "Emile." Highly as he was supported, the wrath of the clergy prevailed; and a writ of _prise de corps_ was issued for his apprehension. It appears that in those strange times of intolerance and infidelity, there would have been no cause of wonder, if the proceedings had ended in a capital conviction. With the aid of his friends, the Luxembourgs and Choiseuls, Rousseau fled the kingdom. On this occasion he seems to have been thoroughly frightened; and his conduct was occasioned neither by ostentation, nor perverse discontent. His first place of refuge was Neufchâtel, one of the Swiss Cantons, of which the sovereignty was in the house of Brandenburg. Rousseau was thus for a time one of the illustrious literary men under the protection of Frederick the Great, though distant from his philosophical capital.

He appealed, however, to a warmer heart than ever beat in the breast of the conqueror of Prague. The exiled Earl Marischal of Scotland--a valued friend of Hume, as of all who became acquainted with him--was then Governor of Neufchâtel. Subsequently to his flight from his native country, for his concern in the rebellion of 1715, when he was a mere youth, he had suffered a long series of hardships, privations, and uncertainties; until Frederick saw his value, and purchased his services at such a rate as a friendless exile might not refuse. Adversity, which too often hardens the selfishness, and debases the propensities of an aristocracy driven from home by internal convulsions, had but taught him how much men are dependent on each other, and had opened his heart to a wider sympathy with his fellow creatures. His opinions were as tolerant as his nature was kind; and the fugitive could not have sought an asylum where he would be more sincerely welcomed. The power of the king of Prussia's representative, was, however, not sufficient to protect him from the people,--or from himself; and from the time of his flight from France, those who believed that he sincerely desired a retreat where he would be safe from all molestation, looked towards Britain. The following letters from the forfeited earl, at a few months' interval from each other, chiefly relate to Rousseau. The earl appears to have been so thoroughly imbued with foreign habits, that he wrote English with difficulty: most of his letters to Hume are in French, and when he commences in English, he generally relapses into French. Though so long employed by the Prussian court, he seems to have been ignorant of German. It may be observed, however, that French is the vernacular language of Neufchâtel.

THE FORFEITED EARL MARISCHAL _to_ HUME.

_April 29._

In answer to your question, the Donquixotisme you mention
never entered into my head. I wish I could see you, to answer
honestly all your questions; for though I had my share of
folly with others, yet as my intentions were at bottom honest,
I should open to you my whole budget, and let you know many
things which are perhaps ill-represented, I mean not truly. I
remember to have recommended to your acquaintance Mr. Floyd,
son to old David Floyd, at St. Germains, as a man of good
sense, honour, and honesty. I fear he is dead: he would have
been of great service to you in a part of your History since
1688. Apropos of History, when you see Helvetius, tell I
desired you to inquire of him concerning a certain History. I
fancy he will answer you with his usual frankness. I do
believe Mr. Rousseau will find it impossible to live where he
finds nobody who understands a word of what he says; there
occurs so often occasion, even of trifling things necessary,
that it is a vexation not to understand the language of the
country. I feel it often, though I understand many words of
German, such as kleigh, nigh, nogh, ter migh, ter
Teyfel,[105:1] and others, high sounding as here pronounced,
and of which the Ter Tunder would, I believe, put to flight
the delicate ears of the whole town of Sienna.

I hear you are going to France this summer. If you will come
to Frankfort on Main, I will meet you there the end of July,
and stay with you a fortnight. Bon jour.

N.B.--You have better roads than I, you are strong as a giant,
and I am growing ten years older every month; so I think my
offer fair.

_Oct. 2, 1762._

Jean Jacques Rousseau, persecuted for having writ what he
thinks good, or rather, as some folks think, for having
displeased persons in great power, who attributed to him what
he never meant, came here to seek retreat, which I readily
granted; and the king of Prussia not only approved of my so
doing, but gave me orders to furnish him his small
necessaries, if he would accept them; and though that king's
philosophy be very different from that of Jean Jacques, yet he
does not think that a man of an irreproachable life is to be
persecuted because his sentiments are singular. He designs to
build him a hermitage with a little garden, which I find he
will not accept, nor perhaps the rest which I have not yet
offered to him. He is gay in company, polite, and what the
French call _aimable_, and gains ground daily in the opinion
of even the clergy here. His enemies elsewhere continue to
persecute him: he is pestered with anonymous letters. This is
not a country for him: his attachment and love to his native
town is a strong tie to its neighbourhood. The liberty of
England, and the character of my good and honoured friend, D.
Hume, F----i D----r, (perhaps more singular than that of J.
Jacques, for I take him to be the only historian impartial,)
draws his inclinations to be near to the F----i D----r. For my
part, though it be to me a very great pleasure to converse
with the honest savage, yet I advise him to go to England,
where he will enjoy

----placidam sub libertate quietem.

