Page:Essays, Moral and Political - David Hume (1741).djvu/84

 pany, be often the Object of their good-natur'd Jests and Pleasantries. We are pleased to address our selves after any manner to a Person that is agreeable to us; and at the same Time presume, that nothing will be taken amiss by one who is secure of the good Opinion and Affections of every one present. I shall now proceed to handle my Subject more seriously, and shall point out the many Advantages, that flow from the Study of History, and show how well suited it is to every one, but particularly to those who are debarred the severer Studies by the Tenderness of their Complexion and the Weakness of their Education. The Advantages found in History seem to be of three kinds, as it amuses the Fancy, as it improves the Understanding, and as it strengthens Virtue.

reality, what more agreeable Entertainment to the Mind, than to be transported into the remotest Ages of the World, and to observe human Society in its Infancy, making the first faint Essays towards the Arts and Sciences: To see the Policy of Government, and the Civility of Conversation refining by Degrees, and every thing that is ornamental to