Hume: TLDH Vol 1 Ltr 94 To: Blanc [54] p 191
† * 94. To the ABBበLE BLANC† 1

Sir,

Yours of the 25th of August† 2 gave me a very real Pleasure. I doubt not but the Translation, with which you have honour’d my Performance, will renew my Satisfaction. I expect every day to have it from London. I must confess, that I cannot conceal my Vanity, when I find an Author, so justly celebrated for his own Performances, deign to give the Public a Translation of Works, so much inferior. I have often read Les Letres† 3 d’un Francois, with Profit and Pleasure: And as I never peruse a good Book without wishing to possess the Friendship of the Author; how much more, where my Gratitude is mov’d by such Marks of Esteem & Distinction as you have confer’d on me?

I have just now finish’d a new Edition of the political Discourses,† 1 where there are some Alterations & Additions. I have here subjoin’d in a Paper apart, that in case the Demand of the Public require a new Edition of the Translation, there may be no Delay in finishing it. You mention Notes to your Translation. This encreases my Impatience to see it. I doubt not but I shall learn from them to correct many of my Errors.

192

You drop a Hint as if you intended to introduce some more of my Performances to the Acquaintance of the learned World abroad.† 2 Allow me, therefore, to inform you of the best Editions. The only good Edition of my Essays moral & political is the fourth:† 3 It begins with this Sentence Some People are subject to a certain Delicacy of Passion &c.† 4 The best Edition of the Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals is the second.† 5 The Booksellers are reprinting in London the philosophical Essays;† 6 but the second Edition† 7 differs very little from this new one. I doubt these Essays are both too bold & too metaphysical for your Climate; tho’ we have lately, in some French Writers, been entertain’d with Liberties, that are not much inferior.

I know with what Advantage I must appear, when I pass thro your hands, who are so capable to improve & embellish my weak Performances. For this Reason I have sent you all the best Editions of these four Volumes.† 8 They go by the way of Boulogne; & you may expect to have them in about a Month. If they be of no Use to you in this Design, I beg at least you will favor me with an Acceptance of them as a Mark of my sincere Gratitude and Esteem.

A few days ago I finish’d the printing the first Volume of a Work, about which I have been long employ’d. It will be publish’d in about two Months. It is the History of Great Britain from the Accession of James the first: This first Volume contains the Reigns of James the I and Charles the I; and consists of 470 Quarto Pages. If you consider the vast Variety of Events, with which these two Reigns, particularly the last, are crowded, you will conclude, that my Narration is rapid, and that I have more propos’d as my Model the concise manner of the antient Historians, than the prolix, tedious Style of some modern Compilers. I have inserted no original Papers, and enter’d into no Detail of minute, uninteresting Facts. The philosophical Spirit, which I have so much indulg’d in all my Writings, finds here ample Materials to work upon.

193

The great Distance, which I have always kept from all Party & Dependance, from all Satyre and Panegyric, has made the Public entertain Expectations from this Work; and I tremble, I own, the more for the Opinion, which will be form’d on its Publication. I have sent you a Copy, which I beg you to accept of. The Bookseller gave me 400 pounds for allowing him to print one Edition of 2000 Copies; and his hopes are so sanguine, that he speaks of beginning a second Edition of 3000, and of paying me 600 pounds more for it.† 1 I mention this Circumstance that you may see there is some Chance that a Translation might turn to account. If it be done under your Eye I am sure it will be well executed. A few Notes, to clear up Passages obscure to Foreigners, may also be requisite. I esteem this Period, both for signal Events & extraordinary Characters, to be the most interesting in modern History; and considering some late Transactions in France,† 2 your Ministry may think themselves oblig’d to a man, who, by the Example of English History, discovers the Consequences of puritanical & republican Pretensions. You wou’d have remark’d in my Writings, that my Principles are, all along, tolerably monarchical, & that I abhor, that low Practice, so prevalent in England, of speaking with Malignity of France

194

I beg the Continuance of your Correspondence & Friendship; and tho’ I be at present in a remote Part of the World, which can furnish nothing curious or entertaining to a Man who lives in the Center of all the fine Arts, you will at least have the Satisfaction, whenever you write to me, of conferring an Honour on a Person, who knows the Value of it. A Letter directed to me at this Place will always find me.