He wishes to know, if he can print all his works, and make
some profit, merely to live, from such an edition. I entreat
you will let me know your thoughts on this, and if you can be
of use to him in finding him a bookseller to undertake the
work: you know he is not interested, and little will content
him. If he goes to Britain, he will be a treasure to you, and
you to him, and perhaps both to me (if I were not so old.) I
have offered him lodging in Keith-hall. I am ever, with the
greatest regard, your most obedient servant,

M----.

At the same time Madame de Boufflers wrote as follows:--

MADAME DE BOUFFLERS _to_ HUME.

(_Translation._)

_Paris, 16th June, 1762._

Jean Jacques Rousseau, citizen of Geneva, and the author of
many works with which you are probably acquainted, has
composed a Treatise on Education, in four volumes, in which he
sets forth many principles contrary to ours, both in politics
and religion. As we do not enjoy here the liberty of the
press, the Parliament, by a decree, just, (if it is, as I
doubt not, conformable to the laws of the kingdom,) but
nevertheless rigorous, has decreed the _prise de corps_; and
it is said that, if he had not taken to flight, he would have
been condemned to death. I can scarcely think they could have
proceeded so far against him as a stranger; but, be that as it
may, it would have been imprudent in him to remain in France
under such circumstances. He has therefore departed, uncertain
what asylum he will choose. I have advised him to go to
England, promising him letters of recommendation to you, and
other friends. I fulfil my promise, and I cannot, in my
opinion, choose for him, in all Europe, a protector more
respectable by his position, and more to be commended for his
humanity. M. Rousseau is known to the greater part of the
people in this country for an eccentric man. This epithet,
according to its true signification, is most justly applied to
him; for he differs, in many respects, in his modes of acting
and thinking, from the men of his day. He has an upright
heart, a noble and disinterested soul. He dreads every
species of dependence, and consequently would have preferred
being in France, gaining his subsistence by copying music, to
receiving benefits even from his best friends, who are anxious
to make up for his misfortunes. This delicacy may appear
excessive, but it is not criminal, and it even augurs elevated
sentiments. He flies from intercourse with the world; he feels
pleasure only in solitude. This partiality for retirement has
made him enemies. The self-love of those who court him is
wounded by his rebuffs; but notwithstanding such apparent
misanthropy, I do not believe you will find any where, a man
more gentle, more humane, more compassionate to the sorrows of
others, and more patient under his own. In short, his virtue
appears so pure, so contented, so equal, that, until now,
those who hated him could find only in their own heart reasons
for suspecting him. As for me, with appearances so much in his
favour, I would rather be deceived than doubt his sincerity.

From the opinion that I have of him, sir, he has been judged
worthy of being known to you; and in procuring him this
honour, I believe I give the most marked proof of my
consideration for him.[107:1]

To this Hume made answer in the postscript of the letter cited above.

"P.S.--So far I had wrote in answer to your ladyship's of the 29th of May, when I was again honoured with yours of the 14th of June. Good God! madam, how much I regret my being absent from London on this occasion, which deprives me of the opportunity of showing in person my regard for your recommendation, and my esteem, I had almost said veneration, for the virtue and genius of M. Rousseau. I assure your ladyship there is no man in Europe of whom I have entertained a higher idea, and whom I would be prouder to serve; and as I find his reputation very high in England, I hope every one will endeavour to make him sensible of it by civilities, and by services, as far as he will accept of them. I revere his greatness of mind, which makes him fly obligations and dependence; and I have the vanity to think, that through the course of my life I have endeavoured to resemble him in those maxims.

"But as I have some connexions with men of rank in London, I shall instantly write to them, and endeavour to make them sensible of the honour M. Rousseau has done us in choosing an asylum in England. We are happy at present in a king who has a taste for literature; and I hope M. Rousseau will find the advantage of it, and that he will not disdain to receive benefits from a great monarch, who is sensible of his merit. I am only afraid that your friend will find his abode in England not so agreeable as may be wished, if he does not possess the language, which I am afraid is the case: for I never could observe in his writings any marks of his acquaintance with the English tongue."[109:1]