In the same year, he was made librarian to the Faculty of Advocates of Edinburgh, a situation which not only gave him command of the invaluable library belonging to that body, but forcibly directed his attention to the character of the works which it contained. It was now that he began to write his History of England, that highly pleasing per formance, which, however censured in some of its parts and tendencies, is read with delight by all classes of per sons, and does high credit to the country which gave birth to its author. The first volume that was published, com menced with the accession of the house of Stuart, and con tained the reigns of James I. and Charles I. It appeared in 1754. The public, however, were not so easily won by the splendour of his narrative, and that air of easy philoso phy which dictated the remarks of the historian, as to give any quarter to his obnoxious sentiments. Ile offended the Christian world, by treating religious systems too lightly, and even the advantages which this characteristic might at first seem to promise to the spirit of toleration, were found to be coldly withheld. His displeasure is chiefly directed against the complaints, and even the non-conformity, of the people ; and he palliates in the conduct of princes all de viations from patriotism and law, as well as that offensive arrogance which set at nought time object of general satis faction. Ile construes the slightest incongruity in the com plaints of the nation, which was capable of being turned to ridicule, into a vindication of the most arbitrary and intole rant conduct on the part of the sovereign. The party ques tions relating to the rights which king or people respective ly derived from precedent and law, were of much less mo ment than the spirit in which time contending parties main tained their point. Appeals to the original and universal rights of man are reckoned dangerous, as being subject to the widest differences of opinion, and therefore precedents in favour of liberty had been chiefly appealed to by the Whigs. Precedents, however, were to be found on both sides ; and Mr Hume points out the shallowness of any pre tence to make the ultimate decision of great and general questions in politics depend on them. It is with the degree of correctness and genet osity of the spirit in which the king and the people approached to one another for the ad justment of their differences, that an unbiassed historian is chiefly concerned in measuring to each party his share of approbation and of censure. This was certainly so offensive and unconciliating on the part of the Stuarts, as to amount to a forfeiture of all submission, and even of all sympathy, from the party which they laboured to crush. That the dissensions of the times rendered the duties of a sovereign arduous, must be acknowledged, and strong measures might have been on some occasions necessary. But the measures of these princes had neither the merit of strength, nor the inoffensiveness of total inactivity. They were both irritating in their tendency, and destitute of efficiency. The exertion of a despotic authority, if evidently directed to ends substantially good, might have saved the country, and pre served the dynasty. But the Smarts made their right of power a matter of ostentation, rather than an instrument of godd government, and thus insulted the nation, instead of ruling it. There were errors on all sides. The people were often fanatical, and their complaints were sometimes inconsistent. All these facts should come alike under the scrutiny of the historian. But the plausible coolness of Hume degenerates into a cavalierly insensibility : his sar casms are directed only against the great mass of the na tion, while his sympathetic feeling and indulgence are re served for kings and their ministers.
Dr Herring and Dr Stone, the one primate of England and the other of Ireland, were the only persons from whom the author heard favourable sentiments of his work. Both
of these gentlemen wrote to him not to be discouraged. The impression made on his mind by the unfavourable re ception of his work, was however very deep. Although on looking to time periodical publications of that day, we find the due tribute repeatedly and even liberally given to his merits as a writer, lie seems riot to have been at all prepared to meet with any opposition or neglect. lie showed on this occasion, the overweening importance which authors are disposed to attach to their own powers, and how little they calculate on the difficulty of making any impression in opposition to the general sentiments of the public. He confesses that his mortification would have now determined him to retire to a corner of .'ranee, to change his name, and never more revisit his native country, had, not a war breaking out between the two nations, prevented the exe cution of any such scheme.
He next published his Natural History of Religion, which was attacked with considerable acrimony by Dr Hurd, and, though otherwise not much attended to at the time, pro duced, at a subsequent period, no slight sensation in the re ligious world, as tending to reduce the general principles of religion to an uncertain and even a frivolous origin in the human mind.
A second volume of the History of England, which brought it down to the revolution, was published in 1756. This, containing fewer obnoxious sentiments, was better re ceived than the first, and even served to impart to it a de gree of adventitious character.
In 1759, he published his History of the House of Tudor. Ina this publication he displayed considerable address in supporting his Tory principles. While he details facts which demontrate the duplicity of the character of Eliza beth, he gives her a character far higher than these facts can warrant. At the same time he describes her conduct, as well as that of her predecessors of the same family, as so offensively harsh, that the maxims of the Stuarts, reckon ed by many tyrannical, must on the contrast appear mild and liberal. He neglects to give the due weight to the beneficial tendency and the magnanimous justice which marked some of her most arbitrary acts, and the activity which she displayed in managing the vital interests of the state. These characteristics were widely different from the vexatious and idle exaction of reluctant homage which the Stuarts delighted to make from their subjects. Habit had now rendered Mr Hume callous to the impressions of public opinion, which he affected to despise ; yet he owed his equanimity in some measure to the increased forbear ance of his opponents, and the tribute, of admiration which some of his qualities as a writer extorted from all. In 1761, he published the two volumes which contain the ear lier part of the English history. The copy money given to him by the booksellers much exceeded any thing of the kind formerly known in England, and his circumstances were in consequence rendered opulent.
At this time a storm of ecclesiastical censure was pre paring by some members of the church of Scotland, direct ed against Mr Hume, and intended to include Lord Karnes, and various other writers, who, though differing in their opinions, agreed in treating religious subjects with cool ness, and 'subjecting them to metaphysical analysis. A motion was made in the committee of overtures of the Ge neral Assembly, in which Mr Hume was flamed as the most obnoxious author. It was proposed to call him be fore that court, to answer a list of accusations, on the ten dency of the principles which he had published. This, however, was afterwards abandoned, as it was supposed that the influence of such discussions was limited to a nar row circle, and that there could be no propriety in extend ing them to the common mass of readers, who might, from the sympathy naturally felt for a man subjected to violent opposition, be led to an undue bias in favour of his opinions.