I have the Honour to be, with great Regard

Sir

Your most obedient & most obliged humble Servant

DAVID HUME

Edinburgh

12th of Septr. 1754

† 1 Jean-Bernard Le Blanc (1707-81), French man of letters, ‘historiographe des Bá¢timens du Roy de France’; author of Lettres d’un Franá§ois concernant le gouvernement, la politique et les moeurs des Anglois et Franá§ois, 3 vols., Paris, 1745 (English translation, Letters on the English and French Nations, 2 vols., Dublin, 1747); translator of Hume’s Political Discourses as Discours politiques de M. Hume, traduits de l’Anglois, Amsterdam (et se vend á  Paris), 1754, 2 vols., 12mo, and 2nd edit., Dresden, 1755, 2 vols. 8vo.

† 2 Le Blanc opened the correspondence with this letter from Paris (MS., R.S.E.; Burton, i. 458 f.). He announces that he is sending a copy of his translation of the Pol. Disc., and asks Hume to read it with care and to point out any errors in translation. The sooner this is done the better, he says, ‘car il est bon de vous dire que cette traduction, grá¢ce á  l’excellence de l’original se débite ici comme un roman…. Le libraire m’avertit qu’il sera bientá´t tems de penser á  la seconde édition. J’attendray votre réponse pour l’enrichir de vos remarques qui feront que celle-ci sera reá§ue du public avec encor plus d’applaudissements.’

† 3 Sic in MS.

† 1 Published as vol. iv of the Essays and Treatises, 1754.

† 2 I doubt if Le Blanc really meant that. What he said, after asking for Hume’s comments on the translation, was: ‘J’en profiterai á  la premiere édition, ainsi que des remarques, changements, ou additions qu’il vous plaira me communiquer, soit á  l’occasion de vos discours, soit sur les autres ouvrages anglois dont je parle dans mes notes.’

† 3 Vol. i of Essays and Treatises, 1753.

† 4 The opening of the essay Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion. In its earlier form it opened: ‘There is a certain delicacy of passion, to which some people are subject, that makes them extremely sensible….’

† 5 Vol. iii of Essays and Treatises, 1753.

† 6 Vol. ii of Essays and Treatises, 1754 (reprinted, still as third edition, in 1756).

† 7 The second edition appeared, first with A. Millar’s name on the title-page in 1750, and then with M. Cooper’s, in the same year.

† 8 I presume he means the 4 vols. of Essays and Treatises, including vol. iv, Political Discourses.

† 1 From a letter of Gavin Hamilton, the bookseller in question, to William Strahan, printed by Hill (p. 3, n. 2), it appears that Hume was originally offered £1,200 in all, in return for which the booksellers were to have the right to print 2,000 copies of each of the 3 vols. of the History when ready. As things fell out, Hume did not give Messrs. Hamilton, Balfour, and Neill the chance to publish any volume after the first. He objected to contracting for books too far ahead.

† 2 A reference to the quarrels between the clergy and the Parlement of Paris, in which the Court took first one side and then the other. In May 1753 the King by lettres de cachet ordered all Presidents and Councillors to residences that were named for them, away from Paris, the Grand Council being sent to Pontoise. The result was the publication of the Grandes Remonstrances on 23 May, containing the memorable statement: ‘If subjects owe obedience to kings, kings on their side owe obedience to law.’ In 1754 the Court reversed its policy, and recalled the exiled parlementaires.

