HIS IMPRESSIONS AND ANECDOTES OF DAVID HUME. 511

One of the first characters that appears on the scene, is our excellent countryman, the celebrated David Hume, whom Lord Charlemont first met with at Turin, in the year 1750:- and of whom he has given an account rather more entertaining, we believe, than accurate. We have no doubt, however, that it records with perfect fidelity the impression which he then received from the appearance and conversation of that distinguished philosopher. But, with all our respect for Lord Charlemont, we cannot allow a young Irish Lord, on his first visit at a foreign court, to have been precisely the person most capable of appreciating the value of such a man as David Hume; and though there is a great fund of truth in the following observations, we think they illustrate the character and condition of the person who makes them, fully as much as that of him to whom they are applied.

"Nature, I believe, never formed any man more unlike his real character than David Hume. The powers of physiognomy were baffled by his countenance; nor 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 turtle-eating alderman, than of a refined philosopher. His speech, in English, was rendered ridiculous by the broadest Scotch accent; and his French was, if possible, still more laughable; so that wisdom, most certainly, never disguised herself before in so uncouth a garb. Though now near fifty years old he was healthy and strong; but his health and strength, far from being advantageous to his figure, instead of manly comeliness, had only the appearance of rusticity. His wearing an uniform added greatly to his natural awkwardness; for he wore it like a grocer of the trained bands. Sinclair was a lieutenant-general, and was sent to the courts of Vienna, and Turin as a military envoy, to see that their quota of troops was furnished by the Austrians and Piedmontese. It was therefore thought necessary that his secretary should appear to be an officer; and Hume was accordingly disguised in scarlet.

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Having thus given an account of his exterior, it is but fair that I should state my good opinion of his character. Of all the philosophers of his sect, none, I believe, ever joined more real benevolence to its mischievous principles, than my friend Hume. His love to mankind was universal, and vehement; and there was no service he would not cheerfully have done to his fellow-creatures, excepting only that of

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suffering them to save their souls in their own way. He was tenderhearted, friendly, and charitable in the extreme.” —pp. 8, 9.

His Lordship then tells a story in illustration of the philosopher's benevolence, which we have no other reason for leaving out—but that we know it not to be true; and concludes a little dissertation on the pernicious effects of his doctrines, with the following little anecdote; of the authenticity of which also, we should entertain some doubts, did it not seem to have fallen within his own personal knowledge.

"He once professed himself the admirer of a young, most beautiful, and accomplished lady, at Turin, who only laughed at his passion. One day he addressed her in the usual common-place strain, that he was abimé, anéanti. — Oh! pour anéanti,' replied the lady, ce n'est en effet qu'une opération très-naturelle de votre systéme.'" — p. 10.

The following passages are from a later part of the journal: but indicate the same turn of mind in the ob

server:

"Hume's fashion at Paris, when he was there as Secretary to Lord Hertford, was truly ridiculous; and nothing ever marked, in a more striking manner, the whimsical genius of the French. No man, from his manners, was surely less formed for their society, or less likely to meet with their approbation; but that flimsy philosophy which pervades and deadens even their most licentious novels, was then the folly of the day. Freethinking and English frocks were the fashion, and the Anglomanie was the ton du pais. From what has been already said of him, it is apparent that his conversation to strangers, and particularly to Frenchmen, could be little delightful; and still more particularly, one would suppose, to Frenchwomen. And yet, no lady's toilette was complete without Hume's attendance! At the opera, his broad, unmeaning face was usually seen entre deux jolis minois. The ladies in France give the ton, and the ton, at this time, was deism ; a species of philosophy ill suited to the softer sex, in whose delicate frame weakness is interesting, and timidity a charm. But the women in France were deists, as with us they were charioteers. How my friend Hume was able to endure the encounter of these French female Titans, I know not. In England, either his philosophic pride, or his conviction that infidelity was ill suited to women, made him always averse from the initiation of ladies into the mysteries of his doctrine." - pp. 121, 122.

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Nothing," adds his Lordship in another place, "ever showed a mind more truly beneficent than Hume's whole conduct with regard to Rousseau. That story is too well known to be repeated; and exhibits a striking picture of Hume's heart, whilst it displays the strange and unaccountable vanity and madness of the French, or rather Swiss

AND ROUSSEAU-AND MONTESQUIEU.

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moralist. When first they arrived together from France, happening to meet with Hume in the Park, I wished him joy of his pleasing connexion; and particularly hinted, that I was convinced he must be perfectly happy in his new friend, as their religious opinions were, I believed, nearly similar. Why no, man,' said he, in that you are mistaken. Rousseau is not what you think him. He has a hankering after the Bible; and, indeed, is little better than a Christian, in a way of his own!"— p. 120.

“In London, where he often did me the honour to communicate the manuscripts of his additional Essays, before their publication, I have sometimes, in the course of our intimacy, asked him, whether he thought that, if his opinions were universally to take place, mankind would not be rendered more unhappy than they now were; and whether he did not suppose, that the curb of religion was necessary to human nature? The objections,' answered he, are not without weight; but error never can produce good; and truth ought to take place of all considerations.' He never failed, indeed, in the midst of any controversy, to give its due praise to every thing tolerable that was either said or written against him. His sceptical turn made him doubt, and consequently dispute, every thing; yet was he a fair and pleasant disputant. He heard with patience, and answered without acrimony. Neither was his conversation at any time offensive, even to his more scrupulous companions. His good sense, and good nature, prevented his saying any thing that was likely to shock; and it was not till he was provoked to argument, that, in mixed companies, he entered into his favourite topics. -p. 123.

