Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 5.djvu/54

114 addressed to his friend Mr Sharp of Hoddam, "that such a popular clamour has been raised against me in Edinburgh, on account of scepticism, heterodoxy, and other hard names which confound the ignorant, that my friends find some difficulty in working out the point of my professorship, which once appeared so easy. Did I need a testimonial for my orthodoxy, I should certainly appeal to you; for you know that I always imitated Job's friends, and defended the cause of providence when you attacked it, on account of the headaches you felt after a debauch, but as a more particular explication of that particular seems superfluous, I shall only apply to you for a renewal of your good offices, with your friend lord Tinwald, whose interest with Yetts and Allan may be of service to me. There is no time to lose; so that I must beg you to be speedy in writing to him, or speaking to him on that head." The successful candidate was Mr James Balfour, advocate, a gentleman who afterwards became slightly known to the literary world as the author of "A Delineation of the Nature and Obligations of Morality, with reflections on Mr Hume's Inquiry concerning the principles of Morals," a work which has died out of remembrance, but the candid spirit of which prompted Hume to write a complimentary letter to the (then) anonymous author. The disappointment of not being able to obtain a situation so desirable as affording a respectable and permanent salary, and so suited to his studies, seems to have preyed more heavily than any other event in his life, on the spirits of Mr Hume ; and with the desire of being independent of the world, he seems for a short time to have hesitated whether he should continue his studies, or at once relinquish the pursuit of philosophical fame, by joining the army.

During the ensuing year, his desire to be placed in a situation of respectability was to a certain extent gratified, by his being appointed secretary to lieutenant-general St Clair, who had been chosen to command an expedition avowedly against Canada, but which terminated in a useless incursion on the coast of France. In the year 1747, general St Clair was appointed to superintend an embassy to the courts of Vienna and Turin, and declining to accept a secretary from government, Hume, for whom he seems to have entertained a partiality, accompanied him in his former capacity. He here enjoyed the society of Sir Henry Erskine and captain (afterwards general) Grant, and mixing a little with the world, and joining in the fashionable society of the places which he visited, he seems to have enjoyed a partial relaxation from his philosophical labours. Although he mentions that these two years were almost the only interruptions which his studies had received during the course of his life, he does not seem to have entirely neglected his pursuits as an author; in a letter to his friend Henry Home, he hints at the probability of his devoting his time to historical subjects, and continues, "I have here two things going on, a new edition of my Essays, all of which you have seen except one of the Protestant succession, where I treat that subject as coolly and indifferently as I would the dispute betwixt Cesar and Pompey. The conclusion shows me a whig, but a very sceptical one."

Lord Charlemont, who at this period met with Mr Hume at Turin, has given the following account of his habits and appearance, penned apparently with a greater aim at effect than at truth, yet somewhat characteristic of the philosopher: "Nature I believe never formed any man more unlike his real character than David Hume. The powers of physiognomy were baffled by his countenance; neither could the most skilful in that science pretend to discover the smallest trace of the faculties of his mind, in the unmeaning features of his visage. His face was broad and fat, his mouth wide, and without any other expression than that of imbecility. His eyes vacant and spiritless; and the corpulence of his whole person was far better fitted to communicate the idea of a