Hume: TLDH Vol 1 Ltr 97 To: Le Blanc [54] p 196
† * 97. To the ABBበLE BLANC

Sir

I am sorry to be oblig’d to write you in a Hurry: Tho’ it is as well so: For if I had never so much Leizure, I shoud never be able to express sufficiently my Sense of the Civilities, which you confer upon me.† 1 I hereby send you some Sheets of my History, & shall send you the rest successively by the Post. I shou’d be entirely indifferent about Fame (which can be the Case with no Writer, and indeed with no Man) were I not very anxious to have you undertake this Translation. As you thought, that the informing the Public of the Correspondence carry’d on betwixt us, wou’d prevent any other Translator from interfering with you, I have subjoind in the next Page, a Letter,† 2 such as may not be improper to insert in some of the literary Journals. I cannot mention any thing particularly of your Translation of the political Discourses; as I have not yet receiv’d it, tho’ I long for it very impatiently. The Booksellers in London have a Custom, that when an Author enters into any Engagement with any of them for a Translation, no other Bookseller will engage any other Person in the same Translation. I hope this is also the Custom at Paris: In which Case, the Advance, which I give you, will prevent all Danger of your losing your Labor. If you have receiv’d the Copy sent by Boulogne, you will have still a more considerable Advance. Please enquire of the Coche or Waggon of Boulogne. In the Parcel, there was also a new Edition of the political Discourses: But the Alterations, which I sent in my last, refer’d to the Edition, from which you made your Translation, viz the first or second. It will therefore be necessary for you to recall your Copy† 3 for a few days. If that shou’d be difficult, you wou’d still be able, by a little Computation, to find all the Passages in the new Edition, which I send. The former Edition had 304 Pages; this has 270. By employing the Rule of three, and computing as 304 to 270, so is the Number mention’d in my paper, to a fourth Number; which will be the Page in the third Edition, where the Alteration is to be inserted. The Alterations in some places are of Moment; so that I wish a new Edition might not be made without inserting them.

198

The whole Reign of James the I will come to you in a few Posts. The Narration is pretty often interrupted by Digressions, which were necessary to clear up Difficulties in the History. The Reign of Charles flows more smoothly, & is much more interesting. If there be some strokes of the L’esprit fort too strong for your Climate, you may soften them at your Discretion. That I am a Lover of Liberty will be expected from my Countrey, tho’ I hope, that I carry not that Passion to any ridiculous Extreme.

The subsequent Letter, being intended entirely for your Service, I am not only willing but desirous, that you alter and model it as you think proper. Had I the Honor of being personally known to you, you woud be sensible that nothing wou’d be more agreeable to me than a free Censure and Criticism. I have a great Deference for the Taste of your Nation, & for yours in particular. Be so good as to inform me, with the most unreserv’d Freedom, of the Faults, which either Yourself or the Public find with my Performance. I shou’d regard it as a very blameable Action to invite you to use a Liberty, which I were not conscious I cou’d receive, not only without Resentment, but with the highest Gratitude.

I cannot recollect the Contents of my Letters to the President Montesquieu; but I can trust to his Judgement with regard to the Propriety of publishing them. Any Expressions of my Esteem for the President, I must certainly desire to have known; because they wou’d do honor to my Understanding all over the World.

I shall endeavor to keep back the Publication in London, till the first of December.† 1 I am Sir with great Regard

Your most obedient & most humble Servant

DAVID HUME.

Edinburgh.

5 of Octr 1754

P S .

Since I wrote this, I find that the Cargo of Books, which I sent by Boulogne, have been mislaid, & that you will receive them latter than I propos’d.

† * B.M. MSS. Egerton, 21, 200 f.; Englische Studien, Band 63, Heft 3 (1929); hitherto unpublished in England. Autograph wrongly catalogued in B.M. as addressed to Mauvillon.

† 1 Le Blanc, answering Hume’s letter of 12 Sept. 1754 says: ‘A l’égard de votre Histoire de la Grande Bretagne que vous m’annoncés, ce ne sera plus simplement comme votre admirateur, mais comme votre ami, Monsieur, que j’en entreprendrai la traduction, et je ferai de mon mieux pour qu’elle perde le moins qu’il est possible…. J’ai encor á  vous aprendre, Monsieur, que le succès de vos Discours Politiques ne fait qu’augmenter tous les jours, et que tout retentit de vos éloges. Nos Ministres même n’en sont pas moins satisfaits que le Public. Mr le comte d’Argenson, Mr le Maréchal de Noailles, en un mot tous ceux qui ont ici part au Gouvernement ont parlé de votre ouvrage, comme d’un des meilleurs qui ayent jamais été faits sur ces matières.’ (MS., R.S.E.; Burton, i. 459 f.).

