Nevertheless he persevered, bringing out volume after volume, till at last the great merits of the work were acknowledged.This perseverance in his life plan, in spite of discouragements, I reckon as the noblest feature in Hume's character.It does not concern us here to speak of the excellencies and defects of the history.It could be shown that the prejudices running throughout it were his constitutional and hereditary ones, and that the work, as a whole, is an illustration of his metaphysical and ethical theory.
In 1763 he received from the Earl of Hertford an invitation to attend him on his embassy to Paris.His visit to the capital of France on this occasion deserves a special notice.It may be doubted whether there ever were such compliments paid to any literary man.Dukes, mareschals, foreign ambassadors, vied with each other in honoring him.
The famous men, whose persons and conversations he liked best, were D'Alembert, Marmontel, Diderot, Duclos, Helvetius, and old President Henault; and he writes to Dr.
Blair, and bids him tell Dr.Robertson that there was not a single deist among them, meaning that there was none of them but went farther.He met also with Buffon, Malesherbes, Crebillon, Holbach, Renauld, Suard, and Turgot.
But he was the special favorite of the ladies, who at that time ruled the fashion in Paris.In particular, he was flattered and adored by the Countess de Boufflers.His correspondence with that lady had commenced in 1761.She addressed him first, declaring the admiration which, your sublime work (the `History of England') has awakened in me.""I know no terms {126} capable of expressing what I felt in reading the work.I was moved, transported; and the emotion which it caused me, is in some measure painful by its continuance.It elevates the soul it fills the heart with sentiments of humanity and benevolence it enlightens the intellect, by showing that true happiness is closely connected with virtue; and discovers, by the same light, what is the end, the sole end, of every reasonable being"!
In truth, I believed I had before my eyes the work of some celestial being, free from the passions of humanity, who, for the benefit of the human race, has designed to write the events of these latter times"! The philosopher is evidently gratified." What new wonder is this which your letter presents to me? I not only find a lady, who, in the bloom of beauty and height of reputation, can withdraw herself from the pleasures of a gay court, and find leisure to cultivate the sciences, but deigns to support a correspondence with a man of letters, in a remote country, and to reward his labors by a suffrage the most agree able of all others to a man who has any spark of generous sentiment or taste for true glory." This lady, it is proper to say in plain terms, was the wife of the Comte de Boufflers, still alive, but the mistress of the Prince of Conti, who superintended for the king that mean diplomatic correspondence which he carried on unknown to his ministers.Hume might also be seen attending the evening <salons> of Madame Geoffrin, who had been the daughter of a <valet de chambre>, and was now the centre of a circle of artists and men of letters.He also waited on the entertainments of the famous Mademoiselle de l'Espinasse, who, originally an illegitimate child, had raised herself by being, first, the humble companion, and then the rival of Madame Du Deffaud, and was well known to have been the mistress of a number of successive or contemporaneous lovers.There must have been something in the philosophy of Hume which recommended him to so many ladies of this description.We believe they were glad to find so eminent a philosopher, with a system which did not seem to bear bard upon them.The courtiers told him that Madame de Pompadour " was never heard to say so much to any man."He says of himself: " I eat nothing but ambrosia, drink nothing but nectar, breathe nothing but incense, and tread on nothing but flowers.Every man I meet, and still more every lady, {127} would think they were wanting in the most indispensable duty if they did not make a long and elaborate harangue in my praise." Lord Charlemont has given us a picture, or rather a caricature, of his person as he met him at Turin some years before this." His face was broad and flat, 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 tendered ridiculous by the broadest Scotch accent, and his French was, if possible, still more laughable." This was the man who was made by the Parisian ladies to take the part, in an acted tableau, of a sultan assailed by two female slaves: "On le place sur un sopha entre les deux plus jolies femmes de Paris, il les regarde attentivement, il se frappe le ventre et les genoux A plusieurs reprises, et ne trouve jamais autre chose a leur dire que, -- `Eh bien! mes demoiselles....Eh bien! nous voila donc....Eh bien !
vous voila....vous voila ici.'" His good sense led him to see the vanity of all this: but he was pleased with it;and he often expresses a wish to settle in Paris, or somewhere in France.
