MY OWN LIFE.

IT is difficult for a man to ſpeak long of himſelf without vanity; therefore, I ſhall be ſhort. It may be thought an inſtance of vanity that I pretend at all to write my life; but this Narrative ſhall contain lit⯑tle more than the Hiſtory of my Writings; as, indeed, almoſt all my life has been ſpent in literary purſuits and occupations. The firſt ſucceſs of moſt of my writings was not ſuch as to be an object of vanity.

I was born the 26th of April 1711, old ſtyle, at Edinburgh. I was of a good family, both by father and mother: my father's family is a branch of the Earl of [2] Home's, or Hume's; and my anceſtors had been proprietors of the eſtate, which my brother poſſeſſes, for ſeveral generati⯑ons. My mother was daughter of Sir David Falconer, Preſident of the College of Juſ⯑tice; the title of Lord Halkerton came by ſucceſſion to her brother.

My family, however, was not rich; and being myſelf a younger brother, my pa⯑trimony, according to the mode of my country, was of courſe very ſlender. My father, who paſſed for a man of parts, died when I was an infant, leaving me, with an elder brother and a ſiſter, under the care of our mother, a woman of ſingular merit, who, though young and handſome, de⯑voted herſelf entirely to the rearing and educating of her children. I paſſed through the ordinary courſe of education with ſucceſs, and was ſeized very early with a paſſion for literature, which has been the ruling paſſion of my life, and the great ſource of my enjoyments. My ſtu⯑dious diſpoſition, my ſobriety, and my in⯑duſtry, gave my family a notion that the law was a proper profeſſion for me; but I found an unſurmountable averſion to every thing but the purſuits of philoſophy and general learning; and while they fan⯑cied I was poring upon Voet and Vinnius, Cicero and Virgil were the authors which I was ſecretly devouring.

[3] My very ſlender fortune, however, being unſuitable to this plan of life, and my health being a little broken by my ardent application, I was tempted, or rather forced, to make a very feeble trial for entering into a more active ſcene of life. In 1734, I went to Briſtol, with ſome recommendations to eminent merchants, but in a few months found that ſcene totally unſuitable to me. I went over to France, with a view of pro⯑ſecuting my ſtudies in a country retreat; and I there laid that plan of life, which I have ſteadily and ſucceſsfully purſued. I reſolved to make a very rigid frugality ſupply my deficiency of fortune, to main⯑tain unimpaired my independency, and to regard every object as contemptible, except the improvement of my talents in litera⯑ture.

During my retreat in France, firſt at Reims, but chiefly at La Fleche, in Anjou, I compoſed my Treatiſe of Human Nature. After paſſing three years very agreeably in that country, I came over to London in 1737. In the end of 1738, I publiſhed my Treatiſe, and immediately went down to my mother and my brother, who lived at his country-houſe, and was employing himſelf very judiciouſly and ſucceſsfully in the improvement of his fortune.

[4] Never literary attempt was more unfor⯑tunate than my Treatiſe of Human Nature. It fell dead born from the preſs, without reaching ſuch diſtinction, as even to excite a murmur among the zealots. But being naturally of a cheerful and ſanguine tem⯑per, I very ſoon recovered the blow, and proſecuted with great ardour my ſtudies in the country. In 1742, I printed at Edin⯑burgh the firſt part of my Eſſays: the work was favourably received, and ſoon made me entirely forget my former diſap⯑pointment. I continued with my mother and brother in the country, and in that time recovered the knowledge of the Greek language, which I had too much neglected in my early youth.

