Page 38 of 109
[158:1] This refers to the taking Hanoverian troops into British pay, warmly debated in the House of Commons on 10th December, 1742.
[159:1] The Earl of Glasgow's house, on the coast of Ayrshire.
[160:1] MS. R.S.E. Literary Gazette, 1822, p. 636.
[161:1] Sermons by William Leechman, D.D. to which is prefixed some account of the author's life, and his character, by James Wodrow, D.D. 1789, i. 34.
[164:1] MS. R.S.E.
[165:1] Memoir, ut supra, p. 23.
[165:2] Pneumatic Philosophy must here be taken in its old sense, as meaning Psychology.
[165:3] John Couts or Coutts, a native of Dundee, at that time Lord Provost of Edinburgh. He was the father of Thomas Coutts, the celebrated banker.
[167:1] The title of courtesy of the eldest son of the Earl of Galloway.
[167:2] There were two Murrays of Broughton. The one had a small piece of property in Tweeddale, between Noblehouse and Moffat; and soon after the date of this letter acquired an infamous celebrity by giving evidence against the rebels, after having acted as secretary to the Pretender. The other, who was probably the person Hume had in view, had a considerable estate in Galloway.
[168:1] MS. R.S.E.
[169:1] Town Council Records, where he is called George Hutcheson, instead of Francis.
1745-1747. t. 34-36.
Hume's Residence with the Marquis of Annandale—His Predecessor Colonel Forrester—Correspondence with Sir James Johnstone and Mr. Sharp of Hoddam—Quarrel with Captain Vincent—Estimate of his Conduct, and Inquiry into the Circumstances in which he was placed—Appointed Secretary to General St. Clair—Accompanies the expedition against the Court of France as Judge-Advocate—Gives an Account of the Attack on Port L'Orient—A tragic Incident.
Hume's history of his residence with the Marquis of Annandale, is given in the following brief terms, in his "own life." "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 putting 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 considerable accession to my small fortune."
It might have been favourable perhaps to the dignity of his position in the world of letters, that this episode in his history had never been more fully [171]narrated; for a philosopher conducting a litigation for 75 of arrears of salary, is apt to experience that diminution of respect in the eyes of the public, which the prince of Cond discovered that a hero suffered in those of his valet. Since, however, many statements have been given to the world, connected with that part of Hume's life, and many charges and countercharges among the persons connected with it are preserved, it is necessary to give such a brief view of the whole affair, as may enable the reader to estimate the respective merits of the parties in the dispute. A collection of documents on the subject was lately published by a gentleman to whom the literary history of Scotland is indebted for many other services;[171:1] and from his book the following statement is compiled.
The person with whom David Hume was thus connected was the last Marquis of Annandale, on whose death that title became dormant. On the 5th of March, 1748, he was found, on an inquest from the Court of Chancery in England, to be a lunatic, incapable of governing himself and managing his own affairs, and to have been so since 12th December, 1744, a few months anterior to Hume's engagement with him. The correspondence does not give the [172]reader the notion of one reduced to so abject a mental state, but rather that of a man nervously timid and reserved; distrustful of himself and his ability to transact business with other people, but not quite incapable of managing his affairs, though exciteable, and liable to be driven into fits of passion by causes not susceptible of being anticipated. A party to the correspondence, talking of him as in an improved condition, says: "My Lord walked out with me lately two or three miles, received and returned the compliments of the hat of those we met, and without any shyness or reserve: and bears to stand by, and hear me talk with any farmer or countryman. This is a vast change for the better, and the greatest appearance that it will continue."[172:1] He appears to have been haunted by a spirit of literary ambition. Hume says in a letter to Lord Elibank, "I have copied out half a dozen of epigrams, which I hope will give you entertainment. The thought in them is indeed little inferior to that in the celebrated Epigrams of Rousseau; though the versification be not so correct. What a pity! I say this on account both of the author and myself; for I am afraid I must leave him." And on another occasion he alludes at length [173]to a far more extensive literary achievement, a novel, which the excited Marquis had written, and which those about him had found it necessary to print, circulating a few copies, and advertising it in one newspaper to allay any suspicions in the author's mind that a thousand copies had not been printed. Hume says:
"You would certainly be a little surprised and vexed on receiving a printed copy of the novel, which was in hands when you left London. If I did not explain the mystery to you, I believe I told you, that I hoped that affair was entirely over, by my employing Lord Marchmont and Lord Bolingbroke's authority against publishing that novel; though you will readily suppose that neither of these two noble Lords ever perused it. This machine operated for six weeks; but the vanity of the author returned with redoubled force, fortified by suspicions, and increased by the delay. 'Pardie,' dit il, 'je crois que ces messieurs veulent tre les seules Seigneurs d'Angleterre qui eussent de l'esprit. Mais je leur montrerai ce que le petit A—— peut faire aussi.' In short, we were obliged to print off thirty copies, to make him believe that we had printed a thousand, and that they were to be dispersed all over the kingdom.