Another of the eminent persons of whom Lord Charlemont has recorded his impressions in his own hand, was the celebrated Montesquieu; of whose acquaintance he says, and with some reason, he was more vain, than of having seen the pyramids of Egypt. He and another English gentleman paid their first visit to him at his seat near Bourdeaux; and the following is the account of their introduction:

"The first appointment with a favourite mistress could not have rendered our night more restless than this flattering invitation; and the next morning we set out so early, that we arrived at his villa before he was risen. The servant showed us into his library; where the first object of curiosity that presented itself was a table, at which he had apparently been reading the night before, a book lying upon it open, turned down, and a lamp extinguished. Eager to know the nocturnal studies of this great philosopher, we immediately flew to the book. It was a volume of Ovid's Works, containing his Elegies; and open at one of the most gallant poems of that master of love! Before we could overcome our surprise, it was greatly increased by the entrance of the president, whose appearance and manner was totally opposite to the idea which we had formed to ourselves of him. Instead

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LORD CHARLEMONT-VISIT TO MONTESQUIEU.

of a grave, austere philosopher, whose presence might strike with awe such boys as we were, the person who now addressed us, was a gay, polite, sprightly Frenchman, who, after a thousand genteel compliments, and a thousand thanks for the honour we had done him, desired to know whether we would not breakfast; and, upon our declining the offer, having already eaten at an inn not far from the house, 'Come, then,' says he, let us walk; the day is fine, and I long to show you my villa, as I have endeavoured to form it according to the English taste, and to cultivate and dress it in the English manner.' Following him into the farm, we soon arrived at the skirts of a beautiful wood, cut into walks, and paled round, the entrance to which was barricadoed with a moveable bar, about three feet high, fastened with a padlock. 'Come,' said he, searching in his pocket, it is not worth our while to wait for the key; you, I am sure, can leap as well as I can, and this bar shall not stop me.' So saying, he ran at the bar, and fairly jumped over it, while we followed him with amazement, though not without delight, to see the philosopher likely to become our playfellow."-pp. 32, 33.

“In Paris I have frequently met him in company with ladies, and have been as often astonished at the politeness, the gallantry, and sprightliness of his behaviour. In a word, the most accomplished, the most refined petit-maître of Paris, could not have been more amusing, from the liveliness of his chat, nor could have been more inexhaustible in that sort of discourse, which is best suited to women, than this venerable philosopher of seventy years old. But at this we shall not be surprised, when we reflect, that the profound author of L'Esprit des Loix was also author of the Persian Letters, and of the truly gallant Temple de Gnide."-p. 36.

The following opinion, from such a quarter, might have been expected to have produced more effect than it seems to have done, on so warm an admirer as Lord Charlemont :

"In the course of our conversations, Ireland, and its interests, have often been the topic; and, upon these occasions, I have always found him an advocate for an incorporating Union between that country and England. Were I an Irishman,' said he, 'I should certainly wish for it; and, as a general lover of liberty, I sincerely desire it; and for this plain reason, that an inferior country, connected with one much her superior in force, can never be certain of the permanent enjoyment of constitutional freedom, unless she has, by her representatives, a proportional share in the legislature of the superior kingdom.”” — Ibid.

Of Lord Charlemont's English friends and associates, none is represented, perhaps, in more lively and pleasing colours than Topham Beauclerk; to the graces of whose conversation even the fastidious Dr. Johnson has borne such powerful testimony. Lord Charlemont,

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and indeed all who have occasion to speak of him, represent him as more accomplished and agreeable in society, than any man of his age-of exquisite taste, perfect good-breeding, and unblemished integrity and honour. Undisturbed, too, by ambition, or political animosities, and at his ease with regard to fortune, he might appear to be placed at the very summit of human felicity, and to exemplify that fortunate lot to which common destinies afford such various exceptions.

But there is no such lot. This happy man, so universally acceptable, and with such resources in himself, was devoured by ennui! and probably envied, with good reason, the condition of one half of those laborious and discontented beings who looked up to him with envy and admiration. He was querulous, Lord Charlemont assures us-indifferent, and internally contemptuous to the greater part of the world;—and, like so many other accomplished persons, upon whom the want of employment has imposed the heavy task of self-occupation, he passed his life in a languid and unsatisfactory manner; absorbed sometimes in play, and sometimes in study; and seeking, in vain, the wholesome exercise of a strong mind, in desultory reading or contemptible dissipation. His Letters, however, are delightful; and we are extremely obliged to Mr. Hardy, for having favoured us with so many of them. It is so seldom that the pure, animated, and unrestrained language of polite conversation can be found in a printed book, that we cannot resist the temptation of transcribing a considerable part of the specimens before us; which, while they exemplify, in the happiest manner, the perfect style of a gentleman, serve to illustrate, for more reflecting readers, the va rious sacrifices that are generally required for the formation of the envied character to which that style belongs. A very interesting essay might be written on the unhappiness of those from whom nature and fortune seem to have removed all the causes of unhappiness:and we are sure that no better assortment of proofs and illustrations could be annexed to such an essay, than some of the following passages.