In 1745, I received a letter from the Marquis of Annandale, inviting me to come and live with him in England; I found alſo, that the friends and family of that young nobleman were deſirous of put⯑ting him under my care and direction, for the ſtate of his mind and health required it.—I lived with him a twelvemonth. My appointments during that time made a con⯑ſiderable acceſſion to my ſmall fortune. I then received an invitation from General St. Clair to attend him as a ſecretary to his expedition, which was at firſt meant againſt Canada, but ended in an incurſion on the coaſt of France. Next year, to wit, 1747, [5] I received an invitation from the General to attend him in the ſame ſtation in his military embaſſy to the courts of Vienna and Turin. I then wore the uniform of an officer, and was introduced at theſe courts as aid-de-camp to the General, along with Sir Harry Erſkine and Captain Grant, now General Grant. Theſe two years were al⯑moſt the only interruptions which my ſtudies have received during the courſe of my life: I paſſed them agreeably, and in good company; and my appointments, with my frugality, had made me reach a fortune, which I called independent, though moſt of my friends were inclined to ſmile when I ſaid ſo; in ſhort I was now maſter of near a thouſand pounds.

I had always entertained a notion, that my want of ſucceſs in publiſhing the Trea⯑tiſe of Human Nature, had proceeded more from the manner than the matter, and that I had been guilty of a very uſual indiſcre⯑tion, in going to the preſs too early. I, therefore, caſt the firſt part of that work anew in the Enquiry concerning Human Underſtanding, which was publiſhed while I was at Turin. But this piece was at firſt little more ſucceſsful than the Treatiſe of Human Nature. On my return from Italy, I had the mortification to find all England in a ferment, on account of Dr. Middle⯑ton's Free Enquiry, while my performance [6] was entirely overlooked and neglected. A new edition, which had been publiſhed at London of my Eſſays, moral and political, met not with a much better reception.

Such is the force of natural temper, that theſe diſappointments made little or no im⯑preſſion on me. I went down in 1749, and lived two years with my brother at his country houſe; for my mother was now dead. I there compoſed the ſecond part of my Eſſays, which I called Political Diſcourſes, and alſo my Enquiry concerning the Princi⯑ples of Morals, which is another part of my Treatiſe that I caſt anew. Meanwhile, my bookſeller, A. Millar, informed me, that my former publications (all but the unfor⯑tunate Treatiſe) were beginning to be the ſubject of converſation; that the ſale of them was gradually increaſing, and that new editions were demanded. Anſwers by Reverends, and Right Reverends, came out two or three in a year; and I found, by Dr. Warburton's railing, that the books were beginning to be eſteemed in good company. However, I had fixed a reſolution, which I inflexibly maintained, never to reply to any body; and not being very iraſcible in my temper, I have eaſily kept myſelf clear of all literary ſquabbles. Theſe ſymptoms of a riſing reputation gave me encourage⯑ment, as I was ever more diſpoſed to ſee the favourable than unfavourable ſide of [7] things; a turn of mind which it is more happy to poſſeſs, than to be born to an eſtate of ten thouſand a year.

In 1751, I removed from the country to the town, the true ſcene for a man of let⯑ters. In 1752, were publiſhed at Edin⯑burgh, where I then lived, my Political Diſcourſes, the only work of mine that was ſucceſsful on the firſt publication. It was well received abroad and at home. In the ſame year was publiſhed at London, my Enquiry concerning the Principles of Mo⯑rals; which, in my own opinion (who ought not to judge on that ſubject), is of all my writings, hiſtorical, philoſophical, or litera⯑ry, incomparably the beſt. It came unno⯑ticed and unobſerved into the world.