† 2 Letter 97 A below.

† 3 In the letter above-quoted Le Blanc also says that so great is the demand for the Political Discourses that he has been obliged to give away his own copy to one of the ministers of State.

† 1 Le Blanc had asked for this to be done, in order that he might be first in the field with the translation.

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Hume: TLDH Vol 1 Ltr 97A To: Blanc [54] p 199
† * 97A. To the ABBበLE BLANC† 1

Sir

You will receive, along with this, a Copy of the first Volume of my History of Great Britain, which will be publish’d next Winter in London.] The Honor, which you did me in translating my political Discourses, inspires me with an Ambition of desiring to have my History of Great Britain translated by the same excellent hand. The great Curiosity of the Events, related in this Volume, embellish’d by your elegant Pen, might challenge the Attention of the Public. If you do not undertake this Translation, I despair of ever seeing it done in a satisfactory manner. Many Intricacies in the English Government, many Customs peculiar to this Island, require Explication; and it will be necessary to accompany the Translation, with some Notes, however short, in order to render it intelligible to foreigners. None but a Person, so well acquainted as you with England and the English Constitution, can pretend to clear up Obscurities, or explain the Difficulties, which occur. If at any time you find Yourself at a loss, be so good as to inform me: I shall spare no Pains to solve all Doubts, and convey all the Lights which, by my long and assiduous Study of this Subject, I may have acquir’d. The Distance betwixt us need be no Impediment to this Correspondence. [If you favor me frequently with your Letters, I shall be able to render you the same Service as if I had the Happiness of living next door to you, and was able to inspect the whole Translation. In this Attempt the Knowledge of the two Languages is but one Circumstance to qualify a man for a Translator. Tho’ your Attainments, in this Respect, be known to all the World, I own, that I trust more to the Spirit of Reflection and Reasoning which you discover; and] I thence expect, that my Performance will not only have Justice done it, but will even receive considerable Improvements, as it passes thro’ your hands. I am, with great Regard

Sir

Your most obedient & most humble Servant

DAVID HUME.

Edinburgh

15  Oct. 1754

† * Bibl. Nantes, MSS. 674, pièce 116; Brougham, Voltaire et Rousseau, 340; Burton, i. 406 f.

† 1 This is the public letter referred to in No. 97, and intended for publication in a literary journal. It would appear that Le Blanc, who left Paris for Dresden in Oct. 1754, and remained in Dresden for at least six months, either never received it at all or received it a long time afterwards (see Letter 101 below). The autograph at Nantes does not contain the passages enclosed in square brackets. How these found their way into Brougham’s version, which Burton copied, I cannot tell; but it is clear from Letter 101 below that Hume sent another copy of the letter to Le Blanc some ten days later, and it is probable that the two copies did not agree word for word. The spelling and punctuation of the passages within square brackets are conjectural.

———————————————-

Hume: TLDH Vol 1 Ltr 113 To: Blanc [55] p 225
† * 113. To the ABBበLE BLANC

I find, that I am extremely unfortunate. I have receiv’d none but one Letter of yours from Dresden.† 2 I have wrote you two to Dresden† 3 under Cover to Monsr Heineken Conseillier des Finances: I wrote you also one to Paris,† 4 which wou’d arrive about the time you left it last Year. I had enclos’d two Copies of the Alterations I had made on the political Discourses: And also two Copies of a Letter,† 5 which I was desirous you shou’d publish in the literary Journals, by which every one wou’d see that we were in Correspondence together. But all this I find has miscarry’d. I also sent you three Copies of the first Volume of my History; one by Courier to Dresden; one under Cover to Monsr Jannel; one to be deliver’d at your Lodgings at Paris. There was along with this last, a Copy of all the newest Editions of my philosophical Writings in four Volumes. You may see by this, that I have a just Sense of the Honour you did me by your excellent Translation of my political Discourses; & that it is my bad Fortune, not any Negligence of mine, that has so long interrupted our Correspondence.

