Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 28.djvu/223

 Hume to comprehend the designs both of the "Spectator" and "Craftsman."' He speaks of himself as a new author. They reached a second edition in 1742, and Hume announces to a friend on 13 June that all the copies in London have been sold, and that `Dr. Butler has everywhere recommended them.' Their `favorable reception,' he says, made him forget his former disappointment. Hume, however, could have made little by them, and was naturally in want of some steady income. In August 1744 he was hoping for the chair of 'ethics and pneumatic philosophy' in Edinburgh which Sir John Pringle was expected to vacate. He counted upon support from Francis Hutcheson and William Leechman [q.v.] Hume had exchanged some respectful criticism with Hutcheson during the preparation of the third volume of his 'Treatise,' and on the publication of Hutcheson's `Philosophiæ Moralis Institutio.' Leechman, afterwards professor of divinity at Glasgow, had submitted to Hume a sermon upon prayer, which he was preparing for a second edition. Hume had suggested some literary emendations which commented significantly upon a weakness in the argument. Accusations of `heresy, deism, scepticism, atheism, &c.' (as he complains in a letter, 4 Aug. 1744), had been started against him, but `bore down by the authority of all the good company in brown.' It now 'surprised him extremely ' to hear that the accusation was supported by the authority of Hutcheson, and especially of Leechman, whose opposition appeared to him `absolutely incredible.' When Pringle resigned the chair in March 1745, it was destined by Hutcheson, and conferred, after taking the 'minister's avisamentum,' upon William Cleghorn, previously Pringle's assistant. Hume had been looking out, in default of the professorship, for a position as travelling tutor. In 1745 he was induced to take a place in the family of the Marquis of Annandale. The marquis was on the verge at least of insanity. On 5 March 1748 an inquest from the court of chancery in England declared him to have been a lunatic since 12 Dec. 1744. He seems to have been excessively nervous, shy, and excitable, but was occasionally presentable, and wrote epigrams and a novel. He applied to Hume through a friend on account of something which `charmed' him in the `Essays' (, Letters, p. 73). Hume received a preliminary present of 100l., and was to have 300l. a year during residence. He took up his abode with the marquis at Weldhall, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, on 1 April 1745. The establishment was under the management of a Captain Vincent, a cousin of the marchioness, whom Hume describes at first as a `mighty honest, friendly man.' Difficulties now impossible to unravel arose in the autumn. Hume thought Weldhall a bad place of residence for the marquis. He afterwards became convinced that Vincent had some sinister motives connected with the management of the large property belonging to the marquis, and expressed his opinions frankly to some of the relations. Vincent treated Hume with disdain as a mere servant. After much unpleasantness Hume was dismissed on 15 April 1746. He received the 300l., but was refused the sum of 75l. for the quarter just begun, though it had been distinctly stipulated that in the event of his leaving during a quarter he was to be paid for the whole. Hume observes in his autobiography that the `appointments' made a considerable accession to his small fortune. He began an action, `by Kames's direction,' against the estate, but discontinued it on a promise that the trustees would consider his claims. In 1761 they were accordingly considered, and their justice apparently admitted, subject to a technical difficulty; but the final settlement is not known (ib. p. 79).

Before returning to Edinburgh Hume accepted an offer to act as secretary to General St. Clair in an expedition intended to operate against Canada; which, after having been delayed by the profound ineptitude of the government under Newcastle, was sent to attack Port L'Orient. Hume was appointed judge-advocate by the general. There was some talk of his receiving a commission in the army (, i. 209). He made friends, was shocked by the suicide of a Major Forbes, for whom he expresses much affection, and gained some knowledge of military affairs. He drew up an account of the expedition (printed in appendix to, vol. i.) in answer to something attributed to Voltaire. He also acquired some claims to half-pay as judge-advocate, which he did not give up till 1763.

After returning to Ninewells, Hume again accompanied St. Clair on a military embassy to Vienna and Turin. Hume had to appear in a uniform, which, according to Lord Charlemont, made him look like a `grocer of the train-bands.' He reached the Hague 3 March 1748, and travelled by the Rhine and the Danube to Vienna, afterwards crossing the Alps to Trent, Mantua, Milan, and Turin, which he reached in June. A short diary to his brother shows that he was chiefly interested in the state of public affairs. He remarked that Germany is a very fine country,