In 1752, the Faculty of Advocates choſe me their Librarian, an office from which I received little or no emolument, but which gave me the command of a large library. I then formed the plan of writing the Hiſ⯑tory of England; but being frightened with the notion of continuing a narrative through a period of 1700 years, I commenced with the acceſſion of the Houſe of Stuart, an epoch when, I thought, the miſrepreſen⯑tations of faction began chiefly to take place. I was, I own, ſanguine in my ex⯑pectations of the ſucceſs of this work. I thought that I was the only hiſtorian, that [8] had at once neglected preſent power, in⯑tereſt, and authority, and the cry of po⯑pular prejudices; and as the ſubject was ſuited to every capacity, I expected pro⯑portional applauſe. But miſerable was my diſappointment: I was aſſailed by one cry of reproach, diſapprobation, and even deteſta⯑tion; Engliſh, Scotch, and Iriſh, Whig, and Tory, churchman and ſectary, freethinker and religioniſt, patriot and courtier, united in their rage againſt the man, who had preſumed to ſhed a generous tear for the fate of Charles I. and the Earl of Straf⯑ford; and after the firſt ebullitions of their fury were over, what was ſtill more morti⯑fying, the book ſeemed to ſink into oblivion. Mr. Millar told me, that in a twelvemonth he ſold only forty-five copies of it. I ſcarcely, indeed, heard of one man in the three kingdoms, conſiderable for rank or letters, that could indure the book. I muſt only except the primate of England, Dr. Herring, and the primate of Ireland, Dr. Stone, which ſeem two odd exceptions. Theſe dignified prelates ſeparately ſent me meſſages not to be diſcouraged.

I was, however, I confeſs, diſcouraged; and had not the war been at that time breaking out between France and England, I had certainly retired to ſome provincial town of the former kingdom, have changed my name, and never more have returned [9] to my native country. But as this ſcheme was not now practicable, and the ſubſe⯑quent volume was conſiderably advanced, I reſolved to pick up courage and to per⯑ſevere.

In this interval, I publiſhed at London my Natural Hiſtory of Religion, along with ſome other ſmall pieces: its public entry was rather obſcure, except only that Dr. Hurd wrote a pamphlet againſt it, with all the illiberal petulance, arrogance, and ſcurrili⯑ty, which diſtinguiſh the Warburtonian ſchool. This pamphlet gave me ſome con⯑ſolation for the otherwiſe indifferent recep⯑tion of my performance.

In 1756, two years after the fall of the firſt volume, was publiſhed the ſecond vo⯑lume of my Hiſtory, containing the period from the death of Charles I. till the Revo⯑lution. This performance happened to give leſs diſpleaſure to the Whigs, and was better received. It not only roſe itſelf, but helped to buoy up its unfortunate brother.

But though I had been taught by expe⯑rience that the Whig party were in poſſeſ⯑ſion 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 [10] 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.

In 1759, I publiſhed my Hiſtory of the Houſe of Tudor. The clamour againſt this performance was almoſt equal to that againſt the Hiſtory of the two firſt Stuarts. The reign of Elizabeth was particularly obnoxious. But I was now callous againſt the impreſſions of public folly, and conti⯑nued very peaceably and contentedly in my retreat at Edinburgh, to finiſh, in two volumes, the more early part of the Engliſh Hiſtory, which I gave to the pub⯑lic in 1761, with tolerable, and but tole⯑rable ſucceſs.

But, notwithſtanding this variety of winds and ſeaſons, to which my writings had been expoſed, they had ſtill been making ſuch advances, that the copy-mo⯑ney given me by the bookſellers, much exceeded any thing formerly known in England; I was become not only indepen⯑dent, but opulent. I retired to my native country of Scotland, determined never more to ſet my foot out of it; and retain⯑ing the ſatisfaction of never having pre⯑ferred a requeſt to one great man, or even [11] 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 em⯑baſſy to Paris, with a near proſpect of be⯑ing appointed ſecretary to the embaſſy, and, in the meanwhile, of performing the functions of that office. This offer, how⯑ever inviting, I at firſt declined, both be⯑cauſe I was reluctant to begin connexions with the great, and becauſe I was afraid that the civilities and gay company of Pa⯑ris, would prove diſagreeable to a perſon of my age and humour: but on his lord⯑ſhip's repeating the invitation, I accepted of it. I have every reaſon, both of plea⯑ſure and intereſt, to think myſelf happy in my connexions with that nobleman, as well as afterwards with his brother, General Conway.