The last Letter, with which you honour’d me, has unluckily no Date;† 6 so that it is is [sic] only by Conjecture I know, that you are at Paris: However I send this under Cover to Monsieur Jannel, which seems to me the safest Direction; tho’ I am afraid that the breaking out of the War† 1 will beget still further Interruptions betwixt us.

† 2 Alléon, wife of Nicolas-Franá§ois Dupré de St. Maur (1695-1774), a French man of letters who translated Paradise Lost. She was among the first of Hume’s many admirers among Frenchwomen, saw a good deal of him when he was in Paris in 1763-5, and continued to correspond with him till 1775. There are nine of her letters to him among the MSS., R.S.E., of which the earliest, dated from Paris 15 Dec. 1757, and acknowledging the gift of his History referred to above, is given in Appendix C below as the first of the numerous complimentary letters which he received from French women of culture during the course of his life.

I am extremely oblig’d to you for continuing your Resolutions to translate my History. You wou’d see, that it was not intended to please any Party; & it has here been extremely run down by Faction, but it has met with such Indulgence by good Judges, that I have no Reason to repent of my Undertaking. The second Volume will be printed about a Twelvemonth hence; and if you undertake the first, I engage that you shall receive the second, Sheet by Sheet, as it comes from the Press.

It was a Gentleman, a Friend of mine, who told me, that he had himself sent a Copy of my History, along with my other Works, to your Lodgings, rue neuve des bons enfans a Paris: I wou’d fain flatter myself that these may have come to hand. If you have got more than one Copy of my History, & have any Correspondence with Monsr Voltaire, I wou’d consider it as a singular Favor, that you wou’d transmit it to him, along with my Compliments. In this Countrey, they call me his Pupil, and think that my History is an Imitation of his Siecle de Louis XIV.† 2 This Opinion flatters very much my Vanity; but the Truth is, that my History was plan’d, & in a great measure compos’d, before the Appearance of that agreeable Work.

I have never in my Life receiv’d greater Satisfaction, than by the Passages of Monsr Maupertuis Letters, which you have been so good to transmit to me.† 3 You observe well, it is laudari a laudato. I have long been a great Admirer of Monsr Maupertuis. He is the only great Geometer in the World, who ever was a man of Eloquence and fine Imagination. Not to mention his Talents of a profound Metaphysician, and as I hear, an accomplish’d Gentleman & a man of Worth. To be known to such a man is a farther Obligation, which I owe you.

227

If you entertain thoughts of translating my other Works, I shall order a new Edition to be sent to you of my philosophical Essays. It is the third, & contains some Amendments. I am afraid it is too bold for you to venture on. My Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals wou’d probably be more popular; and indeed, it is my favorite Performance, tho’ the other has made more Noise. The best Edition of it is the second. The best Edition of my Essays moral & political is the fourth.

That you may be sure against the Intrusion of hireling Translators, I have again enclos’d another Copy of that Letter, which I formerly sent you.† 1 I hope it will be to your Satisfaction, & may be inserted in the literary Journals.

I write you at present in a Hurry; but shall again write to you in a few Posts, & give you an Account of all the Alterations I had made on the political Discourses, along with a few Remarks on your Translation, with which I am extremely pleas’d. This other Letter I shall direct to you, rue neuve des bons enfans. So that one way or other, I hope to reach you.

I had heard of the Dutch Translation of my political Discourses† 2 before yours; but have never yet seen it. I sent a Copy of my other Writings (except the History) to the Bookseller at Amsterdam.† 3 This I wou’d not have done, had I known, that you had any Thoughts of translating them: But it is of no Consequence. I have the Honor to be

Sir Your most obedient & most obliged humble Servant

DAVID HUME

Edinburgh

5th of Novr. 1755

† * B.M. MSS. Egerton, 21, fo. 204 f.; Englische Studien, Band 63, Heft 3 (1929); hitherto unpublished in England.

† 2 The Abbé’s letter of 25 Dec. 1754.

