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[223:1] In allusion to the Royal Scottish Regiment—Bergen-op-zoom had been taken by storm on 16th Sept.
[223:2] This name—probably latinised from some joke known only to the parties, applies to Col. Edmonstoune of Newton.
[224:1] For Fifeshire.
[224:2] Memorials, &c. p. 54.
1746-1748. t. 35-37.
Hume returns to Ninewells—His domestic Position—His attempts in Poetry—Inquiry as to his Sentimentalism—Takes an interest in Politics—Appointed Secretary to General St. Clair on his mission to Turin—His journal of his Tour—Arrival in Holland—Rotterdam—The Hague—Breda—The War—French Soldiers—Nimeguen—Cologne—Bonn—The Rhine and its scenery—Coblentz—Wiesbaden—Frankfurt—Battle of Dettingen—Wurzburg—Ratisbon—Descent of the Danube—Observations on Germany—Vienna—The Emperor and Empress Queen—Styria—Carinthia—The Tyrol—Mantua—Cremona—Turin.
We now find Hume restored, though but for a brief period, to the tranquil retirement of Ninewells; and undisturbed by public events, civil or warlike, sitting down quietly among his books in the midst of his family circle, consisting of his mother, his elder brother, and his sister. It would be interesting to obtain a glimpse of this circle and its habits; but the lapse of nearly a century has thrown it too far into the shade of time, to permit of these minute objects being distinguished. Perhaps the following scrap from the papers preserved by Hume himself,[225:1] may represent the evening diversions of Ninewells. It is written by another hand, but is touched and corrected here and there by Hume. Whether or not it is intended to have any reference to himself, is a matter on which I shall not attempt to forestall the reader's judgment.
[226]Character of ——, written by himself.
1. A very good man, the constant purpose of whose life is to do mischief.
2. Fancies he is disinterested, because he substitutes vanity in place of all other passions.
3. Very industrious, without serving either himself or others.
4. Licentious in his pen, cautious in his words, still more so in his actions.
5. Would have had no enemies, had he not courted them; seems desirous of being hated by the public, but has only attained the being railed at.
6. Has never been hurt by his enemies, because he never hated any one of them.
7. Exempt from vulgar prejudices—full of his own.
8. Very bashful, somewhat modest, no way humble.
9. A fool, capable of performances which few wise men can execute.
10. A wise man, guilty of indiscretions which the greatest simpletons can perceive.
11. Sociable, though he lives in solitude.
12.[226:1]
13. An enthusiast, without religion; a philosopher, who despairs to attain truth.
A moralist, who prefers instinct to reason.
A gallant, who gives no offence to husbands and mothers.
A scholar, without the ostentation of learning.
Sir Walter Scott says:—"We visited Corby castle on our return to Scotland, which remains, in point of situation, as beautiful as when its walks were celebrated by David Hume, in the only rhymes he was [227]ever known to be guilty of. Here they are from a pane of glass in an inn at Carlisle,—
In the face, both of this assurance of the limited extent of Hume's poetical efforts, and of the circumstance that he was occasionally in the practice of copying such verses as pleased his ear,[227:2] or fancy, I venture to offer the following specimens of his versification, admitting the possibility but not the probability that some minute investigator might be able to identify them as the production of a less distinguished bard. The censorious critic will probably admit their genuineness, on the plea that no one but their author would commit such verses to writing. But apart from their internal evidence, there is every reason to presume that these efforts are by Hume. The first piece is dated in the writer's hand, as if to mark the day when it was composed. With the exception of [228]the third in order, they all contain, in corrections and otherwise, decided marks of being composed by the person in whose handwriting they are; and they are in the handwriting of David Hume.[228:1]
[229] 4th Nov. 1747.
