Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary - Faculty of Social Sciences

82 HISTORY OF THE EDITIONS. IHSTORY OF THE EDITIONS. 83impugn the comfortable doctrines of the Christian Faith,Bishop Horne insinuates that Hume was by no means so insensibleto attack as his Life pretends, asking if there wasnot an author-meaning Beattie ; he has already assured Dr.Smith that his own name does not begin with B.-whosename could not be mentioned t.o Hume, or else he would' fly out into a transport of passion and swearing ' PWaxing hot with indignation at Smith's approval ofHume's manner of death, the Bishop tells him that he whocan behold with complacency such a mischievous life, so evil adeath, may smile over Babylon in ruins, esteem the earthquakewhich destroyed Lisbon an agreeable occurrence, andcongratulate the hardened Pharaoh on his overthrow in theRed Sea. Drollery in such circumstances is neither morenor less thanMoody Madness, laughing wild,Amid severest woe.Would we know the baneful and pestilential influences offalse philosophy on the human heart, we need only contemplatethem in this most deplorable instance of Mr. Hume.That this ' drolling upon Charon and his boat ' gave direoffence, appears also from a sermon of John Wesley's :' Did that right holiourable wretch, compared to whomSir R-- was a saint, know the heart of man,-he that soearnestly advised his own son, " never to speak the truth, tolie or dissemble as often as he speaks, to wear a mask continuallyP " that earnestly counselled him, " not to debauchsingle women," (because some inconveniences might follow)," but always married women P " Would one imagine thisgrovelling animal ever had a wife or- a married daughter ofhis own P 0 rare Lord C- ! Did ever man so well deserve,though he was a Peer of the realm, to die by the side ofNewgate P Or did ever book so well deserve to be burnedby the common hangman, as his Letters ? Did Mr. DavidHume, lower, if pussible, than either of the former, know theheart of man P No more than a worm or a beetle does.After CC playing so idly with the darts of death," do you nowfind it a laughing matter ? What think you now of Charon 2Has he ferried you over Styx ? At length he has taught youto know a little of your own heart ! At length you know, itis a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God 1 'No. 123. Preached at H:ilifax, April 21, 1790.Human Heart.On the Deceitfulness of theOne or two passages inay be cited from Boswell in furtherillustration of the bitker feeling with which Hume's deathwas expected. ' When we were alone, I introduced the subjectof death, and endeavoured to maintain that the fear ofit might be got over. I told him that David Hume said tome, he was no more uneasy to think he should not be afterhis life, than that he had not been before he began to exist.Johnson: '( Sir, if he really thinks so, his perceptions aredisturbed ; he is mad : if he does not think so, he lies. Hemay tell you, he holds his finger in the flame of a candle,without feeling pain ; would you believe him 2 When hedies, he at least gives up all he has." Boswell : " Foote, Sir,told me, that when he was very ill he was not afraid to die P "Johnson : " It is not true, Sir.Hold a pistol to Foote'sbreast, or to Hume's breast, and threaten to kill them, andyou'll see how they behave." ' . . . Letter from Boswellto Johnson: ' Withoct, doubt you have read what is called"The Life of David Hume," written by himself, with theletter from Dr. Adam Smith subjoined to it. Is not this anage of daring effrontery ? My friend Mr. Anderson, Professorof Natural Philosophy at Glasgow, &t whose house youand I supped, and to whose care Mr. Windham, of Norfolk,was intrusted at that University, paid me a visit lately ; andafter we had talked with indignation and contempt of thepoisonous productions with which this age is infested, hesaid there was now an excellent opportunity for Dr. Johnsonto step forth. I agreed with him that you might knoclcHume's and Smith's heads together, and make vain andostentatious infidelity exceedingly ridiculous.Would it notbe worth your while to crush such noxious weeds in themoral garden ? ' . . . ' I mentioned to Dr. Johnson, thatDavid Hume's persisting in his infidelity, when he was dying,shocked me much. Johnson : "Why should it shock you,Sir P Hume owned he had never read the New Testamentwith attention. Here then was a man who had been at nopains to inquire into the truth of religion, and had contiaua)lyturned his mind the other way. It was not to beexpected that the prospect of death would alter his way ofthinking, ullless God should send an angel to set him right."I said, I had reason to believe that the thought of aunihila-tion gave Hume no pain. Johnson: "It was not so, Sir.He 11i~Cl a vanity in being thought easy. It is more probable