† 3 One of these must be Letter 101 above; the other does not seem to be extant.

† 4 Letter 97 above.

† 5 Letter 97 A above.

† 6 It is among the MSS., R.S.E. Burton printed a short extract from it in Life, i. 462.

† 1 The Seven Years War began in a desultory fashion in the summer of 1755.

† 2 Horace Walpole, writing to Bentley on 27 Mar. 1755 (Letters, iii. 294) about the first volume of Hume’s History, says: ‘. . . his style, which is the best we have in history, and his manner, imitated from Voltaire, are very pleasing.’ Voltaire’s Siècle de Louis XIV was published in 1751.

† 3 Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759), President of the Berlin Academy and an enemy of Voltaire. Le Blanc sent Maupertuis a copy of his translation of the Political Discourses. This drew enthusiastic praise: e.g., Maupertuis writes to Le Blanc about Hume on 30 Aug. 1755: ‘C’est assurément un des plus grands esprits que je connoisse. Je crois vous avoir dit que je m’étois fait traduire ici ses Essais Philosophiques qui m’ont charmé: mais quelques morceaux que j’ai déjá  vus de ses Essais politiques et moraux me charment encor davantage. Et un Irlandois homme de Lettres Mr Grierson qui est ici, me dit qu’il y a de lui des Principes de Morale supérieurs encore. Que c’est domage que touts ces ouvrages n’ayent pas un traducteur tel que vous!’ (Copied by Le Blanc in his letter to Hume of summer 1755, MS., R.S.E.)

† 1 Letter 114 below.

† 2 Mauvillon’s.

† 3 Some of these appeared as OEuvres philosophiques de Mr D. Hume [translated by J.-B. Mérian and J.-B.-R. Robinet], Amsterdam, J. H. Schneider, 1758-60, 5 vols., 8vo. The Essays Moral and Political, however, were not all translated into French till later.

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Hume: TLDH Vol 1 Ltr 114 To: Blanc [55] p 228
† * 114. [To the ABBበLE BLANC]

Sir

It is some time ago, that I receivd and read with Pleasure the excellent Translation, with which you have honour’d my political Discourses. It gives me great Satisfaction to find my Sense so justly preservd, and at the same time embellish’d by the Propriety & Elegance of your Expressions. I have sent you the first Volume of my History of Great Britain; and wou’d consider it as a very great Happiness, if you cou’d think it worthy your Approbation; but much more, if it cou’d engage you to do it the same Honour, that you have done to the political Discourses. There are many Passages in the History, which will require Notes to explain them to Foreigners; and I know none so capable of that Undertaking as yourself. Your Knowlege of the English Constitution and Manners will enable you to remove all Difficulties: and if you shou’d happen to be at a Loss in any Place, be so good as to write me; and I shall endeavor to communicate to you all the Lights, which I have been able to acquire by a long Application to this Subject. I have the honour to be

Sir

Your most obedient & most humble Servant

DAVID HUME

Edinburgh

6th Nov. 1755

† * MS. in Nationalbibliothek, Vienna; Englische Studien, Band 62, 1928. This is the enclosure referred to in Letter 113. It is obviously an attempt to reproduce Letter 97 A above from memory.

Hume: TLDH Vol 1 Ltr 137 To: Blanc [57] p 258
† * 137. To the ABBበLE BLANC

Sir

You were much in the Right, when you conjectur’d that your Letters had miscarry’d. I have been so unfortunate as to receive none from you for above a Year & a half; & I very often regreated the Interruption of our Correspondence by the War. Your last Letter† 1 gives me still more sensible Affliction by informing me, that the Course of your Studies had been interrupted by Business & bad Health, and that you had been oblig’d to abandon all Thoughts of translating my History; an Undertaking, from which I expected so much Credit. However as a Friend of Yours has begun the Work under your Eye,† 2 I hope the Performance will not be altogether defective. In order to enable the Gentleman, who does me this Honour, to make his Work as correct as possible, I have subjoin’d a List of a few Alterations, which I have made in different Parts of that Work. As to the Political Discourses, I have not made any of Moment since those I sent you: There is only one, which, I believe, I then forgot to send. Tis in Vol. 2d, page 294 of your first Edition of Paris, in the Notes; where I call Rapin the most judicious of our Historians. Instead of that please to say. “And Rapin, suitable to his usual Partiality & Malignity, seems etc.” To tell the Truth, I was carry’d away with the usual Esteem pay’d to that Historian, till I came to examine him more particularly, when I found him altogether despicable; & I was not asham’d to acknowledge my Mistake.