Thoſe who have not ſeen the ſtrange effects of modes, will never imagine the reception I met with at Paris, from men and women of all ranks and ſtations. The more I reſiled from their exceſſive civilities, the more I was loaded with them. There is, however, a real ſatisfaction in living at Paris, from the great number of ſenſible, knowing, and polite company with which [12] that city abounds above all places in the univerſe. I thought once of ſettling there for life.

I was appointed ſecretary to the embaſ⯑ſy; and in ſummer 1765, Lord Hertford left me, being appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. I was chargé d' affaires till the arrival of the Duke of Richmond, towards the end of the year. In the beginning of 1776, I left Paris, and next ſummer went to Edinburgh, with the ſame view as for⯑merly, of burying myſelf in a philoſophi⯑cal retreat. I returned to that place, not richer, but with much more money, and a much larger income, by means of Lord Hertford's friendſhip, than I left it; and I was deſirous of trying what ſuperfluity could produce, as I had formerly made an experiment of a competency. But in 1767, I received from Mr. Conway an invitation to be Under-ſecretary; and this invitation, both the character of the perſon, and my connexions with Lord Hertford, prevented me from declining. I returned to Edin⯑burgh in 1769, very opulent (for I poſſeſſ⯑ed a revenue of 1000 l. a year), healthy, and, though ſomewhat ſtricken in years, with the proſpect of enjoying long my eaſe, and of ſeeing the increaſe of my reputation.

In ſpring 1775, I was ſtruck with a diſ⯑order in my bowels, which at firſt gave me [13] no alarm, but has ſince, as I apprehend it, become mortal and incurable. I now reckon upon a ſpeedy diſſolution. I have ſuffered very little pain from my diſorder; and what is more ſtrange, have, notwith⯑ſtanding the great decline of my perſon, never ſuffered a moment's abatement of my ſpirits; inſomuch, that were I to name the period of my life, which I ſhould moſt chooſe to paſs over again, I might be tempted to point to this later period. I poſſeſs the ſame ardour as ever in ſtudy, and the ſame gaiety in company. I con⯑ſider, beſides, that a man of ſixty-five, by dying, cuts off only a few years of infirmi⯑ties; and though I ſee many ſymptoms of my literary reputation's breaking out at laſt with additional luſtre, I knew that I could have but few years to enjoy it. It is difficult to be more detached from life than I am at preſent.

To conclude hiſtorically with my own character, I am, or rather was (for that is the ſtyle I muſt now uſe in ſpeaking of my⯑ſelf, which emboldens me the more to ſpeak my ſentiments); I was, I ſay, a man of mild diſpoſitions, of command of tem⯑per, of an open, ſocial, and cheerful hu⯑mour, capable of attachment, but little ſuſceptible of enmity, and of great modera⯑tion in all my paſſions. Even my love of literary fame, my ruling paſſion, never [14] ſoured my temper, notwithſtanding my frequent diſappointments. My company was not unacceptable to the young and careleſs, as well as to the ſtudious and lite⯑rary; and as I took a particular pleaſure in the company of modeſt women, I had no reaſon to be diſpleaſed with the recep⯑tion I met with from them. In a word, though moſt men any wiſe eminent, have found reaſon to complain of calumny, I never was touched, or even attacked by her beleful tooth: and though I wantonly expoſed myſelf to the rage of both civil and religious factions, they ſeemed to be diſ⯑armed in my behalf of their wonted fury. My friends never had occaſion to vindicate any one circumſtance of my character and conduct: not but that the zealots, we may well ſuppoſe, would have been glad to in⯑vent and propagate any ſtory to my diſad⯑vantage, but they could never find any which they thought would wear the face of probability. I cannot ſay there is no vanity in making this funeral oration of myſelf, but I hope it is not a miſplaced one; and this is a matter of fact which is eaſily cleared and aſcertained.

April 18, 1776.