259

I am every day more sensible of the Honour & Advantage, which I have reap’d from the Translation, which you gave of my Political Discourses. In particular, the good Opinion of Monsr Du Clos† 1 is an Honour, which I highly value. That Gentleman’s Performances are well known to me; and as they appear’d always to give Proofs of the Man of Sense & Virtue, as well as of the elegant Writer, I cannot but receive a great Pleasure from his Approbation. I shou’d not despair of being able to cultivate in Person the Friendship of a Man, whom I so much value, wou’d our Sovereigns but agree to make Peace together. I have had an Intention of making a Journey to Paris; and I shall then be beholden to you for introducing me to the Acquaintance of Monsr Du Clos. Meanwhile, I beg of you to make him my Compliments, and to assure him of my Esteem & Respect.

I have a very great Desire to peruse a copy of L’Ami de l’homme of which you give me so advantageous a Character: I hope also to receive Instruction from it. For I am far from being positive in any of my Opinions; and Monsr le Marquis de Mirabaut may very probably perswade me to change my Sentiments in all the Points, that are controverted between us. A French Gentleman of his Rank cou’d not fail of Politeness towards an Adversary; and I owe him Acknowledgements for thinking my Performance worth of his Attention.† 2 I meet with many Answerers in this Countrey; some of whom treat me with Civility, others in the usual Style of Controversy. I have never yet been engag’d to make a Reply to any of them: But if I still continue unconverted after reading L’Ami de l’homme, I shall probably take an Opportunity of proposing my Doubts in the way you mention; were it only in hopes of drawing more Instruction from Monsr de Mirabaut to myself & to the Public.

260

I have wrote to London to get a copy of L’Ami de l’homme; but as it is probable, that the War, by interrupting all Communication with Paris, has renderd Copies of it very scarce in our Capital, I must beg of you to send me a Copy of it. Please desire Monsr de la Rouviere to deliver one to Mr Crawford,† 1 Banker of Rotterdam, who has Orders to send it to me.

I have desir’d my Bookseller in London to send over to Monsr de la Rouviere three Copies of my History. I hope Madame du Pré de St. Maur† 2 and you will not refuse me the Honour of accepting from me this small Present. I have also order’d the Bookseller to join in the same Parcel three Copies of another Work of mine publish’d this Winter. It is calld, Four Dissertations, viz, the natural History of Religion, Of the Passions, Of Tragedy, of the Standard of Taste. I have destin’d one Copy for Madame Du Pré, another for yourself, a third for Monsr le Marquis de Mirabaut, if he reads English; as I have heard he does. I learn by Yours that Monsr Du Clos does not read that Language, which is the Reason, that I have not sent him a Copy by the same Parcel.

I have also desir’d another Book to be joind in the Parcel; tis Douglas, a new Tragedy, wrote by Mr John Hume, a very ingenious, young Gentleman, a Friend & Relation of mine. The Fate of this Gentleman’s Performance was very extraordinary. It was refus’d by the Manager of Drury-Lane Theatre; and for that Reason was oblig’d to be brought on in our Theatre in this City. In order to raise it from Obscurity, I wrote to the Author the Dedication, prefix’d to the Four Dissertations, which had so good an Effect, that the Tragedy was brought on in Covent Garden, and extremely well receivd by the Public. I am perswaded, that there is not any Tragedy in the English Language so well adapted to your Theatre, by reason of the Elegance, Simplicity, & Decorum, which run thro’ the whole of it. I wou’d be much pleas’d to see it translated into French, and to find it successful with those good Critics who so much abound in Paris.

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I am giving just now a new Edition of all my philosophical & political Pieces in one Volume Quarto. As soon as it is finish’d, I shall take care to send to you a Copy by Monsr de la Rouviere, if I find that this Method of Conveyance has been successful with regard to these Copies of my History; of which I beg of you to give me Information.

I have the Honour to be

Sir

Your most obedient & most obliged humble Servant

DAVID HUME

Edinburgh.

22d July, 1757.

A Monsieur L’Abbé le Blanc Historiographe des Batimens du Roi

a Paris

† * B.M. MSS. Egerton, 21, fo. 206 f.; Englische Studien, Band 63, Heft 3 (1929); hitherto unpublished in England.

† 1 Undated from Paris; MS., R.S.E. Burton printed extracts from it in Life, i. 460 f.

† 2 Le Blanc had written that, being unable to undertake the translation himself, he had lent the first volume of the History ‘á  un de mes Amis homme d’esprit & laborieux’, and added: ‘Il l’a traduit & le rendra public au commencement de l’hivert prochain.’ It is impossible to be sure who this friend was. It may have been the Abbé Prévost, but if so, he did not complete his task till 1760. There is no trace of any French translation of the History before that date.

† 1 Charles Pinot Duclos (1704-72), Historiographe de France, and perpetual Secretary of the Académie Franá§aise; author of Considérations sur les moeurs de ce siècle, 1751. Hume became known to him later. Le Blanc had written: ‘Vous pouvés comter encor au rang de vos admirateurs un des hommes de Lettres de ce Pays-ci du premier mérite. C’est Mr Du Clos . . .: il est jaloux que vous soyés instruit de la vénération qu’il a pour vous & de l’éstime singuliere qu’il fait de vos Ouvrages. Indépendamment de l’amitié qui nous lie, je puis vous assurer qu’il mérite d’avoir part á  la votre, & vous connoissés trop bien notre Littérature pour ignorer le rang qu’il y tient. Lui & moi nous sommes convenus vingt fois qu’il étoit heureux pour notre Siècle qu’au moment oá¹ sur les cotes Méridionales nous avons perdu un des Astres les plus brilliants qui ayent éclairé les Lettres, il en aá®t paru dans le Nord un autre non moins lumineux, & dont l’utilité se reconnoit á  proportion que ses lumières se répentant de plus en plus. Vous êtes le seul dans l’Europe qui pouviés remplacer Mr le Président de Montesquieu.’

† 2 Le Blanc had written: ‘[Mirabeau] prêche l’Agriculture & foudroye la finance. Il combat votre sisteme sur le Luxe, mais avec les égards dus á  la supériorité de vos lumières. Il m’a remis un exemplaire de son Ouvrage qu’il me prie de vous présenter comme un tribut de son éstime & de la reconnoissance qu’il vous doit pour l’utilité qu’il a tirée de vos Discours Politiques. Il ne demande pas mieux que d’être éclairé, & par la noblesse des sentiments & la politesse de la conduitte, je ne crains pas de le dire, l’adversaire est digne de vous . . . si vous jugés á  propos de répondre á  Mr de Mirabaut, soit par une Lettre á  moi addressée á  ce Sujet ou de quelque autre maniere que ce soit, je me ferai encor un plaisir & un honneur de traduire votre réponse. Vous aurés la bonté de me mander vos intentions sur ce sujet.’

† 1 A well-known Scots merchant. He succeeded John Home the poet, in 1770, in the sinecure of Conservator of Scots Privileges at Campvere.

† 2 Alléon, wife of Nicolas-Franá§ois Dupré de St. Maur (1695-1774), a French man of letters who translated Paradise Lost. She was among the first of Hume’s many admirers among Frenchwomen, saw a good deal of him when he was in Paris in 1763-5, and continued to correspond with him till 1775. There are nine of her letters to him among the MSS., R.S.E., of which the earliest, dated from Paris 15 Dec. 1757, and acknowledging the gift of his History referred to above, is given in Appendix C below as the first of the numerous complimentary letters which he received from French women of culture during the course of his life.

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